iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Congratulations, Quartz! After a decade of #MinCup, this key rock-forming mineral of optical tricks is the #MinCup26 Champion! Due to intense manipulation attempts in the final hours, the exact winning margin is still being audited. Please join us tomorrow for celebration!

A clear double-terminated quartz crystal with petroleum inclusions. Credit: John Sobolewski

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

#MinCup26 FINALS!!! We have a pair of geometric beauties as deep red #Cuprite is against versatile #Quartz. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split image of fine red needles of cuprite on one side and chunky clear quartz crystals on the other.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 Semifinal 2 It’s a match sure to break hearts between industrial powerhouses piezoelectric #quartz and lubricating #graphite! (With the correct links this time!) VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo between a pair of glassy-clear terminated quartz crystals and flaky blades of dark grey graphite at odd angles to each other, with green crystals around them.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#MinCup26 Quarterfinal 4 We're coming down the end! Are you supporting lead-locking #pyromorphite or ancient #graphite as we enter the semifinals. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split view of blobby peach-tinted pyromorphite shining as though wet, and dark grey graphite with its signature greasy sheen sitting on paper marked with pencil-like scribbles.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I adored the first book, and I was sooo excited for the second one! "I like slice of life." "This is a very strange life to slice." Cozy and endearing and funny! #books #queer #amreading

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Polenth Blake @polenth.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

WERECONIFER is the sequel to WERECOCKROACH. Some months after the first book, Rin and their friends are asked to help find a missing shapeshifting tree. Generally gentle with a queer found family and also aliens. #AroAce #QueerBookSky More information: www.polenthblake.com/words/weretr...

The cover of WERECONIFER by Polenth Blake is at an angle on a brown background. The cover has hand drawn letters and a Scots pine tree with multicoloured round decorations (lights) drawn with felt tip pens. Captions surround the cover in a childish messy font with arrows pointing at things.

Captions pointing at the tree: pine needles, festive lights, tree.

Captions for the book: aliens wearing socks, book two, queerplatonic, also cockroaches, bonus cats, this is a sequel, i drew this, rainy winter, multiple aspec characters.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

#MinCup26 Quarterfinal 1 It’s a rich red start to the quarterfinals as two components of brass face off with zinc ore #Sphalerite is up against copper-rich #Cuprite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of a glossy ruby-red chunk of sphalerite, slightly rounded, amongst smaller clear crystals and a gleaming ruby-red cube of cuprite jutting from a yellow matrix.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I recently learned that salt glaciers exist. I need to vote for halite. #MinCup

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Xero now with 100% more 🎃 @artificer-ind.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Still patiently waiting to be "left behind" by AI rather than it chasing me across every damn space like a slasher in a low budget flick.

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Polenth Blake @polenth.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The preorders are live in most places now. The ones pending are Kobo and Apple. Active ones include Smashwords, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble and Amazon. I also have the itchio one up: polenth.itch.io/wereconifer

polenth.itch.io

Wereconifer by Polenth Blake

A novella of aliens and trees.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Rock crystal was what started my fascination with minerals back when I was a kid, so gotta vote for quartz #MinCup

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 2 Match 4 Both colourful yet opposite in almost every other way, it’s abundant and hard #Quartz against rare and very soft #Stichtite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

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Polenth Blake @polenth.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Wereconifer is going through the system at Kobo, D2D and Amazon. It can be preordered when it does (it's the final file, so I shouldn't need to do anything else). I'll update the book page once I see preorders going live. www.polenthblake.com/words/weretr...

polenthblake.com

Polenth's Nothing: Words: Books: Wereconifer

Wereconifer - A science fantasy novella by Polenth Blake.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 16 It's a pair of industrially-vital minerals for the final match of the first round as tin ore #Cassiterite is up against elemental carbon #Graphite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of cassiterite crystals, silvery to shiny black, in shapes similar to faceted gemstones and a flat, hexagonal graphite crystal jutting up, dark grey with a greasy shine.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Can't not vote for a mineral named after chocolate! #mincup

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 15 It's blue vs red for vibrant cyan-blue #Chrysocolla vs rich chocolatey red-brown #Xocolatlite. Are you with the hydrous copper silicate or the tellurate? VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of rounded towers of aqua-blue crystals resembling a puffer spike ball and radial splats of reddish-brown crystals resembling lichen growth.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I know asbestos is bad, but... look at the fuzzy minerals!! #mincup

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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Last year, for Mineral Cup 2025, I ink-sketched all the minerals in a handmade sketchbook as an exercise to learn more about minerals. This was the result: #mincup #mincup25 #mincup26 #minerals #sketchbook #sciart

a collage of 16 photos os my minerals sketchbook, each photo a double page spread with two different minerals inked, the ones who participated in the 2025 mineral cup.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 11 It's a pair of minerals that pull off near-magical tricks with their properties as ubiquitous #Calcite is up against rarity #Julienite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

mineralcup.org

Vote in Round 1 Match 11 — Mineral Cup & Ore Cup

Vote in Calcite vs Julienite Credit: Harold Moritz and David Hospital

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 10: It’s a pair of soft minerals that form near the surface as heavyweight #pyromorphite is up against evaporate #gypsum. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of a scattering of highlighter-yellow log-shaped Pyromorphite crystals and a dense cluster of translucent white flat, rounded gypsum crystals that resemble a flower bud

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 9: It’s a pair of tiny minerals with unusual chemistry as hafnium-containing #Hafnon battles with strontium/chromium-containing #Putnisite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of jagged dark brown to orange opaque crystal grains of hafnon embedded in an unidentified white matrix and tiny grape-jello purple cubical crystals with a rough surface. The crystals are poking out of a massive rough rock with areas of fuzzy green and broad purple, all with a grainy coating of white as though it were rubbed with flour

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 8: It’s a pair of soft and lovely minerals as Stichtite and Talc compete for your votes. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo with a rough chunk of vividly purple stichtite with occasional dark speckles and a pearly white talc with cool green undertones and a flaky surface.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 7 It's a color-changing match of informative minerals! Time-tracker #Monazite-(Ce)'s yellow in sunlight darkens to orange in incandescent light while index mineral #Andalusite is pleochroic VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo with yellow andalusite, backlit to show its color and its growth patterns, which have four-fold symmetry with branching dark streaks in each direction and a glassy amber-yellow crystal point in a craggy setting of smaller, lighter yellow crystals.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 6 It's a classic vs a newbie as the most common named mineral in the crust #Quartz is up against an exceedingly-rare sea foam-green mineral discovered just a few years ago #Asagiite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of clear quartz points radiating from a central point, with amethyst purple at some of the tips and cool mint green asagiite in mostly log-shaped crystals, with a few blobby bits.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 5 It's a fiery match of vibrant red #Cuprite and just as saturated orange #Orpiment battle for your votes! VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of deep red, chunky cuprite crystals, clear and vibrant and shiny like pomegranate seeds and orpiment forming many round puffs of intensely orange spikes radiating out like sea urchin spines.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Ok I am campaigning for the right match this time! Go Vesuvianite! #MinCup

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 4: Cogwheels of #Bournonite are up against colourful #Vesuvianite in a battle of unexpected chemical compositions. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of metallic grey solid wheels on one side and pointy-ended green columnar crystal on the other.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 3 Both zinc ore #Sphalerite and calcium plagioclase feldspar #Anorthite will split cleanly if you hit them with a hammer, but only one can claim a larger split of your votes! VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

A photo split between toothy translucent yellow crystals chewing on a grey rock and a blocky milky-yellow translucent crystal where every corner and edge is cut by a small oblique face.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

As a storyteller, I'm obligated to vote for the Kobolds 😄 #MinCup

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 2: Flowery pink #Erythrite is against shiny silver #Skutterudite in this match of cobalt minerals. Will you pick the weathering product or the mineral it comes from? VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I was all ready to vote for Azurite, but honestly I looked up Smithsonite and now I am rooting for the underdog. #MinCup26

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 1: It's carbonate-vs-carbonate with copper-rich #Azurite against zinc-rich #Smithsonite. Which has your vote? VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of bright blue azurite and peach-colored smithsonite crystals.

The azurite forms clusters of round nodules with a matte, almost velvety-looking texture.

The smithsonite crystals are mostly discs with parallelogram faces. There are some black and gold-colores minerals mixed in.

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Brandon Bishop @brandontbishop.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

*bangs rock hammer rhythmically, begins chanting* MINCUP! MINCUP! MINCUP! MINCUP! MINCUP!

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Went to the mineral show today to see next year's contestants for Mineral of the Year and Fossil of the Year at the Geology table. I love it when geolosists hype up their favorites 😄 Like @mineralcup.bsky.social but live. For 2027 contestants are: Olivine Augite Chrysotile #minerals #geology #mincup

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Oooh, a bracket! www.mineralcup.org/2026/bracket

A sports-style elimination bracket of 32 minerals labeled "Mineral Cup 2026". Text below reads, "Daily voting takes place on www.MineralCup.org in September. Campaign on your favourite social media using #MinCup26."

The starting matches are, in chronological order in pairs from top to bottom alternating from left to right each match:
Azurite vs Smithsonite
Erythrite vs Skutterudite
Sphalerite vs Anorthite
Bournonite vs Vesuvianite
Cuprite vs Orpiment
Quartz vs Asagiite
Monazite-(Ce) vs Andalusite
Stichtite vs Talc
Hafnon vs Putnisite
Pyromorphite vs Gypsum
Calcite vs Julienite
Pyrrhotite vs Cylindrite
Arsenopyrite vs Halite
Riebeckite vs Gadolinite-(Y)
Chrysocolla vs Xocolatlite
Cassiterite vs Graphite

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

What’s that? For #MinCup26, our 10th year of minerals battling it out for your affections, we drew from ANY year to pick our returning minerals? That’s a lot of joy and heartbreak from one little list! www.mineralcup.org/2026/mineral...

mineralcup.org

Mineral List — Mineral Cup & Ore Cup

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Kate Heartfield @kateheartfield.com · 26/08/2026

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the pediatric health centre where I work has a transport cart (for equipment accompanying babies going to procedures) called the Dolly Carton. It has a pink cowboy hat sticker on it.

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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Only five weeks to go until September 1st, when #MinCup26 starts. And it is a special occassion: We can go ahead and set out the candles and the cake - #MinCup is turning 10 this year 🎂. For anyone who can hardly wait, here's our article covering the last nine times doi.org/10.1180/mgm....

A handful of tumbled, glistening gemstones in a white bowl.

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Polenth Blake @polenth.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Doing my librarian thing on Goodreads as they don't seem to have noticed I'm still one yet. Wereconifer has a very basic page (release date is not set in stone): www.goodreads.com/book/show/25...

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Rakesh Khanna @blaftrakesh.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)

Romanised Pali manuscript of the Lokapannati

Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India
p. 60
Bhoota Vahana Yanta
Bhoota Vahana Yanta means “spirit movement machine.” The term is used
for several varieties of robot drone assassins and sword-wielding machine-
men mentioned in the Lokapannati, a Pali-language text written between
1000 and 1200 CE by Saddhammaghosa of Thaton, but concerning
events that took place much earlier, around 500 to 200 BCE.
According to the story, robots were first invented by engineers of the
early Roman Republic. These robots were used for commerce, in agriculture,
as a police force, and as executioners. The secret of how to build these
spirit-engines was fiercely protected. If any engineer dared to take the designs
out of the city, one of his own executioner robots would come after
him and kill him.
At that time, in Pataliputra (then in the kingdom of Magadha, now
Patna in the state of Bihar), there lived a young man who had heard of the
Romans’ magical androids. He became so determined to learn the secrets
of their manufacture and share them with the people of Magadha that he
arranged his own death. Then, on his deathbed, he vowed to be reincarnated
as a Roman.
This indeed took place. In his new life, the man grew up to join the
Roman guild of engineers. He even married the daughter of the Master
Robot-Maker, and had a son by her.
Once he learned the secrets of the Bhoota Vahana Yanta, the man resolved
to transfer the information back to Pataliputra. But he was well
aware that now, since he was a member of the guild, he would be killed as
soon as he left. So he cut a gash in his thigh, inserted the plans in his flesh,
and sewed the wound back up.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

And while on the topic of pop culture: I am deeply angry that Exceptional X-men and Nyx got slashed so soon. No one cares about yet another post-apocalyptic storyline. Let the new mutant teens do their new mutant teen things in peace. Jeebus. 😡 #comics #Marvel #Xmen

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Also, what was people's problem with Marvel's #Echo series? I am only starting it but I really like it ao far. Also, epic fight scenes. #Marvel #TV #TVShows

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Season 2 of #GenV is off to a strong start All I'm saying is if they do something to Jordan I'm gonna lose my shit #TV #TheBoys #TVShows

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#LegendaryWednesday @legendarywednes1.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

💫This week's theme is breakups! Join us Wednesday for #LegendaryWednesday with your romantic anguish legends, your lost lover tales, divorce traditions, grief rituals, heartbreaks, & sorrowful deities. Share a #legend #folklore #quote #fairytale #poetry #film #art #mythology

Oil painting: Disappointed Love. By Francis Danby. 1821.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Okay unsolicited #Xmen opinion: If you are hating on Exceptional X-men because you think "the Uncanny X-men teens could beat them", then congratulations, you have missed the points of BOTH series by a mile. I said what I said. #ExceptionalXmen #UncannyXmen #comics #Marvel

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Hungarian #FolktaleMoment I just found a folktale that explains why dogs like to eat plums, and cats like to eat mushrooms. Dog and cat owners, is this a thing?... #folklore #folktales #cats #dogs #pets

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Mythology Monday ✨ @mythologymonday.thefolklore.cafe.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2025

Hello, Myth Lovers! Join us Monday for the theme: SLEEP! Which myths feature sleep or slumbering? Write out your story and use the hashtag #MythologyMonday for boosts. If joining from BlueSky: follow @ap.brid.gy so we can interact with your posts. See you […] [Original post on thefolklore.cafe]

Oil painting of two humans and a dog asleep by a lake with four swans in the background. One human is blond, dressed in white and a rose and green overcoat while the other has dark hair and a white dress with a light blue overcoat. The scene is peaceful and quiet.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

New #MagpieTarot haul came in 😊😊 I am having a great time with this new hobby. And people are very sweet and they send extra cards and stickers along. Such a fun community. And look at my two new favorite Strength cards! #tarot

Photo of 20 tarot cards from various decks spread out on a desk. They represent different art syles from cartoon through embroidery to art nouveau

Two Strength cards from two different tarot decks. One is a collage style card with the vintage photo of a sturdy woman in a pink Victorian (?) dress, with red flowers in her hair, holding a large shark and a snake in her hands. The other is a realistic digital art style card featuring a black man and a lion in a cyberpunk type setting. Both have variois bits of tech built in, including what looks like a prosthetic leg for the man, and the lion has elaborate antlers.

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Zalka Csenge Virág @fabulatrix.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Also hello fellow #ttrpg players 😊 My top favorite games are: 1. Changeling: The Dreaming 2. Scion 3. 7th Sea 4. Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5. Imma put D&D here because that's mostly what we play 😀 #gaming #games #DnD #WoD

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