#shalin

manyimer shalin: -she's like the oldest character idea i had out of all the evergreen ones. op plant girl who slays both ways -oh yeah the murder is legal don't worry -she's a bit too cool actually i need to nerf her down a little or she'll take over the entire plot -she is dyslexic but barely anyone uses writing outside of books in the world so she gets by

taline erran: -ah my poor sick boy -no like literally sick he is actually Unwell -he has so m any pockets and he keeps the most random things in them like twine and vials of ink and all -voracious devourer of random literature and complex encyclopaedias

vaneh shaela: -she is the very best girl -her hair was originally very different but i realised how frickin LONG it would take me to keep that consistent on every lil doodle -they're the local mystery. no one knows where they came from except shalin and erran -will fight you btw. will punch you in the nose. will stab you in the ribs. will go down on her feet.

ashten dahmene: -i feel bad for him. and i wrote his stupid backstory -he lets his hair grow to waist length then cuts it to his shoulders and this goes on forever -outside of his school he's nice. in school he alternates between friendly smart kid and caffeine-fueled sleep deprived monster -i could write a sitcom about his school and its magic shenanigans actually. or a romcom except i don't deal in that

linja vafimer: -mwahahaaaaa H E R -her original design was human but then i realised a dramatic entrance i wanted to execute just Wouldn't Work like that(noooo it doesn't involve her flying in front of the moon what are you talking aboouuuut) -her backstory is very much in the early government-highway-construction-project phases(aka for the non-desis: nowhere near complete don't ask i will cry) -she is so very pretty. also she translates things from dead languages to less dead languages forso. you need her if you're going time travelling

are we allies or enemies? this will be the death of me, this will be the death of me...

Graffiti : Shalin S.

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"Is any man afraid of change? Why what can take place without change? What then is more pleasing or more suitable to the universal nature? And canst thou take a bath unless the wood undergoes a change? And canst thou be nourished, unless the food undergoes a change? And can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change? Dost thou not see then that for thyself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary for the universal nature?"

Wishing my son a happy birthday today!

"You gotta be original, because if you're like someone else, what do they need you for?"

Happy Birthday to Mr. Outrageous Flair. Being your mother has been a joy and a deep privilege. Wishing you the wild spectrum of adventure and deep satisfaction in life dear son. You have given me so much by being you.

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Think of the many times you’ve been a refuge: welcoming each stray street cat and abandoned potted plant and dear friend saved from heartache. This body has been warm. It’s given past what hands can give. This body has played lighthouse and homemaker and firefighter.

You, a healing breeze; your body, the sky that moves it. A place of rest, a song sent by spring, a flickering light, a wish the world made.

[from my files]

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Be Still D.H. Lawrence

The only thing to be done now, now that the waves of our undoing have begun to strike on us, is to contain ourselves.

To keep still, and let the wreckage of ourselves go, let everything go, as the wave smashes us, yet keep still, and hold the tiny grain of something that no wave can wash away, not even the most massive wave of destiny.

Among all the smashed debris of myself keep quiet, and wait. For the word is Resurrection. And even the sea of seas will have to give up its dead.

Thanks to my family for indulging my deep need for the ocean and for their presence, all together for a brief moment in time. Thank you so much for a beautiful weekend.

[photo and portable record player :: Shalin Scupham]

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Sea Longing

A thousand miles beyond this sun-steeped wall Somewhere the waves creep cool along the sand, The ebbing tide forsakes the listless land With the old murmur, long and musical; The windy waves mount up and curve and fall, And round the rocks the foam blows up like snow,-- Tho' I am inland far, I hear and know, For I was born the sea's eternal thrall. I would that I were there and over me The cold insistence of the tide would roll, Quenching this burning thing men call the soul,-- Then with the ebbing I should drift and be Less than the smallest shell along the shoal, Less than the seagulls calling to the sea.