Soumya Shyam
@soumwise.bsky.social
Writes and draws things set in other worlds and ancient times. Spinner of myths. Economist. Blogger. Tyromancer. Tallneck minus the directional sense. Gamer. She/her. Something's cooking on mythology and storytelling...stay tuned!
On my way to Salisbury. Long train rides are perfect for moments of reflection. My sabbatical of this past year has changed me in ways I couldn't have predicted. Feeling refreshed and ready for change after a few hours of jotting down thoughts in my diary.
November 4, 2025 at 4:46 PM
On my way to Salisbury. Long train rides are perfect for moments of reflection. My sabbatical of this past year has changed me in ways I couldn't have predicted. Feeling refreshed and ready for change after a few hours of jotting down thoughts in my diary.
There were somewhat dark times in my life where nothing could lift my spirits like listening to this intro.
D'Angelo, you will be forever missed.
D'Angelo, you will be forever missed.
November 4, 2025 at 9:31 AM
There were somewhat dark times in my life where nothing could lift my spirits like listening to this intro.
D'Angelo, you will be forever missed.
D'Angelo, you will be forever missed.
Kind of guilt-tripped over this drawing because I willed a bumble bee to sit still for a few seconds so I could draw it better, then it...fell dead from its flower. I eh...sorry, little fella 😢❤️🩹
July 21, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Kind of guilt-tripped over this drawing because I willed a bumble bee to sit still for a few seconds so I could draw it better, then it...fell dead from its flower. I eh...sorry, little fella 😢❤️🩹
Reposted by Soumya Shyam
Me*script feedback*: And maybe don't describe your Black woman as "sassy".
Them: Why?
Me: Exactly. The fact that you have to ask says everything.
Them: But why, tho'?
Me: Because Black women get penalised for doing what every other woman does without being called "sassy".
They did not get it. 🤷🏾
Them: Why?
Me: Exactly. The fact that you have to ask says everything.
Them: But why, tho'?
Me: Because Black women get penalised for doing what every other woman does without being called "sassy".
They did not get it. 🤷🏾
May 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Me*script feedback*: And maybe don't describe your Black woman as "sassy".
Them: Why?
Me: Exactly. The fact that you have to ask says everything.
Them: But why, tho'?
Me: Because Black women get penalised for doing what every other woman does without being called "sassy".
They did not get it. 🤷🏾
Them: Why?
Me: Exactly. The fact that you have to ask says everything.
Them: But why, tho'?
Me: Because Black women get penalised for doing what every other woman does without being called "sassy".
They did not get it. 🤷🏾
Whenever the 'magic rules vs magic wonder' debate pops up I think of MCs in 'wonder'-type settings that learn to control magic by harnessing their emotions - not by suppressing them, but by actually feeling them. So I tend to think of the debate as 'rules vs feeling' more than 'rules vs no rules'.
"I DON'T WANT YOUR STUPID MAGIC RULES" has been an item on my "column topics for someday" list for a very long time, so it was very fun to see it cropping up all over my feed this week!
Anyway if you like rules I'm happy for you but I'm not reading all that. This one is for the chaos babies.
Anyway if you like rules I'm happy for you but I'm not reading all that. This one is for the chaos babies.
Magic Doesn't Have to Make Sense - Reactor
In praise of fantasy that embraces rebellious, lawless, and delightfully un-rulebound magic.
reactormag.com
May 23, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Whenever the 'magic rules vs magic wonder' debate pops up I think of MCs in 'wonder'-type settings that learn to control magic by harnessing their emotions - not by suppressing them, but by actually feeling them. So I tend to think of the debate as 'rules vs feeling' more than 'rules vs no rules'.
Look, do you want a wondrous world you can get lost in or do you want an instruction manual?
when people ask me "how the magic system works" I tend to get defensive because the truth is I really don't know and it's not important, I don't even know how the washing machine works but guess what it still cleans clothes. as a novelist my domain is lies and frippery
May 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Look, do you want a wondrous world you can get lost in or do you want an instruction manual?
Sun's out! That means it's time to write Particularly Dark Scenes!
May 13, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Sun's out! That means it's time to write Particularly Dark Scenes!
I experimented and made fried garlic in the microwave in all of five minutes.
Safe to say this is going to be the greatest lifehack of all time.
Safe to say this is going to be the greatest lifehack of all time.
May 12, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I experimented and made fried garlic in the microwave in all of five minutes.
Safe to say this is going to be the greatest lifehack of all time.
Safe to say this is going to be the greatest lifehack of all time.
What are you wearing to bsky prom?
May 9, 2025 at 9:21 PM
What are you wearing to bsky prom?
Been exactly as described in this video since the day I was born. With no Benjamin Buttonesque developments so far.
6 Psychological Reasons You Start Avoiding People More as You Age - & Why It's Completely Normal.
👍 # 1. Your tolerance for NONSENSE 🤡 drops to near zero.
@kimwhysallhammond.bsky.social
@henseljim1.bsky.social
@amsickofpollies.bsky.social
@theothermike.bsky.social
youtu.be/0dwV6nfHnTI?...
👍 # 1. Your tolerance for NONSENSE 🤡 drops to near zero.
@kimwhysallhammond.bsky.social
@henseljim1.bsky.social
@amsickofpollies.bsky.social
@theothermike.bsky.social
youtu.be/0dwV6nfHnTI?...
6 Psychological Reasons You Start Avoiding People More as You Age and Why It's Completely Normal
YouTube video by Elderly Wisdom Path
youtu.be
May 9, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Been exactly as described in this video since the day I was born. With no Benjamin Buttonesque developments so far.
There apparently exists a plant called Hobbit Jade, and I'm now on my way to acquire one despite being a notorious plantkiller.
March 28, 2025 at 9:46 AM
There apparently exists a plant called Hobbit Jade, and I'm now on my way to acquire one despite being a notorious plantkiller.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep ended the way The Little Mermaid live action remake should have.
February 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep ended the way The Little Mermaid live action remake should have.
Trying to figure out how to turn my first draft into a lubberkin. Some may say it is ugly, but I, as its mother, can feel it has a beating heart, and know I just need to do the magical thing to calm it down.
a frog with a big mouth is sticking its head out of a hole .
ALT: a frog with a big mouth is sticking its head out of a hole .
media.tenor.com
February 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Trying to figure out how to turn my first draft into a lubberkin. Some may say it is ugly, but I, as its mother, can feel it has a beating heart, and know I just need to do the magical thing to calm it down.
Unless...the pen is actually a quill made from a feather of the mighty feathered sky serpent, Quetzalcoatl!
The pen truly is mightier than the sword...until the other guy wises up, stops dipping his sword into the inkwell, and just stabs the other guy.
(The other guy proceeds to try and stab back, but then pen falls short there)
(The other guy proceeds to try and stab back, but then pen falls short there)
February 9, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Unless...the pen is actually a quill made from a feather of the mighty feathered sky serpent, Quetzalcoatl!
This seal gets it. Grab your me-time sweetie. People will adjust.
www.channelnewsasia.com/world/seal-h...
www.channelnewsasia.com/world/seal-h...
February 5, 2025 at 10:13 AM
This seal gets it. Grab your me-time sweetie. People will adjust.
www.channelnewsasia.com/world/seal-h...
www.channelnewsasia.com/world/seal-h...
I love me an antagonist (or swayed side character) that says something along the lines of 'don't be idealistic, naive and childish, there's no use fighting the system, instead grow up and learn how to play the game.' Ok Saruman, just admit the system promises a place for you while oppressing others.
February 4, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I love me an antagonist (or swayed side character) that says something along the lines of 'don't be idealistic, naive and childish, there's no use fighting the system, instead grow up and learn how to play the game.' Ok Saruman, just admit the system promises a place for you while oppressing others.
Soumya-coded characters
February 1, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Soumya-coded characters
Just finished The Cook of Castamar on Netflix not wanting to leave its Spanish romantasy setting. But sometimes the TBR gods are silently watching over us. Started reading The Curse of Chalion right after not knowing anything about it and am loving its Iberia-inspired setting. With romance looming..
January 24, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Just finished The Cook of Castamar on Netflix not wanting to leave its Spanish romantasy setting. But sometimes the TBR gods are silently watching over us. Started reading The Curse of Chalion right after not knowing anything about it and am loving its Iberia-inspired setting. With romance looming..
Studying garlic was so much fun that I now wonder why I never majored in garlic. The economic sciences taste like ash in my mouth now. Give me allium sciences. (2B pencil on textured paper.)
January 21, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Studying garlic was so much fun that I now wonder why I never majored in garlic. The economic sciences taste like ash in my mouth now. Give me allium sciences. (2B pencil on textured paper.)
I really feel this. When we don't experience acute worries as a society and enjoy the noble-/grimbright life, we tend to think of art as something that 'merely' entertains and touches hearts. Beautiful and welcome, but not necessarily saving lives - at least not on a collective scale.
Creatives, listen up.
I know it sucks. I know it's hard.
But art isn't about making things when it's easy and good and comfy.
Art is rebellion. Art is rage. Art is protest. Art is political fire.
Write it. Draw it. Sculpt it. Build it. If you cannot find the joy, do it out of spite and fury.
I know it sucks. I know it's hard.
But art isn't about making things when it's easy and good and comfy.
Art is rebellion. Art is rage. Art is protest. Art is political fire.
Write it. Draw it. Sculpt it. Build it. If you cannot find the joy, do it out of spite and fury.
January 21, 2025 at 11:29 AM
I really feel this. When we don't experience acute worries as a society and enjoy the noble-/grimbright life, we tend to think of art as something that 'merely' entertains and touches hearts. Beautiful and welcome, but not necessarily saving lives - at least not on a collective scale.
Just a gentle reminder that sometimes, the most wondrous and fantastical of worlds is the one we already live in. (These are white-spotted jellyfish.)
January 20, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Just a gentle reminder that sometimes, the most wondrous and fantastical of worlds is the one we already live in. (These are white-spotted jellyfish.)
Contrary to societal and familial opinions, my high school Latin classes have proven very useful in the real world indeed! Worldbuilding for a new story and did not look up a single word or declension for my Roman-inspired world.
January 18, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Contrary to societal and familial opinions, my high school Latin classes have proven very useful in the real world indeed! Worldbuilding for a new story and did not look up a single word or declension for my Roman-inspired world.
I cannot quite express how beautiful this place is - and how much my worldbuilding sensors are going into OVERDRIVE.
November 13, 2024 at 3:54 PM
I cannot quite express how beautiful this place is - and how much my worldbuilding sensors are going into OVERDRIVE.
Also, forget about the coffee entirely after drawing, leaving it to ferment, congeal and produce the swamp monsters that will pose for your next drawing.
being an artist is simple
Step 1 : make coffee
Step 2 : get absorbed by drawing & forget about coffee
Step 3 : get a sip of cold coffee (nightmare realm experience)
Step 4 : repeat cycle
Step 1 : make coffee
Step 2 : get absorbed by drawing & forget about coffee
Step 3 : get a sip of cold coffee (nightmare realm experience)
Step 4 : repeat cycle
November 8, 2024 at 12:59 AM
Also, forget about the coffee entirely after drawing, leaving it to ferment, congeal and produce the swamp monsters that will pose for your next drawing.
Some things that have captured my heart forever are:
⭐️ The Tombs of Atuan
⭐️ Final Fantasy
⭐️ Mahabharata
⭐️ Assassin's Creed Origins
⭐️ The Empress Ki
⭐️ Queen Charlotte
⭐️ Baahubali
⭐️ The Lions of Al-Rassan
⭐️ Ghost of Tsushima
⭐️ Elden Ring (=unrequited love. Very much so.)
⭐️ The Tombs of Atuan
⭐️ Final Fantasy
⭐️ Mahabharata
⭐️ Assassin's Creed Origins
⭐️ The Empress Ki
⭐️ Queen Charlotte
⭐️ Baahubali
⭐️ The Lions of Al-Rassan
⭐️ Ghost of Tsushima
⭐️ Elden Ring (=unrequited love. Very much so.)
November 7, 2024 at 6:15 PM