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The thing is... Vi doesn't like fighting. For her, it's a necessity. She was the eldest sister. She was the one who had to grow up fast and protect Powder, protect her little gang of friends. Sure, she might have enjoyed boxing, especially to bond with Vander, but she doesn't ever seem to enjoy a single fight she is in. She's good at it. She is a great fighter, as we have seen over and over, but never once have I seen her enjoying herself in a fight. At most, it's sort of "let's do this" type of smile. But never a smile of joy or thrill.

Jinx loves fighting. She loves the thrill and the adrenaline rush. As Powder, sure she was scared. But she was small and young and fighting around her was scary. But as Jinx? As someone who can hold her own and fight back?

She loves it. She's grinning and laughing and playing music not because she wants to kill people. She loves the fight! Every fight she is in, for both seasons, she is laughing and grinning, even when she is losing.

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She literally has the punk Undercity version of the dead mom hairstyle. This has to be on purpose, right? The writers knew what they were doing, right?

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Nona the Ninth was like you are loved. whatever happens next, we did it it's done you can't take loved away. you were loved once and so you will always be loved. you were changed once and so you will always be changed. and let this cradle you, let this be your lifeline, let this tie you down when you feel like you're falling apart.

and then The Unwanted Guest came and was like.... love changes you. people change you. we change each other, just by existing right now together we rub against each other we bleed we mingle. we leave pieces of ourselves behind. you are the sum of the people who have changed you and sometimes you don't get to choose sometimes you don't want it to have been them. and you can try to run away from that, from them, but they will chase you they will haunt you they ARE you.

if this is the wind up move. i am fucking terrified of the horrors of love

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This is a sign on the exit door at work and I have questions.

How does the door know? How does it know that the bar has made skin contact? I've checked, this door does not open if there is fabric between the hand and the bar.

Why? Why does my completely normal office have a door that requires skin contact to open? Does the office hold a robot prison in some secret basement? Seriously, why???

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Hoid, wandering around Roshar for whatever reason.

Random Person: "Oh yeah, those crazy Lighteyes. They have a person who's job it is to just sit around and insult all the nobles. It's illegal to kill him, but he sure gets assassinated a lot."

Hoid: ...

Hoid: "My time has come."

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The entire fandom agrees that Percy Jackson has some scary eldritch qualities that humans notice. But I think that all the demigods do, even if most of the effects are more subtle. Powerful demigods are super noticeable, but even the weakest are scary to normal people. But I like to imagine some of my favorites:

Annabeth looks at people like she's dissecting a blueprint, and nothing about them is hidden. She turns her head at odd angles, like an owl. She notices small things and goes completely still, staring, like a bird of prey who just saw a mouse. People feel unsettled by her gaze, like every weakness and vulnerability are no longer hidden.

Hazel's hair, skin and eyes seem to shine metallic when the light catches just right. Sometimes her motions are rigid and awkward, like she hadn't used her limbs for a long time, like she isn't used to having a body. Her shadow is a deeper black than it should be, is bigger than it should be, and doesn't always move with the light.

Nico's skin is sometimes almost translucent, like he is more ghost than human. You can almost see the muscle and bones beneath it. His eyes catch and hold people, so dark and deep it feels like they are falling an incredibly long distance into dark water and earth. His shadow is also too dark. Sometimes, people swear they can hear faint screaming from his shadow, like thousands of tormented souls are trapped inside.

Jason has fangs, more wolf than human. His mouth opens wider than it should, and he looks at people like he is thinking of the best way to hunt and catch and rip and tear. His eyes are too blue and he always smells like ozone. People want to bow to him as he walks by. People want to run, but instinctively know that he will chase them, and they wait, frozen, for him to pass.

Thalia, like Jason, is a hunter. Her eyes are too blue, too vivid, and she stares people down like she is already picturing them riddled with arrows. She tracks small sounds with terrifying intensity. Brushing up against her will deliver a horrible static shock, and power lines and lights flicker and buzz when she walks by.

Will's hair is too bright. His skin glows, especially at night. At first, it seems to be a sweet thing, his good nature shining though. But sometimes when people touch him, they burn. Just standing near him is too much, like standing in the direct sun on a hot summer day.

Piper's face seems to change, every time someone turns to look at her. Subtle, but someone's subconscious is screaming that this girl is different, something is wrong. Her voice trills, like a bird, when she in happy. People can't help but to follow her and when she is gone, they feel bereft. She is too beautiful, and it hurts to look, but people can't help themselves and look anyways.

Leo is always hot to the touch. His fingers and limbs feel rough and metallic, his hair curls like wire. His eyes glitter like polished coins and when he walks by, cars and computers and machines start up and move on their own, just for a moment. He runs across a busy street and the cars stop for him with no regard for what the driver is doing.

Frank doesn't move like a human. He glides, slinks, pads softly and so quietly most people don't notice him. He had an aura of command. Frank seems so normal and average, but angry or upset people look at him and know that they can't take him. Sometimes, when he is angry, people get upset and fights start in his wake.

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Our HR lady told us that our employees are having too many ER visits, and the insurance company is upset that we have gone over the amount we are allowed.

Which is the most bullshit thing ever. ER is literally for emergency and for an insurance company to limit ER visits is so morally reprehensible. We pay a ton of money out of our paycheck to even get the shitty insurance and now they are telling us that no, we aren't getting what we pay for. And we should try "alternatives" before going to ER. Like teledocs.

I swear, this is just a precursor for insurance companies saying you have to go through AI bs before you can go to ER. Like some checklist you have to complete before you get care.

This country I swear to God. It shouldn't even cost hundreds or thousands of dollars just to get medical care in the first place, much less EMERGENCY medical care.

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In Mastiff, when the group is crossing the marsh, Pounce talks about a battle 3,000 years ago between a dragons and "Ysandir" He describes these Ysandir as weapon makers and the fighting was so destructive it changed the landscape and the gods and humans joined forces to defeat the Ysandir.

To me, Ysandir sounds like the Frost Giants from Norse mythology, descended from Ymir, which are commonly seen as the enemies of gods in Norse mythos.

This battle was 3,000 years ago, but it's likely the Ysandir were in the Mortel realm for a while before that. So it's possible that the Ysandir made an ice age. Its also possible that some other long dead race killed the dinosaurs.

As for the humans, I don't think they evolved. Mainly because gods existing implies that humans were likely directly created by the gods. We at least know that humans have existed for over 3,000 years.

Another point! In Tricksters Choice, we learn that the Raka were created by the Sky goddess and the Dawn Crow. They were hatched out of the Dawn Crow's eggs, and are siblings to the crows. The Raka are sill humans, and can have children with other races.

So perhaps different peoples were created by different, regional gods. We do know that gods have regions, based on the Kyprioth vs Great Mother and Mithros thing. Its possible that the Graveyard Hag created the Carthaki, the Great Mother and Mithros created Tortallans, ect...

Here's what's been weighing on my mind for the past few days:

We know that dinosaurs once existed in Tortall and elsewhere, as evidenced by the Hall of Bones in Emperor Mage. We also know that some of those dinosaur fossils are (what we in real world would consider) very clear transitional species between birds and dinosaurs - I'm thinking specifically of Bonedancer being an archaeopteryx.

So, the big question: did evolution happen in the Tortall universe? And if so, how does that square with the concept of "firsts" in the realms of the gods (e.g. the First Pack)? It's my understanding that the first horse is not a god in the same way as, say, Broadfoot is, so maybe it's a bit like Greek heroes going up to Olympus after they die?

It's also interesting that the gods themselves are rarely (if ever?) described as creator gods, and while some creatures such as Stormwings have an origin myth, the religion we see in the series doesn't seem very focused on how humans or any other mortals came to be. Could just be Pierce sidestepping a tricky subject, but I think it would be compelling if her characters were in fact wrestling with the nature of human origins in a world where the gods are very present in everyday life.

A second, smaller question I have is that, since the Hall of Bones also has permafrost mammoths, does that mean there was an ice age 20 million years ago in Tortall too? And if the dinosaurs were killed by a "god's mistake" as the Badger said, does that mean there was no asteroid? How do the Old Ones from TFA fit into all this?

Much to think about.

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So Trump won.

Let's not stop with the "weird" remarks. Let's just keep mocking him and all his weird cult followers and weird Republicans. Let's belittle and make fun of his every action. He calls people names? Let's call him names. Tiny Trump. Doddering Donald. Dumb Donald. Pick Me President. Weird. Strange. Odd. Creepy.

Let's draw cartoons showing him as a senile old man. Wearing diapers. Having tantrums. Tiny hands, orange skin.

Let's mock and laugh and belittle and joke until he regrets even running for President.

After all, as that one quote said, nothing makes a facist angrier than laughing at him.

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Chai tea bag + lil but of brown sugar + apple cider packet + 16 oz. mug of hot but not quite boiling water

it will not Fix You but like. maybe. maybe.

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Its interesting.

I'm upset, but also not that suprised. I'm worried about what will happen, but hopeful that Trump is lazy and full of shit and that the wheels of government move slowly, which should hopefully stop him from doing too much.

But my mom is panicking. She's horrified. She was like this in 2016 too, and now it's worse.

She used to believe in the government. She believed that presidents actually cared about ordinary people. So to her, Trump is a horrible person and it broke her to realize he doesn't care. That was what really really hurt her. She just kept repeating it. "He doesn't care. How can he not care about us?"

I never had faith in the government. But I guess the older generations do, which is why maybe so many people voted for Trump. They were brainwashed years ago that the government and the president cares about you, and don't realize they need to pick the lesser evil.

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Fuck

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I left out some offerings for the fae last Halloween, and now they won't leave my apartment. Don't make my mistake and start feeding stray ghosts and faeries, they will not leave and will start investing the other buildings and homes around you. Then your apartment manager starts putting up signs and emails telling people not to feed stray spirits, they crowd the laundry room...

annual reminder not to feed the ghosts! yes I know it seems like a cute tradition, but these are wild spirits with specialized diets, and humans unintentionally cause serious havoc by interfering with their ectosystem

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I don't think Trump and Vance would chuckle. That would actually give them some sort of personality, and would mean they actually cared, at least cared enough to be glad it happened.

No, they would just shrug it off. They just don't care about the life of someone they have never met, because they are selfish psychopaths. They only care about themselves, and are using and manipulating small minded people to gain power.

They spout off racist and misogynistic rhetoric not because they believe it, but because it gives them power. It makes racists and misogynists vote for them. Trump doesn't believe in anything. He doesn't care about people, about laws, about abortion, about illegal immigrants and drag queens. He just spouts off whatever is likely to enflame and encourage bigots that will vote for him and give him power.

Republicans want women/mothers to live in fear, then die in agony.

Denying health care to a pregnant teen pleading for help would make Trump and Vance chuckle.

This is their misogynist dream come true.

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Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.

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When nature and humanity meet

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Jellies