#of the life herald

[blackpearlblast]

Brown University students are launching an indefinite hunger strike for Palestine

they are asking for their university to divest from companies profiting from the genocide in gaza and openly call for a ceasefire and will not eat until the university governing bodies hears and considers a divestment resolution. if you are not familiar with the physical toll a hunger strike takes on the body, it might be worth looking up to get a better sense of what a significant action these students are taking. the university's highest governing body is having their first meeting of 2024 on february 8-9th so let's rally around them to muster even more pressure on brown university.

brown university contact page: let's state our support for these students and let brown university know the world will be watching what happens next!

additional reading: coverage of this story in the university's student news paper - get to know some of the hunger strikers

[greenlaut]

son of adam

[randomsufff]

My through process as I played through Control for the first time after getting into Alan Wake II

Btw this is not me bashing on any ships- tbh they’re both good in my opinion - I just thought it was funny how I thought I immediately clocked Darling and Trench (which- if we’re going by Ao3 statistics I did), got blindsided by Darling and Zane, and then immediately understood why they were on the top of the tag after watching them interact for literally 1 minute 💀💀💀

[serapherd]

to our glorious end

[mollysunder]

Shimmer & The Glorious Evolution: A Love Story

We can see how a specialized high quality strain of Rio's shimmer can alter the biology of living organisms to make users produce their own shimmer, as is the case with Jinx. So what will happen now that Rio's specialized shimmer has been exposed to an artificial life form, i.e. the hexcore?

What Has the Hexcore Done Without Shimmer?

Prior to the hexcore's exposure to shimmer infused blood we've only seen it capable of releasing short bursts of massive energy when Viktor experiments with it.

When exposed to human blood the hexcore reacted by "consuming" a drop of it. The blood effected the entire magical dimension the hexcore connects to by turning it to a shade of purple similar to the plants found in Singed's cave.

Later we see that this newly blood infused hexcore's magic turned purple and is able to not only react to organic matter such as plants, but stimulate their growth in turn (not for long of course). The affected plants also take on the purple tinge similar to the hexcore's magic.

What Have We Seen the Shimmered Hexcore Do So Far?

Once Viktor exposed the hexcore to his shimmer infused blood it was capable of producing a longer lasting stable state with its test subject twice. Initially, what exactly happened to Viktor's leg was up to interpretation, but later on animators in Bridging the Rift confirmed that Viktor's new leg and hand are made of metal.

This means that the hexcore took Viktor's flesh and shimmer infused blood (more than the first time) and exchanged it for an arcane/shimmer configured metalic replacement. His skin is gone and we're looking at what his muscle has been converted to.

The transmutation of Viktor's hand and leg into metal could have only been facilitated through the use of shimmer. It was likely the remaining shimmer in Viktor's system that prevented him from being absorbed into the hexcore. Without a sufficient amount of shimmer, a regular human hand does not equal a shimmerized arcane metalic hand. The flesh, bone, and blood of an entire adult woman and a pitance of shimmer is worth the hand it provides.

What Will Happen Next Season?

The further the hexcore directly interfaces with organic matter the more similar it becomes in appearance and ability to shimmer. Where it improves health and strength at increasing biological costs. Once Viktor realizes that he's missing the "Inspiration" rune, the rune matrix will finally be complete and reach a "stable" state.

A "stable" state could mean the hexcore could reliably interact with and alter organic matter like Rio's shimmer is capable of. Based on the notes Sky left behind, her research focused on plant biology. In theory, a "perfect" hexcore could not only stimulate plant life to grow impressively, they could be durable enough to survive in extreme environments like Zaun.

While there is evidence that shimmer and its byproducts can enhance plant growth, especially in Zaun, there is a catch. Any plant affected by a hexcore corrupted by Rio's specialized shimmer would be altered in a way that makes them capable of being producing shimmer independently.

Just from Viktor's experiment with a hexcore exposed to a single drop of blood, the plants began to glow purple like the plants Rio would eat and break down into shimmer. Except, like Jinx the hexcore would pass down its own strain to the plant subjects that's compatible with the hexcore's "exchange" requirements.

But why would Viktor want to create plants capable of producing MORE shimmer for Zaun. Simple! Without shimmer you can't get... The Glorious Evolution. It's already been mentioned that Viktor's limbs have become metal, and to make his transformation complete he'll need more shimmer. For others to become like him, he needs more shimmer.

but...

Who Would Be Willing to Follow the Herald's Path?

Shimmer addicts like Huck and those who live in the sump with dying flesh and residual concentrations of shimmer in their bodies could be "healed" from their state of deterioration through the hexcore.

In Bridging the Rift we actually saw an unfinished clip of Viktor reaching his metalic hand to reach out and grab the face of a shimmer addict. Upon further inspection of the unidentified character's scars, we can guess this is Huck.

There's also the underlying culture of flesh sacrifice in Zaun, which is actually in the same vein as the Church of the Gloriously Evolved. In League, specifically through Camille's lore, the Church of the Gloriously Evolved actually exists outside of and likely before the Machine Herald came to the scene. The Church's roots even stretch into both Zaun & Piltover.

They believe that you must sacrifice something close and dear (like diseased flesh) with the faith that something better will take its place. Splinters of this organization likely made Silco an object of worship admiring his power and assuming the shimmer he brought was the miracle they sacrificed so much for already. Without Silco and his shimmer, Viktor and his hexcore would become the Church's new object of adoration as they bring shimmer AND immediate transmutation.

Finally, there's Sevika. In the tarot seen, Sevika drew a winning hand with a pair of card, Death and The Magician, that resemble Jinx and Viktor respectively. The scene may foreshadow that Jinx and Viktor will be the trump cards to win her Zaun's independence. But How will that work with Viktor?

You could argue that Sevika could bring Viktor in to repair her arm, but there's an entire industry backed up by a chembaron, Smeech, to fulfill that need. Viktor's going to need to bring something new to the table to be brought into the fold, and that could be shimmer infused plants and the "healing" properties of the hexcore. And I'm sure Sevika's pragmatic enough to know that for Zaun to survive Piltover's retaliation she'll need to bolster her resources in manpower and shimmer... lots of it.

Whether Sevika will be able to handle the cult of personality around the Machine Herald, especially if Jinx ends up siding him is a whole other discussion.

[meownotgood]

this emote...... please why are u so Cutie...... hhhuuuuuuuu

[thedogtorwho]

Shared this on Twitter the other day, but my sister @charletsart spotted this detail during the We Sing part. If you skip grabbing the lamp at the awards part, the Alan on screen will just stand there awkwardly. 😂 (It's nice he signed his book for us though 😌)

[mads-does-stuff]

augg he's so kitten coded

[mudpuddless]

Stablemaster and Castle Steward OCs ft. baby Halt for my King Halt AU

[ricky-olson]

 VIKTOR IN EVERY EPISODE ღ  ‎‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎      ‎ ➳ S01E02; “Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved”

[eydika]

danny assigned babygirl (gn) by groupchat ft. @marshalortega‘s carver + carver’s boyfriend-coded jacket

[laurapetrie]

A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (1960)

[regonold]

Ok so i was listening to the tornado by owl city and thought of this

Portals to the realms should never be opened long for if they are the area around them gets corrupted a filled with ectoplasm burnt up from sustaining the Portal now the Fenton Portal has had this happen but it was unnoticeable due to danny cleaning the ecto filter

But slowly a pool of corrupted ectoplasm was building under the town of amity and oneday after yet another fight with one of his rouges it starts swirling now amitys natural ghostly ness has kept it contained within it's boarders

But the amount of "lazerus waters" here is enough to fully consume the city above it and it's started swirling growing up to encase the city above it

Far away from amity in the watch tower john constantine had called a meeting about a small town in illinois due to rising death energies there due to this they think that the ghost king is attempting to use a herald to summon him to this relam to reak havoc

So they go to try stop it and reach there in time to see a swirling green forcefield of sorts coming the town upon closer inspection they see a teen with snow white hair stinking of death magic with his hands in the force field john saus that must be the herald of the ghost king so superman flies to pull him away from the swirling green field

Danny on the other had is panicking his family his fright his people and his haunt are all in there he has to stop it he has to and now some asshole in blue is telling him to stop this? Oh hell no he'll save what's his thank you very much

[y-rhywbeth2]

Do you have any idea if the light that provides a day/night cycle in Sigil counts as sunlight for the purposes of vampires? Because you mentioned in one post that the Dark Urge's only hope is fleeing to Sigil, and I was wondering if Astarion might also like to move there.

I mean it's not Durge's only hope, it's just probably the safest option... or they could deliberately piss off the Lady and get totally obliterated from existence, that sure solves the Bhaal problem.

I think I remember this kind of topic starting arguments. I've never seen an official answer for this and don't know how the issue has been handled with vampire characters in previous supplements, but I do know that, according to official rules from on high, exact wording of the RAW is important when it comes to vampiric weaknesses. For example, taking from a conversation with Jeremy Crawford about the viability of killing a vampire using a water elemental:

Harmed by Running Water. The vampire takes 20 acid damage when it ends its turn in running water. - Monster Manual (5e)

'What if a Water Elemental uses its move to repeatedly go through the Vampires space?' 'A water elemental is a creature, not a body of running water (a stream, a river, a waterfall, or the like).' 'But an elemental that is made of water, and runs, would that not be a running body of water? ' 'It would, indeed. Running body of water =/= body of running water.'

So following the spirit of the logic from that baffling conversation; according to the RAW, the daylight in the City of Doors shouldn't bother vampires because the vampiric weakness, in exact words, says 'in sunlight.'

Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The vampire takes 20 radiant damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, it has a disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. - Monster Manual (5e)

And Sigil and the Outlands specifically says that the light, in exact words, 'isn't sunlight.'

Day and Night. Sigil observes a 24-hour day-night cycle. The sky gradually fills with luminescence during the day and fades into deep darkness as night. This light isn't sunlight. - Sigil and the Outlands

And even if they are bothered by the light, Sigil is a pretty good place to unlive and, boasting markets and stores that brings in goods, gossip and residents from all over existence, isn't a bad place to go looking for things that can cure you or let you walk in sunlight or whatever. Considering one of the factions and the undertaker industry is undead, there are probably businesses that cater to them and their needs. It's the most cosmopolitan place in existence, and the undead are legal citizens (although, if the lore from the Libris Mortis holds, you might need a license for feeding and agree to follow restrictions about not murdering people). For a guy whose idea of a good time involves the city life full of shenanigans, intrigue, danger, violence and etc, Sigil's a pretty good place to be if you don't get killed pissing off somebody powerful or fall into a puddle that's actually a portal to the paraelemental plane of ooze or something.

[idlenight]

As promised here is my little project, they ended up being a bit more than just sketches haha.

I am quite happy with how all these came out, some were more challenging and fiddly than others but I definitely learned something in all this, I'm sure.

@capricule's Cyrus + Ricardo

@silvery-bluish's Arsinoe + Herald

@wonda-fhr's David + Ricardo

@m3k-fhr's Cyn + Spoon

and lastly my own Sidestep River + Chen.

Thank you to everyone who wanted to particpate, I hope you enjoy the finished pieces!

[frenchy-and-the-sea]

Early morning I-can't-sleep-for-stress-over-a-medical-procedure thoughts: Well, OBVIOUSLY I have to make my weird Mourn Watch Rook something like Moritani so that her nickname can be Mori. Obviously.