#and somewhere around 200 for the war...

[corvidmagicae]

You know, Bri lived through not only the Black Death, but also witnessed the Hundred Year's War. And those were within only her first few centuries alive....

[owlgoddess24]

so, ultrakill's violence layer is unbelievably cool. like, i was not prepared for any level of it. but on top of obscenely awesome gameplay and setpieces, it also delivers some REALLY juicy lore, especially about the war that we've been hearing about for so long.

and it's just occurred to me that one figure of time given in a lore entry has revealed so much more context surrounding it than i could ever dream of.

in a terminal entry that i won't be specific about to avoid spoilers, it's stated that the war lasted roughly 200 years. this would be useless if we didn't know when the war ended...

but we do.

in the opening of the game, we see this.

i've always assumed this was the current date, but i only now realize that it's not. it's the last time V1's firmware got an update, which would have to be during the war, since the V1 project was scrapped when it ended. and since we know V1 was made around the end of the war, we can assume the war ended around 2112. 200 years earlier would be somewhere around the 1910s.

all of this makes it extremely likely that this isn't just some fictional war. it's World War 1. this is a world where WW2 never happened, because WW1 never ended. it kept going and going and building and getting more and more horrific until eventually literally becoming the war to end all wars.

this also recontextualizes machines being fueled by blood, as its now clear that the invention of the machines happened in the middle of the war, and its likely that battle was their sole purpose. it always seemed weird to me before, but i had always assumed that machines existed before the war broke out. if their goal has always been to kill, it seems reasonable that the killing should be able to fuel them. only makes it more horrific, though.

[tacobacoyeet]

More dilf Patrick!! Pls!!!🤭🤭🤭

i am sorry it took me so long to get to this. i have been thinking So Much. there is smut MDNI!!!!! also i did not proof this at all i was quite literally just yapping

-----

hear me out: he’s wearing those old ass shorts. you know the ones. frayed at the bottom, loose at the thigh, hanging low enough to hint at the curve of his hipbone. and they have a hole. somewhere vaguely obscene. and he will not throw them out. “they’ve got history,” he says. yeah. so does the roman empire. let it die.

he also has a mug that says "best dad" in comic sans and he drinks his coffee black out of it like it’s some kind of war ration?? always finishes the last two bites of your food. carries cheez-its and specifically the tangy great value fruit smiles in his hoodie pocket and forgets they’re there until bedtime.

and then there’s the dad stuff that just—does something to you. the way he crouches to tie tiny shoes and mutters “double knot for safety” with his brows furrowed like a surgeon. the way he lifts the kid one-armed onto his hip and groans like he just deadlifted 200 pounds. the way he kisses their head and says “you good, champ?” and then walks around the grocery store like that for twenty minutes. like it’s nothing. like he wasn’t once a world-class athlete. now he’s just a dad with a half-eaten granola bar in his back pocket and spit-up on his collar.

and you shouldn’t want him more now. but you do. so badly it’s stupid.

he gets the mail barefoot in the rain. does bath time with a towel wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. makes grilled cheeses with the baby strapped to his chest and sings off-key lullabies to a beat that doesn’t exist. he reads bedtime stories in a funny voice even when he’s tired. insists on brushing their teeth "together as a team" even though it takes ten fucking years. he's always been a fan of overcomplicating things... LOL.

you catch him folding onesies in the laundry room—folding, not shoving into drawers—and you’re gone. you back into the dryer and he raises an eyebrow like “babe?” and you’re like “babe.” and then the dryer’s on and the baby monitor is quiet and he’s fucking you up against the clean whites because he’s still got it. he never lost it.

and then later he’s limping slightly, rubbing his back, saying “think i pulled something” while putting aquaphor on the baby’s butt and you’re just sitting there stunned. who is this man?????

also: sunday morning sex when the kids are at art and tashi's. slow and lazy and filthy. he lets you ride him for so long it’s almost mean. your bellies touch. your chests touch. everything is touching. and he moans like you’re doing something unspeakable just by loving him like this. just by wanting him now. like this. after all these years. after the weight and the hair and the way his back cracks when he bends to pick up a sock. you still want him. and it undoes him.

he’s yours. he’s always been yours. and now there are tiny humans sleeping in the next room with his eyes and your smile and he still looks at you like he can’t believe it.

this next section about you bring pregnant. i must admit i had to take a Break because my thoughts were a little crazy!!!! but we are up. anyway: he doesn’t just like the changes. he’s obsessed with them. stretch marks? he traces them like constellations. swelling? he kneels between your legs and kisses every inch. softness? he talks about it like it’s a fucking miracle.

you complain about feeling huge and he goes “good.” not teasing—genuinely pleased. “means you’re growing our kid. means your body’s doing its job. means you’re mine.”

sex while pregnant? his favorite. the extra sensitivity. the way your body cradles his. the need. he takes his time. checks in. holds your belly like it’s part of the rhythm. mutters things that make no sense and still make you cry. "so beautiful. fuck. how are you real?"

and after? postpartum?

when you feel like a stranger to yourself—sore and squishy and leaking and tired—he’s there. nosing at your neck while you pump. holding your hips while you cry over clothes that don’t fit. carrying you to bed when you fall asleep mid-feed.

he’s careful, but not scared. when you’re ready, he touches you like he never stopped wanting you. like the body you’re grieving is still his favorite thing in the world. maybe more so now.

he kisses your belly with so much love and admiration. groans about how soft you feel. his hands don’t leave your skin. his voice drops to a whisper. “all mine. all this—mine.”

and when you flinch or get shy? when you mutter “i don’t feel sexy” he freezes. stares at you like you’ve just insulted god. and then he fucks a correction into you because he will Never ever accept you not thinking you aren't beautiful. we already know patrick feels things deeply!!! he's crazy about you!!!

he doesn’t need you to bounce back. he needs you to stay. to let him memorize every version of you. to believe him when he says he’s never wanted anyone more.

and you start to believe it. a little. when he looks at you like that. but then he makes some fuckass comment about how his bones aren't equipped for that kind of strain anymore and you just roll your eyes and move on. small victories

[electricneonbat]

Marceline timeline (based on my observations and various canon and semi-canon sources)

Birth is approximately 1985-2005.

It's not the most accurate birthday, because the mushroom war is left up to the viewer's imagination. I think it's safe to assume that the mushroom war was the cold war, but I think there's some solid evidence for it being in response to America attacking the middle east in the 90s, and possibly even being the aftermath of 9/11. There is also the possibility of it being the product a war that never happened in the real world. I think it's fair to say that America is the reason for the war, but not the Lich bomb, because that bomb hit the west coast of America. Either way, the Lich bomb was a retaliation to something. I'm not going to spend time speculating as to what.

Age 0-5: there is a war in the background of her early childhood. The world ends when the Lich bomb is dropped. She spends a very short amount of time traveling the wasteland with her mother before Elise dies.

Age 5: bunker

Age 6-15: surviving with Simon

Age 15-20(?): vampire slayer, protecting humanity

Age 18-20ish: bitten

Age 20-120: hibernation (based on information from Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook)

Age 120-180: hard to say, probably hanging out with Keila and Bongo ***Princess Bubblegum is born somewhere in here

Age 180ish: meets Princess Bubblegum, pre-kingdom

Age 200-700ish: hanging out with Bubblegum, helping build the Candy Kingdom, making music

Age 700-1000: breakup era, one can generally assume this is the "lost track of my moral code" thing happened, probably spent a lot of time in the Nightosphere, based on her saying the ghosts from "Heat Signature" were in her gang from the underworld. There are a few semi-canon sources that suggest she was doing some old fashioned pirate stuff at the time, but that's harder to pin down.

700 is around the correct age because of a deleted storyboard from Obsidian where Princess Bubblegum says that they were in the Glass Kingdom "300 years ago"

Age 1000+: misses Bubblegum too much and returns to Ooo, kick-starting a bunch of people going insane over their relationship

[aha-chuu]

Deeply confused by how old these xianzhou people are? Like okay take the yaoqing trio: deeply unclear how old they are.

So Jiaoqiu was some kinda age back during the war thirty years ago. Since he was no longer a student and rather burnt out with being a military healer... Maybe the foxian equivalent of his 30s? Lets say low 200s.

I could be wrong, but I think that it was in this war that Jiaoqiu met Feixiao. She was the lieutenant of the former general, and we see her in the flashback. She looks rather young and Jiaoqiu refers to her as a youth in his character stories. Knowing how young Yanqing and Yunli are, age certainly doesn't stop people from becoming high ranking cloud knights. Due to this, I imagine she was the foxian equivalent of a teenager.

So new issue: how do foxians age? Is it that their life span is simply stretched out over a few hundred years? In this scenario, a foxian would remain a baby for like ten years. It could also be that as foxians get older their aging slows down - so their infancy matches that of a human, but their adolescence takes longer, then their adulthood even longer. This is supported by the fact that Yukong is rather old by foxian standards but still looks 40 ish at most.

Anyway back to the Feixiao issue. She was a foxian teenager thirty years ago. Tingyun (fake Tingyun) said she was about 100 and she's pretty early twenties coded, so presumably as a teen Feixiao was somewhere around 70 in human years.

Okay cool so that was all thirty years ago, that would out Jiaoqiu at 230 and Feixiao at 100 now. Except then... How old is Moze??

At some point in the last thirty years, Feixiao rescued him from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. When this happened he was still pretty young, let's say a teenager. Moze seems to be a Xianzhou native (he would have died in the sanctus medicus experiments if not) so then we get the new and exciting question of how Xianzhou natives age!!

This is evidently different from how foxians age. Apart from the very strange case of General Huaiyan, Xianzhou natives simply don't get elderly in terms of physical appearance. It seems that they age totally normally until they hit their "peak", then stop. So when Moze was a teenager he was probably actually a teenager.

If I presume (which really is what all this post is) that Feixiao took a little while to get into her swing of things as a general, she probably didn't meet Moze until at most twenty years ago.

So age update:

Jiaoqiu ~ 230 (equivalent late 30s)

Feixiao ~ 100 (equivalent early 20s)

Moze ~ 35 (physically early 20s)

But doesn't all that seem wrong? Doesn't Feixiao seem older, especially with how she talks to Yukong? Like yeah this is guesswork, but the options here are limited. Guesswork is all we've got.

Anyway I'm curious what other people think.

[annievrse]

boyfriend!eren headcanons pt. 5 .*･｡ﾟ

—ᡣ𐭩 headcanons a/n: u guys love him, so i will provide more...... c/w: zeke is a father (his kid is named oliver), use of y/n once part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

children LOVE bf!eren and he treats them like they're his friends instead of actual kids

bf!eren 'hangs out' with his nephew instead of babysitting him. he talks to oliver about the basketball game on tv like he's his best mate..... asking for his opinion, if he wants a beer, about his doctor's visit yesterday, 'hey y/n, can i give him some pizza?'..... when ollie is literally 4 months old

bf!eren wears nba jerseys or oversized graphic tees with sweat shorts...... that's just his style. i really can't see him in anything other than sweatpants, a hoodie, and his bigass dunks when he goes out.... sorry to all the fashion girlies 😔

BUT, if it's somewhere important (team dinner, awards night, a wedding, a ball perhaps etc), then he does wear a suit & dress shoes (all black). he's not THAT laidback ok

bf!eren surprises you with your favourite dessert every friday night (not really a surprise atp, but it's the thought that counts <333)

wherever you sit, bf!eren has his arm over the back of the chair/couch you're on

bf!eren LOVES sci-fi movies from the 70s & 80s, hence the back to the future DVDs (part 4), the star wars funko pops (leia, darth vader, chewie, luke) he has around his room, and the framed dune poster in his living room

bf!eren listens to rap music, mostly kendrick, travis, eminem, baby keem, chief keef, yeat... i could go on forever. BUT he also loves 80s rock (eg his bon jovi vinyl (part 4), inxs CDs, and many more), and 90s & 00s club music

you keep extra snacks in your backpack for bf!eren because he gets hungry in class AFKJSAFJ

bf!eren flirts with you 24/7, and pretends to flirt with you as a stranger in public sometimes because he is SILLY

you both have an obsession with taking photos of each other (but find it annoying when the other does it) (e.g. on a picnic, you've got your phone out, ready to take a picture of bf!eren absolutely destroy his sandwich, but when he sees you, he tilts his head and sighs, covering his face with one hand and his other holds the sandwich to his mouth) (e.g. 2. you're reading on the couch, bf!eren is sat across from you, your legs on top of his. and because eren never turns his phone ringer off, you hear him take a photo of you. you groan instantly and cover your face with the book, whining his name. he just giggles and adds it to his folder of photos of you)

bf!eren throws grapes at you when you ignore him (lovingly)

bf!eren buys your favourite album on vinyl so he can keep it at his house

bf!eren likes being the little spoon but will be the big spoon if you don't want to <3

bf!eren plays with your fingers when watching tv/movies because he can't sit still to save his life

bf!eren is a golden retriever boyfriend, but he can be such an asshole!!

in part 2 i mentioned he can be so condescending and petty in an argument, and that's because he doesn't know how to express his emotions in a healthy way (but he's working on it with you!!)

in basketball games against certain colleges, bf!eren gets so fired up and aggressive and lippy. he talks so much shit on the court (he's known for it), and isn't afraid to take shit either (which pisses off the other team, and the whole cycle starts again)

but, it's a bonus for you when he gets off the court because he's looking extra hot..... and he knows it...... asshole

bf!eren is such a gossip too, like he hears ONE thing from jean in passing, and suddenly everyone in the group has heard about it... but everybody already knows not to tell bf!eren anything they don't want anyone else to know (the group still makes jokes about how poor jean got scammed by a fake protein powder website (he lost $200 HA.... sorry))

lmao bf!eren's such a little shit <3

[felinefractious]

Warning: This post will contain mention of animal death, animal injury and burns. If you wish to donate without further information here is the link.

If you at all follow the animal rescue community online you may have already heard about this tragedy, I have even seen articles out of the UK and India about what happened - the international rescue communityis shaken by the enormity of this loss.

At around 7:15am EST yesterday afire occured at the sanctuary in Medford, New York on Long Island. It ultimately claimed the life of the owner and sources estimate at least 100 feline residents, leaving a potential ~200 more cats in need of aid.

This is local to me.

The clinic I work at is not one of the primary veterinarians that served the sanctuary, but some of our clients are volunteers there and would bring some of the cats to us… we have patients who we don’t know yet what happened to.

This is a link to the official fundraiser for the care of the surviving cats. 🔗

If you live on Long Island or the surrounding area there is a desperate need for fosters so the rescued cats have somewhere to go. I have seen The North Fork Country Kids and Strong Island Animal Rescue League put out a call for fosters.

Both of these organizations are accepting donations directly in addition to the main GFM.

Make a Donation to North Fork Country Kids

Make a Donation to Strong Island Animal Rescue League

There is also a seperate GFM for a cat named Crystal who was rescued from the fire and is being treated at an emergency and specialty hospital, the fundraiser was made by an employee of the hospital who is fostering her.

A link to this post will be added to my pinned and I’ll update this post as information becomes available.

I do not intend to turn reblogs on for the post, I don’t want to deal with comments… I’m just talking to my followers. Thank you for understanding.

04/01 Update [Link 🔗]

A warehouse has been secured in Holbrook, NY to work out of as a makeshift sanctuary to temporarily house the cats as they are vetted and fosters as sought. Paws of War is assisting with their mobile veterinary clinic, they don’t appear to be requesting donations for the situation at this time.

04/09 Update

04/04 The fire was not deemed suspicious and arson isn’t being suspected, a definite cause hasn’t been identified. [Link 🔗]

04/05 57 cats were removed from the property, 5 cases were in critical condition and severely burned. [Link 🔗]

04/06 Cat Wrangler Rescue formally joined the trapping efforts. [Link 🔗]

04/06 148 cats and received FeLV/FIV testing, vaccinations, flea/tick treatment, deworming and microchipping from 50+ volunteer veterinary staff. [Link 🔗]

04/08 Rescue agencies were finally permitted access to the home, an additional 54 deceased cats were recovered on top of the original 100 reported. [Link 🔗] [Link 🔗]

04/08 One of the cats rescued by NFCK dubbed “Tuxie” passed away [Link 🔗]

04/08 Wipeout is a cat from the sanctuary rescued by NFCK and is doing well. [Link 🔗]

04/09 Crystal passed away. [Link 🔗]

04/09 Another injured cat from the sanctuary was found by a neighbor. [Link 🔗]

04/09 Moonshine/Salem and French Fry continue to do well, French Fry begins laser treatment for his paws. [Link 🔗] [Link 🔗]

04/09 Sir Arthur is an FIV+ cat from the sanctuary rescued by NFCK and is doing well. [Link 🔗]

04/09 AnimalKind has a FeLV+ survivor rescued from the sanctuary that is available for adoption. [Link 🔗]

04/10 Update

Cat Wrangler Rescue trapped 14 sanctuary survivors. [Link 🔗]

20 cats were brought into the temporary location, an estimated 20 remain at the burned down sanctuary needing to be trapped. [Link 🔗]

Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons took 8 sanctuary survivors. [Link 🔗]

Bideawee took 8 sanctuary survivors. [Link 🔗]

Little Shelter also took some sanctuary survivors. [Link 🔗]

North Shore Animal League took 20 sanctuary survivors to be housed at their “Bianca’s Furry Friends Feline Adoption Center.” [Link 🔗]

Southhampton Animal Shelter Foundation has also taken some sanctuary survivors. [Link 🔗]

04/13 Update

04/12 One of the burn survivors passed away. [Link 🔗]

04/12 Moonshine/Salem and Salty French Fry continue to recover. [Link 🔗]

04/13 Last Chance Animal Rescue took 12 samctuary survivors. [Link 🔗]

04/13 The Patricia H Ladew Foundation took 4 sanctuary survivors. [Link 🔗]

04/17 Update [Link 🔗]

The North Fork Animal Welfare League took 14 survivors.

04/22 Update

46 cats were brought into the temporary location, an estimated 10 remain at the burned down sanctuary needing to be trapped. 1 cat is being treated for FIP. [Link 🔗]

Paws of War and Strong Island caught another injured survivor in a neighbors yard after receiving a report. [Link 🔗]

The badly burned cat caught by Strong Island on 4/09, named “Mittens,” continues to receive veterinary care and may need part of his tail amputated. [Link 🔗]

04/24 Update

04/23 A sanctuary cat named “Dusty” has been adopted out through North Fork Country Kids to a loving pet home. [Link 🔗]

04/23 There are currently 310 cats in the sanctuary database with more waiting to be added. [Link 🔗]

04/24 4 of the cats North Fork Animal Welfare League took have been introduced to one of their cat rooms. [Link 🔗]

04/24 The cat famously rescued from a tree stump in a neighbors yard, now named “Shelley,” is in the care of AWAP and looking better through her long road to recovery. [Link 🔗]

04/24 A cat with burned paws is doing welll in AWAP’s care, named “Sebastian.” [Link 🔗]

04/25 Update

French Fry is moving from the hospital into his foster home. [Link 🔗]

Moonshine was able to leave 24-hours critical care, a tremendous landmark even though he still has a long recovery ahead of him. [Link 🔗]

Final Hope Animal Rescue took in 4 sanctuary survivors that are FeLV+ [Link 🔗]

05/05 Update [Link 🔗]

TNR Taskforce is fundraising to purchase an airconditioner for Final Hope Animal Rescue to benefit the FeLV+ cats they took in.

[captain039]

PART 4 Predator grounds (Cooper Howard)

Alpha!Cooper Howard (pre-war)x omega!reader

Warnings: AOB dynamics, vault tech things, forced heats/ruts, eventual smut, age gap, angst? Experiments, needles, drugs, talks of pregnancy, first times, anxiety attacks, anxiety, forced claiming

Previous part <-

I really struggle to write smut and use the right words. I hate the word ‘pussy’ and the word ‘cunt’ seems so inappropriate but other words just sound stupid xD

But honestly I feel like this is the best smut I’ve written in a while lmaoo

Also! Someone asked to be tagged I think I’m sorry if I forgot about you😭

You’re at a loss in feelings. His lips on yours, tongue dancing around yours, arms securely around your waist, hard cock pressing into your clothed centre. His scent drove you wild, his natural alpha smell mixed with rut felt like an addicting drug. His hips move to grind against you as he tries to bring you closer but you’re already so close.

“I’m not fucking you on this damn floor” he growls his accent coming through thick as his arms tighten and he lifts you. You yelp in surprise arms going around his neck in surprise that he can lift you off the floor. Being frozen for 200 years hasn’t done anything to your weight, and he’s older than you. Cooper doesn’t seem to care as he carries you to the bed lays you down before instantly kissing you again. He’s just as needy as you are, pressing right back into your body, forcing your legs open so he can lie between them. You can hear soft growls in the back of his throat as he grips your vault suit and tugs down the zip.

“Fuck these damn suits” he grits as he lifts his body up. He’s got a haze in his eyes, carnal lust and need as he tugs your vault suit off your shoulders and shimmies it over your hips and down your legs. You’re left in a white singlet and black boy leg underwear. His eyes stare, going up your legs and over the top tight material. He unzips his own suit but doesn’t take it off as his hands reach for your underwear. Despite your heat hazed mind you take a small shuddery breath, you’ve never been with a man before, your toys only satisfied you for fun time. He freezes eyes looking to yours instantly worried he must’ve smelt your anxiety.

“I’m sorry” he says leaning down to cover you again and pressing a small kiss to your lips.

“No, no, I-“ you gulp a bit hands resting on his chest as he gives you his attention his head tilting to the side slightly.

“I’ve never been with a man or alpha” you manage to get out and he stares for a moment as the words process.

“I can make you feel good if you want me too without taking you” he mutters and you jolt a little hands gripping his own white singlet. You stare at him in confusion, you need this, you need him to fuck you now or you will breakdown again.

“Words sweetheart” he whispers.

“I need you to knot me” you say wondering where the confidence came to say such a thing to this alphas face.

“Fuck” is all he says as he kisses you again with full force.

“Let me taste you” he whispers kissing down your jaw and neck and all you can do is nod. He shuffles down your body holding your waist band again and tugging it down. You flush with embarrassment, biting the inside of your cheek as you look away. You haven’t shaved anywhere, for 200 years even but he just groans. The noise makes you squirm a little as he tossed your underwear somewhere behind him before he runs his hands up your legs and kisses your hips. He grips your thighs tightly as he runs his nose over your hip, over your mound and to the other hip. He nudges your legs open more, putting one over his shoulder as his breath fans over your centre. He presses kisses over your inner thighs, your folds and mound before his tongue presses against your heat. It makes your back arch and gasp as he licks slowly, up and down gathering the slick seeping out your hole. He’s slow and torturous, low moans leaving his mouth as he eats you out like you haven’t been receiving three main meals a day. His hands tighten more against the flesh of your thighs trying to tug you closer against his face as he sucks and licks. He flicks his tongue across your clit every now and then making your body jolt in pleasure before he slides down to your entrance and prods his tongue against it. You were already so wet, your body already getting prepared for your alpha the moment you woke up. You feel him move his arm specifically and then there’s fingers joining his tongue and you moan loudly. The noise makes you silent quickly and you can feel him smirk against your centre. His mouth focuses on your clit sucking and rubbing his tongue against the sensitive bundle while his fingers move through your folds gathering your slick. You can’t help the noises that escape, the harsh breaths leaving you quickly as your stomach clenches and unclenches. You feel his finger rimming your entrance before he slides it in. God it feels so different from your own or your toys, his mouth and finger together making your legs shake. He slowly moves his finger in and out, curling it sometimes and brushing against your walls. You feel a second one by his first and tense.

“Relax, omega” his voice rumbles and you let go of the breath you were holding as he slides a second finger in. Your back arch’s and you breathe brokenly as he moves two fingers inside you and keeps his tongue against your clit. He thrusts his fingers in and out before spreading them apart gently going further every time, stretching you out. It stings a little, but with his mouth on you, you can hardly focus on the sting. He makes motions with his fingers, curling them, spreading them and you clench your thighs.

“Cooper” you moan out and he quickens his pace slightly, pressing harder with his tongue and then you’re coming walls fluttering around his fingers. You let out a small broken cry as your chest heaves and body shakes. He slows his rhythm, lets his fingers slip before his mouth laps at the slick leaking from your entrance. You jolt with each tongue press and grip his hair silently begging him to stop. Christ that was the best orgasm you’ve ever had. He lifts his head his and licks his fingers clean before wiping his mouth on the back of his suit. He stands as he tugs off his vault suit, his white singlet and pushes down his black tight boxers. You’re still catching your breath but keep your eyes on him as he crawls back over your body.

“Can you sit up?” He whispers softly grabbing your own singlet and you nod. You lift yourself up as he pulls off your shirt quickly. Your breasts are confined in a sports bra which he slides off to after the shirt. You lay back down on the pillow seeing his eyes roam over your chest. You feel yourself flush again, you’re not used to having an alphas eyes so intense for you. He leans close to you again and you can smell yourself all over him and a feeling of pride swells in your chest before he kisses you softly. You expect a gross taste of yourself but don’t and relax into the kiss as he moves your thighs wider. He gives you one last look his hand lazily stroking his cock before he lines himself up with your entrance. You nod and you feel his tip before he presses inside you. You gasp and grip his arms at the sting and stretch, much more different than his fingers. He’s hushing you quickly, soft praises leaving his lips in between kisses he presses over your face.

“Such a good omega for me” he whispers and you whine in response. You want him to move but you’re still adjusting, letting out small shaken breaths before you nod and tilt your hips. He lets out a small growl and you relax your hips again as he slowly moves out then back in and repeats. It’s a slow pace he sets, letting you get adjusted, feeling him slide against your slicked walls easily.

“Fuck” he breaths against your neck, mouthing over your claiming bite that makes you shudder in response. Your eyes have fluttered closed as you bask in the feeling of him inside you and close, your scents intertwined.

“Faster” you mutter hearing a soft chuckle leave him before he snaps his hips quicker. You moan body going like jelly as he pants in your neck. He quickens again chasing the feeling that’s building inside. He grabs your hips and angles himself, head lifting up to watch your face as he thrusts back in harshly. You scrunch your face in pleasure and slight pain as he continues the rough angle. You can feel him swell at the base of his cock, see his eyes darken in need to knot you. He’s keeping his eyes on you, watching your face, memorising it as his knot swells. It feels like too much and your hips can’t away but he forces you back closer leaning down to your ear.

“You can take it” he mutters nipping along your neck as you stretch around his knot his fingers going to rub against your clit. His hips stutter till he stills and his knot is locked inside you. You feel warmth fill you as he comes, he continues moving his fingers and you come around his knot with a soft moan and a small bite on the neck from him over your already there mating bite. You both pant as he mutters soft praises again the hand on your hip gently massaging the flesh he squeezed tightly. You cry softly against him as he hushed you, his other hand gently massaging your scalp as he lifts his head. You don’t know why you’re crying, but he wipes away your tears and presses soft kisses against your cheeks, nose and lips.

“You’re not gonna like it, but we need to roll over” he says and you make a small over exaggerated sob. He chuckles softly pressing one last kiss to your lips before he rolls you both. You whimper at him tugging against your entrance as he hushed you and finally stills as you lay on top of him. It’s more comfortable like this though, you can hear his heart beating quickly in his chest, his warmth pressed against you, his scent in each breath. His arms rest relaxed, one of his hands on your head still massaging your scalp the other running up and down your back lazily. Your eyes are already closed, body warn out and heat blissfully satisfied for now.

“Do you need a blanket?” He asks quietly and you shake your head feeling warm enough, a light layer of sweat covering your body.

“M, need sleep” you slur and he lets out a chuckle, making your body vibrate with him.

“Get some rest sweetheart” he says.

[theyapper0]

PART THREE OF "FINALE"

He whipped his head around, eyes darting around the battlefield to find-!

Charlie was whizzing around, moving so fast it was hard to even see anything but a white blur or hear nothing but the manic laughter over the screams and cries of fallen soldiers. 

She seemed to be their best bet on surviving long enough to go head to head with Adam.

And it seemed there was only one way to get her attention. 

It needed to be big. It needed to be grand. It needed to be DISASTROUS! 

And Pretentious is nothing if not a showman. 

Pretentious still kisses Cherri in that passionate fit of boldness that could only be mustered up when faced with the knowledge that one will never get the chance to again. He KNEW this stunt was going to kill him, he KNOWS that. 

But he was doing despite it, he knew he had to. 

Pretentious and his egg goons load up into his war blimp.

As he readied the machine, countless things flashed through his mind. He understood these were his final moments, his final moments as alive as he could be in Hell. He lived a good enough life when he was alive and he certainly lived something in his time in damnation. 

He stared down at his prosthetic hands, he created them within the first few years of arriving in He- within the first few years after dying. He needed to, his new form gave him a forked tongue and no limbs save for a long, slithering body, he needed to make something in order to survive here. 

Pretentious spent years at the bottom, it was a never-ending blast to his ego but he did enough to keep himself alive.

Pretentious was glad the Vee’s had threatened him into staying at the hotel. It was far from glamorous and he had lost count on all the bed bug bites he's gotten in this time but he was glad he got to spend a year here. 

At first, he wasn’t so sure the people at the hotel were as sick and crazy as everyone seemed to think, but after living in such quarters with them this time, he realized it was true. 

But it was a good thing. Who else could have enough gall to go against Heaven?

Pretentious was a coward, a weak coward but… He wanted to be strong. He wanted to be strong enough to help his… friends. 

After this, he wouldn’t be able to ever again because he’ll be…

200 years was a long time in the underworld anyway. 

He supposed he’s lived long enough. 

Sir Pretentious’ war blimp roars with vigor as he pushes it to its limits in ways he’s never done before! His hands, hands that used to not be his own, hands that he had crafted himself, shook with fear and dread but those feelings were overwhelmed with an intensity, with power! With pride! WITH CONFIDENCE! 

He wasn’t going to run away! He was going to help! He was going to fight! HE WAS GOING TO-!!

BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretentious’ blimp crashes into Adam in a fiery explosion. 

The huge detonation rumbled and shook the ground, sending fire, ash and chunks of pavements to be uprooted and spewed from the accident. 

The damages were astronomical! The hotel was in ruins, their HOME was in ruins. There was nothing but fire, and screaming and blood, so, so much blood. 

Sinners and angels were fleeing the danger zone as fast as they could, the battle will continue, just not there! 

Pretentious couldn’t have survived, no one could. He was-

The fulmination managed to snap Charlie out of her murderous haze long enough to gaze upon the blaze.

What..? What happened over there? Where was-

“PRETENTIOUS!!!” She heard Angel bellowed out from somewhere. Or maybe it was Husk? Where was Alastor? Was Vaggie alright?

What had happened to Pretentious?

Charlie stayed standing tall amongst the rushing battlefield, her head cranked towards the blaze of fire that just kept on growing.

Adam walked out of the fire with not a scratch on him.

Then Charlie realized what happened.

She howled out at the top of her lungs, her voice rumbling in her chest and scraping against her throat, “ADAM!!!!”

Charlie's body cracked and shifted and contorted into something unlike her usual form, into something demonic and unnatural and so TRUE to her reason of creation-

She sped through the uneven ground leaped over rubble and stepped on ANYBODY IN HER WAY. SHE WAS FRANTIC, CHARGING ON HER HANDS AND FEET LIKE A WILD ANIMAL, LIKE A DEMON!! 

ADAM WAS HER’S! SHE WAS GOING TO KILL HIM! SHE WILL KILL HIM AND THEN EVERY SINGLE ANGEL WHO EVER THOUGHT THEY WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEAT HER! 

The apathetic brawl between Vaggie and Lute continued on in spite of the explosion. 

Neither cared about the blaze, it didn’t matter if it was hot or if the heat of the fire burned so brightly that it made their eyes water. NOTHING mattered except defeating the other.  

It was what they needed to do! This was THEIR battle and NO ONE was going to stop them.

Lute was a monster, Vaggie thought! She was an idiot for thinking Heaven was right! And Vaggie, Vaggie was no fool, she knew the TRUTH! Heaven was nothing but the hand that struck Hell, that struck SINNERS! A sword with a finely sharpened tip, a sword just like Lute’s!

Lute stood for everything that was Heaven! In the 3 years since that fateful Extermination, everytime Vaggie thought of Heaven, she could only see Lute’s face. It bubbled a deep, disgusting ANGER within her. Heaven was WRONG and VILE.

Lute: Heaven was your home, you were sworn to protect it, how could you throw it all away!?

Vaggie: Throw it all away?! YOU were the one who left me here to DIE! 

Lute: You had a job to do and you failed, it left me with no choice. You were the one who disobeyed direct orders 

They continue fighting. 

NO! Lute spoke the truth but it was wrong. It shouldn’t have been an order from Heaven! What are they doing, what were they THINKING?! To kill humans- mortal souls just because they’re Sinners, it’s WRONG!

The two bash their weapons against each other, Lute tried to slash down at Vaggie while Vaggie blocking the move with the arm of her spear. They grunted as they pushed against the other’s strength

Vaggie: What’s WRONG with you, Lute!? Open your eyes!! These Sinners, they’re humans just like the Winners up in Heaven! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?!

Lute: It doesn’t! These SINNERS made their choice once they sinned to land here in this DISGUSTING place

Vaggie loses her strength for a moment and Lute takes the opportunity to inch her face closer to her’s, “And you’re just as repulsive if you actually care about any of them”

Lute tears Vaggie’s eyepatch off her face! “I should have just killed you that day.”

Vaggie leaps back! She’s clutching the left side of her face, covering her left eye.

“You…” Vaggie begins, feeling vulnerable and naked, her face flushed, “YOU SHOULD'VE! WHY DIDN’T YOU!? I WAS BETTER OFF DEAD! I AM BETTER OFF DEAD! DIDN’T YOU WANT TO KILL ME THEN? DON’T YOU WANT TO KILL ME NOW!?” 

Lute stared at her for a moment, almost like she was caught off guard by the outburst, she said nothing. 

Lute charged forward in attack

Vaggie charged as well.

Charlie stampeded towards Adam, who only just barely managed to brace himself for the impact. He caught her by the horns but the sheer force she transmitted hurtling towards him made him dig his feet into the ground, pushing him back several hundred feet.

In the back of Charlie’s mind, the small part of her that was rational, the part of her that she was not using at the moment, she would have said something about how she was tired of Heaven believing they could walk over Hell. How the Sinners Hell, despite being in damnation, should not be the victim of Heaven’s wrath for all eternity, especially if they are undeserving of such. 

But Charlie had thrown all caution to the wind, she didn’t CARE. The thrill of maiming, of slicing through person after person like it was NOTHING, of feeling the hot blood splatter on her skin, her face, in her MOUTH, she MISSED this feeling. It was wrong, so so so so wrong but she couldn’t stop herself, she didn’t WANT to stop herself. And it needed to be done, they were fighting Heaven, this needed to happen. She could always stop tomorrow. 

She could control herself.

Adam and Charlie were going head to head, toe to toe, their attacks happening faster than the naked eye could process, all that was seen were the flying off limbs moving so fast that they were nothing but quick blurs darting around the battlefield.

Adam: Charlotte! You’re really going to risk your life for these Sinners!? You can't win this!

Charlie: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M CAPABLE OF! 

Charlie: ONCE YOU’RE DEAD, I’M GOING TO FINISH KILLING THE REST OF THE ANGELS THAT I HAVEN’T GOTTEN TO YET!!!!!

How DARE Adam believe she wasn’t strong enough to defeat him?! HE HAS NO IDEA OF HER POWER! OF HER STRENGTH, OF HER SKILL! SHE’LL KILL HIM TO MAKE HIM UNDERSTAND!

Both Adama and Charlie have thrown all their principles to the wind. To Adam, there was no more reasoning with Hell, he has seen what Sinners are capable of. He knows they’re capable of  great bad but… he also has seen them be capable of empathy and being good. 

But that didn’t matter, the Morningstars were nothing but a CURSE on the afterlife! Lucifer had ruined his life and his heir was on her way to do the same, he WON’T let that happen! EVEN IF HE MUST KILL HER! 

And Charlie, this no longer was about fighting for Sinners. This was merely about FIGHTING. It was the selfish, despicable desire inside her that she was finally giving into, a desire to HURT that she hasn’t fed in 10 years, ever since she promised herself she would never harm anyone again…

It felt GOOD to let go, to give in and not fight against every cell in her being! AND SHE WAS GOING TO MAKE SURE TO KEEP THIS FEELING FOR AS LONG AS SHE COULD! FUCK IT!!!

Neither of them were going to accept defeat, accept compromise, accept EACH OTHER, they were both too blinded by their own past.

Charlie and Adam were done with the pleasantries.

Adam: I've tried for MONTHS to reason with you! I thought you were different from Lucifer, I thought MAYBE- just MAYBE that we could come to some sort of agreement because I BELIEVED in you! 

Adam: I wanted all this fighting to end just as much as you did! 

They continue fighting as Adam shouts, “But I've realized something! You don't care about this cause! You only care about the chaos that erupts from it! BECAUSE YOUR NATURE IS JUST LIKE THAT OF THE DEVIL! YOU CRAVE THE GLEE YOU GET FROM SEEING HEAVEN IN RUINS!

Charlie growled, “You pretentious FUCK! YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE EXTERMINATIONS!? 

Charlie: I’VE HAD TO GIVE INTO WAR FOR WHAT?! FOR HEAVEN TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!? I’M FUCKING TIRED, ADAM! 

Adam: We could kill each other now and it wouldn’t change a thing! There will still be overpopulation in Hell because of humanity’s sin!

Charlie ROARED with all her might, supersonic waves erupted from her jaws! 

Adam shields himself from the force that she exerted, it threatened to rupture his eardrums but it did nothing to dissuade him because Charlotte had the power of shapeshifting, she had the power to sprout horns from the top of her head, to make her teeth sharper than anything he's ever seen before, to make her hands into claws just like Lucifer. 

And Charlotte also had the power of turning her voice into a weapon.

JUST LIKE LI-

Adam: AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THE MORNINGSTAR!

He was blaming HER for all this.

Charlie saw red.

Vaggie and Lute were still fighting, ignorant to the rest of the brutal slaughter happening all around them.

Lute: Look at you! PITIFUL AND SINFUL to care for such scum! To fight against Heaven- I should strike you down now, you’re wasting my time!

Vaggie: THEN DO IT! DO IT BEFORE I KILL YOU FIRST!

Their attacks have been growing noticeably sloppier with each passing second, with every word that they spit at each other that holds no true weight.

Why hasn’t this fight ended yet? Vaggie and Lute, despite being matched in just about every aspect, surely one of them should have come out on top by now? Why hasn’t it..?

Why are they still fighting? Why didn’t the other just DIE already? Or lose, or ANYTHING!?

Lute consciously ignored Vaggie’s response, “And all of this for what? For a DEMON? For the HEIR OF HELL?!”

Vaggie stared at her as Lute continued to yell, “Aren’t you tired of Hell!? Of the Sinners and the fire and the suffering!? Didn’t you ever want to come back to Heaven in the years you’ve been here!? Didn’t you ever want to come back!? DIDN’T YOU EVER WANT TO COME BACK TO M-!

Lute cut herself off, clutching her face before lunging her sword forward, “AUUGH!”

Vaggie dodged it and slashed Lute across the chest, causing her to take a few steps back. 

Vaggie: Did you ever even THINK about me!? Did I even CROSS YOUR MIND in all this time!? You LEFT me here! You left me to fend for myself, broken, damaged and DYING! You wanted me to DIE!

Lute: IF I WANTED YOU TO DIE, I WOULD’VE DONE IT!

There was a pause on Vaggie's end, processing exactly what Lute's words meant. 

It was enough time for Lute to attack her, thrusting her sword into her stomach

“AUUGH!” Vaggie screeched in pain

They slashed at each other, dealing more and more damage to their enemy. They could keep fighting, they could keep going, it was all just about who could stay standing the longest despite how much blood they were losing.

If Lute wanted Vaggie to die, she would have done it… Those words continued to repeat in her head endlessly through their battle. The confession sunk its claws into her brain and made itself home, an invader. 

If she wanted her to die, she would have done it. Vaggie would be dead if Lute wanted her to be. If she wanted her dead, she would have done it. If she wanted her to die, she would be. 

AUGH! Why did Lute need to be like this!? Why did she need to be like HER!? WHY DID SHE NEED TO BE?!

Vaggie screamed, a new surge of energy swelled inside her! She went forward striking and slashing with intense vigor, bombarding Lute with her attacks, with her POWER!

Vaggie SLICED LUTE’S ARM OFF! 

Lute howled in pain, her sword claddering on the ground as she clutched her arm- where her arm was. 

Lute: AAAAUUUGGGGHHH!!!! 

But Vaggie wasn’t finished yet, she used her fists to continue thrashing Lute, not giving her a moment to breathe, think or stop her. VAGGIE WAS GOING TO WIN.

She knocked Lute to the ground, her hat flying off her head as she did.

Lute looked up at her.

Charlie was going to kill Adam. SHE WAS GOING TO KILL HIM! 

SHE’LL MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF HIM! AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL OF HEAVEN TO SEE! LET THEM KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU TRY AND GET IN THE WAY OF THE HEIR TO HELL!

Charlie was absolutely decimating Adam. Adam was strong, he was the First Man after all, but he was no match for the pure, unbridled rage and power that came from the spawn of the Devil.

A hellspawn that was created with the sole purpose for ruling Hell, of creating and destroying and creating again eternal damnation, of ensuring every poor soul that ended up here would suffer for the rest of their immortal life. 

Adam flew about the battlefield, bouncing from post to post in an effort to get the demon off his tail long enough to collect himself! But he can’t! She’s too fast! He can’t get a moment alone! She’s always RIGHT THERE! GET AWAY!

This chase continues for a while, everytime Adam stops, they fight and attack each other, both getting in a few hits before Adam flees again and it continues.

But Charlie doesn’t care, in her eyes, he was already dead. He was simply PREVENTING THE INEVITABLE!

After another chase and catch, instead of flying across the land, Adam flew UP into the sky.

But Charlie was quicker, sinking her claws into his robes and clinging onto him as he flew up and up and up into the blood red sky of Hell. They flew so high in such a fast amount of time that before she even knew it, the Hotel and the entire battle was nothing but tiny little specks down below. 

The entire flight up, Adam and Charlie were still beating each other up, throwing punches, scratching, using their powers to BLAST the other away from them!

Charlie didn’t care about the height! She didn’t care that she couldn’t see the ground! She didn’t care about any of it! ALL SHE CARED ABOUT WAS ENDING ADAM’S LIFE! THIS NEEDED TO HAPPEN! IT WAS THE ONLY WAY!

Adam managed to knock Charlie off him with a powerful blast!

She stared up at him as she fell, he stayed flying in the air, watching her descent eagerly until she hit the ground. 

DID HE REALLY THINK SHE WOULD DIE THAT EASILY?

Charlie shapeshifted into an eagle and SOARED BACK TOWARDS HIM! She slashed at his cheek with her talons as she passed him!

Charlie cackled with a voice that felt both foreign and nostalgic as she turned into a serpent, coiling around Adam and tightening around his neck.

She laughed as he began to choke, his pupils nothing but tiny dots in his eyes as he couldn’t stop looking at this SNAKE! 

SERPENT SERPENT SERPENT SERPENTSERPENTSERPENTSERPENTSERPENTSERPENTSERPENT-

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

[theresattrpgforthat]

The computer game Pacific Drive has the player driving a supernatural station wagon and delving ever deeper into an abandoned exclusion zone in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, dodging anomalies, scavenging for resources, exploring, and seeking answers to what events caused the creation of the zone. The game takes heavy inspiration from the art of Simon Stålenhag, which has its on TTRPG in "Tales from the Loop", but can you recommend any other games that would recreate the experience of Pacific Drive?

THEME: Pacific Drive

Hello friend, so I looked up Pacific Drive and one thing that I found out about it was that it was inspired by media such as Annihilation and Roadside Picnic, so first I’m going to send you to my Fucked Up Settings Rec post, especially to the games titled Trespasser and The Zone.

What I’m getting from Pacific Drive is that it’s focused on travel, exploration, an interesting story, the ability to improve the one thing that you survive with, and experiencing a world that fundamentally doesn’t care about you. So let’s see if we have anything that hits any of those tangents.

The Last Caravan, by Ted Bushman.

In this cozy, melancholy post-apocalypse, the aliens came less than a year ago. The war lasted two months, but nobody won. Now, with an alien army rising from the ashes of war, you will have to make a dangerous journey across a shattered North America in search of a new home.

You are normal people finding heroism in extraordinary circumstances. You will explore transformed landscapes, search abandoned towns, discover otherworldly technology, negotiate with newly-formed factions, outrun alien pursuers, and — and all you’ve got is a car, your fellow travelers, and the road.

The Last Caravan combines the survival-horror genre with the fiction-first ethos of Blades in the Dark and No Dice No Masters. Each character has a list of prompts called triggers that reward you with a narrative resource that can open up abilities as you tell your story. The alien apocalypse has come, but the story isn’t over, as a some kind of threat shows signs of growing as you travel across a cold, frozen highway. If you’re interested in The Last Caravan, but missed the Kickstarter, you can check out the Quickstart while you wait for the final release.

24XX-D: Aftertime, by xiombarg.

As a volunteer for the  private paramilitary group Project Aftertime, your health was altered and your brain preserved so you could be revived after society collapsed. 

You awoke in an unfamiliar base filled with unfamiliar technology, with even stranger ultratech outside. 

The Event the wastelanders describe makes no sense. "The gods left us."

I feel like I’m missing something when I look through my folders because the 24XX system feels perfect for these kinds of ‘exclusion zone” games but Aftertime feels the closest to it, and it’s definitely not perfect. There’s too many people milling about, and there seems to be too much pointing towards some kind of answer about the alien event. However, I think in general, 24XX is a great system to root around in if you want to make something for yourself. A lot of these kinds of games have great roll-tables for events, locations, and missions, and inventory (which seems really important in Pacific Drive) is simple to track but absolutely necessary.

Aftertime is different from other 24XX games in that it uses a pool of resources rather than dice rolls to determine what you can or cannot do. You could stick with that, or mash this game together with some other 24XX games like PREDATORS to incorporate dice rolls, and vehicles. What I like about Aftertime is that it includes a base that you can upgrade over time, similar to how your car in Pacific Drive gets better as you find upgrades for it.

Crush Depth Apparition, by amandalee.

February 1902, somewhere on the North Atlantic. Mountainous waves blot out the horizon, and the wind and thunder roar too loud to tell one from the other. But 200 ft down there’s only still cold darkness and the submarine.  

No one has ever dived this deep before, so far from shore and safety. Maybe no one was ever meant to try. The submarine is 170 feet of dripping pipes and fogged up dials, levers rusting stuck in the damp. It was two weeks into the voyage when things started going wrong.  Little accidents, inexplicable mistakes. Someone heard a noise, like tapping, soft against the hull last night. Bright paint flakes off a torpedo and underneath there is a story scratched into the metal. The Captain turns down a hallway that can’t be there,  into pipes and steel and miles of ocean.

The one thing keeping you safe down here has turned into a labyrinth. 

Crush Depth Apparition is an eerie survival horror stand alone adventure zine for 3-5 players and a GM by Amanda Lee Franck. It  includes rules for running and repairing a state of the art (of 120 years ago) experimental submarine, a map of the ocean, an unnatural labyrinth,  ghostly encounters,  hundreds of things that can go wrong, and a crew that depends on you.

Because you are depending on your submarine for survival, much of the focus of this adventure is going to be on keeping it running. You’ll need to manage your fuel levels, the submarine’s battery, and how deep you go, all while trying to find a way home. The setting is very different from Pacific Drive, and I think the horror amps up a little bit because there are more personal details that will likely worm themselves into this game. You’re also less likely to survive the entirety of this game; but the weirdness that happens the further that you adventure may mirror some of the strangeness of Pacific Drive.

ZONE, by Iron Cutler.

ZONE is a genre-agnostic TTRPG , heavily inspired by Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, though adaptable to a wide variety of settings. It is about trespassing in a bizarre and dangerous area—the Zone—and becoming changed by what you find inside.

ZONE is a GM-less ttrpg that uses collaborative worldbuilding to design and deepen the strangeness of the world around you. Each session will contain an expedition of Trespassers, people who enter the Zone without permission, and thus destined to be permanently changed. Your Trespassers will not usually survive from one expedition to the next; this place will change them, and that is why ZONE is described as “un-winnable” by its designer.

Unlike many of the other games on this list, ZONE is very abstract because it doesn’t expect you to succeed. Your characters are destined to fail once they incur too much shock, so managing resources is not really something worth doing in this game. Character creation is also rather simple, and I think that is because the main focus of this game is on the place you are exploring, rather than the character themself. If you want a game about the horror of being changed by something alien and ultimately uncaring about you, I’d recommend ZONE.

RAD, by ¡Hipólita!

We don't know who broke the world, but we know what weapon they used.

In the year 1990, the United States of America fired a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, immediately killing millions and poisoning the land, air and water for years.

The scarce few survivors were forced into hiding. About 50,000 people fled to the relative safety of the Moscow Metro, with smaller numbers following suit in cities like Novosibirsk, Volgograd, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara and others.

RAD is a game full of radiation-induced body-horror and all about survival. You have four core stats, and the rest of your character sheet is all about resources and inventory, including three resources called Bedroll, Rations and Battery. The game mechanics are inspired by systems like Mausritter, which means that player creativity and smart item use will take you far. It’s all about a delicate balance of resources, so if that’s what you liked about Pacific Drive, you might want to check out RAD - as well as an adventure for it titled The Technicolor Forest.

Other Games I've Recommended Before

Nibiru, by Araukana Media.

Apocalypse Roadtrip, by Mynar Lenahan.

Roadspire, by Glempy.

[bijoumikhawal]

A Rough Timeline of Cardassian and Hebitian history

(This is mostly head canon, based around some Canon dates we get. Just a rough sketch of ideas I've had so far laid out in an organized way)

400 BC- first surviving archeological evidence of the Orallist Hebetian religion.

200s-400s- first era of Hebitian conquest. Reputation for being skilled fighters established.

300s- Cardassians emerge as a distinct cultural identity of polytheistic pastoral herders in the southwest of the equatorial contenient on Cardassia Prime, mostly in the desert directly south of the Valley of the Hebitians and the mountains further south of that.

700s- Cardassians begin to settle in the mountains to the south of their origin.

900s- Cardassians now are a majority settled population in the mountains. Pastoral and settled Cardassians maintain necessary trade and kin relations. Cardassian class system begins to form, pastoral Cardassians are considered "outside" it.

1100s- Cardassians unified under one Emperor for the first time. Hebitian governments reformed away from the traditional "monarchy with a marriage based appointment system for heading up departments". Aristocractic council system put in place. All members of the council are equal, no kings or emperors.

1200s- Hebitians begin banning marriages of second cousins and closer, previously a common practice of aristocractic families.

1450-1567- second era of Hebitian conquest. Hebitians now are major players in a third of the central continent. After this, while martial prowess is still prized, Hebitians largely try to solve conflicts via the council system. Less and less interest in war. Prosperity from solar technology and agriculture flourishes for awhile.

1570- Bajoran lightship reaches Cardassia Prime. Unfortunately, the technology is not sufficient to establish regular travel between the two star systems. Recorded as an interesting oddity in the Hebitian Record.

1600s- Cardassian state fractures and there are four competing states.

1653-1700s- many Hebitian states pursue isolationist policies to focus on internal problems. Peacetime for many. Reputation for fighting skill begins to decline and less of the population has combat experience.

1700-1937- Cardassian religious reform occurs somewhere in this era, raising the concept of the State, personified by the Emperor, to main deity and doing away with more personified gods. End cap due to no mention of Cardassian personified gods in Ferengi records.

1720s- 1810s- Climactic shift occurs on Cardassia Prime, resulting in destabilization of Hebitian governments, who don't have solid trading partners and experience infrastructure degradation under new environmental strain. Desertification and disease spread across the central continent.

1745- Cardassians reunified under one Emperor.

1760s- sustained space flight between planets achieved by Cardassians. Cardassians begin inhabiting other planets in the system, with some staying loyal to the Cardassian Emperor and some establishing new governments. Such interplanetary travel was never rigorously pursued by Hebitian scientists.

1800s- Cardassians conquer most Hebitian territories. Initially only former combatants enslaved. Hebitians classified as a "subjugated people", second class citizens. Skirmishes and revolts by Hebitians who have taken up arms once more continue even after a given region is conquered.

1871- Cardassian Union established, with a three pronged government system of Central command, Detapa Council (headed by the Emperor), and Obsidian Order. The Detapa council strongly is suspected to be an appropriation of Hebitian ideas about governance, as aristocractic power in Cardassian governance was not organized before this point. All persons of the Cardassian ethnicity legally considered "citizens". Cardassian governments from here on are considered eras of the Cardassian Union, named to celebrate the "total" conquest of the central continent.

1894- Final Hebitian Revolt begins in earnest.

1922- Final Hebitian Revolt put down, results in mass enslavement to curb militant organization. Lakarian City building plans begun, using Hebitian labor as a symbol of Cardassian domination. Hebitian religions not banned, but between 1922 and 2308, religious gatherings are subject to legal harassment under the guise of noise complaints, disturbing the peace, improper assembly permits, and more. This leads to a decline in non-Orallist religions, with any faithful being absorbed by Orallists. Last head priestess of Oralius killed after being tortured. Folk religious organization systems based more strongly around adorcism gain power.

1931- Cardassians invade the sparsely populated Northern continent of Cardassia Prime.

1934- Cardassians invade Southeastern continent.

1937- first contact established between Cardassians and Ferengi. Cardassians are one of the first sentient species the Ferengi encounter, and as such their galactic moniker, "Ferengi", comes from Kardasi. Ferengi involved in the building of Lakarian City.

1942- Building of Lakarian city completed.

1949- Northern continent fully conquered.

1978- Contact with Romulans and Vulcans established. The beginning of the Cardassian and Hebitian diaspora on Vulcan comes not long after.

2004- terms of slavery as punishment for Hebitian Revolt elapse as the sentencing for them and their descendants was for the 9 Cardassian solar seasons after the Revolt, each season on Cardassia being roughly equivalent to 9 years. Some Hebitians still enslaved, but in smaller numbers.

2067- Imperial schism on Prime briefly results in two emperors claiming simultaneous legitimacy. Ends with both dead and a new Emperor on the throne.

2114- Cardassian Union now covers all planets in their home system. Any rival governments set up by Cardassians on planets other than Prime have been eliminated.

2187- Cardassians mostly conquer Southeastern continent.

2189- Aristocractic class on Cardassia Prime revolts against imperial family and deposes them. The Detapa council becomes the main governing body. The State-as-deity no longer has an embodiment through an individual, and implying such is seen as both treason and blasphemy. First Republic era of the Cardassian Union established. Imperial era of the Cardassian Union ends. Cardassians begin conquering other planets outside their solar system. These conquests are partially funded by the sale of Hebitian historical artifacts. Romulans have a particular interest in these. Cheoche-Cheyeda system becomes more popular than previously. Kin relations between settled and pastoral Cardassians begin to decline from here onwards.

2190- First contact between Cardassians and Klingons established.

2194- It is no longer legal to enslave any Cardassian, as they are all citizens. Slavery now only targets marginialized ethnic groups and other species on Cardassia, which are legally "subjugated peoples" and "foreigners" (and not "citizens"), depending on if their home planets are controlled by the Union. Foreigners and citizens are considered "free people" and marriage between them is permitted. Free peoples cannot marry subjugated peoples. For example, a Cardassian can marry a Vulcan, but a Cardassian cannot marry a Hebitian. If a Hebitian married a Vulcan, their marriage would not been seen as valid by the Union.

2204- "first contact" made between Bajor and Cardassia. Some Hebitians flee to Bajor and establish small communities in the system.

2227- Cardassian Union now covers 23 planets.

2234- Monarchists revolt and reinstall a descendant of the Emperor. The Cardassian Union is embroiled in civil war for the next ten years.

2237- Iloja of Prim exiled by Monarchist forces. He takes residence on Vulcan and does not return, even after the Second Republic is established and recinds his exile.

2244- Monarchist Revolt crushed. Second Republic era of the Cardassian Union established. Members of Imperial family publicly executed. Detapa Council reformed to be elected instead of hereditary, and gradually more members of the council come from non-aristocratic backgrounds, though most are still aristocrats. Distinction between military aristocractic families and civilian aristocractic families begins to form, partially embodied by the tension between the aristocratic families involved in the Central Command and the Detapa Council.

2244-2308 - instability from Monarchist Revolt lingers. Class divides deepen, and food insecurity becomes common. Authoritarian governing styles gain more and more sympathy. The Union has put too much strain on many of its resources- expansionist policies are supported by the military aristocrats and framed as the only option for survival. This ultimately wins out over the scientific terraforming and degrowth proposals of the time. Labor camps used to provide manufactured products, manual labor, and construction on the cheap. In this time, 16 planets are conquered.

2245- laws around slavery and punishment for crime reformed. Instead of slavery, criminals are sentenced to labor camps, which are legally considered a completely separate entity under the law. The distinction is important to preserve Cardassian self concept as a "free" people. This ends the multi-generational sentencing that was possible under previous laws- a criminal's children cannot also be sentenced to labor for the same crime. Notably, now Cardassians can be sentenced to labor, just like any other ethnicity or species in the Cardassian Union. This increases the pool of forced labor and enables this punishment to be used against the Monarchists and other political enemies. Slavery declines in the Union in favor of labor camps and the Cheoche-Cheyeda system, but still occurs on conquered planets with similar frequency to before the reform.

2287- a trio of Alåsh Hebitian women commit a terrorist attack on Vulcan, partially destroying an institution that held Hebitian grave goods and may have even held pre-Union Hebitian remains. The reasoning given by the women upon being caught was they knew a theft would not succeed, and if they could not care for them, and could not hide them, it was better to destroy them as the artifacts were not property of the living any longer. Hebitians face increased social stigma in diaspora as a result.

2294- wave of reforms targeting "sexual and familial immorality" instituted. Courtesans, concubinage, and most pornography banned, including works of erotic literature and art. "Producers of immorality" active at time of law sentenced to labor camps, with most sentences lasting 2-8 Earth years. Marriage prohibitions targeting relationships with non-Cardassians tightened, even between free peoples.

2308- wave of government efficiency reforms results after Central Command takes over the government, sidelining Detapa Council. Council now exists as a ceremonial entity. Second Republic ends, though not officially. Era posthumously named the Timocratic era. Hebitians are forcibly Cardassianized to remove their potential as a security threat, particularly as part of the planning to occupy Bajor. Orallist religion is firmly banned and family names are changed to sound more Cardassian (for example, Garakh -> Garak). Hebitians are no longer considered a subjugated people because they no longer legally exist. Historic records changed to erase most mentions of Hebitians and to imply they all died out during climatic shift, with a few survivors "marrying into" Cardassian families. Any remaining Hebitian slaves manumitted. Government fish, egg, and cooking oil subsidies instituted, enabling broad swathes of Cardassian society to eat regularly. Occupation of Bajor in planning stages.

2313- Enabran Tain becomes head of the Obsidian Order.

2319- Occupation of Bajor begins. Bajorans classified as a subjugated people. Kai Bedar placed under house arrest. Elim Garak born.

2321- Nezad and Seva Massacres occur, slaughtering around a third of Hebitians living on Bajor for the crime of treason. Occupation forces begin hunting down Hebitians. Hebitian diaspora in the Bajoran system not given opportunity to assimilate into Cardassian society, instead being sentenced to death automatically. Some Hebitians join Bajoran resistance.

2323- Xexe incident occurs, a mass suicide of Hebitians and Bajorans in the besieged Xexe monastery that Kai Bedar had escaped to. Cardassian occupation forces claim the Hebitians murdered the Bajorans. Most Bajorans have limited experience with Hebitians and are not clear on the difference between them and Cardassians, so this is accepted as fact, and Hebitians loose most Bajoran allyship. Bedar's successor, Kai Lisu, supports this.

2328-2346- Betreka Nebula Incident starts the Klingon-Cardassian cold war.

2336- Most Hebitians on Bajor have been found. Remaining Hebitians are in hiding in remote, desolate places, such as one of Bajor IV's moons.

2338- Slavery legally abolished in the Cardassian Union. However in practice, slavery still occurs in the form of forced labor camps. Cardassians simply continue to legally categorize them as distinct.

2357- Procal Dukat executed for trying to stockpile weapons to overthrow of the current Central Command and destroy the Detapa Council. Other True Way (a military aristocrat based organization) members persecuted.

2367- Elim Garak's execution order changed to labor under military supervision at last minute. Custody given to Skrain Dukat as consolation.

2369- Occupation of Bajor ends. Terok Nor converted to Deep Space Nine. Garak's sentence implicitly becomes that of exile when left behind.

2371- Obsidian Order almost entirely destroyed by Dominion. Functionally kills half of the Cardassian Union's government, greatly weakening it.

2372- Central Command overthrown and powers restored to the Detapa Council. Timocratic era ends. Third Republic established. Klingon-Cardassian war begins. Instability from Klingon-Cardassian war crushes the hopes of many dissidents as the Detapa council violently cracks down on public demonstrations after six months in power.

2373- Third Republic overthrown due to the betrayal by Skrain Dukat. Cardassian Union now occupied by the Dominion. Dominion begins slowly destroying Cardassian military by using Cardassians as canon fodder in battles. Jem'hadar soldiers stationed planetside all over the Union.

2375- Cardassia Prime suffers heavy losses due to genocide committed by the Dominion. Union functionally destroyed.

[cambriancrew]

How has syscourse changed over the decade?

Thanks for asking!

When we first joined the Tumblr plural community, there were a lot of people openly antagonizing endogenics (then called "natural systems", soulbonders, and tulpa systems) and their supporters. One of the most notorious of these was @systemhop and, after that account got banned, @systemhop2. (There was a third, I think, but it was very short lived and I think I remember it having a different naming convention.) These two blogs took names of endogenics and their supporters and posted them with "evidence" that they were faking, including "cringe" sources, introjects from recent media, having spiritual views about their plurality, nontrauma origins, having a detailed innerworld, being able to switch when they wanted to (even if it was only sometimes and most of their switches were involuntary) and probably a lot more I don't remember. And it wasn't all just endogenics and supporters - any system could be posted and harassed if they weren't "real" enough by made up standards that changed day to day.

And they openly encouraged their followers to harass these people, and posted deliberately triggering things in the tags like death threats and suibait.

At that time, there was no terminology discourse. It wasn't "You're not allowed to call yourself a system, use another word" it was "you're not a multiple system, don't call yourself one, you're faking."

About a year after we joined here, there was an anon message sent to anti-"natural"systems user @firedrake claiming that "system" had been a DID only word for 200 years and that natural multiples had stolen it. Firedrake found a 100 year old book, Symptoms of Hysteria by Pierre Janet, and claimed that book proved the anon's claim true. Except it didn't. It used the word for all kinds of things by its normal definition, including for clusters of symptoms in other disorders, and to refer to the cluster of symptoms we'd call an alter or systemmate. But never the way it's used now.

About a month or two later the "#terminology turf war" (the tag we used for it) really exploded and it's been a thing ever since, but has significantly died down in the past couple of years.

Another big difference started up when The Lunastus Co/TLC, then going by the name The Trashcan Collective, coined endogenic and traumagenic. Endogenic was originally meant to be a substitute only for "natural systems", so it didn't originally include tulpas or soulbonds, but after about a year its usage grew to include all nontrauma origins.

The coining was meant to help with the people taking "natural" to mean that their systems were "unnatural", but instead it became a big thing to divide the community into two camps, and it really hurt things for a long while.

Somewhere around seven or eight years ago, some of the bigger names in syscourse on the pro-endo side left syscourse, or the site entirely: notably the author and artist LB-Lee who wrote extensively about plurality outside of the trauma/endo divide, and The Sorority who got us most of the pdfs of the various versions of the DSM and talked a lot about plurality as a culture, and a few smaller names stopped contributing to syscourse, including some I've sadly forgotten the names of. There for awhile there weren't many folks here outspoken on behalf of endogenics, and harassment got really bad. About a year before Tumblr began its porn ban, there was a week where the syscourse and pro-endo tags were spammed with images of gore and violent porn, mixed in with the then-usual diatribe against endogenics and calling for death to us. It was pretty bad.

Things have definitely improved by leaps and bounds here in the past few years. People are HUGE against harassment now including of people who are perceived as "wrong" or "bad". I'm going to experiment with leaving anons on for awhile. There for a few years we were getting anon hate quite regularly, maybe one or two a week. People seem to be a lot more rational and level headed about things now, which I super appreciate.

It was so bad that for awhile we were planning on doing a syscourse wiki with sources and excerpts to link and have as a resource, but it doesn't seem to be necessary anymore.

Which isn't to say syscourse is dead. But where it used to be a dangerous minefield, now it's just a field where people come to sit and talk about different experiences and beliefs. Lots of us disagree, sure, and often discussions can get heated, and there's still a few people around who say genuinely awful things that get everyone's hackles up. But we're picnicking in a park now, compared to what it used to be, and it's really nice.

[fantastic-nonsense]

honestly I think if you complain about Star Wars focusing too much on the Skywalkers because "the galaxy is bigger than one family" and "not everything has to be connected" you have fundamentally missed the point George Lucas was trying to make with the original movies.

Star Wars is VERY deliberately an optimistic, cyclical, and myth-based family drama structured around a single family's story, and that purposefully generational story is the story George Lucas saw as the core point and purpose of Star Wars:

“It’s the missing link,” Lucas says. “Once it’s there, it’s a complete work, and I’m proud of that. I do see it, tonality-wise, as two trilogies. But they do, together, form one epic of fathers and sons.” [x] The first three movies had all kinds of issues. [Disney] looked at the stories and they said we want to make something for the fans. So I said all I want to do is tell the story of what happened. You know, it started here and it went there. It's all about generations and it's about, you know, the issues of fathers and sons and grandfathers; it's a family soap opera. I mean, ultimately. We call it a space opera, but people don't realize it's actually a soap opera. And it's all about family problems — it's not about spaceships. [x]

He also wrote Star Wars for the express purpose of attempting to teach people that everything is interconnected and everything we do has an impact that resonates beyond our own lives:

Paul Duncan: "It takes a lot of people to build the ark." George Lucas: "Yeah. And it needs to be done through reason, love, and compassion, not through force. The films are trying to stress the idea that everything is interconnected. I like to make movies that are complex, but it's not obvious to people unless they start digging into it. Most people don't realize it and can't grasp the whole entity because they're focusing on four or five pieces out of 200, and often they don't want to hear about the other pieces because it requires additional thought and ideas outsides of the films. There are cycles and cycles in the story and the characters throughout all six episodes. There are cycles of the same thing being repeated over and over with different groups of people, and the outcomes change because the characters have grown or changed over the story. The repitition shows the characters' development. [x]

GEORGE LUCAS: At some point you do have to become an independent person. And it’s about learning to let go of your — your needs, so to speak, and — and think of the needs of others. BILL MOYERS: So “Star Wars” is — yes, it’s about cosmic, galactic, epic struggles, but it’s at heart about a family. The large myth set in a local family. GEORGE LUCAS: Well, in most — most myths center around characters and — and a hero, and it’s — it’s about how you — how you conduct yourself as you go through the hero’s journey, which everyone goes through. It’s especially relevant when you go through this transition phase. Most societies it’s when you’re 13 or 14. In our society it’s sort of 18 to 22, somewhere in there, that you must let go of your past and must, you know, embrace your future and — and in your own self, by yourself, figure out what it is — what — what path you’re going to go down........... .......BILL MOYERS: And what do stories do for us in that sense? What do myths... GEORGE LUCAS: They try to show us our place. Myths help you to have your own hero’s journey, find your individuality, find your place in the world, but hopefully remind you that you’re part of a whole, and that you must also be part of the community, and — and think of the welfare of the community above the welfare of yourself. [x]

Lucas structured this tale in two ways: through Anakin's deconstructed hero's journey (in the form of a Greek tragedy) and Luke's straightforward hero's journey (culminating with Anakin's redemption) and showing us how this one family's multi-generational story had a huge impact that went beyond their own lives and echoed throughout the galaxy. That was the point!

While there are plenty of other stories not centered on the Skywalkers that can and should be told within the universe, ultimately people need to keep in mind that Lucas was not shy about his intentions in making the movies: he WANTED to write a straightforward retelling of "old stories," and he wanted to do it through the lens of a personal family narrative.

All of the Star Wars material that focuses on non-Skywalkers (which has ALWAYS been around, Rogue One and TLJ and The Mandalorian and Andor and etc etc etc were NOT the first ones to do that) is great, but it's a bonus! An add-on to the core story and point of the franchise! It's not that they're unimportant, because they're not, but at some point it should stop surprising people when the Skywalkers and/or the events of the original six movies get referenced or utilized.

It just bothers me when I hear these complaints because like...if you don't like the Skywalkers, why do you even watch Star Wars? None of those other stories would exist without them! Please just go enjoy another sci-fi franchise and stop complaining that the main characters of Star Wars are being focused on or are popping up in places it makes total sense for them to be!

[sesamenom]

opened my old art/comic ideas note for inspiration and wow there's so much in here

gil galad delayed his choice because he was already king when mandos asked (maybe dior did the same thing) so most people didnt even know he was peredhel until he died and his fea just completely vanished e&e, cirdan, galadriel, and tyelpe are the only ones who know, and none of them know what choice he made

peredhel galad!

just realized that bilbo's knowledge of 'how to talk to dragons' in conversation w smaug is probably bc of turin's famously disastrous conversation with a dragon

headcanon: TA galadriel actually doesn't like having particularly long hair but it would literally cause an entire International Diplomatic Conflict and probably start a minor war if she cut it. the moment she gets to valinor and is no longer a major world leader she immediately does a full Luthien Haircut.

celegorm reembodiment blood necklace

this is inspired by this one necklace i saw that looks like a stylistic blood slash

at this rate we're going to have more gils than oncelers

(from when we had about half as many gils as we do now)

between arwen's goth phase (why should I fear the gift of Death) and elrohir's feanorian phase (I will punch Death in the face and set myself on fire before I let Pauron walk free), plus elladan being dramatically along for the ride, 200-300SA was one of the most terrifying centuries of sauron's life

on finwean/house of elrond teenage dramatics (the P is because i didn't have a thorn on hand lol)

the Arm Cross and Disapproving Glare were miriel's originally feanor happened to have a lot more opportunities to use it though

elrond the common law maia

vigorous spring to fading autumn

this is a rare thranduil thought

guardians of the galaxy doors of night crew! arien, tilion, earendil, elwing, kuvion, eonwe

pdcc swap au

this is from the wwelves swap au that was going around a few months ago

melian is the maia of love / elrond is the newly declared baby maia of family

would you go to supermarket with arms. nothing else is wrong with it it just has little arms

'and not even the echo of your lamentations will pass over the mountains' cut to mandos glaring at maglor maglor: cat face :]

this is hilarious why did i not draw this already

sobbing into one of tyelkos 37 random fur pelt capes

who is doing the sobbing

maglor: you look like somethinc celegorm dragged in. after getting stepped on by a balrog. also is that nelyo??

no clue on the context here unfortunately, because this sounds very fun to draw

High King Lomion Irission of the Noldor King Tyelperinquar Curufinwe of Eregion / King Consort of the Noldor Crown Prince Ereinion Et Cetera

reverse gondolin au! i promise i am still working on it, i've just been fighting with one really stubborn piece for six months ;-;

maglor has all the sewing skills expected of any artistically inclined grandchild of miriel daeron is actually miriel-level particularly with weaving together they can probably make depression maglor a new wardrobe in like a week also maglor spent the past four-ish Ages (he got out of his depression hole somewhere close to the fall of rome)perfecting Every Craft

this is from maglorath i think

'red enough to start a war' as a common SA/early-mid TA saying sometimes used literally for hair color (particularly suspiciously copper brunettes) mostly used metaphorically re: feanorian actions (often regarding elrond, ie "nearly red enough to start a war, what with all the kinslayers he's been sheltering"

maglor: crying screaming throwing up (continuing to murder small children)

regarding maglor being the one to openly acknowledge the tragedies while continuing to perpetuate them

mirkwood party species swap murdoc elinyel bodyswap ??

for nelyo :)

maglor bonding w mongolian easterlings over horse

based on an old headcanon that bor's house is ancient mongolian

'where was gondor when the westfold fell' dying of plague, next question

annatar going around looking for people elrond: get thee gone- annatar: ?!?! faints from shock

mae beating up dracula his first solution is diplomacy and his second is violence and is overall far less inclined towards politeness than jonathan which happens to be an excellent choice against dracula

from the mae dracula au

the high king regent/noldolante era music must have been incredible (obviously the noldolante would naturally overshadow literally anything else) but like. his grandfather died, his parents divorced, his mom left, his family invented several new crimes, he swore the Oath, he possibly got divorced himself, his dad died, his brother (presumably) died, and he got stuck with the kingship all within like. ten years thats like an entire album worth of lament

please don't fistfight morgoth

i have no clue who this is about but this is incredible and probably applies to any of the finweans

elrond preferred nouns

regarding the nature of peredhel as their own secret third thing

legolas: AAAAAAA gimli: aaaaa aragorn: i'm gonna fight it!! boromir: ok i'll help! gandalf: youre all idiots :/

(gandalfs-eye-view of khazad dum)

so you know the whole numenorean law about only marrying in the line of elros (btw its super funny that the whole law was explicitly because of aldarion and erendis' disastrous marriage). did anyone then even consider the possibility of marrying in the line of elrond. are all the ancient numenorean politicians hanging around the Halls watching aragorn and arwens wedding like !!!!!

pippin's son Faramir I must have been so incredibly tall (for a hobbit) like. he's a took obviously, and also like 4'6"+ and then his wife Diamond is diamond of long cleeve aka at least some part north-took. which makes her a descendant of Bandobras

imagine ringbearer-bilbo going on the Quest. like for all that he complains he is actually very good at the whole adventuring thing. he literally killed/fought off the spiders descended from spawns of ungoliant, rescued thirteen dwarves from thranduil oropherion who has no doubt been dealing with political prisoners for actual milennia, and managed to escape fully intact and only mildly disturbed from a conversation with a dragon. he'd get to mordor and finrod his way to barad dur with the power of limericks and rock-throwing.

ringbearer-bilbo in mordor, holding the phial of galadriel: earendil was a mariner that tarried in arvenien! he built a boat of silver felled in nimbrethil to sail in! sounds of violence ringbearer-bilbo meeting shelob: insert the attercop song

because the thing is, bilbo spends a great deal of his adventure terrified. but he is also incredibly skilled at, despite the fear, walking up to gigantic evil creatures and subtly challenging their manners into letting him go. he also knows a lot of history to draw from, hence the whole smaug convo.

glorfindel, gil, and elrond all travel east. the fellowship goes unnoticed when sandwiched between the armies of Lindon and Imladris.

more reverse gondolin!

prince elrond @ ar-pharazon: If thou wouldst deny the Gift of Men that Eru has granted upon thee, if thou wouldst truly seek to dismantle all that your forefathers have built, then thou art no nephew of mine. Tar-Miriel shall be Queen as is her right, and thou traitorous creature of Morgoth, I bid thee find a new home, if a single city shall accept thee after thy reign of cruelty and tyranny. Depart now from the land of my brother!

prince elrond @ castamir : we are all hybrids. that's literally our thing. peredhel? remember?

Lomion was an elven-king of him the harpers sadly sing the last whose realm was fair and free between the Mountains and the Sea His bow was strong, his sword was keen his shining Ring afar was seen; the countless stars of heaven's skies were mirrored in his silver eyes.

shared injuries soulmate au finwe/miriel feanor is an orphan now whoops feanerdanel nerdanel in valinor: randomly combusts beren and luthien survived! (literally the only couple to survive) russingon fingon(on the ice): falls over dead turleg stabby stabby yeah. tying two peoples' deaths together when both of them are very death-prone is a Terrible Decision

regarding a post about how a shared injuries soulmate au doesn't really work in silm-context because everybody would just be dead

okay but like. what did celegorm think was going to happen when he kidnapped luthien. the options are either a) she beats them up and escapes by herself b) melian beats them up and rescues her or c) thingol declares war, beats them up, and rescues her like. given who she is and who her family is there is zero way celegorm is getting out of that intact.

these are all so good what

[alpaca-clouds]

About the Development of Myths

Okay, I will talk about more of the specific gods tomorrow again (starting first with the other gods from Stray Gods and then just looking over a variety of gods - I might start just with the greeks and then... venture into other mythologies). But first let me talk about the entire basis of what I have been talking about so far with the origins of Pan and Persephone: Their mythology is not a fixed thing.

Something that I would say education in general really fails on is properly expressing the amount of changes that cultures go through. I wrote about this before just in terms of history: There is not THE middle ages, not THE ancient Egypt, not THE ancient Greece and so on. All of those historical periods lasted for at least a thousand years. Now imagine that in like 500 years someone goes and looks at the 20th and 21st century as: "The World War and Globalisation period". Which I think there is a good chance this will at some point be known at (assuming we do not manage to eradicate our species before that, that is). Yet, you and I both know that if we were talking to someone from 1923 there would be very little we had in common.

Sure, this effect got massively accelerated thanks to the internet. But... You gotta have to assume that the Roman dude from 100 BC would also live in a very different world from the Roman dude of 200 BC. Because a hundred years is always going to involve a lot of change.

The reason we look at those old cultures as unchanging is, that they do not change anymore. And everyone who is neither working with that kinda stuff, nor is a complete geek, will just look at that culture as ONE FIRM THING rather than something fluent.

This is also true in terms of religion and related traditions, though we in the west are even more prone to it than other cultures. Because we do assume Christianity as this one thing. And the bible as this one unchanging thing. Hence the core believe is the same and, so the reasoning goes, was always the same. In fact, if you went to a religious school it is kinda how you were taught. The bible is one thing and always was the same thing. Only... It wasn't and even the basic we hve now does not matter.

Just look at the many Christian subreligions. They all in some way or form believe in Jesus, the one big God and all of that - but what they take from that widely differs. And the bible really does not have a big impact onto what ideals they hold and how they hold mass and how they pray and what not. If you think about it, you will easily see that, right? And if you just look a bit into what you might have learned about history in relation to Christianity, you will also know that this has changed. The role of Jesus has changed. How much the Holy Spirit is looked upon as an active actor. Which saints get venerated. All of that has changed a lot in just the last 50 years. And has changed a ton between the different countries.

And what I now need you to keep in mind that this was the exact same with the Ancient Gods and the religion attached to them. That holds true for the Greek Gods, the Roman Gods, the Egyptian Gods, the Norse Gods... all of them. The way they were worshipped changed over those thousand(s of) years they were worshipped.

So, let me once again talk about the Proto-Indo-European culture. Which is always a doosy and I love it.

The Proto-Indo-Europeans originates probably in the areas of modern day Ukraine and/or Romania and/or southern Russia some time around 5000 BC (scholars argue a bit about the exact temporal placement, just that it was somewhere between 7000 BC and 4000 BC). We do not really know a lot about them, because they did not write stuff down. But we do know that they had horses, were patriarchal, and that they worshipped a polytheistic pantheon that at least involved a Sky Father as one of the highest gods, who controlled the weather and was especially associated with storms and lightning.

These Proto-Indo-Europeans started breaking apart and travelling. Some into Asia, some into Europe and the Arabian/Persian areas. They brought with them their language and religion.

Now, it should be noted that they were not the "original humans" or anything. And that whereever they went... in most areas there were already other people living there, with whom they intermingled. Also whatever land they ended up settling was different, had different environments and this was included into their religious practice. Which made their religion over the years differ bit by bit. So from their pantheon sprang a lot of the pantheons we know today.

But... again, a lot of places they settled had already people living there. Who had their own worship. And that stuff often was also included and merged. Sometimes those other worships were very far reaching, sometimes very local. But some of those deities were picked up and either made part of whatever pantheon was there to come or was merged with an already existing god. And this happened again and again during the time that whatever pantheon was prayed to.

How do we know that, if it was not written down?

Well, mostly due to some archeology, but mostly due to comparative mythology and comparative linguistics. Two fields of science that basically involve people going over a lot of languages or mythologies (which, by the way, at times also includes fairytales and other oral narratives that are not necessarily held as "true", but still told) and basically finding things the reoccur. As well as going back over whatever written stuff we do have and noticing the shifts happening between a text written in 600 BC and a text written in 200 BC.

Now, for all the stuff we have two things that help a lot: a) The old Hindi writings and b) the written stuff from Egypt. Because both go really far back and were very well documented in writing. So basically we always can compare stuff to that and see shifts more clearly.

But, yeah... Technically all the pantheons are very much related. At some point Zeus, Jupiter, Diespiter, Thor, Tinia and Tian originated from the same character. You can even kinda see it in how similar the names are. Susanoo in Shinto-Mythology probably came from this, too, at least in the iteration we actually know about. (There can be some arguments made that a lot of the Shinto gods were shifted through the Buddhist contact, as the original indigenous Japanese cultures were very likely not Indo-European in origin. But given that the Ainu are the only culture whose oral tradition managed to survive this long, while the others either vanished or merged in a way influenced by Buddhism, which comes from Indo-European culture... yeah, it is there now.)

So, what I am saying: Mythology is shifting and always has been shifting. Same goes with religion. Hence the evolution of the Greek Pantheon.

Fun fact: Through comparative mythology we can also find the origins of YHW, the Abrahamitic god. Or God, as you might know him. He is a fascinating one, as he probably started out as a local god associated with harvest and weather in Southern Egypt and was then picked up by the Semitic cultures. He got a more pronounced role in the Canaanite pantheon, where at some point he merged with Baal, the war god. And through some trials and tribulations he finally ended up merging with El(hoim), the top god of the pantheon, with a part of the Canaanites splitting from the culture and developing into what would become the Jewish culture.

Super fascinating stuff. I love it.

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

Doctor Who and The 500-Year Diary

(Take 2)

One: 0-650. Was in his mid-200's upon leaving Gallifrey, a little over 100 years out of the academy. I choose to believe he was born disabled, because some sort of looming issues, hence the cane, but I have given up reconciling him looking old. It doesn't matter. He and Susan wander for a while before the show starts, so that by the time he leaves her on Earth it's been 150 years since they left home (so he's around 400 and she's somewhere close to 220). The show doesn't represent the true gaps he has between companions, so he's in his mid-600's when he actually regenerates, having already filled up his first diary. He mostly grumbles and complains in it, requiring reading between the lines to get the adventures, but if you look closely you can see his care and the fun he had. Also he sometimes unexpectedly includes genuinely funny jokes and anecdotes.

Two: 650-700. Very short life, the vast majority of it spent with Jamie. Prefers art and music to writing, and most of his diary entries are just watercolors of landscapes with Jamie in front of them.

Three: 700-748. Equally short life. About 8 years with unit as punishment, and 10 dying of radiation in the tardis, leaving 30 that he spent adventuring. That was almost all during Sarah's time, but he went off without her so much that she only spent like 5 years with him. While trapped on Earth, he would often start diary entries out as complaints about humans and Time Lords and other foolish things, but end up talking excitedly about some adventure or his current companion or Bessie. Not needing to sleep as much as humans do and getting bored very easily, he spends whole nights writing out lists of places to travel when he can and half-formed emergency plans and other such things. He writes very rarely once he has his freedom back, but occasionally comments on some adventure or other.

Four: 748-1,113. As best canon can tell, he only spent about 65 years as Four, but I refuse that to believe that two Time Lords didn't spend centuries traveling together. He spent somewhere between 4-6 years with Sarah, a few decades alone, 5-8 years with Leela, a few decades alone, and the rest with Romana except a few months at the end. He's really bad at remembering to keep his diary. He does sometimes write about the feelings he doesn't realize he doesn't share aloud, and intermittently writes about adventures, but when he does he heavily editorializes them into the way he wants to remember them. After Romana's regeneration, she (with minimal permission) starts correcting his entries, and then just writing about their adventures for him - much more accurate and somewhat more consistently, but still not every adventure, just the interesting ones. He still writes, but mostly about interesting thoughts or sometimes feelings or those moments when he realizes "OH! That's what they meant!" days later. He doesn't write at all between her leaving and his regeneration. He fills the second diary.

Five: 1,113-(almost) 1,500. I can't say how he writes yet, but this is the era he stops bothering to accurately keep track of his own age and just starts telling everyone he's 900.

Six: 1,500-1,700. He finishes his third diary soon after regenerating, realizes "oh, I must be 1500," and immediately goes back to telling everyone he's 900.

Seven: 1,700-2,000. Fills fourth diary.

Eight: 2,000-2,080. He has a lot of adventures, but I feel like he shouldn't last long. May change this when I actually get this far. He takes a break from the 900 thing and just makes up random numbers to cover for having no idea how old he is.

War: The Time War messes it up so he doesn't really count against age, both because trauma and it's genuinely impossible to count. Doesn't write. Actually tries to destroy his diaries and his useless, pointless past, but the tardis rescues them and spits them back out into the library after he regenerates.

Nine: 2,080-2,100. Shortest life ever. Tries to recapture a hint of his former self by going back to saying he's 900. Writes about every adventure (at least, every one with Rose), but in an emotionless, listed itinerary sort of way.

Ten: 2,100-3,000. Starts counting his life again, but has almost convinced himself he really was 900 and starts from there. And also is bad at math. Writes a lot, like way too much, about his emotions without actually processing them. Does also gush about his companions, and people he meets on adventures, rarely telling the full adventure story but more talking about pieces of it in detail. Finishes fifth and sixth diaries, but both times registers how old that must make him and immediately forgets.

Eleven: 3,000-4,200. The most ADHD anyone has ever been. Starts describing an adventure and trails off mid-entry into a totally different story or a ranking of cool planets or lists of funny words or doodles of his companions. Sometimes gets frustrated at his past self for this because he was trying to look something up and found the diary useless. Fills up his seventh and eighth diaries, and both are heavily dented from being chucked across the room.

Twelve: 4,200-5,700. His diary is a weird mix of things. Right after a traumatic adventure, will rant and rave against the universe. Months or years after a fun adventure will fondly remember it, crossing out messily bits that he misremembers and re-remembers mid writing. Infodumps about new hobbies while pretending not to care about them. Skips decades at a time, which is how Missy took it and roleplayed as him for so many years without him noticing that she eventually just told him. He didn't cross out her entries but did write in the margins angry commentary. Filled ninth, tenth, and eleventh diaries.

Thirteen: 5,700-5,790. Spent 20 years with Yaz (and others), 10 alone between adventures, and 60 in prison. Didn't have her diary in prison. Did write a lot for the other 30 years, but is the second most ADHD anyone has ever been and had a tendency to start stories ("so we landed in London in 1863"), get distracted talking about how amazing Yaz is or this cool person they met or the wonders of some ordinary thing, and then forget to tell the middle before concluding the story ("and we sent the daleks packing"). Also just goes on a lot of happy rants with no story attached. Uses SO many exclamation points, but never shares more than surface level excitements and annoyances.

Fourteen: 7,790-6,000. The other round numbers are estimations, but this one is not. He stays with Donnas family for over 200 years, until Rose's grandchildren are old, and heals and relaxes and finally chooses to regenerate (sort of; who knows how that works) when he has filled up the last of his 12 diaries. Uses his diary to finally work through his emotions, talk with excitement about the wonders of ordinary life he's discovering, and sometimes draw, paint, or do those scrapbook-type journal pages.

Fifteen: 6,000+. Being done with a whole diary set feels like a fresh start, but is also sad. It's not like he can just go home for more. But then, inexplicably at first, he discovers more in the tardis library (that she put right by the others). Another whole set, matching (unlike his), of the type often given as academy graduation gifts. It turns out these were Romana's. The first 80 years are filled by Romana i, but after her regeneration she sort of shared his. So he reads them (and cries), and then starts using the first one has his new diary. Fourteen was in the habit of writing every night, so at first (while Ruby is there), Fifteen actually writes about every adventure in detail, though slowly he does get more and more distracted and writes less often. He also tends to focus very heavily on the little details he loved and gloss over big things like almost dying or the horror of whatever they saw this time.

The Doctor never writes about their regenerations. They will note that they did, and write in detail about who they are now (sometimes. depends on who they are now), but never about what killed them.