#dice identification

[matthewmoorwood]

Shoutout to everyone with a fuck ton of hobbies trying to pack for a plane.

Sitting here feeling sad because I can't take all of my hobbies as well as clothes/toiletries.

WHAT DO U MEAN MY LIFE HAS TO FIT INTO A CARRY ON???

[olsenmyolsen]

You Got A Star!

master list

dark master list

No Powers AU (Female Reader X Yelena Belova)

Summary: You and your roommate, Yelena Belova, invite some friends over for Mario Party; however, Yelena has no idea about your feelings for her.

Word Count: 4K

Content: Feelings, Crushes, Mario Party, Friendship, Comfort/Hurt

Your roommate, Yelena Belova, was one of a kind.

Truly, you had never meant anyone like her. From the way she talked to how she made babies cry with one look. Or how the one thing she knew how to cook was Mac and Cheese.

You knew there would never be anyone else like her.

Which is maybe why you started to feel different around here... what began as two strangers needing a place to live slowly morphed into something else.

At least for you.

Yelena's asexual identification didn't make it impossible for her to find someone she could share a life with. It was just that you had never seen her with anyone since knowing her. So, IF Yelena were attracted to you, you would have no idea.

Regardless, your tiny crush was making itself known tonight as you waited for a few friends to come over. It was Saturday night, and after a shit week at work, you, Yelena, and your friends decided to have an impromptu game night.

"So what is it?" Yelena asked you again as you set an assortment of snacks on the hardwood coffee table. "It's called Mario Party. Each person chooses a character, and then you hit dice, play minigames, get coins, and you have to purchase stars." You looked up from the candies and savory snacks to a confused-looking blonde. "Whoever has the most wins." You said.

"Is it easy?" She asked after staring at you. You shrugged. "It can be a little challenging sometimes." Yelena hummed. "So it's not like that animal island game?" She asked with her eyes precious and wide.

A fluttering was happening in your stomach.

You cleared your throat with a smile. "No, Lena, it's not like Animal Crossing." Yelena pouted. She loved Animal Crossing no matter how much she hated Tom Crook, as she called him. Yelena opened her mouth to ask if the two of you could practice a round of this Mario Party, but a knock on the apartment door followed by its slowly opening stopped her.

"I got pizza!" Kate Bishop yelled as she entered through the small hallway. You walked past Yelena after your eyes fell to her lips without noticing. She was too busy looking at the game icon on the switch home screen. "You didn't bring Lucky?" You asked as you took the pizza boxes from your childhood friend.

Kate shook her head. "Figured it might get hectic." You nodded to her reasoning. Kate had followed you into the kitchen as you set the pizzas down. Pulling out some plates and dipping sauces.

Ranch and hot sauce for you and Yelena.

You turned around to find your friend eyeing Yelena. You looked between the two and raised an eyebrow to yourself.

"So..." You started pulling Kate's attention to you. You could see Yelena grab her special Joy-Con from the corner of your eye.

It was just the plain blue one, but she loved it.

Yelena clicked on the game as she pulled up a Let's Play on her phone of the game. You hide a laugh.

"How's your mom and her new man." Kate rolled her eyes. "He's so annoying, and he's doing things where he wants us to be like a family. It's just weird..." She shook her body as if she had a cold chill. "Plus, he has one of those old man smiles that could be threatening when all he's doing is asking for ice cream." Her voice was unhappy. She did not like this Jack guy at all.

"Y/n!" Yelena called out from the couch, making you and Kate leave the kitchen. "Yes?" You smiled and kept your voice level as you approached Yelena's side. Standing as she sat.

Yelena lifted her eyes to you before doing a double take at Kate. "Kate Bishop!? When did you get here?" Kate smiled awkwardly before licking her lips and speaking. "About five minutes ago." Yelena tilted her head. "Hmm. I did not know. You're sometimes too quiet." Kate did what she did best and chuckled lightly with a nervous laugh. "Yeah, like a mouse."

Yelena nodded before looking back at you and her phone. "Who is this?" She pointed to a Mario Party character on her tiny screen. "Oh, that's Wario." You replied. Yelena looked at you with all the seriousness in her voice. "Can I play as them?"

You nodded. "If you want."

"I want to." With one look into her eyes, you would go through hell to make sure she played as that little idiot.

"Okay, then you will." You smiled, and her face morphed into pure happiness. Like a puppy in the sun. "He reminds me of that fat short guy from that one show with the horrible people." She said as her attention moved back to the phone. You thought for a few seconds. "Are you talking about Danny Devito?!" Yelena smiled wide and bright. "Yeah, from the Sunny show!"

You couldn't help but laugh.

"That's a great character, Yelena!" Kate spoke up from behind you before not so subtly moving past you to sit next to Yelena on the couch. Her gaze was on Yelena's phone as well.

Were her cheeks pink?

"That character is like best friends with my character," Kate said, raising Yelena's eyebrows. "Really?!" You couldn't recall a time when Kate played as Walugi, but her favorite color was purple, so it probably happened at some point, and you just didn't remember.

Seconds later, a knock came to the door before YOU could explain how different Wario's dice block was from the other characters.

"Wanda! Pietro! Nice of you to join!" The twins were too busy bickering with one another to return your niceties. But Wanda did make sure to place the wine bottle in your arms.

"Y/n, did we have to knock, or could we have just let ourselves in?!" Pietro turned and looked at you with intensity. Wanda was doing the same. "Uhhh..." You looked between the siblings. "You could have just come in." You said with caution. "See!" Pietro threw his arms up while Wanda rolled her eyes. "But that's not how Mama raised us!" Wanda yelled as the two of them stormed into the kitchen.

Pietro had his nose leading him to the pizza. Wanda followed to grab glasses for the wine.

"But it's like the sitcoms you love so much. We're the friends that can come right into the apartment and join the shenanigans!"

Wanda groaned because her brother was right, and she hated it.

"Shut up!" Wanda replied before joining you in the living room, taking the wine from your hand. "Sorry. I need this NOW."

Wanda would be two and a half glasses in by the end of the night. All because of her lovely, annoying brother.

"Hey, Wanda! Hi Pietro!" Kate waved to the twins, who sent smiles and waves back. Yelena looked up and to them and gave them a nod. "Okay, so now if you land on a red monster face, you get in trouble?" Yelena asked Kate. Kate nodded and briefly explained who Boswer was.

Your eyes caught Yelena's briefly when she glanced your way. You could've sworn you saw her lip twitch upwards before she looked back to Kate.

"Here, Kate, it'll be easier to explain some of the mini-games once we're actually in the game." Kate looked up to you and your regent words sheepishly. She nodded after fumbling with her words. "Okay."

A moment later, when Kate left to grab the three of you slices of pizza, you took her spot next to Yelena. "I'll help you out if you need it." You said, which Yelena appreciated greatly but shook her head. "I shall win this game on my own!"

Your lips curled upwards with a laugh. "Oh, is that right, Lena!?" Yelena smirked and took a big sip of the wine Wanda dropped off. "Prepare to lose Y/n Y/l/n."

You took a sip of your wine as well. "We'll see Lena. We'll see."

About fifteen minutes later, You, Yelena, Kate, and Wanda were ready to start the night's first game. The disappointed look of Kate having to sit in her own chair was missed by you.

"How come there's five of us for a four-person game!" Pietro whined as you let Wanda select the level. "I asked Sam to come by, but he's busy with his test and all that." You said while waving your hand. Your friend Sam Wilson was training to become a pilot. Pietro huffed. "Fine."

"Also you fairly lost at rock papart scissors so sorry dude." You added on like rubbing salt in the wound. Wanda turned around and stuck her tongue out to her brother. Pietro angrily bit into his third slice of pizza and flipped her off.

The game was underway, and the order was set. Kate went first, followed by you and then Wanda. Yelena rolled a 3 and had to go last.

"Hey, that might be good; you can make your moves based on where other people are. Not where they might be." You said, cheering Yelena up slightly.

Kate and Wanda dominated the first few turns and minigames as you and Yelena struggled to move more than 4 per turn. You knew it was bad luck, but Yelena was about one more 1 v 3 mini-game from switching her joy-con until Kate got the first star.

"Who is that again?" Yelena asked as Toad started moving to a new spot on the map. "Toad. He's like a mushroom guy." Kate answered before you could. "Fuck! It's farther from me!" Wanda exclaimed as you turned towards the TV. Your eyes moving away from Yelena's side profile.

Toad landed seven spots in front of Yelena.

She could make it to him but she didn't have enough coins.

Luckily, when it was Yelena's turn, she rolled a five and landed on a blue space. Yet she was still short in terms of payment.

"Oh great, it's this one!" Wanda groaned. "Y/n's the be-" "Who wants to practice!?" You cut Wanda off and gave her a quiet glare; the other two people playing didn't seem to notice.

When everyone loaded into the practice mode, Wanda just gave you a confused look before forgetting about it.

Surprisingly, Yelena was just as good as you at rapidly clicking the button to send the little shy guy flying. But still, you won the practice mode. "Oh, come on, Y/n!" Yelena whined. "How did you do that?"

"What happened to winning the game on your own?" You said with your teasing voice dripping. Yelena loved that attitude and smirked. "Okay, Y/l/n, watch this." You turned towards the TV just before the mini-game started properly.

But not before you saw Kate's eyes on your blonde roommate.

"Come on!" Wanda yelled as her fingers smashed the button repeatedly. Kate groaned and held her breath as she did the same. You kept your technique unchanged, and Yelena did her best to copy you.

However, you knew from the practice round and every other game prior that you could do this with one with your eyes closed. But you had a crush on the blonde sitting next to you who cursed at her little yellow piece of shit character. Her words. So, without anyone realizing it, you stop mashing your button a few seconds before the timer ran out.

"Fuck that hurts!" Kate waved her hand around as the four shuguys began to take off.

Wanda's was the first to hit the ground. A laugh from her brother earned him a slap on the arm. Kate's followed the same destiny not long after, and to everyone's surprise, yours was the next to fail.

Wanda turned to you, shocked, but once Yelena realized she had won, Wanda put the pieces together and joined in the celebration of your defeat.

You were more than fine with it. Because now Yelena had enough coins to get her first-ever star.

She would never know it was really because of you.

"I'm taking a picture of this moment," Pietro said, making everyone laugh as Yelena hit the button to accept the Star from Toad.

"You Got A Star!" The game applauded! "I did it!" Yelena cheered and clapped to herself before you wrapped an arm around her and smiled at Pietro's dad's pose with the camera.

You thought Pietro had taken the picture when you shifted your face to take in Yelena's happiness.

Except, that was the picture that was taken.

Wanda made sure to show the one that followed where it looked like you were looking at the corner of the room.

After that, Yelena's luck turned for the better. She was on a roll. A few turns later, she earned another shiny star from a hidden block that left Kate flummoxed. "All I ever get is coins from those! Are you serious?!" Yelena laughed loudly at Kate.

Yelens then landed on Toad's space again after using a triple dice, and not even the prediction that you would win the game could stop Yelena.

Which left you, Kate, and Wanda struggling to do as much damage as possible to each other in the final turns of the first game.

"Yes!" Kate cheered when she got the last star next, making her and Yelena tied going into the Bonus Stars.

"Well, this sucks." Wanda sighed as she fell back against the couch. "There's no way I'm going to catch up!"

"What's happening?" Yelena asked no one in particular, but you still spoke up. "Bonus Stars. So once the game ends, it will still award additional stars to people. It makes it more exciting. Usually, it's like whoever landed on the most green spaces or landed on Bowser the most. Stuff like that." You explained, and you smiled when the blonde shifted her face to look at you.

However, your smile faltered a bit when you saw her eyes and the pout she wore. "So I might not win?"

"You can still win." You said with your voice soft. Yelena looked over your face as the moment became more intimate.

At least to you. You felt Wanda's gaze on you but moved your eyes to the TV.

"Yelena, look!" Kate pulled Yelena's attention away as the bonus star for the most distance traveled was being awarded.

It went to Wario.

And so did the next Bonus Star, which left Yelena jumping off the couch and into your arms when you stood up. "You did it!" You exclaimed loudly.

"I won the Mario Party!"

Your eyes shined as you looked at the way Yelena, how she couldn't control her excitement. It reminded you of the time you had won $200 on a lottery ticket, and you and Yelena went shopping. She bought a fur coat and wears it every time it hits below 45 degrees. (Fahrenheit)

You would always wanted her to be happy.

With the first round of Mario Party over, Wanda switched out with Pietro, and you did your best not to get competitive over the next game on the map in space. Yelena tried her hardest but found herself struggling. Pietro was just as fast in the game as he was in real life. Zooming from star to star, leaving you and Kate reeling.

"Y/l/n third place again!" Yelena teased as she landed herself in a solid second place behind Pietro. You went to jokingly retaliate, but Kate stole Yelena's attention and challenged her to a different Mario game.

Mario Kart.

Yelena's eyes went wide with fear before you slowly watched how they shifted.

Determined Yelena would be.

However, that would have to wait for another night as you looked at your phone, seeing how late it had gotten. Everyone agreed and helped you and the blonde clean up.

Pietro helped by eating two more slices.

"Oh hey, Y/n, before I leave, do you still have that red jacket? I wanted to borrow it for a party Lorna is throwing next week. It would fit the theme." Wanda said, shrugging her arms. You nodded and let her follow you to your bedroom.

"Here." You said, pulling the jacket off the hanger and holding your arm back. "Oh, thanks!" Wanda said as she grabbed it, and you turned around. Your eyes immediately noticed how your door had been shut.

"Wanda?" Sure, the two of you kissed when the clock struck midnight on New Year two years ago, but Wanda didn't have feelings. Did she? "Okay, spill!" Wanda said as she was closer than before—her voice above a whisper.

"Spill?"

"You and Yelena! What's going on there?" Ah! "Did you need this?" You said, picking up the arm of the jacket. Wanda shook her head. "I saw how you were looking at her! I take it she doesn't know?" You sighed. If there was anyone, you could count on sharing your newfound crush with, it was Wanda. "No, she doesn't know." You sighed again as you sat on your bed.

"Are you gonna tell her? Tonight?" Wanda asked, joining you by your side with her arms clutching the jacket. "I don't know... I want to... But."

"But it's Yelena." You nodded to Wanda's words. "I would also just hate to ruin our friendship." Wanda could understand. "Well, sometimes the biggest risks have the best rewards." You hated her cat poster-like words of wisdom, but she wasn't necessarily wrong. "Plus." You lifted your head to Wanda's green eyes before she continued. "At the end of the day, it's Yelena. Even if she didn't reciprocate those feelings with you, you know she wouldn't want anything to change between the two of you. You're best friends. She'll always be in your life. I'm sure it might be hard if she doesn't like you like you. But-"

"But I'd want her around." You finished Wanda's sentence. Wanda nodded, put her arm around you before her hand moved, and rubbed your back. "You're a big girl. You got this."

"You had to ruin it."

Wanda laughed loudly and let you rise from the bed. Before you helped her up. You definitely needed a new box spring.

Opening the door to your bedroom, your eyes caught Yelena's as she exited a hug from Kate. Her eyes quickly moved away from you and Wanda as she confirmed her plans to practice Mario Kart for the next game night, whenever that would be.

"Got the jacket. Let's go!" Wanda yelled to her brother, who was helping out and putting the leftover pizza in foil for you. Oh, no, wait. He was grabbing some to go.

Kate noticed where your eyesight had gone and laughed at Pietro's actions before giving you a tight hug. "Tonight was so much fun, thank you!" You hugged your childhood friend just as tight. "Thanks for coming."

Kate then moved to Yelena and was awkward as she accidentally punched Yelena in the boob as she lifted her arm to hug the blonde. Again. Yelena laughed loudly as Kate blushed before they hugged. Kate left with a cloud of smoke after that.

"Bye, Y/n. Bye, Yelena!" Pietro said his goodbye first with a quick wave to you and a side hug to Yelena. Wanda turned around and hugged you before turning and doing the same to the blonde. You smiled as you walked closer to the door at the end of the apartment hallway. "Bye, guys!" You waved as you shut the door to Wanda, mouthing, "Talk to her."

With a click, the door was locked, and it was just you and Yelena. "That was a good time, Y/n!" Your cheeks wore a light pink as you moved away from the door. Following Yelena in the living room area. "I'm glad you had fun, Lena."

Yelena moved to the couch and grabbed the remote as you entered the kitchen to grab some water. Your mind racing with a way to bring up you're feelings. "I'm not tired yet. Do you want to watch a movie?" Yelena called out from the living room. "Uh, sure! Just pick whatever!" You called out with your voice jumping from your nerves.

You took longer than one would need to fill out their water bottle. Thankfully, Yelena didn't seem to notice as she swiped through hundreds of different options.

She was trying to find something specifically tailored to you.

"You like this one, no?" Yelena asked as you finally sat down. The movie was Legally Blonde, and Yelena knew you loved it, so why was she questioning it? One look and you could see her mind had been racing too.

And for some reason, that calmed your nerves just a bit. What if she felt the same way you did?

You hid a smile and scooted closer to Yelena, who tensed up slightly before pulling you in and dropping an arm around you. "Should I have made popcorn?" You asked. Yelena shook her head. "Still full."

You were, too.

As Elle Woods began to wake up on the screen, you bit your lip. Would during or after the movie be an appropriate time to talk to Yelena?

"Y/n?" Yelena's voice broke you from your thoughts as you lifted your eyes to her. Yelena was chewing on her lip. "Yeah?"

"I have something to say, and I don't know how you're going to take it." Your heart started beating faster than you ever thought possible. "Okay." You said as the movie fell into a black hole behind you. Your body lifts off Yelena to give her your entire attention.

Could this be it?

Yelena sighed before her eyes fell on you. They were gentle. "Tonight, I discovered something... and I'm unsure how to move forward."

You knew the feeling.

"Okay..." Yelena moved her leg below her and turned more towards you. "I... I-" You had never seen Yelena so nervous and flustered. Not even when she booked a trip to Paris, Texas, and not Paris, France. "Yelena." You reached for her hand and took it. "Whatever it is. I'm here for you. I can help."

Yelena knew this, yet she was anxious. "I think I might have a crush on-" "Oh wow! Okay! Tha-"

"On Kate," Yelena said with the words flying out of her. She needed to get this off her chest. She needed you to know. She didn't like this feeling inside of her as she was keeping this to herself. Plus, Kate Bishop was your childhood best friend. Yelena didn't want to make that uncomfortable for you.

"Now! I know this might be weird! But I-" Yelena stopped and quickly gathered her words—enough time for you to process what just happened and to hear your heart become shattered glass.

"There is just something about her. I'm drawn in. She's clumsy but beautiful. Funny!" Yelena laughed to herself as a fake smile finally appeared on your face. "But!" Yelena gripped your hand, and you still felt butterflies in your stomach due to the touch of her soft fingers. "If you have a problem with this or feel uncomfortable, let me know!"

Yelena was dead serious. If you told her that it would make things... unbearable she wouldn't pursue any bit of this with Kate. But you couldn't do that to her. You wouldn't put her own happiness in jeopardy. "It's okay." You said with a smile—another fake one.

You had to fake it now. You could cry later.

"Are you sure?" You nodded. "Absolutely!" You said. Yelena nodded a tad. "It's just she's your childhood friend, and I'm your best friend-"

"Yeah. You're my best friend, Yelena, so of course I want you to be happy."

You said with an enthusiasm you didn't know you could muster. But it finally convinced Yelena, who pulled you in for a hug. "Oh, thank you, Y/n Y/l/n!" She said into your neck. You closed your eyes and let the moment happen. "I love you, Y/n!" Yelena said with a loud cheeriness in her voice.

"I love you too, Yelena!" You whispered back.

By the time the next game night rolled around, Yelena and Kate were dating.

You hated Mario Kart after that.

dividers by @/benkeibear

[raps-hellion]

six of crows in pjo:

kaz brekker — son of mercury (roman)

powers:

ability to manipulate locks, deadbolts, touch/face identification on devices, etc. can also correctly guess pin numbers, security questions, captchas, etc.

money is drawn to him — loose change, wallets, credit cards, etc. he can also create small amounts of legitimate-looking counterfeit currency from any country from a provided example.

is gifted at persuasion and deception, and can haggle/bargain effectively to achieve his desired outcome.

inej ghafa — daughter of nemesis (roman)

powers:

opponents are also similarly injured when attacking/striking her (ie. arrow ricochets back into its shooter, sword shatters and cuts its wielder, etc.). the severity of the retributive attack is always equal to what inej receives initially

ability to alter someone's luck/fortune — can change good luck to bad and vice-versa, but only if they deserve it

always has perfect balance, whether it be in battle, on a high-wire, upside-down in a handstand, etc.

jesper fahey — son of apollo (greek)

powers:

perfect aim when shooting a firearm, bow, crossbow, slingshot, etc.

can put curses in the form of disease or sickness on his ammunition. whoever is shot will be plagued by the disease until the sun sets

can 'see' into the immediate future for certain minor outcomes (he would describe it as more of a 'divine hunch'), such as in blackjack, three card monty, roulette, rolling a dice, flipping a coin, etc.

nina zenik — daughter of hecate (greek)

powers:

can manipulate the mist to cast glamours/illusions upon people to make them appear different and trick both mortal and non-mortals alike

has the innate ability for magic and can cast any spell she's capable of; the power and effectiveness of the spell depends on her confidence and health

can control and summon certain types of dead, such as spirits, ghosts, or souls of the damned (necrokinesis)

matthias helvar — son of mars (roman)

powers:

higher stamina, speed, and strength than the average demigod. has faster reflexes and can dodge/parry otherwise lethal attacks that would kill/injure anyone else.

able to perfectly wield any weapon he chooses.

can bond and commune with wolves, mars's sacred animal.

wylan van eck — son of hephaestus (greek)

powers:

can create small sparks and explosions with his hands like lit gunpowder or firecrackers/fireworks

can detonate explosives such as grenades, landmines, bombs etc. from a range of 1500-2000 feet by reaching out through a form of telekinesis and triggering them. can similarly disarm any explosive

innate understanding of mechanics and electronics.

[crescent-ffxiv]

Classic Club Crescent: Halloween

Who: Boys and girls of every age, who would like to see something strange. Other gender identifications wishing to see something strange also welcome. When: October 12th, 2024 at 7pm eastern. Where: Crystal, Balmung, Goblet, W18, P5. Wear: A halloween costume! Why: Sometimes you just want to relive the old days. What: A bit of nostalgia, a bit of throwback, and a hell of a good time! Crescent Entertainment is partnering up with the Red Lantern Society to create a time machine night back to 2018; but with updated graphics, because let's be real. There'll be all of the classics! The check in line. Maude. The dice roulette. Legally dubious acts for amusement. So, swing on by and relive some of the old days for the fun of it!

🎃 MASTERLINK 🍬

((Crescent club nights are meant to be a joyous occasion, and we understand if everything gets to be a bit much. Slipping out to somewhere quiet and returning is absolutely fine! Given the current atmosphere surrounding ‘clubs’, we’d also like to specify that while we do have a DJ providing optional music, our events are RP events, not twitch-streamed influencer parties.))

★ We’d adore your help in spreading the word, thank you! ★

[legthief]

on legal identification, ramuda’s gender is “💖🍭🍬🍡✨🎀”, gentaro’s is “yes, and?”, and dice’s is “losercore failboy”

[rubiatinctorum]

i think a lot of people could be more socially connected, accomplished, and have a better self concept if community-building (especially online) were focused more on shared hobbies, talents, areas of expertise or interest, and connections rather than primarily merely signifying as being a member of an in-group through nature or presentation. It seems like a lot of online communities tend to value 'what you are' these days over 'what you choose to be' and as someone whose primary forms of identification when someone asks to know about me are based on my hobbies, interests, and what i trained in, I feel like it's awkward to be in spaces where none of that matters because people want fixed identity signifiers instead.

Like, great and all if people will like me because I'm bisexual, or neurotic, or a woman, or whatever, but at the end of the day, I didn't really decide that, and I'd much rather be part of in-groups and make connections for what I decide to do and love to do (ex: groups of writers and knitters, where we can bond over shared interests and actions), rather than just because I organically signify an identity that gives me some kind of positive aspect to the online in-group. I was a dice roll when I got random number generated onto this planet, and that's not what I want to lead with or be primarily cared about for.

Maybe it's weird of me bc I'm very neutral on a lot of things that are very important to identity in spaces like Tumblr. I'm generally a couple percentage points positive of ambivalent on my sexuality, gender, body type, etc the way I am about, say, my hair colour or how tall I am. Therefore, I don't really want to advertise myself that way. Obviously, in real life, certain things become more important depending on the time, place, and situation. My orientation will be a lot more important, say, when I'm trying to rizz someone up (actually, when I'm yearning over an instagram photo of my engaged crush) or at the Pride Parade more than it will when I'm scrolling through shitposts on tumblr. Similarly, my body type will be more important when I'm trying to find my damn size in the store when I'm looking to buy a sweater. Personally, I think they're terrible building blocks for making connections online if I'm not online dating or buying clothes. I understand this is not how a lot of people feel.

I think, mostly, though, it feels very reductive to lead socially in this way in general spaces not based around these concepts. It feels like a slide into valuing people for the natural traits they are born with/develop because having the right fixed identity is given priority and moral status, and that just feels kind of uncomfortable to me. I don't want to evaluate the social desirability of others by traits they can't control, nor do I want that to be the main thing I know people for. I don't want to present the idea to someone, "your art, your music, your sports, your work, the things you spend your days and therefore your life doing fundamentally do not matter to me as long as you are [insert identity here], which is what really matters."

There are times and places for identity-based in-groups as one's main form of representing themselves in that time and place. I don't think that's necessarily everywhere, all the time. And I don't know if most people would feel less alone and isolated if they started building connections in a way more aligned with having something chosen in common, but I can certainly say that when I've been socially connected with people who share the same hobby, or interest, or job as me, friendships feel more actualized and we've turned those shared things into experiences worth remembering more often, even through the internet. Meanwhile, the people who associated with me for my fixed characteristics did not value me as a person the moment I couldn't perform that identity for them.

[possumstudies]

POSS 101: Intro to Poss' Studyblr

he/him, 23, northeastern us

class of 2023 graduate (psych BA + gender studies minor)

currently applying for school psychology grad programs

working in mental healthcare

gay trans man

auDHD + mentally ill

hEDS + part-time cane user

infj, 5w4, virgo (s) scorpio (m) cancer (r)

night owl + cat dad + lowkey hermit

what to expect: life updates related to my grad school journey, advice based on how i make things work for myself or things i learn the hard way, notes on whatever subjects i’m studying at the time, resources i’ve collected, and maybe pictures of what my studying looks like (although it’s not particularly aesthetically pleasing). i might also post about independent studying, language learning, books i’m reading, etc from time to time. i’ll probably start by doing some challenges to get into the habit of posting.

why i'm here: to share my journey of applying for (and eventually going to) grad school as someone whose experience with going to school been less than fantastic in the past thanks to undiagnosed disabilities and transition struggles. i want to show what it's like to get back into the academic world after burning out and spending a year running the hell away from it, to commit to doing something you still don’t really think you’re good enough for. i’m sure it won't be pretty but it will be real, and i hope you'll come along for the ride with me and maybe feel less alone.

languages: just english right now, but i plan on learning italian (my family’s language) and ASL

academic interests: how diagnostic criteria and tests are made and used, early identification of "atypical" presentations of autism and ADHD, developing alternatives to ABA "therapy" for autistic youth, developing harm reduction and community care-based alternatives to inpatient psychiatric institutions for people in crisis, lgbtq+ mental health (especially trans mental health)

special interest: d&d/critical role/baldur's gate 3

other interests: queer/trans lit and media, (trans) manhood and masculinities, disability studies, monster studies, linguistics, mycology, religions and mythology, death care, trans HRT science, character creation, worldbuilding, conlanging, ttrpgs and board games, dice collecting, singing, crocheting, zine making

[pluralgang-practitioners]

Welcome to Our Blog!

[Last Updated: 6/17/2023]

This is a space for us from @reticent-fate to put posts related to spirituality. We are a disordered plural system, and collectively you can call us DG (plural they/them). A few of us from the system will be using this blog, and you can meet us below! We will also have our own expanded bio pages (eventually). Also at the end of this post will be our DNI (because boundaries are important! Block us if you don't feel comfortable with us interacting with you!).

We created this blog due to feeling like there was very little space in the resources we've been collecting for people like us, both specifically as a plural system and more broadly as a member of the neurodivergent (and psychpunk adjacent) community.

There's a lack of discussion on the intersection between spirituality and psychology in most of the resources we've seen, and we'll occasionally post quite a bit about that (we have a special interest in behavioral psychology and consider ourselves psychpunk); likewise, we'll occasionally post about how plurality in particular affects our spirituality.

Please note: many of our headmates are otherkin, including some headmates that identify as spiritual entites (such as demons and deities). Our system has very hard rules about boundaries regarding identification as spiritual entities; in general, systems cannot control what introjects appear, but as it stands, there are stopgaps and gatekeepers in our system that regulate our relationship to things we can tell might trigger splits of this variety. Additionally, we do not allow our headmates to maintain names of spiritual entities they may "split" from (unless they are insourced, like Narty). That said, if a headmate still identifies as a spiritual entity (ie: as a shard), then they only identify that way functionally within our system. Do not be weird about this, please. Please please please.

We mention it because it is a huge part of why spirituality has been so difficult for us, and we will bitch about it on occasion. We are not saying we are anyone's god, nor are we demanding you treat us that way. The spiritual connection to the divine is a complicated, messy thing. Especially for systems like ours. Don't. Be. Weird about it.

Mods

Ellia (she/her) - The brains behind this operation (/joking). From the same innerworld source as Artura. Responsible for an irresponsible collection of tarot decks bought on clearance for the sake of "science" (comparing the Five of Cups in them all). Also responsible for making this blog, because she got sick of hearing advice that's excessively difficult to employ for plural systems, let alone headmates with exomemories under other stars. Practices a mishmash hodgepodge of tiny things here and there. Trying to reconstruct her beliefs from fragmented exomemories, which included dice divination and a more casual/friendly relationship to the innerworld gods.

Sol (he/him, they/them) - The guy that's really interested in Christianity as a concept. The holy weirdo to contrast Heitaros's demonic shenanigannery and Narty's apathetic middle ground. Doesn't practice Christianity so much as the study of it is his practice (especially scholarship that remembers the more radical Table Flipping Jesus that was 100% an anticapitalist anarchist). Especially interested in the lens of self-care and "holy" endeavors through the body as extension of the divine; ie: "there is divinity in all things and thus it is my duty to be kind to all things not willfully cruel; that including the self."

Heitaros (he/him) - A fictive who has his own otherkin blog, but also is vaguely spiritually weird because of it. Both identifies as Heitaros (a character) and partially with the concept of Satan as Accuser (in his understanding/role in-system: that which questions, especially with regards to structures). Interested in the intersection of psychological and spiritual (like Narty) but more from the perspective of an entity that recognizes where psychological origins can exist while embracing the messy spirituality that his identity imbues him with. His practices primarily involve a lot of hodgepodge like Ellia (he's a system host, so he kind of has to keep a hodgepodge going), but he's interested in lucid dream working, as well as past life work due to his otherkin identity.

Artura (he/him, they/them) or Nova (he/him) ; Sometimes referred to as Narty- From the same innerworld source as Ellia. God of Light, Linear Time, and Magic. Technically a two for one deal. The local anthropology nerd(s), that essentially practices through research. Mostly research. Like an obscene amount of research. May only show up when he wants to complain about ableism and Ellia isn't able to type her thoughts on the matter. Particularly interested in the intersection between psychological and spiritual (like Heitaros), from the idea of psychology as a bastardized spiritual practice (this is a very reductive explanation, and we have a lot to write about it; this isn't saying psychology is religion, but it is saying that functionally speaking, structures associated with psychology lend itself to the interpretation of the psychological as intrinsically spiritual). Generally dislikes dabbling in practice if it involves the risk of disturbing entities or could exacerbate system-wide anxieties. Plays the role of headspace therapist and thus is more interested in dissection of craft and understanding psychology through the spiritual lens (especially at the edges of where hard science and data cannot map).

Important Tags

#[Mod Name] - Anything posted for the perusal of individual headmates* running the blog.

#[Mod Name] talks - What it says on the tin*!

#ramblings - Catchall for the above tag

#ref mats - Self explanatory as well!

#disability - Posts about disability, because this blog is about the intersection of disability and spirituality

#promo - Posts promoting other folks' stuff (ex: tarot readings, pendulum readings, etc.).

More tags to be added!

*Note: Since Nova and Artura are a median subsystem, sometimes their posts may include both their names. Narty is our fun nickname for the research disaster duo, but not a great functional tag lol.

DNI

anti-otherkin

homophobic/transphobic

terf/radfem

transmed

swerf

proship/anti-anti/etc.

queer exclusionist

racist, pro cop

ableist

anti-endogenic, anti-nontraumagenic, anti-thoughtform, etc.

[zeroar]

Microaggressions and "Harry Potter"

At what point are you willing to say that someone's pain is valid for them to feel?

Not that you think they should feel it or that you would feel it in their situation or anything like that, at what point of offense, of assault, of injury, will you say, "I accept you are feeling pain from this"?

Some people will require physical evidence of injury. I remember when I had to quit playing American football due to my shoulder injury and repeated surgeries, I literally had to show pictures of the inside of my shoulder to individuals I thought were my friends because they said the coaches told them I was faking my injury.

Does someone's joints need to be visibly inflamed for you to accept they have arthritis? Does blood need to be dripping from their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears before you accept they have a headache? Do their injuries need to visibly appear greater than your own injuries for you to accept they are in pain and their pain is valid?

Do their eyes need to melt out of their head before you can accept something is too bright for them? How much do they need to perform their disability, injury, or sensitivity for you to accept they are a different person with different experiences, a different body, and a different everything else from you?

Some people will agree that an individual is allowed to feel discomfort when someone is directly insulting them or using slurs aimed at them. The point of an insult is to hurt the person being insulted, so if you are hurt by it, that was the point.

What if it's not aimed at the person? What level of trauma do you require from them for it to be "OK" that they feel pain when they hear the word? That it feels like a slap in the face even as a bystander?

If someone mispronounces your name the first time they see it written or transliterated, you may give them a pass. Then they continue. This is someone you see daily and they not only use your name on the regular, they mispronounce it every single time. You eventually stop correcting them. Is it valid for you to be upset? What if they give you a nickname you dislike and they emphasize it like an inside joke no matter how much you ask them not to? What if they use your deadname deliberately and extensively? What if they purposely misgender you? What if it's not on purpose but it's often enough to know they do not see you as you see yourself?

Are you ALLOWED to be upset? Are you ALLOWED to feel uncomfortable? Are you ALLOWED to feel pain?

I'm not asking if it's OK for retaliation. I'm saying, at what point are you going to accept someone else's feelings, their experiences, their reactions may be different from yours?

Are you allowed to limit that person in your life? At what point is it OK to have boundaries? How much trauma is needed? Do they need to have past people who have ruined their lives and you know about it for their boundaries to be valid and acceptable to you? When will you accept their opinion, not as a fact, but as something they have and as something that guides their actions? Why is your opinion valid but theirs isn't?

They don't like the Beatles. They are not romantically interested in men. Wool makes their skin break out in hives and they find it uncomfortable. Shrimp and lobster makes them go into anaphylactic shock, so they won't be having the fondue dip with diced up shrimp and lobster.

At what point do you accept they know their own likes and dislikes, their own interests and disinterests? Not that they are speaking from ignorance, but that they are telling you "no". At what point is a, "go fuck yourself" a valid response for you?

What if someone drives up on you at night on backroads with no identification of who they are and they are swerving around and acting like they're going to drive you off the road, playing fast and loose with your safety, the safety of the passengers in the vehicle with you, and their own safety? Are you allowed to accept that as a physical threat? Are you allowed to get upset? Are you allowed to flee?

They were just joking around. It was a friend. It was just a joke. You're too sensitive. Sure, the last high-speed chase you were in didn't end until you successfully fled to a 24-hour diner and had to wait for the person to stop circling the parking lot, but what does that have to do with anything. People don't always have the context, but your feelings are invalid even if they perfectly know every moment of your life and being. Your reaction is the offensive thing here, not the threat of harm, not the triggering of your trauma, not the violation of your clearly established boundaries.

At what point will you believe the harm you are doing with your constant reinforcement of their oppression and vulnerability? At what point will you believe the injury of the status quo for everyone who is not as privileged as you?

At what point can you understand that to you it's a chicken sandwich and to them it's a reminder that major corporations fund hate groups?

At what point is it OK for them to say they cannot be around someone who encourages the support of hate? How can we get the point across that every multimedia reminder, every commercial, every livestream, every tainted nostalgia, every single one is another reminder that there are powerful, powerful, powerful people supporting hatred and fearmongering of their existence and swaying entire governments to be even more against them and …

that everyone else is fine with that.

What? Don't you understand? If we can't let people have their enjoyment regardless of who it empowers, supports, and props up, then how will they be able to enjoy anything?

That's nice. I'm glad they're able to enjoy those things. What's that like? I have all seven books. I got them a long time ago. I don't see them on the bookshelf they're on much, so I don't feel the pain from them. I remember having enjoyed them in spite of the ability of the author. I remember that. I cannot imagine enjoying them again. It would be like forcing myself to eat rice mixed with shit. I'm actually a little impressed at your fortitude to be able to stomach it, but it also changes my opinion of who you are.

Even more if you're seeking that shit out and holding it up as evidence that there is nothing wrong with eating shit actually.

'No ethical consumption under capitalism' does not mean 'everything is fucked so do anything'.

You're too sensitive. People can enjoy what they like.

You can't choose what you like. It's nice that you can enjoy those things without feeling the pain and harm that comes along with them for so, so, so many others. I sincerely mean that.

You go enjoy that shit. It causes me emotional pain to even see it, so I'll be excusing myself. And no, I will not be making out with you afterwards, or ever again. And yes, in my eyes you are a shit-eater. That's a boundary for me. I told you about it already.

I'm not being sensitive. If anything, I'm being magnanimous.

Violating boundaries is an act of war. I'm simply moving my borders somewhere you can't reach.

〜Zero

Thanks for reading. I'm still locked out of my Twitter for sharing video related to the Ohio train derailment and I felt the need to write this after seeing yet another HP commercial on YouTube.

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

Eating Like the Ancestors (Some of Them, at Least)

Christina here. When the dog and I went out for a walk on Wednesday afternoon, we paused to admire one of the many walls of corn lining the fields right now. Look closely at this photo. Just behind the dog you can spot blobs on one of the corn stalks. In fact, they're blobs growing out of one ear of corn.

Here's what they look like close up. Yuck! Disgusting. Like aliens life forms have invaded and taken over the corn kernels and blown them up to elephantine proportions.

I've been seeing this on corn cobs around here for years and scratching my head about it. Last year, I finally got around to googling. Turns out it's not aliens that have invaded the corn cobs, but a fungus that infects ears into which rain has gotten in. Science calls this fungus Ustilago maydis. In Mexico, they call the resulting galls of fungus huitlacoche and they eat them. But the galls are referred to most unpoetically as corn smut in English, which views it as little more than a crop pest/disease that needs to be eradicated.

This year, I worked up the courage to bring some of these swollen blobs home and cook them up for dinner. It's not so different than collecting wild mushrooms, after all, and I was 99.9% sure of my identification of them. Even though they're weird looking and filled with tarry, black spores, the indigenous Mexican ancestors of mine in my dad's family tree would have considered them a delicacy (although I'm assuming they lived in the part of Mexico where they grow corn). Maybe my father's mom and dad even ate huitlacoche when they were kids, before they left their small towns in the Sierra Madre in Mexico for Los Angeles. But, having never been there, I have no idea if this is the sort of place where they grow corn either.

So maybe my paternal grandparents never knew about huitlacoche themselves. I honestly have no idea. What I do know is that corn fungus galls weren't in my grandmother's repertoire of Mexican dishes by the time I came into this world, about fifty years after her family left Mexico for California. That's my defense for why I hadn't known they were a Mexican culinary delicacy, and why I jumped to the I think entirely reasonable conclusion that they were parasites from outer space. One of the downsides of integration, I guess, is losing that sort of cultural knowledge (or one of the upsides, depending upon how you feel about eating fungally infected maize flesh).

But, having summoned up the courage to eat the fungal galls, meant I first had to summon up the courage to touch them. It took courage. I expected they'd be slimy. But that was silly of me. Are mushrooms slimy? (Only when they themselves are rotting, thanks to bacteria or slime mold.) Huitlacoche aren't slimy at all. Just... spongy. I tore a few galls off the infected ear, smearing black, tarry material on my hand in the process. Which was, admittedly, kind of yuck. But I persisted, stuffing a bunch of galls in my pockets to bring home.

The galls are really cool looking when you slice them open. I hadn't expected all that internal structure at all.

But they're a little less convincing when you dice them.

I love the interwebs. What did we ever do without it (I mean, besides have to get up off our butt and go to the library). In seconds flat, I found a recipe (well, several) that suggested frying the huitlacoche up with onions, garlic, and serrano peppers. They you layer the mixture, along with shredded Oaxaca cheese, inside a corn tortilla you heat up. Then you have... a magnificent quesadilla.

I would have followed the recipe to a tee if I had lived somewhere in the world other than Germany! I had to settle for substituting the yellow bell pepper I had in my fridge and some chipotle chiles pureed with adobo sauce for the serrano chiles, low moisture mozzarella for the Oaxaca cheese, and yufka (the Turkish near equivalent of a flour tortilla) for the corn tortillas. Which also means I had to take an antihistamine because eating wheat makes me wheeze, gives me hay fever, and makes me snore.

However, I did have some fresh cilantro growing on the window sill, so that was a win! I tossed some over the top of the finished quesadilla and... after letting everyone know I was embarking on eating a foraged fungus I'd never tried before... dug in. Aaand... it was WONDERFUL. The huitlacoche tastes like a mixture of nixtamalized corn (e.g., masa) and what I imagine a truffle tastes like. Altogether it was THE BEST QUESADILLA I HAVE EVER EATEN.

And now I'm, like, d'oh! All those years I stared at the huitlacoche galls on the corn and thought EW! What an idiot I was. I could have been eating this amazingness instead. Three cheers to the person who first got hungry (or curious) enough to give the fungal galls on maize a good chew. They're totally now my hero.

The farmers here are starting to harvest the corn now. That means I have no time to waste if I want to go harvest more huitlacoche. I think I'll go out tomorrow, wandering along the outer rows of the cornfields (any deeper and the deer and the wild boars lurking within and I might end up surprising each other). The huitlacoche galls don't keep long in the fridge, but I've you can freeze them. It would definitely be great to eat it again without having to wait a whole other year.

If you're curious about giving them a go, maybe go find yourself a market that sells them either fresh or frozen.

[schizografia]

Il lecito, l’obbligatorio e il proibito

Secondo i giuristi arabi, le azioni umane si classificano in cinque categorie, che essi elencano in questo modo: obbligatorio, lodevole, lecito, riprovevole, proibito. All’obbligatorio si oppone il proibito, a ciò che merita lode ciò che è da riprovare. Ma la categoria più importante è quella che sta al centro e che costituisce per così dire l’asse della bilancia che pesa le azioni umane e ne misura la responsabilità (responsabilità si dice nel linguaggio giuridico arabo «peso»). Se lodevole è ciò il cui compimento è premiato e la cui omissione non è proibita, e riprovevole è ciò la cui omissione è premiata e il cui compimento non è proibito, il lecito è ciò su cui il diritto non può che tacere e non è pertanto né obbligatorio né proibito, né lodevole né riprovevole. Esso corrisponde allo stato paradisiaco, nel quale le azioni umane non producono alcuna responsabilità, non sono in alcun modo «pesate» dal diritto. Ma – e questo è il punto decisivo – secondo i giuristi arabi è bene che questa zona di cui il diritto non può in alcun modo occuparsi sia la più ampia possibile, perché la giustizia di una città si misura proprio dallo spazio che lascia libero dalle norme e dalle sanzioni, dai premi e dalle censure.

Nella società in cui viviamo sta avvenendo esattamente il contrario. La zona del lecito si restringe ogni giorno di più e una ipertrofia normativa senza precedenti tende a non lasciare alcun ambito della vita umana fuori dall’obbligo e dalla proibizione. Gesti e abitudini che erano sempre stati considerati indifferenti al diritto vengono ora minuziosamente normati e puntualmente sanzionati, al punto che non vi è quasi più una sfera dei comportamenti umani che si possa considerare semplicemente lecita. Prima non meglio identificate ragioni di sicurezza e poi, in misura crescente, ragioni di salute hanno reso obbligatoria un’autorizzazione per compiere gli atti più abituali e innocenti, come passeggiare per strada, entrare in un locale pubblico o recarsi nel luogo di lavoro.

Una società che restringe a tal punto l’ambito paradisiaco dei comportamenti non pesati dal diritto è non soltanto, come ritenevano i giuristi arabi, una società ingiusta, ma è propriamente una società invivibile, in cui ogni azione deve essere burocraticamente autorizzata e giuridicamente sanzionata e l’agio e la libertà dei costumi, la dolcezza delle relazioni e delle forme di vita si riducono fino a scomparire. La quantità delle leggi, dei decreti e dei regolamenti è inoltre tale, che non soltanto diventa necessario ricorrere a esperti per sapere se una certa azione è lecita o proibita, ma perfino i funzionari incaricati di applicare le norme si confondono e contraddicono.

In una simile società, l’arte della vita non può che consistere nel ridurre al minimo la parte dell’obbligatorio e del proibito e nell’allargare per converso al massimo la zona del lecito, la sola in cui se non una felicità, almeno una letizia diventa possibile. Ma questo è proprio quanto gli sciagurati che ci governano si ingegnano in ogni modo di impedire e di rendere difficile, moltiplicando le norme e i regolamenti, i controlli e le verifiche. Finché la tetra macchina che hanno costruito rovinerà su se stessa, inceppata dalle stesse regole e dagli stessi dispositivi che dovevano permetterne il funzionamento.

28 novembre 2022

Giorgio Agamben

[transingthoseformers]

ask game: definitely cool dice; probably nature is healing, but I have no concrete evidence on your mushroom identification abilities (we could go in France and take them to the pharmacy, I guess); almost stargazer, but I couldn't honestly say you don't post much...

Oo thank

[nine-blessed-hero]

OCs - Who the hell is: Cygwen

Universe: 

TES IV: Oblivion (Slice of Life)

What do they look like: 

Cygwen is of average height for a bosmer, around 5'3" (1.6m). She has long auburn hair, kept in a battle braid, and bright green eyes.

She wears a mix of leather and elven armour and carries a large knife and a daedric bow, gifted to her by Rowan (the HoK/ Fighters Guildmaster).

What're they like?

Blunt and forthright. If she has a question, she will ask it. Despite this, she has a lot of empathy and will try to exercise tact, even if sometimes it's rather unsuccessful. She has the patience and stealth of a hunter, and great perception when it comes to shooting rabbits for dinner.

She's a follower of the Green Pact, but less strictly since she's left home.

Who are the prominent people in their life?

Parwen - the one who got her inducted into the Fighters Guild and her main trainer before she moved from Skingrad to Chorrol.

Angalmo - After Talis wants some Shrooms, Cygwen spends some time at the Chorrol Mages' Guild learning more about alchemical plant identification.

Talis - After Talis wants some Shrooms, the two of them strike up an unusual friendship, and she volunteers to keep an eye on him before the events of Talis and the Bilberries.

Can you give us a highlight reel of their life?

Raised by her father, a bargeman along the Strid River, and maternal grandmother until her father was accused of cheating at dice and killed during a bar brawl.

Moved to Skingrad after reaching her majority to live with Parwen, and started working for the Fighters Guild.

Moved to Chorrol on reaching Journeyman, working with Kurz gro-Baroth and Honditar.

Selected to accompany the Guildmaster for the events of Talis wants some Shrooms. 

Based on the success of that outing, works with Modryn Oreyn to start a new cadre of guildmates who can work with the Mages Guild to acquire rare and otherwise dangerous alchemical ingredients.

What points in their life are you writing about?

Mostly things that relate to Talis, so her early years in the guild.

Who are they in real-world development terms?

I had the idea for Talis wants some Shrooms, and Cygwen just rocked up as the rookie in question. Then when I needed Talis to have a guardian during his Bilberries adventure, I decided to reuse her. She doesn't have much development otherwise.

[ll-underestimated-ll]

Wait Danny is gay?? Not complaining just curious

I actually have a story about the origin of this factoid!!

I used an AU version of him as a PC for another system (Tales from the Loop I think?) at my uni's tabletop club when he was still a very new OC as an opportunity to trick myself into having new character details for him. As part of the character creation we did some completely randomized rolls to establish character connections in response to questions the DM has chosen via rolling on a list.

The result of one of these roll combos was that a 14yro Danny had a massive crush on another guy in the characters network. From that point forth, I assigned him Gay. (So - assigned gay by the dice gods basically).

This is not a something that the original VTM Danny is consciously aware of about himself. Not something thought about more than in passing due to the various combination of factors that make up his un-life. If you asked him his preferences he'd just stare into middle space for a bit then shrug with a i dunno sound because basically all emotions when prompted for identification result in him discarding them entirely.

[convexicalcrow]

So I know I've mentioned the Lost Prince AU is part of a larger world I've been working on for like a decade or more, and I wanted to talk a bit more about that and explain some of the backstory and the other novels that are set in that universe. Some of this is going to change though, because I think I can actually salvage the two novels and complete them if I do a bunch of cutting and editing and redrafting. And if I cut out the third novel in the series that was just overcomplicating things too much bc modern setting and wibbly wobbly timey wimey shit that I couldn't figure out how to resolve. So that's gone now and it's made things so much easier. Those 200k words of novels won't go to waste after all! :D

Alright kids, buckle up, this is gonna get loooooooooooong. :D

This universe started life as thinly veiled RPF on 750words.com, little short pieces I was writing just to get the brain working and nothing more than that. It eventually came to be a series I referred to as astrological dystopia, which turned into an original novel titled Pasithea's City.

The setting was a Greek city in the middle of the Libyan desert, Neos Apollonia, an oracle city, where your fate was proclaimed when you were 7 years old, and then the city did everything in its power to make that a self-fulfilling prophecy. bc humans and oracles and wealth and whatnot etc. So the hubris is strong here and the worship of the gods is not. I bet you can guess how Apollon feels about this state of affairs.

The story is about a boy called Andreas, who ended up with a bad fate and was exiled from the city. He's a petty thief, close to Hermes, who has a strong distrust in Apollon and the Oracles for good reason. He's taken in by a couple of women from the desert tribes, who also ran away from their tribe for various reasons of their own.

The catalyst in this story is the Oracle proclaiming an Actual Oracle on the new year's day rituals, proclaiming the destruction of the city bc Apollon is Pissed and will bury them all under the sand bc why the fuck not. The city was actually originally much closer to Kyrini, but the physical drift into the desert matches the internal drift away from the gods. Ruins are left behind as the city moves, and it's where the exiles live, because there's nowhere else to survive out there.

Hermes manages to save Andreas, his mothers, the Oracle and his companion, after playing dice with Apollon, and spares them from the sandstorm that otherwise buries the rest of the city under the sands.

Hermes becomes their guide through the sands, taking them away from the old city and takes them north. Through this, they end up back at the tribe where Andreas' mothers came from, bc healing conflicts and old wounds and making new friends etc. And after a while, Andreas, his new bondmate Meri, the Oracle and his companion, head further north to Kyrini with Hermes bc exploration and seeing the city.

This is big on found family, given the tribe they end up with is build from refugees, outcasts, anyone who doesn't have a home, and who needs one. They're a group of misfits and outsiders who are highly protective of their own, and they've made their own way in spite of everything. They don't always get on with the other tribes in the area as they can be a little too close-minded or unwilling to meet ppl halfway.

But yeah, that's the gist of that novel. There's a lot I've left out of that, but that's the general plot I'm working on.

The second novel, The Black Priest, should really come first, narratively speaking. It documents the priests of Dja fleeing from the country with their gods and the last priests they have left, and heading west into the desert. It's at the end of the invasion of Egypt by a group I'm calling the Sea Peoples, for lack of a better identification and also bc it doesn't really matter who they are bc this is about the aftermath.

It was inspired by this music video by Sparkadia, bc ofc it was lol. I was Obsessed with this song (and this band tbh) back in the day. Most of the characters all had their start in this music video, but they've evolved so far beyond that now. I made them my own.

The big theme in this novel is unification. The Priests of Dja come from Lower Egypt, around the Delta, and the tribe where Andreas' mothers come from have their origin story in Upper Egypt millions of years ago. There are also themes here about religion in diaspora and how gods evolve to be what people need them to be.

So we have the priests of Dja being called back to their ancestral lands with the tribes, to unify the Two Lands. There's a lot to learn from each other, and how to do religion without a King/Kingdom, since much of ancient Egyptian religion relied on their being a King to send the priests into the shrines and temples.

(Yes, this is my way of processing my own Kemetic practice and how to work it in the modern world, with so much information that has either not been found, or has been destroyed, and there are no big temples to worship in, no communities irl to support that religion, etc, no Kings to rely on, etc.)

The timeline being what it is, and yes i have a gigantic spreadsheet with FOUR DIFFERENT CALENDARS in it that I've synced up so I can keep the plot organised, the priests of Dja actually make it to Neos Apollonia some time before it's buried, and honestly bc of that I do think this needs to be the first novel bc of that. There's a ton of world-building that I bring up in that journey that is never relevant to Pasithea's City, and I think it makes more narrative sense for this one to go first. Like, there's a moment where Andreas is found injured in a ruined temple a couple of my priestesses are searching for, and they care for him and heal him up. But that's never really mentioned or alluded to properly in Pasithea's City. Hence, they both need a lot of revision and editing and reworking but they'll be much better for it.

So, how does the Lost Prince AU fit into this? Well. It's set ten years after The Black Priest, more or less. Cub and Scar are in their mid-late 20s, having fled as teenagers. Their names are pseudonyms, but also not, and they've spent the time away from Egypt on the run, as they never really found anywhere to settle, and it felt too uncomfortable to settle in Kyrini as Libyans. Plus, well. Being hunted for [redacted].

They did meet up with the priests of Dja maybe a year after they settled with the tribes, as they sought shelter for a while, but they didn't stay, and moved on quickly. They've basically been nomads for a decade because it just felt safer. And then the gods started calling them back to Egypt, and with great reluctance that's what they're trying to do. There's a lot more to the plot that's coming, but I don't wanna spoil anything so. >_>

Also the identification of some of the nomes with Empires folk is broadly just flavour and not necessarily saying The Oasis Is Actually Pearl's Empire. It IS hers, but it's not Gilded Helianthia. It's Djesdjes, it's Bahariya Oasis, it's something else.

I do have a map of the region up at an old wordpress blog I set up six years ago, but it doesn't have the Copper King's mines on it for obvious it-wasn't-part-of-the-world-yet reasons back then. It also has some location notes there, and some cast lists for both Pasithea's City and The Black Priest.

So yeah. That's the basic gist of the world the Lost Prince AU is working in. If you have any further questions, please ask! I will happily ramble about this AU for hours if you ask nicely. <3

[katb357]

Falling for Hogan’s Heroes

24. "Any volunteers?" “I’ve Got Your Back”

“All right, men,” Hogan said, his solemn gaze moving from one man to the next. “I’ve laid it all out for you. This is a dangerous mission. The man who goes likely won’t make it back. But it’s also crucial. I’d do it myself, but London says no dice. Because of the nature of the mission, I’m not going to choose who takes it. I’ll leave it to you. Do I have any volunteers?”

There was a long silence as the core team sat around stunned. They had been assigned dangerous missions before, but this one was the worst yet. After a few moments Andrew Carter stood up. “I’ll do it, Sir.”

“Blimey.” Newkirk grimaced. “You’re not sendin’ the kid in there alone. If he goes, sir, I’m goin’ with ‘im.”

Carter immediately protested, but Hogan raised a hand to silence both men. “Actually, that might be the best way to handle things. Newkirk, you can act as his backup in case he gets into trouble, but Andrew is still primary on this one.”

“I won’t get into trouble,” Andrew said stubbornly, eying Newkirk. “And I’m not ‘the kid.’”

“I’m still goin’ with ya,” Newkirk growled.

Andrew huffed in frustration. “Fine, but you heard the Colonel. I’m lead on this one.”

“Lead on then.” Newkirk doffed his cap and gave a mock bow. “Let’s get our gear and get going.”

Hogan followed them down to the changing room. “Don’t either of you get careless or cocky on this thing. I want you both back in one piece. Get in, blow the target and get out.”

“Yessir, Colonel,” Carter said as he pulled on a German uniform. “That’s my plan.” He saluted Hogan, then brushed past Peter on the way to the stump exit. He may have to let the corporal go with him, but he didn’t have to like it. As much as he liked Newkirk, sometimes it felt like the Englishman really did think he was nothing more than a kid who was still wet behind the ears. Andrew was determined to prove him wrong today.

Newkirk ignored the slight by Andrew and headed out himself. It wasn’t every day an opportunity to knock off one of old Scramble Brain’s right hand men came along. Peter was determined this assassination was going to go down smoothly and they were going to get out of it alive and get back to the stalag intact and unhurt. With or without Carter’s cooperation.

The job itself went off without a hitch. Andrew got in, set the bomb, and got out just in time. He was diving for cover just as everything went kablooey. What he hadn’t counted on was, Newkirk had been stopped and asked for his identification, and he was delayed getting away. As Andrew watched from his hiding place, shrapnel from the explosion ripped into Newkirk, and the force of the blast threw him several yards away.

“Dammit,” Andrew murmured. He needed to get to his friend, but he couldn’t risk getting out into the open again. Anyone could finger him as the man who set the bomb. Still, he wasn’t about to leave Peter behind. Keeping under cover as best he could, he worked his way around to where Newkirk lay unconscious. He shook his head as he looked the man over. His face and hands were a mess of cuts and bruises. Andrew figured he probably had a head injury, most likely a concussion. As for anything more, he couldn’t be sure, but internal bleeding was a distinct possibility with blast injuries.

Well, they were both wearing German uniforms and carrying impeccable German identification cards. Peter needed help that Andrew couldn’t give him, and carrying him all the way back to the Stalag wasn’t possible. Andrew figured his uniform could certainly manage to get him access to a car. He finally popped up next to Peter and waved an arm. “Medik! Medik!” There was a field hospital not far from Stalag 13, and if Andrew could commandeer an ambulance, he could get them home pretty easily.

A medic ran to help him load Peter onto a stretcher. There was no ambulance available, so they loaded him on the back of a jeep. “Ich kann ihn fahren,” Andrew told the medic, grateful for the ease with which he’d learned German. He was also glad Peter was still out because his German had a decidedly British flavor to it.

The medic was happy to let him go--he had more than enough wounded to tend. With a salute, Andrew drove off down the road. He abandoned the jeep close to the stump exit from the tunnels and lugged Peter the remaining distance. “You can wake up now and bear some of your own weight, pal,” he muttered once they were inside the cover of the forest.

Just as they reached the tunnel, Newkirk opened one eye and grinned goofily, “Yer doin’ a fine job, mate… wot ‘appened?” Before Andrew could answer, Peter was out again.

Andrew deposited Peter in front of Hogan. “Mission accomplished, sir. And next time I wanna go alone. It’s easier if I don’t hafta go haulin’ him outta danger too.”

Two weeks later Peter was back to his surly old self and complaining about pretty much everything. His take on the mission? “Andrew can go by himself. That’s the last time I volunteer for anythin’!”

The End