#the barrow will send what it may

[contracat25]

Alright as it is Trans Day of Visibility (Hi still not cis, still here etc.) and the final day of the extended Trans Rights Readathon I thought I would post about a few more of my favorite books by trans authors because hopefully everyone will be reading books by trans authors and about trans characters/topics all year round. Because to me this day is about supporting others in the community as much as anything else. The world is pretty on fire right now so if you can support a trans creator, artist, organization or friend today (and beyond) then do it!

So here are a bunch of shorter reads: books, graphic novels, novellas etc. I didn't really notice how many novellas I had been reading recently till making this list, but there is something about a wel- written short book that just really works for me. Also a lot of these just have really creative or lovely concepts and I am a sucker for those. Plus the characters in these are soooo good! Also a lot of these have lovely audiobooks or e-books, hence me not having a physical copy (yet). Many of these have trans characters as well, but not all of them. Though most have some form of queer rep because I don't read much that doesn't. I included muliple by some of the authors, including sequels because... I just really like them and couldn't pick just one. Most of these authors have other books that are also wonderful. And these are just a handful of examples, there are so many fabuluous books by and about people who are trans.

Six Months, Three Days, Five Others by Charlie Jane Anders

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

The Companion by EE Ottoman

The Barrow Will Send What It May by Margaret Killjoy

Taste of Marrow and River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Nimona by Nate Stevenson

Gender Queer by Mia Kobabe

The Seep by Chana Porter

Future Feelings by Joss Lake

Pet by Akwaeke Amezi

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

The Black Tides of Heaven; The Red Threads of Fortune; The Descent of Monsters; The Ascent to Godhood by Neon Yang

Finna and Defekt by Nino Cipri Coffee Boy and Caroline's Heart by Austin Chant

ID: Slide one has a stack of 10 books on a teal background. Slides two through four have a white background and four book covers and a boarder of books in the trans flag colors.

#transrightsreadathon #trans books #queer books #book recs #booklr #trans day of visibility #Six Months Three Days Five Others #trans authors #charlie jane anders #peter darling #austin chant #s.a. chant #the barrow will send what it may #Margert Killjoy #taste of marrow #river of teeth #sarah gailey #Even though I knew the end #c l polk #Upwright Women Wanted #nimona #gender queer #Mia Kobabe #the seep #chana porter #Future feelings #Joss lake #Pet #akwaeke amezi #nate stevenson

[plantdad-dante]

Book #93 - The Barrow Will Send What It May by Margaret Killjoy

(second time read; I basically just picked it up now bc I decided that the straight 2011 YA Fantasy I was trying to read was no healthy way to spend Pride Month and that I should read something that I knew to be good and queer instead) Still can't quite figure out how to express why I like these books. They feel like a window into another world, and not because of the demons. A world that isn't filled with heaping mounds of bullshit that you have to think your way through with a shovel. It looks less lonely, at least. It feels less exhausting, somehow.... ignoring all the murdering and fighting and fleeing for your life business, of course. And, oh yeah, the demons. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if the loud, angry, excitable, opinianated child I was had been able to keep going. Would he have grown up to be a well-adjusted, "normal" citizen? Or would he be out there, on the fringes of society, free and awake in a way I rarely get to be? Alas, someone killed him, and now I am here, so all this is pure speculation. On the other hand... books like this one spark ideas like firework. And maybe it is time to get into necromancy. - This post is brought to you by the frankly ridiculous amount of gender euphoria I am extracting from my mowhawk.

#the barrow will send what it may #danielle cain #margaret killjoy

[bookofshitposts]

"We ask for good strangers." "We ask for the barrow to send what it may." "We ask that ill eyes pass over us." "We ask for the dead to guard us." "We ask that sorrow be held at bay."

Margaret Killjoy, The Barrow Will Send What it May

#Margaret Killjoy #The Barrow Will Send What it May #spells in fiction #death magic #travel #words

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Barrow Will Send What it May | Author: Margaret Killjoy | Publisher: Tor (2018)

#books #The Barrow Will Send What it May #Margaret Killjoy

[dailyadventureprompts]

You know the joke about level 20 shop keeps to keep murder hobos in line? What about like an actual reason for a level 20 something shopkeeper? Like a retired adventurer selling off the contents of their many bags of holding. Great place to get magic gear, plenty of potential adventure hooks, and a retired adventurer would have a great many connections.

Shopkeep: Agiviv Stoneeye, The Alchemist under the Hill

The title? It’s my little joke, I always said I’d be in my grave before I gave up on the great work, so after I retired I found myself a cozy little barrow in which to continue my studies. Still brings a smile to my stiff old jaw each time I think about it.

Setup: The Sad truth is that age catches up to everyone, even heroes, and those that live the adventurers life tend to age faster than most. If it isn't the life sapping curses or the devouring jaws of beasts that get you, it's the slow accumulation of innumerable breaks, stabs, burns, and mishaps that accumulate in a body along with years of hard wear and stress.

Such was the case for Agiviv and his companions, a once celebrated band of heroes who saved the world in their own small way before settling into happy obscurity. After their mission was done each wanted different things, some family, some to return to the duties they left behind, but for Agiviv the whole point of adventuring was to secure the means by which he could continue his studies, and by the gods did he ever find it.

While each of his retiring friends took a hero's share of their accumulated wealth Agiviv (who served as the group's quartermaster) ensured he was left holding the bags: the bags of holding containing years of accumulated treasure, crafting ingredients, and dungeon junk. Settling in one of the first dungeons cleared by his companions, close enough to a town to make a supply run but not so close that he’d be bothered with neighbors,  the old Orc now works away happily on all the projects he never got around to during his life on the road.

 Hooks: 

Joke as you would about alchemists and their search for gold, Agiviv was always the most business minded of his companions, and has spent the intervening years setting up storefronts in several major population centers across the kingdom. Each one is minded by one of his apprentices, who discuss the needs of customers as they enter and browse through catalogs before popping into the back room to secure the stock. These “back rooms” are in fact portals to Agiviv’s workshop, where the apprentices can clear any important transaction with their boss or shift down to one of the many storerooms to retreive the stock. When the party visit their local “Stoneye’s Alchemics” only to have its attendant disappear for a protracted period of time, their curiosity may lead them to intrude upon the workshop and begin to poke around where they don’t belong.  Depending on whether they decide to do a smash and grab or actually investigate the disappearance, they may later encounter a very angry Agaviv or one thankful to them for saving an apprentice that’d fallen victim to a long unnoticed mimic.

Given his talents lay in the crafting of potions and other alchemical wonders,  Agaviv is more than happy to part with various bits of armor, enchanted weapons, and miscellaneous doodads too impractical to be of any use in his research. One of these items happens to be a very dangerous book that Agaviv accidentally mislabeled saving it from his “Very cursed do not sell” Pile. Sold to the party as a genuinely useful and benign object, the group’s spellcaster may only learn of it’s true nature after it has become attuned.

Though the dungeon Agiviv claims as his home was cleared out years ago, one wing of it has become infested with pests, which the shopkeeper may send the party to clear out as a bit of a nostalgic lark. What he doesn’t suspect is that these creatures actually crept out of a portal to the underdark, and their reckless burrowing has created a fissure that the party will inevitably fall down and will be forced to climb their way back to the material plane. After braving an unusually long road of trials, Agiviv will be shocked to realize he’s going to have to move or risk his entire operation falling into the world beneath. 

Art

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #adventure #5e homebrew #homebrew adventure #portals #npc #ally #shopkeep #Merchant #dungeon #Crime #underdark #town #city #Village #orc #Alchemy #low level #mid level #the frinsville few

[loving-n0t-heyting]

Thoughts on this proposed law in one of your US states?

Some sex offenders could be surgically castrated under bill | Local Politics | nola.com

I'm not to sure if it's a good idea to give the government so much power, but there is a certain primitive logic to it.

Criminal inclination may have a heritable component, and this effectively stops that process.

Of course, the issue then becomes, what happens when someone is falsely convicted, or takes a plea bargain (many such cases) in order to reduce total prison time so as to meet employment obligations?

Ideally, someone OTHER than the government would do this, but the more I think about it, the more I conclude that unlike with execution (where it's already common for people convicted of certain crimes to be killed by third-party groups, usually other inmates), this isn't something that can easily or safely be done by amateurs. We can trust inmates to kill certain types of criminals, and create non-government incentives for them to do so (commissary donations, pen-pal programmes, etc) but we probably shouldn't do that with delicate invasive surgery.

I don't want to be the one throwing my hands up and saying "there is no good solution" ...but maybe there isn't one?

the potential eugenics angle here manages to make me see even deeper red than i would otherwise. what a positively barbaric bit of legislation, do these torturers and mutilators have no concern for their souls?

this bit was particularly striking:

Though no one on the Judiciary C Committee objected to sending SB 371 to the full Senate, Sen. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles, asked whether Barrow was concerned that the punishment could apply to first-time offenders, especially teens.

“We’ve said many times somebody might make that mistake and then years later turn their life around for various reasons,” Abraham said. “It could affect them the rest of their life even though they might have changed.”

“For me, when I think about a child, one time is too many,” Barrow responded.

this is less than a year after a ban transgender care for minors in the same state. castration of teens for positive medical purposes: degeneracy. castration of teens as an exercise in sadistic revenge: righteousness.

#ask #the cybersmith

[jamesfitzjamesdotcom]

Victorian Valentines

Every year John Barrow jr received Valentines from his young friend Gilly, an orphan. However the relationship does not seem to have been romantic. She continued to visit him until he died in 1898.

Unchanging Love

Though absence parts us for a while,

And distance rolls between,

Believe, whoever may revile,

I am still what I have been.

For to my dying day, my heart,

Through every fate will be,

If doom'd till then to mourn apart,

Unchanging still to thee

"I do believe in this", Barrow wrote.

True Affection

Emblem fair to you I send,

Token of affection true,

Showing where my feelings tend,

Like the magnet unto you

Worlds may pass away and perish,

Every feeling die away,

But the constant love I cherish,

Never, never shall decay

Barrow noted: "No variations of the magnet, I trust?"

[Photos by me of private journals of John Barrow, Weston Library, University of Oxford]

#valentines day #victorian poetry #victorian era #19th century #love #valentines cards

[loonatic260]

So often, I think about how Thomas's relationship with Edward (the blind soldier in season 2) would have gone if Edward was permitted to stay and recover at the hospital. I mean, really, there's so many different scenarios of how things *could* have gone for Thomas if his love interests loved him back (and stuck around long enough to make it work).

During the confrontation in the courtyard (S2E2)... Corporal Barrow to his left, Nurse Crawley to his right, and a badgering doctor in front of him, Edward speaks his mind about wanting to stay. "Please— don't send me away. Not yet," the soldier states, contorlling his emotions. And instead of Thomas being cut off this time, he continues to speak, "Sir, surely we... can still take care of him, until the time comes that he is fully recovered." Thomas looks over to Edward, for the response in his gaze that supports and appreciates his efforts, but is quickly reminded that a look of condolence is hard to get out of a blind man. "Corporal Barrow, you will not speak out of turn—" his tone shifts, "every one of our beds is needed for the injurred and dying. Lieutenant, you will make your recovery at Farley. Corporal, I will see you in my office." The doctor pats Edward's shoulder and turns away, leaving the three in silence. Sybil looks to Thomas, then to Edward, "We are fully capable of keeping you here to treat you until you are better. Thomas, I'm sure we can find a way to change the doctor's mind." Thomas takes a long moment to think of what could be said, but Edward breaks his thought by looking up towards him. Thomas knows those bright eyes can't see him, but Edward's longing for an answer, and longing for some way to stay, are clearly conveyed by that deep stare. Thomas distracts himself from the way the light shown across his face and illuminated his scars. "I don't want to leave, Corporal, not right yet. I don't feel fully recovered yet— a convalescent home won't help me." Thomas looks to Sybil. They both know Edward's outlook on his own life; it isn't good, and if they can get him to stay under their care, they'd know he'd be a healthier man of it.

"Please, one man staying here to recover- or convalesce, as you put it- is not getting in the way of us taking care of other injurred soldiers." Thomas stands opposite of the doctor, only a desk between them but many dense layers of invisible emotions as well. "We have the equipment and time to continue to tend to Edward while caring for others' just as well," Sybil enters the office eagerly to back him up. "I am taken aback by both of your confidence. Nurse Crawley, you may be used to having the social upper-hand, but not here. My decision is final in keeping Ed—" The clicking heels of an adamant, old woman can be heard stomping nearer, alerting Clarkson of his likely misjudgment. "Doctor Clarkson, I do beg your pardon, but have you tended to Lieutenant Courtenay as closely as Corporal Barrow or Nurse Crawley?" Her distinct tone sends exaughst from every hole of the doctor's body. "I do recall Thomas talking with the Lieutenant, reading him his letters, and offering condolences, therefore giving him an accurate assessment of Lieutenant Courtenay's mental health." Sybil looks to Thomas from behind, looking to see even the slightest smile peaking through his cheeks, but Corporal Barrow stays straight-faced. Sybil knows they've won this argument now. "And Nurse Crawley has tended to his physical needs and growth in his condition, so she should be more than qualified- in this circumstance- to claim whether or not Lieutenant Courtenay should continue to be seen here, so if she claims he is still of our assistance, then we shall grant him that." Without much more word from Doctor Clarkson— at least not much anything that Thomas had to listen to due to smirking and showing Sybil his slight excitement— Corporal Barrow met Lieutenant Courtenay at his cot.

"Are you happy to be out of your bandages, Lieutenant Courtenay?" Thomas smiled towards Edward, finding himself repeating natural mannerisms from his service at Downton when it wasn't always necessary, especially right now. "Please, don't call me 'Lieutenant.' I've lost that privilege of title the moment I wasn't able to perform my duties properly anymore." Slouching halfway out from under his sheets, he turned away from the sound of Thomas's voice, imagining the disappointment. "You can call me 'Edward'," the soldier finished. Thomas furrowed his brows, "I told you not to be so hard on yourself. I won't lie to you, and I won't tell you that you'll be able to perform your duties properly again, but I can say that you will- and do- have the opportunity to live a good life." Thomas laid his palms on Edward's knuckles, carefully centered on the soldier's knee as if to plead. "I already told you: don't let other's drag you down. It doesn't matter what they think of ya, or do to ya, so you'll resolve things with your brother and mother—" Thomas saw the muscles in Edward's face start to quiver, "Or else I'll have to go knock some sense into them, and they don't want that!" A chuckle was pulled out of Edward as a tear strolled down his cheek, and Thomas gave a laugh of relief to be able to make Edward smile. "We'll take care of you as long as we can, Edward. We'll make things work. Despite what Clarkson thinks is best for someone he doesn't know."

Sybil smiled from the doorway, watching their interaction, and glad of their soldier's brightened spirits. She'd never seen Thomas so emotional before, but it was an effective way of getting through to Edward. Surprisingly, the doctor listened to Isobel once again; it seems that only Isobel can truly get through to Doctor Clarkson.

#i did not plan of writing a fanfic at all btw #i cant be the only one who thinks about it relatively frequently... #it just makes me really sad i guess #or i oddly relate to it a bit too much #thomas barrow #thomas x edward #edward courtenay #downton abbey #downton rewatch #downton fanfic #thomas barrow fanfic #downton abbey fanfiction #downton fanfiction #short fanfic

[specialagentlokitty]

Thomas Barrow x Sister!reader - a day off

Hey, could I request a Thomas Barrow x teen sister reader (I think I have a bit of a obsession, I just love Thomas 😅) set during the last episode of series 4 when the servants all go to the beach. Just wholesome brother sister time, maybe with a dash of Miss Baxter and Jimmy! Maybe Thomas watches as Jimmy and Miss Baxter play with sister reader and Thomas gets a bit jealous, either miss Baxter or mrs Hughes encourage him to relax and spent time with her. the Barrow siblings banter and he ends up chasing sister reader around the beach (I don’t know if it is within character for Thomas but seeing how he interacts with the children a Downton later in the the series I think it can be within reason 😂) - Anon💜

You had never been to the beach before, you didn’t know what to do or where to go, so you hung near the edge unsure about what to do with yourself.

“Come on, you can relax.” Miss Baxter smiled.

Looking up at the woman who had been around your whole life, supporting you and your brother, you frowned a little bit.

“I don’t know what to do…” you mumbled.

You did try to find your older brother, yet he was absolutely no where to be found, so you looked back at her.

Reaching out, you took her hand and shuffled a little closer to her side.

“How about we start simple?” She asked.

“Like what?” You asked.

Miss Baxter smiled down at you and led you further on to the beach, over to where some of the men were playing some sort of ball game.

Standing behind her, you watched them a little unsure.

“Can we go to the water Miss Baxter?” You asked.

“Of course we can.”

She walked over to the waters edge and you knelt down, resting your knees in the sand as you watched it.

Miss Baxter smiled down at you, and she looked over as Jimmy walked over to the pair of you, standing next to you on the other side.

“What are you doing (Y/N)?” Jimmy asked.

“I have never seen the ocean before.” You said.

He laughed a little and crouched down next to you.

“Well, how about instead of staring at the water we see what games there is.”

You looked at him.

“Can Miss Baxter come too?”

“Of course.”

So that’s what the three of you did.

You wondered the beach, learned a few new games, built what were supposed to be sandcastles and ran around laughing and enjoying your time.

Your brother on the other hand was sat on a towel, watching you with a heavy frown on his face.

He hadn’t seen you smile and laugh like that since you were a little kid, and after spending many years away from you, he wasn’t sure how to interacts with you.

He always said or did the wrong thing.

More often than not Thomas said or did something that would upset you, or make you angry with him.

He never meant to, but he had lost touch in how to interact with you. He was so used to how he behaved around all the others, it’s how he automatically behaved around you as well.

And he was accidentally pushing you away.

Sighing a little to himself, he turned his attention back to his book, clenching his jaw a little bit.

“Sitting down here and moping will do you no good Mr Barrow.” Mrs Hughes spoke.

He looked up at her and narrowed his eyes a little bit.

“If you wish to spend time with your sister simply just go and spend time with her.”

“I see no point, she seems rather happy.”

“Yet you do not, sitting here and contemplating what you will do will just waste time.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?”

Thomas turned away and looked at you.

“Thomas Barrow get up and go and spend some time with your sister.” Mrs Hughes scolded.

He looked up at her slightly shocked.

“If you do not I will send her over here.”

“She is fine.”

“You need to relax, spend some time together and get to know each other again. It has been a long time since you two were together, if you do not go see her now and try make amends you may never get the chance to again.”

With that she walked away.

Thomas sat there looking at his book, trying to focus, concentrate on the words on the page yet he couldn’t.

Because as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Mrs Hughes was right.

He needed to go and make amends with you, spend time with you while he could before you all headed back to your hectic lives. Before he couldn’t spend any proper time with you for god knows how long.

Setting the book aside, Thomas pushed himself up with a heavy sigh and he made his way over the sand.

You didn’t notice him approaching you, but Jimmy and Miss Baxter did, and they smiled at him before leaving.

You were too busy standing in the waters edge, hands balled into your dress to hold it up so it wouldn’t get went.

You were smiling to yourself, kicking the water slightly, but unwilling to go any further than the ankle depth that you were already at.

“You are allowed to go further in.” Thomas said.

You made a startled noise, you turned around, mindful of your dress and looked at your older brother with a small smile.

“I know, but I cannot swim and have no intention of getting my dress wet.” You explained.

He nodded his head and looked around, clasping his hands behind his back.

“Come with me for some ice cream.” He said.

“What about everybody else?”

“If they want ice cream they can get it themselves. Come along now, before you overheat.”

You smiled a little more as you came out of the water, following him to his towel so you could dry your feet and put your shoes back on.

You got up again and trialed after him, looking around at everything.

“Why have you not played any games Thomas?” You asked.

“I’m far to old to play childish games.”

“Nobody is too old.” You beamed.

Thomas looked at you and he rolled his eyes.

“Even if I were not too old, nobody would like to play games with me, nobody likes me as you know (Y/N).”

You sat down at a table.

“I would play games with you Thomas, we used to play games all the time. I miss those days.”

Thomas took a small breath and he looked at you.

“I do as well, but times change, you know this.”

You shrugged a little at your bright and looked around before turning your attention back to him.

“Will you play a game with me?”

“What game?” He sighed.

You grinned from ear to ear.

“All of them!”

You finished your ice cream, waiting for him to finish before dragging him back to the beach to play games with you.

He didn’t want to, but he didn’t refuse either, he just went along with whatever game you wanted to play.

From building sandcastles, to watching you jump a little bit in the water, water the boys play their football and trying to make him join in.

He went along with whatever you wanted to do, because he just enjoyed spending the time with you.

And anyone that saw the pair of you couldn’t help but smile at you two finally getting along and spending time with one another

#Downton abbey #Downton abbey x reader #Downton abbey x you #Downton abbey imagine #Thomas Barrow #Thomas Barrow x reader #Thomas Barrow x you #Thomas Barrow imagine

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Rereading The Fellowship of the Ring for the First Time in Fifteen Years

*Has an aggressive flashback to studying Romeo and Juliet as an undergraduate student and fiercely debating whether Friar Laurence's inability to send a goddamn letter made him culpable in the events subsequent to his promise to deliver a letter*

*Takes a deep breath*

*Counts to ten*

*SHAKES BUTTERBUR TO WITHIN AN INCH OF HIS GODDAMN LIFE BECAUSE WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT'S BEEN THREE MONTHS AND YOU DIDN'T GET THE DAMN LETTER DELIVERED????*

So...yeah. Let's just cut to the chase and talk chapter 10, "Strider."

Ok, so after Frodo's disastrous table dance in the last chapter, it's fully time for Strider to explain himself, so everyone heads back to the Hobbits' room. Merry is nowhere to be found, and everyone is INSUFFICIENTLY CONCERNED about this, especially given that they've had Black Riders on their tails since before they left the Shire. But I guess before we worry about the single most competent hobbit in the bunch and Frodo's COUSIN, we have to let Strider speak his piece.

Now, at this point, nobody has heard from Gandalf in months. Nobody has talked to each other. The hobbits know next to freaking nothing because FRICKIN' GILDOR didn't tell them jack, and Tom Bombadil focused on tips for staying alive in the Barrow-Downs. Strider kinda knows the general shape of things but doesn't know our hobbity bois from a short, beardless dwarf. And our hobbity bois are, understandably, feeling kinda suspicious of EVERYONE at this point, as illustrated by this little exchange:

"Maybe Mr. Baggins has an honest reason for leaving his name behind; but if so, I should advise him and his friends to be more careful." "I don't see what interest my name has for anyone in Bree," said Frodo, angrily, "and I have still to learn why it interests you. Mr. Strider may have an honest reason for spying and eavesdropping; but if so, I should advise him to explain it."

and this little declaration from Sam, the only hobbit in the group with an adequate suspicion of people:

"With your leave, Mr. Frodo, I'd say no! This Strider here, he warns and he says take care; and I say yes to that, and let's begin with him. He comes out of the Wild, and I never heard no good of such folk. He knows something, that's plain, and more than I like; but it's no reason why we should let him go leading us out into some dark place far from help, as he puts it."

Literally, Sam was listening and he has come to a deeply reasonable conclusion, especially since protecting Frodo is his entire motivation. I wouldn't be super excited to follow a strange man into the wild either. And I gotta give Sam credit for a healthy level of critical suspicion too, because even after we get Gandalf's letter, he is still asking questions:

...Sam was not daunted, and he still eyed Strider dubiously. "How do we know you are the Strider that Gandalf speaks about?" he demanded. "You never mentioned Gandalf, till this letter came out. You might be a play-acting spy, for all I can see, trying to get us to go with you. You might have done in the real Strider and took his clothes. What have you to say to that?"

Sam, my dearest, darlingest hobbit, I respect your suspicious mind, but I have to ask you this question: What on Eru Iluvatar's little green Middle Earth would you have done if you'd been RIGHT? Sweetie, you are three feet tall and don't know how to use a sword. What was the plan if he looked directly into camera and said, "And I'd have got away with it too, it it weren't for you meddling hobbits"? If the man calling himself Strider wasn't actually Strider, you'd all have been dead like fifteen minutes ago.

And yes, Strider calls this out, but like...what IS it with big folks and getting briefly intimidating and exploding their presence to prove that they're NOT dangerous? Because Gandalf doing it to Bilbo after the party and Strider doing it now would not make me feel better about being a hobbit in a vulnerable moment. But I'm just a girl, what do I know?

At any rate, apparently between Frodo's instincts, Strider's wizard power moment, and Gandalf's letter, Strider passes muster with the hobbits. So the next thing to do is to get everyone on the same page, with everyone going, "So uhh...Gandalf, huh?" and then planning to set out for Weathertop in the morning. All pretty standard stuff for a session zero with a new party member.

At which point Merry windmill slams into the room screeching about seeing the Black Riders in Bree.

Seriously, y'all neglected Merry and honestly I wouldn't blame him for not telling any of you about the Black Riders because seriously, he has been gone for literal hours, missed the whole Strider reveal, and NOBODY WAS WORRIED??? Such disrespect for the hobbit who got your asses clear of the Shire, honestly. And now he's *recovering from the Black Breath* and nobody checks in on how he is. Nob literally found him unconscious on the side of the road and Merry explicitly says he had "an ugly dream" that I am frankly entirely willing to chalk up to minor mental trauma. He's even beating himself up for going to pieces, which is just ridiculous because THE BLACK BREATH. But does anyone ask, "Are you ok, Merry? Can we get you anything, Merry?" NO!!! I get that Sam and Frodo are the A-plot hobbits, but SOMEONE CHECK ON MERRY, FFS.

Especially since he has just brought KEY INTEL that is going to keep everyone alive overnight and allow them to get out of Bree tomorrow without getting absolutely Black Rider-ed. Thanks to Merry, Strider keeps the hobbits out of their room, and Nob (shoutout to Nob, he's been awesome and should get Employee of the Month) sets up fake hobbits in their beds just in case. Once again, Merry has taken action to save all their asses and he is GROSSLY underappreciated.

Which, frankly, is a stark contrast to FREAKING BARLIMAN BUTTERBUR. This man, who Strider explicitly says would *forget his own name if people didn't yell it at him all day every day* gets forgiven with basically no consequences for not passing on a crucial piece of mail that would have saved Frodo and co. significant grief on their trip out of the Shire and would have made coming to Bree significantly less dramatic and noticeable. Gandalf threatened to roast the man and both Frodo and Strider agree that he deserved to be roasted, but DOES ANYONE DO THE ACTUAL ROASTING? NO THEY DO NOT!!! This is unacceptable, and someone needs to address this. Usually I want to be sucked into a book to live in the world and go on adventures or go on a date with a book boyfriend, but if I were to be sucked into Fellowship, my #1 task on my to-do list would be to give some goddamn comeuppance to Barliman Butterbur.

Ok, I'm going to leave it there for now, and we'll check back in next time to see if everyone survives the night with a bunch of Black Riders running wild in Bree.

#the fellowship of the ring #lord of the rings #lotr #reread #strider #books and reading #books #books and novels

[rohirric-hunter]

Oh yeah so if anyone else, like me, is confused by the first quest with Keteph in the Swain's Guild Hall where he asks for barley bread, what he is asking for is the apprentice level barley bread, which you may not have the recipe for because you maybe never pursued Men of Bree rep on your cook alt because why would you, she's never been to Bree in her life, and no you can't just buy the recipe on an alt that does have the rep and then send it to her, you have to actually get the rep on the character that has cooking as a skill so guess who's going on a field trip to the barrow downs

#lotro #drof is like 'im not going. i hate graves. and wights. and kergrim' #which. sure. NOW you tell me this #i have been trying to get personality out of you for months and NOW you have things to say about that. #anyway you go where i tell you young lady now eat the fucking cheese

[angelswing236]

"Don't worry. I got you."

Fictober 2023 challenge

Fandom: Downton Abbey

Category: Fanfiction

‘His Lordship may have made you underbutler, Mr Barrow, but I am still the butler here and I expect a certain standard of behaviour amongst the staff here at all times,’ Mr Carson snapped. ‘I do not consider carousing in a public house to meet that standard.’

‘I was hardly carousing, Mr Carson. I had two pints at most!’ Thomas protested.

‘That… that… is…’ Carson wheezed, suddenly feeling exceedingly dizzy and breathless.

‘Mr Carson? Are you all right?’

Carson clutched his chest, groaning, sweat slicking his face. ‘Indi… indigestion,’ he croaked.

Thomas took one look at the pallor of Carson’s suddenly sweaty face, the blue tinge to his lips, and his medical training kicked in.

‘Let’s get you on the floor,’ he said, taking the butler firmly by the elbow.

‘N-no.’

‘I think you’re having a heart attack. Let me help you.’ Thomas turned his head and shouted out of the door. ‘Alfred! Alfred!’

He eased Carson onto the floor, his back against the solid wooden front of his desk.

The butler looked up at him, fingers clawing at Thomas’ chest.

‘Don’t worry. I got you,’ Thomas said reassuringly, pressing his fingers to Carson’s neck, feeling the weak, irregular pulse fluttering there. ‘Keep your knees bent, feet on the floor.’

Alfred came skittering into the butler’s pantry, shocked by what he saw. ‘What the…’

‘Dr Clarkson’s upstairs. Fetch him down now. Tell him it’s a suspected heart attack. Send Daisy in with a glass of water and some aspirin,’ Thomas instructed, calmly.

As Alfred disappeared at top speed in a flurry of long, ungainly limbs, Thomas turned back to his patient.

‘You’re all right, Mr Carson. The doctor’s on his way. We’ll have you sorted in a jiffy,’ he said soothingly, slipping back into experienced medical orderly mode.

Daisy ran in with a glass of water, already stirring the aspirin into it. ‘Oh, Mr Carson!’

Thomas took the glass from her, cupping the back of the older man’s head, holding it to his lips. ‘Drink this, Mr Carson. As much as you can.’

Carson slurped at the glass, his eyes fixed on Thomas.

‘That’s it. That’s good. This might earn you a lie-in tomorrow, Mr Carson. You’ll have us all envious of that.’

Mrs Hughes appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide. ‘Charlie?’

‘He’s all right, Mrs Hughes, he’s all right. Dr Clarkson’s on his way down. Come and talk to him. I was just saying how envious we’ll all be when he gets to have a lie-in tomorrow morning. Isn’t that right?’ Thomas said, keeping his voice calm.

Mrs Hughes nodded, sinking to her knees on the other side of Carson, her hand going to his shoulder.

‘We certainly will, yes.’

Two minutes later, Dr Clarkson arrived, medical bag in hand. ‘Thank you, Sergeant Barrow. I’ll take it from here.’

Thomas moved aside for the doctor, catching Mrs Hughes’ eye as he did so.

‘Thank you,’ she mouthed.

He nodded back, surprisingly satisfied to have been able to help.

#fictober23 #downton abbey #thomas barrow #charles carson #writing prompt #writing challenge

[theresattrpgforthat]

I’ve been a big fan of northern fantasy, but especially viking sagas, epics and of course the Eda, are there any games that fall into genres similar to the Volsung Saga or The Epic of Ragnar Lodbrok?

THEME: Viking Sagas

Hello! The following recommendations are either based on Norse Fantasy, Viking Fantasy, or historical Norse societies. Some are more realistic than others, but they run the gamut from light-hearted to serious, and from fantastical to realistic.

9 Lives to Valhalla, by Gem Room Games.

9 Lives to Valhalla is a frenetic, gleefully ultraviolent ttrpg about death metal viking cats earning their seat in Valhalla through glorious violence and death (all 9 of them)!

Nine lives to stalk the earth! Nine times to die with sword in paw! Nine Lives to Valhalla!

You are a death metal viking cat, earning your place in the drinking halls of Valhalla by casting a wake of blood and carnage upon the blighted earth in each of your 9 lives. Guided personally by DEATH, your merry band will leave a wake of ruin ending only at the hands of a truly worthy foe. Find treasures, trade with merchants, mercenaries, or ghosts, and follow DEATH to seek worthy foes, fiendish traps, and ensure your place among the greatest warriors of catkind!

This is absolutely the kind of game you want to pull out for players who want to dive into violence with glee. This is a death-metal dark-fantasy world, with dangerous opponents, a pantheon of cat gods, tons of character abilities, and GM advice on how to design your own foes on the fly. If you want a game that indulges a party of murder hobos and sends nods to the pop-culture tropes of Vikings, you might want to check out 9 Lives To Valhalla. 

Ydalir, by Loreshaper Games.

Ullr took something that is rightly yours. He reigns in his court, Ýdalir, and that is where he has taken your treasure. It may be your beloved, a prized possession or tool, or even your honor—and you will get it back.

One player will take on the role of GM. They will guide the saga as it unfolds. They will tell players when to roll, and what the threshold is. The other players will make heroes seeking to reclaim what Ullr stole from them—they may be after the same object or several different things, but getting them back is a shared quest. 

This is a one-page bluffing game, in which you don’t have to tell the truth about what you rolled. However, other players can take on the role of Ullr call your bluff. If you lied (or failed), you suffer a Loss, while if you tell the truth, you gain a Focus, which forces other players to tell the truth, or reveal their next roll and gives your player a step up in the future. If you like the idea of characters bluffing their way past a God to get their treasures back, or you just want a small game interacting with Norse mythology, you might want to check out this game.

Runecairn, by Odin’s Beard RPG.

In a long forgotten age, a raging war shattered and devastated the worlds of gods and men. Now green life blooms amidst the ruins of the lost worlds. Wondrous and terrible beings roam the Nine Realms. Civilization stumbles forward, fresh and reaching.

Strap on your bearded axe and linden wood shield, delve into the forsaken barrow and cleanse the draugr within. They will overwhelm you at first so prepare to die. But when you wake up at the bonfire, you'll know what to expect for your next attempt. Parry their attacks, disarm them, and hack them to pieces. Defeat the mad jotunn within and claim the soul remnant they protect.

Death is not the end.

Runecairn: Core Rules is a 44-page, black and white tabletop RPG zine, which includes a Norse fantasy setting, a full game system, and character creation rules for adventures set after Ragnarok destroyed most of the Nine Realms of Norse mythology. Runecairn is based on Cairn by Yochai Gal, with streamlined rules, fast character creation, and gameplay based on exploration and player choice.

This game is designed for the OSR gamer, which means that death is likely and character creation is quick. This game has quite a few supplements that you can pick up to enhance your play, from the Advanced Rules, (solo play, advanced character options), Beneath the Broken Sword (an introductory dungeon crawl), and Wardensaga, a package that contains everything in one place. If you’re interested in a rules-set that is easy to pick up and carries time-honoured nods to the fantasy game, with a Norse Mythology twist, I recommend Runecairn.

Blood Feud, by Bläckfisk Publishing.

Blood Feud is a game about toxic masculinity: certain common attitudes and behaviors among men, that cause great harm to them and to others around them. This is a game about people being nasty to each other and about figuring out why.

It’s also a game about vikings of pre-christian Scandinavia; about honor and blood feuds, courage and brutality, corruption and consequences. Above all it is a game about what it means to be a man in such a world—and what consequences that has on the communities they live in.

The goal of the game is to explore and experience toxic masculinity, while at the same time creating a thoughtful drama about relationships, competition and social consequences. Blood Feud is decidedly different from the other games on this list in that it takes away fantastical elements and focuses on the intertwined relationships of Vikings through a critical lens. It does this using the well-matched Powered by the Apocalypse system, which is a hallmark for dramatic role-players. If you’re interested in Viking life as well as exploring public and private relationships, you should absolutely check this game out.

Iron Edda: World of Metal and Bone, by Tracy Barnett.

Dwarven Destroyers stretch shadows across Midgard, a harbinger of war to come. Brave human warriors abandon clan and holdfast to bond themselves to the bones of dead giants, hoping to push back the Destroyers. Strangers from others lands appear in Midgard, bringing with them strange powers, and tales of war abroad.

Seers advise and divine the future, but the fate of the world is murky and dim. Jarls, thralls, and warriors fight in common cause, shouting “victory or Valhalla!” as they charge into battle. Ragnarok has come, and you live in a World of Metal and Bone. Will you dine with the gods in Valhalla, or dance with the dishonoured dead?

Another Powered by the Apocalypse game, World of Metal and Bone lets you tell stories of brave warriors, Jarls, Bone-bonded giants, and their defense of their holdfasts. Based on Dungeon World, this game includes something that not a lot of PbtA games have - established lore. There’s not much of it, but characters are presented with names that follow the naming conventions of different cultures and locations, and the book begins by presenting the reader with different factions and neighbouring countries.

If you’re interested in this setting but you would like a different system, Iron Edda Accelerated is in the same world but uses the FATE rules system instead. There’s also Iron Edda Reforged, a side-story game about building a neighbourhood community and taking down the gods - although this is less Norse Mythology and more a modern-day post-apocalypse.

Godtale, by Bläckfisk Publishing.

GODTALE is a Norse mythological micro RPG about escapades and rivalries, about cunning and vainglory. You portray aesir, asynjur and vanir of your own creation. Together you go on adventures in the Nine Realms. But each of you wants to be the deity who earns the most glory—not infrequently at the expense of your companions.

Godtale is a game in which you can win or lose. You will compete against your fellow players to gain the most Glory by the end of the game. You do so by overcoming Trials, using your Domains, Attributes, and Possessions to do so. You must also be careful not to accumulate too much Pride, which will negatively affect your dice rolls.

As for the GM, this little game provides a few pieces of advice on running the game, as well as some roll tables to give the characters interesting Trials. Overall, this game is quick, simple, and a great way to establish new myths about the deities of the Norse Pantheon - maybe even a great way to set the stage for another game on this list!

In The Time of Monsters, by Possum Creek Games.

It was the final age — the old world was dying, and the new world was struggling to be born. Every day Ragnarok drew closer, the end of the world heralded by churning seas and raging skies. The gods grew rotten and weak, their greedy eyes sunken into rotting skulls. The great heroes were reduced to grist in the mill of war. It was the final age before all things ended, and as the world-tree rotted, everyone knew … Now is the time of monsters.

In The Time Of Monsters is a tactical combat TTRPG about bloodsoaked heroes vying for power at the end of the world. It's inspired by Norse Mythology, Lancer, and Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. 

Jay Dragon is more known for games that are diceless or centred on storytelling, but this game seems to be a divergence from this pattern. This is meant to be tactical, it’s meant to be combat-focused, and it carries the familiar character elements of stats, special abilities, and inventory. That being said, characters will also answer questions about where they got their weapons and magic items and what they want in regards to the end of the world. 

If you're looking to tell dramatic fables about tragic warriors on a grid while rolling dice and getting big numbers, this is the game for you. If you’re looking for an adventure to drop into this game, you can check out Ullr’s Revenge, a third-party supplement written by Ripley Caldwell.

#dnd #game recommendations #norse mythology #vikings #indie ttrpgs #tabletop games

[bookofshitposts]

Anarchists stick together. Well, except when we get mad at one another over small details.

Margaret Killjoy, The Barrow Will Send What it May

#Margaret Killjoy #The Barrow Will Send What it May #anarchism #lol #words

[ginger-grimm]

🐷 + Jordan

Thank you for sending this in @ginevrastilinski! Also tagging @luucypevensie, @dancingsunflowers-ocs, and @daughter-of-melpomene cause I feel they may be interested too.

Their favorite foreign cuisine: Jordan is a sucker for any good Thai food he can find. On sets it was all he would ask for for a while and in Lima he comes to really miss it.

Their favorite YouTuber: I think he would enjoy a variety of comedic YouTubers from the early days of the platform and (naturally) come to regret it by the time 2020 rolled around. By that time he would enjoy those hour long essay videos on anything he finds interesting.

Their favorite social media app: Instagram

Their favorite animated movie/TV show: The Incredibles and Avatar: The Last Airbender

Their favorite New Year's Eve memory: During his first official New Years in Lima, Jordan used his fake ID to buy a wheel barrow full of booze and they holed up in his mansion on the "outskirts" of town while his mother was on a business trip. They played games all night and, on Rachel's insistence, did Karaoke until the Fireworks went off at midnight. Afterward they indulged on food and all passed out around the house. No one dares ask how many hookups happened that night and no one quite knows how Matt fell out a first story window.

Their favorite soda: He doesn't drink sugary drinks all that often but when he does, he'll choose Mountain Dew because he's predictable that way.

Their favorite mystery: The mystery of the Zodiac Killer fascinates him for some reason.

What supernatural creature they are/would be: I feel like he would be either a werewolf or a centaur.

Their favorite hairstyle: He experiments a lot, to be honest, but mostly keeps it short and styled.

Their most chaotic moment: I mean, it's definitely him taking off from his latest movie set to become a normal student, causing his Agent to come chasing him over the whole country. It is one hell of a whirlwind Fall for him.

#answered #oc: jordan roberts

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

Eleanor Williams

She’s a 22 year old woman from the UK. Back in May of 2020, she was 19 and made a post on Facebook to say that she was a victim of trafficking by an asian gang. According to her, this gang had groomed her, beaten her, blackmailed her, threatened her with weapons and took her to a house where they raped her. She even uploaded pictures to show the injuries that she’d sustained. 

Her post garnered a lot of attention and as a result, there was a global solidarity movement called Justice for Ellie. That caused issues in her hometown, where police said there were over 150 crimes linked to the case in 2020 alone, including 83 hate crimes.

Her post sparked outrage in her home town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, with public demonstrations targeting the local newspaper, the Asian community and police.

One restaurant had its windows smashed and fire alarms had to be installed at vulnerable premises, while journalists were threatened and one moved out of her home.

Racist graffiti was sprayed on walls, the local newspaper was boycotted and police officers were threatened.

The judge said the Facebook post caused what police described as a "turbulent" period in Barrow, in displays of public anger that had not been seen in the town for 30 years.

Even before May 2020, she had falsely accused men of raping her. The first man was  Cameron Bibby in 2017. Williams was just 16 at the time and since than, Bibby has been harassed and had difficulty finding work. 

There was also 43 year old,  Mohammed Ramzan. He owns a local business and was accused by Williams of grooming her since she was 12.  The 43-year-old was in tears as he revealed that his business was damaged and his reputation was “destroyed” while he and his family were targeted “in the most horrendous way.” He described attempting suicide as a result of the “mental torture” he experienced.  “I have had countless death threats made over social media from people all over the world because of what they thought I was involved in,” he told the court. She also claimed that he put her to work in brothels in Amsterdam, and sold her at an auction there.  She described punishment beatings, rape, a girl nearly dying as a result of a beating and another having a dog set on her. But the court heard that, at the time she was in the Netherlands, his bank card was being used at a B&Q in Barrow.

Oliver Gardner was just an electrician trainee, having only met her once when he was accused of raping her.  He attempted suicide twice and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act due to the stress of Williams' accusation. Gardner described Williams as having “ruined his life” and prevented him from completing his studies.

There was also John Trengove. She accused him of raping her 3 times. he also attempted suicide and now has PTSD as a result of the ordeal. 

In court, her lies began to unravel. 

She did indeed go to Amsterdam. However, she had shared a hotel room with her sister and sister's boyfriend.

She had claimed that Blackpool was one of the places she had been raped by the asian gang. But that was determined to be a lie as well. At the time Williams said she was being raped by men in Blackpool, evidence showed she was staying in a hotel she had booked herself. She later admitted she had made this up, but claimed the men had forced her to tell the story to discredit her. When police made enquiries, they found she had travelled to the seaside resort alone and stayed in a hotel, where she bought a Pot Noodle from a nearby shop and then remained in her room watching YouTube on her phone.

At some point, she was given a phone by a woman’s shelter. She used that phone to send social media messages to herself and tried to make them appear as if they were from traffickers or other victims.  Phone mast records showed that while texts were exchanged, the two mobile phones were in the same place - even when the defendant travelled to Scotland to see her father.

She claimed that starting at the age of 13, she was taken to sex parties  in "Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Preston, everywhere" and made to have sex with numerous older men. More than 20 women Williams listed as present at sex parties all denied being there. The prosecution said Williams had either known the girls from school or found their details online.

Williams admitted she lied about being trafficked to Ibiza after police said they could check her travel records. She claimed she was taken to the island for two weeks where Mr Ramzan paid men to have sex with her. But in a police interview, she admitted this was false when police presented her with the possibility of having her travel records checked, the judge sentencing Williams said.

Furthermore, what she had said about her time in Amsterdam when Ramzan had trafficked her was very similar to a scene in a movie called Taken. In the movie, an ex-secret service agent's teenage daughter is abducted by human traffickers.

One of the final pieces of evidence that went against her was CCTV footage showing Williams purchasing a hammer at a Tesco that was later used to give herself self inflicted injuries. Police also found her DNA on the hammer at the scene 

She was later sentenced to 8 and a half years of prison 

SOURCES: 

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/eleanor-williams-jailed-facebook-post-150352172.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLnlhaG9vLmNvbS9qb3JkYW4tdHJlbmdvdmUtZmFsc2VseS1hY2N1c2VkLXJhcGUtZWxlYW5vci13aWxsaWFtcy1wZW9wbGUtc3RpbGwtb24taGVyLXNpZGUtMTEyMDAxNTE4Lmh0bWw_ZnI9c3ljc3JwX2NhdGNoYWxs&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMYC91j11KMno0nF5FwmY1xQfDP5OgBV9NfSl7zMDTqEydmC0zp-Q-loJ2lP-jjEgMwCxWX-s5SQonXPn9ZuOKFlHY29Xmeya64cvcqdp8NYBZzEIp2fxx0knik0E7wxrommoS4TErVtEUUKKlwO6WQ4PwsUDIJNC8bo_Vn-mbz_&guccounter=2

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/moment-eleanor-williams-buys-hammer-to-injure-herself-and-falsely-accuse-men-of-rape/ar-AA18CfJ6#:~:text=CCTV%20footage%20shows%20Eleanor%20Williams%20buying%20a%20hammer,been%20the%20victim%20of%20an%20Asian%20grooming%20gang.

https://news.sky.com/story/eleanor-williams-a-hammer-social-media-messages-and-a-blackpool-trip-how-her-false-claims-unravelled-12833665

https://www.yahoo.com/news/eleanor-williams-jailed-facebook-post-150352172.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

#mens rights #false accusations