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fibula-rasa · 4 months

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Lost, but Not Forgotten: The Dancer of the Nile (1923)

Alternate Titles: Tut-ankh-amen, Tutankhamen of Luxor

Direction: William P.S. Earle

Scenario: William P.S. Earle

Original Story: Blanche Taylor Earle

Production Manager: Dick L’Estrange

Camera: Jules Cronjager & Joe Goodrich (assistant)

Scenic Artist: Xavier Mochado

Set Designer: Paul Dodge

Technical Advisor: Capt. Dudley S. Corlette

Studio: William P.S. Earle Pictures Corporation (Production) & Film Booking Offices of America (F.B.O.) (Distribution)

Performers: Carmel Myers, Bertram Thomas Grassby, Malcolm McGregor, Anthony Merlo, Sam de Grasse, Iris Ashton, June Elvidge, Paul Weigel, Howard Gaye, Mother/Nellie Anderson, Beatrice Marsh, & Earle Marsh

Premiere: 12 October 1923, Loew’s New York, New York, NY

Status: presumed entirely lost

Length: 6 reels, 5,787 feet

Synopsis (synthesized from magazine summaries of the plot):

Princess Ankhnespaton [sic] (June Elvidge), daughter of King Akhnaton [sic] (Howard Gaye), has a run in with a band of thieves while traveling. Prince Karmit (Malcolm McGregor) of Syria arrives, disguised as a merchant, and saves the princess. The princess becomes enamored with Karmit and invites him back to the royal residence in Thebes.

While visiting the royal gardens, Karmit encounters a dancer, Arvia (Carmel Myers). He is instantly smitten. The princess is furious that Karmit has rebuffed her for a mere dancer.

Meanwhile, tension between those loyal to the king and those loyal to the old gods erupt when the seasonal flooding of the Nile river doesn’t occur. The princess finds in this situation an opportunity to get her revenge on Arvia.

The princess decrees that Arvia will be offered as a human sacrifice to the god Sobek, in order that the Nile will rise as expected. Arvia is adorned with a poisoned amulet to knock her out while she is fed to the crocodiles.

In an unexpected turn of events, the high priest Pasheri (Sam De Grasse) discovers that the intended sacrifice is his own daughter. Pasheri sneaks into the chamber where Arvia is to be sacrificed and saves her at the last moment.

With Pasheri’s aid, Karmit whisks Arvia away. As the Nile rises, the new couple sail away to Karmit’s kingdom to live happily ever after.

The princess goes on to marry Prince Tutankhamen (Bertram Grassby). And, after the death of her father Prince Tut will become King Tut.

Additional sequence(s) featured in the film (but I’m not sure where they fit in the continuity):

The Temple of Amun-Re is also depicted in the film.

Points of Interest:

While many contemporary reviewers of The Dancer of the Nile (DotN) didn’t mark it as an especially good film, props were given for the artistic effects achieved by Director Earle. Earle and his brother, Ferdinand Pinney Earle, were both pioneers of the era in special effects.

Ferdinand was a painter who contributed matte paintings and art titles to many films of the 1910s and 1920s. While William was primarily a director, both brothers ambitiously created films that were on the cutting edge in regard to techniques of incorporating matte paintings with live actors/studio-shot footage.

For William, it was DotN, and for Ferdinand it was A Lover’s Oath (1920/1925, presumed lost save for a few fragments), which was an adaptation of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. (ATM, I’m planning on doing the next installment of this series on this film!)

(Explanatory note: One technique at use here involves double exposure. Part of the frame is obscured while filming, leaving the obscured part of the film unexposed. The film is then rewound, with the exposed part of the film obscured, to film another element. The final result is, hopefully, a cohesive sequence.

Another technique is shooting through painted glass, which, if painted and lit correctly, results in the painting and the scene occurring behind it appearing as a singular space.

For example, a fully painted environment with live actors moving across the scene. In DotN, there is at least one scene where a live actress ascends a set of stairs, which is a painting. These techniques require an amazing amount of precision, but when done right they can be really dazzling. The double-exposure matting technique has persisted through most of film history, albeit rarely at the scale the Earle brothers were using it!

Below is an illustration of how a moving version of matte photography works from a 1926 issue of Photoplay, followed by some stills from DotN that used the multiple-exposure technique.

I have a few posts coming up that go into more detail on how special effects were executed in films of the 1920s!)

William P.S. Earle’s focus on the artistic elements without much regard for story or characterization may have left many critics cold, but DotN did prove to be a lasting attraction, running in theatres around the world for years following its release. DotN was produced hot on the heels of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922 in Luxor, which launched a new wave of Egyptomania. On one hand, Earle was cashing in on a trend, but on the other, he took the opportunity offered by assured profitability to experiment. In addition to the special effects discussed above, Earle attempted to capture as much period accuracy as possible in the painted settings, props, and costumes. Balancing historical accuracy with perceived “authenticity” in period art is exceedingly difficult—Earle seemingly had mixed success. However, one contemporary review in the magazine Art and Archaeology by Dudley S. Corlett (also the film’s technical advisor) is highly complementary of DotN’s attention to historical and artistic detail. [You can find the review in the transcription section!]

After Earle had more or less finished DotN, F.B.O. bought “Tut-ankh-amen” for distribution. F.B.O. financed reshoots that shifted the narrative away from Tut and towards Arvia, the dancer—hence the title change. I guess F.B.O. believed that cashing in on the trend of movies about dancers would be more lucrative than cashing in on Tut-mania!

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

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Transcribed Sources & Annotations over on the WMM Blog!

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blogger360ncislarules · 18 days

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Death in Paradise has revealed that former EastEnders actor Don Gilet is taking over from Ralf Little as the show's lead detective.

The news will come as a huge surprise to fans, with Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint, Friday Night Dinner star Simon Bird and Gavin & Stacey's Mathew Horne all thought to be at the top of the shortlist for the part.

However, no one had linked Don Gilet's name to the top cop role and bosses will be thrilled they've managed to keep his name under wraps! The makers shared a snap of 57-year-old Don, below, preparing to shoot his first scenes in Guadeloupe, which doubles for Saint Marie. He's been filming alongside co-stars Don Warrington, Shantol Jackson, Ginny Holder, Élizabeth Bourgine and Danny John-Jules.

He will play Detective Inspector Mervin WiIson — who arrives on the idyllic island of Saint Marie from London, and isn't overly pleased with his new surroundings…

Don will first be seen in the upcoming Christmas special, before appearing in the Death in Paradise season 14, which will go out in 2025.

Don, who's also enjoyed parts in Sherwood, Shetland and Doctor Who, says: "Being offered the new lead role in Death in Paradise feels like a deeply loved and incredibly precious jewel has been placed in my hands. This is a big show, with a big heart and the love continually grows for it. It is my intention to never lose sight of that and to remain grateful, humbled and dedicated. Even during those testing times when every sinew is screaming at me to run off the set and dive into the sea, swimming pool or an ice-cold beer — whichever happens to be closer at the time!"

Tim Key, Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures, says: "Don is an amazing actor and we're delighted that he’s joining us as the show enters another exciting new era. We've got huge plans for the new series and beyond, and I can't wait for the audience to meet Mervin and to see what we’ve got in store…"

Death in Paradise swats will note that like Ralf Little before him, Don has actually been in the show before. He popped up in "Stab in the Dark", an episode that went out in 2015 back when Kris Marshall was on detecting duties on Saint Marie as DI Humphrey Goodman.

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, adds: "We could not be happier to welcome Don to the series. Already known to BBC viewers from the likes of Sherwood, EastEnders, and Doctor Who, he’s long been one of the UK's most exciting actors. Death in Paradise is in brilliant hands — roll on Christmas!"

Meanwhile, fans can also look forward to Death in Paradise spin off Return to Paradise, which is set in Australia.

#death in paradise

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ipromiseimawriter · 7 months

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WIP TITLE GAME

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Tagged by @zahnie - thank you omg!!

From most recently worked on to least (roughly): (I tend to be pretty literal with these for the most part, if they don't already have a title)

destiel fix it fic - draft 2: is what it says on the tin. I will get to chipping at the end of this godforsaken series, so hELP ME. I do have a fancy lil summary though (this could get edited later but y'know!!):

“What are you doing? Dean, no–!” “You asked me to stop you. So I’m stopping you.” ( As promised, the Empty came for Castiel when his soul called. When it sang a happiness so profound that nothing else could possibly contain it. But Dean wasn’t ready to let go – and if you were to ask him, he’d swear he had failed Cas one too many times. So when the time came, he sank right down with him. ) Chuck could’ve called it, really. But there’s no biblical preparation for their journey through the Empty. It’s all up to them, now, while Sam and Jack (and friends) race to undo Chuck’s damage to the world. Alternating POV. 15x18 CODA/Fix-It Fic for end of 15x18/15x19 & beyond [15x20 who is she lmao]

destiel theatre bitches AU: an incredibly self-indulgent AU where Dean and Castiel are professors for a theatre department at a (made-up) small liberal arts school somewhere in Kansas. Cas is a new arrival to the department who's making waves (and suggesting some batshit shows for production), Dean's the gruff and well-loved scene shop head/tech professor who doesn't like his toes getting stepped on (jk yes he does), and they're gonna be soooo normal about it (me when i lie). nearly everyone and their mom is in this AU. we have fun here

Welcome to Purgatory: an original work (longform)! a story inspired by my time interacting with SPN/with other horror-fantasy adjacent medias, some characters I've had for 1000 years, and just - fucking around and finding out. I def tried to NaNoWriMo it before, to no such luck, so I just chip at it on my own time. I've got a running tag for it if you're ever interested! (old summary)

Jules Herrick went missing without a trace in the early nineties, and his hunting partner, Simon Villanova, never saw him again. We jump ahead about twenty-five years and realize why he should’ve stayed missing. Victor and Amelia are two childhood friends separated by time and responsibility, reuniting for what should be a normal road trip under less fortunate circumstances - the death of a mutual friend. However, the trip is quickly derailed by a strange pursuer that sends them on the run, and into action. The people who catch up with them to help are not what they expect. The lives their families have led were kept from the two for safety. But between a rogue demon, its lost hellhound, and a secret organization hunting down the missing man and his cohorts, one question must be asked: What does Jules Herrick want with the end of the world, as they know it?

go catch a sunset (stanford-era dean/the outsiders bullshit): a Stanford-era Dean fic (which has 2 chapters up!) that I sort of use as my lil swimming pool for figuring ideas out? Mostly just speculation and big character thoughts on that very vulnerable time. I'm v much looking forward to introducing both Bobby and Cassie soon, getting some Winchester drama, and picking at those good backstory characters.

mama barracuda (WIP title - eldritch horror type shit): an original work (short story). "There's a monster in the woods, just off the beaten path from Hope's home. She isn't the first to be trapped into position of Keeper for the Barracuda of the Backwoods, but she is the first - in a very long time - to truly understand her. They call her Mama." So essentially - monster collects teeth for her own rotting mouth. Sisyphean effort on the Keeper's part. Symbiotic parasite/mother-daughter type shit. LOTS TO UNPACK.

honorable mention: a bunch of plays and other lil bits that would take me too long to describe <333

tagging: @subtlefires, @disabled-dean , @butchabouttown, @luckshiptoshore , and anyone who wants to play! (this includes all my friends who may see this and go "hey i have wips". give it to me. i want to see it)

#tag game #writing stuff #original work #fanfic #elliot rambles #tagged: zahnie #supernatural #welcome to purgatory

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mvmvmvmvmvmvmvmvmvmvmv · 7 months

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The Baroness of Jazz

By Barry Singer

Oct. 17, 2008

IF the mysterious Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter is at all remembered today, it is for her proximity to the deaths of two legendary jazz musicians. In 1955 Charlie Parker died on a sofa in her Fifth Avenue home; 27 years later Thelonious Monk died after secluding himself for years in her New Jersey house.

Both deaths made the baroness an immediate target of tabloid headlines and a long-term subject for scurrilous gossip. Almost no one, though, beyond the insular jazz world, could possibly know her whole story: how, until her death in 1988, she championed jazz as both a friend and a generous, if rather unlikely, benefactor.

A Rothschild heiress, she offered her home to countless jazzmen as a place to work and even live, while quietly paying their bills when they couldn’t find work. She chauffeured them to gigs around New York, toured with them as a kind of racial chaperon, and was even known to confront anyone she felt was taking advantage of her friends because they were black.

“I always likened her to the great royal patrons of Mozart or Wagner’s day,” the saxophonist Sonny Rollins said in a telephone interview. “Yet she never put the spotlight on herself. I try not to talk publicly about people I knew in jazz. But I have to say something about the baroness. She really loved our music.”

The baroness first materialized in New York jazz clubs in the early 1950s like some film noir siren, right down to the raven hair and long cigarette holder. She seduced the music’s greatest figures with her friendship, the revolutionists of the bebop era: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and many others. Her illustrious family has long refused to discuss her. But now a new book, “Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats” (Abrams Image), offers a window into her personal life, providing details even her jazz intimates were probably unaware of.

The book is primarily a collection of candid photographs of the musicians taken by the baroness, and a compilation of their varied responses to a favorite question: “What are your three wishes?” On Oct. 30 an exhibition of her original notebooks collecting these snapshots and wish lists will open at the Gallery at Hermès in New York.

“Three Wishes” arrives with the implicit sanction of the Rothschild family, including a six-page introduction by a granddaughter, Nadine de Koenigswarter. The book offers more concrete information about the baroness than has ever before appeared between covers. But the source of her extraordinarily deep bond with jazz musicians remains elusive.

She was born, her granddaughter writes, in London on Dec. 10, 1913. Her full name was Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild, according to her 1935 wedding announcement in The New York Times. She was the granddaughter of Nathan Mayer, the first Lord Rothschild, and the great-granddaughter of Mayer Amschel, the Rothschild patriarch who, from the Frankfurt ghetto, orchestrated his family’s rise. Her father was Nathaniel Charles Rothschild, a partner in the family bank, whose greater passion was entomology, a hobby at which he was both gifted and exceedingly accomplished. According to a great-niece, Hannah Rothschild, who is completing a documentary about her for the BBC, the baroness’s father was plagued by clinical depression that sometimes led the family to hospitalize him. He killed himself in 1923, at 46.

Nica Rothschild, as she was known, became an aviation enthusiast and an accomplished pilot. At 21 she met a kindred spirit at Le Touquet airfield in France. Baron Jules de Koenigswarter, 31, was a French mining engineer, banker and pilot. He was also a widower with a young son, and like Nica, he was Jewish. The baron quickly proposed after just three months; her response was flight to New York. They were married at City Hall in October 1935.

The couple took up residence in Abondant, a 17th-century chateau not far from Normandy. Their first-born child, Patrick de Koenigswarter, recalled in May in an interview published in The National, an Abu Dhabi newspaper, that when the Nazis invaded France, the baron, a lieutenant in the reserves, was called up. His father “left my mother a map, with instructions: If the Germans get to this point, take the children and escape any way you can to your family in England.” Shortly thereafter, his mother did, accompanied by a nanny and a maid, on what proved to be the last train out of Paris. The baron’s mother dismissed her son’s entreaties and instructions. She died at Auschwitz.

The baron joined de Gaulle’s Free French forces and was assigned to the Congo. At his instigation his wife next moved their two children to the United States, placing Patrick de Koenigswarter and his younger sister, Janka, with the Guggenheim family on Long Island. The baroness then somehow rejoined her husband in Africa with the Free French, serving in various capacities including ambulance driver and ending the war as a decorated lieutenant.

One little-known wartime detail lends a different sense to her later arrival in the New York jazz world. Her husband’s extended family, as well as her Hungarian-born mother’s, were nearly all killed in the Holocaust. The baroness’s adoption of New York’s predominantly black jazz family in the war’s aftermath thus seems less the act of a louche dilettante than of a survivor bent on resurrection and rebirth.

“I believe that she could no longer live in any ivory tower after what she saw in the war,” Hannah Rothschild said in a telephone interview. “Privilege offered no protection. The fate of her own mother-in-law proved that. She had experienced the very depths of prejudice herself firsthand.”

The baron entered the French diplomatic service after the war, settling his wife and children first in Norway and then in Mexico. “My father was a very controlling person,” Patrick de Koenigswarter said. “He was adamant about punctuality, while Nica was notorious for being late. She missed appointments, sometimes by days.” He continued, “It didn’t help that my father had no particular interest in the subjects that fascinated her: art and music.”

The baroness always credited her brother, Victor, a jazz fan and amateur pianist who studied with Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson, with introducing her to jazz. Shortly before her death, though, she revealed in a rare interview for the Monk documentary "Straight, No Chaser" the moment when her interest in jazz music escalated into something more.

“I was in the throes of the diplomatic life in Mexico,” she remembered of the years 1949 to 1952, “and I had a friend who got hold of records for me. I used to go to his pad to hear them. I couldn’t have listened to them in my own house, with that atmosphere. I heard them and really got the message. I belonged where that music was. This was something I was supposed to be involved in in some way. It wasn’t long afterwards that I cut out.”

It is well known in jazz circles that the great project of the baroness’s life was the torturously unstable Monk, whom she served as a surrogate wife right alongside Monk’s equally devoted actual wife, Nellie. The baroness paid Monk’s bills, dragged him to an endless array of doctors, put him and his family up in her own home and, when necessary, helped Nellie institutionalize him. In 1958 Monk and the baroness were stopped by the police in Delaware. When a small amount of marijuana was discovered, she took the rap for her friend and even served a few nights in jail.

People have always asked why. What drew her to him so intensely? Was it sex, drugs or groupie-esque infatuation? Clearly her steadfast devotion to Monk’s music propelled their relationship, which both maintained was platonic. In light of her father’s history, though, it seems possible that the underlying bond was love and childhood loss. In Monk, she may have been drawn to the same anguished brilliance that had consumed her father, whom she could not save.

he introduction to “Three Wishes” still leaves unanswered many questions that pursued the baroness throughout her life. Did she abandon her children in her headlong embrace of the jazz life, or were they taken from her? Did she enable addiction in the musicians she loved? Did she buy them drugs? Did she use drugs herself?

These questions once loomed large in her mystique. As her back story deepens, however, their sense of enormity recedes. The baron divorced his wife in 1956 after the scandalous publicity surrounding Charlie Parker’s death in her home. Shaun de Koenigswarter, the couple’s youngest son, recently confirmed that the baron also got custody of the three younger children, Berit (born in 1946), Kari (1950) and himself (1948). “I am the only child who never lived with my mother after she settled in New York in 1953,” he said in an e-mail message, adding that his four siblings lived with her during different periods.

That the baroness in fact lost custody of her three youngest children as a consequence of her love of jazz further illuminates the maternal quality of her presence on the scene. Is it any wonder that she clung to her musicians like family?

“She realized that jazz needed any kind of help it could get,” Mr. Rollins said, “especially the musicians. She was monetarily helpful to a lot who were struggling. But more than that, she was with us. By being with the baroness, we could go places and feel like human beings. It certainly made us feel good. I don’t know how you could measure it. But it was a palpable thing. I think she was a heroic woman.”

It has taken the actual family she left behind a long time to arrive at a similar conclusion. “Not all members of our family were enthused about the life she chose to lead (especially our father!),” Shaun de Koenigswarter wrote. “But over the years, many of those who had initially disapproved particularly in light of the many viciously biased and racist press reports about her came to understand and appreciate what she was all about.”

The saxophonist Sonny Rollins, photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter.

Thelonious Monk was among the many jazz musicians befriended (and photographed) by Pannonica de Koenigswarter, right.

Thelonious Monk by Pannonica De Koenigswarter

youtube

#Youtube

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sonicf4nstach · 4 months

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No, you aren't seeing a double post, what you see now is the attempted rewrite of a post I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED QMQ

Recap, this is my own interpretation of some of the Sonic characters, there might be OCs in the middle here and there based solely on my knowledge of the franchise.

Name: Prince Allen "Sonic" Mobius

Age: 19 years old

Species: Mobian Hedgehog

Specialty: Speed

Team and position: Team Sonic Heroes, Leader

Sonic is considered in Mobius to be the protector of the planet, having fought Eggman countless times, even in his youth, as it was in his blood, even if most have forgotten about it.

The Mobius Royal Family was formed of noble heroes of the planet, having acted in various battles in the name of their people, a family of royals that earned their crown by caring for the less fortunate.

The trend of heroic acts continued as such, until we get to Sonic's mother, Aleena the hedgehog, the knight of the wind, and the last queen before her kingdom fell into ruin. Married to Ogilvie Maurice the first and giving birth to 3 kids, Allen (Sonic), Opal (Sonia) and Maurice the Second (Manic), Aleena was a kind-hearted and generous queen, having done a lot to make sure each place in Mobius had a trusting leader, such as the Accorn family from the forests and the Soleanna from the skies of the old Babylonian kingdom, no one knew what had happened to cause her to become a tyrant.

The Dark queen, as she began to refer to herself as, let a strange man, who came to her kingdom on the same day she turned evil, fill her kindown with despair and take control of everything, his name was Doctor Ivo Kintobor Robotnik, a strange tall man, taller than any mobian alive, calling himself something named "human".

The other royals came to aid the citizens of the main city and any nearby villages, King Maurice managing to run off with his kids in his arms despite being deathly wounded by his queen's new partner, Delphius the Orc, a unknown creature that married his way into the throne some days after the event, and not so long afterwards, The queen and her new king showed their new heir.

Maurice managed to reach his sister's place, with only so much life hanging onto him, he had been bleeding out all the way there with his kids, but sadly, Sonic was nowhere in sight. Bernadette feared the worst for her nephew, but her brother assure her that he was safe, as his wife had another guest over, from the Babylonian empire, Long Claw, who managed to save the blue hedgehog, she tried to hand him to Maurice but, they got separated, Maurice perished due to his wounds, and Sonia and Manic would be raised by their aunt Bernadette, their uncle Jules, and their uncle grandpa Chuck, while Sonic was kept safe with Long Claw.

Longclaw finds a place to hide Sonic, but she's aware that keeping him forever in the same place won't do any good for him, at 3 years oldhe was already running and breaking down badniks, so Long Claw opts for them to become nomads, of course, she teaches him to avoid the robots he sees roaming around, even if the "beetles" look innocent, she knows what it can do, or at least part of it.

Sonic and Long Claw finally arrived at a safe place, Knothole, the accorn Family's secret village, it took 4 years but it was worth it.

Long claw arrived at night and was escorted by some guards after showing evidence that she was not roboticized and that she had the prince with her, brought to the king's room in the great tree palace, she delivered the sad news of King Marurice's passing, she asked for Sonic to have a home there in exchange, she would act in any position provided by the Accorn royal family, who decided to make her a teacher as she was the original archivist of documents of historic events, and the next generation deserved to know about the past for a hopeful future.

From here, Sonic's adventures in the games would take place with different eras and such, I shall elaborate on it more in the future as my time online has been limited due to classes and stuff.

#chaos art #sonic au #sonic the hedgehog #sonic headcanons

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steliosagapitos · 9 months

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~ “When Luis XIV died, his great-grandson and heir, he was only five years old. For the next eight, while Felipe de Orleans, as regent, controlled the State, a sketch of what the authentic reign and style of Luis XV was started. The courtes were too fed up with the austerity conditioned by the religious life that the ancient king had forced them into. They longed so much for joy, humor and brilliance, that the excesses of the regent and his followers set a record in what extravagance and indulgence meant. Pleasure was his motto, and the Regency era gave the impression of being a long succession of fun, dances, operas, comedies, concerts and random games. Although during that barahunda no new style was actually developed, the eight year rule of Felipe de Orleans is usually attributed to the transition from previous greatness to unrest in the ornamentation of the Louis XV period. The ornament was its main feature, and the perhaps excessive introduction of the rock and shell was precursor to the rock avalanche that was to arrive later.

In a way, the Regencia style (1715/1723) was a transition between the Luis XIV and Luis XV styles, as it shows common characteristics to both. This has led to confusion in sorting individual pieces of this furniture. During the last years of the reign of Louis XIV, several artists and artisans had already begun to lay the bases of changes in esthetics and forms, which would promote evolution in a new style, during the period of the Regency. Among the most important are the architect Robert de Cotte (1656/1735), disciple of Jules Hardouin Mansart and his successor (in 1709) as Premier Architecte du Roi. Among other things, Cotte designed the Royal Chappel in Versailles and the Hôtel de Toulouse, the building in Paris that now houses the Bank of France. Among the carpenters who worked under his direction and who were influenced by him were Du Goullon, who created the choir chair at Notre Dame, François Potain the Old, who made several cabinets and display furniture for Versailles, Nicolas Foliot the Old who made several furniture for the Prince de Condé and Jean-Baptiste Tilliard, supplier of furniture for court.

In addition to André-Charles Boulle and Jean Berain el Viejo, who had a decisive influence on the decorative arts of the time, Charles Cressent's name deserves a mention. He created elegant and sumptuous furniture for the regent, the Duke of Orleans, which was in accordance with the interiors designed by Gilles-Marie Oppenordt (1672/1742).

Oppenordt was born in Paris and educated at the French Academy in Rome. His work was clearly influenced by Bernini, Borromini and other Italian Baroque architects. After his death, three volumes of his collected drawings were published in 1748, with the titles Petit, Moyen and Grand Oppenordt, and containing designs for boiseries (decorative wood wall coverings), panels, furniture, consoles, lamps and posters.

Despite the curves and countercurves, whims and oddities of their designs, the balance and symmetry of the decorative ornaments of the latter years of the 17th century were preserved to some point. From 1715, Oppennordt was the court architect of the Regency.

Probably the most enduring influence on the decorative arts of this era was painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684/1721). Reproductions of his slender and imaginative ethereal figures and landscapes, as well as decorative motifs of his paintings, drawings and posthumous engravings can be found on tapestry, porcelain, glassware and furniture from the time.

Watteau composed paintings inspired by the legendary Cathay: frivolous fantasies with idols and goddesses, priests, courtesians, temples and canopies shaped like canopies, all with an exquisite taste. Sometimes, figures in comedy art look from behind vultures or foliage. He was probably the first artist to incorporate spagnolettes (young Spanish) in his paintings; these were female heads with high and stiff lace necks, popular use in Spain. On the contrary, Claude Audran III designs grotesque and arabesque with dancers, who enjoyed great popularity during the Rococo period, and strange little scenes in which monkeys behave like humans, themes that were adopted by Jean Bérain and Christophe Huet.

The furniture of the Regencia retains part of the heavy monumentality of the previous era, but the fluid line of the Rococó was starting to emerge. The earliest examples of “bug feet” (hoof legs) and curved console-style legs can be found in chairs made around 1690; the chair backs were curved and the seats were more rounded. All types of furniture are remarkable for their vigorous contours. The cabinets acquired curved cupboards and their legs became longer and less flattened, so the furniture seemed thinner and lighter. During the Regency period, carved wood assumed an increasingly important role and towards the end the chambranas between the legs disappeared.

Chairs made from 1718 onwards had shorter armrests, to accommodate women's hooped skirts more comfortably. During this period, multicolored and gilding remained as popular as ever, and ebonyists confirmed the tradition of marquetry and bronze ornaments. Decorative motifs do not differ much from those of earlier times. However, the work of Boulle and other artisans shows the influence of Berain’s designs in his grotesques with clown fantasies, acrobatic monkeys, chimney-shaped arabesque and floral decorations.

The simple, geometric, rhomb-shaped marquetry in palorosa or purple wood was also very popular. The woodworkers developed very quickly new elements of furniture, especially comfortable ones, a variety of side tables, seat furniture, and large desks known as ‘bureaux plates’.” ~

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msclaritea · 11 months

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"We need to speak bluntly about this:

The Southern Baptist Convention is not (and has never been) a theologically serious organization.

It is a political organization dedicated to marshaling and expanding the power of the southern aristocracy.

The SBC started when the dude (Basil Manly Sr.) who went on to serve as a Confederate chaplain demanded that slaveholders be allowed to hold Baptist offices.

The Triennial Convention balked at committing to that.

That’s the birth of the SBC.

*Not* theology.

That’s important to note, because it helps shed light on how they keep arriving at theologically unserious positions.

In 1995, the finally admitted to getting slavery and civil rights wrong.

But, not only had the rest of society already decided they were wrong…

They also never explained how their theological commitments led them to getting things so wrong.

The hermeneutical lens that led them to get slavery and Civil Rights wrong is the same one they’re using to kick churches out for ordaining women *right now*.

The SBC is hiding behind harmful interpretations of scripture and calling it fidelity to scripture.

It’s the same reason they used to defend slavery and oppose civil rights.

And they’re doing it again right in front of our faces.

The SBC’s history is clear: they lag behind on ethics. A literal war dragged them into a post-slavery reality. Legislation & shifting demographics dragged them into the era of “racial reconciliation”.

*Not* their theological commitments.

Theology has NEVER been the driver. 6/8

From its inception, the Southern Baptist Convention has been a political action committee (PAC) with some chaplains (and at least 1 seminary attached to it for all but 14 years of its existence).

They take political positions THEN develop the theology to support them. 7/8

When you see it as a PAC? The main thing holding the SBC together today??? Is money. There’s A LOT of money there.

More than most denominations.

Because the theology is secondary to the politics.

And politics loves money.

That’s the root of all evil."

"A landmark investigation into hundreds of cases of sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches opened with a collage of pictures of the offenders, row after row of headshots and mugshots of men who had been accused of abusing a total of 700 victims over the past 20 years.

In Sunday’s report, the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News were able to do what victims say the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has failed to for years: provide a picture of the extent of the abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention and a database of those found guilty of their crimes.

With allegations against 380 church leaders in 20 states (a majority of whom were convicted or took plea deals), it’s believed to be the biggest report on sexual abuse among Southern Baptists in the movement’s history. The report confronts the longstanding defense that the organization can only do so much to monitor abuse since affiliated congregations operate autonomously.

Another set of pictures captures a sense of the impact of abusers in Southern Baptist congregations. In response to the investigation, Southern Baptist women and fellow Christians shared childhood photos on Twitter from the age when they first suffered abuse.

Dozens joined a thread started by Living Proof Ministries founder and popular Bible teacher Beth Moore, including advocate and abuse survivor Jules Woodson and other ministry leaders.

Over the past couple years, the #MeToo campaign has raised awareness about abuse within the SBC and galvanized official efforts to improve the denomination’s response. Last December, as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram rounded up more than 400 allegations among independent Baptists, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) executive vice president Philip Bethancourt wrote, “it would not be surprising if journalists are working on a similar type of story focused on Southern Baptist churches as well.”

That day has come. TheHouston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News revealed in the first of a three-part series that more than 200 Southern Baptist abusers were convicted or took plea deals for their crimes since 1998, including 90 who remain in prison and 100 who are registered as sex offenders.

Even worse, “at least 35 church pastors, employees and volunteers who exhibited predatory behavior were still able to find jobs at churches during the past two decades,” the reporters found. “In some cases, church leaders apparently failed to alert law enforcement about complaints or to warn other congregations about allegations of misconduct.”

In response, Southern Baptist leaders and pastors have spoken even more frankly about the problem of abuse and reiterated their commitment to more rigorous, research-driven efforts launched last year to address the issue. SBC president J. D. Greear called the voices in the article “a warning sent from God, calling the church to repent.”

“The Baptist doctrine of church autonomy should never be a religious cover for passivity towards abuse. Church autonomy is about freeing the church to do the right thing—to obey Christ—in every situation. It is a heinous error to apply autonomy in a way that enables abuse,” he said in a statement to CT. “As a denomination, now is a time to mourn and repent. Changes are coming. They must.”

During the 2018 scandal involving Paige Patterson’s response to abuse claims, top leaders in the denomination had already begun to see the extent of the problem among their own. “When people said that evangelicals had a similar crisis coming, it didn’t seem plausible—even to me,” wrote Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Al Mohler, comparing the situation within the SBC to the abuse crisis in the Catholic church. “I was wrong. The judgment of God has come.”

Last year’s annual meeting of the SBC came in the wake of Patterson’s departure and hosted prominent discussions of women and abuse. As incoming president, Greear formed a study group in partnership with the ERLC to examine sexual abuse in the denomination and improve resources for its leaders.

“Our approach is seeking to encourage policies and practices that protect children and the vulnerable from sexual abuse in autonomous but cooperating churches, all the while promoting compliance with laws and providing compassionate care for those who have survived trauma,” ERLC president Russell Moore wrote.

“True, we have no bishops. But we have a priesthood of believers. And a key task of that priesthood is maintaining the witness of Christ in the holiness and safety of his church. That means training churches to recognize sexual predation and how to deal with charges or suspicions when they emerge, and equipping churches to stop the pattern, in their church or from their church to others.”

In all, the SBC numbers 47,000 congregations and 15 million members.

Still, “it would be sorrow if it were 200 or 600” cases of abuse, Augie Boto, interim president of the SBC’s executive committee, told the Houston Chronicle. “What we're talking about is criminal. The fact that criminal activity occurs in a church context is always the basis of grief. But it’s going to happen. And that statement does not mean that we must be resigned to it.”

Individual churches and pastors have described the abuse within the SBC in stark terms and pledged to bring it to light.

“It is clear from the article that these weren’t isolated cases. Instead, it reveals a pattern of abuse and cover-up that extends to some of the highest levels of leadership inside the SBC,” wrote the Sojourn Collective, a church network based in Louisville. “Christians should be thankful for reporting like this that exposes systemic sin; it’s the only way it can be purged out of our institutions.”

Texas pastor Bart Barber, who previously proposed a resolution for the SBC to decry sexual misconduct and institutions that tolerate it, has lamented the instinct to cover up or downplay abuse to preserve the church’s reputation.

“Any church the @HoustonChron has identified as employing a pastor with a history of sexual misconduct, if still employing that pastor in June and haven’t already left the SBC by then, should be disfellowshipped at that meeting,” tweeted Barber, of First Baptist Church of Farmersville. “I’m willing to stand up and make that motion.”

The newspaper reported that the SBC executive committee had previously said it would be “justified” to cut ties with affiliated churches that employed known sex offenders. Greear told the Houston Chronicle that any congregation with a “pattern of sinful neglect—regarding abuse or any other matter” should be removed from the SBC.

Last year, the SBC’s International Mission Board also launched an independent investigation of how it handled a 2007 abuse allegation.

The Texas newspapers’ investigation comes less than a week after the Today show featured abuse allegations against New Tribes Mission. CT had previously reported on efforts to investigate misconduct among the missionary organization..."

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — "Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination's major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse.

The SBC's Executive Committee has received a subpoena, but no individuals have been subpoenaed at this point, according to the committee's lawyers.

"This is an ongoing investigation and we are not commenting on our discussions with DOJ," they said.

The statement from SBC leaders — including Executive Committee members, seminary presidents and heads of mission organizations — gave few details about the investigation, but indicated it dealt with widespread sexual abuse problems that have rocked the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.

"Individually and collectively each SBC entity is resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation," the statement said. "While we continue to grieve and lament past mistakes related to sexual abuse, current leaders across the SBC have demonstrated a firm conviction to address those issues of the past and are implementing measures to ensure they are never repeated in the future."

There was no immediate comment from the Justice Department about the investigation.

Top Southern Baptists stonewalled and denigrated sex abuse victims, report says

Earlier this year, an SBC sex abuse task force released a blistering 288-page report from outside consultant, Guidepost Solutions. The firm's seven-month independent investigation found disturbing details about how denominational leaders mishandled sex abuse claims and mistreated victims.

The report focused specifically on how the SBC's Executive Committee responded to abuse cases, revealing that it had secretly maintained a list of clergy and other church workers accused of abuse. The committee later apologized and released the list, which had hundreds of accused workers on it.

Following the release of the Guidepost report, the SBC voted during its annual meeting in June to created a way to track pastors and other church workers credibly accused of sex abuse and launch a new task force to oversee further reforms. Earlier this week, SBC President Bart Barber, who also signed Friday's statement, announced the names of the Southern Baptist pastors and church members who will serve on the task force.

Southern Baptist sex abuse survivor Christa Brown, who has long called for the SBC to do more to address sex abuse across its churches, celebrated the news of the DOJ investigation.

"Hallelujah. It's about time," Brown said in a Friday post on Twitter. "This is what's needed."

Another survivor, Jules Woodson, went public with her abuse story in 2018 and has been pushing for reforms in the SBC ever since. On Friday, she reacted to the investigation news by tweeting, "May justice roll down!!!"

Oklahoma pastor Mike Keahbone, who serves on the Executive Committee and is the vice chair of the new abuse task force, said on Twitter that the investigation "is not something to fear ... If there is more work to do, we will do it."

Instead of doing something about the very real abuse culture in their organization, the Southern Baptist Convention simply decided to get rid of women. It makes perfect sense. We are natural protectors. American churches have become cesspools of sex abuse against women and children, both boys and girls. It's time to leave.

#SBC #Southern Baptist Convention #War On Women #Michael Caputo #Yradcaths #Russia involvement #The churches are tainted #Catholic Church #Evangelical #Check for corollstions between SBC locations and states voting for Child Labor Laws #Leave The Kids Alone indeed #Florida #Tennessee #Iowa

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just-vibingfr · 3 years

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Ok ok I want 23 13, and i forgot the number but it said like I’m sorry I’m such a burden so yea with jj maybank im a sucker for angst

Same! Like mood 25/8 is angst, angst, angst!

WARNINGS: Mentions of rape, suicide, self harm, close friends and family thinking you are a liar, ANGST ANGST ANGST, cursing, reader will be using They/Them pronouns.

A/N: I went really angst in this one, this will be all angst with no fluff, at all, like none. Please do not read if anything mentioned will trigger you. This is going to be one of the last OBX fics for a few weeks, I’m going to finish the other four requests I have then I will be writing some Harry Potter Marauders Era stuff! Thank you all for being so patient! I love you guys ❤️ 💕 Bold will be flashbacks!

ABDUCTED

Prompts- 13:God I wish that you had thought this through before I went and fell in love with you. 23:I was kidnapped, I was r@ped! 49: I-I-I’m sorry I’m such a burden

JJ POV:

Thirteen weeks. Thirteen fucking weeks. That’s how long it’s been since they went missing. God, all I can think about is our last conversation.

“I slept with her okay?! I cheated on you and I don’t regret it. At all. You have been nothing but a pain in my ass trying to fix me. Setting me in a path to what, redemption?! Well guess what it’s never gonna fucking happen because I’m a no good, dirty, pogue! My whole family has been doomed to live here, always poor, always a bunch of dead beat losers! I cant be fixed, this is my destiny, so go fuck yourself and you pathetic hopes and dreams and morals! Because none of us liked you anyways, we were only using you to help us grieve after we lost John B. He’s back now, so we don’t fucking need you okay?! I don’t need you! I never have and I never will!”, I ranted. I’m angry at my dad, angry at myself for cheating, angry at Rafe for getting away with everything, angry at Ward for being a bastard, angry at Y/N for making me fall in love with them. I am just so angry. I didn’t mean to take it out on them, but they were there. They’ve always been there even when I treated them like shit. That’s the problem, they were there. I don’t know what to do, I’m so used to pointless hook ups, empty relationships, and abusive behavior, that when someone puts me in a freaking pedestal like I’m actually worth something I flip. I have been looking down for the past five minutes. All I know is their muffled sobs, how their eyes are probably red rimmed and bloodshot, how they’re probably pulling on their wrists like they do when they’re stressed. If I look up I might just crack. “God I wish that you had thought this the before I went and fell in love with you!”, they screamed, letting out all of their emotions. “You said I was different, you said you saw a future together! You told me you fucking loves me! You fucking piece of shit! I hope you get everything you want in the sickest sense! I hope you remember me and feel nothing but pain and guilt! I’m done with you Maybank!”,Those words cut deeper than any blade or bullet could. Being told those venomous words by the person I love most in the world hurts, but I deserve it. I hurt them more than anything, I broke them.

But, now I see truth in their words. Every time I think of them all I can feel is pain, guilt, and remorse. It was all my fault.

Y/N POV

I stumbled through woods. Safety. That’s all I can think. Safety. Safety. I kept stumbling around going anywhere, anywhere as long as it’s away from fucking Jules. That’s what they would call my kidnapper and rapist, Jules. He earned that name because he would take a piece of jewelry off of every virgin he raped. Pathetic. My lower half ached, my mind fuzzy, my wrists scarred. Thirteen weeks, that’s how long I’ve been missing. Thirteen weeks or rape and abuse. Twelve weeks of self harm. I started slitting vanes on my ankles, and the back of my knees, to feel something. Something other than the pain he caused. Self inflicted pain was a way out, a way to still have freedom and independence. Sick and twisted, I know, but it was my way of rebellion. I started to break down crying in the middle of, woods?! It these woods are familiar and I can hear the sound of the ocean. Outer Banks… Outer Banks! Thank God! I’m home. I’m safer, I’m back. I kept stumbling around, my tears making it harder to see. Up ahead I saw what looked like porch lights. “Help! Help!”, I yelled out, although the dryness of my throat mad it extremely difficult.I sped up, basically running to reach a sense of haven. Once I arrived at the house I realized where I was. The Chateau. Anywhere but here. But I needed help, and I was lucky I even found my way here. I knocked on the door, actually I pounded on the door. I was desperate. I heard shuffling and then the door opened revealing a very disheveled Pope, Kiara, Sarah, John B, and JJ.

“Y/N?! How-What-! Just- just come in!” Pope said frantically .

“What happened?!”, Kiara and Sarah said in unison. The boys nodding their heads in agreement to the question.

“I-erm- I was kidnapped, I was raped. I was held in a where house with the other girls. This bitch named Jules was the one in charge. He would take turn with the girls. It was terrifying. I thought he was going to kill me once he saw me helping one of the girls with her miscarriage. I had already had three or four myself and a few of the girls actually gave birth in that where house. The youngest to have a baby was eleven. Eleven fucking years old. I just ran out of the door one day, I got shot. It’s been a few days, maybe five or six? All I know is that I had to burn the wound to stop the bleeding. And I feel really sick right now. I think I’m going to vomit.”, I said before passing out.

I woke up in a hospital bed. The lights burning my eyes. The sheets clean. Someone had bathed me and changed my clothes. I felt clean, it felt good. Everyone scrambled to get up at my sudden consciousness. Looking at me with that pity in their eyes. That pitiful look that made me regret telling them. I didn’t want their fucking pity, I just wanted them to know I have new boundaries, and as my friends they deserved to know. The doctor came rushing in, asking me to explain what happened. I explained everything, the trauma bringing ugly sobs. I didn’t care. I had just been through hell and back, I was allowed to shed some god damn tears.

I was discharged later that day when they had diagnosed me with PTSD, anxiety, ADHD, and self harm. Yay. Weeks went by with my friends checking up on me, never leaving my side: I loved them all for it, but I could see the look of boredom in their eyes, the look that said as soon as I was good enough to be on my own they would leave me to my own devices. It hurt, everything did. I didn’t deserve to put them through this, watching me fall apart. I didn’t deserve this. I needed to end the pain. I had to. And I needed to do it now. I pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, went to the nearest flat surface and began writing.

“ I’m sorry I’m such a burden. But thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for supporting me. I didn’t really get to know you before John B and Sarah, I see that I really missed out on some good people. Kie, you have been nothing but amazing to me. I can’t thank you enough. Pope, you are like a workers mix of older brother, younger brother, and dad. It always amazes me how you can be protective as fuck, need protecting, and are always prepared with that mind of yours. JJ, I’m sorry. Sorry that we ended things on such terrible terms. You deserve the world and I couldn’t give that to you, I truly apologize for holding you back. But you did break me that night, I was going to end it then, but I was abducted. Ironic how I’m ending it now. I love you all and wish you the best! “

Love, Y/N ❤️

I folded the letter and set it on the island with the pen. Then I crawled into the tub, slit my wrists, and let the darkness take over, sweet, safe, darkness.

@hannahnikohl

#kiara outer banks #outer banks #pope heyward #jj maybank #john b routledge #sarah cameron #pogues for life #outer banks angst

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rpgsandbox · 3 years

Link

Broken Compass is an Adventure Role-Playing Game inspired by the great movies and games of the genre, from the Mummy all the way to Uncharted, passing through Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider... and it's BACK with all new Seasons starring fearsome pirates and daring gentlemen!

In Broken Compass you play as an Adventurer in search of great Treasures, a man or woman of action, ready to risk it all every day, just so they can get to the finish line before their bitter Rival!

Broken Compass is the latest game by Two Little Mice, Riccardo Sirignano and Simone Formicola, and is completely illustrated by Daniela Giubellini. The same team already funded the Adventure Journal of Broken Compass with two successful Kickstarter campaign, and created “Household”, winner of the Italian award for Best Role-Playing Game of the Year 2019.

*Close to 100 pages of QuickStart available for free download, plus an all new Season Preview: Your Adventure begins now!

I know that look when I see it.

Don’t tell me: you’re looking for a Temple of Doom, or maybe hunting some bastards who don’t realize that that statue belongs in a museum! No, not a word, you’re one of those tomb raiders, or maybe you’re looking for your father, who mysteriously vanished some time ago. Or you need to “borrow” the Constitution to unearth some clues on a National Treasure. Perhaps you were just hiking peacefully when you happened to find the City of the Dead or maybe even El Dorado!

I can see it on your face, you’re an Adventurer. That smug grin tells me you’re itching for a lesson you clearly didn’t understand the first time around. Eyes on the Treasure, nothing else matters to you. And those bruises, the scratches on your cheeks, that torn-up shirt and dusty hat... It’s clear that harm’s way is your trade and reckless your middle name!

That’s why I like your lot. No matter what you’ve gone through, how many beatings you’ve taken, how many rope bridges have given way under your feet or how many poi- son darts have come shooting out of the walls, you can never get enough. The Treasure may be far away and hidden, but you never give up the hunt.

Broken Compass is a Role-Playing Game in which Players take the role of Adventurers in search of a Treasure. Adventurers in Broken Compass are men and women of action, traveling the World to face the Challenges of great cities and wild, unwelcoming lands alike. Adventurers risk their lives every day, driven by their will to discover, learn or obtain something priceless to them.

Broken Compass is based on the highly cinematographic Fortune System: a set of game mechanics that use small pools of six-sided dice to determine the outcome of any task that might entail risks or end in accidents. To succeed, you don’t need to roll high totals. Your aim is to roll two-, three-, and four-of-a-kind results, which become Successes.

If 1999 isn't enough, feel free to pick a different time to go Adventuring! Broken Compass offers three Seasons, all set in a different eras, and each of them comes with a new Setting, new Rules and a whole 6-Episode Season ready to play. All you'll have to do, is pick the right hat, and you're ready to go.

The Adventure Journal of Broken Compass was already funded over 100.000€ last year. The goal of this KickStarter Campaign is to produce two more Season "Jolly Roger" and "Voyages Extraordinaires", and all the accessories that will grant you the best gaming experience!

We are proud and happy to say that we successfully delivered all the rulebooks of our previous campaigns right on time, and all the feedbacks were great. That means a lot to our team!

The following mock-ups picture products at the final stage of development. The final products may slightly differ.

Season 2: Jolly Roger (More than 200 pages, full color, hard cover, 15x23 cm or 5.9x9 in). Jolly Roger will provide you all you need to go on great Adventures in the Caribbean Sea in the golden age of piracy. Includes additional rules for Dueling, Gambling and Naval Battles, as well as a ready-to-play On Demand Season. Soft touch cover.

Season 3: Voyages Extraordinaires (More than 200 pages, full color, hard cover, 15x23 cm or 5.9x9 in). The expansion Voyages Extraordinaires takes inspiration from Jules Verne’s adventure classics like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Around the World in 80 Days. Includes additional rules for managing Missions and Wagers, Extraordinary Inventions, as well as tips for creating Adventurers’ Clubs and Expeditions, and a ready-to-play On Demand Season. Soft touch cover.

Spin-Off: What If (PDF only). What If is a brand-new Spin-Off for Broken Compass, a digital rulebook that will get richer and richer, the more Stretch Goals we (hopefully!) will reach. The main goal behind this Spin-Off is to give you directions and suggestions to help you mold the Broken Compass system based on your needs. It will include useful techniques and tools to write your own rules to create different gaming experiences, tailored for a variety of settings. Each What If in the rulebook will be a new, unique, and incredible expansion, that will open worlds of possibility for your gaming experience... beyond anything reality can offer!

Broken Compass: Adventure Journal - Corebook (240 pages in full color, hard cover, 15x23 cm). The shining star of our first campaign! The corebook features the full set of game rules, the setting "1999” and a ready-to-play Episode! All neatly binded like a travel diary of old, with Soft Touch cover that feels like leather, rounded corners, elastic band closure, ribbon bookmark, and elastic pencil-holder (with pencil). A manual you can bring with you everywhere you go to live great adventures on demand!

Season 1: Golden Age (208 pages, full color, hard cover, 15x23 cm or 5.9x9 in). Golden Age will bring you straight to the heart of Adventure, to the golden 30s that set the scene for our childhood dreams, and the stories of the man in the hat. Includes new equipment and rules to manage Supernatural Menaces, as well as a ready-to-play On Demand Season. Soft touch cover.

Spin-off: LuckTales (224 pages, PDF only, Kickstarter exclusive). LuckTales was our first Spin-off, and it features Episodes and Compendiums created by partners, friends and fellow designers. Includes 11 ready-to-play Episodes, additional rules for Teen and Kid Adventurers, a list of weird equipment and artifacts and much more!

Fortune Master Screen (hard cover, four panel, full color, 23x60 cm). Features summary tables for all the main game rules and can be closed in the shape of the manual.

Season Screen (hard cover, three panel, full color, 23x60 cm). Features summary tables all the Seasons' additional rules.

Pirate Dice set (9 d6 + dice pouch). Each face on the dice has a custom symbol (the four compass points, the Broken Compass logo and the pirate skull) to make it easier to recognize when you roll two-, three-, and four-of-a-kind.

Caribbean Map and World Map so you can visualize your travels.

Name in the Credits. We will add your names in the credits of the new rulebook (Jolly Roger and Voyages Extraordinaire). PLEASE BE AWARE we will use Kickstarter names for this purpose.

During the crowd-funding campaign, you can get all Broken Compass manuals at a heavily discounted price. You can also unlock unique rewards that will probably be never put on the market otherwise!

The estimated delivery date is December 2021. PDF will arrive sooner, approximately on October 2021!

==================================================

Kickstarter campaign ends: Sun, May 30 2021 10:59 PM BST

Website: [Two Little Mice] [facebook]

#RPG #kickstarter #Broken Compass #Two Little Mice

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maylovexhs · 3 years

Text

everytime - EVERYTIME(Final Chapter)

Author’s Note: It’s the end of an era. I’m so happy I finished but also sad to say goodbye to this story. Thank you all for going on this journey with me. You didn’t have to read none of these chapters but you took time out of your day and you did and I am so grateful for that. An epilogue is coming out tomorrow but I hope this final chapter is perfect for you. I always write hoping it would be perfect. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Stay safe. -May

Catch up on everytime here

December 18, 2019. London. 11 AM.

“Okay, how about this one?” I asked, stepping out in the blue dress.

“Hmmm,” Adrian hummed. “I feel like we can do better”

“Oh, don’t listen to him” Camila said. “It’s your night. You choose whatever you like”

“And you look great in every one” Harry said.

I turned to look at Harry, who was sitting on the couch in the corner of the room.

“Thanks” I told him. “But that doesn’t help”

“I’m just being supportive” Harry said.

“I can see that” I said.

I squinted at myself in the mirror. Why did this dress had to be so long? It was pretty but it was long. Should I just wear a pantsuit? No, no, no. I always wear a pantsuit. This is a special occasion for me. It was my documentary. It was a part of my life. And I needed the perfect outfit for it.

“I think I’m going to choose that Bazaza dress” I said.

“The flower dress?” Adrian asked.

“Yeah” I said. “Why not? I liked it. Harry and Camila did too”

“I actually liked it a lot” Harry said. “More than the others”

I smirked at him.

“Don’t you want to pick something more . . . attention grabbing?” Adrian asked me.

Harry and I looked to each other and then back to Adrian.

“Like what?” We asked.

“Like Karl Lagerfeld!” Adrian said. “Or Iris Van Herpen, or Moschino of all things? Something more you?”

“Adrian, we’ve been doing that all year” I told him. “I would just like to wear something more normal for once”

Adrian squinted at me, not accepting my choice. He opened his lips, ready to convince me but stopped when his phone started to ring. Adrian took out his phone from his pants’ pocket.

“Give me a minute” He said to us as he walked out of the room.

I crossed my arms, smiling to myself. I walked over to the couch Harry was on.

“Well, that settles it” I said, sitting down next to Harry.

“The dress or Adrian’s boyfriend?” Camila asked me.

Adrian’s boyfriend? When did a Adrian get a boyfriend?

“When do you mean Adrian’s boyfriend?” I asked her.

“Adrian’s boyfriend” Camila said. “Who do you think has been calling him nonstop for the last two weeks?”

Harry and I looked to each other, equally confused.

“He didn’t tell me” I said.

“He didn’t tell any of us” Camila said. “Rose put it all together and just told me yesterday”

“And you didn’t tell me?” I asked.

“Maybe Adrian doesn’t want to tell you yet” Harry said.

I pouted my lips at Harry.

“But we’re a family” I said. “We tell each other every thing.”

Harry raised his eyebrow at me.

“Fine” I said. “I’ll let it go”

Harry nodded, smiling at me. I looked down.

I still haven’t given my answer to going to Anguilla with him. I also didn’t ask him if he wanted to come to my documentary premiere. I wanted to but I knew how much Harry wanted to keep his love life private. I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to keep our relationship on low profile for a month or two. But then again, why would he invite me to Anguilla if he thought that? And it was an important event for me. Harry was my best friend and my boyfriend who should be there with me.

“So, umm . . .” I said, looking up to Harry. “Do you want to come to my movie?”

“You’re asking me now?” Harry asked in a sarcastic voice.

“Well, I figured you didn’t want to go” I said. “I know how you like to keep your relationships private at the start. You don’t have to come but . . . do you want to?”

Harry nodded, smirking.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world” Harry said.

I smiled.

“I don’t have to walk the carpet, do I?” Harry asked, jokingly.

“Oh, no.” I said, playing along with him. “Those are only for the stars”

“Heyyy” Harry said, sounding offended.

“You didn’t let me finish” I told him. “The stars of the movie”

Harry and I chuckled.

“I can’t decide if you two are the cutest people I know or the most embarrassing” Camila told us.

I stuck my tongue out at her. Adrian walked back into the room. I looked to Harry.

“I’ll get out of this dress and then, lunch?” I asked him.

“Sounds perfect” He said. “I’ll tell Lambert”

I nodded as I got up from the couch. I walked into the bathroom, locking the door. I began to undress, stripping out of this dress.

Harry Styles, my boyfriend, was coming to my movie. He was coming to support me. I was happy he was coming. I should be. I should be but if I was, why did I feel a little anxious? Like I wasn’t supposed to go with Harry?

I shook my head.

No, no, no. I was happy. I always do this to myself when I am finally happy. I’m not going to self-sabotage this for me again. I’ve done that enough. Harry loves me and I loved him. I loved him. I did.

It was just my negative thoughts trying to take over me . . . right?

December 18, 2019. 2 PM.

*HARRY’S POV*

“I need a suit” I told Harry.

“For what?” He asked.

“I’m going to Y/N’s movie premiere” I said.

“Ah,” Harry said. “Now, that makes sense. Is it casual or-“

“I’m not walking the carpet” I said. “I’m just there to support Y/N”

Harry Lambert rolled his eyes at me.

“You know you can just pull out one of your suits from tour, right?” He asked.

“Yes but it’s Y/N’s night” I said. “I want to look good for her-“

“And not outshine her?” Harry cut me off, asking.

“Exactly. . .” I said.

“When is this again?” He asked.

“Friday” I answered.

Harry sighed, looking down. Adam entered the dressing room. We arrived early for rehearsals for the show tomorrow.

“I thought I would be the first one here” Adam said.

“Well, I beat you by twenty” I told him.

I looked back to Harry.

“Can you do it?” I asked him.

“Yeah, fine” He said. “I’ll look and give you it that morning”

I smiled, nodding at him.

“Thanks” I said.

“Part of the job” Harry commented.

“What are you two talking about?” Adam asked us.

“Y/N” Harry and I said at the same time.

“Oh,” Adam said. “She’s coming tomorrow night, right?”

“Yup” I nodded. “I told Lambert I was going to her documentary premiere. Needed a suit”

“Oh, that’s sweet” Adam said. “How is it so far?”

“How’s what?” I asked.

“Being with her” Adam clarified.

“Oh, I love it” I said. “I actually feel happier than I’ve ever been. There’s no pressure at all. I don’t feel as nervous as I was with my other girlfriends”

“She sounds like she makes you happy” Adam said.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t he be dating her, Adam?” Harry asked in a sarcastic tone.

Adam and I both shook Harry’s comment off.

“Yeah, I am happy” I said, smiling as I looked down. “I’m lucky to have her”

I was lucky to have her. Really lucky. She was Y/N. She could chosen to be with anyone else but she chose me. She was with someone else and left him for me. I couldn’t even describe how lucky I was.

I looked down to my hands. My focus was on my red gemstone ring.

I couldn’t describe it but I could show Y/N how lucky I was to have her. And what better time could I show her how much she means than on her night?

I smiled to myself, getting an idea.

“Oh, no” Harry said. “You have that look again”

“What?” I asked, looking up to him.

“That look” Harry said, pointing to my face. “Please don’t tell me you have one of those ideas again”

I grinned.

“I have an idea” I said. “Just not that one”

I looked to Adam.

“Adam,” I called on him.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Where do you get flowers for Emi?”

December 20, 2019. 5 PM.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

I waited a moment outside the door for someone to open. I knocked again louder. Ali opened the door a second after.

“Ali” I smiled at her.

“Harry . . .” Ali said. “Nice suit”

“Thanks” I said. “Your dress looks good”

Ali nodded.

“Let me guess those are for Y/N” Ali said, pointing to the flowers in my hand.

“Yeah” I said. “Is she done yet?”

“She’s been done but . . . sure” Ali said, retreating back into the room.

I followed Ali as she led me through the hotel suite. I stopped for a minute when I saw Lisa, Camila, Rosé, Adrian, Lily, Jie Lin and Jessie. I greeted all of them with a hug, asking how they were. I kept it short, knowing Ali was getting annoyed with me.

“Harry is here” Ali said, walking onto the suite’s balcony.

I stepped outside onto the balcony. Y/N sat at a table, talking to her mother and Julia, her sister.

Y/N smiled, looking to me. She smiled more when she noticed I had flowers for her.

“H,” She said, standing up and waking over to me. “You got me flowers?”

“I did” I said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Y/N smiled at me. I handed her the flowers.

“You look gorgeous” I complimented her. “As always”

“Thanks” Y/N said. “I would kiss you but I don’t want to get red lipstick on your face”

“Well, now I want you too” I said, teasing her.

Y/N’s mother coughed, trying to get our attention. Y/N and I looked to her.

“Ariela” I said, greeting her with a hug. “How are you? Y/N told me you’re going to Holland for the new year”

“Going to visit my brother but yes” She said, flashing a fake smile at me. “How are you, Harry? You look handsome as usual”

“Doing quite well” I said.

I looked over to Julia.

“How are you, Julia?” I asked her.

“How do you think I am?” She asked, walking over to give me a hug. “Ooh, you smell much more nicer than I thought”

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.

“A little” Julia said, teasing me. “By the way, Y/N owes me a fifty. She said she would never date you and I bet-“

“I’ll give you the money later, Jules” Y/N said. “Can you give me and Harry a minute?”

Julia nodded.

“C’mon Mom” Julia said, walking out of the room. “The lovebirds need their space”

“I’ll take those for you” Ariela said, looking at the flowers.

Y/N handed them to her. I watched as Ariela walked away. Y/N let out a little sigh. I smirked at her.

“You owe your sister fifty dollars” I said.

“I do” Y/N said.

“I take it you told them about us” I commented.

Y/N nodded.

“Yup” I said. “This morning”

“Well, that would explain the little stink eye your mom gave me” I said. “She doesn’t like me, does she?”

“Oh, she will” Y/N said. “She always hates my boyfriends at first”

I smiled at her.

“Is it the tattoos?” I joked with her. “Is it because I’m not Jewish? I think I know all the holidays from Ben”

Y/N smiled, shaking her head. Y/N looked down on the street from the railing. I watched as her smile disappeared. I had a little feeling something was wrong.

I stood next to her, intertwining our fingers together.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Y/N looked to me.

“It’s nothing” Y/N said. “I’m just having one of those self-sabotage moments again”

“You are?” I asked. “Does it have to do with your mom?”

“No, no” Y/N shook her head. “Well, kind of”

Y/N looked down.

“Remember that night you kissed me?” She asked. “I said that night I felt something was wrong or missing whenever I was with someone?”

I squinted at her.

I did remember. She was talking about how Ashton didn’t make her happy enough. Wait, was she thinking of-

“Well, when we went for the fitting” Y/N began to speak. “I noticed that I felt-“

“Are you leaving me?” I asked, cutting her off.

Y/N stared at me, surprised.

“Because if you are . . . why?” I asked. “You said you loved me. Did something happen? Did I say something? Was it too much pressure-“

“H, I’m not leaving you” Y/N said. “I’m not. If I was, I wouldn’t break up with you now of all moments”

“You’re not?” I smiled in relief. “You sounded like you were going to”

“No, no” Y/N shook her head. “I was going to tell you that I don’t feel that way with you . . .”

I grew confused.

“What?” I asked her.

“The long story short is,” Y/N continued to speak. “I got into a fight with my mom about you and she said asked what made you better than everyone else and I realized it. I realized I always felt something was wrong because they weren’t you”

Y/N looked down, fiddling with her fingers.

“So, yeah. . .” She said, looking up to me. “This was just me trying to tell you I love you in actual romantic way. . .”

I smiled at her.

“You already told me you loved me at my show” I said.

“I know, I know” Y/N said. “But I wanted to say it the right way this time. And Anguilla sounds really nice”

I took a step closer to her.

“Well, if I have to admit,” I spoke. “That could have gone better”

“I shouldn’t have said anything, shouldn’t I?” She asked.

“Maybe” I said. “But I love you too”

I smirked at Y/N, staring into her eyes. I closed my eyes as I leaned in to kiss her. I felt Y/N’s lips on mine not a second sooner. I held her waist, pulling her closer to me. I felt Y/N place her hand on my cheek. I slowly pulled away, savoring the taste of Y/N’s lips for a moment. My lips lingered over hers. I felt Y/N’s eyelashes bag against my skin.

I opened my eyes to see her. A ray of sunlight was shining on her face. Y/N opened her eyes, looking up to me. She smiled, blushing.

“You have red lipstick on you” She said.

I looked down to her lips.

“No smudge” I said.

“Umm,” We heard Ali say.

We looked to the balcony’s door where Ali was standing.

“God,” Y/N said, taking a step back from me. “How long were you standing there?”

“Long enough apparently” Ali said. “But the cars coming in five minutes so . . . wrap it up”

Ali turned around and walked away from us. I let out a chuckle.

“Wrap it up” I mimicked Ali.

Y/N smiled. She took my hand.

“C’mon” She said. “Let’s get that stain off you”

“Wait” I said, holding her back.

I forgot to give her my ring.

“What?” She asked me.

I looked down at her dress.

“Your dress is missing something” I said.

Y/N looked down at herself.

“Adrian said I looked perfect” Y/N said. “What’s missing?”

I took my red ring off of my finger.

“This” I said, holding my ring out for her to take.

Y/N looked at the ring, confused.

“Your grandmother’s ring?” She asked me.

I nodded.

“It suits your dress” I said. “And I’ve been wanting to give you it for a while”

Y/N looked up to me, blushing.

“No” She said. “I’m not taking your ring. Anne will curse us both if she sees I have it. I know how much it means to you”

“Exactly” I told her. “That’s why I want you to wear it”

Y/N looked at me for a moment. Then, she looked down at the ring.

“Y/N,” I said. “It’s yours. Take it”

Y/N sighed.

“Fine” She said, taking the ring from my hand. “But if I lose it, I warned you”

I smiled. Y/N put the ring on her index finger.

“It feels loose” She said.

“Don’t worry” I said. “I’ll be holding your hand for most of the night”

Y/N nodded.

“We should go now, shouldn’t we?” I asked her.

“Yeah” She said.

I walked over to the balcony’s door but stopped when I didn’t hear Y/N’s footsteps after me. I turned around to see her still standing by the railing. She was staring at me, having that same look I had that night when I told her. That anxious but hopeful look. Those optimistic eyes. She stared at me with love.

“Are you coming?” I asked, holding my hand out for her to take.

“Uh, yeah” Y/N said, nodding.

She walked over, taking my hand.

“Let’s go”

#harry styles imagines #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fic #hs one shot #harry styles one shot #everytime chapters #everytime HS

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penig · 3 years

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David Ottomas is the richest sim in town, owner the The Roadhouse, which a) is the only nightspot in town and b) has practically no overhead. He’s been living in a tiny not-quite-shack and dating Jules O’Mackey happily, but without any urgency. They have been to bed a few times, which in this era implies an Understanding, but since she was in college there seemed no particular urgency to make things official.

Well, not to them. Peter and Samantha have been very pointed on the subject of his getting engaged for awhile now, and when Jules became a senior even Gabe started dropping hints. So David threw a party consisting of his parents and siblings, Jules, and Gabe, popped the question, and bought a house big enough for them to have really serious parties in. Since David has an in with the editor of the local paper (his dad; protected from the mass lay-offs by being the only male journalist in town) Jules will probably even be able to practice her profession! For now, though, it’s just David and his dog Brownie rattling around in that huge place.

#Depression era Riverblossom #Ottomas #O'Mackey

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anumberofhobbies · 3 years

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The ‘happy birthday to myself” book order arrived. Quite a nice book. Author was an actual navy submariner: I haven’t seen any place in the book where he says outright which country’s navy he was in, but a bit of online searching found this http://preciseimagination.com/about/meet-demetri-capetanopoulos/ And while we’re talking websites, https://www.vernianera.com/Nautilus/Catalog/ (NOTE: above the ‘I’ refers to me, below it does not, there it refers to the website creator)

“When I first established this page, I had only a small collection of designs to feature. Since then, the list has grown and grown, as has the popularity of the page. Examination of the many designs reveals relationships between them. Cross-pollination has occurred when designers who viewed the page produced new boats incorporating features they saw here. What began as a passive collection has become an active inspiration. (Ken Anslow records some interesting thoughts about creative cross-pollination and differing visions evoked by a writer's words. Read them on his blog.)

Originally, the catalog was limited to versions of the Nautilus that I considered compatible or consistent at least in part with Jules Verne's description. As the collection has grown I've expanded the criteria for inclusion. Sometimes a Nautilus is here because it has a prominent feature similar to a design already included, sometimes because it is true to Verne's spirit if not his words, sometimes because it purports to be Verne's Nautilus, and sometimes simply because I find it cool. The result is a much more diverse collection. Although interesting in their own way, the versions from the original League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel and the movie's very different "Sword of the Sea" design, are still excluded because these are not the Nautilus of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, or even Mysterious Island, but a new generation. I have included a representation of the first generation Nautilus from Alan Moore's Extraordinary Gentlemen sequel, The Black Dossier. I’ve organized the designs in roughly but not strict chronological order to provide something of an historical perspective. Most illustrations are more or less the same scale for comparison. Some of the designers identify their creations as the Nautilus, some as other submarines inspired by the Nautilus or from the same era, and at least one as not related to the Nautilus at all. I invite you to look for the relationships among them all.

In 1999 I conducted an extensive survey of illustrated editions of 20,000 Leagues and added the interesting designs I found, dated from 1932 to 1992. These are usually identified with the word "illustrated" and are mostly 2D CorelDraw recreations. At least one of these was originally published many years earlier than the edition I saw and the same may be true of others. Because of the unavailability of these illustrations, I've taken the liberty of including small copies of some copyrighted images. I will remove any of these if the copyright holder has a problem with this.

There's a unique story behind each of the designs featured here. When the designer provided some explanation I've included it in my description. One designer, Paul Kreutzer, wrote a feature-by-feature narrative describing his design process that you can read here. Another, Roman Ceano, with help from his daughter Rose, has imagined an interesting and plausible illustrated back story that builds on Jules Verne's own semi-sequel Mysterious Island.”

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alykazamfanfiction · 5 years

Text

Songs of a Lost Memory

I wrote this thinking about a possible ending of the series that I would like to see. I apologize that I can't seem to get the "keep reading" link to work out on mobile.

“I’ll never forget you, Marinette.”

“I know, Tikki, and I wish I could say the same.”

“Goodbye.”

“I love you.”

It had been three months since the final battle of the Miracle War. The end of the war, along with the defeat of Hawkmoth and Mayura, brought on a long awaited peace in the city of Paris. But the final victory was not all glory. Emilie Agreste, the long missing mother of Adrien Agreste, and the soul motivation of her husband Gabriel's decent into villainy, was lost forever. The only casualty of absolute power corrupting absolutely.

Much to the surprise of the miraculous holders, Adrien was able to let go finally after gaining the closure about his mother’s disappearance. It had also helped that the heroes who stood and fought beside him were not just his comrades, but once the holders of the miraculous were exposed of their identities, they were also his dearest, closest friends.

The hardest task the heroes had to face now that the war was over, was the arrival of the Supreme Guardians of the miraculous. Who came to Paris to retrieve the lost Miracle Box Master Fu had escaped with 176 years before. Meaning that Marinette, as the acting Guardian of the miraculous, once she returned the Miraculous to the true Guardians, she relinquished all memories she had of Ladybug and the miraculous as well.

Though memories of old friends like Alya, Juleka, and Rose would remain vivid in Marinette’s mind and heart as ever. All the friends she gained after receiving the Ladybug Miraculous were lost in the wake of duties being passed on to the new Guardian.

They would be forgotten like the blurred images of a bad fever dream. And those who were aware of that fate, chose not to break their hearts any further saying their goodbyes to Marinette and going their separate ways as her time as Ladybug drew to a close.

Among those who would drift away from Marinette’s memories were Adrien and Kagami who coped with the loss of their best friend by finding solace in each other’s arms, and soon their hearts.

Luka, on the other hand, had disappeared as swiftly as he seemingly materialized in the cabin of the Liberty all those years ago.

But today was not the day to sulk about the Marinette that was lost. Today was the day to celebrate Paris’ newfound peace. A new day to welcome a new Marinette who, despite forgetting all the wisdom she gained during her years as Ladybug and the Guardian, carried herself with the poise and grace of the wisest of sages. And to reintroduce her to those who missed her presence dearly.

Ivan and Melene, who suggested and planned the celebration, called it Marinette’s ‘clean slate' party with a smile that echoed with a tinge of sadness. Though she remembered her two friends fondly, Marinette had no recollection of her influence on their journey in love.

The party was held at the Liberty, the only place in Paris anyone could think of that was worthy of the fun and music the former miraculous holders were about to unleash in the name of a good time.

And it was everything everyone expected it to be. Great food was displayed on many tables and beautiful decorations adorned the deck of the Liberty, which still had plenty of room for all the dancing that would take place. All that was left to do was to wait for the lady of the hour to finally arrive.

Kim, Max, Alix, Rose, and Juleka leaned on the edge of the Liberty, watching the currents of the water move down the Siene while waiting in silence. Reminiscing of their times in school before the rise of Hawk Moth and Akumas.

“So Max,” Kim asked looking to his smaller friend who happened to wear his best bow tie and suspenders to the event, “is there even a small chance that Mari might remember anything?”

Max sighed and pushed his thick glasses up his nose as he answered. “I’ve done the math several times, and her odds are always the same. 4,786,275,963.72 to 1. Marinette honestly has a better chance of sprouting wings than remembering her time spent as Ladybug.”

The group exhaled a sigh in unison upon hearing the impossibility explained to them, Max included.

Alix turned to Juleka. The violet haired woman stared out at the water. Her head resting on her hand that was propped up with her elbow on the Liberty’s railing. “hey, Jules, is your brother here?”

“Ya.”

Alix looked around the ship's deck and returned her gaze at her quiet friend.

“Um…where?”

“Sulking…”

Alix joined her brooding friend mimicking the same pose on the railing. “it’s not fair, Jules.”

“Life and love never is, Alix.”

Juleka thought of her brother who once had a smile that made her think of the brisk carefree winds of the sea. A smile that had disappeared at the end of the war. She did not know which was worse. Her brother’s loss of the woman he loved, or the realization she returned his affections and confessed her love during the final battle; knowing that the end of the war would bring the end of Paris’s miraculous era, and the loss of his lover’s memory of him. Luka Couffaine assured the former heroes that he was going to be alright and would carry on, but being his sister, Juleka knew her brother and could see him crumbling to pieces inside.

The violet haired beauty was taken out of her thoughts when a soft hand with pink fingernails reached out for her own. She turned to see Rose giving her a smile and a bright blue wink of her big doe eyes.

Rose always knew what to say without uttering a single word. And soon Juleka’s lips turned into a content smile as she gently turned her hand to hold the pixie blonde’s hand in hers.

The silence of the group was broken by Nino running to them as he adjusts the red hat on his head while he spoke.

“Hey guys, Alya just sent me a text. They’re about to approach the dock.”

“Where's Adrien and Kagami?” Rose asked as she took a glance around the Liberty’s deck, “I sure hope they made it. “

“They did,” Nino answered with a smile. “They were gonna meet Alya and Mari at the dock and talk for a minute before heading in.”

Alix interrupts threw conversation with more concern in her voice than she wished to reveal, “don't you think that's a terrible idea?!”

“Chillax dudette, Alya's got it covered. She is my girlfriend after all.”

“Well I hope this party doesn't end before it starts because of this.” Alix harrumphed as she crossed her arms in disapproval.

At the dock, Adrien and Kagami stood before the Liberty. The blonde young model tapping his fingers against his thigh erratically until Kagami placed her slender, sword worn hand on his and laced their fingers together.

“You're nervous,” Kagami spoke, looking ahead with the familiar air of stoicism that Adrien had never seen in anyone else.

“If course I’m nervous," there was a slight quiver in his voice. “Kagami, what if she doesn't like us? What if she does some strange love at first sight thing?”

“Adrien, she could never dislike us. And if she falls for you. We just tell her we're together right away, and she will accept it. We’re just two people making a new friend. And she's about to meet two new friends. History doesn't usually repeat itself.”

Adrien turned to his long time fencing partner and now girlfriend and gently cupped her face in his hand. He still was unsure how he managed to meet such a wonderful and wise person.

“I hope you’re right, Kagami.”

Jade eyes met an amber gaze and, for a moment, there was only the two comrades turned lovers in this world, and time slowed to a standstill around them.

“Heeeeeey! Lovebirds!”

It was Alya walking down the Parisian street toward the dock; hand in hand with a dark haired girl in a light pink sundress embroidered with flowers along the hip. Her hair was loose and draped her petite yet toned shoulders.

It was the princess herself, Marinette DuPain-Cheng.

“C'mon, girl,” Alya was heard saying as she hurried across the last empty street before the dock with their friend. Meeting the couple who were waiting. “I gotta introduce you to some friends of mine.” She held her hand over to Adrien and Kagami drawing Marinette’s smiling face in their direction. “This is Adrien Agreste and his girlfriend Kagami Tsurugi. And guys, this is my friend, Marinette.” The bronze woman turned her hands to her companion's direction.

Marinette smiled joyfully as she waved, “Hi, it's wonderful to meet yo-" she trailed off as she looked into Adrien's eyes and furrowed her brow as she tilted her head in concentration.

“I’m sorry, but have we met before?”

Adrien's blood went cold as he began to stammer his words, “I…uh…umm,” much in the same way Mari used to when they first got to know each other years ago. Before he was able to muster an excuse Kagami chuckled softly into her hand quietly before pointing behind Marinette. Their new friend turned to see a bus stop nearby with an ad for Agreste fashion that had Adrien on display.

With a loud laughter, a hand on her chest and a rosy tint on her cheeks, Marinette felt like a fool for a second. “oh goodness! I should have known you were that Adrien Agreste. How silly of me!”

Before long the four were roaring with laughter only to be interrupted by Nino and the gang calling to them from the Liberty.

“Hey, Adrien, quit keeping the ladies all to yourself and get up here with us!”

“Yeah or we just might start this party without our guest of honor!”

“Yeah!”

The four reunited friends looked up at the Liberty. And Adrien turned to the three women beside him. “well I believe it’s time to head in M'ladies.”

Marinette began to rush on ahead of the group up toward the gag plank, as the guest of honor they referred to was her. She suddenly stopped before turning around and pulled Kagami and Adrien in a loving embrace that took them off guard.

“I’m so glad to meet you both! I hope we can be great friends!”

Adrien and Kagami returned their affection and held their friend tight while saying together “the best.”

A few hours into the party, everyone had celebrated a toast to Paris' freedom from Hawk Moth and the threat of akumas. Afterwards they played games, ate, drank, and were merry as they told stories about the hero’s that helped save the city that Marinette did not remember. She simply assumed she was just too busy to notice.

The party's most anticipated guest was having a wonderful time and thought it was such a kind thing to do for little to no reason. It truly made her feel special and loved, this all meant the world to her. But the young lady could not help but feel that something was undeniably missing. The longer she thought about it, the more she became disgruntled because the only thing that she could picture was a marine teal blue.

“Is something wrong, Marinette?” Melene asked her pondering friend with concern, placing a kind hand on her shoulder.

Marinette sighed and played with her manicured nails.

“For weeks now I have felt that something is missing. So much so that I even dream about it. It’s always the same dream too, I hear a beautiful melody, and I see the most serene eyes looking into my own. Someone says something, but I can never make out the words. I just hoped that maybe I would happen to meet the person with those eyes and finally say hello.”

Marinette looked up at Melene and Ivan who walked up and began to listen. His inner poet compelled to listen to the words of her heart. They looked at her with an aura of sadness about them that the girl wanted to shrug off in embarrassment.

“Eh heh heh, don’t mind me. I’m just talking a bunch of nonsense!” Marinette tried to laugh off the mood she leaked into the room.

“Actually that sounds just like Lu-“ Ivan began before seeing Rose and Juleka waving their arms in a frenzy in the Hope’s he would just stop talking!

Luckily he got the hint.

“Uhh JAGGED STONE! He plays music and says tons of things that make no sense!”

Marinette giggled into her hands as the girls out of her view quietly sighed and wiped their brows in relief. “No, Jagged Stone’s over there talking to Miss Couffaine.” She pointed over to the open stage on the deck where a woman with silver hair in a thick braid talked with an eccentric man with magenta hair and the typical rock star outfit. Jagged spotted her pointing his way and waved before giving them a thumbs up.

“Rockin’ party, kids!”

Marinette waved back before turning around, a sigh escaping her lips. Melene shot a glare at Ivan as he rolled his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He certainly dodge a bullet.

“You know I think I’m gonna grab a mineral water from inside and sit down. I think the sun might be getting to me.” Marinette pointed to the stairs that led inside the Liberty’s cabins, “I’ll just be a few minutes, really.” And she hurried off to the stairs before her friends could respond.

Once downstairs and in the Liberty’s kitchen, Marinette walked to the pantry and pulled out a can of mineral water and sighed to herself. As she readied the tab to open the can, it slid out of shaking hands as the sound of a guitar’s melody flooded her ears.

Though she had never heard the tune, tears welled up in her light blue eyes. She wiped her spontaneous tears in awe as she focused on the music to pinpoint its location.

It came from the lowest cabin of the ship.

Drawn to the song, Marinette stealthed her way down another short staircase and tiptoed down the hall to avoid anyone from stopping her pursuit, and to reach the source of the music unnoticed.

As the melody grew louder and clearer, Marinette’s heart began to skip a beat more and more until she a reached a wide, open doorway. She peeked in to see a dimly lit bedroom, the only light entering from the small round windows of the ship. On the bed that was pushed against the wall sat a man with blue and black hair with his back turned to the doorway. Playing a melody on his guitar that made Marinette’s heart both swell with love and sink in despair. He poured his everything, his very heart and soul, into every note that sang from each string.

The song reached it’s end and the guitarist slowly wrapped his arms around his instrument, heaving a sigh so heavy and shaken, Marinette could almost hear the tears as they rolled down his face.

“Sass,” he said quietly to the empty room. “I don’t know what to do.”

Unsure of what to say, the words “excuse me" escaped Marinette’s lips in a whisper. She didn’t have curiosity about the name he spoke, she only wanted to understand his music.

“I’m sorry,” the stranger spoke in a voice, deep and tired. “Please, don’t worry, I don’t want-"

“No,” the woman cut him off gently. “Please…why does playing something so beautiful cause you so much pain?” The desire to understand this man she had never met grow stronger with every passing second. It was almost painful in her chest.

“M…Miss…” he began without turning around to face her. Marinette began to wonder if he was avoiding looking at her. But something told her it was not to avoid her seeing his tears. But something deeper. “Do you believe in Second Chance?”

“Of course I do,” Marinette answered as she leaned her back onto the doorway watching this mysterious musician who hid himself away. Why did her heart flutter so around him?

“Not long ago you could say it was my superpower.” He said with a short laugh that was forced in an attempt to lighten the mood. “But anymore, the idea seems impossible.”

“How come?” Marinette asked, desperate to understand the man she just met moments ago. Her body desires to inch closer but remained set in the doorway out of respect.

“It…no longer matters. I lost her.”

“Who?”

He remained silent for seconds that felt like years before he slid black painted fingernails up the guitar neck and began to play once more the melody that lured Marinette down to the cabins; it was a siren song that called to her.

“Her.” He spoke of the song as if it were a third person standing in the room.

Marinette could not help herself but to ask “what happened?”

“She’s gone. And all I have left of her is the song in her heart,” he confessed as he continued to play.

“It sounds like you loved her dearly,” she placed a hand to her chest and closed her eyes, but her heart would not calm down.

“More than anything, and I always will,” for the first time in their conversation, his voice rose in volume slightly and was warm with content.

“What was she like?”

The room remained void of words as the song floated around the walls before he answered her question

“Extraordinary.” He began with love and admiration in his voice. “Clear as a music note; sincere as a melody…”

The words he spoke grabbed Marinette by the heart and shook the deepest core of her being. Her cheeks grew rosy and her eyes widened with understanding. They resonated inside a part of her that felt chained away in a secret place that was now free to escape to the surface. Revealing to her heart a secret she had no clue she hid from herself.

Suddenly she pictured those eyes she had seen every night in her dreams. Those deep ocean blue eyes staring into her own. Before she was aware of her actions, the words that fell from her lips matched the ones she was hearing for the first time.

“She was the music that played inside my (your) head since the day we first met.”

Upon hearing each other utter the same words, the guitar’s song stopped as the man slowly turned to Marinette. His eyes wide as if he was looking at a ghost, partially hidden behind scattered tufts of black and blue hair that gracefully fell down along his face were the soulful ocean blue eyes that taunted Marinette every night for the last three months.

Those eyes were now looking into her soul once again in the waking life and Marinette could not help but gaze back into them. She spoke a single word that shook the man down to the deepest center of his soul.

“Luka…”

“Ma…mamaMarinette!”

In the moment, the invisible shackles that chained the two bodies still suddenly shattered like glass as they raced to each other. The guitar fell with a harmonic thump as Luka hurriedly climbed off the bed and reached out as they collided into each other in the most desperate embrace. The urge to hold each other was so overwhelming with passion it was almost violent.

Determined to make sure the other was real, they pressed their lips onto any skin they found exposed in hard sweet kisses.

Luka showered his love in kisses he had held back since that moment he opened his eyes and she stood before him in the same cabin when they were young.

Marinette held onto him as tight as she could. Unknowingly the same way he held her the day she crumbled under the pressures of her responsibilities and cried into his chest. Though the memories of her time as Ladybug were forever gone and forgotten, the warmth of Luka’s embrace felt so familiar.

And she never wanted this familiar feeling to slip away ever again.

Luka entangled himself tight against Marinette’s body, hoping to weave his body and soul into hers so that they would never part. He thought of the Snake Kwami of Second Chance and pondered if the magical creature had left behind just enough magic for one last miracle, and if Sass had done so, Luka would remain grateful for the rest of his days.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous marinette #marinette dupain cheng #marinette dupen chang #lukanette #luka couffaine #fluff #fanfic

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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279. Sonic the Hedgehog #202

Dangerous Territory

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Matt Herms

As Sonic and Monkey Khan make their way towards New Megaopolis, Sonic questions Khan on a few things, trying to get some details straight. Conveniently for us, he didn't pay attention at all to Khan's explanation of the situation to Sally, meaning that Khan gets to dump some good old-fashioned exposition on us throughout the issue. Just as they hit the city limits, they're attacked by a few members of the Dark Egg Legion, and Sonic questions why the Legion would bother remaining loyal to the new regime now that Eggman no longer has a stranglehold over them. Lien-Da appears and gloats that she refuses to ally herself with Knuckles, as though that would be her only other option in this world, before unexpectedly calling her troops back. Then, she calls in someone new.

So, remember these guys? They were mentioned in passing last issue, but you might recall their first appearance being all the way back in SSS#8, when Monkey Khan went up against them - a clan of bat ninjas, who used to be an ordinary band of thieves until the Iron Queen came along and killed their leader, the Bride of Rich Nights. This led to an immediate transference of power, and now they serve the Iron Dominion, along with the other three major clans as hinted at in the last issue. Khan hopes that no one else will show up as backup, but his hopes are dashed when the Iron King himself arrives for some fun.

They decide on a head-on assault against the Iron King, which seems utterly idiotic considering they literally just discussed how he's essentially invulnerable, and predictably get thrown back. Things seem to look up suddenly as Espio arrives on the scene, but unfortunately for Sonic, he didn't get to witness last issue's backup story…

As Sonic deals with Espio, whom he's initially certain is under some form of mind control, Khan fights against Lightning, who brags that he's regained his honor and place in the "Raiju Clan" under the Bride of the Conquering Storm. I will say that though this whole era isn't my favorite, I do appreciate the obvious effort that Ian has put into the worldbuilding here. Most of it is revealed through action rather than bland exposition, and it's quite well developed, if you ask me. The vast majority of the action of the comic has taken place in North America (or its equivalent, anyway), with occasional forays into South America, Europe, and of course Australia. Africa still remains relatively ignored for now, but we're finally getting some more substantial insight into the cultures that inhabit Asia in this universe, beyond the vaguely Chinese-esque villages we've seen here and there thus far.

Anyway, Sonic and Khan realize pretty quickly that they're vastly outnumbered, so Sonic pulls the "Sally said this was a recon-only mission" card to get out of having to admit he was wrong about this being an easy win, and he and Khan get ready to make a speedy exit.

The Iron King orders that they be let go against Lien-Da's wishes, as he's the "let my beaten enemies run and tell everyone else how powerful and terrifying I am" type. Sonic runs and tells, all right, though with substantially less fear than the Iron King might have liked, informing Elias, Sally, and Knuckles of what he and Khan found. Knuckles is particularly perturbed at Sonic's report, since he was under the impression all these years that Espio was native to the Rainbow Valley on Angel Island, not some sleeper agent from a secret ninja clan in the East. I suppose he never stopped to consider just how obviously Japanese Espio is, huh? Never stopped by your buddy's house in New Mobotropolis, Knux ol' boy? Granted, those details only began to be included in his characterization in this universe after Sonic Heroes came out, but still. Sally notices Khan brooding in the back of the room, and goes to try to reassure him, and they have a Moment™ where they insist the other call them by their first name instead of by titles. Ken Khan, even in the midst of your angst, you still have eyes for Sally, huh? However, his mood doesn't improve, as he mutters to himself about how this is just another failure under his belt and he's turned out to be a pretty terrible king. At this point, the ending text of the story basically goes "WHAAAT?! MONKEY KHAN IS A KING?! WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING?!" but like, this isn't a new plot point by any means. In StH#60, the very same issue that originally introduced the Iron King and Queen, one of the characters explicitly states that there's some ancient prophecy about a monkey king and Ken Khan is clearly it. I suppose I had just assumed that he'd taken up that mantle at some point in his long absence, but maybe Ian is just banking on everyone having either forgotten or never read that old issue in the first place.

A Lonely Girl's Story

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Jamal Peppers Colors: Matt Herms

So if there's any character who's seriously in need of some backstory right about now, it's the Iron Queen herself. That night while she and Snively are lounging around in her bed (…ahem), he asks her about her past, and though she's not happy about the subject she concedes to tell him her life's story. She was born into a cult of technomages in an Overlander city called Megacentral (…is it just me, or do all Overlander cities in this comic have really stupid names?), and grew up learning how to control electronics with her mind.

Honestly, I'm not sure what purpose this brief panel of Jules and Uncle Chuck chasing her down serves, as all it does is appear to make them out to be the bad guys. I mean, at this point in her backstory she's actually quite a sympathetic character, having been totally wronged by society for something she never had a choice in. Regardless, years of living on the run and looking after herself hardened her heart, and she became vengeful, vowing that the cult would live on through her (the implication being that every other member was executed) and she would rule the world with her power. She eventually happened upon the Dragon Kingdom and decided this was the perfect place to seek the power she wanted, and pledged her allegiance to the local warlord Jun Kun, who is, of course, the Iron King. Snively asks for more of the story, such as how she and Jun Kun ended up married and working for Eggman as regional sub-bosses, but the Iron Queen claims she's too tired to want to continue the story, and they go to sleep for the night. Man, poor Iron Queen. I mean, at this point she's an insane megalomaniac, but she really did not deserve the crap that happened to her - she likely wouldn't even be a power-hungry dictator if it wasn't for the cult disaster.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 202 #writer: ian flynn #pencils: steven butler #pencils: jamal peppers #colors: matt herms

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