#Fishermans Apprentice

[magpiica]

lesbians ‼️‼️

(okay, lesbian + bisexual, but Everly doesn't know it yet (she thinks 'Ailín' is a boy(everyone does)))

[kendallville]

Woke up to this!!!

Jeremy Strong on Jimmy Kimmel Live

He filled up for other guest (that wouldn't happen few years ago!) and he checked that Jimmy's primal astrological animal is panda 😅

They also talk about Murdochs!

"Who's Rilke???"

[waveswallowed]

lucerys + archery was born out of a complete whim ( like most things with me tbh ) and i always forget how perfect it really is and how much i love it because PARALLELS !!!!

[observerlimit]

shoutout to the guy who lives in a forest of stained glass trees with crimson leaves and grass that's as white as snow . ideal headspace

[literaryvein-reblogs]

can you make a couple reasons on why two characters would be enemies? Tysm!!!

Character vs. Character Conflict

also referred to as person vs. person, man vs. man conflict, or protagonist vs. antagonist

Power struggles - In many instances, conflicts arise due to issues of power. For example, one person or group desires control over another, leading the other to fight back against injustice.

Oppressive authority figures - Often, this is where the man vs man conflict overlaps with man vs society. Here, characters facing oppression from authority figures (such as an authoritarian regime) undertake resistance to achieve liberty.

Revenge - A protagonist feels as if they have been personally wronged by another character and vows revenge, setting up a complication that needs to be resolved when the two finally come face-to-face.

Love triangles - Two characters find themselves in love with the same person, leading to an unwanted rivalry driven by jealousy of one another and the desire to win the heart of the person they both love.

Examples are the best way to get a feel for what all “man vs. man” conflict encompasses, so here’s a short list of ideas:

Two lovers arguing over disagreements

Knights engaging in a dramatic jousting tournament

Two siblings fistfighting over the TV remote

A corporate employee pranking their coworker

A hero finally facing off with the villain in a battle to the death

Two parents battling over custody of their child

A person getting mugged on their walk home from work

Two competitors trying to ruin the other person’s ability to compete

Two shoppers fighting over who gets to buy the last copy of a video game on the shelf

Examples: Man vs. Man Conflict in Literature & Film

The miller's daughter outsmarts Rumpelstiltskin

Cinderella is freed from the household of her evil step-mother

Greek Mythology: Theseus slays the minotaur

Rebecca: (The Second Mrs. de Winter vs. Mrs. Danvers) After a whirlwind romance with an English Aristocrat, a naïve American woman arrives in Cornwall as the new lady of Manderlay, an opulent coastal estate. But no sooner than she drops her bags at the doorstep, she is met by Mrs Danvers, a frosty housekeeper who’s still intensely obsessed with the first Mrs. de Winter, who died on a sailing trip less than a year before. Convinced that her employer’s new wife intends to replace her beloved Rebecca, Mrs Danvers starts a sneaky campaign to undermine the second Mrs. de Winter.

The Great Gatsby: Self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby wants nothing more than to win over his childhood crush, Daisy Buchanan. Standing in the way of Gatsby’s goal is Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan, an old-money cad with a mile-wide mean streak. 

The Prestige: Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige features two rival magicians in Victorian England, each determined to master a mind-bending illusion: teleporting a person from one side of the stage to the other in an instant. One magician (Borden) is secretly a pair of twins sharing a single identity to protect their trick, while the other (Angiers) clones himself onstage each night and murders his original to keep the performance seamless. The fierce competition pushes them to start cutting moral corners, sacrificing relationships and even their own mental and physical well-being (or replicas thereof) in pursuit of the perfect illusion. The rivalry is used to highlight how ambition, when pushed to the extreme, can corrode even the most gifted and passionate hearts.

Othello. In Shakespeare’s play, Othello is in conflict with his confidant, Iago. Iago believes that Othello is after his wife, a conflict that only deepens when Othello promotes another man over Iago. Slowly, Iago begins to take measures to destroy Othello.

The Old Man and the Sea. In this classic Hemingway tale, the fisherman Santiago is having a streak of bad luck. He is so unlucky that his apprentice, Manolin, is forbidden by his parents to go fishing with Santiago. Although Santiago wants his apprentice to go fishing with him each day, Manolin needs to learn to fish from someone who is more successful.

Robinson Crusoe. When the book’s titular character is marooned on an island after a shipwreck, he encounters the island’s locals, who are cannibals. Crusoe first wants to kill them but decides against it; his reasoning is that the cannibals don’t think that what they’re doing is wrong. In confronting a group of people with wildly different values and views from his own, Crusoe faces the ultimate character vs. character conflict.

Character vs. character conflict - two characters have motivations, desires, needs, or beliefs that place them in opposition with each other.

This type of literary conflict places characters in a situation where these motivations and beliefs are tested.

While the conflict may be resolved with one character defeating another, it can also be resolved through persuasion or conversion.

This is an external conflict (rather than an internal one), meaning that characters face resistance from a force outside themselves.

How to Write a Character vs. Character Conflict

A character vs. character conflict can provide tension in a story. This type of conflict can also be used to highlight or expose certain characters’ strengths, weaknesses, and deeply held beliefs. Use the following tips when creating a character vs. character conflict in your writing:

Decide which two characters will be in conflict. Flesh out their desires, motivations, and the source of their conflict. Think about their lives and their histories. Write a detailed backstory for each character, and include factors like family, what they have lost in life, how they have been hurt, and what their most cherished memories are. This may seem like a lot of detail and it may not even come up in the story itself, but these characters’ full backgrounds will help you create a richer and more realistic conflict.

Next, decide how your plot will lead these two characters into conflict. If your characters don’t know each other yet, create a scene in which they come together. If they already know each other well, think of how your story can bring the topic of their conflict to the forefront. Maybe one is keeping a secret from the other, for example, and the conflict will begin once the secret is revealed.

Make your conflict matter. If your characters are arguing over ice cream flavors, it will be hard for the reader to get invested. Giving the conflict real stakes is what keeps readers interested and also allows you to create greater insight into your characters. You can continually escalate the stakes of the conflict throughout the story to create more tension before your final resolution.

Consider combining your character vs. character conflict with other types of literary conflicts. Other types of external conflict can place your characters in conflict with nature, society, technology, or the supernatural. Perhaps you want to include a subplot in which your characters are in conflict with an external force; alternatively, you can also give your characters an internal conflict, in which they are struggling with their own beliefs or values.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Hope this helps with your writing!

[dcartcorner]

(Un)Fathom AU - or the au in which peter is a fisherman and martin is his apprentice

[dailyadventureprompts]

Adventure: Grasping for Answers

Throughout their early adventures the party come into conflict with the agents of the mysterious mage known only as "The Ravelling Hand", a villain of uncertain identity who seems to have lots of schemes and no qualms using violence, trickery, and unexpected magic to get what they want.

Adventure Hooks:

The party first become entangled with the hand's minions when they're asked by an innocuous travelling merchant to deliver a small wrapped parcel to the wizard living one town over. The wizard isn't open to receiving guests, and after sneaking or charming their way in, the party will find out why: her apprentice has been kidnapped, the parcel contains both of the boy's index fingers as well as a note explaining that she can have the rest of him back in exchange for several dangerous texts in her collection, delivered by the party to the same intermediary who hired them. A brawl is likely to ensue as the wizard suspects the party is in on the blackmail, but if they can talk her down maybe they can figure out a way to work together to get the boy back before any more harm comes to him.

Most thieves know better than to try and rob a magic item shop, but most thieves aren't armed with dispel magic infused salt grenades to neutralize the shop's ubiquitous defences. A rash of these attacks across the duchy has shopkeepers worried, and one hires the party to stake out their store for the night when they suspect someone is casing it. Do the party trail the robbers back to their hideout, or interrupt them mid heist only for combat to delay them long enough for those indiscriminate defences to start turning back on?

Spoiler Alert: The mage is in fact an arcanely gifted lesser kraken by the name of Dlexx who seeks to avail itself of all the magical knowledge amassed on land. Sure the deep has its own mysteries but there's a thriving trade in spellscrolls and arcane tomes that don't make it below the waves. Using an old lighthouse as a disguise for its massive form while on land, it uses telepathy and sendings to direct its minions without ever revealing its true nature. Imagine the party's surprise when they roll up to the villain's lair expecting to bully some crusty nerd with a ratty beard and instead the lair sprouts tentacles that drag them into the crashing surf.

Challenges & Consequences

Finding Dlexx is an adventure in and of itself. When questioned, most of the mage's minions admit to never having met their employer, and those high ranking enough to have been summoned to a place called "saltbite tower" in dreams only to later have their memories muddled. Careful interrogation and study of local maps will have the party realize that the tower is infact an abandoned lighthouse, which will narrow their search as they comb the costline for their enemy's lair.

Actually defeating the Ravelling Hand might prove too much for early level adventurers, as in addition to being a powerful mage the kraken is literally in its element, able to breathe and move while the heroes flounder. Dlexx will toy with them, throwing unconscious foes out of the water the way a fisherman throws back a catch that is too small. When the battle is over and it's proved it's point the kraken will collapse the tower and leave into the wide ocean, telepathically taunting them with their inability to follow.

Though the Ravelling Hand will not resurface for some time, the destruction of the tower and Dlexx's retreat into the deep is partially a bluff. The kraken chose that particular lighthouse because it was a short distance away from the coral reef into which it scribed its arcane learning the way a wizard records spells in a book, coiling arms etching formulae into hundreds of yards of living stone. Dlexx must periodically return to the reef to add spells to it, and sightings by locals (or the occasional fish manifesting with magical talent) might clue the party into the reef's existence.

A pair of merfolk siblings named Crashing-Tide and Arcing-Mirror serve the Ravelling Hand as apprentices and scribes, having promised seven years of utmost loyalty in exchange for the chance to bring the arcane knowledge of the surface back to their community. They tend to the reef, and allow the Kraken to borrow their eyes from afar so that it might study the spells scribed there. Several years into their pledge, Crash (the sister) has come to idolize Dlexx and the power it wields above and below the waves, wishing that the whole of their shoal to come into its service. Mirror (the brother) is skeptical, well aware of the kraken's manipulations and distantly suspicious of the conflict that it invokes. Perhaps if the party can intercede with these two they can learn more about their enemy's plans, though doing so will take some careful diplomacy.

Artist

[gabe-dasha]

I HAVE WATCHED TCOMC 2024 AND I HAVE THOUGHTS

Scenery - beautiful. Shots - amazing. Actors - O.M.G.

I loved them all. Pierre Niney could punch me in the face and I would apologize to him.

The music - I was in heaven. "Le trésor" is my favourite part of the score. I was floating on a croissant.

THEY 👏 INCLUDED 👏 ANDREA 👏

Like actually, most adaptations just don't care and I always liked him as a character both in the book and here.

Also an interesting choice was showing Haydée and Andrea as sort of Count's apprentices/ partners in crime? Like he was usually depicted as this lone wolf, but I feel like this adds to his selfishness, because he basically used them both for his revenge (plus I really liked the sequences when they were rehearsing for every social event they would go to).

I didn't know you could make Noirtier and Bertuccio into one character and also make it a woman? I have seen genderbent Luigi Vampa. I have seen Mondego and Danglars made into one character for simplicity. But that was new and unexpected. Doesn't mean I didn't like it, because I kinda did (very much, it gave Dantés's revenge additional depth, give it up for Angela).

One thing I didn't like was cutting out the Morrel subplot. They literally introduced Maximilian Morrel (as Morrel's grandson, istead of son) and then they did nothing with that. I guess it was just a reference/ nod to those who read the book. Also it makes the version with Gerard Depardieu the most accurate one I have seen so far.

But as a movie, I think this one was the best.

Also why is everyone so set on making Fernand come from a noble family in the first place? It's not the first adaptation to do that and idk what exactly was wrong about Mondego being a fisherman and then earning his title of de Morcerf after being in the military...

I. Lost. My. Marbles. When I saw Abbe Busoni for the first time. Same with Lord Wilmore (here apparently Lord Halifax). Like the characterisation was soooo good! Not to mention the acting...

I was generally in love with the masks and the way Dantés would change appearance.

Also the hint at Eugenie Danglars being lesbian without being excessively loud about it? Perfect.

I loved it all sm and I wish I could watch it every day, but unfortunatelly my access to it on a platform has expired (it was only for 48 hours). I need a DVD or smth

[paulgehleart]

Medieval-Fantasy Type Jobs List: 2025 Edition

This is a re-upload of my previous list from 2018, this time updated with even more jobs, roles, and titles for aspiring fantasy writers to give their characters. Enjoy!

Abbot; Abbess

Academic/Professor (history, science, economics)

Acolyte

Acrobat

Actor; Actress

Admiral

Adventurer

Adviser (royal, military)

Aegis (Royal Protector)

Alchemist

Alienist (legal psychiatrist)

Almoner (Alms for the poor?)

Ambassador

Animal trainer (dogs, falcons, horses)

Antiquarian

Apothecary

Apprentice

Arbalest (crossbowman)

Arcanist (studies magic)

Archer

Architect

Armorer/Armorsmith

Artificer (technician)

Artist

Assassin

Astrologer

Astronomer

Auctioneer

Author, Nonfiction

Bachelor; Bachelorette

Bailiff

Baker; Baxter

Bandit/Brigand

Banker

Barbarian

Barber

Bard

Barkeep/Bartender

Baron; Baroness

Bathhouse Attendant

Beast Tamer/Master

Beekeeper

Beggar

Berserker

Bishop

Blacksmith

Bladesmith

Bodyguard

Bookbinder

Bounty Hunter

Boxer (fisticuffs)

Brawler

Brewer; Brewster (ale/beer)

Broker

Butcher

Butler

Cabin Boy

Candlemaker

Captain

Caravaneer

Cardinal

Caregiver

Caretaker

Carpenter

Carriage Driver

Carter/Carrier (Medieval truck driver)

Cataphract (armored heavy cavalry)

Chainsmith

Chamberlain (lord’s principal assistant)

Champion

Chancellor

Chandler (candle seller)

Chaplain

Chariot Racer

Cheesemaker

Chemist

Chieftain

Chimneysweep

City Guard/Guardsman

Clergyman

Cleric

Clerk

Cobbler (mends shoes)

Collector

Commander

Commissary

Commodore

Confectioner (Sweet Maker/Chocolatier)

Confessor

Confidant

Consort

Constable; Marshal

Convict

Cook; Pastry Chef

Cooper (barrels/buckets)

Copyist/Scribe

Cordwainer (Shoemaker)

Councilor

Count; Countess

Courier

Crusader

Cultist

Curate (parish assistant clergyman)

Curator

Dancer

Dandy (fancy-dressed individual)

Deacon

Dentist

Deprived

Detective

Diplomat

Diva

Dockworker

Doctor/Physician

Domestic Servants (laundry, kitchen, cleaning)

Dragonrider

Dressmaker

Druid

Drunkard

Duelist

Duke; Duchess

Dyer

Ealdorman (high-ranking village head)

Embroiderer

Emissary

Emperor; Empress

Enchanter

Enforcer of Laws against Rich Clothes

Engineer (Textile, Mechanical, Experimental, Siege)

Escapist

Executioner

Explorer

Falconer

Fanatic

Farmer/Farmhand

Farrier (horse Shoes)

Fighter (Gladiator/Arena/Pit)

Fisherman

Fishmonger

Flagellant

Fletcher (crafts arrows)

Florist

Footman

Foreman

Fortune Teller

Foundryman

Friar

Furniture Maker

Gardener

Gatekeeper

General

Glazier (glass maker)

Gong Farmer (latrine attendant)

Governor

Grave Robber

Gravedigger

Grocer

Guardian

Guru

Hack Driver

Halberdier

Harbinger

Harbormaster

Hatter

Hay Seller

Headsman; Hangman

Healer; Midwife

Hellion

Herald

Herbalist

Hermit

Hero

Hierophant

Highwayman

Horologist (Clock/Watch maker)

Houndmaster

Housekeeper

Housewife/husband

Hunter

Idol

Illuminator

Illusionist

Importer; Exporter

Innkeeper

Inquisitor

Inspector

Interpreter

Inventor (potions, weapons, science)

Investigator

Jailer

Jarl

Jester/Fool

Jeweler

Judge/Justiciar

King/Monarch

Knife Thrower

Knight

Laborer

Lady-in-Waiting

Lawyer

Leper

Linguist

Locksmith

Logger/Lumberjack

Lookout

Lord Protector

Lord/Lady (Royal Title)

Loremaster

Maestro

Mage

Magician (performer)

Magistrate

Maid

Maiden

Majordomo

Man-at-Arms

Mapmaker (Cartographer)

Marauder

Mason

Master of Ceremonies

Master of Horse/Stablemaster

Master-at-Arms

Mayor

Medic

Medium

Mendicant

Mercenary/Sellsword

Merchant (cloth, jewels, food, building materials)

Messenger

Miller

Miner

Minister

Minstrel; Jongleur

Mistress

Money Changer

Monk, Nun

Musician (military, entertainer)

Navigator

Necromancer

Nobleman/woman

Nomad

Nurse

Nursemaid/Wetnurse

Occultist

Official

Oracle

Orator (public speaker)

Outcast

Outlander

Outlaw

Outsider

Page

Painter

Paladin

Papermaker

Paramour

Parchment and Ink Seller

Pardoner (scam artist)

Pariah

Parson

Peasant

Peddler

Philosopher

Pilgrim

Pirate

Playwright

Plunderer

Poacher

Poet; Literary Author

Polymath (Knower of Everything)

Pontiff/Pope

Porter

Potioneer

Potter

Praetor

Preacher

Priest; Priestess

Prince; Princess

Prisoner (hard labor)

Produce Vendor

Prophet; Prophetess

Prostitute/Concubine; Courtesan

Provost

Pyromancer

Quartermaster

Queen

Raider

Ranger

Rat Catcher

Rebel

Recluse

Record Keeper

Recruit

Regent

Researcher

Ringmaster

Rogue

Ropemaker

Royal Huntsman

Saboteur

Saddler (Yo mama!)

Safecracker

Sage

Sailor

Salt Seller

Salter or Daysalter (makes/sells salt)

Scholar

Schoolmaster; Teacher

Scout

Sculptor

Sentinel

Seraph

Serf

Shaman

Sheriff

Shieldmaiden

Shipwright

Shopowner

Skald

Slave Trader/Catcher

Slave/Thrall

Smelter

Smith (Gold/Silver)

Smuggler

Sniper

Soldier

Sorcerer/Sorceress

Spell Caster

Spellblade

Spinster; Spinner (yarn/thread)

Spy

Squire

Stablehand

Stained-Glass Artist

Steward

Stoker

Stonemason

Storyteller

Stranger

Street Cleaner

Street Performer

Strongman/woman

Summoner (law officer)

Surgeon

Swashbuckler

Tailor

Tanner (leather)

Taxman/Tax Collector

Templar

Thane

Thatcher (thatched roofs)

Thief (burglar, pick-pocket, mugger)

Thug

Torturer

Town Crier (Hear ye! Hear ye!)

Toymaker

Tracker

Trader

Trapper (traps animals)

Traveler

Treasure Hunter

Trickster

Troubadour

Tutor

Undertaker

Vagabond

Vagrant

Valet (body servant)

Vestal

Veteran

Vicar

Viceroy (monarchy representative)

Viking

Viscount; Viscountess

Vizier

Wagoneer

Walker or Fuller

Wanderer

Ward

Warden

Warlock; Witch

Warlord

Warrior

Watchman

Weapons Instructor

Weaver; Webster (fabric, rugs, baskets)

Wheelwright (makes wheels)

Wisewoman/man

Witch Doctor

Witch Hunter

Wizard

Wood-carver

Wool-carder

Wrestler

Writer

Yeoman

Zealot

Zoologist

[antonio-teixeira]

The Dedicated Fisherman's Apprentice

[yzegem]

Sketch of common people from the Twisted Islands. Left to right: llama herder, guild apprentice, fisherman, guild militia man.

The archipellago is mostly made up of rocky atolls, coral reefs and small islands mostly inhabited by shrubs, migratory birds, seals and rodents. (Also llamas introduced by humans).

These poor ecosystems are not suited for large human population yet many people are attracted to the islands because of it's high portal activity (you can read about the magic system here, but I will later do another post about the "mages" of the islands). People from the islands come from many regions of the eastern seaway but mainly belong to the Iliryi seafaring etnithity, and most people speak their language and practice their religion centered around the sea and the portals.

For a long time the islands were not united but each ruled by a "monastic guild" wich investigated portals and lead rituals, divination and offers using them. Certain branches of the guilds opperated as beaurocrats, port tax collecters and managers, defence of the islands and barbers.

The importance of haircuts in the islands stems from their obsession with physical and spiritual cleanliness. People in the islands live in comunal spaces and often travelled between them, so they were very prone to epidemics. Most islands enforce quarantines, daily ritual bathing and frequent body inspections and shaving done by guild officials. This prevents lice from spreading but quickly became a sort of weekly census. Non guild people such as fishermen, divers, some sailors or shepperds shave their hair completely while guild members leave certain locks of hair wich they braid according to their guild branch and status within it.

After the unification of the islands, guilds were standardized into a single secretive entity. Their biggest secret is their use of portals for trade (wich requires years of training and deep knowledge of geometry) and their firearms. While people in the western continent are starting to use iron or bamboo handcannons and bronze mortars, the island's militia have precise matchlocks and powerful breech loading swivel cannons.

Most islands have rocky shores and only one suitable well defended port, so deploying large armies on the islands is basically imposible. These fortified atolls can hold a siege for years while reciving food and suplies from other islands vía portals and even keep making profits by trading.

For an object to be transported between to portals, the portal needs to be opened/primed on the two sides, so many small trading outpost have been set in foreign lands, sometimes willingly by local population and other times by force, wich creates tension with the twisted island's diasphora in other nations.

[stonesparrow]

I finally outlined the second half of my dcst MLP: FIM AU (wow so many letters) but then my brain decided instead of finishing it, STARDEW VALLEY TIME

Anyway. Stardew Valley AU featuring Taiju as the farmer, having spent the idyllic early half of his childhood on his (maternal) grandfather's farm playing with the neighborhood kids of Pelican Town before tragedy struck his family and he was taken in by his paternal grandparents in the city, subsequently losing touch with his friends. Now an adult who finds corporate life both soul-sucking and also just...not a place where he feels at all skilled, Taiju's trying out the farm life, hoping he can better provide for his grandparents that way (they've elected to stay in the city) and maybe find something he's actually good at.

Of course, farming isn't the only thing he'll be doing. The valley contains many mysteries, and Pelican Town is full of all sorts of interesting people, despite the struggles of the community against the relentless march of Jojacorp's progress. Taiju's in for an exciting adventure as he builds new friendships...and rekindles some old ones.

Character roles (WIP):

Kokuyo as the town Mayor, a stern but dutiful leader who lives with his two adult daughters: Ruri, the librarian and museum caretaker, and Kohaku, a respected member of the Adventurer's Guild who takes jobs protecting people when they go mining

Tetsuken as the resident carpenter, whose sons Kinro and Ginro often join him on jobs.

Byakuya and Lillian as the owners of the General Store, whose son Senku works in the store but also spends a lot of his time researching various things in the valley and conducting experiments (sort of like Demetrius and Maru). They also have a daughter, Rei, Senku's baby sister.

Luna as the town doctor, having officially taken over from the last one fairly recently.

François as the proprietor of the Stardrop Saloon, because duh.

Yuzuriha sort of takes Emily's role as a barmaid and fashion enthusiast, though with a bit of a different personality lol. She and Senku were Taiju's best friends in town before he moved away, and as adults the two (Senku and Yuzuriha) are still close.

Nikki as the owner of the Ranch, who secretly gives animals cutesy names all the time. She employs Tsukasa as a farmhand (ranch hand? ranchand? what), and he rents a part of her house where he lives with a non-comatose Mirai. The Shishios moved to Pelican Town in the hopes that the seaside air would be good for Mirai's illness. She's not well enough to go to school with the other kids, but she loves the beach and REALLY wants to see a mermaid.

Speaking of kids, Ukyo is the schoolteacher to the town's children, holding class in the library like Penny does for Jas and Vincent in SDV. Ruri helps him plan lessons and subs in for him when he can't make it.

Note: this version of Pelican Town is notably bigger with a population of about 150 people and not like, 30 the way it is in game. Ukyo's class is still tiny though.

Suika and Namari as the neighborhood scamps. They end up befriending Mirai as in canon, though they have to be careful of her illness when playing.

Kaseki as the blacksmith, with Chrome as his apprentice. Chrome spends quite a bit of time adventuring around the valley and knows a ton about the woods and the mines. Naturally, he's good friends with Senku and the two often chat about their investigations and discoveries. The two of them not-infrequently ask Kohaku to do security detail for them while they explore the mines.

Ryusui as an eccentric local fisherman and boat expert. He's sort of...on permanent vacation after his wealthy family decided he was too much trouble. Francois is still his butler, but the saloon is their evening gig. They can do that, it's fine.

Hyoga, Homura, and Magma as members of the Adventurer's Guild. They're kind of rivals to Kohaku, competing for the monster slaying jobs the guild gets. Hyoga and Magma in particular are vying for the position of Guild Leader, but everyone's pretty sure that the current Guild Leader is going to nominate Kohaku when they retire.

Yo as the manager of the local JojaMart. He's not very good at his job and seems to be under the impression that he's very important.

Minami as the bookseller (year round rather than twice a season like in game) who also runs a tiny self-published local newspaper called the Pelican Press. She is DYING for new material.

Gen as the wizard, formerly a wizard's apprentice. Taiju has vague memories of him as a weird kid who would on rare occasions play with Taiju and his friends, and then mysteriously vanish. Is most familiar with Chrome (who spends a lot of time in the forest).

Aaaand the last of my notes for characters is Amaryllis taking Sandy's role as a storekeeper in the desert and Chelsea taking Professor Snail's role on Ginger Island.

If people are curious, I'll post some story bullet points about this au later!

[whencyclopedia]

The Home of the Fish

The Home of the Fish is a Sumerian poetic monologue, most likely from the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE), in which the speaker tries to coax various fish into a newly built home. The meaning of the poem depends on whether the speaker is sincere in his or her invitation or has actually built a trap.

According to some interpretations (including that of scholar Jeremy Black), the speaker is a fisherman who has constructed an elaborate trap he then tries to entice the fish to enter. This interpretation casts all the praises of the speaker in a sinister light as they are only being used to lure the fish into the trap. Another interpretation, however, gives the speaker as Nanshe, the Sumerian goddess of social justice and divination, who also presided over water and aquatic life. The fish, in fact, was one of her symbols. If the speaker is Nanshe, she is sincere in her praise of the fish and her welcome to the home she has created for them.

Both interpretations cite the final line of the work – "Just you come to me! Nanshe, the queen of the fishermen, will be delighted with you" (C17) – in support. If the speaker is a fisherman, Nanshe would be invoked in her capacity as his patron goddess – who cared for those who caught fish as well as the fish themselves – and, if the speaker is Nanshe, it would not be unusual for the goddess to refer to herself in the third person as this is quite common in Sumerian poetry. The goddess Inanna, for example (Nanshe's sister), refers to herself in this same way in some works.

It is up to a reader to decide who is speaking and what their intentions are, but both interpretations, relying on the same words, can be equally valid. The work was part of the curriculum of the edubba ("House of Tablets"), the Sumerian scribal school and would have been used to help students memorize the names of different fish and their defining characteristics. The poem is among the more popular works of Mesopotamian literature today and seems to have also been in its time based on the number of fragments discovered, beginning in the 19th century, in the ruins of ancient cities throughout Iraq.

Commentary & Summary

The poem was most likely composed around the same time – c. 2000 BCE – as The Debate Between Bird and Fish, The Debate Between Sheep and Grain, and the other literary debates which were popular during the Ur III Period. Shulgi of Ur (r. 2029-1982 BCE) made literacy a priority in his kingdom and so established more scribal schools and commissioned more works for the curriculum. Scribes in ancient Mesopotamia learned their craft from a young age (possibly beginning at eight years old) through their early twenties, progressing from simple to more difficult compositions. The Home of the Fish would have most likely been included in the texts toward the end of a student's education when one was expected to be able to memorize and copy intricate works.

This probability is suggested by the names of the fish and their characteristics that appear throughout as scribes were expected to be well educated in all disciplines. Black writes:

Many different kinds are specified and are described in vivid and probably humorous terms. Mostly the varieties cannot be securely identified with modern species, so here their names are left in Sumerian. There is an intimate lexical relationship between the names of the fish enumerated here and those in the traditional list of fish, one among the many word lists which had been learnt for centuries by apprentice scribes in Mesopotamian schools. This strongly suggests that the composition had been adapted for school use by incorporating extra pedagogical material. (240)

The poem, if the speaker is understood as Nanshe, would have also underscored the goddess' care for the creatures of the waters of Mesopotamia as she has built them a new home where they will be safe from predators and could therefore be considered a song of praise. If the speaker is a fisherman, the work would still function as a praise song, as Nanshe would have inspired the fisherman to create his elaborate trap.

The poem begins with the speaker announcing a "new home" for the fish, and throughout Segment A, it is described as a place of safety to which all fish should come quickly. The house is described as a haven to which all are welcome – in keeping with Nanshe's role as a protectress of refugees and the homeless – and the fish are encouraged to bring all their friends and neighbors. Lines A45-67 reference Dumuzid and Acimbabbar Suen – a fertility/underworld god and the moon god, respectively – both having to do with transformation. The earlier lines (A25-33) encouraging the fish to enter quickly before the night comes, in some interpretations, may be referencing stability (the house) in the face of change (the water) – the concept of transformation from the world of mutability to that of unchanging eternity.

In Segments B and C, the speaker notes how, in this new home, the fish will be safe from birds who carry them off in their claws, and the work concludes with a call to hurry because "time is pressing" before ending with the ambiguous line, "Nanshe, the queen of fishermen, will be delighted with you", the pivotal line in interpreting who is speaking and what their intention might actually be.

Continue reading...

[sitp-recs]

Do you know fics where Draco fights for Harry? Doesnt have to be entire fic I just notice usually around the climax of the fic its Harry that makes the grant gesture to get his man; i want Harry to be fought for 😭😭

Hi anon! I definitely have some recs for that one, hope you enjoy these 😊

Like Gold by @the-sinking-ship (E, 4k)

Draco runs away from home on the back of his boyfriend’s motorbike.

Be Still by @writcraft (E, 5k)

Harry’s back in England and Draco tries to fix things before he disappears again.

(The Piece) I was Missing All Along by lauren3210 (E, 30k)

Draco and Harry have been flatmates and best friends for years, and Draco thinks life is just perfect that way. But when something comes along and threatens to take all that away, Draco has to decide what it is he really wants, and just how hard he's going to work to get it.

Make Me a Headline (I Want to Be That Bold) by dicta_contrion (E, 31k)

Draco never expected to see Harry doing that again. Especially with someone else, in a grainy photograph that's landed on his desk one Monday morning.

All Roads by @korlaena (M, 36k)

Draco hates his job at the Prophet. He hates it even more when he’s assigned to write an article on Harry Potter, who left the country three years ago after their falling out. Draco doesn’t want to face the truth about himself, but he’s stuck between Harry and his duty, and he’s out of options.

In The Red by @bixgirl1 (E, 45k)

When Harry goes looking for a vampire at a Creature club, the second-to-last thing Harry expects is to find Malfoy working there. The last thing he expects is to fall in love with him.

Nights With You by @the-sinking-ship (E, 58k)

Draco is mortified when moments prior to departing for the most anticipated destination wedding of the year, he is cruelly dumped. But when he learns that Harry Potter has, at long last, split with his horrible boyfriend, Draco is certain his luck has changed. Never a man to squander an opportunity for revenge (and what would probably be a spectacular shag), Draco vows to make Potter his for the weekend.

Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop (E, 70k)

It's Potter's fault, of course, that Draco finds himself trapped in the same twenty-four-hour period, repeating itself over and over again. It's been nearly a year since the unpleasant business at Hogwarts, and Draco's getting on with his life quite nicely, thank you, until Harry sodding Potter steps in and ruins it all, just like always.

Among Ancient Pines by @graymatters (M, 74k)

Every day, Draco Malfoy tries. With every fiber of his being he tries. But he doesn’t much think about what he’s trying for. In his final term of Healer training, Draco is unfortunate enough to find himself on a plane, the only means of traveling to a small, magical town in rural Alaska. Years of hard work have culminated in an opportunity to work with an experimental wandmaker to study the intersection of Healing and wand theory. When Draco arrives, he doesn't find the wandmaker, but does find his apprentice, who happens to have ridiculously messy hair, a lightning bolt scar, and a definitely-not-charming smile.

I Am Not Who I Became by mab_di (E, 93k)

Draco left England after the trials and has travelled the world meeting wizards and Muggles from different cultures and with vastly different relationships to magic, each other, and the natural world. Now he's a fisherman in Finland on commercial vessels. Harry has been struggling since the war and has become a recluse while trying to write his autobiography.

Dwelling on Dreams by @the-sinking-ship (E, 135k)

Draco thought he could avoid Potter for the duration of his brief return to England. He’d stick to his schedule and be back home in Paris, where he belonged, in a few short months. No trouble at all. He had plenty to occupy him, what with the opening of the London branch of his successful apothecary, his innovative research, drinks with Pansy, a backlog of unread potions periodicals.

[scotianostra]

On 17th September 1910 Andrew Blain Baird, working as a blacksmith in Rothesay, made the first flight by an entirely Scottish designed and built aeroplane.

Andrew Blain Baird was born in 1862 in Sandhead on Luce Bay in the Rhinns of Galloway, Scotland. One of three sons, his father was a fisherman and handloom weaver. He became an apprentice to a blacksmith in Sandhead, worked as a lighthouse keeper on Lismore, then as an ironworker at Smith and McLean’s on the Clyde shipyards before finally setting up on his own as a blacksmith at 113 High Street in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, when he was 25.

Baird was a daring thinker, a pioneer and innovator. He created many improvements to the plough, built a unique model of the triple expansion engine powered by electricity and was one of the original members of the Scottish Aeronautical Society.

Eager to expand his knowledge of aviation, Baird corresponded with the early aviators Louis Bleriot and S. F. Cody and exchanged information about construction of aircraft and their flight. Inspired by a visit to Blackpool for England’s first ever Aviation Week in October 1909, he returned to Rothesay ready to design and build his own sophistocated monoplane similar to Bleriot’s but with an engine built by the Alexander Brothers in Edinburgh that was 4-cylinder, air-cooled and with water-cooled valves. The control system he would design for his aircraft would be unlike anything that had been developed at the time. His wife sewed brown trussore silk for the wings.

The Baird monoplane, once completed in his own shop in the summer of 1910, went on show at an exhibition in the Esplanade Flower Garden at the front of Bute. and then to the amazement and excitement of all it was moved to the Bute Highland Games on 20 August 1910.

From there it was taken for storage and readying directly to a barn owned by Willie Dickie at his farm at Cranlasgvourity, Bute.

Scottish aviation history was about to be made when in the very early morning of 17 September 1910, the Baird Monoplane was taken by a Mr Scott on his horse-drawn wagon to Ettrick Bay - with its wide expanse of sand reminiscent of the Kitty Hawk N.C. site chosen by the Wright Brothers for their historic flight.

In the sunshine and amid the wide golden sands of Ettrick Bay the first entirely Scottish designed and built plane sat ready to make history.

Andrew Baird was, on that day, assisted by his friend Ned Striven who was an Electrical Engineer with the Burgh of Rothesay and who had assisted him with the engine and related design considerations.

There on the wide expanse of Ettrick Bay beach, Baird and Ned Striven started the engine. All was ready. Hearts raced with anticipation. A small crowd looked on in amazement. And the flight into history began.

Flight Magazine on 24 September 1910,[1] described it as follows:

“Mr Baird was seated in the machine and on the engine being started the plane travelled along the sands at good speed. Naturally, on clearing the ground, the swerving influence of the axle ceased and the influence of the steering wheel brought the machine sharply round to the right causing it to swoop to the ground. The contact was so sharp that the right wheel buckled and the right plane suffered some abrasion by scraping along the beach.”

Andrew Blain Baird had realised his dream - he had flown in an aircraft of his own design and construction.

His was the first entirely Scottish flight of a heavier than air powered craft.

Noted pioneer aircraft manufacturer Tommy Sopwith sailed his yacht into Rothesay Bay in 1910 to visit the Marquess and to attend the Highland Games and there viewed the on display Baird monoplane. Very impressed, he was given permission to incorporate some of Baird’s innovations into the aircraft he was designing and which would have such a great impact on the course of World War I. Over the years, many others from around the world involved in aviation consulted Andrew Baird and learned from his pioneering experience and innovative mind.

[jonnyparable]

Meeting the Dragon Islanders Part V

Kai, Oris and the Ikanos

North of the main town is a smaller island where a fishing village is, along with the very old Dragon Temple. Also here are several locals, including Kai Suntayono and Oris Jawa.

Oris lives in his old family home along the beach and Kai lives in a boat, docked at Oris' jetty. The two are long time friends, and complement reach other perfectly.

Kai dreams of saving up enough to travel the world in his boat, but for now he's employed at Lou's Kitchen as an apprentice cook, learning the ropes from her, and hoping to one day open his own restaurant abroad. Kai is happy go lucky and pretty laid back, often lacking the drive to achieve his dreams, preferring to just coast by on his talents and looks. His mother was the lead archaeologist who discovered the Pranajaya ruins but disappeared years ago.

He had always thought one day she'd come back or that he might meet her on his travels, and perhaps he's procrastinating on leaving because she might return, or maybe he knows wherever he goes, he won't be able to escape the truth that she's really gone. In the meantime, he masks this pain with a cavalier attitude, busying himself with cooking for others and putting their needs first.

Oris meanwhile, is stoic and serious to a fault. And serves as the town's main handyman and blacksmith and carpenter all in one. Crafts that he learned from his father, and his father before him. Oris is blunt, straightforward but generally kind, and has a strong sense of justice

Oris' perfectionist nature often means that while everything he makes is of astounding quality, he's also often burnt out and his works take a long time and a lot of his energy. Being friends with Kai does help him to have some perspective, although Oris doesn't approve of Kai's inability to be true to himself, and often chides him for his waffling around in life.

Pak Ayu and Adin Ikano

Pak Ayu Ikano and his son, Adin Ikano live on a tiny boat on the small atoll further out from the village. Pak Ayu has been a fisherman here all his life, and is today the undisputed master fisherman in these parts. Every Sunday he heads to town to sell his catch, and to catch up on gossip.

He worked hard to put his son, Adin in school, where he excelled, especially in literature. Adin went on to Port Empress to pursue a career in journalism but has since returned under mysterious circumstances, to live with his father on his boat.

While the two love each other, each has a hard time understanding the other and their relationship is strained. Pak Ayu is illiterate himself, and was always proud of Adin, and is concerned why his son would return suddenly without a word, and seems distressed. He pries in his own coarse and clumsy way but the defensive Adin and him often start arguing.

Adin himself is normally quiet, reserved and shy, and has always loved reading and writing. He is grateful his father did so much to further his studies, and feels like an absolute failure for returning empty handed, finding it hard to face his father and now to be jobless and still living in their little boat.

Why exactly he returned he refuses to open up about so no one knows what happened. Can the aging Pak Ayu find a way to reach out to his son, or will their relationship fray to the point they can no longer reconcile?