#desert god

[nogetron]

Set, the Egyptian god of the desert, storms, chaos, and foreigners. Set was born from the gods Nut and Geb, and fathered the god of death: Anubis. Once a great warrior god, Set killed his brother Osiris for the throne of the king of the gods. Set desecrated Osiris’ body, scattering the pieces of his brother’s corpse across the earth. Greatly angered by Set’s monstrous act, Horus, Osiris' son, declared war upon Set. They had many competitions and fights, but in the end Horus succeeded in their battle. The ultimate fate of set differs on time period and location. In some myths Horus kills him, in others he’s driven out.

Set was an incredibly important God among the ancient Egyptians. Originally Set was one of the main points of worship within the Egyptian pantheon, especially in upper Egypt. Seen as a great warrior, Set defended Ra’s bark as it traveled through the night, fighting off the great Apophis who desired to consume Ra. As the god of foreigners, Set became intrinsically tied to the gods of other peoples, none more prevalent than the Canaanite Baal. Baal’s influence on Set was so important that many of Baal’s myths were transferred over to Set along with his wives Astarte and Anat, boosting Set’s popularity and synchronizing him with Baal. However after the ancient Egyptian civil war, Set became associated with rebellion. Set’s popularity reached a point of no return as Egypt was continually invaded by rival nations, spurring a new sense of xenophobia, and with Set being a god of foreigners this greatly affected his image. He was no longer seen as the righteous Set he once was, he was now an evil god of chaos whose jealousy built into murderous intent, fully demonizing him.

[neon-lights-stardust-nights]

two f/os in one...

[cishetdesertduo]

is anyone else still stuck in that goddamn desert or is it just me and goodtimeswithscar over there

[sherlockggrian]

this is canon in my celebrity au

[thatstoomanysausages]

“That’s how it feels being stabbed in the back, Scar”

…guh…. yeah you’d know how that’d feel, just like 3rd Life…. please,,, I’m on the floor here. Being stabbed in the back, just like Scar did to you in 3rd life, just like you did to him in Limited Life???? …help me oh my god…

“ That’s how little that reputation board meant; I was in good favour Scar.”

“No you weren’t! You were on 0 with sad face!”

Ooh, remembering things a little weirdly, huh Grian???? You remember a time where you were highly favoured by Scar, huh????? Where you actually meant something to him???? Where you were more than a name on a board???? Where he was someone you could trust when standing on the edge of a high platform????

I’m not doing okay.

[lifegrowsfromashes]

scar headcanon i can't put into a fic but is still Important To Me:

After getting taken out of secret life by Grian/ after Grian practically tells him the wildcard for the random spawning session, Scar knows that Grian's a watcher.

Scar returns to the sunflower field because it's safe, and it's home. Grian made the sunflower field for him so that he couldn't Stop Existing- he's still bound to protect him, and has been ever since 3rd life.

Which means that Scar doesn't feel afraid, or alone, stuck in secret life. Because he knows Grian's Watching him. And he makes little offerings to Grian and grows sunflowers for him and tells him how his day's been. And Grian can't really respond, per se, but the sun shines brighter some days and the wind whistles through the trees in a way that almost sounds like words...

[aleksandracoffan]

I'M DONE! I am insanely happy with how beautiful the work turned out to be!

[favoure]

"do the opposite of what people tell you to do"

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: ‘Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix’

Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao My rating: 3 of 5 stars From monastery to palace. From forest to desert to mountain. The path taken in this fantastical rendering of the hero's journey pulls readers into and through all sorts of places and lands and realms whose beauty and danger intersect and overlap. KINGDOM OF THE BLAZING PHOENIX is a fun and engaging sequel, but the novel's scope treads a wholly different narrative curiosity than its forebear. Princess Jade, raised as a monk, is summoned to the palace by the widely revered (and widely feared) Empress Xifeng, sly sovereign and dark sorceress of Feng Lu. Jade is in her middle teens, enjoys peaceful folktales, and delights in life's simplicities. She is not made for palace intrigue. She is not made for rancorous statecraft. She is not made for puzzles wrought by restless guardians of sacred relics. Or is she? Xifeng is a poison, slowly killing Feng Lu and its people. If anyone has a claim to the throne, to stop her, it's the pious young princess who closely resembles the woman Xifeng replaced to assume her power. But if Jade is to challenge Xifeng for the throne, if she is to save her people, she's going to need some help. A lot of help. KINGDOM OF THE BLAZING PHOENIX is a heavily layered and deeply threaded hero's journey: Jade rises from an unlikely station, discovers her call to action, yields to myriad setbacks, and finds her courage in successive moments of danger and difficulty. For readers who desire a tome of Asian fantasy within this rubric, this novel is downright absorbing, but the novel may also feel all too conventional, for readers seeking something more. This book's predecessor (Forest of a Thousand Lanterns) deliberately inverted this custom by sympathizing with the villain and provoking good characters into making bad decisions (and encouraging them live with the consequences). The current novel seemed content to balance the scales. And to that end, it's a good book. Jade is a strong girl; she's not always strong and she's not always brave, but she learns to be strong and learns to be brave according to the demands of her journey and the needs of her friends. Highlights of the novel are explicitly twofold: the author's compressed but effective worldbuilding, and the supporting cast. Of the first, the author composes a handful of highly immersive if briefly visited landscapes. Mountains inhabited by rumored bands of assassins; bramble death-mazes in the middle of nowhere; underground caverns haunted by a cast-out desert god; solemn temples made echoic by the humble chanting of bald monks. The novel jaunts through these places in accordance with Jade's quest to acquire or retrieve certain relics, but however short the visit, the experience is worthwhile. Of the second, the author resoundingly fulfills a familiar decree of the genre's expectations. Strong secondary characters are essential to the hero's journey, and in KINGDOM OF THE BLAZING PHOENIX, Jade makes specific mention of this essentialness. Wren, a scullion who dreams of adventure, is the muscle. She's also the granddaughter of Jade's nursemaid and also holds some jealousy toward the princess. Wren is not classy, but she is always honest ("We may be servants, but we still deserve dignity," page 65). Other meaningful supporting characters include Amah, said nursemaid, as well as a handful of ghosts and ambassadors. Magic and sorcery duel for attention in this story, but contrary to the previous novel, good magic abounds. The image of Empress Lihua bestows grace and wisdom: ("Those hungry for power are as flawed as they like to appear strong," page 277), whereas the apparition of Fu, a man killed under speculative circumstances, yields caution ("Emperors play fast and loose with all of their children. Son or daughter, prince or princess. We are pawns in their game. That is the way of a ruler," page 284). KINGDOM OF THE BLAZING PHOENIX occasionally risks stewarding readers with too much convenience, as the tangle of opportunity driving Jade's story rolls from adventure to adventure. For example, after fleeing the Serpent God, a dark river just so happens to speed her westward, toward the Kingdom of Dagovad, her next destination. Quite convenient. But such is the nature of this type of novel. The book successfully invests in a protagonist who learns from her mistakes and likewise knows when to set aside humility and step into a challenge. Jade's experience in fantastical heroics is more than an effort to save her struggling kingdom, it's an education in the diversity of resourcefulness and integrity required to be a good person.

Book Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

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[isjasz]

🌕Total Eclipse🌑

Writer: @zipzapzooooooom Editor: @onawhimsicot

Assistance: @gingermaple @kunehokki @corvidaearts @/mybrotherjoso7

and THE AMAZING COVER by googly88fancy!!

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NO WAY HERE IT IS part 1 of MY TEAM'S COMIC!! FOR @hotguycomiczine !!!!! :D

I pour my blood sweat and tears into this one fr. HGCZ is the most insane project i've been in and I am so so proud of it <3 Big giant shoutout to everyone that ended up in my team, without any of you I couldn't have done it and ty for putting up with my shit HASHDSAEHEGLP. <333

If you haven't yet checked out the entire monster of this amazing zine, def do so here! 🏹

Part 2 will be posted tmr but if u dont want to left on a cliffhanger. pspsppspssps🪤

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[ START | PREVIOUS | NEXT ]

[ MERCH ] [ MISC ]

[mochiwrites]

Grian is a hypocrite. He knows. God, does he know it. He’d never acknowledge that fact, however, would never admit to it. He isn’t exactly the type that goes around readily confessing his flaws, after all.

He had told Jimmy he wouldn’t restart the session if he died, right after he’d been knocked down a few lives. Grian said it without hesitation, as amusement spilled from his voice like it had been paint in a can that tipped over. It wouldn’t be fair, nor right, to restart the session. And if he restarted it for Jimmy, what kind of message would that send the others? It might become expectation if someone permanently died so early on.

He needed to be firm about it—even if Jimmy’s misfortune came from bad luck, things out of his control.

Grian can’t go giving out special favors. He can’t be biased.

He’s a hypocrite for it.

It happens on the mountain, right by the long staircase made of soft pink cherry wood. He doesn’t even notice at first, attempting to avoid his personal harbinger, a snail. Honestly, Grian didn’t mean for things to go this badly. As with most things with him, Grian thought it to be a silly joke. A hat tip toward a well known hypothetical query.

But in typical fashion, Grian overestimated his friends’ survival capabilities. With their own personal snails tailing them constantly, he watched as death after death rolled in, giggling over each one (unless it was Mumbo or Skizz).

Maybe by now he should know better.

“Who would make my snail invisible?! Who would boobytrap my snail like that?!”

Grian looks over at Lizzie, both flabbergasted and impressed, “That’s—that’s devious.”

The second he turns, it happens.

(Sandy domes under their feet, a ravine cutting right through their path. Mischievous giggles shared between them before they’re torn apart, the sound coming to an abrupt end.

With a shout he pushes his hand out, but to no avail. Yellow turns to red and all that’s left are their foot prints in sand, a pile of items below.

He’s left at the top, lips curling around the syllables of a name as hysteric laughter follows it, distress wrapping around it like a ring.

He never did manage to catch him.)

Grian is a hypocrite, because the moment Scar dies right in front of him, he panics. That invisible snail wasn’t Lizzie’s. It was Scar’s. He stops, breath cutting itself short on its own blade, body freezing itself in ice. He gets a second of eye contact with the man, seeing the shock and fear lacing his expression before he’s gone.

“Oh, Scar!” The outcry is loud as it crackles with distress.

This is it, he’s on his final life now. If he dies it’s permanent. No do overs. No restarts. No special favors. Scar will die. Grian can’t stomach the thought, can’t let it happen. He’s failed every other time and this world has only just begun. It’s too early. It’s… it’s not fair.

END THE SESSION. END THE SESSION! END IT. SAVE HIM. END END END END END END END!

Grian is a hypocrite.

Whether it be out of some sort of twisted and tangled guilt, or the lingering feeling of a debt to Death that never truly went fully repaid, he isn’t sure. There is no hesitation, just a natural instinct, an ingrained habit. If it were anyone else he’d let it happen, let the game run its course.

But his choice is obvious when it comes to Scar, even when he doesn’t want it to be. He’s always going to be drawn to him, always going to feel this pull. He’ll sacrifice it all, twist himself up in however many different contradictions he needs.

For Scar.

“The session is over!” he shouts, rapidly typing in the world chat for the others. He spams the message a few times in his hurry before switching to turn the wild card off. And he does it just in time, with Scar’s snail just a few inches away from the man. It disappears, along with the others, and a collective sigh of relief is released from those among them.

He feels Them watching, unhappy with their meal being cut short. But Grian doesn’t care. He never has.

“Man, that was a close one! I thought I was a goner,” Scar laughs over to his side, drawing Grian’s attention. “Thanks for the quick save there, G-man.”

Grian smiles at him, some small thing. “Don’t get used to it,” he returns.

There’s a knowing look in Scar’s now ruby eyes, and the sun on Grian’s hair feels warmer; heated, nostalgic. “Of course.”

He’s not supposed to play favorites, not meant to be biased. He’s not supposed to interfere to keep a player alive (something he made very clear to Mumbo and Skizz prior). But existing in a world like this without Scar feels wrong and near painful so early on. He couldn’t stand around and do nothing. He couldn’t just watch.

Not when it’s Scar.

Grian pretends not to notice the glance Jimmy throws at them, a brow raised. He’s been seen right through.

[str1wberry7thyme]

No way Grian just called Scar a passenger princess, I know EXACTLY what he is

[notsogoodangel]

Purple and Red.

The gods and their loved ones.

[rose-tries-to-write]

Thinking about how, when Scar turns red in Third Life, his first actions are collecting flowers to beg to stay with Grian.

That, when faced with being a red life—the first and only red life—his first actions aren’t bloodthirst and anger but desperation to keep the relationship he’s made.

That, in a game where alliances are kept through deeds, debts, and doubt—he offered flowers. He didn’t sell the idea of staying teammates, he didn’t even try. He offered the flowers and begged to stay by Grians side, but was fully prepared to walk away without another word. Was prepared to forget his scamming nature, to lay down flowers and nothing more.

Also, in the image of the flowers being a bouquet, imagine him being gone for hours after his death.

Grian is waiting and Scar is holed up in the forest somewhere meticulously crafting this arrangement despite having no idea what he’s doing. He could only find two flowers, and the mess he puts together isn’t anything anyone would ever sell, but he made it from scratch. He put in the effort, spent hours on it until he deemed it perfect and only then did he bring it to Grian.

It’s ugly, and there is no twine holding it together nor a sheet, but the flowers aren’t wilted. All of them are the most vibrant, healthy flowers he could find and not one is missing a petal due to his hands.

His hands—used to scam, maim, and betray—made gentle for the effort of making something worthy of someone like Grian.

[sherlockggrian]

I need to talk about the parallels between Grian+Scar and Gem+Pearl for a sec. Grian and Gem are both the sun, they’re both unpredictable and chaotic and defiant and furious and Scar and Pearl are both the moon, they’re darker and reserved and at the same time equally as dangerous.

But Grian has been the Pearl and Scar has been the Gem, and vice versa. They’ve all been the killer at some point in time. Scar and Pearl’s parallel in Double Life and Secret Life of being alone, and their deaths mirror each other’s previous ones. Grian would kill for Scar, Scar would die for him. Gem would kill for Pearl, Pearl would die for her. Their relationships are complicated and messy and invariably linked to each other. Grian and Pearl are watchers, Scar and Gem are the favourites of the watchers. They find each other in every world. They’re parallels in all four ways and it makes me sick ugh the storytelling is so good

[causticflower]

“—and the love you are made of.” (and I love you because you are love)

@lovesick-x-prince what if i cried. HUH.

[the thing causing big emotion]