#Michael d Conan

[hyperfixated-on-hensper]

GUYS, I MADE THE FUNNIEST THING

[nick-the-bi-disaster]

Hi 🍂

You don't have to understand your feelings completely to know you like something. You don't have to always have figured everything out. You can just... feel.

About Me:

My name is Nick Nelson

Male - he/him

I live in Truham, Kent (England)

I go to Truham Grammar School For Boys

I play rugby a LOT

I am bisexual 🩷💜💙

I LOVE my boyfriend Charlie

What do I like doing?

Taking my dogs Nellie and Henry for walks

Baking with my mum

Spending time with my friends

Being around my boyfriend (have I mentioned him? 😅)

drawing on shoes

Other things I like:

Music - Conan Gray, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Orla Gartland...

Rugby :D

Formula 1

disneyland

rain

a bunch of other stuff I can't remember

Other people I know:

@holdden - michael

@its-tori-spring - Tori

@gaypanicker - Charlie (my boyfriend <3)

send asks!

ooc:

THIS IS AN RP BLOG

run by: @babyqueenfangirl

yes, another RP 😅

[byrnedavid]

omg beastie friends adam and mike are on conan’s podcast this week

[iwritesometimes]

Top 100 Movies

taking a page from @northstarfan's book, since we're all doing some version of Our Personal 100 Movies right now, here are mine. you should know that narrowing down this top ten was harder than entering a gladiatorial arena bare-handed. you should otherwise infer absolutely no ranking order from this, all of these films are my beloved children.

Muppet Christmas Carol

Sense and Sensibility 1995

From Up on Poppy Hill

Field of Dreams

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Star Wars: A New Hope

Hot Fuzz

Star Trek Beyond

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Ocean’s 11

Muppet Treasure Island

Jaws

Sleeping Beauty 1959

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Rogue One

Howl’s Moving Castle

Tarzan 1999

Throne of Blood

Hero 2002

Jurassic Park

Star Trek the Motion Picture

Star Trek 2009

Star Trek First Contact

The Foreigner

Prey

Tremors

The Princess Bride

Treasure Planet

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda II

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Singin’ In the Rain

Angel’s Egg

Secret of Kells

Magnificent Seven 2016

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990

Casino Royale

Skyfall

Knives Out

Labyrinth

Power Rangers 2017

Conan the Barbarian 1982

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Babe

A League of Their Own

Robin Hood 1973

Sword in the Stone

The Great Mouse Detective

Fantasia

Lilo and Stitch

The Incredibles

Monsters Inc.

Prince of Egypt

The Thing

Erin Brockovich

Michael Clayton

Dragonheart

Speed

Independence Day

Sneakers

Conclave

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Nope

Get Out

O Brother, Where Art Thou

Fried Green Tomatoes

Silence of the Lambs

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse

Children of Men

Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956

Moonlight

Rear Window

12 Angry Men

The Lion in Winter

Jupiter Ascending

Wreck-It Ralph

Stargate

Rescuers Down Under

Aladdin 1992

Toy Story

Moulin Rouge

Secret of NIMH

Flight of the Navigator

Big Trouble in Little China

A Goofy Movie

James and the Giant Peach

Moneyball

Unbreakable

Truly, Madly, Deeply

X-Men 2000

Amadeus

Princess Mononoke

Titan A.E.

Road to El Dorado

Small Soldiers

My Neighbor Totoro

Frequency

Whisper of the Heart

The Great Wall

[mask131]

Read-list for an "old school D&D" fantasy (plus bonus)

This is a remake of an earlier post of mine, that I decided to update (some additional books were suggested to me, others I found out about later).

This is a reading-list of various literary works that heavily inspired or were heavily used in the creation of the first editons of Dungeons and Dragons - and thus, reading them will allow you to plunge back into what the original D&D was meant to look what/what it tried to emulate.

J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit". No surprise here, Tolkien's works were the start of modern fantasy and thus the main source of old-school D&D. In fact, D&D was originally created to be just a Lord of the Rings role-playing game - or to be precise a LotR wargame. This was the original intention. Which is why, quite famously, the very first version of D&D included elements such as the hobbits, the mithril and the balrogs. And when the Tolkien Estate pointed out the consequences of what was plagiarism, D&D changed these concepts to... "halflings", "mithral" and "balors". The only Tolkien-element D&D could preserve vaguely unchanged were the orcs, because the Tolkien Estate could not prove Tolkien had invented the term "orc". But even beyond that, D&D's dwarfs and elves and ents (sorry, treants) and wights and rangers all were heavily inspired by Tolkien - the gods of the orcs even use symbols such as an "eye of fire" and a "white hand"...

Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions". Poul Anderson was quite influential on early 20th century fantasy, and this specific book influenced D&D in three ways. On one side, it was one of the two sources for the "Order versus Chaos" conflict of D&D (the other being Moorcock). On the other the D&D trolls were inspired by the Three Hearts and Three Lion trolls. And finally the Paladin class was inspired by Anderson's Holger Carlsen character (the same way the Ranger was Tolkien's Aragorn). [This book also seems to have had some influence over the Fey of D&D?]

Michael Moorcock's "The Elric Saga". With Anderson's work, it was the other main source of the Order vs Chaos, Lawful vs Chaotic division of the D&D game. It also served as the main inspiration behind the D&D Drows, due to the Elric Saga shaping the original image of "Dark Elves" in fantasy, through its Melnibonéan Empire. D&D also originally collected references to the Elric world - creating many variation of Elric's evil magical sword Stormbringer through a variety of cursed soul-drinking weapons.

Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Barbarian". The source of heroic-fantasy the same way Lord of the Rings influenced epic fantasy, the world of Conan was also a huge source of inspiration for D&D - the most obvious reference being the Barbarian class, shaped for those who wanted to play Conan.

Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser". Originally intended as a parody of the Conan-style heroic fantasy, but promptly becoming a serious and admired work that created its own sub-genre of fantasy (the "sword and sorcery" genre), they also were inspirational for the first editions of D&D. Sometimes it is indirect - the "Thief" or "Rogue" classes were inspired by Leiber's Gray Mouser character - other times it is MUCH more direct. For example, among the numerous pantheons you could choose to use in early D&D, one was the various gods of Newhon and the city of Lankhmar, the universe of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. And the fantasy trope of "Thieves' Guild" made famous partially by D&D was originally an invention of Leiber.

Jack Vance's The Dying Earth. This emblematic series of the "science-fantasy" genre offered to D&D its magic system, which is generally known as "vancian magic". It was Jack Vance who had the idea that a wizard had to learn/store spells in their mind, with a limited number of spells they could carry in their brain, and that once cast the spell had to be re-learned or restored. Several spells and items of early D&D were also directly taken from the Dying Earth books - the "prismatic spray" or the "ioun stones".

H.P. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos". No need to explain how Lovecraft's brand of eldritch horror and alien-fantasy shaped the creatures and deities of early D&D, to the point that early on the deities and monsters of the Cthulhu Mythos were part of the pantheons you could chose to use - listed alongside the Newhon gods of Leiber, or the gods of the Conan universe.

While not fantasy works, the most famous creations of Edgard Rice Burroughs - Tarzan on one hand, and John Carter of Mars on the other, were claImed by Gygax to have been very influential to his creation of D&D.

Another author Gygax mentionned as being a huge influence for D&D was Fletcher Pratt - through his Harold Shea fantasy series, about a main character being carried away in various magical and fantastical worlds very different from each other, in which he has to adapt himself to new settings and learn new rules to avoid dangers and threats... Sounds familiar? The idea of world-travelling might also have been inspired by the science-fiction series by P.J. Farmers' World of Tiers: the rules of travel in D&D between the various planes of reality seem to have been inspired by Farmers' own rules for dimension-travel.

One of the lesser known influences of D&D is the fantasy series "Kothar" by Gardner Fox: Gygax explicitely said that the idea of the "Lich" as a D&D monster came from Fox's Kothar series.

Not a book, but movies: the Sinbad movies of the mid 20th century were influential on early D&D. Various monsters and creatures referenced pictures such as "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" or "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad".

"The House on the Borderlands" by William Hope Hodgson was explicitely referenced by Gygax's 1979 module "The Keep on the Borderlands", and it might have heavily influenced the original depiction of the D&D orcs as pig-men...

The Shannara series by Terry Brooks has also been pointed out as an influence on D&D - while not on the very first edition, elements of the Shannara world seem to have influenced later ones...

Mind you, this is but a fragment of a much longer list known as the "Appendix N" composed by Gygax, and that lists all the books and pieces of work he took inspiration from when designing D&D. Beyond the most famous works evoked above he also listed:

Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade" and "The Broken Sword"

John Bellairs' "The Face in the Frost"

Leigh Brackett's works

Fredric Browns' works

I evoked before Burrough's Mars series, but Gygax also listed his "Venus series" and his "Pellucidar series".

Lin Carter's "World End" series

L. Sprague de Camp's "Lest Darkness Fall" and "The Fallible Fiend" and "The Carnelian Cube"

August Derleth's continuation of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Lord Dunsany's writings, of course.

Gardner Fox's "Kyrik" series

Sterling Lanier's "Hiero's Journey"

A. Merritt's "Creep, Shadow, Creep", "Moon Pool" and "Dwellers in the Mirage"

Michael Moorcock's "Hawkmoon" series (which is technically part of the wider universe of which the Elric Saga is the central piece)

Andre Norton's works

Fletcher Pratt's "Blue Star"

Fred Saberhagen's "Changeling Earth"

Margaret St. Clair "The Shadow People" and "Sign of the Labrys"

Stanley Weinbaum's works

Manley Wade Wellman's works

Jack Williamson's works

Roger Zelazny's "Amber" series, and "Jack of Shadows".

In 2007, Gygax even updated his Appendix N with a handful of new titles reflecting elements added to later editions of D&D:

Sterling Lanier's "The Unforsaken hiero"

Piers Anthony's "Split Infinity" series

And of course, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series

And since this post is all about updates, I will also include a list of works that were used as inspiration for current day/modern D&D - especially the fifth edition. Like that, you'll have the evolution of "old school D&D versus new school D&D". This list is taken from fragments here and there of interviews given by Mike Mearls, the Appendix E "Inspirational Reads" of the fifth edition, and Rodney Thompson's interviews.

Appendix E replaces several elements Gygax talked about in interviews or in his Appendix N: Leiber's work, Burroughs's Mars series, Howard's Conan, etc...

Appendix E adds among other things China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station", and Elizabeth Bear's "Range of Ghosts".

Mike Mearls said that what inspired him in his design work of modern D&D was Ursula LeGuin's "Earthsea" series, Patrick Rothfuss "The Name of the Wind", Saladin Ahmed "Throne of the Crescent Moon" and Octavia E. Butler's "The Parable of the Sower".

But Mearls also repeated several of the picks already used by Gygax. He invoked again The Elric Saga, and Roger Zelazny's Amber series, and Tolkien's Legendarium of course...

Rodney Thompson rather insisted on returning to the Anderson roots of the D&D fantasy: mostly "Three Heart and Three Lions", but also "The Broken Sword".

[safer-things]

Saying hi :D

Updates I guess! Wanted to say hi to tumblr friends I haven't talked to in a while! I'm back at school now, doing my final in person semester of college which is crazy. Biggest things that have happened in my personal life is my best friend is now also my partner (hi @iloveuok ily 💖) and I met my other best friend @marredthroat in person for the first time which was so wonderful. We saw Conan Gray live he was amazing, that whole night was surreal I walked out of there Changed.

Things I got into while I was ia here:

- How I Met Your Mother

- Ghosts (tv show)

- Electric Dreams

- Roblox

- Mythical Kitchen (just started watching, been on a cooking and baking kick in general)

I also got back into the flash cw and glee to a debilitating degree lets not talk about it but if you want my flash sideblog or some glee playlists hmu

Currently I'm very into Conan Gray, as well as OfflineTV (and friends) but especially LilyPichu and Michael Reeves, I've been a fan for a while tho. Also Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn? I guess? I have issues ok.

Anyways hope you've been well, feel free to pop in my inbox to chat or maybe I'll go bother you and ask what you've been up to >:3 I'm revamping everything don't forget who I am pls and ty

[alltoodameron]

I was tagged by @allherfckinlives to spell out my url in song names (thanks for the tag btw 💕)

I’m going to try to use a different artist for each letter.

L - Lavender Haze by Taylor Swift

A - Adore You by Harry Styles

V - Velvet Elvis by Kacey Musgraves

E - Everything by Michael Buble

N - Nine in the Afternoon by Panic! At the Disco

D - Death Row by Bebe Rexha

E - Everywhere by Michelle Branch

R - Rare by Selena Gomez

D - Drunk by Ed Sheeran

A - Apartment Song by Alessia Cara

M - Maniac by Conan Gray

E - Eyes Closed by Imagine Dragons

R - Read Your Mind by Sabrina Carpenter

O - obsessed by Olivia Rodrigo

N - Not Today by twenty one pilots

Consider yourself tagged if you’d like to do this 💕🫶🏻

[aninsecurewriter]

100 must-read books!

This is a list of books considered "must-reads" from various lists and online posters. I'll be reviewing them as I go but mainly keeping track of what I have and haven't read here.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The Secret History by Donna Tart

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Norwegian Wood bt Haruki Murakami

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Lolita Vladimir Nabokov

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Ulysses by James Joyce

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Gulliver's Travels by Johnathan Swift

The War of the Worlds by H.G Wells

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Beloved by Toni Morrison

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Macbeth by Shakespeare

The Lord of the Rings (trilogy) by J.R.R Tolkien

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally

London Fields by Martin Amis

Sherlock Holmes and the The Hound of the Baskerville's by Arthur Conan Doyle

My Man Jeeves by P.G Wodehouse

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Gladys Aylward the Little Woman by Gladys Aylward

Mindnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Dissolution by C.J Sansom

The Time Machine by H.G Wells

Winnie the Pooh (complete collection) by A.A Milne

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Castle by Franz Kafka

Dracula by Bram Stoker

All Quiet on the Western Front by Eric Maria Remarque

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Misery by Stephen King

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis

The Shining by Stephen King

The Odyssey by Homer

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson

Tell No One by Harlan Coben

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

[melodiaemfrp]

Hello, Attuned! Thank you for participating in Melodiae’s twelfth Activity Check! Listed here are characters that did not pass the check (Five (5) days of activity in-server) for the period of Monday, May 8th to Sunday, July 7th.

If you believe your muse(s) are listed here by mistake, you may reach out to the Masterlist on or before Saturday, July 15th. All characters that do not have activity accounted for by 11:59 PM EST on this date will be removed from the server by or before the next inbox run (Tuesday, July 18th)

If you did not pass the check, you also have until Saturday, July 15th to reapp your muse(s) by sending an ask to the Masterlist indicating your intent to reapp the character. You DO NOT have to resubmit the whole application; simply provide your name, the character’s name & series, your OOC contact, and the date in an ask. Muses marked with an asterisk (*) have failed two consecutive checks, and are ineligible to be reapped this way unless they are an OC. These muses must wait one full week, and may resubmit their entire application on or after Saturday, July 22nd.

Muses that are not reapped by 11:59pm EST on Saturday, July 15th will be removed from the server by our inbox run on Tuesday, July 18th.

Thank you for your continued interest in Melodiae!

- The Melodiae Team

ACE ATTORNEY

THE GREAT ACE ATTORNEY

Ryuunosuke Naruhoudou (Mica)

ARKNIGHTS

Ernesto Salas (Tequila) (Hika)

Ling (Hika) *

BUNGOU STRAY DOGS

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Flora) *

Nikolai Gogol (Kit)

Sigma (Rosel)

CHAINSAW MAN

Power (Satsujin)

CODE GEASS

Suzaku Kururugi (Laur)

CRITICAL ROLE

Lucien Tavelle (Aria)

Mollymauk Tealeaf (Myco)

DEATH NOTE

Light Yagami (Light)

Matt (Mail Jeevas) (Aria)

DELTARUNE

Kris (Willow) *

DEMON SLAYER

Rengoku Kyojuro (Rose)

Yoriichi Tsugikuni (Rose)

DETECTIVE CONAN / MAGIC KAITO 1412

Hakuba Saguru (Lucifer)

DEVIL MAY CRY

Dante (Willow)

DON'T STARVE

Charlie (Emberlyn)

DRAGONFABLE

Tomix Danao (Birb)

ELSWORD

Raven Cronwell (Nova Imperator) (Sadie)

ENSEMBLE STARS!

Ibara Saegusa (Aria)

FATE

GRAND ORDER

Enkidu (Lancer) (Aria)

Romani Archaman (Linette)

FINAL FANTASY

XIV

Amour Darling (Pax)

Ardbert (Mica)

Breakfast Sandwich (Emil) *

Charlenaux Valmont (WOL RPR) (Star)

Hilda Ware (Rhia)

Osial viator Lacus (OC) (Owl)

Shara Ruivert (WOL SGE) (Jun)

Zero (Myco)

FIRE EMBLEM

THREE HOUSES

Felix Hugo Fraldarius (Owl)

SACRED STONES

Lyon (Jun)

GENSHIN IMPACT

Kaeya Alberich (Laur)

Zhongli (Ree)

GRANBLUE FANTASY

Lucilius (Aria)

HADES

Zagreus (Moshi)

HONKAI IMPACT 3RD

Elysia (Mikey) *

HONKAI STAR RAIL

Dan Heng (Xing)

Jing Yuan (Hika)

Pom-Pom (Satsujin)

Stelle (Rhia)

HOW TO WIN OVER MY HUSBAND

Rudbeckia de Borgia (Alice)

JUJUTSU KAISEN

Inumaki Toge (Jun)

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE

PART 2

Joseph Joestar (Stan)

PART 5

Leone Abbacchio (Tom)

PART 6

Foo Fighters (Tom)

PART 2

Julius Caesar "Gyro" Zeppeli (Derrick)

KAMEN RIDER

REVICE

Hana Natsuki "Aguilera" (Lucifer)

Yukimi Igarashi (Lottie)

ZERO-ONE

Aruto Hiden (Isu) *

Jin (Lottie) *

KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN!

Fran (Carmen)

LEGEND OF ZELDA

Dark Link (Pax)

MEGAMIND

Megamind (Birb) *

MORIARTY THE PATRIOT

Sherlock Holmes (Rosel)

OCTOPATH TRAVELER

I

Alfyn Greengrass (Shae)

II

Temenos Mistral (Shae)

Trousseau (Shae)

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS

Erika Ishikawa (Rhia)

Grey (Cee)

Shimmer (Rhia)

Witch Princess (Pax)

PERSONA

3

Elizabeth (Aria)

Minato Arisato (Athiel)

5

Morgana (Satsujin)

PROJECT MOON

LIBRARY OF RUINA

Hokma (Rosel)

LIMBUS COMPANY

Demian (Rosel)

Don Quixote (Swub)

Faust (Tian)

Galeas Sturm (Fris)

Gregor Samsa (Ghost)

Ryoshu (Rosel)

PROJECT SEKAI

An Shiraishi (Kyuu)

Ena Shinonome (Rhia)

Hatsune Miku (Mikey)

Rui Kamishiro (Fris)

PROMISE OF WIZARD

Figaro Garcia (Ree)

PSYCHEDELICA OF THE BLACK BUTTERFLY

Ai Minato (Carmen)

SUPER SENTAI

DOUBUTSU SENTAI ZYUOHGER

Misao Mondo (Nox)

TEAM FORTRESS 2

Spy (Red) (Birb)

THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

Michael (Myco)

TOONTOWN

Chip Revvington (Xanthe)

SOUZA SAMONJI

Souza Samonji (Rose)

TRIGUN

STAMPEDE

Millions Knives (Eris)

TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLE

Fai D. Fluorite (Ashley)

TWISTED WONDERLAND

Malleus Draconia (Laur)

Morrigan Desrosier (Fris)

WITCH'S HEART

Noel Levine (Lottie)

[scholarinfohub]

Top 30 Harvard University Notable Alumni

Harvard University, the oldest higher education institution in the United States, has been a breeding ground for some of the world's most influential leaders, innovators, and changemakers. With a history spanning nearly four centuries, Harvard has produced graduates who have excelled in politics, business, science, entertainment, and more. Here’s a look at 30 of the most notable Harvard alumni who have made a lasting impact on the world.

Politics and Leadership

Barack Obama – 44th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

John F. Kennedy – 35th U.S. President, known for his leadership during the Cold War.

Franklin D. Roosevelt – 32nd U.S. President who led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II.

Theodore Roosevelt – 26th U.S. President and advocate for conservation and progressive reforms.

Ban Ki-moon – Former Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Jacinda Ardern – Former Prime Minister of New Zealand known for her progressive leadership.

Al Gore – Former U.S. Vice President and environmental activist.

Mitt Romney – U.S. Senator and former Governor of Massachusetts.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice and champion for gender equality.

Elena Kagan – U.S. Supreme Court Justice and former Dean of Harvard Law School.

Business and Entrepreneurship

Bill Gates – Co-founder of Microsoft (attended but did not graduate) and philanthropist.

Mark Zuckerberg – Co-founder of Facebook (attended but did not graduate) and tech entrepreneur.

Sheryl Sandberg – Former COO of Meta (Facebook) and advocate for women in leadership.

Michael Bloomberg – Billionaire entrepreneur, former NYC Mayor, and philanthropist.

Ray Dalio – Founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds.

Lloyd Blankfein – Former CEO of Goldman Sachs.

Steve Ballmer – Former CEO of Microsoft and owner of the LA Clippers.

Science and Innovation

Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist and popular science communicator.

Jennifer Doudna – Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, co-inventor of CRISPR gene-editing technology.

E.O. Wilson – Biologist and pioneer in sociobiology and biodiversity conservation.

Stephen Jay Gould – Evolutionary biologist and historian of science.

Arts and Entertainment

Natalie Portman – Academy Award-winning actress.

Tommy Lee Jones – Academy Award-winning actor.

Conan O’Brien – Comedian and former host of The Tonight Show.

Matt Damon – Academy Award-winning actor and screenwriter.

B.J. Novak – Actor, writer, and producer known for The Office.

Literature and Journalism

T.S. Eliot – Nobel Prize-winning poet.

John Updike – Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. – Historian and literary critic.

David Halberstam – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian.

These Harvard alumni have left an indelible mark on the world, influencing industries, politics, and culture. Whether in the White House, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, or beyond, their legacy inspires new generations of leaders.

[scienza-magia]

Nello spazio protetti dalle proteine dei batteri

Conan il batterio, così resiste alle radiazioni. Apre nuove strade per proteggere gli astronauti nelle lunghe missioni. Non ha più segreti Conan, batterio che deve il suo nome alla straordinaria capacità di resistere alle radiazioni, fino a dosi migliaia di volte superiori a quelle che ucciderebbero qualsiasi organismo sulla Terra. La sua arma è una molecola antiossidante che è stata ora analizzata nel dettaglio dalle statunitensi Northwestern University e Uniformed Services University. Lo studio, pubblicato sulla rivista dell’Accademia Nazionale di Scienze americana, Pnas, apre alla possibilità di mettere a punto nuove molecole specifiche per gli esseri umani, che potrebbero proteggere gli astronauti dalle intense radiazioni cosmiche durante le missioni nello spazio profondo, o le persone coinvolte in incidenti che coinvolgono l’esposizione a radiazioni.

Deinococcus radiodurans può resistere a dosi di radiazioni incredibilmente elevate Il vero nome di Conan è Deinococcus radiodurans. Ricerche precedenti svolte dagli stessi autori, Brian Hoffman della Northwestern e Michael Daly della Usu, hanno dimostrato che questo batterio, quando viene essiccato e congelato, è in grado di sopravvivere a radiazioni fino a 140mila gray, l’unità di misura della dose assorbita dall’organismo: è una dose 28mila volte più elevata di quella che ucciderebbe un uomo. Questa incredibile resistenza indica che ipotetici batteri congelati e sepolti nel suolo di Marte potrebbero essere sopravvissuti fino ad oggi all’attacco delle radiazioni cosmiche. I due ricercatori, utilizzando tecniche avanzate, hanno scoperto che la molecola antiossidante utilizzata da D. radiodurans come ‘scudo’ anti-radiazioni è costituita da 3 ingredienti chiave: un atomo di manganese, una molecola di fosfato e una piccola proteina, che si combinano insieme a formare un composto chiamato MDP. “Questa nuova comprensione dell’MDP potrebbe portare allo sviluppo di antiossidanti a base di manganese ancora più potenti – commenta Daly – per applicazioni nei settori sanitario, industriale, della difesa e dell’esplorazione spaziale”. Read the full article

[raccoon3241]

⭐️ Introduction to me :D ⭐️

Like it says in my description I don't know what to put here... so I'm just going to go with the flow 🫡

My name is Elizabeth, after my cat 😸

My pronouns are she/her

Currently, my favorite characters from Stranger Things are Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, and Jim Hopper ᐛ

And my favorite characters from IT are Richie, Stan and Bill :]

Likes:

- Stranger Things 🚴‍♂️

- IT (chapter 1 & 2 🎈)

- Marvel (Avengers and X-Men 🦸🏻‍♂️🦸🏻‍♀️)

- Stardew Valley 🏡

- Heartstopper 🍂

- The Goldfinch 🪶

- Hunger Games 🏹

- The Crown 👑

- Maze Runner 🏃🏻

- Percy Jackson 🧜🏼‍♂️

- Very old music (30s, 40s, 50s, 70s, 80s, etc 🌼💿)

- Axolotls (there's no emoji for axolotls ugh)

- My mum, grandma and pookie bear 🫶🏻

Favorite Artists (and their songs ^_^):

- Conan Gray, Never Ending Song 🐦‍⬛

- Michael Jackson, The Way You Make Me Feel 🕺🏻

- Elton John, Saturday Nights Alright (For Fighting) 🎹

- Olivia Rodrigo, love is embarrassing 💜

- Wham!, Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)

- KISS, I Was Made For Lovin' You 💋

- Duran Duran, View To A Kill 🕴🏻

- Eminem, Lose Yourself 🎤

- Queen, Play The Game 👑

- Bon Jovi, Never Say Goodbye ❤️‍🔥

- ABBA, Angeleyes 💌

Miscellaneous information about me would probably be that I have an irrational fear of vacuum cleaners, and I'll probably take 2-3 business days to gain the courage to post this 😭

My current hyperfixation is Stranger Things, specifically Byler so I'll either repost things or make posts about that 🫢

So uh yeah, that's it I guess!! I hope you have a wonderful time of day or night wherever you are in the world! (/>.</)♡

Bye bye ^_^

[mask131]

Reading-list for an “old-school D&D” fantasy

Aka, here is the list of the fantasy books that MASSIVELY influenced the original D&D and its first editions. Or, if you want to put it another way, the books that were the ingredients to create D&D/that were copied by D&D.

# J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” (+ “The Hobbit”). The source of modern fantasy, and THE main influence and source of old-school D&D. In fact, the creation of D&D was basically the creation of “The Lord of the Rings: The Role-Playing Game”. Very famously (or unfamously), in its original edition, D&D included a LOT of elements taken from the work of Tolkien, that then had to be re-shaped due to being under the copyright of Tolkien’s work. In the first edition D&D you’ll find “hobbits”, “mithril” and “balrogs” for example - that D&D had to change to “halflings”, “mithral” and “balors” to legal reasons. The only Tolkien-specific creatures D&D could keep were the orcs. Overall a LOT of D&D comes from Tolkien: the original depictions of elves and dwarfs, the ents (sorry, treants), the wights, the symbols of the “eye of fire” and “white hand” for the gods the orcs worship... And of course, the “Ranger” class was originally just the character of Aragorn as a class.

# Poul Anderson’s “Three Hearts and Three Lions”. This book was one of the two sources for the alighnment system of D&D of “Order versus Chaos” in a fantasy world. The D&D trolls were also heavily influenced by the depiction of trolls in this novel, PLUS the “Paladin” class was influenced by the character of Holger Carlsen.

# Michael Moorcock’s “The Elric Saga”.The other main source of the “Order vs Chaos”, “Lawful vs Chaotic” alignment of D&D - but also the main inspiration behind the Drow and the D&D-shaped image of “Dark Elves” in general (in the novels, they are the Melnibonéan Empire). D&D also contains several other references to the Saga - for example “Blackrazor” is inspired by Elric’s iconic sword, “Stormbringer”.

# Robert E. Howard’s “Conan the Barbarian”. The source of heroic fantasy the same way Tolkien’s LotR was the source of epic/high fantasy - the Barbarian class of D&D (and the image of a Barbarian in fantasy in general) all comes from Conan. 

# Fritz Leiber’s “Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser”. The origin of the “Sword and Sorcery” genre (at least, as called as such), originally intended as a parody of the Conan-style heroic fantasy genre, but then promptly becoming itself a serious and admired genre-creating classic, Leiber’s works were another major inspiration for D&D (the “Thief” class was heavily inspired by the character of the Gray Mouser), and there is a good number of supplements and books in D&D entirely centered around this book series - introducing the characters of the books, the gods of Newhon, or the city of Lankhmar, into the D&D world. 

# Jack Vance’s “The Dying Earth” series. The magic system of D&D was heavily influenced by how Vance re-imagined magic and spells in this unique sci-fi feeling fantasy: some spells and items are directly taken from the books (the prismatic spray, the ioun stones) and the entire concept of needing to “re-learn” or “re-charge” a spell once it is cast is the Dying Earth magic system (called by some “Vancian Magic”). 

# H.P. Lovecraft’s work (especially anything tied to the “Cthulhu Mythos”). Lovecraft’s brand of eldritch horror and alien fantasy has also been a big influence over the creatures and deities of early D&D - to the point that the various gods of the Cthulhu Mythos were included as one of the pantheons that could be used in the early editions of D&D (alongside other pantheons such as the gods of Newhon from Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, or the gods of the Conan world). 

# Gary Gygax, one of the creators of D&D, also listed other authors as direct influence for his game, but given I am less familiar with them I will just list them here: Fletcher Pratt (I think it might be his “Harold Shea” series, quite famous in the fantasy genre), L. Sprague de Camp, Edgar Rice Burroughs (the creator of some of the most famous American fictional characters, such as John Carter of Mars, or Tarzan) and A. Merritt. 

(Finally, not a literary work, but a series of movies that also influenced early D&D: the “Sinbad” movies of the mid-20th century. If you look through the creatures, monsters and illustrations of early editions D&D you’ll find several references to movies such as “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad“ or “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad”)

[wqbytop100]

WQBY

Top 100 for the week ending June 9, 2024

End Of Time --Lucas & Steve, LAWRENT feat/Jordan Shaw -1

One, Two & 3 ---Galantis -6

Love & Pain --Enrique Iglesias -5

Buscando Money --TWENTY-SIX, Tayson Kryss -3

I Had Some Help --Post Malone, Morgan Wallen -8

Lighter --Galantis, David Guetta, 5 Seconds of Summer -2

Eyes Closed --Imagine Dragons -7

Heaven Or Not --Diplo, Riva Starr, Kareem Lomax -13

Sleep Tonight (This Is The Life) --Switch Disco, R3HAB, Sam Feldt -4

Addicted --ZERB, The Chainsmokers feat/INK -9

Hell Together --David Archuleta -10

Take A Moment --ATB, David Frank -21

Underwater --DubVision, Afrojack -11

The Moves --NEIKED, Muni Long, Nile Rodgers -18

Lovers In A Past Life --Calvin Harris, Rag'N'Bone Man -17

Beat Of Your Love --Ownboss, LAWRENT feat/Ekko -15

We Ain't Good At Breaking Up --Brothers Osborne -12

Fallin Luv ---Gordo, Jeria -14

Jet Plane --R3HAB, VIZE, JP Cooper -19

What If We Met --Ali Gatie -16

Kissing Strangers --USHER -20

Whatever --KYGO feat/Ava Max -55

Role Model --Fatboy Slim, Dan Diamond, Luca Guerrieri -24

My Favorite Drug --Justin Timberlake -22

Automatic --Roosevelt -32

Glad I Found You --Elderbrook & George Fitzgerald -23

Left Or Right --Laidback Luke, Mathew Nolan -45

***Multiply --Becky Hill -(new)

Enhancer --Northeast Party House -29

Nothing Ever Changes --Vintage Culture, MAGNUS -30

One Cry --Galantis, Rosa Linn -73

Level Up --Wolfgang Gartner, Scrufizzer -33

Weight Of The World --Bonnie X Clyde -25

Anthem --Diplo, Shram, Pony -26

Willing To Let You Go --Diplo, Anella Herim, Abby Anderson -35

God Don't Leave Me Alone --Gioli & Assla -38

No Shade At Pitti --The Chainsmokers -52

***I Go Dance --Kiesza -(new)

My Body --Illusionize, Y&M -31

The Craving ---Twenty One Pilots -95

Shadow --Trixie Mattel -37 -5weeks-

Without You --Disco Fries, Lavish Life -27

When I Wake Up --Lucas & Steve, Skinny Days -28

Make Me Your Mrs. --Mae Stephens -34

Monster --A7S, ALOK -36

Feel This Way --Victoria Nadine, R3HAB -39

Low Again --BAKERMAT -40

Reckless Child --Milky Chance -41

Houdini --Dua Lipa -44

Young & Foolish --Loud Luxury, Charlieonafriday -42

Forgive Me --ODESZA, Izzy Bizu -54

Disconnect --Becky Hill, Chase & Statis (Tiesto Remix) -61

Come Come --Vintage Culture, Tube & Berger, Kyle Pearce -90

Never Ending Song --Conan Gray -51

Outlaw Love --Brooke Eden (Dave Aude Remix) -43

The Afterhours --Kyle Watson -46

Lil Tune --Gus Dapperton, Electric Guest -47

Loose Ends --Lucas Estrada, Syn Cole -49

Don't You Cry --Sunday Scaries, Discrete -48

Wake Up --Young Franco, Master Peace -60

Undone --Forest Blakk -50 >>>

Hero --Vintage Culture, Emery Taylor -96

Without You --Felix Jaehn, Jasmine Thompson -62

Make You Mine --Madison Beer -65

Last Night --LOOFY -66

Weatherman --Zach Hood -67

Wake Up --Skylar Blatt feat/Chris Brown -68

LA --Northeast Party House -72

Animal --R3HAB, Jason Derulo -74

Naked & Alive --Milky Chance -83

America --Charlie Crockett -85

I Believe --Bassjackers, WUKONG, D Jayne -86

The Weekend --Anti-Up -87

Promised Land --Vintage Culture, Paige Cavell -88

Sun Comes Up --Timmie Trumpet, Sam Feldt, Ekko, Joe Taylor -94

***Paradise --Madison Rose -(new)

***Old Fashion Feeling --Midland -(new)

NNTS --Ookay -98

Outside Of Love --Becky Hill -99

Morning --Cheat Codes, Jason Derulo -92

Better Me --Michael Schulte, R3HAB -81 >>>

Regret The Morning --SILK, Mali-Koa -82 >>>

Illusion --Dua Lipa -71

Man In Finance --Girl On Couch, Billen Ted -97

***Gravity --Frank Walker, Tyler Shaw -(new)

***U Should Not Be Doing That --Amyl and the Sniffers -(new)

***Southern Rock --Travis Demming, HARDY -(new)

***Can't Slow Down --Almost Monday -(new)

Why Should I --Z3LLA -80 >>>

<>Kettle's Up ---Mahmut Orhan, Axelax, Botin -(re-entry) >>>

<> Same Drunk --Walker Hayes -(re-entry) >>>

Give It To Me Good --SIDEPIECE, Disco Lines -89 >>>

Dance Alone --SIA feat/Kylie Minogue -79

She's On My Mind --Romy -70 >>>

Never Be Friends --Jost, Minogue -75 >>>

Lonely Dancer --Conan Gray -63 >>>

Before You Go --Seeb -57 >>>

One On One --Robin Schulz, Oaks, Topic -56 >>>

Cutting Loose --Disco Lines, J Worra, Anabel Englund -76 >>>

Murder On The Dancefloor --Sophie Ellis-Bextor -91 >>>

2 -<> re-entries 8 new =10 6.9.24 <> #90 Kettle's Up <> #91 Same Drunk 8 NEW on the chart this week #28 Multiply #38 I Go Dance #76 Paradise #77 Old Fashion Feeling #85 Gravity #86 U Should Not Be Doing That #87 Southern Rock #88 Can't Slow Down

[madelgard]

@alexx-dax and I have been very carefully and very thoroughly studying the differing physiques between Jerjerrod and Motti, and the results are... so... promising....

[majingojira]

The Influences on D&D ... if Made Today

A thought has been percolating around my head, about Dungeons & Dragons, and the literary influences that helped design the world of the game. Among several articles, there were a LOT of influences that ranged from major (Tolkein) to "One creature from this one story" (The Displacer Beast). The ones that stood out to me the most, literary wise, were:

J.R.R. Tolkein/The Lord of the Rings

Robert E. Howard/The Conan and related stories.

H.P. Lovecraft/The Cthulhu Mythos

Edgar Rice Burroughs/Tarzan, Pelucidar, Barsoom

Fritz Leiber/Farhad and the Gray Mouser

Michael Moorcock/Elric of Melniboné

Of that original list, most have fallen off the pop-cultural radar. Only Tolkein, Howard, and Lovecraft really remain -- though the influences of the others are felt well beyond D&D. A thought occurred to me looking over all this "What if someone did this Today?" I know we have faith edition showing some bleed-in from newer series (4 Elements Monk/ Avatar the Last Airbender is kind of obvious), it's been only minor. If influences from modern fantasy/science fiction works got a stronger foothold over in the creation of D&D, what would those things be and what would it look like? I mean, besides Avatar, since that is already tapped thematically for D&D. Same for Star Wars, because that influences Everything, And on that note, you are not limited to literature specifically for this thing. Any story told in any medium is valid.