#valorant greek agent

[saltyyuuri]

Sova x GNReader

❄️Snow day❄️

no warnings; mainly fluff

REQUESTS ARE OPEN HEHE

2561 words

the song (greek tradegy, the woombats remix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otPkmMNV4-M

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''A snow day? I thought only schools did those!'' You declared loudly as you looked around in slight confusion to the rest of the protocol agents, who seemed just as confused as you were in this moment. The announcement had just been made via e-mail; Brimstone and Viper, the two protocol leaders signed the e-mail off to all.

Granted; the snowstorm outdoors was a bit intense, but you were valorant agents! Everyone could agree you dealt with worse on the daily; being shot at, chased by multiple enemies, the omega agents, training, having the worlds faith in your hands....

''Well, I won't say no to a day off!'' Phoenix declared loudly, already off to do god knows what. He gave a slight happy dance as he left the common room, his enthusiasm becoming contagious. a few extra agents had started to leave the common room to head off and do their own things- a day to relax was definitely welcome here.

You looked around to the gradually leaving agents, a few staying back to chat in the common room as they discussed what they could do of their day. You on the other hand, weren't fully sure what to do. Days off often had a minimum of planning for you- so on the spot was a bit of a thought twister for you. You took out your phone, humming a bit as you debated whether or not you should bother someone on this day off.

after a few more moments, you finally tapped on a contact, sending a quick message asking if they were up to do something today. the answer came back rapidly, and a smile grazed your lips.

''meet me outside in 15, wear something warm!''

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And here you were now- in a warm winter jacket, fur gloves and a fur hat on your head, trotting behind Sova, who had his bow strapped to his back and a quiver full of arrows to his hip. He was already grinning widely, ready to march into the woods that were near the valorant headquarters. He saw this day off as a small opportunity to hunt- even if it was going to be small prey, he didn't mind much- just happy he could have a moment to get back to his main hobby.

''You have a lot of energy today- I'm not complaining though! I'll put it to good use.'' Sova said with his signature smile, leading the way in his march through the woods. ''Uh oh- should I be worried?'' You asked him jokingly- knowing that he wouldn't actually make you do something you wouldn't want to. Plus, it was Sova we're talking about; the man wouldn't hurt a fly unless tasked to.

'' Don't worry, you know I won't twist your arm on anything.'' He said with a light chuckle, as always his Russian accent coming out on his words as he spoke. You always found it rather charming, it had a unique ring to it you didn't hear often. '' But... If I do catch something, I might ask for a hand to make dinner with it!'' He followed up, smiling.

''Of course you'd ask me that-'' You said, shaking your head; a small smile tugging at your lips. '' But sure, I can figure out dinner if need be.'' You replied casually. He nodded and continued his way through the woods, as if he knew the place well. It was a little worrisome to head into the woods in the middle of a snowstorm- but with Sova? you weren't worried in the slightest. He was initially found in the Russian tundra after all- if someone was to know their way in the woods in the middle of a snowstorm, it was definitely him.

After some time walking- the scenery finally changed a bit. Instead of the usual dead trees and heavy snowfall; there was a bit of a clearing in the woods. Granted it was small- but enough to spot a few wild animals further off on the other side of the clearing. There was an unsuspecting fawn and its mother, slowly walking in the snow. Sova raised his hand, signaling to stop. He crouched, hiding behind a dead bush and snow mound, pulling you down with him.

Though the pull down was a bit clumsy- the man seems to forget his own strength at times, pulling you onto him instead of besides. You were able to not make a noise as you fell onto his side- only a slight, quiet grunt escaping him. He gave you an apologetic look as you moved off him a bit to give him the space he needed to set up his bow. You turned your attention to the fawn, near its adult size but not quite- you would rather look at the woodland creature than face him with your rosy cheeks. Though if he asked- blaming the cold would be the easy excuse.

He was quick to place an arrow on the tense string of his bow, two fingers pulling back the string as he kept his elbow squared- immediately having a concentrated look on his face as he aimed. You couldn't tell whether he was aiming at the fawn or the mother deer- nor could you tell if he was breathing at this point. It was as if he had frozen in time, a face of focus as he held his tensed pose with his bow. His bionic eye slightly adjusted, seeming focused and locked onto his prey- not noticing how you stared at him like he was a Greek sculpture. If you could, you would have taken a picture of the scene.

Then- then sound of the bow string snapping brought you back to reality- the faint whistling of the arrow in the wind before a thud could be heard; a cry of one of the wild deers pierced through the peaceful winter snowfall. You looked back to where the deer were- seeing the fawn laid onto the snow- red staining the pristine white snow near its chest.

''Seems I caught dinner- and for quite a few people!'' Sova declared joyously as he slowly stood from his spot, strapping his bow back in place. He briefly turned his attention back to you, his gloved hand stretching out to you as he smiled. You took his hand- once more pulled by the Russian man who seems to forget his own strength once more.

This time- you were pulled straight into his chest- a small ''oof'' escaping you this time now that there was no deer to scare off. ''Apologies-'' He said immediately- this time speaking a bit embarrassedly as it was the second time he had done the same mistake. You chuckled, shaking your head slightly before speaking up in a teasing tone; ''I'm starting to suspect you're doing it on purpose, Sova!''

He chocked a laugh, his cheeks tinting a bit more as he did. He stepped back, creating a bit of space between the two of you- much to your disappointment. ''I swear its on accident- do you know how light you are, (Y-N)?'' He retorted- though still not noticing his hand holding yours still. You took a small chance- squeezing his hand slightly as you smiled. ''Sova, lets be honest here- you're the one unaware of your own damn strength. Like damn, what did your babushka feed you?!''

Sova finally looked down at your hands- the rosy on his cheeks not leaving. It almost seemed like he spaced out for a moment- as if wondering how long you two had been holding hands at this point. He cleared his throat, ''She uh... made a lot of pelmeni-'' He replied - then turning his attention to the fawn he had brought down. He was desperately trying to distract himself- he could feel the heat on his cheeks and the slight knot in his stomach forming; but not wanting to let it show. 'We are friends, nothing more', he thought to himself, clearing his throat once more.

''I'll uh... get to the deer.... We'll head back after-'' He chocked out, finally letting go of your hand as he left you there, walking alone to the deer to start working on it. You felt the warmth of his palm leave yours, a slight hint of disappointment crossing your face. But you watched him work from your spot- a small flutter crossing your own stomach as you simply observed him work; watching as he carried the animal over his shoulder.

The walk back was quiet- nearly awkward. the two of you obviously had feelings for each other- but neither did a move. Neither dare to break the ice- no matter how thin it was melted at this point. And so; once back at the protocol building, you two parted ways as Sova went to start gutting his catch- you were going to change and shower as you waited for his message when he'd need help to cook.

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Your phone buzzed as you laid on your bed, now inside your dorm room inside the valorant protocol, except it wasn't Sova; instead it was Jett- one of the girls you had grown closer to from being on missions with her a lot. She had actually thought you a lot of new cooking methods and tasty recipes as she was a chef before becoming an agent.

Jett: 'Hey (Y-N), Saw you were out with your lover boy earlier 😁got a good catch too!'

The text message made your cheeks heat up a bit, shaking your head slightly.

You: ''Jett we aren't even dating, chill 😒. but yea, he got a fawn'

Jett: ''not dating *Yet* 😇 anywaysssss you guys need help with that? 👀''

You: '' help with making dinner or making a move-?? cause for dinner, yes-''

Jett: 'yes. I'll see y'all in the kitchen 😇'

you: ''Jett no matchmaker istg- and I'm omw, don't you dare do something stupid-''

And with that you finally got up and walked out of your dorm room, heading straight to the protocol's commune kitchen. You had a hunch Jett was going to try something and you didn't know if you should be scared or not.

You entered the kitchen to see the familiar white haired wind radiant and the hunter, both chatting as they seemed to be determining what to do with all the fawn meat. The conversation was casual, mainly Jett throwing suggestions to the tall blonde Russian man on what to make. You snuck in quietly, just observing at first. You waited for a moment to butt in- the moment coming sooner than later.

''Damn that fawn had some thick thighs if that's the size of the cut you made on it-'' Jett exclaimed, looking over the piece of meat Sova was talking about. ''That's what she said-'' You cut in with a giggle- the innuendo making both turn around to stare at you. Jett snorted- and Sova sighed, but still chuckled out softly. ''You couldn't help yourself, could you?'' Sova said as he looked at you, smiling.

''Nope-'' you retorted, but as you were going to follow up, Jett decided to add oil to the fire, playing a dangerous game when it came to your secret-not-so-secret crush on Sova and vice versa. '' I think (Y-N) can't help themselves on a lot of things- like yo-'' and just like that you were slapping a hand over Jett's mouth, glaring at her. ''finish that sentence and I ' wont help myself ' to tell phoenix you think he's hot-'' You threatened- as knowing Phoenix, he would never leave Jett alone even if she didn't tell him directly.

''Do it, I dare you-'' Jett said, muffled by your palm. Now, that wasn't the reply you expected; quite the opposite. You stared at her, blinking a few times before she followed up. ''Also-... look above you, (Y-N)" She added in a teasing tone, backing away instantly to show her grin, mischievous and wide. Something was definitely up- and it wasn't what you expected. And indeed- something was up, and it was a random piece of mistletoe leftover from Christmas she had tossed over your head- held in the air with her wind power.

You face palmed- but also realized her plan. The mistletoe was above you... And Sova. of course. Jett giggled, turning to face the wall as if she was trying to give a minimum of 'privacy'. You turned to Sova, who's face wash rosy at the same realization you had. There was a moment of silence where you both looked at each other without a word, almost as if to quietly ask if the other was okay with it. the few seconds turned to a minutes- and Jett was impatient. ''Just kiss you two, dammit!'' She exclaimed loudly, back still turned.

A bit clumsily, Sova raised a hand to cup your cheek, not breaking eye contact. No words were said as he leaned in, finally placing gentle kiss to your lips. You could feel a slight prickle from his shaved face, nothing bad though, as his lips moved slowly against yours. The man was trying hard to stay gentle and careful- not wanting to do anything you didn't want him doing at the moment.

And to his surprise, he didn't expect you to grab his collar when he went to pull away, holding him in place as you kissed him back, wanting to enjoy it for a moment longer. He let the hand cupping your cheek fall, now sliding down your shoulder, side to finish in the bottom curve of your back, his palm opened wide as he pushed you against him a bit. The simple move made your stomach flutter slightly again- it felt like a rom-com moment but you weren't complaining.

Then finally, where the seconds felt like minutes, you both pulled away, cheeks dusted in pink as you both looked at each other, forgetting completely about Jett and the dinner you were all going to make. His hand remained on your lower back- its warmth soothing you from any embarrassment that should've followed. '' Sova-'' you started but you got interrupted.

''Sasha. Just call me Sasha.'' He said softly, a smile gracing his features as he looked down to you. It was followed with another short moment of silence, as if the two were trying to figure out who should speak first- who should finally break the paper thin ice remaining between the two of you.

''Sasha I-'' ''(Y-N) I need to say-'' and yet again- the two pause, stammering a bit as the two kept accidentally talking over each other. After a few attempts, you both started to laugh- the situation was just becoming comical at this point. ''I like you. A lot.'' Sova finally said, once the giggling died down a bit to finally talk. The words came out naturally- practically stress free even though his feelings for you were finally worded out- finally out and voiced out for you to hear.

''I like you a lot too, Sasha.'' You replied, smiling softly up to the blonde man. Before anything else was said or done- Jett reminded them of her presence now that confessions were finally made. ''Finally! damn I can't believe Phoenix's idea with the mistletoe actually worked-'' Jett said, walking back to the two, laughing as her mischievous grin remained. ''anyways, we have a baby deer to cook, lets go!''

[wisteriaiswriting]

Wisteria's Masterlist:

I do not write for Female reader

I do: fluff, angst, smut; matchups, songfics and anything in between. (If you're unsure just ask!)

Requests: Closed| Off Limits | Spotify |

Drafts [12]

Inbox [2]

Matchups [0]

Prompts:

Valorant wonderland | Overwatch Skin Prompts|

Masterlists:

Overwatch: Tanks | DPS / DPS | Supports

Valorant: Controllers | Sentinels | Initiators | Duelists | OC info

TF2

Spider - Verse

Fourth Wing / Iron Flame

Gravity Falls

Indigo Park

Steven Universe

Arkham Asylum [Not taking requests]

Hazbin Hotel: Hell | Heaven [Not taking requests]

Anons: 🖍️ | 🪼 |🪲 | 🕯️🃏 [Always open for more!!]

ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ | [Not taking requests]

One Month - A simple solo mission had gone wrong but Percy is always waiting for you.

ᴍᴜʟᴛɪᴘʟᴇ |

Ghost Rider Reader Headcanons

Adoptive!Older!Sibling Headcanons

Cloud Surfer - Being Sun Wukong's son

Cool Fact - Sun Wukong son Pt 2

IEYTD / I Expect You To Die | [Not taking requests]

Nice Conversation - Reginald hears Agent Phoenix's voice for the first time.

Meeting The New Recruit Headcanons

Stray Gods |[Not taking requests]

Pan |

His Muse - Pan thought of you as his muse, but the feeling is mutual.

Pan Headcanons |SFW and NSFW|

Apollo |

Out With The Old, In With The New - A party in Aphrodite's honor didn't capture Apollo's attention as much as you did.

Worthy - Athena never approved of Idol's interacting with mortals, much less date one.

Freddie |

Your Favourite Fixation - You've always been into Greek mythology, luckily so is your girlfriend.

Comforting Night - Grace returned home late to find a sleepy surprise.

Grace |

Comforting Night - Grace returned home late to find a sleepy surprise.

[mezzy-1]

VALORANT AGENT TEASER

[evixgrid]

Sudden thoughts on Valorant lore:

It seems to me that it would be very strange if there were exactly two Earths. An Alpha is not the exact opposite of an Omega and vice versa, they are just different. You can remember Kay/O and his remarks about his home universe (and Alpha Kay/O was not originally from Alpha, Raze found him on Breeze by a lucky chance): Reyna from his world seized power, the entire planet was under the control of the radiants. It's seems like it is not Omega Earth.

Or you can mention the relationship between Kay/O and Brim. Kay/O said that his Brimstone is dead, and from what I understand, Kay/O originally from Alpha Earth is also dead. In this case, there is no Kay/O on Omega Earth because he is now on Alpha Earth, no Brimstone because he is dead. It turns out that all the agents’ remarks about the mirror Kay/O and Brim make no sense - it would be a plot hole. Yes, even in the Greek alphabet there are 22 more letters between Alpha and Omega.

(correct me if I'm wrong about anything)

[celestialskylark]

Valorant Agent OC

Name: Altaira Agent Name: Siren Information: On occasions, after her ultimate is used on enemies. Enemies will be taken into interrogation to obtain information on enemy groups. Gender: Female Nationality: Italian/Greek Hair Color: Midnight Blue Eye Color: Dusk Blue with golden flecks Height: 5”1 Weight: 120 lbs Abilities: Passive: Sussurri [Whispers] (Picks up comms/voices from the most recent enemy locations [similar to Cypher's ult ability]) Basic: Barriera [Barrier] (creates a bulletproof song barrier that will last until HP is depleted or when 15 sec duration is up [just like Harbors bubble]) Signature: Interruttrice [Breaker] (enemies within radius are rendered blind and deaf [like Astra's concuss]) Ultimate: Voce Celeste [Celestial Voice] (enemies are taken into a celestial plane and hit with a multi-directional assault [sound waves] that concusses anyone taken into it with pauses between each to allow enemies to aim and try to shoot Siren with their gun)

[ncisfranchise-source]

CBS has an NCIS prequel series about a younger Gibbs in its crosshairs. But who is fit to fill a thirtysomething Mark Harmon’s shoes?

Well, we have some ideas!

Ordered to series earlier this month, NCIS: Origins will be set in the year 1991 and pick up with Leroy Jethro Gibbs as a “newly minted Special Agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.” TVLine has also learned that producers will be introducing a young version of Special Agent Vera Strickland, Franks’ onetime partner played by Roma Maffia in a Season 11 NCIS episode

In addition to executive-producing the well-watched franchise’s latest spinoff, Mark Harmon — who of course starred on the original NCIS for its first 19 seasons — will narrate NCIS: Origins.

And while Mark’s son Sean Harmon over the years has played a younger Gibbs in seven total NCIS episodes (via “flashbacks”), a new actor is being sought to fill the plum role on NCIS: Origins. Specifically, sources tell TVLine the spinoff is looking for an actor in his mid-30s, who ideally has blue eyes (like Mark Harmon).

The TVLine staff brainstormed some, and offer below a list of 11 possibilities, many of whom sport blue peepers. Review our picks, then weigh in with your own, ideal “Young Gibbs.”

Robbie Amell

We know, Upload — on which he stars as a digitally “resurrected” computer programmer — theoretically could get a Season 4 at Prime Video. But if that’s not in the cards, Amell could be a fine fit as Young Gibbs.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: Upload, The Flash, The Tomorrow People, Revenge and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Matt Barr

We really like Barr for this. He brings a vitality to his roles, as well as swagger and charm, and he is no stranger to the Paramount/CBS/The CW family. Surely he’s on their radar.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: Walker Independence, Walker, Blood & Treasure, Valor, Hellcats, Harper’s Island and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Ryan Hansen

OK, this is one of our wilder wild cards, seeing as Hansen’s resume is comedy-heavy. But we are admittedly curious to see if he could dial things in enough to lead a procedural. CBS, though, may not be as curious; plus, he’s one of the oldest (north of 40) picks on our list.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: Veronica Mars, Party Down, A Million Little Things, Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television (web series), 2 Broke Girls and others

EYE COLOR: Hazel

Matt Lanter

You kinda like this one, right? Lanter proved his leading-man chops on the gone-too-soon Timeless, and frankly he is due for a sure thing such as an NCIS spinoff.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: Timeless, Jupiter’s Legacy, Star-Crossed, 90210 and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Chris Lowell

With How I Met Your Father‘s cancellation, he’s available. Though his previous drama roles have leaned a bit on the lighter side.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: How I Met Your Father, GLOW, Graves, Enlisted, Private Practice, Veronica Mars and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Jake McDorman

CBS has twice before bet on McDorman, to headline its adaptation of Bradley Cooper’s Limitless movie and to play no less than Murphy Brown’s son. It’s almost hard to see how he doesn’t get this role.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: Class of ’09, Mrs. Davis, Murphy Brown, Limitless, Manhattan Love Story, Greek and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Beau Mirchoff

With Ride cancelled and Good Trouble ending, we put forth Mirchoff, because he deserves nice things. Blue eyes? No. But his age (a reported 35) is right in the sweet spot NCIS: Origins aims to cast.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: Ride, Good Trouble/The Fosters, Narcos: Mexico, I’m Dying Up Here, Awkward., Desperate Housewives and others

EYE COLOR: Green

Luke Mitchell

Like, how could we not suggest Mitchell? Yes, he’s about to recur on Chicago Med, with an option to maybe become a series-regular. But if a spinoff of TV’s most-watched drama came knocking with a leading role, that’d be quite the temptation.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: Chicago Med (upcoming), Big Sky, Blindspot, The Code, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Tomorrow People, Home and Away and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Chris Pine

Let us stop you right there: If our list had a “reach school,” yes, Pine is it. He’s a total long-shot, given his big-screen bonafides. But if he’s tired of Trekking… man, he’d be quite perfect (if one of the older, 40-plus candidates on our list).

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: I Am the Night, Netflix’s Wet Hot American Summer sequel and prequel series, Angie Tribeca and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Ian Somerhalder

If Somerhalder, after so many years of genre-TV, is ready to settle down with a procedural, he in some ways does favor a young Harmon. That said, he appears to be the oldest, 40something actor on our list.

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: V-Wars, The Vampire Diaries, Lost, Tell Me You Love Me and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

Lucas Till

The star of CBS’ five-season MacGyver reboot is perhaps the youngest of our picks, south of 35. And with FX’s Lee Daniels-EP’d The Spook Who Sat by the Door pilot being redeveloped, he is 100% available. A perfect fit for all…?

PREVIOUS TV CREDITS: MacGyver, plus guest spots on Blue Mountain State, House, Medium and others

EYE COLOR: Blue!

[blackraged]

I can't help but think that the statue holding the sphere is the new agent teaser.

Now listen, the Statue might be a reference to Atlas, the Titan who held up the sky on his shoulders.

So the new Agent might not only be from Greece, but is also based on strength and endurance. Which might as well mean that Breach is getting a new gym buddy.

I'm also gonna assume, - in case I'm right -, that the agent's call sign will be Atlas. It'd just make sense, y'know???

[gothic-illustrations]

Valorant Oc Week - Day One

Prompt: First Day

Word Count: 829

This is my second time posting any kind of writing on Tumblr I hope you all enjoy 

Trigger Warning for: Identity crisis, derealization, mention of cigarettes, experimentation, minor character death? well someone dies.

Lumino normally liked parties, or at least, they think they used to.

They had to keep themself from fiddling with the cigarettes in their pocket. The loud sound of people actually having fun just past the glass doors that led out to the balcony where Lumino stood. Leaning over the railing trying to get this ever-present feeling of imposter syndrome out of their system. They had been invited and accepted into the Valorant Protocol so why were they still so on edge?

Lumino had been fine a few minutes ago trying their best to get along with the other agents. But then Brimstone had turned to Viper, he called her Sabine. That alone meant nothing to Lumino. They could care less if Brim knew or decided to use Viper’s real name. But that's all it took to remind them of what separated them from all these people.

A name…

They had lives outside of the protocol, things that tied them to the real world, things that made them seem real. Lumino didn’t have that. Lumino didn’t remember that name. Brimstone told them they could just think of a name outside of their agent name but nothing seemed to fit. Every time it just felt like they were stealing someone else’s identity. So they just decided to quit while they were ahead. It's not like they were here to form meaningful connections anyways.

“Normally, a person would be present at a party meant to welcome them.”

Lumino looked up from the random point in the woods they had been staring at. Turning around to see who had found there, albeit horrible hiding spot. Sova, they had meant him briefly when Brimstone had introduced him as their new partner for the time being. He had turned out to be nice enough and he never asked too many questions, until now.

“I just wanted some fresh air is all, I’ll be inside in a minute.”

“Really? Because you’ve been gone for the past twenty-five minutes and everyone has noticed your absence for a while now.”

Lumino just let their legs fold and they fell to the ground pulling their knees up to their chest and taking a deep breath. “I don’t belong here.” Sova takes a cautious step forward and sits down next to them, a hand resting on their shoulder. “I think you do, everyone here has some kind of… how to put this… baggage going into this. Do you honestly think everyone here does have some problems?”

“I don’t know Phoenix seems pretty happy and not at all burdened by his crushing emotional issues.”

“That's just how Phoenix is, plus not everyone likes to show they have problems.

“I guess your right…”

Lumino takes another deep breath, Sova gently squeezing their shoulder in an attempt to comfort them.

“Did Brimstone tell you why I’m here?”

“He didn’t but if you want to explain it to me I’d be happy to listen.”

“Long story short, Kingdom used me in some kind of experiment with my mirror world double. Or this world's version of me. I still don’t know which one I am anymore. Fuck, I don’t really remember anything anymore, it's like I’m just some empty shell that someone breathed life into, and… I’m getting ahead of myself. The other me died in those experiments and Kingdom refuses to let me have access to the old files and I was left with no form of identification at some random bus stop. Everyone else here has a name, something that the people who care about them call them. I don’t have any of that. Not anymore.” Lumino’s head rested on top of their knees and they just let the tears fall. It's the only thing they had the energy for.

Sova’s hand moves to their back and he pats it gently. A few minutes passed before Lumino lifted their head out of their knees and took another deep breath.

“So you don’t have a name besides Lumino?”

“No.”

“Mikita, it's a name that comes from an ancient Greek word for victor or winner. I know it may not seem like it fits but being able to come out of any emotionally scaring and being able to stand up and continue fighting should be considered a victor in one way or another.”

“Mikita… I like it. Could you start calling me that? ”

“Of course, now let’s get back to the party Mikita.”

Lumino finally finds the strength to stand despite one of their legs deciding to fall asleep. Lumino and Sova walk back through the glass doors and some of the younger agents start to shout as they see them walking back up to them.

Phoenix is the first one to strike up a conversation and Lumino finally decides to let go and talk.

“You never gave us your name Lumino, I wanna know all the names of my teammates!”

Mikita lets out a small smile as they answer.

“My name is Mikita.”

Bonus:

[pagan-witch-yo]

Delaware, Southern New Jersey, Long Island, and New York edition: Correspondences

Aster 🌅Venus, femininity, water, love. Placed on Greek altars, used in love magic, carry to win love, and grow to wish for love.

Blue Cohosh 🌅 Love, masculinity, protection, courage, potency. Used in love magic, to drive away evil when hung or sprinkled around a room, in bath magic to drive away evil and aid impotency, and carried for courage.

Thistle 🌅Mars, fire, strength, protection, hex-breaking, exorcism, healing. Place a bowl of it in a room to revitalize it, carry it for strength and energy, throw on a fire for strength and energy, and burn to deflect lightning.

Hyssop 🌅Masculinity, fire, Jupiter, protection, cleansing. It’s used in bath magic as a purification agent and hung in the home to get rid of evil and negativity. 

Goldenrod 🌅Femininity, venus, money, divination, air. Use in love divination, the flower is said to drift in the direction of a lost object when held, and its good to use in money spells. 

Sunflower 🌅Fire, sun, masculinity, health, wishes, wisdom, fertility. Used to protect women trying to get pregnant, making wishes, to protect from illness, grants luck to those who cultivate it, and also brings them luck. 

Mallow 🌅Femininity, moon, protection, exorcism, water, love. Carry to attract love, place in a vase in the window if you’ve lost your love in order to maybe attract them back, make into a salve to cast out evil from your body.

Iris 🌅Water, venus, purification, wisdom, femininity. Used for cleansing, purification, and they symbolize wisdom, faith, and valor.

Lily 🌅Femininity, Moon, water, breaking love spells, protection. Plant around the home to keep away unwanted visitors and to protect against all evil, carry a lily to break a love spell.

Primrose 🌅Venus, femininity, earth, love, protection, significant to Freya. Blue and red primrose attract faeries and protect the garden from trouble and adversity, can represent sadness, or can be carried to attract love.

Greek Valerian 🌅Don’t take this and drive!!! Venus, femininity, water, love, purification, protection, sleep. Used in protection magic, wear to attract love, hang to ward off lightning, place under the pillow to fall asleep, use in love magic, and ward off evil. Can function as a substitute for graveyard dust. 

Solomon’s Seal 🌅Femininity, water, Saturn, exorcism, protection. Use as an incense for offerings, in all exorcism and protection spells/magic, and sprinkle an infusion of the root to cleanse an area of evil. 

Bloodroot 🌅Protection, love, mars, masculinity, fire, purification. Carry or wear to protect from evil and to call love. Place in the home for protection. The darker the root, the better. 

Blue Vervain 🌅Femininity, earth, venus, protection, love, purification, peace, money, sleep, healing. Gather at mid-summer on a time where neither the sun or moon are present in the sky, use in love and protection magic when invoking spirits, sprinkle around to chase off evil, place in the home to protect from lightning and storms, use as an aid in peacemaking, bathe in it to purify yourself. 

Yucca 🌅Masculinity, fire, mars, transformation, protection, purification. Some say if you jump through a hoop of yucca fibers or wear one on your head you can take on the form of whatever you desire, used to cast evil out of the home.

Ferns 🌅Air, mercury, masculinity, protection, rain-making, fortune, luck, health, exorcism, youth. Put in floral arrangments for protection, plant at the door for protection or keep inside the home, wear or carry to guide yourself to treasure, burn the dried herb to rid yourself of evil spirits, burn outside to call rain or get rid of snakes and noisy creatures.

Grass 🌅 Protection, psychic powers. Tie knots in the grass around the house to protect it, carry for psychic powers, mark wishes on stones with grass then bury the stone or throw it into running water, hang to dispel evil.

Maple 🌅Directing energy, harmony, positive energy, masculinity, Jupiter, air, love, money, longevity. Use in money rituals and love spells or use the branches to make a wand. 

Birch 🌅Feminity, protection, water, Venus, purification, exorcism. Gently hit people or animals who are possessed with a birch stick to exorcise them, hang for protection in general and against lightning, and make into a broom using the twigs.

Hickory 🌅Best used in legal magic.

Cedar 🌅Sun, masculinity, fire, money, purification, protection, healing. Use the smoke to purify a space and to cure bad dreams, hang to protect against lightning, use, in love magic, place near home to protect against evil, burn to induce psychic powers.

Ash 🌅Fire, masculinity, sun, protection, prosperity, sea rituals, health. Carve ash into a solar cross and carry to prevent drowning at sea, represents the power that water holds, wear to protect against witchcraft, place the leaves in your pillow for prophetic dreams.

Holly 🌅Fire, protection, anti-lightning, dream magic, luck, masculinity, mars. One of the best protective herbs out there, throw at wild animals to get rid of them, put beneath your pillow to make your dreams come true, hang for good luck around yule or carry to promote good luck. 

Magnolia 🌅 Feminity, venus, fidelity, earth. Keep near or beneath the bed to maintain faithfulness in a relationship.

Pine 🌅Purification, banishing negative energy, defense magic, protection, clarity of mind, spirit communication, healing, growth, inspiration, confidence when carried, good for legal matters. Burn to awaken its properties.

Aspen 🌅Purification, ancestry, family, healing, masculinity, air, anti-theft. Use to protect against thievery or to become eloquent.

Cherry 🌅Venus, love, divination, water, femininity. Use in love and longevity magic. Use as a substitute for blood. 

Oak 🌅Divination, prosperity, strength, victory, healing, masculinity, fire, the sun, protection, fertility. Use in protection magic and to protect against evil. Carry to protect yourself against harm. This tree has been revered in magic for a very long time. 

Cypress 🌅 Earth, Saturn, feminity, healing, longevity, comfort, protection. Eases the mind and aids grief if carried at funerals, best used in times of crisis, use to invoke gods, grow near home to protect it, burn for healing, and use in immortality magic.

Elm  🌅 Love, Saturn, water, feminity. Use to protect against lightning strikes and carry to attract love.

Dogwood 🌅Protection, wishes. Place a drop of sap on a handkerchief on midsummer and carry it faithfully in order to have a wish granted, and place in protective amulets.

Hawthorn 🌅masculinity, Mars, fire, fertility, chastity, happiness, fishing. Used to increase fertility and oddly enough maintain chastity, carry to promote happiness or good luck with fishing, hang in the house for protection in general and against lightning, and is sacred to fairies.

Witch-Hazel 🌅Masculinity, fire, sun, chastity, protection. Use to protect against evil, carry to mend a broken heart. 

Willow 🌅Femininity, the moon, love, protection, divination, healing, water. Carry to attract love, make a wand out of it for moon magic, use all parts for healing magic or protection, or make a broom out of it!

[soulxism-archive]

vєrsєs - ** Triggering Stuff 

Main Verse ** v. Requiem of a Solder [ Main ]

Headcanons - > || X || X || X || X || X || Dabbles -> || X || X || X || Important Stuff -> || X || X ||  Aesthetics -> || X || Part One of Backgroud -> || X || 

What if…? v. What if…? [ Another Timeline ] 

What if…Aiden never deployed and lived a normal life up until the Revolution? Instead of enlisting he went to college and studied Criminal Justice and attended the Police Academy before working at Cyberlife as a security guard. He didn’t experience the trauma that he did if he would have enlisted so he is completely human.

During the revolution, his family evacuated to this grandparent's ranch but he stayed behind as peacekeepers or as many of them were known as Cyberlife’s clean up crew. He was very pro-android as he watched the revolution unfold and hated how the Androids were treated and rounded up like cattle at a slaughterhouse. So he and a few humans that were pro-androids did everything to help other deviants escape Cyberlife’s prosecution. He would easily allow the deviants to raid warehouses for parts and their fellow Androids that were in storage containers.

Much like Rose, he began to help many scared Androids that did not want to fight, escape to the south towards the ranch where many of them stayed sheltered.

Hoist the colors! v. Dead men tell no tells [ Pirate ]

Aiden was an Admiral to the Royal Navy’s The Conqueror. He was a loyal man to those pulling the string as he hunted pirate ships with little remorse. That was until he was betrayed by his own crew on orders of the crown for disobeying direct orders.

He was left for dead when his crew forced him to abandon ship with nothing but the clothes on his back. It wasn’t until hours later that he was picked up by a pirate ship. He was given a choice between living by their rules or dying and he chose to live. The Captain took him under his wing and he shed his past self as he became the very thing he once swore to hunt down.

When the current Captain passed he was given the role of Captain Barnes of The Howling Rift and all of her crew. He made the ship home as the crew accepted him in their little ragtime family. He soon became a force to be reckoned with as they sunk Navy ships, plunder Navy strongholds and pass the treasures out to those in need.

Dragon heart v. Heart of valor lend me your strength [ Dragon ] 

Aiden was part of the Gentlefield clan of dragons, as the name states, he was a gentle dragon who was slightly slimmer and shorter than other dragons who were born to fight alongside the humans. He was barely out of his egg when an army of human soldiers and dragons stormed the village they protected and when the smoke cleared and the sun rose, he was the only one left.

The general took him among their ranks and gave him to one of the soldiers, the young human and dragon grew to form a bond that no other rider had and Aiden learned to fight, due to his slim structure he was fast and the details to his wings he flew at night and none of their enemies saw them coming.

Unfortunately, during one of these battles, he made a grave mistake that cost him his human’s life. Seeing what he did he fled from everything and secluded himself in the mountainside. He hordes colored glass and rocks that shine if the lights hit it just right.  

God of War v. To the skies I raise my spear…onward to war [God verse]

Aiden is represented by the god of war, Ares from Greek mythology. Depending on what time period he is in he could have a few differences between how he is written. In the Ancient Greek times, he mostly hangs out in Sparta, he’s a player, and he bickers with Athena at any chance he gets. In a modern era, he’s similar to his main verse where he’s in the Marines but doesn’t carry the same trauma as his main verse. He loves to work out and to fool around when he’s not on the clock.

Secret Service v. The eagle has landed [ Secret Service ]

Aiden was still a Marine, still fought on Russian lands under the American flag, still had a small team of highly trained operative and they were still ambushed. The only difference is that he received his robotic prosthetics on American soil in a top-secret government program to enhance soldiers.

Aiden was given a job as a secret service agent and with his credentials, he rose to the rank of Head agent. He’s the president’s silent guardian as he protects their commander in chief with every fiber of his being.

When the Revolution happened, chaos erupted. The androids nationwide were in a panic. This verse could be in the line where Markus was peacefully leading until he’s killed. Desperate androids flooded the capital for help but among them were anti-human androids that wanted to rule them and enslave them like the humans did to them.

This is based on Olympus has Fallen where they’re on a lock-down in the White House. Aiden is alone as he fights against angry androids and trying to protect the president. This could go multiple ways, either they escape and they’re on the run or like the movies, he has to rescue the president from kidnappers.

Supernatural  v. Wolfsbane and a silver bullet [ werewolf ]

More Information here -> || X || X || 

Single Dad v. Keep on fighting for you [ single dad ] 

On one of his leaves back to the US he ran into an old friend of his, they were best friends until life drifted them apart. Morgan was her name and they had one night together before he left and life once again drifted them apart. This was before he met Ryan, He never thought that one night would give him another reason to fight the demons in his heart. He didn’t know about the child until he returned years later and there was a CPS agent holding a three-year-old in her arms.

The little girl was named Samantha and Aiden found out that Morgan had died in a car accident but she had left a letter to him explaining everything. Now he takes care of Riley and their new addition.  || X || 

I’m a wizard! v. A loyal heart to test the masses [ Hogwarts au ]

Year:5-6th (Verse Dependent) House: Hufflepuff Patronus: Wolf Lineage: Half-Blood Wand: 11 1/2  inch || Solid || Rowan || Unicorn Hair Quidditch Position:Chaser Aspiring to be: Auror

Star Wars v. Darkness within a dying star [ Star Wars ] ( Verse One ) 

Home Planet: Alderaan Moved to: Bespin then to Coruscant

Verse One - Sith path || X || X || X || X ||  Verse Two - Jedi path || X ||  Verse Three - Bounty Hunter || X ||  Verse Four - Fallen Order Jedi/Fallen Jedi || X ||  Verse Five - Inquisitor ( First Brother ) || X || 

Titanic  v. The lady of the sea [ Titanic ] 

More information here -> || X || 

Watch Dogs  v. No secret is safe - No crime goes unpunished [ Watch Dogs ] 

More information here -> || X || X || 

Futuristic/Deus Ex Inspired  v. A new frontier [ Futuristic ]

More information here ->  || X || 

ABO  ** v. More than a label; More than my biology [ ABO ] 

More Information here -> || X || 

Mafia ** v. Detriot’s notorious commander [ Mafia ] 

More information here -> || X || X || 

Winter Soldier ** v. A caged wolf is deadlier than an AK [ Winter Soldier ]

More information here -> || X || 

Once upon a Time/ Fairytale  v. Hearts of hearts; A Huntsman without a heart [ Once Upon a Time AU ] 

More information here -> || X || X || 

Fallen Angel v. Broken wings and angel tears [ Fallen ] 

More information here -> || X || X || X || 

Royal  v. A royal heart and a gentle soul [ Royal AU ] 

More information here -> || X || X || 

College  v. Country boy under the city lights and soccer fields [ College ]

More Information here -> || X || 

[aureateaugust-blog]

Aureate August 2019

Right, so if you were around for last year’s Aureate August, you know the game plan, but if you’re new, you probably would appreciate a quick rundown.

So, main thing is this is a no pressure event. If you don’t have the spoons, don’t push yourself. We want you to have fun. If you write every day, great. If you write one story all month, fantastic. If you spend the month reading what others write, even better! (Authors love comments, just fyi.)

So the basics are: a story a day for the entire month of August using any of the words on the prompt list. Any fandom, any pairing, or lack thereof.

Your choice to include the exact word in the writing or just the general sentiment.

When you post the fic use the tag AureateAugust2018 here on Tumblr so everyone can find it and see how awesome you are.

If you post on AO3 feel free to tag in the collection Aureate August 2018 there too.

Word list plus definitions can be found under the cut:

Word List

Ailurophile - n. a cat lover

Alexithymia - n. the inability to recognize or describe one's own emotions

Astrophile - n. A lover of the stars; a person who is interested in astronomy as an amateur or non-expert

Becoming - adj. (especially of clothing) flattering a person's appearance; n. the process of coming to be something or of passing into a state

Bicker - v. 1. argue about petty and trivial matters. 2. LITERARY (of water) flow or fall with a gentle repetitive noise; patter.

Cadence - n. 1. a modulation or inflection of the voice. 2. a sequence of notes or chords comprising the close of a musical phrase.

Condolences - an expression of sympathy, especially on the occasion of a death

Desolation - n. a state of complete emptiness or destruction; anguished misery or loneliness

Diaphanous - adj. (especially of fabric) light, delicate, and translucent.

Ethereal - adj. extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world

Euphoric - adj. characterized by or feeling intense excitement and happiness

Fearless - adj. without fear; bold or brave; intrepid

Fragmentation - n. 1. The act or process of breaking into fragments. 2. The scattering of the fragments of an exploding bomb or other projectile. 3. Computers The scattering of parts of a file or files throughout a storage device, as when the operating system breaks up the file and fits it into the spaces left vacant by previously deleted files.

Glitch - n. 1. A minor malfunction, mishap, or technical problem 2. A false or spurious electronic signal caused by a brief, unwanted surge of electric power. 3. Astronomy A sudden change in the period of rotation of a neutron star.

Gravitate - 1. to move under the influence of gravitational force. 2. to be strongly attracted: to gravitate toward one another.

Guardian - n. 1. a person who guards, protects, or preserves. 2. a person legally entrusted with the care of another's person or property, as that of a minor or someone legally incapacitated.

Humanity - n. the human race; human beings collectively; humaneness; benevolence

Hypaethral 1. wholly or partly open to the sky; 2. not closed in or surrounded or included; 3. Architecture: having no roof. (Etymology: from Latin hypaethrus, “uncovered”, from Greek hupaithros, from hupo-, “under” + aithros, “clear sky”)

Incandescent - adj. emitting light as a result of being heated; full of strong emotion; passionate

Isolate - v. to set apart from others; to select from among others

Jaded - adj. tired, bored, or lacking enthusiasm, typically after having had too much of something

Juxtaposition - n. the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect

Kerfuffle - n. A to-do or fuss

Killjoy - n. One who spoils the enthusiasm or fun of others.

Labyrinth - n. A complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is difficult to find one's way; a maze; an intricate and confusing arrangement

Lassitude - n. a state of physical or mental weariness; lack of energy

Mercurial - adj. Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind

Miraculous - adj. occurring through divine or supernatural intervention, or manifesting such power; highly improbable and extraordinary and bringing very welcome consequences

Nefarious - adj. (typically of an action or activity) wicked or criminal

Nemesis - n. the inescapable agent of someone's or something's downfall; a long-standing rival; an archenemy; a downfall caused by an inescapable agent

Obligation - n. an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment; the condition of being morally or legally bound to do something; a debt of gratitude for a service or favor

Oblivion - n. the state of being unaware or unconscious of what is happening

Prelude - n. an action or event serving as an introduction to something more important; an introductory piece of music, most commonly an orchestral opening to an act of an opera, the first movement of a suite, or a piece preceding a fugue

Preternatural - existing outside of nature; exceeding what is natural or regular, extraordinary; inexplicable by ordinary means; especially psychic

Quack - n. 1. An untrained person who pretends to be a physician and dispenses medical advice and treatment. 2. A charlatan; a mountebank. 3. The characteristic sound uttered by a duck

Quiddity - n. Whatever it is that makes something the type that it is: essence; A trifling point: quibble; an unusual personal opinion or habit: eccentricity

Rubatosis - n. the awareness of your own heartbeat

Ruin - n. the physical destruction or disintegration of something or the state of disintegrating or being destroyed; verb. reduce (a building or place) to a state of decay, collapse, or disintegration; LITERARY - fall headlong or with a crash

Sanctuary - n. a place of refuge or safety; a nature reserve

Scintillate - v. to emit sparks; to emit quick flashes as if throwing off sparks; to throw off as a spark or as sparkling flashes

Tartle - v. To hesitate while introducing someone because you've forgotten their name 

Testament - n. a person's will, especially the part relating to personal property; something that serves as a sign or evidence of a specified fact, event, or quality.

Triumvirate - (in ancient Rome) a group of three men holding power; a group of three people holding power

Ubiquitous - adj. present, appearing, or found everywhere

Unapologetically - adv. in a manner that does not acknowledge or express regret

Valor - n. great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle

Vellichor - the strange wistfulness of used bookstores

Wither - v. (of a plant) become dry and shriveled; cease to flourish; fall into decay or decline

Wondrous - adj. inspiring a feeling of wonder or delight; marvelous; adv. marvelously; wonderfully

Xenagogue - One who conducts strangers; a guide

Xyresic - razor sharp; cutting; keen

Yearn - vb 1. to have an intense desire or longing (for); pine (for) 2. to feel tenderness or affection

Yield - vb 1. to give forth or supply 2. to surrender or relinquish, esp as a result of force, persuasion, etc 3. to give way, submit, or surrender 4. to agree; comply; assent 5. to grant or allow; concede

Zeal - n. Enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal

Zenith - n. 1. The point on the celestial sphere that is directly above the observer; 2. The upper region of the sky; 3. The highest point above the observer's horizon attained by a celestial body; 4. The point of culmination; the peak

[aboutanancientenquiry]

Herodotus and the Invention of History-III

“In my view, it is a misinterpretation of Herodotus and the unity of his histories to assume that in these passages he did not mean what he clearly stated: that Athens, in leading the defeat of the Persians, was doing the work of and enjoying the protection of the god(s). That this was not simply a manner of speaking or a conventional patriotic bromide is, I think, demonstrated by the total structure of the histories from beginning to end, a structure that time and again reveals Herodotus’ ability to link the metahistorical and the world of immediate human action.  

Neither individuals nor states are to be understood simply as robot-like instruments of the heavenly script or of the often obscure and rather ominous rules that governed time. If universal rules—rise and fall, crime and retribution, pride and punishment—applied to all and if no individual or state could forever escape destiny, nonetheless there were fully human ways to live and to act in time. “Know thyself,” Herodotus admonishes time and again. That is, know one’s place and that one is not a god, a theme of both epic and tragedy. Know that, whatever the gods may order, moderation, self-control, and self-restraint are the necessary qualities of the good life. The great political theme of fall and decline, had a necessary countertheme: the rise of states. And for Herodotus, the most conspicuous examples of risen states in his time were the two very different Greek cities, Athens and Sparta. Their greatness, displayed in the Persian wars of the early fifth century, raised questions about the divine plan and fate, but also questions at the human level about the conditions of Greek success generally and of Athenian success in particular and whether that success might be perpetuated over time. Herodotus advanced a bold hypothesis: political success was related to the character or culture of a society. The particular genius of the city-state was its adherence to self-imposed law, in other words a certain conception of liberty. It was not climate that explained the dynamic quality of the Greek states aligned against Persia, nor riches, but law that defined a political culture within which liberty, collective self-discipline, and civic heroism could all prosper. To a question about the Greeks posed by Xerxes, Demaratus responds, “ . . . poverty is Greece’s inheritance from of old, but valor she won for herself by wisdom and the strength of the law . . .” (book VII). Romilly writes of Herodotus’ explanation of Greek success: “Early practical experience was turned into a discovery.” Virtuous citizens, informed by law, brought about the greatness of states and, moreover, the promise of stability and the possibility of staving off the decay and inevitable fall that states shared with all organisms. For states, as for individuals, there was then a realm of freedom, a realm of contingency where good cultural traits and sound constitutions potentially made a difference, perhaps assured the rise of states and their longevity. Thus culture and constitutions, and the relations between them, became a major theme of Herodotus’ study.

It is fair criticism of Herodotus that he never fully integrated his levels of explanation, ranging from the metahistorical to the motivations and actions of states and individuals, into a satisfactory whole. This may inevitably be true of “theological history.” Especially if, as David Grene has argued, “there are two worlds of meaning that are constantly in Herodotus’ head. The one is that of human calculation, reason, cleverness, passion, happiness. There one knows what is happening and, more or less, who is the agent of cause. The other is the will of the Gods, or fate, or the intervention of daimons . . . And this power’s relation to man is bound up with a maddening relation between man’s reason and understanding and such ‘signs’ as the Divine has allowed us to have of its future or past intervention.”

With Grene’s analysis, we return to an earlier theme. It is among the historian’s tasks to attempt to read these signs and to relate them to change over time. Yet, and this is the principal point of the lecture, Herodotus’ discovery that the great moral and religious themes that suffused his thinking could be linked intellectually to the patterns of human affairs and actions—to the processes of history—had, perhaps ironically, the effect of advancing the idea that human things could be explained in human terms and that tentative, if not ultimate, explanations could be offered about the way the world works.

At this juncture, Herodotus connects remarkably to a modern historical sensibility. Modern historians generally do not fall into the vocabulary of pride and fall, divine retribution and such. Yet a few, some of the best among them, continue to contemplate the great issue of historical necessity and contingency. Contingency is the historian’s natural field of play, but the idea that forces beyond direct human control and immediate understanding constrain human freedom and agency also informs at least one corner of the modern historical imagination. In this, at least, the modern historian may be far more comfortable with Herodotus—even with his outlandish tales—than with those sober founders of the modern profession who established the “science” of history.

I would like to conclude this lecture on the “invention” of history with a few summary remarks on Herodotus’ historical method. We have seen that there are some snares packed into the notion of Herodotus, Father of History, and the association of his fathering with the emergence of critical rationalism in a modernizing mode. While there is some truth in these generalizations, we shall badly misread Herodotus if we expect to find in him a fact-driven historian who understood history as a sequence of events linked in some linear fashion by cause and effect. Herodotus understood one big thing (yes, historians can be hedgehogs): There were great permanencies that governed universal history, and those permanent things appeared in human history in different times, places, and settings. To his credit, Herodotus thought it important to record and to explain those appearances, and thus he opened the realm of contingency—of human actions—to methodical study and to interpretation.  

His selection of facts, then, was not an impartial exercise, a gathering of data in the manner of a modern social scientist. And, to be sure, Herodotus viewed the world and its history through the categories of a Greek mind. But Herodotus did not believe that  history was just one damn thing after another. His history was driven by a worldview and by his theories and his understanding of the permanent things at play in the universe. He selected episodes to relate and accepted events as true that conformed to his ideas of the patterning and processes of history, episodes and events that confirmed the boundaries of the world he knew, but also illustrated the transgressions of those boundaries.  

As we think about the problem of reading this ancient historian, let’s conclude with an episode from book VIII, an episode that takes place well after the great victories over the Persians, victories won by the Athenian admiral, Themistocles:

The Greeks, since they decided against pursuing the barbarians’ ships further . . . beleaguered Andros with the purpose of taking it. For the Andrians, the first of the islanders to be asked for money by Themistocles, had refused him. Themistocles put his proposition in these words: “We Athenians have come with two great gods to aid us, Persuasion and Necessity, and so you should render up your money to us.” But the Andrians answered this by saying, “. . . we have a most plentiful poverty of land and two useless gods, who never quit our island but love to dwell in it . . . Penury and Helplessness. These are the gods we Andrians possess, and so we will give no money.” Such was the answer of the Andrians, and they gave no money and were now besieged . . . Themistocles, whose greed for money was insatiable, kept sending threatening messages to other islands . . .

What are we to make of this? Through an earlier conversation at the Persian court, we have learned that the Greeks were a particularly formidable enemy because of their institutions and law-bound culture. We have also learned that from the beginning of their known history the Athenians have been prone to rashness, error, and mistakes. At the height of the Greek, and particularly Athenian, fortunes after the defeat of Persia, we now observe the corruption and the excesses of some of the victors who undertake a brutal little imperialist shakedown of the Andrians and other islanders. We consider the dictum that good fortune breeds pride, excess, and then downfall. Perhaps, as we observe the rapacious barbarity of some of the Athenians, we even question the distinction between democracy and despotism, civilization and barbarism, between us and the other. We wonder if the Athenian political culture, based on self-governance and self-discipline under law, will hold in the face of Athenian success. In thinking like this, we have entered the mental world of Herodotus, the Father of History.”

These classic Hum lectures were selected by Peter Steinberger [political science 1977–]. For more in the series, see the March and June issues of Reed magazine.

FURTHER READING

Jacqueline De Romilly, The Rise and Fall of States According to Greek Authors (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991)

Charles W. Fornara, The Nature of History in Ancient Greece and Rome (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983)

Arnaldo Momigliano, The Classical Foundations of Modern Historiography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990)

Raymond Kierstead Herodotus and the Invention of History (Classic Lectures, Reed Magazine, September 2011, available on https://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/september2011/articles/features/classiclecture/classiclecture.html )

“Ray Kierstead, Richard F. Scholz Professor of History & Humanities, Emeritus, graduated from Bowdoin College and received his PhD in history from Northwestern University. In 1956, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to attend the University of Paris and there developed an interest in his principal scholarly field, early modern France. After some years of teaching at Yale University and the Catholic University of America, he joined the Reed faculty in 1978, retiring in 2000. During retirement he has continued to lecture in the humanities program.” (from the same source)

[divanquotes]

Salaberry, History of the Ottoman Empire v4, 1813

Page 8: The flagship vessel of the Ottomans lost nothing in the absence of the capitan-pahsa, with the brave Hassah in command. Before leaving Constantinople he had stated in the Divan that the fleet of his sublime emperor was half the size of his fleet; that it would be necessary, therefore, that each commander should attach himself hand-to-hand to a Russian vessel, if even he should be blown up along with him. Hassan was not long in providing an example of this precept.

Page 26: The entire Divan had opted for peace; the sultan tacitly outlined the conciliatory steps taken by the courts of Vienna and Berlin; but he omitted nothing for sustaining the war with honor. The seals of the Empire and the command of the army were given to Halis-Pacha, and entrusted to Schifar-Mahomet. Further reinforcements were sent to Babaday, on the Danube, a place indicated for the general rendezvous of all the Ottoman forces on this frontier. Forty thousand Bosnians and Albanians, mountaineers considered the best soldiers of the Empire, were assembled under the orders of the new Grand Vizier.

Page 75: Austria gained Bukowine, a Moldavian province, from this peace treaty, which she claimed as an encroachment on Transylvania. The Divan, which owe to the House of Austria the restitution of Moldavia, acceded to this cession, which added nothing to its shame and little to its losses. The peace of Kainardgy was made with the mediation of France, and the intervention of the count of Saint-Priest, its ambassador. But these negotiators could not spare the Ottomans from the affront of what appeared to them the most sensible, because it came to crown all the others. The Prince Requin, ambassador of Russia, made his public entry into Constantinople walking amidst six hundred men who crossed the capital with their weapons in their arms.

Page 76: At the time of the congresses of Focziani and Bucharest, the motives of religious fear concerning the dismemberment of the Crimea are developed on the side of the Ottomans; their political fears related to an equally imminent danger. The independence of the Tartars was only a first step in their meeting with the Russian Empire, and this first step had already removed from the Porte one of its strongest avenues, the support of a hundred thousand cavalry, armed and always ready to bear the first blows of their enemies, whose motions they observed in peace as well as in war; but the alarms of the Divan no longer stopped at the continent. The Russian fleets admired in the Black Sea, the capital of the sultans, was threatening with the first pretext of war, the first provocation or insult, aggression or famine.

Page 83: Thus the war between the Russians and the Ottomans continue, however, in a different form: it was for them and by them that the Tartars of Crimea did not stop fighting and slaughtering each other. The declaration of their independence forbade the two powers to meddle with their domestic quarrels; but neither the cabinet of Petersburg nor the Divan of Constantinople were idle spectators.

Page 85: However, it was in vain that the Empress skillfully followed the negotiations to assault: it was in vain that she employed her ministers at the Porte to learn what she should know about Khan and Saim, his protege. The Divan, indignant at the feeling of wounded pride and deceived good faith, seemed determined on war. France saved him from a fault that could have brought about a catastrophe.

Page 88: Thus Hassan, the captain-pasha, was charged by his master to patrol the coasts of Greece, and to instill some fear in the inhabitants, and make an example of punishment, in memory of their uprising. The Divan, which an exaggerated sense of his weakness had brought to cruelty, had adopted the fierce project of proscribing the Greeks en masse, and wanted to pronounce a decree of extermination against them. Hassan Pacha alone successfully opposed that, and thus saved a whole generation; but this moment of humaneness does not justify the memory of this atrocious rigor with which it fulfilled the mission of punishing the friends of the Russians, or those who were only suspected of having favored them.

Page 91: It was necessary that Saim, alarmed for his own safety, implore the help of the Russians, and voluntarily surrender himself to them. The money, the promises, the maneuvers of the avowed agents of Russia at the court of Crimea, armed adjacent the khan and his enemies within his own family. Two of his brothers, one of whom, called Batti-Guerai, was governor of the Cuban, tried to surprise him in the city of Caffa, and forced him to take refuge in Tagaurok. The Divan itself was not a stranger to these domestic troubles, which might not have favored him if it were felt that the Empress along was in a position to reap the benefits.

In fact, Prince Potemkin, was a new favorite whom Catherine had given as successor to the Orlofs. Potemkin, who governed his sovereign, and commanded his armies, without ceasing to be firstly his subject, Potemkin came in person to the aid of the Khan Saim-Guerai. Seventy thousand men were under his command on the border of Crimea. In his nam alone Batti-Guerai submitted. The Divan sent a pasha to seize the island of Taman; it was only a defensive measure. Sam, at the instigation of the Russians, called for the Pasha and his troops to retreat; the proud Ottoman, in reply, cut off the head of the Khan’s envoy.

Page 94: At the news of this invasion, the whole city of Constantinople was full of rumors; the tumultuous people demanded war; but the Divan felt more than ever the necessity of making, in these circumstances, a new shame, should it be attached to a new transaction. The Ottoman Empire was left to itself; the partition of Poland, the hope of new spoils, united the three courts of Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, thus securing for the one the neutrality of the two others.

Page 102: It was therefore difficult that in such a situation, with the resentment and yet confidence in their strength, that this would not lead the sultan and his ministers to false steps. They executed only with repugnance the convention of 1784: the Divan secretly supported the Leagues Tartars, who were in a continual war against Russia, who had become their neighbor. Potemkin ordered the Russian Minister, M. de Bulgakoff, to insist imperatively on the strict observance of the most recent treaty.

Page 130: In this expectant politics, this power affected a complete security; he kept his armed fleet in his ports, maintained the relations of benevolence customary for the Divan, closed his eyes even upon the entrance of a Moslem fleet into the Adriatic Sea, into that sea of which Venice claimed that the possession of Corfu, of Zante and Cephaline, giving him the exclusive empire.

Page 135: Near the mouth of the Danube, the Russians marched from conquest to conquest. Bender had opened his doors to Prince Potemkin; Suwaroff had entered Coutoukai; Kamenski had burned the city of Galacz to ashes; Akerman, Palanka, Katchibey surrendered; Ismail alone still held, and Suwaroff’s army approached to besiege it. The grand vizier wanted pace, the frightened Divan asked for it. England and Prussia were preparing to take up arms.

Page 145: Selim, more invisible than ver, his heart filled with anger and humiliation, sought a victim to sacrifice, and thought that he would find that in old Hassan, for whom he would open only a brilliant tomb. Tat old warrior, whose entire military career had been marked almost every year by all of the elements involved in feats of fabulous weapons, having atoned for the unintended crime of not having defeated or arrested an enemy who had become invincible; not to have compensated, in spite of his prodigies of valor, for a lack of discipline of the army under his command, to the confusion about the numbers, and finally to the absolute denial of food, ammunition and reinforcements, while his enemies in the Divan suspected him of treacherous and guilty intentions. The order of death, which only shortened his illustrious and long career by a few months, only gave the Ottoman army more discouragement, and more audacity to its conquerors.]

Page 267: He calls his son the Divan-Effendis, or secretary of embassy. That is why the king sent him a very fine horse with a bridge trimmed with gold and precious stones, on the occasion of his public entry into Paris.]

[stopcancerportugal]

Dieta e inflamação: influência na mortalidade por cancro

A inflamação é uma resposta do organismo a agressões nos tecidos ou provocada por agentes inflamatórios, podendo ser aguda ou crónica. A primeira representa um importante passo para a recuperação dos tecidos, enquanto a segunda tem sido associada ao risco e à progressão de alguns tipos de cancro.

Inflamação e dieta

A dieta pode ter um papel determinante na inflamação, pela sua importância como fator modelador. Alguns componentes alimentares parecem influenciar a inflamação e a mortalidade em casos de cancro colo-retal, do pâncreas, do esófago, do endométrio, hepatocelular e da próstata, modificando as respostas inflamatórias e os resultados na saúde. Assim, foi desenvolvido o conceito de Índice Inflamatório da Dieta (DII) para avaliar o potencial de determinados hábitos alimentares em provocar inflamação, variando do máximo anti-inflamatório ao máximo pró-inflamatório.

Num estudo de coorte prospetivo com 12366 participantes, o consumo de uma dieta indutora de inflamação esteve associada ao aumento de risco de mortes por cancro e, especificamente, por cancros digestivos. Verificou-se que aqueles que consumiam uma dieta mais pró-inflamatória eram 46% mais propensos a morrer de cancro, aumentando para 110% no caso especifico dos cancros do trato digestivo.

Componentes da dieta no controlo da inflamação

Existem vários fatores dietéticos que têm diferentes efeitos na inflamação. Por exemplo, o consumo de carne vermelha parece aumentá-la e os vegetais de folhas verdes parecem reduzi-la. No estudo anteriormente citado, o consumo de carne vermelha não esteve associado a um DII elevado mas sim ao nível mais baixo de potencial inflamatório da dieta. Segundo os autores, esta observação pode ser justificada pelo facto de, os consumidores de carne vermelha incluídos no estudo terem ingerido quantidades suficientes de outros alimentos que contribuíram significamentemente para o efeito anti-inflamatório da dieta.

Os estudos realizados sobre a relação entre alimentação e mortalidade têm mostrado uma associação inversa entre a ingestão de parâmetros alimentares anti-inflamatórios, como o selénio e o magnésio, e a mortalidade. De um modo muito genérico, a alimentação deve apresentar um valor calórico capaz de manter um peso adequado, devendo ser moderada em gordura, baixa em açúcares simples, gorduras trans e saturada e rica em frutas, hortaliças e alimentos integrais. Todavia, é importante ter em conta a influência específica de diferentes elementos dietéticos nos níveis de marcadores inflamatórios (ex: proteína C-reativa, interleucina-6 e fator de necrose tumoral -α).

Um dos possíveis mecanismos para justificar a relação entre uma dieta pró-inflamatória e a mortalidade pode envolver o efeito deste tipo de alimentação na resistência à ação da insulina, por aumento da inflamação sistémica. O consumo de carne vermelha e manteiga, por exemplo, tem mostrado aumentar a inflamação sistémica, por aumento de proteína C-reativa, selectina E e molécula de adesão celular vascular-1, as quais são responsáveis pelo aumento da resistência à insulina. Esta insulino-resistência está associada a cancros digestivos, podendo resultar na progressão da doença e, se não controlados, na morte.

Em conclusão

Os doentes oncológicos que fazem uma alimentação pró-inflamatória parecem ter um risco aumentado de morte, comparativamente aos doentes que optam por uma alimentação anti-inflamatória. Deste modo, parece ser útil introduzir o cálculo do DII como ferramenta de intervenção nutricional na prevenção e tratamento do cancro, com perspetivas de controlo da inflamação.

Referências: Cavicchia et al.. A New Dietary Inflammatory Index Predicts Interval Changes in Serum High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein. J. Nutr. 2009; doi: 10.3945/jn.109.114025. Shivappa N et al.. Designing and developing a literature-derived, population-based dietary inflammatory index. Public Health Nutr. 2014 Aug;17(8):1689-96. Shivappa N et al.. Inflammatory potential of diet and all‑cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III Study. Eur J Nutr. 2017;56:683–692. Keibel A et al.. Inflammation, microenvironment, and the immune system in cancer progression. Curr Pharm Des. 2009; 15(17):1949–1955. Pan MH et al.. Modulation of inflammatory genes by natural dietary bioactive compounds. J Agric Food Chem. 2009; 57(11):4467–4477. Terzic J et al.. Inflammation and colon cancer. Gastroenterology. 2010; 138(6):2101–2114. de Mello VD et al.. A diet high in fatty fish, bilberries and wholegrain products improves markers of endothelial function and inflammation in individuals with impaired glucose metabolism in a randomised controlled trial: the Sysdimet study. Diabetologia. 2011; 54(11):2755–2767. Khoo J et al..  Comparing effects of a low-energy diet and a high-protein low-fat diet on sexual and endothelial function, urinary tract symptoms, and inflammation in obese diabetic men. J Sex Med. 2011; 8(10):2868–2875. Luciano M et al.. Depressive symptoms and diet: their effects on prospective inflammation levels in the elderly. Brain Behav Immun. 2012; 26(5):717–720. Nikiteas NI et al.. Serum IL-6, TNFalpha and CRP levels in Greek colorectal cancer patients: prognostic implications. World J Gastroenterol. 2005; 11(11):1639–1643. Bruce WR et al.. Mechanisms linking diet and colorectal cancer: the possible role of insulin resistance. Nutr Cancer. 2000; 37(1):19–26. Festa A et al.. Chronic subclinical inflammation as part of the insulin resistance syndrome: the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS). Circulation. 2000; 102(1):42–47. Fontes de imagens: http://ift.tt/2DlwqwX; http://ift.tt/2CccoFY  

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[swipestream]

October 2017 Fantasy New Release Round-Up

A peregrine sailor returns to his home port of Venice in search of a famed emerald.

On an Earth permanently hidden from ours by the sun, a young agent travels to the fabled city of Samaris in search for his missing colleagues.

A Swedish mercenary must smuggle a holy relic out of Constantinople before the Fourth Crusade sacks the heart of the Byzantine Empire.

In the heyday of pulp, a police officer dons the one-way glass globe and black cape of the Moon Man, stealing back fortunes taken by criminals beyond the reach of the law.

These adventures and more await in this month’s Fantasy and Adventure New Release Roundup.

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A Place Called Hope (Z-Day #2) – Daniel Humphreys

The survivors built a community and called it Hope. After eight years, they allowed themselves to think that the zombie scourge was ending; the hordes fading away in the face of time.

But the enemy they thought extinct was evolving – growing faster, stronger, and more cunning. The timely return of the much-depleted 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, US Marine Corps helped turn the tide of one battle. The prospect of renewed war against a different type of enemy will require sterner stuff and serious firepower.

Now, they must go far beyond the overgrown wastes they call the wild in a desperate attempt to recover vital military equipment that will determine whether the future of mankind is one for the living – or for the dead.

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Adventure Capital (Delvers LLC #3) – Blaise Corvin

By working together, Henry Sato and Jason Booth have managed to survive their unwanted trip to Ludus, an experiment planet. However, Delvers LLC has made some enemies…if monsters, bandits, mages, criminals, bounty hunters, and even dark cults can be called, “some enemies.”

After their latest battle, the two have been separated and must adapt or die. Henry in particular faces a trial by fire—perhaps literally—that may be impossible for him to overcome.

The two American men will face their greatest challenges yet while working as conscripted Berber Intelligence agents. But even while outnumbered, and most likely outgunned, the former veteran EMT and resilient IT programmer will be armed with modern Earth know-how.

Unknown horrors are descending on Ludus, but Delvers LLC won’t go down without a fight.

  Blood Circus (Junkyard Druid Novellas #2) – M. D. Massey

Best-selling urban fantasy author M. D. Massey welcomes readers back to the world of the Junkyard Druid in a brand-new short story collection!  This 38,000 word volume features characters from the Colin McCool series, starring in three separate novelette-length stories:

Carnival of Blood: When Colin investigates the disappearance of a young teen at a carnival infested with creepy clowns, he discovers that not all clowns are friendly… and some can be downright deadly.

Serpent’s Daughter: As someone who hunts and kills paranormal creatures for a living, Belladonna Becerra isn’t easily intimidated. But when it comes to standing up to the ancient fae witch who rules her family with an iron fist, she has her reservations. Can Belladonna complete a task for the Anjana that will ensure her freedom… and her future with Colin?

The Vigil: Hemi always said his mother was a force of nature. As Colin discovers on meeting her, his best friend is a master of understatement. Now, the Maori warrior’s mother has assigned the druid a unique task… one that could cost him his life.

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Fable of Venice (Corto Maltese #6) – Hugo Pratt

In this affectionate tribute to his home town, Hugo Pratt offers a complex mystery thriller involving Freemasons, occultists, and esotericists set during the rise of Fascism in 1921. Corto Maltese’s return to Venice is ostensibly a search for an emerald known as the Clavicle of Solomon, but by the end he is left questioning whether the object of his quest will open the hidden doors of magic and unravel the nature of time and space in this city of secrets…or if it’s merely “the stuff that dreams are made of,” as was the black bird of Dashiell Hammett’s novel featuring another Maltese.

Series winner of the Harvey Award for Best American Edition of Foreign Material.

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Halls of Shadow (Kingdoms of Sand #5) – Daniel Arenson

The world reels from a shocking assassination. The Aelarian Empire is cracking. From the ashes of a burnt world, warlords, barbarians, and rebels emerge to claim the remains.

Outside the walls of Aelar, different factions converge. Tribal warriors prepare to shatter the gates. Valentina, a senator’s daughter, seeks to enter the city and rebuild the Republic. Prince Seneca, the last scion of a mighty house, battles his rivals to the throne and strives to hold the Empire together. Meanwhile, within the walls, dark magic and conspiracies brew.

In the distant desert, the kingdom of Zohar crumbles. The Empire musters to grind Zohar’s cities into dust. Epher, King of Zohar, and his sister Maya, a powerful magic-user, fight desperately to defeat the Empire’s legions. Yet their greatest enemy might be the mysterious, shadowy figure that roams their ancient land.

In smoldering battlefields, crows feast and humans squabble for the last shreds of power. Yet can the splendor of past glory ever shine again, or will the final victors rule from halls of shadow?

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Helen’s Daimones (Dyscrasia Fiction #2) – S. E. Lindberg

Helen’s Daimones – the gateway novella for Dyscrasia Fiction. Helen and Sharon are orphans haunted by supernatural diseases, insects, and storms. They are your tour guides in this entry-way novella into Dyscrasia Fiction which explores the choices humans and their gods make as a disease corrupts their souls, shared blood and creative energies. In Helen’s Daimones, guardian angels are among the demons chasing the girls. When all appear grotesquely inhuman, which ones should they trust to save them?

Dyscrasia Fiction explores the choices humans and their gods make as a disease corrupts their souls, shared blood and creative energies. Historically, dyscrasia referred to any imbalance of the four medicinal humors professed by the ancient Greeks to sustain life (phlegm, blood, black and yellow bile). Artisans, anatomists, and chemists of the Renaissance expressed shared interest in the humors; accordingly, the scope of humorism evolved to include aspects of the four alchemical elements (water, air, earth and fire) and psychological temperaments (phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholic and choleric). In short, the humors are mystical media of color, energy, and emotion; Dyscrasia Fiction presents them as spiritual muses for artisans, sources of magical power, and contagions of a deadly disease.

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Kingdom Come (Price of Power #1) – Blake Biscotti

When an unlikely mix of races joins together to create a thriving civilization, the nations of southern Herridon find that the peace they had known for over a hundred years is suddenly in jeopardy. For some, the thralls of war might create opportunity, but for others it could lead to a precipitous fall from power. The winds of change are passing through the lands giving way to heroic acts of valor and honor, but also to plots of deceit and destruction.

The three cities by the South Sea are in the middle of the fray, which leads a bold Captain, Victus Antonel, to take matters into his own hands. He raises an army with the intentions of eradicating the threat posed by the upstart nation. With the help of an unscrupulous ally, the Captain and the cities are immersed into the chaos of war and the enemy may not be quite what, or who, it had seemed to be.

Life for all who reside in southern Herridon will be forever changed; however whether it will be for better or for worse hangs in the balance.

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Over Our Heads (Valens Legacy #3) – Jan Stryvant

Sean’s still up to his neck in trouble, but at least he’s finally found an example of his father’s work, along with all of his notes. Now all Sean has to do is figure out not only how to reproduce his father’s greatest achievement, but to solve the one problem his father wasn’t able to. Holed up in a cold war era bomb shelter, all Sean wants to do now is keep his head down and his family safe, while he untangles this latest problem.

Like it or not however, Sean has set events in motion that will change the future for all of the mages and supernatural beings involved, should he prove successful. While many may welcome these changes and the freedom it will bring them, some of the more powerful councils will most definitely not.

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Samaris (The Obscure Cities #1) – Benoit Peeters and Francois Schuiten

Against the urging of his friends and his lover, Franz, a young officer in the Xhystos government, is sent on a mission to the remote and elusive city of Samaris to investigate the disappearance of several of his colleagues.

After weeks of travel, Franz reaches Samaris, to find a practically deserted city of enveloping and deceptive architecture. He is immediately bewitched by a mysterious young woman, drawing the suspicion of the other residents. Can Franz escape the impending doom of this sprawling metropolis?

The first in the Obscure Cities series, The Great Walls of Samaris was originally published in Europe in 1983 and in the US in 1987 by NBM. The story has been slightly altered to include characters who appear later in the canon, and reveal Peeters’ Kafkaesque storytelling prowess. Schuiten’s art in this edition has been reworked to be much truer to the originally intended color palette, and includes 32 additional pages of early Obscure Cities stories, comprising the Mysteries of Pâhry, never before published in English.

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Skysworn (Cradle #4) – Will Wight

With his duel fast approaching, Lindon is locked away in prison.

As a Blackflame, he is too dangerous to remain free. The Skysworn, protectors of the Empire, have imprisoned him to keep him under control until the day of his promised fight arrives.

When it does, he will face Jai Long.

But a new danger approaches the Empire, closer every day. Only the Skysworn stand between the people of the land and total annihilation.

And Lindon may be forced to join them.

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The Complete Adventures of the Moon Man: Volume 6, 1935-1936 – Frederick C. Davis

From 1933–37 pulpsmith extraordinaire Frederick C. Davis chronicled the adventures of the classic pulp hero the Moon Man in the pages of Ten Detective Aces. One of the most unique and compelling characters in the history of the genre, the Moon Man was the Robin Hood of the pulps: He stole from those who profited from the misery of the Depression to help those in need, to balance the scales of justice.

And justice was close to the Moon Man’s heart. For the Moon Man was actually police detective Stephen Thatcher—a dedicated law officer all too familiar with the cracks in the system criminals used to avoid retribution. Donning a black robe and a globe of Argus glass, Thatcher became the Moon Man, a thief who stole from criminals the law could not touch.

Now the Moon Man is hunted by his best friend and partner, reviled by his father and fiancé who all want to see the masked thief pay the ultimate price for his crimes. Stephen Thatcher must walk the razor’s edge of his double life where, every minute, the threat of exposure could shatter his fragile world.

Volume 6 collects the next four stories from this series: “Homicide Dividends,” “Robe of Blood,” “The Whispering Death” and “Corpse’s Plunder.” And it includes an all-new introduction by Moon Man expert Andrew Salmon.

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The Slayer – James Alderdice 

Warships of the Fourth Crusade surround Constantinople threatening murder, rapine and worse.

The only option left the impotent Emperor to avoid the sacking of the great city, is to secretly give away a sacred relic.

Enter Tyr, a red-handed Swedish mercenary and Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Templar poet, together charged with retrieving the holy artifact and escaping the city.

What they don’t know is that arcane forces, old as myth, are marshalled against their mission. The old gods of multiple nations war with the New.

And Ragnarok is coming to Greece.

Plus three more short sword and sorcery tales of Tyr: “Dogs of War”, “Hel Awaits”, and “Sailing to Valhalla”.

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Wrath of the Dragon Czar (Aegis of Merlin #5) – James E. Wisher

A bodyguard… really?

Sentinel city is quickly recovering from the events of the month earlier. Conryu Koda, the world’s only male wizard, and, many would say, savior of the city, is enjoying the last few days of his summer vacation. His enjoyment comes to a screeching halt when he gets a call from Orin Kane, the chief of the city’s Department of Magic.

Conryu arrives at the Department and is introduced to the stunning Anya Kazakov. She has information the Department wants and he’s the price. Conryu agrees to protect her, not realizing what he’s getting into.

Wrath of the Dragon Czar is a world spanning adventure that’ll take Conryu from the relative safety of the academy to the middle of a war between monsters on the other side of the planet.

October 2017 Fantasy New Release Round-Up published first on http://ift.tt/2zdiasi

[pagan-witch-yo]

Louisiana edition: Correspondences

Iris 🌳Water, venus, purification, wisdom, femininity. Used for cleansing, purification, and they symbolize wisdom, faith, and valor.

Aster 🌳Venus, femininity, water, love. Placed on Greek altars, used in love magic, carry to win love, and grow to wish for love.

Primrose 🌳Venus, femininity, earth, love, protection, significant to Freya. Blue and red primrose attract faeries and protect the garden from trouble and adversity, can represent sadness, or can be carried to attract love.

Foxglove 🌳Femininity, protection, venus, water. Grow for protection, but never ingest because it’s poisonous!

Agave 🌳 Lust, fire, masculinity, mars. Used in lust potions.

Sunflower 🌳Fire, sun, masculinity, health, wishes, wisdom, fertility. Used to protect women trying to get pregnant, making wishes, to protect from illness, grants luck to those who cultivate it, and also brings them luck.

Carrot 🌳Masculinity, fertility, mars, fire, lust. 

Witchhazel 🌳Masculinity, fire, sun, chastity, protection. Use to protect against evil, carry to mend a broken heart. 

Agrimony 🌳Masculinity, air, sleep, Jupiter, protection. Use for protection magic, to banish all negativity and negative entities, and to reverse hexes.

St. Johns Wort 🌳Masculinity, fire, sun, protection, health, strength, divination, bliss, love. Be careful with this if you’re on birth control! This plant is literally the reason I was born lol. Wear to ward off fevers and colds, attracts love, gather on midsummer or a Friday to keep mental illness away, place in a jar near a window to protect against lightning, burn to banish spirits and demons.

Mistletoe 🌳Masculinity, sun, air, exorcism, protection, fertility, health, love. Used to protect children from fairies and for protection of a wide variety of thing, carried to heal a wound and aid in conception or in hunting, also used to gain immortality, sleep, to stay in love forever, and to banish evil.

Fern 🌳Air, mercury, masculinity, protection, rain-making, fortune, luck, health, exorcism, youth. Put in floral arrangments for protection, plant at the door for protection or keep inside the home, wear or carry to guide yourself to treasure, burn the dried herb to rid yourself of evil spirits, burn outside to call rain or get rid of snakes and noisy creatures.

Mullein 🌳Saturn, femininity, fire, protection, courage, health, love, divination, exorcism. Wear to keep away wild animals, keep yourself from getting sick, and obtain courage, sleep on it to protect yourself from nightmares, and hang to protect against evil spirits. 

Tobacco 🌳Fire, healing, mars, masculinity, purification. Some smoke in order to converse with spirits, use the plant as a substitute for sulfur and nightshade, use as an offering for water spirits for protection or cleansing. 

Skullcap 🌳Femininity, water, Saturn, faithfulness, peace, love. Use in relaxation and peace spells, some say if a woman wears scullcap her husband won’t be charmed by another woman. 

Germanium 🌳Water, venus, femininity, fertility, love, health, protection. They protect the places where they’re grown.

Bergamot 🌳Air, clarity, femininity. Can bring clarity and order to situations.

Hyssop 🌳Masculinity, fire, Jupiter, protection, cleansing. It’s used in bath magic as a purification agent and hung in the home to get rid of evil and negativity.

Vervain 🌳Femininity, earth, venus, protection, love, purification, peace, money, sleep, healing. Gather at mid-summer on a time where neither the sun or moon are present in the sky, use in love and protection magic when invoking spirits, sprinkle around to chase off evil, place in the home to protect from lightning and storms, use as an aid in peacemaking, bathe in it to purify yourself.

Mallow 🌳 Femininity, moon, protection, exorcism, water, love. Carry to attract love, place in a vase in the window if you’ve lost your love in order to maybe attract them back, make into a salve to cast out evil from your body.

Yucca 🌳Masculinity, fire, mars, transformation, protection, purification. Some say if you jump through a hoop of yucca fibers or wear one on your head you can take on the form of whatever you desire, used to cast evil out of the home.

Rose 🌳Feminity, water, venus, psychic powers, love, healing, love divination, protection. Used in love magic, drink to induce prophetic dreams, used in healing magic, used in fast-luck magic, use for protection.

Jasmine 🌳Moon, water, femininity, love, money, prophetic dreams. Used in love magic to attract spiritual love, carry or burn to attract money, smell to induce sleep, and burn to induce prophetic dreams. 

Horehound 🌳Protection, mental powers, healing, air, masculinity, mercury. Drink to strengthen mental powers, put into a sachet for protection, and burn as an offering to Ho

Lily 🌳Femininity, Moon, water, breaking love spells, protection. Plant around the home to keep away unwanted visitors and to protect against all evil, carry a lily to break a love spell.

Goldenrod 🌳Femininity, venus, money, divination, air. Use in love divination, the flower is said to drift in the direction of a lost object when held, and its good to use in money spells.

Ivy 🌳Water, Saturn, femininity, protection, healing. Brides wear it for luck, women carry it for luck, grow to protect against disaster and negativity, use in love and faithfulness magic. 

Ragweed 🌳Courage, chew to drive away fear.

Daisy 🌳Feminity, water, venus, love, lust. Sleep with its root under your pillow to attract an absent lover, wear to bring love.

Violet 🌳Venus, femininity, luck, love, peace, wishes, lust, healing, protection, water. Carry flowers to protect yourself and to bring on fortune and wealth, wear to induce sleep, mix with lavender for a strong stimulant and arousing blend.

Grass 🌳Protection, psychic powers. Tie knots in the grass around the house to protect it, carry for psychic powers, mark wishes on stones with grass then bury the stone or throw it into running water, hang to dispel evil.

Hydrangea 🌳Burn, carry or scatter to break a hex or curse.

Bee Balm 🌳 Healing, femininity, moon, water, success, love. Used in love magic, healing magic, and success magic.

Dandelion  🌳 Divination, masculinity, air, calling spirits, Jupiter, wishes. Used in longevity magic and to make a tea that promotes psychic powers and calls spirits.

Pecan 🌳 Money, air, mercury, employment, masculinity. Shell and eat pecans while imagining yourself enjoying your work in order to keep your job and keep the shells in a very hidden place, use in success and money spells.

Hickory 🌳 Best used in legal magic.

Walnut 🌳Fire, sun, mental powers, infertility, masculinity, wishes. Carry to strengthen the heart, known to attract lightning, if given a bag of walnuts your wishes will come true, carry in a hat to prevent headaches.

Magnolia 🌳Feminity, venus, fidelity, earth. Keep near or beneath the bed to maintain faithfulness in a relationship.

Hemlock 🌳 Femininity, Saturn, water. Very poisonous. Used to purify tools, induce astral projection, and destroy someone’s sex drive.

Cedar 🌳Sun, masculinity, fire, money, purification, protection, healing. Use the smoke to purify a space and to cure bad dreams, hang to protect against lightning, use, in love magic, place near home to protect against evil, burn to induce psychic powers.

Willow 🌳Femininity, the moon, love, protection, divination, healing, water. Carry to attract love, make a wand out of it for moon magic, use all parts for healing magic or protection, or make a broom out of it!

Mimosa 🌳Saturn, water, feminity, love, protection, purification, prophetic dreams. Scatter around a space to purify it, place mimosa under your pillow and sleep on it to have prophetic dreams, use in love and healing magic, and bathe on it to get rid of hexes and protect against future problems. 

Mesquite 🌳Healing, moon, water, femininity. Use as fuel for a magic fire or as incense for healing.

Dogwood 🌳Protection, wishes. Place a drop of sap on a handkerchief on midsummer and carry it faithfully in order to have a wish granted, and place in protective amulets.

Elm 🌳Love, Saturn, water, feminity. Use to protect against lightning strikes and carry to attract love.

Pine 🌳Purification, banishing negative energy, defense magic, protection, clarity of mind, spirit communication, healing, growth, inspiration, confidence when carried, good for legal matters. Burn to awaken its properties.

Cypress 🌳Earth, Saturn, feminity, healing, longevity, comfort, protection. Eases the mind and aids grief if carried at funerals, best used in times of crisis, use to invoke gods, grow near home to protect it, burn for healing, and use in immortality magic.

Oak 🌳Divination, prosperity, strength, victory, healing, masculinity, fire, the sun, protection, fertility. Use in protection magic and to protect against evil. Carry to protect yourself against harm. This tree has been revered in magic for a very long time.

Holly 🌳Fire, protection, anti-lightning, dream magic, luck, masculinity, mars. One of the best protective herbs out there, throw at wild animals to get rid of them, put beneath your pillow to make your dreams come true, hang for good luck around yule or carry to promote good luck.