#pride of baghdad

[howlingday]

Summer: Dammit, Rae! Can't you just accept that things might be going our way for once?!

Raven: Going our way how, Summer?! When was the last time anything went our way?! You've always been either too naive or too stupid to understand that nothing good just happens for us!

Summer: Call me stupid one more time, and I swear I will-

Taiyang: ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU! The last two hours has been nothing but you two bickering and complaining! Now SHUT UP!

Raven: ...

Summer: Wow... I guess you might actually have what it takes to be team leader after all. (Leans in, Whispers) I want you to take me...

Taiyang: Take you where...?

Summer: Now~.

Taiyang: Uh, s-sure. Listen, um, Yang, Miss Summer and I need to, uh, take care of-

Raven: Oh, just go already! I'll keep an eye on the kid.

Yang: Wait, where are they going?

Raven: They just need some alone time, kid.

Yang: That's funny, because that's what Dad used to say when he went away with you.

Raven: Yeah... C'mon. I'll teach you how to build a campfire.

[pixelsparrow]

Ember in different Lion Styles!

I made this a while ago, but it was a fun exercise. I don't know why I made his fringe much longer in the I Hope So style, but it looks cute so why not eh? I might try this again with my other lion OCs in the future, we'll see.

More about Ember: Ember's Toy house Profile

Hope you guys enjoy!

[haveyoureadthiscomic-poll]

[pencilpavlova]

Forgot to upload this in June when i finished it oops

I don't really have any lion characters but i do have my Pleistocene AU for my tusked ones (late surviving Homotherium latidens) I'm honestly pretty happy with how all of them came out! I had a harder time with any styles that should have thin/refined lines bc i never draw like that normally rhrfrhb Also Lion King, that was really hard for some reason c'x Tragically to keep some of the styles looking like themselves i had to lion-ify the nose and enlarge the lower canines (all derived sabercats have reduced lower canines and Massive incisors) The Pride of Baghdad style is prooobably the most faithful to their actual anatomy

blank Lion Style meme by @ihopesocomic

[totallyhussein-blog]

Learn what “Loving, and loving, are all about”

Shortly before the 2007 landmark vote, in which the State of Massachusetts legislature endorsed marriage equality by a 151-45 vote, Mildred Loving, one of the plaintiffs in the landmark racial marriage equality case from 1967 ’Loving v. Virginia’, endorsed equal marriage rights for gay couples.

The Loving’s had committed what the U.S State of Virginia called unlawful cohabitation. Their marriage was deemed illegal because Mildred was Black and Native American; and Richard was white. Their case went all the way to the Supreme Court and on June 12th, 1967, the couple won.

“My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love.

But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the "wrong kind of person” for me to marry.

I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.“

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Laurence Olivier (Hamlet, Rebecca, Pride and Prejudice)—no propaganda submitted

Rex Ingram (The Thief of Baghdad, Cabin in the Sky)—he's got like this dynamo energy. charisma off the charts

This is round 2 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage man.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

[lizziethereader]

August 2024 wrapup

not pictured: - Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon [ill.] - Poems for Palestine: Recent poems by nine Palestinian poets & actions you can take to stop genocide now by various authors - The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton - The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition, Vol. 1 by Kazuo Umezz

With a few exceptions, August was fairly disappointing. Considering the amount of books I've read, there could definitely have been some more really enjoyable ones....

favorites of the month: Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1 by Hiromu Arakawa, Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov

nonfiction of the month (2): Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov, The Art of Verbal Warfare by Rik Smits

classics (1): The Hand of Ethelberta by Thomas Hardy

poetry (2): Poems for Palestine by various authors, English Romantic Poets by various authors

graphic novel/manga (4): Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon, Stray Dogs by Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner and Brad Simpson, Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1 by Hiromu Arakawa and The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition, Vol. 1 by Kazuo Umezz

[env0writes]

Impure Pilgrimage, 5.11(27).24 “In Memoriam; Always Forget"

@env0writes C.Buck   Ko-Fi & Venmo: @Zenv0 Support Your Local Artists!   Photo by my friend Mika

They just folded up his flag Sewn up tight from bullet holes Gunned him down cause he's a fag That's how the story goes

We've heard of on the news With unrest less than civil But Timmy is left hanging from a noose More at five, next Clark Deville

On it goes and goes and goes Fighting for a country lost How the flag it boldly shows Who knows it's history's cost

Yet still the same old stories Four hundred years ago Reenacted for their glories What was learned? Not sure, although

Is it better than it once was Is better yet to come I'll bleed a little longer if A is positive, my cuz Walk on into battle, with a flag and with a drum

Swim through the halls of each first and secondary school Puberty hits hard but not a caliber punch School pride changed their colors to red, dyed in the pool (of) Cafeteria lines like a gallery in fourth period lunch

There ain't no glory to be had In red, blue, and white in Baghdad No songs sang do to re to me to fa No lesson learned, America

[fortheloveofwonderland]

A War of the Heart - Chapter One | Luke Alvez x Fem! Reader

Next Chapter

Chapter Summary - Thirteen years ago, somewhere between the rolling desert and the trenches, you fell in love with your superior officer. Now he’s being introduced as the newest member of your team and feelings from the past are sure join him.

Category - heavy angst | smut | eventual happy ending

Content Warnings - talk of war time, superior / subordinate relationship, age gap (not a big one though), build up to smut, making out, some Spencer x Reader, mostly just set up.

Word Count - 3.7k

Chapter One

2010 - Diyala, Northeast Baghdad 

The big thing they don’t tell you about serving overseas in the military is that a lot of the time, it was actually surprisingly normal. Sure, you’d spent time fighting in the trenches and on the frontline, but on the whole, army life was so much more ordinary than you’d expected. 

A lot of your days were spent sweeping roads for bombs, or patrolling neighbourhoods, sometimes even visiting police and defence forces. Sometimes they were spent at the practice range or even in the little, but always busy, office building on your compound. Evenings entailed eating with your fellow rangers, sometimes playing a game of soccer in the dusty Earth out front. It had surprised you at first, but after all your years of active duty, you would relish in the mundane moments, knowing they never lasted all that long. 

You’d been just twenty years old when you’d made the decision to sign up to the 75th Rangers Regiment. You’d always been a little wayward, never having much focus or a dream of where you saw your life going. Joining the army was a whim if you were perfectly honest, but now you’d been doing it for some four years, you couldn’t imagine yourself doing anything else. 

Basic training had been anything but easy, between the rigorous physical training, combat skills, and weaponry training, you’d sometimes wondered what the hell you’d gotten yourself in for. It was the most difficult thing you’d ever put yourself through, but the sense of pride you felt after making it through those ten weeks was like nothing you’d ever felt before. 

The army was probably the first place you ever felt you belonged. It challenged you every single day but you adored it with all of your heart. You’d made friends, some more akin to family. Non-military personnel didn’t understand what active duty was like, not the way a fellow soldier did, so you knew no one else outside of the army would ever get you the way they did. The army was your home, the rangers were your kin. 

The small shower in your containerised housing unit hummed as it spat luke-warm water out of its faucet. The pressure wasn’t terrible, and the lack of hot water was often a godsend when you spent your day in the blistering desert heat in full fatigues. You let it roll over your skin, caressing you with its beads. You stayed under the flow maybe a little longer than was necessary, enjoying the privacy the private bathroom allowed you. 

The housing on camp was admittedly better than some you’d lived in. Each soldier inhabited half of one of the prefabricated containers, separated from the other half by a large burlap curtain which offered some solitude even if they weren’t at all soundproof. You’d adorned your walls with a few posters, you had a little stereo system set up. It wasn’t like being at home, but it wasn’t half-bad. 

You finally forced yourself to shut off the shower and stepped out onto the tiled floor, grabbing up your towel from the rack. Wrapping it around your body, you padded out from behind the curtain that divided the bathroom from the rest of the room. 

A set of eyes stared at you from where he sat on the edge of your cot but you weren’t startled to see him. You mentally cursed yourself for not hearing him come in but you weren’t shocked by the intrusion. 

He pushed himself to his feet when you entered the room, still in his cargo pants and tight fitting t-shirt that had probably been white when he donned it that morning. His bearded face was covered in smudges of dirt still, as were his strong bare arms. 

“Sarg,” you wrapped your arms around your body, still dripping wet from your shower. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

“It’s been a hectic few weeks.” He spoke in that slightly rugged, New York drawl of his. 

“It has.” You agreed as he took a few steps closer to you. “You look like hell, sergeant.” Your lip twitched at the corner into a smirk, knowing you’d never get away with talking to another sergeant the way you did him. 

He chuckled that deep, wall shaking laugh of his, rubbing his hand over his messy facial hair. 

“I feel like hell.” He countered, coming to a stop right in front of you. “But I can think of a few things that would perk me up.” 

When his large, calloused hands raised up and clamped down on your bare shoulders, a shudder passed up your spine the way it always did when he touched you. 

“But what about…” you nodded your head towards the flimsy burlap excuse of a wall. 

“Don’t worry about Reynolds, he owed me one. I told him to go and keep himself busy for an hour.” 

“You need a whole hour, huh?” Your smirk grew as he moved dangerously closer to you. He smelt like sweat and dirt and it was intoxicating. 

“It’s been three weeks, Y/L/N.” He hissed, pressing his body flush against yours while his hands started down your biceps, barely ghosting your skin. 

You clamped your legs together, feeling a heat spreading between them. 

“My point exactly. You’d think after all that time you’d only need a few minutes.” You teased him.

Another thing they didn’t tell you about was that the intrinsic need for human connection didn’t go away just because you were serving overseas in the military. If anything, it was heightened, the need to feel close to someone was multiplied to the Nth degree under such harrowing circumstances. And you’d found that in the arms of someone who was technically your boss, most certainly your superior. 

He was six years your senior with much more military experience under his belt. You’d met on your first day of deployment on this tour and from the moment he shook your hand, you’d felt the heat between you. It had taken less than two weeks for that heat to boil over. The first time he’d kissed you, you’d pushed him away out of instinct mostly due to the fact he was a sergeant and you were a private. 

“We can’t do this. You’re my boss.” 

But he hadn’t been deterred, he simply chuckled, a sound that would never not make you weak at the knees and kissed you again. 

“You find me attractive?”

“Yes.”

“If I wasn't your superior, would you want me to kiss you?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then let’s take rank off of the table, Y/L/N.” 

Honestly that was all he’d had to say for you to allow him to take you to bed and it hadn’t been the last time. It had been some nine months now and you couldn’t say no to him if you tried. 

One of his hands took purchase now on your waist, nails digging into the tawny fabric of your towel. His other travelled back up your arm and came to a stop on the item around your neck. It was a light, silver chain with a thin silver diamond encrusted antique ring hanging from it. He let his fingers brush over the pendant briefly before he suddenly cupped your jaw. 

He held you in a way that was firm, not rough enough to hurt, but enough that told you, in no uncertain terms, that you belonged to him. As if you didn’t already know that. It forced you to look into his deep, dark eyes which had a habit of making you melt. He was gorgeous and he knew it. He could probably have any woman here but for some reason he’d chosen you. 

His breath fanned across your face as he edged closer but he didn’t kiss you. His lips barely brushed over your own, causing an involuntary whimper to leave your throat. It made him laugh, he loved teasing you to the point you were a goddamn puddle in front of him. By day you were a strong, fierce army private, but in his presence you were a blithering mess, sometimes quite literally begging for him. 

His lips moved across your cheek but didn’t quite touch your skin and then ghosted over the shell of your ear. His hand fell from your face to your chest where your towel was secured. With one flick of his wrist, the towel came undone and you let it drop to the floor, pooling at your feet. 

He moved his head back a little, eyes casting down over your body that he’d long ago memorised every curve of. When he moved back closer to you, his lips once again brushed against yours, another pathetic whimper leaving your mouth. 

He still didn’t kiss you as he brought his hands to your hips and gripped them securely, tugging you even closer so you could feel his growing erection through his pants. 

“I’ve missed you.” He mumbled, his gentle tone a stark contrast to the way he held you. 

You raised your arms and wrapped them around his neck. 

“I missed you too, Sarg.” 

He used his grip on your hips to drag you towards your bed where he pushed you back to the slightly hard mattress. You stared at him through hooded eyes and he smirked down on you while quickly dragging his t-shirt up his torso, over his head and tossing it somewhere behind him. 

Small beads of sweat rolled down his hard abs, more dirt smeared across his defined chest. He was a work of art, there was no other way to describe him. It was as though he was sculpted, moulded into the perfect human form. His lip quirked into another smirk as he watched the way you looked him up and down. 

“Like what you see, huh?” He chuckled, unbuttoning his cargos and slipping them over his ass and hips before letting them fall down his legs and stepping out of them. 

“More so every time I see it.” You told him truthfully. 

He laughed again but you knew by the look in his eyes that he could see right through you. Keeping his boxers on for the time being he finally climbed into your cot on top of you. He stroked your wet hair back off of your face and for a moment the lust in his eyes was replaced by something else. 

“When do you leave?” He whispered, a knowing look in his eyes.

It was possible he could have heard on the grapevine, but you knew better. You found he often knew you better than you knew yourself. You’d clearly given it away in something you’d done or said. He was very apt at reading you. 

A helicopter buzzed overhead, the walls rattling a little as it did so. You both ignored it, focused only on each other. 

“How did you know?” You decided to ask to buy yourself more time. 

“You’re never so nice to me,” he smiled a little sadly. “Normally if I asked you something like that you’d call me big headed or cocky. You’ve never once complimented me like that. So when do you leave?” 

He was too astute for his own good, so much smarter than people gave him credit for. 

“Five weeks. I’m being reassigned.” 

“Where?”

“Afghanistan.” 

You felt his chest heave with a sigh from his position on top of you and his eyes conveyed his sadness. But as quickly as it appeared it seemed to vanish again and he forced himself to smile. 

“Well then,” he inched closer to you. “I guess we better make the most of the time we have left.” 

He took hold of your face once again and butterflies erupted in your stomach as he got closer and closer, desperate for him to plant one on you. 

The explosion of longing and need that coursed through your body was like no other feeling in the world when eventually he crushed his lips against yours and you finally got to kiss this magnetic man  again. Even if it would all come to end sooner than the two of you planned. War always had taught you to live for the moment. 

***

Present - Quantico, Virginia

The kiss was almost bruising in its force, something that was so unlike him. Usually he was much softer, careful as though you were made of glass and could break you if he were too rough. But after nearly a month away from each other his desperate need for you showed in that one kiss. 

“Whoa there, at least try to keep it PG-13, remember where we are.” You laughed against his lips and he whined in response. 

“It’s been almost a month.” He held your face in his hands, deepening the kiss. 

“I’m aware,” you guided him gently back before he could get too carried away. “But we are at work.” 

“Just let me kiss you,” he chuckled, stroking your cheek. “No one else is even here.” 

He wasn’t wrong, the sixth floor office was empty at this time of the morning and you had missed him like crazy this past month. So when he leant back in to kiss you again, you didn’t stop him. 

You’d both taken some much needed time off from the BAU, but your separate vacations had overlapped. He’d gone to Paris with his mom and gotten back a few days ago, while you’d gone to California a week after he’d left to visit some old college friends and today was your first day back at work. 

When you joined the BAU two years ago, the last thing you’d been looking for was a relationship, least of all one with Doctor Spencer Reid. He was adorable and charming and certainly easy on the eyes but he was not your usual type. If you asked your friends what your type was they would give you one word: himbo. Brawn over brains was your typical cup of tea and Spencer couldn’t be further from that. 

It was safe to say he’d worn you down over the course of the last few years. He’d made it clear he was interested in you and asked you out several times before finally, six months ago you decided to give him a chance. So far your usual type hadn’t worked out so well for you, what was the harm in letting Spencer take you for dinner? 

The dinner had ended back at your place where the nerdy genius had more than surprised you with his skills in the bedroom. By the end of the night he’d rendered you delirious and from then on you hadn’t been able to stay away from him. 

You’d tried to keep it a secret from the team but of course they were profiliers and it was only a matter of weeks before the whole team knew you were dating. It was easier that way, it meant at least if someone were to catch you right now as Spencer’s tongue slid back into your mouth and he pushed you up against the wall in the kitchen, it wouldn't be a complete shock to them. 

“You’ve told me absolutely nothing about the new guy or about your trip.” You mumbled against his lips. 

“Paris was great, and on the flight home mom managed to walk me through the whole thing unprompted.” He moved his lips to your cheek, pressing kisses against your skin. “And the new guy seems nice, he’s a great man hunter. Not sure what his profiling skills are like yet.” 

His lips found their way back to yours again, silencing you once more. You let yourself succumb to him then, realising just how much you’d missed him. But it was entirely short lived as soon you were being sprung apart by the sound of someone clearing their throat. 

Spencer pulled back from you, glancing at the entrance of the kitchen where your audience stood, smirks on their faces. 

“Welcome back Y/N.” Tara laughed at the blush spreading across your cheeks. 

“I see boy wonder has already rolled out the welcome wagon.” Garcia raised her eyebrows suggestively. 

“It’s been nearly a month.” Spencer straightened out his tie.

“I hope for both of your sakes we get out of here early tonight then.” Tara teased. 

Spencer pulled a face like he was actually imagining the things he couldn’t wait to do to you and his frustration that he had to work all day first was evident. 

“With escaped convicts still on the run, I doubt that but thanks anyway.” You smiled at Tara. “So someone needs to fill me in on this guy. Spence has told me next to nothing.” 

“Urgh, must we talk about Newbie?” Garcia rolled her eyes behind her thick framed, lime green glasses. 

“You don’t like him?” You asked but you looked between Tara and Spencer for answers. 

“He’s not Morgan I guess.” Spencer shrugged. 

“He most certainly is not!” Garcia huffed. “Mister tall, dark and blandsome thinks he’s all that.”

“He’s in the conference room with the others, come and meet him and decide for yourself. Don’t take Garcia’s word.” Tara motioned for you to follow her. “He’s an ex-military like you, you might find you have stuff in common.” 

“Oh god, I thought I was done with army meatheads a long time ago.” You sighed as the four of you fell into step towards the round table room. 

“Wasn’t he in the 75th?” Spencer frowned as he made the connection in his head. “You were in the 75th too right, Y/N?” 

“It’s a big regiment, the chances of me knowing him are very…” you stepped into the room, eyes brushing past the others and landing straight on him. 

Somewhere in the back of your mind you could hear the hum of a helicopter, feel the heat of the sun bearing down on you. The air felt thick and heavy like it did back in the Iraqi desert all those years ago. If you focused hard enough you could even feel the dust and sand clinging to your skin.  

It couldn’t possibly be, but somehow it was. There he was in front of you, Sergeant Luke Alvez of the 75th Rangers Regiment, only older with much less facial hair. His caramel skin was less sunkissed and dirty than you remembered, his hair shorter and well tamed. He was still just as muscular as you remembered him to be. His tight grey t-shirt hugged his biceps and stretched across his strong chest. 

He stepped forward, those eyes that always had a way of turning you to jelly never leaving you. His lip started to quip into a smile as he got closer to you but you couldn’t do anything but stare. Your heart hammered wildly against your chest, you were never supposed to see him again. 

“Sergeant Alvez?” You croaked out, easily falling back into your army days, straightening your back and stopping just shy of saluting him. 

Luke chuckled with a shake of his head, fishing in his back pocket for the new credentials Hotch had just bestowed upon him that morning. 

“Actually it’s SSA Alvez now. As of an hour ago.” He smiled brightly at you. “It’s been a long time, Y/L/N.” 

“Big regiment huh?” You heard Tara behind you. 

“You two know each other?” Spencer frowned between the two of you. 

“We did a tour of Iraq together, before I was reassigned to Afghanistan.” You spoke to Spencer but didn’t take your eyes off of Luke. 

“I was her boss.” Luke’s eyes sparkled in a way you’d seen many times before but not for a very long time. It was the way he always looked right before he kissed you. “But we were-“

“Friends. We were good friends.” You cut him off before he had a chance to finish that sentence. 

You turned away from him, just catching the smirk he sent your way as you did. You felt your cheeks burning a hundred shades of red. 

“You can catch up later,” Hotch thankfully spoke up. “We’ve got a case.” 

One day you’d have to thank Hotch for his perfect timing. For now you fell down into a chair next to Spencer and tried to ignore the looks Luke was sending your way while Garcia delivered the case details. 

Luke Alvez. Luke fucking Alvez. Of all the jobs in all the world, he had to encroach on yours. 

You had absolutely no doubt in your mind that things were going to get messy. 

***

The case took the team to Los Angeles where two teenagers had been burnt to death in an abandoned building. It took its toll on JJ more so than anyone who always had a habit of getting a little too close to cases involving kids. 

But JJ would be the least of your concerns. Even on the jet out to California you felt Luke’s eyes on you even when someone else was speaking. You tried to ignore it but he made that really difficult to do. And if you noticed it, it probably meant everyone else had as well, you couldn’t hide things from profilers. 

Once the case talk was over, conversation had inevitably turned to you and Luke’s past. You hadn’t even touched down in LA and you already wanted off of this case. 

“How long did you serve together?” It was Spencer who asked the question, and you didn’t miss the suspicion in your boyfriend's tone. 

“Uh, what was it Y/L/N? Like nine months?” Luke’s lip was twitching into a smirk. 

“Something like that.” You agreed, focusing out of the window. 

“How long ago?” JJ joined in the line of questioning. 

“It was two thousand ten. So almost thirteen years.” Luke finally looked away from you at JJ. 

“And that was the last time you saw each other?” It was Rossi’s turn to ask.

If anyone noticed your back go rigid thankfully no one mentioned it. You turned away from the window at the same time Luke looked back at you. A silent understanding passed between the two of you, somehow even after all the time you were still so in sync. 

“Yes.” You spoke simultaneously. 

After that the line of questioning seemed to end and you all fell into companionable silence. But you kept feeling Luke’s gaze lingering on you. 

[warrenwoodhouse]

Assassin’s Creed Real Life Locations Map (Maps) (Real Filming Locations)

Map by @warrenwoodhouse. A set of fanmade maps featuring all of the Real Life Locations from the entire @assassinscreed franchise.

Map 1: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1yyWU7jFW3L7DVjDgZlFuHDTrtCY

Map 2: link will be added soon

Map: Isu Sites: link will be added soon

Changelog

21st September 2024 at 9:40 am: Added new locations to the section titled “Assassin’s Creed II”, created a new section titled “Assassin’s Creed II: Templar Lairs (DLC)” and I’ve also added the infamous Palazzo della Seta to the list as well

20th September 2024 at 2:40 pm: Added new locations to the section titled “Assassin’s Creed II”. Added new map icons as well

16th September 2024 at 3:00 pm: Updated the map with new map icons

13th September 2024 at 11:00 am: Updated the map with new map icons for nearly every location across the entire map

10th September 2024 at 2:00 pm: Added every single location from the “Trove of Mystery”, “Pride of the West Indies” and “The Caribbean Islands 1715” collector’s edition maps to the section titled “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag”. I’ve added more locations to the following sections: “Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines”, “Assassin’s Creed: Rogue”, “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage”, “Assassin’s Creed II” and “Assassin’s Creed: Pirates”

9th September 2024 at 3:00 pm: Added multiple locations to the section titled “Assassin’s Creed: Project Legacy”

9th July 2024 at 9:30 am: Started creating Map 2 which will include locations from Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and onwards.

8th April 2024 at 11:17 am: Added multiple locations to the section titled “Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” in the map

7th April 2024 at 1:45 pm: Added “Bridewell Prison” to the section titled “Assassin’s Creed III” in the map. Added “Hope Jensen’s Warehouse” to the section titled “Assassin’s Creed: Rogue” in the map

15th February 2024 at 3:26 pm: Added the section titled “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” to the map and added Baghdad to that section as well

12th February 2024 at 8:16 am: Updated map description

30th July 2023 at 6:00 am: Moved post to my Tumblr blog from my Fandom wiki

11th June 2020 at 4:54 pm: Created Map 1 along with the post

[the-owl-tree]

saw one of your posts mentioning pride of baghdad, it's such a good fucking comic but also i wanted to add some content warnings for the list:

Blood and gore (Graphic, shown multiple times): Animals getting gunned down, torn apart, getting their heads blown off

Animal Death: The comic's full of it constantly, like mentioned before in the previous warning

S/A: The old lioness has a flashback sequence where she's violently attacked and sexually assaulted by a male lion and his brothers. It's not explicitly shown (It only shows the moment right before it happens) but pretty much confirmed that it happened, so a warning is needed

thanks for the heads up! i'll add the warnings in

[likeclarabow]

2023 Books Read

Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield (Dec 31-Jan 2)

See You Yesterday - Rachel Lynn Solomon (Jan 2-Jan 3)

All Dressed Up - Jilly Gagnon (Jan 4)

She Gets the Girl - Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick (Jan 5-Jan 6)

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (Jan 6-Jan 10)

Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier (Jan 10-Jan 13)

Greywaren - Maggie Stiefvater (Jan 14-Jan 16)

The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber (Jan 17-Jan 22)

By the Book - Jasmine Guillory (Jan 22-Jan 24)

Portrait of a Thief - Grace D Li (Jan 25-Feb 4)

Pride and Prejudice (reread, audiobook) - Jane Austen (Jan 31-Feb 6)

Macbeth (reread) - William Shakespeare (Feb 6-Feb 10)

Normal People - Sally Rooney (Feb 18-Feb 22)

All the Dangerous Things - Stacy Willingham (Feb 23-Feb 25)

The Diary of Mary Berg - Mary Berg (Feb 17-Feb 27)

The Witch Haven - Sasha Peyton Smith (Mar 4-Mar 11)

Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Feb 26-Mar 12)

The Witch Hunt - Sasha Peyton Smith (Mar 19-Mar 22)

Jonny Appleseed - Joshua Whitehead (Mar 19-Mar 28)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie (Mar 25-Mar 29)

Last Violent Call - Chloe Gong (Mar 30-Apr 1)

Beartown - Fredrik Backman (Apr 1-Apr 4)

People We Meet on Vacation (reread) - Emily Henry (Apr 5-Apr 7)

Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka (Apr 8)

Kiss Her Once For Me - Alison Cochran (Apr 8-Apr 10)

If You Could See the Sun - Ann Liang (Apr 11-Apr 15)

Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie (Apr 15-Apr 19)

The Appeal - Janice Hallett (Apr 19-Apr 20)

The Black Spider - Jeremias Gotthelf (Apr 20)

Molly of the Mall - Heidi L.M. Jacobs (Apr 21-Apr 22)

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein - Kiersten White (April 23-Apr 25)

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (April 26-Apr 28)

Happy Place - Emily Henry (Apr 29)

Us Against You - Fredrik Backman (Apr 30-May 3)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (May 3-May 5)

Juniper and Thorn - Ava Reid (May 6-May 10)

Meet Me at the Lake - Carley Fortune (May 11-May 12)

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (May 12-May 19)

Anne of Green Gables (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 19-May 22)

Anne of Avonlea (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 24-May 26)

Anne of the Island (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 26-May 30)

The Winners - Fredrik Backman (June 2-June 6)

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (June 7-June 8)

Peril at End House - Agatha Christie (June 9)

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B (reread) - Sandra Gulland (June 11-June 12)

Tales of Passion Tales of Woe - Sandra Gulland (June 13-June 14)

The Last Great Dance on Earth - Sandra Gulland (June 14-June 15)

Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi (June 15-June 18)

Crooked House - Agatha Christie (June 22-June 24)

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen (June 20-June 30)

I Must Betray You - Ruta Sepetys (June 30-July 1)

Pageboy - Elliot Page (July 2-July 4)

This Time It’s Real - Ann Liang (July 6)

The Last Word - Taylor Adams (July 6-July 7)

The Fiancée Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur (July 7-July 8) 

The Guilt Trip - Sandie Jones (July 8)

Camp Zero - Michelle Min Sterling (July 8)

The Berry Pickers - Amanda Peters (July 8-July 9)

Family of Liars - E. Lockhart (July 9-July 11)

The Last House Guest - Megan Miranda (July 11-July 12)

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride - Roshani Chokshi (July 14-July 21)

Rolling in the Deep (audiobook) - Mira Grant (July 20-July 21)

Wunderland - Jennifer Cody Epstein (July 21-July 23)

The Stationary Shop of Tehran (July 24-27)

Yellowface - R.F. Kuang (July 27-July 29)

These Violent Delights - Micah Nemerever (July 29-Aug 3)

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë (Aug 3-Aug 5)

Begin Again - Emma Lord (Aug 6-Aug 8)

Medicine Walk - Richard Wagamese (Aug 8-Aug 12)

419 - Will Ferguson (Aug 16-Aug 19)

Harlem Shuffle - Colson Whitehead (Aug 21-Aug 24)

Ballet Shoes (reread) - Noel Streatfeild (Aug 25-Aug 26)

Songs for the Missing - Stewart O’Nan (Aug 28-Aug 31)

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight - Kalynn Bayron (Sept 1-Sept 2)

I’ve Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella (Sept 2)

The Adult - Bronwyn Fischer (Sept 3)

Nine Liars - Maureen Johnson (Sept 4-Sept 6)

Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan (Sept 6)

The Honeys - Ryan La Sala (Sept 15-Sept 19)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne (Sept 12-Sept 20)

Beowulf - Unknown (Sept 8-Sept 21)

The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side - Agatha Christie (Sept 21-Sept 25)

Better Than the Movies - Lynn Painter (Sept 26-Sept 30)

Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer (Oct 4-Oct 7)

And Don’t Look Back - Rebecca Barrow (Oct 7)

Hallowe’en Party - Agatha Christie (Oct 8-Oct 9)

Cannibal Island - Nichlolas Werth (Oct 9-Oct 22)

The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Oct 17-Oct 22)

Stalin’s Nomads: Power and Famine in Kazakhstan - Robert Kindler (Oct 16-Oct 24)

Six of Crows (reread) - Leigh Bardugo (Oct 25-Oct 30)

Crooked Kingdom (reread) - Leigh Bardugo (Nov 3-Nov 7)

Sadie (reread) - Courtney Summers (Nov 9-Nov 10)

The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells (Nov 6-Nov 13)

Hamlet - William Shakespeare (Nov 6-Nov 13)

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 11-Nov 15)

Good Girl, Bad Blood (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 15-Nov 18)

As Good as Dead (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 20-Nov 23)

Red White and Royal Blue (reread) - Casey McQuiston (Nov 25-Dec 5)

The Secret History - Donna Tartt (Dec 18-Dec 22)

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth (Dec 24-Dec 25)

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett (Dec 25-Dec 27)

Murder in the Family - Cara Hunter (Dec 28)

Three Holidays and a Wedding - Uzma Jalaluddin, Marissa Stapley (Dec 29)

The Book of Cold Cases - Simone St James (Dec 30-Dec 31)

[tawakkull]

ISLAM 101: Spirituality in Islam: Part 262

Salik (Initiate)

A salik (initiate) is a traveler who follows a way to a goal and makes efforts to meet with God. The way of traveling differs according to the capacity, abilities and gifts with which each individual has been favored. Some are extraordinarily attracted and taken by God Himself to the ranks of loving and being loved by God and being pleased with Him and His being pleased with them, without having to observe some of the rules that must be observed during journeying. Such are mentioned as those who are attracted by God. They can reach, through the blessings of the Prophet’s Ascension, in a few minutes, hours or days the states and stations that others can reach after many periods of suffering, and become purified of carnal dirt. Their hearts are refined in the shortest way possible and, reaching their Beloved and Desired One at a speed that is not possible through other efforts, they are able to feel all the spiritual pleasures of being favored with His company. They have reached the horizon of “a perfect human being,” which is regarded as the point where the outward and inward have been united.

These perfect ones, who are attracted by God toward Him, are the hidden treasures of the Divine mysteries, the centers on which the lights of the Divine Knowledge and Existence are focused, and those who offer the water of life to believers for the health of their spiritual life, a water with which they will quench their thirst for eternity. They revive dead hearts with their speeches, open blind eyes with their glance and attentions, and cure the spiritual wounds of those who are in their aura. They live intoxicated with ever new gifts and favors, and cause those around them to experience the most dazzling of observations. With their seeing directed by their insight, and their speaking dependent on their hearts, they are enraptured with the colors and lines which pertain to Him, and which they see in everything they look at, and they scatter pearls and coral whenever they open their mouths to speak. Since they are dazzled and enchanted by even a half-seeing of Him, those who do not know them think that they are insane or intoxicated. Ruhi of Baghdad[1] describes their state very well:

Do not think that we are intoxicated with the wine of the grape; We are among the intoxicated from eternity in the past.

If some temporarily go into ecstasies with the initial signs of Him, they immediately come to their senses because of their nature, and they take refuge in wakefulness and self-possession, continuing on their way to meeting God in wakefulness. There is nothing in their feelings, thoughts or acts which causes people confusion; nor are there utterances of pride incompatible with the rules of Shari’a, nor any affectations, nor relaxed behavior. They advance toward being pleased with Him and His being pleased with them in reliance on Him in the atmosphere of The eye did not swerve, nor did it stray(53:17).

Some others complete their spiritual journey by observing its heavenly rules, reaching the horizon of attraction toward God with the support of Divine help and feeling as if their will-power has been connected to a sacred center of attraction. They continue their future life connected to that center in the manner of those who have let themselves go in the current. You can find in such people, who have taken off toward nothingness and carnal non-existence, neither anxieties, worries, nor grief. They are occupied with the Eternal Friend, they feel His intimacy, and live free from uneasiness and troubles because of the peace they find in His presence. The following verses of Niyazi Misri[2] indicate this horizon in one respect:

Having renounced the worldly worries, And taken off to carnal non-existence; Zealously flying without ceasing, I call, “O Friend, O Friend!”

There are still some others who constantly make an effort, from the beginning to the end, and, without expecting any return, sincerely fulfill their duties of servanthood. They neither feel attraction nor are attracted toward God, nor do they display any affectations, nor have any superiority or inferiority complexes or fancies and fantasies. They show great will-power and patience, observing even the least important rules of devotion without any show and being extraordinarily steadfast in His way. They prefer living an Islamic life over wonder-working and pleasures, and never adopt Paradise and what lies beyond it as a goal of their devotion. Regarding believing and devotion as the greatest blessing of the Lord, they live in thankfulness for such gifts in utmost humility and modesty. With his particular style, Mawlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi describes being favored with this blessing as follows:

Happiness has come and held us by the skirt, And set up our tent in the heaven. Yesterday the Beloved asked me: “How do you do with this unfaithful world?” I answered: “How can one be who, Has seen the fortune of the fortunate state? Thanks that I have found in the bottom of my teeth The sugar that Egypt cannot see even in her dreams.”

The first thing an initiate must do is to turn to God in repentance and contrition, in determination to emigrate to what God is pleased with from what He is not, to what He asks us to do from what He does not, and to a life in the heart and the spirit from a carnal life. So long as their efforts are supported by such a high degree of refinement of the carnal self, purification of heart, and good morals, initiates feel that they change both inwardly and outwardly while their horizons become gradually enlightened. To the extent of their sincerity and purity of intention, they begin to present an example of straightforwardness in acting, with the mechanism of their consciousness becoming gradually radiant. With belief developing into conviction, and conviction deepening with increasing knowledge of God, and knowledge of God being transformed into love, and love growing into burning passion, and passion ending in constant wonder, a human being, who has been created of dust, of wet clay, becomes the focus of attention for the inhabitants of the heavens. Those dwelling in the pure realm of the Divine dominion regard it an honor to follow the example of such humans. Whoever turns to them for guidance intends to be guided to the truth, and whoever holds fast to them intends to grasp a strong rope.

This “greatest copy and pattern of creation”, who has become a source of radiance in the inner depth of his or her self, turns into a center of Divine gifts and a storeroom of favors, becomes a blessed one who offers everyone the water of life. Each of the different mansions which such a traveler passes through during the journey upward is called a “state,” and the relatively stable point to which his or her abilities develop, and which we may describe as the “arch of perfections” of a traveler, is called a “station.” “The gifts and radiance of everyone is in proportion to his or her capacity.”

Every traveler to the Truth ends the journey at a certain peak and observes all the worlds, materially and spiritually, from this summit or pinnacle. The final point which every traveler reaches according to his or her capacity is the peak particular to that individual, and therefore each peak is of a relative height. The highest, the only real peak, which separates the mortal from the Eternal or the contingent from the absolutely necessary, which is mentioned in the Qur’an in “or nearer” in the statement a distance between the strings of two bows adjacent each other or even less (53:9), which describes the nearness of God’s Messenger to God, is the one belonging to the master of creation, upon him be the most perfect of blessings. All other heights are defined, in comparison with one another, with such expressions as “lower” or higher” or “greater” or “less” and belong to those whom God has made near to Him, and the godly are relative and in proportion to the capacity-capital of everyone and the Divine gifts with which they are favored.

When the initiates step on their individual horizon of perfection and make their heart into a polished mirror to the sacred Divine gifts, that heart becomes familiar with the Divine look and the breezes of Divine inspiration, and they begin to feel and view creation differently, according to the individual’s level. They burn with the excitement of demonstrating to others what each sees and feels.

Those initiates always think of Him and mention Him as “The One to be worshipped is He-God”, breathing the truth of “The One to be sought is He-God”, pondering their inner world and the outer world, respiring with “The One to be known is He-God” and relating everything to the truth of the Divine Being around the axis of Names and Attributes, developing their belief, first based on acceptance without seeing what is believed in, into a conviction based on a seeing by the heart, supported by a state of spiritual pleasures. They experience verbal and physical devotion with such delight that it is as if they have entered Paradise and been favored with a vision of God. Haqani[3] says:

What behoves an initiate is to proclaim: We worship but God alone.

They hold back from everything which they think is not approvable in His sight, and think of Him only. They reflect deeply on a profound understanding of the fields that He allows.

Initiates who have come to the end of their journey think only of Him, consider Him, know and concentrate on Him with His of “He.” They consider and concentrate on Him because of Him and because they must do so, and they consider all else than Him-whether relating to this world or the next-only in accordance with and in proportion to His permission. For one who has focused on Him only and considers all else save Him because of Him, the only thing to be sought and desired is He and His good pleasure. Let us listen to Mawlana once more:

O you who are seeking the world; you are like a day laborer in this world; And you, lover of Paradise, are also far distant from truth. O you, who are unaware of the truth and pleased with the two worlds, You are excused, for you have not felt the pleasure of suffering for the Beloved’ sake.

In short, initiates who have determined their goal well and who are aware of the horizon where they are, leave both their bodies and souls, with which others are most concerned, on the bench where corpses are washed for burial, and scatter all their capital of being before the door of their heart. Freed from all concerns of everything save Him that may keep them from their way, they turn to their heart and try to understand its voice. They put their eyes and ears under the command of their insight, they plunge into the pure world of metaphysical considerations. It sometimes occurs that they can transcend space in one attempt, and make their voices heard by the inhabitants of heavens in another.

This point, where the heart turns completely to the invisible speaker in it, is like a launch pad from which initiates can rise to the door of eternity in one leap. A step forward, with their head and feet having met at the same point, the heroes of ascension (to God) and descent (to return to being amidst the people) become like a ring. In such state, where the “bird of petition” should be sent to God, lips and voice fall silent, and only the warm sounds of the heart are heard. The head bends itself down to lean ever increasingly on the heart, and whispers to itself: Worship your Lord until certainty comes to you (by death) (15:99).

O God! I ask You for Your love and the love for him who loves You, and for the deeds which will cause me to get near to You.

O God, bestow Your blessings and peace on Your beloved one and the Messenger, Mustafa, and on his family and Companions, who were appreciative and faithful. [1] Ruhi of Baghdad (d. 1605) was one of the important figures in the Ottoman-Turkish classical literature, who usually wrote about moral issues.  [2] Mehmed Niyazi Misri (d., 1694) was a Sufi poet.  [3] Haqani Mehmet (d., 1606) was an Ottoman Turkish poet.

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

MUHAMMAD II KHWAREZM-SHAH

'Ala al-Din Muhammad ibn Tekish was the penultimate ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire from 1200-1220. In the opinion of contemporaries like Ibn al-Athir, he was the most powerful Islamic monarch since the collapse of the Great Seljuqs, ruling a realm stretching from the Caucasus, today's Iran across Central Asia to the Syr Darya River. His armies were vast; Juzjani speaks of him (allegedly) raising 400,000 men and horse "arrayed in defensive armour," to send against Qara-Khitai (Juzjani/Ravery vol. 1, pg. 262-263). He greatly expanded the Khwarezmian realm, absorbing much of the lands of his dynasty's long-time rivals, the Qara-Khitai and the Ghurids. At the height of his confidence, he even marched on Baghdad itself, though a vicious winter storm while crossing the Zagros Mountains brought an end to that campaign. This did not stop his from styling himself "the Second Alexander [the Great]."

Of course, pride cometh before the fall. Muhammad II in many ways embodied all the characteristics of Anushteginid Dynasty of Khwarezm; an intelligence, well learned man, yet scheming, paranoid, cruel and expansionistic. The fact that in 1212 he carried out his own massacre of the population of Samarkand is often forgotten. He struggled to control his Qipchaq-Qangli relations, who formed not only an important military element of the empire, but an elite within it. He often feuded with his mother, Terken Khatun, and the actions of his uncle Inalchuq at Otrar to a group of merchants sent by Chinggis Khan —the infamous Otrar Massacre in 1218— forced Muhammad, reluctantly or otherwise, into war with the Mongol Empire. By the end of 1220 Muhammad was dead on a island in the Caspian Sea, his empire overrun by the Mongols.

I talk about Mongol heavy cavalry in the war against Khwarezm in my latest video: