#saw billed hermit

[podartists]

Grypus naevius, Saw-bill. [Pl. 1] | A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds v.1

[rondaincorporated]

Hummingbird Species, Part 24

Today’s featured bird is the saw-billed hermit, Ramphodon naevius. The saw-billed hermit hummingbird (Ramphodon naevius) is a species of hummingbird that can be found in the forests of Central and South America. It is named for its distinctive bill, which has serrated edges that resemble the teeth of a saw. The saw-billed hermit is a medium-sized hummingbird, measuring about 4 inches in length…

[good-chimes]

Based on @tibbycaps’s very funny convexian hitman au, where vexes Cub and Scar have been ‘voluntarily’ employed as hitmen by the governing NHO.

YR 1, DAY 1 OF CONTRACT

Receptionist: Hello and welcome to the NHO! We are proud to protect the citizens of Hermit City. How can I help you?

Cub: We want to get past those security barriers.

Receptionist: Uh…so you’re…visitors?

Scar: We’re employees!

Cub: Since this morning.

Scar: We have a contract and everything. We’re totally official and definitely allowed in the building.

Receptionist: Um. Do you have your passes?

Cub: Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. Just a moment.

Scar: Do we have passes! Of course we have passes. Cub, give her the passes.

Receptionist: Sir, that’s an aluminum bottle cap.

[The visitors examine the item.]

Scar: Looks like an employee pass to me.

Cub: My bad. What about this?

Receptionist: That’s a penknife. That’s a sandwich wrapper—that’s a library card—I mean, it’s the right shape, but—that’s a driver’s license which is obviously not yours—that’s a fifty-dollar bill—that’s a second driver’s license for a completely different person. Sir, literally none of these things are employee passes.

Cub: Yeahhhhh, but do you get paid enough to notice?

Receptionist: Do you have a line manager? Or, um, a hiring manager? Who’s in charge of you?

[The visitors consult.]

Scar: Someone is, probably.

Cub: Might be Beef.

Receptionist: Uh, Director Beef is, uh, one of the heads of the whole organization. Are you sure?

Cub: Eh.

Scar: He did have a nice suit. Good shoes, too! Shame about the soot stains afterwards.

Receptionist: Okay, I’ll…just ping my boss… and I guess we’ll just start the process to get you passes. Let me take your first and last names, please?

Scar: Mister Scar GoodTimes, and this is Cub.

Receptionist: Cub?

Cub: Yup.

Receptionist: That’s a nickname…?

Cub: No, it’s a full name. Cub. Uhhhhh. Fan.

Receptionist: Sir, did you just look at that baseball pennant?

Cub: Yeah. Huge coincidence.

Receptionist: Okay, I’ll send them to print…orientation booklet…fire exits…do you need any accommodations for your, er, your wings?

Cub: Naw, they’re not real in this dimension. Go straight through physical matter. Walls, people—

Scar: —bars, safe doors—

Receptionist: Um.

Cub: Vex joke. Cultural.

Receptionist: Oh, right, you’re Vex! Like—what were those guys called who ate that policeman on the news…? ConVex!

Cub: Noooooo, no, no, we’re nothing like them. We’re real upstanding citizens.

Scar: I heard those two went to prison.

Cub: To super jail.

Scar: For a thousand years!

Manager: Excuse me, I’m the head of front desk and security, what’s going on here?

Receptionist: Oh, hi, boss, these gentlemen were just—

Manager: I can see what they are! This should have been escalated as soon as they turned up. You should have known to call me the minute you saw a Vex!

Receptionist: They haven’t done anything wrong.

Manager: Not done anything wrong—you mean they haven’t eaten anyone yet.

Cub: I haven’t had my coffee.

Scar: I have! Who do you want us to start with?

Manager: Come with me, please. The Directors want to see you.

Scar: [voice retreating as the visitors are escorted away] This is a fancy office. I like the art.

Cub: Did you know you can turn that photocopier into a laser canon?

Manager: This is why they put you in prison! Stick close to me! Please stop touching things!

NOTICE TO FRONT DESK STAFF

The copier tray is to be loaded from the correct angle only. It is not a ‘useless piece of shit’, you are handling it incompetently.

HR will not be dealing with complaints of ‘substandard management’. HR are here to deal with your pay slips. Complaints of substandard management should be addressed to your manager, who will take appropriate action.

Colleagues are to act with caution around new NHO agents ‘Cub’ and ‘Scar’. Minimal contact is advised. Security can be contacted via the panic buttons.

YR 1, DAY 36 OF CONTRACT

Cub: Hey. Picking up a delivery.

Receptionist: Of course, sir. Have you got a parcel ticket?

Cub: Sure, give me an example and I’ll forge you one right now.

Receptionist: I just needed the number—never mind. Let me take a wild guess based on your deliveries so far: is it the crate that’s green and glowing?

Cub: Huh, thought it would be blue. Maybe a kind of teal.

Receptionist: Well, we only have one that glows. It makes a buzzing sound when you get near it.

Cub: Ohh yeah, that’s the one.

Receptionist: Last time you got a delivery it was snakes.

Cub: Important experimental material.

Receptionist: Can you let us know if it’s snakes again? Only I need to find a heat lamp if you’re out on a mission.

Cub: Oh, yeah, right. I can build a heat lamp for you to keep here. You want something for it?

Receptionist: Okay, sir, for the last time, I don’t know where all your unmarked fifty-dollar bills come from, but it’s not normal to bribe building staff to do our jobs. 

Cub: Yeah? No deal, huh?

Receptionist: …Can you really turn the photocopier into a laser?

NOTICE TO FRONT DESK STAFF

URGENT: ALL STAFF MUST STAY AWAY FROM THE PHOTOCOPIER UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

YR 1, DAY 82 OF CONTRACT

Receptionist: Good afternoon, welcome to the headquarters of NH—Scar?

Scar: Hello there! How’s it going?

Receptionist: Hey, Scar?

Scar: Uh-huh?

Receptionist: Your whole arm is covered in blood.

Scar: Blood? Oh, this blood? Don’t worry, don’t worry, everything’s fine. It’s not my blood. How was your weekend?

Receptionist: Are you sure it’s not your blood? That looks like someone sliced through your whole sleeve!

Scar: [tastes his own arm gingerly] Wait, yeah, some of it is mine. Just this bit, though.

Receptionist: Don’t eat it, oh my God.

Scar: It’s fine, Cub says we’re immune to all pathogens.

Receptionist: Seriously?

Scar: Nah, I think he just said that because I took his research away from him when he had the flu.

Receptionist: You should go wash that wound. That can’t be healthy. What have they got you doing out there?

Scar: Oh, y’know, this and that, we solve problems. We’re problem solvers. In fact we signed a contract to do that, so I guess we keep solving problems forever. Can I have one of these mints?

YR 1, DAY 145 OF CONTRACT

Cub: Gooood afternoon. What a beautiful day. Y’know, this kind of day makes me think, the thing about human perception—

Receptionist: The what.

Cub: The thing about human perception is it’s subjective. I did a PhD on this. So sometimes you could think you saw someone bring something into the office that you need to write down in the biohazards register, but actually, you could report to your boss there wasn’t anything there.

Receptionist: Sir, you are trying to hide an eight-foot-tall Venus fly trap behind your back. It’s taller than you are.

Cub: Seven foot at most.

Receptionist: [sighs] I guess I didn’t see anything. You want a mint?

NOTICE TO FRONT DESK STAFF

Cascaded from Legal: Employees are required to familiarize themselves with the new and expanded Dispute Resolution Policy.

Pursuant to this, threatening to eat your senior manager is NOT an approved method of settling conflicts and WILL result in disciplinary action.

Lava traps are ALSO EXPLICITLY DISALLOWED.

YR 2, DAY 407 OF CONTRACT

Receptionist: Cub, you don’t have to bribe me to get into the building after hours. You literally work here. I know you have a 24-hour pass. Just use it on the main door.

Cub: Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?

Receptionist: Try bribing an IT tech for codes to the secure areas instead.

Cub: Got those already. Phishing email. But y’know, all the techs make triple what they pay you.

Scar: And! I wanted a mint.

Receptionist: The mints are FREE.

Scar: It tastes better if it’s not!

Receptionist: That doesn’t make ANY sense! You two get back here and explain!

NOTICE TO FRONT DESK STAFF

Please find attached the Employee Satisfaction Survey. As always, we look forward to listening to your views to make NHO a Great Place To Work. Participation is mandatory.

Our recent payment settlement unfortunately means no raises this financial year.

Operational note: does any Front Desk team member know how to disconnect the ex-photocopier from the power supply without it immediately blowing up? You are all being very unhelpful about it???

YR 3, DAY 763 OF CONTRACT

Receptionist: Oh, hey, Scar.

Scar: …

Receptionist: Wait—Scar? Buddy? Are you okay?

Scar: Have you seen Cub?

Receptionist: Not since last week, I think.

Scar: Oh.

Receptionist: It’s the night shift. Was he supposed to meet you?

Scar: Yeah. They gave him a solo mission, and I dunno what time he was supposed to get back, either, but it wasn’t two o’clock in the morning. I’m just gonna…hey, can I wait down here? Until he gets in?

Receptionist: Sure. If you pull the chairs together, I guess you could make a kind of bed. I’ll keep an eye on the cameras.

-

Scar: I mean, nothing can take down Cub, right? That man’s a tank, I tell you. A genuine tank.

Receptionist: Yeah. Definitely.

Scar: He would have called me if something went wrong.

Receptionist: He would’ve.

Scar: What time is it?

Receptionist: Just gone 3am.

-

Receptionist: Look, if you’re not going to sleep, I’m ordering you pizza.

Scar: Ooooh. Let’s get wings and make a night of it while we wait. Catch!

Receptionist: This is two hundred dollars.

Scar: Yeah, can we get sides?

-

Receptionist: Just gone 4am, before you ask.

Scar: I didn’t ask!

Receptionist: I saw you open your mouth. You’re really worried, aren’t you.

Scar: Noooo, I’m not worried. I never worry about Cub.

Receptionist: Cub’s always seemed way too capable to have a problem with a mission.

Scar: Yeah.

Receptionist: You two go back a long way, huh?

Scar: There’s just the two of us. It’s always been just the two of us. And, I’ll be honest, I like this work, we have fun doing it, but why’d they send him out solo? And you know what’s worse, I can’t even ask! If we put a foot out of line, we— [breaks off into a coughing fit]

Receptionist: Are you okay?

Scar: I’m fine, I’m fine! I’m fresh as a daisy.

Receptionist: It sure sounded like your own throat just tried to cut you off.

Scar: Well, maybe I just care a lot about the office Data Combustion Policy.

Receptionist: I think you mean the Data Protection Policy? On second thoughts, I remember last year’s Christmas party, so maybe not—oh, hey.

Scar: What?

Receptionist: I saw something on the cameras, is that—

Cub: Yo.

Scar: Oh my God Cub I was so worried.

Cub: ‘m fine. [blurrily] Are those buffalo wings?

Scar: You are so not fine. You can have wings when you’re lying down!

Cub: ‘m taking these wings.

Receptionist: Here’s the first aid kit. You need to close the bag or the rest of the wings will fall out, guys. Guys. Look where you’re going. You have to open the doors before you go through them. Take the first aid kit with you!

YR 5, DAY 1561 OF CONTRACT

Receptionist: Good morning, and welcome to—oh, it’s you two. You brought a guest?

Cub: Howdy. This is Grian.

Grian: Apparently I work here now. Apparently I have “limited employment options”. Someone told me I’m lucky I’m not dead.

Scar: Haha, Mondays, am I right! So he’ll need a pass, and maybe a helping hand if she spaces out in the atrium.

Receptionist: Sure…oh, Grian, you’re on the system already. Here, take a temporary pass, and we’ll have your real one ready by lunchtime. Uh, if you need any help—

Grian: Wait, my date of birth is wrong on your screen. It’s the year before.

Receptionist: Did you just…read that backwards from the others side of my computer?

Scar: Wow, Grian, another nosebleed?

Grian: Shut up.

Cub: Your brain must be shrivelled up like a raisin by now.

Grian: Still works better than Scar’s!

Scar: [leans on the reception desk as the other two leave, bickering] Sooo…Grian’s not allowed outside without a Director’s approval.

Receptionist: Is that right?

Scar: Scary stuff, huh? If you happened to see him leave with us, and we just forgot to show you a permit…can I convince you into some sort of deal? As a friend?

Receptionist: You know, you can just ask a friend to do you a favor, you don’t have to pay me. I’ve known you for five years. I’m not gonna turn you in.

Cub: [calls] You coming, Scar?

Scar: I gotta go! Grian’s just a Watcher, she’s not dangerous. Grab some cash from Cub’s bottom desk drawer. They don’t even search our office anymore, so it’s just labelled ‘proceeds of crime (not)’. Cub’s traps will let you past.

Receptionist: Wait, are you—was that person—a Watcher—holy shit—

Scar: See ya later! Get the money!

Receptionist: [rolls eyes] Of course, sir. Have a nice day.

*chau Grian uses he/she pronouns

*Check out tibby’s chau tag!

[ivys-garden]

Here's a clearer version of the Hermit Falls Zodiac (+ the og Journal Page)

Here's everyone's roles in the au:

Sunbeam & Cresent Moon: Grian & Pearl (Dipper & Mabel) - twins of divorced parents who were sent to a Nowhere town for autumn break to reconnect after being separated. Currently living with their great uncle Scar. When Grian finds a strange journal in the woods he and Pearl become obsessed with uncovering the secrets of this town. Ps, Tilly is Waddles :3

Top Hat: Scar (Stan) - the twins Grunkle and the proprietor of Trader Scars: The House Of Wonders!, a local tourist trap. He seems to spend a lot of time in the basement.

Lowercase i: Impulse (Soos) - local handyman at Trader Scars, father figure for the twins.

Cool S: Skizz (Wendy) - cashier at Trader Scars, generally laid back but will deck you if you hurt his friends

Rocket Ship: Cub (Ford) - genius scientist who lived in Hermit Falls decades ago, Scar says he jumped towns and left the Trader Scars building to him, but no one's heard from him since

Fancy Mustache: Mumbo (McGucket) - local mad inventor living in the junkyard. Insists his name is "Big Ron" Cub always looked guilty when he saw him…

Gemstone: Gem (Pacifica) - daughter of a rich family staying in Hermit Falls on a business trip. gets bored and decides to have a rivalry with Pearl. Just cuz

Old Skull: Cleo (Robbie) - local artist and mortician. Sorta tried to kill Pearl on her first week in Hermit Falls. Tensions were high between them and Grian after that

@ Symbol: Joe Hills (Gidion) - owner of a rival tourist trap: Joe Hills’ Tent O’ Magic, where he puts on dazzling acts of poetry, music, Puppet shows and magic tricks. Everyone seems to like him, but Scar doesn't trust him

Joel (Bill) - interdimensional Demon watching over Gravity Falls. Burt his home dimension to the ground. Still hears her his friends in the back of his mind. Why did he do it?

Will I continue this? Maybe? I'm busy atm but I like the concept. I've sketched some designs but nothing I'm super happy with so far.

Ps If any of yall can come up with a surname that fits Pearl, Grian & Scar (maybe Cub two not devided if him and Scar are brothers yet) that would be cool ;)

Also, well done to @harley-the-pancake & @octopus-defence-squad at correctly decoding almost everything! I'd give you cookies if I could

[palewolfcheesecake-blog]

Animals I Associate the 2024 Grid With For No Reason Other Than Vibes

Edit: I added pics at the request of @raizelchrysanderoctavius

(this is gonna be mostly dog breeds bc a lot of them are really dog coded)

Max Verstappen - Greyhound

Sergio (Checo) Perez - English Cocker Spaniel

Charles Leclerc - Shetland sheep (specifically, a lamb)

Carlos Sainz - Australian Shepherd

Lando Norris - Capybara

Oscar Piastri - Guinea pig

George Russell - Pembroke Welsh Corgi

Fernando Alonso - Persian cat

Lewis Hamilton - White tailed deer

Lance Stroll - Munchkin cat

Yuki Tsunoda - Pomeranian

Ollie Bearman - Labrador Retriever (chocolate)

Nico Hulkenberg - American Bully

Kevin Magnussen - American Robin

Alexander Albon - Saw-billed hermit

Esteban Ocon - Siamese cat

Zhou Guanyu - Ragamuffin

Daniel Ricciardo - Eurasian/Northern goshawk

Pierre Gasly - California Valley coyote

Valtteri Bottas - Polar bear

Logan Sargeant - Basenji

(bonuses (drivers not on the grid) under the cut)

Sebastian Vettel - Brittany Spaniel

Kimi Raikkonen - Cane Corso

Mick Schumacher - Golden Retriever

Michael Schumacher - Eurasian wolf

Mika Hakkinen - Samoyed

Nico Rosberg - Standard Poodle

Jenson Button - Labrador Retriever (golden)

Mark Webber - Dingo

Ayrton Senna - Gyrfalcon

Alain Prost - Gray fox (reached to picture limit with Senna, so I'll just be sending links from now on)

Nigel Mansell - English Bulldog

Niki Lauda - Shiba Inu

James Hunt - Shih Tzu

Jackie Stewart - Rottweiler

Jim Clark - Deer mouse

Juan Manuel Fangio - Spotted hyena

[innervoiceart]

"Nature Boy" was Nat King Cole's first big hit, since then it has been covered over 1223 times! The story behind the song is even more sensational

Joe Moondad has the strange story of eden ahbez:

"In the late 40s, there was a rumor that there was a "hermit," disenchanted and disillusioned with the world, supposedly "out-of-sync" with society, living in California in a cave under one of the L’s in the Hollywood sign.

No one really cared about this strange man, until one night in 1947, when someone tried to enter backstage at the Lincoln Theater in Los Angeles. Nat King Cole was playing there, and the man said he had something for Cole. Of course, the employees didn't let the strange man see Cole, so he gave whatever he had with Cole's manager.

What he had was a song sheet, which Cole would later take a look at. Cole liked the song and wanted to record it, but he had to find the strange man. When asked, the people who saw the man said he was strange, indeed, with shoulder-length hair and beard, wearing sandals and a white robe.

Cole finally tracked him down in New York City. When Cole asked him where he was staying, the strange man declared he was staying at the best hotel in New York - outside, literally, in Central Park. He said his name was eden ahbez (spelled all in lower-case letters). The song he gave Cole was titled, "Nature Boy." It became Cole's first big hit, and was soon covered by other artists through the years, from Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan to Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, most recently.

Of course, the media went crazy about the strange, mysterious man who handed Nat King Cole, one of the biggest hits during that time. Everyone went out to try to find out more about him.

What little they found was that he was once an orphan, who never stayed at one place very long, living in various foster homes. He explained he just never fit in and was always searching, for something.

["They say he wandered very far...

Very far, over land and sea..."

They found out he would hop freight trains and walked across country several times, subsisting solely on raw fruits and vegetables, then one day he completely vanished.

["A little shy and sad of eye...

But very wise was he..."]

He finally showed up again in the Hollywood hills. When a policeman stopped the strange, long-haired man with beard, sandals, and robe, ahbez simply replied, "I look crazy but I'm not. And the funny thing is that other people don't look crazy but they are."

["And then one day...

One magic day he passed my way..."]

He then showed up backstage at Nat King Cole's concert in Los Angeles, to present him with the song, "Nature Boy." No one seems to really know why he selected Cole, there were some rumors that he came out of hiding when he began to hear about the racism going on and trouble throughout the world, and he thought "King" was the best person at that time to pass his message along.

["While we spoke of many things...

Fools and Kings..."]

When he was asked about racism, he replied, "Some white people hate black people, and some white people love black people, some black people hate white people, and some black people love white people. So you see it's not an issue of black and white, it's an issue of Lovers and Haters."

It was that theme of love that he continued to talk about, what was missing in the world, and what would be needed in the future if we are to survive.

ahbez would eventually get his message out, especially after the counter-culture finally caught up with him and the hippie movement began, when other artists such as Donovan, Grace Slick, and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson sought him out. He also wrote songs for Eartha Kitt and had another song recorded by Sam Cooke.

In 2009, Congressman Bill Aswad recited the last lyrics of the song before the Vermont House of Representatives at the passing of his state's same-sex marriage bill in '09.

Author Raymond Knapp described the track as a "mystically charged vagabond song" whose lyrics evoked an intense sense of loss and haplessness, with the final line delivering a universal truth, described by Knapp as "indestructible" and "salvaged somehow from the perilous journey of life."

["This he said to me...

The greatest thing you'll ever learn...

Is just to love and be loved in return."]

"George Alexander Aberle (April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement.

He was known to friends simply as ahbe.

Ahbez composed the song "Nature Boy", which became a No. 1 hit for eight weeks in 1948 for Nat "King" Cole.

Living a bucolic life from at least the 1940s, he traveled in sandals and wore shoulder-length hair and beard, and white robes. He camped out below the first L in the Hollywood Sign above Los Angeles and studied Oriental mysticism. He slept outdoors with his family and ate vegetables, fruits, and nuts. He claimed to live on three dollars per week.

In the mid-1950s, he wrote songs for Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, and others, as well as writing some rock-and-roll novelty songs. In 1957, his song "Lonely Island" was recorded by Sam Cooke, becoming the second and final Ahbez composition to hit the Top 40.

In 1959, he began recording instrumental music, which combined his signature somber tones with exotic arrangements and (according to the record sleeve) "primitive rhythms". He often performed bongo, flute, and poetry gigs at beat coffeehouses in the Los Angeles area. In 1960, he recorded his only solo LP, Eden's Island, for Del-Fi Records.

This mixed beatnik poetry with exotica arrangements. Ahbez promoted the album through a coast-to-coast walking tour making personal appearances, but it sold poorly.

During the 1960s, ahbez released five singles. Grace Slick's band, the Great Society, recorded a version of "Nature Boy" in 1966 and ahbez was photographed in the studio with Brian Wilson during a session for the Smile album in early 1967. Later that year, British singer Donovan sought out ahbez in Palm Springs, and the two wanderers shared a reportedly "near-telepathic" conversation. In the 1970s, Big Star's Alex Chilton recorded a version of "Nature Boy" with the photographer William Eggleston on piano. The song was finally released as a bonus track on the 1992 Rykodisc re-release of the album Third/Sister Lovers.

In 1974, ahbez was reported to be living in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland, and he owned a record label named Sunland Records, for which he was recording under the name "Eden Abba." From the late 1980s until his death, ahbez worked closely with Joe Romersa, an engineer/drummer in Los Angeles. The master tapes, photos, and final works of eden ahbez are in Romersa's possession.

Ahbez died on March 4, 1995, of injuries sustained in a car accident, at the age of 86. Another album, Echoes from Nature Boy, was released posthumously."

[t1oui]

percy weasley was eleven when he was sorted into slytherin.

in hindsight, no one should’ve been surprised. percy was the different one, the nerdy one, the weasley who played quidditch and had red hair but was, in every other way, other.

he was such an easy target for fred and george’s pranks, the boy who “couldn’t take a joke” even if the joke truly hurt.

like all young wix, he had bouts of accidental magic, but those were different too. where his siblings floated teapots, percy levitated his bed. where ginny changed the color of her birthday cake from pink to orange, percy blew up a bush. different. that’s all he ever was.

he asked once if the magic swirling under the surface of his skin would relax, if the lava would cool and stop trying so desperately to escape. after he saw the look on bill’s face, he didn’t ask again.

different. they were all magical, but he was different.

when percy started at hogwarts, he wanted to make a change. to show his siblings and his parents and the whole world that he, percy weasley, was worthy. worthy of love, of pride, of being in on pranks instead of the subject of them.

he didn’t think about how that would look to the hat until it was too late.

percy spent his first night at hogwarts as far away from his brothers as he could possibly be — across the great hall, across the school, across the world. percy was supposed to be a gryffindor, supposed to wear red and gold, supposed to make his family proud. how could he do that if they were now the very people he was meant to hate?

by january of his first year, percy had three good friends. he knew other people, of course — he wasn’t a total hermit, no matter what people (read: his family) said — but these were three people who were all his. maybe the possessiveness was a slytherin thing, but thanks to his friends, he was more comfortable with that.

their names were marcus, penelope, and oliver, and they became his whole world.

marcus came along first. he and percy were two of the four boys in their dormitory, and with adrian and theo becoming friends fairly quickly, percy and marcus befriending each other became somewhat inevitable. marcus was outgoing and reckless and a complete dork sometimes, but he was also kind and smart and could spend hours discussing chaser strategies with percy. he definitely liked quidditch more, there was no doubt about that, but percy found it didn’t matter. he could match marcus’s enthusiasm as long as he wanted.

next was penelope, and she was different. she hated all sports, quidditch included — despite the fact that she had only just been introduced to the sport (and the wizarding world as a whole — but she loved books just as much as percy did.

they met in the library, both of them looking for the same history of magic book, and after a few stern glares from penelope, she finally relented and the two agreed to share. it wasn’t as bad as either of them thought it would be. it was nice, percy thought, to have someone care about school as much as he did.

and then, finally, there was oliver wood.

oliver was a gryffindor, a supposed rival of marcus and percy, and he still managed to get pulled into their group anyway. looking back, percy isn’t surprised. of course he managed it — he’s oliver.

they — being marcus and percy — met him on the quidditch pitch the day of hufflepuff’s team tryouts. marcus and percy weren’t trying out, not even for the slytherin team, but they decided to watch all the tryouts and as many practices as they could to try and gauge the competition they’d have once they joined the team in second year. adrian had gone with them for slytherin’s tryouts, but apparently couldn’t bother to watch past that, instead electing to study with theodore. marcus didn’t really mind, and percy didn’t either, though adrian’s dry humor was a nice touch in the quiet moments.

they were some the only non-hufflepuffs in the stands, and practically the only students watching at all. they were some of the only non-hufflepuffs, but not all of them, because there was oliver. he wasn’t even sitting in gryffindor.

“he does know he’s not a ravenclaw, right?” percy had asked. marcus shrugged.

“maybe we should go remind him.”

so it was decided.

oliver barely even noticed as they walked up, too occupied with taking notes on the drills happening above him. but from that day on, he was one of them — once he noticed they were there, at least.

it was at the end of first year that percy finally explained the feeling of magic under his skin, practically bursting with it, and it was at the end of first year that his friends said they felt it, too. they felt the power building beneath the surface with nowhere to go, felt the discomfort of it and the confusion at students and teachers alike who couldn’t relate. but they could, and wasn’t that something?

when marcus found percy sulking after he signed up to stay at hogwarts for christmas, figuring his parents wouldn’t want him around, marcus had said, “you’re a slytherin. be proud of it.”

at the end of his first year, as percy found himself allied with the only other students who felt magic like his, he thought, someday, i’m going to show them all.

for the first time, he was proud.

[revenantlore]

. WIP introduction.

the spookyboys, in collaboration with @reeseweston

With an aching secret wedged between his ribs, Felix Novak embarks on a quest for truth and to unveil the existence of aliens, ghosts, cryptids, and everything in between.

Casper Nguyen, a firm non-believer in anything not proven by fact, unexpectedly becomes entangled in Felix’s pursuit of the impossible.

Together, they blur the lines between the known and the unexplainable—and their friendship along the way.

. soft rain hitting fallen leaves . disembodied voices on the wind . audio crackles on the radio . cozy sweaters a size too big . handprints on foggy windows . milkshakes and french fries . inside jokes between friends . murder mysteries and mayhem . a face in the mirror not belonging to you .

characters :

Felix Novak

Psychosis runs in the Novak family. At least that’s what his father’s been trying to convince Felix of ever since the day his mother was sent away following her hysterical claims of seeing a woman in their house that no one else could see.

Except … Felix is positive he saw her too.

Even more certain that he spoke to her.

Maybe not in words, but through his Ouija board.

Years have come and gone since then, and though Felix hasn’t yet been able to prove his mother’s sanity, he has seen his fair share of ghosts and monsters, of creatures both evil and benign, and he’s not given up looking for the truth.

Casper ‘Cas’ Nguyen

Ghosts don’t exist, Cas is as sure of that as he is the insomnia that plagues him.

That is, until he meets eccentric and curious Felix, a man insistent that this insomnia Cas suffers from might in fact be the cause of a ghost not only haunting his apartment but also sharing some sort of deeper connection that is much too extreme for Cas to grasp.

Even in the face of proof that this ghost, and others like it, might indeed exist, Cas remains skeptical.

Even after years following Felix prove the existence of the paranormal on film, Cas remains skeptical.

Because there has to be another explanation … right?

Croix Harvoth

Croix was once a kinder and gentler person, but ghosts ruined that for him.

A near-death experience during an attempt to bring his former best friend’s girlfriend back to life has left him haunted. Literally. To the point he can’t sleep most days because the ghosts in his occult shop / apartment won’t shut the fuck up.

Like he owes them something, they come to him seeking help, seeking guidance to the next stage of their lives … or lack thereof … and no matter what he does, he can’t seem to get rid of them.

It’s turned him into an asshole of a hermit who avoids the living as often as he can … which isn’t easy when you run a business.

Someone’s got to pay the bills, though, and his cat, Jackass, will starve without her damned cat food, so what’s a guy going to do?

Atticus Flood

Some might say he is too giving, too gentle, too eager to help, and they would be right.

Atticus can heal the ailments of others, from minor wounds to major ones, from simple sorrows to the deepest mental aches, but in turn, it takes a part of him, too.

His hair is losing its color, drained from its deep black roots to a haunting white like a spider’s thread. His nails have taken on a similar fate, but his eyes still hold some of the life still lingering in him.

Taking it too much further might mean the end for him, but Atticus isn’t sure he can say no.

Especially not when he meets Croix and knows he might be the only thing that can save him from his demons.

Katy Lovelace

Everyone needs a friend acquainted in witchcraft, though Felix might have been skeptical when they first met. Which is saying something, considering all of his out-there beliefs … but this was different. This was putting his best friend in the hands of a stranger, inexperienced in the ways of magic, no one quite knowing what risks they might face.

Now, though, she’s a go-to friend for advice on crystals and spells, and the occasional bath time essential oil recommendations.

[dalekofchaos]

Micah was the only rat. It was not Abigail

I hate the fan theory that Abigail was the rat all along. It's gross, misogynistic and just stupid when all the evidence is there that Micah was the rat from the get go. Also Molly was not the rat either. She was drunk and heartbroken and just wanted to hurt Dutch. It was Micah all along. Here's why.

How Micah met Dutch. Micah met Dutch at a bar in a town in the Grizzlies named Crenshaw Hills. Dutch tried to sell gold that his gang had recently stolen, but the deal went sour, leading to an altercation where Micah stepped in and saved his life. As a result, Micah was accepted into the Van der Linde gang. Despite being an experienced outlaw who was respected for his skill in combat, Micah was generally disliked within the gang; in particular, Arthur and Hosea saw him as argumentative, reckless and hot-headed, with Dutch alone taking a liking to him. It's very clear to me from the moment he saw Dutch, that Micah saw a mark. Someone he can profit off of and manipulate. See the problem with Dutch is how much of a narcissist he is. He is so vain and so delusional that there is always this plan. Dutch is a weak vain man and Micah manipulated him and milked him for all he's worth. Micah may have been the rat, but Dutch is responsible for everything that went wrong with the gang.

The Blackwater Ferry Job. It was Micah's idea. Arthur and Hosea had a rich real estate scam going on and Dutch went with Micah's idea, because one big score was just too big for Dutch to pass up. And when the job happened. Death happened. It began with Heidi McCourt's murder. "Micah encouraged it" as John would later say. Then Pinkertons swarmed in and it turned into a clusterfuck. Mac and John gets shot to hell, Sean gets captured, Jenny and Davey die. This was the beginning of the end.

If you go to his “hermit camp” by strawberry/monto’s rest, you can find a newspaper clipping about the Blackwater heist (150,000 dollars stolen), and Dutch’s wanted poster (1000 dollar reward) which tells me that his goal was to get Dutch arrested or killed, turn him in for clemency, and then go back and get the rest of the cash, which the newspapers/treasure chest imply he’s done the latter by the epilogue.

Throughout the game Micah constantly pesters Dutch and Arthur about picking up the money they left in Blackwater. From what we learn about Blackwater in the mission where we rescue Sean, Blackwater is completely overrun with Pinkertens. It’s practically their base of operations.

After you save Sean with Trelawny, there is a piece of dialogue at camp where Arthur tells Dutch that Trelawny told him there are posters of Dutch and Hosea all over Blackwater. Thing is, Hosea wasn't a part of the ferry heist. If you read Arthur's journal, he says that he and Hosea have been running a real estate scam while the gang was camped outside of Blackwater and that it was Dutch and Micah who were planning the ferry job. He even says that he's gonna have to sit the job out because he was too busy working with Hosea, which automatically tells us that Hosea skipped the ferry heist as well. So isn't it a little suspicious that the heist was carried out by Dutch, Micah and a group (likely Bill, Javier and maybe Sean and the Callanders) but the wanted posters all over town are of Dutch and Hosea? My theory is that Micah has already been working with the Pinkertons at this point and he acted as their mole in Dutch's whole operation. Then in this case specifically, the Pinkertons and Micah pretty much set Hosea up and had him take the blame for the heist as well, despite physically not being there. It would explain why Trelawny doesn't mention posters of Micah in Blackwater, despite him being pretty recognizable and definitely involved.

Micah's getting close to the O'Driscolls. After the prologue. The next time we see Micah, he's in jail in Strawberry. We break him out and the first thing he does is kill an O'Driscoll. Maybe Micah talked because he realized he was being hanged and the O'Driscoll offered him to join Colm and Micah accepted. And his little murder rampage in Strawberry started by killing the one guy who could rat him out to Arthur… an O’Driscoll he seemed quite chummy with in their cell. Also when they rob the Stagecoach, it’s the O’Driscolls who ambush them. But I believe it goes beyond that. I believe Colm and Micah knew each other before. He offered Micah a lot of money to destroy Dutch's gang from the inside out.

Micah's camp idea in Dewberry Creek. At the start of chapter 3 before Arthur and Charles found Clemons Point. Micah told Dutch about Dewberry Creek and when we find it, it's out in the open and indefensible. So my belief was that Micah was going to have the Pinkertons ambush the gang and pick them off one by one.

The Braithewaites vs Grays. I believe Micah gave Dutch and Hosea the idea to play both sides. The plan was to play it cool and keep things quiet, but Dutch, Hosea and Micah saw get rich quick scheme and fell for the rumored Confederate Gold. Eventually things got loud. Micah most likely told the Grays and the Braithewaites. Sean was killed and Jack was taken and in the end it was all for nothing because there was no gold.

The O'Driscoll "parley." The mission where Arthur gets captured by the O’Driscolls makes me very suspicious. It’s Micah’s suggestion to have Arthur go up on that perch where they seem to know where he is. Colm planned to sell out Dutch's gang to the Pinkertons, but who's to say him and Micah didn't have a deal going on? He sells everyone out and splits the reward with Colm I think the botched O’driscoll parley was definitely Micah’s intention. Did he want Arthur out of the way, was he hoping they’d kill Dutch, was he a double agent for the O’Driscolls or the Pinkerton’s? Who knows?

The O'Driscoll attack on Shady Bell. Before we begin. I had a thought. What if Micah took Kieran away from the camp. He promised to help him prove himself to Dutch and the rest of the gang. In reality, Micah handed Kieran over to the O'Driscolls to show what happens to traitors. Micah also gives them the location of the gang and they attacked. Isn't it a little suspicious that Micah is nowhere to be seen defending Shady Bell?

The Saint Denis Bank heist. It goes wrong fast. You can see Pinkerton agents before any shooting as you walk up to the bank at the end of chapter 4. I think some more proof of Micah being the rat is in the bank job where he is the only one not wearing black. I think him wearing white was his way of having the Pinkertons and the Law not shoot at him. And honestly I believe Micah wanted Hosea killed. If Hosea were there, he couldn't get into Dutch's head. He manipulated Dutch and just showering him in praises and making Dutch believe he's the only one on his side and that Arthur and John are snakes and that all we need is one last take.

I think the reason Milton says that Micah became a rat after chapter 5 is to make Arthur think that it was Milton and the Pinkerton’s work finding the Saint Denis bank robbery.

When Susan kills Molly, take a careful look at Micah. He looks fearful, but glad someone took the fall for him

Look where the gang is in chapter 6. In a cave. What did Arthur say at the beginning of chapter 3? "There ain't no way Dutch is gonna just hide away in a cave somewhere. Goes against everything he stands for. That'd be admitting we're nothing more than lowdown criminals." tensions high, everyone turning each other. Karen deteriorating, Dutch willing to let John hang, Dutch using Eagle Flies and the tribe for his own selfish wants and desires, Micah supplanting Cleet and Joe into the gang, Dutch not giving a damn about his first son dying a slow and painful death and Dutch leaving John behind on the heist and magically, the Pinkertons arrive when the tension finally reaches it's boiling point.

If you chose "go for the money" Arthur will tell Dutch "you let him damn us all" and you can see Micah visibly laughing

To me Micah was playing everyone. Dutch, O'Driscoll and the Pinkertons. Micah literally says he only believes in winning and losing. Living and dying. Survivor. That's all there is. Micah literally told us he was the rat from the getgo. I think his consistent habit of being involved in things that go wrong is neither a coincidence nor an accident. His goal, as I see it, is to weaken the gang so he can collect the bounties and walk free. Let’s not forget that he seems to have his own lackeys waiting in the wings in Cleet and Joe. So yes. Micah was the rat from the start and the only rat and the fact that anyone is trying so hard and desperately to believe that Abigail was the rat is so fucking stupid. Micah was a real outlaw, Racist, Backstabber, selfish and knew his actions well. So why everyone wants another member to be a rat is just ridiculously stupid.

[pangeen]

“ Hummingbirds of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil 1. Saw-billed Hermit 2. Swallow-tailed Hummingbird 3. Festive Coquette 4. Purple-crowned plovercrest 5. Brazilian Rubi 6. Glittering-bellied Emerald “

// Sergio Gregorio

Music: Dr Dre - Still Dre (cover)

[wearethecovenofchaos]

🔮🪄✨ Tarot Reading: Bill Skarsgård - November 3rd, 2024

I decided to do a different reading. I asked about future possible nominations for Bill and this is what I got! I hope you like it! 🥹✨

• What can the fans expect from Bill's career now?

🎴 The Hermit: "contemplating next steps in career, searching for purpose in career". This is a time to evaluate the professional path. Bill is in a moment of self-reflection about his career now. Maybe he's got the feeling that his job is not bringing fulfillment, and he's reflecting on what to do next. As a general meaning, The Hermit means "self-reflection, introspection, contemplation, withdrawal, solitude, search for self", which can also mean a moment when he's contemplating the need to rest.

• Is Bill going to be nominated for any award in the future?

🎴 Six of Swords: "leaving stressful workplace, moving to new role". When asking about career, the SoS means heading towards a more relaxed phase of work and making steady progress on your projects. Leaving the comfort zone. And it also indicates a change of roles or position, which makes me think that, yes, he may be nominated but not as an actor.

🎴 Ten of Pentacles: "creating lasting career, stable future". The ToP is a card that talks about long terms. It indicates reaching a career milestone or achieving a long-term professional goal. Together with the SoS, I see that the possible future nomination is going to consecrate him as a great professional in his field. Recognition and respect because of a job well done.

🎴 King of Swords: "stern but righteous mentor, challenged to do your best". High standarts. Being the best one can be. He's fair and communicative. This card talks about being precise when facing a complex situation, and it complements the other cards, because it is about one's ability to make clear decisions as a leader. So, we could say that the award may come for him as a director/producer?

• What can we expect from Nosferatu?

🎴 Six of Pentacles: "generosity, charity, community, material help, support, sharing, giving and receiving, gratitude". This card is really positive and it's about prosperity through hard work. It can also suggest that Bill will be more valued after the movie.

🎴 The Magician: "willpower, desire, being resourceful,, skill, ability, concentration, manifestation". The card of manifestation and willpower. He has everything he needs in his hands to achieve his goals and find success. This card is about taking the center stage. So, with the SoP and TM together, we can expect excellent feedbacks about Nosferatu.

Oracle of the Fairies

• What are the advices the Fairies have to give Bill?

✨ Magical Gateway: "It takes courage and trust to venture into the unknown, yet this is where the greatest rewards are. It's time to step boldly forward without looking back." This is all about stepping out of the comfort zone (and we saw this above too), and all the good things that may come from doing that.

✨ Find Balance: "Find the balance between your work, rest and playtime and you will have more energy, harmony and productivity in your life. Take a power nap." Take a break and give yourself a well-deserved rest. Even if there's another task waiting, you dont need to rush to get everything done. (This is basically the same meaning as The Hermit suggests!)

Okay, so this was my reading and the cards I got. Now I want to add three things that @shamrock313 said about the reading:

• First: In the card Ten of Pentacles of the deck I used to do the reading, we have this:

The suits of Pentacles are all about abundance and we have a castle, just like Count Orlok’s! 🦇🤞🏻

• Second: In the original image of the Six of Swords, we have a man in a boat, and there’s the ocean. Sham said that it can also mean that he can be nominated in Sweden or overseas, and not in America.

• Third: The Six of Pentacles can also be about the money the studio invested in the project and they are going to have the money back or more money than they are expecting to make. It can also mean that the movie is going to be successful for other cast members, or new actors who will get known for the first time for this film, like name recognition.

✨ A gentle reminder: tarot is for fun and we should always take everything with a grain of salt, and be opened to all the possibilities. ✨

[podartists]

Grypus nævius, Saw-bill. [Pl. 1] | A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds v.1 | Biodiversity Heritage Library | Flickr

[nickgerlich]

Surging Forward

When it comes to the Four Ps of Marketing, there is one that affects us the most. It raises eyebrows. It may cause mental anguish. And it hits where it hurts the most, the pocketbook. I can only be talking about one thing: Price.

As I was telling my undergrads yesterday, they have now lived through—and survived—a period of inflation. This hasn’t happened for 40 years, which I remember all too well from my university days. It’s the kind of thing you tend to remember forever.

While inflation is now more or less within a reasonable range (about 3.1% last month), our grocery bills are up about 25% in the last four years. You can thank the compounding effect for that. Some manufacturers have responded by reducing the size of the package, so they can try to maintain price points. Labeled as “shrinkflation” by President Biden and others, it gives the illusion that prices haven’t gone up, even though the unit price definitely has.

Given that we have all now become hyper-sensitized to price since COVID, it should come as no surprise that Wendy’s plans to test surge pricing for its hamburgers is drawing the ire of many. It’s bad enough that the price of fast food has skyrocketed, but now they want to charge even more during hours of peak demand, as well as at locations that are typically busier than others.

Surge pricing, which also goes by the moniker dynamic pricing, has been in use for decades. It’s what explains the matinee price at movie theatres, a time of day in which far fewer people are likely to see a movie. Airlines have done it for years, with peak demand times seeing fares much higher than off-peak. Add hotels to the mix, too. Business hotels are often weekend bargains for families, because all the people with expense accounts have gone home. And we all know how expensive food and beverages are at airports and stadiums, while not far away they are much lower.

Uber is another company leaning on this model, with the price of a ride reflecting the demand. If a stadium is emptying out, the price just went up. Many other retailers, from Amazon to Target, Kroger, Best Buy, and others have done it. The advent of digital price tags makes it all too easy to reset prices within a store, or even systemwide. Heck, I even saw it in Germany some years ago, with gas stations raising prices at peak commuting times, and lowering them during others. Shame on you for not refueling at a better time!

One of the more interesting aspects of dynamic, or surge, pricing is that used on Dallas-area toll roads and express lanes. Essentially, the price is set based on traffic volume. As congestion increases, the price for diverting to the express lane goes up. The thinking is that it might just be worth your added dollars to be able to zoom by the unlucky proletariat stuck in traffic. Be sure to wave as you go by. These lanes are the sky boxes of the highway system. At peak times, a person driving solo can pay up to $0.90 per mile for the privilege.

The weeks ahead will be interesting to see how the market reacts to Wendy’s move, and whether they stick to their guns or back down. If customers swallow surge pricing, it opens the flood gates for all fast food restaurants to do the same. It could then spill over into all restaurants, and everywhere else. Consumers will be left at wit’s end trying to keep up with what amounts to a wide array of possible prices for the things they buy. I suspect that apps and websites will arrive that allow for crowdsourced updates on all of it.

It’s the price we pay for being alive today. Inflation is one thing, but having to endure exorbitant temporary price hikes is quite another. Even staying home and being a hermit does not make you immune, because you still have to buy things. As for me, I’m staying in the slow lane just as a matter of principle, and because I’m still waiting for my salary to go up commensurately to account for the last four years.

Dr “Not Getting Inflated Expectations” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[cococowboah]

A review of The Dead Don't Die, because fuck this movie.

I can't figure out why in the world this is labeled as a comedy when the only funny thing about it is how awful it is.

Just to preface if you personally liked this film that's perfectly fine. But I have more than many gripes about it and I'm gonna talk about them now.

First off who on earth greenlit this? I consider myself a fan of Adam Driver and Bill Murray but if this was the first movie I ever saw them in I'd never want to see them in anything else ever again.

It was painstakingly slow-paced and lingered on scenes like a toddler waiting for you to stop doing the dishes so you could watch them do a Fortnite default dance. It demands your full attention without ever making any effort to earn it. It held itself like an instant classic without understanding what makes a film a classic, or even remotely good, to begin with.

My number one gripe is the fourth wall breaking. Adam Driver's character (I say the names of the actors because I couldn't be bothered to remember these extremely unmemorable characters names) apparently knows he's in a movie the entire time, keeps saying "this is gonna end badly" only to finally reveal at the end that he knows how it ends because he's "read the script."

Fourth wall breaking can work perfectly fine, in a comedy, of which this is not.

I don't know what this is. I don't even think this movie knows what it is.

My second gripe is the immense amount of characters we're introduced to who never pay off in any which way. Their introductions aren't funny or memorable or important whatsoever. They feel like they are merely there to add time to the movie.

You can cut out about 50% of this entire movie and you won't be missing a single thing. None of the characters except for Adam and Bill's ever hold any weight. For whatever reason Tilda Swinton is a sword-wielding Scottish mortician alien, who again, holds absolutely no weight to the plot. You can cut her out entirely and it wouldn't change a single thing about this movie. You could cut out Selena Gomez as the "cute hipster" entirely and it wouldn't change a single thing about this movie. You could cut out Steve "I'm the racist one" Buschemi and it wouldn't change a single thing about this movie.

Nobody in this movie matters. Nobody in this movie holds any weight. The plot goes nowhere, the protagonists -if you can even call them that- die at the end, nobody lives happily ever after, and according to the hermit in the woods, we "were all already zombies anyway."

There was this brief completely thrown away scene where the zombies were all shown walking around with smart phones and I wanted to throw my TV out the window after seeing it. It was such a heavy fisted nothing-burger of a scene with the exclusive goal of telling the audience they're like zombies if they use smartphones. Is it a joke? Is it societal commentary? Is it a mind bogglingly stupid scene that serves no purpose? The answer is up to you.

I hated this movie so much it's ridiculous. The fact that excellent scripts get passed up day after day after day because they're written by nobodies with no network or connections, yet garbage like this gets funded and filmed, is an absolute cinematic crime.

The only way I can suggest watching this is to do it with a buddy or two who will take the piss out of it with you. My husband and I did so and the only laughs we had were in making fun of how awful this movie was.

Rant over. Goodnight.

[the-psychotic-blueberry]

Liyue Chapter

aka, me summarizing a random idea about a hermit genshin isekai fic I'll probably write but wont Pt.2

ft. Grian, Scar, Jevin, Ningguang, Yelan, Yanfei, Xiangling, Aether and Paimon

Summary: Scar becomes the richest man in teyvat, and people think Grian is an adeptus and is very done, and Jevin is not having a good time with other slimes.

  Grian and Scar, wake up on that giant rock that looks over Liyue Harbor, Scar gawks at the scenery for a bit before Grian realizes that they are in a different world. 

   So they fly down the mountain, and somewhere along the way they stumble onto a bunch of ores (cor lapis, crystal chunks, magical crystal chunk, etc.) And Scar, being very intrigued by the shiny, mines it with his netherite pickaxe instantly, and instead of dropping one, it drops about 4 due to the fortune III enchantment on his pickaxe. 

   So they decide to head to Liyue Harbor, and both Scar and Grian are very much excited about where they ended up. They both take a few pictures of the buildings for reference in case they wanna build something similar, but then Grian notices the stares that are aimed at him and wonders if it was because of his huge parrot wings (they are big because watchers are CANON here) but just shrugs it off.. 

  A while later, Scar is now currently haggling and selling off the ore that he just casually yoinked to Shitou, the boss of the jade mystery while Grian is to tired to stop him and just went to Third round knockout and sat down and ordered some tea and bamboo shoot soup.

   Iron Tongue Tian obviously took interest in parrot boi, because how can you not? His wings makes up most of his sillhoutte. So the dude makes up a story about a half adeptus with rainbow wings on the spot to get his attention, which did but he just didn’t notice. “Oh? What a coincidence” and acts all oblivious to it. He didn’t really understand the concept of an adeptus but listened anyway.   At some point, Scar came back and asked for some soup as well. But then pointed how he didn’t have the money to pay, and then pulled out a bag of mora, which he got from successfully selling it to Shitou. Which he assumed was the currency of this place. Scar had asked for the bill but they said it was on the house for some reason. They had no idea why (Scar just thought it was because nobody can resist his good times), and went on with their day.

 They decided to check the old woman selling kites and toys from across the street. As they were checking it out, (Scar wanted to buy a really big kite, y’know the dragon one?) a child walked up to Grian and asked if they could touch his big colorful fluffy wings, and yes he agreed. The child very much enjoyed it:D. 

   After a while, the child’s parents saw them touching his wings and immediately called them back and apologized for the child “I’m sorry oh great adeptus, please don’t mind my child.” and Grian’s just there like ???

   What he doesn’t know however, is that people think he is an adeptus. He didn’t realize that the world could sense his watcher aura and people started to notice, but the citizens confused it for adeptus aura.   He just waves them off and says he doesn’t mind and he thinks the child is pretty cute (though the family just thinks that he just literally gave the child an adeptus blessing or smthn)  and says goodbye. Scar finally gets his kite and they both head to Yujing terrace to fly it, and then gets hit by the idea of “How much mora do you think I can make?”

And then somewhere along the lines, Scar somehow becomes the richest person in Teyvat within a week. (Meanwhile somewhere in Snezhnaya, Pantalone heard rumors that some guy’s net worth is larger than his and fell over and couldn’t get up like a dramatic turtle)

   Liyue is not okay about this. Somehow he evaded breaking the law despite not knowing it, Yanfei and Yelan can’t find any flaws or any heinous intentions from him. Ningguang is shocked about the fact that there is another Jade chamber flying about, but it’s built over a mountain that definitely wasn’t there the last time anybody checked. Scar and Grian had somehow built themselves a whole mountain and a home because of how decked out they were and how many resources they already had.   The only difference however, was that their home was also free to the public, meaning that anyone can go in and out as they wish so long as nobody does anything bad. What made it even more welcoming was that there was a Jellie panda sanctuary on the mountain. 

  They asked where it came from, Grian would not say anything.   Rumors started spouting from the Liyueans about how Scars' riches and success had come from the adeptus that accompanied him. And now whenever Grian goes out to go shopping, people keep coming over to him to ask for blessings. Grian was usually either very annoyed, or decided to take advantage of it. (He heard people started to assume Scar was some kind of reincarnation of Rex Lapis and was very much done)

   Meanwhile, Jevin had actually woken up near the entrance to Qingce Village, he was perfectly fine at first… Then a bunch of different slimes with different elements started following him like ducklings and he immediately left since the slimes were bothering him a lot. He tried to ask for help from the locals… but they obviously ran away because he is also a slime, but just a sentient human-shaped one. So now he is just stuck in a tree, with all the slimes surrounding him.   A few days later, Aether and Paimon received a commission from the guild about a group of slimes that were led by a scary looking slime person and have been terrorizing the villagers. Along with Xiangling and Guoba who decided to join, they went over to check it out andddd…   …Cliff hanger :)

Bonus: Meanwhile in the depths of the Chasm, you can hear the faint hums and whispers of an old man mining away in the caves.

[human-antithesis]

Korn - MTV Unplugged (March 5th, 2007) Country: United States Genre: Acoustic

Lineup: Jonathan Davis - Vocals James "Munky" Shaffer - Guitar Reginald "Fieldy" Quincy - Bass

Guest/Session: Rob Patterson - Additional Guitar Kalen Musmecci - Percussion, Backing Vocals Michael Jochum - Percussion Zachary Baird - Keyboards Jeremy Turner - Cello Evie Koh - Cello Julie Green - Cello Erik Friedlander - Cello Bill Ellison - Upright Bass Jeff Carney - Upright Bass Michael Davis - Trombone Jeff Nelson - Trombone Dale Struckenbruck - Musical Saw Bill Hayes - Glass Armonica Morris Kainuma - Cimbasso Andy Bove - Cimbasso Hana Yoshikawa, Heather McPherson, Wynn Yamami, Midori Yasuda, Alan Okada, Merle Okada - Taiko Drums

Tracklist:

Blind - 03:29

Hollow Life - 03:24

Freak On A Leash - 03:55

Falling Away From Me - 03:55

Creep - 03:51

Love Song - 03:50

Got The Life - 03:48

Twisted Transistor - 03:00

Coming Undone - 03:35

Make Me Bad/In Between Days - 05:35

Throw Me Away - 06:20

Dirty - 04:05