#fragment 38

[violinfantasy]

when sappho said ὄπταις ἄμμε and when sappho said ἔρος δ' ἐτίναξέ μοι φρένας ὠς ἄνεμος κὰτ ὄρος δρύσιν ἐμπέτων and when sappho said ἠλθες ἔγω δέ σ' ἐμαιόμαν ὂν δ' ἔψυξσς ἔμαν φρένα καιομέναν πόθωι and when sappho said ἔλθοντ' ἐξ ὀράνω πορφυρίαν περθέμενον χλάμυν and when sappho said ἀστέρων πάντων ὀ κάλλιστος and when sappho said ἄγι δὴ χέλυ δια μοι λέγε φωνάεσσα δὲ γίνεω and when sappho said ἄνθε' ἀμέργοισαω παιδ' ἄγαν ἀπάλαν and when sappho said αυταόρα ἐστεφαναπλόκην and when sappho said δαύοις ἀπάλας ἐταίρας ἐν στήθεσιν and when sappho said σταθι κἄντα φίλος καὶ τὰν ἐπ' ὄσσοις ὀμπέτασον χάριν and when sappho said μνάσεσθαί τινα φαιμι καὶ ἕτερον ἀμμέων and when sappho said ποικίλλεται μὲν γαια πολυστέφανος

[danikatze]

Thank you for tagging me @tj-dragonblade 💖

Last Song: the intro tune of the show I'm currently watching. It's stuck in my head and probably will be for another week.

Last Show/Movie: I honestly have no idea, I'm so all over the place at the moment. Wait -- the last movie may have been the Iron Giant? Hadn't seen it for about 15 years. It was good :))

Currently Watching: Tussen Kunst en Kitch lmao - I listened to a podcast where Antique Roadshow was mentioned which sounded like the American equivalent? Where people have experts look at random stuff they found or inherited usually, and find out if it's worth anything. Anyway I always loved that show back when I still watched tv and it turns out my dad is subscribed to an app that has like 13 years worth of episodes on it so I started binging it this evening hahah. It's one of those things that's just lovely to have on in the background. Also listening to The Unfinished Print, a podcast about Mokuhanga, but that's not something I can listen to non-stop. A lot of information coming at you and the sound quality isn't always great. It's real interesting though and makes me wanna carve some wood again.

Currently Reading: technically Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller, but I'm currently (again) not great at reading.

Current Obsession: imagining House of Five Leaves characters in Howl's Moving Castle lol.

[qqueenofhades]

I think the Aaron Sorkin fic people are writing about the convention to be extremely silly. It's going to be Biden. And if Biden's health takes a downturn and he feels the need to step down its going tk be Harris. This fantasy where we skip over her to whip up two random white guys(or like maaaybe Witmer) and somehow cruise to victory instead of fragmenting the party months before the election is simply not going to happen.

Look, I'm just saying, I got an email from the Biden campaign this morning where they seemed pretty darn happy with the actual (i.e. not-bloviating media) results of the debate: $38 million raised in 4 days ($30 million from individual small-dollar donors), 10K new volunteers in a week, 3x surge in campaign volunteers for battleground states, essentially no change or even a modest boost in the polls. So I think at this point, we can cautiously conclude the following things:

The debate looked bad for Biden, perhaps, but doesn't seem to have hurt him nearly as much the incredibly bad-faith BIDEN NEEDS TO STEP DOWN NOW takes being pumped out by the NYT and its other compatriots would suggest. Especially when these same media outlets have been gleefully sabotaging Biden at every turn for years already and whose fake-sanctimonious hand-wringing "for the good of the nation" pieces honestly should get them dropped into Superhell for Bad Journalists;

Biden went to Raleigh NC right after the debate and gave a fiery rally speech that was very well received. Now, I don't know why we didn't have that Biden at the debate, but it was the same night and there clearly was not any "cOgnItiVe dEcLinE" happening there (also Biden has a stutter and has for literally his entire life, and had a cold on debate night, so it was just an unfortunate confluence of factors)

There are very few actually undecided voters in this election (once again: HOW???) and those who tuned into the debate were largely already convinced of which candidate they were voting for and this didn't do much to change their minds. Just like, you know, pretty much every other debate in the history of presidential elections.

Ordinary voters, and not mainstream media outlets with BIDEN IZ BAD goggles clamped over their eyes, were able to see Trump's insane Gish gallops, lies, and full-blown dementia; this isn't going to get any better for him when he's already lost 20%-25% of GOP voters in every state primary and still is going to be sentenced in his criminal trial;

The D.C. political elite screaming about how Biden should step down (FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THE ELECTION) and leave the Democrats to start from scratch with some Star Chamber-selected candidate with no money and no incumbency record and no organization apparatus and a divided party are either fucking weapons grade morons or working secretly for Trump, because that IS in fact the best way to lose the election;

Such speculation seems to fall chiefly on Gavin Newsom, who (to his credit) has shut down any and all suggestion that he should try to step in and take the place of an incumbent who has won every state primary with 90% or more, because he's remotely sane and understands that this year is too important to fuck around with;

I've somehow never seen any suggestion that Biden should step aside for the duly elected (brown, female) Vice President, because everyone seems to think some Young Miraculous White Guy is coming and/or should step in;

All this while SCOTUS is clearly so confident of Trump getting back in that it's willing to grant him Absolute God King status pre- and post-emptively;

Yes, Biden needs to up his game before the next debate (though that's on Fox News iirc, blargh), but I think it's far enough post-debate that we can say it was bad but did not sink him, and if anything, reinforced the fact to many ordinary, non-brainwormed voters that Biden is old (which has been the number one chief theme of news coverage for four years and is no surprise to anyone) but is a decent and principled man doing a good job, while Trump is an absolute gibbering insane orange shitmonger fascist. I don't think he did himself any favors in that regard.

....anyway. The point is, do not be fucking insane people, Biden is not going to step down and frankly shouldn't, don't read the NYT (as noted, they've openly admitted to sabotaging him for personal ego reasons so I don't know why the hell anyone would listen to what they have to say about him), this is still an eminently winnable election, and let's go get those motherfucking fascists. I want Trump in jail and all of SCOTUS and the MAGAGOP fucking crying over it because they fucking suck. Let's go.

[nights-at-crystarium]

✧✦✧ "Fragments" - episode 38 ✧✦✧

A wish upon the stars.

New reader? episode list on tumblr | webtoon

[aethon-recs]

This Week in Tomarrymort (23 – 29 August 2024)

An exciting week in Tomarrymort land! 🎉 Some highlights and news:

aurora polaris (E, 217k, Voldemort wins AU with a side of amnesia!Harry) by @aglassroseneverfades finished with a 2-chapter update.

A Dangerous Game (E, 316k, Diary Tom in Harry's time) by @cybrid updated with a 9-chapter drop, and we are one chapter (only the epilogue!) away from the end.

AO3 user beetaker dropped a 135k completed fic this week alone??? (Dulce Et Decorum Mori - E, 135k, Harry Potter & Tom Riddle grow up together) It’s rarer than a blue moon that we see huge drops like this in Tomarry, so be sure not to miss it, as the whole fic posted all in this week.

The @tomarryverse Discord server is running a fest (AO3 collection link).

See below for a list of either ongoing Tomarrymort fics that I’m subscribed to or one shots that I found while browsing that were updated in the last week.

Previous Tomarrymort weeklies: 7-15 August 2024 | 15-22 August 2024

*

Tomarrymort One Shots and Completed Fic

Chapters 38 and 39 (complete) of aurora polaris by @aglassroseneverfades

Chapters 1 through 10 (complete) of Dulce Et Decorum Mori by beetaker

One Shot | Big Things by @dividawrites

One Shot | phases of the moon by @jjaegerb0mb

One Shot | fundamentals of internet safety by @cindle-writes

One Shot | New Category: Pining Homosexuals by kcg07

One Shot | The Snake Speakers by sparrowshellcat

One Shot | Dawn Over Dust by Wolf_of_Lilacs

*

Tomarrymort Ongoing Fics

Chapters 52 through 60 of A Dangerous Game by @cybrid

Chapter 6 of Ills of Murder by @shadow-of-the-eclipse

Chapter 6 of Anytime, Anywhere, Always by @moontearpensfic

Chapter 31 of Part One - The Solitude of Suffering by @iseliljathedreamer

Chapter 6 of Like we were before by tzutzutrain

Chapters 1 and 2 of Hole in the Wall by tomrddle

Chapter 5 of Saint Harry by @alenablack @chaos-bear

Chapter 32 of Terrible, But Great by @isalisewrites

Chapters 114 through 116 of Liquida Tenebris (Remastered) by @dymis

Chapter 14 of Learning to love by @l-archiduchesse

Chapter 9 of Lovely and the Lion by @skellington24

Chapter 13 of Outrunning the Villain in You by @zenyteehee

Chapter 9 of Unfamiliar Recognition by @karnage-tsurugi

Chapter 8 of A Snake in the Grass by @teaandsweaters9

Chapter 3 of the silence in between by ermineah

Chapter 19 of What In Me Is Dark, Illumine by @telelli-writes

Chapter 1 of In My Lover's Room (i am free) by @bunnieblair

Chapter 7  of we made universes out of bitten lips and broken hands by @boyneptunee

Chapter 2 of quid pro quo by marshall_1300

Chapter 6 of His condition by @ciacconne

Chapter 16 of Date Ideas for the Linguistically Inclined by Antique_Mango

Chapter 4 of These Fragments We've Shored by @rowena-rain

Chapter 1 of friend of the devil (a friend of mine) by @shyinsunlight

Chapter 3 of Cane Sugar by @blogalinda @cindle-writes @reggieblk @telectronique

Chapter 1 of before the day is done by @midsummersins

Chapter 3 of midnight train by @girl-with-goats

Chapter 5 of God is a Wizard by @onehitpleb

Chapter 4 of In a world where you and I dance by thelxiepeia

Chapter 19 of Occultation by TimaeusKosmou

*

[gloomy--angel]

Decrypting the fragmented messages from Martyn‘s PiratesSMP finale (I‘m back with lore brainrot yay!)

———

In his stream there‘s 6 messages he gets with only parts revealed. The rest looks like this with the strange symbols always changing.

(example)

So here’s all the timestamps for the messages & what I’ve been able to get from them. I can‘t ensure they are correct. (The text in italics is stuff that I‘m still unsure about & the rows of 5s are the words I haven‘t been able to decrypt. I‘ll explain why that is below.)

- - 1:15:21 - -

Martyn!?

- - 1:38:48 - -

That has to be you? What took you so long to get out here?

- - 1:46:38 - - (message confirmed by martyn)

There isn‘t much time left! You‘ll be alright so long as you hurry.

- - 1:47:43 - -

C.H.E.S.T have taken an invention/infection and tweaked it. The world got locked in. Iris 5555 failsafe 555 di5 t5e5 5i555.

Edit: You could get locked in. is another solution I found. I think this might fit better.

- - 1:59:47 - -

The portal is close. We can‘t risk them seeing it. 55 5555 a distraction so you can slip away.

- - 2:13:05 - -

Be swift, keep calm & remember your training. Ill only be able to keep it open n for a few more minutes then I‘d have to quarantine this world.

———

I‘ll try my best to explain how I got to these results now (I hope this explanation makes sense to someone lol)

Firstly I looked at all these messages, screen recorded them and then did some research on how to even make them look like this. I found a tutorial and during this video I noticed that not every fragmented letters looks the same. They are based on the width of the original text. An i is a very slim letter so the fragmented (or as it is apparently called, obfuscated) text would be slim as well. The opposite goes for a wide letter like w and d which will result in a wide fragmented character.

With this info and the example message Martyn revealed I was able to test and confirm this. Every fragmented symbol has a set width, reaching from 1 to 5 pixels. The fragmented characters constantly change, but they always stay the same size. So all I had to do now was skip through my recordings of the messages and find frames where the I can count the pixels of every missing character and write the number down. It took very long and I had to check several times because I kept making mistakes and miscounting. But I got these results:

- Message 2: 5553 has 35 55 you! 5553 3554 you 55 2555 to 553 553 here?

- Message 4: C.H.E.S.T 5555 2545n 55 155e53155 555 3w5545d 131 555 5o525 553 25c455 151 3515 5555 failsafe 555 di5 35e5 515551 

- Message 5: 555  555352 15 52o551  55  55523 r154 t555  555155  131 55 5555 5 51535a53155 55 555 555 5l15 away.

- Message 6: 55 s51431 k555 5525 5 55555555 55u5 355151551 3ll 5525 55 5525  35 4555 i3 5555 n 455 5 few 5555 min5355 5he5 325 5555 35 quarantine 3515 55525111

(didn’t do 1 & 3 because 1 was kinda obvious and 3 was already revealed. )

Now I know the amount of missing characters & how many pixels wide they are. In the minecraft text font almost all characters are five pixels wide, as you see above. But there are a few outliers:

4 pixels: lowercase k & f

3 pixels: lowercase t and uppercase i

2 pixels: lowercase L and apostrophes (there is also a 1 pixel apostrophe but it doesn‘t seem like it‘s used here)

1 pixel: lower i as well as dots, exclamation marks and commas

With this I was able to read some of the missing letters. The rest was guessing. Or I guess using wordle solvers and other websites to find fitting words. That’s how I got to the results above.

———

Additional notes on the messages:

— I don‘t know if the word in message 4 for is invention or infection. I think both would work. Infection could mean some kind of virus?

— Iris is the only word I could find that would fit with a capital i (and make sense in the context of pirates) but I haven‘t been able to form a logical sentence with it. I‘m assuming it is a capital letter because it‘s a new sentence. But it could technically be a t. (if anyone has ideas on this pls tell me..)

— Don‘t know what the missing words in message 5 are. I don‘t think they would change the meaning greatly though. (make doesn‘t work bc k is 4 pixels)

— The italics words in message 6 I‘m still a bit unsure about. There is some other word groups that could fit, but none of them made much sense in the whole sentence. I do think it’s possible that I‘m wrong there.

— Edit, bc I forgot to add this. But I don‘t know why there is a singular n in message 6. It is either a strange way to shorten and which would not match the rest of the writing style at all or it is a typo which I don‘t think is that unlikely tbh. I think the way the message would have to be written (with commands I assume) would make it easy to make a mistake there, so maybe it is just the n from open.

— Edit 2: Missing part in message 5 might be "We need a distraction …" (suggestion from @.ilexdiapason)

———

I am honestly very surprised that I got this far. Not what I was expecting when I started this. Obviously these messages weren‘t intended to be decrypted like his — which is why I don‘t think I will ever figure out the full messages — but I wanted to try anyway. Martyn has said he‘ll reveal them at some point so I guess I‘ll find out how correct I am. I definitely had my fun with this, also big thanks to the two people (once and percival) in Martyns discord that were replying to my messages while I was doing this lol <3

[dragonagitator]

Timeline of major events during Gale Dekarios's lifetime

Here is my attempt to compile a timeline of major events that took place during Gale's lifetime, including his personal history, happenings in his hometown of Waterdeep, and major world events that would have affected him personally or affected everyone in Faerun. I hope this is useful in writing your Gale-centric fanfics!

The time period covered assumes that Gale is 40 years old during the events of BG3 and thus was born in the year 1452 DR. AFAIK there's no canon age given for Gale, but most fanons seem to peg him as being between 35 and 45, so I went with the middle of that range. Please feel free to adjust his estimated age for each event up or down depending on how old you think he is in BG3, e.g., if you think he's 38 then subtract 2 years, if you think he's 42 then add 2 years, etc.

Some of the more interesting implications of this timeline revolve around how much Mystra's powers and presence in the world significantly changed during Gale's lifetime. When Gale was a child or teen and first attracted the attention of Mystra, she was weak, not in contact with her Chosen, and assumed to be dead by most of the world. Gale was ~27 years old and already her lover by the time a "much diminished" Mystra called to Elminster for help, and Gale was ~35 years old when Mystra fully regained her powers as the Goddess of Magic. She seems to have dumped him shortly thereafter.

Detailed timeline and sources under the cut. It's long.

Most of the text that isn't specifically about Gale is copypasted from the Forgotten Realms wiki. See bottom for links. I haven't read all the novels and modules referenced by the wiki for these events yet and thus will likely need to revise this timeline as I work my way through those.

Birth to age ~27: until 1479 DR worldwide: Mystra was generally considered to be "dead"/missing during Gale's childhood and early adulthood because Mystra/Midnight was "murdered" by Cyric in 1385 DR (67 years before Gale was born).

However, Forgotten Realms canon of Mystra's timeline clashes with what Gale tells us about the timeline of his relationship with her:

Gale: "Once upon a time, not quite that long ago, there lived a wizard in a tower. The wizard was what one might call a prodigy, who from an early age could not only control the Weave, but compose it, much like a musician or a poet. Such was my skill that it earned me the attention of the mother of magic herself. The Lady of Mysteries. The goddess Mystra. She revealed herself to me and she became my teacher. In time, she became my muse, and later, even my lover." PC: "What did Mystra's attention feel like?" Gale: "Love. Perhaps it was not quite love, but you see, the wizard was but a very young man. It was most certainly love to him."

Speaking as a middle-aged person myself, while most 40-year-olds would consider 27 to be "young," the modifier of "very" suggests he that was much younger than 27 when he first became Mystra's lover. I'm older than the oldest estimates for Gale's age and I still wouldn't characterize myself at age 27 as being "but a very young woman." That description seems more fitting for someone in their late teens / early 20s.

Also, if he was "but a very young man" when they became lovers, then that means he was even younger (a child or teenager) when she first revealed herself to him and started teaching him magic.

So Gale's relationship with Mystra must have started during the period that the rest of the world believed she was dead or missing. Mystra did still have some sort of disembodied "presence" during this period, so maybe she was simply not able or interested in speaking to Elminster or her other previously established Chosen. Or perhaps she was fragmented, and Gale's relationship began with one of those fragments? Part of her "presence" ended up possessing a bear, but I'm assuming not the part that Gale was fucking.

Birth to age ~30: until 1482 DR worldwide: Gale was born and grew up during the "Era of Upheaval," which was known for widespread wild magic and dead magic zones, a lot of changes in the pantheon of deities, and a lot of wars and political conflicts amongst mortals.

Age ~16: c. 1468 DR in Waterdeep: "Dagult Neverember, the richest man in the city, became Open Lord."

Age ~27: 1479 DR in Waterdeep: "By this year, the Field Ward had been established, and Skullport was no longer inhabited."

Age ~27: 1479 DR in Waterdeep: "The 8th walking statue, the Griffon, appeared in Waterdeep and to defend Ahghairon's Tower. It eventually settled down near the Peaktop Aerie on Mount Waterdeep and eventually became a landmark of the city."

Age ~27: 1479 DR in western Cormyr [roughly 1050 miles / 1690 km southeast of Waterdeep]: "While recuperating in a cabin in the King's Forest, Elminster felt Mystra's presence calling to him. He found her much diminished, possessing the body of a bear that had guarded a cache of items Mystra's still-mortal form had collected. She asked her most trusted servant to find new candidates to become Chosen and to recruit Cormyr's War Wizards. Only a few weeks later, having been restored to his full powers as a Chosen by absorbing the silver fire of the dying Symrustar Auglamyr and then that of the Simbul and Manshoon, Elminster returned to Mystra (in agony from absorbing too much of it) and returned much of it to the Lady of Mysteries, restoring much of her power and divinity. This event became known as Mystra's Return."

I'm assuming that Elminster's acquaintance with Gale must have begun sometime after this because otherwise you'd think Gale would have mentioned "oh yeah she's not actually dead, we've been banging for a while now."

Mystra reestablishing contact Elminster, regaining some of her power, and the rest of the world learning that she was alive is pretty huge and therefore must have been a significant turning point in her relationship with Gale as well.

I'm also assuming that Gale did not become one of Mystra's official Chosen until after this, since it seems like Mystra's Chosen weren't active while she was laying low and letting the world think she was dead?

Ages ~30 to ~35: 1482 DR to 1487 DR worldwide: "The Second Sundering, also known as the Sundering of Toril and Abeir, was a great catastrophic event in the history of the worlds of Abeir and Toril."

Age ~32: 1484 DR worldwide: "Most of the gods created many Chosen among mortals, trying to gather as much power as possible to be as high in divine ranking as they could before Ao completed the new Tablets of Fate, sealing their status and portfolio. People started to claim they had been 'chosen' by the gods and granted special powers, some apparently for 'divine purposes' while others had no idea why."

It's possible that Gale was recruited to be a Chosen of Mystra by Elminster per Mystra's instructions to Elminster to find candidates, but given that the gods were also choosing people directly during this period and that Mystra had a preexisting relationship with Gale, she may have also Chosen him directly herself. Poor Elminster out there trying to find the best candidates and then Mystra surprises him by adding her boyfriend to the roster. Gale being a nepotism hire despite having otherwise been qualified would be pretty funny.

Age ~34: 1486 DR in Waterdeep: "Neverwinter and Waterdeep began to clear the rubble in their cities that had built up over a century of neglect."

Hey, remember when Gale said that he used to be able to levitate an entire tower back when he was an archmage? Maybe this is when he was doing stuff like that.

Age ~35: 1487 DR worldwide: "Stars reportedly fell from the sky, gods long thought dead walked the land and armies led by Chosen clashed everywhere. Major geological instability resulted in numerous earthquakes and volcanoes, as the worlds of Abeir and Toril were separated once again, and areas once consumed by large chasms were restored to their pre-Spellplague status. Ships arrived on the mainland continent from Evermeet, Halruaa, Lantan, and Nimbral—all realms previously thought lost to Toril."

Age ~35: 1487 DR in Candledeep [roughly 650 miles / 1050 km south of Waterdeep] : "In an attempt to fully restore the goddess Mystra and the Weave, Elminster Aumar began his search for Khelben Arunsun's writings on the Weave, heading towards Candlekeep. Laeral and Alustriel Silverhand had also been hiding within the library: the two sisters' duty was to prepare their own destruction, so that no one could use their power to gain control over the Weave." ... "The energies of the destroyed Wards were absorbed by the Shadow King, who then left for Myth Drannor, followed by the three Chosen of Mystra."

Although Gale was likely a Chosen of Mystra by this point, he wasn't one of the three mentioned here.

Age ~35: 1487 DR in Myth Drannor [roughly 1350 miles / 2170 km east of Waterdeep]: "Meanwhile in Myth Drannor, Larloch, the Netherese, and the Chosen of Mystra (allied with the elves) clashed in a catastrophic battle." ... "As Elminster defeated Tanthul in a mage duel, the Netherese enclave crashed atop Myth Drannor. Elminster himself was saved by Mystra, who gained full control over the Weave once more, stopping Shar from turning it into a new Shadow Weave."

Age ~35: 1487 DR worldwide: "As 1487 DR came to a close, the Second Sundering ended with the full return of Mystra and the Weave, the separation of the worlds Abeir and Toril."

Gale was not a character in the novel about these events so any personal involvement would have been minor, but I'm including them in his timeline because he would have been impacted by the "full return" of Mystra to the world. I imagine he would have experienced many of the same issues that spouses of someone just elected to a high-level office go through.

Gale's lack of personal involvement in Mystra's restoration despite being her Chosen AND her lover is kinda weird, which makes me wonder if things were already starting to sour between them? I really wish that I could lock Ed Greenwood and Jan Van Dosselaer in a room together until they came up with a coherent explanation for what the fuck Gale was up to while all this was going down.

Age ~35 to ~39: 1487 DR to 1491 DR: Sometime during this period must have been when Mystra dumped Gale and he went looking for a lost bit of Weave to win her back but got a Netherese orb lodged in his chest instead.

Mystra was newly back to her full power as the Goddess of Magic and laying down the law, and Gale didn't take that very well:

Gale: "We enjoyed each other's company - body, mind and soul. But even so, I desired more. You see, no matter how powerful a wizard we mortals can become, we never scratch more than the surface of the Weave. Mystra keeps us in check. There are boundaries she doesn't let us cross. Yet every time I was with her, I stood on the precipice, gazing into the wonders that lay beyond. I sought to cross her boundaries." PC: "How exactly did you try to cross those boundaries?" Gale: "I tried to convince her. I pouted, I pleaded, I swore my ambition was only to serve her better. But she only smiled and told me to be contented. As inconceivable as it seems to me now, I shared a bed with a goddess and yet I wasn't satisfied. So I sought to prove myself worthy to her instead."

Gale's description of what happened after she dumped him sounds like it took place over a multi-year period, since I'm assuming that he had to spend some time searching for the "tome of gateways":

Gale: "The goddess spurned the mortal. The veils were drawn once more, and the wizard was left behind heartbroken." ... "Poor wizard. Silly wizard too, for he wouldn't take no for an answer. Like so many of the heartbroken, he did something infinitely foolish. One has to think big if one seeks to win back a goddess. So the wizard thought big." PC: "Define big." Gale: "Here goes: Once upon a time, very long ago, a mighty lord lived in a tower. A flying tower to be precise. I'll save his story for another time, but the gist of it is that he sought to usurp the goddess of magic so that he could become a god himself. He almost managed, but not quite, and his entire empire - Netheril - came crashing down around him as he turned to stone. The magic unleashed that day was phenomenal, roiling like the prime chaos that outdates creation. A fragment of it was caught and sealed away in a book. No ordinary book, mind you: a tome of gateways that contained within it a bubble of Astral Plane. It was a fragment of primal Weave locked out of time - locked away from Mystra herself. 'What if', the silly wizard thought, 'What if after all this time, I could return this lost part of herself to the goddess?'" PC: "What was the answer to his question?" Gale: "The answer was to try, and the outcome was to fail."

Not sure how much Gale was around for the next few events, since he might have been gallivanting around the Astral Plane looking for the tome instead of spending time in Waterdeep. But one assumes he'd notice the physical changes to the city whenever he returned, and that he'd hear about local news from his mother and Tara, so he would certainly be aware that these things happened.

Age ~37: 1489 DR in Waterdeep: "In response to increasing dragon and cultist activity, the Council of Waterdeep was formed, bringing together representatives of realms from all across the Sword Coast. The threat of the Cult of the Dragon was driven home when Masked Lord Arthagast Ulbrinter was assassinated, though it inspired more resolve than fear. In the midst of these events, Open Lord Dagult Neverember was ousted by a vote of the Lords of Waterdeep, replaced by Laeral Silverhand. Although Waterdeep was largely spared due to the dragonward, the Field Ward was still burned to ashes by dragon attacks, displacing huge numbers of people."

Age ~38: 1490 DR in Waterdeep: "The cloud giant castle of Count Nimbolo and Countess Mulara appeared out of clouds and hovered over Waterdeep for a while, triggering mass panic. Heralds sent out by Lady Laeral Silverhand tried to calm citizens and promise that there was no danger. In fact, the giants wanted to research Waterdeep's history and meet its leaders, as they search for traces of the ancient giant realm of Ostoria."

Age ~39: 1491 DR in the Astral Plane (I think?): Gale finds the "tome of gateways" and becomes afflicted with the Netherese orb:

Narrator: "You see through Gale's eyes, staring down the corridors of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It's teeth, it's claws, it's unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever-hungry…"

Age ~39: 1491 DR in Waterdeep: Gale begins a year-long isolation in his tower in Waterdeep and eventually stops communicating with anyone except Tara. Not sure exactly when his isolation began relative to the other events of this year, so he may or may not have been personally affected by or even aware of some of the Waterdeep events below.

Age ~39: 1491 DR in Waterdeep: "The returned Eilistraee appeared under the walls of Waterdeep causing an influx in the amount of her followers in the city. They eventually sought out Remallia Haventree and asked her for a holy forest-glade in the ruins of the Field Ward. By Mirtul, the housing crisis in Waterdeep had worsened as a mysterious sickness killed or drove out all of the inhabitants of Downshadow, the Field Ward remained desolated by dragonfire, and Mistshore was burned down by agents of Masked Lord Braethan Cazondur, rendering all three unofficial wards uninhabitable."

Age ~39: 1491 DR in Waterdeep: "Fear threatened to overtake Waterdeep once again as the cloud giant castle of Burruld hovered over the ocean near the city. After the Blackstaff Vajra Safahr panicked and threatened the giants, Open Lord Laeral Silverhand calmed the situation, negotiated with Burruld, and learned that their purpose was to search for the lost daughter of King Skyvald, Princess Irie."

Age ~39: 1491 DR in Waterdeep: "In mid-Mirtul, numerous Masked Lords and other people were gruesomely assassinated as part of Cazondur's conspiracy to seize control of the city. Open Lord Laeral Silverhand, assisted by Elminster and Mirt, worked to maintain order in the city while investigating the murders. While attempting to apprehend Cazondur, Laeral herself was killed and disintegrated by a surprisingly simple trap involving falling rocks, but recovered with Elminster's assistance. An exceedingly dramatic showdown at the Palace of Waterdeep between Laeral and Cazondur in front of assembled servants, nobles and guildmasters resulted in Cazondur's death at the hands of an unexpected third party, Xanathar agents Belvarra Bowmantle and Suthool. Including Cazondur, a total of thirteen Masked Lords and scores of others were slain, and several more Lords publicly unmasked."

Please note that our best guess for the location of Gale's tower puts it couple blocks away from Mirt's Mansion and Gale has mentioned being a patron of the Yawning Portal Tavern, so it seems likely that Gale and Mirt would have been acquainted. If Gale was already in isolation by the time all this went down, perhaps Elminster and Mirt tried dropping by Gale's tower at some point but were repelled by the wards that Gale had set up to keep everyone away? Gale seemed very certain that no one cared about him enough to check on him but I wonder how much of that was the depression talking.

Age ~39: 1491 DR in Waterdeep: "A delegation from the city of Mirabar disappeared while en route to the city, having been waylaid by cultists of the Elder Elemental Eye."

Age ~40: 1492 DR in Waterdeep: Gale abruptly departs his tower and doesn't tell anyone where he's going per Tara's line in his origin, "You left the tower in such a hurry, and you didn't leave an address."

Age ~40: 1492 DR in Yartar [roughly 310 miles / 500 km north of Waterdeep as the crow flies]: Gale is kidnapped by the nautiloid. As explained in a previous post, I believe that he was headed north to find an unpopulated area to die and explode in.

Sources:

FR wiki: Gale Dekarios

FR wiki: Era of Upheaval

FR wiki: Second Sundering

FR wiki: Mystra

FR wiki: Mystra (Midnight)

FR wiki: History of Waterdeep

FR wiki: Yartar

BG3 datamined dialogue transcripts

Map of Faerun

Sad headcanons posted to Tumblr by various people over the past few months that I unfortunately didn't save links to. If you saw something in here that you've posted about then I probably got the idea from you. Please feel free to drop links in the comments so people can read the original post(s) about it, thanks!

[ms-demeanor]

Okay one thing I will say for the python class so far is that it's at least structured in a way that if you take the quiz immediately after completing the lab and you have the lab assignment open in another window, you can complete the quiz but running the little programs you've just written.

So this was the assignment:

and the quiz was all "What would this fragment of python code output?": myVal = ord("&") if myVal == 38: print("Milkshake")

This is MUCH better than the C# class where the code fragments were theoretical and the only code we touched was minor editing of click events. Like in this case we're learning the concepts and making a little machine to do the quiz instead of watching someone make a little machine and being asked about the concepts that run it. This feels much more hands-on since there's no fiddle-fucking around with dragging and dropping buttons. If I fuck it up I can *see and fix* what I've fucked up.

And while all of the assignments thus far have been exactly like the C# class in format (lectures by the department head with labs by the department head and quizzes and tests written by the department head) APPARENTLY at some point this professor is going to require that we make a video lesson as part of an exam and that at least requires *some* display of learning beyond "have you figured out that you can view the correct answers before retaking the quizzes an unlimited number of times?".

So I'm cautiously optimistic and also in this class I have completed 20 labs in two weeks whereas in the C# class I think I got through seven labs before I gave up because they had no impact on whether I was passing the class or understanding the material. (I have eight more to get through by tomorrow; week one was 17 labs. This feels a lot more like I'm getting things done.)

[whencyclopedia]

Aethelred the Unready

Aethelred II, also known as Aethelred the Unready, was king of the English from 978-1013 and 1014-1016. His long reign was initially stable, but Viking attacks on England escalated from the 990s onward. Viking incursions eventually grew so serious that England struggled to mount effective resistance, and Aethelred was briefly overthrown by the Danish king Swein Forkbeard in 1013.

Aethelred reclaimed his kingdom following Swein’s death in early 1014, and the “second reign” of Aethelred saw more effective military campaigns against the Vikings but also high levels of disunity and suspicion at Aethelred’s court. The king died in 1016 and passed along the Viking struggle to his son Edmund II. Aethelred reigned for nearly 38 years – longer than any other king of England before the Norman Conquest.

Aethelred’s infamous nickname, the Unready, does not actually refer to him being unprepared. It is an Old English pun that mocks Aethelred’s given name, which meant “Noble Counsel.” The Old English word unraed meant “bad counsel” and was a way to note the irony that a king named “Noble Counsel” struggled to maintain the loyalty of the English nobility. As the English language evolved, unraed was corrupted into unready, even though Aethelred the Ill-Advised would be a more accurate translation.

Path to the Throne & Early Reign

Aethelred was born sometime between 966 and 968 in a recently united England. He was the son of King Edgar (r. 959-975) and Queen Aelfthryth. Edgar was arguably the first king to see England remain one stable, coherent kingdom for an extended length of time, as his three predecessors had seen England fragment back into smaller kingdoms at one time or another. However, when Edgar died in 975, England once more found itself bitterly divided and possibly on the brink of splintering again. Edgar had died with three surviving children, each from a different mother. The English nobles managed to preserve the unity of their kingdom by eventually agreeing that the eldest child, the teenage Edward, should be the next king. Evidently not everyone was pleased with this arrangement, and Edward was assassinated in 978, just three years into his reign.

After Edward’s murder, Aethelred was the only surviving son of Edgar, ascending to the throne at somewhere between ten and twelve years old. Aethelred’s mother Aelfthryth and his influential tutor, Bishop Aethelwold, were among the most prominent figures at the young king’s court. When Bishop Aethelwold died in 984, King Aethelred began to exert more influence. Aethelred expelled his mother from court and began surrounding himself with new appointees rather than relying on the old guard. He married Aelfgifu of York around this time as well, and they soon had several children, including the future King Edmund II.

A few small Viking raids were launched against England in the 980s, and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that these fleets often amounted to no more than a handful of ships. Local English forces sometimes took care of them on their own, such as when a group of Vikings was defeated in Devon, according to The Life of St. Oswald. Sometimes the Vikings disappeared for years at a time, such as from 983 to 987, when no attacks were recorded at all. In spite of isolated raids, Aethelred ruled over a stable and wealthy kingdom in the 980s, free to focus on assembling his own core of advisors and asserting his newfound authority.

Viking Age Trade Routes in North-West Europe

Brianann MacAmhlaidh (CC BY-SA)

Continue reading...

[blueiscoool]

Haul of Historic Coins Sells For $176,000 at Auction

A British man who found a massive cache of ancient Roman gold and silver coins while hunting with a metal detector has a lot more modern currency in his pocket after the treasure was auctioned off for $176,000.

George Ridgway, a trained archaeologist, investigated an unusual marking in a recently harvested field in Suffolk, England in September 2019, according to a news release from Noonans Auctions. He knew that a Roman road had once run close to the field, and thought there might be something to find.

Hours scouring the area turned up nothing, he said, but when he shifted his position by just 30 yards, he found two Roman brooches that dated back to the 1st century. Shortly after, he found a silver coin issued by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. Another three hours of searching turned up 160 more silver coins and some pottery fragments.

"I knew I had made an important archaeological discovery and called my dad to guard the site overnight while we waited for an archaeological team to arrive and excavate the site," the 34-year-old said. "It took three months to recover the hoard."

During that excavation, researchers found even more coins, including gold pieces. In total, 748 coins, dated from as early as 206 B.C., were recovered. Alice Cullen, a coin specialist at the auction house, said it was one of the largest hoards of Iron Age and Roman coins found in the United Kingdom. The coins may have been buried by a long-serving soldier in Rome's XX Legion, who were once stationed in what would later be known as Colchester, England, Cullen said. There was a "fierce battle" in the area around 47 A.D., Cullen said, and a victim of the conflict may have been the person who buried the coins.

Sixty-three of the coins were claimed by the British Museum and the Colchester & Ipswich Museum, to be displayed in their collections, and the rest were auctioned. While the auction house expected the sale to garner about $100,000, it actually brought in more than $176,000, according to CBS News partner the BBC.

A coin issued by Gaius Caesar - also known as Caligula - decorated with a portrait of the Empress Agrippina and dated to A.D. 37-38 sold for about $9,295, according to the BBC. Another coin, issued by Claudius and dated to A.D. 41-42, sold for about $6,640.

Ridgway said the proceeds of the sale will be split between himself and the landowner of the site where the coins were found. He said that such a find has been like a dream come true.

"I was inspired by my childhood hero Indiana Jones to start history hunting when I was 4 years old, and I dreamed of finding a Roman hoard since my grandmother bought me a metal detector for my 12th birthday," Ridgway said. "It was an awe-inspiring moment when I realised that I had found one!"

By Kerry Breen.

[lunarw0rks]

Hi!!! I just wanna start by saying I love your writing so much. I always look forward to seeing what you share next!

Can I request a little something about reader who grew up never really having their birthday celebrated/they always downplay it. Then here comes Soap who loves nothing more than to celebrate his loves ones and reader is touched and basically almost sobs at how he genuinely enjoys making their day special🥺

This is totally not a self-indulgent ask whatsoever. If you can get to this, that'd be sweet but if not that's ok too! Have a great day💗

warning(s); sfw, fluff, hurt/comfort, pining? but still platonic by the end, military!reader, gn!reader, no use of y/n word count: 1.6k // not proofread

TRADITIONS | SOAP MACTAVISH

birthday celebrations were never on your radar, and especially not after choosing such a rugged career.

there often wasn't time for streamers and light conversation; it was anything but those things. throughout your childhood, there weren't momentous parties or cheery wishes thrown your way. it was... not much of a celebration at all.

after you grew out of your innocence, the sting of it disappeared over time. or you learned to ignore it. either way, you never expected parties, gifts, or anything alike.

it was better this way; you'd repeat to yourself.

yet, when passing a park and seeing a child's entire kin gathered to celebrate the milestone—you have that same cramp in your chest as if you hadn't aged at all.

today was akin to any other; exhausting. long hours of PT and drills, paired with new material to study, courtesy of Price. the busier the better, though, because it was less chance of your captain mentioning the big day, even in passing.

thankfully, he hadn't, nor did the rest of them.

it was the peaceful hours before official lights out, when every soldier retreated to their quarters and occupied themselves with something, or simply slept early. you sat down on the thin cot with a beat sigh, unzipping your tight boots and setting them aside—procrastinating shining them by morning.

through all the uncertainty, there's one thing you're sure of—a steamy shower. the hot beads of water cleanse you of the dirt and grime of today and its meaning.

you figure that once you get into bed and tomorrow rolls around, it'll be another birthday stifled and forgotten.

one moment, you're sitting on the edge and applying lotion to your dry and cracked hands, and next, you're startled by a knock at the door. you gazed at the digital clock on your nightstand;

10:38 PM

at this hour, what could it possibly be? with this task force, you'd been conditioned to expect anything, at any time—and that did not inspire confidence at the moment.

"it's open," you replied reluctantly, not wanting to get the doorknob greasy with lotion remnants. with a few struggling grunts, the door finally opened and closed.

his hairstyle, as recognizable as ever. "there ya are." he said with enthusiasm, in the likeness of an over-excited detective that solved a tough case.

"c'mere for a minute," he curled his fingers. despite his cheeky smile, you indulge his request. slipping off the edge, you approach him and supply only a perplexed look.

you were quickly running out of guesses, "Mactavish, what is—"

an explosion; tiny fragments falling like ash all around your body. some landed in your hair, others on your shoulders, and most on the leaden cement floor of the barracks.

you opened your eyes after they squinted from the startle. you grabbed the dainty rain, looking down and seeing rainbow confetti pieces. soap's palm was open, and he was actively chuckling at your shocked expression.

"hello, you in there? happy birthday?" he says, as a question, because you haven't had much of a reaction. to him, it probably looked like you hated the surprise.

a rush of emotions pumped through you; disbelief, gloom, and overbearing all—consolation.

warmth spread over your chest and cheeks, and you're suddenly overcome with all the feelings at once. you fumbled through a sentence, "oh, you didn't have to— really, Soap, it's... wait, how did you do the...?"

"—the confetti?" soap sneers, as if he'd been waiting for you to mention his party trick. "trick o' the palm, i can't tell ye more; it's classified."

for a few moments, you stare at one another. his beam is genuine, but yours is unsure and borderline awkward. when you're literally smacked in the face with surprise, everything feels unrefined and alien. especially birthdays.

"don't be daft, had to help you celebrate. besides, you didn't say anythin' today." lightly, he smacked your shoulder, knocking the silence from your throat.

"I just don't see the point, I guess," you reply, and soften your expression to make it known that you still appreciate the kind gesture. following, you shook off some of the confetti from your shoulders as if ridding your body of the festivities.

soap furrows his brows with genuine confusion, "in what? confetti or my presence?"

"in birthdays." you assert, a stark contrast to his playful nature. "never really celebrated one before."

his shock was authentic and obvious, pulled together with slightly agape lips, "you can't be serious— never?" you nodded, sticking to your story, because it wasn't a story at all. it was your truth. "don't you want gifts? all the attention? what about the cake?"

"it's not from a lack of trying, MacTavish. you can't exactly... want something you've never had." you scoff, looking the eager sergeant up and down.

he does the same, and his heart sinks when he senses no lies. you really aren't lying, and you really are this indifferent about your own birthday.

to him, it's completely unheard of. birthdays were some of his core memories, his own and his family back home. how could you have been deprived of that for so long, and be so... collected?

"doesn't matter where you came from, or why; you deserve a celebration."

his merriment wasn't posed as a question anymore, and you didn't want it to be either. part of you—so deep down you hadn't felt it right away—wanted to be celebrated on your special day.

all of it caught up with you at once, and without any strength to conceal it, tears brimming at the corners of your eyes. a glimpse of your damaged and long-deprived inner child, presented through a grown soldier's body.

he brought you closer, a supportive hand on the nape of your neck as you clung to him tightly. "thank you." you muttered, chin resting on his shoulder.

"aye, but it's nothing." soap pulled you back, forcing you to stare at him head on. a thumb reached up and wiped the salty tears, then smoothed over your cheek. "y'know what, I know what we've got t' do." he breathes, voice dropping to a whisper, as if concealing his idea from the world.

your face scrunched in confusion. "we?"

as if ignoring your question, he kept rambling, "you have holiday coming up. request time off, and i'll take you all the way home with me."

"all the way home?" you queried, unsure of what kind of holiday to be picture. with him, it could be anything under the blazing sun.

he slowed down his speech and affirmed, "all the way home." it dawned on you what he meant, but nothing sour arose from that idea.

"Nana, she'll put on one hell of a party for you, trust me." finally, his rambles had calmed, awaiting your reaction. it was near impossible to refuse his puppyish demeanor, the one he shifted into when he wanted something the most.

"cake?" you questioned, surprising him with almost no argument. the nonchalance had to look uncanny, considering your cheeks were still stained with streams.

he grinned with satisfaction. "aye, 'course there's cake. can't forget the streamers, and best of all—the MacTavish rugrats, and brood, in one place."

well, now that sounded more like a nightmare; your mind filled with the image of a hundred little mohawks reaping havoc on your birthday party. but in the middle of the chaos would be you and soap; the only mildly convincing part of this scheme.

"i can't expect your whole family to gather and plan a party for someone they've never met. let alone m—"

"well, actually, that's the kicker," he interjected, unveiling a new layer to his little birthday scheme. one he could've been planning for god knows how long. "Nan is having a get-together around that time, it won't be a fuss f' her."

you would be nearly stunned if it weren't for a few pressing questions. what he'd said early hit you like a ton of bricks, and now it was full-on suspicion. "wait a minute, johnny. how did you know i had holiday time?"

it all seemed too much of a coincidence. and that's because, it wasn't.

for a man trained to endure the worst kinds of torture, he cracked under the pressure almost instantly.

"may have... done some digging in Cap's office. that's how i figured out your birthday." he figured it better to rip off the bandaid preemptively than have deflected now and have you throwing him out the airplane window.

you gasped slightly, "christ, is privacy illegal in this place? actually, that probably is illegal, MacTavish, i could have you—"

"—are ye goin' with me or not?" soap interrupted.

it wasn't like you said no. just like it wasn't the first time he'd mentioned you to his family. but that was a skeleton to uncover on another day, and hopefully not during the plane ride.

you outstretched a hand, "if you're paying? a deal is a deal."

"see? wasn't so hard. besides, i know i'm hard to deny." he ran an arrogant hand through his hair, instead of shaking your hand proper.

instead of complaining, you knew just how to press his buttons. "come to think of it, johnny." you tilted your head, reading to have the last laugh.

"you have any embarrassing juvenile stories? or better yet, does Nana have any baby pictures i might like to see?" you continued, watching his haughtiness fizzle instantly.

he took a few steps back, cheeks rosy, "you know what— in two hours that birthday of yours will be over, and you know what happens then? first dibs on my knuckles, soldier."

that tells you the answer was yes.

on second thought, this was going to be a very fun excursion.

˗ˏˋ divider cred. - cafekitsune ˎˊ˗

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Future Chapter Titles

I'm on a roll with planning today so have the never before seen UFF chapter title list!

Chapter 1: Happily Ever After

Chapter 2: Other Friends

Chapter 3: Your New Best Friend

Chapter 4: Who We Are

Chapter 5: No Matter What

Chapter 6: Independent Together

Chapter 7: Drift Away

Chapter 8: True Kinda Love

Chapter 9: Change

Chapter 10: Found

Chapter 11: Reset

Chapter 12: Reboot

Chapter 13: Little Homeschool

Chapter 14: Crushed

Chapter 15: Interdimensional Pen Pals

Chapter 16: Guidance

Chapter 17: Sunshine Gem

Chapter 18: Rose Buds

Chapter 19: Fashion Maven

Chapter 20: Pines Productions

Chapter 21: Volleyball

Chapter 22: Stepping Stone

Chapter 23: Bluebird

Chapter 24: Redemption Squad

Chapter 25: Snow Day

Chapter 26: Trifusion Traditions

Chapter 27: Why So Blue

Chapter 28: Little Graduation

Chapter 29: Artistically Challenged

Chapter 30: Prickly Pair

Chapter 31: Equilateral

Chapter 32: Bismuth Casual

Chapter 33: Upheaval

Chapter 34: Never Alone

Chapter 35: Never Forever

Chapter 36: Never Together

Chapter 37: Growing Pains

Chapter 38: Mr. Universe

Chapter 39: The Stan With a Plan

Chapter 40: Night Shift

Chapter 41: Fragments

Chapter 42: Homeworld Bound

Chapter 43: Everything's Fine

Chapter 44: I Am My Monster

Epilogue: The Future

[sylenth-l]

In the destiny 2: the final shape reveal trailer I think we can see Shiro-4 in the video but he looks different. You can maybe see him on the screenshot even before you watch the video, he’s behind Ikora at her left shoulder the only hunter in the background. You can see the sand screenshot at 1:38 in the video but his armour is different, you can kinda make out his exo face, and you can vaguely see him holding his sidearm up. But I might be wrong and this is probably just me hoping to see him. What do you think?

Oh, oh, that's interesting! If I got it right, this is the Hunter you're speaking of (side by side with our canary boy for comparison):

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I see nothing even a little similar to Shiro here... It's not an Exo face, it's a helmet (Cryptid 4.6 from Destiny 1 to be precise), also the gun he's holding doesn't look like Trespasser, I'm pretty sure it's either the Last Word or some other hand cannon of the same shape (First Curse, baby, come back):

Now, that helmet and cloak sure do look familiar, where have I seen it, hmm... Oh right, Ghost Fragment: The Last Word has an illustration with it! Let's see...

SHIN MALPHUR APPEARS IN THE FINAL SHAPE CONFIRMED

...

Ok, ok, sorry, I'm joking 😄 Actually this Hunter from the trailer is almost exact copy of the Hunter from D1's Hunter grimoire card. There he is:

Considering the trailer features a bunch of no-name Guardians in different armor sets, this one is a little nostalgic Easter egg from Bungie, or something like that. Meaning we'll get more armor from D1 in D2 probably.

[sarah-yyy]

what: modern cdrama // completed // 38 eps, roughly 35 mins each where: wetv (also on the app) // viki why: desert supernatural adventure with ni ni and bai yu, this had "sarah is going to lose it over this show" written all over it right from the start tbh, zero percent of people are surprised i enjoyed it. the characters are all well done and ni ni and bygg were great in their roles, the worldbuilding for the society inside yumen was interesting, and the cgi is well done for the genre (i mean...this is basing it off cdrama cgi standards okay!!)

meet my girl ye liuxi:

GOD... xi-jie... 😘 where do we even start

brains: 10 brawns: 100 memory: -300

xi-jie woke up in the middle of the desert, hung on a tree, with no idea who she is, v fragmented memories of the past, and a satchel with some v vague clues. she spends about a year working odd jobs in a town nearby to survive and to work out a plan to find out about her past.

her investigations lead her to chang dong:

dong-ge!! 😍🤤

brains: 10 brawns: 10 memory: 10 (but like 95% of it is tragic)

dong-ge is a desert guide, used to be one of the best (and certainly one of the most famous) in the region until he led an expedition (which consisted of his fiancée and their friends) into the desert and all eighteen of them except him died during a freak sandstorm. major survivor guilt on this boy. ultimate goal is to find the remains of his friends so that their families can move on in peace.

anyway, xi-jie ropes dong-ge into taking her into the desert. it's heavily implied that pre-memory lost her knows where the remains of his dead fiancée is, so the deal is: help me find my memory, and i'll help you find your friends.

they travel to the Yumen Pass together with three others - fei tang (who tags along for an opportunity to steal this priceless artefact he saw on xi-jie), and xiaoliu & gao shen (xiaoliu's godfather is sponsoring the trip for ~reasons, gao shen is her bodyguard with a crush on her), but soon realise that the pass leads to a parallel world where xi-jie is originally from.

in that world, there are spiritual beasts and monsters and all that jazz. the parallel world is governed by three ruling families who fight against a rebel organisation the Scorpion Eye. the gang navigates through the parallel world trying to solve the mystery behind xi-jie's past and the Yumen Pass prophecy. that's p much the gist of it.

the cons: this show moves a little slowly at times, but once you get invested, everything is all good. i'd say the first 2-4 eps needed a bit of getting into, but it does pick up. meng ziyi is in this as well, but i was a bit :/ about her performance - her character needed a bit more nuance and would've benefitted from a better portrayal than what mzy delivered. not something that really put me off the show, tho!!

the pros: ye liuxi is such an excellent character!! she is super fight fight fight and has Minimal impulse control. if a fight can solve problems, that's the way she's going. she starts off a bit "stick close, because if y'all die in the desert i'm not going to care" but just...grows so invested in everyone's wellbeing. chang dong is a nice contrast to ye liuxi - he's level-headed and is more focused on plans and trying to get everyone in and out of the Pass alive. the chemistry between them is great, like i didn't think i would be into this for the romance but GOD DAMN look at my dongxi couple

ni ni and bai yu aside, the rest of the gang were great also - they provided a lot of laughs to cut through the seriousness of the show, and the growing friendship between them was really fun to watch.

the plot was decent!! you can sort of guess the direction it's going, but it doesn't stop it from being a super fun show to watch. i binged like the last 10 eps in one sitting. i also really did appreciate the show giving me the finale i wanted: everything wraps up nicely (*stares at mlc*), there're no loose ends for me to lose my shit over (*stares at my journey to you*).

all in all, a p strong 9/10 for me!! would enjoy if y'all are into those desert adventure cdramas. would enjoy if y'all are bygg fans.

[aethon-recs]

This Week in Tomarrymort (20 – 27 September 2024)

A lot of really amazing updates this week — I have so much reading to catch up on this weekend! Thank you to the talented, hard-working authors in this ship for their lovely contributions and amazing updates for us to feast on!

As with last week, please feel free to add some extra context to your fic update in the reblog, like a little bit about the chapter(s) updated. For this format of weekly list, there’s no space to add a summary or extra info about the fics (or else it’d be like 8 pages long), so I’ll rely on the authors to share a bit more about their updates, if you’re so inclined! 🤍

A recap of the author notes from last week:

These Fragments We've Shored by @rowena-rain (M, 23k, WIP) “This week on These Fragments We've Shored: Harry mental-gymnastics his way into trying the Stone again. You know, just in case it brings back someone besides Voldemort this time.”  The Dinner by @moontearpensfic (T, 3k, complete) “A crack treated seriously soulmark AU! Voldemort takes second-year Harry to meet his parents--Grindeldore a;lskjfasdf. Awkward family dynamics ensue over the course of dinner and dessert.”  Saint Harry by @alenablack @chaos-bear (E, 26k, WIP) “The moment Harry is struck by the killing curse, it’s not death that awaits him, but ascension. A story of faith, obsession, and the burden of divinity.” Dream a little dream (of me) by @cenedrariva (E, 13k, WIP) “Starts off with newly resurrected Voldemort suffering frequent migraines as a result of Harry's nightmares. He quickly discovers the best way to prevent the migraines is to turn the nightmares into good dreams, and in the process realises Harry is a fascinating and entertaining person. In an ideal world Voldemort would have made him a favoured Death Eater. Such a waste that Harry's destined to die!” Liquida Tenebris (Remastered) by @dymis (E, 499k, WIP) “Harry falls in love with Scarcrux (Standard). They share control of one body and are so smitten it's practically sickening; however ||SPOILERS|| the Dark Lord also carries Harry's sentient Horcrux (Not standard). Harrycrux--Crux for short--is the antithesis of Scarcrux, and I love him so much, your honour; he's an uncontrollable animal with dubious life goals.”

*

Tomarrymort Ongoing Fics and One Shots

Chapter 58 of No Glory by @obsidianpen

Chapter 13 of the stars, my destination by @milkandmoon-ao3

Chapters 12 and 13 of Sits the wind in that quarter by @mosiva

Chapter 8 of Ills of Murder by @shadow-of-the-eclipse

Chapter 22 of Paved With the Best Intentions by @perhaps-sunlight

Chapter 21 of What In Me Is Dark, Illumine by @telelli-writes

Chapters 124 and 125 of Liquida Tenebris (Remastered) by @dymis

Chapter 13 of Just Business by @holaolla1

Chapters 33 through 38 of Terrible, But Great by @isalisewrites

Chapter 35 of Part One - The Solitude of Suffering by @iseliljathedreamer

Chapter 3 of Forbidden Darkness by @neurowriter14

Chapters 9 and 10 of Saint Harry by @alenablack @chaos-bear

Chapter 1 of unfinished stories by @betweendisorders

Chapter 24 of would that i'd loved (long ago) by @sprst1tion

Chapter 2 of War Prize by @duplicitywrites @moontearpensfic 

Chapter 4 of Fetters of the Damned by @sc0rpiflow3r

Chapter 2 of Memories of a Killer by @chemfreak89

Chapter 18 of Learning to love by @l-archiduchesse

Part 3 of I need you to live well by @onehitpleb

Chapter 5 of Hole in the Wall by tomrddle

Chapter 9 of A Snake in the Grass by @teaandsweaters9

Chapter 3 of Dream a little dream (of me) by @cenedrariva

Chapter 1 of Touch of Death by @moontearpensfic

Chapter 3 of doublethink by confunded

Chapter 6 of midnight train by @girl-with-goats

One Shot | The Challenge by Disrespectful_Chinchilla

*

[women-of-malevolent]

All references to women in Part 29 - The Train

I hate John and Arthur's ~quirky~ new dynamic here /queasy

below the cut: a departure from my usual style, a long rant about the shift in tone from season to season

John is stuck inside Arthur's body and clearly feeling trapped in there. Arthur keeps dismissing John as yammering and nagging, John keeps mocking Arthur's happiness and relaxation. Finally we get to the root of whatever this argument is: John wants to see a film, he can't take himself to, and Arthur won't take him. Which. That sucks. You're the asshole, Arthur. John can't take himself, and he was just tortured for a thousand years and then helped you kill Uncle even though he really didn't want to. Jesus christ arthur pisses me off this season and I hate the quirky music trying to convince me his shit is cute :/

John is also gross here, mocking Arthur for eating, which is uncomfortably vicious. Arthur is really skinny, this comes up a lot, and he has a lot of trauma around food. In addition to the constant little jabs and corrections...

I think it's uncomfortable and bummery for John, a trying-to-do-good fragment of King In Yellow, be reduced to a petulant nag at this point in the story. Why now? Why does John now need to be taken down a peg, after being tortured for a thousand years by KIY and Kayne and then being made complicit in murder with Arthur? This sucks!

It's so sad, this line where he's like, "After all we've been through, you treat me like a passenger! I feel degraded and hurt!" And the music is like, silly and quirky, and Arthur is harried and ignoring John and talking to all the other people he's encountering in the world. HUMOR! Literally, who in the audience wanted this??? (no one did, this scene exists to shake off the dirty jarthur shippers who really liked when these two guys talked about love and finding each other in hell a couple episodes ago. This is a PLATONIC story, and platonic love means treating your friends like they're annoying nags for begging you to take them to a movie, something they can't do without you) (to spell it out I think canon!jarthur is not queerplatonic. It's not romantic. It's not anything; it's just here, every week, because that way there's a show. Arthur treats John like he's an annoying burden, and John is literally trapped inside of Arthur.)

I thought the weird John stuff was going to lead to a commentary or themes about misogyny. Like I thought they were intentionally (dysfunctional) husband and wife coded here and structural misogyny as a product of inertia, very real survival and safety concerns, and individual human fallibility was going to be explored. Now I doubt it

Arthur asks John if he's allowed to talk openly in the traincar. John says there's a woman who's been here the whole time, listening, and she looks offended. It's me I'm the woman (jk no I'm the cackling harpy they released in Part 38)

Just a random thought. I wonder how easy or hard it would be for a woman (or trans man, or enby) to get into the Freemasons 🤔 or any other all-male group, when they have to be invited and indoctrinated in. I think it'd probably be very hard. Like it was designed to make it impossible.

Hey but yknow it's okay Arthur can get inside, he does know a member! "Faroe's mother. Err, Bella. Her father was a Freemason."

Arthur tells Percival, a stranger he meets on the train, a story to calm Percival's nerves. A man named Mat Rullen trudges through the wilderness of the frozen North, at the mercy of a disregarding universe. His mother had died, his wife had died, the men he loved had died. He was working towards something... and it's revealed to be a cabin, one he'd shared with a friend years back. And the friend is there! The fire is warm. His friend asks, why are you here? Mat says, he killed a man, so he needed to leave. Charlie tells him, he can't stay, Charlie is here with a woman. Mat pleads with Charlie, but Charlie says no, Mat must leave. The end (he's interrupted and can't continue)

Eughhhhhhh ew John gets excited about having daring chases, and Arthur says "Well, you are my eyes, best be training them to think like me." He's not Arthur's eyes, he's John, and he's providing Arthur with exhausting accessibility labor that Arthur relies on.