#conflic

[i-dont-know-anything-anymore]

[any huge middle earth conflict]

Gandalf: ima get a baggins

[mapsontheweb]

The Ukraine conflict has origins in the Cold War and the imperial contests before it, and is drawing new global divisions after decades of relative stability.

Get the map in the June NatGeoMag.

by @NatGeoMaps

[drymushroomfics]

Fraye Hill of House Lannister

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Chapter Twenty Six

It's been a little over a fortnight since the battle at Blackwater. It took almost this much time for Fraye and Gregor to arrive here after her horrid wedding night so Sandor can't be far if he was able to escape the price on his head. No doubt, Gregor celebrated his victory at Kingslanding with ale and whores for a few nights before making his way back to the keep. She hopes Tywin Lannister has sent her husband on a new mission so she can avoid a battle between the brothers. She's felt enough violence in the Keep to last her a life time. She's pulled out of her thoughts by shouting. She pulls herself out of bed. "M'Lady!", Raine practically shouts as she rushes into Fraye's chambers. "What is the matter?!", Fraye replies, her anxiety sky rocketing as horrid scenarios flash through her mind. "He's here!"

"Who?!" "The Hound, M'lady! You were right!" Fraye practically leaps from her bed, whincing at her still unhealed wounds. "You must hurry and pack light if you want to get out now!", Raine says, running about the room. Fraye turns, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Self-consiousness filling her mind. Fraye wants to cringe when she hears the shouting and violence getting closer. No doubt, Sandor has cut through anyone and everyone that steps foot in front of him. Grabbing Fraye's things, she sets them at the end of the bed. Fraye's heart beat quickens when heavy footsteps approach. Just in case it isn't him, Fraye quickly finds her hidden dagger and necklace. She hands the necklace to Raine and holds the dagger in her good hand. The door bursts open and Raine steps behind Fraye as she was instructed. Sandor stands before her, covered in blood and breathing heavily. He sees her sunken in face and his heart aches for her. He looks down, seeing the bandages on her hands and arms. He feels all the air leave his lungs. He barely notices Raine as Fraye steps toward him. Fraye's eyes fill with tears and the dagger drops to the floor. "I-I'm sorry… I-I did everything to be strong… I started losing my mind in here… He wanted us to ma-match.", Fraye says, words jumbling. Sandor feels his body grow hot with anger. He sees white and feels like he's about to burst. He falls to his knees. She steps close to him. "Sandor…", she whispers, "I'm so sorry. I trie-" He brings her against him softly, not wanting to hurt her. The embrace fills them with a much needed comfort. All anger leave him for a brief moment as he feels her body against his. He was so worried she'd be dead that it doesn't feel real for her to be here now. He pulls back from her, "Never be sorry… I am sorry… I should've never let him take you. I promised to protect you… I failed you." She takes his face in her hands. "We did what we had to and now you've come back to me… No amount of beatings from him could make me blame you… You risked everything just to come and rescue me.. You never failed me. You're loyal. That's what matters.", she tells him, tears filling her eyes. He nods as she leans foward and kisses him sweetly. Sandor's eyes fill with tears. He never thought he'd feel her sweet touches ever again. "We've got to go.", he says trying to contain his emotions as he stands. Fraye moves, turning her attention to her loyal handmaiden. "This is Raine.. She's the only reason I'm still alive. ", Fraye explains, gesturing to the uncomfortable woman, "And this is Sandor Clegane, the bravest man you'll ever meet."

She nods to him as she helps Fraye start to dress. "What's in it for you?", he asks the servant, "You aren't scared of your master?" "No… Gregor has slaughtered so many and I just wanted to save her. She's too good to be here and to be treated this way.", she replies to him, honestly. Sandor nods, greatfully for her help. He picks up the two satchels on the bed and drapes them over himself before moving to wait by the door. His eyes follow Fraye's, now exposed, body. Shes thinner than she used to be. Her plush curves now smoother and boney. There's bandages all over her body and he feels the anger growing inside of him again. He has to take in a breath to try to stay calm. Raine dresses Fraye in a lavender colored long tunic with matching dark blue breeches and deep brown boots. She helps Fraye fasten a belt around her sore waist, remembering not to tighten it too tight. Fraye's eyes meet Sandor's as Raine clasps the necklace around Fraye's neck. "You still have it?", he asks, his heart warming even more. "I hid it. It's all I had of you and I wasn't going to let anyone take it from me.", she replies, moving to place her dagger in her belt. "We need to hurry before more come.", he tells her. She nods, turning to Raine, " Are you sure you won't come?" "No, M'Lady. You go with him. I'll be fine. I'll pack me own bag and leave soon after. I'm going to head back to my village.", Raine explains. "Alright. Thank you for everything. For dressing my wounds, for feeding me… For the moon teas… I don't know what would have happened to me with you." "There's no need to thank me. Now, go… Be free while you have the chance!" Sandor's heart aches when he hears Fraye mention the moon tea. He hates that she's been violated in that way. He hates that his brother touched her. It makes his blood boil. "Where are we going to go?", Fraye asks, trying to distract herself from all the blood and carnage around her as they leave the keep. "I don't know… Far from here.", is all he can tell her as they hurry to find Stranger. He carefully helps her onto the horse before getting on behind her. She leans back into him, missing his warmth. She hasn't felt such comfort in so long now. Gregor never did anything to her but beat her and use what was under her skirts. "What did you do while I was gone?", Fraye asks him. "Fight and drink.", he replies simply. "That's nothing new… I stabbed him, ya know. I went for the heart but missed. I was too weak from starvation to aim properly. He was very angry… He dragged me out of that room and poured boiling water on me. I'd… I'd never felt worse pain… I'm so sorry, Sandor… I can't imagine that pain as a child…", Fraye says, tears running down her face. He pulls her back against his chest and wraps one arm around her while he keeps the other on the reigns. "I know… I know.", he replies, kissing the top of her head to sooth her. Sandor;s only wish was to hurt Gregor for what he did to him as a child. It fueled him. But now, all he wants is to protect Fraye and to torture and kill Gregor for what he's done to her. She has been beaten and tortured and Sandor decides he'll never stop until his brother is begging for mercy and then he'll slit his throat.

[indianflash123]

Enduring Struggle Humanitarian Crisis in Russia Ukraine Conflict

[bunnieswithknives]

Fop redesigns for funsies but also bcs I saw some star heel boots and had to put Dale in them immediately.

[huanted-dennys]

My warm ups for the last few days

This time it’s mermaid au themed

siren?

idk take em

I love the idea of bored out of his mind Jazz

also thalassophobic Jazz

[sapphireknight30]

decided to try my hand with the new don ego design

[illym]

I have this headcanon that Robo-Ky is really touchy feely. He doesn't have too much intent behind it in most situations.

Alt text includes my messy handwriting.

[magnoliamyrrh]

and im fucking sorry do ppl rly think trump will do any of the good shit he says. u rly think hes gonna cut tax on overtime. or provide tax relief for caretakers. or for seniors. or cut taxes for the lower classes. hes saying bloody anything to get in power he doesnt give a single shit dude

[papita474]

FINALLY HAVING TIME TO WORK ON THE COMIC! (teleri-return of fingolfin and his people-mae's rescue-fingolfin high king)

I'm just trying colours but i think i'll do it in black and white.IS THAT THERES SO MANY PAGES!( they are drawed from both sides and theres even more of them)

[theheightofdishonor]

oh nothing just Asahi thinking Noya's perfect.

[cazzyf1]

Today, I've thought a lot about what Toto Wolff said about Niki Lauda, as I am everyone else who has seen the tweet has done the same. My first response was a lot of anger towards Toto for calling Niki a mascot and joking about replacing him with Helmut. It feels belittling of Niki and disrespectful of everything he did for Mercedes. I tweeted about it, made a photo edit for Niki about it, and was very tempted to post on my tribute account to Niki about it, yet I held off from that. No need to make the situation bigger than what it is.

I went to read the article it was quoted from to gather as much context as I could for the quotes, and I'll include exactly what it said below:

'In the event that the matter ends with Marko leaving Red Bull, Toto Wolff makes him a tongue-in-cheek offer: Marko could take Niki Lauda's old place at Mercedes! "We're missing our old mascot anyway. Then we'll just use Helmut. He's age-appropriate. He doesn't have a red cap, but then he'll come to us," grins Wolff.' (using Google Translate to translate from German to English)

Clearly, Toto is trying to joke about the situation; maybe it's the sort of thing Niki would have laughed at himself. With as much as I know about Niki, he very likely would. Niki and Helmut had very similar racing careers at the start. Recently, I've been reading a book about Niki published in 1975 that focused a lot on Helmut initially to show the contrast and similarities between the two Austrian drivers. Then, as we all know, Niki worked for Mercedes and Helmut for Red Bull. I've read interviews with Niki and Helmut, and they got along well. Now, I don't agree with much of what Helmut has said and done, but I can't deny his friendship with Niki, whom I respect a lot. So I'm trying to look at this situation as Toto making the sort of joke Niki would have found funny about him and Helmut.

Yet even so, the phrasing of it feels like it diminishes all of what Niki did. He supported and understood the drivers when Toto couldn't, he gave his advice, and his no-bullshit approach would tell Mercedes what needed changing within the team and with the car. He was the non-executive chairman of Mercedes, and he owned stakes in the company. He was not just a man in a red cap to represent Mercedes.

Niki and Toto were very close. I could write so many stories that I know of the two of them, and it's why I want to try to understand why Toto would say such a thing about him. Niki saw Toto as one of his closest friends, which is why I am trying to rationalise it in my mind of Toto joking about it in a way that Niki would have found funny.

Maybe I'll have a more rational mind about it in a few days, or maybe I'll still be a bit bitter. Maybe he will say more about it, or maybe he won't. Time will tell on that front.

I'd also love to hear other people's thoughts on the situation, and on Toto. I just felt like I needed to put my thoughts into words and put them out there, given how much I've posted about Niki and shared.

[aamitmorthos]

:/

[theadaptableeducator]

Threads of Dominion: The Interwoven Collapse of Colonialism, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Capitalism

Umberto Eco, the renowned Italian philosopher, semiotician, and cultural critic, offers a rich theoretical framework to analyze the interconnectivity and unsustainability of colonialism, nationalism, imperialism, and capitalism. His work often addresses the dynamics of power, ideology, and culture, which are crucial for understanding these phenomena. Interconnectivity Colonialism and…

[obrother1976]

girard would kill me for this but. there has to be at least one archaic society in star wars that, although they played no direct role in the death of vader, are not immune to the scapegoat mechanism and so see his death as an end to their suffering (under the empire), leading to his deifciation in their society. and obviously then also leading to the reenactment of his death as a sacrifical rite

[kakusboyfriend]

Ok look I don't think Gyrian could fix Veloci necessarily. If he could he wouldnt be that way, they've known each other for literal millions of years.

You know what he could do though? Scare him shitless because Parasaurolophuses are ~3x the size of Velociraptors and it makes for an intimidating sight if you refuse to stop putting their children in danger <3