#ankh magic

[shisasan]

[mtg-art-daily]

Ankh of Mishra

Tawnos finally cracked the puzzle: the strange structures did not house Mishra's malevolent creations but were themselves among his creations.

Artist: Ian Miller

[dimity-lawn]

[pratchettquotes]

"Apart from anything else," he declared, "it wouldn't look right."

"But it's the real Ankh-Morpork, Uncle," said Soll. "It's got to look exactly right. How can it not look right?"

"Ankh-Morpork doesn't look all that genuine, you know," said Dibbler thoughtfully.

"Of course it's bloody genuine!" snapped Soll, the bonds of kinship stretching to the snapping point. "It's really there! It's really itself! You can't make it any more genuine! It's as genuine as it can get!"

Dibbler took his cigar out of his mouth.

"No, it isn't," he said. "You'll see."

Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

[longearedhare]

Personally I think it’s the Palace, the other bosses might be bad but unlike Vetinari, they probably don’t know all of your secrets. Second to that i would say the Times because then William de Worde is employing you and there’s not much lower you can be

[toonvasion]

Zip Witch

I figured people would want to see more gals. Rather than this ---ko-fi---Patreon---Subscribestar---

[myths-of-fantasy]

I should be working on my other days

I am actually integrating magic more into The Black Wolf Capers.

Anyway VILE was now founded by a cult that worshipped a god, Greed who would offer his followers endless and eternal riches and is in constant conflict with the followers of Envy. Carmen was meant to be a vessel for Greed, merging with her soul to grant him physical form so he could better influence the world, but Dexter Wolfe tried to run off with her. It didn't work obviously, but eventually Carmen escaped before the transfer could happen.

Now VILE is chasing her around the world, both bc she's destroying their organization and also is preventing them from releasing Greed.

[joncronshawauthor]

The Genius of Pratchett: A Deep Dive into Discworld's Lasting Impact

If you’ve ever found yourself chuckling at a grumpy, anthropomorphic Death or a suitcase on hundreds of little legs, then you have fallen under the spell of the late, great Terry Pratchett. His legendary Discworld series, a mirthful, satirical romp through an absurd universe teetering on the back of four elephants (all of whom are perched on a giant turtle, naturally), has left a lasting imprint…

[marxonculture]

Personhood and Genre Fiction | My 2024 Reading Journey So Far

I’ve been working as a Library Assistant for six months now, and boy has it been a massive jolt to my love of reading. It’s hard not to be excited about digging into a book when you’re surrounded by them all day, and I credit that feeling with being responsible for my reading more books for pleasure in the first four months of 2024 than I have in the previous seven years combined. As I reach a modest milestone in my reading for the year, I wanted to reflect on what I’ve observed to be a common theme among the books that have most captured my imagination since January. With the world having been in a particularly fraught state over the last few years, and an increasingly prevalent trend of groups of people being actively dehumanised by those with power and influence, it’s been quite an emotional experience for me to discover that the books which have most captured my imagination this year have been about personhood and what defines it.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020)

The first book I finished this year is one that I think about every day. Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi is a wonderful little novel about who we are at different times, and crucially different places, in our lives. It explores personhood through the lens of fundamental internal change; when we go through seismic changes, do we become different people or are we fundamentally the same?

Clarke uses magical realism and a meticulously well-designed alternate reality/dream world as a means of exploring the evolution of one’s own personhood, as well as an adoration of design, architecture, and place. Piranesi was invigorating for me as a reassurance that it’s okay to redefine oneself at different points in life, and that just because you’re a different person now, that doesn’t mean that the old you ceases to exist.

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett (1996)

Terry Pratchett is so well known for being a satirist, that it’s easy to forget how sincere and moving his work can be. After putting it off for many years, I finally started reading the Discworld books this year, and have been enjoying them immensely, and while I had a great time with the first two books in the City Watch sub-series, it wasn’t until the third entry that one of them really hit me, emotionally.

Feet of Clay is about golems (‎גּוֹלֶם). For those unfamiliar with Jewish folklore, golems are anthropomorphic clay constructs ordered to obey the commands of their master and animated via the inscription of the Hebrew word for truth on its head. Pratchett’s golems are slightly different in that they are brought to life by placing governing words inside their heads. Pratchett uses this to remarkable effect to build a story of self-ownership and self-determination. It was especially moving to me to see Jewishness used in this way – as something empowering rather than grotesque, which is a real rarity in Western fantasy writing.

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (2016)

The last book I wanted to talk about here was this second entry in Becky Chambers’ beautifully humane, space opera anthology, The Wayfarers series. A Closed and Common Orbit centres on two protagonists, one an AI learning to adapt to a life passing as a human in an illegal ‘body kit’, and the other a clone, bred for factory work, trying to help the AI make a life for herself.

As with her first book, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, what characterises Chambers’ writing is her deep love for her characters, and the way that love manifests itself in this book is nothing short of miraculous. Sidra and Pepper’s parallel journeys are not merely about convincing others of their personhood, but rather convincing themselves. A Closed and Common Orbit is about finding a way of living where you feel most like yourself, learning to feel that you deserve for your needs to be met, and accepting that your loved ones see you as a person, even in times when you don’t.

All of these books have meant a great deal to me during a time where I have had to completely re-evaluate the ways in which I see myself. Genre fiction is not necessarily where I expected to find this feeling of personhood and recognition, but it’s especially exciting to have done so. There’s nothing quite like finding deep meaning in something you have engaged with purely for entertainment, and I hope to continue to do so as the year goes on.

[ndostairlyrium]

Catharsis

Themes (1/3)

[andreai04]

“No one dies of scrofula! I’ve got rights. I’m a wizard!”

[blindantigone]

Parallels: New to Town and the Book Tells Him What to Say

Carrot

Twoflower

[baladric]

hey you, recommend me yr fave discworld book bc i just finished my first one (mort) and am overwhelmed by choice!!!

[dimity-lawn]

[kumamedia]

Elemental Magical Girls update~

I’m taking a step back and researching periodic table groups rather than individual elements. Better to find similarities in design and abilities between the girls while I get a better understanding about chemistry, y’know?

Helium, Argon, and Nitrogen concepts- AND Neon and Copper redesigns- are coming soon 💛

In the meantime, here’s a Gold I doodled on a sticky note at work

[onewiththelight]