#I'm just not as familiar with the less common species

[fishcommunity]

Could you help me identify this fish? It was in my doctor’s aquarium and I was enchanted! It had the prettiest pearl coloring and wasn’t shy to get close to where I was sitting ❤️

Its tank mate looked to me like an Upside-down Catfish if that helps at all? If you don’t know, that’s okay! I also just wanted to share :)

Good evening! I admit I'm a little weaker on African Cichlid identification than I am with the American species, but pretty sure it's a Cobalt Blue Cichlid (Maylandia callainos) - a beautiful if very aggressive fish.

[chiiroptereh]

[Please zoom in, there's a lot of detail! And a massive file size...ouch]

Hi guys, long time no post! Been working on Art Fight and life stuff, but I've got something kinda fun for you.

This is a compilation exploring how a mortal Bill may interact with our world if there were still some kinda Euclidean instincts buried in there. Y'know, before the Book of Bill ruins all my headcanons >:P (EDIT: IT HAS BEEN READ. YAHOOOOOO)

Also quite an experimental piece as you can probably tell. Lots of details on both said headcanons and the art stuff under the cut, but I invite you to study the colorful texture yourself beforehand and think about what it might be representative of, just for fun because I got some really cool answers from my friends when asked :]c

TL;DR: the headcanon is that Euclideans have exceptional eyes for geometry. They find things like symmetry, tessellating patterns, graphs and fractals very aesthetically pleasing. If pushed into our 3D world, they feel comforted by the familiarity flat objects/spaces bring, as well as high-contrast patterns. Shadows especially are a familiar dimensional reduction that may bring them much comfort.

Bill would surely not be happy about these inclinations, constant reminders of a past long gone, but I'm not sure he's even aware of them here :P I think his ego gets in the way to the point where he just views these interests as common sense, which, of course, us lame humans just don't understand because we aren't nearly as cool as him. Of course he likes perfectly symmetrical leaves and staring at the kitchen floor, it's called taste, look it up!

And yet, he can't seem to shake the strange sense of melancholy he gets from viewing his own shadow.

~ End of TL;DR, long version below! ~

🔺 Headcanon Development

So, the catalyst of this idea was in relation to my friend and I's AU ( @love-triangles-au ). TL;DR, Bill's brought back mortal, meets another triangle named Y.V. (it's his hand holding the paper in the piece, actually), at some point they fall in yaois together, you know how it is. And, in writing a pair of triangles (or, more broadly, writing from the perspective of a different species), something I've had to consider was that you really can't get much further removed from a human being than sentient geometry.

The anatomical aspect was mostly figured out (see my piece on Bill's eye-mouth), but I wanted to consider what psychological differences might be at play. I wanted them to be weirder, more alien, double-so for Bill. At first I explored these possibilities through the lens of Bill and Y.V.'s relationship, specifically the question "what might a triangle find appealing about another triangle?"

Well, really the only things that came to mind were straight lines and symmetry, anything related to the geometric form of such a creature. That's more-or-less where that ended until the thought struck me that there's no reason this aesthetic appreciation couldn't extend to the rest of the environment, and then further when I realized, "wait, this is a species that is designed to live in a 2D environment. Like, they should seriously be really weird. I need to push this like 200% more."

So...yeah! I did some thinking and brainstorming with others and came up with a pretty long list of things a Euclidean in our world may be inclined to enjoy or find some level of comfort in. It's worth noting again that in this piece specifically this is a mortal/powerless Bill, so he can't really escape this Earthly environment. IF he's aware of these instincts at all (and that's a big "if"; when have you last been cognizant of your own instincts let alone known where they were stemming from?) I think he'd have snuffed them out in immortality and/or purposefully gone against them; he doesn't take kindly to being told what to do.

In order from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, here's an explanation for each!:

Flat objects such as paper are something he may find particularly engaging. It's basically 2D!

Tessellations are especially fascinating, and our world has them everywhere in the form of tile floors. Symmetry and such a predictable pattern...as the infinity of the starry sky might for us, the infinite potential of tessellations might invoke a similar sense of awe in him. Add on the maximum contrast of black on white kitchen tiles and the forms are only even better defined! A sensitivity to contrast would be very helpful for a 2D being navigating their environment.

Fields are flat and open, much like Euclydia itself. Laying flat may make him feel a little more at home.

More tessellation in the honeycomb of hymenopterans (bees, wasps and friends)! It helps that pain is hilarious.

The city is an absolute treasure trove. Rectangular buildings, precise architecture, square sidewalks and straight lines abound...he may as well be looking at a rainbow or an art gallery! I think a Euclidean's brain is very fine-tuned to mathematics, especially in regards to trigonometry. What may appear to be a straight painting might appear obnoxiously crooked to him.

Zebras are high-contrast :]

Another flat surface, another relaxing space <3

I think graphs are about as high as high art gets to most Euclideans.

I've touched on shadows before, and for good reason; truly they must be something borderline magical to the Euclidean and perhaps bitterly nostalgic.

This one kinda speaks for itself. Dweeb.

🎨 The Artsy Stuff

Lately I've been trying to find ways to fit more color into my work, as color is perhaps one of my favorite things in the world. My wardrobe is rather garish; my dad jokes that you could see me from space. My fursona is obnoxiously bright for a reason -- I feel my soul is a very colorful one!

I also realized recently that I don't actually know the exact style that speaks to me. I could talk about the phenomenon of the "style crisis" that many artists have all day, but in my mind the best cure for this feeling is to go against it entirely and begin stealing as much as possible.

So, I've tried to keep an eye out for more sources of inspiration everywhere I go, physical and digital. I've tried to train my mind into making a habit of considering, "can I do anything with this?" everywhere I go, and it recently paid off!

The glittery rainbowy texture you see plastered all over Billiam is this one, a photo-manipulated set of fruit stickers. I must confess I've been obsessed with this image for the past 72 hours, and this seemed like a good excuse to try it out!

I worried throughout the process if it might be so abstract that it loops back around to being horribly deliberate, if that makes sense -- like each sparkle was not a piece of a whole but rather an object in itself -- but it seems like that hasn't been a problem, so I'm grateful for that :Dc

I hope it can dazzle and delight you as it does me, but as long as you find it fascinating at the very least then I consider it a success! I really enjoyed hearing my friends' interpretations while workshopping it, and got tons of amazing answers from opal to kaleidoscope to fossilized bone marrow! I truly believe that the best art has some room for interpretation and it really excites me to be surrounded by that kind of creative energy that follows said pieces. That definitely adds to my pride in this work. It's weird, it's colorful, it's detailed and yet ambiguous. I'm feeling pretty autistic about it

Alright, I think that's about it. Thanks for listening!

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Magic and Genetics

So, this is not like 100% finished and will be more musings than a full theory. The main reason is that we, as humanity, just don't really know that much about genetics. Like, we get the gist of it, but we can mostly only say: "it's complicated" about it.

Which is true. Like, the idea of dominant and recessive traits the way most people are familiar with (like the eye color chart for blue eyes and brown eyes) is super oversimplified and inaccurate. Like, there are 2 major genes that affect eye color and then there are 8 more genes that affect eye color, hair color, and skin color, but we aren't really sure in what way. We just think they do from observation. Usually, genes behave in a way that is in line with the dominant and recessive traits charts, but there are exceptions to it. Again, we just don't know much about this field.

Because of this, I can't really come to conclusive conclusions regarding exactly how many and which genes affect a person's magic in the world of Harry Potter. What I can do is use the book evidence to try and create a pattern of how magic behaves genetically.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, nor did I study genetics in any professional capacity, this is from online reading and self-study. And most importantly for fun 😊

Why do I think magic is influenced by multiple genes?

So, JKR stated in an interview she thinks of magic as a single dominant gene. This is impossible, since if that were true squibs and muggleborns wouldn't exist and the chart for the likelihood of a child being born with magic would look like this:

And that's just not what we see in the books...

This is all without mentioning how squibs like Arabella Figg can see dementors while muggles can't:

“A Squib, eh?” said Fudge, eyeing her suspiciously. “We’ll be checking that. You’ll leave details of your parentage with my assistant, Weasley. Incidentally, can Squibs see dementors?” he added, looking left and right along the bench where he sat. “Yes, we can!” said Mrs. Figg indignantly.

(OotP, page 143)

This means that squids do have some magical genes that muggles don't.

Additionally, from what we know about wizards as a species they have other differences from muggles that would effect their genetics in less obvious ways, for example:

Wizards heal faster, so cell regeneration is different than muggles.

Wizards have a completely different set of illnesses than muggles, so their white blood cells are also different.

Their brain cells likely live longer since they have an overall longer life expectancy.

Since they can see magic, like dementors and the Leakey Cauldron, we know the sight receptors are different.

Their nerves likely also function differently since they can sense magic in a way muggles can't.

To name a few.

And this is all without going into the fact wizards can reproduce with other species (goblins, veela, and giants to name a few) which actually implies a common ancestor to all of these races, but I'm not going into that can of worms.

What I am going into is how magic works genetically and how predictable it is. As in, if I know the magical status (pure-blood wizard, half-blood wizard, muggleborn wizard, squib, or muggle) of two human parents, can I tell how likely their child is to be a wizard, a squib, or a muggle?

What are squibs?

We don't know of many squibs in the books, these are the list of the known squibs:

Argus Filch

Arabella Figg

Marius Black

Dolores Umbridge's brother

Molly Weasley's second cousin

Squibs aren't a subject wizards like talking about, even not wizards who don't mind muggles like the Weasleys:

"Er — yes, I think so. I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

(PS, page 73)

The definition of a squib is a child without magic born of a magical parent. If we look at the list of squibs above, all of them except Umbridge's brother are pure-bloods. This is kind of important because of the limited genetic pool of pure-bloods.

I tried calculating the inbreeding coefficient (basically how likely it is that a specific genetic trait is identical in both parents. The number ranges between 0 and 1) of the pure-bloods in the Wizarding World. We don't have much information on most families, but even looking at the Black family tree, they aren't really inbred (except the Gaunts). The closest relation there is the marriage between second cousins Walburga and Orion. So the inbreeding coefficient of pure-bloods would be above zero, but not high enough to cause serious health detriments for the most part. But, this doesn't mean wizards don't have a problem with a limited genetic pool even without close inbreeding.

Looking at that same Black family tree, we see a lot of familiar names: Flint, Crabbe, Burke, Potter, Crouch, Longbottom, Weasley, Prewett, Malfoy, McMillian... Basically, all pure-blood wizards are related. Some more closely than others, but they are all related. It means that among pure-bloods there is less genetic diversity which tends to cause illnesses and weakness in children over the course of multiple generations.

Such illness can, for example, come in the form of a squib. If the child just isn't capable of having full access to magic, due to their limited genetic pool, they will be born a squib.

But what about Umbridge's brother?

Well, here's the interesting thing. When looking at accounts of children of a pure-blood and a muggleborn, they are all always magical (and usually quite powerful, but more on that later). Umbridge's mother though is muggle. I believe a muggle parent would also have a higher chance of a squib offspring since they don't have magic. Essentially, Umbride's brother received some of the magical genes from their father, and some muggle genes from their mother, leaving him somewhat capable of interacting with magic, but not casting it — a squib.

Essentially squibs have a higher chance to be born from two pure-bloods (due to lack of genetic diversity) or from a wizard and a muggle. If we look at the books, we actually never see a squib being born from a pair of two wizards where one of the parents is half-blood or muggleborn (since they bring new genetic diversity and make the offsprings much likelier to be magical).

What are muggleborns?

So, we covered that squibs are rare and are caused by the lack of genetic diversity in the pure-blood families or by receiving non-magical genes from a muggle parent. But what about muggleborns? How could they genetically exist?

Well, I discussed here the actual percentages of different blood statuses across the Wizarding World. And the percentages looked like this:

57.5% Pure-Blood and Most Likely Pure Blood

22.5% Half-Blood

15% At Least One Magical Parent

5% Muggleborn

And as I covered here and here, I believe magical Britain is approximately 0.01% of the muggle population. This means that muggleborns are incredibly rare in the muggle population and have an overall very low chance of being born. But under what circumstances would muggleborns be more likely?

We know, for example, that the brothers Colin and Dennis Creevey were both born magical. It means, that their parents had genes that make them more likely to have magical children. This means Petunia had a higher chance of being born magical than, say, Vernon, it was still a low chance, but it was more likely.

Now, I'm not the first to raise this theory, but I believe these muggles that have a slightly higher chance for magical children like Mr. and Mrs. Creevey are descendants of squibs. We know that:

"Squibs were usually shipped off to Muggle schools and encouraged to integrate into the Muggle community. . . much kinder than trying to find them a place in the Wizarding world, where they must always be second class..."

(DH, page 136)

So, squibs have been sent for generations to live among muggles. It means that there are multiple "muggles" running around that are actually squibs. They might be able to see dementors or notice something odd around the Leakey Cauldron, but not enough to produce magic. But they still have magic in their genes. And when they have kids, sometimes, through a fluke of luck and genetics a muggleborn can be born.

This means all muggleborns are distantly related to wizards in some way, but still the muggle blood adds some much-needed genetic diversity that makes them less likely to have squib children.

What would magical genes look like?

So, we talked so far about how to predict the likelihood of a child having magic or not. But we also know not all wizards and witches are magically equal. You have crazy powerful individuals like Voldemort, Harry, and Dumbledore. Hermione is an incredibly skilled and talented witch, often the first in class to get spells right. And then you have wizards like Crabbe, Goyle, or Merope who are barely more magical than squibs. Then you have unique magical gifts like being a parselmouth, metamorphmagus, or seer are all inherited, and therefore genetic.

So, let's start with the power/talent difference between wizards that we see. I think this, like squibs, is correlating to the lack of genetic diversity. Sure, you have pure-bloods that are magically powerful or average, but if we look at the most magically powerful wizards in the books — Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore — they are all half-bloods. They all have a higher genetic diversity.

Hermione and Lily, are also examples of this added genetic diversity raising the likelihood of magical talent. Both muggleborns, both referenced as talented and bright multiple times. Snape, another half-blood is also referenced often as an incredibly talented wizard.

Actually, Nymphadora Tonks is one of the best pieces of evidence for magic weakening over pure-blood generations and becoming stronger with the new blood from muggles or muggleborns.

The Black family had the hereditary magical gift of being metamorphmagi. This gift has been lost for multiple generations, the first Black to be born with this gift in recent history is Tonks. And it makes perfect sense, Andromeda, a pure-blood with the genes for being a metamorphmagus, marries a muggleborn, Ted, who has the much-needed genetic diversity, so their daughter is finally durable enough for the metamorphmagi magic to kick in.

The Gaunts are another example of just how much the lack of genetic diversity affects a wizard's magic. All three, but especially Mereope, are portrayed as barely skilled with magic, almost squibs. But then we have Tom Marvolo Riddle, magically gifted so much beyond most wizards because he had the added genetic diversity from his muggle father.

Parseltongue seems to be a more dominant trait than the metamorphmagus ability. As even an almost squib in the Gaunt family can speak it. That being said, the Gaunts are implied to be incredibly incestuous, so perhaps it's just a matter of both parents speaking Parseltongue that causes this gene's apparent dominance.

We also know these genetic traits are only passed to wizards. So a squib from the Gaunt family, would not be able to speak Parseltongue. So, while it is a separate gene, it is connected to the other genes that affect magic. That's why a muggleborn born from a Gaunt family squib line, could potentially be a Parselmouth. They won't necessarily be a Parselmouth, but they have a chance to get the gene.

Conclusions

So, let's put all of it together into a series of rules* to how magic seems to work genetically.

*Rules is not exactly the correct word. It's more like, how it would usually behave, but there are flukes to genetics and everything is possible.

Two magical parents would almost always have a magical child. Pure-bloods are more likely to have squib children than half-bloods or muggleborns due to lack of genetic diversity.

A child of a muggle and a wizard has a higher chance of being born a squib than two magical parents. (The chance is still pretty low though and the child is more likely to be magical)

Muggleborns are the result of at least one parent who is a muggle that descended from squibs and has magical genes.

If both parents are squib-descendant muggles, all their kids might even end up magical. (Like the Creevey brothers)

Being a parselmouth, metamorphmagus, or seer are all unique genetic traits that are passed in a separate gene but dependent on other magical genes. Each one of them behaves differently as a gene.

Genetic diversity promises a higher chance of naturally magically gifted children. (It doesn't promise they will be more gifted, just makes their chances better)

Blood purity and a limited genetic pool cause magical children born to these lines to be overall weaker. (Again, there are exceptions, this is just about chances)

[cripplecharacters]

In general, how would you approach writing nonhuman/feral characters with disabilities? How would you balance the symptoms animals usually show vs human symptoms, experiences and available accomodations?

I'm considering giving my Warrior Cats character with TBI-induced blindness (yes, I know, these books are awful about disability rep and yet I can't help but get attached) a guide animal of some sort, but... in real life blind cats can get by just fine using their whiskers, and though realism isn't a concern here, I'm worried that'll come across as nonsensical. However, I'm personally uncomfortable with writing yet another blind character that doesn't need mobility aids despite not being able to distinguish objects from one another "properly". He may not be totally blind, but I feel like I'd be contributing to the misconceptions surrounding my own condition that way. Thoughts?

Thank you for your ask! In real life animals, including cats, have been known to assign themselves as a guide for a blind packmate, usually walking on the side with less vision to help with navigation. Sometimes an animal of another species will act as a guide, but only if they’re bonded. This also occurs more often in domesticated animals, so if you don’t want the guide to be another cat you could do something like a dog, chicken or rat (though I’d imagine the last two would be hard to keep in a cat pack!).

You could also have your character able to move around unassisted in familiar areas that he is often in, but need assistance in unfamiliar areas.

As for writing your character, I’d say research how his injury affects his other senses. Touch, smell, hearing and limb movement can be affected by a traumatic brain injury, and it would definitely affect your character's ability to get around.

As of now, this blog unfortunately doesn’t have any blind mods (applications are still open as of posting this). However, you can check out other blogs for more information on blindness, such as BlindBeta, AskABlindPerson, and Mimzy-Writing-Online.

Have a lovely day!

Mod Rot

Hi!

When talking about TBI induced blindness, you have to keep in mind that it's different from ocular blindness. The brain-based type of blindness is called CVI, or Cortical Visual Impairment, and it's very common!

(Note: I have done a lot of research on CVI, but I don't have it myself. I heavily encourage you to check the blogs that Rot mentioned!)

A CVI will often have different symptoms than ocular blindness. For example, the character's field of view could be severely limited - the left (or right, or top, or bottom...) half of their vision could be non-existent, and the other half could be what is sometimes described as "incomprehensible". It could also present in infinitely different ways from that, as it can be very diverse!

CVI is often fluid and the person (or cat) can function very differently depending on the circumstances like fatigue or stress or even the weather. If he's having a horrible day he will be able to understand the visual input less than when he's doing fantastic.

With CVI, it's important to remember that visual acuity generally won't be the main problem, but the brain's comprehension of the image is. This is where cat-available accommodations can hopefully come in.

Showing him experiencing visual fatigue and how he deals with it could be one of them! During his kitty activities he could prefer to have them spaced out so that he only sees one at a time and makes it easier for his brain to comprehend without tiring him out. A cluttered environment would probably only make it worse, so you can have him make sure that everything is nice and in its place. He could also take longer to recognize new objects or cats.

If he has, for example, very limited field of vision, then he could have his kitty house (I don't know how warrior cats work I'm trying my best here) arranged so that it would work for him; i.e. everything being on a specific height.

I also very much agree with Rot that he should have more symptoms than just blindness! One example of a brain-based cat disability could be cerebellar hypoplasia; it can't be caused by a TBI, but it causes ataxia which can be a result of a TBI (mildly complicated, sorry). Either way you can use it as a reference to visualize how your character could move!

I hope this helps! I really appreciate the effort of trying to include disability accommodations in a character who's a forest cat.

mod Sasza

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

(image description: the first image shows several profile drawings of drow, titled "drow skin color based on snail consumption". the drow shown are a matriarch, chamberlain, baby, minstrel, and a more average drow representing everyone else. The matriarch, chamberlain, and minstrel all have colorful red and blue patches on their noses, eyelids, and upper lips. The chamberlain and average drow have almost the same skin color, being a warm-toned purple. the matriarch has more vivid blue toned purple skin, and the baby and minstrel have paler, more pink skin, with the minstrel's skin being even more warm-toned and covered in freckles. all of them have white hair, facial whiskers, very long ears, and golden eyes.

the second image is a colored sketch of a snail with pale blue-grey flesh and a grey spiral shell with some pointed spikes along it, as well as blue and white speckles. end description.)

I've been working on worldbuilding details for my drow! I'm renaming the wandering amab drow minstrels instead of just wanderers, and more importantly I've decided that domesticated cave snails are a major source of protein in the drow diet. A special breed of this snail is even utilized as medicine to trigger the natural estrogen boost of a normal afab drow transitioning into a matriarch. Like naked mole rats, this change can happen on its own if certain environmental factors are met, but the snails contain some chemicals that can cause the change to happen in a more controlled and efficient manner. The matriarch snails also have more blue pigments in their mucus gland compared to the regular meat snails.

like the real life pigment of tyrian purple, these snails are used to create vivid blue-purple dyes, with the most vivid dyes being reserved for the matriarch's clothes. and like flamingos, drow gain their purple skin color by eating a lot of these snails.

this is why babies and minstrels have the least purple skin. babies are only purple from a pigment transfer in the womb and from any excess pigment they might gain from breastfeeding, but will become much more purple when they're old enough to eat snail meat. minstrels are wandering outcasts, so their purple skin usually fades and they only manage to have any purple color when they occasionally pay a visit to other drow caverns, trading stories and goods from outside for a short rest amongst their own kind.

and sometimes a night with a matriarch, if she's willing. matriarchs give birth to all the other drow, being a eusocial species. amab drow are less common, so they're more restricted in their roles and expected to become chamberlains to the matriarchs, with their presence also helping to maintain allegiances between populations. minstrels are the amab drow who decided to abandon this way of life and do their own thing. but since their wandering also allows them to visit caverns much further off, they're still very important, providing genetic diversity, stories, trade, and news to every population they visit.

drow society changes a lot over time, becoming less reclusive as equality and intermingling between people species becomes more and more common. eventually, it is normal for drow to travel outside the caverns in their adult years just to seek education and familiarize themselves with other cultures. as a result, minstrels go from being outcasts who are begrudgingly tolerated to more accepted members of drow society, though their instinct to wander never really goes away.

I'm in the process of writing a new story that takes place a couple centuries before my main story, which will show the life of a drow protagonist back when the various people species were still wary of interacting with each other, so I will very directly be exploring the ways drow society changed over that time period.

[tacticalhimbo]

— OC INTERVIEW

name: galsveni r'nur

nickname: gal, sven/sveni

gender: cis woman

star sign: virgo sun, virgo moon, taurus rising

personality type: hard to place an mbti, but describing it: calloused, though not mean-spirited. wary and weary to an exhausting degree. galsveni has seen enough loss in her lifetime, and she would rather not see any more. even if that means keeping people at arm's length.

height: unknown; pulling from other fantasy sources and their guestimates/canonical heights... probably around 7ft.

orientation: lesbian

nationality/ethnicity: dökkálfar (dark elf); native to alfheim.

favorite fruit: cherries. they're definitely a luxury, but the few times that a market should last (though they were more common, especially with merchants from other realms, in the earlier stages of the war) in alfheim... galsveni will buy herself cherries. as a treat.

favorite season: mid-winter/late winter

favorite scent: organic scents; think woody and smokey, with the occasional hints of vanilla or something more spicy.

coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: tea, 1000%. it's easy to brew, requires less trading for (re: easily obtainable herbs), and provides just enough energy to not distract her from her work

average hours of sleep: between 4 and 6, though usually leaning around 5.5/6 hours. a little less than she'd like, but more than enough to keep her going.

dogs or cats: cats. she's had her fair share of run-ins with hunting hounds and wolves alike, that she's become a bit wary of canids

dream trip: she would love to visit the light again. to see it in all its power, and make sure that it's still... there. but the tensions between the dökkálfar and ljósálfar (light elves) are too dangerous for her to wander to such a contended point.

number of blankets: one or two, depending on where it is she rests her head at night.

random fact: it's not something she discloses so easily, but galsveni was a battlemage back in her youth. those who are very familiar with the war in alfheim may recognize her from a few... "rumors" around her efficacy and terrifying mystic prowess. she feels a lot of shame for her service now, though, as she realizes that the fight is fruitless if 1) ragnarök is destined to be approaching and 2) neither side's leadership will stop to consider the long-term outcomes of either harnessing the light (and thus drawing directly from the lake of souls, thus disturbing or outright desecprating the dead) or destroying it (and thus permanently altering, if not halting, the journey to the afterlife for millions across species).

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tagged by the lovely @carlosoliveiraa to fill out this meme! tyvm and so sorry it took me. this long. skdjdkdk. i'm gonna steal the tag list from my last few posts so sorry for the spam! these are always no pressure tags, so dw if you wanna skip over any 🩷 @vendettavalor (always love tagging ur rp blog for these hehe) , @ollierachnid , @alexxmason , @kourumi , @perpetuagf , @scarfacemarston , @bbrocklesnar , and anybody else who wants to hop on!

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Why are birds considered dogs?

Because birds are dogs, duh. I'm not joking. It really is a common misconception that there are two different types of dog: the ones with four legs and fur (called "canines"), and the others with wings and feathers ("avians"). In reality all dogs have either type of appendage at some point in their lives — most young puppies have no feathering but they will grow it later as part of puberty. Similarly, many adult canine animals spend time living among the avian population when younger or during certain times of year. For example, many owners keep parakeets for companionship purposes; these might be used to bring babysitters into one's home if you aren't able to find an actual human sitter! (Weirdly enough, this is actually more popular than people think.)

In fact, most of our more familiar domesticated breeds were derived from wild canids which had contact with humans over long periods of time — after a while the ancestral relationship becomes difficult to discern because any physical trait could have been selected by both. This means it's hard to know where exactly your neighbor's goldfish-toothed dog came from, let alone whether he was originally yellow or chocolate brown.

However, we do have more reliable information on other animals such as turkeys and horses, whose ancestors didn't live around us until recently. Both were developed through selective breeding based on specific traits like aggressiveness and stamina, so even though they don't look much like wolves anymore they still share important genetic similarities. Aside from hair coloration, bird species resemble each other less closely than horse or cow varieties despite being closely related. The reason for this difference isn't known yet, but it probably has something to do with how relatively recently humans began selecting them. One possible scenario involves food scarcity in certain parts of Europe leading to farmers having to feed livestock whatever edible plant matter they found nearby rather than just keeping the plants themselves growing. There wasn't time for domesticated versions of many plants to evolve, since rapid diversification would have meant losing valuable nutrients before anyone got a chance to notice what made the best pig fodder, etc., while cultivating crops allowed for greater control over the diet. Therefore birds emerged as useful scavengers who could eat anything without needing training. They also turned out to make good guard animals — even predators like hawks and falcons will display territorial behavior towards potential competitors — although owls seem to take offense at this. Overall, the two groups interbred quite frequently, so birds are mostly descended from domesticated canines and vice versa. If you looked carefully you'd see evidence for both everywhere, like the feathery stumps of wolf tails mixed in with the tufts of fluff left behind by pet parrots. Or maybe you wouldn't…

So I guess why birds are called dogs depends entirely on whom you ask. Most people have never heard the theory described above, so they generally believe that dogs are those things that have four limbs and fur. Since birds have only three limbs and feathers instead of fur, the misnomer persists unchallenged. Meanwhile scientist types prefer the term "bird" because that includes everything, including non-domesticated populations, whereas "dog" implies artificial selection. To them it's a question of precision vs. clarity. Personally, I call my chicken "my little boy," so perhaps I am biased toward accuracy over practicality here. My answer may not satisfy you, but it should tell you why the confusion exists and give you lots to think about.

[toushindai]

just a general question about your headcanon's on the ship. Do you think that maybe, in another life or universe Ganondorf and Rauru could love each other? Like maybe the goddesses don't want them together because they would be too powerful. ☕ I'm really looking forward to read your new fic. You're really talented!

That’s a really interesting question! I’m going to have a hard time answering it because once I’ve got one set of headcanons set up, I have a really hard time looking at alternatives to it because I’ve spent so much time getting all the pieces to fit together (this is why I read very little fic that’s not my own), but let’s give it a try

I think, first of all, that Ganondorf would have to be allowed to be a person in a way that TOTK, frustratingly, avoids. There’s a universe out there somewhere, I want to believe, where Ganondorf and Rauru bond over the solitude inherent in their positions: Ganondorf’s lone male of his culture to Rauru’s one of the last few members of his species. But to get to that, you need a Ganondorf willing to identify and feel his own loneliness, which I don’t think the guy we have in canon is inclined towards.

I wonder if this also requires Rauru to have allied himself not with the Hylians but with the Gerudo. That would be an interesting choice—in canon, allying with the Hylians makes sense because of their shared reverence for Hylia (seen in the existence of our familiar goddess statue not only in the GSI Temple of Time but also on Dragonhead Island). The Gerudo, for contrast, revere the Seven(-to-Eight) Heroines, to the near exclusion of goddess worship at all; in Creating a Champion, it notes that Gerudo Town’s goddess statue is out of the way and nearly forgotten for this reason. So a Zonai is going to be received differently among the Gerudo than they are among the other people of the land.

Rauru is a curious guy, though! Maybe it could happen like this: intrigued most of all by the people with whom the Zonai have historically had little in common—I have additional things to say about that but let’s wait until I have things finalized in my fic before I get into it—he made his descent to the land in the desert rather than in Hylian territory. Of course he was not permitted into town, but what if the Gerudo allowed him to stay in one of their other settlements? Let’s say the Northern Temple (what are now the Northern Ruins) just ’cause. But the prince of the Gerudo—who knows his place in his society, theoretically—by definition, by the uniqueness of his birth he can have only one place in his society—is equally intrigued by this foreign voe. Could he be the first other voe Ganondorf has met? Wait, was he actually, I should keep that in mind for my fic too They get to talking, they grow to know each other on an honest level. I think they could grow to love each other in a story like this. I do think the sex is a little less flavorful in this case tho so what good does it do me? Well, anyway.

And what then? If we trust the Sage of Lightning’s perspective—and we might as well, lacking any other insight on Ganondorf prior to the Gerudo Assault cutscene—it was not until after Ganondorf became chief that his hunger for power really began to develop. So what do we believe caused this? Is this just an inherent flaw in his personality? The curse of Demise rearing its head inevitably? (I should disclaim that I’ve never finished Skyward Sword and am only trying to use these words the way I’ve seen others use them.) In that case, both options—Rauru reviling his lover’s thirst for power and betraying him, or Rauru and the power of the Zonai turned in service to Gerudo conquest—are fascinating.

But if we are looking at Ganondorf as a person who gets to make person choices, then when he ascends to his position as Chief of the Gerudo and there is no neighboring nation consolidating an unearned power over the rest of the continent, what then? Might he be less driven towards conquest?

[specsthespectraldragon]

I've been playing far too much zoombinis, and now I'm thinking of ways to remake the Island Odyssey.

To be clear- not the actual Island Odyssey. That was a nightmare. But the concept of ecological awareness and basics of restoration, yes. Because one of the things Island Odyssey did do really well was explaining that even a little thing like a moth can be a keystone species. If I was going to remake it, I wouldn't use moths and gerbils, though.

Now, moths are pollinators, which is why they're there. Now, I think generally people are vaguely familiar that pollinators are important, but don't really know what a pollinator is besides a bee or a butterfly. I would probably use wasps instead- people have no concept of wasps as part of an ecosystem, much less as important pollinators. It's also important that wasps are omnivores that eat meat as larvae- it's really common for herbivores to be considered more important than predators.

The gerbils, however, are just cute and teach you about punnet squares. Now, this leads to a complicated problem. I would prefer to use ribbed mussels- they're perfect for an island ecosystem and fascinating ecological engineers. Additionally, their genetic diversity is actually an important facet of their ecological engineering, which makes them perfect for the punnet square puzzle. Unfortunately, there's one problem- they're not exactly cute in the conventional sense. Neither are wasps, but onenicebugperday can wax lyrical about how they actually are cute, so I'm not worried there.

Now, there were existing puzzles that cover the concepts of genetics and succession (frankly, the entire play is about successional trajectory), and you can reskin the Hotel Dimensia puzzle to deal with habitat fragmentation. That leaves us with community assembly and disturbances, which I'm a little less sure about how to explain to an elementary audience. The middle school audience would be easier, but I'm not sure what kind of puzzle can handle those concepts on an elementary school level. It might have to be in the lore to some degree.

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

I feel like I may be accidentally selecting for hulls on my field peas that are harder to see.

A lot of cultivars of Vigna unguiculata* have hulls that turn purple when they're mature, but before they start to dry out. Purple hull and pink eyed peas are two common varieties like that, and it makes them real easy to spot for harvesting. Other kinds stay green, or maybe just go a little paler/yellower when they're ready, and those you have to hunt for among the leaves.

I don't know what varieties I started out with, but there's at least two normal-sized kinds in the mix, and hull color varies among them both. I never get every pod picked at the optimal time, but the ones I miss dry well on the vine, so I just pick them when I do find them, and put those dried bean in a jar to plant next year. Which means, as far as my unnatural selection, that the ones that don't turn a convenient color when they're ready have an advantage. They're more likely to get 'selected' for propagation (i.e. forgotten & then found later), as long as they produce well enough to be statistically significant in the seed jar.

Beans are pretty stable over the planting generations, as they mostly pollinate themselves, but they do produce crop-outs from time to time (like my exciting new fat variety - I'll do a post about them soon), so the color may drift over time. I've been growing these from my own saved seeds for ~10 years, and at least some of them are still purple (maybe half? maybe less), but then I don't really know what I started with, so idk if they've changed. I could start taking more notes, I guess.

*This species includes all the field peas, cowpeas, black eyed, purple hull, lady peas, Sea Island red peas, and a hundred other cultivars of similar beans. I call all those field peas, as a general term. Yardlong beans are also in this species, and some other Asian varieties I'm not as familiar with. Crowder peas, too.

Now, some people (and google) seem to think that crowder peas and field peas are the same thing, and they're wrong. Similar, yes. Closely related, yes. Cooked about the same, also yes. A crowder pea might even be considered a type of field pea, but not every field pea is a crowder. They crowd together in the pod, see, and it changes the shape of the pea, leaving an indent where the next one pushed up against it.

Proper crowder peas:

vs. ordinary purple hulls:

[vore-scientist]

Hey, reading through your stories, and i see a mix of both male and female preds, so just wondering, do you have a preference? Also! no pressure of course, but have you ever considered making a "masterpost" With links to all your stories?

I'll answer second question first bc the first question will have... a lot to it.

Masterpost: Anon you reminded me I need to update a thing. that thing being the Original Works page of my blog: https://vore-scientist.tumblr.com/mine that page is meant to be a directory of my works. but i haven't touched it in years. If you are needing a way to get all the Mystic Woods content in post order (not chronological) this link is your best friend: https://vore-scientist.tumblr.com/tagged/mystic+woods+story/chrono

To answer your first question: preference?

This probably has a longer answer than you want to read so I'll give you the short version and also have a long version

Short Answer: I have no preference! I dont care what gender characters are! And I'm actively trying to use more female giants in my content because i like giants of all genders and there is a lack of them in non-sexual GT-vore content.

Long Answer (or: a short history lesson on WHY female preds, in non-sexual GT-vore are rare. And also why female giants in general are less common in the GT community as well. Dont take these things are absolute fact, it is what I observed and experienced in the last decade of being in the community)

So when i first discovered GT (and eventually GT-vore), the majority of content with female giants/preds was extremely sexual/very blatant to extremely explicit fetish content.

This was back when i was... 16... so. 2011... the big hub of the GT community was on deviantart. And the most active and thriving corner were dA groups that forbid content with female giants which was unfortunately necessary. Otherwise group mods would have to be denying submissions of fetish GTS content which 1) would be a waste of their free time and 2) would mean seeing a lot of SEXUAL content they dont want to see!

I also did not want to interact with the micro/macro GTS fetish community so as a defense, I, and MANY MANY OTHERS, made content that centered around male giants near exclusively It wasnt a preference, it wasnt a choice, it was the way to stay safe. These groups had the best and largest curated galleries of safe GT content, but of course it was all male giants. It also PISSED ME OFF because i liked writing giants as a species which necessitated giants of all genders (though the male-giant exclusive dA groups were usually understanding of content with larger casts of characters as long as the main giant was male). Still, the fear of the GTS stigma made me also "prefer" male giants.

Now apply all this about the GT community and apply it to the GT-vore community.

It has only been in recent years when I have seen people less hesitant to have female giants/preds and like me, put in effort to make female pred/giant OCs and content and the community is much more supportive and not as averse to interacting with the content put out with said characters.

Fighting the fear of GTS stigma has been tough but the community is healing.

(now of course some people do prefer a gender but for the dA groups the group rules made it clear that part of the exclusivity was to avoid fetish content. Also how do i know? Well check out this group: https://www.deviantart.com/gt-central. look at the Rules and Group Info posts. I'm very familiar with the group's co-founders who all LOVE female giants, and are more open about that now. That group was founded by a gay man (who is an absolute gem btw) who saw the other side of micro/macro where male giant content was all super nsfw/cruel and majority of dA groups were saturated with that, but it became a haven for those who were avoiding explicit GTS content, i confirmed this with one of the co-founders, that she was hesitant and worried about the idea of making/sharing female giant content! )

(AND AGAIN: what I am saying is not subjective facts. it is the GT / GT vore community as i have observed and experienced in the last 12 years)

[pokemonxhyperfixation]

Gensokai Pokemon

Buckemp

The Bucket Pokemon

A fire and water type

Dex Entry: Buckemp are a very common sight in the caves of the Gensokai region. Buckemp are born inside of a bucket, from which they will never leave. While it is unknow what they fully look like, they are assumed to be spider like due to the thread they produce. Buckemp are known to hang from the ceilings of caves, and then drop on unsuspecting creatures below them.

Abilities: Shell Armor/Battle Armor

Hidden Ability: n/a

The Kisume pokemon. This one also actually has stats. 60/20/120/15/80/10. To say this pokemon is min-maxed is an understatement. Based on the Kisume Puppet in Puppet play. If you're concerned about damage, worry not for it has a signiture move! Bucket Drop is an 80 power physical water move that uses your defense to attack. It's water type body press. Does only learn it shortly before evolving tho. Name is Bucket + Imp.

Privuuny

The Moon Rabbit Pokemon

A normal and psychic type

Dex Entry: Privuuny are very shy pokemon, avoiding contact with creatures outside their own species. With other members of their kind however, they form massive social groups often refered to as militias. These groups are led by their evolutions, which use Privuuny for grunt work. The arm cannon Privuuny have are given to them by their parents once they become old enough to fight. It is believed that Privuuny are originally from the moon.

Abilities: Run Away/Mega Launcher

Hidden Ability: Limber

Privuuny comes from Private (as in the military rank) and Buuny (a common, cutesy mispelling of bunny). The megaman-esk arm cannon is here to avoid giving them a gun =). The patern on their chest is the rank symbol for private, just to hammer in the military basis of the line.

Maerigus

The Void Mushroom Pokemon

A Pure Psychic type.

Dex Entry: A strange psychic type found rarely around the gensokai region. These strange mushroom pokemon have immense psychic energy stored within their cap they use to teleport. Unfortunatly, they have no control over where they teleport to. They are believed to have some limited form of telepathy, as some people claim to hear what sounds like humming in their head when around these pokemon. It is widely believed that they are not actually from this region.

Abilities: Dazzling/Regenerator

Hidden Ability: n/a

My idea that Yukari is more or less a mushroom has become a pokemon! Sort of. The name is actually derieved from fungus and Mary Hearn's first name (not even trying with the spelling, I'm refering to the name that's not maribel btw). So yeah. There is a very real chance this creature is the Pseudo-Legendary btw.

Kumini

The Familiar Pokemon

A pure Psychic Type

Dex Entry: A strange species of Bat-like pokemon frequently found in areas dark areas. Kumini are relatively odd amongst psychic type pokemon due to their incredibly limited ability to produce psychic energy. Instead, they feed off the energy of other psychic type pokemon and people with psychic abilities. While them doing this doesn't actually affect the energy of the being their feeding on in a meaningful way, they still do choose to aid the creature they're feeding from in order to make the relationship mutually benefitial. As such, Kumini are actually incredibly popular with people with any form of psychic ability.

Abilities: Pick Up/Forewarn

Hidden Ability: Magician

Have a nice Koakuma pokemon! I wanted to make it very friendly and helpful, so here you go! I surprisingly don't have much to say about Kumini. The name is Ku from Akuma (meaning devil) and mini because it's but a child. So yeah.

[mothssmeat]

hii im curious abt iundes !! ur specbio is literally so fucking cool

thank you! it's very soft specbio, but let me pull some agriculture out of the drawer!

here's the latest addition! horsebirds... they're not the greatest for stamina, but faster than other land mounts available. As seen in the second image, they're large enough to hold an entire gnoll or orm. they could probably hold multiple kobolds or birdmen just so well. visually, these guys are based on emus and chickens, but i'm not familiar enough with bird taxonomy to make them align with a family properly.

iundes doesn't have horses -- or any odd-toed ungulate, including rhinoceros and tapirs -- so they use a variety of species for these sorts of tasks. notably, they typically use oxen for labor -- cart pulling and field plowing -- and a large species of goat used as a smaller pack animal, or a pack animal in situations of unsure footing. similar usecase to today's donkey.

thisun's a meat animal, a large lagomorph similar to the capybara. they're prominent in the drier parts of the northern continent, and are very energy efficient -- turning less silage into more meat. probably some are bred for their wool, but most have more wiry hair.

then there's feather barley! a domestic crop that evolved to grow in steep valleys with high, mostly-singly-directional winds. much like a feather, it's got a short, stiff side, bracing against the wind, and a softer leeward side with more space to do plant things. iundes' food crops arent as well developed, but i can tell you that amaranth is another common food crop, both for its leaves and its grain, and between these two, red dyes are very common. more towards the north of the continent, as well, there's small, sweet pumpkins, called 'speckle gourds'. they love to stuff these with meat.

this is the last thing i've got on hand! a small map showing what foods are common regionally. in the top left, rather than being an actual allotment, it shows every possible item. mind that these are representative of categories, not specific crops.

[firstginger]

Hi! We were wondering if you have an analysis for black squirrels or sugar gliders? I’m a formfluid Dæmon, and my favourite form is the black squirrel, but I’m a sugar glider recently and I really like this form as well. Thank you!

i was just thinking the other day that i'd love to do a writeup on different types of squirrel species! i'm really attached to a douglas squirrel as my pullman form and so many people are unaware of the beautiful diversity of squirrels.

but yes of course! so what's curious about the black squirrel is that it isn't a separate species, but a melanistic morph of other squirrel types. you might be familiar with the various research on these black morphs, some which suggest little behavioral variation between a standard squirrel and a black squirrel, while others suggest that black squirrels can be more active and less inclined to flight, perhaps due to the extra heat they retain. and of course if you're a frequenter of TDF, there's been quite a lot of discussion about melanistic morphs, which is more relevant to pullman forms i believe. for me as just a personal preference i'm a little bit more meh on melanistic forms that are pretty uncommon in nature (like a melanistic tiger, melanistic penguin) and think it's a more interesting discussion for species who do have a high rate of melanism, have built up a colony of melanistic or albino animals, or have specific themes or associations that make them almost a separate species (black panther, black squirrel, silver fox). otherwise i think we just get into albino daemon = pure, innocent; melanistic daemon = shadowy, gothic. but that's again just my personal preference, and that's how i'd frame interpreting the black squirrel!

for the black squirrel form, i think it'd depend on what squirrel species you gravitate towards; the black squirrel morph would likely be a more active, bold, industrious flavor of that original species. considering you relate to the activity of the sugar glider, i wonder if you'd connect with the fox squirrel: adaptable, inventive, socially tolerant, expressive. black fox squirrels are also very common, quite a bit more active and curious. the grey squirrel black morph is also a great consideration, though they're more stubborn and habitual, reserved and perceptive. what this form shares with the sugar glider is its high activity, tendency to stay busy, and reactivity/stubbornness. otherwise, the sugar glider is going to be a lot more gregarious, group-oriented, dependent, sensitive, and habitual. i'll break down key differences between the black squirrel and the sugar glider using the big 5:

openness & conscientiousness both the black squirrel and sugar glider would prefer to be habitual, but the sugar glider is going to be far more stressed by moving outside its comfort zone. squirrels in general are incredibly flexible and adaptable creatures; they are routine-forming and dedicated planners, but they're also spontaneous and inventive enough to be able to react on the fly. sugar gliders have a strong sense of curiosity, but change needs to be their choice and at their own pace. they seem like the type of individual to become stressed or anxious when something is beyond their control. both of these species are going to have an excitable, scattered energy; both are opportunistic and hard-working, but neither terribly devoted to completing a goal for different reasons. the black squirrel will likely get distracted by a new passion or interest and move right along (now where did i put that acorn...) while the sugar glider can overwhelm themself with their high expectations/drive and then will burn out (slipping into torpor!).

extraversion and agreeableness as mentioned above, social behavior is going to be a big distinction between these two forms. squirrels (ground and flying squirrels aside — will get to that in a minute!) are just not social creatures, though both the fox and grey squirrel tend to be... socially tolerant, so long as no one threatens their independence or security. the sugar glider is cooperative, devoted, and cliquish. they thrive on a "us versus them" sort of mentality that makes them feel secure. it's comforting for them to know they can depend on others, and they will most willingly step up to assert themselves and their boundaries when they know they have backup. neither of these species are going to be known for their agreeable nature, as both are expressive and stubborn, and absolutely capable of being reactive. neither are particularly aggressive but won't let their boundaries be trod across and are quite willing to posture.

neuroticism and finally, the sugar glider is going to have more of an anxious, planning personality than the squirrel. squirrels certain are not void of this — but their flexibility makes them much better at dropping something and starting over if things aren't working out. they just tend to be more confident and competitive than the sugar glider. sugar gliders sensitive, prone to over-thinking and twisting themselves into knots, particularly when they're outside of their comfort zone. squirrel species that aren't urban like the fox and grey squirrel are absolutely going to be more anxious, but with the black squirrel's bold reputation, i think this is going to be a very stark difference between the two.

all of that being said, i wonder if you and your daemon have considered the black flying squirrel (aeromys tephromelas) at all? information on this rare species is a little more difficult to find and i had to thumb through quite a few research papers, though they seem like they really combine the flexibility and adaptability of the squirrel with the work ethic of the sugar glider; they tend to be more focused and thorough than the average squirrel, but also more attached to comfort zones as a consequence like the sugar glider. the biggest question mark is their social behavior. they're typically observed/photographed alone but it's uncertain if aeromys has communal nesting like the new world flying squirrels of glaucomyina do. i would be comfortable assuming its social behavior is similar to the closely-related giant flying squirrels (petaurista), meaning that it's solitary or lives in pairs. this suggests that its social behavior is more akin to the squirrel or perhaps an edge more socially selective than them, but not at all group-oriented like the sugar glider. if extroversion is important to you i'd definitely skip this form.

hope this helps! :)

[worldismyne]

this might be too abstract of a question, but does the whole thing of "the charachters are hundreds of years old" make them less relatable to anyone else?

It probably is my pet peevee lol, but yeah even if I find your idea for Crona to be from victorian times or even before interesting, at the same time it kinda rubs me the wrong way, like its even hard to put to words, I think its the same when you watch LoTR but then learn that Legolas is actually 4000 years old.

(and not even touching the cases of the "she is actually a 1000 year old dragon so its ok-" excuse)

But I guess to try to explain myself, I guess to me people developing from childhood to adulthood in a relative simmilar span of time is kinda fundemental, guess its like trying to relate to a species that doesnt experience love or one which has no concept of leisure on a genetic level.

idk🤷🏿‍♀️, lol, sorry for wasting your time😂

I'll admit, I'm a bit puzzled by what your question is. It's okay if you don't like it, but I don't think it breaks the established canon or anything.

They are an anime character with another sentient being acting as their blood and people still relate to them. I don't think saying they age the same way their mother and aunt do is that far of a strech to make. (It's a fairly common headcanon)

Witches being 800+ years old is canonical to Soul Eater. As is Shinigami-sama and Kid living for hundreds of years at a time. I kinda assumed witches and shinigami opporate within the same lifetimes with how familiar they are with one another.

The whole point of fantasy races having extended lifespans is to explore what it means to be in a certain stage of development outside of socially established milestones.

In the case of my witch headcanon, it's to explore what it would look like if mental age and development reflected physically. Trauma (and fame) can freeze a person internally at a specific state of developement. There's a lot to world build with that. Like Maba who's lived long enough and actualized enough to be an old woman is greatly reveared because of how her expirences have shaped her.

I'm a big hater of × character is hundreds of years old, grew normally and then froze at appearing the age the author wanted to draw them in. It's lazy and usually has 0 impact on their character. Okubo seems to favor body snatching as an explination for why old as dirt characters appear younger, but it was always in the context of villains. I think canonically he's only ever said Chrona's a teenager. Idk if anyone's ever asked him how witches age. There's a bunch of holes in the lore, and witches society as a whole is one of them.

If your question is about whether it's hard for them to relate to other characters and vice versa if they were actually 400+ years old. They are still a teenager. Maturity wise, socially among others of their kind, they are a minor. Nothing changes from having more historical knowledge, other than not being as pressed about things like wars, but it's not like anyone's empathy evaporated.

As for what that would look like in the long term, I cover it in WDGK. Kid and Chrona are around '19' while their friends are moving on to their 30s. It puts strain and distance on their relationships as time goes on obviously. When they first met the rest of the cast, it was when they all happened to be in the same stage of life. They were able to get along just fine then, but as time goes on, it's harder to relate and more about honoring the time spent on each other. There's an inherient tragedy in that.

I explore it as well with Angela, who fears always needing protection despite having human caretakers. The frustration that comes from not being able to force herself "grow up" fast enough despite knowing Black Star won't be around to protect her forever is a huge part of her arc. She can't just decide to be over watching people die in front of her because it's inconvient for her to be stuck, she needs to heal and healing takes time.

That said, even regular people mature at different rates. Sometimes people grow apart and can only be friends for brief periods of time, when their lives overlap just right. That doesn't make those friendships any less valuable.

I think characters coming to find understanding despite having different life expiriences is one of my favorite parts of storytelling. So the more barriers characters have between each other, the more interesting and satisfying it is for them to relate and form friendships.

[freyachristeam]

Jacqueline, Enigmas and Shows of Force.

Analysis written by Chris:

These last few days have been a bit odd all things considered. Those following our progress will know of Jacqueline Verity, and how she's the last of our main opponents in the middle bracket of the WCS Ultra Rank. However, there's actually very little info available for her. We know that she's Sinnohan, but there are only foreign gym badges (Kantonian ones, specifically), and no conference records, just a Hall of Fame placement from 2022. We don't even know how she got her pokemon, which, given it includes two considered to be Legendaries, is pretty surprising.

Strangely this also isn't the first time we've seen an 'enigma contestant' with multiple legendaries come out of the Sinnoh Circuit. In 2009 there was a trainer named Tobias, who appeared for the July Lily-of-the-Valley conference with a similar absence of records, swept it with Darkrai and Latios, and wasn't ever seen again.

Jacqueline has been a strangely similar case, we didn't see her at all until recently, and her conduct has been strange. I've well documented the flyby incident which you can find on my Chatter (@acetrainerchris), at the same time her apology and subsequent 'peace offering' team showcase was almost a choreographed and performative show of force, designed to offer an impression of power, without actually giving away what any of her tactics or specialties are.

Despite that, we were able to walk away with a few insights on how her team operates.

To get straight to the point: The team is quite centralized on the two legendary members, with the rest mainly playing support, so those are the ones i'm going to talk about here

The first of these is a Shaymin.

I do happen to be somewhat familiar with Shaymin, its a Grass-Type species found across Sinnoh's northern islands, given a Mythical status for its elusiveness. They have a symbiotic relationship with flowers called Gracideas. When the flowers bloom they release an energy signature that the Shaymin use to transform from their default Land form (left) to their Sky form (right). Which in the wild they use to migrate to tropical environments for the winter.

Despite its small size and meek appearance, kilogram for kilogram these pokemon are stronger than the likes of Tyranitar and Dragonite. Land form is surprisingly quick and durable, and Sky form is extremely agile in flight. Both forms also have access to a signature move called Seed Flare, which involves the pokemon absorbing airborne pollutants, 'burning' them to create energy and water, and releasing that energy explosively. Depending on the environment and the strength of the Shaymin, a use of seed flare can be like the move Explosion but reusable.

In sky form, they also have the ability Serene Grace, which improves the knock on effects of many of their moves, especially the concussive and stunning potential of Air Slash, which adds an extra element of danger in a similar way to fighting a Togekiss.

Shaymin's biggest weakness is cold, successfully tagging them with an ice type move can sometimes cause them to revert forms, which leaves them very vulnerable.

I have my guesses on what tactics Jacqueline will employ with Shaymin and how she'll cover this weakness, but after the incident I'm not going to disclose most of them.

However I will note that during her demonstration she demonstrated the use of a cut Gracidea bloom to change Shaymin's form midfight.

Her second and seemingly most dangerous legendary, is a Latias.

Latias I have less experience with, the first I had seen one was actually on the flight to Unova for the WCS a few months ago, but they're common enough worldwide that there's a decent bit of information on them. Latias (alongside Latios, its male counterpart, its a single highly dimorphic species typically referred to as Eon pokemon, which is what i'll be using) is basically a living fighter jet with psychic abilities.

Given time to accelerate, an Eon can reach flight speeds of mach 2, but this speed doesn't sacrifice durability or power. Eons are reportedly also capable of utilizing illusions, not to the same extent of something like Zoroark, but sufficient to turn themselves invisible or otherwise disguise themselves. There is a known report of a woman from Alto-Mare, Hoenn whom a local Latias mimicked so perfectly that her own friends were fooled.

[Freya's note: I expect that if Jacqueline's latias tries to spy on us or something in the future against her trainer's wishes, it'll be with this invisibility.]

Eons are also known to be capable of Mega Evolution, but given Jacqueline appears not to have a keystone, I don't expect that to be a factor during the fight.

Latias lacks glaring species specific weaknesses aside from basic type matchups, but there are a few things I think we can exploit.

First off, eons' method of propulsion is by telekinetically pushing on the air and ground (thanks @outdoor_delcatgirl for this insight), this is very precise and offers a high thrust to weight ratio, but becomes less effective when already flying forward at speed. This factor, combined with Eons (especially Latias, due to eggbearing adaptations) being very robust pokemon, means that although their top speed is very high, Latias will be slower to accelerate and turn compared to something like Eiglay the Dragapult. (this is also affected by their aerodynamics, Dragapult are aerodynamically unstable, increasing turn speed, Eons are not).

Second, is that unlike something like phantom force, Eons' illusion based invisibility is only in the visible and infrared spectra, meaning that other forms of detection should still work. Might be able to take a few pages out of Hugh's book to keep her in our sights.

Once again, I expect Jacqueline to be aware of these and have mitigation measures planned.

After the loss against Hugh, a win here is required in order to advance to the top bracket of Ultra rank, and we'll be doing our best in order to make that happen. Quasi-Telepathy update will happen in another blog, as this is already quite long.

Until next time.