docta-equinox

[docta-equinox]

Well now im curious.

 Hey btw, another worldbuilding thing: You can, and actually should have weird and impractical cultural things. They’re not inherently unrealistic, for as long as you address the realistic consequences as well.

 Let’s say you’ve got a city where there’s tame white doves everywhere. They’re not pests, they’re regarded as sacred, holy protectors of the city, and the whole city cares for them and feeds them like they’re pets. They’re so tame because it’s a social taboo to hurt or scare one. Nice pretty doves :)

 Then someone points out that even if they’re not seen as pests, doesn’t having a completely unchecked feral pigeon population - that not only isn’t being culled, but actively fed and cared for - mean that there would be bird shit absolutely all over the place?

 A part of you wants to say no, because these are your nice, pretty doves. To explain that there’s a reason why they’re not shitting all over the place, maybe they’re super-intelligent and specifically bred and trained to not shit all over the place. The logistics of how, exactly, could anyone breed and train a flock of feral birds go unaddressed.

 An even worse solution would be to not have those birds, editing them out of the world. No, they spark joy, you can’t just toss them out!

 Now, consider: Yes, yes they would, but the city also has an extensive public sanitation service that’s occupied 90% of the time by cleaning bird shit off of everything. One of the most common last names in the area actually translates to “one who scrapes off dove shit”, and it’s a highly respected occupation. And thanks to the sheer necessity of constantly regularly cleaning everything, the city enjoys a much higher standard of cleanliness, and less public health issues caused by poor public sanitation.

 The doves do protect the city. By shitting fucking everywhere.

[docta-equinox]

I've no idea where this might be from, but I'm loving the concept.

SHADO Skydiver on UFO

[docta-equinox]

Skellies

Art by Leszek Woź

[docta-equinox]

I'd play that.

Inverted doki doki literature club where you think you’re playing a psychological horror game but it is slowly revealed to be an upbeat dating sim/visual novel

[docta-equinox]

Things to Consider when Creating a Magic System

What are the drawbacks of using magic? Does it have mental, physical, and/or emotional consequences for the user?

What tools are needed to harness magic? Wands? Spells? Magical artifacts?

How do people learn magic? Instinct? In school? From family members?

Can everyone use magic or are only certain people capable of using it?

Is the capability to use magic hereditary? What about different ways of using magic (transformation powers, teleportation, etc.)?

What is impossible for magic to do?

How long does it take to master different magical skills?

Can creatures other than humans learn magic? Are different creatures better at using different kinds of magic?

Does it require spells to be spoken, written, or thought?

Is it possible for someone to lose their magical abilities?

How do characters’ emotions affect their ability to use magic? Do their emotions affect the magic’s intensity or controllability? 

How does the strength of a person’s magical abilities change as they age?

Can people normally perform any kind of magic or can they only perform things that fall under their specialty? Are their exceptions?

What rules restrict magic use in society?

How do people’s magical abilities impact their career prospects?

What kinds of magic are the most feared or seen as the most powerful? Which are seen as mere jokes?

How do people use magic to help with everyday tasks?

Can magical energy be stored for later use?

What objects or other factors can amplify someone’s magical powers?

When do magical abilities initially manifest? From birth? At a certain age? Under certain conditions?

What is the first spell a character is likely to learn?

What happens if a spell is performed incorrectly? Nothing at all? A weaker version of the intended results? Pain?

Can different spell casting methods be used to obtain the same result? What are their advantages and disadvantages?

[docta-equinox]

I dunno what that said at the end but this was awesome!

Ch💓

[docta-equinox]

Oooh! Now thats interesting. The last time we saw anything on Venus was the russians, i think, and that was a while ago.

After more than 30 years of basically ignoring Earth’s so-called twin planet, NASA is prepping to revisit Venus. Twice. The two new missions, DAVINCI+ and VERITAS, are expected to launch sometime between 2028 and 2030, and will each get about $500 million for development.

Both missions were announced by NASA as the final selections for the 2019 Discovery competition, beating out two other candidates that proposed trips to the moons of Neptune and Jupiter.

DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging Plus) will launch instruments into Venus’s atmosphere to measure its gaseous composition, which will clue scientists in to why and how the planet became the scorching hot world it is today. The mission will also look at “tesserae,” Venus’s continent-like geological features that are suggestive of plate tectonics.

VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) will use radar and spectroscopy to map Venus in incredible detail, which will allow scientists to produce 3-D reconstructions of its surface. The mission will also try to identify the rock types on the planet and detect whether there are any active volcanoes.

Continue Reading.

[docta-equinox]

Cool.

The cool sci-fi sketches and paintings of Simon Tosovsky - https://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/the-sci-fi-sketches-paintings-of-simon-tosovsky/

[docta-equinox]

Wowie.

how do the centaurs sleep? and how do they stretch after a good sleep?

Ok this is one I’ve been wanting to cover for a while and my cooldown sketches got out of hand, so buckle up and enjoy the picturebook!

The easiest options is exactly what you think, the flop. In a home, thick carpets or tatami-like mats would provide at least some sort of cushion for the horse-half and various sized cushions and pillows to lift and support the top half. And they CAN sleep standing up, like horses, but it does require both a special harness/corset and practice. And it’s not very comfortable for anything deeper than a doze or catnap for most, so it’s mostly reserved for bad situations, naps, or guard duty.

Most common are recliners, or ‘hammocks’. Easy to fold and carry for cultures on the move, or make fancy for the city-folk they are probably the most ubiquitous of centaur furniture. A simple adjustable A-frame supporting some sort of flexible fabric-ish sheet for the top half to lean against and sleep. Usually paired with some sort of large blanket or padding on the ground to lay the horse-half on!

When you don’t have no fancy recliners, your herd will do! The preferred sleeping method of closely bonded herds is to simply rest on your buddies cushy backside! Roaming bands can often form long chains of sleeping centaurs with the unlucky first taur either on guard duty, sleeping sprawled, or with the group’s only hammock.

Mix and match to your character and herd’s personal preference!

Also stretchies!

[docta-equinox]

Goddamit...

I would eat that.

what the fuck is this monstrosity

[docta-equinox]

No fucking way did I just get reminded of those altiods. I loved them and have NEVER been able to remember what theY WERR CALLED THANK YOU.

nothing solidifies generational bond more than remembering discontinued candies that you can’t even be sure were real

[docta-equinox]

Oh that's cool.

Random mansion generator

The Procgen Mansion Generator produces large three-dee dwellings to toy with your imagination, offering various architectural styles and other options. Each mansion even comes with floorplans:

https://boingboing.net/2019/07/12/random-mansion-generator.html

[docta-equinox]

Incredible.

[docta-equinox]

That is one hell of a family.

Dummy, Son of thiqq

[docta-equinox]

Informative.

Teleportation, Telepathic Communication, and Friends

Teleportation and telepathic communication are perfectly normal things in the Spiral and aren't actually excessive to Wizards.

Teleportion is referred to as "Porting" and telepathic communication is called "Whispering"

There are certain areas in each world that people can port to without having to set a marker to port there. People can also port to their houses without any problems.

Porting to specific locations is a bit trickier. First, the person in question has to have been there before and they will have had to set a location marker to port to. People can only have 1 marked location at a time. If you try to mark a location when you already have one somewhere else, the old one with dissappear. Your porting mark will also dissappear once you port to it, so it's only a one use thing. When most people mark a location, they have to wait for a bit to be able to make another one. Wizards don't have to wait to place another marker, but they use mana when marking a location as a trade off.

There are some situations you can find yourself in that you can't port out of or that other people can't port to you, such as being kidnapped. The reason for this is unknown.

With some work and practice, some more powerful wizards can learn to port people other than themselves. Usually this takes the form of the wizard porting with the other person/people, but sometimes people can port other people places without porting themselves. Both of those takes a lot of practice and, especially at first, power.

The term "Friend" isn't just an abstract concept in the Spiral. People can still be friends without the documentation, but "Friends" is also an official title that has power. When two people become "friends" in the Spiral, they both agree to it in a magical sense. By doing that, they are magically bound together a tiny bit and able to port to one another and whisper to each other. Usually, when people do this, they have it written somewhere (such as a wizard's spell book) so as to better keep track of it, but it's not necessary.

However, there's a bit of a catch when it comes to the official "friends" title. It can only be applied to "your own kind" or people who do the same sort of thing you do. For example, Wizards can only document other wizards, pirates can only do it with other pirates, merchants with merchants, etc. That means that you don't get the benefits of porting or easily whispering to friends that are in different "organizations" so to speak.

While both people have to be in agreement to document each other as friends, the same cannot be said for ending it. One of them can just decide that they no longer want to be friends with the other and can just remove them, which will remove the magic bond that connected them and let them port and whisper to each other.

People can only handle a certain number of magic friend bonds. Once that number is hit, that person cannot accept anyone else as an official "friend" unless they remove one or more people from their friends bond

Whispering has 3 forms; 1 on 1 convsation, group convsation, and messaging.

1 on 1 convsation can only happen between two people who are magically documented/bonded as friends. To whisper to one of their friends, they have to mentally focus on sending a telepathic message to the friend they want to whisper to. When responding, the person who receives the whisper has to mentally focus on sending a telepathic message back to the person. The more you whisper to people, the easier it gets and less focus is needed, even to whisper to someone you've never whispered to before.

A group conversation whisper happens when someone decides to invite their friends to have one. The people in the group don't all have to be friends with each other, but they do have to be invited to the group by a friend who is in it or who made it. [Unlike in the actual game] You can be in multiple groups at the same time but it's not advised. If you are going to be in more than one group, it's best to only be in 2.

A Whispered message is a one way message that cannot be responded to. Unlike the other 2 forms of whispering, being friends is not required. A message can be sent to one person or multiple people. Messages tend to be short as well. Usually they are just telling people to come see the person who sent it or announcing an event that is happening. This form of whispering is much harder to do than the other two

[docta-equinox]

Bro how dare you expose me like this.

meirl

[docta-equinox]

Play that funky beat young man

The Hague, Netherlands: Spanish street musician Borja Catanesi and the 68 year old dancer from The Hague mr Roland Parijs