#but what is unique to it is it's not even a historically accurate show like come on they say ''lol'' and half of them wear modern clothes😭

[tizeline]

After the season one finale and seeing as Leon would be trustworthy enough to go to the lair and spend some time with Donnie, April and Splinter would he learn some ninja skills ?

Like I imagine the Lou jitsu way of fighting might suit him better than Draxum's mystic warrior style and he might pick it up easier and that would help his relationship with Splinter while also improving his self esteem as he finds something he feels good at.

Oh yeah Leo's training under Draxum was very fighting-focused, but with the ninja arts there is so much more to it than the combat. If we wanna get more historically accurate, I'm pretty sure ninja were supposed to mostly resort to fighting as a last resort, most of the time it was better for a ninja to remain hidden. All of this is to say, Leo could learn quite a bit from both Splinter and Donnie.

Let's be honest though, stealth would NOT be Leo's strong-suit. I mean, theoretically he could be good at it, Leo's pretty fast and agile, and I'm sure his portalling abilities could help out a ton, problem is the fact that he's really theatrical and a total show-off so I don't know how well he would do with actually staying hidden. Then again, Splinter is also a fucking theater nerd so if he figured out stealth then maybe Leo isn't a lost cause. (Donnie at least in this AU is great at stealth, he kinda had to be considering he was never gonna beat all three of his brothers in direct combat)

When Leo finally starts connecting to his Hamato ancestry and unlocks his Ninpō, his mystic powers would certainly benefit from that. But I dunno, as useful as Leo's portals are I feel like Donnie and Mikey would benefit a lot more considering how versatile their mystic powers are compared to Leo's more specific abilities.

What I'm trying to get at is that what Leo really needs is to figure out his own fighting style, his own method of doing things. Leo at first would be ecstatic over getting to train with Splinter and Donnie, he knows he never excelled under Draxum's teachings so this is what he must have been missing! Being a ninja would be His Thing, the thing that he's really good at. So Leo goes into the ninja training fully expecting things so go easy this time, and then they just... don't. He's not terrible at it by any means, but the ninja arts don't come as naturally to him as he'd hoped. And he keeps comparing himself to Donnie this time, who's way better at this than Leo is, and suddenly he's back at square one. Leo, never bad but always below average, more importantly, never quite as good as his brothers.

Eventually, Leo would figure out his own unique strengths, his tactical mind, his manipulation skills, his possible leadership cababilities. Who knows, maybe he even learns to stop basing his sense of self-worth on his fighting abilities lol?

#Tiz Sep AU #tmnt #rottmnt #tizel talk

[theygotlost]

ok. here is my attempt to make a coherent post about the watch bbc.

my main reaction, over and over again watching the first episode, is: CHOICES WERE MADE. truly inscrutable choices for which I cannot possibly understand the rationale or thought process. If I was adapting discworld for the screen, it would ever in a million years occur to me to make these choices. some of these choices include, in no particular order:

cut-me-own-throat dibbler is a white woman with dreadlocs who uses a wheelchair. I can NOT make this up.

vetinari is also a woman. .....I have nothing else to say about this.

instead of a dragon sanctuary, sybil runs some kind of femdom petplay sex dungeon for bedraggled old men. including vimes. and this is how they meet. she traps him in her sex dungeon.

she's also skinny and average height. I repeat: sybil ramkin is SHORTER THAN VIMES.

the actor playing vimes does have a very vimey look about him I won't lie, I even like his little fauxhawk hair situation, but his performance is completely baffling. he's always making an over-the-top jim carrey face but doesn't sell it nearly as well as jim carrey so it's just awkward and not funny.

vimes' accent is also completely unplaceable. I swear it's different in every single scene. sometimes american, sometimes irish, sometimes an american doing a bad impression of an irish accent or vice versa. watching @fealtyfaggot (irish)'s face in real time as he tried to calculate this man's accent was entertaining to say the least.

honestly, every actor sounds like the director instructed them to do an irish accent except they're all bad at irish accents so they all sound weird in their own unique way.

goodboy bindle featherstone is a normal-sized, horrible cgi lizard and sybil uses him like a handheld flamethrower.

the series is attempting (and FAILING) to adapt the events of guards! guards! and night watch simultaneously. carcer is killmongerfied into a black man (not raceblind casting as ciarán pointed out to me, they specifically put out a casting call for a black actor) who is justifiably angry at the police system. and he's carcer. so he's still the main antagonist and a crazed serial killer. he's the bad guy.

john keel was also black and vimes is white, so while it doesn't actually happen in the first episode it seems apparent that CARCER will end up being the one to impersonate keel?!

AND carcer was best friends with vimes and they had some kind of ~history~ together where there was some kind of dramatic betrayal and vimes attempted suicide(?). what

I guess dwarves are.... not short? cheery is normal human height.

carrot's tragic backstory where he was thrown down a mineshaft as a baby (I laughed out loud when he said this) and his adoptive dwarf parents sent him to join the watch cause they hate him and are trying to get rid of him.

just...... why the cyberpunk angle? discworld isn't the most traditional, historically accurate medieval fantasy out there and it's not supposed to be, but.... WHY CYBERPUNK?

I almost forgot: colon and nobby are completely absent.

my only question after watching this is WHY. WHY WHY WHY WHY. why is this a discworld adaptation? why did they decide to adapt discworld in this way? there is absolutely no respect or appreciation for the source material or understanding of what makes it good. whoever came up with this does not seem to like discworld very much at all. every single second of these 42 minutes was a slap in the face.

If this was just its own show, not related to discworld in any way, it would still be pretty bad. But I could still see it having a cult following you know? there would for sure be a niche tumblr fandom for it. the best thing I can say about this show is that it would have been good if literally everthing about it was different.

#the watch watch

[broomsick]

A few personal thoughts concerning Marvel, and deity depictions in pop culture

I will first and foremost start by saying that when it comes to pop culture depictions of Loki, Floki Vilgerðarson seems a lot closer to the deity’s true character than Marvel’s Loki, in my opinion. It’s his laid-back mannerisms but cryptic nature that do it for me. For whatever reason, some pagans still like to establish parallels between Loki as a deity and the shallow depiction Marvel makes of him, though when you observe the two even remotely, they really have nothing in common. Still, pop culture will be pop culture, and we cant expect for non-pagan writers, scenarists and the like to depict deities in the same manner as we pagans would, for the reason that they simply don’t believe in these deities. A fictional work will have to forego certain ties to myth (in the case of Floki Vilgerðarson, symbolism that tie him with the deity Loki) for the sake of scenario.

Now, the major difference between these two depictions is their purpose, or base intent, and it’s what makes me to slightly prefer Vikings’ Floki as a deity depiction. The thing is, establishing a few parallels between him and the deity without ever clearly stating that he does embody the deity creates quite a subtle result. Members of the audience who are familiar with the norse myths will recognize right away that Floki serves as representation of this deity, while those who aren’t, perceive him simply as another character among the cast. In fact, one could observe that in many instances, Floki plays the same role within the narrative of Vikings as Loki within the myths. This makes for quite the interesting parallel and, by never clearly highlighting this symbolism, the show leaves Floki’s ties with Loki to interpretation. This, in my opinion, is quite the clever way to depict a deity. So much so that one could think the writers of the show were aware of neo-paganism as a modern practice. They treated Ragnar Lothbrok’s character in the same manner, often emphasizing his resemblance with Óðinn, but never truly asserting it.

On the other hand, in terms of purpose, Marvel’s Loki has never had any pretense of being even remotely close to the deity of the myths, which makes him a very wobbly inspiration for new pagans to picture Loki. Unfortunately, this seems to be a tendency which sticks on many social media platforms. Which is why I think a crucial step in research within the context of pagan belief is to entirely detach oneself from pop culture depictions. This might sound obvious, but I have often witnessed pagans base their opinions of deities upon pop culture, whether they’d been aware of it or not. For example, I have once seen someone tell me they wouldn’t ever respect Thórr or his worshippers, because he was, and I quote, a “prime example of toxic masculinity”. Which, to me, is quite contradictory, considering how his historical worship was more often than not centered around fertility of the crops and non-violent concepts. Plus, his role as a sort of “warrior” deity in the myths is far from unique. In fact, many norse deities have been depicted as warriors in the myths, and Thórr is far from alone in that matter. Hence, the idea of his “toxic masculinity” does seem to stem from pre-conceived ideas created by pop culture. Which is why as I’ve mentioned, it was extremely important on my spiritual journey that I draw a clear line between deities and their pop culture depictions, no matter how accurate, and no matter if the deities concerned were believed to appreciate these depictions.

It is, of course, easy to subconsciously associate a deity with their pop culture counterpart and it would be an impossible task to not find parallels between the two, especially if attention was given to respecting mythology. For this reason, I don’t and will never try to avoid tv shows, games or movies that depict the Gods. Enjoying such content is not disrespectful in the slightest, in my opinion. The name “God of Outcasts” has, for example, become commonplace in pagan circles despite having been created from scratch by Marvel, for Marvel’s Loki. In this case, however, I believe the name does no harm at all. In fact, it seems quite popular among pagans, so much so that many aren’t aware it even stemmed from pop culture. One could see the name as respectful of the myths and for this reason, I believe it’s entirely harmless for worshippers of Loki such as me to use it within their practices, as long as awareness is kept concerning the fact that his has little ties with historical practice. Such a practice is among the perks of neo-paganism being centered around the individual and their ability to nurture their own belief! The only hazard I find to be worrisome, when it comes to pop culture and its depictions of deities, is when one’s idea of a deity starts to blend with a fictional depiction, and when the fictional character starts to have precedence over the deity.

#personal #thoughts #paganism #norse paganism #mythology #norse mythology #deities #norse gods #spirituality #deity work #polytheism #heathenry #pop culture

[butch-reidentified]

people are exactly the same as they have always been

it's so weird to me in those conversations of "what would you have done during xyz historical man-made horror [the obvious cruelties, of course, but even things like 19th century patent medicine scams]?" how there's always someone insisting like their life depends on it that everyone wants to say they'd do what we now see as the right thing, but that you, rather, that nobody could possibly say with any confidence what they'd have done. I just don't agree with this. I do think most people don't have the perspective, critical thinking, and self-awareness skills to make an accurate assessment, but... people are exactly the same as they have always been! the folks eating up Gwyneth Paltrow and her Goop Labs madness are the same folks who bought tinctures from traveling medicine men who put on a good show in the town square then got out of dodge before anyone realized they'd been scammed. it's the same old game with a brand new name.

there have always been fools, scam artists, and skeptics. there have always been evildoers, victims, and liberators. there have always been bystanders. if you think that who you are, what you believe in, and what you stand for today are unique to our times and not able to be extrapolated from, not at all parallel to the contexts of our ancestors... I don't know what to tell you. we are not that special.

#mine #just thoughts

[alphynix]

It Came From The Wastebasket

Taxonomy – the naming, description, and classification of living things – is one of the foundations of biology and ecology. We need to know what things are in order to properly understand them and their evolutionary relationships, and without that we can't build up an accurate picture of the true diversity of life on Earth.

Taxonomy of living species is also vital for conservation efforts, recognizing unique species that would otherwise go unnoticed. Accidentally using the same name for multiple things can easily mask the decline and potential extinction of critically endangered populations – for example, if we'd just assumed all Galápagos giant tortoises were exactly the same we'd never have realized that Lonesome George was the last known individual of the Pinta Island subspecies, or made efforts to find living hybrid descendants of his kind.

Meanwhile the paleontological taxonomy of fossils helps us to understand where things came from, and to identify long-term trends of evolution, diversity, and extinction over time. The history of life shows us how different types of organisms coped with changing conditions in the past, so we can try to predict how current climate change will affect the biosphere in the present and future.

But sometimes species don't neatly fit into our classification system. Maybe they're rather "generic" or "primitive" examples of that type of organism and don't really have many unique or specialized features, or maybe the scientists describing them just weren't able to classify them more specifically at the time, but either way they often end up with the same fate: dumped into a wastebasket taxon.

Wastebaskets aren't natural lineages, just a default label for things that don't seem to fit anywhere else, and they're basically somebody else's problem to sort out later. Sometimes they can even end up containing things that superficially look very similar to each other but later turn out to not even be closely related at all.

This can be especially bad in paleontology, where there's often only poorly-preserved and fragmentary fossils to work with and usually no way to verify evolutionary relationships with modern genetic analysis. This can result in wastebaskets getting especially bad if left unchecked – like how for a while in the 19th and 20th centuries many fragmentary theropod dinosaurs were just dumped into Megalosaurus, resulting in over 50 dubious species that eventually needed to be carefully reevaluated, renamed, and reclassified.

Every weekday this October we'll be looking at a different example of these sort of taxonomic tangles – so I'll see you all on Monday with one the worst historical wastebaskets…

———

Nix Illustration | Tumblr | Twitter | Patreon

#it came from the wastebasket #wastebasket taxon #taxonomy #biology #paleontology #art #science illustration

[misc-obeyme]

I can admit some of their outfits look a little interesting, but I may be the only one who loves this event 🤣 They kind of remind me of musketeers, mostly Mammon and Beel are who I can remember off the top of my head.

I'm a sucker for masks too (Mammon looks mysterious to me, my bias is showing) but I JUST HAD A PHASE WHEN I WAS YOUNGER WHERE I WAS OBSESSED WITH THE MUSKETEERS IN DIFFERENT MEDIA AJSJDJ

- ✨ anon

omg I totally had a musketeers phase too! I read the Dumas books and everything. They do kinda have that musketeer style happening, huh?

Anyway, I'm sure you're not alone! I just have a problem with the blacked out eyes specifically lol. I would be okay with the masks if it wasn't for that! The masks themselves look fine! Interesting, even!

But I have to say they went way too overboard on some of these outfits. I like the general concept, just not the execution. And unfortunately, that seems to be the case for most of the outfits they make, to be honest.

This game has a tendency to make all the outfits look absolutely gaudy for some reason. I don't know if they're just trying too hard to make each one unique or what. But my favorites tend to be the ones that are less extravagant - the yukata and yokai outfits or the bunny boy outfits, for instance. Then there are some that have the potential to be great, like the white suit outfits, but they just go overboard with things like the little hats and weird fabric flares and bizarre boots. If they'd just cut back a tiny bit, all of these outfits would probably look really nice!

In the current event, I wouldn't mind Barb's outfit nearly as much if they just got rid of the hat. I don't know why they insist on including hats so frequently. They look so silly. I'll never get over Dia's fedora from that one outfit... I can't remember which one it was, but honestly if they had just left that off, it would have been nice.

Don't get me started on the pirate outfits.

So to me, this is just another in a long line of too-much outfits and that's just this game's style. I'm willing to overlook so much when it comes to outfits, but the blacked out eyes cross the line for me, I'm afraid!

I would love to see an actual musketeer event, though! I think that'd be so cool! They're all dueling with fancy swords and defending their king and traipsing around a palace! Well, okay, I realize my vision of musketeering is likely not historically accurate. And how would they incorporate all the Catholic? Well, it's about aesthetics anyway so let's not worry about it lol.

Also the event story itself is fine for me so far, but we also don't know how it ends. I mean, of course the white wolf wants MC, it's charmed by them just as much as every other living thing in the Devildom.

Whoops sorry, ✨ anon I think I got a bit off topic! Anyway, while I'm sure you're not entirely alone, even if you were, you are free to enjoy the event and outfits as much as you like! I'm happy that you're happy and that these outfits are able to remind you of a fun time in your life when you fell in love with something!

I think that's great, blacked out eyes or not! 💕

#no one will ever receive judgment for enjoying something on my blog #or for disagreeing with me about anything #just fyi #ahh now I'm thinking about the musketeers lol #one for all and all for one!!! #obey me #obey me nightbringer #✨ anon #misc answers

[marta-bee]

I've been ruminating (some would say obsessing) on that word I keep seeing used to describe the situation in Gaza. Genocide. Long post is long, so let's put this under a cut.

I know there's debate on some quarters on whether it's accurate; I'm not sure it is, but also think that question misses the point, because whatever else Gaza is, it's a humanitarian fuck-show. And it's caused, beside the obvious, by Israeli willingness to risk human life rather than tolerate a risk to their own security (which they're much better equipped to protect themselves from than the people of Gaza are), coupled with Israeli refusal to make lasting peace with their neighbor enabled by American military and cultural support. So yes, this one feels personal to me both as an American and someone with mixed Jewish-Christian heritage. People who claim to represent me are enabling said humanitarian fuck-show, which is nothing if not uncomfortable.

That said, every time I see that word it gets stuck in my craw a bit. Not because it's untrue but because mass human suffering caused by violence against an ethnic minority is hardly limited to Gaza, or to the present moment. So I'm questioning whether the Gaza situation is uniquely terrible. Not that it needs to be; I don't post about it much here because Tumblr is my refuge from the offline world, but I am doing quite a lot in RL to support Gaza, and to press my congressmen to take a stronger stance against Israel. I don't want to give the impression I'm not bothered or lukewarm just because I'm not vocal about it here.

But the fact that this suffering and violence isn't unique makes me really uncomfortable with that word because, let's face it, the language is intended to outrage people. I've been thinking about a phrase Fred Clarke (the blogger "Slacktivist" at Patheos, a moderate Baptist who often criticized Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism) used to parody fundamentalist stances on abortion. "Satanic baby-killers" - it was how the fundamentalists supposedly described abortionists and pro-life folks; not sure if they really used it or if Clarke invented it to make his point. The point being, even if you believed this was accurate of what abortionists were doing, the real reason to use it was to make abortionists and fellow citizens who happened to be pro-life seem so other, so --well-- Satanic, that it was morally impossible not to support them. It was meant to radicalize their own side and dehumanize the other.

I'm not so worried about dehumanizing Israelis and Jews more generally. I mean, yes, that's a concern, but it's possible to criticize Israel without being anti-Semitic, and this word at least doesn't play into all those old tropes, at least not in a way I can see. I'm more worried about how it shapes the way we think about our fellow Americans. Because America isn't as overwhelmingly outraged by the Gaza crisis as Tumblr and other left-leaning social media would make you believe. A recent Pew Research poll (results published 3/21/24) found that 31% said their sympathies lie entirely or mostly with Israel, and another 26% said they were equally sympathetic toward both groups. There are reasons for this, not particularly valid ones today but historically I understand why so many Americans (particularly older ones and more conservative ones) are primed to support, but for the most part those reasons are outdated, something they need to be encouraged to reconsider and move on from. Accusing them of supporting a genocide only puts them on the defense.

(The short version, based on my personal conversations with family and neighbors: they think of Israel as a democracy in a sea of dictatorships and monarchies, no longer true; Israel is our ally so it's unpatriotic to criticize them, would take more space to deconstruct but if we can't criticize our friends when they do shit like this who can; and they see Israel as a necessary safeguard where Jews can go to escape discrimination, which is vaguely racist and surely a much less humane and effective approach than addressing the anti-Semitism where said Jews actually live. As I said, not valid reasons, but reasons nonetheless I'm trying to help them grow out of through our conversations. Which means they need to feel safe enough to consider they might actually be wrong.)

The bigger concern for me, though, is what this does to the people using that language. That's why I brought up that "Satanic baby-killers" phrase. Because it ratchets up the sense that your neighbors are moral monsters. It dehumanizes them, so you don't see people who are wrong because they haven't educated themselves or even because they have some valid reason to support Israel I'm not seeing (I'm human, I'm fallible, and I always want to hear new ideas I haven't considered because I want to grow). Instead, they see someone despicable, someone who's wholly other from people like them. It dehumanizes them. And, speaking as someone who grew up in the American South in the '80s and '90s, so yes, I did live through that Satanic baby-killer mind set if not the actual language: that shit will mess you up. I'd rather my current friends not have to go through that.

On the other hand: Gaza is still a humanitarian fuck-show. And evil still needs to be opposed. I know that, and I do that. Possibly I should just get over my hang-up over that word and focus on the things that matter more in terms of RL consequences. Still, it bothers me, and -- being me -- I needed to take the time to unpack why.

#gaza #politics #marta blathers

[creative-chaos-apparently]

I say we need MORE characters who aren't villains with designs that aren't conventionally attractive! I really love what they did with these designs!

Take for example Attila the Hun in the original movies! He was a bigger guy and had some features that could villainizing like his nose being a bit larger than others and constant frown, but that's not only accurate to his historical part, but that's just humans are!!

Not to mention in the end Atilla became not only one of the leading protagonists in the other live action movies, but he became the most lovable character (or at least I think so) on the team because of how sweet he actually is once he became friends!

I know I'm talking about a live action movie compared to an animated movie, but still this just shows character who aren't villains can be shown to not have perfect features!

EXACTLY, Slushie, thank you! 💚💚💚

Human faces should be celebrated. Not ridiculed. Even in cartoon.

People may see themselves in these designs differently than other people will and that’s the beauty. Every character in this movie is unique looking and amazing. And I am excited for the art style most of all if not the plot roo!

Facial differences are so important.

No one is a cookie cutter. This movie has convinced me to experiment with my art style more so that I can make more unique faces..

#night at the museum #natm4 #natm 4 #kahmunrah rises again #Character design #character illustration

[andsheoverthinks]

i am so tired of how easily people slip into anti-Blackness to defend their arguments

recently (always tbh but also recently) i've been seeing a lot of disdain circulating for African Americans, disappointedly but not surprisingly from a lot of non-white people as well.

[f appropriating other cultures is so repugnant to you... why do you have a kpop profile pic... but i digress]

specifically this is about the Cleopatra tv show? casting that people are discussing right now, it's really highlighted how Black people, especially African Americans, aren't allowed to do anything a little bit cringe without racist, violent blowback. Cleopatra has been played by many many actresses, most of whom aren't of Greek or Egyptian descent. So it's weird that people are acting like Black people are uniquely horrible and ignorant for the casting of a Black woman as Cleopatra, when many castings have not been historically accurate.

Liz Taylor was British-American, Vivien Leigh was British, Monica Bellucci and Sophia Italian... you get the point. and yet people aren't hurling racist slurs at white people (there are none) for casting Cleopatra as non-Greek/Egyptian all these years. if you're upset about this particular casting, you can at least be civil with your discussions. but, no, it's easiest to call us dirty, ignorant n******s because half the time people are just waiting for an excuse.

let me explain something to you, gently. a lot of people ask, well, African Americans and Caribbeans were sold from West African countries like Ghana and Nigeria, why don't they go appropriate those countries.

the answer's quite simple. we don't learn anything about West Africa in school.

laugh break, haha, dumb USAmericans.

okay, back to business. in the U.S., we learn a very short list of non-European civilizations: Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt. Maybe one line on Mali if you're lucky. the school system here is very sensitive to teaching anything that triggers 'white guilt' aka anything more than a cursory glance at anything concerning Black people and our history, which is deemed as unimportant. you can say we were obviously enslaved from West African countries so we should learn about those cultures, but... we don't speak our old languages, save for some loanwords like 'duppy' instead of 'ghost' in Caribbean vernacular and such, we don't eat our old foods, wear our traditional clothes... we don't even know what they were, what ethnic group(s) we would have belonged to. we're not immigrants in that sense that we have a home country, a definite place of origin. do you know what it's like to feel that so much of your identity is rootless? do you know how endless that emptiness is?

so when these three non-European civilizations were laid out before us, we latched onto the closest one, and ran a little too far with it.

in fact, my generation is less dependent on Egypt as a sort of crutch; this is more of an older people thing. we have healed enough to be able to look within.

this is not a sob story. this is just a story of how we got here, and how this construction of the world -- disregarding the effects of white supremacy and racial trauma while enacting racist behavior and showing incredible fluency with white supremacist imagery and rhetoric -- is fundamentally flawed.

this is just a sample of the racist tweets on the actress's twitter. i have chosen not to include the images that titilate these people but they are equally horrible, depicting violence against Black people.

in fact, i should stop calling this pathological behavior pattern 'white supremacy' at this point because a lot of people are actually getting off is to Arab slavery. the parallels between misogyny and anti-Blackness are so interesting -- misogynists are addicted to the ego boost of subjugating women, racists are addicted to the ego boost of subjugating Blacks. yes, your ancestors spearheaded an appallingly brutal slave trade of African people which lasted thirteen centuries and is continues to this day (yes, Black people are still being enslaved in your countries but you're butthurt over a tv show so it's time to go ballistic -- by the way white people were also kidnapped and sold but since the rise of European imperialism they'd been able to shed that 'shame'), even more evil than the triangular trade and there are fewer survivors because of the reproductive control methods (read, violent sterilization). source1 source2. you people spouting this nonsense because of a tv show are just as racist as the white people over here, possibly worse. do you feel edgy villain enough now? happy?!

and by the way, 'threatening' to cast white actors as Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King doesn't hurt us the way that Cleopatra not looking white enough seems to emotionally wound you, we are used to being minimized and erased for our contributions to society and are not thin-skinned like the losers complaining about this like it's the worst thing in their lives.

Is Afro-centerism inaccurate? Probably. Is it fearmongering to position it as equivalent to white supremacy? Absolutely.

[Pop quiz: Which ideology enslaved, tortured, raped, killed, and colonized across many centuries?]

Does calling us n******s and invoking 4chan 'we wuz kangz' (yes there was a we wuz kangz meme but i'm not reposting their childish shit on my blog) arguments make you sound like anything other than a whiny child? No. Just say you don't like the casting like a grown-up.

Why doesn't Hollywood produce West Africa period pieces in order to cast more Black actors instead? Now there's an actually productive question. Thank you. Actually, next they should do a long, high budget docudrama on the Arab slave trade so you can feel really uncomfortable.

#anti blackness #racism #poc racism #twitter users having a normal one #tw racism #tw antiblackness #here's the poc solidarity you ordered! #receipts #arab slave trade #'my ancestors were slavers' is not a flex #ur descended from sadists great i can tell #nothing hurts me at this point i'm numb #this is why i hate the proliferation of 'bipoc' and 'poc' especially #it's so white-centric #it groups us with slavers #actual current 21st century slavers #there is no fucking poc community

[odaclan]

Money flags

While a lot of drama and anime still depict Nobunaga using the Oda mokkou-mon (the flower-like one) on his flags, there are also many who have switched to using what is considered the historically accurate design: the Eiraku Tsuuhou 永楽通宝 (the coins of Emperor Yongle of Ming)

It’s, to be fair, not unique to Nobunaga. A study of other samurai banners show that there are other clan lords who display the same coins on their banners.

Still, what’s interesting is this: This is actually the currency of Japan in that time. This design of coin was purportedly minted by the Ming empire for foreign usage, and that the people of Ming themselves don’t actually use this. Once it made its way to Japan, it then just becomes the domestic Japanese currency. Bulks of these coins had to be imported from China from time to time. 

Since the worth was counted by the weight of the coin, technically what design or image is on the coin doesn’t matter. However, even when the local Japanese begins to attempt to mint the coins domestically, it still bears the Eiraku Tsuuhou imprint. It’s not until the time of the Tokugawa in 1636 that a new imprint was established: The Kan’ei Tsuuhou 寛永通宝, because it was created in the Kan’ei era (1624-1644).

It’s quite a funny thought thinking that any samurai lord carrying those coin flags in battle were essentially holding the Japanese equivalent of this:

#currency #money #japanese money #eiraku tsuuhou #samurai banner #samurai war banner #sashimono #hatajirushi #sengoku #Sengoku Era #Sengoku period #japanese history #Warring states #Warring States Period #Warring States Era

[cartoonrival]

So, how was Naruto?

ok im using this ask as my full review post. it was simultaneously tear-your-hair-out garbage and world-alteringly incredible. would i recommend watching it? NO. am i glad i spent two weeks doing basically nothing other than watching it? yes. idk how much detail i went into initially about why i wanted to watch it to begin with, but (and im not SUPER sure how accurate this is) from my perspective the impact that naruto has had on fandom culture seems absolutely MASSIVE, and i HAD to experience it for myself because of that. sasunaru was absolutely a large part of that, considering they are something of the poster child of shipping rival leads (especially in anime fanbases), so even though i knew that they would be shipped together regardless of how much they actually cared for each other in canon, the MASSIVE popularity and the tiny snippets of them that i'd seen made me kind of crazy desperate to see how real it was.

the strongest aspect of the series is ABSOLUTELY naruto and sasuke, and sasuke and itachi. really what i loved most about naruto was that the author pulled NO punches in demonstrating how deep these characters love for one another actually ran. this isnt extrapolation or exaggeration when i say that i have NEVER in all my days seen "love that ruins" like how these characters love each other.

naruto on his own isnt a WILDLY unique character. without watching the show you could guess what sort of person he is and probably be right. BUT his biggest strengths def come in how he interacts with other people, and his endless dedication to sasuke is a PRIMARY example of that. one by one, EVERYBODY is giving up on sasuke. hes doing terrible things, no one has seen him, they just catch wind of the awful things he's done, but naruto still REFUSES to let him go. and it is TEARING him to pieces. he's losing sleep over it for YEARS. he grovels in the snow for sasuke's honor, he dreams about him he cries over him all his friends turn on him over sasuke and he fucking refuses to accept that sasuke's too far gone. sasuke is desperate to forget the bond he had with naruto , his one and only friend (direct quote), not just because he feels like the weakness of having that bond is holding him back but also because he doesn't feel like he deserves it. he doesnt GET why naruto loves him so much and its making him crazy. he's desperate to make him stop, even if that means killing him just to be alone again, to bear the hate of the world alone so that the world can find peace in his place. they love each other so so so deeply and understand one another like no one else could ever dream to, and i've never seen such unfiltered devotion in my LIFE.

the lore of the series itself is quite muddy and overcomplicated, particularly everything relating to historical conflicts. the specifics of itachi's story, to me, are kind of contrived and feel sort of like the author himself didnt know exactly what itachi's real motivation was going to be when he initially wrote him killing all the uchiha. the lore dumps are dense and dreadful to wade through. i personally deeply hate the idea of sasuke and naruto being the reincarnated souls of two brothers who've been at each others throats for lifetimes grappling for their own ideas of peace. now part of this is because i do not think sasuke and naruto's relationship is particularly brotherly, but mostly its because i hate the idea that STILL their lives are being dictated by fate and the reason that they care for each other so deeply is because their souls are tied by a cosmic bond instead of because they are two people who chose to care for one another independently.

i personally feel there is a valuable simplicity to just. these two love each other, and their story is reflected by the past relationships between madara and the first hokage whos name i forget, and also by two guys before them, and it has created a cycle that repeatedly fails but maybe the strength of the bonds that have been built by naruto and sasuke and the people close to them can finally break free of that. like things can reflect the past, and i think that means more than it actually BEING the past. this is def an opinion that i dont expect to be widely agreed upon because i know complex lore and prophecies and shit ARE popular, but i personally feel that the complexity of everything with kaguya and her sons and the sage of six paths couldve been watered down and made for a stronger story. CHOOSING to live how you are means so so much more than living that way because fate dictates that you do. and i know there was an element of self determination in sasuke and naruto being able to break free of that cycle, but the fact that they were in it to begin with was because of reborn souls and shit. which i dont like.

along with the lore dumps dragging on, fights can also drag on like craaaaazy. not even just fights that are very plot significant (im fine with those being long, fights between naruto and sasuke are beautifully animated and i could watch them for hours), but literally just random ass conflicts with minor villains and minor characters take for fucking ever and its exhausting. like there is a lot of shit that we didnt need.

and obviously. the series is DEEPLY sexist. worst ive seen in a LONG time. the shoehorned romance made me want to scream, it is genuinely demeaning watching hinata and sakura pine after naruto and sasuke. i dont think ALL the girl characters suck (i do actually like sakura even though her crush on sasuke makes me want to kill someone, tsunade is genuinely one of my fave characters, i think temari is really cool and fun, i wish we'd gotten more of tenten), but it is POTENTLY obvious that kishimoto doesnt see women as people and it makes a LOT of scenes DEEPLY painful to watch. ive talked about this quite extensively so i won't rehash it all here but it is BAD. i was honestly surprised by how little the girls are sexualized, but he makes up for that by only having three personality traits that girls are allowed to have. and one of those is "obsessed with naruto or sasuke to the point of it being a health concern."

TL;DR, naruto has very strong character relationships and themes of how love can make you stronger but also ruin you, but the lore is terribly muddy and the way its presented makes a lot of it very boring. kishimoto hates women so much its insane. ive been changed on a fundamental level. every m/m rivals ship that has come after this is a sorry attempt to recreate sasunaru whether the people shipping those characters realize it or not

#asks157 #nrto #meta157 #<- ive mostly retired this tag (mostly because i forget to use it) but this post needs to be findable again (by me))

[realcatalina]

Mary’s puzzling portrait

Sometimes artist combined more than one portrait or got inspired by some, to create a better looking copy. 5 were used for this posthumous portrait of Mary.

I found 4 and I am the desperate for the last one. And here is why.

In this case I figured that 1st inspiration is portrait of Mary I(on left) held by Dulwich Picture Gallery. It has this green fabric behind her and is part of set done in  1618 to 1620 which originally showed 26 monarchs. Aside from finding that Henry VII’s portrait was mislabelled as Richard III already by then, it gives us no new information.

2nd inspiration and most notable is portrait of Elizabeth I as princess by William Scrots done in c.1545. It was inspiration for the background, but not the figure.

The dress, posture and jewelry of Catherine Parr’s portrait from National Trust Collection and the matching portrait of Parr in black dress were used as 3rd inpiration:

(You cannot see the details of jewelry on any picture of the black dress, which is why i don’t believe just that one was used.)

4th inspiration was portrait of Mary I from National Maritime Museum(on right)-but it is without picture on their webpage, so search on it on Artuk instead.

It gave us head and cross used as massive chest jewel. Howeever the issue here is don’t have a clue upon which portrait this one is based, because this too is a copy. 

Well, cross with 3 pear shaped pears, and golden rose with pearl above it. I’ve seen something similiar to the red version of the cross in one of copies of portraits of Elizabeth, but idk if that was actual Tudor jewelry.

And it seems like that is it-we found all inspirations. Lots of effort and creativity was used in creating this one. It’s copy but it amused me greatly. Fooled me almost.

I started to even wonder if perhaps it was based upon some original done in 1540s, upon which Mary’s later head was added. Because some details are so well copied.

But there was actually a fifth inspiration and it keeps bugging me. Because of the girdle. It is so perfectly done! 10 smaller beads, then big ones made from stone called lapis lazuli(azurite). Ever since medieval times it was used to portray piety and it was very very rare and expensive. Many artist couldn’t afford to use it due its price and i have never seen anybody with jewelry with it in tudor times. However showcase of piety, rarity and wealth, would be exactly what I’d expect from Mary.

It fits excellently with Mary’s personality and also with Parr bringing trend of some unique girdles in 1540s(her by master john has tiny carved faces in it).

At end of girdle is a jewel showing St. Veronica holding the cloth with the image of Christ upon it-Veil of Veronica(holy relic). Which is bit ironic, because Mary’s greatest supporter was Charles V and his troops during sack of Rome stole Veil of Veronica(holy relic) and it was not seen since.

So I’d love to know, where the inspiration for that girdle came from. Tbh, I’d even be happy to see it recreated by somebody and used as part of costume for Mary. I’d actually think it was historically accurate/keeping with mentality of the day. 

(I cannot say same about that cross on chest, it’d too huge.)

Unfortuntaley this painting is from c.1800, so I cannot ask its maker. 

And I went through all royal portraits of Tudor women, and I can’t find it. But since he or she used 4 known royal portraits, it would be logical if 5th was also royal portrait. But i could find nothing. I have no idea where is this 5th inspiration. Nor who wore it. And imo it is too well-thought girdle to be completely made up. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed it and if you know anything about this girdle then write to me please.

#historical portraits #Tudor History #Mary I Of England #mary tudor #posthumous portrait

[bookshelfdreams]

Thoughts on ofmd, I've seen you talk about it a lot (I haven't gotten ar to watching it yet!) and he's wanted your opinion on it! Also hope you're having a nice day! 💖

OKAY well, that's complicated since you haven't seen it (do u need links?) but

hmmm

I think I want to talk about historical accuracy a bit. ofmd's complete refusal to adhere to the general aesthetic of modern vaguely historical/fantasy media is probably one of the most refreshing things about it, and something that immediately stood out to me.

This show isn't historically accurate, doesn't claim and doesn't want to be. Oluwande wears crocks; Stede reads the crew a book that won't be written for another 150 years or so; if you're stabbed through the stomach and it's on the left, you're fine because there's no important organs in there. This show uses every opportunity to say fuck reality, we do what we want, and it's so freeing?

Because. Look the thing is, every piece of media does this. Everything. Even things that claim to be historically accurate. Historical aesthetics, especially early modern or premodern look weird to us. It takes some getting used to, and the aesthetics being just a little "off" to your eyes don't make you more likely to watch something if you're undecided about it. Producers play it safe; I get it.

But the problem is that visual media usually doesn't own this inaccuracy the way ofmd does. Some even brag about accuracy when they're anything but, and it all leads to the general public having a completely wrong impression of what the past was like. It's a self-perpetuating cycle: Someone does something cool, everyone copies it, adds their own little twist, updates it to be pleasing to modern audience's eyes, unusual enough to be interesting but not so much to be jarring, cool but never weird, and before you know it, people actually think that all vikings looked like they were in a biker gang and had the same shitty undercut.

ofmd doesn't really fight this, it goes in the complete opposite direction. It uses the historic precedent as a backdrop to tell the story it wants to be and it doesn't really care about being truthful. Which is fine; we know so little about the actual historical figures, to tell any story at all requires massive amounts of interpretation. In a way, that is being more honest with the audience; ofmd doesn't pretend to tell the objective truth.

This is anything but extraordinary. But because it also refuses to adhere to the kinds of aesthetic (and I don't just mean visual, but also in terms of plot and characterization) that we have come to expect from the genre of vaguely historical/fantasy, it seems like it is uniquely unconcerned. It is not; it's just colourful and open minded, kind-hearted in a way these type of movies/tv shows usually are not, even when they are comedies (have you seen Norsemen? Take the Vikings aesthetic & make it a comedy, every time I think of this show I want to soak my brain in bleach). It's just that it refuses to be gory for gore's sake, bleak and miserable and pass this off as "just the way things are were!".

At it's core, I believe, ofmd is about decolonization. It's about breaking free from oppression, finding and being your authentic self. It's about finding community and healing in others, about being unapologetically weird and strange.

And you know what? I think that's way more truthful. In real life, we love and cherish each other, we accept each other's idiosyncrasies, we are friends with each other, even if we are a little weird. In real life, you don't need to be the coolest, most competent badass to get others to respect you. In real life, you will be loved for all the ways in which you are unusual, and in real life, being unusual isn't even that big of a deal.

Yeah, that's not what clothes looked like in 1717. Yeah, phrenology wasn't invented yet. Yeah, the historical Stede Bonnet was an asshole, and so was the historical Blackbeard. But in the end, does that really matter? ofmd doesn't pretend to tell the real events that happened; all it wants to be is a queer romcom with pirates.

There's something so lovely about stories that are unashamedly themselves, isn't there.

#thank you! i hope this was somewhat interesting for you #i tried to not be overly spoilery #anonymaus #message #our flag means death #thoughts

[trevorskullcrafter]

An Investigation of the Under-Land, by Merlin Aubert

Though many are familiar and comfortable with the world's four continents, each of them brimming with a unique history, it seems possible or even likely that there is an elusive fifth continent somewhere out of reach for us land-dwellers. Sunken in a time long before recorded history and hidden deep below the Vantanic Ocean's surface ever since, this land would no doubt have limitless value to us historians and help us to understand far more about the planet we inhabit.

Due to this continent's purely theoretical existence, it currently has no official name. Those investigating it have called it by a variety of monikers, such as Astralea, the Under-Land, and quite tastelessly, Vantlantis. For the purposes of simplicity, in this documentation I shall refer to it as the Under-Land, as I consider that name the most vague (and therefore, intriguing) of the three.

Now that the basics have been covered, I feel I should address the fae in the chamber. "But, Merlin, how can one document what has never been discovered?" Fret not, dear reader, for I have an answer: raw speculation. Ongoing investigations of the Under-Land are exceptionally dry at the time of writing, you see, yet it is vital even now to document every discovery in the event that they prove useful in future endeavors. As such, I shall be founding my words on current discoveries combined with my own historical knowledge, to hopefully reach a conclusion that is at least somewhat cohesive.

Geography

The rumors of a landmass that once laid above the abyss first began around the discovery of tectonic shift more than six centuries ago, in a time when suggesting that the Earth was not the center of the universe could land one atop a burning stake. As our records show, Sylean cartographer Raphael Salandor was tasked with drawing the first full map of the world, combining works from across the four continents onto a single parchment. It was recorded that at multiple points, Salandor remarked that the continents would fit together quite remarkably, and even proposed a fifth that could have existed long ago. This drew the attention of the historians of that time, who, in collaboration with Raphael Salandor himself, formed a society whose name translates literally to the "League of Blue-Footed Men." Once the League finished Salandor's map, tectonic plates and leylines included, they began to advertise it to all within an ear's reach in the hopes of enlightening them to the truth.

After the group's mass execution for reported treason to the Emperor, the incident was quickly swept under the rug. An unknown artist was commissioned to recreate the map without its unwarranted details, attributing the work to Salandor himself. Though we cannot know what happened to the original map, we do know that the League of Blue-Footed Men was accurate in its theory of tectonic shift. Thus, it can be assumed that if one is able to find this old map, they would know whether this lost continent truly exists.

Archaeology

Undersea archaeology has been a hobby of mine for more than a decade, and I feel that I should explain just how I and my predecessors go about it. You see, dear reader, though I lack gills, I happen to know a method to breathe underwater for a time. It involves a unique spell that envelops its user in a thin bubble of air while in water, allowing for extended trips beneath the waves without any fear of drowning. The amount of pressure the bubble can sustain (and therefore, the maximum depth one can reach) is limited, but to be able to investigate underwater ruins at all is a privilege I would not reject.

I have managed to find a curious set of shipwrecks by using this spell, each one tracing back to the coastline of each continent facing the Vantanic Ocean. Despite coming from entirely different places, each one of these ships carried artifacts of a bizarre material that I still have yet to identify. I had planned to show the set to a D'allamari friend of mine (being a goblin and an alchemist, his skills in material identification are unmatched), but the Grand Iraltine Museum seized the artifacts before I had the chance. All I know for certain, I am afraid, is that this substance was pale and durable. It reminded me of the clay pots my mother would put on the windowsills of my childhood home to make it seem more valuable. Could this material be from a civilization from the Under-Land itself, thriving deep below our feet without anyone knowing? Or is it simply a form of clay, bleached by the Vantanic Ocean's extreme conditions?

Ichthyology

Though the world of zoology is well beyond my particular realm of understanding, I was recently approached by a former colleague by the name of Darius Forgraven, who happens to study the life of the seas. He offered to provide some information that would prove useful to this documentation if I spied on his fiancée while he studied the fish of Hotryn's Reach overseas, so naturally I accepted.

In Darius' and his peers' study of abyssal life, they found a variety of fish and other creatures which lived in high-pressure environments deep under the surface of the Cardinal Sea. Due to the lack of light at this level, some of these species evolve to give off their own light in order to attract food sources or potential mates, while others are completely blind as they have adapted other ways to survive their environment. Curiously though, these adaptations are far less commonly seen in what washes up from the Vantanic Ocean, despite its waters reaching far deeper than those in the Cardinal Sea. This implies the existence of another natural light source in the depths, perhaps one having to do with the volcanic activity of a lost continent. That is only speculation, though, as once again, I know very little about zoology.

Astrology

In my desperate attempts to learn more about the Under-Land, I have enlisted the aid of priests and occultists alike, hoping to gain a lead I could explore in future journeys. Though some were quite unscrupulous (and perhaps somewhat greedy), there are two interactions in particular with these types that perplexed me.

The first was with an oracle, who spoke of a "seed of life" in the deep oceans. Whether this has natural or supernatural value I cannot yet be sure, but I can speculate that perhaps the amphibians that we humans evolved from were, in turn, evolved from the fish of the Vantanic Ocean after exposure to the environmental conditions of the Under-Land (with these unique conditions being the so-called "Seed of Life").

The second meeting I had was a year later, with the librarian of the Grand Iraltine Museum. I had the pleasure of meeting this man whilst attempting to recover the artifacts that were stolen from my collection, an incident I have written about in a prior text. He was a stern fellow, proper in posture and in etiquette, and seemed to take interest in my search for the Under-Land. He remarked that I should take a look in the section of the library marked 'Supernatural History', but despite my search, I could find no section with that name. I ventured to ask the librarian if he had perhaps misspoken, to find that the man had vanished entirely. Of course at first I assumed this was but a sly prank, an insult to my investigation on an entirely unseen region of our world, but when I spoke to my colleagues about the matter, they seemed confused, and replied that they had visited that section of the library on prior occasions. Needless to say, the entire ordeal left me speechless for some time, and I still have yet to understand exactly what it all meant.

Conclusions and Final Speculation

I firmly believe, based on present evidence, that the Under-Land truly does exist. Beyond that, however, the facts become as murky as a botched cup of feathercorn tea. What catastrophic event could have caused an entire continent to sink into the abyss that is the Vantanic Ocean? Are the waters indeed the origin of all life on Earth? If so, could some ancient civilization have existed on the surface of the Under-Land, producing relics outside the realm of us surface-dwellers' understanding? Perhaps there are still active volcanoes on the continent's surface, billowing out light along with a sort of primordial soup that the local fauna thrives off of. Perhaps I am being too optimistic about my theories, and all can be explained away with an uninteresting natural phenomenon. Or perhaps, as one of my less clever readers has suggested, it is all due to 'aliens' from 'outer space.'

From a humble explorer and historian, thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you will join me in my further investigations into the peculiarities of this world we call our own.

#trevorskullcrafter #fantasy writing #worldbuilding #fantasy worldbuilding #lore

[mochii-evelaand]

Sinful Love

Back in the 1850s historical figures were brought back to life. Some evil, some lost in their own void, some yearning for love, and some back for vengeance. Although, they all shared something they can't forget, their sins. Shadows and monsters of the past haunt them, even if they may smile from afar, nothing will ever change the hollow darkness they never cease to notice. To feel your chest tighten with every step, memories of loved one's crumbling to dust, a heart so broken it hurts to even try and stop its hurting.

In this time no one is kind. Nobles after money and riches, society getting rid of who ever is different, the poor begging for help as they die from sickness or hunger. Even the orphanages weren't a place a child could eat properly. But, that doesn't stop people from changing and also falling in love, no matter how sinful it is, and no matter how wrong it was.

It's peaceful to see the parks full of couples and happy kids, the sight so wonderful and heartwarming, yet it made me feel lonely, longing for someone I could love, someone that can erase my worries without judging me or my past. Was it so hard to find someone like that? It was to me. Not until a few months though and I can't explain it.

Can a man fall in love with another man? Because, it appears that I did so, and they're now staying in this era, where I can chase them as much I want. The man was from Comte's mansion. Soft wavy magenta coloured hair, mismatched green and magenta eyes, and a murderous smile that sends shivers down my spine. His identity is pretty much known to me, but he's still a mystery I haven't solved, like a lock with a rusty heart that no key can open.

Alyth was his name, yet I heard some of the residents call him Cheshire, which I believe is somewhat accurate for his personality. Sharp witted, always keeps an eye around him, appears out of nowhere and often leaves a riddle here and there to help, and mostly playful, his wide smile the made his sharp teeth glisten in the dim light made him.. sexy.

Should I even be close to him, and why do I feel so attracted to him. Like a moth to a flame, his character intrigues me.

"Charles, what are you day dreaming about?" My thoughts were cut off as Johann spoke, and I realised I was staring blankly at my food. My lord even seemed confused, placing a hand on my shoulder. I don't know what to say, or if I'm even supposed to say anything. "Nothing. Say, I have a small question.." The two men hummed in unison, raising a brow as if they knew.

"Is it possible for a man to fall in love with another man, guys?"

"...Cheshire, isn't it?"

"Wahh?! How did you know?"

The two shared a glance, Johann smiling ever so slightly, while Vlad had his usual innocent pure one that hid his murderous tendencies. I was still confused, silently staring between the two. "It was obvious." The two spoke in one voice, and I was completely shocked. How did they know? Am I being watched? I thought no one would notice. "But.. Cheshire is quite the enigma. Though-" My lord paused, pushing a strawberry into his mouth and savouring the taste. "He likes you. Those cat eyes never show what he's thinking about, but he does think of you. Take a leap of faith and think about it... but I warn you that Cheshire is more dangerous then he lets on."

His words weren't a lie, Cheshire is quite dangerous, and those mismatched green and magenta shine uniquely in the dark like small lights- did he say he likes me? I took a close look at Vlad, rethinking his words. "Huh? He likes me?" The two shook their head, Vlad smiling and Johann completely done with my shit. The night continued with me asking questions, or the same one, and it was reassured everytime. I still wonder who Cheshire really is even if I knew him for three months.

#ikemen vampire charles

[fledbeast578]

first lu bu stan i've seen out in the wild! what do you like so much about him?

A fair amount! The main thing is obvious, I’m a really big three kingdoms and dynasty warriors fan, so I naturally gravitated towards Lu Bu because he’s probably the most accurate depiction of a historical figure in fate appearance wise. He has an extremely cool design, great animations, etc.

I like him because he’s a great example of a servant who’s reputation proceeds them. His bio in fgo and fate extra goes on and on about how he betrays literally everyone and never ends up being on anyone side but his own. However, this is blatantly shown to be untrue multiple times. He explicitly trusts Gudao as shown in his valentines, is noted to be one of the few in lore berserkers to protect their master without command, and as shown in Extra will readily sacrifice himself to protect the people he cares for. Hell he’s literally the original fran dad!

Outside of that I just think he’s interesting because of how low-key noteworthy he is. Despite being so criminally underused (why wasn’t he in lb3 come on higashide), there’s a lot of stuff that makes him unique compared to the other characters.

I’ve ranted about this before but I’m extremely curious about how he works in being a mechanical servant. He explicitly is one on the same vein as Danzo, Xiang Yu, and Tametomo; Tametomo even says they’re very similar in a my room line. They’re all capable of emotions, but it’s always stilted and has to be explicitly taught to them. Usually they’re just completely unemotional, and when they do show affection it’s in a very reserved way. In contrast, Lu Bu is extremely emotional. He’s prideful, he loves his family, he’s a bit stupid, he loves alcohol, etc. all things that shouldn’t just be there naturally. So it makes me want to know more, did he used to act like Xiang Yu? Was he programmed with emotions? Why would someone want a robot to be excessively greedy and violent?

I could genuinely rant a lot more, but I don’t want to info dump too much, I’ve always been pretty trash at writing extended posts, and they always come across more like rambles. Just know a little part of me dies inside whenever there’s a perfect opportunity to use Lu Bu and they just… don’t.

#fgo #lu bu #ask #ramble #I almost went on a lot longer lmao