#cursed images repository

[virtualgirladvance]

Ｗｅｉｒｄ░ｇａｙ░ｌｉｔｔｌｅ░ｒｏｂｏｔ　（悪畝虞あ）

Hi I'm Lan the robot failgirl. Expect shitposting, plus maybe a lil art and tech when we're bothered to do things. Wear this mask and join my totally not a cult <3

Check out My Streams, hang out in my Machine Cult or Tip Me

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Major tags I use:

#vga.img - images duh

#vga.ask - answering your cursed asks

#vga.art - my rare attempts at art

#vga.tech - for when we finally do my code and robotic bs

Other blogs I sometimes use

@virtualgirlart - Repository for just my art stuff(there isn't much)

@virtualgirlafterdark - 18+ Hornyposting, lewds and nudes

@virtualgirlafterdeath - 18+ Gore and blood and snuff and

[sphxremint]

(man this art is really old but im usin it anyway lol)

☆ Heya heya一it's me, Mint!

I'm the guy that does the funny draws (and music (and sometimes edits)).

Some of you have definitely heard that line way too many times before. Or some of you probably just know me as the Simple Yet Stupid guy. If you haven't seen me before, congratulations! You've successfully met "that guy" (me) for the first time!

This is my tumblr. I reblog stuff I think is neat and post art/music/stuff I like once every [unspecified time frame]. I dipped (sort of) from Twitter (ah, sorry一ECKS [X] as it's called now) like a year or two ago because some guy had too much fun ruining it. Now I'm here more often!

Right, this is an intro post. lemme get on that...

☆ cool things you should know

• I'm 20 (born July 4th, on MINT day. not whatever the hell independence day is. eugh)

• I'm aroace (certain of it now! we out here)

• I'm black (there's like no way to make this funnier it just is what it is)

☆ some other neat stuff

• I draw!

I'm definitely not consistent with it at all, but I'm trying, 'cause it's fun and I like doing it. I may be into a lot of medias too, but I'm mostly an oc artist, and it's a curse I will bear until the end of time

• I make music!

I'm also not very consistent with it, but I'm a bit less open about it... I do it for fun, really; though it's more of a personal thing compared to my art.

• My timezone is CST

...which is about UTC -05:00. if you need to know that. i know we all got varied timezones

• I'm very good at being inconsistent!

(such as basic punctuation and grammar. cause thats important. sometimes i'll actually use apostrophes and sometimes ill just completely forget mid-sentence. lmao)

☆ my 5 core interests

aka. The main things I like! I switch between the 5 of these on a whim. You can inquire me about any of these. Be ready when it happens.

• Sonic The Hedgehog (he's just THAT GUY, yknow. just a guy who loves adventure. ultimate life forms and whatnot)

• Kirby (i'd forfeit everything for him. #1 blorbo living life)

• FINAL FANTASY (esPECIALLY XIII and XIV. but it's mostly XIV. two lalas ready for Dawntrail WOOO)

• Celeste (#1 game ever. i love everything about it so much, i naturally get my friends to play it. i'm also pretty good at speedrunning. smile)

• and anything osc! (though I'm not part of the fandom "like that". just on the surface layer, yknow? bfdi, ii, boto, ppt2... funny shows go brrr)

☆ cool and awesome tags

□ #mint.txt = probably some random garbled text i spat out one night

□ #mintdraws = i sure do! and you should go look at it!

□ #mint.png = funny image included (not guaranteed)

□ #mint.mp3 = rarely use this but i still want people to know i make music

□ #mint.ask = because i get those. sometimes art, sometimes stupid funny stuff

□ #simple yet stupid = yeah its for those funny objects i talk about. i put this one here just in case

□ #mint's expoboard = i'm probably talking about one of my ocs

☆ and some extra stuff i guess

□ my sonas and stuff if you need that

□ my carrd! go read it cause most of my extra links (and contacts) are already there

□ my toyhou.se Did you know I have a toyhou.se? because I never shut up about my characters, and sometimes people just need the Repository of Information. well... here it is.

Okay. I'll update this post more as time goes on, but... that's about it. That was probably like a read and a half. oops.

Remember: if you do follow me, you are (unofficially) officially consigning yourself to my presence and any stupidity and/or brainrot that follows.

...if that's cool with you. lmao =ᴗ=)b

(big shoutouts to the old pinned i had. you will forever be missed)

last updated: 08 / 27 / 2024

[slytherinsweety]

Originally posted on my main blog @epicsweetness712

The image above is AI generated, and I do not take credit for it

New Fic idea. I have written a fic in years and of course it would Hogwarts Legacy that get me back into it.

Summary: Two weeks after 5th year ended, Eleanor (Ella) Locksley has found herself running her shop in Hogsmeade for the summer. At what she thought would be a summer to heal from the events of 5th year, she's found that the secrets she's uncovered from the year are about to come out into the open and some secrets are going to lead to unlocking a mystery surrounding Anne's curse. Will Sebastian and Ella find a way to cure Anne, or will they be stopped? ** You can read on Ao3 or below.

It’s been two weeks since the end of her first year at Hogwarts and looking back on it, she couldn’t believe how much had happened. She remembered Sebastian telling her on her first day on the way to Hogsmeade that he had hoped the rest of her year would be uneventful. Ella scoffed at the idea of that now, but from the correspondence she’s had with Sebastian. He assured her that the year they had experienced was far from the norm. After everything that happened in the Catacomb and with her battles with Ranrok and Rookwood, she still couldn’t quite believe she made it through. From learning spells for the first time to wielding magic that no one had seen in centuries. It was quite a harrowing and unbelievable adventure.

Luckily, she still had Sebastian and he still had her. After the events of the Catacomb, she and Ominis had to decide whether to turn Sebastian in. She had known what decision she would make. It would have been utterly hypocritical of her to condemn him to Azkaban when she herself had taken the lives of many, all in the name of saving the wizarding world or the beasts that inhabited it. To turn him in, she would have to turn herself in as well. Ominis didn’t know this. He had no idea of what she had experienced or dealt with.

Sebastian did though.

After convincing him and Anne to not turn Sebastian in, for it would only lead to further hurting everyone involved, nothing was ever the same. Ominis avoided him, but not before letting Sebastian know that he would take care of Anne and that Anne did not wish to speak with him anytime soon. This both comforted and destroyed Sebastian in equal measure. And as far as Ella knew, that was the last correspondence he had with Ominis other than the pleasantries in the hall or dorm throughout the remainder of the year.

 Every day since the school year ended, she would wake to a very persistent brown owl tapping its beak to the store window with a letter from Sebastian…that was until today. This morning she did not wake to the sound of an owl at her door. They talked daily about anything and everything. About how Sebastian missed Anne but promised her that he was doing okay. That he also could not bear to be at Solomon’s residence over the summer, with his grave just outside the home. So, Sebastian went back to his parent’s home in Aranshire. As difficult as it was, it was better than having to face what he did to Solomon each day. This made it all the more troubling to not have received a letter from him. She hoped that perhaps he had just gotten busy with sorting the home after it spent so many years uninhabited.

With Sebastian in Aranshire, this also meant that he was not too far from her. She was currently staying in Hogsmeade in the backroom of her shop as there was no one to take her in. That and she just refused to go with anyone…she was supposed to stay with Fig.

After the events that took place in the Catacomb, Ella found herself taking part in the final battle for the repository. Everything had happened so fast. She didn’t have to time process all what had happened in the catacomb before being thrusted into another fight. Sebastian had felt utterly helpless. He had missed all of it trying to cope with what he did, and he couldn’t find her in time to help her.

She tried to reassure him that it wasn’t his battle to fight, that she had still succeeded in the end and had won. He had still felt guilty as she had always been there for him, but he wasn’t there when she needed help the most. That she had to face Ranrok and Rookwood each…alone. He didn’t leave her side for weeks afterwards. Sat with her during Fig’s memorial, letting her squeeze his hand tightly as Black was giving his speech. If it wasn’t for Professor Weasley stepping in, she might have broken Sebastian’s hand trying to keep herself calm.

They did everything together. He was always there waiting at the bottom of the steps to the girl’s dormitory for breakfast before walking her to their first class and splitting up afterwards. Only for him to meet her outside of her second class, that she didn’t share with him to walk together to the Great Hall for dinner. They had spent hours studying together in the library for their OWL’s and after one afternoon of him nearly deciding to duel Leander into silence, she showed him the Room of Requirement. From then on, Sebastian did not want to be anywhere else.

 ‘Why deal with anyone else’s presence in the library when literally have a library of our own?’

She thought perhaps it had more to do with him avoiding Ominis equally as he was avoiding Sebastian than it did having to suffer Leander’s incessant tapping of his quill. It didn’t help that very afternoon that as soon as Sebastian had gotten up to retrieve a book from a shelf, Leander had simply sat himself in Sebastian’s chair next to her to offer another go at Summoner’s Court. Ella had barely opened her mouth, when a book had forcefully slammed on the table connected to an arm of an annoyed Sebastian.

 ‘Bugger off Prewett, you’re in my spot’.

Leander scrambled out of the seat and looked at Sebastian who was glaring at him from across the desk.

“Oh, well I thought it was vacant and she wouldn’t mind taking a break to play good ole fashion game of-“

Sebastian cut him off with a scoff.

“It wasn’t vacant, and you know that. As you can see, we are in the middle of studying for the OWL’s. So, she doesn’t have time to play your little game….shoo.” Sebastian waved Leander off, however Leander did not seem to take the hint and Sebastian was well on his way to being past the point of annoyed.

“Well, I thought perhaps she would appreciate some variety. She hardly has anytime to visit her other friends, what with you constantly following her around.”

Ella couldn’t believe his gall. But before she could say anything, Sebastian had beat her to it again. He had stalked around the desk to get in front of Leander.

“Who are YOU to presume what she would appreciate? I’m not keeping her from anyone and if we are around each other, it’s because we’re friends and we like to be around each other.”

“Gentlemen! You are going to get us kicked out of the library. Leander, thank you for the invite, but I will have to decline. As Sebastian said, we are currently occupied.”

Ella had grabbed Sebastian to stop him from continuing forward to Leander. She could see Madam Scribner by her desk with her scrupulous eyes locked on them, as well as the eyes of curious students waiting for fresh gossip. Sebastian did not need to get into any further trouble and Ella was already uncomfortable with the amount of attention she was receiving after being deemed the ‘Hero of Hogwarts’.

“I see that you are busy Eleanor and I apologize for the disruption. Let me know when you would be available for Summoner’s Court or… if you would like to try a different partner for studying.”

Leander had walked off before she could answer him, not that the answer would have been much in his favor. The smirk Sebastian had when she had replied to Leander had quickly faded with Leander’s parting words. He scoffed as he sat down in his chair next to her.

“Slimy git. Who does he think he is? He sat down the moment I left and pretended he didn’t already know I was sitting here.”

“Why are you letting him get to you?” she sighed as she knew he wouldn’t answer her. Ella still had a hard time grasping the apparent animosity between the two houses as she herself was friends with a few Gryffindor’s.

“Well, I think we scared him off for the time being at least.” She replied.

“That we did because we ARE ‘currently occupied’… He’s still a slimy git though. I wish there was a spot we could study in peace without interruptions and… irritating lions.”

Ella rolled her eyes and looked around, there were still eyes on them. She thought for a moment, biting her lip at the idea she had. Sebastian narrowed his eyes at her as he caught her expression.

 “I know that look. What is going on in that pretty little head of yours?... hmm” He leaned towards her, bumping his shoulder with hers.

“Well… what if there was a spot we could study in peace without interruptions?”

And with that, she took him all the way to the seventh floor of the Astronomy Tower in front of the Barabas the Barmy Tapestry. Sebastian quickly lost his skepticism as a door appeared in front of Ella. If she could bottle the look of wonder he had, she would and she knew in that moment she was making the right choice in showing him the Room of Requirement. Both had been through so much, and they both needed a place of peace and quiet. With Sebastian barring himself from the Undercroft in the event he would run into Ominis, he was suddenly without a place to get away.

For the rest of the semester, they spent time in the Room and Sebastian became utterly transfixed with the Vivariums. Especially the vivarium that housed her Pheonix. With Deek’s permission and understanding, he had no issue with letting Sebastian use the Room without Professor Weasley explicit permission. Not after hearing the whispers around the castle of the death of Sebastian’s uncle.

The beasts in the vivariums grew to adore Sebastian as he helped her groom and feed them. When the year came to an end, Deek assured both her and Sebastian the inhabitants of the vivariums would be well taken care of over the summer months and would be there waiting for them when school started in the fall.

Ella continued to muse about her freckled companion as she busied herself in her shop in the late afternoon. She walked behind the counter with an item she had procured from her various treasure hunts of the Cairns Dungeons around the Highlands. For this item, she was having a difficult time deciding where to place it in the shop to be sold. She climbed up the rickety old step ladder that came with the shop, to place it on a higher shelf when she heard the bell to the door chime, signaling a customer.

“I will be right with you in just a moment…just as soon as I place this...”

She stretched as far as she could and came to the unfortunate realization, she was not someone who would be considered tall or even average height. So, her petite stature did not allow for much room to reach the highest shelf even though she was on the highest step. She did not hear the footsteps behind her as she huffed trying to reach out further. This unfortunately led to the ladder to start wobbling beneath her feet. Eyes widening, she tried to grasp onto anything she could but came up empty as her hand met the wall. Ella closed her eyes bracing herself for the fall as she started to careen backwards.  

She never reached the ground though as arms caught her by the waist and she was suddenly held in their arms. With her eyes closed, she could smell clover and leather with a hint of smoke. A smell she was familiar with. Ella opened her eyes to find warm brown ones looking back at her with their usual mischievous gleam.

“Sebastian! What are you doing here?”

Leaning forward to wrap her arms around his neck to give him a hug, she could feel him squeeze her tight to him.

“I was getting quite bored and had a sudden thought. Why wait for a letter, when I can just pop in a visit to my favorite girl to see how she was fairing without me. Lo and behold, here she is quite literally falling into my arms because she missed me so much. I knew I should have come by sooner.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the huff of laughter that escaped her.

“Very funny. You can put me down now.”

Sebastian pursed his lips and squinted his eyes in thought as he continued to keep holding her hostage.

“Hmm, I don’t think I will. All year round I had to watch as you ran from one end to the castle to the next without even stopping to say hello and now, I finally have you in one place? Why waste a perfectly good opportunity.”

“If I promise to not run away from you, will you let me down?”

She grinned as she was in no real rush to leave his arms as Sebastian pretended to think about it for a moment longer. Ella could have sworn she felt him squeeze her again ever so lightly.

“Ever? Hmm. I suppose that will do.”

For now, he thought.

He grinned as he set her down gently. Sebastian moved around the corner to take a closer look at her shop. She tried to make her hands useful and was starting to feel the need to fiddle with something as he perused the items she had in stock. One item in particular grabbed his attention in the front window. He picked up one of the phoenix feathers from the jar. Sebastian twirled the stem of the feather in his hand as he turned around to face her smiling.

“This brings back memories, doesn’t it? How do you think he is fairing without us? I miss our feathered friend.”

“I’m sure he is doing just fine with Deek… So, what do you think of the shop?”

Ella bit her lip, waiting for his response. She had hoped he liked it. It was his first time in her store and her first time showing the shop to one of her friends. She valued the opinions of her friends highly… Sebastian’s more than most. He looked down and paused as if he knew how much the wait for his response was making her anxious.

“I think… that you’ve come a long way from the witch I met last year who didn’t have much experience with the magical world. It’s amazing and completely you.”

He looked at her fondly with a small smile on his face, which grew as he noticed her face start to redden from his praise. He forced himself to look away. After putting the feather back in the jar, he moved around the counter to stand back in front of her.

They stood there for moment facing each other until she broke the silence.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Sebastian snorted.

“I’m serious, you taught me majority of the spells last year and they saved my life on numerous occasions.”

He paused for a moment, and she had a feeling where was mind headed to.

“…Yes, I… spells that I probably should not have taught you.” he said softly.

He swallowed, remorse filling his eyes for a moment before giving away to a steely resolve. It was something he thought about on a regular basis and in the end, he only came to one conclusion.

“Though, I… cannot say that I much regret it. I can’t. There were so many that were after you last year. Many who would not have fought fairly and would have taken advantage of the fact that you were new to his world. Though… that was difficult to tell with you at times. You made everything look easy and took to it so quickly. Even I’d would forget that fact sometimes.”

Sebastian marveled at how well she took to it. He remembered her telling him that Fig believed it had to do with her ancient magic allowing her to quickly pick up on new spells, though he mostly believed it was just her. His brilliant girl.

“You would have been able to figure it out without me, that I have no doubt of.”

“Even so, you were the one who I relied on the most… still do.”

Sebastian couldn’t look away from her. He often admired her when she wasn’t looking and to have her staring back at him as he openly did so, started making him feel a bit warm. When the dust had settled and she had defeated Ranrok, he was terrified if he looked away that she would somehow disappear in front of him. He would often look her way when she had her head in the book that she always carried or in the classroom when her attention was on the professor. Sebastain could see a lot when she wasn’t trying to control her reactions.

They stood there for a moment longer just staring at each other, Ella could feel her heart beating out of her chest. She couldn’t help but look from his eyes to his mouth. They were friends, she tried to tell herself. She couldn't allow her feelings to muddle that. There was a lot that had happened, and they were both still not in the best frame of mind. Still trying to heal from the events of last year. He needed someone to lean on. She would only feel like she would be taking advantage of his circumstances.

For the rest of the year, with him by her side she felt … protected … in a way that didn’t make sense to her. She tried to think of it logically. He taught her magic beyond her wildest dreams, actively tried to help her solve the mystery of her ancient magic and in general he was … her first friend. However, that didn’t negate the hardships they had shared. The scriptorium came to mind. At the time, they were all filled with too much adrenaline and elation of not having to spend a moment longer in that corridor to really process what had happened and … what they had to do to escape it.  

Ella couldn’t find it in herself to be able to hurt him, to really hurt him enough to cast the cruciatus curse on him, so she had told him to cast it on her. After it happened, Sebastian made a vow to her that he would never let it happen again ... then everything spiraled from there. They had learned curses they probably shouldn’t have. However, she could admit to herself that she was … tempted by it. She also could admit that perhaps they went too far even if the curses saved her life from time to time. Even so, Ella vowed to herself she would try to protect him, even if it was from himself.

Ella would not lose him. That was a truth she could live by.

She tried her best to steel her resolve and to look away, but she wanted a moment longer of being able to freely admire him even if for once he was staring right back at her. Ella took a deep breath and started to take a step back to give an acceptable distance when Sebastian’s hand moved from his side and drifted towards her face. His hand took the strand of hair that had fallen out of her braid when she fell and pushed it behind her ear. She could feel his hand brush against her cheek and lay against her ear. He didn’t immediately retract his hand and she couldn’t look away from the warmth of his eyes.

He started to lean closer to her.

“I’ve been thinking…” he started.

“Oh…that could be dangerous.”

“Ha, ha. She’s funny today I see.” He said with a sly smirk.

Her lips tilted upwards, used to this back-and-forth banter with him. However, Sebastian still had not let go of her face and Ella was watching his eyes as they moved from hers, down to her lips and then back upwards. Similar to how she looked at him. This was a look from him she wasn’t used to and a look she couldn’t quite identify. She’s catalogued most of his expressions and could usually tell when he’s up to something. This look, however, was sending her nerves on fire and she could feel her face starting to warm under his touch as she could the feel the fluttering in her stomach begin to grow.

She swallowed and inhaled sharply.

The look on his face changed at her reaction, which Ella had hoped had gone unnoticed. She was equally relieved as she was disappointed that she recognized that look.

“I have been wondering though… Have you been getting many trolls or vampires for customers?”

“I…what?”

With his other hand, Sebastain pointed to the signs on the wall behind her. She glanced to her right to see what he was talking about. Scoffing, she pushed him away from her and went back to try and place the problematic item that did not want to be showcased. Ella was surprised at his blatant flirting. Sebastian was a charismatic person. Though she sometimes did wonder if meant it.

She thought Sebastian was suspiciously silent as she climbed up the step ladder once more. She was waiting to hear his snickering behind her. With her back to him, her eyebrows furrowed as stretched her arm to reach the shelf.

“No, I cannot say I get many trolls or vampires as customers. As seeing only one of those species exist and the other does not. However, as you know. Hogsmeade has had the occasional troll to visit it.”

She smiled as she remembered her first foray to Hogsmeade, with Sebastian no less. It was certainly a memorable adventure. Their first one. From the quite laugh behind her, she had the sneaking suspicion that he was remembering the same thing.

“That is certainly true … though, who told you vampires don’t exist?”

Sebastian loved surprising her with all sorts of magical knowledge. He liked to think it was just to help her get caught up with their peers, but truthfully, he just adored seeing the look of awe pointed in his direction. In his eyes she was truly a force to be reckoned with and he didn’t think he had much to bring to the table. In the Scriptorium, she was amazed at Ominis’ ability to speak with snakes. He just wanted to be seen as useful, to be seen … as something more in her eyes.

Telling her vampires existed at this moment was not ideal, he realized. Shocked, Ella quickly turned around to face him. Which led to her foot catching the step causing her to lose her balance and once more she was starting to fall backwards. Sebastian’s eyes widened as he quickly moved closer to her to place his hands on her waist to steady her in time. This time she didn’t fall.

“Twice now that you fell into my arms. Please do be careful. One more time falling for me and that will be the charm… so they say.” He said with his patented smirk.

“Ha, ha. He’s funny today I see.”

She turned back around to attempt one final time at placing the item as she heard him softly laughing behind her. Sebastian this time did not release her, and she could feel both of his hands either of side of her waist. For a moment she just stood there before she began stretching her arm towards the high shelf again. Ella stopped breathing as she reached further when she felt his hands squeeze her waist as he stood directly behind her.

Sebastian cleared his throat.

“Why don’t you just use magic to place it on the shelf?”

Ella paused. It was a valid question.

“Oh I…didn’t even think to do that. I suppose my upbringing still peaks its head out from time to time. Though, there is something to be said about using oneself to manually do the labor. Almost…a sense of self-satisfaction.” she declared.

“Really? You’re saying this? The one who- correct me if I am wrong. Which we both know that I am not- the one who all year would use magic for the simplest things just because she could and had never been able to, are telling me that you find self-satisfaction from doing manual labor?”

She could only picture the incredulous look on his face as she just managed to finally place the item on the shelf. He let go of her as she made her descent down the step ladder and turned around to face him. With one eyebrow screwed upward, he stared down at her as he awaited her response.

Sighing, she replied “After everything that had happened this last year, I just…wanted a little sense of…normalcy. Is that too much to ask for?”

His eyes softened.

“Darling, we are not normal, but if you need to the sense of normalcy that you had before everything happened this past year…I understand.” He paused.

“On one condition.”

“And that is?”

“…You let me place the items on the top shelf.”

A laugh bubbled out of Ella. It was the beginning of a heartfelt moment that ended quintessentially in a Sebastian-like way. He was smiling down at her with a fond look. They never had to say much to each other to understand what the other was thinking. It was a bond she had with no other and it was that reason why she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it.

“Deal, if you just so happened to be around, otherwise no bets. I do have a shop to run and all.”

Sebastian clapped his hands together and with a large smile, he made another offer she couldn’t turn down.

“Very well and on that note. What say you and I commemorate this with a butter beer? I for one, would like nothing more than forget how I almost witnessed you get taken out by a step ladder and gravity.”

“And that is your way of asking me to The Three Broomsticks?”

Sebastian scratched the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders. Ella rolled her eyes.

“Okay, but first I will need to clear it with my assistant.”

“You have an assistant? Why is this the first time I’m hearing this? You’ve never once brought it up in your letters.” Surprised, he tilted his head waiting for her explanation.

“Well, you see she…kind of came with the shop and I don’t know much about the politics surrounding it and-“

“You have a house elf? Another one? First Deek and now….” Sebastian stopped when he realized that he didn’t have a name.

“Her name is Penny, and she is not really my house elf. As I stated, she is more of an assistant. Though, she knows more about shop keeping than I do.”

Ella tilted her head upwards. She was content with the arrangement she made with the house elf. After hearing Deek’s story of his previous master, she worried Penny would go to someone equally as horrible if she were to free the house elf. So, she made a sort of deal with her. Since Ella couldn’t spend much time at the shop while she was in school, Penny would run the shop during the year while she would replenish the supplies from ransacking the dungeons that were throughout the Highlands. Penny would have a place to live and to eat, she could even say they had become friends. Ella also thought Penny to be a rather shrewd business partner.

She really didn’t take no for an answer.

With a sudden pop, the house elf in question made her appearance.

“Hello Penny, I was just talking about you. This is Sebastian.”

“Penny says hello to mistress and to mistress’ friend. Penny has not had the privilege of meeting one of mistress’ friends yet and Penny has heard much of Mr. Sallow. Mistress brings up Mr. Sallow in many conversations.”

“Penny!”

Ella cringed. She hated being even remotely cross with the house elf since she had seen signs of the abuse the previous owner put Penny through. She adored the house elf, but a secret keeper, Penny was not. Ella was surprised when she hadn’t seen the house elf attempt to hold her breath. The shopkeeper took this as a sign that she was fostering a good workplace for the house elf. However, Penny’s slip up did not go unnoticed by Sebastian who turned to her with smug grin.

“Mr. Sallow is brought up in many conversations, is he now?”

“All terrible things really. The bane of my existence, truly.” was her sardonic reply.

“And here I was going to pay for the first round of butter beer.”

“Oh! Penny thinks that is brilliant idea, mistress should go with her friend to The Three Broomsticks. Penny can take care of the shop while mistress is out.”

“Well then, there you have it. All squared away, leaving us to enjoy a good ole fashion drink together. I sure have missed going to the pub.”

Sebastian placed his arm out before her as she gathered her coin purse. She rolled her eyes.

“It’s been two weeks since we were last there together and we spent so much time there last term, Sirona is surely close to getting tired of our faces.”

“Our faces? Have you looked in a mirror, one would be so lucky for us to show our faces around their establishment. Rather handsome, I’d say. And are we not the famous troll vanquishers of Hogsmeade?”

“More like infamous.” She muttered as she took his arm. He guided her outside to the cobbled sidewalk to make their way to the Broomsticks as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon to make way for nightfall.

“Let’s just hope this time doesn’t lead to an almost all-out pub brawl.” He smiled at her as he brought his hand to grasp the hand she had currently on his other arm, and he squeezed it gently. The fluttering was back in her stomach.

“That happened one time.”

*******

Definitely let me know what you guys think!

[dabi-drift]

Geten/Iceman's S/O Has MADD (Maladaptive Daydreaming):

❅ The image in your mind is your own creation, a shadow of what's real - a self-writing narrative, or yours to keep and control. By virtue of inauthenticity, this phantom follows the dictates of your heart. And for a moment, you can live a parody of love - you can simulate the feelings.

❅ It's a preview of what your lives could be, should he promote you from friend to lover.

❅ You can play every trope - childhood friends, enemies to lovers, soulmates…

❅ You can spend seconds or hours on a single scene, imagining all the ways you could kiss him, all the things you could do together. In your mind, you're never without him.

❅ This Geten is your mind's creation. It's everything you want him to be. But it isn't him, and reality has no comparison. The real Geten is a fiery character, not this empty husk. But your mind can't make a perfect clone. And besides, you're addicted to the fantasy.

❅ It's like you live a perpetual dream - sometimes on a different stage, with different characters, but usually with Geten. Your body is just a decoration, a repository for your mind.

❅ You're always thinking, always dreaming. But that's okay; you'd rather live in your head. In your head, you're allowed to love him freely, reciprocally.

❅ And as you lose yourself, so too do you lose your connection with reality. It gets hard to distinguish between real Geten and dream Geten. But dream Geten is warm and sweet. He makes your chest tighten. He opens the butterfly cage. The way he loves is without precedent. It's that once-in-a-lifetime kind of love - like he's in love with love itself, but only when he looks at you.

❅ You feel guilty for using him as material, but regardless of how much you want to stop, you'll always succumb to the delusion. It's so easy. Dream Geten can't hurt you unless you will him to, but the real Geten can hurt you in every way imaginable.

❅ After such dreams, how can you look at him? How can you speak to him? You want him, you need him to love you like his double.

❅ You don't know if it's a problem, a gift or a curse, or if it needs to be fixed. Your mind is your haven, and this bisected life is familiar. Where would you be without it? Would your feelings be the same? Would they be as strong?

❅ To fall for a boy who only looks at you in your dreams…you really lost in the lot of love.

[na-smithees-nothinginparticular]

The Mystery Dagger of the Arizona Historical Society

Hi tumblr. Maybe you can help me out with something.

I first saw the dagger while shadowing the curators of the Arizona History Museum. It’s located in the vault of the museum– once the vault of a bank on whose foundations the museum now stands– alongside a cabinet of antique guns, a large quantity of worked silver, and various other objects. The dagger had been sitting atop a filing cabinet, inconspicuous yet conspicuously out of place. Throughout the day, the curators had shown me a number of objects in the museum’s possession that had “Nothing to do with Arizona”, and this dagger, alongside the Hapsburg silver on the museum floor and native-made fishing spears from the Pacific Northwest, numbered among them.

“What’s up with that dagger?” I asked, pointing it out. One of the curators took it down from the cabinet and unsheathed it. The blade made a hellish screech as it rasped free. 

“Huh. I don’t actually know,” said the other curator. And so the mystery began. 

The dagger, as it turned out, had no provenance. That is to say, there’s no record of where it came from. It lacked an item tag, so there was no way tell who had donated it, where it had come from, or when it had entered the museum’s collection. (I later searched the museum’s artifact catalog, and the artifact doesn’t appear to come up in searches for “dagger” or “knife”. Many of the artifacts have no publicly available images, but the curators tell me that the artifact is not in the catalog.) I joked with several friends that the dagger must be cursed, and that I’m probably about to become an H. P. Lovecraft protagonist if I keep doing what I’m doing. But as we left that vault, all I could think was:

“This needs to go on the blog.”

I really wish I could tell you more about this thing. I’ve cross-referenced similar artifacts in the catalogs of the British Museum, the Met, and the Digital Repository of the Museums of India. The most similar artifacts have been 19th century Turkish, Indian, and Arabian blades. In particular, the flared, hammer-shaped pommel seems to be more common in Persian and Ottoman daggers. (Mughal daggers seem to more often have knob- or horse head-shaped pommels.)  It may be a khanjar or a jambiya, or it may be some kind of forgery. The Middle East and North Africa isn’t my area of expertise, but I’m hoping that by putting this out there, I may be able to get some new leads if people recognize this thing. I’ve put all my notes on the dagger below. 

What do you all think?

Notes:

-Object measures about 44 cm from pommel to tip of the bird’s neck. 

- Sheath has split where it would come in contact with the blade of the dagger. There is some slight staining on the fabric.

- Blade itself is about 24 cm long with a recurve shape. A ridge runs down both sides of the blade’s flat.

- Blade appears to be sharpened on both edges.

- Blade displays slight nicks and corrosion

- elaborate floral motif on hilt and scabbard

-Scabbard cloth may have originally been red but has faded to a dirty orange over time

- scabbard features small loop, possibly to secure dagger onto a belt

-long-billed bird’s head ornament on the tip of the scabbard. This design appears to be unique and has not appeared in any of the museum daggers I’ve seen. Species of bird is unknown.

-Parts of the crossguard are decorated with some kind of yellow metal. Gold? Brass? I didn’t have a way to check at the time.

Similar objects:

Jade-handled dagger and cover with silver ornament, origin unknown. Dated c. 19th century. Located at Indian Museum, Kolkata. https://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/im_kol-R-14700-16720

Iron dagger with bone and mother-of-pearl hilt from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Date unknown. Located at Indian Museum, Kolkata.

Dagger and sheath set made of steel, copper, gold, bloodstone and ruby. Culture of origin listed as “Persian or Turkish, Ottoman”. Dated 18th-19th century. Located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Dagger (Jambiya) with sheath and belt. Materials: steel, silver, wood, leather, iron. Culture of origin listed as “Arabian”. Dated 19th century. Located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Dagger (Jambiya) with sheath. Materials: steel, wood, silver, brass, gold, niello (a black compound of sulfur and copper, lead, or silver used to infill engraved metal). Culture of origin listed as “Moroccan”. Dated 19th century. Located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Steel, rock crystal, and gold ceremonial dagger. Catalog description reads as follows: “Although intended for ceremonial use, this dagger features discretely carved talismanic inscriptions of the kind found on arms and armor that were designed for battle. The hilt includes gold inscriptions that call upon ‘Ali and Allah.”. Culture of origin listed as “Indian”. Dated 19th century. Located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Note: All four Met daggers originate in are credited to the “Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935”. Might be worth following up on?

[nicklloydnow]

“He drove his ideas like iron bolts into the minds of his associates. Molotov, Ordzhonikidze, Kaganovich, Voroshilov and a few others were his confidants, and his implicit objective was to form a fanatical Kremlin gang devoted to himself as boss. Anyone who got in his way was expelled. In October 1930 he took offence at the People's Commissar for Finances. He wrote to the Politburo ordering: 'Hang Bryukhanov by the balls for all his present and future sins. If his balls hold out, consider him acquitted in court; if they don't hold out, drown him in the river." Stalin drew a picture of Bryukhanov suspended in the air and attached to a pulley by a rope which was tugging his penis and testicles back through his legs. Sometimes, though, he aimed his ridicule at himself. Writing to Voroshilov in March 1929, he mocked his own grandiose image: 'World Leader [Vozhd]? Go fuck his mother!’

Yet although Stalin could chaff himself in this fashion, he let no gang members do the same to him: his dignity mattered a great deal to him. So too did his authority. It was he who decided who could join and who should leave the gang. He also told the gang who its enemies were. He cajoled the members to regard their critics as the worst renegades. Indeed by 1932 he told Kaganovich to get Pravda to 'curse crudely and sharply not only Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries but also Right Deviationists and Trotskyists as being advocates of the restoration of capitalism. The intention was evident. Stalin and the Kremlin gang were to regard themselves as the sole repository of political wisdom and socialist commitment. The people of the USSR should be led to believe that only the ascendant party leadership would truly try to supply society with material and social welfare and that anti-Stalinists would drag the country down and back to the bad old days of greedy factory owners, bankers and landlords. Vilification of opponents should therefore be taken to the point of the fantasy that Bukharin and Trotski were in league with the capitalist West.” (pages 280 - 281)

[adambrown275]

Will Artificial Intelligence in Digital Pathology Replace or Save Pathologists? 

The specter of automation looms large across healthcare, and pathology is joining this bandwagon as well. The flourishing sector of digital pathology solutions, with its whole-slide images (WSIs) and terabytes of data, presents an effective target for artificial intelligence (AI).  

But with such advancements in automation and efficiency, will AI algorithms replace even the seasoned pathologist in the diagnostic field? Or will they become an extended benefit towards augmenting their professional prowess? 

What Can AI Do in Digital Pathology? 

AI has made significant contributions to digital pathology. Here's what AI can bring to the table: 

Deep Learning-powered Image Analysis: Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) excel at pattern recognition in WSIs. They can detect subtle morphological features, like atypical mitotic figures, or classify entire tissue regions, aiding in cancer diagnosis and grading. 

Optimization with Computational Pathology (CPath): CPath algorithms can automate labor-intensive tasks such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) stain normalization, irrelevant area filtering, and regions of interest (ROIs) highlighting, thereby freeing up valuable pathologist time for more case-specific analysis. 

Digital Morphometrics: Ai pathology can objectively quantify features like proliferation rates, nuclear atypia, or vessel density. This empowers pathologists with precise and reproducible data to support diagnoses and guide treatment decisions. 

Why AI Won't Replace Pathologists  

Despite its impressive capabilities, AI isn't quite ready to make people give up their white coat. Here's why: 

Limited context: Supervised learning algorithms require meticulously labeled training data (ground truth). However, annotating WSIs with pixel-level precision for complex diagnoses is a laborious and expensive undertaking. Additionally, the inherent subjectivity in pathology can lead to inconsistencies in ground truth, hindering AI performance. 

Handling imperfections: WSIs are high-dimensional images, and complex AI pathology models can struggle with the "curse of dimensionality." This can lead to overfitting, where the model performs well on training data but falters on unseen cases. 

Liability concerns: A diagnosis in digital pathology hinges not just on the WSI, but also on the patient's medical history, clinical presentation, and ancillary tests. While some AI models are incorporating clinical data, they still struggle to integrate this information as seamlessly as a seasoned pathologist. 

Humans and AI: A Symbiotic Partnership 

The future of digital pathology lies in a symbiotic partnership between humans and AI. Here's how this collaboration can reshape patient care: 

AI-powered Pre-screening and Triaging: AI can pre-screen WSIs, flagging suspicious regions or classifying benign cases. This allows pathologists to prioritize their workload and focus on challenging cases that demand their expertise. 

Diagnostic Accuracy with Confirmations from AI: AI can serve as a tireless second opinion for pathologists, highlighting subtle features or providing statistical risk scores to support diagnoses. This collaborative approach can minimize human error and improve diagnostic consistency. 

Accessible Datasets: AI can analyze vast repositories of digital pathology data, identifying novel disease biomarkers and prognostic factors. This paves the way for personalized medicine, tailoring treatments to individual patients based on their unique pathology. 

Among the new frontiers exciting, features like unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning, hold the potential to further empower digital pathology artificial intelligence. Unsupervised learning could unearth hidden patterns in WSIs, leading to the discovery of new disease entities. Reinforcement learning algorithms could be trained to refine their diagnostic skills by interacting with pathologists and receiving feedback. 

Challenges and Opportunities 

While the integration of AI in digital pathology is inevitable, numerous ai pathology companies are currently doubling down on addressing the following challenges: 

Technical Bottleneck: Standardization of image acquisition and data formats is crucial for error-free AI integration across platforms. To close this gap there is a strong need for establishing a robust computing infrastructure that can handle the immense computational demands of AI algorithms. 

Ethical Considerations: Bias in training data can lead to biased AI models. Mitigating bias and ensuring fairness in AI-assisted diagnoses is literally like a need of the hour right now. Clear guidelines are needed for data privacy and ownership in digital pathology. 

Regulatory Landscape: Regulatory frameworks for AI-powered diagnostic tools need to be established to ensure their safety and efficacy in clinical practice. 

Considering the scope of enhanced workflows and the concern about AI completely replacing humans in pathology, it's clear that AI is making a significant impact. It's improving patient care by delivering fast and accurate test results. 

As a leading innovator in digital pathology solutions, OptraSCAN is all set to create opportunities for personalized medicine, benefiting pathologists and their patients. Contact OptraSCAN to join the trend of improved diagnostics and efficient team workflows, reducing the workload of tedious tasks and allowing greater focus on case-specific analysis. 

[mirbisduschoen]

http://www.foundphotos.net/images/FoundPhotos/archives/

I found a cursed image repository from the early days of the Internet

[imagesgodabandoned]

Cursed Image No. 89

Artist: @daydehlus

Please check out their work.

[imagesgodabandoned-old]

Cursed Image No. 20

[emmanuelnf-blog]

[shint0buri]

Wait holy cow I reached 100 followers??

Maybe I should make something

I guess... I'll take suggestions or prompts?

(I can't make gifs, I've done it exactly once but it takes forever because I'm not familiar with the programs) (I miss Photoshop)

[simsinlowspace]

Victory Apartment - Watchmen & Valkyrie Recolors

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to share this recolor set today! I adore all of these meshes, and best of all, I finally conquered the repository technique! 🍾 So naturally I made a ton of recolors. XD Swatches, info (important!) and downloads below the cut!

I started this back in April, when I decided to recolor the seating from @kestrelteens' conversion of @awingedllama's Apartment Therapy and realized all three pieces used an identical texture, but redundantly. This seemed like a good opportunity to learn how to repository, so I settled in with a tutorial, got to work...and failed miserably for the next two months. But, after much cursing and wailing and wondering whether I might actually be A Moron, I figured it out and went to work finishing this set.

So! Meshes recolored are:

Couch, loveseat and armchair from Apartment Therapy (loveseat and armchair repo'd to the couch)

Coffee table and dining table from Apartment Therapy (dining table repo'd to the coffee table)

Fluffy blanket from Apartment Therapy

Eye of the Beholder Window conversion by semio (how this beautiful window stayed off my radar for so long I'll never know)

Triomphant Textile curtain conversion by @morepopcorn

Holey Moley Divider conversion by Michelle (right segment repo'd to left)

I apologize in advance for the enormous swatches. There are individual, numbered swatches in the downloads, but I had to combine most of them to stay under Tumblr's image limit.

The seating comes in Watchmen and Valkyrie:

There are also matching curtains, plus 4 with the floral patterns from my Spring Floral Wallpaper set in large and small sizes (these were made with icons from this Plants Icon Pack by Rudiyana over at Flaticon):

The dividers come in Watchmen and Valkyrie, plus 15 colors from The Woods are Lovely (the candles only come in Watchmen and Valkyrie). This is the two piece deco version; I only just realized that @shastakiss posted a functional light version to GoS, so there will be recolors of that in the future as well XD (I really adore this divider):

The tables also come in the same 15 wood colors. I used a new texture for these because the original was giving me a headache and it was easier just to redo it:

The Eye of the Beholder Window comes in Watchmen and Valkyrie:

And the fluffy blanket comes in Watchmen and Valkyrie as well:

Whew! Okay! So now for some 🚨🚨 important information! 🚨🚨 All the meshes are included, but if you already have the seating and/or tables from Apartment Therapy, or the Holey Moley Divider from Michelle's 4t2 Spa Day conversion set, you will need to delete those meshes to use these recolors! You can also delete recolors for the loveseat, armchair and dining table since they'll be redundant.

Lastly, since this is such a huge set, I'm offering separate downloads by color palette, plus one big 'ol download if you want the whole thing. The required meshes are included in each download, so be mindful of that if you're grabbing a couple of parts. Also, the curtains and dividers come with their original recolors since they're packaged up with their meshes.

If I messed anything up, please let me know! This is definitely some new territory for me, plus it's been a lot of files to handle. 😅

DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE SET (SFS) Recolors are ~36.5MB DOWNLOAD WATCHMEN (SFS) Seating, curtains, dividers, window & blanket ~14.5MB DOWNLOAD VALKYRIE (SFS) Seating, curtains, dividers, window & blanket ~11MB DOWNLOAD THE WOODS ARE LOVELY (SFS) Tables & dividers ~7.75MB DOWNLOAD FLORALS (SFS) Curtains ~1.75MB

Lots of love, Spacey

[earthstellar]

we’ve talked about how tall Ratchet is compared to Optimus, now how about in comparison to Megatron:

love to break it to you all that Ratchet is still within ideal hug height range when compared to Megatron

I specifically tried to only get screenshots from when they are standing next to each other on level ground, for as close to accurate height representation as possible 

so this limited my options to essentially just TFP Season 3 Episode 11 (Persuasion) lmao but I also don’t have the time right now to look around more so idk

also skipping through this episode briefly (as I have to go to work very soon LMAO) so I don’t have very good quality caps at the moment 

however, I love this episode

because the whole plot is basically just Megatron threateningly hitting on Ratchet with the promise of science and home planet restoration as date bribes 

Megatron: if you sleep over at my place, you can mess with my super high end chemistry set and finally get the chance to grow crystals in the garden of your idealised retirement cottage, which I know you fantasise about constantly 

Ratchet: can my retirement cottage have an outpatients service 

Megatron: yeah why not, whatever 

Ratchet, immediately upon seeing the receipts: I cannot physically make myself say no 

Megatron: great, I’ll have my Vehicon butler make us some cyber popcorn, Soundwave go ahead and fire up the human media repository designated “Netflix”, I’ll be right back 

Ratchet: wait I thought we were doing science 

Megatron: we’re about to start watching Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings on Knock Out’s account, and we’re starting from episode one so it’s going to be a while

Ratchet: curse you, Megatron! you have blinded me with your trickery, I have been a fool! 

Megatron: no, you’ve been gay this whole time and I’m excited to see how angry Optimus is going to be when he sees my next fifty Instagram posts, now smile for the camera, my good doctor 

(also for what it’s worth, the screenshot of the two of them standing next to each other looking at a concept image of a revitalised Cybertron on the screen is giving me big potential AU vibes, gonna add that one to my pending fanfic list lmao) 

Edit: Here’s more because hell yeah

[theworldbrewery]

Archfey

The Feywild landscape creates a fantastical mirror image of the material plane, echoing its features and magnifying its wonders. The archfey who keep their kingdoms in the Plane of Faerie are likewise echoes of inhabitants of the material plane: jealous rulers, vicious peasants, greedy merchants. They are archetypes made manifest, sometimes even verging on parodies of the folk they represent. These archfey delight in mischief and revelry, but their sense of what is humorous and what is clever does not correspond to that of a mortal. The archfey described below take their entertainment from stealing children, controlling their subjects, and trapping hapless mortals in labyrinths as much as they enjoy riddles, mimicry, and flattery.

The Fallow-Fallen

The Fallow-Fallen embodies the anger of a downtrodden serf. The Fallow-Fallen seeks to feel powerful, so they exert their will over whatever unfortunate beings pass through their demesne. The Fallow-Fallen loves violence and gore more than most of their kin among the archfey, with a special taste for those who look down on others. They command a pack of faerie hounds to chase down trespassers, but a respectful guest may be rewarded with a harvest bounty or a fey steed faster than any mortal horse.

The Thistlewise

The Thistlewise echoes the territorial nature of a solitary druid. The Thistlewise wants nothing more than to be left alone, but they have great knowledge and gifts beyond the ken of most mortals, making them a desirable endpoint of a Feywild pilgrimage. The Thistlewise tangles the mind, misleading and misdirecting creatures who dare disturb them. Their realm is overrun with tangling vines and thorny brambles that form a twisting labyrinth with neither entrance nor exit; escape is virtually impossible without a magical aid. The Thistlewise sees mortals like insects, but from time to time, a rare species might catch their eye and their aid.

The Marioneer

The Marioneer mirrors a grasping chancellor, constantly scheming for control and approval while in service to the whims of a good-natured satyr king. They command a court of puppets, strung up and charmed by them to both entertain their satyr liege and serve the Marioneer's own desires. The Marioneer cannot keep constant control, but in their immediate presence, fey and mortals alike struggle to retain their sense of self. The Marioneer requires nothing less than absolute deference, but visitors may still garner their favor--as long as they recognize the true power behind the throne.

The Kegling

The Kegling maintains an unusual feature of the Feywild landscape: the ubiquitous tavern. A bawdy and cheerful brawler, the Kegling loves to engage in a physical challenge with their patrons only to turn about and offer a drunken riddle-contest. The Kegling is a masterful host who stands on barroom ceremony, but is over-indulgent. Less overtly sinister than most other archfey, once you've met the Kegling they seem ever-present, their tavern appearing on the roadside or in the midst of the Seelie Court. As lord over common knowledge and common sense, information given to the Kegling will be spread around or held in reserve for later blackmail.

The Paper King

The Paper King is no king at all, but the manifest ego of a powerful mage. They are a hoarder of knowledge and memory, particularly the memories of those who visited the Feywild and lost their recollection of those times. The Paper King's true prize is a vast repository of spells, transcribed from lost spellbooks and tomes that found their way to the Feywild. In fact, any book lost or misplaced eventually finds its way here, to the towering retreat of the Paper King. The Paper King might allow a courageous mortal to peruse the collection, but only at the cost of a few memories of their own.

The Hungerhanded

Born of the greed of the owner of a trading company, the Hungerhanded seeks nothing more than to obtain. The Hungerhanded gives nothing without receiving more in return. They see all mortal passersby as beneath them, simply delivery carts of precious treasures who are unaware of their true purpose. The Hungerhanded will happily provide protection for their little treasure-deliverers, as well as any reward that costs them nothing. The Hungerhanded's negotiation skills are unparalleled, and they always know when they have the upper hand.

The Autarch

The Autarch is the Feywild's adaption of a motivational speaker, one whose words are unsettlingly persuasive. The Autarch rules a dominion of followers who each believe they are acting in their own self-interest, self-governing in ways that always seem to benefit the Autarch. Self-deceit is the name of the Autarch's game; even they themself are convinced that everyone within their domain is acting according to their own nature. Their way, it seems, is simply the best way. Why else would so many people choose to follow this philosophy of self-rule? The people of the Autarch's realm often speak in the Autarch's voice, repeating the archfey's philosophy unthinkingly. The Autarch claims to want nothing but a few moments of a creature’s time; they know that is all they need to win hearts and minds.

The Askew

The Askew exaggerates the features of a traveling minstrel. A performer and pantomimer, they are one of those rare Archfey who make their way to the material plane more often than most. They enjoy the attention, of course, but they also enjoy luring children from their homes and bringing them to the Feywild to serve in their own court for years. Sometimes even decades pass before they are permitted to rejoin their kind, but when they return, they have been made feral by their time in the Askew's service. The Askew loves nothing, hates nothing, and fears nothing. It wants only companionship and joy, and a mortal who can offer either--even for a brief time--could please it enough to receive a rare boon. A creature who dares disturb its reverie, however, invites a curse upon their head.

[thecreaturecodex]

Qlippoth, Solesik

Image by unknown artist, © Green Ronin Publishing

[Commissioned by @thetygre​, who asked for a conversion from The Book of Fiends, dealer’s choice. The Book of Fiends is a book I have strongly mixed feelings about. The parts I like I really like, but the parts I don’t I hate. The part that I hate the most is probably the mechanics--even the very interesting looking or flavorful monsters tend to have somewhat boring statistics. So I went for the solesik, because its garble field and language drain are mechanically creative. The aura seemed a fit for a horrific appearance of a qlippoth, even though this wasn’t a qlippoth in the original text.]

Qlippoth, Solesik CR 8 CE Outsider This writhing worm-like horror has pinkish-grey skin ringed with annulations and studded with nubs and other protrusions. Its head, if it can be called that, is composed of three fleshy arms, each covered in tube-feet, surrounding a circular, fanged maw.

Solesiks are qlippoth that resent and hate the ability of language to spread ideas and philosophies. As such, they attempt to subvert or destroy it whenever possible, ruining communication attempts and sucking the languages right out of their victims’ heads. Those that survive a solesik attack may become completely insensate, as they much prefer to leave their victims alive as a warning to others than kill them and risk their souls contaminating the Abyss. Although solesiks despise language, they are adept at using it, and often make raids on repositories of scrolls and spellbooks in search of obscure magic.

Most solesiks open combat with their spell-like abilities, hoping to leave their enemies scattered and cowering. Those that resist these attempts are often their first targets in melee. A solesik’s jaws are positioned awkwardly—it cannot bite creatures except for those already grabbed in its starfish-like arms. Solesiks often travel in loose conglomerates, called schools, but the members of these schools are not especially beholden to each other. Although they will coordinate attacks, if one individual is badly injured, the rest will flee to save their own lives, or even turn on the weaker if they feel they have something to gain.

A solesik is about seven feet long and weighs between two hundred and three hundred pounds.

Solesik  CR 8 XP 4,800 CE Medium outsider (chaos, evil, extraplanar, qlippoth) Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +21, thoughtsense 30 ft. Defense AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, +9 natural) hp 95 (10d10+40) Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +11 DR 10/lawful; Immune cold, mind-influencing effects, poison; Resist acid 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 19 Offense Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect) Melee 3 slams +14 (1d6+4 plus grab) Special Attacks gnaw (bite +14, 2d6+6 plus language drain), horrific appearance (DC 18) Spell-like Abilities CL 10th, concentration +13 (+17 casting defensively) At will—command (DC 16), detect magic, erase (DC 14), suggestion (DC 18) 3/day—dimension door, dispel magic, invisibility 1/day—greater command (DC 20), mass castigate (DC 20) Statistics Str 19, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 19, Wis 14, Cha 16 Base Atk +10; CMB +14 (+18 grapple); CMD 27 (cannot be tripped) Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lunge Skills Bluff +16, Fly +24, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (planes) +17, Linguistics +17, Perception +21, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +16, Use Magic Device +13 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Protean, 7 others, telepathy 100 ft. SQ language mastery, sound mimicry (voices) Ecology Environment any land or underground (Abyss) Organization solitary, pair or school (3-8) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Flight (Su) The flight of a solesik is a supernatural ability. Gnaw (Ex) A solesik can make a bite attack against a grappled creature as a swift action. If it hits, the creature is subject to its language drain ability. Horrific Appearance (Su) A creature that fails its save against a solesik’s horrific appearance has its ability to speak scrambled. For one minute, it has a 50% chance to fail to communicate intelligibly, and all spells with a verbal component or command word items have a 50% spell failure chance. The save DC is Charisma based. Language Drain (Su) A creature bitten by a solesik must succeed a DC 18 Will save or permanently lose the ability to speak, read or write one language of the solesik’s choice. A creature under the effect of a tongues spell is first subject to a dispel attempt by the solesik (CL 10th) before its natural languages are affected. If this tongues effect is supernatural (such as the truespeech of an azata), it is suppressed for 1 day on a successful dispel attempt before the creature’s natural languages are affected. A creature that loses all of its languages is subject to a feeblemind spell (no save). This is a curse effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Language Mastery (Ex) A solesik adds +2 to the DCs of all of its spell-like abilities with a language-dependent component. In addition, it can use all scrolls as if the spells were on its spell list.