#Sorry I went on for a bit haha...

[creepy-crowleys]

R: I'm a little late to asking, but could you talk more about your adventure to hidden portions of Amarna, Agent? Despite setbacks, it must have been utterly riveting to be surrounded by so much history.

Of course! It absolutely was.

I will mention, going in, that the reality of my world is... a bit more fantastical compared to historical record. Of note: The Aten sun disk is a very real entity, one of the sun-eaters whose captivity was used to shape my world and whose presence leeches a virulent, corrupted for of magic into its surroundings.

I was initially called out to the neighboring inhabited city of al-Merayah on reports of suspected smuggling activity outside of the known rings in the area, as well as fears of the famed Plagues of Egypt appearing again. On arrival, the city was under siege with a local militia, the Marya, defending against the modern followers of Aten.

It was eventually determined that the earthquake that led into the reappearance of the plagues was actually caused by the magic keeping the true city of Amarna concealed failing, due to a pileup of complicating factors, time being a significant one.

Entrance to Amarna - original posting

Just beyond the gates to the city itself; note Aten sun disk - original posting

For the month and some I and a handful of Council of Venice and Marya agents operated in the city, the sun/sun disk barely moved in the sky, night never fell, and it was perpetually sweltering.

Map of the city with our initial entry point and camp circled - original posting

The drawings of the seven gods on the map represent the Sentinels, seven monuments to the depicted gods containing the souls of the seven children of a high priest of Amun-Ra, bound to the city to seal and obscure it and to keep Akhenaten from rising again.

Monument of Meretseger and chamber interior - original posting

Her name was Moutemouia, third child of High Priest Ptahmose. She was tasked with keeping the city concealed and it was her strength and conviction wavering that ultimately let us in. The siblings were able to communicate both through their monument or through the smaller statues decorating the monuments' inner chambers.

Thutmose (Horus), Nefertari (Ma'at), Moutemouia (Meretseger), Hemitneter (Sekhmet), Moutnefert (Satis), Nefertari the Younger (Bast), Huoy (Anubis).

Moutnefert dreamed of travel. Ptahmose brought her postcards and stories from the outside, but she always wanted to see it for herself. Nefertari the Younger and Huoy were just excited to have someone new to play games with them. Hemitneter was itching to take the fight to the Atenists directly, haha!

...All of them were starting to wonder if they'd outlived the gods they'd stood for.

Most of the time we were there, I was helping the Sentinels with their tasks while they taught me the spellwork to access Akhenaten's tomb so he could be dealt with directly. I got to help herd souls to the afterlife, feed the corrupted to Ammut, harass the modern living and mummified original incarnations of the Atenists.

Assorted photographs of the area - original postings (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

As can probably be expected time, warfare, and modern cultist and monster activity has seen the collapse of many structures throughout the city. Most civilian dwellings are likely to have failed by this, but several of the larger structures and temples have remained largely intact. The black sludge forming on the trees and ground (image 4) and also polluting much of the limited water supply is the manifestation of the Aten's corrupted magic, as is the spider-like monster inhabiting the temple (image 5). The creature in the sixth image is a human that was heavily mutated due to exposure to this magic during the mummification process - possibly with direct influence from the Aten itself as not all mummified cultists progressed to the same degree as this particular one did. Most Atenist (and Sol Invictus, present in the wider area) mummies retained normal human proportions, but a select handful attained more monstrous forms.

As the investigation progressed, there became an increase in seismic activity that was eventually determined to be emanating from beneath Akhenaten's pyramid.

Addition photograph of the area. The Black Pyramid, Akhenaten's tomb, is faintly visible in the background beneath the Aten sun disk. We never identified that skeleton. - original posting

There is a story among the Jinn that the first of their kind, immediately upon its creation, refused to be made subservient to any creature and so consumed its own name so that it couldn't be used to control it.

Jinni tablet cotaining the story of the First Jinn, The Fabled Genie of the Lamp - original posting with full translation

According to their lore, the Unbound was eventually deceived by King Soloman who trapped the Unbound in a magical prison (by human versions, a lamp) and hid that lamp deep underground, away from anyone that the Jinn could tempt into releasing it on the promise of granting a wish.

It was fascinating! As we were researching the earthquakes, we became increasingly aware of a voice that being projected through them. I have a couple of recordings here and here!

And using the Jinn's writing, I was able to locate and access the passage that led beneath the pyramid!

Assorted photographs of said passages - original postings (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Image 5 contains insect religion! They were congregated and seemingly worshiping the imagery of the scarab!

I have a few posts of artifacts I came across too! Here, here, and here!

I was able to locate the First Jinn's containment as well. The modern Atenists had been using explosives to hunt for artifacts in and around Amarna and had caused a piece of the ceiling in its chamber to break loose, damaging an anchor for the wards around it.

First Jinn's chamber with damaged anchor and containment device - original posting

Much of the technology used through the chamber and passages are believed to be Third Age in origin, a version reality that was overwritten by our current one. Solomon was supposedly native to it, and one of the few (probable) humans to have been able to retain themselves through the transition. Third Age magic and technology are difficult to replicate due the world simply not working the same way anymore.

In any case, I was able to get the anchor patched up and working again.

And then I broke into the Black Pharaoh's burial chamber and confronted him directly. I. Admittedly didn't get much of an opportunity to appreciate most of it. A large conflict broke out between the Atenists and the allies I brought, and I was urged on ahead to face the more serious threats. The Sentinels backed me up.

...Someone from one of the groups I had allied with shot me after the dust settled. They stole Akhenaten's body and staff before anyone else could get in to stop them and I was nearly fired for disobeying orders and having anything to do with them in the first place, so. I never got too much of a chance to look around the pyramid unfortunately, haha...! I have a few pictures of its exterior at least.

Exterior of the Black Pyramid - original postings (1, 2, 3)

Frescos found in chambers around the pyramid depicting: (1) The birth of Akhenaten's son, Tutankhaten (later Tutankhamun), (2) The formation of the Marya under Tutankhamun and Thutmose, (3) Ptahmose sacrificing his seven children to seal the Black Pyramid and Akhenaten, (4) Akhenaten's lineage with his son and wife, blessed by the Aten, and (5) Akhenaten's judgement and execution before Ptahmose, High Priest of Amun-Ra.

Ptahmose and his children were all released from their duties following Akhenaten's defeat, and the curse on the city has been fading since. I haven't spent much time there. It's hard to see the Sentinel's monuments still there and so empty without them.

[kashmimo]

baby pokemon trainers 🐣

[vaguely-concerned]

having seen at least the rough outlines of all the romances now I have to say that I think emmrich's is probably objectively the best in terms of coherence and completeness of story arc (with the understanding that ultimately the 'best' romance is whichever one makes YOUR heart sing anyway so objectivity is a silly thing to claim that way, it just felt like it's the arc with the most well-paced focused content and the least dangling threads)... but lucanis' is my favourite haha. just. the whole kneeling before your beloved full of reverence but without any of the distance that usually implies??? his complete undramatic certainty and calm in every scene with rook after this, having spent the whole game caught between fear and longing???? mr. lives in a pantry but it says nothing about my psyche don't worry about it it's purely for tactical reasons that I keep myself contained in a small dark room not entirely unlike a cell, love among the parsnips -- finally coming to rook in their room and it's so comfortable and comforting???? after all the times rook supports and comforts him through the game he's finally able to return the same to them when they need it while being so calm and steady and it's so fucking sweet and feels so effortless and with no price attached?????? he basically assigns himself the role of your bodyguard and he WILL stab a god over it??????????????? the turn to protector (which was in his heart all along longing to get out and find a place) of it all????? he sounds like he's found himself unexpectedly stumbling into such a soul-lightening state of revelatory existential relief, full on 'you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves' mary oliver style, and he goes and he shares that with rook and protectively envelops them in it when they're hurting??????????????????????????? hello for the maker's sake hello can anyone hear me?????

[robinfollies]

me and the guy i pulled by accidentally implying i like jazz music

[short666bread]

the lads rolling up to the (halloween) function

[cj-kenobi]

"You wear fine things well, Cody."

based on this post from @lightasthesun!

[askblueandviolet]

Tú, alcalde. ¿Hablas español? Eso sería genial :D

"Yes, I know many languages! Mandarin, cantonese, english, brazilian, french, italian, and of course, spanish!"

MASTER POST

Asks Start 💙💜

Previous 💙💜

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[volfoss]

it is beyond infuriating how anne rice seems to insist on marius being a positive force in anyone's life ever. like she can't fully commit to exploring the fact he groomed armand and has repeatedly taken away his consent for what marius thinks is best (take the end of TVA as an example) and just kind of flatly puts it in the narrative. there's not really much interest in how these horrific events make marius come across as the worst because EVERYONE loves him. for gods sake, lestat learns from armand exactly what marius did to him in TVL and then proceeds to go find marius and be super friendly to him in the same fucking book. even armand and pandora, two of the people who have MORE than enough right to hate him, do not. it doesnt feel like shes trying to explore the toxicity of the abusive dynamic he traps them in, it just is there. and like yeah ofc the toxic vampire romance series but i think that this should be handled with more care. and it is not ever really framed in a way that she is interested in exploring how marius should easily be one of the most horrific characters in this series because it kind of feels like sa/rape/grooming/other things of that sort are just put there to further plot and not to really get the respect that they deserve in a medium.

[badlydrawnjohn]

OOC: John's grimdark arc (otherwise known as grimdarc, a name i have lovingly pilfered from @poorlydrawnvriska ) is coming to an end soon!! i'm making a slightly bigger piece of art for it though so it'll take a little longer to finish then my normal pieces which is why there's a little bit of a lull in the action atm!

[asteralley]

my nucarni opinions under the cut (mostly shipping dynamics)

I often see a lot of people saying they wished dante was a bottom but I don't vibe with the idea of bottom dante sorry 😔

each top has their own "thing" (yakumo having gap moe, kuya's bdsm, quincy's...huge size) and I like dante's thing being that he's overconfident and sucks at sex. tried giving eiden head but he literally just held his cock in his mouth without moving. absolutely hilarious please give me more of this man.

I also love how he's getting better at it though. we went from dante not knowing how to finger properly but can now easily satisfy eiden. tbh my only issue is dante being too fast of a learner but thats nitpicking

I guess I'm also more attached to bottom eiden than top eiden, so if dante was a bottom I wouldn't be as attached to enei

also, I'm not really understanding the appeal of dante/edmond? I think both of them being tsunderes would make it too hard to work out a romantic situation between them. Aesthetically speaking long haired red and blue would look good but their current relationship as two workaholics is fine.

the only clan member I'd actually like to see switch is blade. I would love to imagine his e-droid features being used in more unique ways like how he can change the taste of his cum. maybe something like temperature control or a vibration feature

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

Part of me was considering redesigning Adriana (my Pokémon Reborn self-insert)’s outfit fairly recently, but I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go with the redesign. Then today’s Pokémon Presents happened, and - since Adri is supposed to have started her journey in Kalos - suffice it to say I was very excited, and also inspired to change it once again! But, I’m still at a bit of a crossroads about whether or not I actually want to go through with doing it since I don’t have any super concrete ideas, so.. maybe we shall see?

[myjustice]

For the holiday season. If Furina had to choose between dressing as Santa, a reindeer, or an elf, which would she choose?

she would love to be in one of those cute santa outfit ones. she would definitely be dressed as santa & find cheer in giving out gifts &/or being told by children what they would like for the holidays.

then she would go to neuvillette & he too will be dressing up as santa because she said so & she would give him a list of all the wishes she got from the children who came to her & would convince him to buy them said gifts so that the two of them can go about fontaine door to door & give them their gifts.

not only in an attempt to get him out but to also help him feel like he can connect with them & not feel like they’re so out of his reach because they too would no doubt want to connect with their ruler.

[bahoreal]

im gonna go off on one in the tags pls enjoy

[creative-caramel-coffee]

would you possibly be interested in writing something else in the same au as "a disastrous first"? i love the like role model-y older sibling role they take on for the reader

Yep I would be happy to :) is there anything in particular you would like me to write? If not I’m happy to come up with something. I have some ideas. Beacuse that fic was actually loosely based on a personal experience with a camp i went on and i have plenty of other stories from that camp. It was a very long camp. More than three weeks. And i had many borderline traumatic things happen i can draw on for inspo (I laugh about most of it now haha). It was kind of a military style camp so it was very intense. You know stuff like 2km run each morning before breakfast. Chores. Manual labour. Bush skills and survival experiences. like surviving on your own in the bush with nothing for three days. A three day 50km hike with 20kg packs. Stuff like that. Also for anyone wondering, no it was not my choice to do it. Btw I went on that camp as a 14 year old so it was a while ago and a lot to deal with as a literal child. Many near death experiences. Many great stories. Needed stitches at least twice. If anyone has any questions about it i’m pretty open about it. Haha this post just turned in a rant lol.

But going back to the question. Yes i would be happy to.

[godsofhumanity]

Hello,do you have any headcannons for the lettuce incident with Horus and Set?

SO MANY. idk where to start from because i've already spoken bits and pieces about it-- check my hc masterlist in my bio!

ok, so, like I said here, i think Set's betrayal all begins with his perception that Osiris is too kind-hearted and therefore, too weak to rule properly.

and so he decides to kill Osiris and take over. and this is all super clean because Osiris doesn't have any heirs that could possibly contest for the throne.

UNTIL, Isis, with the power of love, resurrects Osiris and has Horus. NO ONE was expecting that, least of all Set... i hc that Set banishes Isis and doesn't kill her because she's still his sister and she's sort of a bit timid and doesn't pose any real threat to him (or so he thinks).

now, the thing about Horus is that he lives most of his life away from the capital of Egypt-- which is where Set stays. so Horus hears a lot of stories about Set, but doesn't really know who he is. but, now that Horus has grown up a bit, and Set is a bit older than he was back when he killed Osiris, Horus thinks that since he's younger, he should be stronger, and it'll be really easy to defeat Set.

but when Horus arrives at Set's palace, i like the idea that he's very flashy and loud and just openly reveals who he is and challenges Set then and there. and Set is like "wtf how are you even alive!" and Set, equally as arrogant as Horus, thinks it'll be an easy task to kill Horus right there on the spot.

so they have, right from the get-go, this rivalry where they both think they're sooo much better than the other. but, the truth about who's better isn't actually all that clear. they fight, but get interrupted by the arrival of Atum (Egyptian creation myth varies, but i like the idea that Atum is the supreme creator,, THE first guy ever, and progenitor of all gods) who "hosts" the Ennead.

and Atum, wise beyond measure, decides that picking who should be Pharaoh isn't as simple as winning a fight, so he designs numerous challenges to test all manner of skills and reveal the one who is truly worthy of the throne.

unfortunately, Set and Horus are both very cunning and talented, and there is no distinct victor. ultimately, the challenges are no longer about being good at the game, but outsmarting/foiling each other.

now, Set hates Horus for numerous reasons; chiefly because he threatens to take away Set's throne which he has "sacrificed much for", but also because Horus and his family (i.e., Osiris and Isis) have taken away all that Set wishes for... from Set's perspective.

Osiris, ruler of Egypt, took the throne that Set thought he was more worthy of. everyone fawns over Isis for her beauty and kindness, but Set perceives that Nephthys is wayyy prettier and talented and has more heart/soul than Isis ever could have, and lastly, the final nail in the coffin, Isis is responsible for raising Anubis after Nephthys, in fear of Set, gives Anubis away to Isis so she doesn't have to raise him herself in Set's presence where Anubis might grow to be as tyrannical as Set.

obviously, Set doesn't see himself as the reason for why Anubis had to be sent away.. in my version of events, Set doesn't even know Anubis exists until Horus goes with Anubis to the capital to challenge Set... this is because Nephthys conceals her pregnancy from Set, so he's completely oblivious.

but the thing is-- i like the idea that Set actually does want a family. he does love Nephthys. he would have been over the moon to have a son, to raise Anubis himself, and he HATES Isis for taking his son away from him... i do not think he blames Nephthys,, but is convinced that she was "brainwashed" into giving Anubis away.

so when Set sees Horus and Anubis acting like brothers, it pisses Set off a lot, and it makes Set hate Horus even more.

now... with the actual lettuce incident.. the original is too weird for my liking- i think Set and Horus should have a strictly professional relationship (and also idk how anyone could stick to the original myth without sounding batshit insane).

backstory for a moment: i have a hc that, at the place where Ra first emerged is a tree. and that tree bears seed that is considered to be the substance of life (you can probably see where im going with this)... certain creator gods like Ra, Ptah, and Atum, have the power and skill to use that seed to create lifeforms, but for most other gods, it's toxic and akin to poison. so Set steals some of the seeds off this tree and uses it to hopefully poison Horus.

in the original myth, Ra, Horus, Set and a few others i think, go to this secret island where they're supposed to play nice and not fight. so, under the pretense that he's "playing nice" and following the truce, Set gifts Horus some of this poison that he's disguised as wine.

but Horus isn't as dumb as he looks, and although he doesn't know what it is that Set has given to him, he recognises the danger in accepting something from Set. so of course, he goes to his mother (like he always does).

and i think from there, Isis and Hathor realise Set's plan and turn the tables on him, transferring that poison to Set's favourite lettuce.

you might ask, why does Set accept the lettuce from Horus when he knows they're enemies??? well, i think, the simplest answer is that Set underestimates Horus. constantly.

he doesn't see Horus as a threat that he can't defeat. so, when Horus gives Set the lettuce, he's reasonably sure that it's not poisoned. as a precaution, i hc that the poison is only in the core of the lettuce, so to prove it's not poisoned, Horus can eat a leaf from the outmost layer and be fine, but when Set eats into the centre of the lettuce, that's when the poison strikes.

anyways. the rest is the same as the classic myth. Set eats the lettuce and gets pregnant -_- and gives birth to a disk which is very humiliating and embarrassing for him.

now, the act of getting impregnated by your rival is supposed to be like... the most shameful thing ever. it's not something to be proud of. BUT, this kinda doesn't make sense to me because a lot of gods in myth have given birth on their own and no one really faced any embarrassing social consequences because of this. ALSO, the Contendings doesn't end when Set gives birth, BUT ends when Set unwittingly admits that he did the wrong thing and Horus should be King, and that doesn't happen for a bit.

SO, i like the idea that Set, crafty as ever, decides to spin things around and claim that the fact that he could create life is not a shameful thing, after all- Ra himself created Hathor and many other gods by himself, as did Atum, and also Ptah. so, really, there's nothing wrong with it.

and,, because Set is so skilled in persuasion, many on the Ennead are inclined to agree with him, and so, the Contendings continues on with MORE challenges, much to Horus' chagrin.

[sar3nka]

Being way too obsessive when in love is literally my worst trait I'm too dramatic -_-