#so that they become more powerful etc.

[aleksanderscult]

You don't need to read the whole book of "King of Scars" to understand the stupidity of its protagonists. You only need to read only one chapter. Take for example this:

A few Grisha: *betray the Darkling*

The Darkling: *kills them*

Zoya: *shocked Pikachu face*

Didn't those Grisha choose to take Alina's side? Weren't they aware that there was a war going on and their choice might very well result in death?

Zoya loves to make martyrs the Darkling's victims even though their actions were their own and the consequences reasonable.

'Without remorse'

I didn't know that the Darkling confessed his feelings to you, Zoya.

Zoya wants her people to feel safe and suddenly realizes that the country needs to be strong and its leader capable.

The Darkling who knew all of this and tried to do just that rolls in Elizaveta's castle right now.

The heroes are so painfully dumb it's almost remarkable. They curse Aleksander for his harsh actions but when they realize that they have to do the same to bring stability and peace, they panic. Because they find it difficult to do without making hard decisions but still won't admit that the Darkling was in their position but didn't act like a chicken and instead decided to dirty his hands with more blood to put an end to all of that.

No, his way is condemned as brutal. His feelings inhuman, his goals selfish. There must be another way for them. A more pure, holy way.

The Darkling no longer gave a shit about how Ravka saw him as long as his dream came true (even though he longed for their love). While the heroes care so much about how they feel and about how they are perceived that cannot even stand doing anything radical through force and blood.

[crazyw3irdo]

okay, i think any time anyone asks what superpower we’d like to have most everyone on this website would say shapeshifting but what kind of shapeshifting would you like

type 1- wild shape, you can turn into any animal, real or fictional

type 2- mystique, you can turn into any real person

type 3- cosplay, you can turn into any humanoid fictional character

type 4- jake the dog, you’re super stretchy

type 5- character creator, you can alter your own appearance- like changing voice hair length texture color, changing height and weight, transing gender, etc, but you can’t add anything non-human (ie horns, wings, claws, etc)

type 6- additional features, you can add things like snake eyes, horns, cat ears, tail, claws, wings, mermaid tail, but you remain humanoid overall and can’t change things like height or gender presentation or hair color. you can still change your voice tho

type 7- were-wolf, we all know what a werewolf is, lads. can be any kind of animal. can be straight up wolf or more monstrous wolf form that’s up to you.

type 8- furry, you just become your fursona. or any kind of fursona really you can change between them

type 9- antman, can become small or big

type 10- other, say what kind ya want

[ariadne-mouse]

I mentioned in this post that I thought it would take a life or death choice about Imogen for Liliana to flip, situationally, as opposed to the party being able to convince her to change her ideology (cult juice is strong), and it seems we may have gotten an element of that in Liliana flying to Imogen's aid against Otohan. I'd be very curious what Liliana would have done if she'd gotten there in time to fight, but we'll never know, so we have to digest the moment we got. I also think FCG's death adds another dimension both in-game and above the table. Since we dropped out literally mid-scene after her arrival this post may get stale immediately after the first few minutes of next week's episode, but for now I think it's safe to say that at least for the time Liliana spends with the party right now she will not be an active antagonist. Her daughter called for help and she answered, and her first act was trying to comfort her. Matt also wouldn't hit the players with another big battle fresh off the first (and with that outcome), so if they do have to face Liliana as an enemy it would be later under evolved circumstances.

To be clear I don't think FCG dying means Matt nerfs the threat of Liliana or that this situation means she has flipped permanently, but rather, it neatly interrupts the established dynamic between Liliana and Imogen thus far and creates a chance for new dialogue that doesn't just repeat all the same things as before. Imogen hasn't needed her mother - not really - and maybe still doesn't, but she called for help and is grieving now and the conversation doesn't necessarily have to be the same old "Liliana renounce your cause" but rather "help your daughter here and now" and to connect with her through that emotion. This is probably the best opportunity they'll ever get to flip Liliana in a more than "last ditch in a crisis moment" kind of way or lay the groundwork for that happening later. Now, the party - and Imogen in particular - may rightly be angry with Liliana as an ally of Otohan, and that FCG died because of the cause Liliana supports. Liliana may want to comfort her daughter while also believing that FCG's death was unfortunate but not ultimately a reason to doubt the cause or escape what she sees as inevitable. It's messy! But it's a very interesting situation and FCG's death is such a visible wound on Imogen that it may elicit Liliana to do or consider things she wouldn't, otherwise.

[aroaceleovaldez]

once again thinking about the worldbuilding in the riordanverse of "names are power" / "belief is power."

The Tri were only able to become immortal through convincing enough people to worship them that it became true. Monsters and immortals only exist through continued belief, and if enough people believe that they're dead or gone then it becomes true, like Pan. Their varied forms exist and manifest as they're believed in and called upon. Names call attention and epithets summon aspects. They're acknowledgement. Belief. Putting a name to a concept creates it as an individual.

And that's so fascinating when you start applying it to demigods. How much of their abilities are based on belief in themselves, in expectations of each other, in their parents' expectations of them? We've seen mortal figures who became immortal in some form or another because they were remembered. Even the lares - ancestral house gods, who persist because they're remembered. They have a legacy.

At what point does a demigod achieve that status? Rumors and whispers about them so persistent that they slowly become true. "I heard that Jason Grace is the son of two gods, does that make him a god?" "I heard Percy Jackson defeated a titan single-handedly. That he can create hurricanes without breaking a sweat. That he can control blood." After awhile, after enough rumors, does it become impossible to tell where they end and the legends begin? Isn't that what being a demigod is; half-legend?

[crocodilenjoyer]

what if you 🫵 wanted to take a nap 💤 but god said ☝️ asl dunmeshi au 💥

[wraithdolll]

moonwatcher

[faaun]

ok let's catch up quickly

[cashmere-caveman]

sometimes someone will reblog my "silver lied in the finale no idea abt what tho" post and their tags all full of #flinthamilton angst and i just really am forcefully reminded that even though we all watched the same show . we did not in fact watch the same show. like yes their affair is basically what set the whole plot in motion and i really love thomas as a plot device but i do have to confess that idc abt thomas as a person at all lmfao

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

chris ryan casually dropping a joking use of "the great work continues"... continuing to prove himself the ringer person i would most enjoy hanging out with in real life despite on paper the two of us having nothing in common except a deep love for the david fincher movie zodiac

[acourtofquestions]

Kingdom of Ash Chapter 24

"What is this place?" Manon asked Glennis as she found the crone polishing the handle of a gold-bound broom beside the fire. Two others lay on a cloak nearby. Menial work for the witch in charge of this camp.

"This is an ancient camp-one of the oldest we claim." Glennis's knobbed fingers flew over the broom handle. "Each of the seven Great Hearths has a fire here, as do many others." Indeed, there were far more than seven in the camp. "It was a gathering place for us after the war, and since then, it had become a place to usher in some of our younger witches to adulthood. It is a rite we've developed over the years—to send them into the deep wilds for a few weeks to hunt and survive with only their brooms and a knife. We remain here while they do so."

Manon asked quietly, "Do you know what our initiation rite is?"

Glennis's face tightened. "I do. We all do." Which hearth had the witch she'd killed at age sixteen belonged to?

"You're not a cold person."

He arched a brow. "Is that your professional opinion?"

Manon studied him. "You can descend to those levels when you are angry, when your friends are threatened. But you are not cold, not at heart. I've seen men who are, and you are not."

"Neither are you," he said a bit quietly.

The wrong thing to say.

Manon stiffened, her chin lifting. "I am one hundred seventeen years old," she said flatly. "I have spent the majority of that time killing. Don't convince yourself that the events of the past few months have erased that."

"Keep telling yourself that." He doubted anyone had ever spoken to her that baldly-relished that he now did, and kept his throat intact.

She snarled in his face. "You're a fool if you believe the fact that I am their queen wipes away the truth that I have killed scores of Crochans."

"That fact will always remain. It's how you make it count now that matters."

Make it count. Aelin had said as much back in those initial days after he'd been freed of the collar. He tried not to wonder whether the icy bite of Wyrdstone would soon clamp around his neck once more.

"I am not a softhearted Crochan. I will never be, even if I wear their crown of stars."

He'd heard the whispers about that crown amongst the Crochans this week-about whether it would be found at last. Rhiannon Crochan's crown of stars, stolen from her dying body by Baba Yellowlegs herself. Where it had gone after Aelin had killed the Matron, Dorian had not the faintest idea. If it had stayed with that strange carnival she'd traveled with, it could be anywhere. Could have been sold for quick coin.

Manon went on, "If that is what the Crochans expect me to become before they join in this war, then I will let them venture to Eyllwe tomorrow alone."

"Is it so bad, to care?" The gods knew he'd been struggling to do so himself.

"I don't know how to," she growled.

Ridiculous. An outright lie. Perhaps it was because of the high likelihood that he'd be collared again at Morath, perhaps it was because he was a king who'd left his kingdom in an enemy's grip, but Dorian found himself saying, "You do care. You know it, too. It's what makes you so damn scared of all this."

Her golden eyes raged, but she said nothing.

"Caring doesn't make you weak," he offered.

"Then why don't you heed your own advice?"

"I care." His temper rose to meet hers. And he decided to hell with it-decided to let go of that leash he'd put on himself. Let go of that restraint. "I care about more than I should. I even care about you."

Another wrong thing to say.

Manon stood—as high as the tent would allow. "Then you're a fool." She shoved on her boots and stomped into the frigid night.

I even care about you.

Manon scowled as she turned in her sleep, wedged between Asterin and Sorrel. Only hours remained until they were to move out—to head to Eyllwe and whatever force might be waiting to ally with the Crochans. And in need of help.

Caring doesn't make you weak.

The king was a fool. Little more than a boy.

What did he know of anything?

Still the words burrowed under her skin, her bones. Is it so bad, to care?

She didn't know. Didn't want to know.

[musclesandhammering]

The mcu fandom’s fav pastime now is arguing about whether Wanda or Loki would win in a 1v1 fight, but we’re not ready to admit that they essentially have the exact same powers.

Mind control, reality manipulation, telekinesis. They’re even both ‘destined’ to sit on a multiversal throne, I mean come on guys.

[primus-why]

.

[isa-ah]

have there been any official statements on totks timeline bc it sure seems like it's a creation all its own with very little tie in with established mythos at all

[haharuspex]

sigh got so disappointed with hades 2's designs (especially chaos :)) i completely lost any desire to buy/play it even though i was crrraving a literal day ago

[pasta-pardner]

spotify | you're a good man, arthur morgan.

(primarily blues, roots, and folk.)

[slverblood]

Wanna know something else that's interesting to think about? Sha.dow.he.art's story being a symptom of Sel.ûne's weariness. I'm not even really talking about the Sharrans taking her + her parents. I know we want to hold the gods accountable for every misfortune — and there's some merit to that — but a glaring trait of the DND pantheons is they are not omnipotent. Sh.ar and Sel.ûne have been locked in a cosmic battle for millennia, each winning and losing different battles. This isn't a "every bad thing is Sel.ûne's fault" argument that I'm making.

The argument I am making is that what happened to the Hallowleaf family and families like them is probably a result of Sel.ûne's lessened power — which is itself partially Sel.ûne's fault. We can't say entirely because it's unclear what caused Sel.ûne to surrender part of her portfolio to Sune and serve her. What is clear, though, is that Sel.ûne at a point made the choice to live in as mortal a manner as possible. She locked away her godly power, stopped checking in on godly affairs, and lived as her avatar, Luna. This would cause her already lessened power to wane even more.

This occurred a little over a century ago, but it takes time to build back up the sort of power Sel.ûne once had. Not to mention her portfolio has only shrunk over time and it hasn't expanded again in ages. Sh.ar meanwhile has been steadily growing her power. She's experienced a loss here and there (i.e. to Mask), but her power has largely experienced either growth or a plateau. She hasn't waned as Sel.ûne has.

Now Sel.ûne is still considered a greater deity. HOWEVER, she is not a member of the Circle of Greater Powers like Sh.ar is. Which, combined with other evidence, implies that Sel.ûne is currently less powerful than her sister. They might be in the same "rank", but within that ranking, Sh.ar outstrips her. By how much is unclear, but any imbalance in their power dynamic makes a great difference. Especially to mortals who rely on these deities. Sel.ûne's waning power logically makes it more difficult to oppose her sister — which includes protecting her faithful from Sh.ar. It's not that Sel.ûne didn't hear the cries of the Hallowleaf family and others like them. It's not even that she didn't care. It's that she has never had perfect power to thwart her sister, and now, partly due to choices she's made, that task has become even more difficult.