I'm not saying I'm Pro Cannibalism I'm just saying we're in a recession and there's a food shortage

Some thoughts now that I’ve had the chance to sleep on this:

The queen dying is really driving home for me how blinded and toxic the internet has made us. yes she was a figurehead of the empire, yes she represents the establishment in the UK and in the commonwealth which is a relic of a horrific time and that has committed inexplicable and unimaginable crimes and still causes immense suffering. Dancing on her grave on this hellsite is not going to change the fact that the UK is racing straight down the highway to hell the rest of the world not far behind. It won’t help us actually on this island get rid of the tories who have for over a decade worked on destroying the nhs and social security. It won’t stop the rampant nationalism and the stubborn insistence on isolating the nation in a time when we really should move closer together with the rest of the world.

at the end of the day what you are doing if you join this sort of hate is piling hatred and anger on a woman who while benefitting from the machinery that is the British monarchy was also not directly responsible for the crimes of the empire. She wasn’t a despot with unlimited power like Hitler or one of the tons of dictators that we should all be worrying about now. She isn’t like trump who wants unlimited power just like Putin. she in fact had no real power at all except for representation and if you bothered to look into that, then you would know to turn this energy on those actually making the decisions rather than the figurehead they have been and still are hiding behind.

you are literally playing into their agenda.

go vote if you live in countries that have free elections and don’t take it for granted instead, write to your MP if you’re in the UK, go to protests, unionize, but don’t scream “ding dong the witch is dead” when her death has no effect whatsoever on the machinery she was the figurehead for.

You’re acting like the monarchy and all the horrific crimes committed in its name all over the world died with her. It’s only gonna get worse from here. 

 Then, on his arrival in Constantinople, after much counsel with himself, considering that he was already unequal to the amount of pressing business and believing that there was no room for delay, on the twenty-eighth of March he brought the aforesaid Valens into one of the suburbs​ and with the consent of all (for no one ventured to oppose) proclaimed him Augustus. Then he adorned him with the imperial insignia and put a diadem on his head, and brought him back in his own carriage, thus having indeed a lawful partner in his power, but, as the further course of our narrative will show, one who was as compliant as a subordinate. No sooner were these arrangements perfected without disturbance than both emperors were seized with violent and lingering fevers--

AM 26.4.3-4

this was one of those illustrations that was originally supposed to be a 5 page comic until I realized I don't know anything about later roman empire architecture or visuals or art or anything, so we'll revisit that later. maybe

for right now though, these two are fascinating. we have two brothers acting as one body, even becoming ill in tandem with each other, it's giving This Throne Is Cursed. like, the last time I read about emperors coming down with life threatening illnesses, it was Caligula, and that moment in his biography marked a very specific tone shift. I spent the rest of the (first) time reading about Valens and Valentinian waiting for something comparable to Caligula's reign to happen lmao (Dio 59. 8. 1-2)

and since Caligula was already on the mind, I started thinking about Tiberius: I think he would've loved these two since he had a whole thing about twin-ification and brothers and etc etc etc. ofc, Rome is both a Mouth and a Tomb, so it's going to go badly for someone/everyone eventually, but honestly I think that Valentinian and Valens were the best we could've hoped for. like it could've been so much worse

Tiberius and the Heavenly Twins, Edward Champlin

Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D, Noel Lenski

⭐ I have a tip jar (ko-fi)!

⭐ and other places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app

i imagine bail and mon joining forces something like:

bail: okay, lets join forces, i have three jedis, a mandalorian, a lassat warrior, the pilot daughter of general cham syndulla and one tool under my arm that's another jedi, what about you?

mon: a collector, a tree farmer, a mercenary and a kid who wants to be a philosopher.

Chapters: 14/? Fandom: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Elain Archeron & Nesta Archeron, Nesta Archeron & Lucien Vanserra, Elain Archeron & Lucien Vanserra, Elain Archeron/Lucien Vanserra, Nesta Archeron/Cassian Characters: Elain Archeron, Nesta Archeron, Lucien Vanserra, Cassian (ACoTaR), Azriel (ACoTaR), The Lady of the Autumn Court (ACoTaR), Helion (ACoTaR), Feyre Archeron, Rhysand (ACoTaR) Additional Tags: Lucien actually gets the story he deserves, Nesta and Elain: the Most Competent, Archeron merchant family legacy, ACOMAF AU, Who runs the world? Nesta and Elain, Archeron sisters who knew about the War before Feyre told them, Lucien Spring Court Traitor Vanserra, Found Family, fake engagment, ride or die means you can't fucking die, a very different take on the Hybernian war, Fix-it fic, Older Archeron Sisters & Lucien centric Summary:

So bleeding and burning, lost and found, Lucien Vanserra staggered into human lands, and found he wanted to live.

okay but I love the idea that huyang telling the story presents. It makes it CANONICAL that the stories and movies we see about Star Wars might just all be told to future generations of Jedi in some future temple. I know people have had headcanons about this, but not it’s almost like it’s canon.

so me and Sam FINALLY watched the last season of Capaldi's Who

and tell me how, after literally over a decade and for perhaps the first time in his fucking career, Steven Moffat wrote a not just tolerable but really actually good two-parter and fully stuck the landing. like the editing and pacing were still a bit off but the storyline was original, fun, interesting and emotionally invested, and most importantly, rather than ending on a damp fart or the most furious autofellatio in history, the final part didn't fumble it and ended in a way that felt emotionally satisfying and like it made sense for the characters. like the last time he successfully wrapped up a multiparter in a way that didn't feel cheap and hollowly disappointing to me was literally The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, and a) that was in 2005 and b) tbh The Doctor Dances is about a tenth as compelling and memorable as The Empty Child.

so after 12 years of either hackery or great ideas that fall apart in the second act, Steven Moffat writes what I would genuinely consider to be a memorable Good Doctor Who serial. it ends with bittersweet pathos, a solid closer for all the main characters, and sends Moffat's showrunning career out on a genuine high despite failing ratings and budget cuts (and the fact Doctor Who hasn't been consistently good since about 2009). good job Steve. with grudging respect I admit you pulled it out of the bag on this one.

wait what's this there's one more episode left? and it stars Mark Gatiss? and you literally spend the whole episode inexplicably just shitting all over the legacy of Doctor Who by inventing a version of the First Doctor that bears literally no resemblance to the character that William Hartnell actually played, just so you can spend the whole episode saying misogynistic things to run yourself off to how much more Totally Feminist your version was than the version you made up in your head of what Doctor Who was like in the 60s? and it added literally nothing to the season except to take all the wind out of the sails of the actually good finale you already wrote?

even when he writes a good episode this fucker still finds ways to disappoint me.

I really didn't want to have to do this. I have no interest in retraumatizing myself due to social media bullshit but I think it's time I put niknakbucks92 on blast for being the fucking creep that she is.

TW// Sexual harassment in DMs by a fellow Roman fan on this app

Below are a few examples of her pushing me into certain conversations about sexual scenarios with Roman and with her when I made it very obvious in my first screenshot I was not comfortable with it and did not consent to it. I tried to be nice because I convinced myself I was overreacting. I'm a survivor of irl SA and I told myself "well this isn't as bad as what ______ did. It's no big deal". It is a big deal. Because there's no telling who all she has done this to and will do it to in the future. I didn't want to admit to myself that I had been victimized or violated again even just on a social media based level but there comes a time where the truth must come to the light and that time is now. Do with this info what you will. This is just a warning to everyone else that she is a fucking creep. 2024 is the year I'm finally gonna start truly speaking up for myself and it starts with this. Just because I write smut about Roman does not mean you can make sexual advances towards me, expect me to " pretend to be Roman " at your whim. I DID NOT CONSENT TO THIS SHIT!

I am simply never recovering from this😭😭💔💔💔💔

I would like to add something to the previous ask: in all non cf routes one of billy’s primary motivators is finding rhea and bringing her back home safely. They also get knocked out because they tried to help her during the monastery siege. I quite like them outside of their self insert aspect and i agree that barring it, their relationship with rhea is a highlight as they obviously care a great deal for each other, s support or not.

Yep!

Which is why Billy fails at a self-insert - even when their character was nuked to make Tru Piss feasible - because Billy likes that place with weirdos that is supposed to be a school, where people ask them if they're alright, take time to talk to them and where they aren't sitting in silence, eating on their own while people mumble about they don't seem to be human, call them by a nickname they don't like and where they're not even sure they are appreciated by Jerry.

Despite the 526 red herrings about "Rhea Sus" and the general "Church BaD" - both to make Tru Piss an option and to justify taking Rhea out of the picture so they player's self-insert can become the most powerful and important person on the continent without any equals/rivals (especially in SS) - Billy likes to hang out with Rhea. And I find it hilarious that Billy doesn't listen to Jerry - who warns them to be distant with Rhea - and A supports her during the pre TS, being the only unit who can be A supported during the Pre TS!

Billy wants to get to know their lizard fam - and spend time with their newfound fam made by all those randoms in the monastery!

And in games where Tru Piss doesn't exist and there's no need to uwu... yeah, Billy can freely spend time with her, mention how they'd like to have the rest of the family join them for the next summer banner, etc etc.

Gilgamesh: Would you mind asking Thena if she still likes me?

Makkari: She literally would kill everyone in this city for you.

Gilgamesh: Yeah but still.

I ABSOLUTLY love how Valleius Paterculus got Tiberius back.

my post series recommendation is that if you've never listened to the orchestral version of hero by faouzia while thinking about Wilhelm and Simon's utter trainwreck of a romance, you should. I think you should.

we all know star wars is about family, and i really like how andor has taken that and wove all these different family units into the various storylines so that they act as anchors. the show starts off with cassian looking for his sister, and the loss of his relationship with her more broadly represents the loss of his connection to his people and his culture. cassian's hatred of the imperials is heavily tied into the murder of clem, the man who became his father. even after he leaves the planet, what ties cassian back to ferrix the most is maarva, who won't leave the planet. bix and brasso step in to look after their friend's mom when he's not there, and bix makes the fateful attempt to contact cassian because she's hoping maarva's son might be able to convince her to accept some help for her condition. when dedra arrives she orders her soldiers to keep maarva alive so she can act as bait. cassian will never truly be able to leave ferrix behind while his family's there. (and while it hasn't really been touched on yet, i do hope the series will explore more about the complicated nature of cassian considering maarva family after she - whatever her intentions - essentially kidnapped him. what does it mean for someone to become your family if they took you away from the main you were born into?)

on the other side, there's syril, who benefits from nepotism and gets to have a fresh start due to his connections while also becoming more unstable because in order to draw on these connections he's had to place himself in a very toxic situation by living with his estranged mother. even as syril gets ahead, getting a promotion, he's still caught up in this feud with his mother that gives him an eternal sense of grievance that will undoubtedly fuel his villainous actions. even the imperials of aldhani are shown to have dysfunctional family lives, where spouses and children become props to help gain favor.

but then you also have mon mothma who dives into the rebellion almost as an escape from her seriously tortured home life. her husband snipes and undercuts her, but she that's okay because she can fake a smile through another terrible dinner and smuggle family money to the rebels right under his nose. she's frustrated with her daughter's moody attitude, but makes no real effort to make time for her or understand leida's feelings because she's too busy putting in appearances and having covert meetings. the only person who truly feels like family is her cousin vel, her link to the front lines of the rebellion she's distanced from and the only real confidant she has. vel, meanwhile, can only spend so much time in the figurative trenches, even when it separates her from the woman she loves, or her cover will be blown because she's not living up to the vapid rich girl spending her wealthy family's money.

the familial connections have their fingerprints all over every plot and it just ties so well into the core star wars idea that family will shape your identity and choices in ways you may not even understand.

@rose-of-pollux's napoleon-solo-esque western oc... I'll be honest my main touchstone for napoleon solo is the 2015 movie, I haven't seen much of the original show, so hopefully the vibe is still right