#also ashlander>all

[panlight]

I know bring this up like once every six months but I will never understand how "Olympic Coven" became so commonly used for the Cullens' coven in fandom when they are never called that by anyone in the books, don't call themselves that, never called that in the movies, never called that in the Guide.

The name literally only exists in the Vampire Index in the back of Breaking Dawn. This should be a strange little easter egg we all forgot about.

How did it become so widespread in fandom when it's so obscure in the actual books (and not in the movies at all)? It seems like it was a one time idea of SM's that she abandoned, because it's not in the guide (almost all references to 'Olympic' in the guide refer to the Newtons' store and they are called the Cullen Coven in the guide) or Midnight Sun, but it lives on in fandom.

It is literally just because the wiki uses it? So anyone getting into the fandom for the first time and googling characters will see it and then uses it themselves? Does the Rule of Cool apply, because it brings up images of eternal gods and powerful athletes, even though it's really talking about a mountain range?

[kinghlaaluhelseth]

im surprised there's not a lot of oblivion questline overhauls like there are for skyrim and morrowind. id love a dbh questline overhaul that lets you side with mathieu instead.

[kokikwii]

I missed the eclipse bc i forgot it was yesterday . And was playing my sixth playthrough of bg3 with my partner lol

[valiisthea]

Would anyone be interested in the OCs I brought up last night? Keith, Micah, Ashland, Nate, and a new oc I just made tonight called Austin? 👀

Fcs under the readmore. Yes, I use actors/musicians/well known people as FCs. No I do not base these characters after their FCs, nor will I ever, nor do I agree with the idea of role-playing real people. I think it's fine to use FCs for OCs. If you don't agree, probably don't look below the cut then.

Keith:

Micah:

Ashland:

Nate:

Austin:

Austin and Micah have the same FC, yes. Don't @ me 🤣

Austin isn't a fnaf oc but his story does intertwine with fnaf a little. He was a previous security guard that quit (did not get killed) and ends up going back to warn/try to save all the other guards that end up taking the job.

[rucow]

i imagine that when nerevar and voryn visit an ashlander camp together he truly notices how well voryn fits in and how much they Look like the velothi...he points it out and voryn's just like "well yea that's bc this *gestures at ashlander wise woman* is my aunt on my father's side"

[noxcorvid]

help im getting mod ideas beyond my skill level

[dishwatergothic]

resisting the urge to post very specifically

[copperbadge]

Routing the El

@mbta-unofficial recently "routed" the T in Boston, riding through every T stop in the city in a single day. I love public transit and random fuckery so this appealed to me instantly, but even @mbta-unofficial admitted they didn't know how they'd route the El here in Chicago. I know nothing about routing and very little about certain parts of the El even after living here as long as I have, but I'm willing to take a swing.

The first question is one of simple logistics: are we riding every stop, or every train that passes through a stop?

In other words, there are many stops that multiple lines pass through, and the question is whether it's enough to pass through each stop on a train, or do I need to ride the entirety of the line, then backtrack and hit the same stations on a different line? This wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the purple line, which is an express from Evanston that covers much of the northern red line branch and a huge whack of the brown line as well. If I'm covering lines, I almost certainly need to start with purple.

Moreover, do I include the yellow line, which is an extension built to serve basically a single suburb? It feels snobbish to ignore it; it is outside of Chicago proper but then so are several stops on the blue and green. But it also feels very Chicagoan not to acknowledge it, and it is going to be a massive pain in the ass to include because there's nothing near it. I would just be riding out to the Dempster-Skokie stop and back, or starting at Dempster-Skokie and then having to backtrack up the purple line.

Which leads to the next question: where to begin? @mbta-unofficial's route began at one of the termini, Braintree, which they traveled to get to, so in theory one could, and probably should, begin at an endpoint, but the T also isn't structured exactly like the El; there is a central exchange, but nothing as cohesive as the Loop, around which almost every line circulates and which every line at least touches except the yellow. But living downtown, I could also begin at a Loop station, or a red or blue line station that touches the Loop.

So let's set some rules for the initial run, and once that's accomplished, we'll see about adding complications.

Every station, not every line. As long as I touch every station while on a train, it counts.

However, if the stations are discrete, I have to hit them twice -- in other words, I have to touch Monroe and Jackson twice, once on the Red and once on the Blue, because the platforms are accessible to each other but separated by a passageway several blocks long. I'll have to touch Lake twice, once on the Red, because it's both elevated and underground.

I'm going to disqualify the Yellow not because it's suburban but because it doesn't touch the Loop. This is the rule I'd most likely revisit if I was going to attempt this several times.

I am also going to disqualify the purple line, not via the "loop exception" but because it will knock almost half the red line off the map for me in about a third of the time it would otherwise take, but even so having to start at Linden kind of fucks me. Given the purple line's extremely limited running time, there's an argument for disqualification, but this is another rule I'd revisit on a second attempt.

Removing the purple line makes routing a lot easier. And I think the starting point then becomes both obvious and poetic: we start at O'Hare, where it costs double to board the train.

O'Hare blue line all the way to Forest Park is an easy first leap, and from there I think it's most rational to bus to the green at Harlem/Lake and ride it all the way to Cottage Grove. From Cottage Grove, backtrack to Garfield to cover the Ashland-63rd leg of the green line, and then again back to Garfield to disembark and walk to the Garfield red line, which I can take south to 95th/Dan Ryan, then north again to Roosevelt (another two-touch stop). I can catch the Orange at Roosevelt south to Midway and back north again unless there's a fast bus to 54th/Cermak; presuming there's not, depending on stop times I can either take the Orange line back to hit any missing loop station or transfer to the Pink and then take that out to 54th/Cermak. Either way I need to get back into the Loop and catch the Brown out to Kimball, then back to Belmont (or Montrose and bus to Wilson), north to Howard, then south to Harrison on the Red line. Convenient to end at my home station -- I didn't plan it around that, but it's a nice touch.

If I really wanted to get ADHD about this I could sit down with timetables and work out ways to catch trains within the loop to shave minutes off, but El timetables are essentially worthless these days.

I think that's a functional plan. Working off my base knowledge of the trains and also with the reminder that I'm pretty time-blind, I'm estimating:

Blue line O'Hare to Forest Park: 2hrs

Bus to Harlem/Lake: The 318 picks up every 15 minutes and takes 8 minutes, so guesstimate 30 minutes to be on the safe side.

Green Line Harlem/Lake to Cottage Grove: 1.5hrs

Cottage Grove back up to Garfield and down to Ashland/63rd: Again no idea, but probably at least 30 minutes

Ashland/63rd to Garfield and transfer to Red Line Garfield: 30 minutes?

Red Line Garfield to 95th/Dan Ryan and back to Roosevelt: 1.5hrs

Orange Line Roosevelt to Midway: 30 minutes

The 54B bus comes every 20 minutes and take 40 minutes to get from Midway to 54th/Cermak, which is still I thiiiink faster than doing Orange back to Washington/Wells and then Pink out and back. Mulling this one still. Either way, Pink line gets me to Clark/Lake

Walk to Washington/Wells, Brown Line around the loop to hit the missing Loop stations, to Kimball: 1hr

Kimball to Belmont: 30mins

Belmont Red Line to Howard: 1hr (Red line to Howard is HIGHLY variable, I've had it take anywhere from 40-90 minutes from Harrison)

Howard to Harrison: 1hr

About 13 hours in total, let's say my time to beat is 15 hours.

I can't do it this coming weekend; I have all-day events both days. I can't take a day off next week either, I'm going to be slammed at work ahead of an event. So my best bet is either Saturday or Sunday the 20th/21st, or taking Wednesday the 24th off...

Or this Friday. I could call in sick with few ramifications.

Well, I'll keep prepping for now -- find the bus I need from Forest Park to Harlem/Lake, then maybe run the whole route through Google Maps to see what it thinks the timing estimate would be. It might even have some ways to shave time off -- still looking at that Pink-Orange transfer and wondering.

And I need to find places around transfer points to take bathroom breaks since the El doesn't have public restrooms. I can probably get to a bathroom at Midway and back in the 12-minute delay time between arrival and departure...

[cryptfly]

All I ever want to do is play dress up with my dollies. Here’s Rinsea, my ESO main, in some various ceremonial garbs she’s picked up during her adventures. More info under the cut.

Champion of Vivec

She would rather you think of her being the City’s champion than the God-King’s, but here we are. I obviously based it on the Buoyant Armiger’s glass armor. She’s not officially a Buoyant Armiger or anything, but she does get some fancy glass armor pieces for official occasions which she does not attend. This is also partially based on Bajoran liturgical wear because I like it very much.

Champion of Sotha Sil

Technically she’s the champion of the Clockwork City but that was very long to put on her picture lmao. I don’t think Seht would have gotten her any ceremonial wear honestly, but since it’s basically a standard Clockwork Apostle outfit, I like to think that one of that order got her this, something fine and suited to the environment as a thanks for saving their sadboi God. Drawing the armor pieces was really fun and satisfying and they turned out way better than I was expecting.

Champion of Almalexia

Once again I changed the actual title given to fit the picture. Almalexia actually named her a Hand! However as we all know, a Hand of Almalexia is a specific kind of Ordinator and Rin is not actually inducted into that order. She’s a Hand because Ayem says so but that doesn’t actually give her any rank or anything. Instead of giving her Ordinator armor, I gave her a fancy gown. I think Ayem did this with a touch of vanity-isn’t my Hero so beautiful, a true Daughter of Morrowind I am such a proud Mother. Also, I really wanted to draw a pretty dress and no one can stop me. I based some of the details off Kirkbride drawings of Almalexia herself.

Urshilaku Clanfriend

In my personal canon of the story, the Vvardenfell quest happened first for Rin and took around little over a year and in that time she became a Clanfriend among Ashlanders. Her father, Gares, had been an Ashlander until he was forced to flee with his infant daughter and when she returned on what seemed to be Temple business, they were wary of her. But she made herself useful and was unfailingly polite and she was folded into much of their life. I like that while the other outfits look designed and tailored to suit her, her Ashlander gear almost looks like hand me downs and mended pieces. She wasn’t given new and special clothes, she was trusted with clothes worn by the tribe, inviting her into the family itself. These clothes look nice but also like something she work in side by side with the Ashlanders.

[yeoldecorprusarium]

I love the ashlands and Ashlander camps so hard it's not even funny.

Also, the mod that adds wild siltstriders is my favorite of all time.

[vidvana]

I know that nobody asked, but here's some Telvanni lore for all the foodies.

Before you begin this culinary journey, check out this post about ash yams it's essential.

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

Telvanni Cuisine

It’s obvious that Telvanni have an extensive knowledge of fungi.  After all, they live in huge mushrooms and collect and plant numerous species from all across the Tamriel to use them in their potions. It goes without saying that their cuisine is also quite fungal. The commonfolk at Telvanni settlements as most of the Dunmer source their protein both from fungi* and insect meat. But Telvanni nobles love nurturing peculiar worldviews and traditions that differentiate them from other races - or even other Dunmer. One of them is their distaste for anything that doesn’t grow in soil. They frown upon hunter traditions of Ashlanders and stock-raising of house Redoran and regard them as “primitive” in contrast to the delicate art of growing fungi. The alchemy ingredients are an obvious exception from this rule, but in general as their occupations don’t usually include menial work, their light and low-calorie cuisine perfectly matches their lifestyle. This resulted in traditional cuisine of the nobility being solely plant-, or more specifically, mushroom-based**, that contrasts sharply with the cuisine of Skyrim that is rich in venison and other animal-based foods***. Noble Telvanni shun debilitating ingredients such as alcohol and moon sugar in their everyday cuisine, as keeping their minds sharp is their main priority. In order to get an indulgent sweet taste marshmerrow is used instead. Telvanni rarely import vast quantities of vegetables from other provinces as house Hlaalu does. They use commonly grown foods like saltrice, ash yams or mushrooms as the base ingredients of the dishes. In some aspects they prefer to stick to the Dunmer traditions. The nobles, though, indulge themselves in expensive imported berries - not only because of their magic-enhancing abilities but also because of their extravagant taste. As the Telvanni ranks feature numerous alchemists the import of alchemical ingredients is obviously very common. Telvanni chefs gradually incorporated some of the exotic spices into traditional cuisine. Especially valued are the most characterful of them that fancy up the bland taste of mushrooms, such as juniper, ginseng or garlic****. * In real life mushrooms are a rather poor source of protein compared to legumes like beans and lentil. But since there are no legumes in TES universe (at least as far as I know) let's suppose there are some protein-rich mushrooms Telvanni can plant. ** It’s also worth mentioning that I’m a Telvanni-fixated vegan ass myself so that’s a more probable reason why I made my beloved house also vegan xD *** A lovely example of that contrast you can encounter in @thana-topsy ‘s fanfic “Breathing Water”. This would nicely explain Neloth’s preference for apple cabbage stew. **** This recipe for example resembles Telvanni cuisine, it was one of the inspirations from my imaginary dishes above.

Above I’ve come up with some examples of what noble Telvanni would eat on a daily basis.

Thanks for reading that and take care :3

[wingleader]

Exactly.

Y'all ever drive an unfamiliar bulky moving van at night through Centralia during the rain and fog

[ladykailitha]

Grief (A Friend Indeed) Part 9

Hello, everyone! We are almost to the end. I have all twelve parts completed and will be posting them every Thursday until the story is fully published.

So what's next? With Royal Pain being done as well, I'm going to try and finish Well Met By Moonlight and Find Your Shade By the Moonlight. I will be back working on the soulmate AU Batshit Soulmate and the next book in the Boy with a Bat series called Never Hold Back Your Step for a Moment. I'm also starting that omegaverse story I thought up here.

We meet Steve's family and find out more about why Steve's parents didn't like that side of the family much.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

****

Eddie and Steve wandered around town for a couple of hours, doing a little sightseeing, a little shopping, and a lot just being themselves for a moment or two.

Soon it was getting close to time and they headed to the diner. They pulled up and got a booth.

Eddie and Steve slid into one side and told the waitress that they were waiting for someone and to just grab them a couple of waters.

The waitress nodded and quickly came back with the waters.

They didn’t have to wait long before Percy came through the door, the little bell announcing his arrival.

Steve waved him over and he smiled in return, hurrying over to the table. Once he was settled he told the waitress they were waiting on one more but if they could get a pot of coffee and two cups please. Eddie and Steve both got sodas.

“Who are we waiting for?” Steve asked nervously.

Percy twisted the ring on his ring hand, looking down at the table. “A friend.”

Eddie and Steve shared a glance, wide-eyed.

Eddie wrote something down on a paper napkin and slid it over to Percy.

Percy took the napkin with frown and then he gasped. “Both of you?”

“Both for me,” Steve murmured.

“Just men for me,” Eddie added.

Percy glanced around the diner nervously, but no one was paying any attention to them at all.

“Oh.” He let out a shuddering breath. “Just him.” He pointed to someone walking up to the diner through the window.

He was a tall man, thin. Long black hair, braided to the small of his back. He wore a suit just as nice as Max’s in a beautiful silver color.

He came over when Percy waved at him. He slid next to Percy and looked Steve and Eddie over.

“Who are these boys, Percy?” he asked gravely.

“This my nephew, Steven and his friend...” Percy began.

Eddie stuck out his hand. “Eddie. Eddie Munson. We’re actually in Kentucky because of my own grandma’s funeral. Steve wanted to come visit his grandma’s grave so we took a drive.”

“Where you from?” Percy asked. “I catch a bit of twang to your voice.”

Eddie grinned. “Indiana mostly, but my family’s from Ashland.”

Percy smiled. “Nice town.”

Steve smiled. “It has been so far.”

“This is David Estevez,” Percy said, shyly. “The reason you’re parents haven’t spoken to me in over a decade.”

“Ah,” Steve said. “Yup, Clint Harrington is a lot of things, but tolerant isn’t one of them and of course my mom just went along with it. Even though it’s her money and her family.”

Eddie clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth. “Let’s see, not white, not from here, judging from the accent, and not straight... anything I missed?”

David burst out laughing. “Not the right kind of rich. I’m a self-made man. I worked hard to be where I am today and they hate that. I grew up poor in New Mexico and made my money building computers in my mom’s basement. Now, I’m a multi-millionaire CEO of a major tech company.”

“Dustin would love you,” Steve and Eddie said together.

“Who?” David asked with a chuckle.

“He’s this kid we know,” Eddie explained. “He built a CB tower just so he could talk to his girlfriend in Utah and not rack up his mom’s phone bill.”

“He sounds like fun,” Percy said, rolling his eyes.

David dug his fingers into Percy’s side, causing him to squirm and squeak. “As if you wouldn’t love it if I did that for you.”

Percy blushed. “Maybe.”

He cleared his throat. “How are your parents, Steven? I saw on the news that there was a horrible earthquake last March.”

Steve gulped and Eddie gave his hand a squeeze.

“I really wouldn’t know,” he mumbled, looking down at the table, tucking his hands between legs. “I haven’t seen them in a while.”

David and Percy shared a glance.

“They did come back after the earthquake, right?” Percy pressed. “To see if you were all right if nothing else.”

Steve shook his head. “They didn’t come home when I was caught in the mall fire, why would they come home for something as inconsequential as an earthquake?”

“Mall fire?” Percy asked.

“You remember, darling,” David said, “the one from last year where there were thirty people who died?”

Percy expression cleared as understanding dawned, and then it turned horrified. “They didn’t come home for that?”

Steve shook his head again. “They didn’t come home when I got a concussion so bad I was out for several hours, or anytime I got hurt.” He rubbed a scratch that was in the surface of the table mournfully.

“Mom follows Dad around to make sure he keeps it in his pants. Not that it deters him,” he explained. “I heard him bragging once about how it’s a game to him now to see what he can get away with.”

The waitress appeared with their drinks. “Are you guys ready to order?”

“I’m not hungry,” Steve murmured.

The rest of them ordered, with Eddie ordering a side of cheese fries in addition to his regular side of fries.

Once the waitress had gone, Percy leaned forward. “How long has this been going on?”

“The trips started when I fourteen or so,” he continued. “But the older I got, the longer the trips were, until they just stopped coming home sometime around Christmas of last year.”

“Stevie...” Eddie whined. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Steve shrugged. “I’m an adult. It’s not as though I’m a kid anymore.”

Percy took his hand in his. “No, Steven. That’s not how parenting works. Ever. They’re supposed to care about you enough to at least tell you were they’re going and when they’ll be home.”

Steve looked up and into his uncle’s eyes. “The money changed them. They haven’t been my parents in over a decade. I’ve just been this trophy they pulled out whenever it suited them. Had to be first in everything. I’m surprised they only let me get away three sports instead of making me try everything.”

Eddie looked stricken. “The sports weren’t your idea?”

Steve shook his head. “It was a way that they could legally pawn me off to other adults. Probably the reason for all the piano lessons and the tutoring. How I met Nancy by the way. Gotta have the best grades, until someone puts a plate through my head, then I was just as disappointing as they feared I would be.”

Everyone else at the table let out noises of distress.

“You never should have had to go through that,” David whispered fiercely. “Ever. I’m sorry your parents were awful.”

Steve shrugged. “It wasn’t all bad. I have had adults in my life that cared about me. The Chief of Police always kept an eye on me. Dad stopped hitting me after the second time Hop, Chief Hopper, I mean brought me home after...” he trailed off and looked anywhere but at the people in the booth with him.

He cleared his throat.

Their food arrived and that last sentence was left to dangling in the air like the sword of Damocles over their heads.

Percy watched as Eddie pushed the side of cheese fries between him and Steve, taking a bite periodically, but mostly focusing on the rest of his food.

Steve reached out and took one of the fries, chewing mindlessly. And then another and then another.

David smirked when Percy indicated to what Steve was doing.

Eddie pushed them in front of Steve and he just dug into them like a starving man. He took half of his burger and handed it to Steve, too.

Steve took the half with a blush. “Thanks, Eds,” he said softly.

Eddie just smiled fondly and finished his half of the burger.

David started talking to Percy to help fill the silence and soon the sense of dread dissipated as they fell into easy conversation.

Soon they were done and their plates taken away.

David lifted his chin to indicate to Steve. “Where did you learn that if you got cheese fries Steve would eat?”

Eddie and Steve glanced at each other and Steve blushed.

“Is that what he did?” he muttered.

Eddie laughed. “It’s trick I learned from his best friend. When he’s upset he won’t eat, even when he needs to, but if you put something like cheese fries or onion rings near him, he’ll graze until it kick starts his appetite again.”

Steve looked over at him in shock. “Holy shit, I never realized. Who else does that?”

Eddie smiled at him, that closed mouth, fond smile that he was got around Steve. “Dustin and Max mostly. But El and Will have been known to do it once or twice.”

Steve blinked.

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot of people that care about you, Steven,” Percy said with a grin.

Steve nodded, blushing. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

He looked at his watch and sighed. “How’s this,” he said, “why don’t you use that business card I gave you when you get home and David and me will come out to visit you for a few days?”

Steve lit up. “Yeah? You’d do that?”

Eddie grinned. Steve had just gotten his boyhood wish of having an uncle that cared and he could feel the joy and surprise radiating off his friend.

“I’d love to,” Percy said. “I would love to meet your family.”

Steve grinned. “You’ll love them.”

David smiled, too. “I’m sure we will.”

They got up and hugs were passed around everyone and they said their goodbyes.

“Goodbye Uncle Percy,” Steve said, his voice a little rough with emotion. “Bye, Uncle David. I’ll see you both soon.”

David looked happy and shocked at being called Uncle. Jasper’s daughter would never. But here was this nineteen year old boy whom his partner hadn’t spoken to in literal years being more caring and decent after a single afternoon with him, then Beatrice had her whole life.

So he did the only thing he could, he hugged Steve again, more fiercely this time. “Thank you.”

Steve nodded. He wasn’t sure exactly why David was so grateful, but he understood enough.

As Steve and Eddie walked away, Percy and David watched them get into their car.

“How long do you think it’ll take before those boys realize they’re in love with each other?” David asked.

“I don’t know Eddie very well,” Percy said, thoughtfully, “but I imagine they’ll figure it out before we come visit Hawkins.”

David hummed. If he was a betting man, he would have said the end of the week.

But he just had to wait and see.

****

Pt 10|Pt 11|Pt 12

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @messrs-weasley @goodolefashionedloverboi @maya-custodios-dionach @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @emly03 @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @bookworm0690 @itsall-taken @bookbinderbitch @redfreckledwolf @vecnuthy @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @gutterflower77 @genderless-spoon @hel-spawn @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @mamafaithful @yikes-a-bee @dragonmama76 @flaming-reauxster

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Josh designs part 5- Post Morrowind

Rounding out this um... awful day that started ok with Joshi's designs from between the end of Morrowind's main quest to post Dragon Crisis.

After he defeated Dagoth Ur, Josh is at a bit of a loss. He lost his husband, his joy and his ability to move with ease. His pelvis and femurs get crushed under the hand of Akulakhan and he's lucky that he can walk mostly unassisted at all.

As a part of Ashland mourning rituals, Josh has three ritual scars cut into his cheeks (loss of a spouse) and his head shaved. He starts growing it back a year into his three-year mourning rite courtesy of Nerevar taking the reins and sending him to Mournhold for a "reunion" with his ex-wife. Josh does front at times but he really only has tiny fragments of memory from that time. He flees Morrowind after the death of two of the Tribunal and finds himself in Cyrodiil pawning off Nerevarine memorabilia to feed his alcoholism.

He meets Jiub again and finds a shed of joy and stability. Things start looking up for a few years before the Oblivion Crisis. Of course his time had to be ruined by more daedra. (Josh can't handle affection, also his hair's cute here)

Which sends him to his first of many rock bottoms. He shaves his head, though the scaring can only be done by wise-women so he feels like he can't even mourn right. Josh wanders Cyrodiil with nothing but the clothes on his back until he steals enough cash to take him to Sunhold, where his mother currently lives. He knows he needs someone to take care of him after everything. (Sidenote Josh is upset here over his son rejecting him in that letter.)

He starts doing better with care and starts focusing again on cracking Dwemeris. He gets his work published in Summerset under an Altmeri pseudonym and has submitted his work to the last shreds of the Arcane University by the time he runs back to Vvardenfell to get his family (the Urshilaku confederacy and his son) out before Red Mountain blew. He spends a lot of time after Red Year leading refugees out of Morrowind, though he keeps his face covered. He starts wearing a mask in public permanently. No one needs to know what became of the Nerevarine. (Josh cuts two new scars into his face that represents the concept of mourning a group, he mourns for sixty years)

Jump a few centuries into the future and ya boi is fresh out of luck once again. He ends up taking the blame for the death of a child and finds himself on the run for years. This is when we join up with the Skyrim timeline- or just before in my fic. (He had his ear notched and his earring- ringmail of Alandro-Sul taken as a trophy)

He's a mess by the Dragon Crisis, sobriety becomes a rarity. He finds a bit of joy once he and Sydari stop doing the on and off again thing though that ends when Sydari goes and deals with Alduin. She's gone for six years and that leads him to picking fights with dragons, ancient Nords and deadra alike.

And he doesn't come out the other side unscathed. A dragon mauling sees him lose most of his right ear, part of his left and scaring that causes him facial paralysis and slightly slurred speech.

He does, after way too long drowing, get himself a modicum of peace. He sobers up after Sydari comes back, hoping to be a better father to their daughter than he was for his son. Sydari manages to patch up things between him and Adren well enough. Vyna should know her older brother after all. The length of his hair is kinda indicative of his turmoil. Longer hair means more time between losses, shorter hair indicates grief. Shaved hair indicates mourning etc.

Anyway, hopefully next year's Josh!fest is less devastating.

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

Its easy to think that the Nerevarine, and by connection Nerevar, was a Shezzarine.

... And that's actually false. The Nerevarine / Nerevar is not connected to Lorkhan, not so directly. They are connected to a Different god.

Let me explain.

We can agree through concept art and in-game hidden secrets, that Nerevar was murdered by his council at Red Mountain; by Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec. They did this because they wanted the power of Lorkhan's Heart but Nerevar had forbade it. But they did give him the means to "return" via gruesome ritual of dismemberment.

Now, on the surface, this doesn't sound familiar. Add the Shezzarine element, and everyone from here to Vvardenfell will swear its akin to Lorkhan's death and must be a continuation of the Enantiomorph.

But its not.

In fact, the pattern here, mimic's another pattern also told in Morrowind.

To break it down.

A warrior-king leading soldiers, is tricked and cut down, and through his death, transforms his people.

Starting to sound familiar?

He was cut down by three entities. Almalexia / Boethiah, Sotha Sil / Azura, and Vivec / Mephala. Who only vaguely connect to the big three, Auriel, Magnus, Lorkhan.

And the Chimer became the Dunmer (a people transformed).

And to lead these new people, the new three would use Nerevar's "Voice" to speak Truths. (They became new gods and wrote history as they wanted it until it became "True", and part of that was making it appear that Nerevar had agreed to all this, and had sacrificed himself heroically).

Those who knew the truth (The ashlanders), would be "banished" to an ash land.

Then, Nerevar would return transformed (The Nerevarine), as, in such sense, a vengeful version of himself.

...

Now does it sound familiar?

Nerevar isn't a Shezzarine.

He's a Trinimakhan.

[nudibutch]

Lesbian Connection submission about Minnie Bruce Pratt, March/April 2024 issue. Written by LauRose Felicity, from Ashland, OR.

I found this personally moving, and very glad it was submitted. Full plain-text transcript under the cut.

"LC's passing on MINNIE BRUCE PRATT (whom I had known as a friend since the early '80s) did not record her sex writings as clearly as I (and perhaps she) would have liked (Nov/Dec 2023). True, Minnie Bruce was a wronged mother, a staunch radical feminist and activist, an authentic Southern voice speaking about the perniciousness of racism, an anti-capitalist. But she was also a sex-positive femme who gloried in a reciprocated passion that anyone would envy. The kind of lesbian passion that, as in this case, is sometimes erased.

This passion is very clear and present in her books S/He and Magnified. In them, Minnie Bruce describes the consuming sexuality of her and Leslie's butch-femme union in a way that is still legendary today. The majority of S/He is a finger-licking, torrid account of the infinite desire of a fierce Southern femme for her urban, strap-wearing butch.

I needed to write this for Minnie Bruce, and for all of us tawdry femmes who will never be shamed into passing, or denying our driving need for our butches. Once, in our own lifetimes, our love was illegal. In my Southern state of Kentucky, our "crimes against nature" carried a 20-year sentence and for me, as an attorney, possible disbarment. In North Carolina where Minnie Bruce was living, the felony was used as justification for stealing her children. But our sexual desire was not to be denied. We risked everything for it: children, income, houses, professional stature, incarceration. And it deserves to be mentioned at our passing."

- LauRose Felicity, Ashland, OR