#Holy Land Mammals

[greenwitchcrafts]

January 2024 Witch guide

Full Moon: January 25th

New moon: January 11th

Sabbats: None

January Wolf Moon

Known as: Bear Moon, Chaste Moon, Cold Moon, Disting Moon, Goose Moon, Moon of Little Winter,  Moon of Strong Cold, Quiet Moon, Snow Moon, Stay at Home Moon, Sun Has Not Strength to Thaw Moon & When Snow Blows Like Spirits In The Wind Moon

Element: Air

Zodiac: Capricorn & Aquarius

Nature spirits: Brownies & Gnomes

Deities: Freya, Hera, Innana & Saraswati

Animals: Coyote & fox

Birds: Blue Jay & pheasant

Trees: Birch & Hazel

Herbs: Cones, holy thistle &marjoram

Flowers: Crocus & Snowdrop

Scents: Mimosa & musk

Stones: Chrysoprase, garnet, hematite, moonstone, onyx & jet

Colors: Black, blue-violet, grey, silver & white

Energy: Adventurous, ambitious, awareness, beauty, beginning & conceiving; business, career, conserving energy, energy below the surface, organization, political matters, potential, protection, recognition, reputation, reversing spells & spirituality

The name for the January full Moon is believed to have originated from Celtic and Old English roots, which European settlers then brought to the New World.

At one point, gray wolves were among the most widespread land mammals on our planet. According to the Wolf Conversation Center, gray wolves “inhabited most of the available land in the Northern Hemisphere.” Habitat destruction and persecution by humans have reduced their range by about a third worldwide and 90 percent in the lower 48 states.

The wolf’s adaptable nature to survive in a wide range of habitats and ability to prey on the largest mammals living in those regions made it widespread. Basically, if there are enough deer, moose, elk, caribou, bison, and musk ox, wolves can survive. Predation of domestic animals caused friction with European settlers and early Americans who aggressively hunted the wolves.

Werewolf myths can be found in ancient Greek and Roman societies, throughout European history and among some Native American tribes. In modern storytelling the transformation from man to wolf has been closely tied to the full Moon in films like “The Wolf Man” and “American Werewolf In London.”

Howl at the Moon means to waste energy pursuing something unattainable. It’s shorthand for doing something crazy. However, howling is hardly a waste of energy among wolf packs. And they aren’t howling at the Moon. The Moon just happens to be shining during times when wolves most often howl.

A wolf’s howl can be heard miles away. The vocalization helps wolves locate separated members and even communicate between packs marking their territories. One study recorded spontaneous howls and responses happen most often between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The cry of wolves doesn’t play into the Sioux name for the January full Moon, which is known as “The Time When Wolves Run Together.” Wolves do plenty of running to defend territory that can stretch hundreds of square miles to find enough prey to support the pack.

Other Celebrations

• Hogmanay | January 1st: is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) and, in some cases, 2 January—a Scottish bank holiday. In a few contexts, the word Hogmanay is used more loosely to describe the entire period consisting of the last few days of the old year and the first few days of the new year. For instance, not all events held under the banner of Edinburgh's Hogmanay take place on 31 December.

The origins of Hogmanay are unclear, but it may be derived from Norse and Gaelic observances of the winter solstice. Customs vary throughout Scotland and usually include gift-giving and visiting the homes of friends and neighbours, with particular attention given to the first-foot, the first guest of the new year.

• Compitalia/ Feast of Lades | January 3-5: was an annual festival in honor of the Lares Compitales, household deities of the crossroads, to whom sacrifices were offered at the places where two or more ways met.

Dionysius said that Servius Tullius founded the festival, which he describes as it was celebrated in his time. Dionysius relates that the sacrifices consisted of honey-cakes (Ancient Greek: πέλανοι) presented by the inhabitants of each house; and that the people who assisted as ministering servants at the festival were not free men, but slaves, because the Lares took pleasure in the service of slaves. He further adds that the Compitalia were celebrated a few days after the Saturnalia with great splendor, and that the slaves on this occasion had full liberty to do as they pleased.

During the celebration of the festival, each family placed the statue of the underworld goddess Mania at the door of their house. They also hung up at their doors figures of wool representing men and women, accompanying them with humble requests that the Lares and Mania would be contented with those figures, and spare the people of the house

Sources:

Farmersalmanac.com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Llewellyn's 2023 magical almanac: practical magic for everyday living

Wikipedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

[thealienfantasy]

Alien Fantasy-File 10: Water under the Ice

"Look at them, just standing there on the edge," Kirah whispered, their horns curling inward. The group of natives pressed their bodies against the frozen mass, their fur rippling in the arctic wind.

"Did you see what they did to that fish?" Rovak shuddered, horns twisting in disgust. "They held it over that fire until it turned brown!”

“i’ve seen a couple of them eat it without doing that. I wonder if that one had a grudge against the White-Finned-Barona.” Azu wondered. A particularly loud burst of human voices carried across the water. Several of the furry-coated creatures were gesturing toward their position.

"Why don't they just walk over?" Kirah wondered aloud, their horns swaying in confusion.

"Their bodies and vessels seem too massive for these ice sheets. See how they keep clustering on the thicker areas?" Azu pointed out.

"Maybe they're afraid of getting wet?" suggested Rovak. "Have we ever seen one enter the water?"

"Perhaps they're like one of our land-dwelling predators. Useless in water, despite living so close to it." Another member speculated.

"But they catch and eat prey, just like us. I saw a few of them north earlier using one of their vessels in our water.” Kirah mentioned.

"Speaking of strange, They're getting rather vocal." One pointed out. Sure enough, The human voices had gotten loud enough to begin echoing across the ice field.

"Are they fighting?" Kirah asked, pressing closer to the ice.

“Holy Blue, they move their limbs a lot…” Rovak said.

"What are they—" Azu’s question cut short as the human in the middle began removing his outer layer.

"By the frozen depths!" Rovak leaned back, their horns twisting in shock. "They're….”

“My, they’re a lot more thin without all that fur…” one of them remarked. The human stood there, nearly bare except for a small piece of bright fabric around his waist. Unlike his companions who hunched and shivered against the bitter cold in-spite of all that fur, he stood straight and seemingly unbothered.

"How is he not freezing to death? With a body like that, Their species shouldn't be able to—"

Before they could finish, the human moved with startling speed, diving through a hole in the ice. The group watched in shock as his shadow became barely visible beneath the transparent sheet of ice, using his limbs to slowly propel himself forward.

"Impossible, surely they’re not built for this. Look at their form - no fins, no blubber layer, no..."

Azu watched the human's struggling movement, her horns twisting with a mix of fascination and concern. Without warning, she launched herself forward, her massive body crashing through the ice. The freezing water embraced her as she propelled herself toward the human with powerful sways of her tail.

The human's eyes widened as she approached, his pupils dilating in what seemed to be surprise. Up close, the similarities between their species became more apparent - they were indeed both mammals, but the human lacked the essential adaptations for ice cold aquatic life. No protective fur, no specialized breathing apparatus, his body structure certainly didn’t seem made for it.

Curiosity overwhelming her, Azu wrapped her tail around his leg, wanting to examine this creature more closely. The human reacted instantly, thrashing away from her grip and swimming in the opposite direction.

"Wait-“ she clicked in her native language. She watched as the human's movements becoming more frantic as he searched for his entry point. His hands pounded against the ice above, each strike growing weaker than the last.

Azu's horns shook violently as she realized the human's predicament - he was running out of air. Seems human lungs had less endurance under water than her own. she surged forward, her powerful tail smashing through the ice above him.

Grabbing the human's surprisingly fragile body, she lifted him through the opening. He immediately began expelling water from his lungs, his body convulsing with violent coughs. Azu used her tail to create a path through the ice, guiding him back toward his group. The other humans rushed forward, their boots crunching on the broken ice as they pulled their companion from the water.

Azu found herself mere meters from them now, able to study their features in detail. Now that she was looking more closely at them. The excessive movements didn’t just end at their limbs. How many facial muscles did they have?

They turned to her, producing sounds that must have been words in their language. One gestured repeatedly with their hands, perhaps trying to communicate something important. Azu pulled herself partially onto the ice, trying to decipher what they were trying to say.

A few of them ran back towards the tents in the distance. They seemed to be calling for someone.

"Azu!"

Azu's looked back, her group was calling her back. Urging her to move away from whatever was about to ensue. Her horns drooped slightly in disappointment. She looked at the humans and performed a few twist of her horns combined with a click before sliding back into the ice cold water. As she swam back to her group, she could still hear the humans' voices above, Was it panic? Anger?

She returned to her group, all of them helping her up. They looked back at the group, one of them was carrying a sheet of fur. A bit different from the ones they were wearing as this one seemed to be an entire square.

"Holy blue, he actually survived down there? Without any biological adaptations! How is that possible?"

“Why would he go in the water if he clearly can’t swim in it that well or break through the ice?”

Azu watched. Wondering the same thing. It was clear by the way they were observing them and now this that they wanted to contact her and her group. But to go this far?

Though she couldn’t deny her curiosity had spiked after this display. Should she approach them and try to talk?

…Or maybe he’ll try and swim towards them again?

————————————————————-——————————————————

"KAI, YOU MORON! WHAT THE FUCK WHERE YOU THINKING?!" Willow’s voice echoed across the ice, making several nearby researchers wince.

Kai sat on a portable thermal chair, wrapped in emergency heat blankets while the do tor ran a medical scanner over his shivering form.

"People do it all the time back home, There's literally thousands of videos of people swimming in the Arctic. It's not that big a deal." Kai muttered through chattering teeth.

"Those are trained athletes and cold-water specialists, you absolute jackass! Not some hotshot who thinks he's invincible!" Willow paced back and forth, her boots crunching in the snow.

"To be fair, Cap, this is the same guy who keeps his shower temperature at 'hypothermia' even during winter rotation."

"Not helping, Kowalski!" Willow snapped before turning back to Kai. “You could have died! Do you understand that? What part of 'observe and document' involves taking a swim in below-freezing water?"

Kai adjusted the blanket around his shoulders.

"Look, I got closer to them than any of our drones could. That's valuable data right there. And they're clearly friendly! Did you see how that one helped me?"

His argument was interrupted by a violent sneeze. Willow pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Rodrick, get him to medbay. Full check-up, and I want him monitored for the next 24 hours." She groaned

"Yes, Captain. Come on, swimming champion.” he nodded, helping Kai to his feet. Willow rolled her eyes.

“A couple of videos on the internet and he thinks he’s suddenly an expert…”

[officiallordvetinari]

Below are 10 Wikipedia featured articles. Links and descriptions are below the cut.

The American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula), also known as a Mississippi paddlefish, spoon-billed cat, or spoonbill, is a species of ray-finned fish. It is the last living species of paddlefish (Polyodontidae). This family is most closely related to the sturgeons; together they make up the order Acipenseriformes, which are one of the most primitive living groups of ray-finned fish. Fossil records of other paddlefish species date back 125 million years to the Early Cretaceous, with records of Polyodon extending back 65 million years to the early Paleocene. The American paddlefish is a smooth-skinned freshwater fish with an almost entirely cartilaginous skeleton and a paddle-shaped rostrum (snout), which extends nearly one-third its body length. It has been referred to as a freshwater shark because of its heterocercal tail or caudal fin resembling that of sharks, though it is not closely related. The American paddlefish is a highly derived fish because it has evolved specialised adaptations such as filter feeding. Its rostrum and cranium are covered with tens of thousands of sensory receptors for locating swarms of zooplankton, its primary food source.

The fauna of Scotland is generally typical of the northwest European part of the Palearctic realm, although several of the country's larger mammals were hunted to extinction in historic times and human activity has also led to various species of wildlife being introduced. Scotland's diverse temperate environments support 62 species of wild mammals, including a population of wild cats, important numbers of grey and harbour seals and the most northerly colony of bottlenose dolphins in the world. Many populations of moorland birds, including the black and red grouse, live here, and the country has internationally significant nesting grounds for seabirds such as the northern gannet. The Scottish crossbill is the only endemic vertebrate species in the UK. Scotland's seas are among the most biologically productive in the world; it is estimated that the total number of Scottish marine species exceeds 40,000. The Darwin Mounds are an important area of deep sea cold water coral reefs discovered in 1998. Only six amphibians and four land reptiles are native to Scotland, but many species of invertebrates live there that are otherwise rare in the United Kingdom.

Several attempts at a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Islamic caliphates, their common enemy, were made by various leaders among the Frankish Crusaders and the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. Such an alliance might have seemed an obvious choice: the Mongols were already sympathetic to Christianity, given the presence of many influential Nestorian Christians in the Mongol court. The Franks—Western Europeans, and those in the Levantine Crusader states—were open to the idea of support from the East, in part owing to the long-running legend of the mythical Prester John, an Eastern king in an Eastern kingdom who many believed would one day come to the assistance of the Crusaders in the Holy Land. The Franks and Mongols also shared a common enemy in the Muslims. However, despite many messages, gifts, and emissaries over the course of several decades, the often-proposed alliance never came to fruition.

The Free State of Galveston (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Galveston Island) was a satirical name given to the coastal city of Galveston in the U.S. state of Texas during the early-to-mid-20th century. Today, the term is sometimes used to describe the culture and history of that era. During the Roaring Twenties, Galveston Island emerged as a popular resort town, attracting celebrities from around the country. Gambling, illegal liquor, and other vice-oriented businesses were a major part of tourism. The "Free State" moniker embodied a belief held by many locals that Galveston was beyond what they perceived were repressive mores and laws of Texas and the United States. In one of the more famous examples of this, a state committee, investigating gambling at the fabled Balinese Room, was told by the local sheriff that he had not raided the establishment because it was a "private club" and because he was not a "member".

The Kylfings (Old Norse Kylfingar; Estonian Kalevid; Hungarian Kölpények; Old East Slavic Колбяги, Kolbiagi; Byzantine Greek Κουλπίγγοι, Koulpingoi; Arabic al-Kilabiyya) were a people of uncertain origin active in Northern Europe during the Viking Age, roughly from the late ninth century to the early twelfth century. They could be found in areas of Lapland, Russia, and the Byzantine Empire that were frequented by Scandinavian traders, raiders and mercenaries. Scholars differ on whether the Kylfings were ethnically Finnic or Norse. Also disputed is their geographic origin, with Denmark, Sweden and the Eastern Baltic all put forward as candidates. Whether the name Kylfing denotes a particular tribal, socio-political, or economic grouping is also a matter of much debate.

Mosasaurus (/ˌmoʊzəˈsɔːrəs/; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous. The genus was one of the first Mesozoic marine reptiles known to science—the first fossils of Mosasaurus were found as skulls in a chalk quarry near the Dutch city of Maastricht in the late 18th century, and were initially thought to be crocodiles or whales. One skull discovered around 1780 was famously nicknamed the "great animal of Maastricht". In 1808, naturalist Georges Cuvier concluded that it belonged to a giant marine lizard with similarities to monitor lizards but otherwise unlike any known living animal. This concept was revolutionary at the time and helped support the then-developing ideas of extinction.

Several organisms are capable of rolling locomotion. However, true wheels and propellers—despite their utility in human vehicles—do not play a significant role in the movement of living things (with the exception of certain flagella, which work like corkscrews). Biologists have offered several explanations for the apparent absence of biological wheels, and wheeled creatures have appeared often in speculative fiction.

The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then rapidly during the Industrial Revolution in Wales until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in northwest Wales. These sites included the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda, the Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis, the Nantlle Valley quarries, and Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the slate was mined rather than quarried. Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world, and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine in the world.

The social history of viruses describes the influence of viruses and viral infections on human history. Epidemics caused by viruses began when human behaviour changed during the Neolithic period, around 12,000 years ago, when humans developed more densely populated agricultural communities. This allowed viruses to spread rapidly and subsequently to become endemic. Viruses of plants and livestock also increased, and as humans became dependent on agriculture and farming, diseases such as potyviruses of potatoes and rinderpest of cattle had devastating consequences.

The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of King Alexander III in 1286, which was an indirect cause of the Wars of Scottish Independence. At the close of the ninth century, various competing kingdoms occupied the territory of modern Scotland. Scandinavian influence was dominant in the northern and western islands, Brythonic culture in the southwest, the Anglo-Saxon or English Kingdom of Northumbria in the southeast and the Pictish and Gaelic Kingdom of Alba in the east, north of the River Forth. By the tenth and eleventh centuries, northern Great Britain was increasingly dominated by Gaelic culture, and by the Gaelic regal lordship of Alba, known in Latin as either Albania or Scotia, and in English as "Scotland".

[hauntedziosportrait]

WHAT THE HELL GABE'S AJ AU / Epilogue 💫

🖋️ NOTES:

So erm. Hey jamblr. Here's that au I promised you. It is lacking a name. This is currently a huge HUGE HUGE wip but what I will say is i have had this headworld and story in my brain for a pretty scary amount of time. Now I am making the mature decision and taking a step from imagining animatics in my head to making an actual story!! As of right now, I have very intense artblock, so I'm bringing it upon myself to write for this AU instead!!

This was inspired by probably a lot of stuff, notably FOTS by Greeky and a whole bunch of AJ headcanons I have mashed together into a slightly salty stew.

⚠️ WARNINGS:

An insatiable amount of cringe

The very original idea of an apocalypse AU

Autism

Greely says a bad word and instantly gets sent to the seventh circle of hell

Enjoy jamblr. You stinky stinky individuals

---------------------------------------------

A delicate feather was carried by the wind from its birthplace and took time to settle as the wrath of the winds sailed it about the sky endlessly. This delicate feather- she, a delicate feather, had lesser expertise with a realm such as this. Despite never having seen it, she had heard innumerable myths and legends about it and had researched Jamaa throughout the ages. As she landed amidst the chaos and apocalypse, she spread the scrolls of her map with two eager wings. She then, excited as can be, soared up and above the lands to look down on it, comparing it to the papyrus in her grasp. Apart from some tiny geographic inaccuracies, she was mostly right about what she thought Jamaa would resemble. Her sole hyperfocus for as long as she had been living was right here in front of her. Her map and other tools of the trade were no longer necessary.

She went by the name Io'lani, and if she had friends, they would undoubtedly refer to her as Lani, but since she didn't, that was that. Her name meant "royal hawk", although she was neither royal nor a hawk. She had been around a very long time but mostly in captivity; her living quarters resided in some sort of third-dimensional space as she watched the centuries go by. Originally, she was created to be a faux offspring for the two guardian spirits to embrace and love as their own, the way parents would cherish a newborn babe, but their heavenly duties consistently got in the way of that. She wasn't necessarily forgotten, neglected, or abused- but her existence was merely an afterthought for the Sky Mother Mira, and barely a thought at all for the (mostly) unaware Zios.

Promptly, as a being of balance, and the product of the two holy deities that brought life to Jamaa, Io'lani's emergence in a time of destruction and despair was foretold in literature and books written by the most fanatical of scholars and theorists.

Io'lani emerged, of course. I just described her descent to you. The problem was that she wasn't quite sure what she was meant to do.

Her eyes darted as she stared at the gloomy surroundings. Buildings once bursting with life had been knocked down and torn apart for materials by scavenging jammers who were desperate to survive. The greenery and plants were now wilted and desaturated. The rivers, now a goopy inkwell. Once there were animals united by friendship, now wicked phantoms united by their desire to destroy and multiply. The hiss of black smoke filled Io'lani's lungs and she coughed, covering her beak with the edges of her mask.

This is not how Jamaa was supposed to be. Where were the cheers and laughter of water slides, movie theatres, and young mammals venturing out into the wild? Where was the happy haven that she had been assured existed? As she floated and landed at different locations, pointing to her whereabouts on the map, she analyzed her positioning with precise craftsmanship.

Crystal Sands' warm, golden shoreline had vanished and been replaced with a gritty, black, and grey substance that was scorching to the touch. Jamaa Township's characteristic swirling pavement was no longer present; instead, a sizable crevice divided the town's center in half. Phantoms emerged from these recesses, spreading their purple muck and cackling maliciously as they advanced to wilt the fauna.

Jamaa was not intended to be like this. Io'lani quietly descended and fell to her knees in front of a violet flag that had been suspended from the arcade's former roof. It had been shredded at the ends, painted with a sinister expression, and pasted all over the lifeless hamlet. The photograph was of the Phantom Queen, or PQ as she liked to be addressed by her subjects, and a message was scrawled in goopy black ink over her portrait.

And this was everywhere, mind you. The phantom propaganda was affixed to masonry and stone throughout the featureless plains. The Queen's vile grin was still present, along with the same stern call to repent. Io'lani scurried desperately and frantically, zipping to each of the wrecked locals on her map and urgently hoping to find at least someplace not entirely defunct. The statue of Zios was gone completely, presumably taken as a trophy by the Queen herself.

She slid against a jagged rock in Balloosh, the place least subject to destruction and where she had initially started her quest. To her knowledge, there was a power within the marsh- a strong power. She could feel the sheer electric of protection in her bones, the blazing blue light shimmering in her peripherals.

She wept silently, her tears ink-black and resembling the slime of the phantoms. Her tears flowed into her wings, and as she trembled and wept, her voice had a pitiful catching. Any sign of goodwill was absent. What's more, a sheer lack of both guardian spirits, ironically not doing a very good job at guarding or keeping up spirits. There was no point in visiting the place she had wanted to for epochs when it was torn and forgotten. No alphas to save the day, except the elder wolf sitting across from her, giving her a sympathetic glare.

Wait.

As she made touch with the blue-gray canine, she gasped and the emerald glint in her eyes resurfaced. Her thoughts searched for why he was so familiar to her until she caught on. This was Greely, first name unknown, the alpha philosopher with an interest in all things macabre. Except it wasn't quite Greely, for this wolf was bruised and had an ear torn, his golden bejeweled accessories cracked and corroded in ash. He looked older than what Io'lani had seen of him in stories, and less well-kept. He had a husky growl in his voice, reaching out an injured paw towards the skittish heron.

"I was hoping I'd... end up stumbling into you." He groaned.

"Do you know me?" Io'lani replied, her voice just above a whisper.

Greely bared his teeth, before turning his head and looking to the side. "I have... heard such things about you. You're the one who's meant to make this hell disappear. Are you deliberately wasting time here?"

Io'lani frowned as Greely raised his voice to her, the confusion and anxiety settling in her stomach. Greely's gaze pierced right through her and was even more intimidating than she had anticipated. Ultimately, she spoke up, clearing her throat and gripping her trusty map defensively in one wing.

"I don't know what exactly I'm meant to do."

Greely paused.

"Shit."

---------------------------------------------

👍

[beastwars-transformers]

Hi

Qu = I

Qi = We

Fe = You (singular)

Fena = you all (feminine)

Feka = you all (masculine)

Feha = you all (neuter)

Na = she

Ka = he

Hena = they (feminine)

Heka = they (masculine)

Heha = they (neuter)

Prefixes and suffixes

Ra- = intensifier (rapene = very smart, or ubiquitously known)

E- = negative, lack thereof (epene = dumb, could also mean unknown)

Hes- = divine, relating to religion (like theo- in English, hes’fone is the holy calendar)

-homa: a place of great significance in culture or history. The greatest temple in the old planet was known as Hes’naiahoma, simply just “land of the Divine” with a marker to make it known its VERY important

-ha: denoting the other separate from the speaker or something foreign. Namana’ir’ha can be translated as “your sister” as opposed to my own (namana’ir’na), or foreign lands (aiaha). Paired with ra-, it can be something utterly alien. Rahamre would mean “intelligent alien”

-hi: diminutive. Can be endearing or insulting. Kaoz’hi is the derogatory term for humans, essentially meaning “little rodents” as Kaoz were the old planet’s equivalent of rats, the only mammals to exist on that planet. -hi can be added at the end of someone’s name as a term of endearment. Somi was called Somihi by her parents growing up, and her little brother Risan goes by Rihi or Risahi.

[eaglesnick]

“To some people a tree is something so incredibly beautiful that it brings tears to the eyes. To others it is just a green thing that stands in the way.”  William Blake

Everyone (of a certain age) knows the song Jerusalem. The music was written by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916 to boost British morale during World War 1. This song, words by William Blake, is the official anthem of the British Women's Institute, and historically was used by the National Union of Suffrage Societies. It is also the song that traditionally ends the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms.

I mention this song as it contains the lines:

And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon England’s mountains green:

And was the holy Lamb of God,

On England’s pleasant pastures seen!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In England’s green & pleasant Land.

Yesterday we were informed that in this “green and pleasant land” of ours, one in six of British wildlife species is in danger of extinction. Bird populations are expected to be reduced by 43%, and 26% of British mammals are expected to disappear.

Far from being a “green and pleasant land” we are knowingly destroying the very environment we depend upon for our well-being. From polluted waterways and beaches to the sanctioning of pesticides and herbicides banned elsewhere in the world; from anti-clean air campaigns to the promotion of more fossil fuel extraction and carbon emissions, we are knowingly walking into an ecological disaster.

Neither Sunak nor Starmer seemed concerned about our countries ecological future, and neither it seems do many of our fellow citizens. The former are more interested in personal power, the latter more concerned about how much it will cost them in monetary terms.

A lesser-known poem by William Blake is “London” wherein he describes:

“The bleak, polluted urban environment that resulted from the unrestricted burning of coal, the discharge of raw sewage into the Thames, and the inexorable spread of contagious disease."   (J.C McKusick: “The End of Nature: Environmental Apocalypse in William Blake and Mary Shelly.”; Springer Link, 11/11/15.

If Blake’s  environmental apocalypse turns out to be as true for the 21st century as it did for the 19th, then we will only have ourselves to blame.

[ms-kio]

Mindfreak

Shinso Hitoshi X The Past! 1309 Words

Shinso, Hitohi, AKA Pro Hero Mindfreak, had met his end to a follower of Shigaraki and All For One. He’d been drugged, allowing the villain to slide a knife between Shinsos ribs. He was 42 by then, the perfect age for retirement. Shinso considered death to be permanent retirement. So, he crawled out of bed and stretched, ready to bear through another day of middlesh- holy fuck. 

Fucking diddlysquat- fuck.

Shinso looked at himself, his gangly teenage limbs greeting him. ‘Please don’t tell me…’ Hitoshi lifted his shirt and looked down.

His abs were gone.

Completely eviscerated.

Shinso then bent backwards, tapping his ankles before straightening himself and wrapping a leg around the back of his neck. ‘Thank Kami I still have my flexibility.’ Righting himself once again, the purplette checked the date on his phone. It was the day before the U.A. entrance exam.

Shit. Things were moving too fast for Hitoshi to process. He couldn’t even build up some strength before the practical?! Brainstorming for ideas, the veteran hero's thoughts landed on Nezu. Well, the mammal was absolutely obsessed with puzzles. Maybe Shinso could present one to him. The boy- man?- whatever- opened his email, shooting the Principal an email along the lines of: ‘Hey, my quirk has absolutely zero effect against robots, and my body is the equivalent of a noodle. Are there alternatives?’ Not milk alternatives. Hitoshi refused to use milk alternatives.

Hitoshi then decided to take an evening jog to gauge his endurance. Meaning: parkouring over roofs for a straight hour. Yeah, he was good. Hitoshi started vibing to some music in his headphones, on the railing of a building roof, watching as lights flickered and cars and trains whizzed by. It probably looked either extremely stupid, psychotic, or suicidal to any outside viewer, maybe even a combo of the three. However, in truth, Hitoshi just liked music- hoLY SHIT! Hitoshi nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Snipe, falling out of his handstand and steadying himself on the rail.

“Kid, I’m gonna need you to step off of the rail.” Shinso was about to retort that he wasn’t a kid, when he realized he actually was. The brainwashing user had been facing away from the hero, about to obey, when what he liked to call his ‘inner Nezu’ came out. There was a street lamp directly below him, which he could use to launch himself to the dark, ominous alley across the road. 

Shinso allowed himself to lean over the edge, hearing a panicked “KID!” As he fell, and a hand brushed against his ankle. “NO!” Shinso grabbed the lamp, swinging off of it and realizing how much of an advantage it was to have only skin and bones. He was fucking flying.

The former hero disappeared into the dark alley network of Southern Musutafu, using a fire escape to enter his apartment. He then opened his email, seeing a reply from Nezu

‘Good evening Shinso-kun! While I am curious to know how you’ve come across my personal email, and the contents of the Hero Practical Exam, I am more than willing to accommodate your request! I’ll have you come to the school at 0500 to assess your skills, so you can still take the written and general admissions hero practical afterwards. 

Am I a dog? A mouse? Or a bear? All that matters is that I’m Principal Nezu!’

Shinso chuckled at the principal's antics, before replying.

‘Of course, thank you Principal Nezu! See you tomorrow morning. Also, I’m rather inclined to label you a stoat.

-Shinso’

The insomniac then took some melatonin, before flopping on his mattress and falling asleep.

~ ~ ~

Nezu was interested. Very interested. How had this boy- Shinso Hitoshi- figured out the contents of the exam, and his own personal email? The rodent looked through the webcam to see the boy put in some headphones and a jacket, before leaping out of the window. Oho? Was he a vigilante? As far as Nezu was aware, there were no such people that matched young Shinsos description. The principal liked to keep tabs on the vigilantes surrounding Musutafu. Had one slipped his watch? It was unlikely. However, given Shinsos behavior thus far, the theory wasn't impossible.

The principal glanced around the boys room, spotting a concerning amount of painkillers on his shelving, as well as a- was that a fucking muzzle!? Nezu grit his teeth, ringing a good friend of his.

“Tsukauchi, we have a situation.”

~ ~ ~

Hitoshi was on his way back to his parents place, which was now still his, when he saw red and blue lights surrounding the building. Did something happen? Shinso snuck back into his room. It was probably ol’ Saki-san being reported for noise again.

Hitoshi jumped when he heard his apartment door kicked down, multiple pairs of feet storming down the hall. His parents door was also kicked down, the resounding sound of the lead officer shouting: “Hands in the air!” alarming the boy. It really shouldn’t have, considering his veteran status, but his traumatized teen muscle memory didn’t like loud voices.

Another group of officers entered his room, albeit much more calmly. Hitoshi leaned into his teenage persona, eyeing them warily as they approached. Sue him, Hitoshi wanted to finally confuse Nezu somehow. Was that Sansa? “Hey, kid.” The cat-like officer said, holstering his gun. “We’re here to get you out of this place. What do you say?” Teenage him had heard horror stories about the system from other kids in a similar quirk situation as him, mainly on the r/insaneparents Reddit threads and old discord servers. Not to mention, the few times he felt comfortable talking with someone usually happened sitting in an alleyway with a street kid who’d managed to escape said system.

“And put me in the foster system? Hell no!” Hitoshi hissed, gripping a pair of scissors on his desk. Tamakawa, ever observant, noticed this. The purplette was sure that Tsukauchi would never let anything bad happen to him, but teenage him wouldn’t know that. However, there was still one thing nagging at him. “How did you even know about this place, anyways?”

“According to Aizawa, Nezu looks into all of the students who stand out in any way. The email you sent him sparked that.” Wow, Nezu worked fast. Hitoshi, all too aware of the officer's cautious steps forward, shuffled back towards the window. At this point in time, Shinso had absolutely nothing of value, aside from his phone and headphones. So, theoretically, the boy could fling himself out the window and not worry about having to come back. There happened to be an abandoned shed in Central Musutafu that teenage him had set up, albeit without a heater.

‘This is gonna be rough, but anything to stump the Rat God.’ Hitoshi sighed, making a show of putting down the scissors, before booking it out the window. He caught the tubing on the other side of the alley, ignoring the officers yelling at him as the weight yanked painfully at his shoulders. ‘Damn, I really need a scarf. Could I steal Aizawas?’ Shinso hauled his scrawny ass up the side of the building, making a mad dash for the nearest train station. The shed was closer to U.A. than his home anyways, so win win.

The shed was in decent shape when he got there, the former hero conking out on the beanbag. ‘Shit’s too complicated for me right now.’ He decided, quickly falling asleep. 

Once Shinso’s alarm went off, he got into some practical clothing: A black mock turtleneck and a pair of dark purple shorts over some back leggings. He packed an extra change of clothes and a water bottle in his bag, just in case. 

The train was fairly empty, allowing the boy to enjoy the ride to U. A. in peace. 

[jander-sunstar]

Jander’s Expanded Guide to Vampires: the Elven Strain

One could write a book on the whole of the Vampire condition. In fact, one has! Our friend Doctor Van Richten spent quite a lot of time researching his Guide to Vampires (and I count myself an uncredited source, for some of it), and the result is as reliable as any bestiary ever was. 

But, comprehensive as the Guide is, the good doctor focuses primarily on the Human strain of Vampirism. This is understandable, seeing as that’s the most common strain available - I myself am of the human variety, despite being a sun elf in origin. I am a rare example, though, as multiple other strains exist in these lands, and each one tends to favor a particular race.

Thus I will begin by describing what I consider to be true Elven Vampires, and compare them with the more standard human variety with which you might already be familiar.

Hunter’s Rating: 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇

The stereotype that elves are all, what was it, tree-hugging granola freaks (thanks, Soth), is perhaps an unkind one, but not strictly inaccurate. So, of course, when these misty lands decided to craft a Vampire to specifically target elves, they did so by turning nearly every aspect of our natures on its head. Elven Vampires inhabit the same forests that their living brethren adore, but slowly corrupt the landscape by their very presence. They share a cruel attunement with forest animals, and can summon and command swarms of small mammals, or birds of prey, or, of course, wolves. Many of the spell-like abilities an Elven Vampire possesses mimic druid spells, in how they shape and control plant life, and a hunter must always be wary of having their environment turned against them in this way.

Other considerations for the aspiring hunter include the naturally frightening affect these creatures have, beyond that of ordinary undead, and their terrible Black Thumb curse. This is the one point of commonality I share with Vampires of my own race; no living plant can bear my touch, and withers dead on contact. This is the cause of no small grief in myself and my similarly afflicted kin, and it even extends to one of the most powerful abilities a true Elven Vampire possesses, which is an innate ability to treewalk. Through this skill, an Elven Vampire might simply walk into an appropriately sized plant, and appear walking out of another plant of the same type elsewhere in the world. This action instantly kills both plants involved, and cannot be used to cross Domain borders, but good luck pinning one of the bastards in place when they can just vanish into the nearest tree.

Rather than feeding on blood and physical health, as human-derived Vampires do, Elven Vampires typically feed on charisma itself. This manifests as disfiguring marks and scars resulting from contact with the creature - although one must wonder if this isn’t a case of poor data collection, given that physical attractiveness is but one aspect of one’s charismatic charm, and victims of Vampire attacks really have enough to worry about already without knee-jerk ableism dropped on their heads as well.

And on top of everything else, a true Elven Vampire diverges from one’s expectations by being diurnal. Really! Diurnal! I’ve been struck with their Black Thumb curse, for the crime of having too good a time gardening, but they get to keep the sun!? Unreasonable! Inconceivable! I want to speak to a manager!

Ahem. Excuse me. The strange fact of the matter is, true Elven Vampires physically cannot tolerate either the open night sky, nor the presence of earth over their heads. They are restricted to daylight hours, and abhor underground spaces. It is as though the rules are utterly reversed for them -- which makes hunting them as a human-derived Vampire a chore and a half, let me tell you.

If you seek to destroy such a creature, know that the typical trifecta of repellants (mirrors, holy symbols, and garlic) will do you no good. Instead, reach for fresh flower petals to create a line on the ground that the Elven Vampire cannot cross, and season your stakes in the fire until they become as charcoal. Once paralyzed by staking, sever the head and burn it in a fire built of flowers and flowering plants for at least twenty four hours. A lengthy process, but an aromatic one, and the reward you will reap is the freedom from undead tyranny - at least, for now.

[minileena]

Zookeeper - part 13

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Evelyn was only a barely passable liar.

But, to her credit, her hands moved with the grace of a pickpocket.

Only I had eyes fine enough to notice the allen key that slipped out from under the sleeve of her shirt and slid under my mattress as she lifted it up for her ‘inspection.’ I allowed a smirk to spread across my face, seeing as my back was currently turned to the only camera in the room.

She left not long after, and I got to work.

Step one was to fold another paper ladder for myself. It wasn’t that hard, didn’t even take an hour.

Next was the allen key. Obviously, there was no way for someone like me to ever hope to get my hands on one of these things, and so if it were caught on camera, it might draw suspicion. Naturally, that meant I had to hide it. I folded two pieces of paper around it, such that it simply looked like a tiny envelope that I could hold under my arm. It was awkward, but it got the job done.

I was fucking giddy as I left my tank for the last time.

I didn’t bother saying goodbye. I hated this fucking place. I’d be lucky to ever forget a single square inch of the terrain after memorizing it all.

The jump down to the table that my tank sat atop was awkward, and the landing was more than a little painful, but nothing lethal. I could probably have just jumped straight off of the table to the floor, too—the fall was proportional to a few stories for a human, but the damage it would cause to my body was nowhere near the same as a fall for someone like Evelyn. Still, I didn’t want a bruised hip, so after dropping my allen key package, I used the bolt holes drilled in the metal leg of the table as ladder rungs on my way down.

Holy fuck, I’m gonna leave today.

I dragged my package over to the supply cabinet, unwrapping it once I was behind it and out of the camera’s view.

I… may have underestimated my strength for this next part.

Over the course of the next half hour, I wrestled with the metal of the hex key and the strength of the screws that kept the metal grate in place. I had to stop to take breaks every now and then, but after loosening each screw a little bit, I could finish the job with my hands.

The grate fell over, hitting the cabinet and showing me the path to freedom.

A smirk spread across my face.

I turned around and went into full view of the camera.

I looked directly at it before flipping the bird and running out with the biggest smile on my face I had ever felt.

It wasn’t over yet, obviously.

The vent didn’t just lead outside—that would be too easy, and we can’t have that. No, it lead into the sugar glider tank.

I say ‘tank,’ but the sugar gliders’ cage was different from the other five in the small mammals room. It led outside, specifically so that the little critters could be brought out as a sort of petting zoo attraction for kids.

I’ll say it again—it led outside.

I walked carefully through the pitch dark vent, keeping a hand on the metal beside me and testing the ground at each step before committing and putting my full weight on my foot.

Evelyn had already unscrewed three of the four screws that kept the vent cover into the sugar glider exhibit. She had done so three weeks prior, of course—she didn’t know of any cameras with line of sight of the vent, but there was no need to risk it. The cover was still on and secure, covering the entrance from any sugar gliders that could potentially get into the vent, but the lone screw could act as a sort of hinge—as my fingers went through the slit in the grate and pulled up, the cover rotated around the lone screw, giving me a gap to escape through.

Holy FUCK holy fuck this is heavy oh my god my arms are screaming in pain—

I rolled through and let the cover crash back down to the ground behind me. I huffed and laid on my back for a moment, letting myself recover.

Until practically having a heart attack as one of the sugar gliders nipped at my arm.

I shot up and backed away, and the sugar glider did the same at my sudden movement. I recalled asking Evelyn if there was anything to worry about with regards to these things—she said they’re omnivores, but they’re not hunters, and they’re well-fed. They wouldn’t attack me for no good reason. This thing must have just thought I was dying and wanted to eat my corpse.

I hissed at it and it scurried away. Thank fuck.

After a quick shudder, I was off again, trekking through the cage to the opposite end, where a wire fence was all that stood between me and freedom.

The door was locked via passcode. Obviously, Evelyn told me what the code was.

I climbed up the door, using the holes in the wire fence as handholds to get up to the keypad. I punched the code in, and the door opened.

Evelyn had placed a rock in front of the door in advance. She didn’t want the sugar gliders seeing a wide open door and getting out, and so the door only opened a crack before hitting the doorstop. Just enough for me to get out.

She asked me to see if I could manage to close the door behind me, and I humoured her request despite knowing it was far, far too heavy for me. It was probably fine, though—yes, the gliders could escape if they wormed their way through the gap, but they would have to recognize that the door was even open in the first place for that, and Evelyn said that after years of captivity, the concept of the door being unlatched was probably so foreign that they wouldn’t try to leave even if it was as wide open as it could go.

I’m… I’m out.

It worked.

I glanced up. I hadn’t seen the stars or the moon in three and a half years.

The sky was so much more beautiful in person than it was in my memories.

I acknowledged the fact that I was free to do whatever I wanted now, and that did mean that I could technically abandon Evelyn and never see her again. I only acknowledged it—I didn’t consider it even for a moment. It just… felt good to have the choice. To have any choice. Any agency.

I decided what happened to me from now on.

I could choose.

So I relished in the choice I made, now that I knew I wasn’t being forced to make it.

I went to meet Evelyn at the front gate.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Shit. It’s really late.

Layna should’ve shown up by now. If the escape went wrong, we’d have to wait another three weeks for tonight’s camera footage to be deleted to try again. I supposed we could just try again anyway, but it would be adding more variables to a plan already ripe with points of fault.

Oh, god, what if something happened to her? It was a long walk from the sugar gliders’ exhibit to the front gate. What if she got lost on her way over? Oh, god, what if there was an owl? The thought made me sick. I’d never forgive myself if something as horrible as that happened to her.

Or… what if she just… left?

The thought saddened me. I chided myself for it, of course—it was selfish. If Layna wanted to just go, wash her hands of all of this and forget about me… well, I had been employed to keep her trapped in a glass tank for nearly three months, so if she never wanted to see me again, I would—

“Evelyn!”

Relief flooded through my chest, freeing a held breath. My gaze shot down to where I watched Layna worm her way through the bars of the front gate and look up at me with a smile.

“Oh thank fuck,” I breathed as I held out a hand for her to climb into. “Did something happen? I-I feel like that took a long time. O-or am I just really fucking nervous?”

“Uh, probably a bit of both?” Layna suggested as she jumped onto my hand and sat cross-legged, letting me carry her up to my chest as I walked back to my car. “The screws were tighter than I was expecting, and the gate cover was pretty fucking heavy. Also a sugar glider bit me, but it—“

“What!?”

Layna jolted as I held her up to my face and started scanning for bite marks. Sure enough, as she held out her arm, I saw indents in the skin.

“Oh, thank fuck it didn’t draw blood,” I sighed. “Shit, could you get rabies? Is that a thing that you can contract?”

She smacked my finger with the back of her hand, a smile spreading across her face. “It was barely a nip, don’t worry about it.” She leaned back in my palm and stared up at the sky. I followed suit, smiling to myself before continuing my trip back to my car.

“C’mere a sec,” Layna said, pulling my thumb closer to her lap. I obliged her request, letting my finger rest over her abdomen like a seatbelt as she ran her palms up and down the skin, smiling up at the sky.

“Sierra always tried to get me to go stargazing with her,” Layna said suddenly. “I went every once in a while, but mostly I thought it was stupid. It was dangerous, and there was no reason for it in my mind. Back then, anyway.”

I gazed up alongside her. I had gotten to the car, but I sat on the hood for a while, letting Layna take in the sights.

“I wanna do this with her more often when I meet up with her again,” Layna sighed contentedly. “If, uh, she’s alive. And still where our shelter was when I left.”

“She is,” I promised, letting my thumb rub up and down her stomach in a motion that I hoped was comforting. “And if she’s moved in the past three years, you’ll find her. I’ll help, if you ask me to.”

Layna hummed to herself for a while.

“We should probably go now,” she finally sighed. “You still don’t mind if I crash at your place? Potentially for the next little while?”

“As long as you like,” I promise. “I’m genuinely happy to have you.”

With that, I took my friend home.

===

A/N: I feel like the past few chapters have been pretty shitty. I wrote them while a little burned out, and I kind of just wanted this arc to be over. I am MUCH more proud of the chapters moving forwards—14, 15, 18, 19 and 20 in particular were some of my favourites to write. Anyways, if you’ve been growing a little detached from the story bc of the past few shitty chapters, rest assured! It’s picking up soon. I sincerely hope you enjoy!

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[fernrisulfr]

Nations of the World

This is in a highly incomplete state, but I’m going to post it just for fun. Below is a list of other nations in my dnd homebrew world, other than the continent of Anoria. These originally started just to give the rest of the world some life and background lore, before going WILDLY out of control. 

Drakkon Tyranny -

Government Type:  Theocratic Dictatorship

Leader: Tyraxxus (Ancient Blue Dragon)

Capital City: Chromatia

Hemisphere: North

Notes:

▪Theocracy devoted to Tiamat

▪ Leadership is an Ancient Blue Dragon claiming to be one of her 5 mates.

▪ Tried to Conquer the World in the name of Tiamat. Failed.

▪ Highly structured class society with Blue Dragonborn at the top. Metallic Dragonborn used as slaves. Mammals used as Slaves. Reptilian species can be lower-class citizens.

▪ Desert Nation surrounded by Mountains on all sides.

Var'Desh -

Government Type: Monarchy

Leader: Var'Drenn

Capital City: Var'Duul

Hemisphere: South

Notes:

▪ Primary Export is Salt

▪ Land is a Salt Waste with high winds

▪ School for Alchemy (Water purification)

▪ Mostly Human & Elf. Tan or dark skin. Wear ponchos.

▪ Surname before Given Name with a ' in between (Eg. Var'Drenn. Var is the Surname. Drenn is the Given Name.)

5 Nations -

Government Type: Elective Monarchy

Leader: High King/High Queen

Capital City:

Hemisphere: North

Notes:

▪ Leadership decided by a five person battle to the death by the heirs of the royal families of the nation's five provinces, upon the death of the previous monarch.

▪ Five Provinces consist of:

▪ Sylvan Isles - All Elves. Worship Sea Monsters. Celtic Inspired. Attempting to regain lost culture. Capital named Filogia.

▪ Losyke - Tundra and mountains. Very cold. Every Adult is ceremonially bonded to an Animal Companion. Capital named Mohr.

Holy Empire -

Government Type: Theocracy

Leader:

Capital City:

Hemisphere: North

Notes:

Veldtimere -

Government Type: Martial Dictatorship

Leader: Warchief

Capital City: Bastillionne

Hemisphere: North

Notes:

▪ Militaristic Nation of Hobgoblins

▪ Contains Hobgoblins, Goblins, and Bugbears as primary citizens

▪ Slavery

▪ Gladiatorial Arena

Abore/Hellbore -

Government Type: Oligarchy/Constitutional Dictatorship

Leader: High Council/High Inquisitor

Capital City: Dunehwal/Doomwall

Hemisphere: South

Notes:

▪ Originally a Penal Colony of the Holy Empire

▪ Infested with Devils after a particular deal was struck

A mixture of thick forests and hell scorched wasteland

[miscellaneous--bones]

ways that sebastion and saoirse could have kids and the hypopups that would come from each different method.

UNDER THE CUT: genetic overview of the parents, what I think their reproductive genitals/methods would be, and then the actual coopulation methods & outcomes.

CW: SEX, the culmination of various google searches, uhhhh idk how tf else to tag this? im morbidly curious, marine animals are fucked up, sebastian fucks??

GENETIC OVERVIEW, AND ASSOCIATED CHILD REARING METHODS

SEBASTIAN: Blue Whale> similar to human, spem+egg=baby, live birth, normie shit. take care of their babies for 6 to 9 months. ███████> ????? sea snake> ovoviviparity, snakes have the hemipenis which is the fandom norm. sperm, baby in egg in womb, egg hatch in womb then live birth. babies are on their own. great white shark> ovoviviparity win number TWO! otherwise live birth. babies r on their own. mutated anglerfish> sexual paratisism freak shit. females lay eggs in goop like frogs. eggs r on their own from the start lots die lol rip silver spinyfin> regular eggs. babies like plankton? mantis shrimp> internal fertilization, regular eggs. eggs are cared for until they hatch.

SAOIRSE: Grey? Seal> goes into estrus in spring and fall, mammal birth blah blah blah, babies stay with mom for about 3 weeks and then weaned. milk is like 60% fat Human> menstrual cycle

HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER:

Sebastian

Goes through a rut more or less yearly, after which he lays (unfertilized) eggs from an oviduct through a cloaca. also has testes that connect to at least one penis, which can produce (often inviolable) sperm. PAST: has never had viable offspring, by himself or with a partner. could theoretically fertilize his own egg and create a genetic clone of himself.

Saoirse

menstrual cycle (periods/ovulation/etc) ovaries, womb, vagina, the lot of it. already overly fertile, then goes through a more or less yearly estrus which bumps it up to an 11. PAST: has had 2 children, 1 a selkie who passed because of her inability to take it to the ocean leading to illness, the other a human that would've lived a long life if not for sepsis.

1) fuck nasty

Saoirse going into estrus, which would have to line up with a week shes otherwise ovulating, AND sebaston would have to be in rut. otherwise a LOT of sex to insure that an egg made it into the womb & is successfully fertilized. even then the egg needs to develop enough to not be pushed out by a shedding urturine lining. from there the egg will develop and hatch within the womb and have saoirse would have a live birth.

kid would look near identical to sebastion, basically being a genetic clone.

2) Get lucky

holy shit viable sperm!!!! otherwise very human pregnancy and birth. this has such a low chance of happening that at LEAST lesley would constantly call the kid "Lucky" regardless of their real name.

kid would be a total wild card.

the safest would be a mix of most of Seb's human attributes and all of saoirse's selkie stuff, making a selkie baby. kid would have to be in the ocean with sebastion for the first 3 weeks before being able to healthily be raised on land in "human" form. could also be more like sebastion, though that could lead to various health issues (mostly physical deformeties. again, if they're LUCKY, they'll have 2-4 arms, a tail, esca, and extra fuzz. if they for some reason tried to have legs AND a tail that'd probably end up with muscular/skeletal issues) also probably intersex. now take into account that Saoirse is a twin btw^

3) Test Tube Time

Lesley would take reproductive/genetic shit from the two and grow them a baby. this would be safest for the kid in the long run and probably the most stressful for the parents (sebastion mostly) might take a few tries to get a dice roll that produces something that can effectivly move and eat and stuff.

big seal serpent monster. maybe it'd have a more or less Human form bc of the selkie genes?

[thejesusmaninred]

"The Anak." From Mark 7: 14-15.

Jesus continues to explain the Mishpatim, the prescriptions and prohibitions. The one we just ecountered is called the Haggadah, the need to expand the protections of the Kingdom of Israel to the Human Race. This was relayed in the structure of a Hand.

The next two verses are what are called a Sue, 2020, סו, "a Ride."

"The unused verb סוס (sus) probably meant to dart forth or be swift. The noun סוס (sus) literally means "swift one" and is applied to a bird, namely the swallow, and a large land mammal, namely the horse. The feminine version is סוסה (susa), but instead of it meaning mare (as is commonly thought) it rather refers to the horse-force of an army.

Long before any animal would become a pet, the horse was a unit of cavalry. Regular people didn't ride horses; they had mules and donkeys, and merchants didn't use horses; they had camels. Seeing a horse in the ancient world was like seeing a tank today."

Rides, obviosuly involve messengers and horses and of course a message one cries out, this Ride is one of the most historic in all religious literature:

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.

 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f]

This explains the Laws of Kosher, which involves ways one is advised to discourse with others and others during which one is expected to withdraw.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 14: Again Jesus called the crowd to Him. Jesus comes and goes, and we have also seen how crowds gather and disperse. Recall He is the Fulfillment of the Holy Spirit. We learn later on how it comes and goes as one's intuition is triggered, in particular in matters that require social consciousness. Where there is respect, the Spirit of the Christ can be found.

The Number is 5142, האד‎ב, "the steam is courtesy."

We just discussed the purpose of a kettle. "courtesy" is the distillation of Shabbat.

v. 15: Jesus spends a lot of time casting out demons. According to this verse, that is silly. The Number is 5023, ןךג‎, "like a child".

A child needs a nice gold necklace called an Anak in Hebrew in order to be trained how to speak with grace. We would never tolerate speech in children that we allow in some adults these days. Jesus was right about this: We have to call blessed speech out using the power of the Holy Ghost. Casting devils out is just not going to work.

[dfroza]

“Well then, we must conclude that God has given to the outsiders the opportunity to rethink their lives, turn to God, and gain a new life.”

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 11th chapter of the book of Acts:

By the time Peter and his friends from Joppa returned to Jerusalem, news about outsiders accepting God’s message had already spread to the Lord’s emissaries and believers there. Some of the circumcised believers didn’t welcome Peter with joy, but with criticism.

Circumcised Believers: Why did you violate divine law by associating with outsiders and sitting at the table with them for a meal? This is an outrage!

Peter patiently told them what had happened, laying out in detail the whole story.

Peter: I was in Joppa, I was praying, and I fell into a trance. In my vision, something like a huge sheet descended from the sky as if it were being lowered by its four corners. It landed right in front of me. It was full of all kinds of four-footed creatures that we would call unclean—I could identify mammals, snakes, lizards, and birds. Then I heard a voice say, “Get up, Peter! Kill these creatures and eat them!” Of course, I replied, “No way, Lord! Not a single bite of forbidden, nonkosher food has ever touched my lips.” But then the voice spoke from heaven a second time: “If God makes something clean, you must not call it dirty or forbidden.” This whole drama was repeated three times, and then it was all pulled back up into the sky.

At that very second, three men arrived at the house where I was staying. They had come to me from Caesarea. The Holy Spirit told me I should go with them, that I shouldn’t make any distinction between them as Gentiles and us as Jews. These six brothers from Joppa came with me; and yes, we entered the man’s home even though he was an outsider.

The outsider told us the story of how he had seen a heavenly messenger standing in his house who said, “Send to Joppa and bring back Simon, also called Peter, and he will give you a message that will rescue both you and your household.” Then I began to speak; and as I did, the Holy Spirit fell upon them—it was exactly as it had been with us at the beginning. Then I remembered what Jesus had said to us: “John ritually cleansed people with water through baptism, but you will be washed with the Holy Spirit.” So, if God gave them the same gift we were given when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, who was I to stand in God’s way?

There was no argument, only silence.

Circumcised Believers: Well then, we must conclude that God has given to the outsiders the opportunity to rethink their lives, turn to God, and gain a new life.

The believers who were scattered from Judea because of the persecution following Stephen’s stoning kept moving out, reaching Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Until this time, they had only shared their message with Jews. Then some men from Cyprus and Cyrene who had become believers came to Antioch, and they began sharing the message of the Lord Jesus with some Greek converts to Judaism. The Lord was at work through them, and a large number of these Greeks became believers and turned to the Lord Jesus.

Word of this new development came to the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch to investigate. He arrived and saw God’s grace in action there, so he rejoiced and urged them to remain faithful to the Lord, to maintain an enduring, unshakable devotion. This Barnabas truly was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith. A very large number of people were brought to the Lord.

Barnabas soon was off again—now to Tarsus to look for Saul. He found Saul and brought him back to Antioch. The two of them spent an entire year there, meeting with the church and teaching huge numbers of people. It was there, in Antioch, where the term “Christian” was first used to identify disciples of Jesus.

During that year, some prophets came north from Jerusalem to Antioch. A prophet named Agabus stood in a meeting and made a prediction by the Holy Spirit: there would be an expansive, terrible famine in the whole region during the reign of Claudius. In anticipation of the famine, the disciples determined to give an amount proportionate to their financial ability and create a relief fund for all the believers in Judea. They sent Barnabas and Saul to carry this fund to the elders in Jerusalem.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 11 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

Just as the experience of the Holy Spirit transforms that small community of believers into the church at the beginning of this book, the presence of the Spirit’s work among these outsiders, the ones who were not a part of God’s covenant with Moses, demonstrates that they, too, are part of the church. This isn’t what many expected, and questions about inclusion of outsiders consume the early life of the church.

Today’s paired reading from the First Testament is the 44th chapter of the book of Genesis:

After the meal was over, Joseph commanded the steward of his house.

Joseph: Fill the men’s sacks with food—as much as they can carry. Put each man’s money back into the top of his sack. One more thing: I want you to put my personal cup, my silver cup, into the top of the sack of the youngest, along with his money for the grain.

The steward did everything Joseph told him to do.

The next morning, as soon as it was light, the men were sent off with their donkeys toward home. But when they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph spoke to his steward.

Joseph: Go now, and follow them. When you catch up to them, say to them, “Why have you repaid kindness with evil? My master’s silver cup is missing, and you have it. Isn’t this the cup from which he drinks? Doesn’t he use it for divination, to discover secrets hidden from most men? You have committed evil in doing this.”

So the steward went after them. And when he caught up to them, he repeated the words Joseph told him to say.

Joseph’s Brothers: Why would my lord accuse us of something like this? We, your servants, would never do such a thing! Remember the money we found at the top of our sacks after our first trip? We brought it back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house this time? If you find his cup with any one of us, let that man be put to death, and the rest of us will become my lord’s servants.

Steward: Let it be as you say, but I’ll be more lenient: whoever is found to possess the cup will become my servant. The rest of you will be considered innocent and may go free.

Then they all moved quickly, retrieved their sacks, lowered them to the ground, and opened them so the steward could see what was inside them. He searched each sack, beginning with the eldest son and ending with the youngest; at last, the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothes in anguish. They knew what had to happen. They had no choice but to load their donkeys and return to the city.

Judah and his brothers all came to Joseph’s house while he was still there, and they fell to the ground in front of him.

Joseph: What have you done? Don’t you know that someone in my position practices divination and can discover secrets hidden from most men?

Judah (speaking for the rest): What can we possibly say to you, my lord? How can we explain this? How can we clear ourselves of this mistake? God has found your servants to be guilty. Here we are then, slaves to you, my lord, all of us and also the one in whose possession the cup has been found.

Joseph: Far be it from me that I should do something like that! Only the one in possession of the cup will be my slave. As for the rest of you, go in peace to your father!

But then Judah stepped up to Joseph and begged him for mercy.

Judah: O, my lord, let your servant please speak a private word to you. Please don’t be angry with me, for you are just like Pharaoh himself. You asked us once if we had a father or a brother, and we told you, “Yes. We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him dearly.” Then you told us to bring the boy down to you, so that you could see him. At first we said to you, “The boy cannot leave his father because his father would die without him,” but you told us that unless he came with us, you wouldn’t agree to see us again.

When we went back to your servant, our father, we told him what you said, my lord. And when our father asked us to go again to buy more food, we told him, “We cannot go without our youngest brother, or we won’t be able to get in to see him.” So our youngest brother came with us. Then your servant, my father, responded, “You know that my wife Rachel bore me two sons: one went off and never came back, and I know he was without a doubt torn to pieces. I haven’t seen him since he left. But now if you take my youngest also from me and any harm should come to him, the sorrow would kill me. I can’t allow you to condemn this old, gray head to the grave.”

So now if I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, he will die because his life depends completely on the welfare of his boy. As soon as he sees that Benjamin is not with us, the sorrow will kill him and we, your servants, will condemn the old, gray head of our father, your servant, to the grave. I gave my father my word that I would take care of the boy and return him safely home. I told him, “If I don’t bring him back to you in one piece, then I am perfectly willing to bear the blame forever.” So please let me, your servant, remain as your slave in place of the boy; and let him go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I couldn’t stand to see the terrible suffering this would put him through.

The Book of Genesis, Chapter 44 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

Judah speaks the truth. God has uncovered their guilt and exposed it for all to see. Not that someone in their party has stolen Joseph’s cup—that’s not what he means—but years ago they conspired and stole Joseph’s freedom. Ironically they could now lose their freedom to Joseph.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for monday, April 15 of 2024 with a paired chapter from each Testament (the First & the New) of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that points to the hope of Messiah:

The Sabbath that immediately *precedes* the festival of Passover is called the “Great Sabbath” (i.e., Shabbat HaGadol: שבת הגדול), in honor of the time when the first generation set aside the lamb for the Passover Sacrifice (i.e., korban Pesach: קרבן פסח).

During the time of the Temple it was customary to obtain the Korban Pesach (i.e., Passover lamb) four days before Passover so that worshipers could make sure that their lambs had no blemishes which would preclude them from being offered as sacrifices. This was done to fulfill the instructions given in Exodus 12 that the lamb for Passover be “without spot or blemish.” Interestingly, this period of time allowed time for each family to become personally attached to their lamb, so that it would no longer simply be “a lamb” (Exod. 12:3) but rather their lamb” (Exod. 12:5). Indeed the Torah refers to "the" Lamb of God, as if there was only one: "You shall keep it [i.e., the Passover lamb] until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter him (אתוֹ) at twilight (Exod. 12:6). Note that the direct object "him" (i.e., oto) can be read as Aleph-Tav (את) combined with the letter Vav (��), signifying the Son of Man who is First and Last.

Shabbat HaGadol foreshadowed the offering of Yeshua as the “Lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world. The New Testament notes that it was a few days before Passover when Yeshua made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, signifying His Messiahship, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9). During this time, when the pilgrims had come to select the lamb for the Passover sacrifice - they saw Yeshua and cried out: hoshiah na (הושׁיעה נא), meaning "please save" or "save now" (in English this phrase was translated from the Latin to form "Hosanna!"). The people spontaneously began singing Psalm 118:25-26 in anticipation of the fulfillment of the great Messianic hope.

The Haftarah for Shabbat HaGadol (Malachi 3:4-24) foretells of Yom Adonai (יוֹם יהוה), the great Day of the LORD, and the return of Yeshua as Mashiach ben David. May that day come soon, chaverim. For more information, click the link below.

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

========

Psalm 118:25-26 reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm118-25-26-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm118-25-26-lesson.pdf

4.14.24 • Facebook

from yesterday’s email by Israel365:

A Night of Miracles

By: Shira Schechter

APRIL 14, 2024

Last night, an event unfolded here in Israel that can only be described as miraculous. Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles aimed at Israel, yet astonishingly, 99% were intercepted and destroyed before reaching their targets. Most of these were neutralized even before entering Israeli airspace. Though many of us were forced to run into bomb shelters in the middle of the night, only minor injuries were reported – a seven-year-old girl was lightly wounded by shrapnel and one Israeli military base sustained minimal damage. This outcome is nothing short of miraculous.

In moments like these, our thoughts turn reflexively to gratitude. Psalm 100, a chapter of praise and thanksgiving, resonates deeply with our current emotions. Historically, this psalm accompanied the korban todah, a thanksgiving sacrifice offered to express gratitude to God for deliverance from peril, such as severe illness or perilous travels. The salvation we experienced last night compels us to recite this psalm of thankfulness.

The korban todah, the Thanksgiving sacrifice, was accompanied by 40 loaves of bread, which had to be consumed within a day and a night. The large quantity of food and the short amount of time given to eat it necessitated that it be shared with others. This underscores a crucial lesson: our gratitude should not be a private affair. When we experience divine intervention, it is our duty to share our joy and thankfulness with others. The opening verse of Psalm 100 exhorts us to “Raise a shout for the LORD, all the earth.” It’s a call to broadcast God’s miraculous deeds far and wide, encouraging the global community to join in recognition and praise.

A deeper homiletical insight connects Psalm 100 to the biblical narrative of Sarah. The Bible tells us that when she died Sarah was “one hundred years, and twenty years, and seven years” (Genesis 23:1) The sages interpret this to mean that at each stage of her life, Sarah retained the virtues of earlier years—her beauty and purity of youth persisted into her maturity. Homiletically, it’s said that Sarah recited Psalm 100 with the same passion and intent as she recited Psalm 20, a psalm of supplication. Sarah teaches us that our gratitude should be as fervent as our pleas for help.

As we reflect on the near calamity of last night and the providential shield that protected Israel, we can only express profound thanks to God. Let us invoke Psalm 100 with the same intensity and devotion as we did in our prayers when we first learned of the imminent danger. The whole world witnessed a miracle last night—let us ensure they also hear our voices raised in thanksgiving and praise.

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

April 15, 2024

Answered by a Word from God

“And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.” (Matthew 22:46)

The two dominant sects among the Jews at the time of Christ were the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Although both of these believed in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, they both refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

A climactic confrontation occurred during His final week in Jerusalem. Each group tried to trap Him into a compromising doctrinal argument. To the Sadducees, who rejected the doctrine of resurrection, He said: “Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32). This exposition silenced the Sadducees.

“But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence” (Matthew 22:34), they then tried to trip Him up. He turned the tables on them by a reference to the 110th Psalm, asking how David could call the Messiah Lord if He was David’s son (Matthew 22:45). As our text indicates, they also were unable to respond.

It is most significant that each group was silenced with one single word from the Scriptures. To the Sadducees, the word was “am” (“I am the God of Abraham” [v. 32]), indicating that Abraham was still living. To the Pharisees, the word was “Lord” (“The LORD said unto my Lord” [v. 44]; that is, “Jehovah said unto Adonai”), proving that the Messiah was both human and divine, descended from David but also David’s Lord. Christ’s argumentation was based in each case on the determinative authority of just one word in the Scriptures. For Christ, the Scriptures were inerrant and of full and final authority, and they could not answer His claims without rejecting the Scriptures they professed to believe. HMM

[poem-today]

A poem by Henri Cole

Saint Stephen’s Day with the Griffins

for Janet and Christopher

     Half-eagle, half-lion, the fabulous animal struts, saber-clawed but saintly, a candlewicked ornament dangling from our rickety sugar pine. Butternut

     pudding in our bellies. His reindeer and sleigh hurried here and gone—thank God for us childless folks. Almost:   the lovelocked Griffins on the sofa, sockfooted, hearing

     gas and a kiddy heart in her tummy— a life more imaginary than real, though one is dazzled by gold that fills the egg unbroken. We feed her crumpets

     and listen again: The lamb’s a hungry bugger, even snug from earth’s imponderable fury. Tomorrow, in a spurt by jet I’m home. Clumsy as a puppy

     I’ll scale the flightstairs into the nosecone, luggage banging at my sides, enter the egg- shaped cabin and await the infrared climb toward space. Tell me one

     thing true? If I could count the way things slip from us: Mother’s fur gloves, Sunday’s benediction, the dead gone before us, love’s rambler on the prairie—all displaced

     as we buckle in our shuttle, jetbound on a screaming runway, gravity pulling at us castaways, more mammal than bird, subtle

     leg-weary griffins made manifest, arrowing towards home. How do we ignore it: the attenuated being of our age, the bittersweet collapse

     of dominoes mooned around our pine? Withered with hatred from his quarter, Saint Stephen even at death rolled mercifully over in high holiness. Sonless, wifeless, nine

     thousand feet from land, I roll the lozenge on my tongue, youthful habit for ache of any kind, parting a survivor (Wait!), love rescuing me from the fringe.

Henri Cole

More poems by Henri Cole are available on the Poetry Foundation site.

More information on Henri Cole is available on his website.

[mi5014hollysurr]

Pictish symbols i might use

Pictish Beast- Thought to be some kind of marine mammal like a whale or dolphin however some people believe it to represent a mystical animal that combines one of land and one of sea like Capricorn.

Crescent V-Rod- Thought to represent the sun and moon, it shows a skyward view. the v in the symbol is said to represent arrows one pointing down the other point up. this supposedly symbolises the arrival of a soul at birth and its return journey after death.

Serpent Z-Rod- Could represents medicine or healing, although this is simply a theory. The Z-rod, much like the V-rod, is associated with broken arrows or spears, and therefore it is thought that the symbol could be symbolic of a warrior’s death. 

Pictish Goose- A rare Pictish symbol that dates to the 5-6th century. Its meaning to the Picts is uncertain as not only is the design not common but as the region we know now as Scotland assimilated from Pictish to Gaelic this caused the Pictish language (along with its oral knowledge) to be lost. Interestingly, some ancient Celts saw the Holy Spirit not as a white dove but as a ‘wild goose’, perhaps there’s a connection

Pictish Arch- This symbol is described as an arch, bronze collar or horseshoe. Some scholars believe that, if a horseshoe, the symbol is one of good luck. Others suggest that the arch-shape could be depicting a rainbow which is also connected to good fortune. The ‘bronze collar’ is a type of necklace associated with the Bronze Age, it may have been a symbol of wealth or have a pagan connection.

Pictish Flower- Experts report that the Picts used a particular plant dye for their tattoos that also had healing properties; it may have been lathered onto battle wounds to prevent infection. Therefore, this plant could be symbolic of their use of natural resources.

[iso-training-certification]

What are the Standards of Kosher?

The word kosher is derived from the Hebrew word kasher, which means fit or proper. In Judaism, there are a set of dietary laws known as kashrut that govern what foods can and cannot be eaten. These laws are based on the Torah, the Jewish holy book, and have been interpreted and codified by rabbinical authorities over the centuries.

The Origins of Kashrut

Though the specifics of kashrut are open to interpretation, the overall principles are derived from two main sources: the Torah and the rabbinic tradition. Kashrut is first mentioned in the book of Leviticus, which lays out a number of regulations regarding the preparation and consumption of meat. These laws were later elaborated on by the rabbis, who developed a detailed system for ensuring that all food meets the highest standards of purity. 

What Can't Be Eaten?

The most basic restrictions concern which animals may or may not be eaten. Only land mammals that chew their cud and have split hooves are considered kosher; this includes cows, sheep, and goats but not pigs or horsemeat. Among birds, only chickens, ducks, turkey, and geese are allowed; all others are prohibited. As for seafood, only fish that have both fins and scales are considered kosher; this includes tuna, salmon, and halibut but not shrimp or crab. 

In addition to these prohibitions, there are also a number of restrictions on how animals must be slaughtered and meat prepared. Animals must be killed in a humane manner using a sharp knife; they cannot be stunned beforehand with electric shocks or other methods commonly used in industrial slaughterhouses. The animal's blood must then be drained completely from its body before the meat can be consumed. 

Finally, dairy products may not be consumed with meat or poultry; this includes eggs and cheese as well as milk and butter. In order to avoid cross-contamination, separate utensils—and even separate sets of dishes—must be used for meat and dairy products. 

Kosher Certification

Kosher certification is a process by which food producers can have their products vetted and approved by a rabbinical authority as being in compliance with kashrut. This process involves an inspection of the manufacturing facility as well as the ingredients used in the product. Once a product has been deemed kosher, it will bear a seal or symbol from the certifying organization. This symbol helps consumers quickly identify which products are kosher and which are not. 

Conclusion

The kosher laws are based on the Torah and have been interpreted by rabbinical authorities over the centuries. These laws govern which animals can be eaten and how they must be slaughtered and prepared. Kosher certification guarantees that food products have been approved by a rabbi as adhering to kosher laws. kosher certification malaysia