Galaxy of Hair

Writer, Game Designer, Goofball, Scifi Lover--24m

[galaxyofhair]

Homebrew Warhammer Astartes Chapter: The Void Ravens

Preface:

So if you've read my previous posts, you might have come across my super long essay on the Vikings TV show. I like vikings, and viking stuff---the history and mythology etc etc---and you would think that I, getting into Warhammer for the last year+, am a fan of the Space Wolves, the sort of designated viking faction of the setting.

But lo, I don't. I don't like the Space Wolves, I think they're big weenies and 100% someone's OC do-not-steal faction they wrote to try and be better than everyone else. Moreover, because they're one of the original chapters from when the setting was first created, they're very much based on an 80s understanding of vikings and barbarians. Like, it's clearly more evocative of comic book Thor and Conan the Barbarian than it is of the nuanced and complicated history of the vikings.

Now, to add some nuance salt into the mix: I do think they are a fairly applicable depiction of a very specific aspect of viking culture: IE, berserkers and the Cult of the Wolf---but I still think of that as an extension of the very Thor-heavy, 80s dark fantasy view of honor-bound, proud warriors etc etc that feels about as 2-dimensional as the way that Skyrim depicts Nord religion/culture (whole other rant, sorry.)

The other caveat is I don't think any one chapter is the whole picture of a culture that they supposedly represent in the setting. Even the chapter I am going to craft below is more or less based on the themes and cultural ideals explored by the Vikings show (which is a whole other can of non-historically accurate worms I don't wanna get into.)

So all of that said: If I was tasked with creating a vikings-style chapter in Warhammer, this is what I would do. If this sounds like fan fiction, it's because it is fan fiction.

The Void Ravens

History

Also known as the Muninn Chapter, the Void Ravens originate from the 21st cursed founding, a grand experiment carried out by the Adeptus Mechanicus to weed out flaws in the geneseed of the various first-founding chapters. This experiment produced a number of chapters suspected of carrying chimeric geneseed stitched together from traitor and loyalist stock alike.

The Void Ravens were one of these experiments. While they were told that were a Space Wolves successor, in reality they were a chapter which secretly based on the stock of one of the traitor legions, with the traits of several loyalist legions mixed in. The Mechanicus had quelled the rampant mutation problems presented by the VIth and XIXth legions by using an unnamed third.

Being none-the-wiser, the Void Ravens were given their first assignment: in the waning years of M35, the Space Wolves had suffered a serious defeat. A chaos invasion on one side had been compounded by a xenos invasion on the other end---and the Space Wolves, to everyone's surprise, had emerged battered and barely victorious. They had enacted a pyrrhic victory, leaving their once legion-sized chapter at barely 500. While this wouldn't stop the Space Wolves from fighting, it would hamper their ability to patrol their own territories for some time. And so, the Void Ravens, ostensibly a Space Wolves successor, stepped in to fill the gap as a fleet-based chapter, along side several other chapters that went on to occupy planets around Fenris.

For a time, the Void Ravens would fulfill their duties without having to meet the Space Wolves: they answered distress calls, stymied invasions, and took their resupplies as normal. During this time, their chapter developed in two important ways. Firstly, as Space Wolf successors, they, speaking to and interacting with the people normally protected by the Space Wolves, quickly adopted Juvjk as their own dialect, and began wearing the runes, charms, and trophies normally reserved for the Space Wolves. The Void Ravens were frequently accused of looting the bodies and armories of the Space Wolves---though they were never caught in the act.

Secondly, the personality of the chapter began to crystalize. The Void Ravens, always having to salvage their gear and supplies from the ruins of either the Space Wolves or other imperial factions, quickly developed an appreciation for efficiency, frugality, and intelligent tactics. At the same time, they were the blood of Leman Russ, and frequently found themselves charging into pitched battles. The combination of ferociousness and strategic thinking quickly developed a culture of ambition and deviousness. The Void Ravens found the most value in their smartest commanders, whose unusual tactics and vicious nature made them unpredictable and highly effective. Additionally, the Void Ravens' love of tactical superiority and plotting led them to frequently consulting their librarians and the Emperor's Tarot for predictions of the future.

Their deviousness and vicious nature combined with their fleet-based chapter meant that the Void Ravens would frequently conduct raids into xenos or chaos territory, tearing up and capturing as much technology as possible only to later destroy it and return it to the imperium as raw resources. While their hatred of xenos never stemmed, they quickly grew comfortable quietly acquiring xenos tech to bolster their armories. The void Ravens grew famous throughout the segmentum for their daring raids, their merciless tactics, their secretive nature, and their famously insane commanders.

By the time the Void Ravens would have a chance to meet the Space Wolves, their reputation as morally onerous raiders had preceded them. The Space Wolves, already disgusted by their cousins, also saw how different the Void Ravens were to them on a genetic level---and promptly ended the meeting, ejecting the Void Ravens from Fenris. The Void Ravens had already become vaguely aware that they were not like the Space Wolves, but this meeting had all but confirmed it. Driven by a desire to know more about themselves, but aware that the inquisition would likely annihilate them if they found out, the Void Ravens began to venture deeper and deeper into unknown space.

Eventually the chapters' raids brought them to an Aeldari craftworld. Unable to take on the craftworld by themselves, 1st Captain Erik Russon devised a plan to lure in the forces of chaos---allowing the nearby chaos warband to soften up their target. the plan worked, and while the forces of chaos threw themselves at one side of the craftworld, the Void Ravens enacted a surgical strike on the other. This operation led to the capture of a device that Void Ravens named the Well of Memories---a well of glowing blue liquid contained in a large floating basin. The chapter's chief librarian, Havi Coldstar, lost his hand to the liquid, which burned it away while also delivering a powerful psychic vision into his mind---though the vision faded fast. In communing with the device, Havi determined that a link could be established with the waters, but that the well required a sacrifice to establish a more permanent link. Havi then tore out his left eye and dropped it into the well. The resulting vision immediately warned Havi that the Black Legion was closing in on the Space Wolves, ready to wipe them from existence. His timely intervention led the Void Ravens to victory in the resulting battle.

The chapter knew very little about the Well of Memories, save that it offered visions of both the past and the future, and of knowledge normally forbidden to members of the imperium. Havi later became chapter master, his reputation and renown significantly swelling after his victory over the Black Legion---and his captains would all follow his example, sacrificing various parts of themselves to the well to gain its knowledge, while also establishing a permanent psychic connection to one another.

At this time, the Void Ravens made a change to their heraldry: adding a blue drop of water over the black raven of their banners. To the inquisition they claimed that Havi had been given a vision of the Emperor, and that the emperor's tears had shown them the impending invasion. The inquisition accepted this explanation, and the chapter's change in heraldry finalized---with none suspecting that the blue drop actually represented the waters of the well, and their question.

About 100 years after the acquisition of the Well of Memories, the Space Wolves were finally returned to their strength of old---and they wasted no time evicting the various chapters which had taken up residency in their region of space. The Void Ravens, now far more adept in the use of the well, foresaw this and quietly slipped away beyond the border of the imperium. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Imperium, the Void Ravens had discovered the truth of their origins through the visions of the Well of Memories---and they promptly disappeared to continue their quest for eldritch knowledge and the spoils of victory.

Over several millennia, the Void Ravens have only occasionally reappeared in imperial space. They rarely assist imperial forces unless it also suits their own goals, and they almost never associate with other chapters of astartes. On more than one occasion, they've returned to receive censure by the inquisition when rumors of their indiscretion regarding alien tech became too loud to ignore---and more recently they narrowly dodged the inquisition declaring them a renegade chapter. The balancing act of secrecy, heresy, victory, and ferocity is one kept in motion only by the power of the well and the foresight that it offers to its one-eyed master...

Heraldry

The Void Ravens' icon is a black raven over a field of red. After finding the Well of Memories, the chapter added a blue water droplet. Their armor is typically painted black, with bronze chest plates and shin guards.

The right pauldron uses a symbol and a high gothic number to denote battle role and squad number, while the left kneepad is painted with codex compliant colors to indicate company.

Void Ravens use many of the embellishments normally associated with the Space Wolves: including the addition of furs, pelts, other trophies taken from high profile kills, as well as talismans covered in runes. the Void Ravens do occasionally eschew the wearing of wolf pelts in favor of wearing black raven feathers or reptile skins.

Tactics

As a fleet-based chapter, the Void Ravens prefer ship-to-ship combat, with each ship in the fleet performing hit-and-run attacks against their foes. On the rare occasion that the chapter goes to ground, they prefer to conduct raids to relieve their enemies of vital resources---providing the chapter the dual benefit of destroying the enemy, while also starving them out.

While many of the rank-and-file Void Ravens dream of glorious death on the battlefield, the leadership of the chapter prize a very different set of values. Officers in the Void Ravens tend to value the complimentary traits of strategic thinking and ambition.

The raids conducted by the Void Ravens are often planned so that prospective officers might have a chance to stand out through improvisation and quick decision making. Once elevated to officer rank, a Void Raven then competes for prestige with all of the other officers in the chapter.

[galaxyofhair]

Where No One Can See Me

I am officially abandoning a project, so I thought I would post about it here. Below are the illustrated images I made with the intention of publishing in a book of poems.

If you enjoy the illustrated pages and the poems therein, consider checking out the un-illustrated poems on my Wattpad.

[galaxyofhair]

In the Name of the Warrior, I Charge You to be Brave...

If I had to assign a single, unqualified win to the later two seasons of Game of Thrones, it would be this scene. I watch this scene over and over again sometimes because its sweet, it's endearing, and because it makes me long for the show that almost was...

Like, yes, It was gratifying to watch all of the best characters from multiple plotlines all gather in one place and trade quips and stuff---but more importantly I love watching Game of Thrones briefly become a new kind of story. For a short, two-episode time period, Game of Thrones isn't a political thriller---it's an apocalypse show. It's a show about 20 or so people who have set aside their shared blood feud, their history of war and murder, to face a coming darkness in the last bastion available to them.

And it 100% peaks the moment Jaime stands up and, with no societal standards or social conventions perceivably left to stop him, knights Brienne of Tarth. Not only is it Brienne's character peak, it's also Jaime's. For the first time he's doing something good---not because its easy, and not because honor demands it---but because he can now recognize real goodness and the opportunity to do it.

That's really about it for now---I love humanistic story telling, and I love characters who have been given enough depth and care in their creation that they can surprise and delight.

On another note, I would have loved to spend more time in this unexpected apocalypse tail watching old enemies become fast friends in the face of overwhelming darkness.

[galaxyofhair]

I fucked up the "and Alexander wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer" quote and said "and Caesar wept"

So now the quote is "And Caesar wept, for he was being stabbed in the back 37 times."

[thedailypositivityblog]

Redditors crashed the website with donations over $25k and 0 wishes left. via /r/MadeMeSmile

Click here and follow to get more daily positivity on your dash!

[godisafujoshi]

With the holidays here, thought this is worth sharing

[momkat]

This website is still here and some of the asks are heartbreaking. Like “Jamie wants a new pair of jeans because he’s never had new clothes before”. Or “Kayla wants a bag with her name on it for when she moves foster homes again.”

A lot of these kids ask for brand name clothing and it sounds pretentious but having one nice new fashionable piece of clothing means a lot when all your previous clothes have come out of black trash bags from charities.

[silvermoon424]

Btw, you can filter wishes based on gender, age, price, etc to help you find the perfect wish for you. This charity is LGBTQ-affirming (unlike a lot of religion-based charities that are unfortunately homophobic), so you can even look for nonbinary kids to donate to.

Also, I would really encourage people to be open to granting wishes made by older foster kids (14+) or young adults who aged out of the system and still lack family support. They’re so often forgotten.

[specialagentartemis]

If you don’t have a lot of money but still want to help give a kid a nice Christmas, there are lots of wishes that are $24 for stocking stuffers as well, or $15 for a sqishmallow!

https://www.onesimplewish.org

[seananmcguire]

I just want to add that right now, there are so many pending wishes for food. Kids are asking for food from the universe (and yeah, “kids” includes young adults just entering the work force–eighteen and hungry is just as morally wrong as eight and hungry).

[galaxyofhair]

"As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last loose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."

---Commissioner Pravin Lal, "UN Declaration of Rights"

[galaxyofhair]

11th Grade History, 2195

The course being taught is cleverly named "The Age of Wage-Slavery: The Fall of Capitalist USA" by a young teacher with a passion for Poli Sci. You've heard them give this course a few times now. They make a couple of uncomfortable comparisons to slavery's original flavor, but with each telling she gets a little better. She's more correct now than she was 3 years ago, and you, being dead, have learned to let the details slide.

2195 isn't all that different from 1995---or at least, the idea you had in your head of what 1995 was like. It's an era of relative peace, where the biggest social ails of the typical kid in a now swelled middle class is a lack of direction---peace has eliminated the boogeyman, and left young folks without much of a cause. The biggest difference between 2195 and 1995 is that it's been like this for a while now. There isn't war bookending both sides of this new decade, at least not that you're aware of it.

The world is by no means perfect, but at the very least America, still the USA on paper, is now considered a neo-socialist democracy. Gone are things like the Electoral College and gerrymandering. Gone are wars of imperial interest, and shadowy spheres of influence---at least for the US. For that aimless generation of the 2190s, those willing to apply themselves will find their crusades in a wider world still populated by imperfect people and their imperfect wars.

Though, for now, that generation is still sitting in the 11th grade poli sci course, listening to their fixated teacher publicly obsess about the 2020s. The mood over the class is malaise; the early 21st is, generally speaking, remembered as a boring, convoluted, and ugly time to be alive. Most everyone still checks out in history class anyways---but there's always some semi-exciting highlights.

Everyone likes knights in shining armor, pirates on the high seas, and astronauts flying into space---but few care to hear the minutia of the Late Medieval Period as it transitioned into the Early Renaissance. The Age of Piracy is exciting for some, and for others there's the American Revolution, but no one really cares to hear about the early years of the republic, or the War of 1812. Popular media still adores and romanticizes the Roaring 1920s, the Futurism of the 50s, the Swinging 60s and 70s, and even mythical conflicts like WWII and Vietnam. Heck, some of these kids probably know about 9/11 because they're distantly related to someone that was there in some capacity---or because they found some century-old meme about it: but almost no one cares to hear the complex and dissatisfying history of the early 21st.

Maybe there's one kid in the back who loves early 21st aesthetics---but he's young, and while he's got the spirit, you've seen his replica AI-PC hooked up to a CRT-TV, along with his non-functioning Playstation 2. Another kid in another later class is a big military-buff who likes movies about the Us-Iraq and Us-Afghanistan wars, and thinks of them as the underappreciated underdog Vietnam-War-Clones they really are. He'll go on to major in poli-sci as well, with a minor in "Late-Capitalist US History."

But the vast majority of these kids have stopped paying attention. Again, it's an ugly and unaesthetic time period to study. It's not filled with wars and heroics---its' unions, and protests, and politics. Despite its incredible important to the world they live in today, most of these kids just want edutainment, and to be honest you don't blame them. Maybe when they're 22, some of them will take a second pass at this lesson plan and watch a documentary online. Maybe when they're 30 a relative will die, and they'll inherit an artifact that belonged to an ancestor killed a police officer in a brutal riot in 2035---but that's not today.

In a way, you're angry to have been so completely forgotten by the future. You lived, you died---and though what you did in life was important, your identity was lost to the sands of time. You don't exist to them anymore.

You want to be angry, but the truth is you're just grateful that these kids don't have to live what you lived. The hateful, violent cycle of your life paid for generations of children innocent of the suffer you endured. Their ignorance and apathy is the last price to be paid for their prosperity. You turn to look at the teacher---they don't stay ignorant forever. People are still people, and adulthood brings the burden of innocence lost. In time, some of them will return to remember you, even if only for a moment before they themselves are forgotten.

[galaxyofhair]

I love how cartoonishly evil Cyril and Dedra are as a couple in Andor:

Dedra: "Darling, shall we spend the day eating the flesh of children, or shooting puppies?"

Cyril: "Eugh! Shooting puppies, obviously. I hate the sounds the children make when you bite into them! I don't know how you stand it!"

Dedra, smiling wickedly: "Oh don't worry darling, you learn to love it..."

Cyril, loading a blaster: "I sure hope not..."

[guildenstern]

unfortunately no eclipse photography can ever outdo the waffle house one from 2017

[saintandstorms]

[galaxyofhair]

AC: Mirage

I just finished AC Mirage, so a quick review before I launch into another brief AC phase:

AC Mirage was an excellent return to form for the gameplay of the series. It successfully took the gameplay improvements brought on by the Open-World AC games and married them into the urban/social-stealth focus of the older games. This development wasn't too surprising, since the game doesn't introduce too many new elements that didn't already exist somewhere between Origins and Valhalla.

The story of this game was extremely frustrating. This was, for like 90% of the game, the most milquetoast story I've ever had to trudge through. Characters are boring, and somewhat inconsistent. The dialogue is disjointed and inhuman, with each speaker often going out of their way to state the obvious in a super matter-of-fact way that isn't natural to any of the situations it's used in. The last 10% of the story does kick it up a notch and is very interesting, but tbh isn't so good that it justifies how uninteresting that first 90%. I feel like what we got on release was little more than a story outline, hastily stretched to fit the game without care or thought.

The story feeling like an outline rather than a full story often takes the form of the weird non-reason/because-it-looked-cool impetus for character action or dramatic non-conversations. No one is actually saying anything in any of these conversations, and its difficult to pin down if any of them actually have character motivations or if they only do things to satisfy the needs of the moment.

I'm pretty sad that this was how they chose to return to the middle east, but glad they did such a good job depicting Baghdad and the early Assassins.

[galaxyofhair]

How Assassin's Creed's Imagery Created Limitations on Later Sequels

Thesis: A lot of the imagery that made the Assassins so unique and recognizable in AC, and that came to define the series identity, was imagery that made the most sense in the context in which that imagery was originally created. Later sequels in later eras of history had big problems trying to force the clothing or armor of that era to match the aesthetic of the Levantine assassins

This issue presents itself in a few of the series key items that almost every assassin has: The hidden blade gauntlet, the eagle-beaked hood, and the white robes. In AC1, these items made the most sense: The hidden blade was an advanced piece of technology built using 12th century tools: So naturally it makes sense (or at least its easy to suspend disbelief) and say that the blade definitely works, but its a little bulky and requires that entire gauntlet piece that Altair has.

Additionally, the white robes made the most sense in the context of the crusades: The combination of hood, red sash, and white surcoat makes Altair a strange cross between monk and knight, and he can blend into both circumstances. And it makes sense to wear white is a desert setting, so Altair's outfit ends up looking both western and eastern at the same time, which is pretty cool.

Ezio's outfit isn't completely out of step: Is it conceivable that his robes would white? Sure--and I think Ubisoft did a great job of matching Ezio's color scheme to the setting and the setting to Ezio so screw it, it works. I think with AC2 I really only take issue with the hidden blade gauntlet---which is super noticeable, and has an assassin symbol stamped on the top. Even worse, when Ezio gets his second blade, it's actually hidden under his clothes.

But that design choice illustrates the problem quite wonderfully: It was fine for Altair, who lived in a war torn country where armed soldiers of various allegiances were a common enough sight, and where the size of the hidden blade sort of demands the use of the gauntlet. It makes less sense on Ezio, who likely has greater motivation to actually hide the hidden blade---but he doesn't because what Ubisoft wanted to do was to romanticize the imagery of the hidden blade as the assassin's lightsaber equivalent.

Assassin's Creed 3 has a similar issue in which the white robes are suddenly a really odd choice given that virtually no one else is wearing white in the entire game except assassins. So Conner sticks out like a sore thumb, which again really undercuts your ability to feel anonymous, and incognito etc.

While later characters like Arno and Jacob Frye would challenge various aspects of the iconic assassin's outfit---the series still struggles with an issue that can be summed up in the joke: "How do you spot an assassin? Look for the white robed, fully armored jedi who sticks out of the crowd"

[galaxyofhair]

History's Vikings: The Blue-Eyed Man, The One-Eyed Man, and The Odinquest

In my previous post I discussed how the Vikings TV show does a good job depicting a moral and cultural framework built by a religion that isn't related to Christianity in some way. Among the many story elements that this clash of religious and cultural differences creates is a language of imagery that is truly unique.

Again, I don't really have a planned endpoint for this post, I just think this stuff is cool and I want to talk about it.

I'd like to also come out and say when I am commenting on the tropes and imagery of the Vikings TV show and not the real historical Vikings. The show is very accurate to certain aspects of real history, but in other areas it is also very not accurate to history and I am really not qualified to designate where that line exists. Furthermore, the Norse Religion is a very real, very active religion that is still in practice to this day, and I don't want to comment on how a real adherent might interpret or venerate their gods. I'll be speaking from my perspective as a fairly secular western person and as a fan of the show. I'm truly not out to spread misinformation or harmful stereotypes, so please exercise discernment. Thank you.

The Blue-Eyed Man

Early in Season 1, there is a really interesting visual artifact that can be hard to spot if you're not paying attention to it: and that is Ragnar's ridiculously blue eyes. Granted, they are very prominent, but so while you might remember seeing them show up, it's less likely that audience members clued into it being an element of the story.

In most daylight scenes, Ragnar's special blue eyes are apparent, but not particularly special---it's not until you can see his in darker shots that they become especially strange. One the one hand, this is potentially just a CGI issue which give his eyes something of an accidental glow, but let's assume for a moment that it is, at least mostly, purposeful.

Ragnar's blue eyes serve a couple of purposes in the context of the early seasons of the show. They represent his ambition, his viciousness, and most importantly, they represent his genius.

Something that the show does not frequently acknowledge is that Ragnar is a genius intellect amongst his kin. Rollo at one point comments that Ragnar is strange, and rarely holds grudges, and Bjorn struggles most of his adult life to replicate and emulate Ragnar's strangeness and his forward thinking. In Season 2 and 3, Ragnar's genius is shown most prominently in his conflicts with Jarl Borg, King Horik, and the Franks---he's clearly always a step or two ahead of not only his competition, but also his contemporaries.

Ragnar's genius is also a really important key to understanding the unique way the show has chosen to depict Vikings writ large. For many decades in the modern era, our interpretation of Vikings has been largely influenced by characters like Marvel's Thor, who has been a huge part of creating the Viking stereotype of an honorable, boisterous, and exceedingly thick-headed warrior. Ragnar, and the rest of the Vikings, show us a very different interpretation. The show refocuses Odin as the primary god of the Viking religion, and reminds us that Odin is not only a god of war, but also of magic, and cunning.

Which is why it is so important that Ragnar is also cunning. In a society that champions that Thor-like boisterousness and physical prowess, and which tends to shame less conventional forms of intelligence (characters like Floki, who live away from Kattegat), Ragnar being the convergent point between warrior prowess and cunning intellect makes him something of an apex predator.

Which brings us back to the eyes; It is in the last episode of the series that the show finally acknowledges the imagery of the blue eyes through the line "Blue eyes mean danger." Every scene that shows off Ragnar's eyes is giving us a window into the mind of hungry predator, a great monster who could decide at any time to feast on those around him.

The imagery of the Blue-eyed Man reaches its apex, and its least subtle period, when Ivar enters the. Ivar's eyes are so blue he basically has the Eyes of Ibad from Dune---and with him they begin to take on a new meaning: madness.

Ragnar himself does suffer from a certain amount of the madness that comes with great genius---but Ivar is always suffering from it. Ivar truly struggles to fit in with his contemporaries, not only because of his physical disabilities but also because he is deeply mentally unhealthy. Ivar's eyes do glow blue when he is experiencing moments of great cunning or profound cruelty, much in the same way his father did, but he adds to that an ability to fly into a special kind of berserker rage---one powered by his mental instability.

Much of Ivar's story is also focused around how he takes many of his father's flaws and drives them to their most extreme outcome: Where Ragnar had a capacity for cruelty and insanity, Ivar's kingship was defined by it. Ragnar was able to harness his intellect and political cunning to choose his own death and make it the catalyst for the era of the Great Heathen Army---but Ivar was ultimately consumed by his own madness, by his own need to fight and bleed, and to a certain extent by the depression that follows him throughout the show.

I would call these eyes the Eyes of Óðr, the divine madness. In the context of the show, they are designed to set apart those who are touched, driven, intelligent, and ultimately: dangerous to themselves and all others.

The One-Eyed Man

The shift from idealizing and venerating a warrior's physical prowess to venerating their intelligence and viciousness is an important part of understanding the Vikings' worship of Odin. In the show, we're told once or twice that the Vikings, in contrast to our modern stereotype of Vikings, don't attack unless they have the clear advantage. Indeed, the Vikings of the show operate more like bandits and pirates than they do like the proud warriors and berserkers of properties like Thor, and even Beowulf.

To worship Odin, to become like Odin in the same way that Christians would have championed Christ-likeness, is to embrace not only his warrior ways, but also his magic, his cunning, and his lust for knowledge.

While innate Odin-likeness is typically represented by the Blue-Eyed Man, the man who willfully chooses to pursue Odin-likeness is often represented by the One-Eyed Man. The image of the One-Eyed Man is applied to and represents those who sacrifice themselves in the pursuit of knowledge.

This one is a little harder to spot in the series, but there are a few examples both prominent and subtle:

In Season 4a, Ragnar transitions subtly from being the Blue-Eyed Man to being the One-Eyed Man, while Ivar replaces him as the Blue-Eyed Man in 4b. Ragnar makes no secret in Season 1 that he, like Odin, would give up nearly anything to have knowledge and power---and while the Ragnar of Seasons 1 and 2 is largely powered by his raw intellect and ambition, this changes as Season 3 progresses.

By Season 4b, Ragnar has made a visual change: During his battle with Rollo he sustains an injury that has left a large scar on his temple and brow, and his right eye, while still blue, is now cloudy. I will say: it is not apparent in every scene. Ragnar's cloud right eye is a CGI after-effect and it was not uniformly applied. There are some scenes where he seems to have both eyes intact, and others where its very obvious that one of his eyes is now blind.

There are a few other characters but few of note: Egil The Bastard is a short-lived side character who one eye that is heavily scarred and blind (and in the uncensored version of the show, entirely missing). Much in the same vain as other characters following this trend, Egil is depicted as conniving and intelligent---but he is also a reminder that not everyone following in the footsteps of Odin is as capable as Ragnar and his family. Egil dies offscreen after quickly being captured and doing basically no damage to the Lothbroks at all.

A vision of Odin himself also briefly appears twice in the show, and for obvious reasons possesses only one eye.

The other major character who subtly becomes the One-Eyed Man is Ubbe.

In Season 4 Ubbe is, like Ivar, one of the Blue-Eyed Men---Lagertha and Floki would both go on to comment how much like Ragnar he both looks, and acts. In early Season 5 he is injured on the eye and blood appears in the sclera around his iris. While it's completely reasonable to assume that this maybe doesn't have narrative significance: His first eye injury occurs because he attempts to negotiate with the Saxons and is betrayed---the theme of Ubbe gaining wisdom through hard experiences is one that continues throughout the show.

Ubbe's eye briefly swells shut, leaving him literally one-eyed for some time, and this injury is repeated later on after Ubbe wins his duel against King Frodo and reconverts to the Viking religion. Once again, Ubbe's eye swells shut, but much more prominently than before, signaling the wisdom and experience he had gained through personal sacrifice.

By season 6, while Ubbe retains the use of his right eye, he now has a tattoo that runs up the side of his face, giving the vague impression of a permanent streak of blood and runes next to his eye.

The Odinquest

The imagery of the Blue-Eyed Man and the One-Eyed Man share a common through-line in the world of Vikings---and that is the pursuit of power and knowledge. In my previous post, I talked about how Vikings, on the whole, is not truly about the pursuit and implementation of power, but rather it is a meditation of life's completion---and this is still true. It is also true that the pursuit of power and knowledge is a hugely important aspect of many of the characters.

In most western media, there is an undercurrent of the morality that stems from Christianity, and most characters that follow in the traditions of western media undergo a kind of Christquest: literally the quest to become more Christ-like. This can manifest through the character seeking redemption, becoming more merciful or wise, becoming more just, and even simply becoming more capable personally and then using that capability to defeat evil and protect good.

Think Frodo and Aragorn: Frodo perseveres and survives evil through the LOTR trilogy, and learns to rely on the help of his friends when his own ability isn't enough. Aragorn realizes that he has to take responsibility for the kingdom to which he is inheritor to, and his becoming king is the culmination of a quiet character arc concerning Aragorn's own sense of bravery and responsibility towards others.

Even Marvel's Thor more or less follows the tropes of a Christquest: Thor begins the story as a selfish prick and regains his powers when he sacrifices himself for his friends.

Where the Christquest champions personal growth in the pursuit of Christ-likeness, the Odinquest champions personal growth in the pursuit of Odin-likeness---which I realize sounds a bit ~duh~ but I promise it's worth saying out loud.

The character who completes the Odinquest is not necessarily a good person at the end of their quest. The point of the Odinquest is to become wiser, more experienced, and in some cases the unspoken expectation is that the warrior brings that wisdom and experience to bear as a hero of war.

Returning to the context of the show: the imagery of the Blue-Eyed Man and the One-Eyed Man helps us follow the characters who are explicitly on the Odinquest. The Blue-Eyed Man embarks on the quest involuntarily, driven by his natural ambition and intelligence to want more---while the One-Eyed Man has embarked on the quest willingly, and gains wisdom through sacrifice and experience.

Ubbe and Ragnar both end up completing the Odinquest. Ubbe becomes a wise and discerning leader, who brings his own tribe to the shores of North America. Ragnar becomes legendary, orchestrates his own death, and ensures that his death becomes the catalyst for a new era of history. Each of them shares their revelations in their final moments on screen as wisdom is finally attained, and we can see that the quest has ended as the character themselves slows to a halt in their journey.

On the sadder side of things, I think Ivar actually fails to complete the Odinquest. Despite all of the character growth he undergoes in Season 6, and the cooling of the fire within him, Ivar's redemption falters and is cut short. Returning to the battlefields of England, Ivar participates in an ill-advised raid that he is aware will end in his death. In his final battle, he allows the Eyes of Óðr to overtake him, and he is lost to his madness one final time. Such is the power of his divine madness, that Ivar appears almost magical, capable of directing the battle from within himself.

Ragnar suffers from his own mental health issues which similarly leads him on a path to suicide---but again, with Ragnar there is more time spent reflecting on his revelations, the totality of his life and its meaning, and he gains a certain mastery over his own variety of divine madness so as to allow his death to serve a greater purpose.

Ivar simply dies, having realized that he no longer has a place in the world. It's no mistake or accident that his eyes bloom blue, but both remain distinctly open.

I want to clarify that this does not mean his death was meaningless---only that, more so that even Ragnar's death, Ivar's death is a tragedy. He is a powerful, intelligent mind the likes of which will never be seen again, lost to the madness of his own genius.

In Conclusion

I honestly have no idea how to endcap this beyond that this is what I love about this series. Vikings is by no means a perfect show---there are definitely episodes and moments that make it look and feel like a knock-off Game of Thrones. At the same time, it's filled to the brim with incredible, genius writing, heart wrenching and humanistic storytelling, and thoughtful, honest conversation about the human condition. It's a peak into a world beyond the confines of the structures imposed on us by a Christian-dominated post-roman viewpoint. The Vikings are presented to us, the viewers, as both strikingly alien, and yet oddly familiar: A view of who we are, who we were, who we could have been, and who we could yet be.

[galaxyofhair]

History Channel's Vikings: A Meditation on The Totality of Life

Trigger Warnings for Violence, Death, Depression, and SA

===============================================

It can be difficult to discern the message of a television show. Unlike films and books, there is often no true, consistent metanarrative that exists behind the various stories of a series. Individual episodes may have a message or a moral that unifies the story of that specific episode, but it's much rarer for a show to maintain a metanarrative that encompasses the entirety (or at least the majority) of the show. Understandably, this is because most syndicated television shows exist to self-perpetuate above all else. Even a show with a theme and message may eventually be forced to abandon or compromise that message if the show self-perpetuates beyond its original intended end point.

I love History's Vikings, because it is a rare example of a show that, whether on purpose or by accident, maintains itself throughout its entire runtime as a meditation on the totality of life and all its events and struggles.

I write this not to provide an argument for why it is or isn't a meditation, or prove my point---rather, I want to spend some time celebrating what made this show unique.

A Meditation on The Little Things

Early in the runtime of Season 1, Vikings was still very much a History show. It's first few episodes pull a strange trick where the story seems to meander through the various aspects of the Vikings' lives---the cottage that the Lothbrok's live in, our first Thing in Kattegat, then in short order we are shown sailing in the early medieval period, our first raid of the show, etc, etc.

In one season of the show, we're shown virtually all of the different important aspects of the Viking lifestyle: From ale houses, to ship building, the longhall, and even Upsala. We're given an implicitly comparative view of their attitudes towards sex, violence, government, masculinity/femininity, and religion. In its own way, the first two seasons of Vikings feel something like a cross between a drama and a documentary.

My favorite aspect of the show is that they show absolutely everything: Weddings, funerals, birth, death, celebrations, lamentations, war, famine, disease. So much of why season 1 feels more like a documentary is because many of these smaller events don't really serve the wider plot point, they simply exist for their own sake.

While I don't relish talking down on another show to prove a point, I would contrast this against Game of Thrones---which was sort of the prime example of a medieval/political drama and a contemporary of the Vikings show. GoT tended to view all events in it's plot as fitting into one of two categories; It was either one of the most important things it could possibly be, or it was a completely useless plot point who pointlessness was a purposeful message to the audience. GoT was truly more focused on creating a dark and pessimistic atmosphere, and one of the ways it accomplished this was by putting futility and death on constant display.

GoT of course has its fair share of dropped plotlines and little moments, I don't deny that---but GoT was also serving a different message, and so it had different priorities in mind. Still, when watching GoT, it was fairly easy to tell which plot points were going to get revisited later on, and which plot points were sort of one-off ideas that would be dropped. In Vikings, this distinction is more difficult to make. All events (weddings, ascensions to power, funerals, celebrations, etc) are presented in a similar, neutral light, and the same weight of importance. The result is a show that is powerfully human, in all of its flawed, awkward glory.

A Meditation on Flawed People

Writing flawed characters is hard---in most stories, including my own, often the temptation is to make a character's flaw one of the important moving pieces of the plot. This is often done in service of that character either growing and moving beyond their own flaws, or dying because of them.

In Spider-Man, Peter experiences a moment of apathy after he is screwed over in the Wrestling industry, and allows a robber to hold up the studio. However, this is not a one-off event; The same robber that holds up the studio ends up also shooting Uncle Ben. Peter's apathy and irresponsibility become one of the focuses of Uncle Ben's death, and a thing that Peter moves beyond as he inches closer to becoming Spider-Man.

In Game of Thrones, we find that both Ned Stark and King Robert are equally flawed characters: Robert is an apathetic hedonist and alcoholic who prefers to revel in excess rather than rule his own kingdom---and Ned is stiff, inflexible, and perpetually enslaved to his own sense of honor. These flaws are well written, and their flaws don't exist in a vacuum.

Both characters' flaws become the impetus for each of their deaths, and both characters' deaths become the catalyst for the entire series in turn. This style of writing often makes every aspect of a given character important, because nearly every decision they make is interconnected and moves the plot forward in some way.

Let me be clear: this is good writing. This post is not a 1.5D chess play to try and say that this style of writing is bad, actually. What I do want to highlight is that there is merit to going the other direction:

Again, my favorite part of Vikings is how ridiculously human everyone in the show is. So many of these characters have very real flaws that reflect the kind of mundane flaws that real life people have---and the show often navigates this idea by allowing their flaws to exist in a vacuum.

A prime example of this is Rollo. Many of the flawed things that Rollo does throughout the show do serve a wider purpose in that they characterize Rollo as a vicious and wildly unstable person---but unlike GoT, those flaws aren't ever really conquered or used as the engine of his demise.

In season 4, Rollo snatches up the opportunity to marry a princess and become a Duke, betraying Ragnar for the second and final time. We're shown throughout season's 2,3, and 4 a side of Rollo that makes him seem almost sympathetic in many ways:

Rollo struggles with his self image, and he struggles in particular because he knows in his heart that he's powerful, intelligent, and worthy of better opportunities---but he can't seem to step out of Ragnar's shadow. All throughout Rollo's story, his abuse of alcohol, his betrayals of his family, his brutality in war---are all inexorably linked to his jealously of Ragnar, and his hatred of himself. He's a beautifully flawed character who own struggles reflect things that I have felt but---BUT

BUT---in season 1, Rollo also brutally rapes a slave woman in the minutes before the warband sets sail for their iconic voyage. This act is, unfortunately, in keeping with the overall characterization of Rollo: he's an unstable, violent warrior who acts out and inflicts pain on others. This act is also just a complete one-off---it never comes up again. Rollo is never revenged upon by his victim, he isn't asked to confront his history of sexual assault when he later meets his future wife, and he never shows any regret or even reflects on this event again. It happens, it's over, and then the show moves on.

This act also cements an important tone setter for the rest of the show; The Vikings are not good people. Their society has normalized a certain amount of sexual violence, towards both the free women of the village, and particularly towards the slave women. The world of Vikings is not a pessimistic one, but neither is it a happy one. The show presents to you, the viewer, their entire world in all of its flawed, messy, and truly ugly glory.

Many shows abuse displays of abject brutality as a means of creating a sense of grim darkness and it tone-sets a more pessimistic story. Vikings took this same trick but used it to create a neutral lens which forces its viewer to stop and reconsider the heroic merit of the characters and the world they live in. The way in which Vikings explores these messy, flawed people, who flaws so often have no real plot relevance or resolution of their own, speaks to the mundane, flawed lives of everyday people.

A Meditation on Death

Something that I wish more shows did was show the funerals of characters when they die. I semi-recently watched Game of Thrones seasons 1 through 5, and even with a passing memory of seasons 6,7, and 8, I found myself wishing there were more funerals.

So many of the funerals in Game of Thrones are either brushed over, or they really serve a secondary purpose. Ned and Robert's deaths are the catalyst for major political events, Geoffrey's funeral is used as a backdrop for Tywin grooming Tommen as king, and for a really weird sex scene between Cersei and Jaime I don't want to get into. Tywin's own funeral is used as a backdrop for another scene between Cercei and Jaime which illustrates a growing gap between then in the wake of Tyrion's betrayal. Most of the characters who die in unceremonious circumstances have no funeral at all, and most of the few funeral scenes that actually focus on the person who is dead have very little to say about the dead person.

John taking Ygritte's body out to the forest to burn her is a prime example of one of the only true funeral scenes: the scene is decidedly about saying goodbye to her, and it doesn't really advance the plot as much as it ties up and ends a plot point. The thing is, John doesn't speak during this funeral, and there isn't really more to do in this scene with John beyond burn her and walk away.

Again, I don't want to give the impression that I am bashing Game of Thrones---that silence served a purpose. For one thing, it's in keeping with John's character as a stoic, introverted, and maybe emotionally stunted warrior. It's also a plot point that exists in the subtext---John burning Ygritte's body is part of his character arc as he doubles down on his commitment to the Night's Watch.

What I do want to offer is that there are many ways to write these sorts of scenes, and Vikings takes a very different approach that I've come to really love and appreciate.

Most of Vikings' funerals are A) fairly long affairs that last a good portion of the episode, and even if they are not long they do B) focus very directly on the character who has died, rather than strictly advancing the plot of another character. This doesn't immunize the show from using the deaths of its characters or the resulting funeral as a vehicle for character development, but there is a stark difference between the highly political and plot driving funerals of Geoffrey and Tywin verses the funerals of characters like Earl Haraldson, or the mourning of Gyda.

Ragnar mourning Gyda is my favorite, prime example of this. Midway through season 1 of Vikings, a plague strikes Kattegat. Pursuant to Vikings' documentary style of meandering storytelling, the plague sort of only exists to showcase what epidemic sickness would have looked like in the early medieval world, and to kill off several characters.

One of the two named characters that dies is Gyda, Ragnar's only daughter. By this time in the plot, Ragnar is away from Kattegat engaged in a small war over mining rights and territory. By the time Ragnar returns in season 2, Gyda is long gone, having been burned along with the other plague corpses. Ragnar is unable to give his daughter a proper funeral, and so what follows is one of the more unorthodox funeral scenes.

Ragnar sits on the beach alone as the sun goes down behind the veil of clouds cast over the whole village, and speaks to his daughter one last time. He recounts memories of watching her grow up, and rues that he'll never get to see her become an adult. He begs his daughter to come back to him, to sit with him one more time---and knowing that she truly cannot return to him, Ragnar lays down and falls asleep.

It's a rare, and beautiful look at Ragnar's tender side. In stark contrast with the many other scenes that display the Vikings' unfettered brutality: this scene, ironically in keeping with the neutral lens of the show, reminds us once again that the characters of this show are inexorably and utterly human.

Another unique addition the show makes to its' funerary depictions is the addition of abject, visceral grief---the kind that allows the grieving character to display an uglier, less graceful side of themselves. Most of the time showing a character expressing deeply honest and visceral grief is something only a bad character really does. A protagonist has to look cool, and so there's an unspoken rule that the good guys tend to express grief in ways that make them more endearing, or maintain the dignity of the character---while bad guys or side characters are generally more allowed to... well ugly cry, and swear revenge on their enemies, etc etc.

But these flawed, honest human beings in Vikings are always a mixture of both, and their perpetual Anti-hero/Anti-villain statuses are equally reflected in the overt, reckless ways in which they grieve. Ragnar, normally a very logical and hard-edged protagonist, gives himself over to the illusion that his daughter might hear him speaking to her in the afterlife. When Athelstan dies, he gives himself over to anger, and screams at Athelstan's freshly covered grave. Later during Ragnar's own (false) funeral, Floki beats his coffin and rages at the (supposedly) diseased Ragnar before finally collapsing on the floor and ugly crying about it.

These are truly some of my favorite scenes in the show. They're beautiful, and deeply sad, and, at the risk of repeating myself, some of the most realistic and human writing I've ever encountered.

A Meditation on Religion

Returning to our comparison to Game of Thrones, an aspect of the show that I will go out on a limb and say is 'bad, actually' is the flippant tone with which GoT addresses religion. Most fantasy and medieval properties tend to approach organized and culturally entrenched religion with a wariness and pessimism that---while deeply understandable given most people's experience with organized and state-mandated Christianity and Islam---makes for an extremely tired trope and tone in many-a fantasy world.

It's worth remembering that if a religion is popular in a region then it follows that a good portion of the people in that region earnestly follow that religion. Religion is also frequently the foundation for basic morality in a world that otherwise lacks classical philosophy or ethics as we understand them today.

Vikings makes good on this idea: The old Nordic religion is not just a backdrop and an aesthetic for the show. Not only does the show depict most of the Vikings as earnest adherents to their shared culture and religion: but it also does a good job of showing how this religion creates a radically different looking moral base that the Vikings follow. This radically different moral framework is constantly contrasted against the Christian world and it's much more familiar (if extremely dated) moral framework.

The contrasting morals of the Vikings and Christians also plays host to a series of earnest religious debates which give the show a much more genuine, curious, and introspective view on religion in general. The best example of this that I can give is a somewhat famous debate between King's Ragnar and Ecbert. The debate takes an unexpected tone as Ragnar reveals his own skepticism and the building blocks of primitive atheism.

Vikings is filled with characters who struggle and grapple with religion in a genuine and direct way: Athelstan alternates between Christianity, and then Polytheism before finally returning to his original faith. Floki is an interesting example of a hardliner fundamentalist Viking who later experiences a significant religious reckoning with his own fanaticism. These characters engaging with religion in a genuine and introspective fashion contributes to a world that is, more than just viscerally human as previously mentioned, successfully portrayed as grim and dark without being pessimistic.

Of course, it goes without saying that the show closely follows the life of Ragnar Lothbrok, as he is quite literally the main character for the first half of the show. Through Ragnar's life, we're given a deep exploration of another one of the show's major themes: Fatalism.

Combining the previous sections of this essay into one: the Vikings' penchant for fatalism is a culturally engrained attitude that is not only a reflection of their religion, but of the brutalist world they inhabit. To the denizens of Katteget, how you meet death is at least as important, if not more important, than how you live the rest of your life. This is best exemplified in season 1 by the man who smiles joyfully at the crowd in Kattegat, just before being executed by Earl Haraldson's huscarl.

The fatalism of the Vikings is another one of those things that ties into from the alternative ethical framework that stems from the Viking religion, and it tends to be first and foremost amongst things that get compared to Christianity. It's difficult to talk about fatalism by itself in a religion-only light. Afterall, when a character dies they both become the subject of religion, while simultaneously passing beyond the boundaries of religious knowledge.

A Meditation on The Totality of Life

The story of History Channel's Vikings takes place over the course of about 25ish years (give or take for Vikings' super weird timeline). In that time, the show's longest running characters experience a huge breadth of their lives on screen. Bjorn is the best example in my opinion: He is 12 at the start of the show, and we follow him through his teenage years, his young adult years, and onward until he dies at around 35 in season 6. During that time he transitions from being one of the only children on screen to having children of his own, to burying at least two of those children. On his own deathbed, Bjorn expresses just how much he regrets his own choices, and wishes he could go back and change.

Floki, the only other character who lives from season 1 to the end of season 6, experiences a radical change in both his life style and circumstance. At the beginning of the show he's a poor, but joyful boatbuilder who lived with his girlfriend in the woods. Throughout the show he eventually marries Helga, has a daughter with her, and then eventually he loses both of them. The death of Helga sends Floki on an odyssey into Iceland, and headlong into a reckoning with his own religious beliefs, his prejudices, and the sins of his previous life. By the end of season 6, Floki lives alone amidst the Native American tribes of north-eastern Canada. His final conversation with Ubbe serves as the final punctuation for the series finale.

At the risk of repeating myself: This show is truly amazing for its incredibly honest and humanistic approach to characterization. Even though the show very much stumbles through season 5, it's worth watching all the way through for its ending.

I'll return to my comparison to Game of Thrones and shows like it one last time: GoT's main theme and the purpose that it imposes on itself for most of the show is machinations and exchanges of power, and the nature of that power. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing---in GoT's case it's very much the point.

What Vikings offers is an alternative viewpoint, a more overhead angle which encompasses both the power as a means, and the end that means achieves. At it's core, Vikings is very concerned with the quality and totality of life. The various characters that populate its world use power, but only a few of them become truly enslaved to it.

A good example of this is Ragnar's early raids on England. In his negotiations with Ecbert, Ragnar negotiates for a Viking colony to be set up in England so that they can share in the rich soil and fair weather. It's no secret in the show that Scandinavia contains very little farmland, and poverty is one of Ragnar's early motivators. As the show continues on, his quest to better the lives of his people writ large remains one of his primary motivations---even as he struggles with his own tyrannical tendencies, his need for personal glory, and his own cruelty and anger.

This overhead view of power and the purpose that power serves allows Vikings to do a pretty neat trick:

At the end of show, in the final episode, Ubbe is forced to execute a member of his retinue---a raider who murdered one of the Native Americans while also stealing his gold. As chieftain of his group, Ubbe's role requires him to law down the law of the Vikings. Ubbe also places himself under the impression that executing this man will ensure peace between themselves and the local native tribe---although whether this is true is left up to interpretation. As Ubbe is about to perform the brutal blood-eagle execution on this raider, the man he is executing breaks down and cries.

Despite the heinousness of this man's crime, Ubbe recognizes that the rage he feels at this moment, and the old-world-law nature of this execution simply don't fit in this moment---and in addition, this man has already proven himself a coward by their standards. Ubbe opts to slice his throat instead, bringing the execution to a relatively merciful end. Ubbe's decision, at least to me, represents a kind of rejection of power---at the very least a rejection of the trappings and rituals of power, if not the practical need for it. In this moment what Ubbe needs, more than to be in charge, is to move on from this moment---to return to living.

The final shot of the show is a long nostalgic conversation between Ubbe and Floki on one of the beaches in North America. They talk about the gods, wax nostalgic about ragnar and the glory days, and muse about life and it's mysterious ways. As Floki and Ubbe talk, this beautiful and poignant scene finally removes power from the equation entirely, leaving behind only the people that held that power: an old man, and a young man. The sum of their lives is not measures in leagues or miles, not by the number of people at their command. It is measured only by questions asked at the end of a life lived.

[decemberwinter]

what do you mean elon musk did a nazi salute on live tv at the united states presidential inauguration twice and is now erasing the evidence off the internet by replacing the footage with the crowd cheering instead?

would be a shame if people reblogged this, wouldn’t it?

[fransu]

I'm italian and there's something that people defending this shit don't fucking understand.

they think the “Roman salute” is something unrelated to nazis or fascists but the “Roman Salute” IS the fascist salute. It's not a different concept, it's the same thing!! It's not "good" because it doesn't have the word "nazi" in it, It's the same shit.

And to people saying "He is throwing out his heart to the crowd" tell me if YOU would do it at a 45 degree angle with your thumb tucked in and your fingers closed together. Personally, a throwing motion in my imagination has your palm completely open and your fingers spaced out

Regardless, This is what propaganda is, They do bad thing and then they say "no it good actually" and the population goes "Ok then it's all good" it's not all good, They're making you think it is. It sucks

Politicians gain power through the Ignorance of the people, don't trust people just because "They said it"

[galaxyofhair]

Where No One Can See Me

I am officially abandoning a project, so I thought I would post about it here. Below are the illustrated images I made with the intention of publishing in a book of poems.

If you enjoy the illustrated pages and the poems therein, consider checking out the un-illustrated poems on my Wattpad.

[galaxyofhair]

The Lament For TikTok

Above our ruined houses stands an eagle draped in a cloak of black gold. It was not that the city fell that shocked me, but that it could be felled so easily.

Now dust in my drink, and clay my meat. now a shade draws forth, dividing our world and casting shadow across our land. I awake to winter's dimness.

I imagine now that even years down the line I will still be able to hear short, catchy tunes which ring in my ears still, long after the artist stopped playing long after they were barred from our great hall

I will live in a world where I cannot truly hear the music the music of our people, long forgotten Even the recordings on my phone would paint a picture only half-remembered by the person watching

I will live in a world where I cannot speak the language the language of our people, long forgotten words which lived only in context now, little more than aged cringe

No more trends to follow No more sounds to use No more laughter, shared by all No more love For it was surely needed

The edifice still stands, there are still people there But for so many of us, the notion of 'us' is gone. The bonds of our community, which existed in music, in words, and in deeds, now only exists in memories.

========================================

Back in the days when Reddit was undergoing a similar catastrophe following the ban of 3rd party apps, I wrote a Lament For Reddit as a joke. It was loosely (very loosely) based on the tone and stylings of the laments that were once written for destroyed cities in the near east. I no longer have the Lament For Reddit, just can't find it, but I wanted to write one for TikTok now: part joke, for the absurdity of losing an app I used to watch cat videos, and partly genuine, for the loss of a community.

Crossposted to my new Wattpad:

Back in the days when Reddit was undergoing a similar catastrophe following the ban of 3rd party apps, I wrote a Lament For Reddit as a joke

[galaxyofhair]

I posted this shit literally after the ban had already been lifted. I'm not taking it down, so enjoy me looking like a top-tier dipshit for the rest of time.

[galaxyofhair]

The Lament For TikTok

Above our ruined houses stands an eagle draped in a cloak of black gold. It was not that the city fell that shocked me, but that it could be felled so easily.

Now dust in my drink, and clay my meat. now a shade draws forth, dividing our world and casting shadow across our land. I awake to winter's dimness.

I imagine now that even years down the line I will still be able to hear short, catchy tunes which ring in my ears still, long after the artist stopped playing long after they were barred from our great hall

I will live in a world where I cannot truly hear the music the music of our people, long forgotten Even the recordings on my phone would paint a picture only half-remembered by the person watching

I will live in a world where I cannot speak the language the language of our people, long forgotten words which lived only in context now, little more than aged cringe

No more trends to follow No more sounds to use No more laughter, shared by all No more love For it was surely needed

The edifice still stands, there are still people there But for so many of us, the notion of 'us' is gone. The bonds of our community, which existed in music, in words, and in deeds, now only exists in memories.

========================================

Back in the days when Reddit was undergoing a similar catastrophe following the ban of 3rd party apps, I wrote a Lament For Reddit as a joke. It was loosely (very loosely) based on the tone and stylings of the laments that were once written for destroyed cities in the near east. I no longer have the Lament For Reddit, just can't find it, but I wanted to write one for TikTok now: part joke, for the absurdity of losing an app I used to watch cat videos, and partly genuine, for the loss of a community.

Crossposted to my new Wattpad:

Back in the days when Reddit was undergoing a similar catastrophe following the ban of 3rd party apps, I wrote a Lament For Reddit as a joke