#esmi

[thesacredtwink]

Potential Mimikyu Evolution l

Mimikyu is well known for not having an evolved form. But what if, if you maxed out it's happiness, it would evolve into an undisguised form called Esmi (Pronounced Is Me). Because it's had its happiness maxed via a loving trainer-pokemon bond, it's learned how to grow and control its disease powers and doesn't hurt people on accsident any more.

It would become a Ghost Poison type, instead of Ghost Normal.

And instead of having to pretend to be some other pokemon (Mimikyu→ mimick Pikachu) it gets to be itself (Esme→ Is me)

[ahmaaaaaaaaaaaaad]

🤝🤝❤️

[davescumbag]

cats girls and zacharia aka z

[ridleymb]

Based on a theory seen recently

[v-toast]

i feel enlightened.. ascended, even

[worms-for-brains]

I remember back in 2019 when I made a fanon design for Esmy, the bug Sly talks about the first time you find him. Spoilers below (kind of)

Esmy would be a mantis taken in by the nailmasters because she wanted to learn how to be a better warrior. Eventually after the brothers split up and it was just her and Sly, she decided to bring Sly down to see her village (mantis village) but died along the way.

Completely made up out of my brain.

[gollancz]

That's right baybeeee - ten years after it first launched, Gollanczfest is back and it's bigger than ever!

WHEN?

16th March 2024

Leonardo Royal Hotel, London

Tickets go on sale Friday 6th October at 10am UK time!

Early presale for tickets available exclusively to our newsletter subscribers

WHO?

Our headliner? Only VICTORIA AVEYARD

Other confirmed authors: Joe Abercrombie, Natasha Pulley, Garth Nix, Dhonielle Clayton, Joe Hill, Ben Aaronovitch, @joannechocolat, Aliette de Bodard, Sarah Hawley, @jonnywaistcoat, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson . . . and MANY more

Plus: YOU

PLUS

All tickets come with a goodie bag full of Gollancz goodies work at least £30

VIP tickets are available with access to the green room, priority tickets to panels, and additional goodies

FREE SFF quiz run by the greatest quizmasters (allegedly, this may be a title they've claimed themselves and I cannot verify) Joe Abercrombie and Garth Nix!

We'll be announcing panels soon, but this is going to be a fun, friendly and festive day, full of nerdery, excitement and probably a lot of harried looking Gollancz staff stuffing their faces with sandwiches and trying to find where distracted authors have wandered off to.

PARTY TIME

[esmiara]

As promised, let me introduce you my two beloved BSD OCs:

Who are they?

Basically, Lewis and Antoine are two friends traveling around the world to discover exciting places while avoiding various government forces (more on that later). Though not related to the main story of BSD, they do know about organisations like Port Mafia and the Agency, mainly from what they heard in the streets and read in the newspapers since they arrived in Yokohama. However, they do prefer to not get anyone involved in their issues, nor do they really want to get involved in anyone else’s.

Lewis Carroll

Based on the author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis was a man in his thirties with a fancy mind. As a child, he once had a wild imagination feeding his ability Wonderland (again, more on that later) but due to social and family pressure, he got forced upon a path of logic and perfection, now making it hard for him to think outside the box. Thus crushing his past self involuntarily and putting chains on his own mind in order to protect himself from outside complaints. As an adult, he became a plain math teacher for children, with a quite boring life. That is, until he met one certain child in London.

Their meeting

“Draw me a sheep.” said the unknown child out of the blue.

Lewis was stunned. He didn’t knew what to respond at first to this child, which he thought was one of his students. But when he put more thought on it, he didn’t looked like any child he had at the time. Who might have been this strange blond kid with unkept clothes? He decided to learn more about him, worried he may have lost his parents somewhere. However, as they talked, he quickly understood he didn’t had any. He simply didn’t knew about any “parents”. Actually, he didn’t knew much about the world itself either.

“Draw me a sheep!” repeated the child after a while of interrogative discussion about who he was, where he came from etc....

Lewis gently asked why such a demand, as he didn’t want to offend this possible lost orphan.

The boy fell silent. Then spoke again, a sad emptiness darkening his young blue eyes.

“I want a warm friend to bring with me” he simply responded.

Their exchange may have been succinct up to this point, but it was clear to Lewis that he was no normal child. As the boy seemingly didn’t have a name, Lewis gave him the name of one of his most beloved book’s author. The character of that one book simply reminded him of the boy.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

More based on the Little Prince’s main character than the actual author, Antoine was an enigmatic individual with the physical appearance of a young boy. Nobody knows of his real age, not even himself. However, most may have theorized that he at least was around for at least a few decades, if not centuries perhaps. One day found and caught by the french government in his - supposedly - hometown, he had no memories of his time before then, except for some vague fragments. He mostly remembered about this laboratory he was brought in, with a lonely room where he would occasionnally meet strangers dressed in white. Despite the many uncertainties surrounding him, Antoine was still of great interest for scientists. He didn't seemed to physically age at all. Could he hold the secret of cells regeneration or even immortality? They soon found out he did age but at a very slow pace, thus looking unchanged for many years.

Curious about this plausible new ability, they decided to make him meet a young girl, who would share his room from now on. This one girl was quite arrogant at first. Antoine didn't really like her attitude but she was the only other person he could befriend. So they did. They soon became friends. Then they learned more about the truth, may it be this girl's past, snatched from her orphanage to become a lab rat as well, or the whole reason why she was here with him in the first place.

It was all because of the young girl's ability. One that would let her copy another one and make it her own. They apparently wished to make a copy of test subject B612′s power in order to "save it” somewhere and be able to experiment on it without having to risk the boy’s life. But things didn't turned out like they wanted as the girl began to crumble under some unknown sickness. Her body couldn't handle Antoine's ability, so it seemed, and she quickly became unable to move. So she made a promise with Antoine:

“Be my eyes and explore the outer world, okay dumby?” she said, with little breath she had left.

A promise reminiscent of the one where they would explore and see the world together. One where he would do so if she couldn't follow, to make her dream come true even when she became a star.

Their abilities

Little prince

No one really knows the details about Antoine's ability. Everything we know for sure is that his body has a very long lifetime, yet not immortal. He is destined to die of aging one day and is still weak to any wound like anyone else. However, we did notice Antoine's body starts to produce a faint glow whenever he gets sick or when his life is in danger in general. Not that it really helps at all though.

Wonderland

Lewis' ability is a bit complex and confusing, much like Alice in Wonderland's whole world.

In theory, Wonderland is quite simple: it allows its bearer to create anything he thinks to be a nonsense, something that is normally impossible. It could be seen as an area surrounding the user, in which he can create anything he wants, as long as it meets the proper requirements (being a "nonsense").

However, as the whole definition of "nonsense" depends on the user's mind, one could have a hard time creating anything. As such, what could be a nonsense to someone isn't necessarily one for Lewis. He is still quite a peculiar man after all.

A strange man, but with many restrictions on his mind and imagination. As he was forced to think with logic for the most part of his life now, he can't stop asking himself about the specifics of one’s question. Where a visible nonsense would occur, Lewis' mind would subconsciously ponder over what could make it truly real or impossible. If he can't get proper answers to those questions, then it can't happen either.

The beginning of their adventures

As they became much closer as people who somehow understood each other, Lewis began to be more friendly with the child, rather than looking like a mere adult talking to a little one. He saw himself in his struggles. He saw a young mind, much like his own a long time ago, slowly getting crushed by adult's expectations and limiting his own thoughts. He couldn't let the same thing happen twice when they still had a choice. So he encouraged him to get creative and let free of his imagination, with no worries about exterior opinions.

One day however, they suddenly got caught off guard by militaries sent by the french government as well as some members of the Order of the Clocktower, there to retrieve the unknown child for their own purpose instead. It was at that time that Lewis was finally able to make use of his ability once more after so many years. Inspired by Antoine’s naturally spoken nonsense, he unleashed Wonderland in order to escape. This also put a permanent stop to Lewis’ normal way of life, as he now was as searched for as Antoine was. It was time for a involuntary trip around the world, it seemed. But this time, Antoine wasn’t alone anymore.

[midnight197]

Sooo, I have seen a theory around recently, that Broken Vessel/Lost Kin is Esmy. The Character Sly mentioned in his delusions when you find him in the old Village.

I really like that Theory and wanted to put my own Ideas into it a lil, trying to kinda set a Timeline where it might have happend.

Neither Sly nor the Nailmasters mention Esmy except Sly in that one Dialogue. So I think it happend a long time ago when the Nailmasters were still quite young. So they would have a hard time remembering Esmy.

Which would make Esmy the first Pupil of Sly. Kinda making them an older Sibling for the Brothers!

Sly also says following dialogue in the Same Delusions right before mentioning Esmy:

"...ugghh, Oro you oaf.... You wield your nail... like a club..."

So what I think happend is, that Lost Kin wanted to show Sly something. Or needed his help with something. They wanted to lead Sly towards the Ancient Basin. Either to try to get his help freeing their Siblings or because they were looking for something that was important to them. Either way, Lost Kin probably was in some kind of hurry.

Sly took the Brothers with him as well (still quite young) and got distracted by Oro this loosing sight of Esmy, who either didn't notice that they were not following them anymore or didn't care to much at that point. Just thinking they would be able to follow them either way.

Well Sly lost sight of Esmy probably around the Old Village (maybe the Village was still populated which why he lost sight of them so quickly). And despite looking for them, he wasn't able to find them, so eventually he would give up (tho I can imagine Sly trying to look for them for quite a few years).

Just a few thoughts I had about this theory! Broken Vessel always was a very tragic Character but that makes it even sadder.

Also ignore the wonkyness of the Picture, I was trying around with the Symmetry Brush in Medibang but decided to line it without it xD

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Preliminary Round

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Hands of the Emperor (The Hands of the Emperor, At the Feet of the Sun, and other stories) by Victoria Goddard

Endorsement from submitter: "Amazing epic and intrinsically queer story about leaving home to change the world, about being a bridge between worlds, about what it means to choose to leave your home even which it is the most important place in the world to you. And so much more."

An impulsive word can start a war. A timely word can stop one. A simple act of friendship can change the course of history.

Cliopher Mdang is the personal secretary of the Last Emperor of Astandalas, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Lord Magus of Zunidh, the Sun-on-Earth, the god. He has spent more time with the Emperor of Astandalas than any other person. He has never once touched his lord. He has never called him by name. He has never initiated a conversation.

One day Cliopher invites the Sun-on-Earth home to the proverbially remote Vangavaye-ve for a holiday.

The mere invitation could have seen Cliopher executed for blasphemy. The acceptance upends the world.

Fantasy, romance, politics, secondary world, series, adult

The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson (Order of Legends series)

A century-spanning space fantasy novel that will take you on a whirlwind adventure, from a Regency Era love affair between a time-traveller and the prince waiting for him in the past, to a rescue mission in the 60th century, where a girl desperately races against time as she searches for the sister the emperor stole.

6066: In Emperor Thracin’s brave new galaxy, humans are not citizens. Instead, they are indentured labourers, working to repay the debt they unwittingly incurred when they settled on Gahraan - a desert planet already owned by the emperor himself. Asha Akindele knows she’s just another voiceless cog working the assembly lines that fuel his vast imperial war machine. Her only rebellion: studying stolen aeronautics manuals in the dead of night. But then a cloaked stranger arrives to deliver an impossible message, and her life changes in an instant.

1812: Obi Amadi is done with time-travelling. Never mind the fact he doesn’t know how to cure himself of the temporal sickness he caught whilst anchoring his soul to Regency London, the one that unmakes him further with every jump. Or if the prince he loves will ever love him back. Or why his father disappeared. He is done. Until he hears about the ghost of a girl in the British Museum. A girl from another time.

When Obi’s path tangles with Asha’s and a prophecy awakens in the cold darkness of space, they must voyage through the stars, racing against time, tyranny, and the legacy of three heroes from an ancient religion who may be awakening, reincarnated in ways beyond comprehension.

Science fiction, fantasy, time travel, historical fiction, Regency, space opera, adventure, series, adult

[rainyreyn9]

Apologies for how long this took!!

Here it is with the last two characters being my choice :]! P.s. F! Lace is for Futuristic! Lace

[thesacredtwink]

@psycokit

You are *correct* it IS a ghost fairy type, and I was very forgetful this morning. As for my logic of why it would evolve into a poison type, one of the pokidex entries we get for it states that a researcher once tried taking a peak under the costume and came down with an unknown disease, which to my brain SCREAMS poison type.

Ofc, your right that Pokemon which evolve via friendship do tend to stay in the fairy type family. (Looks directly at Sylveon)

Potential Mimikyu Evolution l

Mimikyu is well known for not having an evolved form. But what if, if you maxed out it's happiness, it would evolve into an undisguised form called Esmi (Pronounced Is Me). Because it's had its happiness maxed via a loving trainer-pokemon bond, it's learned how to grow and control its disease powers and doesn't hurt people on accsident any more.

It would become a Ghost Poison type, instead of Ghost Normal.

And instead of having to pretend to be some other pokemon (Mimikyu→ mimick Pikachu) it gets to be itself (Esme→ Is me)

[traeumenvonbuechern]

what new releases in 2024 are you looking forward to the most?

I'm probably forgetting a lot of books, but here are some of my most anticipated 2024 releases:

And here are two I have already read that are absolutely incredible:

Book titles:

Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo

The Flicker by H.E. Edgmon

Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse

The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson

Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana

Icarus by K. Ancrum

Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

The Prospects by KT Hoffman

[thedevilinherself]

I could fix him!

I could heal him!

I could love him and hug him and knit him leg warmers for each of his legs. It's cold in the shadowlands.