#NE is an entire REGION

[aphroditelovesu]

The Lost Queen - XI

— summary: You woke up near a military camp without remembering how and why you got there, you didn’t understand why they were dressed like ancient Greeks, all you knew was that you weren’t safe and you needed to get out of that place as soon as possible. Too bad for you that you found yourself attracting unwanted attention from the Macedonian King and he won’t let you go so easily.

— genre: yandere, dark!au.

— warnings: time travel, obsessive and possessive behavior, murder, mention of torture, kidnapping, angst, fluffy (very rarely), dub-con, possibly smut.

— pairing: yandere!alexander the great x female!reader, yandere!generals x female!reader.

— word count: 2,268.

— tag list: @devils-blackrose, @faerykingdom, @hadesnewpersephone, @mariaelizabeth21-blog1 , @kadu-5607, @zoleea-exultant, @borntoexplore11-blog, @silmawensgarden.

— the lost queen series masterlist.

Chapter 11

In agitated and pulsating Babylon, life flowed incessantly, without pause for rest. Its inhabitants were driven by an inexhaustible energy, immersed in different activities that filled their days. Under a sky permeated with seduction, the city exuded an irresistible charm, conquering all who dared to cross its limits. And in the midst of this frenzy, the Hanging Gardens stood majestically, silent witnesses to the magnificence and beauty of the city.

The city's famous Hanging Gardens not only added beauty to the urban scenery, but also aroused admiration in everyone who looked at them. It was said that it was one of the Seven Wonders and that it should be worshiped.

The story of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was even more fascinating.

A long time ago, in ancient Babylon, the powerful king Nebuchadnezzar II reigned. He ruled firmly, but also had a sensitive heart for the beauty and well-being of his people. However, his wife, Queen Amytis, felt a deep nostalgia for her homeland, the lush mountainous region of Persia, where gardens were abundant.

To gladden the queen's heart and create a grand gift, King Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Built into a magnificent structure of raised terraces, these gardens were designed to recreate the exuberance and serenity of Persian gardens amidst the hustle and bustle of the city.

The architects and engineers worked tirelessly, bringing to life a true verdant paradise in the heart of Babylon. Using an intricate network of water channels and irrigation systems, they managed to flow water from the depths of the Euphrates River to the highest terraces, nourishing the exotic plants and leafy trees.

When the Hanging Gardens were finally completed, they became a breathtaking spectacle for all who beheld them. The terraces were adorned with a dazzling array of fragrant flowers, fruit trees and lush greenery, creating a haven of peace and beauty for their beloved Queen.

It was a beautiful city, with a rich and vivid history. It would be a shame if the city fell into the hands of the savage Macedonians. The Persians believed that if the city fell into enemy hands, then the entire Empire would be doomed.

Darius knew this, he was more aware that if something happened to the city, everything would be lost. His defeat in the last battle had already been crushing, he could not be defeated again.

The Persian King sighed, frustrated and sat down on the chair in front of the table full of maps. He poured some wine into his glass and drank it, rubbing his temples irritably. He would have to do something quickly about this or risk losing everything.

The tent flap was opened and Darius frowned when he saw his detestable relative, Bessus. The man smiled mischievously and approached his King.

"You look terrible." Bessus commented, as he took a seat in front of Darius and grabbed some wine for himself.

Darius didn't respond, just drank his wine.

One side of Bessus' mouth quirked up and he chuckled, "You look tense."

"I am tense." Darius grumbled, adjusting his posture. He could never show himself weak in front of this relative of his.

"I can see that," Bessus murmured, stroking his black beard, "Maybe you need some good news."

Darius looked up and looked at Bessus, curious.

"Ah, have I piqued your interest?" Bessus laughed.

"Say it at once."

Bessus placed the glass on the table and smiled like a predator, "Our friend, Alexander, recently got married."

Darius raised his eyebrow, clearly interested in where this conversation was going.

"A certain (Y/N), from what the spies told me."

(Y/N)? It was a different name, one he didn't remember ever hearing.

"And who would this be (Y/N)?" Darius asked, placing the glass on the table.

"Someone who can be useful to us." Bessus licked his lips, as if savoring the idea. Darius stopped himself from shuddering.

"And how could she be useful? She's just his wife."

"That's why, my King. She's his wife and from what I've heard, he seems to care a lot about her. I've heard rumors that he almost killed his own General because of her."

Darius thought. Maybe she could be of help after all. If Alexander really cared so much about her, there would be an advantage.

"And from what my spies are saying, she could be pregnant." Bessus said, rubbing his hands together.

"And what do you suggest I do with this information?"

Bessus laughed darkly, "Bring her to us, Darius. I have spies ready to infiltrate the Macedonian camp, one word from you and she will be brought to us."

Darius didn't like the idea of kidnapping a pregnant woman, but these were desperate times. He could not suffer another humiliating defeat to Alexander. These were war times, after all. And all is fair in war.

Darius nodded hesitantly, "Do it."

Bessus smiled widely and stood up, turning his back to Darius.

"Bessus," Darius called in a serious, lethal voice, "Don't hurt her."

Bessus nodded, "I won't."

As Bessus exited his tent, Darius sighed loudly. He wasn't sure what he had ordered, but he knew it was too late to reverse it. He could not show weakness in front of his soldiers. Not now.

He needed to relax and so he called a name, "Bagoas."

Darius didn't even blink when the eunuch appeared in front of him and began to remove his overcoat. He needed this to clear his mind about what he was about to do.

The women looked terrified.

You felt sorry for the Persian women, the captives. It was obvious what would happen to them and you felt sick to your stomach just thinking about their possible fate. Although Alexander had prohibited rape, it was inevitable.

You would have to talk to him about it. It was unacceptable and since you were the Queen, you would have something to say about it.

You watched the Persian royal family carefully. After Darius's defeat at the Battle of Issus, he left his mother, wife and daughters behind. You already knew this story and couldn't help but be curious as you watched the women.

You were next to Hephaestion and Alexander, who were also watching the women carefully. At least these wouldn't suffer a bad fate.

Not now, at least.

The oldest of the women, who you immediately recognized as Sisygambis, the mother of Darius, approached Hephaestion and fell at his feet, prostrating herself and begging for mercy.

You bit back a laugh when you saw how Hephaestion's eyes widened in surprise.

"Please, Grand King, I ask that you spare my granddaughters..." The woman muttered, as she still had her face lowered in her hands on the floor of the tent. Hephaestion muttered something under his breath and looked desperately at Alexander.

Sisygambis turned pale when she realized her mistake, fearing that she had offended the King by mistaking him for a mere general.

Alexander decided to say something, "Don't worry, mother. He's also Alexander."

You held back a laugh when you heard the well-known words of Alexander the Great. It was like watching a movie in first person.

Alexander turned to you, "And here is my wife and Queen, (Y/N)."

You blushed a little at being called that. It was still strange and you were sure it would take a while to get used to being called that.

Straightening your posture, you smiled gently at the women, who watched you carefully. With a calm and serene tone of voice, you greeted them, ''It's a pleasure and an honor to meet you.''

Sisygambis smiled and nodded at her granddaughters, who bowed at you.

You waved your hands, "No, no. Don't worry about it, it's not necessary."

They seemed a little disoriented and confused, but they respected your request. Alexander seemed satisfied and began talking to the women.

You didn't pay much attention when you felt a wave of nausea. You bottled it up and held firm, but you knew full well what that could mean.

After your wedding night a few weeks ago, you continued to share a bed with Alexander a few times and, obviously, there were no contraceptives available and a very high chance of you being pregnant was plaguing you.

You didn't know what you were supposed to think about this. Having children had never been a goal of yours, sure, you had thought about it before, but the idea of actually expecting was scary.

You considered yourself too young to be a mother and the current scenario definitely didn't help. By the gods, you were more than two thousand years in the past, married to one of the greatest conquerors in history and possibly pregnant.

It all seemed like a very bad joke.

And there are still conflicts to be resolved. Cleitus had recovered well and an understanding between him and Alexander was made, it seems, the General forgave Alexander for trying to kill him and everything would return to normal between them. There was tension between the generals over this, but it seemed like everything would be fine.

Thanks to Hephaestion's diplomatic skills.

And there was the matter of Perdiccas.

You sighed just thinking about him. You hadn't spoken in weeks, he seemed determined to ignore you and you'd be lying if you said it didn't hurt you. You had felt something for him, but it seemed to become less and less the further away you were.

You missed him. He was one of the first, no, the first to be kind to you and someone you thought could become a friend, an ally.

But now he avoided you like the Devil avoided the Cross. When you were forced to be in the same room, he would remain silent and avoid your eyes. And when you spoke to him, he only spoke short, sharp words.

There was no longer that warmth, that kindness that you shared before.

You missed him. A lot.

But that was his choice and you would have to live with it. If he wanted to pretend that nothing ever happened between you, that you were mere acquaintances, you would do it. He could be stubborn, but you were more so.

And you couldn't put yourself at risk, not now when there was a chance you could be pregnant. This was for yourself and for this possible child.

You closed your eyes and pressed your hand over your stomach. Fearing for the uncertain future.

Perdiccas knew this was treason.

He was very aware that what he was doing could lead to him being sentenced to death. He knew it but he didn't care.

It was a crime of treason, a serious betrayal against his King, against his childhood friend and his beloved Macedonia.

But he didn't care. Something inside him just exploded on your wedding day and he knew there was nothing he could do to destroy that uncomfortable feeling.

He was jealous and angry. Jealous that Alexander had you in every way and angry with you and himself. Anger at you because you didn't choose to run away with him and at himself for not insisting.

But he was hurt, feeling betrayed. Perdiccas thought you liked him, maybe you could even be falling in love with him, but you chose Alexander over him.

And he hated you for it.

He loved you, Perdiccas knew he loved you. You awakened feelings he had never felt before for anyone and he wanted you. He wanted you just for himself, he wanted to be able to love you and adore you like the Queen you were.

You could have been happy together, just the two of you and with children in the future. Perdiccas could envision a happy future with you. You playing with his children while he watched.

You could have had a life next to each other.

But you chose to throw it all away and Perdiccas wouldn't allow it.

You would be his, one way or another.

These words repeated in the General's mind as he stealthily approached your tent with Persian spies at his side.

The camp was dark and strangely silent. Even the swashbuckling soldiers were silent.

Alexander would not share his tent today, he had much work to do with Hephaestion and Ptolemy.

It would be the perfect opportunity.

He waved his hand and the spies quickly knocked out two guards who were assigned to protect you.

Perdiccas was sure you would be asleep at this time. With silent steps, he lifted the flap of the tent and entered it, moving silently inside to where your cot was located.

He smiled like a fool in love when he saw you, asleep. You were covered by a thin blanket and your sleep seemed restless. He looked at the Persian spies and nodded.

It was now.

One of the spies approached you with a piece of fabric in his hand that had some kind of poison on it that would keep you asleep for as long as necessary.

When the cloth was placed under your nose, you woke up with a start and tried to scream, but the spy covered your mouth and pressed the cloth harder against your nose. Eventually, you stopped struggling and your eyes grew heavy, until they closed.

Perdiccas approached you and picked you up carefully. He smiled widely when he glimpsed your beauty.

Now was the time to finally have you for himself.

— lady l: WE'RE BACK, BABY! I know it took me a while to get back to this fanfic and I apologize for that. But we're back and the updates will continue as before! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and… Well, what happens now? I leave the doubt in the air… See you soon!

[radiojamming]

Hey guys! We're looking at another severe weather outbreak tomorrow evening/night and it's shaping up to potentially get nasty. Like, bad enough that storm chasers I know are already either leaving for southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, or backing out entirely because they're worried about what's going to happen. Last time, the post I made got a little bit of traction, so I thought I'd go for it again on the off chance that it's helpful at all.

Here are the following regions currently set to be impacted, according to today's (5/24) outlook from the Storm Prediction Center:

MODERATE (MDT): Oklahoma City, OK; Tulsa, OK; Wichita, KS; Norman, OK; Lawton, OK

ENHANCED (ENH): Kansas City, MO; Overland Park, KS; Kansas City, KS; Topeka, KS; Olathe, KS

SLIGHT (SLGT): Lincoln, NE; Springfield, MO; Abilene, TX; St. Joseph, MO; Fayetteville, AR

MARGINAL (MRGL): Dallas, TX; Columbus, OH; Fort Worth, TX; Cleveland, OH; Omaha, NE

The SPC will update this forecast tomorrow (5/25) morning and will monitor it throughout the day and make changes if need be.

Here are my tips (as well as @fruitsmother's great advice!) from the outbreak two weeks ago.

Another great resource for right-to-the-minute weather updates is Ryan Hall, who will more than likely livestream tomorrow and is great about providing watches and warnings as they come in and giving advice about what to do. He also runs a 501(c)(3) non-profit The Y'All Squad that provides assistance and relief in areas hit by severe weather events.

Just to hit some key points for this forecast and reiterate the biggest pieces of advice:

These storms are forecasted to produce damaging winds, large hail, and potentially strong or violent tornadoes. These storms may hit during the night, meaning there will be low visibility. Do not just rely on sight to monitor the weather; rotation may occur right above you and not all tornadoes are immediately visible. Listen to NOAA weather radio, news stations, or any other resource you may have.

If the weather gets bad, go to a basement or the lowest level of a building. If the building doesn't have a basement, go to the most interior room (usually a bathroom or closet) with no windows. If in a bathroom, consider bringing in couch cushions, pillows, or a mattress to cover yourself in case of falling debris.

Stay away from windows, especially with the potential for high winds and hail. Do not open your windows (see: common tornado myths).

DO NOT GO OUTSIDE TO WATCH. Even if there isn't a tornado, flying debris and huge pieces of hail falling at incredible speeds are a real issue! If you've never gotten clocked in the head with an ice chunk, now is not the time to find out how it feels!

If you haven't already done so, now is the best time to consider your severe weather plan and set up your safe place. Some items you might want to have on hand are things like flashlights or lanterns, extra batteries, phone chargers, food, water, clothing, blankets, several days' worth of medicine if needed, and a first aid kit. If you have pets, it might be best to put pet carriers, extra food, water, leashes, or anything else you may need in this area as well.

Review some basic first aid skills and tips.

If you're on the road, do not go up under an overpass. This is very '90s advice and has been proven either ineffective or outright dangerous. Go into a ditch and try to get yourself as low as possible.

In the worst case scenario of a tornado or other destructive event (microbursts, derechos, etc.), be a help, not a hindrance! Don't clog roadways; allow emergency personnel to get where they need to go!

Just as well, this is not a day for amateur storm chasers. Chaser convergence has been a real problem this year and as we've learned (unfortunately) in the past, tornadoes don't always follow their usual rules, which can put even the most seasoned chaser in danger. This is going to be a great day to watch Pecos Hank or Skip Talbot videos while being as safe as possible.

I'll keep you guys updated as the models from the SPC change or if anything else comes up. Mostly, stay safe!

[leader-of-the-misfit-states]

MD/PA lore dump!

maryland and pennsylvania? that's some real shit right there.

i was looking through my old posts, and i realized i reblogged @lunearobservatory's post about PA and mary being a divorced couple and while i elaborated a little bit on what i thought their relationship was like, i never really went into full detail about how things went down. and to be fair to me, that would've been a really long post, which is why this hasn't happened until literally right now so.

today, we are going to go through the entire timeline of PA and mary. specifically how i interpret it. i am always open to what other people think, but this timeline is pretty solidified so changing my opinion on it is most likely impossible.

DISCLAIMER: ben has not confirmed any of this information. these are just silly headcanons that have turned into full-fledged fanon lore, so it's just for fun. knowing my luck, ben will probably contradict everything i say in this post. /silly

alright, official lore starts under the cut!

basic headcanons before we begin the deep dive:

PA and mary are transmasc and transfem, respectively. PA uses he/him and mary uses she/her.

PA is aroace and mary is biromantic demisexual.

PA and mary are divorced but on amicable terms.

PA is trying his best 24/7 but just doesn't get romance.

childhood besties

so, PA and mary have known each other ever since... whatever the state equivalent is for kids. they're t4t best friends. they got gender envy from each other, and as they grew older, they really started to get attached. especially since their states themselves were always in such close proximity. during difficult times in history or through the different golden ages, they were always there for each other.

PA, not knowing he was aroace, just felt this warm and comforting feeling around mary all the time. other people in his region had started to call him out on a potential crush. but PA had never really experienced what a "crush" felt like, so he trusted in their opinion and assumed that what he was feeling must have been romantic attraction. i mean, he didn't really have any other reference to go off of other than what people were telling him.

mary, on the other hand, had liked penn romantically ever since they had met. she didn't know what it was. maybe it was the way he could get so passionate about things once you got to know him. or the way he seemed to genuinely care for her. whatever it was, she was attracted to him in such a way that it felt magnetic. it just felt like that they were meant to be. mary knew what her feelings were from the beginning.

PA, on the other hand, did not.

dating, marriage & uh ohs

so, due to the increasing pressure and teasing from the NE, PA decided to ask mary out. he had spent a few days studying rom-coms and how the main protagonist always seems to get the girl or even ask her out in the first place. his efforts seemed to have paid off, as mary accepted his confession. it was a very basic one, straight out of a movie he had watched. it was a bouquet of flowers, chocolate and a sappy love note he probably plagarized for. but whatever, mary accepted it and now the hard part was done, right?

incorrect! turns out maintaining a relationship takes consistent romantic affection and attention. while PA was trying his best, he constantly felt as though he was unprepared for every date and interaction he and mary had. he couldn't binge watch romance movies every single night, especially when there was also football on some of those nights. so eventually when a few years passed and marriage started to become a question circulating among states as a rumor about the two of them, PA started to get increasingly nervous. maybe it was just the thought of commitment, he thought. but also he started to question if what he was feeling was even romance at all.

mary was getting concerned too. PA almost seemed avoidant or anxious at every date, and seemed to panic whenever it came to planning dates in the first place. she knew he wasn't particularly dreading interacting with her as a person, so she didn't know what else it could be. that's why she was surprised when PA had eventually proposed and they had actually gotten married. she got even more concerned when PA's behavior didn't seem to change. he was still the kind, passionate and caring person she had known. but the concept of romance just seemed to... be completely out of his roundhouse. it almost seemed like he was repulsed by it entirely. and mary couldn't help but realize that maybe marriage just isn't for the two of them.

divorce & bumpy roads

PA eventually approached mary with the idea of getting a divorce a year or two into their marriage. mary wasn't shocked whatsoever. she was honestly surprised it hadn't happened sooner. the last thing PA wanted to do was hurt mary, which is why he had put it off for so goddamn long, but in the process he ended up hurting himself more and more. he explains that what he had felt for mary was never romantic, but just a strong platonic affection. mary embraces his aroace identity with open arms, despite such a wedge being driven between the two of them as a result of PA struggling to come to terms with himself. she could never blame him for his identity. she's just happy that he finally figured himself out.

the two had promised to stay amicable and friends after the divorce, but that didn't mean they were exempted from having awkward and rough patches. meetings with them together sometimes made the atmosphere weird, even when the two of them had promised that everything had been resolved and that there were no hurt feelings on either side. it didn't stop the NE from asking PA if he was okay like all of the time. it felt weird having either of them together at a statehouse function in fear that things were going to be awkward. sometimes rumors also circulated, as they always do because states are gossipy bitches, and that only made it more tense. rumors about who started it, who wanted the divorce, who hurt who, etc.

it didn't stop them from being friends though, not in the slightest.

platonic soulmates

they've been through the wringer, but it doesn't stop them from being friends and still being close. it takes time, mainly for both of them to find themselves and where exactly they want to stand with the other person, but it eventually landed at "i couldn't live without mary/PA". turns out being friends for centuries will do that to you! mary and PA still hang out, and are still as close as they were when they met as kids, nothing about that has changed. it almost surprises people how close they still are to each other despite going through a divorce.

like i said, they still hang out all the time. they do rot days together, movie nights, wine & beer nights and more. they both care about football, especially when comes to their respective bird teams (baltimore ravens and philadelphia eagles). i think they both have jerseys, it's just that PA wears his more often than mary does. and PA is absolutely defensive of who mary chooses to date in the future in the "i need to look out for my bestie" kind of way. all in all, there is nobody that knows them the best than each other. and in a way, this is their happy ending, no marriage required.

and yeah, that's the entire timeline! i'll honestly be surprised if anyone reads through this entire thing but i'll appreciate it if you do. feel free to send me asks about these two or any questions that you might have about a certain thing on the timeline. i hope you guys enjoyed and thanks for reading!

[thecreaturecodex]

Doctor Agatha Shiny

Image © @iguanodont

[Writing this entry was very cathartic. Doctor Shiny is not only my Villain OC (and trust me, there's nothing even remotely redeeming about her), but also a way to process the trauma I experienced in grad school. You may have noticed that "collegial mad scientists" are a recurring theme in my work; Doctor Shiny is their boss in the Inner Sea, at least as far as mere mortals go. I’ve been meaning to create a Legion of Doom in my campaigns, and this is as good an excuse as I’m likely to get. As one of the most powerful alchemists on Golarion, I gave Doctor Shiny access to a ton of weird extracts; I'm just posting a link to the Archives of Nethys master list than linking to them individually.

Also? Without any visual reference, Iguanodont managed to make Doctor Shiny look an awful lot like me. Spooky.]

Doctor Agatha Shiny CR 20 NE Humanoid This woman is fat and cheerful, her brown hair done up in a messy ponytail. She is dressed in a lab coat, heavy gloves and boots. Two tentacles grow from her back, each studded with sightless eyes.

Everyone in Absalom knows who Doctor Agatha Shiny is; she’s a celebrity scientist. Head of the Biology Department at Endiron School in Eastgate, her lectures on everything from diet to material science to biodiversity are popular and well attended by the public for entertainment and education purposes. Her column, “Ask Doctor Shiny”, is carried by several broadsheets and circulations. “Ask Doctor Shiny” is a slang phrase in Absalom meaning roughly, “how should I know?” Her various grad students and colleagues have nothing but nice things to say about her. Because the ones who talk out of turn have a habit of ending up dead or transformed.

Despite her jolly exterior, Doctor Shiny is a sadist of the highest caliber, and someone who is disgusted with humanity in general. It is her studied opinion that humans have been the dominant species on Golarion for far too long, and the ultimate aim of her research is to find a suitable replacement. Her primary laboratory for these experiments is the Puddles, which is increasingly home to murderous monsters of her own design. Doctor Shiny and the headmaster of her college, Tontartigan Dellby, have a system of mutual blackmail; both knows the broad strokes of each other’s schemes, enough to expose and humiliate the other if pushed. Agatha knows that she would win any conflict if it were to arise—she would merely shred Dellby with her bare hands and replace him with a simulacrum that obeyed her every command.

Doctor Shiny’s main lab is underground at Endiron School, but she maintains laboratories throughout Absalom and the entire Inner Sea region, each one of which has a doppelganger simulacrum she can project her mind into. Each lab is a facility for collecting monsters from the region, running tests on their physical and magical properties, and incorporating their characteristics into fleshwarped abominations. Her raw materials for fleshwarping often include those aforementioned recalcitrant students, as well as indigents, adventurers and other people who go unmissed. Those that would be missed are replaced with simulacra, or turned into dominated sleeper agents. Doctor Shiny has done some self-experimentation; tentacles grow from her back (she keeps these under her lab coat in her role as a public figure), and her internal organs are no longer fully human.

Like any good scientist, Doctor Shiny maintains a network of colleagues, almost all of whom are just as depraved as she is. Her Number One Minion is a blue slaad named Ranna, who was once a graduate student named Marina Rhinne, and to most of the world is still known by that name and identity. Ranna serves Doctor Shiny as an assassin, collection agent and lover. Doctor Shiny was the first contact point in Absalom for a species of fleshwarping monsters from Sarusan who have decided that the Inner Sea is ripe for their exploitation—these are the zern. She is also the chair of CIS, the Committee for Ingenious Science. CIS is a network of mad scientists throughout Avistan and Garund who occasionally report on their findings and brainstorm new ways to exert their will on the world. And lastly, Agatha Shiny is a religious woman. Her primary deity is Shub Nugganoth, but she sees the Goat of the Woods as the leader of a small pantheon of gods and demigods devoted to nightmares of evolution and knowledge at any cost. These six deities are the kyton demagogue Raetorgash, the sahkil tormentor The Vermillion Mother, the daemonic harbinger Deceid, the demon lord Abraxas, Shub Nugganoth and her green (wo)man daughter, Briarpatch. Doctor Shiny refers to these six as the Xammux, a zern word meaning “council”.  

New Material: Shoggomer Shoggomer is one of Doctor Shiny’s miscellaneous inventions, although she typically refers to it as “self repairing polymer” in public. It is a form of latex, made with both tree sap and fleshwarping reagents derived from shoggoth ichor. Shoggomer can be used to make clothing, or any form of armor typically made from leather, hide or fur. As it is flexible, it cannot be used to make shields or typically metal armors. Shoggomer armor reduces its spell failure chance by 10%, increases max Dexterity bonuses by 2, and decreases armor check penalties by 2. Materials made of shoggomer heal at a rate of 2 hit points per day, or 1 per day if they have the broken condition. While healing, shoggomer materials manifest sightless eyes, small mouths or small flapping tendrils—this both institutes an armor check penalty of 2 when worn, and creatures within 30 feet must succeed a DC 15 Will save or be shaken for 1 minute by the eerie sight. A creature is only affected by the fear effect of repairing shoggomer once in a 24 hour period, whether it succeeds or fails the save. Shoggomer items are always of masterwork quality

Type of Shoggomer Item       Item Price Modifier Clothing                                    +750 gp Light armor                               +1000 gp Medium armor                           +1500 gp Other items                               +450 gp/pound

Doctor Agatha Shiny    CR 20 XP 307,200 NE Medium humanoid (human) Human alchemist (clone master) 20 Init +7; Senses Perception +23; true seeing Defense AC 31, touch 18, flat-footed 28 (+3 Dex, +5 deflection, +5 natural, +8 armor) hp 273 (20d8+180); fast healing 5 Fort +26, Ref +21, Will +14; +4 vs. poison Immune alignment and thought detection Defensive Abilities fortification (25%) Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee spirit blade +23/+18/+13 (1d4+7 plus 1d6 acid/19-20), 2 tentacles +23 (1d4+7) Ranged +1 seeking light crossbow +20 (1d8+1/19-20) or bombs +19/+14/+9 touch (10d4+10 fire) Extracts Prepared CL 20th 6th—beast shape IV, caging bomb admixture, heal (x2), monstrous physique IV, transformation, verminous transformation 5th—dream, greater claim identity (DC 25), overland flight, planar adaptation, simulacrum, spell resistance, undead anatomy II 4th—caustic blood (DC 24), cure critical wounds, death ward, enchantment foil, fluid form, freedom of movement, restoration, touch of slime (DC 24) 3rd—absorb toxicity (DC 23), arcane sight, countless eyes, displacement, dragon turtle shell, heroism, protection from energy, voluminous vocabulary 2nd—animal aspect, delay poison, false life, invisibility, lesser restoration, spider climb, venomous bite, vine strike (DC 22) 1st—anticipate peril, bomber’s eye, cure light wounds, disguise self, polypurpose panacea, shield (x2), targeted bomb admixture Special Attacks bombs (30/day, DC 30), mutagen (+8/+6/+4 ability scores, +6 natural armor) Statistics Str 18, Dex 16, Con 26, Int 30, Wis 14, Cha 20 Feats Craft Construct (B), Craft Wondrous Item, Extra Discovery (x2), Fleshwarper, Improved Initiative, Magical Aptitude, Master Craftsman (Craft: alchemy), Multiattack, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot Skills Bluff +24, Craft (alchemy) +37, Diplomacy +26, Disable Device +31, Disguise +26, Fly +21, Heal +25, Knowledge (arcana, nature) +31, Knowledge (dungeoneering, local, planes) +28, Linguistics +18, Perception +23, Perform (oratory) +26, Spellcraft +31, Survival +23, Use Magic Device +30 Languages Aboleth, Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Daemonic, Draconic, Gnoll, Infernal, Kelesh, Orisian, Senzar, Slaad, Sylvan, Thassilonian, Undercommon, Varisian, Zern SQ alchemy, discoveries (alchemical simulacrum, doppelganger simulacrum, fast bombs, fast healing, feral mutagen, greater mutagen, grand mutagen, infusion, preserve organs, promethean disciple, sleeper agent, tanglefoot bomb, tentacle [x2]), instant alchemy, legendary, persistent mutagen, poison use, rebirth, swift poison Gear manual of gainful exercise +5 (expended), tome of clear thought +4 (expended), headband of mental superiority +6 (Diplomacy, Disguise, Perform (oratory), belt of physical perfection +4, +5 shoggomer studded leather armor of improved electricity resistance, spirit blade, +1 seeking light crossbow, vest of the ultimate alchemist (counts as greater poisoner’s jacket, vest of stable mutation and vest of surgery), amulet of natural armor +5/mighty fists +5, truesight goggles, deliquescent/poisoner’s gloves, charlatan’s lab coat of resistance +5, ring of protection +5, ring of mind shielding and sustenance, boots of striding and springing, boro beads (1 4th level, 2 3rd level, 2 1st level), cauldron of brewing, pale green ioun stone, scroll of greater teleport (x3), 20 bolts, 100,000 gp worth of alchemical reagents and poisons, alchemist’s lab, formula book (as prepared, plus true seeing, clone, greater invisibility, eyes of the void, neutralize poison, stoneskin, claim identity, lesser simulacra, nondetection, water breathing, barkskin, bear’s endurance, blur, bull’s strength, cat’s grace, eagle’s splendor, fox’s cunning, owl’s wisdom, undetectable alignment, crafter’s fortune, identify, touch of the sea), 645 gp. Special Abilities Legendary (Ex) Doctor Shiny’s statistics are built on 25 point buy and she has the gear of a 20th level PC. These advantages increase her CR by +1 Mutagen (Su) Doctor Shiny’s mutagens are built to grant her a +8 bonus to Strength, +6 to Constitution and +4 to Dexterity. With her mutagen (and her vest of the ultimate alchemist), her statistics are as follows: Init +9; AC 39, touch 20, flat-footed 35; hp 333; Fort +29, Ref +23; Melee spirit blade +27/+22/+17 (1d4+11 plus 1d6 acid/19-20), claw +26 (1d6+9 plus 1d6 acid), bite +26 (1d8+9), 2 tentacles +26 (1d4+9); Str 26, Dex 20, Con 32; Skills Fly +23

[southeastasianists]

Since February 1, 2021, when the Burmese military seized power in a coup, ending a decade-long period in which they had allowed multiparty democracy limited by the army’s claim of 25 percent of the seats in parliament, a violent civil war has raged throughout the country. It has killed over eight thousand civilians and displaced 4.6 million, a quarter of whom have left Myanmar entirely.

In the three years of fighting since the outbreak of the civil war, anti-coup forces have largely succeeded in confining the junta to cities. Only 14 percent of Myanmar’s territory, and 33 percent of its population, are under military control. In response to the military coup in 2021, a cross section of Burmese society, including unions, youth, women, civil servants, and health workers organized thousands of protests against the junta in the Spring Revolution. But as the junta responded with live bullets, assassinations, sexual violence, communications blackouts, and mass detentions, much of the pro-democracy movement took up arms.

Three years later, guerrillas routinely ambush junta forces in the central lowlands, which are effectively surrounded by dozens of armed groups in provinces that have since independence never truly been controlled by the central government. Military rule in Myanmar was always predicated on a suppression of ethnic minorities, most notably the Rohingya, who faced persecution and denial of citizenship under the rule of Aung San Suu Kyi. Consequently, opposition to the junta has largely taken the form of ethnic armed organizations.

The military’s attacks on rural areas have forced anti-coup forces to construct their own organizational structures, not all of which ally themselves with the ousted 2021 government. Outnumbered and isolated, the military has largely retreated to cities and garrisons from which it launches indiscriminate air strikes, dodges sanctions, and tries to maintain Russia and China’s economic and military support, although the latter has of late been putting pressure on the junta to accept another ceasefire. The People’s Republic helped to broker cease-fires between the junta and its opponents in January and June of this year.

Over the last few weeks, ethnic armed organizations have made significant gains. The Three Brotherhood Alliance, made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and the Arakan Army, control an area larger than Belgium in the north of the country with close trade ties to China. Last week, the alliance successfully captured Lashio, the headquarters of the military junta’s Northeast Regional Command, and it is also in control of Mogok, the center of Myanmar’s world-leading ruby industry. The city of Lashio, the first of the junta’s fourteen military command centers to fall, is essential to controlling the expansive Shan State. With these victories, anti-coup forces hope to take control not just of territory, but vital economic and political centers and weaken the military’s decade-long grip on power within the country.

The Generals Protect Themselves

Myanmar’s military refers to itself as the Tatmadaw (Royal Armed Forces), but the average Burmese knows it less glamorously as the Sit-Tat (military). Myanmar’s military has dominated the country’s politics for eighty years, fighting British and Japanese occupiers and then communist insurgents and ethnic militias throughout the turbulent 1940s and ’50s. In its half-century (1962–2011) of one-party rule, the Sit-Tat subjected Myanmar to a torpor of stage-managed politics, economic catastrophe, and international isolation. Dictator Ne Win (1962–1988) initially attempted a Buddhist-socialist hybrid that glorified the military without handing real power to peasants and workers. Shock nationalization largely transferred Indian, Chinese, and Western assets into the generals’ hands, while mismanaged agricultural and financial policies condemned most Burmese to abject poverty.

After the economy collapsed, Ne Win and the Sit-Tat’s ideology and structure became more malleable, contorting into whatever preserved military dominance. The boiling point came with the 8888 Uprising (August 8, 1988), a broad-based, pro-democracy protest movement that still inspires today’s opposition. The Sit-Tat shot and killed thousands of protesters, and though Ne Win was ultimately ousted, the military maintained its grip with mass detentions, torture, arson, and executions. Afterward, the Sit-Tat largely shed its ideological posturing and redoubled efforts at self-preservation and self-enrichment. It created an artificial capital (Naypyidaw) to escape urban protesters, built up a domestic weapons industry to fend off its citizens, and captured significant portions of the Burmese economy to exchange for its officers’ loyalty.

By the time the Sit-Tat finally conceded to democratic elections in 2015, a wealthy caste of officers and their families inhabited a vast patronage network whose lavish lifestyles were funded by confiscated land, factories in which abuse took place, and sweltering mines. Even pro-democracy officers and some within the democratic opposition shared with the military a commitment to the suppression of minorities and kleptocratic rule. But the 2021 coup proved that even this concession was too much for the military, which, under General Min Aung Hlaing, once again turned to brute force to preserve its dominance.

The Political Economy of Military Rule

Today’s military oligarchy does not rely on any one export or industry. Resources, consumer items, manufacturing, and land are all plundered by the military and its associates. Jade, gold, rubies, lumber, oil, gas, and clothing are either owned by officers, gifted to associates, sold to the highest bidder, or protected for foreign corporations. Any opportunity for extraction, extortion, and profit is ruthlessly exploited through systematic, decades-old practices of forced labor, union busting, land expropriation, public embezzlement, and corruption in licensing and procurement.

The Sit-Tat surrounds Chinese mines and oil facilities with deadly landmines and sends soldiers to break up strikes at garment factories. Corporations owned by current and former generals or their family members, like the massive Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Ltd (MEHL), make billions of dollars for the Sit-Tat’s upper echelon through complex webs of investments and money laundering. All the while, the average government soldier scrounges for food and goes into battle without adequate training or equipment.

The inequality and plunder that are the basis of Myanmar’s economy have been well-integrated into international supply chains and financial networks, both before and after the coup. As Myanmar reopened to international investment in 2011–12, states and multinational corporations became heavily involved in all of the industries central to the country’s economy, despite continued human-rights abuses, widespread corruption, and the clear role of the Sit-Tat in many of these industries. A host of international corporations and state actors have remained essential partners for the Sit-Tat ever since, even as it carried out a vicious military campaign in Kachin State in 2012, invaded Shan State in 2015, and committed genocide against the Rohingya in 2017.

Today, the Sit-Tat bombs civilians with Russian airplanes serviced with Indian parts and running on jet fuel shipped by Chinese and Vietnamese companies while Singaporean and Thai banks facilitate weapons procurement for the Sit-Tat’s state banks. The coup has not deterred Australian mining companies, put off state-owned Israeli and Indonesian arms manufacturers, or halted a European Union trade agreement that allegedly promotes workers’ rights from coming into effect. Ultimately, though states maintain complex relationships with the junta, sometimes sanctioning, regulating, or divesting from these dealings, the Sit-Tat’s economic architecture remains diverse and extensive. Divestment and sanctions have been slow and incomplete, all while Myanmar’s ordeal continues.

Working Against the Junta

Every day, Myanmar’s workers experience this military oligarchy firsthand. Even if the junta were to follow the law, Myanmar’s worker protections have long been inadequate. Workers face frequent, arbitrary wage cuts and wage theft, long hours and appalling working conditions, forced and unpaid overtime, restrictions on speech and assembly, dismissal and arrest, and sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. Employers frequently call in the Sit-Tat, its police force, or pro-junta militias to break strikes or intimidate workers. Employers even maintain agreements with the military that allow soldiers to enter factories at will to arrest organizers.

In the mines supplying the world with jade and rubies, miners have little protection from arbitrary violence meted out by gangsters, militias, and soldiers, to say nothing of the dangers of oxygen shortages and cave-ins. Women (though not exclusively) across Myanmar face serious risks from sex traffickers, sexual extortion and abuse by employers and soldiers, or sexual violence and torture in the junta’s many overcrowded detention centers. School closures and poverty have created widespread child labor, while LGBTQ populations have lost much of their socioeconomic autonomy in a targeted campaign by the junta and its supporters.

Despite all the hurdles, Myanmar’s diverse workers are prolific organizers. There were three thousand unions registered by 2021, and they routinely went on strike, including widespread walkouts in the garment industry in 2019. Unions like the Federation of Garment Workers would then be at the forefront of the protests and civil disobedience campaign after the coup. The junta was quick in banning sixteen large unions for supposedly failing to register, but general strikes still shut down the country as railroad operators, civil servants, and doctors and nurses took to the streets for months. In Myanmar’s largest industrial district, Hlaingthaya, workers spent six weeks shutting down production before the Sit-Tat violently stormed the township and killed multiple people. Despite great personal risk, workers and protesters mobilized over Facebook and called for domestic and international boycotts of businesses with ties to the military.

After the protests were repressed and Myanmar descended into war, workers were left under the watchful and repressive eye of the junta, which clung to its urban strongholds. Their very proximity to the junta’s vital sources of income ensure workers and organizers are constant targets for surveillance, harassment, arrest, and prosecution. While they constitute an essential pro-democracy base for the opposition, Myanmar’s laborers have had to endure three years of war and economic crisis. Yet they remain resilient. On February 1, 2024, even within the junta’s grip, workers and supporters managed to shut down Myanmar’s towns and cities in a “silent strike” commemorating the third anniversary of the coup. It remains to be seen how much longer they will have to wait for a semblance of stability.

[fatehbaz]

A major interest in that work [...] was the era of post-war decolonization, and how archaeology connected with it (or not). As the territory of what became the Arab Republic of Egypt emerged from various forms of British rule and Egyptian monarchy, I wanted to know how that process impacted upon archaeology, a field that had been dominated by Euro-Americans (and whose major official institution, the Egyptian Antiquities Service, had been run entirely by French men). [...] The book revolves around, but is not limited to, a major event in the development of what became World Heritage, at least in UNESCO’s -- and, put bluntly, many other people’s -- telling.

UNESCO promotes its International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, which took place in the adjoining regions of Egyptian and Sudanese Nubia from 1960 until 1980, as central to the development of the 1972 World Heritage Convention. The campaign -- to a large, but not total, extent staffed by teams from the Euro-American institutions who had long excavated in Egypt -- sought to preserve and record ancient temples and archaeological sites in Nubia. Those sites were due to be flooded by the construction of the Aswan High Dam, which, despite having been planned many years earlier, became a centerpiece of Nasser-era modernization plans. Among them the temples at Abu Simbel and Philae, the monuments on the Egyptian -- but not Sudanese -- side of the Nubian border were listed as part of the second tranche of World Heritage sites in 1979, and today Nubian temples are located around the world: “gifts-in-return” for financial contributions to UNESCO’s project, perhaps most famous among them the temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The World Heritage Convention, meanwhile, remains the major international piece of legislation in the heritage arena, and at the time of writing has been ratified by 194 States Parties. Oddly, however, beyond an official history published in the 1980s, there has never been a book-length, critical treatment of the Nubian campaign, nor have the articles and book chapters written about the event really addressed it in terms of the “local” (which is to say Egyptian and Sudanese) perspective, let alone the Nubian one.

Flooded Pasts discusses how, in combination with the politics of irrigation and development, UNESCO’s Nubian campaign built on and transformed colonial-era archaeological understandings of Nubia as a region of picturesque ruination: a place filled with ancient, Nile-side ruins, and not a place where people -- Nubians -- lived.

---

During the early decades of the twentieth century (and before and after the British declaration of nominal Egyptian independence in 1922), the building and heightening of the original Aswan Dam had, to increasingly destructive levels, flooded Nubian settlements on the Egyptian side of the Nubian border. These settlements were located alongside the many ancient ruins located in the region, which were also increasingly submerged. Eventually receiving some compensation from the Egyptian government, Nubia’s population were forced to move their homes higher up the Nile’s banks, and many Nubians moved to Cairo and Alexandria to work in domestic service. Meanwhile, Egypt’s antiquities service launched two archaeological surveys directed by colonial officials that sought to record ancient sites before they were flooded.

This process, I argue, made it much easier to separate an ancient Nubian past from the region’s present: one dominated by a territorially novel kingdom of Egypt whose permanence was extrapolated backwards in time.

---

Accordingly, as Egypt and Sudan signed the Nile Waters Agreement of 1959 and confirmed the impending construction of the High Dam, that process precipitated a continuation of earlier archaeological work [...]. Simultaneously, separate “ethnological” surveys either side of the newly hardened Egyptian-Sudanese border prepared for the relocation of the now-separated Nubian population to new, government-planned settlements elsewhere (the Egyptian survey was supported by the Ford Foundation and based at the American University in Cairo; the Sudanese one was supported by the Sudan Antiquities Service).

Even in the face of Nubian demonstrations -- particularly strong in Wadi Halfa in the very north of Sudan -- this forced, state-backed process of migration made the job of archaeological survey easier, constituting further representations of the desolate desert dotted by ancient monuments that earlier work had made possible.

That those monuments -- and that “desert” -- clearly had a far more complex history was a fact elided by most involved.

To a great extent, too, that elision continues, even as the Nubian diaspora has in recent years become much more vocal about its plight. [...]

---

[T]here is no doubt that the Nubian campaign, and the Nubian archaeological surveys before it, affected tens of thousands of lives for the worse. [...] I would hope that Flooded Pasts enjoys a readership beyond the academic, not least because issues around heritage -- what it is, who has a say in it, how its governance operates -- have become so salient in the last few years [...]. There has been a growing amount of work on the histories of archaeology and heritage -- and a corresponding amount of discussion around what it might mean to decolonize those fields [...]. More pressingly, then, I hope that the book catalyzes discussion around the lives of contemporary Nubians [...].

---

All text above are the words of William Carruthers. As interviewed by staff at the Jadaliyya e-zine. Transcript titled “William Carruthers, Flooded Pasts: UNESCO, Nubia, and the Recolonization of Archaeology (New Texts Out Now).” Published online at Jadaliyya. 22 December 2022. [Image from the cover of the book. Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[jokeroutsubs]

ENG Translation of Vecer.com article, translation cr: @kurooscoffee, video transcript: drumbeat

(PHOTO and VIDEO) Joker Out at Lent Festival heated up the Maribor audience: Crowd of teenagers* at Leon Štukelj Square

Last night's highlight of the first Lent Festival weekend

Photo: SAŠO BIZJAK

Maribor was heated up, streets were packed, and there was a crowd full of teenagers* on Leon Štukelj Square. Everything was ready for the concert of the stars, the Joker Out band, who were the highlight of the first weekend of Lent Festival. As we waited to get in and catch the band before the concert, we spoke to Alja from Maribor. "I've been following them since 2018. Back then they had a concert at Lent, and there were ten of us, it was free. It's really good that they managed to do succeed like this now," said the enthusiastic fan*. We caught up with them right after soundcheck and a few other commitments on stage.

Photo: SAŠO BIZJAK

Carpe Diem live in Maribor for the first time

"We have really appeared on stage here in Maribor many times in the last few years, it has been nice to see the crowd getting bigger and louder, we are always very warmly welcomed and we really love coming back here. But in 2018, our first concert at Lent Festival was on the Večer stage, I remember it was raining, there were canopy tents set up, there were just enough people to hide under those four or five tents. Today, I don't think that would be possible anymore," the good-humoured Bojan Cvjetićanin told us. The boys remarked that there would definitely be no rain this evening, because 'we're going all out with partying (1)', and promised to play their entire repertoire for Maribor. "We know both us and them will enjoy it. It will be the first time Carpe Diem will be performed live in Maribor. A premiere," added Cvjetićanin.

(1) T/N this part was said in Maribor dialect

And indeed. There was no rain that evening, and the temperature was very suitable for warming up the enthusiastic crowd. Done as promised. In an hour and a half they provided a medley of songs from the first and second album. They started with Katrina, continued with Ne Bi Smel, Plastika, Dopamin, A Sem Ti Povedal Kdaj, Padam, Demoni, Srce ocena, Metulji, Vse Kar vem, Vem Da Greš… When she discovered the latter song, she started listening to them, the 29-year-old Eva from Maribor told us. "I've been following them for about three years, I've been to their concert in Ptuj, and I've been cheering for them at Eurovision. I like their magnetic energy. Because they are genuine, exactly as they are. They have a special depth in their lyrics that you can find yourself in. They fit Lent, they bring a youthful energy to it. May they come to Maribor many more times," she said. Teja, 17, from Maribor, has been following Joker Out for about a year and her favourite song is Metulji. Her friends Metka and Romina have been following them since Eurovision. They like them because they have a new touch and because the lyrics are a bit different and not so superficial, they told us.

Leon Štukelj Square was full of enthusiastic fans∗. PHOTO: SAŠO BIZJAK

The best concert ever for a Canadian*

Although the concert was, clearly, mostly young people, there were also some older female fans in the crowd. "Our whole family listens to Joker Out. The biggest fan is my granddaughter, who is two years old, but she couldn't come to the concert with us (yet). The rest of us came from Koroška (T.N.: region in northern Slovenia) for the concert," said Andreja from Vuzenica.

PHOTO: SAŠO BIZJAK

As Bojan already noted on stage, it wasn't only the local fans who were listening to them in Maribor. Anna Herran from Canada travelled a lot more kilometres than anyone else to be able to listen to them in Maribor. "I am currently studying in Prague," she explained. She spotted them at Eurovision. "'Well done!' After that I really wanted to go to their concert, I saw their summer tour and I came from Prague yesterday. I've been to Slovenia before, I really like it, but never to Maribor, so it was a great opportunity to combine one with the other. It was the best concert I've been to so far! Everyone is taller than me, so I didn't see some parts, but it was still great, I really want to go to another concert of theirs, I hope that one day they will come to Canada; or Prague, which is closer to them," the smiling 28-year-old told us after the concert. She particularly likes that they sing in Slovenian, and sometimes in Serbian, she added. "When you live in North America, everything is always in English, so it's great to hear other languages. Now that I'm here, I can even say a few things in Slovene. 'Hvala lepa!' That's what I learned from them. And the fans∗ translate the texts online, which I really appreciate," she added.

Anna Herran, Canadian, fan of Joker Out (PHOTO: URŠKA POLANC)

"No, I'm not signing your passport …"

Now that they have already performed abroad, we were curious to see how the band feels standing on Slovenian, home stages. What is the difference? "We like anyone who sings our music in Slovenian," Jan Peteh answered. Kris Guštin added that there is less difference between Slovenian and foreign stages than they thought there would be. "Absolutely, we thought that Slovene would be a really big hurdle between us and the audience, but it turned out that it's not the case. It even turned out that this kind of barrier that the language sets is a very fun challenge for the fans, because they are very relaxed about the concert and they are ready to absorb everything that we give them. On stage we feel very primal, very childlike, and so do the fans∗," explained Cvjetićanin. Are they now more confident on stage after Eurovision? "I think the difference is quite noticeable, especially if we have pink clothes on stage," Peteh added, laughing.

PHOTO: SAŠO BIZJAK

During the concert, many objects flew onto the stage, some of them off it. The singer said that he already has a room full of presents at home, but he is always happy to receive new ones. "That T-shirt I signed was not an invitation to throw all the items of clothing on stage." "No, I'm not signing your passport," the band's singer, among other things, told the audience, from whom they also said goodbye in style. "We've saved it for last because it suitably describes the continuation of the evening … Carpe Diem!"

ENG Translation by @kurooscoffee (jokeroutsubs) DO NOT REPOST!

[nana-glass-chillhop-radio-hour]

I am seeing a lot of discourse about Christmas songs and snow and climate change that is. Hmmm. Not scientific. Picking one day out of the year and complaining about the weather on that day versus past years is not a good illustration of climate change. Weather on a given day in a year is highly variable even outside of the effects of anthropogenic climate change!! I was feeling depressed that they're calling for a high of 60 on Christmas in NE Ohio, but I just reviewed the meteorology data for Cleveland going back to the late 1800s and there were in fact highs in the upper 50s, though 30's and 40's were more common (also true today, though). El Niño existed back then too! Climate change is real but picking apart the lyrics of a song written in the 50's in New York City and feeling bad that it doesn't describe your lived experience of late December in Houston or w/e is not an effective way to address humanity's negative impacts on its surrounds!

But all that said is DOES make me wince every time I hear references to chestnuts in Christmas music. Chestnutting used to be a holiday tradition! Entire regional cultures subsisted on the American chestnut! But due to introduced blight they are all gone. And our best restoration efforts have yielded only mixed results so far.

'Mourn the American chestnut (whose demise was within our control) and stop lamenting the lack of a white Christmas (which was never a guarantee in your hazy idealized mythical past, either)' is my final ecology of Christmas message to you

[luigiblood]

Some thoughts about Nintendo Switch Online retro games since last time

This is essentially going to be not much of a post but I guess I could talk about a few things about its future since with all the updates that we got since last time.

We'll talk about UI code, Pokémon, NES, Fire Emblem and N64.

UI code upgrade

Literally the next day since my last post about it, on March 16th, Nintendo added new NES, SNES and GB titles. Under the hood, they did do a massive change to the user interface programming, bringing pretty much every NSO app to the latest user interface codebase that GB and GBA NSO had.

That said it brings absolutely no visible changes, NERD has just made sure to bring everything up-to-date. This is just more stable and probably easier to program and manage UI code.

Pokémon Stadium 1 & 2

On April 12th, Nintendo released Pokémon Stadium to NSO + Expansion Pack, and with no Transfer Pak support.

Of course, what did I even expect since there's no old mainline Pokémon titles yet (if ever?).

My opinion about Pokémon on NSO is that it will get stuck to only spinoffs. My worst case realistic scenario (aside from no rerelease) is Pokémon Company selling the old gens at $15 piecemeal (yes, $5 more than on 3DS Virtual Console).

Personally I expect Pokémon Company to be very strict about Pokémon management, and those games are highly abusable with glitches, honestly and are kind of region locked, too to some extent especially between japanese and international players, but they still bothered to rerelease them and supporting them with a way to transfer your Pokémons out of the games. It's also abusable if you supported the Transfer Pak in Pokémon Stadium titles since they also work like extra boxes for your Pokémons and those support save states, which was explicitly removed out of the 3DS Virtual Console release...

They did also release Pokémon Stadium 2 this week, also without Transfer Pak support.

I did look at the emulator really quick and did find that they added new functions for Lua script hacking for the games, and it does kinda look like they rebuilt the entire thing from a new version at least.

I'll speak more about N64 emulation later.

Mystery Tower

Fast forwarding a bit, on June 6th, Nintendo added more NES, SNES and GB titles. One of them was Mystery Tower by Namco.

This bothered me, because I knew what this game was, but the title did absolutely not sound right. Turns out this title is actually brand new, they had this title in their collection, the original title was "BABEL" which is interesting since this means it is a first case of title change hacks on NSO. That said I did eventually find out that Japan also had a title change to "The Tower of Babel", which was also done in collections, but also the Wii U Virtual Console release!

Anyway please try this puzzle game, just keep in mind the direction and how you can turn around stuff based on how you face it.

Fire Emblem

On June 23rd, Nintendo released Fire Emblem for the GBA NSO app. But Japan also had Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the actual first GBA Fire Emblem title, as we only started to get these games since the second GBA title.

I'll refer to them as FE6 (The Binding Blade) and FE7 (Fire Emblem) from now on.

This update was interesting for a couple reasons.

It just so happens that the japanese version of FE7 can link to FE6's completed save files to unlock a couple things in the game.

So now, when you go into multiplayer, after the first player selects FE7, the second player is allowed to select either FE7, or FE6 for "Link Cleared Save Data" (official english text). Another player can simply share their save files to another player.

This also means that the GBA app now has the ability to load different games for each player depending on the choice of the first player who serves as the host.

(This screenshot is me messing around with the functionality.)

However this is not the only noteworthy thing to happen, because it wouldn't feel fair for a single player to not being able to transfer their own FE6 saves to FE7. Well, they did actually implement a hack for single player too!

They actually reimplemented the linking process inside the emulator just to avoid emulating a second GBA for it, and it would seamlessly transfer the save data just fine.

If you're wondering about what it unlocks, a quick read made me figure out that it skips Lyn's story, and add new scenes to the epilogue and other small additions as well. Those new epilogue scenes are available in the US version by default, but not in the EU versions for some reason. They can also be accessed in the JP version without a save transfer by finishing the game 9 to 11 times (what the heck).

This functionality working as it is really cool, honestly, and it makes a process less painful to do like it was back then, and it did make me feel confident in the transfer of data between games like with Golden Sun & Golden Sun: The Lost Age or the Zelda Oracle games... speaking of...

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons

Those two games ended up randomly coming at the end of July this year. They are known for being two parts of a fuller story if you link each of them from whatever order you start them with.

And that's where my disappointment came in to remind me of the terrible reality that is Nintendo Switch Online.

It is doable for two players to share their save files to each other through multiplayer, but if you wanna do the games yourself on your own in single player, you'll have to input the password you get from the other game.

That is kinda sad considering it's the first player who selects the save file from the other player, it could have been very easy to setup in a way that's easy to use without needing to implement any specific user interface, but that didn't quite happen.

I hope they'll bother for Golden Sun considering the tiers of password this game can have with Golden Sun: The Lost Age, but I am starting to think if the game does offer a way to transfer without needing any additional work, they wouldn't do it. In the case of Fire Emblem, this way of save transfer was the only way to do it.

I did not mention much about this, but Oracle of Ages/Seasons are also known for having exclusive content if you play those games on a Game Boy Advance. After looking into it though, it does not seem like we're missing much, but it's kinda sad that they're not really in their most definitive way to play them.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

Two weeks after those last two games, Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon Stadium 2 were released.

The cool thing about this game, is that they emulated the infrared communications.

At least, Card Pop does work, for sure, which does require emulation of the IR communcation... or does it?

Upon a quick inspection of the emulator code, I found out that the emulator does indeed patch the game ROM's functions, and thanks to the disassembled Pokémon Trading Card Game offering me a lot of information, I found out that they absolutely don't emulate the IR communications at all and outright replace the IR functions to point to a invalid 0xDD opcode (opcodes are small commands that CPU executes)... which probably points to a function in the emulator to specifically manage this. Ain't that funny? In any case though, they do at least let all IR communications work just fine, and that's what matters.

(For the nerds who wants to look this up, the emulator keeps SHA1 hashes of the ROM you can easily search for, then points to a struct of 100 bytes original to compare, 100 bytes to patch, address, size, and something else I don't get.)

I ended up looking this up as someone pointed me to this video:

It turns out in the original game, one of the cards, the Phantom Venusaur, is impossible to obtain due to a mistake in the calculations of the odds, on which this video explains very well in detail.

This is the reason that motivated me to look at how the emulator might patch the game, and see if they fixed this issue: They did not fix this problem, I see no patch for any of the relevant code for this.

So, NERD, if you're reading this, look at 06:5D92, you can definitely fix this in one way or another.

N64 emulation

So... the Pokémon Stadium 2 release at least updated the emulator in some way, because they added new functions for the Lua scripting for N64 game hacks, and some of the UI engine stuff got shuffled around.

Then I tried some of the games, to see if some things got fixed:

F-Zero X did NOT get its framerate drop fixed.

Goldeneye's Dam level has texture tiling fixed. Interesting.

Since I noticed this last thing, it was pointed to Graslu00 who knows the game in and out and already compared the emulation of the game on NSO and Xbox... to a disappointing degree.

Here's his thread about the fixes... or rather the lack of: https://twitter.com/Graslu00/status/1688994099477528576

The update did also some additional fixes to Pokémon Stadium 1, though I don't really know much about it other than it relates to rendering and soft reset in some way.

Unfortunately the N64 emulator is still not up to snuff, but I think the most annoying thing is still the controls. The default controls suck, let us change them in the emulator, per game! Offer also better stick emulation!

It still pains me to rely on the Switch OS remap feature, it's not good for this, it messes too much with some of the macros, it sucks!

It annoys me when I see the text "Change Control Method" in the emulator files too, you guys clearly thought about it! Why isn't it a feature after months with nothing?

Future releases

There's still a couple N64 games left that were explicitly announced for 2023, such as 1080° Snowboarding, Excitebike 64 and Mario Party 3.

That said Japan also had plans for release of Harvest Moon 64 (which I see no reason why we can't get it now that Harvest Moon SNES got released since), but also Goldeneye 007, on which Japan has it on the highest age rating (CERO Z).

Considering how the plans are going and how lazy everything is (sorry devs, I'm sure you guys know already, but most of the results of this just don't impress me and don't fill me with confidence aside from GB/GBA somehow), I just think N64 NSO will randomly get a 18+ rating and put every N64 game under parental control bullshit out of nowhere with no warning for Japan.

Also, where's the alternate languages for NES and SNES games?

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Israeli Holocaust historian Omer Bartov:

it is important to put the current events in the correct historical context and to diagnose as best we can their deeper causes. A misdiagnosis of such causes, or a denial of them altogether, will only make things worse. It would appear that precisely because of this misdiagnosis or denial, Israel is currently balanced over a precipice, as an increasing number of well-informed commentators are warning (see for instance Thomas Friedman’s op-ed in the NYT). The potential for a regional, if not world-wide conflict, is growing. Making things worse is Israel’s forced displacement of over a million civilians—the majority of whom are Palestinian refugees of the 1948 Nakba and their descendants—from their homes in the northern part of Gaza to the southern part, even as the IDF is now reducing much of that northern part to rubble. By most accounts it has already killed ten times as many Palestinians, including numerous children (who make up 50% of the overall population there), as those murdered by Hamas. Most recently, displaced Gazans in the eastern part of the southern Strip have been ordered to move to its western part, adding even more to the congestion. This military policy is creating an untenable humanitarian crisis, which will only worsen over time. The population of Gaza has nowhere to go, and its infrastructure is being demolished.

In justifying these actions, Israeli leaders and generals have made terrifying pronouncements. On October 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Gazans would pay a “huge price” for the attack by Hamas, and that the IDF would turn parts of Gaza’s densely populated urban centers “into rubble.” On Oct. 28, he added, citing Deuteronomy, “You must remember what Amalek did to you.” As many Israelis know, in revenge for the attack by Amalek, the Bible calls to “kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings.” Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog condemned all Palestinians in Gaza: “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true.” Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Israel Katz similarly stated: “No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter, until the abductees return home.” Member of Knesset Ariel Kallner wrote on social media on October 7: “Right now, one goal: Nakba! A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of ‘48. Nakba in Gaza and Nakba to anyone who dares to join!” No one in the government denounced that statement. Instead, on November 11, security cabinet member and Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter reiterated: “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba.”

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, stated on October 9, “we are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly,” a statement indicating a dehumanization of people that has genocidal echoes. He later announced that he had “removed every restriction” on Israeli forces, and that “Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.” On October 10, the head of the Israeli army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Ghassan Alian, addressed the population of Gaza in Arabic, stating: “Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity and no water, there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell.” The same day, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced that in the bombing campaign in Gaza, “the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy.” Also on October 10, Major General Giora Eiland wrote in the mass circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth: “The State of Israel has no choice but to turn Gaza into a place that is temporarily or permanently impossible to live in,” adding that “Creating a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a necessary means to achieving the goal,” and that “Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist.”

Omer Bartov :: Co-Chair, Genocide, Holocaust and Disaster Studies, CGC; Author “Genocide, the Holocaust and Israel-Palestine: First-Person History in Times of Crisis”

[adrl-pt]

Shelling of residential buildings in Ukraine. The offensive of Russian propaganda. The bill on “foreign agents” in Georgia.

You are watching news from the weekly rally at the Russian Embassy in Lisbon. Today is April 20, 14:30.

Today there is mourning in the Dnepropetrovsk region. As a result of the Russian attack on the night of April 19, 8 people were killed, including two children, and 34 people were injured. https://t.me/astrapress/53729?single

There was mourning in Chernigov 2 days ago. 3 Russian missiles hit a densely populated area near the city center. As of April 18, 18 people were killed and another 77 people were injured. President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky wrote in his Telegram that “this would not have happened if Ukraine had received enough air defense.” https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/c0de1307xeko

Let us recall that in February, Captain 1st Rank of the Russian Army Igor Krokhmal, in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel, told how they aim and successfully hit the entrances of residential buildings in Ukraine. https://war.obozrevatel.com/esli-ne-v-etot-podezd-to-v-sosednij-popadet-rossijskij-komandir-priznalsya-chto-tselyami-ih-raket-yavlyayutsya-mnogoetazhnyie-doma-video.htm

Propaganda attacks have also intensified. In February 2023, disinformation tracking site NewsGuard reported that alleged RT documentaries had been uploaded to more than 100 YouTube channels. These films contained patently false claims that Ukrainian authorities were committing “genocide” against Russian speakers in the Donbass and that “Nazism was rampant” in Ukrainian politics and society. https://www.golosameriki.com/a/europe-didn-t-ban-rt-for-telling-the-truth/7193795.html

On April 6, in Rome, where there were screenings of the film “Donbass: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, created by the propaganda channel RT, an action against Russian propaganda was held, organized by the Christian Association of Ukrainians in Italy. It was attended by women from Donbass, activists of the Russians Against War community, and Italian parties. “Screenings of the films ‘Donbass’, ‘Witness’, conferences with the participation of Dugin and similar people… are weapons of the Kremlin’s hybrid war not only against Ukraine, but against the entire West,” the protesters said. https://t.me/FreeRussiansGlobal/6345

Film critic Ivan Filippov, in an interview for the Present Time media, described the film “Witness” as pure propaganda. According to him, the film spreads “the narrative that Ukraine was going to attack first.” https://www.currenttime.tv/a/eto-filmy-ne-dlya-zarabotka-s-prokata-kinokritik-ivan-filippov-obyasnyaet-kto-i-pochem-delaet-kinopropagandu-rossii-o-voyne- v-ukraine/32547182.html

On April 17, the Georgian parliament voted in the first reading for the bill on “foreign agents.” It was introduced by the Georgian Dream party, which is accused of sympathizing with Russia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ocgS3rbqnE

The first version of the law on “foreign agents” in Russia appeared in 2012. Then it seemed to many that it would not affect them. https://meduza.io/feature/2022/07/20/10-let-nazad-v-rossii-prinyali-pervyy-zakon-ob-inostrannyh-agentah

The first criminal case under this law appeared in 2023. https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-64560653

The ECHR found the law on “foreign agents” to violate the rights to freedom of assembly and association. https://pravo.ru/news/241304/

And the good news: PACE announced the non-recognition of the legitimacy of Vladimir Putin as President of the Russian Federation and called for stopping contacts with him, except for humanitarian ones. https://www.dw.com/ru/pase-obavila-o-nepriznanii-legitimnosti-vladimira-putina/a-68859569

[ziggy-solarecreator]

Thanksgiving myth

Trigger Warning - Genocide, Death, Slavery.

Written by Laura Casey.

The Myth - In 1620, Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock and friended the Wampanoag, who showed the colonizers how to harvest and survive the brutal NE winter. This “thankfulness” culminated into a “celebration” in 1621 between the Wampanoag and Pilgrims.

The truth - English colonizers landed in the vicinity of (what is now) Massachusetts in 1614, taking the regional Indigenous as slaves, selling them for 200 shillings on European markets and leaving behind small pox and other European disease.

By the time Puritans arrived in Plymouth, entire nations of Indigenous tribes were already decimated or extinct because of Europe’s lust to conquer. Within 4 days of landing, the Puritans robbed graves and stole crops.

Within 15 years, the Puritans were at war with the Pequot nation. And by 1641 the first scalp bounty was placed. Puritans at this point (and through out) were determined to eliminate any Indigenous Nations and take their land.  They held massacres in order to achieve and then celebrated EVERY SINGLE TIME with “Thanksgiving”.

It became such a TRADITION to celebrate the genocide in every puritan town that George Washington recognized ”the need” to make it a holiday and declared the fourth Thursday in November as “Thanksgiving Day”.

Then, Lincoln made it a legal national holiday on the same day he sent troops to march on Lakota Nation in Minnesota. This is what you celebrate. This is what colonizers on Turtle Island “celebrate” when they sit with family and friends today. 

Genocide.  Murder.  Slavery.

So instead, we remember today as a Day of Mourning. We stand in solidarity with the thousands of Indigenous tribes, nations, and federations who still exist today.

We will remember lives lost and we will celebrate the strength and resilience of the first people of this land — because they are still here and thriving, living and loving, building and growing (so stop talking about Native tribes in the past tense) — and they have done it with grace and humility while surviving genocide.

We will hold space for our local Tribes (who do not have federal protections or sovereignty). We will support local Wabanaki businesses, we will cook local food (today it is Three Sisters, cornbread and maple syrup pie made with Passamaquoddy Maple), we will provide mutual aid, we will continue to call our state and federal representatives demanding support for the Alliance (and their legal sovereignty) and we will continue centering Indigenous voices.

Because whether we want to admit it or not — it’s all interconnected — the environment, the climate crisis, the housing crisis, the water crisis, the healthcare crisis, the food crisis, social norms/mores, etc…all of it.

So…enjoy time with family.  But share the true story and stop celebrating American violence (WE can break this ugly cycle folks). This is Turtle Island.

I live on Wabanaki/Nanrantsouak land. I acknowledge that today’s holiday and celebrations are rooted in violence, harm, genocide and erasure.

http://www.uaine.org

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3VZpy2GhNxc

[lunarsilkscreen]

History of the Zelda Lore

This was inspired by a theory about the "The TetraForce" (link).

I wanted to tackle this, but in order to do so; we need to go through the history of the series' development. (And make a lot of assumptions.)

The first one is that the complete history of a series (any series) especially if it started so long ago, is that it can only really be understood in reverse. This is why it feels like certain things the devs and writers might do; sound Incongruent if they're not keen on the history of the game itself. Because a lot of information can be projected without the author's or dev's intention.

And dev's sometimes believe that the history, or lore, is made up by the fans. Sometimes, they forget what they wrote, but they definitely haven't played their own games with the same sense of wonder as players often do.

That out of the way, check out this: manual page on the triforce from Zelda 1.

In the original game, there were only two pieces of triforce. I do not know if Miyamoto and crew had planned for the third piece, some artwork suggests this may be the case. But AFAIK, The third, the triforce of courage did not exist until Zelda 2 came out.

After Ganon stole the triforce of Power, Zelda split up the triforce of wisdom into 6 pieces. You can see that they resemble the United Triforce, if the middle piece were removed.

Here's what I think about the development and initial creation of the "Triforce". I think the conversation boiled around asking the question: "how do we reward the player for pursuing the goal?"

After all, Zelda was an experimental concept (even tho it's open world concept was inspired by Adventure 1980.) Most games were side scrollers. And other adventure games at the time were Text-Adventures. Since the NES didn't support text adventures (no keyboard) my understanding is that Miyamoto wanted like to bring that concept to a textless environment.

An evolution of sorts.

And in order to inspire the player to explore AND find the dungeons, in order to give the player a reason to "try"--The concept of the "Try Force" was invented. Kind of a macguffin, since the only function the Triforce pieces had at the time was indicating which dungeons the player had completed.

Zelda 2 introduced 2 concepts (as well as inspires the entire Metroid/Vania style of gameplay.) That there was a whole *third* Triforce hidden by the King somewhere. And that post Zelda 1, the royal family decided that *every* maiden (with royal lineage) would be named Zelda in order to obfuscate the *true* successor to the throne.

This was also included in a link to the past, where 9 "Zeldas" were kidnapped by Anaheim. (8 of them were obviously Toad in disguise.)

A side note: The Zelda Cartoon, and the three Zelda games that are never to be mentioned in polite company, kind of did a service to this part of the Lore. They introduced different personalities for different Zeldas. While the *true Zelda* is always depicted as restrained polite and proper. And always concerned for the welfare of the people.

The cartoon Zelda was stuck up, and scantly cared for the poor masses (Such as Link).

(autocorrect doesn't know what scantly means. Not to be confused with scantily clad, or half-dressed)

I'll pause here: By the time Zelda 64 rolls around, we know that the Triforce bearers (power, wisdom, courage) are chosen divinely. That's how we know who the *true* Zelda is. Or the true *Link* or which King is the Usurper.

(autocorrect suggested that there's other transliterations Miyamoto used. Such as changing win-con or win-dom, to wisdom. With the changes between regional games and translational difference being on purpose sometimes... I feel that this is probably correct.)

My theory, is that since Gannon64 had the Triforce of power, either he broke it apart himself by entering the temple of time, and was rewarded with a piece, and the godsesses spread it in order to keep balance, *or* there's some other reason not yet known.

Now, In Super Zelda (the precursor to Super Metroid, but the sequel to Super Mario World) the Triforce is explained as a divine "wish granting" mechanism. "Collect all three, go to the promised land, mold it how you wish, and have one ultimate wish granted to you"

I wonder, if that's the legend of the masses, because they don't actually know what the Triforce is or does, just that royalty *own* it. Regardless, collecting the Triforce allowed the thief Ganon to access the golden realm, and, according to lore; molded it into a dark world.

Where once there was prosperity, Ganondorf is blamed for desolation.

In Zelda 64, Ganon is depicted as king of the desert society; the Gerudo. Where, in other games, the deserts are desolate and devoid of people if not life. There is an entire encampment of people in between the harsh deserts, and the rest of Hyrule.

These Gerudo have their own stories the people of Hyrule whisper about them. Painting them as sex hungry women who don't have enough men to repopulate their kingdom. And their leader as having stolen that which Hyrule needs to be prosperous.

Nevermind that he somehow figured out how to break an unbreakable divine seal that has opened for nobody else. He is but a simple thief, and the reason for the kingdom's downturn.

Although, he did chase the royals out of town and caused the dark future to happen. So, half a dozen. Sometimes negative rumors cause bad things to happen.

"Give me the power to change the world, the wisdom to know when not to use it, and the courage not to react when it is necessary."

So what does "A link to the past mean" if Z64 was about the future?

Theories suggest that starting with alttp, Nintendo and Miyamoto started going backwards in the Zelda timeline. Each subsequent Zelda being a prequel to the last and ending with (or rather beginning?) With Skyward sword.

The backstory to Skyward Sword is really Dark, there's a whole official manga where Link is imprisoned and tortured. Funnily enough, *that* Link resembles the depiction of Fierce Diety Link in Majora's Mask.

Suggesting, *that* particular Link, did not make it out.

Years later, Nintendo releases a sequel to that SNES game: "A link between worlds". In order to reiterate a common theme in every single game.

The Alternate Universe, Or the Shadow World, Or the Mirror World, Or the Twilight Realm, or the Golden Realm, or the Dark World, or even the Underworld. (The dungeons in Z1 were described not as separate underground structures, but different parts of what was called "The Underworld". This was reinforced in the Zelda Cartoon, as Ganon's Lair being somewhere between Skeletor's and the Legion of Doom's. This implies that all the dungeons were connected in this "underworld" but only accessible from the "overworld" or "light world")

In Z64 the Future World. In Majora's Mask, a literal upside down world. (Because the Triforce is depicted in Termina as upside down, as well as other puzzle elements that force the player into upsidedown situations. Like the Sky Temple).

These different worlds were supposedly actually depicted as alternate timelines. Three of which, based on which (major) piece of the Triforce existed in that timeline. The world of Power (Heros Demise), the world of Wisdom (Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner), and the world of Courage, (run by furries). You can look it up on the official timeline.

As we reach Breathe of the Wild, theories suggested that this is "The Reunification" of the three timelines. A de facto sequel to all three timelines, but in the same game. And there's evidence to this theory, a lot of it.

But here's what I think; BOTW is a reboot of the entire Zelda Series. A return to form. The dev team literally made a mockup of the original Zelda game as a kind of alpha test for BOTW.

And what I think; is that one of those three timelines is created depending on how the player, or Link, beats the game. There are alternate endings after all.

The Power Ending. or Power Gamer. The player who wants to beat the game 3 hearts, no gear, 360 no scope. Gliding directly from the plateau to the castle and beating Gannon with nothing but a bundle of hardwood and rusty equipment.

The Wisdom Ending. The Player who took time to study the lore, the history, and decide what to do with the castle at the center of all. Yes, this is evil, it must be defeated, let us prepare for the battle ahead.

And the Courage Ending. The ending, for the player who took the time to collect the Golden Poop from the Koroks.

"Duh, Evil is secured under the castle, what do you need me for? I'm gonna hone my skill, collect shinies, and do whatever I feel like until there's nothing left to do but save the day. Because what threat *is* there?" - Shadow Link, Presumably

The Courage, to do nothing but explore and enjoy the game.

Like the secret ending in Adventure (and to a lesser extent; Ready Player 1)

[i11endaus]

Tyrant's Utopia - Basic Info

"Tyrant's Utopia" (formerly titled Overall) is an AU concept that I created in 2020, but has never been released on any social media account. It is based on the occurrence of special events in the original Undertale that cause characters placement to switch, the idea is similar to the AU "Inverted Fate". It has a rough worldview setting and specific character image design, but it was ultimately interrupted and not completed in early 2021 due to my personal interests. Now, I decided to release all the previous content.

The concept of this AU began with the Neutral Route ending of Undertale. After Frisk defeated Photoshop Flowey, the six human souls were supposed to disperse, but Frisk immediately seized them. And absorbed it all, becoming a complete deity. But they did not choose to break the barrier to liberate the monster race, or destroy the world like Chara and reshape it. They ultimately chose to stay in the underground and use their divine power to reign there (Frisk's placement in the AU is Asgore). They returned to the ruins where their journey began and established their own royal family there. The power of the godlike dissipated due to Frisk's prolonged stay underground, injecting magic into the monsters along with the air, causing subtle changes in their physiological structures. Visually, it manifests as stripes (or cracks, armor edges, and other things that can be seen as stripes) emitting light that has similar colours as the human souls. At the same time, the distribution of monsters and work assignments in the entire underground underwent significant changes due to the birth of this tyrant.

Firstly, the map in the game, as Frisk has established a stronghold in the ruins, the entire map is opposite to original Undertale. The eighth human will enter the underground from the barrier on the mountaintop and explore the underground from the New Home to Ruins.

Then, the power of god awakened all dead monsters and human except for the humans whose souls were absorbed (but there won't be even a single monsters that may have existed conceptually that never officially mentioned appear in this story like Undertale:Yellow. Only the Main Cast that dead before NE ending.), Chara, Asriel, Asgore, Gaster, and others all existed in a fragile form of life that could not be fully resurrected (because Frisk did not revive them on purpose, but rather just a little miracle unintentionally created by the divine power floating underground). Their resurrection will strongly affect those characters who were closely related to them during their lifetime, which cause the placement of current main cast changed following such order.

Finally, the entire underground climate became more extreme due to the appearance of God, which further affected the mental state of the corresponding regional characters and changed their way of thinking and behavior. The entire underground was named "Ruins", "Hotland", "Autumn" (waterfall), "Winter" (snowtown), and "Inferno" (Core) by Frisk based on the climate.

All above is a rough worldview setting, and a more detailed introduction to the characters and scenes will be further explained in the corresponding character's image design. Let's conclude my narrative by listing the placement of character substitution. It might seems really confusing until you see my detailed explanation.

The Brave (8th hunan)----->Frisk

Monster Kid----->Flowey

Alphys----->Photoshop Flowey, Asriel

Frisk----->Asgore

Asriel&Flowey----->Toriel

Sans----->Napstablook

Papyrus----->Mettaton

Muffet----->Sans

Mad Mew Mew----->Papyrus

Napstablook----->Muffet

Mettaton----->Mad Dummy

Asgore----->Undyne

Toriel----->Alphys

Chara----->Monster Kid

Undyne----->Chara

Gaster&So sorry become specific enemies like other monsters

Reminder that several concept in this AU are also inspired the creation of Underswap: Over The World.

Undertale belongs to our tenderly Toby Fox.

[ukfrislandembassy]

Frislandic Dialectal Morphology

OK, this is going to be a bit of a long post, because there's a fair bit of variation here. However, unlike with dialectal phonology, there aren't quite as many clear-cut isoglosses, because morphological variation doesn't tend to be quite so Neogrammarian as phonology. However, some regional trends do exist, so worth checking back to that post to remind yourself of the abbreviations that I'll be using in this post.

Firstly, a point that is partly also to do with dialectal phonology and applies over both the major word classes, but there is some dialectal variation in the lenition mutation in certain contexts. In particular, a combination of the 1SG prefix me+ and a labial consonant may optionally assimilate to an mb- cluster in the northern varieties and G. This applies even when the v- from lenition would be expected to disappear before a rounded vowel in the standard. Thus, while in O we find forms such as me-vælæk 'approach me' (sometimes with a frozen imperative m'olæke 'come close') from mælæk, me-vag 'sting me' from mag, m-'uoð 'bind me' from buoð, in e.g. K we instead find m-bælæk, m-bag, m-boað.

Meanwhile, in varieties which retain a distinct reflex of lenited *k, with the 2SG prefix ke+ there is a similar fusion which in effect results in the elision of initial g- as in the standard: thus a two-way opposition in O between m'uoj 'my sister', k'uoj 'your sister' and seguoj 'our sister', in K there is a three-way contrast between mehoj [mə��ɣoi̯], k'oj [kʰoi̯] and segoj [ʂeˈgoi̯] 'ibid.' Colloquial urban speech in many of these varieties (and among some speakers in all urban varieties across the country), the 1SG prefix syncopates results in an entirely series of prenasalised stops, thus colloquial G m'bav 'my beloved', n'datt 'my father' and n'guoj 'my sister'; note that this is likely an innovation on a previously consistent leniting process, as evidence by the m→b shift in mav 'beloved'.

In terms of the specific word-classes, let's turn firstly to the nominal morphology. Obviously, there is variation in some of the forms due to the phonological differences previously outlined, though some recapitulation will be useful here. Firstly, northern varieties tend to have invariant genitive and animate plural suffixes in [i] and [u] respectively due to a process of post-stressed vowel raising. In B we find the animate plural is further subject to a harmony process whereby [y] occurs when the previous vowel in the word is front, thus in B zottu [ˈt͡ɕoʰtu] 'men' & mokku [ˈmoʰku] 'pigs' but nücü [ˈnysy] 'newts' and zigü [ˈt͡ɕiky] 'tits (birds)' (standard zotto, mokku, nusu, zigo). S meanwhile has developed a regular alternation whereby /β/ (whether from historical *b, *m or *l) is replaced by /j/ in the genitive, thus maav → maaj 'beloved's', Gaav → Gaaj 'God's' (standard mave, Gale).

A common feature across most varieties is the merger of the singular and (animate) plural of the genitive case as [i], as opposed to the diphthong exhibited in the standard, likely again a manifestation of reduction of unstressed vowels (or in S connected with the aforementioned /βi/ → /j/ simplification as well). There are a number of disparate strategies to resolve this odd gap, though these varieties tend to use the simple form more when the standard would expect a plural, e.g. K ne bezi kud [nəˈpet͡ɕi kʰut] 'land of the faries'. Common, particularly in the eastern varieties KRD, is an -agi [ɑgi], a relatively recent morphologisation from nage, the genitive plural of 'people'. Equivalent dative forms in -ageð [ɑgəð] are common as well. Thus K kudagi zea [ˈkʰudɑgi ˈt͡ɕea̯] 'all nations', nabsja dojageð [ˈnɑpɕɑ ˈtojɑgəð] 'I went to the elders' (standard kudoj zie, nabsja duojuð). Western varieties such as B tend instead to favour derivatives of llutt 'gang', giving e.g. n'uollti giet [ˈnuə̯ɬti ˈkiə̯tʰ] 'the leaves of the trees' (standard n'ovi giet).

In terms of the actual categories, most varieties generally agree in having at least the nominative, genitive and dative, but a few augment this system with additional members from among the set of postpositions. A common addition is an instrumental in -em from a reduction of the postposition gæm 'with'. A second genitive in -er from a reduction of the dative + ar construction is a common reduction found in speech, though this is uncommon in careful speech in any variety. Thus in colloquial R you might hear e.g. n'datter sjoldem [ˈⁿdɑʰtɚˈɕoldəm] 'with my father's shield', while in S one might talk of something happening Gaaj tollẽm [ˈkɑːi̯ˈtʰuɬə̃m] 'by the will of God'.

Verbal morphology is even more of a mess. Firstly, whether umlaut is a productive process is variable depending on the variety, but the overall trend is for it to be lost. In particular, umlaut with the indirect I-ið is something of a literary feature which speakers of most varieties don't tend to bother with. Umlaut with the 1/2PL I-r/I-st is more common, but is less common in KRD and is absent from S. On the flipside, in B the -r suffix has been lost leaving umlaut as the sole marker of 1/2PL.

The set of voice markers is also a bit of a mess. It was mentioned last time that (standard) Frislanic lacks a causative passive form 'cause to be'. Well, some dialects (particularly S and KR, another 'diagonal' distribution) do have a suffix -ll, which originated as a causative-passive from a reduction of a cluster*-tʰl-, but now has also in part come to serve as an indirect causative. Thus in K you can distinguish pairs such as lãhlã [ˈlɑ̃ɣlɑ̃] 'I make them speak' vs. lãhllã [ˈlɑ̃xɬɑ̃] 'I make it be said', but also kãjlã [ˈkʰɑ̃ĩlɑ̃] 'I kill them' vs. kãjllã [ˈkʰɑ̃ĩɬɑ̃] 'I let them die'. In S, due to the weakening of the causative suffix, a set of 'deponents' has arisen where this erstwhile indirect causative is now simply the plain causative, bringing us back to square one, e.g. kããjllã [ˈkʰɑ̃ːjɬɑ̃] 'I kill them', keevllã [ˈkʰeːʊɬɑ̃] 'I lay it down', while the native reflexes would be something like *kããjvã/kããjjã, *keevvã/keevjã, which would likely reduce and become homophonous with kããjã 'I die', keevã 'I lie down'.

With regards to person marking, there are two kinds of variation; distribution and form. As was noted last time, certain forms, particularly the progressive, in many varieties utilise the person prefixes to mark an intransitive subject as well as a direct object, e.g. D meðellend 'I am shuddering'. Additionally, D and some R and G varieties also exhibit this with the indirect, thus R m'boaðið 'I seem to have been asleep'. Additionally, in southern varieties, there is some variability in the ordering of the irrealis and singular person prefixes: thus as well as standard 1SG m'i+, 2SG k'i+ one finds j'o+ and i'k+ (the plural prefixes always precede the irrealis because they became attached to the verb later).

In terms of the form, we have already noted elsewhere that in varieties with nasalisation show it with the 1SG subject suffix -a, while the RDG groups raise it to [ɔ]~[o]. Varieties which don't delete lenited *k also generally lack the -v variant for the relevant verbs: K erahã [əˈɻɑɣɑ̃] 'I do it' vs. standard erav. In B the 1/2PL passive suffix is I-(r)s [ʂ], as would be a more expected result of a *-tʰVʃ than the standard I-st. The remaining dialectal idiosyncracies come from differences in the TAM fused forms. The 1SG Conditional is frequently -iva rather than standard -eva, while northern varieties have a variant -jõ with nasalisation being the sole marker of 1SG. Similarly, these same varieties have a variant -tẽ for the 1SG perfective, in somewhat free variation with the more standard-like -sjã.

Next post I think it's time to start talking syntax.

[erose-this-name]

World building pro tip: spend some time thinking of all the different region/countries' geography, economy, politics, culture, language, history, aesthetic/artistic tradition, magic and/or technology, and how all these things interact with each other.

Advanced world building pro tip: if your world has over a hundred different cultures and countries like mine does (which is conservative number for a whole planet, if an Earth-sized landmass has like six nationstates and four languages that's extremely unrealistic) don't waste time on every denomination of every coin issued by every government.

That's how you spend your entire adult life building a single setting. Unless you're J.R.R. Tolkien, it's not worth it.

Hell, don't even waste time on the names of every individual country if they aren't important, as long as your global politics and history acknowledges they all exist. (Your world map probably doesn't need to be 100% accurate, for most of history maps were terrible and left out tons of information)

Just make broad details for cultural linguistic groups (with a couple very specific details for flavor), but flesh out the cultures you plan to focus on *and* the ones that interact with the ones you focus on (there would be some cross pollination, don't write America without giving it tacos and the phrase je ne sais quoi.)