#alli hits 400

[popcorn-plots]

I should be doing homework but instead...

(idek if this is popular anymore, I just need motivation tbh)

1 note and I'll go take a shower

25 notes and I'll get off Tumblr and finish my homework.

50 notes and I'll put away my laundry

100 notes and I'll fix my sleep schedule

150 notes and I'll start eating breakfast before school for the rest of the school year

200 notes and I'll tell my parents what I want for my birthday

250 notes and I'll start handing out my resume/applying to jobs [did not get hired anywhere, and I'm gone most of the summer anyways]

300 notes and I'll start running 1 mile every week

350 notes and I'll finish/publish a wip [trans Stephen fic, the public has determined]

400 notes and I'll finish the next chapter of BtSA [posted here]

450 notes and I'll spend 10 minutes a day working on my novel (;-;)

500 notes and I answer my emails

550 notes and I get a pixie cut (I've been wanting a shorter cut for months) [LOOK HERE]

600 notes and I'll fix my Doctor Strange cosplay (and post pictures)

(1000 notes and I'll come out as genderfluid to my therapist, despite how terrifying it is)

(1500 notes and I'll come out to my favorite teacher OR my ally YW leader)

(if, for some reason, and probably with divine intervention, we hit 20,000 notes..... I may consider coming out to my parents and/or my ward friends.)

[originalleftist]

Russia blew up a ship carrying humanitarian for Palestine.

"The strike, which killed eight people and injured another 11, hit a Panama-flagged civilian vessel and damaged its cargo of aid. It was the third Russian attack against a civilian vessel in four days.

The U.N. had delivered an order for the aid to be sent to Palestine.

"Ukraine, despite the war, supplies products for 400 million people around the world," said Agriculture Minister Vitalii Koval."'

Russia's attacks on civilian shipping from Ukraine aren't just attacks on Ukraine- they're an attack on the entire world, in particular poorer nations who often rely on Ukrainian grain.

But hey, I'm sure the "pro-Palestinian" Tankies who also love Putin and its Iranian allies because they're against "the West" will not be silent about this. Right?

Any time now, guys.

[aingeal98]

It's crazy to me that during the "Kim Dokja will die at the hands of the one he loves most" arc Han Sooyoung was nowhere close to being a possibility. It was obviously YJH and the only other potential twist answers were his mom his kid and mayyyybe Sangah? Like HSY was just this wild card villain turned useful ally and it was clear that she wasn't going to be the one who killed him. She already killed him twice! She needed to let someone else have a go. We're 158 chapters into the story and it was so clear that Dokja and YJH were THE relationship and I was pretty certain there's no way any other dynamic is going to be as intense and important to the narrative as their bond with each other.

And then Han Sooyoung went lol watch this and 400+ chapters later I cannot picture the ot3 without all three of them a part of it. Every time the gang got together for the last 300 or so chapters I just knew Dokja was going to find a way to gush about the two of them. He went fuck you this is a bisexual slowburn AND star crossed lovers AND enemies to lovers AND a comedy AND-

And none of the epilogue would have hit so hard without that development like the reason it works is that we got to watch them grow into a trio and it was paced so well I cannot get over it. I'm still reeling. Yoohankim ot3 of all time we've got so many different dynamics and flavours packed into these three losers.

[mariacallous]

The breadth of falsehoods circulating in the months and days prior to Election Day in the United States was breathtaking in both scale and creativity. It was, as the head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Jen Easterly said, an “unprecedented amount of disinformation.” Voters were treated to videos masquerading as FBI-generated or CBS reports that warned of security threats and voter fraud, while other videos falsely depicted mail-in ballots that favored Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump being destroyed, or an alleged Haitian immigrant voting in two counties. Fabrications about Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris drew from a seemingly bottomless well, ranging from false allegations that she was involved in a hit-and-run incident to her being allied with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. This was on top of saturation levels of preelection disinformation campaigns involving Haitian immigrants, hurricane relief efforts, and so much more.

Oiled and revved up in advance of the Nov. 5 election, though, the disinformation machine abruptly died that evening. Trump had urged voters to get him a win “too big to rig”—harkening back to his persistent lie that victory was stolen from him in the 2020 election—and voters delivered.

Now that there is a lull, we must ask some critical questions. First, does disinformation—while upsetting, annoying, or even amusing—matter in influencing outcomes? Second, with a second Trump term, what is the future of the disinformation machine? And if disinformation continues unabated and even flows across borders, what can be done about it on a national and transnational level?

Some researchers argue that disinformation has little effect in changing behavior. The argument often hinges on empirical studies demonstrating that such content typically gets relatively low exposure and is viewed and shared by a fringe already motivated to seek out such content.

There is, however, robust evidence to suggest that in the specific instance of the 2024 U.S. elections, disinformation did change behavior, in that an alternative reality took hold in voters’ minds and influenced their choices. Voters who demonstrated being misinformed about key issues, such as immigration, crime, and the economy preferred Trump. Consider the example of immigration and crime: Looking at 2018 felony crime offending rates in Texas, native-born U.S. citizens committed around 1,100 crimes per 100,000 people, compared to 800 by documented immigrants and 400 by undocumented immigrants. Analysis of similar data across all 50 states suggests no statistically significant correlation between the immigrant share of the population and the total crime rate in any state. This and numerous other sources of data consistently show that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are less likely to commit crimes than native-born U.S. citizens across various crime categories and over extended periods. This contradicts a dominant narrative around a “migrant crime wave,” spread primarily by Trump and his surrogates. Approximately 45 percent of Trump supporters said immigration was one of their three biggest issues; most Americans, meanwhile, believed that illegal immigration was linked to higher crime rates.

With a second Trump term ahead, it is worthwhile to ask what we might expect from a disinformation machine that was so helpful in bringing such an administration to power. This was a machine designed to generate false narratives built to exploit fear and anxiety at scale, using fabrications that may build on a kernel of truth or resonant with some people’s beliefs or actual experiences. It identified malevolent actors to be defeated as part of the calls to action. In order to spread disinformation further and enhance its credibility, operations involved consistent repetition of narratives and their amplification in political rallies through social media and alignment with the financial and political incentives of other influential voices. Where does the Trump reelection disinformation machine go from here now that its primary job is done? Designed to increase confidence in the leader and the regime, disinformation systems have a distinguished tradition of flourishing under autocratic administrations, from Octavian’s Roman Empire to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

There are five galvanizing issues to watch for in the next turn of the disinformation crank.

First, there will be a need to undermine the credibility of media outlets considered unfriendly to Trump. This objective will, of course, get plenty of support from “friendly” media like Fox News and the New York Post, but, most significantly, from Elon Musk—a close ally of the administration. Musk and his platform, X, are frightfully effective in creating and disseminating narratives.

Assuming the Musk-Trump alliance has a meaningful shelf life, consider the “Musk effect” itself. Analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that at least 87 of Musk’s posts on X in 2024 were false or misleading, and they had 2 billion views in total. None of those posts were accompanied by a Community Note, a user-generated fact-check. To add to his influence, Musk, who has said he’s a “free speech absolutist” and is selective about the content moderated on X to serve his own purposes, is now charged with minimizing government bureaucracy; he will likely work to ensure that regulations intended to moderate content—as long as they are not unfavorable to him—are held to a minimum. We should not expect to see any major legislative overhauls, such as a rollback of Section 230—originally part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996—that protects digital platforms from being held liable for content they host, as it would severely hamper the free-wheeling content environment at X that Musk has created. This would be a change of position for Trump, as he did push for such a rollback in his first term.

Second, putting Musk aside, a scan of the remaining names put forward for Trump’s cabinet reads like a who’s who in the annals of disinformation. Consider just three: first, Tulsi Gabbard, who is nominated to be director of national Intelligence. She has a track record of being partial to propaganda from the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has even declared a QAnon conspiracy theory about a U.S.-funded bioweapons lab in Ukraine to be an “undeniable fact.” Second, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated to be the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He has peddled ideas that are outright false—such as childhood immunizations causing autism—and questionable, like that excessive fluoride in drinking water can lower IQ. Pete Hegseth, nominated for secretary of defense, has already gone a step further by calling for the word “misinformation” itself to be stripped from the public lexicon as soon as possible. Each of these three substantive federal agencies will need their disinformation machines to be humming and ready to go, given the individuals who might be in charge.

This would lead us to their boss’s playbook of false narratives, repetition, amplification, and targeting opponents and critics as “enemies.” The Washington Post found that Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims, or around 21 fabrications a day, during his first term. As noted earlier, repetition of falsehoods is a core operating principle for Trump, and it has been shown to work: There is a demonstrated correlation between the number of times Trump repeated falsehoods during his presidency and misperceptions among Republicans. Given this record, we ought to count on him escalating his reliance on these strategies—and especially on repetitive disinformation—as a strategy for governance.

Fourth, with several disinformation-centered narratives influential in getting Trump to the White House, their lives will have to be extended as the administration swings into action to follow-up on campaign promises—for example, as deportation procedures against undocumented immigrants are launched.

Finally, it is essential to consider the intentions of foreign governments, which may use the Trump model to manipulate their own citizens. Russia has been the most energetic in its disinformation campaigns during the United States’ 2024 election season, from the falsehood about Harris being involved in a hit-and-run incident, to hurricane-related falsehoods, to bomb threats on Election Day. But there are many others in the fray with elaborate disinformation machines—including networks of bogus social media accounts, websites to spread divisive content, third-party actors, and fringe groups—that are ready to go. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the three governments most active in creating and spreading disinformation in the United States are Russia, China, and Iran. All three steadily increased their disinformation campaigns in the months leading up to Election Day. One can expect the dynamic to follow that to be an arms race: If the U.S. government itself invests in disinformation, foreign governments will attempt to keep pace —and even view it as implicit permission to do so.

With this sobering outlook, it is natural to ask: What should be done? The regulatory and legislative establishment is likely to be compromised, so other actors will have to step up—these include major digital platforms, independent watchdogs, the media, civil society organizations, and regular citizens.

The most critical are the digital platforms as they have the greatest leverage; they must reverse their recent trend toward reducing content moderation teams and cutting resources for fact-checking, labeling, blocking, or demoting messages that run afoul of posted standards. The COVID-19 pandemic created a “infodemic” emergency and a sense of urgency for the platforms to be proactive and ramp up content moderation to stem the tide of misinformation. Even though many of the attempts were found wanting and flawed, most of the major platforms did take specific actions—defining policies, being transparent about their criteria, taking steps to remove or moderate violators, and nudging users to check out trusted sources. There is evidence to suggest that messaging from trusted sources had a positive effect on users’ quality of knowledge and how they behaved based on such information. A second Trump term needs to be viewed as an emergency of parallel proportions.

For their part, watchdog groups, the media, and civil society must amplify their voices when they see false narratives and counter them not just with boring statistics but engaging fact-based narratives to reeducate and inform. Local media, in particular, has a role to play in bringing credible fact-based news to ordinary citizens. Watchdog groups across different countries should collaborate with digital platforms to identify sources of false or malicious content and develop early warning signs of international interference by state and non-state actors and proxy groups. Once again, the lessons from the pandemic might come handy in considering the role of multilateral bodies—just as the World Health Organization (WHO) implemented strategies to combat COVID-19 misinformation, with mixed but generally positive results, similar bodies can be set up to coordinate across multiple actors and across geographies.

Finally, ordinary citizens will need to take the time to become responsible consumers of media—for their own good. And, as their lived realities diverge from false narratives in circulation, they might become more discerning and wary in seeking out information sources. As a recent study found, citizens do become more discerning consumers of digitally transmitted information when there are sustained mitigation and education efforts.

It will, no doubt, be a long road ahead. While we can expect a deluge of disinformation along the way, we cannot let it become the new normal.

[estellardreams]

Spiritrune - Weird Route [Audio Edit]

Attacking everyone below!

@somemismatchedsocks

@emthimofnight

@6larosie9

@silvers-starrway

@ekaycheem

@einelitas

@yellowvixen

@polkychu

@zhampip

@totaleclipse573

@sonlc

Skaerial

Lunateaq

Attack info below for everyone

Nymph - Royal Wrath

A huge slash attack using the dark staff. 70% TP. Deals 355 damage.

Tulip - Cyber Corruption

Decimates enemies through blast using electric acid. 85% TP. Deals 575 damage.

Camellia - Blue Flame

Uses powerful blue flame towards enemy. 60% TP. Deals 400 damage.

Mallow - K Slash

Slashes in a lethal movement of amputation and decapitation. 90% TP. Deals 670 damage.

Rosemary - Chaos Curse

Forces magic instability on enemies. 70% TP.

Orion - Chaos Vein

Pulls pure chaos energy out of body and forms it into a weapon. 56% TP. Deals 120 damage.

Estelle - Rainbow Crash

Unleashes corrupted Harmony magic. 100% TP. Lethal.

Meredith - Ocean Core

Uses tainted water to pierce through enemies. 85% TP. Deals 800 damage.

Maria - Chaos Crash

Shifts form into supercharged rocket and pierces through enemies. 100% TP. Lethal.

Arthur - Dual Slash

Two slashes back to back. 55% TP. Deals 440 damage.

Naomi - Windstorm

Conjures up a tornado while serving as the conduit, tornado strength up to EF3. 90% TP. Lethal.

Rime - Snowgrave

Creates a snow blast that freezes enemies to death. 100% TP. Lethal.

Keira - Chaos Scythe

Charged up Scythe strike. 70% TP. Deals 600 damage.

Juice - Psychic Flash

Uses psychic magic to shatter the mind of the enemy. 100% TP. Lethal.

Stellar - Chaos Break

Snaps all powers in half for enemies but doubles power of allies in return. 90% TP.

Terios - Chaos Shard

Uses unstable chaos energy embedded into their body to attack. 100% TP. Lethal.

Sunshine - Flashbang

Blinds enemies. 45% TP.

Sakura - Poison Bloom

Uses pollen from flowers to poison enemies, depleting their hp. 24% TP. Deals 50 damage.

Kaiko - Flower Curse

Changes all plants in the vicinity to damage everyone around them, including allies and themselves. 40% TP. Deals 50 damage.

Azarael - Tsunami

Conjures up huge wave of water to crash onto enemies. 90% TP. Deals 900 damage.

Okay, doing mini "best strategy" mode here. Let's see…

So… Anyone below Keira on the list is a guilty character, while the group between her and Meredith is defiant. So keep defiants to a minimum and don't do any possible guilty characters. We also need to keep the weird routes below eight, because if we hit that limit we're entering hard mode so we're gonna try to avoid it.

Now… For starters, our best pick for special attacks is definitely Estelle, whom is our only lethal attacker who isn't a defiant or guilty.

It would also be wise to weird route Mallow as well, since she holds the other highest damage count besides Estelle in the stronger group.

That's two weird route characters… But what if they're downed? Also, they're on different teams. It's pretty much impossible to have both on the same team so for our other weird routes…

Rime and Meredith.

Let me explain: We still need to keep in mind our controllers aka those who are manipulated by the player that would be much better but pose an extra problem: Heavy resistance. There's a reason they're controllers due to a high amount of determination without being determination at all, which is why both Maria and Naomi aren't favorable to weird route despite how tempting two lethals are. Not to mention… They're both seafoam, leaving only Estelle as a Stardust weird route character.

At least with Rime and Meredith it's balanced 2 v 2, and four characters is plenty to spare the rest. Not to mention, although some are connected trying to weird route them requires other characters (ex. Stellar and Camellia) which would affect BOTH characters. This runs the risk of losing a base powerful character while only making the middling strength character a bit stronger and deadlier.

With these teams in mind… Our most efficient team match-ups are:

For seafoam: Maria, Mallow, Meredith. Maria is, despite being warrior class, pretty much a tank. Mallow is the main attacker, while Meredith is both a reliable healer and heavy hitter.

For stardust: Arthur, Rime, Estelle. Arthur is the usual knight class, Rime is our warrior, and Estelle the Mage. Pretty balanced by party standards but in terms of power we now have two LETHAL LEVEL attacks on this end. This is incredibly busted, too.

(Yes you can switch out who you want in the fight. It's a mechanic in the game. It's also a free turn and you can do it as many times as you want. BUT if whoever you're swapping with took damage, that damage will carry over to whoever you swapped them with.)

But anyway… What would everyone else do for their parties? I'm curious!

[ddejavvu]

hi mei i love your work and wanted to requests something for modern eddie where he and his gf go to pride because she’s bi and he’s the best supporter ever!!

Eddie's brow scrunches as he examines himself in the mirror, tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrates. Then he makes up his mind, "More purple."

"It's not pigmented enough," You lament miserably, jamming the lip gloss's applicator wand back into its tube and bending it to try and smear excess product off of the side. Eddie takes the wand from you when you pop it back out of the tube, you puff your lips out so he can paint their midsections in the purple gloss.

He pays extra attention so that he doesn't encroach on the pink stripe to its left, nor the blue one to its right. The flag-inspired markings of your lips are pressed carefully and abundantly all over his face, leaving him with a barrage of bisexual over his skin.

He takes little care in stuffing the wand back into its tube, already eagerly turning his cheek so that you can stamp more kisses over him.

"Ready," He chimes, long lashes fluttering shut as you take his face in your hands. It's hard to kiss his cheek and leave a perfect mark there, because the second your lips hit his face, a smile grows on his own.

"Eddie," You murmur into his skin, the word coming out warbled because you can't move your lips, "Stop."

There's a quip on the tip of his tongue, you just know it. But before he can release it, cheeks moving as his lips form the words, messing up your kiss mark, the doorbell rings.

You finally back away from his face, leaving behind a pink-purple-blue striped stamp against what's almost his chin. He rewards you with one of his own sticky kisses, much less colorful than your own, right against the bridge of your nose, then runs for the door.

"Buckley," Eddie greets, bowing dramatically to greet her at the door, "Happy pride."

"Where's your girlfriend?" She barges past him, and Eddie is left bent double in front of Steve, who seems to be carrying all of Robin's accessories.

"Gimme one," Robin launches herself onto the couch beside you, the cushions bouncing as she bares her cheek. You paint her face with a firm kiss to the apple of her cheek, and she glances into the handheld mirror, nodding appreciatively.

"Rob," Steve fumbles with her bag, "Uh, you- you have water in here somewhere, right?"

"Why is he holding your stuff?" You glance warily at the plethora of items Steve's wrestling with in the doorway, still unable to locate her cell.

"I told him if he was a real ally then he wouldn't mind carrying my stuff," She shrugs, "'Got him good."

"I'm gonna turn homophobic if you forgot water," Steve narrows his eyes at Robin, "It's, like, 400 degrees out there."

"We've got bottles here," Eddie placates Steve, grabbing one from the fridge and stuffing it into the man's hands, then draping your jacket over his shoulder "Hey, does that mean you gotta hold Y/N's shit, too?"

"No," Steve huffs, slinging Robin's bag over his shoulder once and for all and tossing the jacket over Eddie's head, "Means you have to, Munson."

"Don't- smudge my face!" Eddie yanks the fabric away from his precious paint job, looking at you with wide, indignant puppy eyes, "Y/N, did he mess it up?"

"No, baby," You stand, clasping Robin's hand in your own and making your way to the door. You lean up to give him a consolation smooch, right over his own lips that stains them faintly like your own, "You look perfect."

[boatemlag]

Pearl rerun is here! Build guide

Hello all! The queen is finally back. Pearl is the dendro archon and a polearm character. I know you've been waiting for this, I know I have... her c1r1 will be mine! [ScottSmug]

I've decided to put together a guide now for new players and old, as her kit is really unique and one of the best future-proof archons to pull. I'll also offer some perspective on her weapon, because I've seen some doubt about it in the community. [PearlBAMF]

✦✦✦ Breakdown ✦✦✦

Pearl is a 5* limited dendro support and healer who benefits most reaction based team comps as her passive enhances damage specifically for all types of bloom and catalyze reactions. Her kit is a bit wordy, so I'll so my best to explain and clarify what she does.

She's super future proof, and has stood the test of time as one of the best dendro supports. You won't find many premiere dendro team comps without her. Her weapon is great for any HP scaling polearm, which we're expecting when the hydro nation Ghrelian finally releases next year, if leaks are to be believed.

✦✦✦ Explaining the kit ✦✦✦

◇ Basic Attack: Three Strikes

Does three consecutive strikes with the polearm. Nothing special.

◇ (E) Skill: Dirge of Earth

Creates a Tumor of Forbidden Knowledge. The tumor will continue to deal dendro damage both to party members and enemies, though less to allies than enemies. Three charges with a 1 second cooldown in between the charges.

◇ (Q) Burst: Relief in the Soil

Burst healing. Takes into account all the damage taken by the Tumors and by enemies, and enters the Purification state. The Tumors explode, dealing massive dendro damage to enemies and healing a massive amount to allies. 50% of that healing will be applied to party members.

◇ Passives

Controlled Burn: Any reaction done by party members while tumors are on field is increased by 400% of Pearl's HP.

Grace of Nature: Damage to party members from Tumors is reduced.

Hands in the Earth: Increases the amount of certain local specialties gotten when Pearl collects them.

✦✦✦ Constellations ✦✦✦

C1: Converts 1% of Pearl's Max HP into EM while skill is active.

C2: During Pearl's burst, an additional 25% of healing will be applied over time to the party.

C4: Burst damage ignores dendro RES.

C6: Increases the rate at which Withering accumulates, meaning more damage and more healing.

Shockingly, Pearl's C6 is not great unless you need faster rotations. I'd say C1>C4>C2>C6.

✦✦✦ Ascension & Talent Materials ✦✦✦

◇ Nagadus Emerald

Dropped by her boss.

◇ Drops: Rangers

Found exclusively in Perija, and in tight clusters mostly around the sanctum. Check the map for ideal farming routes. You will need:

Rotten badge x18

Worn insignia x30

High clearance pass x36

◇ First Bud of Spring

First Bud of Spring can be claimed by defeating the Young Hatchling in Perija. You'll need x46.

◇ Glow Lichen

Pearl's local specialty. You will need x168. Ideal farming route is hitting up each labyrinth and just following the path. Should get plenty that way. If you haven't done the Hidden Greenhouse world quest, there's some in the cave by the border of Ention.

◇ Forgiveness Talent Books

Perija talent domains on Tues/Thurs/Sun.

◇ Mirror Shard from the Sleeping Beast Beneath the Arena weekly boss

Should be able to quick access it even if you haven't done the Pearl story quest!

✦✦✦ Artifacts & Stats ✦✦✦

2pc Seven Days and 2pc Legionnaire for the double HP bonus is fine, since that's the main stat you want to focus on for Pearl. But if you want to farm the Farmer's Piety/Thorny Dreams domain, be my guest, lol. Farmer's Piety is technically Pearl's intended set, as it gives an HP bonus at 2pc, and increases outgoing healing while off-field. But that domain seriously sucks, and Thorny Dreams is a really niche set.

Sands: HP

Goblet: HP/Dendro dmg bonus (if you hit 60k HP without the goblet, go with dendro dmg bonus)

Circlet: HP

Substat priority: Go for ER until you hit the goal, and then invest in EM

ER goal: 140%

✦✦✦ Weapons ✦✦✦

Pearl's signature weapon, in my opinion, is a GREAT weapon. A lot of people see the description and get a bit turned off by it, but trust me it's great. At R1, "When the wielder is switched on-field, decreases movement speed for 2 seconds and increases stamina consumption. After the 2 seconds is over, heals the party for 14% of damage taken and gives the on-field character an elemental burst DMG bonus of 22%." This is great even if you're using this to buff the next character to switch in. Getting Pearl in, using her three tumors, then switching off to someone to do their burst, does massive damage.

Other options is Asclepius if you have it, or Sidepiercer, alternatively. Requires you to invest a bit more in the HP artifacts department, though.

✦✦✦ Talent Priority ✦✦✦

Skill = Burst >>>>>> Basic Attack

Do NOT level her basic attack. You don't want to ever use it basically. Skill and Burst are equally important. A conservative level plan is 1/8/8 or 1/9/9. But give her the double crown. You will not regret it.

✦✦✦ Team Comps ✦✦✦

Literally any dendro reaction team.

Hyperbloom Premium Team: Pearl, Sausage, Docm, and a flex dendro or electro battery. Does massive damage with very little investment.

Washed Up: Basically the Gudemorder hyperbloom team but replace Etho with Pearl, lol. Pearl, Cleo, Bdubs, and Joe or Oli.

Girls KILL: Burgeon team with Katherine, Lizzie, Shrub and Pearl. This one doesn't have the beeeeest synergy? Shrub and Lizzie both want a good amount of on-field time. But they were so cute in the summer event last year, OK, and I cleared abyss with this team so let me have it. It works.

If leaks are to be believed, WRA hyperbloom team is going to be viable. Here's hoping Gem's kit doesn't get changed too much in beta.

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

That's all! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you want me to rate your builds or anything. I'm thinking of doing an archon series in general, because it could be fun to look how the game has evolved like that. All Pearl wanters shall be Pearl havers! Amen!

[paperanddice]

Eater of Dust

A terrible creature that resembles a knight wearing plate armor made of calcified resin. Its helmet has no eye slots or mouthpiece, or hinge to be opened, and its weapon is a glistening greatsword that consists of a great mouth. This is an eater of dust, a strange being from some lost dimension of nightmares, now wandering the planes without a true home. Known by the name yakat-shi in ancient texts, they most often associate with demons, devils, and other such fiends, acting as mercenaries. Seeking out new meals, they can devour nearly anything with their mawblades, from dust to diamonds, from flesh to metal. Offerings of unusual or previously unheard of flavors can draw in yakat-shi, ready to operate in small but deadly military units.

The armor they wear is actually a secreted resin as hard as steel, which binds to the skin and cannot be removed. When cracked, it seeps ichor that glistens like a nautilus shell and quickly seals the wound. Older yakat-shi have networks of mother-of-pearl scars on their armor, marks of battle survived. Lightning disrupts this rapid healing however, leaving cracks open longer and the eater of dust vulnerable to death, so enemies that utilize lightning are usually targeted first. In general those who engage in mercenary work seem to have nothing but contempt for other life forms, even their own allies, devouring those they kill and their equipment. In particular, they seem to enjoy devouring and destroying powerful magical gear, hunting for intelligent weapons especially.

Completely silent, eaters of dust communicate only through telepathy. They stand a bit taller than most humans, at around 7 feet, and tend to weigh between 350 and 400 pounds.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Eater of Dust Creature 9 Rare, Medium, Aberration Perception +19; hearing (precise) 60 feet Languages Aklo, Chthonian, Common, Diabolic (can't speak any language); telepathy 100 feet Skills Athletics +20, Intimidation +18, Occultism +15, Survival +17 Str +5, Dex +2, Con +5, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +3 AC 29; Fort +20, Ref +15, Will +17 HP 130 (regeneration 10 (deactivated by electricity)); Immunities blinded, poison; Resistances acid 10, cold 10 Speed 30 feet Melee mawblade +20 (magical), Damage 2d10+11 piercing Occult Innate Spells DC 26 ; 4th harm (×3), heal, translocate, unfettered movement (×3); 1st sure strike (×3); Devour Any time the eater of dust scores a critical hit with a mawblade Strike, it picks one of the following effects: it also deals the same amount of damage to the target's armor, bypassing any Hardness lower than 10, like adamantine; or the target must succeed at a DC 28 Fortitude save or become drained 1, or increase its drained value by 1. Weapon Bond The eater of dust's mawblade is treated as if it were made of any solid precious metal for the purpose of ignoring resistances or immunities, or exploiting weaknesses. The eater of dust always knows the direction and distance of its mawblade, as long as it's on the same plane of existence.

13th Age

Eater of Dust Double-strength 5th level troop [aberration] Initiative: +9 Mawblade +10 vs. AC (2 attacks) – 20 damage. Natural 14+: The target takes a -1 penalty to AC (save ends). Natural 18+: The target loses one recovery. Regeneration 10: The eater of dust heals 10 hit points at the start of each of its turns. It can regenerate five times per battle. If it heals to its maximum hit points, then that use of regeneration doesn’t count against the five-use limit. When the eater of dust is hit by an attack that deals lightning damage, it loses one use of its regeneration, and it can’t regenerate during its next turn. Dropping an eater of dust to 0 hp doesn’t kill it if it has any uses of regeneration left. Resist Acid 16+. AC 21 PD 18 MD 15 HP 130

[theterribletenno]

Bismuth the Mining warframe

I'm not the least bit surprised that the Meme Pick of the season scored well. I'm tooling him as a dedicated support with strong defenses. All four of Bismuth's blueprints can be acquired from Old Man Suumbaat in Cetus (requires rank 3: TRUSTED with the Ostron syndicate), Smokefinger in Fortuna (requires rank3: DOER with the Solaris United syndicate), and Otak in the Necralisk (requires rank 3: ASSOCIATE with the Entrati syndicate). All three vendors will have all four blueprints available at all times. These blueprints are exchanged for raw ores and gems acquired from the associated open world zone. Every 12 hours the cost of Bismuth's blueprints from each vendor are randomized, each one requiring one type of ore and one type of crystal. The blueprints and components of Bismuth's signature weapons are obtained the same way but require rank 4 with each respective syndicate.

Common ores x250

Uncommon ores x50

Rare ores x10

Common gems x75

Uncommon gems x15

Rare gems x3

Health: 400 (500 at rank 30) Shields: 200 (300 at rank 30) Armor: 500 Energy: 150 (200 at rank 30) Sprint Speed: 1.0

Passive: Every enemy Bismuth encounters will have two nodes highlighted on their body, a blue Gem node and a red Metal node. Striking these highlighted nodes directly with any weapon will cause the node to be destroyed, dropping 1 unit of its given resource. These nodes along with the Gems and Metals are only visible and accessible to Bismuth. If there are multiple Bismuth on a team each one will have their own instances of ore nodes and dropped resources. Bismuth also gains 1 unit of Gem or Metal after successfully mining a node of the same type in open world zones. For every Gem Bismuth is carrying his maximum energy increases by 2.5, and for every Metal he is carrying his armor increases by 5. Bismuth can carry up to 100 of each resource.

Ability 1: Geochemical Survey, 25 energy. Combining the scientific principles of physics and chemistry Bismuth pings enemies to reveal additional ore nodes on their bodies while also damaging them. Geochemical Survey targets the enemy closest to Bismuth's crosshairs within 50 meters, dealing 200 points each of Corrosive, Impact, and Puncture damage with a guaranteed status proc of each. The initial target also releases 6 orb projectiles that seek out enemies within 12.5 meters from the main target over a duration of 12 seconds. Each orb deals 100 points each of Corrosive, Impact, and Puncture damage with a guaranteed status proc of each. These projectiles will avoid striking the same target unless there are too few enemies within range. Every enemy hit by Geochemical Survey's initial damage or seeking orbs will have an additional Gem and Metal ore node appear on their body. Enemies cannot bear more than four ore nodes at once, but enemies whose ore nodes have been harvested can be refreshed with new nodes by Geochemical Survey. Enemies killed by damage from Geochemical Survey will drop either a Gem or a Metal.

Geochemical Survey consumes up to 10 Gems when cast with each Gem adding an extra foe-seeking orb released by the main target.

Geochemical Survey consumes up to 10 Metals when cast with each Metal increasing damage dealt by +10%.

Ability 2: Gaia's Restoration, 50 energy. Using Tenno power to combine mysticism and medicine Bismuth heals himself and his allies with the power of the earth. Upon activation Bismuth and all teammates within 50 meters are healed for 50% of their max health & shields and gain 200+X (where X is equal to 10% of the player's base armor) bonus armor for 10 seconds. Healing from this ability grants health & shields. If health & shields are full excess healing is converted into overshields and if health, shields, and overshields are full excess healing is converted into overguard with a maximum value of 10,000 points.

Gaia's Restoration consumes up to 10 Gems when cast with each gem increasing healing granted by an extra 5% of max health & shields.

Gaia's Restoration consumes up to 10 Metals when cast to increase the duration of bonus armor by +1.5 seconds for each Metal consumed.

Ability 3: Enhydro Agate, 75 energy. Bismuth summons up a geode from below, a special stone that attracts enemy attention and releases pulses of energy when damaged. The Enhydro Agate has health equal to the sum total of Bismuth's health and shields multiplied by 5 and armor equal to Bismuth's. Enhydro Agate taunts enemies within 30 meters to attack it instead of players or their companions & allies. Every time the Enhydro Agate loses 20% of its max health it releases a pulse that restores 25 energy to all players within 40 meters. Both enemies and allies can damage the Enhydro Agate. The Enhydro Agate's health decays at a rate of 1% per second. Only one instance of Enhydro Agate can be active at a time, and agates will last until their health reaches zero.

Enhydro Agate consumes up to 10 Gems when cast increasing energy granted by each pulse by +1 per Gem consumed.

Enhydro Agate consumes up to 10 Metals when cast decreasing the damage threshold between pulses by -1% of max health per Metal consumed.

Ability 4: Rapid Sedimentation, 100 energy. When Rapid Sedimentation is cast Bismuth releases a huge mass of microscopic minerals that adhere to enemies, coating their bodies in a layer of quick-hardening stone. Over the course of 4 seconds all enemies within 30 meters slow until becoming completely immobilized; unable to move, attack, or cast abilities for 10 seconds after. All enemies affected by Rapid Sedimentation will have an additional Gem and Metal ore node appear on their body. Enemies cannot bear more than four ore nodes at once, but enemies whose ore nodes have been harvested can be refreshed with new nodes by Rapid Sedimentation. Enemies that are completely immobilized by Rapid Sedimentation will have a 60% chance to drop an extra item from their loot pool upon death. Enemies that are affected by Rapid Sedimentation within 30 meters of an active Enhydro Agate will be damaged by the agate, taking the same amount of damage as the agate's health decay per second as true damage. Rapid Sedimentation does not consume Gems or Metals when cast.

Subsumed ability: Enhydro Agate

Signature Weapons Foreman: The original Orokin version of the Foreman was a multipurpose tool for prospecting. They were frequently seen in the hands of mine and quarry managers, giving this tool its nickname the Foreman's Stave. This bastardized Tenno version is repurposed with destruction in mind. Foreman is a speargun sniper with a 3x magnification scope and 30% bonus headshot damage while looking down sights. Slightly above normal magazine size and slow reload speed for a sniper rifle. Primary fire has very high per-hit damage and accuracy but slow attack speed. Deals mostly puncture, moderate impact, and low slash damage with high critical chance at the cost of low status chance. Secondary fire mode throws the weapon which deals pure blast damage in an 8 meter radius upon striking an enemy or surface as well as some impact damage if an enemy is struck directly. Secondary fire mode has high critical chance & critical multiplier but zero status chance; however this weapon applies a guaranteed blast status proc for every round in the magazine when the weapon was thrown and also gains extra damage for each round consumed. Players caught in the secondary fire's blast range will be purged of status effects and become immune to status effects for 6 seconds. As Bismuth's signature speargun this weapon's primary fire yields twice as many Gems or Metals when it hits an enemy's ore node. To craft the Foreman you will need its blueprint and three components: The barrel, receiver, and stock. Gluckrut: Yet another Orokin mining tool made weapon by the bloodthirsty Tenno. The Gluckrut is said to be able to seek out hidden treasures such as ore deposits and aquifers, but in the hands of the Tenno it seems most keen to seek out brain matter. Categorized as a secondary weapon the Gluckrut has two firing modes. Eight-round magazine with a moderate reload speed. Deals equal values of impact, puncture, and slash damage and boasts above-average values of both critical and status chance. Primary fire has a semi-auto trigger which fires fast-flying projectiles with high per-shot damage at the cost of a slow firing speed and deals 20% additional damage on headshots. Secondary fire mode fires all rounds left in the magazine in a rapid burst, causing the projectiles to automatically home in on the heads of nearby enemies but losing the extra headshot damage offered by the primary fire. Using the mag-burst secondary fire causes a slight but noticeable delay before reloading. As Bismuth's signature sidearm the Gluckrut's secondary fire mode will home in on and strike Gem and Metal ore nodes on nearby enemies instead of their heads, if present. To craft the Gluckrut you will need its blueprint and two components: The barrel and receiver.

Closing Notes: I don't think much here really needs explaining. At certain points it kind of felt like I was making a new version of Atlas, but I don't think anyone would complain about that. Gluckrut is derived from "Glück-Rüt" the German name for a dowsing rod. I decided that instead of making his ult consume Gems and Metals like the others I'd make it useful as a tool for harvesting those resources. Despite being relatively simple overall Bismuth ended up with a LOT of text.

[tomorrowusa]

This is a good idea...

Ban fossil fuel ads to save climate, says UN chief

Tobacco ads were banned on TV and radio in the early 1970s in the United States. That began a process of denormalization of tobacco which has continued in the years since then.

Climate change likely played a role in India's national election.

The hidden story behind India’s remarkable election results: lethal heat

The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), led by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has won more seats than the opposition alliance, and yet its victory tastes of defeat. Why? In the days leading to the election, the BJP’s main slogan had been Abki baar, 400 Paar, a call to voters to send more than 400 of its candidates to the 543-member parliament. This slogan, voiced by Modi at his campaign rallies, set a high bar for the party. Most exit polls had predicted a massive victory for the BJP – and now the results, with that party having won only 240 seats, suggest that the electorate has sent a chastening message to the ruling party and trimmed its hubris. [ ... ] People in Patna voted on 1 June, the last day of the seven-phase polling schedule. In Patna, the temperature had hovered above 40C. Local newspapers carried government ads exhorting voters to exercise their franchise, as well as half-page ads from the health ministry offering advice about how to avoid heatstroke. In the days leading to the voting in Patna, there were reports of personnel at polling stations dying from the heat. In the nation’s capital, Delhi, there were protests over water shortages. Last week, the temperature in Delhi hit 49.9C.

For the Celsius-challenged, 49.9° C = 121.8° F. That's just 0.2° F short of the all time record high temperature in Phoenix, Arizona which reputedly has "dry" heat.

As it turned out the ruling BJP did win the election but will be able to govern only with the help of electoral allies. The BJP had been boasting about getting 400 seats in the 543 seat Lok Sabha - the lower house of parliament. It ended up with just 240 with its allies winning 53 for a total of 293 seats. It is a modest working majority but is way down from the 353 seats won by the BJP & allies in the previous election.

Climate was certainly not the only issue in the election but experiencing a severe heat wave in which people were dropping dead at polling places is bound to have an impact. Politicians in India may now be more open to moving away from fossil fuels. The opposition would be wise to make climate change a bigger issue.

[sortanonymous]

If Mother Nature had her way, NASCAR would straight up not exist anymore in every way, shape, or form.

[gin-draws]

Do you mind questions about your dnd ocs?

They're so pretty and fascinating.

omg I would absolutely love questions about my ocs!!!! —here's a rundown of the girlies:

Reykja- Arcane Trickster- Criminal/Spy - High Elf

(she/her) angsty drunk lesbian rogue with mommy issues, having a really bad day every day

Ba’Sura Isabella Goldenfoot Wild Magic Barbarian- Swords Bard- Urchin/Noble - Halfling/Hexblood

(she/her) halfling heiress turned hagling powerhouse- loves her allies as hard as she hits her enemies

Rezin aka ‘Whispers’ Twilight Cleric - Criminal/Spy - Dark Elf

(she/they) Reykja's No Good Very Bad Day 2: stuck in someone else's body 400 years after she "died" and still looking for their mentor

Borealis aka ‘Rea’ Circle of Stars Cleric - Feylost - Tiefling

(she/her) runaway daughter of the hourglass coven who helps lost spirits in the Feywild

Altagracia Madrugada aka 'Poppy' Arcane “Archer” - Undead Warlock- Farmer - Damphir

(she/her) farm girl who had her life ruined by her former girlfriend's gang and is now out for revenge

[darkmaga-returns]

Joe Biden and his handlers are moving quickly to ignite World War III before Christmas and before President Trump can be inaugurated and bring peace to the region.

On Sunday, Joe Biden’s regime approved Ukraine’s use of US-made long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia.

The Washington Post reported that Biden will allow Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon for strikes inside Russia, supposedly in response to North Korea’s recent aid to Russia in the form of thousands of troops. Ukraine will be specifically allowed to use the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to hit targets inside Russia.

As The Post notes, ATACMS is a supersonic-guided missile system that can be used with either cluster munitions or conventional warheads. It has a maximum range of about 190 miles.

The Post elaborates that Ukraine is expected to focus on and around the Kursk region at first but could expand its targets.

On Tuesday, Ukraine fired six US-made long-range missiles inside Russia. The first Ukrainian strike targeted the border region of Bryansk in Russia.

According to BRICS News – Five missiles were shot down by S-400 & Pantsir AA systems, one was damaged, its fragments fell in the technical zone of a military facility, causing a fire, Russian Defense Ministry says.

Putin, following reports of Biden’s decision to give Ukraine permission to “long-range” missiles, approved the updated nuclear doctrine of the Russian Federation. As part of the new doctrine Russia spelled out that aggression against Russia and its allies by a non-nuclear country with the support of a nuclear state will be considered a joint attack.

[fruityfroggy]

So…..just me testing the waters for posting about my r1999 OCs…..here’s their incantation card descriptions! (As a teaser maybe?)

This post and the format of it were inspired by @authorchia, so ty<3

(6* Star) Lady Clef:

“The night is young, so stay a while, darling. I’ll show you a night to remember.”

Kiss of Smoke (Attack): - "Catch it, before it's gone."

Deals 150% Mental DMG to 2 targets. Gains 1 stack of [The Coveted]. If a target was defeated by the caster in the previous round, this attack steals 1 Moxie from the target.

Melodic Entrance (Attack): - "Each melody envelops tightly."

1-target attack. Deals 200% Mental DMG and gives self a stack of [The Coveted]. If an enemy's HP is below 50%, additionally deals 40% Genesis DMG.

Glorious Closer (Ultimate): - "Let this sparkling bliss end your night, mon cheri."

Mass attack. Deals 700% Mental DMG. Purifies all [Stats Down], [Negative Status], and [Control] statuses from all allies, while dispelling all [Stats Up] and [Positive Status] statuses from all enemies.

[The Coveted]: If [The Coveted] is at 6 stacks, consumes all stacks and casts [Plaything] as an extra-action.

[Plaything]: Drains all Moxie from the enemy with highest amount of Moxie. If 2 enemies have the highest amount of Moxie, the effect goes to the one with highest HP, while inflicting [Bleed] on the other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(6* Plant) Verdigris:

- “Hm? Oh, sorry. I didn’t notice you coming in. I lost track of time again…”

Sway With the Brambles (Attack): - "They're just excited to see you."

1*: 1-target attack. Deals 180% Reality DMG.

2*: 1-target debuff. Deals 200% Reality DMG. Inflicts [Seal] and [Failed Prototype] on the target for 2 rounds.

Upkeep (Health): - "Just some maintenance should do the trick."

Mass healing. Restores HP equal to 80% of the caster's attack to all allies. This healing effect gains an additional 40% Critical Rate; An additional 30% Critical Rate is given to a random DPS ally.

Staticize (Ultimate): - "The inanimate can be beautiful too. So don’t be afraid to be one of them. Frozen, unmoving, and motionless."

Mass attack. Deals 400% Reality DMG. If [Plant Fiber] is at 6 or more stacks, consumes 6 stacks and casts either [Sucessful Prototype] or [Fibrous Friend] (depending on circumstances).

[Plant Fiber]: Gain [Plant Fiber] when any team member actively uses a character incantation or when an ally takes an extra action.

[Failed Prototype]: The target’s Critical Resist -25 and is unable to score critical hits.

[Successful Prototype]: Critical Resist +25 and +40% Critical Rate for all allies. [Successful Prototype] is cast when more [Plant Fiber] are obtained from character incantations than extra actions.

[Fibrous Friend]: All DMG from enemy attacks deflect and redirect back onto the enemy team for one round. [Fibrous Friend] is cast when more [Plant Fiber] are obtained from extra actions than incantations.

If you have any questions about them, pls ask! I’ll be happy to post more about their lore if there’s anyone who's interested in learning more:) Okay byeee

[blazehedgehog]

Well, what do you think of all the Switch 2 hooplah recently?

Everything we know sounds like Nintendo was very close to announcing a Switch Pro to supplement the Switch Lite. From what I remember (and maybe I'm getting some of this wrong, it's just from memory):

In the big Nvidia leak, a second driver branch was discovered for the Switch's specific brand of Tegra chip that included a new version of DLSS, the tech that upscales low resolution displays up to 4K. It was assumed this was for the Switch Pro.

It's not just that the Nvidia leak was for the Switch's Tegra chip, I believe it was for, like, a "version 2" (or even version 3) of that same chip.

Bloomberg ran a report that a dozen or so developers had Switch Pro development kits and were targeting their games for it. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume something like Mortal Kombat One and the Batman Collection were probably including the Switch Pro in their targets, and the performance problems people reported in Link's Awakening HD were probably meant to be cleaned up by the Pro. Digital Foundry also has noted that Nintendo's own trailer footage of Tears of the Kingdom appeared to be running on hardware much better than a stock Switch.

Some reports of the Switch 2 are "more evolution than revolution" and it feels to me like Nintendo is just taking the Switch Pro and maybe just bumping it up a little more. After all, they have all this work done on development for the Pro, so why not just extend the capabilities a little more?

The current target is said to be "in the same range as the PS4", right? For a portable, I think that's about right. The ignorant will moan at how behind the curve Nintendo is on hardware, but one, that's how Nintendo actually remains profitable, and two, that's kind of the limit of what a portable system is capable of.

Because we have the Steam Deck now, right. And the Steam Deck has created a market of Steam Deck competitors -- stuff like the ROG Ally and the Ayaneo. And for the current price point ($400-$700), we generally seem to have hit a limit of what's possible in portable hardware, and it's right around that "about as powerful as a PS4" spec.

The ROG Ally and Ayaneo can push things beyond that a little bit, but the added power consumption basically makes the battery on these things worthless. Which is to say nothing about system heat; the ROG Ally was famous for having an emergency ejector function that would suddenly launch the SD card from the slot like a missile under the danger that it was getting so hot it might melt.

We're simply at the boundary of what's possible in that form factor, doubly confirmed by Valve stating last year that we wouldn't see a Steam Deck 2 "for at least a couple years." For something this light, this thin, this is as stable and as usable as it gets.

I imagine the Switch 2 will be somewhat competitive in this arena, but not quite as powerful or versatile as a Steam Deck. But it won't exactly be a slouch, either. I imagine it'll be the sort of thing where a $300 Switch 2 will be "good enough" but a $400 Steam Deck will still edge it out in performance.

Will Nintendo announce the Switch 2 this year? Maybe, I guess. I always got the impression that they didn't announce the Switch Pro because sales on the vanilla Switch were way too strong and they didn't want to water down the market with too many alternate SKUs. But now vanilla Switch sales seem to be falling pretty fast and they're in a position to get this thing to market quickly, so I think they will.

[richincolor]

Title: Wander in the Dark Author: Jumata Emill Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller Pages: 400 Publisher: Delacorte Press Review Copy: eARC provided via NetGalley Availability: Available now

Summary: Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone.

Amir never finds out, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch. And in no time, Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of a rich white girl’s murder? All of New Orleans agrees: the case is open-and-shut.

Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, things don’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but Marcel knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving his innocence will repair the rift between them.

To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.

Review: [Wander in the Dark prominently features discussion of systemic racism in the U.S. justice system and racist cyberbullying in a private high school, in addition to some brief but intense descriptions of violence, an infidelity subplot, and past animal death.]

A surefire sign that a mystery or thriller is hitting the way it should for me as a reader is just how worried I get about the characters. And let me tell you, I spent so much of Wander in the Dark extremely worried about Amir, Marcel, and their family. Author Jumata Emill really knows how to craft a fast-paced mystery, and I raced through the book because I desperately wanted to know what would happen next.

Amir and Marcel are great character foils for one another, and their contrasting narrative voices served to strengthen their respective plots and highlight the similarities they developed. Race and class/privilege shaped both Amir and Marcel, often in noticeably different ways, and their experiences influenced how they saw, related to, and interacted with the world. It made the gradual development of their sibling relationship immensely satisfying to read, especially the times when they united together against other people and in support of each other. I also appreciated how complicated their views of each other and the rest of their family were, especially how neither “side” was blameless in how the conflicts had played out.

Jumata Emill did a fantastic job of layering subplots into Wander in the Dark’s murder mystery. The different investigative paths Amir and Marcel went down as they tried to prove Amir’s innocence developed nicely and tied in to one another in unexpected ways. I never felt like the story was lagging or that a potential red herring was dragging out for too long, and while I had some nitpicks about how particular things played out, none of them were significant enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story. This is the kind of mystery that I would enjoy reading again specifically to spot more of the clues/foreshadowing the second time around.

Recommendation: Get it now if you enjoy mysteries. Jumata Emill’s Wander in the Dark is a fast-paced murder mystery that tackles complex families, systemic racism, intracommunity politics, corruption, and so much more. Amir and Marcel are fantastic narrators, and watching the two of them figure out how to be brothers while trying to clear Amir’s name is a great way to spend a weekend.

Extras: Book Talk: Five Questions with Jumata Emill

Author Interview – Jumata Emill