#not 100% about this one but !!!! we fight onwards!!!

[ahollowgrave]

Febhyurary 2025 | Day 11: Fight

... isn't yours the hunger isn't yours the hunger...

[vixensdungeon]

Hello, my little woodland critters. Today just for fun I'm going to walk you through the process of generating a character for the original 1974 edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I'm just going to use Men & Magic for this one but might do another one later with the supplements!

First, we get some dice. Three six-sided ones to be exact. I'm actually going to grab some with pips rather than numbers because that feels more authentic. Then, we roll and record their sum, repeating five more times, generating six ability scores. Here we go!

Strength 9 Intelligence 17 Wisdom 12 Constitution 16 Dexterity 13 Charisma 13

Yippee! As a witch these make me very happy indeed.

Next, we'll pick a class to play. Based on the abilities I rolled I'm of course going to pick the magic-user (the witch class didn't exist yet, alas). And as a magic-user, I'm actually allowed to futz with the numbers a bit, removing two points from Wisdom to gain an extra point in Intelligence. This gives us our finalised array, and we can now know the effects of each ability on the character.

Strength 9: no effect Intelligence 18: +10% to earned experience, eight extra languages Wisdom 10: no effect Constitution 16: +1 to each hit die, 100% chance to survive certain spells Dexterity 13: +1 to missile fire Charisma 13: maximum of 5 hirelings with +1 loyalty

Okay, languages. The character speaks the common tongue of the continent she lives in, along with an alignment language. I'm going to pick Neutral as my alignment so that's the language I speak. I also speak eight creature languages, which I'm going to pick later.

For equipment, we're going to grab our trusty 3d6 again, roll them, and mulitply by ten to find out how many gold pieces we have. I rolled 10, so I have 100 GP. I'm going to buy a dagger, the only weapon a magic-user is allowed. In addition I will buy 50' of rope, a large sack (for treasure), a leather back pack, a water skin, six torches, a flask of oil, a small silver mirror, a bunch of wolvesbane (in case of werewolves), a bunch of belladonna, and a bug of garlic (in case of vampires, or pizza). Not sure what the belladonna is useful for but you can never be too sure. This leaves me with 48 gold pieces that I will use to buy rations when I'm heading on an expedition of some sort. To calculate my encumbrance, I add my dagger's weight in gold pieces (20) to that of my miscaellanoues equipment (always 80, though a referee is allowed to make sure this stays within reason), for 100 GP of weight. I'm well within the limit for light foot movement, which will likely mean I'll have the responsibility of hauling loot out of the dungeon. Maybe I should invest in a second sack…

As a magic-user of the 1st level, I am titled a Medium, and will require 2,500 experience points to reach 2nd level (Seer). I roll 1 die (six-sided), adding +1 for my Constitution getting a total of 2… Tha'ts how many hits my magic-user can take before death. Let's hope she rolls better on the next level, assuming she survives. She fights with the strength of one man!

I can memorise one 1st level spell for my journey. Not knowing what I might face in the dungeon, I pick something witchy that I think can really save the group's butts: Sleep. All level 1 spells are in my spellbook so I don't need to worry about which ones I can memorise.

And that's pretty much it! Now we just give the character an imaginative name… How about Naiviv?

Onwards to adventure and glory, Naiviv the Medium!

[dark-frosted-heart]

Roger's 2nd Birthday Story (part 1)

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this

Let’s celebrate my lover, who devotes his life to researching Cursed Ones, for being born into this world.

As thanks for always giving me encouragement.

I’m determined to fight against despair alongside him and help him in his insatiable research.

Let’s hope that we can live together for even just a minute or a second longer.

I want to celebrate his birthday next year, and the year after…and many more years onward.

I was still holding on to these greedy thoughts when the day before Roger’s birthday arrived.

I’ve been in the kitchen since noon—

Kate: …Yep, I did a great job!

Roast beef, lamb chops, duck simmered in wine, grilled venison…

I did my best to make Roger’s favorite meat dishes.

Kate: And the cherry on top, this beer.

A bottle of barley wine was packed into a wooden box.

I was able to specially order this beer after discussing it with the bar owner.

—All because I wanted to celebrate Roger’s special day to the fullest. 

Kate: …I hope this will make Roger happy.

Roger: What was that about me?

I turned and saw  Roger leaning against the door with a smile.

Kate: What are you doing here?

(I even made sure he didn’t know I was making him dinner)

He couldn’t hold back his laughter when I froze in place.

Roger: Did you forget about my ability?

Kate: Ah!...Did you find out about everything I was doing today?

Roger: Who knows?

(He was definitely listening in!)

Kate: It’s written all over your face! Picking up on the noises a person makes is an invasion of privacy!

Roger: Can’t help it. My ears just happen to perk up at the noises you make. Guess this is what “love” does to you.

(...Sneaky)

When he talked to me like that, I felt so happy that my anger faded away.

Roger: Haha, you’re such a cutie wagging your tail. There, there.

Kate: Geez! I’m not a pet dog anymore?! 

I found it hard to stop myself from smiling when he ruffled my hair with that hand I loved.

(It’s annoying how happy this makes me…!)

Roger: …You’re right. You’re the one that taught me about “love” and now you’re my precious lover. 

The hand that was ruffling my hair stopped and slid down to my cheek. His amber eyes glowed in the soft light as they got closer.

Kate: Mnn…

The warm, affectionate kiss made all my annoyance and stubbornness disappear.

(...He’s being unfair again)

This teasing egoist.

It’s annoying how I always play into his hand—it makes me happy though.

Our lips parted and whispers sweetly, as if to coax an answer out of me.

Roger: So, what was my cute love mentor doing?

Kate: Well, since I’m done. Since tomorrow’s your birthday, we’ll be having a party with Crown. So I made you dinner as a way to celebrate beforehand.

Roger: Hm, thanks. These are all my favorites. Just looking at them’s making me hungry. It’s about time for dinner, isn’t it?

Kate: Yes, I was about to get you. I’ll bring these over to the dining room.

As I place the dishes on the wagon, Roger suddenly grabbed the handle.

Roger: I’ll push.

Kate: Huh? But you’re the birthday boy.

Roger: Don’t worry about it. It’ll be heavy with all this food so I’ll take care of it.

I’m moved by that boyish smile of his.

Kate: Then…please.

As he happily walked off, I trailed after him with a spring in my step.

However—

Roger pushed the wagon in a direction different from the dining room.

Kate: Um, Roger? Where are you going?

As I followed him in confusion, he turned and looked at me mischievously.

Roger: If all this delicious food’s laid out in the dining room, they might end up getting offered to Ellis and the others. I wanna enjoy your cooking in peace.

(A place to enjoy it in peace…wait, this hall leads to)

-- Roger: No one will bother us here. We can celebrate all we want without worrying about the others. —You’ll teach me how lovers spend birthdays, won’t you?

[scotianostra]

Happy St Andrews Day.

As part of our Patron Saint’s Feast Day the Scottish Saltire is proudly flown and many people add it to their posts on social media to celebrate the day, but how did Scotland adopt the saltire? 

There is no actual date, or in fact nothing in our written history of the time, but legend has it that in  AD 832 the king of the Picts, ‘Aengus MacFergus’, ( Anglified to Angus but some stories say Hungus) with the support of ‘Scots’ from Dalriada, won a great battle against King Athelstane of the Northumbrians. The site of the legendary battle became known as Athelstaneford in present-day East Lothian.

St Andrew visited the Pictish leader in a dream before the battle and told him that victory would be won.  When the battle itself was raging, a miraculous vision of the St Andrew’s Cross was seen shining in the sky, giving a boost to the morale and fighting spirit of his warriors. The result was a victory over the Saxons, and the death of Athelstan. Thus, after this victory, according to the tradition, the Saltire or St Andrew’s Cross became the flag of Scotland, and St Andrew the national patron saint.

While there is no written reference to the battle in Scotland from the period it was said to have taken place, this is not surprising, as it was a time for which we have little or no documentation for anything. The earliest written mention of the Battle of Athelstaneford in Scottish history comes from years later in the newspapers of the day, if you follow my posts then you know I dip into these “Chronicles from time to time, the first one to mention  Athelstaneford is the Scotichronicon, written by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. 

The Scotichronicon has been described by some Scottish historians as a valuable source of historical information, especially for the times that were recent to him or within his own memory. But he also wrote about earlier times, and this included the battle at Athelstaneford.

Bower’s account includes the scene where Aengus MacFergus is visited by St Andrew in a dream before the battle. He was told that the cross of Christ would be carried before him by an angel,  there was no mention of a St Andrew’s Cross in the sky in this version. It was in later accounts, from the 16th centuries onwards, that we have the description of an image of St Andrew’s Cross shining in the sky.

Bower was writing in the early 1400s. The bitter and bloody struggle to retain Scotland’s independence was not just a recent memory but also a current reality for him. Parts of Scotland were still occupied by England, and Bower had been involved in raising the money to release Scotland’s king, James I, from English captivity.

Also, Scotland’s early historical records and documents had been deliberately destroyed during the invasion by the English king Edward I. This was done in part as an attempt to remove historical evidence that Scotland had been an independent kingdom. The idea was simple: take away a nation’s history and you strip it of its identity and justification for its independent existence. The theft of the Stone of Destiny was part of this process,  the Black Rood which was believed to contain a piece of the Cross Jesus was crucified on was also removed, I have covered both these in previous posts.

Part of Bower’s motivation in writing his Scotichronicon was to help restore this stolen history. He was a scholar and a man of the church. In his time, the figure of St Andrew had become a prominent presence in Scottish society.

The greatest church building in the land during his time was the Cathedral of St Andrew, which housed relics of St Andrew himself. It had taken over a hundred years to build and wasn’t formally consecrated until 1318, just four years after Bannockburn. The ceremony of course included Robert the Bruce and at it thanks was given to St Andrew for Scotland’s victory.

Less than 100 years after this, in 1413, the University of St Andrews was established and Walter Bower was one of its first students. By this time, the Cathedral of St Andrew was a place of pilgrimage, with thousands travelling there to venerate the saint’s relics. A pilgrimage route from the south took in the shrine of Our Lady at Whitekirk, not far from the site of the battle, and many pilgrims took a ferry across the Firth from North Berwick, where the ruins and remains of the old St Andrew’s Kirk can still be seen close to the Scottish Seabird Centre.

So as he sat down to write his history of earlier times, he was able to trace this connection to St Andrew, using the limited earlier written accounts, such as those of earlier Chronicler I’ve mentioned before, John Fordun, who lived in the 1300s. While Fordun doesn’t specifically mention the location of Athelstaneford, he records a battle which took place between the Picts led by Aengus and a force from the south led by Athelstan, and said the location of the battle was about two miles from Haddington. The account of St Andrew appearing in a dream to Aengus is also described by Fordun.

This creates a powerful link to the development of the written version of the story. Let’s remember Bower came from what is now East Lothian. Let us also remember that people in the early centuries stored and passed on much of their historical knowledge not in the written word but in memory and handed down oral traditions. People told stories, remembered them and told them to the next generation. Undeniably, some details would be forgotten or changed over time, but the bones of the story would be handed down. And that would include reference to locations of significant events in the local landscape.

Bower will have had access to this rich oral tradition of local stories based on handed-down collective memories of past events, which is perhaps why he was able to name the location. The later writers who added to the story of the battle will likewise have found new sources in the oral tradition to add to the narrative. Even in the 19th century, cartographers mapping the area were able to identify locations traditionally associated with the battle from local people who were custodians of ancestral memory.

This is how the story of the Battle of Athelstaneford and its connection with St Andrew and the Saltire has evolved.

The village is home to the National Flag Heritage Centre which occupies a lectern doocot built in 1583 and rebuilt in 1996. It is at the back of the village church. Today the village is surrounded by farmland and has little in the way of amenities. Tourists can follow the “Saltire Trail”, a road route which passes by various local landmarks and places of historical interest.

Athelstaneford Parish Kirk has a connection with the subject of my post last week, author Nigel Tranter, who was a prominent supporter of the Scottish Flag Trust. He married in the church, and in April 2008 a permanent exhibition of his memorabilia was mounted in the north transept of the church. Items include a copy of Nigel Tranter’s old typewriter, a collection of manuscripts and books, and other personal items. The display was previously at Lennoxlove House, and prior to that at Abbotsford House, the home of Sir Walter Scott.

[mhsdatgo]

Alicent crowing aegon exposing her children to more risk than just letting rhaenyra became queen. Rhaenyra wanted that throne, there is no way she would have accepted those "terms", and alicent is 100% aware of this in the book and in the show as well. By crowning aegon she start a war and put her children DIRECTLY on the battlefield against people who were more experienced in war like daemon or ride dragon longer like rhaenyra and rhaenys amd consequently may control their dragon better. If you didn't want to consider a crash between two or more dragons, even if they were on a dragon against an army the danger is very high, look at rhaenys the conqueror or aemon the first son of jaehaerys, they were on dragon's back and yet both of them were killed by arrow. Not to mention that both in the book and in the show alicent spend years creating animosity with rhaenyra, If you TRULY believe that someone may hurt your children you do everything you can to maintain at least a civil relationship, and not constantly provoke them and then cry about how your children may be hurt by your stupidity. Because that what alicent has done in the book starting hating rhaenyra, pray viserys to name Aegon as heir and constantly share gossip to damage rhaenyra's image (with a 10 years old girl, meanwhile Alicent was a GROWN woman), and in the show the situation is not different. The truth is that alicent’s action were based on her own ambitious in the book and on her resentment to rhaenyra in the show, but NEVER in the interest of her children. In fact aegon never wanted to be king, he was forced by her and has to endure all the consequences while watching all of his family die

Ladies and gentlemen, here we have someone who quite literally didn't get a single thing about Fire and Blood.

See, anons like these are what makes my blood boil at the writers of HotD for making Rhaenyra appear like a saint which not only made most of the decisions she'll take from this moment onward out of (show) character (as far as character building and development goes) but also fucking boring.

I'm always one to listen to different points of view and interpretations of books as complicated as these, but something that has always bugged me is the way this fandom CANNOT DIGEST the type of tragedy that is just inevitable.

It was never about picking sides, it was never about sexism, it was always about kin torn apart by kin and their own flaws dragging them down. There was no way to ever avoid that and I cannot have a proper discussion about F&B with anyone who doesn't understand this first.

Moreover, just what do you think Alicent should've done? Shut up, be quiet, sit still and look pretty while Daemon's spies turned her children into bloody shreds? Allow them to be assassinated because of the threat they pose to Rhaenyra's claim? Does everything revolve around her? Is she some kind of Twilight Sparkle?

Let me tell you this: no woman would willingly step back and leave their children to their own devices when their own lives pose a threat to someone else's interests.

I have respect for Rhaenyra and her will to fight for what she believed was her birthright (although let's be honest, it was a feeling born out of nothing but the entitlement of a spoiled brat, it turned into a war of parents after one of each faction's children was killed) but I also have so much more respect for Alicent and her courage to bare teeth and claws and plan a coup to be allowed the upper hand and more possibilities of looking after her children if one of them is ruling. It's not "stupidity" it's awareness. And acting according to it.

It's true that Alicent has her own ambitions, but to say that they started growing in her when she was nothing but an 18 year old girl marrying a 30 year old man... Do you hear yourself? That's a girl getting graduated from high school. Oh shiver me timbers, we're scared of young adults here.

Everyone likes and loves and adores to talk about the way ALICENT was having beef with Rhaenyra as a 10 year old but nevermind Rhaenyra placing a bounty on two toddlers and one of them getting ripped apart because of it. Nevermind her refusing that bastard Corlys' advice to take Daeron as a hostage and demanding that he be killed instead. (Because this bitch was the #1 threat to her rule, but y'all aren't ready for that conversation)

She never "prayed" for Aegon to be named as heir, what she DID pray for was for him and Rhaenyra to be betrothed to one another. I hate Rhaegon personally, (no hate to any Rhaegon stan that reads this ♥️) but honestly this is the only marriage that could've MAYBE prevented the Dance. It started because there were two claimants to the throne. Just marry them to each other and the issue was solved. Both of them get crowned, no Dance, peace.

But noooooo, Viserys, the incompetent twat, as always had to act like an incompetent twat and be like "lol but they don't get along". IT WAS HIM WHO DOOMED HIS CHILDREN, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. ALL. OF. THEM.

Everyone else acted as a consequence to the cluterfuck that the sick old man created. Namely, chaos. What else did you expect?

[seventeenlovesthree]

Taichi's stance on the other Chosen Children - and why it's not always immediately visible

... Spoiler alert: It's because canon depictions don't let him dwell on it a lot, but as I've already deduced once before: He struggles once he gets isolated from the others (either self-imposed or involuntarily and, unfortunately, that happens a lot).

I do have my very own view on how he feels about every other Chosen Child (mainly the Adventure squad, but I'll try to do my best to analyze the 02 kids too), so I'll try to keep each paragraph brief. The main sentiment is that ALL characters have a certain impact on Taichi - some more than others, of course, but it shall not be overlooked how important each of them is (becoming) to him.

Yamato:

As it was pointed out various times before, Taichi and Yamato have a theme of "opposition" going on. They're often portrayed to have different viewpoints and values, literal fire vs. ice, which causes them to clash with each other a lot. But despite their tendency to fight, Taichi has this unwavering trust in Yamato that had been growing throughout their Adventures in the Digital World. He may be better at understanding and observing Yamato than Yamato is actually aware of (especially in terms of their similarities as protective older brothers). And since he trusts and believes in Yamato so much and wants to be on the same page - they (will) have saved the world together several times after all -, it usually doesn't do him good when they're at odds. Which is, mostly, initiated by Yamato and very particularly after their argument in the Dark Masters' Arc. Despite his stubbornness and hotheadedness, Taichi contemplates and overthinks a lot when they're fighting - and is basically suffering like a wounded puppy whenever it happens. I'd say he enjoys the playful (!) bickering in 02 onwards, but gets stressed out and defensive when it comes to the unresolved fighting. He obviously cares for Yamato and will definitely turn to him as his equal battle (and moping) partner. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Sora:

I think it's not exactly exaggerated when I say that Taichi isn't the most... Socially adept person when it comes to dealing with women. He has a tendency to either idealize and overprotect - or, as it is in Sora's case, doesn't find the right words to approach them. He 100% values Sora as one of his oldest friends and absolutely cherishes her caring nature - he's seen it ever since they've been partners on the football pitch and observes it closely among their companions in the Digital World. So when Sora lashes out at him for "not understanding her", it catches him off guard every time. The question is if he really misjudges her - whether it's when he calls her loving, caring or gifts her a hairclip - or if he actually subconsciously understands her better than she does herself. (She IS struggling with an identity crisis after all, and him not fully getting that kinda makes sense, since she's never filling him in.) He knows he can rely on her to take care of the others, his sister in particular, and generally trusts in her as an equal. He seems to develop a habit of not wanting to get into her business (mostly in 02 onwards), and may keep a respectful distance in Tri onwards, but will still jump in to either protect or push her if he needs to. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Koushirou:

I like to refer to Koushirou as Taichi's complementary right-hand-man - and even though Yamato and Sora may deserve the same title at varying parts of the series, all three of them fulfill different roles for him. If you want to get particularly cheesy, you could say that, in a battle-related context, Yamato is the (other) fist, Sora the heart (while Hikari is the soul) - and Koushirou is the brain. From episode 1 onwards we can tell that these two have known each other before and seem to be close in similar ways as Taichi and Sora are - and even if Taichi starts off misunderstanding Koushirou's love for technology at first, he quickly learns when and how to rely on his expertise. Similarly to how he relies on Yamato in later parts of the series as his fighting partner, he thoroughly and vocally relies on Koushirou to help him find the right path, strategy, approach - and even if they do clash a little here and there, they will always find ways to reconcile. There's also, once again, the theme of him turning into a wounded puppy when they're not on good terms - but that, once again, applies to Sora and Yamato too. One aspect of Adventure to be mentioned on the side is that Taichi may even have put Koushirou on a pedestal for a while, since he forbade him from fighting - just as he did with Hikari, whom he also idealize(s/d) and tried to protect. (I may also argue that he has a bit of an inferiority complex towards Koushirou + all the smart people around him during Kizuna, but that's him generally feeling lost in comparison to everyone else.) Either way, he will turn to Koushirou whenever there's an emergency with 100% trust (and amazenent). They get more comfortable bickering, playing on-call-dads for the 02 kids and sharing knowing glances as they get older. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Mimi:

While he doesn't exactly overprotect Mimi, he still has a habit of teasing/grinning about her "royal" attitude. There isn't as deep of a bond between them as there is between Taichi and the three previous characters. However, you get a feeling that, for Taichi, Mimi "is just Mimi", with all her antics and quirks (and only gets annoyed at that when she is overdoing it like in the Princess episode, but aside from that, he doesn't mind it and doesn't treat her like a "girly girl"). There is just a general sense of acceptance and treasuring. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Jyou:

Once he has gotten over his first impression of Jyou being "a stingy, wimpy know-it-all", you can tell that there is not only growing respect, but a general sense of comfort between them. I'd say that this may have increased even more after Jyou reassured Taichi as their leader - and the older they get, the more Taichi seems to be able to understand and relate to Jyou's previous (and ongoing) struggles and doubts. I like that there is an underlying theme of mutual admiration at various points in their lives. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Takeru:

While they clearly do have a sibling dynamic going on, it's interesting to see that Taichi doesn't coddle Takeru - quite the contrary. From day 1 on, Taichi treats Takeru like an equally important part of the group, gives him tasks and encourages him to believe in his abilities. By the end of the series, he even entrusts him with the life of his sister. It can be assumed that he's able to tell that the relationship between Takeru and Yamato is a little rocky and tries to reassure Takeru in that Yamato would never abandon him (once again reaffirming his own trust in Yamato as well). Either way, one can tell that he absolutely cares about Takeru. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Hikari:

In general, it can be said that the relationship between these two siblings is quite close - not only did Taichi take care of Hikari ever since they were little; due to their rather traumatic experiences, Taichi may also idealize/put Hikari on a pedestal and definitely had to grow out of his overprotective tendencies and self-guilt-tripping as he grew older. He adores and loves Hikari to the core and doesn't exactly coddle her, knowing that she is indeed capable - but he's also terrified of the idea of being the reason for her getting hurt again. I'd say, as of 02 onwards, he doesn't feel as thoroughly responsible for her as he used to, but it would be foolish to assume that the trauma of almost having caused her death as a kid didn't leave a lasting impact on his fear of causing collateral damage. There are instances of natural sibling bickering between them. And I'm sure, if Taichi could, he'd like her to stay as idealistic and empathetic as she is - as depicted above. They both know the necessity to fight, but it does feel like he doesn't want her to shoulder the same burden he does. [How I see their dynamic in general]

Daisuke:

After Hikari (whom he idealizes) and Takeru (whom he mostly treats like an equal), Daisuke is like a third adopted sibling - and while it's not exactly clear how he feels about it, I would assume that Taichi kinda enjoys having someone who looks up to him. He may tend to underestimate him at times or call him off as too rash, inexperienced or short-sighted. However, we can also assume that he sees parts of his younger self in Daisuke - and can now laugh about that. Also, I'd say he is actually impressed by the way Daisuke is different from himself, especially his more idealistic attitude. Taichi Yagami, as pointed out so many times before, is someone who believes in his friends - thus he also believes in Daisuke to make it one way or another. And I'd even argue that he kinda admires Daisuke for believing even more thoroughly than himself. [How I see their dynamic in general]

Miyako, Iori & Ken:

Pinpointing Taichi's exact stance on these three is incredibly difficult, because he tends to refer to the 02 group as a whole mostly as "Daisuke and the others" - meaning that he acts like a protective part-time-dad for them most of the time and tries to teach and warn them about the dangers and horrors that he/they have gone through before. It can also be assumed that his wrath towards Ken has completely vanished post-redemption, as he is not a particularly resentful person when it comes to people who show remorse.

[savagewildnerness]

What a gorgeous interview with Assad.  Imagine being him… you audition for a minor role… then all of a sudden you’re Armand… then you’re not Armand for S1, then you watch S1 and it’s incredible and in S2 you’re Armand and you actually have the largest role in the entire season 2 and THEN your first scenes are that gigantic argument with Louis and all of episode 5 in which you have to be absolutely peak 100% essence-of-Armand and in the back of your mind is like “Wow, if S2 fails, it will be MY FAULT!”  The pressure!!! And then Armand is just THE most complex character and has the most heartbreaking backstory and you have to convey him truthfully. It's all A Lot!!!

Anyway, as to the interview, you should listen to Assad talk beautifully about it rather than me yammer on. Every week, my first thought after watching a new episode is how I want to shout from the rooftops how magnificent Assad is! He is Too Incredible.

Leaving Interview With the Vampire aside (so you can stop reading here!) and turning inwards...

...the first bit made me sad on a personal level.  Who are the teachers trying to encourage shy children to act (so many actors talk this way and it seems SO alien to me!) and where were they in my life?!  There was no drama in my secondary school (in lessons we were taught at least, hahaha!) but in my primary school, Reception (age 4/5) did the nativity, Year 4’s (age 8/9) did the Christmas play and year 6’s (age 10/11) did the Summer play. It was a big school so no other years were involved in any play or any drama.

When I was 8, in year 4, the Christmas play was going to be A Christmas Carol and I desperately wanted to be in the play.  I had visions of playing Martha.  Anyway, there were around 100 children in each school year, BUT my class teacher was the Director of the play.  You couldn’t just audition to be in the play, you had to be invited to try out for it… but (admittedly very quiet, silent and shy) 8-year-old me said to my teacher that I’d like to audition for the play, and she…. LAUGHED IN MY FACE & said “hahaha, you can’t audition!  You’re WAY too quiet!”

And because I was way too quiet, I didn’t fight it.  I just took the “No.” Hahaha. And I learned that I was too quiet to have that kind of a dream & that I had been totally stupid to ever even imagine it. I only got quieter & less confident from that age onwards really, too.

But - It all worked out OK as I did actually play the leading boy in the year 6 play we did… only I know because it was a musical and all the 11-year-old boys had voices that were breaking so it was bad timing for them, thus I got the role.  And I REALLY FOUGHT for it.  In a way o don’t think I ever fought for any other thing in life. Stuff just happened to me? I think I was rubbish.  To audition for that, we had to make up our own scene and act it out, and I was good at thinking of imaginary worlds which was, I am sure the only reason I got to do that. But I did it. And it was the start and end. I remember I had to say “Don’t be respondent love” at one point and everyone laughed at this little kid saying those words. And I cried in a rehearsal (because the character was sad) and the teacher AGAIN said “Are you crying?” And the other children laughed at me.

But there was no drama as I say in my secondary school… and anyway, from age 11 onwards I became a lot more insecure.  And seeing as everyone had always told me I was just a silent, shy thing I had nothing to fall back on to believe and I just believed that was all I was and I couldn’t achieve anything.

I recently met my music teacher from secondary school in fact and I was a music person in school as you might imagine and she said “Wow, I can’t believe you have a job.  You were always so quiet.”  So that’s great!  I always did well in exams, but apparently I was quiet to such an extreme extent, even a teacher of a subject that I was notable enough at that the teacher remembers me literally thought I would have zero ability to ever function in the real world.

I can’t say she was wrong! *Unfunctioning*!!! Hahaha

I really related to Assad's tales of secondary school. I was good at maths at school and did Further Maths A-level and I was the only person in the school to do it so had 1-1 lessons. In every single maths lesson (I'm not a kid at this stage obviously! I'm 16-18!) I sat with my teacher in SUCH utter silence that you would hear both of out stomachs rumbling. LOLOLOL, it was SO awkward. I can't articulate to you how at that age I literally could not do talking at all. It would make me want to laugh the way you'd hear our stomachs having a conversation, ahahahahah.

I made that all about ME! Oops.  But hey.  Storytime with me!  I still believe I am terrible at All Things. And I don't think I am as quiet now, but I know other people perceive me that way still. Oh well. I am silent and alone and that's fine. Words are overrated unless written or spoken by others, anyway!

[charles-leclerc-official]

I feel like you're the only person on here rn who gets me in my desire for Charles to stay at Ferrari. How can people wish him away :( He IS Ferrari

I agree 100% I find it hard to imagine him at any other team.

But I will add that for people thinking it would be smart for him to move teams, you need to think long term. With the 2026 regulations coming it's becoming clear that you want to either be in a Ferrari or a Mercedes powered car. Red Bull is likely not going to be as strong 2026 and onward(I may be wrong but everything is pointing to a weaker Red Bull in 2026) Leaving just for 2025 would be a very bad move career wise.

A lot of people have been talking about what Charles should do for his career, for his legacy. You think he doesn't know that he likely could have had championships by now if he had gone to a different team at some point? He knows, I assure you he knows. He has spent a lot more time thinking about this, and know more than we do. He knows all this and went through it all and he chose to stay. You can disagree with his choice, but it's his career and his goals.

I do not think that any of what has happened is "leave the team worthy" no one is happy right now, but things will cool down, and things will bounce back.

I think the only way he'd leave would be if Ferrari massively dropped the ball on the 2026 regs and it didn't look like there was going to be a championship car for the rest of his career. He has exit clauses for that very possibility.

The thing about the team right now is that we are undergoing a big restructuring. People think the timer started for a championship fight when he joined in 2019. Unfortunately we lost a lot of time to Binotto. The timer actually started in 2023 when Fred took over. It takes a long time to bring these changes. This is the first year Fred has been in proper control and he is still assembling the team. Cardile leaving was a good sign that things are changing for the better.

I need you all to imagine how it would feel if in the next 5 years Ferrari managed a championship worthy car/team and Charles had left. That isn't really a reality I want to live in, and I don't think he does either. And the thing is that it will become clear sooner than that. If it seems like it's not possible going into 2026, fair enough.

I see a lot of posts talking about what Charles should do, and what they want to see. You can share your opinion, but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is Charles' goals and his choices to move toward those goals.

"I just want Charles to be in a good car": okay, we all want that.

"I don't think Ferrari can give it [a championship car] to him": we will have to see about that, the team is changing a lot on the technical side at the moment. I personally still believe it's possible within the next 5 years.

"I am tired of waiting": I don't know what to tell you, no one is holding a gun to your head to be a fan of a specific driver or team.

"We found out who are the Charles fans and who are the Ferrari fans": You can still be both. And begging Charles to leave for his own good does not really show you support him more than anyone else. And again, our opinions on what he should do don't matter.

"Ferrari have had so much time and still haven't produced a championship car": Again, we are 1 year into a change at the team that is still clearly for the better. I don't know what to tell you, if you don't want to stick around and see if they and Charles can do it no one is forcing you.

"How can you want him to stay at a team that is treating him like this?": I want better and am expecting better from the team on this front. Me wanting Charles to stay at Ferrari does not mean I like/support the way things have been handled for him and that I want them to keep happening.

And you are entitled to your opinion. That is fair enough.

I am trying to be as realistic as I can be. I am not asking you to agree with me or even support Ferrari. This is how I see things right now, and I don't like the current narratives telling people how they should feel. You can feel positively or negatively about the situation, both are understandable. Toxic positivity and toxic negativity are both unpleasant pitfalls. I try my best to avoid both.

No one take this as me defending Ferrari at the moment. I am not happy with the performance of the team and the way things have been handled with Charles. It was not a good look and Fred and the team need to do better.

I say all this to point out that there is more logic to it than just blindly wanting him to stay at Ferrari. People are reacting to a small stretch of time and failing to consider the big picture. The multi-year future.

Driving for Ferrari and attempting the mad goal of a championship with them is Charles' goal. If that changes he'll let us know. But I support him in this completely.

And to the people saying they want him to go to Mclaren, STRAIGHT TO JAIL I BETTER NOT CATCH YOU

[findingrome1]

Peace be with you friends.

Today August 6th and later August 9th will mark the 79th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This event marks the 1st and God willing only time when nuclear weapons were used in history. Since then history was permanently altered for better or for worse.

This choice is argued for as justified for numerous reasons. One of these chief arguments originally coming from the Truman administration is that of a grim calculation. They made the utilitarian argument that if these 2 bombs can end the war in 2 radical new demonstrations of force killing 100s of thousands then it is worth using. Since in November the USA alongside her allies would invade the home islands. This invasion in conservative estimates would lead to millions more war dead since Japan intended to mirror Germany and to fight to the bitter end. Furthermore take a moment and imagine yourself as the Truman administration in winter. You need to justify a draft expansion to a war worry nation for the Japanese meat grinder where millions of young men have already died. I can empathize with this sentiment and see the reasoning but the Magistrium of the Roman Catholic church and a deeper dive into history shows the use of Little Boy and Fat Man were morally grave actions.

I won't go into all details but I shall provide 2 excellent youtube videos covering this topic. One from World War Two (yes that's the name), and one from the Counsel of Trent. Now the utilitarian argument can overlap with the objective moral truths found in Christianity it still is deficient.

The Atomic bombings were unjustifiable. They targeted civilians by dropping on city centers to maximize their deaths. Miles away from significant military assets and factories. What helped to justify is during the course of ww2 both sides experimented with different theories of targeted civilians. This is because the powers involved were in a state of total war. This meant all sides sought to get the most out of their resources so the line between civilian and soldier was murky. Strategic bombing theory which developed in Europe in the 1920s was put into full effect with the UK under Air Marshal Harris against Germany and her allies. The USA from 1943 onwards was around the clock bombing Japan's economy to ruins. Now these were not justified either. This bombings intentionally ruined 100s of thousands of homes, killed 10s of thousands civilians. People who were not soldiers, but mostly women and children.

One final thing I shall note is that the United States and her allies made blunders in negotiations which prolonged the war. Imperial Japan would have been more keen to come to the peace table if they knew the Emperor would be allowed to live and keep his title even as a puppet. We knew about this through spying and backdoor diplomatic channels but still kept ambiguous on this. This isn't the only blunder but this is the most notable in my opinion. Please visit the links those professionals do a way better job than I could on a post I spent a half hour to write and they go into far greater detail than I did. Keep safe and God bless.

https://youtu.be/Y79iz3ufZbg?si=7Us2H3txroG7I1f6

https://youtu.be/6amuetZv-eM?si=bdAJc3bc9KKHEas0

[joltai-showa]

back to naruto, onwards to chapter 5

is that goth naruto? emo naruto?? well, the cover art on the chapters sometimes doesn't make sense and is just kishimoto having fun

oh my sides🤣🤣🤣🤣

it's always so funny to reread Naruto and just see how it simply becomes the opposite of what it had started off as

like, we don't even have to go to the "delulu fever dream" territory that Fourth Shinobi World War arc (especially from chapter 600 and onwards) is, Shippuden (which starts from chapter 245, so about 1/3 of the whole manga) begins with SUNAGAKURE BEING FUCKING NUKED

HUH THAT'S VERY SECRETIVE OF YOU MR SHINOBI

(no i will never stop laughing at the fact that Deidara of all people got sent to a stealth mission. DEIDARA. the guy whose entire purpose in life is to go kaboom. why is he a shinobi again? i guess they trained him as one, but bro's screeching at the top of his lungs and blows things up because "kaboom pretty", the only ones who is going to become invisible and eradicated are his enemies)

(and yes that's pretty much my main idea behind the events in chapter 1 of Looking Through the Foggy Glass, because if you sit there for like 5 seconds and think about "huh okay so Sasori and Deidara are sent to Suna to get Shukaku, I wonder who's the better choice for this mission among the two of them, Sasori who is literally from this village, has spies in there and specializes in stealthy actions or Deidara who is loud as fuck has no plan other than to survive because he's a spiteful bitch and has to fight Itachi down the line" you realize that canon events make no sense unless a) Sasori actually refused to do the mission and just gave it to Deidara because LMAO what's Pain gonna do to stop them from doing what they want once they get to Suna? Leave his depressioncore village? Shout at them during the Zoom meetup? b) the leadership of Akatsuki are a bunch of imbeciles who really looked at Deidara's arsenal and went "yep, that's the kind of energy we want to bring to our One-Tail extraction mission", which really shouldn't be the case no matter how many tons of rocks happened to fall on their head over the course of their lives. so yeah, Sasori is doing Kishibe Rohan reference (pretty much intended because of the voice actor lmao) in the beginning of LTFG)

oh and I just remembered another fun topic: the structure of society in Naruto makes no fucking sense! in particular the way military operates in the world. I remember someone pointing out that "eradicating yourself", "doing everything unnoticed" etc etc y'know, the SHINOBI stuff actually sounds like shinobi should really either be assassins for hire during the peaceful times or frontline units specializing in quick sudden attacks on the enemy, disorienting said enemy and providing the opportunity for breakthrough for. well. the actual military??? at the start of the manga it does kinda seem like shinobi is just a specialized profession, but then certain events start and you realize wait what the fuck shinobi ARE the military??? I may not be a professional strategist, but between training 100 guys to hide and throw knives from behind the bushes and training one kid with a fucking nuke there is one strategy that will clearly be faster and more efficient in battles that last hours, if not days (and they should be if the shinobi world had 3 world wars in the span of 77 years).

another issue that I have with the military system is actually about the shinobi system itself, in particular that there's just no specialization. we've got like three ranks starting from "finished primary school" and ending with "an actual fucking general" and beyond that there's just being the ninja mayor lmao. I believe there's also this thing called tokubetsu-jonin which is essentially a chunin who's pretty good at something, but not a lot of other things, so we can't make them a jonin??? anyway, ninja system really should have more ranks for its shinobi. and more units existing in parallel. like, you become a jonin and your options (at least in Konoha) seem to be limited to "work for Hokage", "wear cool mask and work for Hokage", "get three kids, go insane and work for Hokage", "sell your soul to Danzo and work for him (90% meaning you work for Hokage)" and "torture squad. probably also given missions from Hokage".

but ninjustu and taijutsu are two different kind of skills.................

I understand that bullying a 13-year-old is very very important but is it really necessary to pull out the erotica?

Ah, fuck it, considering what we are going to learn about you later, Kakashi, porn-addiction is probably the least terrible thing that you could've developed

(we are not going to talk about the guy who's eye you are hiding under the headband. one can write an entire encyclopedia about the mental ilnesses that guy has. probably discovering a few more in the process, considering the possible state of Naruto world's research in that area)

what jutsu? the anal penetration? nah, Naruto'll manage

why are they such goblins😭😭😭😭😭😭

okay who's ready to bet that it was Tobirama who developed it

who's ready to bet on how many Uchiha died from it lmao

but anyway I would've actually died if this gag would have made it all the way to the end of the manga. instead of bishonen transformation jutsu we just had thousands years of pain being pulled up by one of the Hokages. now that would have been peak fiction (not really, but I really would have died. not sure if it would be from laughter or cringe)

Sakura blushing and Sasuke mildly sweating is for some reason absolutely hilarious to me

STOP READING PORN FFS

I really hope Minato and Rin were watching this ongoing bullshit. heaven's gates aren't opening for you, Kakashi

"that kind of strength" as in shoving one's fingers into your future student's ass and launching them into the moon?

now that I think about it, it does seem on brand for Konoha to not have anything resembling child protection services, huh

BRO DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO PULL THE POWER OF SHONEN ON YOUR SIDE FOR THIS???? FOR YOUR FIRST TRAINING WITH YOUR TEACHER?

yeah he's also 13 and just finished the primary school ffs!

yeah I know you were 13 when they made you a GODDAMN JONIN but you also remember HOW THAT ENDED with you returning with a new cool eye😁😁😁😁

I just love how goofy their faces look. early Naruto style my beloved

oh, so here's an actual omake from the volume.

Horikoshi loved to add his thoughts during the work on the chapter/some info on the characters and their designs/explanations on what is going on behind the scene, but Kishimoto's omake most of the time is just him telling the most insane stories from his life. you really do be reading an intense ninja battle and in the middle of it Kishi is explaing how he got his head stuck in Naruto merchandise pouch after trying to take a nap there and all of his assistants were taking photos of him stuck in there and laughing as he was trying to get it off himself.

(now I kinda wish Naruto was releasing today, with all of the social media available. Horikoshi posts absolutely amazing sketches for new episodes/volume releases, while Fujimoto's account is just "Today I went to 7/11 and bought the new autumn melon pan. It was delicious. I recommend it to everyone." generally on the same day CSM manga has the most insane lore drop and battle of the year.)

(also remembered that time when Fujimoto recommened his assistant's one shot. he did mention that it was 18+. he did not mention that it was straight up yaoi. the comments were flooded with people posting the picture of that guy saluting with text "me when Fujimoto tells me to read gay porn")

(anyway imagine if we had something like that for Naruto. I would not be surprised if we were to find Kishimoto liking Sasunaru fanart.)

[zahri-melitor]

Casspoll!

Okay I really had to think about this one and I quickly dipped into the runs I have not touched yet rather than just using their reputations:

Kelley Puckett – It’s Puckett. He created Cass. Some of her very best stories happened here – the first two Shiva fights, delivering a man’s final wishes, Nobody Dies Tonight, Thicker than Water. The absolute heart that Cass cannot allow people to be killed hits hard here. She’s still learning about what a society is.

Dylan Horrocks takes Cass and her growth and lets her mess up and brings Bruce and Barbara more into conflict over what Cass needs, but also allows Cass to be in conflict with them over what she wants. It has the Ivy twofer “The City is a Garden/The City is a Jungle” which I think is Horrocks’ best plot. It has Tough Love, where Bruce and Cass have their conversation over what the Bat means to Cass. It has Cooking the Books, where we see the abrasive side of Barbara’s personality come out and hurt her relationship with Cass. It has Cass taking her first steps into relationships, with her attraction to Tai’Darshan and Kon. It’s a messier, more complicated time.

Andersen Gabrynch has the best conversation of Fresh Blood with Tim over their life goals and their reflections on War Games. He has Destruction’s Daughter/Blood Matters and everything that comes with the culmination of that storyline. He gives Cass her first taste of civilian life. Gabrynch is the ‘how far will Cass go’ writer.

Adam Beechen: you’re all mean! Oh Beechen. He screwed up first time around, no question, but I continue to maintain he did useful things with Cass in Batgirl 2008. He brought in the chance to parallel Slade and Rose’s relationship with David and Cass’. He worked hard to find fixes for the mistakes he made. And if Fresh Blood set up the situation where we saw Tim and Cass become closer and start establishing a sibling-like relationship, then Beechen solidified it to the point that it was expected from that point onwards.

Joe Kelly: oh, Justice League Elite. You are certainly a story. I think the most important thing Kelly actually did in JLE was when Cass stabbed Kendra. It broke her. There is some beautiful writing in JLE surrounding Cass basically sobbing to Bruce over this incident, and Bruce promising her that she doesn’t have to stay undercover, he’ll pull her out, her happiness is more important to him than this mission, and Cass refusing to be extracted. And Ollie remaining there the whole time to keep an eye on Cass on Bruce’s behalf. It’s such a good paternal moment on both Bruce and Ollie’s parts, and they so very rarely get them in concert. It’s also a moment of growth in Cass that is rarely referenced, because as I must repeat, it happens in JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE.

Bryan Hill: I have heard good things! And immediately on picking it up and going through the first three issues I saw the exact thing I’d enjoyed and wanted more of from Dixon’s 2008 BatO run – Tatsu working with and mentoring Cass – which is a solid recommendation in itself. Will 100% be coming back to this when I get up to this era in my reading.

Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad: I dipped into #1 and #14. It suffers from the modern era problem of light and bright fluffy content without a solid base behind it. Also the fact that the writers didn’t initially realise that two of the characters they were assigned were ADULTS and were writing them that immaturely is certainly not reassuring. Um. I also know I’m not fully across modern era Cass yet, but #14 seems to miss something that’s basic to my understanding of Cass – talking can be hard but READING is harder. Cass not talking but having reading comprehension showing up constantly? It feels off. (Also I’m fascinated in how an issue like Batgirls #1 manages to be that off while still managing the Cass shower robe scene, which to my eye echoes and references the BatO 2008 Cass shower scene. Suspect they just got lucky and I’m reading too much in)

Mariko Tamaki: okay I have not yet read Shadows of the Bat: The Tower, but I have read Sounds, so I’m basing on that. Tamaki really seems to get Cass, her hand with the character work in Sounds hit some very fundamental parts of Cass’ character and struggles, and I really enjoyed it.

Overlooked: ALYSSA WONG. Wong’s work with Cass in Spirit World not only has been busy recanonising a bunch of things from Batgirl 2000, but is touching on some central aspects of Cass’s view of killing and death in beautiful resonance of things originally established by Puckett. Also it’s given Cass some narrative space back on her own, and while I think Cass’s relationship with Steph is important, I also think she’s more functional and useful to DC writers when she’s not assumed to be part of an automatic pair.

Plus a plug for Scott Snyder for Gates of Gotham and giving us proper insight into the Reborn era Cass relationships with her brothers.

[solarwynd]

Right?? This whole week as LC was increasing I saw non stop tears and recriminations because "guys we need to focus on new releases". But somehow LC reaches one billion and now suddeny the new focus is getting every member to 1B. They don't even seem to be that sad that neuron has completely left the chart. It's been 1 week 💀

Anyway the project is doomed to fail like anon said. Many armys nowadays seem to have no concept of how charts or streams work. I don't think most of them have worked out how long it's going to take to get all of them to 1 billion. With the numbers as they are SNTY and LMA would probably be the easiest to get to 1 billion and it would still take at least half an year more to get that done. Reminds me of that one army yesterday who had no idea that the spotify counter is for unfiltered streams or that army from a few weeks back who tried to cover up being an anti by saying let's get LC to 1 billion in 3 days when it still had 20M left to go.

I used to think armys (and other solos) were being deliberately obtuse about things because there's no way they don't see the payola JK got or not know how the hot 100 or radio works but I'm becoming more and more convinced that the armys of today are not the ones from 2018-2021 because they seem to have no clue what's going on most of the time.

Fandom is already divided as hell - with the anti-company stans and boycotts, the pro-company stans demonising other armys, some outright antis masquerading as ot7s and everyone else only being here for bragging rights and fighting other kpop stans, things are not looking good for 2025. BTS better bring their a-game for their next work because if they're planning on skating by with some boring ballad as a title track, weak concept and with all of them sitting on chairs, its going to land them nowhere with the fandom in this state.

All I know is armys better point that finger at themselves if hobi doesn’t chart on hot 100 next week, cause I’ve never seen such a lack of effort for a bts member’s comeback in all my years of being in that fandom.

“I'm becoming more and more convinced that the armys of today are not the ones from 2018-2021 because they seem to have no clue what's going on most of the time.”

You’d be correct. A lot of people left with the english trilogy and onward and got replaced by the chart obsessed ones here now. Which sucks cause army twitter was better 2018-2019. It definitely still had it’s issues but armys back then were a lot more useful.

“BTS better bring their a-game for their next work because if they're planning on skating by with some boring ballad as a title track, weak concept and with all of them sitting on chairs, its going to land them nowhere with the fandom in this state.”

Chair era was the absolute pit. I know it was concentrated around the more ballad type songs but even spring day had choreo. Pair that with both LGO and YTC being dull songs everything was just so lackluster. And after seeing Jimin do smf2 level choreo, having to watch him go back to sitting on chairs would do me in. So I honestly hope that they don’t come back with that. Or them damn white dionysus clown boots!

[scotianostra]

Happy St Andrews Day.

As part of our Patron Saint’s Feast Day the Scottish Saltire is proudly flown and many people add it to their posts on social media to celebrate the day, but how did Scotland adopt the saltire?

There is no actual date, or in fact nothing in our written history of the time, but legend has it that in AD 832 the king of the Picts, ‘Aengus MacFergus’, ( Anglified to Angus but some stories say Hungus) with the support of 'Scots’ from Dalriada, won a great battle against King Athelstane of the Northumbrians. The site of the legendary battle became known as Athelstaneford in present-day East Lothian.

St Andrew visited the Pictish leader in a dream before the battle and told him that victory would be won. When the battle itself was raging, a miraculous vision of the St Andrew’s Cross was seen shining in the sky, giving a boost to the morale and fighting spirit of his warriors. The result was a victory over the Saxons, and the death of Athelstan. Thus, after this victory, according to the tradition, the Saltire or St Andrew’s Cross became the flag of Scotland, and St Andrew the national patron saint.

While there is no written reference to the battle in Scotland from the period it was said to have taken place, this is not surprising, as it was a time for which we have little or no documentation for anything. The earliest written mention of the Battle of Athelstaneford in Scottish history comes from years later in the newspapers of the day, if you follow my posts then you know I dip into these “Chronicles from time to time, the first one to mention Athelstaneford is the Scotichronicon, written by the Scottish historian Walter Bower.

The Scotichronicon has been described by some Scottish historians as a valuable source of historical information, especially for the times that were recent to him or within his own memory. But he also wrote about earlier times, and this included the battle at Athelstaneford.

Bower’s account includes the scene where Aengus MacFergus is visited by St Andrew in a dream before the battle. He was told that the cross of Christ would be carried before him by an angel, there was no mention of a St Andrew’s Cross in the sky in this version. It was in later accounts, from the 16th centuries onwards, that we have the description of an image of St Andrew’s Cross shining in the sky

Bower was writing in the early 1400s. The bitter and bloody struggle to retain Scotland’s independence was not just a recent memory but also a current reality for him. Parts of Scotland were still occupied by England, and Bower had been involved in raising the money to release Scotland’s king, James I, from English captivity.

Also, Scotland’s early historical records and documents had been deliberately destroyed during the invasion by the English king Edward I. This was done in part as an attempt to remove historical evidence that Scotland had been an independent kingdom. The idea was simple: take away a nation’s history and you strip it of its identity and justification for its independent existence. The theft of the Stone of Destiny was part of this process, the Black Rood which was believed to contain a piece of the Cross Jesus was crucified on was also removed, I have covered both these in previous posts.

Part of Bower’s motivation in writing his Scotichronicon was to help restore this stolen history. He was a scholar and a man of the church. In his time, the figure of St Andrew had become a prominent presence in Scottish society.

The greatest church building in the land during his time was the Cathedral of St Andrew, which housed relics of St Andrew himself. It had taken over a hundred years to build and wasn’t formally consecrated until 1318, just four years after Bannockburn. The ceremony of course included Robert the Bruce and at it thanks was given to St Andrew for Scotland’s victory.

Less than 100 years after this, in 1413, the University of St Andrews was established and Walter Bower was one of its first students. By this time, the Cathedral of St Andrew was a place of pilgrimage, with thousands travelling there to venerate the saint’s relics. A pilgrimage route from the south took in the shrine of Our Lady at Whitekirk, not far from the site of the battle, and many pilgrims took a ferry across the Firth from North Berwick, where the ruins and remains of the old St Andrew’s Kirk can still be seen close to the Scottish Seabird Centre.

So as he sat down to write his history of earlier times, he was able to trace this connection to St Andrew, using the limited earlier written accounts, such as those of earlier Chronicler I’ve mentioned before, John Fordun, who lived in the 1300s. While Fordun doesn’t specifically mention the location of Athelstaneford, he records a battle which took place between the Picts led by Aengus and a force from the south led by Athelstan, and said the location of the battle was about two miles from Haddington. The account of St Andrew appearing in a dream to Aengus is also described by Fordun.

This creates a powerful link to the development of the written version of the story. Let’s remember Bower came from what is now East Lothian. Let us also remember that people in the early centuries stored and passed on much of their historical knowledge not in the written word but in memory and handed down oral traditions. People told stories, remembered them and told them to the next generation. Undeniably, some details would be forgotten or changed over time, but the bones of the story would be handed down. And that would include reference to locations of significant events in the local landscape.

Bower will have had access to this rich oral tradition of local stories based on handed-down collective memories of past events, which is perhaps why he was able to name the location. The later writers who added to the story of the battle will likewise have found new sources in the oral tradition to add to the narrative. Even in the 19th century, cartographers mapping the area were able to identify locations traditionally associated with the battle from local people who were custodians of ancestral memory.

This is how the story of the Battle of Athelstaneford and its connection with St Andrew and the Saltire has evolved.

The village is home to the National Flag Heritage Centre which occupies a lectern doocot built in 1583 and rebuilt in 1996. It is at the back of the village church. Today the village is surrounded by farmland and has little in the way of amenities. Tourists can follow the "Saltire Trail", a road route which passes by various local landmarks and places of historical interest.

Athelstaneford Parish Kirk has a connection with the subject of my post last week, author Nigel Tranter, who was a prominent supporter of the Scottish Flag Trust. He married in the church, and in April 2008 a permanent exhibition of his memorabilia was mounted in the north transept of the church. Items include a copy of Nigel Tranter's old typewriter, a collection of manuscripts and books, and other personal items. The display was previously at Lennoxlove House, and prior to that at Abbotsford House, the home of Sir Walter Scott.

[ooops-i-arted]

Collecting my research here for easy access. As I did when I was a young hobbit spending hours on dial-up for any scrap of LotR costume info, I heavily relied on Alleycatscratch and Costumers' Guide. I will be using the names they use to refer to the costumes.

This outfit was cut from TTT (it originally appeared when Eowyn was fighting orcs in Helm's Deep to allow her people to escape) but was made using components of others: the blue gown is from the Refugee outfit she wears after leaving Edoras onward (sometimes covered by the brown riding coat) and the corset is the same as the white/brown Shieldmaiden dress she wears in RotK and in many of promo images. I am planning to make the Shieldmaiden dress for War of the Rohirrim so I may as well kill two orcs with one stone!

I was doubting if the skirt was split because of the looks in the first and last images, but on my desktop I can see the split more clearly on the gif and you can also see it much clearer here:

Of course given that the split appears to be two different lengths in the images above, there could be two versions of the dress. We know the LotR costumers made multiple versions of everything for sizing reasonings so it's not out of the realm of possibility (afaik Eowyn never had a size double, but perhaps there was one for her scenes with Gimli). It could also just be the corset affecting the way the dress falls, which seems more likely.

For a bit I debated if I wanted the skirt split for looks, but since it's clearly there I'm going to make it split for accuracy, even though I am not going for 100% accuracy in this costume. I am also not going to be accurate with the seams for the collar/neck piece as seen in the dress-only pic above, though I am going to draft my own pattern for the dress because none of the ones I have suit what I want. I am going to do princess seams to make it a bit more fitted (kind of like the Cara top I drafted) but want the skirt to be fuller with only front/back/side seams. I should have a skirt or two I can use as reference for how full I want to make it. The actual fabric is also threaded with gold throughout but I will settle for a blue-grey and not worry about that. The bodice on the pattern I finally found previously (Simplicity 4940, which I bought originally for my Arwen cosplay) looks good for except for some minor tweaks like the neckline and probably lengthening it, but I want to make the dress mockup first so I can fit it over. The real bodice is actually two pieces (bodice and corset) but since this costume is "due" by the end of March I'm going to make the bodice first, hopefully with trim and quilting details to look like the full piece, and add the corset if I had time or in the future when I make my Shieldmaiden costume. (War of the Rohirrim release date is December 2024 rn so I should have time along with the Eowyn as Dernhelm costume I promised my sister.)

The plan thus far:

Create dress pattern and mockup

Create bodice mockup

Make dress

Make bodice

Purchase brown leggings for underneath, possibly wear boots already owned

If time - make corset

If time - boot covers so I can wear tennis shoes with supports because the boots I am eyeing pinch my feet

[ukrfeminism]

4 minute read

Police tactics used against terrorists are being used to catch the 100 worst predators targeting women in London.

The Met said a system assessing 35,000 offenders reported each year for crimes against females was being used.

It follows a series of scandals and a review that found the force was racist, misogynist and homophobic.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: "It's taking the organised crime or terrorism approach to male predatory violence."

"If we go after them proactively, build a case against them, get them off the streets, that protects women and children in London, so that's an indicator of something more innovative, more front-footed, and how we reform how we police London", Sir Mark added.

The Cambridge Crime Harm Index (CCHI) is the first system that measures the seriousness of crime harm to victims, and not just the number of officially recorded crimes.

It gathers data on tens of thousands of men recently convicted of domestic assault, rape, sex offences, stalking, and harassment to rank the 100 who pose the highest risk to the public.

'Rebuild public trust'

Baroness Casey was appointed to review the force's culture and standards after the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, in 2021.

During the course of her review, another Met officer, David Carrick, was convicted of a series of rapes, sexual offences and torture of women.

Plans to overhaul the force, a £366 million two-year scheme dubbed A New Met for London, are being launched with visits to every borough in the English capital.

Bosses say there will be an increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing in a bid to rebuild public trust.

Some 240 officers out of the Met's total workforce of around 34,000 will be moved from central to local teams.

There are also plans to recruit 500 more community support officers (PCSOs) and an extra 565 people to work with teams investigating domestic abuse, sexual offences and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Each borough will have at least one front counter open 24 hours a day under the proposals.

During austerity from 2010 onwards, local borough teams were cut so that between two and four boroughs were covered by one basic command unit.

Sir Mark, who previously said there were hundreds of officers in the Met who should have been kicked off the force, said bosses are "sacking and suspending more officers than ever before".

He added: "I've got a minority of my people I need to sort out, and we're doing that as rapidly and as quickly as we can do."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "Londoners will rightly judge this plan on actions not words, and I will be unflinching in holding the Met and the Commissioner to account and supporting him to deliver."

London's Victims' Commissioner Claire Waxman OBE said: "A New Met for London clearly sets out how the Met plans to turn around the force and deliver for Londoners, but there is no time to lose, as they need to quickly and effectively improve their support to the thousands of victims they interact with on a daily basis."

Analysis

Sonja Jessup, BBC London home affairs correspondent

Why hasn't this been done before? This approach - using data to try to target the most dangerous suspects more precisely - is already used to tackle terrorism and serious organised crime.

But there've been two significant changes.

The first is the increase in reports of rape and domestic abuse: police say the numbers are too big to manually identify which cases to prioritise and they need to find new crime fighting methods.

The second is about the pressure on the Met to take violence against women and girls more seriously. Campaigners have warned many victims have lost confidence in the force.

The Met hopes to restore that trust, but that will mean not only bringing more offenders to justice, but also demonstrating a change in its own culture, as a force criticised as "institutionally misogynist" by Baroness Casey.

[ummick]

Mick’s Diary: 2024 Plans, Final Races of the Season & More

Time for one final check-in of the 2023 Formula One season. Here’s the last chapter of Mick’s Diary for this year. Catching up with our Reserve Driver, Mick Schumacher, to hear all about the final races of the season, what he made of Las Vegas and his plans for the winter. We also hear from him on his 2024 plans now that they’ve been officially announced. Hi everyone. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, so there’s plenty to update you on for my last diary of the 2023 season. It’s been a very long season for everybody, and we’re going to have a longer one next year. Everyone is bracing themselves for it. On the other hand, it’s good to know we’ve completed the year with a successful learning path and securing P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. I’ve also learned a lot over the season and my knowledge base. Every time I went in the car I felt like I did take steps forward. Obviously the simulator work helped with the development of the W14, so I’m excited to see what next year holds. All of the races at the end of the year have been flyaways, so I’ve not been on the race support like I am for the Europeans. It’s a very different approach to the weekend, as for flyaways I am there from Thursday onwards so I am much more involved on the ground, but for most of the Europeans I’m in the simulator and only get to the track on Saturday. But both have their charm and have their individual way of learning and taking what’s important from the weekend. We’ve finished the season with an intense run of races. You can never really combat all the travel and the time zones; you just have to survive it, really. Probably one of the most difficult parts of F1 is switching time zones. Vegas was a tough cookie. I unfortunately got sick when I arrived there and I didn’t really recover until the end of the weekend. Luckily everything’s all good, but from what I saw of Vegas the schedule was quite tough, but there were lots of positives and I’d never been to Vegas before, so it was an interesting experience. As a team, we win and lose together and when things are difficult you definitely feel that. All I want to do is help the team to success and we all worked very hard to try and get the car back up to speed. Especially now with the W15 already in the works, we all are 100% focused on trying to have a successful 2024. It’s a great opportunity to stay with the team for next year as the Reserve Driver and keep on learning, keep building on what we’ve achieved this year. I think we’re all very keen to get started and on track with the W15, so it will be very nice to be part of that process. I can also continue to build on all the relationships with the team. It’s been good to spend so much time with everyone and get to know, also, the people who have been here when my dad was. It’s a very special team and a very special bond that they have. I’m also really excited to be back racing in the World Endurance Championship with Alpine. I’m a racer, I always was a racer, so I’ll be racing next year and that’s what I do best. Not racing this year was tough, so I’m just really looking forward to being on the road and fighting. In between we have a bit of a break, so I’ll be recharging my batteries; get ready for racing next year and try to build on what we’ve done in 2023. I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who’s read these diary entries through the year, but most importantly thanks to all the fans for sticking with me. It’s been a tough year and we never give up. We always try to give our best. Thank you for being there every step of the way, and I’m excited for what next year holds. Believe me, I’m still working hard on also the step to hopefully being back in F1.