#my marriage to beowulf

[not-rab]

save the date! 🎶

tuesday 18th april 2023 - we happily invite u to join the wedding of alicia & beowulf!

from 3:00pm to 10:00pm, we grandly suggest that u all join us to celebrate this beautiful day <3

confectionery + snacks will be served (friendly reminder no strawberry ice cream allowed and, if seen with any strawberry ice cream, you will be escorted out - this isn’t friendly)

bonus kudos to horcrux the cat for being our bridesmaid ✨

we hope everyone can make it!

sincerely - @not-rab & @canyouhearmyfear 🩷

[laiqualaurelote]

writers ask from ages ago! 9, 10, & 11 🖤

thank you for the asks! (from this ask game, never too late to play)

9. What is your favourite line/interaction in your fic?

I'm really fond of this exchange from gig officially gigged:

That said, Crystal has zero clue what’s actually transpired between Edwin and Thomas, and Edwin certainly isn’t telling.  “If you must know,” he informed them primly, “he asked me to play for him. That is all.” “Oh yeah?” Crystal demanded while Charles seethed. “What’d you play?”  “Just the classics. Clair de Lune, that sort of thing. It was hardly a chore.” “Huh,” said Crystal. “Guess you really put your whole Debussy into it.” Charles put his fist through the drywall. “Oops, innit,” he said balefully when they turned to stare.

10. What is your favourite AU? Have you written anything for it?

My dream AU is a noir AU and I have never successfully written a full one! the closest I've ever come is the saviour of the broken, the beaten, and the damned, in which Edwin as a noir detective is the framing narrative for the time travel AU. I would love to do a proper one someday though.

11. Is there anything important in your fic you think readers have missed/overlooked?

I would like to talk a little bit about Maren in still my heartbeat with your bare hands! she is the only female character (my bad - that said, question mark over the gendering of Edwin's Hell-forms?) and she is acting as a cup-bearer and most likely a peace-weaver (a woman from a warring tribe pledged in marriage to prevent further bloodshed), in the way the queens Wealhtheow and Hygd do in Beowulf. (Maren trying to give Charles the torc is a reference to the necklace Wealhtheow gifts to Beowulf after he kills Grendel, which he then regifts to Hygd). I thought it would be fitting for Maren to be a cup-bearer in this AU because in canon that is sort of what she is, and also it is how she manages to poison Brad and Hunter, because she is expected to be the one pouring their drinks.

Maren is the one name that I would not have had to change, had I Anglo-Saxonified the characters' names (Ceorl, Ēadwine, Sæmund, etc). One etymology of the name links it to the Proto-West Germanic 'mari', from which you get the Old English 'mere'. Another suggests it is a Danish variant of 'Maria', which is related to...you guessed it! Mary-Ann. So I like that even though she and Edwin do not meet in this AU, there's this connection between his canon death and his AU dwelling, woven together in her name.

[frances-baby-houseman]

This (Show Don't Tell, a short story collection by Curtis Sittenfeld) comes out in February, and you will love it if you have a very mediocre husband and spend a lot of your time fantasizing about sexual encounters from your early 20s.

(I DID like it, bc I always like anything Curtis Sittenfeld writes, but it was kind of like reading a collection of O. Henry short stories, where you're like, oh in every story there's just going to be a different thing standing in for the hair and the watch. Like, we get it curtis!!! BUT it was worth it to revisit Lee Fiora, who was a very important character in my life. She's the last story in the book, obviously. Also there was too much pandemic in here, i'm sorry the pandemic was hard on your marriage but definitely I am done reading about it. Curtis already wrote a pandemic novel!! Anyway it's good if you really like Curtis Sittenfeld but her first short story collection was better. I'm really over the pandemic. I think I'm going to reread Beowulf now.)

[novankenn]

I Refuse! (8)

/== Table of Contents ==/

"I can't stand being near any of them!" Joan snarled as she took a step back, her blue eyes growing icy and hard. "They ALL sicken me! What they are going to do to my sisters! I won't allow it!"

"I can assure you Ms Arc that neither the Schnee nor Nikos families plan to do anything to your sisters." Ozpin replied as he also took a step backwards.

"You lie! I know what happens after a marriage! What is expecting in the marital chambers and bed!" Joan snapped as a golden light began to envelop her left hand.

"Ms Arc please calm yourself. Your sisters are not going to any marital bed for several years."

"Lies!"

"I am not... lying." Ozpin retorted as he brought his cane up holding it like one would a rapier. "I and Doctor Oobleck have examined the contracts... your sisters are not to wed their betrothed until their twentieth year."

"I won't allow ANYONE to hurt them!" Joan screeched as the golden light suddenly leapt towards the Headmaster.

Ozpin sidestepped. Snapping his cane up and horizontally to intercept the bite of the aura snake construct Joan had unleashed. With a twist of his wrist he knocked it aside. Following up with a quick flick to shatter the construct with a single hit.

"Ms Arc this is counter productive. You may have massive aura reserves and a creative mind... but you lack focus and control."

"You want control? Then try this!" Joan snarled in response as a massive Beowulf made of golden light materialized beside her.

"This is a splendid display Ms Arc, but you are wasting your time." Ozpin commented as he moved. The Aura construct charged forward and missed the Headmaster by a scant inch as he pivoted away, and with in range of Joan.

"ACK!!" Joan retched as the metal capped time of the Headmaster's cane connected with her exposed gut. The loss of focus causing the Aura Beowulf to disintegrate in a shower of golden motes of light.

As Joan attempted to recover, Ozpin moved. His follow up caught her with a slashing downward strike to the joining point of her neck and shoulder. Without a further sound Joan collapsed to the ground. Ozpin knelt down, his hand reaching out and checking her pulse.

"Thank goodness." he whispered to himself. "I held back but her reaction to that strike was terrifying. She must be run ragged with all the stress of this situation."

Standing up Ozpin withdrew his scroll from his vest pocket and tapped Glynda's contact.

"Glynda I could use some assistance." Ozpin spoke calmly as he watched Joan's unconscious form. Paying close attention to the rise and fall of her chest. "I've had an unfortunate altercation with Ms Arc. She is okay but I will need to get her to the infirmary."

"No I can handle this. Please contact the infirmary for me, and advise them of the situation and erase the last ten minutes of security footage from the courtyard." Ozpin continued to watch Joan's form, making sure that she continued to breath unhindered. "Than k you Glynda."

Hanging up the call. Ozpin returned his scroll to his vest pocket before kneeling down and scooping up the rather light body of Ms Arc into a princess carry. Standing up without any issues, he proceeded to make his way back into the school.

"Please give us time Joan. We are on your side. We will help you, just give us some time."

[not-rab]

IM GONNA CRY WHAT

i need these people to stop being anonymous

and u didn’t even know we were married when i divorced u 😭

“self-respect” but she still likes strawberry ice cream :/

Would you ever get remarried to @not-rab

LMAO. y'all are killing me with these. i love it.

and no <3 i am engaged! and alicia is married! and she divorced me!

i have self-respect, anon, come on

[doorinthepage]

"Canon" Divergent Notes

This is a list of things from the SYFY show in which I "replace" it with the book canon.

Eliot.

Eliot is not/was never married to Fen. I am still totally down to rp with Fens, but in the books Eliot is not forced into a marriage and I want to maintain this. Let them be besties.

Eliot is a good and dedicated king from the beginning. I do not like how the show portrayed Eliot as "dumb" or "bad" at being king. In the books, he loves Fillory, is a fantastic and devoted - if still luxurious - high king, and even jokes he is willing to die with Fillory.

On that note, Eliot is a conspicuously brilliant Brakebills student and naturally gifted magician. This is book canon. As the actor who plays Eliot said, SYFY!Eliot didn't get to do a lot of magic. Lev Grossman, however, has confirmed that Eliot is the best at magic. (Excepting Julia in my opinion, in a sense, because she is magic.) He even turns down the opportunity to live on the Far Side of Fillory (in the book “a greener place. A realer, more magical place") because, as he says himself, "I'm High King...I can't go. I'm not leaving Fillory."

Julia.

Julia being impregnated by Reynard does not happen. It doesn't happen in the books and will not happen here. The extended torture the show put her through was vile. She is also not given Reynard's "seed" (not book canon either) - she becomes a goddess simply because OLU gives her the journey to do so. (With my main verse, OLU gives Julia back her divinity)

Julia retains her divinity. In book canon, Julia becomes a three-fourths goddess and queen of the dryads. This is canon to my interpretation of Julia. Another L @ SYFY.

OLU/Persephone lives. I will also interpret her more book canon.

There is no Penny23/Julia happening. I hate that ship, even if I didn't headcanon Julia as a lesbian.

The Free Trader Beowulf is wholly book canon here. I legitimately hate how the show turned TFB into some....magic rehab nonsense. The FTB in book canon is a magic collective that's based in Murs, France, who love and support each other and Julia considers her FAMILY.

Kady.

Kady does not have a full book counterpart; however, she is to some degree a composite of Amanda Orloff and Asmodeus/Betsy, the latter a member of the book's FTB. As such, these are my divergent notes for book and show:

Kady kills Reynard. In the books, Asmodeus is guided spiritually by Julia to find a god-killing weapon to kill Reynard and she does. My interpretation has Kady killing Reynard during the key quest.

Quentin.

Quentin lives. He lives in the books and will live here, for all of my muses. He still dies, but he brings himself back to life. Depending on the thread, he may temporarily still be dead or his whereabouts unknown, but he will always end up alive.

Alice.

Alice as a Niffin is primarily book-canon. In the book, Alice is not trapped in Q's back. She goes off on her own and explores worlds, including Fillory, watching what everyone is up to. This is canon to my Alice.

Alice continues her journey of self-healing and does got gett-ish back-ish together with Q like in Season 4. You may wonder about the "-ish" - well in the accursed 503, Alice cannot even decide if Quentin was her boyfriend or ex or something. In the books, Q/Alice are best friends for years before they date (although they do break up because Q cheats). In the show Alice and Q date for like...a few months? In any case, Alice deserves better than that. (This isn't necessarily replacing book canon but Q/Alice don't exactly get back together in the end so there's that.)

And lastly,

QUENTIN ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT STAY DEAD AND I DO NOT INCLUDE ANY OF S5 FOR MY MUSES.

*Please look at my muses page for their main verses to see the "ending" (or in a sense, beginning) that I give each of them.

[wutheringmights]

May I ask what genres you like in media? And are there any books/movies/manga etc. you'd recommend?

I like all kinds of genres, but I typically am drawn to stories that are character driven and some realm of fantastical, whether it be fantasy or mythology.

The only things I avoid are mystery novels (the bad ones are really bad) and horror movies (I'm a scardy cat). I also don't listen to many podcasts or audio dramas.

It's hard to recommend things to others without knowing their tastes. I'll take a wild guess that you're here for my writing, so I'll try to recommend a few things based on what I think you might enjoy based on that alone.

*please view content warnings before exploring any of the below*

Manga/Anime/Manhwa

Berserk

Vinland Saga

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Mob Psycho 100

Inuyasha

Lady Devil

Marriage of Convenience

TV/Movies

Derry Girls

Ben Hurr

Little Women (2019)

The Great Escape

The Pacific

1917

The Prince of Egypt

Books

The Poppy War by RF Kuang

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Frakenstein by Mary Shelley

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisen

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Kindred by Octavia Butler

The Tortall Series by Tamora Pierce (special shout out to the Song of the Lioness and the Protector of the Small)

The Odyssey by Homer (trans. Emily Wilson)

Beowulf by ????

[pearlsoftheparticular]

notes on chapter 4

Chapter begins with a quote by Diedrich Knickerbocker, who was a fictional character (persona) used by Washington Irving to narrate the burlesque "A History of New York" in 1809.

Troubles in the house begin after a wedding. The first time the family had left since moving in, they expected to come home (marriage usually acts as culmination to stories, should have been the end).

"Quite the contrary, the horror was atypical." (pg 24)

"... strange spatial violation (pg 24) and first reference to Heidegger's idea of "unheimlich".

Another reference to existentialism on pg 25.

On pg 25, he splits up the word nonsense so it reads non-sense. Interesting emphasis.

The colors of ink Johnny sees on pg 26:

Rootbeer

Midnight Blue

Cochineal

Mauve

Light Doe

Lilac

South sea green (Rime of the Ancient Mariner)

Maize (corn/maize is important to native myths, important considering Amber Rightacre from later on is part Native. Also a reference to corn mazes/labyrinths.

Pelican black. Pelican will have increasing significance (see Pelican poems on pg 573)

Camera lucida: an instrument in which rays of light are reflected by a prism to produce on a sheet of paper an image, from which a drawing can be made (pg 27)

"The phone has been ringing. Nine times and counting, my boss announces." (pg 27)

Does the monster appear to Johnny before Will?

Pgs 27-28, when Johnny tries to remember the monster once he is out of the hallway, he tries to remember a woman and her perfume. Reference to his mother, but also Grendel's mother? (Grendel/Beowulf reference from last chapter) Directly referencing Eurydice as well, in the following footnote.

"Maybe it had just brushed past me, like someone easing by in a dark room, the face lost in shadow, my thoughts lost in another conversation, though something in her movement or perfume is disturbingly familiar, though how familiar is impossible to tell because by the time I realize she's someone I should know she's already gone, deep into the din, beyond the bar, taking with her any chance of recognition. Thought she hasn't left. She's still there. Embracing shadows.//Is that it?//Had I been thinking about a woman?//I don't know.// I hope it doesn't matter.// I have a terrifying feeling it does." (pg 28)

"... the impact of such an implausible piece of reality could force anyone to question their own perceptions." (pg 28)

"But why? And for that matter, to quote Rilke, Wer?" (pg 28) The above quotation from pg 28 mirrors Orpheus's own experience after he glances back at Eurydice on the road out of Hades. Find the poem HERE

Quote from poem: "She was already loosened like long hair// and surrendered like rain//and issued like massive provisions.//She was already root."

Elided (pg 28): ommitted when speaking.

Ell (pg 29): a former measure of length (equivalent to 6 hand breadths) used mainly for textiles, locally variable but typically about 45 inches. Origin: Old English, of Germanic origin: from Indo-European root shared by Latin ulna. Compare w/ elbow and also w/ cubit. (The measure was originally linked to the length of the human arm or forearm). These measurements are referenced on pg. 571, in the sketches Johnny makes on the back of an envelope.

Navidson has a skin condition flaring up on his feet? (pg 29)

"Karen refuses the knowledge. A reluctant Even who prefers tangerines to apples. "I don't care," She tells Navidson. "Stop drilling holes in my walls." (pg 30)

"...now a Nile of caffeine wending past glass and politics until there is nothing more than a brown blot on the morning paper." (30-31) after Will has been experimenting w/ surface tension. In the corresponding note, Johnny misspells it "mourning paper". Calls back to mind Rilke's poem, lines 47-56:

"This woman who was loved so much, that from one lyre more mourning came than from women in mourning; that a whole world was made from mourning, where everything was present once again: forest and valley and road and village, field, river and animal; and that around this mourning-world, just as around the other earth, a sun and a silent star-filled sky wheeled, a mourning-sky with displaced constellations–: this woman who was loved so much . . ."

Also, this is significant that it happens at the kitchen table with his family - in a quintessentially domestic scene. Johnny wants to cut this, but saves it in order to preserve the voice of the narrator (Zampano). A point where the authors are interacting with themselves (perhaps a call0back to Knickerbocker at the beginning) (pg 31)

"... more and more these days, I'm struck by the fact that everything Zampano had is really gone, including the bowl of betel nuts left on his mantle or the battered shotgun bearing the initials RLB under the bed..." (pg 31) - Betel nuts are a stimulant drug, which means it speeds up the messages travelling between the brain and body. Chewing these is a cultural practice in some regions of south and southeast Asia. While benefits include - feeling relaxed and happy, - feeling alert, bad side effects include - tremors - dizziness - upset stomach, vomiting - psychosis.

RLB Initials: Forum consensus was Roy L. Bowlin, WWII Lt. Col of the Rochester Ordinance District. Some theories suggest he is Zampano.

White rose bud preserved in Zampano's nightstand drawer? (pg 31)

"His body's... reduced to ash." (pg 31)

"I've come to believe errors, especially written errors, are often the only markers left by a solitary life: to sacrifice them is to lose the angles of personality, the riddle of a soul. In this case, a very old soul. A very old riddle." (pg 31, bold/italics added by me for emphasis)

Navidson being estranged from his twin - Should suggest an estrangement from himself, rooted in childhood and even earlier? - Also, mirror effects, uncanny nature of things being almost the same but not quite, and relationship (the house should be a home, the twins should be close)

"Hey, at least I'm an acquaintance of Bill's now." (pg 32) "A friend of Bill W.'s" is a common phrase in the Alcoholic's Anonymous circles. Bill W. (Williams Griffith Wilson) was one of the founders of AA.

"I keep cornering myself with questions: did I really experience some sort of decapacitating seizure, I mean in - ?" (pg 35) What is this pause?

Latin phrase from pg 34: "Tum vero omne mihi visum considere in ignis Ilium: Delenda Est Carthago." Up to the colon, this is a quote from book II of the Aeneid (as is stated in footnote 42). The full passage is as follows:

"She hid herself in the deep gloom of the night,//And now the dire forms appeared to me//Of great immortals, enemies of Troy.//I knew the end then: Ilium was going down//In fire, the Troy of Neptune going down,//As in high mountains when the countrymen//Have notched an ancient ash, then make their axes//Ring with might and main, chopping away//To fell the tree - ever on the point of falling,//Shaken through all its foliage, and the treetop//Nodding; bit by bit the strokes prevail//Until it gives a final groan at last//And crashes down in ruin from the height." (Bold/italicized portion is the translation of the phrase) HERE are multiple translations.

"'Of course, you're all my children.' Which was strange, since I was the only one there." (pg 35)

"...burning off distant plateaus of bistre & sage..." (pg 36, in reference to Johnny's father. Only references that I could find were to old stamps in France. Sage was in reference to the artist who designed these particular stamps which were sold between 1876 and 1900, and Bistre referred to the color, which was a dark brown. They depict Peace and Commerce standing on either side of a post.

"Karen's project is one mechanism against the uncanny or that which is "un-home-like". She remains watchful and willing to let the bizarre dimensions of her house gestate within her." (pg 37)

Gestate: Carry a fetus in the womb from conception to birth. Or, develop over a long period.

"Les jeux sont fait. Nous sommes fucked." (pg 38) - The writing is on the wall. We're fucked."

Selah.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Found Family Works Best When You Recognize It

Soooooooooooo...we have moved. And as such, all my bookshelves are either still on the moving truck or have been lovingly rehomed. So until we figure out a new bookshelf setup, I'm leaning into our bigass new windows to take photos of books, and I have to say that this one worked pretty dang well. It doesn't exactly mirror the underwater ballroom in the novella, but hey, sometimes a girl has to work with what she's got. So let's talk Spellswept.

Hey, hi, hello. For anyone who is new here, this is your SPOILER WARNING because I tend to spoil books. Consider yourself warned.

Spellswept is the prequel novella to Snowspelled, and it details the night Cassandra's magic is publicly revealed and Jonathan and Amy's engagement. It's a really lovely little story that highlights what happens when you almost don't recognize your found family until too late, because at the beginning of the novella, Amy is about to propose to Lord Llewelyn. Lord Llewelyn is a class A dickhead and thinks he's better at magic than he actually is. He also has zero respect for Amy's autonomy, and views her as a literal step in his own magical career.

This could not be ANY MORE marriage of political convenience if it TRIED.

Amy's political aspirations and being mentee to Miranda Harwood have her all set up to run the Boudiccate as soon as she marries a magician. Instead, however, Amy discovers just in time that oops, actually, she has already FOUND her chosen family, and it's with the man who bucked hundreds of years of family and social tradition to make space for his younger sister's success.

Jonathan Harwood should, by all rights, have been the head of the Great Library and one of the most powerful magicians in Angland and a perfect match for Amy. Ultimately, he is STILL her perfect match romatically, but they both end up choosing to surrender their ambitions and planned lives to make sure that things change. They're adorable together, and Amy's realization that she has already found her family and that all she has to do is open her eyes and see that is really sweet.

The setting of the novella is also TRULY delightful. It takes place in the Aelfen Mere (which is just SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH an amazing name, it's giving old world fae and Beowulf simultaneously), a ballroom that Miranda Harwood's husband made for her as a wedding gift. It's kind of delightful because the way you get into this ballroom is a literal leap of faith. I'm going to go ahead and let the text speak for itself on this one:

There was no staircase dug into the ground of Harwood House, no tunnel leading beneath the lake. Instead, every visitor was required to take a leap of faith: to step, though every sense warned against it, into that rippling blue water and be sucked beneath it. It was a moment of utter helplessness that should have signaled drowning to any who couldn't swim, or at the very least ruin to their elegant ballroom finery.

This is a DICK MOVE of a ballroom entrance and I love it. There is pretty much zero reason to have this as a test to get in the dang door, except that it is PERFECT for Miranda Harwood. Miranda is calculating, politically savvy, and more than good enough at reading people to use this as a way to gain an upper hand. It is literally the perfect ballroom for a cuthroat politician.

There is also the small matter of spells needing to be maintained in this world, and Mr. Harwood having died five years ago. Nobody has looked at the spell keeping the Aelfen Mere together since then, and it is only Cassandra being damn good at magic and Amy being as good a politician as Miranda in her own right that keeps everyone from dying when the spell gives way.

Overall, this delightful, fast read of a novella was fluffy and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see Amy's POV, and meeting baby Cassandra before the events of Snowspelled.

[gameinfoxtbr]

Girl War Update and News

If you are a fan of Girl War Update, then you will surely understand the importance of knowing all the Girl Wars News as well as the latest releases. Developers at Y2Games aim to improve your gaming experience and thus are constantly launching new features, events, and quality-of-life mechanics. This post aims to compile and explain all the most recent Girl Wars Update and News, so you’ll always stay up to date.

GameInfoX

Latest Update

Dear Lord, “Girl Wars” will update without server downtime at 10/13 4:00 (EST), and the update content is as below:

BIG NEWS

UR Return - Legendary Warrior - Tomoe Gozen

New Duration: 10/13 4:10 - 10/29 4:00

Limited Bride - Beauty in Painting - Guan Yu Duration: 10/9 4:10 - 10/25 4:00

Limited Bride Return - Sweet Heart - Leonidas I Duration: 10/5 4:10 - 10/21 4:00

Goddess of War - Brynhild Duration: 10/1 4:10 - 10/17 4:00

Fantasy Skin - Sanada Yukimura Duration: 10/1 4:10 - 11/1 3:00 👰‍Marriage Drawing Pool👰‍ Duration: 10/13 - 10/17 Your bride: Sanada Yukimura Your bride: Minamoto no Yoshitsune Your bride: Siegfried

Hero Drawing Pool

Duration: 10/13 - 10/17 SSR Hero: Beowulf SSR Hero: Ying Zheng >> Leader SSR Hero: Tachibana Muneshige SSR Hero: Genghis Khan SSR Hero: Hattori Hanzo >> Leader SSR Hero: Takenaka Hanbei

Events in the period

Monthly Progress Pack - Beowulf Shard Duration: 10/1 4:10 - 11/1 4:00

Smelting Fund Duration: 10/1 4:10 - 10/17 4:00

Bubble Beach Duration: 10/14 3:00 - 10/16 3:00

Attila's Dream Ranch

New Duration: 10/14 3:00 - 10/18 3:00

Lucky Scratch-off Duration: 10/14 3:00 - 10/18 3:00

Kojiro Sword Duration: 10/15 3:00 - 10/18 1:00

Celestial Vanguard Treasure Duration: 10/15 3:00 - 10/18 3:00

Bacchus Lamp Duration: 10/16 3:00 - 10/18 3:00

Dragon Bliss Duration: 10/13 04:10 - 10/14 13:00

Lucky Balls Duration: 10/14 13:00 - 10/16 03:00

Top-up Wheel Duration: 10/16 03:00 - 10/17 04:00

During the update, there may be disruptions. If you encounter any issues, please log out and log back in.

Content may change according to actual situation. Please refer to the updated version in the game.

Please do account inheritance in advance to avoid data loss.

「Girl Wars」 international operation team hope you enjoy the game

🌟 Girl Wars Update and News New Features & Characters 🎮

As can be seen in this case, every update launched by Y2Games contains new content to attract and interest consumers. The latest Girl Wars update brought several key features and improvements: The latest Girl Wars update brought several key features and improvements: 1. New Heroines Unveiled 🌸 Quite a few new heroines have been introduced to the game and with them – the show has broadened the cast of heroines even further. For each predator, there is an array of skills and powers and for each heroine, there are new features involved in both the battle system and the narrative. As a result, the players have a wider variety of choices for forming heavy-hitting line-ups. 2. Seasonal Events and Rewards 🎁 The update also adds appealing seasonal events in which the players are to accomplish missions: they can receive unique bonuses such as costumes, diamonds, and other resources. Such occurrences give players a little breather from the main plot and give out nice rewards! Visit my Girl Wars game guide for more details on how to ensure that you make better rewards in these events. 3. Gameplay Enhancements ⚔️ Y2Games also has been making a few changes to the combat system to provide new layers to the battle system. : They’ve refined the AI in auto-battle mode in the recent patch to ensure the heroines are smarter as they act in the battles. This enhancement helps to perform battles without the need to control each of them with the hand.

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🛠️ Quality-of-Life Improvements 💡

With player feedback in mind, the latest update also includes several quality-of-life improvements: With player feedback in mind, the latest update also includes several quality-of-life improvements: 1. Improved User Interface (UI) The new interface has made navigation in the game easier as compared to the previous version. The layout of the interface has been improved it is now much easier for the players to navigate through their heroines, the battle statistics, and the possibility of getting to the store. ✨ 2. Inventory Management No more stacks of clothes and shoes accumulating in one's closet! The latest update was released with the novelties in sorting and filter operations, managing the items, and the upgrade of materials and equipment. 📦 If you are looking for heroines to use these new items, check the Girl War Tier List in this article.

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🔔 Patch Notes Summary 📋

For players who want the details, here’s a quick summary of the patch notes from the latest Girl Wars update: For players who want the details, here’s a quick summary of the patch notes from the Latest Girl Wars update: - New SSR Heroines: Three SSR heroines have been included in the list of heroes that can be summoned. - PvP Mode Revamp: The current version features optimizations to the game’s PvP multiplayer where the chances of both players have been made more equal. - Guild Wars: They have included new Guild Wars events through which the guilds can participate to get special rewards. - Bug Fixes: Some of the minor bugs that have been fixed include animation errors and connectivity problems amongst others. Read more about the Girl War Developer and his desire to make the game better and better with every update.

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📅 Upcoming Updates: What to Expect 🔮

teased exciting features coming in future updates: teased exciting features coming in future updates: - New Storyline Chapters: With time more chapters to the main storyline will be produced that will take fans deeper into the Girl War universe. The Forces of Darkness and NMA are back and they have brought news enemies and hidden secrets with them! 📜 - Cross-Server Events: Currently there are whispers that cross-server events are in development at Y2Games to give players a chance to fight opponents from different parts of the world in great mass-RL battles. 🌐 - Heroine Customization: As for your heroines, you should expect more opportunities to customize them, and acquire unique costumes and special visual enhancements. To make sure you do not miss the new opportunities in Girl War latest updates and news, follow the further publications on this website!

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🎮 How to Stay Updated with Girl Wars News 📱

In case you don’t want to miss any of the updates related to Girl Wars, you can follow this site in different methods. Here are some tips to stay informed: Here are some tips to stay informed: - In-Game Announcements: There are a lot of updates that happen in the game and new events, activities, and special offers are always promoted through the notification center so make sure you check what’s on the notification center often. - Social Media: To receive updates and more, follow Girl Wars on social media to get bonus information, patch updates, and engage with the players. - Official Website: The Girl Wars official website has always the latest information about the game, the latest news, and the patches in case they are made.

🧩 FAQs: Girl Wars Updates and News 💬

Q1: How frequently does Girl Wars come up with new updatesA1: Y2Games usually launches updates every couple of weeks which come with new content, characters, and gamesQ2: How can I fulfill this participation in some activities in season events?A2: It is communicated in-game, and players can check from the events menu Greetings both, I hope you will enjoy our answers to the questions SevenDays('~Seven Days~’) is an interactive story game for girls, which is available for download on Wanelo. To get rewards that you won’t be able to find anywhere else, make sure that you complete all the challenges that have been set.Q3: Where are the newest game codes available?A3: Girl Wars game codes may be distributed with the new game updates or with the update connected to some specific event, so it is possible to try to find the latest codes on the official website of the game or social networks.Q4: How could one be up-to-date on Girl Wars news?A4: There are several ways how you can do this: through liking its Facebook account, watching for game pop-ups, or visiting Girl Wars' official website to get updated with the latest one.Q5. Any new heroines will they be included in future updates?A5: Yes! New heroines are periodically introduced into Y2Games, and they all possess different abilities and different histories. Of course, I invite you to check later the firsthand fresh additions to the list of new characters! With these changes and enhancements, Girl Wars remains fresh and provides the players with a new experience. If you are a professional poker player or someone who enjoys playing poker for fun and amusement an exciting twist is always around the corner. Word count: 863 Read the full article

[laiqualaurelote]

belated end-of-year director's cut ask! obviously i have to ask about my summer beloved beowulf au and the cupbearer/peaceweaver lore that didn't fit into the end notes. otherwise any fun fact of your choice from gig officially gigged 💖

Alex! I have so much to say about cupbearer/peaceweaver lore in still my heartbeat with your bare hands! There aren't a whole lot of roles for women in Anglo-Saxon literature, but one of them is as peaceweavers (freoþuwebbe), women pledged in marriage (usually into warring tribes) to prevent further violence. The most prominent example of this in Beowulf is Queen Wealhtheow, whose appearance as a cupbearer in the mead-hall, offering mead to the men and securing oaths from them, is presented as a vital form of diplomacy. (Elsewhere in the poem there are examples of failed peaceweavers, such as Hildeburh, who is not able to prevent her biological family and her in-laws from going to war and thus loses her brother, son, and husband). Grendel's mother, in contrast, is a peacebreaker - all three monsters in the poem arguably represent an antithesis to an archetype in Anglo-Saxon heroic society, Grendel being the anti-retainer, Grendel's mother the anti-peaceweaver, and the dragon the anti-goldfriend.

In the AU, named peace-weavers include Maren and Charles' mother (who, like Hildeburh, ironically fails to prevent violence within her own family), but the person who is in fact extremely peaceweaver-coded is Edwin. He performs domestic activities such as knitting (well, nålebinding) and alludes to the two best-known Old English poems told from a woman's perspective, The Wife's Lament and Wulf and Eadwacer. (I talk a bit more about the genderfluidity of Edwin's Hell-forms here in this ask from @dont-offend-the-bees.) While Charles is striving to fulfil a masculine heroic archetype that will, ultimately, fail him, Edwin troubles all the archetypes by embodying them in monstrosity; together they are able to transcend the system of violence to weave their own peace.

Thank you for this ask! from the end-of-year Director's Cut game (ask me for additional lore or meta about any of my fics this year)

[ozma914]

Be Steel, My Heart

 The Fifth of March is my eleventh wedding anniversary, so I checked and found out the traditional gift for that particular landmark is ... steel.

So I gave Emily a license plate.

I don't know what I'm more worried about, her reaction or how soon the owner will find out it's gone.

Apparently steel symbolizes strength and integrity, and how hardened you have to be to your spouse's bad habits to last eleven years. 

I think our best mutual anniversary present was the dog. Also, one of the more expensive, but never mind. The truth is Beowulf wasn't an anniversary gift at all, but he's been with us for almost our entire marriage--he's basically our child, and one year I even had his portrait painted (penciled?) as a present for her. The only thing that's lasted longer for us are some of my shirts, although for some reason I keep finding them accidentally tossed into the trash can.

I suspect Emily's given up on expecting a lot out of me on special occasions like this, but hope springs eternal. I freeze up when it comes to preparing for these things. Congress will balance the budget before I get around to planning. I'm also utterly unable to compose a nice greeting card message, despite the fact that I'm an actual writer. I'm sure a good psychiatrist could get that all sorted out, but I have to wonder whether that sorting would screw something else up. I'm a carefully balanced stack of anxiety and insecurity at this point in my life--why take chances?

Just the same, I think she still appreciates me ... I think ... and I know she still loves me, or she'd head back to her home state where winters are milder. (Except maybe this year.) She also knows what I need more than I do myself, which is probably a thing with all couples, and she takes good care of me. I try to take care of her, too. I guess that's the important thing.

As for gifts, what Emily really wants is a horse, of course.

And I think Beowulf would be okay with it--he's touched noses with horses before. However, if we tried to keep a horse in our back yard I'm pretty sure someone would notice, and that's not allowed in town. Unfair, right? Horses can come in handy. But we're on the lookout for a place in the country, so sooner or later I'll get her that horse ... s ... horses.

 So Emily, if you're still talking to me--you never know for sure--I love you, and I'm sorry for my fails, some of which are epic. I'm working on them! Well, I'm working on some of them. But I'll always be there for you, even when I'm being there badly, and know this:

I love you more than chocolate.

http://markrhunter.com/ https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

[cl0udbursting]

2022 reads!

since everyone is doing this, i figured i might as well join in! i track my reading through thestorygraph and aim for 30 books in a year, though i don't usually count shorter texts read for class or the plays i skim when looking for material in my acting classes. favorites in each category are bolded. feel free to ask questions on any of these!

FICTION: 

House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski

Detransition, Baby – Torrey Peters

Sula – Toni Morrison

The Infinite Noise – Lauren Shippen

A Neon Darkness – Lauren Shippen

Some Faraway Place – Lauren Shippen

Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

Paradise – Toni Morrison

Gideon the Ninth (Reread) – Tamsyn Muir

Harrow the Ninth (Reread) – Tamsyn Muir

Sharp Objects – Gillian Flynn

A Psalm for the Wild-Built – Becky Chambers

This is How You Lose the Time War – Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

A Room Called Earth – Madeleine Ryan 

Nona the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir

Frankenstein (Reread) – Mary Shelley

Hell Followed with Us – Andrew Joseph White

Dracula (through Dracula Daily) – Bram Stoker 

Eartheater – Dolores Reyes (trans. Julia Sanches)

My Heart is a Chainsaw – Stephen Graham Jones

Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 

NON-FICTION:

Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right – Angela Nagle

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (Reread) – Alison Bechdel

POETRY: 

War of the Foxes – Richard Siken

Poetry: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology – W. Todd Kaneko & Amorak Huey

Life on Mars – Tracy K. Smith

Anglo-Saxon Judith – Unknown

Beowulf – Unknown

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – The Pearl Poet

PLAYS:

Cloud 9 – Caryl Churchill 

How I Learned to Drive – Paula Vogel

Mr. Burns and Other Plays – Anne Washburn

In the Other Room (The Vibrator Play) – Paula Vogel

Becky Shaw – Gina Gionfriddo

The Skriker – Caryl Churchill

The Tempest – William Shakespeare

This is Our Youth – Kenneth Lonergan

Bully – Amina Henry 

The Merchant of Venice (Reread) – William Shakespeare

The Marriage of Bette and Boo – Christopher Durang

Measure for Measure (Reread) – William Shakespeare

[not-rab]

^^^ same tbh and now i’m divorced, engaged and getting a cat??

i love how my blog went from being purely about my fanfic to somehow a center for drama surrounding multiple tumblr marriages and a debate on strawberry ice cream

and it's literally just like 5 people who are even following it

[harrowscore]

best books read in 2022 by yours truly, in no particular order:

the seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle by stuart turton (technically started in 2021 but finished in early january 2022, so it counts). murder mystery + time loop + redemption themes = perfect mix, 10/10 recommend

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar & max gladstone: space lesbians but what if they were enemies? lovely, lovely prose. one flaw tho: more of a ~i'm being poetic for the sake of being poetic~ than a character story. still, interesting read.

the plague by albert camus: i couldn't not include him. 5/5 stars, he's easily becoming one of my favorite authors.

hygiène de l'assassin by amélie nothomb: a female journalist succeeds where everyone else fails and interviews an old misanthropic and cynical nobel-winner author. but not everything is as it seems... insane little book, great characterization for the female protagonist. perfect ending. i couldn't put it down, thankfully it's quite short.

carmilla by j. sheridan le fanu: this doesn't need introductions, does it? :)

hedda gabler by henrik ibsen: a play revolving around a woman - daughter of a general, unsatisfied by her current circumstances and marriage. a fascinating female protagonist, especially for the time; the kind of writing you usually get for male characters, and a role every actress would give everything to play at least once.

salomé by oscar wilde: one act only, but it stays with you. particularly incisive adaptation of the biblical story; wilde's writing as usual is stunning.

an oresteia (agamemnon by aeschylus, elektra by sophokles, orestes by euripides) by anne carson: another read that doesn't need introductions.

the hours by michael cunningham: somehow based on mrs dalloway, it is about one day (and the life) of three women in three different time periods; among them, virginia woolf herself. lovely prose.

the cycle of earthsea by ursula k. le guin: series of 5 books (including one of short stories) masterfully written by ms le guin. the first book is a sort of fantasy buldingsroman about a young wizard named ged who, because of his hubris, makes a peculiar sort of enemy... the next books follow ged as he becomes an adult, a middle-aged, and an old man + a varied cast of characters (most importantly tenar, introduced in book 2). original worldbuilding and story (especially for the time - the first novel was published in the 60s), lovely prose and themes (light/dark as yin/yang, necessary to each other's existence - sw wishes it had what earthsea has) + beautiful love story in the last volumes. bonus: most characters in earthsea are very much not white. again, very avant-garde for the 60s, and something all adaptations deliberately ignored.

grendel by john gardner: based on the beowulf poem - the story told by the antagonist's point of view. just striking, and oh my god the themes. couldn't stop thinking about it for days.

in the night garden by catherynne m. valente: a girl trapped in a garden spins a labyrinth of fairy tales for a boy - the only person willing to listen to her - a la scheherazade. told in the usual beautiful prose made in valente, amazing settings and atmospheres.

the sundering duology by jacqueline carey. (thanks for the rec, @queen-zimraphel ❤️) basically a lotr retelling told by the Bad Guys' povs. the inspiration is clear but also it's meant to be a mirror and say 'what if?'. grey morality everywhere, elegant but simple prose + death and the maiden vibes from the local tormented dark lord/the beautiful elf lady. (tho the main love story is not about them specifically... but still.) a great tragedy, but masterfully told - this is how characters who were dead from the beginning and given a role to play in the narrative by a fate larger than them should be written.

honorary mentions to áqua viva by clarice lispector, waiting for godot by samuel beckett, enrico iv by luigi pirandello, and then there were none by agatha christie, sharp objects and gone girl by gillian flynn, in the margins by elena ferrante, ficciones by jorge luis borges, and obviously demons by fyodor dostoeveskij <3

[thistle-and-thorn]

Do you have any headcanons about religious/cultural practices and beliefs in Westeros? How do you think they vary between Dorne, the rest of the South and the North?

I talk to Lilium-convallium (who I know is lurking on this blog 👀 love u darling 🥰) talk about this ALL THE TIME. I need to re read the books because I don’t remember a lot of canon detail honestly so this will not be a meta post, just Vibes.

But how I imagine it when I write about it when I write fic is classical mythology in the form of the Catholic Church. Ancient Valyrian has a very traditional and recognizable mythology that is Greek, Roman or its predecessors/contemporaries like Sumerian or even Egyptian etc. like I picture elaborate burial rituals, Parthenon-like structures, etc. I think when the Targaryens invaded there was some marriage between religious beliefs.

I always imagine the literature of the Seven’s religion to take on much more of the mythologized story/poems/hymns of Ancient Greece, with that strange sort of circular and concurrent timeline, rather than the sort of linear arc that Jewish and Christian texts often seem to be (like, I don’t think, first there was Westerosi Adam and Eve, then Cain and Abel, the Noah, then Abraham, then Isaac and Ishmael, etc. or the idea of a House of David that eventually leads to Jesus, etc within Westerosi religion). It’s not a chronicle. There also appears to be no Savior figure, not in the Christian conception of a deity come to Earth. We have Azor Azhai but that is more reminiscent of Arthur—an extraordinary man with magical friends and strength of character rather than a literal God—and has the vagueness of many prophesies that appear in Greek or Roman mythology.

A lot of Southron Westeros is very Italian/Roman to me. The Lannisters are blatantly copied from the Borgias imo (side note: Tyrion’s storyline is literally about GRRM’s journey to atheism you cannot change my mind), the High Sparrow storyline is literally just Savonarola fanfic (the way the tale of Baelor the Blessed contains elements of George III fanfic). So the form that religion takes in Westeros is Catholic and thus really tactile as opposed to the more academic Protestant religions. Even though we have maesters, I think a lot of the social programming is provided by septons and septas. We also have, however, the sept taking indulgences, lots of man-created liturgies, cult sites, pilgrim tokens and relic tours—all the hallmarks of medieval Catholicism. Can you imagine how sexy Westerosi sainthood could be?!?! They don’t mention it like that but like—I love this idea!

I think it would be interesting to lean into that—are there different varieties of septon, the way there are Cistercians and Benedictines and Franciscans? (I literally am obsessed with monasticism don’t mind me) I think it would also be interesting to consider potential schisms—Like Eastern Orthodoxy and the Western Churches. To me, the schism would clearly occur in Dorne. Do the Dornish practice the Seven? I don’t remember tbh but any form of the Seven would be distinct in Dorne from the rest of Westeros.

The North reminds me of Christianized Scandanavia where many of the indigenous mythologies were re-adapted to folklore and superstitions and occurred alongside the practice of Christianity. The Northern religion is fascinating to me—there is no pantheon. I like to envision its stories as being Celtic or Norse but I think this would take the form of the non-god related stories: giants, fae, brownies, Tolkien-style dwarves. I think there’s something apocalyptic about Northern mythologies—celestial battles, etc. Their traditions are oral, often sung—later developing into troubadours—and stories of heroes similar to Beowulf, Fionn mac Cumhaill, etc. would be popular as well as fabled histories similar to the Aeneid, Arthur, or the Iliad. I don’t think they would have fondness for trickster characters like Loki or Odysseus and would instead focus on the moral or chivalric meanings of the myths.

The Red Priests and Priestesses are Zoroastrians. And I think that’s cool because Zoroastrians are cool.

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts. More will bubble up—this is my literal favorite topic. What about your head canons?