#sahara group later

[bitchiswild]

Backstage

G!P Yunjin x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: SMUTTTTTT🤪

A/n: some Coachella smut for you guys 🤭 (kinda not really bullshitted this :3)

Since the moment you glimpsed the lineup and saw Le Sserafim's name, you'd been eagerly counting down the days.

Le Sserafim wasn't just another group to you; they held a special place in your heart. You were determined to catch their set, even going as far as snagging VIP tickets just to be near them, to be near Yunjin. And as luck would have it, you spotted her a few times throughout the weekend, whether she was grabbing drinks with her members or snapping photos for her Instagram. Each time, your heart skipped a beat, completely taken by her presence.

What you didn't realize was that Yunjin, was also keeping an eye on you. From across the VIP area, her gaze often found you, drawn to your magnetic aura. She knew she wanted you, craved you beneath her, and would stop at nothing to make it happen. Each glance exchanged only fueled her determination, igniting a urge she couldn't ignore. As the festival's pulsating energy surrounded them, Yunjin was ready to do whatever it took to make you hers.

As the doors opened, you rushed to the Sahara Stage and wasted no time securing your spot near the front, eager to immerse yourself in the magic of Lesserafim's performance later that night. Hours passed in a blur as anticipation mounted, but finally, the moment arrived.

As Le Sserafim took the stage, you found yourself spellbound by Yunjin's presence. Her ethereal beauty and magnetic energy captivated you, drawing your gaze like a moth to a flame. Throughout the entire performance, you couldn't tear your eyes away from her, each movement she made, each note she sang, sending shivers down your spine.

Little did you know, Yunjin was also aware of your presence. Peeking out at the crowd before her performance, her eyes locked onto yours, and she knew she had to meet you. Throughout the set, she stole glances in your direction, her heart skipping a beat each time your eyes met, but careful not to draw too much attention.

As the music pulsed around them, a silent connection formed between you two, each stolen glance speaking volumes of the desire and anticipation simmering beneath the surface. And as the final chords echoed through the crowd, Yunjin made a decision – she had to meet you, no matter what it took.

As the final notes of Lesserafim's performance echoed through the Sahara Stage, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. As you prepared to make your way back through the throngs of people, a figure caught your eye – Yunjin's manager, rushing towards you with purpose in their stride.

With a mix of surprise and anticipation, you watched as they approached, their expression a mix of urgency and excitement. Before you could even process what was happening, they were standing in front of you, extending an invitation that left you speechless.

"Yunjin would like to meet you backstage," they explained, their words ringing in your ears like a surreal melody. Your heart raced with excitement as you processed the invitation, the realization sinking in that you were about to come face to face with the object of your admiration.

Without hesitation, you accepted, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you followed Yunjin's manager through the backstage area. Each step brought you closer to the moment you'd been dreaming of, the chance to meet Yunjin in person and perhaps even share a moment alone with her.

As you approached Yunjin's trailer, your pulse quickened, nerves and excitement intertwining in a heady mix. With a deep breath, you stepped inside, ready to embark on the next chapter of this unforgettable Coachella experience.

Inside Yunjin's trailer, the air crackled with an electric tension that seemed to draw you both closer together. As Yunjin stepped into the room, her gaze locked onto yours with an intensity that sent a shiver down your spine. You couldn't help but notice the way her eyes lingered on you, a silent invitation sparking between you like a flame in the darkness.

"Hello," she greeted, her voice soft but tinged with a hint of something more, something that set your pulse racing. "I'm so glad you could make it."

Your heart pounded in your chest as you struggled to find your voice, the heat of her gaze making it difficult to focus. "Thank you for inviting me," you managed to say, your voice husky with emotion. "It's an honor to meet you, Yunjin."

As you exchanged pleasantries, the tension between you grew thicker with each passing moment. Every touch, every shared glance, seemed to fuel the fire that burned between you, igniting a desire that threatened to consume you both.

In the intimate confines of the trailer, the boundaries between you blurred, giving way to a palpable chemistry that simmered just beneath the surface. You could feel the heat of her body as she moved closer, her breath mingling with yours in the close quarters of the room.

"I've been eyeing you all day," Yunjin confessed, her hand raising to gently brush a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

Your breath caught in your throat as her touch sent a jolt of electricity coursing through you. With a shaky sigh, you managed to reply, "I've been eyeing you since you debuted," your voice barely above a whisper, tinged with a nervous giggle.

Yunjin's smile widened, a playful glint dancing in her eyes as she leaned in closer. You felt the heat of her breath against your skin as her gaze flickered down to your lips, then back up to meet your eyes.

“You know why youre here right?” She questioned. A shiver ran down your spine as Yunjin's voice took on a husky tone, her gaze burning with an intensity that made your heart race. Her hands trailed down to your hips, their touch sending waves of sensation rippling through you.

You met her gaze with a mixture of anticipation and desire, your breath catching in your throat as you searched for the right words. "I think I have an idea," you replied, your voice barely above a whisper, the air thick with tension.

Yunjin's lips curved into a knowing smile as she leaned in closer, her breath hot against your ear. "Good," she murmured, her voice sending shivers down your spine. "Because I've been wanting you since the moment I saw you."

With that, she closed the distance between you, her lips meeting yours in a passionate kiss that set your world ablaze. In that moment, there was no Coachella, no trailer, just the two of you lost in a whirlwind of desire and longing.

The kiss deepened between you and Yunjin, the world around you seemed to fade away, leaving only the sensation of her lips moving fervently against yours. A low moan escaped your lips, mingling with the soft gasps of pleasure that echoed in the intimate space of the dressing room.

Feeling emboldened by the intensity of the moment, Yunjin's hands roamed eagerly over your body, her touch setting your skin ablaze with desire. With a sudden urgency, she pushed you gently backward until you felt the edge of the bed against the back of your legs.

Your heart raced as you tumbled onto the soft mattress, Yunjin hovering above you with a hunger in her eyes that mirrored your own. With a sensual grace, she straddled your hips, her movements fluid and deliberate as she pressed her body against yours, igniting a fire that burned hotter with each passing moment.

Her hands trailed along the curves of your body, leaving a trail of tingling sensation in their wake. You arched into her touch, a soft gasp escaping your lips as pleasure coursed through you. And when her lips found yours again, the kiss was searing, a passionate symphony of tongues and teeth that left you breathless and wanting more.

Lost in the heat of the moment, you surrendered yourself to Yunjin's touch, allowing her to explore every inch of your body with a fervor that left you trembling with desire. And as she moved with increasing urgency, her movements becoming more frantic and desperate, you knew that there was no turning back — tonight would be a night to remember, a night of unbridled passion and ecstasy that would leave you both forever changed.

Yunjin's hands moved with purpose, trailing down your body until they reached the waistband of your bottoms.

With a gentle yet urgent tug, she began to slide them down, exposing your skin to the cool air of the dressing room. Your breath caught in your throat at the sensation, a rush of heat flooding through you as Yunjin's touch sent electric currents dancing along your skin.

"Let me please you, baby," she whispered, her voice husky with desire, as she leaned in closer, her lips brushing against your ear. "Let me touch you, please."

Yunjin's words ignited a fire within you, and with a hungry whimper, you nodded eagerly, unable to contain the waves of desire crashing through your body.

"Yes, please," you pleaded, your voice trembling with need as you reached out for her. "Touch me, please."

As Yunjin's warm breath teased your skin, anticipation coiled tightly within you, every nerve on edge in anticipation of her touch. When her tongue finally made contact with your slick folds, you couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped your lips, a jolt of pleasure racing through your body.

Her tongue danced across your sensitive flesh, sending waves of ecstasy crashing over you. Your body quivered in response, pleasure coursing through every inch of your being as she expertly teased and tantalized your most intimate area.

Unable to contain the overwhelming sensations washing over you, you arched your back, your hands clutching at the sheets beneath you as pleasure consumed you. Yunjin's movements grew more fervent, her tongue flicking and swirling with a rhythm that mirrored the pounding of your heart.

Yunjin's tongue traced slow, tantalizing circles against your throbbing clit, a chorus of moans escaped your lips, mingling with the sound of your ragged breaths.

"Oh, god," you gasped, your voice thick with desire as pleasure rippled through you. "Yunjin, please... don't stop."

Yunjin's only response was a low, guttural growl of approval as she intensified her ministrations, her tongue flicking and teasing with a practiced precision that left you trembling with need.

"Yes, just like that," you whimpered, your fingers tangling in the sheets as you surrendered yourself to the blissful onslaught. "Harder... faster..."

With a primal hunger that matched your own, Yunjin obliged, her movements growing more urgent as she drove you relentlessly towards the brink of ecstasy.

As the tension coiled tighter and tighter within you, you felt yourself teetering on the edge of release, every touch, every lick pushing you closer and closer to the edge.

And then, with a final, exquisite flick of her tongue, Yunjin sent you hurtling over the edge into a blissful abyss, your body convulsing with pleasure as waves of ecstasy washed over you, leaving you trembling and utterly spent in her embrace.

Your breaths grew ragged, your body writhing with uncontrollable desire as she drove you relentlessly towards the edge.

"Oh, god, Yunjin," you cried out, your voice raw with need as pleasure engulfed you. "I'm... I'm gonna cum so hard for you."

Sensation overwhelmed your senses, every touch, every flick of her tongue sending shockwaves of ecstasy coursing through your veins. You were teetering on the brink, on the precipice of an earth-shattering release that promised to consume you whole.

With a final, fervent thrust of her tongue, Yunjin pushed you over the edge, and you exploded into a crescendo of pleasure so intense, it felt as if the world itself had shattered around you.

Your cries of ecstasy filled the air, mingling with Yunjin's name as waves of euphoria crashed over you, leaving you trembling and utterly spent in the aftermath of your explosive climax.

Yunjin's sudden movement drew your attention, and as she yanked down her own bottoms, revealing her throbbing, veiny cock, your jaw dropped in stunned amazement. The sight of her arousal, her shaft glistening with pre-cum, sent a surge of desire coursing through you, igniting a primal hunger that burned hot and fierce.

Your eyes widened with anticipation as you took in the sight before you, unable to tear your gaze away from her magnificent arousal. The sheer size and potency of her cock filled you with an overwhelming sense of longing, a need so intense it bordered on obsession.

With trembling hands, you reached out for her, your fingers trailing eagerly along the length of her shaft, reveling in the sensation of her hardness beneath your touch. A low, guttural moan escaped your lips as you felt her pulse against your skin, the heat of her arousal searing through you like a wildfire.

you leaned forward eagerly, your lips parting to take Yunjin's throbbing cock into your mouth, a low groan of pleasure escaped her lips. The taste of her pre-cum on your tongue sent a shiver of delight down your spine as you eagerly took more of her length into your mouth.

Yunjin's fingers threaded through your hair, guiding you gently as you worked her shaft with fervent enthusiasm. With each bob of your head, she let out a string of soft moans and gasps, her hips moving in time with your movements.

"Good girl," she breathed, her voice husky with desire as she praised your efforts. The words sent a thrill of excitement coursing through you, fueling your desire to please her even more.

With a newfound determination, you redoubled your efforts, taking her deeper into your mouth, swirling your tongue around her length, and sucking her with an intensity that left her trembling with pleasure.

In that moment, there was only the two of you, lost in a world of sensation and desire. And as Yunjin's climax approached, her grip on your hair tightened, her breaths coming in short, ragged gasps as she reached the pinnacle of ecstasy.

With one final, desperate thrust, she came undone, her release flooding your mouth with the taste of her pleasure. And as you swallowed every drop.

As you turned around, positioning yourself on your stomach and lifting your hips in anticipation, a whimper of desire escaped your lips. You glanced over your shoulder, locking eyes with Yunjin, conveying your eagerness and need with a single, longing gaze.

Yunjin wasted no time, her hands gripping your hips firmly as she positioned herself behind you. With a low growl of anticipation, she pressed the tip of her throbbing cock against your slick entrance, teasing you with the promise of what was to come.

"Please," you begged, your voice thick with need as you pushed back against her, desperate for the exquisite release only she could provide. "Fuck me, Yunjin. Hard and fast."

With a primal hunger that matched your own, Yunjin complied, driving into you with a force that left you gasping for breath. Pleasure surged through you in waves as she pounded into you relentlessly, each thrust sending shockwaves of ecstasy coursing through your body.

Your cries of pleasure mingled with Yunjin's own grunts of exertion as she claimed you as her own, the intensity of your connection igniting a fire that burned hotter with each passing moment.

Her thrusts intensified, the sound of skin meeting skin echoed through the air, punctuated by the wet, rhythmic slapping of her hips against yours. Each impact sent a jolt of pleasure coursing through you, the sensation heightened by the intoxicating mix of pain and ecstasy.

"Fuck, you feel so good," Yunjin groaned, her voice thick with desire as she drove into you with primal urgency. "You're so tight, baby. Just for me."

Her words sent a shiver of delight down your spine, fueling the fire of arousal that burned hot and fierce within you. With each thrust, you felt yourself teetering on the edge of oblivion, pleasure threatening to consume you completely.

Yunjin's cock drove deeper into you, stretching you to your limits, a wave of pleasure mingled with a hint of pain washed over you. You could feel every inch of her thick shaft filling you, stretching you in the most deliciously agonizing way possible.

Each ridge and vein on her cock teased your inner walls, sending shivers of ecstasy coursing through your body. The feeling of her veins rubbing against your sensitive flesh sent sparks of pleasure dancing along your nerves, amplifying the intensity of each thrust.

"God, you're so tight," Yunjin groaned, her voice thick with desire as she buried herself deeper inside you. "You feel so fucking good around me."

With each movement, Yunjin's cock seemed to find new depths within you, hitting spots you didn't even know existed and sending waves of pleasure radiating throughout your entire body. The sensation was almost overwhelming, bordering on too much, but you welcomed it eagerly, craving more of the delicious torment she was inflicting upon you.

In that moment, there was nothing but the sensation of Yunjin's cock stretching you, filling you, and the overwhelming pleasure that accompanied it. And as she continued to drive into you with relentless passion, you surrendered yourself completely to the exquisite bliss of being taken by her, knowing that there was nowhere else you'd rather be.

Yunjin's thrusts grew more frenzied, her grip on your hips tightening as she approached the edge of release.

"I'm gonna cum," she groaned, her voice thick with desire as she pounded into you with reckless abandon. "Cum for me, baby. I want to feel you come apart around me."

The words sent a surge of pleasure coursing through you, pushing you closer to the edge with each passing moment. With a cry of ecstasy, you felt the first tendrils of release begin to wash over you, pleasure building to an unbearable crescendo.

"Yes, yes," you moaned, your voice a breathless chorus of need as you gave in to the overwhelming bliss. "I'm gonna cum for you, Yunjin. I'm yours."

And then, with one final, earth-shattering thrust, you tumbled over the edge into ecstasy, your climax consuming you in a whirlwind of sensation and pleasure. Waves of pleasure crashed over you, each sensation more intense than the last as you surrendered yourself completely to the rapture of orgasm.

In that moment, Yunjin followed suit, her own release washing over her in a torrent of ecstasy. With a guttural groan of satisfaction, she spilled her essence deep inside you, filling you with the warmth of her climax as you both rode out the waves of pleasure together.

As the last echoes of ecstasy faded into the air, you collapsed into each other's arms, spent and sated, the blissful aftermath enveloping you in a cocoon of contentment.

A gentle calm settled over the room, the only sound the soft echo of your breathing as you lay tangled together in the aftermath.

With tender care, Yunjin withdrew from you, her touch gentle and reverent as she pressed a series of gentle kisses along your spine, soothing the lingering ache of pleasure. Her arms enveloped you in a warm embrace, pulling you close against her chest as she whispered sweet words of affection and adoration into your ear.

"You were amazing," she murmured, her voice soft with tenderness as she traced gentle circles on your skin. "Thank you for letting me be with you like this."

A contented sigh escaped your lips as you snuggled closer to her, basking in the warmth of her embrace. "Thank you," you whispered back, your heart overflowing with love and gratitude. "For everything."

In that moment, there was only the two of you, lost in the quiet intimacy of your shared connection.

[bethelighthalazia]

Coachelly, Baby!

Summary:  Mingi gets the call of his beloved girlfriend going into labor. While he's performing at coachella on the big sahara stage between two songs. Will he make it to the hospital in time?

Genre: fluff

Pairing: dad!mingi x fem!reader

Word Count:  1566

Warnings: none? mentions of pregnant reader (water breaks and labor mentioned)

networks: @mirohs-aurora-society

[note: the purple bold italic text is spoken english, every other spoken word is koreanthis is part of a mini-series for dad!ateez]

HJ, SH, YH, YS, S, MG, WY, JH

�� by bethelighthalazia. Do not repost, copy or translate. Unless stated otherwise, those works are mine and born from my own ideas. I don't have any claim on the mentioned real existing Idols whatsoever.

Mingi and you had not planned any of this. Of course, both of you were completely in love with each other, and Mingi already had gotten a ring to propose to you, but then, all of a sudden, life happened. It wasn't supposed to be a big thing, neither of you would have thought that this little quickie you two had backstage on their tour, yet a month after that, you had been staring at the positive pregnancy test. Mingi had accompanied you to the doctors and they also confirmed: You´re pregnant. 

Now, almost ten months later, you were sitting in the hotel room in LA. Your best friend, one of ATEEZ´s staff members, is lounging on the sofa. She actually had been on vacation, but didn´t want to leave you alone while the boys were performing on the Sahara stage. so, that's how the both of you ended up in the hotel room, when you felt it. A sharp pain caused you to curl forwards a little, Seonghwa´s Switch dropping from your hands. You knew this pain, fake contractions were normal in the last weeks already, but this time, it felt different. 

“Fuck…I need Mings-” You groan, feeling the wetness of the sofa and your sweatpants. Your water broke. Your friend quickly grabbed the bag that you had prepared and helped you up to lead you down into the foyer of the hotel, where one of Mingi´s bodyguards already waited to bring you to the hospital. You vehemently refused to call an ambulance, yet your legs gave up on the way to the car and the bodyguard quickly caught you, carrying you the last few steps. “Mingi- I need my Mingi!” You repeated, tears in your eyes while you tried to be strong and hold back. The ride to the hospital was quick, only a few blocks down the street from the hotel you stayed in. Unfortunately, since neither your best friend, nor the bodyguard were family, they weren't allowed to accompany you inside. Although, when you basically screamed at the nurses, they did let your best friend come with you. 

A few miles away, Mingi and the others just finished the second to last song and Hongjoong was talking to ATINY and the crowd again. That's when Mingi´s eyes went wide, because through the earpiece, he heard staff tell the group what happened. For a moment, they all were frozen in place, seven pairs of eyes directed at Mingi, who just stood there, mouth agape. “Aish! She really couldn't have waited?!” Wooyoung joked, trying to lessen the tension a little, but in that moment ATINY cheered loudly. Mingi had not kept the news of your pregnancy a secret, he was very open about it, but never revealed your name or picture, to keep you safe, of course. Before any of them could really do anything, the music for the last song started and they all performed Wonderland. Even though their thoughts were with you, Ateez performed fierce and powerful once again and, before the last note actually finished, Mingi ran off the stage. He didn't even stop to get changed, only grabbing Hongjoong´s arm, dragging him to the car to make them drive him to the hospital where you were having his babies.

During the drive, Mingi was basically vibrating on the seat, still feeling the high from the performance mixed with the excitement and anxiety of the infamous ‘dad-panic’. “Hey!” Hongjoong yelled after the fourth attempt to get the younger one´s attention, causing him to look quite startled. “Calm down, she's in the best hands. We´re almost there, Mingi-ah. Take a deep breath, okay? You can't rush in there and cause Y/nie to get even more stressed than she already is, okay?” The captain said calmly and gave his younger member a worried glance every now and then while also focusing on the road. “What if i´m too late? She´ll be upset with me…I promised to be there for her during birth.” Mingi mumbled under his breath, his fingers drumming the dashboard of the car. When Hongjoong parked the car, Mingi already jumped out before the engine was turned off, drawing a chuckle from the captain. The older male also got out and quickly followed Mingi, which was easy, since he towered over most of the people there. 

“Song Y/n, where Song Y/n?” The blonde asked, almost climbing over the counter to take a look at the registry himself, because the nurse was just staring at Mingi. Who could blame her though, he was in the full coachella attire after all, mic monitor and all still attached to him. Stepping in to pull Mingi back, Hongjoong took over the talking, Mingi´s english too butchered by his excitement. “We´re looking for my friend´s girlfriend, Y/l/n /Y/n.” The captain said, after all, you weren't married yet, but the nurse looked a little confused. “Uhm, we only have Song Y/n here, her friend put in the information while Miss Song was rushed to the maternity unit. Just follow the hallway down there and wait there please.” The nurse explained, even gesturing for Hongjoong and Mingi to follow the signs and hallways. The short male didn't have much time to thank the nurse, already being dragged after Mingi, who had spotted your best friend waiting for you. When the two men joined your best friend, Mingi was not able to sit down though, your bestie quickly helped Mingi to take off his earpieces and the microphone monitor when the doors swung open.

“Who's the father?” Another nurse asked, looking at Hongjoong, who nudged Mingi forward a bit, and Mingi was led to you. When he stepped in though, he froze in the doorway, looking at you with his usual boba-eyed pout. “I- I missed it?” He asked, the adorable expression on his face completely opposite to his rockstar outfit. You just smiled at him, your hair sticking to the sweaty skin and you looked exhausted, but to him, you always would be the most beautiful being in the world. That is, until his gaze shifted when he noticed movement on your chest. Very slowly, Mingi stepped closer, leaning in to kiss your lips before looking at the small bundles in your arms. Hold on, bundles? There was more than one moving bundle, but that would mean-

“M- more than one?” His voice was quiet, slightly hoarse as he tried to stay calm. You just nodded, watching him very carefully take one of the bundles out of your arms as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “A boy and a girl.” You whispered, seeing the smile on his lips grow wide, unable to hold back his tears as he held his newborn daughter in his arms, her whole body almost fitting into his hands only. “Welcome to the world, ChanHee and Yujin…” With a choked chuckle, Mingi kissed the baby's forehead gently, your son instinctively grabbing your finger as you carefully poked his nose. After a while, the door to your room opened again and the other seven members came in, Hongjoong and Seonghwa had talked to them beforehand to not be too loud and to behave, or else they´d be in trouble. 

The moment they laid eyes on the babies, Seonghwa and San couldn't stop themselves, tears running down their faces already. “You know…I do hope they'll grow to look more like you, Y/nie, and not like Mingi-'' Wooyoung said in a teasing manner, but is soon shut up by Jongho, who drags his hyung out of the room again. The captain congratulated you and Mingi, he even snuck in a bag with your favorite treats, and then shushed and hurried the others out again as well, so you and Mingi could enjoy parenthood for now. 

“I´m sorry, jagi…I really came as fast as I could, but-” “Mingi, please. You are here now, and that's what counts.” You cut him off, smiling gently at him, the babies by now laying in their cribs next to the bed. Mingi had taken off the jacket he wore and replaced it with a plain black shirt, so he couldn't possibly hurt you or the babies with the zipper and buttons of his jacket. You had made him lay down on the bed and cuddle with you, needing his warmth and comfort now, while he had asked you about almost every detail of the birth. It wasn't really the most casual talk, yet you did try to tell him everything, even though it mostly felt like a blur for yourself. It didn't take long for your head to drop against his chest while talking, the exhaustion finally taking over your body as you fell asleep. Mingi however felt wide awake, holding you tightly and peppering you with kisses. He felt so grateful that you walked into his life and now even blessed him with the two most beautiful babies. With a smile on his face, he carefully climbed out of the bed when Yujin started to make sounds. He very gently lifted her out of the crib and rocked her in his arms, humming the melody of Wonderland, the first melody that came to mind, to make her fall asleep again, a content smile on his face when he looked at his son and then you, his wonderful little family. 

taglist: @mingis-mizu, @tinyelfperson, @hotteokkay, @minkilicious, @bunnliix,

@gong-fourz, @yeosangiess, @dinossaurz, @scuzmunkie, @h3arteyes4mingi

(if you want to be added to a taglist, follow the taglist-link in my pinned post)

[give-grian-rights]

Hermitcraft - Basic History of Teams!

Alright. Buckle in.

Only a few days from now, and Hermitcraft 10 will begin! If you're new, I hope this helps!

Hermitcraft has existed for over ELEVEN YEARS now! While very few have been here for every single season, with the exception of our lovely Tumblr Resident, and official Tumblr Sexy Man Joe Hills, and our derp Xisumavoid.

You are under NO obligation to watch every season. There are probably few, if any, active users in this community who have. It's just not possible to watch it all. You don't need to watch the previous seasons to enjoy our community space! While there are a lot of back-references, for MOST people, it doesn't extend to lore and actions any older than season 6.

Most of the Hermits are associated with specific other members, despite ALL OF THEM taking turns collaborating, interacting, and sometimes building whole new dynamics and factions in the process. Some of the team-ups that you'll see referred to in fandom-spaces and the occasional one-off mention from our creators, include:

(Season 5) NHO, New Hermit Order - Docm77, Ethoslab, Bdoubleo100, and VintageBeef. Living in a jungle while having "fights" with others. Attempts to tax those who enter their jungle, had traps around it, and criticized the then-popular AFK Fishing Farms. Bdoubleo100, or Bdubs, especially enjoyed stealing from these. (Season 5-6) Convex, or ConCorp - GoodTimesWithScar and Cubfan135. One group I am the least familiar with unfortunately. They built a brand around the Vexes, with their business having pretty extreme low-morals that includes pollution and war profiteering.

(Season 6) ArciTects - Very close to be naming "BuildStone", it was proposed by and founded by Grian to Mumbo, later giving an invite to Iskall85. The purpose of this alliance was for builders to help redstoners, and redstoner to help builders. It accumulated in the ATTEMPT of founding the "greatest shop in the history of Hermitcraft", Sahara. It was, hilariously, a very large failure. Grian miraculously managed to entirely ruin the system with a single baked potato. No, I don't know how.

(Season 6) G-Team & Team STAR (Superior Tactical Alliance for Retaliation) - The Hermitcraft Civil War, consisted of a long list of minor conflicts in which various members of Hermitcraft blamed other people for pranks they committed, eventually spiraling into the confusion that was The Civil War! G-Team: Grian, TangoTek, Iskall85, Joe Hills, ZombieCleo, StressMonster101, and iJevin. Team STAR: Docm77, WelsKnight, FalseSymmetry, ImpulseSV Xisuma, RenDog

Mumbo Jumbo acted as a mole in Team Star, for the G-Team. He created this commercial for Team STAR. Team STAR made a very iconic diss track, which was soon remixed. It is a...Very iconic piece of Hermitcraft fandom. The result was Joe Hill's Response, in his short video also remixed by the same creator. Albeit missing the additions of the totally real voices of the other G-Team members

(Season 6) Area 77 & The Hippies - (I didn't finish Hippies POV and i didn't watch anything of Doc or Scar's POV of this unfortunately) Area 77 was founded by (unsurprisingly) Docm77, and GoodTimesWithScar, where they were doing experiments and studying abonomalies. SOmehow, this lead into Grian, once again, turning against them and forming The Hippies with the help of Ren, with Impulse soon joining. The conflict primarily consisted of them griefing Area 77 with flowers.

(Season 7) Boomers Demolition - Early game business formed by TangoTek, Bdoubleo100, and ImpulseSV which consistedo f almost exclusively non-duped TnT demolition, and was very fun!!

(Season 7) The Mycellium Resistance/HEP (Hermitcraft Environmental Protection) Hermicraft 7 saw Grian introduce the Hermitcraft Mayoral Election, created with the idea of putting Mumbo in as a puppet-government. If I had a nickel for every time Grian tried to start a puppet government (at this point) I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice. Grian and Mumbo lost. In it's place was GoodTimesWIthScar. As Mayor, they had further control over the shopping district. Scar's promise was to replace the shopping district's Mycellium with grass. Despite very happily admitting that grass looked better, Grian, in a moment of nostalgia, decided to replace some Mycellium. Scar proceeded by putting caution tape around the area. This spiraled into The Turf War

Mycellium Resistance: Grian (Mother Spore), ImpulseSV, RenDog, XBCrafted, iJevin, Ethoslab, StressMonster101, Docm77, and Mumbo Jumbo HEP/Mayor Scar: Scar, Bdoubleo100, Keralis, Xisumavoid, TangoTek, Cubfan135, FalseSymmetry, Mumbo Jumbo, who joined due to them having the better vault. Etho had intended on being a double-agent, selling information to Scar. His information, however, was useless on purpose and decided to pledge full loyalty to The Resistance.

(Season 8) Boatem Hole - Grian, Mumbo Jumbo, GoodTimesWithScar, ImpulseSV and PearlescentMoon more or less stumbled and tripped into forming a group after innocently stacking boats and crafting tables and crystals on a pole, dubbed Boatem Poll. They then proceeded to create a hole down to bedrock, and eventually into the void, called the Boatem Hole. It was a large plains biome which was turned into varying mountain terraforming and the like from all of them and was connected in some small ways.

(Season 8) The Big Eyed Crew - Bdoubleo100, Keralis, and TangoTek. Tango did not, in fact, have big eyes and instead wore sunglasses to compensate. They had a town and shopping area and was occasionally dragged into pranks by the Boatem Crew.

(Season 8) Octogon/Goatem - Docm77 and RenDog! Main rivals with Boatem (thus the Goatem - pole of goats) had a mega business, game-breaking creations, and jaw-dropping spidery teal-and-deepslate creations. Weird Science!

(Season 9) Soup Crew - ImpulseSV, PearlescentMoon, GeminiTay. Made the CRAZIEST combo-base where all their different themes blended into a cohesive build

(Season 9) Buttercups - Grian, MumboJumbo, and GoodTimesWithScar. What's up, Buttercup? They formed after an incient where Scar and Grian blew up a massive, complex tunnel bomber in Doc's base. They could not understand how to repair it, and left a few diamond blocks before conflict started. They dragged Mumbo in, and had a robot fight with...

(Season 9) The Perimeter - Docm77 and RenDog. Doc's base, known as The Perimeter, teamed with Ren to attack the Buttercups using walking redstone creations to do a robot fight. Due to an issue with one of the server's plugins, they all re-logged, breaking one of the bots and ending with Buttercup's bot to do more harm to itself than the Perimeter's, but ultimately the destruction did prevent Doc and Ren from getting any further. Ren and Doc then launched flying TnT dupers, which looked like butterflies, towards all of the Buttercups' bases and camp. They stopped them both, with one butterfly destroying The Perimeter's own bot even further.

I am so sure that I'm missing some, but I am losing my mind with all this trying to remember them all!! I hope this could give people an idea of who they might enjoy watching!

[vintagelasvegas]

Club Bingo became the Sahara. Photos c. 1948 and 1952.

Timeline of Club Bingo and Sahara Hotel & Casino

Club Bingo, predecessor of Sahara

‘46: M.D. Close builds a restaurant on this site; sold a year later to Prewin Inc (Milton Prell, Al Winter).

‘47: Club Bingo opens 7/24/47. Prell, Winter & partners, owners. Wurdeman & Becket, architects. Signs by YESCO.

‘48: Bonanza Room opens in May, signs added.

‘49: New sign by YESCO and Aloysius McDonald.

‘52: Club Bingo closed in May. Club Bingo’s main building incorporated into the Sahara as the coffee shop. Casino items sold to the public in June.

Sahara Hotel & Casino

‘52: Sahara opened 10/7/52. 200 rooms. Prell, Winter & partners, owners. Max Meltzman, architect. Built by Del Webb Corp.

‘55: 200-room, low-rise expansion on the south side of the resort.

‘60: 14-story, 200-room Tunis Tower addition opened in May. (600 rm total.) M. Stern Jr, architect. Built by Del Webb Corp. Tunis tower said to be Nevada’s tallest building. 127-ft sign by YESCO added in Fall.

‘61: Sahara, The Mint, and Lucky Strike Club sold to Del Webb Corp, under new subsidiary, Sahara-Nevada Corp. First public company to own casinos.

‘62: New main lobby, casino expansion, House of Lords steakhouse addition.

‘63: 24-floor Alexandria Tower addition. M. Stern Jr, architect. Don the Beachcomber addition.

‘68: Convention Center addition.

‘78: 26-floor Tangiers Tower addition. M. Stern Jr, architect.

‘80: Second sign, by YESCO

‘82: Sahara sold to Paul Lowden.

‘88: Parking garage, “T” extension of Tangiers Tower.

‘95: Sold to Gordon Gaming.

‘96: Beginning of a renovation and rebuild project that lasted through 2000. Last of the ‘50s-era low rise rooms demolished in 3/96, replaced with new porte-cochere and parking garage; New sign with two camels with matching signage on the Paradise Rd entrance all by Jack M. Larsen Jr. & Mikhon Lighting and sign (‘97); Speedworld addition (‘97); Speed-The Ride roller coaster addition (2000).

2007: Sold to SBE Ent & Stockbridge.

2011: Sahara closed.

2014: Reopened as SLS Hotel. Tunis, Alexandria, and Tangiers towers renamed Sam, Society, and Citizen. Society tower becomes W Hotel 2017-2018.

2018: Sold to Meruelo Group.

2019: renamed Sahara.

Photos of Club Bingo / Photos of Sahara

Club Bingo & Sahara photos both likely by Las Vegas News Bureau. li ‘41 and ‘51 Cadillac. First Sahara photo from the Manis Collection, UNLV Special Collections. Photo below is a scan from a commercial 35mm slide, Vintage Las Vegas collection.

Sources include: Becket Architectural Drawings and Photographs, Getty Research Institute; Close Property on Highway 91 Sold for Club. Review-Journal, 5/2/47 p3; Strip Values. Review-Journal, 8/9/55 p3; Modern Room Design. Review-Journal, 5/26/60; Skybound at Sahara. Review-Journal, 9/15/60; Associated Press. Sahara’s Merger Plan Gains Okay. Review-Journal, 7/19/61; Jude Wanniski. Yanks Boss Vetoes Vegas Named Tie-In. Review-Journal, 7/21/61.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Bit Slow Round These Parts

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2023 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 8 of 12 - Mhok is about the most indulgent boyfriend on the planet. Why they dressed as 1930s gangsters for the wedding? I have no idea idea, but it’s adorable. IFYLITA mark 2? And they’re even dancing together using bits of the same steps that were used that show too. Cute nod.

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 6 of 10 - Everything but the kitchen sink includes lesbians apparently. Excellent. Carry on. Also a lot of filler about the sides. (Boring, stop that.) I wish the doctor were a little bit more of a multifaceted character (and less evil snakey), and that we had some of his backstory + Tharn. If we saw them as kids, having a longer true friendship, it would make Tharn’s attitude a little bit more sympathetic and forgiving.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 5 of 10 - I like this show, but it’s awfully one-sided in the romance arena. I mean shouldn’t they be trying to support and make each other happy? Why does it always have to come from Him? Also, I’m constantly worried about the fact that Nail doesn’t eat any vegetables. His digestive track must be in serious distress. And if the boy is a bottom?! Look I have concerns is all I'm saying, I hope he's getting his fiber along with the dk. Meanwhile... Mom confrontation! Always fun.  

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 9 of 10 - Now I’m having a hard time keeping the twins straight. Who’s getting beat up for whom, what’s going on? No matter who, First caught himself a live one. I like those bits.

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 7 of 14 - I got little crumbs of my sides but not enough, and then they dropped the mpreg bomb. Kinda like blowing the BL diaper. Trash watch happening here.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 5 of 12 - They are so cute. And mostly such good communicators. Except evil dad is evil! I didn’t have OffGun tango on my bingo card, but I'm happy to check it off. After making everyone sing, GMMTV is now making everyone dance. I much prefer it. Kiss came a bit out of nowhere. But it was sweet. 

A few minutes later...

Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 6fin - I don’t know, I feel like this just wasn’t good enough for the class of talent involved. Which means it’s mostly the story and script's fault. In the end I kinda just wanted Guy to get the guy.

In cluclusion:

A lack-luster story about a group of bakers coping with (mostly) a shoddy script that could not be saved by either the beauty nor the talent of the actors involved. It suffered for lack of narrative backbone and so did I. 6/10

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 8fin - Mai is an adorable clingy boyfriend, and that bit was kind of cute.

Summation:

Office clown, Jade, a manic pixie dream dork, is courted by the new intern, Mai. This show is right in my wheelhouse but it fell flat for me. I wish it had lived up to the concept behind the title (if nothing else). If we had done more of Jade‘s family and the reasons behind his self-worth struggles and self-acceptance issues, they might have been easier to bare. Without backstory, the show had no through line. In the end, Jade was a largely intolerable character, and Mai felt flat and lacking in personality. I was disappointed with this show, and I hope they don't blame the pair for the poor ratings. 6/10

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) 1626 ep 19 of 24 - Meh. So dull. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - I’m not really interested in the late addition love triangle concept.

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 4 of 8 - a bit too frenetic and manic for me, this one. Glasses boy is best boy. But I’m kind of confused as to was actually going on with this show. Including whether I like it or not.

I Became the Main Role of a BL (Japan Sun Gaga) ep 1-3 - AKA BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen - it should finish airing at the very beginning of the year, so I decided to wait and watch all 3 back-to-back. 

It's Airing But...

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far.

Night Dream (Sat YT) 6 eps - It’s a pain to track down and I really didn’t like the first episode so… DNF  

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if safe.

Dead Friend Forever (Thai Sat iQIYI) - horror, meh, tell me if it's worth my time?

It's done and I didn't, or we can't

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed with ep 1. Been told I shouldn't bother. So I won't.

Behind the Shadows (Korea movie) - This is a historical I was interested in, but I've been told they kill the gay so I'm OUT.

[INTERNATIONAL] Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - yeah Japan put the smack down on our boys. Sadness. You can use a VPN if you like. Read all about it here.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have a spare day.

Crazy work load right now so no idea when that will be. (End of year is a bear for me.)

Honestly I'm gonna have an epic number of dnf's this year for me.

Next Week Looks Like This

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED). With the end of the year upon us I'll do an "announced for 2023 but never happened list" soon.

Also my best ofs are coming.

Don't think I'll do a stats round up this year, everything progressing as before.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

(Last week) - sorry, forgot to link it.

It's 2024 people! Round ups are coming!!!! Leave a comment or an ask, if you have something specific you want addressed.

[ptseti]

"THERE IS NO GROUP THAT EVER CAME INTO AFRICA THAT MEANT ANYTHING GOOD FOR AFRICANS" -Dr John Henrik Clarke.

“The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” - From 'THINGS FALL APART' 1958, written by Chinua Achebe and was translated into Italian, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Russian, Swiss, Flemish and other languages.

According to historian, Dr John Henrik Clarke, "every group of people that came into Africa meant nothing good for the Africans… and the very first thing each and every one of these groups did was to declare war on African culture…" What followed was the bastardization of African spirituality and ways that held the societies together for millennia before there was a Greece or Rome or before "the first European learnt to wear a shoe or live in a house that had a window." Or as Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan put it, "Before there was Rome, Greece, Jerusalem or Mecca… Before there was a Jehovah, Jesus or Mohommet" (Muhammad ibn Abdul'Mutallib).

It most be noted that the first Hebrew to ever come into existence was a Chaldean from Ur, known as Abram in 1675 BC. Before then, their was no concept of a Jehovah or Jesus, whatsoever, and no Hebrew as a tribe, the world over, from as far as history revealed. By this time, the 82 pyramids in Kemet, and the over 203 pyramids in Meroe, the smaller Nsude pyramids in Udi highlands were already built. The Africans had their own spirituality through which they connected to the non-material world, through which they learnt science like iron smelting, as well as which herbs could heal what sort of disease, agricultural practice, astrology, alchemy, mining for useful minerals from the earth and so on.

Most of Africa were connected to the worship of a deity, Ptah. This was over 5000 years before the first Hebrew came into existence, it was thousands of years before Greece or Rome came into existence and before any Abrahamic religions (which are Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity and Islam etc) came into the knowledge of anyone at all. Abram, the father of it all had not even come into existence.

In kemet, there was a belief that if one died far away from the Nile, one would not resurrect in the afterlife. Hence Kemet became the place of high culture for all tribal nationalities along the Nile from its source through modern day Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia Sudan etc. Abydos was a city of pilgrimage where most Africans, who could, travelled up the Nile, through the Sahara (Which was not a desert until about 5000 years ago, as archeological discoveries indicated), to worship and commune with other Africans. Osiris later become the god in Abydos while Memphis became the home for Ptah, after several foreign invasion from across the Mediterranean and the sands of Arabia.

Most of the magicians in Kemet came from Gao, a city-state of the Soudan(west Africa then). African regions and cities had their own gods and it was necessary to pay homage to the god of a land when visiting or passing through as a sojourner, merchant or gypsy. By this time, Arabian peninsula was the colony of Africans (Study from 'From Babylon to Timbuktu', 'The African Origin of Major Religions, Herodoctus, and Strabo's geographica).

{[IMAGE: The 'inner circle' of the Mossi people. Not every king on the throne rose to the societal status, necessary to attend this gathering. The first shattering effect on this 'inner circle' began when the Arabs arrived west Africa in the 7th century CE, while extending the trans-saharan trade routes through the desert.]}

[transladybev]

Good morning lovelies hope you had a great night! A few snaps from this morning. I have been desperately wanting to wear my new black patent heels this week so today have coupled them with glossy pantyhose "Sahara" shade, a simple black above knee ponte skirt and a soft cream polka dot blouse. I will be making a presentation to a group later this afternoon so thought the glossy pantyhose might test their concentration....I have to say I am loving wearing glossy pantyhose now the weather is a little warmer down here.... ..let me know what you think. Have a great day everyone. Lots of love. Bev ❤️

[ateez-himari]

HEATED COACHELLA STAGE

After many attendees holding their breath for the next bold move MinAri might enact, it seems as though their shyness finally dissipated.

April 20, 2024 (6:48PM)

While weekend two unfortunately marked the last performance held by ATEEZ on a Coachella stage as of this year, the group left an ever lasting impression with powerful choreography paired with breath taking visuals and raw vocals. Through the numerous clips circulating online there is a specific instance that has been sending social media platforms into a reposting frenzy, one involving a rather passionate display by main rapper, Mingi, and lead vocalist, Himari.

While viewers were expecting something such as this to happen due to the intimate moment shared between the two during their first performance, it seems as though none were truly ready to witness it with their own eyes on stage. The interlude to their song 'Arriba' left gasps echoing in the crowd as Mingi pulled the maknae in for a true lover's kiss, an arm tightly draped across her waist whilst the other motioned for attendees to make some noise. In contrast to the beginning of the group's career where the two saw their reputation nearly torn to pieces following dating rumors, which were later disproved as nothing more than a scheme to have the vocalist removed, the crowd showed their support through loud cheers and vibrant excitement.

Their own bandmates could be seen encouraging them as some used water bottles to simulate rain, every artist on that stage including backup dancers visibly enjoying the relaxed atmosphere that had been created. Following the performance several members had gone live for a few minutes, one of them being Seonghwa who briefly mentioned a comment refering to the heated kiss as the vocalist could be seen giggling in the background prior to him playfully scolding her.

'That...we definitely expected it since he had talked about it during rehearsal, but I thought it was going to be like the first day. It flustered me too but seeing everyone having fun made me happy.'

Despite these heated stage interactions no official label has been placed on their relationship due to no statements coming out regarding the situation, leading some to believe that it was no more than a rehearsed act to rile up fans or that whatever is happening between them is simply a more intimate level of friendship. There is a possibility that this moment stemmed from the artists' immersion in the performance as well as the heat of the moment, as the youngest is after all a member of the 'Demon Line' and both are known to have rather intense stage personas.

'Seeing people say that they're still 'just friends' is so funny to me 😭Like do you guys not see everything they've been doing for a year now ? I get the people saying they could be 'friend with benefits' but come on...' - X user

It seems as though neither artist not the company intends to lift the mystery surrounding their relation to one another as of yet, leaving netizens to create countless speculations without the certainty of a confirmation. One thing that everyone can be sure of however is that this group knows how to set a stage on fire no matter who the people watching might be, living up to their newly earned nickname of 'Pirate Kings of Sahara'.

Share This Post

[thriplerex]

Hermit Craft Rising AU: MP Taylor “Gemstrong” Gemma & Solomon "Impulse" Vanderbilt

Taylor "Gemstrong" Gemma

“How am I supposed to ‘live, laugh, love’ in these conditions?”

MP in the House of Commons for Newfoundland & Labrador and a candidate for the PM election of 2022. She was the benefactor for Architech Worldwide and its de facto CEO. Under the table, she was also allied with the Terraformers of Sahara Enforcement, LLC. Motivated by avarice (specifically, for soup and arcane power) more than anything, even over political power.

Sarcastic and witty, her outwardly bubbly, cordial, and peppy nature is often underestimated by her opponents - notwithstanding belying her inscrutable soup-obsessed agenda. Despite her relatively young age, She is a well-trained and more than proficient combatant, imbued with macro-organic enhancements that increase her strength and durability to superhuman levels.

Age: 41

Hometown: St. Johns, NL, Canada

Signature weapon: Macroorganics. The name is a misnomer - it is arcane nanotechnology with an organic basis. Aside from incredible regenerative abilities, it grants her the ability to reconfigure portions (if not the whole) of her body into extremely dense organic “supermaterials.” For instance, she is known to prefer an inexplicably tough wooden bark-textured medium that a regular HF blade cannot penetrate, supplanted by inhumanly rapid counter-growth and regeneration effects that repel incoming serrations. Aside from partial to full-body regeneration (via pulling matter from her surroundings and reconfiguring it on the atomic level via nanotechnology,) inherent to her nanotechnology are also super-strength (enough strength to hurl a 650-ton fully-loaded cargo jet with ease over a few hundred feet) and the aforementioned extreme durability.

Solomon "Impulse" Vanderbilt

“It was amazing, that’s why I did it.”

A former turned private mercenary for ConCorp Security Consulting - with a little too much mental baggage from his days as the former. Solomon underwent voluntary cyborg conversion at a somewhat minimal level during the events of Hermit Craft: Civil War. During the events of Rising, his internal augmentations became more extensive, although outwardly, he remains normal-looking and almost indistinguishable from unaltered humans. Aside from the usual suite of superhuman powers granted by cybernetic enhancements (enhanced speed and agility, senses, strength, durability, endurance, etc.), Solomon can also attack blindingly fast for short periods and can channel short-range electrical arcs over a few meters if given a power source to draw from. These abilities gave him the nickname "Impulse," which subsequently stuck.

Perhaps a little too friendly and easygoing for his own good - although not a passive nor naive individual, as he’s been burned (literally and figuratively) more than once before by his enemies. He tends to get hung up on his past mistakes, especially the "mac-n'-cheese incident." Carries a far nastier alternate persona known as "Eyesore" that re-emerges during the story, although he brings it under control by the time of the Joebraltar Incident.

Age: 38

Hometown: Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Signature weapon: Initially, a pair of 8-foot collapsible quarterstaves. These are composed of carbon steel, reinforced via ultra-high-frequency resonant vibration modules that counteract the effects of other similar weapons. Later, he trades the quarterstaves out for a single teal-colored (anodized niobium-plated) carbon steel blade with improved resonant technology.

"Scarlet" Pearl Maynard

See this post!

Oh gosh... Soup Group, but MGRR. It should be fairly obvious who they're meant to be counterparts of. Impulse's outfit was inspired by Quinspade's techwear fanart. Appearance-wise, all three characters were designed to be closer to how they're often depicted in HC fanart than in real life. However, Gemma is substantially more muscular because "macroorganics, son!" (Never mind the fact that she's only three years older than him here.) Anyway, the original idea was to reverse Gem's and Impulse's roles, but I decided the role reversal would be a suitable and silly way to reimagine the "Arizona dad" dynamic that Impulse has with her.

Gemma's theme: V.S. MP Taylor “Gemstrong” Gemma (It Has To Be This Way - Instrumental)

(alternate title: It Has Stew Be This Way)

(I totally didn't make a vocal version filled with soup puns that you'll have to click through my channel to find and that which I'm too embarrassed to post here, nope)

Hermit Craft Rising AU Masterpost

Art by Winter

[ariel-seagull-wings]

HOW X-MEN: EVOLUTION GAVE ME MY FAVORITE PORTRAYAL OF CAPTAIN AMERICA

@thealmightyemprex @professorlehnsherr-almashy @themousefromfantasyland @piterelizabethdevries @the-blue-fairie

So, when I was a kid in the early 2000s, the predominant superhero shows were based on DC Comics Characters (Static Shock, Teen Titans, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited) but there were two Marvel Comics animated adaptations that I followed: one was Spider Man: the New Animated Series, and the other, most important one, was X-Men Evolution.

That ladder focused mainly on that specific team's characters, but there were some characters from other Marvel teams that were inserted in important roles, without needing to be big crossover events.

One that stuck with me was the episode Operation: Rebirth.

In this episode Logan is being chased through the woods on his motorcycle by a military-like group. He ends up cornered on a cliff. (White) Nick Fury shows up in a helicopter and calls Logan Weapon X. Wolverine tells him Goodbye and that he doesn't work for S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. Fury won't let him leave and Logan gets mad. He asks Fury what he wants. Fury tells him that "Rebirth" has been stolen.

Logan tells him that it's impossible, that Rebirth was destroyed. Fury tells him that there was a second one, a backup. SHIELD is unsure who took it, but there were magnetic pulses that bent metal. Of course, Logan knows it's Magneto right away.

At the Institute, Logan tells Xavier about Rebirth. A machine created to "enhance" humans and create super soldiers during World War II. It was only used on one man, Steve Rogers. A flashback shows Rogers during the Rebirth experiment and then later as Captain America fighting in the war. A younger Logan meets Captain America for the first time. Xavier interrupts to say that he didn't realize that Logan was that old. Logan goes on to tell him that Rebirth ended up destroying Rogers and now he believes that Magneto has it.

Xavier tries to find Magneto using Cerebro, but fails. Tons of other mutant signatures turn up though and the he, and Logan talk about a massive mutant population boom. Kurt and Rogue are eavesdropping and get caught. Rogue tells them that she remembers some info that she drained from Magneto in New York and she thinks that he's hiding out at a base in the Sahara Desert. So Logan, Kurt and Rogue head out to the Desert.

On route, Logan has another flashback to WWII. He's teamed up with Cap. America on a mission to free some POW's in Poland. The mission is successful and the boy that Cap carries out of the camp uses his mutant powers to deflect some bombs that come hurling towards them.

Wolverine asks the boy what his name is and he tells him that it's Erik Lehnsherr.

Back in the present, Kurt asks Wolverine why there was only one super soldier created using Rebirth and Logan tells him that the process actually caused a "cellular breakdown" that was killing Captain America. In another flashback Wolverine and Captain America destroy Rebirth to keep anyone else from suffering.

"There was a price to pay. Captain America was dying."

The team gets to Magneto's base and find someone inside the second Rebirth machine. Sabretooth attacks Wolverine and Kurt and Rogue try to get to the machine to destroy it. Both of them are trapped by steel beams while Sabretooth and Wolverine continue to do major property damage going at each other. Kurt teleports to Rebirth and is about to set the bomb when Magneto calls out to him from the chamber.

Magneto tells Kurt that he's using Rebirth to replenish himself, that without it he's going to die and if Kurt blows up the controls he will be killing Magneto. He asks Kurt if he's that much like his mother. Kurt is unable to blow up the machine and Magneto turns young again as Rebirth rebuilds his cells. Turns out Rebirth doesn't harm mutants the way it does humans.

Wolverine is finally able to defeat Sabretooth and pulls Magneto from Rebirth. He arms the detonator and Rebirth explodes. Magneto is furious and creates a huge metal monster that attacks the X-men. He decides in the end to release them though, because Kurt spared his life.

"However you spared my life, I will spare yours. There's a small boy from Poland that owns you that much."

Later Logan visits Captain America alone: he is encased in a cryogenic chamber, waiting for them to find a cure to the damage done by Rebirth. Fury comes in and tells him it's time to go and to remember that he was never there.

"Remember you were never here.

Yeah, I know the routine."

What makes this episode fascinating to me, specially in how it portrays Captain America, is that it took the risk of grounding him in the historical period when he was created, World War II and the Holocaust:

Is more safe for a blockbuster movie made to entertain mass audiences to show Captain America fighting the fictional Red Skull and Hydra, fictional villains that you can easily market in toylines and merchandise.

But to have him actually fighting the Nazis, and rescuing people from the Nazi Concentration Camps, you remember that this character was created to encourage readers against the Nazis, at a time when the United States acted neutral on the face of this real, absolute evil.

And this episode inserts interesting ideas that could be incorporated in future movies and comics, like Logan meeting and helping to rescue Magneto was he was still a vulnerable boy, and rather than having Captain America be frozen in an Iceberg in a plane accident and waking up alive and well in modern times, ironically becoming terminally ill due to the same serum and machine that gave him his powers, and choosing to be frozen in a chriogenic chamber, sleeping, like the King Under the Mountain, waiting for a cure to his illness, after making sure that no other person would go through his tragic fate.

He is presented as an every man from the 40s who went to sleep as an heroic simbol of hope for future generations to become heros and fight for the opressed in their own unique ways.

He passes his legacy, but not necessarily his mantle: anyone can be a hero, but only he could carry the weight of being Captain America.

And this is bittersweet, tragic mix of vulnerable mortal and mythological symbol what makes this portrayal by X-Men Evolution my favorite version of Captain America.

[otussketching]

Fossil Novembirb: Day 15 - Oasis in the Desert

During the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene, the environment of Jebel Qatrani formation of Faiyum, Egypt was as lush as you could imagine, with tropical forests, and a vast system of wetlands, lakes and rivers connecting to the warm Tethys Sea. As you would expect, such a place was teeming with birds. The birds living here would have no idea that 30 million years later, the Sahara desert would bury all this greenery. But for now, it is an oasis where birds of a feather flock together.

Goliathia: One of the earliest known relatives of the shoebill, arguably one of the most awesome birds alive today.

Nycticorax: An early member of the modern night-heron genus. It is not named, but can be assigned to the genus thanks to the shape of its limb bones.

Xenerodiops: An early member of the stork family with a short, recurved beak. It probably fed like modern wood storks, probing the water with the beak open, snapping it shut on passing fish.

Nuphranassa: A member of the modern jacana group, but much larger than any living species at about the size of a chicken.

Janipes: Another large jacana. Not as large as Nuphranassa, but still larger than any modern jacana. One must wonder what these guys were walking on.

Palaeoephippiorhynchus: An early stork well known from this period. It closely resembles the saddle-billed and black-necked storks, but was markedly smaller in size.

Eremopezus: A very poorly know flightless palaeognath known from a few fragmentary limb bones. Probably related to modern ostriches.

[mapsontheweb]

The expansion of the Roman Empire to AD 117.

by Undevicesimus

From its humble origins as a group of villages on the Tiber in the plains of Latium, Rome came to control one of the greatest empires in history, reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Tigris and from the North Sea to the Sahara Desert. Its extensive legacy continues to serve as a lowest common denominator not only for the nations and peoples within its erstwhile borders, but much of the modern world at large. Roman law is the foundation for present-day legal systems across the globe, the Latin language survives in the Romance languages spoken on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and beyond, Roman settlements developed into some of Europe’s most important cities and stood model for many others, Roman architecture left some of history’s finest manmade landmarks, Christianity – the Roman state religion from AD 395 – remains the world’s dominant faith and Rome continues to feature prominently in Western popular culture… Rome rose in a geographically favourable location: on the left bank of the Tiber, not too far from the sea but far enough inland to be able to control important trade routes in central Italy: southwest from the Apennines alongside the Tiber, and from Etruria southeast into Latium and Campania. In later ages, the Romans always had much to tell about the founding and early history of their city: tales about the twin brothers Romulus and Remus being raised by a she-wolf, the founding of Rome by Romulus on 21 April 753 BC and the reign of the Seven Kings (of which Romulus was the first). According to Roman accounts, the last King of Rome – Tarquinius Superbus – was expelled in 510 BC, after which the Roman aristocracy established a republic ruled by two annually elected magistrates (Latin: pl. consulis) with the support of the Senate (Latin: senatus), a council made up of the leaders of the most prominent Roman families. Often at odds with their neighbours, the Romans considered military service one of the greatest contributions common people could make to the state and the easiest way for a consul to gain both power and prestige by protecting the republic. The Romans booked their first major triumph by conquering the Etruscan city Veii in 396 BC and went on to defeat most of the Latin cities in central Italy by 338 BC, despite the Celtic sack of Rome in 387 BC. Throughout the second half of the fourth century BC, the republic expanded in two different ways: direct annexation of enemy territory and the creation of a complex system of alliances with the peoples and cities of Italy. Shortly after 300 BC, nearly all the peoples of Italy united to stop Roman expansion once and for all – among them the Samnites, Umbrians, Etruscans and Celts. Rome obliterated the coalition in the decisive Battle of Sentinum (295 BC) and thus became the strongest power in Italy. By 264 BC, Rome controlled the Italian peninsula up to the Po Valley and was powerful enough to challenge its principal rival in the western Mediterranean: Carthage. The First Punic War began when the Italic people of Messana called for Roman help against both Carthage and the Greeks of Syracuse, a request which was accepted surprisingly quickly. The Romans allied with Syracuse, conquered most of Sicily and narrowly defeated the Carthaginian navy at Mylae in 264 BC and Ecnomus in 256 BC – the largest naval battles of Antiquity. Roman fleets gained a decisive victory off the Aegates Islands in 241 BC, ending the war and forcing the Carthaginians to abandon Sicily. Taking advantage of Carthage’s internal troubles, Rome seized Sardinia and Corsica in 238 BC. Rome’s frustration at Carthage’s resurgence and subsequent conquests in Spain sparked the Second Punic War, in which the Carthaginian commander Hannibal crossed the Alps and invaded the Italian peninsula. The Romans suffered massive defeats at the Trebia in 218 BC, Lake Trasimene in 217 BC and most famously at Cannae in 216 BC where over 50,000 Romans were slain – the largest military loss in one day in any army until the First World War. However, Hannibal failed to press his advantage and continued an increasingly pointless campaign in Italy while the Romans conquered the Carthaginian territory in Spain and ultimately brought the war to Africa. Hannibal’s army made it back home but was decisively defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, securing Rome’s hard-fought victory in arguably the most important war in Roman history. Firmly in command of much of the western Mediterranean, Rome turned its attention eastwards to Greece. Less than fifty years after the Second Punic War, Rome had crushed the Macedonian kingdom – an erstwhile ally of Hannibal – and formally annexed the Greek city-states after the destruction of Corinth in 146 BC. That very same year, the Romans finished off the helpless Carthaginians in much the same way, burning the city of Carthage to the ground and annexing its remaining territory into the new province of Africa. With Carthage, Macedon and the Greek cities out of the way, Rome was free to deal with the Hellenic kingdoms in Asia Minor and the Middle East, the remnants of Alexander the Great’s empire. In 133 BC, Attalus III of Pergamum left his realm to Rome by testament, gaining the Romans their first foothold in Asia. As the Romans expanded their borders, the unrest back in Rome and Italy increased accordingly. The wars against Carthage and the Greeks had seriously crippled the Roman peasants whom abandoned their home to campaign for years in distant lands, only to come back and find their farmland turned into a wilderness. Many peasants were thus forced to sell their land at a ridiculously low price, causing the emergence of an impoverished proletarian mass in Rome and an agricultural elite in control of vast swathes of countryside. This in turn disrupted army recruitment, which heavily relied on middle class peasants who were able to afford their own arms and armour. Two possible solutions could remove this problem: a redistribution of the land so that the peasantry remained wealthy and large enough to be able to afford their military equipment and serve in the army, or else allowing the proletarian masses to enter military service and make the army into a professional body. However, both options would threaten the position of the Roman Senate: a powerful peasantry could press calls for more political influence and a professional army would bind soldiers’ loyalty to their commander instead of the Senate. The senatorial elite thus stubbornly clung to the existing institutions which were undermining the republic they wanted to uphold. More importantly, the Senate’s attitude and increasingly shaky position, in addition to the growing internal tensions, created a perfect climate for overly ambitious commanders seeking to turn military prestige gained abroad into political power back home. Roman successes on the frontline nevertheless continued: Pergamum was turned into the province of Asia in 129 BC, Roman forces sacked the city of Numantia in Spain that same year, the Balearic Islands were conquered in 123 BC, southern Gaul became the new province of Gallia Narbonensis in 121 BC and the Berber kingdom of Numidia was dealt a defeat in the Jughurtine War (112 – 106 BC). The latter conflict provided Gaius Marius the opportunity to reform his army without senatorial approval, allowing proletarians to enlist and creating a force of professional soldiers who were loyal to him before the Senate. Marius’ legions proved their efficiency at the Battles of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC and Vercellae in 101 BC, virtually annihilating the migratory invasions of the Germanic Cimbri and Teutones. Marius subsequently used his power and prestige to secure a land distribution for his victorious forces, thus setting a precedent: any successful commander with an army behind him could now manipulate the political theatre back in Rome. Marius was succeeded as Rome’s leading commander by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who gained renown when Rome’s Italic allies – fed up with their unequal status – attempted to renounce their allegiance. Rome narrowly won the ensuing Social War (91 – 88 BC) and granted the Italic peoples full Roman citizenship. Sulla left for the east in 86 BC, where he drove back King Mithridates of Pontus, whom had sought to benefit from the Social War by invading Roman territories in Asia and Greece. Sulla marched on Rome itself in 82 BC, executed many of his political enemies in a bloody purge and passed reforms to strengthen the Senate before voluntarily stepping down in 79 BC. Sulla’s retirement and death one year later allowed his general Pompey to begin his own rise to prominence. Following his victory in the Sertorian War in 72 BC, Pompey eradicated piracy in the Mediterranean Sea in 67 BC and led a campaign against Rome’s remaining eastern enemies in 66 BC. Pompey drove Mithridates of Pontus to flight, annexed Pontic lands into the new province of Bithynia et Pontus and created the province of Cilicia in southern Asia Minor. He proceeded to destroy the crumbling Seleucid Empire and turned it into the new province of Syria in 64 BC, causing Armenia to surrender and become a vassal of Rome. Pompey’s legions then advanced south, took Jerusalem and turned the Hasmonean Kingdom in Judea into a Roman vassal as well. Upon his triumphant return to Rome in 61 BC, Pompey made the significant mistake of disbanding his army with the promise of a land distribution, which was refused by the Senate in an attempt to isolate him. Pompey then concluded a political alliance with the rich Marcus Licinius Crassus and a young, ambitious politician: Gaius Julius Caesar. The purpose of this political alliance – known in later times as the First Triumvirate – was to get Caesar elected as consul in 59 BC, so that he could arrange the land distribution for Pompey’s veterans. In return, Pompey would use his influence to make Caesar proconsul and thus give him the chance to levy his own legions and become a man of power in the Roman Republic. Crassus, the richest man in Rome, funded the election campaign and easily got Caesar elected as consul, after which Caesar secured Pompey’s land distribution. Everything went according to plan and Caesar was made proconsul of Gaul for five years, starting in 58 BC. In the following years, Caesar and his legions systematically conquered all of Gaul in a war which has been immortalised in the accounts of Caesar himself (‘Commentarii De Bello Gallico’). Despite fierce resistance and massive revolts led by the Gallic warlord Vercingetorix, the Gallic tribes proved unable to inflict a decisive defeat on the Romans and were all subdued or annihilated by 51 BC, leaving Caesar’s power and prestige at unprecedented heights. With Crassus having fallen at the Battle of Carrhae against the Parthians in 53 BC, Pompey was left to try and mediate between Caesar and the radicalised Roman proletariat on one side and the politically hard-pressed Senate on the other. However, Pompey had once been where Caesar was now – the champion of Rome – and ultimately chose to side with the Senate, realising his own greatness had become overshadowed by Caesar’s staggering military successes and popularity among the masses. When Caesar’s term as proconsul ended, the Senate demanded that he step down, disband his armies and return to Rome as a mere citizen. Though it was tradition for a Roman commander to do so, rendering Caesar theoretically immune from any senatorial prosecution, the existing political situation made such demands hard to meet. Caesar instead offered the Senate to extend his term as proconsul and leave him in command of two legions until he could be legally elected as consul again. When the Senate refused, Caesar responded by crossing the Rubicon – the northern border of Roman Italy which no Roman commander should cross with an army – and marched on Rome itself in 49 BC. Pompey and most of the senators fled to Dyrrhachium in Greece and assembled their forces while Caesar turned around and conducted a lightning campaign in Spain, defeating the legions loyal to Pompey at the Battle of Ilerda. Caesar crossed the Adriatic Sea in 48 BC, narrowly escaping defeat by Pompey at Dyrrhachium and retreating south. Pompey clumsily failed to press his advantage and his forces were in turn decisively defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus on 6 June 48 BC. Pompey fled to Egypt in hopes of being granted sanctuary by the young king Ptolemy XIII, who instead had him assassinated in an attempt at pleasing Caesar, who was in pursuit. Ptolemy XIII was driven from power in favour of his older sister Cleopatra VII, with whom Caesar had a brief romance and his only known son, Caesarion. In the spring and summer of 47 BC, another lightning campaign was launched northwards through Syria and Cappadocia into Pontus, securing Caesar’s hold on Rome’s eastern reaches and decisively defeating the forces of Pharnaces II of Pontus, who had attempted to profit from Rome’s internal strife. Caesar invaded Africa in 46 BC and cleared Pompeian forces from the region at the Battles of Ruspina and Thapsus before returning to Spain and defeating the last resistance at the Battle of Munda in 45 BC. Caesar subsequently began transforming the Roman government from a republican one meant for a city-state to an imperial one meant for an empire. Major reforms were required to achieve this, many of which would be opposed by Caesar’s political enemies. This was a problem because several of these people enjoyed significant political influence and popular support (cf. Cicero) and while none of them could really challenge Caesar individually and publicly, collectively and secretly they could be a serious threat. To render his enemies politically impotent, Caesar consolidated his popularity among the Roman masses by passing reforms beneficial to the proletariat and enlarging the Senate to ensure his supporters had the upper hand. He then manipulated the Senate into granting him a number of legislative powers, most prominently the office of dictator for ten years, soon changed to dictator perpetuus. Though widely welcomed by the masses, Caesar’s reforms and legislative powers dismayed his political opponents, whom assembled a conspiracy to murder him and ‘liberate’ Rome. The conspirators, of whom Brutus and Cassius are the most famous, were successful and Caesar was brutally stabbed to death on 15 March 44 BC. Caesar’s death left a power vacuum which plunged the Roman world into yet another civil war. In his testament, Caesar adopted as his sole heir his grandnephew Gaius Octavius, henceforth known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian, in English). Despite being only eighteen, Octavian quickly secured the support of Caesar’s legions and forced the Senate to grant him several legislative powers, including the consulship. In 43 BC, Octavian established a military dictatorship known as the Second Triumvirate with Caesar’s former generals Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus. Caesar’s assassins had meanwhile fled to the eastern provinces, where they assembled forces of their own and subsequently moved into Greece. Octavian and Antony in turn invaded Greece in 42 BC and defeated them at the Battles of Philippi. Octavian, Antony and Lepidus then divided the Roman world between them: Octavian would rule the west, Antony the east and Lepidus the south with Italy as a joint-ruled territory. However, Octavian soon proved himself a brilliant politician and strategist by quickly consolidating his hold on both the western provinces and Italy, smashing the Sicilian Revolt of Sextus Pompey (son of) in 36 BC and ousting Lepidus from the Triumvirate that same year. Meanwhile, Antony consolidated his position in the east but made the fatal mistake of becoming the lover of Cleopatra VII. In 32 BC, Octavian manipulated the Senate into a declaration of war upon Cleopatra’s realm, correctly expecting Antony would come to her aid. The two sides battled at Actium on 2 September 31 BC, resulting in a crushing victory for Octavian, despite Antony and Cleopatra escaping back to Egypt. Octavian crossed into Asia the following year and marched through Asia Minor, Syria and Judea into Egypt, subjugating the eastern territories along the way. On 1 August 30 BC, the forces of Octavian entered Alexandria. Both Antony and Cleopatra perished by their own hand, leaving Octavian as the undisputed master of the Roman world. Octavian assumed the title of Augustus in January 27 BC and officially restored the Roman Republic, although in reality he reduced it to little more than a facade for a new imperial regime. Thus began the era of the Principate, named after the constitutional framework which made Augustus and his successors princeps (first citizen), commonly referred to as ‘emperor’, and which would last approximately two centuries. Augustus nevertheless refrained from giving himself absolute power vested in a single title, instead subtly spreading imperial authority throughout the republican constitution while simultaneously relying on pure prestige. Thus he avoided stomping any senatorial toes too hard, remembering what had happened to Julius Caesar. Augustus and his successors drew most of their power from two republican offices. The title of tribunicia potestes ensured the emperor political immunity, veto rights in the Senate and the right to call meetings in both the Senate and the concilium plebis (people’s assembly). This gave the emperor the opportunity to present himself as the guardian of the empire and the Roman people, a significant ideological boost to his prestige. Secondly, the emperor held imperium proconsulare. Imperium implied the emperor’s governorship of the so-called imperial provinces, which were typically border provinces, provinces prone to revolt and/or exceptionally rich provinces. These provinces obviously required a major military presence, thereby securing the emperor’s command of most of the Roman legions. The title was proconsulare because the emperor enjoyed imperium even without being a consul. The emperor furthermore interfered in the affairs of the (non-imperial) senatorial provinces on a regular basis and gave literally every person in the empire the theoretical right to request his personal judgement in court cases. Roman religion was also brought under the emperor’s wings by means of him becoming pontifex maximus (supreme priest), a position of major ideological importance. On top of all this, the Senate frequently granted the emperor additional rights which enhanced his power even more: supervision over coinage, the right to declare war or conclude peace treaties, the right to grant Roman citizenship, control over Roman colonisation across the Mediterranean, etc. The emperor was thus the supreme administrator, commander, priest and judge of the empire – a de facto absolute ruler, but without actually being named as such. It is worth noting that Augustus and most of his immediate successors worked hard to play along in the empire’s republican theatre, which gradually faded as the centuries passed. The most important questions nonetheless remained the same for a long time after Augustus’ death in AD 14. Could the emperor keep himself in the Senate’s good graces by preserving the republican mask? Or did he choose an open conflict with the Senate by ruling all too autocratically? Even a de facto absolute ruler required the support and acceptance of the empire’s elite class, the lack of which could prove to be a serious obstacle to any imperial policies. The relationship between the emperor and the Senate was therefore of significant importance in maintaining the political work of Augustus, particularly under his immediate successors. The first four of these were Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero – the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Tiberius was chosen by Augustus as successor on account of his impressive military service and proved to be a capable (if gloomy) ruler, continuing along the political lines of Augustus and implementing financial policies which left the imperial treasuries in decent shape at his death in AD 37 and Caligula’s accession. Despite having suffered a harsh youth full of intrigues and plotting, Caligula quickly gained the respect of the Senate, the army and the people, making a hopeful entry into the Principate. Yet continuous personal setbacks turned Caligula bitter and autocratic, not to say tyrannical, causing him to hurl his imperial power head-first into the senatorial elite and any dissenting groups (most notably the Jews). After Caligula’s assassination in AD 41, the position of emperor fell to his uncle Claudius who, despite a strained relationship with the Senate, managed to play the republican charade well enough to implement further administrative reforms and successfully invade the British Isles to establish the province of Britannia from AD 43 onward. But the Roman drive for expansion had been somewhat tempered after Augustus’ consolidating conquests in Spain, along the Danube and in the east. The Romans had practically turned the Mediterranean Sea into their own internal sea (Mare Internum or Mare Nostrum) and thus switched to territorial consolidation rather than expansion. However, the former was still often accomplished by the latter as multiple vassal states (Judea, Cappadocia, Mauretania, Thrace etc.) were gradually annexed as new Roman provinces. Actual wars of aggression nevertheless ceased to be a main item on the Roman agenda and indeed, the policies of consolidation and pacification paved the way for a long period of internal peace and stability during the first and second centuries AD – the Pax Romana. This should not be idealised, though. On the local level, violence was often one of the few stable elements in the lives of the common people across the empire. Especially among the lowest ranks of society, crimes such as murder and thievery were the order of the day but were typically either ignored by the Roman authorities or answered with brute force. Moreover, the Romans focused on safeguarding cities and places of major strategic or economic importance and often cared little about maintaining order in the vast countryside. Unpleasant encounters with brigands, deserters or marauders were therefore likely for those who travelled long distances without an armed escort. At the empire’s frontiers, the Roman legions regularly fought skirmishes with their local enemies, most notably the Germanic tribes across the Rhine-Danube frontier and the Parthians across the Euphrates. Despite all this, the big picture of the Roman world in the first and second centuries AD is indeed one of lasting stability which could not be discredited so easily. The real threat to the Pax Romana existed not so much in local violence, shady neighbourhoods or frontier skirmishes but rather in the highest ranks of the imperial court. The lack of both dynastic and elective succession mechanisms had been the Principate’s weakest point from the outset and would be the cause of major internal turmoil on several occasions. Claudius’ successor Nero succeeded in provoking both the Senate and the army to such an extent that several provincial governors rose up in open revolt. The chaos surrounding Nero’s flight from Rome and death by his own hand plunged the empire into its first major succession crisis. If the emperor lost the respect and loyalty of both the Senate and the army, he could not choose a successor, giving senators and soldiers a free hand to appoint the persons they considered suitable to be the new emperor. This being the exact situation upon Nero’s death in AD 68, the result was nothing short of a new civil war. To further add to the catastrophe, the civil war of AD 68/69 (the Year of Four Emperors) allowed for two major uprisings to get out of hand – the Batavian Revolt near the mouths of the Rhine and the First Jewish-Roman War in Judea. Both of these were ultimately crushed with significant difficulties, especially in Judea where Jewish religious-nationalist sentiments capitalised on existing political and economic unrest. Though the Romans achieved victory with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the expulsion of the Jews from the city, Judea would remain a hotbed for revolts until deep into the second century AD. The fact that major uprisings arose at the first sign of trouble within the empire might cause one to wonder about the true nature of the Pax Romana. Was it truly the strong internal stability it is popularly known to be? Or was it little more than a forced peace, continuously threatened by socio-economic and political discontent among the many different peoples under the Roman yoke? Though a bit of both, the answer definitely leans towards the former hypothesis. While the Pax Romana lasted, unrest within the empire remained limited to a few hotbeds with a history of resisting foreign conquerors. Besides the obvious example of the Jewish people in Judea, whose anti-Roman sentiments largely stemmed from their unique messianic doctrines, large-scale resistance against the Romans was scarce. It is true that the incorporation and Romanisation of unique societies near the empire’s northern frontiers led to severe socio-economic problems and subsequent uprisings, most notably Boudica’s Rebellion in Britain (AD 60 – 61) and the aforementioned Batavian Revolt near the mouths of the Rhine. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that the Pax Romana was strong enough to outlast a few pockets of rebellion and even a major succession crisis like the one of AD 68/69. The Year of the Four Emperors ultimately brought to power Vespasian, founder of the Flavian dynasty (AD 69 – 96) and architect of an intensified pacification policy throughout the empire. These policies were fruitful and strengthened the constitutional position of the emperor, not in the least owing to the fact that Vespasian’s sons and successors Titus and Domitian were as capable as their father. However, their skills did not prevent Titus and especially Domitian from bickering with the senatorial elite over the increasingly obvious monarchical powers of the emperor. In the case of the all too authoritarian Domitian, the conflict escalated again and despite his competent (if ruthless) statesmanship, Domitian was murdered in AD 96. A new civil war was prevented by diplomatic means: Nerva emerged as an acceptable emperor to both the Senate and the army, especially when he adopted the popular Trajan as his son and heir. Thus began the reign of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty (AD 96 – 192). Having succeeded Nerva in AD 98, Trajan once more steered the empire onto the path of aggressive expansion, leading the Roman legions across the Danube to crush the Dacians and establish the rich province of Dacia in AD 106. Subsequently, the Romans seized the initiative in the east, drove back the Parthians and advanced all the way to the Persian Gulf (Sinus Persicus). Trajan annexed Armenia in AD 114 and turned the conquered Parthian lands into the new provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria in AD 116. Trajan died less than a year later on 9 August AD 117, his staggering military successes having brought the Roman Empire to its greatest extent ever…

[kemetic-dreams]

The human remains discovered at Jebel Sahaba, (a southern Egyptian site associated with the 15,000-year-old Qadan culture) had a cranial match to the Ashanti people of West Africa - as seen in this study below.

Why do the Ashanti people still dress this way?

Lets try and connect the dots here.

The Qadan culture is over 14,000 years old.

The human remains found in the Jebel Sahaba site (associated with the Qadan culture) showed cranial affinities to modern West Africans

Modern West Africans are STILL displaying cultural affinities to the Egyptian Pharaonic culture (which is merely a chieftainship).

If West Africans are from the prehistoric period associated with Qadan culture, and yet they STILL have the Pharaonic culture, the Pharaonic culture must be over 14,000 years old (seeing that the Qadan culture was also 14,000 years old).

The obvious answer is that the people of the Qadan culture started the Pharaonic culture but were absorbed by other groups carrying West Asian genes.

This invalidates the claim that the ancient Egyptian Pharaonic culture started in 3000 BC.

The Pharaonic culture (which is merely a culture of kingships and chieftainships) already existed throughout the agricultural tribes in Africa. Even the hunter-gatherer and proto agricultural tribes in Papua New Guinea who carry very old haplogroup C, show similar culture of chieftainship deep inside their jungles.

Most likely, in prehistory, these tribes found in the tropics used biodegradable materials to dress their chiefs and kings (as seen in the below image). Such materials can’t be unearthed in archeology if they’re already degraded.

Mainstream academia can only use guesswork. For all we know, those cultures of the tropics could have been around for tens of thousands of years, going back 40,000 years ago. But archeologists can never determine how long they’ve had the culture since all evidence is degraded.

Even now, the Sahara, where farmers once lived, is all but sand. Archeologists have no clue what happened during the periods of the green Sahara since all the evidence is gone.

The obvious answer is that all of these cultures could have existed in the tropics for tens of thousands of years. Mainstream academia has a long way to go when it comes to studying the history of the tropics. They have based all their studies in regions of the world with moderate climate. All they can tell us so far is a history that goes back to 11,000 BC, of which they always focus on the Middle East.

The culture and traditions of the tropics only arrived in Europe after a group of nomadic West Eurasians (linked to the ancestors of Berbers) migrated south at the end of the ice age and absorbed the tribes of the tropics who were crop cultivators and horticulturalists. The absorption created a mixed population similar to Ethiopians, who carried the E1b1b haplogroup into Europe and took the new culture and cultivation techniques back into Europe, which was later spread by the Anatolians.

The migrants also carried a new set of genes with an African MtDNA, as in the below.

[deeptrashwitch]

Operation Firewall (2016)

Objective: Anwar Carabalí.

Note (2016): Due to the lack of information about the individual, is probable that he's using a fake name

The weapon trafficant, Anwar Carabalí, born in Sudan. No register of a date nor a location. His first appereance was two years before the operation, at first he did the usual things inside the black market. Sold rifles, grenades, mostly things for light infantry, but slowly started to expand the "bussiness".

Gunnery, drugs, humans, it became worst as the time passed. Soon the american intelligence had reports about a special cache, a nuclear cache on his power. And since they knew about the hate he had against the mere concept of the US, it was a priority to stop him and get the location of the weapon cache.

The CIA and the USSOCOM went after him during almost a year before having especific locations, six countries where he could be, and six sets of coordinates to look in. Morocco, Chad, Egipt, Lebanon, Congo and Angola.

As well, six teams were assigned to raid every location and go looking for the objectives. Information and Carabalí. Their orders about him? Eliminate him, no witnesses, no evidence.

The teams selected were:

SEAL Team 3: Officer in command, Captain John Cooper. Assigned to arrive in Casa Blanca, Morocco. Eight soldiers including the Captain.

Note (2018): Sergeant Blackwell's old team. Does he knows about Broken Statue?

Team 8, Third Ranger Batallion: Officer in command, Captain Taylor Smith. Assigned to arrive in Beirut, Lebanon. Ten soldiers including the Captain.

101th Combat Aviation Brigade: Officer in command, Captain Michael Woods. Assigned to arrive in Yamena, Chad. Twenty soldiers including the Captain.

Note (2018): Sergeant Jackson was part of it. As far as I'm aware, he's an old friend of Alicia. How much does he know?

4th Group, Second Raider Batallion: Officer in command, Captain Nick Sawyer. Assigned to arrive in Cairo, Egypt. Thirteen soldiers including the Captain.

720th Group, USAF Special Operations: Officer in command, Captain Janette Lahiffe. Assigned to arrive in Brazzaville, Congo. Nine soldiers including the Captain.

Task Force 267, First Raider Batallion: Officer in command, Captain Alicia Marchant. Assigned to arrive in Luanda, Angola. Seven soldiers including the Captain.

The result were variated and also were the times. Inside the Sahara Desert there was little to no result regarding the objectives. SEAL 3, the 101th and the 4th found basically nothing during the raids and went back to the bases they were assigned to. On the other hand the 720th found some information, not about the cache, but about the specific cities it was planned to be used.

The ones who got it worse were Team 8 and the 267, Lebanon and Angola. In Lebanon they found the information they needed about the cache, but it was a trap to cause the highest possible causalties. From ten soldiers, three died during withdrawal and two were severely injured, also the other five were hospitalized during weeks after they came back to the base.

Note (2016): It's suspected the use of chemical weapons. What does it mean for us?

But the Task Force 267 found their objective, unfortunately not the way they would have wanted. It had been an ambush at mid way, and they were captured under unknown circumstances. Just a day later they were reported MIA by the intelligence and pilot assigned to them. Almost three weeks later the recon teams intercepted a signal, weak, but with a code that only US troops knew and those pointed to especific coordinates.

Note (2018): What were those circumstances? And how Carabalí knew where to put the ambush?

A recon team was sent to look for survivors. There was one, Captain Alicia Marchant, who had in her hands the proof of the objective death. Soon they discovered the death of the rest of the Task Force, as well they found an extinguished bonfire filled with black bones. Later test revealed the identity of the remains, they were given back to their families for the private funerals.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Archive 08341376: Case Broken Statue (July 15th, 2016). First interrogation since the rescue. 10 minutes.

▶️ ------------------------- 0:00/10:05

"Are you the missing Captain Alicia Marchant?"

"Affirmative"

"Are you the former officer in command of Task Force 267?"

"Affirmative"

"Who were your people?"

"Lieutenant Richard Porter, callsign Blade. Sergeant Leo Jameson, callsign Tiger. Sergeant Kate Petrova, callsign Hope. Corporal Sean Walker, callsign Marble. Private Arthur Greenhill, callsign Lotus. And Private Jason King, callsign...Runner"

"Right. You doubted in the last one, Captain"

"Wouldn't you doubt if you feel guilt?"

"Guilt?"

"We said nothing about this Command, they all died because of it. It should have been me"

"The recon team said you eliminated every person inside that place, including Carabalí"

"...I did"

"How did you do that?"

"..."

"I need a verbal answer, Captain"

"The way I did it, it doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that Anwar Carabalí is dead and you have the nuclear cache coordinates"

"You know about the cache?"

"He was frustrated because of the raid in Lebanon, the reason was just simple logic"

"Why didn't he kill you?"

"I have no idea, but it was his mistake"

"You brought your team's tags with you"

"They deserved to be near their family, not inside that hell"

"What about yours?"

"Guardian ceased to exist the moment I was in that room. She'll never come back to the surface"

"And who are you now?"

"Difficult to say yet"

"How did you fight with the wounds you had? The medical record shows you were seriously injured"

"I...rather not to think about it"

"You seem surprisingly calm"

"..."

"Captain?"

"Just because I don't scream, hit and cry, it doesn't mean I'm not in grief or boiling with anger, son. Look me in the eye and tell me. Am I Calm?"

"W-what they did to you?"

"Many things. It isn't something you want in tape"

"I see, did you find any other information?"

"Not that I'm aware of, it wasn't really my priority at the moment"

"Alright, I guess we ended h..."

"The other leaders, what about them? I just get rid of one"

"...Dead"

"Good to know"

"What would you have done if they were alive?"

"I think the answer is pretty much obvious"

"Again, I need the answer"

"I would have took care of them myself"

"...We ended here"

End of the recording.

Note (2018): Six leaders and Carabalí. If she got rid of one, where and how the other five died? Is there any proof?

Note 2 (2018): They didn't. For some reason they let them live. Well, not for much, not when Alicia learn about this.

Archive 08341377: Case Broken Statue (July 16th, 2016). Recon Team member interrogation. 6 minutes.

▶️ ------------------- 0:00/06:30

"Are you Private Mark Bauer?"

"Yes sir"

"Team?"

"SEAL 7, sir"

"What was your role during the rescue?"

"I was the escort in case there were survivors"

"You were the first one who saw what happened inside, weren't you?"

"...Yes sir"

"Private, what can you tell me about the state you found Captain Marchant?"

"It isn't something I want to see ever again"

"Elaborate"

"I heard before about the Captain, but I never expected she was so...brutal"

"Brutal?"

"She emerged covered in blood head to toes, and we still not sure if it was hers or not. Honestly, I don't understand how she was awake and walking with the kind of wounds she had"

"What do you think about it? It was hers or not?"

"Considering what she had in her hands? I'm inclined to think it wasn't"

"What she had in her hands?"

"A head. Carabalí's head to be specific. And a box, not that I'm aware what was inside nor I want to know."

"The head?"

"Yes sir. I'm sure it was, and later on we found the rest of the body inside an office"

"Alright, something else you can remember?"

"Her expression"

"Explain"

"Whatever that place made to her...she's not stable, I would be terrified if someone touches something of hers. Her eyes didn't have any trace of mercy or sanity. I'm sure she would have killed us if we did a wrong movement"

"We ended here"

End of the recording

Note (2016): A further psychiatric evaluation is required before even consider let Capt. Marchant be back to her duties.

Note (2018): The results were decent and she was approved to go back a year ago. However, she'll be required to see a psychiatrist every six months. I. Don't. Want. Incidents.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Medical record: Captain Alicia Marchant, patient 8-07

Sharp wounds: Arms, legs and torso

Cuts to the hipodermis: Face, back and legs

1st grade burns: Breasts and abdomen (partially healed)

2nd grade burns: Forearms (INFECTED) (Antibiotics were prescribed to control the infection)

3rd grade burns: Neck (There was minimal damage to the blood vessels, muscles and nerves) (Estimated recovery time: Six weeks to eight weeks)

Fractured bones: Fourth, seventh and tenth ribs, left fibula

Cracked bones: Right humerus, left radius

It might be needed run some test to discard any kind of infection due to the contact between blood and the wounds. Rehab is mandatory to recover the correct movility on legs and arms after the bone fuse back. The psychiatric treatment must be regular (if not daily) until the permission to go back to duty, and even after, it'll be sporadic.

Note (2018): There are days when I don't understand how Alicia is alive. I hope Blackwell can keep her alive and out of the hospital.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Information obtained

Coordinates (nuclear cache): Islas Turneffe, Belice. 17°28'27.4"N 87°48'50.6"W

Fire power: Three hundred and five kilotons, divided in eight bombs.

Objectives:

Houston, US.

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Frankfurt, Germany.

Lyon, France.

Osaka, Japan.

Yakarta, Indonesia.

Bagdad, Irak.

Venice, Italy.

Medellín, Colombia.

Note (2016): We expected that, due to Carabalí's hate for America, there would be more of our cities in the list. It's a relieve this isn't the case.

Note (2018): Two years ago my superiors conducted an investigation to find the reasons of selecting this cities. I can understand why cities like Yakarta and Bagdad, capital cities, and Osaka, Rio and Medellín, big cities important for the country economy, were selected. I'll have to look for the archives and files with the investigation results, maybe I'm missing something about it.

Causalities: Nine soldiers and thirty four members of Carabalí's web.

Three soldiers from Team 8, Rangers. (Cause of death: Intoxication with clorhidric gas and sharpnel wounds)

Six soldiers from TF 267, Raiders. (Cause of death: Undetermined)

Note (2016): We might ask Captain Marchant about it. She might have the correct answer about it.

Note (2018): They actually tried to ask her just days after the rescue. I guess they are lucky to keep their heads and limbs. Now part of my superiors are kind of scared of her.

Twenty two members of Carabalí's web dead in Lebanon. (Cause of death: Bullet wounds and blood loss)

Twelve members of Carabalí's web dead in Angola. (Cause of death: Slit throats, blood loss, crushed traqueas, broken necks and one with bullet wounds)

Note (2016): To whoever read this. DON'T ASK ABOUT IT.

Note (2018): I just went to talk to my superiors about this. I'm pretty sure at least two of them flinched when I asked about the time they "talked" with Alicia. They are terrified. This will be an amazing anecdote to tell the team.

Objective: Anwar Carabalí (KIA)

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

[scotianostra]

The explorer Alexander Gordon Laing was murdered on September 26th 1826 in Edinburgh.

While some Scottish explorers' exploits are engraved on the national psyche, such as David Livingstone and Mungo Park, others like Alexander Gordon Laing have long since slipped into near obscurity. Yet he achieved that most coveted of prizes, Laing managed from here to Timbuktu located in the West African nation of Mali on the southern edge of Sahara Desert.

Gordon Laing, as he became known,was the son of school professor William Laing who initially educated his son personally. Alexander joined the military and rose through ranks, being part of York Light Infantry Volunteers since 1811, 2nd West India Regiment since 1815 and Royal African Colonial Corps since 1822 seeing much of Africa while in the army.

As well as the military campaigns Laing had an interest in geography, managing to find and map the source of river Rokel and relatively precisely ascertain the source of river Niger. In 1825 he managed to secure the permission for finding the source of river Niger and finding the route to the city of Timbuktu. His journey came with the blessing of the Famous explorers Joseph Banks, and Henry, 3rd Earl Bathurst who then commanded colonies in Africa.

Laing was instructed to explore the hydrography of the Niger basin. His journey began on 16 July 1825, two days after he married Emma Warrington, daughter of the British consul in Tripoli. He travelled across the Sahara, reached the settlements of Ghadames and In Salah. During the last leg of the journey across desert of Tanezrouft his party became attacked by the group of Tuareg raiders, during which he wrote that he received over 20 wounds. In the end, he managed to reach city of Timbuktu on August 18 1826, barely alive and with only one hand. He thus became the first European to cross the Sahara from north to south. Laing wrote another letter on 21st September, which eventually reached Tripoli. This reported his position in the city as being very difficult, and noted his intention to leave three days later. It was later established that he had done so, and that he was murdered in the desert on the night of 26th September 1826.

The pics are of Laing, and the house he stayed at in Timbuktu, now a tourist spot.

[ramayantika]

Desi Middle Class ✨Aesthetic✨

Kiraya ka ghar, chai ki tapri, buying new clothes twice or at max thrice a year during festive occasions, steel ka dabba, bigger uniform size to make sure you keep fitting into it for at least two years, feeling proud to own a Trimax pen, dada dadi or nana nani's tel malish, visiting temple towns for vacations, train journeys with lots of chips packed to munch on and mummy ke parathe or puri bhaji, having to wait patiently for your turn to use the bathroom unless and until you have two bathrooms and both of them are equally functional, never been on a flight or have been only once by luck, noticing that your dad rarely buys new shirts for himself, lingering looks on that beautiful but expensive dress, your mother touches that one lovely saree for the last time and you promise to yourself that when you start earning, you will gift her every saree she will land her gaze upon, covering rough notebooks with newspapers, start studying maths for the new school year during summer vacation, sharing a room and sometimes the same study table with your siblings, beaming at your bade bhaiya or didi when they show you how to make a paper boat/paper airplane, you are growing up and for the first time you see your older sibling break down in their room all by themselves and realization dawns that even they need a comforting hug, Tu kab badi huyi?, Wanting to gift a good car to your father with your own salary, the entire family dreams to own their own house someday, the first time you realize what a middle class family really is, fights and quarrels that always end with silent apologies over the dining table, beta doctor ya engineer? Kya matlab arts lena hai? Humare family se just pass hone vale bhi science liye? You wipe your own tears and strengthen your resolve to fight for your own dreams, parents are proud that you proved them wrong with your career and subject choice, sadly dropping out of dance, music, arts and sports classes as soon as you begin 10th grade -- lucky ones still continue them, watching Indian tv serials with mummy during afternoons after coming back from school, thoda toh pocket money badha do?? Storing money everywhere in the house, counting coins as a child and thinking yourself to be very rich, chota ghar magar sapne bade yeh hai middle class parivar ki kahani

I was watching Wagle ki duniya and later mummy and I were talking about our lifestyle after which she played a Sudha Murthy video where she was talking about the middle class lifestyle, and then I made this post by reflecting on some of my own experiences. I know that the above post doesn't still complete the middle class life there are so many things remaining but I tried my best to summarise from my own observation and experiences.

I have lived a small part of my life with the more economically advantaged groups too (samridhi just say rich) and I am seeing and have also seen the other side too that isn't as gleaming as I used to think but nevertheless it's colourful, so I wanted to write something on it as a lesson I learnt in these 3 years and for the lesson which will live with me for my future endeavours. Probably this post will also be a sahara sort of thing when I again spiral down some crying lane over my exams.

I have so many stories from my 11th 12th and drop year timeline that I will soon share because as I always believe in the end being good no matter what, be it whatever college I get in or whatever I do, this experience taught me things that no school classroom could do. I may sound like a dadi now but yes maybe in the upcoming time if some of you younger lot do stumble on this in times that seem dark and full of certainty, I hope those stories will bring hope in your hearts

Bas bhai yeh dadimaa kirdar ab kuch samay paschat