#longer and more puzzles

[polin-erospsyche]

Using @polinsated gifs to point this out because they’re beautiful ❤️

But it’s always going to be so wild to me that these two need two episodes from this kiss to figure their shit out. I know what is going on in both of their minds, I really do. He’s being hit by a 10 years worth ton of bricks and his world is shifting on its axis and it’ll never be the same from this point forth. She’s thinking this is the end of her little girl fantasy and the door is closing on her hopes and dreams and she will sacrifice those in order to be practical. In some sense too she’s growing up, she’s making what she thinks will be the mature choice. Someone once said that they’re standing on the door’s threshold and it’s symbolic, representing the threshold these two are on, swapping for each other’s place in some ways.

I know all of this. But you cannot deny the absolute softness that is in that kiss. It’s so delicate and they’re so careful it’s as if there is a spell on their kiss and this moment and it would break if they were any more forceful in their kiss. Yet there’s so much passion. Passion which is bursting at the brim, passion which they can barely hold back from it’s so strong. So they stay rooted into place, giving each other the gentlest of kisses lest the spell breaks and they give into each other and their wants. And the fact that they do not address this. That she pushes it under the carpet as soon as it’s brought up. That she decides to leave the dream, their kiss in that garden on that threshold locked away with a spell in a deep deep corner of her mind. That on the other hand he’ll never move on from that threshold, that spell which he will come back to time and time again in his dreams. The fact that she gave up on her dreams of him and he’s chasing his dreams to be with her. The fact that from this threshold they move in total polar opposite of each other and the doubts linger despite how soft and world altering the kiss was for both of them, it will never not be wild to me.

[salty-an-disco]

I love Skeptic even more now, actually. his failboy divorcee swag in The Cage is everything to me

[circus-clangen]

Answer to the apprentice name puzzle incoming, so if you want more time to figure it out yourself, don't read below the cut!

[Things begin to fall into place, as you delve into memories as scattered and disorganized as the passing years' souvenirs strung up on the Ringmasters wall.]

[The longer you stare, the more certain you are that somewhere in your memory, there was once a strange, almost-human but almost-animal hand pinned in the very center of the wall, stuck fast in a strange frame. The only evidence of its existence is the faint handprint of a slightly lighter yellow, where an oddly shaped spot was once shielded from the buildup of dust on these things long forgotten.]

[Of course! Monkeypaw! Ringstar used to mention him all the time, when you were a kit. But it's been many moons since you've heard the name at all, and try as you might, you can't quite recall the stories that you heard in your youth.]

[Now you remember the name... but what did he look like?]

[Something is strange about the frame, and as you look at it, you realize that it is not merely a frame, but rather, the back of one.] [You reach forward to turn it around, but the naught-but-dust wall behind the nail holding it in place gives way, and with a cloud of plaster, then whole falls to the ground with a mighty crash.]

[What was once hidden is now revealed, albeit in a confetti array of bright shards gleaming in the candlelight.]

[katierosefun]

my boy only breaks his favorite toys hurts more as a marvey-coded song because. what if i said that when harvey was playing pretend with mike that they could pull off the fraud. that was probably when he was happiest. when i explain that mike took harvey out of his box and stole harvey's tortured heart and left all of harvey's broken parts and told him he's better off. what then!

[dailydemonspotlight]

Camazotz - Day 63

Race: Raptor

ATMA Avatar of Bat

Alignment: Dark-Law

July 3rd, 2024

I've been playing Digital Devil Saga lately, and combined with my erratic mood swings, what else would be more fitting for today's DDS than a blood-draining bat who leaves those in its wake feeling hollow? This also marks the second demon in a row to originate from South American mythology, though this one is its own can of worms- or, maybe, bucket of blood...? No, that's stupid. Regardless, though, today's Demon of the Day is a curious fellow originating from very specific Mayan cults, and a personal favorite of mine- Guatemala's own lord of the night, patron of giant vampire bats, and a terrifying blood-sucking deity, Camazotz!

A lot relating to Camazotz is hard to dig into, let alone digest- purportedly worshipped as a central deity in ancient Mayan culture, this great-winged bat appears scantly, yet its influence cannot go understated. This is made even more confusing by evident conflation between Camazotz and a completely different concept, that of 'The Camazotz,' a race of giant bats found in the underworld in the Polpol Vuh, a chronicle going into the creation myth of humanity itself in Mayan mythology. As is purported in it, the Camazotz weren't actually a single, unified deity, and instead were an entire separate race of giant bats found in the Mayan afterlife, known as Xibalba.

People also often purport that this race may have been a mythological explanation for the extinct, but then-present giant race of vampire bats called Desmodus draculae. This, of course, makes things a mite more complicated- the death bat may have been conflated with recollections regarding a completely separate bat god that is left unnamed, as there is evidence of worship to a single, unified bat deity in ancient Mayan culture. Camazotz itself is also purported as being a single, great bat spirit in the underworld, not quite a god but still immensely powerful in its own right. And, well, let's get into that.

The main appearance of the Camazotz comes in the Polpol Vuh, as is to be expected, and they have quite an interesting role- in one of the trials the two protagonists, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, have to survive during their expedition into Xibalba, they're challenged with staying the night in Zotzilaha- the House of Bats. The legend tells of how they had hid away within their blowguns to last the night, but eventually, perturbed by the lack of the wings flapping from the bats outside, one of the brothers dared to stick his head out. This is when Camazotz, who was watching, striked. In an instant, the brother was decapitated, and his head used as a ball for the deities to use in their next ballgame. As morbidly hilarious as this story is, it does give us some insight into Camazotz's role- as a spirit of the night, he clearly showed both trickery and strength.

Of course, this origin is hard to pinpoint, and I'm honestly unsure as to if there was a single Camazotz or an entire race of them who were attacking the brothers, as a lot of things surrounding this great vampire bat are frustratingly murky. Of course, as it comes down to a lot of the time with these demon spotlights, a lot is left up in the air due to the loss of primary sources through history, but with the connection to the long-dead Desmodus draculae species of vampire bats, it's possible to come to several interesting conclusions. There are even beliefs that the traditional blood sacrifices that the Mayans were known for were partly inspired by Camazotz, but that's a rabbit hole I'll leave you to dig into.

Now, as for how Camazotz is depicted in the series, the design has grown on me a lot. While originally seeming to just be a giant bat with sickles, the strange, wrapping hands, the ornaments, and the skulls all paint it in a uniquely Mayan light that I'm really quite fond of. Of course, it also appears in Digital Devil Saga, but frankly I'm not quite sure what to make of a lot of ATMA avatars, and Camazotz is no real exception. As much as I love DDS, the avatars definitely need to grow on me a bit more for me to really appreciate them.

Overall, though, the design works wonders, and I really do enjoy it. Too bad the sprite compression in SMT IV makes it almost completely incomprehensible, but... well, alas, that's what happens to games on the 3DS.

[oneshortlove]

Hi Mimi I was thinking about you yesterday and now again, i hope youre having an amazyn day and i lovw you <33

I was debating for a minute about whether I should keep this to myself or not, but I want to just show everyone how amazingly sweet you are. Like??? This makes me wanna do the impossible just from how uplifting and sweet it is. LIKE?!?! My beloved, darling, light at the end of the darkest tunnel, YOURE SO🤎🩵🧡🩵💙🧡🩵💜🩷💜💙💙💛❤️❤️‍🩹💓💗💖💝💗💗💓💖💘💞💕🩷💚🩵🩷💜🧡🤎🩷💚💚💜💙💕❤️‍🔥❤️‍🩹💕CRIES

I love you too, literally have the best day ever, giving you the biggest hug my heart can muster🫂💜💙

[elegyofthemoon]

ok but do i want to actually sit and read through all the clockie animation stuff so i have better foundation for what i want to say? i guess

[br1ghtestlight]

wrote a short fic focused on gene and tina's relationship (where they work on a puzzle) for @golden--doodler @goldendoodlerlockerlove!! ^_^

[sn0wbat]

alright, question. because this post is getting very long.

i've still got a couple more pages left of this, and this is kinda the first time i've been adding onto a comic arc in real time on tumblr. so i'd just like to hear opinions

[comfortcomes]

i know how this sounds but i swear to god they make the friday &saturday crosswords so much easier than they used to it’s like insulting…..

[flash-from-the-past]

Alkirian: The Stone of Fire

[shyvioletlife]

After spending five and a half months deep in my Genshin hyper fixation, I think I can safely say that Sumeru is my favorite region so far in terms of writing, story, and pure overworld design (I’ve been to Fontaine functionally for resource gathering but avoided any story like the plague- though I have at least been broadly spoiled for the biggest beats). I have spent a pure month just doing quests here in Sumeru, exploring the overworld,and slowly making my way through the archon quest (currently on chapter 3 act 5!) and I’ve loved truly every moment of it. I’ve worked endlessly on and completed the aranara quest, I’ve been playing through the character story quests as I unlock them - something I completely failed to do for all previous regions. Just this week I finally progressed the main story and set out to actually explore the desert and I’ve been adoring that atmosphere too - the sheer amount of ancient ruins is deeply tickling an anthropological glee, especially since you can actually eventually explore these guys where in liyue they’re all superficial design.

I’ve admittedly been a little biased in wanting to learn about Sumeru because Nahida was the first five star I ever pulled earlier this year and I’ve been maining her ever since, so im very invested in her story, but I do also think that Sumeru is just overall much better and more comprehensively written in terms of what is still available in game. I’ve watched people talk about previous regions having experienced them as they happened, and it really shows in the current game just how much character and story was locked behind timed events in a lot of the early game - especially surrounding Inazuma. I knew before I even started playing about the balladeer - he well and truly broke containment when inazuma was happening so I saw so much talk about him and hype over his character. Imagine my surprise when playing through inazuma - the first time I ever interacted with his character in game was when I went through a domain quest trying to shut down the delusion factory and suddenly the balladeer is there, talking to me as though we’ve met before and the traveller and Paimon acting as though he’s been a massive thorn in their sides, and then we fight, I lose, he bounces with the gnosis off screen. It’s so bizarre and obviously missing context that it’s kind of hilarious. There are a lot of good story moments and I did genuinely really like playing through inazuma while I was in it, but there’s a stilted aspect to it from the missing story beats. Meanwhile in Sumeru, it feels like they got their act together around not putting important story behind limited events for the most part, because it actually feels like I’ve been through the story from start to finish with a connection to all the moving parts and a sense of buildup as more and more of the truth is revealed.

[weekly-layton-puzzle]

Thank you all for 500 followers!!

I never expected this blog to ever reach such a number and I am very happy that there are so many of you out there who enjoy these posts!!

[fragmentedblade]

Not to be a jingfu on main, but it's so cute that Jing Yuan thought of Fu Xuan with those jelly beans

[yngai]

today's the anniversary of john's last letter to ada written knowing he is already infected & begging her to go public with everything they uncovered together at arklay, turn on the lab's self destruct & to put him down if she ever saw him turned. she never read his last words, they were many on a list of letters sent to her & burned after her transfer to NEST where she was light on her feet beginning to befriend annette birkin (a relationship that eventually led to an affair), she forgot about john as quickly as he fell in love with her, happy july 8th everyone

[mrfoox]

Once I learn the difference between me having a crush and me being (hyper)fixated on a person, it's all over