#specifically ww1 too

[theoppositeofprofound]

The appeal of Valinor is not that you are healed and it’s happily ever after, it’s that you must heal forever and always reckon with what you have done and what has been done to you. How do you live with yourself when you can’t properly die? When even your afterlife is full of ghosts? You can’t escape or put it aside—you have to reach a peace with them, but that peace will always be a little tenuous. No one will ever forget what happened, even as new and brighter memories begin to paper over the old. They can’t forget. The scars will always be there, on the spirit if not the flesh. Even if it hurts less every day, it will always hurt a little. And yet, you’re here. So you get on with it.

[fischerfrey]

TEASER: Save the Undone Years, a collaborative HP WW1 era story by @potionboy3, @cursed-herbalist and yours truly

Part 1: On A Revelation: Ares Gaunt & Kit Enfield Part 2: Lunas Avery Part 3: Alexej Kavinsky Part 4: Odessa Avery Part 5: Ares Gaunt & Kit Enfield Part 6: Leda Gaunt to be continued...

There are a lot of moving parts still, but this verse is open for collaboration from anyone who wants to take part. We'd be especially happy to hear from your OCs' backstories but all kinds of fanfiction is welcome.

We're working to put together a masterpost with all the lore we have so far, so you're not entirely dependent on A Completely Serious Guide. Our chapters will focus mostly on Kit, Ares, Lunas, and the plot revolving around Ren Godfrey and TOWER, so if your OC is somehow involved with that, we ask that you consult with us.

Participation is completely voluntary and you can comment on this post if you're okay with us using your WW1 era OCs for this verse!

[justabrowncoatedwench]

Just wanna point out re "For a full century, use of the symbol was voluntarily deferred" that it has not in fact BEEN a full century. It began in 1933 when the concentration camps were built by the newly appointed Chancellor Hitler and didn't end until it was forcibly ended* in 1945 by the Allies.

Based on estimates from 2009, there's roughly 67,000 Holocaust survivors still alive in the US today (source) but it's important to also be aware that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum defines a Holocaust survivor thusly: "The Museum honors as survivors any persons, Jewish or non-Jewish, who were displaced, persecuted, or discriminated against due to the racial, religious, ethnic, social, and political policies of the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. In addition to former inmates of concentration camps, ghettos, and prisons, this definition includes, among others, people who were refugees or were in hiding."

That means people alive today who were children in hiding or refugees outside of Axis territories in the 1940s are living Holocaust survivors. They'd be in their 70s and 80s now. Old, yes, but not dead and gone enough for them to not have a say re reclamation of the swastika, nor for their children and grandchildren who inherited that generational trauma to not be affected by that symbol. (And yes, generational trauma shows up not just in the way a persecuted culture teaches and raises their children, but also in their epigenetics.)

I only bring up the swastika reclamation because it was mentioned already and used to highlight how the sickle and hammer shouldn't be "reclaimed", especially not by people for whom it was never used to oppress. Neither are free to be reclaimed right now, imo, but the swastika especially should not be incorrectly excused as free to reclaim while the sickle and hammer is correctly deferred.

*ended for some, the Allies notably left victims with pink triangle badges imprisoned (gay & queer prisoners).

The thing is, I have nothing against socialism or communism as a political ideology; trust me, I'm as anti-capitalist as they come. The leftism is really not the problem here.

The problem is when in their leftism, people – Americans, really, and western Europeans – use the ussr as this sort of goal, this complete antithesis to the modern capitalist society, this almost-utopian place to live. They use hammer and sickle symbol, the ussr anthem; sometimes, as a joke, sometimes, not so much.

Not only that clearly shows that they know absolutely nothing about the ussr – it's also spreading russian propaganda, whether it's on purpose or not, which is especially insidious now, when russia is literally committing a genocide.

The ussr wasn't a socialist utopia where everyone is equal. It was a totalitarian dictatorship, responsible for colonisation and genocide of multiple people and cultures. Just like the russian Empire before it. Just like modern russia continues to do now.

For many Eastern European and Central Asian people, hammer and sickle is not just a symbol of a political ideology. It's the symbol, under which people were starved to death, imprisoned or executed for daring to write in their own language; in which cultures were erased, people – forcefully assimilated, stripped of their own national identity.

It's the propaganda of being "the same people, the same nation" that russians love to use; that westerners love to believe, for the sole reason of the oppressed daring to look similar to the oppressor; for the sole reason of Americans being unable to look past their own history and realize oppression comes in many shapes and forms.

By using the ussr symbols in your political movement, you're denying the atrocities commited under that symbol and spreading russian propaganda, whether it's on purpose or not.

It's not "progressive" to wave around a hate symbol.

Do your research.

[my-darling-boy]

Good morning, I hope you're doing well.

I just wanted to start by saying I deeply admire your work, and have found it beautiful, emotive and inspiring.

From what I know, you do reenactments in the UK and I've been wanting to get into reenactment myself for a looooong time, but I've always chickened out because I'm trans (ftm, pre T/medical transition).

It's super refreshing to find a trans person in this scene. I was wondering if you had any advice? Whether that's how to find safe groups, how to find costumes that fit, how to maybe start projects yourself. Any advice at all would be deeply appreciated.

The ww1/ww2 periods are really close to my heart and I would adore the opportunity to explore reenactments for these periods of history in a safe environment.

All the best,

🪖

Ah that’s awesome you’re interested in getting into reenactment, it’s a really fun hobby! Don’t think I’ve seen any advice posts for world war reenactors specifically in your situation; I think “modern” military reenactment with this in mind comes with special considerations, so I’ll do my best to give a loose Survival Guide below the cut if you’re wanting to start. This will be Long, but I’ve not seen another resource on this sort of thing from the trans angle so might as well be specific! These are just my own observations to hopefully give you a bit more perspective on whether or not it’s something you’re comfortable pursuing. That all being said…

★ In the case of being trans, especially without medical transition, I HIGHLY advise against doing this hobby completely stealth, it’s just not a good idea. For many events, you camp in the same tent/room with lads your age to men 60+ and may have to change in front of them. Even in the event there is space/bathroom to change, it’s sometimes only a single stall crawling with spiders as a lot of re-enactments are in a little village in the middle of nowhere. If it’s not your own group that could cause problems upon circumstantially finding out, it could be another reenactor or member of the public. If you bind or pack, you have to get the things on and off secretly around so many people you don’t know. Some events are in other countries. For a lot of events, there isn’t any cell service so in the off-chance something goes wrong and you have no one to help you…. You’re Cooked.

★ Transparency to some capacity is best. Whether it’s just a couple group members that know or the whole group knows, someone’s support is your greatest safety net. If you find a group you want to trial, I recommend first shooting an email rather than meeting face to face. Ask if they’re looking for new members, if they already are, that you would be interested in a trial. Add that you’re trans and you want to know if this is an issue, there’s really no other way to ask this. It’s complex, but really they’re not allowed to tell you no on grounds of discrimination, however you can gauge how accepting they are by their response. If they’re suddenly not looking for new members or they play email tag over weeks with no clear answer, pass. Being upfront about it if you’re pre-everything will save you wasting time on groups who don’t want to work with you.

★ Research local regiments/groups you want. Searching near your county may mean you won’t have to travel too far for events, but not always. And you don’t have to stay local, I find groups accept members from just about anywhere in the UK, even outside it sometimes! It’s also good to have some research done on the regiment/battalion you want.

★ Next, big, very important: World War re-enactment is a very Actual Military dominated hobby, and you’ll be exposed to all that entails. I say this to give you a heads up as to the social environment you’re entering into which not many trans people may consider. There’s no way to engage with this area of group reenactment that is completely divorced from the genus of the military as it exists today, even for historical education. The groups I’ve met as well as my own are comprised mostly of veterans, people currently serving, or those from military/first-responder families. In my own observation, world war groups feel more like off-shoot capillaries of the military as opposed to doing something like medieval reenactment or a Jacobite. They are run, funded, and supported in full or part by current/ex military members and organisations. Now obviously it’s not the real military, you’re not enlisted, you’re not going to get court-martialed if you do something wrong! However, these groups try to hold themselves to the same professionalism that you would get if you were actually in the forces cos you’re portraying someone in the military—albeit 1916–who would’ve held themselves to the same standards. There’s fun, there’s jokes, but you stand up so straight on inspection that it’s uncomfortable, eyes front, you never fool around with a weapon, you do what you’re told, and you try to help out every member as best you can cos you’re a unit. It’s a balance between being serious and fun. I know I’m silly outside it, but once I’m on site, it’s time for more discretion. You’re first and foremost an educational historical actor, and as such you’re required to conduct yourself in the public eye as a service member—someone’s ancestor—representing a real regiment that more than likely still exists. This is not a Ren Faire environment. A reenactment group does not exist in a vacuum and neither do the world wars. Not every group is as connected with the Real military as others, but this is just a Heads Up in case interacting with these entities contributes to making you feel “unsafe” in your position.

★ There is also that complicated grey area of how even the most progressive group still exists within a network of current systems which are traditional and affects the way that group must present itself to the public and their Real Military Counterparts they are inseparable from. World war reenacting is still deeply intertwined with current forces and old tradition because the wars and their decades are still within collective consciousness and still hot topics of discussion. Some people really take issue with trans people in the hobby, we all know this, so even as supportive as a group may be, many choose for safety to be on the DL when engaging with other hobbyists whom you don’t know (outside of your group). I personally don’t know any other trans men active in WW groups, though I know they’re out there. That alone should give you an idea as to how Quiet we keep it for safety, even if, bless them, our cis group mates would gladly tell someone off for being transphobic. Though having to be on the DL to anyone outside your group at events for someone who is pre-everything can be anxiety inducing. It’s why I say it’s for your own benefit that at least someone in your group 100% has your back.

★ Lads love teasing each other and will tease you, with love, but don’t be the doormat for anything transphobic. As is the case with the real military, jokes/teasing is an integral part of the camaraderie and as I said, lots of people doing WW reenacting are current/ex military. Short jokes @ me are common, they’re made with love, it’s not transphobic or malicious. While someone messing with you is common cis male bonding, don’t hesitate to tell someone steady on if they go over the line or they’re genuinely being malicious before you go to the sergeant with a formal complaint. It’s usually an immediate apology and then never doing it again. And as said, don’t let transphobic teasing slide. If there is any phobic joke that could fly under the radar to someone not privy, it would be jokes equating you with someone called “Bob” so if you ever hear that one—if you don’t already know what that means—definitely bring that up to someone!

★ A tip for cis male dominated spaces: self-confidence, optimism, and a general good nature will get you far. Being extremely, constantly awkward or aloof from dysphoria or fearing cis men will tend to get you “othered”. It can be hard to be more vocal or confident if you’re anxious not having had many dealings with cis male social groups, but my advice is to try to be as casual as possible, shaking hands with eye contact, going about your business, and Being Normal about guys walking around half naked in the mornings or accidentally catching sight of your mate’s bits. Generally, if you’re not Weird about them, no one’s Weird about you!

★ It’s also a mutual respect-based environment. As long as you’re mature, level, putting in the effort, are quick to learn, friendly, and doing your bit in the group, chances are you will get along with everyone fine and they will get along with you regardless of anyone’s politics or beliefs, which I think is most trans people’s fear for this hobby. Everyone is aware infighting and heated debates over anything can destroy a group or bring harm against yourself or your mates, which is why I’ve found if you simply say you don’t feel comfortable talking about something, people back off cos they respect that. Trans or not, if you’re abrasive or egotistical, just like any social situation, respect for you goes down.

★ People are more than happy to impart knowledge, there are lads who could easily talk for hours about one thing if you get them going so don’t be afraid to ask questions! If you’re nervous about asking someone for help with drill, kit, etc it’s less “How do you not know this?” and more “I’m SO glad you asked!” It’s sort of like having a group of brothers for the weekend, always teaching you something. I find reenactors can never pass up an opportunity to thoroughly explain something (myself included) and sometimes even unprompted will just point to something you’ve got and start telling a story about it. Everyone, even elder members, learn something new every event

★ In terms of clothing sizing, I’ve got stereotypical male proportions (bar my height) so I can’t speak much from personal struggle on this one. Most modern-made reenactment gear is quite amply sized, which is fine if you’re larger but is a pain if you’re smaller. Most groups will have spare kit in diff sizes you can borrow on trialling them, and there are good videos on YouTube to familiarise yourself with all the parts and how to care for them, and of course you can ask me here as well. If you want something yourself, everyone and their mums starts out with Soldier of Fortune these days, and owning your own trousers/tunic of course means you can tailor it if need be. You’re also looking at around at least £600 for a relatively complete kit, but tbh it’s easily over £1000 weapons and extras included.

★ On clothing, maybe it’s cos I’m short, but your grey flannel is your best friend if you have to get changed in front of someone and don’t want them to see your Downstairs. The greybacks are quite long I find, so as long as it’s on, you can change trousers and sometimes even undergarments without flashing anyone.

★ On getting changed: always try to be the first to get ready, it doesn’t look weird, you just look on top of things! Do a bit of recon when you can about changing spaces and the toilet situation cos you might be able to get creative where you change, including in your sleeping bag. It’s good to try to get at least an undershirt and bottom half on before the group wakes up, you easily put on tunic and boots and the rest alongside everyone else. You might even find you just end up sleeping in kit, sometimes we do that. Getting to the toilet first also means you not only avoid being late for inspection trying to sort yourself, but you’re not after the lad with the Least Desirable morning routine (and believe me, there will be at least one, if not more).

★ Though sleeping in the same space and getting ready around each other is usually expected, it’s not mandatory. For some multi-day events, it may be possible to go home and come back the next morning so you don’t have to sleep/change with the rest of the boys. It’s possible to show up to events already kitted and leave kitted so you don’t need to change at all. If you’re all staying in a hotel, you can get a separate room or if everyone is staying at camp, you can stay in a local inn if there is one. If you’re under canvas, you can always bring a separate tent and sleep by yourself. HOWEVER, because sleeping together (and drinking till 3 AM) and getting ready polishing brass or making breakfast is a Group Bonding Experience just be aware you’ll miss out on that bonding if you go off alone a lot or cut events short to go home/come back, if having more bonding is particularly important to you!

★ If you’re binding, it’s worth noting depending on what exactly you’re doing you carry anywhere between 20-50 extra pounds on your person. There is decent physical activity, you are with equipment on your feet for most of the day, and hobnail boots are not the most comfortable. Being in an entirely wool uniform on a baking, humid day in a binder would be absolutely bloody miserable. You would have to take the binder off after all that lest you hurt yourself. Also, if you join a Highland Regiment, it is not a good idea to pack. And I’m not talking about your kit bag. If your Swagger Stick falls out on a demo in front of hundreds of families, there is no coming back from that, there really is no room for Oopsy in that scenario, it’s not worth the embarrassment!

★ As for starting projects yourself… that’s a tricky one. If it’s like a little reenactment group, that’s a massive undertaking, I could write a novel about that alone and the money and insurance and complex social things that would involve. There are ways you can do solo reenactment for educational purposes, though this requires having a relationship with whatever venue is hiring you such as a museum. While doing a scout or medic would be easy enough, doing a fully kitted infantryman would be a bit harder. If you have weapons like a rifle or bayonet, you need a permit to carry them. Solo reenacting also requires you to know A TON of information, not just about the war, but the surrounding time period give or take 20 years, your entire kit, gear, and loads of other things.

★ In conclusion, as intimidating as this can seem to navigate around cis men as a trans man for (potentially) the first time in a very military, traditionally masc environment…. I think as long as you come into it with the same attitude as any young man would at the time, you’ve got pals to back you up, and you try to be cheery and do your bit, you’re likely to do just fine and have fun! I know reenactment can seem like the straight white old male phobic hardcore conservative hobby, but it is a really rewarding experience as long as you take some precautions, there are some genuinely lovely people in it, eager to pass on their knowledge. If you feel a group is not a good fit, you can always leave, and there will be other groups who will be more than happy to have you. While I can’t say I’ve met any trans men in my time doing it, I’ve at least met some other LGB reenactors who are really lovely and very supportive.

Hope something here puts your anxiety at ease, or at least doesn’t make anything worse! If it’s of any comfort, I think groups as a whole are becoming much more supportive of LGBT+ members. I think the coming generations that are starting to have more active involvement in this area of reenactment look to be making it better for LGBT+ people to participate in historical education and overall hobby engagement.

Cheers! x

[terminalblue]

Time for some theorycrafting about Draag.

Hello. Hi. It seems we're in the MCR cycle of cryptic messages leading up to Something Big, so this period of time wouldn't be complete without some outlandish and far-too-long theories from music-starved fans. We all know by now that they're going on tour in America, a complete surpise to many in how they're "digging up" The Black Parade 17 years after loudly proclaiming that it was Dead. What are they doing? Are they becoming a Greatest Hits band? Is creativity dead. No, not at all my friends. Rather the opposite. This is all just part of a grander plan. And when I mean all, I mean all. Everything going back even possibly to the occult/witch era where the reunion was first announced.

Let's first consider the most recent announcement, the tour, and the trailers coming out for it. The sheer level of lore that got dropped out of absolutely nowhere. A whole world being opened up in front of us with the nation of Draag. An industrial nation led by one 'Immortal Dictator' seventeen years after the Black Parade was 'sent to the MOAT', whatever that means, I still have no idea. But what is abundantly clear is that this specific backdrop to present the tour in is explicitly a sequel to the story of The Black Parade, not an AU, not a prequel, not an afterword, all that stuff. A sequel. A paper-white fascist kingdom reinstating a beloved old band to perform on behalf of the state.

How did this dictator rise to power? Usually such things happen during times of great peril and uncertainty for a country, searching for a strong and charismatic figure to lead them through the worst times. An event that led to The Swarm, perhaps? Flies are typically related to death and disease, and what happens in the world that causes such widespread death and disease if not war?

Now The Black Parade, the album, is on it's surface a story about the death of a cancer patient, but there are many, many overt references to war all throughout the album. Much of the aesthetic of the album reflects these time periods, The Civil War, WW1, and WW2. Now those last two can be valid perspectives going forwards, but I'm going to focus on the latter date of 1945, the end of the Second World War. 17 years after that is the year 1962, famously the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the absolute height of the Cold War where the world was on the brink of destruction. Now this alt-history is likely not 1:1 and the dates might not line up exactly to what I've put, but what I'm saying is that I believe this is some sort of parallel to real life, with the Cold War having 'boiled over' into a Hot War, nuclear armaggedon ensuing.

Is The Swarm supposed to be literally, or metaphorically, nuclear extinction? Hard to say personally. But if we go by the established representation before, then it would actually fit better as a follow-up to such a thing, after the dust has settled. Because of their relation to death and disease, flies are also harbingers of evil. Going by the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of 'Swarm', it is "a great number of honeybees emigrating together from a hive in company with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere". Sounds an awful lot like the start of a nation, huh? One that begins in the wake of worldly annhiliation?

The Swarm, in this sense, is this nation of Draag, or at least the ideology of it, a great many people falling in line with evil because the world is broken and that's the easiest solution. Let somebody else lead you, even if they have the worst intentions. One that people continue to have to resist the call for, wondering if falling in line is easier than fighting for what you believe in, even if it doesn't feel like it matters.

This is exactly what "The Foundations of Decay" is all about, the sheer ease that is giving up and not doing anything, yet it's a song that is kind of arguing with itself about doing what is easier vs what is right. Ending on a note of the main voice yelling at itself to get up, coward.

How does that fit into this new lore? Well, this time period is named 'The Concrete Age', and what is built from concrete? Well, a lot of things, but one of those things happens to be foundations, a lot of the time. I believe The Foundations of Decay is set after The Concrete Age, after Draag has fallen. It's an ending.

Because evil eats itself eventually, fascism is self-defeating. You could say, in a sense, that Draag is a Paper Kingdom. Grand and beautiful, but incredibly fragile. One spark is all it could take for it to all burn down, and really it's only a matter of time. Leaving nothing but Foundations of Decay. But what would exist in the settled dust is hope, perserverence, a chance to fix your heart, to let it all wash away, instead of simply laying down in the foundations. Don't repeat the mistakes of the past. MCR5, which I'm fairly certain is real at this point, may follow the Black Parade in documenting this nation. A beloved band rather abruptly reinstated by a fascist nation, that likely exiled/killed them in the first place, to twist its nostalgia into its own messages and propaganda. People were confused as to why MCR were announcing TBP in full again rather than something new, but that's the point. Because fascism is inherently unimaginative and anti-art. They can only steal from what has already been created and claim it as their own. TBP will play their great album to huge fanfare, before moving onto their 'second' album centered around the nation of Draag under orders of the Immortal Dictator.

But The Black Parade are a band that exist within death, taking souls through to the other side after ferrying them back through their lives. They themselves could be considered harbingers of death. So to me, it would make sense that this would be an album that follows the height and subsequent burning of Draag, as its image falls apart and collapses due to its own ignorance.

[the---hermit]

Hello, hope you are having a great day! What are some little trivia about Italian language? I don't know it, but I love learning about languages and cultures. I'd also love if you share random tidbits about Italian culture too. Thank you! Have a great time ahead!

Hello anon! This is a super broad question, so if tou have specific things you'd like to know let me know. Honestly I don't know what trivia could be interesting to you so here's a few random things that come to mind. Mostly about how history and literature have shaped our language:

When something is quite messy or confusionary you can say é successo un 48 litteraly meaning a 48 happened. This refers to the chain of revolutions that happened all throughout Europe in 1848

Similarly when you are referring to a very heavy defeat or a terrible failure you can use the term Caporetto, referring to the terrible defeat Italians had in ww1 in 1917

When you are referring to a very long or troubled and unnecessarily complicated joruney or chain of events you can say it was an Odyssey (ex. é stata un'Odissea), for obvious reasons. This is a favourite of mine I use it all of the time, mostly bc I use public transports a lot and they like to make my commutes feel like the Odyssey lol

Another mythological expression is piantare in asso which means to leave/ abandon someone or something unpredictably. This derives from the phrase piantare in Nasso, to leave (someone) in Naxos, and it's derived from the myth of Ariadne who was abandoned on the island of Naxos by Theseus

These are just a few random things that came to mind right away, again if you have more specific questions about Italian language and culture do let me know and I will try my best to answer!

By the way sorry if it took a while to get back to you, but things have been busy lately. I hope you'll have a lovely day anon!

[dearheartdont]

Coming Back Round - Circles and Dead Boy Detectives

Did a DBD rewatch and noticed just how much circles are present in the background/set dressing.

Also, all the important objects in the story are circles too - the Cat King's amulet, the ring given to Night Nurse by Kashi, the Magic 8 ball that predicts Niko's death (ok, that's a sphere but I think it still fits).

It's a repeated visual that links with the theme of things working in circles, and kindness coming back round. And also reincarnation, maybe?

There's three occassions where characters specifically mention things working in circles (that I can recall):

Wilfred the WW1 soldier and Death talk about reincarnation and quote Kiplng about what happens to souls ("they will come back, come back again").

Mick gives Niko the protective bear figure, and telling her it's her kindness coming back round to her for listening to his story.

Night Nurse's boss telling Charles and Edwin that they don't know when and how their work and kindess will come back round to help them.

(The events at the Devlin house are also a circle: a repeating loop of pain for the family until Crystal and the boys set them free).

As the first and last conversation were in scenes written by Neil Gaiman, and reincarnation does not seem to be specifically discussed in the narrative elsewhere, I'm wondering if this was foreshadowing for events in the second season or link in with The Sandman series?

(There's also a section of one of the Night Nurse's documents that refer to reincarnation as an option for Charles, I think.)

[girlpanthera]

CW// SH, drug use, military/war, mental health

Deciding to expand on some lore for my little AU. (none of this is exactly time/ historically accurate) Anyways, this takes place in India during / around the war in Vietnam. The Beatles headed off to India, deciding to take a break while political conflict heated up around the world. They wanted time to brainstorm more music ideas and bond with each other. during their time in india, they experimented with hard drugs, and they all had almost normal reactions to it except for Paul. he seemed to be specifically affected by it, beginning to act erratically and showing self harming behaviors. he was very short tempered and instead of being bossy, his angered reactions would result in hitting others, or harming himself before devolving into hypersexuality. most of this was taken out on John, since they were closer, while ringo and George left john to manage this new mentally fragile paul at most times, keeping to themselves.

As war broke loose, The Beatles were all spared from the draft, except for John and paul. (in connection to how i won the war and Sargent Paul in magical mystery tour)

Paul, due to his extreme self harming habits, was dishonorably discharged from his sargent position only a few months into the war, as his habits tended to not only disgust the other platoon mates, but also cause risk of him getting infections and effected his overall performance during war time. He returned back to India, leaving John, causing even more tenseness in their relationship. John was focused on anti war propaganda and trying to find a way to protect the platoon mates while paul was self absorbed within himself, his own image, and what he wanted.

When Paul returned he spoke about what he saw in Vietnam at night, He talked about “cats of every color” who would stand on two feet and play trumpets, making the platoon loose sleep. He said these cats came from the knots of the trees and would play tricks on them, each kitten had fur the color of a primary color. he mentioned the odd happening about how one of his platoon mates had grown the lower half of a leopard and returned to the platoon shortly after he had lost his legs to a bouncing betty and had been left in the fields to die. he blamed the self inflicted scratches on his neck on that specific platoon mate, stating that he would carry him like a kitten by the scruff to the fox hole at night, the same hole where a french soldier from ww1 had been buried, but seemed to be only in the first stages of decomposition oddly enough despite how long ago he had died.

Ringo passed this off as the acid and trauma getting to paul’s head, but George was specifically intrigued by paul’s story about the women in Vietnam. about how they were all leopards. They were generously curvy and didn’t speak, but kept the soldiers nice and clean and offered them tea. he said these women existed in india, and the uk, and America, too. he said all women were secretly these patheras. he called them “the wild women”

Paul began wearing only womens underwear and button ups, he would take George to the fields to get high and he would talk about how “Paul was dead: and that “the original Paul flew out the windshield of a weaponry jeep earlier that year, the second week in India” and this Paul didn’t seem to be pleased with needing to act like someone he wasn’t.

Paul began getting much closer with George, even getting physical with him despite george’s hesitation and disgust at paul’s actions. George hated this new Paul, yet admired him deeply. his actions disgusted him but his charm and allure and stories made him stay wrapped around paul’s finger.

soon George even began getting gifts from these wild women. he would see the cats of every color, losing sleep at night to their trumpets, and he would check the feet of the soldiers that would knock on their door, just to assure they had no leopard feet. George began losing it as well, he gave into paul’s touches and rough sexual behavior, whereas ringo watched them slip out of it, spending most of his time trying to make them take meds and hide sharp objects from them. John was scheduled to come home within a week, as he had blown off his own foot. He needed escape from the war as well,and from what he wrote, the platoon thought so as well. they made excuses for him, and one member even took the blame for blowing off his damn foot.

THIS IS ALL I HAVE FOR NOW SOOOO. i’ll be making more art for it :P

@littlemiss-noname

[searchingforproofsthatimwrong]

is it because all the german films you watched have sucked ass or because you haven’t seen any ?

Looking back in my years of learning german in class to say that Das schweigende Klassenzimmer, Good bye Lenin and Das Leben der Anderen were at least decent.

I know your blog is not about this, could you recommend any german movies/series?

kleo, NSU German History X, dark (i guess. havent seen it), 1899 (want to watch it but also haven’t seen it), berlin berlin, perhaps unorthodox counts too?, also germans love tatort so u could try that too.

as for movies… haven’t heard of a single decent one nor seen a single decent german movie

[la-pheacienne]

i love your lotr parallels series, you really understand what both authors are going for. i’ve long hated the ‘lotr is a wholesome story’ viewpoint, especially when it’s used to bash george. people forget tolkien was working through a lot of trauma regarding his service during ww1, which translates through frodo and sam’s characters especially.

Thank you so much nonnie! It makes me so happy when people interact with my lotr x asoiaf parallels.

I feel the criticism goes both ways? Some asoiaf fans say lotr is just a fairy tale for kids, everything is black and white, no plot twists, no grey morality, too simplistic. Tolkien fans say asoiaf is just a black pit of misery and cynicism. None of it is correct of course.

As for WW1 influencing Tolkien, it most definitely did. The book has some parts that are truly harrowing, for example the dead marshes and the first glimpse of Mordor. I don't think I have ever read in literature a description of a place as vivid, as horrifying, as nightmarish as this one. And apart from the external factors, the internal struggle of the hero is just so rich and so sad and so relatable and complex, his despair, his sense of doom, his suicidal impulses, his disability, his weakness, his failure. Frodo is truly such a complex and quintessentially subversive hero and grrm was heavily inspired by him, as he has already stated. Also lotr doesn't really have a happy ending and grrm has specifically stated that lotr's ending is a major inspiration for the way he wants to end asoiaf.

Also it's not just WW1. Tolkien had an extremely grim upbringing, he lost both of his parents while he was a little kid, and he was raised between an orphanage and a priest. And he was really poor. That sounds like hell to me and it gives a whole different perspective to this push and pull between trauma and hope that is so palpable in lotr and it makes me appreciate the darkness even more, because I always felt that writing this book was a way for him to excorcise his own existential demons, the darkness within himself, through a tale of moral strength and courage and hope. This is at the very core of the book and it is the opposite of simplistic.

[offensivelyoffendsyou]

Has anyone ever made a modern setting Reichblr AU?

It would be pretty funny if they were college roommates, Very likely is that Albert Speer is roommates with Hitler.

Hitler : Have you seen my art supplies???!!

Albert Speer : Nuh uh, I haven't (he actually stole it for an architecture project)

(After that incident, Hitler made a deal that they share their art supplies.)

Joseph Goebbels and Himmler are roommates, frenemies probably

Joseph : *Starts ranting about anything at all*

Himmler trying to study with his almost-broken headphones : SHUTTT UPPPP!!!

the worst thing is that they definitely call Goering the caseoh of the group (i hc him as a little bit chubby / most huggable person in the world) anyways I want to see at least one fan art or fan fiction about the inner circle in a modern setting au

I think Hitler would at least be an art student (finally) Albert would still be an architecture student, Goering would at least be an aviation student (considering ww1) Joseph Goebbels would be still be a philology student or any writing majors (ex: Poetry, Journalism, or even Philosophy), And all the others are still same majors, I would at least think that Hitler is a Reichblr fan (surprisingly) I feel like Dolfie is like a mix between Canadian and Asian? And Albert is German + Irish, Goering would be American (GRRAHHH) , Goebbels is surprisingly I think is an Asian more specifically Vietnamese, Himmler is European / Swedish, and Heydrich is deffss German.

I would love to think that they would have a group chat called the AVENGERS, Hitler would probably made the group randomly and called it a day, don't get me started with their genders + sexuality too 😭😭

[qs63]

Amestris Military Real world Influence

This is the third of my series of long posts about the Amestrian Military. This is the post for the history nerds. There are plenty of real world references in Fullmetal Alchemist, especially pertaining to the first half of the 20th century. While Amestris and its military have often been compared to Nazi Germany (especially when it comes to the anime), the references in the manga are very diverse. Disclaimer, this is by no means an exhaustive list, there are too many for me to cover in one post, and I'm not a historian. So let me know if there's any reference I might have missed or if I got something wrong!

To see the rest of this meta series check out the Main Post..

Names

Probably the easiest reference to the real world is in the names of the military personnel. Almost all of them are named after military vehicles and equipment, mainly from World War II. Some examples:

Roy Mustang — P-51 Mustang (USA WW2 aircraft)

Riza Hawkeye & Grumman — Northrop Hawkeye E-2 Grumman (USA 60s aircraft)

Maes Hughes — Hughes aircraft series (USA aircraft company)

Black Hayate — Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Japanese WW2 aircraft)

Jean Havoc & Henry Douglas— Douglas A-20 Havoc (USA WW2 aircraft)

Heymans Breda — Breda M37 (Italy WW2 Machine gun) or HMS Breda (UK WW2 Yacht)

Kain Fuery — Hawker Fury (UK 30s aircraft) 

Vato Falman — Farman aircrafts series (French aircraft company) 

Armstrong Family — Armstrong Whitworth Whitley (UK WW2 aircraft)

Weapons and equipment 

The weapons used by the military are also based on real world weaponry. Arakawa herself admitted to using references for weapons as well as for the vehicles.[1] Not all of them are a direct copy of a historical weapon, but all of them are at least inspired by one or more of them.

Pistol — Colt M1911A1 (USA 1924)

Hawkeye's pistol. [1]

Colt M1911 & M1911A

Rifle — Mauser Karabiner 98k (Germany WW2)

Hawkeye's Rifle. [1]

Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle

Hand grenade — Stielhandgranate M24 aka the potato mashers (Germany WW2)

Team Mustang's and their weapons. [1]

Stielhandgranate M24

Briggs' Tank

The Briggs' tank isn’t modeled directly after any specific tank, and rather takes inspiration from different WW1 to WW2 tanks. The manga and Brotherhood tanks take after different inspirations, with Brotherhood being more German coded than the manga tank. There's an excellent article in the tanks encyclopedia analyzing the Fullmetal Alchemist tanks if anyone's interested.

Military Cars —

We see a few military cars throughout the story. Once again the cars we see in the manga and Brotherhood are quite different, and they appear to be based on models from the late 1910s to the late 1930s.

The manga’s standard issued military car looks at least partially inspired by the American Ford model A of 1927.

Mustang's military car(manga).[2]

1927 Ford model A.

The Brotherhood art sketches have two different drawings of military cars. The first one, the one we see Mustang use, is based on the French Citroën traction avant 11CV of 1935.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood military vehicle version 1.

1935 French Citroën traction avant 11CV.

The second car seems to be inspired by the Italian Fiat Tipo 5 of the 1910s. Perhaps even inspired by one of the American made Fiat models.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood military vehicle version 2.

Fiat tipo 55.

Ranks and insignias 

With the exception of the Führer-President, the Amestrian military ranks appear to be a mix of the USA WW2 officer ranks: 

General, 

Lt. General, 

Major General, 

Brigadier General, 

Colonel, 

Lt. Colonel, 

Major, 

Captain, 

1st Lieutenant,

2nd lieutenant;

As well as the Imperial Japan NCO ranks: 

Warrant officer (Special Sergeant Major),

Master Sergeant, 

Sergeant, 

Corporal.

The history of the Imperial Japan  Warrant Officer rank is a bit confusing and complicated. In the 79 years that the Empire lasted, the Warrant Officer rank saw a lot of changes, being its own category at times, a Senior NCO at others.  The NCO Warrant Officers seem to have been specialized Sergeant Majors (also translated as Master Sergeant) that basically functioned as the most senior of the NCO ranks. Aside from this the one modern country, I could find, that has Warrant Officers as NCO is Malaysia.

The rank of Führer-President (大総統 - Daisōtō in Japanese) replaces the rank of General of the army in the USA officer classification. While the English translation is a direct reference to Nazi Germany, the Japanese word is a lot more nuanced. 

The word Daisōtō actually refers to the president of the 1912-1924 Republic of China, and if you Google it, all you will get is images of Bradley himself. The term used for “Führer” is 総統 (Sōtō), without the 大 (Dai) which is instead used in the word president 大統領 (Daitōryō), this is probably the inspiration for the Führer-president title of the official English translation. 

However, Sōtō isn't used to refer just to Nazi Germany's Führer, but rather to any fascist associated head of state. As such Germany's Sōtō is the Fuhrer, but Italy's Sōtō is the Duce (Mussolini).

The effect is technically the same (you still think of Hitler and fascism), but the Japanese word is not a direct translation of Führer, nor a direct reference to Nazi Germany, it's more subtle than the English translation. I imagine Führer was used in English (in absence of a more subtle unifying word) as it is more recognizable to the English speaker than other fascist titles like: Duce, Caudillo, Generalísimo, etc.

The WW2 imperial Japan ranks also included superior private, first class private, and second class private, but they were their own class, called soldiers, below the NCO ranks, and were mainly composed of men serving their conscripted time. This might explain their absence in the Amestrian official ranks as Amestris doesn't seem to have conscription. 

The rank insignias themselves are pretty much a copy of the imperial Japan ones. 

Amestris rank insignias.[3]

Imperial Japan ranks insignias.

Uniform

In terms of the uniform there's not one single reference or perfect match for the design, but the closest to it is probably the WW1 French infantry uniform.

Amestris military uniform. [1]

Early WW1 French uniform

Late WW1 French uniform

Aside from the color of the French uniform, the long skirt, flaps and boots are very similar to the Amestrian uniform.

The Amestrian short jacket itself seems to be inspired by the WW2 USA Ike jacket.

USA WW2 Ike jacket.

Furthermore the white lining of the Amestrian uniform reminds me of the Imperial Japan formal uniform jacket, which is itself Prussian and French inspired.

Imperial Japan Major General formal uniform.

The Briggs uniform is very much WWII winter gear inspired.

Briggs uniform.[3]

Soviet WW2 winter uniform

Finnish WWII sniper.

Out of every uniform variation, the one most German coded is, to no one's surprise, the Führer-president’s. His trench coat looks similar to the WW1 Prussian one.

Bradley in uniform.

WW1 Prussian soldiers.

In general the uniform has a very World War I vibe to it, down to the impractical, decorative parts of it like the skirt. This is an uniform that obviously predates modern warfare, very apt for the time period the story is “set on”. This makes an interesting contrast with the weaponry which seem to be mostly World War II inspired.

Other references

Ishval war of extermination 

First of all trigger warning for genocide and human experimentation. Just skip this section if you're sensible to these topics. 

Just like the Ishvalan are an amalgamation of many cultures and ethnicity, the Ishvalan civil war seems to reference multiple conflicts and events. 

Plenty of comparisons have been made with the Jewish genocide in the hands of the Nazi (and the 03 anime leans especially hard on this). There are also similarities with the Herero war and genocide at the hand of the German empire which just like the Ishval Civil war ended in 1908. Another possible reference is the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman empire, which also involved a minority living at the border of a nation the country was at war with and being suspected of colluding with the enemy. Both the Armenian and the Ishvalan soldiers serving in the army were dismissed, incarcerated, and eventually executed.

Another more clear cut reference made in the Ishval civil war is Mustang's and Knox’s experimentation. This would be a reference to the horrendous experiments done by both the Nazi and Japan's infamous unit 731. Both which included burning people to test treatments and the limits of the human body.

I am sorry to end up on such a hard note, but I think it's best we move on to other — less traumatic — topics.

Source

Fullmetal Alchemist Manga

Chapter 38: a counter attack signal [2]

The Complete art of Fullmetal Alchemist [1]

Fullmetal Alchemist perfect guide 3 [3]

Training Regime post

[bonefall]

Could a more advanced clan use tar as a glue replacement? It's made using wood from what I heard.

It's possible, but only for an advanced Clan. It might even be a little beyond what BB cats are capable of.

What you're thinking of is probably birch pitch, though pine can be used as well. Birch is better though, it makes a finer tar, but if you have English Clans they may want to use pine pitch because it's one of the few uses for the detested sitka.

(Also "pitch" tends to refer to more viscous material, where "tar" refers to thinner, more watery liquids.)

There's two things that makes it hard to collect. First, and most importantly,

TREE OIL IS FULL OF PHENOL. Your cats CANNOT breathe in the smoke or aroma that's going to be produced by making this. It is a deadly, toxic gas to cats. In humans, we're so resistant to this that we've used it as an antiseptic, dumped it right into our wounds. Cats CANNOT ingest or smell this without getting sick. Phenol causes a LOT of poisonings because of the popularity of essential oil.

Think of it as the kitty equivalent of lead paint. We used it for years because it's cheap, easy, and works good... and never realized that it was lead in the water and walls giving people brain damage.

And, secondly, what also keeps it hard to get is that it needs to undergo dry distillation. Basically, it needs to be sweated out of the wood, drained, and then processed a second time..

So only a Clan that has FIRE and POTTERY SKILLS will be able to do this. At bare minimum, you will need THREE POTS and CONTINUOUSLY BURNING KINDLE. Here's a basic diagram for you;

[ID: 3 pots, labelled and color coded. Pot 1, the green pot on top, has a lid. It rests inside of Pot 2, which is the largest one and has fire burning inside it. Pot 3 is purple and underground, below the others.]

Pot 1 and Pot 2 have holes cut in the bottom, for the liquid to leak out. This could work with just flowerpots, but historically, special structures are made for this purpose so you collect all the oil.

Also protip stand the bark upright and against the sides of the pot, not laying flat down. This isn't a sauna, stand up birch.

ONCE YOU'VE DONE THIS, YOU HAVE OIL. You do NOT have tar or pitch yet. The liquid you have collected is OIL.

Oil can be used as a water-repellant when applied to leather and wood, a heavy-duty cleaning agent (but watch out), and birch oil specifically can repel gastropods.

So now we need to turn that oil into pitch. This is the most dangerous part for a Clan cat, as it involves a LOT of smoke. If your Clan could make a gas mask, it would be helpful here

[ID: A cat with a gas mask sits next to a burning pit with toxic smoke rising out of it. Like the diagram above, Pot 1 is green and nestled within Pot 2, which is red and contains fire.]

Oil is reduced to pitch through evaporating the moisture out. Toxic fumes are BILLOWING out during this entire process, and there is a point in this process where you've gone too far and just burnt it into useless carbon.

So if your cats can create a gas mask then that's very helpful. Otherwise... you'd better do this on a windy day.

(I made this mask based on the P-helm of WW1 and Plague Doctor masks, feel free to run with it... but you will need Glassworking Skills unlocked for it, something BB cats don't have.)

Once you've done this, you have pitch or tar, depending on the thickness you reduced it to. This can be used for MANY things, and is the best adhesive that Clan cats could naturally access. It's especially useful for weaponry, keeping blades on shafts or sticking extenders to claws, but it's also VERY useful for preserving leather and wood as well.

So as you can see, this is a pretty high-tier process! BB Cats will very, very rarely do this. I imagine it was briefly popular while they were trading with BloodClan, but fell back into disuse. As a water-repellent, they prefer beeswax.

[daenystheedreamer]

tell me about daensa. i like it conceptually but never really got beyond that. show me ur vision

to me daensa is a wonderful endgame ship🫶 it can be two girlboss BAMF #queens girlslaying in their girlempire together (fun and fruity) or it can be cottagecore dream like imagine that barbie movie the diamond castle where they're living in a cottage together in pretty dresses. i think its sweet and fun and they should be best friends. i would also accept toxic yuri so long as they arent fighting over who's prettier or who gets jon snow that is so lame side note unrelated i hope d&d suffer in hell

MY daensa though is specifically modern au (i kno i know im sory🫶) again its an endgame ship to me and especially a uni or post-grad ship. i like sansa having various intense lesbian experiences throughout her life (childhood jeynsa, high school sansaery, maybe mya for university) and then she goes to essos to study in myr as an international student (its a fresh start too🫶)

and for dany she's either a princess or. okay so you know how in europe post-ww1 a bunch of monarchies/duchies/whatever got overthrown by republicans and the kings/princes/electors/whatever went into exile. and their idiot children are raised like They Stole Our Palace and Your Blood Is Pure etc. and they either end up drug addict socialites, in epstein's black book or having their coup thwarted by interpol.

so that can be what the targs are like but dany is normal<3 she's escaped viserys she's escaped her insane family and she's ready to go to university and become a philanthropist<3 and the universe gives her a bisexual awakening in uni as a 'sorry for all that shit you had to go through'. and she and sansa can date and become famous philanthropist lesbians<3 i like dany becoming president of some place and she gets a sexy redhead uni professor wife. this is my daensa<3

[apas-95]

do you also think Palestinians on the west bank should agree to a peace settlement with Israel? Fucking clown

ah no you're right everything in the world is settler-colonialism, that's not a completely absurd comparison to make.

quick, which country was the evil aggressor in WW1, and why were they justified to keep throwing children into a meatgrinder rather than accept a peace treaty? this isn't a joke, your predecessors were each earnestly making this argument in support of their own countries a hundred years ago, so I'm sure you could go read some liberal drivel and become convinced equally as strongly of that, too.

there are such things as unjust wars, waged between different sections of the ruling class, using the blood of the working people - and your ilk were fine to invoke their spectre to cudgel against socialist states, but suddenly you lose your nerve when your country's leaders swear that *this* time will be The Good War, even as they start dumping uranium munitions into the soil of your supposed allies.

let me be clear, common people are dying by the thousands, their homes are being destroyed, their governments are drafting them and marching them to their deaths, all in the service of dividing up fucking natural gas profits between different oligarchs. which specific oligarch is bombing your home or leaving you unemployed to starve doesn't matter that much in the real world, only in the imaginary world of Values and Freedom. you will never stop being duped until you understand that.

[aemiron-main]

Youre Part Of The Secret Squadron- Or Are You? Were Henry and Patty Actually Captain Midnight Fans? Is 7 Year Old “Henry” Brenner?

So, I talked in this post about some of the stuff re: the idea of Patty and Henry and Brenner somehow being mentally connected (and I also currently have another drafts in the works about it).

And now, I want to talk about Captain Midnight.

So, Captain Midnight’s story came in many forms, including the original radio show, a tv show, and a series of comic books.

And as we know, in TFS, Henry and Patty are both fans of Captain Midnight/they’re both “part of the Secret Squadron”.

However, their interest in Captain Midnight struck me as a bit odd- even though Patty asks Henry if he’s a “bit old” for Captain Midnight, I’m actually thinking that Henry and Patty might be a bit too young.

Why?

Well, the original Captain Midnight radio show only ran from 1938 to 1949. Whereas TFS Henry and Patty are 14, meaning they were born in 1945, making them 4 years old when the radio show ended.

And the TV show ran from 1954-1956, which IS more feasible for Henry and Patty but still a little odd.

And finally, the comic book series ran from 1942 to 1948- and Patty and Henry seem to be big comic fans based on their conversation about other comics + based on that opening scene of Mr Newby confiscating Patty’s comic- and while yes, the comics wouldve still existed in 1948, their run was over when Henry and Patty wouldve been 3 years old, so it’s not like it was a currently running comic series during TFS/it wouldnt have even been currently running when they were old enough to read.

And while it’s not at all out of the question for them to have been Captain Midnight fans, it’s just something that struck me as a little weird- Captain Midnight was a just little before their time. Especially since in-show Henry is never shown with anything related to Captain Midnight- there were lots of opportunities to give him a Captain Midnight comic, or to show him drawing Captain Midnight during that scene where he’s drawing with his crayons in the living room etc, but they never referenced it at all.

This also brings me to 7 year old Henry- we see him open up his Captain Midnight Spyglass on his birthday, and we see him do the Captain Midnight Salute:

However, like I’ve mentioned before, that little guy doesn’t look like Henry- his hair is DARK brown instead of blonde:

But he DOES look quite a lot like Brenner- the dark brown hair and the blue eyes, just like Brenner.

Especially when we look at 15 year old Brenner- look at 7 year old “Henry’s” hair, it’s slicked over in the same way that 15 year old Brenner’s hair is:

AND, they specifically showed footage of 7 year old Henry’s birthday- and they ALSO brought up Brenner’s birthday, his 15th birthday was the same day that Brenner Sr embarked on Project Rainbow.

AND, I talked in this post about all of the stuff in TFS that conflates Brenner and Henry.

AND, jumping back to Captain Midnight, Brenner being a Captain Midnight fan makes way more sense because a.) Brenner wouldve been born in 1929 and 15 in 1944, making him the perfect age for him to have grown up at the peak of Captain Midnight’s popularity, and b.) Captain Midnight was a WW1 pilot, and Brenner Sr was also involved in WW1 in addition to being involved in WW2 by the time TFS rolls around.

Brenner is the PERFECT candidate for being a Captain Midnight fan. And I’ve been wondering if that 7 year old “Henry” is actually 7 year old Brenner.

And considering all of that PLUS what I mentioned in the beginning of this post re: Brenner and Patty, and considering all of the simulation stuff with TFS and the fact that NINA involves memories, PLUS the fact that when I brought all this up on discord, James mentioned all this vs the fact that El seems to have possibly have some of Brenner’s memories in NINA, as during that scene where El runs down the hallway, there’s SO many similarities re: Brenner’s shots vs El’s shots.

Plus what I’ve been working on re: the moving dead bodies analysis + the fact that multiple of the closeup shots that El supposedly saw of the bodies are the same shots that Brenner saw:

Considering all of this, I’m wondering if Patty and Henry are Captain Midnight fans because Brennner’s memories re: Captain Midnight (and other memories) somehow ended up in their brains, especially considering the talk about how Henry and Patty are “connected,” versus Brenner constantly telling Henry to “connect”:

Brenner, were you the real Captain Midnight fan? Are Patty and Henry connected to Brenner’s brain somehow?