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diamondperfumes · 9 months

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Culture is a central aspect of Dany's arc. As such, it is a central feature of interpretations of her character, whether such interpretations are positive or negative.

The majority of ASOIAF fans dislike Dany's relationship with culture. What I find interesting, however, is that ASOIAF fans end up rejecting Dany's place in every culture she's part of.

Dany was born on Dragonstone, and immediately fled to Braavos when Rhaella died. When Viserys and Daenerys were forced to leave the Sealord's Manse, they traveled through the Free Cities: Lys, Myr, Tyrosh. Dany speaks Valyrian with a Tyroshi accent/dialect. Six months before the events of AGOT, Viserys and Daenerys land up in Illyrio's manse in Pentos.

Dany unequivocally adopts Dothraki culture as her own. She worships the Dothraki Horse God, speaks Dothraki fluently, wears the hrakkar when she wants to be comfortable, prefers her Dothraki riding leathers, painted vest, and medallion belt to the Meereenese tokar (and wears such an outfit when she wants to project strength), wears bells in her hair, considers Dothraki funeral rites for her own eventual death, loves horse riding, and sees herself as part of the Dothraki land. She is a Khaleesi of her own Khalasar, and also foreshadowed to be the Stallion who Mounts the World.

Dany spends time in Qarth, recovering from the perils of the Red Waste, figuring her leadership style out as a beggar queen, before she is kicked out of the city. There she meets Quaithe, who recurs as an ambiguous guide and mentor in her arc. She also receives various prophecies from the Undying, before they try to devour her. Xaro becomes an ally, and then enemy, and she learns important lessons from him. She gets her three-headed dragon crown, wrought in jade, ivory, and onyx, from the Pureborn of Qarth.

Dany conquers Slaver's Bay, moving from Astapor, to Yunkai, to Meereen, before ruling Meereen as Queen. She tries to free slaves and abolish slavery in each city. She wears the Meereenese tokar, speaks Ghiscari in court, marries Hizdahr zo Loraq in the Meereenese fashion, re-opens the fighting pits, trains her child hostages as cupbearers, and tries to be the "queen of rabbits." The bulk of the exploration of her leadership style and ideology is in Slaver's Bay.

Dany wants to reconquer Westeros on behalf of the Targaryen dynasty, and idealizes Westeros as a beautiful land. She names the habitat Drogon carves out for himself as Dragonstone.

Dany longs for the house with the red door and lemon tree. The two places she admits to being happiest in are Braavos (the house with the red door) and the Dothraki Sea. She once wanted to be a sailor. She has dreams of living a simple life with Daario. She also wants to be queen.

Dany speaks Ghiscari, High Valyrian, Tyroshi Valyrian (and likely other Valyrian dialects, like Pentoshi Valyrian), the Common Tongue, and Dothraki. She worships both the Faith of the Seven and the Dothraki Horse God. She has a connection to R'hllorism. She's lived in various Free Cities, the Dothraki Sea, Qarth, and Meereen. She's been through the Red Waste, Vaes Dothrak, Astapor, and Yunkai.

ASOIAF fans reject every one of Dany's relationships to these locations and cultures.

She is considered entitled, and imperialistic, for wanting to reconquer Westeros. Most theories of her dying center around the futility of conquest, the violence of House Targaryen, the selfishness of holding on to its name, the fact of her exile, and even that she is "foreign" to the land and culture. Many point out that she doesn't know "anything" about Westeros, that her father was Aerys II, that her family are "oppressive conquerors," and that her family lost the throne. Some will come up with convoluted reasons to claim that Jon Snow or Young Griff are ahead of her in the line of succession (so the throne belongs to a Targaryen, just not her). She won't "respect" Northern independence, Dornish independence, Ironborn independence, etc.

She is considered violent, tyrannical, and a threat to Westeros because of her connection to the Dothraki. She is accused of being an enabler of slavery and rape for being Drogo's wife, and then a she-Khal. The stallion who mounts the world prophecy is used as "proof" that she will go mad, or that she will burn Westeros to the ground in her conquest. She is accused of romanticizing Dothraki culture. She's blamed for what happens to the women of the Lhazarene village, particularly Mirri. Phrases such as "she is a white woman whose arc is propped up by the suffering of women of color/characters of color" are usually located here.

Dany is accused of not really caring about slavery because "she didn't do anything about it in Qarth," and stayed in Xaro's manse as a guest.

At the same time, Dany is seen as a white/Westerosi character "imposing her foreign/Western values" upon Essos. She is accused of "trying to civilize" Dothraki culture and "appropriating/mimicking" it. The phrase "white man's burden" is usually thrown around here. She's accused of raping Irri, her arc being built on Irri and Jhiqui's suffering, and the Dothraki being painted as "savage" for her own trauma. She is mocked as naive and ignorant for not appreciating the beauty of Qarth and wanting to return to Westeros in spite of being there, accused of being unfair toward Xaro in expecting an alliance from him, accused of being a cultural imperialist for burning down the House of the Undying.

Her time in Slaver's Bay receives the lion's share of the critique. She ruins its political economy. She destroys the region. She profits from slavery while claiming to be antislavery. She causes the freedmen to face poverty, violence, murder, rape, and suffering. She doesn't do enough against rapists and looters. She chooses fire and blood over the Meereenese peace, which is seen as a negative. She colonizes Slaver's Bay. She is like the US in Afghanistan or Iraq––invading for selfish reasons and then leaving, causing a rightwing insurgency to grow. She commits war crimes by torturing the wineseller's daughters and crucifying 163 Great Masters of Meereen, leaders of the city.

Yet the irony of this is captured in how people criticize her presence in Meereen: she is accused of ruining the city as an imperialist and is then criticized for wanting to sail away to conquer Westeros. So essentially, she has no place in Meereen, but she is also a bad person for wanting to leave it for Westeros.

As a Targaryen, and a Valyrian in general, her presence is seen as oppressive to both Westeros and Essos. Westeros because of the Targaryen conquest, Essos because of the legacy of the Valyrian Freehold. She's criticized for being "allies" with Illyrio Mopatis, a slaveowner, and people theorize that Braavos will hate her for being a Valyrian with dragons. Yet she is also criticized for not resettling in the house with the red door (presumably in Braavos, no?) and instead wanting to conquer Westeros. She is "too stupid" to appreciate how "beautiful and advanced" Essos is, and too focused on idealizing Westeros, but she is also too Westerosi/white/foreign to Essos.

In other words, for ASOIAF fans, Dany does not deserve to belong to any culture. Seeking a place in Westeros means that she is entitled, selfish, privileged, and oppressive. Being a Dothraki Khaleesi means that she simultaneously romanticizes slavery and is trying to civilize brown people. Conquering Slaver's Bay is an act of imperialism from a Western tyrant seeking resources, but leaving Slaver's Bay is an act of imperialism from a Western tyrant fleeing a war they started. Staying in Qarth means that she romanticizes slavery, but not fitting in there and idealizing Westeros means she is like an American tourist in the Global South, who cannot appreciate the real value of where she is in favor of a backwater Global North (Westeros). Being Valyrian means she is inherently responsible for slavery, and thus does not belong in Braavos or Westeros, but if she lives in Qarth, the Free Cities, or conquers Slaver's Bay to abolish slavery, she is trying to make Old Valyria rise again. She ruined Meereen and will burn Volantis, but she will also burn King's Landing and maybe even Sunspear.

If I ask ASOIAF fans what culture she belongs to, or which continent she should be part of, doubtless I will get multiple answers. But those answers will end up contradicting themselves. The reality is that these are not scattered rejections––the people rejecting Dany's place in each culture will, at different times, reject all the places Dany occupies in said cultures. Someone who on one day says Dany is a backwater white person who can't appreciate the beauty of Qarth will on the next day claim that she is reviving the violence of the Targaryen dynasty upon Dorne and the North by planning to invade Westeros. Someone who will wax lyrical about how she is a white woman whose arc is built on the suffering of women of color, and thus that she is a Nazi, or white supremacist, will on another day call her a rape enabling slave profiteer for being Drogo's wife and a Khaleesi.

Perhaps this is the natural conclusion of a character who is intentionally written as stateless and homeless. A nomad, an exile, a diasporic teenage girl, who longs for various "homes" and has different ideas of "home" in her head. But what does it say about ASOIAF fans that they reject her relationship with every culture? They don't want her in Essos or Westeros. We don't know what's west of Westeros, as we never hear the outcome of Elissa Farman's voyage. Doubtless the same fears people have of Dany living and thriving in Essos or Westeros would apply to any lands west of Westeros too. So where do they want her? There is an answer to this, which only a few ASOIAF fans are honest enough to admit: that Dany should have died in childbirth, or on the journey to Braavos, or on the Dothraki Sea, as Illyrio intended. Sadly, most ASOIAF fans are not brave enough to admit that their rejection of Dany's various cultural "places" is actually just a disguise for their dissatisfaction at her existence in the narrative.

(Whether or not that dissatisfaction is merited, whether or not it is motivated by genuine, "progressive" literary reasons, is another conversation. ASOIAF fans are indeed free to be upset about her presence as a character, or to theorize that she will be a villain because of her cultural statelessness. Right now, though, this post focuses on the question of "what culture could Dany be a part of without being a threat." The answer, for most ASOIAF fans, seems to be that Dany, child of storm, was born a threat to the entire world of ice and fire).

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf #my discourse #rape tw

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camillasgirl · 7 months

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King Charles III and Queen Camilla will undertake a State Visit to Kenya

The visit will take place from Tuesday 31st October to Friday 3rd November 2023, and will celebrate the warm relationship between the two countries and the strong and dynamic partnership they continue to forge.

The visit is at the invitation of President Ruto and comes as Kenya prepares to celebrate 60 years of independence. His Majesty’s first visit to a Commonwealth nation as King is therefore to the country in which Queen Elizabeth II’s reign began, having acceded to the throne in Kenya in February 1952.

The King and Queen will visit Nairobi City County, Mombasa County and surrounding areas. Their Majesties’ programme will reflect the ways in which Kenya and the United Kingdom are working together, notably to boost mutual prosperity, tackle climate change, promote youth opportunity and employment, advance sustainable development and create a more stable and secure region.

During the visit, Their Majesties will meet President Ruto and the First Lady as well as and other members of the Kenyan Government, UN staff, CEOs, faith leaders, young people, future leaders and Kenyan Marines training with UK Royal Marines. The King will also attend an event to celebrate the life and work of the Nobel Laureate the late Professor Wangari Maathai, together with Wangari’s daughter, Wanjira Mathai.

The King and Queen’s programme will celebrate the close links between the British and Kenyan people in areas such as the creative arts, technology, enterprise, education and innovation. The visit will also acknowledge the more painful aspects of the UK and Kenya’s shared history, including the Emergency (1952-1960). His Majesty will take time during the visit to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered in this period by the people of Kenya. Together, Their Majesties will tour a new museum dedicated to Kenya’s history and will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Uhuru Gardens, as well as visiting the site of the declaration of Kenya’s independence in 1963.

The King and Queen’s programme also will include:

Their Majesties will be greeted in Nairobi with a ceremonial welcome at State House and will each attend bilateral meetings – The King with The President and The Queen with the First Lady, before The President hosts a State Banquet at State House.

His Majesty will visit the United Nations Office at Nairobi, to learn more about the work of UN Habitat and the UN Environment Programme. UNON is the only UN Headquarters in the Commonwealth.

His Majesty will attend a technology showcase, meeting Kenyan entrepreneurs who are driving forward innovation in the country’s tech sector. Kenya has the third largest start up eco-system in Africa.

His Majesty will host a reception focussed on Kenya’s young people and future leaders across development, trade, media, the creative arts and environmental conservation.

Their Majesties will visit a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, joining British and Kenyan military personnel in an act of Remembrance, before hearing about the Commission’s recent work to ensure all those who supported Britain’s efforts in both World Wars are commemorated.

The King and Queen will visit Nairobi National Park to witness the vital conservation work being undertaken by the Kenya Wildlife Service, which is integral to Kenya’s thriving tourism industry.

Her Majesty, Patron of the equine welfare charity Brooke, will hear how the charity is working with the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals to rescue donkeys at risk and promote their welfare.

The King, as Captain General of the Royal Marines, and The Queen, will visit Mtongwe Naval Base in Mombasa. There, Their Majesties will witness Kenyan Marines, trained by the Royal Marines, demonstrating a covert beach landing, showing defence collaboration in action.

The Queen will meet survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, learning how they are supported and sharing her own insights from working in this area.

The King will meet faith leaders from Mombasa’s diverse community, hearing how they are working together to promote harmony amongst the city’s population.

#king charles iii #queen camilla

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theseshipsshallsail · 6 months

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Happy Friday, Peaches, new chapter of the reunion fic coming right up 🍑

Considering the state of the world right now, I'm going to give a quick heads-up for this chapter. It's nothing detailed, but at one point our boys are discussing a piece of artwork called the Angelus Novus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelus_Novus - an idea that's fascinated me for years, and in doing so touch on Nazi Germany and the persecution of the Jewish race. So if you might find that triggering just skip ahead a few paragraphs after 'He flashes his teeth' and jump back in at 'Neither,” Elio says, whiskey-warm.'

You won't miss anything plot-wise, and the happy ending will still be waiting for you after 😘❤️

Chapter 5

A merry whoop is the only warning he receives before Elio zips in front of him, the whipcord muscles of his calves pumping furiously as they crest the gruelling hill. Oliver deviates to the right - clenching the handlebar tightly - then straightens from the saddle to overtake him on the downhill; emerald-green oxford flapping behind him with each bump and bend of the winding lane.

The burnished wheat fields are steeped in familiarity. As too are the sentinel sunflowers raising their befuddled blooms. They’d pedalled this route innumerable occasions their amber-coated summer: chitchatting about all and nothing as they manoeuvred side by side. Oliver knows every inch of this countryside - just as he once knew every inch of the man beside him - but it’s the overgrown track half-shielded by a rotund cedar that has him slamming on the brakes; his front tyre strewing pebbles like confetti while he just about manages to remain vertical.

“Oliver?”

Dismounting gingerly, he kicks at the pervading weeds. “Is that…”

“My spot?” Elio walks his faithful leri backwards. “I’m impressed you remember,” he says, and Oliver laughs; the crisp, monosyllabic rasp of the supremely bewildered.

“Of course I remember,” he replies, acid souring his throat. “I'm like you. I remember everything.”

The thunderbolt compulsion to investigate further is undeniable, so with a bit of nudging, tussling, and under-the-ribs poking they stomp a gulley through the thickset juniper attempting to conceal the sacrosanct sanctuary ahead.

Just like the postcard, the copse itself is interspersed with wildflowers: tall, marine pines hosting a riotous clatter of starlings in their branches when they balance their bicycles against them. The turquoise cove glistens crystalline as ever, and across the bay - with a fair amount of squinting - he’s able to parse the Perlman’s rooftop and adjacent villa where Vimini was wont to appear in her floppy hat and flamboyant outfits like some astute Mexican bandit.

“He’s oblivious, our Elio,” she’d told him one morning, gaze intent on a fractious hermit crab she’d wheedled from a low-tide rock pool. “He works so hard at pretending not to like you, yet only succeeds in deceiving himself. He does, though. I know he does,” she’d continued with that innate bluntness he found so endearing. “And it’s easy to see you like him back.”

“More than he knows,” Oliver’d confided, returning the beady-eyed crustacean to its native habitat. “And definitely more than he likes me.”

“I beg to differ,” Vimini’d muttered, jabbing at a clump of slimy seaweed. “But that’s because I’m a genius. And smarter than the pair of you combined…”

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

“The last time I came here,” Elio says, interrupting his wool-gathering. “...was the day I called you home.” Dropping to the sloped pasture, he sets about undoing his laces. “The time before that...”

“Was with me.” It’s less a question than a statement.

“Giusto.” Elio tugs off his socks. Heaps them with his mobile. “Twenty years.” He doesn’t sound accusatory, but there's a mild sort of resignation in his lilt that slashes like a blade. Lodges in his heart like a particularly intractable chigger. “Feels like forever…”

Oliver sighs. “Feels like yesterday,” he says, shucking his espadrilles as Elio cants back on his elbows, tipping his chin at the Alpi Orobie’s gushing tributary.

“The meaning of the river flowing is not that all things are changing so that we cannot encounter them twice, but that some things stay the same only by changing.” He flashes his teeth. “Have you ever heard of the Angelus Novus?”

Vaguely, Oliver thinks, having touched on the subject for a sophomore midterm. “From Walter Benjamin’s thesis?”

“A Philosophy of History,” Elio confirms, crossing his legs at the ankles. “The original is a 1920s oil-transfer produced by Paul Klee. Benjamin acquired the monoprint, but committed suicide whilst fleeing the Nazis, so bequeathed it to his friend, Gershom Scholem: an eminent academic.”

“Currently part of a collection in the Israeli Museum,” Oliver recalls, intensely curious. “What of it?”

Elio beheads a violet aster. “Well,” he begins, twirling it lazily. “According to Scholem, Benjamin felt an almost mystical identification with the image; describing it as the Angel of History. He believed it was caught in a storm,” he continues, removing the petals one-by-one. “That before it lies the past; a shambolic mass of births and deaths. Wars, won and lost. Entire generations wiped out at a despot’s whim.” A pause. “Things we humans pretend can be straightened into tidy little spreadsheets of cause and effect.” Elio discards the mangled flower. Selects a seeded dandelion instead. “In any event, the angel sees the wreckage for what it is. Wants to put things right, even. Awaken the dead. Restore what’s been smashed. But it’s stuck, tu vois? Buffeted by that almighty wind. Anxiously stumbling backwards into a future it can’t see. Unable to alter the past it can’t reach.”

“And this wind?” Oliver asks, the pull of Eros all-encompassing. “Is it fate, then? Within Scholem’s metaphor? Or the will of God, perhaps?”

“Neither,” Elio says, whiskey-warm. “It’s what one might call progress.” He smiles - sharper, brighter - then leaps up with boyish vigour; yanking the striped material of his polo-shirt over his head. “Enough of this,” he says, adding it to the pile. “No more speeches, d’accord?” And if the hypnotising glint of his Star of David wasn't liable to make Oliver’s breath stutter, the titanium bars adorning his dusky nipples damn near knock him to his knees. “Catch me if you can, Americano!” Elio yells, already wading into the shallows, so Oliver rids himself of his shirt, wallet, and watch, and prepares to give chase.

His cargo shorts should dry soon enough - better that, than chance sporting an erection in thin cotton underwear - howbeit plunging into the frigid lake he lets out an involuntary yelp, immediately deciding that’s a moot concern anyway. The current is more robust in the centre - of which his quarry conducts a beeline - and Oliver prays for his extremities as he twists into a nimble corkscrew; the tantalising peek of Elio’s pale limbs ratcheting his pulse until he surfaces from the abstract depths.

Monet’s berm comes rushing in -

The high-pitched trill of a house-martin in the stunted palms.

The shrinking roar of a vespa as it climbs the remote mountain pass.

The soporific churn of the Mediterranean below.

- and digging his toes into the shingly sediment Oliver rakes the bedraggled fringe from his bleary vision, only to end up spluttering when a barrelling wave hits him full pelt.

Elio’s giggles are like music to his ears - water-logged though they might be - yet Oliver’s not above playing dirty himself, and lunging for his wily opponent he tackles him from behind; lifting him up to spin him off-balance in retribution.

“Stronzo!” Elio cries when he almost dunks them under, but he’s beaming nonetheless as Oliver tailors them curve-to-curve, nuzzling his forehead to the velvet expanse of skin dividing his shoulders.

“You started it.”

“One of us had to,” Elio says, snaking a hand to Oliver’s waist as he wriggles about to face him, and after nine long weeks of intellectual foreplay, all other bets are suddenly off. “I’m going to kiss you, mon amour.”

“Is that so?” Oliver asks, nosing the scallop-shell dip of his clavicle.

“Assolutamente...” Livewire lips meet the tendons of his neck: a magnetic spark both seductive and searing. “Unless you tell me no, that is.”

A broken-glass cough claws at Oliver’s oesophagus. “Whyever would I tell you no?” he asks, sweeping the pad of his thumb through Elio’s soggy ringlets. “I’d give you the world if you let me.”

“If I’ll let you?”

“If that’s what you want?” Elio’s bravado turns bashful as twin specks of colour gild the apples of his cheeks. “I want you, Oliver. Us,” he says hoarsely, then banishes the gap between them; ten centimetres and two decades eradicated in a soft, powdered-sugar kiss that dissolves too-swiftly upon his tongue, leaving him inordinately famished for more.

#cmbyn fanfic #call me by your name #elio x oliver #new chapter #reunion fic

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waitingforsecretsouls · 8 months

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Thinking about them again, and Jaehaerys & Barth truly are criminally underrated as a duo when they've got one of the most fleshed-out dynamics and friendships in the entirety of Fire & Blood.

The fact that any and all moments of emtional honesty and vulnerability we have on Jaehaerys are relayed through Jaehaerys and Barth exchanges (even as far back as his feelings on the Alyssa & Rogar marriage!), that all of Alysanne's proposed reforms to make life better for the common people only get pushed through with Barth's support, that it's Barth who has the most nuanced and sympathethic views on Jaehaerys and Alysannes neglected younger children (primarily Saera, by far the most "controversial" of said children. He clearly sees her as starved of love and attention, whereas Jaehaerys only sees the "acting out" aspect of it without even trying to get at potential underlying causes); Alysanne literally brings in Barth as support in trying to mollify Jaehaerys' stance on Saera similar to how his support of her planned reforms previously made Jaehaerys accept them; the juicy tibid that (alledgedly) he esteemed Alysanne higher than Jaehaerys, yet was and remained primarily categorized as the latters friend, Barth as the foremost researcher of dragons and other aspects of the "higher mysteries" meaning he likely got permission to study some Targ dragons from up close and maybe even in their more natural habitat on Dragonstone, publishing multiple books later decried as heresy by the faithful Baelor yet Barth himself was a Septon as well, and Jaehaerys was read to from one of said books on his literal deathbed suffice to say approved of Barth's studies to say the least...Also the episode where he has to dissuade Jaehaerys from trying to get him (Barth) elected as High Septon is just cute. Yes, certainly power-grabby motivations but also supporting his bestie in his career. Shrugging of the classism for a moment in making him hand of the king is another goodie. I'm not exaggerating when I say that at times Barth unironically reads as third in their marriage, of sorts (his keener insight into their younger children, the way his opinion is the tie-breaker in anything except the Saera-issue (not for lack of trying though), the way we never get anything similar to how he confides in Barth between Jaehaerys and Alysanne. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly logistically implied but getting an explicit example or two would have been nice nonetheless. The one instance I can recall is Alysanne writing to Jaehaerys regarding Silverwing's unwillingness to cross the Wall but that's the wrong order and more a "WTF" than confiding deep emotions)...

And that's not even going into potential shipping aspects of it, regarding the divide in class and culture and faith (Jaehaerys and Alysanne did grow up in that early period where Targaryen adherence to the faith was more lip-service), Jaehaerys and Alysanne's likely co-dependency developed by how Targaryens see innocent childhood affection as signs of romantic interest and warp these relationships (as we are shown with Baelon and Alyssa as well), how they were child-hostages together cut off from all other siblings which certainly contributed to their resolution to only marry each other, and how you can play with the eventual break-down of these perceptions and the Targ exceptionalism and theirs as a great love story as their children and marriage fall apart, Jaehaerys arguably lashing out against Alysanne and trying to re-establish their ideal Targaryen family unit with the later, forced, pregnancies but it's NOT working...The tragedy of Jaehaerys as some flavour of repressed, partly by how Westerosi society rolls, partly by how Targaryen family traditions and cycles cycle, how it would add another bitter twist to his and Rhaena's estranged relationship (both looking at the other and being jealous of what they're squandering (what they themselves rejected; Rhaena the crown and Jaehaerys relinquishing said crown))...

To which we also have the criminally underexplored Alysanne & Jonquil Darke relationship. Her sworn sword, sticking so close to her it gave her the nickname "Scarlet Shadow" (explicitly due to how seriously she took her duties). Alysanne forbidding her and another "favourite" from taking part in the tourney to celebrate the opening of the Dragonpit because the fighting resulted in so many injuries, the dramatic irony of Jonquil being employed due to the attempted assassination of Alysanne which she blamed for the death of her son Aegon only to have to witness Alysanne eventually forced into late pregnancies resulting in the early deaths of the resulting children...Can't tell me she didn't hate Jaehaerys. Jonquil being instrumentalized in Saera's punishment and through her Alysanne as well (imo) despite her pleading with Jaehaerys to be gentle on Saera, potential eventual conflict arising from that with Saera's later estrangement and Alysanne's desire to re-connect with her...Also just had the realization while typing this, regarding the in-universe-myth of Jonquil and Florian the Fool, a knight who falls in love with Jonquil upon seeing Jonquil bathing in the afterward named Jonquil's Pool...A myth that get's canonically used to describe/flatter the Jaehaerys & Alysanne match...Well, Alysanne hired Jonquil after being attacked in said pool, Jonquil is literally named after one half of said legendary duo and a (mystery) knight! Connecting some dots, maybe not intended but certainly connectable and a few too many common ingredients to be entirely a coincident.

#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #jaehaerys i targaryen #septon barth #jaehaerys x barth #Alysanne Targaryen.#Jonquil Darke #jaehaerys & Barth and Alysanne & Jonquil are the superior pairings #Alysanne x Jonquil

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fischotterkunst · 1 year

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A little “faith in humanity” experience at work today. At the nature center we field a lot of calls asking “how do I get rid of X animal?” and some of them get pretty depressing because you can tell from the call that no matter what you say it’s not going to end well for the animal. But today I had a call from an absolutely lovely woman who was concerned about the wellbeing of a brooding duck on her property and wanted to know how to make sure the duck and her soon-to-be-hatched ducklings would be safe. She’d halted some construction on her property to avoid disturbing the duck and did a bunch of research on ducks to better understand her new neighbor. Mind, this is a mallard duck - probably the most common wild duck in the world, the kind we all probably think of when we think of ducks, nothing particularly special in and of itself. But it touched me to hear how delighted and concerned this lady was for this ordinary little duck. “I’ve never been a grandmother to ducklings before!” she exclaimed happily.

After I answered her questions and the conversation drew to a close, she thanked me for my help. I told her sincerely that it was truly so nice to talk to someone who cares. It’s good to remember that for every person who views animals as pests in their own habitats, there’s a person who’s delighted to be a grandmother to ducklings.

#rivers and roads #river babbles

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anonymousfoz · 5 months

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Crimson Eclipse- Rebellion #1

Taglist: @vite-poh, @theoracleofgiana, @writeblr-of-my-own, @mfpipecat, @the-mindless , @holdmyteaplease , @digital-chance , @eldritchx

I am not linking everything, just go read it on ao3

"All it takes is a small ripple to cause a violent storm...."

It had been 2 years since Luna- Moony's life had changed. She took back her former name and had prepared for what was her destiny. She overlooked the corrupted city, not much had changed since she died before her rebirth as she would have to take the same shit down, but much more was at risk this time. The lives of numerous children lied in her hands and the generations of the future of this town.

"Moony, you ready to go?" The 16-year-old looked over at her older sister. Sunny grabbed her jacket as Moony came down from her spot. Moony went inside the cave to grab her hoodie and to tell Crimson and Viktor goodbye before heading off.

"Be safe out there, please. Don't do anything Viktor would do." Moony rolled her eyes before playfully punching Crimson. The wolf raised his paws as if he was surrendering before laughing while Viktor came into the room.

"Bring me back a skull please." Crimson looked over at the ram before pushing him away from Moony and the two began to argue. Moony ran outside to meet Sunny and then they were off with Taco eventually joining the two on their travel. Today was different as Moony was finally meeting the cult Lilith had. She knew a few former members would be there, and knew there would be a lack of faith in her; either due to previous failure or current age. Either way, Moony was prepared to prove them wrong.

"You know, you don't have to do this."

"I want to do this Sunny. I don't care what they do." Taco let out a meow before rubbing against Moony. "I got it Taco, just don't kill anyone." Sunny began to pet the large feline before footsteps began to approach. A loud rambunctious crowd went silence at the sight of the two sisters, minus one member who ran up to hug Taco.

"I thought we weren't going through with this." One member shouted. They out of the crowd and to Sunny, seemly ignoring Moony all together. "Why should we put our lives at risk for this little teenager?"

"So you don't want to save thousands of children being used as weapons?" Moony interrupted catching the member off guard. "That's what I thought. You can either do that go back to Hell and complain to Lilith, but she put me in charge." The member stared daggers at Moony. "It's very nice to see you again Diablo. Same stubborn asshole as back then." The member grabbed the strings to Moony's hoodie before Taco stood up looking down at Diablo.

"Just move on Diablo, we will do this without you if needed. Moony is leading."

"I don't care, this little pipsqueak can-" the room went dark before the ground began to shake and sparks flew across the room. Diablo stepped back, letting go of Moony but the chaos continued to happen until a large roar was heard.

"Taco, that is enough." Moony pet the feline as the lights flickered back on and the sparks stopped. The feline licked his fangs before sitting behind Moony. The feline wasn't going to let anyone talk like that to his human. Sunny went with the others to another room to clear up anymore conflict, but this wouldn't be the end of it. After all, it was only day one. There was more days ahead, and this wouldn't be the last interaction.

"...and only one small act to change a person."

The next interaction would be their last. It was the next day after, early in the morning. Moony was as the gym as it was a habitat picked up from the brief time in Lucifer's army, Moony quickly rose in the ranks there but grew enemies with her higher ranking officers. To avoid them she just started working out earlier. Diablo had the same idea and the two met while Moony was doing pull-ups.

"What are you doing here kid?" Diablo yelled walking closer. Moony paid him no attention as she kept doing her exercise. "Gym is closed during these hours."

"Then why are you here if it's closed?" Moony did one more pull-up before falling to the ground and looking at the frustrated demon. She began walking towards the exit with the older demon following. "The only issue here is that your authority is being challenged by someone you see who doesn't deserve it."

"What are you my therapist?"

"I have the ability to read and know your deepest and darkest thoughts, such as the fact you only joined this cult because Lucifer banished you from hell." Diablo went quiet. "You want me to tell the others or are you still going to be on my ass?"

"You aren't telling the others anything. Or els-"

"I'm trying to get prepared for a revolution and to go out there to be saving lives. I have no time for you or this. Sorry if you're feelings are hurt that I'm in charge but unless you want to go to Lucifer. I suggest you deal with it."

"You're not going to do anything. Why trust you when you failed the first time?" Diablo looked down at the 16-year-old. "Saving lives when you couldn't even save your own. What's the difference this time? Part time in the army and some more magic training? You should go back to you're fucking grave."

"Real rich coming from the person who didn't do shit the first time. You didn't even go on a singular mission you asshole."

"Time's were different."

"Time's were different." Moony mocked. "They only threat to you was that fucking wizard and I did all the work. You had every chance to help even after my death but you hid like the coward you were and still are."

"I am not a coward."

"Only a coward let's others suffer because you're scared of dying. You had every chance to end things and you never took the initiative and until you do, I don't want to hear a word about my leadership from you."

"Because you can-"

"There are children sitting in crates getting sold for weapons in gang warfare. You had nearly 4 thousand years to step in and all you did was sit in this hideout and training people to do what you were meant to do. You were my right hand, when I went down it was your job to pick up where I left off. And you failed me and every person who suffered because you couldn't kill one old bastard." Diablo was quiet again. "Not going to say anything? You know I'm right. Either do something or sit in the background and keep your mouth shut." Moony walked out leaving Diablo alone in the gym. She was too frustrated to keep working out and she didn't need to be around Diablo at the moment. She opened the door and slammed it closed with her telekinetic powers before stopping as she shattered the glass. She used a repair spell on the glass and door and then she was gone till morning when everyone went to the dining halls for breakfast.

Diablo was talking about Moony when she walked in. Moony walked past to get her breakfast, avoiding eye contact with everyone. It wasn't until Diablo mentioned Sunny that Moony finally snapped and the demon was thrown across the room and slammed against walls appearing out from the ground. Moony only stopped once Sunny came into the room minutes later. It didn't matter to Moony what anyone thought of her, she cared about Sunny and wasn't going to let anyone talk about Sunny behind her back.

"You can't just do that Moony."

"I don't care, I'm fed up with him." Sunny let out a sigh which caused Moony to stop and rethink. "Look, I will hurt him if he talks about you like that. Or anyone for that matter. That cowards don't deserve a place to talk like that."

"I was just saying you can't traumatize people, like that. Do that to him in private." Moony could see a smile creep onto Sunny's face before she responded. "Besides, we all are getting sick of him. But I can get used to this side of you more."

"What? Was the old side boring?"

"No. Just this side is a lot bolder."

#crimson eclipse #rebellion arc #fiction #writing #writeblr #fantasy #my writing

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worstutcanonthingpoll · 1 year

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We finally have our bracket !!

Rounds 1 & 2 will be under the cut, open for more !

There is a mention of abuse in one of the entries , beware.

Round One (1)

Glyde V.S Pyrope's Orange Attacks

Glyde: Impossible to spawn and even harder to fight,

Pyrope's Orange Attacks: Submitter , in their words , has a tiny ass laptop and rarely succeeds in moving when hitting them.

Genocide Grind V.S RUINs Encounter Rate

Genocide Grind: Takes days (exaggerating) to do.

RUINs Encounter Rate: You can't walk five steps without getting attacked.

Lesser Dog Slander V.S Sliding Ice Puzzle

Lesser Dog Slander: "The Red Bird NPC in Grillby's comments on the disappearance of the Dogs, even if Lesser Dog is still alive. Interestingly, Lesser Dog is never mentioned by the other guard dogs. Killing it provokes no reaction from the other dogs at Grillby's. In turn, if Lesser Dog is the only guard dog left, how it acts at Grillby's does not change."

Sliding Ice Puzzle: Tiny snow hat is rewarding, not worth the effort of doing that puzzle several times if you mess up.

Cap'n (SCC) V.S Your Choices Don't Matter

Cap'n (SCC): They thought he was creepy to the girls. I'm gonna be honest, do not vote Cap'n. I want him to lose this, he's a good character. My man was trying too hard to seem straight, let him be.

Your Choices Don't Matter: Vote this! It's very limiting in contrast to Undertale's "your every choice matters" bit.

Mean Chara V.S Cop Undyne

Mean Chara: The triggering topic I was talking about. This had second most submissions next to Cop Undyne, it's the theory that Chara was abusive towards Asriel when they were alive.

Cop Undyne: ACAB.

Not Enough Amalgamates V.S True Lab's Green Key Scene.

Not Enough Amalgamates: They're cool, someone wanted more of them.

True Lab's Green Key Scene: A nine year old somewhere was scarred by it, it is kinda creepy though.

No Running Ability V.S Ambiguous Skeleton Ages

No Running Ability: Frisk walks so slowly, why?

Ambiguous Skeleton Ages: Sans is older, Papyrus is younger, we know that. But how old? Is Papyrus 19, or is he 32?

Megalovania (UT Version) V.S Homestuck References

Megalovania (UT Version): Submitter thinks it's the worst version of Megalovania.

Homestuck References: The one in MTT Resort specifically, quoting the submission; "Get jade harley outta there !!! Not her natural habitat.........".

Round Two (2)

"I Already Befriended Your Mom Last Night." V.S "I Befriended Him Too."

"I Already Befriended Your Mom Last Night": Weird to make your mom jokes to kids you just met, submitter says (valid, honestly).

"I Befriended Him Too.": Sans fucked both Kris' parents, oh no. Was added by the group to even the numbers out.

Aaron Being Creepy To Frisk V.S Date Stuff

Aaron Being Creepy To Frisk: Submitter says that everyone else can recognise Frisk as a child, so why is Aaron flirting with them?

Date Stuff: Kinda weird to invite a kid to so many dates, sometimes just to threaten their life.

Lightners & Darkners Connotations V.S Frisk's Asian Stereotypes Connotations

Lightners & Darkners Connotations: "Darkners' purpose is to to serve Lightners" has some unfortunate connotations when you think about it.

Frisk's Asian Stereotypes Connotations: Frisk has yellow skin and narrow eyes, not the best design choices in hindsight.

Flowey's Characterization V.S Mew Mew's Fight Being Switch Exclusive

Flowey's Characterization: Submitter thinks he's heavily (presumably overly) villainized considering he's a child in a self-made genocidal loop.

Mew Mew's Fight Being Switch Exclusive: Give us our transfemme catgirl fight everywhere else >:( (Added by the group to even the numbers out).

Asgore 'Willingly' Murders Six Kids V.S Papyrus Death

Asgore 'Willingly' Murders Six Kids: Honestly they wrote a whole essay that I can't bother to paste here. In summary, what Toriel said in the stuff pre-Asriel's fight.

Papyrus Death: Why does he still believe in us? Why does he still have faith? Why does he think we can be a better person, if we just tried?

Alphys Enjoys Mew Mew 2 In Deltarune V.S Sans Emits Slime

Alphys Enjoys Mew Mew 2 In Deltarune: What the hell is this imposter.

Sans Emits Slime: "THESE SNAILS ARE JUST LIKE MY BROTHER. ROUND, SLOW... AND CONSTANTLY EMITTING SLIME???"

Lemon Bread (Shyra) Disguises As A Save Point V.S Asgore Dies In All Neutral Endings

Lemon Bread (Shyra) Disguises As A Save Point: Submitter was pissed off on their first playthrough.

Asgore Dies In All Neutral Endings: His whole speech about being a family, his actions in a repeat neutral. It's heartbreaking, hard to not mourn for what we could've had.

Kralsei's Weird Incest Undertones V.S Toby Never Explicitly States Nonbinary-ness Of Characters

Kralsei's Weird Incest Undertones: Obviously, kralsei isn't canon but it is implied that Ralsei has a crush on Kris or the player. He is very similar to Asriel, making it honestly weird.

Toby Never Explicitly States Nonbinary-ness Of Characters: He re-published his whole book because he accidentally misgendered his characters, goes out of his way to correct people, and to use the right pronouns. So why not just say it's canon when it so clearly is?

#Important #Bracket #Not a poll #tw abuse mention #tw abuse #abuse mention

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the-forest-library · 1 year

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November 2022 Reads

Longshadow - Olivia Atwater

Marmee - Sarah Miller

Dracula - Bram Stoker

Red, White, & Royal Blue: Collector’s Edition - Casey McQuiston

Scattered Showers - Rainbow Rowell

Ship Wrecked - Olivia Dade

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail - Ashley Herring Blake

The Man I Never Met - Elle Cook

Kiss Her Once for Me - Alison Cochran

Before I Do - Sophie Cousens

A Cosmic Kind of Love - Samantha Young

When in Rome - Sarah Adams

How to Excavate a Heart - Jake Maia Allow

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory - Martha Wells

Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett

Maybe an Artist - Liz Montague

Ride On - Faith Erin Hicks

The Sea in Winter - Christine Day

So Much Snow - Hyunmin Park

Fry Bread - Kevin Noble Maillard

The Electricity of Every Living Thing - Katherine May

All the Living and the Dead - Hayley Campbell

It Didn’t Start with You - Mark Wolynn

Dickens and Prince - Nick Hornsby

The Future is Disabled - Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen - Sean Sherman

Waxing On - Ralph Macchio

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry

We Were Dreamers - Simu Liu

Have I Told You this Already? - Lauren Graham

Surrender - Bono

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts:

So, obviously the standout this month was Dracula - nothing could compare to reading this novel through Dracula Daily and the entire tumblr experience of it all. What an absolute treat.

This was a much better reading month than I remember it being. Although, I do remember absolutely loving Marmee. Little Women is my favorite book and hearing the story through the matriarch’s tender recollections was just lovely.

Also, if you haven’t read Olivia Atwater yet, make that a goal for next year. Longshadow has been my favorite read of hers so far, but they are all so comforting and cozy.

Goodreads Goal: 377/400 (this is a silly number - do not attempt this)

2022 Reads

#2022 reads #book reviews #book recommendations #books #booklr #bookish #reading #bibliophile

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captainkurosolaire · 1 year

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Tailspin

A rolling tumbleweed traversing desolate desert, scattered across a Saloon, house for cretins which felt lost. Offering salvation in nectar. One drink, became two, three and eventually, your issues were gone. Albeit once snapped out of it, everything else was too.

The precipice of a familiar setting. It cost him before, history held the habit to repeat. Seated, tankard a grog almost finished. Standing on a mental ledge.

He felt worthless, telling people that it’s going to be okay, shouting you’ve got to win, only to falter. This building was where the downward spiral occurred formerly. Allowing, ‘Un’, a specter of misery to consume him. Manifesting a nagging conscience who served small, inferior, and gave it control.

Plummeting further into depravity. Felt he was a creature of flight, airborne, whelmed with turbulence that threatened to crash and collide into the ground.

Unshakable hope, said he could still pull up. Relapse or command a resiliency.

Reflecting, silencing noises of the establishment’s ambiance. Judas prior in a crushing way, advised him to use his thoughts. Serving close, although it was strictly platonic, chemistry, and matching bond felt richer than many couples who claimed love.

Culprit behind this betrayal, took advantage of closeness, peaking into rifts. Inflicting Captain to strike wrongly… Orchestrating this proved chaos was enjoyed. The down-bad heathen began crossing analyzing Crewmates, on potential motives. A singular bullet within the chamber to get the truth, unwilling to falsely accuse.

Wasn’t his daughter, Klethera, despite last seen publicly at bedside before the crime commenced. A grievance too raw, she lashed out. When news broke Captain confronted her after learning she volunteered and admitted she was the one who slew the brother of the man waged against in the Six Layers pit. Wishing to prevent, protect her, but she just questioned. “Why are you insistent to be my Father now? You weren’t for eighteen summers. I don’t need protection or coddling, I can manage without you.” Leaving him stunned, stormed out also on him. Naturally she was a spit-fire.. Unlike him, she held leaps of sense, understanding right from wrong, righteously seeking to do moral justice.

Surgeon Casta either wasn't able elicit harm. Purest innocence, despite challenges into breakable mistreatment, unfairness, everything stacked, she managed to keep herself and attitude afloat. For her compassion for others. Humanization inspired Captain right now, to contemplate. Even chosen to become a subordinate of Sinbad’s band. She admitted to being afraid, but her braveness leaped over expectations for the sake of her Captain.. A hero in her Tales she made him the protagonist. Saved by him long ago. Reality was she was his heroine.

Ubylagynn Gark, The Hellsguard Uncle of Crew, Quartermaster, gentle giant, brother of the Founding Captain. Although intense tension lingered after a threat that if Captain sulked again and moped in the Crimson Baron’s presence, he’d personally turn him into ashes and a fleece pelt. Flames from the crime scene were created with a standardized lighter. Gark’s fire aspect, didn’t require any carry-on nonsense.

Shelah, the Duskwight, sniper originated from part’s elsewhere, Isle of Amazonian’s, all women who were seers, were nomadic and uncommon to using such devices and critically lacked knowledge outside their isolated habitat. She couldn’t have been the culprit either.

Zieton, Goldbrand Crew’s Historian, seemingly from an ancient era, incredibly bound of faith, vowed in Twelve’s Sake to sacred oath, he wouldn’t ever bring harm to anyone with his tremendous knowledge. A body was a temple of the divine and the conduit of their wishes. Joining strictly to retain the scattered Relic’s of the Twelve as his quest, reunite them to their rightful residence. This was far too barbaric and savage for this Elezen.

Nihlius, the unwanted Ghoul, outside grimly appearance, afflicted with appalling darkness, it was impractical for them to be the offender. Quite possibly served as Captain's most loyal, a monster… Unbelievable.

Ruling out these, who remained were candidates, potentially, the mastermind of dark.

Didn’t taste right to assume, Slafhota the person who actually pulled him from the fire, yet often in scenarios, the first on scene could be it. Her aetheric pattern when Captain first encountered her, he believed was an old enemy, a Primal of the Depths, someone who brought tremendous turmoil to Captain long-ago with his Crew of former, it took alliances, and managed to superbly unite to bring down that Siren Among Siren’s written about in fables, her civilization, terrorized, control mind’s and bent them effortlessly in song. It took War against that force, it built his fame throughout the Realm for holding a part to eviscerating that pollution. But he was wrong, cause confronted with this Sea Wolf, she was so far different. Notwithstanding his initial reading, nor instinct, she banished his thoughts. – Perhaps she has regained memories? Was she merely a reincarnation of that villain, hiding amongst that facade? A pretty surface, hiding the depths… There was weight to his concerns.

She not only cooked for this Crew, but was a counselor, someone reliable to confess their harboring feelings, providing balances of calming empathy. Anyone felt safe with her to open up too. He almost slipped into unruly habits, instead asked for her help and she provided warmth. It meant so much to help others, especially those wanting betterment. Felt she would NEVER give up on another. The commitment to care-taking was unrivaled.

Whyte an odd Viera, who really wasn’t. Glamoured only as her identity, laid only known by the Treasure Hunter, Captain. The product manifestation of a treasured relic that brought thoughts to life after traversing a Spiritual Ruins. She was Captain’s imaginary friend, as a child that was never given an actual vessel, she wasn’t real, if anyone else knew that... It would be her demise. Kuro convinced all Crew, she was a childhood friend from his orphanage. Unshakeable, though relic's didn’t carry all their effects, it could be cursed. Things that were buried, often proved better off this way. In the Captain’s twisted fragment, the treasure could’ve mirrored and warped her into other personality traits even outside his design.

Me-Me otherwise Gremlin referred, proved indescribable. They joined this Crew by her own volition and insistence, Captain overwhelmed with their mystique and not only really knew much about them, often they served to pull pranks although harmless, sought to amuse, get laughter out, rid gloom and replace for jolly… Or would con them out of their wealth. From everything Captain knew, Me-Me acted like a guardian. Her reasoning for joining this band was unfathomably beyond anyone. With hints and little display of prowess, they by far were the very, very, strongest.

The Final individual suspect, Captain, chose to often play blind, despite Sol’s many, nonredeemable qualities, brief instances of cruelty, over-exhausting greed. Sol Akami, was Captain’s longest known Crewmate, being among every version of Crew. They were closer than most brothers. Back to back fighting and overall growing up together. Taught under the same Founding Captain, either one of them could’ve held the inheritance of the mantle. He led mercenaries, once owning a Silverbrand, the sister to the Goldbrand; they were always on a similar page. Overcoming events that were incomprehensible to normal. Both lost at sea, struggled with sin and vices. Sol took different stances, opposing path more, traditional in piracy, brutal, take-first, everything was subject to steal, he was borderline insane some days, unpredictable, dangerously borderline a Scourge. Giving off the worst of first impressions. Each were former slaves, Sol, was taken by the Garlemald in their rise. While Captain was a prisoner inundated by land.

Just cause you know someone, doesn’t mean you really do, especially in Captain’s world of piracy, a fact that ate him up. The Seeker wanted none of them to be the traitor, but one was.

Miqo'te resurfaced from his deep thoughts. A soothing feminine voice quizzically, “Another pour sweetie?” Scoundrel left in decision.

Loosening the hold on a drink, “Nay, thank ye though, beauty.” Paying up and choosing to walk beyond. He chose to attempt to remain resilient.

Unbeknownst to this tavern, his last time here, the miscreant acted in such a hellish manner. Brought physical pain to her that had her screaming at him, "Monster!!!" -- He overall was unpleasant to others, she didn’t even recognize him in this present-day, practically a dead man after-all. Blending into casual ware to offer concealment; his mere presence always brought pandemonium. As he departed. She collected the payment, given a additional mysterious pouch inside carried a rare jewelry that could change a life on wealth alone. Radiance, the value left a shone that reflected her most pleasant features. Confused and thinking it was a mistake, she chased after but he was long gone from visibility. The smallest token to make amends and he felt late. This gesture showed that the Pirate was determined to walk a new path that his predecessors never did. Despite unseen from her. Other studious eye’s from tavern patrons, gave pursuit and was tracking this Captain. A whiskey flask was mutually left to collect dust on the serving round-table, whoever drank this, was in the same disaster mental space of the Blackguard.

🌊 ♫The Grey♫ - Reference- Last Chapter 🌊

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mazisetsa · 2 months

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She took a deep breath as she walked through the dense trees, shrubs, flora, and fallen trunks, the sound of naught but fauna echoing through the vast land, steps quiet as if to not disturb their habitat. As if such mattered. The trek towards the clearing where the moon could shine through at its peak only a few yalms as she continued on.

‘After all this time you still remember…’ A voice easily recognizable echoes through her head, words soft a hint of uneasiness in them. Though she stayed silent, stomach rolling as she continued on, pace quickening. She wanted to see it, the place where they had spent many moons trying to strengthen her aether; where she felt truly free. While it was the place where none but the voice’s kin knew of. Sacred ground hidden on an island far off from most anything. The place in which her fate would be decided.

There were two outcomes possible, the voice had said there was a seventy-three percent chance things would go in their favor. With everything they had managed to gather within the past week, those were their odds of success. Yet, the remaining twenty-three percent made her stomach roll with waves of nerves. She trusted her companion with her life, the talks she had had with those close to her had been… enlightening - all she needed to do now was… have faith. Faith in her companion and faith in herself.

As she reached the clearing things were eerily calm, she took time to look around, settling on a small spot near the water and near the glimmering crystal protruding from the earth beneath her bare feet. A soft sigh given as she reached into her bag, carefully she kneeled on the damp earth, setting down the roll of leather and carefully untying it.

Six aspected shards, three the size of her forearm teeming with aspected aether; air, earth, and fire. The three other shards, the length of her palm. Lightening, water, and ice - all containing less amounts of each element as she began setting them out. Shimmering green placed down first to the top left of where she would stand. Striking purple was next placed directly to the right of the green. Blazing red placed to the right of the previous two as she walked south a few steps. Loamy brown placed directly perpendicular to the last. While glistening white was placed to the left. Finally she placed turbulent blue again set to the left of the white, perpendicular to the shimmering green.

She let out the breath she had unknowingly held as she moved to examine her work, standing in the center of the crude circle she had laid out with shards of the elements found on the star - each represented a piece of them. Or so they believed when it came to her own - naught was certain for her ever.

‘You trust me, yes?’ the voice echoes again, her ears twitched as she nodded nibbling slightly on her bottom lip. She did. With all she was.

“Y-Yes Y-Yasushiba, I-I t-trust y-you.” she managed out, voice quiet as she looked up at the stars, mismatched eyes flitting across the dark expanse until she found the moon - almost at its peak. Another deep calming breath inhaled and exhaled as she kneeled yet again, hand in bag as she searched for the notepad with the instructions written. “A-Almost t-time y-yeah? D-Do y-you w-wish f-for m-more a-aether b-beforeh-hand…?” she stammered as usual, gaze trailing to the glowing shards protruding from the ground.

‘We rested last night, all should be alright, [pattee]’ ||Petal|| The voice echoed once again. ‘Though the moon is mere minutes from its peak, it is time.’

She nodded and took one last deep, calming breath. Hands moving to carefully unclasp the necklace she never was seen without. Carefully she set it into the bag. Though soon enough her mismatched eyes would fade to a pale silver, her mannerisms much less hesitant. Those pale silver eyes quickly took stock of the work her ward had done. Satisfied, she gripped the notebook and stood, steps light as she made her way back to the center of the crude circle. She takes a deep breath of her own as she sets their body down, legs crossed as her gaze trailed back toward the sky, any minute now and the moon would be at its peak, she would be at her most powerful. She’d take any and all the help she could get for their safety. The warning the eccentric woman had given her still rang fresh in her mind.

As the moon reached its peak she called forth her shimmering silver aether, allowing it to dance over their skin as she closed her eyes. ‘Call forth a little of your aether, Mazi. Allow it to dance with mine, as we have practiced. Speak the words we have learned, trust in me as I trust in you.’ Yasu murmured in their headspace, as Mazi followed the instructions, calling for her own semi-faint teal aether. Both silver and teal danced across their body as Yasu began the chant. “Sicut nos alica setam teximus. Conscientia nostra una sit, animabus nostris concordibus innexa. Utramque flatu aperiamus portas intelligentiae et veraeque. Dum hoc carmen loquimur, claustra nostra solvant in aethera nuda et nudi, alterius tamen complexu integra. Nostrae cogitationes et affectus uniant, libere fluentes, et incantationis choro permixti. Ex virtute kami misceantur spiritus nostri, et vinculum nostrum crescat in aeternum.” || “As we weave this ritual of merging. Let our consciousness be as one, our souls entwined in harmony. With each breath, let us open the gates of understanding, empathy, and trust. As we speak this incantation, let our barriers dissolve into the aether, leaving us bare and vulnerable, yet whole in the embrace of the other. Let our thoughts and emotions unite, flowing freely, and mingling in a dance of enchantment. By the power of the kami, let our spirits merge, as our bond grows ever stronger.” || They chant in unison, as Yasu draws from the moon and each other - being cautious of Mazi’s own aetherial levels as she continues.

The aspected crystals began to glow around them - first fire and earth, then air, followed by the lightning, ice, and water - the longer they continued chanting the words ingrained into their minds until - everything faded to black.

It seemed to be deja-vu as she walked briskly through the dense forest, through the shrubbery, the fallen trees, it all. Her brows furrowed as she continued on “Y-Yasu?” she called, her voice echoing through the silent forest. She continued on, head on a swivel as she looked for any sign of life, yet something tugged on her to look up. As she did she noticed not a star in the darkened sky, the moon nowhere to be found. “Y-Yasu?!” she called yet again, with the same result as she chewed on her bottom lip.

She continued to wander, calling every so often to her companion a pit forming in her stomach the longer she did. “Y-Yasu… I-I n-need y-you… p-please d-don’t l-leave m-me…” she whispered softly, though the words seemed to echo as she squeezed her eyes shut. She sat down on the dense forest floor, leaning against a fallen tree and curling in on herself at the stinging in her eyes. “Y-Yasu p-please…”

At that moment the ground disappeared from under her, a startled squeak sounded as she reached out for something to grab onto, mismatched eyes widening as a jeweled hand reached out in the midst of the darkness “Y-Yasu!” she reached out for the hand, bracing for impact as they both continued falling… somewhere.

The warm touch of her companion’s hand and the warmth spreading in her right eye soon consumed her entire being, it felt comforting until it became too hot. Yet, she took another deep breath, staring up at Yasu. She trusted her with everything she was, they knew the dangers. But this would help them both.

An ear splitting rumble sounded from under them as she turned her head to see the ground changing, their headscape, she realized, morphing, the landscape she always enjoyed changing right before her eyes as she turned back to Yasu allowing herself to relax as they continued drifting through the sky. Until they were floating mere ilms from the newly formed ground.

She let out a breath as they floated, staring up at her other half with wide eyes as Yasu leaned down floating towards her until she could wrap her arms around the smaller fox. “Jaago” || Wake up || Yasu whispered softly as things yet again faded to black.

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hannahlikeso741 · 11 months

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Some Hogwarts Legacy OCs

Sharing some Hogwarts Legacy OCs for each house while keeping Victorian values, events and society in mind. I suck at fanart, so you get fancasts instead.

Gryffindor OC - Theodore Wallace

Hufflepuff OC - Penelope Brooke

Slytherin OC - Aurelia Gray

Ravenclaw OC- Benjamin Thatch

More about them here:

Theodore Wallace

Light Brown hair, tan skin with hazel eyes

Wand : Laurel, 14 1/2 inches, Dragonheart string, Flexible

Pure Blood

Face cast : Froy Gutierrez

Character Inspiration : Allan Quatermain (King Solomon's Mines) and Jim Hawkins (Treasure Island)

The only son of the Wallace family, Theodore charges ahead bravely without fear and without thinking, discovering the unknown is what thrills him. His mother and father travels a lot to many British colonies to discover any wild beasts for further documentation, which is now passed down to their son's taste of adventure. Even at his lowest, Theodore's aim is to survive no matter the odds. Upon landing in Hogwarts, he finds it hard to keep still in one location and still gets into trouble exploring the castle grounds or the nearby hamlets. He aims to use magic for good, though he is still questioning where he draws the line. He aims to do more exploring once he leaves Hogwarts, perhaps even beginning work on documenting Beasts and their natural habitats.

(The surname Wallace is taken from Alfred Russell Wallace, British explorer and author of The Malay Archipelago)

Penelope Brooke

Warm Blonde wavy hair, freckled skin with dark brown eyes

Wand : Willow, 9 3/4 inches, Unicorn Hair, Stiff

Half Blood

Face cast : (Unknown stock photo model)

Character Inspiration : Jane Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), Oliver twist

Penelope only sees the good in people, even when things are tough. Born to an alcoholic prostitute in the slums of Whitechapel, Penelope learns to fend for herself at a young age by begging, working or being coaxed into stealing as a means to survive. Upon discovering her magical abilities, she uses it for other people, which led to her wizard father discovering her and taking her under his wing and Penelope never heard from her mother again, as rumours has it she might have been a victim to Jack the Ripper. She continues to try and help other people without judgement as she attends Hogwarts, and hopes to be a healer when she graduates.

Aurelia Gray

Black straight hair, pale skin with light blue eyes

Wand : Yew, 13 1/4 inches, Pheonix Feather, Swishy

Muggle Born

Face cast : Katie McGrath

Character Inspiration : Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights), Jane Eyre

Aurelia only knows tragedy. The third daughter of a English Duke and an American heiress, she was sidelined when her younger brother was born, resulting in the death of her mother. Since then, she wanted to be more than just being groomed to be the perfect wife, running around the fields near her house until that one faithful day when she found out she was magical, resulting an accident that caused Queen Victoria to get involved and sort the matter. She views Professor Fig as her father, aiming to continue learning magical theory. She relished in her newfound freedom at Hogwarts while keeping her heritage a secret to prevent another scandal. What she didn't count on was to find a kindred spirit in Sebastian Sallow.

((Her story is written as Drag Me to Despair, link here))

Benjamin Thatch

Dark Brown straight hair, pale skin with dark blue eyes

Wand : Beech, 12 inches, Pheonix Feather, Pliable

Half Blood

Face cast : Tom Sturridge

Character Inspiration : Sherlock Holmes, Abraham Van Helsing (Dracula)

Growing up with a psychologist Muggle father and a magical history researcher mother as parents, Benjamin has been thought to pursue solid evidence and logic above everything else. A bright child that loves learning new things but struggled when it comes to handling social situations. His father slowly coaxed him out of his shell by bringing him to his office to talk to his patients as a form of therapy. It worked, resulting in Benjamin's sharp tongue mixed in with wit. Upon landing in Hogwarts, he aims to build his connections as he aims for a position in the Ministry.

#hphl oc #sebastian x oc #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy fandom #hphl #hogwarts legacy mc #hogwarts legacy oc #sebastian x mc

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vintage-tech · 1 year

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Other day at the Habitat ReStore I found another Spry shortening cookbook for 50 cents, “Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies” from 1952. Something to go with my “12 Pies Husbands Like Best” cookbook which came out that same year, ya know?

Aunt Jenny, who of course has a Wikipedia page, was an actress by the name of Edith Spencer who did a 15 minute radio program daily from 1937 to 1956 that was basically a homey infomercial for Lever Brothers’ Spry, the main competition to Crisco. I’m sure the people who were paying attention noticed that some cookbooks used the above Betty Crocker-ish image of her, while others were a bit more faithful to how she really looked:

For reasons I'm not well-informed about, Lever stopped producing Spry in the 1970s despite it having heavy market share for several decades. I’ve provided some of her recipes and how to decorate themed Christmas cookies convincingly above; if you want the recipes to more of these easily-digestable but definitely-unhealthy delights, be they cookies or pies, just ask. :-D

#vintage #1952 #cookbook #technology

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coraniaid · 10 months

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I assumed someone else would beat me to it but in case not: Buffy and Faith for bingo!

They did not.

Faith:

I do like the Faith episodes of Angel (even the Season 4 ones), but she is at her best in her natural habitat: mirroring (and being deeply weird about) Buffy Summers.

Buffy:

I think people on Tumblr are generally okay about Buffy (certain unfortunate poll results aside), but whenever I venture onto other bits of the internet I'm reminded that there are a lot of fans of Buffy the show who really don't like Buffy the character. Which is very strange to me. If she ever did anything wrong, then (1) it was the (Season 7) writers' fault and (2) no she did not.

#btvs #asks #thanks again

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toaarcan · 2 years

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Makuta Reytez, the Witch-Queen

Reytez was a Makuta whom had a particular penchant for creating gigantic, carnivorous monsters and little else. When the Makuta divided the Matoran Universe into regions which they could personally monitor and maintain order, she was given a small group of islands in one of the GSR's arms. Relatively isolated, and rarely contacted by her brothers, she continued her experiments, and her region quickly became an inhospitable hellscape- the seas and most of the islands became habitats to her monstrous creations, creatures that had nothing to feed on but each other and the various sapient species. As a result, most of the Matoran that called the area home gravitated toward the shining city she had built on the largest of the islands, where they could be protected by the Makuta's Toa Hagah team. Initially referred to as simply 'Haven', in time it would be renamed 'Reytez-Nui', in honour of their 'protector.' Reytez's region is so inhospitable that she has managed to recruit a few minor Dark Hunters into her operation, as once they disappeared into her territory, they were simply given up for dead.

Reytez attended the convocation where Teridax outlined his plan to usurp the Great Spirit, where she sided with the Brotherhood’s new leader against Miserix, and would later massacre her Toa Hagah after Teridax's team turned traitor. Unlike the others, however, she quickly recruited new ones, and largely uses her Toa Hagah team for entertainment, creating new monsters for them to fight for her amusement. Unfortunately, there are limits to a Toa's capabilities, and she eventually grew tired of the kind of fights that she could cause. To that end, she took to experimenting on them too. Reytez's Toa are slightly larger, stronger, and faster than normal Toa, and all possess one or two biotech implants made from Kanohi masks, which grant them additional powers. However, this process involved a lot of experimentation, and Reytez has a long list of failed specimens that she keeps stored away within her fortress.

Reytez is a cruel and vindictive person, and an expert manipulator, a trait she bolsters with her weapon of choice, a Great Mask of Charisma. The Kanohi's sinister power allows her to essentially brainwash people simply by talking to them, as long as she doesn't rush the process. It's this that allows her to maintain her grip over the Matoran in her region, and the Toa that serve her. She particularly likes to torment her victims and then use her mask to convince them that someone else is to blame- After a member of her Hagah team, Ashlinn, escaped from her grip and made it out of her lands, she responded by ripping the wings off of the escapee's brother, Vertezar, in order to prevent him from following his sister's lead, and then manipulated him into blaming Ashlinn for the loss of his ability to fly.

Like most Makuta, Reytez possesses a wide array of weapons that she often rotates through, but she particularly favours a massive Power Scythe and a Rotating Blade Shield. After Mutran created Shadow Leeches, she added a Tridax Pod filled with the mutant Kraata to her regular arsenal. While she prefers to use the Mask of Charisma, her default Kanohi is a Mask of Scavenging.

Reytez was actually able to survive the Reign of Shadows, through an unorthodox means. She a portion of her Antidermis away in a Reliquary that she left to be guided by her most faithful servant, a mutated Rahkshi named Vordrax. When she was inevitably slain by the ascendant Teridax, Vordrax opened the seal and carefully monitored this surviving piece of his creator until she was fully restored.

Still, she did not return immediately. This was partially to avoid attracting Teridax's attention again, and but mostly because she wanted to take the time to allow her region to fall into chaos. As it did so, with various members of her Hagah team scrapping over who was her heir, and Teridax's own cruelty pushing them all to the brink, she sent Vordrax to stoke the fires, accentuating the divides and disorder that had formed in the wake of her death. Finally, when the Great Spirit Robot collapsed, she returned, striding out of the sea and revealing herself to her fractured people. As they fell into line beneath her once more, she turned and led them to safety, her Rahi Control powers keeping the monsters she had made at bay while she guided them to the fresh new paradise of Spherus Magna.

Once there, she swiftly reestablished Reytez-Nui and returned to the norm, satisfied that her people would now always associate her with their own salvation.

#Bionicle #Bionicle MOC #MOC #Lego #Lego MOC #Makuta #Makuta Reytez #Reytez

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