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[deadgoatproject]

Do Europeans (and do Ukrainians) criticize for low foreign language skills?

Today, I found a post of a non-European who complained about how the Spanish criticized foreigners for nor speaking Spanish. It reminds me of posts about how Europeans hate when Americans are not bilingual or are not speaking their mother tongue.

As an Eastern European, specifically, as a Ukrainian, I personally give no sheesh whether you speak Ukrainian or not. However...

First, not all Ukrainians speak English/Spanish/French/German etc.

You cannot simply come here and expect us to speak English fluently. Elder generations speak English badly, my generation (um...actually, I am not gen Z according to our generation theory...I am Y...uummmm...however!) also refuses to speak (but learns), the youngest gen Alpha cannot speak English yet. Why? Because we cannot practice it, we have no extra money to travel all around the world (even before the war, ye know), and as an English language teacher, I have to say the methods of teaching English in Ukraine are...particularly ineffective. Same situations with less spreaded languages.

Second, we want you to speak Ukrainian.

It is a common situation (especially before the war) when a foreigner surely learns French or German but thinks English will be enough in Ukraine. You may say that is because Slavic languages are hard to (at least) speak, but many of you choose russian to learn. Moreover, there are absolutely brainless and somehow pragmatic people (yeah, Chinese, I am speaking about you) thinking it is enough to speak russian in Ukraine, the mother language of Ukrainians does not matter.

We want you to speak Ukrainian. We do not really care how bad you speak. We will surely (try to) understand you and correct if it is necessary. Our language is unique, and we want not only all the Ukrainians to speak it but also foreigners to learn.

btw how did I learn English...? well...I am a philologist of English and Chinese languages, and I have a bachelor degree (yet).

теє-то, кулєги, поширюйте допис, я пітнів і без перекладача писав, як справжній профі!

[quicklikelight]

Saw a post just now that was like, how do you work full time and still have time for hobbies? And I think that's a great question to ask, as people navigating a world where increasingly our labor is entirely for the benefit of some faceless (or worse, incredibly public) billionaire and no one else.

I'm a person who takes my labor seriously, and I have had the pleasure and privilege of only working for non-profit or not-for-profit organizations throughout my adult career. I worked part-time for a regular corporation once for six months before I quit out of disgust, and I've worked for a couple of family-owned small businesses during college, but the overwhelming majority of my 12+ year career so far has been in a profit void, which does help.

Even still, I have colleagues at my big shiny non-profit who say, "Anne you have so many hobbies! How on earth do you have time for them?" And the key is,

If I don't make time for my personal passions, I'll die.

I'm not being dramatic. It isn't a joke. An intrinsic and necessary part of me -- the part that labors for love, that labors for the desire of it, for the enjoyment -- will die if I do not create time and space to do that labor. And without that love, that passionate hobby investment, the part of me that is left will not then decide, hey I should labor more for money! It will not decide, hey I should invest in my relationships! It will not decide, hey I should invest in myself as a human being! In my environment! In my community! In the world!

It will decide, if there is no time for joy in the world, I will not be in the world. I will doomscroll endlessly on my phone. I will watch re-runs of a beloved sitcom for 3 hours, exhausted on my sofa, and go to bed. I will show up to work still groggy from the day before, and I will be angry in meetings, and I will be exhausted from customer interactions, and I will either want to cry or I will have zero feelings at all as I enter yet another figure into another cell of the universal spreadsheet. I will not be my best self anywhere, for any reason, because my best self is dead.

People say things like, "I don't dream of labor," and I respect that. But a lot of labor is very good. It's work, to knit a sweater. It's work, to write a book. It's work, to raise a garden, or a goat, or a child. It's work to bake bread, and to sew pants, and to rebuild small engines. It's work to create, and that is--in my humble opinion--what we're here for. To spend all day idly eating grapes would drive a lot of us to the brink. The problem isn't labor--it's capital.

To make time for your hobbies means working intentionally to identify those passion projects as a necessary part of your reason for being on the earth. My job on this earth is not to assign training. My job on this earth is to create beauty, and write stories, and make clothes, and connect from my heart. When that truth is accepted, and you put in the effort to rebirth the part of you that died to capitalism, then it becomes very obvious that the relevant question isn't "how do I make time for hobbies."

The question is, "How do I ensure that my job does not take up all the mental and physical energy I have so that I can re-invest that energy into myself?"

A good place to start is to plan your days / weeks / months with an understanding of your mental/physical boundaries and just do that. There are ways to do this most effectively (collective bargaining, creating a schedule that honors the need for focus vs collaboration, bringing your hobbies to work and being open about how they make your work better) but the most important thing, in my opinion, is for you to understand that your full time job isn't you. It's not what makes you special or important in this world, and it's not what people will remember about you when you're gone, and it's not going to feed you if you stop showing up. So give it as little as you can comfortably get by with, preserve that precious energy, and put it into something that sets your soul alight.

When you invest in the labor that loves you back, that provides for you, that keeps you alive... you'll stop accepting a world in which you cannot dream of labor for fear of losing yourself.

And maybe, at the end, you'll have a sweater. :)

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Realm SMP - The nitty gritty

I listened to Tubbo's rundown of Realm's features in the hour before the server opened, so here's some quotes + timestamps for folks who want to know the nitty gritty details about Realm's functions, tools, weapons, features, and more.

7m - Tubbo says he does have a team he assembled now, and it's costing him "Quite a bit of money."

Tubbo: To put all this together, to assemble the team – 'cuz I have assembled a team for this now – it's costing me a bit of money out the bank. [...] I'm going VERY out of pocket on this project."

10m - He reached out to a lot of his connections from working on Tubnet and got a custom rendered poster commissioned to announce Realm's first event.

Because of his show starting in December, Tubbo was worried he might not be able to give Realm SMP his full time, which is what prompted him to get a team.

13m 20s - The first event, Factions, is a long-form event, so even if a streamer isn't there on the event day (December 8) they can still play in the coming days. The factions won't be like more factions, MMO factions are different from Minecraft factions.

15m 30s - He has 3 events already planned - 2 for December, 1 in the new year

18m - Logs onto the Dev server

Tubbo: The Realm SMP is 100% vanilla, and while that is true in the sense that you can join the server using a vanilla client and it doesn't require any mods to play, there is some slight modifications within the vanilla game. Every single feature I've added to the server is to add to to vanilla features that already exist. It's not to take them away, it's not to make a different way of doing them, it's just to add more to the base game without destroying any already default Minecraft functionality.

20m - Shows off some weapons and tools

20m 50s - Tubbo says there's fancy leather which can be used to craft elytra.

Tubbo: Shoutout Philza! He's been on enough SMPs where he hasn't been able to get an elytra because the End is disabled. So there actually is a crafting recipe based on the elytra, but you have to unlock it based on skills.

21m 20s - Tool recap. Tool quality breakdown: terrible, shoddy, decent, good, great, flawless, masterful, fabled, and legendary. A terrible diamond sword would be worse than a masterful wooden sword.

23m - Skills recap. "Modifiers to my default player."

24m 30s - Skill point every time you level up a power level

32m - Going over custom things added to the server.

36m 30s - Mobs and hostile creatures will get stronger as players get stronger. Power scaling. Takes the highest level of the people in a group.

PVP and combat damage reduced to 10% when attacking with strong weapon.

38m 45s - No classes, wants everyone coming onto the server to be treated like an "average Joe" that can choose their own specifications.

Tubbo: I want them to kind of tailor their own custom class to themselves based on the types of specializations they pick in [different categories.

43m - Lives system clarification. Talks about death saving throws in DND. "If you die, it's equal to you failing a saving throw." If you lose all 3 lives, you'll be banned off the server for 24 hours, your stats are reset. "You are a new character, you are dead."

46m - Tubbo says he's cooking some lore for himself, but he's leaving thing open-ended so players on the server can tell the stories they want to make.

48m 30s - He scrapped the revive system in favor of the 24 hour ban

49m 30s - He encourages streamers to use Aypierre's translation thing for their streams and he's going to see if he can make a custom cheap version of a translator, but it might be a bit shoddy. "Obviously I'll speak and ask Quackity about stuff 'cuz he's the goat when it comes to stuff like that."

50m 30s - Banned items: mending books and mending enchants because it makes all the qualities of the crafts obsolete

51m 20s - Mob farms and other methods of automatically farming combat EXP are massively nerfed and do not work. "You cannot farm XP with farms." Mob farms are allowed, but they won't help much.

52m 30s - Trial chambers are enabled.

52m 50s - AFK farming skill XP is banned – not able to AFK fish or mine cobble gens (?).

54m 20s - He hasn't decided about Totems of Undying yet, but they may be necessary for custom boss fights and events. Totems of Undying don't work like people expect.

55m 20s - He just told members of the server not to be dicks.

55m 45s - Tubbo reiterates that he'll keep working on Realms as long as people want to play on it.

56m 45s - They started development for this server literally 5 days ago, and Tubbo reiterates his appreciation for Tangofrags.

57m 30s - He wants Realms to have a vanilla feeling with a specialized twist.

58m - He wants to add more people in the future, and tells creators "If I didn't respond to your message it's because I forgot! Not because I hate you! Thank you!"

58m 30s - Tubbo says he's hoping to add more people during the second December event

59m 30s - Tubbo says they're a four man army, technically five counting the person who made the event poster.

[plushtoothpanic]

WEB HORROR MASTERLIST

Got a new edition for the catalogue? Send me an ask!

FOUND FOOTAGE / HOME VIDEO

Real Demons Caught on Tape

Angel Caught on Camera

The Skinwalker in My Backyard

Chaneque Real 100%

A Scary Being Walking Through the Woods with a Lantern

Evil Creature

Creatures in the Woods After Dark

NNN臨時放送

Achtung! Swedish Rhapsody Number Station

Dog sees Ghost

Pital woman viral video

What is this screaming?

Girls see ghost and run

ANALOG HORROR (AI projects omitted)

The Mandela Catalogue

Angel Hare

Dog Nightmares

The Walten Files

Possibly in Michigan

The Oldest View

LOCAL58TV

The Tangi Virus

UrbanSPOOK

My Little Worms

THE BOILED ONE PHENOMENON

Vita Carnis

GREYLOCK

Basswood County

THE ALVEARIUM LOGS

BLUE_CHANNEL: THALASIN

ART PROJECTS / INDEPENDENT FILMS

POKOPOKOPIKOTAN

pokopokoshopping

The Kid and the Camera

My Little Goat

DISGUISE

もぺもぺ

POSSIBLY IN MICHIGAN (1983)

Damnation

Hell is Cold

Eskos, (2009)

THE SEPARATION

"Darkness, Light, Darkness" «Oscuridad, Luz, Oscuridad»

Creepy Grudge Ghost Girl in the Mirror!

DEAD HORSE

SMILE FOR ME

Possessed Girl Beheads Herself in her Bedroom!!!

[CONCEPT] TOE1

[divider credit]

[hauntinglyhaunted]

Creepypasta Headcanons!

(Jeffery Woods, Eyeless Jack, Toby Rogers.)

Starting off with our crispy himself!

Jeffery Woods:

I actually believe he'd be moderately okay with self care (with the exception of showering, because he's gross 🧍)

Like, he def keeps different kinds of lotions to help hydrate his burn scars (I'm projecting ikik) and has a variety of different scents.

I actually think he doesn't have a strict preference for what kind of music he listens to, but tends to listen to heavy metal or older emo music.

Def listens to ICP. You can't change my mind.

I actually heavily headcanon him as someone that'll pick at his skin, specifically the skin on his fingers/hands. It's a bad habit that he has tried (and failed) to shake off.

Drinks monster/energy drinks like its WATER.

He's the type of guy to point at someone's concert shirt and ask them to name 3-5 songs

Eyeless Jack:

Out of any of the pastas, I believe he'd be the best when it comes to self care-- Considering the idea of him originally wanting to be a surgeon.

Carries hand sanitizer with him EVERYWHERE.

I believe he has a habit of over washing his hands and is constantly using hand sanitizer.

He has sensitive hearing from his heightened senses, so I believe he'd keep earplugs on him 24/7

Tried to prepare organs like someone would a sandwich, he regretted that.

The type of guy that doesn't pick up on humor. You quote something online around this guy and he'll just take it as you being dead serious.

Tried to eat human food so he could feel "normal" again, but it made him sick. Still tries it every now and then, but it can result in him just curled up on the floor. Think of how some people that are lactose intolerant will still eat dairy (you know who you are 🙄)

In some med schools, it's actually preferred to know a second language (that could also just be where I live, so 🚶) and I actually believe he knows bits of Spanish.

Parts of his life before the sacrifice is actually a major blur for him, it's like looking through a fog for him.

Hates the smell of mint.

I feel like he mainly uses echolocation. Or if he could "see" anything, it would probably be like seeing the temperature of something

Example:

Bro constantly cold. It could be the middle of July and he'd probably be LAYERED up. Long sleeves, hoodies, etc.

Toby Rodgers:

Chews. His fingers, the scar on his cheek, dead skin on his lips, he just chews.

Unironically wears socks and sandals

Due to high levels of stress, I like to think he'd have white steaks/patches in his hair. :]

Tried to give himself a piercing once, it didn't work out. It scarred.

Either Midwest emo or grunge, you can't change my mind!

Has listened to the front bottoms (father...) and the mountain goats.

Listens to Nirvana sometimes. 👏

Due to his trauma, he prefers to not drive or ride in the passenger seat. He either forces himself to sleep or zones out SOOOO hard.

Since he can't go get his hair cut professionally for obvious reasons, some of his hair is uneven since he doesn't know how to cut it properly.

Toby doesn't like sweetened coffee, he either drinks it black or eats instant coffee because "it works faster"

He regretted this.

Got my first ACTUAL post down! Hope you guys like it! Tried to keep it lighthearted since it's a starter. I take requests btw. :]

[ga-yuu]

About Ikegen Management Team Message!

The fact that Ikemen Genjiden Management Team formally send out a statement to thank everyone who send them supportive and kind messages after the announcement of EoS and saying that they themselves are sadder than the players itself really makes me think that Ikemen Genjiden must have been their passion project. This really feels like a shut-down that is forced rather than planned like Ikemen Revolution. Correct me, if I'm wrong, because Ikemen Revolution suddenly stopped releasing new trailers for their game out of nowhere, and sometime after, they formally announced their EoS. Usually, an EoS of a game means that, a new game announcement is right around the corner. Ikemen Revolution was killed to bring out Ikemen Villains. But I feel like Ikemen Genjiden's EoS is out of nowhere. I don't really think they planned this to happen, at least not this year. I don't know. Everything really feels sus, because they just released Kurama and Ibuki's sequel and everything was going well. Let's just wait and watch if there will actually be an announcement for a new Ikemen game this year or not.

According to them the management team haven't changed since the start of the development of the game, which means, every single member in the management team has longing memories for this game.

The story is about Rikka was already in development 2 years before the game's launch, and he is meant to be the counterpart to Tamamo and the starting point of the whole Genjiden story. According to the Management team, the story hasn't even reached its full potential yet. If the game was still on-going, we would have been able to see more crazy things unfold. It's sad that no matter how many kind words and encouragement to continue the game we sent, nothing will change because at the end of the day, it's a business and this is a strategic decision made for making profits.

The management team, did say that they will try and release as many stories as possible before the end day. So lets' look forward to that.

I really love the management team of Ikemen Genjiden. They are so creative and passionate about Ikemen Genjiden that it saddens me that the game did not get the recognition it rightfully deserves. People were asking for the English release, but they don't seem to understand that if the Japanese market doesn't do well, they won't be releasing it in English. That's why I have always been saying people to go play the Japanese app if you're that interested to play the game. But whatever. This was bound to happen someday.

When I saw the introduction of Rikka, I had hope that this game would at least go on until Rikka's story is released but I guess it did not and that makes me even more sad. Rikka is such an interesting character and I'm still dying to know more about him. I wish, if they are not going to release a main story, they at least release an event of something or give out free stories about Rikka just so that the fans could learn more about him. The fact that everything about this character is now going to disappear in fucking space.....I'm sad. I'm really really sad.

I wish that this Management Team really gets the praise that they truly deserve. I hope this same Management Team, comes together again and create new game which could be even better than Ikemen Genjiden. This Management Team has the potential to create stories that truly touches one's heart and soul. A MC like Yoshino who is so beautiful and lovable than any MC I have ever seen in my life. Eccentric but lovable suitors with very unique and some of which have never-before-seen personalities. Hilarious brain-dead nonsensical humor. Amazing and heart-touching dialogues. Beautiful music. Beautiful art style. Best cast of VAs ever. Everything about this game is so positive that I'm dying from the inside when I see my child slowly dying.

I love you, Ikemen Genjiden Management Team. You guys are literally the GOAT!!! I really hope you guys do well in the upcoming years and have more opportunities to shine!!! I'll always pray that upcoming projects get recognition it deserves!

[fayedartmouth]

Well since it’s okay please share some info about your upcoming projects sorry but im too curious and excited for my own good and i genuinely love your work read every single one in only a week

Well, in truth, I have like 20+ fics that are technically WIPs, all in various stages of development and completion.  I tend to get way more plot bunnies than I can write, and my WIPs range from rough concepts to like 30k words or more.  So it's just a wide range.

As per usual, I can't shut up, so the details are below.

For the record, some of those WIPs I really really love.  Like I have a whole series of Shoupe and preseries JJ that I'm super excited about (their first meeting, the first time Shoupe realizes JJ's getting beaten, JJ taking all of Luke's pills as a teenager, and a few more).  I have one very well developed with a preseries JJ getting kidnapped by one of Luke's associates and Luke blowing off the ransom (spoiler alert: it goes badly for JJ).  And I have a few now completely AU takes post S3, one with Rafe getting revenge on the Pogues by going after JJ (forcing him to take an overdose of drugs, and it's so convincing that almost everyone believes he did it himself) and a Sarah and JJ as siblings fic.  That's just a sampling.  There are so many more that I can't even remember them all.

One idea that just got hold of me this week is an AU with JJ and John B in the military.  There are a few other takes on this on AO3 that intrigued me, and the brothers in arms thing could be so fun to play out with those two.  And I mean, the whump. I may have wrote a few scenes....

However, the fics that I'm actively writing right now.  I'd say there are four (beyond the car accident fic I'm posting snippets of and the town council AU I did a snippet of last weekend).

1. Best of a Bad Deal part three.  This one is still in the works though technically kind of on my backburner.  I have completed quite a bit of this fic, which spans five-six years after JJ goes into remission.  I think I have a cohesive narrative at least through the third year with a lot of bits and pieces completed after that -- including the ending, which I really love.

2. My long fix-it.  I have been actively plotting this with woudsohfiv and currently have probably 70k done.  It starts around the mid point of S4 and maintains everything we see in canon -- but adds a secondary plot that manages to subvert it completely.  LOL, I don't want to spoil too much, but it heavily involves Luke.  The Pogues will still (mostly) think JJ is dead while JJ hits absolute rock bottom.  This fic is planned to be the first of a series.  We've been a little ambitious with our plotting and have sketched out plots for three additional fics.  The second one will really dig into JJ facing his trauma and dealing with his family heritage and Goat Island.  I'm really excited about this one!

3. I write fics for my friends for Christmas, and this year, I have two friends getting JJ fics.  The first one is for woudsohfiv, and she requested an AU of the S1 ep where Barry robs the Pogues.  IIn this take, JJ goes for the gun and gets shot for his trouble -- and the Pogues are faced with the reality of what they were willing to risk.  My goal is to make it eventually fit back into canon, however.  It's probably 15k in and is maybe half done.  It will (hopefully!) be done for Christmas.

4. For my other friend, I'm going on one of her favorite tropes:  seizures.  It's a fic set in that happy 18 months of Poguelandia 2.0 where the Pogues get sick -- and JJ ends up getting very, very ill.  This one is a pretty simple straight up sick fic where the Pogues have to confront that they're not quite as together as they thought they were, and wherein John B and Kiara have to face the reality that JJ isn't really as okay as he seems to be most of the time. Again, my goal is to finish this by Christmas, and I think I can pull it off. This should be relatively short hopefully in the 10k range.

Feel free to ask more questions or specifics! I'd even post snippets if you wanted. I only do completed fics on AO3 but I'm a lot looser here.

[neonmetro]

I just want to say I love Project Martyr chat. I fear you cooked

Also, Kesabel has my heart. They are honestly just so adorable !!! LIKE BABY LET ME GIVE YOU A HUG ! Free Kesabel guys, get them out of there with the rest of those freaks /SILLY /J

I think my favorites of Project Martyr really don't add up like, at all 😞 Samyaza, Reficul, and Kesabel are fighting for #1 spot. Moloch and Arakiel are close seconds. . .but they are all so great man. . . I have to make it my goal to draw all of them one day because they had NO reason to serve so hard.

This is really just fangirling(so surprising). I have nothing in particular to ask, BUT

Uly and Project Martyr content is always appreciated. . .hehe

On a good note, I'm going on Thanksgiving break today, so uh, hopefully you get to go on break soon too !!! If you do, enjoy yourself :)

-Ulysses loving anon

PROJECT MARTYR. MORE LIKE. PROJECT MARTYR!!!!!!!!!!

I'M GLAD YOU LIKE THEM ALL SO MUCH ?!?!?!?!?!?@?@?!(#&* i put a lot of care into (most) of the members so it means a lot... projmar season 2 when? shoutout to ulyanon fangirling. i would owe you my life if you drew all of them.... omg... cries

kesabel is fighting for their life in this god forsaken office/killing game they are never winning. they tried getting along with the others while being held hostage (maybe they were being a little too annoying by preaching outside of the projmar office so aishire kidnapped them) but honestly no one paid them much mind, aside from reficul who was like :( i'll try to make sure it is all painless for you. (proceeds to traumadump and make them commit suicide)

i feel like. aishire might've based everyone off of angels/demons bc of kesabel. he just saw them and thought "i want to ruin their day even more. go my employees, make angel and demon robots because i'm basically like god anyways i'm so awesome"

REFICUL IS MY GOAT. MY MENTALLY INSANE GOAT. (kind of literally tbh they are the literal devil)

for most of projmar i have planned that they're constantly teetering on the edge of just giving up. their stoicism (autism) has made it so everyone expects them to continue being so otherwise they're in the wrong. they're evil. but if they put things into their own hands they're demonized. and they're struggling with their dead spouse's goals not aligning with theirs. to the point where they're pleading to a ghost that they want to stop.

genesis wants project martyr to continue to fester more emotion into the world so people become more violent and feed into the primordial silt so it may one day consume everyone once more and the golden age will come back, while reficul very much wants to end project martyr and stop all the deaths (i don't think it's much of a spoiler to say they fail in this.)

WISH I HAD MORE TO SAY ABOUT SAMYAZA BUT THEIR CHARACTERIZATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN WEIRD FOR MEEE. originally they were a much more. abusive and manipulative character (especially towards azazel) but they've really shifted into being just a deeply lonely person over the years. tbh i'm really glad that happened bc frankly i would not let them serve that hard if they still kept up that behavior

i still am keeping their bond with azazel but instead of a manipulating them into staying with them, samyaza just confided in them a lot after One Smoke Break together and latched on hard, while azazel was there for them... and azazel was a tad uncomfortable with the sheer amount of latching onto that happened, they still listened

samyaza carries Heavy amounts of guilt, from both their family to their desires, they feel like its wrong to be materialistic and giving themselves basic self care because their siblings already sacrificed so much for them (peneume mainly)

MOLOCH AND ARAKIEL. SHAKES THEM. THEY'RE SO FUCKINGGGG. i really like their dynamic they're so fucking goofy. arakiel is taking things so seriously while moloch is like "today i had pancakes for breakfast". it's so funny how arakiel is more of an edgelord than moloch despite moloch's clothing being the embodiment of hot topic ANYHOO only one drawing this time gomenne

honestly i need to compile . all my comics for uly . they're pretty bad and all need their own posts bc this man is a fucking FREAK and i like TORMENTING HIM. anyways have a greatest hits comp of him and diomedes' gay chicken offs

[krinsbez]

Flash Gordon Conquers the Inner Sphere: A Battletech/Pulp Hero Storybuilding/Worldbuilding Project

Well, Conan/BT has died off and Tarzan/BT isn't getting much traction, but I'm an optimist and also definitionally insane, so I'm hoping the third-place contestant gets better results.

Keeping in mind folks, while I am not averse to fic or ficlets being written, the point here is a story- and worldbuilding. Ideally it'd be a group project, not just me shouting into the void for your entertainment. But then, at least I'll have entertained y'all, so that's something!

Anways, this one happened almost by accident. So this one started when I asked if we could do characters that are collar-tug, someone noted that "Stefan Amaris covers Ming", and I and a few others disagreed:

Pfft, Amaris wishes..wished?

(that's me, BTW)

Ming the Merciless is WAY more of a guy then Ameris is, if Ming existed in battletech he'd be driving a battlemech straight into combat against the titular Flash Gordon. Were as Amaris well, his best showing was a sneak attack and then hiding behind his guards. And he surrendered by offering his weapon to Kerensky. Ming would not be caught dead doing such a thing. So that's just a false equivalency.

(that's forum poster HouseOfWolves)

And so we started talking about Ming and eventually we ended up with the following: -Ming the Merciless is Ming Allard-Liao, the son of Melisssa Allard-Liao who spent decades preparing his Revenge. Well that's the reason he admits to, the fact is that (to quote forumposter BadHabits) he is "returning 'to type' for a Liao, but with a distinctly different flavor to him", and thus is a narcissistic and ruthless megalomaniac who intends to make himself emperor of universe, and in fact already styles himself as such. Anyways, he's a genius polymath: a brilliant scientist and Tech, an expert military strategist and tactician, a master of political intrigue and psychological manipulation, and his skill as a MechWarrior makes one think of his grandfather (he is not, in fact, as good as his grandfather the GOAT but he's one of the best currently living). He's also charismatic as hell, and thus far no one has ever been able to beat him at...basically anything.

-Mongo is, (to quote forumposter HouseOfWolves) a "series of systems had it's origins as a expansion to the Capelan Confederation with everything set up to become a province. Then the Civil war and Succession wars happen and Mongo was lost. Untill 2 centuries later all that prep work laid down that kept it from devolving into yet another periphery state plus Mings personal touch turning it into a proper contender for the Throne on terra." In that time the various worlds within the Mongo region have diverged greatly and gotten very, very strange, and spent most of their time fighting each other until Ming came along and conquered them by force, which included moving substantial portions of the population to the one-time provincial capital, after which the region is named. There he forged them into an army with which he was able to swfitly conquer the Capellan Confederation, then put a bigger version of The Wall around it's borders, while he consolidated his holdings.

-Note that the vague similarities between Mongothic overculture (if that's a word) and the Clans is coincidental and the reuslt of a sort of cultural convergent eovlution, both being the result of an isolated population using advanced technology to survive while fighting over scare resources on worlds that are often only marginally habitable

-Anyways, Ming launched is blitzkrieg of the CC in the wake of the Blackout; we considered that he caused the Blackout, but ultimately decided that he just took advantage.

-Anyways, a decade (or two, more on this below) later, Solaris champion Flash Gordon hired to serve as bodyguard to rogue scientist Dr. Hans Zharkov; his usual tech wasn't unavailable so he ended up with a replacement in Dale Arden who is as skilled in the job as she is nice to look at (and she's VERY nice to look at!). Dr. Zharkov, because he is working too hard and not sleeping enough became paranoid, was convinced they are spies trying to steal his secrets and forces them to come along on the test flight of his new and improved super-KF-Drive, which jumps them past the Capellan Wall and straight to Mongo itself, just as Ming is planning to drop The Wall and launch the next phase of his conquest of the Inner Sphere. They manage to earn Ming's personal ire (or at least Flash does. Not sure if should keep Ming being a creepster about Dale), and by luck, skill, and the fact that Ming is bored and wants to make a show of killing them, they keep surviving executions and escaping, damaging Ming's aura of invincibility. They also keep befriending many of the rulers of individual worlds that Mongo has forced to be his puppets and compete for his favor. Which combines in getting said puppet rulers to put aside their animosity for each other to join together and overthrow Ming. Probably replace him with his daughter Princess Aura and her husband King Barin of Arboria?

-My initial thought was that Flash and Co. arrive in the 3140s and things are done in a few years, because I wanted to worldbuild the IS after and it's help to have a good idea of what the IS would've been like in canon. But A; it was pointed out to me that the CC going dark at the start of the Blackout would have that affect regardless, and B: it was proposed that we could have fun with Ming and Flash putting asides their differences to defend Terra from Alaric Ward's Wolves and Malvina Hazen's Jade Falcons. Flash because he's a good guy, and Ming because he wants to be the one to conquer Terra. C: We want a good enough time that the people of the CC get used to and be fine with, their not being a CC going forward, just...uhh, the Mongothic Union.

-Part of this would involve Ming executing all the Liaos with the possible exception of Danai, sparing her life in exchange for her peacefully handing over Yen-Lo-Wang (which he has fully upgraded with Mongotech), and possibly because he likes looking at her, if we keep his creepster tendencies. Not sure what to do with her thereafte,r tend to bounce back and forth between her maybe being Princess Aura's mother and her being one of the multitude of female sub-rulers who tries to seduce Flash.

Got an assortment of other bits and bobs, but this is the most important stuff, I think, and I've spent over an hour typing this. So i'm gonna save the rest for self-RBs if i need to, or if y'all ask for it, if I don't

[mariana-oconnor]

The Three Garridebs

This is the one, right? Where Holmes says the thing? Y'know, the thing.

This is definitely the one.

It may have been a comedy, or it may have been a tragedy. It cost one man his reason, it cost me a blood-letting, and it cost yet another man the penalties of the law. Yet there was certainly an element of comedy. Well, you shall judge for yourselves.

Sounds hilarious to me.

Mr. John Garrideb, Counsellor at Law, was a short, powerful man with the round, fresh, clean-shaven face characteristic of so many American men of affairs. The general effect was chubby and rather childlike, so that one received the impression of quite a young man with a broad set smile upon his face. His eyes, however, were arresting. Seldom in any human head have I seen a pair which bespoke a more intense inward life, so bright were they, so alert, so responsive to every change of thought. His accent was American, but was not accompanied by any eccentricity of speech.

The undercurrent of 'lol Americans' in this is subtle but definitely there. Also, 'in any human head', is that an implied animal description?

"My friend here knows nothing of the details." Mr. Garrideb surveyed me with not too friendly a gaze. "Need he know?" he asked.

Clearly Mr J Garrideb (John. May I call you John? Gonna call you Johnny boy). Clearly Johnny boy knows nothing about anything or he'd know that Watson has to know everything that Holmes knows. Otherwise Holmes just plain won't take the case.

Honestly, imagine not wanting to tell Watson! Imagine wanting privacy! What insanity!

"If you came from Kansas I would not need to explain to you who Alexander Hamilton Garrideb was."

I've never seen Hamilton, but this feels like it works here...

"'Find me another!' said he. I told him I was a busy man and could not spend my life hiking round the world in search of Garridebs. 'None the less,' said he, 'that is just what you will do if things pan out as I planned them.'"

Okay, so he was a bit of a dick then? Got it.

"It's five million dollars for each if it is a cent, but we can't lay a finger on it until we all three stand in a row."

This already feels like a con. It's like the Red-Headed League. Mysterious American bequeaths fortune to strangers based on an arbitrary trait they share.

"But he is a lone man, like myself, with some women relations, but no men. It says three adult men in the will."

Okay, so he was a sexist dickhead. Great.

According to research married women in Kansas at the time had the right to separate economy, no clue what the laws for unmarried women were. Or widowed women, as I assume that for a married woman the surname would be considered her husband's and therefore he'd get his 5mill first, but a widow with the name Garrideb? Doesn't matter anyway because Alexander Hamilton Garrideb didn't want women to get money, so who cares.

The fact that he didn't want to tell Watson is the most suspicious part of all this. Of all the stories we've had, this is the one that privacy makes the least sense for. Little sus. Alexander Hamilton Garrideb is clearly a real actual person and in no way fictional.

Inflation calculated says that $15mill in 1902 would be equivalent to $536,841,279.07 today. Which is the equivalent of £439,301,981.09. So basically Alex was a billionaire by the standards of the time.

"By the way, it is curious that you should have come from Topeka. I used to have a correspondent—he is dead now—old Dr. Lysander Starr, who was Mayor in 1890."

Blatant test to see whether Johnny boy is telling the truth is blatant.

Mr. Nathan Garrideb proved to be a very tall, loose-jointed, round-backed person, gaunt and bald, some sixty-odd years of age. He had a cadaverous face, with the dull dead skin of a man to whom exercise was unknown. Large round spectacles and a small projecting goat's beard combined with his stooping attitude to give him an expression of peering curiosity. The general effect, however, was amiable, though eccentric.

Not a fan of this new habit of comparing people to corpses, Watson. And there's no need to make him sound so old when he's only in his sixties. The quavering voice? The cadaverous face? You're making him sound like he's approaching a hundred. Or older.

So, what does Johnny boy want from Nate over here? Clearly he needs him to do something or he wouldn't be trying to con him. Given that he's a collector, I assume it's something to do with one of his collections. Maybe the ancient coins?

"But do you tell me that you never go out?" he said.

OK. So Johnny boy just wants to get him out of the house. Presumably so he can burgle it. It's Red Headed League pt 2: Revenge of the Fake Garrideb.

"Have you any articles of great value in your collection?" "No, sir. I am not a rich man. It is a good collection, but not a very valuable one."

So, he might not be aware of having an item of value. Or maybe it's like the Red Headed League again and they want access to the house for some other reason.

"I have written to this man and told him that you will see him in his office to-morrow afternoon at four o'clock." "You want me to see him?"

Yes, because he wants you out of the house. Sorry, Nate.

"I would go with you if you wished, but I have a very busy day to-morrow..."

Yep, he's going to be super busy burgling your house.

"It is nothing, Mr. Garrideb. I have figured out your connections. You leave at twelve and should be there soon after two. Then you can be back the same night."

You organised his train journey? Way too eager. You need to calm down a bit. You might as well say 'I am trying to get rid of you' to his face. Could you make it more obvious?

“Unfortunately, I have not. But these specimens are so well labelled and classified that they hardly need your personal explanation. If I should be able to look in to-morrow, I presume that there would be no objection to my glancing over them?”

Nate is just the most trusting corpse that ever lived. Just going to let people into his home to look at his most prized possessions when he met them less than an hour ago. Nate, Nate, Nate, you sweet cinnamon roll.

“I saw that the word ‘plough’ was misspelt.” “Oh, you did notice that, did you? Come, Watson, you improve all the time. Yes, it was bad English but good American."

I blame the fact that I didn't notice that on the fact that I spend hours changing both from UK to US and US to UK at work and my brain registers both as correct now half the time unless I'm actively trying to find them.

“It is fair to tell you so, though I know it will only be an additional reason to you for running your head into danger. I should know my Watson by now. But there is danger, and you should know it.”

And thus we enter shipping defcon 1.

"He is none other than ‘Killer’ Evans, of sinister and murderous reputation.”

That's certainly a nickname. I wonder how he got it.

"I have been down to see friend Lestrade at the Yard."

Oh hai, Lestrade!

"Dead man was identified as Rodger Prescott, famous as forger and coiner in Chicago."

Aha, a coin connection.

"I think we may take it that Prescott, the American criminal, used to live in the very room which our innocent friend now devotes to his museum."

OK, so there's fake money under the floorboards. That explains why I remember a trapdoor in this one. Literally the only scene I remember is the famous one, though, so I didn't remember how they got there.

He took a revolver from the drawer and handed it to me.

You never managed to get Watson's revolver back from the river you threw it in, did you?

In an instant he had whisked out a revolver from his breast and had fired two shots. I felt a sudden hot sear as if a red-hot iron had been pressed to my thigh.

NO! WATSON! He's already been shot in the leg, Johnny boy. Or maybe it was the arm... but he really didn't need another one. (Yeah, I totally remember this scene.)

It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain.

Look, look, look, excellent scene, well written, super shiptastic etc. But I'm sure Watson has said half a dozen times that it was the only time he'd caught a glimpse of Holmes's heart. Not to step on the moment at all, but...

“By the Lord, it is as well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive."

Ah yes, the infamous line.

We heard later that our poor old friend never got over the shock of his dissipated dreams. When his castle in the air fell down, it buried him beneath the ruins. He was last heard of at a nursing-home in Brixton.

Nate, you poor, wonderful, naive corpse man. I'm so sorry. You deserved better, my friend.

And there it was, the most infamous of the short stories. The story that validated a thousand shippers, and the rest.

[deadgoatproject]

Hello, do you do sketches by request, or only by commission?

hi! there is a point I would like to highlight: I do not sketch by commission. frankly, I never did (I am not a professional artist, I feel bad even when I think somebody could pay me for a "silly doodle").

however, I sometimes draw by request...mostly for meme. therefore, don't expect anything amazing from me :D

have a GOAT day!

[berrypass-de-murdler]

21. Oil Kill You For This

My favorite episode title lmaoo

Why are all the ones that end in 'for this' chalkers episodes pfff

oil kill you for this

i yacht to kill you for this

yule pay for this

always llamacoded

I love him

Btw my mini server features sneak peeks and "behind-the-scenes"(?) for cartoon murdleverse stuff... if you like my dumb project than you can ask to join!! :D

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

Logico follows the map to some pirate island and finds Obsidian, who is supposed to be dead, standing there. Also Midnight and Chalk for some reason, staring stupidly at a body.

MIDNIGHT: Look. It’s Deductive Logico. CHALK: There’s a body. LOGICO: I can see, genius.

Logico explores. There's an Ancient Ruins there. He's confused why the ruins follow him everywhere, but doesn't assume much significance. DRAMATIC IRONY ALERT?! Meanwhile, Chalk and Midnight are being really not much of anything.

LOGICO: WELL?? Are you even going to PRETEND to look innocent? Or GUILTY?? You’re just STANDING there! MIDNIGHT: I’m not standing. I don’t got legs.

Logico 'finds' the murderer pretty easily.

OBSIDIAN: HUHUHUHUHUHU. CHALK: N… no! 

Chalkers calls the po-po and they get rid of Sid. 

OBSIDIAN: I’LL SEE YOU AT TRIAL!!

So… that happened. 

LOGICO: … …So what the fuck was that all about?? MIDNIGHT: … …Oh. You mean what just happened. LOGICO: WHAT ELSE COULD I HAVE POSSIBLY MEANT?!? MIDNIGHT: Yea so I got an email and followed the map and so did the beard man. And then she showed us the body. LOGICO: What was her point?? CHALK: It was a royalty negotiation strategy. She wanted more… and to be honest, it worked. I’m gonna pay her more. [panic sound] LOGICO: You’re safe now… [pats him] CHALK: Ghehehehe... ehhh...

Midnight stares into the ocean.

MIDNIGHT: I wish I was right there.

The end!

LOOKATDABAAABIII

A couple days ago I figured out that annoyed llamas make this weird high-pitched 'nyaaa! >:(' sound and it's so cute and I imagined chalk making the noise and HELLLPPPPP <3 <3

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[bitchfitch]

(part 1)

V paced like a soldier. With his shoulders square, his head held high, and a look of impending doom in his eerily blue eyes. His heavy cloak, a gift from the princess they now waited to meet, caught the updraft generated by his anxious heat. The dark fabric flaring around him and making the already small man look even smaller.

"She has a guard with her right? What are we going to do about the guard?" V asks, turning on his heel and walking back the way he had come.

"Ratna's coming alone, V," Connor didn't look up from the small whittling project he'd brought to keep himself entertained with while they waited.

"She's alone- But what if someone - What if she gets lost- We should go find her," V frets, as he tends to do.

"She's fine. Ratna picked the location, she's almost as dangerous as you are these days, and she's a damn princess. No one is going to mess with her."

"But-"

"V. She's fine. I wouldn't let my friend get hurt, right? So if I'm trusting her to hold her own she must be perfectly capable of it, right?"

"But if she does. It's my fault. She's coming here to meet Me because I'm the one not allowed in the city. I- This isn't how the prophecy would be fulfilled, is it?"

"Are you the king of monsters yet?"

"What- no?"

"Is her dad dead yet?"

"No."

"Do you despise me yet?"

"No, of course not."

"Then is there any chance that the "and the queen will be stolen by the hateful monster king" will be fulfilled today?"

"Prophecies can be strange! How many doe goats were slaughtered the year I was born only for me to be born to a human?"

"You know what? You're right V. The legendary prophecy about our decent into mortal combat after you steal my wife, who I am not married to yet, will be fulfilled by her tripping and twisting her ankle in a swamp and getting eaten by deer or something. That is absolutely what is going to happen today," he sets his knife on the log he had been sat on, before picking up a stick and standing, "En guarde, foul beast, I must avenge my not wife who is definitely dead because she just ate shit on a pleasant walk."

V looked at the stick being trusted at him in a mockery of an attack with utter disdain. "You're not taking the seriously, Connor."

"You're the one ignoring the great hero's weapon being thrusted upon your frail body," he thwacks V's arm with the branch, jumping back in faux shock when it burns up on contact. "My blade has been destroyed!"

"No no no no-" V's annoyance turned to fear as he saw what was coming, recoiling from his friend while bracing for impact.

"So I simply must triumph with only my hands!" Connor lunged for him. V's attempt to dodge being thwarted by the flair of his cloak still falling within reach of the fated warrior. Connor dragged him back by it and wrapped his arms around V's waist to heft him up off the ground with a cackle.

"Do you relent your tyranny yet!? Or will I have to ruin you further?"

V couldn't stop the squawking laugh that tore out of him as he squirmed in Connor's hold. "Unhand me you brute!"

"Am I interrupting something?" Ratna asked from the edge of the clearing. She didn't attempt to hide her amusement at her comrades antics, striding into the fray of their faux battle with as much familiarity with them as she would have had she known them her whole life.

"Princess! You're back from the dead!" Connor bowed deeply tightening his grip on V the entire way to make the man wheeze through his protests.

"Let me go-" V finally managed to squirm free of the hold, stumbling into an equally deep but much more sincere bow, "My apologies, Princess Ratna, Connor does not handle serious conversations well and was attempting to distract from one. I apologize that That was your first impression of me."

"At rest, V. I'm glad that my first impression of you could be of your smile and the love our friend has for you," she was soft voiced, reserved and confident as she held a hand out to him. "With everything I've been told about you by home and well... everyone else, it's nice to know you're just a man under those horns of yours."

V straightened up, stepping back from the outstretched hand. "Thank you for your graciousness, Princess."

"It is no burden," she stepped forward in beat with him, not letting him retreat from her offer of equal footing.

"Still," another step back, V curled on himself as his courtly manners came in conflict with the simple fact that he would burn her to the bone if she made the mistake of touching him. "I appreciate it."

"Shake my hand, V," she wouldn't let him avoid it.

"That's not a good idea, Princess-" pain shoots through V's right side as Connor grabs his forearm and wrenches it up and out into position, his strength absolute as V goes silent in terror. his words coiling around a knot of betrayal. Connor was going to make him hurt her. He didn't want to hurt her-

Ratna's hand was soft, her grip on his much more polite than the one Connor had on his arm.

V could feel the elaborate scars on her palm.

She didn't recoil in pain. There was no smell of burning flesh, no chill as blood evaporated against his skin.

V couldn't look away from her hand, safe and whole in his.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, V," she says it gently while reaching to pull up her sleeve to reveal the elaborate sigil work painted in ink onto her rich brown skin. The sight made V think of all the masterworks of pottery emblazoned with retelling after retelling of his and hers and Connor's future. This was her rendition of their story. "And I'm glad to know you're fires are not without recourse."

(part 1)

[lgcminseo]

✿ CHARACTER UPDATE

NAME: SEO MINSEO BIRTHDAY: JULY 09, 2003 BIRTHPLACE: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA BLOOD TYPE: AB ZODIAC SIGN: CANCER CHINESE ZODIAC: GOAT FAVORITE MOTTO: I exist. I am no one else, but myself.

RANDOM FACTS

Part of the debate team and excelled at it. Ask her about her opinion of space, dead fabrics, the lack of originality in the film industry, or her favorite type of ice.

Spent a good chunk of her life as an equestrian! She hides her awards and ribbons in her walk-in closet.

Originally, she wanted to become an actress, but fell in love with singing. How lucky to find different types of loves in one lifetime.

Is known for never being quiet whether she's singing or making weird sounds, her presence is always known. She even created her own unique language with her older brother and ends up using it randomly when she's stressed, but it honestly sounds like gibberish.

Notoriously forgetful whether it's her belongings, or her schedule. Air tags are a lifesaver. She is often seen holding the hand of her manager, Geum Shinhye. ( Give her a raise! )

YEAR END GOALS

feature in a song of an artist she admires ( or an OST )

start studying during her downtime to take the CSAT

host an episode for a music show during comeback season

PREVIOUS APPEARANCES/PROJECTS

TRAINEE INTRODUCTION VIDEO

FUTURE DREAMS S6 — Contestant

노래Battle — Guest

LGC FAMCON 2K23

HOLLY'S COFFE — Model

LEVI'S — Model

LGC GIRLS FN — Member, Filmography, & Discography

...Click HERE for NOVA's Filmography & Discography

MOST MEMORABLE OR FAVORITE EVENT

A cruel question... It has to be a tie between debuting as a member of NOVA and being a part of the special project, LGC GIRLS FN. She still remembers how shocked she was when it was revealed to the members that Nova would be able to collaborate with her favorite girl group. In her opinion, they created magic and she hopes that there can be a repeat of it in the future! Also, she got to fangirl over Eunhye and now has a signed photocard in her possession. ( If everyone has a laminator machine, let her borrow it... ♡ )

[sergeantrosabellaswan]

War Orphan, PROLOGUE, KING STEVE & DEAF THEIF LITTLE SISTER OFC

SUMMARY: King Steven of Brooklyn discovers a secret that his gruff father kept from the world. Now with the older king long dead, Steve wants to introduce Johanna Swan to the royal court. What happens when spies, poison and secrets meets them at every turn?

CHAPTER WARNING: mention of death (nothing graphic) mentions of infidelity (nothing graphic) mentions of a child born out of wedlock

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS:

Hey there everyone! This is yet another little writing project that I had abandoned in the past. It is heavily inspired by Pseudo Princess, a MCU royalty AU as brilliantly imagined and written by @shreddedparchment. So please do give them some love!

CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 1082

LINE BREAKS BY @firefly-graphics

Steven Grant Rogers, the newly minted king of Brooklyn, only felt rage- pure, unbridled, raw rage as he stared down at the small chest that he had found while in his late father’s study. It had been hidden underneath a floorboard, and the curious young man could not help himself and opened it, revealing letters, a rendering of a young girl, withered flowers and a feather from some unknown bird.

The dread and anger only grew more pronounced as he read though each letter- professing a certain never ending love to the stoic ruler, talking about secret meetings, thanks for gifts in the form of a small house, goats and books…

And the king’s illegitimate daughter, a fiery tempered girl with her father’s brilliant red curls and freckles and her mother’s petite build and sense of wild adventure.

Johanna.

She is so beautiful, read one such letter to the king. She thanks you for the new set of quills, ink pot and bottle of ink that you sent her for her birthday last month. I swear, her fingers are now permanently stained with ink, and she is set on writing a book and publishing it when she is of an older age.

Steve gritted his teeth, anger painfully clenching at his heart.

“How could you do this to mom?” he muttered angrily. “I thought you loved her- why would you do this to her?”

He collapsed into the grand throne like chair that stood neck to his father’s desk, overwhelmed at the other side to the king that he had grown up calling father. He rifled through the letters, unsure of what he was looking for. He plucked a random envelope and opened it to find shaky penmanship.

Johanna has been asking questions about you- about her father… what should I tell her? That her father is of noble blood, a member of the royal family, the ruler of this kingdom… read one of the letters that had been addressed to the late king.

And just like that, the letters ended.

The letters ended three years ago, right around the time of the Great Grass Sickness, and Steve knew without a doubt that his father’s springtime fling had died during the plague.

“Johanna…” murmured Steve, closing his eyes and taking a deep shuddering breath of air, trying to calm his temper as he did the math in his head a few times, realizing that Johanna would be around eighteen years of age now, not even ten years younger than he was.

A slip of parchment, folded into quarters, fell out of the bundle, Steve managing to intercept it before it could land. He opened it and smiled at the sketching of a child- Johanna, as he took the main focus of the rendering to be.

He squinted, bringing the sketching up closer so that he could peer at the careful charcoal markings. She looked to be around ten or eleven years old, with long curls that caped out behind her as she stood in a field of flowers with a brisk wind whistling through her loose curls and making her kirtle flutter around her ankles. She wore a straw hat to protect her face and the back of her neck from the cheerful sun, and was holding onto her headwear with a single hand while laugher danced across her face. Her other hand clutched at a gathering of bright blooms and her feet were bare of shoes or stockings. The careful charcoal markings showcased perfectly deep dimples imprinted in her chubby cheeks. But what really caught his attention, was a purple and red stain that covered the left side of her face. He recognized it almost immediately- it was a birthmark that popped up every few generations in the royal lineage. Steve had the same marking, only it spanned the entirety of his left shoulder.

Something was stirring inside of Steve’s chest- an unfamiliar feeling that he couldn’t quite put a name to.

I have a little sister, he realized, a small smile growing on his face. I have a little sister.

A little sister.

“Steve?”    

He looked up from the letters to see his wife, Duchess Margaret Carter, with one hand cupping her swollen stomach. She smiled softly at him as she waddled her way across to him. He reached out blindly, clasping one of her hands in his as she ran her fingers through his blond locks.

“What is troubling you?” she murmured softly, coming to stand in between his legs, one hand on his shoulder for balance.

“Dad had an affair,” he blurted out. “And I have a sister- well, a half-sister.”

“Oh, Stevie,” she sighed, hugging his head close to her chest.

“I don’t wanna be like him,��� he mumbled from in between her bosom, pulp with motherly milk. “I’m not gonna raise taxes, or imprison innocent civilians. None of that. He was my father, but he wasn’t the father I strive to be one day. And in order to achieve that, some things need to change- starting with Johanna.”

TAGLISTS ARE OPEN/ ASK BOX IS OPEN/ REQUESTS ARE OPEN/ PLOT BUNNIES ARE WELCOMED

If you liked this, then please consider buying me a coffee HERE it only costs $3!!!

TAGLIST

@captain-ariel-barnes

@ofstarsandvibranium

@invisibleanonymousmonsters

@itsanerdlife

@crushedbyhyperbole

@brooklyn-boy

@yours-bucky

@anythingstarlight

@shenanigans-and-imagines

@tilltheendwilliwrite

@after-avenging-hours

@kaunis-sielu

@the-life-of-bucky-barnes

@bolontiku

@lazydoodlesandfanfic

@anika-ann

@buckybarnesstar​

@coffee-with-bucky​

@buckysknifecollection​

@cxptains-imagines

@sweater-daddiesdumbdork

[helpmeimblorboing]

Shameless self-promotion tiiime

(Extract from Chapter 15 of Silvertongue by IrisPines618 on AO3)

I collapse onto a nearby chair. For a few minutes, there is nothing but an endless nothing. My eyes are open, staring at the blackness, but before my eyes flashes the blood-red of Iphigenia’s blood against her white dress, the silver gleam of Agamemnon’s knife as he drew it across her throat

I draw in a shuddering breath, and it sounds metallic too, the slide of a knife against the flesh of a throat. There are footsteps outside, their fall sounding like goat hooves. I hear the guards move to stop whoever it is. I hear the tent flap be sharply pulled up as someone enters

“Hello, Patroclus”, I greet, slouched over in my chair, not bothering to turn around to look him in the face

“You let them murder her”, he spits out, his voice tight with rage

“I did”, I admit, “More, I helped orchestrate it. Your point ?”

“You would have stopped them, had it been one of your family”

“I would have”

“Then why didn’t you stop them now ?”

“Because…”, I trail off, the words fading into silence. There were a thousand reasons, but none Patroclus could understand. He was too empathetic for them. I complete my words, “…because she was not. My family, that is”

I hear Patroclus draw in a sharp, enraged breath, before speaking again, “Her death is on your head”

“So it is”, I say, “so ?”

“So ?”, he scoffs, sounding like he couldn’t believe I had just asked that, “Have you no guilt ?”

“No”, I reply coldly, though the creeping ache in my heart, my skin, my spine, proved otherwise, “Guilt won’t help us get to Troy. Guilt won’t help us win  this war”

“You defiled him”

I uncoil my body. There it was. The root cause of Patroclus’ rage. Not that the girl was dead, well perhaps a little, but mainly that Achilles had been forced to witness it. That his precious Achilles had been dishonored by my deceit.

It sounded selfish, even as I thought it, but I suppose, were I in his place, and Diomedes or Penelope in Achilles’, I would have reacted the same way

I am silent, my eyes fixed on the earthen floor. An insect wriggles it’s way out of it, small and beautiful, gleaming brown in the dim moonlight. It enters my shadow, and it is gone, melded with the blackness of my soul’s projection. I snort internally. Wasn’t nature poetic ?

“Answer me !”, Patroclus demands, “You murdered an innocent !! You killed a child !!”

“I did what had to be done”, I refute, my words hard as steel, a tinge of desperation to them, almost as if I am trying to convince myself of that

“‘What had to be done’ ?”, he says, and his voice is an incensed whisper, “In what kind of sick universe is the murder of a child necessary ?”

“In this one”, I say and my words echo off the thick fabric of the tent. Patroclus is silent. I continue, “You are here because your lover grieves for the death of the girl”

He does not answer. I take it as a reply, and keep going, “Should I advise you on something, my friend ? Nothing good will come of coddling Achilles. He is a weapon, to be wielded, not polished and kept in a glass case”, I say, though my soul screams out against my words

“He is a man”, Patroclus bites out, “A man”

“An inhuman”, I refute, though my heart of hearts knows that Patroclus is right, “A god-son. It is apparent in everything he does. His inhuman beauty. His speed, his strength… everything. And he is marching to war.”

Patroclus is silent behind me

“He won’t be rescuing people there, will he ? No, he’ll be killing… and looting… and ransacking. Burn out his soft heart, my friend. Replace it with one of stone, because he will need it”, I reply, and my words are sharp in the stillness of the tent, like arrows, “His fame is hard-bought. Ask yourself this – what do you want him to be known for ? The coward who refused to kill in the Trojan War, even as Greeks died by the hundreds around him ? Or the legendary warrior, slayer of a-“

Patroclus holds up one hand to stop my flow of words. I taper off, as he speaks, his voice shaky with anger, “What right have you to speak of him like you know him ? What do you know of him ? Nothing. That’s all. Do you know how he smiles when he is truly happy ? Do you know what his laugh sounds like ? Do you know what his favorite food is ? Do you know the taste of his lips, of his skin ? Do you know how warm his body feels pressed up against mine on a cold winter’s morn ? Do you know his scent ?”

I am silent

“If you do not, then you do not know Achilles”, Patroclus declares, turning to leave the tent, “You only know your precious Aristos Achaion”

For a second, there is nothing but a silence that stretches to fill the space between us, tenuous and fragile. My lips part. Nothing emerges. I hear the tent-flap rise again, before it flaps down, casting the tent in darkness

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For more of this, check out Silvertongue at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51546121?view_full_work=true