#Theme of a battle without humanity

[falseandrealultravival]

Theme of a battle without humanity (J-pop)

Yakuza(Japanese mafia) depart from the very Japanese theme of duty and humanity and compete for lives according to their desires. Here is the ultimate Japanese yakuza movie. The sound is also uncompromisingly dry.

仁義なき戦いのテーマ（J-pop）

義理と人情と言う、極めて日本的な主題から離れ、欲望の赴くままに命の奪い合いをするヤクザたち。日本のヤクザ映画の究極の姿がここにある。音も、妥協なく乾いている。

[goldensunset]

i didn't think i cared much for n's final battle theme bc i'm a sucker for melodically strong pieces aka certified bangers. but i must say it does a good job at making you uncomfortable when you really listen to the details. it's got tritones, clock ticking sounds, heartbeats, fire and lighting sound effects for reshiram and zekrom, up and down flights, ominous choir, plenty of dissonance. i woke up in a cold sweat at like 5am today with it hauntingly stuck in my head for some reason and that makes it deserving of my respect

[lenny-link]

TF2 x SU au fusions!

oof this took too long but i finally made it !

I kept @gracefireheart Andalusite (HeavyMedic) and @cariocay ‘s Turquoise (EngieSpy) (that i just realized their account got deactivated just a few days ago im sad now) fusion designs because i just found them perfect and whenever i wanted to try making my own designs i always ended up with making something similar to theirs since i was very influenced so i just kept them! They’re so awesome plz check the original artists!

my designs :3 :

About the fusions:

I tried to choose a theme for every fusion that suits the characters like Spessartite (DemoSolly) is a warrior i put Demo’s sword with Soldier’s shield thing well he doesn’t specifically have a shield but yknow the helmet thing i thought that could work.

He’s very powerful, strong and jump into action without a second thought, while he possesses immense strength and a love for loud and chaotic things, his battle prowess is a double-edged sword since his attacks lack precision. however, this unpredictability often leaves his enemies confused and scrambling to defend. he fights more efficiently when drunk lol

Lepidolite (MedicSpy) is a plague doctor, he is very inspired by Hannibal Lecter (nbc Hannibal lol shout out to that one Anon who recommended it for me to watch it lol) at first i wanted to give him a bistouri as a weapon, since it would suit Medic’s saw with Spy’s small knife, but then i felt the fusion was leaning too much towards Medic than Spy, so i put a cane instead to give that old idk gentleman look :P

He is polished and sophisticated, with a hint of underlying sadism and very precise in his movements, he meticulously analyzes his opponents, exploiting weaknesses with surgical precision before jumping into action and strike right where it hurts the most, the cane appears to be a simple walking stick, but inside is a hollowed core that had a retractable, poison-tipped blade, and his poison isn't fast-acting he enjoys toying with his victims, watching as the venom slowly takes hold, fueling his twisted sense of amusement. they are far from being the strongest fusion but they rely a lot on making their opponent weaker by their ability to attack precise hits as well as poisoning them!

Carnelian (SniperScout) his design was inspired by a equestrian outfit (he was the hardest to design tbh bc i wanted his design to be specifically different from the others since Scout is half human so i wanted this "human" aspect to show in the fusion).

He is a walking paradox, he's got Sniper's calm confidence with Scout's hyperactive energy, he loves a good plan but his execution is often fueled by pure adrenaline, he can zip across the battlefield with incredible speed, dodging attacks and flanking enemies. good at mid range and long range attacks but weak at close range, has internalized monologues with himself a lot, he appears calm on the surface however, his foot constantly taps, he fidgets with his slingshot, he cannot stays in place for too long. enjoys taking challenges.

Rubellite (DemoPyro) is a robot with a 50’s cartoon style but with like a creepy vibe to it, their voice sounds like a broken radio perpetually stuck on a laugh track, is both infectious and unsettling.

They just as powerful as Spessartite but just a bit more agile and lean more on the defense style than offense, their body stretches in a cartoony way and battles become a twisted playground for them, a child's game where they hop and blow things up everywhere. they’re very joyful and loves to have fun while making chaos, they usually make jokes but no one understands their muffled voice so they often laugh all by themselves lol the weapon actually expands where the ball and the shaft of the mace connects there’s a chaine (i didnt draw it cuz there was already too much going on in the drawing lol) which helps them reach target from close to mid range easily, they twist and turn their body in very flexible ways before swatting their weapon at their target.

♠︎ If you want to suggest a pair for the next fusion please just comment here DO NOT send it in my ask box plz !!

And if you want to make your own fusion designs/fanart go ahead ! id love to see other people’s interpretations could be ! just don’t forget to tag me and add the tag ( tf2 x su au) :D

hope you enjoy !

+ early designs :

[folie-a-deux]

A compilation of my favorite hannigram quotes, related lines or conversations throughout the series.

— Uhm... Just because?

S01E01: Apéritif

Hannibal: "God forbid we become friendly."

Will: "I don't find you that interesting."

Hannibal: "You will."

S01E04: Oeuf

Hannibal: "Feeling paternal, Will?"

Will: "Aren't you?"

Hannibal: "Yes."

S01E09: Trou Normand

Hannibal (to Will): "Who knows Abigail better than you and I? All the burden she bears. We are her fathers now. We have to serve her better than Garrett Jacob Hobbs."

S02E01: Kaiseki

Hannibal: "I miss him."

Bedelia: "You are obsessed with Will Graham."

Hannibal: "I am intrigued."

Bedelia: "Obsessively."

S02E09: Shiizakana

Hannibal (to Will): "No one can be fully aware of another human being unless we love them. By that love we see potential in our beloved. Through that love, we allow our beloved to see their potential. Expressing that love, our beloved’s potential comes true. I love you, Will."

S02E10: Naka-Choko

Hannibal: "Stay with me."

Will: "Where else would I go?"

–/–

Alana: "It's just hard to know where you are with each other."

Will: "We know where we are with each other. Shouldn't that be enough?"

S02E12: Tome-wan

Will (to Hannibal): "You're right. We are just alike. You're as alone as I am. And we're both alone without each other."

–/–

Will (to Hannibal): "I bond with Abigail, you take her away. I bond with barely more than the idea of a child, you take it away. You saw to it that I alienated Alana, alienated Jack. You don't want me to have anything in my life that isn't you."

-/-

Hannibal: "Achilles lamenting the death of Patroclus. Whenever he's mentioned in the Iliad, Patroclus seems to be defined by his empathy."

Will: "He became Achilles on the field of war. He died for him there, wearing his armor."

Hannibal: "He did. Hiding and revealing identity is a constant theme throughout the Greek epics."

Will: "As are battle-tested friendships."

Hannibal: "Achilles wished all Greeks would die, so that he and Patroclus could conquer Troy alone. Took divine intervention to bring them down."

S02E13: Mizumono

Hannibal: "We could disappear now. Tonight. Feed your dogs, leave a note for Alana, and never see her or Jack again. Almost polite."

Will: "Then this would be our last supper."

Hannibal: "Of this life. I served lamb."

Will: "Sacrificial."

Hannibal: "I don't need a sacrifice, do you?"

–/–

Will: "You were supposed to leave."

Hannibal: "We couldn't leave without you."

...

Hannibal: "Time did reverse. The teacup that I shattered did come together. A place was made for Abigail in your world... You understand? A place was made for all of us, together. I wanted to surprise you. And you... you wanted to surprise me. I let you know me. See me. I gave you a rare gift. But you didn't want it."

Will: "Didn't I?"

...

Hannibal: "Do you believe you could change me, the way I've changed you?"

Will: "I already did."

Hannibal: "Fate and circumstance has returned us to this moment— when the teacup shatters. I forgive you, Will. Will you forgive me?"

S03E02: Primavera

Will: "A valentine written on a broken man."

–/–

Will: "I do feel closer to Hannibal here. God only knows where I'd be without him."

Abigail: "What did you see?"

Will: "He left us his broken heart."

Abigail: "How did he know we were here?"

Will: "He didn't. But he knew we'd come."

Abigail: "He misses us."

S03E03: Secondo

Hannibal: "He said he forgave me."

...

Bedelia: "Betrayal and forgiveness are best seen as something akin to falling in love."

Hannibal: "You cannot control with respect to whom you fall in love."

–/–

Chiyoh: "How do you know Hannibal?"

Will: "One could argue intimately."

Chiyoh: "'Nakama'? It's a Japanese word for very close friends."

Will: "Yes, we were 'nakama'."

–/–

Chiyoh: "Why are you looking for him after he left you with a smile?"

Will: "I've never known myself as well as I know myself when I'm with him."

–/–

Jack: “Will Graham understands Hannibal. He accepts him. Now, who among us doesn’t want understanding and acceptance?”

–/-

Bedelia: “What your sister made you feel was beyond your conscious ability to control or predict."

Hannibal: "Or negotiate."

Bedelia: "I would suggest what Will Graham makes you feel is not dissimilar. A force of mind and circumstance.”

Hannibal: “Love. He pays you a visit or he doesn't.”

S03E04: Aperitivo

Jack: "You remember when you decided to call Hannibal?"

Will: "I wasn't decided when I called him. I just called him. I deliberated while the phone rang. I decided when I heard his voice."

Jack: "You told him we knew."

Will: "I told him to leave. 'Cause I wanted him to run."

Jack: "Why?"

Will: "Because... because he was my friend. And because I wanted to run away with him."

–/–

Dr. Chilton: "Will Graham is alive because Hannibal Lecter likes him that way."

Jack: "Maybe it's one of those friendships that ends after the disemboweling."

Dr. Chilton: "I would argue, with these two, that's tantamount to flirtation."

S03E06: Dolce

Jack: "Hannibal will slip away. Will you slip away with him?"

Will: "Part of me will always want to."

–/–

Hannibal: "If I saw you everyday, forever, Will, I would remember this time."

Will: "Strange seeing you here in front of me. Been staring at afterimages of you in places you haven't been in years."

...

Will: "I wanted to understand you... before I laid eyes on you again. I needed it to be... clear. What I was seeing."

Hannibal: "Where does the difference between the past and the future come from?"

Will: "Mine?"... "Before you and after you."

...

Will: "You and I... have begun to blur."

Hannibal: "Isn't that how you found me?"

Will: "Every crime of yours, feels like one I'm guilty of. Not just Abigail's murder, every murder. Stretching backward and forward in time."

Hannibal: "Freeing yourself from me and me freeing myself from you. They're the same."

Will: "We're conjoined. I'm curious whether either of us can survive separation."

–/–

Hannibal: "I would've liked to show you Florence, Will."

S03E07: Digestivo

Hannibal: "Do we talk about teacups and time, and the rules of the disorder?"

Will: "The teacup's broken. It's never gonna gather itself back together again."

Hannibal: "Not even in your mind?"... "Your memory palace is building, it's full of new things. It shares some rooms with my own. I've discovered you there, victorious."

Will: "When it comes to you and me, there can be no decisive victory."

Hannibal: "We are a zero-sum game?"

Will: "I miss my dogs. I'm not going to miss you. I'm not going to find you. I'm not going to look for you. I don't want to know where you are or what you do. I don't want to think about you anymore."

Hannibal: "You delight in wickedness and then berate yourself for the delight."

Will: "You delight. I tolerate... I don't have your appetite."

Will: "Goodbye, Hannibal."

–/–

Hannibal (to Will): "I want you to know exactly where I am, or where you can always find me."

S03E09: ...and the Woman Clothed with the Sun

Hannibal: "Is there a child in your life, Will? I gave you a child, if you recall."

–/–

Will: "You called us "murder husbands.""

Freddie Lounds: "You did run off to Europe together."

S03E10: ...and the Woman Clothed in Sun

Bedelia: "Have you been to see him?"

Will: "Yes."

Bedelia: "You haven't learned your lesson have you? Or did you just miss him that much?"

–/–

Bedelia (to Will): "My relationship with Hannibal isn't as passionate as yours. You are here visiting an old flame. Is your wife aware how intimately you and Hannibal know each other?"

S03E11: ...and the Beast from the Sea

Will (to Hannibal): "I'm not fortune's fool. I'm yours."

S03E12: The Number of the Beast is 666

Will: "Is Hannibal... in love with me?"

Bedelia: "Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you and find nourishment at the very sight of you?... Yes. But do you ache for him?"

S03E13: The Wrath of the Lamb

Hannibal: "When life becomes maddeningly polite, think about me. Think about me, Will. Don't worry about me."

–/–

Will: "I knew you wanted me to know exactly where I could find you when I needed to."

Hannibal: "And you did."

Will: "I need you Hannibal." ... "Please."

–/–

Will: "It really does look black in the moonlight."

Hannibal: "See? This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us."

Will: "It's beautiful."

[falciesystemessays]

I honestly think that Dizzy's entrance to Guilty Gear Strive should be as much of A Moment for plural systems as Bridget's was for trans women. The character's not out yet, but every bit of promotional material for the character points in a very promising direction. So for people who don't go here, or who have only played Strive, allow me to tell you why a character trailer for a three-year-old game put me on the verge of tears.

For some quick context, plurality in a person is essentially the state of having multiple entities in one's head. The most commonly known form of this comes from having dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personalities. But plenty within the plural community (including me) have a broader umbrella for the term. The main terminology you'll want to know for this is that a "system" is a group of entities within one body (I for example am part of the Fal'cie System), and "aspects" are entities that aren't quite separable from the host, because they're the manifestation of specific parts of them. For the record I am very aware of how buckwild this sounds to an outsider, and I frequently get existential about it. A lot of characters in anime and games are incidentally plural due to their layers of fantasy nonsense. Some examples of this in action are Yami and Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh, Sora gaining Ventus's heart in Kingdom Hearts, and the explicit dissociative identity of the Storyteller System in Ace Attorney.

Now then! To sum up Dizzy's backstory real quick, Dizzy is a Gear, basically a living weapon, and the daughter of original antagonist Justice. Most of her character up until this point has been desperately trying to cover that and live among humans, to... mixed avail. In the series' story mode she manages to start a family with the human deuteragonist Ky Kiske, who loves her a lot despite formerly being one of the best Gear-slayers. Ky is such a wonderful character, because throughout the series we see him go from hating Gears to tolerating a few of them to having a kid with one and actually becoming a little bit Gear himself. But this essay isn't about Ky Kiske.

In actual gameplay, as in the 1v1 fighting game battles, the main thing stopping her from relative normalcy is her two wings, Necro and Undine. The reason I say this character is a plural dub is because these wings are actually aspects of Dizzy, Necro being her rage and Undine her compassion. A lot of Dizzy's attack animations in Guilty Gear XX (the one where I've played Dizzy a lot) actually have Necro doing violent things while Dizzy herself is either distracted or afraid. This continued in Guilty Gear Xrd, where her instant kill move (every character gets one) has Necro unleashing a fuckoff gamma ray while Dizzy begs him to stop. Worth noting also that gamma rays are one of the moves her mother Justice used. Dizzy and Necro have clearly not been getting along, and while it's fun as a fighting game character bit, there is a certain level of sadness to it.

But in Strive? Oh my god, she looks so happy now! So at peace with herself and with her system. Lemme just rattle stuff off right now.

-Dizzy's attack animations all put her in control. Necro and Undine do a lot of fighting still, but never without Dizzy's control. They are fighting in tandem.

-Dizzy's victory animation has her hold out two hands. Undine naturally puts her whole hand onto one, and Necro finally puts a single finger on the other with a smile.

-Their super move, Gamma Ray, starts out with Necro and Undine firing a beam, and Dizzy getting scared. But after glancing at them and realizing it's okay, she joins in on the beam attack.

-She has a new move now, Michael Sword (Pronounced Mik-hai-ull), a full-screen slash that Justice used to have, indicating that she's come to terms with her origins and wants to use them for good.

-God, her opening animation and taunt where she communes with the animals like a Disney princess. Her new beautiful design. Her new theme song! She has never been this happy in her life!

The thing is, right, I can imagine people saying that this character growth isn't remotely the same kind of moment as Bridget's, because Dizzy's whole thing is based in sci-fantasy that could never be real in the same way that like, dissociative identity is real. Plenty more would deny that plurality exists at all outside some deluded roleplayers. And, I mean, was series director Daisuke Ishiwatari really thinking about people like me when choosing to take the character this way? I don't know, honestly. But I do know that Dizzy's character arc is authentic, to me. If there's one thing Guilty Gear Strive's story is really good at, it's giving long-suffering characters some well-earned peace. And if this is how Strive Season 4 is starting, I can't wait to see what they do next.

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Megathread: All Clues concerning “Elrond = Sauron” in “Adar meeting/Kiss scene” (2x07) - Part I

Fellow fans and I have discussed this theory several times, and in many posts, but I think it’s time to create the ultimate megathread, with all the clues, about it. 

And brace yourselves: this is a long read. The amount of evidence is mindblowing and so extensive I had to make two posts about it: Part II.

I) Visual clues:

1) The Touch ™

Let’s start with the obvious one:

This might parallel Sauron’s proposal to Galadriel in 1x08 (and even Galadriel’s reaction is somewhat similar in both scenes):

In 2x08, there’s also a callback to his previous offer (in Season 1 finale): I would have placed a crown upon your head. I would never have rested until all Middle-earth had been brought to its knees, to worship the light of its Queen.

In 2x07, there is an actual callback to Sauron’s offer in 1x08; when Galadriel reveals to Celebrimbor that she did wanted to accept Sauron’s offer (to be his queen):

2) Elrond's Inexplicable Glow Up

When Elrond arrives at Eregion, leading the Elven army, his face is soiled with dirt and mud. However, in the tent with Adar, he’s all cleaned up, with a fresh face, and pristine clean and polished armour and cloak, and flowing hair.

You have the beauty of your foremother, Melian of the Valar. If even a fragment of her wisdom is in your veins, you must know you cannot defeat me in battle. Adar can't see a pretty boy without gushing over him, 2x07

Why is this mention of Melian odd in this context? Melian was the Maia who fell in love with an Elf, Thingol, and birthed Lúthien, the Half-Maia, Half-Elf lady who married Beren, a human (and these two are Elrond’s ancestors). Maiar falling in love with Elves? Does this ring any bells?

Adar compares Elrond’s looks to one of the Maiar, angelic beauty (that Elrond, in spite of having Half-Half-Half-Maia blood, cannot truly have, no matter how attractive he is). And this isn't the first time in Season 2, that Adar talks about Maiar beauty, either:

And after what seemed endless thirst and hunger... I saw it. His servant's face. Sauron's face. And it was beautiful. Adar talks to Halbrand/Sauron, 2x01

There is also a lot of fire (red) on this scene; especially over Elrond himself: the ones who read my post about Sauron's color code in "Rings of Power" already know that red is the color used to signal Sauron's deceptions.

3) The Mystery of the Two Pins 

Hercule Poirot has entered the chat because the pin Elrond usually wears isn’t (1) the same as the one he has on in the scene with Adar, nor (2) the one he gives Galadriel: these are two different pins.  

Elrond’s pin is square-shaped and fits the circle; and the metal is mate. The one he used on the tent scene with Adar is diamond-shape and shiny (like Galadriel’s), and it’s placed on top of the circle (and not inside). 

3) Passing plot-device objects in an intimate manner is kind of their thing

4) The Two Saurons in Prince Durin’s speech

This is actually my favorite clue, and it’s used in mystery/thriller genre.

When Prince Durin is giving a speech to the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm to get them to fight for Eregion alongside the Elves, he mentions Sauron on two occasions. And what’s the footage on screen?

Sauron with Celebrimbor at Eregion (predictable):

But then, we have this: Elrond leaving the Orc camp after his meeting with Adar. Odd...

After we see him leave Orc camp, Elrond's next scene in 2x07 is him in full battle. Which might indicate that the battle didn't stop for Adar's meeting with Elrond... for some reason. 

4) Bear McCreary (OST)

“Elrond’s theme” is not present in the “Kiss OST”, which is strange, because when two characters kiss, usually their themes are mixed together. Yet, in 2x07, we only hear “Galadriel’s theme”.  

"Battle for Eregion": 4:27 - 5:20 (Kiss OST)

"Last Temptation": 6:27 - 6:55 (Rendition of Kiss OST with Sauron's theme on the background | this bit was edited and cut from 2x08, for some reason)

II) Autopsy of a Scene 

In this scene, we, the audience, see Elrond acting completely out of character. “Rings of Power” has established him as diplomatic character, a politician, and even Adar himself tells us this: "You are a courtier. More suited to wielding a scroll than a sword."

We do see (the real) Elrond growing into his “warrior” role in this episode, however, we still witness a certain vulnerability and unsureness to him during his scenes at the Battle of Eregion, because he’s starting his warrior arc, and we see him suffering with the loss of his kin, and his anguish and heartbreak over Durin not coming to help.  

We don’t see this in this scene, at all. It’s a completely different vibe. Here, his body language and attitude it’s like he owns the room. Even when Adar is a bit uncertain, "Elrond” is commanding and bold. Sure, he knows that Durin will come to help, but Adar’s legions are still massive (and the Dwarves only manage to control the situation in 2x08 because the Orc army is shattered and their leader is having a religious experience at the top of the hill).

Let's dig in:

"Your kin"!?

"Not before you have painted the sands of the Glanduin black with the blood of your kin."

Nevermind the threat, Elrond calls the Orcs Adar’s “kin”. Why is this odd? Perhaps we should recall Galadriel’s chat with Adar back in Season 1, to understand how the Elves truly see the Orcs:  

Adar: My children have no master. Galadriel: They are not children, they are slaves. Adar: But each one has a name. A heart. A heart. Galadriel: A heart created by Morgoth. Adar: We are creations of The One, Master of the Secret Fire, the same as you. As worthy of the breath of life, and just as worthy of a home. Soon... This land will be ours. Then, you will understand. Galadriel: No. Your kind was a mistake. Made in mockery. Adar reveals to Galadriel that he killed Sauron, 1x06

Galadriel calls the Orcs "slaves" and "your kind" because their existence is a mockery to the Elves themselves. Morgoth breed them as a corruption to Eru (Ilúvatar)’s creation (the Elves are called the “Children of Ilúvatar”). Meaning: no Elf alive would ever acknowledge the Orcs as “children” out of nowhere (let alone Elrond who’s meeting Adar for the first time, but apparently can read him so well like he has known him for ages).

The previous scene to Elrond’s arrival at Eregion, there's a lot of weight on Sauron’s blood being black, too: If you do not believe me, cut him open. Look at his hand, look at his blood. Black as pitch" as Celebrimbor describes it. We also see Sauron perform an illusion for his blood to appear red.  

Adar: My children have endured cruelties your bravest couldn't bear to hear spoken aloud. Elrond: "Are you prepared to spend their lives so freely, Adar? Are they?"

Why does Elrond keeps acknowledging the Orcs as "Adar's “children" or “kin”? He’s the enemy, and there is no agreement or diplomacy happening in this scene, because Elrond has been antagonizing Adar even since he set foot on that tent. There is no reason for Elrond to talk like this... unless he’s not Elrond, at all.

Because, in 2x01, we saw another character speaking in such a way: 

There is one. Since Galadriel's defeat, she sought out a new ally. An ancient sorcerer, to instruct the Elves in forging a new weapon. One you first told her about. A power over flesh. Do you remember those words? A power that will allow him to use your children as slaves in his army once more. Sauron/Halbrand "plants the seeds" of the Battle of Eregion in Adar's mind, 2x01

And this is the moment when Adar realizes that Halbrand is, in fact, Sauron, and later has Galadriel confirm his suspicion. It’s the mention of “his children” (Orcs) that triggers the recognition between them. Maybe, because: "Do you want to know what he [Sauron] offered me? [...] Children." He tells Galadriel, in 2x06.

The “idea” of the Orcs came from Morgoth, and Sauron was the one who used Dark magic to see it through. And, perhaps, that "magical imprint" creates a recognition between them, because, like Charlie Vickers said, Adar and Sauron share a deep and mystical connection.

Why is all of this relevant? Because after “Elrond” calls him “Adar” (“Father of the Orcs”), there is a switch on Adar’s whole demeanor, and we can even see him looking deeper into Elrond’s eyes, as if he was suspecting him not to be actually be Elrond. And we can see this in Adar’s body language:

Vorohil: The enemy outnumber us ten to one. So why the confidence? Elrond: Because I know something the Father of the Orcs does not. Vorohil: And what is that? Elrond: Even now Prince Durin is rallying a legion of Dwarves to our aid. And at the first rays of sunlight... you will guide them straight into Adar's flank [...] Ride to them now. Meantime, I will ensure that Eregion's walls hold for one more night.

Elrond continues to call Adar the “father of the Orcs” after he leaves the tent for some reason (force of habit?).

But it has to be noticed that Vorohil himself is puzzled by Elrond’s confidence and boldness. And why is Elrond sending him away, exactly? It’s not like Durin and the Dwarves need an escort to get to Eregion, we know they have been there before, in 2x03. Or is he sending him away for him not to tell anyone about this meeting with Adar? 

It's also worth mentioning that another character is also "ensuring that Eregion's walls hold for one more night":

Sauron: Lord Celebrimbor refuses to permit a counter-attack. He says the river will protect us [...] And that is why we're not going to obey him. Gather your finest troops. I am taking command of our defenses.

And how would Sauron know that the Dwarves are coming to help Eregion? Because King Durin III has one of the Seven rings of power, connected to Sauron himself. Which means that Sauron has a direct streaming service into Khazad-dûm, and is aware of everything that happens there. More; King Durin (by the power of his ring) doesn’t allow the Dwarves to help Eregion. Which means, the Elven army will be defeated (just like Sauron wants).

Planting the seeds of discord 

The diplomacy isn’t in the room with us, because we, the audience, don’t see Elrond trying to reason or deal with Adar in any way, shape of form. Instead, Elrond taunts him with doing Sauron’s biding and sacrificing the Orcs’ lives, while going full warmongering on Adar. 

Adar: Sauron is my enemy as much as yours. Give me what I need to defeat him and let us all be rid of him. Elrond: Is it not you that has done his bidding by laying siege to Eregion? Adar: Eregion has fallen into shadow. It belongs to the Deceiver now, as does every Elf within its walls.

What an odd thing for Elrond to say... How does he knows that Adar is doing “Sauron’s biding”? Has he earned his “gift of foresight” already? Without his ring of power? 

Elrond: Are you prepared to spend their [Orcs] lives so freely, Adar? Are they? Adar: The Ring for Galadriel's life. What is it to be? Elrond: Ask me on the field, when the neck with a blade against it is yours.

In this scene, "Elrond” is taking advantage of the Orcs’ dissatisfaction with Adar to create even more conflict between the “father” and his “children”. And the camera lingers on Glûg after “Elrond” says this: who was the first to betray Adar for Sauron, and stroke the first blow to kill him, in 2x08?  

Why is Elrond using tactics from Sauron’s playbook of manipulation and deception in this scene, exactly? Because, here, he’s “planting the seeds” of everything Sauron wants: the Battle of Eregion proceeding (as planned), the Orcs betraying Adar, and giving Galadriel a means to escape (which appears to be the only reason why Elrond is there, in the first place).

Houdini Elrond 

Elrond removes the pin in front of the Orcs and not one sees or says a thing about it. Glûg might have seen it (as I’ve read some fans saying), but Galadriel breaking free wasn’t going to stop the battle, so there was no point in him allowing it; and Galadriel killed several Orcs during her escape, so it kinds of contradicts the theory that Glûg  “let it slide” because he was upset with Adar. 

However, the Orcs being blind it’s one thing, but Elrond boldly faces Adar without his pin. Are you telling me that this corrupted Elf, with thousands of years old (older than Galadriel herself), doesn’t notice that Elrond’s pin is missing and that he took it off? 

What kind of sorcery is this!? Is almost like... magic.

"Forgive me"??

Why is Elrond asking for Galadriel’s forgiveness in this scene, exactly? It can’t be because he’s allowing her to stay as Adar’s prisoner, because he’s giving her a means to escape. And he looks very emotional for it to just be a trick to fool Adar. 

Also, Elrond being there in the first place is a contradiction to the promise he made Galadriel, in 2x04: 

Galadriel: Promise me, Elrond, you will put opposing Sauron above all other considerations. Even my life.   Elrond: I will make no promise whose asking is borne of that Ring. But I swear to you... defeating Sauron will come first. Even before you.

Is he apologizing because he broke his promise? Or because he’s about to kiss her (as I’ve read some saying)? All of these justifications seem kind of weak.

There’s another character who has a lot to apologize for, and who already had a similar to parallel this one, back in 1x05:

[outofconcheol]

bloodline (JWW x F!Reader) - Teaser

pairing: vampire professor!wonwoo x TA!reader

genres/aus/rating: romance, angst, smut, fantasy au, 18+

summary: Cursed to a solitary existence, Wonwoo seeks a cure for his condition - enlisting the help of his diligent teacher's assistant. However, you refuse to let Professor Jeon go through with the cure without first teaching him the wonders of having something worth living for. When your tired souls find solace in your shared loneliness, friendship (and something more) blooms. But what happens when that isn’t enough? When the secrets that both you and Wonwoo have been harboring finally catch up to you? Will you and Wonwoo make the most of every moment, or will the aftermath of his quest leave you both even lonelier than before?

warnings (to be updated with final fic): tw: this fic deals with Wonwoo being tired of his vampirism and essentially wanting to end his life as a vampire (whatever that may entail - stay tuned), mentions blood, Wonwoo has dark and depressing thoughts, that's all for now but just know we are in for a ride :)

word count: 619 for the teaser, TBD for final fic

a/n: I've been thinking about this for a long time, and with me wanting to write more for SVT, I decided it was finally time to take the plunge! Please note that this is going to be an angsty journey, with lots of inspiration from pieces such as Thirst (2009), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), and the Vampire Tapestry by Suzie McKee Charnas. As always, if these themes are not for you, please take care of yourself (your wellbeing comes first always). Also, thank you to the lovely sèvn (@aaagustd/@xscoupsx) for the banner. I hope you enjoy!

The bust sits in the corner of the office, nestled away in an alcove by the window. On sunnier days, when the light would hit it, the marble would reflect brilliantly, its ivory tones taking the appearance of an angel, a silent guardian watching over Wonwoo while he worked. Most of the time, it loomed in the shadows, its unsettling presence doing nothing more than to serve as a reminder that despite his physical appearance, Wonwoo was closer to the cold, unfeeling marble than he was to any of the human peers he’d encountered through the centuries.

Wonwoo can’t recall when in his travels he’d come across the statue, eight hundred years blurring together into a muddle, countless memories fading into oblivion, delicate threads disappearing in the intricate fabric of his mind. Maybe at one point it’d been a gift from a dear friend, or maybe even a lover, but Wonwoo simply couldn’t remember any of it at all. A lifetime of indulgence and hedonism meant that seeking pleasure had long lost its charm.

What more was there to study when Wonwoo had studied it all? From stepping into battle during the middle ages, joining the height of enlightenment during the Renaissance, and witnessing the advent of modern technology in the past century or so, Wonwoo had lingered in the background, slipping easily into the folds of human society. And it all lead him here, to this room that felt more like a box than an office, sifting through countless essays from a batch of college students who were as disinterested in learning about anthropology as Wonwoo had become with his own life.

Even now, he casts his gaze over to his faint reflection in the window, glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose, lean and lonely-looking. To the untrained eye, professor Jeon Wonwoo was the picture of innocence, milking the image of a solitary bachelor devoted to pursuing a lifetime of knowledge, much to the chagrin of many of his pupils. But Wonwoo saw what no one else did - the faint tinge of red in his eyes, a sign that he’d gone hungry for too long, the needle-like barb under his tongue that had known the taste of blood too many times. All signs of the monster that layed within. 

The efforts of concealing his true nature had finally caught up to him - the mask that he’d put on, feigning interest in human art, science, and culture finally slipping from his face. Simply put, Wonwoo was tired - restless from years of fighting the hunger, pretending that he cared for this life he’d crafted for himself. In reality, it was all a farce. Wonwoo had given up human blood long ago, but feasting on animals wasn’t enough to quell the burning inside him. 

In the end, he craved. Wonwoo was a thief, because he craved the one thing that was a lifesource for humans - their anima, their joie de vivre. He craved it because he didn’t have one of his own, nothing that drove him, that fueled him to keep going. Humans felt things - they felt happiness, sadness, anger and love. Emotions were so intertwined into the mesh of their lives that they craved any experiences that would give them more - from weddings and parties for families and friends, to random hook-ups, to even the thrill of dangerous situations. 

He’d read the essays his students had written - some of them talking about how humanity loved the society they’d crafted so much, that science was constantly coming up with new ways to prolong life, to keep on living. And yet, it didn’t move him. Wonwoo was tired of living just to live. Which is why he’d chosen to die.

a/n pt. 2: if you'd like to be tagged, please let me know! I work a pretty busy job, so I'm not sure when the anticipated release date, will be, but I'm going to try to work on this as much as I can. As always, any comments or feedback are much appreciated, but I appreciate you all anyway. Lots of love, Isi <3

[tangledinink]

PATREON - KO-FI - COMMISSION INFO

'hey, whatchya makin' over there--? oh good god--'

yay! a ✨masterpost.✨

general art tag is here.

faq is here-- plz consider reading before you send an ask!

friendly reminder post!

-> 💎 I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now?

[ rottmnt au in which splinter is able to obtain cloaking brooches when the turtles are still tots, and they live their lives are 'normal' humans, so very much so that they eventually forget their mutant origins... until they remember... ]

cw: themes of child neglect/endangerment, child abuse, gender dysphoria, self-sacrifice, and mental illness. plz be mindful of tags.

-> 💫 Gemini AU

[ rottmnt sep au focusing on leo and donnie raised by big mama in the grand nexus hotel and performing in the battle nexus-- and, eventually, their long-lost family members. ]

cw: themes of child abuse, self-sacrifice, cults, blood and injury, ableism, emotional manipulation, sexual assault, and csa. plz be mindful of tags.

-> 🦶 Foot Squad AU

[ rottmnt au in which the turtles were raised in the foot clan alongside cassandra jones, and, eventually, april o'neil ]

cw: themes of child abuse, cults, and emotional manipulation. plz be mindful of tags.

-> 🧬 TMNT: Stabilize

[ tmnt fan iteration following the turtles' attempt to uncover the origin of the mutated forms in order to save the life of their father, master splinter ]

cw: themes of child neglect, parentification, chronic/terminal illness, death, mental illness, psychosis, and self harm. plz be mindful of tags.

-> 🦢 Swanatello

[ that's right-- the au the fandom has for SO LONG been asking for. a rottmnt x swan lake crossover. you guys... you guys HAVE been asking for this, right...? ]

cw: themes of memory loss/delusions/unreality, domestic abuse, and death. plz be mindful of tags.

-> ☘️ Clover Crown

[ in which leo is spirited away to the feywilds, home of the fae and their kingdom... without the rest of his family, however, he's forced to navigate his new surroundings and companions on his own. ]

cw: themes of body horror, abuse, ableism, and emotional manipulation. plz be mindful of tags.

-> 🐢 Processing Grief Through Ninja Turtles

[ a very loose 'series' of comics exploring grief/loss with rottmnt ]

cw: themes of grief, death, loss of a parent, and loss of a sibling. plz be mindful of tags.

[reaper2187]

Rhea ripley x wrestler female reader

The dim lights of the arena flickered ominously as the packed crowd buzzed with excitement. The heavy bass of the entrance music thumped through the air, and the energy was electric, ready to burst at any moment. It was one of those nights where everything seemed on edge, as though something massive was about to go down.

Inside the ring, Rhea Ripley stood tall, her usual fierce and menacing demeanor barely masking the exhaustion from a grueling match. She was holding her own against Liv Morgan and Finn Bálor, two of the newly formed “Judgment Day.” To her side, Damian Priest was struggling to fend off Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh, who had aligned with the new faction. The odds were stacked against them, but Rhea and Damian had faced worse before.

Still, this was different. The betrayal stung deeply, especially after all they had been through with the original Judgment Day. Rhea could feel the familiar burn of fury deep in her chest as she exchanged blows with Liv, her mind replaying the moments of betrayal over and over. Finn’s smirk as he joined forces with Liv, Dominik’s cold gaze, and Kalisto’s unexpected appearance — all of it drove her forward with a mix of rage and determination.

But they were tired. Damian was barely on his feet, holding his ribs as he blocked JD’s strikes. Rhea was slowing down, each punch and kick taking more out of her. And worst of all, they were outnumbered.

Rhea ducked under a clothesline from Liv and countered with a thunderous dropkick that sent Liv sprawling to the mat. She quickly turned her attention to Finn, who was grinning wickedly as he closed in on her. Finn Bálor was a cunning opponent, always two steps ahead, and Rhea knew she had to be careful.

Just as she readied herself to face him, she heard a deafening roar from the crowd. The arena's lights dimmed further, plunging everything into darkness except for a single spotlight that illuminated the entrance ramp. The titantron flickered to life, displaying an ominous skull logo shrouded in shadows, followed by the name "REAPER" in bold, blood-red letters.

The arena erupted in cheers and gasps of surprise. Rhea’s eyes widened slightly, a smirk tugging at her lips. The Reaper had arrived.

The pounding beat of a dark, foreboding theme music echoed through the arena, and the figure emerged from the darkness. Y/N, known as "Reaper," strode confidently onto the stage. Her presence commanded attention; she was a force of nature, a storm wrapped in human form. Clad in black from head to toe, she wore a sports bra that showcased her defined muscles, cargo pants, and combat boots with chains clinking ominously as she walked. A bandana wrapped around her arm, and her face bore the markings of a skull, accentuating her intimidating aura. She was a masculine powerhouse, and the crowd was on their feet, chanting her name.

Reaper didn’t waste any time. She sprinted down the ramp, her focus locked onto the chaos in the ring. Rhea, sensing the shift in momentum, felt a surge of energy. She could already tell that Y/N was about to turn the tide of this battle.

Liv Morgan, now on her feet, noticed Reaper’s approach and yelled a warning to Finn. But it was too late. Reaper slid under the ropes and charged at Finn with the ferocity of a wild animal. Her shoulder connected with his midsection, driving him into the corner. The force of the impact knocked the wind out of him, and before he could recover, Reaper unleashed a series of brutal punches to his abdomen, each one more devastating than the last.

Finn crumpled to the mat, gasping for air. Reaper didn’t give him a moment's respite. She grabbed him by the head and threw him into the center of the ring, where Rhea was waiting. Without missing a beat, Rhea hoisted Finn onto her shoulders and delivered a devastating Riptide that left him motionless on the canvas.

Across the ring, Damian was struggling to hold off Dominik and JD. Reaper quickly assessed the situation and decided to even the odds. She grabbed a stunned Liv Morgan by the arm and yanked her away from Rhea, tossing her into the ropes. Liv rebounded and was met with a vicious big boot from Reaper that sent her crashing to the mat.

Damian, now free of the extra pressure, managed to fend off Dominik with a well-placed kick to the midsection. JD tried to capitalize on the distraction, but Reaper was already on him. She grabbed JD by the throat, lifting him off the ground with ease, and then slammed him down with a chokeslam that shook the entire ring.

The crowd was going wild, and the commentary team was in shock. "Who the hell is this?!" one of them shouted. "Reaper just decimated the new Judgment Day! This is unbelievable!"

Rhea stood in the center of the ring, her breathing heavy but a smile of pure satisfaction on her face as she watched Y/N dismantle their enemies. This was what they needed. This was the kind of backup that would send a clear message to anyone who thought they could cross them.

As the dust settled, Finn, Liv, Dominik, and JD were all sprawled out on the mat, writhing in pain. Reaper stood tall, her chest heaving as she glared down at the carnage she had wrought. Rhea walked over to her, their eyes meeting with a shared understanding. They didn’t need words; they both knew what this alliance meant.

Damian finally made his way over to them, clutching his side but grinning through the pain. "Hell of an entrance," he managed to say, his voice rough but appreciative.

Reaper nodded, her gaze still fixed on the fallen foes around them. "They won’t know what hit them," she replied, her voice a low growl that sent shivers down Damian’s spine.

The three of them stood united in the ring, a formidable force that no one would dare challenge lightly. The crowd was still buzzing, and chants of "REAPER" echoed through the arena. This was the beginning of something new, something powerful. The Judgment Day had tried to break them, but they had only succeeded in making them stronger.

Later that night, back in the locker room, Rhea, Damian, and Reaper sat together, reviewing the footage of the match. Rhea had her feet up on a bench, a satisfied smirk on her face. Damian was nursing a few bruises but seemed in good spirits. Reaper, however, remained stoic, her expression unreadable as she watched the replays of her attacks on the screen.

"You really laid them out," Rhea said, glancing over at Y/N. "I think they’ll think twice before messing with us again."

Y/N shrugged, her focus still on the screen. "They were asking for it," she replied simply. "Betrayal has consequences."

Damian nodded in agreement. "We needed that. After everything they did, we needed to show them that we’re not going down without a fight. But now we need to keep the pressure on. We can’t let them regroup."

Rhea leaned forward, her eyes narrowing as she considered their next move. "Agreed. We need to hit them where it hurts. Take out their leader, and the rest will crumble."

Y/N finally tore her gaze away from the screen, turning to face Rhea and Damian. "Finn’s the key," she said, her voice firm. "He’s the one holding them together. We take him out, and the rest of them will fall apart."

Rhea grinned, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll go after Finn and make sure he knows that betraying us was the worst mistake of his life."

Damian cracked his knuckles, a determined look on his face. "I’m ready whenever you are."

Y/N nodded in agreement. "Let’s make this personal. Let’s make them regret ever crossing us."

With their plan set, the three of them sat in silence for a moment, the weight of what they were about to do settling over them. They knew that this was just the beginning, and the road ahead would be filled with challenges. But they were ready. Together, they were unstoppable.

Over the next few weeks, the tension between the two factions escalated. The new Judgment Day tried to regroup after the brutal beatdown they had suffered, but Rhea, Damian, and Reaper were relentless. They ambushed their enemies at every opportunity, targeting Finn specifically with a series of calculated attacks that left him battered and bruised.

The arena became a battleground, with each faction trying to outdo the other in a vicious cycle of revenge. But it was clear that Rhea, Damian, and Reaper had the upper hand. The chemistry between them was undeniable, and their shared thirst for vengeance made them a deadly combination.

Reaper’s presence in particular struck fear into their opponents. She was a force to be reckoned with, her brutal strength and unwavering focus making her a nightmare in the ring. The fans couldn’t get enough of her, and she quickly became one of the most talked-about wrestlers in the industry.

But despite the success, Y/N remained distant, her stoic demeanor rarely breaking. Rhea noticed it more and more as the weeks went on, sensing that there was something deeper driving Y/N. One night, after another successful ambush on Finn and his crew, Rhea decided to confront her.

They were back in the locker

room, the adrenaline still pumping from the night’s events. Damian had already left to get checked out by the medical team, leaving Rhea and Y/N alone. Rhea watched as Y/N methodically unwrapped the bandana from her arm, her movements slow and deliberate.

"You were brutal out there tonight," Rhea said, breaking the silence. "Not that I’m complaining, but… what’s driving you?"

Y/N paused for a moment, her hands stilling as she considered the question. "They hurt you," she finally said, her voice low but intense. "They betrayed you, and they need to pay for that."

Rhea raised an eyebrow, surprised by the depth of emotion in Y/N’s voice. "It’s more than that," she pressed. "I can see it in your eyes. This isn’t just about revenge for me and Damian. What’s going on?"

Y/N sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly as she sat down on the bench. For the first time since they had met, she looked vulnerable, her tough exterior cracking just enough to let Rhea see the pain beneath.

"I’ve been betrayed before," Y/N admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "Not in the ring, but in my personal life. People I thought I could trust turned on me, used me, and then left me for dead. I swore I’d never let that happen again. So when I saw what they did to you… it hit close to home."

Rhea’s expression softened, understanding dawning on her. She sat down next to Y/N, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I get it," she said gently. "And I appreciate you having our backs. But you don’t have to carry this burden alone. We’re a team now. We’re in this together."

Y/N looked over at Rhea, her eyes filled with a mix of gratitude and determination. "I know," she replied. "And that’s why I won’t let them win. Not this time."

Rhea smiled, giving Y/N’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "We won’t let them win. Together, we’re unstoppable."

The final confrontation came at a major pay-per-view event, where the two factions were set to face off in a six-person tag team match. The tension was palpable as the two teams prepared for battle, the weight of everything that had transpired hanging heavy in the air.

The match was brutal, with both sides giving it their all. Finn, Liv, Dominik, JD, Rhea, Damian, and Y/N fought with a ferocity that left the audience on the edge of their seats. It was a war, plain and simple, with no love lost between the competitors.

But it was clear from the start that the new Judgment Day was outmatched. Rhea, Damian, and Y/N had spent weeks perfecting their strategy, and it paid off. They systematically dismantled their opponents, isolating them one by one and picking them apart with ruthless efficiency.

The climax of the match came when Y/N found herself face-to-face with Finn Bálor. The arena was electric, the crowd roaring in anticipation as the two stared each other down. Finn was battered and bruised, but his eyes burned with defiance. Y/N, on the other hand, was calm, her expression unreadable as she prepared to deliver the final blow.

Finn charged at her, but Y/N was ready. She sidestepped his attack and grabbed him by the waist, lifting him into the air with ease before slamming him down with a devastating powerbomb. The impact shook the ring, and the crowd erupted in cheers as Finn lay motionless on the mat.

Y/N didn’t stop there. She hoisted Finn up once more, this time locking him in a brutal submission hold that left him writhing in pain. Liv and Dominik tried to intervene, but Rhea and Damian were there to cut them off, delivering their own finishing moves that left them incapacitated.

With Finn at her mercy, Y/N tightened her grip, her eyes locked onto his as he struggled to breathe. "This is for everything you’ve done," she growled, her voice cold and unforgiving. "You made a mistake when you crossed us."

Finn’s struggles grew weaker, and the referee quickly signaled for the bell, declaring Y/N, Rhea, and Damian the winners. The crowd erupted in cheers, the arena filled with the deafening roar of victory.

Y/N finally released Finn, letting him slump to the mat as she stood tall, her chest heaving with exertion. Rhea and Damian joined her in the center of the ring, raising their arms in triumph as they soaked in the adulation of the crowd. They had done it. They had avenged the betrayal, and now, they stood victorious.

As they left the ring, Y/N couldn’t help but glance back at the fallen members of the new Judgment Day. A part of her felt a deep sense of satisfaction, knowing that they had gotten what they deserved. But another part of her, the part that had been hurt and betrayed so many times before, felt something else — a sense of closure.

This battle had been more than just a fight for dominance in the ring. It had been a way for Y/N to confront her own demons, to finally put the past behind her and move forward. And now, as she walked alongside Rhea and Damian, she knew that she wasn’t alone anymore. She had found a new family, a new purpose, and together, they were unstoppable.

In the weeks that followed, the trio continued to dominate the WWE, their bond growing stronger with each passing day. Y/N had found her place among them, not just as a fierce competitor but as a trusted ally and friend. The fans couldn’t get enough of the Reaper, and she quickly became one of the most popular wrestlers in the industry.

But despite all the success, Y/N remained humble, her focus always on the next challenge, the next battle to be won. She knew that the world of wrestling was unpredictable, that alliances could shift in an instant, and that the only way to stay on top was to keep fighting, keep pushing forward.

And that’s exactly what she did. With Rhea and Damian by her side, Y/N faced every challenge head-on, determined to carve out her own legacy in the WWE. The Reaper had arrived, and there was no stopping her now.

Together, they were a force to be reckoned with, and the WWE would never be the same again.

[insipid-drivel]

Warhorses: Which horses are actually good candidates, anyway?

This post is in honor of @warrioreowynofrohan, who asked the question in the comments under my guide, "Horses: Since There Seems To Be A Knowledge Gap". Their question, "Given what you said about too much weight breaking a horse’s spine, how did that work with knights in plate armour?" is one I'm going to try to answer here, since the answer can be very nuanced depending on where and when you're talking about.

Also, while I was a stable hand for years as well as a rider, I never had the opportunity to directly learn more ancient styles of tacking, horse training, and combat, so I don't have any direct experience to draw from with regard to horses used for military purposes. I'm still gonna do my best here with what I know, and research what I don't.

As I've covered in the past, large horses (draft horses) make less-than-ideal warhorses, and so do carriage horses like the elegant and dramatic Friesians.

Let's begin by addressing this from the perspective of creative writing. For you writers and content creators out there, an essential part to the continuity of any historically-themed work you do involving horses will be depicting breeds of horses that didn't exist before a certain time in history. I'm going to approach this question from the stance of, "Medieval-type era warhorses". Horses were used in warfare as late was World War II, but actual horses you ride into battle with knights and archers and bannermen? We actually have to drop the subject of specific modern breeds altogether aside from using them for comparisons.

When discussing warhorses, various cultures have approached them differently. Some cultures will value a specific type of horse above all others, such as the Mongolian Steppe Horse or the American Mustang. Other cultures, which may be from biomes and territories where multiple types of horses are needed for different forms of warfare and tactics, value whichever horses can get their jobs done without their riders getting killed.

Carrying vs. Pulling:

Horses have been used in warfare since as far back as 4000 BC, but their first applications were more as chariot horses. Humans have been riding and working with horses since before we even had stirrups to more easily ride them with! As archaeologists and anthropologists make more discoveries, the more we learn that we humans have been working closely with horses since before we had specialized tools to ride them with. The very first warhorses pulled chariots or carts, which is much easier for a horse's anatomy to handle compared to carrying a heavy weight like an armored rider on their backs, which puts stress directly on their spines where they have very little supporting muscle for supporting a lot of heavy downward weight.

Warhorse Size Categories:

Really, any breed of horse can apply to a niche in warfare if it's needed enough. Even very small, delicate horses have had their place in the history of human combat! Before I continue, it's important to know that there's a unique unit of measuring a horse's height. Rather than measuring a horse's height in centimeters or inches, they're measured in units called "hands". A single "hand" = ~4 inches/10.16cm, and a horse's height is measured based upon the distance between the bottom of their hoof to the tallest part of their shoulders, just at the base of the back of their necks. We don't actually include neck length/head height in a horse's measurements with traditional measuring.

Another rule of thumb: The average horse cannot safely carry anything heavier than about 30% of their total body weight. This is a serious factor to take into mind when deciding on a type of or breed of horse for a mounted warrior of any kind: You need to factor in the OC's starting body weight, and then add on the weight of armor, weapons, and any armor the horse itself may wear along with the weight of its tack.

Light-Weight Horses:

A few examples of lightweight horse breeds whose ancestors have historically been used in combat are Arabians, Barber Horses, and the magnificent Akhal-Teke. Lightweight and delicately-boned horses like those are best applied for military maneuvers that require precision, speed, and endurance, and the rider themselves should specialize in some form of combat or reconnaissance that doesn't require them to wear heavy metal or laminated armors. Archers are good candidates for riding smaller horses, or lightly-armored swordsmen like an Ottoman Janissary.

Central-Asian and North African horses also benefit from having a higher tolerance for hot climates. They can absolutely suffer from heatstroke and cardiac arrest from being forced to run and work in extreme temperatures and should always be provided with the same protective measures in a heatwave as any other horse, but they have a little bit of an edge over horses descended from freezing and temperate climates.

Medium-Weight Horses:

Medium-weight horses started showing up in the archaeological record around about the Iron Age, where chariot warfare was becoming an increasingly utilized form of mobile combat, and people needed bigger, stronger horses capable of pulling heavier loads - such as a chariot with two passengers rather than just one. As cultures began to develop heavier-duty armors made of metals and laminated materials, it also became important to breed horses that were tall and stocky (muscular and with relatively short spines compared to their height), and therefore more capable of carrying riders in increasingly heavy armor. Medium-weight horses were also essential at the dawn of the gunpowder age when the cannon came into use in siege warfare for pulling the heavy, iron cannons into position.

Medium-weight horses are really where we see the beginnings of knights and other warrior classes on horseback come into the forefront of warfare. When you have a horse that's big and strong enough to carry heavier armor and heavier weapons along with a rider wielding them, you have a much deadlier force at your disposal. Strikes from a sword or spear from the back of a galloping horse basically results in a sword capable of cutting through enemy soldiers like a hot knife through butter.

Important Note: Traditionally, cavalrymen wield blunt swords when attacking from a charging horse's back. When a horse is charging at full speed, the sharpness of a blade becomes less important than the blade's ability to stay in one piece when it impacts hard armor and bone. A blunted edge basically turns a cavalryman's sword into a thin club that's better at holding up against smashing through multiple layers of armor and bone compared to a thinner, more delicate sharpened edge that can shatter from a high-speed impact.

Heavy-Weight Horses:

The direct ancestors of modern draft horses, such as the Shire Horse, only began to appear around about the beginning of the European Medieval Era, and were far and away not even close to the enormous sizes of the draft horses we have today. Any horse counts as a "Heavy-weight" classed horse if its weight exceeds 1500lbs/680kgs.

Heavy-weight horses were really more bred for pulling enormous weights rather than carrying knights. While yeah, there is some evidence that suggests that heavy-weight horses were used by heavily-armored knights, historians argue a lot about whether it was a rule or an exception (such as with Henry VIII, who continued to ride well after he had begun to weigh more than 350lbs/158kgs, and even went to war in France in his final years on horseback). Generally speaking, medium-weight horses tend to be the right balance of agile and strong for carrying someone that's going to actively be fighting. Heavy-weight horses were bred to be a lot more tolerant to the chaos and frightening stimulation of the sounds of battle, but medium-weighted horses generally tended to be more suited to moving efficiently through dense packs of soldiers and weaving around other horses.

Ponies:

While actually being the smallest class of warhorse, ponies were essential when it came to carrying cargo and working as pack-horses. In certain forms of terrain, such as mountains, large horses pulling big carts full of supplies or soldiers could often be extremely impractical. In situations where an army needed to move on foot and form a narrow line in order to travel, ponies were able to traverse much narrower and rougher terrain while carrying smaller loads to their destination, when heavier horses would struggle more under their own weight and dexterity.

Europe-Specific Terminologies:

If you're a writer reading this and writing a piece set in the European Medieval age, there are specific terms used for the different classes I listed of warhorses above that I'm gonna list:

Destriers: The Destrier was a universal term for the iconic knight-carrying, jousting horse. They were also sometimes referred to as "Great Horses" due to their reputations in combat settings. Destriers could have just about any appearance, but were rarely taller than 15.2 hands, or 62inches/157cm. They were capable of carrying heavily-armored knights (although knights in full plate mail rarely rode into battle and stayed on the horse the entire time - they tended to specialize at grouping up and killing a lot of footsoldiers swarming them at once and preventing breaks in defenses from being overwhelmed by an oncoming army; in the case of Edward the Black Prince, we have substantial evidence in the form of his surviving brigandine that a mounted soldier or knight was more likely to wear chainmail and brigandine with a tabard on their body with their arms, feet, and heads the most heavily armored in plate when they intended to fight on horseback, making them a little lighter and more maneuverable, but I may be waaay off base there because I'm thinking of more of Italian soldiers who used full plate and how they applied it in battle more than any other example) and wearing armor themselves.

Interestingly, the sex of a destrier was often chosen strategically. Stallions (horses that haven't been neutered) are more aggressive, and could both act as combatants on their own if their knight was dismounted or killed, but could give away an army's location if they were attempting to move stealthily. Stallions whinny and shriek a lot when they're horny or arguing with each other, which is most of the time.

Mares were often chosen by Muslim armies for being much less vocal, and therefore much more capable of stealth. Geldings (neutered males) were the preferred mounts of the Teutonic Knights, a Catholic military group, since they couldn't be stolen and used to breed more horses for the enemy army.

Coursers:

Coursers were the most common Medieval European warhorse. It's important to remember that in Medieval Europe, most armies were almost entirely comprised of common men - serfs subject to the will of their landlords, not far removed from slaves in many ways - who couldn't afford the highly-prized and expensive Destriers. Coursers were usually a bit lighter than Destriers, but were still strong enough to carry someone wearing armor. Coursers were also a little more utilitarian, because they were also sometimes used in hunting as well as warfare, so they had a valuable use outside of warfare that the owner could benefit from.

Rouncey:

A rouncey was an all-purpose horse that could be used for leisure and travel-riding as well as be trained for war. They were a lot more likely to be found on the farm of a serf or independent farmer of some kind, as they could fill a lot of different roles depending on what they were needed for. Their sizes weren't really important as much as their ability to get the job done.

It's also critical to remember that, when talking about warhorses, we're usually talking about eras long past. In general, thanks to resource availability and incredible advances in medicine, modern humans are significantly taller, and therefore heavier, than people from the European Medieval era and prior. While fatness was valued in many cultures for its suggestion of wealth, most working-class and serf-class people worked intensely physically-demanding daily lives just to maintain their own homes. They were a few inches shorter on average than we are today, had greater fluctuations in body fat distribution depending on how harsh or bountiful the harvest season had been and the season in which a war was taking place (the average person's weight would swing by 30lbs or more on average every year prior to the industrial era), and cavalry were usually chosen based upon skill in the saddle as well as physical size when considering the application of medium or heavy armor being placed on the horse's back and body.

[kathaynesart]

Replica Holiday Special Winners!

Happy Holidays everyone! It's that time of year and you know what that means! Time to announce the winners for the DTIYS Replica Holiday Special Cover!

I received so many wonderful submissions. Far more than I had anticipated! They were all so unique and creative and it was an absolute joy to look at each and every one of them! I really underestimated however how difficult it would be to choose with them all being so unique from each other. In the end, I decided to gauge the top picks on how well their cover captured the "essence" of what this Special is going to be like! Without further ado, here are the winners.

HONORABLE MENTION - @matchstique

Buddy! I love this piece so dang much! It has so much character and perfectly displays the wacky hijinks we can expect as well as the huge amount of stress our poor boys are under during these trying, pregnancy times. The movement and colors work so well and make me excited for what comes next! Seldom do I see pregnant females shown as the badasses they are, but you have gone and turned Cassandra into an absolute icon with this piece! Bless you!

3RD PLACE - @thegunnsara

Sara, the shear amount of craft you put into your art is STAGGERING. Every scuff on Raph's shell and wisp of smoke screams of a quality I can only hope to attain someday. I literally want to be you when I grow up! That said, the concept of this piece is also fantastic. One of the things I'm must excited about for this Special is getting to see Raph and Casey as they were and witnessing the strong bond they share. I love them dearly and this cover captures their strength and tenacity so perfectly. Gods among men.

2ND PLACE - @cupcakeslushie

Slushie, this cover is so damn fun and dynamic that I can't stop looking at it! Your attention to detail and composition are masterful and the fact that you could fit such a bombastic battle into such a limited space speaks to how crazy talented you are! You also do a wonderful job of retaining both the intensity of the apocalypse but also that playful edge that Rise always manages to retain! It's definitely the cover that would catch my eye on a shelf and make me want to turn the page to see what happens next!

1ST PLACE - @abbeyofcyn

Cyn, the moment I saw this cover, I gasped! It's funny because this is both a piece I could have totally seen myself doing had I done the cover, yet crafted in a unique way I could have never come up with on my own! On top of that, this slick composition scratches my little designer brain juuust right. The use of the hands motif is such a great element because to me, it encapsulates the conflicting themes of family/parenthood with the drama of what it means to be human. On top of that, having each character as one of the digits both connected to and encircling Casey is such a wonderful touch that really drives the symbolism home. Somehow, you managed to peer into the future and perfectly capture how the finale of this special is going to feel. Thank you so much Cyn for such a wonderful piece!

~~~~~~~~~

Now that I think about it, looking back on these winners as a set, all four them actually do an amazing job as individual covers for each of the four "acts" that will make up this special. That was not at all my intention, but it kind of worked out perfectly for that. Gets me all emotional!

I also definitely want to put a spotlight on the other amazing submissions, many of which made it SO close to the top slots! I was going to post these pieces individually but I was worried people wouldn't then go to their blogs to view the covers, so instead have a compilation and links to the full versions! Please check out everyones amazing covers and give them some love. They all worked really hard and it means so much to me. Thank you everyone!

@dreamundraws - LINK @honeylief - LINK @gemini-forest - LINK @memorydarkness - LINK @skullythefriendlyskullface - LINK @v-albion - LINK @its-wabby-stuff - LINK @yris-latteyi - LINK @reagi-df - LINK @chaoscontrol50 - LINK / LINK @murasakibonnet - LINK @hitwiththetmnt - LINK @xandriagreat - LINK @karonkar - LINK @sunydays - LINK (sorry my dear, yours did not appear on my hashtag reference at first! D: But still love it!) @quailaz - LINK @delicatechildwitch - LINK

Thank you again all of you! You all did such an amazing job!

[carlyraejepsans]

UTY!Flowey, "lore" and how to criticize a fan prequel without being an insufferable pedantic, a guide by Biscia.

(for my muskless fellows, here's a transcript of my thread on Undertale Yellow that I posted on Twitter. enjoy!)

There's this really frustrating attitude in fan spaces i like to call "lorepilling" where people are substantially more concerned with encyclopedic knowledge of details & minutiae (so called "lore") in place of full-text thematic/narrative analysis as if the two are mutually interchangeable.

It's especially common in large franchises and story heavy videogames, and it's like... Are You Treating This Piece Of Art Like A Trivia Battle Or Are You Treating It Like A Story

This is coming from a person who is also deeply autistic about UTDR trivia btw, I'm just saying that when it comes to transformative *stories*, depending on the impact it has on character, themes, and narrative structure... lore is expendable.

Ultimately this is why most of the UTY criticism i see (on twitter specifically) falls flat. What does it matter if "lore" means Flowey couldn't chronologically be there when the justice human fell, as long as the game narratively justified his presence in the story in a compelling way?

The real criticism, in the end, is that it didn't.

He's a plot central, main cast character from the canon returning in a cast of mostly OCs and what does he have to show for it? An admittedly sick boss battle in 1/3 endings, sure but... not much else. He has no significant "presence" in the story, no tie, interaction, or even just... an opinion on the rest of the cast. Which is a huge miss when Flowey's meta role is to be Thee completionist player mirror. He's the OG lorepilled UT fan! He's an opinionated little shit!

This isn't to say that UTY *didn't* engage w/ his metanarrative. When me and @a-town-called-hometown first started playing the game (we were both skeptical of Flowey's inclusion), he immediately said "It would be really cool if they made it so this has been going on for a while and Clover has no idea". Which is precisely what the game did in the neutral ending, and what I will openly say was the most well written & well executed part of this game's story...

...a part we almost didn't see, because the pacifist ending disappointed us so much we lost all will to replay.

To put it in the words of my friend Mel @clowwwnbytes, there's a deafening hollowness to UTY Flowey's motivations & core principles where his guilt towards Chara—and resulting black and white thinking—should be. You're telling me Mr Kill-or-be-killed, "sacrificing yourself to do the right thing is stupid", would stand there after 1000s of failed attempts to make Clover survive, look on as they make the same mistake Asriel he did, and fondly call them friend? Cue the guitar, roll the credits?

He would lose it. Oh my god he would lose his goddamn mind, he would throw the nastiest temper tantrum in the world. Are you serious? How dare you. How DARE you. All this effort, all my patience, and you just let yourself DIE for a few worthless idiots? I should've let you ROT!

*clears throat* sorry got a bit too into character. as i was saying.

I can understand a UT prequel wanting to distance itself from the canon Chara storyline in order to form its own identity, but then turning around and choosing Insane About Chara The Character™ for a sidekick is... far from optimal. In the end, Flowey comes across as underutilized and inconsistent, with a whole lot of wasted potential.

This is an issue I have with UTY's character writing (original AND returning) and story structure as a whole. Lots of inconsistent character arcs, tonal dissonance, overuse of situational sadness... it's an amateurish work, after all, and you can feel it. There's no shame in that.

(Though, there ARE some issues that i take more seriously with its writing, especially when it comes to its two main female characters—Ceroba's lack of narrative agency and depth borders on misogynistic writing imo. But that's a topic for another day)

Over all, UTY was an incredible piece of collaborative transformative work, with gorgeous art and a genuinely incredible OST, which... would have benefited from more experienced writers. But hey, you can only ever learn by trying!

For all it could've been a better story, it certainly did not fail to entertain: both when my friend was playing it, and after in our many discussions of its writing, its faults and how it could've been improved (royal scientist!ceroba character fix you will always be famous. to ME!)

I'm sure this project served as an incredible source of experience for the developers: as individual creators AND as a team. I look forward to their future projects!

but also if i have to see another person say UTY is better than Undertale i might turn into The Jonker.

end of the essay! really couldn't stand any of the pedantic ""criticism"" I'd seen of this fangame so far, so i had to say my piece as someone more versed in analysis. happy to elaborate on anything in the replies or in my inbox!

[greenhappyseed]

do you think Midoriya agrees that he murdered Shigaraki, or that he just hadn’t come to argue with Spinner?

THIS IS SUCH A GOOD QUESTION! @granny-griffin I love the way you think! I’m going to answer in 2 parts: First, a close look at the factors that led to Tomura’s death, because a LOT happened in very few chapters; and second, Izuku’s conversation with Spinner in the context of the final battle, because there are continuing themes that are very consistent with how Izuku approaches Spinner. And finally, a lil Izuku appreciation because he does something very cool in 427.

I. How, exactly, did Tomura decay?

When Izuku held hands with Tenko inside their memories, Izuku cracked the hatred surrounding Tenko and let out Tenko’s core — the person who wanted to be a friend and hero to the LOV. When that happens, the “finger armor” on Tomura’s real body crumble too.

At that exact moment, AFO seizes his opening and re-emerges. AFO says that “Tenko’s spiritual defeat” damaged “his” body, which implicitly blames Izuku for the physical damage. But that’s just AFO’s narration, and AFO is a manipulative liar (even to himself and to MHA readers). We don’t know that Tomura’s body would have decayed if AFO hadn’t re-emerged. For all we know, once Izuku cracked the hatred, Tenko could have gone on to live a normal human life. But of course, AFO would never tolerate a normal human life in the “vessel” he spent years cultivating.

Without Tomura’s rage and hatred, and with AFO in control, AFO quickly “uses up” any remaining power in Tomura’s body. At first, hyper-regeneration doesn’t work, and as AFO uses more power he has to start using more quirks to hold his body together.

AFO’s greed burned out his own “vessel.” AFO’s overuse of his quirk condemned Tomura’s body, not Izuku.

Izuku knows exactly what’s happening because All Might warned him back in Chapter 2 about strong quirks coursing through limp noodle bodies.

But at this point, Izuku doesn’t know that Tenko’s spirit is still around. Izuku thinks he’s fighting pure AFO, and he sees a weakness he can use to end AFO. If Izuku doesn’t use this opening, then AFO will transfer himself to another person (which is likely to be Izuku himself) and begin all over again. Izuku knows this because AFO is screaming about finding a new vessel.

In the vestige world, when Izuku goes for the final strike, that’s when Tenko comes back and adds his fist to the vestige mega-punch. When Tenko comes back, which is itself an unexpected miracle thanks to Nana, there aren’t any “perfect victory” options — it was either smash AFO for good and let Tomura’s body crumble OR let AFO body snatch Izuku (or someone else) and hope that maybe Tenko’s spirit could overcome AFO in that new body — and that’s assuming AFO’s self-transfer would even include Tenko’s spirit. It’s an easy choice for Izuku to make, especially when Tenko himself chooses the smash option.

In the end, Izuku saved the crying little boy Tenko trapped under hatred and AFO’s lies. But Izuku couldn’t save Tomura’s physical body, and I don’t think there was any way he could have. It absolutely haunts Izuku right now — he wanted to save everyone with a smile and he held the strongest quirk in the world, yet he couldn’t make Tomura’s story end happily. Nobody could. To make it worse for Izuku, the world is probably celebrating the hero who destroyed the villain with a punch, because that’s what it looked like on TV. Only Izuku, All Might, and a few others know what happened in the vestige world.

II. What does Izuku think as he talks to Spinner?

Does Izuku think he murdered Tomura? Honestly no, I don’t think he sees himself as a murderer. And he’s NOT. He knows, logically, that AFO engineered a mutually assured destruction scenario with Tomura.

But does Izuku see himself as a failed hero? Yeah, I think so. That kid has so many self-esteem issues to begin with, and his whole self-identity is wrapped around being a hero like All Might. Remember how brutally All Might scolded himself in Chapter 1 when he was struggling to transform and save Bakugo from the sludge villain? I imagine Izuku’s internal monologue is something like that, cursing himself and holding himself to an impossibly high standard. It’s why All Might tried to reassure him in the hospital that he saved Tenko’s soul.

Still, I’m not at all surprised to see Izuku bravely committing himself to remembering Tomura and carrying out Tomura’s final wishes. When Izuku goes to see Spinner, he has to know Spinner will be angry over his friend’s death. And Izuku knows that part of a hero’s role is to validate someone’s pain, because he did that for Tenko.

A hero needs to SEE that crying child and be kind even when the child isn’t. A hero needs to let the child know they’re not alone.

Validation is what happens when Shoto uses Phosphor for the first time and tells Toya: “Dad was a madman! Our family was screwed up! …But you’re not taking any more innocent lives. Aim all your rage at us!” It’s what Shoji tells Spinner during their fight: “We’ve all got scars we carry.” It’s what Ochako tells Himiko: “Maybe this world isn’t a place you can be yourself…but being able to declare what you love, and do it with your whole face…that smile of yours is so perfect I’m honestly jealous!”

Izuku understands there’s no point in arguing with Spinner over who, exactly, killed Tomura. It doesn’t matter. Tomura is gone and Spinner is in pain. Spinner needs his anger and grief over Tomura’s loss validated. He needs his mistreatment as a heteromorph validated. He needs his abuse at the hands of AFO validated.

Izuku doesn’t just let Spinner call him a murderer; he lets Spinner call him a “sick puppy,” he lets Spinner talk about the destruction of Deika, he lets Spinner vent about how he had given up on life until he found Tomura. Izuku lets Spinner grab him and manhandle him so Spinner can finally express that, to him, Tomura represented hope for major change. Tomura’s death is the death of that hope. And in return, Izuku uses Spinner’s villain name (just as Tomura did). Izuku adds on to Tomura’s message too — he tells Spinner that Tomura wanted to be LOV’s hero. He tells Spinner how much Spinner meant to Tomura, which Spinner didn’t know before.

Simply by listening and sharing what he knew, quirkless Izuku validated Spinner and reached his heart, enabling Spinner to control his own raging quirk.

Izuku saved Spinner. No quirk needed.

And even if hero and villain will never see perfectly eye to eye, Izuku bonds with Spinner, encouraging him to write his book about Tomura to counter the popular media narrative (which winds all around the chapter). Izuku, who is possibly the most celebrated hero on the planet at the moment, encourages a book that will “stick it to heroes forever and ever.” Finally, Izuku promises Spinner that he will never forget Tomura. In return, Spinner finally softens and sends his own message of goodwill to Shoji.

Izuku may have been too late to save Tomura, but he will keep Tomura’s memory alive. In doing so, he saved Spinner and bonded with him, getting Spinner to implicitly admit that some heroes are good people. Izuku and Spinner, our two social outcast narrators, found common ground.

And that’s the beginning of a major change.

[nimiana]

Orin the Red, importance of burial and bodily autonomy or lack thereof

Orin doesn't leave a body behind. Her remains are similar to her armor - a bloody mess that doesn't even resemble a person. It's not even marked as Orin. You want to cast speak with the dead on her? Too bad.

Mutilation of a corpse and lack of proper burial is one of the biggest fears that's been haunting humanity and, as I believe, further reinforces the overall theme of Orin's lack of personhood. Since I have a degree in classics and I'm slightly insane about the similarities between House of Atreus and Bhaalfamily, let's dig into the topic from the perspective of Greek texts.

Starting with the Iliad. Thorough the story, despite gory and very detailed description of each death, battles end with a truce allowing both sides to gather their dead and give them a proper burial:

VII 380-7, tr. R. Fagles.

Hector's dying wish is for his body to be return to his family:

which Achilles immediately refuses - thus breaking the custom:

Op. cit. XXII 398-417.

See Andromache's lament at the sight of Achilles' mutilating Hector's corpse:

Op. cit. XXII 597-605.

Her speech paints a grim picture of rot, pointing to physical destruction of Hector's body and contrasting it with care and love he should be treated with.

Achilles' actions finally bring down divine intervention as Apollo urges other gods to stop his madness:

Op. cit. XXIV 39-51.

Achilles is likened to a lion - his lack of respect for burial rites is inhuman. Compassion (ἔλεος) and respect (��ἰδώς) are a meter of one's humanity. What to we get from it? One of earliest known literary works underlines that even in the midst of brutal war, act of proper burial is sacred, regardless of the enmity between men. Deliberate mutialtion of corpse and denial of one's burial is horrific and impious. To quote Emily Vermeule:

Moving on to classical times. Before we go to Antigone, let's make a short stop for the Oresteia cycle. Twice is mentioned that Klytemnestra not only murdered Agamemnon, but also mutilated his corpse:

Sophokles, Elektra, 439-447, tr. H. Kitto.

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, 439-443,. tr. A. Brown

Verb μασχαλίζειν is used in both instances, and, as Francis Dunn points out, evidence suggests that it adapts ritualistic language more fit to animal sacrifice to describe disfiguration of a corpse with intention of either shame towards the deceased and their family. Again we see that the idea of mutilation of a corpse is seen as something extreme and wrong, that should stir the audience with anger.

Now, Antigone (and Seven Agains Thebes). The story of brothers killing each other, resulting in one of them being denied the right to burial. Without getting into the debate of whethere state can dictate laws and natural versus cultural orders of things, let's see how the issue of leaving corpse unburied is described.

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes, 1294-1311, tr. H. Bacon

Op. cit. 1324-37

Op. cit. 1368-74

Firstly, lack of burial is an extension of punishment and secondly, grieving one's nearest kin is an universal, basic feeling.

Sophokles, Antigone, 961-79, tr. R. Gibbons, C. Segal

Antigone's speech points out one more important thing: burial must be carried out by one's nearest kin (to which I will come back later). She (and her sister) are the last remaining members of their family and the responsibility falls on them.

The last example is, chronologically speaking, the youngest, but nonetheless striking. In one of his partially surviving comedies (yeah, comedies), The Shield, Menander describes in detail a gory afermath of a battle from the perspective of a survivor who lost his master in a turmoil. As a result, a family is bereaved of an heir and left without his body to bury.

Tr. S. Ireland.

The play itself was written and staged during the period the Wars of the Diadochi. Menander described a grim scene - mass grave, mutilated bodies, lack of proper, individual burial - which was a well known reality for his audience and a nightmare that haunt them. The story ends with the young master alive and returned to his family, giving the viewers a sense of closure they couldn't have in reality.

Leaving the fiction behind, public funerals and annually paid honors to the deceased were also important for shaping collective memory. Families of men killed in combat had a chance to cherish memories of them and, in case of young children, to learn about their fathers.

Ever since the Homeric epics, the theme of immortality gained through collective memory is prevelant. Memory is shaped during funerary rites and cult surrounding the burial site, for which physical remains are necessary. As Gregory Nagy concludes:

And, lastly, despite funrary games being public and serving the purpose of a state, funeral itself was a family business and duty (hence the disruptions in funerary practice in the house of Atreus served to show how badly the family was messed up).

What does it mean for Orin?

Orin cannot be buried. As a result, she cannot be properly mourned and remembered. She is bereaved of this incredibly basic, primal right that no one should be denied.

If she can't be remembered, did she even exist? Was she a person?

Well, the game is inclined towards taking it from her.

Helena and Orin - mother and daughter, sister and sister - are trapped in a cycle of abuse even in death. Orin preserves Helena's body in her chambers and calls herself Helena's daughter. Where Orin's remains are gored to nothing, Helena's remains are forever embalmed in a mockery of burial.

Neither Durge, nor Orin (nor Helena!), are allowed to have a sense of personhood apart from being their father's vessels.

As someone with a bad enough relationship with my father, I am ar marvel at how the writers managed to show how abused children still yearn for their parents. It's not their affection.

The last words Orin hears before she is turned into slayer are taking her personhood away.

Off with her family tree, off with love her felt for Sarevok and any trace of affection she had for Helena, any last remaining emotion she felt about herself.

No more Orin. The fact that no body remains of her - not Orin, but Orin's Gore Pile - is the only possible consequence.

You cannot mourn murder and there's no Orin to mourn. As we've seen from cited above classical sources, mourning one's family is not only one's responsibility, it is the most basic, primal human need. How can you remember someone without burying them, without performing funerary rites from them? Every familial bond is destroyed here, every rite crooked. No one here can move on with their grief. Before Orin was murder, she was Orin, but how can anyone remember her now, with no proof that she even existed?

The last thing I have on my mind is this quote from Jean Anouilh's Antigone (tr. L. Galantiere):

She was my sister.

[hard--headed--woman]

Sooo you're used to it by now, here's my 4th special pride post, and today we're going to talk about

Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall !

Marguerite was born in 1880 and died in 1943. She was a British poet and writer, author of "The Well of Loneliness", a revolutionary and very important novel in lesbian literature. She never tried to hide her homosexuality.

Neglected by her parents as a child, she studied at King's College London, then in Germany. She reached adulthood without a vocation, and spent a big part of her twenties in a series of relationships with women who later left her to marry.

In 1907, at the spa town of Bad Homburg in Germany, Marguerite met Mabel Batten, a lieder singer nicknamed Ladye, and the two fell in love. Batten was 51 at the time, with a husband, grown-up daughter and grandchildren. Hall was 27.

The two move in together when Mabel's husband dies. At the time, Marguerite was known for her "masculine" appearance and constant wearing of "masculine" clothes; Mabel Batten nicknamed her "John", a nickname she kept all her life.

In 1915, Radclyffe-Hall fell in love with Una Troubridge, a cousin of Mabel's whom she had known for 10 years. Battel died the following year, and in 1917, the two women moved in together. The two lived together until Hall's death, despite Hall's many affairs (that Troubridge painfully tolerated).

She has written eight novels and several poems.

Her first novel, "The Unit lamp", (1924) tells the story of a young girl who dreams of moving into a London apartment with her friend Elizabeth (a so-called "Boston marriage") and studying to become a doctor, but feels trapped by her emotionally-dependent, manipulative mother.

The novel's length and complexity made it difficult to sell, so Marguerite chose a lighter theme for her next novel, a social comedy : "The Forge". The book was quite successful this time.

Her next two novels were a great success, especially "Adam's Breed" (1926), which won the Prix Femina and the James Tait Black Award, something that had only been achieved once before.

But her best-known novel is "The Well of Loneliness". Published in 1928, it tells the story of a butch lesbian, from her childhood in England to her stay in Paris, where she becomes a famous writer. The novel was the subject of an obscenity trial in the UK (despite not being sexually explicit), resulting in the destruction of all copies. The USA authorized its publication after a long, long legal battle. Considered a classic, an extremely important work of lesbian literature, "The Well of Loneliness" was 7th on Publishing Triangle's 1999 list of the best gay novels.

In 1930, Hall won the gold medal of the Eichelbergher Humane Award. She was a member of the PEN club, the Council of the Society for Psychical and a member of the Zoological Society of London.

She died of colon cancer in 1943, aged 63. Her impact on literature, and lesbian literature in particular, remains significant to this day.

You can find the list of her novels (and more details about her life) here !

And some of her poems here :

Hope you enjoyed, and see you tomorrow for the 5th post!

[gojos-thot-patrol]

HII!!! and happy birthday to you ♡♡ i love ur works sm, for ur special birthday event, could i request — ryomen sukuna, mean, " i love you, and you don't deserve that " ?? AGAIN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND HAVE THE BEST YEAR!! (｡>﹏<｡) feel free to change it up! you're the birthday author afterall<3

AHH these are late, but in my defense I got very drunk then had to work off the hang over lol.

that being said, thank you so much Nonny!! This is so sweet and I feel kinda bad because this one got pretty dark. Trigger warnings for Domestic abuse, non con/dub con implied, emotional abuse and manipulation, and yandere themes. you have been warned, Dead Dove, Do Not Eat.

Now Presenting...

Starring: An cold complicated Ryomen Sukuna, taking it out on a Reader that doesn't deserve it.

There were few things on this earth Sukuna found more vile than humans. Maggots, maybe, but at least maggots served a purpose- they were important to the nutrient cycling of many ecosystems. But what the fuck did human do? They destroyed with reckless abandon, conquered without a second thought, and bread like roaches to continue the destruction long after they were gone. They were creatures of hate. And maybe that’s why Sukuna couldn’t stand them. They were just a little too much like him.

That was all with one exception. Y/n was a human that challenged every thought he had about humans. She was kind and generous, but still not afraid to get her hands dirty for what she believed. She proved that much when she ran out to stop him from destroying some elders home of all fucking things. He didn’t know what was funnier, that she thought she could challenge him, with her meek frame and zero battle experience, or the look on her face when he threw her over his shoulder. 

He had planned to throw her to his hoard of underling curses and let them tear her limb from limb. A fitting punishment he thought, she wasn’t really worth his effort. When he got to the throne room, he looked down at the writhing mass of curses below the tall platform his throne sat upon. He watched them all move as one, entangled together in a breathing wet sea of shit and hunger. They needed to eat.

And then he looked at her. The way she clung to his arm, the genuine terror in her eyes. She didn’t look like she had before on the battlefield, so willing to give her life to save another. Now she looked as if her entire being was made of ice and terror, as if she’d shatter if the breeze blew the wrong way. He felt a tightness in his chest, like some otherworldly being was pulling the sinew that laid there apart, cord by cord. And he threw her into his sleeping quarters instead. 

And ever since that day all those months ago, Sukuna had been complicated. A fucking human complicated him, it was almost comical. He caught himself being vulnerable around her, and he coludn’t fucking stand it. For every quiet sweet moment they had, he had to double down with two or more acts of brutality to make himself feel better. Except, it never made him feel any fucking better, in fact it made him feel actively fucking worse. The betrayal and hurt behind your eyes always made him feel minuscule, and it only made his hate of you burn even brighter. 

It was moments like these that made his skin crawl. When your head was resting on his chest, arms wrapped around your body as best as they could be, legs still trembling in the aftermath of your shared sin. When he realized his heart was calm, and his claws didn’t crave blood in your presence. His reaction to comfort was always visceral anger. 

“Get off of me wench.” He growled, jerking his shoulder up and launching you out of your near sleep state. You looked so hurt.

“Oh, this again?” You muttered.

“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean, Whore?” Sukuna scoffed, unable to believe you felt comfortable enough to talk to him with such a tongue.

“Nothing.” You sighed, shaking your head and trying to turn away from him. You didn’t get very far before his talons were digging into your shoulder, forcing you to face him again.

“No no, If you’re going to say something, say it. Don’t try to take the cowardly way out now.” He warned. You shook your head, knowing better than to make eye contact right now.

“I just don’t want to fight-”

“Oh, you think this is a fight?” He laughed, “that would almost be cute if it wasn’t so pathetic.We don't fight Y/n. You forget your place, and I remind you of it. Fighting implies you to be my equal, which you never will be.” he said, his voice dripping in condescension and laced with contempt. His poison shot straight into your heart, coursing through your blood and to your tongue. You were so tired of his bull shit. 

“Oh, really?! Is that what happens?!” You laughed back to keep from crying, “Because from my view, You realize you have a heart and get so scared of it, you have to hurt someone smaller than you to feel like a man aga-!” Yea, you weren’t shocked when he struck you. You held your face, knowing there would be a bruise you could take fingerprints off of forming. You’d long since become used to his treatment. He grabbed you by your hair, yanking you to look at him. You could feel individual follicles being pulled from their roots as he raised you off the bed, as he drank in your scream as if it was the finest of wine. 

“Listen here Brat,” Ryomen always had a way of making even the most mundane words cut into your soul, “You’d do well to remember who the fuck you are talking to when you speak to me. I am not your friend, I am not your lover, you are fucking nothing to me. You’re less than nothing to me. Wrong me a-fucking-gain and your villiage won’t stop finding pieces of your body.” He snarled, throwing you off the bed. 

You braced for impact, but that still didn’t stop the collision from sending sharp waves of anguish through your already bruised ribs. You took in a sharp breath and tried to keep the tears swelling in your eyes from spilling over. He wanted you to cry. You wouldn't give him that satisfaction. You got to your hands and knees as quickly as your body would let you, then sat up as best as you could.

“Do you know what your problem is Sukuna?” You mumbled from the floor. He raised an eyebrow at you, genuinely shocked you had more to say after that. Normally, physical violence shut you up pretty quick. 

“And what is that Y/n?” He asked. You took an edge breath in.

“Your problem is that you don’t want to keep being a warlord. You’re tired of it, it bores you, you want to do something else. You found something that only makes that feeling stronger. And you can’t stand it! Because you don’t know who you are. You have no idea who Ryomen Sukuna is without the power and the blood thirst, and that fucking terrifies you.” Sukuna didn’t even argue, and he wasn’t surprised you read him so clearly. You had always seen through him as if he was nothing more than a fragile bubble. 

“And do you know what my problem is?” You growled. You waited all of 3 seconds before responding to his silence, “My problem is that I love you. And you don’t deserve that.” A chuckle left Sukuna, but it was humorless. His eyes didn’t hold any anger or angst, he looked as if he was made of stone. He finally got up from the bed, and moved to you. He crouched down to be at your level. 

“Things are only going to get worse for you from here on out. I hope you're prepared.” he said, zero emotion making its way to his voice or eyes. He pushed you onto your back before standing up again and leaving the room. Once he was back in his own sleeping quarters, he punched a hole in his wall.

How fucking dare you tell him you loved him! Who the fuck did you think you were?! And why the fuck would you confess that after he threw you to the fucking ground? As if you were nothing more than a used cum rag! He roared as he ripped some random piece of art off the wall and smashed it against the floor, splintering the wooden frame. Your words kept echoing in his head, phantoms that wouldn’t let him rest. I love you, and you don’t deserve it.It made him sick. Because he didn’t deserve it. And because he loved you too, and you truly didn’t deserve that.