@mrfavonius
@blue-berry-lizard
almost home
noise dept.
$LAYYYTER
Stranger Things

Andulka
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
taylor price
Peter Solarz
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open

izzy's playlists!
Not today Justin

JBB: An Artblog!
Jules of Nature
šŖ¼
ojovivo
hello vonnie
todays bird

oozey mess
styofa doing anything

romaā

seen from United Kingdom

seen from T1
seen from Malaysia

seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom

seen from Singapore
seen from United Kingdom
seen from India

seen from Italy

seen from Brazil

seen from Ireland

seen from United Kingdom

seen from Malaysia

seen from United States
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seen from Canada

seen from United States
seen from United States
@blue-berry-lizard
@mrfavonius
@blue-berry-lizard
I realize this is a cast iron gate but Iām choosing to believe itās a magic protection ritual
It IS a magic protection ritual, and it summons an iron gate to protect you from intruders.Ā
You have to enchant the iron so it protects against the fae.
leila khashagulgova
Sponsor An Orphan
Hello everyone! The Midnight Pearl is happy to announce that our New & Improved Sponsor An Orphan program is now live! To all of those who signed up for sponsorship at the Little Ladiesā Day Charity Ball & Banquet, your letters are up! You ā and everyone else interested ā are able to visit our website and view your first monthly letter!Ā
So, Whatās New?
First, weāre no longer hosting the Sponsor An Orphan program over Tumblr. Instead, weāve dedicated a whole portion of our website to the Sponsor An Orphan program. There, youāll be able to keep track of your letters much easier.Ā You can even respond to them by signing up with our brief entry application.Ā
Second, weāre now offering sponsorshipĀ ātiers.ā Those sponsoring can choose between 1, 3, 6, and 12 months (with varying prices!). This makes it more affordable for the community & represents your characterās desires more accurately.Ā
Third, we now have orphan profiles! Weāre even in the process of getting commissions of all our orphans from the ever-talented @yourou !Ā Now when you sign up for the program, your character receives aĀ āprofile,ā of the character, with art soon to be included! This, alongside your allotted letters, will allow you and your characters to get to know the orphan assigned to them.Ā
Fourth, with having added the Moonlight Reverie to our website, weāre now able to provide you with full information on the program so you know what to expect and what our expectations are! Furthermore, we will be able to keep the website more accurately updated, so you can check for any and all announcements there!Ā
Weāre hopeful that the community will enjoy this new experience! If you have any questions, or are interested in signing up for the program, please contact us here or on our Discord: Midnight Pearl#3558
Relevant Links:
The Sponsorship Site
General Sponsorship Information
The Midnight Pearl
*Players will be able to note the announcements on the left side of the website. *Players can search their character names in the search bar to find relevant threads. *Players can hover over,Ā āForums,ā to access,Ā āMoonlight Reverie.ā *Enjin is best viewedĀ not on mobile.
opal
This rock looks like itās glitching
it looks like the doppler radar on my local news during a storm
Sugilite - N'Chwaning III Mine, Kuruman, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
šø
Fluorite can be pretty ridiculous sometimes and here is one of those times captured by @themineralcollective //////
www.instagram.com/mineraliety
sendĀ ā to walk in on my muse training
Flowers
Ilton Temple, Masham, Yorkshire, 14.8.17.
A folly built in the early 1800s by William Danby, a former High Sheriff of Yorkshire.
FFXIV Lore: Xaela Naadam vs. Mongolian Naadam
Bless the internetā if I hadnāt been idly researching Iād have never known that the Naadam is a real event!Ā And itās next week, July 11th-15th, taking place in the Mongolian capital city of Ulaabaatar.
Quite unlike the FFXIV iteration of the Naadam, wherein powerful Xaela tribes literally fight each other to the death for the right to rule the Azim Steppe until the next Tsagaan Sar (Lunar New Year), the Mongolian Naadam Festival was once a mass training exercise where Mongolian soldiers would show off their very best men in a series of quintessentially Mongolian contests. Since the event of Mongoliaās independence, however, itās more like Mongolian Olympics where people from around the nation come to join in the revelry in the most favorable month of the year during the nicest weekāthe second week of July, which should be noted is NOT the actual Tsagaan Sar (literally,Ā āWhite Moonā) which is in winter.
Given that thereās no snow on the Azim Steppe map, theĀ āfractionā of the Steppe that we see in-game is either too far south for snow (I mean, we DO see a sliver of the Nhaama Desert that the Dotharl camped out in), or we can safely say the Xaela begin their new calendar years in summer.
Instead of beating the crap out of your brethren like the Xaela do, the Mongolian Naadam features three main games: wrestling (okay, thatās admittedly close to beating the crap out of your brethren), which we commonly see NPCs engaged in on the FFXIV Azim Steppe, archery, and horse racing. Thereās also side attractions; opening and closing ceremonies, music and dance shows, food, and people turn up in colorful traditional silk and cotton ādelā costumes to celebrate the occasion. Iāve also read itās a great place to meet potential spouses.
2006 Naadam ceremony in Ulaanbaatar.
In FFXIV, the ovoo is the objective of the Xaela Naadamāan aetherial symbol over which the Xaela tribes all fight to attune themselves to, thereby earning the title of ākhaganā as well as their rule over the Azim Steppe. According to Cirina, during the Tsagaan Sar, āall bonds of hierarchy are brokenā, and any one Xaela can become the next khagan at the Naadam, even if they arenāt their tribeās current khan/khatun.
With the exception of Malqir tribe, the Mol, and a few possible others, it seems most tribes base said khan/khatun off of contests of strength that are regularly held, though not always to decide leadership. Sometimes, it seems those contests determine who will be their best warriors participating in the Naadam.Ā (See: the Oronir side quest āThe Tournamentā which comes from a chain of quests offered by the Oroniri cook, Esugen)
Apparently, you donāt even have to be a Xaela to participate! However, those non-Xaela who would participate are put to trial in the footsteps of a great Xaela hero of eld called Bardam, whose gauntlet is a series of tests of strength and agility calledĀ āBardamās Mettleā. Only those who survive it are fit to be considered Warriors of the Steppe, and may fight for the Xaela tribe of their choosing. Should one such newly-appointed Warrior survive it, they can be certain the khans and khatuns of stronger tribes will try to convince them to fight for their tribe (but in the most aloof manner possible, lest they seemāNhaama forfendādesperate)!
The Xaela Naadam, and the ovoo in the center of the fray.
While thereās no equivalent for Bardamās Mettle in the Mongolian version of the Naadam, the ovoo does have a basis in Mongolian religious practice!
The Xaela ovoo is a symbol laid into the ground by the Gharl tribe, whom, according to the FFXIV Encyclopaedia Eorzea, carry soil in a sacred urn from each camp (or,Ā āilohā) to dump at the next, and this tradition has carried for so long that itās believed the Azim Steppe is now of one soil.
The Gharl tribe invokes the ovoo for the Naadam.
The Mongolian ovoo is a similarly round, cairn-like stone heap that functions much like an altar. Itās customary to go around the ovoo three times in a clockwise direction while travelling and add a rock to the pile or leave an offering, but apparently if youāre in a hurry, just honking your car horn as you pass will suffice. Theyāre also used in more ritualistic ceremonies in which a blue scarf (representative of the sky) is tied to a stick placed in the ovoo, and a ceremonial meal is enjoyed with the leftovers from an offering meal. Iāve been seeing a lot of horse, ram, and sheep skulls left at these ovoos was well.
A Mongolian ovoo, with herd animal skulls in the foreground.
Thatās all Iāve got for you in the way of the Xaela Naadam and its basis in real Mongolian culture, but Iām sure Iāll have more Xaela lore analysis in the near future, because this was enlightening. You know how the phrase goes.Ā āPlease look forward to it!ā