#Cap marvel: what; like the 'it is blood it is mine therefore it is my blood' vampire joke?

[phoenixcatch7]

Originally, he didn't, but idk... I think he should have one. Like oracle, an emergency backup, but unlike her he's made little to no modifications to it. It's still in its stylised goth Victorian outfit, painted face, all joints and wooden body on display. Lots of frills and lace and a huge tailcoat.

It likes the attic, so that's where it lives, close to the window hidden behind thick drapes to prevent damaging the things stored up there. They're pretty sure it moves up there, but they've never caught it and tbh they don't really want to?

Alfred never uses it. Doesn't need to. Sure, it's in a good position should anything happen to make Alfred need the doll but digging it out is a pain and he could just grab a mask for anonymity if he needs to.

So, 100% yes, Alfred remains human (though he fits right in with the rest of the terrifyingly competent bats, and with his old fashioned dress they're pretty sure he's one of them somehow). Batman brings some wounded jl after the watchtower was attacked and the first thing they see outside of the cave's... everything... Is a tart 'and what time do you call this, master batman?' and everyone turns to see the back of this giant demon dude hunch further. There's a weird clicking, and then Robin scuttles out from behind batman (they've long since given up on figuring out where they go under there) cackling but gets a clearing of the throat and freezes. So you've got these two demon.. Robot cyborg vampires? Getting very politely-but-ruthlessly chewed out by an old man and just. Cowering.

(Robin has school the next morning and is up far too late. Yes his body is currently asleep but he's a growing boy!)

Robin gets a shoulder pat and sent to the box stand to sleep (like an antique doll's) but batman just gets more reaming before Alfred finally introduces himself and brings the jl medical supplies (they don't really have an infirmary. It's a lot smaller). And batman just lets him! Normally getting between injured jl members and care would have batman inches from ripping your face off but he's just... Quiet. Yes, nobody's too injured, but really...

And everyone's pretty sure batman is artificial in some way, with his constant self upgrades, his lack of pain, his logic, his... Well there's not really anything else concrete, but they're pretty sure they're right.

And this Alfred, a mysterious old man dressed like the bats do for formal events, identically, expensively old fashioned, walking around comfortably in a cold dank cave in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by tools and screwdrivers and too dark shadows and display cases filled with empty dolls, calling batman to heel like a disappointed father...

They think they might have found who created him.

And records of batman stretch back centuries... Is Alfred immortal?

@phoenixcatch7

I have a very important question about the Possessed Doll Au Does Alfred also have a doll or do the Justice League see this old man who looks human scolding the most terrifying member of their group- and it's somehow working

[thehierophage]

Holy Day Celebration 3/31/21 e.v.

March 31, 2021 æ.v. 

Dies Mercurii, 

Sol 11° ♈︎ : Luna 26° ♏︎ : ☿︎ : Ⅴⅴⅰⅰi 

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. 

The Day of Kaph, the Day of Fortune 

Hebrew Letter: Kaph 

Numerical Value as Letter: 20 

Numerical Value as Word: 100/820 (Kaph+Peh) 

Meaning: Bent or Hollow Hand, Palm, Fist. 

Thoth Card: Fortune (Atu X) 

Alternate Title: The Wheel of Fortune, The Lord of the Forces of Life. 

Image: 

Correspondences: 

Tree of Life Path Association: Key 21 - Netzach to Chesed (from Sephira 7-4) 

Astrological Sign: Jupiter 

Element: - 

Egyptian Godforms: Amoun-Ra 

Geomantic Figure: Square and Rhombus 

Gemstones: Sapphire, Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli 

Perfumes: Ammoniacum, Golden Copal, Mace, Balm of Gilead, Saffron, Ash, all generous and expansive odors 

Plants: Hyssop, Oak, Poplar, Fig, Arnica, Cedar 

Animals: Hart, Eagle, Dolphin, Praying Mantis. 

Colors: 

King Scale – Violet 

Queen Scale – Blue 

Prince Scale – Rich Purple 

Princess Scale – Bright blue rayed yellow 

  The Secret Instruction of the Master:

Follow thy Fortune, careless where it lead thee! The axle moveth not: attain thou that!

Mnemonic:

Sped by its energies triune, the Wheel Of Fortune spins: its Axle's immobile.

Recommended Text for Meditation:

L Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli, Cap. 3

Liber Liberi vel Lapdis Lazuli Adumbratio Kabbalae Aegyptiorum Sub Figura VII

Being the Voluntary Emancipation of a certain Exempt Adept from his Adeptship. These are the Birth-Words of a Master of the Temple. A.˙.A.˙. Publication in Class A. Imprimatur: N. Fra A.˙. A.˙.

III

1. I was the priest of Ammon-Ra in the temple of Ammon-Ra at Thebai. 

 2. But Bacchus came singing with his troops of vine-clad girls, of girls in dark mantles; and Bacchus in the midst like a fawn! 

 3. God! how I ran out in my rage and scattered the chorus! 

 4. But in my temple stood Bacchus as the priest of Ammon-Ra. 

 5. Therefore I went wildly with the girls into Abyssinia; and there we abode and rejoiced. 

 6. Exceedingly; yea, in good sooth! 

 7. I will eat the ripe and the unripe fruit for the glory of Bacchus.

 8. Terraces of ilex, and tiers of onyx and opal and sardonyx leading up to the cool green porch of malachite. 

 9. Within is a crystal shell, shaped like an oyster - O glory of Priapus! O beatitude of the Great Goddess! 

 10. Therein is a pearl. 

 11. O Pearl! thou hast come from the majesty of dread Ammon-Ra. 

 12. Then I the priest beheld a steady glitter in the heart of the pearl. 

 13. So bright we could not look! But behold! a blood-red rose upon a rood of glowing gold! 

 14. So I adored the God. Bacchus! thou art the lover of my God! 

 15. I who was priest of Ammon-Ra, who saw the Nile flow by for many moons, for many, many moons, am the young fawn of the grey land. 

 16. I will set up my dance in your conventicles, and my secret loves shall be sweet among you. 

 17. Thou shalt have a lover among the lords of the grey land. 

 18. This shall he bring unto thee, without which all is in vain; a man's life spilt for thy love upon My Altars. 

 19. Amen. 

 20. Let it be soon, O God, my God! I ache for Thee, I wander very lonely among the mad folk, in the grey land of desolation. 

 21. Thou shalt set up the abominable lonely Thing of wickedness. Oh joy! to lay that corner-stone! 

 22. It shall stand erect upon the high mountain; only my God shall commune with it. 

 23. I will build it of a single ruby; it shall be seen from afar off. 

 24. Come! let us irritate the vessels of the earth: they shall distil strange wine. 

 25. It grows under my hand: it shall cover the whole heaven. 

 26. Thou art behind me: I scream with a mad joy. 

 27. Then said Ithuriel the strong; let Us also worship this invisible marvel! 

 28. So did they, and the archangels swept over the heaven. 29. Strange and mystic, like a yellow priest invoking mighty flights of great grey birds from the North, so do I stand and invoke Thee! 

 30. Let them obscure not the sun with their wings and their clamour! 

 31. Take away form and its following! 

 32. I am still. 

 33. Thou art like an osprey among the rice, I am the great red pelican in the sunset waters. 

 34. I am like a black eunuch; and Thou art the scimitar. I smite off the head of the light one, the breaker of bread and salt. 

 35. Yea! I smite - and the blood makes as it were a sunset on the lapis lazuli of the King's Bedchamber. 

 36. I smite! The whole world is broken up into a mighty wind, and a voice cries aloud in a tongue that men cannot speak. 

 37. I know that awful sound of primal joy; let us follow on the wings of the gale even unto the holy house of Hathor; let us offer the five jewels of the cow upon her altar! 

 38. Again the inhuman voice! 

 39. I rear my Titan bulk into the teeth of the gale, and I smite and prevail, and swing me out over the sea. 

 40. There is a strange pale God, a god of pain and deadly wickedness. 

 41. My own soul bites into itself, like a scorpion ringed with fire. 

 42. That pallid God with face averted, that God of subtlety and laughter, that young Doric God, him will I serve. 

 43. For the end thereof is torment unspeakable. 

 44. Better the loneliness of the great grey sea! 

 45. But ill befall the folk of the grey land, my God! 

 46. Let me smother them with my roses! 

 47. Oh Thou delicious God, smile sinister! 

 48. I pluck Thee, O my God, like a purple plum upon a sunny tree. How Thou dost melt in my mouth, Thou consecrated sugar of the Stars! 

 49. The world is all grey before mine eyes; it is like an old worn wine-skin. 

 50. All the wine of it is on these lips. 

 51. Thou hast begotten me upon a marble Statue, O my God! 

 52. The body is icy cold with the coldness of a million moons; it is harder than the adamant of eternity. How shall I come forth into the light? 

 53. Thou art He, O God! O my darling! my child! my plaything! Thou art like a cluster of maidens, like a multitude of swans upon the lake. 

 54. I feel the essence of softness. 

 55. I am hard and strong and male; but come Thou! I shall be soft and weak and feminine. 

 56. Thou shalt crush me in the wine-press of Thy love. My blood shall stain Thy fiery feet with litanies of Love in Anguish. 

 57. There shall be a new flower in the fields, a new vintage in the vineyards. 

 58. The bees shall gather a new honey; the poets shall sing a new song. 

 59. I shall gain the Pain of the Goat for my prize; and the God that sitteth upon the shoulders of Time shall drowse. 

60. Then shall all this which is written be accomplished: yea, it shall be accomplished.

Love is the law, love under will.

[stuckony-summer-stocking]

HogwartsToAlexandria

Highest Rating: E Fandoms:   Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sherlock (TV), Bones (TV), Downton Abbey, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling   Tags: Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Pepper Potts, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Peter Parker, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Alternate Universe, Children, Trans Character, Pregnancy, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics,  BDSM, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Aftercare, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Panic Attacks, Hurt/Comfort, Bathing/Washing, Holding Hands,  Carrying, Non-Sexual Age Play,  Nonbinary Character Short Prompts: 1)   Wheelchairs, Prosthetics and Dysmorphia. 2)   Trans Tony. . 3)   Insecure Tony, clumsy Bucky and oblivious Steve. Long Prompts: 1)   The adoption papers are all signed, the calls have been made and the nursery is ready, it's time to go get their baby. 2)   Cap Bucky, IM Tony and pre-serum Steve walk into a bar, having never seen each other in their lives. What happens? 3)   Steve got himself in danger again so his boyfriends plot a payback for the worry he caused them. Whether that's drag him into one of Shield's therapist offices, or it's tying him up to their bed while they have fun together, or something else entirely is your call ;)

Do Not Wants: Gen Dislikes: - Romanticizing anything-phobia. - On-screen abuse, verbal, physical or sexual. (Brief scenes of canonically shitty parents are okay.) - MCD, so no EG-compliant fics pls. - Cheating, excessive jealousy or possessiveness, gaslighting, non-kinky indifference/humiliation. - Total erasure or villification of canon partners, best friends or parents/parental figures. - Character or Ship bashing. No Team Cap/Iron Man discourse.Sexual Content Dislikes: - Blood play other than vampire-related. - Knife play, gun play, any weapons play tbh unless AU relevant (Assassins/Mafia AUs wherein partner of X would be aroused by their power or something 👀). - Scats, vomit, vore. - Micro-Macro. - Non-con. - Dub-con including but not limited to: sex pollen, fuck or die, one half of the pairing is drugged or inebriated, one half of the pairing is not completely conscious, A/B/O that makes the Omega half of the pairing weak and incapable of making their own choices, BDSM/Slave/Harem AUs that don't care about consent, Boss/Employee relationships based on coercion, Student/Teacher relationships where the younger character is portrayed as immature/childlike and therefore not agent of their own choices, etc... - Misgendering. - Non-gender comforming terms for trans characters. - Uncaring of limits of pushiness about sex in any context. - Under-negotiated Kink. Bad BDSM practice. No Aftercare whether on-screen or referenced. Disrespect of safewords. Characters partaking in kink without being aware of its safety rules and consent necessities. Ignorance of sub/dom drop. Non-consensual anything really. - No Top/Bottom discourse. Likes: HERE is a link to a letter I use for all the dreamwidth exchanges I join. It's basically a long rambly list of things I enjoy, and a development of the DNW list above. And because I actually do love my porn in a lot of flavors, there's also a massive list of kinks I enjoy linked there that you could check out to see if the idea you have is on there or to find one if you don't have any ;) Treats: Moodboards! Playlists! Love notes! (🥺) Fun pics and thirsty ones! Snippets of your own headcanons about the boys! Additional prompts you think are great! Reclists of shortish fics (anything over 3k I'm less likely to read, sorry!) Links to artsy time-lapses (they're a drug of mine..) and anything that came across your dash you think I might like. Commenting on your favorite of my fics if there's any you like. Stick figure drawings about anyhing at all... I just love gifts 🥺😍💕 

Socials: AO3 Main Tumblr Discord handle: Marie | HogwartsToAlexandria   CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL STOCKINGS OR TO CLAIM THIS STOCKING. CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON FILLING STOCKINGS. Treats open on September 25th.

[ryouverua]

Panic! At the Killing Game

Starting off with a bang, I see.

PEW PEW PEW

also, holy shit K1-b0 that escalated quickly

Have we, uh, just not noticed the fact that K1-b0 flying around the school like the most violent firefly in existence?

“Look! It’s the DRV3 budget!!!”

NO SERIOUSLY WHAT PROPORTION OF THE BUDGET WENT TO THIS I NEED TO KNOW -

How powerful are his lasers and why did it take you this long to use them?! I thought you weren’t stronger than a senior citizen!!!

SCI-FI GENRE HIMIKO, YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE.

Has he fired anywhere near you guys or is he at least firing everywhere besides that general area?

They were doing this out in the grassy area near the gazebo, right? So he can see them and is avoiding them? Maybe?? .... I hope?!

 DO YOU HAVE BAZOOKAS IN THOSE ARMS TOO OR SOMETHING HOW POWERFUL IS THAT DAMN LASER ARM OF YOURS

I can’t decide whether Kokichi would be excited or terrified if he was here to see this.

here he comes, here comes speedracer

Red eyes take warning!!! Though, erm, I feel like K1-b0 might win the fight between you two if it came down to it - just saying. 8′D Unless you’re willing to fight to protect again....?

Some artist had the time of their life rendering K1-b0. Also has Shuichi always been this tall??? Or is - wait, Maki is only 5′4? K1-b0 is 5′3?! WHY IS EVERYONE LEFT ASIDE FROM TSUMUGI AND SHUICHI SO SMALL

I MEAN. OKAY. But could you give us a bit of a heads-up first?! We’re still flesh-and-blood people who could easily get hurt from th - wait why are you aiming that laser at me -

WAIT SERIOUSLY IT WAS ALL IN THERE?! JUST LAYING AROUND?! JUST FUCKING... THERE?!

I cannot believe Miu didn’t try to sneak some mods in while she was doing maintenance and upgrading the other parts of you. Though now that I think about it, maybe... she did do the upgrades? And K1-b0 knew about them, but just never used them before this before his antenna or ahoge or w/e got knocked off? look at me blatantly ignoring him saying he got this from his lab lmao

Oh??? Really??? Did you??? I COULDN’T TELL.

MY GOD IT WAS OUR FAULT ALL ALONG. THE RAMPANT ROBOPHOBIA. WE FINALLY PUSHED HIM OVER THE EDGE.

Oh holy fuck, okay, there it is.

“Is this because I took so long to do your FTEs? Because I never got your underwear in time? Because I’ll be more than happy to finish it now! Hell, give me your underwear right now and just skip the formalities entirely!”

“You did Korekiyo’s FTEs before mine, Shuichi! You completed his before mine!”

Are the concepts of ‘no murder’ and ‘explosions’ not mutually exclusive, K1-b0?!

“AND IN THIS FRIENDSHIP SPEECH LACED WITH ENOUGH MENTIONS OF ‘HOPE’ TO QUALIFY IT FOR THE DANGANRONPA ENDGAME, I WILL -”

“So therefore, mass suicide. You’re welcome.”

Honestly, how many people have attempted to kill everyone now in their own way? Kirumi may have killed to escape, but she pushed forward and attempted to cause a riot which was actively trying to get them all killed in her place. Kokichi and Gonta had their trial in 4 and now, fresh off of Maki killing everyone in his effort to take Kokichi down, we’ve got K1-b0. 5/16 people took direct actions to take the entire class out! 5/16! And I mean, that’s outside of the mastermind, so could very well be 6/16!

THIS ENTIRE CLASS NEEDS - WELL, NEEDED - SERIOUS THERAPY

“Yup. Bye.”

- pew -

Ooh, and it looks like the usual arguments aren’t working - like the classic ‘the classmates died so we need to live for their sake’ line.

OKAY K1-B0 CAN YOU DEFINE DESPAIR FOR ME OR IS THIS SOME KIND OF KOMAEDA 2.0 AWAKENING RIGHT NOW

the game tried to pretend Rantaro Kokichi was the Komaeda expy but it was me, K1-b0, the whole time!

“Also I got a new hairdo, but that of course is an entirely different subject. Btw do you like it? I know it was hard to see when I was shooting indiscriminately earlier.”

CAN SOMEONE FIGURE OUT WHERE THAT PIECE OF HAIR WENT ASAP

AGAIN CAN YOU PLEASE DEFINE WHAT ‘DESPAIR’ MEANS TO YOU?!

Anyway Shuichi still has Kaito’s wind in his sails because he is not willing to back down on this. Are you watching, Kaito? 8′)

LMAO YOU, UH, REALLY ARE GETTING HEAVILY INSPIRED BY KAITO, HUH.

Not that we’re going to name anyone in particu -

Shuichi.

Simulation??? Still survivors on earth??? Watching simulated personalities interact with each other as a trial run for the real thing???

.... I know the setting is practically solidified as sci-fi sorry Himiko but man there’s a part of me that wishes I could extrapolate the supernatural theme from Chapter 3 to the overall mystery of the game and apply it to a theory here. 8′D sorry that’s my own taste shining through

“IF YOU CAN USE THE ‘D’ WORD AS A WEAPON, I CAN USE THE ‘H’ WORD AS MINE!”

So that’s what we’re going to do this chapter? That’s good at least - I don’t think we can afford to let our numbers dwindle any more at this point. 8′D

OH HE’S THINKING ABOUT IT

Well, K1-b0 was one of the people who respected Shuichi’s title the most during most of the game outside of Kaede, Kokichi and Kaito. It does make sense for this argument to work better than the other ones.

Yeah, we’d have a difficult time progressing if you didn’t let us -

.... uh. What.

WHELP. HE’S HERE.

ARE WE ABOUT TO HAVE A FUCKING THROWDOWN RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW -

well shit he’s not exactly wrong

DAMN K1-B0, DAMN!!!

Do the others just not notice that huge chunk of hair missing??? I mean I guess no one commented on Shuichi’s lack-of-hat hair so maybe it’s not as noticeable in the game as it is to me outside of it. >>

“I AM LITERALLY GOING TO EXACT MY REVENGE ON EVERY PERSON WHO HAS EVEN LOOKED AT ME IN A MILDLY ROBOPHOBIC WAY!”

This is so brazen that I couldn’t bring myself to delete the cap but I FEEL VIOLATED ALL THE SAME

K1-b0 are you seriously going to go 1 v 5 against them?! .... I say that despite the fact that he was literally blowing up the school five minutes ago with giant-ass lasers and rocket-boosted flight. Hm. What are those on the exisals, machine guns? I guess depending on how sturdy the rest of his body is (CONSIDERING HIS HAIR GOT KNOCKED OFF BY FLYING DEBRIS) he might be okay. ... Or maybe he’ll just have to not get hit. Yeah, he’ll probably rely on agility then, huh.

There, at least now Sweetcheeks is showing extra concern for K1-b0. 8′D

K1-B0 YOU BETTER NOT FUCKING DIE WE LITERALLY HAVE ONLY 5 PEOPLE LEFT AND A TRIAL STILL TO GO

nice marvel reference

NGL I really like the pictures and the 3D rendering of K1-b0. Some anime-style games can have some issues translating the art style to 3d rendering but they really did a good job.

...............

thank god komaeda never had a gun.

........ Oh wait he totally did in that final dead room, didn’t he?

...............

thank god komaeda never had a giant laser gun

PEW! PEW PEW PEW!

SO HOW EXACTLY ARE WE GOING TO INVESTIGATE WITH K1-B0 LITERALLY DESTROYING THE EVIDENCE AROUND US -

Oh okay we’re just not going to. GG everyone!

[eamesandbellamyaremyheaven]

Bloodreina - The New Avenger Chapter Four (The 100/Marvel)

Prologue || Chapter One || Chapter Two || Capter Three

Summary: The 100 AU in the Marvel Universe What if Octavia and Bellamy joined the Avengers after escaping HYDRA’s Ark Project? Set after the Battle of New York. 

Pairings: All platonic for now: Steve x Octavia, Avengers x Octavia, Bellamy x Octavia, Bellamy x Raven, Octavia x Raven, Boodreina x Winter Soldier, more to come soon…

Word Count: 2287

Warnings: Bad writing maybe? (sorry about that)

A/N: I had to divide the previous chapter into two, because it was getting too long. Also, I am moving into my new home, and therefore I won’t be able to post regularly. I am sorry for that, I was really hoping to keep the updates at least once a week, but please, don’t give up on this story, I am still very devoted to it, and I’m hoping next week I’ll have that problema solved :)

Chapter Four - Revelations Part 2

 Sam Wilson was a nice guy. When you get home from your morning run and you have three beaten up SHIELD agents, who also happen to be fugitives, in your door steps asking for shelter what do you do? You should probably say “Hell no” and close the door on their faces, but not Sam. What does cool-guy Sam? He cooks you breakfast while you clean your wounds. 

“So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?” 

Steve said, as he walked around the table, where Nat and Octavia stood sit, eating the breakfast Sam cooked.

“Pierce” Natasha answered as she finished chewing her food “Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world.”

“But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star.” Steve stated

“So was Jasper Sitwell.” Octavia said with a raised eyebrow and a triumph smile, as she acknowledge that Sitwell’s presence in the ship might had something to do with Zola’s algorithm being there too. As Zola stated, HYDRA was everywhere. 

Steve nodded “So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?” 

Sam had stood quietly, listening until that moment, when he left momentarily and came back to drop a manila folder at the centre of the table “The answer is: you don't.”

“What's this?” Octavia opened the folder, reading the files inside, as Steve leaned from behind her, grabbing a photo of Sam with a fellow winged pilot

“Call it a resume.” Natasha smiled at the remark, as she leaned closer to Octavia, inspecting the content herself.

“I thought you said you were a pilot.” Steve said, to which Sam smirked

“I never said pilot.”

Steve shook his head hesitantly, not wanting to put Sam in more trouble “I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason.”

“Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in.” he sounded just like a kid seeing Santa at the mall, Octavia couldn’t help but smile at his excitement.

Steve looked back at Octavia, his lips curled up, matching her smile. It was all the convincing he needed to agree with Sam’s involvement “Where can we get our hands on one of these things?” 

“The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall.” Steve looked at Natasha, who simply shrugged her shoulders, the plan was already arranged in her head.

“Shouldn't be a problem” Natasha assured “How do you plan on getting him to talk?”

Octavia dropped the closed folder back at the top of the table and stood up, full agent mode on “Leave that to me. I have a way with people”

*** 

They had manage to take Sitwell to the rooftop of a building, away from his security. Sam stayed in the alleyway as Natasha and Octavia watched with amusement Steve throwing Sitwell across the rooftop, the weaker man scurrying away from the soldier’s touch.

“Tell me about Zola's algorithm.” Steve demanded

“Never heard of it.”

“What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?” Natasha asked now, her voice low and menacing

“I was throwing up, I get seasick.” Sitwell lied, and even when Steve forced him to the edge of the rooftop, he just stood there, smiling “Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers.” 

Steve shrugged, a small smile played in his lips. He loosen the grip on Sitwell, allowing the man to stand on his own feet, and even gently smoothed the creases in the smaller man’s jacket “You're right. It's not. It's hers.  

Steve and Natasha stepped aside, allowing Octavia to raise her foot and kick Sitwell right across his chest, and off the roof. Octavia raised her head, her eyes meeting Steve’s amused expression.

“Is this your way to persuade people, O?” he asked, and Octavia chuckled lightly

“I don’t think asking nicely would’ve suffice, Cap”

Suddenly Sam, now equipped in his Falcon jet-pack suit with wings, flied back up to the rooftop holding Sitwell and tossed him down on the floor. Octavia walked towards Sitwell in long strides, pulling him up with ease, and he held his hand up in fear, shaking, ready to squeal out everything “Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!”

“What targets?” Steve asked, as he came closer 

“You!” Sitwell replied, pointing at the super-soldier “A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future.”

“The Future? How could it know?”

Sitwell laughed “How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future.”

Natasha and Steve spoke in unison “And what then?” but Sitwell was already lost in his thoughts “Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me.”

“What then?!” Octavia spoke, more threatening, as she shook him by the hem of his jacket 

“Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time.” 

*** 

They were now heading to the Triskelion, SHIELD headquarters. Sam was driving, and Steve stood on the passenger seat, as Natasha and Octavia were stuck on the backseat with Sitwell in the middle of them.

“HYDRA doesn't like leaks.” Sitwell said, looking directly at Octavia

“So why don't you try sticking a cork in it.” Octavia chimed, but the man ignored her 

“HYDRA doesn’t like traitors either... Bloodreina”

The entire car felt into an heavy silent. 

“What’s a Bloodreina?” Sam asked, oblivious to the name

“Bloodreina was HYDRA’s biggest creation. Born and raised inside the organization, trained from a young age by the Winter Soldier herself. Ruthless, cold-blooded, a force to reckon with. Your friend here killed hundreds, elevating HYDRA with each death-” 

“That’s enough” Steve voice ringed above Sitwell’s, shutting the man down.

Suddenly something landed on the car roof in a thud, and before anyone could react to it a silver hand crashed through the rear window, pulling Sitwell out through it and throwing him into the oncoming traffic, killing him instantly. 

Bullets flew from the gap of the window. Octavia leaned down, quickly covering her head on her hands while Natasha jumped from her seat into Steve’s lap, pulling his head down just as a bullet hit the head-rest, and shoving Sam’s shoulder aside avoiding another one incoming. 

Instinctively, Steve pulled the break handle, stopping the vehicle abruptly, and making the assailants body flung out of the roof and down onto the street, who methodically used his metal hand as a support for his effortlessly landing, coming to an halt right in front of them. Octavia raised her head from her hands, and she was now facing the Winter Soldier.

Before she could register the events, another car smashed into theirs from behind, pushing them forward, and all it took to the Winter Soldier to jump back onto their car was a long stride, smashing through the windscreen with his metal hand and pulling out the steering wheel from Sam’s hand “Shit!” Sam yelled as he threw his hands up, and the car kept going forward, with any acceleration or steering from him.

Octavia was already prepared for that outcome. She pulled her gun from the holster and shot at the Winter Soldier, barely hitting him at his metal shoulder, but it was enough to make him retreat, jumping onto the vehicle behind them. 

Their car was now being pulled off the road, and Steve held on to the car door, pulling Natasha and Sam closer. Octavia burst her door open and nodded to Steve, smiling briefly before jumping out of the car, rolling to the side of the road.

Her head was spinning and her ears were ringing, as Octavia struggled to stand up. She looked around for her friends, just as Sam made contact with the asphalt, rolling to the side of the road a few feet onwards, and Steve and Natasha slid down for a while longer, still on top of the door. 

Octavia started to walk towards them, but the clicks of safety locks alerted her to the incoming gunfire.

“Watch out!” Octavia yelled, throwing herself behind a flipped car, watching as a group of HYDRA agents, commanded by the Winter Soldier, started shooting at them. The rest of her group scattered, running in different directions, and Octavia seized an small opening in the enemy’s advance to shoot one of them down, and just as the Winter Soldier was about to fire against her she hit him in his eye goggle. She ran towards the opposite direction, knowing very well that shot only gave her a few second of advantage, as she heard his voice, rough and domineering, command his group in Russian “She’s mine. Find him”

*** 

Octavia ran looking for cover as her mind raced, trying to come up with a plan to take down the soldier. She  couldn’t beat him in speed or strength, but maybe she could outsmart him. She used a chapter from Natasha’s book, placing her phone behind a car while playing a record of her voice on loop, as she hid herself close, waiting for him.

Soon, she saw the Winter Soldier stride closer, drawn by the voice. He stopped silently, pulled up a grenade and rolled it down on the floor, over to where he though her to be. The bomb exploded and Octavia took advantage of the loud noise to jump towards the soldier, right fist curled and up, hitting him across the cheek with all her power.

The soldier stumbled back a few steps, and Octavia brought her gun up, holding it to his temple, but before she could take the shot the soldier grabbed the barrel and pushed it aside, the bullet grazing his hair, but missing entirely.

He then used his metal arm to hit Octavia across the ribs, and as she backed down, winded, he raised his own gun, unlocking the safety, but instead of shooting Octavia, who stood on the ground in front of him, he shot Natasha, but not before she sent one of her electromagnetic bands towards the metal of his arm, disabling it momentarily.

“Nat!” Octavia cried out, as she ran towards the girl, pulling her aside just as Steve arrived, giving them coverage. She inspected the wound, it was bleeding substantially, and although she wanted to help Steve, she knew Natasha would bleed out if she didn’t stop the bleeding.

Sam flew right into them, looking worried at Natasha state before turning his head to the battle ahead of them. He was ready to go help Steve, but Natasha tugged at his leg, stopping him “Let O help Rogers, I need you to do something else for me” then she turned her attention to the girl, mouthing “go” to her, wincing when she took her hands away from the bullet hole, blood starting to flow again. Sam took Octavia’s place, setting the palm of his hand over the wound, as Octavia walked towards the two man fighting, just in time to grab Steve’s shield, which had been thrown away earlier, and sling it back to Steve, standing in between him and the full force of the metal fist.

Steve then grabbed the metal arm with one hand and buried the shield in the metal bellow the shoulder, disorienting the soldier, and in one swift blow he raised the shield, knocking him in the face, and using his free hand he grabbed the Winter Soldier and whipped him over his shoulder, into the ground.

The soldier didn’t seem to loose his balance, as he gracefully rolled unto the ground, standing with his back turned to Steve. His mask hanged loose on the ground, and as he turned around Steve lost all composure, his voice barely more than a whisper

“Bucky?”

The Winter Soldier froze for a moment, at the mention of the name, and as he looked back to Steve and raised his weapon he spoke hesitantly “Who the hell is Bucky?”

Before he even got the chance to fire, Octavia kicked him on the ribs, and this time he lost balance and rolled a few meters on the concrete. As he got up, his eyes moved erratic, as if the name was familiar, but still he chose to raise his gun, but this time, he was met with a grenade fired by Sam. 

When the smoke and flames cleared out, there was no trace of the soldier.

Tags: @glossiefandom, @dayanna-hatter

[davidmann95]

So. Secret Empire. I read it and it's just a sickening mess. Everything happening is just in service of making the Big Event Happen (like civil war 2, bluh) and the only reason I'm really excited for this is so that we can just purge nazi-cap from our collective consciousness once this is over. I don't even have a question! I'm just venting about this shitty event! Fuck nick spencer, that guy is a moron with no respect for where cap CAME from. "Oh he was a nazi the whole time" eat SHIT SPENCER

poorsimon said:Do you think there is a slight possibility that we’ll get a fantastic four book in 2017 to celebrate jack kirbys centenary? Marvel is a hot mess right now with that boring fascist captain America and every series that I was enjoying is either ending in the next couple of months or crossover events are ruining them, looks like marvel is in the same place dc was during the new 52 era

Anonymous said:Thoughts on Dark Matter/Generations/Secret Empire? Specifically for secret Empire, Cap is on of my favorite heroes and I feel like this fundamentally breaks him in a really shitty way. Not to say we won’t get good stories with him in the future, but it’s sort of like Dr. Light where every time he shows up you can’t help but think of identity crisis.

There’s been a bit of a theme to my asks the last couple days.

So yeah. Spoilers ahead, obviously: in the midst of an all-out assault on the nation and world, just as it seemed everyone would make it through like always to see another day, America was betrayed by its systems and subverted from within, culminating in an overt fascist seizing of the White House. Don’t worry though, this week Marvel’s saying it isn’t political.

The cake-topper being that as it turns out via flashback, Nazi Cap (and in response to the inevitable um, actually’s: Hydra’s seminal story under Steranko showed their leader as a character created by Stan and Jack as a Nazi, pretty much all explicit Hydra-isn’t-Nazis material are retcons by Spencer for this arc, “Hail Hydra” is an obvious analogue for another fascist chant, the ‘real Hydra’ inner circle includes Nazis and Neo-Nazis, and this Cap’s vision for America includes white children hunting black children in the street. He’s a fuckin’ Nazi) isn’t a construct of the cosmic cube, but in fact the real Steve Rogers: the Axis won World War II, but the Allies used a cosmic cube to create a fake history where Rogers was on their side and they won the war - gotta ask why they didn’t deal with the Holocaust too - with the real guy now reactivated and fulfilling his true mission. Obviously, this not only delegitimizes every story of a character created by a pair of Jewish-Americans specifically to punch Hitler right in the fucking face, but does it by stating that in the natural course of things, the Master Race of course overtakes the Earth with their sheer superiority, with the very concept of the people they would annihilate having a chance at hope or justice or freedom being a lie currently in the process of getting torn down.

This is a little bit touchy.

There’s obvious franchising reasons for this: Chris Evans has made clear he isn’t sticking around for long if at all after Avengers 4, while as of that movie Anthony Mackie will still have at least 3 films in his contract, so it’s in their interests to set Sam Wilson up in the comics as Captain America to match. Problem is, they started the process before a movie about Steve Rogers, so they had to bring him back, and now have to figure out a way to get him out of the picture for a longer period than simply old age or death. And if you want to get him out of the running for the title of One True Captain America, not only making him a Nazi, and retroactively always a Nazi at that, but classifying literally every non-Nazi Captain America story essentially in-universe fanfic? That’ll get him off the board for awhile. It’s ruinously terrible, but also quick and easy, same as it was quick and easy to move Captain Marvel and once upon a time Iron Man into the spotlight in time for their movies by making them fascists. You’ll have to ask Marvel why fascism is their go-to shocking character twist, though.

I think the source point of the issues here stems from something simple I mentioned recently: I don’t think either of the Big Two necessarily believe there’s going to be a comic book industry in 20 years, or even necessarily 10, so there’s no realreason to attempt anything other than drawing as much blood from the stone asthey possibly can. Clearly the creators are trying their best,middle-management I’m sure have long-term plans, and I doubt the powers-that-bewant it to fail. But sales have beendropping for years, and neither of them have demonstrated any plan of substancewhatsoever to reverse that trend. They both had their moments of attempting toright the ship, and both fell through – the original Marvel NOW! and itsimmediate follow-ups were major successes, but half their biggest writers leftin the wake of Secret Wars and sothey reverted to type with endless editorial interference and bullshitcrossovers, while DC’s attempt at innovation with DCYou was scattershot at best,clearly born less of a philosophy of “let’s let our best talents try bold newthings!” nearly so much as “let’s do weird new things that might grab headlines”. 

Viewed in that light, many of their recent decisions startto make sense; after the New 52 trying to draw in 90s fanboys and maybe a couple teenagers fell through, DC’s explicitly banking on rolling back the clock and appealingto the core fanbase with Rebirthwhile simultaneously betting everything on the shock value of incorporating Watchmen, while Marvel has fallen backon its regular event-and-relaunch tactics, and if the “Make Mine Marvel” rumorsare true, they’ll soon be returning to a predominately white and male cast of headlinerswith a handful of exceptions (hence why escape hatches were built into almostall of their recent successor characters – Mjolner was prophesied to return tothe Odinson before the first issue of Jane Foster’s book, Tony Stark is only instasis, the Ultimate Universe may or may not be waiting out there for Miles andhis cast to return, etc.) They don’t think there’s a new audience to be won, orat minimum they clearly haven’t given any thought to the kind of formatting,publication, narrative or marketing breakthroughs that might let them reachthat wider audience (probably part of why they’re so petrified of staying inretailers’ good graces – digital of the way of the future, but they don’tbelieve they’re going to see that future, therefore they’re sticking toappealing to the base while they can), and so naturally they’re going to thetried-and-true methods of drawing cash out of the existing audience until itall falls apart, by which time everyone currently at the top will have new jobsor be retired.

So that Marvel in particular has been overly contemptuous ofprogressive elements of their fanbase isn’t shocking. I doubt their leadershipof middle-aged guys have any particular sympathy for their viewpoint, and if they don’tsee them as a potential pathway to saving the industry either, then it’s not asurprise they clearly see them as a gaggle of mercurial, industry-ignorantwhiners, to be discarded once the half-hearted measures at winning them overaren’t enough. And if they’ve decided they don’t give a shit about progressiveideals in the slightest beyond what’s necessary to avoid mainstream attentionon their fuck-ups, and they don’t seem to be trying to bring about a workablemodel for the industry – especially given that they’re at this pointunquestionably the secondary caretakers of these characters compared to TV andmovies, so these franchises can go on without them – and they’re convinced shock value stunts andevents are the only way to draw in dollars while they can, then yeah. Sure. Whywouldn’t they make Captain America a Nazi? To think that’s a bad idea wouldrequire meaningfully giving a shit about their own product, or at least thinking thatanyone else will in a few years.

As for the Fantastic Four, that’s probably still in Fox’s hands, but I really do hope Al Ewing gets a crack at them someday.

[captaingondor]

tag type thing

Tagged by @aceofstars16​!

1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke! As far as I am concerned, it’s just objectively better.

2. Disney or DreamWorks: I’d say I lean more towards Disney. I love me some musicals and princesses

3. Coffee or Tea: Tea 100%. I love tea. I don’t drink coffee at all. If the tea can be mate, that’s the absolute best

4. Books or movies: Books are my true love

5. Windows or Mac: Windows

6. DC or Marvel: Make mine Marvel!

7. Xbox or PlayStation: I’m awful at videogames and have never personally owned any, much less a console, so... if I do play games it’s OC

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: I’m playing through Dragon Age right now (Re: earlier statement that I am bad at video games, my husband is playing the combat parts... I’m just here fore the cool choices and character interaction.) But I can’t really compare since I have not played Mass Effect at all, though I intend to

9. Night owl or early riser: night owl. What’s a morning?

10. Cards or chess: Like, I know the rules of chess, but not how to make them work to my advantage. Cards

11. Chocolate or vanilla:  If the question is chocolate, the answer is always yes.

12. Vans or Converse: Converse, for sure.

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar: I’m 90% sure this is something for one of the later Dragon Age games but I’m still on Origins so

14. Fluff or angst: Fluff!

15. Beach or forest:  Forest. Love em

16. Dogs or cats: I love them almost equally... but not quite. Dogs win.

17. Clear skies or rain: Oh I like some variety but you can’t beat a nice clear day

18. Cooking or eating out: My personal cooking skills are kind of basic, but I also don’t like eating out like, over frequently? so

19. Spicy or mild food: Spices taste good, but I am a total wimp with spicy food, so mild

20. Halloween/Samhain or solictice/yule/Christmas: CHRISTMAS. though you aren’t allowed to celebrate it til after Thanksgiving

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: ‘forever a little too cold’ is honestly my life... I’m fine with it

22. If you could have superpower, what would it be: I know it’s basic but man, I just wanna fly

23. Animation or live action: Yes

24. Paragon or Renegade: This is a Mass Effect thing right? I’ll tell you once I’ve played it

25. Bath or shower: Shower... who has time for that

26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: Team Cap, forever and always, my heart and soul. *chanting in the distance* Cap! Cap! Cap! Cap!

27. Fantasy or sci-fi: i love me both of them, but fantasy is my deepest love. And really, my favorite ‘sci fi’ tends more towards fantasy

28. Do you have 3 or 4 favourite quotes, if so, what are they:

So I’m in my LotR reread... and I just keep thinking ogf LotR quotes so here you go, y’all

“Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself, and nameless?” -Tom Bombadil, ‘In the House of Tom Bombadil,’ The Fellowship of the Ring

“Eomer said, 'How is a man to judge what to do in such times?''As he has ever judged,' said Aragorn. 'Good and evil have not changed since yesteryear, nor are they one thing among Elves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.”- 'The Riders of Rohan,’The Two Towers

“All words are magic words.” - me, in my main story, I’m just throwing this in here because I can

Bible verses are sort of a different category than quotes? But imma give one anyway

‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’ - 2 Corinthians 12:9

29. YouTube or Netflix: Netflix is the joy of my life tbh

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson:I feel like I gotta say HP cause I engage in it almost daily through RP

31. When you feel accomplished: When I write stuff, always. 

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Star Wars is in my blood, yo. I love Star Wars. I love it so much

33. Paperback books or hardcover books: I really like hardcover with nice dust jackets that I can use the flaps for bookmarks.

34. Fantastic Beasts or Cursed Child: Gotta say Fantastic Beasts, though Scorpius is honestly the greatest. 

35. Rock or pop music: Pop

36. What is the most important thing in your life: Jesus *doesn’t change the answer and nods in agreement* <yup. Though if you’re talking earthly thing... Neil <3 

37. Mountains or sea/ocean: Mountains?

38. Name a couple songs you’ve been really into recently:

- ‘Rivers and Roads’  by the Head and the Heart

-The entire Moana soundtrack but ‘I am Moana’ is my heart

[ahighwaychild]

Under the Willows

‘Death is certain for the one who is born, and birth is certain for the one who dies. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable.’ (Bhagvad Gita 2:27)

I was hesitant to sit on his bench, I hadn’t been here since he died, I spared a few minutes to read the engraving and thinking back to that epoch. Fifteen years on, it still looked relatively new and clean, which I was pleased about, I liked the idea of people unknowingly sitting on it, enjoying moments in time, reading his memorial and questioning what kind of person he was. He was gifted a bench in death, I would have given him something more, if I could. It served its purpose, I suppose, it was a sign that he was here, on this earth once, sand in his toes, guitar riffs ringing in his ears, life in his breath, his footsteps had certainly been here.

It was an extremely confusing time, I think my family tried to hide the severity of his illness from me, I suppose they wouldn’t want to worry a ten year old, only tell her what she needs to know, they probably agreed and I don’t blame them. I knew something was wrong, he was in and out of hospital, he became frail - skeleton like, our house was a cry for help then one day everything just became still. Screams of pain then nothing. 

Over a hundred people came to his funeral, I couldn’t believe it, myriads of sad faces but no heart as sad as mine, I thought. The wake was filled with unfamiliarity, strangers giving me their condolences, some just smiled, unsure how to comfort a child - they were temperamental at the best of times. I remember thinking my mum and brothers had done a standing ovation job of speaking to the masses, they looked after everyone that day but themselves and after everybody wept we swept up the mess.

My heightened anxiety was an instantaneous by-product of his untimely demise, much to the concern of my earth walking family. I had become an overthinker, prone to ruminating, his death enforced to me the transience of life, the fragility of it all, the loss of love had been excruciatingly painful but we all have our crosses to bear - at some point. I was fearful of my mother dying, then I would be an orphan, I never wanted her to leave the house - unjustifiable thoughts clouded my brain so there was no room for reasoning. I thought about the age difference between my older brothers and I, surely they would die before me, how would I cope with losing them? It was a plague of irrational emotions but they dwindled as I got into my teens, they hadn’t completely vanished into the ether, so to speak, they were still in my psyche and would resurface from time to time.

The bench was situated in a picturesque garden, it currently personified summer and beauty. Children were feeding the quacking ducks and poised swans by the small lilypad filled pond in the distance while their parents watched them closely, marvelling at their child’s youth. The clouds must have been on vacation as the sky was of the clearest blue, dragonflies hovered high above, seemingly unsure of what direction to take and a multitude of colourful butterflies paid me a visit from time to time. I held a long stem of lavender in my hand comfortingly, its blissful aroma working its way through my senses occasionally.  The windy willow trees lit up a memory in my mind of being at The Harrow park, falling terribly from my bicycle, my knees violently cut  - the blood seeping through within seconds (which would form a small scar that lived on my knee cap - well into my teenage years,) my left elbow sore and grazed. I welcomed his big arms as they scooped me up under the weeping willows to safety.  Nursing my cry, wiping neverending tears from my red flushed cheeks, with tissues that he always had in his pockets. It’s sadly the only memory I can remember vividly.

*

‘Tell me about him?’ My therapist had asked me.

‘He was a wise soul... Very knowledgeable, it was like he knew everything about every subject.’ It felt weird talking about him in the past tense, even after so long. ‘Well, he worked in the British Library, an archetypal librarian, our house was overflowing with books, mainly philosophy, the occult and classic fiction - he was a prolific Tolkien collector. I take after him, my brothers are more philistines.’ It was something I prided myself on, my love of the arts.

‘Tell me, Natasha, is there anything else you can tell me about him?’ My therapist insisted, looking for his biography from me.

‘I don’t know...’ I thought about what I should say. ‘He loved music, reggae, jazz and rock, Jimi Hendrix in particular, Along the Watchtower played at his funeral... He played the electric guitar, we still have like, five, at my mum’s house. I guess she wants to keep them. He enjoyed films - foreign - obscure types.’

‘Is that what you remember about him?’ She tilted her head to the side, probing. 

‘I don’t actually remember any of that, that’s what I’ve been told.’ My memories of him were scarce, blurred and dreamlike sometimes I questioned whether he had even been here, if he was an illusion, a fictional character. The bicycle episode was the only palpable memory which strangely I was thankful for, at least it was something. Maybe I had blocked them out, locked them away, it was harder to miss something you didn’t remember. ‘I remember his accent.’ I smiled fondly, recounting his gentle voice. I hadn’t even realised he had an accent until a kid at school had pointed it out, only then I noticed his tone was different to my mums. ‘He was Indo-Guyanese, he was tall and had curly black hair, that’s why I don’t look fully English, or maybe I do, I don’t know. When he died, I remember thinking about my culture… and how it had died with him... But, it soon came knocking at my door and like an old friend - I invited it in...’

*

My mum is English, your quintessential cockney from Bethnal Green and he was from Berbice, Guyana. It sounds like an incredible pairing when I think of it in that context and they were to be fair, if there is such a thing as soul mates, they were the blueprint. He had arrived, fresh off the - aeroplane, at fourteen years of age and met my mum three years later, they evidently, hit it off and were together ever since. Three children and twenty-five years of marriage, although it should have been fifty more. 

While he was here, there was no real fuss ever made about him being from Guyana, not that there should have been. I was so oblivious to my heritage, it was a quotidian reality, that I thought nothing of. As I grew more into my looks, more like him, I was frequently asked, ‘Where are you really from?’ which I didn’t actually find offensive, London is a multicultural city and I, equally curious about other people’s racially ambiguous aesthetics. 

Our town was a suburban demographically British-white area, I would have bet all the money in my ten year old self’s piggy bank that we were the only Guyanese in town. All of his family lived in Queens, New York, in an area nicknamed Little Guyana, meaning there wasn’t any West Indian influence in our household once he’d left earth. I had more cousins than I could count, some of them I had met before but it’s hard to remember meeting family when you’re under five years old. 

My mum had agreed that we could visit them in New York for my ‘Sweet Sixteenth’ birthday after I had been incessantly pleading for years. My family in NYC paid for our flights (they wouldn’t allow us to put a penny towards it) and we spent two life changing weeks in Little Guyana. They held a family reunion at my Auntie Shivanie’s house and I was overwhelmed with joy to see my ‘new’ family members - all here for me. I was showered with love, I had really not felt anything so euphoric before, it was as though we’d never been apart. My Auntie Shanti told me stories about my dads childhood, some which made me laugh and some made me cry. My mum and I looked at each other knowing what the other was thinking, ‘I wish he could be here’ but I knew he was there in a way.

Sitting at the front of the house was a common ritual in Richmond Hill, red cups, loud music and Guyanese food I’d never heard of or even tasted before - cook up rice (a sticky kind of rice with beans and other vegetables thrown in), katahar (jackfruit curry) , hassa curry (a tropical fish curry, it has the most unique taste.) I wasn’t keen on all their delicacies but hassa curry was now my favourite dish of all time which led my cousins to confirm ‘she ah true coolie white gyal.’ When my elders spoke, it was in such a thick broken English accent that I couldn’t decipher their words to anything understandable. To fit in, I would nod and smile politely, laugh when they laughed, it didn’t really matter to me. My cousins enjoyed mocking my English accent, I retaliated with my impression of their Guyanese accent (which admittedly sounded outrageous), this had them laughing all the way back to Kaieteur Falls.

There was no real resemblance between my cousins and I, you certainly couldn’t tell we were related. They introduced me to their friends, who were shocked at our revelation, ‘No way! You have a white cousin! From Eng-land, that’s dope!’ ‘Yo, she’s coolie too? No way?’ My cousins presented new genres of music to me - Soca, Dancehall, Chutney,  Sundar Popo’s ‘Don’t Fall In Love’ was a song I had on repeat for a long while. Two weeks flew by too quickly. Two big jeeps filled with family came to wish us farewell at JFK airport, so many tears and so much love. I told them I would see them again soon.

*

‘D’you mind if I sit here?’ An elderly man asked me, pointing at the space next to me on the bench, The Times newspaper folded in his other arm. He was about six foot but had a thin frame, glasses sitting on the tip of his sharp pointy nose and mostly grey hair, well, what was left of it. 

‘Of course not, be my guest.’ I smiled at him, budging over ever so slightly to create more room, it almost brought me back to reality as my thoughts had spun me into another universe altogether. 

My trip down a very winding memory lane had been undeniably cathartic and overdue. A journey complete with introspection, contemplation on the effects of his death to now being still in the present moment as the author of my tale.  His death didn’t define me, my race didn’t either nor my religion, I was defined by my spirit and everything else were merely influences on this life’s path.

The old man abruptly swivelled in his position, making me jump slightly at his sudden movement. He pushed his thin silver framed oval glasses up towards his small brown eyes and carefully read the words inscribed on the bench, ‘Ronald eh?’ He nodded at me. ‘I have to pay my respects to those who have left us, I always take notice of these things, I do.’ He put his hands together in a praying motion towards the sky then casually returned to his paper.

I looked at him shocked that he had acknowledged the subject of my visit, he noticed me staring conspicuously at him.

‘Yes?’ He turned towards me.

‘He was my dad.’ I smiled.

[terryblount]

Mortal Kombat 11 – Review

Mortal Kombat is more than a game: it is the closest thing we as gamers have to a counter-culture. It is an I.P. that has consistently laughed in the face of censorship boards by never compromising on giving fans the unfiltered carnage of close combat. This was literally (part of) the reason why there exists an ESRB rating system today.

What’s more, this violence is not just for looks – it is also about skill. The genius of Mortal Kombat’s formula has always lain in demonstrating the player’s fighting ability through how sadistically they can crush their opponent. You don’t just K.O. an opponent in this game; you FINISH THEM!!!

Is it weird to admire the way blood is animated in a game?

I am quite pleased to say that this 27-year-old spirit of Mortal Kombat is alive and well within the eleventh arrival. Let’s not beat around the bush here. This is essentially the perfect fighting game, and players and pros alike will surely regard it as one of the best this series has ever produced. This is because Mortal Kombat 11 manages to include every modern convention that works, while being mindful of the old-school novelties that cemented the I.P. in gaming culture.

Time and time again

In the single-player ‘kampaign’, Earthrealm yet again comes face to face with an apocalyptic threat. The story opens with a now corrupted Raiden (see MK XL) decapitating the elder god Shinnok as a message to anyone who dares to threaten his domain. This was was a most serious error in judgement as Shinnok turns out to be the son of a new character, Kronika – the guardian of time itself.

“But know this–the arc of the universe bends to my will.” – Kronika

Needless to say, Kronika is rather unhappy not just about her son being reduced to the usefulness of a bowling ball, but also due to the balance of good and evil now being uneven. She vows to restore equilibrium in the timeline up to the events of her son’s beheading, but is also aware that Raiden and the Earthrealm gang could present a troublesome thorn in her side in any dimension.

Kronika therefore merges the past and present together, and teleports an army of Netherrealm’s most formidable villains, like Baraka and Shao Kahn, from the past into the present as her insurance policy. As per usual, the player will represent the fight for Earthrealm’s fate from the perspective of Johnny Cage, Kotal Kahn, Kung Lao, and other classic and contemporary characters.

I get that the whole time travel motif has been done to death, but the team at NetherRealm have once again shown their practiced hand for storytelling. They have wisely used the motif of temporal distortion as a McGuffin to re-imagine and bring back some of the franchise’s most beloved figures for the modern gaming climate.

Johnny squared!

This makes for a deeply interesting plot with some exciting and unexpected alliances forming or breaking between characters from different time periods (because their major clashes haven’t happened yet). More than that, Netherrealm sets up the opportunity to introduce characters like Cetrion and Geras who have fighting abilities centred on the manipulation of time.

Overall the story really oozes the kind of cinematic quality that would make Marvel Studios sweat bullets. The combination of excellent graphics, captivating voice acting, and the return of favourite characters will most definitely have new fans engrossed, and old fans spiralling into nostalgia.

In with the old, out with the new

Objectively speaking, Mortal Kombat 11 plays it extremely safe. This game demonstrates the old adage that players are bound to enjoy what lies in their comfort zone, and it is not necessary for sequels to reinvent the wheel. Instead, MK 11 goes for the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but make it a whole lot prettier’ approach.

Indeed,  MK 11 plays just as slick and precise as every game Netherrealm has developed thus far. What can be perfected has been tweaked, but a whole slew of small changes collectively add up to an experience that will still feel fresh and engaging to long-time players. Not much is new here, and I am very happy about that.

You get to see quite a lot of Sub Zero’s face in this game.

So aside from the single player campaign, the ‘Klassic Towers’ mode also makes a return in which the player must defeat a sequence of opponents to ascend up the tower. Except for infinite modes, these always end with Kronika as the final boss. Defeating her also gets you a brief cut scene that fills in some story details specific to the character you happen to be playing much like Tekken or Street Fighter.

You will not find the ‘Living Towers’ of the previous installment as Netherrealm has ditched this mode in favour of the ‘Towers of Time’. These differ from Klassic Towers in that opponents get more challenging as you approach the top, and players are also permitted to activate certain modifiers (they unlocked as loot) either for one match, or for the duration of the entire tower.

As an example, you can assign Jade one or two of Cyrax’s cyber webs to fire at her opponent stunning them momentarily. Alternatively, the match might have a vampire modifier in which the player’s health bar drains constantly to the opponent’s, so it is best to finish the match sooner rather than later. These towers can certainly get infamously punishing, but the game drowns you in rewards for completing them.

Lemme smash! This is who you will be playing in the Krypt. Note the three currencies in the bottom of the screen.

The Krypt is back again, of course. This time the event plays out on Shang Tsung’s island (see MK 2011) during which you open chests, smash vases and crush meteorites for some sweet loot and unlockable goodies. The Krypt also adopts a third person perspective now which only makes the act of swinging around Shao Kahn’s colossal hammer at vases and statues all the more gratifying.

Light puzzle solving is also a way of collecting some treasures, and it is clear that the developers really want the player to enjoy exploring for goodies to make your game more interesting. I have always been intrigued and, a little creeped out by this subsection of Mortal Kombat games, so it’s nice to see it return here. It’s really beginning to feel like a crucial component of the experience.

Kompletely Unreal

I have never been shy to express my admiration for the Unreal Engine, but what Netherrealm has achieved on a visual level in this game is outright astounding. Here we have a super modified version of the Unreal Engine 3 no less, throwing around particles and rendering high definition textures like it is trying to put Frostbite and Unity out of business.

Even though certain sections of the game have been mysteriously capped at 30fps (most of which can now be fixed by a mod), this game flows on the PC like butter down a centrefold’s butt cheek. In contrast to Mortal Kombat XL, the vibrant graphical tone of MK11 really throws the bountiful details of the visuals into sharp relief. I feel like the unique cast of characters that has always defined this series finally get the representation they deserve.

Damn this game is beautiful. This allows for particularly dramatic cut scenes.

The environments and fighting arenas have also been given the deluxe visual treatment through dramatic lighting and environmental effects. I found the arenas to have an enigmatic and refreshing feeling to them, and a particular favourite of mine became the decaying Shaolin temple where the corpses of dead monks observe your match. I clearly have issues.

They are noticeably the tightest fighting planes that Netherrealm has implemented within one of their games, but this has the pleasing outcome of somehow making the action feel closer… more immediate. The close-quarter combat also places more importance on finding openings in the opponent’s technique rather than just  flying from one combo to the next.

Combos are still just as important, but it is clear that MK 11 wants shorter, more potent moves to play a bigger role too. This means that the one guy with supersonic thumbs you always get paired with online is less safe than he thinks this time round. You know who you are!

The fatalities and other post-match tomfoolery have, naturally, also been given an obvious graphical upgrade. Seriously, seeing brains being splattered and bones being shattered in this level of realism is not at all for the faint of heart. Be that as it may, I nevertheless have a hard time imagining a more beautiful, albeit visceral fighting game.

The very definition of fighting chance

As I mentioned, the roster of fighters is a mixed bag of old and new characters including the original 7, but like all the other yobs on the internet, I feel like some characters leave a conspicuous absence. Where the hell is Goro!? I also miss, Takashi who had a snappy and responsive feel in his fighting that appealed to my playing style in the previous game.

Perhaps old Goro will get his chance with DLCs, but the roster is still a bit smaller than I would have liked. It is once again too obvious that most of us will be expected to fork out more of our hard earned cash as extra content later down the line. Netherrealm has chosen quality of quantity, but this rather anemic roster just smacks too much of leaving room for microtransactions.

At least Geras more than makes up for my four-armed favourite being conspicuously M.I.A. His time-travelling abilities allow him to execute a punch, blink back in time, and execute another attack before my opponent could even find a moment to move. I also liked the beefy, warlock look he had going on which looks particularly slick during fights. Definitely my favourite new character in this game.

Geras warping back in time behind his opponent. Cannot remember who the other is… uhm was…

It also helps that the developers have really gone the extra mile to give MK 11 a truly comprehensive and helpful tutorial segment. They even included a lesson on frame times and hit advantages – something I usually ignored and left to subconscious strategy until I actually paid attention to it in this game.

Best of all, for the really nasty combos and chained assaults the game will actually demo the move on screen with button prompts. I am embarrassed to admit that some combos in previous games took me upwards of an hour to get right. With this new system, it was ten tries tops. As such, newcomers to Mortal Kombat, and fighting games in general, will undoubtedly feel more welcome than ever before.

On the subject of techniques, MK 11 has swapped out X-ray moves for a new system called ‘Fatal Blows’. Like X-ray attacks, they are once-off, deadly attacks taking you microscopically close to your, or your opponent’s, cracking jaw and rupturing internal organs. Except there is one crucial difference: Fatal Blows can only be activated in the last third of your health.

In other words, if the player has only been maintaining a slight lead with their opponent throughout the fight, the last section becomes indescribably tense. You can no longer rely on short-distance techniques or longer combos to win because if you allow even one opportunity to have a Fatal Blow performed on you, you’re toast.

Let us have the talk

So what exactly is the deal with this grind getting everyone all upset? Well, the manner in which MK 11 deals with in-game currency makes us all want to gather our raincoats for the inevitable microtransaction storm that is surely going to hit soon. At the time of writing, MK 11 has very little to offer in the way of DLC on Steam.

Still, something tells me that this will change soon not just because this is the nature of our industry, but because fighting games are also particularly lucrative opportunities for monetisation. They always have been because it is so satisfying seeing no grey blocks on your roster, or adding some cosmetic personality to your favourite fighter.

This is my only major issue with MK 11 because it feels like there is simply too much being gated off from the player when you start the game. Every time I completed a fight, the game goes through a huge pomp and circumstance to inform me of all the different currencies I just earned. Not that the handouts are even that generous mind you.

You read that correctly. This time there is not just the Koins  used to unlock outfits, fatalities and modifiers for tower modes. Even in the Krypt, you now have to juggle multiple kinds of currency units like hearts and soul fragments if you want all off the riches the hidden content has to offer. Oh, and the Krypt chests are randomised so your friend may find a liquid metal suit for Sonya Blade in the same place you get concept art…

Playing around with some of the unlockable skins and finishing moves.

Even though I have never really cared much about cosmetic items in the games I play, I don’t like the sense of gaminess MK 11 creates with the endless pop-ups eagerly informing me how much I have earned. I am playing because I am having fun, and this just feels like Netherrealm is trying to force me into some scheme inevitably leading to microtransactions.

FINISH IT!!

In case that last section threw you off a bit, I want to state again that Mortal Kombat 11 is essentially fighting game perfection. This game is completely saturated with the kind of creative vision that has been the worked into the design of my favourite fighting games. This game looks great, sounds great and feels great.

If Netherrealm vow never to turn the superfluous currencies online into an evil plot of monetisation, I will not need another fighting game for the next ten years at least. Combined with an excellent story, this will become an essential classic in your Mortal Kombat collection.

Remember to check out our Mortal Kombat 11 performance analysis!

Tight and refined combat

Tutorial section

Story

Excellent visuals and sound

Design of new fighters

Temporal fighting abilities

Somewhat limited roster

Too focused on currencies

          Playtime: About 28 hours total. 10 hours on the single player campaign with much of the remaining time spent online.

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox Controller (Thanks to my friend Niel for lending me his!!)

Mortal Kombat 11 – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[jacquievandegeer]

togetherness and wolves

This a short play I wrote a couple of years ago, it is about a woman living in the wild, who decides to go to the big city to change her ways, and discovers her nature can not be domesticated.

I called it Under a Black Moon, enjoy!

Scene 1:

( sound: wind, howling wolves. A big black moon with light around it as

a light effect)

Wolf-woman sits on a rock.

Wolf woman:

“ Under a black moon, wolves were howling, while my blood was streaming between my milk white, skinny, pale eyed tights.

I squirmed and bit my tong in my highest pleasure.

It was that time of the month again.

Hurling with a beautiful smile on a Madonna-like face, the mirror reflected a part of me that didn’t exist for years.”

“How now?”

Why did you return?”

Mirror:

“ I am here to have a serious talk about your past and I want to plan your future. Actually, let’s forget about the past and never mind the future either.

Clever is here and now.

Ever is here and now.

Never is here and now and I wanna have fun and being proud of what is.

Not what was, nor what shall be.

So, pick up the bones you dropped so often, get a real toothpick and clean yourself with it, praying to the gods to forgive you for wasting your time here in the woods with the wild ones.

Time to buy a train ticket, a plane ticket, a dreary rainy brain ticket.

New York City.

Dakkar

Sweet New Orleans

Winnipeg

Bristol

Brighton

Dusseldorf

Wurtele

Paris

Uganda

Norway

Anyway

Every way

All day and all night.

Getting to move, cut your habits, your comfort zone.”

Wolf woman:

“Howl, howl, it is darn sudden hellish!”

Mirror:“Stop, move!”

As in a ritual, wolf woman puts on a jeans and a t-shirt, shoes, cap.

She puts on a backpack and starts to walk in slow motion.

Scene 2:

(sound of a big city: cars, police cars, airplanes, hip hop music etc. The Black moon turns and there are projections of a big city projected, movement sequence of Wolf woman traveling to city life)

Wolf woman:

“And there I went.

Into the normal zone.

The airport, the crying kids, pestering the ears, the skin, the brain, why do we reproduce?

Let the egg break and follow the stream under the black moon, the hot sun.

Made in China, is all I can say.

The tower of Babel wasn’t that bad, you know.

West jet.

East jet.

Jet set.

Beast jet.

All whet and dirty in the air, rolling through clouds, up to Vagina.

Does that really exist?

Dunnoh….

My papers and visa were good and after a quite intense journey I finally, finally brutally arrived in an environmental world of skyscrapers, taxi drivers, homeless beggars and three piece suits, yelling in Blackberry land.

Immediately I missed my loyal wolf wild friends.

Howling appeared as elevator-music in the back of my head.

This must stop.

It is getting nowhere and certainly I will not meet anyone while humming howley tunes between my stiff lips.

So what to do, now I got there, so adult and free?

For rent.

For sale.

On sale.

Employees asked.

Part time.

Full time.

Experienced or not.”

“It’s fine to come to the big city.

We have all been there.

So don’t be ashamed.

Don’t be shy.

Go in and ask.”

“Could this be for me?

And so I ended up being a waiter, well waitress, genderly-correct off course.

Not much fun in a restaurant.”

(sound of a restaurant and wolf woman takes an apron out of her back pack, picks up a small table and a chair and puts it on stage)

“Couples, luring into their text messages.

Hardly holding hands.

Love, peace, tenderness and we miss you too.

Delay, betray and there I ran with the tray!

Oh chicken wings, French fries, burgers, all of the slaughterhouses of the

North- American continent on your plate today.

You know how they grow them up, those cows, those lambs, those chickens?

What is worse: their lives, their deaths?

May their souls be freed forever in a human free heaven where the grass and grain flows like water.

No pork, it seems people do not eat pork these days.

No wolves either.

I was very happy with that.”

“One day, an older lady who actually looked a lot like Queen Elizabeth of the UK UK UK…….

UK Ukelele, came in.

Dressed all in hot pink, a poodle on a leash and a hat like a spring concert on a record player, she ordered coffee, fair-trade and a vegan beet soup.

Lord in heavens, what did she think?

I had to invite her over to my place after my shift and make it for her and, believe it or not, she accepted!

“Hormones and mormones”, she mumbled and explained me, she used to be a Wicca priestess in her younger years.”

“Could she be the one to set my inner wolf free?”,

I prayed, she would not break her promise as she left the restaurant to find a meat- less fresh lunch elsewhere in town.” (sound of clock striking ten times, wolf woman puts off her apron and puts on a base ball cap and a pink dress)

“She was there when the clock struck ten that evening, looking longer, younger and without a hat or poodle.”

(from now on the performer is Wolf woman as well as Pink Lady)

Pink Lady:

“ My name is Lisa”.

Wolf woman:

“Right away I wanted to marry her but, hey, those times are over so I repressed the thought and transformed my tenderness towards her into interrogative irritation.

Are you a Jew?”

Pink Lady:

“Oh, I don’t think so, I am sorry”.

Wolf woman:

“Again, I could hit her forehead to the floor out of a rage of unrealistic love.

We got into a cab and I paid with my tip,

I actually made quite good money from this bloody restaurant.

You don’t want to know how big the carnivore community still is in the States.”

“At my place, after climbing numerous stairs, opening my three locks and taking her pink coat, I sat her on the sofa-bed with a glass of cheap white wine.

I was happy to have a living soul in there, it had been a while since my departure under the black reflecting moonlight.”

Pink Lady:

“ Thomas?”

Wolf woman:

“I nodded.

Yes, why not?

I could be a Thomas.

Or a Pete.

Or a Luigi.

Or a Francois.

Or an Isaac.

I could be who ever she wanted me to be.

“Blood!”, it screamed inside of me, “I need her blood!”

I looked at her neck, touched my teeth with my tongue and wished this adventure   developed into a real raunchy vampire story.”

“Alas.”

“I made the vegan soup and heated some bread in the oven.”

“We ate.

We didn’t say a word.

The news was on.

Still trouble in Afghanistan.

Soldiers back and forth.

A nightmare,

called world news.

“Keep an eye on your personal belongings at all times”, I thought and then all of a sudden she smiled at me. She held my hands, looked me in the eyes and said…”

Pink Lady:

“ I know you are a wolf and I know you want to marry me in spite of the times.

My eggs are done and I would never want to impose myself on you but I do have a crush on you now.

You are my male woman, my genderless nomad, my tender fiancée if you will.

By the way, the poodle wasn’t mine.

I am a dog walker.

Tomorrow, it will be a golden retriever in the morning and three huskys at night.”

Wolf woman:

“What could I do?

I howled and growled and sweat, sworn red, pulled out of my pants.

My vagina.

My poodle.

My basket-ball cap.

Collapsed, I collapsed under the dream of romance in spring and wanted to die.”

(Pink Lady shows off her neck and wolf woman struggles with her instincts, she finally

submits to it and therefore she kills Pink Lady in a slow motion movement dream like sequence and ends up with the bloody dress in her arms)

Wolf woman:

“Anyway, what was I expecting?

I am no better than you, I might as well start eating meat.

Little chickens.

Innocent lambs.

Holy cows.

Precious porcs.

Ratty roosters.

Dangling ducks.

Breeding birds.

Devour them all!

Pretending I am count  Dracula, daring to dance with the humming wolves in my head.”

“The back of my head.”

Wolf woman sings:

“ Love me tender, love me do, say you’ll never go!” from Elvis Presley and dances with the pink dress.

“Oh mirror, dear mirror, how wrong can we be.

I hide in shame and put on the white face.

Mask.

Pre-ten-ding.

A marvelous word, a disco dance, a stroll in the park with a loved one….”

“Avoid the wolves in the zoo.”

“Pre-ten-ding.”

(Wolf woman kicks the table and chairs, the black moonlight turns on)

Wolf woman:

“I never heard a howl.

I never had blood.

That liquid between my legs only flowers, only rises, a color to put on a bit of flavor in a teenage biscuit.”

“I do believe in God though and hope she will help all the other animals of the Universe, including me.”

(sound- track of Pink Lady’s voice singing)

Pink Lady:

“Love, oh love, oh precious love, it’s you that I am dreaming of…..”

Wolf woman undresses herself, leaves all clothes on the floor and goes back to the rock

She sits there, naked under the black moon.

Lights dim, sound: wolves, city and soundtrack of the love-song for 20 seconds, increasing in volume, CUT lights and sound abruptly)

[thehierophage]

Thelemic Holy Day Meditation - March 31, 2020 æ.v.

March 31, 2020 æ.v. 

Dies Jovis, Sol 11° Aries, Luna 7° Cancer 

 An Vvi æ.n.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

The Day of Kaph, the Day of Fortune

Hebrew Letter:

Kaph

Numerical Value as Letter:

20

Numerical Value as Word:

100/820 (Kaph+Peh)

Meaning:

Bent or Hollow Hand, Palm, Fist.

Thoth Card:

Fortune (Atu X)

Alternate Title:

The Wheel of Fortune, The Lord of the Forces of Life.

Image:

Correspondences:

Tree of Life Path Association:

Key 21 - Netzach to Chesed (from Sephira 7-4)

Astrological Sign:

Jupiter

Element:

-

Egyptian Godforms:

Amoun-Ra

Geomantic Figure:

Square and Rhombus

Gemstones:

Sapphire, Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli

Perfumes:

Ammoniacum, Golden Copal, Mace, Balm of Gilead, Saffron, Ash, all generous and expansive odors

Plants:

Hyssop, Oak, Poplar, Fig, Arnica, Cedar

Animals:

Hart, Eagle, Dolphin, Praying Mantis.

Colors:

King Scale – Violet Queen Scale – Blue Prince Scale – Rich Purple Princess Scale – Bright blue rayed yellow

The Secret Instruction of the Master:

Follow thy Fortune, careless where it lead thee! The axle moveth not: attain thou that!

Mnemonic:

Sped by its energies triune, the Wheel Of Fortune spins: its Axle's immobile.

Verse from Liber Arcanorum:

10. Now then the Father of all issued as a mighty wheel; the Sphinx, and the dog-headed god, and Typhon, were bound on his circumference.

Genius of the Home of Mercury:

Kerugnaviel

Genius of the Prison of the Qliphoth:

Kurgnasiax

Recommended Text for Meditation:

L Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli, Cap. 3

Liber Liberi vel Lapdis Lazuli Adumbratio Kabbalae Aegyptiorum Sub Figura VII

Being the Voluntary Emancipation of a certain Exempt Adept from his Adeptship. These are the Birth-Words of a Master of the Temple. A.˙.A.˙. Publication in Class A. Imprimatur: N. Fra A.˙. A.˙.

III

1. I was the priest of Ammon-Ra in the temple of Ammon-Ra at Thebai. 

 2. But Bacchus came singing with his troops of vine-clad girls, of girls in dark mantles; and Bacchus in the midst like a fawn! 

 3. God! how I ran out in my rage and scattered the chorus! 

 4. But in my temple stood Bacchus as the priest of Ammon-Ra. 

 5. Therefore I went wildly with the girls into Abyssinia; and there we abode and rejoiced. 

 6. Exceedingly; yea, in good sooth! 

 7. I will eat the ripe and the unripe fruit for the glory of Bacchus. 

 8. Terraces of ilex, and tiers of onyx and opal and sardonyx leading up to the cool green porch of malachite. 

 9. Within is a crystal shell, shaped like an oyster - O glory of Priapus! O beatitude of the Great Goddess! 

10. Therein is a pearl. 

 11. O Pearl! thou hast come from the majesty of dread Ammon-Ra. 

 12. Then I the priest beheld a steady glitter in the heart of the pearl. 

13. So bright we could not look! But behold! a blood-red rose upon a rood of glowing gold! 

14. So I adored the God. Bacchus! thou art the lover of my God! 

15. I who was priest of Ammon-Ra, who saw the Nile flow by for many moons, for many, many moons, am the young fawn of the grey land. 

16. I will set up my dance in your conventicles, and my secret loves shall be sweet among you. 

17. Thou shalt have a lover among the lords of the grey land. 

 18. This shall he bring unto thee, without which all is in vain; a man's life spilt for thy love upon My Altars. 

 19. Amen. 

 20. Let it be soon, O God, my God! I ache for Thee, I wander very lonely among the mad folk, in the grey land of desolation. 

 21. Thou shalt set up the abominable lonely Thing of wickedness. Oh joy! to lay that corner-stone! 

 22. It shall stand erect upon the high mountain; only my God shall commune with it. 

 23. I will build it of a single ruby; it shall be seen from afar off. 

 24. Come! let us irritate the vessels of the earth: they shall distil strange wine. 

 25. It grows under my hand: it shall cover the whole heaven. 

 26. Thou art behind me: I scream with a mad joy. 

 27. Then said Ithuriel the strong; let Us also worship this invisible marvel! 

 28. So did they, and the archangels swept over the heaven. 

 29. Strange and mystic, like a yellow priest invoking mighty flights of great grey birds from the North, so do I stand and invoke Thee! 

 30. Let them obscure not the sun with their wings and their clamour! 

 31. Take away form and its following! 

 32. I am still. 

 33. Thou art like an osprey among the rice, I am the great red pelican in the sunset waters. 

 34. I am like a black eunuch; and Thou art the scimitar. I smite off the head of the light one, the breaker of bread and salt. 

 35. Yea! I smite - and the blood makes as it were a sunset on the lapis lazuli of the King's Bedchamber. 

 36. I smite! The whole world is broken up into a mighty wind, and a voice cries aloud in a tongue that men cannot speak. 

 37. I know that awful sound of primal joy; let us follow on the wings of the gale even unto the holy house of Hathor; let us offer the five jewels of the cow upon her altar! 

 38. Again the inhuman voice! 

 39. I rear my Titan bulk into the teeth of the gale, and I smite and prevail, and swing me out over the sea. 

 40. There is a strange pale God, a god of pain and deadly wickedness. 

 41. My own soul bites into itself, like a scorpion ringed with fire. 

 42. That pallid God with face averted, that God of subtlety and laughter, that young Doric God, him will I serve. 

 43. For the end thereof is torment unspeakable. 

 44. Better the loneliness of the great grey sea! 

 45. But ill befall the folk of the grey land, my God! 

 46. Let me smother them with my roses! 

 47. Oh Thou delicious God, smile sinister! 

 48. I pluck Thee, O my God, like a purple plum upon a sunny tree. How Thou dost melt in my mouth, Thou consecrated sugar of the Stars! 

 49. The world is all grey before mine eyes; it is like an old worn wine-skin. 

 50. All the wine of it is on these lips. 

 51. Thou hast begotten me upon a marble Statue, O my God! 

 52. The body is icy cold with the coldness of a million moons; it is harder than the adamant of eternity. How shall I come forth into the light? 

 53. Thou art He, O God! O my darling! my child! my plaything! Thou art like a cluster of maidens, like a multitude of swans upon the lake. 

 54. I feel the essence of softness. 

55. I am hard and strong and male; but come Thou! I shall be soft and weak and feminine. 

 56. Thou shalt crush me in the wine-press of Thy love. My blood shall stain Thy fiery feet with litanies of Love in Anguish. 

 57. There shall be a new flower in the fields, a new vintage in the vineyards. 

 58. The bees shall gather a new honey; the poets shall sing a new song. 

 59. I shall gain the Pain of the Goat for my prize; and the God that sitteth upon the shoulders of Time shall drowse. 

 60. Then shall all this which is written be accomplished: yea, it shall be accomplished.

Love is the law, love under will.