#liberator of ancient wonders

[amandamadeathing]

How Phee (should have) seduced Tech:

As the sun sets on the Pabu sea, the lights of the village come on from the shore up the hill.

Phee: Pretty spectacular, right?

Tech: I suppose...that is one way to quantify it.

Phee (leans in, softly): Technically, that was a qualification.😏

Tech: (the goggle fidgeting intensifies)😳

[tlmtwelve]

Pheebruary prompt: A Day with Aunt Phee

[amandamadeathing]

Disagree. You know which pirate liberator of ancient wonders wouldn't have treated the kids like that?

you know which pirate wouldn’t have treated those kids like this?? hondo fucking ohnaka!

[holdingonforheaven]

this episode had so many great one-liners.

"i'm not going to like it, am i?" "you don't like anything."

"money isn't everything." "that's because you don't have any."

[leenathegreengirl]

Reblogging this absolute QUEEN 💚💕

Lovely Phee as a guest at Echo and Aiko’s wedding! And it looks like someone cute has caught her eye 👀

@legacygirlingreen @thora-sniper @sukithebean @thecoffeelorian @neyswxrld @somewhere-on-kamino @clonethirstingisreal @royallykt @morerandombullshit @burningfieldof-clover @tbnrpotato @keantha @anxiouspineapple99

[woodland-gremlin]

Fruitloops

“We’re home!” Conner bellows, posing like he just won the Super Bowl, with Tim behind him looking exasperated.

“Welcome home,” Danny says from the kitchen. “I’m just finishing up the Fudge.”

Hearing the word Fudge Conner cheers before running to the kitchen door. “I call licking the spoon!”

Tim freezes before rushing to catch up with Conner. Danny’s Phantom Fudge was legendary and there was no way he was going to give up the right to lick the spoon without a fight. Conner may have super powers and a head start but he didn’t free Bruce from being stuck in the time stream with his boyfriends by just his good looks, though they certainly helped.

He looks around to see what can give him an advantage in his quest for legendary Fudge when he sees something that causes his heart to drop. League of Assassins garb peeking out through the hallways closet.

His mind began to work in overtime trying to figure out what this could mean. While it seems like one of the League’s assassins is for some reason hiding in his closet, that also makes very little sense. If one were here they would never make such a mistake. It could be one of Danny or Conner’s souvenirs that they liberated from the League when the three of them blew up a bunch of their bases. But that doesn’t explain why they would be in one of their apartment closets, they keep that stuff in the Nest with the rest of the stuff connected to their alter-egos. Though Danny does like to bring some of his inventions here to fiddle with sometimes, he usually phases them into things to hide them when he isn’t working on them.

As Tim prepares for a fight while trying to figure out the assassin grab Danny phases his head through the kitchen wall. “Tim want some Fudge?” he asks before looking at what caught Tim’s interest. “Why are you looking at where I tied up the Cultist Fruitloop?”

Tim’s eyes widen before turning to where Danny’s head was poking through the wall. “Ras?!” Tim squeaks. This catches attention from where he was gorging himself with Fudge. “Ra’s here?!” he asks while rushing towards them, getting ready to fight.

Danny phases through the rest of the wall before shrugging like he didn’t just say there was an immortal leader of a cult of assassins tied up in their closet.

“Well, he kind of just showed up and started ranting about how he would make you,” Danny says while gesturing towards Tim, “his, so I knocked him out with the anti-creep stick and tied him up before shoving him in the closet.”

Tim wanted to bang his head against the wall and from the look of it Conner wasn’t that far behind him in that thought. This was Ras for Ancients sake and here Danny was acting like he was some common thug.

“You don’t seem very concerned,” Conner said, stating the obvious.

Danny shrugs again, “Well yeah, I phased his weapons into me and tied him up. Plus the Original Fruitloop does stuff like this all the time. Doesn’t yours do it too?”

And that, that made sense. It wasn’t that Danny wasn’t taking it seriously, it was that he was used to it. They all were. Each of them had some older Creep that was obsessed with them. He had Ras to deal with, Conner had Luthor, and Danny had been dealing with Masters for years. Honestly, if Masters or Luthor showed up and acted like Ras did he would have tied them up and stuffed them in the closet too.

“Just tell us sooner next time,” Tim sighs.

Danny chuckles nervously while rubbing the back of his head., “Yeah, will do. I just kind of forgot since he showed up in the middle of me making the Fudge.”

Conner gasps, leaning against the wall like he had just heard the most sacrilegious of news. “He interrupted the sacred ritual that is the making of Fudge?!?!” Conner then continues with his hand on his heart, “The audacity.”

Danny snorts while Tim facepalms. It’s moments like this that made him wonder why he loves these two idiots.

“Why is he tied up like a pig?” Conner asks after opening the closet, looking at Ras.

“Because he is one,” Danny absentmindedly replied.

And then it was moments like this that he remembers why.

[amandamadeathing]

Phee takes the Batch to the beach episode. Original by @syntaxaero

[tlmtwelve]

May 3, 2024: Phee Genoa

[cultkinkcoven]

saw this post in r/luciferianism and thought it relevant to share my response here because this is a question I see asked very often.

Doesn’t Lucifer hate being worshipped?

In my experience, no. Not really.

First of all, Lucifer very much is a Lord. He is the God of illumination and enlightenment, He is the Lord of Thaumiel, he is the keeper of the draconian current, the hidden gnosis, he is the liberator, he is the morning star. He is Venus. and he is very much worthy of Godly respect. He is no less powerful nor influential. He very much qualifies for the title of Lord, even if he doesn’t subscribe to the idea of supremacy.

To worship Lucifer though, is not to place yourself below him. Lucifer is my patron and I am his devotee. I am a human and he is a God. We are fundamentally different creatures, that doesn’t mean there isn’t respect or equality between us. Lucifer does not demand or even expect worship. That’s why choosing to actively worship him, set time aside for him, create an altar for him, is so important and dear to him. On the complete contrary, Lucifer doesn’t hate being worshipped by his devotees. He has always seemed beyond honoured and touched that people revere him enough to choose to do so.

Worshipping the Christian God is a responsibly. But when I worship Lucifer it isn’t because I think I have to or because he asked me to. I paint him a picture because I think he’d like it, I offer him an apple because I’m thinking of him. I pray to him because I want to be closer to him. When I worship Lucifer, I also worship myself. In order to worship him, I have to embody his principles, and he is the God of self worship. Taking the effort to actively form a relationship with him in recognition of his divinity whilst also not discounting your own is the key. We don’t worship Lucifer because he’s a God and we think he’s better than us, we worship Lucifer because Lucifer is wonderful, and being in his presence is enjoyable. When I refer to Lucifer as my God and my King, I am not referring to myself as his slave.

There is something incredibly beautiful about consensual authority and leadership, especially when it comes to Lucifer. Bending to a God out of fear is worlds different than surrendering to a God out of trust and admiration.

Lucifer doesn’t hate being worshipped because the act of worship in itself is bad- because it’s not. Lucifer hates bondage (not the bdsm kind lol) and forced worship. Lucifer hates spiritual slavery, the Christian God refers to his people as his slaves. Lucifer would never tell someone that worshipping him is mandatory. But choosing to worship, wanting to worship him as a God and enjoying the act of worship in itself is not in any way offensive to him. In fact it is one of the greatest compliments a human can give.

There is power is deciding to surrender to a God and trusting in their leadership. Lucifer is not a tyrant, but he absolutely is a leader. Following his lead is exactly what he wants us to do, regardless of if we call him God or not. In my opinion, a devotee and a deity are equals in that relationship, even if they are not equal in stature. My role as the human who does the worshipping, tends the altar, heads the messages, and his role as the God who provides insight, directs, and leads, are intrinsic to the dynamic we have. Submission is not inherently degrading. On the contrary, purposeful devotion has been one of my most powerful sources of confidence and pride. My relationship with Lucifer has only continued to flourish as I’ve become more comfortable with worshipping him as my God. I look UP to him, literally, because he is in the sky. He’s a God. He looks down to me because I am a human. But we meet eachother’s eyes, that’s all that matters.

I am a God in my own right, worthy of respect, freedom and autonomy, just like Lucifer. But I am also very much human, and compared to how ancient he is, I very much am a child. This doesn’t mean that I infantilize myself in comparison to him, that is something he would actually hate. It means that I trust in my God’s direction as a God because I understand and respect that he does know more than me. We are equals in concept but not in practice. Once you heal your relationship with authority and allow healthy leadership to support you in your life omg deity work and witchcraft and life in general are going to become so much easier for you.

I do call Lucifer Lord often, but he only ever actually tells me to call him Lord when I’m acting like a brat. Not to speak down to me, not because he’s the boss of me, but to remind me who he is. I’m not talking to my imaginary friend, I’m talking to Lord Lucifer, the God that I felt so protected and inspired by that I devoted my eternal soul to him. I can dislike or disagree with what he says all I want. The fact that I have recognized him as Lord means I already know that he’s probably right and there’s probably a good reason why he’s telling me whatever he’s saying.

tldr: I personally have had no problem calling Lucifer Lord and worshipping him, but he’s also not going to have a problem with anyone not doing that. Likewise, I doubt we would tell anyone not to worship him unless it was in a way that was degrading.

[frozenrogue89]

I Don't Want to be Great, I Wanna be Me.

So we all know the classic ‘JL meets Phantom through summoning’ prompt, and we usually get Danny “High King, Savior of Worlds, Eldritch, Cryptid, Ancient, No Shits Given, Chaos Gremlin” Fenton making an appearance, cool and confident, running circles around the JL. But what if, this High King they summoned, just… wasn’t.

The Justice League was prepared for anything, with the latest BBG threatening the world they had to take drastic measures. The JL Dark managed to scrounge up the summoning spell they… “liberated” from a cult group a couple months back. At first the JL was against the thought of summoning another highly powerful unknown, but with extensive research, Constantine and various others vouching for this so-called “King Phantom'' , and no option left, well, their hands were tied. Said to be the vanquisher of the previous Tyrant of the throne, Savior of the Infinite Realms, thousands of years old, infinitely powerful, infinitely old, and some smaller rumors claimed, infinitely kind. Phantom is said to be extremely protective of humans (something they were banking on),  loyal to its subjects, and said to rarely get angry (yeah right). A terrifying creature, tall and confident in its destructive power.

So yes, the League was prepared. They gathered as many members as they could spare for this meeting, everyone ready for a fight, but praying for none. The Big Three stepped forward while the rest hung back. Constantine and the Dark members start chanting, beginning the ritual.

The chanting ends. The silence hangs. Bodies still. 

Then, a flash from the hieroglyphs on the ground and an explosion of wind with no origin, a blinding light originating from the summoning circle grows in strength, letting out a vibrating hum that causes Superman to cover his ears and wince. The hum starts shaking the ground and the light condenses into itself, revealing the silhouette of an object. 

The wind stops. The light is gone, the vibration a memory. Everything is as it is before, with one exception.

Wonder Woman, wasting no time, straightens, “High King Phantom, Ruler of the infinite Realms, We are the Justice league, We ask your help in vanquishing The BBG, it threatens the lives of all those who live…” Her eyes widened as what stood before her.

This… this didn’t look like a High King, Vanquisher of Pariah Dark. This little thing did not give any indication of confidence, power, or age… it looked… young. The only thing terrifying about this creature is the size of bags under his eyes. Drowning in soft clothes, hunched over, looking utterly defeated, Nothing like they expected. Diana would almost mistake it if for a human child if not for the glowing eyes, fangs, and slight aura it gave off. But this, this was no King… Is- are those tears in its eyes?!

____________

Danny has not been having a good day. Or week. Or month, or- anything really. It seems like dying was only the beginning of his problems. No, scratch that, this all started with his parents’ damn obsession with ghosts. Danny swore they were part ghost too with their utter infatuation with all things Ecto. If only they hadn’t tried to access the ghost zone, if only Vlad hadn’t been involved to become Danny’s biggest nightmare, if only his parents gave up their research once they had kids, if only he didn’t walk in that stupid portal to impress his friends. 

If only he had stayed dead.

If only he didn’t gain powers, then he wouldn’t be stuck in this mess. 

Danny scowled to himself and let himself flop onto his bed. He’s been spending the last couple weeks cycling through this whole rogue gallery, TWICE! Plus fighting a handful of random ghosts who thought they could take on the ‘Ghost King’ (Pariah’s evil reign and thousand year slumber didn’t help either with all the paperwork that’s left for Danny.) Running from the GIW, his parents, and Val as usual, (Ghost Scum, 

Dealing with ‘Mayor’ Vlad’s Evil Plan of the Week -Danny’s powers were still on the fritz after that encounter, painful, was a word for it- Not to mention school, between Dash being Dash, forgetting his science homework, missing a test because of Skulker, Lancer and his threats of, “Black Beauty Fenton! If your grades keep dropping you’ll spend the rest of the year in detention! With ME!” and now his teachers (and Jazz) are talking to him about college? He’s still a sophomore, give him a break! It isn’t Danny’s fault the whole universe is apparently out to get him.

The real cherry on top of this whole thing was the recent ‘summonings’. No thanks to the Fruit Loop and his meddling, with Jack Fenton unknowingly helping him, again. A nice little instruction booklet called, “How to Summon the Ghost King, Made Easy!” got out onto the internet and the world, free for any psycho to speed dial Danny away from his life. At various points in the last month Danny has been forcibly -and if he was honest, painfully- ripped from anything he’s been doing and dumped smack dab into the center of various cults’ plans, usually they wanted power, money, or world domination. His saving grace was the process of summoning forced him to transform or no identity reveals, thank The Ancients. 

Sam and Tucker have been a godsend in getting the Booklet wiped from the internet, Danny would be lost without them. He would’ve fallen apart the first week into his powers if not for them. Who knew watching your friend half dying created lasting relationships? They really kept him going and he trusts them with his life, really he does.

But Danny would never tell them about some of the things he’s seen getting summoned, he couldn’t do that to them. The various groups of psychos seemed to think Danny was more likely to listen to them if they offered sacrifices.. human sacrifices. Some nights he couldn’t stop smelling blood and incense, couldn’t get those images out of his mind. He hated himself for keeping track, and hated himself for not wanting to. 15. 15 people, so far just because some handful of lunatics wanted some money or something equally stupid like that. Danny was 15, that’s one whole human being, for every year he was alive, one of them was even younger th- she was just- Danny couldn’t- she was- so small…

Pulling his blankets over his head, Danny took measured breaths against the tightness in his throat. It’s Not fair. It’s not. He didn’t ask for this. He didn’t want to be King of the undead, he’s just a kid himself isn’t he? It was just an accident turning on the portal. He didn’t mean to. Why is he stuck fixing everything? Can't he just be a normal kid? Go to school, get good grades, become an astronaut? He’s so completely out of his depth, who is he kidding, it’s just a matter of time before he screws up again and someone gets hurt, or worse. He's trying, though, he is. He tries so hard to be good, to do good. To not turn into Dan.

‘Stop it, Danny. Now’s not the time for bad thoughts.’ This is the first time Danny’s had a chance to sleep in two days, his parents are out and left the home defenses are down, Jazz is studying at the library, Sam and Tucker are playing Doom while keeping an eye on ecto readings around town. He has maybe 4 blissful hours to spend in dream land. He sighed and sunk into his pillow trying to blank out his thoughts before he could spiral again.

A tightening in the chest, and eyes snap open, ‘NO! NO! Please not now!’ is all Danny manages to think before the unfortunately familiar sensation of space displacement takes hold. His transformation is forced on him as he feels himself fall apart and get put back together simultaneously.

‘Just a couple hours rest, is tHAT SO MUCH TO ASK!!??’ The anger leaves before it can fully form due to the pure exhaustion that washed over his ectofied bones and straight to his core. It feels strained, like glass under pressure, not knowing if the slightest change will shatter him. He slowly gets his bearings and- oh, this almost seems worse than a regular cult summoning. At least there’s not a dead body. 

It’s the Justice League, and Wonder Woman is talking to him. And Danny, Danny can’t. He can’t. He doesn’t know if they want to trap him, kill him, experiment… if the GIW got their claws into the JL… Danny can’t anymore, He can practically feel his core splintering into jagged gut- wrecking pieces. He just wants to rest, to feel safe, for just a little while. Why can’t he?

Throat burning and eyes watering, Danny realizes he can do something, just one thing. It’s the only thing left that he can do. Something he hasn’t done for a long time, ever since dying.

Danny starts crying.

[stitch-witch-82]

o m f g

she's GLORIOUS

i love her

My transcendent commission of Phee in a fantastic pirate outfit, by @mrsnaildood! Thank you so much snail she looks amazing ;.;

[djuvlipen]

i'm so shook on your rick riordan rb whaaaat. i didn't know aaany of this shit. defending arranged marriage is crazy

the rr crit tag is a very interesting rabbit hole to fall into if you have time, here is a masterpost

the thing with rick (i'm calling him by his first name, in true former pjo fan fashion) is that he doesn't do research when it comes to representation. like he doesn't even do the bare minimum. so samirah (the muslim character in Magnus Chase) is pretty religious but she takes her hijab off in front of the thousands of men who live in walhalla because she "considers them as her relatives". this doesn't make sense. another example; he has a native american character in Heroes of Olympus (piper) and she wears a feather in her hair to "reconnect with her heritage". she's literally just wearing a feather in her hair. and another third example; in Magnus Chase (again), there is a deaf character who is constantly described as being super expressionless (in terms of facial expression), and hard-of-hearing readers have constantly explained why this literally made no sense as being expressive is a p important part of sign language (if i remember correctly)

it is lazy representation, and he is only including it because it gives him some clout among the liberal audience. you can tell it's lazy writing and lazy character work because he never really thinks about how being from [insert ethnic group / sexual orientation / religion] might impact a character's life. example 1: hazel (in HoO) is a 13yo african-american girl who was born in 1928. she dies and comes back to life in the 2010s. it is said she faced horrific racial abuse in the 1930s but this somehow had no real psychological impact on her character, she isn't really shown (although it's stated, but once again that's lazy imo) to be struggling adapting to the 2010s, and like. the massive discrepancy between life as an african-american girl in the 30s and the life of an african-american girl in the 2010s isn't even mentioned. not even once. even though many things happened in the USA between the 1920s and the 2010s wrt civil rights for black people

second example; nico was born in the 1930s fascist italy, his mother fled to the US with him at the start of wwii, then he got stuck in a time loop of which he got out in the 2000s/2010s. he is gay. the impact that growing up in 1930s italy (a fascist and v catholic country) had on his relationship with his sexuality isn't ever brought up. like with hazel, it's vaguely stated but this doesn't have any real impact on his character, it didn't really shape him in any way shape or form. that's unrealistic as fuck

(nico and hazel are canonically hitler's half-siblings. rick didn't really think about how this would have impacted their life or their relationship with hades (hades is hitler's dad). but also he backtracked on demigod!hitler and implied he meant hirohito or mussolini instead. who knows. maybe all three are demigods)

third example; lavinia (in Trials of Apollo) is a jewish roman demigoddess. jewish people were systematically discriminated against in the roman empire. but this is never addressed. and if you're wondering how lavinia and samirah factor in their monotheist religion with the fact that ancient gods exist... this is not explored! they don't have a problem with it, it's barely even addressed!

he just writes straight, white characters and then slap an "oppressed" label on their forehead without really thinking about the implications of what he is writing. he doesn't even google the basic stuff. a lot of his characters are walking stereotypes (leo is the one that comes to my mind rn)

his retelling of greek myths brings nothing to the table. he doesn't bring out new, interesting takes on greek mythology (the way the musical Hadestown does for example). but his goal isn't to depict ancient greek culture and mythology as accurately as possible either (we don't hear about ancient greek cultural holidays, about ancient greek sports, about the olympics, about the tragedies, about the philosophy. misogyny, homophobia and slavery in ancient greece aren't ever brought up. and obviously he did not have to bring it up BUT if he had wanted to actually advocate for women and minorities' rights, as he so often says, i think it's a road he could have easily taken if he had given it just a little thought). so instead we are stuck in a weird limbo where we don't learn anything new but we are also NOT being presented with another perspective on what we already know. it's lazy.

and the misogyny. hera is one of the recurring villains of the books; she is portrayed as the literal embodiement of the "bitch wife/evil stepmother" stereotype, and all the aphrodite children are presented as shallow. the one i'm the most pissed off about is artemis. she requires her hunters to be single and kills the ones who break the rule. in Trials of Apollo, it's revealed this rule ALSO applies to lesbian relationships. so you have this elderly lesbian couple who had to flee from the hunters otherwise they would have been killed. lesbians having to flee their community because they might be killed is a very important conversation to be had but the fact it's treated so lightly (it's mentioned a few times, the lesbian couple feels grateful because artemis actually "let them live" and this whole experience didn't really traumatize them in any way) is a pretty flippant way to handle lesbophobia and femicide. the fact that the perpetrator of lesbophobic violence is artemis (and that it's implied that she has killed lesbians in the past!!) is also particularly distasteful. artemis has long been associated with the feminist movement for refusing to partner with men, for running a female-only group of hunters and being the goddess-protector of pregnant women, mothers and women fleeing male violence. this also erases the fact that the biggest perpetrators of sexist and lesbophobic violence are men.

(and don't get me started on reyna's character)

oh, also. in Heroes of Olympus, Amazon (yes, Jeff Bezos' company) turns out to be actually owned by the Amazons, who are portrayed as a group of female supremacists who wear tight leather clothing and whips. they keep men in cages and use them as slaves. yes, this sounds like the plot of a female supremacy fetishist porn movie

also also. the age gaps. hazel is 13 and in a love triangle with frank (16) and leo (15). now i know three years age gap are not that crazy but i do think a 16yo boy and a 13yo girl are at two very different stages of their life (emotionally, physically, sexually) and when i was in high school, my friends and i always gave our male classmates who dated middle school girls side-eyes. anyway, that's hazel. but there's also sadie (from the Kane Chronicles), a 13yo girl who is in a love triangle with walt (16) and anubis (the god) (> 5000yo. he presents as a teenager though). and you know how this ends? that's right. she dates them both. they are a throuple. this doesn't make sense

anyway i don't agree with all the anti-rick criticism, some stuff that ppl criticize about his books make me roll my eyes bc i think they are really not that big of a deal. but these are the things that i do find pretty problematic. i also wouldn't care that much but i find him (and his fans) very hypocritical. he has vocally criticized jkr many times in the past and he is always presenting himself as the representation writer who actually cares about minorities (like, that's his whole pr), but some of the stuff he has written would definitely have gotten jkr a few dozen of thousands of death threats

[metamorphesque]

Monte Melqonyan/Մոնթե Մելքոնյան (1957-1993)

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. He's one of those extraordinary individuals about whom countless books could be written and numerous movies could be made, yet still, so much would remain untold. You might wonder, "He's a National Armenian Hero—cool, but why should I know about him?" My answer is simple: if the world had more people like him, especially in today's times, it would be a much better place. He fought for justice, embodied culture and education, and radiated a deep love for his people and humanity as a whole. I believe everyone should aspire to have a little bit of Monte's spirit within them, regardless of their nationality.

Now, it's important to note that some things written about him in the Western press can be questionable and inaccurate. So, I would advise taking most of the information from those sources with a grain of salt.

Monte was born on November 25, 1957, into an Armenian family in Visalia, California, that had survived the Armenian Genocide. From 1969 to 1970, his family traveled through Western Armenia, the birthplace of his ancestors. During this journey, Monte, at the age of twelve, began to realize his Armenian identity. While taking Spanish language courses in Spain, his teacher had posed him the question of where he was from. Dissatisfied with Melkonian's answer of "California", the teacher rephrased the question by asking "where did your ancestors come from?" His brother Markar Melqonyan remarked that "her image of us was not at all like our image of ourselves. She did not view us as the Americans we had always assumed we were." From this moment on, for days and months to come, Markar continues, "Monte pondered [their teacher Señorita] Blanca's question Where are you from?"

In high school, he excelled academically and struggled to find new challenges. Instead of graduating early, as suggested by his principal, Monte found an alternative - a study abroad program in East Asia. The decision to go to Japan was not random. He had been attending karate clubs and was the champion of the under-14 category in California. He also studied Japanese culture, including taking Japanese language courses. After completing his studies at a school in Osaka, Japan, he went to South Korea, where he studied under a Buddhist monk. He later traveled to Vietnam, witnessing the war and taking numerous photographs of the conflict. Upon returning to America, he had become proficient in Japanese and karate.

Having graduated from high school, Monte entered the University of California, Berkeley, with a Regents Scholarship, majoring in ancient Asian history and archaeology. In 1978, he helped organize an exhibition of Armenian cultural artifacts at one of the university's libraries. A section of the exhibit dealing with the Armenian Genocide was removed by university authorities at the request of the Turkish consul general in San Francisco, but it was eventually reinstalled following a campus protest movement. Monte completed his undergraduate work in under three years. During his time at the university, he founded the "Armenian Students' Union" and organized an exhibition dedicated to the Armenian Genocide in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey.

Upon graduating, he was accepted into the archaeology graduate program at the University of Oxford. However, Monte chose to forgo this opportunity and instead began his lifelong struggle for the Armenian Cause.

In the fall of 1978, Monte went to Iran and participated in demonstrations against the Shah. Later that year, he traveled to Lebanon, where the civil war was at its peak. In Beirut, he participated in the defense of the Armenian community. Here, he learned Arabic and, by the age of 22, was fluent in Armenian, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Persian, Japanese, and Kurdish.

From 1980, Monte joined the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA – I promise to tell you more about them later) and quickly became one of its leaders. In 1981, he participated in the planning of the famous Van operation. In 1981, he was arrested at Orly Airport in France for carrying a false passport and a pistol. During his trial, Monte declared, "All Armenians carry false passports—French, American—they will remain false as long as they are not Armenian." Over the following years, he perfected his military skills at an ASALA training camp, eventually becoming one of the group's principal instructors.

Monte with his wife Seda

After being released from a French prison (once again) in 1989, Monte arrived in Armenia in 1991, where armed clashes between Armenians and azerbaijanis had already begun. He founded the "Patriots" unit and spent seven months in Yerevan working at the Academy of Sciences, writing and publishing the book "Armenia and its Neighbors." In September of the same year, he went to the Republic of Artsakh to fight for his fatherland and its people. Due to his military expertise, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Martuni defense district in 1992. His sincerity and purity quickly won the love and respect of the local population and the Armenian community as a whole.

Throughout his conscious life, Monte fought for the rights of Armenians, recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and the reclamation of Armenian homeland.

There are various versions of Monte Melqonyan's death circulating in both Armenian and azerbaijani media. According to official Armenian information, Monte was killed on June 12, 1993, by fire from an azerbaijani armored vehicle.

Monte remains a lasting testament to the incredible potential unleashed when the Armenian patriotic heart unites with sharp intellect.

In case you'd like to put a voice to the face and hear about the Artsakh struggle directly from Monte, here he is speaking about it in English.

[rayvenden]

Imagine: Fern, KB, Wim, and Neel are on their own after ditching their bad pirate dad. They encounter a spry old lady, don’t know whether to trust her. What if she’s just another pirate? “I’m not a pirate, I’m a Liberator of Ancient Wonders.” Wanda Sykes steps into the light.

[timetodiverge]

"Who's Phee?" "She's a liberator of ancient wonders!" "...." "....*siiiiighhhh* she's a pirate."

[evilminji]

You know what's my JAM?

Extremes being treated as the Serious Dangers they ARE, even when they aren't "oooh its a spooky Grey morality and BADness!" Extreme.

Like? No, people. ALL of them are bad. They are ALL face melting dangerous. The void may crush your soul, but look upon the Face Of GOD? Not gonna be having a fun time! Doesn't MATTER if he's a cool dude! Face melting!

We are creatures of BALANCE. Tiny, fragile, little motes of dust. That can only exsist in the careful, blended, dances of territories and powers that be. We squishy.

Ghosts? Less squishy.

Poor impulse control, too. Especially ones with Fenton genetics. ABSOLUTELY ones with Fenton genetics and a trauma based aversion to therapy. That one? Pretty hardy. Made pretty tough, what with being Fates third favorite chew toy. But? Still gets the Sads, you know? The slightly longer then just seasonal depression.

Would medicine and some therapy help? Oh like a dream!

If medicine WORKED on his Ectoplasmicly contaminated ass. And he TRUSTED therapists.

But... surely, Danny thinks, as he sits grossly in his Depression sweatpants and eats suspect pizza on the floor of his moldering shoebox of an apartment, there must be SOME way to address his Depression? He should... he should DO something about it. Take a break maybe. Look up some ghost doctors or something.

.....

Oooooooooor..... >.>

He could break out that OMENIOUS af, bound in suspect leather, Big Book Of Forbidden Knowledge(TM) that he got from Pariah's.... what, fourth? Fifth? Library? Fuck that Lair is huge. He's STILL cleaning it out and it's been over half a decade. He swears it spawns more floors just to mock him. Bastard. Don't know HOW a building can be a Bastard, but it sure found A WAY.

Anyway!

Book it is! *horrifying Eldritch light as he opens it* huh. Neat. Comes with its own visual effects. *another bite of suspect pizza* Funky.

And so! Danny, the depressed King Of The Zone... fucks of to go cheer himself up in the Fields Of Bliss(TM), an area of Absolute Bliss. Which! Sounds GREAT in theory, now don't it? Lovely even.

Remember that little comment about extremes?

You can ENTER those fields. But no one leaves. No one CAN. The deeper you go? The more doomed you become. Less will to do anything at all. Eat, talk, move. So much as think. Like ALL extreme "Goods", it sounds lovely, but the reality is no gentle little thing.

It's a glue trap.

But how could Danny have known? Honestly, who would have TAUGHT him? Textbooks can only go so far, after all. And placing blame will not rescue the young monarch.

I imagine it's one of his helpers that pieces together what's happened. Come for further clarification on WHERE exactly he wants certain statues moved. Only? Your Majesty? Your Majesty...? Where ever could he BE? Oh? He's left out some of his books. Well, I'll just assist by putting them away for-.....

Oh.

OH ANCIENTS, NO.

But! What can the poor man DO? Ghosts are Beings of Will, Emotion, and Obsession. Were it some sort of Holy Blade or Sentient Tree, you know, something INDIVIDUAL with a will they could FIGHT? Oh no problem. But an area of effect? Especially an EMOTIONAL area of effect!? Ooooooh, this is bad. The Zone can't AFFORD to lose ANOTHER King!

We JUST GOT THIS ONE!!!

Wait. He's heard that there's an organization for this! That loudly cursing fellow who got violently thrown back into the Zone. "Ruined his fun" and all that! Perfect! He'll just hire THEM!

Smashcut? To a nice, peaceful, everybody's screaming Justice League Meeting. John's cursing life, extremely hungover. Zatana still has three cracked ribs. Wonder Woman is enjoying the new sword she... liberated... mid battle. Truely stunning craftsmanship. When?

Knock Knock!

Heads swivel. There... is a glowing green... accountant? Dandy? Dandy accountant. With an equally radioactive day glow green Actual Pirate's Chest Of Treasures, floating next to him. In the void of space; Just beyond the glass. What, the, fuuuuuu-

He seems to be under the impression they are some sort of Heroic mercenaries. And has come to request the retrieve-

"NNNNNOPE! Pariah can SHOVE it!" Snarls a suddenly very awake John Constantine, sitting up straight for the first time in hours. The rest of Dark grimly nod in agreement. Let the fucker rot. It's a kinder fate then he deserves.

No, no, NO! King PHANTOM! Pariah's SUCCESSOR by right of combat! They are not, and were never, allied in any way!

Well, all right then. Road trip to save a young idiot then.

@the-witchhunter @hdgnj @hypewinter @lolottes @mutable-manifestation @nerdpoe