#I also need a name for the totally-not-roman-empire and the city of totally-not-rome

[ibijau]

getting dangerously close to starting an excel file just to keep track of all these characters bc with secondary/background characters, we're already at 20+

also I'll soon need to find names for everyone. But the good side of this being a fantasy is that I can be as anachronistic as I like! Which is! A real relief!

[spellboundheartsaga]

Hearts of Bronze: Building Cultures

I like to think of myself as a creative person who can come up with completely new and fresh ideas that in no way real world things but that is honestly not accurate. Now that I'm no longer young and naive about where my ideas come from I have fully accepted and embraced using real world references.

It really started off with names. I don't like to use common everyday names in my fantasy worlds like John or Jane. There's nothing wrong with doing it. Sometimes a familiar name next to wildly unrealistic concepts is a really interesting juxtaposition and a lot of writers explore this relationship. It's just not my jam.

I wanted names that were unique to my worlds but I began to notice that all my names sounded the same. That's fine if all your characters are from the same country/region but I tend to write about things happening in big cities or empires, or journeys across continents. It's a ton of fun picking names out for major characters and reoccurring side characters but stories are filled with NPCs that are only mentioned in passing (I mean, I guess in a story they're all NPCs, but I do have a gaming and DnD background so in my head, that's how I refer to the minor characters that may only get a line or two. I often still name them because I think it helps me fill in the world and add dimension).

I now use things like fantasynamegenerator.com because it has the high fantasy names but it also has generators for real world names. Some of these are too commonplace to appeal to me but some are pretty unusual. I pick a real world culture and use that to inspire names for a specific country or culture in my story. This way characters of he same region have a subtle thread that ties them together and outsiders stand out.

In Hearts of Bronze, I have Khem and Carthago as two rival desert countries and the empty desert between them is the main location for the story. My refugees are from a Northern country called Aethel, that was defeated and absorbed by one of their rivals (haven't named the conquerors yet as they will not be a player in the story).

I am using ancient Egypt as an inspiration point for Khem, Phoenicia for Carthago, and Rome for Aethel. I call these inspiration points because while I pull references from them, I am not trying to set the story in these locations or be historically accurate to their cultures and traditions.

Having said that, there is a logical reason that the Egyptians dressed the way they dressed and built their homes in specific styles. Loose, linen clothing would be comfortable in the hot desert sun and mud brick buildings with thick walls and flat roofs make sense in an environment where the walls insulate and keep the inside of the home cool. There's no need for a steeply pitched roof if it never snows and hardly rains. At night, that becomes very pleasant additional living space if it's flat. You don't put your cooking oven inside your living space when your goal is to keep that area cool.

I'm also looking to historical references to add some realism to the technology of my world. Yes, there's magic and that will change significant parts of my cultures and their daily lives. But, it helps me to have a baseline and then consider how that changes society. In this story, I'm looking around 700-ish BCE. We're into the Iron Age but bronze is still commonly seen in weapons and tools. Steel is exceedingly rare. One of my mistakes already is thinking that archers would have been standard but as I research the Roman army of this time period, they actually had slings as their long range weapons. I hadn't at all considered dedicated spear men in addition to swordsmen but this was a staple for them. A massive part of my story is he founding of a whole new city, taking a dried up oasis and starting from scratch. I don't know how many fields a city needs to grow enough food or how the city would be laid out given that it is totally planned and not developing organically over time.

Which is why I'm now at my local library reviewing reference books on ancient Egypt and Rome. I'll use their traditional clothing to inspire my world's fashions. If the terms are obscure enough, I'll straight borrow them. I'm not ashamed of my references. I'm also looking at how their cities were laid out to add realism to my own. My Aethelians will try to build their new homes in the style of their homeland but that's not going to be livable in a new environment. Part of my story's drama is them making mistakes and learning to adapt. To do that, it helps to know how an Ancient Roman's home would look like and how that differs from those in Ancient Egypt.

How do you develop your cultures and countries?

[a-s-fischer]

This, and the Ishtar/Eoster/Easter discussion reminded me of something I want to talk about, and that is how Roman religious syncretism worked, and how it still works, as something baked into almost every branch of Christianity.

So Christianity has this story it tells itself about its origins and way it works that goes like this: all of the good parts of Christianity come from Jesus, who is the bestest most compassionate boy, and all the bad parts of Christianity, whatever an individual Christian might decide those bad parts are, come from Judaism. Those bad parts are the result of failing to properly follow Jesus's teaching, and to prune away bad Jewish ideas. If you've heard anyone talk about the cruel Old Testament God, or about how Jesus was like so Progressive compared to those Pharisees, these are manifestations of those ideas.

Of course none of this is true, Christianity and Judaism, while both are flawed, those flaws tend to be very different, and very very few of Christianity's flaws have their roots in Judaism. But what this does is, as you might guess, fuel antisemitism, and also what it does, is become an assumption that can easily remain in a person's bloodstream, after they have stopped being Christian, or get into their bloodstream if they've never been Christian, but had lots of contact with Christianity.

And this is how you get neo-pagans, wiccans, and even people from extant, contiguous, polytheistic cultures, who will say things like, "those ancient Israelites are responsible for Christianity's burning need to convert everybody, and destroy all other religious cultures". Or more subtly they might say that this is the fault of monotheism. The idea here is that in the halcyon days of the pagan world, nobody cared what you believed or worshiped, or was trying to force anyone else to believe or worship anything, because gods were permeable and worshiping one god did not mean that you did not worship another. This absolutely not true; conquering people's frequently tried to impose the worship of their gods over the conquered, stamp out local traditions, or co-opt the gods of the people they've conquered. The Persian Empire was pretty famous for not doing this kind of thing, in contrast to most other empires of the time, and meanwhile the Jewish people are not a universalist religion, don't care what non-Jews do as far as religion and worship, and don't seek converts.

But the idea that monotheism and the intolerance of those ancient Israelites is what caused Christianity to become the juggernaut of cultural destruction that it would eventually become, is really common, and really annoying, so it behooves us to examine where this tendency in Christianity actually came from. And the answer is the Roman Empire.

As @athingofvikings rightfully points out, Christianity shares a lot of its DNA not with Judaism, but with the Roman religious system, and at its most basic level, it's a creature of Roman syncretism. The Roman Empire really liked its syncretism. The Romans famously syncretized their gods with the Greeks so hard that we refer to it as the Greco-Roman pantheon, and the Latin and Greek names for those gods are frequently used interchangeably in the Western world. And to be fair to the Romans, Roman syncretism probably developed as a means to deal with the fact that as the Roman culture was getting its feet under it, the dominant player in the region was in fact first Classical Greek city-states, and then the Hellenistic states.

But anyway, the Roman Empire really had two ways of aproaching the religions of the newly conquered, or really any of the religions that they came into contact with. The first is the one that said, "hey, you have a cool god or goddess, who is new to us, and we want in on this, so we're going to take this god or goddess back with us and worship him in Rome now, and anyone else in the Empire who wants to worship them too totally can". This is the kind of syncretism that people who want to claim that the pre-Christian polytheistic world was a haven of religious tolerance, like to talk about. But Rome had another kind of religious syncretism that they were also big on, and this was the kind that said, hey we see that you are worshiping your god, and that god is really our god, but you're worshiping him under the wrong name, and with the wrong rituals, and if you've been worshiping him under the right rituals you wouldn't have lost to us, so now that we have conquered you, we are going to teach you better, whether you like it or not.

If that sounds familiar, yeah, we'll get there.

As long as Rome stayed in the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins, this worked out pretty well for them, because almost all the people they encountered had already either had extensive contact with the powerful Hellenistic states, or were part of a Hellenistic state, meaning that just about everybody that the Romans conquered for the early part of their empire, was to an extent, Hellenized. Which means, they were either already worshiping the Greek gods, or they had already synchronized many of their local deities with various Greek gods, so they already had practice worshiping their gods alongside Greek gods, and adding Roman names was basically Plug and Play. and it wasn't that hard to add the deified emperors, and the divine embodiment of Rome to the register of deities being venerated. This got more dicey after Romans ran out of Mediterranean and Black Sea Basin territory to conquer, but Rome still stuck to this pattern and did mostly okay.

Except there was this one people, on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, right in the Greek Hellenized stomping ground, who were absolutely not down with Roman syncretism or their state religion. This isn't a surprise, since they also weren't down for the Hellenistic version of the same process. In fact, attempts to force the worship of the Greek pantheon onto them, led to a revolution, which you might know is the Maccabean revolt, in which the Judeans kicked out the Seleucid Greeks, founded their own Hashmonian dynasty, and ruled as a non Hellenized state, firmly asserting their own religious and cultural identity as what we now call Jews.

But then, the Romans exploited a succession dispute in Judea's ruling dynasty to get all invadey, which caused the Jews to get all revolty, but sadly this did not work as well as it did against the Seleucids, and in spite of multiple revolts, Judea remained firmly conquered. But this whole experience gave the Romans time to do their whole "hey let's all get syncratic with your gods and our gods" shtick, only for the Jews to give them a resounding no, and a "how about you shove your Greek pantheon and your deified emperors right up your asses".

The Romans did not react well to that, but since the Jews had made it very clear that this was a hill they were willing to die on, and the Romans really weren't, it was a lot more trouble than it was worth to try to force the issue. But this sure as heck didn't make the Romans like the Jews, whose repeated revolts were extremely expensive, and their refusal to get on board with a Roman state religion, and insistence on maintaining their own separate religious identity, was really weird and creepy as far as the Romans were concerned and also they did this thing where they mutilated their penises.

Meanwhile, The popular cult of the Goddess Cybele, whose worship really took off in Rome, involved her priests ritually castrating themselves, which really brings home the fact that it was not actually about circumcision for the Romans.

But anyway, the Romans really did not like the fact that the Jews would not get all syncretic with them, and join the Roman State religion, and while they were putting down revolts, sacking the temple, killing this one kind of kooky preacher name Jesus, exiling us, and renaming our province after our traditional enemies, they also occasionally got all persecutey on religious grounds, about that whole refusing to worship the deified emperors thing.

Meanwhile, this little offshoot of Judaism, worshiping that kooky preacher, separated itself out from its Jewish origins, and started making its way into the Roman cultic marketplace. It had a major disadvantage, in that to be a devotee of Jesus, a prospective convert would have to foreswear worshiping all other gods. While for the most part, Romans didn't expect everyone in the Empire to worship every god who was part of the pantheon, as previously established, they really didn't like it when people foreswore worshiping the deified emperors, and participating in specific aspects of the Roman state religion that they believed insured Roman prosperity and continued military victory. Belonging to a specific cult dedicated to a specific god or group of gods, and spending most of your spiritual energy involved in worshiping as part of that cult, was all well and good, so long as you also did your bit engaging in the rituals of the Roman state religion. So periodically, the Romans also got all persecutey towards the Christians.

But unlike the Jews, the Christians were not adverse to new people picking up their god and worshiping him. While it was really difficult to convert to Judaism, and there were really stringent standards, the same was not true of Christianity, which welcomed converts, and so gathered a group of religious seekers, many of whom had previously belonged to other Roman cults, and they brought aspects of those cults into Christianity. In short, Christianity was becoming syncretic. if Christians wouldn't worship Dionysus, they would give Jesus some of his aspects. if they wouldn't worship Isis Osiris and Horus, ideas from the Isis Osirus Horus cult would get folded into the Christian holy family. If Christians couldn't worship Mithras, they would bring Mithraec elements into their cosmology. If Christians couldn't also belong to an Orphic cult, Jesus would start to take on some very Orphic aspects.

So at this point, Christianity is one Roman cult among many, and it probably would have either stayed that way, or eventually fizzled out, if it weren't for this guy named Constantine. a few years before, emperor Diocletian split the Roman empire into two, and then into two again, with each half being ruled by a senior Emperor called an Augustus, and then each Augustus having a junior Emperor called a Caesar, who ruled half of their empire. this was supposed to make it so that there was less for each Emperor to rule, and each Emperor could be more flexible, and try out new things, and then the best things could be spread to the entire empire, and also each Caesar and Augustus would be able to respond to military threats more easily, because they were four of them. But really of course what it did was make for lots of Civil Wars. But anyway, Constantine was the son of one of the Caesars, the junior emperors, and he wanted to rule the whole empire. strictly speaking, he was not entitled to become a Caesar just because his father was a Caesar, because Caesars were appointed by their Augustus, but he had an army, and he knew what to do with it. And right before his final victory over his last opponent, he made a fateful decision, to march under the sign of the Christian god.

It is unclear in retrospect how much he hedged his bets, and tried to play it so that he was marching under the sign both of the Christian god, and of Sol Invictus the unconquered sun. But either way, he at least made it so that praying to the Christian god would count as the same as participating in the traditional Roman state religion, and would eventually flat out replace the former Roman state religion with Christianity.

And once Christianity was the Roman state religion, it started acting like the Roman state religion. It had already started getting really comfortable taking on the elements of other religions, and now that the Church had institutional power, it was thrilled to go around doing that whole "we see you are worshiping the wrong way, with the wrong name for your god. we're going to teach you better at the point of a sword" thing that Roman state religion liked so much. It started looking a lot like, "you can keep venerating Brigit, but she's a saint now, not a goddess, and belongs to the whole Church", or "You can keep worshiping Isis/Cybele/Pacha Mama, but now you have to call her the Virgin Mary".

Meanwhile, the Jews were still kicking around, and the Romans, now calling themselves the Christians, went, "Hey, Jews, we made a syncretic version of your religion, will you join us now? Huh, huh, huh?" And the Jews were like, "No Roman State religion, we still don't want to date you. Also that thing you're doing, isn't Judaism, and it's really weird, and keep it far away from us." And the Christians were like, "Yeah well you're mean, and ugly and you smell bad." Seriously, those are all actual antisemitic canards, and every time I hear them, I can't help but think wow, you guys really cannot get over the fact that we wouldn't go to prom with you. But anyway, the Christians had a very measured response to this refusal by the Jews, and by measured response, I mean over a millennia and a half of brutal antisemitism. Which was a continuation of several hundred years of Roman antisemitism.

And this is why Christianity is the borg, and also (one of the reasons it's) really weird about the Jews. And when people blame the Jews for Christianity being the borg, it really feels a lot like the Romans mugged us and stole our clothes, and then ran around mugging other people while wearing our clothes, only for the victims to look at those clothes and go, "I have been mugged by the Jews," meanwhile the Jews are standing here in our underwear going, "We were mugged too! What are you talking about?"

If you're trying to unpack and heal from Christian religious trauma, a thing you really need to understand (if you don't already) is that you were probably misled about Judaism a lot. Christianity generally tries to paint itself as the self-evident successor of Judaism, and one of the ways it does this is by painting Judaism as Christianity Without Jesus.

In reality, Judaism is practiced very differently from Christianity, and Jews have a very different relationship to their Bible than Christians have to theirs. Just about everything you'll hear about Judaism from Christians is total hogwash - literally, it's Christian propaganda. Christianity as most of us know it was shaped by the Roman Empire's political agendas, and that's a huge reason why it's the way it is.

[qqueenofhades]

So I’ve been thinking about the end of empires lately, the way they behave, the patterns that emerge, things like that. Yes, I know. What a lovely topic. Lol. My brain likes punishment. Shhh. Anyway, I was wondering what we have learned from past ended empires that could help us understand today’s world? Do you have thoughts? Any book refs on this? Thanks qqueen!

Aha, okay, I'll give this a crack. I'll try not to get bogged down in too much pedagogical woolgathering about how it is defined, determined, decided, or otherwise applied as an analytical concept, but we'll say that an "empire" is a geographical, political and territorial unit that comprises multiple countries/regions, is united under one relatively centralised administration, ruled either by one all-powerful figure or a small circle of powerful elites (usually technically answerable to the former), and held together by military, financial, and ideological methods. The basic model, as established by the Romans: take their sons to serve in the army, make them pay their taxes to you, and worship Roma, the patron goddess of the city, alongside their own preferred religion. Simple, straightforward, and lasted for five hundred years (almost a thousand if you count the Roman Republic which preceded it). We hear a lot in Western history classes about the "Fall of Rome," which is usually presented in popular narratives as the moment when everything went to pot before the "Dark Ages." Is this true? (No.) If so, did it happen because, as is often claimed, "barbarians/savages were attacking Rome and overthrew it?" (No.)

The collapse of the Western Roman Empire is way more than we can get into in the course of one ask, and there are other fallen empires to consider: for example, the Aztec, Ashanti, Russian, and British ones. It's a subject of debate as to whether modern-day America should be termed an empire: it fits most, if not all, of the historical criteria, but is an empire only an empire when it declares itself to be one? The long and sordid history of American imperialism, whether it's a rose by any other name or otherwise, is covered in American Empire: A Global History by A.G. Hopkins, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr, and A People's History of American Empire by Howard Zinn. All are worth looking into.

Overall, I think the basic similarities for what makes an empire fall would include:

it geographically overextends itself (Roman, British)

it is attacked by foreign rivals and internal enemies (Roman, Aztec, Ashanti)

it becomes massively financially indebted and deeply politically unstable (Roman, Russian)

it resorts to heavy-handed attempts to punish dissatisfaction among its people, spurring popular resistance (Aztec, Roman, British, Russian)

it is emerging from a period of long war internationally and internally that has strained it militarily (Roman, British, Russian)

it simply gets devastatingly unlucky thanks to a combination of unforeseeable external factors (Aztec, Ashanti)

And so on. Basically, the administrative bureaucracy gets too big to manage itself, the ever-increasing financial exactions can't pay for the necessary wars to maintain and expand its borders, people become dissatisfied both outside and inside the imperial system, and since no human institution or nation-state lasts forever, down it comes. However, I would caution against too much insistence on a total or categorical end of any of these societies. You've probably heard of Jared Diamond, who wrote uber-popular bestsellers including Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, focusing on how human societies survive, or not, from an eco-scientific perspective. However, Diamond is not a trained anthropologist, archaeologist, or historian, despite writing extensively about these subjects (he's a professor of geography at UCLA) and a whole bunch of eminent historians and anthropologists got together to write "You're Full of Shit, Jared Diamond," also known as Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire.

This book basically blasts Diamond (as he deserves, frankly) for removing all social/cultural factors from his analysis in Collapse and only focusing on ecology/science/environment. Geographical determinism can shed light on some things, but it's very far from being a total explanation for everything, completely divorced from the human societies that interact with these places. For example, did the Easter Island society of Rapa Nui collapse because the Polynesian people "recklessly" overexploited the environment (Diamond) or the impact of European diseases, colonialism, slave trade, and other direct crises, combined with the introduction of the non-native rat to the islands? (Spoiler alert: The latter. You simply can't write about these societies as if they're just places where things somehow happened thanks to natural processes, entirely outside of human agency and cultural/social/political needs.)

Anyway, the silver-lining upside, especially in an incredibly gloomy political milieu where the current American system was nearly overthrown by the last president and hordes of his fascist sympathisers (as they were talking about on Capitol Hill today, incidentally), is that the usual story of human societies is resilience rather than disappearance. None of the empires listed above, with the exception of the Aztecs (conquered by the Spanish, decimated by smallpox, and resisted by internal indigenous enemies) totally vanished. Their structures and ethos often just got a change of paint and name and carried on. For all the ballyhoo about the "Collapse of Rome," the Western Roman Empire had been an almost entirely ineffective political entity for years and the capital had already been transferred to Ravenna well before 476. There were outsider attacks, but Rome had weakened itself by a constant succession of military coups, palace intrigue, too-heavy taxes, and a simply too-vast area to effectively control. The Eastern Roman Empire, however (aka the Byzantine Empire) carried on being a major political player straight through the medieval period and only ended in 1453, with the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II's conquest of Constantinople.

Even the Ashanti Empire still exists today, as a small independent kingdom within the modern African country of Ghana. The Russian and British empires no longer exist under that name, but few would deny that those countries still retain considerable influence in similar ways. When people talk about the "collapse" of societies, especially non-Western societies, it also produces the impression that they did in fact just disappear into thin air, often as no fault of the invading Westerners. (Sidenote: I suggest reading "Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native" by Patrick Wolfe in the Journal of Genocide Research. The whole thing is online and free.) How many times have we heard that, say, the Mayans/Mayan Empire "vanished," when there are up to seven million Mayan speakers in modern Mexico? If you're insisting that they're gone, of course it's easier to act like they are.

Anyway. I think what I'm trying to say here is that in terms of lessons for the modern world:

empires always (always) fall;

this comes about as some combination of the above-mentioned factors;

however, the societies previously organised as empires almost never disappear, so the end of an empire does not necessarily mean the end of its attendant society, culture, countries, etc;

empires often re-organise as essentially similar political units with different names and can maintain most of their former status;

empire is an inherently unequal and exploitative system that often relies on taxonomies of race, gender, power, and class, with the usual suspects at the top and everyone else at the bottom;

empire is usually, though not always, related to active colonialism and military expansion, and as soon as it cannot sustain this model, it's in big trouble;

the idea that human societies just disappear solely as a result of inadequately correct economic choices and/or ecological determinism is a lot of shit;

And so on. The end of an empire isn't necessarily anything to fear, though it can, obviously, be incredibly disruptive for those living within the country/countries affected. And until we learn how to move, as a species, permanently away from political and ideological systems that give so many resources to so few people and nothing to so many others, we're going to continue to experience this cycle.

[dwellordream]

“...Today, most – though by no means all – free countries (along with a number of rather unfree ones) have shifted from mass conscription based militaries to professional, all-volunteer militaries. The United States, of course, made that shift in 1973 (along lines proposed by the 1969 Gates Commission). The shift to a professional military has always been understood to have involved risks – the classic(al) example of those risks being the Roman one: the creation of a semi-professional Roman army misaligned the interests of the volunteer soldiers with the voting citizens, resulting in the end (though a complicated process) in the collapse of the Republic and the formation of the Empire in what might well be termed a shift to ‘military rule’ as the chief commander of the republic (first Julius Caesar, then Octavian) seized power from the apparatus of civilian government (the senate and citizen assemblies).

It is in that context that ‘warrior’ – despite its recent, frustrating use by the United States Army – is an unfortunate way for soldiers (regardless of branch or country) to think of themselves. Encouraging soldiers to see themselves as ‘warriors’ means encouraging them to see their role as combatants as the foundational core of their identity. A Mongol warrior was a warrior because as an adult male Mongol, being a warrior was central to his gender-identity and place in society (the Mongols being a society, as common with Steppe nomads, where all adult males were warriors); such a Mongol remained a warrior for his whole adult life.

Likewise, a medieval knight – who I’d class as a warrior (remember, the distinction is on identity more than unit fighting) – had warrior as a core part of their identity. It is striking that, apart from taking religious orders to become a monk (and thus shift to an equally totalizing vocation), knights – especially as we progress through the High Middle Ages as the knighthood becomes a more rigid and recognized institution – do not generally seem to retire. They do not lay down their arms and become civilians (and just one look at the attitude of knightly writers towards civilians quickly answers the question as to why). Being a warrior was the foundation of their identity and so could not be disposed of. We could do the same exercise with any number of ‘warrior classes’ within various societies. Those individuals were, in effect born warriors and they would die warriors. In societies with meaningful degrees of labor specialization, to be a warrior was to be, permanently, a class apart.

Creating such a class apart (especially one with lots of weapons) presents a tremendous danger to civilian government and consequently to a free society (though it is also a danger to civilian government in an unfree society). As the interests of this ‘warrior class’ diverge from the interests of the rest of society, even with the best of intentions the tendency is going to be for the warriors to seek to preserve their interests and status with the tools they have, which is to say all of the weapons (what in technical terms we’d call a ‘failure of civil-military relations,’ civ-mil being the term for the relationship between civil society and its military).

The end result of that process is generally the replacement of civilian self-government with ‘warrior rule.’ In pre-modern societies, such ‘warrior rule’ took the form of governments composed of military aristocrats (often with the chiefest military aristocrat, the king, at the pinnacle of the system); the modern variant, rule by officer corps (often with a general as the king-in-all-but-name) is of course quite common. Because of that concern, it is generally well understood that keeping the cultural gap between the civilian and military worlds as small as possible is important to a free society.

Instead, what a modern free society wants are effectively civilians, who put on the soldier’s uniform for a few years, acquire the soldier’s skills and arts, and then when their time is done take that uniform off and rejoin civil society as seamlessly as possible (the phrase ‘citizen-soldier’ is often used represent this ideal). It is clear that, at least for the United States, the current realization of this is less than ideal. The endless pressure to ‘re-up‘ (or for folks to be stop-lossed) hardly help.

But encouraging soldiers (or people in everyday civilian life; we’ll come back to that in the last post in this series) to identify as warriors – individual, self-motivated combatants whose entire identity is bound up in the practice of war – does real harm to the actual goal of keeping the cultural divide between soldiers and civilians as small as possible. Observers both within the military and without have been shouting the alarm on this point for some time now, but the heroic allure of the warrior remains strong.

...But as I noted above, we’ve discussed on this blog already a lot of different military social structures (mounted aristocrats in France and Arabia, the theme and fyrd systems, the Spartans themselves, and so on). And they are very different and produce armies – because societies cannot help but replicate their own peacetime social order on the battlefield – that are organized differently, value different things and as a consequence fight differently. But focusing on (fictitious) ‘universal warriors’ also obscures another complex set of relationships to war and warfare: all of the civilians.

When we talk about the impact of war on civilians, the mind quite naturally turns to the civilian victims of war – sacked cities, enslaved captives, murdered non-combatants – and of course their experience is part of war too. But even in a war somehow fought entirely in an empty field between two communities (which, to be clear, no actual war even slightly resembles this ‘Platonic’ ideal war; there is a tendency to romanticize certain periods of military history, particularly European military history, this way, but it wasn’t so), it would still shape the lives of all of the non-combatants in that society (this is the key insight of the ‘war and society’ school of military history).

To take just my own specialty, warfare in the Middle Roman Republic wasn’t simply a matter for the soldiery, even when the wars were fought outside of Italy (which they weren’t always kept outside!). The demand for conscripts to fill the legions bent and molded Roman family patterns, influencing marriage and child-bearing patterns for both men and women. With so many of the males of society processed through the military, the values of the army became the values of society not only for the men but also for women as well. Women in these societies did not consider themselves uninterested bystanders in these conflicts: by and large they had a side and were on that side, supporting the war effort by whatever means.

And even in late-third and early-second century (BC) Rome, with its absolutely vast military deployments, the majority of men (and all of the women) were still on the ‘homefront’ at any given time, farming the food, paying the taxes, making the armor and weapons and generally doing the tasks that allowed the war machine to function, often in situations of considerable hardship. And in the end – though the exact mechanisms remain the subject of debate – it is clear that the results of Rome’s victory induced significant economic instability, which was also a part of the experience of war.

In short, warriors were not the only people who mattered in war. The wartime social role of a warrior was not only different from that of a soldier, it was different than that of the working peasant forced to pay heavy taxes, or to provide Corvée labor to the army. It was different from the woman whose husband went off to war, or whose son did, or who had to keep up her farm and pay the taxes while they did so. It was different for the aristocrat than for the peasant, for the artisan than for the farmer. Different for the child than for the adult.

And yet for a complex society (one with significant specialization of labor) to wage war efficiently, all of these roles were necessary. To focus on only the warrior (or the soldier) as the sole interesting relationship in warfare is to erase the indispensable contributions made by all of these folks, without which the combatant could not combat.

It would be worse yet, of course, to suggest that the role of the warrior is somehow morally superior to these other roles (something Pressfield does explicitly, I might add, comparing ‘decadent’ modern society to supposedly superior ‘warrior societies’ in his opening videos). To do so with reference to our modern professional militaries is to invite disastrous civil-military failure. To suggest, more deeply, that everyone ought to be in some sense a ‘warrior’ in their own occupation sounds better, but – as we’ll see in the last essay of this series – leads to equally dark places.

A modern, free society has no need for warriors; the warrior is almost wholly inimical to a free society if that society has a significant degree of labor specialization (and thus full-time civilian specialists). It needs citizens, some of whom must be, at any time, soldiers but who must never stop being citizens both when in uniform and afterwards.”

- Bret Devereaux, “The Universal Warrior, Part I: Soldiers, Warriors, and…”

[famous-aces]

Zenobia of Palmyra

Who: Septimia Zenobia Augusta (born Septimia Btzby [Bat-Zabbai], changed it to Septimia Zenobia, the name I gave as her "full name" is the name she chose as her regnal name. The name "Zenobia" basically means "child of Zeus" so just by meeting her she made her divine origins and importance clear.)

What: Empress

Where: Palmyrene (modern day Syria, potentially Arabic, Aramean, or Jewish. Active throughout the Middle East and Turkey)

When: c. 240 CE - c. 274 CE

[Image Description: coins from Emesa (now Ḥimṣ, Syria) from 272 CE. The front of the coin shows shows a portrait of Zenobia from the shoulders-up, surrounded by Greek letters.  She has a stern sharp profile with a long large nose and round chin. She has extremely curly hair that seems to be braided in the back. She is wearing a diadem. On the left (the back of the coin) it shows a full body portrait of the goddess Juno is holding a scepter.  She has her peacock and a star beside her There are more Greek letters around her. End ID] 

The coolest conqueror you have never heard of.  The asexual Alexander the Great. Warrior queen. Rebel against Rome.  Badass. In under two years Zenobia swept through the Roman East, took over, and set up her high culture court, a place where diversity and intellectualism were highly valued.

Zenobia came onto the historical stage as queen consort to the Ras Odaenathus. But then he was until assassinated, at which point his throne passed to their son, Vaballathus. Vaballathus was too young for the crown so Zenobia was appointed regent. And she pretty much took over. She had big plans for the Palmyrene Empire.

This is going to be a longish bio, like with Bessie Coleman and Joan of Arc I have been totally taken in by Zenobia's story. And I had never heard of her before a follower recommended looking into her! (Thank you whoever you were!  I didn't write down your name I am so sorry!) 

Zenobia's origins are extremely mysterious and there are a bunch of different versions of her story. She has fascinated people since her lifetime. Many different cultures, historians, and writers have given her bio/life their own unique cultural quirks. Plus there's the whole being an enemy of Rome thing, that never ends well for your legacy. I am going to try to stick to the facts rather than the legend, either the one attributed to her or the one she concocted for herself (she was very good at propaganda, too).

She has been linked to Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba, but probably wasn't related to either of them.  She was the one who claimed to be descended from the Ptolemaic dynasty, specifically Cleopatra, of course. But odds are not even she actually believed it. The claim was a political maneuver to make her Egypian takeover look legitimate, she was a ruler coming home rather than an invader. Her actual ethnicity/ancestry is unknown. All of the ethnicities I mentioned -- Jewish, Arabic, Aramean -- have all been floated by various scholars over the centuries.

We don't even know what she looked like, really. The images that remain are idealized portraiture from her own coins. No statues or portraits have survived, potentially destroyed by the Romans. Everything else has been made long after the fact. She has been adopted as a patriotic symbol of Syria and was used as a symbol of Syrian and Arabic pride, she has been made both valiant hero and tragic damsel in the West, some say she was an idol of Catherine the Great, thanks to Egyptian magazines in the early 20th century she has become the quintessential female ruler. Some describe her as unbelievably beautiful, others describe her as a mannish tomboy. She is sometimes described as stereotypically emperor than empress in behavior, which really just means she was a very good ruler because women were supposed to be too frivolous and stupid for the crown.

[Image Description: a S£500 note from 1998. It has a green creasant on one side and a profile portrait of Zenobia on the other. She is shown with a long straight nose, curly hair pinned up, a square chin, wearing a diadem and a robe. There is a faded drawing of ruins in the middle. The bill is mostly in a green pallet. End ID]

But, what follows is the most likely story.

She was a well educated polyglot, highly intellectual, enjoyed hunting, and was probably of some noble origin, especially if she had those hobbies before marrying Odaenathus. She was apparently also fond of wrestling, less high class than the hunting thing. We know little about her family aside from the fact that she was the result of a second marriage. During this time she is often described as taking part in more male activities, like the aforementioned hunting and wrestling against boys, as well as enjoying a far better education than most, which seems reflected in her rule.

As a teenager she became the second wife of Odaenathus marrying him around 255.  Odaenathus was a loyal subordinate of Rome, and was created King of Kings and Corrector Totius Orientis (Governor of All the East) by the Roman Empire in addition to his royal titles within his own domain. He went to battle for Rome, and although the record on Zenobia is vague, at this point there are accounts that she joined her husband on campaign where she became familiar with the troops.  This friendly relationship would help her later on when she took command. It would also mean she was knowledgeable of battle and strategy and familiar with the battlefield.

Ultimately in 267 her husband and his elder son (from his previous marriage) while away from the capital. The story goes that within the day the crown went to Zenobia and Odaenathus's 10-year-old son, Vaballathus. The fact it happened so quickly would suggest she was nearby, helping her husband on the battlefield. Zenobia had no objections to her son being King and she herself remaining Queen Mother/Regent, but his title was nominal, she was the power behind the throne and everyone knew it.

She was a huge fan/patron of the arts, learning, and philosophy. Her court was one of high culture and discussion.  Zenobia was a fair and tolerant ruler, she maintained a steady, stable, and safe multi-religious, multiethnic, and multicultural kingdom and eventually that extended to her Empire. This included protections for minorities, religious or otherwise. The leaders she interacted with never objected to or were hostile toward her person, reign, rule, or court. People, including the military and her governors, liked and/or trusted her.  Any complaint about her reign comes from later sources. 

In 269 Vaballathus got the title of Persicus Maximus (Victor of Persia), implying a military victory there (certainly actually Zenobia's since the "King" was only 12 at the time and she was well known as a strategic mind, she may have even marched with her troops). And that was the beginning of the end of Zenobia's Roman loyalty.  That year she began expanding out of Vaballathus's allotted lands and into Roman territory. She wouldn't formally secede for quite some time, but she started attacking the Hell out of the fringes of the Roman Empire and Zenbodia had made it increasingly clear to her Roman connections in the East they would need to pick a side (ahem, hers) even before her campaign began.

Rome was, at the time, stretched thin and weakening.  The Emperor was fighting off Germanic threats in Italy and the Balkans, closer to the Roman center. Her reasons for ultimately just going for it in 269 are not really recorded. Or a lot of them have been put forward. It may have been she wanted more direct control over the lands she had been promised. It may have been that she felt encroached upon and undermined by Rome. It may have been concern for her country's trade routes as Rome made diplomacy sticky.  It may have been that she saw the Pax Romana weakening as the centralized Roman authority did. In the absence of direct Roman leadership she wanted to keep the region stable and prosperous. 

In the spring of 270 she marched into Provincia Arabia (Rome's Arabic Province). Between 270 and 272 she took over much of the Roman East with domains extending from Palmyra up to Antioch (Ankara, Turkey), over to Dura-Europos (Salhiyé, Syria), down to Mada'in Salih (Al-`Ula, Saudi Arabia), over to Centralish Egypt, down to the Red Sea. This encompassed important historical cities such as Aleppo, Tyre, Tripoli, Jerusalem, Petra, Memphis, Alexandria, and Baranis.  Really, conquest was a matter of months. A little over a year after she entered the Provincia Arabia, in August 271, the year was counted as "Vaballathus V" all the way in Alexandria, Egypt. In a year she had taken over most of the Roman East through brilliant military strategy, loyal followers, and a well implemented propaganda campaign.

[Image Description: the Palmyrene Empire at its height. End ID]

It was also in August of 271 that she started printing coins with her face on them throughout her Empire and she began using the title of Empresses, including adding on some Roman titles she hadn't been given. This was very open rebellion and Rome wouldn't ignore her anymore. The fairly newly crowned Emperor Aurelian had settled things enough in the West that he could afford to turn his full attention to the Empress in the East. Now, fresh from military victories of his own, Autelian marched the full might of Rome Eastward.

Faced with one of the largest and best trained armies in the ancient world, plus Rome's many loyal subordinates, it is unsurprising her Empire fell as quickly as it rose.  

In May 272 she was defeated at Emesa. She had been on that battlefield leading her troops, away from the capital, but managed to escape to it. This was the beginning of the end, however, the Romans marched on Palmyra, but Zenobia had prepared for the siege. After negotiations broke down she and Vaballathus snuck out of the city and attempted to escape to Persia to try to assemble some kind of alliance. She didn't get that far. A year after she declared herself Empress, August 272, she was in Roman captivity.

Her fate is told a few different ways from there.  She may have killed herself enroute to Rome so her captors would not be able to do what Romans always did, publicly display and humiliate her.  She may have been taken to Rome, displayed as a traitor, marched through the streets, and humiliated. From there she was either executed by the Romans or married a Roman nobleman, retiring to a villa with an as of that point unrecorded daughter. 

Her most likely end is probably the most tragic one: humiliated in Rome and then executed. It is unlikely Emperor Aurelian would have allowed her to live seeing as she committed treason, unlikely she would have married one of her captors, unlikely she had this random daughter only mentioned in this epilogue. Also damning, she doesn't turn up in the record again. Her son, Vaballathus, the only one of her children we know existed, also disappears from the record in 274, which doesn't look good for either of them. Although Aurelian occasionally went easy on his opponents, allowing them to survive in defeat and humiliation, considering that he completely obliterated Palmyra -- razing the holy sites, smashing government buildings, burning it to the ground, and literally massacring civilians -- odds are he was similarly unkind to its leaders. So, while her fate is unknown, my bet is that Zenobia and Vaballathus were executed or at least imprisoned. 

[Image Description: Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra by Harriet Hosmer (you may remember her as one of the artists Edomonia Lewis hung out with), carved after 1859. It is a marble bust showing a woman with a stern expression, maybe a little judging. She wears a crown and her hair is mostly pulled back except for two strands hanging down her shoulders. She wears a robe. Her features are definitely too Caucasian given her actual ancestry but this is unfortunately largely the case. Any ancient images of her besides her coins were destroyed. End ID.] 

Probable Orientation: Asexual (unknown romantic orientation) 

Zenobia's story has been told over and over and over again through the centuries from many different perspectives, many of them telling us as much about the historian's society as it does about Zenobia. There is one thing that remains consistent however, Zenobia didn't have much sex. Likewise Zenobia was a propagandist. She crafted her image. She could be anything, but that one detail stood out enough that everyone takes note of it.

We don't know her ancestry. We do know she avoided sex whenever possible.

She did get married, this is obviously true, but she was a noble. As I expounded upon with Elizabeth I nobility has obligations and this stretches back to the establishment of an aristocracy. If your continued power relies on blood relationships, making a baby is vital. Even if she wasn't a noble before marriage she was wanted by a monarch, that is not something anyone could turn down. If she wanted more power or authority marrying a king is a great way to do it and that means babies. 

But it was said at the time and onward that she had no interest in sex. She kept her room separate from his. After marrying she said she would only sleep with her husband for procreation, some say that she only had as much sex as she did children, which may be as few as once.

There are some who say she had other kids, but we only know one of them for sure, Vaballathus. Some other kids have been attributed to her because they have no recorded mother others, like that daughter who supposedly integrated into Rome, exist in only one account and may have been fabricated. There are modern historians who argue that her chastity is just sexism, robbing powerful women of sexuality. I would argue that is just aphobia. An allosexual woman is not more powerful than an ace one and the historical record is consistent on her disdain for sex. Some say this may have been for propaganda's sake, but I don't see any evidence of that. It seems she really just didn't want to have sex. Many male historians have turned it into a focal point. People refuse to just allow her to be ace, there must be some reason, some point to it.

Once she took over she ruled alone. It doesn't seem she was looking for anyone to rule with her nor did she have anyone on the side. No Antony to her Cleopatra.

"She would not even know her own husband, except for the purpose of conception. For when she had lain with him, she would refrain until the time of the month to see if she was pregnant; if not she would again grant an opportunity of begetting children."

-Trebellius Pollio

[image description: Queen Zenobia Addressing Her Soldiers by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo c.1725. A bright painting showing (again a very white) Zenobia on the battlefield and in armor directing her troops who listen intently. End ID]

[atlantic-riona]

some thoughts below that may potentially contain spoilers for The Raven’s Return, but I just need to write them out for clarity’s sake

I’m starting to think that maybe I’m stuck on the next chapter of The Raven’s Return because I need to do some major rewrites and worldbuilding. When I first started writing the story as it is now (the third version I think?), I envisioned it as a murder mystery set in a fantasy world, but over time I’ve been moving away from the murder mystery and focusing on other storylines. There’s still a murder, but it’s no longer as important to the story as it used to be. I also really really really hate the timing of the first five chapters--the time constraints and distance between the characters annoy me, because I’ve established that realistically it would take the nin Roys about three days walking to get from their village to the city, which means that either I have to do time jumps in between different characters’ chapters (which I really don’t want to do because as a reader I would find that incredibly confusing if done multiple times in a row--once or twice is fine, but not every other chapter), or the flow of the story is odd, because I’d have to stick with Cait and Lucan’s perspective for several chapters when the story needs to see what Bran and the others are up to.

I don’t think I need to do a total rewrite and scrap everything, as I quite like the majority of the chapters in terms of content. The only chapter I don’t like is Chapter One, because it feels very disjointed to me. That’s probably because I wrote the first part of it (the bit with Ferhon) for a writing class a year ago, when I had a very different plan for the story, and then added other scenes as I needed to.

I’d like to do some sort of outline for the story, but there’s a couple problems with that. First, whenever I outline something in great detail, I almost...lose interest in it? Like my brain thinks that because I outlined something I don’t need to actually flesh it out. It’s weird. Second, if I outline something very briefly, it...doesn’t work. I always end up doing something radically different by like the second bullet point, so the rest of the outline is kind of useless.

But I feel like I need an outline!! I need something to write towards. I used to have an ending in mind, but my plans have changed so much I don’t really think that ending works anymore.

In terms of worldbuilding I think I might need to elaborate on the history of the Valaviri and Falians more, because that keeps cropping up. Also I need to establish the more physical aspects of the culture (clothing, buildings, etc.) much more. And I haven’t been able to decide how literate either population is or what languages they speak. I was toying with having the Falians speak both Falian and Valaviri, but I’m not sure how or if that would work. For the languages themselves, I’m torn between just using Latin and Irish (at least for now) because that’s easier for me to write and plan with than it would be to come up with made-up languages that are similar to both of those. I think I might do that, because I’m definitely not Tolkien. Languages are interesting to me, especially in how they influence culture/history, but I’m nowhere near skilled enough to come up with a workable language on my own. I also just don’t want to get caught up in grammar and evolution of language and all that.

I also definitely need to expand upon the religions of both the Valaviri and the Falians. I was trying to go for a Greek/Roman type pantheon for the Valaviri, with the Roman focus on virtue, but I’m not sure how the religion itself affects the daily lives of the Valaviri. Do people actually believe in them or do they only pay them lip service? There are accounts of Greeks (Romans too, I think) who questioned the gods‘ existence, and I feel like it might tie into the theme of decadence and laziness that I have going on with the Valaviri Empire.

Speaking of, I don’t know if I want to use “empire” for the Valaviri, because it seems really cliche (the evil empire trope, etc., even though I was going to explore how it was both good and bad). Originally I was going to call it the Principate, which is what the Roman Empire was called during the time when it was still trying to appear as a republic. The problem with Latin and Roman stuff, though, is that it’s really recognizable and kind of overdone. This whole story came into being because of the concept of Ireland and Rome interacting and setting off an alternate history of sorts (which I’ve since altered to fit the fantasy world), so I do want to keep those two countries the primary source of inspiration. But I also don’t want the world to seem like it’s just a copy of ours...

The Falian religion gives me so much trouble. In the second version of the story, it was more of a Narnia-type tale where the nin Roys had come to our world and then went back. They ended up converting to Catholicism while here, and then continued to practice it once in Falia. It influenced their character arcs a lot, so I had a really hard time over replacing it. I settled on having the Falians worship “The Highest” (as in the Highest of Kings--God), which worked because of their historical High King. I was going to have their first king be chosen by the Highest; his name would be Cyr (like Kyrios (Greek for Lord), which, according to Webster’s Dictionary is apparently like Old Irish caur (meaning hero)). He would be chosen because he was the worthiest to rule (virtuous, etc.), and from that would come the custom of choosing High Kings based on behavior and character, rather than descent/family (although from time to time the latter would happen). But I kind of want to incorporate more Irish/Welsh mythology into it...however, I’m leery of either destroying the Christian element or of making it too similar to actual mythology.

I also want to change up some of the characters and their appearances/roles, like Bella and Marcus. I might have to end up dropping Mel, because she was important to the murder mystery plot, but with that getting discarded, she isn’t needed anymore. I also adore Soaig and Piran, but I have so many characters to keep track of; they might end up becoming much more minor characters than I planned at first.

Basically, I feel like I have to rewrite a lot, figure out where I’m going, and work out more worldbuilding details before I can keep going. And I’m willing to do that, but...*sigh* I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to. Rereading what I’ve written here, however, I do think that I have to go back and figure out a plan/redo some of it.

[ravenbell-exchange]

Here come the prompts!

These are for all of us to use, so please feel free to peruse, reblog, explore, comment, and be generally delightful. Everyone will be receiving their assigned prompts later today, but remember that we are writing two stories each: one from the assigned prompts, and one from this list. You are free to pick anything apart from stuff you yourself prompted. All Dear Author letters that were published before now are linked below, but please do check the prompter’s blog just in case -- they might’ve posted a letter later on.

If you didn’t sign up for this challenge, but want to use any of the prompts below to write a fic -- go for it! As long as you make sure to credit where you got the prompt from, you are very welcome to play with us.

Now, without further ado:

1.

Url: @raiindust​

Dear Author letter: here

Prompt 1: ❝We won’t ever be holy, or galaxies or whatever else I’ve ever fucking written about. We are built upon too many ruins, but my god, some ruins are known as wonders of the world. And you’re mine.❞ Source: here Raven + Bellamy + at the edge of the world: setting off with a group on a post-apocalyptic road trip. Stumbling across a long abandoned city; deciding that it’s as good a place as any to begin anew.

Prompt 2: Raven + Bellamy + Grounder Alliance: Raven and Bell are chosen as emissaries of Skaikru to help develop relationships with the various Grounder clans, and spend the better part of (insert your preference of period of time here) moving and living between one, two or multiple clans.

Prompt 3: ❝You’re the girl I want to be slow dancing with at 2AM in my kitchen.❞ Source: here

Raven + Bellamy + things you said to me at 2AM: canon compliant, canon divergence, modern au. Raven and Bellamy have a lot of things to say, so why not say them to each other in the dead of night, when things are still.

Prompt 4: Raven + Bellamy + Modern AU.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Unnecessary angst, torture or heaping of awful things onto individual characters (so basically canon for my ray of sunshine Raven Reyes) is absolutely not a thing I want to see, hear and especially read. A light sprinkling of personal angst is absolutely fine, but anything more than a tablespoon and it hurts my soul. So character death is pretty much off the table as well.

Also: I tend to stay away from super heavy kinks, or anything that isn’t moderate smut then fade to black. Despite my issues with canon representations of these things, devaluing Octavia’s relationship to Bellamy, or Finn’s importance to Raven as a person are also things I don’t like to see. That being said, if your plot doesn’t call for it, also don’t feel the need to throw it in there for the sake of it.

2.

Url: @finnicks​

Dear Author letter: here

Prompt 1: i thought this time last year i'd be dead.

Prompt 2: you had so much to give, you thought I couldn’t see.

Prompt 3: here 

Prompt 4: shy

Prompt 5: i just want to stay here with you

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Super heavy kinks. Smut for the sake of smut. Character bashing - it's a little unnecessary. Ship bashing. Would prefer it if it's pure Raven/Bellamy, and if any side ships are merely sides/mentions. No AUs where they're in the modern world; I prefer it if it's an AU on canon. First person or second person.

Also: I've seen all seasons of the show, so I'm okay with any requests that point out a specific season.

3.

Url: @wells-jaha​

Dear Author letter: here

Prompt 1: An intimacy

had grown between us

like a forest around a castle.

- Louise Glück, excerpt of The Sword in the Stone

(taken from here)

Prompt 2: (Art) Heist AU

What I kind of want (a few examples):

1) In which Raven and her gang have been part of a series of heists all over the continent and Bellamy is the private detective/ police detective (if you really want to) set out to stop their next possible heist. But maybe he's impressed, maybe a little into her? Who knows!

2) In which Raven and Bellamy are part of different rival heist groups both set on the same object, naturally that means that they will clash somehow.

These are of course only examples, you can do whatever you want. It doesn't even have to be an art heist. I'm however kind of set on Bellamy and Raven being on different sides for this, so that it (hopefully) turn into to nice frenemy making out stuff.

Prompt 3: And we fall through empty corridors

And we talk in useless metaphors

(Only cause we're lonley)

A Vague Prompt around the topic/theme Friends with Benefits with Ben Howard's Empty Corridors (Youtube Link Here) as inspiration. Can be canon compliant, doesn't have to be.

Prompt 4: Something about longing, about being in love, but never finding the right words, about circling each other for years and years, always missing the right time, always having the courage in the moment the other is in a relationship or not there. A horrible dance, Bellamy and Raven are caught in.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: daddy kink, gruesome death scenes, gore, a successful suicide

Also: my fandom blog is named wells-jaha, so guess which character I would like to see a) living b) as a friend/former partner of Bellamy or Raven?

i'm fine with Octavia being in the fanfiction, but either revise the whole character (make her like season 1) or deal critical with her actions.

I'm fine with a lot of stuff, but would prefer if the writer could tag: abuse, self harm, suicide, alcoholism (note: only use if a character has an alcohol problem, not if characters just drink alcohol)

4.

Url: @kinselllas​

Prompt 1: Raven's on a date waiting for Finn, and he takes so long to show up, Bellamy ends up sliding into his seat to take over so she doesn't feel stood up (could be taken in a few directions)

Prompt 2: Bellamy and Raven reunite at a wedding, slow dance, admit that maybe...deep down...there's always been something ;)

Prompt 3: Pre-series/Season 1 AU- Bellamy is the person Raven comes to the ground for.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: N/A

5.

Url: @ravenbells​

Dear Author Letter: here

Prompt 1: Modern AU with a proper millennial vibe. Think debt, lack of stability and shit jobs, but also strong political opinions, easy access to sex ed, social media. Let them negotiate boundaries, use sex toys, struggle with navigating both commitment and casual sex, change jobs and houses all the time. Obviously I’d like Bellamy and Raven to be front and center, but if you want to make them function within a group of family/friends (Octavia, Monty, Miller, Harper, Lincoln, whoever else you please), be my guest.

Prompt 2: The Ancient Rome AU I Deserve. I don’t really care how you place them. Republic? Early Empire? Late Empire? I am not the boss of you. Just let them be Romans.

Prompt 3: Canon-verse. Bellamy thinks of his body as a shield.

Prompt 4: Bellamy and Raven agree to have a casual, no-strings-attached relationship, except they both catch feelings embarrassingly quickly. You can make this canon or modern, I don’t really mind.

Prompt 5:  Canon-verse. Anything exploring parenthood. It can be a pregnancy scare, or an actual baby, or maybe just a conversation about sex/contraception that turns into Bellamy and Raven discussing their options.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Overly sugary view on parenthood; major character death; erasing Raven's disability.

Also: I have only seen the first 2 seasons, please have mercy on me.

6.

Url: @tentaclabia​  (shortitude on AO3)

Dear Author Letter: here

Prompt 1: (canon-ish) The one where they keep cuddling each other for no good reason, just casually in a snuggle pile talking about life and the future or the past, or just sleeping. Casual contact, casual offerings of comfort, and of course they mean so much more.

Prompt 2: (future!au or canon-deviation!au) There is a unanimous decision to explore more land, so it's Bellamy and Raven in a car, on a roadtrip, being at peace and exploring and feeding their curiosity and feeling free and happy. Also in  love.

Prompt 3: (once-upon-a-canon) The one where they talk about the elephant in the room: that time they had sex. (And how they'd totally do it again.)

Prompt 4: (the trashiest prompt) Raven is convinced that Bellamy has feelings for Clarke and is determined not to let history repeat herself when it comes to love. Bellamy is just confused and wonders how much more can he do save for write 'RAVEN REYES PLEASE LOVE ME' on his forehead for her to notice just who he's really pining for.

Prompt 5: (canon reinterpretation) Season 5, except Raven and Bellamy have been together for 4 and a half years and there's nothing that can tear them apart. Alternatively, what season 5 would look like, if they were.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: death. angst over death of parental figure (please don't). trauma and exploitation of trauma. torture. unhappy endings.

Also: I haven't mentioned it, but it goes without saying that I will be glad for all and any smutty content :)

 7.

Url: veritykims (twitter)

Prompt 1: Thieves AU: Any AU where Bell and Raven are both thieves of some kind (con artists, burglars, hackers, pickpockets). Favorites include Robin-Hood type criminals (think Leverage) and rivals trying to steal the same thing/con the same person (think Imposters); but any take is cool. I would absolutely love to see this set aboard the Ark in the canon verse, but other settings are cool too.

Prompt 2: Android AU: Any AU where Bell and/or Raven is an android! Contemporary settings are cool, but so is futurism. I would really like to see this as a canon divergency too, given that ALIE sort of gives us the basis for self-aware AIs. Up to you!

Prompt 3: Reincarnation AU: Any AU where Bell and Raven keep meeting across lifetimes. I really like the variation where one of the two is immortal for some reason (vampire, robot, demon, deity, etc.) and the other is either a human or a mortal supernatural creature; so that’s a safe bet; but I’m sure to love any take on this.

Prompt 4: Pirates AU: Historical pirates! Anything will be cool, but I’m a big fan of Raven as either Captain or Quartermaster, and Bell as an ex-navy soldier who heavily resents the Empire.

Prompt 5:  Other prompts (I can’t post a Dear Author so bear with me): Modern Holmes/Elementary AU. Professors at the same college AU. Queen Of The South AU. Any vigilante/superhero AU. Pride and Prejudice AU. Space pirates/space bounty hunters AU. Pacific Rim AU.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: No pregnancy or babies, but I’m cool with adopted children and teens. No AUs that erase Raven’s disability. No canon-compliant fic that portrays the Griffins, Octavia, Murphy or Finn in positive light (I would much rather they just don’t exist, at any rate). No abuse, no assault, no rape.

Also: I don’t mind canon compliant fic, but I haven’t watched in a couple seasons, so I only really know the characters and plots for s1, s2 and part of s3. I love Nathan, Wells, and Monty; as well as Lincoln, Jaha, Kane, Indra, Anya, Sinclair, Gina, Harper and Monroe; and I love seeing them integrated into stories. Big fan of Bell/Nathan and Bell/Wells as well as Bell/Wells/Raven and Gina/Raven/Bell, so if you wanna go for polya… And, JSYK, explicit stories are more than welcome!

8.

Url: @growlereish

Dear Author Letter: here

Prompt 1: gina/bellamy/raven - gina and bellamy are dating. raven is pining for both of them, but unbeknownst to her they're both also in love with her! somehow they all work this out and get together.

Prompt 2: bellamy/raven - post-breakup, learning how to be friends again.

Prompt 3: bellamy/raven - virgin!bellamy enlists his best friend raven to experiment with this whole sex thing. casually. but then both of them catch feelings.

Prompt 4: bellamy/raven - marriage of convenience which they are both determined will stay platonic. of course, it does not.

Prompt 5:  bellamy/raven - doing fun activities together and enjoying their life and being happy!! some sadness is also okay but i just want my kids to have a Good Day for once in their lives.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: kidfic, pregnancy, power imbalances

Also: pls warn for self-harm and coming out stories involving parents

9.

Url: @icouldnotsee

Prompt 1: Bellamy and/or Raven in political office, whether this be in a monarchy or a democracy. Bonus if there's a coup (that they're the subject of or that they're behind). Also bonus if one or both weren't expecting to be in power, but they were runner-up to someone else  and now are thrust into that position and must find their footing.

Prompt 2: Telepathy, where after getting sick with the disease that the Grounders sent to the 100 through Murphy, Bellamy develops the ability to hear thoughts but he can't hear Raven's. Of course, that's just the version of it that came to my mind, but anything with mind reading/telepathy is cool with me, canon or AU, any set up or situation.

Prompt 3: They meet in the Ark, either really young, after Bellamy becomes a guard, after Finn takes the fall for Raven's spacewalk, or after Bellamy's a janitor.

Prompt 4: Hurt/Comfort. I have no other specifications on this one, I just really love that trope.

Prompt 5: Angel/demon or angel/human or human/demon or angel/angel or demon/demon stuff! I love seeing that in stories and it'd be cool to see interactions with creatures beyond humanity.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: I'm rather not receive smut beyond it being implied. Also, I really would not like to see any infidelity or character bashing in the fic I receive.

Also: No nsfw content.

10.

Url: @laufire

Dear Author Letter: here

Prompt 1: Braven + Mythology AU. Specially if they’re still humans who get mixed up in some Gods Drama™

Prompt 2: Raven + her love for science. Preferably canon-verse. Can be gen or shippy.

Prompt 3: Braven Historical AU of your choosing.

Prompt 4: Post-s4 canon divergence: all the sex in space. Zero-G sex, kinky sex, healing emotional sex. Just. Sex.

Prompt 5:  Bellamy/Raven/Shaw – Canon Divergent AU: Different First Meeting (as in, Shaw meets Braven/the Space7 in a different way).

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Clarke written in any positive way. I don’t want them cheating on other people (poly ships are more than fine). Any rating works for me. No watersports, humiliation. I’m not really into Modern AUs or Soulmate AUs. And PLEASE don't erase Raven's disability.

11.

Url: @maybenowforeverlate

Prompt 1: Bellamy admiring Raven In Space. Raven on earth was already incredible, and that was her adapting to a new environment. but the environment she's from? in her fucking element??? i'm into it and so is Bellamy.  competence. kink.  

Prompt 2: "She could not remember, now, ever, feeling happy or sad. Only hungry. Only empty, and greedy, and insatiable. "

(Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless)

Raven centric, canon or AU.

Prompt 3: Raven being subtle about taking care of Bellamy. prefer a loose canon-verse, but can be modern AU or any type of AU.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: I do not know what's happening in the most recent season, and I would prefer any canon-verse/divergence to be from before Bellamy and co get back to Earth w/Raven in space.

12.

Url: @becketted

Prompt 1: The 100 are sent down to the ground but in batches of people, rather than all at the same time, Bellamy is among the first to go to earth, Raven among the last ones. When she arrives Bellamy is the one who has to show her the ropes on how earth and the Grounders work, he geeks out about both the plants/animals stuff and the bits of earth history he's discovered (so different from what they teach in the Ark!), while Raven uses her skills to help everybody face the structural challenges of living on the ground, Bellamy admires a lot, they fall in love, etc.

Prompt 2: 1960s AU where Raven is a mechanic and the Space Race inspires her to become an astronaut, her trials to become one, etc. Bellamy can be a geek working at NASA (national security staff?), a journalist covering Raven's amazing career, her supporting boyfriend, I don't mind, I just want Raven as a 1960s/70s astronaut. It doesn't have to be a super detailed AU, just the flavor of the era would do.

Prompt 3: Arranged marriage/marriage by lottery. It can be on the ground or in the Ark, I don't care, I just love this trope a lot, I just want them awkwardly sharing a bed and pining a lot.

Prompt 4: Pirates AU, because who doesn't want that? (Historical, but space pirates are okay too, as long as Raven and Bellamy do some swashbuckling)

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Pregnancy. Anything that involves Murphy in a positive light (Murphy being in the fic is fine, as long as the portrayal is negative). I will not read/write Kane/Abby stuff. Other characters are fine.

Also: I'm very partial to stories about the Grounders (both reading and writing them), they're my faves.

13.

Url: chll51 (AO3)

Prompt 1: It can be canon compliance or not but just something to do with this quote:

"I think we deserve a soft epilogue, my love. We are good people and we've suffered enough."

Prompt 2: modern AU: First day at a new job and the boss is Bellamy, who Raven has Hooked up with the night prior.

Prompt 3: high school reunion: need a date.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: I don't care much for smut but if it's fit with the story then sure. also, I have vanilla taste so I guess keep it like that.

[dailyaudiobible]

07/12/2021

1 Chronicles 12:19-14:17, Romans 1:1-17, Psalm 9:13-20, Proverbs 19:4-5

Today is the 12th day of July, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we get going in our new work week and actually we have new territory. We finish the Book of Acts yesterday. So, when we get to the New Testament portion we’ll be moving into totally new category and so we'll talk about when we get there but first we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week, 1 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 19 through 14 verse 17.

Introduction to Romans:

Okay, so as I mentioned at the beginning, we concluded the Book of Acts yesterday. Acts is generally thought of as New Testament history and so in concluding the Book of Acts yesterday we earned our New Testament history badge for kind of keeping track in the Daily Audio Bible app. And so, now we’re moving into some new territory. We left the Book of Acts with Paul arriving in Rome. And so, the last part of the Book of Acts we were really right alongside the Apostle Paul, as he journeyed around and all the controversies that arose in his travels around the Roman Empire bringing the good news of the gospel. We went to Jerusalem and we saw him get arrested and we saw the appeal to Caesar and so he's sailed to Rome and that's the end of the Book of Acts. We will spend the next generous portion of our time through the year here working through the letters that Paul wrote that have been preserved that Paul had sent directly to different churches that had been established to encourage and instruct them. And what we need to understand is yes, currently at the moment we are reading the New Testament and these letters are included in the New Testament of the Bible. But when these letters were written there wasn't a New Testament to include them in. And so, these letters were copied and passed around from church to church. Descriptions of early church would be to sing a hymn to have a meal together to maybe read from the prophets or to read from the law from the Mosaic law, the law and the prophets. Or to read the Chronicles of the apostles or to read some of these letters and over time they were collected together and now we have them in the New Testament so we’ll be spending time in Paul's letters. He's not the only one that wrote letters that ended up in the New Testament but Paul's letters, they are grouped together and we’re gonna move through them at once. And another thing to understand is that we've read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we've read the Gospels, that's how we got going, that's where we spent the first half of our year in the Gospels. These letters though, were written before the Gospels were written and so, these letters some of them are the earliest Christian writings that exist. So, today were going to move into the book of Romans and this is the first, like I said, many of the letters that Paul wrote in the New Testament. But this is the first one that we’re coming to and most scholars agree this is like the crown jewel, this is the very comprehensive work that provides an incredible amount of our theological understanding of Jesus and his work and what it represents. This letter was probably written from the city of Corinth where the Corinthians were, some of Paul's strongest missionary work was performed in Corinth and so this was probably written from there, probably somewhere in the mid-50s. And I don’t mean like the 1550s or the 1950s, I mean like the 50s like the 0050 length of 50s. And this is one of the more lengthy letters of Paul. And so, when he finished it, at least according to the book of Romans, he sent a Deaconess, her name was Phoebe, to hand deliver the letter. Phoebe was from the church Incontraia and that was like a suburb of Corinth. In this case Paul is sending a letter to the church in Rome. But this is not, Paul had never been to Rome so he didn't plant the church in Rome and nobody really knows who did or how the gospel made its way to Rome other, we remember that Stephen was stoned and then people began to run. People began to spread out looking for freedom in a peaceful way to live and to avoid, kind of, marginalization and persecution. And so, you know, a likely scenario, probably the likely scenario is it, that's how the gospel got to Rome, somebody or group of people who had been present with what the Holy Spirit was doing at Pentecost and in the church in Jerusalem, ended up carrying the message back to Rome and eventually a church was established there. So, Paul was a naturally born Roman citizen. He hadn't been to Rome but he was looking forward to it. We know the story, he went to Jerusalem, got arrested and then made his way to Rome as a prisoner and we’ve watched all that and we’ve watched you know, the Sanhedrin, against Paul plan to assassinate, assassination plots are unearthed, and Paul is rescued and saved in we've seen the difference between the Sadducees and the Pharisees when Paul has addressed them. We've seen all that's coming against Paul everywhere he goes, like he can't really hardly get to a new city without the Jewish people stirring up some kind a mob against him so, he has this reputation and we look at that, we may think like “okay, yeah, this is this is how they treated Jesus, this is how they treat Paul, this is how they treat everybody” but we me wonder like what's going on here? Why are they so mad at Paul, why were they so mad at Jesus for that matter? As we move through the book of Romans we’ll be able to explore some of that, begin to understand why this good news was a controversy, why it was thought of as a heresy even, why it was thought of as like an anti-God thing, this is why the Sanhedrin, other than just to stay in power, lie they’re raging against somebody like Paul because they cannot get their minds around what he's saying and we’ll begin to be able to understand the lay of the land there as we move through the book or letter of Romans. And so let's get started, Romans chapter 1 verses 1 through 17 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this new territory. And as we begin the Book of Romans and start our journey through these letters these very, very, the earliest of preserved writings that were centered around the story of the good news of the gospel, we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead and guide us to open our eyes to see and open our ears to hear and we might understand the implications of the Gospel and how much it actually changes things for we who believe. Come, Holy Spirit into this next season that we will share together in the letters of Paul. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base it’s the website it’s where you find out what’s going on around here, so check it out. Be aware of the Community section. And by the way, this isn’t just the web like if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can access these sections as well by pushing the drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the app. But be aware of the Community section. This is where did get connected, find social media links to where we are and get connected. It's also where the Prayer Wall lives. We are always connected in prayer, always, that’s one of the beautiful things about us. We are always connected in one way or another through prayer and so be aware of that. And also check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources available that are for the journey that we are on, this voyage across the year and through the Bible. And so, check out those resources.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage and I thank you for everyone who has ever pressed that link. We wouldn't be here if we weren't in this together. If you are using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today I'm Brian, I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayers and Encouragements:

Hey my amazing DAB fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. To the unnamed brother, you’re battling unforgiveness and you find it hard to let go sins of the past. John 8:36 simply tells us, my friend, if the son sets you free you will be freed indeed. So, my brother, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and repented of your sin, you are free indeed. You simply have to walk that out and so sometimes I know that the stumbling blocks and the snares and the pitfalls of the enemy wants to try to remind us. That's all he can do though is just try to remind us. We’ve got to press, set our affections and our mind on things above so you are free. So, let's just keep pressing forward. Father lift up your son. I pray that You would cause him to remember who he is in You in the name of Jesus. And then for Ava from Colorado Springs, God I’m asking that You would be with her and the six children that will have to testify concerning this sex abuse court hearing. What would You give her and the children the ability to speak the truth and give them the strength to declare what needs to be declared and I pray that Your Spirit would govern all of these matters in Jesus name. Kirah, oh my goodness, thank you for your testimony this contrite in Jesus, hallelujah, thank you so much woman of God for that powerful testimony. Love you family.  

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. I am missionary from Chicago calling in asking for prayer. I am the sole caregiver for an elderly mom suffering from dementia. I’ve been a sole caregiver going on two years now when she moved in with me and if you’ve ever dealt with someone with dementia, you know it's very unpredictable but every day just gets a little bit harder and harder as the disease progresses, as well as just the pressure and the stress on caregivers. And I’ve just noticed the last few months my patience has decreased and my stress levels and kind of, frustrations with the situation that I'm in has only increased so I'm just asking for prayer. Prayer for my mom first and foremost that she will just continue to have all of the positive aspects of her personality and hold onto as much as herself for as long as she can. But also just prayers for me as I try to get more patience and kindness and less frustration and anger about the situation and that I can just be surrounded by guidance and support and just increased faith and perseverance for the situation that we’re in. Thank you very much for your prayers. I know God is listening and it's also so comforting to know that all of you all are are listening and praying for me as well. Thank you.

Hey from beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio it's Daniel Johnson Junior this goes out to Margo the missionary from Australia and Liberia and your husband oh my goodness you guys are going through a lot. I mean, we hear about how hard things have been with the pandemic in Africa and India and South America and I know you're there among it all and as you say you’re feeling some compassion fatigue. And I can't even imagine what that’s like. So, I just, my heart goes out to you Margo, I pray for respite for you and your husband. I pray for renewed renewal through Jesus through the Spirit of Jesus that may rest in you and on you, but you may continue to do God's work and until it's time for you to not do it there anymore so may God continue to provide for you and to bless you, our sister. You are one of our heroes in this community and we love you and you're definitely one of God's favorites. God bless you from beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio, Daniel Johnson Junior.

Hi, I just wanted to call in for this girl that was struggling at a hospital at Africa. I don’t really know her name, Margo, is her name from Liberia. That’s what my Aunt Rachel told me. And I just want you to help her God and please help good people to come in the hospital and help. Please help there not to be anymore bad people there. Please help the people to get better and there to be miracles. My name is Kailee. Hi, I’m Jaylyn and I wanted to pray for the same girl with my sister. I’m here with my sister and my cousin Benice and my Aunt and I wanted to pray for this girl Margo in Africa for there to be good people at her hospital and for them to get money to help those people and I just wanna pray for them and yeah. Hi, I’m Ben. I’m Big Hearted Ben I’m going to help Margo to have a good life and help the people in need. And to get and to help everyone, Amen. Bye.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Billy from Montgomery with the Trinity Stone. I wanted to put a prayer request out there for Margo from Australia now it’s Margo from Liberia. You started, ya’ll went back to do mission work in Liberia, and I just, ya’ll sounded like ya’ll were having issues with things that were going on over there. I just wanted to wash y'all in the blood of Jesus and let ya’ll know that I was praying for y'all and keep ya’ll covered up in prayer. It sounded like ya’ll were really having issues with things that were going on over there. I just wanted to let you know I was covering, keeping you guys covered in prayer and I will talk you later. Alrighty. Bye for now.

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 9 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 9.

Although a casual fan doesn’t need to know the ins-and-outs of Star Trek canon to get into Star Trek: Discovery, it certainly helps! Although all of Discovery Season 3 has been set in a “new” part of the Trek timeline, the 32nd Century to be exact, the series hasn’t entirely been freed of canon restraints. From Trill, to Starfleet history, and beyond, Discovery Season 3 has been a rollercoaster of connections to the entire sprawling canon of Trek. And, as “Terra Firma Part 1” proves, that canon isn’t just limited to one universe. Here are all the Easter eggs and references we caught in Discovery Season 3, Episode 9, “Terra Firma, Part 1.”

The Kelvin Universe 

Right at the top of the episode, the mysterious Kovich (David Cronenberg) explains to Culber that traveling both across time and jumping from different universes can “make you pretty sick,” and in the case of a “time soldier” named Yor, can be fatal. This 2379 Starfleet officer is a Betelgeusian, but also “from a parallel universe caused by the temporal incursion of a Romulan mining ship.” This is the first time in “Prime” Trek canon that we’ve been told outright that they’re even aware of the Kelvin Universe. Further, Yor is the first glimpse of the future of what Starfleet looks after the reboot films in that timeline. Basically, Yor’s uniform might look like an early TNG-era jumpsuit, but because he’s got a 2370s combadge, it’s a bit of a mishmash. 

TLDR: In the future of the Kelvin Universe, they dress like it’s the beginning of TNG. But, who knows? Maybe in Yor’s universe, gold in 2379 still means “command.” 

Oh! And Yor’s death also neatly explains why Old Spock died off screen in Star Trek Beyond. Kovich says: “Before Georgiou, Yor was the only individual known to have traveled across time and dimensions.” This implies his files don’t know about Old Spock, who did the same. The question is: How does Starfleet in the Prime Universe know about the Kelvin Universe (and how it was created) and not know about Old Spock going there? Hmmm?

The Temporal Wars and the Temporal Accords 

Kovich mentions both the Temporal Wars and the Temporal Accords, and mentions that the “Interdimensional displacement restriction” prevents people from going to other parallel universes on purpose. According to Daniels in Star Trek: Enterprise, the Temporal Accords existed sometime in the 31st century, roughly a hundred years before the events of Discovery Season 3, and likely before the burn. Although Discovery has mentioned “the Temporal Wars” before, it stands to reason that one aspect of these wars was the “Temporal Cold War” seen throughout all four seasons of Enterprise. 

“Maybe they’ll call you Killy after all”

Georgiou jokes that if Tilly manages to kill the crew by accident that “maybe they’ll call you Killy after all.” This references Season 1 of Discovery in which we learned that Mirror Tilly’s nickname was “Captain Killy.” Notably, we never saw Captain Killy in “Despite Yourself,” or any of the other Season 1 episodes in which she was referenced. Obviously, that changes in this episode. 

The Gamma Quadrant 

The Discovery’s computer suggests taking Georgiou to the planet Dannus V, which Michael Burnham says is “just shy of the Gamma Quadrant near the galactic rim.” So, to put this in perspective, the Gamma Quadrant is the area of space that the Bajoran Wormhole led to in Deep Space Nine. Saying this planet is just shy of the Gamma Quadrant, could indicate it’s right on the border between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants, which would be “north” of Federation space, roughly. The galactic rim might refer to the barrier at the edge of the galaxy. This barrier was breached by the USS Enterprise in “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and again in “By Any Other Name.” Relevantly, passing through that barrier caused Gary Mitchell and Dr. Dehner to acquire PSI powers and slowly go nuts. 

Speaking of Gary Mitchell…

Admiral Vance suggests that leaving Georgiou on an “Uninhabited planet is better than a brig in the starship.” This kind of references the idea that Kirk was going to maroon Gary Mitchell on Delta Vega, rather than just kill him outright. Meanwhile, while the name of the planet here — Dannus V — is new to Trek canon, the word could reference writer Richard Danus, who wrote for both TNG and DS9.

The needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the one

Saru quotes Spock from The Wrath of Khan in his decision not to help Georgiou with her condition. He’s overruled eventually, which kind of echoes Saru’s conversation with the Vulcan president T’Rina in “Unification III,” in which she told him that maxim’s like that one were part of some bagge the Vulcans were trying to get over.

“You hesitated last time”

Vance tells Burnham that he needs to know she won’t hesitate if Georgiou gets dangerous. Burnham says, “you’re referring to Commander Airiam.” This references the events of “Project Daedalus,” in which Airiam nearly killed everyone after getting possessed by the AI called Control.

New phasers 

We’ve been seeing “new” Starfleet phasers in the opening credits for a while, but this looks like the first time someone picks one up. It also appears that the phaser morphs into something on Georgiou’s wrist. So, maybe these phasers are made of programmable matter? 

“Where I’m from we were Prime and you were the Mirror”

The idea that there is an “objective” Prime Universe, is of course fanspeak that has bled into the actual canon of Star Trek. Nobody in the Mirror Universe considers themselves to be from an alternate dimension, and ditto with the Kelvin Universe. This is the first time this kind of thing has been openly addressed on-screen in Trek canon.

“Door Doesn’t Register at All”

Burnham says that the mysterious door doesn’t “register” on her Tricorder. This is a little like the Guardian of Forever in the TOS episode “City on the Edge of Forever.” In that episode, Spock says, “For this to do what it does it does is impossible by any science I understand.”

Prefix code

When Adira and Stamets locate the Kelpien ship that is still sending a signal in the Verubin Nebula, they mention that they have the prefix code, which should be able to open up a backdoor to the systems. This references The Wrath of Khan when Kirk uses the prefix code of the Reliant to order the ship to lower its shields. 

“Die standing”

Before Georgiou walks through the magic door, she says she’d rather “die standing.” This might reference a recent tie-in novel Discovery novel called Die Standing by John Jackson Miller. In that book, there’s a character from Georgiou’s past named San, and it seems like this is the person she’s mourning in the Mirror Universe flashbacks from this season.

Lorca’s Coup

Georgiou has seemingly traveled into the Mirror Universe, and back into the year 2255. All of these events served as the backstory for Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, and effectively happened “before” the show began. For a full breakdown of all the ways Georgiou’s new trip to the Mirror Universe changes what we know of this timeline, check out this handy article. 

Epsilon Indi IV 

“Killy” references the Imperial shipyards on Epsilon Indi IV. This star system first appeared in the TOS episode “And the Children Shall Lead.”

Mirror Landry returns 

Ellen Landry, played by Battlestar Galactica veteran Rekha Sharma, returns in this episode. We haven’t seen Landry since season 1 of Discovery in which she seemingly died twice, once as Prime Landry, and again, when DISCO blew-up the Charon. Notably, Landry was part of Lorca’s coup, but it looks like nobody knows that right now.

Georgiou’s fancy title

We hear Emperor Georgiou’s fancy title twice in this episode: Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo’noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius. We first heard this title in the Discovery episode “Vaulting Ambition.”

Evil DOT bots

The last time we visited the Mirror Universe, we hadn’t been introduced to the DOT bots from Season 2 of Discovery, yet. Here, it appears that the Terran Starfleet has red-eyed versions of these cute little things, because, of course they do.

Vahar’ai retcon

In Season 1 of Discovery, we didn’t know about the process of Vahar’ai, in which Kelpiens are supposed to turn into baddasses. In the Mirror Universe, it seems that the Terrans have taken the place of the Ba’ul, introduced in the episode, “A Sound of Thunder.” Did Georgiou know about Vahar’ai only because of her trip to the Prime Universe? Or do high-level Terrans know about it?

Owo, the security chief of the Charon

We see Owo battling to keep her job as the security chief of the Charon. In the first Mirror Timeline, she had this job. 

Georgiou’s backstory seems to foreshadow Deep Space Nine’s Mirror Universe

During the christening ceremony, we see a dramatic recreation of Georgiou’s ascension to become Emperor of the Terran Empire. One aspect of this has to do with her totally dominating the Klingons. In the future of the Mirror Universe, we learn that the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance eventually destroyed the Terran Empire. Clearly, the Klingons were harboring a hundred-year-long grudge.

Daughter of Rome

Did the Roman Empire just not fall in the Mirror Universe? When Stamets calls Georgiou a “daughter of Rome” it really makes you think that’s the case. But, if we’re meant to think that the Roman Empire didn’t fall in the ancient history of the Terran Universe, then it feels super-unlikely that all the same people would have even been born, in order to like, establish duplicates of Tilly, Stamets, Kirk, Spock, etc. I mean, I guess it’s possible, but wow, the divergence goes back that far?

Georgiou is kinda like Kirk in “Mirror, Mirror”

In terms of story beats, Georgiou is in a similar place Kirk was in “Mirror, Mirror.” Kirk spared Mirror Chekov’s life, Georgiou spares Mirror Burnham’s life. Kirk started being nice to his concubine, Georgiou is being nice to her slave, the Mirror Saru. In both cases, the characters know that everyone will freak out if they keep acting nice and forgiving to people around them, so an air of arrogance and bluster is required. The difference is Kirk only had to fake it until he made it out of the Mirror Universe. What’s Georgiou gonna do? Fake it until she reforms the Terran Empire? 

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 has four new episodes left this season. Those all stream on Thursdays on CBS All Access.

The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 9 Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3qLClVO

[kagome-chan]

After so many Assassin’s Creed games, Ezio still the favorite assassin for many people (not me though, but that’s ok). When travelling to Italy, it’s difficult to not think about Assassin’s Creed 2 and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. So, let’s talk about some of the in-game locations that you can actually visit.

FIRENZE

Ezio is called Ezio Auditore da Firenze for a good reason, he was born in Firenze (Florence). Let’s start with that stupid building that is always in the middle of the way…

Basilica Di Santa Maria Del Fiore

Of course, is quite fun to point at the Basilica and say “I climbed that!” even if it was just in the game. Seeing it in front of you is breath-taking! It’s really tall. That quite explains why it was so annoying when it was in the middle of the way to the next mission. To earn the “High Dive” achievement, Ezio had to perform a Leap of Faith from Giotto’s Campanille (that tower on the photo), the highest spot in Firenze. It was also where one of the Medicis was killed, Giuliano.

Palazzo Vecchio – Palazzo Della Signoria

The Palazzo Vecchio was the center of the governmental power during the Italian Renaissance and also, Ezio’s brothers execution was there and he also climbed it many times. You better not climb it though, but you can visit its interior (that is really beautiful by the way) that Ezio didn’t have much time to appreciate. As far as I can remember, this was probably the location of Ezio’s first leap of faith?

VENEZIA

Still on Assassin’s Creed 2, from Firenze, the next big city visited by Ezio was Venezia, or Venice. The city needs to introduction as it is known world-wide for its beauty and the channels.

Basilica Di San Marco

The Basilica Di San Marco is one of the most important places in Venezia. in the game,  it’s where is the sarcophagus of Amunet, from which Ezio took an Assassin Seal that was located in a tomb below the floor of the basilica, accessible by a secret staircase. Seeing this tall tower gives you the need to perform a Leap of Faith? Please, don’t do that.

ROME

And now we are at Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Really, I think Rome was one of the coolest cities to explore in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. In real life is even better. Everybody knows the Colosseum, let’s talk about other places.

Castel Sant’Angelo

Used as a fortress, prison and as castle, it was also once a mausoleum. Ezio infiltrated or climbed it quite some times, to rescue Caterina, kill some Borgias and retrieve the Apple of Eden. Some parts of it are a bit creepy but the view from up there is really beautiful.

Pantheon

Please tell me I wasn’t the only one that made Ezio fell from that hole up there (totally on purpose to see what happened). Originally, the Pantheon was used to commemorate the Roman gods and goddesses, but it was converted into a church by Pope Boniface IV in 609. Until today, it’s one of the oldest Roman Catholic Churches and one of the most well-preserved buildings from the Roman Empire. Ezio climbed the rear of the building and entered through the landmark’s oculus to assassinate a guard captain. This allowed him to disguise himself in the guard’s uniform.

Isola Tiberina

That’s definitely not a common touristic spot. The Isola Tiberina, or Tiber Island, was the headquarters for the Assassin Order in Rome. So you pretty much went there a lot of times in the game. Nowadays, there isn’t much to see there, pretty much just a church. But it’s at least good just to say that you visited the Assassin Order’s Headquarters in Rome!

  Via Ezio

To finish, that one is really stupid but I really want to mention. There is a street in Rome in the middle of the way to the Vatican that is called “Via Ezio”. There isn’t exactly much to see there, just some stores, but is fun to see a street with this name when you are walking totally distracted.

So, if you are a good Assassin’s Creed fan, if you someday visit Italy, try to visit some of the places Ezio visit. If you can’t or don’t want to visit Italy, visit other places that are in the other games! The Assassin’s Creed franchise is perfect to plan a world travel! I really hope I can someday visit all the countries shown in the game. Visited Italy already, now there is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL the rest left.

  Italy for Assassin’s Creed fans After so many Assassin's Creed games, Ezio still the favorite assassin for many people (not me though, but that's ok).

[writingwithcolor]

Mixing North America with Old World Cultures in Fantasy: What Are The Issues?

So I sent in an ask several years ago that, due in no small part to your response, I have grown from and eventually led to a complete restructuring of my story. I included a measure of context in this, so if you need to skip it, my main three questions are at the bottom. I think this mostly applies to Mod Lesya.

The new setting is both inspired by and based on North America in the late 1400s where the indigenous cultures thrive and are major powers on the continent. Since there is no “Europe” in this setting the colonization and plague events never happened. Within the continent itself (since it is a fantasy setting) there are also analogous cultures that resemble Norse, Central European, Persian, Arabic, Indian, and Bengali. Although not native to the fantasy continent, there is also a high population of ‘African’ and ‘Oceanic’ peoples of many cultures, the latter usually limited to coastal cities as traders and sailors. Elves are entirely not-human, or at least evolved parallel to humans ala Neanderthals/Denisovans; they have green blood, black sclera, and skin tones that run from pale to dark. 

The main national setting of the story takes great inspiration from a Byzantine/Turkish/Mississippian background, and the neighboring nations are based on the Haudenosee (Iriquois Confederacy), Numunuu (Comancheria), and the Hopi and Zuni (as the descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans) (I also know that 2 of these 3 occur much later than the 1400s, but I love the government systems and they provide excellent narrative foils for the more ‘traditional’ fantasy government that takes place in the story). The Maya inhabit the role analogous to Ancient Greece in that most writing systems on the continent descend from Maya script and all the Great Philosophers were Maya (and nobility from across the continent spend lots of money to send their children to schools in the Maya City-States or in the Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire)). There is magic with varying traditions, practices, and methods spread across the continent, some of which are kept secret from outsiders, so I would hope that this avoids the “Magical Native” trope. 

Beyond the setting, I have three main questions:

When it comes to foodstuffs, I was originally planning to limit myself to Pre-Columbian cuisine from the Americas (eg the Three Sisters and potatoes) but in doing my research, Navajo fry-bread seems to be a fairly integral part of the food culture and that does require flour, which originated in the Old World. Would it be better to incorporate some of the Old World stuff that has since become traditional to indigenous groups?

For place names used in the setting and writing systems would it be better to use existing languages or writing systems or ones inspired by them? EG should I make a language that is very similar to Cherokee, complete with its own syllabary, or should I use IRL Cherokee and its extant syllabary? I ask because I feel like using the real language might step on some toes, but using the conlang might seem like erasure.

One of the main themes of this story is the harm that even a ‘benevolent’ Empire can wreak on people. The Byzantine/Turkish/Mississippian culture is the main Empire on the continent, taking cues from both western and American monarchical systems (eg the Triple Alliance (Aztec) and The Four Regions (the Inca Empire)), but when I think about it having any kind of even vaguely western ‘Empire’ spring up from the soil of a North American inspired setting might be troubling.

Thank you for your time and consideration! Do you guys have a kofi or something so I can compensate you for time spent?

I actually do remember you, and I am going to 99% disregard your questions here because you went from glaringly obvious racism to covert racism, and none of your questions ask if your basic strings of logic for assumptions you built into the setting are okay. 

Since there is some extremely flawed basic logic in here, I’m going to tackle that first.

Question 1: Why did you originally title this “Pre Colombian North American Fantasy World” when you have more old world cultures than new world cultures?

A very simple, straightforward question. The actual content of the setting is what made me retitle it.

If you want to write a North American fantasy setting… why are there so many old world cultures represented here? 

Old world: - Greece (as a societal myth; see next point) - Byzantine - Turkey - Norse - Central European - Persian - Arabic - Indian - Bengali - African (which, let’s be honest, should be heavily broken up into multiple peoples) - Oceana (which, again, should be heavily broken up into multiple peoples)

New world: - Mississippian - Iroquois  - Numunuu - Hopi - Zuni - Maya - Aztec - Inca (maybe? not mentioned as having their own place on the continent, but one of your questions mentions them) - Navajo (maybe? See above)

To account for respecting Africa and Oceana, I’m going to make African cultures count as 3 and Oceanic cultures count as 5, and this is a purposeful lowball.

Old World: 17 New World: 9

It’s a giant discrepancy, especially if your attempt is writing an exclusively New World fantasy. And this is bare minimum old world, considering the fact I tried to limit myself to peoples who would be more likely to interact with the heavy Mediterranean/Alexander the Great’s Empire centricity. 

Question 2: Why does there have to be a Greece analogue?

I haven’t spoken about this topic at length on this blog, but Greek worship in the Western world is a very carefully crafted white supremacy based mythos that was created to prop up European “Excellence” and actually erases the reality of Greece as a peoples.

Cultural evolutionism is a theory that states the (assumed-white-European) Greeks were superior because of their philosophy, their abstract art, and their mathematics. When many of these concepts were refined in Egypt (African, aka Black), or the Arab world (aka brown), but white Europeans did not want to admit any of this so they instead painted everything as coming out of their ideas of Greece lock stock and barrel. 

The theory also ignored Iroquois science, Plains and Southwestern abstract art, and generally everything about North America, because the theory was designed to move the goalposts and paint North America as something it wasn’t, just to make Europeans feel okay taking it over and “bringing it to civilization.”

This theory was still taught in force up until the 1970s, and is still a major school of anthropological thought to this day (and still taught in some universities), so it is still very much influencing the Western world.

While the theory itself is only from the 1800s, it had long-growing roots in white/ noble Europe’s attempt to prop up European “Excellence” during its multiple periods of colonization, from the Crusades, onwards. You can see it in the copious amount of art produced during the Renaissance.

Europeans ignored the sheer amount of settling and travel that happened within Greece and Rome, and you’ll notice how many Renaissance paintings depict Greek philosophers as white, teaching other white people. In reality, we have no idea what their skin tone was, and they could have taught a huge variety of different skin tones. But it was appealing to European nobility to have people like them be the founders of all things great and “advanced”, so they invested huge amounts of time and money in creating this myth.

(Note: I said their nobility, not their population. People of colour existed en masse in Europe, but the nobility has been downplaying that for an exceptionally long time)

Greece took over most of the old world. It borrowed and stole from hundreds of cultures, brought it all back, and was assigned credit for it. White Europeans didn’t want to admit that the concept of 0 came from the Arabs, the pythagorean theorem came from Egypt, etc,��and since Greece won, detailed records of how they were perceived and what they stole are long lost. It’s only glaring when they took from other global powers.

Question 3: Why would you pick totally different biomes to mix in here?

Turkey and the Mississippi are very, very different places when it comes to what can grow and what sort of housing is required, which makes them on the difficult side to merge together. They relied on different methods of trade, as well (boats vs roads), and generally just don’t line up.

The fact you pick such a specific European powerhouse—the Byzantine Empire—to mix into your “not European” fantasy world is… coming back to my above point about Greek (and Roman) worship in the West. Why can’t a fantasy world set in North America be enough on its own? Why does it need Europe copycats?

Question 4: Why are you missing a variety of nomads and Plains peoples?

Nomadic plains peoples were a thing across the globe, from the Cree to the Blackfoot to the Mongols. You have hyperfocused on settled peoples (with only one nomadic group named in both new and old world), which… comes across as very odd to me, because it is, again, very European sounding. That continent was about the only one without major populations that were nomadic, and if you look at European history, nomadic peoples were very highly demonized because of the aforementioned Mongols. 

Cultural evolutionism also absolutely hated nomadic peoples, which is where we get the term “savage” (hunter-gatherers, nomads) and “barbarian” (horticulturalists and pastoralists, the latter nomadic); these were “lesser cultures” that needed to settle down and be brought to “civilization” (European agriculture), and nothing good could ever come out of them.

Meanwhile, in North America, nomadic peoples took up a very large portion of landmass, produced a huge amount of culture and cultural diffusion, and mostly ignoring them while trying to create a “fantasy North America” is, well, like I said: odd. 

General Discussion Points

My suggestion for you is to write a fantasy Mediterranean region. Completely serious, here.

With the kinds of dynamics you are attracted to—the empires, the continental powers, the fact you keep trying to make Europe analogues in North America—you will do a much, much more respectful job by going into a really richly researched Mediterranean fantasy world than attempting to mix Europe and North America together in ways that show European traits (settled peoples, agriculture, a single empire dominating the whole culture and being viewed as superior) as the default.

I legitimately cannot see anything in here that feels like it comes from North America, or at the very least, treats non-sensationalized peoples (aka, those outside the Maya and Mississippian region) with respect. 

It falls into Maya worship, which is a very sensationalized topic and is fuelled by racist fascination, assuming no Indigenous peoples could be that smart. 

It falls into settled peoples worship, which is something that has cultural evolutionism roots because under such a model only settled peoples with agriculture are “civilized.”

It falls into placing Western concepts (public schools, large cities, the ilk) as the ideal, better solution, compared to methods better suited to horticulturalists, pastoralists, and hunter-gatherers and letting those teaching methods be respected.

There is no shame in writing inside Europe

The Mediterranean region contains Indigenous peoples, contains a huge diversity of skin tones, contains empires, contains democracy/a variety of governments, and in general contains every aspect of what you’re trying to create without playing god with a continent that did not evolve the way you’re trying to make it. 

A Mediterranean fantasy world would still be a departure from “fantasy world 35″ as I like to call it, because it would be different from the vaguely Germanic/ French/ Norse fantasy worlds that are Tolkien ripoffs. You can dig beyond the whitewashed historical revisions and write something that actually reflects the region, and get all the fun conflicts you want.

You don’t need to go creating a European/North American blend to “be diverse.” You can perfectly respectfully write inside Europe and have as much variety in peoples as you can write in a non-European setting. Europe is not the antithesis to diversity.

North America developed a certain way for a reason. It had the required fauna, space, resources, and climate to produce what it created. The old world developed a certain way for its own reasons, based off its own factors in the same categories.

You’re not really going to get them to blend very easily, and if you did, the fact there is such a strong European way-of-life preference (by picking places that mirror European society on the surface) makes me raise an eyebrow. It’s subtle, but very much there, and the fact you are ignorant to it shows me you still need to do more work before you go writing North American Indigenous Peoples.

Writing in Europe isn’t the problem, here. Writing a whitewashed, mythologized, everyone-not-white-is-a-caricature, ahistorical “Europe” is the problem. And you cannot fix this problem by simply painting European ways of life a different skin tone when the setting isn’t European. In fact, you’re perpetuating harm by doing that, because you are recreating the cultural evolutionism that calls anything you can find in Europe “better.” Indigenous cultures were vastly different from Europe, even if they shared similar trappings. 

Let North America exist without trying to shoehorn its most famous peoples into European analogues.

~ Mod Lesya

[godsavetheq]

Roman Republic - Consul Pacuvius Helvius Malleolus - 207 BCE

So since I enjoyed making the first one, I’ll be doing updates on my Total War: Rome II progress. There are now helpful city names on the map ^^

The next move for Rome was to invade an Iberian tribe, the Edetani, just north of the Roman-held city of Qart Hadasht. The Edetani had assembled their army and navy in the waters outside Ibossim, a Roman-controlled island town - clearly a sign of aggression. The Roman Military Tribune Decimus Memmius Bestia, famous for his victories against Carthage, pre-emptively struck the Edetani in their city of Arse, while admiral Marcus Minicius Traianus defeated their army at sea. The Edetani themselves were dispatched with little effort, but the real threat was their ally, the powerful Arverni tribal kingdom based in central Gaul, who joined the Edetani in war against Rome. 

The Arverni had expanded considerably from their home region, capturing much of Gaul and even some land in Iberia and Belgica. The Arverni were weak in their Iberian colony of Tarraco, however, and general Bestia was able to easily capture the city, which denied the Arverni continued access to the Mediterranean Sea. The larger Arverni empire to the north would not be so easy, however, and Roman leaders knew that Bestia would be needed to defend Iberia from the Carthaginians in the very likely event that war broke out against them. Despite lucrative offers, the Arverni would not accept peace.

At the same time, the Athenians hatched a successful plan to set back the Roman invasion of Greece. An Athenian spy infiltrated the camp of general Quintus Virius Antoninus and attacked him with a concealed blade. Antoninus escaped with his life, but was unfit for command and had to be rushed back to Italia to recover. During this time, an Athenian army numbering roughly 1,000 attacked Antoninus’ army, Legio I Italica, numbering roughly 800, in the general’s absence. Despite a principe commander taking temporary charge of the legion and setting up a worthy defense, the Athenians defeated the Romans in a narrow victory. What remained of Legio I Italica retreated to near Apollonia. It is now under the command of general Publius Paesentius Scaevola. After reinforcements arrived, general Scaevola saw and seized an opportunity to take the Anthenian-held town of Larissa while there were no defenders. The town was directly north of the city of Athens, leaving it vulnerable to a Roman advance.

After expecting it for several years, Carthage declared war on Rome in 210 BCE. However, Rome was ready, and after defeating a moderate-sized Carthaginian army near Sicily, admiral Sulla and Consul Malleolus attacked the city of Carthago itself, capturing it the same year that Carthage declared war. Yet Carthage remained powerful, and large forces from the south approached Carthago, easily tripling the number of Roman troops in the city. It was therefore a shock when Carthage sued for peace, an offer which was gladly accepted. However, Rome remained at war with the semi-independent Carthaginian colony Nova Carthago, which controls the Carthaginian possessions in Iberia and Mauretania. Rome took full advantage of this and continued its push to capture Carthaginian Iberia. 

Meanwhile, the large Lusitani tribe in control of western Iberia also declared war on Rome, though here has so far been no confrontation.

[newsnigeria]

Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

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Mr MAGA and the end of Western Civilization

[This column was written for the Unz Review]

Folks in the West are taught that their civilization has its roots in ancient Rome and/or ancient Greece. This is more a case of self-aggrandizement than serious historical research.  While it is true that the city of Rome was sacked in 410AD, the Christian Roman civilization continued in the East for another 1000 years until 1453. The real roots of what we nowadays call the western civilization are to be traced back to the following time periods:

Most ancient (theoretical) roots: the early Frankish Merovingian Kingdom (481–751) and Carolingian empire (751–843).

Formative roots: the so-called “Holy Roman Empire” (800-1806) which was “Roman” only in name (this term appeared only in the XIIIth century; in French it is called more accurately “Saint-Empire romain germanique” but it really ought to be called the “Germanic Empire”, since it was neither “Roman” nor “Holy”).

Modern (ideological) roots: Renaissance, French Revolution, WWI, WWII, Cold War.

But in practical terms, we can say that the western civilization emerged from the Middle-Ages (5th-15th centuries) or, even better, from the times of the Crusades (1095-1410).  Far from being the heir to the Roman Empire, the AngloZionist Empire is a direct descendant from the Franks and the civilization they built in the West on the ruins of the Christian Roman Empire.  When Muslims nowadays speak of “Western Crusaders” they are absolutely spot on.  The only difference between the original Crusaders and their modern descendants is that the former at least pretended to be Christians.  The latter wear their crass materialism as a badge of honor.

The true birth of the Western Civilization

This civilization can be characterized by tremendous intellectual, technological and scientific achievement, arguably the most beautiful music ever composed (especially J.S. Bach) and many other artistic and architectural masterworks.  Alas, it also has a darker side: imperialism, racism, genocide, slavery, religious and political persecutions and, of course, two world wars. So that record is checkered, to put it mildly, but it cannot be denied that in spite of its sins and flaws, western civilization also brought the world an immense intellectual legacy which inspired people worldwide.  If you ask most western people what they associate with the western civilization they would probably name things like the scientific method, democracy, human rights, civil rights, the separation of powers, equality before the law, etc.  People from other civilizations might view the western civilization in a very different way, but we can ignore that for our purposes.  But what the so-called “collective West” (aka the AngloZionist Empire) is showing today is the exact opposite of what the West is supposed to stand for.  Here are just a few examples:

International law: with the US/NATO aggression against the Serbian nation, a major feature of western civilization died: international law.  What began then with bombs on Serbian civilians in the Serbian Krajina and Bosnia continues today with the absolutely disgraceful “alignment” of the key western power and the diktat of the Anglosphere, be it on the Skripal false flag, the many chemical false flags in Syria or, most recently, the AngloZionist coup against the legitimate government of Venezuela.  The truth is that nobody gives a damn about international law in the AngloZionst Empire’s ruling class and that nowadays “might makes right”.

Human rights: the sad and outrageous truth is that the West is currently backing a (completely illegal) Nazi regime in the Ukraine, a Takfiri regime in the KSA and a Zionist (and openly racist regime) in occupied Palestine.  All these regimes are mass violators of human rights and basic norms of civilized behavior.  Needless to say, the US does violate a huge number of international norms and conventions in human rights, labor rights, due process, civil rights, etc.  And we all know that the infamous Patriot Act was written even before the 9/11 false flag operation.

Law of War and Geneva Conventions: same here, the US is gleefully ignoring many of the most sacred provisions of the laws of war and the Geneva Conventions either by not ratifying parts of these instruments or by finding ways to circumvent them (think GITMO, Abu Ghraib, Bagram or even the many “black” CIA prisons located in various countries world-wide; think “extraordinary rendition” too, of course).  Likewise, the USA totally and unconditionally support the Uber-violator of all imaginable legal obligations: Israel

Due process, especially evidentiary rules, have become a farce.  Anybody doubting that should look up the following names: “Sami al-Arian”, “Sibel Edmonds”, “Victor Bout”, “Anwar al-Awlaki” or even “Julian Assange”.  While nominally independent from the other branches of government, it appears that at least the main US courts are fully controlled by the Neocons and their Deep State.

Respect for the political process: it is absolutely clear that the Clinton Gang never accepted the election of Trump as POTUS and by rejecting this outcome, or by trying to label Trump as a “Russian agent”, the AngloZionist leaders will never accept their defeat.  Hillary’s famous “basket of deplorables” comment is a perfect illustration of the immense contempt in which the AngloZionists hold the regular people of the USA.

Open, competitive, markets.  It is pretty clear that the US has no use for open, competitive, markets and that the leaders of the Empire will use any and all methods to avoid an honest competition with the other countries, hence all the endless lists of sanctions, of threats against countries which might dare purchase non-US systems (the entire S-400 vs F-35 issue with Turkey is a perfect example).  When we look at western countries, especially the USA, we see what some call “crony capitalism” with absolutely fantastic levels of corruptions, huge mega-corporations in control of entire segments of the economy, exports imposed by sanctions and threat of sanctions rather than competitive advantages, feudal labor laws, a ruthless imperialist/colonial policy of systematically robbing those who dare to live above resources the Empire needs or wants.

Respect for alliances and partnerships. The AngloZionist Empire has no allies – only vassal states, puppet regimes and comprador 5th columnists.  The US has always treated its so-called “allies” with utter contempt, but until Trump this contempt was hidden behind a thin veneer of diplomatic language.  With Trump, even that is long gone.

The list goes on and on, really.

The last emperor is also naked…

On January 18th of last year I wrote an article entitled “The good news about the Trump Presidency: stupid can be good!” in which I tried to show that by his illiterate actions, Donald Trump was maybe not making “America” (should be the “USA” but nevermind that megalomania) great, but he sure was weakening the AngloZionist Empire.  But this is much bigger than just one narcissistic person,  What we are witnessing today is the agony of a civilization which has outlived itself and now that the Empire is in its dying throes I want to mention another good thing Trump did: he became the emperor who himself shouts “the king isn’t wearing anything at all!!” (in the original story, a child does that, but in this case, we have a “fused” “child-emperor” who does that himself).

What are the “clothes” which I am referring to?  Primarily what I would call the “Cold War cloak of imperial benevolence”.

Remember the Cold War?

There was the “Evil Empire” whose Commie-Red agents were about to take over the planet and stick everybody in a labor camp versus the (collective) “West”, which embodied the ideas of freedom, democracy, human rights, equality before the law, fairness, objectivity, economic prosperity, impartiality, tolerance, pluralism, etc. etc. etc.

Then, when Clinton became President and the Neocons finally openly and brazenly seized power, a good friend of mine spoke of a “grand coming out” which would be impossible to reverse.  He was right.  Not only are the Neocons now in total control of the Empire, but they have completely given up on any pretense of respectability.  I am not only referring to Gitmo and torture, or the obscene and unconditional support for the last openly racist country on the planet (aka “the only democracy in the Middle-East”) or, for that matter, a long string of completely illegal wars ranging from the wars against the Serbian nation in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.  Neither am I referring to the growing list of treaties, agreements and even organizations which the USA has abrogated, denounced or withdrawn from.  In fact, I am not even referring to the USA alone, but also to the so-called “friends and allies” of the Empire which can be described as “the collective West” or, maybe less charitable, the US colonies overseas.

No more ‘human face’ for capitalism!

When the Neocons finally came out and showed their true face, they did more than just affect the image of the USA abroad, they also gave a signal to their colonial administrators that all pretense of decency could now be dropped.  Force, brute force, was now the order of the day.  This is why Theresa May could spew out the most ridiculous and self-evidently stupid lies about the Skripals (or about Syria, for that matter) or Macron could ban RT from the Élysée and nobody would peep.  This is also why Poroshenko can safely declare that the Russian armed forces have invaded the Donbass or the EU can declare that the Russians are culprits in the recent Kerch bridge incident.

The Cold War forced the masters of the Empire to show a kind of “capitalism with a human face”.  That Cold War is over now, and there is no need to pretend anymore.

Will the almighty USA join the USSR on the trash-heaps of history?

Many Russians living in the West (such as Dmitri Orlov) have noted the numerous similarities between the late Soviet Union (especially the so-called “stagnation years”) and the modern USA .  I myself made such a list of similarities as far back as 2014 when I listed the following:

1)   A bloated military budget resulting in an ineffective military 2)   A huge and ineffective intelligence community 3)   A crumbling public infrastructure 4)   A world record in the per-capita ratio of incarcerated people (US GULag) 5)   A propaganda machine which nobody trusts any more 6)   An internal dissident movement which the regime tries to keep silent 7)   A systematic use of violence against the citizens 8)   An increase in tensions between Federal and local authorities 9)   An industry whose main exports are weapons and energy 10) A population fearful of being spied on by the internal security services11) A systematic assimilation of dissent with espionage and terrorism 12) An all-prevailing paranoia about internal and external enemies 13) A financially catastrophic over-reach of the empire across the planet 14) An awareness that the entire planet hates you 15) A subservient press-corps of presstitutes who never dare to ask the real questions 16) A sky-high rate of substance abuse 17) A young generation which believes in nothing at all 18) An educational system in free-fall, (the Soviet one was much better, btw) inbred and White racist redneck 19) A disgust with politics by the general public 20) A massive and prevailing amount of corruption on all levels of power

But even more crucial to the eventual fate of the USSR, I would argue, is the immense chasm between what the official ideology proclaims and what the ruling elites actually really do.  Speaking about the Ukraine, I wrote in 2014 that ” what the AngloZionists are openly and publicly defending in the Ukraine, is the polar opposite of what they are supposed to stand for.  That is an extremely dangerous thing to do for any regime and the AngloZionist Empire is no exception to that rule.  Empire often crumbles when their own people become disillusioned and disgusted with the massive discrepancy between what the ruling elites say and what they do and as a result, it is not so much that the Empire is faced with formidable enemies as it is the fact that nobody is willing to stand up – nevermind die – in defense of it.”.

The immense, mind-blowing, obscene hypocrisy of the Empire is not only revealed in its actions in the international arena or by the fact that the Empire does not shy away from allying itself with Zionists, Nazis, Takfiris and any other morally repugnant gang of thugs (see in Kosovo, for example) as long as these thugs are willing to act as the cannon fodder of the Empire.  The exact same mentality permeates every political action of the Neocons in internal politics too.

The only acceptable outcome for the Clinton Gang

The Democratic Party especially, reached a new moral and ethical low when it invited Michael Cohen to testify before Congress even though the man is a convicted felon and liar and every word he would speak would be in total violation of the fundamental right of Donald Trump to keep his communications with his lawyer protected by the client-attorney relationship.  What is absolutely amazing is that it is Congress which is violating the civil rights of a standing US President, and yet very few observers seem to be outraged by such actions.

This outrage was just the latest in a long series of actions by Congress which show that Congress considers Donald Trump as a traitor and a thug and we can rest assured that the Democrats won’t stop until Trump is jailed.  The fact that he is the person chosen by the people of the USA to be their president does not seem to matter at all to the lynch-mob in Congress.

Again, what is so striking here is not only how the US elites are turning against each other (which is a sure symptom of a deep crisis), but also the fact that the open persecution of Trump by Congress and the Ziomedia does not even try to come up with some semi-credible explanation or semblance of respectability.  What we see is a lynch-mob which is determined to hang the man they have designated as the ultimate evil.

As for Mr MAGA himself, he is now busy calling Ann Coulter a “wacky nut job” to which she responded by calling Trump an “idiot” and that having him as a President is a “national emergency” (Rex Tillerson would agree with her on that!).

Nobody can predict how this struggle between the Neocons and the Clinton Gang on one hand and Trump on the other will play out, but my personal guess is that Trump is a disposable President: the Neocons will use him to do all the crazy shit they typically are known for, and when the inevitable disaster strikes, they will blame him, him alone, while hiding their own role in what took place.  This way Trump first gets to play shabbos-goy for the Neocons for a while, until they decide to destroy him like Haman or Amalek (the fates of Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi immediately come to mind).  Mr MAGA himself clearly was never told that tob shebe goyyim harog.

A dictatorship of minorities next?

What began with the Crusaders will end with this…

We are often told that in a real democracy minorities should be protected against abuse from the majority and, to some degree, this is true.   However, the primary function of any kind of real people-power is to protect the majority, the masses, from the abuse they typically suffer at the hand of various (and often federated) minorities.  Whether the Founding Fathers intended this or not, the sad reality today is that the US political system is structured in a way to primarily benefit minorities, financial or otherwise.  Hence the 1% meme popularized by Occupy Wall Street.  The following are some of the characteristics of the most typical minorities found in the USA (and elsewhere):

They are typically far more aware of their minority identity/status than the majority. That is to say that if the majority is of skin color A and the minority of skin color B, this minority will be much more acutely aware of its skin color.

They are typically much more driven and active then the majority. This is probably due to their more acute perception of being a minority.  Minorities themselves present their social success as a sign of intelligence, of course, even though in reality this is the direct result of a drive which representatives of the majority typically don’t exhibit.

They are only concerned with single-issue politics, that single-issue being, of course, their own minority status.

Since minorities are often unhappy with their minority-status, they are also often resentful of the majority.

Since minorities are mostly preoccupied by their minority-status linked issues, they rarely pay attention to the ‘bigger picture’ and that, in turn, means that the political agenda of the minorities typically does not threaten the powers that be.

Minorities often have a deep-seated inferiority complex towards the putatively more successful majority.

Minorities often seek to identify other minorities with which they can ally themselves against the majority.

Trump Derangement Syndrome

The reason why the Neocons and their Deep State love to support all types of minorities is very plain and simple: minorities and their (hyper narrow) political agenda represent absolutely no threat whatsoever to the real, hidden, powers which run the Empire.  Furthermore, minorities are extremely easy to manipulate.  Thus these various minorities represent the ideal power base for a party like the Democratic Party which can then use its control over minority (identity) politics in its struggle against the Republican Party.

Furthermore, if you look at that list of characteristics above, you will immediately recognize the kind of nutcases suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome which seems to chronically overcome Trump-haters.

What makes this situation particularly dangerous is that the Clinton propaganda machine (through the testimony of Mr Cohen) is now suggesting that Trump might not be willing to accept a defeat in the next elections.  I submit that the there is much bigger chance of seeing Trump win again and the Clinton gang trying to play a “Guaido” trick on Trump.  The screaming creature in this photo does not strike me as willing to accept that anybody but her own preferred candidate would occupy the White House.

Don’t get me wrong – screaming lesbians are funny, especially when they wear these pink “vagina hats”, but there is also a much more ominous aspect to their antics.  They are all based on a categorical rejection of the outcome of the electoral process and, which is even worse, a rejection of the “other”, in this case the “deplorable” who dared to vote his/her conscience and not simply obey the instructions of the Ziomedia.

The truth is that the level of ideological intolerance among the opponents of Trump is much, much, higher than among Trump supporters.  It is therefore only logical to assume that the potential for violence is much higher among the Trump-haters than it would be elsewhere. Right now all these folks are content with screaming, protesting and drinking every drop of Cool-Aid the Idiot Box delivers to them on a daily basis.  But once in power, this “coalition of minorities” will ruin the USA even faster than Trump did and whatever regime (as opposed to government or Administration) they put in power, will be a far cry from the worldwide Empire the USA attempted to build after WWII.

Conclusion: Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat

The true face of western “democracy”

What is taking place before our eyes is an amazing sight to behold: an Empire which is collapsing both internally and externally at an accelerating pace and the worse the Empire’s objective situation becomes, the more delusional and out of touch the Neocons and their Deep State appear to be.

Irrespective of all its flaws, mistakes and sins, it is sad to see how a civilization which gave the world the likes of Newton or Bach now rots away while being led by a gang of evil, arrogant, clowns.  There have been plenty of villains in the history of Europe, but never such a gang of clueless and yet fantastically arrogant rulers.  Just look at Trump, Macron or May – these are non-entities which pale in comparison to such leaders as Reagan, Mitterrand or even Margaret Thatcher (hardly a hero of mine, but the lady was smart, no doubt about that).

Now, with the likes of Pompeo in charge we can only pray that the losers running this dying Empire will not trigger a nuclear holocaust, whether by design or by sheer stupidity.

The Saker

[spicynbachili1]

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey travelogue | Rock Paper Shotgun

Very similar to its predecessor, Murderer’s Creed Odyssey has snared me with its marvellous digital camera. With it, I’ve been exploring and snapping Greece, all the way in which from the Ionian Islands within the west to the Cyclades within the east. I do know I must be worrying about wars and oldsters and magical spears, however that’s all ancillary to the scenes and vignettes taking part in out on the paved streets and grime paths that weave throughout the Hellenic world.

Greece is stuffed with unbelievable views, epic monuments and, right away, an enormous statue of Zeus dominating the panorama, huge willy hanging out for the world to see. There’s no dearth of issues to climb and, extra importantly, , however my screenshot folder has much more snapshots of standard life, of individuals working and partying, or of little bits of putting structure, particularly of the ruined selection.

It’s very tempting to hurry by Kephallonia. It’s the ‘starter island’ holding you again from the great things, like Athens! That’s what you actually need to see, proper? Kephallonia is a fairly occurring place, although. It is best to stick round. Other than having that massive ol’ Zeus statue that may be seen even throughout the ocean, there’s additionally Ithaka, the house of Odysseus. Ah-ha! Odysseus, Odyssey, all of it is smart!

The island of Ithaka has been related to Homer’s Ithaka since antiquity, although there’s at all times been some debate about which of the islands within the space really relate to those talked about by Homer in The Odyssey. Ithaka has been utilizing the identify for thus lengthy, although, that it appears a bit impolite to rock the boat now. Ubisoft’s fairly assured that it’s the appropriate one; a lot in order that Odysseus’ palace, or at the least its ruins, are proper there ready to be explored.

Kephallonia additionally hosts Greece’s saddest musician. This gloomy fella stood at a muddy, empty crossroads and began mournfully strumming away. I like him. He appears like a drained conman who’s determined to go straight and fall again on his past love: music. There’s positively a TV present on this, and it completely writes itself. We may name it ‘Lyre, Lyre’. That is pure gold.

I needed to depart finally. “Present me Athens,” I stated. “No,” replied Odyssey. As an alternative, I used to be dragged to Megaris, below siege by the Spartans, adopted by Phokis, which is even additional away from Athens than Megaris. I’m a giant metropolis boy, what can I say? Stepping off the ship, my first impressions of Phokis have been… not nice.

He’s daring, I’ll give him that. Proper out within the open, no wall, not a care on this planet. And who am I to guage? I’m standing proper behind him taking images, which is at the least as impolite, if no more. He’s not consultant of Phokis, although, and it’s really fairly good. It’s finest generally known as the area that contained Delphi, residence to Apollo’s oracle. The ruins of the Temple of Apollo persist in the present day and have a pleasant view of the valley. Even right here, within the fifth century BC, the temple is a sizzling vacationer vacation spot, and it’s a bit on the busy facet. I searched round for someplace extra serene.

Down the hill from Delphi, there’s a beautiful amphitheatre. I wandered into it one morning whereas it was principally empty. There have been no performs, no speeches, simply a few folks having fun with a morning stroll, like myself, and a few brightly-coloured birds chirping away. Being the birthplace of theatre, they’re a dime a dozen in Greece, however this amphitheatre had a way more memorable environment, virtually contemplative. I give it 5 stars on Hellenic Tripadvisor.

It was time, lastly, to move to Athens. Moderately than crusing into the harbour at Piraeus, Odyssey directed me behind Athens, touchdown on the east coast after which making the remainder of the journey on horseback. It’s all for the large reveal, which Ubisoft has turn out to be fairly good at pulling off. Arriving this manner offers one of the best views of town, with the Acropolis and Parthenon looming over town.

It’s a bustling place, is Athens. It’s not crowded, not in the way in which that outdated Murderer’s Creed cities have been, which implies it’s simpler to get round in your horse, nevertheless it nonetheless feels very busy. Each nook of it’s stuffed with one thing: a surprising piece of artwork, a store, somebody simply working – flip a nook or pop into somebody’s residence and also you’re sure to seek out an eye catching distraction. The statuary specifically is a spotlight, and it simply retains on giving.

Odyssey has nice statues. One of the best statues, frankly. You’ll find them in every single place, however clearly the best focus is within the massive cities like Athens. And one of the best half: most of them are painted. The white marble statue is synonymous with the traditional world, significantly Greece and Rome, however we’ve identified for some time that the majority of those statues would have been extraordinarily vibrant, like this gesticulating fella. They have been gaudy and vibrant, and I’ve at all times questioned what it should have been wish to stroll by a metropolis filled with them. Plenty of enjoyable, it seems!

Whereas the paint has been worn away by time, tiny particles have continued and will be revealed below UV gentle. Extra methods can then provide up additional further particulars about what it as soon as regarded like. Discovering out what color the paints have been, as an example, will be accomplished by figuring out the substances of the paint. Should you’re up for some additional studying, take a look at this extra detailed clarification of the method.

They aren’t all painted, thoughts. Right here’s Theseus battering the Minotaur, immortalised in bronze. Theseus was an Athenian hero, so after all he will get a pleasant statue in his hometown. The positioning of his well-known brawl with the bull is way to the south, nonetheless, in Crete.

I got here throughout a number of workshops, too, the place they have been being dropped at life with chisel and paint, although the most important isn’t in Athens, it’s on the island of Paros. Big blocks of marble take up many of the docks, whereas the city is stuffed with half-finished gods, animals and heroes. Proper subsequent to the works-in-progress are loads of completed items, able to be shipped throughout the ocean. It’s fascinating to observe folks working away. Their loops and schedules are easy, however there are simply so a lot of them. Alice captured a bunch of them when she went on a tour of Delphi.

Listed below are some early birds hitting the clay pits simply after daybreak. The Greek starvation for pottery can’t be sated. I really feel a bit of bit responsible as a result of my splashing round disrupted their work. Sorry!

I spent a very long time wandering round Athens and the encompassing space, however the remainder of the world was calling to me. To the east have been numerous islands, and to the south was the Peloponnese, residence of the Peloponnesian League and its chief, Sparta. Driving or crusing from Athens, you’ll be able to hit Korinth, Argo, Sparta and Olympia one after the opposite, like a grand tour of traditionally well-known Greek city-states.

Greece’s cities are much less various than ones present in Origins. Ptolemaic Egypt was a melting pot the place Roman, Greek and Egyptian tradition clashed and mingled. Greek temples confronted enormous pyramids, whereas Roman mansions sat simply up the street from Egyptian huts. Many of the city-states have a definite aesthetic, nonetheless, and a tone that units them other than their allies and foes.

Korinth is especially beautiful, in nice half because of all of the blossoming cherry timber that line the streets. Most cities have a color that they favour, together with the purple and blue that exhibits whether or not they assist Sparta or Athens within the warfare. Korinth additionally has an intimidating acropolis that takes ages to clamber up. Akrokorinth is an intimidating rock and the right place for a fortress, and whereas it is going to be become a fort within the years following, at this level it’s the positioning of temple devoted to Aphrodite.

These revellers have been very into Aphrodite. Have a look at them go. It’s additionally barely tragic, nonetheless, for I couldn’t be part of them. I needed to, however all I may do was awkwardly shuffle a bit. And duck. That’s not a dance.

In a park on the sting of town, I got here throughout this pair engaged on a masterpiece. The sunshine was clearly dying, making it a horrible time for portray, however what do I do know? I’m not a painter. I’m certain it can end up simply high-quality.

Pastimes in Sparta are a bit of bit totally different. Its main business is producing buff dudes who don’t like garments, so there’s an actual health focus. These guys are so decided to work on their muscular tissues that they’re fully ignoring the truth that, simply behind them, two males have already been devoured by a wolf. You may simply make out the blood and a limb or two. Sparta’s a troublesome place. There’s a warfare to win, and solely the most important muscular tissues will do.

The Peloponnesian Battle was one of many defining moments of antiquity and heralded the tip of the Golden Age of Greece. Odyssey depicts the warfare as one between Athens and Sparta, with the remainder of the islands and city-states loosely supporting one or the opposite till a battle makes them change arms. It’s true that the pair led their respective alliances, the Delian League and Peloponnesian League, however that’s the place the similarities finish. Many of the mainland really supported Sparta, together with the likes of Megaris and Argo, each of that are Athenian in Odyssey. Athens’ energy was in its naval empire and its fleet. It wasn’t a neat, symmetrical warfare, which might just about undo Odyssey’s warfare system.

The results of the warfare, and the earlier one with Persia, are scattered across the map. Ruined villages, corpses, patrols duking it out by the facet of the street – Greece is fairly, however it may be fairly violent, too. This settlement was destroyed by the Persians, and even after their defeat at Salamis and Plataea, ending the Persian Battle, the empire continued to meddle. They supported Sparta through the Peloponnesian Battle, then aided Sparta’s ex-allies after they teamed up with Athens to take Sparta down a peg or two a decade later.

Heaped on high of the warfare are plagues, famines and frontier justice, abandoning loads of mourners crying by graves and tombs.

It’s all getting a bit gloomy, so let’s transfer onto extra nice issues. Like animals! Odyssey has an abundance of critters, and they’re all very, superb. Have a look at this bear, utilizing a street like an individual. Isn’t it lovable? Positive, it’s really chasing me and, 5 seconds after taking this image, it knocks me off my horse and kills me. I’ve no regrets.

I discovered this good boy operating up and down this one stretch of street, splashing within the puddles. That is likely to be all its programmed to do, however I’ve seen canine fortunately do that for ages, so I’m satisfied that is an correct simulation of doggy behaviour.

The partitions of the Makedonian metropolis of Amphipolis mix my two favorite issues: rad statues and funky animals. In 100 years, Alexander the Nice will stride out of this kingdom and carve out an enormous empire, nevertheless it was fairly quiet after I popped over to snap these screenshots. There are many actual lions, as nicely, however I stored forgetting to take an image as I ran for my life.

Odyssey’s model of mainland Greece takes a very long time to discover, nevertheless it’s solely half of the map. There are islands dotted far and wide, however most of them are within the Aegean. Every of them is that this little enigma ready to be unravelled, spinning tales by quests and obsessively detailed environments.

The very first thing you see if you sail into Naxos, an island within the Cyclades, is the Temple of Apollo, which nonetheless appears out over the boats in the present day. The temple wasn’t accomplished earlier than the tyrant who commissioned it was overthrown, however for some purpose these guys nonetheless appear to be making an attempt 70 years after work on it stopped. That’s dedication! It’s a fairly good match for the actual temple, as well.

I took an image final yr, and actually the one massive distinction is all of the vacationers.

Regardless of the outstanding location of the temple, Dionysus was Naxos’ patron deity, not Apollo, which is fairly apparent after spending solely 5 minutes on the boozy island. I ought to have taken a video of this fella as a result of no person has ever pressed grapes so self-consciously earlier than, I’m certain of it. He was so delicate about it, too, making these little hops, adopted by furtive glances. It was very odd, but in addition totally fascinating.

Dionysus was the god of wine, however he was additionally the god of being a complete dick. Our Minotaur-murdering pal Theseus ended up on the island after escaping Crete with Ariadne. In some variations of the parable, Theseus, being a complete dick himself, merely abandons Ariadne, whereas others say Dionysus compelled him to depart with out her. Both means, this bushy, drunk god finds this heartbroken lady and promptly marries her. Gods are shady. Then there was the time when he killed his cousin who, in equity, was additionally a dick. It’s a theme. Pentheus was spying on one in every of Dionysus’ events when the god appeared, drove his followers mad after which watched as they ripped him limb from limb, believing him to be a lion. His personal mom ripped his head proper off. Crikey.

It’s the center of the day after I begin exploring Naxos, however individuals are already knocking again the bowls of wine. Beneath a tree I see some tipsy canoodling, but in addition this solitary hunk. If it wasn’t for the man about to throw up behind him, this could be attractive calendar materials. You’ll discover somebody to canoodle with sooner or later, man!

Every island has one thing that makes it particular. Even when it’s only a man tenting along with his finest good friend, a goat.

Or this haunted Minoan smash that appears to be protected by scary cats. You may’t see them, however they’re lurking within the shadows, ready to chase me off once more.

Given the scale of the factor, it’s ridiculous that there so many discrete, thoughtfully crafted areas that you just may solely spend 5 minutes in, if any time in any respect. On the north coast of the Peloponnese are numerous shipwrecks. I sailed by and it piqued my curiosity, so I dropped anchor and swam over. There have been some quests there, however I hadn’t been directed to the spot. It’s an enormous ship graveyard that’s been reworked right into a city. Houses have been constructed out of the wrecks, whereas scavengers work up and down the seashore, prying wooden from the lifeless ships. I may fill an entire album simply with the screenshots I took there alone.

I’m not fairly accomplished with it. Odyssey is a lot greater than its story, and there are such a lot of locations the place I rushed by on my means some other place or haven’t visited in any respect. Like Origins, a Discovery Mode is within the works, taking you on guided excursions on Greece, however there’s one thing to be stated for simply aimlessly wandering throughout the map. It’s one of the vital spectacular areas Ubisoft’s ever created, and even with out the historic context or narration, it’s simply an incredible factor to have a look at.

from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/assassins-creed-odyssey-travelogue-rock-paper-shotgun/

[specialchan]

I am a non-Muslim with questions about your faith and its history via /r/islam

I am a non-Muslim with questions about your faith and its history

I apologize, this is an extremely long post.

I’d like to start by saying I studied history in university so I am approaching this with a fully secular, historical viewpoint, and I do not have much personal experience with Muslims or Islam in general, as there were simply no Muslims in my community growing up. I may unintentionally be a typical American with little exposure to other cultures. Please forgive me if something I say goes against your faith or makes you feel uncomfortable. Though I’d be greatly appreciative if you still answered my questions despite those feelings. (American Muslims, please chime in however you wish, as you are the ones I am most likely to meet. I would like your input on what topics to avoid and what kinds of things are okay to ask.)

I’d also like to add that my parents are Christian and I did go to church every week growing up, but now consider myself an agnostic atheist (agnostic in that I don’t think there’s any way to determine which god, if any, exists or what role they play in the universe, and atheist in that I do not subscribe to any particular religion.) I simply try to be a good person in my own way by examining various faiths and schools of philosophy to form my own worldview. (I ordered a free copy of the Quran from a website that gives them to non-Muslims, but it never came.) I never had much respect for Christianity until I started studying Roman history.

This is where I’m afraid I might say something that will offend someone. I’m very passionate about Roman history, which extends through the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire, which is so fully linked to Christianity and its various complexities and arguments that I had no choice but to learn a lot about these complexities as well as the history of the early Church, if I wanted to truly understand the Roman history I was reading. Learning about Rome has made me grow much more respect and appreciation for Christianity than I ever thought I would have, if only for its impact on the world, the way it changed Roman society, and because I find philosophy and theology interesting.

I’d also like to add that I’ve had similar conversations with a deeply Christian coworker of mine, and that went great. He said he did not feel disrespected and fully understood the angle I was approaching this from. I hope you can see the same.

Rome is the only civilization I feel this deep of a passion for, therefore I have not looked that thoroughly into other topics. However, Islam and the various Caliphates obviously have a very prominent role in the final 700 years or so of Rome’s existence, (Mehmet II named himself Kayser-i Rûm, Caesar of the Romans, and saw himself as continuing Roman civilization,) and so I’d like to learn more about it, preferably from a historical point of view at first rather than from the scriptures, if anyone is familiar. Though obviously both inputs are valuable and will help me to better understand the topic from both sides, which is why I asked my Christian coworker questions about his faith and beliefs, etc. The purpose of that conversation was to compare his beliefs with Byzantine beliefs to see how much they differed, and also to teach him about the civilization that made Christianity what it is. The purpose of these questions is to learn the same about Islam; how much belief has changed over time, if your beliefs line up with the older/original Muslims, and also just to become better informed myself so I can hopefully better inform others who may not be as open to learning these things.

So some questions I have are:

Is the Ottoman role in taking Constantinople talked about much? Celebrated?

How do you feel about the Byzantine Romans, if at all?

Is the history of Islam prominently taught, or do you tend to focus more on the religious side?

How do you feel about the various Caliphates? Why isn’t there one currently and do you think there should be at least one? Would it be in Saudi Arabia, as they control Mecca and Medina?

Is Sunni and Shia still a prominent split? Is the split so deep that either side has serious resentment for the other, as I have often seen in Christian schisms? Did it used to be that way but change over time? Do you associate with people of the other sect, and are there other sects? (I believe I have heard of an African sect that incorporates magic? Maybe Mali because they used to practice magic and had sorcerers on the field during battle. Perhaps it grew out of that?) Please provide a brief statement about how the sects differ in their beliefs.

Is Muhammad ever talked about much as a person and historical figure, or more solely on his role as Allah’s prophet? (I’m afraid to expand upon this one. I listen to a history podcast about the Byzantine Empire. The host has a premium for-sale episode on the origins of Islam, and from what I understand, some of the things he says and some of the ideas that secular historians have put out there about the potential “real” origins of Islam contrast heavily with your beliefs and traditional history. I’m genuinely afraid I will upset someone by repeating some of these ideas, but will do so if you all feel comfortable with it.)

Is the Muslim conquest of Sassanid Persia celebrated? (I will say that personally, I find their victories absolutely incredible. I could not believe that they toppled the whole thing so quickly.) Do you know much about Persia, and if so, do you notice any cultural holdovers from the Persian Empire?

How differently do you view Persia and Rome? From what I understand, later Muslim writers were confounded by Rome’s continued survival after they had defeated Persia so quickly, and I believe they had to come up with some kind of justification as to why Rome managed to survive the initial Muslim expansion. Does anyone know anything about this? (I apologize if this offended anyone, and would like to say that I am not 100% sure on everything after the question mark.)

Is it true that Islam views Christianity as polytheistic, because they worship three gods? (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit)

This is a more cultural shift than religious one, I think, and again, I apologize if it offends anyone or if I am misinformed, but it seems to be growing more common to view Christians and Jews as.. not quite enemies. Maybe just as Others, or as people not to be tolerated? I’m struggling to express this idea but the Caliphates generally respected People of the Book, correct? Treated differently than Muslims, yes, but allowed to openly discuss their beliefs and normally live out their lives without being specifically targeted for their beliefs (outside of said preferential treatment). Has this changed or am I completely wrong? I just see clips occasionally of imams or Muslim politicians demonizing People of the Book and I’m wondering how this happened. (Again, truly sorry if I offended you with this question. I am open to hearing your side.)

Is secular learning discouraged in any way?

I have heard that traditionally, it’s said that Islam was essentially birthed in an instant. That the initial followers of Islam perfectly understood the facets of their new religion almost immediately. Is this true? I find this interesting because no other religion in the world makes a claim like that one.

I understand that the Quran is written in a very unconventional way. That it goes in starts and fits, sometimes sentences have no endings, lines have no context, something is intentionally vague, etc. Is this right? How do you feel about that? Does the style of writing make it difficult to interpret what is being said?

What are Hadiths and how are they different to the Quran? Why do they need to be separate? Did god bestow the Quran while hadiths are Muhammad’s teachings?

Is Muhammad supposed to have written all of the hadiths? If I’m not mistaken, there is historical evidence that one of the early caliphs may have written most of them. (This is another question that I’m worried about offending someone.)

Is Arabic looked at as the holy language for Islam? Is it okay to translate it? For example, for several centuries it was taboo to translate the Bible into anything besides Latin or Greek, because those were the only holy languages to early Christians. It was a big deal when it was translated into Slavic, and then German centuries later. Was this feeling shared with the Quran? Were any languages besides Arabic okay? Is this still the feeling or has it changed, and if so, when did it change?

Lastly, this may only apply to Turks, but would anyone in Istanbul be offended if I went there and referred to it as Constantinople? Would it be uncomfortable of me to ask them about the Byzantines and Christianity while there? (I do wish to go there someday, as I’ve been to Rome and Ravenna, the capitals of the western Roman Empire, so I would love to visit the capital of the East and look upon the greatest city ever built.)

If you took the time to read all of that, thank you so much. And thanks in advance for your answers. If you have any questions for me or want me to clarify something, please let me know, and again, I apologize if I have offended anyone.

I hope everyone has a good day.

Ma’a as-salaama (I totally just looked this up and hope it comes across as respectful. Apologies if I used it wrong.)

Submitted September 09, 2020 at 04:41PM by LostGundyr via reddit https://ift.tt/3m6ReiX