snakehedd

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Art by prolific German illustrator Alfred Kelsner best known for his many Perry Rhodan book covers

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demobaza aw21

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The Psychic Terrain of the Land of Stars

An interstellar human civilzation with a history as long and rich as ours. They are as far from the colonization of Alpha Centauri as we are from the construction of the Pyramids.

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Steve R Dodd 'Days Gone By' (2024)

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It used to be that Lenovo had a pretty distinct division between their (often mediocre) consumer-grade laptops and their (much better) enterprise grade ones-- for a few years, a good rule was "only buy the TXXX thinkpads". Is there any such clear distinction for their product line in 2024?

Yes, it's that you're looking for ThinkPads in the TXX line specifically. You don't want an IdeaPad, you don't want a ThinkBook, you don't want a ThinkPad E14, you want a ThinkPad T16/T14. That's the pro/business line. (I'm using an IdeaPad and it's great, but my next laptop is going to be a ThinkPad).

[snakehedd]

Milena Hararat, repairing the Azi Dahaka's Plasma-Core Antimatter-Fusion engine:

"Look, man, I do this kind of work a liiiitle bit better if I am on drugs, okay~? Don't you want me to do this job better?"

[snakehedd]

Thulsa Doom - Headcanons

A list of my Personal Headcanons for Thulsa Doom from 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, drawing from both the movie itself and the novelisation.

Thulsa Doom is one of the last (assuming he isn’t the last) of the ancient race of Serpent-Men, who once reigned as the dominant species prior to being superseded by Man. And as such, his snake-head is his Real Face, with the human one being his disguise

[Source]

Because of this, his Mountain of Power is one of the very few places where he can safely drop his disguise, those who reside or visit there usually being in the Know (and sworn to secrecy) or too Drugged Up to be capable of noticing

That said, while having good control over this aspect of himself, it can slip with extreme emotion - ecstatic bliss and rage being the obvious candidates

While regularly hosting orgies and feasts, Thulsa Doom rarely, if ever, participates himself, preferring to observe, while dining and partaking in more pleasurable pursuits in Private

Incidentally, regardless of what form or dress he’s in, and how much he’ll consume in one sitting (which can be truly immense/insane) Thulsa Doom is a very tidy, meticulous eater. Adhering to a strict order of courses and an emphasis placed on presentation. Look up “Eat like a King” and you’ll get an idea as to what his culinary habits as being like

Thulsa Doom’s Key Goal, over all else, is Power. Power over people, economies, trade, everything, but especially the first. And is willing to attain it by any means he can

This in turn is why he sought to make Princess Yasimina his wife. Her father, Osric the Usurper (who is like Conan in many ways) is the King of Zamora, a kingdom that has grown rich with the Trade Routes that run through it. By making Yasimina his wife, he would become King of Zamora himself with the (arranged) death of Osric by way of his marriage to her, thus controlling the most important Trade Routes, through which he can further spread his influence

To add further to this, the bulk of the Wealth held by the Cult of Set (and by extension, himself) came from his followers. When they joined the Cult, they took from them their possessions and holdings, officially a sign of them giving of themselves to the Cult of Set, but chiefly so Thulsa Doom could keep his own Coffers full. Income from the aforementioned Trade Routes being an additional benefit of securing Zamora

Which explains why he ceased his activities as a marauding warlord. When he came to realise that Steel, while incredibly strong and durable, meant nothing without a Hand to wield it, and that he could control the minds of the weak-willed, he saw a means of attaining what he sought with not only greater ease, but at far less risk to himself

Being what he is (a Serpent-Man) he has little-to-no regard for his followers, only really seeing them in terms of their usefulness (or lack of in certain cases) to himself, since he truly does see himself as being their Superior. In addition, this is also why he values his pet Snakes more than his human followers, feeling a far closer affinity towards them, and is why he grieved so much when the one in the Shadizar Tower was slain by Conan and Subotai

And naturally, once someone or something stops being useful to him, he is often swift to discard it

Thanks for sending this in! I love reading about him….and watching him, and thinking about him…..yeah I would definitely join the snake cult if I had the chance.

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I do a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, and I have fairly regularly used the conceit that various cultures draw from various real-world historical cultures and languages.

There is a species in D&D called "dragonborn". I decided that Sumerian would be a reasonable source for this species (especially given some of the lore associated with this group as having had a major empire in the deep past), e.g. I use names from the Sumerian king list for dragonborn characters. (Dragonborn are humanoids who were created by or descended long ago from real dragons.)

But "dragonborn" is incredibly bland and generic and of course would not reflect their own name for themselves. So I found a Sumerian vocabulary list (transliterated not cuneiform), and found "ushu, ushud" for dragon, and a word for "slave", or "servant" or something like that, which seemed to be interpretable as "lower class born", with a -tud element in the last place. I was way out on a limb here, but I combined the two to make "ushutud", which is at least a lot more interesting than "dragonborn".

So the question is: What would you suggest for a Sumerian noun that has similar meanings and connotations as "dragonborn"?

Thanks!

Hello! I'm not sure what wordlist you're using but it's slightly off - the word I know for "dragon" is ushum or ushumgal ("great ushum"). (Ushu means "caterpillar" or "sunset, eveningtime" depending how it's written, and ushud would mean something like "prayer pasture").

Tud is a verb meaning "to be born" (along with other meanings), and it is used at the end of a few words meaning "born as..." - for example, an amaatud (or emedu) was a slave born (tud) to an enslaved mother (ama), in contrast to someone enslaved at a later point; while an urtud was a type of domestic slave or indentured servant, perhaps one who was born in debt (ur) and would work until the debt was paid off. I could see it being used for "born of...", but my first thought on seeing ushumtud would be that it's a "person enslaved due to having a dragon for a parent".

Instead, the more neutral (and frequently-used) way I'd express this uses dumu, the word for "child" or "descendant", as the root noun. My translation would be dumu-ushuma or dumu-ushumgala "descendant of dragon(s)".

Or a worldbuilding thought - dumu-ushumgala could work as the neutral-to-positive general term ("dragonborn"), while ushumtud can coexist as a derogatory term ("dragonspawn"?) Thanks for your question, and let me know if that works for you!

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Robert Stromberg - Star Trek, Emissary, 1993-1999.

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Abrar Khan Xeno Queen

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FYWH Tag Masterpost Part 1

Wait a friggen second, I can just make a rebloggable version of my tags list and call it a masterpost. I'm a genius. Don't ask how many cups of coffee I'm on.

General

Writing Advice

Writing Tips

Story Process

Genre Writing

Literary Writing

Research

Publishing

Grammar

Words / Language 

Sentence Structure

Style

Titles

Synopsis

Show Not Tell

Writing Mistakes

Tropes

Writing Tools

Symbolism

Young Writers

Beginning Writers

Writing Jobs

Format/Genre

Fiction

Short Stories

Screenplays 

Poetry

Lyrics

Fanfiction

Roleplay

Personal Writing

Memoir

Romance / Kissing / Sex

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Steampunk

Dystopia / Dystopian Fiction

Horror

Flash Fiction

Essays

Humor

Journalism

POV

Perspective

POV

1st Person 

3rd Person

Pronouns

Narrative

Voice

Tense

Tense 

Present Tense

Description

Description

Emotion

Body Language

Hair

Facial Hair

Postures

Clothing

Fashion

Fighting 

Smoking

Time

Characters / Character Aspects

Characters

Diversity In Writing

Names / Naming Characters / Naming Places

Realistic Characters

Manipulative Characters

Traits

Characterization

Children

Teenagers

Inhuman Characters / Alien Characters

Flat Characters

Heroes

Antiheroes

Relationships

Supporting Characters

Mental Disorders

Disability

Muteness

Abuse

Depression

Robots

Amnesia

Pirates / Piracy

Insomnia

Bullying

Gender

Stay tuned for Part 2.

[snakehedd]

FYWH Tag Masterpost Part 2

Second half of the tag post!

Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding

Magic

Magic Schools

Spells

Maps

Government

Culture

Design

Drugs

Demons

Supernatural

Guns / Weapons

Mental Hospitals

Illness

College / School / School Systems

Death / Murder

Disasters

Swords / Swordfighting

Detective / Crime Scenes / Crime

Kidnapping / Abduction

Mystical Creatures

Technology

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Alcohol / Coffee

Royalty 

Resources

References

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Middle Ages

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Reading

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Music / Music Recs / Background Noise

Blog Recs

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Plotting

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Beginnings

Middle

First Lines

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Rewriting

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Rewriting

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Special Events

NaNoWriMo

Plot A Month