The start of a new series…

For some reason I’ve been thinking about coronation ceremonies for the last week or so. Can’t put my finger on why. (That’s a lie, I can, but why go there?)

Russian imperial coronations, from Catherine the Great to Nicholas II.

25 July 1603

James VI of Scotland was crowned King of England and Ireland on this day in British history, 25 July 1603, becoming James I. Although the kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, each with its own parliament, judiciary, and law, James brought about the Union of the Crowns, a union of the states (including Ireland) under the same monarch. James would continue to sit on all three thrones until his death in 1625. England and Scotland were not brought under unified parliamentary rule until the Acts of Union of 1707, with Ireland remaining a separate kingdom that was subordinate to England until 1784.

16 July 1377

Today marks the anniversary of the coronation of King Richard II. He was crowned at the age of 10, on this day in British history, 16 July 1377. Richard would remain king until being deposed by Henry of Bolingbroke in 1399.

Platinum Jubilee Silk Scarf, Westminster Abbey Shop, 2022

Designed with artist Rory Hutton, to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

The coronation chair forms the centre of the scarf’s design, as the starting point of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The martlets and oak leaves which originally decorated the coronation chair represent strength and nobility.

Surrounding the central motif are traditional symbols which are repeated throughout the architecture of Westminster Abbey - including the heraldic lion, the crown, the fleur-de-lis, the Tudor rose, the English rose, the Irish shamrock and the Scottish thistle. (No Welsh leek that I can see though!)

Mirkwood: Richmond Park’s Spooky Forest

Mirkwood: Richmond Park’s Spooky Forest

The Dead Tree Series isn’t dead…it’s been only sleeping then over the Spring and Summer it reawakened when I found the spooky woods in Richmond Park. I thought I’d post these before Halloween (don’t worry it wont be a 16,000 word tome like the first Jurassic Jaunt..ouch!)! These gnarled twisty old trees are sandwiched between the eastern side of Isabella Plantation and the Coronation…

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84 Charing Cross Road

Regia: David Jones

Sceneggiatura: Hugh Whitemore

Montaggio: Chris Wimble

Fotografia: Brian West

Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

Anno: 1987

#84charingcrossroad #84charingcross #anthonyhopkins #annebancroft #movies #film #moviemaking #london #books #bookshop #helenehanff #helenehanffbooks #letters #frankdoel #play #theatre #newyork #newyorkcity #johndonne #johndonnepoetry #coronation #coronationelizabeth #judidench #buckinghampalace #trafalgarsquare #westminster #centralpark #baftas #baftabestactress #madisonavenue

Celebrating the 69th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. Will she step down next year and let Charles have a turn?

nonsensephrase said:Have you read Charles Stross’ Laundry Files series or Tim Powers’ Declare? Both do some interesting things in the vein of occult warfare in the 20th century.

I haven’t, but I think people have recommended them to me! I’ve heard good things about these kinds of alt history fiction, I should probably read them.

dykewithadick said:I’m not getting the basis for their criticisms of Andaluchia. Yeah, it might not be totally period accurate to 1960s Francoist Spain, but it’s also not 1960s Francoist Spain. I thought the implication was that it was a W. European colonial power that developed along the lines of the Spanish and British empires but happened to also be Moorish. I’m not seeing how that qualifies as exotifying anyone.

That’s what I was going for, but I dunno! I gotta do more research.

rainbowsparky said:Wow! I just happened across your demon stuff, and I love it! Scientific treatment of fictional concepts like magic really float my boat. I have to ask, is it possible for an amalgam to be made up of two or more mages? Such as if an accident happened and two were taken at once, or maybe they had an agreement and attempted it deliberately? Gosh your stuff makes me want to draw fan-designs. IT’S EXCITING I’M EXCITED

Hey, thank you! :> I’m glad you’re excited, feel free to make fan-designs and whatnot, and show me. Core-conjoined amalgams do exist if they’re in the periphery of each other during drowning, but they can be easily separated or separate themselves.

albionisnightmare said:Hey Hello, first of all, Níðhöggr is hot!, second, i love your concepts, srsly, the way you mix scientific explanations with magic and war. New fan here!, please keep going with your amazing work! Well, there are the questions; You story sets on an alternate history, more specifically, an uchronia? And, are you from Spain? Thanks!!

Hehe, thank you. I’m sure he appreciates it. Yep, its a uchronia–I had to look that up but thats an awesome term. And nah, I’m not from Spain, which means I’m gonna have to work harder. Could’ve set it in China, but nooo—

science-babe said:Hi! I’m kinda falling in love with your worldbuilding with the demons and mages, but I’m kinda confused about the setting? Like, when and where does it take place?

It’s set in 1965, during the Cold War, in an alternate universe Europe with a different ethnographic makeup!

mostlyscrutable said:Your Coronation universe is really cool! I was wondering, if holy figures are more resistant to demons and drowning, are there religious orders of mages? Or do some mages join religions to try to protect themselves from drowning? Thinking about it more, has any country tried to weaponize their religions? Ordaining every soldier as a priest and the like? Or do you have to basically be the Pope to get a benefit, and there’s only one Pope? Thanks!

Thank you! Um, there are definitely religious orders of mages! Being religious won’t completely protect you from drowning, but it acts as a sort of natural repellent–like putting on bug spray, but you’ll still get stung if you fall into a great mass of insects. Countries definitely do try to weaponize their religions, but apparently you have to be a genuine believer to get the affect, so no mass-ordainments.

an-alarming-number-of-bees said:Is demiurgic warfare the technical term for the use of demons on the battlefield in your story?

Demiurgic (creation) warfare refers to anything that involves magic, which includes demonic constructs. Analog or analogous warfare is basically everything else–tanks, technology, rifles, et cetera.

xiakha said:Does the Abyss causes emotional distress because of the demons and amalgamations in it or is it inherently bad? If the former, since priests are less affected by amalgamations and demons, would the perfect (hypothetical) Abyssal explorer be the Pope?

Emotional distress such as anxiety, delusions, or panic attacks is basically a side effect of physical contact with demons for long periods of time without protective elements. These effects can be gotten used to, though, with enough prior exposure. And yep, the pope would probably do alright down in the Abyss so long as they are not a magician.

bladekuroda said:I imagine something like this would be a super high tier ability, but would some degree of time alteration be possible for magicians? As in acceleration and slowing things (maybe even stopping?).

Yep, a tier 12 known as Edward Montblanc is infamous for his ability to stop time and cause havoc. He’s the only one known of in 1960, but fun fact: there is some anachronistic/advanced technology in Coronation that was reverse engineered because things like surface-to-air missiles fired in the 1990s keep suddenly crashing down from the sky. Everyone is afraid that one day a nuke will arrive from the future.

mima-chan said:hello ! your world-building is by far one of the biggest and boldest i’ve seen and it’s just amazing ! i read about how there are a lot of PSA’s for children not to use magic in water, and i was wondering if i could make a fanart of those PSA’s ! it would be a poster or something but are you okay with that ? also i have a question, asides from inventories, and radiuses , do magicians have any other offensive magic ? or are those the only ones ? i look forward to more of Coronation !

Hey, thank you! It means a lot to me. Yes, feel free to make fanart of the PSAs, and show me when you’re done, I’d love to see them! :> And um, aside from inventories and radiuses, magicians can use schematics, which are like drawn versions of their radius that do a single function and can be activated from very far away.

presidentark said:So if demon-infested water is (temporarily) a vessel of infinite depth and/or a portal to the abyss, what happens if you take, say, a jug of that and turn it upside-down?

Basically all surfaces of the water that are not bounded by that of the jug will become of infinite depth. So like, as you’re pouring it out, you could push something through the stream of water and it wouldn’t come out the other side since it’s entered the Abyss. And when it’s a puddle on the ground, it would also have an infinite depth on top.