Tom Blake - Tumblr Posts
schofield and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
I think a lot of people forget that Scho was literally a traumatised man and plainly so.
His uniform shows a small stripe on his left sleeve, a casualty stripe. Only those with physical wounds and severe shell-shock wore a casualty stripe.
He has no memory of the even that earned him that stripe- or at the very least the majority of it. "Was it like this before Thiepval?" "I don't remember." "You don't remember the Somme?"
As well as his lack of memory of the event- or repression of it, he wants no physical tie to it, hence him giving his medal away in a trade for wine.
He's never not in a state of awareness, he's always rigid. He always maintains a soldiers awareness, especially when Blake doesn't.
He's protective over Blake, who has no real war experience, he's young and fresh and still ready and wanting to fight. Yet Schofield tries to guide him away from this mentality. He thinks beyond the war effort and to self preservation in awful situations. All the while he watches this more kind and thoughtful nature his comrade has get him killed.
He never stops. Blake's death pushes him to continue obviously, but he doesn't have time to grieve, to cry, to rest (except for a brief moment after coming out of the river), instead almost working on auto pilot, with a job to do regardless of emotions and feelings, something so necessary for his survival once he finds himself alone on his mission.
His final resting position by the tree, shows he's seeking familiarity and comfort. He's finally able to grieve, and think of himself, beyond the way, which not only soothes him but just brings back the stress and traumatic nature of his circumstances. It's likely his final scene where he closes his eyes and just breathes, is him pushing it away, to survive for his wife, his kids, for Blake and everyone else he loves.
In short: I love Schofield but he's so sad and I want him to be able to rest and just be happy 🥺
VERY mild flash warning
Made three 1917 edits in one day so here's one big dump 👍
Art credit: @/crowthis on tumblr
testing out those new brushes again!! this time on a scene from 1917, one of my fave movies from this year so far
Felt a bit silly after rewatching 1917 and then re reading all quiet on the western front back to back so here’s some art of Blake and his cherry blossoms.