#highest quality steel

[theatikstore]

TheAtik Store - Knives

All the knives are manufactured to last for many years of daily use. The blades are made of hardened steel and polished by hand to a mirror-like finish. To that wonderful process, we add the all-wood handles. The handle for each knife is created according to the shape and purpose of the knife. The wood we use is carefully selected and designed to match the blade line flow. Together, the metal and the wood form a perfect and harmonious item. The knives are only for personal use in the purpose of supporting your needs in a peaceful and loving way. Please keep them out of reach of children and enjoy. We are thankful for your loving support.

[jacobphillips70]

What is Damascus Steel? And What Makes It Perfect for Knife Making?

In this blog, we share what is Damascus steel blade. Damascus steel is a good quality steel with and wavy pattern design use for knife macking. It is processed by mixing two kinds of steel: low-carbon steel and high-carbon steel. Here you can also see different types of Damascus steel names. For more information contact us today!

[miniatureparadiseexpert]

#e-commerce #eccomerce #eccomerce #Honda #Civic/RSX K20 Side Winder Equal Length #T3 #Turbo #Manifold It Fits Honda Civic / RSX K20 Side Winder Equal Length T3 Turbo Manifold is engineered to develop the highest level of power. Designed with equal length runners from entry to exit for maximum flow to result in quicker spooling time. Made from high-quality T304 stainless steel with TIG brass style welds to ensure durability and develop the highest level of power. Makes a great upgrade for your Honda K-Series (K20) motor. Features: High-quality T304 stainless steel construction, 3.1mm thick wall TIG brass-style welds for durability against cracking 48mm runners for maximum flow results in quicker spooling time Engineered to be bolt-on replacement for easy installation Perfect for tuners who want to upgrade their turbocharge or increase spooling time on OE turbocharger

[deadsetobsessions]

Tim Drake, Danny’s human identity in this universe, is a boy trapped in an empty manor with absentee parents a low socialization.

Danny Phantom, on the other hand, is Gotham City himself. He could fly, he could interact, he could be the heart of his city like he needs to be. From the lowest of the lows to the highest of the highs, Danny loved the people that were his. Well, most of them. Child molesters often found themselves crossing paths with a vengeful, mostly recovered Robin.

He is the city, he is Gotham. And with his status came more changes, ones he welcomes more readily that the changes that came with his title of Ghost King.

Being a city couldn’t change him as much as it would have, had he gained the title before becoming King. But now, his shadows are dark, curling around his shoulders and curling away what little light he allowed into his city. His skin, having once glittered green with stars and galaxies and black holes, clouds over just a bit. It gives him a misty quality. His hands become sharper, stronger. Gargoyle-like. He wonders what he looked like to Batman, holding his broken son cradled safely to himself. He’s crueler, now, but that’s easily balanced by his years of being a vigilante himself.

He loves these changes. They are loved in a way changing into Dead Danny Phantom and Ghost King Danny Phantom will never be loved. And even though his human features are different in a way he never had to deal with as Danny Fenton, because it was his body that he died in, Danny finds himself enjoying the distinction. And he enjoys when they combine, because in the end, they’re just facets of who he is, now.

Gotham flies through his city, and enjoys it as a whole. A bigger picture.

Tim Drake walks through his city, and enjoys it as an individual. The smaller picture.

Being Gotham reminds him of what he had to protect as a whole. A duty he gladly bears.

Being Tim reminds him of the people he’s meant to help, the stories he doesn’t get as Danny. A connection he gladly encouraged.

Gotham is power. He is duty, he is fierce love. But for the good of the whole.

Tim is kindness. He is choice, he is gentle devotion. But for the good of the individual.

He’s both.

Danny. Danny Phantom.

Phantom glides through the smog.

The ebb and flow of people is his life blood, the thrumming of life and death and fear and hate and love and everything the city is sung through him and Danny sung back with everything he had. Danny is the gargoyles perched high, watching everything. He’s the stone curves of the sewers, sheltering his rats and mutant murderous crocodile man. The is no love comparable to a city’s mutant rats and their sewers. Ancients, he loves his city.

It would be nice, Danny thinks wryly, if they’d love me enough to stop blowing up buildings.

The sting of destruction to his city would hurt much more, had he not also been King. Regardless, every time there’s an explosion or general large scale property damage, he feels a stab of mild pain. Catching sight of his Bats, Danny stays invisible while following them. He wills the shadows to cradle them, to hide them further. He softens the stone, the mortar, the steel, just a hint. Their footsteps, silent and aided by the city himself. The wind steal away the noise of the grappling guns, so when Danny’s favorite vigilante duo (a fascination he shared with original text!Tim) broke into the building, not a single soul aside them are aware of the intrusion.

Batman skulks across the support beams, Robin following with an anticipatory grin. Danny floats, invisible, undetectable, besides them.

“C’mon!” A goon grunts beneath them. Danny tilts his head. A… Dresden Aberthy. Wow. That’s one hell of a name.

“Hurry it up! Boss said Batman’s going to get here soon!” Another goon- Robbert- said, waving around a gun like a moron at the terrified hostages. Danny could tell half of them were part of a tour bus, mostly because the other half were his Gothamites, bored and unfairly used to this kind of thing. The tourists… He’s fond of them, having kept track of their progress through his city. He doesn’t care for intruders on his haunt, but tourists like to appreciate his city and its doubtlessly Sam-approved architecture. Most of them. Rude tourists get pigeon shit on their heads and food stolen by his lovely rats.

He’ll have to make sure none of the bullets hit the tourists. He likes this group, even if he has enough awareness to question their sanity in choosing his city to sightsee. He knows it’s a mess. It’s Danny’s mess though, so whatever.

——

All said and done, Batman whoops ass and Robin rescues the hostages just fine. Danny grins proudly as Robin knees a guy in the crotch and punches a lady’s throat in order to incapacitate them.

After they tied the goons up, and interrogated them for Two Face’s plans- explode a quarter of Gotham to distract the Bats from his diabolical plan to murder half of Gotham’s judges and lawyers that have been going after him and his people- the duo retreats to the rooftop.

“Didja think Gotham saw that?”

Batman goes to reply, but Danny beats him to it, coming back to visibility with a wind touched laugh.

“I did, little Robin.” Danny smiles, fangs and shadows on display as his vigilantes startles and whips around to face him. “You did well.”

Robin- Jason!- gapes at him.

“I see you’ve recovered, little bird.”

“Gotham! Oh. Wow. People always said Gotham was a lady, but you’re a guy!”

“It was a Lady,” Danny confirmed. “It’s complicated, little bird.”

“So, you’re really… you’re really Gotham? The city?”

Danny looks at Robin with the weight of the city behind his gaze.

“I think you know the answer to that. But yes, I am your city.”

“Constantine,” Batman starts. “He said that city spirits only appear in times of grave danger.”

There is deference in his words. Batman is Batman for Gotham, after all. Danny just wishes he could… well, be friendlier with his knights. May this is a good place to start.

Are you in danger? What threats do we need to handle? How can I help? How can I protect? Please, let me help.

His Knight always felt more than he ever says. Danny smiles.

“Was Robin’s wellbeing not in grave danger?” Danny floats closer. “I am your city. You protect me, it is only right that I protect you, no?”

“Thank you for saving me, Gotham!” Robin’s grin is a touch more sincere than usual.

“Of course, Robin. You are loved.”

“Is there… a reason you’ve shown yourself today? Gotham.”

Danny chuckles, understanding the awkwardness that was Batman addressing someone with deference.

“I wanted to tell you that you did well tonight. Those tourists weren’t harmed in the slightest. Well done.” Danny gave Robin a playful but sincere thumbs up.

“They weren’t a match for us!”

“No, they weren’t.” Danny ruffles Robin’s hair, noticing how still he grew at it. “Robin was too fast for them. That maneuver at the end was masterfully executed.”

Batman clears his throat and Danny resists the urge to laugh at him. It would be mean.

“Thank you, for the… praise.”

Fuck it. He’s played well behaved for too long.

“Yes. I read in child rearing books that positive reinforcement is necessary for healthy development. You did well, Batman.”

Despite trolling Batman- and somehow holding a straight (and hopefully wise face)- he meant every word.

Allowing a small smile to slip at Robin’s chortles and Batman’s quiet sputtering, Danny moves on.

“Where is Nightwing, Batman?”

“He’s still on a mission...”

“If it is awkward to refer to me as Gotham, Phantom will do.”

Batman dips his head once. “In space, with the Teen Titans.”

“I see. Please tell him I request his presence,” Danny barely waits for Batman’s oddly acquiescing agreement before summoning a pigeon.

“Follow her,” Danny instructs the duo. “She’ll lead you to the places with explosives. I will guide you through her, to Harvey Dent.”

Danny winces as another explosion rings out.

“Your face is cracking!” Robin exclaimed, worried. He surged forward to stare at the hairline cracks appearing on Danny’s jaw.

“That would be the explosives. Any damage to the city will be shown on me.”

“Well take care of it.” Batman growled, shoulders straightening once more into an imposing symbol.

“Yeah!”

“I know you will. Stay safe.” Danny disappears, spreading his awareness and directing his Birds to the explosives that will go off the fastest.

Batman and Robin share a glance and leaps off the roof, ready to save their city once more.

——

Tim Drake wanders around Crime Alley, and meets a blonde nine year old trying to throw hands at her absentee Riddler knockoff of a dad. He dodges the brick en route to his face and kicks the guy’s knees out.

“You okay?”

The girl blinks. She stares at her dad, groaning on the dirty street of crime alley, and flicks her gaze back up to Tim, who waits casually.

“Yep. I’m Stephanie. We’re gonna be friends now!”

She grins at him, a baby tooth missing, and Danny melts.

“Heck yeah. Tim!” He introduces himself for the first time in a long time.

Maybe with Stephanie around, he’ll finally use the name Tim? Maybe he’ll get used to it, finally!

[sweetdreamz2]

Twisted Sanctuary

Synopsis: once a distant acquaintance from your life outside, your worlds collided when you inadvertently uncovered his dark dealings. Kai takes drastic measures to ensure not only your silence but your safety.

Pairing: yandere! kai chisaki x f! reader

word count: 1.5k

content: power imbalance, elements of distress, forced feeding, kidnapped reader, coercion

The dim light from the small barred window barely illuminated the sparse room. The scent of antiseptic was overpowering, clinging to every surface, and every sterile, white wall reminded you of the man who kept you here. Overhaul, or Kai, as he preferred you called him, was nothing if not obsessed with cleanliness and order, and this room reflected his twisted sense of control.

You sat on the cot, legs pulled to your chest, mind racing as the now-familiar echo of footsteps approached. It always sent a surge of anxiety through you, your pulse pounding as you prepared yourself for whatever mood he might be in today. 

Would he be cold and detached, or would you catch that unsettling flicker of affection in his gaze, the one that made you shudder? 

The door clicked open with a soft finality, and there he was, standing in the doorway. Kai was dressed impeccably, his suit perfectly pressed, his gloved hands clean and unblemished. The plague mask obscured his face, but you knew that behind it, his eyes were calculating, watching your every move.

"Good evening," he greeted, his voice smooth and measured. It carried an artificial politeness that you hated. He stepped into the room, his movements deliberate as he set down a tray of food on the small table besides your bed.

"I've brought you dinner. Your favorite."

You didn’t respond right away. Instead, you kept your eyes fixed on a crack in the ceiling, jaw clenched as you fought the surge of helplessness rising within you. Memories of how you had ended up here flashed in your mind, fresh and unrelenting. You had first met Kai through a mutual connection in the underground—an ally who had vouched for you as a reliable healer and someone who could aid the Shie Hassaikai in exchange for protection. At the time, your association had been nothing more than a temporary agreement, a way to navigate the dangerous world of heroes and villains unscathed.

But it had all changed one fateful night. You had witnessed something you shouldn’t have—Kai using his quirk in the most brutal, inhumane way, tearing a man apart in a fit of rage. You’d frozen in place, your breath caught in your throat, and your horrified gaze had met his. It wasn’t just that you had seen him commit such a violent act; it was that he had seen the fear and revulsion in your eyes, emotions he couldn’t tolerate.

It all happened so fast and before you knew it, you were taken, stripped of your freedom and held captive in this sterile prison. He had told you it was for your own good, that the world was dangerous and filthy, that only he could protect you now. His obsession had grown from that moment, twisted and all-consuming.

"I’m not hungry," you muttered now, though your stomach growled in protest.

Kai tilted his head slightly, a sigh escaping him. "You need to eat," he insisted, voice soft yet laced with an undeniable command. "I’ve taken care to make sure the ingredients are of the highest quality. Nothing harmful, nothing contaminated."

Your gaze flickered to the tray, the aroma of the food tempting, but you steeled yourself. You would rather starve than give him the satisfaction of seeing you obey. 

He crossed his arms, his posture tense. He was getting impatient. 

"I’m not going to leave until you eat," he declared. "You’ll only make this harder on yourself."

A long, tense silence followed, each second stretching out painfully. You knew he was watching you closely, his eyes scrutinizing every twitch, every movement. The oppressive weight of his presence made it difficult to breathe, but you kept your jaw clenched, determined to stand your ground.

Minutes ticked by. He didn’t move, didn’t waver, just stood there with that unnerving stillness that made your skin crawl. Finally, he exhaled, a note of irritation creeping into his voice. "Stubborn as always," he muttered.

You swallowed, fear prickling at the back of your neck, but you kept your expression defiant. 

"You can’t force me to eat. You can’t control everything about me,” you challenged even though your voice trembled near the end. 

Kai's patience snapped. He strode forward, closing the distance between you in a few swift steps. Before you could react, his gloved hand shot out, gripping your wrist tightly and dragging you to the edge of the cot. You gasped, heart pounding, as he pulled you close.

"You think I won’t?" he said, voice dangerously calm. His grip on your wrist wasn’t painful, but it was firm, unyielding. 

"You underestimate me. I’ve gone to great lengths to keep you safe and healthy, and I won’t let your stubbornness put you in danger."

Your breath quickened as he reached for the tray of food. He picked up a spoon, his movements precise, as though he were handling a delicate procedure. Without warning, he brought the spoonful of food toward your lips.

You recoiled instinctively, eyes wide with panic. "No! Stop it—let me go!"

But Kai wasn’t deterred. He pressed the spoon closer, his free hand moving to grip your jaw, holding you in place. You struggled against his grip, but it was futile. He was far stronger than you.

“Open your mouth. Don’t make this harder than it has to be, little one.”

You shook your head, tears pricking at your eyes as you continued to resist.

Kai's patience frayed further. "I’m trying to take care of you," he said, voice low and intense. "Why must you always fight me?"

With a swift, practiced motion, he forced the spoon into your mouth, ignoring your protests. You tasted the food—a blend of flavors that was somehow comforting and revolting at the same time. Instinctively, you clenched your jaw, refusing to swallow.

“Don’t be difficult,” he said, voice eerily calm. “You’re only hurting yourself.”

He pushed the spoon deeper, and you had no choice but to taste it. “Swallow. Do it, he ordered, eyes boring into yours.

You shook your head violently, tears spilling down your cheeks.

Kai’s expression darkened, and he pressed the spoon against your lips again. "You think you can win this battle of wills? You’re only prolonging your suffering," he said, voice dropping to a chilling whisper. “Trust me, I will win.”

The food slipped inside as you struggled to hold it back. But he wasn’t giving up; he continued to press the spoon against you, forcing you to swallow.

"Just give in, little one. You’re only making it harder for yourself."

“Let me go!” you gasped, the food swirling in your mouth, your throat tightening as you fought against it.

"That’s not going to happen," he said, his voice unyielding. "You’re too important to me. I’ll keep you safe, no matter what it takes."

With every spoonful he forced into your mouth, a mix of anger and humiliation burned inside you. Each time you tried to turn away, he was right there, his grip unrelenting as he made sure you complied.

“You’re not in charge here,” he reminded you, his voice eerily calm despite the turmoil that simmered beneath the surface. “You need me. I’m the only one who can protect you from this filthy world.”

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, you had no choice but to swallow the last spoonful, tears streaming down your face. He watched you with a mix of satisfaction and something darker, his eyes glinting with a fervor that made your skin crawl.

"There," Kai said, setting the spoon down and releasing your jaw, though he lingered close enough that you could still feel the weight of his presence. "That wasn’t so hard, was it? You need to eat to stay strong."

You turned your face away from him, the anger and humiliation swirling inside you like a storm. “You’ll never break me, Kai,” you whispered, voice trembling with defiance.

Kai’s expression softened for a moment, but there was something chilling about the way he smiled. “Oh, but I already have,” he replied, a dark edge in his tone. “You just don’t know it yet. But don’t worry, in time, you’ll learn to appreciate my care.”

As he stepped back, the door creaking open, you felt the weight of your circumstances more heavily than ever. The silence that followed his departure was almost deafening, pressing down on you as you struggled to catch your breath. The taste of the food he forced down your throat lingered, a bitter reminder of the depths of his control, as though it seeped into every fiber of your being.

You knew he wasn’t just determined to keep you here; he was fixated on breaking down every barrier, every ounce of defiance you held on to. The horrifying realization settled like a stone in your chest—Kai’s obsession wasn’t merely about keeping you safe. It was about possessing you, about making you bend, until every inch of your existence belonged solely to him.

The thought made you sick. You pulled your knees to your chest, clutching them tightly as if you could somehow shield yourself from the reality closing in around you. But deep down, the truth was sinking in, slowly and painfully—no matter how hard you fought, he would always come back, always push further, testing every boundary until there was nothing left of your will to resist.

[oliversrarebooks]

39. Fitz's Rose

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June 1905

TW: mind control, body control, captivity, human auction

There had been many a time when Fitz had stood in the wings of a stage, thinking that his life depended on his next performance going well. Usually, it was because he was flat broke and depended on getting more bookings in order to eat another day.

It was never quite so literal as it was tonight.

Fitz felt sick to his stomach as he watched men and women being led onto the stage, placed under the spotlight, and sold off to a crowd of jovial vampires. While he could occasionally hear a muffled whimper, most of the humans were half-asleep or dazed, placed deep under spells of submission. Miss Lily had offered the same to him, to spare him his nerves, and he'd declined. He wanted to see. He didn't want to waste away the last few moments of his life before he was sold like a choice cut of meat.

For the thousandth time he reassured himself that he was going to be fine. He had the highest quality blood in the auction, according to Miss Lily, which was why he was being sold last. And he had quite thoroughly charmed Mr. Alexander, Miss Lily's rich and handsome friend. There was no question in Fitz's mind that Mr. Alexander would be bidding on him after seeing that look of desperation. He seemed the sort that would be an easy pushover to a pretty face, too. 

It would be fine. He'd been in far worse situations than this. He couldn't think of any at the moment, but...

"It's time," said Miss Lily, tugging at his golden chain. He'd been so lost in his self-reassurance that he hadn't noticed the number of people backstage dwindling to nothing.

He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. If he were to go out here, this is how he would want it to happen. On stage, with an audience. His element.

"And now the final lot of the evening!" said the auctioneer. "We don't see Triple-A graded blood in this auction house every year, folks, so get those pocketbooks ready. A beautiful thrall, cleverly trained by our very own Miss Lily to be entertaining as well as completely obedient -- Lot Seven, Fitzwilliam de Hastings!"

Fitz held his head high and followed Miss Lily onto the stage, stopping dead center in the spotlight, where he belonged.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and he could see the well-dressed vampires filling the hall, auction paddles sitting in their laps, waiting to bid on him. He gave an ingratiating smile and struck a pose that was calculated to be halfway between ridiculous and charming, swirling around in his red velvet ball gown and fetchingly exposing his neck.

"Dinner and a show all in one -- I'm an absolute steal, folks," he said.

There were laughs from the audience, a few sympathetic looks, and some grimaces of disgust -- good. He was aiming to endear himself only to the vampires most likely to treat him well.

Speaking of which, he spotted Mr. Alexander in the third row from the front, a terrifyingly intense look on his face.

Hook, line, and sinker.

"The bidding will start at four thousand for this excellent thrall. Do I hear four thousand? Yes, from the gentleman in the red tie. Do I hear four thousand five hundred..."

The bids began to fly, and Fitz's head was spinning as he tried to keep track of who was bidding on him. Most were vampires who had visited his little showcase room -- he couldn't seem to remember which were better prospects than the others, now. But he did notice that Mr. Alexander wasn't bidding on him, his lips tight and eyes sharp as the price rose.

"Six thousand five hundred from the woman in the pink dress. Can I get seven thousand? This is the last thrall on offer, folks, the highest quality of blood -- yes, seven thousand from our own Lady Evelyn -- "

Seven thousand. A sum that his father easily made and spent in a day. Was that all his blood was worth? Was that all his life was worth, in the end? 

"Eight thousand, do I hear eight thousand? Eight thousand? Going once, going twice --"

"Eight thousand."

Fitz was surprised to find himself breathing a sigh of relief as Mr. Alexander finally bid. It must be Miss Lily's influence, but this particular vampire had stirred something in him beyond his newly inconvenient desire for fangs in his neck. He was handsome, that much was true, but that was only a small part of it. It was the way he'd responded to Fitz's hamfisted attempts at flirting, the way he'd made Fitz feel as he moved in close as if to feed. 

Out of anyone in this sordid crowd, Mr. Alexander seemed like someone who might appreciate Fitz, and that was the best hope he had right now as the bids began to move again.

"And that's ten thousand from Mr. Alexander! Going once --"

Their eyes met, and Fitz didn't think it was his imagination that Mr. Alexander seemed as relieved as he did.

"Going twice --"

"Eleven thousand, if you please, auctioneer."

The voice was strange, inhuman, like a musical instrument come to life, and everyone in the audience turned to look at the back of the house, Fitz included.

There was a tall man standing behind the rows of chairs, thin and stiff as a flagpole. His skin was so pale as to resemble a marble statue, and his silvery hair flowed down his back in a tight tail. He was wearing a suit of all black, accessorized only with a gold pocket watch at his waist.

Fitz heard his chain rustle as Miss Lily grasped it tight, and when he glanced at her, her expression was pure fear. Mr. Alexander was turned around and only half-visible, but he looked in even worse shape.

The auctioneer cleared his throat. "Yes, sir. Eleven thousand to the esteemed lord. Going once --"

What was happening? Fitz could hardly swallow down his panic. Why wasn't the auctioneer asking for more bidding? Why didn't Mr. Alexander raise his paddle? Why did every vampire look frozen to the spot?

"Going twice. Sold."

The gavel came down, and Fitz had been purchased, purchased by a vampire with a frankly terrifying demeanor. No easy life with a rich pushover awaited him. The room was swaying. He couldn't throw up, not on stage, not on his ball gown. And he couldn't cry --

"Showtime, Fitz," whispered Miss Lily, and Fitz mercifully felt his mind shift away from his grasp. "Don't panic. Be calm and polite, and for pity's sake, be obedient."

"Sire!" Mr. Alexander finally roused from his stupor, nearly knocking over his chair as he stood up. "Sire, please -- "

"Hush, Alexander," said the strange vampire with the musical voice. "Wait upon me in the parlor until I have completed my purchase. We will discuss your shortcomings then."

Mr. Alexander looked dead inside as he sat back down. "Yes, Sire."

Sire? What did that mean? His father? This vampire clearly had some kind of hold on Mr. Alexander that Fitz didn't understand.

Fitz's new owner approached the stage, and not a single person moved a muscle or tried to stop him. From an unseen pocket, he produced a single, flawless red rose, and presented it to Fitz.

"For your performance, Fitzwilliam de Hastings," he said.

And Fitz felt his body move.

With motions that weren't his own, he took the rose. He curtsied low, gracefully pulling the folds of his dress outwards, head bowed in deference. "Thank you, Master," said the voice coming from his throat, meek and soft and well-behaved.

That wasn't him.

That wasn't him.

Sound and movement didn't return to the room until the lord had taken his exit out in the back of the house.

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Please join me next week for Fitz's terror.

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[saturdaysky]

So… the God of Curiosity! How does he relate to the Lords of the Golden Hill? Is he invited in, is he seen as an interloper or usurper? Absolutely adore these two!

What a great question! I spent the morning refreshing myself on the Lords of the Golden Hills, which is the 5e gnomish pantheon, if anyone's unfamiliar. They are more active in the lives of their followers than other gods.

Also, sorry, this is where I reveal my superpower of being unable to write short answers to anything.

what's a god to a mayhew

Mayhew's parents are historians who take the name "the Forgotten Folk" as a personal insult, so he was weaned on myths and histories of the Lords of the Golden Hills. The Lords set Mayhew's expectations for what gods should be: invested and actively working to make things better.

(couldn't resist drawing mayhew and mamahew)

In game, Mayhew ran into many awful situations that he thinks good gods could have fixed, but didn't. Refugees slaughtered for sport, children locked in Cazador's dungeons for eternity, families enslaved and used as hostages, children murdered by Gortash's Steel Watch, you name it. These people surely prayed, but gods did not save them. Do gods who do nothing deserve worship?

Not to Mayhew. He was FULLY on board with Gale's astral boat scene logic of "we will be gods but BETTER because we CARE and DO STUFF." Mayhew is not a long-term thinker, especially if people are hurting right now, right in front of him. He sees only trees, never forests.

He views himself and Gale as being on their own side. All of his post-ascension decisions are based on them being an inseparable pair shaking up the system. He's not interested in being part of Lords of the Golden Hills.

what's a mayhew to a god

The Lords probably have mixed feelings about him. They would not invite him into their brotherhood. However, his goals often align with theirs, and as long as Mayhew didn't rock their boat too much, they'd be tenuous allies. More about Godhew and other gods under the cut!

Mayhew himself has many Glittergoldian qualities about him -- he's an elusive tale-teller and a sneak, and if you pried his coping mechanism sense of humor from him, he'd probably die on the spot -- so I think he'd get on with Garl Glittergold and Baervan Wildwanderer. Mayhew's not easily flustered, and he'd find it a hoot to be pranked by Garl, so I expect he'd pass any test of character Garl might run an upstart godling through.

Baravar Cloakshadow, god of illusions and deceptions, would be interesting. Mayhew is a born liar (deception is his second-highest skill after history) who cares deeply about protecting others, so on paper they're aligned. However, Baravar counts Mystra among his allies, so this alliance would be a strained one.

But the biggest reason Mayhew isn't interested in becoming a Lord of the Golden Hills? They're concerned primarily with the welfare of gnomes. As a god, Mayhew has broader designs than that.

a god for whom?

Mayhew cares about everyone, especially people who are unimportant. He was a latchkey kid who wandered all over the city from a very young age, poking his nose everywhere it shouldn't be and talking to people just to hear their stories. He probably even made friends with the sewer kobolds, despite historical bad blood between gnomes and kobolds. Most of the alliances Galehew make after ascension are Mayhew's doing. Gale is always grander and more powerful, but Mayhew is better-liked and better-loved by gods and mortals.

In particular, bleeding heart Mayhew is an ally and protector of children. Troublemakers, especially. The most common name he ends up being known by is the Children's God. In 5e, there doesn't actually seem to be a god FOR children, simply gods with "family" as part of their portfolio. To me, that reads as a god for parents. But Mayhew adores kids! In game, he looked out for all of them and spoiled them shamelessly via the barter menu. All the urchins got cash, clothing, trinkets, snacks, protective magical items, etc. He bought soup from Yenna every day. He gave Mattis 2000 gold (😭) for a key he never even used (😭)...and gave the amulet of greater health (😭)...and some grenades because all children should have a chance to make bad decisions...

To kids, he's like an imaginary friend who'll help you out of a tight spot, aid your capers, and shield you from terrors. When a child ages out of needing an imaginary friend, he's there as the God of Curiosity -- and what is curiosity without drive? Perhaps they'll follow their dreams in the footsteps of his partner, the God of Ambition. Completely unintentionally, Mayhew probably ensures the longevity of the Galerian religion this way.

Not all of Mayhew's ideals survive ascension, though he goes in with good intentions. He loses some of himself, but his love for people is the core of him. It doesn't change.

[abstracteddistractions]

Gianfranco Fini, "Programma" wall lamp,

Aside from Mario Vento who worked under a few aliases, Gianni Colombo, Rinaldi Cutini, Fabrizio Cocchia and Gianfranco Fini were among the designers creating new forms in lighting. The lights produced by New Lamp spoke to the future; the designs were inspired by artistic movements such as Kinetic Art and Concrete Art but they also referenced Art Deco forms.

Handmade by local artisans and made of the highest quality to order, each New Lamp design was produced in small quantities — from singular, one-of-a-kind works and editions of five or six to more popular pieces in editions of no more than 100 examples.

In total, New Lamp created at least forty-five lamp models. Sparing no costs on craftsmanship or materials, New Lamp’s inventive and sculptural productions captured media attention and its lamps were featured in publications of the period including Domus, Abitare and Casa Vogue. Despite the enthusiasm for New Lamp, the company only lasted a few years closing in 1973 – 1974.

New Lamp Co., Italy, c. 1970,

Stainless steel, methacrylate plastic,

41 h × 41 w × 6 d in (104 × 104 × 15 cm)

[reddest-flower]

In 1917, the Soviets revealed the secret treaties of the imperialist powers. When he released these documents, Leon Trotsky – the People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs – noted, ‘Secret diplomacy is a necessary weapon in the hands of the propertied minority which is compelled to deceive the majority in order to make the latter serve its interests. Imperialism, with its worldwide plans of annexation, its rapacious alliances and machinations, has developed the system of secret diplomacy to the highest degree’. The Soviet record against colonialism was clear, even as the Comintern struggled to produce a firm line in this or that country. There was no instance where the Soviets considered colonial rule to be worthwhile. The same with fascism, which the Soviets saw as anathema to humankind. Soviet aid to Republican Spain was one test and the other was the immense sacrifice of the USSR in the fight against fascism in World War II.

In 1931, the Spanish Left won the elections and inaugurated the Second Spanish Republic. An even more radical Popular Front government came to power in 1936. Only two countries, Mexico and the USSR – the two peasant republics that had been formed by revolutions – backed the Spanish Republic. Progressive policies to undercut landlords, the aristocrats and the capitalists set the Republic against the ruling bloc. That bloc would rapidly find solace in the fascist movement as well as in the army of General Francisco Franco that left Spanish colonized Morocco for the mainland. From North Africa, the fascists came into the Iberian Peninsula with the intent of overthrowing the Republic by force. A war ensued, which was – with the fascist Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 – an early frontline of the fascist assault. The Soviets backed the Republic, as did Communist parties from around the world. Communists came to the aid of the Republic from the United States to the Philippines, from India to Ireland. The International Brigades, supported by the USSR, provided a bulwark against the onrush of the fascist armies, which were backed not only by the fascist powers (Italy and Germany) but also by the imperialist bloc (Britain and France). Fissures between the anarchists and the communists fractured the unities necessary in the fight against fascism, surely, but there it is undeniable that without logistical help – Operation X – from the Soviets the Republic would have been crushed immediately and not lasted until 1939.

When the Republic fell in March 1939, the imperialist and fascist blocs seemed fused. When Franco marched into Madrid, the British Ambassador went to greet him. When Nehru, who had been to the Republican front-lines and was fully behind the Republic, heard of this, he shuddered. This imperialist and fascist alliance was against humanity. Franco would remain in power until his death in 1975. He remained heralded by the ‘democratic’ countries of Europe.

The USSR, through the summer of 1939, faced the imminent threat of invasion by the fascist and imperialist powers. Such an invasion had taken place right after 1917. In the war in Spain, it became clear that Soviet armaments that went there through Operation X were not of the same quality as those produced by the Germans and the Italians. The Soviets sent 772 airmen in heavy Tupolev SB bombers, which turned out to be far slower and more vulnerable than the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. The Soviet army staff feared that an invasion by the Nazis and the imperialist bloc, after the fall of Spain, would be catastrophic for the USSR. The Nazis had already seized Austria in the Anschluss of 1938 and had threatened Lithuania with conquest in March 1939. The Italians had seized Albania in April 1939 and the two fascist powers – Italy and Germany – signed a decisive Pact of Steel in May 1939. Britain’s appeasement of the fascist bloc at the Munich meeting in 1938 suggested collusion between the imperialist and the fascist bloc. This was the context of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, where the Soviets hoped to get some time to build up their capacity before an inevitable Nazi attack. Surely there should have been no compromise with fascism. But this was in the realm of realpolitik – a way to salvage time before the war that was to come. Indeed, in September 1939, the USSR opened nine factories to build aircraft and seven factories to build aircraft engines. The Red Army grew from 1 million (Spring of 1938) to 5 million (June 1941).

But Stalin had other ideas as well. On March 10, 1939, when the Spanish Republic was ready to fall, he said that the USSR should allow the ‘warmongers to sink deeply into the mire of warfare, to quietly urge them on’. If Germany and Britain went to war, then it would ‘weaken and exhaust’ both allowing the USSR ‘with fresh forces’ to enter the fray eventually ‘in the interest of peace to dictate terms to the weakened belligerents’. This would not happen. France was easily defeated by the Nazis and Britain could not find the way to bring troops to the European mainland. The war came to the USSR without the imperialists being weakened. The Nazis attacked the USSR as expected. The Soviets fought valiantly against the Nazis, losing over 26 million Soviet citizens in the long war that eventually destroyed the Nazi war machine.

It was the Soviet Union that saved the world from Nazism. It was Soviet armies that liberated most of the Nazi concentration camps, and it was the Soviet armies that entered Berlin and ended the war. General Dwight Eisenhower, the leading American soldier in the European sector, recalled his journey into the Eastern front after the end of the war, ‘When we flew into Russia in 1945, I did not see a house standing between the western borders of the country and the area around Moscow. Through this overrun region, Marshal Zhukov told me, so many numbers of women, children and old men and been killed that the Russian Government would never be able to estimate the total.’

Red Star Over the Third World, Vijay Prashad, 2019

[fairymoe]

So my question is:

Who’s gonna scoop up these delectable earring cuffs before they’re long gone?

Original design! No ear irritation! Can carry more weight than a typical earring without strain to the ear! One size fits most! Unique and handmade!

Why would you let these more-comfortable-more-versatile substitutes to the traditional earring go past without at least stopping to check them out?😊

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 30/04/2024

guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?

Season 2 Featured on: Haltmann's Highest Quality Video Game Rips

Ripped by alden wolf

Requested by eg_9371! (Request Form)

It's Gonna Be May!

Saying that SiIvaGunner has in-jokes is perhaps the most obvious statement of all time - it is an in-joke upon which the entire channel is built upon. Yet there's obviously always different LAYERS to each joke, how obvious each of them are - and even today, there are many running gags on the channel that fly over people's heads despite having followed along for so long. Indeed, such is the case today with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?, as requestee eg_9371 made me aware of a channel in-joke that's been running quietly in the background for the better part of seven years as of today. All of it built on one simple truth - tomorrow, it's gonna be may.

To reiterate - beyond the funny ha-ha memes we all know like Mr. Grand Dad and more, the SiIvaGunner channel is filled with little nods and gags that oft go overlooked. I of course covered 5 Nights of Snop Dog recently which is a great example of one, there's how rips like Kill & Learn (Recut Ver​.​) reference a running joke by long-time mashup artist Triple-Q about how Sonic Adventure 2 and Kill la Kill have an immeasurable amount of similarities, rips like Kermit in the Ocean being spiritual successors to very specific years-old rips on the channel - you get the jist. Some of these gags eventually get special attention on the channel through specific channel events, but such has not yet been the case with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?'s joke - it's a gag that's stayed in the background since its very beginnings, and is only being kept running by a select few rippers. If you're listening to the rip now and it still hasn't landed yet, you may need to be enlightened to the ways of hit boy band *NSYNC. Or, well, really the band itself matters very little compared to the song of choice - It's Gonna Be Me.

Boy band music has a pretty interesting track record on SiIva in general, honestly. One Direction, Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, *NSYNC - to me the typical audience that obsesses over these kinds of bands feels at odds with my image of the average SiIvaGunner fan, and yet whenever they're prominently pushed I get reminded of just how good their music can be when wielded by good rippers. We've had two explosively quality events focusing on two bands in particular, the Big Time Rush takeover of Season 5 with Famous Surprise and the One Direction day of Season 7 with Beautiful Dreamer. *NSYNC hasn't had the same explosion of notoriety, but It's Gonna Be Me in particular has stealthily appeared on the channel every year since 2017 on April 30th. The joke is originally an ancient Tumblr meme from 2012, based on the way singer Justin Timberlake (yes!) pronounces the titular line in the song as "It's gonna be May" - the joke writes itself, and so Tumblr users have annually celebrated the day-before-May in Timberlake's honor.

eg_9371 writes in his request for this post that he's actually one of the most active rippers in keeping this joke going on SiIva for all these years, which I find extremely commendable, and it all started in Season 2, with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?. It's a rearrangement of the song in the style of Donkey Kong Country 2's Mining Melancholy, a track most notable for its rhythmic percussion of steel drums sounding like steadily-working pickaxes deep in the mines. Its a fantastic track on its own, yet that percussion especially is a shockingly natural fit for the harpsichord(?) backing prominent throughout It's Gonna Be Me. Mining Melancholy's usual percussion and other parts of its melody stick around for large parts of the rip, making it more of a melody swap/mashup of the two than a full rearrangement a la Sog-Gee Ambiance - but it only serves to enhance the two tracks used, giving It's Gonna Be Me a more melancholic sound and Mining Melancholy a more self-assured feel in return, a super interesting blend of moods. I don't think the It's gonna be May bit would have worked nearly as well if the rip it was paired with wasn't of high quality, and guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​? clears that threshold effortlessly - its a great rip that's made me appreciate the quality in both songs used.

*NSYNC rips have, again, continued to show up in all the years since, always on the dot, often even deliberately placed as the LAST rip of April 30th to drive the joke home. I think it's really sweet that the joke has stuck with eg_9371 in particular, likely in part due to alden wolf's initial contribution to the bit - he's even made It's Gonna Be Me rips on dates completely unrelated to the beginning of May, just because its a genuinely fun song to listen to. There's tons of these "secret" gags left to find on the channel, reoccurring dates or rips that reference jokes from other rips that are years-old by now - and really, a huge part of the fun in running this blog is getting to discover so many turning gears of the channel that I'd never been made aware of. Keep an eye out for these gags yourself - and keep an eye out on SiIvaGunner channel itself later today, to see if It's Gonna Be May for yet one more year.

[snootlestheangel]

Just A Dude!Ghost Monster AU

Side note before this post gets rolling, I love that my post with the highest notes starts with "I don't know who else" and I think that's very reflective of what Tumblr is like XD

Anyways

We're doing it! We are writing a Monster AU featuring Ghost as the only human despite what everyone else thinks! As far as I am concerned, mostly gonna post it here on Tumblr, since I don't really have much right now for it, mostly just little blurbs but if needed for readability, I'll put it on AO3 (under my profile FeelzMaster)

I'm gonna go ahead and give y'all the rundown of what species are featured, kinda what this world's like, the stuffs, ya know? TW: talks of death (just how they can die, relax)

Soap

To be 100% honest, I really wanted to do the whole werewolf!Soap thing cause it's just so perfect for him, but I thought back to a post I made about him being lightning and thought HUH WHAT IF?

So, partially inspired by @tactax-art and their depiction of Soap dealing with fire 'n shit, I have made Soap a unique type of "nymph". Technically, nymph isn't the right word, but neither is elemental, and the true name of these things is so old it's real translation has kinda lost meaning so they stick to describing themselves as "nymphs" or "elementals".

He is a Lightning Nymph, which is rare but that's apparently what happens when you cross an "atmospheric" air nymph (his mum) and a less traditional water nymph (his dad). He's often seeing consuming/messing with things that have electrical charge in order to keep up his own energy (Gaz once had to watch him literally lick an exposed outlet and maintain a straight face). Every time it storms, he's outside somewhere as high as he can get so he can soak up the natural static energy that comes with storms. He can and will shock people for the fun of it.

As for abilities, he's obviously highly conductive, can manipulate electrical energy but it's pretty exhausting so it's more of a life or death thing, he can glow in the dark if he wants to, and he's hyper aware of changes (due to ~energy~). His diet is batteries... Jk, but seriously he does not eat like a human would, he straight up eats things that will help with energy. Like I said earlier, he's licked an exposed outlet like it was an espresso shot. Downside is he can't see for shit in the dark so he's reliant on sensing energies, nightvision, or having one of his buddies that can see in the dark guide him. Can be killed if his brain stem is destroyed, but is also very weakened by the typical stuff (gunshots, stab wounds, severe bodily trauama, etc). but can be severely weakened by being trapped in insulated rooms/wrapped in insulators. If exposed to these things and not able to find a sustainable source of electrical energy, he will die. (rubber, steel, copper are some good insulators)

Gaz

I don't know why but I'm gonna make him a Siren. For some reason Siren!Gaz just melts my heart and I wanna hold him. I don't care if he can lure me to my death with his voice, I wanna hear him sing :'(

He's typically pretty human appearing, it's a natural instinct for Sirens, but when he's tired or distracted (like working out/doing paperwork), you can start to see some very fish-like qualities. Mostly very gorgeous iridescent scales around his ears, eyes, neck, shoulders, knees, top of his feet, and back of his hands.

Can breathe underwater, has the best vision in the dark, eats like a typical person but with more sea food cravings or cravings for fatty foods (like human), when in full Siren form he doesn't have a "mermaid's" tail, it's much more shark-like so he can accelerate really fast. Generally just more shark-like, except his scales are fish-like. His nose, like sharks, is super sensitive to certain changes, so booping his nose always throws him off if it's surprise, but he will also bump his nose into people/things without realizing it to get a better sense of it. Can be killed by things humans can, susceptible to parasites.

Price

Honestly, his has been the hardest but I'm gonna do changeling. I honestly don't know a lot about them, and quite frankly I've already got one homebrewed monster here, so why not another?

He's definitely the one everyone mistakes for being human cause he's so good at keeping up appearances. But there are always times where Price manipulates his appearance/body just enough that it's a little startling for those that believed him to be human to suddenly realize he's very much not.

He's got better eyesight in the dark than a human, but nowhere near close to what Gaz has. He's good at picking up on scents though, as his nose is a bit more attune to sniffing out humans than anything. He's not a bloodsucker, but changelings typically feed on weakened/ill/very old/very young humans, so he's able to tell when something is wrong with someone. Stifles the more violent urges of his species by eating a primarily meat heavy diet with a lot of raw veggies for the crunch. Most susceptible to things with iron or salt (obvi) but can still be fatally wounded by stab wounds/gunshots. Most other stuff won't kill him but it'll certainly hurt and he'll complain the entire time.

Alejandro and Rudy

These two are werewolves and Los Vaqueros is their pack :'). Most Vaqueros are also werewolves, but they do have a variety of other creatures commonly found in North America.

And finally, the whole point of this: we got our boy Ghost as a literal human being. Nothing more, just a dude. A dude with so much fucked up shit happening to him constantly it's just assumed he must be inhuman. NOPE! He's just a dude, a very very unlucky, and probably cursed, dude.

So yeah, that's what I have so far! Working title is "Cheers to the Unknown"

Taglist (if you want added let me know in the replies/reblogs): @tacticaltaxonomist @cthulhusstepmom

[changbinsboobs]

Changbin's Current Love Life 31.8.24

First things first he's not in a relationship.

He's not having any crushes either, nor entertaining anyone at this current time.

He's focused on his self-growth and getting himself to a position/state he wants to be. He's building himself. I would even say he's remastering himself.

He has rejected lots of people and left lots of crushes behind, and i believe he has had his fair share of heartbreak in his love life. From both sides i would say.

I think he has been pretty unlucky in his love life till now. That's why he's taking a break (i believe a longer break too, I'm seeing webs😂 i think he hasn't been in the game for a while) from all that dating/relationships stuff. Quite a contrast ti the rest if his life cuz he generally seems like a very lucky person overall. Very gifted, with lots of good people around him and he seems to me like opportunities just keep flowing his way. Someone that gives the vibe of being "gods favourit".

He has invested sooo much energy and time and just himself in vain, shallow, mismatched and even toxic relationships that have taken from him more than they have given. I think this would be his Achiles Heel and the one thing he doesn't have. Like he has it all, but he doesn't have that. Or at least that's how he feels.

I think with all the success he has had with his career, finances, popularity among people and friends, luck with his family, academical success yada yada yada - he has reached a point where as satisfiying those things once were - they don't bring him the fulfillment he once had. I think he feels a certain emptiness and maybe even a bit of aimlessness? Don't get me wrong i think he still lives doing music, but being an idol is not what it once was to him and as he has grown more mature and satiated his greediness for sucess - his needs have moved elsewhere and now he's really thirsty and greedy for love. I think thats why he has so many spilled cups - cuz he has felt that way for a while now and has eagerly tried to find the missing piece, but its not that easy as all of the other stuff. And so now he has come to a point where he "waits".

I think this is a lesson for him to bring him down to earth a bit and to humble him. Not that he's not humble. He is. But thats a different kind if humbleness im talking about. Like, he has had so much given to him in terms of options. I believe he's someone that has always had the opportunity to choose. And whatever he chose it would've been good. Of course he has to put in lots of work into what he does, we see that now in his songs and performance etc. but for him it was always easier than for others. His odds for success are higher. Even if he doesn't succeed and excel, he doesn't fail. And if he were to ever fail, he would have a safety net from steel and gold, with people on every corner waiting for him to choose from which end of the net he wants to get down. And then when he does he gets his hand held each step, not even that, he's carried. Thats the image im getting in terms of what i mean he has had it easy compared to others. (Small note i believe any hate and ignorance etc that might come his way is genuinely nothing but pure jealousy from people. Energy can feel energy. Even if people don't know him, they subconsciously feel how full his cup is with the highest quality of wine, and that its golden and adorned with all kinds of diamonds and precious stones...meanwhile the have a few raindrops in their hands.) As i said "gods favourite". But that favour reaches only to a certain point - and this more unlucky part of his life is the one thing to put him on the same level as others. While other people are just regular, he's exceptional - but in turn for that, he has a continuous thirst for something he cannot get until he deserves it in some way i feel like. And it's completely out of his reach or control. I think thats a feeling thats very foreign to him. So thats what i mean by humbling.

I got too much into that specific topic but yeah, i think he has battled with this for a while and has reached a new level of that stage/lesson in his life and i believe his curent focus is on himself and bettering himself as a person. Growing outside of himself and getting reborn. Turning inside, and also reaching further than his arms length. I believe he has been pretty sheltered and has always had a pretty small circle. Like he has kept in his comfort zone most if not all of his life and hasn't done much outside if it for the simple reason the never had a reason to. Until now.

I would say he's on a journey:)

And i see him "praying" for wisdom, for guidance, for a direction. He's "praying" for love. And i don't mean praying in the religious sense but rather he's just reaching out to the universe. As i said above - reaching out beyond his arms length. He's in search of more. Higher meaning. I believe he's someone that has already mastered the physical very very well!!! Probably his good karma from many many successful past lives. And i believe his soulmate (the one he's seeking and praying for and doing all this transformation for) is the exact opposite. I believe his soulmate has always had great luck in the more higher aspects of life (sadly those are way less in a physical world) but little to no knowledge on how to operate the physical world. I think both of them are currently in a metamorphosis state where he reaches out to her, while she reaches out to him. He reaches up for the sky, while she learns how to stand on the ground and when they learn they both will meet in the middle and continue learning from each other and supporting each other.

I feel like there's much more to it but i had to take a break in between the reading and had to go back to it later, which made me lose that train of "thought" i had, and the cards in itself don't show anything else than what i've already talked about so I guess I'll leave it at that. And in a few months i might do another one as a continuation/follow up of this one.

Since this reading was very divinely oriented, involving energy concerning his past lives, destiny, soulmate, karma, purpose, life lessons etc, i think ill do one about such divine orchestration topics soon, as i believe he's someone that has a lot of energy to read about that:)

[mehoymalloy]

Soft fic prompt, 6, maybe Lis x Tilda? 🥺

Took a bit, but here we are; hope ya like it!

This is for the prompt 'coffee in bed' from this prompt list. Thanks to @mr-jaybird for betaing this!

~

Lis stood in an exceedingly clean, blindingly white kitchen, stainless steel appliances gleaming in the soft morning sunlight. She shifted back and forth on the balls of her bare feet, trying to fight off the insidious chill sinking into her skin from the tile floor—also white, naturally. She begrudgingly glared at the shiny, silver espresso machine in front of her for a long moment, tracing her gaze over its many buttons, screens, and meters. Then she cast one last tired, wistful look at the classic drip machine off to the side. It was the only black appliance Tilda had in her kitchen—just for Lis.

Tilda had warned Lis last night that her preferred coffee hadn't come in yet—'shipment delays, darling; it's bound to happen eventually when you only order from a very select lab in Canada'—and Lis was fine with that, she really was. She wasn't one of those snobbish types who insisted on buying only the highest quality coffee beans sourced from a small, three-hundred-year-old farm in some lesser-known country of the world's remaining-but-steadily-dwindling coffee belt. All Lis wanted was her ethical, affordable, sustainable coffee. And a lab in Canada (creatively called EAS Coffee Lab) provided just that. But then shipping delays happened, so now here Lis was—awake first, unfortunately—being a good girlfriend and making coffee Tilda's way.

She knew how to do this—she was an engineer, for God's sake, she knew how to work a machine. Simple steps: Fill up the water tank (filtered, of course), pre-heat the water, grab the bag of fancy, specialty-grade beans from the aforementioned three-hundred-year-old farm, weigh out exactly 18 grams, grind extra finely, pop the single wall (not the double wall, even though this was a double shot) basket into the portafilter, tap the filter on the counter, tamp down the grounds, lock it into the machine and...

Why Tilda insisted on using a semi-automatic machine rather than a fully automatic one, Lis would never understand. (That was a lie; even she could admit there was a certain appeal in the ritual of it all, as opposed to dumping the grounds in and pressing a button). She supposed she should be grateful that Tilda hadn't gotten it in her head to buy a fully manual one—Lis didn't think she could handle waking up and pumping a damn lever just for her morning stim.

She should probably also be grateful that Tilda had programmed one of the buttons specifically for when Lis needed to use the machine—no fuss about measuring out the perfect amount of water or reaching the correct temperature or ensuring the OPV never exceeded 8 bars of pressure (Tilda's preference).

As Lis waited for the machine to do its job, she grabbed a carton of milk from the fridge, pouring enough into the little metal cup for each of them. She even used the thermostat to ensure she got the right temperature rather than eyeballing it. The process wasn't complex by any means—it just seemed an unnecessary amount of work for a cup of coffee.

But as Lis padded back to the bedroom with two cups in tow to find Tilda bleary-eyed but sporting a surprised smile, Lis guessed it was worth it.

"You made coffee?" Tilda asked as she sat up. Silk sheets slid down her nude frame like water, pooling in her lap and exposing her skin to the warm sunlight slanting through the blinds.

"You think I could get through the day without it?" Lis shot her a wry smirk as she sat down her own cup on the nightstand.

Tilda gave her a lazy smirk as she lifted the sheets for Lis to scoot in. "I suppose not," she murmured, turning away to stifle a yawn into her shoulder.

Lis leaned in to place a quick peck on the opposite shoulder, gingerly passing Tilda her cup once she had turned back to face Lis.

Tilda's eyes glimmered with warmth rivaling the morning sunlight, and a sleep-soft smile played at her lips as she lifted the mug up to her face. Closing her eyes, she took a slow, deep breath, shoulders curling forward to settle around the cradled cup. Steam wafted upward, carrying the scent to Lis' nose as well—she could admit it smelled way better than her usual coffee. Turning to grab her own cup, she took a sip that singed her tongue, shooting Tilda a rueful smile when she saw the other woman raise a brow at her impatience.

Tilda rolled her eyes as she leaned over, briefly pressing her face into the skin of Lis's neck, offering a quick kiss. "Thank you for the coffee, love," she murmured, still not quite awake.

"You're welcome," Lis said softly, careful to blow before she took another sip.

[angelofchaos001]

Process and Biology of a Guardian

@riverripplespeaks

@seiun256

@stupidscav

@nom-de-plume-system

@registered-anonymous

@icecreamsodaaaaa

@kova-starlight

@doodlebug091

Wings of Rain post! I just grabbed the follower list for this one.

A Guardian is nothing more than a mechanically enhanced dragon, able to withstand much more wear and tear than your normal dragon could dream of.

When a dragon is selected to become a guardian, assuming they pass the required trials, they are gifted two main changes to their body: One, they are taken to an animus-enchanted object that gifts guardians bodies to no longer fall to time. Each structure has an object with such an enchantment, usually something that represents the tribe as a whole and is safely guarded. The enchantment only allows it to work on soon-to-be guardians, anyway.

The second main change is that their scales are replaced with some high-quality metal plating that perfectly reflects what their scales were. The metal is chosen and suited on a guardian-by-guardian basis, since some need it to be waterproof, fire resistant, stronger, more malleable, etc. (For example, Lilypuck's is mostly made of Stainless Steel since it needed to not rust in water, Garnet's has tungsten for a high heat tolerance since he breathes fire, etc) The dragons are usually induced into a coma-like state with sleepflowers and smokeberries, or other plants and animals, so that the process is smooth and painless.

^ Cross-section of Lilypuck

^ Cross-section of Garnet

Guardians are also usually given gifts of treasure, money, food, and accessories by the Wing as a congratulations and a thanks for their job, but they are also given one important gift from the royal family: Their helmet.

The helmets are many things, mainly a status symbol and a device of protection for their eyes, one of the most vulnerable parts of a guardian's body. When guardians are appointed, they are allowed to paint their symbol onto their helmet, which them goes on record as their official symbol. They may also choose what they want the arching antennae to look like, if they want any at all.

The glass screens of the helmets retract on command, if for whatever reason the guardians need the screens out of the way quickly (since taking the helmet off takes some time).

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The process of becoming a Guardian is long and can be tedious to some. Not everyone is fit for the process, and only the strong can truly stand the life of eternal violence and bloodshed.

It starts when the guardian apprentice moves up to the guardian role to fill the void the previous one left. Then, one of the normal dragon guards in charge of monitoring who comes in and out is selected for special training to become the next guardian apprentice. Before this training even starts, they are given a health inspection to make sure they can handle everything, and while they are given a choice, it's heavily frowned upon to say no to the position.

Once a new guardian apprentice is made, their training begins with the current guardian, teaching them how scavengers and slugcats think, act, fight, and live. Some adventures include trips to the land below the clouds to see them firsthand, but most days are sparring with the guardian or getting lectured by them.

Common teaching topics are: Spotting small movements from afar, Aiming at a distance, The pack habits of scavengers, and how to abuse the fragile alliance scavengers and slugcats have.

One of the highest privileges of a Guardian Apprentice, however, is that they have a similar standing socially to a Guardian without any of the responsibility, meaning they are showered with gifts, attention, praise, and hopes.

They are also some of the few dragons allowed to interact with Guardians of other Wings, discussing topics such as battle tactics, news about raids, and the health of each other. It's seen as important to let apprentices meet each other and form strong bonds, as it's a very real chance they will need to help each other as full-fledged guardians.

Sometimes, more than one apprentice is appointed, and for some tribes more than one is customary.

As the apprentices learn and grow alongside their mentors and develop friendships with the other guardians and apprentices, there eventually comes a time when the previous guardian dies or disappears in battle. When this happens, the apprentice(s) is given one last health check, to ensure that they're able to go through with the process. If there are more than one, they take the healthiest and most willing participant. If there are no suitable apprentices, they still take the best out of them and spend extra time boosting them mechanically.

The enhancing process begins with the soon-to-be guardian approaching the animus-enchanted object to gift them with the stronger bodies that won't tire to time, and they are given a day and night to think about what they want their helmet and symbol to look like. After that time, they describe it to a scribe, check the sketches over to make sure it's the way they want, and send it off while they themselves are sent to have their scales replaced.

The process of the scale replacing is long, delicate, and requires a dedicated team of dragons who spend their lives doing this kind of work. While animus magic shapes the metal for them, they don't always have an animus to replace the scales, which sometimes means carefully removing each scale and fitting the metal in it's place, then using enchanted bandages to make sure everything heals properly and as intended.

After a few days of rest, the Guardians are taken to the royal family who present them with their helmet, and they are instructed to put it on to conduct the official ceremony, a process where the guardian swears loyalty, defense at the cost of their life, and to train the next apprentice the same efficiency they were trained with.

The whole process takes around a moon to complete, during which time the guards of the structure are to defend from any incoming raids.

The Guardian is given a year or two to adjust to their new life before they are given new apprentices, and it all starts over again.

[marudeinusa]

This is going to sound like CRAZY armchair psyhchology crap but without exaggeration I think that Jojos Bizarre Adventure part 7: Steel Ball Run can be used to agitate and observe latent homosexual (and Id even go as ar as to say submissive) desires in cisgender heterosexual identifying men. I have attentively studied this in real life and here are the results of my research.

In a real bad phase of my life, I hung around about 4 or 5 men (all but one identified as cishet, one identified as bisexual) who liked Jojos Bizarre Adventure. Weirdly, ALL 5 of these men named Steel Ball Run as either their parsonally favorite part, or the part they perceived to be objectively highest quality. This baffled me a lot, because while me and my female and transmasc friends enjoyed Steel Ball Run to varying degrees, and it does differ from the previous parts by making a jump from shounen to seinen which affected the story dynamics and maturity, its not really too perfect. However, none of the cis men I interviewed brought this up directly in their reasoning of why they value SBR so much. They each listed a different reason, and those were:

Heterosexual men: Villain has a more interesting and realistic ideology (nationalism) than the previous villains whise goals were cliched (a greed for power, stability, revenge). The story is about a journey, they enjoy this because it makes the pacing dynamic and builds up expectations for the goal (however this was also a case in part 3, and the man who said this does not particularly enjoy part 3). The stakes feel high and you can really sympathize with Johnny because he is trying to improve his own life, he enjoys how selfish Johnny is (but this is also the case in part 5 protagonist Giorno, who is very self centered and goal oriented in the same vein)

Bisexual man: he listed some of the reasons above, but also noted that he enjoys how the relationship between the male protags easily reads as romantic even though he didnt put too great a focus on this

When the bisexual man brought this up, it prompted me to compare the relationship between Gyro and Johnny to the other popular ships in the Jojo fandom (most of them enjoying a LOT more popularity and fan content than Gyro/Johnny) and I feel like the difference is in hmm lets say. Gyro being the first "Jobro" in the saga to play a central, extremely tangible and also multiple role in Johnnys life/arc. This isnt of much consequence to a person whos in Jojo for shipping, bc since they are approaching with predetermination to find ship content, that content is more easily squeezed out of a pair who has some fun and memorable scenes like Avpol n Bruabba, than Gyjo who do not really share much in the way of memorable oneliners and comedic gay framing, but instead sort of more subtly complete each others arcs. I feel like this sort of a dynamic appeals to cishet men because it is one of DEEP malemale affection (it really is just fondness and affection that is hard to misread as just admiration at the others strength/character. Johnny having the discomforting emotional realization that he is prepared to sacrifice his goal of curing his disability and proving himself to his father in order to stay with Gyro is a prominent topic n conflict in SBR. Gyros death is the SOLE death of a companion in JJBA [and there are many] to which the protagonist responds not with vengeful rage but by breaking down into pathetic, emasculating tears, and making a naive blunder that causes the antagonist to overpower him. Even once Johnny does turn the tables, its notable that he is underwhelmed and unsatisfied once he fulfills his goals of walking and making his father clap for him, with sorrow at the loss of Gyro taking precedence. The last scene in the entire story is Johnny setting sail to return Gyros corpse to his homeland, assuming a much more pacified and mature disposition than before and telling Gyro "Let's go home" as he leaves his own homeland. Also, the series of chapters where Gyro dies is called "break my heart, break your heart" with covers featuring a sobbing Johnny with the ghost of Gyro lol). This is the most heavily established and emotionally weighty Jojo/Jobro relationships, and unlike some others, it is never put on a shameful pedestal of being a "gay gag" like many other moments of perceived homosexuality in Jojo that are heavily framed as jokes or oddities. Because of this, I feel that the cishet men reading SBR are able to get "into" this relationship between men because it isnt ever acknowledged as a relationship that crosses the boundaries of "appropriate" malemale friendship, even though it does so for the established world of Jojo.

Because they can indulge in and identify within the duo of Gyro and Johnny without feeling like thats "gay", the men I observed and interviewed allowed themselves to get emotionally invested in the concept of cohabitation and affection with a man eithout even realizing theyre doing so. Most of these men vehemently denied that Johnny and Gyro are gay, but even so, they admitted (whether explicitly or implicitly) to being drawn to it as a dynamic they havent been invested into previously (bc they dont want either anything explicitly gay nor something that caters primarily to women bc they are misogynists). Two men were even able to jokingly agree that Gyro plays something akin to a "manic pixie dream girl" role to Johnny, being a deus ex machina attractive companion who turns Johnnys world upside down, gives him a goal, helps to affirm him, makes him laugh and encourages him etc. And ultimately sacrifices himself for Johnnys sake, and becomes his motivation beyond death to defeat the villain, Johnnys "man pain". Despite playing this role traditionally reserved for disposable female characters, Gyro is not really distinctly effeminate in the world of Jojo, and also plays the much more "appropriate" roles of being Johnny's mentor in mastering the power of Spin, a powerful fighter in his own right, and a male travel companion who tells tales of his trysts with women and dirty jokes and so on. Because Gyro embodies many roles, both that of a yet nonexistant woman in Johnnys life (Johnny goes on to have a heterosexual marriage, yes, but only once he's avenged and likely set Gyro to rest) AND of a man, he is safe and appropriate for these cishet men to be drawn to. When asked why they like Gyro, they can always say something like "he's funny, he's powerful, he's resourceful" etc. A MAJOR dimension of his character which is being Johnny's "heroine" is noticed and internalized, but it doesn't have to be acknowledged, and thus exists without threatening the cisheterosexuality of the male reader.

Here comes the "reach" part, but despite embodying the "heroine" role, Gyro is the older, physically and emotionally "larger" and more assertive of the two men. He habitually passes "lessons" onto Johnny and is shown to be pretty "macho" (implicitly dominant) in his pursuit of women. He is also Italian <- kind of relevant in my head because at least here Italian men are stereotyped as pushy and demanding lovers LOL. So like. I feel that there's something really really telling in these specific (and maybe other but who knows) men who all pursue very traditionally cisheteropatriarchal relationships IRL in which they expect to financially and emotionally (to a degree where this is expected of a man) provide for their female partners to feel drawn to the character of Gyro (in the way of admiration rather than projection). Because I don't really think any of them envisions themselves uprooting the dynamic Johnny has with Gyro (in the hypothetical case of meeting Gyro lmao), I think they'd all want to be his little male friend mentee and learn Spin from him and well what happens in the tent stays in the tent but I don't think they're calling the shots if you get me. (Gestures vaguely) If the men I spoke to, being attached to Jojo to the degree they were, didn't have a single weird dream about being manhandled by Gyro call me Mucius Scaevola and I'll put my right hand into an open flame.

TLDR we all know men are emotionally stunted AF and crave malemale closeness but won't reach out for it bc they don't want to be gay and I don't really pity them or care about them but it's kind of reallyreallyreally funny seeing a cishet guy literally running a fever from his hardon for a jacked Italian superman to take him on a journey of self-discovery, fuck him in the ass and die for him without even realizing what he is going through and why he likes the comic so much lol. Let them simmer, don't tell them what they're experiencing and why it's their fault, it's really funny. Unless you're a girl who wants to top her bf reaaally badly then make him read SBR and buy a hat.

If you read this far and still don't trust me on the framing of Gyro and think it's just typical shounen stuff, look carefully at the framing of these chapter/volume covers. My special note is that this is not supposed to pander to women, because Araki has given a whole interview to a really pushy fujoshi fan during SBR's run and was kind of extremely surprised and unsettled (sometimes rightfully bc the woman was an incest pedo shipper um) at the idea that women read malemale Jojo relationships as homosexual and enjoy this. It's just that Araki also really wants to get fucked by a jacked Italian man and is drawing this shit for himself and other men which is kind of really really funny to witness from the outside omfg.