#this was a lot of fun and refreshing for me

[aventurineswife]

so i know you don't want to write for sahsr right now so may i request a sagau where creator (also artist reader if you are ok with that) reader basically just adoring all the kid playable characters cause they think their just the cutest like the reader cheering on kachina as she makes her way through the night warden wars or the reader could name ingredients that diona could use for her drinks

Welp... 🧍‍♀️

I love that idea so much! It's really cute to think about the creator being absolutely enchanted by the kid characters in Genshin Impact, especially since a lot of them are so precious and funny.

As the creator, you are a being of incredible power and influence—yet at times, you can’t help but be utterly charmed by the smallest things. And nothing melts your heart more than the precious little ones of Teyvat, who always seem to be ready for an adventure (and often, mischief).

Klee

It all starts when you watch Klee during one of her explosive missions. She’s running around, her small feet taking her across the battlefield, her cheerful giggles trailing behind her as she launches bombs in every direction. And as much as the others cringe, you can’t help but adore her.

You find yourself cheering her on from your place above, your voice soft yet full of encouragement:

"Go, Klee! You’re doing great! You’ve got this, just a few more bombs and you'll show them who's boss!"

You can practically see her face light up, as though she’s hearing your words, her giggles growing even more infectious.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" she cheers, as the explosions continue, and you think, maybe I’ll draw her with all those sparkles around her next time—oh, how fun it would be to make her look like a literal firecracker in my painting!

Diona

Then there’s Diona, your favorite little bartender, who may look small but holds her ground with her ferocious attitude toward anyone who dares to doubt her drink-making skills. You’ve seen her concoct all sorts of strange but (somehow) delicious potions, and you're there, in the background, naming all the ingredients she might use for her drinks.

"Hmm, Diona," you muse from your corner, a grin spreading across your face, "How about you add some mint leaves for a refreshing taste and a splash of lavender for a calming effect. A little honey wouldn’t hurt either!"

She pauses, glaring at the air for a moment, as if pondering the suggestion. After a moment, she huffs, shaking her head. “Hmph. You think you know better than me? Fine, I’ll give it a shot. But it’s still gonna be better than anything that idiot swillmaster makes.”

You laugh, quietly, adoring her tenacity. You can’t wait to paint her, maybe with some of the fresh ingredients floating around her, her tiny arms crossed in that cute, pouty manner.

Kazuha and Sayu

Kazuha and Sayu often wander the lands of Inazuma together, sharing stories of the world. But you can’t help but notice how small and innocent they both look, especially when they get caught up in their small adventures.

Kazuha, while wise and calm, becomes this beautiful and somewhat soothing sight as he plays his flute while Sayu, despite being a ninja, tries to keep up but always ends up sleepy or distracted by the clouds.

“Hey, Kazuha, you should totally give Sayu a ride on your back,” you suggest with a soft chuckle, watching as Sayu tries to climb up Kazuha’s back and ultimately just ends up lying down instead.

You adore their dynamic. Kazuha always smiles when you’re cheering them on, and Sayu often gives you a tiny wink as if saying, “I know, I know. I’m cute.”

Nahida

Nahida, the archon of wisdom, might be incredibly powerful, but she has a youthful curiosity that’s completely contagious. You find yourself constantly beaming as she gets excited over learning new things, always running around with a little notebook, jotting down facts about the world, or chasing after butterflies in the fields.

"Look at her go," you muse as you watch her from afar, your heart swelling with pride. "She’s so curious, so full of life. You can do it, Nahida! Keep chasing that butterfly! It's yours!"

She looks up from her butterfly chase, beams with her bright, warm smile, as if hearing your praise. There’s a part of you that can’t wait to draw her—capturing her joyful energy, her hair fluttering in the wind, and her little hands reaching out for the world.

Meanwhile, the characters who watch you interact with these little ones are torn between being endearingly amused and very confused.

Albedo, who sees you painting these adorable scenes of the children, may quietly ask, “Are you sure you want to paint them this way? They’re… quite a handful, aren’t they?”

Zhongli, ever the calming presence, merely chuckles, his hands clasped. “Let them be, my friend. You’ve captured their true nature in your artwork, as always.”

Diluc, on the other hand, simply raises an eyebrow when he overhears you cheering for the kids. He can’t quite decide if it's adorable or baffling, but he keeps his opinions to himself, lest you get any more ideas to paint him in some weirdly soft light.

Before long, you find yourself starting an entire gallery dedicated to your love for the younger characters. Klee’s explosive adventures, Diona’s sassy bartending, and Nahida’s innocent curiosity are now immortalized in stunning, vibrant colors. Every character is fascinated by your works—some even request copies.

And you know what? It doesn’t matter that you’re the creator, or that your abilities stretch beyond the limits of mere mortals. For these small, lovable, and endlessly adorable children of Teyvat? They will always have your heart.

[enodia-polymorphous]

9 DAILY DEVOTIONAL ACTS FOR HEKATE It is not expected at all that you would do devotional acts every day, or that they're specific to Hekate only! This post is for inspiration purposes based on my daily practice.

1. Devotional perfume or scents

You can dedicate a new or owned perfume or scent to the goddess and wear it as often as you can/like in devotion to her. I wear the Hekate perfume from Yalu Natural Perfumery & Witchery!

2. Devotional jewelry

With a new or owned piece of jewelry, you can cleanse it with smoke, sound, khernips etc. and then devote it to the goddess. This can be done by presenting the jewelry to her (either at your shrine, altar or in your hands - you don't need a shrine/altar for this), and then saying a prayer that dedicates wearing the jewelry to her.

I specify "wearing the jewelry" as you are wearing it as a devotional act, rather than giving her the jewelry as a gift (which can also be done, if it pleases you).

3. Tarot readings for the community

If you are interested in divination or practice divination, a wonderful devotional act could be offering readings within your communities. I offer free tarot readings and paid ones in my shop in honour of Hekate.

4. Work on a devotional project

A devotional project can be art, writing, music... I like to write hymns for Hekate. Another devotional project of mine are the journals I keep with all my reflections and findings about the goddess. I'm working on an oracle deck inspired by her epithets, which is another devotional project!

5. Pray

You don't need to do offerings or libations every day, though a prayer can be said at anytime of the day to praise or thank Hekate. You can also use hymns and pre-written prayers for this. You could even keep a sticky note by your bed or under your pillow with a pre-written (original or borrowed, with permission) prayer to say before you sleep.

6. Tend to her altar

If you have an altar or shrine to Hekate, cleaning it and refreshing it can be a great devotional act and a way to connect with her. Cleaning it can include taking the items off the surface and wiping it down, it can be disposing of previous offerings, it can be adding new offerings. It can be a combination!

If you don't have an altar or shrine and can't, then cleaning your space is the next best thing. Your room, your house, your desk - wherever you may do a lot of your worship to Hekate.

7. Learn something new

There is so much to learn about Hekate, her history, her ancient and modern worship, her names... I always try to learn something new every day to build upon my devotion and allow me to connect with the goddess at a deeper level.

8. Share knowledge

When you're learning so much, it can be good to share this knowledge. Everyone comes across knowledge of Hekate in different ways, on different paths, and you never know when your post, video, chat, or random fun-fact might be useful!

Knowledge is also valuable when based on your experiences as a worshipper. It can help others feel solidarity, allow them to feel confident, give them an idea of how to get started.

9. Meditation

I have to suggest this series of Hekate meditations by Mima Cornish. If you like guided meditations, this one will do you well in connecting with Hekate Phosphorus, Hekate Einalia, Hekate Cthonia, and Hekate Soteira.

You can also sit with some meditation music and seek to connect with her. Meditation doesn't have to be silent with an empty mind, but a state where you can do something absent-mindedly enough to open your mind and self to her presence.

divider credit -> @enchanthings-a

[prettyflyshyguy]

What are you gonna do, monster boy?

Amazing what I can achieve when I put a song on repeat. Smashed this one out as something fun, refreshing and stress free. Still working on the big final chapter of the C Virus AU, but I'm recovering my confidence as a writer by letting myself work on some sillier things. Good practice too.

This is a mini story based on this phenomenal post and an overly complicated idea I had from it.

Enjoy the garbage here, or on AO3.

“You look nice.” Leon smiled wryly.

Chris rolled his eyes as he pushed the elevator doors back for Leon, who was wasting all the time in the world as he made his way down the corridor. The sharp cut business attire didn’t suit him as much as it barely fit him. A necessary evil, Leon had assured him. It’ll go down better.

To aid in Rebecca’s continued research, and for ease of access to monitoring the effects of the trial viral inhibitors she’d prescribed him, Leon was temporarily assigned to assisting in BSAA operations. The guise was of course that his knowledge post-Lanshiang was critical in containing and mitigating the impact of smaller scale and localised outbreaks of the C-Virus. A half truth, no one seemed to question it so far and a number of months had already passed. The global crisis raged on, the work never ended, his temporary partnership was easily justified to nosy journalists and more discerning governmental bodies.

Chris perpetually winged to him the whole elevator ride about how much he found the bureaucratic nature of these meetings tiresome. Paper pushers, out-of-touch management. Stakeholders who never set foot on ground zero yet felt qualified to call the shots. 

“If it weren't for people like that, we wouldn't be here.” Leon retorted, “You saying you’d want to be out of a job?”

He smiled as he watched Chris fiddle for the umpteenth time with his collar and tie.

“If people like that weren't around, there’d be no BOW based warfare. I’ll be glad the day I’m made redundant.” Chris huffed as he loosened his tie slightly.

Leon conceded that the man had a point.

The meeting was routine. The BSAA was called in to clean up a minor incident, it was successful, and so various representatives and stakeholders for the client would be meeting with the BSAA to discuss the outcome and debrief. Chris had insisted on arriving early, saying that this meeting was critical given the circumstance of the client, and it needed to go smoothly. 

Although it wasn’t mentioned, Leon could tell he appreciated the emotional support.

-

Chris was, for all intents and purposes, an exemplary operator within the BSAA. Most notable about him was his considerable empathy, fierce determination to do what's right, and how much he believed they had the power to change the world for the better. Quality traits, Leon respected him highly for them all, however, the latter might be considered a tad naive. Chris was an exemplary operator, trapped in a room, surrounded by stakeholders and board members. Politicians, in the figurative sense, and arguably the worst kind. Leon’s eyes darted around the seated figures, noting the sheen of luxurious silk clothes, tailored suits and wrist watches that were never used for any practical purpose. If you had to ask, you couldn’t afford it. 

There were a handful of friendlies on the south end of the oval table where Leon and Chris sat opposite. Leon knew them all as subordinates within the teams Chris oversaw, all good men and women, people you could trust. They had kindness in their eyes despite the worn and torn faces they wore, they shared the optimism of their Captain. They existed in stark contrast to the other two thirds of the table where the client cartel sat in horseshoe formation, their backs positioned to the entrance to the room, psychologically forming a barrier between the BSAA staff and the exit. 

“-pride ourselves in swiftly responding to an incident, and I am very pleased with the outcome and the performance of my team.”

Leon watched Chris fidget slightly in his seat as he spoke. He was clearly uncomfortable, but he was handling it well. Still, Chris was out of his depth. 

Politicians were hard enough to hold a work related conversation with. They were always playing games. A simple discussion became a contract with fine print, never in your favor or your benefit. More was always demanded of you, because good was never good enough for them. He wondered who had more power anyway, in these strange times. Was it the politicians he was used to handling, or the people sitting a few meters away from him. 

“-the use of B.O.W units by the BSAA?”

Leon’s attention violently snapped back to the woman seated at the head of the table. She shuffled through a document folder, licking a finger to flick through the pages effortlessly. Peering down through a set of reading glasses with a fine gold chain draped around her neck, a frown crinkled the skin on her forehead. She looked to be at least fifty years of age, with the telltale signs that she’d had work done to maintain a youthful presentation. Despite mankind mastering the molding of biology, they were still unable to tame the passage of time. The cracks in her mask formed when she frowned, and her voice gave away her years. Her dark eyes shifted upwards, piercing out from behind a sunken brow.

“I-Wh-Excuse me?” Chris stammered, shocked at whatever she had just implied.

Leon looked around the room hoping to find some context. The BSAA members appeared just as confused and shocked as he was. 

“Mr. Redfield, as the lead operator of this…” the woman paused, a chill beginning to settle on the room, “... Successful operation…”

Chris stiffened in his chair. Leon squinted from across the table and could barely make out the tiny printed details on her visitors identification badge.

Ms. Harker, CTO, Valhanian Pharmaceuticals. 

This is bad, he thought.

“... Do you condone the use of Bio-Organic-Weapons by the BSAA?” 

Harker’s speech had a sharp whistle to it that pierced the air of the room and the stunned silence of the attendees. This was a regular Tuesday lunch for Leon, for Chris this may as well be judgment day at the pearly gates. 

Don’t.

As if willing it so hard might psychically influence Chris into responding the right way.

Chris, don’t.

“What the hell are you trying to say?”

Fuck.

He couldn’t fault Chris for being defensive, but god, if there ever was a worse time for it.

“It’s a simple question, Mr Redfield.”

Chris rolled back his shoulders and leaned into his chair, hands clasped tightly on the tabletop, trying to calm himself as he regulated the tone of his response.  

“Of course we don’t condone the use of B.O.W’s, the BSAA was formed specifically to combat their use and propagation.” he responded calmly and confidently. 

“Thank you Mr Redfield, you’ve alleviated my concerns regarding your intelligence.”

Leon flinched at the insult. Glancing at Chris, he could see his friend's quick fuse burning at an alarming rate. 

“However your conviction is something I fear I must question.” 

Chris swallowed. The colour had drained ever so slightly from his face.

“I only think it’s right that the BSAA is transparent with regards to how it operates. We came to you on the good faith you would have the professionalism to help us clean up a horrific accident…” she gently placed the manilla folder back on the desk in front of her, and started to lay out items from inside it in an organised fashion.

“... and what are we without safety protocols and rigidity? Our products keep people alive and healthy all over the world, as I’m sure you’re all well aware.”

The venom in her tone caused a shiver to roll across Leon’s skin. 

“So to sit here in front of myself and my associates, and represent the BSAA, I find this conviction quite concerning with regards to what I’m going to show you.”

With a twist of her wrist she selected and slid a photograph down the length of the table, as if to twist the knife deeper.

“Care to explain this to me, Mr Redfield?”

Chris gently reached for the photograph, his hand trembled ever so slightly. The sight of Chris of all people, this nervous unsettled Leon like nothing else, despite everything he’d been through and seen before. Somehow a room full of big-pharma sharks was scarier than a giant monster covered in teeth and claws. He felt his heart beat a little faster as Chris eyed the photograph.

“I’m sorry, what exactly am I looking at?”

Good, good. Leon thought. Don’t give it to them easy. 

“What you are looking at, Mr Redfield, is an image pulled from our security system. It’s the clearest shot our team recovered, as either the camera’s were tampered with, or their blind spots were carefully utilised by this….” she paused, tapping the table with an acrylic nail as she pondered what word would be most appropriate.

“... individual.”

She paused to let the phrase sink in before continuing.

“It failed to hide entirely from us however, and in that image you can clearly see it is wearing a uniform that matches those of your team, yet it is not a human.”

Fuck. He’d been so careful, so cautious.

Something had felt off about the job from the minute Leon set boots on the ground outside the factory. Chris had assured him that it’d be smooth, he’d done it a hundred times before, there shouldn’t be any issues. It was a C-Virus outbreak for sure, but not the normal kind. Valhanian was working on vaccines and preventative medication, blockers for the immune system that could quickly and effectively obliterate the virus or prevent it from even gaining a hold on the system. The most common form was the standard strains that had a very similar effect on humans as the T-Virus did, which they were led to believe was the main focus of the factory - manufacturing and R&D for the ‘zombie’ strains. 

What they found waiting for them was most certainly not the standard C-Virus infected humans. 

Chris had brushed it off at the time, claiming that with how volatile the virus was, he wasn’t surprised that something had gone wrong and there were chrysalid variants in the facility.

Nothing’s without risk, something must have gone wrong, it’s not like we haven’t handled this sort of thing before.

Leon knew that there was no way in hell that a company with that much money in the game of vaccines would fuck around and find out - risking everything in the process. But it wasn’t worth arguing with Chris, he insisted that it wasn’t his job to worry about the science team’s side of things and that ‘Rebecca will figure it out.’ 

Chris was ever the optimist on his good days. Leon had seen too much to trust any corporation that invested in the field of medicine. You don’t get fission without fusion, and anyone who claimed that advancements in bio-organic warfare had no links to advancements in medicine, was a fool or a liar. Most likely both. 

Naturally, something went wrong on the job, sure he’d had a little ‘mutation’ incident, but Rebecca’s drugs worked a treat, they just took a while to fully kick in. 

.

“I don’t know what this is or what you’re trying to do, we don’t employ B.O.W’s as part of our operations, whatever you’re trying to claim with this is unfounded.” Chris responded in anger.

No no no you dumbass, don’t give it to them Chris!

“Mr. Redfield, I'm just being thorough.” Harker’s voice took the tone of a teacher reprimanding a student, “You’re no stranger to the industry, and I’m sure you understand we are very conscious and concerned about protecting our business. Incidents like this are of a high concern to us as the entire reason we brought the BSAA in to assist us was to stop a B.O.W incident.”

Chris glanced briefly at the BSAA staff seated around him, and Leon. Fear and panic reflected in his eyes, a silent cry for help. Leon could tell that Chris knew who was in the photograph and could only lie about it for so long before the game was given away.

Leon cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the sharks.

“Ms Harker I can assure you that Chris is just as shocked as you are, and that the BSAA operates at the highest level of-”

“Thank you for your assurance, Mr Kennedy,” Harker interrupted, her full attention snapping to Leon “but I believe you are not a member of the BSAA is that correct?”

There was a predatory look to her gaze. Leon’s heart skipped a beat.

“Yes, I’m temporarily assigned to assist them in operations regarding the C-Virus as I have first hand experience with it that has proven invaluable in us combatting further outbreaks.”

“I don’t doubt that Mr. Kennedy. I’m aware of your reputation and high standing. Our country has a lot to thank you for.” 

He shivered again. There was no genuinity to her tone.

“I just wish to express my concerns, as I feel we deserve an explanation to the security footage.”

Leon dug his fingers into his thigh, scrunching the fabric of his chinos, hands hidden under the table. Showing any public sign of fear or nerves would be his downfall.

“Trust is critical to any operation, but you all know this of course. How can we trust the BSAA after seeing this? How can you even trust yourselves?” 

Seeing a hint of a smile form at the edges of her mouth, Leon’s temper began to rise.

Chris began to speak, only to be cut off by Harker’s shrill tone.

“Have you considered that there may be individuals lying dormantly infected, unbeknownst to the world, the BSAA, even themselves?

Leon bit down on his tongue. 

“Perhaps there’s an infected individual sitting in this room with us right now.”

Chris went white and gripped the photograph tighter, holding himself back from instinctively looking away from Harker, he could see the bait now but it was too late.

“Perhaps it's someone not within the BSAA.” she trailed off softly as she shifted her sights from Chris to Leon. 

He felt the eyes of every member of the meeting shift to look at him in horror. 

[nightcatssketchbook]

I was hitting some art block so I felt like drawing some fanart of @abd-illustrates’ Heartless characters!

I realized I never actually watched the final installment of the Concept Corner series, so that’s what I had playing when sketching these. It’s just so fun listening to the brainstorming and cool character connections

[zorionbbq]

it's really heavy

[tariah23]

One of the main reasons why I used to avoid Isekai’s, and fantasy works in general, like the plague is because of how over saturated they’d become with things that didn’t feel like they even belonged to the genre to begin with… it’s not too hard to find works that stand out but so much of those works have been pushed down and forgotten, it just sucks.

[angelmush]

went to the state fair yesterday and tried so so much good food !!! my favorite things were the pickle lemonade (literally my favorite drink ever since i first tried it a couple weeks ago) and the fried pickles and the roasted corn. feeling like a true midwesterner after that :-)

[invinciblerodent]

Before release, I always kind of thought of Ver's usual haunts in Minrathous being part of an industrial-ish area (factories, docks, the surrounding blue collar residentials, etc.), but I've been thinking, and with Dock Town being what it is in-game (and with what it is to Neve), I think I prefer her being more tied to one of the (no doubt many) entertainment- and nightlife districts of the city.

I'm thinking of one of those moderately seedy parts of town that have pubs/taverns/hookah lounges/drag bars/"specialty shops"/etc. and little mom-and-pop eateries that are definitely not fronts for something all lining the streets on the bottom floors of workers' apartment complexes, and at least three larger nightlife establishments (like a casino [gambling den], a circus [it's a cointoss whether you'll see the best burlesque act or a cagefight], and something they only affectionately call a "dancehall") are all sharing view of the same street.

As of right now, I'm tentatively calling it Redbrick Ridge in my mind, because Minrathous seems to use primarily light-colored stones and red and teal magelights (and I think poorer, mainly Soporati-owned places using red accent-bricks to imitate the red of magic would be a cool touch), but I also like the idea that colloquially, it'd more be known as the Catsbane Quarter, or just Catsbane (after the codex entry for the Sun-Blonde Vint in DAI)- in part because of the way a certain Tevene alcohol is typically served, and in part because, like Dock Town, it's also home to a large colony of feral/stray cats.

(Maybe one of the ways you could easily spot an outsider is that they'd be the ones who say that something is "on the Ridge" or "in Redbrick", but the people who actually live there would say that they're from Catsbane, or refer to the people there as "cats". Like, "where in the city are you from?" "oh, I'm a cat.")

(Lots of fun cat-wordplay for a more "low-class" area, too... "A cat may look at a king" being a bit of a slogan for non-mage and slave rights, or an expression of commiserating over injustice? "All cats are grey in the dark", both as a "we're all equal here", and as a way to say "no officer, I didn't see anything"? Someone suspected to be an informant is someone who "wears a bell"? So many opportunities, and they all work really nicely for a place with pronounced Shadow Dragon presence!)

Since Ver was a (military-trained) Soporati guard/rent-a-cop before joining up with Varric, I originally figured that having her mainly guard (and spy on-) slave-keeping construction sites was a fitting thing, but I think now, knowing both her character and the game as I do, I prefer her as a security guard during the week, and a bouncer during the weekends.

Like I like her not as a go-to problem-solver like Neve, but more like... some sort of a neighborhood Red Jenny, someone who somehow (at least tangentially) knows everyone in her bubble.

And like... she lives in one of the dingy little apartments above a moderately run-down lunch-place (at first I thought it would be run by her uncle, now I'm more picturing an older person who emphatically calls her things like "columba mea" and acts like a doting grandmother, but isn't actually related to her). Her friends are all line cooks, busboys, dancers, dishwashers and all kinds of entertainers, as well as bar owners, bartenders and barflies, not a small percentage of them Liberati- which, with her reputation as a useful person to know and the open secret of her being a Shadow, would be something that probably would have drawn someone like Varric to her very easily. (I mean, he primarily seems to network by just... going to bars and asking the drunkest people still capable of speech about who's worth knowing, lol.)

Plus, I also really like the idea that if the owners/workers at a place know that someone is about to cause trouble, they'd see if she's around, ask her to step in for the night, and maybe crack some heads together.

Like imagine being a big, hotshot wannabe-Venatori swinging their metaphorical dick around over a game of Archon, and in comes this quite pretty, but overall unremarkable woman who is kissing 5'7" from the bottom and is not particularly intimidating, but she still lays you the absolute fuck out to dry without breaking a sweat. Probably one of the top ten most embarrassing ways for that night to end, lol.

[froizetta]

It's been a while, huh? Whoops. Anyway, here's chapter 8! In which Batman and Clark Kent finally meet for the first time, and have a completely normal and unsurprising interaction that definitely won't make things more complicated in the long run. Definitely not.

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Fandom: DCU Pairing(s): Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne Length: 55.5k Chapters: 8/?

“Huh,” Kent said. Now he was wearing an expression of gentle amusement – not an expression a lot of people wore around Batman. “You know, when I saw you on that roof, I wasn’t expecting a debate on the ethics of vigilantism.” “Don't think you're special,” Bruce said. “I do this with all the reporters.” “All the ones you find in alleyways, you mean.” “Just answer the question, Kent,” he growled. Kent’s gentle smile stretched to a grin. It was a little crooked, Bruce noticed, the dimple on his left cheek slightly deeper than the one on his right. “You know, my ma always said you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I’m guessing that’s one you haven’t heard before.” “You're being evasive.” “I see now why they call you the World's Greatest Detective,” Kent replied dryly. Bizarrely, nothing about his demeanor suggested that he was in any way cowed by his conversation with a masked, violent vigilante practically cornering him in a darkened alleyway. Even curiouser. Not so shy after all, then? Or was it just Batman he was bizarrely comfortable with? Bruce mentally updated his file.

[mymarifae]

completing the 2.2 trailblaze mission gives you new daily text messages from aventurine if you have him.. 🥹 so you're Not just left with his scheduled post-suicide-attempt farewells. and it's a really nice conversation too. he plays it off like a game buuuut he loses on purpose every time so really he's just opening up of his own volition

(i'm still alive, and i'm happy about that 🥹 his conversation with acheron really left a profound impact on him oh my godddd)

aventurine... of all people... reaching out and talking so honestly about what happened and how it affected him... and seeing a therapist of sorts (bit of an oversimplification but that's basically what the doctors of chaos do so like). sometimes all you need to start learning how to value your life again is to uhh ..literally get cut in half

[mariocki]

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

"You don't look so good, Mom..."

"Oh, nothing a big old hug and kiss from you won't fix. Open up now. Like a good girl."

[quailxcrossing]

i love....tuesday.....(the story)

[icharchivist]

was refreshing myself on some old myth for a bit and i read the french and english wiki page for the Charybdis' mythos, and i'm noticing something that i don't know if it's just the wiki being inaccurate or an actual difference (from the linguistic page it seems to be an actual difference) but

In English there's this expression about choosing between two equally bad horrible situations by saying "choosing between Scylla and Charybdis"

But in French the expression is "to fall from Charybdis to Scylla" and instead of a choice it's about managing to get out of a horrible situation only to get thrown into an even worse situation (the equivalent of the English's expression ""falling out of the frying pan into the fire")

if i believe the linguistic page there was a bit of borrowing around and technically both expressions are used in both language, but you're more likely to find the first one in English and the second one in French (very likely because Victor Hugo popularized "to fall from Charybdis to Scylla" with Les Misérables) (does not mean it started in French the origin of the expression is still Greek anyway, just talking about why the saying is more popular in French with weirdos like me)

idk i think it's cool on a sort of metatextual perspective that English People saw this myth and when "oof imagine picking between those two" while French people just chugged a bottle of wine and went "And it's a BINGO and LIFE SUCKS and it NEVER GETS EASIER you get BOTH OF THEM BABEYYY"

[ratatatastic]

no im still on maffhew calling the forsymaffhew lovechild a missile

[uinferno]

Anyways. Finished Yumi atNP. The Realmatic theory wheels are turning so I'm doing a singular post vomiting my thoughts. Major spoilers. Not a book review.

So assuming the Machine (or even cosmere at large) didn't just schlorp most of Yumi's investiture upon its destruction, which is a valid assumption since she nearly died, she technically still is Very Fucking Invested. According to Design, Elantrian level.

Which side note, interesting how we got confirmation that Elantrians have more magic than Returned. The bastards have to die, see the future, come back and eat souls to persist, meanwhile the silver people just automatically get the cool shit with no maintenance. Making up for the 10 years a zombie, I guess. Is Endowment stingier than we thought?

This, honestly explains how Nikaro was able to bring her back with his painting given there's a direct correlation between the amount of investiture a cognitive shadow has and how long they persist upon death.

That does bring me to the thought of if the Machine's repeated amnesia prevented... let's go with the term Sprenification of Yumi's cognitive shadow. As Vasher explained to Kaladin, as cognitive shadows persist in time, they more they're made to embody core aspects of their Identity in order to survive. Yumi has been dead for 1700 years.

You can rationalize this as the Machine pruning her Cognitive development. Then again, her mastery of stacking (which honestly very fun talent, love that for her). I haven't read TLM (despite having it digitally), but it's been discussed that Kelsier may already be undergoing that process, and he's been dead for only <400 years, so 1700 is a lot.

If not, I wonder if Yumi is now immortal because she is (was?) more invested than a Returned. That does mean she might eventually undergo Sprenification, if it hasn't occurred already.

Speaking of, I like how... a lot of the magic is just... not really elaborated on. Unlike other Cosmere books, where their fight scenes live and die on how meticulous use of the magic by our protagonists, and Sanderson likes to stress that there is a correlation of an audience's understanding and narrative problem solving regarding magic. It's... a big reason why there was that pre-Sanderlanche exposition dump. I'm wondering if there was a better way to relegate that information.

Anyways, the pre-existing magic system's primary basis is built on the pre-existing foundation of Realmatics and Perception. Expectation and perception shapes outcome. If you image the Nightmare as bamboo, it is bamboo. If you shove the soul of a 19 year old highly invested yokihijo into the body of an art school drop out, shit dude, that's her's now. With the dissipation of the Shroud I'm curious as to how art can influence the world from there. Can paintings more readily dictate the shape of spirits, due to their similarities to the Nightmares? This magic system I think is the softest of the lot, and I actually find that pretty cool.

Lastly before I wrap this up, while Sanderson has introduced cosmere soceities inspired by non-european cultures, (on multiple planets, no less), it feels especially palpable with this setting. While Roshar is decidedly not European but it's also familiar enough that whitewashing is an active problem within fan spaces. Meanwhile, here, it's so in your face about being not European that people have no excuse (as if they had any to begin with), but maybe I'm too much of a weeb that catching details was easier for me than others. It's cool, though,, we get to see snapshots of the culture as it develops through time, which is only really exemplified in the Mistborn novels so far. Not really relevant to magic but a musing nonetheless.

[boatemboys]

its really funny to me that when i was like 10/12ish before i even knew what tumblr or twitter was (really anything except youtube) i was already imagining these men kissing. real life grian and mumbo. phan. crankiplier. etc etc