#Princess of Babylon

[asdaricus]

These are supposed to be Napir-Asu, Princess of Babylon and Queen of Elam. Unlike other give-away wives, Napir-Asu was the mother of the future King of Elam, so she had more status than other wives.

The first woman looks more Middle-Eastern to me than the other women, but she also looks like she was made out of clay and not in a figurative sense. Her costume also strikes me as ancient Near Eastern—not that I would actually know.

Queen Napir-Asu was an interesting woman and more interesting than Queen Hecuba. You can look up Napir-Asu and learn about her life online.

by Midjourney v5

[gameraboy2]

1997 Creation Entertainment Holiday Catalog Featuring Hercules and Xena

[sonicthetarot]

Sonic the Tarot Update #6

Heya! We're going to keep this update briefer than usual. Here is the preview of our Wands suit! The Wands suit traditionally represents one's consciousness and core values and is visualized as Sonic's allies in Sonic the Tarot.

Our lineart phase is almost at a close, so look forward to the Pentacles suit preview next week! In that post, we will also discuss our current timeline for those interested in production technicalities. Thank you!

[therighthandofvengeance]

Ivanova: Hello. My name is Susan Ivanova.

Sheridan: Okay, good start. What do you say to Bester next?

Ivanova: You killed my mother. Prepare to die.

[thenotebookwizard]

She-Ra | Defiance (Thoughts and Rambles I: Convergence)

(Am I going to use roman numerals for every ramble about this fic? Probably not, but at least for the first few.)

A lot of the ideas and concepts for the fic are born from fanon - but a lot of fanon and my fic also come from this episode.

Somehow, it wasn't until after I started posting the fic that I realized who the writer was.

J. Michael Straczynski (JMS). He's done a lot. Comics. TV. Movies. Streaming. Books. He's the executor (inheritor?) of Harlan Ellison's estate.

He's the creator of Babylon 5.

If you want to talk about stories and media with significant effects on me as a human, you cannot avoid talking about Babylon 5. Star Trek and Star Wars came first, sure, but without Babylon 5, I don't think I would appreciate either of those as much or as a deeply as I do.

Babylon 5 came out when I was in middle school. I didn't get to see as much of it during its initial run as I wanted to. Only later, when a friend videotaped it and loaned me those tapes, did I get to really dig into it. I loved it. It was everything I wanted in a story and then some.

Learning to appreciate Babylon 5 made me dig deeper into other media. Into other stories - and shaped how I look at narrative. How I examine characters and the potential of characters. JMS created something with Babylon 5 that defied the genre of sci fi, causing me to figure out what space opera and science fantasy are.

I own Babylon 5 in several formats, and I rewatch it at least once a year.

Finding out JMS wrote the episode of the original She-Ra that helped create and define so much of the old canon that created the fanon that gives us magicats and all of the lore we have built up around Catra - because the new show didn't have the time or space to give us much.

- it was a revelation. It was the convergence of the old fandoms that shaped me and the new fandom that inspired me.

I have no idea how much JMS really created in terms of that lore or those one-off characters, but I can assume a few things based on what (little) I know about show-writing back then. He would have either been given the basics of the script and then told to flesh it out, or he just handed someone a script, and they said 'cool. Here's some lunch money. We'll get someone to draw this.'

Either way, he wrote the dialogue. He wrote the characters. He wrote the way the lore was presented. He had a hand in it.

That has meaning, in that JMS was writing and creating things that have affected me far, far longer than I knew and he has been showing me how to tell stories just as long.

[steal-this-idea]

This was on the "Babylon 5 Spooposting" page on Facebook

It also came with a template for those of you who are creative & funny and manage to find this post:

[badplacetohaveagoodtime]

Ariel being willing to give up her voice to 'be where the people are' and then accidentally finding a hot dude too is basically the same as my being willing to give up my voice if it meant the Return of the Library of Alexandria. A hot/cute librarian would be a massive bonus, but like, the Library is the end goal here, people. Not the cutie I met along the road.

(Or those gardens of Babylon. I would give my voice for that. Hell, I'd offer my own hand in marriage and bear children for someone if it meant getting them back. I want to see)

[noa-ciharu]

Oh god it's CLAMP day....

It's babygirl's fake birthday! 💕🥳

[pedroam-bang]

Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones (2005)

[thefuzzhead]

This has been on my mind as I went through all of Stargate in 2020 and I’m currently on the Highlander TV series. Some old shows can’t help but appear cheesy in modern standards I imagine.

(Do feel free to discuss your beloved tv shows and their cheesiness in comments and tags)

[vote-mean-lesbians]

[thegivenchythree]

Margot Robbie in Chanel Haute Couture 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards

[pretzelogic1]

I make a ranked list of every movie that I have never watched before during the month on Letterboxd and I’m going to start posting my ten top highest rated and lowest rated movies of the month:

If you are gay I would highly recommend Closet Monster. It’s a gay indie that is quirky but not annoying about it. 

Also, honestly I quite like The Bad News Bears, Thief, and Downsizing. But the middle section of the list was so good they kind of got dragged down. 

[therighthandofvengeance]

roses are red

the shadows manipulated Anna

when it comes down to it

she met her fate à la Princess Diana

[thenotebookwizard]

She-Ra | Defiance CH 17: Politics & Perfidy

Catra confronts the Royal Council, taking on the mantle of Princess politically for the first time - and discovers Halfmoon's politics are just as convoluted as the Horde's. As Princess, she has political power and thus, politicians have plans for her.

These two scenes are almost unrecognizable from their very first drafts. They have evolved so very much, and I am very proud of that. Oddly, most of Catra's dialogue hasn't changed much. But a lot of Catra's dialogue in the Council meeting is inspired by J. Michael Straczynski's writing on his series Babylon 5.

J. Michael Straczynski also wrote the original She-Ra episode "Magicats" and may have, in fact, created magicats and Halfmoon itself. It felt fitting.

For those interested in the story behind Catra's piercings, check out my side-story Arguments & Apple Candy.

There's no escaping how much of an impact Babylon 5 has had on me as writer, a reader, and a person. Star Trek was my first fandom, and Star Wars has burrowed into my heart and psyche, but I re-watch Babylon 5 once a year. The dialogue, the story, the themes Straczynski explores speak to me.

I also think Babylon 5 is a fantastic example of how to tell a story, how to use an ensemble cast, and how to deal with a growth of scope and breadth in story. In a lot of ways, as both the creator of magicats and Halfmoon and as the creator of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski has created much of inspiration for Defiance - and my other writing.

Catra's words to the Council echo the beginnings of the political and philosophical journey of a Babylon 5 character and she is facing her own version of that character's nemesis - though Catra's nemesis hasn't quite been revealed yet!

A lot of the themes I touch on in this chapter, and a lot of the plot elements raised in it, won't get fully explored until the second half of my second arc. After Catra and Adora are standing side by side once again.

But they will play out and they will be important. There are hints in this chapter of important things to come, but those hints my not be apparent until much, much later. A lot of the stage is being set for arc two now, at least as far as Halfmoon goes.

We have a couple of Adora chapters coming up, including the revelation of what effect Catra reaching out through the Spirit Ember has on Adora, and what Adora's life in the Horde is like. I'll warn those of you have mentioned things; Adora's story is much darker, much bleaker than Catra's, at least for now.

But I am, in the end, not a darkfic writer. While there is darkness in my fics, and there is darkness in the world they live in, I am far more of a noblebright writer than I am a grimdark writer. While the term originates from tabletop RPGs (so much of my writing vocabulary is tabletop RPGs or fandom lingo, let's face it), it has broken containment and entered into the world of fantasy literature.

J. Michael Straczynski - and JRR Tolkien - were both noblebright writers, I think.

Of course, the genre is just a genre, but it's the best word I (currently) have to explore the concepts I'm writing about. Whether or not its wholly accurate remains to be seen. As per usual.

None the less!

The genre doesn't mean there isn't great darkness or dark paths characters walk. It does mean there are ways out and through the darkness, to be a better future. A better path.

Adora is walking the darker path - this time. Our show certainly had it the opposite. But Adora, as a character, has always known certain truths about the world. Her path was a hero's path from the beginning, because she wanted to save Etheria. Either from the Princesses or the Horde - she always wanted to save the world.

She never gives up wanting to save the world. Save her friends. It didn't matter who stood atop the mountain and said 'you cannot; the world is mine and I bring darkness with me'

Adora stood up and said: "No. You don't."

To Shadow Weaver. To Hordak. To Horde Prime.

Even when Etheria was invaded, beset by clones and chipped, enslaved people, Adora stood up. Again and again.

And at the end, she was willing to die to save the world. We can talk about her martyr complex (she has one!) and we can talk about her not knowing what she wanted. (Though, I think she always knew what she wanted - she just never believed she could have it.)

At the end, she was willing to lay down her life for others, in the dark - where no one would know. No one would sing her praises. Just because it was the right thing to do. And she knew, even if she failed, another you stand up in her place. And another. And another.

As dark as Adora's path is going to be, and as hard as it will be read (and write!) - Adora never learned the preeminent truth of her age: that hope died with the first Princess Alliance.

[dovebuffy92]

My Top Twenty Favorite USA 1990s - 2000s TV Series

Note: This list is not ranked. I love all of these TV series equally. I am including seasons because some of these series were rebooted. For the TV series to be eligible it had to run sometime between 1990 - 2009. If the TV series ran even one season in 2010 or any year after that it’s not eligible even if it’s first season aired anytime between 2009 - 1990.

1. The X Files Season 1 - 9

2. Xena Warrior Princess Season 1 - 6

3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 - 7

4. Veronica Mars Season 1 - 3

5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 -7

6. Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 - 7

7. Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1 - 4

8. The West Wing Season 1 - 7

9. Babylon 5 Season 1 - 5

10. The Sopranos Season 1 -6

11. Roswell Season 1 - 3

12. Farscape Season 1 - 4

13. Stargate SG - 1 Season 1 - 10

14. Deadwood Season 1 - 3

15. The Wire Season 1 - 5

16. Battlestar Galactica Season 1 - 4

17. Alias Season 1 - 5

18. Firefly Season 1

19. The Shield Season 1 - 7

20. Sex and the City Season 1 - 6