therosehost

[therosehost]

Lava Flats

[therosehost]

...might've discovered a new genre to lose my mind about, hold please

[therosehost]

Half Goblin, half Hobbit.

Goblit.

[therosehost]

There is no "after the revolution." No "ideal world." I don't care how much progress we make, we will always fail someone, hurt someone, and the best thing we can do is accept that, and keep striving to make it better as we go.

And don't get me wrong, I don't say this to discourage anyone from trying to make that ideal world. Quite the opposite.

I feel like it's very naive to continue to approach these big changes we want to make in the world as if there's an "after it's all over" when we don't have to worry about it anymore.

We should always be striving to make life better, even when life seems pretty damn good.

[therosehost]

Finally figured out how to permanently disable google assistant on phone

[therosehost]

I am forever grateful to an archivist mentor I worked with in grad school for some resume advice she gave me and thought maybe others would also benefit from it.

Keep a Master Resume.

This is not the resume you send out. This is a detailed resume of every job (with dates and location, supervisor and location phone number are a bonus) and as many skills/duties/accomplishments you can possibly think of for each and every one of the jobs and education programs you can think of.

She showed me hers, it was about 25 pages long, and formatted exactly like a regular resume for ease. Every time she would learn a new program/skill, she'd add it. Change in title or duties, add it. Complete something big/special/complicated/new to her/professionally significant, she would add it. This way when she went up for a promotion or raise, she had a detailed record of highlights to pick from to show she deserved it. There was no "when was that? Did I submit that last round of reviews?"

Applying to a new job? Pick and choose items from your Master Resume to plug in to the resume or CV you will be sending based on the job posting. You don't need to rewrite it, just cut and paste relevant details.

[therosehost]

Well, the good news is that you've broken the time loop.

The bad news is that the reason you've broken the time loop is because whatever force was responsible for maintaining it looked at the shit you did on that particular iteration and thought to itself: "you know what would be really fucked up?"

[therosehost]

morally grey does not mean "is bad but also sad"

[therosehost]

Baldurs Gate 3 is so wild when you realise how vastly different the game is depending on if you choose Tav or Dark Urge

Dark Urge Playthrough: you’re the child of Bhaal, but unlike the Bhaalspawn, you are created solely by Bhaal himself. The first true child of Bhaal. The daughter of one of your father’s previous Bhaalspawn turns on you, attacks you and tries to kill you. In your dying state, she infects you with a parasite so that you’ll die an incredibly humiliating death, and become her slave.

By some miracle you end up on the same nautiloud ship as a Sharron Cleric who happens to to be carrying a gith artefact that contains Baldur himself. Baldur, who was made a mind flayer and is now calling himself the Emperor, realises there’s an incredibly powerful Bhaalspawn on the ship, and that he can use them to his advantage. The power you have will help him destroy Gortash. Of course he picks you, it makes so much sense.

On your way to Baldurs Gate you find out through an unsent letter that you used to be into Gortash. When you get to Baldurs Gate, the man you used to fuck turns out to be an absolute loser and with horror you realise he is still into you. It’s okay though, he’s very easy to kill.

You end up facing off against Orin, your niece, and kill her. Your father appears to you and offers you the chance to become his Slayer. On the high chance you turn him down, he murders you in front of your loved ones, and leaves you to rot.

Then Jergal, the actual Lord of the End of Everything, the original God of Death, who was the very being that turned you father into a God all that time ago, who’s been in your camp for weeks pretending to be this undead scribe called Withers, appears next to your corpse and brings you back to life, basically adopts you, states that he will protect you from Bhaal, and announces that as long as he lives, you will never die. You’re essentially immortal.

Tav Playthrough: you’re a random nobody that was unlucky enough to get kidnapped by Mind Flayers. The Emperor must pick one of the many idiots on the ship to be his pawn. He sees Tav and thinks “ugh, yeah this one will do”.

[therosehost]

“average person eats 3 spiders a year” factoid actualy just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

[therosehost]

Murder Mystery, Occult, Paranormal & Fantasy Prompt Ideas for Writers

1. The Cursed Amulet - A wealthy collector is found dead after acquiring a cursed amulet. The protagonist must uncover the artifact’s dark history to solve the murder.

2. Blood Moon Ritual - During a blood moon, a prominent figure is sacrificed in a forbidden ritual. The investigator discovers a cult trying to summon an ancient deity.

3. Witch’s Grimoire - A renowned witch is murdered, and her grimoire is stolen. The book contains spells powerful enough to alter reality.

4. Haunted Manor - Guests at a secluded manor start dying mysteriously. It’s said the house is haunted by vengeful spirits from a tragic past.

5. Necromancer’s Revenge - A necromancer brings people back from the dead to seek revenge on those who wronged him, resulting in a string of murders.

6. Sorcerer’s Apprentice - An apprentice sorcerer is killed during a magical experiment gone wrong. The protagonist must navigate a web of magical deceit to find the killer.

7. Alchemical Poison - A series of deaths caused by an untraceable poison leads to an alchemist who’s using forbidden knowledge.

8. The Phantom Assassin - A shadowy figure with supernatural abilities is killing off members of a secret society.

9. Demon Pact - A series of murders mimic those described in an ancient text about summoning a demon. The protagonist suspects a pact with dark forces.

10. Arcane Library - A librarian is found dead in a magical library where books can come to life. The books themselves hold clues to the murder.

11. Midnight Masquerade - At a masquerade ball, a guest is killed, and the murder is linked to an ancient ritual involving the masks.

12. Sacred Relic - A sacred relic is stolen, and those connected to its theft are being murdered by a guardian spirit.

13. Time-Worn Curse - An old curse reawakens, killing the descendants of the original cursed family. The investigator must break the curse to stop the murders.

14. Vampire’s Thrall - Murders in a town coincide with the arrival of a charismatic stranger who may be a vampire seeking revenge.

15. Elemental Fury - A mage controlling elemental forces is killing people who wronged him in the past. Each murder is committed using a different element.

16. Runic Inscription - Victims are found with runic inscriptions burned into their skin, leading the protagonist to an ancient prophecy.

17. Ghost Ship - A ship thought lost at sea reappears, its crew murdered. The investigator discovers the ship’s cursed history.

18. Puppet Master - An enchanted puppet is killing those who mistreated its creator, a deceased toymaker.

19. Celestial Alignment - Murders align with celestial events, suggesting a ritualistic pattern. The protagonist races against time to prevent the next murder.

20. Shadow Realm - Victims are being dragged into a parallel shadow realm, their bodies found drained of life.

21. Enchanted Forest - People who enter a forbidden forest are found dead, their bodies entwined with enchanted vines.

22. Murderous Djinn - A djinn, bound to an artifact, is killing people who come into possession of it.

23. Spellbound Love - A love potion gone wrong leads to obsessive love and murder.

24. Seer’s Vision - A seer predicts their own murder and enlists the protagonist to prevent it, but the future seems immutable.

25. Ritual Dagger - A dagger used in ancient sacrifices is rediscovered, and each person who touches it is killed.

26. Charmed Life - A person with a charm for eternal life starts aging rapidly and dies under mysterious circumstances.

27. Mystic Tattoo - A tattoo artist’s clients are being murdered, their tattoos turning into deadly curses.

28. Dragon’s Curse - A dragon’s curse starts killing those who stole from its hoard.

29. Mirror of Truth - An enchanted mirror reveals the darkest secrets of those who look into it, leading to a series of murders.

30. Ghostly Whisperer - A medium is killed by a spirit they summoned, who continues to haunt and kill.

31. Warding Sigil - A town’s protective sigil is broken, unleashing vengeful spirits on the townspeople.

32. Sorcerer’s Duel - A duel between powerful sorcerers results in one’s death, but the victor’s life is now in danger.

33. Forbidden Love - Star-crossed lovers from rival magical factions lead to a series of revenge killings.

34. Haunted Heirloom - An heirloom brings death to the family that inherits it, linked to an ancestor’s dark pact.

35. Shapeshifter’s Hunt - A shapeshifter is targeting a specific group, blending in seamlessly until the protagonist uncovers their true nature.

36. Arcane Academy - A student at a magical academy is killed during a spell-casting exam, and the murder is linked to a dark secret of the school.

37. Spectral Assassin - An assassin’s ghost seeks revenge on those who betrayed him in life.

38. Illusionist’s Game - An illusionist’s final trick results in real deaths, with magic and deception intertwining.

39. Golem Rampage - A golem goes on a killing spree, and the investigator must find its creator to stop it.

40. Philosopher’s Stone - A hunt for the philosopher’s stone leads to deadly competition and betrayal.

41. Mystic Caravan - A traveling caravan brings death wherever it goes, linked to an ancient curse.

42. Sealed Tomb - An ancient tomb is opened, releasing a vengeful spirit that begins killing those responsible.

43. Moonlit Beast - A werewolf’s attacks coincide with the full moon, but this werewolf is being controlled by someone with dark intentions.

44. Soul Harvest - Victims are found with their souls extracted, leading to a dark sorcerer seeking immortality.

45. Witch Hunt - A series of witch trials results in the wrongful deaths of innocents, whose spirits now seek vengeance.

46. Crystal Prophecy - A prophecy within a crystal ball foretells murders, but the seer is manipulating events to fulfill it.

47. Enchanted Theater - Actors in a theater troupe start dying in ways that mimic their cursed roles.

48. Dark Covenant - A secret society’s members are being killed off one by one, linked to a broken blood pact.

49. Doppelganger’s Curse - Victims are replaced by malevolent doppelgangers who are committing murders in their place.

50. Forgotten Sanctuary - An ancient sanctuary is disturbed, releasing an entity that begins killing those who desecrated it.

[therosehost]

Random worldbuilding vomit #1, go!!

Enjoy a page of me rambling abt random worldbuilding ideas I had. I have like dozens of these word vomit paragraphs saved on my notes app and it seems like a perfect use for my worldbuilding log whilst I procrastinate making something more sizeable like a window into one of my settings or a tutorial or sm.

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here since I just sat brainstorming whilst listening to genshin lore videos for like two hours.

Basically, elves were cursed with their immortality on a whim by a powerful fey. As they age, (they believe that-) their memories begin to build up and overgrow within their minds, competing with each other to make the person’s memory and perception of the world around them warped and foggy, like peering through vines. In this state, memories begin to grow out of the body as the struggle for space, calcifying into woody horn-like growths that emerge from the elf’s skin like pneumatophores in a mangrove or keratinous sarcomas on diseased rabbits. These elves lose everything that made them themselves as their minds twist and writhe from overgrowth, becoming monsters comparable to horned undead, which elves call “Harbingers”.

To clear out this overgrowth, specially trained elves dubbed “Vestals” coat their hands in magical flame and ritualistically burn away the old memories of other elves to allow new ones to grow unfettered, like pruning old branches inhibiting growth or burning away tall trees to let younger ones sprout.

This means that although elves are functionally immortal (in lifespan, they can still die from external factors but their bodies won’t fail on their own) their memories are similar in length to other species, with only especially important memories remaining after the cleansing.

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Fey in this setting are comparable to their mythological cousins in that they are defined by eccentric and seemingly arbitrary laws that are coded into their being, with the most well known example being that they can’t enter a space without being invited.

Similarly, devils are entities defined by their laws and their propensity for making pacts, although their symbolism and magic is less sylvan and more fiery and infernal as one might expect.

As the story of whatever this is goes on, the characters would come to learn that devils and fey are one and the same. The pacts that devils make with mortals are their way of getting around the laws carved into their souls as fey that they cannot enter spaces or generally fuck with mortals without permission.

This revelation simultaneously unveiling that the horned Harbingers are actually just tieflings of the fey that gifted the elves immortality.

Tieflings of course work like normal dnd, being humanoids shaped to the image of a devil ( /fey) over time due to exposure to their magic. The idea that elves turn into Harbingers due to their memories literally sprouting from their body is incorrect: instead it is that memories—like dreams—are both the source and natural conductors of magic, so as memories build up it becomes easier for the magic of the fey of immortality to spread through the body thus increasing the rate of tiefling-ification. Burning away these memories is basically burning bridges that the infernal magic would cross. (The idea of the mindlessness being caused by too many memories inhibiting each other is correct, the only misunderstanding is that the horns of Harbingers are just tiefling horns)

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The fey/devils are defined by their dichotomy of forestry and fire, with the cycle of wildfires and new growth being the most universal of their laws. “Death must always breed life and life must always breed death”, that is the Edict of Eternity, the first law.

Sidenote cuz I’m not entirely sure where to put this, but the fey/devils aren’t just lawful beings in a more typical dnd sense, they are bound by their nature of their being to obey the laws carved into their souls, and they were originally born to be the maintainers of the fundamental laws of the universe (first and foremost the Edict of Eternity). That is also partially why the realms of the fey/devils are so linked to death and the afterlife, as their inhabitants were born to enforce the cycle of life and death.

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Last little bits of metaphors it’d be cool to integrate. Dandelions are often called “Fairy Clocks” irl as their blooming operates at a consistent and measurable cycle. I feel like I want to integrate this some way cuz fairies. I mean, lifespans and by extension death are often linked to time, the idea of someone’s “clock running out”. Plus gestation, the precursor to life in amniotes, is a measurable process that has a set amount of time that it typically takes. Periods also have these same links to both birth and time.

Dandelions also have some significant links to both life and death, as the process of releasing their seeds to give rise to a new generation is also the thing that spells their end, as dandelions wither and die soon after seeding. So they are linked to fairies, linked to time, and obey the Edict of Eternity in an extremely obvious way.

There’s definitely something here but I don’t have any concrete ideas yet.

I could be boring and just make dandelions the symbol of the fey/devils, or make them their symbol in a more abstract sense like dandelions often appearing in stories alongside both devils and fey. But I feel like it’d be more interesting to have some sort of more concrete connection that actually has bearing on the lore beyond symbology. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

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Demons would also exist in this setting and would of course be the embodiment of chaos fundamentally opposed to the lawful devils/fey. )

Perhaps there are nine distinct types of outsider in this setting, each corresponding to a type of angel outlined in the hierarchy of being.

In this view, devils/fey would be Thrones, as they are the keepers of universal laws.

Seraphim are love, Cherubim are harmony, Thrones are law, Dominions are wisdom and knowledge, Virtues are movement free will, Powers are form and space, Principalities are time, Angels are nature, and Archangels are above all others.

Just an idea.

[therosehost]

fucking loser lol

[therosehost]

Drow knight and her elf liege

[therosehost]

Lamb

[therosehost]

After the Quest

prints

[therosehost]