#the nut cult

[gaillol-13]

The start of my day when from a nice walk to "ooh theres some smooth nuts on trees imma pick em ooh maybe I should collect them in me pocket haha theres so many oh what if I opened these nutshells but with ✨style!✨ yeh I'll-ow the shells are spiky-I'll place all my nuts on a table and take my uncracked nutshells and crack them while playing lol It'll be fun like I'm making a story like I used to as a kid!" to making up a...interesting story called The Nut Cult which was fucked up and overall poorly written improv but it did indeed make me feel young again.

[bamsara]

I finished the Doctrine Book-bag for my Lamb cosplay! I think jt turned out pretty well, I used black foam clay for the edges and was going to carve them when dried, but I actaully?? Really like the goopy unclean look so I might keep it

I might still carve it idk, and maybe replace the strap with a chain for the whole theme

I know the Doctrine is a book in game and usually as a prop but I need something to hold my phone and wallet in easy access for when we scour the artist alley, so this idea came to be. Now it can hold my stuff AND it's in character!

I also recycled a cardboard box to put my cosplay in, made it look COTL specific:

[squish--squash]

can someone tell my axe to come back I uh. kinda need it.

[lambouillet]

Narindersona, Lambsona and the land of dreams and the sleeping

[jellynotbees]

Hello, finally made reference sheets for Tidally Locked au. I also changed Narinder’s design a little bit, I didn’t like how the first one’s coloring came out. Sorry if my handwriting is bad

[destielmemenews]

source 1

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[julesnichols]

Hey guys can we talk about where Nat's hand is in this BTS photo/different angle of that scene

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

Republican political violence. Deranged MAGA cultist terrorists.

[odinsblog]

I mean, they been a cult. A death cult for the NRA, a hate group for the KKK, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, etc etc etc. Republicans (writ large) are just an extension of the Tea Party & the Confederacy, and whatever other shitty misogynistic racist movements preceded those shitty misogynistic racist movements

I was about to say, “Here’s to hoping they gulp down ALL the Kool-Aid when he loses,” but if the election of 2016 taught me anything, it’s to never underestimate the propensity of a majority of white voters to vote for thee worst possible candidate.

(source)

Unfortunately, Trump’s loss at the ballot box and in court is not guaranteed, not by any stretch of the imagination.

They’re a cult.

So no matter what, let’s don’t get too cocky.

We still gotta do the work.

[airyravenmaid]

SAGAU: My Style

Back at it again with sharing my personal ideas with the Self-Aware Genshin AU. I don't see myself writing a full-on fanfic about it because I do NOT trust myself with characterizing everybody properly, and some of the ideas I have in mind wouldn't make for a good universal experience for all, if that makes sense. So, instead, I'll just stick to pitching like I'm at a silly ol' business meeting and providing a simple layout. Now, keep in mind, this is going to focus more on my rendition of an Imposter AU specifically, which means I'm also going to do a little nitpicking of some common tropes in it that I find could be done better or even differently. It won't be me saying that anybody who writes them in the traditional sense is bad or doing a bad job, just what I'd do differently. So, without further ado, check out my mish-mushed ideas below the cut:

It all starts with the Creator Themsleves, aka, us. Or, rather, us before we became us. Not making sense? That's fine, but lemme delve into that a little better. Game lore-wise for this AU, there actually was a fully existing, fully breathing Creator that's been around since even before the Archons (but not by too much; Zhongli's still no spring chicken in spite of this). Yes, they did create Teyvat and all that's good in it like the flora, the fauna, and the creatures, and they had a close bond with said Archons not just as people serving, advising, and worshipping their God/ruler, but also in a legitimate friendship (so, no, they're not 100% subservient or gutless ass-kissers-- it's more of an equal dynamic). Maybe one Archon of your choice (within reason) being close enough to the point of being (secret) lovers, if you'd like. Such explains the Archons' deep attachment to the Creator, and their eagerness to see them again after tragedy-- like, say, the Cataclysm that razed Khaenri'ah-- renders them comatose and not to awaken again until present day. Until then, the Creator's body lies safely in sleep like Princess Aurora within their main temple/palace, occasionally visited by their old companions (minus Ei, who's in her hidey-hole until the Inazuma AQ's, but that goes without saying).

But, just before they do wake up, here comes a little (presumably Celestia-sent) POS known as the Imposter, who worms their way into the temple where the Creator lies, steals their garbs and replaces them with normal, less divine attire before sending their body far away apparently never to be seen again and lying on that resting spot acting as the Creator on the verge of waking up. And since no one knows what really happened, it looks like the promised day has come without issues, and the Imposter is welcomed by nearly all back to a throne that never actually belonged to them. As for the actual Creator... they're in good hands, because Teyvat would never mistake another for the All-Parent that breathed life into it and acts to protect their body hidden amidst nature in whatever region they landed in (your choice) until they really do wake up.

And when our in-game body does wake up, our real-life consciousness is transferred into it and overwrites our old, godly memories with our normal ones. Since I can't stand isekais that require us dying an early death IRL (like, at all, actually), we're either magically transported to Teyvat the old-fashioned magic way, or part of our consciousness goes into our in-universe body and leaves our physical forms in reality alone, thereby creating two versions of us going around two separate worlds. For better wording, that is, but that's the gist of it. Either way, we're the real deal Creator, but one without our old memories (apart from short visions we get of our old divine life that come up every now and again) as far as everyone else in Teyvat is concerned. They're not totally wrong, anyway. I was thinking this could be justified to everyone by our "past self" saying pre-slumber that they will reawaken without the knowledge of this world (aka, the Genshin one), but it will still very much be them/us.

By the way, when we stumble into the main town or city of whatever region we wound up in, the locals don't just immediately attack us for looking like the Imposter. While sometimes, I do enjoy kicking back and enjoying pure angst, I otherwise found that aspect of Villain/Imposter!SAGAU to be, comment dit-on... absurd, especially with nobody in Mondstadt (outside of that one nun not buying it and simply scolding him) giving two honks about Venti despite him looking like (being) Barbatos, and nobody in Liyue even noticing the resemblance between Zhongli and Rex Lapis/Morax. And given how much those nations revere their god, the argument of us being a higher deity cannot be made. So, instead, at absolute worst, people are just really unnerved by the uncanny resemblance we have to the Creator, but otherwise don't get alarmed... until the Imposter catches wind of us and changes that. The reason people start attacking us at all is because the Imposter weaves a forewarning of the Creator's antithesis equal to them in power known as the "Destroyer" will descend on Teyvat, attempt to steal the throne using the Creator's face, and do worse to the world than the Abyss Order ever could try to if not stopped. And, this may sound like something they just made up to get us killed, but in a way... it's true, only issue is that the acolytes + citizens have the wrong idea of who's who, of course. Plus, the actual, all-powerful Creator, if pushed too far by say... an incredibly lengthy and traumatic manhunt after being mistaken for the Destroyer, is capable of tearing the world limb from limb, because those who create can as easily destroy, but those who destroy can never create.

Speaking of "all-powerful"... why are we always completely powerless in these SAGAU works apart from crying and/or getting really angry (which ARE realistic and valid reactions to the shit we're going through, but it's not mutually exclusive to getting cool abilities)? Because we're not actually from Teyvat? Even Aether and Lumine have the power to wield the elements despite coming from somewhere else, and for us to not get that same honor is frankly dull as dishwater. That's a lot of missed potential to dip into the fantasy aspect of a fantasy game like Genshin Impact. It's here I'd like to take some inspiration from a show I've enjoyed for years known as none other than "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Not to mention, the term "avatar" generally refers to a "divine incarnation in human form", hello??? Ahem! In other words, instead of being completely incapable of defending ourselves, we-- being the almighty Creator-- are able to wield all seven elements at once, but we have to gradually learn how to effectively use and master them. We do start with one element (any of your choice), then work our way up in order of the loading screen. IE: say your element is Cryo, you'd have to go Geo -> Pyro -> Hydro -> Anemo -> Electro -> Dendro. Such was the same in our past life, but we had the Archons to teach us and help us master those abilities through time.

Which means now, we need other people to help us do it again in our new "incarnation", and that's in the form of 5-star Vision holders since they fit the bill of "master" a bit better, being the rarer, stronger characters and junk. Of course, this is likely with discretion, because some might not be wise to learn from (such as Klee, funny as that'd be). I'm also discounting learning from the Archons because not only has our time with them from the previous life passed, but I don't find it fair to learn from a powerful god of that element, even if we're a god ourselves. It's more balanced learning from someone beneath that level (so, yes, an adeptus would still qualify). Also, important note here: not every single playable character is going to try and kill us for the Creator-Destroyer thing. NPCs are one thing because, let's be real, they're sheep, but it isn't realistic or in-character for everybody playable to want us dead. While a fair chunk would probably be on board for the sake of not letting the world blow to smithereens (and not because, you know, Same Face Syndrome, because that's completely insane), some might not outright believe the alleged prophecy for one reason or another, such as not being fond/trusting enough of the apparent "Creator" to just listen to them right off the bat, or getting to already find out who the real Creator is and knowing we're not the enemy. Whatever the reason is, we're going to have allies, including ones that join us in our quest to defeat the Imposter and take back the throne to restore balance to Teyvat. This can also include those who initially sided with the Imposter, but for one reason or another such as seeing our gold blood, they have a change of heart and tag along for the ride. For us to just go about Teyvat on the lam with nobody having our back is just... depressing, and not even in the fun way, either. I understand this faction of SAGAU tends to be purely angst-based, but come on, it doesn't have to all be a total bummer all the time. There's no rule that says we can't go through the angsty, heartwrenching stuff with traveling companions to call our own there for us through it all.

Now, of course, whoever those traveling companions are is really up to you because not all of us are gonna wanna tag up with and learn from the same bitches as the next guy. So, it's anybody's game with anybody's reasoning and circumstances (such as which region we wake up in, who our first companion(s) would be there, then which region we move onto, and even what element we have to learn next). Also, fitting the max. number of characters you can have on one team, it'd just be four actively traveling alongside us through Teyvat with other allies remaining where they are, whether they helped us master an element or not. But, no matter anybody's personal tastes and choices, I really wish there was more of a thrilling "fantastical group adventure" kind of element to this genre of SAGAU, because the potential is there, just-- seldom reached, from what I've seen, personally. I'd be more than happy adding onto this with anything I might have missed, but that's basically the gist of my view of this AU.

[pugakern]

HIS TIME IS NOW

[noodlethegay]

me when sermon

[netheris]

Why is no one talking about how maid uniforms are also coming to COTL in the sex update-

[by-glass-and-waves]

Getting back into the Courtship mooooood

Includes headcanons and maybe dialogue for the story

Also a kind of limb injury thing in here

[rielzero]

I realize.. If these two existed in the same universe, they would be brothers... (Durge Loki and Z'archemoros) And Zane would have a horrible little brother complex. I wonder if Durge Loki would take Orin's place cuz he'd go nuts at some point and not because of Bhaal's favor, but because Zane is obsessive.

[crimeronan]

thinking abt amity somehow finding luz and hunter in this timeline... insane.

shes at the door and her and hunter immediately start cursing at each other like??? what the fuck?? and since i bet amity would be in her scout uniform, i think camila would make some quick deductions. (they sent a child to kidnap my children? hello?)

but then luz comes at the door and is like "!!! amity!!!! :D" and instead of hunters usual insane protectiveness hes. oddly ok with this? and it takes exactly five seconds of amity and luz looking at each other for camila to pick up some vibes. (is the cult.. not homophobic? is this why her and hunter arent a thing? (shes wrong but efforts appreciated))

thinking about camila trying to glean the specifics of luz and hunter's paramilitary bunker doomsday death basement cult through context clues is So Fucking Funny. this poor woman. she's like statistically speaking they were almost certainly fundie christians but like. WERE THEY NOT FUNDIE CHRISTIANS??? luz doesn't even know who jesus IS.

i think if amity showed up at the door, after everyone had been introduced and it was established that there was no danger, camila would privately sit luz down and be like, "okay. luz. baby. you know i don't push you to share things you aren't ready to, you know i want you to feel safe and comfortable here above everything else. but luz. if there's, like. an entire schoolyard worth of kidnapped children living out in your former basement being tortured by a cult somewhere. Do You Understand Why I Need You To Tell Me About That,"