#conflict zone

[alwaysbewoke]

Sudan’s struggle is obscured by political upheavals, displacements, and hunger after the fall of President Omar al-Bashir and the 2021 coup, but why has the world turned a blind eye to the ‘forgotten war’?

[naipan]

“Rafah was a safe zone when Israel went into central Gaza. 1.4 million lives were saved because Israel gave you warning and safe passage in the middle of a war for the people to evacuate towards Rafah.

And what did you guys choose to do? Did you release the hostages and end the war? Nope.

You chose to take the hostages to… Rafah. That’s why we rescued two of them just 11 hours ago, in Rafah.

So Rafah is no longer a safe zone because YOU chose to make it a conflict zone.

YOU moved the hostages straight to where 1.4 million people were gathered.

YOU chose to allow Sinwar and co to hide among 1.4 million people in Rafah.

So YOU are responsible for the fate of those 1.4 million people.

YOU put them in harms way.

And YOU will have to live with it.”

https://x.com/koshercockney/status/1757184323612999873?s=46&t=UnfJHs5jrN--r9aG6DyqgQ

[polgeonow]

Though its gains have now been reversed, Palestinian group Hamas briefly doubled its area of military dominance amid last weekend's unprecedented invasion into Israel's core territory. Here's a map of the situation at the height of its control on October 7th, and a timeline of the first several days of the new war.

[lassieposting]

Been thinkin about Astarion + vampire biology so have some headcanons and the bits of game lore they're based on

Dialogue establishes that Cazador has been successfully passing himself off as a regular noble for centuries, and Astarion confirms that while he's considered a bit reclusive, he does mingle with the upper class of Baldur's Gate and has a property specifically for hosting fancy events.

Vampires are camouflage predators, whose primary hunting strategy is to blend in with their prey until the perfect time to strike. Their ecological niche is not a particularly safe or stable one - they live hidden in plain sight, usually in sizeable cities, for easy access to prey, but they know that if they are discovered they will be rooted out and killed or driven away. They are rarely able to get away with attacking in public, where city guards might rush to the aid of a screaming victim - they have to isolate their target before killing it. The ability to blend in, to be overlooked by their target, until it is too late is essential.

Cazador is, as far as we know, the only true vampire in Baldur's Gate

This is because true vampires are aggressively territorial. Like most apex predators, they eat a lot, and need substantial territories to support them - even moreso if they have a partner or spawns. Ascendant!Astarion would need to hold onto the entire city, as Cazador did, to be able to feed himself and Tav without raising suspicion.

True vampires are relatively rare, but there are more of them than there are cities, so it's not uncommon for one to set up in an occupied city and try to oust the sitting resident. The challenger usually believes himself to be as strong or stronger than the current tenant: these territorial disputes usually end in at least one death, so they're not to be entered into lightly.

Astarion is very obviously a vampire: his fangs are visible, as are his bite scars; he's so pale multiple people comment on it; his eyes are red, etc.

Astarion is not a healthy vampire.

This is a man who has been kept on the knife's edge of starvation and tortured regularly for 200 years, and to another vampire, that would be clear from the state of him: Astarion is a camouflage predator who is so malnourished he is no longer able to blend in.

Tav will get an up-close look at his transformation over the course of the game and during the years afterwards: the more healthy and well-fed Astarion becomes, as his body catches up on its immense energy deficit and begins to recover, the better he will be able to mimic a living elf. His skin will be able to bleed, or blush, or bruise, none of which he's capable of while actively starving. Hia fangs will retract until he needs them, not invisible but less obvious - having them out all the time is a response to severe deprivation; he's so hungry his body can't risk losing prey to the split second it takes Cazador to snatch a rat back, so he's permanently in bite mode, hyperaware, ready to strike. Some body functions will come online that he didn't even know he had, the ones that are supposed to help him blend in - his eyes will start producing pigment to look darker, less scarlet and more burgundy, to be more easily mistaken for brown; his lungs will make him breathe automatically even though he doesn't need it, he'll start being able to eat normal food without getting sick again, though he still won't get any nourishment from it; he'll heal faster. He'll even be able to get drunk, though he'll burn through it very quickly. As it stands, all those extra systems have been shut down by his starving body - they're useful, but nonessential, and he needs every single bit of energy funnelled into just keeping him alive and functional.

There is probably an intentional bit of psychological warfare against the spawns on Cazador's part here - him starving them strips them of their natural defences, and every time he makes them leave the mansion to hunt, they have to do so knowing that they're poorly hidden and vulnerable. But it's established that true vampires treating their spawn poorly or outright abusing them is A Thing, so it's not the only reason - he sees them as property rather than people, he keeps them weak so they won't plot against him, he's acting out his own trauma from Vellioth on them, he just wants to - but it does feed into it.

Astarion can, at one point, identify old blood as belonging to the player character. He also gets excited at another point if an enemy character runs away, stating, "Now it's a hunt."

He says that "even stale, [he'd] recognise that bouquet anywhere." This confirms a few things for us:

He has a vastly superior sense of smell capable of identifying individuals by scent and - since he can tell who the blood belongs to even after some time has passed - following scent trails.

This confirms that although city-dwelling vampires may primarily hunt via luring a victim to a secondary location before killing it, they still have the "stalk down and chase" predator instinct. Since Astarion can't lure wildlife anywhere, this is almost certainly how he's been hunting to supplement his diet when he's not using the player as his personal caprisun.

The fact that he can scent out prey before killing it means he has this ability all the time - he can smell blood while it's still safely inside the owner's body.

So scent is probably relevant to how vampires process the world. The more time each companion spends with him, the more he gets used to their scent, starts associating it more with safety and camaraderie than with a potential meal, and so he becomes more relaxed around them. As he learns to link the player's scent with love and comfort and trust, the more likely he is to retreat to their tent over his own when he's injured or afraid or having a trauma moment. When he's fond of someone, something of theirs will go conveniently missing - he's moving their scent into his little safe space, it's comforting for him. He can tell when his lover is hurt or aroused or frightened - though not which of the three applies - from a distance, because his sense of smell can pick up the spike of adrenaline rushing into their bloodstream.

But that also means that he can never feel like he's got any distance from Cazador while he's living in the mansion - even if the man isn't in the same room, the entire place reeks of him, and it makes Astarion feel like Cazador is breathing down his neck all the same. Ascendant Astarion would have a really, really hard time sticking it out in that mansion with stale Eau de Cazador all over the place. It means that he's put instantly on edge by the faint scent of one of his siblings as he walks through the lower city - when seven vicious, territorial apex predators are confined to a single small dormitory, several hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, fights are going to be nasty and frequent, and although Cazador wouldn't allow them to kill each other, considering how many of his siblings refer to him as weak or a runt, Astarion probably didn't win them very often. So. Having a highkey advanced sense of smell is a mixed bag.

[athymelyreply]

It’s driving me up the wall that the same people who demand that Israel be dismantled and call for “death to Israel” because it’s apparently an ethnostate (already a very dubious claim in itself), then turn around and praise/idolize the Islamic fucking Republic of all places!!!!!

Are you genuinely that disconnected from the reality of the situation? How far up your own ass do you have to be to not immediately see the massive hypocrisy?

Did you forget Masha Amini? Was she just a trend to you? Are you willing to throw your lot in with morality police, Russian allies, and fascist extremist governments just because you both hate Jews?

[aro-in-danyl]

Alastor as a "Gift from God" AU

Inspired by the TV Show Lucifer. I could not get this idea out of my head so into the tumblr void it goes.

Edit: PART 2 up now.

----------------------

Sera could count on one hand the number of times the Almighty personally called for her. And every single one before was the precursor to some disaster or threat.

She was confused when she was beckoned past the throne room, away from the meeting rooms, and into the Almighty's workshop. There was no dust or cobwebs for God would not allow it, but it was known among the higher-ups that The Almighty had not had the motivation for creation in eons.

"The screams of the damned awoke me today," God's many hands reached out from their ineffable form to grasp jars and potions of dubious origins.

Sera stiffened. "I thought you could not see into Lucifer's domain."

She had not dared to think she could hide the First Extermination from The Almighty's gaze but she'd hoped she have more time.

"Never before today have souls perished a second time." God collected more vials and instruments that Sera could not for the life of her understand the purpose of.

"Such fear," and they sounded sad, "over the birth of one child."

The Anti-Christ, Lucifer's daughter was more than just a simple baby. Her parents had hidden her for decades, but the change in their attitude was noticeable even before her existence was made known to heaven. Lucifer again grew bolder and more fanatical with his ideas and Lilith-

If they'd only known sooner.

Silence passed as God worked. Sera kept her head bowed so she could not see what was being created. But they did not demand she stop the exterminations, and that was enough for her to finally raise her head and peak at The Almighty's first creation in centuries.

A soul. Or what would become one soon enough.

Her curiosity finally broke through. "You have not crafted a soul by hand since-" She cut herself off. No need to push her luck.

"This soul is a gift." They said. And they began to spin the soul threads together, "They will be an equal. Unchanging. Dynamic. Static. Chaotic." With every word a new thread merged with the steadily-brightening soul.

"A defender. An assailant...An Avenger."

With the final word of God, the soul was finished. But, barring the confusion of all those conflicting traits, Sera was caught up on the first sentence of this new soul's purpose.

"A gift to who?"

God did not answer. But that left her with another more pressing question.

"The creation of a new soul is a breath-taking experience to witness," she began carefully, "But why have you called me here?"

In answer, God reached behind themselves to a corner that Sera had not paid attention to and pulled out the tip of a spear. One from Adam's exorcists.

She tensed as God held it up to the fragile new soul. Angelic steel was crafted solely to bring death to the damned. To souls. Was this her punishment? To bear witness to the creation of life, of potential goodness, only to watch it be snuffed out before it even had a chance?

God pressed the spear to the soul, "Your Exorcists should take heed," the spear stabbed into the soul and Sera couldn't help but cry out in despair. But the soul did not whither or fade. She watched as the spear tip was catapulted away at lightning speed, burying itself in the wall across from them.

"And avoid his attention."

[a-chicken-with-adhd]

Okay whump fic idea, anyone is free to use as inspo.

Bruce did kill Joker, especially after stopping him from blowing up the UN and killing him when killing the Joker wouldn't cause a war. He kills Joker, not as Batman, but as Bruce Wayne because it was the father mourning a child and not a knight mourning its apprentice.

Bruce is taken to jail (this is very undercover knowledge as to not cause mass panic), Jason revives in his grave, Barbara still becomes paralyzed.

Dick is left with having to manage Gotham, Blüdhaven, Wayne Industries, The Teen Titans, part-timing at the Justice League, and also working as a cop.

Tim still connects the dots and confronts Dick Grayson on overloading himself, he still becomes Robin helping Dick while in Gotham(if more on the investigation and finding evidence and solving cases to give to commissioner Gordan than stopping Bane and supervillians)

Jason still becomes the RedHood, (for more whump purposes) Talia notices that there is something different with Batman but is unable to uncover why.

There's a riot at the Jail Bruce is in and at the same time there's a breakout. Jason is training around the world.

Bruce unfortunately passes due to multiple inmates gaining access to an officers guns and shooting randomly. This is kept quiet. All online rumors shut down by Oracle, not letting the new out until Alfred and Dick are ready.

Dick, Alfred, Barbara and Tim are in mourning. Trying to get the company together before letting the news break to the public. Dick is upset, knowing that he will have to hold onto the cowls mantle for longer. Angry and confused with his emotions about Bruce, his Father, his dad, dying while also feeling regret and shame that they left on a bad note, yelling at each other with him screaming that he hated Bruce.

Barbara is mourning the second Father figure she had, missing the calls she would get on Wednesdays from Bruce who listened to her rants and encouraged her to keep trying physical therapy.

Tim is sad he never got to know Bruce as anything more than his idol, but is determined to become a master at detective work to lessen the burden on Dick. So Dick grayson can go back to being Nightwing full time.

Alfred is mourning his child, his son, the little boy he raised that grew into a phenomenally kind-hearted, if too stoic and emotionally scared, strong man.

Jason, still thinks Bruce is alive. No one told him, he couldn't find this information. Jason still harbors hate that Bruce didn't do anything. There's whispers that Joker is retired or dead, or just hitting the ground after killing a powerful billionaire/trillionaires son. But no confirmations.

Jokers death by the hands of playboy billionaire philanthropist Brucie Wayne, the kind-hearted if a bit dim-witted flirtatious himbo Twunk, is a well kept secret.

Jason makes his debut as Red Hood, harboring Hate for Bruce. Trying to really rub it in Batman’s face that he knows who is under the mask. Angry that Bruce didn't avenge him. Angry that his killer could still be out there! Wandering the streets!

Its night that Alfred decides to let the news break to the world. Jason is out, being chased by Batman, they get into a scuffle, the Red Hood manages to pin down Batman while ontop of a building right across from a jumbo advertisment screen, Tim was working on coms and surveillance with Oracle. Then the news hit Gotham.

Jason was yelling at Batman, angrily yelling about how he has to live in fear that the joker could still be alive, live in degrading self worth that him dying wasnt what crossed the line for his dad, yelling that ignoring what Joker had done just to put him in Arkham where he'd just break out was just sentencinh Gothamites to death, ripping off his helmet screaming at Batman with hot angry tears in his eyes, pulling off Batman’s cowl only to be met with his older Brother's face.

The screen flashes from whatever advertisment to breaking news covering the hidden story of Bruce Wayne, who had killed Joker in revenge for murdering his son, had recently died in a recent jail outbreak from inmates causing a riot getting ahold of a gun and shooting other inmates.

The new anchor draws comparisons to Bruce Wayne's Parents and how they died in a random act of gun violence.

Jason, dealing with too much, runs away. Ignoring the way his whole body felt like it was breaking at the news that his dad had avenged him, had killed the Joker, but it had gotten him killed, shot in the head. Ignoring the calls of his older brother who just found out that Jason is alive.

[lucabyte]

who's this asshole?

part one - (link)

[nostalgia-tblr]

"are people not into that?" i ask, after posting my weird niche shit to the internet, despite knowing it to be weird niche shit.

[cavalierzee]

Imagine If You Will

World governments are appeasing that Rogue fake state.

[booasaur]

For the third time, the US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution related to the violence in Palestine.

Imagine the people who would have still been alive after the first one. Even the second one. And instead, it won't even stop now, at confirmed 29K, but most likely beyond 33K.

[ddanosaur]

amber and devo conflict makes my brain rattle

partially inspired by a post from @boydykedevo i saw earlier and my want to compare and contrast these scenes between amber and devo from the infinite clam mission and after the death of guidance and devo’s outburst at the cloaca

like there’s such a huge flip from amber telling devo that he’s allowed to feel what he feels and that he was acting very grown up and he doesn’t need to control himself too much, to then going at him about how he’s acting like a child throwing a tantrum and he needs to get it together and get his shit under control

and like to me it’s very reminiscent of when someone tries to be supportive of someone else having these kinds of emotional issues to them getting fed up with them when that behavior becomes so frequent and disruptive

devo’s struggling through the early stages of grief after the loss of a mother figure he had a contentious relationship with at best and with not feeling any support from his crew, and amber’s not putting up with his shit anymore and finally snaps at him. she’s made almost a complete 180 after getting fed the fuck up with him and i can imagine devo probably feels a sense of betrayal since amber was the one who told him it was okay for him to feel his emotions

and i don’t think either of them are right or wrong. both amber and devo are valid in the frustrations they’re feeling but they’re just not in the place to effectively communicate this at this moment and they’re not gonna get a chance to resolve this for a long time

i’ve got so many thoughts about these characters and this conflict and i’m about buzzing out of my skin over it

[screamingfromuz]

So, in the past few days (and weeks, and months, and years... any time that a Palestinian or Palestinian adjacent entity commit violence), people immediately go: "what did you accept? Israel has been abusing Palestinians, denying them their rights, why would they not turn to violence?" and this completely understandable. desperate people do desperate stuff. And although I completely agree with the notion, and often talked about how offering more funds to Palestinians and releasing the chock hold is the solution, there is something that often go unmentioned, mostly in pro-Palestinian circles.

and that is that Israel learned that any freedom given to Palestinian does not mean peace, but death. I mentioned it in a vary emotional post yesterday, but during the 90's anti peace movements took the idea of peace talks very harshly and increased attacks against Israelis. Israelis in turn were terrified that letting Palestinians hold weapons will mean deadlier attacks. and they were not wrong. in the four years after the accords death toll doubled, and people started naming the victims "peace victims". 'Peace with Palestinians' became not a chance for a better world, but a code word for death and destruction.

some of us remember the second Intifada, where Palestinian Terrorist groups took advantage of the freedoms they were given through the accords to attack and murder people. back in 2006 I saw a report that showed how supplies are getting rerouted not to feed and care for civilians, but to build bombs and missiles. Israel learned that without the chock hold that was slowly killing Palestinians but limiting the resources of the terrorist groups, there will be only more dead Israelis.

and so during the years, this mindset stayed, getting to a peak with the current right wing coalition. the only solution to Palestinian terror is to strengthen the choke hold until there is nothing left. this of course gave Hamas and their likes more sway over the people, recruiting more and more desperate people. Each incident used as an excuse to squeeze the Palestinians more, less money, more army surveillance. and the spiral continues.

now, because people need things spelled for them- non of it is or ever was ok, but that was the situation. an anti peace extremist will do something, the other side retaliate and more people will get hurt. this was a lose lose situation with a resolution many of us were trying to avoid- and we failed.

[616witch]

you can't give it, can't even buy it, and you just don't get it.

[t-u-i-t-c]

Tokusatsu x Spring ❀ Day 2 │ A Scene With Flowers

Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman │ 01x01 │ The Five Sibling Warriors

[twilight-zoned-out]

Captain America: Civil War was my favorite MCU film for the longest time but rewatching it recently made me sad. There’s so much needless fighting. I remember watching it in theaters and it was such a satisfying follow-up to Age of Ultron because it actually had weight to it, but I also remember getting out of the theater and realizing that no, Avengers 3 would not have all the Avengers together. There was a rumor floating around at the time of Age of Ultron that in the third Avengers film they’d face off with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and that blew my mind. Then Civil War came out, and THAT blew my mind, but if they didn’t get together at the end of Civil War, how could they face the Guardians together? Civil War saved the MCU, but it also kind of broke it. It was the beginning of the end of the arc, and it was the first Marvel film where nobody won and nothing was resolved.