oakdrawss

[oakdrawss]

Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Bonus I

The infamous, nocturnal prowler of The Marrows. A monster resembling the luring fish of the depths, now lurking shallow waves in search of mightier prey. To most, the Night Angler will prove the first real threat faced along their journey. Her appetite punishes the folly of those who do not heed the early warnings of the mayor… at least, those who do so without the proper precautions. If her imposing mass or her ferocity was not enough clue to her otherworldly nature, one cannot deny her supernatural guise. From afar, the beast casts the ominous mirage of a lone fishing ship. If sounded at with a horn, her song echoes the call to add to the illusion; however, once she has spotted her target, she charges in single-minded aggression. As the false vessel emerges from the fog, its silhouette gives way to 8 eyes cast in the glow of the dangling light. What follows is a snap of teeth and splinters, and to the fortunate, a panicked rush back to port before she can return. This is the predator which quickly becomes familiar to the fisherman from early on in the story, but there is more to her than what can be seen just above the water.

An Abyssal Outcast

Following the pattern that all of the unnatural wonders of the sea were born from the corruption of the Deep, it can be readily imagined how the same madness twisted a once simple fish into this cunning nightmare. Nonetheless, the Night Angler’s exact origins are not so easy to conclude.

The anglerfish, which she shares the most of her looks with, would be nothing short of out of place in that bay. Typically, they are lethargic hunters, they call the eternal blackness of the ocean’s midnight zone their territory, and they are seldom spotted in range of the Marrows, even though they are frequently spotted in the Stellar Basin. While it is certainly possible that… “other forces” deterred the Night Angler away from the depths, one also cannot dismiss the possibility that the monster had actually belonged where it prowls all along. Native black groupers are harvested plentifully along the shallow coastlines of Little and Greater Marrow. They too only emerge under the cover of night, and grouper fish can be highly aggressive when protecting their home and in pursuing their prey. They are even known to produce “booming” vocalizations of their own as a threat display.

Either candidate could be a most likely answer to the Night Angler’s true identity, still ultimately left to others’ speculation.

Siren of the Night

Whatever the creature’s past, the present finds a menace to all nocturnal seafarers in the Night Angler. After the brine is obscured by the mysterious fog of this sea, she patrols her territory for interlopers, occasionally sounding off the distorted blare of a fishing ship. If called to with one’s onboard horn, the night angler will actually respond in turn as she begins her pursuit- similar to a twisted game of Marco-Polo. For her size, she moves with a frightening speed and does not give up a chase easily. The standard fishing boat, with no additional improvements, and rotten luck, stands no chance of surviving multiple engagements with her on the open waters. Indeed, this false ship may very well be the cause behind the previous Marrow fisherman’s disappearance.

Additionally, her mimicry ability seems to be tied with the fog itself. Whether the great fish can actually command its power or simply benefits from the miasma’s effect on humans, her true form is revealed by the light.

While she shuns the radiance of civilization, she is drawn to shiplights. It is no wonder she prefers the dark when it makes light itself such a powerful tool to hunt by.

Tactics

For all her eerie tricks and reputation, the Night Angler is thankfully well-countered with a little foresight and caution. She mainly exists to feast on the callow who would fall for the ship-in-the- distance ruse, and this disguise actually puts her at a disadvantage against the more wary. Her light juts out against the darkness at a great distance, and her patrol route is actually easily avoidable. She tends to keep to the south end of the Marrows undisturbed, and will only give pursuit if she detects a boat by sight or sound. Obviously, use of the foghorn during the night in this area is to be avoided unless one, for whatever reason, wants to draw the creature’s attention. Keeping the lights off can drastically reduce her detection range, at the trade off for the fisherman’s own peace of mind. The Night Angler rises from the depths at around 8:30pm each night, and retreats back between the times of 3:30am and 4am. In a chase, she can be outmaneuvered by a powerful enough engine set up, and will not follow a ship into the safety of the dock lights. Failing all else, the words of banishment can send the Night Angler into retreat, at least for time enough to find refuge.

*Note- Oftentimes, when nerves are running thin on the open waters, or around other regions, some may have spotted what appears to be the night angler’s illusion, to great concern. If one is not in range of her territory, rest can be assured. This vessel is also a lie told by the fog, but it is a harmless one that will dissipate on approach. Curiously, it will mimic a foghorn sequence blown to it as well, but it serves no further purpose than a mildly spooky encounter. You will never find The Night Angler far beyond the range of Blackstone Isle. After all, the other 5 areas already have their own monsters.

[oakdrawss]

The Night Angler is so baby girl actually I love her so much like

Work it

stunning

[oakdrawss]

i've been reading a lot of het romance in the past year (here distinguished from m/f as a whole because i want to speak specifically to how straight people write*) and i really, really need straight romance authors to read how gay people talk about the people they're attracted to and learn from it.

(*which doesn't mean i think 'they're both bisexual' inherently makes an m/f couple more interesting but that's another post)

there's this way of writing that like, is very clearly making sure the characters actually Like each other and Enjoy Being In Each Other's Company which is fantastic i do love that. But, there's a real training wheels set of tropes to writing attraction between these leads that always highlights the same features (i don't have to enumerate the fixation on men having broad shoulders we're all familiar) without any sense of specificity. i do not care about this man being generic brand hot, i wanna know what insanely granular detail only our heroine has noticed that shuts off her higher brain functions.

now i appreciate that i, as a lesbian, am not the target demographic of het romance--but i also know that my mom (a certified 100% heterosexual) has been complaining about the protagonists of romance novels being generic brand hot for years. even As A Dyke, if you write with enough particularities about what your heroine is into about this man i should be able to see what she sees

specificity is the key to eroticism!!! straight authors need to be writing their characters like horny posts about alfred molina and i'm NOT kidding

[oakdrawss]

always struck when the uk government says "there is no place for knife crime in our society" because then I start trying to think of a society fully oriented around knife crime

[oakdrawss]

you know what? fuck you [conner nopedogifies your grian]

[oakdrawss]

some fae lore

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some fae lore

[oakdrawss]

Some aasimon thoughts and lore for my setting, which is basically just modified Forgotten Realms lore. Sorry for the wall of text…

[Please do not post anywhere else.]

[oakdrawss]

dnd character design :] !!!

[oakdrawss]

[oakdrawss]

shooo

[oakdrawss]

Here are my thoughts and headcanons on pixies! :3 I like making fey a bit weird and less human-looking.

[Please do not post anywhere else.]

[oakdrawss]

Also btw trump recognizing only "the two biological sexes" harms intersex people too. I am a researcher of sex and it's affects on disease, and sex is far more complicated than "two sexes" and it always will be. Sex is multifaceted and there are far more than two binary sexes. Keep that in mind too. Don't fall into bioessentialism as you fight for trans people and intersex people.

[oakdrawss]

idk who needs to hear this but if you signed up for a free trial for some subscription you don’t plan to keep bc you needed short-term access, go cancel it rn before you get charged

[oakdrawss]

if you're subscribed to Microsoft word, you probably received an email recently saying they're upping their prices. Like, a lot. ($9.99/month instead of $6.99)

guess what though? you can log into your account, click Cancel Subscription, and get the option to continue your subscription at the same price WITHOUT their bullshit AI.

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you can also choose to buy Word 2024 without AI for a single lump sum that will be yours in perpetuity, with no updates, for one computer.

Check your subscription if you need Word for work! Don't get duped into paying for something you might not even want

[oakdrawss]