#coffee with a codex

[upennmanuscripts]

For this week's #CoffeeWithACodex (Thursday, March 21, 12pm Noon EST on Zoom) Curator Dot Porter will be joined by SIMS Curator of Manuscripts Nick Herman and Penn PhD student in Italian Studies and Comparative Literature Julia Pelosi-Thorpe to unbox a new manuscript purchase! Petrarch's Canzoniere and Trionfi, with Leonardo Bruni's Life of Petrarch. Written in Florence in the 1470s. You'll get to see it for the first time at the same time we do!

Register here:

[leoba]

Manuscripts, Humanity, and AI

Image of a manuscript, generated in MidJourney by Suzette van Haaren

(a few words originally posted on Twitter on March 27, 2023 and then on my blog. It’s resonating there so I thought I would post it here too.)

I’ve been trying all morning to figure out what bothers me about these Mid journey-generated manuscripts without simply sounding like a Luddite, and I think I finally have it.

It’s because my interest in manuscripts is almost entirely about the humanity behind them. Who made them? Who used them and why? What happened to them after they were made? Where are they now? What did they mean in the past and what do they mean now?

A computer generated book doesn’t have any of that context. I’ve talked about the uncanny valley with regard to digitized manuscripts, and this is that, one step further. It’s one thing to digitize a manuscript in a way that elides its materiality, and a whole other thing to create manuscripts that don’t exist materially at all.

I think there are potentially interesting ways to use AI in my work. I’m interested in structure, and have been part of a project, VisColl, to develop models and software to build models of manuscripts. Could AI be used to combine structural models and digital images to create photorealistic imagery of existing manuscripts? Imagine an AI reconstruction of manuscripts cut apart and distributed by Otto Ege. Could it even generate pages that are lost as semi-realistic placeholders?

Just a few thoughts. I’m less interested in generating realistic looking manuscripts than in the potential to leverage the technology to help us understand the use and history of manuscripts that exist in the real world.

Added: If you’d like to hear me talk more about manuscripts and humanity, check out Coffee With A Codex, a weekly 30-minute program both live and posted to YouTube where I present a show-and-tell with books from the University of Pennsylvania’s premodern manuscript collections, and Inside My Favorite Manuscript, a weekly podcast I do in my own time where I talk to people who love manuscripts about manuscripts they love the most.

[jelashford]

Espresso: As stocks ran short after Z-day, even the ever-stoic Janine seemed agitated as the last of the beans were used. Depending on stimulants is not a long-term strategy, but when you’re adapting to survive a zombie apocalypse every edge counts. Suffice to say the Ministry delivering on their promise of more beans won a lot of hearts and minds.

[codexbrainhasbrokenfree]

Got too much work today and not enough caffeine my brain has started to wonder if there is a ship pair somewhere including Venom Guilty Gear which isn't ooc (thinking about robovenom ; even though it can be cute I don't think Robo is Venom's type, and I don't think Venom is Robo's type, plus I think it would make their relationship less interesting, as what's fun about their interactions is to see how two people who can't really like each other can still bear each other and eventually become friends ; if they fell in love with each other I think it would deminish how great their dynamic is (and also I don't think Robo likes men, otherwise he would probably have the same behavior around them that he has around women)) or toxic (the guy who should be dead but is not but still is in some way)

I usually don't care much for shipping but is there one that can, like, make my boy happy. I need him to be happy I need his gay ass to fall in love with someone who isn't dead is that too much to ask. This man needs to love romantically and to be loved romantically I think. Or else he explodes or something

Someone get this hypersensitive baker a boyfriend

[worldhistoryfacts]

What was it like to be an Aztec kid? According to this document, not so great. This page of the Codex Mendoza shows us a boy (left) and girl (right) at ages 11-14. We see the naughty tweens punished at ages 11 by being held over burning chili peppers until they cry. Then, at age 12, the boy is tied up until he behaves, while the girl does chores around the house. By ages 13 and 14, they’ve apparently learned to behave: the boy is helpfully collecting reeds and fishing while the girl makes tortillas and weaves.

Much more on Aztec life here:

{Buy me a coffee} {WHF} {Medium} {Substack}

[khuzena]

Just a coworker

Dr ratio x g/n! reader (i tried)

Part 1, Part 2

cw. angst, super slow burn, they eventually get tgt, hurf/comfort, jealousy brr, reader is unhinged, mentions of drugs, kinda cringe but who cares I've written worse, not proofread, dr ratio is a pussy

a/n: i js wanna say fck SCHOOL FOR GIVING ME 6 PROJECTS DUE TOMORROW. THIS FIC IS MEH BUT TRUST IT GETS BETTER (hopefully…)

Veritas Ratio is a lonely man. Only having his books and his sculptures as friends— regarding the rest as no use for him.

Up till now, you've been nothing more than the pest who waves hi at him every morning, bringing him coffee every now and then. You must be scheming something, there's no way someone could ever be this nice without asking for a favour.

“Dr ratio!”

The alabaster headed man stared at you, even with that stone head of his, you can clearly feel his piercing gaze.

“What is it?”

Veritas groans in annoyance, what is it again?

Lately, you've been struggling to teach this subject. As well-versed you were in topics such as literature, history and the likes, it was true that you were above average with maths.

“I've been tutoring this kid after classes and well…”

He doesn't move, just listening intently.

“He's been asking about quantum mechanics and I don't know much about the topic so…”

“so?”

so?

“I was wondering if you can teach me it.”

God damn it, he has better things to do.

“Then read a book about it”

His eyes were trained on your figure as he saw you tense, just why him of all people?

“Dr ratio, just this once. I just need to learn the basics once and I won't bother you again!”

He closed his codex and turned the other way, ready to walk away from conversation.

“I have better things to do than humouring your foolish antics—”

“Please.”

Your hands fidget nervously as he paused before looking back at you, pondering whether to do you a favour.

“I'll think about it.”

By the time you blinked, he was gone.

The next day passed, you were at his door, clutching your teaching materials as you waited for veritas’ class to end.

He scrunched nose as annoyance rose in him like a tide, he could see you waiting at the window and checking the time every now and then.

“That ends our discussion for today.”

His voice echoing on the walls as the bell rang, his students already out the door.

After a good 10 minutes, most of the students were out the door as he was left alone with himself (+ those eyes of yours that never seem to leave him alone)

“It's rude to stare.”

His comment caught you off guard, the corners of your lips twitching nervously as you hid behind the wall again— shit, he caught you staring…

Veritas let out a sigh before cleaning his desk of the sparse test papers he's collected last week.

A moment of silence passed before you mustered up the courage to enter the spacious room, it was… quiet to say the least.

“Dr. Ratio—”

“I'll tutor you but with one condition.”

Sweat trickled down your forehead as you nervously anticipated what he's about to say. (Did I mention he paused to rile you up?)

“You,”

A click on his cabinet was heard before he turned at your direction to get a better look at you.

“That I won't have to tutor you again next time, just this once”

It was odd, a teacher asking for tutoring from a fellow teacher? It wasn't uncommon but it certainly irked him of the thought. You could just read a book about it but you'd rather take his precious hours in his day for something you could do yourself.

You let out a sigh of relief.

“whew… I thought you were going to refuse.”

“Do you want me to?”

You shook your head no, gripping your satchel tightly.

“Tomorrow at the faculty room after classes—”

When you blinked, he was already behind you. Was he a magician or something?!?

“—Don't be late.”

Then, the door closed abruptly, now it was only you in the room.

…

The next day, classes already ended and you cleaned up your desk to get to the faculty room.

As you slid the door open, he was already waiting for you.

“What're you doing?”

Veritas moved another chess piece on the board, eating the white team's queen.

“What does it look like I'm doing?”

Why can't he just be nice for once?

“Whatever, so… do we start reviewing?”

You pulled the chair opposite to his and sat down. He didn't reply, only tapping his feet.

“Your turn.”

“Do I just?—”

“Just move a piece.”

Fine then. There were barely any pieces left on the board, leaving you with no other choice as you hid your king at the corner of the board.

“Checkmate.”

There was a visible annoyance on your face, making veritas chuckle.

“Seriously? When are you going to start tutoring me? I came here to learn something— not some stupid chess game”

“First of all, chess isn't stupid”

Before you knew it, veritas flicked your forehead.

“Second of all, learn patience.”

“ow!”

Veritas hid away the board and grabbed all the books needed, pulling out some notes and highlighters for you.

“Read”

The man in front of you flipped the pages and pointed at the highlighted paragraph for you. Was he making you read out loud? Were you 10 or something?

“Do I really have to?”

His fingers tapped aggressively on the board, his patience was thinning and you weren't even past the first page yet.

“Just do it.”

…

Who could've guessed two hours later you would be in tears, notes sprawled all over the table and veritas shouting at you.

“Idiot.”

He commented on your work before rewriting the entire thing for you and repeating it again.

“God dammit we're not even past the 20th page yet you're here crying like a child.”

Sniffles echoed in the room, only his lamp illuminating the room. You checked your phone and it was already 8 pm.

“Now read.”

“Q-quantum mechanics…”

He clenched his jaw, raising his voice at you before you could continue.

“You imbecile, not that— can't you read?!? Its wave function!”

“Whatever!”

Before he could react, you stood up, bag already in hand and walking away.

“We're not done yet.”

“I don’t care.”

Just like that, you were gone.

…

Despite you running off yesterday… There you were sitting on that same chair with the alabaster head man right in front of you.

“Again?”

You bit your lip nervously before tightening the grip on your pen.

“Yeah.”

Veritas nodded as he placed down his codex and walked to the sprawled shelves at his desk, his fingers tracing over the books (those books were rotting on those shelves, too dusty he had to wipe them)

“here.”

He took the book off the shelf and thrusted it into your hands.

‘The nonlinear schrodinger equation’

“Let's start with the ‘weakly nonlinear dispersion relation’ topic.”

Time flies by as he explains each term to you, giving definition after definition about each equation in front of you.

“Here, page 24.”

He pointed at the first equation but your eyes couldn't leave his stone head.

For an intimidating man, he's getting quite patient with you.

“— and let's compute the coefficients, after that,”

You couldn't stop wondering what he looked like under that stone head. It's hot out here, he must be sweating a tsunami in there. Is he handsome? or maybe he's wearing that stone head because he looks that bad?

“—the quantum mechanical pressure becomes negligible in the ‘semiclassical’ where nabla and—”

He hit your head with a codex, with no hesitation at all.

“ow!”

Oh shit— he must've noticed you staring.

“What were we reviewing?”

uh…

You gulped nervously, looking down at the page, you guys were already at page 26?!?

“0 points.”

He smacked you but with less force, though enough to leave a bruise.

“that hurt…”

“Then listen, don't waste my time.”

Under that alabaster head of his, a small smile formed from the corner of his lips due to the amusing sight before him.

“You're annoying, let's go over the fluid-dynamical form again.”

You weren't that boring after all.

…

You both were already at page 31, which was slow progress (at least to him, he can finish the book in under 3 hours.), yet still progress nonetheless.

“Do you get it now?”

It was already 9:58 pm, shit. You both got carried away…

“Yeah.”

Veritas handed the book over to you and hid away his highlighters.

“Go review at home— you better finish page 40.”

You nod, shoving the book into your satchel and your water bottle.

Today was… fun.

As you walked outside, one foot already out the door, you looked back.

“What?”

“and…”

There was a moment of silence, none of you moving before your voice shook,

“Thank you.”

He didn't say anything back, only putting back his folders in his bag as he removed his attention from you. You shook your head and just walked home.

…

It was the third day of him tutoring you, you were getting quite good.

“And how do you do the hamilton equation?”

There was a weird habit you did, you would bite your pen or sometimes click it nonstop due to stress (which you did now, don't do it too much though, you'll piss off veritas.)

You let out a soft hum before confidently writing the equation, no error in sight.

“And these quantities are called?”

“They're uh… momentas, right?”

“20 points— you're getting good at this.”

Receiving praise from others came by often, but to get one from the Dr. Veritas Ratio himself? You could wish.

Your eyes were glued at the scratch paper, unable to contain your smile; the aeons definitely smiled down on you and blessed you with his attention for today.

He takes note of this, but doesn't comment on that any further, only flipping the pages.

…

The fourth day. It was 2 pm, 3 hours earlier than the usual tutor hours. A new coffee shop opened in the food court at the university, which turned into the new buzz (the old coffee shops were shit.)

The line was long, your legs were about to give up but your students would occasionally suggest this shop, saying it's definitely better than the instant coffee at the teacher's lounge.

After 5 more minutes, it was finally your turn to order.

“Good afternoon! What can I get ya?”

The menu was definitely diverse, candy corn flavoured coffee? That's new.

“I'll take your special cappuccino”

The cheerful cashier jotted down your order, asking for your name then running to the back.

You sat down at some table and took out your laptop, fixing your schedules for this weekend.

“For ___?”

Eh? That was fast. It only took them 3 minutes to make your order despite the heavy line? Impressive.

“Thank you.”

You smiled and snatched the cup from the counter and walked back to your seat.

It tasted funny. Coffee jelly in cappuccino with sprinkles on top? At Least it tasted good.

“And here I was wondering where you are.”

“ack!”

You looked up and saw veritas in front of you, looming over you with his codex behind him after he hit you.

“that hurt…”

He sighed and sat down next to you while you rubbed the bruised area.

“Stop hitting people with your codex damn it!”

“I find it far more interesting to use my codex to get your attention.”

“Weirdo.”

He chuckled at the way scoffed, sipping your coffee and typing some requirements on an excel sheet.

“Anyways, why were you looking for me?”

He leaned back on the couch, before responding,

“Nothing, I was just wondering where the idiot was.”

“You little—”

Only a soft sigh left your lips as you continued to type, veritas beside you reading his codex and none of you saying a word.

Though this peaceful moment was short lived as the bell rang, signalling that the two of you had to go back to your respective classes.

Veritas sat up, closing his book.

“It's time for me to go.”

“Oh yeah.”

Veritas was gone in a blink of an eye, what's up with him disappearing so suddenly 24/7?!?

…

5 pm.

You were patiently waiting in the faculty room, what was taking veritas so long?

“You're late”

Veritas rolled his eyes— wait.

His stone head was… was this really the veritas ratio? He had nice purple hair, his eyes, he looked so… beautiful.

No way.

“When are you going to stop staring?”

“Oh— uh.”

You chuckled nervously before forcing a smile as he sat down in front of you.

“Let's continue where we let off.”

The sound of flipping pages reverberated across the room, your eyes locked onto his face. He would occasionally click his tongue at some parts of the book, guiding you through each equation as his face was close to yours; enough to feel his breath on your skin.

“—because its transformation φ is a symmetry and thus preserves the Lagrangian L and the action ,S=∫L”

Veritas ratio leaned closer to you, your hands touching as he got closer,

“Do you get it now?”

You didn't. You were too focused on his face, with every wrinkle of his brows, the tiniest details of his jaw and hell, even his eyes. How could you even focus? With his face inches away from yours? No way. The man right next to you stares at you, tapping his fingers on the mahogany table; he repeated himself.

“I said, do you get it now?”

Like the air was sucked out of your lungs, your last card was to lie but he was smart enough to not fall for that.

“Y-yes”

“Then what were we reviewing just now?”

He rolled his eyes hearing your mind blank out and confused ‘uhhs’ escaped your lips. You flinch from his harsh tone, as the cold stare turned into a glare.

“We should be reviewing the noether theorem, not my face.”

He made you solve equation after equation, his gaze not leaving you once as he crumpled your papers even after one minor mistake, “Idiot”, “Do it again.”, and “Are you really paying attention?” Constantly rang in your ears, you were not sure whether you asked for a tutoring session or a three hour insulting session from the revered professor.

“I'm sorry.”, He sighed at your visible frustration as you apologised through gritted teeth. He started to pity you when you struggled with just the terms at the next lesson. Was this theorem that hard? He dropped his pen and closed the book.

“Let’s end today’s session.”

A look of relief appeared on your face as he said those words, clearly, he’ll give you a break—

“Just read this book instead. It gives a more in-depth explanation”

— or not. He thrusted the book in your hands and put on his alabaster head, making you raise an eyebrow,

“What? You can’t seem to focus without this on”

You laughed an awkward chuckle while sliding the book in your satchel, a small squeak was heard when he stood up and moved his chair at his desk.

“Tomorrow again?”

“Sure.”

…

Veritas tapped his feet aggressively as time past by, you were late by 20 minutes, by now he would've left but for some reason he's feeling nice today that he'll wait for you.

The faculty room door slid open as light footsteps entered the room.

“Sorry ‘m late.”

You smelled different today. That would sound creepy to the average person but despite the tight alabaster sculpture that covers his face, he could smell your perfume and that he's gotten used to your scent by now.

“Did you wear something new?”

“Come again?”

He took one glance at you and shook his head and shifted his attention to the complex arithmetics on his codex.

“Hey, what did you mean by that?”

It was hard to ignore you as he tried to mute your voice but he let out an inaudible sigh before taking a quick glance at you.

“I meant your perfume, idiot.”

“No need to be rude.” you scoffed and placed down your bag at your desk.

He finds himself eager for a response as your right hand shuffled in your bag looking for the perfume bottle,

“I just tried something new.”

“Oh?”

He leans over the table to take a closer look at the bottle, inspecting it with a skeptical look one he's glad you cannot see through his sculpted head.

“It was a gift from one of our coworkers here”

There was a loud slamming sound that rang in the room when you dropped the materials Veritas made you read, it was a pain highlighting everything.

“From who?”

Why was he suddenly interested? He's not one to ask about anyone's affairs so suddenly, not that he'd care about something so miniscule about you like perfume yet you humour him.

“From Amir, the history prof guy?”

“I see.” For some reason, he finds himself feeling annoyed after hearing who you got it from. Why would you accept a gift from that idiot? He's a far better history professor, definitely? definitely.

Hours passed yet he couldn't concentrate. Not with that foul stench of your new perfume of yours.

Dr. Ratio scrunched his nose in disgust as he continued to guide you through each and every lesson, harsher than usual— you didn't know why.

“Wrong answer, 2 points.”

Veritas smacked your arm with his heavy codex and snatched your answer sheet, crumpling it and tossing it in the bin.

“Do it again.”

This fucker. You were starting to lose your resolve but you do not falter under his scrutinising gaze.

Again and again. Another 30 minutes yet your answers didn't seem ‘perfect’ enough.

Veritas clicked his tongue in annoyance as you failed to answer another simple question again

“Are you even paying attention?”

“If you didn't yell at me every minute I would've”

You continued to write more equations as he rolled his eyes at your reply, his eyes scanned your work and it was okay (atleast to his standards).

His eyes squinted, looking for any mistake but there was none, he gave up.

“50 points”, he spoke in a defeated tone.

“Just 50?”

“0 points then”

“Oh come on.”

It was hell getting tutored by him.

A/N: ITS TWO PARTS COS FUCK TUMBLR AND TOLD ME THERES A WORD LIMIT LOL. THE FULL FIC WAS LIKE 6.4K WORDS OR SHIT DAMN. ITS SO CRINGE ONG IMMA POST PART TWO TMRW GOD. IM LAGG>NG SO NAD RN HELP

[roonyxx]

The Raven: Part 4

Summary: A new threat to the world brings the boys back in action. She is big and bad, very bad. But is everything as it seems or is there more to her story?

Pairing: Dean x reader

Trope: enemies to lovers

Word count: 2417

Chapter warnings: some violence, language

A/N:  I know it has been AGES since I wrote, i'm trying to get back into it. I know nothing really exiting happens in this chapter but it is one of the most complicated stories I have done and it needs some building. I really hope you like it!

The Raven Masterlist

My Masterlist

Buy me a coffee

“The truth, Dean.”

Those words keep coming back to me. What truth? About what she did or does Heaven know more than they let on?

We kept researching but it’s useless, aside from the codex we have nothing on her. But something about her bugs me. Not only that her smells seem to linger everywhere I go, but I think that I have been sleeping better because of her, how? I have no idea...

“I think we need to go to Heaven and see what is up there.” Sam interrupts my thoughts.

“I asked Cas to look into it. He’s been gone for days. You think he’s alright?” I start, “What if Heaven doesn’t want Cas to tell us and they kept him?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if they did that.” Sam sighs, “We can summon him.”

“Let’s do that.”

While Sam and I prepare the summoning my mind keeps wandering to my dreams.

Tonight was different, normally it’s just me on my back floating and these phantom hands that gently touch my face and chest.

Tonight I could have sworn I felt lips too, gently pressing against my cheeks and neck, and there was this soft rain, I felt gentle drops falling on my face.

“Dean?” Sam pulls my head from the clouds.

“Huh what?” I look at him.

“Are you okay? You seem out of it.”

“I��m good, I was just thinking, do you…” I look up at him and wait for him to stop messing with the sigils for the summoning, “Do you smell jasmine too?”

“What? No I smell chalk.” He says while holding up the white piece of chalk.

“I don’t mean now, but just in general.”

“No? Why?”

“Nothing, just forget it and let’s get our angel back.” I sigh.

We do the summoning and Cas appears right in the circle we have drawn.

“Cas!” My eyes widen and I run to him when I see the state he is in.

He collapses to the floor just when I reach him, his nose is bleeding, his lip is split, he has numerous cuts on his cheek and his entire face is bruised.

“What the hell happened!” I demand when Sam and I help him sit up on a chair.

“H-Heaven” He grunts out, “I found out what happened and they didn’t want you to know, so they kept me. Until your summoning forced me out.”

“Why wouldn’t they want us to know! We’re trying to help them.” Sam grunts out while getting a first aid kit for Cas.

“They don’t want humans like you to interfere with their business.” Cas says.

“Assholes” I groan, “What did she do?”

“She created an anomaly in the time line.”

“What?”

“She went back in time and did something, I don’t know what. And Heaven wants to fix what she did but she is not letting them do it.”

“Do you know what she did?” I ask him.

He shakes his head, “I’m not even sure Heaven knows what happened. But it explains the world wide blast, messing with time line has a worldwide effect.”

I fall back in my chair, “can’t we ever catch a fucking break?”

“What now?” Sam starts “We can’t fix it, what are the consequences of what she did?”

“Heaven doesn’t want to wait and find out the consequences.” He grunts and stands up “I need to go back in time and see for myself.” He hoists himself up but he’s barely able to stand on his own.

“Woah woah take it easy.” I say as I help him sit back down, “You can barely stand, let alone time travel. Come just” I push him back in the chair and he lets himself sit with a rough exhaled breath “Rest for now. I’m sure her army isn’t ready yet.”

“We don’t know that.” Sam says.

“I think we would notice if an army of the death was walking the Earth.” I remark.

Sam is giving me a look, a dirty one. Like when we were younger and I was hiding an injury and got a heavy infection, he’s giving me that same look. Angry but worried.

“What.” I snap at him.

“Why do act like this when it comes to her?” he asks.

“What?” I frown “What the hell are you talking about!”

“I’m talking about how you tried  to stop a freaking bullet for her!”

I knew this was coming, ever since I did that Sam had been giving me wary glances.

“It was just instinct! I reacted to the sound!” I walk closer to him and throw my hands up in frustration, “You’re being ridiculous.”

“You’ve been around guns your whole life! You have never had this instinct before so it’s bullshit, and what about your dreams? You really expect me to believe she miraculously backed off?” Sam half yelled.

“Yes! I have no control over them and I’m sure you would notice when I have nightmares again. Get off my back, Sam. We’re supposed to fight her. Not each other.” I quip back.

“I… yeah I’m sorry, nothing here just makes sense” Sam starts, “We need to know what she did in the past.”

“Once I regain my strength, I can find out.” Cas says from the chair he is slumped in.

I nod and go sit next to him and pat him on the shoulder “Rest first.”

“Why help us?” I wonder to Rowena.

“Because I care for Earth, you nimwit” Rowena says to me.

“And you’re sure this will work?” Sam is holding the list of ingredients with the spell to capture The Raven on it.

“I guess, you’ll have to just trust me, Samuel”

“What about ‘not risking’ your neck. This sounds exactly like that.” I look at Rowena.

She’s become an ally to us. Knowing the Queen of Hell definitely has it’s perks. Funny how she used to be our enemy. She and Sam get along well, despite the fact that Sam killed her.

“Raising an army of the dead will stop the souls from entering Hell, my kingdom is on the line here. I wouldn’t earn to be Queen if I didn’t protect it. And I will hide when she arrives.” She smirks, “She might be the Queen of Death but I am the Queen of Hell, I have some tricks up my sleeve.”

“Cas has enough power to find some of these ingredients, I will give him the list” Sam says, he leaves to bring the list to Cas’s room.

Rowena is looking at me, actually she’s been looking at me since she arrived.

“What?” I ask her.

“Are you feeling well, Winchester?” she comes closer and looks me over, frowning a little while doing so.

“Yes? Why?”

“I don’t know… there’s something different about you, something feels off.”

“Different? Like what? Am I dying? Is it my soul?” I get worried, I have felt a little off recently, nothing bad, actually, it felt even good, very good. The ‘too good to be true’ kind of thing.

“I can’t put my finger on it… it started when you met the Raven? How do you feel?” she asks me.

“Yes, around that time, I feel… good. Really good.” I answer.

“Well, if it is good, there is nothing to worry about.” She shrugs.

Sam and Cas come back, carrying all the ingredients. Boxes and bottles of weird fluids and dust and even some bones.

Man, I hate withes.

“Oh you have everything already?” I say.

“Yes, so let’s do this.” Sam starts, “I don’t want to wait any longer, she needs to be dealt with, now.”

He sounds so determined to end her. I don’t think trapping her here is the smartest idea. She could bring this whole place down. Our home… I don’t want to lose it.

And the warning she gave me keeps haunting me, what truth, what is she hiding?

“Everyone ready?” Sam announces.

“I guess” I say a little unsure.

Rowena preforms the spell and disappears, the whole bunker starts shaking. The circle made of German forest herbs starts to burn wildly.

“Sam! End it!” I scream over the chaos.

“No! she’s almost here!” Cas yells back.

With a big blast, she arrives. Hunched in the middle of the circle. Her sleek long black hair is shielding her face. Her pale skin looks even more white against the concrete floor of the bunker.

I hear Sam draw in a sharp breath, and I realize, he never saw her in the flesh. He takes a step back when she rises and aims her empty eye sockets at us.

“You fools” her seethes at us, her voice sounds like a thousand voices in one. My entire body shivers at the sound of it.

“I am done warning you” she walks, no floats, to the edge of the circle, easily going over the herbs and going straight towards Sam.

Sam staggers back and he’s paler than I have ever seen him before. She reaches for him, but I push her sideways before she can.

“Don’t touch him, bitch” I stand in front of my little brother.

“Always protecting Sammy, daddy really beat that into your head, huh?” she mocks.

How does she know that… I told no one about the abusive behavior of my dad, not even Sam.

“Get the fuck back” I warn her, no one touches Sammy, especially not witches.

“Or what? You’re powerless against me, so is your angel and don’t think I can’t smell that Hell bitch Rowena.” She looks behind me at Sam “besides, Sam’s the only one I haven’t met yet. The vessel of Satan, how does it feel to be made for evil, Sammy?”

I push her, she doesn’t move one inch, but she does step back, in shock.

“DON’T touch me!” she spits at me.

“Don’t get near my brother and I won’t have to. Now can we act like adults or are you going to keep acting like a bitch?” I cross my arms over my chest and try to look not intimidated, but I am. She’s terrifying as fuck.

She straightens fully and looks me in the eyes with her empty sockets. Shivers spread over every inch of my skin. Where is her other body? The pretty one.

“Why summon me, knowing you have no way of protecting yourself.” she begins, “I warned you enough, feel my consequences.”

She clenches her fist and all three of us, even Cas, fall on our knees. The pain is like nothing I’ve felt before, it’s burning and stabbing at the same time.

“Stop!” Rowena appears with her hands raised, purple magic lifting the pain in our intestines slightly. But it is still unbearable.

“Let them go.” Rowena says, “Stop this now.”

“Or what?” she tilts her head at Rowena while dropping her fist. The pain evaporates and I can breathe again.

“You’ll hurt me? You’re no match for me Rowena. Stay out of this or I’ll take Hell down too.”

“What did you do to the timeline” Cas grunts out.

Her head snaps towards Cas, she briskly walks over to him and lifts him up in the air by his shirt. She’s extremely strong.

“How do you know that.” She snaps at him.

“Because you did a sloppy job, bitch.” I say. “What did you do? Made yourself powerful? Stole something or killed someone?”

She drops Cas and looks at all of us. “The smart move is to back off,” she looks at me, “You won’t like what you find.”

“The truth? And what is that exactly?” I say.

She’s looking at me, but I can’t read her expression. The eyes tell so much about a person. I often use the eyes of people to read them, to see if they’re lying or afraid. But with her, It is impossible.

“None of you wants to know. Trust me”

“Trust you?” Sam scoffs “You’re raising an army of the dead to march against Heaven. How is that in our interest?”

“Heaven is a liar and evil. You all have enough experience to know that!” she screams in frustration, “I am wasting my time here.”

“If Heaven is the bad guy here, why not let us help you?” maybe allying with her could prevent a war.

From the look Sam is giving me he thinks I am crazy, and maybe I am a little. She could be speaking the truth, Heaven has betrayed us many times. What makes it different this time?

“You help me?” she starts laughing “You hunters are nothing but ants underneath my feet.”

She looks each of us down, ending on me “I hate all of you.”

“Then why not kill us? You keep warning us, all bark but no bite.” I step closer to her, because I noticed that in fact, she doesn’t kill us. Hurt, yes. But never kill.

Her mask of horror witch slips and I see her clenching her jaw in frustration. A first sight of real emotion on her side. Meaning, she won’t kill us.

“You need us witch bitch?” I lean closer to her and that jasmine smell is wrapping around my body, making me smile.

“I do not.”

“But you can’t kill us.” I grin “So your threats are empty.”

My first mistake was laughing at her, my second was standing so close to her.

Her hand snaps out and grips my neck, her nails digging into my skin, drawing blood. She lifts me up in the air. My hands grasp her hand, trying to lessen the pressure and pulling myself up so I can breathe. In the corner of my eye I see Sam and Cas moving towards me.

“One more move and I snap his neck like a twig, I’ll deal with the consequences” she says to them but keeps her face on me.

She brings my face so close that her nose is touching mine, and I have a feeling she wants to pull me even closer.

Probably to feel me choke and see the fear in my eyes better.

“You are not stopping me from ripping that place out of the sky and burning it down. I don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire. They deserve to burn for what they took from me.” Her eyebrows lift up a little at that last sentence, as if she didn’t mean to let that information slip.

She drops me to the floor and when I catch my breath to look at her, she’s gone.

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[kiatheinsomniac]

I would like a preference for Altair, Ezio, Connor, Arno, Edward and anybody else you want. I want one based on what artistic gift each of them has as a talent/hobby. Like if their artistic gift is writing/poetry or music etc Thank you

☾ ⋆ﾟ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 / 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: altaïr, ezio, edward, connor, arno

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: none

｡･:*˚:✧｡ altaïr ibn-la'ahad

♡ drawing

♡ based off all the designs and illustrations in the codex pages, I'd say that Altaïr already knew how to draw really well even before studying the apple. He would keep a pocket-sized sketchpad and some charcoal maybe and it would just be a free time activity of his

｡･:*˚:✧｡ ezio auditore

♡ music

♡ in Revelations, Ezio mentions having learned a few chords on the lute but I think he's underplayed it. I can picture young Ezio as having to learn certain courtly hobbies, being a nobleman, and music was one of them. The lute is portable and so it could double up as a tool for him to bring to a lady's window where he would try and woo her with a song. Once his family was killed, he had little time for music and so he can only remember a few basic chords by the time he uses the lute in the mission in Revelations.

｡･:*˚:✧｡ edward kenway

♡ singing

♡ Edward has never really had time for anything artistic. He grew up on a farm, frequented the local pub, became a privateer and went on to become a pirate. He's always been too preoccupied for art. However, it comes to light that he has quite the amazing singing voice by the time he's joining in to the sea shanties once he becomes a privateer.

｡･:*˚:✧｡ ratonhnhaké:ton | connor kenway

♡ wood carving

♡ Connor likes to make little wooden statuettes as gifts for his loved ones. He'll find a decent piece of wood and start whittling away at it until he's handing you a beautiful swan or wolf figure. It's always been a little hobby of his because it's so convenient as long as he has his knife on him.

｡･:*˚:✧｡ arno dorian

♡ dancing

♡ Arno might be into poetry and prose now but he wasn't during his childhood - that was always Élise's thing - so he's still catching up in that area, despite what others may thing at first glance. Arno was always being bested by Élise in fencing as they were growing up too so, being a young boy and irritated that his step-sister was besting him at everything, he went out to find something that he could one-up her in. He came to find that while Élise loathed dance (namely because she was terrible at it), he has a good sense of rhythm and not only was he good at dancing but he enjoyed it greatly.

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[who-dat-homeless]

Thoughts on a coffee theory

Okay let’s get it out of the way -- it’s not a “debunking theory” post. I do believe that coffee theory based, it got a lot of arguments and evidence, and at the very end its interesting and entertaining.

Yet still I don’t like it  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1. It’s just destroying any conflict

Aziraphale and Crowley at the end of the season got a very interesting conflict of ideologies. They both don’t like heaven/hell, they both understand that it’s a very toxic “organizations” that hurt people in the same manner the only difference is in the wrapping. They both want to live on earth amongst humans, they want their little lives left alone to do their little human things, sleep, going out, listen to Shostakovich. Yet they can’t be left alone as long as heaven and hell exists and they both know it. 

 BUT.

They have different solution to this problem. Aziraphale truly believes he can change the system on the inside, that just one angel with good intentions can change everything. Crowley truly believes that he can always run away, pretend he didn’t see big scary monster so it wont touch him.

And I’d say they both wrong. As one single person could never change non material force of “system”, this person can’t just pretend that everything is fine. They’ll be haunted, they’ll be lonely, never finding a place to stay, afraid of intimacy as any other moment can make them run again. 

And how interesting( and good from a writing point) it would be to look for them both to realize they’re wrong and go looking for the third secret thing that finally can put their fears at ease?

And if Aziraphale is just “hypnotized” then it’s all for nothing, Crowley just needs to walk to him, take him by the hand and un-hypnotize him. Idk how about you but for me is a tad bit boring. You can put this plot in one 45 minutes and be done. But ideological differences... Yeah baby, give me some heart wrecking fighting of their sole beings. 

2. Juicy religious trauma gone

Religious imagery and religious traumas are gorgeous on their own. Are you fearful of the higher power? Or are you feeling less lonely knowing that there’s someone who’ll always be by your side? Do you like to know that you’re life goes according to plan? Do you feel satisfaction from knowing that your moral codex is “holy”? (insert any themes about cults and systems in here)

It’s so nice to see explorations of these themes in media. AND NOW IMAGING EXPLORING THEM ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE ANGELES THEMSELVES - BEINGS WHO ARE _THE RELIGION_ WHO CAN’T JUST GO AWAY FROM IT, WHO CAN’T JUST BE A NORMAL “PEOPLE” WITH THEIR LIVES WITHOUT IT   And again. If it’s just the coffee -- one session of un-hypnotizing and everything is resolved on it’s own. 

3. It’s striping away impact of characters decisions

If its not even a character’s decision - why care? Again, un-hypnotize him and everything is good again, I’m more than sure that if Aziraphale is really drugged Crowley would not hold any grudge and welcome him back as easy as it possibly can. If it inevitably leads to no conflict at all, no arcs, no realizations, no growth, why would I care?

4. LET AZIRAPHALE BE BASTARD 

LET HIM BE SHITHEAD, LET HIM BE EVIL, LET HIM BEEEE FOCKEN BITCHHHHHHH

We have soooo many kind moments with Crowley and so little of Aziraphale being absolutely the worst. I can only remember him wanting to kill a kid, but let’s be honest, in that particular situation it was more morally grey. 

They supposed to be neither, human like, making mistakes, fixing them. But with the coffee theory it’s almost like “Aziraphale did nothing wrong! Ever! In his life!”  Nah, let him be a lil bit messy, it would bring a fine flavor to this whole mess of situationship 

And I saw someone made a point that “Oh Aziraphale WOULD NEVER tell Crowley that he’s the bad guy!!!!” 

Yeah but there’s exists thins little thing, y’know, called “EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION”. Aziraphale have being abused by heaven and sadly he took over some of this behavior. For me in this moment he tries to shame Crowley AS HE KNOWS HE LOVES HIM. he wants Crowley to defend himself to say that _he_ is not the bad guy, so Aziraphale can further more prove that Crowley has to come to heaven with him, he want’s him to feel guilty for the feeling Aziraphale has, SO CROWLEY WOULD STAY WITH HIM, SO CROWLEY WOULD BACK OFF AND TRY TO GO BACK TO WHERE THEY WERE AND AZIRAPHALE WOULD NEVER EVER HAS TO CONFRONT THOSE FEELINGS AGAIN. 

“Nothing lasts forever” HE DOSEN’T CARE (he does but not in the context of this analysis) ABOUT HIS SHOP HE JUST WANTS TO BE WITH CROWLEY AND HE THREATENS HIM. He says him in the face “We can end at any moment. I can end US at any moment. And you can’t do anything about it” He bluffs and so he shoots himself in the leg

HE LOVES CROWLEY BUT BECAUSE HE STILL IS IN THE POSSESION OF HEAVEN THE ONLY LOVE HE KNOWS IS THREAT AND VIOLENCE

And he even did this kind of the manipulating before!!In the first episode when he tells Crowley that he can leave if won’t going to help him. And he even admits that he said it because he wanted Crowley to help him. So the thing at the ending of the 6th episode is in character!! 

And again. Coffee theory would strip this all away. All of this juicy internal/external conflict. Aziraphale is once again just a damsel in distress waiting for her prince to save her.   IN CONCLUSION 

I like coffee theory as a bandage to my broken heart. I like it as an idea that would hold my broken spirit after the mess I’ve witnessed. I like it as an entertaining, seeing how people play with this idea in fics. 

I don’t like it as a plot possibility  

P.S. also this theory means there’s no possibility for us to see Aziraphale’s apology dance AND I NEED TO SEE IT

[uroboros-if]

Omg I'm speechless.

The background, the transition, the codex? Everything was just so pretty, different and chefs kiss 💋 .

Thank you for the hard work put into this, and I can't wait to play the rest of the chapters. Also, torn between the ROs...I need to know more about them, plzzz anything, even crumbs.

I'm so glad you recognize and like the design! I can't tell you how much time and tears I spent learning how to get all of them working (somewhat) 🥹💕

Oh, I am so awful with coming up with what to say about each of them that would be interesting! If you ever have any specific questions to grill them on, send them in!

For now, I'll be assigning each RO a body wash/shampoo from my bathroom! Maybe that'll entice you, or give you a vague sense of who they are!

SALVATORE. This one's easy! I have a body wash simply titled "Sun," which comes in a cute, orange-pinkish package with a dash of golden specks. It is the scent of orange flower and sandalwood. I also have Sunshine Mimosa, with both the packaging and the substance itself a lovely orange. Lastly, I also have honeysuckle and orange burst, which is a yellowish-orange that has such a pretty substance! They're all quite strong, though.

LUCIEL. A nice and elegant Silk and Magnolia. The smell isn't overwhelming, but mild and pleasant! Also not over-the-top like some of the others. I also have lavender and vanilla, which of course comes in a lavender and white bottle with a gold accent. Lastly, for a more interesting scent, I have neroli blossom and bergamot, which also comes and simple but tastefully clear bottle! The kind of scents and wash you'd expect from a person who has it all together.

CIOCANA. Oh, so here are the really fancy scents. I have Steeped Invigoration, a dizzying blend of rose, tangerine and tea, and it is so very pretty with flowers and a tangerine strewn on its front! There is arabica coffeefruit and waterlily, which comes in a rich red bottle adorned with leaves and what appears to be the arabica coffee. Lastly, I've got white strawberry and sweet mint, enclosed in a clear bottle and rosy motifs! These all sound fancy, but they definitely give me a headache, since I have a sensitive nose.

ALESSI. Definitely have to be some refreshing scents! There is rosemary and lemon, which is a shampoo that comes in a BIG, clear container with lively lemons and greenery! Fresh eucalyptus and mint, which is so invigorating, just as bright and alive as its bottle! This wouldn't be complete with something fruity for Alessi, so juicy pomegranate and mango definitely suits them! I think I typically like these best, since they're simple but enough to wake me up in the morning!

There are a lot here, but I promise I don't have a problem! Most of these have already been used up, and I just remembered a couple I've had recently! They are, however, localized entirely in my bathroom. 🥹

Sorry this is so tangential and random, but again, feel free to send in any specific questions and I'll be happy to answer!! Thank you so much for asking ✨💕

[upennmanuscripts]

For #CoffeeWithACodex on April 18 (12pm Noon EST on Zoom), Curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 3, three volumes containing paintings or hand-colored sketches depicting mainly insects, fish and other marine life, birds and flowers. The manuscript was created in Japan, probably in the 19th century.

Register here:

[leoba]

Medieval Self-Insert Fan Art: Two amazing examples

Last night my favorite Discord server had an anniversary party, and we all presented to each other like the nerds we are. Usually when I present at conferences I post the talk to my blog, but this one felt like it would make a great inaugural post for this new Tumblr (which is going to be my personal-official space in the same way my Twitter account is now)

I gave a little presentation on MEDIEVAL SELF-INSERT FAN ART with two examples, and I share the slides and my comments here for you.

The first example: Owner portraits in books of hours, for when you want to hang out with Jesus and the BVM.

First, what are books of hours? Books of hours are...

Books of hours can be personalized in a variety of ways (for much more about personalization check out Kate Rudy’s book Piety in Pieces: How Medieval Readers Customized their Manuscripts, which you can read for free here). Owner portraits are part of the creation of the book of hours, so it might be more correct to call them commissioners portraits (I don’t think I’ve ever seen them called that, though). The person commissioning the book would work with the artist or artists to determine in which scene they would be included. In every case I’m aware of, owners are presented in supplication - kneeling, with hands together in prayer - and on the edge of the picture, present and part of the story, but not central to it.

Following are many examples of owner portraits from several different manuscripts in Philadelphia (all of which were digitized through the Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis project).

Some portraits, like this one from PMA 1945-65-14, show the book’s original owner. This is Étienne Thirion, in his own frame, kneeling at prayer, in a page facing the Annunciation - as though he’s watching, or perhaps considering the story, but not part of it.

More commonly, the owner is painted into the frame. Here, in this example from FLP Lewis E 112, he joins a couple of angels visiting with Mary and Baby Jesus. Unlike the previous example, we don’t know the name of the original owner.

Owners didn’t only include themselves in happy scenes. In this example, from UPenn Ms. Codex 1056, the owner (in traditional 15th century dress and a black coif) joins the women grieving for the recently deceased Jesus.

Here’s another happy one, from FLP Lewis E 123.

The original owner of PMA 1924-19-1 includes two owner portraits, one with Mary and a nursing Baby Jesus and one with the deceased Jesus laying in God’s the Father’s lap.

One more! Another woman (yes, women owned books of hours and other books, and had them made), and like the first one we looked at, she’s in her own frame, looking at or contemplating Mary and Jesus on the facing page.

That’s the first example of self-insert in medieval art. The next example is a single manuscript, rather than a genre, and although it is religious it isn’t only religious:

U. Glasgow MS Hunter 231 is a collection of devotional and philosophical works, copied in the 14th century (here’s a blog post about it, and this post includes photos from the blog). It includes a lot of texts by the 1st century Roman philosopher and rhetorician Seneca, which I find incredibly amusing for some reason. I guess I don’t think of Seneca as being terribly popular? But there’s a lot of him here.

Here’s a photo of the book from when it was featured on Coffee With A Codex (I forgot to hit record until 10 minutes in, oops). That’s Seneca there between Plato and Aristotle, with gray hair and a pink hat. We’ll take a closer look at this illustration later.

More details about the contents of MS Hunter 231.

Animation works better in PowerPoint but I’m doing my best to give you the experience. I love this manuscript for a lot of reasons but one thing that strikes me (aside from the self-insert fan art) is how oddly it contrasts with itself.

First, it has some really fantastic illuminations made by an identifiable artist (“Master of the Taymouth Hours” - so called because he is also responsible for illustrating a book of hours called the Taymouth Hours, now London, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 13). They are detailed and colorful and the gold has been incised with designs (seriously, look at the gold in the photos, it’s so well done). So whoever had this manuscript made wanted premium art.

Second, in contrast, the script isn’t great. It’s an informal gothic cursive script. That’s it on the right; on the left, another manuscript, also written in England at about the same time, written in a more formal gothic textualis quadrata script (it’s FLP Lewis E 84, a theological miscellany). The cursive would write more quickly, take less time to write, and would thus have been less expensive. So while the texts are important to the commissioner, the writing of that text appears to be less important than the artwork.

Third - the parchment. It’s not great! There are a lot of uncut edges (this photo is from a different manuscript, UPenn LJS 24, but this is the kind of thing you’ll see in MS Hunter 231), holes, and visible hair follicles.

Again, this means that great parchment wasn’t the commissioner’s priority. Not great parchment, not a great script, but really fucking great art.

And who is this commissioner? Here he is with Mary and Baby Jesus and a couple of angels - he’s pictured very much like the owners in the owner portraits, kneeling, hands held out in prayer.

His name is ROGER OF WALTHAM and we know a bit about him! We even have an idea of what he looked like: wavy gray hair, long on the sides and back but cut with a tonsure around his head, and a gray beard. He’s pretty distinctive-looking.

This is just to give you a sense of size. It’s not a really huge book (see my hands in the screenshot further up), so that illuminated initial isn’t big. But it’s so well done!

Here’s a close-up! Again, it’s the same style as an owner portrait (I mean... it is one, really, just in this purpose-made book and not in a book of hours). That’s Roger at the bottom, dressed in red.

And here he is again, watching the Blessed Virgin Mary be assumed into heaven after her death.

And again! Waiting patiently for Eucharist.

And with Mary and Jesus! (You can really see the design in the gold in this photo)

With Mary and Jesus again.

... and again. (I love that patch of gray on his forehead)

Here’s a larger illustration, Jesus crowning Mary... and there’s Roger kneeling at the bottom, yet again.

And here he is at the Crucifixion.

Here’s a fantastic full-page illustration. That’s the head of God at the top, with some angels, and in the middle is Saint Benedict and Saint Paul. And there? At the bottom? Who’s that?

Let’s take a closer look.

squints

It looks like Roger. And Roger! (I’m not 100% certain that is two Rogers, the fellow on the right could be someone else, but I wouldn’t exactly be surprised if it was two Rogers)

Finally, Seneca. Here’s Roger hanging out with his favorite philosopher! (No beard but maybe this is young!Roger?) That’s Seneca on the left, slightly higher in the frame, with Roger below, in the position of teacher and student. This is a pretty typical artistic trope that you see a lot (I’ve included another example from FLP Lewis E 37 just below).

And finally, the pièce de résistance: We return to this photo of Plato, Seneca, and Aristotle (we know who these are because they are labeled).

Seneca - in the middle, facing the reader head-on, an indication of his importance - looks familiar. Take a closer look. Closer. Closer!

The wavy gray hair? The beard? I’m not the first person to note that Seneca looks an awful lot like Roger of Waltham. His final self-insert: literally making himself into his favorite philosopher.

Thanks to Julie Gardham, Senior Librarian at the University of Glasgow who introduced me to MS Hunter 231 and Roger of Waltham’s place in it.

[flyhxghfalldeep]

Starter for @belovedwaters

"You want me to make you some coffee?"

"I would absolutely love it if you could make me some coffee" she nodded, smiling as eagerly as possible now that the tiredness was beginning to settle into her bones. Now Lara was no stranger to late nights spent looking over ancient codexes, but the adrenaline and the thrill of the unknown usually did the work that the caffeine she now craved would. How was it easier to find a lost City than it was to find a way out of London? "Please" she added politely, moving to sit up straighter. "Anybody ever tell you that you're a life saver?"

[kitausuret]

What neopets would various spiderman and venom characters be?

...so, uh, I actually started asking myself this question a few months ago. And. Well. I got a little carried away with my inspiration!

I'll link to each of their lookups just for fun, if any of my followers have an account, but most of them don't have anything on there yet.

This is extremely long so it's going under a break:

We start with Jubulile van Scotter.

She gets to keep her name because it was untaken. (: I made her an Aisha, because Aishas are a favorite of mine and also most of the wig items look really good on them. I opted for a kind of sporty look for her - essentially sci-fi-ing her canon characterization as a sailor. In this world, her strongest connections are with Flash, Eddie, and Victoria Montesi.

Next, we have Eddie Brock.

Eddie is so special he gets two looks - but primarily I have focused on his characterization in the most recent run of Venom, inspired by some of the ideas put forward in #18. I've named him Meridial in the sense that Meridius is the version of Eddie who lost all of who he was. What if Eddie managed to lose all semblance of who he was because he's so wrapped up in survival? Caught between life and death, in reality only a few years have passed for him, but to him it's been millenia. It would be tragic - just like him. (:

Then - Edgy Boy McEdgeson - I mean, Dylan Brock.

I'll be honest, I don't have anything particularly special in mind for him. I just think it would be funny for Dylan to be a cute little dragon but he has EDGE or whatever. The big-ass sword is inspired by his Big Edgy Sword he has as Codex. And this version of Dylan is definitely based on Codex. His name over on Neo is Cytozyme, which after some looking up is actually the name of an enzyme that cuts proteins - it specifically is what converts prothrombin to thrombin during blood clotting. And also I just thought the name had good vibes.

Who's up? Victoria Montesi!

While not strictly a Venom character, her surname was untaken so obviously I had to create her in Neopets. She's a Zafara simply because I like Zafaras. And yes, she is holding a lesbian pride flag as well as a huge fucking wraith staff. Idk, she's a magic user of some kind.

Next we have the Venom Symbiote!

Tragedies was actually the result of a trade - I had the name Olympus sitting around so I traded for this custom. (: I love Mutant Acaras and had wanted one for many many years. In the Neopian universe, the Symbiote is more of an entity than anything else. A... space entity. It's a work in progress. But it's still definitely a symbiote, which brings us to...

Peter Parker.

His name over at Neo is Tintilie, which is actually from the elvish language crafted by Tolkien. Now, while I am not personally a big Tolkien fan, I did look it up and the name means "sparkling" or "twinkling", which I think is a hysterical way to describe someone who is literally glowing because he's radioactive. Notice how he's an Acara? Just like someone else? Yeah. ;) And yes, he's also a teacher. and YES, he is also still a vigilante.

And who is Peter, without Mary Jane Watson?

Like Eddie, she gets two looks. Her base color is Eventide, because I think it's pretty. However, the old-art style Faerie Lenny is wonderful to me, and I like that it's based on a male peacock. Also because she believes that gender is a game and she's in it to win it. Her name on Neo is "Klieglight", which is a type of lighting that used to be common on movie sets! She goes by "Kay Lynn" or "KL" over yonder. She's still a fabulous model and aspiring actress!

Who's up next? Our friend Harry Osborn! Or maybe Harry Lyman.

He's a little rainbow Meerca because I think I'm funny. And yes. He still runs the Coffee Bean. And yes, his father was still rich as hell but is now gone (not dead, just serving time). But what about Harry's family, you ask? Well, have I got good news for you, because I've also crafted into this universe...

Liz Allan!

Would you believe I found an Ixi in the pound named Liz? It's crazy. I painted her Valentine and gave her an expensive-looking custom. She's my darling. I honestly had so much fun with her. But she's also got a kid, who is...

Normie Osborn.

Okay, so, he isn't actually painted Halloween - yet. But I'm working on it. Right now he's red, which kind of matches his mom? But anyways. Yes it is admittedly inspired by his Red Goblin look but like... what if he was just cursed but also was just chill about it. He's not actually evil or nothing he's just twelve. Also yes his background is a parody of the "this is fine" comic because that's his life. Falling apart around him and he's trying to pretend everything is fine. Theoretically he would have first been a Rainbow Ixi. The Osborn extended family is messy and big though, so we can't leave out...

Lily Hollister!

She is still blonde but I gave her better hair. (: There's a little bit of a nod to her as Menace, as much as I hate to give Dan Slott any credit... but I love those horns. They look good on her. She's fabulous. And that's why her name is Diahmonds! And who's just as great, is her and Harry's son...

Stanley Osborn.

Look how cute he is! Right now he's a Green Kougra wearing a UC Baby Kougra token, but I want to make him Rainbow to match his dad's coloring. For right now though? He is baby. And the creepy lab is inspired by the fact that right after he was born he had that touching moment being hand-fed by the Lizard. He's fine, I'm sure.

And last but absolutely not least is Flash!

While he doesn't have any tokens, this fantastic Kyrii does get two customs - one with a wheelchair and one with a cane. Why? Because he's amazing that's why. I definitely leaned most into his Space Knight stuff because reasons. He still for sure has connections with everyone listed above though!

Hoo boy this got really long but as you can see I've regained some inspiration in Neopets. They also all have designs I've doodled but nobody gets to see those yet because I'm embarrassed fjkdasl;jfla.

[worldhistoryfacts]

Here's another page of the 1541 Codex Mendoza, which attempted to capture the history of the Aztecs before it disappeared. It shows us the conquests of a ruler named Axayacatl. The biggest conquest in Axayacatl’s career is depicted at the top — Moquihuix, lord of Tlatelolco, is falling from his burning temple in defeat:

Go deeper on this image and the rest of the Codex here:

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[thebowynntradition]

Aelles Tau Mystaras

Today I will jump ahead a bit as today is Holy Day. Precisely, today is the holiday called Shae vo Tau Mystaras {Day of The Mysteries} More commonly called Tau Mystaras.

The Mysteries are celebrated on the days of April 15th-17th. While some think the holiday is just celebrated for and by Mysts {witches} the holiday is really devoted to all worshipers. It's a most divine holiday. A time of rest, meditation, cleansing, looking inward and reflecting on one's faith. It is a time when people spend the 3 days at their home altars, shrines and reading their codex. Many like to just use the day and spend it in silence, in vigil, prayer. The days are used to clean one's shrines, altars, religious tools, divination tools. Those that attend groves will find the areas incased with plumes of incense. Bathhouses, saunas and Taranoms {sweathouses} are in wide use when they too are not being cleansed and cleaned.

Religiously, Tau Mystaras is dedicated to the gods Mystara and Ehlrik. Mystara being the goddess of Magic and Ehlrick, the god of shamanism and bards. At least they are the main focus, but all Bowynn gods are deeply respected this holiday. Tsa'heka-non {100-fold} bundles of incense are burned these days as offerings, mass libations of milk, water, juice and wine are gifted, grosses of flowers, plants, garlands and wreathes if bestowed to the gods, whole dinners are cooked for the holy family.

For Mysts and those that practice the arts of magic and shamanism; the holiday is especially celebrated as a great time of cleanings and is the date new initiates are blessed and welcomes into groves and temples. It is also the most sacred day to consult priests and priestesses for wisdom and consult oracles. Many will spend the days is deep though over tools of divination. And spells are cast endlessly on these 3 days. Nights of great divination practices, spell casting and a day for new practitioners to start.

Traditionally 7 candles are burned during these 3 days in reverence for the gods. And the colors of Black, Purple, White and Gold are displayed. Wreathes and garlands are hung up on and around doors in homes and temples. Soft religious music is played. Fasting is common but not culturally nor religiously demanded. But the abstinence of a frivolous foods of some sort is common: Coffee, Sugar, Alcohol, Candy, Pastry. It is up to the person.

Personally, I like to just use the day in prayers and to read my codex. I may do a divination reading. I spend the first day, cleansing my home, altar and take a LONG soak in the tub. I spend the second day in deep reverence and vigil and depending on the weather, I may take a long walk. Day 3 I like to do some spell casting and take a second soaking. Sometimes I will make special herbal cookies are a lemon cake. And I do make an offerings of the 7 Sacred Offerings (Meat, Vegetation, Incense, Herbs, Fire, Libation and Votives). If I am up for it, I will even spend time crafting and drawing something divine or magically in nature. And incense is always burning. And I normally will fast the first two days and day three I FEAST! LOL.

Aelles Tau Mystaras {Happy Holiday}