#Gate of the Sultan

[emaadsidiki]

Dolmabahce Palace

[astarionsknife]

Femme Astarion in one of Hurrem's dresses (can't tell me Astarion wouldn't love Hurrem btw)

[ashinreverse]

WIP (I have no idea how to draw men)

[postcard-from-the-past]

Gate of the Sultan's Palace in Rabat, Morocco

French vintage postcard

[ukdamo]

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: the gate of the Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul.

[religious-extremist]

The Hundred Thousand Martyrs of Tbilisi

In 1227 Sultan Jalal al-Din of Khwarazm and his army of Turkmen attacked Georgia. On the first day of the battle the Georgian army valorously warded off the invaders as they were approaching Tbilisi. That night, however, a group of Persians who were living in Tbilisi secretly opened the gates and summoned the enemy army into the city.

According to one manuscript in which this most terrible day in Georgian history was described: “Words are powerless to convey the destruction that the enemy wrought: tearing infants from their mothers’ breasts, they beat their heads against the bridge, watching as their eyes dropped from their skulls.…”

A river of blood flowed through the city. The Turkmen castrated young children, raped women, and stabbed mothers to death over their children’s lifeless bodies. The whole city shuddered at the sound of wailing and lamentation. The river and streets of the city were filled with death.

The sultan ordered that the cupola of Sioni Cathedral be taken down and replaced by his vile throne. And at his command the icons of the Theotokos and our Savior were carried out of Sioni Cathedral and placed at the center of the bridge across the Mtkvari River. The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded.

One hundred thousand Georgians sacrificed their lives to venerate the holy icons. One hundred thousand severed heads and headless bodies were carried by the bloody current down the Mtkvari River.

O ye thousands of stars, the chosen people guarding the Georgian Church with your golden wings, intercede for us always before the face of God!

[curtwilde]

The oldest Sufi shrine in Delhi has been demolished.

"The earliest Sufi Shrine in Delhi - belonging to a relative of Prithviraj Chauhan and dating from BEFORE the Turkish conquest - has been Demolished by the Delhi Development Authority in an "anti encroachment" drive.

In the late 12th century, a group of Afghan pastoralists, suddenly burst onto the world stage. In a matter of years, they toppled their rulers of Ghazni and seized major Persian cities like Herat, and then established the major Indian sultanate in Delhi.

We often think of this "Islamic invasion" as the start of the Muslim presence in India. Yet recent scholarship has shown that by the time of Ghori's conquest of Delhi, Muslims were already a central part of Indian society

Some of the earliest mosques are found in Kerala, dating from a few decades after the prophet Muhammad's death. Tamil Pallava, Chola and Pandya kings all built sizeable mosques

Delhi also had a single sufi shrine before the Afghan conquest - this one.

Until 31 January, when it was demolished, the shrine of Baba Haji Rozbih had been located by the Fateh Burj, or Victory Gate of Lal Kot. The grave next to it under a reddish Chador belongs to his female disciple Bibi. Bibi was said to be a close relative of Prithviraj Chauhan who embraced Islam under the aegis of Haji Rozbih.

This demolition is an UTTERLY MINDLESS LOSS and complete cultural desecration.

What's more the "anti encroachment" drive is apparently scheduled to include the Aashiq Allah Dargah dated to 1317AD which is where the great Punjabi Saint Baba Farid used to meditate, and his small 'chillagah' is still visible here.

Please do share and write about this so we can save what remains! "

- from the historian Sam Dalrymple .

...

This is the third Islamic structure to be demolished in Delhi this month. Isn't it funny how only certain structures are the victim of anti- encroachment drives? This is part of a planned programme by the current right-wing government of India that is violently islamophobic and wants to create a hindu ethnostate modeled after Israel.

[annabelle--cane]

she door on my motif till i

she door on my motif til the walls begin to tear not the walls of the train but those of a false and hollow reality twisting in its thrall to yog sothoth the key and the gate through whose cascading rainbow being the train has passed yog sothoth who is the bifrost whose dread invocation has been shattered and who guides them now towards the roiling nuclear chaos of the mad demon sultan at the center of reality

[loving-n0t-heyting]

Caves of qud, which clearly takes heavy and unabashed inspiration from classic d20 ttrpg systems, feels like a helpful illustration to me of the perils ppl describe in turning D&D into a universal roleplay platform. Coq deeply wants to be a dungeoncrawl game; the dungeoncrawls (red rock, rust wells, rusted archway, grit gate plus its lower levels, bethesda susa, the tomb, lairs, sultan sites, possibly chavvah but maybe the aesthetics are just prejudicing me) are consistently the most fun, engaging, rewarding moments in any run, and the other elements of the game are, when done well, naturally thought of as preparations and context for the dungeoncrawls

But the devs clearly want it to be more than that. Hence the shoehorning in of a grab bag other quest genres: whodunnit mixed with village politics (bey lah), multilateral negotiation (omonporch), set piece battle (acta), the perilous journey (mamon and klanq), dungeon as obstacle course (golgotha), crafting (the golem). And these dabblings are just, consistently, a real drag, even when the flavour is cool (the amaranthine prism, the rainbow wood, etc) bc theyre cutting against the grain of the mechanics and produce smth either tediously artificial or actively painful. The whole experience would be better if it could just admit to itself where its strengths lie and cut its losses, at least as far as the main quest requires

[emaadsidiki]

Gate of The Sultan on The Dolmabahce Avenue

[taviamoth]

🚨 Ministry of Health in Gaza:

—

11 citizens were martyred and about 50 others were injured, including children, as a result of the targeting by "israeli" occupation forces of tents housing displaced persons and a gathering of citizens next to the gate of the Emirati Maternity Hospital in Tel Al-Sultan in Rafah.

Among the martyrs is the medic Abdul Fattah Abu Mer'i, who was on duty inside the Emirati Hospital.

[tma-entity-song-poll]

The most Spiral coded song is...

Red Signal, by The Mechanisms!

Folks, we have our fist mechanisms sweep! Let's see if another artist can't push them off their throne in the next category:

The Corruption.

Lyrics and full tournament chart below the line.

Red Signal:

Y'AI 'NG'NGAH, YOG-SOTHOTH H'EE-L'GEB F'AI THRODOG UAAAH OGTHROD AI'F GEB'L-EE'H YOG-SOTHOTH 'NGAH'NG AI'Y ZHRO

[Another minute of chanting]

And the walls begin to tear. Not the walls of the train, but those of a false and hollow reality, twisting in its thrall to Yog Sothoth, the key and the gate through whose cascading rainbow being the train has passed. Yog Sothoth who is the Bifrost, and whose dread invocation now shattered, drags them towards the roiling nuclear chaos of the mad deamon sultan at the centre of reality. A billion screaming squamous things approach, oozing and crawling through the shattered tatters of a sane world. All the doors are open now.​

[mc-critical]

It's fascinating how Süleiman's relation to Selim Yavuz evolves throughout the show not just in terms to how similar to him he eventually gets, but also in terms of who notices and calls out a similarity.

We first have the one-trick pony Çafer Ağa, the traitor SS executed for taking advantage of the people in E01, who notes the similar gaze SS has with his father a while before. Çafer is established for that execution alone, so he has no ties to any of our main characters in or around the harem and comes out as distant even from the pashas in the divan, doing his own thing, the traitorous thing we're supposed to condemn, right out of the gate. He gets to appear only to be gone in a blip, we merely pass him by without regard, as we should, as his little plot is not really about him - it's about Süleiman and his first bigger action as a padişah, his first order that impacts the lives of his subjects outside of his family and the harem. It's about him setting a grave injustice right immediately (paralleled with Mustafa's first decision as the governor of Manisa that entails executing Bekir Ağa as well), thus discerning him from Selim Yavuz instead through that decision, through the one who thinks they're somehow similar's own rejection, and the voices of the very subjects SS helped with that decision, claiming that he's different from his father that overwhelm that one foretelling sign of similarity (for now). SS's earlier monologue, pointing at his fear of becoming his father, is also part of this only within the context of E01, as it highlights that SS is still somewhat self-aware enough to at least fear as well as it highlights the very likely possibility even here for SS to become Selim Yavuz.

And then we encounter Beyhan, the wife of another traitor executed for some of the same reasons (Ferhat's traitorous deeds start out similar to Çafer Ağa's with him getting all the money for himself from the people and merchants but then he reaches the wider unrest Ahmet Pasha causes in a whole terrain he's given from the sultan/grand vezier in order for his ambitions to be controlled, if not extinguished, and his loyalty tested), who calls out a similarity of SS's to his father after the execution. She is first established in relation to him, but is now also tied to our main characters; she rarely appears, living her own life out of sight, but the other characters value her and care about her. Ferhat Pasha's execution is most of all about her - we get in touch with her life and inner world as they hang in the balance, so we get invested in the tragic end of her struggle to exonerate Ferhat. That execution is just as well, but her hurt is palpable and poignant, so there's no turning back from its impact. The path is opened for SS's similarity with Selim Yavuz to creep in by the way Beyhan's claim of a similarity is echoed by the rest of the episode: not just by SS's reflection afterwards that's pointedly an E01 callback (that SS can't look away from anymore, no matter how hard he'll try: this indeed is the first decision that'll put him against his family. Süleiman sets a grave injustice right again but this isn't met with everpresent approval), but also by Süleiman acknowledging the similarity himself in his confrontation with Valide about Ferhat in the episode: "If I disregard the laws of the Empire that have been enforced for centuries, my great ancestor Sultan Mehmet Khan and my deceased father, Sultan Selim Khan, will turn in their graves". Before SS wanted to escape from Selim Yavuz entirely, now he wishes to proceed as he himself would, at least this once. The seeds are fully planted.

We move to Ayşe Hafsa, the wife of Yavuz Selim himself, the mother of his children, of Süleiman who has that whole burden on his shoulders, of Beyhan who already has called back the trauma from Selim Yavuz, of Hatice who will call it back in the future (and is next in line), and the person related to everyone entangled in this whole ordeal, so she is put in the position of the middle ground and she succeeds at it, at least until she sees for herself on which way her son is heading. She's a main character we've known from the start, prominent and fully fleshed out with her virtues and vices; her opinion on Selim Yavuz is a new angle we see of her that still complements her, however - she knows Selim Yavuz the best, so she has lived through the full extent of his cruelty and we can absolutely take her words into account. The fact that namely she notices a similarity between SS and Yavuz Selim because of it becomes all the more concerning as that similarity threatens to not only be a one and done deal done out of unambiguous necessity, but to unremittingly extend to an even bigger part of his family, to his own son; a more direct parallel is drawn here, Hafsa has to stand against SS and try to cut that similarity off before something worse happens. After Hafsa does just that in E29 (it kind of parallels their E21 confortation too), Süleiman acts even more unfazed in front of his mother, talking about what he needs to do in terms of his ruling overall and after the confrontation, he directly gets a flashback to his E01 monologue. He's gotten reminders of his fear more than ever in this season so far (the battle for Mohacs, as well as here), so it's almost like the similarity to Selim Yavuz can't help but become more prevalent to SS himself. He wants to escape from it as much as he embraces it more widely. The seeds grow.

We jump to Hatice, the wife of a traitor who calls out a similarity of SS to his father after the execution as well, but what's more, she's not just a main character we've known from the start: she's become SS's closest sister after the death of their mother, his closest figure he leans on; they get to lean on each other. It's namely that closeness, as well as everything we learn about her in every single episode that forms quite a deep and multifaceted character, which ties her not to Selim Yavuz, but to what she's experienced in that period of his reign, the most out of Selim Yavuz's family. These experiences appear to inform her actions right from the very first episodes (before any of Hafsa's reveals that turn out to have retroactively informed her actions), and continue informing her even at this point, as now she's the only character left that is this informed by Selim Yavuz, so she's the only one around Süleiman who can hurt him as hard and give him a hint of his fear now (Beyhan already has and is already done, while Şah never would). Ibrahim's execution is far more nuanced than Ferhat Pasha's both in terms of reasons and in terms of reach: it impacts both Hatice and SS and the rest of their dynamic will be dominated by it as well; it will haunt Süleiman himself until his very last days. And yet when Hatice calls out the similarity to Selim Yavuz, SS doesn't ponder on it after the scene: he waves it away at first glance, but he's already deep within. And he goes deeper and deeper, up until he himself fully faces his father as his Azrael, episodes before the furthest reaching, most unjust execution out of all of the aformentioned executions comes to pass.

The more distant the person who calls out the similarity is to the sultan, the less similar he is to Selim Yavuz at this point. The closer that person who calls out the similarity is to the sultan, the more similar he becomes to Selim Yavuz. When unveiling more similarity, we go from execution to execution (apparently the biggest possible stample of cruelty, what could better recall such a seemingly infamously cruel figure?): from the executed, to the people related to the execution and the one who ordered it, to the executioner himself, all interrelated in many ways. We get more personal investment in Selim Yavuz himself and the characters who name him and all of that is added to the grander stakes and Selim Yavuz's haunting of the narrative's share in them.

[starbound-jupiter]

so i have a neurological disorder called fnd which essentially just fucks with my nervous system for yk,, shits and giggles and anyways the other day i was listening to the bifrost incident minding my own business and my brain was like “now’s a great time to have a seizure!! :D” and let me just paint you a picture real quick

so you just woke up from a seizure, you’re disoriented as all hell and trying to figure what happened while you had your silly little floor dance, your limbs are locked and you can’t really move properly when suddenly

Y'AI 'NG'NGAH, YOG-SOTHOTH H'EE-L'GEB F'AI THRODOG UAAAH

OGTHROD AI'F GEB'L-EE'H YOG-SOTHOTH 'NGAH'NG AI'Y ZHRO

AND THE WALLS BEGIN TO TEAR, NOT THE WALLS IF THE TRAIN BUT THOSE OF A FALSE AND HOLLOW REALITY

TWISTING IT ITS THRALL TO YOG SOTHOTH THE KEY AND THE GATE THROUGH WHOSE CASCADING RAINBOW BEING THE TRAIN HAS PASSED

YOG SOTHOTH WHO IS THE BIFROST AND WHOSE DREADED INVOCATION IS NOW SHATTERED,

DRAGS THEM TOWARDS THE ROLLING CHAOS OF THE MAD DEAMON SULTAN AT THE CENTER OF REALITY

A BILLION SCREAMING SQUAMOUS THINGS APPROACH, OOZING AND CRAWLING THROUGH THE SHATTERED TATTERS OF A SANE WORLD

ALL THE DOORS ARE OPEN NOW

so yeah chronic illness things ig

[opencommunion]

"The Gaza Strip’s collapsing health system is under further strain after the Israeli army intensified bombing in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan area and other parts of the enclave, a day after an attack on a camp in Rafah killed 45 Palestinians.

The Indonesian Field Hospital is the latest medical facility in Rafah to be hit with the attack on Monday causing damage to the hospital’s upper floors. Medical staff and patients are reportedly trapped inside the facility, where many Palestinian families are also taking shelter.

Earlier on Monday, Rafah’s Kuwait Speciality Hospital was forced to shut down after an Israeli attack just outside the gates of the hospital killed two of its medical staff.

Witnesses said the victims were hit by fire from an Israeli aircraft. The hospital was treating most of the 249 wounded in Israel’s attack on Sunday night on a camp for displaced people.

The director of the hospital, Dr Suhaib al-Hams, said the facility was put out of service over 'Israeli occupation forces’ expansion of their military operation in Rafah and their repeated and deliberate attacks on the hospital and its vicinity.'

Dr Mohammed Tahir, an orthopaedic surgeon who volunteered to work in Rafah’s European Gaza Hospital, told Al Jazeera the closure of Kuwait Specialty Hospital puts the people in Rafah in severe danger. 'What we’re experiencing here is a multipronged attack unfortunately where not only are the people being attacked directly, they are also being blocked from receiving critical medical services,' Tahir said. 'The Kuwaiti Hospital was evacuated – that is the main hospital – and they are moving to al-Mawasi, where they have a field hospital, which is not quite ready. And in the meantime, quadcopters … are restricting the movements of ambulances, so those who are injured cannot even receive help,' he added.

In central Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians receiving care at Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital are also believed to be in imminent danger as the facility is on the verge of shutdown due to Israeli forces blocking its fuel supply.

Israeli forces have damaged, destroyed or occupied 24 hospitals in the Strip since October 7, leaving only six partially functioning facilities out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals. Israel has been blocking lifesaving supplies reaching health facilities across the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war." 28 May 24

[untilteddocument]

After-Action Archive Caves of Qud - The Recoming

Welcome again, one and all, to the After-Action Archive! Last time left o

This is Part Five of my journey through the Tomb of the Eaters. There is little left. There is everything left. With that in mind, it's time to go back home.

But y'know what? Before that...

Listen, there's no other opportunity for this, and man, this song hits. I think it's the perfect friendly rival battle song. It feels warm and grand, and when the solo starts and you can feel the sense of guitars dueling, but in a way that they're pushing each other higher. In a way, it also fits here, because it feels like coming home.

And it sure would be nice to feel that right now.

My steps are halting as I make my way forward, eyes darting back and forth as I try to take in a sight that few people (only the sultans? Is that how it works?) have seen and none, to my knowledge, have brought back to the living. The sound of grass rustling beneath my feet, the give of soil...it feels even more uncanny to have something so familiar in this place.

My throat is dry.

I feel like I would never need to drink again.

I feel dead.

I feel immortal.

I start at the figure's words and furrow my brow at their dialect. I know what they mean, but I don't mean to cross, if I can help it. Moreover, I mean to learn. So I ask.

Seraph...atop Gjaus...the Spindle! I wonder. If that is the source of the signal, then...

I put the thoughts aside for now. That's far too weighty in this moment, and I imagine Barathrum would be of more help in puzzling it out. Instead, on to more immediate questions.

I ponder that. Like Herododicus...

Resheph isn't dead?

And..."cross into new life"? I ponder the potential meanings.

What if they mean "be reborn in the Thick World?"

...What if they mean "Brightsheol is a realm in which one lives again?"

I find myself...curious. I'm more of a tinker than an explorer, but...an entire new world. Perhaps I could even have a conversation with Ereshkigal, report my findings to the Barathrumites through her. That might even fill a book, maybe more! The amount of knowledge plumbing the depths of an entirely new plane of existence...

But I'm getting lost in the future. There is one question I need to ask before making a decision.

I wait as Shomer analyzes the signal, fidgeting and looking around at the trees.

I take a breath that doesn't seem to matter in this place as I revisit my earlier quandary. What lies before me is potential. What wonders might Brightsheol contain that I could share with others? If it is an afterlife for sultans, is it a paradise?

...Would my consciousness change?

What if I spend eternity - or however long until I find my way back to the Thick World - in some sort of blissful stupor? That would render my scientific ambitions pointless. What if Ereshkigal is unable to enter? What if she's under a vow to not share anything about it? That would be another point of failure.

What if it just sucks in there? What if it's just more trees and grass but everything's lit up in blue all the time like it is here? The very nature of Brightsheol would be fascinating, but that...would be an ill-spent eternity.

And by contrast...

The signal at the top of the Spindle is a known unknown. There is, by Shomer's own description, a seraph up there, dreaming our world into existence, and it is asking for us to meet it. That by itself is already momentous, and we know that it can be little else, regardless. Brightsheol, by contrast, is in all likelihood content to wait.

And then there's the matter of defense.

Whatever arrangements we make, the Putus Templar are likely to find out about it, and given their attack on Grit Gate, they're going to respond with force. While my people would likely be sufficient themselves, I want to be there as well. To gallivant off to Brightsheol while the Barathrumites fight for their dream would be...irresponsible.

Even beyond that, there is the Girsh.

What will they do in the future? How would I know if I'm in Brightsheol? My skills may be needed. I may be needed.

What do I think?

It's hardly a thought at all.

My consciousness fades.

Eternity is an eyeblink.

(I have no eyes to close)

An eyeblink is oblivion.

Oblivion persists.

(tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow)

Oblivion is eternity.

Eternity is a clenched fist.

(I have no fingers to curl)

A fist never completes.

Oblivion persists.

(I do not go mad yet)

Oblivion is eternity.

Eternity is a held breath.

(I have no lungs to fill)

A breath is not.

Oblivion persists.

(do I have a name to forget)

Oblivion is eternity.

Eternity is a scream.

(I have no mouth)

A scream is nothing in nothing.

Oblivion...

(what do I know)

...

(what do I see)

...

(starting starting starting)

...

(now is now is now is now is now)

...yields.

I reach outside.

It is dawn.

I am naked as I come fully out of the recoming nook, and I am grateful that this place is enclosed.

I am even more grateful that the reliquary next to the nook has the entirety of my equipment and inventory, but before that...

I take in a deep breath as my body remembers what light feels like. My attempt to fight off tears is more successful due to me being utterly dehydrated, something remedied by taking a sip from a vessel next to the nook. At last shouldering on my clothes, my armor, and everything I carried with me to the end and back, I step outside, back in Qud.

Back in Lake Hinnom, too, apparently! A look at my map confirms it. Well, since I have all my stuff, a quick button press later, and the thrum of the recoiler takes me back to my companions.

Their pleased shock seeing me is palpable, and I collapse into their arms, tears finally able to fall as the tension fully breaks. They do not tell me how long they've been waiting, and I do not ask. There are more important things to do.

Preparations to make.