#and the Belisarius series

[franzsandz]

Today, Eric Flint passed away.

I know I'm probably one of the only people on this whole site who really cares about that, but goddamn does this break my heart.

For those who aren't aware, Flint was famous for being one of the best writers in the entire alternate history genre. His best work is the incredibly long-running (and genuinely well-written) Ring of Fire series, which chronicles the tale of Grantville, a West Virginian coal mining town which is magically transported back in time from the year 2000 to 1631 Thuringia during the Thirty Year's War.

Flint was a genuinely fantastic writer, and not just among the (admittedly low) standards of the alternate history genre. Flint showed that alternate history stories didn't have to be boring glorified textbooks full of unlikable characters constantly based around Nazis winning WWII or other tripe; he reminded us just how *vast* history truly could be, how storied, fantastical, and just plain fun it could be to explore, how you could included actually likable and interesting characters, how you can write genuinely interesting love stories, and have characters let their hair down and banter in a sci-fi setting.

Flint was the kind of guy to ask "What if the Serene Republic of Venice got access to magic and become an expansionist empire?", "What if hyper-advanced A.I.s traveled back in time to the Byzantine Empire and tried to re-write history in the name of either fascism or democracy?" or even "What if the Cherokee and lots of freedmen formed their own republic in Arkansas after the War of 1812?" Flint was a writer who helped uplift and support other authors, had helped save the works of authors who have been out of print for decades, and pretty much single-handedly revolutionized how modern authors do electronic publishing.

Eric Flint was a writer who reminded the alternate history and sci-fi genres that your stories can be actual stories and not just bland explorations of potentially interesting ideas.

Eric Flint passed away today, and the world is all the poorer for it.

#eric flint #sadness #rip eric flint #rip #rest in peace eric flint #1632 series #1632 #belisarius #assiti shards #assiti

[nine-blessed-hero]

A Floral Surprise

Universe: TESIV: Oblivion, Modern AU (post-Crisis) Warnings: Swearing (if you speak Bulgarian) Words: 730 Context: Written for the TES Summer Fest prompt "In Bloom". Taglist (ask +/-): @tes-summer-fest @mishkakagehishka @arcane-elder-scrolls @bread-of-death @writeblrsupport Or read on AO3

Dawn crept along the streets of London as if chasing the shadowed heels of the lean figure as it lept a fence and scaled a wall, delicately prising open a second-floor window. Special attention was paid to a small black plastic nub, a silvery cap placed over it, before the figure slithered through the window, landing with the lightest of thuds.

The figure padded down the corridor, deftly dancing over pockets of worn wood and ducking to avoid the occasional camera, to pause at the top of the stairs. A large hard case was removed from their back, and from within was withdrawn a bag. Onto the balustrade's finial was hooked a garland of yellow gerbera daisies, and down the stairs were scattered the wide, yellow petals of a rose. Sweetness filled the stairwell as the rose's gentle perfume osmosed through the space.

The figure paused a few steps away from the bottom of the stair, wary of the black-suited guard posted there. The guard made no move indicating that they had noticed the figure's presence, save for a light sniffing of the air. A small pebble was sent flying over the guard's head, to rattle somewhere in the dining room. The guard twisted towards the sound, hand hovering on his comms. The figure sent another pebble chiming to join the first. When the guard moved to investigate, the figure trotted down the stairs, and, on light feet, slipped through the door to the kitchen.

There, the figure hurried. From a cabinet came two vases, their bottoms filled with water, and a bouquet of black-eyed susans, yellow roses, pale carnations and emerald foliage was arranged in each. From the very bottom of the hard case came a cast iron pan, yellow ribbon arranged on the handle as it was placed between the vases on the kitchen's island counter. The figure stood back, taking a moment to admire the arrangement. A bird sang outside, the dawn reaching golden fingers to peak over the back fence at it. With a tip of the head, the figure turned towards the kitchen door. In the hallway, the guard was nowhere to be seen. The figure slipped from the kitchen, across the hall, and into the lounge.

As they closed the door, there came a noise from behind. The figure turned. A hulking man bore down upon them. The figure hissed as they were scooped up, one meaty hand around their neck, the other reaching for a radio "Isaryo!" The figure yanked up their balaclava, revealing a pale, freckled face, cobalt-bright blue eyes and wisps of auburn hair. "It's me!" "Čort vaźmi!" Belisarius hissed back, lowering his hands. "Rook. What are you doing?" "Anniversary business. Plus a little light PEN test. What're you doing?" Belisarius grinned. "Same," he said, jutting his head towards a stack of books sitting on the coffee table, surrounded by a spray of red roses, purple irises, miniature sunflowers and pink poppies. "You planned egress through patio? "'S easier to pick than the back door, yeah?" "Ne." Belisarius nodded his head, scratching at his collarbone, over which spidered a traditional embroidery pattern, rendered in red ink. "If you are PEN test, I have caught you, da? Egress through the front door." Aderyn sucked on her teeth. "I coulda tased ya. Carry on through the patio, over the fence and down next-door's side wall?" He cocked an eyebrow. "I am big man. I make a loud noise when I fall." "Aww, c'mon Isaryo. I go back out there, Maborel Junior's gonna pitch a fit and ruin the surprise for both of 'em." Belisarius shook his head. "Da, is true." He clicked his tongue with a hint of a smile. "My mother tells me – do not argue with the red-haired woman. Fine. We do it your way. Come come." Carefully they passed the display and Belisarius keyed open the patio door. "I see you at 6:30, da? For dinner." Aderyn frowned as she slipped out. "I thought they was going to some fancy schmoozy place?" "Da. But I have permission to use the kitchen. Is much bigger than my place, eh? I make you, Jena and some of the boys traditional dinner from home." "Oh. Cheers. Want me to bring anything?" Belisarius huffed out a chuckle. "A bottle of red and your appetite." "Gotcha." Aderyn grinned. "Later then." "Later."

#tesfest23 #writing #hero of kvatch #oc aderyn griffiths #Belisarius #The Blades #TESFic #modern oblivion au #oblivion fanfiction #oblivion fanfic #tes oblivion #The Elder Scrolls #haven's ember series #wandering words

[byzantine-suggestions]

just saw someone on twitter call Belisarius “underrated,” as if there aren’t 700 books and plays that are like “this is Belisarius, the greatest man ever to exist, the Cincinnatus of late antiquity, the world’s best and most handsome general, the only true Roman after the collapse of the west,,, also he conveniently shares all of my obscure political and religious views,, and he was good at sex too”

#i once read a book from like the late 1800s where the author regularly stalled the plot just to talk about how Belisarius was great lol #there are like 5 different sci-fi series about Belisarius #and a ton of just regular books that are totally obsessed with him #i feel like if you pick up any book about sixth-century europe #there’s like a 50/50 chance that there’ll be literal paragraphs of salivating over Belisarius #half the time authors just straight up adapt out or kill off other generals and give Belisarius their accomplishments instead #(this always seems to happen to Mundus and Sittas #rip) #people are OBSESSED with him #he’s definitely among the better-known byzantines and probably the one with the biggest fan club #like Justinian is probably objectively more famous #but a lot of people actively dislike him so it’s not like he’s got a MASSIVE fan club #but Belisarius? definitely has the most fanboys

[suburbanbeatnik]

Next in my Byzantine sketch series-- the famous general Belisarius and his wife Antonina! There are fewer sources than there were for Justinian and Theodora, so I just went by the San Vitale mosaics.

#illustration #art #sketchbook #belisarius #antonina #belisarius and antonina #byzantine empire #byzantine #byzantium #sketch #drawing #ancient Rome

[transmechanicus]

Hi! Love your blog! Warhammer is something I've been interested in for a long time. I loved playing the Dawn of War trilogy when I was younger. But the lore and world and sheer amount of games involving W40K is a bit overwhelming. I was wondering if you had some insight on where to "start", especially in terms of learning world lore. Sure I could watch 175 hours of YouTube videos but.....I'd rather not.

Hi, happy to lend a hand!

40k has two main ways of learning lore, the rule books/codices, and novels published by Black Library. The latest edition of core rules (10th edition) released last july and about 50% of that massive tome is background on the setting and various factions competing on the galactic scale. Smaller more faction specific codices have been released this edition for Tyranids, Necrons, Space Marines, Dark Angels, Mechanicus and the Necrons.

Old editions and codices can be bought on ebay or other resellers for pretty cheap if you’re just interested in lore, though i’d personally recommend sticking to 7th edition at the earliest as several now-prominent factions had not been developed before then (Mechanicus, Custodes, Chaos Knights, Leagues of Votann for example all got their first codices in 8th or 9th edition).

Novels set in the 40k universe are available from Black Library publishing directly, or through bookstores or possibly your local library. These are broken into ~3 categories relevant to 40k. 1) The ~50 book Horus Heresy series takes place 10K years prior to the current game setting and explains the speedrun rise and fall of the human Imperium. 2) Dawn of Fire, an 8 book series focused on developing the current 40k setting and the Indomitus Crusade 3) Standalone 40k books which focus on certain events or characters of interest from nearly every faction. Idk what characters or races have caught your interest, but Option 3 has the most diversity, and generally does not require having read one book to understand another. There are small exceptions such as novels about Ahriman, Belisarius Cawl, or the Plague Wars, having multiple books though, so do a quick google search before you purchase. Audiobooks are also available for a significant portion of Black Library’s offerings.

For general wikipedia style link-diving i highly recommend Lexicanum.

Let me know if you have any further questions, happy to help! :D

#my stuff #asks #wh40k #warhammer 40k

[ghostinthegallery]

I think I found the coolest war in Warhammer…

I was hanging around the wiki when I found Amontep II, an Imperial forgeworld that Belisarius Cawl discovered was full of blackstone. So obviously the thing to do is send some ad mech to dig it all up, right? This won’t end badly, right??

Spoiler alert turns out it’s a necron tomb world. So the necrons start fighting the ad mech who rudely woke them up. BUT not only is this a tombworld, it also contains an obelisk array. Which the ad mech destroy because somehow they missed the memo that NECRON OBELISK ARRAYS ARE USUALLY THERE TO HOLD BACK THE WARP.

SO NOW there is a galaxy-wide war between the necrons, the ad mech, IMPERIAL KNIGHTS the ad mech called in and, oh yeah, HORDES OF FREAKIN’ DEMONS.

And if THAT wasn’t enough, the tombworld is loyal to the Sautekh dynasty but wouldn’t you know it, the Szarekhan dynasty has now shown up and they are having their own power struggle! Because of course they are!

Do people know about this? Where do I read about this?? As far as I can tell, this is only mentioned in a few codexes? maybe a campaign book? How is this not a 50 book series, GW what are you doing???

#warhammer 40k #necrons #ad mech #imperial knight #DEMONS #Amontep II #Wh40k #i need this book series #Literally four of the coolest factions in the game fighting #I think the tau are off somewhere too? #If anybody is wondering what I’m working on after Silence and the Storm #It is this #Too cool to ignore #fanfic

[stygiantechpriest]

Have you read any of the Belisarius Cawl books, or own any GW stuff in general?

I haven't read any of the Cawl books yet, i own 5 GW books, including part 2 and 3 of the Priest of mars series, i also own Bellisarius Cawl!

#stygiantechpriest

[eighthdoctor]

bwaaah. That's a bit disappointing. In that case, what about books? What kind of books or book series are good, that are genuinely interested in telling the stories of the time period they're set in (ideally while still being good stories)?

WOLF HALL READ WOLF HALL I WENT ABSOLUTELY INSANE.

uh. this is super rome focused bc that's about all i read historical fiction for, but Colleen McCullough writes fucking bricks that are well grounded in attitudes of the time period. they are unfortunately also racist/homophobic but WHAT CAN YA DO, also they're easily each 300 pages longer than they need to be. Steven Saylor has a very good rep, mystery isn't my genre but I read one and liked it. I remember enjoying Robert Harris's books on Cicero (at least Imperium and Conspirata, Dictator wasn't out when I read them).

The Golem & The Jinni and When the Angels Left the Old Country are both historical fantasy set in the early 1900s. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is about the golden age of comics.

Eric Flint's 1632 series and Flint & David Drake's Belisarius series are both uh. 'Portal' historical fiction??? 1632 is about a WV town transplanted to 1632 Germany, and the Belisarius series is about a far future AI that chooses the 530s as The Ideal Time To Change. Both have A LOT OF FLAWS AS BOOKS, are not really into critiquing like. social structures. But 1632 in particular spends a lot of time poking at How People Were Different (or the same) Back Then.

...I don't read a lot of historical fiction, as it turns out.

#asks for ts #jennifermoriarta #the only books here i would actually RECOMMEND are those 3 in the middle #everything else is like. it's problematic TM but well researched what do you want from me

[smol-blue-bird]

every so often i’m like “what am i doing trying to write about complex and emotionally difficult historical events? who am i, a random 20-year-old, to even try to portray these things in an accurate and entertaining way?” and then i remember that two grown adult men wrote a whole ass series where alien robots from the future travel back in time to recruit Belisarius to fight a different, steampunk alien robot that’s being controlled by the Malwa Sultanate through autistic children and they give him guns and stirrups and a bunch of other technologies from vastly different time periods that have nothing to do with each other and Antonina gets her own army and just starts killing people with a meat cleaver and Narses turns evil and plots a coup and someone teaches Theodora how to send telegrams and the only thing she uses them for is sending melodramatic teary messages to Justinian begging him to come home whenever he’s off fighting space aliens or whatever. and then i’m like yeah. okay. i can probably just do whatever

[mypepemateosus]

Buon Compleanno Venezia 1602 Anni ❤️

The city of Venice spreads out over a series of 119 islands that are located in the Venetian Lagoon – a vast body of salt water separated from the Adriatic Sea by a long piece of land. This part of Italy was inhabited by a few Illyrian tribes and the Veneti that lived on stilt houses in the Lagoon and lived off fishing and extracting salt from the Lagoon.

Venezia was founded in 421. The Veneti, who had been expelled by the Ostrogoths and the Lombards, took refuge in these marshlands in the mouth of the River Po, forming the city of Venice.

The city’s “privileged” site in the middle of a swamp gave it a great independence and made it very difficult for those that wanted to seize the land. In 810 Charlemagne’s own son (Pepin of Italy and king of the Lombards) had to withdraw from the Lagoon after six months of siege.

During the sixth century Flavius Belisarius, the general of the Byzantine Empire conquered Venice. Under the protection of the Eastern Roman Empire, Venice became part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. So, according to tradition, Venice formally came into existence at the stroke of noon on the 25th March, 421 A.D.

[druidx]

Directors commentary for havens ember

Hey Ray!

I am assuming you want commentary for the overarching series and not, like, something about all 21 completed fics within it 😅️ (Though having said that, I think you might be getting a bit of an essay anyway).

My Modern, No Powers, Everyone Lives AU, aka Haven's Ember series, came about while I was in the middle of having a crisis about My Blade for Thee, Your Son to Be (Martin is a Blade AU) and how much work that silly little idea was going to be.

@mishkakagehishka posted that she was craving some "Martin Lives" AU fic, so I - because I needed a distraction - said I would have a go. But, you know, the end of Oblivion is pretty definite. I couldn't see a way around it, so boom - we now have a Modern/ No Powers AU, because Martin is then saved by modern medicine and is not turned into a Godly avatar. Then @arcane-elder-scrolls requested some Bodyguard fluff be tucked in, so that became the basis for The Birthday Party.

In My Blade for Thee, the Prisoner wasn't going to feature much - that story was due to end as soon as Uriel took his last breath. Which meant that they could be recycled. Since I'm incapable of turning my brain off, I already had a good idea that this Prisoner would be young, chirpy but troublesome, and working for the Grey Fox.

When the Modern HoK first turned up, it was jumping out of a black Land Rover with the name Sophie Williams. The first The Birthday Party turned directly into angst, which was not the prompt, so it was scrapped. When I started re-writing The Birthday Party, the HoK was inexplicably called Aderyn Griffiths, but they were the same person: slender, auburn hair, devil-may-care attitude and, well, spoke like I do on the casual. I thought it would be interesting for this HoK to have a legal name and a preferred name that was completely different, so it stuck.

Why did you start writing the Main Quest line? Because I can't turn my brain off. After finishing The Birthday Party, I kept thinking about the final scene in Oblivion, and how it would translate into the Haven's Ember world. And, obviously, I couldn't just write the end and leave it at that. No, no. I had to write the whole damned lead-up to it as well, which has become The Ruby Falls. But I will say I had shove to do it from the above two, and @strosmkai-rum, otherwise I might not have attempted it.

Didn't The Ruby Falls start off called Haven's Ember? Yes, it did. To start with, the Main Quest story (that bastarding (affectionate) thing which is currently pushing 190K words) was called Haven's Ember, and for a very brief while the series was called Ruby Falls. But I was never happy with them like that. "Haven's Ember" is too cosy for a story about tragedy, and "Ruby Falls" sounds cataclysmic, right? So I swapped them over and now I think they're both spot on.

Why is Haven's Ember set in Great Britain and the EU? Because it's where I live. I thought about Americanising it, but it would have been the United States you get in the movies - Genericsville, IL/NY/CA/WTF. I know the UK; I do not know the States.

Why is it 'modern' as in Earth modern, not Nirn modern? *Cries in 'I didn't know it was an option'*. By the time I realised that was a possibility, I was already knee-deep in worldbuilding for The Ruby Falls and it was either commit or die. So I committed.

If it's set in GB, why is Baurus still American? I'm sorry, have you not heard Michael Mack's voice? One doesn't mess with perfection, darling.

If Baurus is American, why isn't Martin? Again, have you not heard Sean Bean? He's from Yorkshire; thus too is Martin, and this is a hill I will die on.

And why is Belisarius Bulgarian? Because @strosmkai-rum asked nicely. She also asked for someone to be Greek, but I never got that far down the list of Blades. Maybe it's Cyrus, IDK yet.

What sexualities have you got going on in this? Martin is bi, Baurus is gay, Caroline is lesbian, Aderyn is ace, Arcturus and Cyrus are queerplatonic. I think that's it off the top of my head.

What did you do with the Thieves Guild? They became GreyFox Securities (GFS), a digital and physical security firm. The Grey Fox is still called the Grey Fox (a la security personnel not giving their real names) and he still wears the hood. Aderyn is a Physical Penetration Tester, which is someone who put's a building's security through its paces and then reports back what needs to be changed. I have had so much fun researching this.

What's the most fun toy you've found that you want to give yourself Aderyn? Earrings that let you unlock handcuffs. There's also a bracelet that contains micro-lockpicking tools. And a kit that lets you scan RFID cards... Honestly, I shouldn't be let loose on TeamRed's webstore without supervision.

... I think I'm out of stuff to add. I, uh, hope that answers your ask? 😅️ Thank you so much for the opportunity to ramble about an AU that has been occupying my brain since 2020. I'm more than happy to carry on if you've got anything specific you want to know.

🫖️🌿️

#meta writing #TESFic #oblivion fanfiction #oblivion fanfic #tes oblivion #The Elder Scrolls #modern oblivion au #haven's ember series #wip 'the ruby falls' #oc aderyn griffiths #hero of kvatch #martin septim #baurus #The Blades #answered ask #spiteswallow #I didn't know what details you wanted so you got e v e r y t h i n g #meta wandering words

[hurremshiv]

I wonder how much of the reason why I stan Hürrem is because I’ve seen I Claudius and attempted to read Count Belisarius and have a vendetta against Robert Graves for the sake of Livia and Theodora that I’m carrying over to this series.

#i think i'm right to tbh #magnificent century #i claudius

[byzantine-suggestions]

(explanations and sources under the cut)

Make-out session on Theodora's dead sister's grave: This one comes from Blue and Green: A Novel of Old Constantinople, a.k.a. the Victorian Theodora Novel (TM). Anastasia dies of consumption, and Theodora and Justinian's first kiss happens on top of her tombstone.

Justinian has strong opinions about 9/11: This is from a very obscure musical called Byzantium!, which was panned by critics because Justinian never shut up about the War on Terror (among other issues).

Justinian cheats on Theodora with the author's self-insert: This is kind of cheating because it's from a Wattpad fanfic, but yeah, there's a story out there where this happens. You can tell that this character is a self-insert because the character and the author are both named Kelsey.

Justinian threatens to strangle Theodora to death: This is from Samuel Edwards's Theodora, in which Justinian is basically an abject psychopath. The context for this is that Justin disapproves of Theodora, so Theodora volunteers to leave Justinian (at least until Justin is out of the picture), and Justinian has a sobbing meltdown and threatens to kill her if she leaves him because if he can't have her, nobody can. (This is obviously presented as romantic and correct.)

Hecebolus goes to Horse Jail: This is from Jack Oleck's Theodora. Hecebolus makes one snippy comment about how he's a stallion and Theodora is a helpless mare, and this obviously gets back to Justinian, who responds by throwing Hecebolus into a specially built jail cell outfitted to look like a stable. Then Justinian shows up like "oh, do you feel like a stallion now, asshole?"

Theodora abuses the telegram: Obviously, this is from that incredible alternate history Belisarius series by David Drake. They get access to the telegram in the fifth or sixth book, and Theodora exclusively uses it to spam Justinian with teary love letters begging him to come home whenever he leaves Constantinople.

Amalasuntha is Regina George: This is from Stephanie Thornton's Secret History, but it's pretty commonplace. Amalasuntha is often portrayed as a dumb blonde bully who shows up in Constantinople to steal Justinian away from Theodora, or just generally cause problems by being annoying and stupid. (I suspect this is because every decent Justinian story involves Amalasuntha dying, so authors always make her unsympathetic so readers don't feel like they have to mourn her.)

Sex scene in the palace tower: This is also from Stephanie Thornton. There's a pretty long sex scene in which Justinian and Theodora get so obsessively horny that they end up, like, tearing each other's clothes off and having sex on the stairs of some tower, and Narses kind of looks at them, shakes his head, and sends all of the staff home because they're just so horny that it's disrupting the whole household. You really get the sense that Narses does not get paid enough for this.

Sex scene in front of the doctor: This is from the John the Eunuch series. Justinian comes down with some mysterious illness, and Theodora decides to have sex with him on his sickbed in front of all his staff. Justinian is clearly very into it, too, and all of the doctors and servants are just standing around watching this happen, presumably feeling too awkward to leave.

Justin hits on Theodora: This is also from Samuel Edwards, but this is weirdly common too. Usually Justin is portrayed as an unhappily married older man or a grieving widower who wishes he could have Theodora for himself, so he hits on her constantly to the point of sexual harassment, and Justinian is always like "haha, that crazy old man!" and nobody ever acts like this is even a little bit weird

[nine-blessed-hero]

Aderyn & The Blades

As some prep for Nano and my third stab at The Ruby Falls, I thought I'd take a look at how Aderyn views the Blades. And share it, because I can. Note: I've given some of the MOAU Blades surnames, but not everyone yet, which is why it's half-and-half in the list.

➼ Achille

At the start of the series: ...Who?

By the end of the series: He's quiet, sneaky and can wield a lockpick with the pros. He's got skills, and she respects that. They make a good team, but they're not close.

➼ Arcturus

At the start of the series: The only person from this whole sorry lot who offered her free food instead of trying to force it on her biccies with her tea. Shy, competent. Instantly liked him.

By the end of the series: Techy big bro :) If anyone upsets him, she'll end them.

➼ Baragon Ivers

At the start of the series: Crotchey (annoying). Over-involved in her business. Unnecessarily concerned about her health, considering she is not, nor ever will be, a Blade.

By the end of the series: Crotchey (endearing). ...Susposes he's now allowed to be involved in her business and worried for her health, since she became a Blade.

➼ Baurus Broussard

At the start of the series: The only one of these mofos she trusts, let alone likes.

By the end of the series: Best Dad! In some ways she's closer to him than Martin, and still often the first one she'll go to with issues. Also the one she's most wary of "disappointing".

➼ Belisarius "Isaryo" Petrov Vanev

At the start of the series: Serious as a heart attack. Just a big, uncrackable rock. Standoffish.

By the end of the series: Sense of humour as dry as a drought, but so damned funny. Terrifyingly competent. She's a little shy of him.

➼ Caroline Kemp

At the start of the series: Wary. Started out like two big cats prowling, trying to decide if it's worth their time to knock the other down a peg.

By the end of the series: Best Big Sister :) In awe of how smart she is, despite her muscles. Really good friends. Hijinks-buddy.

➼ Cyrus

At the start of the series: Just another one of these Blades dudes.

By the end of the series: Still some lingering mistrust. He's just doing his job, but he has a habit of dobbing her into Baragon when she's injured and it's annoying!

➼ Ferrum

At the start of the series: Safe. Competent. Won't tattle on her to Martin or, more importantly, Baragon.

By the end of the series: Deep and abiding mutual respect. Someone she's proud to clasp arms with and call "Brother".

➼ Fortis

At the start of the series: "Ho-lee &#%!sticks I hope this guy is ace at his job otherwise the moment I turn around Martin is as good as dead, and then Preston will kill me and goddamn FML."

By the end of the series: Get him and Pelagius started and you've got to knock their heads together. Plus, he's tough during training... But he did sneak me a beer one time when I was injured. He's a good bro.

➼ Jauffre Preston

At the start of the series: &#%! you, old &#%! goat. Hate. Loath. Grrrrrrr.

By the end of the series: You're my Grampa now. Don't like it? Tough. I am going to love and respect the shit out of my elder.

➼ Jena Simmons

At the start of the series: Kind. Quietly concerned. Reserved.

By the end of the series: Best Big Sister :) Loud, funny, insanely smart and tech-competent, killer fashion sense.

➼ Pelagius

At the start of the series: "Ho-lee &#%!sticks I hope this guy is ace at his job otherwise the moment I turn around Martin is as good as dead, and then Preston will kill me and goddamn FML."

By the end of the series: He gossips like a fishwife, and he's always bitching about my forms... But he's my bro and he looks out for me.

➼ Roliand Holm

At the start of the series: Goofy. A little strange. Alright enough though.

By the end of the series: Goofier than she'd ever considered. As reckless as she is. Aderyn has been added to the list of people who can neither give nor take bets from Roliand and Caroline.

➼ Steffan Falk

At the start of the series: Serious. Scary -- too much of an authority figure for her liking.

By the end of the series: Respect, but the distance is still there. Never really warmed up to each other in the same way Aderyn did with the younger Blades.

#TESFic #oblivion fanfiction #oblivion fanfic #tes oblivion #The Elder Scrolls #hero of kvatch #Baurus #jauffre #the blades #modern oblivion au #oc aderyn griffiths #haven's ember series #meta wandering words #meta writing

[transmechanicus]

Hey Erika! I'm thinking about getting back into reading novels with the 40k series and have gotten way too many varied recommendations on what to start with. I read that Skitarius was a good starting point to learn about Mechanicus, do you agree or have a different recommendation?

Skitarius is very good, it was literally written to hype up the release of the Admech in 2013 and it succeeds. I listened to it via audiobook, enjoyed it a lot. Honestly not a lot of Admech books about Skitarii, more often it’s Knights and Titans. I can recommend (Priests/Lords/Gods) of Mars, bc it’s overall story is very good, but the Admech arguably get overshadowed by Rogue Traders, Black Templars, and Guard in terms of POV and importance. I’m manifesting a Belisarius Cawl book where he’s commanding his own forces instead of a squad of marines for Some Reason bc i felt cheated by Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work. I hope this helps, if it doesn’t lmk so i can provide better advice😅

#my stuff #asks #ngl not a lot of good Admech stories😞

[rosefest]

St. Paul has superseded Antoninus

St. Peter has displaced Trajan on his column, as St. Paul has superseded Antoninus. The Mamertine prison was first perhaps an Etruscan waterwork of the early kings, then the state prison of the Republic, the scene of the execution of Jugurtha, and the conspirators of Catiline, of Vercingetorix, and many another captive chief, of Sejanus; then it was believed to be the prison of St. Paul and St. Peter, from whence their last epistles were written, and since then it has become for the Catholic world a centre of pilgrimage, adoration, and miracle. So the churches round the Forum are partly formed of Roman temples and basilicas, one of them being the seat of the Senate.

So the Colosseum was built by Titus after the capture of Jerusalem, largely by captive Jews; for three centuries it continued the scene of the most amazing and wonderful spectacles the world ever saw; then it was a fortress of the feudal barons, the refuge or the terror of popes, then the quarry from which cardinals and families of popes built their palaces, then a deserted ruin, then a factory, next a sacred place of pilgrimage, of preaching, and of reverential worship, and now again secularized into a mere antiquarian museum, from which Nature and God have been driven as with a pitchfork. So, too, out of one vast hall in the Baths of Diocletian, Michael Angelo constructed for a pope a stately modern church. The columns, the marble floors, the sarcophagi, the fonts, and the pulpits in the older churches have each a long and varied history. A column of Grecian marble has been oddly inscribed, ‘ From the bed-chamber of the Caesars.’ A sculptured coffin first held a Roman senator, was next converted to the use of a martyred saint, was then cast aside as a worthless bit of stone on a heap of rubbish, and at length appropriated by an aesthetic churchman for his own pompous monument bulgaria vacations.

Improvement

There is one feature of Rome which even the rage of ‘improvement’ has spared as yet — the feature which of all others is the most suggestive to the historical mind — the ancient city walls: the whole series of walls, with their towers, gates, ramparts, and barbicans, with the twelve miles of circuit, the fragments of the early kings, the walls of Romulus and of Servius, the walls of Aurelian and of Belisarius and Theodoric, the walls of Pope Leo, of Pope Sixtus, of Urban, of Pio Nono.

What a vast procession of events has passed in the sixteen centuries since Aurelian made the circuit that we see ! As we stand on those ramparts in the Pincian or in the Medici garden, or beside the Lateran Terrace, or near the grave of Shelley, what visions we may still recall—what victorious armies from east and west, north and south, coming home in triumph under Diocletian and Constantine, Julian and Theodosius, with the eagles glancing in the sun, and the legionaries tramping on in serried ranks; what hordes of northern and southern invaders, Vandals, Goths, Lombards, Franks, Normans, and Saracens, the ever victorious armies of Charles the Great, of the Othos, of the Norman Guiscard; what battles; what sackings and conflagrations; or again, what long processions of pilgrims from all parts of the earth; what bands of monks led by Francis, Dominic, Loyola, and Xavier; what companies of men-at-arms led by Colonnas, Orsinis, Frangipanis, Contis, and Crescentii; and then in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries what clash of arms, what pompous ceremonies, what historic meetings, down to the time of Napoleon and Garibaldi, and Pio Nono and Victor Emmanuel, and the latest breach of all, through which the Italian kingdom entered and ‘displaced the Pope. These walls and gates, themselves of all ages, bear stamped on them the history of Europe during sixteen centuries. Few edifices of man’s hand on this earth have a record so great, and of such central interest.

#St. Paul has superseded Antoninus