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#wars between men
thekingofwinterblog · 2 years
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One of my absolute favorite quotes from Tolkien is this one from The Two Towers, where Tolkien gives his opinion on men fighting against men.
"It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace."
This is a line written by a veteran of the great war, the first world war, where you can so obviously tell that this is something he must have thought many a time in in the war, when he and his countrymen were fighting against the "Evil Huns" that Great Britain portrayed the German Empire.
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But the fact is, that unlike World War Two, there was no big, evil against good in this conflict, at least not on the western front. It was a war between a bunch of very similar empires sending off an entire generation of young men to die for their imperial ambitions.
As Tolkien himself said "We Were All Orcs In The Great War", talking about how each of the sides invovled dehumanized each other to the point where their soldiers were encouraged to think of the other as pretty much non human scum, despite the fact that all the men involved had so many similarities, so many shared roots, and above everything else, a shared humanity.
It's one of the reasons why Tolkien in his own writing refuses to write the human wars as completely good or evil.
The men of Haradrim and Khand serves Sauron yes, but they are brave and valient men unlike the orcs, and as Tolkien himself put it, Aragorn's conflicts later in life with their post-Sauron leadership was a conflict between men, not a fight between the forces of good and evil the way war of the ring was.
They were not fundamentally different than say, the Rohirrim, or the men from Bree, or Erebor or even Gondor. Just men who had the misfortune of having to march to battle under Threat of force, or led astray by lies.
Similar story with the Rohirrim's conflict with the Dunlendings.
Tolkien made a point that whichever side had wronged one the most, and though the characters for obvious reasons side with the Rohirrim, the Dunlendings who invaded alongside Saruman's forces were not evil men who deserved to be cut down or crippled at the end, but men led astray with lies and threats, and an appeal to a greater cause, just like he was once upon a time to defend the empire he was born into.
Instead he emphasized the the virtue of Mercy when dealing with surrendering troops, as the Rohirrim ultimately spares the surrendering Dunlending army, and in the end let's them return home alive and disarmed.
Human sides of Tolkien's work are rarely portrayed as completely good, or completely evil when in confrontation with each other, only when put against Sauron.
Even Numenor, at it's worst stage of colonialism was not completely evil before the coming of Sauron, and on the other side of the coin, when you look at their history, it is very, very clear why Harad hates them to this day(In the days of old they were captured as slaves, and later used as human sacrifice).
The previous war between Dunland and Rohan was caused when Helm Hammerhand responded to an insult from the Dunlending leader who came as an envoy in his own home, and struck him so hard in the gut he died from it, breaking all the laws of guest and host to do so.
Their original conflict was caused by 3 sides, as the Dunlendings had moved into an area(Modern rohan) that belonged to Gondor against the Gondorians wishes, who then decided to give that land to the Rohirrim instead, failing to mention that someone currently lived there(Illegally or not), which in turn made the Rohirrim regard them as little more than brigands and thieves, occupying what they saw as Gondors(Now their land) lands.
It was an incredibly cynical power move from Gondor's steward, where he used his newfound allies to get rid of what he saw as a direct thorn in his sides, playing on the Rohirrim's trust in him and his people as the obvious "Good guys" they had just aided in war, to pit them against an entire people they had no history or quarrel with, and in turn have the Horselords drive them west out out into Eriador.
Which in turn caused a massive hate in the Dunlendings against the Rohirrim as foreign invaders, and a disdain to form in the Rohirrim against the Dunlendings as thieves and brigands.
When as two towers showed, they were both composed of human beings, worthy of mercy and compassion.
Just like all humans are.
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ourflagmeansgayrights · 9 months
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community that has only seen themselves represented in a small handful of romance stories that aren’t explicitly about their real-world oppression, watching a new show or movie where they are represented in a romantic story that isn’t explicitly about their real-world oppression: getting a lot of “that other show with a queer romance that isn’t explicitly about real-world homophobia” vibes from this
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punkeropercyjackson · 3 months
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"Bruce adopts kids based off them having blue eyes!!!"He is literally jewish
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the-force-awakens · 1 year
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#snarky flyboys
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Iran is bombing Israel apparently, FAFO moment truly.
Both Biden and Trump are vowing to defend Israel with harsh military force against Iran.
If they follow through with it and the US moves against Iran, this will actually become a war.
Do not stop pressuring politicians to support Palestine. Do not stop advocating for Palestine. Do not stop protesting Israel. Do not stop protesting genocide.
From the river to the sea.
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worstloki · 6 months
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Tom Hiddleston once suggested Sif's actress Jaime Alexander could have played Loki instead of him.
Do you think your feelings about Thor 1 and 2 would change in any way if Loki were cast as a woman? (if the plot stays exactly the same or minor differences)
I feel like it absolutely would change my thoughts about Thor 1 and 2 but hear me out because the gender change in the context of what I understand of Asgardian society would mean Loki starts out as a younger sister thanklessly expected to mediate Thor’s violent tendencies and by the end of the movie she’s turned into what is basically Hela
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catblimp · 1 year
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Going on Pinterest and finding Rush memes obviously made by men in their 50s is so great bc they’ll be like
“This is REAL MUSIC made by REAL MEN in the time when MEN were MEN” over an image like this
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adriles · 1 year
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"your violence is unspeakable now " ive always committed grievous acts of violence and war crimes . You are just mad at me for killing someone who matters
#hector#book 22#book 24#again imbued with themes ig#cause while yeah this is haha silly#it is also very much a take ive seen lol#less so in the case of achilles and more so with hector post patroclus#and can be applied to practically any other character#like there is horrific violence and devastation everywhere in this story#the evil isnt the person acting it is the totality of it. war and violence make monsters of men#there is a totality of devastation that is recognized in what happens between the 3#but it isnt just limited to the characters alone. if u limit it to that it is so so deeply one dimensional#anyways if yall can stomach war crimes discussion#i would forever recommend the doc the act of killing#every so often i think about it and just…..god.#i havent watched the second doc still and im sad about that cause it is about a victim confronting the abuses exacted by these people#but the act of killing is just…..interviewing these people years after they horrifically maimed and killed so many. and then#asking them to describe the act. and how they felt. and how they feel now. and if it was justified. is just……god fr a must watch if u can#handle that type of pain. both visually and in spoken word#but yeah. nuance is the point of this aside lol#oh but also just cause no one gets upset over all those men who die. like that post that is like is the whole book just like this#these descriptions of death at a massive scale in another catalogue type form#hell ik people have talked about character kill counts on here. i have been that bitch#to prove a ferocity in battle or whatever the hell#but there is no recognition of that depravity. it is only when it touches someone we know by the narrative to be loved#to be powerful. to be good. to be worth something to the people around him#and to see him act with his family and in battle before the end and with the gods and#humanity makes it hit more obviously. that is how stories work. but to step back from that and recognize#oh so many men also died terribly. so many things happened to their bodies. and they only get a line. that is what gets me
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scalpelsister · 9 months
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i wont lie lads, I feel like my years served as a Sylvanas Enjoyer have trained me well to be a Minthara Enjoyer
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wandeel · 1 year
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Same energy
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zhenghuaz · 7 months
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two boys in love, in cantha, many years ago
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aphantimes · 5 months
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the word "warrior" has skyrocketed to my most hated word in like the past 3 months i am in pain
#this is about knuckles btw.#if i hear the word “warrior” associated with (game) knuckles one more time.............#like. thats a movie knuckles thing. keep it there.#pain. pain. pain.#“echidna warrior” means very different things in movie and game canon#and with movie knuckles' backstory it makes sense for him to identify with that and proudly call himself a warrior.#but this does not apply to game knuckles.#“echidna warrior” in the games canon means warmongering conqueror.#and game knuckles has ACTIVELY CONDEMNED THE ACTIONS OF HIS ANCESTORS#he has ACTIVELY ADVISED OTHERS TO NOT BE LIKE THEM#he has NO DESIRE TO BE LIKE THEM#he is NOT A WARRIOR he is a GUARDIAN#he is descended from 3000 years of GUARDIANS. not WARRIORS.#“echidna warrior” would only refer to pachacamac and his men. the echidnas that came after had no need for war#they were stuck on a floating island tf were they going to war with?? nothing. they weren't warriors.#they were guardians. they've BEEN guardians for 3000 years.#so even if you want it to be like knuckles using a title his ancestors used it doesnt work#bc theres 3000 years of separation between him and the last echidnas that were warriors he has NO attachment to them#and this isnt even going into how knuckles is not a ?? soldier??? tf????#hes a brawler hes a martial artist but he doesnt know shit about warfare ?????#hes been ALONE his whole life how could he know anything about warfare??????#anyway. stop making game knuckles a warrior i am actually losing it
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The way Obikin naysayers reject the ship on the basis of Anakin having said Obi-Wan was the closest thing he had to a father - as if that fact ISN’T the fundamental basis for Anakin’s co-mingled longing/attraction for Obi-Wan given his psychological makeup in the first place - is genuinely puzzling to me. 
When Anidala itself is so blatantly the product of Anakin’s Oedipus Complex, why is it so difficult to see that Obikin could so easily spring from the same well of longing?
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worstloki · 1 month
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Loki surveilling the skyline of New York from the top of Stark Tower and clocking that his favorite paired set of buildings are gone. sad
#everyone wants thor and loki to have visited earth a bunch of times and obviously they wouldn't be too invested in earth politics#but i think the concept of much time passing between visits should be taken advantage of#like what if one of them missed seeing the statue of liberty on their past 3 visits and now that's 'suddenly' a famous historic landmark#Loki like wow I sure hope that restaurant in the Soviet Union is still around!#and Natasha's head whips around so fast like you mean Russia or one of the surrounding countries that used to be part of the USSR#Loki: uhm. well. what's the difference#Natasha: here is a map of the countries does this help#Loki: it does not help but thank you for trying#Thor: what do you mean Rome is gone???? Rome was HUGE?????#Tony: well it's been a few centuries since then Europe is very different now#Thor: (visibly distressed) so the the sweet effeminate men enjoy the streets no more??#Tony: ...I don't keep track of foreign border laws about that#Thor shows up after 3 years and there's a new president and he's very confused through the entire meeting#brodinsons being so detached from the political scene but being so used to realm politics they come to correct conclusions about things#even though the timeline and how long things stay the same on midgard still messes with them#Loki: at least Egypt is still around#Thor: China also#Brodinsons visiting New Zealand(Aotearoa)/Australia/various British mandate islands before the British formally showed up#returning 2 centuries later and 'the gene pool has altered drastically' 'must've been a war'#well it's either that or since Asgard seems spared of colorism they treat all humans as the same and don't notice. which might be worse#on the colonisation and liberation side of things
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selkiecoded · 6 months
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okay thats interesting! in the SF try-outs during the song "legally blonde" she sings about how she cant be legally blonde, while in the official version AND THE DEMO she sings about letting her be legally blonde. which means that at some point they changed the lyrics around, and then changed them back! laurence o'keefe.... nell benjamin.... what occurs in your twisted minds
#covers mouth sorry so sorry guys#im a huge fan of beacon of positivity + good boy (elle puts a leash on emmett confirmed) + love and war (not in the demo but part of SF)#+ i liked some of the lyrics in the demo version of so much better (it called back to beacon of positivity!!! (i am insane)) such as:#I dream of your name next to my own but mine's looking fine up there alone#but i greatly prefer all the official songs we got. well. maybe good boy over ireland wouldve been fun (i think ireland is boring)#but itd play into the 'all men are dogs hurr hurr' joke that im glad they avoided. anyways. what was i saying.#right i havent listened to every version of everything yet (for example theres a SF version of chip on my shoulder i need to watch)#(and just the SF vers in general. shes hidden from me... why was emmett there before the remix... let me see their conversation)#but from what i have heard they made a lot of changes that were sorely needed. in take it like a man demo shes so much meaner??#it made me sad. it wasnt a duet + they wrung out the romantic tension (no subtext by calvin klein... sigh) + shes meaner!!!!#in the bway vers hes baffled but enjoys going along w it + she genuinely likes him even when hes wearing his regular clothes#but in the demo vers she keeps calling him stuff like ugly duckling and talking about how the geek is gone :( but she likes that geek..#the lines 'how much do you think i earn??' and 'kindly shut up :)' are funny but speak to a dynamic between the two that makes me sad...#follow me for more beautiful opinions on a fifteen year old musical#(heaves. do you know weird it is to see comments from 15yrs ago when this was actually showing. my brother is fifteen.)#god im so sorry i should be put down like a dog#lgb bootleggers are intense. i swear they got a bootleg every night or smth bc we got her shoe flying off + SF + kyle as understudy etc#go watch a so much better compilation sometime how did they take so many bootlegs?? how did you find them??#and its awesome cause these were filmed on 2007/2008 tech which means they have 15 pixels maximum#SORRRRYYYYYYYYYY
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The thing about the possibility of jealous Eddie in upcoming episodes is that like, Eddie is friends with Tommy. He ostensibly likes him quite a bit, he's been hanging out with him for weeks at this point, he's introduced him to Christopher, he's having deep enough conversations with him that Tommy actually felt the need to go to Buck's in the first place to help them figure the situation out. In the instances we've seen Eddie exhibit jealousy, there's always been some form of plausible deniability for his pettiness.
Abby? Well she ghosted his best friend and then showed up expecting Buck to risk his life to save her new fiance. I'd be a petty bitch too. Taylor? Well no explanation needed, but in their first real interaction she tried to exploit Bobby's trauma so... and Natalia? A little more of a stretch since they kind of only met on the one call, but she was treating Buck's death like some interesting side show attraction, and Eddie had 3 minutes 17 seconds memorized and running through his head since the Lightning Strike, so again I can understand.
But Tommy is different. Tommy is his friend. why would he possibly feel anything negative about Tommy and Buck being together? And with Buck's own jealousy over being excluded being brought to light so pointedly, Eddie would have a pretty hard time repeating the exact same mistake. He's going to have to immediately think about why he's having reoccurring moments of petty when he likes Tommy. He's going to have to reckon with these feelings fast.
And I don't see him ever risking having Buck thinking he's not 100% supportive of his coming out, and there's clear evidence of that from stills in 7x05. I just think that if we do get jealous Eddie, it's going to be different than what we've seen before, it's going to be private, and quiet, but like certainly (I'm looking at you 7x05 synopsis) it's going to be there.
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