#bastion copper

[miralines]

Extremely miscellaneous ouatis headcanons

The war ended in the month of August, and post-war, a lot of parents name their kids August or variants thereof (Augusta, Augustus, Auggie, Augustine, etc). Other popular baby names post-war include variants of Cordelia after General White and the names of all the noble twenty-three.

Eaerhart (Happy in Pump Shanty) wasn't a warrior, noble, or diplomat, but a member of the HMSS Huntsman's crew. When what she had been told was a supply mission ended with her entire crew dead, she didn't have much of a choice but to pump with Snow and the others, and she joined up with them because she didn't have anywhere else to go.

Rose Reds have incredible spice tolerance. This is a side effect of them being designed to be resistant to chemical warfare-- they're less affected by capsaicin the same way they are for tear gas.

The same goes for caffeine and alcohol. It takes a lot more of any substance to affect them.

There's a guy whose mother was a commander who was killed by one of the Rose Reds in her battalion (it was well-deserved, she was abusive as hell to them). Post-war he goes viral through a spMedium article he publishes about it and ends up with a modest but sizable following of Crown loyalists who listen to his podcast.

In a lot of the Empire (based on traditions on New Constantinople which Cole's invasions spread), white is a color that marks big life occasions and transitions. This includes weddings, but also births, funerals, and other major events.

[mariocki]

Inspector Morley, Late of Scotland Yard, Investigates: The Case of the Scarlet Letters (1.3, WGN-TV, 1952)

"Mr. Mullins, I have in my possession sixty-eight letters, none of which has begun to outlive its usefulness. I'm quite prepared to admit that blackmail is risky, but then murder has its disadvantages too - that is why I gave up murder."

[najia-cooks]

[ID: A group of pastry pinwheels on a blue plate next to a bowl of yoghurt garnished with parsley. End ID]

صفيحة يافاوية / Safiha yafawiyya (Yaffan pinwheels)

The dish

صَفِيحَة يَافَاوِيَّة ("ṣafīḥa yāfāwīyya") is a type of safiha, or flatbread, believed to have originated in the coastal city of يافا (yāfā; "Yaffa," sometimes "Jaffa"). While other versions of safiha consist of a flat piece of dough topped with meat, Yaffan safiha are made by rolling dough out to a transparent thinness, folding it to enclose a filling of meat or spinach, and then whirling it around into a pinwheel shape. More highly valued in Yaffa than flat safiha, Yaffan safiha inspires proprietary feelings amongst residents and emigrants. The technique has, however, spread to other areas in Palestine, as well as to Alexandria, Egypt, where a large number of Yaffan exiles have resettled.

Yaffan safiha may also be called "حواية" ("ḥawāya"), after a kind of towel that is stitched into a spiral and placed on top of the head to cushion it while carrying jugs of water, or trays that are hot from the oven. One Yaffan woman remembers her mother assembling these pastries at home and then bringing them, in a large copper tray, to the baker, so they could be cooked in a shared oven for a small fee. The baker's wife would have to wait to use the oven another day. The usage of communal ovens by those who do not have an oven in their home is still common practice in rural areas of Palestine.

Traditionally, the dough used to make Yaffan safiha includes only flour, salt, oil, and water. Some modern Palestinian recipes leaven the dough with baking powder; or include milk powder as a way to use food aid from NGOs, which seek to alleviate the effects of the Israeli occupation's extreme restriction of transport, travel, and agricultural activities on Palestinians' diets. With a spinach filling and without milk powder, the safa'ih may be described as "صيامي" ("ṣiyāmī): a word derived from "صِيَام" ("ṣiyām"; "fast") but which, due to the abstention from meat mandated during the Lenten fast, is colloquially used to mean "vegetarian."

Golden brown and fragrant with olive oil, these safa'ih combine layers of crisp, flaky dough with a savory, well-spiced filling. Recipes for both a 'meat' and a spinach filling are provided. A side of yoghurt and a garnish of mint round out the flavors of the filling and add tanginess and textural contrast.

[ID: Close-up of two pinwheels cut open to reveal a spinach filling and a 'meat' filling between thin layers of pastry. End ID]

The Bride of Palestine

Yaffa is a port city with an ancient history which, until the 20th century, was the largest Arab city in, and the cultural and economic capital of, Palestine. For this reason it has sometimes been called عروس" "فلسطين ("'arūs filasṭīn"); "The Bride of Palestine." With the 1909 founding of the nearby Tel Aviv, Yaffa began to be considered its "twin" or "sister" ("האחיות") city; it had a distinctly Arab character where Tel Aviv was almost entirely Jewish. Yaffa was thus considered in disctinctly racialized terms: both attraction and threat; a source of authentic rootedness in the land which could be tapped, but also a potentially contagious bastion of Oriental "weak[ness]" ("חליש").

Yaffa had been a popular destination for culinary tourism in Mandate Palestine, with young settlers heading to the seaside to escape from religious studies and religious dietary restrictions—associated with diaspora Judaism and a lack of connection to a homeland—and to eat earthier Arab foods such as hummus, falafel, kebab, and ful.

In 1948, Zionist paramilitary organization Irgun dropped several tons of British bombs on major civilian areas of Yaffa in order to overwhelm resistance and empty the city of its Arab population; they destroyed the much of the Old City in the process. The neighborhood of المنشية (Manshiya) was destroyed shortly thereafter. Beginning in December of 1948, Yaffa was, part by part, annexed to Tel Aviv.

Today, despite the annexation and the Hebraization of the street signs, Yaffa maintains an Arab character in popular discourse. The call to prayer is heard in the streets, and the أبو العافي (Abulafia) bakery and أبو حسن (Abu Hassan) hummus restaurant and remain where they have been since the 1760s and 1970s, respectively. But increasing gentrification, rising rent prices, cafes and restaurants which cater to tourists and settlers, and the construction of Jewish-only residential projects threaten to continue the ethnic cleansing of the ancient city.

Yaffan Cuisine

Israeli occupation has tended to collapse some of the regional distinctions within Palestinian cuisine, as Palestinians are forced into exile or else crowded into Gaza and into smaller and smaller enclaves within the West Bank. Some dishes, however, still have variations that are associated with particular cities. Stuffed red carrots (محشي الجزر الأحمر; "maḥshi al-jazar al-'aḥmar"), cored and filled with rice and spiced meat, are a dish common throughout Palestine but cooked differently everywhere: in a sauce of lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, and red tahina in Gaza; in tamarind paste in Al-Quds and Ramallah; and in orange juice in the orange-rich Yaffa region. Abu Hassan restaurant serves مسبحة (msabbaha), a Yaffan classic in which chickpeas and tahina are mixed with green chili pepper, and lemon juice.

Donate to an evacuation fund

Buy an eSim for use in Gaza

Help Anera provide food in Gaza

Ingredients:

For the dough (makes 32):

500g flour (4 cups + 1 Tbsp)

1 tsp table salt

2 Tbsp olive oil

Enough water to form a soft, tacky dough (about 1 3/4 cup / 500mL)

For the meat filling (makes 16):

125g vegetarian ground beef (as a substitute for minced lamb)

1 small yellow onion, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste

1/2 Tbsp ground sumac

1/2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses (optional)

For the spinach filling (makes 16):

500g spinach, washed and chopped

1 tsp kosher salt, for removing water

1 small yellow onion, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste

Squeeze of lemon juice

1 tsp shatta (hot red pepper paste)

1/2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses (optional)

Some recipes include sumac in the spinach filling, but this is not considered traditional.

Instructions:

For the dough:

1. Measure dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add oil and mix briefly. Add water, a little at a time, until the dough comes together into a slightly tacky ball. Knead for five minutes, until smooth and elastic.

2. Divide dough into 16 balls of about 50g each. Roll it out into a cylinder and cut it in half repeatedly; or weigh the dough using a kitchen scale and divide by 16.

3. Pour some olive oil in a tray or baking sheet and coat each dough ball. Leave them on the tray, covered, to rest while you prepare the fillings.

For the meat filling:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil on medium-high. Add meat and fry, stirring often, until nearly cooked through.

2. Add onions, salt, and spices and fry until onion is translucent.

3. Remove from heat. Stir in sumac and pomegranate molasses. Taste and adjust. Let cool.

For the spinach filling:

1. Mix spinach with salt and let sit 10-15 minutes. Squeeze to remove excess water.

2. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in medium-high. Fry onion, salt, and pepper for a minute until translucent.

3. Combine all ingredients. Taste and adjust salt.

To assemble:

1. Oil a clean work surface, as well as your hands. Spread a dough ball out into a very thin, translucent circle by repeatedly patting with your fingers while pushing outwards. Be sure to push outwards from the center so that the circle does not become too thin at the edges. A few small holes are okay, since the dough will be folded and rolled in on itself.

2. Cut the circle in half with a sharp knife. Spread 1/16 of either filling in a thin line along the cut edge, leaving a margin of 1 cm (1/2") or so.

3. Roll the edge of the dough (the cut edge) over to encase the filling. Continue rolling, trying as much as possible to exclude air, until you have a long rope of dough.

4. Roll the rope around in a tight spiral. Tuck the very end of the dough underneath and press to seal. Place on a preparing baking sheet.

5. Repeat until the filling and dough are used up. Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Bake the safiha in the top third of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden in color. 

Serve warm with yoghurt.

[ariadne-mouse]

Rewatching the Essek supercut for Reasons and am always struck by little details that I have either forgotten or never noticed before such as the fact that getting from the Lucid Bastion to the Dungeon of Penance as the M9 do after their dramatic meeting with the Bright Queen is, according to Essek, about an hour's travel by foot. And they do walk there! Essek walked (floated) with his new nemeses (ohshit shit fuck fuck fuck the beacon they brought back one of MY beacons-) giving the two-copper Rosohna tour guide schpiel for an hour while they asked him about the perma-night and his den and how many year's he's been on spin cycle through the beacons and who know what else. for an hour

[names-for-alters]

Hello one and all, alters and headmates! I am Charlie! I like to make lists! I also hoard names! Are you looking for a name? GREAT! You can send an ask and request a specific aesthetic or origin of name, or you can look at my list!

With that said…

…Cracks knuckles…

Findo Tach Tails Flicker Tracer Kat Iris Blu Brick Arlo Sammy Artie Finn Stein Aleksandr Vora Olive Luna Nyx Cyrus Qrow Orian Cello Onyx Skye Grim Opal Dawn Azure Fish Bones Poppy Bronze Eggs Sparky Specs Snickers Trout Navi Bingo Chili Bandit Stripe Busker Socks Brandy Frisky Winston Lucky Chucky Bently Judo Rusty Max Honey Indie Calypso Striker Merle Moxxie Vex Ant Bugger Bee Spider Tails Hook Indigo Amber Coco Coral Scarlet Ivory Jade Ruby Emerald Chuck Loden Copper Hamelin Neo Shepard Cinnamon Visor Macalister Soul Hack Hiccup Flynn Rider Astrid Jay Raven Robyn Bolt Dagger Viper Tracer Cornwall Flock Sapphire Crystal Ghost Mochi Trick Catra Rose Raven Flip Chani Racket Red Crimson Dragon Runt Scotch Tellie Gator Croc Crow Goat Duck Creeper Kuma Jet Jeep Draco Poppy Sombra Raine Squish Spike Blaze Ender Drake Sandy MK PJ DJ CJ MJ King Creak Shadow Clay Dusty Miles Dart Willow Antonius Husk Moth Cypher Jin Yin Yang Daisy Gray / Grey Alistair Halo Angel Cake Fennec Fox Null Lull Bastion Lucky Sun Star Cosmo Tweety Vox Nerys Sonic Bark Birch Oak Cherry Blossom Peaches Velvet Shell Coffee Valley Fang Moot Redpath Pudding X V Jr Ether Fig Trunk Joy Frogger Snowflake Snowball Snow Jumper Racket Flare Vendetta Loonie Coin Six Eleven Tropica Stelina Mojave Ink Sud Fender Zero Pollen Wysteria Page Ozias Rex Tortch Buck Nickel Stripe Lynch Tramp Wolf Pup Tank Jhariah Kharma Zenith Sparrow Prism Lemon Mune Lamb Pyke Diamond Parker Graves Fizz Nugget Melody Tink Blight Fangless Ambress Vulture Eclipse Luka Bangle Constance Constantine Sommar Babble Clank Bobble Chipper Aidan Slate Tin Twire Zephyr Silver Misty Faunus Atlas Birdie Brook Cedar Chip Coal Daisy Ember Faye Fate Fern Flint Harmony Helios Ivy Junx Kit Lyria Phoebe Piper Lady Beacon Elos Rumble Ida Cross Zed Scootie Smidge Clauger Happy Sonny Hath Soldier River Song Clawtor Videl Legen Onen Chunk Reid Pop Cobra Cash Clover Saris Volante Donna Belladonna Gale Chopper Morphias Vidia Loft Kape Levi Licker Howl Dustin Newt Creek Breezy Polaris Blight Archer Sirius Warren Dream Goon Cookie Ranger Amity Jericho Viggo Besko Asra Alice Olaf Mossfeld Issic Missy Rascal Creasy Nonya Hex Pita Miguel Manuel Rayburn Daisy Dash Lucky Becky Steele Cylo Featherstone Kingston Netherfield Reacher Saltburn Quick Rubble Dust Brimstone Humble Ado Grover Norvanos Leshy Blade Cooper Calcium

Leo

Leonardo

Lebony

Silver

Linzier

Pearl

blackberry

Tatin

Bud

Raphael

Pebble

Mina

Linda

Oolong

Daeo/Dayo/Dao

Inco

Ketlyn

Risa

Ines

Lora

Flock

Lux

Rix

Reah

Destinty

Bet

Ange

Krixa

Lalien

Gloom

Bug

Rozy

Mars

Screech

Jenny

Robert

Patrick

Pierre Rosemary

Henderson

Mayfield

Sinclair

Sullivan

Hart

Solace

Daughtler

Stoll

Gatlin

Yearwood

Amos

Graves

Rothschild

Halley

Spektor

Presley

Redd

Blackwood

Notvletti

Valerie

Milo

Marian

Lychee

Aiden

Nova

Vel

Bel

Yuri

Puro

Pluto

Ramona

Angel

Nada

Shen

Mog

Hania

Udge

Kinetic

Kikos Wathel

Dupa

Sierre

Jimor

Teddy

coc

Scara

River

Shade

Foenem

Duck

Emily

Toast

Reunna

Ichigo

Rae

Sonic

MoonL

Lennus

cabaran

Marto

Leveer

Granite

Tongle

Gavril

Luella

Malachite

Leonard

[christian-oc-tournament]

Round One Schedule

may 27 (group 1 left side)

Joy O'Connor vs A'den

Adelle vs Adrian Alyward

Ahleri vs Aithus

Aleksander Thunderblade vs Alice Liddell

Amelia vs Amaranth

Andre Caron vs Anwedd

Anise vs Lt. Strike

Aqua vs Ariella

may 28 (group 1 right side)

Adrian Mori vs Alexander

Andris Harkin vs Ashley Bethaz

Arkyn Thornburn vs Athaliah Taveet

Aris vs Atlas Fletcher

Arryn va Azarias

Barir Stelmer vs Beck Valentine

Bela Balogh vs Betani D'Agia

Billie Way vs Black

may 29 (group 2 left side)

Betty vs Bob Guppington the 1st

Blodeuwedd vs Brat

Burr vs Caldren

Cpt. Ambivalent vs Casey Dickenson

Caroline Schaeffer vs Cedric Blackwell

Cassidia Reynolds vs Christopher

Celeste vs Cluinn

Bobbert Guppington the 2nd vs Clair

may 30 (group 2 right side)

Bobby Guppington the 3rd vs Chris Carnovo

Conas vs Crispin

Copper vs Cusick

Connell vs Cymin

Dae vs Dallow

Daniel Grace vs Daven

DeathScreen vs Derik

Doc vs Domitius

may 31 (group 3 left side)

Dr. Victor P. Henly vs Dhrake

Dorothy Gale vs Dr. Elliott Sinclair

Eabennor vs Edith Wickham

Ellie vs Edlyn

Elysia vs Elwin

Emma Gardner vs Erin

Ephesia vs Eniss

Epic Palustre vs Eriol

june 1 (group 3 right side)

Dr. Riku Honda vs Edmund

Ethylene Petra vs Eva Blythe

Faraena vs Farold

Evelyn Vordur vs Felix Rodzic

Feire vs Gail Goffrey

Gerdie vs Ferir

Ghost Lad vs Gigi

Evangelinne vs grandma Maudie

june 2 (group 4 left side)

Haru vs Heather

Henry Pebbleton vs Hibiscus

Hiromi vs Hope Espy Chase

Hugo Mallory vs Ilumi

Ilias vs James Zauberen

Ilya Severin vs Impossible

Jacer vs Jack Archer

James (Loriair) vs Isidore Kavi

june 3 (group 4 right side)

James (Eyurenia) vs Isabel

Jarryd vs Jasper

Jett vs Joden

James Bracegirdle vs Julia Cook

Kabos vs Kate Riley

Kathryn vs Keres Blake

Keyto vs Kimera

Kodi Archer vs James Mulligan

june 4 (group 5 left side)

Korosa vs Kylin

Laughing Hare vs Leeli

Kurtis vs Kyra

Len vs Licia

Leo King vs Lt. Matthew

Lina Lane vs Loch

Logis vs Lucas Greydawn

Lt. Madeline vs Logolas

june 5 (group 5 right side)

Kyr vs Laurentiu

Maddox Darling vs Luria

Kestler vs Matthew Johnson

Marin of Yuneth vs Meridian

Mathilda Talbot vs Mina

Mihalis vs Max Way

Mip vs Milton

Misty Way vs Maristella

june 6 (group 6 left side)

Miranda Hayes vs Nikki Way

Mochrar vs Myra

Mr. Guardian vs Nabikio

Naru vs Ms Hallifax

Nimble vs Nevin Imre

Orchid Finch vs Prince Adar Griffith

Nokh vs Obsidious

Onne vs Peter Pensworth

june 7 (group 6 right side)

Mr. G vs Ourem

Pandora vs Owen

Oriana vs Peg

Peter Dragonsbane vs Percy

Pietro vs Princess Torva

Peter Bethaz vs Prince Adric

Princess Rovyna vs Prometheus

Protagonist vs Naphtali

june 8 (group 7 left side)

Puddles vs Queen Alyth of Avena

Quinn vs Ragunoe

Ramona vs Rannis

Relaner vs Rhyin

Ril'siya vs Ripple Fisher

Riema vs Riser Way

Rocoroi Markus Mikko vs Rosemarie

Ryphl vs Santeri

june 9 (group 7 right side)

Saskia vs Senaka

Sh'zkai vs Shleaema

Shiido vs Skylar

Sonrisa Firiel vs Syx

Sly Bastion vs Stelemi

Spike vs Sz'nami

Tad vs Tamaki

Teasel vs Tannufia

june 10 (group 8 left side)

Tehvlar vs Thaendric

the Enemy vs the Mailman

the Poppy Queen vs the Runaway Prince

Theo Gray vs Tiger

Thomas Hargrove vs Tiny

Thessaly vs Tsuname

TJ Valentine vs Toka

Trajeda vs Val (Keepers)

june 11 (group 8 right side)

Veelia vs Trevin

Verity vs Vokku

Vellatra vs Waizu

Valentina vs Wendy

Wryden vs Yasmin

Wisteria vs Zac O'Connor

Yuro vs Zaire

Zhahara vs Ziph

[lightlessentwine]

some better alternatives to just saying "GRIFITH BASERK" and posting the image:

1: A once decorated veteran of Marika's army, now having defected to Miquella's side after seeing the result of a vile rite that saw a whole nation slaughtered. their sword's design appears symbolic of intertwining realms, denoted by the crossing of V-shaped lines. throughout Elden Ring, the symbol for realm division is shown to be these V-shapes, inverted or not.

2: One of the defenders from the Bastion-Town of Eochaid. Eochaid is a derivative of the gaelic word for "horse," in which horses are symbols of defense. it appears they are wearing unalloyed gold but it could also be perceived as a mix of gold and copper (note the difference in hue/shade between the gauntlet and the sword). copper is implied to be what is responsible for the red magic demonstrated by Elemer.

3: a relative or someone who is somehow related to Roderika. they appear to have faded green eyes: a rare sight and notable trait of Roderika's; something Hewg points out to you. green eyes have a mythological connection to their rarity, denoting witches and people that hold nature's secrets.

4. they could be a combination of any of the things listed above

[unsoundedcomic]

Do jets and coppers have teeth that naturally last longer than normal humans, or do they have to take care of them really well in order to not end up wearing dentures for centuries?

They all end up wearing dentures in the end. It's helpful that there aren't a lot of sweets in the Aldish diet, but there are a lot of potatoes and starches, so... Bastion better brushy-brush.

[unsoundedask]

Bastion: Throwing cultural expectations out the window, which caste is the hottest (Jets don't count)?

Finally a man who feels his oats!

I say, most fawn over and pet at the hethllot but I look at them and I suffer the same discomfort in my groin as when Gil's Giggles introduced its blown glass dildos. Upon ambling past their window display I remarked to an acquaintance how surely those feel like a Plat up the ass - and imagine the terror should one break itself off in you! Should one expire as you are riding, and she cools before you come! Ach, better to ravish the porcelains in your grandmama's curio!

Nay. I admire from a distance unless I am at a brothel, and I know the product is not too near its Best Use date. And konn - or rather Copper, as you call them - I shun from across the street. At'gwe but the red men and their red bitches turn my stomach and curdle my cock. And those looming elders. What monsters!

Stenkonn are right out, you say? Pity. Look at me. Ah, you already are. I saw it. Perhaps later. I am very busy and important.

Mm, a soud is a fine, naughty time. Like Crescians; you never know when they are near their peak, and it is a delight to be surprised, on occasion, in this weary world. They are mysteries, and full of mayhem; man-shaped glory holes, what?

There are some toothsome semon minx, particularly the duskier ladies, and I like that they are not, on the main, so constricted by custom. Some of the ghersit are as timid as lambs, it is wearisome to waste so much time forcing them to acknowledge their clitoris and their breasts. Yes, dearie, these are yours! Do not pretend to be surprised by them! Do not shriek and make a show of not wishing to be touched! What a stale song! What a stumbling dance! Why must I do the brunt of the work and there you lay like a specimen on my operating table? Spare me your frozen modesty when your shining eyes beg for my hot knife.

...I confess my choice is the renghul. M'Lady favours them as well, for their pewter hair puts one in mind of the grave, though their faces never are truly marked by time. Is it so terrible to die beautiful? There is something about those Silver.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

OKAY WAIT DARKER IDEA

Imagine if Sentinel!Reader didn't end themself, but Bastion got to them first-

And like- imagine he killed them in front of the X-Men

And imagine they died in a similar manner to TFA Blurt(look it up, that shit's dark)

Cube Anon

Let's just say:

They're doubly traumatized.

They just watched what was basically a child get torn apart, have their memory files crushed/deleted, and then be tossed into a pool of water like they didn't matter.

By what was essentially their "father".

The X-Men (those present), collectively kick Bastion's and Sinister's *sses.

The ground is bloody and covered in red and black liquids, there's metal and cloth and scraps of flesh lying around, and thr air smells of copper and death and fire...

They're able to gather what remains of Reader...

And they swear to bring them back, whatever it takes.

[teratocrat]

When we met them, we loved the Huntresses Above Their Own Legend, proud cranewomen gleaming in blue and purple, in copper and silver and black bronze. We loved them for their fourteen worlds of salt and sand, Huntresses flocking in the thousands and tens of thousands to soar above beaches lazily lapped by the waves, offshore fields of bannerweed, clam beds and crab hatcheries. We loved them for their cities, tiered bastion fortresses of concrete and woven reeds alight with casinos and eateries and mud saunas and dance halls and hourly-rate inns, surrounded by arcs of neighborhoods burrowing into the sandy soil and scattered conical hunting lodges on the far outskirts. We loved them for their poetry, ancient lines of verse spelled out in geoglyphs fifty yards across, boundary-stones recording the sagas of the families that had placed them there and the feuds and romances between them. We loved them for their alchemist-princesses robed in ebon and gold, viewed by other Huntresses with a kind of religious awe for their role in the discovery of gunpowder and for their monopoly on its production, hectares of sprawling shallows where technicolor pools synthesized this or that reagent, squat domed laboratory-palaces of lead glass rising over everything like sullen toadstools. We loved their Phoenix Empress whose throne-perch was carved from the immense amethyst geode that the Huntresses Above Their Own Legend called the Eggshell of the World, whose halls were decorated with hundreds of rifles and thousands of hunting trophies: green-gold boar carapaces, tiger pelts of violet and streaked silver, sapphire roc feathers as long as canoes, broad soot-colored manatee-mole skulls the size of cars.

[beesmygod]

the last bastion of both art and craft is the people who still make quake 1 levels in tyool 2023, imo. also, fun fact, one of the most popular modern quake 1 mods (copper) is by the goon who posted the SA thread about being on the dave matthews band human waste dump tour boat

lmfao at how small the internet is

[astarab1aze]

Nations and Their Cities (4)

Norhaven - north of chimachi across the bay of lights, south of the barrowfells and east of breslin

Capital: Stönmead

Cities: Hakkon, Blodfjor, Edda, Vulkholm, Calder, Andervik, Ealdermorne, Brithfar, Virith, Bogwood, Juniper, Dyrheim, Holmesberg, Balta, Skivik, Florstad, Beorn, Norsiche, Helm, Røyk, Smibølg, Mjødjord

Sights: Bonnesäx Forge (the largest dragon bone forge on the continent), Khuthd's Well (lava flow under the forge), Ruins of V'hai (ancient elfhen ruin beneath Stönmead), Alfskog ('forest of elves'), Trollhammer (grave of the trolls), Dødsflamme (monument to those who died from dragon attacks), Bay of Lights (shared with Chimachi for funerary rites), Flaxen Fields (fields of blessed golden grain), King Ragnvar's Apiary (royal beekeepers), Steinhage (a 'garden' of carven stone statues), Hvit Isfelt (ever frozen pools people use to skate or fish), Kjempoppe (cliffside site of a massacre, used for suicides now near Skivik), Lord Seidr's Mysterium (arcane emporium belonging to renowned diviner Seidr of the Open Mind), the Seething River (river of boiling-hot sulphuric water), The Bee & Bear Meadery (famous meadery run by bees and bears in Mjødjord), and more.

Strigane - west of myrrdin, south of viostra & kavast, northwest of nilmyrion

Capital: Sisyphia

Cities: Aylmunt, Vina Morte, Blodmire, Femura, Radialis, Lyka, Grimshkari, Craven, Balefiera, Coffindwell, Heartland, Sepulchria, Sangesivin, Orga, Medens, Rufus, Gravis, Upira, Libitina, Stricat, Schelet, Sacrificare, Exutus, Iumenta, Vivere, Frigor, Aortia, Vaalichia, Nixtriga, Enavryn, Kharne, Kainsgrove, Nospirita

Sights: Dead Fens (wetlands full of preserved bodies from previous conflicts), Night's Sacred Ground (the land on which Sisyphia is located), Night's Cathedral (a bastion of Strigani education for both humans and undead), Sanguinach's Pit (a still active volcano in the Strigani Dragon's Spine), Castle Severa Gor (a glorified prison), Sanctum Ossus (castle built from bone), Letum Dominus (monument to a long-dead lord), Sanctus Os Infernum (the Strigani gate to the hells), Memoria Insidium Pools (a series of small, blood red pools mirroring the hells), Kaer Dēle (witcher school), the Bloodwood (ironically named forest of pines that bleed red sap), Ashblight Gap (plains and forests still effected by the Mad Empress' war), Zâneferus Garrán (fey pools), and plenty more.

Breslin - east of the dustveil, north of the a'virda fhal'tir, west of norhaven, yuurei, and chimachi, northwest of kopari & j'verdien

Capital: Briquette (locally pronounced 'Bricket', like cricket with a b)

Cities: Vinia, Myrrmid, Raidd, Shadecopse, Peartree, Dead Sow, Cottonwood Village, Buckhorn, Almasc, Vettiver, sister cities Close and Far (in relation to the capital), Braeburn

Sights: Owlit Valley (a valley almost totally inhabited by owls), Blackthorne Brush (an ill-omened extension of the Vitalean Blackthorne Bramble), Crown of Bonnesäx (the true tomb of the famed dragon), Hargraven's Refuge (sanctuary lands for animals), Coldfire Fortress (old citadel built into the mountain near Briquette, serves double as an underground tunnel to the Barrowfells), Forbidden Nesting Grounds (ancient dragon nests), Pettablossom Church (heretical dragon worshippers in the Nesting Grounds), Progenitor's Start (temple honoring the Firsts of mythical species, gods unto themselves), the Copper River (muddy-orange river flowing out of the mountain), The Dragon's Wall (flat, sorta cliffside of the mountain), Drakehaven Manse (Knights of the Dragon headquarters), and so on and so forth.

[dadrielle]

TRICK OR TREAT

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 👻

Here’s the start of a post-67 Laudna-being-upset-Imogen-Keeps-Hurting_herself fic that I won’t finish cuz it doesn’t really gel with canon anymore and I’m a flighty bastard.

When they arrive back in Zephrah, battered but flowers in hand, Imogen stumbles. The staff, rather than helping to prop her up, seems to weigh her down, and Laudna quickly moves to catch her. There’s a wet rasp to Imogen’s breathing again that makes Laudna feel sick, the swirling nauseous adrenaline of yesterday’s fight in the bastion spiking back down her spine. She catches a quick glimpse of red, as one drop of blood escapes Imogen’s nose to drop to the ground in a splatter round as a coin. Imogen quickly wipes any others away.

“Are you alright, darling?” The question is inadequate bile in her mouth, copper tinged and metallic.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be ok. It’s worth it.”

Her hands flitter around Imogen, wanting to hold her everywhere but not knowing where to land. The right side of her dress still has deep slashes in it, from where Laudna couldn’t reach to mend as she held Imogen tight against her chest through the night.

“Do you need to rest a moment?

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. We need to get these to Key– to the Tempest. I can wait.”

Imogen’s smile is tremulous and accepting, and Laudna realizes with creeping horror that Imogen had known the pain was coming. Another price she’d quietly decided to pay with her own body. Had the staff hurt her every time she had used it? How had Laudna not noticed, before? How had any of them not noticed? Anger licks through Laudna like ice in her veins, and she has to shake the frost from her fingertips as Imogen rights herself and pulls away to hold Laudna’s hand instead.

Orym takes the lead back to the Voice of the Tempest’s quarters, and Laudna finds herself staring at the back of his head, snippets of memory rattling like gold in her purse. Orym nodding as the rage towards Bor’dor engulfed her, Orym saying we should see clearly, Orym saying we’re not enemies here, Keyleth saying the slightest hint of betrayal and Orym nodding, Imogen quietly accepting it, no Ruidusborn in Zephrah on purpose and Imogen and Fearne’s eyes downcast, Imogen looking for Orym next after she hugged Laudna, “Temult” falling from Orym’s mouth like it’s acid, Imogen carving pieces from herself quietly, Orym nodding nodding nodding–

But Orym jumped off the tower to help, she reminds herself, Orym freed Imogen from that creature’s jaws.

When they reach the Tempest, her nostrils flare and she feels her anger build and build and build. That anger the Tempest said had simmered in her, Laudna could match it year for year, and she could feel its jaws snap towards Keyleth. Maybe it’s not wholly fair to direct it this way now, but Laudna isn’t a leader, so she can indulge in it.

[magistralucis]

Okay, your turn! Unhinged Character Bingo for… Zultanekh

Is Zultanekh an oddball? He is. Has he charmed his way into my heart? He has. Could I resist infecting him with all the angst in The Twice-Dead King and scores more? Certainly, I could not.

While one of the more reasonable characters in the duology by far, I do think Zultanekh has a spot in this bingo, since he is very weird. The things which motivated him to stick with Oltyx's voyage have almost nothing to do with necron ways of thought. He himself is quite well-adjusted, and narrowly avoids a full bingo on all fronts - but by canonically managing to collect both parental issues, from the same person no less, he merits a honorable mention. 😂

Also this made me scribble. Read more for Z/D angst. TDK spoilers.

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

Truthfully, he was close to giving up on the idea Djoseras could be entertained, at least in a way they could both share. Zultanekh is, therefore, astonished when the fair kynazh expresses an interest in the art of metallurgy - and even more so when he requests a presentation of Ogdobekh alloys, promptly if at all possible.

"At Vorronezh," is the core of Djoseras's short explanation, the prince retaining a stiffness of tone despite his curiosity. "The foundries - the metals you had in store. There was fine work being done there. Suffice to say my brother now bears the best of it in his hand, and good for him, as good as anything can ever be."

He's referring to an Ithakan victory back in the war. It makes Zultanekh smile. Despite the ages past, and of his brother's bitter exile, he can't resist tilting his chin proudly at the thought; that's all Djoseras, graceful, soft-spoken, and carrying a very big stick (metaphorically or otherwise) ready to strike out at any second. "This one will certainly attest to that glaive's quality, Djoseras, and may it serve the nomarch well. But what purpose would a scion of Ithakas seek in our alloys? The keenest blades? The sturdiest bastions?"

Djoseras defies expectations once more. "Precious metals. One tires of the fighting and the flux."

"So the kynazh appreciates his bright impermanent things!" Zultanekh laughs. Djoseras tenses, reflexively, though just shy of a bristle. Seeing this, the Crown Prince spares him further discomfort, resting a warm and powerful hand upon his shoulder. "Well, have you come to the right place? Yes, you have. For who has the right to the coffers of the Ogdobekh, the finest of our gold and the wealth of ages past? Anathrosis, of course, of the Black Star! … And, yes, well, Zultanekh too, by virtue of heirship to his matriarch. Come, and I will show you."

-----

Nothing about metal is permanent. Many have forgotten this truth, but the Ogdobekh live it still. Living or non-living, a metal is a thing with memory: it is fated to be shaped, and to perhaps hold that form for a long time, but eventually it must be made new again. The concept of memory implies survival. Through countless softenings and forgings it carries on slivers of what it used to be, no one fold nor join identical to one that came before it. A metal's past directly informs its future behaviour. Zultanekh would not call this trait heka - no form of silver can defy the laws of silverbeing to become a gold, nor can copper become silver, no matter how much one alters their proportions - but he and his metallurgists consider it the metal's will, and they have never been let down by observing it wherever they could.

Precious metals have it the strongest. By virtue of their utility they live closest to their wearer, and whatever they go through the metals also go through: a careful polish, the violence of the theft, excoriated shavings. The wisps of gold woven into Djoseras's necrodermis are a soft and holy thing, whereas the gold that covers his sire is most foul, the shell as ugly and tortured as the being encased within it. No jeweler worth his deben in buillons would ever go near it, unless Unnas were to endure the star gods' furnaces a second time - and since no one has nor should have to do that, the history of Unnas's gold might as well stop there altogether. Zultanekh is careful to say absolutely none of this as he takes Djoseras through the display.

"Electrum - spangold - the greatest deposit of metagold currently known outside of the solar cults," he says as he takes up two alloys, comparing them side by side. "Experiments with strangesteel. Yet so far nothing short of pure metagold seems to recreate living light, or so we call the insidious tricks of the Nephrekh." He puts them down again, though not before glancing meaningfully at the other. "I'd heard your metagold was sacrificed to Antikef's star, all those millions of years ago. I dare say it's a shame, Djoseras; I would have liked to call upon you for assistance."

Djoseras considers this information silently. Sadly the experiments will have to wait, for it is not gold which has captivated the kynazh's oculars tonight; no, it's silver he wants to see, his lithe body glittering like it as he contemplates its pure form. "Such a fussy thing." He comments, and Zultanekh catches not a small hint of self-deprecation. Djoseras tends to be so careful with his speech (the blandness of it drives the Ogdobekh prince mad sometimes), and he had not thought his vocal acutators were capable of such bitterness. "Ever since the flames of biotransference I have been loyal only to this vermeil. It is a mirror no one could bear. So clear, and yet so easily damaged, and the marks will never come out."

He looks up then, right into Zultanekh's oculars. "Have you an alloy for that?"

All of a sudden Zultanekh desires, painfully, to catch his breath.

"All the ones you'd already know."

In truth, silver is not favoured among the Ogdobekh. They like it fine, it's just that it's best off used as it is. The traits that make silver desirable are quickly lost in alloys - gold drowns it out entirely, lesser metals cut its value, whilst strangesteel lends it a sharp iridescent hue that has nothing to do with silver at all - it is a metal that dies, in other words, if it is anything other than itself. And the Ogdobekh so hate to murder. So does Zultanekh, standing beside the finest silver in all of Ithakas, privy to the cracks that lie underneath. For the silver is Ithakas and Ithakas is the silver. And Djoseras is silver. He mirrors equally all the things that surround him, and when Zultanekh stands close he holds all of Zultanekh upon his surface. But he is not visible unless Zultanekh steps away, the ruddy hue vanishing from his calmwater features, alone and exquisite in the ruins of his city. A lake he can never explore, droplets he can never hold.

He could bring the whole galaxy to its knees and Djoseras will never be his.

"You are right, of course. True silver is soft, too delicate to do much with."

But Zultanekh knows better than to bring any of this up, and when he finally finds the words for his vocal emitter, he keeps them objective and measured. Leaning down beside Djoseras, he chooses an alloy sample that looks the least like an alloy, tracing around the orb with a fingertip. "There are limits to what we can mix it with, but it does need a trace of something else to endure. And our ancestors knew, as you and I do, that the strongest silvers are braced with copper." (Was that a twitch from the kynazh? Zultanekh hopes it was. It is so much more interesting than his daytime stillness.) "Look at this: nine parts silver, one part copper, the best our jewelers will work with. But where you could avoid the physical damage, tarnish would follow, and some take that poorly. Fussy, as you say."

Djoseras buzzes quietly in irritation. For the millionth time he considers the other's copperclad attire. "You are so changeable."

"But present." Zultanekh counters. Djoseras might be bothered by the effort the Ogdobekh must put into preening themselves, but he does not feel it to be wasteful, nor would he apologize for what is natural. "Stains are a part of life, Djoseras."

Djoseras's interstitial link slides shut. It will not open again until they leave this chamber, or else the kynazh this planet, and Zultanekh tries to accept it for what it is. Zultanekh is the Crown Prince. Zultanekh is not a petulant child, he reminds himself, noting for the millionth time that it's nothing personal. It's just Djoseras is fragile, iron-brittle beneath his nobility, and he will break if made to bend too far. Zultanekh need not be the hammer. Anyone could do it, the kynazh's own brother has done it, and it will happen again. He could be welded back together, but since metals have a memory, he will never be the same - and there is nothing Zultanekh fears more than to lose Djoseras as he is now, beautiful and so proud, dying like his dynasty around him. Zultanekh is not a victim of melancholy, nor an indecisive wreck.

What Zultanekh is, however, is sorry. Slowly his hand reaches for the other's, pauses halfway, makes do with a comforting touch on the shoulder. Their oculars still fixed upon the sample alloy.

"This one would brace you well," he whispers, "if you'd like."

Probably for the best, he thinks, that neither of them are versed in linguistical ambiguities.

[alex-the-bard]

hey moots

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poll time!

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