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constantlymisspelled · 1 year ago

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Stewjon and Its Peoples

A Complete Guide to the Planet, its Peoples, and its History

[Yes, I went a little bit insane. And yes, I have more projects I should be doing. I know that full well. Here, have a 4k long extrapolation on the Stewjoni.]

The Planet;

The Planet Stewjon is an averagely sized, mostly temperate planet with two celestial moons. Its rotation cycle lasts an average of 28 hours, with just under 320 days in a standard rotation around the sun, which is named 'Itz' by the locals. The planet has three large bodies of water, each connected to the other, known as the 'Great Seas', and most of the world's population sits along the coasts of these seas. Stewjon experiences moderate seismic activity, although only along specific rings, where the cities are rarely built above three or four stories. Stewjon is located in the Core, and sits along a defunct Hyperspace Route that fell out of frequent use after the New Sith Wars ended. Stewjon has a standard gravitational pull, a breathable, arable atmosphere, and contains both lush forests, bountiful seas, and polar circles. Winter and Summer are extremes, and the planet experiences a seven-year average water cycle that creates a distinct feast and famine alternation. Winter brings snow to the areas of the Poles, and Summer brings fires to the lands that currently sit along Stewjon’s Median Line. The earth of Stewjon is rich in many semi-precious to rare metals, but less so than many Outer Rim planets. However, the true jewel of Stewjon is the planet's strange volcanically created crystals and coloured waters that were once a great tourist attraction. These crystals are believed to have been what has caused many of the unexplained phenomena of Stewjon’s long and complicated history. [Extrapolation needed]

The People;

There are multiple peoples that consider Stewjon their home world. Before occupation by the Sith, and even earlier, the interference of the Rakata Empire, it is believed that Stewjoni were once a singular race. Genetic research compiled by the Stewjoni Medical Board currently presents that Stewjoni were humanoid in shape - pre-interference - but did not have their quintessentially modern appearances of the current subclasses of Stewjoni. It is currently believed that the first few splits in the species occurred naturally, in the form of the Faedh and the Sidhe.

The Faedh – ancient ancestors to what are now called the Seraphim, or the Sephi – were similar to the so called ‘Angels of Iego’ in appearance. They were commonly tall (standing on average from six to seven feet when fully grown), with elongated features, and were thought to have glowed slightly in the dark. It is this trait that is believed to have caused them to deviate from the main Stewjoni species. It is indicated in research that not only did they have membranous wings, contrary to other Stewjoni species with furred or feathered wings, but soft antenna instead of the more common antlers. The major difference between the species has been discovered in ancient burial grounds and upon study of bones and holograph evidence. The Faedh were believed to have been what is now considered ‘Force Sensitive’ in a specifically linear way. Ancient writings from old Stewjoni archives painted a people who looked like Faedh to have been Seers, or Prophets. Much like most of Stewjon, Faedh had metallic red hair, and largely opaque, colourful eyes. They were also believed to be non-venomous, which is a possible reason for their exodus off Stewjon, and for leaving the Core worlds.

The Sidhe – who are still in existence deep within the Great Woodlands of Stewjon – were small (somewhere from two to three feet in height) and are believed to be the mostly closely related to the ancient Stewjoni genus. Much like the Faedh, they possessed wings, although typically lightly furred. There were the odd exceptions of membrane winged Sidhe, but they were often contained within a small cluster of families in the Deep Woodlands. Sidhe were often colourful, although it is believed they have begun to take the appearance of similar features to their neighbours after the attempted eradication by the Sith. Sidhe often have short little horns instead of full antlers, and usually only sets of two, to four. Sidhe are the longest naturally lived of all of Stewjon’s native species.

The Common Stewjoni (Modern) is typically human in appearance, with a couple of notable differences. Stewjoni, and those with Stewjoni blood, are often easy to medically identify, if hard to spot as a passerby. Stewjoni have two livers, to protect from Stewjon’s many toxins and hazardous wildlife. Stewjoni also have Retinal Tapetum, or reflective irises, although it is unknown why this particular trait emerged in the species. As a species, Stewjoni are often rather diasporic, with certain areas having vastly different common features than others – sea the Saphire Islands, where children will have white hair until they hit puberty, or the Nameless Lands, where many Stewjoni have blue, or even grey skin, despite no relation to Pantorans, or Chiss. One of the common attributes known by outsiders is the Stewjoni ability to, it is believed, ‘breed with anything,’ however this is not strictly true. The reproductive processes of most of the Stewjoni is typically humanoid – much like most warm-blooded species – with a few glaring exceptions. First, are the unusually specific requirements for getting a Stewjoni’s romantic attention. Then the particulars of actually successfully copulating with a Stewjoni. And then, it depends entirely on your and their subspecies whether the egg (yes, egg) is soft shelled, or hard shelled, which in turn changes both how many children will be born, how long gestation lasts for, and whether or not the child will survive infancy. The other common misconception about Stewjoni is their red hair – yes, it is now the dominant trait of Stewjon. However, this trait was specifically engineered to become exclusive by genetic tampering. Red hair was always common, except now it is almost impossible for Stewjoni to have any other hair colour thanks to this fact. It is also believed that the red of the Stewjoni never fades. This is unfortunately untrue in certain circumstances.

The Ancient Stewjoni are beyond living memory, and whilst many have theorised what they would have looked and acted like, the truth is unknown. It is believed that they were a combination of much of modern Stewjon.

Their Biology;

The physical body of most Stewjoni – even those only partially, or adjacently Stewjoni – are often similar. First, most Stewjoni are considered venomous. The venom in question is, truthfully, more of a muscle relaxant and tranquiliser than a true venom, as it very rarely kills by itself. It is believed that Stewjoni gained this ability to help them escape a predator that had pinned them, and run their own prey into exhaustion. It also assists with inter-species relations in many ways – such as being a common ground between many predator and prey species, and being largely helpful in difficult sexual relationships. It is not a true sedative, and cannot be used like the holoporns suggest, either. Stewjoni view unmitigated use as a form of harassment. A form of punishment is the surgical removal of said teeth – very rare, viewed as the worst of punishments.

Modern Stewjoni – if living off world – are required to attend a set of ceremonies during their aging. First, is their official blessing into the community at thirteen, as they believe the beginning of puberty to be a time of celebration. Second, is their seventeenth, often seen as their first forays into learning the ways of the adult warrior. And third is twenty-three, when their body is settling into its more permanent form, seen as the introduction of the person in question to the world as a true adult. Each of these ceremonies coincide with important biological events in Stewjoni life – from the age of thirteen onwards, the children will often be on watch for possible ‘threats’ and have higher than traditionally human aggression levels due to having been heavily hunted by Sith and others at this age. At seventeen, Stewjon allows children to take charge of their own affairs and begin to take steps to leave the nest of their parents, whilst still being a part of the immediate family. Most Stewjoni will become fiercely independent at this age – in their own way, which is still largely communal due to the species’ social needs. And at twenty-three, Stewjoni are often encouraged to travel their world. Once, before the Sith, the histories state that Stewjoni would travel the world and bring back stories, wisdom, and new kin. That is no longer possible under the Isolation Acts enforced by the Republic.

Stewjoni have a close biological relationship with the force. It is incredibly rare for Stewjoni to be born Null. It is also rare for Stewjoni to be particularly powerful. The average midi-chlorian count of Stewjon sits in the range of three thousand to eight thousand midi-chlorians, just under the Jedi Order’s acceptable amount. Admittance to the Jedi Order is often only allowed in the case of special abilities – such as powerful visions, or unusual talents such as disintegration. Due to this, it is often observed that Stewjoni are incredibly sociable, and empathic creatures. The community comes first to a startling degree, and it is common for entire families to spend their lives together. Children are raised communally on most levels of Stewjoni society, due to the biological prerogative of the children of the people being the highest priority. This has such an instinctual drive that most of Stewjons wars, conflicts, and laws almost always directly relate to children, their rights, and the protection of. This unfortunately means that children, left unattended around a Stewjoni out in the galaxy, have a large chance of being spirited away to Stewjon, not to return. This is rare in modern times, but still possible, and difficult to counter when up against an entire planet. (See Stewjon vs The Republic for more details.)

The red of Stewjoni hair is due to a couple of factors. It is first of all, similar to the colouration of the Twi Lek, in which certain shades and patterns travel down family and Clan lines – the blood red hair of one Clan being specifically different to the fluorescent, mildly glowing variety of their close neighbour’s being key example. It is also true that the red of a Stewjoni’s hair should be permanent for their entire life. Only stress, strife, suffering and pain should ever dull a Stewjoni’s hair. If surrounded by loved ones, it is rare for grey hair to do more than pepper a Stewjoni’s hair until the death of a partner, or a child, or other such tragedy, and it is more common for a Stewjoni to die out of grief than for them to continue living past such things. The grieving is a private affair, and many Stewjoni have refused to explain the phenomenon to outsiders, claiming that without the force, they cannot explain such things.

It is said that hair, once cut from a Stewjoni – if provided willingly – will stay as bright as the day it was given as long as the Stewjoni lives. The Jedi Temple has evidence of something suggesting this to be true in the ancient records of the Archives, describing a Master finding their padawan’s braid, coloured white after their death.

The reproductive process of the species is often instigated through external pressures – such as change in season, diet, and circumstance. Many Stewjoni will go through delayed puberty without being forced into fertility. Additionally, the idea of Stewjoni being easy lays is quite far from the truth. Many Stewjoni will take certain behaviours commonly accepted by much of the galaxy – prolonged eye contact – very differently, which causes friction between Stewjoni and their partners. Stewjoni as a species require large family groups to reduce stress and promote a sense of calm and safety. Only young Stewjoni tend to leave home alone, and even then, are often shadowed by older clan members. The adage of ‘If you see one red, there are more unseen’ is very true, and is basis for much of their interactions with the greater galaxy.

Sexual dimorphism is limited in Stewjoni, and almost invisible to outsiders. Many would claim that almost all Stewjoni seem to be the same sex, or similarly shaped, but this is often due to the necessity for their people to blend in amongst each other. Stewjoni, after much of their historical strife, are a preferred target for slavers, as they are considered exotic, and either good slaves or gladiators. Stewjoni are often confused by the question of whether they are male or female, as there is such little difference in their species between one or the other, however. There are some key things to remember. Not all Stewjoni have the appropriate organs to carry, or have children, but the vast majority – well over 80% of the populace – do, which makes the conceptualisation for the differences in gender seemingly meaningless to them. Those who are explicitly only female, or only male, make up less than 40% of the total populace, and it is believed the margin is only going to continue to decline, due to the biological interference of the Sith. It is not uncommon for only those with higher testosterone levels to have facial hair, however, this is not exclusive, or even all together common. Some sections of Stewjon only have hair on their head. Others, like the remaining Sidhe, have a light dusting of metallic fur all over their body, almost translucent. Additionally, modern Stewjoni often only show the more extreme variations of their natural colouring if they complete their coming of age on their home world. It is unknown as to why.

Their Culture;

Religion

It has been observed that Stewjon have a religious relationship with death in a way that most of the Galaxy cannot comprehend. It is often observed that Stewjoni will behave as if their loved ones aren’t dead per se, simply resting, or out of action. There is still a sense of profound grief at the loss of life, especially young, as they believe that the being in question has not yet learned all they needed to proceed to their next life. The religious worldview of the Stewjoni is very cyclical. All things are connected, running into itself like a stream, and there are festivals that celebrate the passing of time of the last rains of the year.

It has been considered a religious requirement for Stewjoni to learn to either dance or fight to appease their ancestors and their gods – to prove they are worthy of the life they have been awarded. It is also considered fair to judge another and their clan on their battle, or physical prowess. Stewjoni must have purpose within the community, even if that purpose is simply to provide company, it is treated with great respect. An example of this would be an ancient story of a warrior who broke their back, and could no longer walk, but continued to tell stories and fables to children until their dying day. They are held as a hero in folklore despite having never won a fight.

Stewjoni believe all things have soul, or life, if loved and known long enough. It has created an interesting conflict between the Stewjoni and their neighbouring planets when it comes to the introduction of droids in day-to-day life. Stewjoni don’t believe in the purchase of droids as you cannot own and purchase people in their beliefs, and due to this, despite their respectful treatment of the automatons, very few droids exist on Stewjon. Additionally, the extremes of Stewjon’s climate tends to destroy unprepared hardware. There are a multitude of religious diasporas on Stewjon, with the practices varying not just from city to city, but from clan to clan. Paint and tattoos on Stewjon have particular cultural and religious significance in certain groups.

Relationship with the force

There are many force sects on Stewjon – before their interactions with the Je’daii order, Stewjon had as many temples as there were cities, but once the fledgling republic discovered the planet and its peoples, a set of skirmishes almost wiped out the religion and force sects off the face of the planet. Fortunately, Stewjoni are first and foremost survivors, and believe in communal knowledge, and it took a Je’daii living undercover for three years to finally be allowed to enter a Stewjoni Temple.

The Modern Temples, further destroyed and tarnished by the ancient Sith battles, fall into a small select systems. The Star Temples, who predominantly teach their disciples how to interact with the great cycles of the universe. The Storm Temples, who teach their disciples to weather great pains and protect their kindred from the affect of outsider magicks. And the Summer, or Sand Temples, who teach their disciples to pull from the ebbs and flows of life and death without enforcing their will onto the world. Only the Star Temples – most specifically, the Star Temple of the Capitol of Waijoni has ever been accessed by a member of the Jedi Order.

It is believed by outsiders that Stewjoni throw away children too strong in the force. This is untrue. Stewjoni are often heavily connected in the force that binds all things, and often entire families can fall into the same nightmare or vision if an untrained Seer lives without shielding. This caused the Stewjoni obsession with Mandalorians, which will be explored in history. The inability for the children to separate from the minds of their family causes some strife, unprepared, or weaker in the force parents often place their children in care until they can come and collect them. However, stewjon is constantly in turmoil, and so children are often swapped between families by choice, by accident, or by force. There fore, to keep the more powerful seers from being poached until they can defend themselves, Stewjoni will often temporarily donate their children to Temples around the galaxy, and come to collect them when able. Other occasions, such as force related illness, can cause mass and sudden abandonment and adoptions as well. This also led to Stewjoni of ancient times racing off into the stars to chase a ‘call’ only to come back with children from around the Galaxy, often taken from unprepared parents.

This has lead to Jedi and Stewjoni being conflated together, being synonymous with ‘Child Stealers’ which is true for one, and not the other.

Whilst most on Stewjon are born with at least more than a passing Force Affinity, those without are often considered safe to send out into the galaxy under modern law, as they will often be able to resist a call from the stars. Ancient Stewjoni Force Sensitives travelled on great ships powered by something the species carefully keeps secret from outsiders, but allows the Null Stewjoni to interact with the force whilst flying said ships. The smaller ships of modern times are fast, agile, and are often spotted in patrols of no more than six, travelling around the galaxy across the ancient passages the Stewjoni People once travelled in their many Force Pilgrimages among the stars.

Language

Due to the frequency of force sensitivity and the incredible empathy of Native Stewjoni, it is believed that the Stewjoni Language only developed so that those who couldn’t sense the force, or outsiders, could communicate with them. This unfortunately means that Stewjon has all the hallmarks of being a pidgin language, and thus has very few completely rigid rules in place. One of the few common conventions is related to writing, and script, which was the basis for the words and their phrasing, however much of Stewjon’s language style was borrowed from others. Such as Ba’va meaning ‘Uncle or Auntie’ or B’ur meaning ‘Mum or Dad.’ There is even significant pidgin from the ancient Je’daii who interacted with Stewjon – such as Dai meaning ‘offworld Force practitioner,’ Je’deyir meaning ‘Outsider’ and Sythe meaning ‘enemy/monster.’

One of the most well-known names out of Stewjon is ‘Obi Wan Kenobi’ after the many historical figures from Stewjon with that name. However, it might surprise you that Obi Wan Kenobi is not a name at all, but a red herring. It was designed, after one of the worst civil wars on Stewjon’s surface, to separate unclaimed, and claimed war orphans. It was supposed to be a way for the child to know that they hadn’t been picked yet. However, outsiders construed the meaning, and took it to indicate the child was unwanted, not unable to be cared for, leaving many Stewjoni who’d been forced from the system with that name when occupied by the Republic into poverty. This of course instigated much of Stewjon’s attitude against the Republic, the Jedi, and the Galaxy. Obi Wan Kenobi means ‘no one, of no clan.’ Which is contrasted by the real meaning for exile, which is ‘Wan Bi Kitrir,’ or Undesirable Person.

It is believed the word ‘Ken,’ for clan, came from the root word for ‘kin.’ Stewjon has no name in the language of its peoples, it is simple titled True Home, or Suti’yon, which was misheard by travellers as Stewjon.

Family and society structure

The importance of family and community in Stewjoni culture has lead to some interesting dynamics not commonly seen in seemingly human species so close to the core worlds. [Unfinished]

Their History;

Early Stewjoni have been documented around the galaxy in eras that long predate the accepted comprehension of space travel. This has led to the belief that ancient Stewjoni utilised vastly different tech to the Rataka Empire long before they encroached on the galaxy. This of course means that even on planets that deny any relation to Stewjon, the quintessential metallic hair and reflective eyes can reappear thousands of generations onwards. It is believed – and perpetuated – that Ancient Stewjoni often travelled to for off worlds in some form of ancient migration or forgotten force practice.

This brings us nicely into their first specific recording. The Pantorans claim that, sometime in the era of 32 000 to 30 000 BBY, a troupe of Stewjoni were in residence to bear witness to the winter solstice festival. They were documented to have stayed a few months, danced, and sung and spoke in a strange, incomprehensible tongue, introduced their magick and technology to the people around them, shared star maps, and left for their next location.

Mandalore states that, sometime around 20 000 to 15 000 BBY, an ancient Manda’lor and another troupe of Stewjoni assisted each other in a great battle against a nameless group of mercenaries preying on the Starships used to house the population of Mandalore at that time. Historians theorise that this may be why the words for magick, force healing, and other non-jedi related variants of the skills began to appear in Mando’a at this time. It also coincides with the Dathomiri beginning to be commonly widespread around the area Mandlore will one day occupy. It is believed that sections of the magick is in some way shared between what Mandalore remembers of Ancient Stewjoni, and what Dathomir has taught them.

Recorded history of real note on Stewjon picks up a written form around the 13 000s, and sometime during this period, Stewjon begins to select a princess – a person who is actually not required by Stewjon to be female, just mistakenly titled that way by outsiders upon meeting – to be the interplanetary advisor between the rest of the Galaxy and Stewjon. Around this time, the ancient Hyper-lane between Stewjon, their nearby branch worlds that would one day be lost to the Sith Lord Nihilus, and Iego would be documented by the Republic, and fiercely defended by Stewjon in what is described as Stewjon’s first real battle on the Galactic Scale.

It is somewhere around this time that Stewjon garners the attention of the fledgling Sith Empire of the era. In 7 000 BBY, Stewjon documents a rapidly rising number of assaults on the edge of what was once ‘their space’ – which under modern laws, they no longer possess – and this caused a number of Stewjoni Warships to be scrambled to meet the assailants.

It is described by many that from 6 000 to 5 000 BBY, after centuries of subtle genetic experimentation and torture, Stewjoni began to disappear from the galaxy. The Republic still hadn’t documented them as a species – and the ancient Jedi order has lost much of the knowledge in the most recent assault on their new Coruscant Temple, and no longer had information of the Species – this meant that when Stewjoni began appearing among the Sith, often enslaved, or Fallen, the Republic simply saw them as tube made creatures from the labs of the Sith, and put them down in the same way. This caused incredible outrage from what remained of the Stewjon at the time, who started a three-way assault on the Jedi, the Republic, and the Sith. It ultimately led to the occupation of their world, and the destruction of their temples, first at the hands of the Sith Empire, and later at the hands of the unknowing Jedi order, who had no precedent for what Stewjoni should have looked like, and almost eradicated the entire species by accident.

In the centuries that followed, Stewjon became incredibly insular, and began to bar entry to outsiders due to the suffering that the Sith and the Republics attempts at eugenics had caused them, leading them to be wary of anyone not outright part of their people. Stewjon had been under Republic occupation for almost a thousand years when the Sith Empire and the Mandalorian Empire went to war with the Republic, and in this time, Stewjon broke free of control, and actively killed any and all republic citizens still in their worlds. Unfortunately, they again attracted the attention of the Sith Empire, and begun to have to fight both just to survive. In the few occasions that Mandalorians and Stewjoni met on this era of battle, it was cold, but respectful – as Mandalorians still told tales of the Stewjoni of old, and some of the more non-human Stewjoni still were prevalent in society.

Stewjon eventually offered support to the republic against the Sith on smaller, closer to coruscant battle fronts that caused the Republic to allow Stewjon to move into true isolation – left alone in the heart of the republic as a non-member world, completely self-sufficient. The Jedi were barred from entering the planet’s space after Darth Nihilis destroyed much of the nearby systems unless they were a Finder. Multiple children were given to the Jedi Order at this time, and were also brought back to Stewjon, without their Master, for their coming of age.

When the New Sith Wars began, the Stewjoni sided with the Jedi and the Republic near immediately, resulting in much of the Galaxy following suite. After them, midway through the wars, Mandalore also offered their support, which cemented the first official treaty and legally documented interaction from Stewjon and Mandalore, resulting in the suspected apprenticeship of a Force Sensitive from Mandalore in Stewjon’s modern ways. This is the era in which the Mandalorian Houses came into effect – it is believed it is mimicked off of the way Stewjoni states their Temple of Origin after their Clan name, showing their allegiance and beliefs. This is argued against by most modern Mandalorians, specifically the New Mandalorians, who believe that Houses were a step away from Mandalore and Stewjon’s shared barbaric history. Notable Clans from this time were the Asterabi, or the ‘Unflinching,’ the Kestis, or the ‘Blade/Dark Family,’ and the Yeneboro, or the ‘Many Shapes.’ It is during this war that the Republic banned all non-Jedi adjacent Force practitioners from Republic space, and with Stewjon’s new alliance, the ‘darker’ Temples on Stewjon were either hidden, emptied, or in the case of the Kestis’, who could not hide their guardianship of the Temples of the Dead, exiled. Most exiles from Stewjon for this reason were immediately given residency on many of Mandalore’s distant worlds. Unfortunately, it means modern Stewjon and modern Iego – the current location for the majority of Clan Kestis – despise the Jedi personally.

At the Ruusan Reformation, and later the Dral Haran (The Republic's assault on Mandalore in a time of peace), Stewjon, and subsequently the Stewjoni, were barred from elections and from voting. This was proven to be a wise move when the current princess of Stewjon ordered their fleet to rally against one of the supply vessels headed to attack Mandalore. Stewjon has been banned from purchasing large numbers of ships, ammunitions, and transports ever since.

Modern and Current Galactic Impact;

[Unfinished]

[Don't mind me, guys. Doing what I do best. I'll add more to this as I explore the worldbuilding in my writing, but so far, this is what I have. I'll add pictures and references eventually, and hopefully have a semi organized pidgin to explain Obi Wan's naming convention. But that is for a distant horizon.

And for non-Star Wars fans, this is not at all canon, I promise.]

[[Wow, I haven't even gotten to clothes and cuisine yet, haha.]]

#stewjoni #stewjon #planet stewjon #star wars #star wars fanon #star wars fan canon #star wars meta

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grievedifferent · 6 months ago

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different ways to kiss someone. accepting !! // * @maljefe

[ comfort ] a tender kiss to provide comfort or reassurance

he's been struggling. he's been off the grid for a few days, not answering his phone, not replying to texts or emails. nothing. he's just gone.

had she known chris, she might have been able to ask, and he would say josh just does that sometimes. it seems to be his process when he's working on some secret project.

her instincts tell her better; tell her that this isn't a drop off the map and say sorry kind of exodus. something is wrong.

she confronts him several days later, although it isn't exactly a confrontation. she's more agitated before she sees him, almost deflating after entering the foyer of the washington family main estate.

it's too big here. it's too lonely for three people.

when she rounds the corner, she sees him just as he always is. he shows like himself at first, casually in his kitchen leaning against the island as he ignores the tall glass of ice water that's been poured for him.

even their drinking glasses are crystal, and only two sips have been taken, just enough to swallow his new pills. those are tucked away safely in a locked cabinet that only his parents have access to.

you know you like to overmedicate, his mother had staunchly reminded him.

it's just precautionary, son. with your history, it's better this way, his father explained.

drumming his fingers on the countertop and the light finally hits him from the large window over the sink. he seems more fatigued than usual, more rundown. this isn't his usual stayed up for twenty-four hours studying classic horror movies kind of tired — the kind where he'd usually come out of the basement with his eyes sore from the projector light and a journal full of scrawled notes. this is something different; something heavier.

❝ didn't think you'd actually come here, ❞ he croaks before clearing his throat. he picks up his cell off the counter, showing it to her. his voice is a little stronger now, a little more confident. ❝ got your texts. i was gonna call you back, but, uh, i got ... kinda busy, and i just sort of ... lost track of ... right. look, i'm sorry i totally flaked out. i'm not usually like that. ❞ that's not true. liar. ❝ i, uh, got sick. pretty bad flu going around. heh ... ❞

she doesn't seem to believe him. she's watching him carefully — too carefully for his liking — before silently approaching from the left. he stands straight, one hand dropping to rest on the island top as the other arm fall at his side to hang loose. what ... ??

when she says his name, he goes to reply, but she shushes him. instead, she slowly takes his face in her hands, standing on the tips of her toes, and cups his cheeks. awkward and embarrassed, josh opens his mouth, letting it hang open stupidly as his brows furrow in a look that reads as confusion seeking resolve.

is she mad at me? is she going to slap me now or something? not like he doesn't deserve a hit for totally bailing, the complications of his situation aside, and he half-braces for an impact that never comes.

instead, she kisses him on the corner of the mouth, and it's brief, yet tender, and her hands release him just as gently as they procured him.

he stammers a bit, cheeks flushing out of sheer disbelief. it just seems so random in its tenderness. did that ... actually happen?

❝ maybe i, uh, should disappear more often? ❞

#josh tbt #maljefe #idk where this is set timeline wise i imagine like #just before the main game?#since they kinda met in that time period?#i did also just assume this was for josh ngl

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jefarawol · 7 months ago

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With things in order at the Rising Stones we made our way to Sharlayan.

So─what news have you for us?

Well, as we postulated, there were indeed what appeared to be the remnants of an unexplained disturbance in the aether at the scene of the Ultima Weapon's destruction. A ripple at odds with the presiding pattern.

Though faint, the waveforms bore a strong resemblance to those observed following the destruction of the Isle of Val─when I believe Hydaelyn shielded me with the blessing of Light.

To confirm our findings, we paid a visit to the Sil'dih Aqueducts. There we detected the same waveform, but orders of magnitude larger...as one would expect of a more recent disturbance.

Hydaelyn. There is no other explanation.

But there is more. When I studied the site where Y'shtola used Flow, it appeared that not two but three beings had been affected. Yet unlike Y'shtola and Thancred, there was no trail to follow. Our unknown third party was simply there...and then not there.

Now, recall your visions of a vast crystal floating in a sea of aether. Though this too is but a theory, studies of gifted subjects suggest that, when communing with Hydaelyn, we briefly leave our bodies behind.

So, let us consider the facts. One─Hydaelyn interceded. Two─a third being was caught in Y'shtola's Flow and vanished without a trace. And three─Hydaelyn may have the capacity to summon the consciousness of gifted individuals to Her side.

You are implying, I take it, that Hydaelyn guided Minfilia into the compass of my magick...that She might summon her, body and soul, unto the aetherial sea? In which case, we must needs continue our search there. For a blessing, the means to do so already exists.

I speak of the Antitower─a Sharlayan construction conceived to provide scholars a vantage point over the aetherial sea. Though I know not where its entrance lies, we need only ask its last custodian─a contrary old crone who, for another blessing, refused to join the exodus.

Master Matoya was the keeper of the Antitower!? I had no idea... Then our course is clear. We must petition her aid once again.

Master Matoya as always was thrilled to see us. Not one to mince words or engage in idle small talk she got right to the point of out presence again.

Oh, what a surprise. Well? What secrets have you come to extract from me this time?

Ah. Though it pains me to admit it, your words strike close to the mark. We humbly ask that you grant us entry to the Antitower, that we might use it to seek a friend who we believe has been transported to the aetherial sea.

And who told you I could do such a thing, I wonder.The tower was abandoned to its magical keepers fifteen years ago. They have the run of the place now. If that is no deterrent to you, then by all means.

Is that all? I felt sure you would seek to dissuade us from our course, given your role as custodian.

Role? Hardly. The Forum foisted the title on me. During the exodus, every entrance to the Antitower was sealed save one. My role consists of making sure no one with ill intent sneaks through it. Such was the Forum's final “order” to me. Well? I can remove the wards right now. Will you be going or not?

We will, Master Matoya. We will do whatever it takes to find Minfilia!

...We'll see about that. You, Baldesion girl─you're staying here with me. I need your help to restore the wards to their original state. The rest of you can go─on the condition that you clean up the mess in the tower. If you encounter any unruly familiars, you're to tend to them. Those are my terms, and I'll hear no argument.

Well, it appears the mistress has spoken. Lead the way, Jefara.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV #HW #ffxiv hw #ffxiv hw retelling #warrior of light #ffxiv aura #ffxiv gpose #final fantasy gpose #ffxiv screenies #FFXIV Screenshots

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greythornelegacy · 2 years ago

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A Fool's Desperation

A response to my FC's Question of the Day that spun out into something a little bigger. Achenbald is the father of my main, Tobias "Tobi" Greythorne (they/he). Further backstory is... probably forthcoming. At some point. If anyone cares. Mostly I'm posting here so I can link back to it from our FC discord instead of posting the entire thing there.

Mostly unedited, and written piecemeal around working at my job today.

---

It was a rare warm evening on Sharlayan. Summer was at its height, and while the sun had edged beyond the horizon, the day's heat still lingered, so the windows of Greythorne Manor stood open to let in the flower-scented breeze from the gardens. Achenbald lingered in the doorway to the study; in his youth, those times they'd visited home from the Colony, it had been his favourite place in the entire manor, heavy with the scent of old books and dusty artifacts, and even before his disappearance he had lost count of the number of times he'd fallen asleep in one of the deep leather armchairs, listening to his mother, or an uncle, or his grandfather slowly turning the pages of one or another ancient tome. (Or, in the case of one uncle, the romance novels he "secretly" read for pleasure that were, unbeknownst to that uncle, known to everyone in the family.)

He'd thought that the manor was empty. Tobi and their husband were spending the evening at the Studium, he knew, while Hrodric and Rocky had left that morning for a trip back to Kugane; it was late enough in the day that those few servants who Tobi had engaged after reopening the house had gone home for the evening. No one else was in residence to Achenbald knowledge, so the flickering light from the study had been… alarming, at least until he saw Fourchenault Leveilleur sitting at the broad, sturdy table that took pride of place in the center of the room. The flickering light was a small crystal orb on a slender brass stand, one that Achenbald thought Fourchenault must have brought with him. "Ah. Hello, Master Leveilleur."

At his words, Fourchenault looked up, startled. "Oh, mine apologies. Alphinaud had indicated the house would be empty this evening, with the goings-on at the Studium, and Tobias offered an invitation to explore the Greythorne's collection. He had suggested that there might be a tome of interest to my current course of study." He began to gather his things -- parchment and quills, a pot of black ink, another of blue, one of red -- into a battered satchel. "I shall leave you to it, Master Greythorne."

"Please, call me Achenbald." At his words, Fourchenault slowed, then stopped gathering his things. "And while it has been far more years than I care to think since I explored these shelves, I might be of some assistance in tracking down whatever it is you're looking for."

Fourchenault considered him for a long moment, then nodded. "Then, please, Fourchenault. I remember you, you know," he said, finally, as he retrieved the materials he'd begun to pack away. "I was younger than you, of course, during the Exodus, but very few had missed the name Achenbald Greythorne. To hear the… stories… from Alphinaud, and from Tobias, it seems your talents with arcanima have only grown in the interim."

"Yes, well. A few years in the godsforsaken Void will do that to a person."

The words still Fourchenault's hands. "I… had not heard the specifics. Simply that you had been recovered, and had aged little in the interim."

"We've been keeping it 'need to know', as it were. Most people don't need to know." Achenbald walked over to the table and began looking over the documents. "You're… some kind of family, at this point. Tobi's all but adopted your twins as the younger siblings we never gave him, so you're… Well. Family isn't always about blood, after all, and with the transitive properties…"

A strangled sound came out of Fourchenault's throat. Achenbald glanced over to see the man had blanched. "I… hadn't considered that," he admitted. "That Tobias viewed Alphinaud and Alisaie as family, yes, of course I had noticed this, and despite my earlier misgivings, I know they have no greater, no more stalwart ally. They could do little better in a mentor. However, that this had implications to… other relationships…"

"All I'm saying is it'd be nice to have you and Ameliance over for dinner," Achenbald said, with a wry grin. "The two of you raised some incredible young people. For all your differences, it is the traits that they each inherited from you that make them who they are. Alphinaud has Ameliance's… softer touch, alongside all that he inherited from Louisoix, and Alisaie's stubbornness -- which, from the stories I've heard, has saved them all more times than I like to think about -- surely comes from you."

"Yes, well, if you're finished listing my faults…"

"It's not a fault," Achenbald said, picking up one of the pages and wandering over to the shelves. There was, he thought, a tome dealing with this exact topic, if could remember the title. "That stubbornness was a significant factor in the success of the entire Labyrinthos project and the development of the Ragnarok. While it may not have been used the way you originally intended, it wouldn't have been ready if not for you and the team you led." He ran his finger along the spines, stopping finally at a title that pinged his memory. "Here. I think this holds what you're looking for."

Fourchenault took the proferred tome, although he did not look at it before he set it on the table. "My thanks. As for my… stubbornness… I will admit, it is difficult to view it through that lens. That same stubbornness nigh destroyed my family."

Achenbald shrugged. "You were desperate."

"I- what?"

"You were desperate," he repeated. He pulled out one of the chairs from the table and sat, gesturing for Fourchenault to do the same. "Tobi told me about… well, everything, while catching me up on what's occurred in my absence. On their adventures, both before the Scions and with them. They felt it meet that I be aware of some of the, ah, potential tensions in the Leveilleur family, so as not to misstep around Alphinaud or Alisaie.

"It's a strange thing, though, isn't it? Standing in front of your children, remembering when you held them as babes, only to find that they've become adults, become your equals, while you weren't looking? So. Desperation. You disowned them, yes, but not out of anger. Not because you wanted them out of the family. You were desperate for any route you could find to bring them back into the fold. You wanted to scare them into coming home, to save them from a threat that you could not tell them about, no matter how much you wished you could. But you didn't know them anymore, not the way you thought you did. You couldn't know that it would embolden them instead."

Fourchenault nodded slowly, sighing. "And full glad am I that it did. I have… wrestled with certain conceptions I have held about Sharlayan and its place in the larger world. Long have I called my father a fool for his acts after the Exodus, for his actions leading up to the Seventh Umbral Calamity. And yet… It is no easy feat for a man to recognise that he, instead, is the fool. That actions, that beliefs, I held to be faultless, to be right, were in fact… flawed. That, through my own adherence to Sharlayan orthodoxy, I neglected to recognise basic facts about the world. We, as a nation, almost to a one, failed to do so, in our own arrogance about our supposed superiority."

Laughing, Achenbald reached over to clap a hand against Fourchenault's shoulder. "It's an arrogance I remember well. Hells, I exhibited it more than enough myself, growing up in the Colony. And… well, I, too, know a thing or two about meeting your child and no longer knowing them. While I have nothing but pride about the person Tobi has become, I can't say that I'm happy I missed all the years in between." He shook his head, dispelling the cobwebs that threatened to overtake him whenever he thought overlong on his time in the Void. "But enough of that. You have work to do, and I may be of assistance with it. Where shall we start?"

#ffxiv #endwalker #endwalker spoilers #fourchenault leveilleur #ffxiv fanfiction #ffxiv oc

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lindwurm-studios · 2 years ago

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Logo, research and personas: teasing some marketing stuff for you!

We're kicking todays blog off with something sweet for you: our very own studio logo! Isn't it lovely? With this one we've decided to take yet another hint onto the Austrian mythical folklore creature that is the Lindwurm. The logo is inspired by the linocut technique and was drawn by Larissa.

Next up: market research! In order to launch a product (a game in our case) you have to start researching and also analyzing the market onto which you want to launch your product. We've spent quite some time on research which led to the discovery that there are not a lot of games out there, who feature people with disabilities. Also the focus of the games that we've found heavily lays on mental health problems or mental disabilities. Here's a short list of games we found: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice: In this game the main character is the warrior "Senua" who suffers from psychosis which also play a significant role in the gameplay. Marvel's Avengers: Crystal Dynamics Studios created a non-playable character which is in a wheelchair. Her name is "Cerise" and she is a part of the storyline. Crystal Dynamics joined forces with Cherry Thompson (an accessibility-specialist) in order to capture the wheelchair motion so it's represented as detailed as possible. Pegasus Dream Tour: This game provides a look into the paralympics. What's also cool about this is that you can actually choose real para-athletes as playable characters in the game. What's even better: JP Games donates a fraction of the in-app purchases to the Agitos Foundation which is one of the leading global organisations for people with physical disabilities. Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Unfortunately Animal Crossing doesn't represent people with disabilities YET but you can get a wheelchair as furniture. This is definitely a move into the right direction as far as representation goes. Dice World: Dice World is an iOS & Android game where people with visual impairments can game together. It is heavily based on voice control.

Blindfold Games: This iOS only game provides simulations of various hyped and trendy games like for instance Candy Crush or Flappy Bird for visual impaired people. This way they make sure that people with disabilities can also join the hype around the games. Other honorable mentions: A Dark Room (iOS & Android), Football Chairmann Pro (iOS & Android), A Blind Legend (iOS & Android), Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven (iOS & Android), A Few Minutes of Glory (iOS), Swordy Quest (iOS), Blind Drive (iOS, Android, Steam) and To The Dragon Cave (iOS & Android).

So you see, there's still so much to do when it comes to the representation of people with disabilities and how they experience their day-to-day life. This is also why we've centered our game target group for teens and young adults in the age range from 16 to 20 years old. And you also know what's coming next! Every marketing strategy needs personas so welcome our two personas Anna and Johnny!

Anna is 20 years old and currently living in Vienna, Austria. She likes to spend time in nature aswell as solving crossword puzzles and sudokus. Anna also enjoys animes and cartoons. She graduated business school and is currently studying marketing to get her bachelors degree. Furthermore she working part time as a copywriter for different agencies. Annas goals for the future are getting her bachelors degree aswell as specializing her studies with a master degree. Her parents own a marketing company which she will eventually take over once her parents step down from their positions.

Our second persona is Johnny. He's a 16 year old who enjoys streaming on Twitch or playing games on his fathers iPad. Also he's quite the sporty one: Johnny plays soccer in a youth club aswell as ice hockey in a hobby club in winter.

Johnny is still going to technical upper-level secondary school and in his school breaks he's working in a steel company. For his future he's planning on making his hobby to into a business. Whether that will be working as a personal trainer or as a manager of a soccer club - he's still deciding on that.

Alright, enough with the marketing chit-chat! For further research we've talked to a lovely person named Doris who's in a wheelchair. She told us about all the limitations she's facing in her day-to-day life aswell as the problems that haven't been addressed enough in our society yet. You'll read more about this in our next post so stay tuned! :)

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corellianhounds · 1 year ago

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This is just a quick list of the finished fics I’ve posted here and on AO3. Check under the #hounds speaks and #my writing tags for essays, criticisms, meta analysis, and general thoughts.

Banner and grey dividers courtesy of @/saradika-graphics

Mudhorn divider by @/thecutestgrotto

Action figure blog: @ar-pic-ulated

The Mandalorian

• Geroya: One-shot. 1k words. Gen. Set pre-show, leading into Season 1. Worldbuilding, filling in the spaces within canon.

• Fate Sometimes Steps In: One-shot. 1k words. Gen. Set after “The Gunslinger,” focusing on Fennec Shand.

• Gaa’tayl: One-shot. 3k words. Gen. Set pre-show, following Paz Vizsla.

• Stranded In the Desert: One-shot. 3.1k words. Gen. A missing/added scene to the beginning of “The Passenger” with Mando and the kid.

• Nightfall: One-shot. 1.8k words. Gen. Set during Order 66, an alternate take on the child’s escape.

• The Exodus: One-shot. 5.7k words. Gen. The third act of “The Sin” from the covert’s perspective, retconning the later idea that only Paz Vizsla and the Armorer escaped Nevarro.

• The Oldest Profession: One-shot. 4.9k words. Gen. Set prior to the show, a sort of character study of Mando.

• Temporal Chalice AU (potential time travel/history rewritten smorgasbord)

Toro Calican Lives AU

An alternate universe where the eponymous gunslinger in Season 1 lives past his first hunt to have a more meaningful role in the show’s story. Timeline diverges from Episode 5 and runs parallel to canon. Series, WIP, Rated T.

• Chapter 1 — First Shot 5.3k words

• Chapter 2 — Fate Steps In 879 words

• Chapter 3 — Refuge 1k words

• Chapter 4 — First Impressions 14.1k words

Behind-the-Scenes Commentary

• Character Analysis — Toro 2.1k words

Rogue One

Soldier, Princess, Farm Boy, Spy

Comparing and contrasting four heroes of the Rebellion. WIP.

• Chapter 1 — Disparity: 1.9k words. Gen.

Original Trilogy

• Bar Talk: One-shot. 2.7k words. Gen. Set a short time after Return of the Jedi, with Lando and Luke.

Prequel Trilogy

• Amidala the Resilient: One-shot AU. 3.9k words. Teen, but with heavy themes. A revised ending for Revenge of the Sith.

• Spooky/angsty Padme Lives AU

• Redrafting The Phantom Menace

Sequel Trilogy

• An alternate universe with the same characters in a completely different story (action figure blog, adventure movie pitch)

• The Last Jedi AU: Paige lives, Poe abides by the letter of the law, Rose and Finn pull a jailbreak, and somebody finds a mysterious crystal

Crossovers, Fusions, and Retellings

The Princess Bride

The Sabersmith’s Son

The Colossus of Kashyyyk

The Man In Black

• A Prospect/Mandalorian crossover scene

Analyses, Criticisms, and Elevator Pitches

The Mandalorian

• Theory about Mando’s parents

• Mando lets Karga live, “The Sin”

• Peli Motto’s intuition

• Character analysis: Toro Calican

• Theory about Boba Fett’s original connection to Fennec Shand

• World-building: The covert on Nevarro

• Script analysis: Gor Koresh, and Mando’s justified violence

• Loose story threads: Minor changes to “The Passenger”

• Further details on potential themes “The Passenger” episode could have had (In a reblog for Stranded In the Desert)

• Character analysis of Mando: Protective vs Worrisome

• Strengthening characters: Cara Dune and Carson Teva, criticism of “The Siege”

• Peli Motto’s regard of Boba Fett

• Wasted Potential: Jack Black on Plazir 15

• Analyzing Mando’s fighting style — “The Prisoner”

• Analyzing Mando’s motivations: Criticism of “The Heiress”

Reblog with Character Analysis on Bo-Katan

• Analyzing Mando’s fighting style and motivations, Mando’s lack of agency as a character and being sidelined as a protagonist — Criticism of “The Heiress” and “The Rescue”

• Inconsistencies and weak world-building regarding where Mandalorians should live, Season 3

• Criticism of Bo-Katan being praised/focused on instead of Mando, Season 3

• Criticism of the writers’ usage of Bo-Katan’s character, end of Season 3

• Criticism of Mando settling down, end of Season 3

• Comparing and contrasting Din Djarin to Aragorn and Éomer of LotR

• Proposal for a different season 2 to fix some pacing and character development issues

• Director’s commentary for the writing process for Nightfall

• Character analysis concerning the topic of Mando’s “side quests”

• Character analysis: Mando and Ranzar Malk’s crew

• Character analysis: Mando’s choices regarding his relationships with others

• Revising Carson Teva’s character

• Criticism of Ahsoka Tano’s Character and “The Jedi” episode of Season 2

• Mandalorian culture regarding the Armorer and the forge

• Mand’alor the Reluctant (brief analysis of how Din as Mand’alor could have been set up)

• Minor change to “The Tragedy” to make Mando’s choices stronger (plus bonus wings AU thought)

The Book of Boba Fett

• De-aged Boba Fett scenario

• The Marketability of Star Wars Merchandise: Production design and its ties to storytelling

• Kill Your Darlings: “The Gathering Storm”

• Grogu’s regard of Luke

• “Fountain of Aging” scenario spitballing a de-aged AU post-TBoBF)

• Criticism of Boba Fett parading Fennec Shand around out in public

Criticism of TBoBF’s writing: Lack of character objectives and focus, too many side characters, and “surprise” antagonists with no prior buildup or introduction

Original Trilogy

• Spitballing a Bail Organa lives AU

Making Princess Leia’s character arc stronger

Prequel Trilogy

• Character Revision for Anakin Skywalker

• Further criticism and character revision for Anakin Skywalker

• Duel of Fates fight choreography criticism

Sequel Trilogy

• Criticism and revision of Han, Leia, Luke, and Ben Solo’s characters and Kylo Ren’s origin

Andor

• Racial disparity in who gets to live: Criticism of Andor with suggested changes

• Short character analysis: Davo Sculdun

• Luthen’s ruthlessness and Cassian’s potential response

The Acolyte

• Criticisms and Suggested Changes Part 1

• Osha’s vision of Mae

Original Character Ideas

• Someone from Fennec’s past shows up on Tatooine

• Peli Motto’s ex-husband

• Koziol and Bobo: an informant and his enforcer

Silliness

• Kung Fu Panda parallels

Multi

• Five headcanons (Inc. Mando, Luke, Leia, Solo)

• Star Wars WWF AU

#Masterlist #my writing #hounds speaks #the mandalorian #Star Wars #original trilogy #sequel trilogy #prequel trilogy #the book of boba fett #Rogue one

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yaldev · 2 years ago

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The Team

The Septumvirate’s funding would cover three full-time employees for Decadin.

Renne. Mechanical engineer. The first friend Decadin made at Exodus. Strong in body and will. Could’ve done this whole project himself if his immortal soul could imagine anything but rotating shapes and hot girls.

Nemesk. Aethereal engineer. Decadin’s study partner in Fluid Dynamics 2 and Magic Manufacturing Processes. Advanced proficiency in numbers. Working knowledge of the Ascended language.

Miash. Musician. The only one Decadin had never met. Miash got an interview because Decadin wanted to know why a music student was applying for this role. He showed Miash one of the blueprints and he immediately picked at the visual design elements that made it clumsy to read. Then he started theorizing about the impact this creation would have on urban air quality. Five minutes later, he was gushing to an attentive Decadin about pre-National polyphonic folk singing, and he was hired.

Lhusel. Mechanical engineer. Flying machine specialist. She said this was volunteering, and Decadin left it that that.

Decadin brought the vision, the organization, the logistics and the diplomatic warfare capabilities against their source of funding. Together, they were going to build a miracle.

- - -

A crystal bug was standing half-upright on a work table, a whirlpool of energy around its mouth, vibrant colors swirling in its transparent body. Some larger animals were watching it eat, but for now they posed no threat.

“You have a point.” Decadin nodded. “Even our best measurement tools aren’t too accurate.”

“And humans are insensitive to ambient mana levels,” said Miash, “but for dirtclouds, it’s their whole survival strategy.”

A few other crystal bugs wriggled about in a paperboard box. Decadin took a pair of metal tongs on the table, picked up one of the glassworms and leaned back in his seat.

“If I had to pick a favorite animal, it’d be these.” He smirked and watched it try to squirm out of the tongs. “I started in biology, thought I could make a mark there. We still know so little about nature, and crystal bugs are packed with mystery.”

Miash grinned. “I almost went into bio.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But I had to pursue what I wanted deep down.”

Decadin turned his wrist, flipped the bug over. “Music?”

“Art, all of it, but music’s what came naturally.”

“That’s awesome. If you’re ever performing I’d love to come see. Certain the others would too.”

Miash blushed, unused to anyone caring for long. This was a formality, he had to change the subject. “So why’d you transfer out of bio?”

“Eh.” Decadin dropped the bug back in the box.

- - -

Decadin knocked on the door with his free hand.

From the other side: “Yes?”

He stepped in. The machine shop was dark, just couple of Levilights™ where Nemesk was hunched over a work table.

“Hey. I brought another tool that might help.” Decadin set a bowl of stew by Nemesk’s elbow.

“Oh.” Nemesk bent back up, looked over his shoulder. “Did not ask you to do this.”

“No, but Lhusel and I made extra, and it only made sense to keep some hot for you.” Decadin smiled, then looked at the blueprints. “How’s it coming?”

“Bad.” Nemesk dropped his pen. “Too much to fit on a reasonable size. Magic can’t fix it all.”

Decadin bent over to take a look himself. The sketches were hectic, eraser marks obvious. “What if it wasn’t a reasonable size?”

“We have the money?”

“Probably not.”

Nemesk huffed, rested his forehead against his hand. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Decadin frowned. He thought of losing Nemesk from the project, or as a friend, and adrenaline shot in his body. “Why?”

Nemesk’s other hand traced along the table as he spoke, as though building a model of his greivances. “No certainties. Assume things for the calculations, will need lots of testing, but no time. Still don’t know where getting parts. And barely below budget, right? If this doesn’t work, there’s nothing to show, and might be my fault. Or everything will get pulled if they found out Lhusel was working on it.”

Decadin patted his shoulder. “Stand up, you need a hug.”

“Uh?” Nemesk stood, and when Decadin pulled him in, he needed a second to process before he put his hands on the stewbringer’s back.

“You feel this?” Decadin murmured, “we’re here.”

“I know.”

“But we get so tied up in the math we forget we’re just bodies and souls.” Sensing the tension in Nemesk, Decadin pulled back to look him in the face.

“Yeah,” said Nemesk, hardly able to meet his gaze, “but much else I can’t be sure about.”

Decadin breathed in. “I’ve been there. You know what helped me?”

“What?”

“This, all of this, is a machine.” Decadin let him go. “Some parts move by themselves, some are invisible, but it’s all pieces of a system. It all makes sense when we get some hindsight, right?”

“Not help.” Nemesk frowned. “No good machine we can’t work out from the start.”

“Is there more on your mind than you’re telling me?”

Nemesk still wouldn’t meet his eyes. Decadin grimmaced.

“You think you need some sleep? You can have your dinner and go if you want.”

Nemesk sat down. “I’ll have it as break, but if I don’t do this now, just moved to later.”

“Your call.” Decadin smiled. “Can I give one more tip?”

“Mhm,” Nemesk hummed through a mouthful of stew.

Decadin opened a drawer built into the right side of the table, took out a jar of orange liquid. “If you can’t get rid of uncertainty, make it work for you.”

“What you mean?”

He set the jar on the table. “It’s mana. I think I only got through my second year because I kept it on my desk and it randomly gave me answers.”

“But the jar stops any effects from leaking, right? Too dangerous if no.”

“Yeah, for all we know it doesn’t actually do anything. But call it superstition.”

Nemesk smirked. “So now going to use mana to help us get rid of mana?”

“Hey, why not?”

“Well if we need it for good ideas, what we do after it’s gone?”

Decadin laughed.

- - -

Decadin stayed home one afternoon. He was going to spend all day crunching numbers, and he figured it was good for teambuilding when the others could vent to each other in his absence.

Aether dynamics was hard. It was fluid dynamics but also multi-dimensional parabolic geometry and also applied mathematical theology. It demanded so many parts of his brain that the proofs always took Decadin hours, and treading new ground felt impossible. How was he supposed to work out the most sustainable mechanism to repel mana back into the Aether? His only hope was a second jar of mana he bought for himself, purple this time. When he needed a break he’d pace around his room, bauble in hand, shaking it, swirling it and watching it settle with post-deterministic patterns.

The chaos wasn’t helping this time. Nemesk was right: if these jars actually changed anything outside the glass, the orange one would’ve burned down the whole academy by now. If they were ever useful it was for prompting new questions, but this time there were none to find. Decadin slumped back into his chair, double-checked an equation. It wasn’t even close to true if the variables were what he thought they were. He stared at the liquid magic in the jar, tapped it with his fingers, and then gave it a spin. He looked back at the paper. Back at the jar. Half the mana was gone.

Decadin gasped. Concepts neglected since first year started crashing into each other. He jotted a couple notes about centrifugal force, lept from his seat, grabbed the jar and sprinted off to tell Nemesk.

- - -

“You’re asking for more?”

“I had no plans to come up here and request a reduction,” said Decadin. Back on the platform. Back in the spotlight. Back in front of the Septumvirate. One of the members was replaced since last time, and the new voice was especially skeptical.

“Don’t bother giving us some fluffed-up story of all the progress you’re making. Your supervisor’s confirmed that you’ve yet to build a functioning prototype.”

“My case is that even if we fail, we’ll have made incredible discoveries in the process. Our work also supports future projects with similar aims.”

Another voice chimed in: “‘Incredible discoveries’ isn’t very specific.”

Decadin raised his chin. “We found a direct association between mana repulsion and centrifugal force in holding materials.”

Silence for a moment, until the first voice returned. “When was this?”

“Last night. We were all so excited I forgot to sleep.”

A third voice laughed, then a fourth spoke: “I respect your dedication, but it hasn’t brought results.”

“The materials we need are… scarce. As soon as we get the funds for delivery, you’ll get your results. There’s no waste here, I’m covering the holy ink we’ll need out of pocket.”

“We’ll consider it.”

-----------------

Yaldev is a sci-fantasy worldbuilding project by Ulysses Maurer, with art by Beeple. By looking at narratives, stylized loredumps, bad poetry and little details, we'll witness the story of a planet filled with magical power, the nation which tried to conquer it, this empire’s dramatic collapse and the new world which emerged in its wake. Along the way we'll meet the characters who live here, and we'll explore questions about nationalism, rationalism, the natural world and the quest to master it. For all stories in chronological order, check out the pinned posts at r/Yaldev!

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barbariccia · 4 years ago

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it’s time to talk about Hydaelyn.

i’ve been sat on this theory for a long time - i’m pretty sure i didn’t come up with the original idea myself, but the more i think about it the more it makes sense to me. i’m not sure HOW it’ll come into play in the story, necessarily, but the new year’s eve poem posted last night has me rubbing my chin even more. so:

Hydaelyn exists under Silvertear Lake and i won’t hear no for an answer.

(please note there'll be spoilers for 5.0.)

we have known since 1.0 that there’s Something Under Silvertear. admittedly, in 1.0 it was likely just Midgardsormr, because the times have been a-changing and while the dev team has done a truly admirable job at building on what lore remained from the 1.X days, they couldn’t and didn’t keep everything intact. i do not at any point consider this a downside, just something worth noting!

the Garleans, headed by Gaius van Baelsar (acting under solus-selch’s orders), after the invasion and successful annexing of Ala Mhigo, pushed into Mor Dhona as the next part of their “invade Eorzea” project as a central location that would make continued pushes into the land easy. not only that, but Mor Dhona is noted as being (and has been since 1.X) the center of aetherial connections in Eorzea, if not the whole world, though Eorzea is particularly topped up with aether compared to other landmasses. Cid Garlond in his 1.X iteration suggests that Mor Dhona is where aether returns to rejoin the Lifestream. Quote:

Cid nan Garlond: All aether would - should pass through Silvertear Lake upon returning to the Land, but it now appears that something is bending the energy's course - drawing it away.

in 1.X, Nael van Darnus was originally drawing Dalamud down to fall on this area, where Castrum Novum (now Castrum Centri in ARR and beyond) was built, until adventurers put a stop to that and the transmitter was relocated to Coerthas, where the Rivenroad was ripped from. I’ll accept it as a happy coincidence - the castra was built in this area, it makes sense for plot events to happen there - but it does strike me as interesting, especially where the parallel between the Garlean’s Meteor Project and the original Meteor from FFVII is concerned. Sephiroth wasn’t just calling down a giant slab of asteroid for shiggles; he was doing it specifically to create a wound in the Planet that would require an immense amount of energy to heal that he could siphon off of and become a god. If XIV’s Meteor had hit (and not hatched like an egg), a similar thing might have happened.

And there’s no better place to call a lot of aether to the fore than somewhere entirely rich in it. Almost like there’s a great being in that area dependent on aether that directs the Lifestream through itself to preserve not only itself, but all life on the planet.

The second the Garleans got too close to the lake, Middy burst out with a whole host of Dravanians and the Battle of Silvertear Skies began (and ended with Dravanian victory at great cost). This sequence from 1.X is notable as being one of those things that has to have been changed from ARR onwards considering what we now know about primal summoning (they weren’t just ‘let loose’ into the world, they’ve been actively taught to certain peoples (though why only ‘now’ and not ‘before, too’ is still up in the air)) - not to mention we know that the Echo started manifesting after the battle, too, almost as though something felt like it was in danger and needed thralls (1) to protect itself - but Middy came out to protect something. He’d been known as the great protector of Silvertear Lake for a very long time, since he first appeared to the source. Quote The Rising Chorus, from patch 2.5:

Minfilia: [...] an unlikely ally came to Eorzea's aid that day─Midgardsormr, legendary guardian of Silvertear Falls, burst forth from beneath the waters of the lake and led a host of dragons against the Garlean airships overhead.

Minfilia: Midgardsormr was once worshipped as the guardian deity of Silvertear Falls [...]

Minfilia: One of the ancient myths regarding Silvertear Falls states that when the waters came into existence, so too did the great wyrm. Althyk and Nymeia, Brother Time and Sister Fate, decreed that Midgardsormr ever watch over the source, from which all water─and magic─was said to flow. I wonder... What if this was the covenant of which he spoke, and 'twas not the gods with whom he treated, but Hydaelyn Herself?

minfy and ourselves can only guess as to the nature of the covenant forged between hydaelyn and midgardsormr. Following the Omega questline, we know that Midgardsormr fled the Dragonstar with his seven eggs to get away from Omega, crossing the vast expanse of space at great cost to his own personal strength. We don’t know at what time Midgardsormr appeared to the Source - whether it was before, during, or after the time of the 13th Reflection being turned into the Void as we know it - but it would have been post-Sundering of the Ancient world, considering he was able to make a pact with Hydaelyn at all (2) (not to mention there’s no dragons on the First; if there were dragons everywhere we’d know they were reflections of the First Brood! i’m still angy there’s no Azdaja and Vrtra. fucking PLEASE squenix i’m DYING for info on them).

(1) this is a good a place as any to mention that in 1.X, Minfilia - then known as Ascilia - witnessed the Battle of Silvertear Falls with her father Warburton and her Echo awoke a few years later. interesting to think that the primal that tempered Ascilia in potential desperation would later scour her clean and use her for its own purposes, though i know this wasn’t intentional from the devs at all as a plot-point.

(2) the nature of Hydaelyn and Zodiark’s battle makes me doubt that there was much time between Her summoning and the Sundering of the world

There’s an interview from 2014/15 with Koji Fox where he notes, quote,"There's a presence [at Silvertear]. It wasn't just Midgardsormr there, it was more of a force[...]". There’s definitely something there that isn’t just the dragons. Something big. It’s Hydaelyn!!! It has to be. (highlights in the excerpt mine.)

My interpretation of this event is that Midgardsormr agreed to protect the physical ‘body’ of Hydaelyn in exchange for the safety of his eggs - the First Brood - which is what he’s been doing for potentially upwards of 10,000 years. The battle at Silvertear is pretty explosive otherwise for what’s effectively a non-event. There might not have been dragons in Gyr Abania, or in Ilsabard, or Othard or anywhere else they’ve been pushing into - but there’s never been any indication of the dragons being particularly territorial. The Dravanians shared their space with proto-Ishgardians back in the day, and their issues with the elezen of the Source was due to some choice eye-vorage, not encroaching on lands like the sahagin and kobolds.

As for Hydaelyn’s physical form - well, it’s known that Zodiark has a physical form which was sealed directly into the moon. The true moon, known to us colloquially as Menphina (3) (is there another name for it? i haven’t seen anything). It stands to reason that Hydaelyn has a physical form as well, then, hidden away somewhere safe, because as we known, primals can be defeated and their essences scattered to return back to the Lifesteam.

(3) Hey, it’s worth noting here that Menphina, the Lover (whose divine stone is parked right where Haurchefant’s grave is) is said to be the younger sister of Azeyma, the Warden! and boy, while we’re thinking about the misremembered names of the Convocation coming back as names of gods in modern day, what significance does that have?

The Antitower: In all of creation, what greater mystery could there be than the fate of this very star? To sound the deepest depths, to study the aetherial sea itself─for these purposes and more was the Antitower built. Abandoned by her Sharlayan caretakers following the exodus, it has since been overrun by the magical guardians they left behind. Yet were one blessed with Her gift to brave these dangers and descend to the furthest reaches─to hear, feel, and think at the heart of this world─what would they find?

(emphasis mine.)

in the cutscenes following the Antitower, we meet Hydaelyn in the aetherial sea, and Her mouthpiece, the Word of the Mother. and by using the Antitower, something specifically Sharlayan-built, no less. I’d be very interested to know if you can reach the aetherial sea from only the Forelands, where that dungeon is, or from anywhere. I’m gonna make a stab at anywhere.

It’s been brought to my attention that in the cutscenes post-Antitower, Hydaelyn mentions in the quest The Word of the Mother (patch 3.2), and Ardbert echoes later in Shadows of the First (patch 3.4) that “across ten and three were [we] then divided, reflections of the source, each possessed of a shard”, which seems to imply that not only the people of the world and Zodiark, but also Hydaelyn Herself was sundered and became weaker in so doing. which is FANTASTICALLY interesting, all things considered! maybe She wasn’t just becoming weak (and finding it harder to take mouthpieces and the like) because of the land’s aether being drained by primals (and other sources).

The just-released (as of time of writing) New Year’s Eve poem makes me think that the “last chapter of this story” might relate back to this in some way.

[EN]

Our progeny may never know Wherefore we look unto the sky Nor why we dig for truth below; We bear their scorn or watch them die.

[FR]

With our mouths closed, we pile stone upon stone, To form a staircase leading to the lands of knowledge, As well as another pointing to the heavens of existence. Our children will remember it, no matter how angry they are.

[GR]

Committed to our silent office We seek wisdom in the deep earth. Put tomorrow in starry hands, Sung by children's lamentations.

[JP]

By staying silent and saying naught, we will not accumulate the crystals(?) (4) To gain knowledge, we climb into the earth, To survive, we climb to into the heavens. Even if our progeny resent us, it is all for their sake.

(4) 石 meaning stone rather than ‘crystals’, 水晶 meaning ‘crystal’ (and used in the JP title of the Crystal Exarch).

*** translations from THIS reddit post and THIS tweet for the EU and JP translations of the poem, respectively.

something something 6.0 is looking more likely to be Sharlayan than anywhere else, something something big tower something something learn stuff from within the earth. c’moooon, i wanna go beat some answers out of crystal mom. walk freeeee indeed.

Getting away from the poems again and back to Stuff On The Source, we can take a look at the First, a much more pristine reflection of the Source due to having no Calamities happen to it ever. The Source (not to be confused with the Source), the equivalent of Silvertear, is being presided over by none other than... Bismarck, a member of the fae (and BOY i’d like to know more about whaleboi in this world!!!!), in exactly the same position Midgardsormr is, presumably protecting something of equal importance. Having said that, I don’t know if by splitting the world, Hydaelyn also split Herself.

Having said that, there’s an environmental anomaly in that area. Fly out to Bismarck’s (5) nose, and then dive under the waves. There’s a crystal formation coming out of the ground that can’t be found anywhere else on the First - there is nothing else similar to this formation - that has patches of light emitting from bits of it. A friend of mine noted that the way it seems to be coming through in only this location is almost cancerous in origin - that is to say, uncontained and Wrong in some manner, more complex than we have words or knowledge of. The only way you can interact with these crystals is in the level 78 mining levequest Crystal Meds, which notes that you can yank salt crystals out of that formation... but it seems a little too suspect to leave as ‘just salt’.

(5) Speaking of Bismarck, from that earlier interview with Koji Fox, he also has this to say, which... what else have you been hiding in plain sight... (highlights again mine.)

Or the Crystarium’s just going around seasoning their meals with primal mama, who knows.

Eep, this post got away from me. Anyway, i’m not really sure what to DO with any of this information. as many of my friends know i’ve been harping on about this for years at this point, and i’m not the best at speculation and guessing accurately where stories end up going - but it feels more right than ever to talk about it now after that poem was release.

hells, maybe they’ll give us another tower. say... a tower of bab-il, to take us to the moon? 6.0 FFIV expansion pretty please??

#ffxiv speculation #ffxiv #hydaelyn #final fantasy 14 #ff14

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autumnslance · 4 years ago

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would you be willing to make a masterpost of all your sharlayan research and headcanons? please please please and THANK YOU if you do

I can certainly try! A lot of my info is from what little we have so far, and my own fics are where a lot of my headcanons go to live, with little snippets about various characters here and there in my scattered lore posts, as well as stuff I’ve collected from other players.

Other Resources In Louisoix’s Wake - The twins’ official Calamity short story on the Lodestone. One Name, One Promise - Thancred’s backstory, from Limsa to Sharlayan training to his early assignment in Ul’dah and then early Shadowbringers. Mirke’s Menagerie - A compilation of lore info from in game, lorebooks, panels, interviews, short stories, etc. There are about 4 or 5 Sharlayan-specific posts @mirkemenagerie has made.

Encyclopaedia Eorzea - If you can get your hands on copies (physical officially; digitally is Unofficial so far as I know), I recommend it! They’re both good reads, though EE 1 is the one with a blurb on Sharlayan as a nation.

Posts by Other People - that I have collected Leveva Comment About Archon Loaf - Keeping in mind Sharlayan’s bad cuisine has been canonical for years per lorebook 1. They care more about ease of eating while studying, also seeing culinary arts as an academic field, not a practical daily exercise. Lorebook 1 Astrologian Lore - screencaps from the lorebook. Phaedra’s Teen Scion Sharlayan Antics fic - I am happy to take responsibility for inspiring @phaedra-mero to write this delightful scene.

My Own Posts Red Mage Research - Includes books from Gubal Library. Scion Ages - Pointing out the ages of the Scions, particularly the Archons.

My Fics - Sometimes there’s more HC musings in the Notes and Comments. I try to stay close to canon, at least as it is when the fic was written. Rogue’s Prelude - Multichapter, teen Thancred meets Louisoix, Yda, and Papalymo. Written a year prior to Thancred’s official ShB story above. Aetherology & Skulking Boots-Beginnings - Y’shtola agrees to tutor Thancred in how to speak properly as teenagers in the colony. Chin Up - Yda gives Thancred advice as youths in the colony. Dreams of Home-Lucubration - Yda, Lyse, and Thancred in the colony. Younger Sister - Thancred’s relationships with the Hext sisters over time. In Violet’s Wake-Louisoix’s Children - A Master Matoya PoV from StB patches. There’s a brief chapter with her and Y’mhitra in Dreams of Home, too. Excerpts from other posts - things that ended up as commentary on other threads, with some editing since.

From a thread that started off as about Thancred’s Gear from ARR to HW:

Sharlayan is a nation on an island NW of Eorzea proper; the Sharlayan everyone we know hails from was a colony that became a city-state a few hundred years back and part of the Eorzean Alliance, in the Dravanian Hinterlands, where Idyllshire is now. After the fall of Ala Mhigo and then the Battle of Silvertear Skies, the Forum (their ruling body) decided to abandon the city and return to the motherland, a process that took 5 years before they all just teleported out in a day. Except Matoya, and those archons that worked for Louisoix and that he asked to stay and go to the remaining 3 Alliance cities. This would have been 15 years before ARR/Heavensward.

The Students of Baldesion are also Sharlayan; the Isle of Val, their headquarters, being under that nation’s banner. Sons of St Coinach are another offshoot; Rammbroes (Crystal Tower raid story) was originally part of Louisoix’s Circle of Knowing (who eventually became the Scions), and Y’shtola’s sister Y’mhitra is one of the Sons and part of the Summoner storyline.

Thancred got involved as a youth–by trying to pick Louisoix’s pocket, and impressing the old man with his skills, and so Louisoix brought Thancred back with him to give the kid an opportunity for study. Yda and Lyse escaped Ala Mhigo, and with help from Papalymo, who was part of an effort to help refugees seeking shelter in Sharlayan, they ended up there, and Yda is the one who actually became an archon.

Most of the other senior Scions, so far as I know, are native to Sharlayan, either the motherland or the colony. The Leveilleur twins were born in the Hinterlands Sharlayan, but raised in the motherland, as they were less than a year old when the exodus happened. The university they and Krile attended is the Studium. Becoming an Archon seems to be a separate process not everyone goes through, and is a demonstration of mastery in chosen field(s) of study. That’s the significance of the tattoos some of the Scions have on their necks or faces.

Sharlayan is basically a nation particularly focused on academia; the trouble is, for the last couple decades, it’s been controlled by a faction of isolationists who would rather hoard knowledge and sit in the proverbial ivory tower looking down on non-Sharlayans, claiming others would abuse their knowledge, and that they should simply observe history and not try to affect it. Louisoix, Matoya, and the organizations they associate with (the Circle of Knowing/Scions; Sons of St Coinach, the Students of Baldesion, etc), think that viewpoint is stupid and go against it. A big part of the Astrologian storyline is dealing with Sharlayans who dislike Leveva’s family sharing Sharlayan astrology with outsiders, for example.

What sort of relationship Sharlayan and Ishgard had before the exodus isn’t really detailed much; both were pretty insular and focused on their own issues (like many of Eorzea’s city-states outside of crises), and the Dravanian threat at the time might have kept them pretty separated by land. Sharlayan was responsible for Eorzea’s aetherytes and keeping the aethernets working, though, and it’s suggested they still handle that post-Calamity to some degree. We pay fees for teleports because reconstruction and upkeep is pricey for all of the city-states.

The Isle of Val was the headquarters of the Students of Baldesion, Krile’s family and order, and was a Sharlayan institution. It’s destruction/missing status happened during the ARR patches, and Krile was saved by Hydaelyn as she has the Echo (as an aside: you can hear Minfilia talking to Krile via linkpearl in the background on the Enterprise after rescuing the Scions from Castrum Centri before Ultima, and she constantly refers to and worries about Krile after the Isle of Val goes missing, but then plot happened to Minfilia so we never see them together as friends). The Ascians seemed to have a hand in the Isle’s disappearance…but there’s story about the fate of the Isle of Val and the Students of Baldesion in Stormblood’s Eureka plotline.

As for the Archon Marks, if they do confer social benefits, aside from being an easily seen status symbol for some highly skilled & educated folks, it hasn’t been mentioned yet in concrete terms, though we know the rank has benefits (like access to forbidden lore). Mostly they are a way to tell at a glance who has obtained the rank. It’s like if people with doctorates had a tattoo of their degree symbol on them so you knew just by looking.

As of Shadowbringers 5.4, we know that to become an Archon a thesis is required, and it’s a great deal more work than a Studium graduate’s final thesis. It strikes me that Studium (which some of the Scion Archons also attended) is like undergrad or Masters studies, while Archon is a Doctorate level.

I personally headcanon that the arcane marks confer some minor, slowed visible aging and other vague magical benefits befitting their rank in Sharlayan society. Really, that’s a way for the devs to avoid new models and add to the confusion in 1.0′s intros and the running joke about Y’shtola’s age, BUT let’s come up with an in-world thing, too. There has to be some explanation for Thancred’s perpetual baby face when he’s not RPing a Mountain Hobo ;) Also we really don’t know for sure how old Matoya is. Just old.

Lorebook 2 Notes:

Mikoto Jinba (Return to Ivalice, Save the Queen storylines) worked on aetheric siphon research with Moenbryda, and at 29 is the youngest Raen with the rank of Archon in recent history. It was Jessie’s connections that brought her to Cid’s attention and got her involved in the Return to Ivalice story.

Ejika Tsunjika (Eureka storyline) went to school at the same time as Krile and Leveilleur twins, endorsed by Galuf Baldesion, who Ejika later chose to work under. He’s resentful of Krile and the twins as Ejika himself is of humble origins and had to struggle to get to where he is, yet hides his Archon brands with high collars as he refuses to believe himself unique or exceptional.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Lore #Sharlayan #Archons #Scions of the Seventh Dawn #Anonymous

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theunvanquishedzims · 4 years ago

Text

The Michigan Fleet authors posted their AUs so here are mine

theunvanquishedzims: I have SO MANY Boat Boy ideas but I'm sitting on them because I came up with a bunch halfway through the book and they got jossed by the end rollerskatinglizard: Hah! Uhhh, sorry? I think?? theunvanquishedzims: (i.e. Basil gets sad and weepy over Rich and Liam flirting at a party, Trimmer plays fairy godmother a la ripping half his shirt off, giving him a pep talk, and sending him back out there to Win Back His Man) rollerskatinglizard: *whooping* theunvanquishedzims: Jossed so hard rollerskatinglizard:Okay, that's DELIGHTFUL rollerskatinglizard: Trimmer is the most terrifying fairy godmother rollerskatinglizard: Anything else? :Dc theunvanquishedzims: Lemme get my notes rollerskatinglizard: *gleeful wiggling*

theunvanquishedzims: Okay so I stopped reading when the Sympatico grabbed Rich during the storm and it took me a month or so to get back and finish, so I was under the impression that the ship was still being fixed in drydock and not, y'know, actually being crewed and sailed. (Trimmer yelling "just let her sink" hits reeeeeaaaallly different when you know that) rollerskatinglizard: Ahaha oh dang theunvanquishedzims: So the big idea was the gangsters needing something from the Sympatico. Not the general thugs and delinquents crewing the Sympatico but the actual organized crime of the Fleet, who were getting pretty used to using ships like the Sympatico to run their dirty deeds through. Except it's basically impossible to get what they need out of it, even when they drag out one of the old IST guys. He finally tells them Rich was the one who did the heavy lifting for the past few years rollerskatinglizard: Ooooh! rollerskatinglizard: What an interesting idea! theunvanquishedzims: Hang on I need to restart rollerskatinglizard: Ah yes, computers theunvanquishedzims: Sorry, that turned into a dinner break and running errands During which I came up with a couple new AUs theunvanquishedzims: Okay, back to mafia: they track Rich down, probably snag him after he's been out boarding. Off work, not expected back on the ship, tired from all the exercise, etc. They're not overtly threatening, just pick up his skimmer and politely suggest that he comes help them, and he probably goes quietly because there's like, six of them. I'm thinking only one of whom was actually posted on the Sympatico theunvanquishedzims: So they get back to the Sympatico. She's been temporarily decommissioned until the Fleet can fix her broken processes, but that's also a cover story by the mob. They want to clear out all the smuggled goods and information, but she's basically a ghost ship, silent and empty, and even the other IST guy couldn't get more than a few blinking lights. She's sulking basically, she knows they're not there to fix her so she's digging in her heels and playing dead. Like a toddler going ragdoll when they don't want to go to bed. theunvanquishedzims: They explain to Rich that they can't get a response and want him to take a crack at it. "Has she said anything?" "Who?" "The Sympatico." "...we didn't talk to it." "Well that's half your problem right there." theunvanquishedzims: At this point you should watch Show Yourself from Frozen 2, and the crystal scene from Atlantis the Lost Empire. Stepping into the place you've been called, making your presence known, and having a greater power reach out for you. Shiny lights, chasing the spark of life to its source, and having the power consume and embody you. Rich is used to it but it's probably pretty freaky from the outside, and way less magical-looking than a Disney movie. Probably more like when Magneto activated the machine in the first X-Men movie. Step up, turn it on, and suddenly it's sucking the life out of you, making you a living battery theunvanquishedzims: In my head I am picturing the glowing blue eyes, lights cracking along the skin like lightning or circuit patterns, the implants glowing in his temples, standing at a terminal like a star trek deck, maybe a faint breeze-like movement of the hair and clothes to indicate the sheer power radiating off of him. In reality it's probably more like he falls down, gets up, stumbles along to a good spot out of the weather, and curls up in a secluded defensible spot to stare emptily at the wall for a few hours while lights randomly go on and off around the ship theunvanquishedzims: Just being trailed by six very wary mafia dudes who have probably never seen someone mind-meld a ship, and definitely not solo. He's like a zombie, and when he does talk it's very clear he's talking for the both of them theunvanquishedzims: If any of them are in sync with the ship they definitely feel the !!!Rich you're back!!! vibe theunvanquishedzims: No idea how that resolves, I guess it depends on how powerful the mafia is. If they're the kind of entrenched criminals who are ongoing characters, then they have Rich scrub out what they need then dump him back on his skimmer to face the fallout alone. He might report it to the spooks? Or at least try to tell Basil and Mitch theunvanquishedzims: If they're not recurring characters then they were definitely being tracked by the spooks, who move in once the Sympatico comes back online. Rich has to answer some very tough questions but he cooperates fully and winds up digging up a LOT of dirt out of the Sympatico, now that the mafia showed him where to look. It's another one of the super traumatizing moments that makes him look cool and heroic. Oh yeah, totally got kidnapped, single-handedly piloted a ship, and helped bust the mafia, please stop talking about it, I need a nap, and also someone to go with me next time I go boarding. theunvanquishedzims: (And then I finished reading the book and found out that the Sympatico had a new crew and was out on the water with her AI still fried and broken, how did no one notice that)

__________________________________________

theunvanquishedzims: Okay I don't have Trimmer's voice well enough to write this fic so I'm feeding it to you raw: Trucker AU theunvanquishedzims: Rich is a long-haul trucker, much to the disappointment of his elder sister Angela, who is in law enforcement and thought he had a decent future in it too. Athena is a pro wrestler and totally down to support her brother traveling the country (and hopefully being in the same city as him sometime, she wants him to see her kick ass!) Rich wants to pursue a degree in [tech or engineering] but college is expensive, and trucking is a good way to make money, on top of which you don't have to pay rent when you're on the road. So he's saving up for school, probably listening to a lot of audiobooks, podcasts, and training guides while chugging along. theunvanquishedzims: Not nearly as bad or sketchy as the Sympatico, but life on the road can get pretty sketch sometimes, especially when you're alone. Enter Trimmer. Or rather, enter Rich into the middle-of-nowhere trucker stopover bar where Trimmer is getting his ass kicked. theunvanquishedzims: (Gonna go ahead and say the bar is called the Sympatico, and this is a very bad night to be there, which is saying something because any night at the Sympatico is a bad night to be there.) theunvanquishedzims: Fortunately, Rich is not trapped there by the cold uncaring waters of Lake Michigan, he can just turn around and leave when he sees the nightly fight brewing. Unfortunately, he has a weakness for cute twinks, and no matter how much the guy is insulting their mothers four on one is really not fair, so he winds up wading in, scooping Trimmer up, and murder-stalking to the exit theunvanquishedzims: [At this point I pause to stare out the window and wonder wistfully what their canon meeting was like, who approached who, if Trimmer just straight-up used his lunch to hire a bodyguard or if Rich did the "are you gonna finish that" puppy-eyes and Trimmer realized how easily he could be bribed, etc etc] theunvanquishedzims: In the Trucker AU Trimmer waits until they're outside to go feral goblin on the arm that's holding him, Rich drops him, and negotiation commences theunvanquishedzims: I don't have Trimmer's backstory nailed down, the "teenage runaway" archetype doesn't really suit someone with a large loving family, but safe to say that whatever lead him to hitchhiking across the Midwest he is determined to see through out of sheer bullheaded stubbornness. The only thing worse than calling your parents to bail you out with bus money home is calling your grandma. It might have involved stabbing a college advisor when the guy got rapey, he's technically not on the run from the law, he DEFINITELY is not on track to getting his degree. Halfway between college dropout and missing person. If he was wealthy he'd be backpacking Europe for a semester, but he's not, so he's hitchhiking America. And getting molested by truckers, because Trimmer can't have nice things. theunvanquishedzims: He is really not interested in getting molested by Rich! But, as Rich points out, he did just save him from getting stabbed, Trimmer doesn't seem to have any exit options for this backwater town, and holy #&$^ the bar's on fire. (The Sympatico burns to the ground that night, to the betterment of the world at large.) rollerskatinglizard: You have no idea how much I'm enjoying this But you should totally post it Splick and Roach would both scream in glee theunvanquishedzims: Rich and Trimmer get out while the getting is good, and it's nearly dawn before they finally hash out details. Rich offers to drop him off at the next town, but they're still pretty close to the epicenter of the mass exodus so the next few hundred miles are probably not going to be safe for Trimmer. By this point Trimmer has found a bunch of the old textbooks Rich bought secondhand to study in his free time and come to the conclusion that [this nerd is a nerd] his story checks out. Just a college kid trying to scrape together the cash to get an education and make a decent living. Reminds Trimmer of Trimmer. (Reminds Trimmer of Joey.) rollerskatinglizard: ;u; <3 Beautiful theunvanquishedzims: So now Rich has a little traveling buddy! Helps him stay awake on the long hauls, lets him use the carpool lanes, even reads to him out of the textbooks sometimes, with commentary. Trimmer is really smart and surprisingly easy to get along with. They nap in the cab, eat in diners, and share motel rooms. Trimmer unclenches a little. Rich is good about not asking personal questions. They definitely watch Athena's fights on tv more than once, much to Rich's chagrin and Trimmer's loud encouragement. He started fanboying over it to annoy and embarrass Rich, but it is surprisingly cathartic to watch someone get trash-talked and respond by just BODYSLAMMING their opponent. ("Why are you rooting for her, you're the biggest trash-talker I know," Rich mutters into his beer, face bright red as Trimmer whoops and high-fives the waitress he got to change the channel in the sports bar.) theunvanquishedzims: ("She would wipe the floor with me," Trimmer responds with a smirk, watching smugly as Rich tries to figure out if Trimmer is having impure thoughts about his baby sister) theunvanquishedzims: (They have already established that Trimmer does not have impure thoughts about Rich, that Rich DOES have impure thoughts about Trimmer, but as long as he stays in his own motel bed that's fine.) (Trimmer still sleeps with a knife under his pillow but doesn't bother in the cab, where their co-naps occasionally verge on snuggling.) rollerskatinglizard: <3 <3 <3 *perfect* theunvanquishedzims: They finally reach their destination. It has been [days to drive a rig between NJ and CA] and they make it there slightly ahead of schedule. Rich drops off the delivery, Trimmer comes face-to-face with the reality of the trip ending. He'd been hitchhiking for months and felt like he was going nowhere, and now a few days and suddenly he's crossed the entire country, and almost kinda maybe had fun doing it! And California's as good a place as any to stay, at least he won't freeze to death if he doesn't find a place to crash for the night. theunvanquishedzims: Then Rich comes back and hands him a wad of cash, pocketing a stack of his own. "Got a cash bonus for finishing early! And since you're the reason I made it here this fast, I just figured part of it is your share..." he peters out, trying to explain his reasoning. They sit in silence for a while, both thinking about Trimmer in California, far away from anyone who would want to hurt him, with a few hundred dollars in his pocket. theunvanquishedzims: "...Let's get lunch," Trimmer finally decrees, and Rich can't keep the relieved smile off his face. They renegotiate some things over lunch, and then go to pick up the next load to haul cross-country. Together. rollerskatinglizard: AWWWWWW!!!! *YES,* I love it!!! theunvanquishedzims: And then eventually they go to college together, and get their degrees, and good jobs, and meet the families, and Trimmer absolutely drags Rich to as many of Athena's fights as they can manage on the road. It's just to save money, things are cheaper when you split the rent, Trimmer hollers on the phone. You put a ring on that boy's finger, y'hear?! Hellbender hollers back. I am so glad the word moirail exists rollerskatinglizard: YES God yes Also this AU pleases me greatly rollerskatinglizard: Blessings upon you for it theunvanquishedzims: ...technically the Michigan Fleet takes place in a post-Homestuck world, so theoretically it could have time to enter mainstream lexicon. It's better than "bromance" theunvanquishedzims: JUST THROWING THAT OUT THERE >.> rollerskatinglizard: Yeah, totally different feel than bromance!

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theunvanquishedzims: Speaking of Homestuck! Wanna hear the Helmsman AU? :3 rollerskatinglizard: YES PLEASE theunvanquishedzims: Okay gimme a minute to get my notes, it's not based on One of Our Submarines but I can't remember the fic title. Have you read the one where the kids redesign the helmsrig and use that to garner support for Feferi as Empress? Lots of political drama, Sollux-centric, [spoiler], and in the end they win *but at what cost* (((If someone knows what fic I'm talking about please link me, I can't find it.))) rollerskatinglizard: No, I haven't theunvanquishedzims: It's good, if you like the nitty-gritty of rebellions. The piece I'm cherry picking is the new Empress introducing a new way of helming that allows more freedom. Instead of a single enslaved lowblood being hung up in tentacle wires until they drop dead, it's something you can unplug from, allowing psionics to swap out, take shifts, etc. So Empress Clearwater (yay seadweller name) is dead, long live Empress Clearwater, and she shakes things up by introducing her new helmsrig and orders it implemented Fleet-wide theunvanquishedzims: I don't think this universe is as bad as canon but it's still pretty rough on the bad ships, and the Sympatico is a very bad ship theunvanquishedzims: Angie is still a security officer, probably fairly high-ranking as a greenblood. Athena is a pro wrestler. Sports are probably a bigger part of life in a Fleet that doesn't center around conquest. The three probably grew up in the same neighborhood, maybe dabbled in quadrants before settling on hatefriends. Oooh, or ash, Athena setting them up to talk out their issues over lunch and then heckle each other over their other quadrants could fit in that quadrant. theunvanquishedzims: Rich is, of course, a helmsman. It's rare for someone that close to jade to be so powerful, he was actually planning on a career in tech, but when he got called in for psionic testing he basically crushed it. Possibly literally. And olive is still technically a lowblood, so off to the helm with you. theunvanquishedzims: His first posting is the Sympatico, and it's a nightmare. The one bright spot (dark spot? How do trolls even. *insert rant about Kanaya being pastel goth not goth-goth*) theunvanquishedzims: The one bright spot is Trimmer, a technician whose survival method is to lock himself in the helm dock and stab anybody who tries to mess with Rich when he's piloting. It's basically how things work in the superstorms, but 75-90% of the time instead of a few times a year theunvanquishedzims: Rich can barely talk most days, they communicate via chat client, and even that requires a lot of brainpower so they can't do it when the Sympatico has to fight something or do difficult maneuvers in space, which is pretty frequently. But Rich keeps an eye out for Trimmer, directing him through the ship to help him avoid people and fights, and tweaking things like hall lights when things get hairy. I think at least once he turned off the gravity, it cost him but it got Trimmer out of a really bad situation and gave him an excuse to hole up in the helmsdeck for a few days until things cooled off theunvanquishedzims: But all that is in the past! There's a new Empress, a new crew, and a new way of helming! theunvanquishedzims: The Sympatico is one of the flagships to roll out the new helmsrig. The original crew was disbanded, culled, reassigned. Trimmer was allowed to stay (at Rich's request) to ease the transition. It's a big day, lots of media attention documenting the new helmsmen, and Rich is doing his best to keep calm. He had to do some physical therapy to stand upright and be able to walk from the big speech to his shiny new helmsrig, but as a fairly young recruit he's not nearly as bad off as some older helmsmen whose bodies have atrophied. He's still pretty skinny though, especially when compared to Angie and Athena, who he reunited with (for the cameras) #helmsmenaretrollstoo, #greenc3<green, #omgishipit, see things are much better now, people can reclaim their lives and quadrants, helming is something to be excited for not scared of, etc. Lots of propaganda, lots of attention, lots of pressure to get this right theunvanquishedzims: And then he walks into the helm and Trimmer is there. Rich would probably have had a meltdown if he hadn't been, but no one can tell because they're so calm and professional. They're both cleaned up and impeccably uniformed, the plugging in goes smoothly, and the Sympatico comes to life and lifts off into the sky into a sunset that would make a Hollywood director weep. The cameras turn off, great job everybody, and things return to normal. Except Rich and Trimmer have no idea how to handle normal. For the first 8 hours it's fine, it's good, it's a little weird that Trimmer looks so tidy and that Rich is sitting in a padded chair instead of being flesh-jacked by tentacles, but it's fine. They chat over text, a little stilted but plenty to catch up on theunvanquishedzims: Rich spies on the new crew and gossips about how boring they are and how weird the ship looks with everything cleared out and well-lit, and wow where did that section of storage come from? Oh right that used to be a hidden smuggling nook. Haha nook. See they're fine, they're laughing at the same old jokes. DEFINITELY weird that Rich is physically laughing. And then their relief shift comes on, with the new 2nd shift helmsman, and it's time for Rich to get unplugged for the day and go. Go to his room, which he has now, or to eat, which he can do now, or any one of a million things that normal trolls do, because he's a normal troll now. (This is turning out a little different from in my head but I like it.) He makes it about two hallways, walking silently side-by-side with Trimmer, before he breaks down. Or rather Trimmer breaks down. Or maybe they both simultaneously break, there is a lot of breaking happening, and it's not great that it's happening in the hall where anybody could walk by and where the new helmsman is almost certainly seeing them and possibly reporting them, and Trimmer's flight instincts are to run back to the helm where it's safe but Rich isn't there, RICH was the reason it was safe and he's not at the helm, he's right there in the hall. Rich, I know not how, picks up Trimmer and gets them to him room. It' close by, thank goodness, and it has a lock on the door, how weird, and Trimmer is there. He missed Trimmer so so much. rollerskatinglizard: ;u; <3<3<3<3 theunvanquishedzims: [The following scene contains content too graphic for wigglers under the age of seven sweeps] rollerskatinglizard: *laughing* Hardcore conciliation!!! theunvanquishedzims: From Trimmer's POV: Merrill requested him to remain a tech on the Sympatico. Makes sense, he was the only one who treated the guy like an actual troll and not a drooling mass of computational power. They got caught up, it's weird how clean and quiet the ship is, no fights to report beyond a spat in the cafeteria that turned out to be pitch flirtation. His shirtcuffs itch and he wants to roll them up but it's day one of the new empire and he doesn't want to get culled for being untidy on the Empress's pet project ship. There's so many other things to get culled for, anyway. And then shift is over. (Weird, he's used to working 16-hour days and sleeping in the helmdeck half the time.) And he has to unplug Merrill (double weird, he's not used to touching Merrill unless it's for a physical repair. Very aware of Rich as a physical person, especially when he's standing up and not obscured in a mass of tentacles.) And then they leave, together, which is WEIRD, because for sweeps Trimmer has been sneaking out of the helmdeck to go on a food run with Merrill texting him directions, and there's no Merrill on screen providing guidance to avoid fights, but there's not gonna BE any fights, and everything is the same but different and looks weird and shiny and there's a giant troll right next to him, stalking him, why didn't Merrill warn him?! rollerskatinglizard: Oh NO, ahaha, oh these poor doofuses theunvanquishedzims: From Rich's POV: he's been seeing these hallways for sweeps, but not from this angle, the ship is so familiar but so foreign to him, and he can't hear her, can't feel her, and he keeps reaching out for her even after all that training he did to get used to the new tech, there's still an absence and some part of his brain that says not being linked to the ship means something has gone catastrophically wrong and everyone onboard is going to die, TRIMMER is going to die, Trimmer is freaking out and hyperventilating next to him, Trimmer's running out of oxygen and the ship isn't responding to him to tell him what's wrong with the oxygen, and then Trimmer goes to bolt back to the helm but that's full of strange trolls and a new helmsman, and that knowledge is enough to shake him back to the situation at hand. He doesn't know where he finds the strength or the presence of mind, but he manages to grab up Trimmer and get them back to safety. It's just that safety is now his berth, not the helm. They're alone in his berth. And Trimmer is still freaking out. Sh-shoosh? Shoosh. Shooooooosh. theunvanquishedzims: Everything is diamonds and snow and beautiful shining crystals (in the movies that will someday be made about this day.) In the moment there's a lot more hyperventilating and snot. Basically, culmination behind the entire fic: do they actually have feelings for each other, or was it just about mutual survival the whole time? rollerskatinglizard: INCREDIBLY ADORABLE AND INTIMATE COMFORT, *YESSSS* Thank you yes, I'll have a dozen God that's splendid theunvanquishedzims: And they're both freaking out, Rich is hungry and physically tired and needs to do a lot of stretches, Trimmer is not used to Rich being huge and mobile and right next to him, and they both have crazy big trust issues, but...yeah, they're pale. They're so pale for each other, and it was so hard during the transition not seeing each other and not knowing how the other felt, not knowing how THEY felt, if they really had feelings or if it was all a bad situation. And now they know. They have feelings. And because they're trolls and not humans, they can flop on a pile and talk about those feelings in a non-platonic way, and Rich can pet Trimmer's hair and tell him how pretty he is and how Rich is glad that Trimmer got it properly cut instead of just hacking it too short for someone to grab, and how much he worried in the hall about not being able to see farther than his own field of vision to keep Trimmer out of harm's way, and how this whole thing is so weird and Rich is so scared but he's just really, really happy that Trimmer took the posting on the Sympatico, because he pities Trimmer and he wants him around and he was so glad that Trimmer wanted to still be around him too theunvanquishedzims: The media always depicts piling as either the traditional fairytale highblood freakout, or an extremely mellow ASMR-ish chillout with lots of hairpetting and horn polishing. Not two midbloods looting a mostly-empty room for enough junk to make a large enough pile to sit on, shrieking at each other about their feelings and how weird this is and why didn't you SAY something, me?! why didn't YOU say something?! Three SWEEPS we've been dancing around this! Well I didn't know if you felt the same way or if you just needed me to survive! Etc etc etc. Lots of getting up and stomping around , pacing the floor while ranting, trying to scavenge more stuff to throw on the pile. Rich owns basically nothing and it's the first time he's not judging Trimmer for keeping his room a garbage heap, even empty pizza boxes would be better than trying to make a pile out of two sweaters and a toothbrush. rollerskatinglizard: XDDD TuT aaaaah, YES theunvanquishedzims: Rich definitely rips off a wall panel and pulls out some wires, Trimmer doesn't even question it, they've lived and breathed this ship long enough to know what every wire does and which are nonessential to ship functioning. And with the wall panel crunched up they can pile stuff around it to make it seem less sparse, and wow it doesn't even matter that he pulled a panel down, this is HIS wall in HIS room now, he can "redecorate" as he sees fit, cue more yelling about how he doesn't know what to do with himself or his newfound freedom. The whole thing is just yelling and cussing and grabbing and shaking. It probably looks black from the outside, but they are swimming in palest cream. theunvanquishedzims: Eventually they give up on the pile. They go through Rich's entire perigee of snack rations to avoid having to go to the cafeteria, halfheartedly make fun of Rich's chewing, then crawl into the recuperacoon together. Thank goodness there was such a big push to show off how great helmsmen's lives will be, Rich scored a blueblood-huge 'coon and he's still skinny enough that they can both fit in it together. They sleep together, in sopor like proper trolls with proper lives as opposed to surrounded by pink tentacles and misery. Tomorrow they'll have to venture out for food, and do Rich's stretches and physical therapy, and head to their shift like the galaxy hasn't flipped upside-down, but they're handle that together. rollerskatinglizard: Oh help, my heart!! TuT It's SO CUTE, AAAAAAAH theunvanquishedzims: Okay my computer has been trying to shut down for the last three paragraphs so I think it's time to log off for the night, but I hope you enjoy the AUs, I will tell you more tomorrow rollerskatinglizard: Thank you so much!! Have a good night! theunvanquishedzims: (In the original version Rich and Trimmer came face-to-face for the first time since the Sympatico was busted up and Rich pulled out for rehab, and basically had a giant pale meltdown right there against the wall. There was purring, and crying, and confessions, all caught on film. Athena and Angie definitely saw. It had to be censored out of the broadcast. Someone uploaded it to Troll Pornhub and it won a Troll Pornhub Emmy for Truth in Journalism, which was not a category the Troll Pornhub Emmys had before, so congrats Merrill and Trimmer) rollerskatinglizard: *dying* oh my GOD Rich would blush so hard he'd keel over

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theunvanquishedzims: I woke up to the idea of Rich as Fezzik and Trimmer as Inigo Montoya (book version.) rollerskatinglizard: Hah! Oh man, delightful theunvanquishedzims: Soft-hearted giant and stabby little friend rollerskatinglizard: Yesss theunvanquishedzims: Only problem is Trimmer's grudge seems to be against the entire world, not any particular murderer theunvanquishedzims: But they could definitely take on the Zoo of Death together rollerskatinglizard: It could be both, in the AU! Specific grudge and also he hates everyone theunvanquishedzims: Instead of not being left-handed he pulls his feet out of his boots and surprise! More hands to stab you with Makes the acrobatics on top of the cliff more exciting rollerskatinglizard: *dying* YES Perfect! theunvanquishedzims: I don't know who the Man in Black of most beautiful woman in the world would be, but Rich catching them jumping out a window to whisk them away on horseback is lovely rollerskatinglizard: *strokes chin thoughtfully* If Rich is Fezzik, I think Basil might as well be the beautiful love interest, and Mitch is his farm boy turned dashing rogue theunvanquishedzims: Mitch and Trimmer sword fighting rollerskatinglizard: YES theunvanquishedzims: Mitch going through hell and back to save his lady love, then Rich shows up with the horses and says "hello pretty lady" and Basil is just swooning over him rollerskatinglizard: Mitch is pretty chill with Rich by then, he can handle sharing Rich didn't try *hard* to kill him, after all theunvanquishedzims: He even made it a fair fight instead of ambushing him He put down the rock and Mitch put down the sword and they tried to kill each other like civilized people rollerskatinglizard: *laughing* Yes, exactly theunvanquishedzims: Rich even helped bring him back from being mostly dead rollerskatinglizard: They're practically best buddies now! theunvanquishedzims: Which I imagine is 1000x funnier because Trimmer hates this guy and doesn't want to help him but he has info Trimmer needs rollerskatinglizard: Rich just being reprovingly like Come on, buddy, he's cool really I KNOW you bonded over your sword fight with him Don't lie Trimmer: HE'S STILL A DIPSHIT theunvanquishedzims: Trimmer: It was a little fun to take the boots off I guess, I don't get to do that often rollerskatinglizard: Hahaha yes theunvanquishedzims: Downside of being the best swordsman in the world, nobody can touch you. UNTIL NOW. Trimmer: I killed the guy but now I have nothing to live for. Mitch: Have you considered piracy? Stabbing people all day and all the rope ladders you can climb rollerskatinglizard: *dying* theunvanquishedzims: Now Trimmer's life goal is to reclaim his title of Best Swordsman, which means fighting Mitch a lot rollerskatinglizard: Which they both enjoy Sometimes Trimmer wins, sometimes Mitch does rollerskatinglizard: Roach points out that Liam would be Miracle Max theunvanquishedzims: I was just about to type that! rollerskatinglizard: Heee! Good brain wave theunvanquishedzims: You need a cure for death? Nope, sorry. You need to it humiliate my mortal enemy? Coming right up! rollerskatinglizard: YUP theunvanquishedzims: Slipping Rich the holocaust cloak "because it fits so nice" rollerskatinglizard: Pfff yes theunvanquishedzims: Which is said with a million more winky faces than the movie rollerskatinglizard: XDDD Naturally Liam is a much higher-libido mad scientist-substitute theunvanquishedzims: He doesn't have a wife he has like six boyfriend minions hanging around in various states of undress. He got fired for banging the king when he was the royal miracle man, he did a good job but the prince found it icky. rollerskatinglizard: *dying* YES theunvanquishedzims: Basil as Buttercup tho. Basil: Mitch is a good friend. :) Just a great buddy. :)) Kind of smelly but a nice boy. :))) Someone: *might possibly find Mitch attractive* Basil: What? Why. No. Why would she. I mean yeah he's smart and muscular and tan and broad-shouldered and has perfect teeth and his sweat glistens in the sun as he does his chores shirtless, but c'mon, he's not THAT much hotter than her middle-aged husband. No way. rollerskatinglizard: *snickering* rollerskatinglizard: My cowriters very enjoy this AU concept, btw, thank you theunvanquishedzims: Excellent theunvanquishedzims: Trimmer: I told him I was there to kill him and he just...ran away? Mitch: Who does that? rollerskatinglizard: *snickering* theunvanquishedzims: Basil being a slobby peasant until two minutes after Mitch leaves, then realizing he has to take care of himself if he wants to keep Mitch's attention, and only then starting to regularly bathe and brush his hair and work on his figure. rollerskatinglizard: Snirk! Sounds about right, doofus nerd that he is theunvanquishedzims: Then he becomes a princess and has two servants per limb to keep him clean and shining, so when Mitch sneaks into the wedding announcement crowd his first view of Basil is 1. clean 2. shiny hair 3. dressed like a queen

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General book chit-chat, no specific AU

theunvanquishedzims: I saw the post about the Sympatico crew having a very different view of Rich than his friends and now I am consumed with the idea of Rich being seen as scary by anyone who knows him for more than a single minute. Like, he flinches at the sight of a uniform, he can't stand to be in a room with more than one other person in it, and he's so busy working he doesn't really have time to go around carving out a territory rollerskatinglizard: Right? You'd think it'd be tricky, but apparently no theunvanquishedzims: And now there's video of him covered in kittens, and doing cool board tricks, and pretending a little barbel is too heavy to lift, and also he might be in the news for taking down a murderous conspiracy at the Mall. rollerskatinglizard: *laughing* Indeed theunvanquishedzims: Where did big scary monster Merrill go, who is this marshmallow rollerskatinglizard: What scam is he trying to run?!? theunvanquishedzims: Oooh, I pity the fool who is assigned to a boat with Officer Merrill. Double flinch response rollerskatinglizard: RIGHT? *OH SHIT, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE* And she's ARMED theunvanquishedzims: Try to blow off some steam by watching some wrestling, A THIRD ONE rollerskatinglizard: Some poor dumbass who sneered at Trimmer once ends up hiding out on a penny boat bc there's MERRILLS EVERYWHERE, IT'S NOT SAFE OUT THERE theunvanquishedzims: *dying laughing* I imagine a non-terrible Sympatico crew member meeting reformed Rich is like those Very Special Episodes where the hero's high school bully or childhood bad influence friend comes to town, and they're so nice and friendly and apologetic about what happened back in the day rollerskatinglizard: We actually have an encounter something like that planned! theunvanquishedzims: The hero's friends are all charmed and the hero can't convince anyone that it's all an act, he's secretly still terrible, look I'll prove it *does something that makes the hero look bad and the reformed guy look like a victim* Yaaaaaaaaay!!! Outside perspective is the BEST rollerskatinglizard: Rich and this random dude, both acting like the other one is a total menace Meanwhile, anyone who's known either of them since is like ....No?? He's a fine guy, perfectly reasonable Merrill, stop growling theunvanquishedzims: Two Spider-Men pointing at each other rollerskatinglizard: Hah! Yes theunvanquishedzims: Also the fact that Rich has gotten BIGGER since leaving the Sympatico is probably a shock rollerskatinglizard: OH yeah theunvanquishedzims: Richard "Cranky Because He's Slowly Starving To Death" Merrill rollerskatinglizard: I mean, it's a shock to Rich When he hits another growth spurt So it's definitely a shock to anyone else theunvanquishedzims: Oh yeah, he was like 17 when he was first assigned there, nowhere near done growing yet Richard "My Shirts Rip When I Flex Wrong" Merrill rollerskatinglizard: *snickering* He'd look so sheepish and disgruntled if someone gave him that "I flexed and the sleeves fell off" shirt theunvanquishedzims: I am so glad Trimmer got to him before, like, a gang could figure out he's easily bribed with food. Things could have gone so much worse, corruption-wise rollerskatinglizard: YUP theunvanquishedzims: I just finished Athena and the Midnight Chicken and WOW Rich was actually kind of close to giving in to peer pressure there, if Athena hadn't thrown herself towards the proverbial sword he might have let himself be talked into something he really didn't want to do. rollerskatinglizard: It's possible! Baby Rich is very weak to peer pressure theunvanquishedzims: If they had been smart and manipulative and laid the groundwork first it would have been even easier, not just "here's a knife let your ingrained killing instincts do the work" rollerskatinglizard: Yeah! It could've gone much worse theunvanquishedzims: In the wrong hands Rich would make a very good, very sad soldier But like, deep down inside sad where no one could see it. rollerskatinglizard: That was actually close to his original story when I came up with him

[I’ll check with Skates to see if it’s okay to post that bit]

theunvanquishedzims: I'm already nervous about those two Horrible Old Men rollerskatinglizard: Which two? theunvanquishedzims: My face went D: at the idea that there's more than two rollerskatinglizard: *pats u gently* theunvanquishedzims: The werewolf guy with the boys on leashes is the one that makes my instincts scream KILL IT WITH FIRE, but there's also the one with the scar on his face? I wanna say Arthur Carroway rollerskatinglizard: >u> Gosh, Zims, idk WHY you'd be worried about him Just bc my tablet keyboard knows how to spell Carraway That's no reason to be concerned! rollerskatinglizard: Maybe Splick made him the [tarot] Devil bc he's devilishly handsome! Did you think of that?? theunvanquishedzims: I am terrified of him showing up, I know I'll be cringing too hard to keep reading right away. Men who abuse positions of power are so squicky, I couldn't even stand to watch the Office and Michael Scott is like, the most benign example of the trope But yeah a guy like that getting to Rich as a younger more mallable person, fresh-faced and eager to please. Ugh. Such a bad ending. rollerskatinglizard: YUP theunvanquishedzims: William Sandgren is the other one, I think rollerskatinglizard: Fortunately Rich did get rescued originally! I don't do sad endings theunvanquishedzims: He looks cool, I don't immediately want him dead for my own safety rollerskatinglizard: <u< theunvanquishedzims: ...I will ignore that face and continue to think of him as the lesser of two evils for now rollerskatinglizard: Absolutely feel free! ^u^ theunvanquishedzims: When I thought about this earlier I imagined Liam actually being the one to start a pissing contest with Arthur. Rich guy vs criminal guy, my grandmother bedazzled the skulls of her enemies, your teeth would make a lovely necklace, etc etc "Well I'd love to get them around your throat" ;) rollerskatinglizard: You know Liam QUITE well theunvanquishedzims: I'm a visual learner, so all the illustrations are helping me flesh out characteristics. Liam smiling like a psycho while his face drips blood is very telling. rollerskatinglizard: Hah!!! Right? God, he's SUCH a little firebrand theunvanquishedzims: (Also, AU where Liam is the babydoll heir and Rich is the soldier mod bodyguard he climbs like a tree) rollerskatinglizard: We have definitely discussed that AU thoughtfully >u> It's good, v tasty theunvanquishedzims: Rich is all THIS GOES AGAINST THE RULES and Liam is all oh you like being told what to do hmm? >:3~ rollerskatinglizard: Rich: God this is SUCH a bad idea, I'm gonna get so fired Liam: Not if you're good enough at it! theunvanquishedzims: I imagine without a pregnancy they'd be able to keep it under wraps slightly longer than grandma Beaker rollerskatinglizard: True! theunvanquishedzims: "Under wraps" like everyone in the house can't hear them rollerskatinglizard: Pffff YUP theunvanquishedzims: Ugh now I'm remembering Trimmer being scared of Rich getting drunk and pushy and I'm sad again rollerskatinglizard: No one likes Rich's drinking except Rich rollerskatinglizard: It's okay tho, Trimmer trusts Rich more after that theunvanquishedzims:I think he'll figure it out given enough time. Rich: Well everyone drinks because work sucks. Basil and Mitch: Nope! Rich: Well I'm a soldier mod so it just LOOKS like I'm drinking a lot. Angie and Thena: Nope! Rich: Well I have trauma from the Sympatico so I need alcohol to deal with that. Trimmer: Nope! Rich: ...well I guess I have a problem then. :< Everyone: Yep! rollerskatinglizard: Indeed theunvanquishedzims: I am so curious about their origins, how the relationship developed, how apparently they had half a handjob between them and went NOPE NEVER AGAIN, how they wound up co-sleeping, if they ever cried on one another, etc etc rollerskatinglizard: I'm 100% certain that Rich cried on Trimmer at least once, while Trimmer awkwardly patted his hair and gently called him a wuss or something If Trimmer ever cried it would've been in the middle of the night, and none of them would ever mention it in the light of day theunvanquishedzims: Was that Trimmer's first posting? I know it was Rich's, so he kiiiind of didn't know any better, but Trimmer is older by a bit rollerskatinglizard: It definitely wasn't Trimmer's first, no, the latest in a long string of postings that went from okay to bad to worse theunvanquishedzims: Oh nooooooo No wonder he finally said screw it and got a solo boat rollerskatinglizard: Yep

#michigan fleet #boat boys #AUs are still my favorite thing #long post #richard merrill #joseph trimmer

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 4 years ago

Text

Doubting the Story of Exodus

By Teresa Watanabe Los Angeles Times religion writer April 13, 2001

It’s one of the greatest stories ever told: A baby is found in a basket adrift in the Egyptian Nile and is adopted into the pharaoh’s household. He grows up as Moses, rediscovers his roots and leads his enslaved Israelite brethren to freedom after God sends down 10 plagues against Egypt and parts the Red Sea to allow them to escape. They wander for 40 years in the wilderness and, under the leadership of Joshua, conquer the land of Canaan to enter their promised land. For centuries, the biblical account of the Exodus has been revered as the founding story of the Jewish people, sacred scripture for three world religions and a universal symbol of freedom that has inspired liberation movements around the globe. But did the Exodus ever actually occur? On Passover last Sunday, Rabbi David Wolpe raised that provocative question before 2,200 faithful at Sinai Temple in Westwood. He minced no words. “The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated the story of the Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all,” Wolpe told his congregants. Wolpe’s startling sermon may have seemed blasphemy to some. In fact, however, the rabbi was merely telling his flock what scholars have known for more than a decade. Slowly and often outside wide public purview, archeologists are radically reshaping modern understanding of the Bible. It was time for his people to know about it, Wolpe decided. After a century of excavations trying to prove the ancient accounts true, archeologists say there is no conclusive evidence that the Israelites were ever in Egypt, were ever enslaved, ever wandered in the Sinai wilderness for 40 years or ever conquered the land of Canaan under Joshua’s leadership. To the contrary, the prevailing view is that most of Joshua’s fabled military campaigns never occurred—archeologists have uncovered ash layers and other signs of destruction at the relevant time at only one of the many battlegrounds mentioned in the Bible. Today, the prevailing theory is that Israel probably emerged peacefully out of Canaan—modern-day Lebanon, southern Syria, Jordan and the West Bank of Israel—whose people are portrayed in the Bible as wicked idolators. Under this theory, the Canaanites who took on a new identity as Israelites were perhaps joined or led by a small group of Semites from Egypt—explaining a possible source of the Exodus story, scholars say. As they expanded their settlement, they may have begun to clash with neighbors, perhaps providing the historical nuggets for the conflicts recorded in Joshua and Judges. “Scholars have known these things for a long time, but we’ve broken the news very gently,” said William Dever, a professor of Near Eastern archeology and anthropology at the University of Arizona and one of America’s preeminent archeologists.

Dever’s view is emblematic of a fundamental shift in archeology. Three decades ago as a Christian seminary student, he wrote a paper defending the Exodus and got an A, but “no one would do that today,” he says. The old emphasis on trying to prove the Bible—often in excavations by amateur archeologists funded by religious groups—has given way to more objective professionals aiming to piece together the reality of ancient lifestyles. But the modern archeological consensus over the Exodus is just beginning to reach the public. In 1999, an Israeli archeologist, Ze’ev Herzog of Tel Aviv University, set off a furor in Israel by writing in a popular magazine that stories of the patriarchs were myths and that neither the Exodus nor Joshua’s conquests ever occurred. In the hottest controversy today, Herzog also argued that the united monarchy of David and Solomon, described as grand and glorious in the Bible, was at best a small tribal kingdom. In a new book this year, “The Bible Unearthed,” Israeli archeologist Israel Finklestein of Tel Aviv University and archeological journalist Neil Asher Silberman raised similar doubts and offered a new theory about the roots of the Exodus story. The authors argue that the story was written during the time of King Josia of Judah in the 7th century BC—600 years after the Exodus supposedly occurred in 1250 BC—as a political manifesto to unite Israelites against the rival Egyptian empire as both states sought to expand their territory. Dever argued that the Exodus story was produced for theological reasons: to give an origin and history to a people and distinguish them from others by claiming a divine destiny. Some scholars, of course, still maintain that the Exodus story is basically factual. Bryant Wood, director of the Associates for Biblical Research in Maryland, argued that the evidence falls into place if the story is dated back to 1450 BC. He said that indications of destruction around that time at Hazor, Jericho and a site he is excavating that he believes is the biblical city of Ai support accounts of Joshua’s conquests. He also cited the documented presence of “Asiatic” slaves in Egypt who could have been Israelites, and said they would not have left evidence of their wanderings because they were nomads with no material culture. But Wood said he can’t get his research published in serious archeological journals. “There’s a definite anti-Bible bias,” Wood said. The revisionist view, however, is not necessarily publicly popular. Herzog, Finklestein and others have been attacked for everything from faulty logic to pro-Palestinian political agendas that undermine Israel’s land claims. Dever, a former Protestant minister who converted to Judaism 12 years ago, says he gets “hissed and booed” when he speaks about the lack of evidence for the Exodus, and regularly receives letters and calls offering prayers or telling him he’s headed for hell.

At Sinai Temple, Sunday’s sermon—and a follow-up discussion at Monday’s service—provoked tremendous, and varied, response. Many praised Wolpe for his courage and vision. “It was the best sermon possible, because it is preparing the young generation to understand all the truth about religion,” said Eddia Mirharooni, a Beverly Hills fashion designer. A few said they were hurt—"I didn’t want to hear this,” one woman said—or even a bit angry. Others said the sermon did nothing to shake their faith that the Exodus story is true. “Science can always be proven wrong,” said Kalanit Benji, a UCLA undergraduate in psychobiology. Added Aman Massi, a 60-year-old Los Angeles businessman: “For sure it was true, 100%. If it were not true, how could we follow it for 3,300 years?” But most congregants, along with secular Jews and several rabbis interviewed, said that whether the Exodus is historically true or not is almost beside the point. The power of the sweeping epic lies in its profound and timeless message about freedom, they say. The story of liberation from bondage into a promised land has inspired the haunting spirituals of African American slaves, the emancipation and civil rights movements, Latin America’s liberation theology, peasant revolts in Germany, nationalist struggles in South Africa, the American Revolution, even Leninist politics, according to Michael Walzer in the book “Exodus and Revolution.” Many of Wolpe’s congregants said the story of the Exodus has been personally true for them even if the details are not factual: when they fled the Nazis during World War II, for instance, or, more recently, the Islamic revolution in Iran. Daniel Navid Rastein, an Encino medical professional, said he has always regarded the story as a metaphor for a greater truth: “We all have our own Egypts—we are prisoners of something, either alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, overeating. We have to use [the story] as a way to free ourselves from difficulty and make ourselves a better person.” Wolpe, Sinai Temple’s senior rabbi, said he decided to deliver the sermon to lead his congregation into a deeper understanding of their faith. On Sunday, he told his flock that questioning the Jewish people’s founding story could be justified for one reason alone: to honor the ancient rabbinical declaration that “You do not serve God if you do not seek truth.” “I think faith ought not rest on splitting seas,” Wolpe said in an interview. “For a Jew, it should rest on the wonder of God’s world, the marvel of the human soul and the miracle of this small people’s survival through the millennia.” Next year, the rabbi plans to teach a course on the Bible that he says will “pull no punches” in presenting the latest scholarship questioning the text’s historical basis. But he and others say that Judaism has also traditionally been more open to nonliteral interpretations of the text than, say, some conservative Christian traditions. “Among Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Jews, there is a much greater willingness to see the Torah as an extended metaphor in which truth comes through story and law,” said Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Among scholars, the case against the Exodus began crystallizing about 13 years ago. That’s when Finklestein, director of Tel Aviv University’s archeology institute, published the first English-language book detailing the results of intensive archeological surveys of what is believed to be the first Israelite settlements in the hilly regions of the West Bank. The surveys, conducted during the 1970s and 1980s while Israel possessed what are now Palestinian territories, documented a lack of evidence for Joshua’s conquests in the 13th century BC and the indistinguishable nature of pottery, architecture, literary conventions and other cultural details between the Canaanites and the new settlers. If there was no conquest, no evidence of a massive new settlement of an ethnically distinct people, scholars argue, then the case for a literal reading of Exodus all but collapses. The surveys’ final results were published three years ago. The settlement research marked the turning point in archeological consensus on the issue, Dever said. It added to previous research that showed that Egypt’s voluminous ancient records contained not one mention of Israelites in the country, although one 1210 BC inscription did mention them in Canaan. Kadesh Barnea in the east Sinai desert, where the Bible says the fleeing Israelites sojourned, was excavated twice in the 1950s and 1960s and produced no sign of settlement until three centuries after the Exodus was supposed to have occurred. The famous city of Jericho has been excavated several times and was found to have been abandoned during the 13th and 14th centuries BC. Moreover, specialists in the Hebrew Bible say that the Exodus story is riddled with internal contradictions stemming from the fact that it was spliced together from two or three texts written at different times. One passage in Exodus, for instance, says that the bodies of the pharaoh’s charioteers were found on the shore, while the next verse says they sank to the bottom of the sea. And some of the story’s features are mythic motifs found in other Near Eastern legends, said Ron Hendel, a professor of Hebrew Bible at UC Berkeley. Stories of babies found in baskets in the water by gods or royalty are common, he said, and half of the 10 plagues fall into a “formulaic genre of catastrophe” found in other Near Eastern texts. Carol Meyers, a professor specializing in biblical studies and archeology at Duke University, said the ancients never intended their texts to be read literally. “People who try to find scientific explanations for the splitting of the Red Sea are missing the boat in understanding how ancient literature often mixed mythic ideas with historical recollections,” she said. “That wasn’t considered lying or deceit; it was a way to get ideas across.” Virtually no scholar, for instance, accepts the biblical figure of 600,000 men fleeing Egypt, which would have meant there were a few million people, including women and children. The ancient desert at the time could not support so many nomads, scholars say, and the powerful Egyptian state kept tight security over the area, guarded by fortresses along the way. Even Orthodox Jewish scholar Lawrence Schiffman said “you’d have to be a bit crazy” to accept that figure. He believes that the account in Joshua of a swift military campaign is less accurate than the Judges account of a gradual takeover of Canaan. But Schiffman, chairman of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University, still maintains that a significant number of Israelite slaves fled Egypt for Canaan. “I’m not arguing that archeology proves the Exodus,” he said. “I’m arguing that archeology allows you, in ambiguity, to reach whatever conclusion you want to.” Wood argued that the 600,000 figure was mistranslated and the real number amounted to a more plausible 20,000. He also said the early Israelite settlements and their similarity to Canaanite culture could be explained as the result of pastoralists with no material culture moving into a settled farming life and absorbing their neighbors’ pottery styles and other cultural forms. The scholarly consensus seems to be that the story is a brilliant mix of myth, cultural memories and kernels of historical truth. Perhaps, muses Hendel, a small group of Semites who escaped from Egypt became the “intellectual vanguard of a new nation that called itself Israel,” stressing social justice and freedom. Whatever the facts of the story, those core values have endured and inspired the world for more than three millenniums—and that, many say, is the point. “What are the Egypts I need to free myself from? How does the story inspire me in some way to work for the freedom of all?” asked Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben of Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades. “These are the things that matter—not whether we built the pyramids.”

Teresa Watanabe Teresa Watanabe covers education for the Los Angeles Times. Since joining the Times in 1989, she has covered immigration, ethnic communities, religion, Pacific Rim business and served as Tokyo correspondent and bureau chief. She also covered Asia, national affairs and state government for the San Jose Mercury News and wrote editorials for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. A Seattle native, she graduated from USC in journalism and in East Asian languages and culture.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-13-mn-50481-story.html

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Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua – there is no evidence any of them ever lived

The Divine Principle: Questions to consider about Old Testament figures

Unearthing the True Origins of the Bible   – interview with Dr. Andrew Henry

#Exodus #Moses

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