#Machine learning for traders

[webideasolutionca]

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[alicearmageddon]

"The North Korean regime in the ‘50s developed a series of remarkably effective torture techniques, techniques that were so effective, in fact, that they were able to make captured American airmen admit to all sorts of atrocities they had not in fact committed, all the time, being convinced they had not, actually, been tortured. The techniques were quite simple. Just make the victim do something mildly uncomfortable—sit on the edge of chair, for example, or lean against a wall in a slightly awkward position—only, make them do it for an extremely long period of time. After eight hours the victim would be willing to do virtually anything to make it stop. But try going to the International Court of Justice at The Hague and tell them you’ve been made to sit on the edge of a chair all day. Even the victims were unwilling to describe their captors as torturers. When the CIA learned about these techniques���according to Korean friends of mine, they’re actually just particularly sadistic versions of classic Korean ways of punishing small children—they were intrigued, and, apparently, conducted extensive research on how they could be adopted for their own detention centers.

Again, sometimes, in Palestine, one feels one is in an entire country that’s being treated this way. Obviously, there is also outright torture, people who are actually being shot, beaten, tortured, or violently abused. But I’m speaking here even of the ones that aren’t. For most, it’s as if the very texture of everyday life has been designed to be intolerable—only, in a way that you can never quite say is exactly a human rights violation. There’s never enough water. Showering requires almost military discipline. You can’t get a permit. You’re always standing in line. If something breaks it’s impossible to get permission to fix it. Or else you can’t get spare parts. There are four different bodies of law that might apply to any legal situation (Ottoman, British, Jordanian, Israeli), it’s anyone’s guess which court will say what applies where, or what document is required, or acceptable. Most rules are not even supposed to make sense. It can take eight hours to drive 20 kilometers to see your girlfriend, and doing so will almost certainly mean having machine guns waved in your faces and being shouted at in a language you half understand by people who think you’re subhuman. So you do most of your dalliance by phone. When you can afford the minutes. There are endless traffic jams before and after checkpoints and drivers bicker and curse and try not to take it out on one another. Everyone lives no more than 12 or 15 miles from the Mediterranean but even on the hottest day, it’s absolutely impossible to get to the beach. Unless you climb the wall, there are places you can do that; but then you can expect to be hunted every moment by security patrols. Of course teenagers do it anyway. But it means swimming is always accompanied by the fear of being shot. If you’re a trader, or a laborer, or a driver, or a tobacco farmer, or clerk, the very process of subsistence is continual stream of minor humiliations. Your tomatoes are held and left two days to rot while someone grins at you. You have to beg to get your child out of detention. And if you do go to beseech the guards, those same guards might arbitrarily decide to hold you to pressure him to confess to rock-throwing, and suddenly you are in a concrete cell without cigarettes. Your toilet backs up. And you realize: you’re going to have to live like this forever. There is no “political process.” It will never end. Barring some kind of divine intervention, you can expect to be facing exactly this sort of terror and absurdity for the rest of your natural life."

-David Graeber, Reflections from a Visit to the West Bank

[lordcaptains]

i understand the appeal of not taking heinrix to commorragh, i really do - he doesn't sleep for days while he searches for her! he goes a little mad at the thought he may have lost her! he can't tear his eyes from her when she returns!

it's good! but i can never not take heinrix to commorragh

it's in commorragh that heinrix tells a romanced rogue trader more about his past - what his family did to him when he became a psyker, what calcazar had him do to himself when he became an acolyte. (it's in commorragh that a romanced rogue trader learns why heinrix's eyes are slightly different shades of grey.)

it's in commorragh that, exhausted by pain and the effort of healing himself from the torture, believing that they'll probably die there, heinrix is more open and vulnerable with the rogue trader than he's ever been before.

it's in commorragh, heinrix imprisoned inside a machine meant to cause him as much agonizing pain as possible. it's in commorragh that he's forced to torture himself. and it's commorragh that makes heinrix realize this

heinrix's path is one of harshness and mercy, of trying to suppress his own compassion even as he questions whether his cruelty is really necessary. realizing that what the imperium has done to him is no different than what the xenos have - that it's somehow even worse - …well. maybe he doesn't owe the golden throne a lifetime of service for permitting him to live after all.

at the bottomless pit, heinrix is described as

but with the dark city's revelation, if heinrix chooses to leave the inquisition, he's doing it for himself, too, not just the rogue trader. if he chooses to stay, he does it knowing full well the cost. and that character development doesn't happen unless he's taken to commorragh.

(tl;dr - leaving heinrix behind is more about the rogue trader, taking heinrix to commorragh is more about him)

[hallowed-harpy]

'Legacy, Opposition, Lightbringer'

An analytical framework for the birth of Dany's dragons and the forging of Lightbringer.

(Analysis by Hallowed-Harpy)

Strap in, this is going to be a LONG one...

What follows is an analysis of the sacrificial machinations at play in the miraculous births of Viserion, Rhaegal, and Drogon, culminating in the forging of Lightbringer and rebirth of Azor Ahai.

"'It was a time when darkness lay heavy on the world. To oppose it, the hero must have a hero’s blade, oh, like none that had ever been. And so for thirty days and thirty nights Azor Ahai labored sleepless in the temple, forging a blade in the sacred fires. Heat and hammer and fold, heat and hammer and fold, oh, yes, until the sword was done. Yet when he plunged it into water to temper the steel, it burst asunder…the second time it took him fifty days and fifty nights, and this sword seemed even finer than the first. Azor Ahai captured a lion, to temper the blade by plunging it through the beast’s red heart, but once more the steel shattered and split…a hundred days and a hundred nights he labored on the third blade, and as it glowed white-hot in the sacred fires, he summoned his wife. 'Nissa Nissa' he said to her, for that was her name ‘bare your breast, and know that I love you best of all that is in this world’...she did this thing, why I cannot say, and Azor Ahai thrust the smoking sword through her living heart…her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the moon, but her blood and her soul and her strength and her courage all went into the steel. Such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.' - Davos I, ACoK

This passage describes the hero's journey to understanding. It follows a series of trial-and-error as Azor Ahai attempts to identify the elements necessary to forge an otherworldly weapon of light and hope, capable of combating the darkness. First, he learns that sacred fire alone is inadequate. Even the combination of sacred fire and blood proves insufficient. It is not until sacred fire, blood, and willing self-sacrifice are combined that Lightbringer is successfully forged.

The dragon (Lightbringer) has three heads.

It is Nissa Nissa's willing self-sacrifice that is rewarded. She came 'bearing her breast' - willingly - in truly selfless sacrifice. It is her strength, courage, and blood that merge with the 'blade' (dragon) to forge Lightbringer.

Through her sacrifice Nissa Nissa becomes a dragon - a flaming sword across the world - and as she 'wakes the dragon,' her 'cry of anguish and ecstasy' leaves a 'crack across the moon'...

“'A trader from Qarth once told me that dragons came from the moon,' blond Doreah said... Dany turned her head, curious. 'The moon?' 'He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi,' the Lysene girl said. 'Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return.'" - Dany III, aGoT

The mythos of the forging of Lightbringer is the same mythos as the origin of dragons, and the 'Azor Ahai' returned prophecy is the same prophecy as the 'return of the dragons' - the difference is that one version is told through the cultural lens of Asshai, while the other is told through the cultural lens of Qarth. The reason that Azor Ahai is prophesized to 'wake dragons from stone,' is because Lightbringer was always a dragon, never a literal sword.

"...A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold. Yet at such a cost…when he thought of Nissa Nissa, it was his own Marya he pictured…the best woman in the world. He tried to picture himself driving a sword through her, and shuddered. I am not made of the stuff of heroes, he decided. If that was the price of a magic sword, it was more than he cared to pay...” - Davos I, ACoK

These themes of fire, blood, sacrifice and 'paying the price' guide the following analysis of the rituals and sacrifices leading to the birth of the dragons, forging of Lightbringer, and rebirth of Azor Ahai.

Beginning with Dany VIII, AGoT -

“'There is a spell.' Her voice was quiet, scarcely more than a whisper. 'But it is hard, lady, and dark. Some would say that death is cleaner. I learned the way in Asshai, and paid dear for the lesson. My teacher was a bloodmage from the Shadow Lands.' "Dany went cold all over. 'Then you truly are a maegi...' 'Am I?' Mirri Maz Duur smiled. 'Only a maegi can save your rider now, Silver Lady.' 'Is there no other way?' 'No other.' Khal Drogo gave a shuddering gasp. 'Do it,' Dany blurted. She must not be afraid; she was the blood of the dragon. 'Save him.' 'There is a price,' the godswife warned her. 'You’ll have gold, horses, whatever you like.' 'It is not a matter of gold or horses. This is bloodmagic, lady. Only death may pay for life.' 'Death?' Dany wrapped her arms around herself protectively, rocked back and forth on her heels. 'My death?' She told herself she would die for him, if she must. She was the blood of the dragon, she would not be afraid… 'No,' Mirri Maz Duur promised. 'Not your death, Khaleesi.' Dany trembled with relief. 'Do it.' The maegi nodded solemnly. 'As you speak, so it shall be done. Call your servants.' Khal Drogo writhed feebly as Rakharo and Quaro lowered him into the bath. 'No,' he muttered, 'no. Must ride.' Once in the water, all the strength seemed to leak out of him. 'Bring his horse,' Mirri Maz Duur commanded, and so it was done."

Mirri Maz Duur is a maegi - a spell caster - words are her weapon. She chooses what she says (or doesn't say) with great intention and care. It is up to Daenerys (and the reader) to hear what Mirri is (or isn't) saying. Mirri relies heavily on omission, and does not volunteer many details, instead putting the onus on Daenerys to ask the right questions, while also relying on Dany's naivety, trust, and panic to cloud her understanding of the gravity of the 'cost.'

Mirri begins by offering Daenerys a warning and anecdote, explicitly stating this is dark magic that she learned at great personal cost. Despite being vague, the implication is that the cost was something significant. Yet Dany tells her, 'You can have gold, horses, whatever you like,' to which Mirri states that this is 'not a matter of horses - only death may pay for life.'

Daenerys asks for clarification here, and while Mirri cedes that the price is not Dany's own life, she intentionally omits further explanation of the sacrifice that is required - and Dany does not inquire any further. At this juncture of their agreement, Mirri has not so much as mentioned Drogo's horse, so Dany has no reason to yet believe the price to be paid is the life of the stallion. Instead, she agrees to make a seemingly unidentified sacrifice.

However, that she is described as wrapping her arms around herself protectively, is a subtle tell that she may, at least subconsciously, suspect the sacrifice to be Rhaego.

"She stood to answer. 'He shall be called Rhaego,' she said, using the words that Jhiqui had taught her. Her hands touched the swell beneath her breasts protectively as a roar went up from the Dothraki. 'Rhaego,' they screamed. 'Rhaego, Rhaego, Rhaego!' - Dany V, AGoT

"'I want what I came for...he can keep his bloody foal. I'll cut the bastard out and leave it for him.' The sword point pushed through her silks and pricked at her navel. Viserys was weeping she saw... Viserys began to scream the high wordless scream of the coward facing death...'Turn away, my princess, I beg you.' 'No.' She folded her arms across the swell of her belly. protectively." - Dany V, AGoT

"'My brother?' Her sob was half a laugh. 'He does not know yet, does he? The Usurper owes Drogo a lordship.' This time her laugh was half a sob. She hugged herself protectively. 'And me, you said only me?' 'You and the child,' Ser Jorah said, grim. 'No. He cannot have my son.'" - Dany VI, AGoT

This subconscious awareness is then explicitly discussed between Dany and Mirri after Daenerys wakes from her labor:

"'You warned me that only death could pay for life. I thought you meant the horse.' 'No,' Mirri Maz Duur said. 'That was a lie you told yourself. You knew the price.' Had she? Had she? If I look back I am lost." - Dany VIII, AGoT

"If I look back I am lost," is ultimately Daenerys' admission, as well as her acceptance that she cannot undo what is done -- she can only move forward in survival.

"Khal Drogo writhed feebly as Rakharo and Quaro lowered him into the bath. 'No,' he muttered, 'no. Must ride.' Once in the water, all the strength seemed to leak out of him. 'Bring his horse,' Mirri Maz Duur commanded, and so it was done. Jhogo led the great red stallion into the tent... 'What do you mean to do?' Dany asked her. 'We need the blood,' Mirri answered. 'That is the way.'... 'This is bloodmagic,' he said. 'It is forbidden.' 'I am khaleesi, and I say it is not forbidden. In Vaes Dothrak, Khal Drogo slew a stallion and I ate his heart, to give our son strength and courage. This is the same. The same.'" "'Strength of the mount go into the rider,' Mirri sang as horse blood swirled into the waters of Drogo's bath. 'Strength of the beast, go into the man.'" - Dany VIII, AGoT

It is not until Drogo's 'strength' leaks out of him that Mirri calls for the blood of his horse. The blood, not the life. This language is intentionally misleading - while the blood bath is preparation for the sacrifice, it is not the sacrifice itself.

Later in Dany X, Mirri reiterates:

“'It is not enough to kill a horse,' she told Dany. 'By itself, the blood is nothing.'

Dany likens this blood exchange to eating the stallion's heart to give Rhaego 'strength,' after which Mirri explicitly directs the stallion's 'strength' into Drogo. The purpose of blood bathing in-world is explained through an anecdote from Samwell in Jon IV, AGoT:

'"...two men came to the castle, warlocks from Qarth with white skin and blue lips. They slaughtered a bull aurochs and made me bathe in the hot blood, but it didn't make me brave like they promised...'"

Ultimately, the blood bath is for show. Mirri is leaning into this misdirect in order to lull Daenerys into a false sense of security: that the sacrifice is a horse rather than her unborn child.

It is a flimsy sense of security, especially when Dany herself reflects:

"Only a horse, Dany thought. If she could buy Drogo's life with the death of a horse, she would pay a thousand times over." - Dany VIII, AGoT

This reflection should trigger alarm bells for Dany - how meaningful can a sacrifice be if it is one you would willingly 'pay a thousand times over'? It also contradicts Mirri's earlier revelation of having 'paid dearly' for the lesson. Still, Dany clings to the misdirect as a means of survival. If I look back I am lost.

"She sent her handmaids away. 'Go with them, Silver Lady,' Mirri Maz Duur told her. 'I will stay,' Dany said. 'The man took me under the stars and gave life to the child inside me. I will not leave him.' - Dany VIII, AGoT

(Note the sting of hindsight tragedy in Dany saying that Drogo gave life to the child inside her - only for her to surrender that life back to him.)

"'You must. Once I begin to sing, no one must enter this tent. My song will wake powers old and dark. The dead will dance here this night. No living man must look upon them.' Dany bowed her head, helpless. 'No one will enter.' She bent over the tub, over Drogo in his bath of blood, and kissed him lightly on the brow. 'Bring him back to me,' she whispered to Mirri Maz Duur before she fled." - Dany VIII, AGoT

Mirri explicitly establishes that the ritual starts when she begins to sing. Her song is her invocation. Her invitation to death to administer the sacrifice.

"Mirri Maz Duur's voice rose to a high ululating wail that sent a shiver down Dany's back. Some of the Dothraki began to mutter and back away. The tent aglow with the light of braziers within. Through the blood-spattered sandsilk, she glimpsed shadows moving. Mirri Maz Duur was dancing, and not alone." - Dany VIII, AGoT

As Mirri begins to sing, kicking off the ritualistic sacrifice of Rhaego within Daenerys' womb, Dany experiences an immediate and palpable physical response - a response that grows in intensity as Mirri's song builds:

"Inside Dany's womb, her son kicked wildly...Dany felt a sharp pain in her belly, a wetness on her thighs...The Dothraki were shouting, Mirri Maz Duur wailing inside the tent like nothing human...Dany cried out for help, but no one heard...'no, please, stop it, it's too high, the price is too high.'...she tried to rise, and agony seized her and squeezed her like a giant's fist. The breath went out of her; it was all she could do to gasp. The sound of Mirri Maz Duur's voice was like a funeral dirge. Inside the tent, shadows whirled...She convulsed in his arms as the pain took her again...another pain grasped her, and Dany bit back a scream. It felt as if her son had a knife in each hand, as if he were hacking at her to cut his way out...when she opened her mouth a great wail of pain escaped, and the sweat broke over her skin. What was wrong with them? Couldn't they see? Inside the tent the shapes were dancing, circling the brazier and the bloody bath, dark against the sandsilk, and some did not look human. She glimpsed the shadow of a great wolf, and another like a man wreathed in flames...the sound of Mirri Maz Duur's voice grew louder, until it filled the world. The shapes! she screamed. The dancers!" - Dany VIII, AGoT

While the fandom largely accepts this passage as Dany experiencing a trauma-induced early labor, I do not.

Dany's pain builds and evolves alongside Mirri's song. 'The sound of Mirri Maz Duur's voice was like a funeral dirge...another pain grasped her...as if her son had a knife in each hand, as if he were hacking at her to cut his way out.' Mirri's song is a funeral dirge - calling out for Rhaego's death - and Rhaego violently responds. This is more than labor - this is death reaching inside Dany's womb to take the life within her. It is also the reason why Daenerys is able to see death's shadows - she is, in this particular moment, one with death.

The passage culminates with Mirri's song filling the world - as Rhaego succumbs to sacrifice.

"'You knew,' Dany said when they were gone. She ached, inside and out, but her fury gave her strength. 'You knew what I was buying, and you knew the price, and yet you let me pay it.' 'It was wrong of them to burn my temple,' the heavy, flat-nosed woman said placidly. 'That angered the Great Shepherd.' 'This is no god's work,' Dany said coldly. If I look back I am lost. 'You cheated me. You murdered my child within me.' 'The stallion who mounts the world will burn no cities now. His khalasar shall trample no nations into dust.'" - Dany IX, AGoT

When confronted, Mirri reveals her intent: to prevent the fulfilment of the Stallion Who Mounts the World prophecy. She sacrificed Rhaego knowing that the sacrifice would be insufficient to fully restore Drogo, eliminating the possibility of Rhaego being the stallion, as well as the potential for Drogo to father another child of prophecy. I will take this a step further by postulating that Mirri also intentionally sterilized Dany to prevent her from ever carrying another potential 'stallion.' In sterilizing Daenerys during a blood-sacrifice ritual, Mirri made an unintentional sacrifice of Dany's fertility to Viserion. (More on this later).

Of course, the great irony in all of Mirri's prophecy-prevention scheming is that her actions serve as the catalyst for Daenerys herself becoming the prophesized Stallion (aka Azor Ahai, aka The Promised Prince).

It is the loss of Rhaego and Mirri's lesson - 'only death may pay for life' - in conjunction with her earlier dragon dreams, which ultimately allow Daenerys to decipher the elements needed to birth her dragons and forge Lightbringer.

"A word and Dany could have her head off...yet then what would she have? A head? If life was worthless, what was death?" - Dany IX, AGoT

With this lesson in mind, Dany resolves to prepare her first sacrifice - Drogo.

"They led Khal Drogo back to her tent, and Dany commanded them to fill a tub, and this time there was no blood in the water. She bathed him herself... ...The memory of her first ride was with her when she led him out into the darkness, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky. She told herself that there were powers stronger than hatred, and spells older and truer than any the maegi had learned in Asshai. The night was black and moonless, but overhead a million stars burned bright. She took that for an omen... ...and when the bleak dawn broke over an empty horizon, Dany knew that he was truly lost to her. 'When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,' she said sadly. 'When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When my womb quickens again, and I bear a living child. Then you will return, my sun-and-stars, and not before.' Never, the darkness cried, never never never. Inside the tent Dany found a cushion of soft silk stuffed with feathers. She clutched it to her breasts as she walked back out to Drogo, to her sun-and-stars. If I look back I am lost. It hurt to even walk, and she wanted to sleep, to sleep and not to dream. She knelt, kissed Drogo on the lips, and pressed the cushion down upon his face." - Dany IX, AGoT

This passage (and chapter) ends with the Dany, moon-of-my-life, kissing Drogo, sun-and-my-stars, thus initiating the prophesized return of the dragons - 'One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return.'

Having begun her ritual and made her first sacrifice, Dany moves to constructing her sacred fire - Drogo's funeral pyre.

"Over the carcass of the horse, they built a platform of hewn logs...they laid the wood east to west, from sunrise to sunset. On the platform they piled Khal Drogo's treasures...another layer of brush was piled about the khal's treasures, and bundles of dried grass scattered over them... ...The third level of the platform was woven of branches no thicker than a finger, and covered with dry leaves and twigs. They laid the north to south, from ice to fire, and piled them high with soft cushions and sleeping silks." - Dany X, AGoT

While a pyre, by definition, is already sacred, this imagery of 'east to west, sunrise to sunset' and 'north to south, ice to fire' creates an invocation of sacred geometry often seen in ritualistic magic. Dany is building the first element required to birth dragons and forge Lightbringer: sacred fire.

It's also interesting that this language seemingly foreshadows a prophecy from Quaithe:

"'To go north you must journey south (north to south). To reach the west, you must go east (east to west)...'" - Dany III, ACoK

While the pyre is being built, Daenerys and Jorah have words:

"'You are my queen, my sword is yours, but do not ask me to stand aside as you climb on Drogo's pyre. I will not watch you burn.' 'Is that what you fear?' Dany kissed him lightly on his broad forehead. 'I am not such a child as that, sweet ser.' 'You do not mean to die with him? You swear it, my queen?' 'I swear it,' she said in the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms that by rights were hers." - Dany X, AGoT

Here, Dany is demonstrating a clear understanding that surrendering herself to the flames will not end with her death, but instead with her rebirth.

She then thinks to herself:

"Forgive me, sun of my life, she thought. Forgive me for all I have done and must do. I paid the price, my star, but it was too high, too high..." - Dany X, AGoT

Bringing to mind the Davos passage referenced earlier:

"...A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold. Yet at such a cost…when he thought of Nissa Nissa, it was his own Marya he pictured…the best woman in the world. He tried to picture himself driving a sword through her, and shuddered. I am not made of the stuff of heroes, he decided. If that was the price of a magic sword, it was more than he cared to pay.” - Davos I, ACoK

The next step in Dany's ritual is to place the dragon's eggs on the pyre:

"'They were not given to me to sell,' Dany told him. She climbed the pyre herself to place the eggs around her sun-and-stars. The black beside his heart, under his arm. The green beside his head, his braid coiled around it. The cream-and-gold down between his legs." - Dany X, AGoT

The placement and color of the eggs are the first indicators of the future themes and narrative roles associated with each of the dragons: Legacy, Opposition, Lightbringer.

Drogon's egg is placed next to Drogo's heart, under his arm. The heart is associated with courage and destiny, which is thematically similar to the mythos of the forging of Lightbringer, wherein Nissa Nissa is stabbed through the heart, and her courage and strength merge with the 'steel.' That the egg is tucked under Drogo's arm speaks to Drogon, as Lightbringer, being Dany's support, propping her up in the fight for the dawn.

Drogon's egg is black and red - black being associated with protection, power, and death; red being associated with action, strength, and passion. Themes which also align with the mythos and role of Lightbringer - of the heart and destiny.

Rhaegal's egg is placed next to Drogo's head, with his braid coiled around it. The head is associated with cognition, lessons, and wisdom, and it is a notably common theme for the head (Rhaegal) and the heart (Drogon) to be in opposition of one another. Drogo's braid, a symbol of his violence and prowess in battle, being coiled around Rhaegal's egg also feels significant.

Rhaegal's egg is green and bronze - green being associated with both greed and envy, as well as growth (lessons) and healing. Bronze, an alloy of copper, tin, and silver, is a metal whose components are symbolically oppositional. This is because copper is associated with fire and the sun, while tin and silver are associated with water and the moon.

Furthermore, in looking at Drogon, who is black, and Rhaegal, who is green, there is a potential callback to the factions of the Dance of the Dragons - team black and team green. This may further foreshadow opposition between Drogon (the heart) and Rhaegal (the head).

Consider this excerpt from Dany I, ASoS:

"As his sharp black teeth snapped shut around it, Rhaegal's head darted close, as if to steal the prize from his brother's jaws, but Drogon swallowed and screamed, and the smaller green dragon could only hiss in frustration... 'Stop that, Rhaegal,' Dany said in annoyance, giving his head a swat. 'You had the last one. I'll have no greedy dragons.'

Finally, Viserion's egg is placed between Drogo's legs - in his groin. The groin is associated with virility, passion, fertility, and reproduction - legacy. This symbolism is particularly poignant in the context of my earlier assertion - that Mirri intentionally sterilized Daenerys and in doing so, inadvertently made a sacrifice of Dany's fertility to none other than Viserion.

Viserion's egg is cream and gold - cream, or white, being associated with purity and innocence, and gold being associated with prestige, prosperity, abundance, and light. Purity and innocence align with the theme of fertility, while gold aligns with the theme of a New Dawn - legacy.

It is my belief that, since the days of Old Valyria, in order for a dragon to produce a fertilized clutch of eggs, they must be bonded with a Valyrian women. Meaning it is the bond itself that quickens the eggs. This fertility reliance allowed the Valyrians to monopolize dragons through reproduction. That Rhaenyra and Daenerys gave birth to dragon-human hybrid infants seemingly confirms a fertility connection between Valyrian women and dragons.

While I believe that Mirri intentionally sterilized Dany as she sacrificed Rhaego, I do not believe she had any awareness beforehand that a) Rhaego was a hybrid dragon baby, and b) there is a complex magical connection between Dany's fertility and dragons. Lacking this knowledge, and performing sterilization during a blood sacrifice, Mirri unknowingly and unintentionally made a sacrifice of Dany's fertility.

During Daenerys' fevered dragon dream she experiences:

"...a terrible burning in her womb. Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo's copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. He smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash." - Dany IX, AGoT

The terrible burning in her womb is the moment in which Mirri sacrifices Dany's fertility. The burning is immediately followed by a vision of Rhaego, breathing fire, then disappearing - Dany's only future children, her truest legacy, will be her dragons.

Mirri all but confirms Dany's sterilization when she flippantly and cruelly tells her that Drogo will return as he was when 'her womb quickens again, and she bears a living child.' Mirri knows this cannot happen because she herself ensured it.

Upon waking from the sacrifice of both Rhaego and her fertility, it is Viserion's egg that she clings to:

"When she woke a third time, a shaft of golden sunlight was pouring through the smoke hole of the tent, and her arms were wrapped around a dragon's egg. It was the pale one, its scales the color of buttercream, veined with whorls of gold and bronze, and Dany could feel the heat of it. Beneath her bedsilks, a fine sheen of perspiration covered her bare skin. Dragondew, she thought. Her fingers trailed lightly across the surface of the shell, tracing wisps of gold, and deep in the stone she felt something twist and stretch in response. It did not frighten her. All her fear was gone, burned away." - Dany IX, AGoT

It is Viserion who stretches in response to Dany's touch after the sacrifice of her fertility. And while she notes that Drogon and Rhaegal's eggs feel warm, she makes no mention of them stretching or stirring:

"Ser Jorah and Mirri Maz Duur entered a few moments later, and found Dany standing over the other dragon's eggs, the two still in their chest. It seemed to her that they felt as hot as the one she had slept with, which was passing strange." - Dany IX, AGoT

The eggs being warm is not a wholly new experience for Daenerys. She has been attuning herself to the kinetic life trapped in stone throughout her arc in AGoT, alongside her dragon dreams. She feels heat, and even sees visual auras, but she has never felt them move:

"She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black and scarlet she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers." - Dany III, AGoT

"As she let the door flap close behind her, Dany saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon's eggs across the tent. For an instant a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. She blinked, and they were gone. Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Illyrio said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. 'The sun,' Dany whispered. 'The sun warmed them as they rode.'" - Dany III, AGoT

"Irri fetched the egg with the deep green shell, bronze flecks shining amid its scales as she turned it in her small hands...She liked to hold them. They were so beautiful, and sometimes just being close to them made her feel stronger, braver, as if somehow she were drawing strength from the stone dragons locked inside." - Dany IV, AGoT

Daenerys could sense kinetic life within her eggs because they had been fertilized before turning to stone - by the bond between Rhaena and Dreamfyre. Assuming that Dany's eggs are the same eggs Elissa Farman stole from Dragonstone, then they would have been fertilized by the bond between Dreamfyre and Rhaena. However, having been taken so far from Dragonstone, Dreamfyre, and Rhaena, the eggs fossilized rather than hatched, trapping the dragons inside. Had the eggs not been fertilized, there would not have been any kinetic life for Daenerys to tap into - no stone dragons to wake.

Assuming then that Viserion stirs because Dany's fertility was sacrificed alongside Rhaego, the significance of Rhaego being a dragon-human hybrid cannot be overstated. The sacrifice of Dany's fertility, and by proxy, the sacrifice of Rhaego, freeing Viserion of the fertility reliance unites the dragon-woman fertility exploitation in liberation. Meaning that from her hatching, Viserion is born free of a fertility reliance - she does not require a human bond in order to produce fertilized eggs. In this way, Viserion is a beacon of dragon-liberation...

"Viserion had shattered one chain and melted the others, she clung to the roof of the pit like some huge white bat, her claws dug deep into the burnt and crumbling bricks... ...When she flapped her wings, a cloud of grey ash filled the air. Broken chains clanked and clattered about her legs." - ADwD, Dany VIII

And again, in the Dragontamer chapter of ADwD:

"'I thought there were two?' Viserion. Yes. Where is Viserion? The prince lowered his torch to throw some light into the gloom below...Shattered links were strewn across the floor of the pit amongst the blackened bones - twists of metal, partly melted. Rhaegal was chained to the wall and the floor the last time I was here, the prince recalled, but Viserion hung from the ceiling. Quentyn stepped back, lifted the torch, craned his neck back... ...Viserion launched herself from the ceiling, pale leather wings unfolding, spreading wide. The broken chain dangling from her neck swung wildly...the dragon turned back toward the Windblown and lurched for the door..."

Liberatory imagery aside, ADwD supports the sacrifice of Dany's fertility to Viserion in two ways - while Dany is having a miscarriage in the Dothraki Sea, Viserion is back in Meereen showing signs of nesting:

"For a moment he saw only the blackened arches of the bricks above, scorched by dragonflame. A trickle of ash caught his eye, betraying movement. Something pale, half-hidden, stirring. She's made herself a cave, the prince realized. A burrow in the brick...Viserion had dug herself a hole in the walls with flame and claw, a hole big enough to sleep in. - Dragontamer, ADwD

A burrow large enough to nest in.

Meanwhile, Daenerys is in the Dothraki Sea showing signs of miscarriage:

"When she woke, gasping, her thighs were slick with blood. For a moment she did not realize what it was. The world had just begun to lighten, and the tall grass rustled softly in the wind. No, please, let me sleep more. I'm so tired. She tried to burrow back beneath the pile of grass she had torn up when she went to sleep. Some of the stalks felt wet. Had it rained again? She sat up, afraid that she had soiled herself as she slept. When she brought her fingers to her face, she could smell the blood on them. Am I dying? Then she saw the pale crescent moon, floating high above the grass and it came to her that this was no more than her moon blood. If she had not been so sick and scared, that might have come as a relief. Instead she began to shiver violently. She rubbed her fingers through the dirt, and grabbed a handful of grass to wipe between her legs. The dragon does not weep. She was bleeding, but it was only woman's blood. The moon is still a crescent, though. How can that be? She tried to remember the last time she had bled. The last full moon? The one before? The one before that? No, it cannot have been so long as that.... ...it seemed to her that the cramping had grown worse...She saw fresh blood on her thighs. The ragged hem of her undertunic was stained with it. The sight of so much blood frightened her. Moon blood, it's only my moon blood, but she did not remember ever having such a heavy flow." - Dany X, ADwD

That both Viserion and Daenerys are described in these passages as 'burrowing,' which is synonymous with nesting, feels very significant.

Even more telling is that in this same passage, there are themes of legacy and liberation:

'I am blood of the dragon,' she told the grass, aloud. Once, the grass whispered back, until you chained your dragons in the dark. ...'I will never have a little girl. I was the Mother of Dragons.' Aye, the grass said, but you turned against your children." - Dany X, ADwD

The irony here is palpable - Viserion is Dany's little 'girl' - the liberatory beacon of Daenerys' legacy.

Returning to the pyre ritual in Dany X, AGoT:

"The godswife did not cry out as they dragged her to Khal Drogo's pyre and staked her down amidst his treasures. Dany poured the oil over the woman's head herself. 'I thank you, Mirri Maz Duur,' she said, 'for the lessons you have taught me.' 'You will not hear me scream,' Mirri responded as the oil dripped from her hair and soaked her clothing. 'I will,' Dany said, 'but it is not your screams I want, only your life. I remember what you told me. Only death can pay for life.' Mirri Maz Duur opened her mouth but made no reply. As she stepped away, Dany saw that the contempt was gone from the maegi's flat black eyes; in its place was something that might have been fear. Then there was nothing to be done but watch the sun and look for the first star. - Dany X, AGoT

Here Daenerys begins her second sacrifice - that of Mirri Maz Duur. It is essential that Daenerys 'poured the oil' herself; this is her ritual, and it needs to be backed up with her intent.

Dany repeatedly associates Mirri with 'lessons,' which, as discussed earlier, is a theme associated with Rhaegal both in terms of the placement of his egg (the head), and his coloring (green).

This is also the moment that Mirri realizes that Daenerys does know what she is doing with this ritual...it is the first time Mirri doubts herself for the choices she has made. It is not that she fears death - it is that she fears she has accelerated the very prophecy she meant to halt.

"Jhogo spied it first. 'There,' he said in a hushed voice. Dany looked and saw it, low in the east. The first star was a comet, burning red. Bloodred; fire red; the dragon's tail. She could not have asked for a stronger sign. Dany took the torch from Aggo's hand and thrust it between the logs. The oil took the fire at once, the brush and dried grass a heartbeat later..." - Dany X, AGoT

Again, it is essential that Daenerys herself lit the pyre - her ritual, her intent. None of this is happenstance. Daenerys is making intentional and active choices as she performs her ritual.

"Dany's lips parted and she found herself holding her breath. Part of her wanted to go to him and Ser Jorah had feared, to rush into the flames to beg for his forgiveness and take him inside her one last time, the fire melting the flesh from their bones until they were one, forever." - Dany X, AGoT

This clearly demonstrates Dany's understanding that there is a specific moment in which she needs to walk into the pyre: after the second hatching, because she herself is the third and final sacrifice.

"She had sensed the truth of it long ago, Dany thought as she took a step closer to the conflagration, but the brazier had not been hot enough. The flames writhed before her like the women who had danced at her wedding, whirling and singing and spinning their yellow and orange and crimson veils, fearsome to behold, yet lovely, so lovely, alive with heat. Dany opened her arms to them, her skin flushed and glowing. This is a wedding, too, she thought. Mirri Maz Duur had fallen silent. The godswife thought her a child, but children grow, and children learn." - Dany X, AGoT

Like Azor Ahai, Daenerys learns, through trial and error, that sacred fire alone is not sufficient to forge Lightbringer (or hatch dragons).

Her conceptualizing the pyre as a wedding (Bride of Fire) adds to the sanctity of the pyre.

And again - Mirri, like Rhaegal, is thematically associated with growth and lessons.

"Another step and Dany could feel the heat of the sand on the soles of her feet, even through her sandals...the flames were so beautiful, the loveliest things she had ever seen...She saw a horse, a great grey stallion limned in smoke, it's flowing mane a nimbus of blue flame. Yes, my love, my sun-and-stars, yes, mount now, ride now... ...Now, she thought, now. And for an instant she glimpsed Khal Drogo before her, mounted on his smoky stallion, a flaming lash in his hand. He smiled, and the whip snaked down at the pyre, hissing. She heard a crack, the sound of shattering stone. The platform of wood and brush and grass began to shift and collapse in upon itself. Bits of burning wood slid down at her, and Dany was showered with ash and cinders. And something else came crashing down, bouncing and rolling, to land at her feet; a chunk of curved rock, pale and veined with gold, broken and smoking." - Dany X, AGoT

This passage explicitly connects Drogo's sacrifice to the hatching of Viserion. This establishes that the first hatching is associated with Dany's first sacrifice - meaning that there is an identifiable order and process to the outcome of this ritual.

Drogo's sacrifice was one that Daenerys made out of love and mercy, but it is not one that had consent - it was not a willing sacrifice. While sacred fire and blood sacrifice were sufficient to birth a dragon - only death can pay for life - they were insufficient to forge Lightbringer. Thus, Viserion is the first 'failed' forging of Lightbringer.

That Viserion goes on to be Dany's most affectionate child speaks to her having been born of Daenerys' mercy. Her hatching was born of love, and this is reflected in her personality.

There is immense bittersweet poetry in Viserion being brought forth through the sacrifice of Drogo(/Rhaego) and Dany's own fertility, to then become the literal Mother of Dragons - the lasting legacy of Daenerys Targaryen, the Lady of Light. Viserion will have the children that Daenerys (and Drogo) could not.

Similarly, Viserion will do what Viserys, her namesake, could not - carry on the Dragon's legacy.

"'The cream and gold I call Viserion. Viserys was cruel and weak and frightened, yet he was my brother still. His dragon will do what he could not.'" - Dany I, ACoK

Furthermore, 'Viserys,' is the masculine 'Visenya.' Had it not been for male primogeniture, Visenya would have been ruling queen over Aegon - she was the eldest. Viserion is also the eldest of the dragons, she hatched first. Her becoming the 'queen' of a New Dawn of liberated dragons course-corrects the wrongs of male primogeniture down the Targaryen line.

"Her vest had begun to smolder, so Dany shrugged it off and let it fall to the ground. The painted leather burst into sudden flame as she skipped closer to the fire, her breasts bare to the blaze, streams of milk flowing from her red and swollen nipples." - Dany X, AGoT

Here Daenerys recreates Nissa Nissa 'bearing her breast' in willing self-sacrifice.

Then:

"The roaring filled the world, yet dimly through the firefall Dany heard women shriek and children cry out in wonder." - Dany X, AGoT

Invoking an earlier Davos excerpt:

"...A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold." - Davos I, ACoK

The dragons are repeatedly referred to as 'wonders' throughout the series.

“'Beware…of all. They shall come day and night to see the wonder that has been born again into the world...'” - Dany II, aCoK

“In all the world there were but three living dragons, and those were hers; they were a wonder, and a terror, and beyond price.” - Dany I, aSoS

“'…sailors back from the Jade Sea report that a three-headed dragon has hatched in Qarth, and is the wonder of that city.'” - Tyrion III, aSoS

“'When your dragons were small, they were a wonder.'” - Dany III, aDwD

“'Dragons and darker things…the grey sheep have closed their eyes, but the mastiff sees the truth. Old powers waken. Shadows stir. An age of wonder and terror will soon be upon us, an age for gods and heroes.'” - Prologue, aFfC

“'Once a man has seen a dragon in flight, let him stay at home and tend his garden in content…for this wide world has no greater wonder.'” - Tyrion IV, aDwD

“'We’ll see these dragons and all the wonders of the world.'” - Davos II, aDwD

That Lightbringer is described as a 'wonder to behold' is not coincidental.

Returning to the pyre:

"Only death can pay for life. And there came a second crack, loud and sharp as thunder, and the smoke stirred and whirled around her and the pyre shifted, the logs exploding as the fire touched their secret hearts." - Dany X, AGoT

Here we get Dany reflecting on Mirri's lesson - only death can pay for life - followed immediately by the second hatching. Just as the first sacrifice correlated with the first hatching, the second sacrifice - Mirri - correlates with the second hatching - Rhaegal.

We later receive explicit textual confirmation that Mirri was a sacrifice for a dragon in the House of the Undying visions:

"...Mirri Maz Duur shrieked in the flames, a dragon bursting from her brow..." - Dany IV, ACoK

Both Mirri and Rhaegal are thematically associated with lessons, but also themes of healing or healers - green being associated with healing, where Mirri herself is a healer.

Again, while sacred fire and blood sacrifice were sufficient to bring forth a living dragon, Rhaegal's hatching lacks the element of willing self-sacrifice - making him the second failed attempt to forge Lightbringer.

Where Drogo was sacrificed of Dany's mercy, Mirri is sacrificed of Dany's vengeance. While Viserion, born of mercy, is affectionate and loving, Rhaegal, born of retribution, is more aggressive and temperamental, seemingly attuned to Dany's anger. I believe that this pretext primes Rhaegal to be oppositional toward Daenerys. Not because he 'hates' her, but because he, like Mirri, exists narratively to teach her (painful) lessons - a dragon should not be chained, tamed, or otherwise enslaved, not even to their mothers. I see him doing this by choosing his own rider, likely one with enmity toward Daenerys.

Recall that this conflict is further reinforced by egg placement - with Drogon, the heart, being at odds with Rhaegal, the head, as well as Rhaegal's bronze coloring being symbolically conflicted.

There is also a bit of foreshadowing in the text:

"I have the dragons. The dragons are all the difference. She stroked Rhaegal. The green dragon closed his teeth around the meat of her finger and nipped hard." - Dany III, ACoK

Dany thinks 'I have the dragons' and Rhaegal seems to say, 'are you sure?'

Rhaegal's priming for disconnect and opposition toward Dany is reinforced in his namesake, Rhaegar, being the only one of the three namesakes that Daenerys did not personally know. It also creates a thematic connection between Rhaegal and Young Griff, the supposed son of Rhaegar - the Mummer's Dragon. A mummer 'gives the hero something to fight' - in this case, the hero being Daenerys (and Drogon).

A connection between Rhaegal and Young Griff brings us back to the black and green color symbolism between Drogon and Rhaegal - a potential second Dance of Dragons. Drogon and Daenerys being 'the blacks,' where Rhaegal and Young Griff are 'the greens.'

Should something of this nature unfold, I could see a tragic callback to Vermithor and Silverwing between Rhaegal and Viserion, who I very much believe to be a bonded pair. According to Fire and Blood, the singers say that after Vermithor had been slain, Silverwing descended from the sky at nightfall to lay beside him. Songs tell of her attempting to lift Vermithor's wings three times with her snout, as if to make him fly again. At sunrise, Silverwing took 'listlessly' to the skies, ultimately retiring to a small island in the Red Lake. In the case of Rhaegal and Viserion, I see this being the catalyst for Viserion retreating to the Mother of Mountains (which is where I believe she will retire for nesting and reproduction by the end of the series).

"She heard the screams of frightened horses, and the voices of the Dothraki raised in shouts of fear and terror, and Ser Jorah calling her name and cursing. No, she wanted to shout to him, no, my good knight, do not fear for me. The fire is mine. I am Daenerys Stormborn, daughter of dragons, bride of dragons, mother of dragons, don't you see? Don't you SEE? With a belch of flame and smoke that reached thirty feet into the sky, the pyre collapsed and came down around her. Unafraid, Dany stepped forward into the firestorm, calling to her children. The third crack was as loud and sharp as the breaking of the world." - Dany X, AGoT

'Do not fear for me,' demonstrates Dany's knowledge that this is the precise moment in which she must step forward in self-sacrifice and rebirth. She is the third sacrifice, the third forging. In this moment, she is Nissa Nissa, breasts bared for sacrifice. The crack in response to Dany's sacrifice is described as the 'breaking of the world,' where Nissa Nissa's sacrifice is said to have 'cracked the moon.'

She is 'unafraid' because her dragon dreams have already shown her what will happen:

"There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce." - Dany III, AGoT

She dreams of Drogon, specifically, covered in her blood. Born of her self-sacrifice. The Red Sword of Heroes:

"'...her blood and her soul and her strength and her courage all went into the steel...such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.'" - Davos I, ACoK

Then she dreams:

"A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew. '...wake the dragon...'" - Dany IX, AGoT

These dreams demonstrate Daenerys functioning in three specific capacities - Nissa Nissa, Lightbringer, and Azor Ahai. Child of Three.

First, Drogon is covered in her blood - her sacrifice. She then 'opens her arms to the fire,' embracing it - in parallel to Nissa Nissa embracing the sword.

She dreams of 'waking the dragon' - becoming the dragon. When she walks into the pyre, what was Daenerys Targaryen is sacrificed to the flames, merging with Drogon, to forge an otherworldly weapon of light and hope - Lightbringer.

She is then reborn - 'strong and new and fierce' - as Azor Ahai.

"'The frightened child who sheltered at my manse died on the Dothraki Sea and was reborn in blood and fire.'" - Tyrion, ADwD

Daenerys and Drogon are one, connected at a soul level.

"Dany and Drogon screamed as one." - Dany IX, ADwD

They scream as one, despite not yet being bonded as dragon-rider. Something else connects them. Something deeper, stronger, and more magical.

"In the smoldering red pits of Drogon's eyes, Dany saw her own reflection. How small she looked, how weak and frail and scared." - Dany IX, ADwD

Here Dany is quite literally seeing the part of herself that was sacrificed to Drogon.

After she bonds with Drogon as his rider, she thinks:

"On Drogon's back she felt whole." - Dany X, ADwD

Similar to how Viserion will do what Viserys could not, Drogon will accomplish what Drogo never could have - guiding and protecting Daenerys on the path to her greater destiny as the 'Lady of Light and Hope.' The herald of a New Dawn and the restoration of balance between the seasons. Drogo would have deterred Dany from her greater purpose. The farthest he would have carried her would have been the Iron Throne, the ultimate red herring of the series.

"When the fire died at last and the ground became cool enough to walk upon, Ser Jorah Mormont found her amidst the ashes, surrounded by blackened logs and bit of glowing ember and the burnt bones of man woman and stallion. She was naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away...yet she was unhurt." - Dany X, AGoT

She is as naked and bald as the day she was first born. Amidst the smoke of the pyre, and the salt of Dany's tears as they turned to steam, Azor Ahai is born again.

"The cream and gold dragon was suckling at her left breast, the green and bronze at her right. Her arms cradled them close. The black and scarlet beast was draped across her shoulders, its long sinuous neck coiled under her chin... ...As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons." - Dany X, AGoT

The placement of the dragons in this scene supports the order in which they hatched. Viserion and Rhaegal hatched before Daenerys walked into the pyre - she calls to them as she steps forward. Their placement suggests that they came when called and took to nursing, during which Drogon, having hatched last, landed on her shoulder.

IN SUM:

Daenerys recreates the conditions required to forge Lightbringer - sacred fire, blood, and willing self-sacrifice - in her ritual to birth the dragons

She is the Child of Three - functioning as Nissa Nissa, Lightbringer, and Azor Ahai

Viserion and Rhaegal are the failed forgings of Lightbringer

Viserion is Legacy: born of mercy (and fertility). She will live on to be the literal Mother of Dragons - the Ivory Empress of the New Dawn, nesting atop the Mother of Mountains. Her children will be born free of bloodmagic and fertility bonds, to maintain the necessary magical homeostasis between ice and fire

Rhaegal is Opposition: born of vengeance and painful lessons, Rhaegal is primed to take an oppositional stance in Dany's story

Drogon is Lightbringer: born of willing self-sacrifice, Drogon will guide and protect Daenerys as she fulfills her greater purpose

Collectively, these three - Legacy, Opposition, Lightbringer (LOL) - form the three-headed dragon, the Lady of Light (LOL) - Daenerys Targaryen ('Dae' is Korean for 'shining one' or 'great one,' while 'Nerys' is Welsh for 'Lady' - The Shining Lady, the Lady of Light)

[shadrell]

I haven't posted my wonderful magos yet, because I have no idea how to translate their job titles correctly. I hope the literal translation will be understandable.

> 𝙾𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚑 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙰𝚋𝚋𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚜 𝙺𝚊𝚛𝚕

Magos Artisan, who ended up behind a star galleon about fifty years ago, at his own request to be transferred here, to replace the previous magos under the Pact. A qualified and skilled specialist, who, despite his desire to touch archeotech, has very dogmatic views on xenotech (which caused conflicts with the previous Rogue Trader). The second longest-living member of the crew.

He held the position of Enginseer Prime of the "Paving the Way", but after the change of Lord Captain, he was forced to give up this position, taking the position of Omnissiah Congregation Abbot. He accepted the appointment without much controversy - there was only one official protest, written on parchment and certified with the necessary signatures and seals, described in detail, reasoned. However, he openly demonstrates indignation and dissatisfaction with the situation, as well as open disrespect for the "not sufficiently qualified unit" who occupied such a high and important post.

Bad character.

A very capable shipwright - at least two dozen modifications of ship systems and optimization protocols have been registered in his name. Two of these patents have been implemented in the Imperial Navy and on some explorator ships.

✤

> 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚜 𝙽𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚘

Magos is perhaps the oldest member of the crew - she has served on board the "Paving the Way" for more than three hundred years, since she entered service here as an Engineer. Of course, in addition to the engine of the star galleon, she studies its other systems, and was also responsible for the repair of engines and generators of other ships, but she always returned to the engine that, apparently, she especially loved. When the term of the contract expired, she immediately signed a new one, this time indefinite.

Hardly anyone knows better than this person not only the engine (although she herself still has not unraveled all its secrets) but also the entire ship. Her ambitions have never been in the mundane plane, even her own cult, and the magos has always kept aloof even from them, especially those who were eager to learn secrets without her.

Pragmatic character.

They say that she communicates with the spirits of machines and can negotiate with the most angry and proud of them.

[simplegeneral]

HC: 14 years into the future of the DoD

Always disappointed with how little time passes in WoF, I decided to build a few headcanons of how the DoD are living at their 20 years old, 14 years after they ended the sandwing war.

Will do more with the Jade Winglet, but idk about Pantala, I don't have much ideas for that crazy place.

Clay:

Out of the dragonets of destiny, without doubt, Clay had the roughest entrance to real life. From an uncaring mother, to a nonexistent father, all he truly had were his siblings. Clay taught self-defense classes at the Jade Academy until the queens decided they would eventually replace him with more proper teachers of their choosing. Unfair as it was, Clay at that point only had Sunny and Starflight occasionally working there, thus his decision to leave it was a harmless one.

Clay would camp with his siblings through the land, ever curious to explore the world rather than live in one place, he was followed eventually by Peril, who would get together for a while, after officially becoming a couple only recently, as both of them had much to work in terms of their minds and souls.

Clay eventually would find work at the very organization which he started in, the Talons of Peace, not underground anymore and an official institution of peacekeeping led by Riptide. He would join them gladly, together with Peril and his siblings, working as an artist and publisher for them, Clay was finally where he wanted to be, at peace and working to spread the message of peace.

Sunny:

An inspired orator, Sunny would bath in the glory of having ended the war with humble aspirations. She founded the Jade Academy so every tribe may gather together and learn about each other, and while reality had hit harder than she could have predicted, she demonstrated that her spirit is not easily crushed by outside forces.

A principal, a teacher and a caring ever hopeful soul, she demonstrated her academy would survive the test of time. After an abysmal year in 5012 AS, 5013 AS had begun with inspiring news, Starflight’s project to demystify lies, stereotypes and harmful beliefs had brought credibility to the academy, and while ever doubtful of her abilities, Sunny constantly proved everyone wrong by working harder each time.

By 5025 AS, the Jade Academy is now the most prestigious institution of learning of all Pyrrhia, making even the most well-known icewing learning centers small in comparison.

While the other dod may have found someone in their lives to complete their halves, Sunny remains alone. The hope that she is building the future fulfills her heart, plus her life is incredibly busy as of now, being a former dod, she participates in the queen’s summit, frequently visits the sand palace as an adviser of queen Oasis II and still is a principal of the academy.

She is always somewhere, and everywhere at once! Some would ask if she is ever tired, and her response always is:

“Tired of helping the world heal? Pfft. Never!”

Glory:

Glory had faced her entire life the stereotypes and beliefs that her tribe was inferior to the rest, lazy worms who couldn't even inspire to be something in life... Yet she proved one rainwing can make the difference, all of them, change the world.

Going from a former DoD to a princess, and now main representative of the rainwings worldwide, Glory has worked tirelessly as much as Sunny to rebuild her society into the pride of Pyrrhia they once were, introducing writing, scrolls, printing machines and other technologies that were quickly revolutionizing the rainforest when mixed with local costumes and traditions.

RainWings by now have the highest scores in most subjects studied at the Jade Academy, thanks to their exceptional memories and learning abilities, mixed with almost uncanny calm and persistency. RainWing healers now work at almost every healing center and hospital of Pyrrhia, and traders from the rainforest are famous worldwide for their most exotic foodstuffs.

As of 5025, Glory rest easy as she tirelessly worked against discrimination of her tribe and the efforts have brought the RainWings and the world together once more, while she never found anyone that would complete her other half, she now passes her time wondering what the great RainWing queens of the past would think of her efforts, as she dives deep into their culture, after living her whole life as an outsider to her own people.

Starflight:

Starflight have had rough times since the second nightwing exodus out of their former island, suffering severe injuries due to the volcanic explosion, but nothing his nowadays self couldn’t handle. In time, he became the head of the library and begun realizing that the scrolls he once relied so much on his life were either incomplete or downright falsehoods he could only see through after the travels he had with the DoD in their fun adventure to end a war.

As the head of the library, Starflight felt personally responsible for the information they would pass down to future generations and sought to correct mistakes of the past, launching his partner and later wife Fatespeaker into expeditions across Pyrrhia to obtain first-hand information for the next series of books to be released and studied.

Whenever he is not in the library nowadays, he is at the queens’ summit as a former DoD and adviser of foreigner affairs and diplomacy of queen Greatness, although the later job he had honorably retired after the stress of the second exodus. Rarely though, he made visits to Renewal, the new capital and city of the NightWings outside of the rainforest, either visiting his step-sister Fierceteeth and her family, or despite being overall seen as an outsider by his nation, honorably as a DoD, being allowed a proper nightwing marriage ceremony with Fatespeaker.

Tsunami:

Tsunami had the welcoming home she always dreamed when she returned home in 5011 AS, but realities are often disappointing, after realizing her mother tried to murder her friends, held her sisters on a leash and was a braindead goose easily manipulated by Blister, she decided that enough was enough, challenging Coral and killing her mother, becoming the new queen.

With the tales of murdering both her mother and father, Tsunami saw herself in a situation simply too equal to the ones of her considered enemies, a monster. Even though she had the support of Anemone, and now had Auklet under her care, she decided that her redemption would come through helping the DoD from her now strong position.

As they ended the war on their terms, Tsunami was now a proper queen of the seawings and begun restructuring the queendom, undoing the severe mess her mother left it in, ensuring proper dragonet education, undoing Coral’s impressive propaganda system, and often using it on her favor to gain popularity among the common folk.

Now Tsunami, despite all, had grow solitary and tired of ruling, being ever pressured, after years of ruling, to find a proper king to announce successors of her own blood. While Riptide was on the line, the reality of both of their jobs, as well as the distance, made them merely exchange letters for so long until eventually they went their separated ways.

Tsunami and Anemone always considered Auklet to be the more proper queen of the seawings, growing without their vicious and uncaring tendencies, Tsunami intends to abdicate the throne in favor of her younger sister next year.

[redbatchedcumbermayned]

Dopamine Week fic recs - all Rogue Trader gift exchange fics!!!

Because I'm short on time this week, here's a link list to all the fics that have been written in the two Rogue Trader gift exchanges so far to celebrate the awesome people in this fandom and the great work they create!

First RT gift exchange May 25th*:

A smuggler and a thief by nikozaur - Jae x m!Rogue Trader

Some masks are borne of convenience, some of of necessity. Sometimes, it is difficult to distinguish which of them is the real face.

The last dance and the first by @theevilscribbler - Xavier Calcazar x f!Rogue Trader

After a successful meeting with the Lord Inquisitor during her Magnae Accessio, Cesselie von Valancius is surprised to find that Xavier Calcazar has lingered to enjoy the party a little longer. Will a less formal encounter pave the way to something more?

Part of the trial by Hackinslash - Marazhai x Sister Argenta

Enjoy two characters at their lowest ebb, fighting against the odds to get a taste of redemption and freedom.

Radiance on the bridge by @captastra Heinrix x f!Rogue Trader

Heinrix van Calox gets lost in thought as he watches Isidora von Valancius on the bridge of her ship.

A leap into the void by myself XD - Heinrix x f!Rogue Trader

Heinrix van Calox and Lethyan von Valancius spend a quiet evening in the observatorium. Things turn spicy fast and Lethyan finds out that even a Biomancer's willpower has its limits.

Second RT gift exchange August 17th:

Systematical; Sacrificial by @vossprime - Pasqal x f!Rogue Trader

The Rogue Trader and Pasqal discuss their blossoming entanglement, life after Commorragh, and Pasqal's mechadendrites. A strange ritual ensues.

Storytime by @holylustration Heinrix x m!Rogue Trader x Jae

Cassia's heard a tale from some midshipmen - and as everything one hears from the crew must be true - she's invited the Lord Captain and some friends to share the story. Not everyone is impressed.

We're tender mammals mostly by @gravelorded Pasqal x f!Rogue Trader

Mercy. Von Valancius knows it, even if she refuses to speak its name. A tech-priest knows to excise it to better understand the Omnissiah’s directive, but for her- for this moment only, he assures- he will try.

Closed Impetus by @vossprime - Heinrix x f!Rogue Trader

Rogue Trader Elena von Valancius and Inquisitor Heinrix van Calox find themselves at a spontaneous ball. Between investigating noble intrigues and fast dances, they have to ponder the status of their relationship since the Magnae Accessio.

A sound strategy by @theevilscribbler - Heinrix x f!Rogue Trader

As the siege on Eufrates II draws close and their future hangs in the balance, Inquisition Agent Heinrix van Calox is determined to ensure that all their plans are flawless, even at the cost of his own well-being. Fortunately, his beloved Rogue Trader is on hand to assist with his preparations… and even has a few interesting suggestions of her own!

Tender by @vitanithepure - Heinrix x f!Rogue Trader

Sometimes Heinrix van Calox needs a reminder that those that play with fire often get burned.

A Tech-Priest's heart by @captastra Pasqal x f!Rogue Trader

Pasqal slowly starts to learn that the heart, machine or not, still has a way of falling.

Down the line by Hackinslash - Marazhai x m!Rogue Trader

Marazhai Aezyrraesh wishes to taste some of Seth von Valancius's psyker powers, and his little pet doesn't dare refuse.

A rare flower amidst Chaos by myself - Heinrix x f!Rogue Trader

Lord Inquisitor Heinrix van Calox had always loved Lienna von Valancius. Yet duty had kept the lovers apart until now. Heinrix has been summond to Lyxus to attend a picnic, and he has a confession to make.

*if I missed a fic please send me a message and I'll add it promptly.

Now go and spread the love and discover some hidden gems!

[nierly-amazing]

Controversial opinion: Nier Automata's story would have benefited a lot from the creative freedom of being an indie game with more queer & disabled writers, and writers from heavily colonized places

Probably less controversial to those who are still following my gay ass.

It already manages to be a masterpiece on it's own but there's always going to be constraints in big budget games to appeal to a wider audience--like the rumor/fact/idr that 9S was going to be a girl initially but got changed. There's a lot of good input queer and disabled creatives could have offered from their life experiences and how it relates to some of the transhumanist themes in the game. A lot of people seem to forget the machines have been colonizing earth and genociding the androids for 6000 years and those themes could have been expanded on more too.

Like yay we get lesbian 6O and implied trans Pascal but it doesn't really go anywhere with them. The anime does go more into Pascal and machines swapping parts and 9S completely dismissing it but then they never touch on it again (unless they still plan to but with 4 episodes left I doubt it). I want to see 9S have a crisis over it, (and 2E 2B have a crisis over him having a crisis about it).

It'd be interesting to see more a of a discrepancy between high-end porcelain doll yorha models and underfunded ancient Resistance androids. They all look like normal humans. Even the ship of theseus trader guy with the bad leg looks like a regular android. Give me some androids with fucked up body mods that causes 9S to have another crisis (because this boy can fit so many crises in him). Something something parallels with relationships to gender something something 9S is trans and transphobic--doesn't understand the FEEELINGS or what to do about them.

Yorha could have much stricter rules on body modification that's drilled into the android's heads from day one and then they see the machines swap parts with no reservations and resistance androids swap parts with some reservations. Even the whole "emotions are prohibited" thing could be touched on more with more internal struggle in 9S over his inability to act emotionless, and perhaps touch on the point of conflict with 2B who poorly pretends to have her emotions in check.

Maybe some conflict between the machines in pascals village and how rigid they are in trying to emulate humans. Like a group trying to emulate rigid gender roles despite not having assigned genders or sex characteristics, and a group that just does whatever. Like "no you have to choose" but also "humans didn't choose (mostly) so who cares".

And then there's the fact that most machines in pascal's village are not fully sapient, or are maybe coded as children still learning the world and something something its 1am something something how much should their level of sapience matter

Even with 9S's memory "issues" we only have 1 moment in the anime where he has a flash of past memories. Imagine if his descent into grief-stricken madness in route C had his old deleted memories start resurfacing and mixing with his current ones. Or maybe the machine network had copies of some of them and used them to torment him more.

Imagine if they showed Anemone and Devpop try harder to help him but weren't able to due to them not fully understanding what he's going through and their own hangups about machines. Imagine him being unable to really open up to anyone because he doesn't fully understand what he's going through.

9S """racism""" toward machines isn't at all unique to him. They've been genociding the androids for 6000 years, everyone hates them. I want to see more opinions from resistance androids, especially regarding pascal's village. Even Anemone/Lily aren't completely fine with the idea of trading with machines but are basically forced to out of desperation since the council of humanity left them on read. I want to see more of their internal strife with the concept. I want to see some conflict between resistance and yorha androids, too, and conflict within the resistance over the idea of aiming for a peace treaty.

There could also be some good conflict between 2B and 9S over 2B's willingness to just "accept" pascal's village. Since they both have valid points for their opinions (2B's a big softie and doesn't want to fight and 9S sees pacifist machines 'suddenly' popping up after 6000 years as a mega giganto trap (and why wouldn't he?)).

I would have liked to see more interactions with other androids and how they manage in a posthuman world and them trying to replicate humanity from 11,000 years ago. We have little bits and pieces like the bit where the operators give commander a bunch of brown things for valentine's day instead of chocolates.

Oops I thought I was gonna write like 2 paragraphs but I blacked out and wrote an essay. It's late I might expand on this tomorrow but here's some stuff 2 think about

(and bonus extra controversial opinion but it's kinda fucked up that there's the whole theme about robot sentience and then you can go stab fish in the face for fun and kill moose and boar for a quest so an android--who doesn't need to eat at all--can try eating them. Like here we are arguing about fictional robot sentience and then ignoring actual real animal sentience in our daily lives to the point where we don't even question how messed up killing them for non-survival reasons is)

[deputyrook]

2024 Writing Round-Up

Thanks @soupandsorcery for tagging me!

Tagging: @ex0rin @the-darklings @glitteringdust @darethshirl @gastlygallows @brightaxe @envysnest @fenharael and anyone else who would like to!

words posted: 29,066 on A03 | 3508 misc. on tumblr | 9601 on pythium (some of that is coding, though, so I'm going to count ~7000)

additional words written: 8439

grand total of words: 48,013 (slower year, most of this was written in the last few months- I blame crazy work burnout and recovery)

fandoms: dragon age, rogue trader, saw, bg3, original fiction

highest kudos: 837 on Playing Cards (!!!)

highest hit oneshot: Same fic, Playing Cards, with 5984

new things I tried: Besides learning how to code an interactive fiction game (which has been a fun challenge), I also experimented more with writing in different perspectives.

fic I spent the most time on: I think probably Alliance of Three, I worked on it off and on for a week and then two days straight (20+ hours for sure.)

fic I spent the least time on: I banged out In Her Absence in around 2 hours.

favourite thing I wrote: Either of these drabbles: Chocolate/Kitchen Fluff, or Alliance of Three, though I think Mala Suledin Nadas is the best thing I wrote.

favourite thing(s) I read: In terms of novels/novellas, some of my favourites this year were Blood Standard by Laird Barron; The Murderbot Series by Martha Wells; Thrum by Meg Smitherman; and I've been loving Kushiel's Dart but I'm only 25% of the way through.

Favourite fics this year include (mind the warnings):

River Rushing Through My Veins - LunarLich/ @nerendus

I've read this fic like at least once a month since it was posted. One of those rare fics that hits every note perfectly for me specifically, on top of being gorgeously written.

the hand you deal & pray for rain - mafalda_157/ @darethshirl

Absolutely stunning command of language- and the characterization work that gets done through the prose! Not a sentence is wasted. Also, so hot?

How the Game is Played (series) - TheEvilScribbler

This series had my jaw on the floor. Not just from how brilliantly it's written and how wonderfully in-character everyone is, but from the places the fic is willing to go. Truly, I was gagged.

To Tame a Wild Yakboy - BeeKazoo

In contrast to some of my other favs, this fic is just incredibly wholesome, and was a lovely read. It takes the bones of the good romance story from the game, and makes it a great romance story.

Uccellino - 2Wardens1Blight/ @2wardens1blight

This fic is exactly what I wanted to read after finishing Veilguard. I've read it a few times, and it's made me cry each times. It just brings me a lot of happiness to read.

Pity the Mayfly- envysnest/ @envysnest

Speaking of fics with unbelievably good character writing. The Tav in this fic is one of my favourites that I've ever read. She's a likeable, relatable protagonist, and both she and all of the companions are written with depth and a particularly strong character voice.

Inferior- Anonymous

I would be remiss if I didn't mention this mysterious little fic, which was deleted two days after I bookmarked it. I somehow found it again via Wayback Machine (and saved a copy). The dirty talk in this fic... woof. I'm taking notes.

Finally, everything I've reblogged in my fic-rec tag. I've saved many incredible fics and drabbles there. In addition to those I've mentioned, some of my favourite dragon age writers right now include (in no particular order) @glitteringdust, @writerfromshikahr, @soupandsorcery @ode-to-fury and a number of others!

writing goals for 2025: Definitely to both read and write more in general! I would love to really concentrate on writing this year, both more fanfiction and original fiction. It's something that fell a bit by the wayside this year, and rediscovering how much I enjoy writing has been a really fun process (now that I'm not being crushed by crippling work stress and burnout).

new works: Alliance of Three for my most recent full-length fic; this little Illario/Rook drabble; this fluffy drabble about Lucanis and Rook cooking.

There are so many inspiring fic writers out there whose work I enjoyed this year ♥ There was no way I could include every fic that left an impact on me. But thank you!!!

[fourraccoonsinacoat]

Mongrel Hearts | Chapter 2

Pairing: Heinrix x Rogue Trader

Read on Ao3

Chapter Summary: With the strain and exhaustion of the past several days finally catching up to her, Visenya makes some questionable decisions. And when the Rogue Trader shows up to his cabin in the middle of the night with accusations, Heinrix isn't entirely sure how to respond. Author's Notes: This was a fun chapter. These two awkward idiots will be the death of each other. And we learn more about Visenya and the secrets she's trying to keep locked down. Listening To: Fine With It - Motherfolk

Chapter 2: Push it Down

Visenya waited until the lift to her private quarters had begun its decent – and she was well out of sight of the bridge – to have a full and total meltdown.

Her heart was hammering against her ribcage like a panicked animal trying to claw through her sternum. She took a deep breath, which almost immediately hitched in her lungs, sending her into a coughing fit that had her doubled over by the time the lift arrived in the anterior chamber.

Still sputtering like a serf with lung rot, she wiped tears from her eyes and quickly glanced around the room. Relief washed through her when she found no guards or servants present to witness her fit. Searching the inside breast pocket of her coat, Visenya pulled out a small respirator device, cursing as she noted the indicator on its side had turned red.

Empty.

Drawing in a ragged breath, Visenya tried to fight off another coughing fit as her pulse quickened further and her heart began fluttering. She was such a fucking idiot, leaving the ship without a spare cartridge. She’d assumed the visit to Rykad Minoris would consist of celebration and not end in a full-scale exterminatus of the planet.

Her heart jolted and a fresh wave of shame flooded her nervous system like poison. Memories of her home planet flashed in her mind like a frantic kaleidoscope playing through the broken shards of her adolescence.

A dead world. Skeletal and sickly people huddled in the grimy shadows of shacks. The echoes of wet brutal coughing and the agonized howls that rose up from the plague colonies…

Visenya’s system spun out of control; panic and adrenaline colliding to create a violent storm that overrode her senses. She stumbled up the few stairs to her desk, breathing strained and chest tightening, then began blindly yanking out the drawers. She was beyond recalling which one contained the spare medicinal cartridges - and dumped the contents of each across the floor until she found a small unmarked metallic disk.

Snapping the disk into a slot on the respirator, Visenya held the device over her nose and mouth, breathing in. The respirator hissed softly as she tried to breathe deep, coughed, and tried again. Slowly, the pressure in her lungs dissipated and her breathing steadied.

The fit had started not long after she and Pasqal managed to get the warp engines functioning. It had been a strange experience, communing with the flagship’s machine spirit…one that, according to Pasqal, had a temperament unlike any other spirit he had encountered. Once they’d made the translation into the warp, Visenya had left the Magos to muse over what had just occurred while she tried to hide the strain building in her lungs. Her condition was notorious for being triggered by stress, and if the past few weeks were an indication of what was to come, she feared stress was going to become a close personal friend. Visenya would have to talk to the High Factotum about ensuring she was stocked with an ample supply of medicinal cartridges. And she probably needed to have her lung filters checked, and possibly even replaced.

When had she last had them changed? 

Visenya took another drawn out breath as she sat on the floor behind her desk, legs crisscrossed and eyes closed as she focused on the feeling of air entering and filling her lungs. She figured Danrok would be able to source a chirurgeon who specialized in pulmonary filtration systems. Visenya was convinced the High Factotum could find her an entire retinue of Carcharodons if she tasked him with the job. He was proving himself to be an extremely valuable asset within her protectorate. And, at current, was the only one who knew about her ailment, despite insisting he did not need any particulars when she had asked him to procure the medication.

Her train of thought derailed as she opened her eyes and the kickspace of her desk came into focus. There, stuck to the underside of her desktop in a far corner, was a small black sphere roughly the size of a grape cut in half.

Pocketing her respirator, she scooted closer to the desk and squinted, trying to get a better view of the object. Her stomach lurched when she realized what it was: a vox-bead.

Her study had been bugged!

Before thinking better of it, Visenya had plucked the vox-bead from the underside of the desk and was peering at it in the palm of her hand. She was already sorting through possible perpetrators in her head, and knew there were likely more she wasn’t even aware of. There would be a great many people curious about the new head of the von Valancius dynasty.

And she would start with the most obvious suspect.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Visenya was surprised by how many people seemed to be completely unfazed by her wandering of the ship at the ungodly hour of roughly 0300, when all officers not on night duty should have been sleeping. She faintly wondered if Theodora had also been a fitful sleeper who was prone to midnight strolls on the bridge.

Making her way to the guest compartment without any fuss, Visenya walked down the hall until she arrived at the cabin of their Inquisitorial visitor. Her plan, if this impulsive middle-of-the-night sojourn could even be called that, was to catch Heinrix off guard and straight up ask him if he’d planted the vox-bead in her study.

Was it a carefully considered and tactful plan? No. But, after slaughtering her way through a city of cultists, barely managing to escape a chaos space marine and then razing an entire planet…she was out of both tact and care.

After rapping her knuckles on the cabin door, Visenya didn’t have to wait long before there was the sound of a lock disengaging. The door slid open to reveal a perplexed and slightly disheveled Heinrix. He stood in the doorway wearing the same uniform dress pants from the day before, as well as a white undershirt that was a bit more form-fitting than Visenya had been prepared for.

Don’t look at his arms. Don’t look at his arms.

She looked at his arms. Visenya wasn’t celibate and Heinrix was an obviously handsome man.

“Rogue Trader? Is everyth—”

She pushed past him into the room, cutting the Interrogator off as she did so.

“Master van Calox, I am going to ask you a question and I need an honest, none-of-that-Inquisitorial-groxshit answer.” Once inside the cabin, Visenya rounded back on him and stared Heinrix down with a hard look that was equal parts feral and exhausted.

“Are you spying on me in my private quarters?”

Heinrix’s eyes went wide as the door slid shut behind him.

“W—What?” he stuttered, face filtering through emotions of shock, confusion and then alarm as the air around them became noticeably cooler.

“No! Lord Captain, if you—if I have done or said anything improper to imply—”

Visenya’s stomach dropped, and she felt heat beginning to claw at her throat.

“Wait! No!” She cut him off again as she realized, with mounting horror, what it sounded like she had just accused him of. “That’s not what I meant!”

She threw her hands up in a placating gesture and once again felt her lungs begin to tighten. Turning her head, Visenya coughed into her arm, took a deep breath and looked back at Heinrix with a pained grimace.

“Let me start over.”

Heinrix furrowed his brow and – carefully, like one might approach a rabid animal – took a slow step towards her.

“Lord Captain,” he said somewhat stiffly, then hesitated.

Taking a moment to draw in a slow breath, as if he were considering his next words carefully, Heinrix took another half-step.

“Visenya, it’s the middle of the night. Are you alright? Do you need me to call for a medic?” The Interrogator’s tone had softened slightly, and he made a motion as if to touch her arm before thinking better of it and clasping his hands together politely.

By the Throne, she thought bitterly. He probably thinks I’m suffering from some kind of warp affliction!

“No.” She groaned and rubbed at her eyes. “I’m fine. I just haven’t been sleeping well.”

It was a weak excuse, and it sounded as such coming out of her mouth. At what point would the Inquisition forcibly remove a Rogue Trader from their station? She felt she was teetering on that line.

Heinrix eyed her warily, tilting his head as if that could help him to make sense of the situation that had come barreling through his door.

“That…seems evident.”

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and Visenya forced herself to maintain eye contact. He was a biomancer, after all. Of course he was going to look like he was carved out of adamantium.

Stop looking, you weirdo!

“Well, you’re not sleeping, either,” she said with all the dignity of a toddler.

Heinrix scoffed in astonishment.

“The Rogue Trader just banged on my door, barged into my quarters and accused me of voyeurism! No, I’m not sleeping!”

Visenya felt the flush of her neck rising into her cheeks as Heinrix’s indignant voice filled the cabin. She glanced at his dress pants, then his undershirt before her eyes slid back up to his face. Heinrix held her stare and straightened his back, as if he knew she was about to comment on his attire and how it proved he would have been awake, regardless of her visit.

She had been about to say as much when it caught up to her just how insane she sounded. What in all warpfire was she doing? This wasn’t the Scions. She couldn’t just go off on people like she was still some savage void wolf leading a pack of unsavory vagabonds.

The thought hit her like a perfectly-timed punch to the gut, taking the spit and vinegar out of her spirit and forcing Visenya to reconcile with several painful realities all at once. She missed her crew. She missed Trick’s effortless, almost foolish optimism. She missed Hugo’s gruff and matter-of-fact advising. She missed the way Church could serve up a three-course meal from whatever unidentifiable synthetic pulp they’d managed to scavenge.

And she hated how vulnerable and small those sentiments caused her to feel now among luxuries and privileges she could have only once dreamed of. This once-in-a-lifetime change in status should have been a blessing, and yet she couldn’t help but feel as if she were a peasant playing pretend while wrapped in the robes of a king.

Visenya was no stranger to the fine art of self-sabotage and a vibrant shame flooded her nervous system as she took stock of all the stupid decisions that had led her to where she now stood; basically antagonizing an agent of the Inquisition into stripping her of her newly-acquired prestige and sending her back to her pack of mongrel dogs.

She made a mental note to task Choirmaster Weisz with inquiring about the status of her…former crew, before she took a slow breath and began collecting up the broken pieces of her integrity.

“Yes, I did do that,” Visenya said, carefully trying to build herself back up into some semblance of composure. “It was out of line and incredibly disrespectful. Please allow me to apologize and start over.”

She held the Interrogator’s gaze and felt a tinge of relief as she watched the hard lines of his face soften ever so slightly. She waited until he gave a wordless nod for her to continue and then pulled the vox-bead from an inner coat pocket, holding it between her thumb and forefinger. Heinrix’s sharp eyes were on it in an instant and his posture began to shift from one of defensiveness to curiosity.    

“I found this on the underside of my desk not long after our translation into the warp. Someone bugged my study…”

“And your first thought was the Inquisition,” Heinrix concluded, though his tone wasn’t so much accusatory as it was…understanding.

Visenya fought the urge to grimace and only half-succeeded as she said, “Possibly.”

She thought she noted an impish spark flash across his eyes when Heinrix glanced back to her face, but it was gone before she was sure.

“May I?” He held out his palm and Visenya acquiesced, dropping the device into his hand.

Heinrix held it up, silently examining the vox-bead for several meticulous minutes. He clenched his jaw, working it back and forth slightly as he thought, before his brows knit together with unease. 

“It’s not one of ours,” he began, and Visenya realized with no small amount of surprise that she was inclined to believe him. “However, I do not recognize this model. It almost seems retrofitted from two different items. Look here.”

The Interrogator leaned in towards Visenya and turned the device so that the light caught it, revealing its makeup to be of two separate metals.

“What did your Seneschal say when you showed him?” Heinrix asked.

“I haven’t shown it to him yet.” Visenya’s answer seemed to surprise him, and so she clarified. “I figured an agent of the Inquisition would be the most knowledgeable person on this ship to speak to about this. If it isn’t one of yours, then I was hoping you may have some insight as to who it belongs to.”

Heinrix stared at her for a strange moment, face clouded by some inexplicable sentiment that she couldn’t quite place. After a beat, he looked away and cleared his throat, examining the vox-bead once more.

“Your vote of confidence in my capabilities is appreciated,” Heinrix stated with a small laugh that Visenya wasn’t sure how to interpret. “I have business with the Lord Inquisitor on Footfall and can see if Inquisitorial records contain anything of similar make.”

Heinrix paused, eyes questioning. “If that is something you would find helpful? I could send a message via Astropath with my findings.”

Visenya felt a weird sort of disquiet at the reminder that Heinrix would be disembarking on Footfall, and immediately shoved the feeling down. Nope. That wasn’t good. That was a complicated and dangerous emotion she had zero interest in exploring further.

Lock that shit away, Lord Captain!

“I would be very grateful of that,” she said a bit more quickly than she’d meant to. “I would welcome hearing from you again after your departure.”

Emperor wept! What the fuck are you doing? Stop!

Heinrix’s face brightened and Visenya’s mind fuzzed. Agents of the Inquisition weren’t supposed to smile! Wasn’t that illegal?

“Then I will endeavor to assist.” He handed the vox-bead back and, as he did so, brought his other hand up so that he was holding hers in between his own. “You have my word.”

She needed to get out of this room. It was becoming difficult to breathe again, and her fight or flight reflexes were stirring and screaming something about a trap in the back of her brain.

Perhaps sensing her inner conflict, or her mounting panic, the Interrogator took a step back before moving to retrieve the dress shirt that had been folded over the arm of a nearby chair.

“In the meantime,” Heinrix said, slipping one arm and then the other into the shirt. “You should consult with Abelard about that device, as well.”

Visenya nodded her agreement, pocketing the vox-bead. Her heart felt like a rabbit kicking its legs against her ribcage. She desperately hoped Heinrix’s biomancy abilities didn’t give him some psychic insight into the clusterfuck of emotions swirling through her system.

If he could sense them, he was at least being polite about it.

“May I escort you to the Seneschal’s cabin?” Heinrix asked after he had completed buttoning up his overshirt. “I recommend a full sweep be done of your quarters before you make use of them again, Lord Captain.”

She was thankful for Heinrix’s ability to turn impassive at the drop of a hat. The ease with which he slipped back into business mode felt like a defensive tactic, and Visenya was more than willing to throw her own walls back up, in return.

“That won’t be necessary, Master van Calox.” She waved off his offer and pointedly looked away, unwilling to bring herself to see whether he was disappointed or not at her rejection. “The offer was kind, though. Thank you.”    

When she did look back to him, his expression was unreadable as stone. He simply nodded and walked her to the cabin door.

“Goodnight then, Lord Captain.”

Visenya smiled tiredly.

“Get some sleep, Heinrix,” she muttered to him as she made her way back into the hall.

She heard, rather than saw, the door slide shut behind her. Once again leaving her alone with the hum of the ship and the ceaseless anarchy of her thoughts.

[rollofleaf]

Yrliet starts reading up on human language so she can better communicate with Arethousa and her crew, but she finds a really old book of slang and takes it as current.

Heinrix: Filthy xenos, how dare you cavort with the Rogue Trader so blatantly?

Yrliet: Get bent, loser.

Pasqal: *Messes up a skill check and breaks a machine*

Yrliet, somberly: Skill issue, mon’keigh.

Arethousa: I think our best option is to work with the Aeldari.

Yrliet: True!

Yrliet: Marazhai, I have learned a new mon’keigh phrase I believe applies to you.

Marazhai: …

Yrliet, flipping him off: Fuck you.

It finally ends when she and Arethousa are holding hands, she brushes her fingers against her cheek and calls her ‘my little pogchamp’. Arethousa burned the book for heresy.

[one-of-many-journeys]

Day 46

Snowchant Hunting Grounds

Rode south back toward Song’s Edge, stopping at Hollow Hall to trade my animal figurines with Enjuk. That completes the collection, and Enjuk was beyond thankful.

I played each of the new light projections, taking in their ancient shapes and names. I traced familiarities in more than one. In particular, the grizzly bear. As it stood up on its back legs I saw the outline of a Frostclaw or its fiery brother standing with clawed paws and looming stature. I doubt the holograms were life-sized either. How big were these beasts? I’ve never seen an animal larger than a goat. It made me think—there were other shapes I’d seen formed from metal; wolves and Scorchers, stags and Grazers…In Brin’s poison-fuelled frenzy, he said that the new machines took their shapes from ancient things. Ancient animals? And if Hephaestus was the one that built their new, dangerous variants, how did it learn of those shapes? 

I left Enjuk to his studies, but not before he rewarded me handsomely for completing his collection.

On my circuitous route south, I next wound east to stop by Longnotch. Snow started up again. 

I told Umnak of my defeat of the Claws Beneath. He was thankful to have his friends avenged and the lands made safer. Honestly, it was just refreshing meeting a Banuk grown old who wasn’t eager to throw himself into the path of an oncoming herd just for the thrill. I preach, but I can’t picture what I would be like at that age. Not willing to back down from the hunt, I’d wager, even when my body joins the long list of naysayers thinking me incapable. 

Guess I really am practically Banuk. 

Back along the river bank west to Song’s Edge. I told Nalutk the good news about the Fireclaws. I’ve taken out all of the Daemon’s towers too. Its scourge has ended, at least in the Cut. I don’t doubt that it will try again. There might even be other facilities like Firebreak across the lands that Hephaestus has in its sights. 

Next, I climbed up to Sekuli to trade the remaining pigments I’d salvaged on my travels. She mourned Ourea, a dear friend and rare dissident of tradition among the Banuk. I left the village as Sekuli ground down some of the pigments and prepared her next piece. 

Good hunting in the forests below Song’s Edge, collecting bones and skins to craft new satchels. Shot down a few birds in midair. Every trader seems to want Owls.

I stopped by the Carja encampment to speak to Furanhi and Hishavan about the sorry business with Ruwas. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t Inatut’s Werak leaders that came clean about the other dead Carja soldiers, but Inatut himself—came to them in the garb of a long-dead soldier and scared the Sun Priest half to death. Furanhi was thankful for my part in finding the truth, but the ordeal certainly didn’t renew their trust in the Banuk. Their encampment will be packing up to return to the Sundom shortly. I guess this was the situation Inatut’s Werak were hoping to avoid, but a budding trade relationship isn’t worth a man’s life, no matter how profitable. 

I returned to Song’s Edge a couple hours after nightfall to check on Sekuli’s progress. The painting covered the huge swath of stone beneath the village’s traditional sigil. A blizzard swept its surface, on it a herd of machines swirling pale grey and spirit blue into obscure, abstract shapes, into brush strokes. Leading them was a hunter on machine back with a sweeping stroke of red hair. The subject was fairly obvious, but when I asked Sekuli she was vague—any huntress, any mission, any direction through space or time.

I’ve left my mark on the Cut, in deed and now in image. I heard mixed mutterings from the people in the village, some calling the painting peculiar but beautiful, others calling it a defacement. I’ve heard it said that Sekuli’s paintings are prophecies. Makes it all the more important to know where that painted huntress is heading. 

I spent my final night in the Cut—at least for now.

[cakeinke]

Sharing my little write up on Melisandre! The former Scion mentioned is actually Essentia teehee, maybe one day I'll write up her back story to share here too :3c

Melisandre Ortellius auf Calixis

“Without the Navigator gene and those who bear it, there simply would not be an Imperium of Man. At best, Humanity’s control of the stars would be limited to those planets that could entirely support themselves and a few scattered petty empires.”

–Rogue Trader Core Rulebook, Navigator

It is an open secret that the Navigator gene of House Ortellius has been weakening. Initially, rival houses held this secret close to their chest, blackmailing the Great House to share its knowledge with them, in return for keeping their secret. However, the latest Scion has vanished, and with their disappearance came whispers that they had been unable to gaze into the Immaterium at all. Only a few viable Ortellius Navigators remain, spread across the stars and hidden from the rival houses.

Melisandre Ortellius had once briefly held the title of Navis Scion for House Ortellius. She had been born with only minor mutations - membranous webbing that connected her fingers together, and her ears to her jaw. Such minor mutations would have allowed her to be a public figure for the House, socializing amongst nobles and securing contracts. However, at only 6 months, another Ortellius was born, one that showed no visible mutations at birth, and the title of Scion was granted to them. Melisandre only learned that she had once held the title from those training her, mentioned in a brief overview of the recent history of the house.

It didn't matter to her. Her duty was to become a capable Navigator and to guide servants of the Imperium safely through the covetous grasps of the Sea of Souls.

Her first training jump was with an elder of House Ortellius. He had held his position aboard a Merchant ship for centuries - a seasoned Navigator, soon to retire due to physical mutations beginning to limit his abilities. The translation had been flawless. The elder Navigator had shown her how he used a regicide board to interpret the eddies of warp, and she had played the game with him, her own Eye protecting her from the rending gaze of a seasoned Navigator.

Tragedies in the Warp tend to happen quickly.

The catastrophic failure of the Gellar Fields lasted only a second, but a second is all the horrors of the Warp need to wreak total destruction. Melisandre watched as her mentor blossomed into a flower of viscera, split from his Warp eye to his waist by the horrors of the unfiltered Immaterium. His soul screamed, echoing down the bones of the vessel, driving the weak to madness and the strong to despair. It was a miracle from the God-Emperor himself that they managed an emergency exit from the warp with an inexperienced navigator that had not communed with the ship and its machine spirits. Even more so that she had managed to survive the ordeal with only minor cracks in her psyche.

Her training was completed in the spires of House Ortellius, where she cultivated the way in which she interpreted the warp. She had tried to use the regicide board as her mentor had; however found herself plagued with the memory of his blossomed corpse and the blood strewn across the board. Instead, she found that she thrived when interpreting the warp as a crowded ballroom, her dance partner the ship and her its guide. The decline of House Ortellius happened silently behind her training, only coming to her attention when the Scion disappeared. Hiding in shame of their weakening gene, House Ortellius became one of the Shrouded Houses. Only the unscrupulous or desperate were willing to contract an Ortellius Navigator to their vessel - no reputable noble house would dare to be seen with an Ortellius as their Navigator.

It was the unscrupulous who purchased Melisandre’s contract. The Rogue Trader Dynasty Rovarth was well known in the Koronus Expanse for its privateering and blatant disregard for the tenants of the Creed. They had need of a Navigator, and House Ortellius leapt at the chance to serve a Rogue Trader, even one so infamous. Initially Melisandre had been disturbed and disgusted with the operations of the crew and the xenos it harbored. Now, a decade into her service to the Rovarth Dynasty and the Hollow-Blooded Lord Captain, she had grown accustomed to the unsavory actions of the crew, though she would never stoop to join them in their duplicitous behavior. No, she had only two goals in working for the Rovarth Dynasty - restore the name of House Ortellius, and to find a way to save their weakening Gene.

[taryn40k]

The Confessor's mood lately can only be described as dour. Four hours of meditation precluded his return to the command deck, and his demanded meeting with the Inquisitor surrounding the events of the last few days.

"I am... Disappointed to learn of the events surrounding the boy known as Taryn, Inquisitor March.

In accordance with the duties of a Confessor of the Adeptus Ministorum, I cannae allow such a grevious fault in both security and dedication to duty to stand unanswered.

I shall be scrutinizing the histories and the belongings of every member of the recon teams you had dispatched down to the planet. If two of these accursed devices have made their way back to the ship, there is no telling what other damnable artifacts have found their way into your warband's rucksacks unannounced.

Excuses, and obfuscation, will not be accepted. Not when this vessel is en-route to Holy Terra itself.

If necessary, I am prepared to expand my work to the entirety of the mid deck to ensure there is no trace of corruption or traitorous machinations within this vessel.

I had feared my reassignment to your warband was mere political posturing, but I see now the concerns of the Ordo Hereticus were not unfounded.

Such recklessness would be unbecoming of even a Rogue Trader's accoutrement... Let alone those charged with aiding in the sacred duties' of our Emperor's own Inquisitor.

I donnae believe that there is a need to call your judgement when selecting these men and women into question, but I am sworn by the Throne to deliver the Emperor's own truth of these matters and to see that you have a warband befitting your expectations.

I do truly hope this... Lapse in the better judgement of your men is an irregularity, and not the norm, Inquisitor.

It is my intention to start with Taryn, and see where the trail leads from there...

If there are no objections."

"Rest assured that I do share your concern : Our destination is far too sacred to risk tainting with anything as risky as those devices. Since you are so eager to join in on this most secret of conversation, we are currently on a slight detour in this system, so that I may dispose of the Halo Beast - and now the bracelet, as well- in a way that has been proven to be definitive. Once those devices are safely unatainable, I do intend on educating my warband about it ; but for the time being, it is imperative that you keep the knowledge of what they are, what they can do, and how many are on board to yourself. Whoever you might have discussed this with must also be sworn to secrecy. and I have the decency to let you see to this in a manner you would see fit, without my medling. When it comes to my warband, you will have free range as to who you interrogate. A search of their belongings will only go forward with their presence, if not their approval. Nothing will be confiscated without being brought to my attention and catalogued. And certainly, Haertloch, there will be no execution of any kind without my explicit permission after proof of corruption has been presented to me. Your authority as a Confessor spreads over this vessel, but it still falls under mine. I do hope we are in agreement with these terms, and that I will not find you bypassing my orders for your own benefit. This investigation will be done with respect and tolerance for the men and women that are actively giving their lives for the Imperium under my direction. Failing that, I will be forced to requisition a new confessor from your ordo, but I would much rather be working with you than against you. So Return to me the respect I show you, and let me do my own work to keep us all safe, even if my methods differ from yours."

[fuckinghomepage]

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

IT'S FUCKING FRIDAY.

WORDS OF WISDOM OF THE FUCKING DAY:

LIFE IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE ONLY IF YOU LEARN.

EDUCATE YOUR IGNORANT ASS:

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR DAMN GRIEF. more>>

FUCKING MIND-BLOWING BOOK OF THE DAY:

DOMINATE ON THE FUCKING FIELD. more>>

USEFUL SHIT OF THE GODDAMN DAY:

BUILD YOUR OWN DAMN FART MACHINE. more>>

WEBSITE OF THE FUCKING DAY:

TRACK MOTHERFUCKING TRADER JOE'S PRICES. more>>

AWESOME-AS-SHIT VIDEO OF THE DAY:

ARE VIDEO GAMES ART? more>>

[henrylao0101]

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