#Bullrush Dragon

[msb-lair]

Clutch #3572 - Cattail/Bullrush

Mated On: 2024-05-04 # of eggs: 3 Hatched On: 2024-05-09

Progeny:

Hatchling 9493 (Odvan) - Gaoler Female, Sable Falcon/Pistachio Peregrine/Chocolate Scorpion, Unusual - 13,843 on 2024-06-17

Hatchling 9494 (Slug) - Gaoler Female, Ginger Falcon/Avocado Hex/Driftwood Weathered, Common - 15,000 on 2024-05-21

Hatchling 9495 (Harvey) - Gaoler Male, Driftwood Falcon/Green Peregrine/Dirt Weathered, Common - 15 gems on 2024-05-17

Comments: 

[rhytmrocket]

hey all! so that post about po ship names got more support than expected, and i see at least two people would like to know the names i've come up with. so, here are some of my better works!

note that i don't ship really any of these that much, mainly cuz the only ship ive definitively decided so far that yes this is my yaoi is kaijoe, and also because a portion of these are crack-ish ships that i haven't seen anyone ship like at all (although i haven't checked out po ao3 yet so some of these might actually exist and i just have a blind spot). so if that fact degrades the quality of the names for you, sorry i guess

bulldozer, for bull/sandman. coming from bull, and to "doze" is to fall asleep, and also bulldozer is a word. kinda surprised i haven't seen this ship around, to me it feels like at least someone would ship it.

chocolate milk, for bull/doc. chocolate for doc, and bulls are male cows and female cows produce milk. this is a ship i'm pretty sure exists, but i haven't seen a name for it yet, so maybe this is already an accepted ship name for it like with the glass cannon situation. who knows

bullrush, for bull/hondo. it's a pretty obvious name, but it sounds really good so it's staying here.

redbull, for sodabull. redbull is a carbonated energy drink, which is basically soda. also bull in the name. i know this is one of the bigger ships in the tumblr po fandom, and i cannot believe no one calls it this. i can't have been the first person to come up with this! but everyone calls the ship sodabull so i just gotta live with it but now i'm breaking my silence!! sodabull should be called redbull. i mean maybe not in tags cuz that could get it mixed up with the energy drink but like you know!

popstar, for soda/macho. pop from soda pop(inski), and star because macho is a hollywood star. i feel the exact way about this one as i do with redbull-- it's a good fucking name but i haven't seen any macho/soda shippers use it and it drives me nuts

russian roulette, for soda/aran. soda's russian, and aran has a theme of luck, thus roulette. i haven't seen this ship much recently but scrolling back a while on the soda tag shows that this ship has existed. and i have not seen it be called russian roulette. what is it with soda ships and not reaching their name potential?

piña colada, for hippo/soda. piña colada is an often-alcoholic drink (soda has references to alcohol, and also his name used to be vodka) with pineapple in it (hippo has a lot of connexions to pineapples). ok, this ship i have not seen anyone ship (yet). this name i really just randomly came up with, but i like it and i think it fits and sounds good

dragon dance, for dragon/heike. this is mainly a reference to the move from pokémon of the same name. i am just about certain this ship exists, but i just! haven't! seen it yet!

pizzapie, for pizza/clown. pizzas are sometimes referred to as pies, or pizza-pies, and clowns are known for throwing pastry pies as physical comedy. ok guys hear me out! uh! uh. ok i got nothing, this ship just entered my mind one night and hasn't left since, like a prophet recieving a vision from a god except the god is dionysus wasted off his ass.

spaghetti and meatballs, for pizza/ref mario. i have no explanation for this one. i am so sorry. idk why so many pizza pasta ships come into my mind, that fucker has 0 canon personality

pineapple-shaped disco ball, for disco/hippo. i think the name's pretty obvious. i uh once heard the word cluster "pineapple-shaped disco ball" and immediately thought "lmao that sounds like a ship name for disco kid and king hippo" and promptly put it on my note of ship name ideas. i really like it for them because it's verbose and clunky, it sounds like something their collective braincell and a half would come up with.

oh and! if a name i have here already exists, please do tell! especially if it's redbull or popstar, those two drive me mad. clown.

[huli-jinx]

Adrien's Codenames for Each Miraculous:

Ladybug Miraculous: Mr. Bug

Black Cat Miraculous: Chat Noir

Bee Miraculous: Bumbleblade

Fox Miraculous: Mr. Fox

Turtle Miraculous: Tortoise

Peacock Miraculous: Plume Paladin

Butterfly Miraculous: Silk Spector

Snake Miraculous: Aspik

Rabbit Miraculous: Lapin Lancer

Mouse Miraculous: Monsieur Souris

Ox Miraculous: Bullrush

Tiger Miraculous: Feline Renagade

Dragon Miraculous: Dragonheart

Horse Miraculous: Arion

Goat Miraculous: Satyr

Rooster Miraculous: Cockerel

Monkey Miraculous: Monsieur Marmoset

Pig Miraculous: Boaris

Dog Miraculous: Canine Warrior

Eagle Miraculous: Aviator

[hollowwhisperings]

ASOIAF Prophecy Suberversion, a HotD Fix-It.

Viserys I has a dream that he & his cousin-wife, Aemma Arryn, will have a son together and that said son will be king. Aemma reminds Viserys that he is The King and that monarchy in Westeros is Inherited: their son would be a king because Viserys is the king.

Aemma relays the tale to their young daughter, Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra, who is wholly aware of how each new pregnancy endangers her mother's life (and that both of her grandmothers died too young, of pregnancy) proposes that she, Princess Rhaenyra, take up Crossdressing as a "hobby". When she is announced as crown princess, she presents herself in full armour and with her dragon at her side. She promises to be a good king, bullrushing over any confusion by her pointing out that Westeros has "always been rulee by Kings" and "Have You Met My Dragon, Syrax?". Rhaenyra is also very publically supported by the increasingly healthy Queen Aemma, the intimidating power couple that is Lord & Lady Velaryon, and the giddy King Viserys who scandalizes the court by announcing his intention to Abdicate his throne to his daughter when she is ready. The mixed confusion and relief of, 1) not having a disinterested king in charge, 2) Prince Daemon being moved down the succession, and, 3) the various Intelligent Appointments Rhaenyra('s support network and herself) proposes settles the Court to a state of hesitant excitement. All of this is aided by the early betrothing of Ser Laenor Velaryon to the crown princess: all dragons of Westeros once again tied to the crown.

Viserys happily abdicates his crown to his daughter as soon as she is ready, Rhaenyra's kingly education long seen to by Queen Aemma, the Princess Rhaenys, Lord Velaryon and even a reluctant Lord Otto. Both parents live to see their daughter crowned King of Westeros. Her prince-consort brings along his war veteran dragon, Seasmoke, and leaves the inheritance of High Tide to his sister, Laena (who, having successfully claimed Vhagar, is treated with Utmost Respect). Prior to their marriage, Lord Baratheon and several prominent Vale lords & ladies had been appointed to court so as to Loudly And Pointedly comment on the non-incestuous family ties the couple would bring together. The court is thusly prepared for King Rhaenyra's heirs distinctly Baratheon looks, aided by Lady Laena presenting dark haired children of her own (no one asks the rider of Vhagar who, exactly, fathered her children).

One notable appointment to King Rhaenyra's court was the Lady of Runestone, Rhea Royce, who commanded great respect within the Vale and soon within King's Landing also. She alternated her time between the Keep and Runestone, doing much to enlighten the court on the look of Valemen, masculine women, and the peace of a court sans Prince Daemon. So grateful was the court for Lady Royce thay she was gifted a Favour from her king: an anulment of marriage for lack of consumnation (a detail neglected in Prince Daemon's own efforts to render himself single). This gift further advanced Lady Royce's ability to act as Daemon-Bane and she soon earned a host of suitors, who had taken well to the Fashion of presenting oneself as both masculine and feminine (as inspired by their King, her prince-consort and, according to Renowned Septon Barth, dragons as a species).

The amitions of one Otto Hightower are curtailed by then-crown princess Rhaenyra's quickly appointing the Lady Alicent as her "Mistress of Court": with Rhaenyra as king and her husband a dragonriding knight, she reasoned, the "essential duties of a queen" would be neglected... unless Rhaenyra appointed a lady of such fine ettiquette and piety as Alicent to act "queenly" in Rhaenyra's stead. Alicent's duties included holding court with ladies and smallfolk, "ensuring proper dues to the Faith", seeing to the royal educations of Rhaenyra's heirs, acting as Rhaenyra's [PR manager]... confused but convinced that his daughter would be a queen in all but name, Otto begrudgingly lent Rhaenyra his support (that he knew he would otherwise be replaced as Hand by Princess Rhaenys was an added incentive).

Amidst her preparations for the Royal Marriage of Rhaenyra and Ser Laenor, Alicent wed the renowned knight, Ser Harwin Strong, commander of the City Watch (the term "goldcloaks" very thoroughly snuffed out as soon as possible, lest it catch on). It was an open secret at court that King Rhaenyra favoured Ser & Lady Strong over most everyone else, akin to her favouring of her good-sister. Ser Harwin was committed to reforming the city's protectors whilst Lady Alicent ensured that neither the smallfolk nor the faith were without voice in Rhaenyra's Court. Lady Laena... kept the largest, strongest dragon known occupied with scouting passage over the Narrow Sea and "adventure". There were Rumours of there being more than friendship between these most favoured by the King... but such is expected of kings, said the knights (lead so nobly by Sers Laenor and Joffrey) and the court ladies (so charmed by the attentiveness of their Mistress of Court and her ever-prompt mediations between factions). The smallfolk? Ser Strong's leadership of the City Watch was vastly preferable to Prince Daemon's tyranny, Lady Alicent ensured their concerns were never forgotten, Lady Laena's efforts kept seafaring safer than ever before... and it was far more fun to speculate over the mechanics of such relations, to know that whenever such gossip reached their king's ears she laughed in good humour rather than, say, employing the Watch to cut tongues and throats.

With Rhaenyra long established as her father's heir, her great popularity and her nigh-unanimous support (she might be a woman but a King is a King, the lords would say), Prince Daemon's ambitions were much curtailed. The combined forces of Queen Mother Aemma and Princess Rhaenys kept Prince Daemon too busy for scheming: "oh, Daemon, with Rhaenyra raising her children at the Keep, who will tend to the dragons of Dragonstone?", "oh no, Laena reported unrest at the Stepstones, surely the wielder of Dark Sister could help the cause?", "Daemon, your brother hasheard word of a surviving tome of Old Valyria, won't you see to its safe arrival?". The happiness evident in the retired King served the realm's efforts most of all, the restraints of rule enabling the brothers to spend more time together and rendering Daemon's outbursts for attention unnecessary.

(when Daemon tried to gift his very young niece priceless jewellery in an intimate fashion? Oh look, there's Proud Dad Viserys to clasp the necklace around his daughter's neck and ensure the WHOLE FAMILY is witness to such FAMILIAL devotion!)

(likewise, with Aemma Arryn alive and well, Otto Hightower initially made efforts to have his sons court their "future queen" - except she's to be their King, says Lord Corlys, and her marriage will return all dragons to the crown, says Prince Daemon)

Amazing, the differences possible when mothers live to supervise their offspring's childhood. Amazing, the ways of prophecy when an Outside Opinion is taken into consideration. Amazing, the problems solvable with good publicity.

[heismyrival]

Guild wars released a set of dragon horns JUST before The Dragon Prince came out on Netflix and I don’t think it was a coincidence. Enjoy Teival, now both sylvari’d and Moonshadow Elf’d

[princess-of-the-corner]

Time to go over the various Miraculous' powers and titles! This applies to mainly Hero Chat and Lady Luck, but who knows what happens in other fics lmao.

Each description will include the Miraculous' type of jewelry, domain of power, it's Kwami, weapon and it's powers.

And of course many are changed or adjusted from Canon.

Here we go:

Ladybug:

Jewelry: Earrings

Domain: Life, Creation, and Luck

Kwami: Tikki

Weapon: Yoyo

Powers:

Miraculous Cure: Representing Life, this power can heal damage. Typically used for damage to people, but can repair objects. Could go further depending on what the user sees as 'healing', and could potentially give life.

Lucky Charm: Representing Creation, the creates an object made of Magic Energy that becomes Real if not re-absorbed. This can be anything. Though the user has control over what is made, it can be randomized.

Fortune: Representing Luck, the user sways chance in their favor. This ability is passive, and can go out of control if not balanced.

Black Cat:

Jewelry: Ring

Domain: Death, Destruction, Bad Luck

Kwami: Plagg

Weapn: Staff

Powers:

Memento Mori: Representing Death, this gives the user power over the Dead. A passive ability to see Ghosts, and to be able to interact with them.

Cataclysm: Representing Destruction, this can destroy anything. It is as powerful and precise as the user wills it to be.

Misfortune: Representing Bad Luck, the user sways chance out of favor. This ability is passive, and can go out of control if not balanced.

Fox

Jewelry: Necklace

Domain: Trickery and Mind

Kwami: Trixx

Weapon: Flute

Powers:

Mirage: Creates Illusions. Though they dissipate if touched, the Illusion can fool every other sense from sight to sound to even smell and taste.

Second Sight: With a clear mind, the user can see through any tricks from others, whether it be more Illusions, or a glamour.

Bee

Jewelry: Hair comb

Domain: Harmony and Energy

Kwami: Pollen

Weapon: Spinning top

Powers:

Venom: Able to paralyze anyone they sting. Lasts until out of energy, or when healed by something else.

Hivemind: Links together and re-energizes Teammates.

Turtle

Jewelry: Bracelet

Domain: Protection and Body

Kwami: Wayzz

Weapon: Shield

Powers:

Shell-Ter: Creates a near-impenetrable barrier. It can be any size and can be moved.

Weakpoint: Able to see physical weakspots in the enemies' defenses.

Butterfly

Jewelry: Brooch

Domain: Transformation and Heart

Kwami: Nooroo

Weapon: Cane sword

Powers:

Empathy: A passive ability, the user can feel the emotions of those around them.

Akumatization: Uses emotion to transform one into a Champion/Akuma, giving them powers relating to their situation.

Peacock

Jewelry: Brooch

Domain: Form and Soul

Kwami : Duusu

Weapon: Fan

Powers:

Sentimonster/Amokization: Creates a golem creature to do the bidding of whoever holds the Amok. Sentimonsters can range from simple to complicated, but are not truly Alive.

Puppet: Instead of letting the Sentimonster run amok(HA!), they can create a body with whatever powers, and astral project into the Sentimonster and puppet them around. Works best with Sentimonsters made without any other programming.

Mouse

Jewelry: Necklace

Domain: Multiplication

Kwami: Mullo

Weapon: Jumprope

Powers:

Multitude: The user splits into multiple clones. Size and amount is relative to both each other and the user's Magic Energy.

Ox

Jewelry: Nose ring

Domian: Determination

Kwami: Stompp

Weapon: Giant fuckoff hammer

Powers:

Bullrush: Pushes the user to their physical limits. This could manifest as super strength, or the ability to ignore enemy attacks and push through.

Tiger

Jewelry: Panjas bracelet

Domain: Stealth

Kwami: Roaar

Weapon: Bladed gauntlet

Powers

Blending Stripes: The user becomes invisible. Though they are still tangible, and could be heard.

Rabbit

Jewelry: Pocketwatch

Domain: Time

Kwami: Fluff

Weapon: Umbrella

Powers

Burrow: Basically, Time Travel. Can take herself and others through Time, to alternate Timelines, etc.

Dragon

Jewelry: Choker

Domain: Storms

Kwami: Longg

Weapon: Sword

Powers

Storm Dragon: The user can become the elements of a Storm: Wind, Water and Lightning.

Snake

Jewelry: Bracelet

Domain: Cycles

Kwami: Sass

Weapon: Lyre

Powers

Second Chance: The user can choose a 'save point' of sorts, and can reset to that point in Time as long as they are still active. Time between a 'save point' and 'reset' are determined by the user's energy levels.

Horse

Jewelry: Glasses

Domain: Space(As in physical space, not sci-fi space)

Kwami: Kaalki

Weapon: Horseshoe

Powers

Voyage: The user can open a Portal to anywhere, and can even slide the Portals as long as they don't close them. They are limited by having to know where they're opening a portal, either having the image in their mind, seeing a photo, or using coordinates.

Goat

Jewelry: Hair clips

Domain: Night

Weapon: Scythe

Powers: 

Dreamwalker: The user can enter the Dream Realm, and has some power over the Dreams themselves. 

Monkey:

Jewelry: Circlet

Domain: Derision

Kwami: Xuppu

Weapon: Staff that can break apart into shotgun nunchucks.

Powers:

Uproar: Creates an item that can disrupt Magic abilities, and machines.

Rooster

Jewelry: Thumb ring

Domain: Day

Kwami: Orikko

Weapon: Feather-shaped dagger

Power: 

Sunrise: Light manipulation. Can vary from lighting up a room, being a flashbang, or creating a beacon. 

Dog

Jewlery: Choker

Domain: Sound

Kwami: Barkk

Weapon: Chakram

Power

Howl: A sonic soundwave. Along with being incredibly loud and disrupting to hear, it can act as an EMP.

Pig

Jewelry: Anklet

Domain: Jubilation

Kwami: Daizzi

Weapon: Tambourine

Power:

Gift: The user summons a vision of the target's deepest wish, and helps to pacify or cheer up the target.

Eagle

Jewelry: Necklace

Domain: Freedom

Kwami: Liiri

Weapon: Twin pistols(specifically desert eagles.)

Power:

Liberation: Frees the target from limitations. This could be mental limitations like fear, or from being controlled by others. Does not work on physical bonds. 

[itsthemysterykids]

What would their names as Miraculous holders be?

Ladybug 🐞

Coraline: Miss Beetle

Wybie: Rouge Bug

Norman: Red Wing

Neil: Spots

Dipper: Kid Luck

Mabel: Lovely

Raz: Mister Bug

Lili: Scarlet Bug

Black Cat 🐈‍⬛

Coraline: Kitty Noir

Wybie: Tomcat

Norman: Shadow Cat

Neil: Kit Kat

Dipper: Neko

Mabel: Nyan

Raz: Cool Cat

Lili: Purrsephone

Fox 🦊

Coraline: Illusia

Wybie: Foxtrot

Norman: Fennec

Neil: Red Fox

Dipper: Kitsune

Mabel: Kit

Raz: Swiper

Lili: Ruse

Turtle 🐢

Coraline: Terrapin

Wybie: Donatello

Norman: Shell Shock

Neil: Hardhat

Dipper: Kappa

Mabel: Shellby

Raz: Leonardo

Lili: Snapper

Bee 🐝

Coraline: Hornet

Wybie: Apis

Norman: Stinger

Neil: Mighty B

Dipper: Buzz

Mabel: Honeycomb

Raz: Yellow Jacket

Lili: Nectar

Snake 🐍

Coraline: Charmer

Wybie: Serpentine

Norman: Viper

Neil: Snakespeare

Dipper: Snake Eyes

Mabel: Boa

Raz: King Cobra

Lili: Medusa

Dragon 🐉

Coraline: Spitfire

Wybie: Hydra

Norman: Darksmoke

Neil: Toothless

Dipper: Dragonite

Mabel: Starblaze

Raz: Kaida

Lili: Komodo

Rabbit 🐰

Coraline: Jackrabbit

Wybie: Jackalope

Norman: March Hare

Neil: Luke Skyhopper

Dipper: Usagi

Mabel: Cottontail

Raz: Hopper

Lili: Lapin

Horse 🐴

Coraline: Equine

Wybie: Bronco

Norman: Stallion

Neil: Foal

Dipper: Saddle Up

Mabel: Alicorn

Raz: Maximus

Lili: Calamity Jane

Monkey 🐵

Coraline: Mischief

Wybie: Rascal

Norman: Tarzan

Neil: Donkey Kong

Dipper: Silverback

Mabel: Scamp

Raz: Mojo

Lili: Simia

Mouse 🐭

Coraline: Maze

Wybie: Rat King

Norman: Dormouse

Neil: Anonymouse

Dipper: Brain

Mabel: Minnie

Raz: Rat Trap

Lili: Lab Rat

Pig 🐷

Coraline: Truffle

Wybie: Razorback

Norman: War Pig

Neil: Hamlet

Dipper: Squealer

Mabel: Miss Piggy

Raz: Porker

Lili: Swine

Tiger 🐯

Coraline: Felice

Wybie: Bengal

Norman: Sabertooth

Neil: Tigger

Dipper: Stripes

Mabel: Pounce

Raz: Rajah

Lili: Flare

Ox 🐃

Coraline: Bullrush

Wybie: Minotaur

Norman: Stampede

Neil: Bullfighter

Dipper: Taurus

Mabel: Bella

Raz: Theseus

Lili: Toro

Goat 🐐

Coraline: Cabra

Wybie: Battering Ram

Norman: Krampus

Neil: Headbutt

Dipper: Capricorn

Mabel: Summit

Raz: Pan

Lili: Satyr

Rooster 🐓

Coraline: Rise ‘n Shine

Wybie: Fowl Play

Norman: Sunrise

Neil: Peck

Dipper: Bright Feather

Mabel: Mother Hen

Raz: Al Capon

Lili: Feather Fury

Dog 🐶

Coraline: Stray

Wybie: Bulldog

Norman: Cerberus

Neil: Buddy

Dipper: Canus

Mabel: Paw Print

Raz: Fido

Lili: Frisky

Butterfly 🦋

Coraline: Chrysalis

Wybie: Metamorph

Norman: Butterfly Effect

Neil: Lacewing

Dipper: Karner Blue

Mabel: Beautifly

Raz: Red Admiral

Lili: Monarch

Peacock 🦚

Coraline: Lapis Tail

Wybie: Blue Beau

Norman: Peafowl

Neil: Pekham

Dipper: Blue Moon

Mabel: Peahen

Raz: Feather Fop

Lili: Sapphire Feather

[twitchesandstitches]

the key detail with Tiashar’s personality is that she’s intended as a sort of personality combo of Goku from Dragon Ball and Rose Quartz from Steven Universe, in that generally, she’s kind of a complete doofus and goofball. she sort of wanders around, often making trouble with how big she is and having a VERY poor grasp on her ability to not break things around her. she’s got huge appetites and tends to just eat whenever without thinking about it, eating an entire forest and only going ‘whoops?’ afterwards

absolutely no common sense or forethought, she just does stuff and its only her absurd regenerative powers and defensive power that lets her even SURVIVE it

a harmless goofball, in that she’s very helpful and genuinely heroic, if totally ruled by her passions and random whims. she drifts around, being everyone’s Hot Mom and older babysitter crush, flirting and blowing kisses at everyone and being the living construction crew of an entire city. just kind of a lovable dumbass that’s too big to push away, so you deal with her.

then a fight happens, and she gets SERIOUS.

at this point, she grows to an appropriate combat size; from about sixty feet, maybe, to two hundred or even several miles tall, depending on threat level. she bullrushes the foe like an absolute MONSTER; no holding back, no restraint, just letting loose with all her eldritch might.

her arm warps into a mass of spikes and bony armor, a thousand arms growing from them and holding up their palms; they fire lasers of concentrated reality-rending destruction. the arm immediately morphs into a shield to block a counter attack

then she just beats the absolute hell out of the enemy; nothing hurts her. either her body totally ignores the damage, or it heals right away. her blows crack mountians apart, and then, in her fury, her jaws open wide to reveal five rows of massive bladed fangs, and a tongue larger than she is rolls the foe into her mouth, and she swallows them whole, jsut so ENRAGED the only way for her to show how angry she is, is to digest them instantly

outside of a fight, she’s a ditzy mom-friend. in a fight, she is a combat monster who absolutely will NEVER let anyone get hurt, never let an innocent be harmed, and never let a bad guy get away!

and she relishes the battle, she loves the thrill of throwing fists and destroying her foes completely. its good to be useful, to be admired and revered for her power, and its even better to DESTROY something evil.

[queenofnohr]

i really need to go to bed but also i spent 100000 years looking at the symbols related to Genichiro so you all will sit down and listen this fine 4 am

Anyway, lots of people have identified the Ashina family crest as the iris, more specifically, the iris sanguinea, in Japanese known as the ayame. As such, many people have also pointed out that the meaning in hanakotoba is good news/loyalty.

What I have not seen people commenting on, however, is the wordplay therein. That is - in kanji it’s  菖蒲 which can also be read as shoubu (when pronounced shoubu, it actually refers to a plant similar to a bullrush called the sweet flag with the first kanji of Ashina meaning bullrush, but I digress). And, in Japanese, shoubu has two homonyms that seem particularly pertinent to Ashina.

勝負 which means “victory or defeat” or “a match/bout”. In this case the yelling of “shoubu” can indicate the start of a duel; for something tangible, the most familiar one might be (for my followers, at least, aha) would be in the Shimosa Epic of Remnant chapter in FGO wherein every one of Musashi’s duels opens with a narrator introducing each opponent and then declaring SHOUBU to start the duel

尚武 which is the word for militarism or a “warlike spirit”

fitting, no?

Moving on, the flowers on Genichiro’s cloak... I originally thought the true blue and star shape might’ve been forget-me-nots but 1. don’t think i’ve ever seen that motif on a kimono and 2. after looking at soooooo many (like, SO MANY) kimono, I realized that the Chinese Bellflower, or kikyou, was stylized in the shape of a star and often attached to reed-like stems

Kikyou has many associations I won’t list here due to them not being relevant, but aside from being a flower associated with autumn (specifically September) it seems to mean an unchanging/eternal love. Which is cool, but this one also has some wordplay associated with it.

 帰郷 means “homecoming/to return to one’s home”. Normally I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but the Return ending in Japanese is referred to as  竜の帰郷 (literally, Dragon’s Homecoming). Make of that what you will.

other homonyms include  奇矯 and  棄教, which I’m grouping together since they amount to similar things in regard to Genichiro. The first literally means “eccentric/unusual/etc.” while the second means “apostasy/renunciation” - and what is it when you renounce a religion/belief? Heresy. Another homonym was actually a word (基教) meaning “Christianity” which, for those unfamiliar with Japanese history, was persecuted up until Meiji and even today only around 1% of Japan’s population identifies as Christian. The point being most of the homonyms are actually in line of being strange/odd/heretical/etc.

The other flower on his cloak seems to be a chrysanthemum (kiku). Notably, the petals are stylized in a very specific way, called  乱菊 (rangiku)

Chrysanthemums are considered the national flower of Japan due to it being the Imperial Family’s crest. As for meaning, because chrysanthemums are enduring blooms and used in medicines, they came to represent longevity (among other things). There’s actually not much wordplay with this one (or rather, there are so many fucking words and I could probably do some reaching with a number of them but the abundance makes me think it’s not so intentional). However, there is an interesting bit to note in regards to the name of the stylization.....

That is, the 菊 in rangiku refers to kiku, the actual flower. The  乱 means “riot/war” but also “disorder/disturbance” the latter of which makes sense because the petals are in a very “wild” and unsymmetrical arrangement (compared to the other ways chrysanthemums are stylized). Of course there’s the war + riot meaning, and because of this it’s used in many compounds for “violent” words. For example, 反乱 (hanran) which means “mutiny/rebellion/etc”. However, its verb form,  乱れる (not pronounced like ran at all, but uses the same kanji) means “to be disordered/discomposed/disrupted” but has a third definition which is “to lapse into chaos” usually in regard to veritable outside stimuli, for example, air traffic being delayed due to a storm or a country falling to chaos due to war.

Make of all that what you will all I know is I love flowers and I love Genichiro and I love looking too deeply into things

[milkdrinker123-blog]

When I was younger.

Isolated

Victim, Noun. A person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action. The word originated from Latin - victima.

Falsehood, Noun The state of being untrue, a lie.

When I was thirteen years old I was schooled in an all-boys high school. Optimism filled my soul and I was much more eager to learn that all the other classmates. I had a dedicated motivation in my heart to learn mathematics and digital studies in the hopes to learn to code and make video games. I was Naive, but that was the motivation pushing me forward in learning. I selectively isolated myself so I could listen and get work done with no hassle. The first couple of days were all right, but I (for some reason I can't remember) was moved to another group class. I didn't mind much and got along fine with the boys in there, there wasn't an issue. I got through the year and did... all right to say the least.

Trouble for me started around year ten, though I don't remember how. It all just seemed out of the blue and unexpected. My naive attitude was something to make fun of with harassment and bullying, one kid burnt the back of my head with a lighter when I was dozing off in a chair. When I asked about why they targetted me, they couldn't give me an answer, it usually resorted to something stupid like "you're gay" or something like that, the people that I thought were my friends ended up wanting to hurt me more than the people bulling me. Threats about breaking my teeth and bashing me into the ground I thought were just boyish jokes - but when the look in their eye told me they were serious I moved desks and away from everyone.

The first time I ever got hurt was during a game of bullrush. The aim is to run from one side of the field to the other and not get tackled. One classmate grabbed my arm and slammed me into the ground - he friendly to me before so whether it was intentional or not I do not know. The inside of my lip was cut from the braces, my nose was broken and sore, and I was bleeding with dry grass in my mouth. After going to the medbay, my parents just picked me up - I didn't get any apology and things started spiraling down from there.

I started becoming depressed and took a lot of days off school. When I came back, no one was happy. I never thought about hurting myself because most people at the school did that for me. I escaped in literature and video games. I spent most of my nights playing Skyrim to have an empty feeling of someone thanking me for helping them. I felt isolated and removed from everyone at the school. The guidance counselor helped me in some instances but talking about it didn't really clear up the horrible emotions I had boiling in the pit of my stomach, the only thing that ever made me happy genuinely was just playing video games, saving the world from dragons and NPC's thanking me for it.

I went back to school one day and I punched a taller kid who was picking on me in the face, he punched me in the throat and knocked me to the ground. I still remember the cold floor and the laughing. By god the laughing. I pitifully got myself off that floor and the teacher hushed me and the taller kid out to the teacher's office. I was a blubbering mess, to be honest.

Before the year ended, my parents thought the best thing and had me change schools, I was more than happy. Albeit the first few months were a bloody mess with me not able to talk in conversations like a functioning person. But before December I had a small group of friends, and then I didn't because of some bullshit. But It all resolved itself.

I'm in year 12 now, things have been smooth sailing so far, a couple of bumps but I manage to make it decently. When I met a couple of people from my previous school and politely asked why they still didn't give me an answer. And at that point, a thought dawned on me, its a mob.

To give a clear example of how the mob works it goes as followed.

I had a friend I made in primary school and for a while, we still hang out, he then starts to group with some people who are a "group" and I see him less and less. When I don't see him anymore and he doesn't want to talk to me and repeats things that the group says to me, he isn't my friend anymore. He's become part of the mob.

The mob has a ringleader, the instigator, Typically its the baddest egg of the group, the one who disrupts the class and openly tells the teacher to go fuck themselves. They have an opinion and everyone just agrees with it. And anyone who doesn't fit a quota of the ringleader deserves shit. Again I will say that I don't remember what I said, or did to provoke them, but as it stands they won't listen. When someone holds power, the gullible will follow.

Today, a mob mentality seems to be the norm in society. fitting into a more - If you're not with us you're against us. Sort of thing. And its the young adults of this society and to an extent, even the adults. A toxicity of racism, sexism, Phobias, and regression in the minds and words of the grown-ups who are "Mature".

I'm not particularly good with politics. But where I stand on in the belief of life, some people will call me a bigot, and the ones that did didn't give me a good reason other than I hurt their feelings or because it "didn't work with them".

Where I stand on most things is this: Feminism (currently) is nothing more than a label for angry women to wear. To Blame and harass men for being men; manspreading, mansplaining, man everything. Not fighting for the rights of literal oppressed women in middle eastern countries, and generally just complaining about Men.

Racism is now a power structure where, if you're white you've got a silver spoon in your mouth. Being white is in itself an act of racism because a long time ago there were slave owners who were white. It seems encouraged to call white people racist or white supremacist for sampling having a color of skin.

LGBT+ has only gotten more neurotic with the word of gender being a simple thing, to a complex and unending meaning with new genders and definitions for those genders. Paranoia grows when a common person asks about when does this ludicrous spectrum end, and it goes far to say that the normal and hetro are somewhat afraid of these far-fetched definitions and thus they must another thing to openly and actively hate against.

So here I stand. A white middle-class male, an enemy of groups of people that have never met me and hate me for the things that I am. And to be honest - I can't hate them, I can't hold any anger or be spiteful towards these groups. I can criticize them as they can criticize me if they wish. But to genuinely be angry and want to see them hurt I can't. I still have the benefit of a doubt that any stranger on the street will be genuine to me if I am to them. Kindness goes far and opinions of normal politics shouldn't dictate how you treat people. Both the left and right have problems and if we can't meet in the middle and talk about these problems like mature grown-ups, then let god burn down the buildings until we learn how to work together.

You don't have to be friends with everyone, but you can be tolerant and not be a pitiful person like I was.

Here is my final note, If you really are oppressed, then you wouldn't be reading this.

[msb-lair]

Clutch #3509 - Cattail/Bullrush

Mated On: 2024-02-29 # of eggs: 1 Hatched On: 2024-03-05

Progeny:

Hatchling 9339 (Belren) - Gaoler Female, Sable Falcon/Hunter Peregrine/Dirt Weathered, Rare - 15,000 on 2024-03-11

Comments: 

[zydrateacademy]

Current Activities - Conan Exiles #4

So I just posted my latest story “Assassination at the Summit”, and while I am proud of its contents, it has some background information. Basically starting at  "Her outside clanmates had been navigating..." was practically written in a blind fury. I’ve calmed down now but this is my blog and I feel like ranting. First off, the character depicted in that story, Dey Yin, is an actual player. She’s an excellent writer and I strive to reach to her level of para-posting, as they give excellent opportunities to reply and react and I want to offer the same to other players when they interact with me. Also, she loves the story.

I am happy with the results as there was some effort put into it. Even in my blind fury, the last few parts turned out well. I’ve also been trying to work on my verb tense. Either I missed that class in school or over a decade of roleplaying has completely rewritten how my brain perceives verb tense. You might notice that my tenses swap between past and present, sometimes within the same line. This is why writers have editors, people. Anyway it was mostly a background plot, like many of my stories are. Basically I like to lay some groundwork before I claim things. I do not simply want to claim to be a whiskey baroness, I want to actually show it. I want people to see, through a narrative, the effort put in importing a whiskey from the outside world. The server is too small for specific events to surround these kinds of things, so I compensate by writing short stories instead. Quick aside; I actually did host an RP event with my character announcing the existence of her clan. It went very well with around ~9 attendees.

Whiskey and fun were had by all. Anyway.  I spoke of this plot in-character with others and another player on the server, someone I’ve been trying to arrange RP with for... years, I think, across a few MMO’s. We’ve met on an ERP gathering website (ya’ll know the one) but our interactions could never quite get sexual. They’re a good writer and roleplayer and they definitely value quality over fluff. I can respect that. We had some meetups in GW2 but maybe we just don’t make characters that gel well because we just couldn’t quite get to the fluffy stuff. Anyway she happens to follow me on CE. Fair enough. No prompting, she just saw that I was playing a lot and figured she’d hop on the ship. She’s doing well on the server, has a whole clan, etc. Good for her. But upon hearing about this plot of mine, her character offers some... assistance. Instead of being a simple assassination, she wants it to be poison. She insists, having an IC personal stake against Khitan generals. Fair enough, but then she hands Livia an actual quest. Get three specific items. The items in question are in fact part of the several artifacts you need to remove your bracelet and “win” the game (which deletes your save file by the way). Not the whole thing, just three of them. The scourgestone was probably the easiest, and I had some IC help from a guy. It was all great fun. Admittedly I was salty at first, adding extra steps to a straightforward plotline. Then I got to writing it out and I enjoyed the idea of dungeon delving being written into it. It started to feel like an actual epic on the likes of Beowulf, Clash of the Titans, and indeed, actual Conan books and lore. Sword and sorcery. I’m not claiming to write as well as any of those (though I’m pretty sure the Conan movies didn’t have any writers, holy shit), but it started to FEEL like an epic RPG story. I didn’t have it completely written out but it had about three full paragraphs worth. Might have eked out an extra two before... bullshit happens. The salt starts to come back when the player drags their feet about getting the last item for the poison crafting. They are focusing on their clan base and that looks fine and all, but a boss hunt only needed to be asked in global “anyone want to help?”, 3-4 people would have done fine and we had 3 at any given moment, each of us with powerful weapons and armor. We could have gotten it at any time. Again, fair on them to a certain extent. I’m sure they have a job and when they were online, she was likely wrangling her clanmates and building assignments. I get that, but... again, we could have had this wrapped up in 15 minutes at any given point. Eventually my character tries to meet with another newbie on the server (as she does) but finds them already at this person’s clan base. Figure it’d be a good time for Livia to check in on the poison and see when we can go hunting but... Well. Let me give you quick context on this person’s character. John Mulaney has a comedy set talking about his father and how straight-laced he tends to be. He recalls a story (true or not, who can tell?) where John himself and some siblings (I think? Other kids?) were screaming for McDonalds. The father pulls into the drive through, orders a single black coffee, and drives away. John states something to the effect of “in retrospect, that was the funniest thing I’ve seen in my entire life”. Well, this person’s character is basically that guy. But a woman. Livia already has stated that she’s got quite the stick up her ass. Anyway they’ve traded barbs as you might expect, Livia being more of a carefree roll-with-punches and make-money kind of woman. Livia drops an offhanded line about “Maybe I’ll just get my people to slit the general’s throat and save me a headache [in dealing with this character]”. All we get in response is “So be it” and are then soon banned from her stronghold. That’s when I lowkey lose it. I don’t explode, I don’t rant, I don’t PM them. In fact, there’s almost no OOC communication between me and this person and I think it worked against us. She never once asked me permission to force a poison subplot in my story. The character just “strongly insisted” and Livia was like “fine, let’s make the thing” and I went off to get two of the three items THAT DAY. A week goes by, then that bullshit happens. What a waste of my time. I keep thinking back to a roleplaying guide I posted on this server’s website. It’s the same one I’ve copied and pasted across many MMO’s I’ve roleplayed on. There’s a section in there that talks about IC drama having no affect on OOC, or it shouldn’t. I’ve spent many years separating IC and OOC, often times whispering people after an OOC argument of like “That was fun, thanks for the RP!” That kind of thing.  Unfortunately, this whole thing did have OOC consequences. The entire plot and story was essentially a gift to the player for being active, friendly, fun to interact with and being a good writer. I wanted to give the player and character something they would appreciate, but instead was delayed by a player insisting on adding a step. And then never stepped forward. It wasted my time and theirs and got in the way of that RP. Thus, I feel like my anger while perhaps not entirely justified, still makes sense in this context. My time was wasted, and now I’m possibly barred from RP with that person and their clan, or at least by going to their base. Not a single word OOCly was spoken between us throughout this. I remember PMing them the paragraph that featured them, asking if there was anything that needed to be changed. They said no, it was fine for the context and remaining an enigma. Fair enough.  That was it. She never asked me permission to bullrush into our plot, nor did I outwardly refuse it. I thought nothing of it, and indeed as I mentioned earlier I did have some fun writing out dungeon adventures and Livia’s general hatred of the jungle biome. There was fun stuff there, class adventuring that I don’t write nearly enough about. Then it was all just negated because the other character absolutely refused to meet mine halfway in terms of diplomacy. Livia tried. I tried. So starting from “Her outside clanmates had been navigating the unknown country...” in that story, it was actually a rush job in fuming rage, so much rage my chest actually hurt for a few minutes. I do think it turned out well but I do believe I could have padded more with describing the architecture, culture, the nuances of Livia’s clan navigating the cities, dodging police and bribing informants. There’s a lot I could have done there but the story could have been done a week ago and instead I was left hanging because one player bullrushed into my plot and didn’t want to go kill a boss. I’m angry. I’m annoyed. Heavy sigh. Now, I still have two more stories to write. I have asked and received a new patron item (you can get some cosmetics if you donate to the server), a glowing polearm.

It looks very badass, especially at night. Actually hurts if you look at it too long. It’s great. I have it named “Imbued Polearm” and I have no idea why or how Livia would be in possession of it. I just saw someone having glowing purple daggers and thought “...I still haven’t requested a weapon decal for my patron perks. I want that a lot.” Was thinking of a Ymir ritual but white and blue is his motif so I’m not sure that’d work. Derketo is the goddess of sex, not weapons, and would sooner imbue Livia was a penis to properly spread seed long before she’d give her followers a badass weapon. Next story will be a little easier to write. I discovered with some proper dying the reptile armor does not look half bad at all. The aforementioned guy friend says it looks better on females than males, and I believe it;

Not sure why Tumblr blows that way the fuck up but there you go. Due to quality loss, it does look decent in-game. Definitely a “demon dragon slayer” type story to be had there. Was brainstorming that an alpha got tired of some adventurer killing all their babies at the spawning grounds... Next time Livia goes hunting she’d be in for quite the surprise.

All that and I didn’t even get into my clan growing and even having someone build me a proper stronghold.

Currently can house 6 clanmates with a master bedroom for myself. I plan on adding another floor to make way for 4 more rooms as I tend to get members when Livia goes save newly exiled players from the river. It’s actually in that building the above party screenshot took place. (There’s currently two spare rooms, I believe. Hint hint, come join us.)

[theoldstone]

The Gwanggaeto Stele

Part 3 of 4 – The Inscriptions

The stele is covered in approximately 1800 ancient Chinese characters, each are about the size of a hand. The inscriptions cover 3 main topics: the founding of the Goguryeo Kingdom, the military conquests and battles of King Gwanggaeto, and a personal record of the custodians who took care of the King’s grave.

The foundation myth of the Goguryeo Kingdom was largely in tact, and the legend reads as follows:

Of old, when our first Ancestor King Ch'umo laid the foundations of our state, he came forth from Northern Buyeo as the son of the Celestial Emperor. His mother, the daughter of the Earl of the River, gave birth to him by cracking an egg and bringing her child forth from it. Endowed with heavenly virtue, King Ch'umo [accepted his mother's command and] made an imperial tour to the south. His route went by the way of Puyo's Great Omni River. Gazing over the ford, the king said, "I am Ch'umo, son of August Heaven and the daughter of the Earl of the River. Weave together the bulrushes for me so that the turtles will float to the surface." And no sooner had he spoken than [the God of the River] wove the bullrushes so that the turtles floated to the surface, whereupon he crossed over the river. Upon the mountain-fort west of Cholbon in Piryu Valley established his capital, wherein his family would long enjoy the hereditary position. Accordingly, he [ritually] summoned the Yellow Dragon to come down and "meet the king." The King was on the hill east of Cholbon, and the Yellow Dragon took him on its back and ascended to Heaven. He left a testamentary command to his heir apparent, King Yuryu, that he should conduct his government in accordance with the Way. Great King Churyu succeeded to rule and the throne was handed on, [eventually] to the seventeenth in succession, [who], having ascended the throne at twice-nine, was named King Yongnak.

[bloojayoolie]

Being Alone, Animals, and Apparently: >Hey guys, I wanna run a game Sure, guy, that sounds good. Let's go for that. Youve played in a few games, I'm sure you can handle running something >It's going to be my own custom setting, based on d20 modern Oh god, how is this going to turn out? >It's based on a book I've been writing since I was a teenager Oh boy, this is gonna be amazing >Post-apocalyptic future of the area we live in A standard take, but a classic one >Players are all equipped with Pipboys which operate as radios, inventories, and watches Oh boy! >Characters have energy bars that fill and deplete as they use their powers Oh boy! >Monster Energy drink is a energy-replacing item so important it serves as a major feature of the setting Oh boy! >Players pick an animal, a weapon, and an "element" and can transform into an anthropomorphic elemental animal form that gains extra powers and uses their weapon for super-damage Oh boy! >DM doesnt know how many core features of d20 in general work Oh boy >DM doesn't know the geography of the area we live in Oh boy! >DM doesn't know particular facts of reality Oh boy! >DM has a DMPC who the story is about who is the most powerful of the animal/elemental/weapon people Oh boy! >Much of the DMPC's plot revolves around a romance with the stand-in for the DM's dead ex fiancee Oh boy! >The DMPC's love interest dies tragically Oh boy One player dropped out within an hour of showing up the first day. The rest of us held on for a shocking number of weeks just so we'd have something to fill time with, and some place to go have pizza and hang out for a bit, and to have stories And oh. I have stories. The "elements" alone were... staggering. "Legends d20 Fallout: Mighty Morphin' That Guy Rangers >That Guy ran a game based on his post-apocalyptic tragic romantic autobiographical work in progress novel about people in the future using magic fallout watches to turn into animals Quoted By: *46403659 46403704 >4640397846404111 >>46404256 I've told this story a few times, but basically, this guy sets out to make a game based on the epic sci fi novel called Legends" he's been writing, based on his life, only set in the distant future. He uses d20 modern to do so. He had none of the books, never played the system, and didn't know how anything worked In addition to our regular hit points we had rolled, he saddled us with 150 extra HP. Why? Because he didn't know how damage worked. So, for example his main character (based on him, of course) had a sword that did 1d100 damage per hit. No strength bonus, no multiple attacks, just 1d100 d have characters who had d100s as their damage die. In fact, There's other fun stuff about the "combat system" I can go into later, but I wanna touch on the core concept of the game for a moment. It's ye olde post-apocalypse, after what is basically the Second Impact, a meteor made out of monsters and evil crashes into earth and reformats it into crazy world. The game takes place in the region we live in, which was kinda a neat concept to start with, but then it got out of hand because of none of us much geography Every player picks an animal, an "element", and a weapon, and those become our spirit animal/element/weapon. I was an ice wolf with katars, my friend was a darkness panther with a sword, and our other friend was an electromagnetic pteradactyl with a pair of berettas, at which point you might begin to see why I put "element" in quotation marks, because the magic system and cosmology were all over the map Quoted By >>46403692 46403978 >46404111 >>46430662 46403615 Here's some of the elements we were informed of or encountered: Ice Fire, Wind, Water 티ectricity. Plants. Poison. Darkness but not shadow Sunlight, Electromagnetism Nuclear Power, Acid Mental Healing, and I believe Drugs was one as well. I bring up darkness/shadow because, as I said, one of the party members was a darkness character, who could control shadows and use them to freeze people in place and so on and suchlike. However, the enemies were living shadows.. and he had no control or effect on them. Because darkness is different from shadow Anyways, we spent about two and a half, maybe three months of sundays playing games with this guy, halfway because the concept was so gonzo and he was such a pushover as a DM that we could basically justify doing any completely retarded thing we wanted, partly we had nothing better to do and felt bad for him, and partly it was fun to hang out and eat pizza and (as time went by) watch movies rather than play the game. I haven't really touched on the plot yet. We're locals in this post-apocalptic future, me a farmer and the other guy a raider (the third player, the pteradactyl guy, bailed out half an hour into the first session quite gracefully and never ever returned), and we go t this magical academy where, it is implied, we will somehow learn how to use our powers This is in fact a vicious lie The "magical academy is in fact a lawless hell-hive run by loosely disguised versions of the DM and his former fiancee (I say Versions because there were two characters with the same name as him) that was instantly and irrevocably termed "the mexican prison every time we mentioned it. "Lessons" consisted of us agreeing that our characters did nothing rational or interesting for 6 months at a time and we'd gain random stat bonuses or special powers that were either more or less game breaking than our current powers Quoted By 46403719 46403978 46404111 46403659 Between these wastes of time, we'd go do other time wasting things like chase a dragon only to have Version A of him come slay it, or scavenge for pristine cans of Monster Energy Drink around the remains of the cities. Which brings me, in a round-a-bout way, to the matter of the "combat system" You see, as I mentioned, he's never played d20 modern, played what seems to be very little D&D, and had apparently decided to hijack what Im told is some JRPG's combat system for his "homebrew. We're given energy bars, and every time we use one of our special moves the bar gets depleted. And our special moves are quite special. We can still use normal attacks, or we can use his totally awesome "combo attack", where if we get a 15-20 on the d20 roll, we deal an additional 1d4 damage! Or, we can use a "power attack" and, if we get a 19 or 20, automatically deal double damage, amazing! He actually wrote the word "power attack" down in his notes, then told us to it, and didn't understand when we seemed taken aback. In addition to these wonderful options, we also get some magic super abilities, like beam attacks or choking people with their darkness, or other things like that, which range between useless, already covered by abilities in the game, or completely broken. I had an ability where l'd shoot a super ice beam at someone with my katars, and get +d12 to damage for every chunk of my energy bar I depleted in the process, and that's where the Monster Energy Drink comes in because a single can of Monster Energy can be drunk as a free action and completely refill your energy bar And thus I became an ice drill Quoted By: *46403799 *46403978 »>46404111 46403692 I've sadly forgotten some of our funnier moments in the game, but others will never leave me. Like when our "ally", a poison T-Rex with a sniper rifle, kept shooting us in combat because the DM didn't understand what a "miss" means. Eventually we collapsed the Tacoma dome on him, us, and the enemy and that seemed to work out Oh, and all rope was referred to as "fuckin' rope" for no clear reason. All our items resided in our pip boys, by the way. Which was his exact description of them, no less You know how you can cause an explosion by filling a room with flour and then igniting it? It's a bit exotic of a trap, but it's something you can do. I told him about that once and from then on it became a valid combat tactic. In open-air areas. As a standard action Man, my mind's just boiling as I remember some of the other things. Eventually he decided +150 hit points was too many and brought it down to +89. We met a few people who he told us did 1d1000 as damage, but we never saw this in action Quoted By: >46403978 46404111 46404725 >>46406650 46403719 There was a fighting tournament that used DBZ rules, which the panther exploited by winning 4 fights via ringout. For you see, because all these people do 1d20 or 1d30 (he had a d30) damage, with maybe some extra dice for flavor, as damage, none of them had strength scores. So the easiest way to beat them, without having to carve through their 500 hit points using a sword? Bullrush. And the DM didnt know what it was or that it sted The panther dude took Agile Riposte and used the 25 dex granted to him by the DM being a moron and fighting defensively to take Attacks of Opportunity mpletely carve up enemies by exploiting the fact the DM doesn't know how often you can s the fast hero and I ended up with less dexterity due to the DM's incompetence. In return, I mocked the concept relentlessly. Whenever my character transformed from human to furry mode, I would do a power rangers henshin sequence "Blue Wolf POWER!" I also promised my next character would be a water crab with a sledgehammer for his weapon, so l could call myself "MC Hammer" and do the hammer dance, on account of being a crab. But it wasn't to be Two sessions in a row, we showed up and played nothing. We sat with the DM and watched then early-days Netflix for a bit, maybe had some pizza, discussed what we might do in the game next week, left after a half hour or so, came back next week, did it again, left again, and the week after that the DM simply didn't invite us over. The Legend of Legends ended as it began: With unbearable disappointment and confusion And that's the story of the worst game I ever played

[starkmatriarch]

Here's some food for thought about New Zealand: in 1926, the great PharLap was born in mighty Timaru. Less than a year later, Australia claimed him for their own. Now he's their national icon. The cheeky sods also stole our favourite bands: Dragon in the 70s, Split Endz in the 80s, and Crowded House in the 90s. The politically correct stole Bullrush, and the Swiss took off with Coutts and Butterworth.

This is officially the winner of most random message ever in my inbox. And most information.

Thank you for your New Zealand info-gram, Anon. Very informy of you.

[janesadek]

TRAVEL THERE: WRAPPING UP OUR TOUR

So after Abu Sargus, what else can I tell you?

The Rest of Old Cairo

We visited St. George’s.  It’s nice, but confusing.  There’s all these pictures of St. George and the dragon, but St. George is a Roman soldier martyred because he would not give up his faith.  No dragons in the story, so don’t ask me.  It’s also confusing, because it started out as a Roman Catholic Church, but is now is a convent for Greek Orthodox nuns and old George is a Coptic saint.

We visited the very old Jewish Synagogue which they call the New Synagogue, because the current building was built in the 1890’s and this building is one of three known synagogues on this site.  However, according to tradition, there’s been a synagogue here since ancient times.  I mentioned a few weeks ago that it was built on the site where Pharaoh’s daughter discovered Moses in the bullrushes.

Hanging Church Depiction of Moses in the Bullrushes

They say stuff like that all the time in Egypt.  St. Catherine’s Cathedral out in the Sinai has THE Burning Bush.  One of the murals at the Hanging Church depicts the Moses in the bullrushes story.  There’s also a mural of the documented story of when faith actually moved a mountain.  You really need to get to Egypt.

  One of the sad things I learned was that while there was a large Jewish community in Cairo for centuries, it has virtually disappeared.  The Synagogue is a tourist attraction, not a place of worship.  Imagine a congregation, whose place of worship was originally associated with the story of Moses and which was perhaps the place Joseph worshiped when he was in Egypt, no longer having any Jews to worship in it.

Another important miracle recorded in the murals of the Hanging Church is the moving of Mokattum Mountain.  A Muslim Caliph was ready to do away with Christians altogether when a bishop made a deal with him.  If he could get a mountain to move then the Christians were safe.  According to tradition, the bishop had everyone pray and then they had a mass at the foot of Mokattum Mountain at the edge of Cairo.  Lo and behold the mountain jumped up into the air and the Christians were saved.

In recent years a church has been planted in a cavern out there at Mokattum and Bill and I would travel there before the day was over, but for now, I’ll round out my tour.  On the way into the area I saw a shop selling shawls.  I love shawls and capes.  Bill promised we’d stop back by on the way out, probably thinking I would forget all about it – and who knows, I might have – but Zuzu remembered and now I have this beautiful shawl.

The shawl I saw on the way in was not the one I ended up with.  I saw a pretty shawl that I thought would be great for evening wear and the price was minuscule.  When I went back I saw this gorgeous, heavy, reversible number and asked if all the shawls were the same price.  “Yes,” was his answer.  I know value when I see it.  I immediately abandoned the evening style and held on to this one until Bill paid for it.

Come to find out, the shawl I chose is hand woven goats wool.  A tag identified the Egyptian craftsman who made it.  We probably should have paid $100 for it.  I’d be surprised if Bill paid $10.  He’d bargained so mercilessly that he was embarrassed when we walked out of there.  Once again, not understanding Arabic saved me.  I would have told Bill to pay the man his price and quit bargaining.

Next week we’ll move on to Mokattum Mountain, but first, enjoy these beautiful photos.

More Old Cairo TRAVEL THERE: WRAPPING UP OUR TOUR So after Abu Sargus, what else can I tell you?