#Art power has been awoken once more...

[asheanon]

Channeling the Vance vibes again. 🖤 (I couldn't help it. That song motivated me...)

[iatemitomt0day]

Note: I'm using the translator because I'm from Brazil but I love your arts and I wanted to make a request

Could you make a Y/N witch? or if you prefer to draw just cookies, a Beast version since in the last post it was an Ancient version pls

"All things are difficult before they are easy..."

May i introduce you to, The Witch Of Patience, Y/N!

She is one of the most beloved and a wondrous witches among the group of witches! Many says that she had been the one whom was most dedicated to the world of cookies, sharing them life and patience itself.

She has the closest relationship to The Witch Of Light! A loyal and great trustworthy companion! Y/N is a huge inspiration for the witches to continue going on forward with their duty.

Y/N puts a huge amount of effort into giving the world of cookies hope, giving them the patience and tolerance they needed. She attends every matter about the cookies, the rise and fall of the 5 great cookies as such.

She had only one singular wish, is to deliver patience and peace to every being... to see them thrive with hope. For the darkness to wander far away from the peaceful world.

She and the other witches all worked together, creating a wonderful world, shielding it from the unfortunate, the chaos and mischief, the darkness.

But... their efforts and hard works soon came into a watse, as just one singular prideful witch, had ruined everything they had worked so hard on.

It is said, that the witches all crumbled into mere powder, their souls slowly drifted away into the wind. Yet, The Witch Of Light used her very own power to put their souls into cookies, fuelled by her very own Life essences.

The witches all landed and scattered all around the cookie world as cookies, the world they have made, full of lively desserts and pastries. They all have the chance to witness their very own creations thrive and fall, civilization rise and flourished.

Yet, they have fallen into a long slumber, drifted into a deep sleep all across the world. Losing ther chance at seeing the cookie world. They waited to finally be awaken from their sleep for so long...

Will they ever be awaken?

In the abandoned halls within the castle walls, a seeker of truth has entered, wishing to seek out the true truth of the past of the castle.

It seems, her arrival to the castle walls has awaken the cookies from their forever slumber, as they finally opened their eyes, standing up once more.

In their very own world they created, born from The Witch Of Light's wishes.

The cookie of patience has finally, been awoken.

"I will protect this world, with all my might."

It is said that, if you ever feel an unusual amount of peace and patience in your dough... she might be nearby, watching over everything around.

She wanders all around Earthbread, exploring every bits and pieces of this world, seeking her companions, and wanting to witness the world of desserts thrive with her own eyes.

Every where she goes, she delivers patience to all the cookies and beings around her, filling them with a newfound hope and perseverance.

If you wish to seek her for yourself, you must accomplish it. Remember, patience is the key to finding her.

[hightownquccn]

POSSIBLE SIDEBLOG CREATION

Please VOTE on which one you think would be fun to play with.

Adding a little more description that I have thought out in my head. Some is canon from MCU/comics and some is the twist I want to put on the character for my portrayals*.

Agent ???. ( I still have no name for him ) former SHIELD agent. best friend of Sharon Carter. or so he likes to claim. computer genius. skinny white boy. flirt. bisexual. he's annoying but really a sweetheart. not big on field work. but he can hack.

( ? (name undecided) is a former agent of SHIELD now mini-Tony Stark minus the suit and superhero status. Coming up through the academy he somehow befriended a woman by the name of Sharon Carter when they were put on an undercover assignment together. He was mostly just the support but made a few appearances in his undercover roll when needed to support Sharon aka 'Emily'.

A bit of a nerdy genius all he has ever wanted was to feel wanted and valuable. He was loyal to SHIELD until it fell thanks to HYDRA infiltrating and finally revealing themselves. With the fall of SHIELD, he used his knowledge to freelance and made a name for himself. He has been known to take on projects to help the likes of former SHIELD-loyal agents. He is very anti-HYDRA. )

Alex. "Dove". literature professor. musician. Inhuman. pain manipulator. Guatamalan/naturalized American.

( Original mini description that may be tweaked: Alex received his nickname of Dove from his mother in what almost feels like a different time. She used to call him her little pacifist. Now a lot older ( and not necessarily a whole lot wiser ) he still holds that peace should be tried before war.

After terrogenesis, Alex discovered he now has the power to cause pain in others. It goes against a lot of what his parents taught him growing up and what he believes in...but he isn't an idiot. Sometimes if you have a gun in your face or pointed at a loved one you need to act. So as much as he hates his powers he does try and avoid it if at all possible. Known for his aversion to violence many have begun calling him the Dove. )

Steve Rogers. captain america. the first avenger. the little guy. the man out of time.

( Steve is a World War II veteran, a founding member of the Avengers, and Earth's first known superhero. Rogers grew up suffering from numerous health problems, and upon the United States' entry into World War II, he was rejected from serving in the United States Army despite several attempts to enlist. Rogers ultimately volunteered for Project Rebirth, where he was the only recipient of the Super Soldier Serum. 

Fighting in the war, he served his country before supposedly sacrificing himself in a plane crash. Decades later he was awoken from his sleep and begins to readjust to modern life. Cap is needed once again and he picked up the mantel again, joining The Avengers. He served with his fellow members for a time before eventually post The Snap 2.0 retiring. He has passed the mantel on to a man formerly known as Falcon, Sam Wilson. Now he is trying to figure out what to do with his life. )

Amora of Asgard. The Enchantress. asgardian. formerly exiled to Midgard by the Allfather. seductress. intelligent.

( Parentage unknown. While still in adolescence, she ran away to the land of the Norns and apprenticed herself to Karnilla, one of the most powerful sorceresses in all the Asgardian dimension. There she studied all the basic arts of Asgardian magic until Karnilla expelled her for being too undisciplined. She picked up further mystical skills from seducing other Asgardian mages and wizards. In time, Amora became one of the more powerful magic-wielders in Asgard, with her magical arsenal focused on (but not limited to) charming and mind-controlling people. Her by-then well-renowned beauty did not hinder in this.

Amora has always had an obsession with Thor. She has been used as a weapon by the Allfather to try and distract Thor from his love of the human, Jane Foster. But she has also done things unsanctioned by the royalty of Asgard. During one of her many attempts to make the God of Thunder hers she is caught and sentenced by the Allfather to Midgard. While there she took up the name of Sylvie Lushton. Stripped of her powers she is/was stuck in the realm until Thor is banished as well. When Loki appears they strike a deal and she regained her powers. )

KEY NOTES*

I would not play Steve as having gone back in time to rejoin Peggy. He stayed in his current timeline and lives in New York.

I play Amora as having 'Sylvie Lushton' as her mortal name in tribute to the two different women that had the title of Enchantress in the comics.

[voidcommascreamintothe]

Maiden, Mother, Crone - The Archeron Sisters as reincarnations of the Three Faced Goddess

Part 1

Elain, Ferye, Nesta. Three humans, turned Fae. Made magic. Or perhaps only awoken?

No I will not be normal about this, it is you who should be more weird about this.

It has always been clear to me that the three Archeron women have magic in their human blood. They are descendants of an acient deity, that once ruled over the lands alongside The Bone Carver, The Waver, and perhaps many other Deathless and Nameless gods. It is very much so confirmed by the Bone Carver themself that Feyre resembles and old god, powerful and cunning, who sought to hide herself and her magic, for reasons of a mysterious nature. This is just contextually picking up on the inherent meaning of the statement. In book 1, a big plot detail is that Feyre can taste and smell magic. She uses it to her advantage a few times during the events of book 1. This isn’t something that normal humans can do, seeing as how a lot of the village folk live in fear of magic and cant understand its working. The Human Lands are baren, cold, and stripped of all magic, and yet- Feyre can taste and smell it. And yet, Nesta remains of sound mind, immune to glamours, a type of magic that effects the mind. Elain only needs a little push to snap out of its influence.

These women are of magic descent, and to me this was a well established plot point. I interpreted the events above as the author just plainly telling this; although its entirely possible that i have been overthinking this because i have never been normal about these books, not once since i started them.

Feyre is the Mother, she is Mother Life, vindictive and vengeful; aggressively protecting her own kin, going and hunting down threats. She is the Mother; passionate and inclined towards the arts. Calm in the face of fear, and with a strong sense of duty. She claws, bites and rips out throats. A wild mother wolf, a wild beast. Feyre has always been inclined to go nuclear on her revenge plans. Sabotaging and undermining a religious leader, Ianthe, and plotting and successfully executing her revenge over an entire court of - lets be honest here, entirely innocent people, is very Aelin Galathyneus of her. Standing up to a magic wolf, with her throat exposed, she stood her ground and bargained. In the face of the heinous lie about her pregnancy, she was calm and brave and coping, only so that her son would not feel those things as he grows inside her womb. It is my headcanon that she went scorched earth on Rhysie’s ass afterwards.

Elain is the Maiden. She is Mother Nature. Ambivalent, and yet omniscient. Seeing all, reacting only just so.

When it comes to Elain, I don’t have much to work with; she has yet to have her books after all. However, I am confident in saying that he is not as mentally checked out of reality as I originally thought. She is a seer, one who sees the future. But this must also come with the immense strength to resist altering it. She either must not intervene, or do so incredibly delicately. She does also see the reality of what their situation was, in regards to the Archerons loosing their money, but she is rather unbothered by it. I hesitate to say she does not care, because again, we have not see her perspective yet, but she is aware how bad it was for them. In book one, there is a distinct moment when after Feyre comes back fro the Fae Land, Elain remarks on how the rich people treat them as if they didn’t loose all of their money, as if the last however many years did not happen. Its either cognitive dissonance, or Elain just does not.. care? Again, we have not seen her story, so I am speculating; and also resisting hating her for being docile and passive, and seemingly disinterested. Altho she is not a favored character of mine, I shan’t repeat history and hate on her as I did Sansa Stark.

That being said, her ambivalence and lack if action reminds me on nature and of natural disasters. Elain, the gardener, Elain the Mother Nature, The Maiden. A storm does not care if the levies might break and cause a flood, a mountain does not want anything, does not act on changing the outcomes of future events. Elain is a living being, who loves her sisters very much, so of course she reacts and saves them. But she was to be a young bride, in love and idealistic, yet she never consummated the marriage. Never got to be the bride, in fact. She seems to be stuck in this perpetual state of maidenhood, not quite moving on, remaining innocent, and maybe not yet ready to do anything else but ignore the happenings in front of her. She ignores Lucien, perhaps still grieving the loss of her old life and her old love.

Nesta is the Crone, The Mother Death. She is Lady Death. Meeting the Lord of Bloodshed at every step, a loyal companion to her friends, she is always there, inevitable as a rising storm. She is passive. She stays and guards. A mirrored image to Feyre in every way. She Makes objects of immense power. She creates and yet her power is pure death. But she creates. She does not want power. She creates, she seeks peace. What is more peaceful than Death’s embrace? Nesta has the power of the eternal flame. Her power coming out in silver flames perfectly encapsulates the power of fire: giving and taking life. Nesta is not vindictive. Don’t misunderstand me, she is actively cruel in Book 1, and a whole part if her journey was owning up to that. She recognized where she was wrong and made amends.

She is not nice, she was never taught to be nice. Her mother taught her how to read and manipulate people, not how to be kind and nice to them. She learns those things on her own. And again I ask, is Death nice and kind? It is peaceful and passive. A power that inspires awe. She is broken and rebuilds her self. She is Made, and i suspect that in order to be Made, she needed to die first. She inherits the most power out of all three sisters. Her dying during her Making means that she inherits Death itself. She experiences it, so she wields it because she understands it. She has lived many lives and appears older than she is. I personally thought that she was 30 in ACOSF, not 26, only 5 years older than Feyre. The narrative presents her to us as The Crone. She reads as someone older, harsher, someone who is also Death herself.

Where Feyre, Mother Life, is active, Nesta, Mother Death, is passive. Feyre hunts, Nesta guards. A mirrored image of eachother, they represent the cycle od life. The symbolism attached to them shows just how connected life and death truly are. Feyre and Nesta are always invoked in each other’s inner monologue. It is also entirely plausible that they each had an almost pathological need to keep Elain safe and innocent, because that was the only way to show that one cares for the other. Nesta loves Elain, but she keeps her safe because that is what Feyre would want. This fact, that Nesta would do anything to keep Elain safe, is very clearly stated by Feyre in both book 1 and 2. They both love Elain, no doubts about that. But Nesta’s and Feyre’s relationship was so burdened and volitale, that the only way for them to show affection was through the unspoken rule that Elain stays safe, is kept safe, at all costs. Nesta and Feyre, Death and Life, two sides of the same coin.

For me, it has always been reasonable to assume that the sisters represent one of the three faces of The Three Faced Goddess. Its buried in metaphor and vague statements, but it is there regardless. The more I read the books, the more obvious the comparison was. Having read Throne of Glass as well, the sisters also remind me of the Three Faced Goddess worshiped by the witches. After all, it was an ancient Witch God that hid her power and herself in the human lands; a place without magic and entirely mundane.

I intend to elaborate further in part 2 of this essay, but for now, let us enjoy quite a unique take on the Goddess Hecate. The Greek goddess has had many a modern interpretations, but I have not seen one done as subtly as this one. Having three separate people represent her faces, and therefore phases of a woman’s life, is new to me at least. Maas doesn’t really reimagine the old greek myths in a 1-to-1 recreation, but rather a loose inspiration taken from the core of the story. I quite enjoyed placing it all together.

More on how Nesta is the one to Bless Aelin’s blood line, and even how she might have started said bloodline in part 2.

Bonsoir.

[omgkalyppso]

[Content ID: Art of four original characters for Fire Emblem Three Houses. On the left there is a woman riding a blond horse with her arms around a child in her lap. On the right there is a man with an older child held on his shoulders. They stand on a snow packed road beside a snowbank against a light blue sky with a pale sun in the upper right corner. /End ID]

Some rambling and more close-ups below the cut!

There's a lot going on here! The man on the right is Almanzor, a Blaiddyd Bastard oc (unrecognized son of Rufus Blaiddyd). It must be an early or mid spring day for him and this little family to be so inconsistent with how bundled up they are.

While Al grew up in Fhirdiad, in most post-canon settings he ends up finding his way to Gautier where he meets Peregrine and her daughters, Apolline and Huguette. This would be my justification for why he's so much more swaddled than their lighter clothing.

Peregrine was once a soldier in service to House Gautier, who left with Miklan during the theft of the Lance of Ruin. Widowed during the war, Peregrine grows into a very protective woman with regards to her children and her people. These details inspired the color palette, with Sylvain being so distinctively red and teal (and Faerghal blue).

Almanzor was a paladin during the war, and to his great shame, one of the Fhirdiad soldiers who was ousted during Cornelia's rise to power. Still he fought for the Kingdom, and would have taken pride in reconnecting with Dimitri's forces. These details informed the color of his horse, who I'm tentatively calling Buttercream, and the repurposed blue cords holding the furs around Al's feet, and the yellow fabric of Buttercream's headcollar.

This scene is: They're headed into town, primarily for business related to Peregrine's mercenary company, so Peregrine is trying to look presentable in the bluest thing she owns. Apolline has been allowed to sleep into the late morning, after being awoken early for the journey. Huguette, on Al's shoulders, is asking for something frivolous only available in town, and Al, who knows the answer is no, is telling her to, "Ask your mother." Huguette turns doe eyes on her mother, who is unimpressed (affectionate) with both of them.

[tentakrool-fr]

Welcome to the Gleamhaven Archives

The clan of Matriarch Castanea has awoken after years of dormancy. Times and allegiances have changed, and though the old Queen of the Forest still commands great authority and respect, the clan itself has relocated to the Starfall Isles. A new start requires new stomping grounds, after all!

Leading this great change is the new Matriarch of the clan, the powerful spellcaster Vastrana. While some see this change as a coup, others welcome the new environment and fresh perspectives. Many of the dragons here are older, wiser and rather set in their ways, but the new clutches being born each day precipitate a more youthful mindset. Time will tell how the clan's futures will unfold!

+++

Hello and welcome to my Flight Rising blog! After going inactive for years, I have been terminally infected by dragon brainrot once again, so I decided to open up a place for my lore, art, and other various and sundry Flight Rising business.

To check out the Radiant Court and the denizens of Gleamhaven, click here. Feel free to send me a friend request!

To read the lore of Gleamhaven, click here.

I like to draw dragons and I am very broke. If you would like to commission me, please feel free to DM me!

To view more samples of my work, click here.

(Note: Some links are not yet active.)

xoxo

[theauthor0]

Screen!Breaker Sans

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GENERAL INFO

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Screen!Breaker Sans, The fusion of Insans, Screen of Death!Sans, and SaveBreaker!Sans

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BACKSTORY

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Screen!Breaker was originally a normal sans in an Au, but once the human fell into the underground, the human brought a virus (was not natural) that infected the monsters making them weaker and dust within a couple of hours

Because of this Alphys had to close of hotland to prevent any infected monsters and the human from getting to the rest of the monsters population

The Alphys in this Au at first tried to develop a cure for the virus but failed as the human broke through the hotland barrier and Alphys got infected leading to her death

However Sans at the time also became infected and by the time he got to the king, he was already dead with the human standing their and at that time he saw the human RESET and then sans woke up, right back where he was before the human fell, at first he thought it was a dream intill it kept happening over and over and over again

Eventually Sans confronted the human, he wanted to know why, he wanted them to stop, but the human didn’t listen and instead infected him with a different virus

A virus that messed with his code, preventing sans from using his abilities normally

Now this sans was forced to watch everyone die around him and including himself, while he himself couldn’t do anything, this eventually drove him mad

Eventually Sans decided to kill the rest of the monsters, after all they all were going to die anyway, might as well end it sooner so they don’t suffer

But even with his high LV, the virus kept weakening him and the human was staring to overpower him

And in that moment sans got the idea to use the power of the human souls so he retreated to the barrier where he and the human will have their final fight

However it did not go as expected, the virus prevented Sans from absorbing the souls but the souls were still able to give sans their power so sans used the souls to power himself, this overloaded his body causing some damage to both his physical body and code

But sans couldn’t control this power and accidentally destroyed his Au and the human

Sans then awoken in the void with the human soul floating a top of him with the other souls seemingly disappeared

Sans (with the human soul) wandered the void and eventually Sans found a jar in the void to put the soul in

He also eventually found holes in the void that allowed him to go into other Au’s

And this is where his story ends as now he just does whatever he wants, he is still somewhat crazy as now he robs people of their gold and he still hates humans (specifically Frisks)

He tends to think of himself as the pirate of the multiverse

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PHYSICAL INFO

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Art made by @3mko

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PERSONALITY

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He can be described as a weird pirate, he lost all care for others meaning he doesn’t care about others lives, only himself, as much as this is true he kills the human in each Au as he does not want anyone else to go through that hell he has been through, tho he doesn’t say this to anyone and takes their gold as “payment” for his services.

He uses as a kind of "mask", in which he pretends to be all happy and fun when in reality he is hiding his pain and what he really feels, he also has a lot of nightmares

He is more of a jokester and prankster as he loves the people “admire” his work and jokes

He also developed a mental disorder being Kleptomania and Somniphobia

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COMBAT INFO

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(Statistics)

LV: 10

HP: 120

ATK: 21

DEF: 21

(Traits)

Hjiack: His presence prevents those who are able to reset from reseting.

Messed up Code: Due to the souls messing with both the virus and Sans code it caused some weird things to happen to sans

-His HP can go into the Negatives without dying

-His LV is stuck at 10 and anytime he gains LV it will only increase his EXP, his EXP will also keeping dropping rapidly

-He has grown much taller than he originally was

-Caused Asgore horns to actually to apart of him

-Now can summon magic strings that do nothing

(Abilities/Attacks)

Hallucination: When Screen!Breaker stares at his opponent they will hallucinate and see things that aren’t there

Smoke bombs: Self explanatory

Costly attacks: Due to a glitch in his code, it now costs G (or anything of value) in order for him to use his attacks, it costs 10G in order to summon a bone (Sharper and Faster), 20G to summon a blaster (Always hit their target kinda like insane)

Telekinesis: Self explanatory costs 3G for every second (includes soulless beings/things)

Teleportation: Self explanatory costs 100G (changes depending on the distance)

(Weaknesses)

No notable weaknesses except for being mentally unstable at times

===================================

CREDITS

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Insans by @tatatale

Screen of Death!Sans by @lazyodraw

SaveBreaker!Sans by ShiKoYa22

[dinrelsanddragons]

Xi and Sora Blackscale– descendants of Lambda and Reownha Blackscale, respectively– have their own tales to tell.

After the Calamity devastated Hyrule, the Blackscale Clan, although significantly weakened due to their aid lent to the Hyrulean forces, were free to roam the ruined land. As no law persisted that could chain them, there was but one thing standing in their path to utter freedom, and it was the monsters of Hyrule. Seeking security, Lambda and Reownha, now leaders of the clan at such youthful ages, led their family to the ruins of Sableflame, not far from the Thyphlo ruins in the Deplian Badlands.

Though it was once the site of a massacre of their family members, Reownha found a trapdoor beneath the ruin that once belonged to her grandfather– the large house that Raithyon had called home as a child. Beyond this trapdoor was an expanse of a cave system, which the Blackscales explored, cleared out of unwelcome creatures such as frogs and reptiles, and settled as their new home. Being so sealed off by rubble and ruin, it was almost miraculously clear of monsters.

Time passed as the Blackscale Clan found a measure of peace and prosperity. Lambda and Reownha would each find beloveds and marry them, and have children, in time. And those children, in their own time, would have children.

Xi Blackscale was Lambda's granddaughter and heir, possessed of powerful light magic and a charismatic tongue that could persuade many of good intent. Somewhat more intelligent than her grandmother, Xi functioned as heir to the leadership position beneath her mother Mu. She was much beloved by the other clan members, whom she considered to be family, regardless of absent blood ties. She seemed an ordinary (but very likable) child until a hunting mission came by where monsters threatened her family– and she lashed out, not with the weapons at hand, but a power that came from within. For the years since, she has carried powerful light magic much as her grandmother's, and under Lambda's tutelage, has learned to use it to heal and bring light to their life in shadows.

Sora Blackscale was Reownha's granddaughter and heir, and instructed in tactics and politics as Reownha and her son (and Sora's father) Direcris once were. In addition to such, she has also studied, to an extent, magic– arcane tricks played upon the eyes and the mind. She was not nearly so well liked as Xi, whom she considered her sister, but no ill will ever grew between them, even after the awakening of Xi's own magical prowess– such was their bond of affection. Sora has ever proven to be skilled in not only larcenous arts, but in simply finding treasure to take– as if she has always been a magnet for rupees. Though this skill has remained small in scale, her grandmother Reownha has high hopes for Sora's ability to gather funds– it could mean a greater future for the Blackscale Clan.

That is, naturally, what the clan seeks: A greater future, a more meaningful life, than one spent hiding in a cave under the ruins of Sableflame. Lambda and Reownha have long since retired from their leadership positions, but Xi and Sora are yet to grow into their own– thus it is the healer of shadows Mu, and the tactical master Direcris, who lead the clan currently– in this time when the Hylian champion Link has awoken from his hundred years of slumber to rise up once more and fight the Calamity. Xi and Sora may be cousins at best, but the two readily claim each other as sisters and are rarely seen apart, traveling together as they both seek to grow and become the leaders they are expected to one day be.

[aspnss]

THE HOUSE IS FUCKING BURNING & YOU CAN'T KILL THE WITCH.

timeline of the events leading up to, during, & after the kidnapping of izidora & carina banks.

disclaimer: please read this at your own risk. please read this at your own risk. this post will deal with topics regarding d/omestic v/iolence, d/rug a/buse, s/exual a/buse, s/ex t/rafficking, & m/urder. i do not plan to go into detail about any of the specifics for my own comfort as well as yours, but it is something that this muse has dealt with very extensively, and it does shape a lot of her mannerisms & actions moving forward which is why i felt the need to break certain events down by age/events. if you would prefer to read a far more redacted version of her history, i encourage you to read this headcanon post instead. stay safe, love you, please read this at your own risk.

YEAR FIFTEEN. izidora & her twelve year old sister carina are living between the households of her protective paternal grandmother tala (a bloodline witch based in the philippines) and her uncaring maternal aunt sherise, with her grandmother maintaining primary care. at this time, izidora has awoken her own powers, and actively practices a blend of albularyo & mangkukulam magic with her grandmother as her teacher. most of her magic is dedicated to healing at this age, as well — the reason for this being on account of the extremely volatile relationship that her aunt entered with a boyfriend, nico. while nico did not directly harm either of the girls just yet, he was incredibly abusive towards them verbally: belittling them often, picking fights at random, berating their aunt in front of them to establish dominance. he also began to get their aunt hooked on recreational drugs, escalating quickly to the use of narcotics such as o/xy & h/eroin openly. their grandmother attempted to intervene — but the relationship between the very little maternal & paternal family left had been far from amicable after izidora's mother noelle was sent to prison for the murder of her father angelo.

YEAR SIXTEEN. izidora is physically hit by nico for the first time after defending a thirteen year old carina from another spew of bullying. their aunt becomes fully addicted to narcotics & entirely dependent on nico, leaving him as the head of the household via more sinister income. as such, he starts to impose 'rules' within the house, including limiting their phone usage & how often they went to live with their grandmother. once he begins to conduct business meetings within the house, izidora & carina are later forced to withdraw from after school activities and are no longer allowed a bedroom door after another round of arguments. because they aren't living with their grandmother as frequently as they were in the past, izidora is unable to continue practicing albularyo or, by extension, kulam — she is only able to use surface level healing magic for their minor injuries. izidora begins to secretly apply to colleges & universities early into her junior year, hoping to move her & carina out of the state for a degree in graphic arts. their grandmother falls ill, and nico forbids them from seeing her at the hospital.

YEAR SEVENTEEN. the final argument happens only days after her 17th birthday passes, brought on once izidora acquired a cell phone from a classmate so that she & fourteen year old carina could speak to their grandmother tala. once nico discovers the phone hidden in izidora's school bag, her & nico enter a screaming match that turns physical — after which he forces izidora & carina to pack a bag with a week's worth of clothing & loads them into a truck, telling an inebriated sherise that he was taking them to his mother's for discipline. instead, he drives them to a townhouse in staten island in the middle of the night, placing them alone in an empty room with a single bed for hours. he is not alone when he returns to pick them up. from this point on, izidora & carina are held with a handful of other girls, and are forced to endure s/exual a/ssault. izidora, after a full month of refusing to comply, eventually breaks after nico threatens carina and lula in front of her.

YEAR EIGHTEEN. izidora comes to terms with her & carina's situation & that they likely aren't coming home. they are constantly moved between houses in different boroughs, are t/rafficked for 'parties' with a group of girls throughout the city, in new jersey, and as far as pennsylvania, & are forced to remain in dark, windowless rooms for the majority of their time in each location; often for days & weeks at a time. this is when izidora's eyesight first begins to decline due to staying in dim lighting conditions, infrequent eating, & beatings. after izidora turns eighteen, she & carina are forcibly separated following an incident, with carina being sent "upstate". izidora goes through a period of grief & distress following this, and she begins to bond with the other girls in captivity after developing an attachment issue.

YEAR NINETEEN. carina remains upstate, and has not been seen by any of the other girls that come & go from the locations. izidora's eyesight continues to subtly decline, suffering from frequent headaches around certain light types & blurry, spotty vision. after being punished by one of the older women in captivity for burning food too many times, a sympathetic errand runner is able to convince the captors to keep a nightlight in the girls' room — they are also occasionally given additional clothing, snacks, and items of distraction in secret whenever certain errand runners visit the locations. this is the year izidora receives a small sketchbook to continue drawing in.

SHAH. at some point during the year, izidora meets a woman whom she called shah. once they are alone, shah reveals herself as a former pupil of tala — after spending hours gaining izidora's trust, she begins to teach her & help her continue with albularyo & kulam, introducing black magic forms of mangkukulam in order to defend herself. she gives her a concealment charm & encourages her to sneak out whenever possible to meet at their mutually agreed upon spots. despite receiving lessons on albularyo & using healing forms often with the girls she's bonded with, izidora develops a fixation with black magic & seeking revenge against her captors. after months of convincing shah & eventually begging for her help, shah teaches izidora her first deadly curse with a promise — you'll use it when you know you'll need it.

YEAR TWENTY. many of the original girls that izidora first bonded with have either ran away, were forced upstate, or were dead. she hears plenty of rumors & is taunted frequently by her captors, but still believes that carina is alive. izidora & the girls who remain resolve to run away for good, often discussing what they would do & who they would become when they leave. they never get to run, though — once one of the less sympathetic women kept captive discovers their plans, izidora is d/rugged, attacked severely for hours, & nearly killed. hardly able to breathe through a bloody broken nose & unable to see, izidora remembers the last thing shah told her after their lessons — once she's taunted into giving her last words, she recites a cursed incantation six times; grinning while each of the abusers in the house fall to their screaming deaths, their organs boiled bloody. once izidora eventually frees herself, she returns to the girls' rooms, eye swollen shut & covered in blood, and politely tells them to get their shit & go.

YEAR TWENTY ONE. after being cleaned & clothed, izidora returns to shah. she is able to actively practice kulam properly with shah, as well as plot her revenge. over a period of ten months, izidora tracks down each of her assailants & sends every single man & woman complicit in her abuse to their cursed deaths while freeing any girls remaining. once she finally tracks down nico, she curses his soul with permanent unrest. when she watches his house burn down with his mangled body inside, she can't stop laughing.

YEAR TWENTY SIX. izidora has gained far more than she's lost: including her craft, her sister, tala, her girls, and an immunity to death from the spirits that guide her. she heals her community, & curses those who try to destroy it. every so often, she looks at her kulam altar fondly — souls filled with anguish, swimming inside of an amulet — they all died so that she could live.

[bmaxwell]

Monster Train

Every once in a while, a game comes along that tickles my brain in some kind of way. Looking back, these are the games I’ve poured hundreds of hours into: Dungeons of Dredmor. Slay the Spire. Darkest Dungeon. Stardew Valley. Games with a strong sense of progression and satisfying gameplay loop can make the hours just melt away for me. Every year has at least one or two of these that land for me, at least to an extent. Monster Train might be at the top of that list. It certainly is by hours played. Steam says I have 944 hours logged, and I played a whole hell of a lot on Xbox too. 

Monster Train was my pandemic game. It was a warm, cozy blanket on my second monitor to take my mind off the surreal world news. At a glance, Monster Train looks like a dime-a-dozen “deckbuilder but with a twist!” games we’ve been seeing since Slay the Spire came out. Maybe a little worse. The visuals are, uh, well...it looks like a mobile game. Cartoony art style, cards that look like they fell out of the beta for Hearthstone...I half expected to see images of scantily clad anime ladies covering the screenshots. Play now milord!

But as Chris Berman used to say way back when I was a big pro football fan and loved to watch ESPN’s Sunday night recap oh god I miss caring about things: “THAT...is why they play the games!”

Monster Train feels immediately familiar. You are progressing along a map with forking branches, engaging in combats, shopping for new cards or abilities, and stopping for little mini events. The biggest differentiator is that rather than battles being just win/lose, you have a 4-tier TRAIN where the combat takes place. Enemies generally enter on the bottom floor and, if they survive the round, they move up to the next floor. The top floor is your heart furnace thing, and baddies that make it up there do damage to your life pool. When that reaches 0, you lose, and make some meta progress by way of unlocking more relics and more cards for your faction. 

You are placing your own monsters down to defend the train. In each round, you play cards, end your turn, then the combatants on each floor of the train attack each other. Any baddies that survive will ascend a floor and the next round begins. You have a champion and card selection based on the faction you choose. 

The factions are the thing that really gave the game legs for me, they’re why I played the game for 1000 hours rather than 100 hours. Monster Train offers 5 factions (6 if you include the Last Divinity DLC). Each faction has its own pool of cards, and 2 champions to choose from - these are powerful fighters with unique mechanics that speak to the theme of their faction. 

You have the Hellhorned faction that is very aggressive with lots of high attack monsters, direct-damage cards and abilities. The Awoken is a nature themed clan, full of plants with strong defense, spikes to hurt attackers, and cards that heal. The Stygian Guard is your icy blue faction, full of freezing magic and trickery. 

The first 3 clans feel like what you’d expect them to be. Fire, nature, ice magic. The last 2 factions really feel creative and unusual. The Umbra is a faction built around summoning little weak creatures and feeding them to your stronger ones. And the Melting Remnant is a clan of candle folk who are powerful but melt away within a set number of rounds. The DLC adds the Wurmkin clan that features echoes, and egg creatures, adding a small layer of complexity that feels appropriate for a DLC release. 

This is already a lot of content, but what truly makes the game endlessly replayable is that at the beginning of each run you choose your faction and champion, and also a second faction whose cards are added to the pool for that run. Being forced to work with whatever the game randomly handed me, and finding synergies between factions was an absolute blast for me. 

I would just tell the game to give me 2 random factions and start my run. Once I’d had a successful run with each faction, I started ratcheting up the difficulty - there are 25 tiers of difficulty you can slowly pile on. No single one of these is overwhelming but reducing your income AND increasing the costs of things AND increasing the health pool of the bosses AND the attack rating of all enemies AND starting with less health AND a bunch of dead cards in your deck...well, you get the idea. 

After unlocking everything I kept playing until I’d beaten the game on the highest challenge level with each faction. And then I kept playing. And started over when the game released on PC game pass. Even when These Games resonate with me, after I’ve unlocked everything it’s time to move on. I’m not sure if it was the heaviness of the pandemic, or just Monster Train’s special sauce, or some combination of the two, but it’s one of those rare evergreen games that I am perfectly happy to play again and again with no carrot at the end of the stick.

[synthesized-intelligence-nodes]

Day: 2 Elements and What is a Human made of?

I think my first few posts should just be basic lore and such most as a way to loredumb my own world into the ether.

First the elements of the setting, there are 7 in total 3 base elements, 3 supernal elements & 1 true element only cool kids (aka mages) know about. 

The base ones are Material, Galvin and Fiber;

Material (Yellow) is the physicals make up of objects, the concepts of solid matter, and the present, in a human it relates mostly to the body. A Material is a empty husk by itself unable to do anything but stagnate, a body is a puppet moved by the other elements as a way to express their wants. The physical is the most easily mailable of the elements and as a result most elements exist on some level within the space of Material, even a human is only borrowing a rock to exist within, a human body was once another animal before a human mind was attached to it and the body was molded into the shape of a man, more matter cannot be created so the bodies and spirits of animals are kept in storage until they can be reused, and when a human is born it’s body is borrowed from this library, this is why a spirits fight against it’s mind as human minds are invading their homes. Material is the only element that can been seen with your eyes as your eyes are made of material and therefor exist on it’s level, other elements take Material forms or are embodied by material aspects but it’s only the material parts that are visible.

Galvin (Orange) this the energy emanated and run through objects, synthetic galvin made by burning coal or catching wind is also counted within this element, in a human it relates to the spirit and instinct. The galvin within a person or an animal has a mind of it’s own, not in the sense of the element relating to mind but in the concept of intent and action constantly craving to return to it’s true form as an animal and act as such, a humans spirit in natural dormant but it can be awoken to great reward if controlled, on the other hand if it awakens and it not held back it will take over the body and the mind will be cut off from the physical.

Fiber (Green) is the connection between objects and how cause leads to effect within the world, in a human it relates to the threads that tie the mind to the soul to the body. Fibers exist everywhere and though they cannot be seen they are the 2nd most physical of the elements, without fibers things couldn’t interact with one another at all, these interactions are pre decided and if the same set of causes are implemented the same effects will result, unless someone changes the fibers. Some who train in the art of true conflation can edit and create lower frequency fibers to change the nature of cause and effect to suit their needs. 

The supernal elements are Heat, Vapor, Adam,

Heat (Red) is the highest of all elements and is the opposite of fiber, it represents things coming to and end as well as unspoken rules that neither follow logic or cause, another name for this element is reaction while fiber is often known as effect.  In a human it relates to the soul filtering the mind as separate from the body. The soul is the least human part of a human, grafted onto humans by the angles to control and moderate actions and intent, even the stolen bodies of animals are more human then it. Humans can bolster their Souls through an energy called faith which is the mental action of believing just because, this opposition of reality and the actions of cause and effect result in a strengthening of the gap between the mind and body bolstering the soul as a result, faith also can unnaturally change things to go in your favor, this is sort of a form of subconscious true conflation, true conflation being the editing of fibers to change how cause results in effect.

Vapor (Purple) is the opposite of Material, it is the metaphysical and within it has the power to look beyond and shape the physical, it mostly exists as a byproduct of heat and the two concepts are becoming more conflated by the day.  In a human it relates to the Sin that is birthed by the mind yet blocked by the soul, vapor is the only element humans make instead of being made of. Even though it is the antithesis of the physical, SIN craves reality and form. Most of the time sin produced by the mind is stopped by the soul and is safely flushed from the form of humanity as dregs to fall into pandemonium (which is a metaphysical place below the physical realm) but if enough sin is trapped between the mind and the soul at a single time it may be strong enough to puncture a hole in the soul allowing some sin to become physical, this births a Daeyo, an antagonistic entity that will attempt to both bolster it’s lifespan though the consumption of sin and multiply through either opening doors to pandemonium or making others produce sin, most Daeyo are children only thinking about food and their wants but if they live long enough a Daeyo can become fully sentient and make decision that don’t purely protaine to food and fun. If Daeyo punctures a soul enough times or make a big enough hole then Vapor will begin to leak out, and the human with the broken soul will gain some degree of temporary power over the physical, this power is unique to the mind of the individual and can change over time with notable enough personality shifts, they are called miracles by humans and are seen as both a blessing and often a stain upon a person.

Adam (Blue) is the element of the mind, the juices that flow though it, water is often seen as the physical form of Adam and is consumed to reinforce the form of the mind, it’s antithesis alcohol dampens the mind and that's why it sells so well. The mind is also the antithesis of the spirit, as even though it needs the spirit to act as a driving force for the body it also overtakes and subjugates it in order to do this, the mind replaces the spirit turning a wolf into a steering wheel. The mind has the power to overtake and warp reality and physicality but the soul prevents that, instead the mind is forced to come up with techniques to effect the world. Adam is the element of the past as memory within the mind is the only real evidence it have happened epically when things can be warped on such short notice. The final element is N/A (Dark Blue) and I’ll describe it some other time.

Now onto a human. Well First thing we need to know is that a Human is both a physicals and metaphysical creature unlike Daeyo or Animals which are purely metaphysical and physical respectively. A human is made up of a body controlled by a mind, the mind is filtered through the soul before its action effect the body so the opinions of the mind don’t change the form of the body. The mind, soul, body are all connected by threads to the world itself and within the body is a dormant spirit that’s used to animate the form, sin is also trapped between the mind and soul unable to become real until the soul is punctured.

this is sort of a map of the makeup of a human, with each connecting to each other, I think I describe it well enough in the elements section and plus I’m tired so I’m gonna leave it here.

[goatpaste]

having a lot of.. idk "art zoomies” tonight.. just a lot of energy to draw art stuff

so thought it be fun to draw these guys, guys who are friends and their stands are best friends ^^

but I talked a lil bit about Roxannes and a bit of Janelles background last time i posted my jojo ocs, so Mac’s turn!

Mac is a rowdy Texas boy, he’s reckless and hard to keep down in one place for long. He’s had about a million different jobs quitting or getting fired after a few months of working he would get bored or start picking fights with customers or coworkers. Until his fighting caught up to him, but in a good way. He caught the eye of some skeevy manager of a local wrestling ring and next thing he knows he’s found his calling kicking butt doing stupid stunts for large crowds that cheer and shout his name when they see him.

Then the day Roxanne was finding herself in need of a replacement in her place of work, she begun scouting around, and found herself quite absorbed in one of Mac’s performances. Watching this giant man attempt a flashy move, each shit and fail at the move, then continue to still win by beating the ever loving shit out of his enemy? How could she not steal him away. Next thing Mac knew he was being cornered in an alley by some mysterious woman with an arrow, and then awoken alone, all beside some big flashy spirit following him around. 

Mac quickly adapted to his new stand, using his new invisible skill to do bigger and wilder stunts in the ring to win. It was fun for awhile until he grew bored and irritated. The ghost thingy was neat but now it took him nothin to win. That's when Roxie swoops back in to the poor bored Mac and offers him a once in a life time job. He would get to fight all he wants, get to go as hard as he wanted nothing holding him back, and all against people just like him. Mac almost refusing the offer until Roxanne apparently kicked the shit of him with her own stand. Mac attributes her win it to the fact that he didn't fully believe she had the same power as him, and she was much more skilled, he says he could beat her now if she gave him the chance. Mac would give anything for a rematch. 

Next thing Mac knows Roxanne is flying him across the country to sign papers to officially join her team of fighters. Mac to my ocs storyline is one of the newest fighters having been there only a year. He would have met Janelle, who had been there for years, they would be friendly but drop hits that mac shouldnt work for Roxanne and should go home before its too late. He didn’t listen, said fuck it, even if she crazy everything she promised and has to keep to her word is too good to pass up!

Now Mac works loyally under Roxanne but to Janelle’s dislike, but none the less the two have made close friends during their time working together. They enjoy fighting one another and even hanging out, outside of work, much to Roxanne’s dislike. 

[sobredunia]

Gris? Gris

@bl3mp0p​ you have awoken the autistic beast

Gris is an art centered videogame created by Nomada studio, an indie studio from Barcelona that got together exclusively to make this game

In the game we take control of a little blue haired girl in a grey dress that traverses through different worlds as you slowly unlock colors for the world and new abilities with the dress (this will be long lmao)

Areas & abilities:

We start off in a colorless wasteland, with only ruined structures, dead trees, rocks, and little robots scattered about. There isn’t much to do here, only walk around, collect some stars to cross a gap, and get into the main hub

After we unlock the red, we go on into the red desert, an also barren place, but with more signs of civilisation and strong winds that hit you from time to time and halt your progress

Here we gain the block ability, an ability that turns us incredibly heavy that allows us to walk through the strong winds, it can also be used to break weak floors and reach further

Then, we unlock green, which turns the world into a lushing forest filled with life, apples, and cute little robots that eat those apples (look a the bottom right)

This place gives us the triangle ability, an ability where we can turn our dress into wings that gives us a double jump and slow falling, for harder flatforms

In this area, however, we encounter what will be the main enemy of the game, a swarm of butterflies that can take any form. In this area, they become a bird, of which we’ll have to fly away from and later defeat with a giant bell

After that, we go through the blue area which, you guessed, is underwater

Obviously, we gain the ability to turn our dress into a fish tail thingy(?) that allows us to swin underwater.

After unlocking a giant red turtle that guides us in dark areas, we encounter the black butterflies again, this time taking the form of a giant eel

We unlock the color yellow, but the woman’s statue that we’ve been seeing throughout the game gets broken by the black mass. Luckily, we escape

And now we enter my favourite area by far, the yellow palace. This place is oozing with life, although there are a few dead plants here and there

That’s where your last ability comes into play: sing! We can bring dead/closed plants into life within a certain radius, and that will give us the ability to progress further

During the game, we have been collecting these star shining dot thingies, that get together in the sky of the main hub to make a ladder that will lead us into the sky, and these last few stars collected will finally be enough to get out of here. Great, right?

You fool. You absolute imbecile

The butterflies make a comeback, and this time, they’re more powerful than ever

You can see glimpses of the bird and the eel, but the form they end up choosing is...

...is you?

They swallow everything, leaving nothing but white, and eating you at last

You’re left in a black lake, swimming for the surface

Once you get on top, you find a small ruined island. You keep on going up. climbing on floating chunks of rock. You encounter the beast once again, and it tries to swallow you in darkess, but instead of staying frozen in place, you decide to sing

It works

The darkness disappears all around you, and you’re left back at the main hub, the staircase of stars looking at you. You look at the woman statue that has been appearing all throughout your journey. You kiss it goodbye, and climb up high in the sky

It was weird, and kinda cryptic, but it was nice, right?

What if I told you that there’s more?

Because I omitted a crucial piece of info

An achievement that will flip your view of the game completely

I’m gonna put a bit of space here so you can rethink this and go play the game or watch someone play it, and get surprised by the game yourself

Because I never thought I would get so taken aback by a singular steam achievement

.

Ready?

.

Go

.

So, as you get up from the lake of darkness, you see the statued woman in a different position, laying in a weird table thing

You can see wilted flowers and, as you have done multiple times before, you sing

The plants come back to life, as always

And then the achievement pops up

“Acceptance”

Something clicks

You think back at the previous worlds

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance

This game was a journey

A journey through grief

[hightownquccn]

Adding a little more description that I have thought out in my head. Some is canon from MCU/comics and some is the twist I want to put on the character for my portrayals*.

Agent ???. ( I still have no name for him ) former SHIELD agent. best friend of Sharon Carter. or so he likes to claim. computer genius. skinny white boy. flirt. bisexual. he's annoying but really a sweetheart. not big on field work. but he can hack.

( ? (name undecided) is a former agent of SHIELD now mini-Tony Stark minus the suit and superhero status. Coming up through the academy he somehow befriended a woman by the name of Sharon Carter when they were put on an undercover assignment together. He was mostly just the support but made a few appearances in his undercover roll when needed to support Sharon aka 'Emily'.

A bit of a nerdy genius all he has ever wanted was to feel wanted and valuable. He was loyal to SHIELD until it fell thanks to HYDRA infiltrating and finally revealing themselves. With the fall of SHIELD, he used his knowledge to freelance and made a name for himself. He has been known to take on projects to help the likes of former SHIELD-loyal agents. He is very anti-HYDRA. )

Alex. "Dove". literature professor. musician. Inhuman. pain manipulator. Guatamalan/naturalized American.

( Original mini description that may be tweaked: Alex received his nickname of Dove from his mother in what almost feels like a different time. She used to call him her little pacifist. Now a lot older ( and not necessarily a whole lot wiser ) he still holds that peace should be tried before war.

After terrogenesis, Alex discovered he now has the power to cause pain in others. It goes against a lot of what his parents taught him growing up and what he believes in...but he isn't an idiot. Sometimes if you have a gun in your face or pointed at a loved one you need to act. So as much as he hates his powers he does try and avoid it if at all possible. Known for his aversion to violence many have begun calling him the Dove. )

Steve Rogers. captain america. the first avenger. the little guy. the man out of time.

( Steve is a World War II veteran, a founding member of the Avengers, and Earth's first known superhero. Rogers grew up suffering from numerous health problems, and upon the United States' entry into World War II, he was rejected from serving in the United States Army despite several attempts to enlist. Rogers ultimately volunteered for Project Rebirth, where he was the only recipient of the Super Soldier Serum. 

Fighting in the war, he served his country before supposedly sacrificing himself in a plane crash. Decades later he was awoken from his sleep and begins to readjust to modern life. Cap is needed once again and he picked up the mantel again, joining The Avengers. He served with his fellow members for a time before eventually post The Snap 2.0 retiring. He has passed the mantel on to a man formerly known as Falcon, Sam Wilson. Now he is trying to figure out what to do with his life. )

Amora of Asgard. The Enchantress. asgardian. formerly exiled to Midgard by the Allfather. seductress. intelligent.

( Parentage unknown. While still in adolescence, she ran away to the land of the Norns and apprenticed herself to Karnilla, one of the most powerful sorceresses in all the Asgardian dimension. There she studied all the basic arts of Asgardian magic until Karnilla expelled her for being too undisciplined. She picked up further mystical skills from seducing other Asgardian mages and wizards. In time, Amora became one of the more powerful magic-wielders in Asgard, with her magical arsenal focused on (but not limited to) charming and mind-controlling people. Her by-then well-renowned beauty did not hinder in this.

Amora has always had an obsession with Thor. She has been used as a weapon by the Allfather to try and distract Thor from his love of the human, Jane Foster. But she has also done things unsanctioned by the royalty of Asgard. During one of her many attempts to make the God of Thunder hers she is caught and sentenced by the Allfather to Midgard. While there she took up the name of Sylvie Lushton. Stripped of her powers she is stuck in the realm until Thor is banished as well. When Loki appears they strike a deal and she regained her powers. )

KEY NOTES*

I would not play Steve as having gone back in time to rejoin Peggy. He stayed in his current timeline and lives in New York.

I play Amora as having 'Sylvie Lushton' as her mortal name in tribute to the two different women that had the title of Enchantress in the comics.

I made Dove and Amora both at some point but they never got past the creation stages. Would anyone be interested in writing with any of these guys?

[scarletarosa]

Basics of Using Tarot Cards

Tarot cards are perhaps the most commonly used form of divination nowadays, but the magick of unlocking their abilities and how to care for them has largely been forgotten. For anyone who is interested in tarot divination, these are the majority of the basics I’ve gained throughout my years of practice- in magick, spirit work, and divination.

Finding the right deck for you: Finding the right tarot deck is often a difficult decision, especially since it is important to find a deck whose energy works well with you. But furthermore, it is also important to find a deck which has artwork that well portrays the symbolic meaning of each card. This is primarily because the artwork is one of the main ways to gain insight from the meaning, rather than just looking up definitions each time. The art tells its own story as well. So minimalistic artwork should be avoided in these cases, as they will not tell you much at all. Find a deck as if searching for a friendly companion, it is not meant to be a trivial matter. When in doubt, the best deck for overall imagery and symbolism still remains the traditional tarot deck by Rider Waite.

Cleansing Your Deck: When cleansing your deck, be sure to respect the cards and use either incense or your own energy to envelope the cards in white energy and banish away any impurities. You especially must do this if buying your cards second-hand, since any residual energies will negatively affect your readings. Try to cleanse each deck every month or so, or after they are touched by someone else.

Awakening the Deck: Each tarot deck has its own group of spirits, as each card is inhabited by a small consciousness. They each represent the energy of every card, and can help you in divination. However, the spirits must be awakened first. If they are not, they will remain asleep and the deck will not be as powerful. To awaken your tarot deck, this is what you must do:

Buy a cloth to keep your cards wrapped in, have it be special and kept clean.

When sleeping, keep the deck beneath your pillow

Keep the deck away from mundane objects (coins, other papers, etc.) whenever possible

After about 28-29 days (a Lunar month), the cards should be awoken, and one who is skilled in sensing energies should feel this happening. With the spirit awoken, the personal meanings of the cards will be combined with your own personal interpretations. 

Caring for the Deck: Once you have awakened your tarot deck, the spirits will have a certain way they wish to be treated. They are particular about some things, and will become aggravated or even abandon the tarot deck if they become mistreated. These are some things you must never do to your cards:

Never put electronics near or on top of tarot cards (including phone chargers).

Tarot cards don’t like the overwhelming energy of sunlight, keep them covered from it. Moonlight is okay however.

Do not let food or drink spill onto them; they will leave if this happens since their cards become contaminated.

Don’t do many tarot spreads in one day (3 or 4 is fine). Too many spreads exhaust the tarot cards, which will cause them stress and will result in inaccurate readings.

If you do a tarot reading with high hopes in mind, wishing desperately for a certain response, this will also stress the cards. Make sure to do readings with clarity and ambivalence towards any answer.

Never do a tarot reading during an eclipse (especially a solar eclipse), this will kill the tarot spirits. Always keep them covered during these times.

Don’t allow any animals near your tarot cards; they hate this and will likely leave if they become damaged or dirty.

Try not to drop your cards on the floor; if this happens, you need to purify them by projecting cleansing white energy for a little while onto the deck. Afterwards, sincerely apologize, and keep them covered.

Also, keep in mind that if you have more than one deck, the spirits will get a bit jealous of one another. This is unavoidable, so it is good to try and balance the amount of times you use each deck. If you don’t use one deck for a long while, it will become sad; but this can be fixed through sleeping with the deck under your pillow (while it’s in the box) and using it often again.

Care for each of your decks, but if you have a favourite, it will eventually become bound to you. A bound tarot deck will be more accurate since it cannot be affected by outside influences (the Waning Moon, other spirits, environmental energies, etc.). It will also cause your readings to not exhaust your energy.

How to read the cards: Reading tarot cards strongly requires you to use your intuition for each pull. The tarot spirits will help in this, often sending you intuitive signals or even causing a card to fly out. If you are uncertain if the card that flew out was meant for you or a mistake, hold a hand over it and sense its energy. If it is meant for you and your energy-sensing is good, you will feel a particular “tug” towards it. In regards to reversed cards, make sure that your tarot cards are not facing up-right in the deck all the time. Allow some cards to be upside-down since these will be brought to you if a reversal is needed in the reading. Additionally, the meaning of reversed cards does not always mean they’re the opposite. A good book for the reversal meanings is Guide to Tarot by Sarah Kettlewell. There is also the Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus if you’d like an in-depth study into interpreting the tarot cards.

When doing a reading, whether it’s for yourself or another person, you can either ask your cards the question out loud or in your mind; it doesn’t matter. Once you ask your question and you hold it in your mind, keeping calm and focused, you can select a card via intuition. This can be done in several different ways, just as long as the card you choose actually felt like it called you. One method is to gently hold the deck in your hands and slowly move your thumb across the side until you feel a “tug” in your stomach or if a card glows in your mind’s eye. There are other methods, so you can experiment and see what works best.

If your cards seem to suddenly be giving inaccurate information, ask them what is wrong, and pull a card. In many cases, it may be because the spirits are exhausted, but sometimes it might be because a malicious spirit is manipulating the reading. This can sometimes happen if you take too much time to draw a card, and a spirit notices you and decides to intervene.

When interpreting each card, focus on the meanings and the symbolism (according to the Rider Waite deck). For example, we can see through the artwork of the Major Arcana card named Strength that it represents using will-power, courage, and self-mastery to overcome difficulties. The woman places her hand in the lion’s mouth and has a crown upon her head- this signifies her inner-strength, confidence in her mastery, and the reward she has gained through her efforts. If this card shows up when asking for advice about a difficult situation, this is a clear sign for you to keep moving and take command of both yourself and the issue.

How to make proper tarot spreads: Tarot spreads are made in order to deeply dive into a situation, self-analysis, or other sort of insight. They require at least three cards; anything less is far too vague to bring any insight. But the most effective spreads utilize around 10 or 20 cards and may often need to be studied to be understood as a whole, rather than having more simple explanations. The spreads can be laid out in a symbolic manner and should be laid face-down until they are revealed at the end. If a card doesn’t make much sense to you, you can draw a second card as clarification and lay it on top of the first one.

Once you are done with your reading, make sure to place your cards back into their box so they can rest.

This was an overview of the basics of using tarot cards; I hope this assists you in your studies and practices, and brings further insight to this complex divinatory art.

[whatsupzombie]

what if! i post art to tumblr again? :o this is Hazard-13, my guardian from destiny 2, so i guess this is technically fanart? pff. anyway, @artnyarn​ asked me to tell her about them, so i guess i’m doing that hereeee.

there’s. a lot to talk about with destiny. but to start, Hazard-13 is an exo, which is the robot race in destiny. they were all once people who had a snapshot of their brains taken (a fatal process for the body) and uploaded into a metal chassis. the process was created by, tbh kind of a mad scientist some 600 years before game canon time, and afaik, the only exos left in the world are either those still functional since then (the process was meant to make people immortal, after all) or those raised as guardians. 

guardians are the pcs of destiny. they are people (human, exo, or awoken, which is sometimes described as “neo-human”) who were raised by ghosts, the lil flying robot talking to Hazard. they’re generally shaped like this:

Hazard’s ghost is called Crowley and he’s got a little paper bat hat. the ghosts are lil machines created by the Traveler, which is a giant orb and may or may not be a god. it terraformed nearly every planet and moon in the solar system, allowing humanity to spread out and technology to advance wildly quickly.

the Traveler is currently hovering over the Last City, named so because it’s essentially where most of civilization on earth has gathered, under the Traveler’s protection. now. the Traveler uses/has/is made of (???) Light, which the ghosts use to find and raise their guardians. guardians weaponize Light to fight enemies with, basically, magic abilities (and also guns pff). the story is also moving less toward light is good and dark is bad, so guardians are now also making use of Darkness, which is neat. 

anyhow, when a ghost raises a guardian to fight for the Traveler, that guardian is from then on effectively immortal, able to be revived by their ghost whenever they die. guardians end up forming very close bonds with their ghosts, and it goes both ways.

oh also! when guardians are raised, they don’t have any memories. the idea is kind of that being raised is a fresh start. tho, there are both ghosts and guardians that go rogue, so it does mean that anyone is incorruptible. 

without getting too deep into that point, exos have numbers after their names to show how many times they’ve been reset. literally. there’s various reasons for resets, the main reason being that existing in a metal body is hard on the mind and exo would sometimes start to lose their minds. there are a multitude of reasons, but the first iteration of an exo is always Name-1. so Hazard has been reset 12 times before they were raised.

no one in current game canon has full access to the workings of exos (that mad scientist guy definitely died 600 years ago and took most of his work with him), so they’re pretty mysterious. 

guardians are also forbidden from looking into who they used to be, based on the premise that they were raised to be given a second chance, so it no longer matters who they used to be. this is obvs frustrating, and hazard occasionally gets annoyed with how many mysteries plague their existence. 

onto the magic part! Hazard is a warlock class guardian, so that means they’re abilities look more like what you would expect magic attacks to look like (mystical floating, summoning fire, that kind of thing). Hazard uses a lot of solar abilities, so that’s a lot of fire damage. those glowing gauntlets they have are called sunbracers, and they amplify their solar power. 

there’s. a lot. that goes on in destiny, but Hazard themself is kind of aloof and annoyed most of the time. they like hanging out alone with Crowley, or with a few close friends. they don’t mind the chaos of the world so much, but the repeated deaths and mysteries do wear on them from time to time. and, there’s rarely a time they’ll turn down a request for help, even if they sound annoyed they whole time. 

this is very long!!! tbh, it’s interesting to have a character with no actual backstory, so most of their story is the plot of the game or what they’re reactions would be.