#and it was so good. literally its 400k and i have read it three times.

[dontgofarfromme]

ok that art you've just reblogged may be the thing that convinces me to read(?) stormlight archive, but could i ask what exactly it is?

AHAHAH OMG okay um hmm its...quite difficult to summarize Stormlight Archive briefly but I will try lol. If anyone wants to add on and correct things please do bc I....literally cant explain this series and i have forgotten so much of the lore.

Basically it's a fantasy novel series set in a world that periodically undergoes like....massive apocalypses, which were fought off by these vaguely magic people known as the Heralds, assisted by these orders of magic knights called the Knights Radiant. At some point in the past, the Heralds abandoned their duty to fight off these things, and the Knights Radiant disbanded. However currently, there are many strange supernatural events occurring, people are beginning to regain the types of powers the Knights Radiant once had, and another desolation might be approaching.

Beyond the overarching large scale supernatural bits of the plot, the story occurs primarily in Alethkar, a country that, following a bloody expansion campaign years earlier, is currently in the middle of another war. The first book centers around a surgeon in training turned soldier turned slave who is forced into one of the most dangerous positions in the war, a noblewoman scholar-slash-artist, and a battle-worn, formerly bloodthirsty highprince (highest nobility under the king) trying to push his own efforts in the war in a more honorable direction.

These stories eventually tie together with one another and tie into the overarching plot in very cool and intricate ways, but this series is long so it takes a while to get there. There are three books so far and each is over 1000 pages (the shortest is almost 400k words).

However they're great books if you like this kind of thing and can deal with long. The worldbuilding is wild, from the fact that the planet itself is totally alien and populated by plant and animal species that are incredibly unique, to the variety of cultures and customs that have been created and depicted. The magic system, which I have intentionally explained not at all here because sometimes it breaks my brain a little, is also really cool and again, meticulously constructed. These books also deal with a lot of really interesting and difficult issues in a lot of detail. Because they're so long that they can take the time to investigate stuff like the extremely bumpy and non-linear road that is dealing with mental health issues or ask questions like how and when can a person who has done terrible things be redeemed or at what point does doing something for the "greater good" become not worth the pain you're causing anymore, and these ideas are set up and interrogated in really nuanced and interesting ways.

I dont think this series is necessarily for everyone--again its long, its epic fantasy, and I have done a frankly atrocious job of explaining the plot (and dodged the magic system entirely lol) because it's extremely complex and can be hard and potentially frustrating to understand. But if you're okay with the sheer volume of these books and wouldn't be bothered by a slow build to actual plot if the story is being supported by complex and well rounded characters and interesting themes, with loads of payoff once you do hit the actual plot, it might be worth it to give the first one a shot and see if you like it.

[paras-atashnak]

NICOLAS’ SIMS BIG BROTHER SEASON ONE: CAST REVEAL PART 1

Its time to meet the first 8 cast members for Nicolas’ Sims Big Brother Season 1!

Matteo Garcia

(@natalieskicks)

Name: Matteo "Mat" Garcia  Age: 24 Hometown: Riverside, California
 Current City: New York City 
 Occupation: Orthodontist Three adjectives that describe you: Resilient, Determined, Adventurous 
Favorite Activities: Swimming, ature walks, and Twitter 
 What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? Sharing the restroom with so many people and having to deal with their habits!  Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most? Natalie Negrotti! 
Do you have a strategy for winning the game? I'm going to try to lay low in the beginning and form friendships and alliances that will stay loyal to me and that I can stay loyal to through the game. 
My life’s motto is… Look good, do good, feel good
 What would you take into the house, and why? A ton of comfy and fashionable lounge clothes since most of what people see on the episodes takes place lounging around in the bedrooms!
 Fun facts about yourself: I can stick my whole fist in my mouth!

Jasmine Jehova

(@sirdippinghotsauce​)

Name: Jasmine Jegova
 Age: 23
 Hometown: Manhattan, New York 
Current city: New York City, New York 
Occupation: Politician Three adjectives that describe you: Persistent, Opinionated, Confident
 Favorite activities: My job! I love being able to help the environment! 
What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? I can’t stand lairs, so keeping my mouth shut when I know people lying is gonna be hard! I also can’t lie, but I know that’s part of the game so being able to keep secrets won’t be easy!
 Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most? Helen Kim! I feel like she stayed by her morals and I really admire that
 Do you have a strategy for winning the game? I’m a politician, so I want to use my speaking skills to convince people that I am a trustworthy player and a good ally. 
 My life’s motto is… Go for it. no matter how it ends, it was an experience
 What would you take into the house, and why? My stuffed rabbit! It means a lot to me and really helps me through stress.
 Fun facts about yourself: I have chained myself to a tree, I love older men, I don’t own a car and my favorite animal is a lemur!

Piso Pared

(@davonnebb​)

Name: Piso Pared Age: 23 Hometown: The Bronx Current City: Miami Occupation: Waitress at Hooters and a part time Starbucks worker Three adjectives that describe you: Loud, materialistic and scammerLoud, materialistic and scammer What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? Having to keep my mouth shut and watch out for lying ass bitches Which past big brother cast member did you like the most? Alison Irwin and Danielle Lickey are my idols Do you have a strategy for winning the game? My strategy is to flirt with all the men and intimidate the other girls so that ill be sitting pretty until i win that check! My life motto is... Dont give up till its over bitches What would you like to take into the house and why? I would like to take my twin sister Oprah Winfrey but i was told that I'm not allowed to.. so ill just take some windex to spray on these hoes Fun facts about yourself:I am a beautiful bisexual mixed woman, Megan Trainor is my mom and she threw me away into a dumpster when i was born. Ellen DeGenerous found me and took me in and raised me with my twin sister Oprah Winfrey, and I want to be in a showmance!

Brad Owens

(@momma-day​)

Name: Brad Owens Age: 23 Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio Current city: New York City, New York Occupation: Celebrity Pet Stylist 

Three adjectives that describe you: Beautiful, Flirty, and Charming Favorite activities: Parodying popular music videos and perusing pet shops  What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? Being away from my life of luxury and convenience Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most? Natalie Negrotti because she a thiccy who scammed her way to jury by playing James Do you have a strategy for winning the game? Yes My life’s motto is… the roof may not be my son but ill raise it anyways What would you take into the house, and why? My purse lined with 100 dollar bills to remind myself i come from money, My Peruvian Guinea Pig whomst I like to stroke to calm myself, and My photobook of my friends and i in every shady dark bathroom in New York  Fun facts about yourself: I specialize in body shots, I hold the world record for most consecutive snaps, and I've got 400k followers on instagram

Kathleen Bauer

(@dominiquecoper​)

Name: Kathleen Bauer 
Age: 53 Hometown: Williamsport, PA Current city: Williamsport, PA Occupation: Full Time Mom Three adjectives that describe you: Energetic, Loving, Driven Favorite activities: Hanging out with my kids and husband, going to play tennis at the country club, and drinking wine with the girls on Thursdays! What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? Being away from my family is gonna be hard, but I’m playing this for them! Also not having Wine for 3 months will be rough! Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most? I love Kathy Hillis! I really related to her a lot and thought she was  a fun personality! Do you have a strategy for winning the game? I know the house is gonna be filled with a bunch of young kids, but I have teenagers I know how to handle them! Im a huge superfan and they won’t see Kathleen coming! My life's motto is… live laugh love! What would you take into the house, and why? My Cabernet! I can’t live without it! Pictures of my kids, I love them more than anything! My best friend Angie, she helps me through EVERYTHING! Fun facts about yourself: I was an extra in the hit T.V. series “Gossip Girl!”, I go to the Little League World Series every year, and I’m an animal person!

Ace Ryers

(@jackie-ibarras​)

Name: Ace Ryers 
Age: 21
 Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
 Current city: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
 Occupation: Business owner Three adjectives that describe you: Laidback, charismatic, keen
 Favorite activities: Traveling, singing, reading
 What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? Finding something to do and keeping my hands busy. 
 Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most? Victor Arroyo. The guy has some strength and played a loyal game, for what time he had to play the game. Got to still be an all-around good guy and did what he had to do. Not...very refined, but impressive. 
Do you have a strategy for winning the game? Hide out in people's blind spots and play the nice guy role until it's time to strike and get down to business. 
 My life’s motto is… if opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. 
 What would you take into the house, and why? My Fitbit. It seriously does everything, A good book, and my guitar.
 Fun facts about yourself: I am a shareholder for Starbucks and hold stocks in it. I graduated college at 20 years old. (Thanks Columbia!) and I had my last and first name legally changed when I moved to America at 3 years old.

Mariana Castillo

(@flopkingbb​)

Name: Mariana Castillo 
Age: 22
Hometown: San Jose, CA
 Current City: Cambridge, MA
 Occupation: Bartender and Student Three adjectives that describe you: Empathetic, Gregarious, Reliable
 Favorite activities: Going out and partying to distract myself from my studies, Shopping and Reading books
 What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? I assume the most difficult part of living in the house will be getting used to living with 15 other people, I have a very bad experience living with a large number of people.
 Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most? I loved Da’vonne the most because she did whatever she had to do to make it far in the game so that she can win money for her and her daughter. That was her motivation to play the game and I feel that mine is kind of similar to her’s.
 Do you have a strategy for winning the game? My strategy is to make close friendships and let them carry me, but also to win comps every once in while to secure my safety and my alliance’s until I want to cut them off.
 My life’s motto is... In life be a warrior not a worrier 
What would you take into the house, and why? 
All the liquor at my job so everyone can let loose and chill
, Pepper spray so if a bitch tries me imma blind her ass
, and My pet chameleon. he’s a cunt but I love him because he’s good company 
Fun facts about yourself: Binge watching tv is my forte, I’m good at martial arts, and I was in foster care for almost half of my life 

Aspen Knolls

(@audreysusbb17

​)

Name: Aspen Knolls Age: 21 Hometown: Monterey, CA Current City: New York, NY Occupation: Freelance personal assistant Three adjectives that describe you: manipulative, subversive, witty Favorite activities: buying clothes I can’t afford, ghosting all my suitors What do you think will be the most difficult part about living inside the Big Brother house? Living with other people…. Yuck Which past Big Brother cast member did you like most? Amber Borzotra and Jozea Flores bc everyone says I look like their love child Do you have a strategy for winning the game? Intimidation LOL My life's motto is… run over anyone in your way (literally) What would you take into the house, and why? My $2000 Jura E8 Automatic Coffee Machine, because….. why not. My pet sphynx cat, Kate Lynn Gender, to show off her pure bred status and my Gucci Resort 17 fur, to STUNT! Fun facts about yourself: Beyonce Knowles is my third cousin, my mom tried to abort me but I stayed alive, and I found Nicole Kidman’s wallet and she took me to dinner after I returned it

The second group of houseguests will be posted tomorrow evening

[hesokuri-wars]

     🌠 The Ultra Magical NEETs are out !! 🌠

A brand new golden set a brand new campaign, amirite ??  It seems like the celebration of this brand new updated set coming out is being pretty rewarding for us players (and also fans of the Magical NEETs, I guess).  But what does this new campaign brings us ??

THE ULTRA MAGICAL NEET CAMPAIGN. [Ending date • July 23rd]

A 50-diamond reward right after maintenance.

The Ultra Magical NEET (Percentage UP) Gatcha. The newest set we’re getting had already been assumed to be a flying set (aka, it only attacks air enemies), but it also comes with a little perk.  Just like the Raincoat set (and as a replacement for the mentioned) if you have an unit of the Ultra Magical NEET set in your team at the mometn of playing any stage you’ll get a percentage of extra coins after completion, said percentage growing with each Ultra Magical NEET you add to your team. Coins are always really nice, so said perk is very valuable when grinding, but just like the Raincoat set it’s only going to be a seasonal thing, starting today and ending in August 4rd, so make sure you have at least one of these units and exploit it as much as you can before the deadline comes !! [Hey, Heso ??  I know my Bday sucks and stuff but not need to finish such a thing off that day, omg.]

The 100% Flying Gatcha is back. For newbies, the Flying Gatcha is basically a gatcha which only includes flying golden sets.  Why the 100% ??  Because, for once, it’s literally ONLY flying units instead fo your classic silver filler sets shoved in there because reasons. Because of this, there’s a huge golden-silver difference (33 golden cards and one single silver card, Flying!Hijirisawa), which explains why is this gatcha SO EXPENSIVE to roll from (700 diamonds for the 10-roll, and that’s the only option you have).  Rewards require lots of resources, guys.

The Flying Strategy Stages. The Heso Staff has been experimenting with their Strategy Stages lately which brings us this -- THIS THING.  For the newbies, the Strategy Stages are a series of stages in which you have a very specific setup of characters/sets to choose from, limiting yourself greatly and forcing you to play strategycally (technically). • Golden Units/Sets: Magical!Kara, Magical!Totoko, the Ultra Magical NEET set, the Youkai Awakening set and the Steampunk set. • Silver Units: BlueSuit!Oso, Pajama!Oso, Bathhouse!Kara, EXPO!Kara and Flying!Hijirisawa. Finishing Stages 1-8 gives you a 50k-coin reward each, Stage 9 gives you a 30-diamond reward and Stage 10 gives you a 50-diamond reward (earning a total of 400K coins and 80 diamonds upon completion of all the stages). WARNING: Stage 10 always suffers from a difficulty spike so don’t be surprised if the enemies out of sudden gang up on you and 1HKO all of your units because you weren’t ready.

More Stages to celebrate with !!. - Because of the addition of this new set, the original Magical NEET event has been brought back for new players to play and read its backstory, getting a total of 10 diamonds (one diamond per stage) upon completion. - And because of the launch of this brand new set of Strategy Stages, the Coin Strages have been brought back for grinding purposes (basically you win a very high number of coins when playing these Stages, using the Ultra Magical NEET units in here is highly reccommendable !!).

Diamond rewards with any of your purchases (max of three). During campaigns, purchasing diamonds (with real money) usually gives you small rewards, normally powerups and such, but not this time !!  The diamond rewards are back, and with any diamond purchase you make you’ll earn an extra number of diamonds for free (meaning that with one single dollar you can get 50 diamonds in total, with $5 90 diamonds and so on and so forth). Are you planning to spend your money ??  Then now you know where.

So is everyone excited ??  Planning to roll in any gatchas ??  How are you doing in the Flying Strategy Stages ??  Whenever you guys are doing, good luck and happy rolling (if the Staff ACTUALLY made sure the RNG was nicer, but I highly doubt it.png).

[thevelonaut]

Homefront.

This is absolutely classics country. Fortunately, any semblance of romance gives way, quickly, to pain and frustration. On the way South East, I’d known in my heart of hearts that a tailwind (and occasionally swipey cross-wind) was helping me out. I knew that I’d be turning back into it, and that however gentle it felt as we wandered the streets of Brux, it would be multiplied significantly as I crept back across the ridgey-flats of the North West. The reason that the early-season classics are a hotch-potch of gurn, of hellish faces and awful weather, is much the same as the reason why this was a crap place for a crap war; once the sun goes in (and to some extent when it’s out), the endless flat lands, farm smells, headwinds, sideways drizzle and cobbled tracks become as steadfast an obstacle as the Pyrenean cols, the switchbacks of d’Huez, the ramps of the mighty Lecht. I’d prefer some hardy cols to this. It’s the kind of place suited for those broad-shouldered monsters of the old days, who could puncheur into wind like a force of nature. I can, for a bit. For a little bit.

The fifth day / Brussels → Ieper

Ypres, the French call it. Some five days (and 100 years) after the Battle of Paschendaele, I roll into Ypres through the Menenpoort. I say roll, I think it was the least uphill-feeling part of the day. I’d hung out with HC, her brother and sister-in-law in Brussels for two days. I’d had a cheeky swim to spin my legs, I’d noted a twinge in my groin which I imagine is due to over-cranking a gear for 200k, loaded with luggage, and not ever stretching it en route. I curse it. It needs rest, two days probably won’t cut it, and the Cambium isn’t so comfy after a four or five hour day. Maybe leather is better. I think so. I’ll flog it.

Anyway, I was up and out at 8am; the paths and back streets of Brussels are fairly easy to navigate, and the sun was out to remind me to head in a NWerly direction. I ended up on the ring-road and saw no way to head further north without a) riding on a motorway or b) turning back and trying again from about 3 miles back. With a 90-mile day ahead, I decided to head for Aalst, due west of Brussels, then turn to the north-west after about 30km. It wasn’t the worst idea. The pastoral, calm canalside riding that had seen me down seemed to desert me; instead, I was often on paths alongside the murder roads of NW Belgium, caning it up decentish-tracks and pavements, lamenting the canopied, wind-free joyfest of days two and three. This is another of my problems - I never set out a good return trip. Or, perhaps, I am so addled by the sense of return that I fail to enjoy what is nice about it. Or, the wind is a hell-ferret that never stopped in its attempts to break me. Eventually I stopped at a Spar and sprayed my face with Appletiser, and at 2.30pm when the sun hot-spongs for a spell, I applied suncream and ate a baguette and houmous on a housing estate by a dual carriageway. If it sounds exciting, then it is. I picked up a little of that TCR spirit. Fuck the views.. they all look like this anyway. 

They do. Seriously. I did about 90k of this. There were marginally more leaves on the trees, but most of them were blowing into my face. Still, it is pancake flat, ironing board, smooth as Christ riding. Let’s not mince words. Easy-hard. Or hard-easy.

I get to Oudenaarde, then Wevelgem, and hit the final 20k to Ypres where I know there is a campings. Those last km are sign-posted all to hell with Commonwealth War Graves. Evocative names, famous craters, hills, memorials, regiments; atop the ridgeline, white crosses, monoliths and megaliths, the bright stalagmites that point to where most peoples innards ended up; scattered into the pressing wind, lovely human beings fractioned into micro-particles, cast into a land ever-fertile for the growing of war-dead cabbages and sprouts. They say each breath you take will contain at least an oxygen molecule that Julius Caesar himself would have inhaled. (They don’t say that in the song. They should.) Along the Menen road, you are sucking in the literal and figurative remains of almost a whole generation of human beings.

I don’t like it. I’d seen Ypres was en route to Dunkirk, from where I spring home, and figured that it made sense to pass through. If I did a long-day-short-day two-day ride then I could stay here. I crept in through the gate; the sun is now out glorious, and the town is a magnificent sight. HC navigates me (she’s in London, having taken a bus to the station in Brussels, a train to London, and a bus home in the time it has taken me to yam some houmous in a lay-by) to the campsite; it’s a nice one, if you ignore the Canadian grave-baggers in the mobile homes, the people wearing T-shirts that name regiments and feature photographs of eternally-young great-great-uncles. I put up camp, wash, and stroll to Lidl to bag the last baguette, 3-flavour houmous (oh MY ACTUAL GOD THIS IS AMAZING) and a tin of mackerel. Whilst I demolish this on Ypres square, I note a bunch of people dressed in their going-out clothes walking purposely through town. I’d forgotten that they play The Last Post every night at the Gate, and ambled along covered in beetroot and parsnip dip to pay my respects.

Except I didn’t really know how to. Or why I should? TO what, exactly, am I paying respect? And where are the Germans? Why is the Poort covered with only the Allied dead? And it’s nice that we honour the Indian regiments, when they were forced to dig so many trenches and graves, and be treated like shit for the privilege. Plus, I recently read that an explicit promise to release India from the Commonwealth in return for military support was never honoured. So, really, the whole thing leaves a strange taste in the mouth. Not just the race, the nationalism, the anti-nationalism, the visible lack of outreach; the spectacle itself feels like a fetish. There cannot be a person here who actually knew the dead of Ypres; too much time has gone by. And it is important that we honour this stupidity in order that we may not see its like again. But the crowds, the iPhones, the inane chat when it’s finished. I wasn’t in the mood. Is it the case that a ride across the Maginot Line is the perfect pace to consider the distance and futility of a war that became a mass-grave, formed into a perfect borderline? The Last Post had been, on some unconscious level, playing in my head for hours. It’s the soundtrack of a dark, sad place. So, so sad.

I woke at 6.30am the next day and hotfooted it out of town.

The sixth day / Ieper → Dunkirk → Dover → London Bridge → My bed.

The roads from Ypres to the border were quiet, uneventful, still windy. I got lost two or three times. I’d cycle later this month with my friend Ed, who uses Strava and Garmin and magic; the ease of navigation with devices astounds me. It picks out exactly where you are, and tells you exactly where to go. I almost give in to the temptation to update my by-now 4 year-old Blackberry to something worth a shit, that could do such things. Handlebar mounts for phones don’t do it for me, though. I use every square millimetre of space on a handlebar for, well, my hands. So... not yet. The phone still works. I got lost. Added six miles onto a 40-mile day. Nae bother.

I reached Oost-Capel after a spell of anonymity. I craved a coffee, hoped this French border town would have someplace to sit. It did not.. Belgian towns are decidedly absent of cafes, I know not why. It’s one of those subtle differences; you feel as if you are in France, but it’s the upside-down version. Instead of a nice cafe, there are about ten border guards sleepily waving down cars, mirror-checking the chassis, asking where people are off to. It’s an unsettling sight, but they wave me right by. (The guards at the port would later give me the same bored wave-through. I’m not carrying weapons of mass destruction (400k of fixed touring has savaged my groin and patella, mind you) but it’s both curious and somewhat alarming that a bike can get through to the ferry easily.)

There’s a nice small walled city called Bergues, where I stop for a brew. I dip the remains of last night’s baguette into it, soaking up about half that black glorious. I love soaking bread in coffee, but even though I still get the coffee, I feel like I’m denying myself something. Bergues is right pretty; I trace the little canal network to the North and take a cycle path alongside a canal to Dunkirk. It’s the nicest part of the day. I reach Dunkirk at about 12.30pm, and orbit the old town for an hour or so, then take the dock road up toward the ferry port. I load my bright pink musette with a lunch from Lidl, carry it over a motorway overpass, under a gyratory, behind a Travelodge, past some cranes, around ten roundabouts, over another autoroute, along a busy truck road, around a slag pile and just beneath some fire-spewing chimneys. The ferry port is not a pretty place. Pretty, in that industrial sense, which is to say not so pretty at all. I eat lunch in the weird cafe where no staff work, only machines; it’s a post-Marxist approach to the service industry. I wonder if the docking ferry in front of me is driven by a human being. I think about all those human beings who waited for a boat home in 1940 and all the ones that never got a chance to leave the cruddy fields of Flanders. I am covered in houmous, again, at a moment of silent contemplation. The world is a calm sea, choppy in the middle, and some white chalky downs that leap out of the channel at Dover. Everyone takes photographs of the sharp teeth of England’s mouth, opening up in a bucolic snarl to gobble up its visitors. Pretty soon, I am in torrential rain outside Dover station, throbbing legs, pack of peanuts, Spar lemon-lime and a newspaper to tell me what I missed.

Tour over. Legs recover. I pull out of London Bridge and spin crazy-legs to home. HC makes porridge. The sun goes down.

[whorrorfag]

when you say you love dark fic and the fandom needs more what kind of fic do you mean?

Well some people's definition of dark is different to mine, but when I say dark I mean like anything you'd see in horror novels for example. I love anything to do with the darkest sides of humanity.

cheating, violence, torture, kidnappings, noncon, dubcon, domestic violence. (one of my fave things to read are recovery fics, too. I love reading journeys through recovery from the darkest possible things).