#also the guys were never soldiers or people to aid you in battle

[sipsoftea]

I had a dream last night that if you let astarion feed on you enough you become half a vampire spawn, and the only thing you gained from it was the ability to summon 4 or 5 random guys to your location at any given time, and every time you summon them a booming voice echoes from the sky saying "NO HOMO" before the men would spawn.

[wordsandrobots]

'Real' robot? No thanks

I shan't be wasting time hang-wringing over the idea of a Gundam show from the point of view of the setting's antagonists. This is a well-worn and perfectly legitimate approach, and in any case, Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) goes out of its way to emphasise the humanity of the Principality of Zeon's soldiers. There are scouts who bend their orders to aid to civilians, wannabe special-forces who take the time to gawk at the teen prodigy who thwarted their attempt to blow up the Gundam, pilots who jump ship rather than go down with their mobile suits, and injured grunts who cling to family pictures while bleeding out in the desert. Even the actual *villains* of Gundam 79 – the Zabi family and their hangers-on – are generally presented as functioning people with loves and motivations beyond conquest. Only Gihren is utterly without morals. You know, the guy who took being compared to Hitler as a compliment? Garma, Degwin, Dozle, and even Kycilia all have moments of humanity, in spite of their reprehensible actions.

So yes, of course there are people fighting for Zeon because it's their job, because they believe the promise of spacenoid independence, because they buy into newtype theory, or simply because circumstances force them to. That's the kind of story Gundam is: the tragedy of people enduring a war driven by forces above their heads and beyond their control, who are just trying to make it home alive. If you don't get that, or that the Federation is squarely in the position of 'lesser evil but still a callous nation state doing dubious things to secure victory' from episode one, I don't know what to tell you. You've missed the point. I'm sorry, you just have.

There is nothing wrong with the premise 'wouldn't fighting against the Gundam be like living in a horror movie?' Indeed, I will go further: that is a good premise for a story.

But Netflix's Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is not a good story. It is, at best, a serviceable one, trotting from A to B with enough narrative cohesion and character beats to string the set-pieces together. By and large it manages an inoffensive momentum, unfolding a predictable sequence of events with reasonable competency. If I was not hugely entertained, I was not especially put off, either. They even remembered to turn on the contrast for the nighttime battles.

The biggest innovation displayed here is that this production was rendered in Unreal Engine as full CGI, eschewing Gundam's conventional animation style. In my view, that's also the key to its biggest problems. Let's take a quick spoiler break and I'll try to unpack what I mean.

I guess go watch the show before proceeding?

OK, so, there was a point in the middle of Requiem for Vengeance when I found myself questioning the physics of beam sabers. I'd never thought before about why what is essentially a burning stream of energy can be blocked by a bit of metal with a super-heated edge, or indeed by another such stream, because within the animation style usually used to depict such things, they are clearly physical in their interaction with the world. As solid as lightsabers and therefore as capable of acting like real swords.

But Requiem makes the decision to depict the Gundam's saber as, essentially, the jet from a blowtorch. Because that's what this *is*, isn't it? A narrow fountain of plasma? So it looks like fire, you can see the Zaku's heat-hawk through the Gundam's blade, and suddenly I'm wondering – how does that work? Why does the axe stop it instead of passing through? How does this obviously non-physical blade react as if it were a physical object?

There are any number of technobabble reasons you might give for how this works. Forcefields! It's probably forcefields. But what struck me was the beat of 'huh' I experienced, where I asked something I'd never previously *needed* to, even though it always existed as a legitimate question of the sci-fi mumbo-jumbo being deployed, and how that was a direct result of stylistic choices made when the Gundam was reinterpreted through the lens of CGI 'realism'.

Ah, yes. Realism. That elusive quality chased by film-makers and game-developers the world over. Or, specifically chased by a lot of big, mainstream studios who've decided it is vitally important the supernatural and the superscientific be placed within what is recognisably the real world.

In terms of such codifying modern works as 2008's Iron Man, this is primarily about papering over the stitching between what is filmed using actors and what is painted in later. In theory, something rendered entirely by computer does not have to worry about this. However, as many a 'triple-A' computer game has proven, the aspiration towards photographic quality remain. Characters and objects are honed so as to mimic the appearance and texture of real people and objects, with greater verisimilitude to life being a near-universally unquestioned goal.

I won't argue this doesn't have merit as a technical exercise. The results can be impressive. What I will say is: realism is worthless if it removes interest, and useless if it sacrifices coherence. The beam saber example is an instance of what I mean by the latter. Within Gundam 79, we apprehend immediately that the saber and the heat-hawk are of a kind, possessing an energised glow that is nevertheless opaque and physical. Within Requiem's portrayal, however, they no longer adhere to a visual language in which their interaction make sense. You cannot block an axe with a blowtorch flame. A minor illustration, yes, but it captures the tension created by transposing such elements into a more 'realistic' style.

Another may be found in the treatment of Zeon's various military vehicles. These are a bizarre selection of sci-fi objet d'art, from the aerodynamically questionable Dopp fighter jets to Magella tanks that can launch their turrets into open flight. They are strikingly weird designs that make little sense yet function perfectly inside their context. Where another, earlier anime would have had them belong to an alien species, Gundam is the show that pioneered 'what if the bad guys were human too' for the mecha genre, so they merely represent a design logic alien to the Earth Federation, which favours bold, blocky shapes more closely based on extant military hardware.

In Requiem, the Zeonic weirdness is deliberately muted. The Dopps are streamlined, literally flattened into a more traditional jet fighter profile. One Magella does attempt to launch its turret only to be blown apart before it can rise more than a couple of feet. Otherwise, they're just treated as ordinary tanks. And it's easy to see what the artists were doing here: "let's take these weird 70s designs and make them look like real tanks/jets." The result, unfortunately, is a dilution of the clear distinction between Zeon and Federation tech.

If you've watching the original Gundam and its sequels, you'll know how easy it is to tell at a glance which side something belongs to. Looking at them in stills, it is still reasonably clear these are meant to be Zeon vehicles. But in motion, it often took me a good few seconds to be sure I wasn't seeing their Federation equivalents. Visual interest doesn't exist purely for its own sake, after all; it serves to clarify the action. Plus, it seems to me that trying to downplay the wilder aspects of these designs actually draws attention towards those aspects. The Zeonic alienness has its own explanatory power; reducing it raises more questions, not fewer.

Lest you think me some terrible killjoy who doesn't like fun, I'm actually incredibly sympathetic to 'realistic' overhauls of classic designs. Have you seen what I spent years doing for the Daleks? Aesthetic overhauls aren't something I object to, nor do I think 'realism' as practised by the MCU and triple-A game developers is intrinsically a waste of time. What I am trying to demonstrate is Requiem's relation to its source material. It posits a story taking place exactly contemporaneously with episode 25 of Gundam 79, portraying the Battle of Odessa, the great Federation push-back that ejects Zeon forces from Earth. This is what was happening 'just off screen', depicted in a style actively at odds with that of the original

But not entirely at odds with it. Which brings us to another problem: an unwillingness to commit fully to the new style.

The big twist in Requiem episode 4 is that after being chased down by the Gundam and just barely managing to drive it off, Captain Iria Solari of the Red Wolf mobile suit squadron is recruited to go capture an example of the Federation's new mass-produced GM 'suit, so Zeon can identify its weaknesses. The hunted get to become the hunter, infiltrating a Federation base and attempting to hijack a couple of GMs, only for the Gundam to scupper things. All well and good. Not a bad swerve. Enables some useful developments.

Except this plan is delivered into the plot by a Zeon major general who appears to have stepped in from a different production entirely. Specifically, from Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, because this is none other than Major General Yuri Kellerne, he of the Wolverine haircut and unfortunate disagreements with certain scientific officers (that is, it is unfortunate he should have disagreed with a man possessing so few qualms about massacring his own side).

It is truly surreal to have a character who looks like he actually belongs in a Gundam show enter the scene. I was quite impressed prior to this with the depiction of another character, Major Ronet, who captures the essence of a villain-of-the-week Zeon officer using Requiem's style. He looks entirely of a piece with the rest, while still being recognisably a certain type of character.

Kellerne though? For fuck's sake, he's got a full-blown anime bouffant. Juxtaposed with Solari's achingly realistic design, it's just – bad. This is bad. It's a stylistic clash that makes it impossible to take these scenes seriously. Not because either style is problematic on its own, but because they cannot work together.

It's worth pausing to consider Kellerne's native entry in the franchise, because 08th MS represents an older trend of revisiting the original setting. Starting with Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, this saw the release of OVAs with a superior quality of animation and a more ground-level take on events of the Zeon/Federation war. In many respects, Requiem is positioned as the successor to these series, as Kellerne's cameo makes overt.

The thing is, War in the Pocket, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and 08th MS are all animes. Yes, they render the action with greater fidelity than Gundam 79. But they don't restyle it the way Requiem attempts to. The Dopp fighter is a great example of this. Compare the 08th MS version to the original and you will see that it merely adds extra layers of detail. It doesn't make it make more sense. Likewise for the character models. They look better than Gundam 79, by certain metrics. They still follow conventional anime aesthetics. You can't drop a design from this line of shows straight into a 'realistic' depiction and expect that to work.

Why does any of this matter? None of these issues exceed the threshold of nit-picking. OK, they're mildly distracting, but is there really a huge problem here?

Well, first, there is a philosophical underpinning to the drive for 'realism' we ought to grapple with, namely the idea only live-action and live-action-alike 'count'. I confess to having little time for this line of thought: the stylistic 'realism' discussed up to now matters far less than emotional or experiential realism. That is to say, whether something presents itself using stick-figures or a hyper-photographic style is not as important as whether it can convey the stakes, pathos, and other meat of a story. Art presents a plethora of options for communicating a message. Deciding one is intrinsically more valuable than the rest is a woefully narrow view of creativity. Traditional, non-realistic animation can be as emotionally arresting as any live performance. Why, therefore, should it be necessary to adapt it into a life-like style?

Second, there is the incomplete commitment to 'realism' that plagues Requiem and, I would argue, the entire concept of approaching works such as Gundam in this manner. Sure, stylistic 'realism' isn't about being strictly 'realistic'. It's about achieving a specific texture to the unreality that is functionally indistinguishable from that of the real elements. Yet doesn't the inclusion of a 17.5m-tall humanoid robot suits automatically grant you a get-out-of-realism-free card? If you have something that wild in play, why go to the effort of making it look like a real-world object? And if you're going to arbitrarily throw out the pretence for the sake of gratuitous continuity, what's the point of trying to begin with?

This circles close to what Requiem is, materially. If I use the phrase 'official fan-fiction', I hope you'll understand that's not necessarily derogatory. What I mean is something primarily homaging and reflecting a pre-existing work, rather than more straightforwardly building off it. 'Fan-fic' because it is bounded by what is already there; 'official' because it has the backing of corporate ownership and thus is positioned as more than merely people playing with the toys they enjoy. It's a category of derivative works into which I'd put previous projects such as Gundam Unicorn's animated adaptation – ring-fenced by an established canon, whatever their individual merits.

General Kellerne's stylistically disruptive presence is one example of the short-comings of such an approach. His design looks that way out of deference to 08th MS Team, whether or not it fits next to the other visuals (a side-effect of trying to cram him into Requiem's style is that he appears off-model anyway!).

Another is the plot. We might grant that doing Gundam-by-the-numbers is a self-contained introduction to the series' themes for a novice, but there isn't anything here those of us who've watched the anime(s) haven't seen a dozen times over. Even Solari's pocket-watch feels borrowed from 08th MS.

Now, credit where it's due: Requiem does not downplay the newtype angle. The psychic powers built up to over the course of Gundam 79 and made central to its sequels are usually the first thing ejected when the franchise tries to be more 'serious' and 'gritty'. It was a pleasant surprise to see them embraced. Solari is explicitly a newtype, with all the corresponding traits (supernaturally good pilot, able to sense threats, experiences predictive flashes etc). This is neatly used to establish some of the philosophy behind Zeon's cause, since most of our characters are already aware of newtype theory (humans moving to space tap into skills not previously needed) by dint of being on the side that uses this as justification for invading the Earth.

As in the source material, newtypes serve as a metaphor for the potential of each new generation. Solari was a talented violinist before the war, able to play near-impossible melodies, and this ability has been conscripted in much the same way OG protagonist Amuro Ray's mechanical genius was turned to murder. Equally, the central tragedy in Requiem resolves into newtype-on-newtype violence, as the pilot of the Gundam relentlessly hunting the Zeon soldiers is revealed to be a frightened teenager, paralleling both Solari's son, to whom she is fighting to return, and Solari herself, as someone struggling for their life in a war-zone.

I watching this straight after binging the original Gundam series (I'd previously seen the more refined compilation movies) and was struck there by how brief Amuro's interaction with fellow newtype Lalah Sune is prior to inadvertently killing her in battle. Then I remembered that's the point. These are two people sharing an identical potential for transforming the world, made opponents by circumstance, who understand one another immediately and intimately in the exact instant it is too late to matter. Amuro's cry that he has done something awful he cannot take back is not overlooking the other deaths he's responsible for; rather it is admitting the unique horror of lost possibility.

Following an encounter on the Federation base, Solari recognises the boy pursuing her is equally scared and out of his depth and thus attempts to talk him down. She even succeeds, reaching substitute!Amuro (hey look another traumatised child soldier who executes wild violence in a berserker-like fashion using a hyper-advanced military prototype; what are the odds?) and evoking his sympathy with her status as a mother (characterisation I'd be more annoyed by if Solari wasn't presented functionally identical to the trope of a father desiring to return to his family).

Then, immediately after saving Solari from being crushed by falling spaceship debris, substitute!Amuro is fatally stabbed in the back by another Zeon soldier.

Here we reach the crux of my dislike for Requiem. It has already muddied the clean Federation/Zeon divide and Gundam's internal physics in service of its chosen style, then compromised that style anyway in the name of slavishness to canonicity. Now, during what is position as the emotional climax, it openly rejects the visual language of newtypes.

Solari's powers are portrayed using vocally-stated unease and emotional connection to other individuals (as is standard), and a pair of dream sequences – one prophetic with respect to the Gundam pilot, another tying into newtypes' ability to draw in the souls of those who die around them. Performing at a darkened opera house, Solari's red dress slowly washes outwards, becoming a bloody wave as the audience is revealed to consist of the dead Zeon soldiers she failed to save. It's an arresting visual, as is the fiery descent into her own pocket watch (a souvenir from her dead husband, who was also conscripted into the war) that marks the earlier dream. We also see a brief shot of the Gundam staring straight back at her as she senses its presence on a distant battlefield. These are all effectively done and I genuinely enjoyed them.

Crucially, however, Requiem does not deploy the kind of over-layering that Gundam 79, Zeta Gundam, ZZ Gundam and the other follow-ups use to show the deep connections developed by newtypes. In the animes, in addition to visions and flashes of awareness, we have full-on mind-to-mind communication where people converse across voids of colour and light. Newtypes appear in ghostly form, too, interacting with the living during and after their deaths. There are also the obligatory glowing auras, cuing the viewer into supernatural happenings.

Requiem's 'realistic' style seemingly does not permit such things to occur in the waking world. That is to say, there is no reason you couldn't depict the standard newtype visuals in CGI, but this show opts not to. If I were to hazard a guess, given the restriction of overt psychedelia to dream sequences and what they did to the Zenoic designs, I would say the aritsts thought it would look silly.

The problem is, how do you then portray newtype connections? In the scene where Solari convinces substitute!Amuro to stop, we get a couple of cutaways to the kid in his cockpit, superposing with his Gundam's movements. That is a great decision, since the point of the newtype visuals is the characters looking past the armour and understanding the person within (not always a good thing, since antagonism can exist despite the link, but the central conceit is always to grasp the essence of somebody else). In these brief moments, we see, as Solari does, the human being, not the mechanical monster.

But the boy's subsequent death is just… the Gundam gets stabbed and keels over, and Solari is grief-stricken. That's it. No manifested ghost, psychic trauma conveyed by voice lines alone, a total absence in this crucial, heart-rending instant of substitute!Amuro's humanity. Just the destruction of property. The death of the monster, not the scared child.

If there had been one additional cutaway to the boy in the cockpit, I think this could have worked. A single shot of him looking at Solari in the second before being stabbed in the back. Something, anything, to imply the connection crucial to this scene. I am honestly baffled as to why it's not there. I feel I'm looking at a picture where a couple of critical numbers weren't coloured in.

To be clear, I don't personally care for the newtype concept as executed in the 'Universal Century' Gundam shows. I'm not annoyed by this because I'm wedded to the idea or the visual conceits. I'm annoyed by the incompetence of failing to land an obvious, even required emotional beat. The finale of Requiem for Vengeance is built around Solari confronting substitute!Amuro. She risks her chance to join the Zeon retreat from Earth – and thus of reuniting with her son – to help take down Federation forces endangering the departing space capsules. She then compounds this by attempting to convince the Gundam pilot to let everyone go, and ultimately abandons any possibility of returning home out of grief over his death. This is a life-changing encounter for her, as is normal for newtypes pushed into fighting each other.

In my opinion, the show does not sell that anywhere near as well as it could have. Further, it betrays the very concept of the newtype connection by leaving substitute!Amuro to be represented by his Gundam rather than his actual self in his final moments. There are cases where other newtypes meet such abrupt ends. Quess' death in Char's Counterattack springs immediately to mind. But that is a moment of a profound lack of communication, which is not what's happening here.

Animes such as the original Gundam shows can move seamlessly between high technology and visual metaphors for empathy without underselling either one. That they are not attempting to look 'real' provides the advantage of absolute coherence. Beam sabers, flying tanks, psychic powers – there are no joins to airbrush away. Everything is unreal, so everything fits together. A switch in medium and style creates the challenge of reinterpreting those disparate elements so they remain coherent. Ultimately, while Requiem for Vengeance has a good try at pulling everything across, it fails, not just at creating 'realism', but at capturing the conceptual depth of what it is assaying.

Being official fan-fic of the Battle of Odessa – being, essentially, 'the Gundam story' in miniature – invites unfavourable comparison with the original work. Unshackled from that, I suspect it could have done more to establish its own visuals, remove incongruities and find better means of conveying its emotional core. As it stands, I have to wonder if there's any sound argument for live-action-alike Gundam. Even the dream sequences don't provide something unique to this style. You could do the same in traditional animation and trivially push it further. So what, precisely, is gained by telling this story this way?

That's the question Requiem for Vengeance has left me pondering. And hey, if you want to answer with 'but it looks cool', fair enough. I'm writing way too much about my personal gripes with a perfectly passable piece of gratuitous mecha porn, simply because I found a more interesting complaint to make than “why the fuck didn't they hire somebody who knew how do facial animations?”

As for Captain Solari, she closing-monologues herself to Africa to join a Zeon remnant group and fight to give children a future without war. Never quite been sure how mecha pilots in these things envision that working, if I'm honest. Oh, and, uh, I guess nobody tell her that if she survives the next seventeen years, there's a decent chance she's going on a suicide run against the Federation spearheaded by a traumatised teenager strapped into a murder machine.

That might put a slight damper on what Netflix's music captions assure me is a heroic ending.

[A note to check you read all the way to the end: obviously the screenshot from Cucuruz Doan's Island shows CGI mobile suit models. But that's CGI aping traditional anime, rather than an attempt at realism. This is why I've been careful to talk about style, not medium.]

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

There was a Palestinian terrorist who carried out a shooting attack today, at least 2 people have been murdered and 4 have been injured (at least one, a 16 years old boy, critically). Current reports say they were all civilians standing at a bus station. Witnesses said that the terrorist, who has now been identified as an Arab from East Jeruslem and an Israeli citizen, was sporting an ISIS-styled beard and white cap. An Israeli man (I heard conflicting reports on whether he's a civilian or a reserves soldier) figured out quickly what was happening, got out of his own car, and with his personal pistol managed to neutralize the terrorist (for those who have never dealt with weapons, going up against an assault rifle with a personal pistol is incredibly dangerous, and would usually not be successful given the much greater distance that a rifle can cover. It's pretty astonishing that this man managed to stop the terrorist, save many others, and not get hurt himself).

Yesterday, I wrote about the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, and why the IDF had to enter it (the hostages and kidnapped bodies Hamas held there). I also heard in an intereview that at least 60 terrorists were arrested there, and today we get the news that out of them, at least 20 arrested terrorists are Hamas members who had personally participated in the Oct 7 massacre.

Yesterday, I heard more than one Israeli journalists wondering why is the UN not picking up humanitarian aid that was allowed into Gaza by Israel. One option is pure incompetence, but another option they brought up is that the UN might be intentionally trying to worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to prove how much their presence is needed, and to use the crisis as a weapon against Israel, to force it to stop its war against Hamas. According to field reports, the aid which has not been picked up is the content of at least 500 aid trucks (Israel has been allowing 200 aid trucks from Israeli territory into Gaza daily, on top of the aid entering from Egypt, and it's the aid from Israel that hasn't been picked up), so yesterday, that was the third day in a row that the UN has failed to pick up specifically the aid being brought in from Israel's territory. Here's a pic of the undelivered aid, on TV I also saw video footage, and it's incredibly frustrating not to be able to find it anywhere online...

We got confirmation yesterday, that a man who was eliminated in Gaza City the day before by the IDF, was a Hamas commander, specifically the head of a squad that kidnapped men and women from the Nova music festival, and the man in charge of guarding 19 years old Noa Marziano, who was murdered by Hamas in captivity, on the grounds of the Shifa hospital.

Here's footage of a dog serving in Oketz (the IDF's canine unit) in Gaza. A terrorist threw explosives at an Israeli soldier, wounding him, the dog identified the hiding place of the terrorists, caught him, and got the man to shout in Arabic, "I surrender." I knew guys who served in Oketz, I know they raised and trained the dogs, loved them like family, and I even sat with one guy an entire night when he needed to unload his pain over his dog when she was killed in action. The soldiers who serve in Oketz wanted to clarify that they never send their dogs on suicide missions, that they see the dogs as soldiers in every respect, so they have risked their lives to get their dogs out of the line of fire, I remember seeing a wounded dog being carried by the guys from the unit on a stretcher, and the dogs also get a salary and pension for when they retire from their service, often they're adopted by the soldiers who served with them. In this vid, you can see how using the dog saves human lives, both those of soldiers, and that of the terrorist, who gets the chance to surrender:

On the right is 24 years old Rotem Levi.

Rotem was the deputy commander of the unit in charge of blowing up Hamas' terror tunnels. He was killed in battle. An hour before that, he had the chance of calling his wife Shoham (on the left side of the pic) to tell her that he loves her, and that soon, they should get a break in the fighting, and he'd be able to visit their home.

This is 59 years old Yair Ya'akov.

His teenage sons were kidnapped by Hamas, and released in the hostage deal. They kept waiting and fighting for their father to be released as well. Yesterday, we got the news that Yair was murdered on Oct 7, and his body was kidnapped and is held hostage in Gaza. Just think about the cruel emotional abuse, of letting these kids believe their father is still alive, and that they have a chance to be reunited with him alive, when they should have been allowed to at least get to mourn his death.

May their memories be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[imakemywings]

Yoooo Im still reeling at the fact that the Kings of Numenor are descendants of Turgon like FREAKING TURGON HOLY SHIT. Do you like Turgon? He's such an interesting character and I never saw his action of building a hidden city as an act of cowardice despite popular belief.

I LOVE Turgon he's so cool. My traumatized little mew mew.

Usually when a divine power comes to you in a dream and says "hey do this to save your people" you might want to at least consider doing it (and his downfall comes when he stops listening to Ulmo). And one thing I think is always relevant to consider when thinking about Turgon's character is that he convinced all these people to do Gondolin with him. Literally a THIRD of the Nolofinwean forces go with Turgon and just disappear into the ether never to be seen again as far as anyone else is concerned. A THIRD of their forces decided Turgon was the guy to follow. Even Aredhel, who backs out later, initially was onboard. Personally, I think it says a lot about how close they were--which is why my h/c is that they were each other's favorite sibling. This says something about him: either that he's very persuasive, or a very strong leader, or very likeable, or something. People don't just up and abandon their king to follow a different guy for no reason, and we know that Fingolfin was also well-liked, so Turgon did have competition.

And I don't think that protecting the people who chose to come with him was an act of cowardice. Turgon had a responsibility to the Gondolindrim and I think he took it very seriously, possibly especially after the trauma of the Helcaraxe and then their first battle in Middle-earth where his little brother Argon died. If Turgon had a downfall, it wasn't cowardice, it was pride, and allowing himself to believe that staying in Gondolin was safer than taking Ulmo's advice and abandoning the city (although in his defense, you can imagine how he convinced himself they were safer with city walls than no city walls, Valar be damned).

Turgon was also such a warrior that even in Bilbo's time the goblins still fear his sword. In The Lay of the Children of Hurin Tolkien calls him "Turgon the mighty" and notes that Melkor particularly wanted to catch Turgon at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. In this same battle, he also gets the sexy sexy epithet "Turgon the terrible towering in anger" as he hacks an escape from the battle for him and his soldiers.

And this is another thing--while staying hidden was key to keeping Gondolin safe--Melkor never did find it except through trickery--he still comes to Fingon's aid during the Nirnaeth.

"But now a cry went up, passing up the wind from the south from vale to vale, and Elves and Men lifted their voices in wonder and joy. For unsummoned and unlooked for Turgon had opened the leageur of Gondolin, and was come with an army ten thousand strong, with bright mail and long swords and spears like a forest. When Fingon heard from afar the great trumpet of Turgon his brother, the shadow passed and his heart was uplifted, and he shouted aloud: ...The day has come! Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!'"

Turgon also does a great job making buddies with Men which is fun for him.

"Now in the phalanx of the guard of the King broke through the ranks of the Orcs, and Turgon hewed his way to the side of his brother; and it is told that the meeting of Turgon with Hurin, who stood beside Fingon, was glad in the midst of battle."

He stands out to me for how we never get any indication that he takes issue with his daughter Idril choosing to marry Tuor, a mortal, even though this means that should Turgon ever die, a Man will become prince consort of Gondolin (Idril is named as his heir, so presumably she would be a ruling queen).

I've never bought into the notion of Turgon having a contentious relationship with Maeglin either, for reasons explained here.

This man has just had so much trauma...Elenwe dying on the Helcaraxe, Argon getting killed as soon as they arrive, Aredhel being murdered right in front of him by her abusive spouse, Fingon getting stomped into jelly, Fingolfin's mutilated corpse getting delivered to him after the duel with Melkor...is it any WONDER he chooses to go down with the city when he realizes he made the wrong choice in staying?

"And [Thorondor] laid [Fingolfin] upon a mountain-top that looked from the north upon the hidden valley of Gondolin; and Turgon coming built a high cairn over his father. No Orc dared ever after to pass over the mount of Fingolfin or draw nigh his tomb, until the doom of Gondolin was come and treachery was born among his kin."

Want to talk about carrying on the family legacy? By the time Turgon takes the crown of high king of the Noldor, he is the last one left of Fingolfin's immediate descendants.

And you know, I think it's fun and cool of him to never forgive the Feanorians for abandoning the rest of them after Alqualonde. He should get to say whatever nasty shit to them he wants to. Worst cousins of Arda until Maeglin decides to give them a run for their money.

You know who else is related to Turgon of course--Elrond and Arwen. No wonder they're so cool and sexy.

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Spoilers for Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I haven't actually finished the game but I was thinking, what if Zelda never returns to being a hylian and just remains a dragon forever? Who would be the next in line for the throne?

That's right.

Link. Why?

1. Link is from a long family of knights and one of the only known and confirmed nobles in the game

2. Link is one of the only people in Hyrule to know many classified secrets of the royal family (especially if he regains all his memories from his time as Zeldas personal guard and whatnot)

3. Link has saved and aided all of the different tribes on multiple occasions and united them under him.

4. He has personal friendly relationships with all the tribes leaders aka the chiefs and Zora king

5. Link is pretty good as descalating conflicts and finding middle grounds

6. Link is cononically just as compassionate and lovable as Zelda is and would be beloved as Prince

Theres more but I think you got the picture. Just imagine Prince Link, uncomfortable about this turn of events but willing to do what is best for his people.

So I propose a plot for the new DLC: Of course theres a new Big Bad (maybe a sorcerer like Vaati or something) who makes themselves a castle of thier own in the Depths and is trying to take over hyrule but in a different way than we've seen before. Sure they still create monster and cause havoc but they also do political stuff like scandal and slander

Link gathering alliances with the people of the different tribes and trying to clear his name after he's been framed for crimes he did not commit maybe? He, that doesn't really fit the vibe with what I'm going for, but what if the new Big Bad tried to make the people of Hyrule like him more and use thier love of him as a way into power?

Maybe disasters keep happening and the new guys servents/knights keeps saving the day but things keep getting worse and worse. Maybe there could be a new game mechanic where there's a ward or talisman that stops dark magic/ evil entities from entering the city and most of the disasters in that area stopping entirely and when the servent/knight tries to enter the city they hit a magic barrier and it sounds like a mosquitoe getting zapped by a bug zapper and they scream, revealing themselves to be a monster who had been the one causing all the disasters in the first place. The civilians freak out and the monster flees.

Link and the sage of that area believed in Link the whole time/was suspicious of the servant/knight follows the monster with Link and they find a maze like nest the monster has created

Cue dungeon

Cue boss battle

Rinse and repeat for all the sages people (maybe there are some previously unknown Zonai survivors that Minaru is awed and excited to find and she takes them in idk) maybe they were lost in time or something. Maybe thats where the big bad came from and the the Zonai children interrupted the Big Bads spell and thay wound up in the distant future, the children later running away in confusion and terror. So new tribe and dungeon? Just a thought

DLC features:

1. MASSIVE main quest to renovate the castle where you get to redecorate it however you want. Like you get to choose the furniture and decorations and have things restored to thier former glory. Granted you have to pay for repairs out of your own pocket (taxes can only go so far and thats going towards rebuilding the towns and stuff) and you get to put up your own pictures to replace those torn apart portraits and stuff you see around the castle in BOTW and TOTK. You can put up pictures of Hyrules former royals, the champions, the sages, ect. Or you can go the painting route where someone paints the photos you have on your Purah Pad like in your house in Terry Town. I would buy the DLC just for this to be honest

As you renovate the castle and dig out all the collaped pathways you get new memories of Links time as a soldier and get to see his family as well as memories with Zelda

I would throw so much money at Nintendo just to be able to renovate the castle to my liking. Like, so much you have no idea

2. Link getting a freaking crown and royal armor sets. One for prince and another after he's corinated as king near the end of the game

Armor sets based off of the new and old boss monsters

Armor sets based off of the mini-boss monsters including Gloom Hands (this one looks horrifying btw) and you get some kinda boost from each that represents that specific monster like a Hinox set giving you a food affect boost and Gloom Hands set boosts the power of the Phantom Ganon drops

Maybe a sage set that boosts the powers of the sages a bit

Forest dweller set that increases the durability of wooden weapons

3. Rebuilding the town ruins and creating homes for people all over hyrule like the Deya village ruins and Tabantha ruins and you can do it Lurelin Village style (I loved that side quest it was actually pretty fun)

Anyway, this is me officially releasing this idea to Nintendo it they want it so long as they credit me for the ideas they use from me. They don't even have to pay me (but hiring me would be nice)

Here's a poll to maybe help convince them this is a good idea

@nintendo :)

[ben-talks-art]

Transformers Prime's use of morals

One of the things I love about Transformers Prime (among many) is the way it tackles the theme of kindness and honor vs. fear and selfishness.

This version of Optimus is by far one of the nicest, kindest, most gentle takes on the character of any Transformer media, while also being strong of mind, strong of body, and strong of will.

He's the kind of guy that always keeps the focus on doing the right thing, but is also mature enough to KNOW how to do the right thing properly, without recklessly letting his emotions cause harm to others around him.

He knows the importance of being kind, but he also knows the importance of making sure the people he cares about are safe, and he's great at balancing the two sides.

And something that this show does really, really well, is showcasing why this mindset is important.

In one episode of season 1, one of the Autobots gets injected with a chemical that causes him to act recklessly and eventually starts picking a fight with Optimus, claiming that his "niceness" are causing more harm than good, and that if he was a real leader he would have ended Megatron by now.

But here's the funny thing... Starting season 2, Optimus had a bit of a character regression where he started to worry about Megatron's actions after he injured one of the human allies, Raphael.

That led to him trying more directly to actually take advantage of situations to really end Megatron... And each time he did that, it always blew up in his face.

In the season 1 finale, Optimus tries to get revenge for Raph and challenges Megatron to a showdown, which he loses, and almost causes the autobots to losing their leader.

In fact, watching the series again, you notice that Optimus never really gets that many wins against Megatron on a 1 on 1, so I really don't know what the hell he was thinking.

Not to mention, at the time they were fighting, Unicron (an even bigger evil than Megs) was waking up and causing chaos, and they needed to team up with Megatron to stop him, so even if Optimus did kill him, the Earth would have been destroyed.

In season 2, Optimus has a chance to end Megs after finding him injured from a battle with a beetle bot, but when he gets ready to do it, several enemy soldiers under Dreadwing's command show up to help him.

Optimus makes a deal with Dread to allow Megs to live and allow to take him back to the base. Dreadwing accepts and leaves with Megatron while the bots fight the rest of the soldiers.

If Optimus had killed Megatron right there, Dreadwing would have just ordered all the enemies that had their guns pointed right at the bots to shoot on sight, while he himself would shoot as well.

But, because they made the deal, the bots got time to get out of the line of fire, re-organize themselves, and be better prepared to fight. Even better with the fact Dreadwing himself was removed from the battle since he had to aid Megatron.

On top of that, this helped build up Dreadwing's character to show him that Optimus was a bot of honor while Megatron was not, a piece of character development that came back later in the series when he decided to betray the Cons and gave the Autobots a device that they needed to turn the tides of the war.

We also had an episode where the cons manage to bring their ship to life, which results in the ship turning on Megatron (which is really funny to me).

Optimus sees this as a chance to try and take down the Decepticons for good in their moment of distress, but end up almost getting defeated instead, as the ship proves to be even better prepared to deal with enemies than the cons themselves.

The season keeps showing more and more that Optimus is seriously trying to end the war as soon and as fast as he can ever since what happened to Raphael.

This all builds up to the eventual moment when the bots obtain their "I win" button, the Starsaber, a weapon that massively shifts the tide of the battle in the good guy's side.

This moment scares Megatron so much, all added to the several scenes building up to Optimus' new attitude, that it pushes the big bad to get his own "I win" sword.

The two eventually clash, and, again, because Megatron never loses in a 1 on 1 with Optimus, he beats him and destroys the Starsaber, putting the bots at an even bigger disadvantage than ever.

What I'm trying to say here is that, basically, a lot of times when the good guys start to act like bad guys, trying to take the easy way out, trying to act on revenge, trying to be more cruel... they get punished for it.

I'm mostly focusing on Optimus but this honestly goes for all the characters.

In an episode where the bots find Arachnid and Megatron, Arcee abandons the team to try get revenge on Arachnid, and nearly gets herself killed. The only reason she survived was because Starscream of all things came to save her to pay a debt.

Wheeljack on one episode tried to get revenge on a bug that harmed Bulkhead, and, again, almost got himself killed. Luckily, one of the human allies used his ship to kill the bug, but that only reinforced Megatron's growing interest on focusing on the humans to get to the Autobots, a plan that starts building up through the season once he realizes how much the humans help the bots, which results in them being used as hostages in the season finale.

Meanwhile, moments that show the bots having mercy and being kind actually pay back in positive ways.

In season 1, one of the humans has a chance to kill Megatron, but he refuses because he says Optimus wouldn't do that.

And like it was said before, allowing Megs to live came back in the season finale where he helped take down Unicron.

Transformers Prime has several small moments building up to messages of the futility of cruelty and the importance of kindness and reason... And that's impressive when this whole thing is based on the idea of robots beating up each other.

Heck in the big final battle, the Autobos' medic, the guy that is known for fixing others and not for fighting, manages to take out the Decepticon's strongest fighter, and he does that just by talking to him and making him realize he shouldn't fight for Megatron.

Or in the movie, where the big bad himself, Megatron, becomes imprisoned at the mercy of Unicron, and gets tortured so much that he decides to give up on the life of hurting others.

I love how several seeds have been planted throughout the whole show to make sure it never betrayed its themes and messages.

I'm aware that behind the scenes there were several struggles involving budget, cuts, change of plans, and so on, but I'm glad to see that in the end, the characters and story arcs stayed true to what mattered the most.

I love this show!

[kankuroplease]

can you tell us more about mama senju with her little babies🐔🐥🐤🐣🥚 hashi tobi kawa ita

Her ruthless efforts and battle armor as a young girl earned her the title of Asako Gozen, but she never cared for titles.

Between her body healing rather quickly (even from serious injuries), the irony sent of her blood soaked clothes, her unusual pure white hair, and crimson eyes; so some believed she might be a vengeful spirit.

Doesn’t help that she keeps the skull of the man that cut her face on display

Was arranged to marry Butsuma via their parents

She didn’t want to get married, but did it for her clan

The faint chakra of something inside her kept growing and she kept her mouth shut about it until she literally showing 🤰

She was under guard by some of the strongest Senju’s once Butsuma heard she was with child

She allowed this for a time until she caught wind of a battle the Senju were losing

Ended up giving birth to Hashirama on the way home from the battlefield she was told not to go to

Butsuma was angry she endangered herself and his child, but also very pleased he had a son.

As a mother, she was playful, but somewhat withdrawn from more emotional situations do to her upbringing and training

No one approved of her “coddling” the boys as they were to be soldiers who couldn’t run to their mother with every minor inconvenience

She loved her kids and gave motherhood her all, but they didn’t feel like they were hers in some way. They were Butsuma’s pride, the Senju’s new hope, future warriors

They grew too fast and didn’t need her for long

Or that was the case until Itama. She could sense his warm chakra, but it was never as strong her other children

This child would need her and she would be there for it, no matter what. Butsuma had their other three sons, this one would be hers

Itama changed the way she interacted with Butsuma and their older three children. They are not soldiers, they’re children and children will behave as such. It’s not weakness you ass

If she felt like taking them for a day off, she would

If she had to stand toe to toe with Butsuma over them being exhausted from training, she did

Hashirama was her big boy (literally, he was a massive baby); always doing his own thing and having an opinion for better or worse

Tobirama was her little tough guy. Always wiping off kisses and acting like he didn’t need help with his cuts and scrapes even when he had little tears forming.

Kawarama was her little optimistic right hand man. He was always lively and happy, and would give her the biggest/tightest hugs

Itama was her baby. So sweet and gentle. As easy as it was to make him smile, it was just as easy for him to be hurt by people’s words and actions. Nobody messed with him while she was around though

She insisted on being by Itama’s side for any fight because she knew their world wasn’t something he was prepared for and she wasn’t going to let him fight it alone

They’ll never know it, but she died satisfied seeing Hashirama arriving to aid his brother

[papakhan]

Hey I was wondering, do you hate Boone due to his writing or his character? What I mean is do you hate the quality of the writing for Boone or do you like the writing and think it contributes to your read of the character? I guess what I'm asking is if you think Boone is poorly written. Sorry if this is rude in any way! I don't like Boone either I just wanted clarification

in all honesty it's a mixture. i've said so many times I even tho I think Boone is a terrible person, I do actually think he's is a really interesting character who you can do a lot with but that doesn't take away from the fact that there's a lot of poor writing choices involved with him. also I think his stans/people who genuinely believe any of his choices were remotely justified are ANNOYING

you asked about the writing so that's what I'll talk about. Boone's backstory is effectively "poor soldier forced to murder innocents and feels sooo bad about it" which is a bad premise anyway but is executed very poorly IMO. First of all, the Bitter Springs Massacre in its entirety feels like a set dressing to this NPC's tragic backstory because it is just SO badly written. The game wants the NCR to look morally good/neutral SO bad that it's willing to make Bitter Springs look "justified" or "accidental" and I'm not even sure if it happened on purpose. There's like so much wrong with it I don't think I can even explain everything and it's not even just me whining because I'm a fan of the Khans (tho it is some of that) like it's just badly written

This affects Boone's writing because it's a huge part of his backstory but the game never challenges you or tries to make you feel for the Khans in the situation. All those dozens of Khan children and elderly and sick he murdered, you don't get a single name or living relative you can talk to or ANYTHING compared to what you get for the NCR's side of the story like Dhatri and Bitter Root and Gilles and Manny. All you get for the Khans is Oscar Velasco who, by the way, if you visit while Boone is your companion, Boone will execute immediately. so like? you can't even watch a heated exchange between two snipers on opposing sides? Can you imagine how much more interesting and empathetic and grey the situation could have been if you had to convince Oscar and Boone not to kill each other? but no! Oscar is marked as EVIL!!! HE HAS TO DIE!!1!!

every bad thing to NCR did at bitter springs has a shitty silver lining that makes it "justified" like "the person on the other end of the radio didn't understand that there were children fleeing" or "we gave them medical aid! and allowed them to settle at red rock!" or "all the Khans are actually shitty and abusive! I'm a Khan and I'm happy they're all dead!" or "it's hard not to shoot your own guys in the heat of battle" and all of this is why WHY I think so many Redditors fully believe that the Khans deserved because even Manny and Bitter Root say they think it was justified!

all of that really takes the bite out of "Craig Boone did a horrible terrible thing" because the game Lets you. no actually Encourages you to make the argument that what he did was okay. At no point are you allowed to call him out or call him a shitty person or force him to face Khan justice all you can do is tell him "actually what you did was justified" or "there there boone its okay we'll work through it <3" and I'm sorry but those are just. weak choices. especially in comparison to how rich other choices in the game are. yes I know all the companion quests come down to two very cut and dry black and white options at the end but cmon VULPES is offered more depth then this. And also Cass and Arcade can be handed over to their enemy factions why can't I do the same with Boone???

So not only does Craig have a fridged wife (I know people Love to say that Carla's not an underwritten fridged woman but tell me one thing about her other than she was mean and pregnant. one thing.) but he also has piles of unwritten dead civilians in his backstory too and they're all just kinda there and the only thing the story tries to tell you about them is "maybe they did deserve it" and I think that sucks. Carla is her own special problem in the writing by virtue of being a fridged wife because she was invented and murdered just to punish Boone, which still doesn't work if Boone thinks it's divine punishment that he decided to pull the trigger on his wifes head.

TLDR: You're meant to feel bad for Boone, not any of his victims. Not any of the Khan children he killed, not even Carla is afforded any empathy. The game wants you to feel sad about Boone and that's it. that's why I don't like his writing.

[estradasphere]

tangent that i was going to include in the tags of my last post but it got wayyy too long

the only thing i've really been able to gather of Estradasphere's political leanings is that they Really didn't like Bush lol, which hey thats a point in my book but they never specifically said why. not that they needed to. they were a deeply unserious band who bonded over their love of glam metal and soap operas they were never really about Sending A Message or anything. John was the only member of the band who was outspoken about anything, and he seems to have been leftleaning buuuut in a lukewarm pacifist ''why cant we all just get along, peace and love, bring our soldiers home'' way which i find kinda spineless IMO... at least he condemned the aids crisis?? he only started making more political music after he left estradasphere though i wouuuld say "well hey at least they werent bigots then yippee!" buuuut there were some aspects that were... well OK i wouldn't really call esphere straight up bigoted but there were some pretty distasteful things they did that i've had to reckon with. the stereotypical "native american-esque" chanting on A Very Intense Battle done by a white guy, for one and also the explicitly racist spoken word clips before and after it which Are definitely satirical, but ... idk i feel like the whole "rural america sucks, parts of this country are so backwards!" theme of Buck Fever is kinda immature, especially coming from a bunch of white californians lol. like, as someone from alabama i do get the sentiment i guess, the south does suck sometimes, but idano, it's not handled with any of the seriousness or sensitivity that such a topic probably deserves, is all. that's not even my main issue with them, though - it's the constant use of the g slur. like. come on. i'm admittedly not sure if it was widely considered a slur yet back then but it does still make it kinda cringeworthy to look at and share their old promotional materials nowadays (they mostly used it to describe their sound; romani music was a huge influence for them). also i won't mirror it here but tim makes a joke that's Sort Of Racist I Think(?) about romani people in the passion for life dvd commentary and timb agrees with it... argh. to jack their shit and then turn around and disparage them... argh. but you could make a case that they know better now - they Could have used the g slur to describe the sound of the high castle teleorkestra album but they say eastern european / romani folk music instead which is nice. i dunno, i don't think it'd be productive to #Cancel estradasphere 15-20 years after the fact ofcourse but i guess i just wanted to document somewhere my Struggle in reconciling my unfathomably deep love for the band with the fact that theyve done some shitty things. even after saying all this estradasphere is still my favorite band ever and buck fever is still my favorite album ever. idk, i don't think the whole mindset online of not wanting to listen to any problematic artists is healthy

i didn't even mention the gay/bi jokes they'd occasionally make and the fact that they'd say faggot when covering money for nothing (and the crossdressing which was Probably implicitly intended as a joke) but thats because i genuinely find that shit hilarious im not offended by it at all

[the-casbah-way]

Will you do me a favor and rant about anything you want?

omg ok let me tell you about andrew moray and why william wallace ended up getting credit for his military victories when moray was in fact a far better soldier and tactician who would likely be even more infamous than wallace had he survived the battle of stirling bridge. i will preface this by saying that there is very little research let alone primary sources on this man but he's been an interest of mine for a decade now and i hope to publish a book on him when i graduate. anyway

i always say that william wallace was the churchill of the scottish wars of independence. what i mean by this is that he was seen as a fantastic war time leader at home; as far as we know and can assume he apparently had a way with words and winning people over, and knew how to keep up morale among the people and the soldiers. now while churchill did have military experience, he wasn't really suited for anything other than wartime office. he didn't have what it took for anything that lay outwith being the voice and face that people needed during a war. and similarly wallace was (supposedly) a great orator and exactly what the people needed during a time of hardship, but he really didn't have what it took to do much else. in this case what i mean is that william wallace was not, in my opinion, a particularly strong military leader at all. there's no evidence that he had any military training and his tactics in battle don't always seem particularly strong or well thought out to me. in the leadup to stirling bridge he got by and did well, but i absolutely stand by the notion that this alone was just not enough. he needed a true soldier to secure him his victory at stirling

ENTER ANDREW MORAY. now this guy was born and trained to be a knight. as the son of an influential nobleman he almost certainly received formal military training when he was young. not long before the battle of stirling bridge he and his father were imprisoned by the english but moray managed to escape. the fact he was able to do this and also somehow get back to scotland is already pretty telling of his survival skills i would say. he started up a pretty successful rebellion in the north of scotland and was clearly a real threat to the english if their correspondence among each other is anything to go by. i won't go into too much detail but moray managed to get a lot more done in the north with less support than what wallace achieved in the south with the aid of the feudal leaders there. moray ended up combining his army with william wallace's to fight the english at stirilng in 1297

now we do not know every detail of this battle of course and i want to make it clear that i'm not trying to state any concrete facts here. but when you look at the tactics deployed at stirling bridge (the idea of 'trapping' the english and ambushing them rather than moving to fight in schiltron formations on open ground), we see a game plan FAR MORE reminiscent of the fighting style of a trained and experienced knight; not the usual tactics of wallace. again that's just a little theory of mine, but i think it's very notable

now here's where things go to shit. the scots win at stirling bridge, but moray is wounded in battle and dies. there's no doubt in my mind that he was the driving force behind the victory at stirling, and i think it is EXTREMELY telling that after his death william wallace's military career began to rapidly decline. he lost his first major battle (falkirk) after moray's death (surprise surprise, by using the schiltron formations that were pointedly avoided at stirling) and while this is in part due to the advantages of the english army i think it's worth noting. this loss had a profound impact for wallace and he never fully recovered, dying around seven years later or so

i am fully convinced that if moray had lived everything would've turned out entirely differently. maybe wallace himself would've survived longer too. wallace just did not have the background and skills needed to maintain his pattern of success. he and moray made the perfect double act and without moray there just wasn't enough left to keep the scots standing. moray never received any of the credit he deserves for his role in the war and the fact that almost no one has even heard of him infuriates me because he was SO MUCH BETTER as a military commander than wallace. but i have always said in regards to history that people want a good story more than they want the truth. they'd rather hear about the rebellious underdog who came from nothing and took a more unconventional path toward victory than a bog standard knight with formal training and a textbook background. but i still think moray could've been a lot more than wallace was if he'd survived at stirling, and i think the fact that he's more recently been referred to as 'the greatest threat to the english government' during his time is telling. i hope one day i can access the sources i need to be able to write more about him because i WILL become the Token Andrew Moray Historian if it is the last thing i do

[bookofjin]

Biography of Wang Pi (ZS18)

[General on the southern border during the final years of Northern Wei, then served under Yuwen Tai as commander of the important fortress of Huazhou.]

Wang Pi, courtesy name Xiongpi, was a native of Bacheng in Jingzhao. He was a descendant of Han's Governor of Henan, Wang Zun. For generations his family was among the province and commandery's distinguished clans. Pi was unyielding, straight, and strong as wood, and he judged people fair and equally. The province and commandery respected and flinched away from him.

Middle of Wei's Taihe [477 – 499], he was appointed General Within the Halls. Before this, the Di and Qiang from Nanqi# and Dongyi turned to rebellion, and the imperial host fought unsuccessfully. They therefore ordered Pi to lead 5 000 of the Feathered Forest to garrison Liang# province, and chastise and pacify the various traitors. When he came back, he was granted General of the Right and Interior Clerk of Xihe. He turned it down and did not serve. At the time people spoke to him, saying:

Xihe is a big country, the salary and beneficence rich and lavish. Why are you turning it down?

Pi said:

The capital on the Luo is a lumber forest extending beyond Xihe. The court nobles who built mansions and residences have all sought sought pardons[?]. If they are handling it privately, the strength for it is inadequate. Suppose ordnances are issued out among the people, they will also defy the laws and statutes. It was due to this I declined, and that is all.

Liang's general Cao Yizong besieged Jing province [in 528 AD]. Directed Pi, together with the Detached Commander Pei Yan to lead troops and proceed to the rescue. Thereupon he fought with the people of Liang, and greatly routed them. At the time the cauldrons were boiling over in various regions, and those places withered and decayed. Jing province had newly passed through difficulties with bandits, and particularly depended on comforting and consoling. Used Pi as Inspector of Jing province, and advanced his title to General who Consoles the Army.

Liang again dispatched Jia Yizong with a multitude of several ten thousand to besiege Jing province. He dammed the river to flood the city, that which did not sink was several planks [high?]. At the time then inside and outside there was much worrying, and there was not yet time to spare for rescue and aid. They therefore ignored Pi's iron bond, and stated that for the city to be kept whole it had to be given to the original province Inspector. Within the city, provisions were exhausted. Pi cooked congee and divided it equally with the generals and soldiers, and ate it. Every time he set out to fight, he did not put on armour and helmet, but with a great shout said:

Jing province's city was set up by the Filial and Civil August Emperor. If Heaven does not support the house of state, it will cause the traitors' arrows to hit Wang Pi. If they do not, Wang Pi will rout the traitors.

He again and again went through battles in the battle line, and also was never wounded. Fully three years went past, and just then did Yizong withdraw.

He advanced in fief to Duke of Bacheng county. Soon after he moved the Great General of Chariots and Cavalry and Inspector of Jing# province. He had not yet reached his division, when during Taizu's raising up of campaigning troops to be diligent for the ruler, he requested the vanguard and offered up his life. Thereupon he became Great Chief Controller, garrisoning Hua province.

When Xiaowu of Wei moved west, he was designated Great General of Agile Cavalry, and in addition Attendant-at-Centre and Opening Office. He attempted to repair the provincial city but was not yet finished, and the ladders were outside. Shenwu of Qi dispatched Han Gui and Sima Ziru to make a night crossing from east of the He, and assault Pi, and Pi was not aware of it. By daybreak, Gui's multitudes had already climbed the ladders and entered the walls [or “city”]. Pi was still lying down and had not yet risen when he heard from close up [?] outside sounds of cries and clamour. He promptly, naked body, open topknot, and walking bare footed, grasped a white staff, made a great shout and set out. The enemy were surprised by him, and thereupon he reached the eastern gate. Left and right bit by bit assembled and joined the battle, and they routed them. Gui's multitudes thereupon jumped from the walls and escaped and fled.

At the time in Guanzhong there was great hunger, and they levied and taxed the people for grain and food to provide for army consumption. Sometimes those who concealed and hid away were made to successively report on each other, and many were caned and beaten, and due to that people were fleeing and scattering. Only Pi trusted and divulged to people, and did not have those who concealed. The grain he obtained was not the least among the various provinces, and yet there was no resentment or denunciations.

During the campaign of Shayuan [in 537 AD], Shenwu of Qi's solders and horses were extremely flourishing. Taizu, since Hua province was a strategic thoroughfare, dispatched messengers reassure Pi, and make him increase defensive preparations. Pi told the messenger, saying:

[While] the Old Bear is sleeping on the road, how will the Little Badger get to pass!

Taizu heard and was heartened [?] by it.

[Wang Pi's personal name 羆 literally means “bear”, while Gao Huan's, 歡, is a homophone of 貆, “badger”.]

When Shenwu of Qi arrived beneath the walls, he spoke to Pi, saying:

Why not surrender early?

Pi then with a great shout said:

This city is Wang Pi's burial mound, he will live and die at this place. Come, those who wish to die.

Shenwu of Qi consequently did not dare to attack.

At the time the Ruru crossed south of the He to rob [in 540 AD?], and scout cavalry had already reached Bin province, the imperial court was worried about their deep penetration. They therefore summoned and issued out soldiers and horses to stay and defend the imperial city, and dug moats in the various streets and lanes to prepare for intrusive raids. The Archer-Servant of the Left, Zhou Huida summoned Pi to discuss with him. Pi did not respond to the instructions, but spoke to his messenger, saying:

If the Ruru arrive north of the Wei, Wang Pi will lead his home village to rout them himself, and not trouble the troops and horses of the house of state. Who is it within the Son of Heaven's city who carried out devising skittish actions like this. It was the Zhou family's young boy timid cowardice which caused this.

Pi made light of insulting power and authority, but defended propriety without deviating, in everything he was this way. Before long he moved to garrison Hedong.

Pi was by nature frugal without exception and was not concerned with appearances. Once there was a messenger from the palace, and Pi had him [?] set out food. The messenger then tore apart the edges of his thin rice-cakes. Pi said:

Ploughing, planting, gathering, and hunting, these achievements are very profound. Pounding [with a mortar], cooking, creating and completing, employs strength that is not small. Therefore [since] you select what to pick up, it must be that you are not yet hungry.

He instructed left and right to clear out and leave them. The messenger was shocked and greatly ashamed.

There was also a guest who ate melon with Pi. The guest cut away the melon skin, and slowly the skin became rather thick. Pi thought he disliked it. When the melon skin fell to the ground, he therefore put out his hand to towards the ground, and took and ate it. The guest very much had a shameful face. He was by nature also severe and prickly. There once was a functionary who counted on his private [interests] to arrange affairs. Pi did not make instructions for his beating, but then with his own hand took a boot, and held it to strike him.

He was by nature also severe and impatient. There once was a functionary who counted on his private [interests] to arrange affairs. Pi did not make instructions for his beating, but then with his own hand took a boot, and held it to strike him. Always when arriving at a banquet assembly, he would personally weigh and measure the alcohol and meat, and divide it up and give it to the generals and soldiers. At the time people held high his equal fairness, and mocked his vulgar minutiae[?].

7th Year of Datong [541 AD], he passed at the garrison. He was conferred Grand Commandant.

His son Qingyuan, as a young man, due to being the son of a merited subject, was designated Straight Match General. He passed before Pi, and the grandson Shu inherited.

Shu, courtesy name Changshu, as young was perceptive and smart, and had a capacity for understanding. Aged eight sui, Taizu saw him and marvelled at him, saying:

That Excellency Wang has this grandson is enough that he will not be forgotten.

He promptly used him as General who Quells the Distant and designated him Retainer to the Heir-Apparent. Due to worries for his grandfather he left he post.

Shu mourned his father at a young age and was reared and brought up by Pi. During the mourning period he was deeply in union with the ritual norms. At that time east and west were engaged in a dispute, and the metal and leather [i.e. warfare] had just begun. Those among the crowd officials who came upon mourning, after they had finished wailing they all rose up with orders to attend to affairs. Shu requested to finish [according to] the ritual regulations, his speech reasoned sincerely and incisively. Taizu ordered a palace messenger to go and observe him. He understood his extreme grief, and therefore specially allowed it. When the mourning was concluded, he inherited the feudal rank of Duke of Fufeng commandery, and amassed moves to Upper Great General.

[ultranos]

ok nos, you need to elaborate on the Joshua Graham and Azula parallels because I just finished playing the honest hearts dlc and my mind cannot let this go now that you’ve brought it up.

Well, it's not parallels, per se. It'd more be "here's a horrible way for a post-war healing arc to go" or AUish turn of events. This is kind of spitballing.

So, if you've played Fallout: New Vegas, you're well aware that the Legion is seriously Bad News and is just about the Absolute Worst. (Even considering a pure villain run, I couldn't figure out any good reason to side with the Legion) Before the events of the game, you learn about the First Battle of Hoover Dam, where the Legion advance was stopped by the NCR.

Joshua Graham was Caesar's #2 Man, his most loyal follower, a man who became a monster in his service, and was in charge of that battle for the Legion. And he lost.

Caesar was not forgiving. No, Caesar had his Most Trusted And Loyal Lieutenant soaked in pitch, lit on fire, and thrown off a cliff into a canyon. And then made him "damned in memory" so everyone was forbidden to speak his name.

Which, honestly, sounds like an actually proportional response to a lost critical battle if it were to come from the same guy who burnt off half his son's face for disrespect.

Because, let's be honest, after DoBS, Ozai is going to be far less lenient on Azula's failures (if he was in the first place). And Zuko defecting after Azula brought him home? After Iroh escapes when she didn't kill him? After her two most trusted, hand-picked companions, who know the palace inside and out, also turn traitor on her watch and aid the escape of an enemy of the state? After she fails again to capture or kill Zuko or even foil the enemy's plans at all?

It isn't that far of a leap to go down a terrible trail of "what if?"

Ozai takes Azula with him on the airship. Ozai declares himself Phoenix King. He doesn't need heirs anymore if he's going to live forever. And maybe he thinks his soldiers need a little more motivation to do their jobs. To see what the price of failure is, but that Ozai is gracious and fair, and will reserve punishment for the ones who deserve it, not a random underling.

And as he feels the Comet get closer, he reminds everyone of this fact.

Azula doesn't see it coming. That's why it works.

(The soldiers see his idea of "fairness" and realize that truly, no one is safe.)

Ozai lights his child on fire and then throws her overboard before she sets the entire airship alight.

(Aang sees two comets fall that day. One across the sky, and a second one, much smaller, burning hot and bright as it screams towards the earth.

He feels sick when he realizes later that the screams were not metaphorical.)

Now, the interesting thing about Joshua Graham is that he survived his immolation and fall and then turned his life around. This man who was honestly a horrible and despicable person found a kind of peace and forgiveness, and started working to help other people. Sure, yes, we could have words about missionaries, but in the context of the Fallout world, Graham is a strange kind of missionary who is dedicated to protecting the way of life of the group he's also being a missionary to. Which already is a huge turnaround for a man who used to assist an empire in subjugation.

The rumors start, and start to spread. “The Burned Man walks” is whispered amongst those living in the Legion’s shadow, is written on the walls where all can see in defiance. And Caesar? In the game, Caesar fears the man he tried and failed to kill.

Back in our AU, it’s still Zuko on the throne. But it’s a Zuko who never fought his sister and so doesn’t know her fate. Not unless one of the soldiers from the airship finally breaks and reveals who that second comet Aang saw that day was. Maybe Zuko doesn’t believe it. Maybe he doesn’t want to. (He saw Azula fall to her death before and save herself. She’s Ozai’s favorite. This isn’t real. This isn’t truth. It’s a lie.) But if this isn’t the truth, then where is his sister? Where is she hiding?

(And Azula herself? Azula survives. Someone finds this girl clinging stubbornly to life somehow and gives her the help she needs, freely, because it’s the right thing to do. Azula survives something no one should have been able to, because maybe “fire is life” means something more than it seems.

Because then we get to use this famous quote from the game: "I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me. I fell down into that dark chasm, but the flame burned on and on." )

[captainkurosolaire]

Prompt #27 ~ Warfare

♫Till I Die♫

The fall of Garlemald's effects ran-through out the realm suddenly the shift of power had been flipped over. As many of the countrymen deserted, or those scattered, were pursued. Now they understood what it was like to be the spoils to war. Hunter's turned to prey. A privateer ship supporting under the banner of the Crimson. Chased pursued in the open seas of an attempted escape, a remnant squadron. Their division shattered as their Empire was crumbling to dust. The divisional commander of her ship was taking huge mortar's although the sea-vessel was sturdy and advanced, was taking blows, her men were taking hefty causalities, hearing in screams. They couldn't flee from this. In the fang's of revenge, under the skies of war, monsters were born. The people who once felt were fighting for righteousness, become no-better. These Privateer's were rejoicing. "Commander. Two more alliance accompanying vessels of the opposition have ascended over waves, we've nowhere to go!" The morale of her people were descending. "We've deserved this outcome. It was an honor." Her sentimental tone, spoke they'd rather imperial salute each-other, and commit suicide before becoming prisoners. Right in their contemplated end. The shift was about to turn again.

"A third vessel had wedged between the middle of their reinforcements!" Was shortly called out, giving them further, resolve of hopelessness, before... "Wait. The middle-vessel is bombarding the others!" Suddenly a massive ship rising over tides, removing the fake red Maelstrom banner had been withdrawn into an iconic pirate flag hoisted. Upon the bow-spirit was a tricorne-man. Treading past the destruction of two smaller privateers vessels. The ambush assault left them fodder out-maneuvered. Gathered man, etched in warpaint, they were banned ready for a fight. To intervene between this naval battle. The Seeker leapt back to his decks to bolster. "I would ask ye my Crew, within my helm. T' PRAY for yer enemies. Give them an early moment of silence. For these poor unfortunate soul's will b' educated, they'll earn their red-coats upon this Sun!" He roared and screamed with a warrior shout That followed behind others. "Give Boy-Lad his sea-legs. Let him earn his stripes t' walk over bones!" A crippled and amputated legless fighter crawled on the floor in disbelief, as Sol made augmented prosthetic legs. Unified chaos positioned, to invade the vessel of the privateer from behind. "Aid th' carrier of Garlean's, give all others no-quarter!" Viciously a stampede of leaps was drawn, it was anarchy. Projectiles flung back and forth, sniper shots from the crow's nest of the Worldly Finder started picking off them. Each Crewmate nearly about to be butchered by an opposition was protected by another, they fought as sword and shield, and reversed the roles. Rallied by a leader who was believed-long-flung dead. The brute Seeker skirmishes an assortment of parries to one of the swashbucklers before pulling out a sheathed revolver in the other hand and angling it under his chin and pulling the trigger in a massacre. Completely butchery. Blood of not his own making savagely drew over his face. As he bellowed another victoriously battle-cry that kept even his own injuries gaining on Crew to fight-on. The Garlean's left their hunker, to unity in bewilderment anyone would fight under their behalf. The Captain was almost executed by an aimed shot musketeer but was shot back by an assault rifle of the imperialist. The buccaneer brought terrifying laughter. "THEIR NUMBERS ONLY GIVE US MORE HEADS T' ROLL!" Not only bolstering morality to his own fighters, but also was making hesitation and fear start wearying the grip's of his oppositions, a tactician of dirty behavior. How long have they gotten to do anything they wanted? Or used the excuse of the Garlemald for them to justify or blame their heinous antics? These seas held no discrimination. Yet being constantly corrupted. Putrid borders, barriers for entries, they started skewering Beast Tribes because they strictly took advantage of the Calamity. They put a price-tag on the seas, owning it. Law and restricting and it's no different than what Captain's seen before, they're vindictive and greed-coated. Yet unlike Garlemald who were openly wanting to conqueror, the Maelstrom and Grand Companies alike played fantasy pretend. They're unbeatable, the good! Couldn't do any wrongs, existed of no poison. Bullshit, in war there was no such thing. It's a contest of ego. How many times had the Captain seen a Maelstrom get promoted after they violated his kinsmen, while preaching they were pirates... How many times did he watch them do nothing as people plead in the dirty-alleys before a gal went abducted and missing. These seas would find freedom from vile. Disarray and unorganized, suddenly being attacked by two-sides, the privateer's were being annihilated. Counter measured every-time they brought their marine scholars out, their magic was cancelled by the Historian of the Goldbrand, the purest faith in the Twelve, who brought them no harm, other than silencing their spells. The God's weren't on their side, they belonged to this pirate. That fiendish outcast hound of an Xaela, who ghoulishly shrieked, was feasting on arm's while slewing them in beheaded messes. A Quartermaster

followed by impaling them and hurling the smaller runt's of the enemies. Captain leapt up off that mountain of a Hellsguard on his Crew and bounced off his shoulders dexterously onto the stern. Exchanging in runaways some jumping overboard. "Draw them from th' seas back up here! Their corpses is unworthy t' share with the benthos!" Angry swarming came to their noisy vocalized leader. If they could just behead that blasted vermin then all of them would crumble to despair. He played defensively and evaded one of them about to slayed, was sniped from afar. The handicapped soldier got a puncturing stab on one of the men to protect his Captain before collapsing as his new leg's were already damaged and punctured. The Seeker picked up the adrenaline as blood cut's were protruding from his cheek. He threw his coat onto one of them and jabbed a series of quick deft dirks. A swishing blade came again as he relied on his above-feline scents. The thing he was mocked for by these giants. Doing a handstand leg, disarm from twisting the wrist of the deathly aggressor. The Seeker rolled away and jumped off the stern and swung a leap into the cabin, where he saw the frantic Head-Captain of this enemy helm, run-into, gathering up belongings to attempt plotting retreat. Unexpectedly a flintlock shot at his leg making him fall over all his glistening golds and gil he was trying to rummage into a burlap sack like a coward trying to recollect himself. He brought his own gun out but was disarmed by the wrist from another firearm shot, "Cap'n Daniwyrn... Ye have lost your sense. Recall me." These two knew each-other full and well, this was more than just a one-sided squabble, now. It held harboring emotion. "...Yer supposed t' b' blimey dead!" The callus blood-thirsty Seeker lowered his arm. "Dead is what ye did t' someone I loved. Well, I got yer message. Ye saw t' remove her head cause she moved t' me. If you couldn't have her, neither ov' us could." He lectured in all this chaos-warfare and took a menacing seat. "See, I am not here for revenge on you. This goes beyond that. Now, ye made a crime, sin I find very offensive..." The sea-wolf tried regaining himself while trying to also slowly scoot his bottom and get back his disarmed gun. Knowing was about to be sentenced to a horrific death, or believed. "You have tainted these seas, Daniwyrn. The punishment fer losing your sense. Is crueler than death by my hand. It's t' live as such." He shot the ear's respectively of the privateer. Then the Seeker stood up. Fiendishly brought out his coeurl toothed carved dagger and carved out eye to eye from his enemy. While he was screaming in anguish and incomprehensible pain never able to reel back. He cut that tongue like a fleeting ribbon.

Taking the senses of someone who lacked senses firstly. A fitting treatment, barbarically exercised. He bathed in all the blood over his inferior feline frame. "I know you can't hear me, see, nor speak, though I'm also a nice-guy, I'll leave ye with yer gun... if get the opportunity you should kill yourself." He'd savagely trail, beating his enemy who barely was functioning, stuck in a haze, discombobulated, suffering severe blood-loss. Loading and priming the revolver with one bullet, he'd force it into the arm's of his blind foe and make him squeeze it. Captain walked out as if this was just a regular circumstance. The duty of returning. Closing the cabin door. Hearing a procedure gun-shot ring-throughout. A signal was overhead horned, "They've got more crimson reinforcements!" The battle sizzled and the sparks were over. "Let us gather up, plunder post-haste. Burn this shite down." They took the Garlemald survivors and retreated, licking wounds but won victorious.

[kaxenart]

@usergreenpixel

*does the emotional equivalent of a parent revealing their wallet is full of kid pictures........ which I suddenly realize is an extremely outdated trope as now parents just have smartphones with gigabytes of photo storage...*

The 6th Hussars:

Arsene: a lieutenant, but only because Colonel Rimbaud thought changing his rank might discourage him from dueling because you are not supposed to fight people who aren't the same rank. Arsene doesn't particularly like Emperor Sennolino and thinks there is an opening for Revolution 2 when the war ends and if Sennolino continues to fail to produce an heir. Very brash and dances on the edge of getting into trouble at all times. 2nd son of a rich merchant family and has an estranged relationship with the concept of consequences. Was originally apprenticed to be a painter but quit to go fight.

Vang: An immigrant to Valois from the far east due to his father who really bought into what some missionaries were saying. Vang has mixed feelings about the matter, but he is more familiar with Valois than his native home at this point. He joined the army because he wants a political career and carrying arms to defend Valois is patriotic. Has an extremely long list of reform ideas he wishes to hand to Emperor Sennolino, but has never gotten the opportunity. In a relationship with Arsene, but once in a while wants to slap the guy for being a spoiled brat.

Jardin: The Trumpeter. He is bad at fighting, but that does not stop him from wanting to. He thinks Arsene is the coolest person in the world and will do anything Arsene says. Doesn't really care about the war on an ideological level and just wishes he could get some medals and loot and respect.

Kadir: The son of a career soldier who died during the Revolutionary Wars. He treats the war like it's just like any other job. His wife Eve is a vivandiere and his very young son Luc is along for the ride. He also has a cat named Mewrat. The guy who causes the least drama. He has a mellow personality, unless you say something mean about his wife and son.

Colonel Rimbaud: Basically that guy who isn't good at his job, but is also not bad enough to get fired. A bit greedy, a bit lazy, and a bit oblivious. He favors Jardin, but no one knows why and the theories range from "bastard son" to "reminds him of a pet poodle."

Louis: Colonel Rimbaud's self-appointed aide-de-camp. Fears dying and thinks brown nosing is less difficult than soldiering.

Topinambour: The flag-bearer. The dumbest guy of the entire squadron. He can barely read and write and needs Parzival's help writing letters home. Is deeply convinced "you smell like potatoes" is a compliment.

Eve: Kadir's wife. She has a very sunny personality most of the time and is very generous. Loses some money in free wine every battle day. She likes to draw, but is very bad at it.

Leocadie: The laundress. Extremely strong from lugging the shirts of 100 men. A bit grumpy. Parzival thinks they should give her a fighting position because she can punch harder than some of the hussars.

Sainvilliers: The veterinarian. He is always tired and annoyed by the hussars who don't do basic horse care and let their horses get sore all over.

Vlanderen: Captain of the elite company. Parzival and Arsene have a beef with him because they think he is lazy and vainglorious. Vlanderen is oblivious to this.

Some Non-Hussars:

Benoit: A member of the Wizard Horse Artillery. He has killed an enemy general by dropping a cow on him.

Artichaut: A sans-culotte who knew Parzival as Citizen Lamppost. They bump into each other again over the course of the war.

Emperor Sennolino: Emperor of Valois. Shrewd, charismatic, and swings between the ideals of building a new order and wishing the foreign royals would respect him more. Thinks the crude drawing of himself on Eve's vivandiere wagon is better than Arsene's sketches and this drives Arsene crazy.

[captainpikeachu]

Okay, so far be it from me to say it but some of y’all (here, on other social media, and plenty of reaction channels too) are getting really weird reasons to hate the character of John Walker, like there are plenty of legitimate reasons to hate him but some of y’all keep reaching for the strangest things that make no sense and at worst you’re undermining your own favorite MCU characters to do it

I’ve seen many people immediately condemn Walker for using a gun in Episode 2, and how that makes him “not Captain America”, while seemingly forgetting that both Steve and Sam have used guns before? Like I get that it’s weird seeing Cap using a gun but the gun is not a reason that makes him “bad” or “not Captain America”, by that logic, then neither Sam nor Steve can be Captain America either just because they’ve used weapons, hell Sam operated with dual guns as Falcon in previous movies. Walker’s use of a gun, if anything, is actually very logical, he has no super powers, he’s got no wings like Sam or super strength like Steve or Bucky, so if he’s going into fights, he has to compensate his lack of extra abilities with weaponry. I’m more surprised he doesn’t just carry a grenade launcher with him at all times to be frank about it. And if he didn’t have that gun, Lemar would have died a lot earlier on that truck fight. That gun is supposed to level the playfield which he (and Lemar) enters at a very huge and dangerous disadvantage.

Some people have also highlighted Walker commenting on how he’s stopped a grenade four times using a reinforced helmet as a sign of his true nature of not befitting Captain America, some even so far as to call it a gimmick. But that’s just literally him doing his job? I don’t get it. It’s one thing if we actually saw footage of him jumping on grenades as an act or for PR, but when he answers Bucky’s accusation, he’s just describing something that is a part of his job. He’s a soldier, he’s in active combat all the time, he’s probably run into many grenade jumping situations and he’s trained to do what he does by using a reinforced helmet. And using a reinforced helmet doesn’t mean he’s not brave or self sacrificing, that’s literally again just him doing his job the way he was trained, why wouldn’t you make reinforced helmets that can block a grenade explosion instead of needlessly wasting human lives on it. Hell, we see even how the Wakandans use this “reinforced helmet” tactic when T’Challa uses his suit to absorb the kinetic energy of an explosion to protect everyone else. That’s not a gimmick, it doesn’t make T’Challa any less honorable or brave or self sacrificing. It’s a really strange standard to judge Walker against when it’s a different time, different training, and different technology available. 

And then there’s this thing of #NotMyCap, Walker as a character was fighting an uphill battle from day one, before he even spoke a word or even showed what kind of person he is, the judgment was already laid down by majority of fandom to blame the character for something that character isn’t even responsible for. Judging Walker by what he does is totally valid and fair as we reach the later episodes, but he was already “not my Cap” to so many people in their minds simply because he wasn’t Steve or Sam or Bucky or anyone the fans know, that anything Walker did or said would be instinctively compared or looked upon with negative connotations, he had already failed before he even had a chance to start, I mean, just look at the comments from his first introduction, it’s filled with comments mocking his appearance and the numerous versions of “Discount Cap” insults. When you start from a well of negativity, it’s really difficult to believe that the character has been given fair consideration. 

Finally, there’s the big debate over Walker’s actions towards Nico, the Flag Smasher he killed. And look, I ain’t okay with what he did either, he shouldn’t have killed Nico in that way and he should have exercised more self control for someone in his power and position. Even if I understand his emotional reasons, I’m not okay with his actions. However, there’s this strange undercurrent in fandom that keeps painting Nico as a sympathetic victim of a evil murderous monster while conveniently forgetting that Nico literally seconds before was restraining Walker so that Karli could kill him. If Lemar had not jumped in, Nico would have succeeded in actively aiding Karli to murder Walker. People talk about how it’s sad that Nico looked up to Captain America and is killed by Cap’s shield but no one mentions that he was trying to kill a Captain America. I’m not saying this makes what Walker did okay, but it’s just very strange that Nico is reframed as this innocent victim of an evil man when he would actually be far better described as a surrendered enemy combatant that Walker should have taken prisoner instead of executed. It just feels like the wall of hate against Walker is so blinding that some people are forgetting the context of the situation. And there’s some people saying “well Walker killed people so that makes him the worst”, okay then what about the other Avengers? What about our other heroes? Some of them have killed people, just because it was never shown in this dramatically intense way with blood doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Hell, Episode 1 literally has a fight where Sam definitely killed people but is it because it wasn’t presented in a dramatically ominous way that makes it okay? Or because it didn’t have blood? Or because it was a clear “bad guy” in battle so it’s fine? Tony Stark in the first Iron Man movie kills numerous “evil terrorists”. Steve killed some folks in his movies too. But we cheer in those moments, feel triumphant even, is that kind of extrajudicial killing okay because it’s in a fight and the people killed were bad? Why weren’t those bad people taken prisoner instead of killed? Do we have one kind of standard for the violence our heroes deal out and then another standard for other characters who aren’t our faves? What makes one kind of violence justifiable and doesn’t taint the legacy of that shield but another kind of violence unjustifiable and taints the legacy? I feel like people are not nearly examining this inherent double standard as much as they should. And I’m not condemning Sam or Steve or Tony or any of the heroes taking out bad guys, but I bring this up to point out to people that if “Walker can’t just kill someone in cold blood and revenge” then why is it that we are okay with when our heroes kill? Is it because they do it not in revenge and cold blood? Is deliberate dispassionate killing somehow more justifiable?

Anyways, again, I’m not saying you can’t criticize or hate John Walker. He is clearly designed to be the anti-hero/antagonist of this story. And there are plenty of legitimate reasons to question the many things this character has done. But some of these specific issues I’ve seen brought up by the fandom is just really strange and at times very hypocritical, ignorant of canon and context, and very reductive of a very interesting and well written and complex character. 

[isolemnlyswearpevensie]

Take Everything From Me | Caspian x Reader

Warnings: Arguments, Jealousy, Mention of battle, A few cuss words

Time/Era: Prince Caspian

Word Count: 2k

Summary: Caspian is jealous because of Y/N’s newfound love for high king Peter Pevensie

Request: hi!! first of all i love your writing and thank you so much for saving time to write for us💜 also can you please write a Caspian imagine where reader is his best friend since childhood and while they're having a heated fight about his fight with Peter in the second movie (the reader is trying to explain that they're both wrong), he angrily (because of jealousy maybe?) confesses his feelings and they end up kissing?? pretty please?? lots of love✨

A/N: Thank you for such a nice compliment and for acknowledging the time I spend on my fics! Each imagine usually takes me 1-4 hours (depending on the length) and it’s super fun! I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for requesting! If anyone would like me to write for them (Edmund, Caspian, Peter and some Harry Potter characters) send a request my way :)

masterlist | read on ao3

Prince Caspian was a stubborn, natural-born leader; he had to be. He was raised with harsh expectations and responsibilities due to his bloodline. Because of this, the young prince never had many friends, especially any outside of his bloodline. Y/N L/N was the only exception. She was the daughter of the highest knight in their army, so she was entrusted within a close proximity of the royal family. She was under the same care as Caspian since they were very young, and the two grew to be inseparable.

When the wife of Miraz, Prince Caspian’s uncle, gave birth to a boy and Caspian was threatened to be assassinated, their beloved professor awoke Y/N first. He was in a tizzy and insisted Y/N grab anything she needed in case she was to never return. Confused, but with haste, Y/N packed up her belongings and followed the plump man out of her chambers. She and Prince Caspian had barely made it out of the castle before arrows were being shot at their backs. 

“Hold on tightly,” Caspian directed Y/N’s arms to fall around his waist as they rode out of the castle. He sounded out of breath and panicked when he spoke, something Y/N had never heard from him. 

“My Prince, they’re gaining on us,” Y/N responded, her voice shrill and strained. Her hands gripped the stiff leather of his chest piece as the horse twisted every which way. Caspian didn’t respond, but instead took one of his hands and placed it over hers. 

~

“I’m not sure I’ll ever grow fond of them,” Caspian grunted, digging a small knife into a wooden stick. He wasn’t whittling anything, nor sharpening anything, but he needed something to keep his hands busy. He observed how the wood splintered into thin curls and how those curls fell onto the forest floor. 

“Who? The Kings and Queens of Old?” Trufflehunter responded. The two were sat a distance away from the rest of the group. They were all talking animatedly around a small fire and sharing stories from the past. King Peter seemed to be very invested in whatever tale Y/N was sharing. Caspian stabbed the wood in hand. 

“Yes, the Kings and Queens of Old. I thought he was supposed to be magnificent, I’ve heard so many stories.” Y/N reached out and pushed King Peter playfully. He grasps the girl’s wrists and pulls, making her fall forward. The entire camp laughs as she stumbles into Peter. A growing fire develops in Caspian’s stomach and with one flick of his knife, half of the stick falls to the floor. 

The badger watches the wood and looks up at Prince Caspian, “Are you disappointed in them? Or just in King Peter?” 

“They are much younger than I expected. Much more boastful than I expected.” 

“You are also quite young, your highness.” 

“Not within the mind, Trufflehunter.” Caspian glances back at the group. King Peter was acting out something using his sword. He had also taken off his armor, leaving him in a loose-fitting shirt and trousers. Y/N looked enthralled as the boy sliced the air with the sharp blade. Caspian’s jaw clenched and he looked back at Trufflehunter. 

“See what I am talking about? He is dueling when there is no one to duel! He’s showing off his skills when it is not necessary to use them. And I have to follow his commands.” Trufflehunter placed a paw on the thumb of Caspians right hand, stopping him from slicing his skin in place of the wood. 

“And you will be no better without a hand.”

~

The invasion of the Telmarines went awful. Caspian insisted Y/N stay behind with Lucy, but of course, High King Peter had spoken up. 

“No, she needs to come. She’s a valuable soldier. I know because we’ve sparred. We’d be wasting a valuable resource if she stayed behind.” A smile graced Y/N’s face as she made eye contact with Peter. Caspian let out a shaky breath and his grip on the hilt of his sword tightened. 

“She’s also close to the majority of the Telmarine Knights. They know her weaknesses. They know all of our weaknesses, this is a bad idea.”

“Which also means I know their’s. Cas, loosen up. I’m going.” Y/N still had a smile on her face. 

Peter took hold of her wrist and tugged it gently. “Can you cover my back? I know they’re going to try and overpower me.” 

Y/N’s cheeks heated up and she nods shyly. This made Caspian’s blood boil. Not knowing what to do, he makes eye contact with Edmund. The young king rolls his eyes. 

When they returned, there was a sorrow surrounding the surviving warriors. There was little speech and the only sound heard was the metal of their armor rubbing against itself as they walked. Y/N had experienced her own father ambush her new friends and kill multiple. She predicted sleepless nights for the following week. 

“What happened?” Lucy asked her older brother, a certain softness to her voice. It only made Y/N’s heart break more. 

“Ask him,” Peter responded. His voice was sharp, a contrast to the funny, caring guy Y/N had spoken to around the fire. Caspian stopped walking and his head shot up. 

“Me? You could have called it off. There was still time.” Caspian responded. How dare King Peter place the blame onto him. He strongly advised against the entire mission, which the High King ignored. This wasn’t Caspian’s fault. He wasn’t the bad guy. 

“No there wasn’t, thanks to you.” Peter took a few steps towards Caspian, his face twisting into a scowl. “If you stuck to the plan, those soldiers would be alive right now.” 

“And if you had stayed here like I suggested, they definitely would be.” Caspian could feel the hatred for Peter bubbling in his chest. No matter what Caspian did, Peter was always better. Peter was the King and there was nothing Prince Caspian could do about it. He glanced over at Y/N; her arms were crossed against her chest and her eyes were filled with flames. 

“You called us, remember?!” The vein in Peter’s forehead was starting to bulge. If Caspian was in any other situation, he would have found that amusing. 

“My first mistake.”

“No,” Peter’s voice wobbled and he began to walk away. “Your first mistake was believing that you could lead these people.”

This made something break deep within Prince Caspian’s soul. He had been preparing his entire life to rule and the second he is finally able to do so, some scrawny blonde child rips it away from him. 

“HEY!” Peter turns around at Caspian’s outburst, words begging to escape off his tongue. “I am not the one who abandoned Narnia.”

Peter stalked towards the Prince until they were near nose to nose. “You invaded Narnia. You have no more rights here than Miraz does; You, him, your father. Narnia’s better off without the lot of you.” 

Caspian ripped his sword out of his hilt and rushed towards Peter. 

“That is enough!” Y/N bellowed as if her voice was subdued thunder. “Both of you, get some air. Now.” 

“Y/N-” Peter began, placing his own sword in his hilt. She cut him off before he could finish his sentence. 

“I don’t want to hear it. Go.”

~

Caspian sat at the edge of the cliff, swinging his feet and watching Y/N speak with Peter. He observes how Y/N’s shoulders shake with laughter and how Peter swings an arm around Y/N fondly. They had been at it for almost an hour, chatting, laughing, and hugging, yet Caspian forced himself to watch. It’s what he deserved; he had driven Y/N away and now she was Peter’s. Peter was the perfect king with the perfect hair and perfect attitude. He had so much to offer. The only thing Caspian had was Y/N, and now High King Peter the Magnificent had that too. 

“Hey,” Y/N’s voice sounded from behind him. Caspian must have been staring off into the distance for longer than he thought. 

“Shouldn’t you be with Peter?” Caspian replied, not bothering to move his eyes when she sat next to him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that he is your new boyfriend and you should spend time with him. That’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do.” 

“What? He’s not- what are you on about, Cas?” She placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t call me that,” He shugged her hand off so she wasn’t touching him. “And yes he is, don’t lie to me. You were so fast to comfort him, after all.”

Y/N looked at him with a hurt expression. “What the fuck is your problem?”

Caspian looks over at his supposed best friend for the first time. She was already looking at him with a hurt expression. He turned his head away. 

“You were so fast to jump to his aid and you haven’t left his side since we met him. For the love of Aslan, Y/N, you practically drool over the guy.” “I didn’t jump to his aid, I was scolding him about what happened. And I’m sorry, he’s my friend and the only person who has actually spoken to me in the past month.” “Scolding him by hugging and laughing? Very effective, I should use that tactic in the next fight I’m in. ”

Y/N sputtered for a second. “Were you spying on me?!” 

Caspian let a single breath rush quickly out of his nose. “No, you just happened to ‘scold him’ in the middle of the courtyard.” He stood up. “You know what? I hope you two are very happy together. Just know he’s going to blame you for shit you didn’t do.”

Y/N quickly stood up as well. “Is that what this is about? Aslan, help me. You were both in the wrong.”

“I didn’t do anything. I advised against his plan, Y/N. This so-called Peter the Magnificent led the Narnian people to their deaths.”

“And yet you thought the best course of action was to disobey his plan? You were just as responsible as he was.” Y/N’s voice was picking up in aggression. 

“I had to save him, Y/N.” Caspian started to walk away. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Y/N instantly pulled his arm back. “Wouldn’t understand? May I remind you that you’re not the only one with Telemarine family?!” Caspian turned so he was looking directly into Y/N’s eyes. 

“I’ve had everything taken away from me, I was not about to have Doctor Cornelius taken from me too.” His eyebrows were furrowed and he pointed at the ground dramatically. 

“Everything? Caspian you still have me-”

“That’s the thing, Y/N! No, I don’t! What aren’t you getting? I have loved you since we were six years old and the second I think I have you, some shitty blonde king comes and takes you away from me. Just fucking go, Y/N. Go to your king and be happy.” Caspian shouted so loud he was sure all of Narnia could have heard. What had he done?

“Maybe if you just fucking listened to me, you would realize I love you too, you big dumbass!” Y/N didn’t miss a beat, staring at him with such intensity that he might explode right then and there. 

Caspian grabbed either side of Y/N’s face and kissed her. Hard. There was so much emotion wrapped into the simple action and it made both of their heads spin. Anger evaporated with each motion and soon, the two were softly running their hands over each other’s skin. Y/N could feel her angry tears trail down her cheeks but before she could do anything, Caspian brushed them away with his thumb. Her face was cradled delicately in Caspian’s rough hands. 

Years worth of unresolved feelings seemed to clear as Caspian worked on her. He kissed firmly, his mouth dominating hers easily, but his hands moved in delicate patterns. First, they were housed on her cheeks, rubbing small circles with his thumbs. Then, they traced her body until they landed on her hips. 

“You dork,” Y/N grinned when she pulled away. “I never liked Peter. Aslan, I never liked Peter. It’s always been you.”

Caspian flashed her a toothy smile in return. “I am so in love with you, Y/N. I am so sorry for yelling at you.” 

Y/N grinned mischievously and pulled away. “Don’t be, you’re extremely hot when you’re jealous.”

She winked, and Caspian pulled her to him once more. The newfound couple shared a second quick kiss before following the narrow trail for which they came.