#Trade Courses Gold Coast

[peachinstitute]

https://pi.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ict60220-advanced-diploma-of-information-technology.webp

[kurithedweeb]

It’s the same anon again because the MCD beetles are slowly consuming my brain, but what are you thought on clothing culture in universe?

Like of course climate plays a big role in how traditional dress looks, but apart from that there’s also things like religion that play a big role. We don’t really know what the climate is like in Ru’aun but Irene is a big thing, how does that effect clothing choices, what dyes are most common and how does that reflect in clothes?

I’m a sucker for world building

Hello again, anon! Lucky for you I, too, am a sucker for worldbuilding. I have been considering my answer for literal days. I’ve vaguely commented on modesty rules in Ru’aun before but we’ve yet to get into fashion trends and hierarchical or religious dress, not to mention personal ornamentation and the different meanings associated with that in different areas, so let’s talk about Ru’aun first.

Because of the impassable Sacred Forest, most towns are along the coast to facilitate travel, and it’s a very lush and green region. The majority of the land is either plains or various forests, with a variety of cliffs, shoals and a few mountains scattered around, plus stretches of swampland and beach. Dyes are usually made from whatever resources are nearby, so you’ll see a much wider range of colors in settlements near flower fields or birch forests. Popular port towns like Meteli, O’khasis and Bright Port also have more variety, but will most often stick to colors that have special meanings to the town. Whites, greys, and blues are popular in O’khasis and Scaleswind as the religious capitals of the region, but red is also pretty prominent in Scalesind.

The same general rule also applies to fabrics and jewelry—mohair comes from goats so it’s easier to acquire in Phoenix Drop where there are tons, there’s more precious metals in Scaleswind, and in Nahakra people take any broken glass they find and lay the pieces in fine mesh containers on the tideline to make sea glass for decorations. Fabric and dye are common trading goods, especially in more backwater towns where the physical currency used in bigger villages and city-states have about as much practical value as an especially shiny rock. The most popular kinds of fabrics in Ru’aun are mohair and wool for their durability and temperature regulation respectively, with leather, ore and ivory as the most common materials in ornamentation.

The primary religion is what I’ve been calling the Divine Faith, which worships the Divine Warriors as a whole under the figurehead of Irene and has various subsets that focus more on each individual Divine Warrior, with the grand majority of its followers falling under the Church of the Matron or cults dedicated to the Destroyer, with the Trail of the Wanderer as a close second. Which of the Divine Warriors you follow most closely definitely has an effect on your attire. 

Disciples of Irene wear small cloaks modeled after hers and members of the church hide their faces as a way to present themselves as closer to the goddess since you don’t look upon those of divine nature or close to divinity without consequences, most often using dark blue or white veils stitched with gold, since those are the colors she’s documented wearing most often and are therefore most often associated with her, though purple is too. Devout followers cover their eyes, members of the church like priests and nuns cover the lower half of their faces, and the High Priest covers his entire face, usually veiled or with a simple mask in public and with a more ceremonial mask during sermons and ceremonies. 

Followers of the Destroyer are much more subtle because they’re technically outlawed, they have a lot more to do with ornamentation than clothing. If you have long hair, it’s always pinned up and back, never in a ponytail and never left loose, usually in braids and buns and other hairstyles that wouldn’t be out of place on a guard, nothing an enemy can easily yank on. Hanging jewelry is also out. Hair is adorned with warmly colored beads and hair sticks that can be used as weapons and on occasion chains are woven into braids, most other accessories are close-fitting: there are nearly always cuffs around the wrists and ankles, subtly decorated wraps around the waist are more common in cities, chokers with detailing done in texture are uncommon but widely used, and earrings and ear cuffs are rare and usually kept for formal ceremonies. 

Those on the Trail of the Wanderer are nearly always found to be wearing travel-appropriate clothes no matter the occasion or setting, and there’s touches of pirate and backpacking aesthetic throughout. They tend to carry just about everything they own, dedicating their life to traveling and seeing the world the way Kul’zak did, and dress accordingly. Knee high boots, at least two layers, oil-treated cloaks, many wear jerkins and sashes with stitched depictions of scenes from places they’ve been, and leather harnesses and holsters are common. Hair is usually left down or half put up and decorated with feathers and ribbons found on the Trail. Meditation beads carved of wood or stone are nearly universal, worn around the neck or wrapped around the wrist. Trinkets and charms found on the Trail are important to the travelers, and you’ll find bowls of them left behind by others at shrines and trail markers that you can add to or take from, and in doing so you bring other travelers with you on your adventures and are carried by other travelers on their own, it’s a very dear tradition on the Wanderer’s Trail. Imagine geocaching but with religious connotations. Many of these items are worn as bracelets, anklets, necklaces, or on waist chains, usually put together while camping out. Flower crowns are also a bit of a thing and when they start wilting they’re left behind in places bearing Kul’zak’s symbol.

I’m thinking of making flower crowns also a thing with Enki’s followers since I’ve recently been turned onto the Kulki ship by @warlocks-and-phoenixes, but instead of wildflowers it’s mostly herbs and grasses. The matching flora crowns are a symbol of their union. Enki’s followers are mostly stuck on an iceberg, so they show their faith by carrying carvings of his symbols and making tapestries and records of their history, studying the world and spreading a love of knowledge wherever they go. Children usually start with embroidering their favorite/their family’s stories into their own clothing.

Embroidery! I love embroidery. In Ru’aun, it’s a very popular pastime, especially among stay at home parents and the sickly, so you see it pretty much everywhere. Colored threads are easy to acquire, but some colors are restricted. Purple is only for the clergy. Gold is for the highest ranking members of the churches and Lords’ family lines, as well as important personal staff of the Lord’s household like a close advisor and the primary caretaker of the children. Silver thread is for other people in powerful positions like members of a council or the highest ranking members of the guard (commander of the guard, second-in-command, reserve commander, Jury of Nine), which helps to distinguish officers from soldiers in larger villages and city-states that have a standard uniform and armor template. If you qualify for both, the gold usually takes precedence. For example, Laurance would have gold embroidery despite being head guard of Meteli because he’s also the son of Joh. Many small settlements don’t bother much with distinguishing personal importance based on thread color, though. They much prefer to use embroidery to keep a record of family history. Abstract depictions of personal achievements are stitched into the edging of most clothing, and the rank and position of the wearer and their parents + lovers go across the back on formal clothes and if you’re a guard around the neck and cuffs of your gambeson and also your sash if you wear one as a way to identify bodies after battle like modern day dog tags. It’s very simple and blocky on guardwear and incredibly elaborate and stylized to the point of illegibility on formalwear. Other common designs are flowers, symbols of faith, waves, landscapes, and elements of regional stories.

Modesty standards in Ru’aun. Here’s the basics: the average person should show nothing in the range of torso between the knees and breasts in public, midriff can be seen only by people very close to you, mothers should be covered from somewhere around the collarbones to their ankles, visible shoulder straps and undershirts are generally a no-no but off the shoulder and sleeveless attire are okay, and open shirts should not go further than the base of the sternum and should not show undergarments or nipples. Anyone fifteen or older is expected to follow these, but it’s not as important that children do. Some of them are negotiable based on climate and regional culture; Meteli and let’s say Pikoro are more lax and pretty much do whatever they feel like while O’khasis and Scaleswind follow the rules very closely and places like Brightport and Boboros are somewhere in the middle.

In Tu’la, how you dress is so important because it shows your loyalties. It’s a place filled with hundreds of clans all on the brink of beating each other up on any given day. In their culture, you’re not defined by who you are but who your family and their allegiances are. Symbology is important, families have their own color blends, patterns and even specific plants associated with them since gems aren’t very commonly found in Tu’la and sparkly things go to the monarchy and the king’s pets (the humanoid ones). Throwing away your clan’s symbols when you’re not on a covert mission of some kind is seen as a betrayal.

Cloth is very often uncut and styled by wrapping, pinning, and tying them into various shapes like you would a sari or toga or a variety of old African clothing styles I can’t remember the names of. Short sashes and waist wraps are very common. Many of the common people will also wrap their hands and feet in place of gloves and shoes. Cutting cloth is often reserved for important articles or the royal family and its vassal clans. It’s considered a wasteful expense since the excess cloth can’t be remade and isn’t recycled into other things like blankets. Scraps are distributed among the clan’s servants for them to wear to match their masters’ clothing as a sort of claim over them. Gladiators often wear their sponsor’s colors in the same way. When clothing is sewn, you’ll often see designs similar to the Japanese kimono and yukata and the Chinese hanfu and cheongsam/qipao. Designs with layers are more expensive and a luxury that very few, essentially only the king and his consorts, can afford. In most places, the only articles of clothing you’d find cut and stitched into new shapes are some forms of undergarments and a more form-fitting underlayer that covers the entire torso and cloth is arranged over top of.

Tu’lan clothing is essentially custom tailored by the wearer for the wearer, unless you’re super rich or a conscripted servant. Ideally it should allow you to be flexible, it should allow you to keep cool in Tu’la’s very warm climate, maybe with a window just above your butt if you have a tail, but easy to hide things in. Really the only rules about it is that you don’t wear enemy symbols and you keep your private parts private around everyone not your lover. It’s a war country, so most of the time the styles are very utilitarian and comfortable, but you’d only know how utilitarian it is if you were raised wearing them. To Ru’aun and Gal’ruk, even the simplest outfits seem fancy. Part of what makes them think that is the decoration and accessories.

Hair sticks. God do I love hairsticks. More formal ones are made of glass with a small hanging charm and common ones are simply carved from wood or made with the scrap metal shavings of weaponsmiths—those ones are usually sharpened into needles or knives in case you need it. Jewelry is usually close-fitting to make it harder to grab, so meditation beads would be wrapped several times around the wrist or ankle and no pretty hanging piercings. Humans are actually the only one of the three dominant species who get piercings because pretty much all meif’wa clans are warriors or their ears are too sensitive, and if a werewolf has to transform with a piercing in it’ll either warp super bad or hurt them when the change tries to push foreign bodies out of the werewolf. Cloth is usually made with patterns everywhere or very prominently displayed and accented. 

Sun and snow motifs are also fairly widespread since the patron Divine Warrior of Tu’la was Menphia, it very rarely snows in Tu’la but she had ice powers so. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything more on Menphia’s followers right now, I’m basically scraping and redoing her whole temple and worship at the moment.

Gal’ruk loves yarn and fur, since practically every living thing out there is covered in fur and spinning yarn is a good time consuming indoor activity. A lot of people spend considerable time weaving and tanning and sewing over the blizzard season when they get trapped inside by storms. Fur goes inside everything from gloves to hoods to pants. People make competitions out of who can knit the best hat or scarf from scratch before the next moon. 

For an idea of the style of clothing usually worn I recommend looking up ‘viking winter wear’ for some ideas. Plenty of layers, loose pants cinched at the knee, lots of fur cloaks and shawls, leather belts with pouches and space for your knife/sword/axe’s sheath over top. Leather goods like armor and belts are usually marked with subtle designs pressed into the materials and are padded. Nothing metal ever comes close to touching the skin directly. Clothes can either be simply pulled on or are closed with loops and clasps carved of wood or bone/teeth from a hunt. 

Nothing hunted ever goes to waste. Gal’ruk is a plentiful land but it can be a harsh one too. Pelts, furs, teeth, claws, bones and tails are all made into clothing, among other things. Pelts can be scraped and tanned and made into leather, furs are stuffed into everything as an insulator. Teeth, claws and bones are carved into accessories or combs or buttons, it’s very common for someone to make the spoils of their hunt into necklaces or arm bands or earrings as a mark of their achievement or to exchange as a betrothal gift to prove their worth as a provider. Married couples wear carved tokens of their family’s symbol made by each other instead of rings, presented to the other for the first time at the wedding and very rarely taken off unless one dies or they get divorced. Widows and widowers usually keep their tokens old, but they’re burned to make the divorce official and if a divorced couple gets back together new ones have to be made.

Unfortunately color is fairly sparse on the island. There’s not many plants to harvest  dyes from and clay takes ages to dig up and warm enough to use, so it’s mostly natural colors of the materials and some darker shades from smoking pelts over a fire to waterproof them. There are shades of green every so often from dye made with the kelp that washes ashore and sometimes if you can manage to grow beets there’s some reds and purples but not everyone is able to dye their clothing.

Gal’ruk has zero modesty standards. You wrap up to keep warm outside, but while you’re inside you can wear just about as little as you want. The public dining hall can get pretty warm with everyone packed in there, it’s not unusual for people to go titties out. They’re all warriors, they’re pretty chill about partial nudity and naked bodies are very rarely sexualized in such a close-knit warrior community, they’re all pretty much grown up seeing each other half undressed while tending wounds, so modesty isn’t a real issue. This is why I said in my post about Travis playing around with his shapeshifting that he needs to have Ru’aun modesty rules explained to him the first time he changes into a female form in public, because in his homeland having breasts show through an open shirt isn’t at all notable but in Ru’aun it’s absolutely scandalous.

And we’ve circled back to embroidery! Again, time consuming pastime, again, people who spend the majority of the year huddled inside waiting out the worst of the cold, again, followers of Enki. Personal history is recorded on parchment, but communal history is recorded on tapestries and clothing. They have very little in the way of colored threads, so designs are made with only lineart and shadows in mind to make it clear what they’re meant to be. Stories about Enki and the Divine Warriors are very common, and so are fables for the children. Animals bounding through the snow and their different tracks trailing behind them are used to teach the babies how to tell your prey apart by print. Kids are taught to embroider their own clothes to teach them patience and attention to detail.

These are all pretty general regional ideas, specific parts of the region and settlements also have their own deals sometimes. I’ll have to come back to this at some point to cover the rest of the Divine Faith properly. This was a fun question!

[ltwilliammowett]

The Middelburgse Commercie Compagnie (MCC) Ship's crew and their duties

Tw: The following is about the crew of a ship that was involved in the slave trade during colonisation. If you don't want to read this please skip this post

The Middelburgse Commercie Compagnie (MCC) was a Dutch private commercial enterprise founded in 1720. In addition to trade with the ports of the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea, the MCC was also involved with the triangular, or trans-Atlantic slave trade.

On a trans-Atlantic slave voyage, ships left the European homeport loaded with cargo (trading goods) for the coast of West-Africa. There, these goods were traded for enslaved Africans, ivory and gold. The ship would then sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the colonies in North- and/or South-America.

There, the Africans were sold either at public auctions, or privately to plantation owners. They faced a future of enslavement, working on one of the many sugar, coffee, tobacco and cotton plantations. The ships returned home to Europe, loaded with plantation produce.

Ranks

The following ranks could be found on board:

1. Captain 2. First Mate 3. Second Mate 4. Third Mate 5. Master Surgeon 6. Surgeon’s Mate 7. Master Carpenter 8. Carpenter’s Mate 9. Boatswain 10. Boatswain’s Mate and Sail Maker 11. Master Cooper 12. Cooper’s Mate 13. Cook 14. Corporal 15. – 32.  Sailors 33. – 34 . Sailor’s Mates 35. – 37. Ship’s Boys

The captain was lord and master of his ship. The first four crew members were the first officers. Together, they formed the Ship’s Council, organized by the captain when major decisions needed to be made, or a declaration put together. For those cases which affected all the crew members, the boatswain was also included.

Numbers 7 to 14, from Master Carpenter until Corporal, were the second officers. The sailors formed the next rank, amounting to 16 men. They were followed by the sailor’s mates, sailors without any experience. Lowest in rank were the ship’s boys. Together, the sailor’s, sailor’s mates and boys were called the ‘ship’s folk’. The boatswain was the leader of this group.

The duties

Life on board the ship was hard and dangerous for the crew. There was always plenty of work on the ship itself, even without trading on land. Always something to repair, or clean; sometimes the sails needed to be unfurled, or put away again, and the watch had to be kept 24 hours a day.

The captain was the commander. Normally, the captain would keep the logbook, but not all of the captains’ logbooks have been preserved. In the logbook the course and weather were noted, together with any repairs done on board and the trading activities.

The first mate held the prime responsibility of navigation. In absence of the captain the first mate was in control. The first mate was also responsible for the cargo and for the stowing of the goods in the hold.

The second mate could also steer the ship, and responsible for navigation after the first mate.

The third mate was responsible for navigation after the second mate.

The second and third mate were in charge of the sails.

The constable was not always a single rank. This function was usually carried out by the second or the third mate. The constable took care of the canons and the ammunition. The Unity was armed with 10 canons (6 three-pounders and 4 two-pounders) and 6 tail-pieces. When the cannons were not being used, the constable had to make sure the cannons were tied up and would not start rolling in case of stormy weather. He also had to turn the gunpowder and roll the barrels to prevent the gunpowder from clotting together. He was also responsible for the handguns and ammunition on board. The gun chest in the captain’s cabin contained 16 hand guns, 12 pistols, 16 swords and 6 blunderbusses.

The surgeon was given the task of medical care on board of the ship. He was assisted by the surgeon’s mate.

The master carpenter was the first responsible carpenter. He had to take care of the maintenance of the ship, the boats and the rowboats. He was assisted by the master carpenter’s mate. Together they had to be able to manufacture masts and rigging.

The boatswain was a second officer. He kept an eye on the shrouds, especially those of the main mast. The shrouds are the ropes of the ship. The ‘standing shrouds’ are all the fixed ropes which support the masts. The ‘walking shrouds’ are the loose ropes. Lower in rank were the boatswain’s mate and all the sailors. The boatswain’s mate assisted the boatswain. In the case of The Unity he combined this function with that of sail maker. The sail maker had to repair ripped or damaged sails, as well as being capable of making new sails.

The head cooper supervised the opening of barrels.

He was assisted by the cooper’s mate. The coopers on board put together water barrels on the coast of Africa, the materials for which had been taken on board in Europe.

The chief steward was like the costable not always a single rank This function could have been taken on by various crew members, such as the second mate, the third mate, the boatswain or the cooper. The chief steward’s main duty was the distribution of food and drinks. He had to supply the cook with the daily food. The chief steward also had to keep the captain informed about the level of supplies.

The cook supplied the entire crew with food. He had to cook for both the higher officers and the rest of the crew. It is not entirely clear what part he played in the preparation of food for the enslaved Africans. A separate galley was built for the Africans.

The corporal or smith had to ensure the smaller hand guns stayed in prime condition.

The tasks of the sailors included: keeping the watches and helping the ship stay on course; loading and unloading; the cleaning, tarring and caulking of the ship; the taking down and putting op of the sails. Sailors basically serve as the lower officer’s helpers.

The sailor’s mate was a sailor of lower rank, an unpracticed sailor. The sailor’s mates serve as the helpers of the sailors.

The lowest rank on board of the ship was that of ship’s boy. Ship’s boys were younger than 17, and did most of the odd jobs around the ship.

One or more of the crew members will have fulfilled the function of ‘drummer’. The drummer gave signals during the changing of the watch and when a ship or boat left the ship, when they went on land or came back on board from other ships.

[sakialumei]

WIP Wednesday

I got tagged by the wonderful @dreamsofdeathbywater and it's STILL WEDNESDAY here on the West Coast so HERE WE GO

EmmRook one-shot I'm drafting up. This is pre-relationship.

“Oh, that wasn’t…” He set down the plate and received the next one. “I’m asking if you would like to go, Miss Mercar.” She stopped scrubbing and faced him. “If I wanna…” She blinked twice. “A ball? Like with dancing?” “And fine music. The invitation mentioned that there will be a famous soprano performing.” She gasped. “Really?” Her face lit up. “That sounds amazing! Y-Yeah! Of course I’ll go! Oh, Andraste’s tits!” Her smile dropped. “What am I gonna wear?” “Formal attire is required.” He knew that he had his own suits and tunics for such an occasion, but judging from the rather revealing Rivani clothes she wore around the Lighthouse… “Formal, right. Do I… you know what, I’ve got a decent stash of gold hidden away. I’ll figure it out.” Emmrich wanted to tell her that Nevarra had a strict idea of what “formal” meant, but he bit his tongue before he said anything condescending. He just prayed to the spirits that she would show up in something passable. — The shimmering of the Eluvian mirror reflected off his pocket watch as he clicked it open to check the time. “Oh, we’re going to be late,” he muttered. “Fashionably, perhaps, but regardless…” He closed it and slipped it back into the breast pocket of his vest. For the occasion, he had chosen a coat of pine green, rich and deep. Its collar flared around his head and gold embroidery curled around its edges like vine. Like any self-respecting Nevarran, he kept his grave gold around his arms but traded his traveling boots for more tailored leather ones that were too sensitive for hiking, but perfect for dancing. Just as his foot was about to start tapping in impatience, he heard the clacking of footsteps coming his way. Emmrich turned around. His eyes trailed up the billowing skirt to the fastened waist, then the square-cut collar of the plum and gold colored dress that hugged Fira. Black lace gloves covered up to her biceps, still wearing her Rivaini armlets. She had tamed her wild, auburn hair into a bun with a single curly lock draped over her bare shoulder. Fira kept her elbows inward as her hands smoothed out the dress. “H… Hi.” Emmrich had to snap himself back to reality. “Miss Mercar, you look…” He gave her a once over again, just to confirm that it was really her. That, and the dress was a lovely shade of purple. “Positively lovely.”

[batfambrainrotbeloved]

My take on Batfam, but Pirates- Dick's Origin

Hayleys were a group known among almost every coast, made of people still stuck in the "old ways" back when countries had no power over land of people who did not permenatly reside.

They were nomads, people who lived and breathed by the ocean and whose vessels called "barbaic" to some were some of the most skilled sailors to ever traverse the waters.

The "Flying" Graysons were the artists even among the most skilled, known for their expertise and ability to swing from ropes and rafters as if they were soaring through the sky.

But life as nomads in a modern time was far from easy. No longer were the lands free as the seas, and it seemed even the seas themselves were being claimed.

Zucco owned the docks by several major port cities, of course "own" meaning he had no papers- but if you did not pay his toll it was likely there would be grave consequences.

Tired of being extorted during one of their latest trading adventures they docked and did not pay. And they paid the price far more than gold.

The Graysons were targetted, caught on their own side vessel and shown no mercy. Even at the face of Dick, their little Kea, he was picked up by Zucco himself and thrown overboard for the seas to claim.

Despite his entire life off shore, the currents still proved too much for the boy and his strength was sapped away as he watched the dimming light of the monsters lanterns fade away as he drifted further and further from shore.

Dick gave a soft prayer to the sea, begging for her waters to calm and spare him. The waters did not calm, but Dick still believes she heard his prayer. Right as he was struggling his last breath, he saw a ship come into view, black sails, but his mind too foggy to recognize.

He slipped under the currents.

Only to come too Safe and warm inside the lower deck of Lady Gotham, having been saved by her elusive Blackcape, a notorius pirate, but one that did not pillage nor rape, but took justice out on open ocean.

Dick was nursed back to help by the captian and his older companion, but the rest of the ship was empty, not even a swabbie. It didnt take long for him to get the real story of the legand as just a boy like him, whose parents were claimed unwillingly by the sea via the hands of cruel men.

Bruce Wayne was his name, though few recognized it anymore now lost as sand drifted out. He explained Dicks rescue and insisted he would help get Dick back to Hayleys and back Home.

But of course, getting a kid back to a place that didnt exist only in people that never stayed still for long was easier said than done.

By the time they managed to track them down- they were overjoyed to hear Dick was alive, but the boy suprised just about everyone but his old family that he wished to stay on Lady Gotham.

Because to him, Home had never been a place, it was always people.

Bruce of course was not too keen at first, but it seemed his new sons stubborness was stronger than even his own, and soon enough Lady Gotham gained a First Mate.

Blackcape gained his Kea

Pt 1- Pt 2 (this)- Pt 3(WIP)

[canonicallysoulmates]

J2 Gold Panel Minncon 2023

Quick psa/reminder that this con took place while the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, is on strike. This means the boys cannot talk about any past, present, or future projects. But for the sake of clarity, I will be mentioning projects the boys are referring to by name.

Before the panel starts Jared notices a fan with an I heart Jensen sign, and says he does too.

Jared shows off a bit of his and Jensen's unspoken lingo, he does the sign for a brief pause. They got it from their director, Jensen says they had a lot of different hand signals for communication, and they also had names for certain types of shots. Jared mentions they had a friend in Van who's a larger individual and was always smoking pot so if they start the scene with a high and wide shot they'd call it the Murph. When the camera is on the dolly track and does a creep in if it's a little creep they'd call it a Mickey Rooney then Jensen says there are other ones they won't mention because they're very inappropriate.

Jared reminds fans that actors are currently on strike and thanks the fans for their understanding if there are any questions that they cannot answer. Jensen says that Jared can talk about his gardening skills and Jared says he loves him some zucchini and that he harvested some the previous week...I'm not gonna say it, but you know what I'm thinking 😉

Do they follow the Texas country music scene?

Jared always goes back to when in High School or Middle School Robert Earl King. Or Pat Green.

Jensen mentions Jerry Jeff Walker. He also says Texas certainly has its own country core, it's not like traditional Nashville country. x

The next fan had already asked Jared this question and now they want to know Jensen's answer: what kind of car would he have if money was no problem?

He doesn't have a holy grail and the reason he doesn't is because if he did he'd spend all his time figuring out how to get it; he'll watch car auction shows, used to watch them with Clif, and every one of them he'll want. He did see one car once, he and Jared had the opportunity to go to Concours d'Elegance which is the best, greatest car show there is in Pebble Beach. They close off the 18-hole golf course and line up the cars all along the fairways. It's right there on the coast and they were walking past the pre-world war cars and he saw an Austin Martin that took his breath away. He was like "this is outrageous you probably can't even get your hands on this" but if he ever had the opportunity to own something like that- he took more pictures of that car than any other car. x

The next fan doesn't have a question, they just wanted the boys to wish her a happy birthday and also show the tattoo she has of Jensen's face on the inside of her thigh, which took her 6hrs to get done. Jared jokes Jensen can't last six hours 🤣

What's the backstory behind the bracelets Jensen sometimes wears?

They've all been gifted to him by someone in his life, usually his wife or his daughter but he has friends that he has also traded with; there's always some sort of a back story to what he's wearing he doesn't usually go shopping and just buy stuff.

Then they get told a naughty joke: if a blackbird has black babies and a bluebird has blue babies what bird has no babies? A swallow. Both men have to walk away from the mic 🤣

Jared asks the next fan if they have any babies and even he's wondering why he says what comes into his head ���

If they had to pick tattoos for each other what would they pick out?

Jensen points towards the fan that has his face tattoed on her inner tigh and says she already has it he would put his face on Jared's and Jared says "yeah I'd be more handsome." Gentlemen 👀

Jensen then says would put a bear growling on Jared's right hand. And Jared's like "why do they exist?" and Jensen just goes "to scare big things like you." Which I found a cute little exchange.

Jared would make Jensen get an enter at your own risk and an arrow pointing to somewhere that he's not gonna say but it would be in an old English cursive writing. Again 👀

Jared asks the fan what they would put on them and the fan replies that they would ask what they love and what describes them

Jensen comments that he and Jared had talked about getting something that represents SPN because when you're in it you're not thinking about how long the show is gonna go and so you know they talked about maybe getting the anti-possession tattoo or there was also talk about symbols of MOL but it's really come down that now that they're a few years removed from it and they're able to look back on it they're able to realize how big that part of their lives was for them and how forever it will be. That's not to say tattoos always have to be amazingly meaningful, some are just fun, but he feels they would because of how that show impacted their lives. x

If they were in Van and had a ping pong tournament with the cast and crew of SPN who would make it to the gold round and come out the victor?

They would. Jared says he thinks it happened a few times and they had to hide said ping pong table from them because they would sweat their makeup off.

Jensen says they would play that game so intensely as if they were running a marathon. They would be called back on set and be out of breath, show up panting- they had very intense games. I wanna make a dirty comment so badly involving the other things they were probably might have been doing on that ping pong table but I'm gonna keep it moving.

Jared says they represented Texas pretty damn well, and they're asked if they doubled up or destroyed the other. Both say it was pretty split, pretty even. It got to a point where they were just exposing each other's weaknesses like Jared would figure out Jensen's forehand was a little weaker that day so he'd send it straight into his forehand. x

Next is a fan wanting to know what they thought of her tattoo, and if they could give her artist a shoutout. They thought it was really awesome and the artist did a great job. x

If they go to a diner how likely is it that they would actually order a salad and a cheeseburger?

Jared says at a dinner he's kind of greasy spoon type of guy so like a burger or something. That's at a diner, but he probably orders salads more than burgers.

Jensen would probably go burger or burrito if they have it. And Jared says that's cause it's probably 2am, probably on the way home. He knows hubby so well 🥰

Jensen comments there's a dinner close to where he lives that they go to sometimes, and he's a creature of habit so they have this big massive burrito that he has no business eating all of but he does.

He mentions it has hot sauce so the fan asks if they like spicy food, they do, and Jensen says he likes jalapeños on his pizza all the time. They also mention Hot Ones and how they'd like to do it. x

J2 Gold Panel Minncon

[neverfadinglands]

Here is the map for my story "Etude of Singing Sands", which will be a part of the larger series "Lament for the Fallen." Although this map is most useful for EoSS.

The coastal cities are named in quenya because of the Black Numenorean influence in these lands. Havens of Umbar were taken by Herumor and Fuinur took over Kipura and named it Tar Liduinos. There are of course many more human settlements across the coast, but I did not named them as they are mostly small cities and villages. The coast is rocky and it is quite hard to grow any crops which would support a large population. So people of these lands are mostly fishermen and traders, transporting goods by sea from South. I suppose there should be a large kingdom at the riverbank, but I still need to think about that for sure.

The native people of coastal lands were killed, enslaved or ran to the desert with the coming of Black Numenoreans. I suppose they took man of their women as unwilling wives too.

The people of desert are divided to two categories – these who lived there as default and these who escaped the invasion. The divide is quite important because these two groups do not like each other much. There are not many resourcas in desert and when the men of the coast ran, they also invaded the desert dwellings. It had been thousands of years of course and many tribes merged with each other, but the two groups are still quite distinct. The people of sea who call themselves Yawith regards Kipura and Achniwt (Umbar) as nearly legendary heavenly place of their origin. Before the War of the Ring begins, Sauron's lieutenants promise them these lands in exchange for military help. These people do not see any difference between Gondorians and the Black Numenorean usurpers and so they fight for Sauron.

One of the smaller coastal city states is Falmos, a merchant city, they specialise in trade with dwarves of Isteniwt who are mining diamonds, but they also bring other goods from South as well. As I said Isteniwt is one of the two dwarven cities, the other being Ketedhut at the oase of Palisor. The dwarves of Isteniwt are mainly jewelsmiths and jewellers, mining precious stones and gold. The mountains at Palisor are rich in iron and so Ketedhut make swords, shields and also items of ordinary use, but they are great at enchantment and also mine salt. Ketedhut has good relationship with Gwirhaed, but the ties with Eiracha went sour. From Gwirhaed they export their spider silks through Isteniwt and Falmos. These two cities are connected by a tunnel as you can see. The tunnel is not entirelly artificial. The black desert of Erumorna was formed by volcanic action and there still is active volcano, although two more were awakened during the War of the Ring. These volcanoes formed many caves under the desert and these run very deep and were even more deepened by dwarvish explorations. Dwarves mapped Erumorna very well and they are great friends of the desert's maia of the same name.

There is probably mannish kingdom at the sea of Palisor for sure, but let's talk about Eiracha. Eiracha is a city of many stairs, it's heart floats on a great underground lake and there the palace was build. The caves are filled with the dwellings of Hisildi who are one of the Kinn-lai. There are many hot springs and it is said by some that it's waters are holy and mortal flesh could not touch them for they would boil in the water, on the other hand men believe that those who drink the water gain eternal youth and some even said that bathing in some river will make them untouchable. Eirachini do not sell the water and it can only be given as a gift.

What I know about the people of the sea of Palisor is that they used to be friends of Eirachini, but over time grew more bitter and ultimatelly stood with Ketedhut (which was also much more important for them due to trade) in the conflict and so their ties were severed. Palisor is kind of lonely and less open to visitors than Gwirhaed. Any information regarding Gwirhaed would be probably spoiler so I'll say neigh of it!

Saebwaha is offiicially under the rule of Umbar (Achniwt) but there are many factions and semi-autonomous city states which constantly fight for their rights and lands, they would very much like to free themselves of umbarian rule. The lands of Near Harad are also sparsely populated by smaller colonies, mostly farmers and herders, they breed horses which are rare comodity in South as they are not very suited for caves nor living in the searing hot desert and only the rich can transport and care for horses in Tar Liduinos, Falmos and other smaller merchant cities where horses are a symbol of wealth and the families are very proud of their steeds lineages. Sadly the populations of these horses were decimated during the War of the Ring and only few remained preserved by the people who refused to ally with Sauron and drove their herds away to the desert where only few of the people and horses survived.

What I omissed are the goats. Goats are very important animals, they are not native to Erumorna but over ages they assimilated. These goats live in caves and mostly eat mushrooms and lichens which they lick with their long tongies of the rocks and crevices, they of course also graze on mosses and epiphytes which may grow in some caves. As you can imagine these goats spend most of their life licking stones. They have very big ears aiding them in thermoregulation. Otherwise the cave goats are quite small and lanky, since the caves are still active and eruptions of gases may occur as well as earthquakes and gas capsules, they are very sensitive to these things and excellent predictors. Their navigation ability is also superior to all creatureš

However the dwarves of Isteniwt crossed the desert goats with more studry mountain breeds and created the royal goat line. These dwarven goats are taller and more sturdy with elegant long bodies and legs they resemble more a gazelle. They can drive a cart or carry some supplies for their are strong in despite of their delicate appearance. The royal goats are very proud and opinionated too and may refuse to be sold or given away, their trust must be earned.

I am still not sure how to name the island or who lives there..

[sapphim]

I'm thinking about making the three prefab world states that you can choose in DA2 (as opposed importing your own save) customizable. So I had to go through and note down what their default flags were.

The Hero of Ferelden worldstate is a male human noble. The Martyr worldstate is a female dalish elf who performed the ultimate sacrifice. And the No Compromise worldstate is a male dwarven noble. We'll call them Hero Aedan, Martyr Lyna, and Uncompromising Duran.

Martyr Lyna, by nature of being a member of clan Sabrae, will be mentioned quite a lot in dialogue, particularly Merrill's, as opposed to the other two heroes. None of them initiated a romance with any of their companions.

Uncompromising Duran recruited the templars and the werewolves, while Aedan and Lyna recruited the mages and elves. Aedan convinced Zathrian to end his life and cure the werewolves, while Martyr Lyna killed them. Duran enables the quest Changing One's Nature while the others lead to an encounter on the Wounded Coast.

Martyr Lyna placed Bhelen on the throne and receives the Last of his Line quest, while the lads both supported Harrowmont. Only Hero Aedan sided with Caridin and destroyed the anvil. The other two aided Branka in securing it.

All three heroes defended a beseiged Redcliffe Village. Uncompromising Duran knocked Isolde out cold and killed Connor. Hero Aedan and Martyr Lyna both called upon their allies at the Circle of Magi to enter the fade and confront the demon. However, while Hero Aedan defeated the demon and set Connor free, Martyr Lyna cut a deal for power in exchange for allowing the demon to play dead and return and possess Connor at a later date. Hero Aedan would have received that cut Teagan and Connor quest, had it not been cut.

It is only in Martyr Lyna's worldstate that news of Andraste's sacred ashes has been revealed to the world, activating the Miracle Makers quest, which raises an interesting question. The only way to secure Genitivi's silence on the matter is either to tell him you've defiled the ashes, or kill him. So, which did Hero Aedan do? Perhaps I'm overthinking this and he simply ghosted him, instead.

Hero Aedan placed Alistair on the throne at the Landsmeet. Loghain did not survive that encounter. Martyr Lyna spared Loghain's life, and Alistair left the party to rule with Anora. Uncompromising Duran supported Anora, recruited Loghain, and drove Alistair into exile. Bioware doesn't give a fuck about Warden Alistair so this all checks out. All Alistairs, of course, have cameo appearances.

Only Hero Aedan accepted Morrigan's offer and performed the Dark Ritual with her. Martyr Lyna, of course, martyred herself, while Uncompromising Duran martyred Loghain.

All three heroes recruited Zevran, unlocking A Murder of Crows, and Leliana. Martyr Lyna (or, well, her successor anyway, we'll call her Shmartyr Shmyna) and Uncompromising Duran recruited Nathaniel, of Finding Nathaniel fame, while Hero Aedan instead receives the Fool's Gold quest. Did he execute Nathaniel in cold blood, as he did Genitivi? The world will never know. In a bold move, Uncompromising Duran refused to recruit Anders. It's an interesting choice, considering Anders blatantly doesn't care whether or not the import says he was recruited.

Hero Aedan and Shmartyr Shmyna both pledged their forces to defend Amaranthine's farmland, and defended the city from assault (Secret Rendezvous), while Uncompromising Aedan patrolled the arling's trade routes, and left the city to fend for itself while he repelled the attack on Vigil's Keep (The Conspirators). Unlike the lads, Shmartyr Shmyna failed to establish the renowned Silver Order.

Hero Aedan and Shmartyr Shmyna both allied with the Architect, while Uncompromising Duran killed him.

None of the prefab world states set variables for DLC other than Awakening. We may never know how Hero Aedan reacted to meeting Morrigan again, after the birth of their child. There were no witnesses.

[cannibalisticskittles]

OC + Random Associations

tagged by @fiendpact, thank youuuuuu <3

Animal: i always waver between a dog and a cat with her – she's got the teeth and claws of a cat, the propensity for sleeping in and laying around in random bits of sunlight, and her mouth has a bit of that catlike :3 curve, but she is also extremely full of love in a way that radiates out from her much like a dog enthusiastically wagging its tail around exciting new people. either way tho – house pets that will love you deeply and also grievously wound someone who tries to harm you.

Colors: gold + vibrant blues and greens

Month: september?? i will be honest, i hadn’t had a month association before 

Songs: make the grade - jack conte, i won't hurt you - the west coast pop art experimental band, my dog’s eyes - zammuto, existential crisis hour - kilo kish, birdsong - regina spektor.

Number: 1 because she always feels lonely maybe, haha

Plants: asphodel – and I always think of strawberry blossoms when I think about what flower would best fit her, even though she is Very Allergic To Strawberries. sorry babe, but the imagery of the humble little strawberry flower is just too fitting.

Scents: ash, sulfur, whatever the hell bat guano smells like bc of all her spell components – but also something pleasantly warm and earthy, like rocks in a hot spring

Gemstone: i feel like i’ve got to go with amethyst bc. purble. 

Time of day: late late late at night, creeping into the very early morning, when the world is quiet and you can’t help but hear your thoughts (or your worries) clearer than ever before 

Season: autumn – the warm colors and dry crackle of shed leaves for her well, and even more so because she’s recently accepted the patronage of equinox, an autumn eladrin-flavored archfey

Places: caves with bioluminescent plants/fungi, places with strange and magical flora like the feywild, but also busy, crowded city streets where it's easy to get lost in the noise 

Food:  stew! and traveling rations like hardtack or jerky or dry, aged cheeses – things that would keep for a long time on the road. she’s an obligate carnivore, but she does try to pad her diet with as much non-meat as she can.

Drinks: really shit ale that you can buy in bulk at the local tavern as you daydrink with your adventuring party and discuss what steps to take next to fulfill your quest as you also take turns sneakily refilling your friend’s mug so that he remains convinced that it’s magically self-sustaining. (and also, a shitload of water. to wash down the dry ass jerky and hardtack.)

Element: fire

Seasonings: cinnamon and clove! also maybe saffron because she spent so much of her life traveling with trading caravans and saffron seems like the kind of coveted shit that would justify long-ass journeys by guarded caravan.

Sky: night, somewhere in the wilderness where it's so dark that the stars fill the sky everywhere you look

Weather:  hot, dry, windless summer days – if faerûn had wildfire watch levels, it would be stuck on extreme 

Magical power: fireball babyyyyyy (+ a dash of hellish rebuke)

Weapons: daggers. and more daggers, hidden in various places on her body. and teeth. so many sharp teeth. 

Candy/Sweets: honey candy, soft caramels – and pop rocks. she would be delighted by pop rocks.

Method of long distance travel: walking. just… long slogs on foot. walking across distances that are truly miserable to traverse – the sort where you’re ready to give up halfway through but can’t, because turning back would take as long as soldiering on, so you soldier on anyway? that. 

Artstyle: my memory of art styles has not really been brushed up on since my middle school days, i admit, but i think i lean towards impressionism for her

Fear: being useless, being alone, being Known; and, of course, the combination of those fears combined – having someone get close enough to her that it feels like they really know her and see her for who she is and then reject her as not being worth their time. 

Mythological creature: fairies/fae! they're beautiful, terrible, awful little winged shitheads and she adores them. and, to a lesser degree, unicorns, lmao. an association with and an assumption of goodness while also being fully willing and capable of skewering someone.  

Piece of stationery: an old, old notebook filled with small, cramped notes; various plans and calculations and details about people she comes across (‘naming day is just before the winter solstice; remember, they dislike most sweets and pastries’)

Three Emojis: 🥰🔥✨

Celestial body: stars, but distant and far off – she views herself as one of many, not standing out, and she’s very content with that! (imagining herself as one star in a sea of stars would delight her, actually. would feel a little less lonely.) perhaps she is a sun to someone, but that will never be how she sees it.

tagging @amphyn, @biknuckles, @brekkie-e, @fangmich, @lesbianaloy, @meishuu, @riddlcr, @stellamancer, @wasserpl – no pressure tho, haha

[miraclemaya]

i have had an idea forever about a magia record "fanfic" set in the east coast of North and South America in a world where the automatic purification system reaches their last and the idea is that the union who at this point has grown into a major influence, has very little reach in this region. magical girls that live her are all mostly nomadic, having gone in and out of the automatic purification system, treating the region as almost like a gold rush type area as very few magical girls stayed there before the system covered it. wraiths of course would start existing eventually, and being independent of magical girls witching out, a huge grief cube trade would flourish. of course with the coming of the system, the area is like truly inhabitable.

but one city has something really weird going on and the last meguca sent there by the union hasn't come back in weeks so they send a few to scout the city out. the reason the city is weird, it would quickly be revealed, is that there is a mega witch underneath it in the sewer systems, asserting control on local reality in strange ways.

[peachinstitute]

https://pi.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/sit30816-certificate-iii-in-commercial-cookery.webp

[manorinthewoods]

When I arrived to Arkis Rock, on the very outskirts of the continent, it was barren.

The isle is quite remote. It lies just beyond the Bastion Archipelago, safely ensconced in a position of complete strategic irrelevance. Though it was quite large for an island, the population, when I arrived, was a few hundred, concentrated in two fishing villages on the coast. The island was dominated by crags and forests, with a small mountain in the center where I was to make my castle.

It was exile, no doubt about it. I was too high-ranking to be tossed out like a common criminal, but that was cold comfort, this far from the mainland. There was almost no trade. The villages were impoverished. The villagers were growing inbred, for want of fresh blood. I and my retinue were the first outsiders they had seen in decades, aside from miscellaneous bureaucrats and officers who lived some way up the island.

The only thing that could have saved me was luck. And luck I had... for some measure of it.

The island had no economic potential. I could have perhaps attempted to open a mine, but without the assurance of something worthwhile in the rock I could not do so in good conscience. The soil was poor. The wood held no value for shipbuilding.

But then there was a book.

The official who owned it said that he had taken it from an older fishing family, whose health and fortunes had declined rapidly over the generations, in lieu of taxes, which they could not provide. Supposedly once they had been wealthy - the whole isle wealthy - but the money dried up. But there were no records which recorded the source of this fortune, nor memories remaining in the town of those days.

The book was unassuming. The paper had been manufactured from local reeds, and tore easily under my hands. Pages were missing, or ink smeared. Half of the whole, perhaps, was illegible or destroyed. And yet, in what remained, I found something quite curious.

The book bore reference to some old reef off the coast. Supposedly, if one sailed to this reef, and threw a sacrifice to the waves, one could draw something from the deeps. The pages describing what it was were missing, of course, but the effects were outlined clearly. One could extract youth and health, knowledge and power. And gold. And fish.

So I rowed out to the stormy seas, and threw a black cat into the water, and the next day, a chest washed up on the beach.

The chest alone could be worth a fortune. It was eerily ornate, covered in oceanic iconography and engravings of strange and coiling things in the deep. There was a starfish on its front, and gold framing the whole structure of the thing. The stone was a bleached white, like limestone, only incredibly dense. A chisel could not scratch it, nor pry the lid off, until I approached.

Perhaps what could have been inside was some terrible book, teaching dark rites one is not meant to practice. Or a trident, woven of enchanted gold, ominous, with seafoam green blood twisting and warping along its engravings. Or it could have just been gold, ever so much gold. But none of these were what was inside.

What was inside was a thing, which could open the lid of its own accord when I drew near, a thing with eyes and tendrils and beaks, and far too many teeth. And it chirped, a terribly discordant noise, in no tongue of man, no tongue my ears could even hear. And I bled, and I understood, and I began my work.

Honestly, I don't regret it much. When you look at it from a greater perspective, our lives are... insignificant. There are places men cannot dream of, heights that cannot be reached except with blood spilled. And though my acts were perhaps reprehensible, they were not unclean. I am purer than I have ever been.

And no matter how great an army you muster, to march upon my fortress, you cannot think to claim my life. For before it mixed its blood with mine, entered through my heart and filled the hungry void, I had already finished my door. And although I could have waited, stood at the threshold just long enough to look you in the eyes as I ascended, I am not a fool.

You will not find me here. But you may find my grail. And your army has quite a lot of fresh blood in it. And I have no doubt, at this point, that you know how to reach me.

You offended a high ranking noble and got reassigned to the remotest location possible. Two years later and this 'banishment assignment' has resulted in you becoming fabulously wealthy.

[persiamedie]

The Legend of Blackbeard: A Fiery Tale of the High SeasChapter One: A Man of Shadows

In the year of our Lord, 1716, the salty air of the Atlantic hummed with the whispers of adventure. Galleons swayed upon the waves, carrying not just cargo, but dreams of fortune that lay hidden beneath the azure surface. Among the shadows of the world, a fearsome figure emerged, his name igniting both awe and dread across the waters: Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard.Blackbeard was no ordinary man. His towering frame, adorned with a wild beard—dark as the night sky—served as his banner of intimidation. However, it was not just his appearance that struck terror into the hearts of mariners. His infamous ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge

, cut through the waters like a knife, and his crew, a band of roughened souls, followed him not out of fear alone, but out of unwavering loyalty to their captain's wild dreams.Chapter Two: The Dawn of Destiny

On a fateful day, when the sun painted the skies a dazzling orange, Blackbeard found himself anchored off the coast of Ocracoke. Fortune had smiled upon him, or so he thought. The gold-laden merchant ship, The Concord

, drifted close, laden with trade goods from distant lands. The crew of the Concord

believed their journey had been blessed; little did they know the storm that was about to descend upon them.With a signal as fierce as thunder, Blackbeard unleashed his crew. They swarmed upon The Concord

like a tempest, cutting through the seas with rage and determination. Blackbeard stood at the helm, his eyes glistening with the promise of plunder, his fiery gaze fierce as a tempest. As the cries of confusion filled the air, he made a dramatic entrance—smoke billowing from slow-burning fuses tucked into his beard, adding an aura of the supernatural to his already formidable presence.Chapter Three: The Haunting Call

Yet, behind the bravado and swashbuckling, there lay a man. Blackbeard, though a harbinger of chaos on the high seas, was also a man wrestling with the ghosts of his decisions. Each echoing scream of defeat, each glint of silver stolen, haunted him, whispering cautions of whom he would ultimately become.One moonlit night, while anchored in a secluded bay, Blackbeard sat alone on the shore, his thoughts swirling like the waves. Starry skies stretched above him, and for a moment, he was not the feared pirate but just Edward Teach, a man searching for his place in a world that often felt more like a cage. The beauty of the tide, the gentle lapping of waves, calmed his restless soul—but the allure of the pirate's life tugged him back into the darker recesses of his heart.Chapter Four: The Reckoning

With fortune often came foes, and soon enough, the Queen's Navy turned its attention toward Blackbeard. Led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard, they set their course for a fateful confrontation. The clash that ensued became the stuff of legends. On the morning of November 22, 1718, Maynard's ships lay in wait, the horizon painted with the fiery breaths of battle.The sun shone as if bearing witness to the epic struggle. Cannons roared, and men engaged in fierce combat. It was here, in the throes of chaos, that Blackbeard’s fate would unravel. In a final showdown, Maynard’s wit and strategy proved decisive. Blackbeard fought valiantly until the very end, falling to the sword, a grim smile still etched upon his face.Epilogue: The Legacy Lives On

Though Blackbeard met his end on the shores of Ocracoke, his legacy remained forever etched in the hearts of those who shared tales of his adventurous exploits. His story became woven into the very fabric of maritime lore, a symbol of rebellion against oppression and adventure against the mundane.As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting shadows that danced upon the waves, the legend of Blackbeard continued to inspire generations. The ocean, vast and mysterious, held whispers of his spirit, reminding sailors of the man who once roamed its depths—a man who was both villain and hero, a tempest whose heart remained forever entwined with the stories of the high seas.---In the world of pirates and plunder, adventure beckons from every wave, and tales of noble rogues like Blackbeard will continue to ripple across the waters of time.

[chococsun]

Chocolate in the Americas

The production of chocolate making was a commodity; its final product was for the elites to consume. Acquiring the materials needed to make chocolate was done over the Americas, where institutional players like Spain had built colonies to oversee cacao production, as the beans were a cash crop that helped expand their empire. What means did institutional nations like Spain need to maintain the production flow from the Americas to Europe? The means used were dark and often abused by the hands of the colonizer and at the expense of natives and enslaved Africans. 

Indentured labor played a pivotal role in the production of chocolate, as many Europeans believed they were above performing manual labor. So, they placed the task upon natives and eventually enslaved Africans. The first form of indentured labor was a similar system called tribute and labor, where native rulers received tribute from the work of their people. Only this time the Europeans place themselves as ruler of the natives. But this system of ruling didn’t last very long as there were debates on whether natives should be enslaved. The concluding answer would be they should be exploited in a different way, thus came the encomienda system. 

The definition of the system according the video lecture titled “Cacao in colonial times: production” by Patricia Juarez-Dappe, is a “grant by the crown to a Spaniard to collect a specific amount of labor and tribute from a given number of natives, usually for life..the terms of the grant, the encomendero was to protect the natives under his care, instruct them in the Christian faith, and take up arms for the king in defense of the new land. In exchange, the natives could live in their own villages, cultivate their own fields, and fulfill their obligation under the raiders of their own native leaders” (Juarez-Dappe, 4:02). Through the encomienda system, the empire and the many new cities in the Americas thrived at the expense of thousands of natives. As mentioned before Spaniards usually collect a specific amount of labor for the natives to perform, but oftentimes that was exploited: labor that was meant for a couple of years, had turned into someone’s lifetime. The encomienda remained until the 16th century, but declined as a result of the native population dying from diseases given by the Europeans.   

But as the demand for cacao increased and the number of native kept declining, Europeans needed to find a new way to meet that demand. The answering being slave labor, now connecting cacao as an aspect to the slave trade. While slavery is one of the oldest and most widespread labor systems dating all the way back to ancient civilizations like the Maya and Aztec, however slavery done by the hands of Europeans was the most barbaric and disgusting form of forced labor. The slave trade was “perceived as a permanent solution to replenish a labor force that was always declining due to abuses and exploitation. It supported European economies and created important capital foundations that will eventually fuel the industrial revolution and capitalism” (Juarez-Dappe, 11:20). Europeans had established trade with African chiefs where trinkets, hardware, weapons, and fabrics were exchanged for human lives. The enslaved Africans, most commonly being the Yoruba (Gold Coast) and the Bantu (Angola) ethnic groups, were forced to board ships and travel through the Middle Passage. The conditions on these ships were terrible, as diseases were rampant, the forced proximity, and being chained down for several months had caused mortality rates to be at 50%. Once the ships had touched down in South America, communication among the enslaved Africans was not common as many were from different ethnic groups with their own individual languages, this is intentional as plantation owners and traders did not want resistance to happen. 

The continued operating system, called the Atlantic system or Triangle trade, ran its course from the 16th to the early 19th century on the practice of purchasing slaves in exchange for manufactured goods to maintain the flow of cash crops which in all helped funnel capitalism in nations like Europe. Some of its practices were legal or illegal. The result of exploiting natives and enslaved Africans had created strong trading networks between countries, which then helped produce lots of money and resources. With that money, Europe could invest in the industrial revolution, taking chocolate production to new heights. 

Sources

Cartwright, Mark. 2022. “Encomienda.” World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Encomienda/.

Juarez-Dappe, Patricia. “Cacao in colonial times: production” YouTube. August 30, 2020. Video, https://youtu.be/f7JcLNm94cI?si=Qai6uRLnUEyMHBob

[glorioustidalwavedefendor]

What you want for glass manufacturing,

A) something to burn

The amounts of Trees that glassmanufacturing has eaten up is insane

(of course today these Glass melting furnaces are heaten different but you said fantasy world so I am going by traditional)

You want big thick deep lush Forests with big lush trees

Or I guess a coal mine would work too?

Today these furnaces are heated with fossil fuels or electricity

But yeah you need fuel

B) sand deposits

For example you can see that sand deposits here are (more or less) close to glass manufacturing

SOURCE

SOURCE

And they have been manufacturing glass since the renaissance

C) good import and export oportuneties

Like a river or a harbor

Becasue you need all kind sof stuff for teh glass making besides the stuff for the glass (quarz sand, lime, soda) but also other stuff (gold for red glass, cobalt for blue glass etc ... ) and you want to transport the glass your making away, and rivers where the highways of teh ancient world

If you look at where historically glass was made, at least one of those things but usually two occured

But you are creating your world, so you can have all three if you want to

As for pureties

People in teh past where rather sophisticated in figuring out what something was simply by looking at it, weighting it, tasting it etc ...

-> You can find certain metall deposits through what plants are growing in teh area

I mean, glass making is an old trade

-> The oldest human made glass is around 4000 yeasr old

And quarz sand has a certain look to it

the corns are sharp, they have a certain sheen to them, they have a certain hardness to them etc ...

So just by looking at them you can already tell if it is mostly pure

Plus, NaCl will disolve lime but not quarz, so you can take a handfull, weight it, put it in NaCl, leafe it overnight wash it, weight it again and if it is teh same weight you know it's propably mostly quarz

If not you know there are impureties, based on how much weight is lost you might decide not to buy because it's low quality

etc ...

Then of course you would do a test batch and see how that glass turns out, since there might be other impureties that you then have to figure out the same as with the lime (with different acid of course)

etc ...

Glass manufacturing was always closely related to magic

(same as metal forging)

And the secrets of the trade where guarded carefully

I mean we have all heard of the glassmakers from Murano (venice) that where not allowed to leave unless they had a special permission disobidience was punished by death

-> Venice being at the coast and a major trading harbor also was a good choice because import export

There quarz however came from other places

Two sources for sand were Crete and Sicily. Quartz pebbles were selected from the Ticino and Adige rivers in Northern Italy.

Hope that was helpfull for your worldbuilding :-)

I love glass :-)

Oh, I have to share this wonder, it is a silver automaton looking like a swan on water made of glass

(the water is made of twisted glass rodds that turn and make it look liquid)

I fucking LOVE glass

How do they choose which sand to be the glass and which sand to be the sand in an hourglass... Imagine you and your best friend were two grains of sand and you had to be in the hourglass and your bestie had to be the glass. Ur together but youve never been more apart. A Sick and twisted practice hourglassery is...

[absolventiia]

i've got you, okay? everything's going to be fine. @ aurane

TARGARYENS ARE SUPPOSED TO RIDE DRAGONS. some part of their blood demands it, screams for it. the dragons can sense this and bond with one. to be a targaryen and not be a rider is something of a disappointment. dragon eggs are placed in cradles with the newborns, hoping for the sound of dragon song with a baby's cry. and yet, for AURANE, there was no sound other than the harmonizing of his twin. he follows aegon, unknowingly getting the moniker of the KING'S SHADOW since then. it does not help that his features are also dark, the brown hair a standout when all of his siblings have the platinum silver - gold of targaryen royalty. 

when aegon gets sunfyre -- when that brilliant, magnificent beast takes him to the skies, it is the one place aurane cannot follow. for years, the targaryen prince is more hightower, brown hair and the spitting image of his mother, & no dragon will even look the prince's way. until, of course, SYNDOR comes along. it's as if the black and silver toned dragon claims him, instead of the other way around. ( ironically, syndor and sunfyre are from the same clutch of eggs. PERHAPS HE AND AEGON ARE BROTHERS IN EVERY LIFETIME. )

still, even after he and syndor gain a bond many would kill for, AURANE does not ride very often. syndor is active, more temperamental, and often liked to be left alone to hunt and fly at any time. as such, aurane only flew when he felt in the mood, or when necessary. necessary, like rook's rest.

he watches aegon take off on sunfyre to that old place, that castle in nowhere's land on the coast. nowhere, except for the perfect spot for the blacks to gain trade routes. aemond had already left on vhagar, that ANCIENT war machine. aurane follows aegon on syndor -- and then quickly lands at the battle. fighting in the sky seemed reckless, even for aegon, and aurane had never taken syndor into battle. instead, what came most naturally to the prince was the SWORD instead of dragon fire. perhaps he was less TARGARYEN than he thought. the only time aurane gets back on syndor was after watching sunfyre tumble from the sky. 

it is after everything, when aurane flies syndor back to the red keep, fearing that his twin may have stopped breathing at any moment, and doing so ALONE, that aurane realizes the exact position he is in. lords and ladies of the court bow a little lower as he rushes to aegon's chambers. he knows, with some sort of numbing shock, that if aegon were to die, he would be next. THE IRON THRONE would be his, as the king had no other heirs at that moment. aurane did not want it. 

he does not cry upon seeing aegon's body, his gaze watching intently as the burned body before him does move, if only slightly. the maesters around him whisper, servants move through the room in some sort of sick rhythm. his mother is somewhere, trying to tell him something, and yet aurane cannot answer. he evacuates aegon's chambers in a rush, as if suffocating. PERHAPS HE IS.

it is only when aurane collapses along a wall closer to his own chambers ( only now does he realize how far he and aegon actually stay, their rooms a bit of a walk from each other -- WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN ? ) does he allow the tears to fall. he does not notice criston until he speaks. it was a shallow comfort. aurane is still covered in blood and ash from the battle, his brown hair almost black with the dark smoke of dragon flame. his inhale is stuttering, and aurane's shoulders shake erratically. thank the gods, the two were alone. " -- he cannot . . he CANNOT die. " is the only thing aurane can get out, his voice STRANGLED with grief.