#the farm dragons especially are so important to me

[newtafterdark]

As I am once again writing some things for my own original characters & the setting they're in, I am once again reminded how fuckin' furious it makes me that so many germanic countries can't look at their old (pre-christianity) culture with love & base their own creative work on it without nazis ruining it for everyone by claiming it for their rancid selves.

I personally only feel comfortable adding things from old urban tales from my birth state (Saxony-Anhalt), because they are very specific and have not been ruined for me yet.

To this day I am thankful that my mom held onto a lot of old library books that the local library got rid of. Without "Die Vergrabene Truhe" (a book with a big number of tales from a very small part of my state that I grew up in) I wouldn't have a good chunk of the wonderful untainted concepts for my own stories - Farmer's dragons, forest spirits that turn the body parts you attempt to harm them with to stone, pond/lake/river mermaids (who are equal to the danish Nøkken in concept), witches (of any gender) being extremely morally grey yet are still respected... just to name a few of these things.

Maybe one day I'll feel comfortable sharing all that writing with more folks than just my close friends.

[wiingdings]

Can you show me an Mlp au?

i'm just gonna take this as an excuse talk about my mlp au destinyswap

during the mane six simultaneous cutie mark event and twilight sparkle's magic meltdown, she sees into the future and involuntarily casts starswirl's spell (the one from magical mystery cure that switches everyone's destinies)

this spell ripples across equestria and changes the mane 6's destinies the same moment they receive them so it goes unnoticed. the mane 6 all settle into their new lives except for twilight, who always has a sense that she's forgotten something important. she can just barely recall starswirl's spell like a fading dream and tries to look for any clues she can about it, resulting in her being even more reclusive than normal and celestia sending her to ponyville before the events of the pilot.

when she meets the other mane 6, the "bad feeling" gets really, really bad, and she becomes unsettled and paranoid, especially around the mane 6, and mostly stays shut in her library. her encounters with the mane 6 do give her a feeling about what to research, though... she combs her collection for anything having to do with cutie marks and pony destinies.

everyone else seems to have settled into their new roles pretty well, though?

fluttershy is still very shy, but she's very good with kids, and lives with the cakes as pound and pumpkin's nurse/babysitter but takes other jobs as well. all the foals in ponyville adore her, and she is more comfortable being herself around young ponies than adults, who are scary.

applejack lives in manehattan with her aunt and uncle orange as a popular fashion who gives out free blankets and coats for charities, but frequently visits ponyville to check on her family. she can use her hooves to sense gemstones in the ground, and integrates them into her designs.

rarity's magic developed very late, and when it did, it took a while for ponies to realize that instead of unicorn magic, she had pegasus magic. she had to train herself to use her horn to control her magic, but once she did, she joined the ponyville weather team. she is fanciful and loves making patterns in the sky - ponyville always praises rarity for a particularly striking sunset or when cloudgazing is especially entertaining.

the pie family had worked with the apple family for a while, so when pinkie pie discovered her talent for baking, she moved to ponyville and was hired on by the apples to fill applejack's role, and uses the apples produced by the farm to make lovely homemade treats! the apple family stand always has freshly-baked confections now, and a friendly but slightly intimidating pink workhorse running about with big mac and apple bloom.

rainbow dash lives on the edge of town in a cottage. she is a pegasus, but nopony has ever seen her fly since crash-landing in the forest during a race. she is still capable of flight, although weakened, but prefers to keep her hooves on the ground - that's where the animals that stayed with her and helped her after her crash are, anyway. she is timid and particularly afraid of confrontation, but ponyville regards her as their best veterinarian and animal expert.

and twilight sparkle... she's the princess's student from canterlot. the new unicorn that never leaves her library. her assistant, spike the dragon, stays near the door and gives you your books from the window. if you see twilight out and about on a quick errand or grocery run, don't approach her... she's timid and aggressive, like a wild animal, and will glare at you while she trots in the opposite direction.

sometimes the princess herself comes to visit the library. she's the only one allowed inside.

(some misc destinyswap art)

[knightofhylia]

Adding Spiritual Elements to TOTK/BOTW Gameplay

Sadly, despite being a pretty religion focused game there is not a lot of options to actually show devotion. Here are a few ways I bond with the Hyrulean spirits while playing!

*Always crouch before praying at the altar. I generally crouch, pray, leave offerings in that order so I don't accidentally pick up offerings. It's a small show of respect!

Various offerings at Hylia statues|Silent Princess' on Zelda's pedestal

*Leave offerings at goddess statues. Once you max out your hearts and stamina the statues don't get as much attention. Other great offering locations: Satori Mountain, The Leviathan Skeletons/Dark Skeletons, Temple of Time ground +Sky

*Cleanse yourself in springs, pools found in shrines, also great fairy pools. The Sacred Springs are a top choice but I also go to the depths at the Secret Spring of Revival. This can be a little bit more eloquently done in totk than botw, but jumping in none the less is good enough.

*Clothing is important! Hyrule is known for incredible fashion and lots of symbolism in their clothing. be intentional with the ingredients you use to dye your outfits. I dye my white outfits for the depths with silent princess to purify the clothes and to protect me in the depths (not an actual buff). I dye my sheikah outfit purple with muddlebuds to magically imbue their confusing properties with my sneaky outfit. etc I like to match the vibes of where I'm going with my outfits.

Red hair for Dinraal, Purple for Sheikah/Hylia, White for Nadyra/Satori combo

*Disarm in public spaces. It makes it a bit more authentic feeling when you aren't sitting in the middle of town strapped to the teeth. I usually only keep my bow equipped.

*Have some areas be no hunting zones such as forests around the Temples of Time or other sacred areas. Or do the opposite and pick specific sites for animal or monster sacrifice

*Spend time with the dragons. In botw you can leave offerings at their spawn sites, make pilgrimages to see them come up and go down. in totk you can ride on them and use that as bonding time. It's a good time to meditate and listen to the music. When I am farming for dragon parts or need a dragon to appear, I usually go to their spring and leave an offering.

Me needing Naydra fangs for armor

*Feed the animals! horses, sheep, goats, dogs, even stalhorse will eat apples or meat if you hold or drop the food. Dondons as well can be fed luminous stones, which are known to have connection to spirits.

*Use Shrine cutscenes as moment to recenter and meditate for a moment (aka don't skip the cutscene). I usually skip the cutscenes but sometimes I use the moments to realign myself especially if the shrine was really frustrating.

*Make your house into a shrine! With the gallery options you are able to post pictures on the wall. Usually I have pictures of the dragons or goddess statues, Sonia's grave, or geoglyphs. And you can change it anytime!

Mommy and Daddy Hyrule and Restored Mother Statue

May the Goddess smile upon your save file!

[yersina]

From 'building this garden with you' -

“I’d prefer it if Yoojin-gun healed it, actually,” he says brightly, presenting his hand to Yoojin.

Yoojin frowns. He hasn’t done healing magic in… years. He hasn’t been doing magic at all, really, since he started the farm. Yoohyun was the one to break his streak. “The bandage will probably be more effective.”

“As always, I have faith in Yoojin-gun’s abilities.” The hand doesn’t waver.

mage yoojin my beloved 💛 you will notice that yoojin is a magic caster in every single fantasy au that i write. this is on purpose.

i can’t be entirely sure why you chose this exact passage haha but what sticks out me here is the vagueness of yoojin’s backstory? so i’ll talk abt that! to be completely honest, i didn’t give much thought to yoojin’s background because. well. i didn’t want to. 😂 and rather than talk abt what background i think he could have in this response, i think it might be more helpful to talk about when to add detail and when not to!

the parts of this story that i knew i wanted to hit on were: 1) yoojin has Connections, which means that he had to have a reason to have those connections, and 2) he needs a reason to be out in the middle of nowhere but also the skills to recognize and take care of yoohyun the dragon, which means that 3) yoojin is a retired adventurer of some sort that did some quests with a few major guilds, and probs seseong most frequently. and that’s about the extent that i need! (and, as you’ll notice, that’s about the extent that i reference in the fic itself.) while i do sometimes enjoy world building beyond this point too, it’s not super necessary for a shorter fic, and the more detailed i get, the more i’m gonna tie myself up in knots the further i get into the fic. plus, when you leave things more vague, sometimes it actually makes for a smoother reading experience bc readers will speculate on their own, rather than you needing to fill in everything yourself :)

also me personally, when i’m writing, sometimes i like the feeling of there being a complicated backstory more than actually devising one on my own. you feel me?

(of course this doesn’t apply to every single story and every single situation, but i think that the problem of feeling like i have to have an answer for every single little detail in a story comes up often enough for me that i want to say that it’s not always as important as your mind makes it out to be haha)

((i will say tho that yoojin strikes me as a more offensive magic type of person than defensive/support magic, especially if he was given the opportunity to choose for himself and not just having it foisted upon him, which is why he wouldn’t be as familiar with healing magic))

[parachuter]

H'lo!! I've recently gotten back into league, and I've started maining Jhin again, but it's been a while since I last played him.

Do you have any advice, or things I should keep in mind?

it's been a HOT MINUTE since I played jhin/ranked regularly but i've got general adc and specific jhin tips under the cut

keep in mind I'm D3 from a few seasons ago, generally playing anywhere from high Emerald to low Masters lobbies in norms nowadays so there's still a lot of room for me to learn!

A few general ADC timings ->

Tempo is HUGE in League, because in between the fighting, it's essentially a "turn-based" game. Your turns are limited by a number of things on the map, but largely by minion waves.

This is especially important to Jhin as he's an early-game bully who is likely to have control over the lane state.

Most ADCs will know what a freeze/slow push is, but won't know why or when to do this (takes experience, usually helps to look at high elo vod reviews). I can't go into everything here but here's a few key things I notice people struggle with!

"I want to recall for strong item/component": most ADCs know you want to crash wave into tower before recalling (this will reset the wave in the middle of the lane by the time you're back from shopping and you will likely make the enemy lose ~0.5-1 wave if they died/were forced to recall/are pressured under tower

Why is this timing important?

It lets you shop + have an additional action on the map. Right out of base you (and your support) have many options based on the map state. For example:

Run to dragon if JG is ready -> enemy bot will need to decide if they are willing to drop pressure in the lane to fight or come late to the fight but push the wave into tower

Support could run mid to gank while you go bot, the wave will be in a good state for you to farm safely because YOU set it up that way

You can both run bot and repeat the cycle

A mistake I tend to see is that many ADCs will greed for an extra plate and completely miss their recall timing (e.g., they stayed for an extra plate so the wave is already coming out from enemy tower by the time they recall, they are late to lane which gives the enemy a chance to get control of the wave, this could mean you lose CS, plating on your tower, a kill, an objective etc.). It's rarely worth it to stay for an extra plate unless it'll help you hit your item breakpoint or you're able to stay for 1 more wave and crash it safely.

^I also see people who want to recall but get pressured by their JG to take dragon - this will make you extremely late coming back to lane, dragon is typically best taken if you just killed a bot laner (for #s advantage), are coming straight from base, or have crashed the wave and don't need to recall yet (you give up pressure, but dragon is a good trade if you feel you can get pressure back)

If you are Jhin, you NEED to snowball to be strong otherwise you WILL NOT keep up with other crit ADCs by mid-game. You can do this through kills AND by making your opponent bleed resources.

2. "The team wants to do baron/mid-game dragon": You'll likely be switched with mid at this point, mid-lane should be pushed out before going to an objective - your minions will provide you vision of the lane and if it's NOT pushed out, you may end up trading an objective for waves/tower(s)/inhib.

^Keep timings for objectives in mind; if your team is planning to fight for a Baron, ideally you'll have shopped already if needed - even if a big bot wave is coming into tower, Baron grants kill gold and EXP on top of the buff - hopefully your top laner has TP and can clear the wave before coming to the fight (LOL).

for specific Jhin advice ->

"Do I need to leash?" in 2024 technically no JG absolutely needs a leash with the new items. Even if Jhin is a lane-bully, there are still match ups that are very difficult for him at LVL 2/3, (Lucian, Trist etc.). In this case, it's best to not leash and try to get lane pressure and minions early to hit LVL 2 first and chunk out the enemy ADC to reduce the pressure you'll be facing later on. Worst case scenario in a bad lane is if you leash but the enemy doesn't. There may even be cases where you're stronger early and don't leash if you're not great at it (e.g. Karma support) or if you feel you can cheese the enemy in their brush without losing the extended trade, but that's case by case. If your lane is stronger/neutral OR if you will not be able to out-push for LVL 2 (e.g., vs. Draven, usually), you should leash.

Manage your mana! Jhin is a caster and heavily relies on his mana for set up/damage, I commonly see players dump a lot of mana into the waves (e.g., using Q or W to last hit VERY often versus trying to CS with autos) If you're a bully like jhin/cait that wants to get push and pressure the enemy under tower, the best scenario is hitting both the enemy and the wave with your abilities (good enemy laners will position away from the wave in a poke lane, but any time you use an ability on the wave or miss an ability it gives them a timer to fight back)

I didn't snowball, now what? If you didn't snowball in early game, you're mostly utility until late which can feel quite bad (this is doubly-true if you're lethality Jhin). Continue to gather the farm that you can but be present for big fights with your utility. Use that ultimate! It's a short cooldown by mid-game and is great to help your team get picks even if you don't get the kill; don't hold it exclusively to snipe a low health enemy at the end of a fight.

Builds are adaptive! Every game is different, be flexible!

TLDR; learn wave management and tempo especially on strong early game champs, jhin needs to snowball through kills and bleeding enemy resources otherwise he's a utility bot till late game, don't go OOM dumping spells into the wave, use your ultimate for picks/poke as needed, leashing is game dependent, and adapt your build per game

[pixiecaps]

What’s the difference between field of mistria and stardew? They look surface level very similar to me!

a lot actually! i think they seem similar due to the pixel art style and the fact theyre both farming sims but again i wouldnt immediately equate every new pixel style farming sim to stardew. they’re both pretty different i’d say and for me at least feel different when playing.

i also think its important to say that fields of mistria is still an early access game which means its not completed yet and will be worked on by the devs still to add and incorporate more features. so what we see right now is an early version of what the game will have to offer in say a few years from now.

fields of mistria reminds me more of harvest moon than stardew valley if thats maybe a better point of reference for you.

i’d say fields of mistria feels almost more whimsical and magical in a way. its this cute little town that feels like youre in a cozy fantasy world and theres this underlining plot with the dragon statues and you can gain magical powers to help you farm and do a lot things and theres a mana mechanic. its all very fun and cutesy. you join the town as an adventurer not as a farmer but you take of a plot of land where you can farm and take care of animals.

the farming is very much like every other sim but that doesnt mean it isnt good its just what you expect when playing a farming sim.

what i really loved about fields of misteria is that the characters and the town feels genuinely alive. the events and all the dialogue between characters is amazing and makes them feel like they really exist. you actually start to look forward to these weekly events and what everyone has to say. very early on in the game you can tell there was a lot of thought and care put into the npcs and the dynamics around them. oh and theres so much love put into the art it’s incredible how good this game looks.

to me stardew feels a lot more Go fast, do this task you have a time limit, you want to get this done before a certain season, very fast paced and maximizing everything meanwhile fields of misteria feels a lot more adapted towards anyones pace. it doesnt feel like youre punished for taking a slower style of play. feels like you can actually appreciate and cherish working on every skill the game offers like archeology, blacksmithing, farming, fishing, etc. every part of the game feels like its made so that you find the time to work on every feature.

also this isnt shade towards stardew i adore that game and have played it for years. its just important to differentiate games sometimes cause im sure the devs dont want to be constantly hearing theyre another stardew valley. because they arent. its field of mistria babey 

so yeah i’d say give it a try its a very cozy game. especially if ur into farming sims you should 100% give it a try. it has an incredible amount of potential and i personally cannot wait to see how this game evolves and what’ll offer in the future

[shift-shaping]

What are your top ten video games?

Tagged by: @ellana-lavellan-rp (thank you :D)

Tagging: @veshialles @keturagh (pick which ones are least bad ig) @mallk-z @dreadfutures @redinkofshame @inner-muse @skiitter @storm-of-feathers @dreadwxlf @drakonovisny @little-lightning-lavellan @kirstinetheartist @first-flower-of-my-house @sugarspunquill @disasterdrvid and anyone else that wants to!

I am going to enforce a rule on myself of only one game per series. In no particular order, and based on how I am right now currently feeling:

1. Pokemon Insurgence - Cringy, edgy, and over-the-top in the best way while also delivering a challenging and genuinely very fun experience. I love the canon Pokemon games, but a good fangame can really bring out the best of the series while catering to longtime fans and Insurgence does just that. My Insurgence team is still the one I remember best out of all of my Pokemon teams. Cannot recommend enough if you can handle a little "i'm twelve and this is deep" writing. It's ridiculously fun.

2. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Everything about this game is beautiful and haunting and it fundamentally changed me as a person. The world it creates is one of profound isolation while the characters and themes emphasize the importance of connection and hope. Everything I have ever written carries some of its DNA. It is also a kind of boring hack n' slash dungeon crawler with a lackluster remake and a really annoying difficulty curve in the endgame. i never successfully played it in multiplayer as intended because i did not have any friends. It also made me bisexual.

3. Hades - Extremely fun and challenging with fabulously tactile and energetic gameplay. If you have not played Hades, you really should. Also Megaera is there. 4. Stardew Valley - everything you could want in a farming sim, especially with its excellent mod support. My only issue is: where does everyone poop?? 5. Skyrim - Obviously. if you think skyrim is bad you are kidding yourself. skyrim is the most video game of all time.

6. Dragon Age Inquisition - even more obviously. The apex of the series, though it is far from perfect, especially in its pacing/story construction. Still, Origins has its pacing issues too, and Inquisition has much better/more fun gameplay. I will not argue on this. Block me if you disagree i guess. Bad hair though. 7. Subnautica - Stunningly beautiful and terrifying, even on the goddamn Switch where it barely runs. I put so many hours into it on creative mode that I broke my save and had to send it to the devs to fix. They never did get back to me... 8. Disco Elysium - hnnnnngggggghhhhnggggn it's so good you guys it's sooo good it's so fucking good guys it's soo gooooood

9. Fire Emblem Three Houses - i love these stupid anime kids so much. i love big titty byleth. this game is so bad. i think about it daily. do not play this game 10. Animal Crossing New Horizons - just a lovely little game. being able to customize your entire island is A++++, enough so that i'm willing to forgive how many features it is straight up missing and how bland the dialogue gets.

Honorable mention: Wingspan - BIRDS AAAAAAAAAAAA

[milfmorrowind]

Catch me when I fall

@tes-summer-fest

Part 1: Thief

ao3 link

part two

Why did it always have to be so damp?

Really though, this was getting ridiculous. No matter how hard Mailie tried to keep the moisture off of her, there was an ever-pervasive sense of slime in the Ratway that never seemed to go away. You would think regaining the blessing of a daedric prince might come with some cleanliness-related perks, but apparently not. Although, Mailie reasoned, of all the gods, Nocturnal was probably one of the least concerned with hygiene. And anyway, Mailie would fight a hundred dragons before letting on just how offensive she found the moisture to be. Her guildmates had come to respect her, despite her relative inexperience and privileged upbringing, but she could only imagine the amount of ribbing she'd get from Vex if anyone found out why she never leaned against walls. It was bad enough with Brynjolf assigning her the lovely moniker of "Princess"(thanks, Bryn, that really helps with the rumors), the last thing she needed was another "friendly" nickname.

Speaking of Brynjolf, where the hell was he? It had been four days or so since Mailie had asked after him, only to be met with a "Dunno, said he had a job to do. Something about an 'old friend', and to not expect him back for a bit," from Delvin. Very helpful, that, thought Mailie as she gently swirled the ale in her tankard (another habit that was made fun of– "It's not one of your fine wines, Princess, just drink it and go"), the thin layer of dew collected on the handle doing nothing to improve her mood.

She hoped for Brynjolf's sake that whatever he was doing was important. Delvin made it sound as if he'd left in a rush, which suggested it was at least somewhat urgent, but that's really no excuse for not telling anyone where he was going. If Delvin hadn't caught him as he was halfway up the ladder, no one would have known he had left at all. And sure, maybe she was being a bit unreasonable, free agents and all that, but it didn't change the fact that putting yourself in harm's way with no backup plan and no one to help you out if there's trouble was careless, and Brynjolf was not what Mailie would call a careless man.

Her musings were interrupted by the door from the Ratway swinging open. Mailie quickly pulled her hood back up to cover her face, shifting as she did to make sure Dawnbreaker was covered by her cloak. Her affiliation with the Thieves' Guild wasn't exactly Skyrim's best kept secret, to be sure, but it still wouldn't do for the Dragonborn to be seen publicly wearing a symbol of the guild's leadership. The more influence the guild gained, it seemed, the more they had to fear being recognized, especially as Mailie oh-so-carefully cut ties with the Black-Briars. Protection be damned, she couldn't wait to rid herself of their parasitic influence. Like pulling a leech from a leg, there would be blood, and it might sting a little, but it was better than being bled dry.

Thankfully, the hands pushing open the door belonged to Kjeld, one of the children the guild had recently recruited as a messenger. His parents had died in a dragon attack a few months prior, and his relatives had summarily kicked him out, claiming he was too expensive to feed, despite the farm they inherited from the boy's dead parents. Sapphire had found him sleeping by the road on his way to Honorhall, and offered him a job, which he was more than happy to take. He had proven a valuable asset, eager to learn and strong for a boy of twelve, likely due to his years of farm work. Less thankfully, he looked rather harried now, cheeks flushed as he ran along the narrow pathway towards the bar.

"Thane Chester - Master Mallory, sir– I need to– I mean I have something–" he stopped, hands on his knees as he struggled to speak through gasping breaths.

Delvin Mallory, stationed as ever at his table with a notebook and a flagon of mead, calmly reached out and put a hand on the youth's shoulder. "Slow down there, catch your breath."

Kjeld nodded, taking a few deep breaths and steadying himself. "I have news about Master Brynjolf, sir."

"Brynjolf?" Suddenly, every eye and ear in the Flagon was trained on the boy, and even Galathil looked up from her book for a moment. Mailie slipped out of her chair and headed over to where Delvin was sitting, adding her hand to Kjeld's other shoulder and kneeling down to his level.

"What kind of news?" she asked gently. "Did he send you with a message?'

He shook his head. "No ma'am, I haven't spoken to him myself. You see, I ran into Elte at Heartwood, and she said she'd heard from Alan at Ivarstead that he heard from Sedyni that-"

"Cut to it, kid," said Vex impatiently from the next table over. "What'd you hear?"

Kjeld swallowed. "Someone saw Brynjolf get arrested in Solitude. Right by the fort too, said there were elves and everything."

"Elves? Were they Altmer? With dark robes?" asked Mailie urgently. Stendarr's sake, if the Thalmor have him…

The boy furrowed his brow. "Those them tall ones, right? That's why they call them High Elves?"

Before Mailie could give a full explanation (and launch into a sociopolitical history of the Summerset Isles), Delvin cut her off with a nod. "Yes, lad, the tall ones. Were they there?"

"Sounds like it, sir. And Elte said that Alan said that Sedyni said that Brynjolf was awfully surprised to see them. He might have been badly hurt, too, there was something about a crossbow. I didn't wait to hear the whole story, sirs, I figured you'd want to know straight away."

"You did the right thing, son," Mailie said, patting him on the back. Calling over to one of the closer tables to the bar, she added, "Thrynn, could you make sure he gets a meal and some sleep, please?" The former bandit grumbled, but put his mead down and led the boy into the cistern.

Mailie pulled herself up and fell back into the nearest chair. Fuck. "I don't suppose any of you have friends in the Legion."

Vex barked out a laugh and crossed her arms. "Believe me, if I did, we wouldn't have heard about this through a messenger boy. Besides, you know the rules, Chester, we don't break people out."

Mailie scowled. Vex was right, technically-- it was Guild policy that anyone who got caught was on their own, but that hadn't stopped any of them from marking escape routes or bribing the occasional guard on a guildmate's behalf. Vex was no exception. She played up the apathy to keep anyone from getting too cuddly, but she cared about Brynjolf. She cared about everyone in the guild, actually, but but accusing her of it was a surefire way to end up with a black eye, so no one dared mention it. But Mailie knew. She'd known from the moment she saw the relief in Vex's eyes when Karliah's innocence was proven, the way she showed Mailie how to treat her dragonfire burns, the way her expression softened whenever Sapphire walked into the room.

Mailie was about to shoot her a withering glance and a cutting remark on the topic when she realized that Vex was staring her down. Ah. Vex had fallen into the habit lately of trying to test her-- to see what decisions she would make under pressure, to see how she would enforce rules, to see what rules she was willing to break. In short, Vex was testing her ability to lead.

Mailie shook her head. "Bryn's too good to get caught like that. If the Thalmor are involved then there's something bigger going on here. And hang the rules, I'm not letting someone rot in prison without at least knowing what happened. Especially if they're injured."

The ghost of a smile made its way on to Vex's lips. She'd passed. "Fair enough. I'll go get him, then. Been a while since I did a jailbreak, I could use the practice."

Again Mailie shook her head. "No. I'll go."

Vex raised an eyebrow. "You sure?  You don't exactly have a lot of experience with this. Have you ever even been arrested?"

Mailie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm sure. I-- We-- can't risk this being a trap. I have some influence in Solitude, if everything goes south I might be able to talk myself out of trouble," She hesitated for a moment. "And if Elisif's favor can't help us, my... associates have some sway in Imperial politics. Me being thrown in prison wouldn't exactly be good for their image, they might be willing to pull some strings and help me out. No one else here has that kind of leverage, and I'm not letting you throw yourself in front of blade without knowing who's holding it."

Delvin leaned across the table. "You're willing to bring your parents into this, Mailie?" he said. Clever bastard. Of course he knew.

She shrugged. "It's a last resort. There's a good chance they've disowned me by now, anyway. We haven't exactly kept in touch. It's a gamble I'm willing to make, though."

Vex uncrossed her legs and stood. "Well, if you're determined to go, I think we've got some old maps you could look at. No sense in sending you in blind."

[redrydersrequiem]

The red assassin

part 2

Part 1

I sit on the sandy beach waiting for my fish to finish cooking the sounds of the fire crackling mix’s with the gentle sloshing of the waves, my mind drifting off to thoughts of a certain one eyed prince. The plains of his face, sharp cheekbones, broad shoulders are beautiful lo..

Loud snoring breaks my day dream. Aurelius the lazy dragon he is shifts in his sleep, purring almost in his sleep. Content with his full belly of fish and wild boar, currently making a very good wind shield as hes curled behind me.

It's been almost five days since my visit to the Targaryens. I truly expected something by now either in the form of a messenger or an army, I will say I was hoping for the first but was prepared for the later.

“I'm sure you were”. Aurelius speaks, an eye now cracked up gageing my reaction.

“Your being real cheeky lately”

“And you've been day dreaming since that night don't tell me the mighty red assassin has finally found someone who catches her eye.” I simply flick sand at him, to which he just laughs

“So what if i have, you must at admit i picked an interesting one. Really that whole family is interesting”

“But they are also dangerous little ones,I don't want anything to happen to you.”

I know but allying ourselves with them for now could open a lot of doors for us, especially for you. Relius I want you to be able to have better things: actual meals, armor, somewhere safe for you to nest if you wish, you know the works.

“Scarlet.”

“No Aurelius I want better for us i'm tired of always being on the move

“No SCARLET!!”. Aurelius says with force his head now lifted to the sky. I now hear the roar in the distance. Aurelius swiftly stands haunches raised a low growl falling from his clenched jaw as we wait for the source of the sound to come into eye line

Vhagars giant form breaks through the clouds, the blond silver of her rider's hair reflecting in the sun behind them as they ascend toward the abandoned beach.

Aemonds pov

After the meeting with the girl, I've thought of nothing else. Grandfather's network of informants tried all they could to learn more about the crimson haired assassin, all coming up with nothing but tails of her triumphs. My favorite being the one of her taking out a group of bandits that was terrorizing a small farm town, kidnapping a girl to do gods know what to do if lady scarlet hadn’t intervened. Every story and praise for her filled my thoughts as brightly as her rose colored hair. She was a beautiful enigma, a puzzle waiting to be solved. Once the decisions had been made I plotted the course and took off as soon as possible wanting to bring the girl back to king's landing no matter what.

Scarlets pov

The second prince and his dragon landed on the far side of the beach the ground thudding as Vhagars giant form comes into contact with sand, creating a cloud around her and her rider. I see Aurelius step forward ready for anything but i motion him to stay back as i start making my way to the half way point between the prince and I.

Meeting him I can’t help but take him in. His beautiful hair and fine leather coat swaying in the sea breeze behind him. Looking as regal as he could instead of like he just road a days time to get here.

“What an honor it is for the prince himself to come calling on me i expected a simple messenger from your sister.”

‘A mere messenger could not be trusted to negotiate these very important terms”

“And you believe you can my prince”

“Why of course my lady.”

“Confident aren't you”

Aemond simply smirks his head tilting and pale blue/lavender eye filling with merriment and mischief.

“I won't deny it my lady im proud of my heritage, of my accomplishments

“I would be careful my prince A proud person could end up falling

“True but i hopeful this won't be the case for i'm here to offer you a deal

“A deal then you all have agreed to the terms i left behind.”

“Yes however we have conditions of our own.”

“And what would those conditions entail my prince?”

“It’s quite simple my lady. We wish to tie you to our family to ensure you and your dragon stay on our side.”

“And how do you all think you’ll accomplish this.?

“Well you are lucky indeed since you have several options to chose from.

“Oh?”

“Yes”

Aemond begins stalking around me as he speaks, his voice sounding like its everywhere, gaze burning into ease gages my reaction to his words.

“Originally the counsel simply wanted to kill you, but the king my sister, uncle and I all disagreed. Instead. We thought you would make an excellent addition to our court”

“Oh i left that much of an impression?”

“You did indeed”

“And how is it they wish to add a no name assassin to the royal court?”

“Well you would either be adopted by a trusted member of the court and given a title,”

“And if I didn’t want to be used as a pawn in some up incoming family’s chess game to get closer to the royal family then what

“I wasn’t finished my lady, as I was saying you can come be adopted and not only be a noble with your own dragon that has never been seen outside of my bloodline. You would also have access to. All the amenities for your dragon, and you would also become the fiancé of a royal.”

“Now. That info turned my head abruptly turning to face aemond as he was still circling around me. He has a calculated smirk on his face before shifting and bowing before me.on knee raised before taking out his sword and laying it at my feet.

“Call me selfish if you wish but I am the one who proposed this stipulation, after all the tales I've heard of your exploits, of helping the people. Of Westeros, no if i'm truthful it's been ever since thee night you ambushed the diner, you're all i've thought about.”

I'm frozen staring at the blonde. His eyes holding me captive in my place. My heart is ringing in my ear.

“Having you by my side i would consider a gift from the new gods and the old

“But you barely know me. In fact you should wish harm to me for threatening your brother”

‘What you did is nothing that Aegon didnt have coming to him for his actions i assure you i myself have threatened him multiple times.”

What if I don't wish to be your betrothed”

“Then you would simply be adopted by. My sister Rhaenyra an join our house that way until i can change your mind, either way i win.”

I look over aemonds shoulder straight at Aurelius, his voice filling my mind quickly. “Don’t not base any decisions on me, little one. We dragons are adaptable. I will follow you anywhere.”

It feels like time stops the waves still crashing around us before i taking a deep breath and look back at the prince before me.

“Ok my prince ill will come to court with you however i wish to be courted before jumping head first into a marriage.

The one eyed prince smiles his violet blue eye sparkling as he rises to his feet offering his hand out to me. I place mine in his as brings it up to his mouth. His lips planting a lingering kiss.

“That can be more than arranged my lady, please return to. Kings landing in three days time and we will welcome you and your dragon like royalty.”

“Very well but I want some guarantees first.”

“Hmm”

“You swear on your family my dragon will be cared for.”

“Yes

“Well we wills for i don't want Aurelius with the rest of he dragons in the dragon pit. I would never forgive myself if something happened to him because I choose to trust the wrong people.

“I understand my lady, they’re are cliffs with ample caves the dragons like to burrow in when not in the dragon pit, we will get one cleaned out and your dragon will be able to freely come an go as long as you can guarantee he will not attack the castle the people of kings landing”

“The only reason he would do anything would be if i where in danger. You all mean to take good care of me though dont you

“Especially so.”

“Fine then I swear as long as you uphold your end i will mine”

“Good well then my lady i bid you a good bye, there’s much to be done to prepare for your arrival”

Aemon flashes me a grin before. Bowing his head at me one last time and making the truck back towards vhagars slumbering form. A pep in his step as I watch in disbelief of what all just happened, but I guess I have three days to figure it all out.

[elijahhendley]

７月27號 Day 16: Day in Taitung!

Today I decided to wake up around 6:30am. After getting ready, I went to breakfast around 7:15am and I was the only person in the entire room. The hotel breakfast room was giant and could probably seat almost 200 people yet I was the only one there. There was even a lot of food there that was prepared really nicely and I was the only one eating it. After a while some of my friends walked in, but no strangers. The county we are in is known for having the least amount of people. We are staying in a hotel that has 2 buildings and 15 floors for rooms. Since the hotel was so big I was expecting there to be more people at breakfast. But after breakfast, I went back upstairs and noticed something that I noticed in the last hotel. A lot of the electricity around the hotel was off. Like the central AC seemed to be off because the hallways and laundry room were hot. Then I went to the room balcony and every room that I could see had the AC unit off. So I don’t think there were many people staying in this hotel. So they turn the electricity off to save money.

We loaded up on the bus at 9:30 and our first stop was to the rice school museum. It was a small place with not that much going on but it was cool to see how the different types of rice are made and the different stages of rice. Peter also bought us snacks to try. He bought apple mochi and dried squid. The squid was really good. Then we made a quick stop at the “green tunnel” which was just a nice canopy of trees. As we drove through the green tunnel there were some graves which were very detailed. Then we continued on our way to get hot pot on Peter(such a great guy)! It was really good and he even ordered an extra plate of beef for our table. After eating hotpot, we went to the national museum of prehistory. I learned and saw so many different things. It was one of the best museums we have been to in my opinion. Especially since everything was in chronological order. It was amazing to see how things advanced and some things remained the same. 

After leaving the museum we drove by the Music Village, which was almost empty due to the bad weather. Then we ended the day going to a pharmacy, 7-11, and a bakery. At the pharmacy store a couple of us had fun taking our blood pressures while waiting for others to finish buying medicine. There is a sickness going around. Then we went to the hotel and we played poker and Cambio again.

Academic Reflection.

It is surprising to me and it probably will be surprising to you, that the rice industry in Taiwan is actually at risk. The amount of rice eaten, according to the Taiwan panorama article “A Rice Renaissance”, has reached an all time low in Taiwan. It is being outcompeted by wheat products, such as pasta and bread, and also rice imports from other countries. Ever since 2002 when Taiwan opened its borders to rice imports, domestic sustainability of rice has decreased. It is a sad reality that is slowly trying to be changed. I also learned about the main types of rice. The article splits it into 3 varieties. First being sticky rice, like Japanese Koshihikari rice. The second, a high water content, gelatinous rice with a soft texture known as Congee rice. The last being firm “frying” rice. 

Another thing I want to highlight about today was the Prehistory museum. Besides experiencing how the people of Taiwan lived, how they made pots both red and black, how they made and used knives, cultivated farm land, and even how they buried their dead during the prehistoric times. I learned a lot of interesting things. Moana, my favorite Disney movie, was based on the oceanic cultures and had a lot of influence from Taiwan prehistoric native culture. I saw boats similar to those depicted in the movie. I also learned that the movie Godzilla was inspired from a nuclear bomb that was tested by the US in the pacific ocean. A nearby fishing boat named Lucky dragon 5 was near this nuclear bomb testing and all the crewmates were contaminated. Thus, Godzilla was formed.

Until next time, 再見！

[bloodelves88]

I Think I Don't Like Gaming Anymore

25 years. It's been approximately 25 years since I've started playing video games as a hobby. The games that left a memorable impression on me as a child or teenager were games like Red Alert 1, Doom, Starcraft, GTA: Vice City & San Andreas, Warcraft 3, Runescape, Little Fighter 2, Worms, Dragon Age, Mass Effect Trilogy, Assassin's Creed 1 and 2, Shattered Galaxy, Rakion, and probably a lot more that isn't surfacing to the top of my head right now.

I spent so much time playing these games. I didn't even play some of these games "properly" - I don't think I ever completed GTA: Vice City. All I ever did was muck around, blowing things up, and causing chaos. But somehow, I could spend hours doing it.

In Rakion (a PvP game), I spent hundreds of hours playing from level 1 to 10. I did that because players were matchmaked into three different level brackets. 1 to 10, 11 to 30, and 31+. Rakion was a free to play game with a cash shop, and pay to win reared its ugly head beyond level 10. So what I did was to always delete my character once it hit level 11, and just repeated everything within level 1 to 10. I had fun.

These days? I get bored and tired after an hour or two.

I started playing The Last of Us Part 1 a few days ago, and I'm already using a trainer to make things easier (i.e. cheat). I can't die, I have infinite ammo, and everything dies in one shot. But why, why am I doing such a thing?

Well, I've started to notice a particular set of feelings that arise within me whenever I play a video game nowadays. These feelings can be things like:

This is a chore

What a pain in the ass

This was only fun in the first hour of the game

This was only fun the first time I did it

What a waste of time

I just want to rush through it so that I can experience the story and complete the game

Crafting, gathering, ammo management, stealth, underwater areas, dark areas, it's all a chore to me nowadays.

Maybe an argument can be made that such mechanics aren't particularly fun to begin with, so my feelings might be understandable.

But what if these feelings extend to core gameplay mechanics?

Shooters - Shooting enemies from behind cover. Running from point A to point B. Getting headshots.

RTS - Collecting resources to build your base. Training up an army. Exploring the map.

MMOs - Travelling great distances. Earning gold. Doing dungeons and raids repeatedly to farm gear and rewards. Dealing with people. Doing dailies.

Core gameplay mechanics might not be a "chore", but they tend to drift towards "this is only fun in the first hour of the game".

I do have some guesses as to why I'm getting these feelings.

There's been no new core gameplay within video games for the past 5 years that have been really solid. I've tried Rollerdrome but it got old after a while. I haven't tried Hi-Fi Rush.

There's really nothing new, man. Every single game is just made up of the same few mechanics, wrapped up in a different skin. Fantasy, sci-fi, anime style. No matter how epic, cool, or amazing it looks, deep down it's just the same old thing all over again.

Games tend to do a very poor job to keep things fresh throughout the whole game. Once you've played a few hours of it, then you've experienced all the game has to offer gameplay wise.

I've been a story motivated gamer for quite a long time, and it's possible that what I've been seeking out are good stories and good experiences. Video games were just the vessel I used to obtain these.

It's also possible that all I wanted was a sense of progression, and the methods weren't important. This is probably why I enjoy mobile gacha games with auto-play functionality nowadays. You get to progress, but you don't need to actively grind. It basically removes the problems of it being a chore, a pain in the ass, and a waste of time. Yet it allows me to progress and experience the story (Honkai: Star Rail is so far, the best game in 2023 for me).

The video game industry, especially in the AAA space, is producing a lot of junk lately. I mean, check out this wall of shame: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/13sjzft/we_would_like_to_apologize_please/

And even if the game isn't junk, it's filled with season passes and pay to win junk, still has to be bought before playing, and has none of the upsides of gacha games I mentioned above.

Everything is liked nowadays. My previous blog post: https://bloodelves88.tumblr.com/post/702607969068662784/everything-is-liked-nowadays

I'm just losing patience, growing old, getting tired, etc.?

I do still enjoy some new games though, but I'm not sure why. They don't seem to be that different, but I still enjoyed them from start to end. The Yakuza series, Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, The Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Final Fantasy XIV are examples of new games I enjoyed.

All in all, I'm still not sure what to make of these feelings I have. I think I want to set video games aside and play less of it, but it's not easy to just do that for a 25 year old hobby. I doubt I'll ever drop video games from my life completely, but to stop keeping up with video game news, to stop exploring and trying out most of the new games that come out every year - it's going to be a strange feeling. Old habits die hard.

[lem-argentum]

hello hello!! I've honestly never heard of Rune Factory, but since a lot of your f/os are from there I'd love to learn a little bit about it/your dynamics with doug & meg! (or others!!) — @imitation-cat

hihi :D!!!!!! yeaah hehe it’s a fantasy farming sim series w/ dating sim & adventure rpg elements!! the 4th main title is especially important to me c: <33 i kin one of the playable characters so my dynamics with the others are largely viewed through that perspective.!!! (⬇️ us real <3)

DOUG ISSSS my beloved tsundere he’s bad with verbal affection but we care lots about each other <333 meg’s a very sweet musician who puts a lot of effort into taking care of others i love her very much :’) <3 (⬇️ GIRLFRIEND <3)

and also i will mention my aunt venti who is a god and a dragon and very important to me :) <3 (⬇️ her reaction to being given homemade pancakes which are her favorite food <3)

[grox6401]

TS2 NEIGHBOURHOOD Ilgring

This is my first neighbourhood creation, all required CC included, but you need to check with hoodchecker better, because some sim's wants are lost, I don't know does that version in download files have, so just do some checks. Enjoy~~~

Backstory : At the first, the Ilgring was an asylum settlement established by some simlish fugitives wants free and some hawaiian immigrants wants to keep their traditions, The Ilgring Town lies near the hill lives a lot of llamas, and its soil goods for agricultural. The Ilgring only uses four years to become the trading center of the whole Sim Nation, during the Simlish Civil War, the Ilgring becomes the important base of Southern Leagues, after the Simlish Civil Wars, the Sim Nation liberated all black slaves, many of farms closed, lot of people moves to Simcity and Dragon's Valley, some people stays at Ilgring and started to develop on industry and economy, The Ilgring uses two hundred years to become the economy center of Sim Nation, at 2033 year, the Simlish local business head Landgraab and the Sulanian business head Mahi'ai leave from the Ilgring together, cause economic collapsition of Ilgring, lots of companies closed causes lots of people moves to Oasis Landing, Miniopolis, Magictown, Luckypalms and Simcity, especially asians lives in the central area, but some peoples still stay in Ilgring until now.

CC Used :

Castaway Stories CC Bundle by MTSDJ

Custom Plane Liveries made by me

CS Tribal Clothes by MTSDJ

Airplanes by crocobaura

SimAir Prototype Aircraft by crocobaur

Download Link: http://simfileshare.net/folder/190556/

Attention : Youʻll need a camera hack to play some household, because they livesnear the side of the hood. And I have forget a cc on a sim has not included, link : Mod The Sims - More Eye Colors in Maxis' Style - geneticized

[iviarellereads]

The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 20 - Visitations

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Crescent moon and stars icon) In which we're not really still playing this game, are we?

PERSPECTIVE: Mat. A woman enters the room, all in white silk and silver, her hair as black as night, and so beautiful he almost forgets how to breathe. Mat half thinks he knows her, but then thinks he could never forget a woman like that, and wishes Rand or Perrin were here to help him talk to women.(2)

She says he'll be passable when he fills out again, and he realizes he's standing there naked. He rushes to the bed, grabbing a blanket to wrap around himself, and apologizes for her finding him that way. She says she wouldn't have visited like this, but she was here for another purpose, at this “White Tower” which seems to amuse her as a name,(3) and wanted to see "all of you". She tells him to eat all they give him, he needs to put weight back on and regain his strength, and she implies that their methods of Healing are crude, to take so much from the one being Healed.

Mat asks if he knows her,(4) and she says he may have seen her somewhere, and to call her Selene. She says she's not an Aes Sedai, and these Aes Sedai mean to use him, though he'll like it, mostly. There's no need to convince him to seek out glory. What does she mean? What kind of glory? She smiles and says she knew that would pull him.(5) Mat insists he's just a country boy, Aes Sedai have no use for him, he just wants to see a bit of the world and go back to his da's farm. Lanfear says he's more important than he knows, and he can have glory if he doesn't trust them. He starts to ask if she's a Darkfriend, although it's not something one can ask politely, and she's amused at the idea, No, she follows no-one. There's one man she could stand beside, but she doesn't follow.(6)

Mat laughed nervously. “Of course not.” Blood and ashes, a Darkfriend wouldn’t name herself Darkfriend. Probably has a poisoned knife, if she is. He had a vague memory of a woman dressed as one nobly born, a Darkfriend with a deadly dagger in her slender hand. “That wasn’t what I meant at all. You look. . . . You look like a queen. That’s what I meant. Are you a Lady?” “Mat, Mat, you must learn to trust me. Oh, I will use you, too—you have too suspicious a nature, especially since carrying that dagger, for me to deny it—but my use will gain you wealth, and power, and glory. I will not compel you. I have always believed men perform better if convinced rather than forced. These Aes Sedai do not even realize how important you are, and he will try to dissuade or kill you, but I can give you what you desire.” “He?” Mat said sharply. Kill me? Light, it’s Rand they were after, not me. How does she know about the dagger? I suppose the whole Tower knows. “Who wants to kill me?”

Lanfear realizes she's said too much, and tells Mat that he should trust her, because she admits she wants to use him, unlike people who would pretend not to. She will lead him to wealth and glory. He asks how he can know if any of what she says is true, and she says by listening to what the Aes Sedai tell him, and what they don't. For example, will they tell him his father came to Tar Valon, if he doesn’t ask? Siuan Sanche sent him and Tam al'Thor back empty handed, without even assurances that the boys were alive. But she can ensure that they're informed that he's alright.

At any rate, she wants him to remember that he has another choice, besides being used by these so-called Aes Sedai or going to Ballsy. She alone can guarantee him all he seeks, if he'll do as she says. He says he supposes he’ll choose her option, since he has so little choice. Her demeanour shifts dramatically, and she says she didn’t come all this way for a suppose. He starts to tingle all over and get a headache(7) but it stops and she takes off in a hurry when she hears something outside his door.

Leaving Tar Valon sounds better by the minute. Mat takes inventory of his belongings, noting that the money would’ve seemed extravagant to him before but now it won’t get him far.(8) Suddenly there's a knock, followed by the door opening. The Amyrlin Seat and the Keeper enter, and tell him he should put his things away and get back to bed, before he falls over. They chat at each other about his condition in that annoying way people have of not talking *to* the person they're talking *about*.

They talk about how hungry he must be, and he says no, he really feels fine, he'll just be on his way. The Amyrlin says he's just eaten a meal for five with room to spare, and he'll eat that way four times a day for days yet, or else risk starving. He's just been severed from a two thousand year old corruption of magic, that has effects. She also tells him that his name and description are on the way to every bridge guard and dockmaster, and he's not to leave the island under any circumstances. Why do they want to keep him there? They don't heal people and then let them waste their efforts, and he may need more Healing still. He says he's been gone from home a long time, his parents probably think he's dead.

“If you wish to write a letter to them, I will see that it is carried to Emond’s Field.” Mat waited for more, but no more came. “Thank you, Mother.” He essayed a small laugh. “I’m half surprised my da did not come looking for me. He’s the kind of man who would.” He was not sure, but he thought there was a small hesitation before the Amyrlin answered. “He did come. Leane spoke to him.” The Keeper took it up immediately. “We did not know where you were then, Mat. I told him so, and he left before the heavy snows. I gave him some gold to make the journey home easier.” “No doubt,” the Amyrlin said, “he will be pleased to hear from you. And your mother will, certainly. Give me the letter when you have written it, and I will see to it.”

They told him, but he had to ask, and they didn't mention Tam. He mentions Rand, and the Amyrlin says she's sure he's fine, though she only met him the once. She sends Leane to get a bit of food and some drink, and then tells Mat some things are dangerous to talk about even around Leane.(9)

She asks if he remembers the Horn, and he asks what horn? She says if he plays games with her, he'll regret it. He says he remembers, and she asks if he knows he's now linked to the Horn? If he blows it, the Heroes will come forth. Anyone else will just blow a normal horn. So long as he lives. He realizes she could have let him die, had someone else, under her control, blow it instead. He accuses her of meaning to have him blow it at the Last Battle, and she asks if he'd prefer the alternative? He never said he wouldn't blow it, he says, realizing the alternative is to have him killed.

The Amyrlin gave an exasperated sigh. “You remind me of my uncle Huan. No one could ever pin him down. He liked to gamble, too, and he’d much rather have fun than work. He died pulling children out of a burning house. He wouldn’t stop going back as long as there was one left inside. Are you like him, Mat? Will you be there when the flames are high?” He could not meet her eyes. He studied his fingers as they plucked irritably at his blanket. “I’m no hero. I do what I have to do, but I am no hero.” “Most of those we call heroes only did what they had to do. I suppose it will have to be enough.(10) For now. You must not speak to anyone but me of the Horn, my son. Or of your link to it.”

He asks why she wants to keep it such a secret, even from other Aes Sedai? She says the more people know of a thing, the more it spreads. As it is, Darkfriends surely know the Horn has been found, but they don't know where it is yet, or that he sounded it. Does he want Darkfriends and Shadowspawn coming after him? He says he thought they couldn't get into the Tower, and she says well, all the more reason to stay and rest. He'll feel better soon.

He lays on the bed a long while. The Amyrlin wants to hold him like a sheep in a pen, and he wonders who the heck is Selene and what does she want? He thinks he'd rather face Trollocs than be caught between those two. There has to be a way out of both their grasps.All he has to do is find it.

=====

(1) And ANOTHER new one! This one's a lot more self-explanatory though. The moon, the stars, the night, and the daughter thereof. Lanfear's got her own icon now. What does that say about her arc and future in the story? (2) Ah, yet another "oh I'm the worst at talking to women" from one of the lads. They do like to trade that card around. (3) Why would this amuse her? Consider: she lived in the Age of Legends, before the Breaking of the World, all the Forsaken have been sealed in the breach with the Dark One since then but her memory is, of course, intact. Nothing survived the Breaking, and we saw the Tower-free island being formed when Lews Therin blew up and made Dragonmount. So, it's possible the White Tower was named in honour of something from the AOL, or named for something only loosely remembered through someone else's accounting. Or perhaps she's just amused at how they carry themselves as if they were the height of achievement when Lanfear is one of a very few people who know exactly how much more was achieved in her time. (4) Did Mat ever meet Lanfear? Has he seen her in his dreams, like Perrin has? (5) Mat has a lot in common with Nynaeve. Both will say one thing and do another. Both can be led by the right questions but remain suspicious of others' motivations. What's funny about this is, I can find love in my heart for Nynaeve but not for Mat, and many, many readers are the exact opposite. At any rate, Lanfear says she knew how to manage him, that that line about glory would hook him. She knows it didn't work on Rand. How would she know it WOULD work on Mat? And why would she admit it to his face, or does she think he's that pathetic and dense? (6) Not to interrupt, miss, but you do in fact follow the Dark One, do you not? We can probably guess that she means Lews Therin, the version of him she remembers, as the man she could stand beside… but she follows no one? Well, perhaps if you don't consider the Dark One a person so much as a cosmic force… (7) We've seen those symptoms before. Rand was subjected to a more intense form of the same when Liandrin found him in the dungeons at Fal Dara. We don't know for sure what it was, but we can probably guess. We know Liandrin has a Talent for Compulsion, for tweaking people to her side of things. But it's probably crude, since it's frowned upon by the White Tower. Lanfear, being from an age where magic was refined to what they believed might well be its purest form, might know a subtler and more effective method of the same. (8) My, how they grow up so fast. (9) I wonder how Leane feels about being sent out of the room so often lately for Siuan to talk to Emond's Fielders. (10) We have some reasonable assurances that Siuan hasn't been compromised, her Oaths are likely intact and she can't lie. So, her story is likely true. And, I think a lot of families have at least one person like that around. Mat is shaping up to be the archetypal lovable rogue, after all. The Han Solo, the Green Arrow, the Shrek, and how many others like them stretching backward in time in that vein.

[vulpixelates]

💯, 🐉, 🤍, 🥪, 🍛 for Stevie

thanks for the ask 🥰 ily

poppin' this under the fold bc it got long oops

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

since this is my first official post about her, i'll use this as an opportunity to go over the basics 😤 it's def more than three facts but whatevre

persephone "stevie" vega is a journalist and otherwise artsy type who always has at least three projects going to bounce between and completely drop when she gets wrapped up in a case

she was adopted by her two moms on the west coast and then spent most of her life in a crunchy lesbian commune that her moms founded outside of a small town in vermont, though she did go to public school and interact quite a bit w the local community

she had a whoopsie baby when she was ~16/17 and ended up keeping her and naming her after herself (a la gilmore girls but w supportive parents) who everyone calls percy

when she was in college, she met her future wife, enzo; enzo and percy are very close and not long after they got married, enzo adopted percy

stevie and enzo got divorced last year after their careers and some personal crises drove them apart and they decided it would be best for percy's sake to separate

fast forward to the present, her moms have now decided that they want to retire from the commune living and have moved to a bigger town in maine, so stevie moved herself, her kid, and her (reluctant) ex-wife to join them

🐉 DRAGON — what is your oc's favorite mythical creature?

stevie is a phoenix girlie. i imagine she is the type who chose a favorite when she was like fourteen, got a tattoo of it at eighteen, and it's stuck with her ever since lmao

🤍 WHITE HEART — what are three of your oc's neutral/questionable traits?

she is stubborn as hell. this CAN work in her favor when she's hunting down a story like a dog w a bone, but sometimes it causes trouble in her interpersonal life.

she says that she doesn't believe in all of the hippy new age stuff that her crunchy crystal moms believe in, but sometimes she finds herself leaning into it, almost like a superstition.

look, she's wise. she's got sense. she knows herself. but she can also somehow convince herself that all of her projects are good ideas. she bought this whole fixer upper bc her ex-wife is a contractor and she helped her a bunch on projects, so she's convinced herself that she's going to be able to renovate the whole house in less than a year. BY HERSELF.

🥪 SANDWICH — what does your oc's typical lunch look like? do they usually eat lunch?

lunch is the meal that most often falls by the wayside for her, at least when she's by herself. midday is usually the time where she's getting really into whatever project or story she's working on, so unless someone reminds her that food exists, she doesn't realize what time it is until percy is coming home from school or someone distracts her long enough for her to realize that her stomach has been growling since 11am.

however, when she does realize (or if it's a weekend/holiday where percy is home all day), she makes a spread. lots of different things, especially snacky sides like cut up fruit and veggies with dips and sauces. she eats a lot of fruit and veggies bc that's just how she grew up eating bc of all the farming on the aforementioned lesbian commune. bonus points if it's in a smoothie. extra bonus points if that smoothie is basically a milkshake.

EDIT: I FORGOT A VERY IMPORTANT CATEGORY: stake out lunches! stevie takes percy out on stake outs sometimes so she's gotta make sure they get fed. those lunches are definitely giant bags of fast food that are bigger than either of their heads.

🍛 CURRY AND RICE — what does your oc's typical dinner look like? do they usually eat dinner?

her moms and their friends were all very multicultural so she probably cooks food from all around the world, and she strikes me as the type who likes to show her love through food. also, i imagine she took a nutrition class or two when she was younger to make sure that she wasn't going to like, accidentally give percy the gout or something.

dinner is usually the main meal of the day that she plans out ahead of time so she can go all out. lots of the time, it's something she preps in the morning or the night before and throws in the slow cooker or something - stews, curries, soups, some meat that will be fall-off-the-bone tender in six hours, etc. plus any extras that might be needed.

[vandaswedenlitblog]

Final Blog: Reflections on a Year of Reading Swedish Literature

I read “Autumn” by Karl Ove Knausgaard, “Hanna’s Daughters” by Marianne Fredriksson, and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson. 

Based on the fact that in “Autumn” Karl described fields of vegetables. “...bright yellow oilseed rape fields, pale green cornfields…yellow-green pastures, sharp green plots of onions, potatoes, carrots, sugar beet.” Based on this, I learned that Sweden has a lot of land that has farms which means that they also have harvesting seasons. In “Hanna’s Daughters” farms were mentioned frequently in Hanna’s sections of the book. “Distances between houses also grew, as the forest took over the fields and meadows around abandoned farms.” This made me learn even more how important farms are in Sweden. In this book they also mentioned types of trees. “On the shore were willows and birches with their perianths and catkins. Then I saw the maples…” From this, I learned that the trees in Sweden are able to grow very close to their lakes. 

Based on the fact that Karl was passing by an artillery range when taking his kids to school which lead to him finding out that the military were practicing with their weapons in “Autumn”, I learned that even though Sweden has not been in war and usually minds their own business, they still make sure that their military is doing things to ensure the safety of their citizens. In this book as well, Karl mentions how “war has not been waged since the seventeenth century…” which also helped me learn what I stated above. In “Hanna’s Daughters” the Spanish flu was mentioned to have happened in Sweden in 1918. Based on this, I learned that there were a lot of deaths in Sweden around that time of the year. 

Based on the fact that Hanna was making a sponge cake in “Hanna’s Daughters”, I learned that in Sweden they have plenty of bakeries wherever you go. Hanna also worked at a bakery. In “Hanna’s Daughters” they also mentioned how big the lines were at the bakery especially in the morning. People who wanted their “fresh bread for breakfast, newly churned butter, and sometimes small cakes.” They lastly mentioned varieties of seafood from salmon to shrimp. Based on this, I learned that seafood is popular in Sweden. Based on the fact that Karl explained how the churches were abandoned and left empty in the small towns which caused him to say how it symbolized that “no one seeks the divine level of reality any more…” in “Autumn”. From this I learned that churches are barely used in certain parts of Sweden and they are basically there for nostalgic purposes. 

From “Autumn”, I learned that, in life, there is so much more than what the eyes see. Karl’s whole reason for writing that book was so his daughter (who wasn’t born at the time) would be able to learn things about the life she was about to gain when she got older. Each chapter he would explain something or someone he saw and then took it so much deeper just based on that one singular thing/person and from there it would turn into a life lesson. From “Hanna’s Daughters”, I learned that, in life, family is to be cherished. Everything started off with Hanna and then went onto Johanna and then it finished off with Anna (even though the family generations would still continue with Anna’s kids). The generational similarities between the three of them were showcased a lot throughout the whole book to remind the readers that they are family. You would feel like you were with them when each of their stories took place. From “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, I learned that (even though I didn’t get quite far), in life, success can falter. Blomkvist being someone who was successful in his field and he knew how to write articles incredibly well ended up getting set up and his career being tainted by false accusations but of course, everyone believed he truly did it with no evidence supporting that he didn’t. 

Throughout this journey of reading for 20 weeks, I learned that I am truly capable of getting back into reading. I was a big reader during the pandemic and it carried on into 2021 but ever since then I’ve been in a funk and haven’t read much. I would pick up a book here and there but would soon forget its existence and not end up finishing it. Now, I am confident that I will be picking up those books that were put to the side and actually finishing them. I found that reading actually calms me down and makes me forget about my phone completely which I find to be amazing. I’m grateful that the conclusion of the 20 weeks of reading has led me to this. 

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