#that's an order private

[arthur-lesters-right-arm]

You can't see it because it's a podcast but Kayne is JoJo posing the entire time

[nureyevs-worst-alias]

Currently exploring the possibility of Juno Steel with gauges in my mind. Would recommend

[bon-sides-sw]

Cal's account Pt1

Part 2

[kitteecassee]

“hello”

[greatgodempresspan]

Listen, if you’re gonna remake Scooby-doo with the express purpose of making it all “adult, sexy and edgy” and you *don’t* take that opportunity to make the four of them a polycule who solve mysteries with their adorable, cowardly junkyard dog, you’re a fucking coward - I don’t know what else to tell you.

[singingcicadas]

idw Ratchet is someone who follows orders and respects authority. He might follow his conscience in spur-of-the-moment decisions that allows him the leeway/initiative to act on his own (e.g. setting up clinic on Dead End, breaking cover to save Verity and Hunter, going to look for Drift, voting against Rodimus in mtmte) but he's never openly defied the orders of an acting leader. Regardless if he doesn't agree with said order and thinks it's stupid. Or wrong.

Even when Ratchet thinks Rodimus' treatment of Drift is unfair, he never speaks up against Rodimus during the actual issue of the exile verdict. He only offers Drift silent support by helping him up on the way out, because Rodimus is the captain and you don't argue with the captain. Yes he thinks Rodimus is a crap captain and acts condesending towards him all the time but when it comes to rank and orders there's no ambiguity.

Voting against Rodimus in the crisis act is a legitimate expression of disapproval, made anonymously in private. He doesn't care about Rodimus knowing his vote, but in public it stays anonymous. He does tell Rodimus off about what he did to Drift, but again, he makes sure it's a private one-on-one appointment. He also doesn't make Rodimus formally revoke Drift's exile or sanction his search, he resigns his position as CMO and quietly leaves to look for Drift himself as a personal commitment.

Common stereotype of what Ratchet is not:

Medic ethics and commitment to patients comes first, factions be damned. I don't care if he's a Decepticon, he's my patient.

No he's not actually like that? When Megatron's in custody he's all lets dissect him awwwww why can't we dissect him why does mass murderers still get rights that's so stupid can't I just torture him a little?

Like he spent the whole war patching up Decepticon-inflicted wounds and witnessing Decepticon-inflicted deaths. He's not a saint. He has as much good reason to hate Megatron and his faction as any other Autobot.

In fact he was pretty eager to ask Optimus about what he's going to decide as Megatron's punishment after he heard about Optimus frying Megatron on the voltage harness.

Optimus has his heart on clemency. Ratchet's the one hoping for execution or something equally nasty. Even though their opinions doesn't line up, Ratchet's still 100% supportive of Optimus' decision.

He repairs Megatron only because of Bumblebee's orders, and makes his unwillingness known.

Later in mtmte Ratchet does save Megatron's life of his own volition and repairs him again, but that's after he's lived with Megatron on the same ship for six months (again something that he considers to be a colossally bad idea but is forced to live with because of orders) and got to know him as a person. Not because of bleeding heart syndrome.

Also Ratchet's not just a grouch all the time. He can be blunt but also knows when to be respectful as appropriate to the occasion. He reprimands Wheeljack for being disrespectful to Bumblebee because leaders should be treated like leaders.

The guy's been CMO since Nominus Prime, essentially the highest-ranking of his profession on the planet; you can't get to that type of position and hold it through consecutive leaders for millions of years without considerable interpersonal skills and knowledge of social protocol.

Prowl does have Ratchet on his little blacklist but the stuff on there really just refers to Ratchet saving Verity and Hunter back in Infilitration. I read it as more of a testament to Prowl's pettiness than Ratchet actually being a problem.

[nevermoorsource]

It’s been 3 years since we first learned the title for Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow! The book will release in 2024/2025 depending on location.

[orderforbrian]

thinking of that one scene from the incredibles but applying it to john and arthur where johns hand starts feeling up to arthur's jaw and arthur thinks hes just being weird until john decks him in the face skshfmnfnc

[Start ID: Three panel sketch comic of John and Arthur from Malevolent. Arthur is a stout man with a mustache and slightly messy, short side parted hair. He's wearing a collared shirt with a tie, his sleeves are rolled up past his elbows. First panel, John's hand grasps at Arthur's shirt, patting around. Arthur peers down at the movement confused. Second panel, Arthur looks even more confused as John's hand feels along his jaw. He says, "J...John, what are you-?". Third panel, Arthur is cut off when John's arm decks him across the face, Arthur staggers to the ground. A tiny disembodied John face (represented by an oval shaped face with four eyes and angry eyebrows) yells "FUCK YOU!!!" End ID.]

[kayfabe-is-king]

I have thoughts from last night's Dynamite and this is all within kayfabe. It's disjointed and patchy but that's because my mind has been going a mile a minute for the past week. So once again, welcome to my Ted Talk!

It was very fitting that Mox and Co. (are we still calling them the Blackpool Combat Club because that doesn't seem extreme enough at this point) attacked during the match between The Elite and The Conglomeration. That match showed in stark detail the very best and the very worst of what AEW has become. The Elite concerned more with glory and money (literal money raining down on Okada as he walks down to the ring) than about what is best for the company as a whole. And truthfully, they're coming off like a joke now in comparison to Moxley's Death Squad. Meanwhile, The Conglomeration was born of betrayal and people coming together because they a) love this sport and b) still believe in All Elite Wrestling. I lost track of the number of times Excalibur, Nigel or Tony alluded to Orange Cassidy being a leader.

“Why aren’t they coming to help?” Schiavone asked. 

Because The Elite now represent exactly what Moxley is railing against - egos and fat paychecks. This new era is a direct response to The Elite's frankly laughable "take over" of AEW. Moxley watched them, said "hold my (non-alcoholic) beer" and then showed how you really take over a wrestling promotion.

During that horror movie trailer masquerading as a wrestling promo, Moxley mentioned all the wrestlers in the back not being given a chance while overblown egos are sitting atop the AEW food chain. This, to him, is a purpose... a cause. And if he has to hurt people to achieve said goal?

"It's the cost of doing business."

Thing is - Moxley's done this song and dance before. Remember this:

(credit to @softambrollins for the two gifs above)

Once again (much like with The Shield) in Moxley's mind, something he believed in has been corrupted. The difference is that now he has the power and the muscle behind him to do something about it. He feels like it's his moral obligation to stamp out the "corruption" that has infested AEW. Something he couldn't really do when The Shield fell apart. This is Moxley exorcising those ghosts... and you know, beating the shit out of people.

If you look at the people coming to The Conglomeration's aide last night, you'll see they have something in common. These are people in the back that haven't really been used properly in a while. Private Party, who really should have had a title run by now. The Dark Order, consistently being tossed around creative with no real direction since the death of Brodie Lee. Top Flight hasn't found it's groove even though they put on consistently great matches time and again (I did laugh my ass off when Action Andretti did that springboard from the ropes and Moxley was like "nah, bro" and clocked him in the back of the head).

And while Daniel Garcia has been given pushes lately, I don't think he's been properly and consistently booked until this angle (and if they don't take the belt off of Jack and give it to Danny, there's no justice in this world). I believe these choices were intentional. A way to pull people into a long running storyline that were floundering.

Even on the BCC's side, you have Marina Shafir - an excellent technical wrestler who AEW has batted around with no real direction. Moxley has said time and again how much he admires her, so of course he wanted her as a part of this angle. She is the perfect soldier - brutal, efficient and loyal. The look of devastation on her face when she was ejected from ringside at Wrestledream? That's the look of a dedicated soldier who has (in her mind) let down her commanding officer. She will go toe to toe against anyone who stands in Moxley's way. And am I the only one wondering about that key around her neck?

Here's something else to think about. Tony Schiavone has seen the attempted hostile takeover of a wrestling promotion before. He was ringside as the New World Order was born and watched their path of destruction in WCW. Imagine seeing history repeating itself and not being able to do anything about it. Even worse, imagine seeing history repeat itself... but worse. This is the nWo dialed to 11 and unencumbered by silly little things like laws against attempted murder. 

Someone at commentary also asked where the belt was. It was never about the belt and Moxley purposely handed it off to Claudio for that very reason. He doesn’t care about the glory. He genuinely believes what he’s doing is what is necessary. And there is nothing more frightening than someone so fine with committing acts of brutality because they truly believe that is the only way. 

Now we come to our most conflicted Moxley disciple. And if you don't think he's still very much conflicted, you haven't been paying attention. Wheeler using the Busaiku Knee on Orange Cassidy while dressed like Bryan was intentional. Sure, he may have drunk the new BCC’s kool aid, but he still very much respects Bryan. He saw what he did to Bryan at Wrestldream as mercy (whether or not you agree, it's still how he saw his actions). To him, he finally put Bryan to "rest" and now feels it is his responsibility to continue Bryan’s legacy.

And that is where him and Daniel Garcia will clash in glorious battle. They are the ying and yang to each other - both love this sport and both see Bryan as their hero. One is just following the darker path that William Regal himself has laid for the likes of Moxley. While the other one believes in Bryan's way. They are the next generation of the power struggle between Bryan and Moxley - their proxies if you will. This is the most elaborate game of Risk come to life.

I have seen some people say this new storyline is "going too far". I get it - it's hardcore and some people didn't grow up watching ECW. They may not know that Terry Funk did the plastic bag spot long before they were even born. But I vividly remember those days (I was ringside for some of them - Terry Funk is hands down one of the nicest wrestlers I've ever met). And I for one, love where all of this is going. I watched the nWo from its rise to its demise and this new paradigm shift blows it out of the water. This is the evolution of that iconic angle and they picked the perfect people to do it. 

Side note - shout out to Renee for consistently doing her job with a high level of professionalism. And also pretending like her husband isn't committing attempted murder every week. Imagine how awkward it's been for her around the water cooler lately.

[pastlivesandpurplepuppets]

Five years later, while enrolled in an Advanced Infantry Officer’s Course at Fort Benning, Speirs reflected on his own shortcomings and successes in a revealing assessment of his platoon at Carentan. The thirty-two-page monograph concluded with these judgments:

LESSONS

The following lessons were brought out by the operation:

Strategic use of airborne is essential. The attrition of trained parachutists in extended ground combat operations as infantry is wasteful and should be avoided.

When assigning missions to lower units, the commander must consider the comparative strength of his units as reduced by previous casualties.

Bravery in combat must be recognized by decorations and awards. Morale is raised and incentive provided to perform well in future combat.

Tables of Organization and Equipment must be constantly revised to increase the fighting strength and capabilities of the unit.

Flank security during night movement is essential, regardless of the effect on speed and the physical condition of the men.

In night movement all men must be alert to keep contact both to the front and to the rear.

When in contact with the enemy at night, one-half of the unit must be alert and in position to repel attacks.

Intelligence agencies must keep commanders informed of the enemy indications. Commanders can then adjust their plans in accordance, avoiding the possibility of surprise by the enemy.

Wounded men must be carried along when a unit is forced to withdraw.

The hand grenade should be used to full advantage in close combat. The present hand grenade is too heavy for long throws, and, too, it cannot easily be carried in sufficient number for a sustained fight.

Soldiers must learn that an enemy assault is repelled by fire power alone. When individual targets cannot be located, continuous area fire must be used.

Units are forbidden to withdraw without orders however desperate the situation. Unit commanders must keep higher headquarters informed of the amount of enemy pressure, and request authority to withdraw prior to movement.

Most poignant of Speirs’s observations was his self-condemnation for disregarding Dielsi’s plight. “The platoon leader is to be severely criticized for failing to carry the wounded man back as the platoon withdrew from the house on the thirteenth,” Speirs wrote. “His assumption that the man was dead does not excuse him. His expectation of another enemy assault and his fear that this would find the platoon with no ammunition were the factors causing this grave mistake.

~ Jared Frederick & Erik Dorr

[citrinekay]

Episode 5 The Worst of Evil (최악의 악)

[sweetnnaivete]

say what you want about how order of the phoenix's pacing and general writing sucks but it was such a good exploration of harry's character and introduced the corruption of the ministry which of course was later butchered BUT i am a day one ootp lover

[brucequeensteen]

tagged by @roadwhores thank you marley 🥰 make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. see which character is everyone's favourite

@jorkeryuri @monkeesrainbowroom @pikslasrce @doublydaring @majortomwaits and @levon 😊👍❤️

[bon-sides-sw]

More Uni Au

But this time is Cal's private school

[chicago-geniza]

Took so much codeine I had a psychoanalytic insight about the nature of eroticism while processing, answering the phone, and operating the register at the same time. I need to start taking edibles again

[greenerteacups]

Hi GT! Congratulations on the last chapter, as always! Lately my brain has been fixated on a detail that I find very interesting. I can't help but think that any adult in LH who is preparing for war has at least once thought while looking at Draco "ok, this could definitely help us in the future". And I find it almost hilarious because I love the way you characterize Artur and Molly and their protective instinct towards the kids... but let's be honest, Hermione, Ron and Harry have ensured the heir of the greatest house in the wizarding world to the cause.

One of the interesting parts about the Harry Potter series is that both sides of the conflict use child soldiers, and you get to see a realistic range of reactions to that from the adults around them. There's Molly, who's reasonably unconditionally opposed to it on the grounds that They're Children, and then Sirius, who unreasonably supports it on the grounds of being himself a stunted teenager, and then Mad-Eye, who reasonably supports it on the grounds of "they're going to have to fight anyway," and Dumbledore, who is some combination of these viewpoints depending on the situation — most protective of Harry when the danger is real, but perhaps necessarily the most realistic about Harry's role in ending the war. Lionheart has a slightly different cast of adults, because it's a different POV, but you still see a range of opinions from Narcissa ("you'll harm my son over my dead body, but also he needs to be able to defend myself") to Snape ("careful, Draco") to Moody (the same, arguably more so, because he's thinking of the long game) and Dumbledore (again, some situation-dependent combination of viewpoints). The kids are often so caught up in their own part of the conflict that it doesn't occur to them the strategic decisions that are happening over their heads — when you're a teen and an adult tells you you're too young for something, the kneejerk reaction is "fuck off" — but there are always conversations happening in other rooms, especially in Grimmauld Place.