#instruments of war are instruments too

[bibliophilicstranger]

I just discovered that Beethoven wrote a piece called Wellington's Victory for the Battle of Vitoria(this is part one, there's also a second part)! This particular recording uses actual weapons!

There's 188 cannon shots and 25 musket volleys, recorded so that you get one side of the conflict in each ear. They literally recorded the cannons and muskets at West Point and had an English cannon, a French cannon and a howitzer used by both sides.

[snekatiemainy]

Jasmine playing clarinet and Dev playing saxophone is so fucking important to me like yeah they WOULD play those instruments won't they. Of course they would.

look at them. look how much fun theyre having. i wish i had this much fun playing instruments at age 10

[tlmtwelve]

Prompts: Han Solo, playing an instrument

(I originally thought about a guitar, then this afternoon I decided on drums. However, tonight when I started to sketch, I didn't feel up to drawing either of those, so TRIANGLE)

[rexcaliburechoes]

gale is ambition, so he has both crippling self doubt and debilitating pride in his work.

gale is ambition, so if a character tries to undermine him by one-upping him, he'll think he's not nothing left. more else can the orb destroy that it hasn't already?

gale is ambition, so if a character tries to undermine him by one-upping him, he'll vehemently deny that. he's the wizard of waterdeep. he was mystra's chosen. he was her lover. who could be any better than that?

gale is ambition. it's his greatest flaw and his greatest asset.

[tea-cat-arts]

I'm willing to at least hear out most of the "xyz plot point is heavily tied to abc cultural context" brands of posts but the "wwx isn't meant to be read as morally gray" and "the western fandom made up Sizhui being wangxian's son" brands of post make me feel like my cultural ignorance is being used to gaslight me

[invinciblerodent]

i decided to play just a tiny bit of my Inquisitor-as-Tav game I had lined up, and I just.... god, i love this old man

he looks so tired, and kindly, and he's a good head taller than everyone

Lae'zel is so damn tiny next to him, I think he needs to pat her head very sweetly (and then succeed a DC18 dex save to avoid getting his fingers bitten off) (it'll be worth it though, maybe it'll calm her down)

[phoenixkaptain]

I just think that if Anakin was a musician, he would be an oboist, because

1. First Chair oboe is the one literally everyone else in the orchestra tunes to (yes, including the strings) because the oboe can’t be tuned (the pitch of the sound created by the oboe reed (the decider of your fate) is affected by dampness of the reed itself, humidity, the humidity of the past fourteen years, and the will of the gods. If you’ve angered any gods recently, you should put the oboe down)

2. The oboe has an incredibly piercing sound. It can be heard even through the rest of the ochestra, it’s a very memorable sound

3. The oboe is the most temperamental instrument ever created. It’s far more angry than its cousin, the bassoon, and it’s more common than its other cousins, literally any other double reeded instrument but I’ll put oboe d’amore here as an example. The oboe could be working completely fine, only to be set down for five seconds and now all of your notes are flat except for your C, which is inexplicably sharp, oboe, why-

4. The oboe itself isn’t actually as bad as 3 suggests, because all of the attitude comes from the reed. Double reed instruments are as rare as they are difficult to play, and the reed of the oboe is the most temperamental reed ever put into the hands of mortals

5. I relate to Anakin and just feel like he should play an oboe because I play an oboe

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Next week, I’ll either discuss the parallels between the comics and Obi-Wan Kenobi the series or I’ll talk about my obsession with Dick Grayson, we’ll see which one next time, same bat time, same bat channel blog

[the-senates-one-fear]

Anakin Skywalker plays guitar and would be in an indie alt band like Honey Revenge or smth like Lovejoy

[magaramach]

why is every single character playlist on spotify 90% taylor swift. i promise you none of those characters listen to taylor swift.

[quietquaking]

me watching andor: wow. this is a really good show. i really like how they portray the empire, how they showcase the effects of tyranny like that, and how none of the characters are perfect and are all a little morally grey. it’s realistic.

also me: SPACE FLUTES SPACE FLUTES SPACE FLUTES

[weirdlizard26]

I NEED A LITTLE HANDHELD SYNTH SO FUCKING BAD!!!!!!!! PAIN AND AGONY

[purplemoonabove]

Love Triangles ≠ Tug-Of-War

“Oh great. Another love triangle.”

“Here it comes: the love triangle.”

“Ooohhh, I see a love triangle going on~!”

That’s the idea that is the new norm right now in storytelling: the love triangle, a situation involving a tense-making drama between three people, most commonly a girl that falls in love with two guys separately, and both guys love her back.

(Thanks Twilight.)

But the thing is, there’s actually a catch on calling it a love triangle. I was so caught up on the tri-romance that I didn’t realize it myself until seeing a source, whether a comment or something, had me thinking.

Thinking enough to head back to elementary school, where we learned our shapes.

You know how a triangle works. I don’t need to bring out a diagram. You got your Point A, Point B and Point C. Connect the dots and bingo! You got your triangle:

But here’s the thing: the triangle points… aren’t the same as the points in a love triangle.

Here’s the thing:

- Point A connects to Point B,

- Point B connects to Point C;

- and, Point C connects to Point A.

Simple, right?

But here’s the question: Why isn’t the points ALL connected in a love triangle?

The answer: It can’t, because it’s not a triangle.

It never was.

Shocking, I know.

Now, before anyone mentions on defending the “love triangle being legit”, remember what I said before: a triangle makes up three points, and they all have to connect to make the shape. That doesn’t work the same way as the love triangles I’ve been noticing from certain stories. Twilight, especially for being the root of it all.

Bella likes Edward. Bella likes Jacob.

Edward likes Bella. Jacob likes Bella.

One girl likes both guys. Both guys like the same girl.

Bella is Point A.

Edward is Point B.

Jacob is Point C.

Point A likes Points B and C. Point B likes A, and so does Point C.

It’s not a triangle because Point B and C – Edward and Jacob – are not connected.

Neither one has feelings for the other – other than the feeling to rip at each other’s throats. (Being a vampire and werewolf, respectively, it’s no surprise.)

Because if they were, then the real triangle would be:

Jacob likes Bella.

Bella likes Edward.

But Edward likes Jacob…

I’m humored by that. Just imagine how the plot would go if it somehow went like that. There would be new teams: Team Bella and Edward, or Team Jacob and Bella, or Team Edward and Jacob.

The direction it would have gone if were done…

BUT!

It wasn’t so it’s not a triangle – it’s tug-of-war. Love war. Both men fighting/trying/convincing/doing everything they can in a situation to get the girl they both like to accept one of them.

There’s a rope with two ends and a centered mark. Who gets the mark is the direction of a pair the author was going for.

Bella was the center mark. And Edward and Jacob were at the ends.

Same goes for:

- The Hunger Games; Katniss at the middle, with Gale and Peeta at the ends.

- The Mortal Instruments; Clary in the middle, with Jace and Simon at the ends; and,

- Legendborn (Read it if you haven’t! So damn good!); Bree in the middle, with Nick and Sel at the ends.

The effort the guys pull is the direction of which of the guys is with the girl in the storyline.

It was never a triangle. For the guys such as mentioned above, it was tug-of-war.

And for the girl in the center—heck, it would have been an angle without a base! The A without the middle line. Just standing like an open ladder, the bottom ends for two people to stand on and fight who will be first to the top as they climb—and by her acceptance.

This can also work vise-versa – the girls doing tug-of-war, the guy as the singular point of an angle. The rope or angle can even break if the main love interest decides neither one! Or whoever the author would be using.

The point is, the next time you read a book and see a romance where Point A falls for Points B and C, and the feelings are returned, remember: it’s not a love triangle. It’s a return to your childhood, during recess or P.E., where the rope is held at both ends, the center mark is the target, and whoever team you are on is the support for one of the pullers.

Not a love triangle. Just a new game of Tug-Of-War.

Thanks for reading my WriTED Talk 😊

[aimfor-theheart]

i want to make a zhongli playlist for a fic…specifically war archon zhongli…….does anyone have music recs??

[anerdliveshere]

Uploaded to youtube. Feel free to take a look if youd like

https://youtu.be/VxrfH7aoK9s?si=jSEhvRXEs6Ev846i

Spoilers for a lot of stuff. I give a warning in video

[scribeofmorpheus]

Why Dragon Age Veilguard isn't a "Cathedral"

Concept art by Matt Rhodes

"To disinherit the storylines of past games goes directly against the notion of building cathedrals."

What is inherent with Veilguard that keeps bothering me is the fact that the world's choices truly didn't matter--and it doesn't simply bother me from a player perspective, it's not simply a grievance borne of frustration to what I (as a longtime fan) have lost. It's about the very culture of the arts under capitalism's new media habituation cycle [x][x].

Yes, I spent hours of my life playing and replaying each instalment of Dragon Age. Yes, I painstakingly curated a 'canon' world state by replaying what came before in preparation for Veilguard. Yes, I am even more unsatisfied with the end product--time hasn't helped, it's just widened the divide. But, and I can't stress this enough, these very personal gripes aren't what hit home the most. It's the inherent disregard of legacy. A legacy that the previous writers and game developers were building towards.

In the DAV artbook, "cathedral" is the word used to describe the process of making a game. Matt Rhodes' exact words are: "One artist can make a painting, but it takes a team to build a cathedral." Cathedrals took centuries to build. The architect who drafted the first blueprints would likely never see his work realised, he had to rely on those who came after him, like-minded and passionate, to see it through--for the culture, for the future, for legacy. Painters took on several apprentices for this reason too--giant frescoes were not completed by one man's hand, even if it is one man's name that immortalises them. Similarly, if you weave a narrative around choice, what good does it do to take it away at the final act if not to fall to caricature?

To disinherit the storylines of past games goes directly against the notion of building cathedrals.

Late-stage capitalism and profit-margin-obsessed game producers forcing developers to churn out meager content, to make a known brand into something it's not, to chase a fad or a popular trend... o, how reductive and cliche you've been forced to become Bioware. We have lost the cultural thought patterns relative to Cathedrals. We know only of barn-raised churches--done in a day but unlikely to last the turn of the seasons.

And don't even get me started on the music of Veilguard either. From Origins to World of Warcraft to Everquest to Baldur's Gate to Dungeon Siege, you can hear the intricate interconnected weave of sounds inspired by the Dungeons and Dragons-esque fantasy genre. You hear it in the repeated use of certain instruments, in the harmonic weeping notes of a bard-like singer or the foreboding echoes of drums as if of war. In tavern songs. But then, rather than hire someone who loves these worlds and this genre, who is a hungry artist looking to make a name, a legacy if you will, for themselves with a spectacular score, you hire any already sated composer, one well-into the encroaching years of career fatigue, whose notes repeat in countless projects, who feels less concise and more uninterested with each new project. One who has long since cemented his legacy. Someone in it for a paycheck and nothing else! And, to top it off, you let him compose something so minimalist? I am offended actually.

Cathedrals! We should have witnessed the final tile being placed on the Dragon Age cathedral. Instead, some architects walked up, tore down the interior and installed IKEA furniture and called it authentic before having to call the previous architects to come and fix the "load-bearing issues", forcing them to rush and add a coat of varnish and a few 'aged' details for authenticity.

[brainstirfry]

REACTION SPEED [Heroic: failure] - a single ravioli, damp from the water, still pleasantly steaming, lands with a defeated slap, on the linoleum floor. You see it happen, watch it flip through the air, like an Olympic bronze off the high-dive, or a suicidal veteran of war. you feel yourself shout a "No!", but it is too late. there, the ravioli, impossibly, lays limp. FORSAKEN RAVIOLI - Why, it thinks, why me? For all the time I was grown and processed then crafted and for all the time I have waited for the only purpose which I was made for. To be cast so suddenly, so errantly, into the realm of the beyond? Beyond savior. DRAMA - And here you stand, clad like a captain with your wooden spoon, watching as an honorable soldier, nay, a man, lies without your hand to aid him, on the kitchen floor.

VOLITION - you must act, now! first it must be picked up, then its fate can be decided. COMPOSURE - Its fate is the trash. AUTHORITY - Its fate is the trash. YOU - You pick up the ravioli, it is hot, nearly still boiling, gushing steam and hot pasta blood down your hand. It hurts, but standing here, there is nowhere else for it. PERCEPTION - It looks fine... LOGIC - Don't do this. SHIVERS [Heroic: Success] - Somewhere southeast of here, perhaps hundreds of miles, grain sprouts in a field, rich wheat, and butternut squash, only an acre over. The wind whistles through the fields, running like gleeful children through the tiny, green plants. Some will be eaten by birds, worms, or moles, but some will reach high into the sky, where they will be plucked and ground into pasta dough. You have seen the birthplace of this soldier. It is humble, a beautiful childhood, and so, so long ago. An entire pasta-lifetime, now. FORSAKEN RAVIOLI - I thought I had finally made it. And with my brethren... YOU - You look at the bowl, the rest of the ravioli, steaming in mournful, pyrrhic celebration. My company... EMPATHY - This ravioli could be you. You can't give up on it now. Not because of your own mistake. AUTHORITY - This is not what a dignified man would do. send him off and mourn, perhaps, but do not spend one moment more considering his limp, cooling corpse. DRAMA - Where has your heart gone, O Honorable One? Authority - … EMPATHY - the greatest service you could do for this little soldier, and for all those beyond you that forged him, is to eat him. What else is rightfully to be done? VISUAL CALCULUS - It was on the floor for less than 4.7 whole seconds. ENCYLOPEDIA - most forms of bacterium are able to jump, especially to wet materials, in about 1.2- PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT - any residue on your kitchen floor may well be material which was once already in your stomach. CONCEPTUALIZATION - if you think about it, that means you've already kind of eaten the ravioli.

INLAND EMPIRE - From the Floor, Of the Floor, To the Floor. To be, or not to be, one with this eternal cycle? ENDURANCE - Anything the floor could not contain, you could digest. (with VOLITION) We are iron. HALF LIGHT - Bite into its soft, warm flesh. EMPATHY - Give it peace. ELECTROCHEMISTRY - Eat the floor-violi, pasta slut! YOU - weeping, bring the ravioli to your lips, and then, impossibly, with infinite mercy, love, bring it into you. It tastes fantastic. You would have never know it was on the floor at all. You can feel the hum of satisfaction, the glory of it in your lungs, swelling to fill you more than even a pasta-feast could. This is the mercy you wish your God could cast on you, when you fall. KIM KITSURAGI - "Harry,"