#the ancient capital

[valoisfulcanellideux]

These Stones Remember - cover reveal

A few days ago I posted the full title and cover reveal for my upcoming Pixlriffs-centric (Copper King & Phantom Assassin) story, A Tale of Two Devotions. That beautiful artwork was commissioned from the amazing Sabira | @floweroflaurelin and at the end of the post I mentioned that I had one other commission currently sitting with them.

Well, that commission is now complete, and ready to share with you.

It's the cover for my 178,000-word fic These Stones Remember, and I'll admit that seeing this final image got me feeling incredibly emotional. There may or may not have been tears shed. There were. Oh heck, there were.

So here it is:

I spent almost a year of my life writing These Stones Remember, and Sabira has more than done justice to these characters and this world. The Copper King, Onorait Paix al-Lareiff. His 2,000-year-old present-day version, Pix al-Lareiff. His devoted and faithful Chaperone, Mhenheli al-Q'isaraf. His adorable little soul companion kitty, Malin. And the Vigil and the Statue, and so many other tiny little details that you probably won't even realise have been inserted into the illustration unless you've read the story.

To say that I'm thrilled with this cover would be the understatement of the year. (I know this year is still young, so let's include last year, too!) It was a delight to work with Sabira, and to see the in-progress sketches and eventually this final render, with the beautiful hand typography for the title.

And, if the cover has piqued your interest but you've not yet read the story? Welp, here's a taxi to some sweeping ancient history :)

"The past changes a little every time we retell it." A wandering scholar and his ethereal companion find a long-abandoned treasure. At first glance he thinks has simply stumbled upon a ruined ancient capital, filled with the promise of incredible archaeological treasures and riven through with the history of a long-dead civilisation. But when he wakes up one day and finds the city has come alive around him, its people bowing to him as though they know and respect him, he has unknowingly begun a journey toward redemption for a terrible mistake he made two thousand years ago.

#these stones remember #empires smp #empiresblr #pixlriffs #empires pixlriffs #empires fanfic #mcytblr #mcyt #the ancient capital #pixandria #the copper king #mhenheli al q'isaraf

[insomniaruler]

At this point the fact that I’m not over Empires s1 & s2 pixlriffs should be checked out by a professional…

BUT LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COPPER KING????? DID HE DIE OUT IN THE DESERT??? DID HE GO HOME???? DOES HE RETURN HOME TO A RUINED LAND AND NO FRIENDS BECAUSE THEY ALL FLED/DIED?????????

IS HE THE ARCHEOLOGIST??????? IS HE IMMORTAL??????? DID HE HIDE FOR A MILLENNIA AND THEN NEVER ACTUALLY RETURN BACK TO PIXANDRIA BUT STILL FIND HIMSELF SURROUNDED BY COPPER AND THE REMNANTS OF HIS PEOPLE????????

DOES DEATH HATE HIM????? WHY WAS HE SENT BACK AS A GHOST?????? AND THE FINALE- DID THE ARCHAEOLOGIST FADE AND FINALLY ACTUALLY DIE, FINDING HIS OLD FRIENDS & HIS PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE??????

(Anyway…. I miss the copper king and I miss empires fan theories a totally normal amount)

The copper king :(

#empires smp #pixlriffs #empires s1 #empires s2 #the copper king #i miss him #lore #the ancient capital #pixandria #mcyt

[friquest]

Imagine if the Ancient Capital is a Ghost City and more and more spirits come forward the more Pix uncovers it's Ruins. Like he brought back an extinct specie, wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally brought back the citizens of Ancient Empire.

#empires smp #empires smp season 2 #pixlriffs #empires pixl #empires pix #archeaologist pix #the ancient capital

[valoisfulcanelli]

'These Stones Remember' has moved

Heads-up to those who have been reading These Stones Remember: I've created a separate Tumblr account for it, and for all related stuff, since it doesn't really sit right on this blog, which has always been very Sims 3-focused.

For any future updates to These Stones Remember (and other Minecraft/Pixlriffs/Empires/Hermitcraft, etc) stuff, follow @valoisfulcanellideux

#these stones remember #empires smp #empires pixlriffs #empiresblr #pixlriffs #the copper king #the ancient capital #mcytblr #mcyt #empires fanfic

[blvvdk3ep]

I love you people going into "useless" fields I love you classics majors I love you cultural studies majors I love you comparative literature majors I love you film studies majors I love you near eastern religions majors I love you Greek, Latin, and Hebrew majors I love you ethnic studies I love you people going into any and all small field that isn't considered lucrative in our rotting capitalist society please never stop keeping the sacred flame of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and understanding humanity and not merely for the sake of money alive

#classics #mythology #ancient greek mythology #ancient roman mythology #comparative literature #latin #hebrew #ethnic studies #fuck capitalism #communism #i love my useless degree idc #academia #university #dark academia #Greek #philosophy #liberal arts #humanities #women and gender studies #cultural anthropology

[blahblahblahviolentpain]

You know how in the original game, they used the PHS to communicate and switch out party members? Well, I know that canonically Vincent doesn't have a phone, but what if he did?

#cloud strife #vincent valentine #yuffie kisaragi #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth #ff7 #final fantasy 7 #vincent: “shinra's latest and greatest technology” #yuffie: “not so latest and not so greatest anymore” #that thing still works too #yuffie spends the rest of the adventure trying to get rid of it #it lasts until they defeat sephiroth when yuffie yeets it into the lake at the capital of the ancients

[egypt-ancient-and-modern]

Hathoric capital from the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut.

#Hathoric Capital #Hatshepsut #Egypt #Ancient Egypt #archaeology #ancient history

[mapsontheweb]

Capitals of Ancient Egypt

#maps #capitals #ancient egypt

[salmonella-destroyer-of-worlds]

Bread and circus

#dank memes #funny post #meme #dank #funny #funny pics #silly #funny pictures #dankest memes #humor #dark humor #ancient rome #history memes #late stage capitalism

[silverskye13]

"Do you believe in the gods, Pix?"

The archeologist chuckles, and continues adjusting measurements on his hologram projector. "You trying to convert me, Joel?"

The god of Stratos waves his hand dismissively, and though Pix isn't looking at his face, he can almost feel an the eye roll as clouds briefly wink over the sun. "Obviously you believe in me. If you didn't, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"Ah."

"I mean the old ones. You know." Joel waves a hand vaguely the direction of the ruined capital. "The absent ones."

Pix pauses in his work to turn and look past the bridge. The burnished gold of the tip of one of the angel's wings is all he can see over the hillside gates, but he knows the goddess is there. He memorized every curve and angle of that monument when he'd found it. It was... An impressive statue. He turns back to his projector and keys in a few more measurements, trying to get the height of the road just right.

"I don't know."

"Oh. Well I suppose you wouldn't." Joel shrugs at Pix's questioning glance. "You're human."

There is a moment where they're silent. Pix works keys a few buttons, adjusting the placement of his projection, and Joel watches, arms crossed like a sentinel. He doesn't help Pix. Not really. Joel isn't really that kind of god. He bestows gifts and blessings, but he reserves his hands for his people and his whims. But Pix didn't invite the god here to build. He doesn't mind reconstructing this old capital by himself. Joel does, however, grunt disapprovingly every time Pix places the structure wrong, and flick his eyes a little to the left, and Pix takes the hint and adjusts the hologram in that direction.

"You wanna know what I think?" Pix says, setting the hologram in its final place and taking a few steps back to observe it.

"You think?" The god chuckles, and when he does, distant thunder rumbles.

"I think more than you."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I think worshipping the world is the closest we can get to an omniscient god." Pix finishes the thought before they can devolve into ribbing each other. It's fun to bicker with Joel, but that's not where Pix is going with this conversation.

Joel cocks his head to the side thoughtfully. "You don't think I'm omniscient?"

"Would you ask me this stuff if you were, oh all-knowing god of storms and things?"

"Sky god," Joel corrected. "Touché, little history man. So, you worship the world, then?"

"Everything we do leaves a footprint," Pix tells him. He adjusts his hologram just a bit to the left again. Joel nods at him almost unconsciously. Pix stops fiddling and starts playing shulkers, preparing to build. He's going to finish this bridge today. "The earth records these footprints. It's the nature of things that change, that they hold impressions of what changed them."

Pix gestures to the rock slide that cuts off one side of his hologram. "This gate used to carve right through this hill. Even though this side has collapsed, and erosion has eaten the side, beneath that rubble, there are cobblestones someone laid by hand. Maybe they were slaves, or skilled craftsman, but regardless they existed. The lived a full life, whatever that meant for them, they spoke to people they loved, ate their favorite foods when they were sad, and one day, they died. Bones turn to dust, epitaphs fade, but that builder's hands still touched those cobblestones."

The god of Stratos watches the hologram with a new and open curiosity. He reaches out a massive hand and places it gently on the particles of light, as though he could touch the recreation. Instead, his fingers dip through the projection, making long flickering shadows in the light field, distorting the image like rain on a glassy lake. It's almost comical watching the massive god be so gentle and reverent, especially over something so inconsequential as a bridge piece.

"So is this how you worship the world, then?" Joel asks quietly. "By helping it remember what it's forgotten?"

There is something loaded in the words. Pix looks up at the god, and he remembers signs underneath a floating city as citizens gently remind their god they love him, and they need him. He thinks of temples to gods whose names have passed out of history, floating amidst a living city made by a god who has no temple built. Not yet.

Pix doesn't know what to say, so he opts to say nothing, instead reverently laying out his tools on the bridge like precious gifts on an altar. The two don't talk. Pix begins laying stones for a new foundation, and Joel watches thoughtfully, not seeing the world in front of him. They finish the bridge.

#the barking writer #joel smallishbeans #pixlriffs #empires s2 #empires smp #empires stratos #empires the ancient capital

[valoisfulcanellideux]

So yesterday's post was mostly me gushing about this beautiful commission from @floweroflaurelin for These Stones Remember, and I only realised after the fact that embedding it in the middle of a text post meant that it was:

too small for many of the details to be appreciated

hidden for those who have 'collapse long posts' enabled on their dash

So I'm posting it again, but this time it's actually an image post in its own right. And - because I am NOT OVER THIS - I want to go into detail about, well... the details.

This is going to make most sense for people who have already read These Stones Remember, but maybe other Pix peeps will find something in it, too.

So let's go behind the cut, and look at some of those details, because boy did Sabira include some lovely little nods to the story! (Warning: There may be spoilers.)

The light of the Vigil

Not only does the warmth of the Vigil's light reflect from each character (with the exception of Malin, because they're already lit from within by their own soul light) but she also reaches out to touch each character with those tendrils of light emanating from her spire. And in the story Paix becomes the living embodiment of the Vigil once the Great Caravan leaves the ruin of Paixandria, so the Vigil truly does touch every person he comes into contact with.

Malin's 'soul energy trail'

Malin (for those who haven't read the story) is Pix's ethereal cat companion, who is made of soul energy from the gratitude of everyone Paix/Pix has guided or helped in some way over the course of 2,000 years. But Malin is not only a companion; they are also a protector and guardian of their eternal/immortal friend. Thus the trail of 'soul energy' that emanates from their tail in the illustration wraps around not only Pix and Paix, but also around the sword of the statue, which represents protection.

The Silver Ant

The Silver Ant is the old Paixandrian name for a long-period comet whose orbit sees it visiting the world every 200 years. In the illustration we see it visiting the past (left side of the image) and the present (right side of the image).

The split between past and present

On the left we see the past; golden and warm. The glorious city, the ivory and copper tones of Paix's raiment, all the regalia of royalty (crown, trident, cloak, ring), the faithful and devoted presence of Chaperone Mhenheli. And on the right we see the present; blue-toned and holding a heavy weight. The ruined city, the blue of Pix's shirt and the teal of Malin's form. Even the statue - though she's built that way in canon anyway - mirrors this, with her feathered wing in the warm past and her skeletal 'sextant wing' in the present.

The expressions

I have to point this out, in case you've not picked up on it. I described modern day Pix to Sabira as follows:

In the story, he is the same person as Paix; just 2,000 years later. So hair colour, general facial features etc would be the same. His eyes are more weary, though, because he's carried the guilt of what he did back then for those 2,000 years.

LOOK AT THOSE EYES

Modern-day Pix's expression is warm and open with a faint hint of a smile, but his eyes are guarded and weary. They're even a little bloodshot. Contrast that with the placid serenity of his past younger self, his clear kohl-lined gaze lifted as if looking up at the Vigil.

People, I AM EATING THAT DIFFERENCE UP WITH A SPOON, IT'S SO GOOD.

The royal regalia

The symbols of the Copper King's reign are:

the copper crown

the ring

the trident

the regalia cloak

The copper crown is Sabira's original design (which, in fact, inspired my description of it in the story) except my version has the two copper nodes exchanged for a tiny glowing conduit that lights his face, and an emerald. Both of these rest in their corresponding 'cradles' on the crown (shh, it's magic) until worn by the rightful king, at which point they both move into their 'hovering' positions. Looking at the image above, Sabira has even captured the glow from the conduit, reflecting from its surrounding cradle.

I gave Sabira free rein with the design of the ring, having only ever described it loosely in the story as a copper band surmounted by a cut emerald. And I was delighted with their resulting design, which mingles the shape of many candles (or even the surrounding pillars of the Vigil) with the conduit cradle, and then the emerald.

The regalia cloak and trident are both Sabira's own beautiful classic designs, which most (well, all) of my followers who like Pix will already be familiar with.

And, lastly, one other little detail so small that you probably didn't even notice it unless you zoomed in closely...

The earring

Paix's deepslate emerald teardrop earring (no connection to Max's earring at the end of the story) was his own personal thing. We all know how Pix canonically loves his deepslate emerald, so I figured that I'd have him wishing the ring had that stone in it rather than a pure, cut emerald. Instead, he opted to wear a deepslate emerald earring. He wears small copper hoops in both ears, but from the left one he also has the teardrop earring.

But look closer, at both his earring and at modern-day Pix:

Can we all just please admire the fact that modern-day Pix has a piercing hole because he once wore those earrings, and that the weight of the deepslate emerald earring worn by Copper King Paix actually stretches his piercing hole a little?

Details, people. DETAILS. This is why Sabira is the fucking BEST. GAH!

Anyway, this took almost my entire lunch break to write, so I'm now going back to work xD

#these stones remember #empires smp #empiresblr #pixlriffs #empires pixlriffs #empires fanfic #mcytblr #mcyt #the ancient capital #pixandria #the copper king #pixlriffs fanart #flower of laurelin

[kyuroon]

We weren't supposed to live like this btw. We shouldn't have to earn our right to live. That's not normal.

#Imagine how freaked out an ancient Farmer would be if you told them about capitalism #human history #anthropology #capitalism sux

[lionofchaeronea]

Capital of Composite Order, from Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae (Mirror of Roman Magnificence), Léon Davent after Francesco Primaticcio, mid-16th century

Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae was a collection of prints of Roman antiquities assembled by the publishers Antonio Salamanca and Antonio Lafreri beginning in 1540 to sell to tourists and collectors.

#art #art history #Léon Davent #Francesco Primaticcio #print #engraving #Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae #Ancient Rome #antiquities #Roman antiquities #column capital #Italian art #French art #16th century art #Metropolitan Museum of Art #b&w

[lotusinjadewell]

Huế, Vietnam. Credit to _im.rot_ (Instagram).

#vietnam #vietnamese #culture #history #sinosphere #hue vietnam #traditional architecture #asian architecture #architecture #architecture photography #ancient architecture #capital city #mausoleum #forbidden city #palace #palaces #koi fish #pavilion #decoration #balcony #tile roof #aerial #drone shots #visit vietnam #traveller #travelgram #travel pics #travel #travel destinations #beautiful places

[minecraftrelatedrandomness]

Oli, seeing his base gone: My base has been eroded and lost to time and the elements of nature entirely! Woe is me!

Pix, having uprooted the entire damn thing from the beach and moved it to the Museum because he was scared Oli would tear it down:

#empires smp spoilers #esmp 2 #empires smp #theorionsound #pixlriffs #[the dramatic irony is real] #my post #12 october 2022 #the unnamed ancient capital #aquatic memetics #esmp musings

[whereserpentswalk]

Stop acting like immigration is purely a product of imperialism. People living outside their ethnic homeland isn't a new thing, or a result of the imperial core, and to suggest otherwise is kind of facisty.

People move around, and form communities in various locations, it predates capitalism. We know that there were large Indian communities in Athens in the classical age (this was long before Alexander conquered parts of India). We have records from the Middle Ages of Norsemen living in Byzantium, and Middle Eastern enclaves in China. Immigration predates capitalism, and society has always been multicultural.

#196 #my thougts #immigration #leftist #leftism #anti imperialism #anti facist #anti capitalism #anti capitalist #anarchy #anarchism #ancient greek #ancient greece #byzantium #byzantine