#circle-of-life-learn

[quotelr]

The more we love the more we lose. The more we lose the more we learn. The more we learn the more we love. It comes full circle. Life is the school, love is the lesson. We cannot lose.

Kate McGahan

[flowers-darkened-by-raindrops]

Hermit a Day May, Day 14

Groups & Collabs! ☀️🌘

Wild Life Gem by me!

Wild Life Pearl by @anonymous-blob !!!!

(3rd photo inspired by the album "Ruin" by The Amazing Devil, a fantastic album, do listen!!)

[randomness-is-my-order]

i will always appreciate that mxtx, intentionally (more likely) or unintentionally subverted the expectation of “humans always focus on the negative” sharply off the cliff edge and made wei wuxian a complete antithesis of that sentiment, wherein, he seems to almost always decisively ignore the negatives (after he has processed them in some capacity) and focus on the positive. it’s like amidst the dark, stormy, cloudy mire of his life, he always manages to find the silver lining and amplify it enough that its weight outdoes the worst experiences he suffers through. you could call it a coping mechanism but i honestly think it’s a different but just as valid fundamental outlook on life. wei wuxian has such an undercurrent of optimism about him and none of it stems from naïveté or ignorance or a sheltered life. it’s that wei wuxian can live through a life of loss and grief and unfairness and still find it in himself to be happy, to hope, to live. it’s that despite everything, he can be optimistic. that’s why it matters so much. that’s why i think it’s such a beautiful piece of characterisation–and a very grounded one at that. it doesn’t feel cheaply done. wei wuxian’s emotions don’t feel paper-thin. his disregard for the negatives only adds to his complexity, instead of taking away from it. and it just makes me think that if this guy, if wei “cultivation world’s biggest enemy” wuxian can find happiness once more, what excuse do we have to not make an effort to achieve the same?

[himejoshiangels]

well aware that this is common knowledge but it'll always kill me that bruces grief will last forever. Batman is a concept, a character in a comic book and because of the nature of comic books lasting for like ever he's going to repeat the same plots and learn the same lessons over and over and over. Closure quite literally doesn't exist for Bruce Wayne because he'll be in that alley for eternity, he'll keep holding his kids in his arms as they die and failing to save people for eternity. Concepts are eternal, batman is eternal. His grief will last forever.

[ferrouswheel11]

The moment that made Bruce the man he is today was the moment his parents were murdered in the alley. He thinks that that moment for Tim had or will have to do with the deaths of his parents as well, like it was for him, for Dick, for Jason, all children whose lives were changed forever by tragedy. He doesn't realize that that moment for Tim was a decade ago at Haly's Circus.

Bruce thinks that he and his mission are the poison, that prolonged exposure will eventually drag Tim down into the darkness he resides in (or worse, like it did to Jason). He thinks of the child he once was, remembers that he became the Bat so that no other child might be suffer that same loss, that same transformation that he has. He doesn't realize that Tim's path was set from the very first day he can remember.

Tim doesn't know how to be any different. How to be anything other than a boy who deduced Batman's secret identity by accident. A boy whose heroes inspired him to become a detective, to pick up computer skills, to learn to fight. A boy who cared enough about two strangers at the circus to risk his life for them a decade later.

Becoming Robin was just the culmination. Becoming Robin is when everything that made Tim Tim started to make sense. The night in the alley was the night Bruce’s life changed, but that night at the circus was the night Tim’s life began.

[beccawise7]

Late Night Thoughts.

Those aren't your people. ✌️

~beccawise7💜🖤

[crossbackpoke-check]

Dysprosium, Mary Soon Lee

dysprosium, AN 66, is a silvery-white rare earth metal. its name is derived from the greek dysprositos, meaning “hard to get at”, owing to the difficulty in separating and isolating this rare earth element. dysprosium is used to measure neutron flux, to fuel reactors, and to activate phosphors. terfenol-d is a magnetorestrictive alloy, meaning that it changes shape when a magnetic field is applied, and is used to manufacture underwater acoustic systems.

jason “robo” robertson, dallas stars #21 for @simmyfrobby’s nhl periodic table poems <3

[lg-everything-else]

Hollow Knight Bugs 10

More Bugs

[the-badger-mole]

Facultative

It seemed like every day of travel got longer. Even now with Katara and Zuko coming to a peaceful resolution to their issues, the tension hadn't broken over the group.

"Once we get to Ember Island, it'll get better," Suki promised them all. "My troop got antsy like this when we were on duty, too. We just need a break, that's all." This was met with grumbles of disbelief, but Aang was grateful that someone other than him was trying to be the voice of optimism. That role usually fell to Katara, but she had been quiet and withdrawn since she and Zuko had come back from finding Yon Rah. Oddly enough, only Zuko seemed to be able to get more than a few words from her at a time. When they stopped for rest, they would often end up slightly away from the group, falling into hushed conversations, broken up by Zuko occasionally running to get her a drink or a snack, or to handle a chore Katara usually did. She assured her friends she was fine, though. Just tired.

That was the over all sentiment of the rest of the group, too. Even Appa was showing signs of strain. Aang scratched his friend's neck with a concerned frown. They would have to rest that night. They'd all been hoping to make it to Ember Island by nightfall, but Aang knew he couldn't keep pushing his flying bison the he had been. He told the rest of his friends and was met with groans and complaints, and then grudging acceptance. Aang steered Appa toward a small island. It was barely big enough for the name, but there were shrubs and a grasses and small trees, hinting at fresh water nearby.

Once everyone had slid down from Appa's saddle, Aang set to making him more comfortable. He loosened the saddle, promising Appa that he would remove it completely once they made it to Ember Island and wouldn't have to leave for a while. Then, while the others set up camp, Aang wandered around with Appa, looking for a good place for him to graze. Appa stopped every so often to munch on some of the grass growing up from the greyish soil, but he didn't seem terribly interested in it. At one point, Appa stopped under a tree. It was a youngish tree, with tender green branches. This Appa eyed hungrily, but Aang gasped and nudged Appa gently.

"No, Appa," he said, pointing at one of the branches his friend had been eyeing. There was a bird's nest with new hatched chicks chirping loudly. The mother bird flew in and stood on the edge of the nest, trilling angrily at Appa. Aang chuckled and nudged Appa again, urging him gently to move on. But Appa didn't move to Aang's surprise. Then to Aang's horror, Appa leaned up, mouth opened wide, and chomped down on the branch, nest, chicks, and bird all. Before Aang could say another word, Appa began chewing, silencing the muffled tweets and chirps. Aang gagged at the sound of crunching, knowing that some of it was bones.

"Appa..." Aang gasped. Appa turned one large brown eye on his boy and kept chewing, thoroughly unbothered. Aang felt a flush creep up his neck and to his cheeks. He grabbed Appa's reins and tugged him back to camp. "That was bad, Appa! I can't believe you did that! Come on, we're going back to camp, and you can eat the grass where I can see you."

Appa groaned in protest, tugging against his reins trying to get back to the tasty tree, but Aang was persistent, and Appa didn't want to hurt him. He allowed the boy to lead him back to camp where there was little to eat except the bland, dry grass. The others looked up in surprise when Aang arrived back, still scolding Appa.

"What happened?" Sokka asked. Aang, still fuming, tied Appa's reins to a boulder.

"He ate a nest of birds!" Aang told his friends, outraged. When they exchanged confused glances, Aang rolled his eyes. Of course, they wouldn't get it. Aang could smell the meat they'd begun roasting for dinner.

"Appa is a vegetarian," Aang said, by way of explanation. More glances went through the group, this time more uncomfortable than confused.

"Well, sure," Katara said hesitantly. "For the most part." Aang turned to her, stunned.

"What do you mean for the most part?" he demanded.

"Well..." Katara shrugged, looking at her friends for help. "Well, it's just that Appa has eaten meat before."

"No he hasn't!" Aang scoffed. "Appa's been a vegetarian for his whole life!"

"I've seen him eat meat before," Katara told Aang gently. "Many times."

"Appa's been sneaking meat and you didn't tell me?" Aang gaped at Katara in horror.

"He hasn't been sneaking it," Katara said. "Last week he ate a rock squirrel. He caught it right where I was setting up my tent."

"I saw him catch and eat a tree hare," Sokka offered helpfully. "He's actually a pretty good hunter for his size."

"He catches a lot of animals just grazing on grass," Toph said with a shrug. "I thought you knew."

"Of course, I didn't know!" Aang shouted. "If I knew, I would have put a stop to it!"

"Aang," Zuko spoke up. "You do know that most animals eat meat, at least occasionally, right? Even the ones that live off of plants eat meat sometimes."

"Not flying bison!" Aang insisted. "Not Appa." He turned to his friend, who was grazing lazily. Appa didn't seem to have a care at all. Not about eating meat, not about how betrayed Aang felt. Aang stood watching him in stunned silence. Then he felt a warm slender arm slip around his shoulders.

"Hey," Katara said gently. "Why don't you come sit and calm down. I made you lentils and wild rock tubers." Aang allowed her to steer him away from Appa. Toph went in behind him and freed Appa from the boulder. He grunted at her gratefully before lumbering over to a small, green bush to graze. Suki and Sokka stood behind Aang, as if to shield him from the sight while Katara and Zuko gave him his dinner and a cup of water.

"You want a blanket?" Katara asked. Aang shook his head, but Katara went over to find one just in case. Zuko patted his back in a way that was intended to be comforting, but just felt stiff and awkward.

"I know how you feel about eating meat," he said. "But you have to understand that you not eating meat is a choice, and animals don't have the ability to make that choice. When they eat, it's based on instinct.

"Appa's not just some animal," Aang held stubbornly.

"I know he's not," Zuko said. "He's your friend, and he's very smart compared to a lot of other animals. But he is still an animal. It's his nature to eat what he needs when he needs it. It doesn't change anything about him."

Aang disagreed, but he knew he'd find no support among his friends. The problem, he convinced himself, was that Appa was now living with meat eaters. Aang could admit to himself that he, too, got curious about meat from time to time. No wonder Appa had, too. All Aang needed to do was keep a closer eye on his friend and keep him from making poor choices. After all, the monks had told him that flying bison, like airbenders, got their abilities from keeping pure. He would keep Appa away from meat for his own good.

Across the clearing, Appa had moved onto a new bush. This one had the most deliciously tart berries. Appa paused midchew and nosed the ground beneath the bush. He could smell a seagrouse nest nearby. Maybe if he was lucky, he'd get another bird before they had to leave the island.

[nabhx]

[flowers-darkened-by-raindrops]

Hermit A Day May, Day 28!

Friends of Hermitcraft- Scott & Jimmy :D

LimLife Scott by me!

Bad Boy Jimmy by @basil-the-bulbasaur <3

(Photo creds @anonymous-blob)

And bonus courtesy of Basil's debilitating Nier: Automata obsession

[postmail]

this was supposed to be a sketch of what ishmael might look like if he grew his hair out post-canon and i blacked out and woke up to this on my computer. help where have the past two hours of my life gone

no tattoos yet because he's fresh off the sea and in nantucket again for the first time since the pequod. i don't think he's happy to be back guys

[warmthpdf]

happy 22nd birthday to me !! on a friday the 13th just like when i was born too !!!!

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

thinking abt ward's interrogation again, or, specifically the leadup to it, when they're talking abt whether arthur can fight, and.

yknow, i wonder if john's ever actually processed how hard it is for arthur to do all this shit blind. not, like, in an emotional sense, they've talked about that already, that he misses his vision, i mean on a practical level. john's never even had to walk around normally in a human body as a fully sighted person. idk if he even has the context to imagine what it would be like to have to do all that shit while working solely on incomplete live audio descriptions and having to pretend he can see the whole time. arthur doesn't tend to make a big deal out of that aspect of it, really, so i feel like john maybe just assumes it's easy without really examining that assumption at all.

[origamihoshi]

As someone who made their Inky a 14 year old kid (Pa was a Templar, Mama was a Mage they made it work and then died at the Conclave and Now Everyone has to grapple with the ethical conundrum and implications of a kid being the Herald of Andraste etc.). I need the lore on your kid! Inquisitior and the fluff.

oh I love that! feel free to tell me about your inky too if you wish, they sound so interesting. 💚

okay I haven't played as them yet so things may change (I am slowly going through the DA games again but DAO has so many parts I don't enjoy it's been hard 😔 but soon I'll get to play the DA games I do enjoy)

Drawing of an idea of how they could look. I do want to add some freaky shit more from the anchor to show how much it's fucked them up.

Looking into their eyes is like looking into the fade, this kid like partly fade nonsense at this point.

will put this under a readmore so it doesn't get too long. this will all probably be a mess so hopefully things are understandable, and also shows I'm trying to not get lost in thinking about them too much when I'm still playing DAO and need to still play DA2.

Lior is eight years old, goes by they/them, is an orphan that got super attached to Divine Justinia to the point Justinia had no choice but to accept she had a kid now. That's why they were at the Conclave, they were meant to stay put and out of everything but they went looking for Justinia when they ran into Corypheus and took the anchor from him without understanding anything what is going on.

Cassandra and Leliana know this kid well, the worse they could do is not clean up a mess they made or steal sweets from the kitchen when they were told no, they both no this kid would never have any way of blowing up the Conclave, so the start of the game is one they do need to try and close the rift but also they need to keep this kid safe and try and shield them from the horrors (they can't)

Varric is for sure the first to speak up about how fucked this is putting a kid through all this.

Solas is suffering he never meant for a kid to be brought into his mess, he takes up teaching Lior how to control their newly gained magic. Lior gets super close to Solas like they get super attached to him so Trespasser is gonna hurt.

Vivienne also becomes another teacher when she joins because there's no way she's gonna let them only learn from an apostate.

The advisors + Cassandra all make the decisions so Lior is nothing but the figure head, the face of the inquisition because they're the Herald of Andraste.

I do have mods all set up for the playthrough so I'm gonna be using one that let's you do both the templar quest and the mage quest so I like to think they believed it was a good idea to take the kid to Therinfal Redoubt and that it should be safe (it wasn't), but Lior wants to help the mages too and won't shut up until they all go help, so they end up having to somehow get over to help the mages before anything happens, Lior and Dorian are stuck in the future for over a week as they try and get back to their time, what isn't easy when he has to keep this kid safe who is scared and still doesn't have the best handle on their magic at that point, they start calling Dorian uncle no matter what he says or thinks and this will never end.

Poor Lior is gonna have nightmares of the future for a very long time after this. They probably cling to Solas anymore than usual after they saw him corrupted by the red lyrium.

They of course befriend Kieran, they can be weird kids together (and maybe something else in the future because it could be fun to if they start having feelings for each other in veilguard but still haven't acted upon said feelings)

Also I keep imaging Blackwall making toys for them <3 he takes one look at them and knows what he must do, and also could partly be him trying to make up for things he did in the past.

They learn more than anyone probably wants them to from both Sera and Cole, two very different things but they're a kid so the pranks would be fun and I think Sera knows it and wants the kid to remember they're still just a person (and a kid) I feel like with Cole it's to do with the fact they're some mess of the fade now thanks to the anchor and somehow understand him really well so they both end up being weird together in ways that I think are really sweet.

Piggyback rides with Iron Bull is a must, sadly I think I'm gonna have him sacrifice the Chargers :c so Trespasser is also gonna hurt here too. (but this world state is about doing things a little differently than what I usually do so...)

The two DLCs will be done by other people, they won't send the kid into danger where they aren't needed, Lior only gets to go anywhere if there are rifts to be closed. Every mission becomes a escort mission if Lior is there.

By the end of the game they live with Divine Victoria (Leliana) and my HoF Aisling, those two take care of them until they're old enough to be on their own.

I like to think when my Hawke shows up they yell at everyone for letting any of this happen to a kid.

Also imagine an eight year old kid telling everyone at the ball how stupid they are all and they need to get along and work together.

In veilgaurd they would look probably like this (just with me leaning more into maybe some scaring left from the anchor I'm still trying to figure out how they'll be):

they've been through so much, losing their whole arm at age ten and now there's some new blight and they have to help? Kid needs help they're only 18 they can't be helping with saving the world again.

They still have a connection to the fade, it's just not killing them like the anchor was. (but anyone who knows me knows I love giving my characters chronic pain so you know they're dealing with pain from it all for the rest of their life)

[shannonsketches]

something something foils moving in opposite directions Goku's always happy to seek and fight stronger opponents because he spent most of his life being the strongest guy in the room and Vegeta wants to be the strongest/is always exhausted to find stronger opponents because he spent most of his life having to navigate his survival around the whims of the strongest guy in the universe room and so Goku has a foundation of safety and stability and so spends his time craving challenge and adventure and Vegeta has a foundation of challenge and adventure and spends his time craving safety and stability and the overlaid section of their venn diagram is that the only way they know how acquire and maintain those things is through battle