#and then the few important ones do get to stay

[monstersholygrail]

When Demon Priest saw you, an adorable Lamb Hybrid, enter his church, he didn’t mistake you for an angel. How could he? With your cute little lamb ears and your short lamb tail. No, he knew you were a gift sent from the heavens straight away. A living messenger and connection between him and heaven. A gift meant for him. You were to be his, all his and only his.

It doesn’t take long for him to gain your trust. You’re such a sweet and gentle little lamb. So incredibly naive. Meant to be worshipped and adored. He spends all the time with you he can and when he’s not with you, he’s planning everything he must to take you far away from here. To protect you from danger and keep you all to himself.

He figures he just has to kidnap you and you’ll be safe to spread your word to all the lost lamb and sheep a part of his flock. You being their guiding light as you are his. Even if you don’t know it yet, he knows you’ll fill this role perfectly.

You have to. You’re his gift, after all.

Demon Priest actually leaves the church for you. So sure that they won’t understand, won’t see what he sees in you. He disappears with you into the night and takes you deep into the woods where anyone unwanted couldn’t find you and you couldn’t escape. With him, he brings your apostles. A few of his flock who trust him enough to know your importance and follow him anywhere.

They now all serve you, spreading the news of your arrival and guiding newcomers all to your divine light. Eventually their numbers grow too great and they have to start clearing trees and building tents for everyone to live in.

You are, of course, kept in the most lavish tent where you’re kept away from everyone else’s prying eyes. Only to be seen when guidance is needed. Demon Priest being the only one permitted entrance into your tent. There isn’t a moment where they’re not worshipped and adored.

At your beck and call, Demon Priest doesn’t hesitate to satisfy your every need. Every time you begin to question his intentions or dare to ask questions about some nonsense like going home, Demon Priest purrs in your ear, telling you that you don’t actually wanna leave him.

You’re just nervous but he’ll always be there for you. When everyone else has abandoned you, not even bothering to contact you, he’s stayed by your side. Not giving you any idea that he had taken your phone when you were asleep and blocked the numbers of everyone you cared about. He was all you needed.

He pushes you gently on the bed, sinking his cock into your warm slick walls to quiet the silly little voices in your head. Don’t worry, he’ll fuck em’ out of you. And make sure they stay out.

Your mewls are so pretty as he fucks you like the demon he is. He doesn’t bother trying to hide his demonic features he plunges his cock deep into your core. Growling and snarling, going feral over the way you feel wrapped around his length, suffocating him so brilliantly. Your pussy truly heavenly. Your back arches, meeting his thrusts as you scream and Demon Priest looks down at you in awe. Seeing his own ascension in your form.

“Oh, my sweet herald. The things you do to me, the things you’ll do for the world. F-feel so—mmph— f-fuuucking good,” Demon Priest rasps, groaning as your cunt flutters around his cock like it’s agreeing with him.

He exhales sharply and picks up his pace, rutting into you as if trying to consume you, become one with you. His features growing more demonic as he gets closer to the edge. He wraps a clawed hand around your throat, bringing you closer to him.

“What say you, love? You gonna stop questioning me and be my good little lamb?” He asks, spitting the word ‘lamb’ like a curse.

You whine, nodding as much as you can. Needing to cum so bad and you know he’s purposefully keeping you right on the edge until you agree.

“Then do as you’re told and cum.”

As if your body is truly at his command, the tight cord in your belly instantly snaps and your screaming as you clench around his length and cum harder than you ever have in your life. Your vision flashing white as your orgasm crashes through you. Demon Priest roars as he follows you over the edge, filling up your pussy with his hot semen.

Demon Priest sags against you, nuzzling into your throat and inhaling deeply. Finding deep satisfaction in how his scent nearly completely overpowers your own. Everyone will know you’re his. His claws massage the tremors from your sides but your body has him already getting hard again. He knows he’ll have to take you again soon. But now there’s work to be done.

“Come, precious lamb. Let us address your followers and make your next proclamation,” he murmurs sweetly in your ear. And you’re too fucked out to put up any resistance, his words being the only thing to fill up your empty mind.

For with you he’s no longer Demon Priest, but Demon Cult Leader.

[mass-convergence]

Okay so this is actually a really … I don’t want to just say interesting … tragically interesting? Case.

Please forgive me, this is long.

The flight is Birgenair 301 that crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic in 1996.

Basically what happened is that shortly after takeoff, the pilots lost control of the aircraft and it nosedived into the sea.

How did that happen?

Well it wasn’t due to a swarm of angry wasps in the cockpit.

The plane hadn’t been flown in 20 days and two days prior to the flight they were doing some maintenance on it. You see these things?

This is a pitot tube. There are multiple of them on the aircraft because they’re critical for measuring airspeed. Airspeed is what keeps the plane in the air. How does the pitot tube measure airspeed?

Well it points directly into the flow of air and as air flows into the tube, through a bunch of fluid dynamics mumbo jumbo it calculates the airspeed. Very basically - it measures a pressure differential between the dynamic pressure of the air being forced into the tube (since it’s pointed into the flow) and the static pressure (basically whatever the air pressure is outside the plane - since air pressure drops as you ascend).

It is critically important that these tubes not be blocked. In fact they’re supposed to be covered while the plane’s not in use to prevent the tubes from being blocked by dirt, water, etc. (they’re supposed to be removed before flight - that’s a whole OTHER air disaster).

Enter … the humble mud dauber

Seriously these wasps are pretty docile.

But the issue is that they build these nests, not like the umbrella nests you associate with paper wasps but these organ pipe shaped deals made of … well - mud.

And wouldn’t you know - there’s a ton of these guys living in the Dominican Republic? And they can make their nests in a few days. Apparently it’s been known to happen that they build their nests in pitot tubes because tube. That’s why it’s important to keep pitot tubes covered when the plane’s not being used.

So the theory behind Birgenair 301 is:

They did some maintenance a couple of days before the flight which necessitated the removal of the pitot tube covers.

Maintenance never replaced said covers.

A mud dauber found its way into a pitot tube.

The captan’s side pitot tube gets blocked and no one notices before the flight that a critical sensor is basically nonfunctioning.

The pilots take off in the aircraft.

As the plane ascends in altitude, the air pressure in the blocked pitot tube stays the same as it was at sea level while the actual air pressure outside of the plane decreases.

The computer then interprets this as “oh … the plane’s traveling super fucking fast” and kicks off a bunch of over speed warnings to the pilots.

This flight took place in the dark of night over the ocean - there are absolutely zero visual references for these pilots to go off of, they can only rely on their instruments.

There are multiple pitot tubes on the plane to prevent a situation where a faulty sensor causes all the instruments to get fucked. The issue is the pilots have to diagnose which sensor is faulty. Which when the plane is currently yelling at you that your plane is about to fall apart because it’s going faster than it was designed for - it can be hard to troubleshoot that. The pilots actually thought that both sensors were faulty when it was really just the captain’s airspeed indicator that was wrong - the copilot’s was fine.

The pilots got super confused and treated the overspeed warning as a true warning and … well what do you do when the plane is going too fast? You slow it down.

So they did. They reduced the engine output to idle and pitched the aircraft nose up which slowed the plane down.

Which caused another warning system on the plane to trip because the other sensors on the plane recognized they were about to stall the aircraft.

So basically you have one alarm telling you you’re going way too fast and another alarm telling you you’re going way too slow. It’s a recipe for confusion and you don’t have a lot of time to get it right. Unfortunately they got it very very wrong.

They kept slowing the plane down - thinking it was going too fast - and basically their plane fell out of the sky. If it were daytime and they could see the horizon and other visual references - they’d have known they were losing altitude fast and might have been able to save the plane because they would have known the stall warning was legit. Unfortunately it was night time.

There have been similar crashes to Birgenair - one famous one was Air France 447 where the pitot tubes were blocked by ice.

Another one was Aeroperu 603 where the pitot tubes had been taped over during maintenance.

(Green Dot and Disaster Breakdown are my two favorite YouTube channels that cover air disasters like these)

i hate these videos but these chibi planes are sooo cute & expressive & gauche

[ryssbelle]

WAIT THEYRE TWO SEPARATE GUYS smh I'm a fake fan. No wonder I could never figure out where the middle bit connecting the two stories was 😂

YEAH okay so the looore

The guy on the left in your picture is from the Branching Timelines au in which Sksw Link is mistaken for the goddess Hylia reborn and Zelda goes down to save him, it was started by @attllhak and the reason my side is called Branching Timelines is because it is a branch off their own story, I had made a joke comic at first that turned into a series accidentally lol

here is their fic: AO3 LINK TUMBLR LINK

NOW Divine twili beast Sky is an LU au that stems from a weird dream I had that also turned into a series as I tried to flesh out what the lore of this world could be like which is why there's a lot of holes in it but like it's my Swiss cheese angel

What's funnier is there is a 3rd au I barely talk about because it was when my Zelda hyper fixation was waning a bit, which links up with Branching Timelines called Fractured Timelines and THAT Sky is the same Sky as Branching Timelines SORT OF

It's complicated but the fracturing aspect does play a part in how that's the case. Idk it FT will ever see the light of day past the designs I made BUT we'll never know

Also

You: THERES 2 SKYS

Me:

[shouyuus]

could i request car mechanic!vi and fem!reader hcs and little moments of their daily life now that they’re officially dating? 🤭🤭 you write vi so wellll nghghhh 😫

sfw fluffy hcs for car mechanic!vi au bulletpoints bc im in that mood today

breakfast is always a long, drawn out thing -- almost ritualistic, bc "breakfast is the most important meal of the day, sweets! c'mon, you oughtta know that." and you take turns making it, either for each other or for whoever else is in the house that day (sometimes vander, sometimes silco will drop by for coffee, sometimes powder and ekko will stay the night, in which case ekko almost always makes breakfast, bc powder's very particular about her pancakes)

you can't rmbr the last time you sat in a chair proper bc vi's always pulling you into her lap (except at the dinner table, where she tries to show a TAD more decorum, esp if you're having dinner at your place instead of hers, but even then, she'd pull her chair close to yours, just so she can press her leg against yours or reach out to put a palm on your thigh)

on the days that you're not together, you definitely text vi a bit more -- she's got her hands full of repairs, and your biggest worry on the daily is what you wanna make for dinner that day, and if you need to drop by the grocery store before you head over to vi's

the first time you try to teach vi how to use chopsticks, you end up just plopped in her lap, feeding her off your plate bc she claims that "it's easier this way" and that she can "watch your technique better from up close" although it's so stupidly obvious that she's not looking at your hands bc she can't keep her eyes off your lips and how you can't stop giggling when you twist around to feed her

on the lazy summer nights when all the work has been done and all the stuff that can still be done can wait till tomorrow, vi takes you up the hill behind the city, to her favorite little outlook, tucked into the side of a backroad that no one except the true locals know about -- from there, you can see the entire city spread out beneath you, sprawling net, cast in light and shattered stars. "i used to hate this place... just a little, cause i thought i'd never get out of it," she tells you. "and now?" you ask. "now... i kinda love it... it's my home and... well, it gave me you, didn't it?"

vi thanks the heavens that you only live a few streets over, and that it takes her about 5 minutes on her bike to get between your houses (even though, yeah, you do technically live on the rich side of town, just across the train tracks), bc sometimes, 5 minutes is just about as long as she can wait before she starts to feel fidgety about the thought of seeing you again

the nights she spends at yours are always fun -- your bed's more than big enough for the pair of you to sprawl out on; you'd flick through channels on tv till something catches your eye, or carry as many snacks as either of you can up and post up for a movie marathon. it'd always end up with one of you lying against the other, your body curled between her legs or the other way around

sometimes she falls asleep against you, and you'd let the entire movie play before trying to slip out from behind her to turn off the lights. she always wakes up when you move, and she always grumbles and tries to pull you back; you always laugh and promise her that you'll be right back, to which she'd always pout but it morphs into a smile as she watches you patter around the room in a big t-shirt, turning off the lights and clearing the snacks off the bed before climbing back into her arms

she always keeps her hand tucked around your hip whenever the two of you go out anywhere, or she's got her hand pushed into the back pocket of your jeans or shorts or whatever the hell else; she claims its just bc she wants you close; you both know that it's also bc she wants zero questions as to who you belong to when you're walking down the street

when her hair gets long in the back, she lets you braid it and in it up with cute lil clips bc she likes the way it makes you smile

she almost loses it a little when she wakes up one day at yours and finds that you've put out an extra cup for her, and bought her a new toothbrush to use; it's then that she realizes she's already left like a quarter of her wardrobe here and that your parents no longer even look up when she comes downstairs in the morning, bedhead and all, to greet them, and that they've somehow always already made coffee for her, just the way she likes

"hey prett girl, can i ask you something?" "yeah, sure." "what... do you think about moving in together?" "hm? oh --" "not like right this moment or anything but --" "i'd love to. i mean, it does get a little complicated splitting time between my place and yours." "oh... that was -- i thought you'd be a bit more..." vi swallows, trailing off. you cock your head and fix her with a look, "a bit more what? hesitant? i mean... we're basically together all the time now anyway. it'd just make things easier, right? and --" a blush flushes into your cheeks as you look away, clearing your throat, "it'd -- it'd be nice not to have to be so q-quiet, sometimes."

vi nearly blacks out at your words; and yeah, so what if she starts looking at places that exact afternoon?

[upon-sunflower-trails]

it cries a soft weep like mine

nam-gyu x reader | oneshot | 1965 words

songfic, i guess? based on eric by mitski. if i'm being honest, this fic was really cathartic for me to write.

warnings: nsfw. pretty fucking toxic relationship, nothing physically or sexually abusive, but it's really toxic. fairly graphic depictions of sex. emotional abuse. manipulation. dacryphilia.

You like control, well, I do too

Take off my clothes and watch me move

You can come closer, I'll let you hurt me

How you choose

It had been a little over six months since you decided to pursue a relationship with Nam-gyu. You'd met him through a mutual friend, where the attraction was almost instantaneous.

That's all it seemed to be. Purely physical attraction. You knew you wanted more, to have a relationship that was full of genuine intimacy. You wanted the sort of love that led to late night conversations in bed, with your hands threaded in his hair as you both looked up at the ceiling, gentle smiles on your faces.

Nam-gyu was not that kind of lover. It was all about how far he could take things without you pushing back. He used you for sex and not much else— it's not like he was ever home. You couldn't tell if you preferred the crippling solitude that settled in your gut when he was out doing god-knows-what during the day, or if you wanted to cling to him despite the ways he made it clear you were of no importance to him.

In the beginning, you pushed back. You two would constantly argue over the smallest of things. He wanted to be his own person, even if it meant disrespecting his relationship with you. You still had enough strength to stand your ground, to yell back as he slammed his fist against the counter. 

You still remembered the first time you had come home to him in bed with someone else, as they scurried out of the door as Nam-gyu laid still in bed with a smirk on his face, disregarding the angry tears streaming down your face as you shouted at him like a rabid dog barking at its owner. 

You wanted to leave then, but he convinced you to stay the same way he always did. Pleading with you, pretending he cared in that moment— promising he would change, that he had a moment of weakness. Things had been so difficult for him, he wasn't in the right state of mind. And then he'd have you bare in front of him, knowing he would be able to reel you back in any time.

Help me with the zipper on my skirt, it's stuck

As you kneel, I'll be watching you fix me

This view of you, of the top of your head

Makes me forgive you

After a few months, even your mutual friends could tell things weren't right between you and your boyfriend. You had become more withdrawn and careful with your words. You refused to drink, knowing it would lead to you breaking down and spilling your guts to anyone in proximity to you. 

Nam-gyu paraded you around as if you were an exotic pet on a leash. He would shut you up if you even dared to speak in front of the people who were no longer your friends, but his. He convinced you that their worried glances were instead glares of disgust, that everyone knew how mean you were to him behind closed doors. You believed him; how could you yell at him when he had been trying so hard to get better?

At one get-together, the same person you had caught him sleeping with was there. Even in your wounded state, it festered— festered until you could feel every rational part of you become infected with blind rage. You snapped as he placed an arm on theirs after ignoring you all night, even though to anyone who was watching it was obvious he was simply helping to steady them after they had fallen.

You were made to be the fool. Onlookers saw you as insecure, jealous, crazy. Nam-gyu played the part of the hurt boyfriend who couldn't believe the accusations you were throwing at him. Everyone believed him, because why would they trust you? You had been acting strange and distant for months now.

That night, Nam-gyu hadn't berated you. He simply helped you undress, murmuring that he would make it up to you.

"Don't know why you always make me out to be the bad guy, baby." "I was just tryin' to help them. Didn't you see them fall?" "We already talked about this, why do you keep bringing it up?" "Am I not allowed to have friends now? I'll just stop talking to them, if that's what you want. In fact, I'll stop going out entirely."

He said it all as he helped you out of the shoes that were blistering your feet, unzipping the skirt you had been fiddling with all night. He looked up at you through his lashes, eyes glistening as he did his best to seem hurt by your accusations. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks as he jutted out his bottom lip, wailing that the last thing he wanted to do was hurt you.

So you let him back in again. You turned a blind eye yet again to all the trouble he had caused you, because at least he was a good fuck for the night.

But how long, how long can we play this way?

I'm tired, I'm tired of not loving you

My heart, my heart wants to hold you

But I know, I know, I know the rules

Six months in, you knew you held nothing but an odd mix of sorrow and contempt for Nam-gyu. You tried to rationalize it, that this was what love was really supposed to feel like. 

The only physical intimacy he engaged in with you was sex. It was never gentle, or soft, or tender; it was bordering on violent and possessive, despite you not truly belonging to him. And as soon as he had spilt himself into you, he would turn away and not allow you to hold or touch him. He claimed he never saw the point of cuddling or any sort of aftercare.

You knew he heard the sobs that racked your body every night. As you clutched the comforter close to your bare chest, pillow wet as the thick seed between your legs served as a constant reminder of what you were putting yourself through.

Some nights, you would reach out as he was sleeping, desperate to brush the stray hairs from his face. He truly looked peaceful like this, his resting state making you forget how cruel he could be. Every time you outstretched your limbs, craving any sort of loving embrace, you retracted at the last minute. You knew to roll back over and force your eyes shut, praying that perhaps this was all just a bad dream you were going to wake up from. That you were in such a happy relationship in real life, you were forced to have constant nightmares of what a terrible relationship would look like.

And every morning, as harsh sunlight beat in through the blinds on your face, you were reminded that this was your reality. That you would turn over, and Nam-gyu would be gone— not in the way that he had never existed, as the divet in the mattress suggested, but that he left without bidding you farewell as any good lover should.

You knew you weren't in love with him. How could you be? You despised him, deep down, even if you never admitted it to yourself. But you had promised yourself to him at some point down the line, and he hadn't dumped you on the side of the road yet.

So, for now, you stayed.

Blue light, dark room, the white of your teeth

As you smile at my trembling shoulders

But your skin, did you notice your skin?

It cries a soft weep like mine

You always tended to cry during sex with Nam-gyu. Perhaps he had just gotten used to it, or he had twisted in his mind that they were tears of pleasure. Either way, it didn't matter.

You enjoyed the release, yes, you only stayed with him for the pleasure. Well, that was what you told yourself. 

You wept as he thrust into you, because it was the only time the relationship felt real. His presence was overpowering, as the stench of his cologne settled into your nostrils while the cold sensation of his rings against your sides were the only thing keeping your mind tethered to reality.

He would growl into your shoulder as he bit and nipped at you, leaving marks that you never hesitated to cover (since they were a reminder that you were with him). His teeth shone in the low light of your "shared" bedroom, amusement coming out as a hiss as you cried out his name, a mix of pleasure and despair at your current situation.

Insults and degradation would be hurled your way under the guise of him "getting too into the moment." You always tried to ignore when he would moan out someone else's name. It only made you cry harder, and that only made him rougher. You guessed that your sobs spurred him on, that in some twisted sort of way seeing you in such a broken state aided his arousal. You never wanted to think too much into it, lest you begin to bawl even more.

Every once in a while, on extremely rare occasion, he would let a tear slip as well. Maybe it was a sign he was still human, too. That deep down, he felt sorry for what he had put you through. He was always quick to hide it as soon as it happened, and just like that he would go back to the same Nam-gyu he always was.

Those nights, you would always hear sniffling and muffled sobs beside you as you wiped your silent tears away.

I'll sell, I'll sell my whole to you

What's my, what's my, what's my price?

How about, how about just a part of you?

You were too deep in to leave when Nam-gyu finally began investing your money in things as well. He had lost everything already, and now needed your financial aid to pick him up off the ground. You wanted to be the perfect partner to him, to support him in his time of need. You tried to find any positive you could about him as you got deeper and deeper into the relationship, making decisions that would only solidify your inability to leave him.

You had lost everything alongside him, drowning in debt as he made even more irresponsible decisions with your money. You couldn't even stick up for yourself, let alone get out of the situation entirely. You were stuck, practically entrapped with a barbed-wire engagement ring digging into your finger. You laughed at the idea, but realized the metaphor didn't seem so far-fetched.

You weren't sure what it was that you did that finally pushed Nam-gyu over the edge. He abandoned you without a word, one day muttering something about making up his debts and the next day vanishing into thin air. You weren't sure if he'd ever return. Deep down, you knew you didn't want him to. But as it stood, you were crushed. Lost and hopeless without him, simply going through the motions everyday with no solace in pretending he loved you at night while being shoved against the headboard.

In some strange way, you missed him. It wasn't as though he completed you, but you had become so wrapped up in a life not with him, but of him, that you weren't sure how to exist outside of being Nam-gyu's. 

You weren't sure how to survive without the assurance of him being in your life.

'Cause I want, I want, I want, I want

I want, I want, I want, I want, I want.

[thefandomsfervent]

JayVik x Reader Personal Pigments (Part 23) - Transparent Earth Yellow

Gala chapter coming soooon <3

Find my imagine that inspired it here. Previous and next chapter will be linked at the bottom.

not that I'm losing steam with this fic, but it has inpsired so many other things that i want to write too. This fic may enter a hiatus after a few more chapters so I can start other projects. Stay tuned and Thank you for reading <3

╔═*✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧-✦-✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧*═╗

As Mel said, there was an invitation later that week. A rich blue envelope and a golden wax seal delivered on top of a series of letters and books when Jayce walked into the lab. Viktor was first to see it, peeling the wax open with a screwdriver. He huffed as he read it, tossing the paper to the side. 

“Ridiculous,” muttering under his breath. “We should not go Jayce, we have more important work to do than to flaunt our feathers.” Viktor speaks clearer there, his words sharp when he points to Jayce with the tool in his hand. Jayce doesn’t respond right away. Instead he goes to look at the invitation himself. 

“To Talis and Co.,” He winces at that, his lips curling to the side and his brow furrowing. 

“You have been invited to the Innovator’s Gala, an event centered around Piltover’s finest and brightest minds.” Jayce is reading it to you, as much disdain and sarcasm as that man could truly try to muster lacing his words. His finger pointed in the air like he is imitating some elderly man. 

“Yes Jayce, I read it.” Viktor’s back is to you both when he speaks. “Help me with this equation.” He doesn’t see the way Jayce’s finger droops down, shoulders dramatically slumping. You can’t hide your giggle at Jayce’s pout. Viktor turns around at the sound, just in time to see you covering your mouth. Shaking your head when Jayce starts mimicking his partner, opening and closing his hand. He turns around to see Viktor’s deadpan face, a raised brow, and a smirk that only grows when your laughter gets louder. 

“Mocking Jayce. How unbecoming. Truly, I am wounded.” He gestures for Jayce to give you the invitation with one hand, and tilts his head back to the board. Jayce hands you the paper, fingers grazing your own. He was so warm, and you can only hope that the burning of your cheeks could be chalked up to your laughing. He’s stifling his own when he joins Viktor, letting his partner jokingly shove the chalk into his chest. 

It’s a thick parchment, barely holding itself open at the creases where it had been folded to fit into the envelope. Golden filigree at the corners and the symbol of Piltover embossed directly in the center top. It was good paper, expensive like all things were here. Viktor’s chalky fingerprints glinting softly as raised swirls around the edges. Jayce’s own were left in some barely there soot from his time in the forge that day. And now yours, in colorful pressed oils. It clashed against the paper, was too loud, if you had intended to leave a mark you would have chosen something more subtle. Instead of focusing on that you look over the words scrawled over the letter. 

Your eyes quickly skim over text. It would be held in The Academy’s own event hall as a pre–cursor to the Young Innovator’s Competition that would be happening later on in the year for different inventors of Runterra to converge at. Despite what Mel had said, it seemed that it wouldn’t be where they would need to show off new inventions, but to mingle and talk and garner interest. The idea of them both in something nicer than mandated Academy outfits did sound promising. Imagining them in another environment than the lab, what would that be like? The closest you had been to seeing that was when Jayce had gotten drunk off the wine they chose to keep in a cabinet of the lab. You almost put down the letter to get back to your own work when something catches your eye. Thick golden letters in a different font, also embossed to make them stand out against the pale paper, gracing the bottom.

“This invitation is valid for three guests. Jayce Talis of House Talis, Assistant to the Dean of the Academy Viktor, and -” your name was there. The title they had given you was “Arts Institute Guest.” And something bubbles up in your chest. It was embarrassment and shock. It was anxiety and excitement. Mostly confusion. Their labels were so impressive, although you were sure they would both dislike the chosen words. Your own was so… plain. You were here as a guest after all, you knew that. But then why were you invited in the first place? Was this Mel’s doing? Would they want you to go? Did they even want to go? You brush a thumb over the words, silently questioning the characters as if they had any of the answers. All you get in reply is the printed date, the numbers defined in thin strokes. It was about three weeks out. The competition itself was several months away. The two men are talking amongst themselves. Drag of chalk along the board, the tapping on someone’s foot, gentle shuffling. Sounds that ground you. 

You turn to the painting, you had left it by an open window to speed up the drying process. Summer was chasing Spring. Telltale signs of the season showing in heat waves distorting the horizon line as you looked out over the city. You let yourself settle against the frame, back on the wall and legs stretched forward. You hold the paper in one hand up to the window, letting the sun shine through the fibers. Letting the rays backlight the golden embellishments, turning that brilliant yellow to a dull glowing brown. You can see where the paper is thicker in some spots. It was smooth and high quality, but you can tell. “This was hand-made.” Your voice is quiet, and you are too focused on the craftsmanship before you to notice how Viktor and Jayce stop working to watch you. Your fingers feel the edges of the paper, deckled and soft, barely there fraying. 

Viktor has talked with Jayce about it before, how it was not fair that there was no one to draw you. And in this particular moment it feels cruel. The moment felt intimate. Domestic. The edge of your face golden in the sunlight, eyes focused and calm, a rosy glow on your cheeks. Jayce has dabbled in sketching before. Shared his own small drawing of Viktor from their first encounters. It was crude, cute even. And Jayce would admit that he has tried to draw you too.  But he couldn’t show that to you or to Viktor. So he takes the moment in, watching your eyes dart over the paper in your hand. Your attention to detail was endearing to him. To both of them. His affection for Viktor was overwhelming in a lot of ways. Caused his heart to jump to his throat, to stutter over words. With you it was warm and soft, like a hug. What either of them would give to walk behind you wrap their arms around you, settling their heads in the crook of your neck. When you start moving it startles them both, Jayce jumping in his spot and Viktor choosing to look at the books on the table. 

Staring at the paper you hear Mel’s words, “Afraid of a challenge?” If she was the reason your name was on the invitation, you should go. Just to get out of this stuffy lab and do something new if nothing else. Certainly not to prove a point. That there was nothing you needed to be aware of. And that despite your nervousness, you do not back down from a challenge. Not as a Zaunite. Not as an artist. You set your shoulders, steel your breath, and turn to Jayce and Viktor. 

“I’d like to go.” 

╚═*✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧-✦-✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧*═╝

--.��͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙-Part 22-.-Next Part will be linked here.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .--

------------‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ ♡ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙· Master Fic List *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ♡ ‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊--------------

[mpathicoracle]

so. here's how today is going

livestreams are back, nothing of true importance other than MLK marches and parades. saw a few random lives, including a guy dressed as a pencil for some reason. another couple lives of musicians just doing their thing, and one live of a guy (presumably a MAGA fuckhead) standing in front of the fences near the capitol building in DC.

one video I reposted on my tiktok story got flagged for misinformation, even tho it wasn't even mine, and said video is getting flagged for "checking sources" and you can only send to one person at a time. (see screenshots)

I added #fckdonaldtrump as a tag on a video of mine abt this stuff and it got removed, unsurprisingly. the video that I put on my story that got flagged is currently in the process of repeal review, but I can't mark it as "disagree" in terms of disagreeing with the take down. claims a server issue

tiktok is being censored. and it's only day two of having it back

again. be careful what you post, keep an eye out for further censoring issues. stay safe, stay vigilant. fuck donald trump and remember that free speech is our first amendment.

[kelpietheshifter]

My first-ever mini-shift

Background:

My first-ever mini-shift was when I had just discovered shifting back in 2020-2021, I believe. At the time, I was around 10-11 years old. This was my second desired reality, and the script has long since been deleted, but I remember scripting that I was the daughter of two very important purebloods. I also had a relationship with Ronald Weasley, but that's for later.

A lot was going on in this dr, plus I was a literal baby, so I had so many silly things scripted in there. I'm so glad I didn’t end up staying any longer than a few seconds now that I'm older.

I also don’t really count any of the times I shifted without opening my eyes as mini-shifts, simply because, for me, I’d never feel 100% sure since I tend to rely on my eyes when it comes to shifting, so I only have a handful of stories to tell.

How I shifted:

This was when I discovered my absolute love for awake methods. I haven’t used an awake method in so long (it's been years), but they worked so well for me in the past, so I need to get back into it.

It was the middle of the afternoon during the summer when I found this subliminal with a blonde woman on it. I can't find the exact one now, but it was really similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibxLzE1g0vU

I laid down in my bed for a while listening to it, repeating a few affirmations like:

"I am in my desired reality"

"My name is (DR name)"

"My house is Slytherin"

"I am waking up on the Hogwarts Express"

I continued to repeat these affirmations while focusing on the sensation of being inside my desired reality and where I was, until I fell asleep on the train. (As a young shifter the Julia Method was my QUEEN)

The shift:

Okay, so this was a very, very short shift. It's around my second shortest, I believe?

I kind of half-woke up on the Hogwarts Express, like I was in that little spot between being asleep and awake. I remember hearing a lot of chattering, mostly just the buzzing of people talking, you know? Also, the lights were extremely bright to the point that I could barely keep my eyes open, much like the lighting in the scene where the trio meets for the first time.

This was like 3-4 years ago, so bear with me, please, because I had two versions of this DR that were the exact same, but the only difference was the year I started in.

I believe this time was when I started in 3rd-4th year. I basically woke up with my head lying on Ronald Weasley’s shoulder. My eyes were doing that thing where they're too heavy to open, so they flutter for a bit, but I could see the passenger carriage and Hermione Granger and Harry Potter sitting across from me. I wasn’t fully aware that I was there, but I had this thought in my mind that I should be getting up.

Ron, being the amazing boyfriend he is, was stroking my hair and telling me to just go back to sleep, and that he’d wake me up when we got there. Half-asleep me decided to go along with it and went back to sleep.

When I woke up I was back here and I just felt, EXTREMELY thirsty—like absolutely parched. I feel like other shifters have mentioned this, but eh? After all that, I remember sitting up and feeling so disappointed that I hadn’t just ignored Ron and fully gotten up like I was so pissed at myself for awhile.

That pretty much sums up my first-ever shift. Sorry if this is short or disappointing, but I tried! It was so long ago I can't remember all the details.

[valentine-cafe]

Can i request a mango pudding? If i remember right, it was mentioned once how, if Talisen wanted to confess to a dense darling/darling who didn't think his flirting was serious, he'd get them alone and try to express his feelings clearly cause he had learnt from his past. 🥺Can we. Ah. Can we see👉👈how would that be like?

Please take care and stay hydrated ♥️

˖⁺. ﹙ the serpent grim reaper poet x dense reader. ﹚ .𖹭 ݁

. . . why can't you see, I do love you !! 🍒 :  poet ˖ grim reaper ˖ naga character ﹙ verse 781 talisen. ﹚

Talisen expresses to his dense darling that he truly did have feelings for them and that the flirting wasn't just mindless flirting

Footsteps thud behind you, disrupting the attention that was previously focused on the stack of books inside of your locker.

Glancing over the small metal door, you watch as a familiar poet makes his way towards you. Hair put into a long ponytail, while his face is covered in the slightest tinge of red.

“Talisen?” You hum quietly, tilting your head to the side with one eye squinted and the other remaining the way it had before.

“A moment, darling—” He calls and stands next to you, taking in a deep breath. Gods, he’s too flustered for this. It’s been a while since he’s been able to catch you upclose due to classes and his personal work outside of university.

“Could we speak? It is quite important.”

“Uh, well I was headed to class.” Your response seems to drag a small breath of frustration out of him. He was late again— He’d have to keep you around for a bit.

“Please?”

Well when he asks in such a pretty way. You do wonder what could be so important he had to drag you off. Maybe it was another secret spot he’d found in the schoolgrounds. When was this man not out adventuring after all?

Simply shrugging, you grab your bag and put your books in, turning away from him to close your locker. For a moment you almost had him convinced you were going to leave him for class again like last time. But you stayed. And he sighed, thanking you over and over again internally.

“May I?” He asks softly, reaching a hand out for your hand. You lift an eyebrow and take it, only to yelp when he tugs you to one of the quiet rooms around. Places scattered for students that are in need of rest. He made sure the room wasn’t in use before turning to you and breathing in deep one last time.

“Sssssoooo. . . is everything alright Tal?” You chuckle in confusion and shrug, looking around curiously.

“Look,” He starts, “Please look at me.”

Naturally, your eyes focus in on him, whether they look into his or somewhere else at him. Your attention is undivided. It is there, but it is confused.

“I love you,” He sighs out, his hands speaking with him. Pointing towards you and himself.

“I love you and I meant it when I said it last time, after the flirting.” You don’t get time to speak, the second you open your mouth to, he continues.

“The way you do your little dancing when you pass an exam,” Inhaling in his words, he takes a moment to process them, and allow you to do the same, before he moves on.

“the way you smile, your little gestures of affection and comfort to even when you get angry.”

“I love all parts of you. I mean it.”

You stand in silence for a while, blinking in realization.

With all honesty, you’re not sure how to react at the suddeness of the situation. It’d been nothing but silly flirting to you.

“I just need a moment.” You murmur, seating yourself in one of the nearby couches.

He keeps quiet, his breath held back deep in his lungs. It dissipates the second your response comes through.

“Why didn’t you say that at the time?”

“I had not much time to, my dear. Alas, I am a busy man, It is hard to catch you at the right times.” He sighs and hangs his head low, black tresses curtaining his face and hiding it from you.

“Well—” Exhaling, getting out of the seat, you lean against one of the desks and blink a few more times. Focus on your feet and the floor below them.

“Well, I-I. Fuck Talisen. You're throwing it all on me suddenly. I love you too. I love you a lot.”

[nientedal]

For specific ear plugs, Loop earplugs and the Flares Calmer earplugs are some of the best I've found as an AuDHD person. Flares in particular. They take the "edges" off sounds and are so subtle I regularly forget they're changing anything until I take them out, and then the world hits me in the ears and I quickly put them back in, lol. Loops are great for blocking heavy noise, and good for those of us with small or oddly-shaped ear canals. Their unique base shape allows me to turn them in a way that "braces" them against my ear and helps keep them in place. Also, they are the least obtrusive I've found as a side sleeper.

Neither will stay put very well if you're chewing or talking a lot, but that's been true of every earplug I've ever tried. Jostling loosens things, it's simply a fact. I wanted to at least mention it, in case "I need to block sound while chewing" is your need, but for anyone else, please don't let that deter you. They are a little bit pricy for a few grams of silicone that go in your ear, but I fucking love these things. You may be able to find them more cheaply as knock-offs elsewhere, too.

As far as studying goes...

Take Notes. Take as many notes as you can in class. Not after class!! IN CLASS. Take notes like your life depends on it, and doodle in the margins to stay focused until you realize there's a new slide you need to write down. Handwriting helps stuff stick.

Then, the night before the exam at the latest, get a new notebook. Copy your notes from class into the new notebook. All of them that will be on the test. By hand.

(Remember to shake out your hands periodically! Loose fingers, loose wrists, and wrist-twist while bouncing your elbows to shake your hands out! This is a pianist's trick to help stay limber, and it works just as well for handwriting. Do Not give yourself tendonitis. Learn from my mistake. If it hurts, stop. Your grade is not worth your health. Do NOT give yourself tendonitis in your hands; it will turn into carpal tunnel and you Do Not Want That. DO NOT.)

Copy all your notes by hand. If you are able to start a few nights before, great! This will show you what you're uncertain about, based on how much you're able to remember while copying. (You may remember bits and pieces from the lecture as you copy, because your brain made an association web while you were writing by hand the first time.) If not, THAT'S OKAY!!!! Every little bit counts! Copy as much as you can the night before the test. If you are rocky on some of it, try to copy those parts twice, but if you can't, OH WELL!

Go to sleep right after you finish writing. Shake out your hands, take a shower if you must, and GO TO SLEEP while your writing memories are still fresh. This sounds kinda like woo-woo nonsense, I know, but I never learned to study in high school and this is the best I've got. (It landed me two degrees in accounting, so...meh?)

If you cannot write by hand, type. If you cannot type, banish your roommate and speak out loud. Scan the chapters with your eyes and talk to an invisible audience as if you were trying to teach them. For me, writing was best, but speaking definitely also helped.

Important: If you have the "in one eye, out the other" inability to parse boring text, reading out loud like a newscaster (or Captain Kirk) is going to be your best friend. Example:

Snell's law is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through a boundary between two different isotropic media, such as water, glass, or air. In optics, the law is used in ray tracing to compute the angles of incidence or refraction, and in experimental optics to find the refractive index of a material.

Boring. I cannot read this. But, if I pretend I am an overly-chipper news anchor at 6:45AM on Good Morning America:

SNELL'S LAW is a formula used to describe the relationship BETWEEN the angles of incidence and refraction, WHEN referring to LIGHT or other waves PASSING THROUGH A BOUNDARY between two different isotropic media, such as water, glass, or air. In OPTICS, the law is used in ray tracing to COMPUTE the angles of incidence or refraction, and in EXPERIMENTAL optics to FIND the refractive index of a material.

(that's not accounting, obviously, that's physics, but it's an example, don't @ me.)

It looks deranged, formatted that way, but hopefully you can see what I mean by using a newscaster voice. Speaking aloud and forcing strong emphasis drags your brain into line and helps break down concepts and clauses in complex sentences WAY BETTER than just staring at them.

...I think that's all I've got for you. Good luck out there, buddy. Please let me know if I should clarify anything, I'm really tired. Hopefully this is at least coherent.

Me: how do I study as a neurodivergent person?

Google: how to help your autistic child study

Me: how to study as an autistic adult/teen

Google: teachers guide to how to deal with autistic children

Me: how do I study as an autistic teen/adult

Google: study tips for autistic people(-written by this allistic man that will talk about autistic people like they're zoo animals)

Me: how to study as a neurodivergent adult, tips from neurodivergent person to neurodivergent students, on how to study independently as an autistic person, no reliant support needed

Google: high functioning autism and school

Me: fuck just. How do I focus during this test that I'm in rn as an AuDHD person

Google: ok, so, to focus on this thing that you currently are doing and need to get done TODAY; weeks before the test you'll need to eat healthy and exercise, meditate, study, set timers, take breaks, drink water, sleep, find the secrets to a happy life, adopt five children, sacrifice a goat, take short showers, brush your teeth

Executive dysfunction:

My fucking deadline:

[grimestime27]

Find Me Part One

Pairing: Daryl x reader

Rating: So far fluff

Warnings: Angst, fluff

Aaron returned to Alexandria along with Kelly and Jerry. Anxious to see your now husband again, you came out from the house you shared together. But there was several people missing—Carol, Connie, Magna, and Daryl. Aaron could see your face scrunched up for miles it seemed like, your brain running a hundred miles a minute. It was trying to rationalize why your husband hadn’t returned. It was surreal to call him your husband. You both hadn’t been married a long time—just a few weeks. Gabriel had officiated a small ceremony for you both at the church in Alexandria, the whole thing being intimate. Just you and Daryl.

“Aaron.”, you immediately began, heading towards him.

“Y/N, wait—I can explain—.”

“Where the hell is my husband?”

Daryl had found an old wedding band, just his size. It was important to you that you both wore rings as a symbol of your love for one another. That’s why Daryl did it. He did it for you. Had he gotten married before the apocalypse (which he wouldn’t have), he wouldn’t have worn one at all. If something happened to Daryl, at least someone knew he was married and belonged to someone. Someone would be missing him. 

Aaron sighed. “Y/N, hear me out—”

“Aaron, where the hell is he?!”, you repeated, gritting your teeth.

“Y/N.”, Aaron responded calmly. 

“Is he dead?”, you repeated, softer this time as your voice was beginning to break.

“No.”, Aaron responded, quickly. “He’s not dead.”

The look on your face told Aaron you wanted more answers. The kids began coming outside, including Gracie, Judith, and RJ.

“He’s out searching for another way into a cave. We were led into a cave by Alpha. She tried to kill us—Connie and Magna are still stuck. The cave—Carol was—I don’t know—all I know is she accidentally set off some dynamite and the cave collapsed just as we got out.”

“So my husband is out there searching for another way into this cave? Again, cleaning up someone else’s mess?”

Aaron sighed as Gracie ran over to him, calling for her daddy. “I’m sorry Y/N.”

You knew that Daryl and Carol’s friendship was taking a turn for the worst. Daryl was tired of talking some sense into her. There had been no reasoning or rationalizing with her. Things had became difficult for her and Ezekiel since Henry was killed. Their marriage was clearly strained, them seeming to avoid one another. One stayed in Alexandria and the other at the Hilltop. All Carol was focused on was getting revenge, killing Alpha.

Aaron gave you a sympathetic look as he walked off with Gracie. You were trying to give him some grace. You had a feeling who was at fault here and it wasn’t Aaron. 

“Where’s Uncle Daryl?”, Judith questioned, coming up beside you.

“Trying to help some of our friends, Jude.”

Judith pursed her lips, clearly not pleased with the answer. “Why don’t you go look for him? I can go too.”

Michonne was on a trip to take someone who had invaded Oceanside back to their home. She said she would keep in contact with Judith, but it had been days since you all had heard anything. Michonne made you and Daryl promise that you both would look after Judith and RJ, keeping them safe no matter what.

“No.”, you said firmly. 

“Why not?”, she whined, just like a normal child. “I’m a good shot and I need more practice.”

It almost caused you to smile.

“No Judith—I told your mom I would keep you safe and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Judith frowned, beginning to storm away. She was having a normal childhood temper tantrum, something you never knew you would miss until now. It made life seem somewhat normal. She had Michonne’s determination even if she wasn’t biologically hers. Once she had an idea in her head, she was going to do it come hell or high water, something she got from Rick. You began to follow after Judith, bending down to pick up RJ. 

“Judith.”, you called after her, but she ignored you.

“Judith!”, you repeated.

She still ignored you, walking into their home. She stormed up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door shut. You sighed, holding RJ. Life was simpler when Judith was younger. You closed the door, smiling softly at RJ. 

“At least you still like me.”

“Yes, I love you.”, RJ smiled before you kissed his head, going into the kitchen to make them something for lunch. You were also going to try and get your mind off what your husband might be getting himself into. 

______________________________________________________________

As RJ was finishing up lunch, Judith’s plate was left full. She was still visibly upset with you but you had good reason. She just didn’t know it yet. 

Suddenly, you heard footsteps racing down the stairs. You perked up, hoping they were Judith’s. Of course they were hers, silly. Who else’s would they have been? But this world had taught you to always keep one eye open. You could never be too sure.

“Is this why we can’t go?”, Judith held up the white stick.

The white stick you had apparently left in the bathroom on the sink. Dammit.

“Where did you find that?”

“You left it on the sink.”, she crossed her arms. “Not a very good hiding place.”

You sighed. 

“And I know this isn’t mom’s.”

You nodded in agreement, trying to think of what to say next. “No, it’s not.”

“You’re pregnant.”, Judith stated matter-of-factly. 

“You know what that means, huh?”

Judith came over to sit down at the table, laying your very positive pregnancy test on the table in front of you. “Does Uncle Daryl know?”

“Not yet.”, you sighed. “I wanted to tell him when he got home today but he didn’t come home yet.”

A knock came to the door, interrupting your conversation with Judith. You got up from the table, heading towards the door. Slowly opening it, you found Aaron standing at the door. 

“Hey.”

“Hey Aaron.”

“Look, I’m sorry about Daryl. If you want, we can both head out and look for him together.”

“She can’t.”, Judith chimed in from behind you, causing you to look back at her and give her the ‘hush’ look. 

As you turned back around, Aaron wore a confused expression on his face.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Judith!”, you looked back at her. 

“You’re pregnant?”, Aaron asked. “Does Daryl know?”

You sighed, closing your eyes. “No. I was going to tell him when he got back today.”

Aaron sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his face. “I’ll go find him.”

“I want to go too.”, Judith stated. 

TO BE CONTINUED....

[alpaca-clouds]

Egyptomania in Europe

So, let me talk about Egyptomania in Europe, if we are already talking about Castlevania Nocturne and history. (Yes, I am very much using this trying to get y'all to learn a bit about history. Because the humanities are important, and history class in school does not really cover this stuff.)

Because, oh boy. While - as I said - technically the dates are not quite right (the Louvre did only open the Egyptian exhibit in 1802), Egyptomania absolutely started in the 18th century.

So, let me talk a bit about Egyptomania, and what kind of inappropriate shit European colonizers did with Egyptian mummies. Because, oh boy. You are in for quite some history there.

The 18th Century, or: "Those are some pretty pyramids, you have there."

The one thing you have to understand about Ancient Egypt is how something about that culture just seems to make sense to people. As I said in the essay on Drolta: Egyptian religion and culture had a ton of staying power. Like, no matter who took Egypt. The Greeks, the Romans... Anywhere they went, they tried to push their own culture onto the people there. Egypt? Yeah, they just started worshipping those gods. I don't know what it is about Egypt that connects so much with people. But there surely is something.

Now, in the 18th century there were several things that came together. Literacy was widely enough spread that for the first time in history people actually could make a living publishing novels. About a third of all men and a forth of all women in France could read by the beginning of the Revolution. And of course the Revolution later pushed for all children to be allowed to learn to read and write. And some of those novels included Egyptian mysticism.

At the same time coffee houses, political societies and secret societies became more popular and those also would include often some Egyptian symbolism. Our dear Americans might be aware of some prominent Egyptian symbolism on their money for examples, which is related to this.

Through this interest, there were a few first actual Egyptiologist starting to arise. Remember: At this time folks knew there were those pyramids, and a couple of graves and been found, but we knew very little about the actual culture, because we could not read hieroglyphics.

Now, there were some few Europeans academics, who at this time seriously engaged with the North African and Arab people, and among them were a handful of people who actually tried to find out more about Egyptian society in antiquity. But they by far were the minority. After all, this time was very racist, and very few saw Egypt as more as a source for mysticism.

However, then the end of the century came around and with it a certain Napoleon Bonaparte, who tried to take Egypt. For context, France and the Ottoman Empire had a shaky alliance through parts of the 18th century. But of course Napoleon broke that alliance, when he decided to invade Egypt for multiple reasons (partly access to the Red Sea and the Nile). He lost the battles that followed, and the Ottomans ended up striking an alliance with the English, but never the less: Napoleon brought back a lot of spoils from Egypt, and made sure those would be introduced into the Louvre in 1802.

And with this he started Egyptomania.

The 19th Century, or: "Do you want some mummy with your coffee?"

Now, the 19th century was kinda the perfect storm of circumstances, that lead to the actual Egyptomania. Because a variety of cultural aspects and historical circumstances lead to western people just getting enamored with this culture.

First of all there was the romanticism movement that started at the end of the 18th century, that was very concerned with beauty, and emotion, and the eternity of the soul. So those ideas that we even early kinda knew that the Egyptians had (they did make those mummies after all) were super interesting. Especially as the romanticism movement also had those ideas about magic and the paranormal, that both Egypt, as well as the "east" kinda played into in popular imagination. This is part of what sparked the whole Orientalism trend. (This is the moment I will tell y'all to just get yourself a copy of Edward Said's book "Orientalism". This really should be standard reading in my view.)

Second - and quite related to this - the mysticism and spiritualism movement got even stronger now. Especially in the second half of the 19th century the spiritualism movement really took over the zeitgeist. Just ask Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was pretty darn influential in this. And spiritualism just loved those Egyptian ideas of the afterlife and such. Especially after...

Third: Champollion managed to decipher hieroglyphics in 1823, and with this people suddenly could understand all those writing in those graves and on those papyri that we had found in the desert. And with that we had an understanding of the believe system of the Egyptians. And sure, those things I spoke about earlier today - about how religion shifted and such - was not well understood by the people back then. But they sure fucking loved what they heard about the Duat and the souls and such.

This all really created the perfect storm. No, not for people to have a respectful exchange with the Egyptian culture. What are you thinking? We are talking about 18th century white folks, after all. Some of them were okay, sure. But, in general we are talking about colonialist a-holes.

So, instead they started to look for those graves, treasures and art pieces from Egypt grabbing pretty much everything that was not nailed down. (And let's face it: Nailing stuff down made it harder to take, sure, but they still tried.) Jewelry, art pieces, both the fancy and less fantasy sarcophagi, and all those mummies. In fact mummies were such a popular item of merchandise at this time, that a whole fucking black market started to spring up around them, including people who figured out to make their own mummies. Partly by digging up graves and mummifying the bodies in there. Partly by more... direct means of acquiring dead bodies, if you get my drift.

And those fancy rich western folks sure loved their mummies. Things they would do with those mummies included:

Using them as medicine

Using them as food (yes, this very much qualifies as cannibalism) and as garnish for food

Sniffing them like drugs

Grinding them up to make oil colors with them (there was a color called "mummy brown" that indeed used fresh mummy)

Having fun "mummy unwrapping parties"

I hope, if you have not known this before, you flinched at least a bit at this. Because yeah, it is fucking disgusting - both on a hygienical level, as well as a moral level. And there is a good chance that some of those graves we found empty later on were indeed plundered to provide stuff for the black market during this time. While sure, there were absolutely folks who really started to figure out a lot of stuff about that ancient culture of Egypt, there is also stuff we will likely never know because so much stuff was stolen and then got lost. Some of it might to this day be in private collections, while other stuff truly is lost, after then being stolen during one of the world wars.

The 20th Century, or: "Oh wow, this one grave is actually still complete! Huh!"

The actual science started to get going more towards the end of the 19th century and then at the beginning of the 20th century. But again, this ran into the trouble of finding many graves that had already been robbed. While some of them had of course been robbed over the millennia since their inhabitants had been buried (people had interest in those jewels and what not during the antiquity and the middle ages, obviously). But some also had only been robbed recently due to the rising black market.

This is why we know Tutankhamun so very well, despite him being only Pharaoh for a very short time and not having done anything of note. The big thing about him is not what he archived in life, but the fact that he was one of the few tombs we found that were pretty much fully intact. So from that we learned a whole lot about how such a grave would usually be set up, because the grave had not been stripped for parts. (And yes, obviously the whole spooky story of the curse of the Pharaoh also played a big role in how well known Tut became.)

It was only towards the middle of the century and mainly due to the second World War that the brunt of the Egyptomania was letting off. People still were super fascinated by Egypt, sure, but they were no longer quite as obsessed with it as they had been before. And at least there were no more mummy-unwrapping parties, which I take as a plus.

Though it was only during the second half of the century that there was more critical reception of how Egypt had been plundered. And while it is still not ideal, I will say at least Egypt managed to enforce more of its ownership over her history, than a lot of the other colonized nations.

The main takeaway of this is: You all need to read Edward Said's book Orientalism. And colonial Europe was fucking weird.

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Random Headcanons (18+)

2003!Michelangelo x reader

A/N: Just another easy one for me and my head to relax with. Here ya go🧡

All characters are aged up.

Warnings: Mentioning of public sex, mentioning of roleplay.

Firstly, it’s important for you to know what you’re getting yourself into. Mikey is full of stamina and full of ideas, and, well, he’s pretty much always in the mood for some naked tango. It was almost like an itch he just had to scratch, and somehow, the only way to do it was with your help. Mikey liked to say that somehow you knew his body and what he liked, better than he knew it all himself, even though he was the one that tended to think and daydream about sex with you every other hour.

You could always tell when your terrapin boyfriend was in the mood. He would kind of hoover around you, looking for a way to get in close, so he could take up all of your attention. If there was many people around, like family or friends, Mikey would pull and tuck at your clothes, almost like a child that was too scared to speak openly. But if you were alone, Mikey would have no such reprehension. The moment he would spot a way to get your attention, he would swoop in, wrapping his arms around you, and holding you close, and kissing whatever part of you his lips had access to.

When it came to sex itself, Mikey did very much like he would do during his mating season. He would look for ways to sneak your activities out of the bedroom, to other rooms or places around the lair. Well, not just the lair to be honest. Mikey was not against finding a tree in Central Park and fuck you against it, or a lonely swing in the night, that you could use as a sex swing. Alley ways, roof tops, abandoned buildings, anywhere and everywhere, if Mikey could find a way to sneak the two of you in there. It has definitely put you and Mikey in some interesting and very exciting situations, that only you and Mikey would be able to talk and giggle about in secret.

It wasn’t always possible for you and Mikey to have sex in semi public places, due to all sorts of reasons. That meant that you and your orange clad boyfriend would either have to stay in Mikey’s lair room, or in your apartment. And here, all sorts of fun things could take place. You would try that new position one of you had found online, or having sex on that one piece of furniture, that Mikey still haven’t thoroughly fucked you on, or you might try that roleplay you mentioned for Mikey a few days ago, which he had now been fixated on ever since, eager to try it out with you.

[echoingbirdsofprey]

Delicate (Jake's Version)

26 - Callsign: Sunshine

Pairing: Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x OFC Samantha Kazansky, OMC Captain Bodhi 'Sunshine' Denson x OFC Samantha Kazansky

Rating: Explicit (MDNI!)

Warnings: All kinds in this one! We've got heavy alcohol comsumption, SMUT, protected!piv, typical fighter pilot violence, AN ACTUAL FIGHT with blood and punching (and one cheap shot) mentions of death and cancer treatment

A/N: This one is gonna hurt. And it's not Jake this time. (Well maybe a tiny bit)I told y'all Bodhi was important. This is all flashbacks but they're super important and it's kind of wrapping up some plot points and connecting some things. As always, comments, likes, reblogs are most appreciated! Check out the other two parts of this story by heading over the the Masterlist for Twisters/TopGun Crossover!

Tags: @mrsevans90 @djs8891 @gpsmississippihippie @barnesboo1967 @dizzybee03 @coloraturadiva @kmc1989

Sam never thought she'd see Bodhi again after that night, but she did. A couple of weeks later, it was spring break, and she'd come home, and to the realization that her father might not make it to her graduation. He was currently undergoing a round of chemotherapy, which seemed to be helping significantly. So, they wanted to keep it up until he was at a comfortable place, but there was no way he could get on a plane in his condition, with his destroyed immune system. 

Sam went to a bar that night, not even one she knew, and had too many drinks. She was about to text her mother to come get her, which was the most embarrassing thing ever, when she felt a hand at her back. It equally startled and comforted her.

“Samantha.” It was Bodhi. His smile was warm and inviting and Sam nearly fell into him. She giggled and he took a hold of her, steadying her. 

“Too much to drink again, honey?” He mused. 

“Hi Sunshine, what brings you here?” Sam hadn't put together just how drunk she was until she heard herself slur her words. This was bad. 

“Well, sweet girl, I think I might be here to save you from yourself.” Bodhi said, as he guided her away from the bar and threw some cash toward the bartender. He gave him a thumbs up and shooed them away. An easy smile crossed Bodhi’s lips as he helped her onto the sidewalk. “I’ll drive you home, honey.”

He ushered her carefully to his truck and the whole way, Sam was laughing and telling him how sick her father was, how good she was doing in school, and how terribly sad she was that her father was probably going to miss her graduation. 

“I’m sure he’ll figure a way to get there. If I know anythin’ about Iceman, it’s that he’s always reliable.” Bodhi said, as they got to his truck. Sam turned in his arms, letting her lips fall toward his. It shocked him and then he eased her away for a moment.

“Honey...not like this. You’re way too drunk.” He said softly, running a hand over her cheek. There was a sadness in her eyes that he hated to see there. He wanted to make it better but he knew he couldn’t do a damn thing. 

“Take me to your place.” She slurred and Bodhi sighed. His place was closer. He helped her up into the truck and then drove. Back to his tiny studio apartment. It was the third floor, and had a great view of the ocean. Bodhi helped Sam up the stairs, careful to not let her trip. Once they were inside, he settled her on the couch.

“Can I see your phone? I'll text whoever you need me to.” He said and Sam very willingly handed her phone over.

“Just text my mom and tell her I went home with Nat. She'll know who that is.” Sam said, laying down on her side. She coughed and heaved, causing Bodhi’s eyes to widen and run to the kitchen. He grabbed a large pot, figuring if she was going to throw up, at least she could have something to catch it in. He was in for a rough night. He sent a text to her mother.

Sam: staying at Nat’s tonight

It took a few minutes but her mother responded with no more than an ‘okay’ and that was enough acknowledgement for Bodhi. He gave Sam her phone back, and then he sat down next to her. She smirked and sat up, reaching for him.

“Ohhh Sunshine...Sunshiiiine.” She chimed, making him chuckle. He shook his head as she latched onto him and leaned in to kiss him.

“Honey, we can't.” He said softly, running his knuckles over her cheek as her mouth connected with his messily. He allowed the kiss but when she let her fingers drift down to his belt, he stopped her.

“Sweet girl...if you really want me that bad, you can have me in the mornin’ when you’re not drunk. I ain’t takin’ you like this.” He pulled her against him and she struggled for a moment, clawing at his shirt. She just wanted to have sex. Meaningless sex, and he wasn’t having it, and she wasn’t understanding why through the shroud of alcohol, but she’d come to her senses in the morning.

She fell asleep sprawled on top of him.

Halfway through the night, she woke up, puking in the bucket, which then woke Bodhi up. He took her to the bathroom and held her hair as she vomited several more times. He wiped her mouth and chin off. He helped her out of the pretty dress she had been in and into one of his old t-shirts. He got her water and brought her to his bed and tucked her under the covers. He dumped the bucket in the toilet and then washed it out and placed it by the side of the bed. He climbed under the covers next to her and rubbed her back until she fell asleep again.

When the sun shone through the windows in the morning, Sam had a ripping headache and her throat hurt. She rolled to face the handsome pilot. He did not stir, only breathed softly next to her, an arm draped over her. She was dizzy and she decided to crawl out of bed and find the bathroom. The studio was small, so that wasn’t hard.

After she found some mouthwash and took a quick shower, she headed back to the bedroom, where Bodhi was still asleep. She cuddled up to him under the covers and after a little while, he awoke. He shifted and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. 

“You’re not burning up anymore.” He whispered and she cocked a brow.

“What do you mean?” She asked, her voice raspy. 

“You were so drunk. You were pouring sweat in your sleep. I had put a cool cloth over your forehead to help.” Bodhi explained as his arms came to wrap around her. 

“Did we...” She asked, and Bodhi, seeing the worry in her eyes, comfortingly rubbed her back.

“No honey. I wouldn't do that to you.” He said softly, bringing tears to Sam's eyes. She tentatively stretched towards him and he closed the rest of the distance to kiss her. 

“Like I said last night, if you still feel the same, you can have me now, since you're not drunk anymore.” He mused, his voice taking on a slightly husky quality whether he meant it no or not. It sent a jolt straight through her core, her abs tightening with the thought of him inside her again. She did want him. She wanted his musky, mature scent caging her in on all sides. His muscular, lean body protecting her, and moving against her. She wanted his breath heavy in her ears, whispering sweet nothings to linger in the space between them. 

“Oh Captain...my Captain.” She sighed, pulling him in for a torrid kiss that set both their bodies ablaze. Bodhi climbed over her, fumbling in his bedside table for a condom. He was quick to roll it on, slow to slide inside of her, and even slower to fuck her. She whimpered beneath him, her nails grazing over his chest, rapidly pressing him toward a point of no return. 

It was not long before she sighed, his callsign slipping from her mouth, which in turn sent Bodhi over the edge. And as they fell asleep, Bodhi whispered ‘think I might love you a little bit, honey’ without realizing it.

That was the last time Sam would ever be that drunk again. However it was not the last time she would see Bodhi. In fact, she would see him several more times. They would have ‘meaningless sex’ several more times. Sam kept telling him ‘can’t have feelings’ and ‘can’t keep doing this’ but she kept going back for more. Bodhi treated her all the same though. 

His lingering touches when they were together, his gentle presence beside her, made her feel protected. Even though the feelings weren’t reciprocated in the moment, Sam could maybe admit there was something there, between them. To Bodhi, it was all the same. Whether she loved him or not, he treated her the way a man should treat a woman. With respect. With reverence. And he showed her what she could have, if she would just let her guard down. If she would just let him in. If it had been another time, another place, maybe it could’ve worked. But all he hoped for was that in time, she would find the right man, and she could shake off her armor and let him in.

And then, Bodhi’s jet would have mechanical failure and he would go down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The funeral was quiet, some of his squadron and Samantha, Maverick, and her father. That was when she realized just how little Bodhi mattered to anyone. But he’d been important to Sam.

And Samantha would realize that she should’ve loved him. She should’ve given him more of herself. She should’ve stopped telling him she didn’t have feelings for him, because she had. She should’ve admitted to him and herself the feelings that she had, because they were more than just liking him. She had loved Bodhi, just too little and too late.

So when she sat at the Hard Deck that evening, and Jake Seresin made his intentions very clear right then and there, she decided to give him a chance. She gave him the chance that she didn’t give Bodhi. For the memory of Bodhi, for her Sunshine, she would love Jake Seresin in all the ways she wouldn’t let herself love Bodhi. It was what he would’ve wanted. If it wasn’t going to be him, Bodhi would’ve wanted her to find someone to love and to heal. In some ways, she thought maybe Bodhi had sent Jake to her. Maybe she saw just a little of Bodhi in Jake.

🛩⚓️🛩

Several months before the incident between Sam and Rooster...

“Delta One inbound. Missiles locked. Standing by for go.” Jake said through the comms. 

“Delta Two on your left. Weapons envelope. Missiles locked. Defer to Delta One.” Austin said, his gaze shooting toward Jake’s jet. 

Austin Arin, callsign ‘Pope’, had been Jake’s wingman for a while now and the two had a great bond. Jake, who was hesitant to trust anyone other than himself, trusted Austin implicitly. They’d been sent overseas, somewhere in the Pacific for a mission. A strike on a carrier connected to nefarious sources in the Middle East that was prohibiting supplies from being brought into the ports closest to where US bases resupplied from. 

It was going to be a dogfight. Jake knew that. Austin knew that. And it was as if Bradley didn’t. Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw was flying as a third, behind Austin. It was the first time Rooster was flying a dual F-18. For Charlie, his backseater, this was the first time they’d flown together. It had been a last minute decision from the boat, having had two pilots come down with illnesses unrelated to each other. One pilot was headed home and the other was manageable on the boat, but there was no way he’d be flying this mission.

“Delta Three Weapons Locked. Defer to Delta One.” Rooster said and the boot acknowledged all three planes. 

“Delta you are a go for attack. Fire at will.” The Commander said and Jake punched it, heading toward the battle zone in the air. There were several enemy fighters. 

“Bandit on your nose Delta Two. Evade!” Jake said, successfully warning Austin, who dove out of the way. Rooster followed and Jake took out one bandit, Austin taking out the other. There was one more, but it seemed to skip in and out of radar. It came up behind them and Rooster evaded. Their goal was to destroy the carrier deck of the enemy boat so they couldn’t launch any more planes. 

As they got closer, more fighters were launched in quick succession. Jake, Austin, and Bradley called for back up and their commander sent another team out.

“Delta Three head to target we’ve got this.” Jake said, with Austin posting up beside him, their wing tips close. They glanced over at each other and saluted then dipped away from each other. Rooster flew toward the enemy carrier evading several bandits as he went. He fired a missile, blowing a huge hole in the deck of the carrier. It wasn’t enough though, because as soon as his second volley of missiles was launched, they catapulted what looked to be some of the last of their fighters. 

Austin was taking out planes left and right. Jake would slide in at the last second and distract them while  Austin dove down below them or above them and fired. The other team had arrived in time to help get rid of the majority of the bandits, but as Austin got out of Jake’s range, it was now on Rooster to help him. 

“All Deltas flow to carrier. Target is destroyed.” There was cheering that could be heard over the comms, and everyone complied. The spare team headed back first and successfully landed on the carrier one by one. Then Jake touched down and just as he was about to exit his jet, there was chatter over the radios.

“Delta Two defending! I need help! Delta Three where are you!” He heard Austin’s voice over the radio and his heart stopped. He saw flares and only saw one jet but as he looked closer, there was another jet behind Austin.

“On my way Delta Two, Still five miles out. Evade!” Bradley said and Jake’s heart sank.

“Delta Three where the fuck are you! Get here now!”

“Delta Three! Delta!” 

Static. 

Then silence.

Jake looked up in the distance just in time to see the explosion before anyone heard it. In a ball of fire and smoke, Austin ‘Pope’ Arin died for his country. Jake watched as Delta Four launched and took out the bandit, just as Rooster showed up. Both jets landed a few moments later and as soon as Bradley stepped down from the ladder, Jake was on him.

“WHERE THE FUCK WHERE YOU?” Jake yelled, pushing Bradley. He fell to the ground and got right back up, grabbing Jake’s flight suit and pushing him against the ladder.

“I was on my fucking way! We had an engine issue and I couldn’t push the jet!”

“THAT’S BULLSHIT ROOSTER. YOU FUCKIN’ KILLED MY WINGMAN CAUSE YOU JUST PERCHED ON THAT GODDAMN TRIGGER. YOU WERE LATE. YOU’RE ALWAYS FASHIONABLY LATE!” Jake’s rage could not be contained and he jumped toward Rooster, his hand connecting with the other man’s face hard enough to draw blood. Rooster drew back and got a few punches in before Jake had him on the ground again. He kicked Rooster in the ribs and then pulled him up by his collar and threw him against the nose of the nearest jet. Rooster wobbled as he stood, landing one more good punch to Jake’s gut, but it was Jake who landed the knockout blow. He hit Rooster square in the jaw and Roos saw stars and fell to the ground, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

“I swear to fuckin’ god, Rooster, the court martial is worth it. You killed my best friend, you ignorant fuck. You’d better stay the fuck outta my way from now the fuck on.” Jake’s voice had evened out. It was almost calm as he wiped the blood from his own mouth. He rubbed his stomach and groaned as he headed toward medical. 

No one helped Rooster up immediately. Because they sort of knew Jake was right. Bradley had gotten there too late and left Austin open without help. Jake had every right to do what he did. And Rooster was the only one who thought otherwise.

Back home, Austin’s funeral was hard for Jake. He met Austin’s mother, giving her the folded flag. He punched his wings into his best friend’s casket. Jake was given a service medal. He didn’t want it though. He didn’t feel like he deserved it. 

🛩⚓️🛩

Samantha needed to talk to someone. She found herself driving to the cemetery. Her legs carried her down the rows to the small stone set in the ground, where there was no body buried. They’d never found him.

She knelt down and placed her fingers over the cold stone, tracing the words etched there.

“Capt. Bodhi ‘Sunshine’ Denson, 1976 - 2022, VFA-151 Vigilantes, Beloved Pilot”

Sam always wondered if Jake knew him. 

“Sunshine...Sunshiiine...” She sung softly, tears stinging her eyes. “I should’ve loved you better. But I know you’d be happy to see me with Jake. If I could ask one more thing of you...please protect him and bring him back to me...” 

A gentle breeze blew, caressing Sam’s cheek and she let her eyes flutter shut. She swore for a moment that the scent of Bodhi’s cologne, a musky, woody warmth, floating to her nostrils, as if his spirit accepted her request. The breeze rustled the leaves above and a few fell, one landing on top of Sam’s hand.

“Thank you for sending me Jake. I know it was you. It was your last act of service. Rest well knowing he’ll take care of me just like you would’ve. I loved you, Bodhi. I always will.” She kissed her fingertips and then touched the stone. She took the leaf that had fallen and placed it on the dashboard when she got into her father’s truck. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, and glanced back at the dogs sleeping in the back seat. Only Rocco stirred, giving a small whine and a wag of his tail. 

She then drove back to Jake’s, laid back in his bed, and waited for a miracle.

[gemsofgreece]

Hi! I’m planning a trip to Greece but all I can find is info on the beaches and island hopping but I personally wanna go to see the mountains rather than do any partying stuff, the landscape and geology of Greece is fascinating and I’d like to see it up close but at the same time I want to be supporting local communities rather than major tourist corporations. Do you have any tips? Also if it’s helpful I am learning Greek so I don’t mind any recommendations for areas that are unlikely to have any English speakers! Thank you! 😊

Hello! I believe the official site of Greek Tourism Organisation "Visit Greece" has plenty of information about all places in Greece, not just the islands. Now, before getting to exactly what you asked, I would like to make some clarifications so you have a more accurate picture about Greece as a travel destination.

First, while the islands get the tourists by a long margin, it does not mean that they are all about partying. Only few islands are specifically partying destinations, namely just Mykonos and Ios, although even there you might be able to find regions which are more traditional and good for more chill, authentic and secluded vacations. Also, if staying far from mass tourism is very important to you, there are several islands that are not very known to tourists yet. Because they are islands, by nature some of them not yet touched by mass tourism and investments are actually very remote, more remote than many places in the mainland.

Second, Greece indeed has an interesting landscape and it has it both in the mainland and in the islands. While most islands have lower altitudes and less vegetation than the mainland, the vast majority has a very rugged terrain too. The type of "flatbread" landscapes, as I call them respectfully, virtually does not exist in Greece. Then four out of five active volcanoes in Greece are in the islands, which create interesting landscapes. And then there's Crete with its ultra mountain ranges. This is not me trying to sway you from your wish to go to the mainland, in fact I do think the mainland is severely underrated. I just want to give you a more spherical and accurate perception of Greece as a destination. So back to your ask!

I had trouble figuring out how to approach your ask. Asking me about seeing "the mountains" is in fact not easier than asking me about seeing "the islands". I thought about it long and hard (a bit too long, I hope you're still hanging around to see it) and based on your interests as described above I decided to offer four general plans about your itinerary. I called them "the plans of the triads". Every plan is a triad, I'll explain this in a bit.

Apologies in advance that I will go out on a limb and not include Thrace and include only a tiny bit of Macedonia in my plans. I did not include Thrace because even though it has the Rhodope mountains and perhaps the best or amongst the best woodlands, it is not as mountainous as the other regions. As for Macedonia, I include it only slightly and it's definitely a choice because literally the four biggest mountains in Greece are in Macedonia LOL including most of freaking Olympus. However, the reason I am leaving it out for the most part is because it is a slightly less mountainous region than the others, in the sense that there are larger intervals of hills and lowlands between the mountainous destinations for someone who tries to make a clever mountain itinerary, you know? So, you understood this correctly, I am leaving Olympus out of this lol. I will also leave out Mount Pelion of Thessaly, the most touristic Greek mountain, which is gorgeous, because I believe it's more cosmopolitan and not what you're asking for exactly. I had to preface this so one would not be weirded out by my exclusions, they are conscious choices.

So, I call the plans triads because all plans are based on visiting three geographic regions. These regions are all next to each other and they are all very mountainous so it would make it easier for you to explore in relatively close distances. By the way, you will need to rent a car for this or come by land with your own. You don't get to do a mountain itinerary in Greece with a bus or a train. Unless you get in touch with a travel agency but they will have some other itinerary in mind perhaps.

The triad plans are four:

The Screamer

The Recluse

The Athenian boy

The Mediterranean alternative

Here's a map with all plans:

The Screamer (Ioannina - Trikala - Grevena)

Why that name: I call this one the "screamer" because it is the most obvious choice perhaps for someone who wants mountains. It's not necessarily more mountainous than the others but it is the flagship of mountainous and landlocked mainland destinations in Greece.

Which major regions are featured: Epirus, Thessaly and Macedonia.

What's the X-factor: It has perhaps the ideal combo of "geology and landscape" out of the four as I am not only recommending mountains here but also the most famous natural wonder of the country and also a Record Guinness gorge.

Season: From middle spring to middle autumn, you don't want to get trapped there in a snowstorm.

Places you can hope to see in this plan ideally:

the UNESCO World Heritage Meteora Rocks and their medieval monasteries, as well as the scenic towns surrounding them

the National Park of Vikos-Aoos with its trademark Vikos gorge, the deepest gorge in the world in relation to its width

the National Park of Northern Pindus with the woodlands of Valia Calda

the quaint mountain villages of Elati, Pertouli and Neraidochori in Mount Koziakas, Trikala

the region of Zagori with its numerous UNESCO Cultural Landscape traditional villages

Mount Tymfi, also in Zagori, with its alpine lake

the northern part of Tzoumerka (Athamanian mountains) with villages such as Kalarrytes and Pramanta

the lake city of Ioannina, the 6th largest in Greece. If there, visit also the lake's island and its museum. It's the only place in Greece you can eat frog legs and lake eels, if for some reason you're up for this

the towns of Trikala and Grevena. Eat mushrooms if you visit the latter.

Metsovo, one of the largest mountain towns of the country. Visit the museums and eat cheeses and cured meats there.

Samarina on Mount Smolikas, one of the highest mountain villages in Greece and the Balkans. Smolikas is the second tallest mountain after Olympus but it has smooth slopes and it can be easily hiked.

IF you take the risk to go in winter, you can visit the Ski Resort of Vasilitsa in Grevena. Check if it's open / it has snowed enough first.

Remember, winter in Greece is either summer or Siberia, there's no in between and it's hard to predict which version you'll get.

Note! If you hike up to the alpine Dragon Lake of Mount Tymfi, DON'T swim in it even if it's summer. The lake hosts endangered endemic tritons and other fauna that is vulnerable to germs we might introduce to them.

Danger! If by any chance, you lose your way with the car in the mountains of Ioannina and Trikala, DON'T try a road named "Katara". It's a dangerous road. Keep driving in the highway.

Fun Fact: In this region, especially in Grevena, if you're very lucky, you might see bears. Greece's brown bears (almost?) never attack humans but of course keep your distance and observe from afar.

Will I be able to see all this in my journey: No, of course not. From now on, you'll have to make your internet search, check these places, find the ones you like best and ideally choose ones close to one another, check the distances, the accessibility, the average weather, the accommodations.

Meteora, the Dragon Lake of Mount Tymfi and Northern Pindus (probs Mount Smolikas). All these pics are clearly taken in spring, April or later.

The Recluse (Karditsa - Arta - Eurytania)

Why that name: From all the plans this is the one that is most likely to feel far from organized tourism and with the highest chances of meeting people not knowing English.

Which major regions are featured: Thessaly - Epirus - Sterea Hellas

What's the X-factor: It's a highly untouched and authentic feeling region with traditional pretty villages, imposing mountain scenery and several lakeside destinations, an ideal region to seek serenity and getting away from it all. At the same time, it has the most mountainous regional capital city in the country as well as high quality accommodation, including chalets.

Season: From middle spring to middle autumn, you don't want to get trapped there in a snowstorm, unless you have the means to spend the adverse weather in your accommodation, without worrying about being back on time.

Places you can hope to see in this plan ideally:

Agrafa mountains and their villages

the well known Plastira lake, it has organized tourist facilities

Karditsa town and its UNESCO protected public market

The region of Argithea in Karditsa with the small but beautiful Stefaniada lake

the central and southern part of Tzoumerka (Athamanian mountains), their villages such as Agnanta and Theodoriana, their woodlands and their waterfalls

The town of Arta with its fabled Bridge of Arta

Kremasta, the largest man-made lake in Greece

if you come in winter, the Ski Resort of Velouchi

Karpenisi, the mountainous capital of Eurytania

The natural wonder of Panta Vrechi Canyon. You 'll probably know that "Panta Vrechi" means "it's always raining".

the beautiful region of Prousos with the 12th century monastery and the canyon of the Black Cave

Will I be able to see all this in my journey: No, of course not. From now on, you'll have to make your internet search, check these places, find the ones you like best and ideally choose ones close to one another, check the distances, the accessibility, the average weather, the accommodations.

Agrafa mountains, the village of Agnanta in the Central Tzoumerka mountains and Proussos.

The Athenian Boy (Boeotia - Phocis - Phthiotis)

Why that name: Because it is the plan closest to Athens, in case you start your journey from there (most likely) or intend to visit Athens properly as well.

Which major regions are featured: We're putting Sterea Hellas in the spotlight with this one.

What's the X-factor: Again, its proximity to Athens without making any compromises in scenery. The mountains here are just as large as the ones in the plans above. Moreover, because it is close to Athens it has both secluded, remote destinations and more touristy, cosmopolitan or organized ones in close distance with each other.

Season: All year round because (broken record alert) due to its proximity to Athens perhaps things are catered to a little more carefully and it is less likely to stumble onto issues such as blocked roads even during adverse wintry weather.

Places you can hope to see in this plan ideally:

the cosmopolitan mountain town of Arachova

if in winter, the ski resort of Mount Parnassus

the city of Livadeia and its nearby Krya springs and waterfalls

the surrounded by mountains town of Amfissa and its elevated fortress, also some interesting carnival festival taking place there in February (earplugs recommended because these celebrations get loud)

the famous Oracle of Delphi, one of the most visited sites in Greece, on Mount Parnassus

the traditional villages of Phocis (scattered throughout the several mountains of the region)

Vardousia mountains, the mountains with some of the toughest peaks to climb across most of Greece

Mount Giona, the biggest mountain south of Olympus and the one with the biggest headwall in the Balkans

the gorgeous verdant region of Pavliani in Phthiotis

the National Woodland Park and the Asopos Gorge of Mount Oeta

if in Phthiotis, you can visit Thermopylae, the site of the battle between King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans with the Persians

Will I be able to see all this in my journey: Not if you want to explore each destination and mountain thoroughly. But it's possible that you can fit more things together in this one, although don't hold me to it, I may be wrong.

Vardousia Mountains, Arahova town and somewhere in Mount Oeta.

The Mediterranean alternative (Corinthia - Arcadia - Laconia)

Why that name: This plan trails down the mountainous core of the Peloponnese, South Greece. The climate is a little more typical Mediterranean than the previous temperate and alpine elevations. It still has large mountains which get snow in the winter but the weather is certainly a little milder. Furthermore, this plan includes a peninsula featured here for its special geomorphology and remoteness and not its altitude.

Which major regions are featured: Peloponnese through and through.

What's the X-factor: The milder weather, a more easily accessible combo of mountain and sea (although to be fair that's pretty easy in most Greek places) and a lot of historical and cultural sites.

Season: All year around. If however you definitely want wintry weather, ski resorts and snowcapped mountains, this happens of course but it is less guaranteed or it may last for a few days only.

Places you can hope to see in this plan ideally:

the Corinth Canal, Isthmus of Corinth

Mount Kyllini (or Ziria)

Aroania mountains (also known as Helmos) and the National Park of the Vouraikos gorge (okay most of it is in Achaea region next to Corinthia, I am stealing a little bit here)

Feneos and Doxa Lake

the historical quaint villages of Mount Menalo such as Stemnitsa, Dimitsana and Limbovisi

the town of Vytina, its nearby woods of Vytina and the Road of Love

if in winter and it has snowed, the ski resort in Mount Menalo

the very forested Mount Parnon and its villages

Mount Taygetus, the tallest mountain of the Peloponnese, overlooking the town of Sparta

the hilly Byzantine castle city of Mystras

Mani, a rough rugged - at places barren - remote peninsula with the tower houses of the Maniots, the fiercely proud and reserved people of the region. Places to see across Mani are Vathia, Areopoli, Oitylon and Cape Tenaro.

Will I be able to see all this in my journey: No but this plan is a little easier to navigate because you'll start from the north, heading from Athens to nearby Corinthia and then you can keep exploring as many of the aforementioned places as you want by going more and more south.

Lake Doxa in Feneos, a village in Mount Menalo of Arcadia and Mount Taygetus with Sparta on its foot.

Phew, okay that was it. I believe these are fairly good recs to examine and choose from. And again, to anyone that might wonder why I did not include this or that place, I know. I have left a lot of stuff out of this. But you gotta start somewhere. Anon, I hope this helps you out and also I hope you see this because it took me ages to finish it. In my defence, it was tricky!

Photos belong to their respective owners, I use them here as a visual guide for the Anon.

[rowan-ashtree]

Keeper of Earth

this is a gift for @riseandfallofsecunit because they drew my OCs (look at them!!!), written about someone in my OC world getting some Elemental magic (explanation of magic system here. i think that's all the context you need)

1.1k words, no CWs (let me know if i missed anything!)

this is my first time posting something set in this world - I'd love to post more if people are interested :)

🌱⚡🌊🔥☀️🌑 | 🌑☀️🔥🌊⚡🌱

You've been guarding the Vessel of Earth for a number of years now.

It's not as cool as you'd originally thought.

Not the Vessel. That thing — a circlet of vines that bloom with gemstones rather than flowers — is extremely cool.

Guarding it is what's boring.

Oh, you know it's an important job. You take the responsibility very seriously. You just thought it'd be more… exciting?

Nevertheless, you do what the Keepers’ Guild asked of you: check on the Vessel and update its History each day, stay mostly isolated, move around often, and grow a garden wherever you live.

The garden doesn't need to be anything special, they'd told you. Just something that shows the Element that you care. So you plant whatever's in season, wherever you happen to be. Currently, it's tomatoes and bell peppers, plus various herbs and flowers.

You're kneeling in the garden now, gently untangling weeds from the soil to be transplanted away from your vegetables. One annoying thing about keeping the core of all nature magic in your toolshed: it feeds all life. It doesn't make growing a garden any less work.

The small toolshed sits nearby to the garden. You've gotten better at not glancing at it every three seconds just to make sure it's still locked, though you learned quickly that the vines growing on the walls and roof need to be checked on and pruned frequently, or else they'll slowly dismantle the shed in their hunt for the magic they can sense within.

It also attracts animals, which you'd been warned about, but not prepared for emotionally. One day, you'd walked outside to see a large wildcat napping by the shed, and you'd made a strangled gasp-scream that had woken the cat. It had stirred, looked at you, then gone back to sleep.

Okay, so it was kind of a cool job.

(Still not very exciting, though. Not in the ways you'd hoped.)

You gather your tools and the small bundle of uprooted plants, and move to the second garden plot, the one where you put the weeds. Many of them are hardy enough that you just sprinkle them across the ground. A few of them, you take the time to re-plant.

Very early on, you learned that the Element of Earth doesn't appreciate needless death. It encourages the natural cycle of things, of life, death, decay, and rebirth, but the weeds in your garden have as much right to live as the vegetables you plant. So you simply relocate them, to show the Element that you care. (And so they don't strangle your basil.)

Standing up again, you wipe your hands on your pants — you gave up on keeping them free of dirt stains a long time ago — and move towards the shed to put away your tools.

When you unlock and open the door, the gentle multicolored glow of the Vessel’s gemstones spills out. You block as much of it as you can with your body and quickly shut the door behind you, even though you know there's no one around. Call it paranoia, but old habits die hard.

As you hang up your tools (yes, the shed houses incredibly powerful magic, but it's still a toolshed), you notice that the light seems greener than usual. You look closer at the Vessel. It hangs on a nail like a celebratory wreath, about the size of a woven flower crown. One of the smaller precious stones, the one that's usually colorless and crystalline, is now a deep, bright green.

Carefully (always carefully, though the Vessel has never harmed you), you reach up to touch the green stone — but before you do, it falls off the vine and into your palm.

You flinch and gasp and close your fist around it. In all the years you've guarded the Vessel, through all the places you've lived, this has never happened before.

You open your hand slowly. The bright green glow is pulsing now. Starting to panic, you think back to what the Guild told you — was there anything about the stones falling out? Have you been doing something wrong this whole time? Oh, stars and smoke, did you somehow manage to break the Vessel?

Trembling, you reach with your free hand to touch the other gemstones, even going so far as to gingerly wiggle one like you would a loose tooth, but they all seem as secure as they've ever been. You try to remember the History, if any previous guardian recorded something similar to this.

You're staring into the gemstone, flashing greener and brighter and faster, when you realize you're spiraling. You close your eyes and take a deep breath, then another, letting out the tension in your body with each exhale. Freaking out won't help anything, as you're well aware, so you try to let go of the panic, then open your eyes to try again.

The gem’s light still pulses on your palm, but you realize something — it's pulsing to the beat of your heart.

Huh.

Well, it is nature magic, and you're definitely part of nature. Is it trying to tell you something?

You take several more deep breaths, feeling your heartbeat slow, and watching as the gem's flashes slow to match.

Panic fades, replaced by curiosity. You try to project that feeling out, unsure of what to do but ready to receive what the Element wants to give.

As soon as that thought crosses your mind, the gem glows brighter, and brighter, still matching your heartbeat — then disappears.

You have a split second to be confused — until you feel something blooming in your heart, your limbs, your mind. For a moment, you're acutely aware of the world around you: the fungi in the shed, the vines surrounding it, the beetles under the grass and the bedrock far below. Most of all, the Vessel, still glowing softly, now missing a gemstone. You've always known the whole world is alive (how could it not be?), but it's more than that. It's gloriously bright, it's overflowing with energy. With all this life around you, it's no wonder the Vessel glows.

Slowly, gently, the awareness fades, but you still feel awash with the beautiful warmth of your Element.

… your Element?

You open your eyes (you aren't sure when you closed them). The dim toolshed looks the same, but you feel different. You look at the Vessel again — note the missing gem, the mild glow, the hardy vines. You reach up, touch the empty socket, and realization blossoms.

The Vessel of Earth has gifted you magic.

It's not your Element, really. It doesn't belong to you (nor does it belong to anyone), but you are a part of it, now.

You realize you're leaning against the wall for support. There's a new, tiny crystal already growing in the Vessel's empty spot. You look down at yourself. You look no different from before, but inside…

Well. Your wish for more excitement seems to have come true.