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chayacat · 7 months

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Road96: Shandara’s Land (15)

Fandom: Road96

Rated M for Language and Violence.

***

Everything was silent at the hideout. Mitch was with Sonya, comforting her as best he could. And trying to recover from his emotions with a good hot chocolate. Jarod smoked peacefully outside, observing the starry sky. Fanny and John cared for Alex as the most precious of their treasure. Maybe a little too much for the taste of the young boy. Stan was on the small terrace at the top of the building, he was sitting on the floor, also observing the starry sky under his hood. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming to him. When he looks around, he saw Anna, a blanket around her, two cups of hot chocolate on each hand.

“Do you want some?” She asks holding one of the cups to him.

“...thanks.” He said smiling under his hood, taking the cup in his gloved hand. “How do you feel?”

“Like someone who almost became a human ice cream.” She replied chuckling. “And you?”

“Like someone who almost became a human pancake.” Stan said chuckling too making Anna laughing again. “...I feel bad for Sonya...and for everyone else...”

“It’s not your fault you know. And you save us. If you weren’t there...We will be no longer there.”

Stan looks at her while she looks at the starry sky. How beautiful she was under the night sky...her light blue eyes sparkling with stars, strands of her red hair delicately kissing her face, the rest being linked in that high ponytail of hers. She was truly amazing...a star herself.

“You know...i...i was wondered...” starts Stan.

“Hum?” said Anna looking at him.

“You and Merlina... How long have you been... rivals together?”

“Well...since always, to be honest. Merlina Yung is not the kind to like having competition you know. Then... When I started making a name for myself as an explorer... She didn't really enjoy it. Before... I was a journalist. I was writing articles about discoveries that were being made all over the world. I loved it. Seeing all these people talk about their historical finds... of those mystical places or objects that were hidden from the eyes of the world... It rekindled in me a passion that I had since I was a little girl. So, I stopped everything and started exploring the world on my own! and I discovered amazing things! in a short time... I was almost called equal to Merlina.”

“Wow...i wish I could have learned about this sooner...I'm sure you would have convinced me to become an explorer too.” replied Stan.

“Hahaha thank you...If you knew how wonderful it was to stumble upon ancient temples, hidden in the most dangerous tropical forests... or pirate treasures engulfed in the abyss of the oceans... and to discover all these stories hidden from the eyes of the world... But it is especially that of the Shandarians that has always fascinated me the most. I was only looking forward to one thing... to finally be able to come here to Petria and finally allow this country to discover its true history...” said Anna with stars in her eyes.

“You seem really passionate by it. It’s cute.”

Anna couldn't help but blush and look at him. She was lovely. So adorable that Stan had only one desire: to hug her and keep her against him forever. But it was too early. He couldn't afford it. Not now. Slowly but surely.

“And... You then? I would like to know more about... the dreams of little Stan Sanchez. Because I doubt that becoming a criminal was a childhood dream.” said Anna with a little laugh.

“Haha...no. Being a thief was from afar, seeing very far, my dream. In fact, Mitch and I wanted to be mechanics. Or cops. Which is quite ironic today.” said Stan.

“Cops? Really?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to believe huh? But It’s true. Mitch and I were dreaming about being both cops. It's funny to think about it knowing that we're on the other side of the fence now.”

“I find it cute.”

Anna rested her head against Stan's arm, making Stan blush even more. The two looked at the stars without saying a word more. The slightly cool wind caressing their bodies despite being covered by the blanket. But then Anna realized something. She took out her notebook and looked at the various inscriptions she had carefully noted. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized the significance of her research.

“That’s it!” she said happy. Stan looks at her confused and surprised. She then talks again. “Look at this. This is the notes I take from the Shandarian’s Library.”

Stan glanced quickly. For him, it was a foreign language of which he knew no letter. He could hardly read a single word on the young woman's notebook.

“In each of their writings, the Shandarians worshipped what they called the Great Goddess. At first, I thought it was a translation error on my part. But in reality, this is not the case! The great goddess mentioned is a constellation!” said Anna.

“A constellation?” said Stan.

“Yes! That of Cassiopeia. She is always depicted in books as sitting, holding a feather or a mirror in her hand. She was a queen during her lifetime. Who was punished by the nymphs for claiming that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than them. The Shandarians worshipped this Queen!”

“That why they thought that their Queen was maybe the daughter of a goddess.”

“Exactly. Now look. The gardens were...here, under a mine in Iron Reef.” replied Anna.

“The library was under the Mount National.” Said Stan.

“The text I found in the library said that they’ll construct something near the stars, where sea and earth lean against each under the goddess blessing.”

“In other words, our next trip takes us to the coast. But which one?”

“I have no idea. I'll have to look a little more.”

On Merlina Yung's side, the leader of the Purple Lynx was getting annoyed. If every trap she set was foiled by this small group of junk, she would quickly become disillusioned. She must find the perfect trap to make Anna disappear as soon as possible. But for now, she had something else to sort out. Flores had tried to escape again, despite Tyrak's increased security. So, she was at the Iron Pit, walking nonchalantly and quietly towards Flores' cell, paying no attention to the other prisoners who were screaming at her.

She stopped in front of Flores' cell, which was bound hand and foot by chains. She had a few scratches, as a result of the "punishment" inflicted on her. When she heard Merlina's footsteps stop from her cell, Flores raised her head, coldly, with some pride.

“Well, I must admit that, for a woman of your age, you are tenacious. An astonishing quality, for a president stripped of her post.” said Merlina.

“As long as my country needs me, I will stand up, Yung.” said Flores.

“How cute. It’s...disgusting me. When will you realize that this country is no longer yours? Tyrak took over governance. As for you, you will rot here.”

“And you? When will you realize that you will not win against them? They are giving you a hard time, if I heard correctly.”

“Hmpf. Weatherlaw is just a small setback. A little plague that I will eradicate once and for all.”

“For a little setback, it gives you a lot of trouble. Yet she has nothing while you have everything you need to kill her. Like what, technology is not everything, Yung.” replied Flores with a grin.

Merlina frowned and without saying another word, she pulled out a gun and fired. The bullet hit the wall inches from Flores' head. The latter looked out of the corner of her eye at the hole in the wall, telling herself that if she had moved a few centimetres, the bullet would have ended up between her two eyes.

“I strongly advise you to hold your tongue, Lupe Flores. It would be a shame to be six feet underground, wouldn't it?” said Merlina.

“You’re twisted.” responds Flores.

“And you speak too much. If I were you, I would stop placing my futile hopes on a small group of fugitives. But after all... You were too, weren't you? Keep in mind that if you go out of here one day, it will be in a coffin.”

Flores glared at Merlina Yung, who without flinching put her gun in her holster. The two women exuded a murderous aura towards each other. Like two lionesses ready to kill each other for a territory.

“You won't take it to heaven, you can be sure of that.” said Flores.

“That's good. I don't expect to go to heaven anyway. Goodbye Flores.” responds Merlina.

With these last words, Merlina departed, followed closely by her close guard. If someone tries anything on her, he or she will end up with a bullet on each part of the body. Might as well avoid tempting the devil in this case. The other prisoners looked at her as coldly as ever. And among them, Adam. Merlina stopped for a few seconds to observe him, before smirking at him and leaving. Adam gritted his teeth, praying that Sonya would make it out alive. If anything were to happen to her, he would never forgive himself.

“Increase security. Especially on Flores. And if she tries anything, don't skimp on punishment. Got it?” said Merlina.

“Yes Madam.” said the soldiers.

Henry, the former prime minister and Flores' friend, was in the cell next to Flores'. He wasn't in better condition than her, but he was still alive, that's the main thing. He pressed himself against the walls that separated his cell from Flores'.

“Lupe? Are you still alive?” he asks.

“Yeah...but for how long?” responds Flores.

“That woman is twisted. And in addition to Tyrak, if we managed to get out of here, it we will be a miracle.”

“Oh, but we will Henry. We will.”

“How?”

“Don’t worry about it. Stay focus on staying alive.”

“Heh, I’ll try my best.” replied Henry, chuckling. “I can't believe that our only salvation is a group composed mainly of criminals, a journalist, A kid, Campbell and a little explorer who gives Yung a hard time. It's not really the team of heroes that everyone expects. Especially since they are all wanted too.”

“Exactly, Henry. It is where you least expect it, in the most unlikely place, that you find the real heroes of a country. It’s not enough to have a good life and what it takes to allow a country to live in peace. You must have heart. Wealth and good health are worthless if we have no heart” said Flores looking at the ceiling of her cell.

“And sometimes, my dear Henry...yes sometimes...Those who are poorest are those who are most inclined to do anything to help. It is those who have known everything who are willing to donate every fiber of their body to help others. But the most important thing Henry is...That it is not the holiest among us who are human. No Henry...”

It is those who have experienced the worst torment, see things beyond cruelty, survived to all the trials life gives them, but who found the strength to fight and give all the love they have...

who are the most human.

***

(Baldur’s Gate 3 is amazing. It's one of those many games that I don't want to finish just so I can play it indefinitely. Yes, I know, I can do it as many times as I want, like Hogwarts Legacy, but this feeling is always stronger. And then we don't feel the same intensity when we already finish the game a first time, don't you think? I hope you’ll like it like the other ones! Feel free to tell me what you think about it! Have a great weekend to you all! See ya!)

#road 96 #road 96 game #stan and mitch road96 #stan and mitch #stan sanchez #mitch sanchez #sonya road96 #sonya sanchez #fanny road 96 #jarod road 96 #road 96 alex #Alex kim #john road 96 #john ursus #Fanny Campbell #road 96 fiction #jarod #sonya sanchez road96

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paleontaxi · 2 years

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//the ship name for john/jarod should be... j...jarbear

#🚕 ☲☲☲ ✘ what did i say about disturbing the customers ? 【 ooc 】#//bc john's nickname is papa bear you know!!!!#//and his codename with the brigades... ursus...#//enemies to lovers john/jarod has admittedly become a big guilty pleasure of mine over the past couple days #//spinning them around in my head very fast #//alternatively instead of it being their ship name #//john tries to call jarod jarbear #//bc he nicknames all of his lovers something-bear #//like how fanny ended up being mama bear #//and jarod is like Don't.

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shuttershocky · 1 year

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I love how more and more art demonstrates that Kal'tsit is actually a very expressive person who smiles a lot, she just didn't have a smiling sprite until a walk in the dust because she never, ever, smiles at you.

You ever just remember that an Ursus noble once told Kal'tsit to her face that she seemed to be only good for her tits and Kal'tsit didn't even flinch meanwhile Doctor says "I stopped Mama John's from stealing all our shit by going to jail please bail me out" and Kal'tsit's blood pressure starts spiking high enough to constitute an emergency.

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waheelawhisperer · 2 years

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Me, desperately attempting to convince Degenbrecher to join Rhodes Island: You enjoyed your fight with Sharp, right? That was fun, yeah? Well, if you sign on with my company, you can spar with guys like that on a daily basis! We have: the actual, literal Radiant Knight (your superior replacement); an orca woman who bench presses boxcars as a warmup before her real workout; the orca woman's borderline-indestructible girlfriend who kneels at the foot of her bed every night and gives thanks to God for populating His green Earth with enemies she can shred into fleshy little bits; a catgirl who thinks the optimal way to enter battle is by jumping 300 feet out of a moving aircraft; John Wick if John Wick was a panther girl in short shorts; a middle schooler who can rip buildings apart with her mind; a legendary former Ursus general; and my ex-wife's spine. You can fight them. All of them. Please join my company I am literally begging you.

Degenbrecher: hmm......

#arknights #degenbrecher #nearl #margaret nearl #skadi #specter #blaze #schwarz #rosmontis #hellagur #kal'tsit #wife #she wants to join rhodes island #but she has to get permission from papa hypergryph first #not pictured: silverash in the background frantically stripping in an attempt to divert my attention away from his employee

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sitting-on-me-bum · 9 months

Video

flickr

Grizzly Bear - Denali National Park by John French Via Flickr: Brown "Grizzly" bear (Ursus arctos) in Denali National Park

#WPD22Animals #Grizzly #Bear #Alaska #Snow #Brown #Animal #Mammal #Fur #Denali National Park #US #United States #Nature #Wildlife #Cold #White #Animal Planet #flickr #john french #photographer

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southwarkfair · 2 months

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So fortunately (or perhaps very very unfortunately) there has been a breakthrough in the "comprachico" mystery, which I am now apparently committed to investigating.

I mentioned that the name/general description was brought up in some academic studies on jesters I was reading - one of these (the most recently published) actually does have a pretty exhaustive list of sources, though they're reproduced quite uncritically and with a lot of tortured speculation by the author. The only locatable english-language source the author used for their mention of "comprachicos" is a victorian book, "giants and dwarfs" by Edward Wood, published 1868. Not that impressive on its own, theres a lot of victorian pseudohistory out there. Interestingly though, it appears to have come out one year before l'homme qui rit, and cites a verifiably existant pre-victorian source. "Miscellanea curiosa, medica, psysica", a medical journal from 1670, published in Leipzig, Germany. This is also cited by the first book I mentioned.

This journal (as far as i can tell its the right one? the date is one year off) is available in full on Internet archive, along with Wood's book, both of which i will link at the end. Like many historical medical texts, it is written entirely in Latin. I, alas, due to my mere peasant's education, cannot read a word of it. I did briefly skim for the word 'comprachico', but since there is no mention of this word or of any specific individual or group carrying out the mutilations in Wood's book either, this seemed unlikely and I predictably did not find anything. I also looked out for diagrams that might seem to pertain to the folkloric "dwarfing" practice described by Wood. There were one or two that I thought might possibly be related but i won't share them here as i imagine many would rightfully find them upsetting.

However, I did wonder if the Leipzig journal might be the one referenced by Hugo in the actual in-universe action of l'homme qui rit, when ursus looks up gwynplaine's mutilation in an old Latin medical text. I double checked and the book owned by ursus is actually called "de denasatis" by "Dr John conquest". On the off-chance that this was anything resembling a real book, I searched for it and found a reddit thread linking another article, written in 1910, by John Boynton Kaiser. This article, from the Journal Of Criminal Law and Criminology, was pondering on the exact same question as I was - the origin of Hugo's comprachicos. On the topic of "artificial jesters", it again cites the same Leipzig journal as Wood.

It also goes into detail on Hugo's possible historical inspirations, for the story in general and specifically for the comprachicos. Kaiser claims, I think correctly, that even if the idea is not new, the word itself was made up by hugo. I used this tool, which scans for keywords in archived Google books going back to the year 1500, and there is no mention of comprachicos or any variation thereof until after the publication date of l'homme qui rit. The name is apparently a simple mashup of spanish words for "male child" and "purchase". or as google translate would have it, uh

Kaiser writes that in hugo's journals the author also considered other names for his "child-buying" group based on other languages, and he apparently wasn't sure what their ethnicity should be. This further points to the fact that the specific group itself is made up, though he apparently maintained among colleagues that it was real.

I should note that the English texts I have linked, if you are interested in reading them for yourself, are deeply disturbing in content as well as archaic and prejudiced in tone:

https://archive.org/details/b24887067

https://archive.org/details/s3id11855980/page/12/mode/2up?view=theater

https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol4/iss2/8/

None of this, of course, proves definitively that such "artificial jester" practices were ever carried out in real life, by an organized group or otherwise. It moreso just indicates, as I suspected, that they weren't fully invented by Hugo. Kaiser's article claims there is other evidence, but i really dont know at this point. Honestly I'm now very much hoping that all this shit is completely made up, because Jesus fucking christ.

Anyway, aside from that, the 1910 article maintains that hugo documented his research and writing process extensively in his journals and personal papers. I'm quite excited by this prospect, as it might provide answers to some other questions I've been wondering about, such as the origins of the many unique character names. I'll have to see if anyone has translated any of this background material into English. Or perhaps i could learn French. Its getting to the point where I might have to just learn French

#Being a monoglot Englishman is so totally embarrassing dude. And at my age.#Also If I'm really serious about pursuing history learning French would honestly be a good start #Even if it would in my case be the equivalent of a weeb learning Japanese to read untranslated doujin #Anybody else ever wish they were an old timey Oxford type dude.#Instructed in Latin and ancient greek while getting their cock sucked in the dorms by the future secretary of the treasury or whatever #Nice work if you can get it #ableism //#racism //#l'homme qui rit #jester lore

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saints-who-never-existed · 11 months

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Rereading The Terror

Chapter Eight: Crozier

A few interesting and lovely character beats for Jopson and Little to start us off. It’s they who hurry to help Crozier out of his slops when he comes back from the latest search party - I’ve specifically written ‘Nice Boys!’ next to that part.

We also get what I feel is both a very in-character yet hilariously inaccurate description of Jopson - ““Please eat, Captain,” persists Jopson. For a steward, he’s a large man, and his deep voice becomes more of a growl than a whine when he’s imploring his captain.”

As for Little, he’s a very different dude here and we actually see him question an order from Crozier re: going back onto the ice. He only stops through pragmatism really rather than any great or harsh pushback from Crozier who, in fact, makes a joke in response and actually makes Little smile...

Dr Peddie is also a wee MVP in this chapter which pleases me greatly. Poor MacDonald is specifically mentioned as being laid up in his hammock with the flu so Peddie’s got a lot on his plate but still has time for sass - “...if that thing out there carried you off into the night, wouldn’t you want us to search for you?” “Peddie laughs hollowly. “If this particular specimen of Ursus maritimus carries me off, Captain, I can only hope that I have my scalpel with me. So I can put it through my own eye.””

Chapter Nine: Franklin

Yet more delicious hubris to be had here! Re: leaving messages in cairns to denote progress - “In truth, Sir John had hated that first cold anchorage - had been ashamed of the deaths of the three crewmen by consumption and pneumonia that winter - so he had privately decided to leave the graves behind as the only message he needed to send. With any luck, no one would find the graves for years after his victory...”

Franklin also thinks privately about following Crozier’s plan after all, transferring men and supplies and going for broke at the slightest sign of leads.

He also really does not like Goodsir who in turn doesn’t help himself by gabbling away about thing that remind Sir John of his previous failed expedition.

Speaking of disastrous expeditions, Little commands one of the lead parties in this chapter and it does not go well. “The weather had been so bad on the last part of the trip that three of the eight men had seriously frostbitten toes and all eight of them were snowblind to some extend, Lieutenant Little himself completely blind for the last five days and sick with terrible headaches. Little...had to be loaded onto the sledge and hauled back by the few men who could still see well enough to pull.” I have specifically annotated that section as “OH NO! BABY BOY!” and desperately need to write more about it.

#The Terror #The Terror AMC #Observations #Random Observations #Meta #Rereading the Terror #Thomas Jopson #Edward Little #Francis Crozier #John Peddie #Sir John Franklin #Harry Goodsir

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