#Pharaoh's Chicken

[paintedmage]

Obsessed with this YuGiOh AU I thought up.

Since we don't know a lot about the Kaiba brother's past, especially before their orphanage days, I began to think of what kind of lives they must've had before everything changed. And an idea came to me.

What if Seto and Mokuba had been raised on a farm? Learning the meaning of hard work and dedication at an early age, being proud but honest kids. The thought of them growing up surrounded by farm animals was oddly adorable so I decided to go with it.

When their parents died, the farm was sold and Seto and Mokuba were sent to an orphanage. When adopted by Gozaburo, they were forced to forget all about that happy farm life. But part of Seto could never really forget those days where he had been truly happy. And of course he can never let anyone know who he used to be. Gozaburo drilled it into his head that being a "dirty farmer boy" was something low and to be ashamed of.

However, by chance, while still in school and on a field trip he's forced to go on (Mokuba made him because Mokuba wanted pictures and Kaiba just can't say no to his brother) to a farm, Yugi(along with Atem because if it's gonna be an AU, Atem has to stay) and the others happen to notice how at peace Kaiba seems to be out here. It's strange to them; a jerk CEO tech titan like Kaiba, content on a farm?

Then a herd of chickens, Kaiba's favorite, breaks loose from the farmhands, and without a second thought, mind immediately going back to his happier childhood, Kaiba strides forwards and starts calling the chickens the way his parents taught him, herding them into a group, giving neck scratches and headpats to the chickens while everyone just stares in silent shock, until Atem breaks the silence by saying that was incredible, asking Kaiba how he did that.

Kaiba, in a corner now, admits that when he was born on a farm. Joey snickers at the thought of Kaiba being a farm boy, however Atem says that's amazing. Kaiba had once been a farmer; people responsible for growing and raising food for others, the backbone of society. It was something he should feel proud of. And it's the first time someone's ever said that to Kaiba, and it really makes him reflect throughout the rest of the day.

So, Kaiba decides maybe embracing some of his past isn't so bad after all. He buys back his parents' farm and moves back into it, turning the Kaiba Mansion into a community center for Domino City. Kaiba fills his farm with chickens and goats just like it used to be, growing berries for jams and baked goods. For once in his life, Kaiba feels like he's home.

Running the farm also gives Kaiba some new ideas for KaibaCorp products, designed to help farmers; collars for livestock to track their health and detect disease early to minimize herd infection, smart spinklers that monitor weather patterns and soil moisture to ensure crops are watered the right amount between rainfall, and making more efficient harvester attachments for tractors. By combining both his past with his present, Kaiba feels a sense of contentment he hasn't in a long time.

[whitepharaoh]

When I’m inevitably the ruler of the world, I will ensure 2000s emo culture is preserved and fertilized. This, by proxy, will encourage the “lgbt” people to “come out of the tomb(?)”, thus preserving their rights as pyramid builders.

Hail me,

White Pharaoh

[detectivereads]

Detective Video Games

Hi Everyone,

Hope you enjoy some of the games that are listed here I can't wait for them to come out. Most of these games are going to be Detective theme. I love a good detective theme game.

These posts are for fan entertainment, I am not being paid.

Games that I wish would exist:

Detective games remaster or re-released

2023:

Year of the Detective

Year of the Detective Continues

Even More Detective Games this year!!!!!

OMG MORE DETECTIVE GAMES!!!!!!!

2024 Detective games:

New Year of the Detective!!

Yay More Detective games!!!

[marigold-hills]

Dunes & Waters, part 21

PART 1 • PREVIOUS PART • NEXT PART

The letter arrives as they eat breakfast. It’s not at their usual time, on account of the late night, and Remus feels a bit groggy and stretched out thin. Sirius doesn’t seem to have the same issue (he’s got the cat on one knee, an open book on the other and a quill tucked in behind his ear. Seems to be largely ignoring his toast), and when the bird swoops in through the perpetually open kitchen window, he runs to greet it, dislodging Ziggy from his lap in the process.

It’s a beautiful, towny owl. It nuzzles its beak to Sirius’ knuckles before offering up the letter attached to its foot. “It’s the Potter’s owl,” Sirius is a whirling excitement. Calls the owl to the table and offers it ham from his plate. “Alright if she stays the day? It’s such a long flight from England.”

“Don’t know how the hotel will feel about us starting a menagerie in here,” Remus jokes and Sirius reads straight through it. Feeds the owl some more and beacons Ziggy back to himself. Remus would be worried about their proximity if not for the way Sirius has with the animals.

Sirius tears into the envelope. Remus thinks about leaving the kitchen, giving him space, but he’s loath to get up. The sun shines through the windows in that perfect orange glow, his tea had turned out just right, and Sirius makes the prettiest picture of happiness.

“They didn’t believe it,” he says, looking up from the letter, like it’s a surprise. Remus never met the Potters, but you don’t raze the Ministry for someone you don’t have trust in.

It’s a long letter, pages of a chicken-scratch script Remus doesn’t try to make out. Sirius reads, at first elated, relieved, then confused. “That’s strange.”

Remus hums at him around his tea. Go on. I’m listening.

“James says Pete - he’s a friend of ours, Pete – has gone missing. He was here with me in Egypt, there’s no reason why he’d be gone,” he pales, “you’ve read the report, right?” Urgent eye contact, “did I… was he there? Was he one of them?”

“No wizards,” Remus rushes to tell him, as if that’s enough to make it better, “only Muggles, and they’re all fine by now.”

The rest of Sirius’ ham goes half to the cat and half to the owl. He shreds it into pieces, feeds them absentmindedly. Goes to his window and takes out cigarettes. Remus hasn’t seen him smoke in days.

“Want to go to the post office? Maybe the local birds will have better luck finding him.”

They do that. Sirius sends a letter with a smart-looking pharaoh eagle-owl. Asks Pete to get in touch, explains where to find him. “Maybe he’s hiding. If he saw me… Pete never had the strongest constitution. And I wouldn’t blame him, really.”

Sirius chain smokes as they walk, lights up the cigarettes with a click of his fingers when they’re out of view. It’s not the kind of magic Muggles pay attention to anyway – too small to raise eyebrows, too likely to be considered a trick of the eye.

NEXT PART

@tealeavesandtrash

@moon-girl88

@hoje--aqui

@cocoabutterandbooks

@onion-sliced-apples

@prancingpony42

@digital-kam

@remoonysiriusly

@sweetstarryskies

@a-sunset-outside-my-window

@procrastinatingstuff

@annaliza999

(let me know if you do/don’t want to be tagged!)

[new-dinosaurs]

Eoneophron infernalis Atkins-Weltman et al., 2024 (new genus and species)

(Tibiotarsus [fused shin and ankle bones] of Eoneophron infernalis, from Atkins-Weltman et al., 2024)

Meaning of name: Eoneophron = dawn [in Greek] Neophron [genus of the extant Egyptian vulture, sometimes called the "Pharaoh's chicken"]; infernalis = from Hell [in Latin]

Age: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)

Where found: Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, U.S.A.

How much is known: A partial right hindlimb.

Notes: Eoneophron was an oviraptorosaur, a group of bird-like theropods with short and often toothless skulls. The only other oviraptorosaur that had previously been named from the Hell Creek Formation was the much larger Anzu, which is estimated as having weighed between 200–350 kg. The type specimen of Eoneophron, on the other hand, is thought to have weighed around 78 kg. However, the microscopic structure of its bones indicates that it was close to fully grown when it died, suggesting that it is not a juvenile specimen of Anzu. Eoneophron is also unusual in that two of its ankle bones were fused to its tibia (shin bone); among oviraptorosaurs, this feature is otherwise known only in Avimimus from the Late Cretaceous of Central Asia.

Reference: Atkins-Weltman, K.L., D.J. Simon, H.N. Woodward, G.F. Funston, and E. Snively. 2024. A new oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the end-Maastrichtian Hell Creek Formation of North America. PLoS ONE 19: e0294901. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294901

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Alter-ego pack for Hermitcraft TCG just dropped!

Having models for all the Hermits opens possibilities to play dress up with them... Once again, huge thanks to Ink-Ghoul for their original minecraft models...

First of all, two Boss-battles, which are technically not in alter-ego packs... I've got very lucky with Hero Forge already having Pharaoh costume... With some modifications (Cub is wearing long sleeve crop top) I've got a pretty convincing season 7 Cub... I've debated in my head for the longest time, should I make a completely different cooler-looking DoomGuy armour for Evil X with spikes and skulls... OR, and hear me out, would it be more in character for Xisuma to make his dark and twisted edgelord persona by just putting angry eyebrows on the visior and bathe in red paint... You can see which interpretation won in my head...

As I stated in previous post, I was making WelsKnight with the full intent of making HelsKnight as well, not just a recolour, but a full seperate armour-set, kinda like this piece by Kiwi... He is more beat up and sharp, all bark no bite...

Jevin, but GREEN... from the time he was a goon of Evil X in season 8... My guy is glowing!

While working on this HotGuy pose, I discovered that both the TCG-card and one of HotGuy calendars are made using the same render... Pretty cool... PoultryMan, who is the man behind the Chicken mask?

Beetlejhost uses a new and exciting Hero Forge feature - transparent plastic! It's fantastic! Yeah, yeah, a pen instead of a flower...

Peace, Love & Plants (and soul-harvesting) for these two fellas...

For a PG-server, hermitcraft sure does have a lot of mafiosos... Who are also furries... Strange, how that happens...

Cubfan got two models... Our lucky winner... That's pretty much all of my backlog... Posting this right now, before the start of season 10... I am so ready to experience new season with a community! I've been watching from season 6, but because of language barrier, had no one to talk about it... Until now!

[stevesbestgirl]

Phases of the Moon - Part 2

Steven Grant x f!Reader, eventual Marc Spector x f!Reader

2909 words

Warnings: minor angst, mutual pining, idiots in love, Donna being a big meanie, mentions of reader’s face “flushing,”

As always, keep in mind that I am not a system and am not an expert. All of my information about their relationship comes from the Moon Knight show and I use that as my reference point.

*Bold type is spoken by Marc when Steven is fronting.*

Masterlist

Tuesday evening, your phone buzzed, “2609 minutes, from right now. - Steven.” You suspected he’d been waiting until he finished his shift to work it out. He’d also signed his name on the text, which you found to be rather cute. 

When Thursday came, you took a little bit of extra time in the morning. You hadn’t meant to, but you were fiddling with your hair and changing outfits when you realized what you were doing and forced yourself to leave it all be. And sure enough, when you approached the gift shop counter, Steven lit up, just as he had two days before. 

You made your way up to the counter, “Alright, how many minutes now?”

He made a show of checking his watch, “About two and maybe a half.” He gave you a shy smile, “You look pretty today.”

“Prettier than Tuesday?” you teased.

“Well, I thought you looked pretty Tuesday too, but I chickened out on saying it, didn’t I?” That rosy flush you were growing to like so much crept up his cheeks.

“Thanks, Steven.”

“Well, shouldn’t I be thanking you?” 

Now it was your turn to flush; you’d never met someone who could flip-flop so seamlessly between bumbling awkwardness and earnest charm.

But you were saved by the bell- Steven had an alarm set on his phone. He quickly silenced it, “There we are. You ready, love? We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.” The way your heart skipped in your chest at the term of endearment again made it clear that you were not immune- at least, not to Steven. But you nodded your agreement as he came out from behind the counter and led the way back to the exhibit.

This time, it was harder to focus on the words Steven was saying- all you wanted to do was watch him talk. The way he tilted his head when he was searching for the right word, the way his pitch rose when he was building up to something he found particularly interesting- but it was really his hands that did you in. 

They waved around while he spoke, accenting explanations, pointing out details in each display, and making quirky little gestures to accent his points. You felt like your gaze was following them and you found yourself wondering what it would feel like to slide your fingers between his. Your stomach dropped at the thought and you hastily pulled your gaze back to his face, using all of your willpower to listen. 

Too soon, the little alarm on his phone was sounding again, “Looks like I’ve gone on a bit too long again, haven’t I? We’ve only just started on the pharaohs.”

You walked with him back to the gift shop, “When is your next shift?”

He grimaced, “Donna has me on the late shift for inventory tomorrow night. And you’re probably busy on Saturday-”

“I’m not, actually. Are you working?” He nodded blankly. “I’m happy to stop by again. Unless that’s inconvenient for you, I’m sure Saturdays are busy-”

“Saturday is perfect,” he insisted. I actually get off at two, if you wanted to come by ‘round then." That was not true. Steven didn't work Saturday at all, but he continued anyway, "I can give you a proper tour.” 

Your stomach twisted and you weren’t sure if it was with excitement or anxiety; this had become a full-blown date in a matter of moments. And you wanted to go.

Despite all of your common sense telling you to back off now before it was too late, you smiled, “That sounds great.” You pulled out your phone, “I’ll put it in my calendar.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” he dug into his bag on the other side of the counter, “I brought you something.” He pulled out a box and handed it to you; it was a new screen protector. “I’m not sure if I got the right one, but I sort of had to guess. It was such a sweet gesture that you were struck dumb for a moment, staring at the box in your hands. It was, in fact, not the right kind, but you weren’t about to tell Steven that. “Thank you, Steven. This is- that was really nice.” 

You tried to keep your voice even; it shouldn’t be a big deal. It wasn’t like you could tell Steven that this was the first time in a very long time you could remember someone doing something so thoughtful for you. 

“Well, I felt bad, y’know?”

This was the part where you were supposed to respond with something grateful and vaguely funny, but you couldn’t seem to find anything to say. Every combination of words you strung together sounded too raw- too emotional at a simple thoughtful gesture.

“Oi, Stevie,” Donna’s voice cut through the pause, “I’m not paying you to stand around and flirt with your girlfriend, am I?” Both you and Steven went stiff. Donna continued, “You could be stocking those new figurines.”

“I will, yeah- right now,” Steven said quickly. “And it’s Steven,” he corrected, though his tone was tired- this clearly wasn’t the first reminder. He knelt, pulling out a box of vaguely humanoid figures, lining them up half-heartedly on the counter until Donna disappeared. “Sorry about that,” he gave a nervous chuckle. “She shouldn’t have called you-”

“Don’t worry about it,” you offered a tight-lipped smile, beating back the feeling in your stomach that wanted to hear you called Steven’s girlfriend again. It was suddenly like you were twelve again. You wanted to make things light-hearted again, so you teased, “Not a fan of ‘Stevie,’ then?”

He half-smiled, “S’not so bad when you say it, to be honest. But it makes me think of Donna.”

“Maybe I can steal it from her, make you think of me instead,” you offered.

He laughed, “You could try, but I’m not convinced it can be done.”

You knew it was a silly thing. And maybe you just wanted to feel special to Steven. But it seemed like every time Donna spoke to Steven- or about him- she was dismissive and rude and you didn’t like it. But any reasonable person would feel that way. It had nothing to do with the little furrow lines that appeared on his forehead whenever she came around. “Sorry to keep getting you in trouble.”

“Don’t be,” he insisted, that adorable earnestness returning. “If I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I suspect she’d be upset at the way I breathe or somethin’. Besides, I can’t think of a much better reason to get in trouble.” At that, he grinned and your resolve melted into a puddle at your feet. 

You smiled back, “Well, for what it’s worth, I think the way you breathe is fine.” He checked over your shoulder again and you grimaced, “Did she come back?”

“Nah, not yet, but she might. She does that sometimes.”

“Well, I’ll go, so you don’t get scolded any more. And I’ll see you Saturday.”

*

"Sounds like someone has a date," Dalton teased over the morning paper. 

"I thought the same," Mandy agreed, sipping her coffee with a sly smirk.

"It's not a date." You were lying. But you didn't really want to dive into detail about how you'd folded on your principles less than a week after arriving with your cousin and his wife. 

"He's staying late at work to give her a tour," Dalton noted, gaining an appreciative hum from Mandy, although that may have been a response to her coffee. Dalton murmured low, "He also bought her a phone case, you know."

"Gift giving means it's a date," Mandy nodded.

"It was a screen protector," you replied. "If I'm going to be teased, at least be accurate about it, will you?" They didn’t even know that you’d had to go buy a new one that would actually fit your phone so Steven wouldn’t know he got the wrong kind.

"Oh, fine. The point stands regardless. You've got a date tonight."

You huffed; there was no point in arguing. And they were right; it was a date.

You were at least spared the struggle of deciding whether to dress up or not; Steven would be fresh off his shift, so probably would be wearing khakis, a button up, and that jacket he seemed so fond of. You opted for a casual dress and arrived at the museum a little early- you liked chatting with him at the counter before starting the tour. 

It was only quarter til two, but there was a new face at the gift shop; a young woman who didn’t yet appear out of her twenties. Her name tag read, “Denise.” You offered a friendly smile, “Have I missed Steven already?” The girl looked confused. “Um,” you didn’t even know his last name, “About this tall, curly brown hair-”

“I know Steven, but he doesn’t work today,” the girl finally said. You were almost glad when she cut you off because your next item to list was lovely, expressive, brown eyes and that probably would have been a bit much.

But now you were confused, “He said he was off at two.”

Denise shook her head, “That’s my shift this week.”

You forced a smile, “Guess I got my wires crossed somehow. Thanks.”

You took a seat on a nearby bench. Steven could still show- you were pretty sure you hadn’t misunderstood. You found it hard to believe he would stand you up, so you hoped it was just a miscommunication. 

At eight minutes til two, Steven came in, bustling over to the counter. He said something you couldn’t make out to Denise and you watched her tilt her chin in your direction. Steven whipped around, doing an odd sort of jog across the room. You stood to meet him and Steven’s gaze followed the skirt of your dress as it fluttered back into place. 

Unconsciously, it seemed, his tongue poked out between his lips to wet them before he spoke, “You look- I mean, wow-”

Your slight apprehension couldn’t stop a faint smile at his reaction, “It’s just a dress, Steven.”

He nodded, “Right, yeah.” His cheeks glowed with warmth, “You look nice, is all.”

“Thanks.” It was difficult to believe he’d intentionally mislead you when he reacted that way, but you had to ask. “So, um, you don’t work today?”

The flush on his cheeks crept toward his neck, “Right, yes. I didn’t think you’d get here so early and-” 

“So you lied?” You cursed internally; you’d wanted to sound aloof- maybe vaguely curious, but a hint of hurt made it into your tone.”

“I, ah- well, I wanted to see you again and you asked if I was working- I thought you might not want to do it if I wasn’t here for work because then you might’ve thought I was asking you out-” 

Steven was rambling a bit, but it faded to background as you focused on keeping your expression even. Don’t break eye contact. Don’t look disappointed. Don’t fidget. It’s not a date. That’s okay.

“You alright, love?” Your heart gave a halfhearted flip in your chest, disappointment cushioning your capacity for excitement. “I’m sorry, it was a pretty boneheaded move.” He knocked his knuckles against his forehead in mock punishment, “I guess I panicked a little.”

You nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’d just rather you tell me the truth next time, alright?” That was true. And a perfectly believable response. 

“Yeah, right, of course- I really am sorry,” he insisted.

You knew you should be more upset at him lying- no matter how minor- than about the way you’d foolishly thought this was a date, but you couldn’t seem to muster any indignation toward a man who’d gone out of his way to make sure you didn’t feel uncomfortable. And the strangest thing was that you were still looking forward to it. You wanted to listen to Steven- to share that secret again.

You forced a smile, “It’s alright. You want to get started?”

He grinned, “Yeah, of course, let’s get a move on then, shall we?”

And even though it wasn’t a date, Steven didn’t waver in the way he made you feel like the most important person on the planet. You felt a bit less bad about your misunderstanding; how could you have thought he wasn’t interested when he spoke to you with such enthusiasm. It was as though you were the only person he wanted to be speaking to at this moment. 

The museum was far more crowded than it had been during the week; a few children and parents were hovering around Steven, listening with you. But his eyes remained on you, the secret still yours alone. 

He showed you a map of the inside of a tomb, pointing out the different sections and trap locations, despite none of that being on the map. “Can you guess where the pharaoh is housed?”

You hummed like you were considering it, before pointing, “In the point of the pyramid, duh.” 

“I think it’d be a bit cramped in there, yeah?”

“Right, because it’s so roomy inside a sarcophagus,” you countered.

“Alright, you’ve got me there.” He wrapped his hand around yours, gently moving you, “But he’ll actually be in here.” You weren’t entirely sure what he was pointing at, if you were being honest. You couldn’t pry your gaze away from the way his fingers draped over the back of your hand. He moved, drawing your finger in a small circle, “You see how the traps are more concentrated around here?”

You nodded, “Yeah, makes sense.” 

Steven realized he was still holding your hand, releasing you and taking a half a step back, his palms suddenly sweaty. God, he hoped he hadn’t been this sweaty when he’d been touching you. 

Two hours after you’d started, you finished the east wing of the museum. Your small crowd of hangers-on dispersed, leaving you and Steven by the wing’s entrance. You could see Donna at the front desk at the center of the entryway.

“What did you think?” Steven was looking at you expectantly.

“You can expect my Yelp review on the museum’s page later this evening,” you smiled slyly. When he looked a bit worried, you laughed, “It was fantastic, Steven. Can I pay you to do the rest for me? I’d be missing out if I didn’t get the full experience.”

He looked rather pleased, a faint glow returning to his cheeks, “You know I’d do it free.” Maybe this hadn’t been a date, but he certainly acted interested in you, you were sure of it now.

“You should be getting paid for this, Steven. You were great.” You checked the time on your phone, “I suppose I should let you go though, it’s about dinner time.” A perfectly reasonable observation, you thought. If Steven used it to ask you out to dinner, that would be his choice.

There was a moment’s pause too long, “Right, I shouldn’t keep you too late, should I?”

You supposed you set yourself up for that one. You gave a wry smile, “Yeah, I should probably be getting back. Thanks for the tour, Steven.”

“Really, it’s no problem- I think I had more fun than anyone,” he chuckled. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” 

You offered him a smile; you didn’t understand why it was so hard for you to stay sad about Steven. He seemed to pick you back up as quickly as he knocked you down. He was either the most oblivious man on the planet or he was a top tier manipulator. You had a difficult time believing the latter. 

You took a step away; you needed some space to clear your head, “Bye, Steven.”

He seemed surprised by the prompt exit; usually you chatted for a bit after, “Oh- laters, gators!”

You suppressed a smile- he was definitely oblivious to how charming you found him. You offered a small wave goodbye and headed for the door.

Once you were out of earshot, Marc spoke up in the display glass, “You could have asked her to dinner.”

“I wanted to,” Steven defended. “I really wanted to, but I don’t wanna scare her away.”

“Steven, you’re going to blow this if you don’t listen-”

“Stevie, take these to the basement for me, will you?” Donna caught Steven off guard, brandishing a box of sweets.

Steven sidestepped her, “Sorry Donna, I’m not scheduled today.”

She looked annoyed, “Then what are you doing here on your day off? Just here to stand in the way?”

“Actually, I was here with a friend,” Steven countered, a measure of pride in his voice.

Donna raised an eyebrow, “You mean that pretty thing who keeps coming in to flirt with you for whatever reason? I take it you blew it then.”

Steven’s brow furrowed, “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Who’s everyone?”

Steven sighed, “Never mind. Why’d you say that?”

“She just left, a bit put out if you ask me. I thought she’d come in looking for you- looked a bit disappointed.”

“She looked- disappointed?” Steven repeated Donna’s wording like he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.

Donna rolled her eyes, “Well, no wonder she did. If you aren’t here to work, stay out of the way, will you?” She brushed by him and he glanced at the entrance, half-hoping you’d still be in sight so he could find out for himself.

[thedansemacabres]

Ares as... rooster?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

[ID: An image of a brown-gold rooster cawing. The rooster has a large, six-pointed comb and orange-red round eyes. The background is blurry, highlighting the rooster's neck and face.]

ARES IS A WONDERFUL GOD, and there is little academia about him in particular. There is much about the analysis of him in the Iliad and function in myth, but less about his cultus and more obscure traits. While researching, I stumbled upon a very different Ares….as a rooster. So, as a quick post, here is a small bit on Ares and roosters. 

ROOSTERS IN ANCIENT GREECE 

Roosters are funny creatures. They’re very feisty, but also sometimes cowardly—affectionate, but terribly bloodthirsty. I have worked with several roosters in my time, and they’ve either been useless or fiends. Hens are often much better at their jobs. A good rooster though is priceless, and I’ll never forget the white tufted rooster at my job we used to have that would cuddle but also attack dogs if they dared step near his flock. Perhaps due to this, Ares also gained an association with roosters—he’s certainly the good kind, if he is to be compared to a rooster. 

Chickens were originally thought to have arrived in the Archaic era, aided by chickens being termed the “Persian bird.” Sacred roosters may have even appeared in temples, perhaps suggesting to us as modern polytheists to raise birds in devotion to the gods. They were not a common bird, coming in slowly from West Asia—with divine association, appearing on temples and later into Egypt in which they were connected to the pharaoh. Their ability to produce meat and eggs also made them far more convenient than pigs or cattle, along with consuming less resources. When the bird then reached the Minoans, it possibly gained martial connotations and appeared on Minoan seals. 

Chickens in ancient Greece gained many associations—naturally with Helios, but also with childbirth, Selene and her lunar cycles, Apollon and Asklepios, as a chthonian being with Hermes and Persephone, and as a symbol of rebirth and transition. 

THE MYTH OF ARES AND THE ROOSTER

There is also the story of Ares’ soldier and lover Alcetyron, who failed to guard the door to Ares and Aphrodite’s affair, allowing Helios to witness the couple: 

“Mi. Why, to be sure, I have heard something like this before about a cock. It was the story of a young man called Alectryon; he was a lover of Ares,—used to join in his revels and junketings, and give him a hand in his love affairs. Whenever Ares went to pay a sly visit to Aphrodite, he used to take Alectryon with him, and as he was particularly afraid that Helios would see him, and tell Hephaestus, he would always leave Alectryon at the door, so that he might give him warning when the Helios was up. But one day Alectryon fell asleep, and unwittingly betrayed his trust; the consequence was that the Sun got a peep at the lovers, while Ares was having a comfortable nap, relying on Alectryon to tell him if any one came. Hephaestus heard of it, and caught them in that cage of his, which he had long had waiting for them. When Ares was released, he was so angry with Alectryon that he turned him into a cock, armour and all, as is shown by his crest; and that is what makes you cocks in such a hurry to crow at dawn, to let us know that the Sun is coming up presently; it is your way of apologizing to Ares, though crowing will not mend matters now.”

This story is then better explained by An Argument for a Bronze Age Introduction of the Cock in Ancient Greece by Jorrit M. Kelder: 

Perhaps the bird served a double purpose, both as a symbol of ‘transition’ (including the various stages in the cycle of life) and virility. This double connotation may be reflected in the story of Alectryon, a companion of Ares, whose failure to warn his master (who was having an illicit affair with Aphrodite) of the arrival of Helios resulted in his transformation into a cock. The story, first attested in Lucian (Gallus 3), may well be a late one, designed to explain the name and manifold associations of the cock. None of these associations can with certainty be identified in Bronze Age Aegean iconography, though the presence of an altar on the Zakros sealing indicates that the bird could (also) serve some purpose in the religious sphere.

This dialogue continues on and the rooster reveals himself to be Pythagoras after thoroughly roasting the man he was speaking to. 

ARES AS ROOSTER 

Continuing on, paper I was reading explored slightly on the topic of gods as birds or bird-hybrids, such as Athene the owl, Hermes the chicken, and Ares the rooster:

This likely represents Ares the fighting rooster—a symbol of virtuality, and extended to his son Eros with eroticism and ancient Greek homosexuality.  Cockfighting was a common sport in ancient Greece, likened with ‘masculine’ prowess in sports and even appearing on Panathenaic amphorae. 

Admittedly, I found this most comedic and wonderful. I’m not completely sure what to do with this information beyond associating Ares with roosters, but it is a fun tidbit on him indeed. Roosters and chickens overall have a vast lore behind them, whether that is with the sun or as a symbol of death. Today, chickens are such a common aspect of life—we can simply go out and buy some eggs and chicken meat. However, two thousand years ago, I could imagine someone being beyond excited to finally be able to have a chicken in their life. From this small research spree for Ares, I have gained a new appreciation for chickens. Perhaps that is the blessing that he has given us in being a divine cock. 

wordpress link

References 

Allinson, F. G., Fowler, H. W., & Fowler, F. G. (1906). The Works of Lucian of Samosata: Complete with Exceptions Specified in the Preface. American Journal of Philology, 27(4), 455. https://doi.org/10.2307/288891

Eckerman, C. (2012). Cockfighting and the Iconography of Panathenaic Amphorae. Illinois Classical Studies, 37, 39–50. https://doi.org/10.5406/illiclasstud.37.0039

Kelder, J. M. (2021). AN ARGUMENT FOR A BRONZE AGE INTRODUCTION OF THE CHICKEN IN GREECE. Mediterranean Archaeology, 34/35, 1–14. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48691680 Spier, J. (2010). Most fowl: athena, ares, and hermes depicted as birds on engraved gems. Pallas. https://doi.org/10.4000/pallas.11101

[krookodyke]

the dichotomy of amanda & hoffman is so funny because amanda has been in slavery in egypt for the past 400 years and has just been exiled by the pharaoh meanwhile hoffman is eating a full rotisserie chicken and potato wedges from ShopRite on the floor by himself with a stale sprite

[justyourlocalplaguedoctor]

Hey! Hey look at this! Vultures eat dead bodies so you don't have to! Go support vultures! They're beautiful animals and important to the environment! They help slow the spread of diseases, and keep the environment clean. Without scavengers like them, the natural world would be littered with diseased and rotting animals. Below are links to several organizations where you can donate to conserve their populations, as well as several pictures and facts about some of the endangered vultures of our world.

Pretty vultures for you!

Bearded vulture:

Near threatened worldwide, but endangered in europe! They cover themselves in red and orange pigment to show status, and thrive in the desert! Their diets are 80% bones, which most scavengers either can't digest, or simply avoid.

Egyptian vultures:

Also known as the white scavenger or the pharaohs chicken, the endangered egyptian vultures are native to egypt (no surprises there) They were often seen as symbols of purity and motherhood!

Cinereous Vultures

Look. at. them. Endangered, with a decreasing population! These birds are large. seriously, big boys. They can be brown and white, and are also quite floofy! They live in europe and asia, often in mountains!

Himalayan Griffon vultures

With a threatened population, the big birds of the mountains. They live on snowy peaks, and are generally docile.

Cape vultures

These all white birdies typically forage in groups, and live in southern africa. They're also at risk, due to lack of food and getting poisoned.

White backed vultures

Another endangered vulture, they often live in desert climates and can have up to 6 foot wingspans.

These are not the only endangered vultures! There are many more, listed in the article below.

[greenscreen-dress]

Alright FINE I'm downloading the parkour civilization video so I can experience it offline later. Even if I don't end up caring for it at the end, I at least want to Know what the thing is. Why is the blonde non-Martyn Inthelittlewood guy kissing a pharaoh, how the fuck do you pronounce Evbo, why is chicken and beef the new red pill blue pill, etc etc.

And since I won't have access to the comments perhaps I shall do a little liveblogging instead :D

[kujakumai]

do you ever wonder whose ka the god cards were? were they from past pharaohs, or elsewhere? i'm imagining the court trying some randomass criminal for petty theft and finding An Entire Fucking God in their brain. (if canon addressed this, whoops i forgot)

I have definitely made a post wondering about this before but I shan't go digging for it. Canon definitely does not address it. Them being from past pharaohs would imply they could sever and seal Ka before the millennium items existed (which I wouldn't totally count out maybe it was just a much more difficult or super-involved ritual or something. idk). But there's zero explanation ever given for where they came from or how they got sealed.

Ordinary people can have stupidly powerful Ka, enough to get them actively declared god-ka (see: TKB, Kisara). Or maybe Ra himself stepped down from the heavens and gave them a slab with a chicken on it for funsies. No way to know in MW itself, not even a hint.

[soxcietyy]

Egyptian

Hawks x reader

Very old…pharaoh hawks au.

You sat in a rolling chair with a black pen in your mouth as you analyzed a script. It was about the one of the best soldiers of Egypt back in the 3100 BCE. But you've been stuck on it for days. You where a archaeologists who was in the look for answers about a great soldier and Anubis who was a Egyptian god. Anubis was worshipped as the god of the dead but when Osiris took on this role, Anubis became the god of mummification. The only odd thing about this though was that there was only one story told about them and it was how they met.

Keigo Takami one of the greatest soldiers alive at that time was known for his fierce red wings and for being one of the pharaohs personal soldiers. He was guarding a room which happened to be the kings who was dying from an illness at the time. He stood their with another guard day and night until one stormy night he was doing his daily routine chatting with his friend until something caught his eye. A shadow appear creeping up from the corner. Putting his weapon up he walked towards the person until he was met with a tall, slim figure with a dark dog head. During this time they where at war and the last thing they needed was the kings death. So Keigo knew what he had to do. He had to fight, or to stall so he wouldn't be taken away. His precious king needed to live.

And that's where it ended, no traces of Keigo was ever found and the person to witness it all went missing a few days later as he carved the painting. what you couldn't figure out was what happened after. Their was no more records of Keigo after what you've studied. The only thing found was the kings body which they later on buried.

You breath out heavily in frustration not knowing where to go after this. Being very bothered you didn't noticed that the pen had exploded in your mouth until you tasted the ink.

"Gah!" You yell running to the sink spitting everything out. "Squawk!" Your pet bird yelled as he watched. Today was going to be a long day. As you rinsed You mouth with water you phone began ringing. You fumbled around trying to turn the faucet off while looking back at your table.

"Hello?" You say drying your hands up.

"Y/N! I can't figure it out, this is impossible theirs nothing that talks about Keigo." Your friends cries.

She was one of your colleagues that was also in search for the same answer. This was her seventh time picking this research up.

"How do you think I feel Olva?Iv looked at almost every painting and script possible and still no answers." You sigh looking at your desk filled with notes and coffee. Maybe some rest will make you feel better or some actual food other than sugar cookies.

"Let's go to the museum and look around to see if they have something to help us. They could have secret scripts!" She giggled, "oh and it will be fun plus they have the actual tomb of the king." She added on.

It didn't seem like a bad idea at all. It also gave you a reason to go out for the first time in weeks. You've been too busy with the research making you be all cooped up in here like a chicken.

"Fine but only if you pay for lunch." You smirk.

"It's a deal, see you tomorrow y/n." She laughed and hung up.

Finally some rest! You throw your phone onto the bed and rest in your chair spinning yourself around. This was going to be the best sleep you've ever had. You never knew how much you needed it until you accidentally fell asleep in the shower two days ago.

Standing up you take your clothes off and sluggish got ready for bed. As you finished you walk up to your bird. "Hungry? Here's some dinner," You give him seeds and a fruit. He was your green and red love bird. He's been with you ever since high school and was your best friend. After giving him goodnight you walk to your bed And the he second you head hit the pillow you fell into a deep sleep.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" Your phone alarm rang loudly. You groan not wanting your rest to end here. When would you be able to have another chance like this? You would be going back to your sad sleeping schedule. You managed to pull yourself together and sit up grabbing your phone to stop the alarm. You quickly get ready for your day until you realized the time 6:45pm.

"Oh fuck," You panic and run out the door with a bag in your hand. You shove your hand in your bag and take out your phone. Tons of missing calls and messages appeared. She was totally going to scold you for that. You hesitate but call and brought the phone to your ear.

"Olva! I'm so sorry my alarm was set for 6pm and I'm currently running to the museum that closes at 8." You say while running to your car. Their was a few minutes of silence until you heard her, "y/n if you don't get here I'm 20 minutes I will end you!" She yelled causing you to pull your phone away from your ear.

"Yes ma'am!" You Yelp and shoving the keys in and speeding off. When Olva was mad it was no joke. It was as if you angered the sea. You pull up to the museum in 15 minutes. You've never ran so fast in your life till now. Eventually you made it up the stairs and into the building showing the security guard your pass. Being a archaeologists gave you discounts and free passes to things such as this. As he scanned it and checked your belongings you thought about how you hadn't eaten all day.

"Welcome you have 38 minutes ," the officer says letting you go in. You nod and followed the signs that directed you to your destination. You made it there quite fast seeing her in the distance looking at her watch.

"Olva!" You yell in the distance, the place was almost empty with people leaving the place.

"Your late," she says crossing her arms.

"I know I know but I made other though." You pant resting your hands on your knees. She rolls her eyes and continues to walk to the pharaohs tomb. You follow along behind her analyzing everything in the room.

In there laid the tomb with dim lights on it. It was tall and tan color with the shape of the king. The tombs where carved by people for the king when he died. But before they did that his organs would be taken out and put in a jar. During the funeral Anubis would come and take out a scale with a feather and the dead persons heart. This would determine if they would go to the after world. They took this very seriously since it was believed that not just anyone could go there. If the heart weighed heavier he would not be allowed to go and be cursed a second death.

It was fascinating seeing the tomb up close. It made you wonder how he looked inside. Would taking a peek hurt? Nobody was around but you two. "Olva Im going to open this," You say getting closer.

"What are you crazy? Their going to kick us out!" She whispered aggressively as she grabbed your hand.

"What if this helps us uncover something? We would be the one of greatest archeologists! Almost every person has tired to figure this out and failed Olva. We can be the ones to find the answers." You say pulling your arm away. You put your hands on the tomb pulling it up with all of your force  opening it a bit. Before you could open it fully you heard someone near by. "The museum is now closed! If anyone's here please leave!" You heard in the distance. It was a guard walking around. You grab Olva and pushed her behind the Tomb that was on a stone table. Putting your finger up to your lip. You close up the casket causing something to come out. It was a red feather. You caught it as it floated in the air and ran behind the tomb. You saw Olva panic and shakily get up scared of staying during closing hours. If they see her here they will look for you too and it would get both of you in trouble. You shoved her back down making your body tower over hers. Your face was inches from hers making you look away as you covered her mouth. It was now Silent except for his foot step that walk into the room you where in. They became louder as he walked towards you guys. Your breath hitched as he stoped at your direction. You look back down to see her shaking her head.

"Are you serious?" You hear him say. Your heart stopped, you've been caught and you couldn't run leaving your friend behind. You pull the courage to stand up until he said something else.

"Brats left their bag here." He says as he shuffled around and left. A sigh of relief came to you as you peaked and saw nobody.

"Are you crazy?! How are we supposed to leave now? Oh sorry we where hiding but now we want to leave?" She says poking you repeatedly.

"Olva you don't understand this is for research! We will be the greatest of them all! All of those days without sleep won't be needed anymore. We're going to be rich!" You shake her and get back on your feet. The lights where now turned off except for one that shined in the middle making everything dim. You wave your hand for Olva to come over who hesitates but had no choice since she was already here.

Both of you pull with all your mighty force. You could feel the sweat roll down on your forehead as you pulled even harder. Your fingers hurt and your legs buckled until eventually it opened. You stumble back trying to catch your breath from holding it in.

"Y/n check this out..." she says shocked. You could see her eyes widen in shock. You comply and approached her to take a look. Inside was a mummy wrapped in bandages but it had something standing out. On the head their was a golden thin paper with a word carved on it. You couldn't really read it due to it being dark so you took it off and walked to the light.

Olva had her mouth wide open not wanting to believe you where this dumb. "We should leave now y/n I don't feel good about this." You hear her say worriedly in the background.

"Yea yea let me just read this it's kinda dirty and rusty." You wave her off and continue reading until you hear a quick whoosh and the light flickered. "Stupid light don't you see I'm busy here?" You mumbled and turn back around to see the body missing.

You freeze looking around until you feel someone grab your shoulder pulling you back and placing something sharp on your neck, the gold paper fell to the floor as you didn't dare to move. Olvas face was a clear as day, she was mortified.

"Where am I? Where is the king? Who are you people?" His deep voice said as he clenched your shoulder tighter.

"What are you talking about?" You say confused and turning around you see a man with blonde hair, jewelry that reached from his neck to his shoulders, a shirt made out of white clothes and red wings painted gold at the ends. He seemed to be wearing familiar clothes you’ve laid your eyes on before. Clothes of an ancient person…

This was undoubtedly Keigo Takami.

[steve0discusses]

Ep 46 Pt 1: Zorc’s Massive Low Hanging Fruit

We are getting very close! I don’t actually...remember how many episodes there were in this season but listen, It can’t possibly be more than 50 right?

Right?

Anyway, we’re starting off in the battle basement in Yami’s tomb. Who, of course has a battle basement installed right outside of his final resting place, just like how he would have wanted.

And it’s here that the form of Bakura that the dub is telling me is Ryou wants to kill his own classmate. Which, I’ll just point it out since a couple people mentioned it, apparently the manga did not do this nor did the original Japanese version. The dub just made this Ryou for giggles. We already know Bakura can split into evil pieces, this was not necessary. We also know that Ryou is sleeping on those painful steppies, so this doesn’t make much logical sense.

But like we’re watching the dub right now, so sorry, everybody, this is Ryou. Ryou on a bad day, I guess. Dark Ryou. Not to be confused with Shadow Ryou, who is...that other freaking guy.

Yugi just upset that he forgot to bring his dueling disk to a dream universe in the past or whatever. Must feel naked without that thing stinking up his left arm and making that school blazer all wrinkly. Bro is telling me that Yugi should have one really big arm, kind of like trogdor.

(read more under the cut)

the one thing that does make sense with making this Ryou is a little bit of symbolic imagery. Ryou talks about how he doesn’t have friends anymore in the beginning of this arc, and we can assume it’s because he’s decided to step away from other people because of the ghost in his bean. In contrast, Yugi has all these friends he cursed to like him (woops), and for whom he just risked his whole life for, and for whom he didn’t learn the Pharaoh’s name that he needed in order to save all of mankind.

Which, for reals, Tea and Joey are such good buds, that he really did just end the world to save their ass, and that is pretty anime of him.

But Tea gets very nervous over whether or not Yugi was going to perma-die. It would be very awkward if he died, since he’s also the host of this puzzle which is she is currently stuck inside of. Though I’m not 100% on if it’s even possible for him to die here. Little bit of a chicken or the egg situation, which I may have brought up before.

But still, she’s worried about it.

Which is when Joey does a quick head count and go “WAIT WAIT"

(the show does not show us where Tristan is)

Back at Kul Elna, everything is very quickly falling apart. Rocks are falling from the sky, Pharaoh is back at the capital with Seto and the other Seto, and Karim helllllllllllllla died last episode (or 2 episodes ago? I have such bad memory nowadays) so we’re just gonna leave his corpse in the barn and go.

sorry I just took in the incredible abs on this oversized chess piece that is Hassad. 

Why bother? Like for reals why bother?

I have so many questions about this random guy and his character design and they will not get answered. Apparently Dark Side of Dimensions dives into it as well as other unresolved issues from this season but like, that’s for another time. We will be watching that later, and at my rate it’ll be like 5 years from now but I swear...unless I caught covid a second (third?) time we will eventually get there and find out the deal of this...this freakin guy.

Meanwhile, our story boarders are not finished flexing. I think they really enjoyed this particular episode, with this really fun composition around Bakura here. They LOVE to shred scenery with Bakura on this carving, and there are so many good shots where it’s like a comic cover. I mean, look at this:

Damn that’s a good idea. This composition is fun. You got the curves from this...pokemon that I forgot the name of... you got him dead center all strong and rigid to contrast the curves. You got purple and green clouds. It’s fun. If y’all ever want to do the “draw this anime still but in your style” this is a good still. Good stuff.

And then Bakura peaces off--no idea where, and it doesn’t really matter since we have like so many Bakura’s at this point. Lets just assume he’s everywhere.

And with that, the ground gives way to the ZORC within.

This ultimate being, Zorc, who we’ve been talking up for so many episodes.

And that’s when we find out Isis also left out another crucial detail about Zorc:

So listen. We can say that the...neck...of the snake is coming out of his lower stomach. But also, they left it in shadow for a reason. 

The reason is, this episode is getting me flagged.

It occurred to me I don’t have to go for the low hanging fruit. I don’t have to. I can find a way around this. And I struggled. And I did whatever I, a full grown adult, could think to do. I thought to myself, I am a creative person, and I am inventive and I can write comedy well enough so it’s not just about poops and butts and dicks.

And then I gave up because of the number of times this thing is dead center on screen. And really, truly, I make a lot of low hanging jokes on this blog anyway so we’re just going to embrace Zorc for who he really is, both inside and outside.

And he is a slowly growing talking dragon shaped penis with legs.

Covered up by my joke towel in this scene I want you to know the snake just had it’s maws wide open to shout them down. It literally does only talk out of the dragon head on the bottom part of him.

Anyway, then Hassan jumps in front of the missiles zorc shoots from his crotch and well...he dies that way.

Death by firecrotch. This is like an immortal God meant to be the protector of the Pharaohs but you can kill him and the way how is disgusting.

There they go, back to the palace, which like, I guess is VERY close to Kul Elna, since Yami and Seto are currently vibing there right now.

Back at fight club, these two are still at it.

and then back at the funeral of the most romantic anime death of all time, Seto is still at it.

Seto, despite probably having to throw just SO MANY funerals for his tragic backstory is not very good at them. So right now he’s just distancing himself emotionally from literally everything going on around him by convincing himself this is all a very vivid hallucination.

Which it is. For once he is correct, this entire arc is a hallucination, but a hallucination with consequences. Which he is not used to. Hell he doesn’t see consequences when he’s not in a hallucination half the time. He’s like super rich.

Yami decides he did what he can, but he’s done with this freakin guy. I guess trying to reach through to Seto is a skill that only Yugi possesses, cuz Yami is just clear out of patience for this sociopath. Which is a shame, he usually loves this sociopath.

I laughed out loud at this cut to this horse’s ass and Seto’s reaction to being left behind from getting a ride the one time he was the one who needed a ride.

LMAO at the dub for adding that suspicious soil clump where a dead girlfriend probably was laying before.

but being real, this is another very nice shot, I didn’t cap it for vibes, and I really should have. Again, if you’re looking for a “draw this in your style” anime still challenge, this is another fun one. You got a juxtaposition of old and new. You got the storytelling of the dead girlfriend and trying to understand feelings you don’t understand because you were taught to never love. You got lovely ancient pillars. You got a clump of dirt that used to be a girl...

Like we may have dragged Seto’s ass back here, just to make him look cool and out of place in that coat as the wind sweeps by him. And that’s fine, I’ll accept that Seto this season may only be here for some vibes.

As he admires her slowly breathing (yes, breathing, thanks dub) he flashes back to that only time he every had a single conversation with this woman (a conversation they had, only because she thought he was someone else)

And off he goes, to look cool and probably do little else.

And as always, here is the link to read these from the beginning in chrono order.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[cottonkhaleesi]

Holiday socks!

Didn’t take that many photos of my knitting whilst on holiday but I did manage to finish one whole sock whilst there and get to the heel turn of the next before coming home.

Seeing as these are called Hatshepsut Socks I figured it would be best to put a picture of the finest Pharaoh up there too.

Infuriatingly my first 50g ball lasted me until 6 rows before the end which means I guess I lost yarn chicken on this one in spirit and lugged that second ball all the way to Africa and back for no reason, but does mean if I have to make these again in small (as I fear the medium size is too big for my little feets) at least I can be mostly assured I can do it.

Not 100% done yet but very close.

[whitepharaoh]

White Pharaoh, my Lord and Savior, where do I even begin.

I’ve loved You since I’ve first laid my eyes on You. Whenever You have me outside working in the cold snow, building Your gracious pyramids, I get a little bit too excited 🤭

I won’t bore You with details, but I stroke my chicken to you many times in a day. The moment I see a white person, I turn into Parlov’s dog and can’t stop choking my eggplant while I salivate all over myself. My balls are bright blue and they hurt so badly, but I do it all for You. Sometimes I do it so hard that I start leaking blood, but I continue for You, my gracious king. Always for You. Only You, and You alone.

-👅 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 anon

My humble servant, please… please get some help.