Pattern Ghost

Oeneus is the God of Intoxicants. At first he was the God of Wine, but the Big Oops ensured that his gifts can be delivered by multiple means.

She appeared as a young woman with old eyes. Or was it the other way around? She was frail yet resilient. She carried candles, her own never going out. Each candle, when lit, seemed brighter the darker it got. Most curious.
And she often sung to herself, and thus to the worlds, but it often seemed nonsense. She chattered in the gloom with surprisingly chipper tones,  "It's all broken now, good good. That's how the light gets in.  Such corpulent bullies, some of  my brothers can be, but they're all rather sad when you think about it. Misery makes company one supposes, so I guess that means they'll make mortals soon enough. Maybe they will be the salvation of some gods for that?  No ancient urns here, I don't doubt. All the more precious for their short time among us. All the more rewards that might await if we dare to seek them, await in the making."
She wore a tattered garb to be sure, but it was strong, and one could see under the worn nature of it it was laced with silver linings aplenty if you just took time to look for them. And still she talked, "No happy endings? Pshaw, if there are no happy ending its only because nothing ever ends: not really. Keep believing, keep pretending- that's what connects the rainbows. Even in the darkness there are colors to be found. " Perhaps she was mad, for she said things like this even when no one was listening, as if she could make them listen by saying it often enough. She was nothing if not persistent and she called out into the shattered world:
“When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on!"
No one should have been surprised that a younger goddess of Hope would arise in a broken world where Avarice, Hatred, Intrigue and Murder marched...
"Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.”
And so she was
Nadiya Brightbringer- Goddess  of Hope

 

He is Nagus Sterling, the governor of greed, the avatar of avidity, the sultan of selfishness, the God of Avarice!
 
I have always tried to make a god of much larger concepts before, now I dig into something more demigoddish. Odd selecting something like this before there are any people, but that's the way the cookie crumbles this time. 
 

I thought there was another half hour before we started, but oh well. I shall not be laggardly!
 
I actually had three possible gods for this Superdraft. The rather Aztec-flavored Sun God would be dramatic but the concept would influence a lot of the world at a very early stage. (Though with Intrigue, Avarice, Hatred and Murder, the bloodletting aspect might fit in disturbingly well.) The God of Fame and Glory would be easy for other players to engage with (and probably easier to find illos for), but might not inspire much creativity in response. So I’ll go with God #3: probably the least accessible in some ways, but, I think, with the greatest potential for creativity.
 
In the Time before Time and the Place beyond Place, the Gods gathered to play the Game of Worlds and Life, hoping thereby to amuse the Ones Unknown; for the Gods have Gods of their own, who play with them as they play with mortals.
 
Each God gave aspects of Itself to the World that was to be, before it should become a Time and a Place. But when the World was passed to Etterskell, It tripped in a way that mortals cannot comprehend, and fumbled the forming World, and dropped the World before it was ready.
 
And the World broke.
 
And because that was now Etterskell’s contribution to the World, Etterskell broke, too.
 
Some Gods are known to mortals as male, and others as female. Some are both, and some are neither. Etterskell is male or female, both or neither at various times, and gender-fluid on every seventh day. Nor has Etterskell shown the same visage twice to mortal eyes. This is the nature of Etterskell: to be Multiple. And thus too is the World that was broken by the clumsiness of Etterskell.
 
God: Etterskell, Breaker of the Sharded World
Primary Domain: Multiplicity
 
Etterskell does not define the Shape of the World. Another God does that. But the Great Oops imposed this condition on the World: That whatever form is given to the World, it shall be multiple and diverse. If there be a Sun, there shall be several Suns, and not identical. Unless the Sun God (if we have a Sun God) deliberately defines why there is only one sun. If the World be hoop-shaped, there shall be several hoops, differently sized. Or if the world be hollow, a bubble within endless stone, there shall be several such bubbles — whether nested or touching like a froth. There could weven be multiple shapes, from multiple Gods, if the shadowy Commissioner so permits. In this way alone did Etterskell contribute to the Shape of the World; and it is the only singular thing about the God of Multiplicity.
 
Or, tl;dr: I'm not saying what the Shape of the World is (unless someone asks me to do this as my Geography pick), but I invite other Gods to ultiplicity as an aspect of anything cosmological they do.
 
Dean Shomshak

Aziza stirred from her meditation. Echoes of her siblings' stirring powers reverberated through her Hall of Mirrors.  Something was afoot. So much divine intent could only mean one thing . . . a world was being birthed! Aziza focused her attention toward a dusty little corner of the cosmos . . .Masque, Rancor, Crax . . . Crax? . . . Nagus Sterling, Nadiya, Oeneus, Ceass, Alitheon, Strangecharm. Big sibling Etterskell! What a motley crew to undertake such a thing. Someone would have to ensure everyone properly reflected on their decisions . . .
 
Aziza, Goddess of Reflection
 

I fear using a Skeletor gif for Nagus' introduction may have given the wrong impression. 
 
I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them!
 
The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good.
 
Greed is right.
 
Greed works.
 
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
 
Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind. 

Life on a cricket ranch is tough, so it doesn't pay to nitpick over such things. Bug businesses appreciate getting candidates who are willing to do hard work.
 

 
😁

The greatest tragedy of the DCEU will always be the squandering of Henry Cavill as Superman.

WORLD CREATION SUPERDRAFT 7
OUR WORLD CREATORS THIS YEAR ARE . . .
Player 1. Assault God of Intoxicants, Oeneus
Geography. Pastures
Sentient Life. Satyrs
Gift to Civilization. Herding
Fauna/Flora/Ore. Caprines (sheep and goats)
Interference. Fitz’s Monuments are built with rollers  
Interference (bonus) Dogs are domesticated wolves
Mythic Monster or Guardian. Keef
Secondary Domain. Sex
Secondary Domain . Music
Secondary Domain: .Hooliganism
Bonus Choice Harmony
Player 2,Cancer God of Fire, Thoal Anni’in
Geography. The World is a cylinder
Sentient Life. 
Gift to Civilization: 
Fauna/Flora/Ore. 
Interference: 
Mythic Monster or Guardian. 
Secondary Domain. Purification and Healing
Secondary Domain. 
Secondary Domain. 
Player 3,Csyphrett God of Heroes, Clarkent Kal
Geography. Watch Tower
Sentient Life. Gandians
Gift to Civilization: Book of Dooms
Fauna/Flora/Ore. Mons similar to Chimarae can be domesticated
Fauna/Flora/Ore (bonus): Fireflower
Interference: Spontaneous Creation of Gandians from murdered continent
Mythic Monster or Guardian. The Walker has a Mons and a Book of Dooms
Secondary Domain. Justice
Secondary Domain Righteousness
Secondary Domain. Exploration
 
Player 4. Death Tribble, God of Murder, Crax
Geography. Amora, City of Sin
Sentient Life: K’rac C’ho C’o
Gift to Civilization. Assassin’s Guilds
Gift to Civilisation (bonus) Thieves Guilds
Flora/Fauna/Ore: Flora Intoxicana aka The Murder Plant
Interference: Murdered an entire continent
Mythic Monster or Guardian. The Soul Eater
Secondary Domain. Evil
Secondary Domain. Flora Intoxicana strain that attracts Flutterbys
Secondary Domain. 
Player 5, DShomshak God of Multiplicity, Etterskell Breaker of the Sharded World
Geography. Cracks that can take people backwards or forwards in time
Sentient Life. Chimerae
Gift to Civilization. Alchemy
Gift to Civilisation (bonus): Cuisine
Flora, Fauna, or Ore. Organ Trees
Interference. Hypostases and Composite Dieties
Mythic Monster or Guardian. Shoggoth
Mythic Monster or Guardian (bonus): Warden of the Cracks
Secondary Domain. Accidents
Secondary Domain. Parts and Wholes
Secondary Domain: Transplant Surgery 
Player 6. Enforcer84 Goddess of Strife, Ceass
Geography. Wildlands
Sentient Life. The Folk
Gift to Civilization. Punk Rock
Flora, Fauna, or Ore. Hippopotamus
Interference: Panacea (cures addiction)
Interference (bonus)
Mythic Monster or Guardian: Keer. The Owl Cat Griffon
Secondary Domain: Freedom
Secondary Domain / Option: Courage
Secondary Domain / Option. 
Player 7. Hermit Goddess of Hope, Nadiya Brightbringer
Geography. Elven Lands
Sentient Life. Elves
Sentient Life (bonus): Giants of the Three Paths
Gift to Civilization. Competitions and Champions to settle disputes etc
Fauna/Flora/Ore: Skywood
Fauna/Flora/Ore (bonus): Flutterbys
Interference: .  The Silver Lining
Mythic Monster or Guardian. Simacada
Secondary Domain.  Resiliance
Secondary Domain: Intuition
Secondary Domain: Kindness and Compassion
 
Player 8. L Marcus God of Intrigue, Masque
Geography. Shadowlands. Only Shades and guests can enter
Sentient Life. Shades
Gift to Civilization. Espionage
Flora, Fauna, or Ore. Spiders
Interference: .Elmer’s Glue to repair fractures
Mythic Monster or Guardian. The Facilitator (a giant spider)
Secondary Domain. Ambition
Secondary Domain. Intelligence and Wits
Secondary Domain: Shadows
Bonus choice Secondary Domain: Repose
 
Player 9. Logan  God of Avarice, Nagus Sterling
Geography. .Holy City of Hedonia
Sentient Life: Dwarves
Gift to Civilization.Commerce
Flora, Fauna, or Ore. Squirrels
Interference. The church of Nagus Sterling owns most of the Chimney
Mythic Monster or Guardian. Fleeze the First Dragon
Secondary Domain . Profit
Secondary Domain:: Opportunity
Secondary Domain. Negotiation
Secondary Domain (bonus) : The Great Market
Secondary Domain: Contracts
Player 10, Old Man God of Illumination, Alitheon
Geography. The Celestial Skies
Geography (bonus): Bridges of Light to the Skies
Sentient Life. The Geniu
Gift to Civilization. Lie Detection
Flora/Fauna/Ore: Fireflies
Interference. The gifts of Alitheon
Mythic Monster or Guardian. The Flaming-Eaux
Secondary Domain. Learning
Secondary Domain. Death and Rebirth
Secondary Domain. Guidance 
 
Player 11, Pariah Goddess of Small Things, Strangecharm
Geography. The Place Between Places
Sentient Life. Talking Mice
Gift to Civilization. Glass
Flora/Fauna/Ore. Wisps
Interference. Cracks sometimes lead to Place between Places on way to other times
Mythic Monster or Guardian. Conscience, Guide and Guardian of Choice
Secondary Domain. Sand
Secondary Domain. Rain
Secondary Domain.Choices
Secondary Domain. (bonus) Coincidence 
Player 12, Pattern Ghost Goddess of Reflection, Aziza
Geography. 
Sentient Life. 
Gift to Civilization. Philosophy
Fauna/Flora/Ore. 
Interference. 
Mythic Monster or Guardian. 
Secondary Domain. Truth
Secondary Domain: Indecision
Secondary Domain/Other: 
Secondary Domain/Other (bonus):
Player 13, Psybolt God of Hatred, Mister Rancor
Geography. Austere, sister city of Hedonia
Sentient Life. Humans
Gift to Civilization. Politics
Fauna/Flora/Ore. Mosquitos
Interference. Building temples to two other Gods to launch crusade against Hedonia
Interference (bonus): Shares White Hot Fury with everyone in the Chimney
Mythic Monster or Guardian. Pontianak
Mythic Monster Guardian (bonus): Cetus, Water dragon
Secondary Domain. Intolerance
Secondary Domain: Vengeance
Secondary Domain: Manipulation and Lies 
Player 14, Sociotard Fitz, God of Bastards and Neglect,
Geography. Elemental Plan of Sewage and Middens
Sentient Life. Rivers
Gift to Civilization. Monuments and Pilgrimage
Gift to Civilization (bonus):Agriculture and Aquaponics
Gift to Civilisation (bonus): Glass Dune Ships (their crafting and sailing)
Fauna/Flora/Ore. Wolves
Interference. Alchemy lances protected by the Sons of a Gun
Mythic Monster or Guardian. Patron Saint of Lost Things
Secondary Domain. Midwifery and Birth Control
Secondary Domain: Water
Secondary Domain: Responsibility and Accountability
 


 

 

As a reminder these are the primary domain picks from last year that are off limits to the person who picked them
 
Assault CANNOT pick Death
Cancer CANNOT pick Oceans
csyphrett CANNOT pick Cleanliness
Death Tribble CANNOT pick Moons
Dshomshak CANNOT pick Lovers
Hermit CANNOT pick Tyranny
L Marcus CANNOT pick Healing
Logan CANNOT pick Sun
Old Man CANNOT pick Doors
Pariah CANNOT pick Lost Causes 
Pattern Ghost CANNOT pick Metal
Psybolt CANNOT pick Colors
Sociotard CANNOT pick Laborers, Hirelings and Trade Unions
 
As a bonus you should not pick a primary domain you have had before so
 
Assault should not have Fertility
Cancer should not have Darkness or Decay/Unmaking or Trickster or Wealth
Clonus should not have Water
csyphrett should not have Justice, The Oceans or Time or Nature
Death Tribble should not have Life or Love or The Sky (heavens) or War or Evil
Doc Shadow should not have the Skies
Dshomshak should not have Stupidity
Enforcer84 should not have Winter or Lands/Stone
Hermit should not have Fear, Invention or War or Magic or Trickery
L Marcus should not have Trickery, Justice or Making or the Wild or Dreams or Boundaries
Logan should not have Chaos, Order or Water or Death
Lucius should not have Death/Rebirth or Dreams
Old Man should not have Fire or Paths/Journeys or the Wild or Wisdom or Cutting
Pariah should not have Opposition or Light or Earth or Cold
Pattern Ghost should not have Laughter
Psybolt should not have Beauty or Lies/Trickery or Chaos/Disorder or Peace or Darkness
Sociotard should not have Debts and Obligations or Chaos or Secrets or Hearth and Hospitality or Elves

In regards to Russia/Wagner: things are going to be unfolding quickly, so I'd urge people to use caution in posts. This is not a site for "you read it here first" news....and in situations like this anything else may be dated and incorrect by the time it's posted.
 
Pause, breathe, and read actual news sites if you want to keep up on this. 

When does a word change to its opposite, when changing from an adjective to a verb....
 
"rational" to "rationalize".........

Here's a far more disturbing prospect than Biden's weird turns of phrase (from Politico):
 
Can Trump run for president from prison? Yes, and it's been done before.
 
While part of me would be darkly amused by the ensuing chaos, the more rational part is fairly terrified at the prospect of a win by an imprisoned Trump.

Save Nessie! 

lol
 
Let's let this one lie, guys. The "good enough" does not apply to the original circumstance, at least IMO. More to the point, I was attempting to bow out of the discussion with DrDevice gracefully. I'm just trying to avoid getting sucked back in.
 
(Edit: But do feel free to PM me any time. I enjoy chatting with you both.)

I'm just very firmly in the "a lesser evil is still an evil" camp, but I understand where you're coming from. I gave your response a "thank you" emoji, but that's because there isn't (but should be) a virtual hug emoji. I'm on  your side, and I'm sorry for what you're going through right now.

@Pattern Ghost
{I'm not going to quote because the nested quotes are getting out of hand, and it's not really necessary]
 
First, I want to say that I do appreciate that you acknowledge the threats that folks like me are facing. I do have a lot of anger, but what you're seeing here is more frustration (not that there's a bright line between the two).
 
My problem with "The fact is that elements on BOTH sides have become quite a bit too heated lately" is twofold.
 
First,  tone policing always favors those in power. I and other have been repeatedly accused of raising the heat (in general, I'm not talking about here) by pointing out that there is a thriving campaign on the right to eliminate us, which is a simple statement of fact, backed up with evidence. It's not, what's raising the heat is the fact that they're trying to eliminate us.
 
Second, most of the time I see any "both side" argument these days, it's being used by someone as an excuse to keep voting for republicans, or dismiss the concerns being expressed by LGBTQIA+ folks. I appreciate that that is not what you're doing, but I'd ask you to keep in mind that for many people, the moment they hear "both sides" they stop listening.
 
And then there's the more emotional aspect.
Analogies suck, but I'm going to make one anyway. Let's say that we have two people, Alice and Jane. Alice's sister has a bad cold. Jane has lung cancer. Every time Jane brings up something about her cancer, like how she's having trouble getting her insurance to cover a new treatment, or that chemo has been killing her appetite, Alice brings up how miserable her sister's cold is making her. She never says that the cold is as bad as Jane's cancer, but she always takes that opportunity to talk about it. I'd think Jane could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps Alice is minimizing the cancer by regularly bringing up the cold.
 
That's what I'm dealing with. Almost anywhere outside explicitly queer spaces that I bring up the attacks on trans people, someone will chime in talking about how some people on the left are mean, too. It's immensely frustrating, and does come across as minimizing what is being done to us. 
 
 
 

I think this depends on your definition of significant. If you mean politicians with significant policy-making power, then I agree. However, if you extend this to people who have the ability to influence large numbers of people, then those exist. There are certainly influential people in the activist and academic circles who are preaching their own brand of hate.

I think this depends on your definition of significant. If you mean politicians with significant policy-making power, then I agree. However, if you extend this to people who have the ability to influence large numbers of people, then those exist. There are certainly influential people in the activist and academic circles who are preaching their own brand of hate.

I think this depends on your definition of significant. If you mean politicians with significant policy-making power, then I agree. However, if you extend this to people who have the ability to influence large numbers of people, then those exist. There are certainly influential people in the activist and academic circles who are preaching their own brand of hate.

I'm pretty sure this would convince nobody. Most conservatives (more talking heads, less so rank and file citizens) I've seen expressing an opinion agree that these intersex conditions occur, and express varying levels of sympathy toward these cases. What they don't like are people born with normal genitalia who say that they're of the opposite gender than goes with their genitalia. They get further confused with the vast spectrum of circumstances that are now being taken in under the transgender umbrella by trans-rights activism.
 
IMO, a better way to use the atypical genitalia argument is this: There have been many cases where a person was born with ambiguous genitalia, and a doctor made the call to assign a sex to the infant based on what the surgeon felt they could best "correct" the genitalia to, regardless of chromosome. This caused a problem later in life as these children often didn't feel  "right" in their bodies. A genetic male assigned female at birth, and raised as a female, for example, would eventually figure out something was up, and be caused great emotional trauma as a result. News pieces and news magazine shows were devoted to this topic as far back as, say, the 80s, and the debate continues to this day. (I remember them coming up at least in the early 80s time frame on shows like 60 Minutes.) So, get the person to agree that this is a messed up situation. Shouldn't be too hard. Hopefully, they will sympathize with stories of a boy being surgically altered and raised as a girl (or vice versa) and this causing problems.
 
Then say that this must mean we have an innate sense of our gender. Once agreement is reached, flip the script. Talk about a boy who's born and raised as a boy but has a strong innate feeling that he's a girl. This causes great emotional distress. What's the solution? Well, you can't fix the thing that tells a person what their sex is, since nobody knows what it is. So, you take steps to make them comfortable in their body, and to treat them as the gender that's appropriate. That might include purely social things, or hormone replacement therapy or various surgeries up to gender confirmation surgery.
 
Probably also wouldn't work, but you never know.
 
Good luck on convincing them that any of the other categories of people that fall under the trans umbrella are acceptable, though. Baby steps, I guess.
 
 
 
*As far as I know. I label this thing as "gender" based on some older thinking of one's gender being in your head and your sex being in your chromosomes. When those two don't align, it causes issues. Still seems to hold up, such as in the case of intersex/atypical genitalia children above, though it's a pretty simple model that doesn't address many other areas of gender identity.

You seem way too smart to have ever been an MP.
CES

I'm pretty sure this would convince nobody. Most conservatives (more talking heads, less so rank and file citizens) I've seen expressing an opinion agree that these intersex conditions occur, and express varying levels of sympathy toward these cases. What they don't like are people born with normal genitalia who say that they're of the opposite gender than goes with their genitalia. They get further confused with the vast spectrum of circumstances that are now being taken in under the transgender umbrella by trans-rights activism.
 
IMO, a better way to use the atypical genitalia argument is this: There have been many cases where a person was born with ambiguous genitalia, and a doctor made the call to assign a sex to the infant based on what the surgeon felt they could best "correct" the genitalia to, regardless of chromosome. This caused a problem later in life as these children often didn't feel  "right" in their bodies. A genetic male assigned female at birth, and raised as a female, for example, would eventually figure out something was up, and be caused great emotional trauma as a result. News pieces and news magazine shows were devoted to this topic as far back as, say, the 80s, and the debate continues to this day. (I remember them coming up at least in the early 80s time frame on shows like 60 Minutes.) So, get the person to agree that this is a messed up situation. Shouldn't be too hard. Hopefully, they will sympathize with stories of a boy being surgically altered and raised as a girl (or vice versa) and this causing problems.
 
Then say that this must mean we have an innate sense of our gender. Once agreement is reached, flip the script. Talk about a boy who's born and raised as a boy but has a strong innate feeling that he's a girl. This causes great emotional distress. What's the solution? Well, you can't fix the thing that tells a person what their sex is, since nobody knows what it is. So, you take steps to make them comfortable in their body, and to treat them as the gender that's appropriate. That might include purely social things, or hormone replacement therapy or various surgeries up to gender confirmation surgery.
 
Probably also wouldn't work, but you never know.
 
Good luck on convincing them that any of the other categories of people that fall under the trans umbrella are acceptable, though. Baby steps, I guess.
 
 
 
*As far as I know. I label this thing as "gender" based on some older thinking of one's gender being in your head and your sex being in your chromosomes. When those two don't align, it causes issues. Still seems to hold up, such as in the case of intersex/atypical genitalia children above, though it's a pretty simple model that doesn't address many other areas of gender identity.