#they talked about leadership and war and who you become in order to be at war the dramatic irony fucking STINGS now

[mumms-the-word]

Shadow Curse Events Pt. 2

Harpers, druids, and the battle against Ketheric

So in Part 1, I talked about Ketheric’s descent into Sharran zealotry and his attacks against all Selûnite faithful and anyone who so much as breathed a bad word about him. The TLDR is that Ketheric didn’t just become a follower of Shar, he basically became the Prophet-General of her new dark army, her Chosen, establishing new teachings and protocols for what defined a Dark Justiciar. It got so bad, and he became so powerful, that a leader of the Selûnite resistance, Ketheric's own master mason Morfred, made a deal with Raphael to take out his Justiciars just to hopefully give the Harpers a chance.

Because, to no one's surprise, all of this murder and fearmongering has captured the attention of the Harpers, who feel the need to step in and restore some balance.

The rest of this post is basically going to be about the Harper-druid battle against Ketheric and the siege of Reithwin, culminating in him getting sealed up in his tomb. Buckle up and be prepared for a couple of graphic war things (cw: animal death). Part 3 will be about the first few days of the shadow curse itself, because I just find that eerie and fascinating.

Full deep dive under the cut! Super long post ahead :'>

———

The moment is nigh; war has been brewing, and now it overflows. When Ketheric turned us toward Shar, I followed him - in appearance, if not in heart. This is my home, and I would not be removed from it, no matter what. I watched at a distance as the darkness here grew; as Ketheric's grief brought him farther and farther from life itself. As he gathered his army, I prayed for his defeat. As the Harpers march upon our little village - our little, beautiful village - I can only hope Ketheric will be felled at last, and Reithwin can begin to heal from this nightmare.

Let me briefly set the stage. Reithwin Town is under the governance of Ketheric Thorm, former Selûnite-turned-Chosen-of-Shar. All Selûnite worship has been driven underground. Dark Justiciars train in some elusive location outside and beneath town, only to return in order to interrogate the citizens of Reithwin about their loyalties to Shar and to Ketheric. Bodies are hanging in the square as an example to those who might think about dissenting or professing their faith in Selûne. People are going missing or being executed every day, and Ketheric's desire to expand Shar's influence beyond the borders of Reithwin is only growing stronger. Rumors abound that he's already completely destroyed a nearby village, another Selûnite refuge called Moonhaven. And now, the citizens of Reithwin hear whispers on the wind that the Harpers will soon arrive from the east...and they're bringing an army.

If a citizen were to wish to flee, they'd be nearly out of luck. The Harpers are coming from the east, but Baldur's Gate lies in the west, and the leadership in Baldur's Gate is already suspicious. Ketheric has drawn the attention of Grand Duke Eltan, the founder of the Flaming Fist and the good-aligned general who aided the heroes of BG1 (like Jaheira) during the Sarevok crisis. He's heard whispers of a Sharran enclave and has ordered a scout to go and investigate. That scout is Art Cullagh.

Incidentally, in the last post I suggested that these events are happening either between 1371-1374 or between 1396-1399. We don't know when Grand Duke Eltan died, so either theory still holds water (pick whichever you like best), but I do think his involvement moves the needle a little more towards the 1371-1374 theory. Eltan has just wrapped up the Sarevok adventure with Jaheira and the other heroes in 1368 and was dealing with other issues in 1369. He would still be in the height of his power as a leader of Baldur's Gate and the Grand Marshal of the Flaming Fist in the early 1370s. So he would have a vested interest in trying to maintain peace in his city, and that includes investigating rumors of civil unrest and strange darkness in a town just up the river from him to make sure that whatever is happening there doesn't come downriver.

Eltan sends Art Cullagh, a lieutenant/officer of the Flaming Fist (and virtuoso with a lute, as we well know). I won't post images of his orders here, since it's a letter most of us have likely read when trying to fix the shadow curse. But essentially, he's ordered to take lodgings in Last Light Inn and begin his investigation in the House of Healing to confirm rumors of corruption and Sharran influence in town. We know he attempts to fulfill these commands because he's seen at the inn and later his lute is left behind at the House of Healing.

Shadow Vestige: You see a man drain his tankard in an inn as he listens to a Flaming Fist play the lute. He's better than his uniform might suggest.

Around the same time that Art is preparing to travel down and begin investigating, the Harpers are already at work gathering an army. They're not just making Ketheric their convenient enemy—they're declaring all-out war.

They've gathered their evidence (after interrogating locals and possibly attempting to assassinate Ketheric from afar) and now they're ready to take the fight to him directly. But they need backup. So they write to the Emerald Enclave (not to be confused with the Emerald Grove) to arrange an alliance. Ketheric is going against nature, after all, and who better to call on for aid in preserving nature than the Emerald Enclave?

[The first few inches of this scroll are written in formal, elaborate script.] To the Emerald Enclave, and those deemed worthy to see this record, greetings from Those Who Harp. Know ye that the one known as Ketheric Thorm, a paladin of Shar, is guilty of crimes against body and spirit. They include, but are not limited to Murder, Slavery, and Desecration of Temples Most Holy. Let our intent be known: an alliance between the Harpers and the Emerald Enclave. United, we may end Thorm's reign of terror. The High Harpers eagerly await your good word.

The Emerald Enclave is massive, since it basically serves as the high council and umbrella organization for all druidic circles and groves that exist in Faerûn (or those who choose to align with the Emerald Enclave's tenants anyway). When the Harpers declare an alliance with the Enclave, those in charge of selecting allies make sure to enlist the druid circle that is local to that area, the Emerald Grove, since they will be the closest and have a stake in preserving the land around their grove. The Emerald Grove even immortalizes this alliance in their inner sanctum.

Image: Mural of Harpers and Druids shaking hands in front of an oak; Narrator reads: "In darkest hour, a concord made / 'Twixt harp and wild against the shade." Image: Mural of Harpers and druids stand back to back with the fallen armor of Dark Justiciars at their feet; Narrator reads: "The towers seized, the battle done / the moonrise broke the Darkest One."

It's possible that the Emerald Grove was the only circle that joined or was even asked to be in the battle, but perhaps the Enclave sent more. The Harpers needed an army, after all, and Jaheira says they numbered hundreds strong. Either way, the infamous Halsin Silverbough and his predecessor, the Archdruid in charge before him, are among the druids who join the army, though they never meet Jaheira in the battle.

Jaheira: The Archdruid Halsin. Do not be surprised that I know your name - you fit a rather singular description. And one survivor of the shadow curse's fall ought to know another. Halsin: We never actually got to meet, when fighting Ketheric that first time. Jaheira: No. We were a host hundreds strong, after all. Until we were not.

With the druids and Harpers finally aligned, they can at last march on Reithwin and begin their siege.

So let me pause for a moment to confess that the battle itself is...hard to track. Some characters (Halsin, Jaheira) and some accounts suggest that the battle only takes up about one day. The battle seems to either be contained to the banks of the Chionthar, or it spreads into the town to eventually reach Moonrise Towers. Other accounts, like the Harper's Testimonial, suggest the battle raged for three straight days outside of Moonrise alone before Ketheric descended personally into the field. Notes and letters from the House of Healing suggest the siege may have taken even longer, because supplies dwindled to dangerously low levels. Trying to reconcile all these accounts is tricky.

It's important to note that sieging a town doesn't always mean active fighting, it just means cutting off supplies and travel, keeping everyone out, or keeping everyone in, so it's possible the town was under siege for much longer than the battle that was actually fought. So the following is my best interpretation for the events, in an order that makes semi-logical sense to me. Some of this is complete conjecture. But feel free to come up with your own timelines!

Shadow Vestige: You sense a faded memory of marching in an army against Ketheric Thorm. Victory seemed possible back then.

The plan is to lay siege to Reithwin Town and force Ketheric to surrender. Failing that, siege the town until the army is too weak from hunger to fight well, then push forward into Moonrise Towers and kill Ketheric.

Part of the Chionthar divides Reithwin from the rest of the village outskirts (as you can see on the map), making three bridges the only access into town if you're approaching from the east as the Harpers and druids would have done (unless, of course, you want to get wet or you can fly). On one side of the river is the town proper. On the other, Last Light Inn and several farms.

If the Harpers barricade the bridges, or the Justiciars build barricades to keep them out, then Reithwin is cut off from everything on the east side of the river. Cut off the farms, and Reithwin loses food. Cut off travel and trade from the east, and Reithwin is forced to look to the west for supplies...but Baldur's Gate is to the west, and Grand Duke Eltan is already suspicious. He will not be a friend to Ketheric Thorm. Reithwin is essentially (if not literally) boxed in.

It's a good siege plan...in theory, anyway. And if the Harpers lay siege while waiting for their army to grow, waiting for the druids to join them, etc., then it helps them in two ways. It starves out and weakens the enemy and gives them time to increase their own strength.

For a while, the seige seems to be working.

Whether it was the Harpers or the Justiciars who built the barricades and pickets along the bridge, Reithwin is now officially under siege, and trade and supplies start to trickle nearly to a stop. The number of travelers through the tollhouse drastically dwindles, until eventually it seems to be cut off entirely. Reithwin begins to suffer food shortages, enough that the veterinarian in town is forced to butcher some of the stable's horses to provide food. And it's not just horses, judging by the evidence we find elsewhere in town, like the missing pets posters and the pile of bloodied cat and dog collars outside of the tollhouse.

(Ugh I hate it so much. But the Harpers are determined to win. And yes, while some of the food shortage stuff could have been Ketheric failing at governing his town appropriately, a siege makes more sense to me.)

At some point (days? weeks?) Ketheric likely says enough is enough. The battle must begin or he will lose his town and his army to starvation, especially with winter quickly approaching. Alternatively, the Harpers themselves grow tired of waiting. They see that their siege is doing little to sway Ketheric and decide that the only thing left to do is attack.

Either way, the battle will begin on the morrow.

On the eve of the first day of the battle, many Harpers and druids bunk at Last Light Inn, likely including Jaheira and Halsin (who both remember the inn as it was before the shadow curse). Art Cullagh is also staying there. Whether he has already visited the House of Healing and lost his lute there is uncertain, though I think it's likely. Perhaps he visited before Reithwin was sieged, or visited during the siege but before the fighting started. Perhaps he is there in the inn when the Harpers toast one another the night before the battle. The Harpers no doubt expect a hard-fought but certain victory. I can only wonder what Art must have thought, watching them, if he was there that same night.

Shadow Vestige: You glimpse a young Harper on the eve of battle against Thorm, long ago. He and his comrades toast each other in Last Light.

The next day, the battle begins.

Ketheric is a remarkable general who understands how to rouse his soldiers. Minthara describes him, even a century later, as "everything a general should be - a charismatic leader with a brilliant strategic mind." He knows his soldiers and those who would volunteer to join his army are going hungry and are fearful of what the winter might bring to their seiged town. Whether they are Dark Justiciars or not, they're mortal. More mortal than he is. So he gathers them together to bolster their morale before the battle.

[A record of Ketheric Thorm's speech to his troops before his victory over the druids and Harpers.] Take this. You there, take this from me. That is gold, friends. Let those who are coveters and cravens among you take my gold and go. There's enough to keep you warm in winter. But in those cold and lonely winters to come, you will look into the bought flames in the purchased hearth and see a bargained-for peace, and then you'll realise that such a retirement comes at the price of pride. Go on and take it. Take it and go. Those who are not afraid and me? We won't stop you. But neither shall we know a winter in which the coin of regret is idly spent. Instead we shall know blood, and fury, and a triumph worthy of a flame reconcileable only with heaven, I swear it! Against us arrayed is a group of fools - let them be our bank vault! Let us raid them, friends! Let us grow rich on screams!

The Harper Testimonial suggests that Ketheric himself did not enter the battle until day three. I can imagine Ketheric giving such a speech and then watching from the towers (a good vantage point to view the battle below) as his Dark Justiciar army descends on hundreds of Harpers and druids, knowing that victory is well in hand. His Justiciars have trained hard and ritually killed a celestial being, after all. They are an elite force.

~1~ A Harper's Testimonial: The Last Stand of Ketheric Thorm, Chosen of Shar. [The pursuant text describes a battle between Ketheric Thorm's faithful and magical Harper forces.] I do not know what magic the Dark Justiciars summoned to our plane. But if it came from the Weave, then let it be cursed for eternity. For three days, we sieged the Towers. For three days, their darkbolts cleaved our ranks. And on the third day, as his men and woman at last began to fall, Ketheric entered battle.

(The Harper might be conflating the Towers with Reithwin itself, or perhaps I'm wrong about this theory and the Harper is only talking about a secondary battle that happened right outside the Towers. Either way, putting it here because the information is extremely relevant, but here's your warning that there's plenty of conjecture ahead!)

The Harpers and druids clash with the Justiciars on the east banks of the Chionthar, slaughtering each other around ballistae, barricades, and battering rams, trying to push forward across the bridges and docks that connect the tollhouse with the village outskirts. This is no mere skirmish. The ground is slick with blood as Dark Justiciars fight to keep the Harpers and druids from advancing forward into town and reaching Moonrise. Dead and wounded soon begin to litter the ground. The battle is so brutal that vestiges of it remain even a century later, identifiable at a glance.

Character comments regarding the centuries-old remains of the battle around the main bridge into the tollhouse. Astarion: This battlefield must've ran slick with blood - I can taste it in the air, even after so long. Lae'zel: There was a great battle here. The ground stained red with blood long dried. Gale: The site of no ordinary skirmish. This was once a battlefield, and a bloody one, too, judging by the number of bodies. Shadowheart: These aren't the remains of some skirmish - whole armies clashed here once. Wyll: A great battle was fought here - I can practically hear the din of blade against blade, axe against shield. Karlach: This is a battlefield. An old one, but still. Jaheira: Forces from the Emerald Grove. Many stood against Ketheric - only we lucky few survived him. Halsin: A great many druids once stood here to fight Ketheric Thorm. Few ever left. Minthara: Remains of those who stood against Ketheric in the past.

Dark Justiciars rain down darkbolts on the Harpers and druids, bolts of pure darkness that deal moderate damage and can daze the victim. Healers among the Harper and druid ranks begin to get overwhelmed by the amount of wounded. Many of the dead are left abandoned on the field, the fighting too intense to stop and take them away for burial. Most are never recovered.

As the battle rages on for one day, two days, three days, things are growing dire for the citizens inside the town, some of whom are cowering as the battle gets closer and closer, spilling out onto the streets of Reithwin and surging toward Moonrise Towers. The House of Healing is trying to tend to the wounded and the sick, operating as both a regular clinic and a war hospital. Because the siege (and now the battle) has stopped all supplies from entering the town, their potions and tonics are running dangerously low. Additionally, though the House of Healing should technically be offering aid to any wounded person, no matter their faith or creed, Ketheric issues an order that all Selûnites or Harpers must be turned away and that all healing items must be focused on Dark Justiciars alone—an order that his surgeon uncle, Malus, strictly enforces.

[This exhaustive log lists each and every patient to have sought healing in Reithwin, along with their ailments. The minor injuries and common diseases of the early pages give way to critical wounds and deep lacerations - the repercussions of battle. Several unbound scrolls have been slid among the final pages, demanding that healers turn away wounded Harpers and Selûnites, and reserve their tonics for wounded Dark Justiciars - on the orders of General Ketheric Thorm.]

(If Art Cullagh hasn't visited the House of Healing already, he likely can't now.)

The House is still operating as a clinic, accepting patients who come in with ailments or injuries, but they're ordered to essentially ignore them. Malus even forbids the use of sleep aids and anesthetics to ease the pain or passing of the elderly and mortally wounded. Soon they begin turning away even Sharran citizen patients, or leaving them untreated, like the husband of one Cleric of Shar who comes to the House of Healing to be treated for an unknown malady. The husband never realizes that he is suffering the damage that his wife should be getting as she takes on "whole troops" of Harpers single-handedly and walks away without a scratch. He dies, forgotten, either a victim of the shadow curse or of his wife's warding bond.

Things grow so dire that at least one nurse, Sister Anna Lidwin, pens a note to the Chief Chirurgeon (surgeon) of Harbourside Hospital (which is itself kinda sketchy) requesting aid. Potions, herbs, clerics, anything that can help.

To: Chief Chirurgeon, Harbourside Hospital, Baldur's Gate From: Sister Anna Lidwin, Darkcloak, Reithwin House of Healing URGENT! Dear Sir or Madam, We have reached dire times in Reithwin. War has come. Do you not teach that it is our duty to mend all who break, comfort all who ail, without regard for the gods they worship or the champions they heed? Yet our surgeon Malus Thorm abides by his own creed. 'The will of Shar', he might say, and I dare not argue with him - or any Thorm. He allows supplies to dwindle, leaves some patients' injuries to fester so he may 'study', and commands me to nurse only Dark Justiciars that seek treatment. I beg you, Sir or Madam - please deliver us aid, so I might close every tear and cleanse every wound, even those of Harpers and Selûnites. We will humbly accept all you can offer: potions, herbs, sutures, even clerics. Help us to heal. With gratitude, Anna Lidwin

The letter is never sent. It lies abandoned in the House of Healing even a century later. Perhaps she wrote it on the final day of battle and was caught by the shadow curse as she was trying to tend to the wounded.

For the Harpers and druids, the battle has taken a turn for the worse. Ketheric's Dark Justiciars seem overwhelmingly powerful and the damage this battle is doing is only increasing, especially as it spills into town. Eventually, the Harpers weigh the cost of victory and elect to surrender. They get Khelben Arunsun, the Blackstaff himself, to write the surrender letter (whether he was physically there at the battle or not is uncertain).

Ketheric denies the surrender.

General Ketheric Thorm: It is with heavy heart that I must announce the surrender of the Harper forces and its allies to your Dark Justiciar army, under unanimous agreement. 'Harpers work against villainy and wickedness wherever they find it…' So states our code, and so here have we acted. But I also know, all too well, how the statement continues: '… but they work ever mindful of the consequences of what they do.' We cannot be party to the suffering of the people of Reithwin, and indeed, of the great loss of life that this war will visit upon the Sword Coast - and, perhaps, beyond it. So it is written, and so let it be done, Khelben Arunsun, on behalf of the High Harper Council and its allies. [Two words are slashed across the bottom of the scroll:] SURRENDER DECLINED

Ketheric rejects the surrender and clamps it in the jaws of some poor dead soul whose head or skull is then set on a pike at the battlefield (knowing him, it was probably the messenger who brought the surrender letter). The Harpers and druids keep fighting. They have no other choice. It's fight or be slaughtered.

It's the third day. Something has shifted in the ranks. Dark Justiciars are falling in battle, and for once, reinforcements aren't coming. Unbeknownst to the Harpers and druids, an infernal force is destroying Justiciars in Grymforge and in the Gauntlet of Shar. The Harpers and druids at last have a fighting chance.

And that's when Ketheric joins the battle.

The details of this part of the battle are lost to time. We know from Minthara that Ketheric is absolutely fearless in battle. She describes him as a man who leads his troops from the front and cuts through the enemy “like a scythe through stalks.” I suspect that even back then, when the blows and arrows rain down on him as they do when Minthara fights with him a century later, he does not readily fall or falter. With immortality practically guaranteed, he likely butchers more Harpers and druids than they dared imagine possible for one man. The hundreds that made up the original army of Harpers and druids have been winnowed and cut down until only, as Jaheira says, a lucky few remain. The dead number so high for Halsin that he says it would take him a day and night recite all the names of the friends he lost in this battle.

But eventually, somehow, the Harpers and druids at last defeat Ketheric and eliminate all the remaining Justiciars that are still fighting topside. Ketheric suffers a seemingly mortal wound and falls. He utters a "final curse" as he dies and then withers, according to one Harper at least. The effects of this spoken curse are not immediately apparent. For now, the Harpers and druids feel they have won a victory at last, but the curse, whatever it is meant to be, clearly spooks them. Perhaps they think that by sealing Ketheric in the mausoleum, they can avoid the effects of his last dying words.

The Harpers drag Ketheric's corpse from the battlefield and leave him in a tomb in the mausoleum. Jaheira (and possibly Halsin) personally helps other Harpers and Druids seal the mausoleum doors using arcane sigils.

Player: If he's back, perhaps you should have hit him harder in the first place. Jaheira: Believe me - he was well and truly dead. I locked his corpse in the Thorm mausoleum myself.

Halsin: These sigils...druids and Harpers alike tried to seal away Ketheric Thorm in his foul tomb. To no avail.

The remaining Harpers and druids think that this final act of sealing Ketheric away signals a hard-won victory. Jaheira and the other Harpers turn to the task of removing bodies from the battlefield to bury them at Last Light. Halsin and the other druids likely also focus on tending to their dead and wounded, while the surviving citizens of Reithwin breathe unsteady sighs of relief or resignation...until the late autumn air suddenly takes on a midwinter chill.

The shadow curse is only just beginning.

———

Tags for those who wanted the update! @fingons-rad-harp @stuffforthestash

Feel free to request a tag update for Part 3!

#bg3 #bg3 lore #bg3 meta #bg3 critical #bg3 discourse #my thoughts #deep dive #long post #super long post #ketheric thorm #halsin #halsin silverbough #jaheira #do not ask me how many times I rearranged sections and images #each post has me feeling more and more like that guy in always sunny in philadelphia #just red string and papers and pepe silvia but make it bg3

[girlinlavender]

not liking how catra’s redemption arc was executed is totally valid, and you have no obligation to enjoy her character, but claiming she’s extremely terrible awful and deeply irredeemable is just so immature and can, in extreme cases, showcase a huge lack of media literacy. she was abused horribly, and yes, that does not justify or condone her actions, but in order to act with compassion and understanding, you must be shown compassion and understanding. catra didn’t have the tools for emotional development - you think they have therapy in the horde? fuck no. her literal only source of happiness in her entire life abandoned her (from her perspective) for something “better.” she was going through intense trauma and that got her a big ol inferiority complex.

and may i remind you, at the start of the series, she’s like seventeen. and she was put in charge of everything so fast. do you know a single seventeen year old that you trust with a huge military leadership position? okay and now add that to fighting in a literal inter-dimensional war. having been raised in a fascist playground by an abusive shadow sorceress. would that seventeen year old be doing well? i think the fuck not.

that being said, she absolutely had to own up to her behavior with more than just “i’m sorry.” the most poorly handled part of her redemption arc, for me, was how much of it we didn’t see. what we were showed (which i think trips up a lot of people) was the beginning of her redemption. the “i’m sorrys.” the little shit. they didn’t have time for anything else - they had to beat horde prime. offscreen, i’m one hundred percent convinced catra did the work —probably for years to come— to heal the damage her actions did, personally and professionally. are we, the audience, made to believe that what we see onscreen should make us forgive her immediately. yeah, a little bit, and yeah, that’s uncool. but framing it like those, what, eight episodes was her ENTIRE journey to being a better person is just incredibly misleading. there’s still so much work she has to do, and i have faith that by the time that “future vision” in heart part two happens, she’s a good way through it.

yeah, seeing a character who was toxic for years and is starting to change in the last season of FIVE ticks people off. and yeah, villain enjoyers who like complex characters get a disproportionate amount of shit too often, people going so far as to claim they romanticize abuse. (THIS IS A CHILDREN’S SHOW WITH FICTIONAL CHARACTERS THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.)

those two types of people can and should coexist. the internet is sanitizing all content to a startling and frankly, batshit degree and media literacy is rapidly becoming less and less common. on top of that, queer media, especially sapphic media, tends to get picked apart and destroyed online due to a lot of internalized homophobia and misogyny. so i think this issue, not just with these characters, but in general, is super fucking important to talk about.

#SIDE NOT: PLS DON’T DOX ME #OR SEND DEATH THREATS :O #I’M JUST CHILLING SHARING MY THOUGHTS #PLS PLS PLS #anywho #this topic has lots of nuance #So share your thoughts #Respectfully #catradora #she-ra #catra she ra #adora she ra #spop #she-ra and the princesses of power

[naazaif327]

It’s so strange to me seeing people bend over backwards to try claiming that there’s absolutely no connection between TLOU2’s setting and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Like, I absolutely love The Last Of Us from the bottom of my heart, those games and characters will stay with me for the rest of my life, but also it’s just like so clear from any angle that Seattle’s war between the Seraphites and the WLF is just Druckmann’s “progressive liberal” zionist view of the irl occupation.

Like, on the one hand you’ve got the WLF (IDF/Israel), who are clearly criticized as being overly militarized and doing a bit too much torture and dehumanization, but they’re also super diverse and queer-friendly, and they’re very accepting of various different faiths and religions while still being overall pretty secular (this isn’t just me speculating btw, as you pass by you’ll listen to various WLF npcs openly talking about their faith and sexuality). They’ve got a fucked up leadership/governance under their angry ruler Isaac, but they’re good people as individuals, they’re just caught up in a cycle of revenge/violence. They’re mostly made up of people who were oppressed (by FEDRA) before staging an uprising and revolting to take back their land, which they lovingly cultivate and make use of innovative modern technology to make their world better. It’s a perfect metaphor for Israel to a Zionist who truly thinks that he has a nuanced view of a country he loves.

And then you’ve got the Seraphites (Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims), an angry backwards religious cult that hates progress and queerness and religious freedom, it’s members all brainwashed and worshipping a powerful prophet who proved her worth by performing miracles to win military victories for the cause. All of their children either become child soldiers or child brides for the elders. They hate using technology or anything from the modern world, their backwards culture holds them back and makes them socially/militarily weak. They enact violent lynchings against any poor WLF soldier that crosses their path. Besides Lev and Yara, they are a monolith, a people who exist as violent enemies to slaughter or as brainwashed masses to be pitied as they are massacred. Again, a perfect metaphor for both Islam and Palestinians to a man who has only ever seen both groups through the eyes of Israeli propaganda.

Notably, there is of course no apartheid, no checkpoints, no forced migration by one group or another in the history of the conflict (which we slowly learn through notes and diaries and letters scattered throughout the game). The WLF did not slaughter Seraphites in order to steal their homes, did not take their land and murder their families, nor did they force the Seraphites into concentration camps. The WLF has not been policing the Seraphites’ crops, has not been seizing their funds or resources, or poisoning their wells. The Seraphites aren’t trying to reclaim their stolen land or get the boot of the WLF off their neck. There is no actual ongoing reason for the war, the only reason the Seraphites are still fighting is to “get vengeance” and “kill the degenerate Wolves” rather than to live freely, because Druckmann sees this as the root of the Palestinian cause. To him, Palestinians are not fighting because they’re oppressed by Israel but because they hate Israeli culture and Judaism, and because they can’t just let bygones be bygones (the “bygones” in this case being ethnic cleansing). To him, Israel isn’t oppressing Palestinians and profiting off their suffering, Israel is just fighting back against antisemitism and maybe going too far to protect itself.

In the game, both sides were hurt by FEDRA, and then after the WLF defeated FEDRA, the Seraphites randomly pushed into the suburbs to terrorize the citizens there, causing them to rush to join the WLF. From then on both sides in tandem kept attacking and thus escalating conflicts into more and more violence. There is no oppression, no power differential, one side is not living in the forcibly abandoned houses of the other. There is no reason for conflict, only the meaningless violence that would immediately end if we could all just get along and stop trading completely equal blows.

The conflict ends on an uncertain note that nauseatingly mirrors the current reality. After escalating conflicts, the WLF launches a violent all-out attack on the largest Seraphite base, their island, wiping out most of the Seraphites, razing their fields and crops, slaughtering their children, and burning down almost everything the Seraphites spent decades building. The WLF in turn have lost much of their military force, but their homes and their children seem blissfully unharmed at the end of this. The future is uncertain, but it seems that the WLF/IOF is the “winner”. And it’s all very tragic to Druckmann of course, the dead Scars/Arabs are a very sad thing that could have been avoided if everyone just listened and relaxed. Material oppression doesn’t matter, and this could all just be solved by having integrated schools or whatever.

#the last of us #tlou #neil druckmann

[eightpuppet]

There's been some posts around that want Aziraphale to be very badass next season. To show up, lick kick ass and take names in Heaven. There's been reminders about how he's a protector, a guardian and a BAMF, and should really go feral next season.

(Also some posts about how Crowley should do that, but that's not the subjext here. Also some posts about actually licking ass, but also not the subject here.)

And while the action movie and shounen anime fan in me appreciates the visceral satisfaction of that sort of thing, and I don't want anyone to feel guilty about wanting that, another part of me finds the thought incredibly tragic. That the angel who declared himself soft after Gabriel called him a lean mean fighting machine should become one after all. That the angel who threw down his uniform in front of his quartermaster and told him he has no intention of fighting in any war should have to go to war after all.

That's the solution? That the very first being in existence who gave up his sword willingly should pick it up again?

Well. He did already pick it up again one time. In the book to make a hopeless last stand in defense of humans, yes, which is about the only situation where that seems about right, but in the show he took one look at it and decided this could still be solved by talking. Or by threats of not talking, as it were. And it's the show we're talking about here.

And I don't know what the show's solution ultimately will be, but I want it to be, at least in part, because of Aziraphale's softness. His gentleness. The part of him that stops burglaries with baked goods. That deflects aggressive humans at graveyards with politeness, and in the end everyone involved benefits. The part that defiantly remains kind, even if he can be a bit of a bastard.

Or maybe even more than that, I want it to be his humanity. Humanity is infectious. It's a theme of Pratchett. And it's a theme of Good Omens. And it takes so very little. Gabriel and Beelzebub spend only years meeting each other on Earth, and lose their taste for what they live for, what is essentially their only purpose, and find their song (it contains information in a tuneful way, did you know?) Muriel, Heaven's biggest cinnamon roll that they are, couldn't grasp why Aziraphale was so upset about Job's children in the time of Uz, but one look at the world and they're amazed, one book and they're hooked.

Aziraphale knew Adam and Eve only for a few days, and felt so sorry for them after their punishment that he defied God's orders and then lied directly to Her illuminated face about it.

That's what I want to see, I think. The Metatron brought the most human of angels into Heaven by plying him with human drinks like coffee and human desires like love, and I want that to be his undoing. Humanity is infectious, and he's brought that infection to Heaven, and I want it to spread. All of us against them, all of humanity against Heaven (and eventually Hell,) except not quite like Crowley probably thought, because after all these years he still hasn't got the hang of us.

I want people-positive management style. I want the angels to at first be weirded out and maybe mutinous, but then grow to like it. I want them to get to know each other, not as coworkers, not as bees, but as friends. I want them to fall in love while gossiping about the weirdo Supreme Archangel who put up a suggestion box (because that definitely felt like a Foreshadowing, even if only for a joke) and then actually kinda like it, because some of their suggestions were heard and that's actually pretty nice. To be heard. I want them to figure out that they actually like to get some compliments for their work. To figure out that they actually kinda like Aziraphale's leadership style, and maybe resist when he eventually gets replaced for doing something off the wall.

(I may want to watch OFMD's first season again. I admit it.)

I want the angels to do things that spread humanity in them, like the cocoa going down Gabriel's mouth, throat and stomach, doing different things in every place, like Muriel opening a book and finding out it's just like people, and now they love books, and therefore people.

I want them to find their songs.

Maybe the angels also just need some baked goods. (Aziraphale had to miracle in the cherries.)

Maybe Aziraphale accidentally brings the six shot espresso Crowley angrily shoved at him during their latest attempt to talk with him, and someone tries it and likes it, and Aziraphale gives them permission to visit Earth to get more because why not, and it spreads, and the world doesn't end because where would the Heavenly Host get their coffee, and all of Heaven chooses coffee rather than death, because people are so predictable, aren't they, Metatron?

Maybe Muriel brings up a book and someone borrows it and it becomes this whole thing and they have to bring up even more books, and the angels don't want to destroy the Earth because they gotta know the end of some trilogy or another, and who knows, maybe GRRM will finish A Song of Ice and Fire after all, and Aziraphale indirectly saves the world not by being a badass, but by being the world's biggest book nerd, and okay, the bookshop didn't last forever, but it's okay, nothing does.

Maybe when there's a choice to watch something other than the Sound of Music, because the Supreme Archangel brought up some new films in the hopes of being able to watch literally anything else... the angels choose. And keep choosing. Because once you start, you can't stop, even if it starts with something small like "What should we watch today?", because humanity is infectious. Maybe they choose to taste ox, or sushi. Maybe they listen to something not by Liszt or Elgar. Maybe they'll have a look at a cup of tea.

I just don't want it to be Aziraphale's masterplan that goes off without a hitch. Or Crowley's. When have their plans ever solved anything? Their big plan wasn't enough to fool all the archangels that these were Job's new children, they only got away with it because of Aziraphale's status as an angel, and because Gabriel considered him beneath suspicion. Crowley's plan to fool Hell into thinking he only did a good thing because of being high on Laudanum didn't fool Hell, or Aziraphale, or anyone. And their plan to stop the Armageddon? We know all about that. The only successful plan they've ever had was given to them by Agnes Nutter.

Besides, seems like they're gonna be busy with Jesus, anyway.

I dunno. I'm rambling, and Gaiman's a much better writer than I am. But Heaven isn't toxic because angels, or even archangels, are inherently bad. We've seen that. It's more that it's a soulless corporate machine. I've heard the opinion that the book was more the absurdity of the Cold War, and the show is more capitalism is bad, and if so, I feel like the solution should reflect that. Putting Aziraphale in charge cannot solve that problem because they will always find some other schmuck to put in charge, same as they did with Gabriel.

But if the army doesn't show up because it doesn't want to fight? If everyone, not just Gabriel, says nah to the Apocalypse? If they just... don't show up to work?

(Alternatively, I guess they could eat the archangels. Put that gluttony of Aziraphale's to good use.)

#good omens #aziraphale #good omens heaven #good omens 2 #good omens 3 speculation

[happyk44]

Wanted to make a separate post about Jason and Thalia's potential powers because I think RR really missed some fun opportunities - especially w/ Zeus/Jupiter's status as god of law and order/king of the gods. Side note: I have an OC and original story that was inspired by my thoughts on the law and order powers so I've thought A LOT about them and the consequences/struggles someone might have w/ them

Zeus as the god of the sky:

The sky is a entire realm: air, the sun, the moon, the stars, clouds, rain, birds, etc. If Percy, Nico and Hazel can encompass the entirety of their father's realms, then so can Thalia and Jason.

Can create light like sunlight, moonlight, starlight

Lightning - can use it as a weapon (like a sword, bow and arrow, etc.), summon it from the sky, manipulate the electricity inside someone's body to control them or explode them

(re the above: I like to imagine that when they were little, Thalia used to distract Jason from Beryl's angry moods by creating little lightning orbs to float around his head)

Manipulate clouds, summon rainstorms, summon gale force winds, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, twisters

Talk to birds (esp. eagles since that is Zeus/Jupiter's symbol)

Can use the wind and air to amplify themselves: enhance their senses (mainly smell, touch and hearing, but sight might also be possible), enhance their speed and strength, flying (canon)

(re the above: I like to think that Jason as a pack animal tends to use this power unconsciously to hold onto his friends, and keep track of them)

Healing using the air around them, may create a rechargeable battery effect where they continue to become energized as they use their powers, no matter how long a battle goes on

Zeus as god of law and order/justice:

I have thought A LOT about this one because of my OC, but basically they are so fucking stringent to their own personal rules. Everyone has rules that they follow - even if it's not explicitly stated, it's just things your mind has made up, like saying thank you to the bus driver or, for me, making brownies/cookies for my sister whenever she comes over to visit. With Thalia and Jason, these rules are of the utmost importance and they get very stressed out when people don't follow them.

Law/Rule inducement: can force their rules on other people, effective for turning enemies into allies, getting people to fall in line, only works if they themselves believe in the rule they're trying to force - varying results depending on someone's willpower and the importance of the rule enforced

Logic manipulation: somewhat similar to the above, can convince people that they're in the right - good for getting people to believe in planning, i.e. Thalia has a plan for trapping a creature that the other Hunters are wary on. She can manipulate their logic to agree with hers so they'll go through with the plan despite their reluctance

Order manipulation: again similar to the above, can create order in chaos, a nice example is throwing a pack of cards into the air and having it fall perfectly into a stack, getting a riot or an army to become a more organized in-tune form, works best in fights or creating structure in meetings (everyone shouting over each other, Jason manipulates/induces order on them and everyone quiets down, going one at a time to discuss their ideas)

Related to the above, both of them are very organized and neat to an almost irritating degree

Justice and punishment: a part of law and order is punishing those who break the rules so both of them get this innate desire to punish people who break the rules - more important the rule, the more harsh the punishment

Extreme sense of justice: children of Themis and Dike also have this problem (both are goddesses of justice), does create a black-and-white attitude about things sometimes

Zeus as king of the gods:

Innate leadership skills - compels people to follow and listen to them, works well with Athena, Ares, other war-related demigods, the kind who work best with someone in charge. They can radiate the energy when they need to, either intentionally or accidentally, to further compel people to follow them

Innate diplomacy skills - might appear only as needed (sort of like Percy's innate ability to sail)

Might add more thoughts later but!! There's a lot of potential with them and their powers - we don't see a lot of use with them in the books, which is so baffling because the potential!! Especially with Jason who was literally raised from near infancy to be a perfect soldier. He should've been more OP than anyone, tbh.

#happy talks pjo #zeus (pjo) #jason grace #thalia grace

[darkolai-playlist]

Ulla and Nikolai have the potential to be a comedy duo because they absolutely not trust each other and Ulla has enough traumas with princes, Nikolai has enough trauma with sea creatures, but they're Aleksander's most trusted people so...

The banter, the sarcasm, the conversations about the sea and what it means to them, the talk about ex lovers and lost opportunities, about being the little siblings, etc. They'd also keep Aleksander in check, 'cause if they agree at something, then it must be it, you know?

Aleksander is so happy with them. He dreamed of just that, having company, being with his sister, having a friend or lover to share his love for Ravka.

He knows Ulla get it, the heartbreak of betrayal, of being used as a tool, of only being valuable for your powers, of being discriminated and hated and isolated and hunted and— how it feels to not being quiet mortal, of seeing cruel tragedy slide with the years in an endless march. She knows of the darkness, of being ruined, scarred, afraid and powerless. They hold onto each other 'cause in the end, that's all they'll always have. Each other. The world will crumble around them, turn to dust, all their mortal friends will slowly die, all kingdoms will go back to the dirt, wars will be fought, peace will return and they will still live for another day or week or month or many years. They don't even look old yet. They could break the world, mend it and still live centuries. Their only consolation is that they won't have to be alone all that time.

And he knows Nikolai can't understand or known many things about him, but he knows a thing or two about being willing to sacrifice oneself for Ravka, for a chance to make a better world, to protect ones home. The pressure of leadership and who you have to be to maintain order, the fact you have to make those decisions, shoulder the blame once it comes, let go of the glory they will not attribute to you. You can't expect them to be grateful, you can't expect them to see you as a man, not a monster or a martyr, not a saint or a witch. Complete devotion, the type that destroys from the inside out, and yet— and yet they find kindness in each other, comprehension, they find someone to lean on, someone who can look at you and you think you worth more than what they made of you. Someone to love, despite it all.

Nikolai and Ulla would probably become closer than they thought, in the end. Maybe Nikolai can show Ulla that not all princes are traitorous men waiting to take advantage of powerful strange girls in love. Maybe Ulla can show Nikolai the wonders of the sea that he'd never got to see to himself, what hides beyond his piece of the world. Maybe together they could mend Aleksander's aching darkened heart, fight his shadows to allow him to see the light. Give him a place where he doesn't have to be a general or a tool, he can be just a man and live and feel like just a man.

#the darkling #aleksander morozova #aleksander morozov #darkolai #nikolai lantsov #sturmhond #ulla morozova #morozova siblings

[peridot-tears]

I realized that Ratohnhaké:ton's story is another level of tragedy and trauma, but he had encouraging figures along the way. AC3 is as much a story of community and the village raising the child as it is about fighting to protect that village (figuratively and literally).

Imagine watching your mother burn to death in front of you after being attacked by a bunch of men in the woods when you're fucking four years old; that alone would have me killing and eating people. That level of trauma is enough to set anyone on a maladapted path rife with severe emotional development roadblocks.

But no. He grew up to be -- yes, stoic, traumatized -- driven for the rest of his life by tragedy, but instead of becoming numb to it or becoming part of it, he fights to prevent it. He keeps an open mind toward others' ideology. It doesn't stop him from forming meaningful bonds. Knowing that Haytham sent him to die didn't stop him from wanting the chance to work with his father.

It's because of those around him.

It's in the narrative from before he speaks his first word. Kaniehtí:io shares her fear that her clan would treat him differently because of his heritage, because his existence is formed on taboo that she broke -- but they don't. They love him all the same. The first inkling of his existence is unconditional love.

After she dies, we don't see the rebuilding of the village, but we do see his candid conversations with Kanen'tó:kon and Oía:ner. Once more, nothing about their interactions conveys anything but trust. He shares his fears with them. Oía:ner agrees that he find Achilles, despite her wariness of breaking their semi-isolationist policy. Kanen'tó:kon keeps his spot in the longhouse open for him. A longhouse they rebuilt from the ashes of their burned kin. All signs of people who held each other up as they recovered from a tragedy.

Even up until Ratohnhaké:ton starts attacking his clanmates, Oía:ner greets him with nothing but welcome, and expresses that she considered and followed his direction by letting Kanen'tó:kon work with Charles Lee.

Don't get me started on Achilles. I know parts of the fandom talk about how he discourages Ratohnhaké:ton at several points, might have manipulated him by getting him involved with the Assassin-Templar conflict, and how they can't go through a single scene without arguing, but the one thing that transcends every one of them is that Achilles does treat him as his own son. Lessons, guidance, discouragement against what he thinks is folly, keeping the door open for him -- all of it.

And Robert Faulkner taking his kid under his wing and teaching him the ropes, entrusting his Aquila with him into adulthood. Sailing with him through a war, even when the fucker wants to ram a bunch of man-o-wars and bombard a goddamn fort. What a madman, Robert Faulkner probably thinks, let's fucking GO. He helped groom this kid into leadership, with a whole-ass crew that would readily follow him into the madness.

(Also, I don't like praising white people for doing the bare minimum of not treating BIPOC like shit, but like. In a world where it inevitably happens and the colonists know Ratohnhaké:ton on sight as "half-breed," Faulkner did That too.)

Ratohnhaké:ton is met with tragedy from young in so many ways that could have easily turned him into someone who's like Haytham at best. He could have been a master manipulator, a man who follows the Order even after losing his faith in it, the kind of man who kills in front of children, whose greatest act of kindness was not letting his son die. Or God forbid, something worse. But because of the village, what came out was compassion.

#ratohnhaké:ton #ratohnhaketon #assassin's creed 3 #ac3 #ac 3 #connor kenway #connor #ac connor #ratohnhake:ton #i'm projecting again #like i always knew this but the narrative hones in on his bonds with achilles and haytham #i need to take this moment to think about the rest of them #tears falling like peridots #ac

[vaicomcas]

Justice for Godstiel

Call it revisionist history, call it propaganda. This is what I think about Godstiel and his deeds-- the thousands he killed in heaven, and other killings on earth as well as miracles he performed. it was presented as him becoming the big bad that had to be put down but that's SPN gaslighting.

Consider Cas had been fighting a civil war. Just because Raphael was killed, should we expect all of heaven to suddenly submit to him?

Apocalypse was considered God's will for millennia; Castiel claimed it was not God's will but never provided any evidence for that. It was really just his word, his conscience. Wouldn't most of the angels, who according to the show live in a very conservative and authoritarian society, be firm and sincere believers of apocalypse themselves? Anybody who has any knowledge of an authoritarian society know that it can only be successful because it makes at least a large fraction the members into true believers.

There were clearly layers of leadership in heaven; we saw Zachariah talk to the drunk in the bar implying he was one of the "middle management"; Bartholomew talked about their "superiors" implying there were many. With Raphael's death, there should be plenty of high level angels in his camp who can step in to lead.

From 1-3, it is almost certain that the civil war wouldn't have ended at 6x22, that Castiel needed to finish it in order to really stop apocalypse. Thousands may have to be killed because they were hell-bent on destroying the world.

In fact, I would go further than that. I already posted about my hc that when angels encounter a God-level threat like Amara, they use collective smiting. Why wouldn't the apocalypse-supporters use that on Castiel? I believe they did, I believe that's contributed to Castiel's deterioation because he was damaged by it, and I believe Castiel killed the thousands in self-defense.

On earth, he killed many by punishing who he saw as hypocrits and sinners; and he performed miracles such as healing lepers. Let's put aside the morality of his killings (KKK, homophobes, oppressors of the poor... I can concede that not all of the killings were justified but some are). He was trying to bring goodness and justice to the world.

Do you now what I find amazing about 6)? On the surface it was Cas mimicking God, doing with he thought God should do (punish the bad and save the innocent). The thing is, God made angels do those things. Castiel did it all on his own. This tells me two things. One, he didn't have support in heaven. The angels didn't share his mission and his conviction. Two, he didn't force the angels to do his bidding despite his god-like powers. He didn't turn them into "angels of the lord" or "heaven's terrifying weapon." He didn't. He respected their free will.

Castiel's creepy demeanor of speaking as the "father" and "you will profess your love unto" me? Just him having no idea how to be God, so had to copy what he thought how God should behave.

In Summary, Godstiel did nothing wrong and was really the better God.

#castiel #godstiel #justice for castiel #my castiel manifesto #my castiel propaganda

[muwi-translates]

I came across this Gundam Wing scan and the content in the pink boxes was so cute I couldn’t pass up on translating them. I’m not sure where this is from but it’s advertising the HD remaster Memorial Box version of GW, specifically Part 3 which contained Endless Waltz. I originally planned to scanlate it but it was too much work and I’m lazy.

Essentially they introduce the boys, what’s usually on their minds, and also has a tip on how to pursue them/win them over/get their attention??? Which I found SUPER amusing because even the magazine is like “uh, good luck lmao”

For example this is Heero’s:

Case: Heero There’s nothing in his head other than missions, and once he starts working, there is no room for other people. However, he’s become much softer than when he did nothing but fight and follow orders, and can be seen smiling more than before.

Brain analysis: 100% MISSIONS.

How to win him over: It’ll be a difficult time with a tough opponent in Relena. But just keep applying pressure like she does!

-

Note: Just wanted to make it clear that all of the percentages are me eyeballing.

Case: Duo The type of person who prioritises his private life over missions, but he gets the job done. One of his strongest points is his ability to always face forward and take on any foe, like the time he forced his way through the Mariemaia army with only his own body, even without a Gundam.

Brain analysis: 30% missions, 70% private

How to win him over: First, it’s important to get his attention by being friendly. After you get to know each other to some extent, pursue forcefully aggressively! ⭐️

Edit: Found a better adverb lmao

-

Case: Trowa After the war, he returned to the circus and lives a peaceful life. He’s taciturn, but gentle, and he specialises in infiltrating the enemy to strike from within rather than from the front.

Brain analysis: 70% the circus, 30% training

How to win him over: He enjoys his work as a clown, so you should get close to him through his workplace.

-

Case: Quatre Because of his kind nature, which makes him put others before himself, people naturally follow him. However, he also has a stubborn side, and despite other’s objections, he single-handedly carried out the dangerous task of retrieving the Gundam he had sent into the sun.

Brain analysis: 33.3% work, 33.3% friends, 33.3% peace

How to win him over: He often stands above overs in a leadership position, so you’ll be sure to get him if you can talk to him from the same perspective.

-

Case: Wufei Wufei always analyses himself to determine what is right in the world. His thoughts are preoccupied by himself and his beloved machine, Nataku. His love for his Gundam is so deep that he is the only one among the five who did not give it up.

Brain analysis: 50% training, 25% self-discipline, 25% Nataku

How to win him over: If you treat him seriously and start conversations by talking about Nataku, you’ll have a winning hand.

-

I can’t get over the format. With the exception of Quatre, the others just have this “they’re so weird but I mean, they’re getting better/nice/passionate--oh, you’re interested??? uh, okay... good luck i guess...” vibe LMAO I wonder what the ‘private’ section of Duo’s brain includes.... honestly could be anything.

#gundam wing #anime #i got into gundam recently and idk what happened but i've adopted so many emo pilots now send help #don't expect too much of this stuff this was just super cute #i wish i knew enough jp to translate some of the audio goods bc i expect plenty of gold there #mytranslations #send me some interesting text stuff if you come across any!

[alexilulu]

GAMES I PLAYED OF THE YEAR 2023, #2

(Previously: #1)

Razzies Award Runner-Up For Most Baffling Game Of 2023: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment)

(I know, I thought the colon was after Star Wars, too)

I didn’t know where Respawn would go after Fallen Order. I mean, obviously, they had to make more of it, they made a pretty damn competent video game. Fallen Order has a certain panache for combat, the feeling of being one dude against an army never being more clear than the fourth time I get domed by a Stormtrooper with a rocket launcher because I was too busy parrying the melee guy he’s gonna murder in the backblast to remember to force push it away in time. Playing on Jedi Master actually made me feel the same way that Dark Souls did, a feat so rare in the space now that we’ve expanded the universe of Soulslike beyond all comprehension that it was actually delightful to eat shit to some of those bosses.

Mostly.

But the ending of that game gave me so much joy that I couldn’t really fathom a second entry, at first. Sure, the expansion of the post-Order 66 era of Star Wars is continuing under the new leadership, but it’s a fairly small era (17 years, just about, thanks to the whole “Luke and Leia born after Order 66” thing). How much room do they have to play here, really? And what could really be told now, beyond the continued adventures of Cal Kestis and BD-1? 

Well…

They came up with something. It was an idea they had, all right. But maybe it should have stayed on the drawing board. 

Okay, if we’re gonna talk about this, I have to get this off my chest first. I’m a Star Wars dweeb.My favorite Star Wars movie is the Last Jedi, because of how it muddies the waters and says ‘hey, the Jedi were an anachronism in their own time, and the world has moved on’ and ‘the lines of war are not so clean in the modern era’ and ‘fuck, that shot of the hyperdrive crash was so sick’. My favorite Star Wars game is Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Obsidian Entertainment)! I’m not like other girls! 

And I have strong opinions about the Post-Revenge timeline, or more specifically, how many Jedi survive Order 66. For me, this comes down to a thing I find really interesting in media, and how the world works: How people find direction when they aren’t given any way to go. 

Post-Revenge, the Empire is ascendant, having just won the fake war and successfully crushed every element of dissent in the galaxy under a swift military expansion that has given the evil man in power, George Bush Jr With A Skin Condition, unlimited power to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. The world is different now than under the Republic, and everywhere you turn, the Empire looms. What do you do to meaningfully oppose something you disagree with that is omnipresent and powerful beyond reckoning, besides oppose it and die trying to do anything at all?

Ultimately,There’s a lot of hay to be made here, but we’ll keep it simple so this doesn’t go crazy. The Jedi who survive Order 66 issue is pretty cut and dry, if you’re a movie purist: Yoda says that Luke will become the last Jedi in the galaxy when he dies in RotJ. It’s pretty simple! No more Jedi! Last of his kind, etc etc etc. But it’s been 30 years since that movie aired, and we’re a few hundred pieces of Star Wars media away from where it started, Legends canon or no. Some of them are even primary canon now, like Ahsoka Tahno, the erstwhile apprentice of Anakin Skywalker.

But how many Jedi are alive just in Fallen Order? And how many more make it to Jedi Survivor?

We have Cal Kestis, our ginger protagonist, a padawan who survived Order 66 with his Master’s lightsaber and hid for a decade to grow up, get found out and run around the galaxy fucking up. There’s Cere, the new master he finds along the way. There’s Trilla, the fallen apprentice of Cere, now Second Sister. There’s Ninth Sister, the big hulking one who you fight all of twice and survives the game. There’s a one-note fallen Master on Dathomir, who turns up out of nowhere and gets chumped. And there’s Merrin, the Dathomiri Nightsister who practices Magick (the k is important) using the Force, so she counts. And Vader comes in for a splashy send-off to the game in a brutally scary no-win fight and escape sequence in which you are carefully reminded why that guy is the scariest motherfucker in the galaxy. That makes 7. 

A bit more than the Last Jedi, eh?

Ultimately, this is a victim of the fact that they’re making a video game. You can fight stormtroopers with cortosis shock batons all day, but if you’re playing a Jedi game, you want to cross sabers with another Jedi/Sith. It’s just the order of the day. It makes sense! The Jedi fights in Fallen Order are good! I dismissed the one-note Master but he actually had a good fight in a Dathomiri temple that felt good to go back to every time i got fucking dumpstered.

It makes things more fun to have a Jedi thrown into this time of lawlessness and oppression, where the strong are taking the chance to crush the weak with the Empire’s tacit blessing; raiders on the Outer Rim are bleeding the territories dry, often at the Empire’s behest. Throwing the tattered Jedi remnants into that world makes sense instinctively with the world they’ve made, and with the influences Star Wars draws on.

The average person knows by now that Star Wars is drawing equally from Westerns that influenced George Lucas, but also the samurai movies coming out of Japan that influenced those Westerns. A world of fallen morals and people barely surviving gets so much more textured when the Last Good Samurai enters the equation. Putting someone with an unflinching moral code in a bad position and telling them not to blink is fun storytelling! Watching them contort themselves into knots to survive it is so fun! We love that shit! Hell, I love that shit, as much as I’m complaining about it!

So, in Jedi Survivor, we have Cal, Cere returns, Ninth Sister finally dies, Merrin returns with gusto (great expanded role for her here, though it baffles me that she’s straight), the High Republic fallen Jedi Dagan Gera (more on him later, but he dies), Eno Cordova (was dead in the last game, but turns out he wasn’t, but then he dies again, so okay), and Bode Akuna, the final deuteragonist-to-antagonist of the game. And Darth Vader again, in a what feels like obligatory role where he fights Cere to a draw. So…7, again. But…

The Hidden Path debuts here (OKAY, LOOK, the Hidden Path debuts in Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Disney+ show. But I fucking hope you didn’t watch that. I did. And I regret every minute of it I spent watching it), an underground railroad for Jedi. It’s basically not referred to beyond that Cere and Eno are running a cell of it and that there are other cells, but it DOES mean that there are enough other Jedi who survived that they are actively forming whisper networks to get Jedi out of bad places and into the dilapidated ruins they were meant to be living in (it’s their native environment). 

So we have 7 + (1±X, where X is the number of other Jedi in the galaxy, minus already-named characters) Jedi in Jedi Survivor. So basically, Palpatine is a fucking rube who didn’t even get his perfect felling blow right, I guess? So…not great, but fine. It’s…acceptable. The number even goes down significantly more in this one, because 5 of those original 7 in Fallen survive, but only 4 survive in Jedi Survivor! It’s a miracle, we killed 1 net Jedi! Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on Palpatine, they’re clearly a fucking pain to make die for real.

Anyway. This is all besides how I feel about the actual plot of Jedi Survivor. 

Yeah.

The plot…is kind of stupid. Cal Kestis is working with Saw Gerrera, the Partisans (faction of the Resistance, not yet the Rebellion, natch) figure who went on to use a weird tentacle monster to brainfuck Riz Ahmed in Rogue One and then died when they fired the first Death Star test shot at him. He’s stealing info, and his op goes bad and all his boys get murdered besides newfound buddy Bode Akuna, a jetpacking charming rogue with two pistols and a lot of chest. Cal goes and gets into some hijinks with his old buddy who used to fly his ship until everyone parted under mysterious circumstances a few years ago (after the end of Fallen Order, when they swore to find as many potential Jedi as they could together). 

This is where the High Republic intrudes. Ancient ruins on the planet they’re on point towards a long-forgotten Jedi presence on this planet, with hints leading to another planet hidden in a nearby nebula that is considered unnavigable and a death trap. They learn that that planet was an abandoned Jedi temple in the High Republic, where Dagan Gera fought for a Jedi temple on a fount of Force power to be built until it was mysteriously raided by an unknown force that somehow also got to the lost planet. Cal wakes up Dagan Gera, who literally turns evil in front of you and runs off to complete his centuries-old evil plot to…go back to that planet and just live there?

A lot of this story is about the toll being A Survivor takes on you. Cal watches a bunch of really good buddies he totally knows a lot about die in the tutorial level on Coruscant, and he’s still got all his old hangups about surviving his master, being a Jedi in a galaxy ruled by the Sith, yadda yadda. He’s lost his drive to fight the Empire, having summarily abandoned working for Saw Gerrera in the interest of just taking a break, and into his lap falls the ultimate leave forever button in the form of this lost planet. He sees it and he can’t help but think “hey, I did my part, I sacrificed a lot for the cause, and I���m done”. 

Bode Akuna agrees on this! He’s a tough guy and he’s got a tough daughter and a dead wife and he just doesn’t want to deal with any of this anymore. He wants to bring his daughter home and create a life with her away from all this Empire shit. It gets where it wants to pretty quick here: This planet Cal found is the ultimate chance to just say No to everything and give it all up. Just live a clean, simple life away from it all, forever.

It’s an interesting thing, sort of. Fallen Order is a game so concerned with survival, that Jedi Survivor basically has to be about finding any meaning at all in a galaxy ruled by evil. It feels like it’s actually got something to say here…but it doesn’t, really. 

The turning point of the game is roughly ¾ of the way through, when Dagan Gera is defeated and you claim the mcguffin that will help you fly to Treasure Planet. But before that happens, you meet Cere and Eno and learn about the Hidden Path, the selflessness of the non-Jedi who are fighting to help them survive. And Cal, he’s a Jedi through and through, for better or worse. So he says to Bode, hey, we’re going to turn this planet into a safe haven for the Hidden Path, and we’ll bring everyone we can here to create a stronghold against the Empire.

This is when Bode (every time I think about his name, i think about (INSERT PHOTO OF BODE.JPG HERE) reveals that he is a former deep cover infiltrator Jedi who was undercover when Order 66 started, who avoided every bit of the Empire that chased him with stealth and subterfuge, until an Imperial Security Bureau he worked with outed him and he became their pet Jedi to do evil missions with. So he’s compromised every moral he has to survive, and will do anything to take his daughter back from the ISB and flee this hellish galaxy with her, so that she can be raised safe.

He’s the Jedi Survivor, not you (I literally said out loud to myself OH, HE’S THE JEDI SURVIVOR as he had his big heel turn speech).

This is when Bode kills Eno Cordova, takes the mcguffin, and flies there with his daughter after you have a big temper tantrum about it and unlock the power of the dark side for yourself a little bit. So you go hunt him down after some double mcguffin reacharound bullshit to get there, and you tell his daughter some nice platitudes and Merrin takes her out of the room so you can put him down like a dog.

The end of the game is him burning on a pyre while you, Merrin and his daughter watch. 

Ultimately, it was a game that at least had some kind of a semblance of a full story ready from beginning to end. It had plenty of things to do (the collectible quotient was WAY higher this time, to its detriment) and the newly added stances, a crossguard lightsaber that is straight up just Kylo Ren and a blaster-and-saber stance that i spent 100% of the game playing once acquired, were great fun to play around with.

I just don’t think it was very good, is all. I don’t know what in god’s name the third Star Wars will be, but I know it will be fought with lightsabers and blasters. 

(sorry. Sorry. I’m trying to delete it)

#Alexis Plays Games 2023

[425599167]

Barriss starts out the perfect padawan of esteemed Master Luminara Unduli, and Ahsoka is the wild child getting paired with living disaster zone Anakin Skywalker. But if Palpatine was stopped and the war ended on better terms, Ahsoka was growing into the dedicated Jedi who fought to protect the Republic and trusted in the Jedi Council. Meanwhile Barriss began the war disappointed in Jedi leadership and spent years full of festering doubt and resentment. The second she hits knighthood and becomes independent, she is going to criticize the council at every opportunity. She says they’re too loyal to the Republic over systems outside it, it doesn’t matter how nice they are to the clones when they’re still considered property, ongoing military leadership goes against Jedi ideals and contributes to a growing military-industrial complex, etc.

Luminara: By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I pronounce you a Knight of the Jedi Order. Barriss Offee, you may rise.

Barriss: Thank you, Master. No take-backs.

Luminara: You are welco- I beg your pardon?

We know some Jedi like the Lost Twenty choose to leave, but Barriss would stay. Stay and be a problem. The council probably wouldn’t even begrudge her for it, they’d just be stuck in the same political deadlock they’d been in for years, except now they’re facing growing internal criticism as Barriss unionizes all the other wartime padawans. The few who survived, at least.

Barriss: Masters, I’ve noticed the Order is becoming further entrenched in politics. As such, you’ll be happy to know I’m going to become more politically active! *heals Umbaran soldiers injured in Republic bombardments and widely publicizes the damage caused by the invasion*

Windu: Knight Offee-

Barriss: Oh, is this bad? Do you not like this?

Luminara: No, we agree that is exemplary behavior for a Jedi Knight in a recovering galaxy. What we wanted to talk about was you touring the casinos on Sal Sagev and using telekinesis to help several attendees win millions of credits at the roulette tables. It caused a bit of an uproar when you were identified from security footage. Who are these people?

Barriss: They are ordinary citizens who donated their winnings to various charities dedicated to postwar reconstruction projects.

Windu: Hm. Very well, I suppose that’s-

Barriss: They are also the opponents of senators whose corruption you’ve willfully ignored because they’re your political allies.

Twenty years later, Ahsoka is on the council, and is frequently called on to reign in Barriss from escalating fights with the senate and various megacorporations. Anyone else has zero chance of making Barriss stop, and Ahsoka still takes her side half the time. Then, half of that half, Ahsoka will escalate the situation even further than Barriss intended.

#star wars #the clone wars #barriss offee #ahsoka tano

[ri47]

how much communication is there between factions? for leadership, for vessels, or for normal people

it's very asymmetrical. citizens in imperial cores do not communicate with people outside of them, but if you have enough money and influence, those doors start to open for you

a lot of the families in the KHU have relatives in the Divine Solis, a lot of trade conglomerates work outside of what's technically drawn on the map, and it's not uncommon for less nationalistic vessels to get a little sentimental about their rivals

you're seeing that guy more often than some of your friends, so it's not unexpected (but is tantamount to treason if it becomes anything more than a rivalry)

political authorities talk a lot. every single day is a diplomatic tango to ensure that everyone's interests can be fulfilled without necessitating the outbreak of war, even if there are ambitious elements of the governments who believe they could benefit from finally sparking open conflict

the actual leaders of the Divine Solis come off as less zealous about this kind of thing than the average citizen would, which can arguably be attributed to the Divine Solis concept of faith not being something those in power are expected to hold. it might also be down to them being more pragmatic and subtle as career theopoliticians, though

Kishar dynasts go everywhere. they're not neutral, but they command incredible amounts of respect and fear... when they aren't just seen as idiot lordlings with eldritch inheritance. whether it's a company, a mercenary band, or even a religious order, they've probably pursued the patronage of at least one dynast

contractors, especially grey contractors (those independent colonies who exist because of trade loopholes), usually host populations that mingle between cultures more than the average. this is especially true on Irra, where the necessity of sponsoring colonies leads to some client states changing their allegiance on occasion

weavenets are ostensibly not connected between the territories, but that gets really hard to enforce when you get "out in the sticks" as it were. citizens of the Divine Solis aren't mindless zombies, so it's not a one-sided desire for connection. it helps that there's a few independent nodes run by grey contractors, smugglers, and Kishar investors to facilitate this without requiring one to enter hostile territory

it also bears mentioning that the KHU is pretty damn fascistic about things and the current state of things isn't just the Divine Solis being weird. if they could, the authorities would probably dismantle cross-border communication entirely, but the power structure is far too spread out for them to really make that desire actionable

long story short: people talk, but it's not easy

#VesalBlood

[isagrimorie]

Ezri Dax and Kathyrn Janeway meeting, maybe at Starfleet HQ or a conference on leadership and trauma? I think they'd get along in an interesting way. Also what made you love season 3 of Picard?

For the Trek Talks

They meet because Starfleet orders Captain Janeway to report to Ezri Dax for mandatory therapy -- the usual fandom choice is Deanna Troi but Starfleet recognizes that Ezri could be someone they can utilize.

Apart from the enforced leave, Starfleet made it a condition for her promotion that Janeway take mandatory therapy. Janeway does not like this-- if Janeway was already a hard customer for the EMH, Janeway is even a tougher one when it comes to mandatory therapy.

Also, Janeway's initial grumpy kneejerk reaction about Ezri is to get offended that she was assigned a child for therapy.

Ezri recognizes all these of course, and she's not at all intimidated by all the ways Janeway is trying to hack her way out of therapy. Compared to Garak, Janeway is not nearly as slippery as she thinks she is. Also, she has several lifetimes under her belt, but most importantly, Ezri Dax is a damned good therapist.

Eventually, Ezri chips away Janeway's reluctance and they begin to make some headway. Unfortunately, some crisis happens and Janeway is pulled away before she's ready to but Ezri Dax is nothing if not persistent. If the mountain can't go to therapy, therapy will go to the mountain. Or something.

After, they do become great friends but boy, were there some tough things they had to work through to get there.

----

Also, what made you love season 3 of Picard?

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but that flavor of Trek is my exact flavor of Trek. I love the space show, the starship, the Starfleet of it all. I love the full-on minute of ship porn with the swelling music.

I love seeing Seven of Nine finally in uniform. I love a good Bridge crew, I love the pace. The dialogue, I love the complicated messiness of relationships and I got two really great conversational minefields first between Crusher and Picard and next between Ro and Picard. The weight of history between those relationships.

The weight of history between the characters.

The sheer beauty and menace of the Shrike, the SUBMARINE STYLE starship fight-- I'm a sucker for a great submarine-style starship fight.

Amanda Plummer as VADIC. The way she says: "Jean-Luc Picard."

Seven of Nine, in the background manning Ops station, hints that the maintenance and engineering is so well oiled because Seven might not have been in Starfleet in nearly two decades but she slipped back into the same person who would do efficiency reports on EVERYONE.

Voyager slowly but surely returns to Seven after two seasons of Seven not saying anything about Voyager, we finally see the ship, Seven talks about the ship and her crew.

TUVOK AND SEVEN.

It has my whole heart.

The way the Dominion war is set into the bones and DNA of the Federation and Starfleet that it clearly left a mark. The DS9 callbacks, the way the virus idea from Dark Frontier pays off in Federation Day, assimilating people unknowingly. (Because Admiral Janeway fucked up the Borg/Queen so bad they can't even assimilate in the way they usually did).

The promise of tomorrow.

(And from a 12 Monkeys fan -- the very, very blatant 12 Monkeys easter eggs.)

Is it a perfect season? Of course not, no Trek has a Perfect season, it could have benefitted from a few more passes, especially the last half of the season. They could have IMO done a lot more with Seven, especially with the Borg stuff-- it's the same complaint I've had of Picard since season 1.

But I get it -- the show is called Star Trek Picard and not Star Trek Seven of Nine/Legacy. But it should be. Also, 10 episodes aren't enough, and I get how the COVID precautions ate at the budget, that season 2 ate up both production and budgets.

But that's just the nature of the beast of loving a Trek show.

#answered #ussjellyfish #trek talks #star trek #kathryn janeway #ezri dax #star trek picard #seven of nine #tuvok

[warsofasoiaf]

What do you think of Russia losing so many generals, and for that matter soldiers in Ukraine? Do they even have a capable officer class or has it always been like that I can't imagine anyone would want to risk their lives and reputations for the Silvoki but maybe that is my Western bias talking.

This has been a problem with the Russian army ever since they were the Red Army. Institutionally, Russia has relied upon conscription to fill its ranks even among its elite troops. There is no real career pathway for privates to become NCO's and establish themselves as seasoned leaders. So much of what a Western army would turf to an NCO is something handled by an officer. Even things like unit discipline is handled at the officer level, hence why one general was sniped by a Ukrainian for yelling at his men, breaking one of Murphy's Rules of Combat: "Look unimportant, the enemy may be low on ammo."

As for why they're losing so many soldiers, a lot of that is due to very poor tactics, little training, bad leadership, low morale, and a lack of equipment brought on by a garbage logistics system and hollowed out by corruption (yes, the picture of the Russian tank with its ERA full of cardboard was not fake). That's one big reason why mobilization in Ukraine isn't going to help Russia - they barely have the capability to make sure their troops have socks and rifles in Russia, let alone in Ukraine. The Russian Army was able to hold the line and make incremental progress when they believed that they were relatively safe from reprisal. These past counteroffensives on the Kharkiv and Kherson axes have shown that they aren't, hence why many Russians are fleeing at the first touch of contact.

The Russians also know they're being lied to about casualties. The Russian MoD has claimed 5,000 KIA so far, but all estimates are well north of that figure, even conservative ones. Some information secrecy is a given, but this feels like they're fighting and dying for Putin's glory - a recipe for disaster as the French Army could tell you in World War I. That saps morale, and it causes disorder in the army. There's a reason you hear about the Russian army getting drunk all the time - who wouldn't want to get blitzed if it means you might not get ordered to die in the next futile assault position on Bakhmut?

Another is the very top-down heavy leadership style, another relic of the Soviet Union. Their targeting cycle is so slow that Ukraine can afford to fire artillery and move before counter-battery fire can open up. The Russians don't have air superiority so they can't take advantage of aerial spotting to help their artillery, so they're forced to rely on maps and forward observers. So Russia's greatest asset, artillery, is not as effective as it could be due to poor design.

With all those factors, it's not surprising that Russian casualties are what they are.

Thanks for the question, James.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#russia #ukraine #military science

[ismahanescorner]

Fourth Wing | Book Review

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Series: The Empyrean (Book #1)

Genre: NA Fantasy, Romantasy

Publisher: Entangled Publishing  

Release Date: 02/05/2023

Rating: 4/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Review:

alright! let’s get this review done with!

is the novel a clichés minefield? yes! if you go on google and search “chosen one” archetype tropes; you’ll get list responses with all the characteristics associated with that archetype and you’ll realize that the author probably printed one of them and went to town with green marker checking all them off!

mc comes from prestigious family that makes them popular/puts a target on their back? ✅

mc gets in to school against all odds? ✅

mc has cool sidekicks that help them persevere against instant rivals? ✅

mc has a badass animal companion? ✅✅ (yes, this bitch got two dragons!)

mc unlocks/possess a long forgotten (but coveted) powers? ✅

is it worth the hype? kinda, it depends on you, your taste, and your mood! i personally think that most “hyped” books aren’t worth it; but some are definitely entertaining!

is it entertaining? YES!!! (TO ME!!) i am currently going through a rough depressive episode and this book actually provided me with a much needed reprieve from my own thoughts. and now i got a new dragon world and lore to add to my maladaptive daydream catalogue for future scenarios!! 😌😁

in all seriousness, i really enjoyed the lore and the creation myth behind this world. i especially liked that the info-dumping of these tidbits was done through the chapter header quotations or violet rattling off to de-stress! also i’m not a big fan of flower-y fancy adult “high fantasy” language, it usually leaves me confused and wandering so i quite liked the simple, straightforward language and writing style the author chose to use.

i wish there was much to talk about plot-wise but as i pointed out above, the entire novel is literally just one “chosen one” trope after the other. thus, if you’re a big fantasy reader you’ll predict every twist and turn chapters ahead. but again, this didn’t hinder me from enjoying the story.

as for the characters; most of them were very one-dimensional and very caricature-y. i hope the hype doesn’t go into the author’s head and she works on fleshing them out in the next books. for instance, i would love a deeper exploration of the complex mother-daughter (children in fact) relationship between the general and violet. also as person who lives with chronic pain i’d be happy to see a layered exposition of how violet reconciles her “fragile” body with her new position as a dragon rider. also i hope that in the next books rhianonn is more than the black (poc) best friend who furthers the mc’s arc, and ridoc is more than just the class clown with a heart of gold; and i hope xaden gets a personality beyond a hot body, a charming smirk, and smoke (shadow) works!

overall, the story lacks much substance when it comes to plot and characters (hopefully that will change going forward) but still the lore and myths, as well as the action are compelling enough and very entertaining!

nb: i listened to the audiobook while reading this novel, and i must note that the first 15 chapters or so were disturbing to listen to as it was obvious that the narrator was battening a cold/flu and her breath intakes and stops were triggered my sensory issues! beyond that the narration was quite good at the end and the narrator played out those scenes very well.

ps: can the author please provide an e-version of the continent’s map like she did for the school!!! I need it!!

#fourth wing #the empyrean #violet sorrengail #xaden riorson #violet and xaden #dragons #fantasy #romantasy #booknerd #books #bookworm #bookstagram #goodreads #booklover #book review #bookish #bookaholic #reading #new adult #rebecca yarros #dragon fantasy #folklore #creation myth #high fantasy #basgaith war college #navarre #dragon rider #audiobook #book blog #na fantasy

[fantasyinvader]

So after the scene where the Eagles pledge to support Edelgard in the war, the one the game titles Path of Thorns, if the player S supports Edelgard at the end she calls her own path hadou. She literally calls her it Edelgard's Path to Supremacy, while DeepL gives me military rule and hegemony as acceptable translations. She says that said path is over because now she has Byleth, deceit and injustice will be banished from Fodlan. But here's three things really quick.

Safflower makes Edelgard out to be a liar, starting the route by taking credit for Byleth's leadership to bolster her own image and prior to the final battles lies to her own army about Arianrhod. A third of her army is wiped out as a consequence of her actions, and she blames the Church for it. Not to mention Edelgard's version of history is implied to have been fed to her by the Slithers and has it's own share of lies they fed to her like the Church breaking up the Empire.

Secondly, when it comes to hadou OVERTHROWING hadou is justice. Edelgard has walked the path of hadou throughout the entire route, and in the end succeeds? That's injustice right there.

Edelgard invaded a neutral nation, disposed of any nobles who didn't bend the knee, pushed to kill it's leader, allowed the nobles who did bend the knee to keep their jobs while at the same time handing control of it to Caspapa because she promised him it in exchange for his support. Edelgard has assisted with experiments that turned people into demonic beasts, stripping away their humanity in order for them to become war assets to her. She knew who was responsible for Duscur yet allowed it's people to suffer retaliation for the murder of Lambert, and in the end kills someone she said would have been a good king if she hadn't had started the war. All this to get to the person she scapegoated for Arianrhod and who the people who experimented on her wanted to kill so that they would support her in her war of conquest.

Does Edelgard winning after this sound like "justice" to you?

Finally, you're telling me that Edelgard stops with the hadou if Byleth S supports her? Again, hegemony is an acceptable translation for hadou and Byleth's title in Flower is "Wings of the Hegemon." Domination is another one, and that's backed up by Caspar's endings and the implication Edelgard is invading other countries. Then there's military rule, which Claude calls Hubert out on and Hubert's endings talk about his forces spying on the people and putting down any threats to Edelgard's rule. While we can't obtain it, the Byleth/Constance ending says that after TWSITD are no longer useful in keeping Edelgard's peace, the Empire takes their tech for themselves to maintain order.

Edelgard's hadou doesn't stop.

The path of thorns would suggest that by siding with Edelgard, Byleth is being sinful for not doing their duty. Naming the route Safflower would mean that it's general theme is attraction, while Dimitri calling your path "the path of the beast" would suggest you're acting on impulse and instinct like an animal rather than thinking. Then Edelgard says her own path is hadou, meaning you were supposed to oppose her in accordance to Heaven's Mandate, that's why joining her was the path of thorns. That's how you failed your duty.

And then you get the translators alter this to make it more about love… what the fuck is wrong with Treehouse? The route can end with Edelgard saying you've walked the path of military rule, which is how they translated hadou in Wind. You've supported the same thing you were stopping in the other routes, but they alter the line to say she was all by herself instead? I'm sorry, but that line IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SLAP IN THE FACE!