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castellankurze · 7 months

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Here's the thing that interests me about the dueling scene in Gideon the Ninth. Yeah, the narrative phrasing Harrowhark rose to the occasion like an evening star is peak and the line "Death first to the vultures and scavengers" is pure fire but why is she in that position to begin with?

The situation is thus: Camilla Hect has just won a duel against Marta Dyas attempting to claim the Sixth House's necromancy challenge keys, but she was wounded in so doing. Naberius Tern, backed by Ianthe Tridentarius, is pressing a dueling challenge against the injured Camilla in a flagrant bid to beat Camilla down and take the keys for the Third House while she's already recovering from one match. Gideon is standing by watching things unfold and, to her relief, Harrowhark steps up to put Gideon in the ring as a substitute for the injured Camilla and thus shut down Naberius' vulturing.

Except...why? You'd think that in anything like a polite societal dueling code (I know, I know, but go with it-) Camilla and Palamedes would have the option to demure, saying something like "the Sixth House cavalier just fought a duel and is wounded to boot, piss off for a day and we'll see then." But that's not even floated as an option. Palamedes isn't a dumb guy - far from it - and even if he were out of his element, you'd think someone else could just lean in and say 'dude tell them to shove it.' Judith Deuteros objects by saying "There are rules" and Ianthe shuts that down by pointing out she pressed Marta's duel on incredibly flimsy pretext, so that seems to be an objection on the grounds for presenting the challenge, rather than probing for an option to refuse. If Harrow and Gideon (or Jeannemary, jumping on the bandwagon) hadn't interceded, Camilla was about to fight her second duel back to back.

(Even in the first dueling challenge, the tone of onlookers seems to be that people want Palamedes to default and hand over his key to the Second House to spare Camilla the fight, because they assume the Sixth House is weak and don't know how good Camilla is.)

To sum up: the Sixth House seems to have no recourse but to either accept the repeated dueling challenges or default; with no way to decline except to give the Third House something they want (in this case, a Canaan House key).

That's insane.

And if that's deliberate, rather than an oversight on Tamsyn Muir's part, that suggests so much about the Nine Houses' dueling culture. It suggests that a challenge from a cavalier primary can't be refused; you have to either throw down or roll over as if they won. It speaks to a distinct lack of value placed on human lives, that the cavaliers are forced to accept a challenge on pain of their house losing face at best, something material at worst. The defending house can only negotiate to a degree that the attacking house is willing to let them. This is, depressingly, fully in keeping with the series' characters' treatment of the cavaliers. The subsequent books and short stories (especially The Unwanted Guest) really hammer this idea in, that the cavaliers are nominally viewed as a source of blades and shields in the hands of the necromancers, even if the laypeople of the setting don't know all the reasons behind the traditions.

In real life, formal dueling typically had customs and rules for negotiation and ceremony, with multiple exit points for parties to back out of a potential threat to life without losing face. Only truly aggrieved parties would press a suit to the point of confrontation. The Nine Houses say screw that, put up or shut up. They've more or less raised up the informal tradition of 'swords now motherfucker.'

To steal a phrase from another tumblrite, 'congrats god that's the worst anyone's ever done it.'

#TLT #The Locked Tomb #Gideon the Ninth #Harrow the Ninth #The Unwanted Guest #Tamsyn Muir #Camilla Hect #Palamedes Sextus #Gideon Nav #Harrowhark Nonagesimus #Naberius Tern #Ianthe Tridentarius #John open the sanctum I just want to talk

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nona-gay-simus · 1 month

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I keep thinking about Harrow coming up with the banger line: "Death first to vultures and scavengers." On the spot and challenging the Third to a duel as soon as Gideon draws her sword, and doing more or less the same thing in HtN when she thought Silas killed Coronabeth and like... Did she pick that up from Gideon? Or are they just both Like That?

#i mean ske does have some part of Gideon inside her i guess #htn #gtn #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #gtn meta #htn meta #tlt meta #the locked tomb #harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav #the ninth house

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astrronomemes · 9 months

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PERCY JACKSON AND THE SEA OF MONSTERS: STARTERS

a collection of quotes, phrases, and sayings from the 2006 Rick Riordan novel, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters. change & alter as needed.

"The police will be after me."

"That's the least of our problems."

"If anybody is interested, we're going to die!"

"Don't ever, ever try saving me again!"

"Yes, well, as you young people say these days — whatever."

"Don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."

"He's not my real brother!"

"Weapons are allowed, dirty tricks are expected, but try not to kill anybody."

"We are so going to lose."

"What do you get when you skin a ram?"

"I should not have been born."

"[Name], [place] will be a good home for you. The others will get used to you, I promise."

"I don't care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver. If he doesn't have a tracking number, we can't locate his package."

"I don't think my mom would like that moral."

"You can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you..."

"If it isn't the young hero, on his way to another great victory."

"Well, [name], we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it."

"He won't give up on you. No matter how angry you are."

"How do you launch this thing?!"

"I'm about to die, and you're worried about that?!"

"Knowledge isn't always good for you."

"Surely you're not happy the way you are! My goodness, there's not a single person who is!"

"I'm glad you're not a guinea pig."

"You can stay here with me. You can stay forever."

"What could be worse than hummus?"

"I am not a traitor. And you are not my kind."

"Not failing would be good."

"We will stop him. You will not be alone in that fight."

"I'm still waiting for the right opportunity to pulverize you."

"Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death."

"I see. You tried the diplomatic approach."

"Families are messy... sometimes, the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related, for better or worse… and try to keep the killing and maiming to a minimum."

"If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I'll come help you again, [name]. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"You're my brother. No doubt about it."

"I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all!"

#rp meme #roleplay meme #rp starters #roleplay starters #dialogue prompts #rp prompts #roleplay prompts #rp memes #roleplay memes #sentence memes #sentence prompts #sentence starters

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yoshiintheweb · 1 year

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In Ancient Greece, a proper burial was very important to the people. It was such an important ritual in thier beliefs that denying one was considered striping someone of thier dignity. In Iliad when Achilles kills Hector in duel, as a ravange for the death of Patroclus, he refuse to return his body to his family. He drags the lifeless body od Hector behind his Chariot, and throws him to dogs and vultures (so his soul will definitely be damned to walk the earth for the rest of eternity). The gods themselves, disturbed by this prevents this, and via Achilles mother convince him to return the killed Prince for a proper burial. Priam, the king himself go to get his son's body, granted a safe journey by the gods. After Hectors cremation and burial Troy enters a mourning period that is said that even Greeks respected and didn't attacked the city. Even Helen mourns him. We can learn about the importantce of the burial from other myths and stories as well. One of tricks to cheat death that King Sisyphus uses is to ask his wife to not bury him. This way he tells Charon that his wife didn't buried him, so he have no way to pay for the journey through Styx (as the dead were be supposed to be buried with coins for this exact reason) and ask him if he can come back to Earth and beg for proper burial. In Antigone, a greek play depicting events that are part of Theban Myths, the titular characters looses two brothers in a civil war for the throne of Thebes. One of them is denied a respectable burial, she, knowing how terrible of a fate it is, rebels again it and try to get him one. Loosing her life in the process (she killed herself after new king ordered to bury her alive for doing so). We know that the rivereside of Styx is full of ghosts, dead soldiers who never got to be cremated nor buried, and had no way to pay Charon to cross the river.

That being said Polites didn't had one. And Odysseus will be sailing past the Underworld at some point. Which is interesting bc in the Odyssey the main characters he got to see there were (not counting his mother and Tiresias) the fallen warriors who fought in Trojan War as Polites is still alive at this point of the story. Makes me wonder about things.

#this post is specifically about epic the musical #epic the musical #epic the cyclops saga

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infolane · 10 months

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ARC V MONTH DAY 5 - Action Magic - Overpass

@arcvmonth

Supreme Dragon Queen Ray.

There was a time when she was friends with Zarc. They bonded online over the shared experience of perceiving objects as alive. His cards, her trinkets. It was an overture to tragedy, really, as she gained much fame in the dueling scene.

Flower-Bearing Dragon, destined to become Flower-Bearing Pendulum Dragon, held onto loads of lillies. The dragon whose tears mark where living ends and grief begins.

“This is a sad, sad world, Ray. Everyone cries, everyone is hurting and then they hurt one another for it. They have made happiness into a zero sum game. There are only funerals here. Funerals for walking people. For waking ghosts.”

And so it was said.

Vulture-winged XYZ Dragon soared up and high, covered in as many scales as it had feathers, sounding like a distant warning siren. Always knowing where death is near, but never in time to save a single person.

“This is a sad, sad world, Ray. No matter how closely you follow misery, trying to help or at least console and comfort, the wave is always much too powerful. Those that can, they never face it, always flying south, until the day there are only cold selfish people huddling in the snow.“

And so it was said.

Typhoonbound Synchro Dragon soared with violent winds at its feet. Always much too close, much to violent, much too dangerous and so, alone and looked down upon.

“This is a sad, sad world, Ray. There is no amount of effort, no amount of love that can save those rejected by all. No grand feat to change one’s lot, no way to claw to the top so as to be loved. Luck has died in a ditch, as will we if nothing changes.“

And so it was said.

Now last, Moon Eclipse Fusion Dragon stood quietly, with the world around itself covered in long shadows distorting all one might see. Unable to grasp any truth, all it could do was trust others- but having been led astray over and over, the distrust grew into barbed wire and thorns covering it.

“This is a sad, sad world, Ray. People lie, people betray, people cheer and cheer for more pain and more hurt, just as long as it isn’t them. Our friend has been getting violent, and violence is what this world craves.”

And so it was said.

Having thought it over and over again, Ray grew frustrated, then bitter. She’d ask her friend for his opinions, but he grew isolated and distant. Even someone that kind and truthful in his want to make others smile, being chipped away like this by the world-

Unforgivable, she thought. There is no way a place this rotten with people this horrible could ever, ever, be worthy of him and our friends. It should all disappear and be reborn, being left to our toys, being left to inhuman things untainted by all of this.

And her dragons purred their agreement.

Ray, let’s try again, before his heart turns to stone. Ray, let’s give it another chance, let’s break it all as one. Ask him- “Break me to pieces and become broken as well, because I love you too much to let your wounds fester in this dump.”

And they rushed into the mix, lifting their heads to see her expression up close. A monster, a messiah, an ending, a lock, an egg, again.

“Zarc, I need you to promise to chase me and be by my side. I want to meet you again and again, however many times we may need until we can just chat and laugh and rest without needles in our hearts.“

His yellow eyes. Her grand wings, the very sky chipping and breaking away, swept by the emotions at the bottom of the well-

And just like that, nothingness was cut into fourths.

#arcvmonth2023 #arcvmonth

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sh3riffs · 2 years

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The Owl Houses Covens, but Empires Smp

Scott - Emperor's Coven, diff be the Hunter of the group . . . Stag or Owl (Lol Owl House) palisman.

Xornoth - Emperor's Coven, Belos vibes.

Fwhip - Potions Coven, he would wanna be more versatile like Gem, maybe boom boom potions. Imp palisman like Bump’s.

Gem - Potions Coven/ Abomination Coven, she already a witch, wizard, sorry so she would be something more flexible in it magic, or Abomination since she the smartest or somthing - Beast Keeping may even work as she care for dragons, and as a call back to x life! Im leaning more too duel Potions and Beast Keeping. Dragon palisman name Violet. ;]

Joey - Beast Keeping Coven, to reference his villagers. Biped bird demon, tiger palisman, or serpents as the symbolize chaos and corruption. Typical king shit.

Kathrine - Plant Coven, need i say more? Also Sheep palisman.

I know hers familiar is a bee, but she is THE mother of sheep of crying out loud -

Lizzie - Duel Healing and Bard Coven! I GOT A DEAL WITH DESTINY, also axolotls can heal - She would also be a biped amphibian demon with a axolotl palisman name Lady Marceline since og Sir Strawberry dead - (rip)

Sausage - Emperor's Coven or Construction Coven maybe even Oracle? Dragonfly palisman as the symbolizes change, transformation, adaptability, and self-realization.

Pearl - Plant Coven, again need i say more? Bear palisman as they represents strength and courage, trait our farming queen clearly shows.

Pixl - Construction Coven, this just fits the best . . . A vultures palisman as symbolism behind vultures are death and rebirth, to show the vigil.

Shelby - Duel Beast Keeping, Plant Coven, mushrooms? wolfs? need i say more - woodpecker palisman, woodpecker to represent hard work (building her empire from the ground up), perseverance, strength, and determination (to save her home world)

Joel - Illusion Coven, just so he can make himself look taller. Possum palisman, possum are offen underestimated, but alive with hidden depths and talents.

Jimmy - Abomination Coven, for the slime kinda vibes. Also a biped amphibian demon. Cod palisman duh.

Honorary Mention

Grian - Oracle Coven cause like Grian biblically accurate angels bah bah, also cardinals palisman for same reason

#Empires Smp #The Owl House #Smajor #Fwhip #GeminiTay #JOEYGRACEFFA #Katherine Elizabeth #LdShadowLady #MythicalSausage #PearlescentMoon #Pixlriff #Shubble #SmallishBeans #Jimmy Solidarity

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spritelysprites · 2 years

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okay so "death first to vultures and scavengers" is a ninth house saying, right? we get that impression from the way harrow says it during the duel scene, in the same way crux (who was pretty devout as far as we know) would have said it to her. the ninth house deals in death. this is a significant thing for one of them to say.

and we know that the body in the locked tomb is alecto, who john has convinced the lyctors (at least partially) deserved her imprisonment. they call her a monster.

so my question is, how did alecto act like a vulture or scavenger? did she steal some kind of knowledge for john to complete the lyctoral process? did she take someone else's life and use it for her own gain? is that what she's doing to harrow now?

#gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #harrow the ninth spoilers #nona the ninth speculation #alecto the ninth #alecto #al #annabel lee #john gaius #harrowhark nonagesimus #lyctor #meta #analysis #speculation

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azurish · 2 years

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i want you to imagine how much the duel scene in locked tomb - "cam go loud," "death first to vultures and scavengers," "but i trust the reverend daughter," etc - how much ALL OF THAT would fucking slap presented on stage.

see the only problem with a live staging of that scene is that i would spontaneously break through the fourth wall proscenium arch to propose to camilla hect on the spot. as would everyone else in the audience, so. riot at the theater?

(but also yessssssss. but also x2 i kind of feel like (heretical opinion) htn is almost impossible to adapt to any primarily visual acting medium, theater/film/otherwise, BECAUSE the shift from second to first person hit me SO HARD when reading it and i have no idea how you would recreate that?? but i am open to further perspectives here. convince me)

#the first two kill me but the last one hits me in MY HEART where i LIVE #'but i trust the reverend daughter' SEX PAL U CAN'T DO THIS TO HER OR ALSO ME #queelez #gideon the ninth #locked tomb

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spidermilkshake · 2 years

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Srraxxarrakex, the Corrupted Ancient Dragon

Bann waded forward. There was nothing for it but to push on. He shook the moisture free of the Tong's two-bladed head as he stepped lightly onto the sticky, clay-caked shores. Something felt sharp and uneasy in the broad, high darkness of the deepest chambers.

He lifted his head. The gimlets began to sheen in their deep green, red, yellow pairs in a semi-circle within the cathedral-like dome. Of course. The Order's surviving members would have remained here, under the lull of their chief's Corruption or under fear of crossing him. None of the draconic audience moved a muscle as the much-dwarfed form advanced. Where was Srraxxarrakex?, Bann's thoughts darted, like his gaze between the glow of pairs of eyes. Not here. Beyond--or behind him? It seemed like something a great dragon overtaken by the madness seeping up from the deep places would do. Srraxxarrakex would not have lost much intellect or raw power even so, as Sharad-Waador had warned him.

"Where is he?"

There was a scuffing of heavy forepaws and scale-coated tails and a rustle of leathery wings. But not a word or even a hint of a gesture from the shadows. Bann shrugged, tamped the base of the Tong on the floor of the chamber, and began to walk between the dark aisles of hidden dragons with steps clicking against the packed clay. The draconic audience remained silent, eyeshine on massive pupils tracing the Hurthling's progress.

The chamber narrowed and Bann felt the mass of dragons forming up behind him, following with soft padding steps at a safe distance. At the end, as the calcified, dripping walls narrowed to a sudden "V", and a thick, black obelisk with a flattened top protruded from the floor tall as an oak. Another set of wyrm eyes flickered open with a wet, mechanical noise--but Bann's hair was all set on edge as soon as he glimpsed them. The light reflected off the muted-red orbs lit up the folded eye flesh, and the insidious progress of deep purple and sickly pink veins carving across it. At least the ancient dragon was now found.

Srraxxarrakex's heavy black claws gouged into the stone as he flexed them; a wheezy, death-rattle-like noise and a stale, rotten breath washed over the chamber as he chuckled.

"What is this?"

Bann gripped the Tong tighter. Something in the voice, under the phlegminess of it, felt like it refracted across the ceiling wrong. Something in the way it moved the molecules of air was... sickened. With a snort the cavern suddenly was flooded with a dull, yellowy light from a point above the great wyrm's head. IT cast over and illuminated the sweeping black horns, the scarred ridge of emerald scales and the deep blue bulk of the ancient brute hunching vulture-like at the top of the obelisk.

The stone began to hum. Bann blinked away moisture; was it just him, or was there a faint haze around stone and wyrm alike? Not purple... sort of an anti-violent, and stung his eyes to focus on for too long.

Srraxxarrakex grinned, chapped lips curling up to expose a tangle of massive, curving tusks.

"Ahnah. Hnahnahh! Sharad-Waador has sent a champion," the hulking blue dragon's dulled ruby eyes half-hooded. "A whelp, a joke! What does that fool think he's playing at?"

"I'm here to kill you," Bann grunted, voice level. His grip tightened on the Tong. The cavern rattled as the beast bellowed with a gummy laughter.

"Hnahhnah! You think so? And I suppose you're here to duel, and will leave the order in peace once you're victorious?"

"That's th' idea."

There was something about the little thing's impetuous tone that Srraxxarrakex wholly did not like. A crackle of the un-violet static flared up around his sneering jaw, and he shifted his bulk to spring forward.

"Is that so..?" the corrupted dragon snarled. And then, half-tiger and half-glacier, he lunged.

#Ancardian Homebrew #homebrew #Ancardia #Srraxxarrakex #ancient dragon #great wyrm #dragon #wyrm #story #story with illustration #ADOM #Ancient Domains of Mystery #DnD like #fantasy art #traditional media #colored pencils #ink

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marvelman901 · 2 years

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Amazing Spider-Man vol 1 2 (1963) . Duel To The Death With the Vulture! . The Uncanny Threat of The Terrible Tinkerer! . Written by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Art by Steve Ditko Lettered by John Duffy and Artie Simek Edited by Stan Lee . Introducing both the Vulture and the Tinkerer! . Fun Fact! Quentin Beck (Mysterio) was one of the "aliens" in the Tinkerer story! . #spiderman #vulture #tinkerer #stanlee #johnduffy #steveditko #60s #artiesimek #Avengers #mysterio https://www.instagram.com/p/CeTCR01suPY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#spiderman #vulture #tinkerer #stanlee #johnduffy #steveditko #60s #artiesimek #avengers #mysterio

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lebrisereve · 5 months

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1999 /// MUSIC

Underworld - Beaucoup Fish

April March - Chrominance Decoder

Departure Lounge - Out Of Here

Arab Strap - Elephant Shoe

Beck - Midnite Vultures

Le Tigre - Le Tigre

Charles Douglas - The Lives of Charles Douglas

Stereolab – Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night

Death In Vegas - The Contino Sessions

The Chemical Brothers - Surrender

THE HERBALISER /// VERY MERCENARY

Mellow - Another Mellow Winter

Les Rythmes Digitales - Darkdancer

Mogwai - Come on Die Young

The Magnetic Fields - 69 Songs of Love

Pavement - Terror Twilight

The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

Dominique A - Remué

Plaid - Restproof Clockwork

Jim O'Rourke - Eureka

Blur – 13

Gus Gus – This Is Normal

Make Up – Save Yourself

Papa M – Live From A Shark Cage

The Ladybug Transistor - The Albermarle Sound

Migala - Asi Duele Un Verano

Spearmint - A Week Away

Sigur Ros - Ágætis byrjun

Tricky - Juxtapose

Birdie - Some Dusty

Super Furry Animals - Guerrilla

Smog - Knock Knock

Bonnie Prince Billy - Now I See a Darkness

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Bring it All Back Home Again

Kevin Rowland - My Beauty

Dot Allison – Afterglow

Aphex Twin - Windowlicker

…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead – Madonna

The Herbaliser - Very Mercenary

Hefner - The Fidelity Wars

Rinoçérose - Installation Sonore

AND OTHERS

Wheat – Hope And Adams

Kevin Rowland – My Beauty

The Charlatans – Us And Us Only

Beth Orton – Central Reservation

Suede – Head Music

Olivia Tremor Control – Black Foliage

Tindersicks – Simple Pleasure

Low – Secret Name

Add N To X – Avant Hard

Ian Brown – Golden Greats

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – Spanish Dance Troupe

The Auteurs – How I Learned To Love The Bootboys

Campag Velocet - Bon Chic Bon Genre

Lali Puna - Tridecoder

Wilco - Summerteeth

Moby - Play

The Beta Band - The 3 eps

Archive - Take my Head

Helena Noguerra - Projet Bikini

Mr Oizo - Analog Worms Attack

Alex Gopher - You, My Baby and I

Squarepusher - Music is rotted one note

Mos Def - Black on Both Sides

Quannum - Spectrum

Merz - Merz

Daniel Johnston - Rejected Unknown

DEATH IN VEGAS /// THE CONTINO SESSIONS

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cloudbattrolls · 5 months

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Ginger Mycoba/The Aseptice

Overview:

Ginger is the apocalyptic horseman of pestilence, technically an aspect of conquest. It’s an inherited bloodline position.

They’re overall a pretty quiet and lowkey sort of person, practical and down to earth. They have little in the way of an ego, but don’t lack for confidence either. They have a dry and deadpan sense of humor, sometimes doing odd things purely for their own amusement.

They are pragmatic and unsentimental, but not entirely without heart. Despite the gruesome and often morbid nature of their job, which has led to them becoming somewhat wearied and resigned over the sweeps, they try to see the good in things when they can.

Name: Ginger Mycoba (‘Ginger’ is not their hatchname, but they loathe said hatchname and haven’t used it for a very long time. They go exclusively by their chosen name and will not answer to anything else.)

They don't really use their personal title, Aseptice. People either call them by their first or last name, or else just 'Pestilence'.

Online Handles: pestilentialRider

Age: 137 sweeps (296 years)

Gender: Non-binary, they/them pronouns (Ginger is used to being mistaken for a man, as they are dmab and have done nothing to transition, retaining a rather deep voice and typically masculine build, but they still don’t enjoy it and will correct people as soon as possible)

Caste: Hemoanon (Ginger never shares their caste with anyone, and even bleeding them will not reveal it, as they have an enchantment on their blood and insides to look gray)

Height: 7’0

Weight: 320 pounds. Ginger is very muscular and fit. They don’t have much extra fat on them, but their build is broad, as they are naturally a big troll.

Lusus: Vulture. Ginger is on good terms with their dad, but they don’t see him much. He stays behind at their hive to guard it and wait for the next Mycoba to arrive, and Ginger is rarely ever home.

Psi: None. Instead Ginger holds the Mantle of Pestilence, which grants them complete control over the creation of all infectious diseases.

They can produce any infectious disease at will, decide how it will infect a troll or animal and how it will spread, how long it will last, and even introduce it to inorganic materials like soil or air. They can accelerate or slow the rate of how said disease progresses as well, making it life-long and incurable or merely lasting for a night.

They also have minor magical abilities, mostly tied to enchanting objects and other basic spells, and can summon their bloodline’s horse, Dunny, at will.

Strife: Despite their power, Ginger prefers to not use it to fight if possible, instead relying on their sword. Which they usually use to just stab things. They aren’t one for fancy duels and prefer to be as direct and efficient as possible.

Sylladex: Disease network. All the cards are connected in some way, through traits of the items within. This makes it easy to store or retrieve several objects at once.

Hive: A large but not fancy hive on the edge of a desert. It is warded against the notice of most trolls.

Ancestor: The Blighted, the first known Mycoba horseman. However, they were raised by The Solvente, the latest Mycoba before them, and were on good terms with him until his death.

Constellation: Sagitta, the arrow. The traditional weapon of Pestilence is a bow. Ginger doesn’t like bows.

Interests: Card games - Ginger is fond of several of them, ranging from poker to Uno, and enjoys playing in bars or with their cleanup crew after work.

Silly shirts - Despite usually being seen in their armor, Ginger owns a collection of clothes with goofy phrases on them.

Knickknacks - Ginger likes collecting funny little objects. They’ll browse thrift and antique stores in pursuit of anything unusual that catches their attention.

#cloud writes #ginger mycoba #not even gonna with their title because they basically don't use it

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kudosmyhero · 6 months

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The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #63: Wings in the Night!

Read Date: January 27, 2023 Cover Date: August 1968 ● Writer: Stan Lee ● Penciler: John Romita ◦ Don Heck ● Inker: Mike Esposito ● Colorist: {uncredited} ● Letterer: Sam Rosen ● Editor: Stan Lee ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● Adrian Toomes is looking good as Vulture in that opening splash!

● Spidey gets washed out of the air by rain and lands hard on a terrace ● he's still hiding from police ● Adrian breaks into a museum where his original Vulture costume, taken from Blackie Drago, is on display ● Peter gets back to his and Harry's apartment and goes to bed while still wearing his rain-soaked, sweaty costume ● he looks pretty tired and miserable at ESU the next morning, and his right arm is still injured ● Adrian flies to the prison. he gives the spare Vulture costume to Drago, who is in shock that Toomes is alive. they both fly out of the prison yard ● Harry and Peter receive a letter from Flash, who Harry intuits is preparing to ship out for Vietnam ● apropos of nothing, Peter says he feels bad for not paying rent; Harry reminds him that Norman Osborn is footing the bill, and Harry likes having him around ● Peter calls Gwen but gets her dad, who asks Peter if he'd have lunch with him tomorrow ● then Norman Osborn arrives at the aparment, looking distraught and acting like a jerk ● Peter worries about Norman regaining his memories of his time as Green Goblin ● Adrian tells Blackie that when he learned of Blackie's betrayal, he'd grown so angry that his will to live grew. in the chaos that ensued after Blackie's prison break, Adrian also escaped ● Adrian broke Blackie out now in order to fight him for dominance as the true Vulture ● Peter sees the two of them fighting and hopes they polish each other off; he sits it out due to his injured arm and goes to the Bugle, where JJJ takes him up to the roof to get photos of the Vultures fighting ● their fight takes them to a terrace where a little kid is hanging out ● they break the balcony, the kid hangs on for dear life, JJJ turns to Parker but Peter is gone (nice Batman-y move) ● Spider-Man saves the kid, but now he's angry at the Vultures ● Adrian wins the fight (yay!) and Drago gets re-arrested ● Adrian heads to Spider-Man, but after rescuing the kid, Spidey's arm is pretty much useless ● 👏👏👏

Synopsis: Adrian Toomes, the original Vulture, had survived his brush with death and has escaped from prison. Taking on a spare Vulture costume, the original Vulture vows to get revenge on Blackie Drago. Meanwhile, Spider-Man seriously injures his arm while web-slinging on a rainy day. The Vulture then breaks into a nearby museum and steals back the Vulture costume once worn by Drago.

The next day while Peter attends classes as usual and attempts to patch things up with Gwen, the Vulture drops in on the prison where Blackie Drago has been incarcerated. There he fights off inmates and guards alike and demands that Drago put on the spare costume, so that they may duel and learn which is the more superior fighter -- and therefore worthy of the title of the Vulture.

While Peter makes a meeting with George Stacy, and Norman Osborn continues to struggle with reemerging memories of being the Green Goblin, the two Vultures fight high over the city. Peter learns about it while stopping by the Bugle and Jameson takes him up to the roof to take pictures of the fight.

When a little boy is endangered in the battle, Peter abandons Jameson so he can slip away and change into Spider-Man and rescue the child. As Toomes knocks out Drago, Spider-Man saves the little boy. All this is watched by a furious Jameson who has no photographer to document this whole spectacle. With the boy taken to safety, and Drago was taken into police custody, who swears he will never put on the wings again. Spider-Man, who has seriously strained his already injured arm, is the only one capable of trying to stop Toomes, who is rushing towards the wall-crawler, bent on a fight to the finish.

(https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_63)

Fan Art: Spider-Man vs The Vulture by RobertMacQuarrie1

Accompanying Podcast: ● Swinging Through Spider-Man - episode 63

● Let's Read Spider-Man - episode 39

#marvel #my marvel read #spider-man #podcast - let's read spider-man #podcast - swinging through spider-man #fan art #marvel comics #adrian toomes #the vulture #comics #fanart #comic books #podcast recommendation

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essentiallyspiderman · 4 years

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2

Spider-Man “Duel to the death with The Vulture!”

(Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, John Duffy, Art Simek)

1963

FUN FACT #32: Peter Parker first got the idea to sell pictures of Spider-Man, and his enemies, while eavesdropping on a group of his peers.

#oh snap thats smart #make that money #peter’s a little slow sometimes #pictures of spiderman #the vulture #neat #peter parker #marvel #spiderman #the amazing spiderman #canon #comic #stan lee #steve ditko #john duffy #duel to the death with the vulture #32 #fun facts

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docholligay · 2 years

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Gideon the Ninth (Will I regret not hiding the title? We’ll find out!)

tl;dr: I think this a great light entertainment, and also that it’s not really for me. 1600 words to follow

I would recommend this book without reservation to two kinds of people:

I am gay, and adore the hate-to-love trope

I am gay, and I fantasy is an “easy win” genre for me

Everyone else, it’s really going to depend on you, and the frame of mind you’re in.

And this is not me dogging on those people, as my wife is one of them (And she’s indicated she’ll probably read this based on my recommendation) and I have MANY friends that fall into that position. It is an honorable one! It’s just not mine--hate to love doesn’t appeal to me, and fantasy as a genre holds no special place--so while there was nothing that had to be OVERCOME, nothing I hated directly, there was nothing giving the novel extra credit to begin with.

EVERYTHING BELOW HERE IS A HUGE HUGE HUGE FUCKING SPOILER DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN READING THE BOOK

What I liked:

1) The fucking cavalier shit KILLS. It’s so good, it’s great, if I could assign anything negative to it, it’s that I wanted the book to be so much more that. The duels, by and large, were some of my favorite bits, and Muir writes action extremely well, I want her to write a gay musketeer book because I want to read that book. I already mentioned this in a different post, but the line “Death first to vultures and scavengers” after the challenge of the wounded Sixth was just, incredible. Beautiful.

These ideas of duty and honor and “One flesh, one end” and all the different forms that could take, if one really wanted to explore that, I found so incredibly compelling. In the book, it’s very often taken romantically, and while I have no issue with that I would have liked to see more exploration of the idea in a non-romantic way. But in fairness, if they had gone into the cavalier ethos and idea and shit the way I would have wanted the book would have been 6-700 pages, and I don’t know that people would have been as compelled to read it at that length.

But, the confrontation between Colum and Silas? The line “I am the oath. I have been engineered into a man who doesn’t--pick and choose his decencies!”? How do you not want to read more about that?? How does that not make you shudder in the best way? Fuck me, this who thing was far and away my favorite part of the book, and I adored it.

2) You know, as I am not a fantasy girl, I had never considered Necromancy in the way that it can cover a lot of different things at once. I loved the way that they were all necromancers, but their methods and power were all very different. It was a clever way of thinking about it that I don’t know I would have thought of, and I was incredibly impressed by it.

3) I love that Gideon dies! I love that Gideon dies and, in a very real sense, forces Harrow’s hand, and the line “You’re already 200 dead daughters and sons of our House. What’s one more?” is EXQUISITE. And in the epilogue, it is EXPLICITLY stated, by, you know, God, that Gideon CANNOT be brought back, and “What’s done is done. Now you have to live with it.” THE SWEETMEATS OF IT. If I had even one single solitary ounce of trust in gay stories, I would fucking read the ABSOLUTE SHIT out of Harrow the Ninth, because it would be about grief, and guilt, and having to live with it, and basically everything I wanted from “two hundred children died so I could be born but at least you like me even though you shouldn’t!” (MAJOR NOTE ON THIS UNDER DISLIKES)

Sort of neither:

I very very much liked Dulcinea, and was a little let down that her being the villain of the piece--which I guessed pretty quick off--wasn’t actually her being the villain of the piece. I went in the direction of “I don’t want to die, as cool as I seem with it, so I’m gonna do some light evil.” but the reveal wasn’t enough to make me dislike the book or Dulcinea, just, “awww man”

I wanted Harrow to be more of a bound to tradition-snobby-highborn type, but this is just me wanting the tropes I want out of fanficcy thing.

FROM HERE I AM SAYING THE THINGS I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK. IF YOU LOVE THIS BOOK, IF THIS BOOK CLEARED UP YOUR SKIN AND SAVED YOU FROM DEPRESSION AND WASHED YOUR DISHES LAST NIGHT AND YOU CAN’T IMAGINE A WORLD BEFORE IT, DON’T CLICK BELOW

Dislikes:

1) I never did get okay with the discordant prose, though I certainly got more used to it. It’s not that Muir can’t write, she absolutely can fucking write her ass off, she wrote the line, “She drifted out like a black ship in sail,” it is in no way a sign of lack of SKILL, it’s very much a stylistic choice she’s making, and I hate it! I THINK it’s to try and capture the “feel” of early fanfic--make no mistake, Muir is my age, and she’s writing to appeal to gay women our age who found ourselves first in that world, and, to sound like a bitch, maybe never progressed beyond reading that sort of thing. It’s frustrating because she’s obviously got immense talent, and I know some people weren’t bothered at all by it or found it charming but for me, it was just, “STOP THAT RIGHT NOW”

2) I cannot with feeling bad for Harrow. I don’t. We can cry baby tears about how she felt bad that TWO HUNDRED CHILDREN were nerve gassed to death so her parents could have a necromancer child, but I feel about as bad for her as I do for someone born to parents profiting off a blood diamond mine. Awwww, poor baby has to know people were sacrificed for you to have the immense power you had. Don’t get me wrong: I am totally on her side when she’s like, “I’m an abomination, and the only thing I can do with my life is to somehow be a memorial to the LITERAL CHILDREN who my parents killed without a second thought” and I could be there SO hard if it was just a little more, “I was born with a debt I cannot possibly repay, but I will work every day of my life to try and pay it,” and/or, maybe even better, “This House deserves to die. My parents’ work deserves to be a fucking failure.” Or maybe, I wouldn’t choke on this so hard (I’m really choking on this, can you tell?) if Gideon held her to account for TWO FUCKING SECONDS. Instead it’s, “Oh, no, I was treated with immense cruelty and distance my entire childhood because I committed the sin of survival, but no, Harrow, I am sorry for YOU, YOU must be so sad, let me now claim fealty to you because just now you’re apologizing to me for an ENTIRE LIFE of mistreatment but fuck we only have 90 pages of book left, and I gotta die for you in like 70 pages, so let’s get past all this.” I am choking SO HARD on how the narrative wants me to feel bad because it hurts her little heart. I do not care. Earn it. Be worth it. But for fuck’s sake don’t cry to the WOMAN YOU TORMENTED about it.

3) But also maybe 2a, honestly, and I almost didn’t put this in because I didn’t want it to become some fucking stupid thing for people this also didn’t connect with the latch on to and call it probelmatique but: Harrow owns Gideon, and that squicks the fuck out of me. Gideon’s freedom rests entirely on Harrow’s legal say-so. As soon as we went down that road, I knew this was gonna be a tough one for me.

4) “What’s done is done. Now you have to live with it.” THE SWEETMEATS OF IT. If I had even one single solitary ounce of trust in gay stories, I would fucking read the ABSOLUTE SHIT out of Harrow the Ninth, because it would be about grief, and guilt, and having to live with it, but it’s a gay story tumblr loves, so I have ZERO PERCENT FAITH that it is, in fact, about living with it.”But Dooooooooc,” you may whine, “it’s about necroooooomancyyyyyyyyy” listen we’ve been in this world for 450 or so pages, and LOTS of fucking people die, and NO ONE gets brought back in a real way. Necromancy and resurrection aren’t the same thing, and the epilogue is EXPLICITLY telling me, ‘Nope, she’s dead,” but I know, I KNOW, that they’ll walk it back. And it isn’t even to say that I couldn’t find certain ways of having Gideon’s essence around tolerable, or even deeply moving and compelling, it’s that I don’t trust it to do that, I don’t trust it to let her be gone in a way that is tangible and forever. Harrow the Supergenius but Sad :( Hot Topic Girlfriend is absolutely going to find a way to pin Gideon to a new body, or make her a revenant, or SOMETHING, where they can truly interact like she’s alive, at will, etc. SOOOOOOOO I will just pretend this is the only book and I can believe Harrow spends the rest of her life working to be worth the immense sacrifices made to build her, and that maybe, oh, I don’t know, ethics will come into it, and not just the seeking of power.

Really when it comes down to it, I had a couple minor issues, but one thing that made me CHOKE, and one thing that WILL make me choke. So, I would say, it’s not a very deep book, it’s a very easy read--and it’s not trying to be anything else, this isn’t a criticism--so if none of what bothers me bothers you, absolutely read it! Like I said, I’m gonna give it to my wife to read, i think she’ll love it. I think going into it not wanting to think too hard about it is essential--and again, I have books I love that are the same, this isn’t me calling anyone anything. It’s very light and fanficcy; it’s like eating a Little Debbie snack cake. No one would mistake it for a pastry chef’s chocolate cake, but it’s like, fine when you’re sitting in the tub.

#Doc reads

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