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mutually unrequited dryad

@theherocomplex.bsky.social
420 followers 204 following 14K posts

I am the devil's gateway, the cursed ingress. writing, reading, horror, danmei, knitting, folklore she/her

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Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Magical creatures don’t exist, eh? Roughly 400 million years ago, before the birth of trees, there were giant mystery cones called “Prototaxites,” which grew nearly 30 feet tall. We literally have no idea what they were. Plant: no Mushroom: no Animal: no Tell me this isn’t a little bit magic
Sunset with giant mystery cones Prototaxites https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/prototaxites-fossil-explained-why-this-prehistoric-colossus-still-baffles-scientists-1773173
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
oh this SLAPS
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Time for this classic again.
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
when you're singing along to All Creatures of Our God and King and the trumpet kicks in with the organ
static.klipy.com
Antonio Banderas' Satisfied Reaction
Alt: Antonio Banderas' Satisfied Reaction
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
54. American Rapture by C.J. Leede: SUCH a strong beginning, with a torrent of guilt, religious oppression, body horror, and confused sexuality coming together in a truly frightening way; the second half felt a little less propulsive but the ending was appropriately creepy (and sad)
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Thomas Ha @thomasha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
i should clarify, when i write people doing bad things, it's because i am bad. they are me. more importantly, when you read about those bad things, they also become you. that's how story works. in fact, you are going to think about murder before this skeet ends. how's that feel, sicko.
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Divine Farce by Michael S.A. Graziano! it's about three people trapped in a concrete tube in total darkness, with barely enough room to move. nectar rains down from above to keep them alive. and then things get...very existential. short, beautiful, and very uncomfortable.
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
53. The Orc's Winter Prize by Zola Vale: something light and quick and horny is almost always a good reading choice; competently written but too short for any real characterization to happen. I guess I am in my orc phase still?
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
52. The Divine Farce by Michael S.A. Graziano: three people are trapped together in a tiny concrete tube; claustrophobia, hopelessness, terror, and love ensue. a wild existential ride, very interesting to read so soon after "A Short Stay in Hell", though I think this book worked much better for me
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
51. This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews: it took a while for me to buy in to this book, but once I did I was OBSESSED. SVSSS is still THEE transmigration/isekai/portal fantasy for me, but Maggie is a great heroine and I need her and [redacted] to kiss SO BADLY
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 25/09/2026
If you're not from Western Mass, you will completely miss the dynamic that the Greater Boston area has been exploiting the western part of the state since literally the founding of the country. The Globe writes these stories about WM and the Pioneer Valley on a regular basis.
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VOID 🔞ART CATCH UP. @v0idm0nster.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Burnout's no joke kids
A cat on a space and sky background that says "sorry i havent finished a project in months, i have been at war with myself"
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
sometimes I think about that tumblr post that was like "what if the entire reaper invasion was a test staged by Nihlus to make sure Shepard would be an okay spectre" and no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I start laughing
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I would LOVE that for so many reasons (though what I've seen a lot of people doing is reclaiming thrift store acrylic sweaters for yarn, which is a great step!)
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🌬Breeze @cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ten years of relentlessly hateful, comically elitist anti-democratic politics across the white people world, helpfully summarised. The wrong people are talking, the wrong people are deciding and it’s harming the careers of important people who actually matter. Smithers! Release the hounds
The incident fits a broader pattern in the discourse around 'free speech' and 'cancel culture': whatever comes from the top down is freedom; whatever comes from the bottom up is bullying and censorship. When Macklemore is dropped at the behest of the billionaire stadium owner Robert Kraft, it's an exercise of the freedom of businesses to 'demonstrate their values' by deciding whom to platform. But when Ed Sheeran's fans decide not to buy tickets to his performances, or even demand refunds, it's bullying, mob behaviour. Since most people are not billionaires and do not own stadiums, they can exercise meaningful power only collectively. The collective exercise of power must therefore be demonised.
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
do I have any real basis for this? like any good conspiracy theory, no; all I have is my deep contempt for PETA and my orders-of-magnitude-deeper love for wool evil and abuse exists in the wool industry but in no way is wool worse for the planet than acrylic yarn
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
my only real conspiracy theory is totally homegrown and I am the only person who holds it, but it is that anything PETA puts out about the cruelties of using wool and supporting the use of acrylic yarn is ACTUALLY paid for by oil companies
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
one step closer to The Works of Vermin becoming a reality!!!!
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Katherine Lam @ LBX 431 @katherinelam.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
#severance
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I don't know. every time I sit down to write, it all feels like it's falling through my fingers, even if I was genuinely excited to dive in, and I'm not sure how to pinpoint the issue. well, more like ISSUES, but I don't know how to figure out what is just stress vs what is a root cause
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I know myself well enough to know that when I'm stressed/in a depressive episode, writing is the first thing to go, but this is the longest I've gone without writing anything and a part of me is scared that part of me is just...gone forever
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
ugh it has been BLEAK here on the writing front...nothing of substance since May, and while I have plenty of things I want to write, I just can't seem to get the words on paper. I'm not even doing morning pages anymore and it just feels so cruddy. lots of pressure in the system, no way to let it out
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Spikulec @spikulec.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Here's a new bugelf I painted. His name is the Necromancer and he's based on a death's-head hawkmoth. All bug elves are painted for my upcoming D&D 5e book called the Feylights of Gaol, and they are playable species #art #dnd #characterdesign
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I'm crashingly predictable in what gets me hooked as far as stories go but "I have been injured/captured/somehow imperiled and now the person who loves me (without me knowing about it is now cutting their way through enemies to get to me and will soon tenderly carry me to safety" is just !!!! for me
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Elias Eells- Bar Cart Bookshelf @eliaseells.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Elric of Melniboné:
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"Ich askid ChatGPT," Well Ich askid the stones, and the forest, and the starres, and the mountaynes, and the moone daunsinge above, and what thei seyde was learninge, and dreames, and growinge thinges, and makinge art, and a flawed honest worlde wher we talke to each othir and care about each othir.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 16/09/2026
I'm just going to keep yelling this louder and louder until it clicks: weird overpaid AI nerds hand-wringing about human extinction are trying to distract you from the extremely deadly and serious harms they are causing yesterday, today and tomorrow www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Headline: "US Data Centers Set to Burn More Natural Gas Than Most Nations" above a photo of natural gas compressor towers, power lines and a crane at an industrial site, illustrating rising gas use tied to data centers.News excerpt reporting that U.S. data centers’ natural gas use is expected to grow by 15 billion cubic feet per day by 2035—amounting to more gas than every country except China, Russia, Iran and the U.S., citing the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
budgetmaxxing by listening to financial videos while updating my budget
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
50. Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr: I've said it before and I will say it forever: 80s and 90s fantasy just HITS. reincarnation, a rich magical system, politicking, gorgeous writing...such a fun read, though there are some aspects (like the casual violence) that haven't aged super well.
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Windlass @windlass.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Bro it was slightly cthonic at best.
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I don't know what it is about 80s/90s fantasy that HITS like nothing else; it's probably because that's what I started reading but there's nothing like it! sure some of it hasn't aged well (Melanie Rawn I am looking at you) but I'm reading the first book in the Deverry Cycle now and it's so GOOD
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
spinning update: I finished the singles for my Rhinebeck sweater! twelve bobbins, each with about four ounces of fiber I'm halfway through the plying, so now I just need to find a pattern! #handspinning
twelve bobbins of handspun yarn, stacked on top of each other in a pyramid; the yarn is a rich dark brown
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I like working with students! I care about literacy! why not explore a program that lets me tie the two together? and since I work at a uni, I can take classes for free or at the very least very affordably now I just need to get my application together so I can (hopefully) starts in Jan
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I was chatting on the bus with a friend today, who is planning to go for her CPA license, and we're both approaching it from a place of "we don't want to work full time till we're 65, so let's find things now that will set us up for fun* part-time employment earlier" *she likes accounting, so
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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Happy birthday to David Wojnarowicz, groundbreaking artist, writer & activist, who raged raged raged against inequity and injustice at every turn. If he hadn’t died of AIDS, like so many leading lights of his generation, he would have been 72 years old today (thread)
A black-and-white photograph of artist & writer David Wojnarowicz, with added elements including red and yellow flames along the right side of his body, and maps over his face and neckA photo of artist David Wojnarowicz wearing a jacket; on the back is a pink triangle and the legend, "If I die of AIDS-forget burial-just drop my body on the steps of the F.D.A."
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I think I finally have given in to the impulse that has been chasing me for almost fifteen years and...I am going to apply for my master's in education
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Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
this week's post dissects why naive optimism and fatalistic pessimism are not fundamentally less embarrassing responses to climate change than outright denial and then offers examples of actions we can take margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/beyond-cli...
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Alina Stefanescu @alinaetc.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Those who read or hear a poem should remember that a good poem has two audiences; it is addressed to the living and the dead at the same time. If a poet dismisses the living he becomes morbid. If he dismisses the dead he ceases to be a prophet. – Vernon Watkins
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
this morning the bus driver pulled up so the door was right in front of where I was standing, and when I got on, he grinned at me and said in a rich NYC accent, "good morning! you got special powers!" it is safe to say I would die for Bus Driver Kevin
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Kaidan survived Virmire
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don't hug me I'm porksweats @porksweats.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
first principles, clarice. simplicity. read marcus aurelius. of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? what is its nature? what does he do, this man you seek?
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I'm sorry but this reads like worldbuilding for a 100k Teen Wolf a/b/o fic
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God @thegodshow.com · 08/09/2026
If you can look at this photo without your heart breaking, then you don’t have a soul.
Palestinian children watching Lion King in Gaza
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
she mlems a snackie
a fluffy white cat with huge blue eyes licks a cat treat lollipop, which looks like a tiny doughnut
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
49. A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck: nicely depressing and existential, though it didn't quite resonate emotionally with me the way I'd hoped it would. I do love a good riff on Borges, though, and it's a quick read if that's what you're looking for!
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
one last downtown summer spin before the semester starts tomorrow
A table, on which sit a ziploc bag of colorful spinning fiber, a Turkish drop spindle with some fiber on it, and the book A Short Stay in Hell
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
48. Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls: a fast, funky read about a depressed/repressed housewife in 50s suburbia who shelters an escaped frogman in her house, and falls in love with him; there is a LOT roiling under the surface of this very deceptively simple story, and the ending is WILD
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
47. Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence: very cool worldbuilding, great writing, gross and awful and horrifying -- I do love that the protagonist is an old woman, and a very uh difficult one at that, but did the author REALLY need to be so self-serving/humble-bragging in his bio? ugh
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mutually unrequited dryad @theherocomplex.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
thinking a lot about that 1998 Merlin TV show with Miranda Richardson as Queen Mab and how she just faded out of existence when people stopped believing in her or acknowledging her and honestly I think we could do that with JK Rowling too
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