#to clear the air

[our-favourite-orcs]

ROUND 3 - MATCH 3

Propaganda under the cut!

Propaganda for Malacath from The Elder Scrolls:

The God King of the orcs, the Daedric Prince of vengeance, the ostracized, and the spurned. The Keeper of the Sworn Oath and the Bloody Curse. What else is there to say about Malacath? He used to be the Elven God Trinimac but he was eaten by the Daedric Prince Boethiah and was transformed into his current state, as were all his followers (fun fact, in this universe orcs are considered elves because of this). He is a very paternalistic figure to the orcs, and while they do worship him, he sees them all as his children more than devotees.

Propaganda for Alkett and Karvek from To Clear the Air by Malcolm Schmitz:

the character work in this short story is SOOO GOOD!!! Alkett is an outcast from her tribe, and Karvek is a former friend deeply affected by her betrayal. But when they encounter each other in the desert with danger all around, they have to work together despite old wounds. They hit on all the core Orc traits--loyalty vs bravery, and trust in the midst of battle. Fundamentally it's a story about communication and understanding, and both are such good foils for each other. Also Alkett has an awesome mechanical arm. AND they use kickass lace magic. What more could you want.

[hrryshoney]

shall we do a blurb night

[jisookdays]

it's funny because i get why people give silent treatment as a response to conflict. it's a pride thing, why should you be the one to try and reach out when you're the one feeling wronged? but i realized that all it really says to the other person is that you don't care enough about them to talk it out, and they take the hint.

[malcolmschmitz]

Heck yeah! It's also the year of Free Orc Book...for now. >:)

2024 the year of the orc

[arcane-gold]

academy days

[loveisactivated]

payurain + kissing

[gorgynei]

"I thought I could do it. And the world will remember me as its greatest villain. [...] I'm a fool. And I brought ruin to the world. Hope that you are forgotten." —Vespin Chloras

ohh bells hells. what have you done.....

[chattematsu]

[4.0 archon quest spoilers]

[malcolmschmitz]

Quarreling orc lacemakers. Ever-burning, undead firebirds. An old grudge...

And a free book.

I'm giving away a free copy of my short story, To Clear The Air, to anyone who signs up for my author mailing list.

Karvek, a cowardly orc lacemaker, must travel into the desert to get to a silkworm oasis. But the last caravan saw an undying, flesh-eating firebird. With a beast like that roaming the desert, there's safety in numbers. And his only traveling companion is a former friend, Alkett. She betrayed his tribe; Karvek still bears an ugly grudge. If they're going to survive the journey through the desert, Karvek must face that grudge- and the two lacemakers must clear the air.

Click the link at the head of the post- or click here- and download your free short story!

[our-favourite-orcs]

ROUND 2 - MATCH 6

Propaganda under the cut!

Propaganda for Ghazkull Mag Uruk Thraka from Warhammer 40,000:

Ghazkull Mag Uruk Thraka representing the Orks! Ork technology works because they believe it does. Otherwise it’s just a pile of scrap metal. They are humanoid fungi that reproduce by releasing spores when they die. Their society’s currency is teeth. Mostly their own, since they grow back like shark teeth do. Ghazkull got his head chopped off. Somebody decided to staple it to a robot body. This worked, somehow, and now he’s alive again. Ghazkull’s full name may be a dig at Margaret Thatcher. Ghazkull has a human nemesis that he enjoys fighting with. Even when he captured him, Ghaz let him go, saying “Good enemies is hard to find.” Rampaging war-loving fungus with enormous physic power that they aren't really aware of. The only thing that makes their cobbled-together tech work is their iron-strong belief that it will. They love to launch themselves out of cannons for fun and their favourite pets are just hungry orbs with mouths and legs (squigs, if you want to look them up). Their currency is teeth. Nobody has more fun in the Warhammer 40,000 universe than an ork with a big gun.

Propaganda for Alkett and Karvek from To Clear the Air by Malcolm Schmitz:

the character work in this short story is SOOO GOOD!!! Alkett is an outcast from her tribe, and Karvek is a former friend deeply affected by her betrayal. But when they encounter each other in the desert with danger all around, they have to work together despite old wounds. They hit on all the core Orc traits--loyalty vs bravery, and trust in the midst of battle. Fundamentally it's a story about communication and understanding, and both are such good foils for each other. Also Alkett has an awesome mechanical arm. AND they use kickass lace magic. What more could you want.

[ayamari-no-goshi]

I’d like to clear up some common misconceptions about the Attack on Titan Tower, aka when Jason infiltrated it to attack Tim

If you want to read this for yourself, here are some links: readallcomics - I have the best luck with this site on destop zipcomic readcomicsonline - this site can be temperamental

1) Jason did not go there to attempt to kill Tim

Jason seems to have 3 separate goals for this: - size up the new kid. - make sure he knows Bruce just sees him as another soldier - prove to Tim just how dangerous the job is (heavily implied, in my opinion, especially after Tim tried telling Jason he was wrong about how Bruce saw him) He also voiced his anger over being forgotten by everyone. Depending on your interpretation of Jason and his character, this could also be a reason. To me, this feels more like an afterthought because they moved to the Hall of Fallen Heroes before he said this, and Jason likes to be dramatic.

Side note on this. Jason never says anything about being replaced.

2) none of Tim’s injuries were life threatening

Once again, Jason was not attempting to kill him. He beat him up pretty badly, but it was designed to prove a point

3) Jason did NOT cut Tim’s throat.

That happened during Hush which predates both Under the Red Hood and Titan’s Tower. Jason was pretending to be Hush, put a knife to Tim’s throat, and put enough pressure to make him bleed (it was not an actual slice) to get Bruce to react to him. That injury was not life threatening either

4) Jason developed a respect and a bit of envy for Tim after fighting him

At the end of the issue while he’s leaving (while outside the tower), Jason acknowledges Tim’s skill. Jason also wonders if he could have had a life more similar to his, where he had friends and a better support system, if he could have had a different life.

5) Tim was NOT a damsel in distress during the fight, and he did NOT develop a fear of Jason.

Tim was making quips and dissing Jason the entire fight. Tim was not afraid of him nor did he bat an eye at being attacked by Jason. He also vocalized just how much he had to work for his cape because of how Jason's death affected Bruce

Also, the next time Tim saw Jason after this, he made sure to kick Jason in the groin

6) Jason wrote "Jason Todd was here" and signed it with a hand print on the wall.

It looks like it could be in blood, but Tim's not injured enough for there to be that much... and blood darkens after a while. There's a bit of time between Tim getting knocked out and the rest of the Titans finding him and the writing so it's probably paint. Again, Jason likes to be dramatic

7) more Robin!Jason slander by Raven

Once again, we get the mention that Jason was "aggressive". I swear, this is the only thing writers remember from Death in the Family and not the point that that behavior was out of the ordinary for Jason. This is a personal pet peeve of mine in the comics.

8) almost forgot to add the most important part, Jason made a homemade Robin costume and wore it under his Red Hood outfit because he could

Again, Jason is a dramatic bitch.

[rcbertleckie]

bucky + smiles

[petitesmafia]

Tanizaki deciding this was the best time to clear the incest allegations i'm ctfu this could've been sorted out in like. an email or smth 6 months ago but nahhh he really just accepted his colleagues side eyeing him this whole time lmfaooo

[beescake]

i am in love with your sollux i think

sollux love party :]

if you’re interested heres some of my personal fondness thoughts on him.. big warning for the mega long read ahead aye

as we alr know sollux's rejection of participation somewhat mirrors dave's rejection of heroism, but even without getting cooked to completion i still find sollux's character v compelling beyond the fourth wall

as someone who doesnt get a pinch of that Protagonist Sparkle to begin with, he can openly say he wants to leave anytime…. and unlike dave, he actually Can leave the scene anytime. but he can never be truly Free from the story via permanent character death like the other trolls.

his irrelevancy is indeed relevant - he’s there so u can point him out.

while his image is intended to be a relic of past internet subculture, his role is not only about hehehaha being a Chad or a 2000s cyberforum 2²chan haxxor ragequit gamebro.

his continued existence also happens to add a Bit to the overarching themes of homestuck! a Bit that gives him longer-lasting thematic relevance compared to the trolls who could’ve had more character potential but didnt get to survive beyond the main story.

the Bit in question:

his defiance contributes to the illusion of agency (treating characters = people with autonomy). he’s “aware” of it, and that recognition is worth noting enough to forcibly keep him alive as both reward and punishment.

considering how his personality & classpect is designed its definitely a very haha thing for hussie to do LOL. he’s made to be op asf so he's resigned to doing dirty work, gradually deteriorating along the way but never truly dying. as fans have mentioned before, him openly rejecting involvement after a while of grim tolerance is like if the sim u were controlling suddenly stopped, looked up and gave u the finger while u were step six into the walkthrough for Every Possible Sim Death Animation.

but since he’s just a sim… the more he hates it, the more you keep him around. if ur sim started complaining abt your whimsical household storyline you’d definitely keep that little fuck.

but yeah i like that sollux is just idling. the significance of his presence being that one dude who's always reliably Somewhere, root core Unchanged, no individual ambitions (possibly due to fear of consequence?), and design-wise: a staple representative product of his time.

compared to dirk's character, who has aged phenomenally well into the present (themes of control + AR + artificial intelligence, clearer exploration around navigating relationships/sexuality, infinite possibilities of self-splinterhood and trait inheritance), sollux's potential is really... contained. bitter. defeatist. limiting and frustrating in the way old tech is.

the world continues moving on to shinier, brighter, more advanced automated things - minimalist and metaverse or whatever but sollux is still here 🧍‍♂️ going woohoo redblue 3d. (tho personally i imagine his vibe similar to what the kids call cassette futurism on pinterest mixed w more grimy grunge insectoid influences eheh)

conceptually-speaking,

at the foundation of it all, the rapid pace of modern development was built off the understanding of ppl like sollux in the past, who were There actively at work while the dough was still beginning to rise

thats one of the cool things abt the idea of trolls preceding humans! the idea that trolls like sollux excelled back when lots of basic shit still needed to be discovered, building structures like networks and codes from scratch, and humans will eventually inherit and reinvent that knowledge in ways that become so optimized it makes the old manual effort seem archaic, slow, and labour-intensive.

but despite information/resources/shortcuts being more accessible now, much of the new highly-anticipated stuff released on trend still end up unfinished, inefficient, or expiring quickly due to cutting corners under severe capitalistic pressures

meanwhile, some of the old stuff frm past generations of thorough, exploratory and perfectionistic development still remains working, complete, and ever so sturdy.

those things continue to exist, just outside our periphery with either:

zero purpose left for modern needs (outdated/obsolete)

or

far too important to replace or destroy, bcs of its surprisingly essential and circumstantial usefulness in one niche specific area.

which are honestly? both points that sum up sollux pree well.

dramatic ending sorry. anw are u still on the fence or are u Sick abt him like me </3

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

the conflict, the drama, the angst, catch it all next time on CR

[loveisactivated]