#mountain is just one of the girls to me

[weensysunshine]

they’re gossiping (aka the least explosive way for dew to talk about his feelings)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Flower Empowered.

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[royaltea000]

Pose practice! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[rox-of-iu]

ayo guys guess what time it is again :)) 💜💜

spoiler warning for cultivate ch 41-46

hehe finally scrambled brain enough to be able to catch up and cultivate makes me go 🥰🥰😌🤗😊😊

cultivate of course by @neonghostcat beloved

[zellk]

Forgot to share here.... old doodles of when I finally came around to finding a design I like for Qalaari's mom !!

[hopeswriting]

imagine you're luce, and you're born the heir to a mafia family. you're mafia-born, and so of course also mafia-raised, and then also a donna-to-be. you're raised to be able to take on the role, to be good and capable at it, are taught to make one of your core beliefs about how the many must come before the few, because the family must always come first. you're going to be the donna, of course you must always prioritize the family above all else, it's your foremost and most important duty.

if caring about the few too comes at the price of the many, comes at the price of the family, is it even worth it? if the happiness gained from it comes at the price of a greater suffering for others, is there even any meaning to it, even if it's your happiness we're talking about? you understand, don't you?

you're not sure if you do, but you care about your family, love it, want to do right by it once you become their donna, so you nod, listen and learn.

(you don't have to be taught the pain and loss and guilt and anger and bitterness is a fair price to pay for the pain you decide has to be inflicted and the sacrifices you decide must be made, including by yourself. it's the least you could do, even.)

imagine you're luce, and the gift of foresight runs through your blood.

you would not call it a gift. you did not ask for it either. and you'll never come to see it as something wanted by you.

you can see the future, and it happened exactly as you saw it would, so of course it's exactly the way you wanted it to go. you can see the future, and it happened exactly as you saw it would, so of course you didn't care to try hard enough to change it. you saw the future before the shape of it had yet to be breathed into existence, and who's to say it didn't come into existence only because you saw it happen? you saw the future, and it happened worse than it had to for it.

you can see the future, but you still can't make it anything else than what it was always going to be. you can even make the visions happen at your will, but you still have no say on what you see or how much you see. you still can only be the witness of it before anyone else can.

it does mean double and longer the happiness sometimes, means relief and gratefulness and hope beyond words, and it'd be cruel of you to voice out loud your feelings for others to hear the many more times it means something else.

you can see the future, and it doesn't make it any kinder on you than on anyone else, does not give you any more power or control over it than anyone else, but at least you can see the future. you're given the time to make peace with it, to brace yourself for it, to bargain with it, to plead and beg and fight against it however desperately and hopelessly, even if in the end it still happens exactly as you saw it would.

(you can see the future, and it still doesn't hurt you any less than anyone else when it happens, but you don't expect anymore for anyone to hold you any less responsible for it anyway. it would be nice for someone to do it one day, but you understand.)

you can see the future, and you decide it's a kindness to both yourself and others to keep it for yourself as much as possible whenever you can.

imagine you're luce, and your family has this set of rings they've looked after and protected for as long as your family has existed. they're one set of three of the most important artifacts in the world, ones that help in safeguarding its existence and balance. they're duty, the very first one and the most important one your family was created for.

the pacifier around your mother's neck is duty too, and the most important and powerful artifact among twenty-one in safeguarding the world and its balance. it's been passed down in your family too, from mother to daughter. it's duty, but less tied to your family and much more to the blood running through your veins. it's a curse, in fact, as it demands heavy sacrifices the rings don't, and one that can only be tied to the blood running through your veins.

(your mother looks at you as if expecting some kind of reaction from you, and you can only wonder at which point you weren't supposed to see it as a given. duty and sacrifices have been one and the same for you for a long time now. is it even duty if it doesn't require any sacrifices from you?)

imagine you're luce, and your mother dies for duty. she's the donna, and so she dies for your family. she's the sky arcobaleno, and so she dies for the world. she's your mother, but she dies anyway, doesn't fight it either, even knowing she will leave you behind, even knowing she won't ever get to see what you look like all grown-up.

everywhere you look, duty stares back at you, from your mother and the pacifier around her neck, her love for your family and the life she gives up for it, her love for you and how she dies anyway while you're still only a child. duty, from your family members and how they die for you and kill for you, how they do both at your command, how their lives are in the palms of your hands and how they weigh only as much as you allow them to at a time. duty, from the knowledge your foresight gives you and the shackles tied to the blood running through your veins.

your mother's only duty while she lives too. she loves you, but she'd have had to give birth to you anyway even if she didn't. she loves you, but she still gave birth to you even knowing the kind of life you'd have to live, the kind of hands you'd inevitably end up with, the burdens she'd have to lay on your shoulders, passing them down from her own. because she loves you, she finds the resolve to raise you to be able to face all of it head-on and come out on top, but she'd have had to raise you much the same way anyway even if she didn't.

(she doesn't die for you, doesn't fight to be able to keep living with you, and this, too, is your mother surrendering to duty one last time.)

(you're so sick of it, so angry at it, so hateful and resentful against it. you're so stifled by it to the point you've stopped being able to breathe for a long time now. or you would have been if they had taught you how to face duty in this way too.

it's for the better they didn't. a silver lining, sparing you pain that isn't necessary for you to go through. everyone you turn to only teaches you how to keep holding your breath longer, and you listen and learn, obedient and dutiful as you've ever been.

you're grateful for it too. really, you are.)

everywhere you look, there's no room for you to so much as question any of it, let alone anything more. duty is commendable, something you ought to look up to and strive towards, strive to achieve. duty is the right thing to do. of course it is.

(you exhale a breath of relief that shakes you down to your very core.

thank god, it's at least the right thing to do.

you're grateful for it beyond words. really, you are.)

imagine you're luce, and before it even happens, you know the choice you'll make when climbing that mountain, when standing on top of it, when waiting for a bright light to shine down on you from above. you know the choice you'll make then, even when pregnant with your daughter.

it doesn't matter since how long you knew, be it years, months, days, hours or minutes before. all that matters is that before you can even contemplate the idea of making another choice and all its implications and possible consequences, before the thought can even come alive in your mind, you already know the choice you'll make.

(you can see the future, but just because you already saw it, it doesn't mean it's now set in stone.

you can see the future, but just because you're given the chance to fight to change it, it doesn't mean it still won't happen every bit like you saw it.

it doesn't mean it can't still happen even worse than how you first saw it happen because you fought to change it, no matter how already dreadful it originally was.)

imagine you're luce, and before it even happens, you know they'll be others with you standing on top of that mountain. you're the only one who'll know it before it happens.

(because you can see the future.

and oh, you did not ask for it.)

they're strangers, people you don't owe anything to. adults who choose to show up at the first meeting, and to show up to every following mission after that. the chosen seven, whose ambitions and prides lead them to walk the path of the seven strongest too once laid down in front of them.

you don't force their hands in making any of those choices for them. you're not responsible for any of them.

you become coworkers then, accomplices, your hands stained in blood to various extent, but now dipping in the same pool of blood as you strive towards the same goal together. you have each other's backs, learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, learn each other's personalities, likes and dislikes. you keep having to spend more time together as the missions keep coming your way.

inevitably, you come to care about them. even more damning, they come to care about you in return. enough so they'll look after your daughter even after what'll happen on top of that mountain. enough so they'll look after your granddaughter too, warmly and fondly enough she'll call one of them uncle.

you're still the only one who knows they'll stand together with you on top of that mountain, not knowing what'll happen on it like you do.

and you do care about them, you swear you do. really, you do.

(you care about them the same way your mother cared about you, and how she still raised you to have steel in you and be made of sharp edges you know how to use. you care about them the same way you care about your family, and how you still send them to their deaths as needed so the rest of your family you care about just the same can keep on living longer and safely. this is the only way you've had the chance to learn how to care and love.

duty and sacrifices have been one and the same for you for as long as you can remember. it doesn't matter at which point sacrifices came to mean love to you too.

and most of all, you love your daughter more than anything else in the world.)

imagine you're luce, and this is who you are. this is who you've been raised to be, the only way you've been given room to grow up to be. this is the life you've lived and the kind of life that has shaped you as the person you are now. this is what you've been taught and told is the best version of yourself you could have grown up to be. this is who you ended up being by what you've been taught and told are all the right choices to make.

you're still the only one who knows what is about to happen on top of that mountain. it hasn't happened yet. the fate of the world hangs on what'll happen on top of that mountain, the same world you'll have to give birth to your daughter in. the same daughter you're currently pregnant with.

now imagine you're luce, look me in the eye and tell me you'd know how to even form the thought of the possibility of there being any other choice to make. look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't look at the only choice in front of you, and know deep in your bones it's the only right choice to make. that it is right of you to make it. because it simply has to be.

(imagine you're luce, and you're not doomed by the narrative. of course, you're not.

why would you need to be when the narrative has painstakingly shaped you all your life to become its perfect, faithful and dutiful sacrificial lamb?

and then, imagine you're luce, and you're even grateful for it, so, so very grateful it held up its end of the bargain too.

truly, you are.)

[korolation]

Over the centuries, there have been several efforts to break The Barrier and rekindle relations with monsterkind. However, all reconnaissance missions have ended in failure, with every group having never returned from the mountain, regardless of their strength or size. Eventually, these efforts were given up, with most believing monsters to be long dead and that the expeditions were ultimately pointless.

The unknown fate of the various reconnaissance groups has led to many conspiracies and urban legends, with some saying that monsters still do reside in the mountain and had killed them all off, while others cite some other mysterious phenomenon as the cause. But there is one thing they all agree on:

Those who climb the mountain never return.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

when i was in highschool one o my biggest coping mechanisms was drawing all the kids i hated getting killed and eaten and killed. and well. time is a slowly ascending spiral. you will find patterns.(i work as a blackjack dealer. gamblers are FASCINATING

[cacw]

her dad HATES her! local girl causes her sister's death with one weird trick

[abyssruler]

wish genshin had the option to beat up npcs cuz some of these mfs need to be put in their place

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

Did you *really* go to college if you didn't do this at least twice a semester?

[thermodynamic-comedian]

simon fairchild is like that one guy who listens to both abba and miracle musical and everybody's like "what ARE you." when they see his playlists

[bluberimufim]

Cool and spooky-ish Portuguese legends and mythological creatures because it's nearly Halloween!!

I've been wanting to do this for a while now, because I've felt disconnected from Portuguese culture lately and I'm trying to get into it. So I wanted to share some cool things I found because Portuguese folklore is something no one talks about and I love to share my culture with people! Please be warned that the translations may sound kinda awkward and that this is almost 100% from Wikipedia since Portuguese mythological creatures are a super obscure topic, and the only other big resource I could find was a super expensive book. That being said, the Wikipedia sounds pretty legit because it sounds like it was written by an old person.

Now let's get into some of my favourites!

Werewolf

This is a basic one but I still find it pretty funny. When I visited Cova do Lobisomem (trans.: Werewolf Cave), I learnt that the legend there is that, if you have twelve kids, the eldest son (in the story it was a son, but I don't know what happens if your eldest is a girl) becomes a werewolf and has to go live out in the wilderness. Another closely related legend mentions they have to serve some kind of penitence, but I found nothing on it.

Peeira (or "werewolf fairy")

Known as the "female version of the werewolf" and is able to control wolf packs. Her power seems to be guiding these wolf packs by being a reasonable and more human-like figure in the group, and is described as "lovely and wild" (omg that sounds sooo pretty). Information contradicts in this bit, also saying that she either has feelings for the werewolves or that she lures men into the woods to feed them to her ghost-wolves. A girl becomes a Peeira by being a couple's seventh oldest daughter, or by being called upon by her "predestined/soulmate werewolf".

Bisarma

Ghost of colossal size that can stand over valleys with one foot on each mountain, and sing monotonous tunes in "huge voices" (idk how else to translate it). This mythological creature also shows up in parts of Spain.

Jã

Weaving spirits. If you leave out a bunch of linen and a cake, they'll make you a linen cloth as fine as a hair, but if you forget to leave out the cake, they'll burn the linen. Apparently, people used to claim their ancestors had sheets made by the Jãs.

Zorra Berradeira (trans.: "Screaming Fox")

Shows up in Algarve every 7 years and, when it's not there, it's theorized that it visits other countries. It's a fox spirit that screams all the time but can be heard better at midnight or midday and, if you mock it, it will chase you down until your death.

Velha da Égua Branca (trans.: Old Lady on the White Mare)

Appears in Algarve on full moon nights and makes a lot of noise in the fields with pots and pans. She rides a white mare, wears a white cap with red ribbons that look like lightning, and holds a knife in her left hand. She's been called a "personification of the night".

Homem do Chapéu de Ferro (trans.: Man in the Iron Hat)

Another spirit from Algarve, but evil. He appears at midnight on the sides of roads and fountains, or under olive or fig trees. He's always accompanied by an animal, which is the Devil in disguise: either a black pig, a huge black rooster, or a deer with antlers as tall as a church tower. He has a gigantic frame, is "bronze-coloured" (whatever that means) and wears an iron hat. He'll run away when he sees the Old Lady on the White Mare (oooooh Algarvian connected universe).

Hey, people who live in Algarve, blink twice if you need help with all the supernatural shit because this seems disproportionately hardcore

Okay, this next one is gonna be longer because it's a whole legend with a plot, but I still want to tell it because it's kinda spooky and I love it!!

The Golden Lamprey

On full moon nights, on the banks of the Minho River (northern border with Spain), you can see a very beautiful Moorish girl with golden hair caressing a giant golden lamprey. The girl spends the night combing her hair with a golden comb or singing a sad melody, and the lamprey swims close to her.

According to legend, the lamprey had once been a Portuguese knight, and the girl had been engaged to another man. The two had been sentenced to death for their forbidden romance and had both been cursed - he turned into a fish and she can only gain physical form under the full moon.

There were men who set out in boats to search for the girl, either to seduce her or to steal her fine silk dress, but none ever found her.

Until one night, a young man disappeared after being heard in the tavern, clearly drunk, declaring that he was going to search for the golden-haired Moorish girl. His plan was to make her fall in love with him, sell her comb, and then open an inn where he'd let curious travellers take a look at this supernatural river girl in exchange for large sums of money.

The next day, the lantern he'd set out with was found on some rocks near the river by a few fishers, and his body was found in the water, a bit further ahead. On his neck, there were the marks of small, sharp teeth, similar to the shape of a lamprey's mouth. But what startled the fishers more was the satisfied look on the young man's face. (not posting a pic of a lamprey's mouth bc it feels like it would warrant some kind of content warning but pls do look it up if you're curious, it's horrifying)

There was also another legend of another cursed Moorish girl but on a rock this time that I remembered reading in school, but I genuinely cannot find it. If you know anything about a story named "A Moura do Penedo" (not the cursed snake princess one) pls hit me up, I remember loving that one as a kid. "Cursed Moorish girl" is such a common trope in Portuguese legends that it's almost unsearchable.

And if you want to add anything or correct any of the information I presented, please feel free! This is very much "baby's first dive into Portuguese folklore"

That being said, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! There are other less-spooky legends I'd love to share, if you're interested! Happy Halloween/other coinciding spooky holiday!

[abyssaldyke]

I loved you.... before I even ever knew what love was like...

[daincrediblegg]

Truly devastating to want to jump into an AU for your canon x oc/si ship when you haven’t even scratched the surface of your main fic for them yet 😪

[akchually]

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