#Aether Talks

[riordanverseaddict]

Happy birthday Jason Grace. You would've been 30, but you are forever 16 after being skewered :')

[planetaryaethertalks]

Thoughts on "Llamas With Hats: Epilogue"

Like many people who grew up in the early 2010s, I have always had a special place in my heart for Lamas with Hats and how it transitioned short-form absurdist comedy into a broader story. What, now 15 years, later strikes me about the epilogue is how it reshapes the main message of the series in a way that feels like it has grown and aged with the changing times.

The original ending, sad and unceremonious does fit the series as a whole and looking back on it, it speaks to the sensibilities of the time - it was made around the rise of 'dark humor' as a mainstay in internet content and it illustrates the desire for stories with steaks and consequences. This particularly spoke to many young people who, as they are entering adolescence, grew tired of "happily-ever-afters" and the want for connection to the broader world - a world that they were just coming to understand the dark, complex, and scary nature of.

The new ending, likewise, reflects the new understanding of the world that its original audience now holds. We have experienced and watched death, destruction, and interpersonal conflicts similar to that "Lamas with Hats" touches on (albeit with less eating of hands). Constantly being bombarded with images and videos of tragedies all around the world has withered the appeal of hopeless endings. The new ending does not change any of the death or destruction Carl caused, humanity is still extinct and the world is still mostly reduced to rubble and sand, but there is still hope, not for those who have lost their lives, but for a better future.

Even someone as violent and selfish as Carl has the potential to change. That doesn't make them any less dangerous to be around or that their past actions should be forgotten, but that everyone can change for the better - but only if they choose to of their own free will, that you cannot (regardless of how much you care about the person or how damaging their actions are) make then want to change. Carl's change into a tree both symbolizes a literal rebirth and a metaphorical one, but his new form does not have agency in the world. He cannot move, we do not see him speak, he cannot hurt anyone anymore. For him, only by giving up all that he was could he begin anew.

On a smaller note, with his reincarnation, also brings hope for those he had killed in his previous life, that perhaps they too are somewhere in a new form with a new life. The harm that was done to them and to the world will never be undone, but the future will be better, kinder.

These are the hopes that I, along with many others, hope for the future of the real world. The dead are dead, the trauma inflicted, but the future doesn't need to be as harsh as the past and in this way I think the epilogue does an amazing job of keeping true to the characters and the world of the original while speaking to the new needs and experiences of its audience.

[thrice-iterations]

✦ Just got off at a "worm-ridden" planet. I'm finding an abundance of fauna here, but no worms in the soil. Is this a mislabeling?

[irvkazestar]

grb

i need motivation to write someone hear my pleas

[lifetrader]

give me challenges for my survival mc world ... please ? :3

no modded stuff im playing vanilla </3

[twinsyy]

one of my most favourite things in sagau is the special connection the traveler has with the player (or creator)

i absorbed the idea that the traveller would be scared about the whole controlling their body and they cant do anything to prevent it thing the first time it happens

the first time it happens is, of course, after your game first loaded teyvat. when your hold over their world was first established

that beach, the beginning of your journey. and the first time traveller had felt completely powerless against a higher and unknown being as a traveller of worlds

paimon feels robotic. it’s like she is following a script, her movements calculated and unnaturally stiff

‘something is wrong,’ the traveller thought. ‘she was… normal earlier.’

because the teyvat world already existed before you entered it. you just condemned them to follow a code in place of their real and alive selves the moment you clicked to play this game

i like to imagine they slowly gain awareness. but the traveller being the most aware. and with the most developed opinion of you

they were scared at first, but when they gradually realized you were on their side. that you were helping them. guiding their hand with yours and journey this new land in a way they agree with

how could they not gain a sense of respect and admiration for you?

and since paimon is so close with the traveller, she was quick to become self aware like the traveller

and with or without the teyvat hero, more characters realize their existence. as well as realize how adoring you are

[solargeist]

grian and his watcher studies

[itstimetoghoul]

I was JUST looking through all your art and sighing wistfully, so it's extra wonderful to see you back! Could we get some celebratory dewther? :)))

Aether is enjoying Dew's info dump about the current rituals :)

full shot under readmore vvv

also i totally traced this couch i am terrible at furniture.

[tales-from-the-aether-ttrpg]

Something thats always bugged me about dnd and pathfinder’s gods is that… they are basically monotheism in polytheism wrapping AND there is no actual religion present. The lore is so obsessed with these beings as people with their extensive histories and active presence in the setting that they completely forgot to actually create religions surrounding them.

What does casual worship look like for any of these gods? Could you tell me? What does prayer actually look like? Is there specific times of the day in which you must pray for certain gods? Is there certain attire you must wear to show your faith? Are there certain foods you cannot eat? Are there certain foods that are elevated above the rest for your faith? What kind of offerings are expected everyday? Do they expect offerings everyday or on a certain day of the week? Do they expect physical offerings at all? Do they ask for sacrifices of material goods, animals, people? Why? Why do you worship this deity? How does that actually affect ur daily life? How is worship different for a cleric, paladin, priest, or casual believer? What kinds of swears, curses, exclamations, etc are associated with this religion? Are there certain activities that are banned within your religion? How strictly does the religion police its worshiper’s actions? What kind of philosophies do they preach or disavow?

These and many more are the elements that form real world religions and are absent in most fantasy “religions” including popular ttrpgs. I cant even call these faiths religions because they really arent. One god in these settings should have 20 different religions built around them that all disagree on how the god’s domain, history, and personality should be interpreted. Maybe 2 or 4 of them would be main stream but there should be more than just one monolithic faith surrounding a god. And stop calling it polytheism. Please for the love of everything. Polytheism is a type of religion that worships multiple gods at once. Faith in dnd and pathfinder is largely monotheistic because the players choose one god they like and ignore all the rest.

I am not trying to put the responsibility of creating all these religions on gms - im pointing out that the creators of these ttrpgs did all of us a huge disservice. Religion is such an expansive and fascinating and diverse concept in the real world that it infuriates me to see it reduced to choosing a god you like and thats it. And im agnostic irl!

I was talking to my cowriter about this for the lore in my ttrpg and it got me really rilled up XD Religion can be beautiful or terrible or a mixture of both. It can save people from the world’s darkness or bring out their own inner darkness. It deserves more than a cliff-notes table of deities to choose from and half baked lore about the gods without examining the actual faith they inspire in others :/

[genderlessghoul]

Impera military jackets, let's talk about them! Yes, I've already made a post about the ghouls' jackets and Copia's Kaisarion black and gold jacket. But! This time we're comparing the ghouls' jackets to Copia's Watcher in the Sky one, because they look so similar.

(This entire post steams from someone on Tiktok saying that the top left picture is Copia's costume and me having to be right about everything, all of the time btw)

OKAY SO!! First difference and most obvious!

The ghouls' jackets have epaulettes while Copia's doesnt. To be noted that the epaulettes are removable and are held in place with either magnets or velcro. I'm more inclined to believe velcro since it's already used on the shoulder patches of the vest.

Second difference!

The arm zippers are bronze or gold for the ghouls but black for Copia. I'm not 100% sure if Copia's are metal or if they're heavy dury plastic, but the ghouls' are absolutely metal zippers.

Next detail, one of my favourite and the reason why I know the very first picture is not Copia's!

The ghouls all have an Impera patch on their left arm, which is absent on Copia's costume! This picture is a great reminder of just how small Dewdrop is. Lolk at him, he looks as wide as a paper sheet.

Moving on to the last one, which I just noticed while looking for pictures to make this post!

Copia's jacket is a lot less distressed than the ghouls'! The hem of the lapel is still left raw for a bit of distressing but there's none of that white stitching that you see on Dew's costume or paint that you see on Phantom's. Which is another difference I've noticed, by the way.

All the older ghouls have white stitching on their jackets to make it look like they've been through a lot and were just stitched back together. Phantom's has a bit of visible patching up, but it was weathered instead of stitched. I'm confident the reason for this is simply because it was not made at the same time as the others, but I still thought it was worth mentioning.

[bonesy-doodles]

TELL US ALL OF YOUR GHOUL HEADCANONS ‼️🙏💕

I mean, you asked for this!!! This is probably not all of my headcanons, just the ones I could remember off the top of my head, as this is all still a work in progress for me!

I will also include the Ghouls pictures again so people can refer back their designs cause I do touch on design choices for them as they, to me, are included in headcanons as every makes their ghouls unique on some way.

Okay, first up!

DEWDROP!!

There’s a lot for this man. So, Dewdrop used to be a water ghoul, however he’s not a multighoul like Swiss, Sunshine and Aurora because his element was transmuted during the binding ritual when he was passed from Terzo to Copia. So, my brain thought “what is water-like fire” and it landed on magma! So that’s why he looks volcanic. His gills closed over and became lava cracks, his fish scales became reptilian, and now he runs hot like a furnace. His ears are pointed like fire ghouls, but have points kinda like fish fins still. Dew also has fire manipulation and can essentially ignite fires (commits minor arson constantly) but that’s how he lights his cigarettes. He still has retained a great lung capacity and can hold his breath long enough to almost rival Rain’s infinite breath. The biggest trouble maker of the Ghouls and the worst influence on newer ghouls (i.e Phantom). He’s the shortest of the dudes, but makes up for it by setting you on fire if you make short jokes.

Also!!! I am a defender of the dark-hair Dewdrop design!! I know it’s very common for him to have blonde or white hair, but it was just not giving for this design. I tried, I promise! (I’m glad I’ve been seeing people love it though! My agenda is spreading!)

For fire ghoul visuals, I definitely focused on emulating glowing flame visuals, using red, orange, yellow, and white to give that effect with browns and blacks to make them look crispy. Scales and long pointed ears that go upward are also common for fire ghouls.

PHANTOM

Quintessence Ghouls are basically space and/or ghostly types of ghouls, as quintessence to me is everything between the elements and makes up everything (like stardust!!) Phantom, as a Quintessence ghoul can “see beyond the elements” with what I call aura reading at the moment, like seeing vibes and emotions. They can also float! Or slow their falls essentially. Not really fly like air ghouls. Phantom is actually, to me, one of the three most chaotic ghouls, alongside Dew and Swiss, and causes a lot of chaos at the Ministry. My favorite joke with my two wives who I discuss all this lore with often is that Phantom once pissed in the Unholy Water Bowl in the West Chapel right before a midnight mass, which caused a lot of problems for the Ghoul Den Overseer. Just to illustrate the shit Phantom pulls at the Ministry.

But specifically for Phantoms visuals, he reminds me of the moon, the tone of gray, his swirling vitiligo-esc patches. He has really dark eyes which is not very common for Quintessence ghouls.

AETHER

The second tallest and most beefiest of all the Ghouls. I mean, have you seen the arms on that man!!!! Like Phantom, Aether has the aura reading ability and is the expert at floating and slowing his falls (it’s how he achieves all the wild jumps on stage, like dude gets air time). His freckles actually form constellations, and on his shoulder you can see the Big Dipper cause he’s a big guy (yes that’s the joke, that’s why I gave him the Big Dipper). Aether acts as one of the minders of the Ghoul Den, kind of like the exasperated dad of the group. Tries his best to fix the chaos the other Ghouls cause to lessen the work of the Ghoul Den Overseer, put out Dew’s fires, etc. Also a fuzzy guy, which is uncommon for Quintessence ghouls, like he’s so soft somehow.

For Quintessence Ghoul designs, I really wanted to focus on the space aspect. All of them have space freckles, and their horns all swirl in some way (Phantom and Auroras swirling physically, and Aethers have swirling grooves/markings on them). Also, their ears are bovine-like in someways, cause I’ve always categorized Aether as like a space cow in my head. Their color palettes usually veer towards magenta, purple, and indigo (cause those are my favorite colors and Quintessence ghouls are my favorite).

RAIN

As a water ghoul, Rain has gills, fins on various parts of his body, and webbed fingers and toes (it’s a bit freaky). Also, serrated teeth like a piranha. If you’ve ever touched a fish, that wet feeling of their scales is how it feels to touch him. He can breathe underwater with his gills and will often be found in the lakes on the Ministry’s grounds when he needs to chill. His tail is a bit thick than other ghouls, as well as finned to help with swimming. Also water manipulation abilities! (It’s giving Cleo from H2O). He’s also bioluminescent! His scales and the lighter markings on him all glow

He does participate in problem causing sometimes, but is also exasperated mom of the group (cue his disappointed mom pose of hands on hips). Aether and Rain are the duo that hold Dew up by his arms while he’s trying to sprint towards trouble. Rain often has his hair pulled back in pony tails, or braided as he has a lot of hair, and it’s gets in the way while he’s swimming.

Water ghouls in general have everything above that I’ve already mentioned for Rain, all the fish like aspects. They tend to be blue toned and have a variety of scale coloration, often green, blue and purple in tones (duochrome, iridescent, pearlescent, etc).

MOUNTAIN

Biggest of the Ghouls and third beefiest! He’s also fuzzy! Mountain has a connection with the earth (duh, all earth ghouls do), which allows them to feel the “heartbeat of the earth”, gives them that killer rhythm on the drums. He’s big into growing plants and taking care of the Ministry’s gardens, which he excels in as Earth ghouls also can affect plant growth as well as other earth things like soil. The flowers behind his ear in the art are actually Belladonna, also known as Deadly Nightshade!

Mountain also has two ways to shift himself, one being normal legs and his most natural ghoul state is hoofed/goat legs, which is why he doesn’t like wearing shoes (it’s a weird feeling). His horns are gigantic as Earth ghoul horns tend to be, and have a cracked earth/clay patterning (his very first design iteration had cracked clay skin, but I did not like how it looked). His coloration and markings are very deer like, along with his ears. Mountain is very quiet compared to the rest of the Ghouls, he gives cryptid energy while at the Ministry.

Earth ghouls in general tend to lean towards more green and brown tones, with the previously mentioned giant horns. They can also have a variety of mammal like variations to them, but the most common is forest animals like deer, beer, wolves, coyotes, etc. They tend to be the fluffiest of the ghouls, and also the biggest. It’s just natural for them to be tall.

SWISS

Being a multighoul of all elements, he basically is a shadow ghoul (mix all paint colors and you get dark brown/black was my idea). He’s the third tallest and the second beefiest ghoul. Swiss has shadow manipulation abilities and can kinda merge into the shadows, which he uses to sneak around, cause problems and prank people. Also as a multighoul of all elements, he can kind of emulate abilities of other elements, like him being able to hold his breathe underwater longer than natural, his singing voice is siren-like similar to air ghouls, etc. He’s also fuzzy!!

Also, Swiss is the biggest accessorizer and has the most piercings of all the ghouls. He likes how it gives him some pizzazz. Also has gifted every ghoul at least one set of jewelry they are ornamented with (thought it was funny to get Dew the upside cross earrings).

And Satanas, the shit this man gets up to. There is a reason he’s on his stage of shame most of the time. Swiss enables all of Dew’s chaos with a giant smile on his face. It’s like winding up a toy and letting it spin.

Little side note about Multighouls, there are only two all element Multighouls in the Ministry, one being Swiss, the other actually being Phil! The Special Ghoul! He was once seen playing several instruments, signifying his elemental range, but tends to keep to himself compared to Swiss.

AURORA

The newest multighoul, and second multighoulette! Aurora is dual elemental, Air and Quintessence which together makes her embody an Aurora Borealis (her name sake). With her two elements, she gets her skin coloration and patterning, eyes, and swirling horn from her Quintessence aspect. Her space freckles are a bit more on the bluer side due to the air aspect however, as well as her second set of horns as air ghouls often have two sets of horns or two pronged horns. Her ears are bovine and bat-like. She has smaller wings compared to a full air ghoul, but her floating ability also helps. It’s a very interesting combo to watch. Also, her hair is just naturally like that, no hair dye involved. Don’t ask her how it changes color as it grows, she doesn’t know.

Aurora is probably the most energetic of the Ghoulettes, and is besties with Swiss. Is constantly helping him get into shit. In general is an accomplice to Swiss and the Ghoulettes. She loves being involved in the shit they all pull. And despite her stature, as the shortest of all the Ghouls, she will body a bitch (the shorter you are the closer to hell you get)!

CUMULUS

The biggest, fluffiest hair. It’s so long and so much and it’s her pride and joy! It’s how she got the name Cumulus because of how much it reminded Copia of cumulus clouds. As an Air ghoul, Cumulus has large bat-like wings that allow her to fly. They can be folded and retracted if need be as they can get in the way. In the Ghoul Den, the Air Ghouls have a loft only accessible to those with wings, or if you tempt fate and get someone to throw you. Cumulus’s air ghoul horns formed in the shape of crescents, so she doesn’t have two sets, instead is categorized as two pronged.

As previously mentioned, Air ghouls have siren-like voices (referencing Greek myth sirens being bird women) and Cumulus is the epitome of this ability. Can get people to do her bidding just by whispering sweet words into their ears.

Cumulus and Cirrus are a duo, as they were summoned together and bonded over being Air Ghoulettes, if you see one of them, the other is not far away or far behind.

CIRRUS

The tallest of the Ghoulettes and somehow the chillest comparative to the others. She’s still a ghoul though, so the chaos scale is broken anyway. As previously mentioned, she is Cumulus’s other half and visually is opposite of her on many ways. Darker, straight hair which is uncommon for Air ghouls, along with darker eyes. She also has the biggest wing span of all the Air Ghouls, and is the fastest with Sunshine a close second. Her vocals are second to Cumulus’s however. Not nearly at the level of controlling, but she can still bring anyone to their knees if need be.

Truly, Cumulus and Cirrus are a power couple amongst the Ghouls because their siren abilities affect Ghouls as well, just to a lesser degree, so if need be (with a good enough bribe) they can put a pause on the chaos if it gets too out of hand. The bribe has to be really good like, they like watching shit get crazy.

SUNSHINE

Finally, Sunshine. The first multighoulette summoned, and her dual elements are Air and Fire. Her fire like appearance veered away from volcanic like Dew to being like Sun Spots (areas on the sun that are darker than the rest of it) and that’s why her scales are rounded compared to Dew’s. Her wings are also smaller like Aurora’s, still bat-like but also gives dragon because of the reptilian aspect of Fire ghouls. She does have two sets of horns which she likes to ornament like Swiss.

Sunshine and Aurora bond over being air based multighoulettes and also have joined the multighoul secret club with Swiss and Phil. What do they do there? Well, it’s a secret of course. It wouldn’t be a secret club otherwise!

Also, there have been several cases of arson that have been committed that were blamed on Dewdrop, but were actually done by Sunshine, but she’s a great liar and loves getting Dew in trouble. She like orchestrates that shit.

Now that I’ve touched upon all of the air ghouls, basically, air ghouls tend to be either teal or yellow in tone, usually with cloud like markings (however Aurora and Sunshine’s dual elements change that). Their ears tend to be bat shaped, along with them sporting the large bat wings that give them the ability to fly. There have been cases, however, that air ghouls have feathered wings, the only known case being the first summoned keyboardist, aptly named Air. No one knows why he’s the only one, he just claims it’s cause he’s cool like that. Also mentioned the siren like voices, it’s not a universal Air ghoul ability, some more attuned with it than others, but it’s quite common seeing as all four Ghoulettes along with Swiss possess the ability to some degree (Air does not because he’s not cool like that).

GHOULS IN GENERAL

Kind of wanted to go into some general stuff for the ghouls within the Ministry and the Summoning process.

When a Ghoul is summoned by a Papa (the only person really sanctioned to summon ghouls with some exceptions of course), they are bound to that Papa, with some sort of mark to signify this binding. For the Papas, they each use their individual grucifixes as this marking (Copia’s ghouls were for a while marked with the basic Grucifix because he was initially a Cardinal. Technically, during that Era, the Ghouls should have been bound to Nihil, however Sister Imperator pulled the exception card for her little Cardi. Once Copia became Papa, the binding ritual was redone to remark them with his new grucifix). All of the ghouls do have grucifixes essentially tattooed onto their body in different locations, but there’s a lot of development for that and some still undecided so that can’t wait until I’ve drawn full bodies for all the ghouls.

Also, mentioned a few times in this was the Ghoul Den Overseer, who is actually a Sibling of Sin character of mine (because I over indulge myself and this is my lore interpretation anyway, I do what I want). Their “confirmation” name (christened? Sataned?) is Rigoria/Rigorian, last name Mortuous. Yes, it’s a play on Rigor Mortis but my name is literally Bones. I will be drawing them as well at some point so I can show you guys my interpretation of the Siblings of Sins in different Papal Eras.

[riordanverseaddict]

Just sitting on my bed, studying biology when I think that leo valdez probably cried on his 17th birthday because he got to be the age Jason never got to be. He got to experience being 17 while jason is forever 16.

[moldycantaloupe]

quintessence ghouls are, quite literally, spiritual beings. down in the Pit, they have no bodies to reside in. they simply exist throughout the space, rogue Magick running loose. they still have personalities, using their Magick however they please. some like to mess with those who are especially assholes down there. some are assholes themselves, attaching themselves to am unsuspecting victim for their chaos.

Summoning a quint is different. because they're not summoning an already defined body, they have to make one from scratch. all the Emeritus brothers like the look of Greek and Roman Gods, so they always use them as a basis. Omega and Aether were wholey based on the deities, large and muscular, strong noses and fierce eyes.

Copia, though? he wanted his first creation to be special. he didn't want his first creation to be of something else, he wanted them to be a brand new thing. so he made Phantom, a long and lanky ghoul with soft features and kind eyes, dimples when he smiles. when he was summoned finally, the room was left speechless.

there must've been an error in Copia's calucations tho, or maybe a summoning ingredient had gone bad, or maybe it simply was Phantom, but he came with a scar throughout his face, some of his hair left bone white. Copia could only feel love and pride, though. he, in his eyes, was near perfection in all of his imperfections.

And because quint ghouls have vessels for the first time ever, they are literally learning to be people from scratch. a few things come by second nature; breathing, blinking, moving and walking. staying alive. they have to learn everything else, though. to speak, to eat, to sleep. they will always have their pack to help, though.

[dire-vulture]

2 sentence flight rising horror story

I can't wait to see what the Fathoms that come and collect their maps will look like. I put the maps in the room where my Aethers live.

[irvkazestar]

hi tumblr

im actually gonna start posting after like a year of having an inactive blog (maybe)

[clansunsharp]

me with a lair full of moderns every time an ancient breed gets a gene expansion