#Millitary history

[cameron-carpet-lola]

Chat it's French Sapper Friday

Happy french sapper(and lesbian sex) Friday

[pierrotsoup]

suffering martyrdom sacrifice (boys edition) etc board 🙇 thinking about the christmas truce 💔

[thesoulofseverussnape]

EVERY.FUCKING.DAY.

I go to sleep to a disaster and wake up to another

I never thought my life would come to the point where I'd get my news updates from fucking Supernatural memes but here we are.

Also why the fuck are we speed running history? Like i thought we were over that shit.

I honestly know too much about history to not be absolutely terrified of what's gonna happen next.

[karerasakunamisstrap]

At the risk of turning into some sort of blog about historical ships i want to talk about another ship that i'm certain Yoshikage Kira from Jojolion would serve on; The USS Plainview.

This Ship was the culmination of hydrofoil technology, where instead of floating on the water using a gigantic metal hull, the ship would have long extensions down into the water that would have enough force to- like a plane does with wings, gather enough water while moving to keep it entirely afloat on their own- while significantly above the water level. The hull of a ship is a lot less hydrodynamic than some small struts pointing down into the water, so a hydrofoil design allows a vessel to go a much extremely increased amount of speed.

the drawback, was that it only worked well on calm water. early hydrofoils were unstable, and with anything more than just a still lake would be completely unusable. with much longer arms which could rotate up to sit in the air out of the water, and an extremely powerful engine rerouted directly into the ends of those arms; the Plainview solved that problem by being both so far above the water that in even in rough sea waves, the foils could hold the ship up in the air, at speed, and also on top of that be an astronomical new development that could be completely unmatched by any other country... in this case specifically the USSR.

you see, the end of the formal cold war was half of the reason why these ships ended expansion into the navy. no need, and even if there was, at that time it would be against a whole different threat. The plainview spawned a class of speedy smaller ships, but they all ended up ending service not long after. The intended purpose of these was to hunt down far-flung submarines seen from a distance, (or something like that) and they just didn't have a purpose anymore in the changing warfare landscape.

anyway yes i still believe Yoshikage Kira would serve on one of these ships

[kieraoonadiy]

Some sewing, sewing history, and LGBT wartime history

[ultrachoppedpenguinbouquet]

Alexander the Great's conquest of Tyre

[zolgod]

Sward with Sun symbol

[kingsmoot]

Something I haven't seen brought up much with the ramsay vs manderly horn wood question is about Donella Hornwoods own claim to those lands. She's not a Hornwoods by blood, but by marriage, so she would only have widow's use rights (which I believe are the rights to live there and be supported). Hornwood would need to pass to the next blood claimant or revert to the crown to dispense with if one can't be found. This is why I'm especially confused as to how she can name Ramsay inheritor in a will to lands she doesn't own. (Whereas Catelyn clearly doesn't have the power to will winterfell to Arya over Jon despite being in the same position as the widowed Dowager Queen/Lady)

Instead, it's the manderlys and the bolton at odds over who owns that land, both through Donella, even though she herself doesn't seem to have actual inheritance rights to it. (As opposed to Sansa Stark, who is a blood claimant so Tyrion could legally rule winterfell through her) In any case I think the real crux of the issue, like with the forced marriage, is bigger army diplomacy. Bran mentions a bastard, but unless said bastard can raise an army or get the millitary support of a larger faction, those lands are going to the bolton or the manderlys.

I imagine there isn't a blood relative with any real millitary backing or roose and wyman wouldn't be going through all this trouble for someone who technically only has widow's use rights.

Ultimately, because armies are honestly the biggest decider of succession law in westeros (Aegon II acknowledged as king over Rhaenrya I in histories because he won the war, Maegor over Aegon the uncrowned because he won the war, even the Tyrell's claim to highgarden being a bit dodgy in terms of blood relations but backed up by the targaryen millitary power of the time etc), whether or not Donellas's marriage and contract are going to be considered valid according to history will depend on who is in power. Should the boltons be toppled, I think the new lord/lady/king/queen of the north will suddenly be hearing a lot of arguments about the legality of vows forced at sword point that no one dares take to roose bolton now.

hello anon, thank you for your thoughtful message!! the hornwood marriage and its fallout is one of my favorite subplots of the series so i'm always thrilled to talk about it.

while i agree with your final conclusion that armies are the biggest decider of succession law in westeros (i talked about this here re: lord manderly and his squatting on hornwood after donella's death), i think you're underselling donella's legal claim to hornwood as lord hornwood's widow as they apply to her lord husband.

look at lysa tully, jon arryn's widow:

agot, chapter 34, catelyn vi

you could say that lysa only has a claim to the vale because she has the men to back it. lady hornwood is alone. her son and her husband were killed, and the majority if not all of her household guard were killed as well. she is the last remnant of house hornwood.

the degree to which wives who marry into greathouses are integrated into that breathouse is variable. cat, as a notable example, calls herself a stark as often as she calls herself a tully. tyrion (and others i think) calls her a shewolf. she considers herself an outsider, a riverlander in the north, but as the series progresses and especially after ned's death she speaks about herself in her private thoughts and aloud in public as a stark of winterfell. cersei, on the other hand, would drop dead before she called herself a baratheon. and lysa falls moreso in the middle, where she is called lysa tully and after the death of her husband is often reminded of/aligned with her familial connections to house tully, but absolutely considers herself Of The Vale, even though she's spent about fourteen years in king's landing with jon serving as robert's hand. (donella, for as long as we know her, is always and by everyone referred to as lady hornwood, never donella manderly).

so one could argue that lysa tully is pointedly not an arryn, and is only holding the vale because her son is a blood claimant AND she has tully and arryn forces to support her own claim in the meantime.

but suitors are beating down lysa's door because they want the vale. and the vale would pass to them as the new head of the vale and defacto head of house arryn. i was going to use ramsay as an example but his bastard status makes this more complicated so let's pick a legitimate second son. why can't i think of anyone.

actually, let's say tyrion, since you also mentioned sansa's blood rights to winterfell.

tyrion is heir by blood to casterly rock, since jaime is a knight of the kingsguard and thus unable to inherit. let's axe that because it also makes things more complicated. jaime leaves the kingsguard as tywin wants him to do and he inherits casterly rock and becomes warden of the west. this leaves tyrion a second son with no blood claim to casterly rock (similar to the blackfish, who left house tully to go with lysa to the vale and serve house arryn. i didn't use him as an example because lysa's husband also being a tully would muddy the waters of an example that is already stretched pretty thin). so tyrion marries lysa tully. tyrion is now lord of the vale, stepfather to lord robert aryn. tyrion's first order of business would be siring a son on his new wife so that lord baby lannister-tully would become the new heir to the vale, trumping robert arryn's claim. all of this would come from lysa tully's claim to the vale, as the widow of jon arryn.

importantly, donella hornwood is considered an elligible marriage prospect by the men at winterfell, even if she is too old to have children.

Midday came and went. Maester Luwin sent Poxy Tym down to the kitchens, and they dined in the solar on cheese, capons, and brown oatbread. While tearing apart a bird with fat fingers, Lord Wyman made polite inquiry after Lady Hornwood, who was a cousin of his. “She was born a Manderly, you know. Perhaps, when her grief has run its course, she would like to be a Manderly again, eh?” He took a bite from a wing, and smiled broadly. “As it happens, I am a widower these past eight years. Past time I took another wife, don’t you agree, my lords? A man does get lonely.” Tossing the bones aside, he reached for a leg. “Or if the lady fancies a younger lad, well, my son Wendel is unwed as well. He is off south guarding Lady Catelyn, but no doubt he will wish to take a bride on his return. A valiant boy, and jolly. Just the man to teach her to laugh again, eh?” He wiped a bit of grease off his chin with the sleeve of his tunic.

acok, chapter 16, bran ii

here we see lord manderly scheming to get the hornwood lands by marriage, for either himself or his son

Bran wanted to give the lady a hundred men to defend her rights, but Ser Rodrik only said, “He may look, but should he do more I promise you there will be dire retribution. You will be safe enough, my lady … though perhaps in time, when your grief is passed, you may find it prudent to wed again.”

“I am past my childbearing years, what beauty I had long fled,” she replied with a tired half smile, “yet men come sniffing after me as they never did when I was a maid.”

“You do not look favorably on these suitors?” asked Luwin.

“I shall wed again if His Grace commands it,” Lady Hornwood replied, “but Mors Crowfood is a drunken brute, and older than my father. As for my noble cousin of Manderly, my lord’s bed is not large enough to hold one of his majesty, and I am surely too small and frail to lie beneath him.”

Bran knew that men slept on top of women when they shared a bed. Sleeping under Lord Manderly would be like sleeping under a fallen horse, he imagined. Ser Rodrik gave the widow a sympathetic nod. “You will have other suitors, my lady. We shall try and find you a prospect more to your taste.”

“Perhaps you need not look very far, ser.” After she had taken her leave, Maester Luwin smiled. “Ser Rodrik, I do believe my lady fancies you.” Ser Rodrik cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable.

acok, chapter 26, bran ii

and here we see donella both acknowledging her many suitors and flirting with ser rodrik (cute!!!)

immediately after this though we get a more pragmatic breakdown of why donella's dead husband and son cause issues politically:

“She was very sad,” said Bran.

Ser Rodrik nodded. “Sad and gentle, and not at all uncomely for a woman of her years, for all her modesty. Yet a danger to the peace of your brother’s realm nonetheless.”

“Her?” Bran said, astonished. Maester Luwin answered. “With no direct heir, there are sure to be many claimants contending for the Hornwood lands. The Tallharts, Flints, and Karstarks all have ties to House Hornwood through the female line, and the Glovers are fostering Lord Harys’s bastard at Deepwood Motte. The Dreadfort has no claim that I know, but the lands adjoin, and Roose Bolton is not one to overlook such a chance.”

Ser Rodrik tugged at his whiskers. “In such cases, her liege lord must find her a suitable match.”

“Why can’t you marry her?” Bran asked. “You said she was comely, and Beth would have a mother.” The old knight put a hand on Bran’s arm. “A kindly thought, my prince, but I am only a knight, and besides too old. I might hold her lands for a few years, but as soon as I died Lady Hornwood would find herself back in the same mire, and Beth’s prospects might be perilous as well.”

“Then let Lord Hornwood’s bastard be the heir,” Bran said, thinking of his half brother Jon. Ser Rodrik said, “That would please the Glovers, and perhaps Lord Hornwood’s shade as well, but I do not think Lady Hornwood would love us. The boy is not of her blood.”

“Still,” said Maester Luwin, “it must be considered. Lady Donella is past her fertile years, as she said herself. If not the bastard, who?”

“May I be excused?” Bran could hear the squires at their swordplay in the yard below, the ring of steel on steel.

acok, chapter 26, bran ii

so we're right back to the point where you and i totally agree. the only thing that REALLY decides inheritance rights in westeros is the point of a sword.

which wheels us back to my longstanding point (arrived at throughout my first reread and with the help of many friendly mutuals and anons who contributed to my understanding of the issue) that ramsay kidnapping donella hornwood and marrying her at swordpoint is unusual because he is an unrecognized illegitimate bastard when he does it, but is at the end of the day not that much more brutal or unheard of than any other run of the mill marriage in westeros.

so donella here is like a vector through which the hornwood lands would pass. lysa's situation with the vale is similar, though her claim to the keep and its lands is stronger because she has a living heir AND both tully and arryn forces to guard her claim.

ramsay banked on the dreadfort's forces to protect him from the ramifications of kidnapping raping and murdering a noblewoman AND to hold the hornwood lands. the dreadfort forces could do neither. but the marriage was not a total loss politically since as i have said, ramsay is the legal claimant to the hornwood lands, AND roose has an interest in holding those lands as well so he would back his claim if it came to it.

as with all things in westeros, whoever carries the biggest stick wins the day, regardless of written law or unwritten social custom.

so at the end of the day, i think donella's legal rights to hornwood are strong only insofar as they serve her new lord husband, who stands to inherit her land. which. actually reading over all this again i think it is accurate of you to say that donella only has widow's rights for as long as she does not remarry. but that is less to do with westerosi legal code (nonexistant) and more to do with hornwood having no military strength left AND their leige lords the starks being stretched too thin with the WoFK to lend their help before it's too late to do so.

donella can will her lands to her new husband ramsay because she would have functionally been doing to same thing if lord manderly or his son married her. or if ser rodrik married her. donella has claim over hornwood only insofar as she can give it to her lord husband.

[hopalongfairywren]

Being in AP US history in like 2094 is gonna suck so bad "Analysize the following depictions of the deterioration between the United States and Canada in the years preceding the special millitary opperation conducted by American troops prior World War 3.5" and it's an archived gacha life pmv of America and Canada (from hetalia) set to how to save a life made by some 12 year old.

[yellowtomb]

So Trump wants to take Ukrainian resources for millitary aid, which USA should provide since it signed Budapest Memorandum (in which Ukraine gave its huge nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances by its signatories). And Ukraine will probably give it, as the war with russia (other signatory of Budapest Memorandum) is still ongoing.

If this is not neo-colonialism than I don't know what is it.

Maybe there should be a nuclear war that will wipe all northern hemisphere from the face of the earth, too bad there are countries like Ukraine and others in this part of the world, surrounded by centuries-old imperialistic machines.

My photo of Francis Fukuyama in 2023, in Ukraine, holding a watermelon from Kherson, that was gifted to him by Timothy Snyder. End of fucking history

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

Now I'm not saying that Elon Musk is definitely a case of "Those who do not pay attention in history class are doomed to repeat it in summer school" as I believe the famous quote goes (My Girlfriend: THATS NOT THE FUCKIN QUOTE SAMANTHA)

But also uhhhhhhh

Their teachings claimed a nuclear apocalypse was predicted to occur soon, as the result of a conspiracy involving Jewish financiers, Freemasons, and war profiteers.

Antisemitic conspiracy theories

attracted a considerable number of graduates from Japan's elite universities

Rich nerdbros

attempted to tie its religious ideas to popular anime and manga themes, including space missions, powerful weapons, world conspiracies, and the quest for ultimate truth

All of this shit

claims of curing physical illnesses with health improvement techniques, realizing life goals by improving intelligence and positive thinking, and concentrating on what was important at the expense of leisure.

Creepy Handmaids Tale shit

In the early days, Aum was able to recruit a variety of people ranging from bureaucrats to personnel from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

Connections to the government, millitary and police

I guess what I'm saying is, if/when the day comes that Elon Musk and his DOGE cult do a sarin gas attack?

Well

All the red flags were right there

[abdullahblogsposts]

📌 Filthy Apostate Madkhâlīs claim Islām and by Allāh they do not have single hair of Islām on their head!

📌 They report Muslims to Kuffār on accusations that they are Khawârij who shed blood of Muslims, but I don't know in whole 1400 year of Islāmic History verdicts that have killed more Muslims than verdicts of Ibn Bāz, Ibn Uthāymīn and Saudi Council of Senior Apostates

📌 1.7 Million killed in sanctions on Irāq, 1 Million Muslims killed by USA since America made their bases in Saudi Arabia first time in history of Islām a Kāfir country built millitary bases in an Islāmic country all thanks to Ibn Bāz and Ibn Uthāymīn

📌 Till this day American millitary bases are present in Saudi,  Jordan, UAE and elsewhere, 0.15 million killed in Yemen in US backed war Approved by Saudi Council of Senior Apostates.

📌 According to Luhāîdan and Jabîrī fighting for democracy in Yemen is Jihād in the Path of Allāh

📌 Not to mentioned 10s of thousand of Muslims killed by verdicts of Madkhâlī Scholars in Libyā, Egypt etc!!

📌 In Iraq "Madkhalīs" under Abū Manăr Al Malîkī fought with Aməricans against Muslims

📌 In Britian they report anyone they consider to be Takfīrī to PREVENT

📌 In Libyā they fought under the banner of Secularist , General of Ghaddāfī

They are not Murjī'āh rather they are Worshippers and Supporters of Tawāghīt.

It was never known from Murjī'āh or Jahmīyyāh in the past that they would ally with Romans against Muslims or report Muslims to them.

📌 In France they worked with intelligence agencies to report and hand over "Takfīrīs" and violate their women.

May Allāh make their hypocrisy and apostasy clear to every Muslim , so they are cursed by Muslims till the day of judgment.

[my-japanese-corner]

Japanese History Words

将軍 (しょうぐん)

they were a pretty big deal ~

Shōgun: Officially this position was called 征夷大将軍 (Hiragana: せいいだいしょうぐん, Romanji: seii taishōgun) As we know, Japanese love their abbreviations, Shōgun (将軍, means army leader). Kanji Breakdown: 征（せい, sei) means to "conquer" or "subjugate" 夷（い, i) means "brutish" or "unsophisticated warrior" 大（だい, dai) means "big" or "great" [meaning of this kanji changes based on context] 将（しょう, sho-u) means "commander" or "leader" 軍（ぐん, gun) means "armed forces" or "troops"

Essentially, 征夷大将軍 means Commandar in Cheif of Army Against the Barbarian Forces [or Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians]

They were the millitary rulers appointed by the Emperor of Japan in the periods spanning between 1185 - 1868. Generally, Shogun were the de-facto rulers of the country. The last Shogunate of Japan was the 徳川幕府 (Tokugawa Shogunate) also known as the Edo Shogunate. There were total of three shogunates established in Japan: 1. 鎌倉幕府, Kamakura Shogunate (1192–1333, overthorwn during the Kemu Restoration, re-establishing the Imperial Goverment rule until being overthrown by the Ashikaga Takauji and his offspring forming the 足利幕府) 2. 足利幕府, Ashikaga Shogunate (1336–1573, overthrown by 織田信長, Oda Nobunaga, a damiyo) 3. 徳川幕府, Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868, disbanded in 1867)

Now of course, the history of each other these shogunates and famous shoguns require many, many posts to over!

As always, Gintama has inspired me to learn more about Japanense culture hehe. Hopefully this was helpful to you as well :)

Please feel free to add onto the post with histroy facts and other interesting stuff :D

[damnedserenity]

I am calling it my Female fighters au and for the first character introduction we have: Fu Hao

Intro, R3, R4, R7

Historical facts:

•She was a concubine, priestess and general in the Shang dynasty having died in 1200bc

•She did multiple millitary campaigns defeating the enemies of the Shang dynasty most notably the Tufanh who fought for generations only to be defeated in one battle

•"Further campaigns against the neighbouring Yi, Qiang and Ba followed; the latter is particularly remembered for being the earliest recorded large-scale ambush in Chinese history. With up to 13,000 soldiers and important generals Zhi and Hou Gao serving under her, she was the most powerful Shang general of her time"- Wikipedia

•Her tomb was very extensive having 700+ jade objects, 500 oracle bones (from her role as a priestess) along with 6 canine and 16 human sacrifices

In RoR

•She takes the place of Lu Bu against Thor and while she loses her fight against him she still culminates both fear and awe in both humans and gods

•Her Volund is a battle axe, one of the many weapons she was buried with

•She is a very tall, well built woman with long hair kept in a pun (bun into ponytail) with clothing a mix of traditional Shang dynasty clothing and battle armour

•Her backstory includes her relationship with King Wu ding as they both cared deeply for eachother in life, there are records of him worrying for her health after having children and mourning her death

•When heading of her in involvement in Ragnarok he went to Brunhilde and tried to convince her to change her mind but was put off but Fu hao herself

•Her last thought before death was a memory of her husband and her racing in war chariots right after her return from battle

All in all she is a very determined and strong willed woman who earns her opponent's respect. Her main flaws tend to be insensitivity to other's feelings and short sightedness, the latter resulting in her defeat.

Ragnarok AU Round 1 Winner: Thor.

[lifestilled]

hi, below are very brief summaries for different moments of basil's life which i will treat as my canon, seeing as they end where the book ends basil's life. in another post, i will note down the aus that get a bit more cannon divergent.

london at dawn — basil is an only child to a man who has found his name in the victorian british society as a pakistani man in the millitary. his father was ambitious but level-headed, his mother was pragmatic but gentle. together they raised a wide-eyed son with the interest for the world around him, for art, history and literature. basil spent his years growing up conforming to his parents' every word, taught well that he best keep his head down, and keep it educated.

oxford, or the portrait of the artist as a young man — an acquaintance of his from one social outing or another, young henry wotton, has gotten into his head. for the first time ever he found himself disobeying his father's wishes. instead of sandhurst, he chose oxford as his alma mater, where he would study the literae humaniores. his parents would support him financially through his degree, in spite of his father's initial anger, with the hopes of him securing a name for himself, even in a non-millitary field of work.

london at noon — basil becomes an artist. his father does not take it well. though he allows him to stay at the family home in the city, he provides no further support. his mother tries to help in the little ways she can, but in the end basil is forced to stand on his own two feet. calling on favours from oxford, calling on acquaintances he's gathered from henry wotton and the likes of him, doing commissions, and ceaselessly perfecting his craft. he's lucky enough to capture the attention of a handful of patrons who are happy to have him, though sometimes he is not sure whether it is so his art may be a part of their collection, or he himself, as exotic as the rest of it. he keeps his mouth shut, he's lucky, after all.

london's golden hour — so he has made it. a little over thirty and he has it all. his people, his art, his home. everything scraped together out of what his parents taught him and what he had the courage to ask for. he's good, he's humble, he's grateful. sure, he may be somewhat quiet and reclusive — but which artist hasn't been? society will find him whether he wants to be found or not. oh the great burden of society. that's when dorian gray steps into his life and tears it all apart. a breath of fresh air. a gentle, innocent presence.

london at dusk — following his meeting with lord henry, dorian's very presence turns bitter. for a long time, basil refuses to see it, caught up in the shallow perfection of it all, in the melody of the voices rather than their meaning, in the deep blue of the eyes rather than the ice-cold distance with which they view him. he's inspired, still. working as if running out of time because his very heart can feel the storm that's coming.

london in the dead of night — following his confession, dorian has his very own confession to make. that is the night that basil dies in the book.

[crodur]

Ancient and distant dragons (part II)

Last time we saw what the Chinese, Sumerian and Slavic civilizations understood by ''dragon'', along with other groups related to those. So, let's see other examples of this idea, close coincidences and divergences!

I would talk in depth about the European dragon itself. However, and oddly enough, such mythical being is not entirely original, like the examples we're trying to gather, more like a very baroque conglomerate of influences that eventually came to be the winged lizard we all know. So let's talk, instead, about the roots behind it.

However, it's inspirations are quite curious. The European or Conventional Dragon, is a mixture of two different ''dragonlike beings'', both unaware of each other, as far as we know!

The first influence is, surprisingly the Sumerian Mušḫuššu we previously looked at. Told you that the idea of an animal with reptilian traits would stick around!

Second one is more obscure. It is believed the Dacian Drakon could be a major player. This creature has a very confusing genealogy, being on it's own the result of a lot of artistic depictions of beasts, streetching as far as the 8th century BCE, and for over a thousand years it suffered a great amount of changes, being consistently depicted as a mixture of a snake and another, different animal.

By the time the Roman Empire assimilated the Dacians (located where modern Romania is) at 2th c. AD and incorporated the creature into their own mythos, it was mostly a wolf headed, thick snake. It was quite important for the native Dacians, represented as a protecting spirit in both millitary vexilloids and wind instruments such as horns.

A ferocious Dacian Drako, engraved in the Roman Tracian column.

Those two creatures (Drakon and Mušḫuššu) loosely permeated, along with other influences such as local, folklore beasts of many sorts, and depictions of snakes as the root of evil (a consistent avatar of the Christian Devil, as soon as in the Genesis book of the Bible, but in many other occasions, such as Isaiah book [14:29]).

All those influences, after centuries of obscurity, were gradually sewn together during the Middle Ages (remember, most classical knowledge and folklore was reduced to residual traces during this historial period) into the big, bad dragon that the forces of good must defeat.

A winged snake, a somewhat popular heraldic symbol (this one in particular is from 17th century, though). A possible additional influence in this dense melting pot?

The slavic dragons we saw in the previous post most likely were a direct influence of this trend, one of the many types created by mixing chimeras and local beasts alike.

What we can safely say, is that the european dragons are a byproduct of many ideas of different ages and places colliding together. We all influence each other through the time!

Of course, there were many differing interpretations under the umbrella of dragonhood, here's a french one that incorporates particular body proportions, and devilish goat horns (from the 1410 manuscript The Crucifixion by a follower of Egerton Master). What an awe inspiring fiend!

But let's put the european ones aside, and take another loooong leap. How about... you guessed it...

Mesoamerica!

Mayas, Toltecs, and others do have, too, a remote tradition of dragonlike monsters who weren't mere beasts, but even reached the status of godhood!

The cosmology of many different groups in upper central america has in common the reverence of a being called ''the feathered snake'', adored since XV century BCE, and until the arrival of the Castillian crown, some 3000 years later. Wow!

The first peoples that depicted such a being were the Olmecs, considered as one of the first greater cultural identities in the Americas. Here's the first known feathered snake, in La Venta settlement:

A feather crested, giant snake with a man (who wears a fanged helmet), considered by some as his alter-ego. The bag the man holds appears to represent a ritual of sorts, and his earpiece implies high ranking status.

The Olmecs left, as we said, a long lasting legacy that affected cultures far away from their territories.

The serpent would later be adopted into the maya God Kꞌuꞌukꞌul Kaan (lit. Feathered Snake), represented in many royal steels (as we saw here) as the being that allows an ajaw (lord) to see his ancestors, and win their favor to be crowned. In the case of the Toltecs, it was named Quetzacoatl (both names sound vaguely similar)

A feathered serpent, found among the ruins of the maya Poqomam kingdom, with a human head pecking out, as per usual with maya iconography.

The Toltec, and later on Aztec Quetzacoatl, God of light, life, civilization and knowledge. Notice how this version was more birdlike, totally covered by feathers, but also with a mouth whose jaw contracted into a spiral, almost resembling a pair of twirled whiskers (not intended, but still curious).

That's some long lasting impression, to say the least!

In the following post, we'll see some more dragonlikes, also created fortuitously and with no connection with the rest of this really extended family. Remember that I only write small pieces of info, and usually I do skim over a lot when covering these topics, so if you want to know more, I encourage you to keep researching on ANYTHING that has caught your attention. (Or, well, ask me for an indepth post apart, which I would gladly investigate and redact).

Until next time!