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antiquitiesandlabyrinths · 2 months

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. . .Osiris

Osiris (Great and Beautiful is He) is the God of the Underworld; its King and Pharaoh ruling over the Duat. He is pictured here on the far left, His skin green and His body in mummiform. This is commonly how He is depicted; as a green-skinned, mummified man.

Son of Nut, the Sky Goddess, and Geb, the Earth God, Osiris was the first King of Egypt in accordance with Kemetic mythology, although there are stories that recount Geb, His father, being King before Him. There are a great deal of myths and stories that surround and involve Osiris, and I suppose it is important to at least skim over them before discussing hard facts about Him, as it gives some reference as to who He is and what the culture surrounding Him is like.

Osiris Myth

After the world was created, the Demiurge (who changes according to myth, and can be Neith, Ra, Amun, Ptah, or others) produces children; in the most popular form of this creation story, it is usually Ra who births the first Gods. They are Shu and Tefnut, Air and Moisture. Shu and Tefnut then form a union and birth two children of Their own: Nut and Geb, Sky and Earth. Nut and Geb were very much in love and refused to separate from each other, which, of course, caused a problem, because if the sky and the earth are eternally in contact, there is no space for anything to live and walk upon the earth. Ra made it so Nut and Geb were forever separated, by having Shu, air, stand atop Geb and hold Nut up as the sky. But Nut was already pregnant. When Ra discovered this, He was enraged, and forbade Nut from ever giving birth on any day of the year.

Nut cried to Djehuty (Thoth), and Thoth devised a plan. He went to Khonsu, God of the Moon, and set up a gamble, saying that every round of the game Senet Khonsu lost, He would have to give Nut some of His moonlight. Khonsu ended up losing so many times that Nut had enough moonlight for five days––five days that weren't in the calendar. This allowed Her to give birth on those five days, and on each day She had a different child; Ausir (Osiris), Wr-Heru (Horus the Elder), Sutekh (Set, Seth), Auset (Isis), and Nebet-Het (Nephthys). Nut and Geb were still forever separated by atmosphere (Shu), but the five Gods were birthed, and Osiris, as the eldest son, became King of the Living World.

As a side note, all Gods do have ancient Egyptian names which are different from Their Greek and now modern names. For convenience's sake, and to avoid confusion, I will use the names They are most known by; Their Greek/modern names. And as another side note, there are a lot of variations on this story. I will be piecing together a lot of different ideas but I will be leaving some things out for the sake of cohesion.

When Osiris came to Egypt, He found the people there to be chaotic and lawless. As King, He instituted laws and spread ma'at, which is truth, justice, harmony, and order. Egypt flourished under His rule and the people were incredibly happy, as all were equal, and with the fertility of the God-King, the crops were always bountiful and food was plenty. He brought not only law and prosperity, but also the right way to worship, and the teachings of agriculture.

Set, God of chaos, confusion, the desert, and of foreigners, and the youngest brother of the Ennead, grew to be quite jealous of His older brother. There are many variations and the most popular variation of this story comes from the end of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC), where Set fashions a fabulous coffin in the perfect measurements of Osiris, throws a party, and tells the party-goers that whomever the coffin fits may have the coffin as a gift. When Osiris fits perfectly, Set quickly shuts and bolts the coffin and throws it in the Nile (this version of the myth gives an origin to the idea that people who drowned in the Nile were holy). His coffin drifts downstream and into the Mediterranean, where it washes ashore in Phoenicia, in Byblos. The coffin wedges itself into a growing tamarisk tree, a tree which envelops the coffin. Eventually the tree is cut down and used as a pillar in the palace in Byblos.

Isis, Osiris' wife and sister, searched far and wide for Her husband, and did eventually find Herself in Byblos. The story is quite long and complicated, but in the end She convinced the King to give Her the pillar, and when she returned to Egypt, She hid Osiris in a swampy area of the Nile delta, and bade Her sister, Nephthys, to watch over Him while She went in search of healing herbs. But Seth heard that Osiris was back, and so after interrogating His sister-wife, Nephthys, He found Osiris, cut His body into pieces, and threw them into the Nile.

Isis was horrified at what transpired in Her absence, but She immediately set to work on finding the many pieces of Her husband with the help of Her sister, Nephthys. They managed to find every piece of His body except His phallus, which had been eaten by an oxyrhyncus fish, a fish that was thus forbidden to eat.

With the pieces of Osiris reassembled, and the healing powers of Isis in full power, Osiris was brought back to life, but incomplete. Isis assumed the form of a kite, and from above drew out the seed of Osiris, impregnating Herself with Their child: Horus the Younger. But Osiris, still incomplete, could not properly rule over the land of the living any longer.

This is why He is the ruler of the dead––He was once the king of the living, was killed, and was resurrected, and this is what every ancient Egyptian expected and hoped would happen to them: that they would die and be resurrected. In tombs and mortuary temples you will always see Pharaohs associating themselves with Osiris.

But this long myth I have just told you is not the only version of the story, and in my opinion, it is definitely the longest version of the story. Back in the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom there were several different versions; for example, Set's motive is different, ranging from revenge for Osiris kicking him, to revenge for Nephthys (Seth's sister-wife) sleeping with Osiris (which eventually births Anubis). Some texts claim that Seth took on the form of a wild animal, such as a crocodile or a hippopotamus, and killed Osiris that way. In others, Osiris is drowned. In some, the steps surrounding the coffin are skipped, and Osiris is simply cut up, and His pieces scattered around Egypt; a version which explains the many cult centers of Osiris claiming to be a place where Osiris is buried. Osiris' resurrection is also often helped along by other Gods such as Thoth (God of wisdom) and Anubis (God of embalming). In some versions, Set is killed for His actions. In most He is simply defeated and driven from the land, as chaos is necessary for balance and harmony, and thus cannot be killed. And the story that I have told is from the Late Period, recorded by Plutarch, and does not really go along with many Egyptian accounts, which often find Osiris' penis intact.

So that is the Osiris myth with all of its' intricacies and changing rhythms over the course of 4,000 years of Egyptian history. It embodies a huge amount of cultural practices and religious ideas within ancient Egypt, including the idea of truth, harmony, and justice, as well as resurrection, the afterlife, healing, and the workings of the cosmos. I've decided to leave out the later parts involving Osiris' son, Horus, and His fight with Set, for now because this does not directly involve Osiris, and that is our topic for this post.

Tradition, History, and Culture

Worship of Osiris dates back to the Old Kingdom, but the idea of Osiris is likely older than this. Before Osiris was actually Khentiamenti, an agricultural God centered in Abydos, a city which would later become the cult center of Osiris. Khentiamenti means 'Foremost of the Westerners', a title for the ruler of the dead, as the dead resided in the west, where the sun set each day. But Osiris Himself is not found mentioned in any texts or carvings until the 5th Dynasty, where He is depicted as a man wearing a divine wig. Later on He would take on the form we know Him best in––wrapped in a white mummy shroud, wearing an atef crown with ostrich plumes on the sides.

The mummy shroud He is depicted in forever associates Him with death and with the essential story behind Him, which is why I found it so important to start off with the Osiris Myth. This myth is also why He consumed and took the place of Khentiamenti; the name Khentiamenti, Foremost of the Westerners, instead became a title for Osiris as the King of the blessed dead. Another common epithet/name of Osiris is Wennefer (Omnophris), meaning 'The Beautiful One', 'The Beneficent One', and more archaically, 'One Whose Body Did Not Decay'. Among these names He was also called 'The Lord of Love', 'The King of Living', and 'The Eternal Lord'. From the Early Dynastic Period up until the end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, when Rome conquered Egypt, Osiris was one of the most highly worshipped and revered Gods of Egypt.

Osiris was associated with the Nile river, with its' renewal and life-giving abilities, as one of Osiris' domains and powers was fertility, as well as rebirth. Another of His duties, evidence of which originates in the New Kingdom, was to act as judge of the dead; being King, He sat on the tribunal with the 42 Judges in the famous Weighing of the Heart ceremony. In this ceremony, which took place in the afterlife, the deceased would have to stand before the court and place their soul up for judgement. If it weighed lighter than the feather of Ma'at, representing all justice, truth, and harmony, then the heart acted well in life and would be allowed eternal happiness in the Field of Reeds. If not, the heart, and thus the person, would be consumed by Ammit and committed to nothingness. So Osiris would sit in on this tribunal and judge who entered His kingdom, as it was His domain. In this role, and in His role as King of the Living, as well, He was the embodiment of harmony, law, and justice.

"Most of his appeal was based on his embodiment of the cosmic harmony. The rising Nile was his insignia, and the moon’s constant state of renewal symbolized his bestowal of eternal happiness in the lands beyond the grave. In this capacity he also became the model of human endeavors and virtues..." (The Complete Gods And Goddesses Of Ancient Egypt, p.307)

As I mentioned earlier, Abydos became His cult center, as it was the cult center of the God who came before Him, whose traits He subsumed. It became a very popular burial site, as legends would say that Abydos was where Osiris was truly buried, and the people wanted to be buried as close as possible to Osiris. At one point they believed an ancient tomb there––which was actually the tomb of an Early Dynastic King––to be the tomb of Osiris, which they much revered, and left so many offerings in clay pots that Arabs would later call the site 'Umm el Qa'ab'; Mother of Pots. But this was not the only burial site of Osiris; since many variations of the myth include Set chopping up and dismembering Osiris into many parts, ranging from 14 to 42 different parts. These parts were scattered across Egypt, so many cities and nomes could claim that they had a part of Osiris buried in their domain. For example, far in the south, the island of Bigah claimed to be the burial site of Osiris' left leg, and thus the source for the yearly Nile inundation.

Going back to the Osiris Myth, after Osiris died and became the ruler of the dead, His son took His place as King of the Living: the falcon God, Horus (Heru the Younger). After the brief bout of chaos brought about under Set's rule, Horus took over (after much deliberation from the Gods) and order was restored. Because of this story, Pharaohs would not only associate themselves with Osiris in death, but with Horus in life. Each Pharaoh, as they came to the throne, would become the living embodiment of Horus on earth, the son of Osiris. In this way, Isis was also the mother of every Pharaoh, and their protector. And, to added extent, each Pharaoh would have a personal name, and then a Horus name granted to them when they ascended to the throne.

"It is for this reason that Osiris is so often depicted as a mummified pharaoh; because pharaohs were mummified to resemble Osiris. The image of the great mummified god preceeded the practice of preparing the royal body to look like Osiris... The king's appearance as modeled after Osiris' extended throughout his reign; the famous flail and shepherd's staff, synonymous with Egyptian pharaohs, were first Osiris' symbols as the flail represented the fertility of his land while the crook symbolized the authority of his rule." (Osiris, World History Encyclopedia, Joshua J. Mark)

Osiris can also be represented by a number of physical symbols, such as the crook and flail that He carries in almost all representations of His earthly form. The crook, which is the striped hook He carries, represents power/authority, and is a symbol of the Pharaoh. The flail, which is the instrument in His other hand, represents the fertility of the Nile, and as an extension, the fertility of Osiris Himself. But the crook and flail, though both seen typically as symbols of Pharaonic power, are actually the tools of a shepherd. There is reasonable evidence, thusly, to suggest that the physical origins of the idea of Osiris may not be that of a great King, but of a ruler of a shepherd tribe in the Nile Delta, whose rule was so beneficent that it led to him being worshipped as a God. For Egyptologists, this theory comes from His association with Andjety, a predynastic God-King worshipped in the Delta who also bore the crook and flail as His symbols. This, however, has not and likely cannot be fully proven. But the postulation is still interesting nonetheless!

Osiris' ba soul had its' own culture of worship, a practice of soul-worship that is prevalent in the cults of several other Gods, such as Hathor (HwtHer). In this form, Osiris was known as Banebdjedet, meaning 'The Ba of the Lord of the Djed,' which in English terms means 'The Soul of the Lord of the Pillar of Continuity', as ba means soul, and djed is the symbol for a pillar, which represented the backbone of Osiris. Interestingly, the name Banebdjedet is feminine, as the letter t denotes a feminine word or name in ancient Egyptian; although there are also variations on this name that exclude the t in favour of the alternative, Banebdjed. Banebdjedet, Osiris' ba soul, was worshipped mainly in Mendes, a city in Lower Egypt, in the Delta.

This leads to an interesting point concerning the androgyny of Osiris, a subject I found while researching for this post. Osiris' fertility comes from His castration and then being healed by the mother Goddess, Isis. Not only that, but both men and women identified themselves with Osiris in death. Then the name for His ba personified as another God is feminine, although representations of Banebdjedet are overwhelmingly male. Before anyone attacks me, I am not claiming that Osiris is a genderless God or King––just that He has some traits of androgyny, which I find interesting and love to study in ancient cultures, and I thought it would be good to mention for anyone else similarly interested.

Worship, Festivals, and Cult Activities

When it comes to the practices surrounding Osiris' cult, we actually know a good deal of information regarding the activities of worshippers and priests. Osiris' cult and worship was so widespread and lasted long enough that it could be recorded by the earliest Greek historians, and remained carved in temple walls for thousands of years. Among the most well-known cultic tradition is the Osiris Bed.

The Osiris Bed is rather well documented, as it was an object placed in tombs. It was not a bed for the deceased to lie in, but instead a box made of wood or clay, moulded into the shape of Osiris, in which the fertile Nile soil was placed and seeds were planted. These boxes were then wrapped in white mummy linens, and the seeds sprouted through, representing the resurrection and fertility of Osiris, and the crops that grew each year in cycles. One of the most famous of these beds was found in King Djer's tomb, a King from the Early Dynastic Period; the 2nd King ever of the unified Egypt. Coincidentally (or, perhaps, not so coincidentally) King Djer's tomb was the tomb which pilgrims believed to be Osiris' burial site.

While the Osiris Bed is far from the only practice and tradition of the Osiris cult, it does show the rich cultural practices and symbolism present in His worship. Let's look at some other examples of the practices of Osiris' cult.

Similar to the Osiris bed were Osiris gardens, which were essentially the same concept; fertile soil was planted inside a vessel shaped into the form of Osiris, and seeds were settled within to grow. These beds were tended to during festivals instead of being buried in a tomb.

There were a great many festivals, and each of them quite popular according to their time period, dedicated to the story and symbolism of Osiris. Some festivals started with recounting the mournings of Isis and Nephthys, Osiris' sister-wife and sister, in the form of a drama acted out in a call-and-response format. Another drama acted out for the glory of Osiris was more in the form of an actual fight that anyone could participate in; it was modelled after The Contendings of Horus and Set, which I briefly mentioned as a long and drawn-out argument between Horus and Set over who deserved Osiris' vacant throne after He had died. On this occasion, people would battle out and reenact the events of the story until the side of Horus finally won and victory was achieved. Afterwards, the celebrations commenced in honoring the restoration of order, and the gold-encased shAwyt-nTr (the Holy Statue) of Osiris would be taken out and lavished with offerings. Osiris, in the form of this statue, would be paraded throughout the city of Abydos before being placed in a shrine outside, where He could participate fully in the festivities, and be admired by the commoners who would usually never behold the face of Osiris. This emergence of Osiris from the dark temple's inner sanctuary to the light of the city resembled and represented His resurrection from death into life again. Although this particular festival was celebrated mainly in Osiris cult center of Abydos, it was also celebrated in other cities such as Bubastis in the Delta, Busiris, Memphis, and Thebes, in Upper Egypt.

The Mysteries of Osiris was a series of plays performed annually, and in dramatic, passionate form. It was one of the most popular observances of worshippers, and it told the story that I first told to you––of Osiris' life, His death at the hands of His brother, His resurrection at the hands of His sister-wife, and His ascension into the role we now know Him for. The roles in this reenactments were often taken up by high-ranking officials, and afterwards, the Contendings of Horus and Set would take place, which I just mentioned. These plays would take place over several days.

One festival was called The Fall of the Nile. During this time, the waters of the Nile would recede, and the worshippers of Osiris would go into mourning. One of Osiris' representation on earth was the Nile, and the Nile represented His fertility and life.

Another festival was celebrated on the 19th day of Pakhons, one of the months in the Egyptian calendar, which is roughly equivalent to May in our Gregorian calendar. On this day, the followers of Osiris would go to the river with shrines containing vessels of gold and metal, and would pour water into the Nile, exclaiming, "Osiris is found!" Mud and spices were mixed and moulded into the shape of Osiris, as well, to celebrate His return. Another festival similar to this one was called The Night of the Tear, and took place during modern-day June.

The last festival pertaining to Osiris that I will mention is the Djed pillar festival, held in modern-day January. The Pharaonic court and family would participate, raising djed pillars to welcome Osiris and the harvests that coincided with His return.

One last and interesting tradition that may seem familiar to Christians, at least in a small way, was the baking of bread in the shape of Osiris; bread as the flesh of the God, a sort of predecessor of communion wafers. But in reality the traditions of the Osiris cakes are completely different, and there were several different ways of going about it, depending on which nome you were from. In Dendera, wheat-paste models were made in the shape of each of the 16 dismembered parts of Osirs, and each model was sent out to the town where each respective part of Osiris was found by Isis. In Mendes, figures of Osiris were made of wheat and paste. On the day of the murder, they were placed in a trough, followed by water being added each day for several days. Afterwards, this mixture was kneaded into a dough, put into a mold of Osiris, and buried on the temple grounds.

Conclusion

This has been a somewhat brief glimpse into the cult, history, and traditions surrounding the Great God, The Beautiful Lord Osiris. If I can clarify anything please let me know and I will do my best!

#Osiris #ancient egypt #egyptian mythology #egyptian gods #Kemetic #ancient history #egyptology #Kemeticism

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ryndicate · 1 year

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As you wish ⨳ Thorkell

Pride is not worth dying for.

notes: this will probably be updated with smut at another time, it's been sitting in my drafts for a bit and i just don’t have the brain for adding the spice rn </3 but i really enjoy the idea, and the next part will have a fun little plot twist sooo yk. hehe. enjoy my little story dump for now. drabble length, less than 1k.

warnings: wrote this from the time period of the series itself, so pls note that reader was sold to her husband! time period misogyny! also blood/death mentions

By expanding, you are consenting to viewing adult/dark content, and all warnings listed above. 18+ Minors DNI

Blog Rules/DNI

"IS THERE ANY OTHER MEN WORTH A DAMN IN THIS DAMN PLACE OR DO I NEED TO MAKE MYSELF WELCOME IN THE NEXT?"

The giant of a man leers around the destroyed hall, one eye clothed the other crazed. His face and clothing are splattered with blood, the same which drips from the flat blade of his remaining axe. The other still lays embedded in your husband's—former husband's—chest plate.

The other women lay cowering beneath the tables, some silent and shaking and other's shaking and crying. You, however, remain seated at the head table, as you have been since this giant and his men stormed the lord's hall.

His shoulders seem to sag as his bellowed call goes unanswered, and he shakes another stream of red onto the floor. His stare rounds the room and this is the moment you choose to stand, and he notices. His expression doesn't seem to change as you round the table, brows set, but his head tilts as you gather your skirts and crouch by the dead lord's side.

"He was almost worth the effort."

You glance up at him, finding the giant standing above you. He gives you a broad smile and his expression, misplaced in the chaos around you, recalls to you something you already knew, but had forgotten. His appearance meets the description; towering height, tall blond hair tied back in a headband, muscular beyond reason.

"I imagine there aren't many men worth your effort, Thorkell the Tall," you return impassively.

"Those are pretty nice words to give your lover's killer," Thorkell banters with you far too easily.

Resolutely, your hand closes around the shaft of the axe in the corpse, and it takes you great effort to pull it free. Besides the incredible heft, there is nothing special about it. But still, you trace its blade almost lovingly, fingers smoothing down from iron steel to the pine finish. You pay the blood no mind.

The enemy warrior doesn't tense, doesn't stiffen, nor show any sign of threat. You don't imagine you pose any to the likes of him, even with a weapon in hand. You tilt your head back to gaze upon his face as you lift the weapon towards him in offering. "That man was my husband, but I have yet to take a lover in this lifetime."

Thorkell pauses only a moment before accepting his axe. "Yet?"

You smile at him coyly. "If you so wish, I yet have a life ahead of me. I choose to be optimistic."

"Yer placin' your life in my hands?" He rumbles now, scratching his head with a slow forming grin. He’s peering at you closely now, and you can only hope you’ve got his attention.

"I was one of the many slave wives of this hall, but it was me you saw seated at my master's side. I can be valuable to you, if you wish to buy me."

"And who's to sell you then if your master rots at my feet?"

"My cost is them." You step closer to the giant, catching his gaze and purposefully drawing it towards the women still trembling on their bellies. They certainly haven't escaped his notice, nor his followers'. "You nor your men are to lay a finger on them. Allow them the choice of their own freedom, and in return I am whatever you wish of me. My fate lies with you now, Thorkell the Tall."

“Any of them English?”

You tilt your head curiously but answer him all the same. “No. Each of us are a spoil of conquest. Our homelands are elsewhere.”

Thorkell hums to himself and rests his axes on his shoulders. He seems to be mulling over your words, and you’ll take that for what it is, holding your head high and not allowing yourself to tremble after coming this far. Coming this far means nothing if it ends in naught. You are not scared of this warrior. You are not scared for even your own life. Your last few years have been hell under your former lord and way he treated you. Your only peace has been the kindness shared between the other wives and servants, so failing to save them is the only thing you fear. If you can do this for them, even if it leads to more suffering or your own death so be it. You will stand tall.

“As you wish then.” A weight leaves your shoulders for a bare moment, but he continues, and it begins to thump and patter as you try to keep a calm expression. His cheer remains untouched; there’s something deeper in his eyes now that calms you somewhat, though you don’t quite understand. “I like ya. Not like most dames, I’ll give ya that. So, I’ll give ya the chance to prove yerself.”

“To prove myself?”

The warrior turns his back to you and slams both axes into the wood of table, shafts held aloft from how deep the blades sink in. It’s loud, frightening the other women into short shrieks as they curl in on themselves. “Men! We’ll be resting here tonight and taking advantage of their fine hospitality. Anyone who touches the women here will be responsible for the stain on my honor and will answer to me. If ye be so bold, I look forward to it. We'll rejoin Askeladd in the morn.”

Some of his men laugh, cheer. Others look chastened, intimidated. You resonate with both. You imagine there are few who would find themselves at perfect ease with such a formidable fighter.

Thorkell turns to face you, grin still in place, and you find yourself cast in his shadow.

“Show me to yer dead lord’s chambers. They’re ours for the evening.”

#vinland saga x reader #thorkell x reader #vinland saga #thorkell the tall

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sofasoap · 8 months

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Lastochka AU - Strange encounter

Pairing : Nikolai x F!Reader ( OC/Mini MacTavish)

Summary: You just can't get a break, can you?

AU to my Lastochka series

WARNING: Mature Theme. Crack Fic. I repeat. Crack fic. don’t take it so seriously. Swearing, violence, death, innuendos.

A/N : The meaningless crack plot continues. Thanks to @siilvan for listening to my weird blabbering on Nik, and @gamergirlbones, here is the crack I promised. Not proof read. I am half asleep. I'll check it again later. * zzz *

masterlist

You crouch behind a dumpster bin, arms wrapping around your messenger bag tightly, panting away, listening to the shouts of foreign languages and footsteps running past your hiding spot.

For countless times. You wonder why every strange thing has been happening to you, since you moved to this city. Getting picked up by a strange man, who turns out to be your brother’s work associate (with questionable background ), being set up by your best friend with the said dodgy person (well, you have to admit, it turns out to be a decent date. Ok. Pretty good date, you admit.)

Now you are being chased by mobsters, who want to kill you.

For reasons unknown.

“Fucken bitch, think you can get away from us? Hand over the package!!” You made yourself even smaller as you heard the assailant yell out between the alleyways, voice getting closer and closer.

What package? You look at the manila envelope inside your bag, is this what they are after? Some business analytic report and boring colour samples your boss requested for the office renovation project?

Wait. Now you remember. You walked out from the designer’s office, you ran into someone. Both of you dropped whatever was in your hand, apologising to each other as the other person scrambled to pick up the package on the ground, mumbling something incoherent before they scurried away in a hurry.

The two packages look exactly the same.

hell damn it. You picked up the wrong envelope. No wonder it weighs heavier than you thought.

Thinking back to your workmate’s joking words when you complain about all the bad luck and strange occurrences you had since you moved here ;

“ The stars aren’t aligned right, or your chi isn’t matching with this city. Chaos is ruling the universe!”

Or the goddess of fortune just playing jokes on you.

Banging noises and bins getting overturned snapped you out of self-deprecating musing. Gotta think something fast, you tell yourself, if you don’t want to end up on the news being a dead body floating down the city river, discovered days later. You would rather die from falling out of the helicopter, piloted by Nikolai.

With a shaky hand and suppressing that fear slowly rising from your stomach, you fumbled as you dug out the mobile phone from your bag, scrolling through the list of contacts and hoping Johnny isn’t on a black OP mission or middle of nowhere.

Your thumb came to a stop when you saw a name on the list. Should You? Or should you not?

Fuck this. Maybe luck will be on your side this time round, you press on the name of the contact, hoping for the best.

One ring, two rings, three rings. “Come on.. Come on.. Please…” Praying in your mind as you hold your breath while biting your nail,waiting anxiously.

“Hellllo, my Lastochka, have you finally decided on our third date?” Nikolai purred as he picked up the call.

Rolling your eyes ,you whispered into the phone harshly, holding back the tears and panic. “There is NO third date if I am gonna die in this dumpster in the next ten minutes!!”

“Where are you?” You can sense his immediate tone change. He speaks up again before you can notify you of location. “Nevermind, I will just track your phone. Stay where…” Before he could finish you saw a shadow looming over you, with gun in hand. Letting out a scream and out of instinct, you dropped the phone and deflected the gun split second before the person pulled the trigger, bullet grazing your cheek. Swinging your bag into the person’s groin with all your might, you quickly crawl away as the attacker collapses onto the floor with pain.

As you scurried away from the danger, you nearly forgot to pick up the phone. Ducking back to retrieve it, you notice the attacker slowly getting up, ready to fight again. Before they had the chance, you gave them another kick in the stomach and harder kick in the head, grab the phone and ran as fast as you could away from the alleyway.

You didn’t get too far when you heard the sound of gunshots ringing between the buildings, people screaming, followed by a hand pulling you into a broad chest.

Very familiar warm chest and scent. Feeling of safety. Nikolai.

“Seems I got here in the nick of time.” You feel his chest vibrating as he laughs at his own pun. “But I see you manage to defend yourself with no problem, little bird. Soap had taught you well.”

You would have collapsed on the ground with relief if he wasn’t holding you up with his strong arms. Turning yourself around to lean into his chest, “How did you get here so fast?” you asked. “Did you stalk me again?! Wait, you did, didn’t you? You mention something about tracking..” you looked up at him suspiciously.

“That is another subject to discuss when your brother gets here next time.” he dismisses you lightly. “So, Are you ok? Why are the local mafia chasing you down??” Pulling you away from him, your body heats up as he cupped your face gently, scanning up and down your body, checking for signs of injury. He frowned as he saw the bullet burnt mark on your cheek, from the bullet barely dodged minutes ago.

Closing your eyes as let out an exasperated sigh. You quickly recount all the events from earlier on the day.

“So, here I am, nearly got gunned down, and have something in my possession which I shouldn’t have.” you concluded, fishing out the package from your bag. “I don’t even know what’s in there.

“Well, open it then.” Nikolai nodded towards the envelope, encouraging you to open the mystery package.

Opening up the seal flap of the package, you took a good look inside.

“Well, this is definitely not the colour swatch and carpet samples my boss asked for.” you closed the flap again, sighing. “You can have it. I can’t exactly have… that.. Things with me. I don’t know what to do with it.”

Passing the envelope over to Nikolai, he opened it, eyebrow raised and said nothing.

“What do I do now??” You muttered as you stood there, totally lost. “They know I had the package.. They are going to try to track me down.” You bit your lip, thinking hard. Should you go back to work? No, that will only bring trouble to more innocent people. Hotel? Out of option too.

“I’ll sleep with you tonight.”

Did you hear him right?

“What????” you took a step back. “Wait, wow, hold up! We are not up to that stage in our relationship yet!“

“Does that mean we will eventually get there?” He asked with a sly smile on his face, “should I be prepared? Get stuff ready? What would you like?”

You are mortified, you are just digging a hole for yourself here. “Get your mind out of the gutter! We are talking about serious business here!” you berated him. “So what do you mean by sl.. Sleeping with.. With me tonight?” you stuttered, face burning.

“I’ll stay with you, until the situation resolves.” Patting you on the head. “I’ll contact Price later. See what he can do and organise. But in the meantime, you are stuck with me.”

Honesetly? You don’t know if that is a good idea or not.

But part of you can’t deny maybe it’s not such a bad idea as you sat on your bed, watch him changing out of his shirt into comfortable loungewear, you secretly gawked at his broad back and the corded muscle, how it flexes when he put one arm through the sleeves, and into another…

“Should I take my pants off in front of you too?” Nikolai turned around suddenly, a devious smile on his face.

Caught red handed. Well, not your fault when he decided to change in your room, with you in here. He claims he isn't leaving your side, “Just in case. They might break in any minute.”

You had to kick him out of the bathroom when he tried to follow you in. “There’s no window in here!!! I will be alright!!” you half screamed and slammed the door into his face.

“It’s not like I haven’t seen a dick before.” You retorted, giving him a nonchalant shrug, but in fact, you were nervous as hell.

Nikolai hummed, his expression not giving anything away, and proceeded to remove his pants. You tried to look away, but you couldn’t. Oh, that’s a nice bulge. You noticed as he turned slightly, facing you side on. You clamp your thighs tight subconsciously, a pool of warmth growing down there. Fuck. should have told him to sleep on the couch, so you could relief your self in private.

A dip in the bed snapped you out of your daydream. You looked up, his beautiful dark eyes stares back at you. “Cm’ere Lastochka. Sleep on this side.” he commanded. Leaving no room for argument. He is trying to shield you from the window and door.

Forever a protector. You feel both annoyed and touched by his action. Sick of being treated as a damsel in distress, but you know well that the situation is way out of your control, you would have died if he didn’t come to your rescue earlier this afternoon.

Switching the bedside table light off, he tucked both of you in, kissing you lightly on the head.

Not tonight. You are not going to give into your desire tonight. You are still in danger. It’s not time to think about how nice he smells, his large hand cradling your head, how well it will cup your pussy and it is ALSO not the time to think how his dick is gonna stretch you wide….

“You alright there?” he whispered.

“Why do you ask?” you replied, words slightly slurred, eyes half closed from exhaustion from the day’s event.

“Because you are grabbing onto my shirt. Quite tightly too.” he mused.

You let the shirt go immediately. Embarrassed, you flip your body away from him, ignoring his chuckle and force yourself to try to fall back to sleep.

Your eyes shot open to the sound of glass breaking in the living room. Nikolai was already standing by the edge of the bed, back towards you, gun ready in hand.

“Just as I predicted.” You can hear a gleefulness laced with malice in his voice. A hunter waiting for his prey to show up, ready to toy with them.

The other side of Nikolai you have never seen before. It sends shivers down your spine. Note to self, you thought, never get onto his bad side.

Shooting you a brief glance before turning back to face the door, he pointed to the pillow he was sleeping on, “There’s another gun under there. Grab it and stay behind me.” he commanded in a hushed tone. From your previous observation, how your brother and the boys behave, you know better not to disobey him when he is in full commander mode.

Nikolai yanks the bedroom door open and throws a knife you didn’t notice he was holding into the first intruder’s throat, killing him instantly. You barely suppressed a scream as you saw the body collapsed onto the floor, blood flowing onto the carpet.

Your landlord is going to kill you. Was your initial thought. How are you going to get rid of the blood stain?!!

The intruders were clearly caught by surprise. They were only expecting you inside the apartment. The other two immediately trained their guns at the two of you, but faltered when they saw who they were up against.

Nikolai growled at them in a language you couldn’t quite understand, the two stunned assassins nodded quickly, dragging their dead team mate’s body with them as they hastily retreated from the broken window.

You sighed as you looked at the damaged window. Now how are you going to explain that to the landlord too? Shaking your head, you moved behind Nikolai,avoiding the broken glass on the ground as you joined him peeking out the window, making sure the enemies were true to their word in retreat without causing further problems.

“What did you say to them????” you gaped in wonder, amazed how fast they came, and how fast they went.

“Easy. I told them you are my wife. And if they lay a finger on you, they will have me to deal with.” You snapped your head towards him, brain freezed for a second at what he has just told you.

“This is what I propose, just in case they go and check the marriage registry. We should head to the registry office tomorrow to get married. So what do you say, Lastochka, will you marry me?”

WHAT. DID .HE .JUST. SAY.

“..... get someone to clean up the carpet first before we discuss marriage please. I am going to lose my bond money because of that.”

Tag list:

@homicidal-slvt @nrdmssgs @siilvan @roosterr

@preciouslittlecreature @jynxmirage @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot

@glitterypirateduck

@whydoilikewhump

@alypink

@liyanahelena

@caramlizedtomatos

@ashwasherelol

@okayyadriana

#cod nikolai #nikolai cod #nikolai cod x reader #nikolai cod x f!reader #taskforce 141 #nikolai reboot call of duty #call of duty #nikolai cod x female reader #cod x reader #cod x you #call of duty mw 2022 #mini mactavish #mini mactavish universe #sofasoap writes #crack fic #dont take it so seriously

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peapodsinspace · 1 month

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Moomin x JJBA AU - Intro post!

Hello!!!! I figured I should make a post about this, and probably some other aus too eventually…

(I’m gonna go ahead and put this under a cut cus it’ll be long, but even if you don’t care about the au I promise it’s not just words!!! I put silly drawings too!!!)

Alright! So this is an au where characters from jjba are like moomin characters! To clarify, they are still in their normal universe, with stands! (I may also do some spin offs in a no stands/ actually in moomin valley version of this au too!)

I’m calling this the “JOJOxter au” because all of the jojos are joxters :]

I’ll start with a list of each species + a brief explanation of traits / details!

(Note that I have made moomins / snorks roughly the same thing in this which is why there isn’t a section for moomins)

Joxters

Joxters are very cat like, in appearance and behavior. They tend to be very adventurous, though sometimes lazy by nature (though this is the general rule, there is of course exceptions to this!).

Physical traits can include: cat-like eyes (yellow sclera and cat pupils), retractable claws, sharp canine teeth, markings on the nose bridge, cat-like ears and tails, fur on various places of the body (hands, forearms, chest, legs, etc), and whiskers.

Mymbles

Mymbles are the most humanoid of the bunch. They can be anywhere from extremely short (like little my (from moomins) or diego (in my au), to extremely tall (like mymble mama or mista). Mymbles often have a love of chaos and general shenanigans. They are also known for having strong familial bonds. Mymbles are able to hibernate, and do so occasionally.

Physical traits can include: small horns with rounded ends, skinny tails, and sharp teeth.

Snufkins

Snufkin are a mix between Mymbles and joxters. They can show traits more similar to one or the other, be a perfect mix of the two, or even change from one to the other. As such a lot of their characteristics depend on the individual!

Physical traits can include: cat-like eyes (usually without the yellow sclera), tails, sharp teeth, pointy or claw-like nails, fur on various parts of the body, and whiskers.

Muddles

Muddles are generally known for being very emotional, or feeling one (or more) emotions very strongly. Usually anxiety or fear (moomin example is the muddler), but it can be any emotion(s). They often like to collect things, and get attached to or find comfort in their collection.

Physical traits can include: long floppy ears (like a rabbit’s), whiskers, long tails, fur on the legs, and large eyes.

Snorks

Snorks are very round looking creatures, known for being very soft! They are able to change the color of their fur based on their emotions. Snorks are known for being friendly or accommodating, but this is more due to general snork philosophy rather than a trait! They often have many hobbies, and are known to be very big on hibernating the winters away, though they don’t have to.

Physical traits can include: pointy ears, long tails with tufts of fur on the end, paw pads, and round faces

Here is a doodle page I did to decide how I want to draw each species:

[Image ID in alt text]

I just realized how long this is… yikes

Anyways! That’s basically the meat of it, so next is mostly just doodles!!!

Here’s bruno and jotaro! (Bruno is a snufkin and jotaro is a joxter)

[image ID in alt text]

Here’s drawings of diego and silver bullet I did:

[ID in alt text]

For context, this is how horses are drawn in the moomins (or at least *a* horse) and I thought it would be funny to draw them like that too!

So diego rides a normal sized horse in this, since having a small one would put him at a severe disadvantage in the race!

Here’s some miscellaneous drawings! (For reference fugo is a muddle, narancia and mista are mymbles, jolyne is a joxter, and FF is a snork!)

[Image ID in alt text]

In this au instead of FF being plankton, they’re a bunch of hattifatteners!

Alrighty!!! That’s all! I hope you enjoyed, even if you just skimmed everything :]

Please reblog, comment, or send me asks about this au if you have any questions!!!

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balioc · 5 months

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LARP Sizes

When you talk about the "size" of a theater LARP, you might mean a lot of different things -- how long it lasts, how long the game materials are, how much physical space you need to run it, etc. (These things heavily correlate with one another, which helps to confuse the issue.) But the most important version of "size," of course, is player count. A LARP is nothing more or less than a bunch of characters doing stuff, and the experience is shaped heavily the number of characters who are contributing to it.

(It's like party size for a TTRPG, only more so, because you don't have an omnipresent GM who can keep everything in hand for everyone.)

If you're thinking of writing a theater LARP, I would strongly encourage you to think about your game structurally when you're deciding how big it's going to be. Don't just decide that you want to write a large game because you're feeling ambitious, or that you want to write a small game because you're feeling nervous; don't just include every character concept that you have in your head. Choose a size that works well with the kind of experience you want to generate, and with the mechanics you have in mind.

Every additional character changes things, of course, but (in my opinion) these are the size ranges that really matter:

0-1 PCs: This is not a LARP, in the conventional sense. This is a joke or an art project.

2-3 PCs: The PCs cannot escape each other at all. The game will necessarily consist of a single extended conversation, and you should think of it in those terms. It's the writer's job to make sure that conversation is interesting and sustainable.

[The general rule is that character sheets and other documents tend to get longer as the game gets bigger, because there's more material that has to be incorporated...but games with 2-3 players often have really long sheets, just for the sake of making sure that everyone has enough to talk about, and that every PC has some very substantive thoughts about every other PC.]

4-7 PCs: At this size, the game will likely default to being a single round-table conversation, and fundamentally everyone is going to have to deal with everyone else -- but the PCs will be able to split off for private chats (without leaving anyone twiddling his thumbs). Plotting and politics begin to become possible, although you shouldn't expect that anyone will really be able to hide anything from anyone else. This is an excellent size for games that are basically about emotional tangles.

8-15 PCs: By my standards, a "medium-sized" LARP. There's enough going on that you can thread multiple plots into your narrative, although you should expect that everyone will likely be interacting with everyone else, at least to some extent. It is totally plausible that a PC will be able to maintain a more-or-less complete understanding of the total game situation, although you can't count on anyone in particular doing so. Complexity and factional conflict are viable here. This is the sweet spot for intricate integrated mechanical structures where you want every PC to be interfacing with the same system. It is not an accident that two of the most successful game-structure templates that have come out of my LARPing tradition -- the Dance and the Dawn template and the Be Not Afraid template -- require exactly 13 PCs.

16-30 PCs: In a LARP of this size, a PC can probably have more-than-zero clue about every other character in the game, and about all the overarchingly important plots...but no one is going to be able to keep up with everything that's going on, not even remotely. Chaos and fog-of-war start dominating the play experience here. Games this big usually require multiple interconnected narratives, and there are usually whole plots that just don't have much to do with each other. It becomes important for the writer to ensure that any given PC has enough different things going on that his game won't get randomly destroyed by the tides of happenstance.

31+ PCs: Any given PC will be totally clueless about whole swathes of the game; certain characters, and certain plots, will completely fail to intersect at all. Either the LARP is secretly a bunch of loosely-connected game modules, or it needs to be robust enough to survive all manner of butterfly-effect-generated madness as unusual outcomes and choices ripple outwards. (I don't actually have any experience writing LARPs at this scale. My biggest game is for 30 PCs, and it was definitely straining against the kind of structural cohesion that I tried to impose on it.)

#larp

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gaviicreates · 10 months

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Bingo Roll 3 - Chaos Chevron Scarf (Pt1)

Ignoring the fact I am also making a chevron scarf in Tunisian crochet for a gift right now, I was super excited to get this roll on my not-so- fancy excel grid and randomizer formula. Usually when I think of chevron, I think of stripes, and I have some palette packs on hand that have been waiting for that perfect project.

Just a few things to figure out: What am I making? How thick and tall do I want the stripes? And, how many colors?

My brain immediately decided scarf, so that's the first question out of the way. It's such a staple accessory, and I am of the opinion you can never have enough scarves.

I'm really enjoying the randomizer that comes from choosing each of these next projects, and I've been wanting to do a project that combines a dice roll with a corresponding color for a long time. With that in mind - why not all of the colors?

The palette pack I have has 10 colors, and I have d10s a plenty with my tabletop stuff. I'm choosing this color scheme with pink leading into red-browns, and light blues darkening into natural greens. I didn't have a project in mind when I bought this from Hobbii (Rainbow Cotton 8/4); I really just wanted to try out the cotton. So this is the perfect opportunity to dive into the pack.

The set will give me 175 yards of each color, so I am finishing out with 1,750 yards of fingering weight cotton to work with here. I won't need that much, and this should be more than enough depending on the dice rolls. I will add one rule for the dice roll - if I've used the color in the previous round, I'll be rolling again. Finally the stitch. Since the pack is already fingering weight - and the label actually is calling it a 1 weight - I feel like hdc will do just fine for balancing color changes. While I like the look of singles in striping, I think it will be too dense with the 1 weight. And honestly, it will take too long. HDC is actually my favorite base stitch too, and it gives some wonderful options for texture. I'm going to do BLO, and follow the instructions for this pattern. I whipped up a sample in the yarn I used for the amigurumi challenge, which is the same yarn as what I have in this palette. If I've done my math right, every 4 rows will be 1.5 inches, so I can expect a 66 inch scarf to be a solid 176 rows. I might take it up to 72 inches. Who knows.

I may not like math, but I LOVE data, so I of course will be keeping track of all my rolls. I'm planning to roll for 10 at a time to really break this project into sections. That'll give me the discipline too for either weaving in as I go, or at least for the every 10. I do not want to get to the end of the project and have 300+ends to weave in. Truly the stuff of nightmares

As a note - I've made up the color names just to keep myself organized.

I'm so ready to get started...[insert dice roll here!] ....Our first row will be #9!!

Crochet Bingo

#Crochet bingo fill #gavii makes stuff #new project #crochet

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lunar-wandering · 1 year

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Happy Salmon

A short lil LMK fic of just the gang having fun, because man, they deserve a break.

Summary: MK brings a new card game to game night.

Word Count: 1.5k

Read on Ao3

MK slapped the new game he had purchased earlier that day onto the table in the Noodle Shop. Everyone was sitting together, the Noodle Shop closed for this night's round of Family Game Night. Through a lot of bribing and convincing, Macaque, Wukong, and Red Son were joining them for the first time. They’d already played through some of their usual games, and aside from a couple small moments of laughter and over dramatics (when Macaque found out one game hinged on being able to tell who was lying and who was telling the truth, oh, he put his theatre voice on up to the NINES, speaking in the exact same overdramatic fashion at all times, making it impossible to tell if he was outright lying or simply overdramatizing the truth), but thus far, things hadn’t descended into true unrestrained chaos. Yet.

That was soon going to change.

As the others discussed how the past games had gone, MK sat in his chair and took out the game’s rule book to silently read through, knowing that so long as he read it at least once before reading it outloud to the others, he’d be able to articulate it in a way the others would better understand before they played their first practice round.

He didn’t even make it through reading the first sentence before he choked on his own spit, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“Ya alright, kid?” Pigsy asked, and MK held one hand over his mouth for a moment, in shock, processing, before holding back laughter as he set the rule book down on the table so that the others would be able to look and read it over his shoulder.

“Oh, I think we’re in for it.” MK snickered, pointing at the very first paragraph. “The very first line says ‘this game is best played when standing’.”

A near simultaneous “Oh- no.” went around the table, and MK laughed even harder when he read the next line.

“This game requires you to shout at all times-”

Another, more serious “Oh no.”, mostly said with humor, albeit there were a few looks at Macaque, to see what he thought about it. Noticing the looks, he simply shrugged, waving them away. He could deal with it, it would be fine.

MK, laughing the entire time, ran over the rest of the rules. Apparently, you needed to find someone who was shouting the same action card name as you, perform the action with them, and then discard the card from your personal deck as fast as possible by any means necessary, even if it meant throwing the card over your shoulder or to the floor. There were a total of four actions, high fives, fist bumps, a kinda secret handshake-esque thing where you each lightly slapped the other’s forearm, and- MK nearly wheezed before he read the next bit- swapping places with the other person.

The air was tinged with the anticipation of chaos as they all stood up, moving the chairs they had been sitting on out of the way as MK set out the proper amount of card decks on the table.

“Ok.” MK said, as everyone picked up their own deck. In all honesty, the game sounded simple enough, just find someone who matched what you were shouting and miming the action of, discard your card, and be the first person to get rid of all your cards. It probably wouldn’t take too long, nor be that hard. “Everybody ready?”

There was a series of nods around the table.

“Then three… two…. one…. go!!”

Almost instantly, it was like pure chaos had manifested itself into the room. It was nigh impossible to tell who was yelling what, and MK could barely breathe from the energy as everyone frantically exchanged high fives and fistbumps- MK caught Tang also shouting ‘Switch it up!’, and upon making sure they had locked eyes, both of them took off running to get to the other’s spot on the other side of the table. At the same time, Pigsy and Wukong did the same thing, MK and his mentor almost bumping into each other as they skidded into place, tossing their cards down at the same time. Macaque’s ears were pinned against the side of his head in response to the loud noise, but still even he was smiling and laughing like a maniac as he fist bumped with Mei.

They almost missed it when Red Son shouted that he had won, all his cards gone, it taking him repeating it a solid 3 times, as well as slamming his hands down on the table, before any of the others noticed.

Almost instantly, it was like a pressure had abated, as MK practically collapsed to the ground, holding onto the table with one hand as he struggled to regain his breath, feeling like he had just run an entire race, struggling to take deep breaths in and out around remnant laughter. Holy shit, that had been far more intense than he had thought it would be, and it wasn’t even like he’d done anything difficult!! A couple of the others were in the same state, Mei and Red Son shrugging off their jackets, knowing full well that, with this practice round as an example, they were likely going to end up working up a sweat as everyone decided that they simply had to do multiple more rounds. Macaque rubbed at his ears a little.

“Do you need some headphones, Macaque?” Mei asked, as she went through the process of picking up the cards that had been scattered haphazardly around the table, sorting them back into their own colour coded decks.

“Nah, I’m fine.” Macaque picked up the purple deck as soon as it was finished, absentmindedly shuffling it. “I know what I’m in for this time, chaos isn’t nearly as annoying or painful as the background noise of electric lights.”

“Cheers to that.” MK said, picking up the yellow deck as soon as it was ready. “Alright, everyone ready for round two?”

There was multiple sounds of agreement, and things readily fell into chaos once again.

Round’s 2 and 3 were much like the first, filled with chaos, and a cacophony of noise. The only real difference was that, when MK won in round 3, overwhelmed by the sheer energy the game had put into him, instead of yelling that he had won, he simply shrieked, which ended up being a lot louder and higher pitched than he had been expecting. He covered his mouth apologetically as the others winced, and Macaque covered his ears.

“...Sorry.” Macaque waved him off.

“‘S fine bud, just don’t do it again.”

It was round 6 when things started to go a little downhill.

“Switch it up!!” MK had yelled- looking around the table and straining to tell if anyone had the same action card as him- only to yelp as it suddenly felt like the floor gave out from under him as he plummeted down-

There was a flash of violet, and suddenly he was standing on the opposite side of the table from where he had been before, Macaque standing where MK had previously been.

Oh.

Oh, so that’s how he wanted to play this, then.

Okay.

As soon as Macaque’s shadow-portalling had registered, it was instantly like all bets were off. Obviously, there wasn’t much that could be done in terms of the fist bumps and high fives… but the switch-it-ups were now a competition.

Red Son started using his fire teleportation- very nearly singeing Tang’s arm as he appeared right beside him, Tang only just barely managing to lean away in time. Both Mei and MK started using their enhanced speed to get around the table faster, very nearly hitting each other multiple times.

Wukong, unwilling to waste time with a backflip to summon his cloud, simply decided to outright vault over the table, sending cards flying everywhere with his action, and almost slamming into Macaque as he landed on the other side.

This went on for nearly 2 minutes- fire, green and yellow sparks, as well as purple shadows flickering around the room as the chaos unfolded.

It only stopped when both Wukong and Macaque threw their final cards down on the table and shouted “I win!!” at the exact same time.

Both monkeys immediately paused, before glaring at each other, fur standing on end in a way that MK mentally compared to two cats about to start a fight. Thankfully, they were spared from witnessing another monkey argument as Sandy spoke up.

“Uh, actually, I won about a minute or so ago- but you were all too distracted to notice.”

Everyone glanced over and, sure enough, there were no cards remaining in Sandy’s hands.

“I also think that, maybe, we should switch to a different game.” Sandy held up a nearly burnt card, using it as an example that had everyone visibly wincing. “Y’know, before we accidentally destroy Pigsy’s shop.”

…Okay, so maybe things had gotten a little out of hand.

…Happy Salmon quickly became regulated as a game to only be played outside, or in Wukong’s house.

#Monkie Kid #fanfic #my writing

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starwarsrarepairbingo · 1 year

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Event FAQ!

What is a fandom bingo?

A fandom bingo is an event where you are given a “bingo” card full of prompts, with one free space in the middle. Your challenge / goal is to get five in a row (whether horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) by creating something to “fill” those prompts.

What counts as a fill?

Anything you have put significant work into creating. There are no minimum requirements for fills for this event. Classically, 500 - 1000 words of fic, 5 - 10 mns of podfic, 8 song playlists, etc, have been minimums of other bingos these mods have run or participated in. However, we just want to encourage you to create things, so if you wrote (for example) a 480 word fic or a perfect drabble (100 words exactly) that you’re proud of, it counts!

What types of creations count for fills?

We cannot think of anything we would not allow; physical art, digital art, crafts, playlists and fanmixes, fic, podfic, moodboards–go off! If you’re curious if something would count, the answer is probably yes, but you are welcome to send an ask to check!

What counts as a “RarePair” for the purposes of this bingo?

We tried to come up with something numerical or statistically based, and in the end, it wasn’t worth the hassle of becoming lawyers about what counted. If it’s a rarepair in your heart, it counts. Please be true to both us and yourself if it is or isn’t; if it’s one of the largest pairings in the fandom, it probably isn’t a rarepair.

Do all ships have to be monogamous?

Nope! You can do polyamorous ships, we’d welcome it! You can also do gen fics featuring platonic relationships. RarePairs is a catchy way to "market" this, but if you’ve got a creation idea featuring any number of characters interacting who are not the central fandom focus, we want to give you an excuse to make it!

Do OCs count?

Absolutely! Go off! We love OCs!

Can I use my creation to fill something for this bingo & also other bingos/events?

Absolutely fine with us! Just make sure you double-check the rules for your other events too.

Are crossovers allowed?

Absolutely! These mods ship Eowyn (LOTR) / Padme and will likely make at least one fill for that, join us in our chaos!

Can I use one creation for multiple fills on my card?

No; with exceptions being:

If you have a multi-chapter fic, each chapter can be a different fill

If you make 2 pieces of art (ie. fic + art or podfic) they can each be used for one fill even if they’re in the same post.

If you have another potential exception you can think of, send an ask! We’ll be glad to hear you out.

Can I change prompts?

No, as your card will only be generated based on prompts you have pre-selected, you cannot change any of the prompts on your card.

When can I get a new card?

If you get a bingo on your first card, you can get another card. You can get up to three (3) cards in this round. You can keep creating off of your first card(s) even if you get second & third ones after achieving a bingo!

Can I keep using my card after the round ends?

Yes, and we’ll keep the collection open so you can still add to it. Depending on if we run another round, we may not continue monitoring the tumblr to reblog / promote, but we’d love it if you kept creating things you were inspired by.

How to I submit my challenges?

If you post on tumblr, reblog with the tag #starwarsrarepairbingo23 or @ this blog and we'll reblog it! If we miss it, feel free to submit or link us so we can make sure to share it! If you post to AO3, you can also add it to the collection (Star_Wars_Rare_Pair_Bingo)

If there is another round, do I have to create a minimum amount for this bingo to sign up?

Yes, but only one fill of any kind. So long as you’ve created one thing, you’re good!

(Note: If you did not sign up for round 1, this does not / will not apply!)

What do I win?

The joy of having beat a challenge, and if you want, we’ll post your name with a congratulations banner on this blog and links to your validated bingo submissions.

#faq #star wars rarepair bingo

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glittergrubz · 1 year

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askldhaj this was super fun to make! But also took a decent amount of time, and yet I love it so much! I'm very proud of how they all look! I'm also happy with the changes my art has gone through, altho I need to do way more different poses,,ack my weakness lol.

All I ask is that you guys aren't to harsh about these headcannon designs. I personally hate that almost every Sandwing is the same sandy desert color. So I wanted to expand that, your allowed to like the cannon designs! Don't worry, just don't shit on my designs for being different, I want my designs to be different! I think it's fun to reimagine characters espically the WoF families. BTW: I plan on doing more in the future. Queen Glacier's family is next bc Dravvona gave me a great idea for Glacier's design >:]

Also yes these will be used for my Rainbow Sparkle Chaos AU/Rewrite. Even have some headcannons for each of these little guys. --- These designs are FTU! Here are just a few rules for the designs. I even have seprate files for each headshot so you guys can get a better look at each of these fellas! - DO NOT claim the art or designs as your own. Credit me with either a tag on websites I have or linking my DA profile. - Do not edit my headshots or trace these designs, you will be blocked and blacklisted. - Take inspirations! I don't mind at all, just credit me! (I love seeing people use my designs or inspirations hehe) - Do not repost headshot designs either

Stash Link -> sta.sh/210nk11kfs1c?edit=1

Character Headcannons -

Blaze - The blue jewelry she owns is from her girlfriend Glacier. She made it especially for her and she wears it with pride. - While ditsy she's gain some plant knowledge from her dead brother Scald. They were very close, spending hours together painting claws, tending to plants and trying on makeup! - She sounds like Pinky Pie from Gen 4! (I love pink characters so much agh!!) - She now spends her time with Glacier (I'm sorry but I can't let her die, Blaze needs her so badly) often helping healers with plant knowledge and trying to figure out how to get plants to grow in the Ice Kingdom. - I wanted her to look like a strawberry dragon, it just felt perfect! PINK PINK PINK!!

Blister - She's quite thin compared to her more plump or round family. Built like a snake and sounds like one too. - Her amber jewerly was gifted from her father, she loves her jewelry as she despises her mother. Giving all her attention to Blaze because "she's the baby of the family" while Oasis boasts about Burn's power in battle. Her mother tried to connect with her but she liked Char. He always knew what to say when she was upset. She was devastated when Char passed away. - She sounds like Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty 1959 - Has an secret obsession with poisons, although she herself is quite afraid of being poisoned. - I wanted to stay mostly close to the pale snake motif. Although I just couldn't help adding orange n red to make her look fiery, almost like a super venomous snake. One that wears it's toxicity on it's scales to warn others. Also wanted her diamonds to look more interesting, I always though cannon diamonds were way to cluttered.

Burn - Had a fling with Scarlet, thought she was pretty and quite interesting. But really wasn't looking for a relationship, and after the whole face venom thing well they were not getting back together. - Def sounds like Lady Dimitrescu from RE8 - Despises her brother Singe. Everytime she looked at that awful weasel he always had something to say, either behind her back or right to her face. He always teased her for not being great at speaking or writing. Teased the way she walked, her slight mouth gape at all times. Till one day she ripped his neck to shreds, sending the dragonet almost to the heavens. After that day she was placed into fighting training where she became the power house she is now. - Once she killed her brothers she took her time with Singe, torturing him for as long as she could. She gave Scald a more, "merciful" kill but anything would seem merciful if you saw what she did to Singe. - Yes she's a dark color bc I thought it was neat, made her look alot like her papa. She has also cut most her frill/hair off bc of dangers of fighting. Less things to grab! I tried making her hair kinda like a roman helmet but kept the theme for most the family.

Oasis - Big boss bitch who knows exactly what to do! Smart, cunning and beautiful, she does have one odd thing about her. Body mods, she loves them dearly and enjoys her horn piercing's (altho they were a bitch to put in, their horns have a lot of nerves). She's also a adrenaline junkie, so her piercing addiction, lots of treasure and devious tactics are perfect for her. - Loves her small man Char. If you walked in a room with both of them it's a lot like Mortica and Gomez Addams. She was devastated when Char passed away, become a more unhinged dragon in the process. - She sounds like Mortica Addams from Wednesday (I just had to, sounds perfect). - I wanted a more light, warm theme with Oasis. Almost like desert terracotta, and yes hear scales! I thought it was cute on Blaze but Oasis HAD to have them. I also had to give her dark curly hair with highlights bc omgomg I loooove that so much.

Char - Sounds like Gomez Addams from Wednesday (hehe small man n big wife gang) - Malewife energy all the way. He constantly embellishes himself in beautiful amber jewels while taking care of the look of the palace. Talking to his servants and giving all his children as much time as he can. His wrinkles and bags are from all the duties he does. Although he would never change it for the world, especially for his love for Oasis. - Def has an addiction to coffee, I mean how is he going to help Scald get those new plant imports in, and buy Blaze's new makeup, help Singe hunt that beautiful beast he saw in the desert- (you get it lol). - I really wanted "im very tired" vibe with him. I also wanted to go with a dark/char look to him while keeping bright reds, oranges and yellows for fire! It gives him an intimidating look, but also has alot of warmth to it.

Smolder - Hoenstly I don't have much for Smolder, other than that he was probably the straight man of the family. Although way more chill and with horrible sleeping issues! He's an insomniac and takes traditional medicine Scald makes for him to help him fall n stay asleep. - Sounds like Legoshi from Beastars - I had to make this dude greasy n tired. It was just a great idea imo. Like he has to be tired dude, and he doesn't have time to bathe!! I also made him more orange than Blister altho making sure it make them look like they come from the same hatching.

Scald - I made him into a femboy- ENOUGH SAID, lmao. Seriously though I really wanted to give Blaze a best friend, she really deserves it! So: a very femine brother who loves beauty products but also looooves plants! He's obsessed with em and his mother made him his very own greenhouse. He loves his plants and takes care of them as much as he takes care of Blaze. - Do not underestimate this small dude, he will kick your ass. Not only is he pretty but he will fight to protect Blaze and to prove a point. Although he is no idiot and will not pick fights, more so he fights for things worth fighting. Although he has a fear of needles so no peircings for him! - Sounds like Stolits from Helluvaboss - Blaze is a strawberry dragon, SO TANGERINE DRAGON TIME! I just really think the orange works very well for him, and I honestly wanted to make a femine male character bc I havn't really done that in a bit. I espically had fun with the flower necklace as I think it makes him stand out quite well against his family.

Singe - Awful stinky man, so smelly! He's two faced, lying, manipulating and egotystical dragon. Often picking fights with Burn as its easy for her lack of brains....well untill he was torn to shreds by her. After that he became way more fearful of the dragoness. Using expensive furs from the animals he's hunted. He's also very cowardly so no fighting or even peircings for him. - Obv sounds like Karl Heisenberg from RE8 - Honestly just a peice of shit, I have really nothing else to say lmao. - I wanted to do one more pink dragon before I finish the designs. I espically wanted a burnt pink dragon idea in mind, kinda like Char but pink! I was also done making jewerly so fur accessory sounded so much fun to draw. --- ★ Not for Other's Use ★ ★ Feel Free to Take Inspiration but Credit Me ★ ★ NOT FOR AI USE OR NFT USE! YOU WILL BE BLOCKED AND BLACKLISTED ★ ★ DO NOT REPOST/TRACE/EDIT! YOU WILL BE BLOCKED AND BLACKLISTED ★ DA: https://deviantart.com/glitterbonez TW: twitter.com/GLITTERBONEZx Tumblr: khaleern.tumblr.com/

#wings of fire #wof #sandwing #sandwing sisters #blaze #burn #blister #char #oasis #scald #singe #smolder

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writtenonreceipts · 2 years

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Microfic that’s not so micro ~700words @jilytoberfest

Golden

The snitch dances just inches from his face. Sunlight slices through the window and reflects off of that small golden ball. The light is sharp, almost too bright when it snaps into his eyes. But it doesn’t keep him from watching. Despite how quickly the wings flutter, James can still make out those little feathers that pulse with quiet efficiency.

When a round of footsteps slowly make their way toward him, James snatches a hand out and snags the snitch. Madam Pince has already given him a warning for the week and he can’t afford to get his library privileges revoked.

But, when he looks up from his table it is not Madam Pince who comes toward him. It is Evans. Lily Evans.

She walks through a stripe of golden light that stretches across the floor. Her steps are slow, careful. Maybe she’s not even paying attention to where she’s going or maybe she doesn’t care. Because one hand trails the bookshelf beside her in lazy notation and her eyes barely skim the spines.

She’s distracted.

He’s had seven years of learning everything about her. Seven years of noticing her nuances. Seven years. And he knows.

So, he releases the snitch. The feathery wings lap against his palm before it darts off in a sharp line directly toward her.

Lily gasps when the snitch flashes in her face. She swats at it, misses, and swats again. The snitch vanishes from her side and James whistles sharply to call it back to his side. The little orb takes on a mind of its own however and in a flash of gold, it zips off in the complete opposite direction than James’ outstretched hand.

“Well, that could be problematic,” he says.

At his voice, Lily locks eyes with him. Her surprise is short lived however as she narrows an accusatory glare at him.

When Lily sees him, her eyes narrow. “What are you doing?”

“Studying,” James replies. He grins, unable to help it. There’s always been something about challenging her, about seeing how far he can push her. Their verbal sparring has eased in the last year. It’s less about jabs and barbs and more about the subtle rules of the came.

“Really?” she says dryly. “Could have fooled me. You do know the second Madam Pince sees that snitch she’s going to ban you from the Library?”

“It’ll come back.” He hopes.

Lily finally comes to a stop just before his table. Her red hair hangs down well past her shoulders in gentle waves. Last year, she’d gotten bangs that had made him pay extra attention to her mouth, so he’s a little upset to see they’ve grown out enough to sweep off to one side. Golden light slants across her face. With it, her green eyes are more pronounced. Bright and burning.

“Ah, of course, it will, ” she says. Tapping a finger on the table, she tilts her head to one side. Bright green eyes watch him carefully. “I’ve forgotten how devoted you are to chaos.”

“It’s much more interesting this way,” he assures her.

And then she smiles. It’s something soft and easy and hardly if ever directed toward him. It’s beautiful.

“I’m sure,” she mused. She’s back to being distracted with the way her eyes wander and her cardigan lists lazily off of one shoulder.

That golden light illuminates a sliver of her face; pale skin flushed, circles curving beneath her eyes. There is something on her mind and he may never know it.

“Lily,” he says.

She meets his eyes with a start, as if just remembering where she is.

“James.”

He swallows slowly and nods to the chair across from him. “You’re distracted.”

“No,” she lies.

She doesn’t trust him. And that’s alright, he supposes. They’re still hesitantly friends with a few reserves around each other. One day it’ll change. One day--

“POTTER!” The resounding howl of Madam Pince has James flying out of his chair and stuffing as many of his books in his bag as possible.

“Told you things would be interesting,” James says to Lily. He winks as he slips around her and into the long shelves of books.

“I hope you survive,” she tells him even as he’s slipping away. “We’ve got rounds tonight!”

He, reluctantly, leaves her there in that golden light with a smile on her lips and subtle shake of her head. It’s just as it has always been between them: he runs and she remains at a standstill. One day, they’ll meet up right where they’re supposed to be.

#jily #jilytober #james potter #lily evans #james x lily #canon #fluff #golden #microfic #but not really micro #i over write #Harry Potter #jily fanfiction #fanfic #fics

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 8 months

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M.Wuerker

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Joe Biden continues to deliver!

October 5, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

As the House spirals into chaos, President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of $9 billion of student debt for public service workers. Per the NYTimes (accessible to all),

President Biden canceled an additional $9 billion in student debt on Wednesday as repayments started up again this month after a three-year pause. The move affects 125,000 people who qualify under existing programs, including for public-service workers such as teachers and firefighters and for people on permanent disability, according to a White House statement. “This kind of relief is life changing for individuals and their families,” Mr. Biden said on Wednesday.

The $9 billion in forgiveness for public service workers is a small portion of Biden’s plan to forgive $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million Americans, a plan that was invalidated by the Supreme Court under the so-called “Major Questions Doctrine.” That doctrine is a judicially invented artifice that allows the Supreme Court to invalidate any congressional legislation it objects to on policy grounds.

Of course, Congress could overrule the Supreme Court’s opinion blocking the forgiveness of student debt—but that would require Democrats to gain a majority in the House, retain control of the Senate, and re-elect President Biden. Each of those outcomes is achievable. If we can achieve those goals in 2024, Democrats can also pass national legislation to protect reproductive liberty, regulate the sale of firearms, protect voting rights, ensure the equality of LGBTQ people, and expand the Supreme Court.

Biden’s act of forgiving student loan debt for 125,000 Americans provides a glimpse of the promise of 2024 if Democrats regain control of Congress and re-elect Joe Biden. I know we are all working at full speed and do not need additional motivation. But it is helpful to recall how much better things can be if we are successful.

The race to replace Kevin McCarthy.

Let’s get this out of the way: No, Donald Trump won’t be the next Speaker of the House, despite suggestions to that effect from Marjorie Taylor Greene. The one thing Republicans love more than Trump is holding onto their jobs. They know that electing Trump as Speaker would ensure the loss of control of the House and the defeat of Trump as a presidential candidate. Republicans will figure out that fact after they have milked their fifteen minutes of fame for nominating Trump as Speaker.

Trump doesn’t want to be Speaker, which is a real job that requires hard work in exchange for the enmity of the Republican caucus. And if Republicans lose their collective minds and elect Trump as Speaker, he will trigger government shutdowns, legislative gridlock, and physical altercations on the House floor (among Republicans). He would quit in weeks, forcing Republicans to go through a humiliating third election for Speaker in a year.

Trump had plenty of opportunity to step up to the Speaker’s job when McCarthy went through fifteen rounds of votes. He didn’t then, and he isn’t going to do so now.

Finally, Trump is ineligible to be Speaker under rules passed by the Republican caucus. See MSNBC, Why Trump, despite the chatter, won’t become House speaker. Per MSNBC,

House Republican Conference rules for the 118th Congress clearly states, “A member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed.”

Could Republicans amend their own rule? Sure! But they won’t.

I could be proven wrong, but I don’t think I will be. Why? I believe House Republicans will put their self-interest in re-election over their faux fealty to Trump. As we saw yesterday, it takes only five Republicans to break from the party to stop the GOP caucus in its tracks.

Okay, with that elephant in the courtroom out of the way, let’s talk about the two announced candidates. But before we do, I want to answer a question a reader posed: Did Democrats make a mistake by not backing McCarthy? Will we end up with someone worse?

No. Democrats did not make a mistake. McCarthy said in his farewell pity party that he did not want to work with Democrats. He said,

he would not have wanted to be speaker at the cost of relying on Democrats to provide votes or making concessions to win their votes. “No. I’m a Republican. I win by Republicans, and I lose by Republicans.”

If Democrats had begun voting for McCarthy on the motion to vacate, other Republicans would have started voting against him or he would have resigned before the vote concluded. McCarthy wouldn’t allow Democrats to choose the Speaker of the House while Republicans hold the majority.

This brings us to Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise, both miserable candidates for the job of Speaker. Are they worse than McCarthy? That’s a high bar—or is it a low bar? (You get the point.) Both are unfit for the office, but the GOP caucus is apparently not ready to acknowledge that it cannot govern unless it nominates a candidate capable of building a coalition.

See Slate op-ed by Norman L. Eisen, Siven Watt, and Fred Wertheimer, Jim Jordan shows he's unfit to lead the Judiciary Committee.

See The Guardian, House speaker contender Steve Scalise reportedly called himself ‘David Duke without the baggage.”

But here is the most disqualifying fact about Jordan and Scalise: Both objected to the count of the electoral ballots on January 6 after the assault on the Capitol! See Vox, 147 Republican lawmakers still objected to the election results after the Capitol attack. For the record, Kevin McCarthy also objected to the electoral count after the attack on the Capitol. That fact should be a red flag for every Republican thinking of supporting Jordan or Scalise.

Trump continues to attack prosecutors and judges.

On the third day of his trial in New York state court for fraudulent business practices, Trump continued his attack on Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Engoron. He posted on his vanity social media platform:

The Trial in NYC brought by the Racist A.G., Letitia James . . . should be dismissed in that [DELETED] and the Judge fraudulently reduced the value of Mar-a-Lago, and other assets, in order to make their FAKE case more viable. This is yet another Witch Hunt for purposes of Election Interference. Letitia is a Dirty Cop . . . .

(Note that I deleted a racist term used by Trump to refer to Attorney General Letitia James.)

Trump accuses Judge Engoron of “fraudulently” reducing the value of Trump's assets, and says that A.G. James was a “Dirty Cop.” I cannot understand why such language has not resulted in severe sanctions against Trump.

Dennis Aftergut reviews Judge Engoron’s existing gag order against Trump in The Messenger, Trump’s Consequences for Crossing the Line: A Gag Order That Opens the Door for More. Aftergut explains that Engoron’s order opens the door for Judge Chutkan to issue more expansive relief:

Trump is facing an October 16 hearing on a motion by special counsel Jack Smith for a gag order in D.C.; that's where Trump's federal indictment for criminally conspiring to overturn the 2020 election is set to be tried in March. While what just happened in the New York case is very different from the situation in the federal case, Trump just handed D.C. federal district court Judge Tanya Chutkan a first-ever precedent for limiting Trump's speech. No judge wants to act in the absence of a prior ruling in the same direction, particularly as to a gag order motion that presents highly sensitive First Amendment issues. [¶] It’s a safe bet that as the D.C. trial date approaches, Trump will continue, even escalate, his vile attacks on the administration of justice. [¶] A stalwart federal judge like Tanya Chutkan will not be intimidated; indeed, her judicial spine likely will only be stiffened by [such] threats . . . .

Trump is pushing the envelope, whether he intends to or not. I noted a few weeks ago that Trump seems to be losing control of his emotions and thoughts in a way that suggests a mental breakdown or a progressive cognitive decline. Or he could be seeking a confrontation, betting that no judge would jail him. While jailing Trump would be traumatic for the nation, it will be far worse to do so after violence occurs.

A story by Lucian Truscott in his Substack blog lends great weight to the notion that Trump is looking for confrontation. You will recall that Trump visited a gun store in South Carolina and made a show of buying a gun. When the media noted that it was illegal for him to buy a gun while on pretrial release for 91 felony counts, his spokesperson claimed that Trump did not actually complete the purchase transaction.

But as Lucian Truscott explains, the real story is that Trump selected the gun store in South Carolina as a signal to white supremacists that he stands with them. See Lucian Truscott, The mainstream media completely missed the story when reporting on Trump's visit to the South Carolina gun store.

Truscott writes:

Candidate Trump’s stop at a gun store in South Carolina on Monday wasn’t just an offhand visit: His eight SUV convoy doesn’t do anything without advance planning days or even weeks ahead of any event Trump attends or location he visits. He made a decision to stop at Palmetto State Armory in Summerville, South Carolina, because he knew that that specific gun store was where the racist shooter in Jacksonville, Florida bought the guns he used to kill three Black people at a Dollar General store in late August. On the receiver of one gun, the [Jacksonville] killer had painted a swastika right next to the engraved name of the store where he bought it, Palmetto State Armory. It’s just one month after the killings occurred. Memories are strong, and emotions in the Black community are still raw.

As Truscott notes, the choice of the Palmetto State Armory store was no accident. The store is well-known “among gun people for its connections to the racist Boogaloo Boys,” whose members were involved in the kidnap attempt of Michigan Governor Whitmer and were present at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville (about which Trump said there were “good people on both sides.”).

There is more detail in Truscott’s deeply researched article. Check it out.

Here’s the point: The evidence suggests that Trump is intentional in his provocations. He knows exactly what buttons he is pushing. Federal and state judges should assume so when evaluating whether Trump should be jailed pending his criminal trials.

#Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter #Speaker of the House #House Republicans #student loan debt #TFG #gag order #Robert B. Hubbell #Lucian Truscott #M.Wuerker

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dungeonmalcontent · 11 months

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Dear elder forces, I'm trying to plan out how to make a stat block for Tharizdun as my final boss for my campaign. I know gods aren't meant to be "fought" per say, but my plays with have divine blessings and be at level twenty most likely so I'm not worried about their power level. How do I make a good godly stat block? My first thought is phases, something like a good video game boss (like bloodborne) with abilities that build on each other. I just don't want him to feel flat and boring :(

Thanks for the help! I love your stuff :)

*cough, switching to Hermaeus Mora voice, cough*

Yes. Good question young darkling. You were right to bring this matter before the midnight council.

We are of the opinion that true god stat blocks should not be utilized in gameplay. Even at high player level. Ideologically, threatening the mortality of a hypothetically immortal entity goes against the balance of power of a setting, where mortal creatures allow gods to draw power from belief. Your rules for how gods work may alter this.

We have devised two strategies.

1) Tharizdun as the environment rather than a proper opponent. Gods, or their presence or aspects of them, can be brought into the world through rituals and powerful belief. Those that call a god's power into the world act as anchors for that power. Powerful ritual implements can also be used as anchors. Players can be tasked with quickly subduing powerful followers or corrupt angels or dismantling ritual circles while the power of Tharizdun works against them. You can treat Tharizdun as a sort of interactive lair; you have a table of effects that happen to players, and players can do certain things to mitigate or prevent those effects. Like, an eldritch viewing eye of the god stands in as the physical form, following the players and causing anomalies to disrupt them. Every round on the eyes initiative it rolls to cast a spell or alter the terrain unless it has been dealt a certain baseline if damage or a special condition has been met. This causes the players to split priorities. They must deal with the influence of Tharizdun while accomplishing special objectives potentially in a certain order. Like this: the eye follows the players until Tharizdun's anchors are dismantled in a certain order, first the deacon that cast the summoning ritual, then the ritual circle (and potentially acolytes), and then the artifact through which the ritual was enacted. The deacon's power prevents players from harming the circle and the circle protects the artifact. This way you get stages without necessarily changing forms or derailing combat and worrying about players being discouraged by not being done yet or not feeling like they were rewarded for early effort.

2) An avatar of Tharizdun. Whoever brought Tharizdun's power into the world becomes the god's avatar. Draw from an archfiend's stat block for inspiration. But to make the battle interesting without bogging it down with minions, be sure to make the lair interesting. The lair is not just some pseudo monster, it is a place. Being in certain positions benefits the avatar in certain ways (close to the ritual circle allows them to draw more power, killing an acolyte restores health, coming too close to mundane objects imbues them with chaos and causes them to lunge out towards players with random magic, etc.). This method can also use phases of combat, though the council has discovered that phases can be daunting if your players are not prepared for a slog. Rather than phases, the council recommends periods of invulnerability. When the avatar hits certain hit point milestones (quarters, thirds, or halves generally) the avatar enters a state where they cannot be damaged (starting on their next turn in combat) and remain invulnerable until a specific condition is met (usually clearly evident in the directly visible environment, like the destruction of newly conjured icons of godly influence).

The midnight council hopes this advice is satisfactory and helpful. The council also hopes that Amy typos are ignored, as it is hard for several entities to type a coherent message concurrently with various non-ui friendly appendages (tentacle suckers stick to the touch screen and rip off keyboard keys if care is not taken).

#ask #questions asked and answered at midnight #midnight council #stat blocks #encounter building #tharizdun #dnd #d&d #5e #ttrpg

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ask-spidersisters · 6 months

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Enter: Spider #3

For the first time since her, Tara, and Karma were busted out of Octavius’s lab, Scarlet Spider swung through the streets of NYC. This time, dawning a new suit with golden accents. Although the teenage vigilante was still stressed about not having any leads or answers as to where Octavius had gone with the others, for a moment, at the arc of her swing through the air, she felt a second of calm.

-(+)-

The masked vigilante dropped down from the ladder, shooting a web to pull the sewer cover back into place above her. Her nose scrunching up behind her mask as the smell of sewage hit her face as soon as her feet hit the ground.

“Forgot how bad it smelled down here…”

She muttered to herself, her ears picking up incomprehensible voices as she rounded a corner to one of the entrance ways to the turtle’s lair.

“Hey guys how-“

Scarlet Spider cut herself off when her spider sense spiked, causing her to jerk to the side as a familiar metal bo staff hurled in her direction, implanting itself into the concrete wall behind her. Mask lenses wide, she turned to see the chaos from where the projectile originated from.

“YOU CAN'T STACK THE DRAW TWO’S IT'S IN THE RULES!”

“NOBODY FOLLOWS THAT RULE AND YOU KNOW IT! JUST ADMIT DEFEAT AND DRAW FOUR!”

“GUYS STOP THROWING THINGS AT EACH OTHER THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FUN FAMILY GAME NIGHT!”

“Uno!”

“WHAT?!?!”

Slowly, the masked vigilante backed out of the lair. Not really having the energy to break up that mess right now.

She’ll check in on them later.

-(+)-

The rest of the patrol seemed to go rather smoothly. It helped somewhat to be back out and active again, but the quiet nature on the crime front wasn’t doing her general anxiety around the whole Octavius fiasco any favors. She couldn’t tell if that ongoing, sinking feeling lingering in the back of her mind for weeks now was her anxiety or her spider sense. Maybe it was a bit of both. Her spider sense seemed to act up whenever her anxiety did, making her hyper aware of small, practically insignificant dangers.

The sound of a shout, alongside a concerning crash! snapped the vigilante out of her thoughts. She quickly changed directions and web swung toward the commotion. Her heart sank a bit when she spotted a pair of sneaker wearing feet sticking out of a dumpster, followed by pained groaning. She quickly dropped down into the alleyway in front of the dumpster, leaning over the lid to see what looked to be a young, dark skinned teen in a red hoodie laying in the trash like he had fallen in.

“Oh my god! Kid are you okay?!?”

Scarlet Spider frantically asked, grabbing the kid under the arms and lifting him out of the dumpster, then gently placing him down on the ground. The younger teen winced, eyes scrunched closed and rubbing his forehead a bit before responding.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I uh- WOAH!”

The kid’s eyes grew wide as he looked up at the person who had helped him, his pain forgotten as he sprung up to his feet.

“You’re Scarlet Spider! THE Scarlet Spider! You’re alive and not dead! This is perfect!”

“Uh… yeah uh… I am. Kid what happened, how did you fall into-“

Before she could ask more the kid rolled up one of his sleeves. The masked vigilante immediately recognized what looked to be a web shooter attached to the boy’s wrist. It seemed as though he had made it out of spare parts himself. Like she did her first pair.

“Look! I managed to re-create your web shooter no problem! But it seems I couldn’t replicate the chemical compound of your webbing. Mine was uh… too light apparently.”

Shocked, the masked vigilante just stared down at the younger teen for a while as he rambled before stuttering out a response.

“Wait what? How did- why are you trying to make web shooters? Kid that’s-“

“Because I’m like you! A few weeks ago I was bit by this crazy looking spider! I didn’t think anything of it at first but then I felt really sick so I decided to sleep it off and the next day I woke up with super powers! So I decided I’d have to become a superhero like you so I started making the web shooters and trying to make web fluid and-“

Scarlet Spider brought up a hand to stop him.

“Okay okay hold on…. What’s your name?”

“Oh! My name is Miles! Miles Morales!”

Oh no.

#metal mirrors arc #writing #67889 miles morales #67889 tmnt #spidersona

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artwithoutblood · 4 months

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Weird question, but I've been trying to improve at diversity.

If Genesis and Aeron were in a different art style do you have any particular thoughts on what their noses and skin tones might look like? In the past I've tried to guess by referencing pictures of people in the regions they're "from" but the features of the people are really diverse.

In that computer meme I gave Genesis a warm skintone, kind of golden to complement his eyes and hair. Afro-Turks have always existed and his hair has some texture (I forget which again and search will not smile upon me) so for his nose I made it a little wide, rounded and upturned with a low bridge. Kind of a cute mischievous button nose without making it small. (His lips are still full. They look smaller because Genesis is pursing them, half suppressing a smirk.)

Aeron got cooler toned darker skin to contrast the hair, plus accidentally very textured hair because I really haven't nailed drawing their hairstyle yet. A longer more aquiline Arabic nose because it gave off an older, more elegant intimidating look. I get a feeling that despite causing unintentional chaos Aeron is kind of the defacto leader or at least the eldest/most powerful?

But pictures of Turkish people also show a more prominent rectangular nose that would also look really good on Genesis (the button nose might look a bit young on a dad), and the noses of Jordanian people aren't all as slim and exaggeratedly downturned as I made Aeron's.

Also completely random, but what are everybody's teeth like? (Even just the Galleria trio and Dorian.)

Sorry if this is inappropriate to ask, a loaded question, or puts you on the spot. You're free not to answer, or not have thought about it much.

I'm just thinking about art styles, realism, and improving on drawing non-white features. Because there are PoC characters in the VN community, and you can get a lot of character out of specific features.

Do I just like, pick a headcanon and stick to it, or draw it different each time? I guess sticking to semi-realistic cartoony I can just kind of fudge it and just barely suggest impressions of differing features.

These are demons and not tied to hard rules of appearance.

Plus I think Aeron would subtly shift their appearance if they noticed you trying to draw them, just to fuck with you. And Genesis changes bodies so many times nobody really knows what he looks like anymore, not even him.

There you go, that's it. My art isn't inconsistent. The demons are just trolling me 👍

my art style could and should be improved upon concerning facial features and hairstyles. i want to give pointers, but you also make a point that i hope resonates with other people: you can also do whatever the fuck you want.

do not erase skintone, do not erase what makes them who they are. but if you want to draw characters with different hairstyles, different facial features, different outfits, different body types, whatever, do it. but let the characters serve as a guideline. they all have, for one reason or another, changed their bodies over the years. maybe they're one way, maybe they're the other.

what matters to me is that you, to some degree, connected with the characters while drawing them. i put a little bit of myself into each of my ocs. that shouldn't stop at me.

so....do what you think fits. do whatever the hell you want, just as long as you're respectful in the process!

#general ask

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mixed-up-writer-fest · 2 years

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Round 2 Rules

Some rules and requirements have changed, so please read below!

The Basics

Writers will be paired based on preferred ships and rating. Each pair will be given a prompt, and they will be responsible for writing a multi-chapter fic with each other based on that prompt.

Here’s the twist: writers will not be allowed to plan or plot before writing together. One partner, designated Partner A, will write chapter 1 and post it. Partner B will then be responsible for writing Chapter 2.

Introducing: the Chaos Option

The Chaos Option is a new addition for Round 2. For this, writers will not select a pairing and will not be given a pairing. Partner A will be given a prompt and will write chapter 1. When they are ready to post, they will be given the name of their Partner B in order to post on AO3. Will Partner A set up a ship Partner B hates? Will Partner B kill them off? Will each chapter have competing partners angling for the same romantic interest? Merlin, I hope so.

Rules:

(a * next to a rule indicates a change from the previous round)

Things you cannot plan with your partner: plot points, events, outcomes, big picture stuff.

Things you can plan with your partner: characteristics like eye color, hair color, race, tattoos, etc; jobs; family; homes (flat, house, layout); location (England, America, Fictional world); genre (as long as it doesn’t get into plotting); magical vs. muggle; etc. If you have questions on this, follow up with the mods.

* Both partners must join the Discord group. This was vital to get information to everyone, and you will need to keep @everyone notifications on for it. (I promise to use it sparingly!)

Each partner must write a minimum of two chapters before the fic can be completed.

* There is no minimum or maximum. Please keep in mind that you need to write enough that your partner has something to respond to! However, you needn’t worry about keeping chapters a certain length, though partners are welcome to set a word count if they wish.

* There is no timeframe for writing. However, please keep in mind that this is a partnered event, and if it is your responsibility to write a chapter, you should keep your partner updated on your progress. It can be as simple as a message saying you’re still working on it once a week.

Do not ghost your partner. Sometimes, real life happens and things get in the way of writing. We understand delays. However, you should consider this a commitment to your partner to at least be accessible and responsive. If you cannot commit to this, do not sign up. If you must drop from the fest, you need to speak to the fest mods and your partner before you do anything drastic (like deleting your fic)

You must post to AO3 and include your fic in the collection. A subcollection for Round 2 will be added soon. You must have your settings on AO3 set to allow collab fics. If you don’t know how to do that, send me a message to find out!

FAQ

What ships will be included in the fest this time?

We will definitely include Wolfstar, Jily, and Wolfstarbucks. There are a few other ships that may be included as well, but that will depend on the results of this survey. Are you hoping for a different ship? Fill out the survey and let me know!

Will I be able to select preferences other than ship and rating?

This was a popular request on our follow up survey. However, it’s hard to make any guarantees without knowing exactly what our participation is going to be. That being said, the survey for Round 2 will include options to select some other preferences. However, these will be used for guidance only and cannot be guaranteed.

Do I have to submit my email?

No. This was a requirement the first time, but it is not this time. You must join the discord, but that's the only requirement.

Where do I find the Discord?

A link will be provided after you sign up!

How do you write without a plan?

Following Round 1, we learned lots about writing styles and how this works. This style of writing does not work for everyone, and there’s no shame in that. If the idea of not having a plan worries you, if you don’t know how to continue someone else’s story, if you’ve never read an unfinished fic and thought “I could totally make the end of this work,” then perhaps this is not the fest for you. However, this type of writing can be a lot of fun if you can write without a plan. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed writing my fic with my partner, and I know lots of other participants who said the same.

The Chaos Option includes no planning at all?

That's right! It's specifically designed so that you cannot plan with your partner. You have to be prepared to go into anything. That being said, people who select the chaos option will be allowed to submit hard nos and squicks to their partners so you don't end up writing something triggering.

I hate my prompt. Am I stuck?

No, not at all. If you give it a good try and just cannot handle the prompt (and both partners agree) send it back and you can get something else.

I'm really concerned about…

Send me an ask! This should be fun, and if it's not let's figure out why!

Where can I find the fics from Round 1?

All Round 1 fics were shared to the fest page, and they can be found in our AO3 collection here!

#MUWF #mixed up writer fest #round 2 #coming September 1 #sign ups in August #stick around because it's going to be fun!#rules #faq

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