Can I Copy Your Homework? Bloodlines Edition

Damn! This is surprisingly heartwrenching. 

Liminal Space

Darth Malak deserved better - not just because you have no choice but to kill him in game (thank goodness for fanfic options!) but because the tragic fall is always more interesting than cartoonish evil.

And Alek of the KotOR comics is the perfect set up for the tragic fall.  Someone never quite sure of himself, someone too caught in the orbit of Revan’s brightness. Bound to burn out.

Here’s a bit of my take on Darth Malak, fighting against being Alek. Liminal Space on AO3 It was right there, Revan’s ship.  He’d expect it, of course, this betrayal, maybe even wanted Malak to try to give him an excuse to strike back.   Revan had been displeased with him again, seemed to always be these days.  Alek, we have much to discuss when I return, he’d said before he’d left, a slight threat in his cold monotone.  Alek.  When it was just the two of them, Revan insisted on the name still.  That hurt, a reminder of what should be, the thing they’d broken.   Revan was, of course, only Revan now. Revan hadn’t removed his mask that last time.  Even so, Malak had felt his eyes, watching, tracing the metal line of his jaw.  Do you like what you’ve made, Revan?  He’d brushed the edge of the mask, daring Revan to do something, anything, but he’d just stared, face hidden, and said nothing. Malak had decided then.  Hating stopped the hurting or at least made you forget. And hating made you strong.  Revan had tried to keep him from the Star Forge, Alek, you let it control you.  Lies.  He was jealous, Revan, jealous because the Star Forge spoke to Malak in ways it didn’t speak to him.  Malak could feel it pulsing in his veins, the rhythm of the crystal that fueled it, felt himself growing stronger the longer he stayed. He’d watched the battle from the bridge of his own ship, unable to contain his laughter, or rather that cruel mechanical sound that passed for his laugh, when the Jedi strike team had boarded Revan’s ship.  Truly the Force was with him, wanted him to win, wanted him to take out Revan and the Jedi all in one blow. Admiral Karath, fire on Lord Revan’s ship. Sir? Fire.  On the bridge.  I want no survivors. The explosion was beautiful, the flashes of light against the black of space.  If he’d had a mouth, Malak would have smiled.  He felt it, Revan’s death; didn’t feel like he’d expected, though, thought it would hurt, but it was barely a whimper. Later, when he was alone, Alek would blink back silent tears that knotted his throat, would wish he’d been on the bridge of the ship exploding in the emptiness of space.

I’ve been here before, and it was amazing. There’s also the remains of an Ancient Roman bath house and the foundation of the barracks that would have housed the soldiers.  

Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre Photo Set 2, Caerleon Roman Fort, South Wales, 22.9.18.

Fascinating insights about Floralia and Flora’s cult. 

The Floralia is a Roman festival honoring Flora, the goddess of spring, flower gardens, and crops. It was held each year from April 27th or 28th to May 3rd. She is married to Favonius, the God of the West Wind. Flora was one of the most important goddesses in the Roman pantheon, one of only 15 deities to have a cult administered by a state priesthood consisting of a married couple, who were appointed for life.

The celebration of the Floralia included theatrical performances, competitive games, and a sacrifice to Flora, presumably at her temple on the lower slope of the Aventine Hill near the Circus Maximus.

About the base image:

Flora, or the Primavera of Stabaie; 1st century CE fresco from Stabaie, Italy. Collection of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli via Wikimedia Commons (X). Image license: Public Domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer and in the United States - published anywhere (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before 1926.

Manipulation: I 'healed' some of the fresco's more obvious flaws and added the floral border.

As far as I’m concerned, submission will never be an option for me. 

“Is submission not preferable to extinction?”

Yes, Liara T’Soni gets a lot of the spot light in the trilogy, but the way some of her haters demonize her as selfish is gross. Liara comforts you multiple times about the loss of Earth, expresses sorrow about the fall of Palavan, and her reaction to Thessia falling is more about guilt for not doing more for her people than “woe is me!” 

Yes her confrontation scene with Javik is poorly written, but it’s honestly an extension of Bioware dumbing Liara down and mocking her academic career studying the Protheans in order to build up Javik, who I actually do like.

Awesome fanart of Marcus Antonius a.k.a Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian. 

I‘ve been designing the good ancient gang

LOL

Fulvia

(c. 83 BCE-40 BCE) The first non-mythological woman to appear on Roman coins. She was married three times (Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio, Mark Antony) and actively involved in all her husband’s careers. She testified against the murderer of her first husband, and inherited several street gangs. She unsuccessfully plotted against Octavian in retaliation for divorcing her daughter Clodia. She was exiled to Greece and died. One of her sons by Mark Antony, Antyllus was executed after the Battle of Actium, while the other Jullus committed suicide after participating in a plot with Julia (the daughter of Augustus). 

She’s not as well known, due to being overshadowed by both Livia Drusilla and Cleopatra (who was also involved with Mark Antony). 

I love how Penelope’s all, “I don’t have time for your nonsense, I’ve got work to do”. 

John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) “Penelope and the Suitors” (1912) Oil on canvas Pre-Raphaelite Located in the Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland

I’m a bit disappointed I missed this festival. 

Antinous Festival of the Nile Inundation remix image by honorthegods.

Today, July 25, the modern cult of Antinous celebrates the festival of the Inundation of the Nile. The annual flooding of the Nile had failed in the two years preceding the death of Antinous. Famine was a threat to northern Europe, Africa, and the Near East, regions which relied on imports of grain from Egypt. The year following Antinous’ death, the inundation of the Nile was restored and even exceeded prior levels, an occurrence believed by some at the time to have been a miracle brought about by the recently deified Antinous.

Hail to you, O Nile! Hail, holy waters of life!  Mysterious is your issuing forth from the darkness, on this day whereon it is celebrated!

Hail to you, O Hapi! You bring water to the fields which Ra created! By your command, the land is fertile! Food is abundant, and the people are strong!

Hail, Antinous, deified by the Nile!  You hear the prayers of all those who call out to you, and relieve the afflictions of those in need!

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Remix elements: 

Statue of Osiris-Antinous 2nd century CE: adapted from Allan Gluck via Wikimedia Commons (X). Image license:  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Sunset on the Nile: https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-xtksu