#c: rho

[cursedbeasts]

Rho-Mu bout to kick some serious ass

[aroninshonour]

AAAAHHH H CJSJFJSKGJSNG GUYS JUST GOT HOME FROM THE SAM AND COLBY MOVIE AND OHTBSJGMJSGJR 🤭🤭

I am INLOV. EHFBEJFJDJ I LITERALLY DONT HAVE ANY WORDS FGJSNTJSJFNSJFJDJFKDJDKSKFIVDKSG8FURIEIXXIXIIC

[murder-popsicle]

@oftomorrow (Tal-Rho)

Jane was two thirds of the way down the ventilation shaft of the HYDRA base -- disguised as an office building, but with a bunker in the basement that held whatever this alien device was that Morgan Edge wanted so badly. She could hear him breathing in her earpiece, but so far he'd restricted himself to only the occasional comment. The occasional annoying comment, to be sure, but some men were like that. They spoke because they liked the sound of their own voices.

But that was beside the point, because she and Edge were allies right now, if only temporarily. Jane would retrieve this device for him -- and steal some of the mineral he'd alluded to, just as insurance -- and Edge in turn would help her track down and kill Colonel Kulikov, the Russian HYDRA head who had sent Jane to kill the Starks and who knew all of the Winter Soldier's control and shut down codes. And Edge had X-ray vision, apparently, which would be helpful when it came to Jane sneaking in and out without being detected.

If it had been only her, she would have blown the base sky high, but that would also mean blowing Edge's cover as a loyal member of HYDRA, which would make getting to Kulikov that much harder. So what the Hell, Jane would do it quietly. She could always come back to this base after she and Morgan Edge parted ways.

"I think I've got about fifty yards to go," she muttered, knowing the tiny but powerful earpiece would pick up her voice.

[lemuseum]

[tentacion3099]

From the Bronze Age, the magnificent Rhos Rydd shield.

Expertly made c. 3,000 years ago from a single disc of bronze. 20 concentric circles are decorated with 3,700 singly punched bosses.

Found in a bog near Blaenplwyf, Wales, in 1804.

[whencyclopedia]

Book of Kells

The Book of Kells (c. 800) is an illuminated manuscript of the four gospels of the Christian New Testament, currently housed at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The work is the most famous of the medieval illuminated manuscripts for the intricacy, detail, and majesty of the illustrations. It is thought the book was created as a showpiece for the altar, not for daily use, because more attention was obviously given to the artwork than the text.

The beauty of the lettering, portraits of the evangelists, and other images, often framed by intricate Celtic knotwork motifs, has been praised by writers through the centuries. Scholar Thomas Cahill notes that, “as late as the twelfth century, Geraldus Cambrensis was forced to conclude that the Book of Kells was “the work of an angel, not of a man” owing to its majestic illustrations and that, in the present day, the letters illustrating the Chi-Rho (the monogram of Christ) are regarded as “more presences than letters” on the page for their beauty (165). Unlike other illuminated manuscripts, where text was written and illustration and illumination added afterwards, the creators of the Book of Kells focused on the impression the work would have visually and so the artwork was the focus of the piece.

Origin & Purpose

The Book of Kells was produced by monks of St. Columba's order of Iona, Scotland, but exactly where it was made is disputed. Theories regarding composition range from its creation on the island of Iona to Kells, Ireland, to Lindisfarne, Britain. It was most likely created, at least in part, at Iona and then brought to Kells to keep it safe from Viking raiders who first struck Iona in 795, shortly after their raid on Lindisfarne Priory in Britain.

A Viking raid in 806 killed 68 monks at Iona and led to the survivors abandoning the abbey in favor of another or their order at Kells. It is likely that the Book of Kells traveled with them at this time and may have been completed in Ireland. The oft-repeated claim that it was made or first owned by St. Columba (521-597) is untenable as the book was created no earlier than c. 800, but there is no doubt it was produced by later members of his order.

The work is commonly regarded as the greatest illuminated manuscript of any era owing to the beauty of the artwork and this, no doubt, had to do with the purpose it was made for. Scholars have concluded that the book was created for use during the celebration of the mass but most likely was not read from so much as shown to the congregation.

This theory is supported by the fact that the text is often carelessly written, contains a number of errors, and at points certainly seems an afterthought to the illustrations on the page. The priests who would have used the book most likely already had the biblical passages memorized and so would recite them while holding the book, having no need to read from the text.

Scholar Christopher de Hamel notes how, in the present day, “books are very visible in churches” but that in the Middle Ages this would not have been the case (186). De Hamel describes the rough outline of a medieval church service:

There were no pews (people usually stood or sat on the floor), and there would probably have been no books on view. The priest read the Mass in Latin from a manuscript placed on the altar and the choir chanted their part of the daily office from a volume visible only to them. Members of the congregation were not expected to join in the singing; some might have brought their Books of Hours to help ease themselves into a suitable frame of mind, but the services were conducted by the priests. (186)

The Book of Kells is thought to have been the manuscript on the altar which may have been first used in services on Iona and then certainly was at the abbey of Kells. The brightly-colored illustrations and illumination would have made it an exceptionally impressive piece to a congregation, adding a visual emphasis to the words the priest recited while being shown to the people; much in the way one today would read a picture book to a small child.

Continue reading...

[galaxytittus]

Frat party.

the Alpha Kappa Rho house, c. 2016

(3/4)

transcript:

[door creaking closed]

D: So, uh... You're sure you're not prostituting? Last chance to come clean.

[lock clicking]

A: [scoffing] Uh, yeah, I'm sure, asshole. Look, Adderall. Prescription, too. You wanted four, right—

D: Do you think I'm stupid, bitch? Do I look stupid to you?

A: I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, let GO!

D: You think you can just come in here, to MY house, and overcharge me and all these other sorry motherfuckers in here for some dinky pills? You and that f*g you're with think y'all were gonna pull a fast one on us? Sorely mistaken, bitch.

[loud thud, Alex huffing]

D: Now, I got $200 for you, but I'm not buying your drugs.

[SPLAT]

[loud thud]

[Alex coughing and wheezing, fabric shuffling]

[loud, labored wheeze]

[Daniel hissing]

D: [shrieking] FUCK!!!

[Daniel grunting and growling]

D: [screaming] Fucking whore BITCH! I'm gonna fucking kill y—

[SMASH, glass shattering loudly, Daniel grunting]

D: [crying] My eye! My fucking eye!

[Alex hyperventilating, lock clicking repeatedly, door knob jiggling]

[d1rlin]

☆﹔Flower & Spring themed names

Poppy , azalea , iris , aster , flora , abelia , cedar , aspen , daphne , acacius , cordelia , poppy , elowen , clover , willow , sylvie , juniper , amaryllis , sage , rosalie , marigold , maren , cynthia , magnolia , cassia , ione , zephyr , lennox , sylvia , cassiopeia , elara , rosalind , fleur , pandora , rue , linnea , ewan , lilac , aveline , ianthe , florian , Iris , Calla , Flora , Heather , Rose , Zinnia , Aster , Clover , Dahlia , Daisy , Erica , Ivy , Kalina , Lily , Violet , Blossom , Bluebell , Hyacinth , Jasmine , Lavender , Leilani , Flora , Fleur, Floor, Flora , Flora, Flower

☆﹔Flower & Spring themed pronouns

petal/petals/petalself , sprout/sprouts/sproutself , stem/stems/stemself, leaf/leafs/leafself , bud/buds/budself , fleur/fleurs/fleurself , bloom/blooms/bloomself , fern/ferns/fernself , ama/amara/amaran/amaranth/amaranself , bloom/blooms/bloomself , bo/bel/oss/bloss/blossomself or blosself , bud/buds/budself , ca/cam/mel/mellia/camelliaself or camellself , ca/car/carna/carnati/carnationself , ca/uc/yuc/ucca/yuccaself , co/lum/bi/bine/columbineself or columself , dai/daisy/dais/dais/daisyself , do/dog/gwo/gwod/dogwoodself , fir/firs/firself , fleur/fleurs/fleurself , flo/flor/flori/florid/floridself , flor/flora/floraself , flow/flower/flowers/flowerself , frie/friez/freesi/freesi/freesiaself , fu/fuch/uch/uchia/fuchsiaself , ha/hib/bis/cus/hibiscuself , haw/hawth/thor/thorn/hawthornself or hawthself , hy/cin/hyas/hyacin/hyacinthself or hyaself , hy/hys/hyself (hyacinth) , ir/ir/iris/iri/iriself , ja/min/jas/jasmi/jasmineself , je/min/jes/jessa/jessamineself , lil/lily/lils/lilies/lilself/lilyself , lo/lot/lotu/lotus/lotuself , ma/mag/nol/nolia/magnoliaself or noliaself , nar/narc/narcir/narcirs/narcself (soft c as in certain, narcissus) , pe/peony/peo/peon/peonyself , pe/per/peri/peri/periself or periwinkle , petal/petals/petalself , po/pop/py/oppy/poppyself , rho/rhod/rhode/rhodes/rhodeself , rie/orch/id/chid/orchidself, orchiself, or orchself , ro/ros/rose/roses/roseself , rose/roses/roseself , sa/sap/saps/saps/sapself , sy/syr/rin/ringa/syringaself , ti/tul/ul/uli/tulipself , to/mis/misel/miselt/mistletoeself , tul/tulip/tulips/tulips/tulipself , vi/viol/viols/viols/violself (violet) , wi/win/winkle/winkle/winkleself or periwinkle , wi/wist/wis/wister/wisteriaself, wistself, or wisterself , zi/zin/zin/zinni/zinniaself , moss/moss/mosses/mosses/mosself , shroom/shroom/shrooms/shrooms/shroomself , spring/spring/springs/springs/springself , dew/dew/dews/dews/dewself , shine/shine/shines/shines/shineself , flower/flower/flowers/flowers/flowerself , honey/honey/honeys/honeys/honeyself

[gingersnaptaff]

🍩 for all three of the Arthurian yrio, why not *grins evilly*

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?: Gwyn: It's Tywanwedd currently, although later it'll be Fach. I definitely see Gwyn and Tywanwedd's rivalry being based on Gwyn's resemblance to her mum and basically being what Tywanedd wishes she could be. (Queen of Rhos, is the long and short of it.) And I do think Tywanwedd might be driven by her hatred of bastards considering a) she's one herself as was gwyn's mum so, y'know, she's got COMPLICATED FEELINGS, b) Her husband has two bastards (Owain and Morfudd) and Owain is Urien's heir and not one of her kids, and c) Gwyn is pregnant with a bastard!!!! Eigyr had a bastard before she met Uthyr! I think Tywanwedd is sick to death of bastards.

Dylan: Y'know, originally I thought of Lleu because they're brothers and are diametrically opposed to one another (light and dark, sun and waves) but now I think it's Gofannon. I can't go into why because I don't want to spoil but suffice to say it's juicy. (And is connected to Ireland because I love writing Oisín).

Arthur: His biggest enemy is himself. He's going through a lot of shut (his dad is dead, his mum is grieving, his cousins HATE him for various reasons and he's alienating allies left, right, and centre, his mentor is an absolute bastard, he's marrying Gwyn but she loves Dylan and he loves Dylan too!!!! Shsjdjd) He cannot catch a break. He definitely is just trapped in a cycle of self-loathing and pity. He uses his self-aggrandizement, flirting with Indeg, and swaggering to cover it up but if you're perceptive enough (like Gwalchmai) you can see through it. (There's also this fuckin baby, right, called Medrawd, but don't worry about him he's FINE.)

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 3 of Nona the Ninth

Huh, so:

I guess this is definition 7, then. I've never heard that word used to refer to a person before, but it's not marked as being regional

So Nona looks old enough that people are fine with hitting on her, but not old enough that anyone thinks she's graduated from middle school. This is not a fun fact

Also, this school has "almost 20 children", this is like a one-room schoolhouse from the 19th century except it's in the middle of New York City for some reason, what even

I mean, is it really that hard to pimp out Augustine? If she'd said "I'd have had better luck pimping out Mercy" that would have been something, but maybe it actually is easier to pimp out Nona and Camilla than it is to pimp out Mercy

Can Camilla and Palamedes have regular conversations with each other? Very curious as to how that might work

Quasi-telepathic abilities sounding more and more likely

There's been descriptions of it being hot, and I'm not sure if a) it's just summer, and that's what summer is like wherever New Rho happens to be, or b) this planet is just hotter than Earth by virtue of being closer to the sun or having a naturally thicker atmosphere, or c) some kind of climate change is happening here

It sounds like she has some still-repressed memories of learning this stuff?

So they live in basically a cop building, and Pyrrha did say that one of their neighbors is a cop and another one has militia connections, so I'm guessing they are probably being specifically kept there by BOE or some other entity because of their Nine Houses connection, and Camilla doesn't want Nona telling people where they live because people might infer that based on the building?

Given that a lot of people here don't speak each other's languages, I wonder how much of this is just another culture's kinship system being mistranslated into whatever language the kids are using. Like, Brother Father and Younger Brother Father sound like they're probably uncles, Eldest Father could be a grandfather, and New Father could possibly be a step-father

I mean, first of all, Palamedes has been living here for a while, I think he should be used to BOE (or whatever you want to call this culture) names by now, but also, Honesty is a perfectly fine name. Like, Wake's name was silly, Hot Sauce is a silly name, We Suffer And We Suffer and Crown Him With Many Crowns are at least fairly odd from an English-language naming standpoint, and many of our common names are borrowed from ancient languages and don't mean anything in regular conversation, but we totally 100% also name people things like Grace and Faith and Hope and Joy and Harmony and Prudence and Felicity and Constance and I'm sure there's plenty of cultures where boys are named this way too and Honesty is a perfectly fine and reasonable name. While we're at it, Beautiful Ruby and Born in the Morning are also pretty good names? The only thing odd about these names is that we're not used to seeing them

Anyway, possibly the kids are speaking some non-House language (or are at least named in non-House languages) and Nona is translating their names into House for this conversation? It's a little odd in that case that she's not translating "Kevin" at least in the narrative text, since Kevin is just an anglicization of Irish Caoimhín which means "of noble birth" in Irish. But if Nona's language abilities are based on some sort of telepathic sense, she might fail to translate Kevin's name because Kevin doesn't know Irish? Irish seems unlikely to have survived the apocalypse, at any rate

She definitely can lie, though, she successfully lied and told the teachers at the school that Camilla was her sister and Pyrrha was a friend of her father's and that she had been through many resettlements, didn't she? She just doesn't seem to know on her own when she should be lying and when she shouldn't be

There are some implications for how language is being processed for someone who really can't lie, basically the science fiction premise of Embassytown by China Miéville, and in that book the aliens who could not lie also had an empathetic aspect to how they understood language. But I don't think Muir knows enough about linguistics to write that kind of linguistics science fiction

Is this why Nona's legs are sore, she is running around with these young kids all day and having trouble keeping up?

Very curious if this is actually some kind of possibly war-related movement of things through the underground tunnels, or if this is just a vernacular name for something else

So BOE is recruiting children on this planet to join their militia, and they are also executing necromancers here by burning them to death

It's kind of funny that Honesty is calling her stupid here - he knows there are spies who are necromancers and/or zombies, and Nona is in fact a necromancer (or used to be one at one time) and she also lives with Palamedes for that matter, but it doesn't occur to Honesty that there is actually a chance that Nona or someone she lives with could be one of the spies

So this is what they call the resurrection beast? Except we know that resurrection beasts don't come for regular necromancers, or else they would be all over the Nine Houses, they only come for Lyctors. I guess it's entirely possible that this one could be here for any of Nona, Pyrrha, or Camilla/Palamedes, or it could just be here to eat a living planet because that's what they do. I wonder if the mythology of these people is that the resurrection beasts are like God's punishment for necromancy or something, it seems like Hot Sauce believes that to be the case, at least. Possibly it's not completely wrong, depending on what the relationship was between the deaths of the nine planets and the occurrence of necromancy

[usafphantom2]

U.S. Navy declares IOC for its new UAS reconnaissance MQ-4C Triton

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 09/15/2023 - 14:00 in Military, UAV - UAV

The U.S. Navy officially declared the initial operational capability (IOC) of Northrop Grumman Corporation's MQ-4C Triton multi-manned unmanned aircraft on September 14.

Since its Early Operational Capability (EOC) milestone in May 2020, the MQ-4C Triton has operated within the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet, conducting maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in the area of responsibility of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command as the Navy's only unmanned, high-altitude, long-lived aircraft.

The MQ-4C Triton, manufactured for use by the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), supports a wide range of missions. These include maritime patrol, signal intelligence, search and rescue operations, as well as communications relay tasks.

According to the producer, these aircraft offer persistent surveillance capabilities, assisting in predicting opposing actions and facilitating more effective joint military efforts and enterprises.

Operating at altitudes above 50,000 feet and boasting a 24-hour resistance, the Triton serves as a continuous communications retransmission center, ensuring connectivity between dispersed Navy units, while allowing commanders to operate with a shared operational overview.

“The Triton proved to be invaluable for the maritime patrol and reconnaissance mission in the Indo-Pacific. Now that the system has reached its initial operational capacity, commanders will be able to take full advantage of Triton's powerful set of sensors to detect and stop potential opponents around the world," said Rho Cauley Bruner, director of the Triton program at Northrop Grumman.

"The persistent global maritime awareness is fundamental to deter, or compete and win, our opponents. Triton ensures that we are making informed decisions and operating effectively anywhere in the world," added Captain Josh Guerre, manager of the U.S. Navy's persistent unmanned aircraft systems program.

Northrop Grumman provided the U.S. Navy with a total of five Triton aircraft equipped with multiple intelligence capabilities, with the most recent delivery occurring in June 2023.

Tags: Military AviationNorthrop Grumman MQ-4C TritonUASUSN - United States Navy/U.S. Navy

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work throughout the world of aviation.

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[who-scrambled-my-ocs]

The current full cast:

A.

Abeni*

Areshe*

Auilt (S)

Azure

Almara (U)

Adonis (S)

The At leader (name pending) (S)

The At successor (name pending) (S)

B.

Bes

Bruno

Beatrice*

Barti (U)

C.

Clara

Callon

Celosia (S)

Charlie

Cassandra

Clarion

D.

Denise (S)

The Drow

Deore (U)

E.

Evan

Elise*

Eleanor*

Elaereth

F.

Felix

Flint

Farid

G.

George (U)

Gouria (S)

H.

Haeven

I.

Ilaereth

Iridessa

J.

Juliette (S)

Jumoke*

K.

Kosma (S)

L.

Lucas

Lewis

Luna (joint custody pet oc)

The Lawyer/ Attorney (title to recheck) (U)

M.

Maera (formerly Mairae)

Micheal

Mira

Malea (U)

Markus

Maria

N.

Neora

Najma*

Nayma

O.

Odette*

P.

Plague (PL46U3)

Q.

Quartz

R.

Rho

S.

Sia

Scooby

Sara

Solaris* (S)

Silvie

Seth (S)

Snippy (joint custody pet oc)

The Sea Witch (U)

T.

Taren

Toby

Toblerone (Toby jr)

Taraeji

Tireal

U.

V.

Viola

(?Elven kid/good friend Neora in adult au)

W.

X.

Y.

Yarrow

Z.

*for Sia’s past lives

(S) for spoilers/ yet unrevealed OCs

(U) for heavily unfinished ocs/little established lore

(More to add as I remember my own ocs names and not just their cool powers 😂🫣)

[skydaemon]

Necromancing the Crane Wives: Safe Ship, Harbored (2011)

I happened to be listening to TCW when i first read the books and now they are inexorably linked in my head. So, I'm going through the Crane Wives' discography and seeing how each song can be linked to the Locked Tomb series.

Contains spoilers for the Locked Tomb series!!

Can't Have It All: getting Alecto vibes from this one, with "you won't find me where you left me / I'm long gone / you can't bind me in the state you kept me / for so long" and "my mind's made up, though my head still aches and / all my love you tried to take, but / you can't have it all" - which contains a neat little Harrow lobotomy reference to boot! You can see this as Alecto talking to Jod, a warning at the end of Nona.

The Diving Bell: GIDEON!!! This song is wholly about sacrificing yourself for another person out of love, there's water imagery ("i will drown for you", "hold your heart like waves / open my lungs to let you in", "water rushes in / and i will welcome it"), and lines like "swallow my heart whole / seek me like a soul" and "i am not afraid / to give you everything" !!! It aligns perfectly with the part of HtN where she begs for Harrow to consume her and go full Lyctor.

New Colors: this one's a bit more vague, but i connect it to John pre-resurrection, especially the lines "to climb up in the sky / and steal new colors / away from the sun", plus the chorus literally saying "don't tell me that i can't" - very mad scientist/cult leader/twitch necromancer. Also it opens with the line "orange, yellow, green" which in my TLT brainrot i always link to a) Gideon's hair - and by extension, Wake's - b) gideon's eyes - and by extension John's and Alecto's - and c) the fact that Canaan house was the first time Gideon and Harrow saw vegetation.

Caleb Trask: Gideon to Harrow in GtN. The song's about feeling too guilty and inherently evil - specifically because of the actions of your family ("so you got bad in your blood") - to accept love and comfort. There's even a line saying "there's no reason to live out in chains". Slam dunk.

Counting Sheep: this song is about living a humdrum existence in a world that's falling apart ("as the sunlight filters in / then your daily dread sets in / the cycle's beginning, and in your head alarms are ringing"), so i link it to the world of New Rho and the lives of the people there. Also, there's a section at the end where they repeat Frere Jacques in english, which they translate as "are you sleeping, Brother John?". Could be linked to his absence in NtN and the way Alecto finds him in bed.

Hole in the Silver Lining: this one's very simple, with only really two sections that repeat. I link the first section to Palamedes and the rest of the Sixth House, especially "i'll be the one (...) to find it / i take it upon myself to make sure / i do" and "but i turn it over in my hands until / my fingers wear it through". These lines strike me as very Pal, with all the scientific curiosity he shows but also the responsibility he takes for dangerous information.

Safe Ship, Harbored: Harrow in Harrow the Ninth. "things i forgot i cannot do", "i wasn't born a safe ship / something wore me down", "don't waste your blessings on me"? Very Harrow. The chorus (specifically "i am a safe ship, harbored / losing all of my good years to the shallow water") also makes me think of the fact that she's being severely coddled by Jod and unable to leave the Mithraeum without supervision.

Naked, the Night Falls: strikes me as a Harrow love song to Alecto. "into your arms / sell my sorry soul" is basically what Harrow says to the Body, "been enraptured and tied" definitely aligns with Harrow's devotion. Also, the first line is "softly, a cold wind paints my face", which is such a fun Harrow line.

Ancient History: Ninth House vibes because this one has bones!! ("my dream keep digging up the bones of memories / discarded remnants of former times / now every skeleton is slapping its knees") Weirdly, I kinda think of Anastasia, even though I know we don't have much of a canon personality for her. - we know she was a failed ascension and the line "and my poor heart is an open wound / it's ancient history / that's bleeding out of me / so what am i supposed to do?" has some juicy angst for just such an occasion. This song has only two verses, so not tons to say.

October: oooooh Griddlehark! Interestingly, this one can be taken from both sides. Lines like "i know you, you're the daughter of a lonely man" and "I am naught but a scar upon your breastbone" cut both ways, although at slightly different times. Very cute, very sad, very Griddlehark.

The Crooked, the Cradle: this one uses the word "mercy", but unfortunately doesn't make any sense for her or the OG lyctors. Another Harrow the Ninth song, it seems! "and the devil won't know all the love i just couldn't let go", "this cradle still burns like a hole in my chest", and "but i pray / when it's done, when it's through, i'll have something left for you" are all very Harrow-having-feelings-about-the-lobotomy lines.

I Ain't Done: Tridentariiiiiii!!! "i am a pretty young thing / i am consumed with selfish wanting / carelessly broke you down but i ain't done", "a woman in love has no regrets", "wreckage in the wake of cruel betrayal / paid my sins in blood, but i ain't done". The actual narrative of the song doesn't align with her very closely - it's about the ghost of a woman killed by her husband for infidelity - but there's a real Ianthe + Corona vibe to it.

[projectbluearcadia]

This Is Fine.

Lizzy: Anne, gonna ask you a real question here, but what the fuck is this?

Lizzy points to the practice exercise the professor handed to the class.

Annelie: Alchemy. 

Lizzy: What?

Annelie: Once you get past the fact that we’re changing the chemical composition of material with magic, it’s not hard. a plus b equals c with b as catalyst. It’s like chemistry, but you can cheat a lot more.

Lizzy: ...why are there so many equations on your paper?

Annelie: Oh, that’s just the basic formatting for the alchemic transfiguration magic. Like you can’t transfigure a piece of lead into gold without formulating the matrix T used to transform each magic circle at steps alpha, beta, lambda, rho...

Lizzy: What?

Annelie: Wait, what’s the highest math you’ve taken?

Lizzy: Um... Triangles?

Annelie pauses.

Annelie: Do you want me to talk to Diavolo? This class is pretty heavy on advanced math. 

Lizzy: Yes pl—

Annelie’s D.D.D. vibrates, and she glances at it before she picks up. 

Annelie: Why are you calling me? 

Lucifer: I wanted to hear your voice.

Annelie: Are you feeling lonely?

Lucifer: Yes, I want to see you. 

Annelie: Awww. 

Lucifer: Come see me.

Annelie: I’m in class. 

Lucifer: Come see me. 

Annelie rolls her eyes. 

Annelie: Be patient. 

Lucifer: Come and see me right now before I come and get you myself. 

Annelie: Oh, please do...

Lucifer appears in the doorway to the classroom. 

Annelie: Seriously?

Lucifer gestures at her, and she sighs as she hangs up and leaves the room.

Lizzy: Did someone say down-bad?

Annelie: Yes, honey?

Lucifer drags her away from the classroom and hungrily kisses her the moment they’re out of view. 

Lucifer: I missed you.

Annelie: I can tell. 

Annelie gives him a peck back, and he hugs her tightly. 

Annelie: Did something happen?

Lucifer: ...why is that your question? I just wanted to see you. 

Annelie: It’s not unwelcome, it’s just that you don’t normally make me skip class. 

Lucifer: ...

Annelie: Lucifer? 

Lucifer: Maybe I was thinking too much...

Annelie: Well, we wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself. 

Annelie fluffs his hair, and Lucifer rolls his eyes. 

Lucifer: I just felt... nevermind. 

Lucifer steps back. 

Annelie: Have I satisfied your craving for cuddles?

Lucifer: ...not even remotely. 

Lucifer kisses her forehead. 

Lucifer: So I fully expect you to come to me at lunch for quality time. No excuses. 

Annelie: You know I don’t have any. 

Annelie kisses his cheek. 

Annelie: I’m going back to alchemy, okay?

Lucifer: Of course.

Lucifer hugs Annelie tightly until she wheezes.

Lucifer: You’re not sleeping tonight either. 

Annelie: Dammit, Lucifer, don’t whisper like that! You know what that does to me!

Lucifer snickers as he pulls away.

Lucifer: Yes, yes I do. Then until lunch. 

Annelie shakes her head as she waves to him, and he walks away. Her D.D.D. buzzes, and she rolls her eyes as she takes a look, only to stare at the screen in surprise. 

Barbatos: Annelie, we need to talk. Come to the castle as soon as possible. Do not bring Lucifer. 

Monologue

I think, at that moment, I already knew. No, maybe even before that moment. I am an insufferable person in that I cannot stand to be disliked, and I will do anything if it means that I can hold someone closer to me. Maybe it was because of that I chose this life, that I became the Queen of Succubi. 

I think I understand now. Why Barbatos tried to kill me, that is.

[paganimagevault]

Emese's Dream by Mihaly Buday 20th-21st C. CE

"The necessity for a change of country by the Magyars was a direct consequence of the policy of the Byzantine court." (The Byzantine Church in Medieval Hungary by Gyula Moravcsik).

"They [the Hungarians] were allied with the Eastern emperor, Leo VI (the wise), who was trapped in the vise of combined Islamic and Bulgar assaults that came dangerously close to his capital on the Bosporus. A bold counterattack, however, saved the city of Constantine. The Byzantine fleet ferried Hungarians into Bulgar territory as Khan Simeon's forces arrived at the very gates of Constantinople. Consequently, the Bulgarian ruler found it necessary to end the siege and turn his attention to the Magyars who were marauding in his territory. This maneuver allowed Eastern imperial armies to save their capital. After defeating Islamic forces and making peace with the Bulgars, Leo left his erstwhile allies (the Hungarians) in the lurch" (Charles R. Bowlus. Franks, Moravians, and Magyars: The struggle for the Middle Danube).

Though the Hungarians defeated the Bulgarians and forced Simeon into hiding, they weren't expecting the Pecheneg attack that followed. The Pechenegs were the key element that turned the war of 894-896 in Bulgaria's favor. The Magyars were caught off guard and defeated at the Battle of Southern Buh and forced to migrate westward into the Carpathian Basin while the Pechenegs took Etelkoz.

The Romans [Byzantines] had a two-faced approach to the Hungarians. This seems to have been largely rooted in religion; the Romans were Christian and the Hungarians were not. Roman Emperor Leo VI [The Wise] clearly despised the Hungarians who helped him but outwardly encouraged them to conquer their eastern neighbors who had forced them out of Etelkoz and into the Carpathian Basin. From the writings of Leo VI's son, Constantine Porphyrogenitus:

"A cleric named Gabriel was once sent to the Magyars by the Emperor's orders, and he delivered his message to the following effect: 'The Emperor instructs you to go and expel the Pechenegs from their country and to settle there yourselves (it was your own home once). I want you, his Majesty directs me to say, to be near my dominions..." (Arnold Toynbee, Constantine Porphyrogenitus and his World).

The Romans likely desired the Magyars to defeat the Pechenegs because they knew how much of a problem they could be. Up to this point the Pechenegs had largely been friendly allies of the Romans. Now they had sided with the Bulgarians in the Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 894–896. From Constantine Porphyrogenitus and his World: "The Pechenegs are fully capable of making war on all these peoples [Rhos, Bulgars, Magyars], and, as they have often attacked them, they have now become a terror to them." The Romans, however, now found themselves added to that list of potential victims.

Leo VI takes quite a different tone in his personal writings (his Tactica) describing all Scythians (including the Hungarians) as a faithless people who "have never done anything of value". Ironically, after the Magyars saved the Romans and were left to deal with the dual Bulgar-Pecheneg invasion on their own, Leo calls the Magyars a people who "scorn their oaths and do not observe agreements they have made". Leo VI also notes that the Hungarians and Bulgarians are "stronger than the other Scythian nations as they engage in close combat under one commander". His writings come after the Hungarians defeated the Bulgarians, designating the Magyars as the most formidable of the Scythian nations. Leo VI then says the Bulgarians must not be punished for their prior invasion because they are a Christian population: "Since the Bulgarians, however, embraced the peace of Christ and share the same faith in him as the Romans, after what they went through as a result of breaking their oath, we do not think of taking up arms against them".

Leo's writings show that he still looked down on the Magyars who saved him and he embraced the Bulgars who had just invaded him. The Magyar's contemporary view of their dealings with the Romans here is unknown to me and probably lost to time, but they likely looked at it as a one-sided deal where the Romans benefited and they didn't. This hubris of Leo would have grave consequences later, continuing on even after the Bulgars broke the peace deal again and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Boulgarophygon in 896 CE. The main Roman army that had arrived home from the east couldn't save them, and the Magyars weren't eager to find themselves on the receiving end of "Roman gratitude" again.

The writings of Nicholas I Patriarch of Constantinople show the continuity of Eastern Roman problems with Bulgaria in the 900s. Written between 912-925 CE (probably shortly before 917): "...this governor of Cherson is continually reporting that Bulgarians are making every effort to get the Pechenegs and other nations in those parts to join them in the expedition and attack on the Romans. These reports are not intermittent...they went on to say that as many as sixteen messengers had come from the race of the Pechenegs, who had reported that messengers from Bulgaria had been sent to them, not just once or twice, but over and over again, to invite them to join them..." (Nicholas I Patriarch of Constantinople Letter 9, trnsl Jenkins & Westerink).

The specifics of what came next depends on what sources you choose to believe. The Miracula Sancti Georgii [written in the 11th century] states that some years later the Bulgars, Magyars, and Pechenegs forged an alliance and destroyed the Roman army together at the battle of Achelous in 917 CE where "...even now there could be seen piles of bones at Anchialus, where the fleeing army of the Romans was disgracefully slain." (from Leo the Deacon's History, 75 years later).

[griseldagimpel]

Thinking about The Locked Tomb series and how it’s going to be resolved. Putting this into a number list because I’m trying to organize my thoughts here.

1. The socio-political aspect of the series has been kept at an arm’s length. The first two books have very secluded, isolated settings. Gideon and Harrow grew up in a monastery with a shaky understanding of the broader world (universe) they live in. Nona (bless her) has the socio-political understanding of a golden retriever. The protagonist of the fourth book is going to be Alecto, who doesn’t even understand that kissing shouldn’t leave someone a bloody mess.

2. While the socio-political conflict of the series has informed the story, a lot of the central conflict has been interpersonal. The conflict between Harrow & Gideon? Interpersonal. Cytherea’s anger at John? Interpersonal. Augustine and Mercymorn’s anger as John? Interpersonal. Varun’s anger as John? Interpersonal. Wake and the Blood of Eden’s anger at John and his Empire? Now, that’s socio-political. The Angel sees Palamedes as their enemies because, as they put it, he was born being their enemy. John vs the trillionaires in his backstory is also socio-political.

3. A lot of characters are angry at John, but he isn’t being set up, in terms of narrative structure, as the Big Bad. To start, the second book establishes that to kill him is to kill the Nine Houses. (Parallel: John, in trying to kill the trillionaires, killed the world.) It is further established that John couldn’t be properly killed without also killing Alecto. Now, Alecto the Ninth could undo all or part of this through some loophole or something, but it could easily come off as a cop-out. If you set up a story where Killing the Emperor is off the table, it’s more interesting to explore what happens when you can’t just Kill the Emperor. How do you resolve things?

4. While John does A Lot of terrible things, he is given a great deal of narrative sympathy, and part of that is connected to the way he’s not being positioned as the Big Bad. And what I mean by this is that he spends all of the present portions of the third book being depressed and exhibiting bad coping strategies. There’s never going to be a Star Wars movie where the Emperor is unavailable for a movie because he’s off having a bender. There’s never going to be an MCU movie where Thanos isn’t active in the plot because he’s busy trying to see if getting gangbanged will solve his emotional problems.

5. Continuing on: John was chosen by Alecto because he wanted to save the whole world, and C- lists his driving flaw as him being too vindictive, willing to prioritize retribution over being the savior. In Nona the Ninth, John is not handling the situation on New Rho personally but instead has empowered Ianthe, who literally thinks that John’s problem is that he’s too soft.

6. But, really, while there are a lot of holes in the socio-political setting of the series that are left up to the reader to fill in, the gist of it is that John has spent the last 10,000 years convinced that he just needs to get rid of the Bad People (in this case, the Blood of Eden and the Resurrection Beasts) and has failed to realize that he’s recreated a lot of the same problems that Earth had. (People! Do! Not! Like! Being! Forcibly! Relocated!)

7. Thus, I don’t think the solution of the series is going to be to get rid of the Bad People (in this case, John and his supporters) and then everything will be fine.

8. In the first book, the conflict of Cytherea is resolved by Punching Her Really Hard, but the conflict between Harrow and Gideon is resolved by Reconciliation.

9. In the second book, the conflict of Varun is resolved by Punching Varun Really Hard, but that’s mostly off page, and the conflict between John and his Lyctors isn’t something that can be resolved by Punching Someone Really Hard. Not really. That’s why, even though John prevails in the physical fight, he spends all of the next book severely depressed. Mercymorn and Augustine dying didn’t actually fix things.

10. In the third book, Nona resolves the conflict of Varun by Talking to Varun. The other conflict - returning Nona to the Tomb - involves a bit of fighting, but it’s kinda...incidental? Like, Ianthe is opposed to the Tomb opening, but her opposition isn’t about Nona.

11. The series has a lot of themes of love and especially agape - the love of the divine for humanity. Harrow assumes Gideon will drown her, and instead Gideon forgives her. The original Lyctors all loved their Cavaliers, and that’s why Augustine and Mercymorn are so angry at John for lying to him (and it hurts worse because they had loved him). Cytherea loved John, and that why she became a Lyctor like he asked. Pyrrha and Gideon the First loved Wake, and that’s why they didn’t kill her when John first set them after her, and that’s why there was time for Gideon to be conceived and born. Alecto loved the whole world and John and chose him because he wanted to save everyone and tells him she still loves him after he destroyed the world. Nona loves Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes and Hot Sauce and Honesty and the other students and Crown and We Suffer and Pash and Varun the Eater and if she doesn’t love (or even particularly like) Judith, she still wants to save her.

12. We’ve now got Demons From Hell, and maybe they’ll be an antagonistic force that everyone teams up to Punch Really Hard. Or maybe like the Resurrection Beasts, they’re going to turn out to be another faction with valid complaints that need to be addressed.

13. If the series is going to resolve the socio-political conflicts it’s going to need to, at least to a degree, dive down into the nitty gritty of why those conflicts are happening and how things could be done differently. In order for the Empire to not be forcibly relocating people, the Cohort needs to not be killing worlds. But the Cohort is killing worlds so that the necromancers can fight against the Blood of Eden, members of which oppose Palamedes and Camilla’s desire to Save Everyone because Everyone includes the necromancers they despise, and they’d prefer a plan where they only Save Some People. Because if the Blood of Eden can just get rid of the Bad People, then by golly, everything will totes be fine.