#Who doesn't love a good lamprey

[silverbirching]

Perhaps a pie of bak'd almonds and honey'd lamprey eels if thou art feeling fancy.

Forsooth, this recipe's origin lies in antiquity. My great grandmother--

me, eating a pile of nuts, cheese, and apple: mmmm tasty

the medieval peasant in my head watching me eat: thou knowst what would MAKETH this meal? dried fruits.

me, getting out the raisins: god damn, etheldred, you are SO right

the medieval peasant in my head: yet thou art still not heeding mine words regarding the blasphemy

[smilingcrittersthingig]

A lotta you said I can show some ocs so you can have these guys I made and my friends created/helped, who I call the Ugly Critters! (edit: for no reason other than it sounded funny, it's not meant to be degrading)

I'll start it off with Gar the strange creature, my lil guy. Awkward and quiet. Gar is usually not that talkative. On the rare instance he does however, he usually speaks in single words or broken english. Despite looking off-putting, he's a very sweet guy.

His pendant's a button

Next is Bitu the blib, created by my friendo and co-creator of ego critters @thenightmarestudio He's just a lil blob who tell you fun facts, his face are emoticons that can change depending on his emotions and is a pretty silly dude. He loves to go off about the things he love and will gladly talk to you about it if you are willing to listen. His pendant's his face

Kloob, a blobfish! suggested by my friend, Child He's pretty good at most stuff, only problem is he's too sad to do anything. He tends to sit at the corner or lay on the floor. Though, on good days he might even stand up! He's willing to go along with whatever his close friends drag him to. His pendant's a sad rose I think

Make way make way, for it is Manaso the snake! Suggested by my friend, Ducky He's a witch who entertains people with his magic and spells, Whether or not his magic is true is still a mystery. He acts as if he doesn't care, but say one wrong thing around him and you might never be heard of ever again. His pendant's a star

Roquefort the Lamprey! Suggested by @theonetruegnome A simple con artist, scamming you with fake medicine. He has quite a sharp tongue as well, only being a little nicer to a couple close friends (Manaso's his mortal enemy). He sells effective medicine sometimes too, though those ones are a tad more expensive His pendant's a medicine bottle I think

Glorbok, weird creature created by @mateom31 He will bite ur ankles hard. Unless he likes you, then you will simply be gently bitten. Despite how he appears, Glorbok is quite a cute buddy to have around, well unless you're fine random gremlin moments. His pendant's a bitten off piece of styrofoam

It's just your luck, it's Lucky! Suggested by my brother A very unfortunate dino with a very ironic name. He tries his best to look on the bright side of things, but it's quite difficult when the bright side feels like it's avoiding you. His pendant's an umbrella

It's Birdie Tree the bird! Suggested by my gf Appears at random times to surprise people and disappears abruptly without warning anyone. He gets a vision of something from 3 months in the future and talks about it vaguely to his friends who has no idea if he's being legit.

That's all of them, thx for reading through this

[whereserpentswalk]

You're a demon but you're a relatively human looking demon. Outside of having sharp teeth and slit pupils you could pass for a kind of pale skinny human. You don't have any biological sex, but when you're wearing clothing you can hide that.

You've been told by a certain type of demon that you don't really cont, that you're just a human faking it. They tend to be the type who fit the popular conception of a 'good' demon, they useally look pretty stereotypical with the horns and the red scales, and they tend to believe that they can only be redeemed in human eyes by admitting that they're lesser then them. The type who blame demons who think they're equal to humans for the hate that demons get. You don't spend time around people Iike that anymore.

You never feel more like a demon then when you're around humans. You understand that they're more likely to exist near someone like you then they are around a demon who looks like a living shadow, or someone with tentacles covering the lower half of their face, or someone with giant wings and a bird head. But they still treat you differently, humans don't feel safe being touched by you or being with you alone once they know what you are, they get uncomfortable when you talk about your culture or when you act 'too demonic' near them. And sometimes they'll ask you strange questions, or if certain things are ok for you that they wouldn't ask for a human. You've been threatened with holy water for trying to "seduce" someone once, it's the type of thing that makes you want to never talk to anyone.

Now that you're in college you have freinds who are also demons, most of them being less human passing then you, but none of them really see you differently because of it. One of your closest freinds is nearly completely biomechanical, and almost insectoid looking, the type of demon who gets rejected by parts of the community for being "too weird" or "irredeemable". Another one has a lamprey mouth instead of a face, and is the son of a high ranking member of the abyss, one of the few fourth generation demons you know. Even when a problem in the demonic community doesn't directly effect you, it still effects the people closest to you. Everyone feels so close and so understanding. You can look at a flaming skeleton with raven wings, or a living suit of armor with glowing eyes, and feel like you're part of the same community, you have the same culture, the same history, and the people who want to hurt you and the religions that preach for your extermination all see you as the same too. You start dressing more demonically, when you first became a demon as a kid your parents made sure you dressed as much like a human as possible, now you want nothing more then to show that your humanity is long gone.

One day you meet a girl who recently became a demon. She doesn't pass at all, her eyes turned completely black, and her skin completely white, and she has this massive mouth filled with sharp metal teeth that are visible even when it's closed. She's constantly upset, she doesn't understand why anyone is proud of being a demon, she feels like this is the worst fate she could have. She became a demon in the middle of the semester, and her parents blame the fact that she went to college so far away, in such a large city. It doesn't sound like her parents are going to see her again.

You invite her to some of the meetings demons have. But she's still to upset with what she's become. Talks about going to a church that has a way of making her not a demon anymore, you warn her that it's not going to go how she wants it to. She hopes that if she prays to her god that he'll make her human again. But you know that if that god is real, he doesn't love her anymore.

The next time you hear about her everyone in the demonic community is talking about her. She was praying at night in a church downtown, one of the paladins saw her, and saw her as they saw any other demon, praying or not. She was killed by a silver bullet, and her body devolved in holy water. Her parents will remember her as if she was human, make up a story about how she's a human again in the after life, members of her church will talk about how she was never really a demon as long as she didn't give in, and her grave will be fat from the city she died in. But your community will light a memorial, showing her as she looked when she died, and here she will be remembered a demon. And it will be remembered amoung paladins that when they harm one of you, that they harm them all, and that there are members of your community who can fight back.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: The Maritime Finale

This is definitely the last one of these, as it's rounding up a bunch of sea creatures I've missed. I assume by this point everyone who sees this knows what it's about, but just in case: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. (I'll get the rest of the entries on there soon.)

The entry people are working from is here:

The one for next week does not exist. (Also I apologize if I seem rushed, this is a busy week for me.)

Art below the cut!

@pomrania (link to post here) has us off on a weird start with their interpretation of the Fatrihrukh. I don't have any particular nostalgia for rage-face comics (I was online during that era, just not in circles where they were common), but honestly this made me smile. Also I like imagining some fisherman on a dock, still sitting in a normal pose and holding his fishing rod, just full-throat screaming at the sky, apparently apropos of nothing in particular. This is a fun one, is what I'm saying.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has an uncanny ability to make me think, "sure, that looks like an animal that could be real" even when they're drawing something like Fish With Tentacles, which I am 99% sure is not a thing. Though if fish did have tentacles, they would look like that. This is of course also the Fatrihrukh; apparently people like that one.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has done the whole set. A lot of these turned out really well -- I think the Ormlalaehr is stealing the show here, but the Bursgaenga is pretty darn cute. The linked post has details on each of them, which I recommend checking out. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) continues to impress with their delightful art style. Love the little space-invader Magtlegyegs, and the Lungyoggeas are just... wild. Extremely cool looking. (Also, thank you for providing alt text.)

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) joins the broad consensus that if you're only drawing one of these, it's the Fatrihrukh. I love the (medieval-art-appropriate) choice to give it human-like parts since the entry doesn't say otherwise. The colors are also really pretty; I like the effect on the background.

Okay. Aberdeen Bestiary. No illustrations for this one -- this whole section is just blocks of text.

Ahrmegyaeb

The wording is ambiguous as to whether whales and dolphins also do this -- but the creature in question is the seal. I have no idea how this works; either baby seals are way smaller than I think or I have completely the wrong idea about how seal mouths look.

Bursgaenga

This one is of course the scarus or escarius, which does not exist. Bestiary.ca notes that Scarus is a genus of parrotfish in modern taxonomy, and that the Rackham translation of Pliny the Elder has decided they are wrasse. No idea how well that reflects medieval understanding.

Chraekhret

Another one that doesn't exist, the echenais. Apparently Pliny has heard of some magical applications in love-charms, litigation, and obstetrics. The fish that anchors ships is a good addition to a fantasy setting, I think.

Dhrakyetor

Naturally the fish that looks like a serpent is the eel. More spontaneous generation, too, which is always nice. I swear I've heard that "giant eels in the Ganges" line somewhere before, but can't place it.

Eavbechtgi

Here we have the lamprey. I kind of wonder if this "head vs. tail" thing has something to do with its unusual head shape?

Fatrihrukh

Honestly I probably should have redacted the "many-footed" thing, because the name given is polippus, which... yeah, that actually tracks. I thought maybe this was the result of someone not bothering to actually count the limbs on an octopus, but it's apparently an obsolete umbrella term for octopus, squid, cuttlefish... all manner of tentacled cephalopod.

Griggkhraz

This is the torpedo, which is some fun etymology. The modern usage of torpedo is inherited from non-self-propelled naval mines, which were named after this torpedo, an electric ray. (Presumably they named mines after it because it hides itself & zaps you if you accidentally step on it.) The rays were named for their effect on people whom they zap: torpidus, 'numb'. This is of course cognate with English torpid. Which is a strange word to be cognate with the thing you shoot at boats.

Also:

...if a torpedo from the Indian sea is touched by a spear or rod, even from a considerable distance, the muscles of the fisherman's arms, even if they are very strong, grow numb...

Would that work if it were a metal rod?

Hretchngin

This is the crab. I did not know all of that about crabs, especially the basil thing.

Khaboghrad

Meet the sea urchin. That's why it specifies "the maritime kind" -- the other kind of urchin is a hedgehog. I don't know why the author calls it "worthless and contemptible", especially since they go on to say it can do this really cool thing. Just seems unnecessarily mean.

Lungyoggea

This one is just shellfish. All of them, apparently. The words given are conca and concle -- Latin concha covers shellfish in general.

Magtlegyeg

Naturally the pearl-bearing shellfish is the oyster, but I love the imagery of oysters going ashore to be fertilized by dew from heaven. The idea of going out at night to watch the oysters migrate onto land and catch the dew is another thing I'm taking note of for a fantasy setting.

Nolthrigyo

Someone probably clocked this one: it's the murex snail, source of the famous "tyrian purple" dye.

Ormlalaehr

Really pushing the definition of "fish" here is... the tortoise. Technically also the turtle, I guess, since the author specifies that this includes land and sea varieties. This is, I think, one that makes total sense once you know what it is, so we're moving on to our last one, which is also really pushing the "what is a fish" envelope...

Riggmungku

This is the frog, also obvious once you see it. The fact that it's being called a fish really throws you off, though, I think.

And that's the whole lot. This has been fun, but I'm also glad to have it completed. (Well, completed with the exception of any responses to this one I've missed or that came in late.) Thanks to everyone who's been looking in on this project -- thanks doubly to everyone who contributed -- and thanks triply to the handful of people who drew something practically every week.

[galenationcore]

Can all of them do intros like how the mods introduced themselves ?

Yes!

Mock

All pronouns

Everything always forever

Likes sweets and string flavors

Smarty pants

MMY NAME IS MOCK!! mockery what ever YOU prefer !! I HAVE NOTHIN’ MUCH GOIN’!? follow around Redd frequent, sometimes work. Don’t know how to do this:)

Sci

He/him

Family guy

Nerd ever

Loves his wife DEARLY

Honestly I don’t really know what to put, haha. I am a head researcher and though he doesn’t pay me I do enjoy helping Morgan with her surgeries and care giving. I’m older yeah, I used to write books for kids but it never payed good and it really wasn’t my passion, wow I can go on an on huh. I’ll stop waisting time now, good day!

Redd

he/they

dedicates his entire life to research, doesn't care about many things outside that

really likes lampreys

has a birthmark on his chest that he once tried to "erase"

The name is Redd, you don't need to know much of anything about me, and you don't *want* to know much of anything about me. I'll spare you this, I'm the boss and creator of the company, along with CORE site's leader.

Royal

he/him

coffee addict, to the point his blood is just caffeine

has a son who lives with his cousin

scared of slugs

hmm, well, I'm one of the head researchers in the CORE site, naturally alongside me being a document keeper and.. the boss's right-hand man. Otherwise, well I don't remember much before I was 25 so most of the life I know is here in GaleNation.

[strawberrymilk-sunshine]

Mutilation for the sake of science!

One of my hopes for the twst anime is that they animate the events as like special episodes or smth :) I know that realistically they probably won't, but it'd be cool, y'know?

Not proofread - I am unbelievably exhausted.

Warning(s): uh so you know that movie where a guy gets turned into a walrus? it's not described but it's implied that at the end you go through surgery to (unwillingly) become a sea creature, drugging, maybe not great writing since it's 1am and I just finished this I'm so fucking tired

You saw a headling in a newspaper from something like fifty years ago... it was an expose on some kind of science group.

Mutilation in the name of science?! You may have seen an advertisement from a group known as Lamprey Research Co., "Donate your body to science today! Lamprey Research Co., building a better tomorrow for humanity, today." though, unfortunately, this seems to be a scam of some sort. According to a reliable source, the members of the group will not use your body to further scientific research. The group's PR representative, Jade Leech, denied these rumours, but

The paper had been torn apart after years, so that was where it ended.

You like to think of yourself as an ameteur ghost hunter. You have a blog where you document your explorations of very obscure supposedly 'haunted' places. Of course you know ghosts and monsters don't actually exist, you just like feeling creeped out and exploring the buildings, you love hearing the stories and legends of these places... and today, you're exploring a 'haunted office building'- the offices of Lamprey Research Co.

According to locals, there were only three actual people who ran Lamprey Research Co., and one day all three of them disappeared without a trace.

They say it was more than just those three who disappeared withough a trace, though. They say many people would enter the building, but none of them would ever be seen leaving.

You were excited to see what lies in wait. Even if you don't find anything, it'll be fun to explore!

Have you ever thought about humanity's impeding doom? Have you ever thought "I wish I could do something about that..." Well, you can! You can help humanity survive the innevitable disaster of the land being swallowed by the sea! Lamprey Research Co. needs your body to further scientific research! For more information, please call the number below.

The number below matched the faded number on the sign above the building. The sign itself had lots of graffiti on it, but you could definitely make out the important letters.

You walked inside.

The inside of the building looked like a typical waiting room, you could imagine this room full of life... but as of now, this place is dead. Only three people worked here back in the day, allegedly. And apparently, they had good business. You don't know why why they didn't hire more people...

There were only two other rooms, one behind the front desk that was probably for private business stuff like paperwork and all that, and the other one- judging by the contracts remaining in the room- was for negotiating and conversing with their... patients? Based on all the ads, paitents sounds like the right term to use...

"I hope something happens and it doesn't turn out this is just an abandoned office building..." You said to yourself, setting up your sleeping bag. You decided you would stay the night here, to observe for yourself if the place really was haunted. But until night falls, you have exploring to do.

You found a creepy basement... but it was full of things you'd expect to see in this sort of business. Surgery tools, an operating table, human anatomy diagrams plastered on the walls... but what was not normal were the three mummified human bodies in some kind of special chambers, almost like aquarium tanks without water.

"Oh ho ho, how intriguing~!" You said to yourself, pulling out your camera. You knew what you would tell your followers: "Found no ghosts, but check THIS OUT!!" this'll be a hit story!

There's nothing else really here for you so might as well go back upstairs You stepped on something, something that made a 'click' sound. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't good... you made your way back upstairs, choosing to ignore it, however.

You went to sleep in your sleeping bag, planning to upload the photos of the mummies tomorrow, as well as investigate what that click was.

However... that is not what would happen tomorrow.

When you woke up, you heard what seemed to be a conversation between three people.

"Ughhhh... this is unfair! I still feel all dry and dead..."

"That's to be expected. We were mummified for... fifty years, I believe. A few minutes in your true form should rehydrate you fully."

"Not now, we don't have enough room! You're easily twelve feet long in your true form, it'd be horrible if you did that while I'm performing the surgery!"

"But Azuuuuuuuuul...! I'm all dryyyyyyy... and I'm not supposed to beeeeeee...!"

"Oh! It seems that the patient is awake."

"What?!"

When you opened your eyes, you saw them. Three people who, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be the mummified bodies you'd seen last night, now revitalized.

"A-ah! Good morning, patient 18!" The one standing directly above you had light grey hair, blue eyes, and was wearing glasses. "You're really not supposed to be awake right now, and I'd appreciate if you could go back to sleep now!"

"W-WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" You yelled out, realizing you were on the operating table in the creepy basement you found last night. You were even strapped to the table, almost like they expected you to wake up at some point.

"Please calm down, patient 18." The one who said that had teal hair with a single strip of darker teal on his left side, and he had heterochromatic eyes. "I assure you, everything will be fine. We simply need to remove the skin and muscles on your legs. Then, we can begin the fusing of your bones to create your tail."

'WHAT THE FUCK A-ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" You screamed, even more terrified than before.

"Jeez, stop screaming." The third person seemed to be identical to the last one, save for the fact that the strip of dark teal was on the right side. "You signed up for this, didn't ya?"

"What do you mean...? I-I didn't sign up for anything...!"

"Well yes, technically you didn't sign up for anything, however... you must be very dedicated to science in order to go through the trouble of revitalizing us! Now, allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Azul Ashengrotto, general manager/contract consultant/researcher/surgeon of Lamprey Research Co., bulding a bertter tomorrow for humanity, today." The grey haired one said. "Pleasure to meet you, patient 18, and thank you for allowing us to use your body to further human evolution."

"I didn't allow you to do anything!"

"Are you perhaps nervous about the surgery?" Azul asked. "I assure you it's 100% safe, I have done this 17 times before, all with complete success! In fact, patient 1 survived and remained conscious and lucid for an entire year before dying of mysterious causes."

"AKA goldfishie offed himself." The right side twin shrugged. "Not sure why though! He had suuuuuuuch a good life here, didn't he, Jade?"

"Yes, I suppose... although in patient 1's case, we were keeping him alive forcefully. Ah, my apologies, patient 18, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Jade Leech, treasurer/webpage designer/ad designer/PR representitive of Lamprey Research Co., we thank you for allowing us to use your body to preserve humanity after the innevitable doomsday that will occurr."

"I'm the last one to introduce myself, but don't think for a second I'm explaining what's going on. That's Azul's job. What's up patient 18? I'm Floyd."

"What is there to explain?" Azul asked. "We know that the sea will eventually swallow the land, and the only way humanity can survive is if they evolve into marine creatures! All we're trying to do is preserve humanity!" There was a long pause. "Or at least, that's what I would tell unsuspecting humans such as yourself to lure them in, not unlike an anglerfish."

""We've confirmed that you are a part of the human population we are trying to purge." Jade told you. "We found a sea scale charm with your belongings."

"Sure, the scares on your charm were painted metal, but the mere fact that you have it represents the exact thing we are trying to remedy." Azul told you. "Long ago, there was a myth that the scales of merfolk brought good luck."

"There were many such myths regarding merfolk." Jade explained. "It was said that the tailfins of morays such as myself could disspell evil spirits."

"What... w-what do you mean, such as yourself...?" You asked, still not quite understanding the situation you're in.

"Nah, that was for running faster! Squid tentacles were for dispelling evil spirits." Floyd added.

"Ah yes, my mistake."

"And as for octopus merfolk like me... it was said that food made from the tentacles of octo-mer would contain the octo-mer's regenerative abilities." Azul explained to you. "As such, all three of us were very isolated as children. When we reached our teenage years, we decided to come on land to inflict pain upon the humans we saw participating in the superstision."

"I'll go prepare the acid~!" Floyd said, walking off.

"The humans caught onto us, however. We needed some kind of plan, the humans would surely kill us if they found out we were merfolk... so, while in these human forms you see before you currently, I used a spell to mummify and preserve us. The spell would come undone when the body was exposed to seawater- and you so graciously flooded those tanks I put us in with seawater by pressing that button last night." Jade explained. "Many thanks for that by the way, patient 18."

"We shall reboot our old business and continue inflicting pain upon the superstisious humans." Azul told you, a smile on his face. He then injected something into your shoulder. "Now, please go to sleep, patient 18! When you awake, the surgery will be complete."

They'll take good care of you. You won't die, not on their watch.

They'll make sure you stay alive. Even if you beg to die, they'll keep you alive.

Your disappearance would be covered up as a donation to science.

You should've never come here.

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

hello once again, your friendly neighborhood spaniard is here once again to comment on the references to spanish culture i'm seeing while playing scarlet and violet!

here's my previous post on this! and i wanted to tell you that as per this post, i've officially seen all the cities and towns in paldea which means there's not really much else to explore, these posts are coming to an end :(

anyways, let's start

if montenevera is based on the pyreenees, it makes sense that the area around the fairy squad camp is modeled around another part of northern spain, in this case asturias and more precisely the picos de europa national park, arguably the prettiest part of the country (i've never been there but everyone that has been says asturias is the prettiest so who am i to disagree). just like in the game, it's a beautiful prairie place next to big scary mountains and right by the sea! however, there are no marshy areas in asturias; the three largest ones in the country are the ebro delta [pic 6], the valència albufera [pic 7], and doñana national park [pic 8]. i would say the in-game one is probably referencing the ebro delta, only based on location, as the other two are more south.

another fun thing about this area is that if you go swimming in the north coast you'll be able to find the tynamo evolution family, based on lampreys! lampreys have been fished in galicia as early as the roman times, with unique rock constructions built in the rivers called pesqueiras used to specifically catch them. they are part of the traditional galician (and portuguese!) cuisine, and they are similar to anchovies, one of the most popular dishes in another northern iberian area, cantabria.

finally, there's the last town of the game that i had yet to see, alfornada! one fun fact about me is that my favourite architectural style is mudéjar, so i was absolutely stoked to see a whole town built in that style!!! for everyone who doesn't know what mudéjar is, or why arabic-inspired music sounds all throughout the town, i'm gonna summarize 700 years of story really quick: after the western roman empire fell, the visigoths took over the peninsula, and things were chill for a bit until 711, when the moors invaded the peninsula. by 722 all but asturias was now part of the umayyad caliphate (we call moorish iberia al-andalus for short), but the asturians defeated the moors in the battle of covadonga and from there on the reconquista started, a centuries old war between christians and muslims in iberia that lasted until 1492, when the last remnants of al-andalus were defeated. as you could imagine this conjured up a very complex social landscape and a unique cultural makeup that still lasts till this day. within all of that, there were three groups we had to study in class and were a pain in the ass to differenciate (i had to search what each one were for this post): muladíes (local iberians that converted to islam and lived in al-ándalus), mozárabes (christians and jews that lived in al-ándalus), and mudéjares (muslims living in the iberian christian kingdoms). mozárabes and mudéjares had to pay extra taxes and live in special quarters of the cities, but apart from that they all lived peacefully which is neat. both groups had their own art styles, but the mudéjar art and architecture was the most prominent of the two, and even experienced a renaissance in the 19th and 20th centuries with the neo-mudéjar style. it basically mixes muslim and christian styles and it's so good i love it with all my heart.

also, alfornada is known for its pottery, and ceramics are one of the traditional spanish arts, there are still a lot of ceramic workshops in rural areas where you can find handmade ceramic. and the plates displayed in alfornada are also very popular in the country, every grandma has at least one set very similar to the ones in the game lol. one particular place associated with this type of ceramic is talavera de la reina, in toledo. as our ex-president once said 'the talavera pottery is a big thing, in other words, it is not' a small thing' (it doesn't make sense in spanish either <3)

you thought i was done with this town huh? surely there isn't any more references right??? right??? well, we're just getting started. another interesting feature of alfornada is all the fountains in the streets, which, alongside with the music and the mudéjar style, made me realise what was the biggest inspiration behind this town: the alhambra, the palace complex of the kings of the nasrid kingdom of granada, the last stronghold of al-andalus and imo the most incredible human construction ever (it's a unesco world heritage site as well). even the setting of alfornada corroborates this; the alhambra sits on the top of a mountain, right by the sierra nevada mountain range, one of the tallest of the country (in fact, the highest peak in iberia, the mulhacén, is located there). one of the main defining features of the alhambra was the usage of water, with tons of canalization through the complex and lots of gorgeous fountains.

we're almost done, hold up (this is the first post where i had to cut some images cause i had reached the 30 pic limit oops). just north to alfornada, if you continue to climb up the mountain, you'll reach a ruins area. there are tons of these in paldea, and it makes sense, there's a ton of ruins everywhere in spain as well, but these are special due to its location, its context, and the arch and colums that can clearly be seen. i'm pretty sure this is a direct reference to medina azahara, the palace complex of the caliphate of córdoba, that now lies in ruins (another world heritage site). i visibly gasped when i got here, it shows how much thought the pokemon company put into this game :)

and that was all! i hope you liked it :)

here's next post !!!

[kuvvydraws]

For the trio

A = affection (how affectionate are they in day to day life? Do they show affection publicly or keep that more in private?)

E = evenings (how do they spend their evening? So they go out? Do they read?)

O = occupation (what’s their dream job?)

Q = questions (do they believe in the super natural? Aliens? Anything along those lines)

Affection = how affectionate are they in day to day life? Do they show affection publicly or keep that more in private?

Raavi loves PDA, loves to go public and becomes a goddamn lamprey if you let them. While getting in a relationship with them is hard work, it really pays off once you achieve it, because there's not a chance you could ever doubt this guy's dedication to their partner. It's a 50/50 affection + teasing mix, and while emotions and compromise are hard for them, they do try to compensate for that by smothering their partner in compliments and physical shows of love.

Órdago is another lamprey, but at heart. He's very respectful with boundaries and physical touch and, basically, his chip resets every dawn so he's constantly checking to make sure he's doing the right thing and not crossing any lines ever, so his affection is conditioned to that. If he had all the freedom he wanted, though? Lamprey.

Luque is not exactly affectionate in the traditional sense of the word. While he craves affection like a starving man, he has a very hard time asking for it or showing it himself, so most of his actions come off as possessive and teasing. He's also a bit of a jackass. And intense. Rather than a good morning kiss, this man sucks face like he's trying to suck the soul out of you. His affection, thus, is more on the passionate side? Do expect a lot of groping from him, if he has a chance he's always copping a feel.

Evenings = how do they spend their evening? So they go out? Do they read?

Raavi's evenings are a menagerie of hanging out (they love being around people), chilling at home or acting like a deviant and exploring their massive closet of sex toys to spend the hours tending to their needs and high libido. Sometimes, all three!

Órdago's evenings are tied to his job, and he's some sort of vigilante... His Underground had no Judge and he's the closest thing to it, the Executioner. So he's usually out at night if he doesn't have a partner to keep him in bed. It's a good hour too, since the streets are barren with the exception of his targets and people tend to avoid big ass skeletons with red eyelights when it's dark out

Despite his grouchy looks and rough manners, Luque is the one out of the three who knows how to cook, and that's how he spends his evenings. He usually makes enough food for the next day and then a quick snack and, if it's not too dark out once he's done, he goes for a stroll and enjoys the walk through a park at nigh. He loves nature and scaring the shit out of teens who thought they could be alone to fondle each other. Just as often, he goes out to the busier part of the city to pick out someone to fuck that night.

Occupation = what’s their dream job?

Raavi is very lucky here! They're the monster mascot and that was exactly their desired job!

Órdago never had much of a choice, and thus he's never bothered to think about it - he's always been the Executioner, and he's not sure he'd be capable of being anything else. However, I know he'd love to have a farm and be surrounded by animals!

Luque's real job is a mere sentry - he doesn't have the discipline, temperance or the patience to be the monster mascot or tied to the Judge, and he really doesn't strive for anything else? He's okay being a lowly soldier, his job is easy and he gets a lot of free time. He'd love to be a park ranger though, and live in the middle of a forest.

Questions = do they believe in the super natural? Aliens? Anything along those lines)

the default is yes because they're part of the "supernatural" themselves, but allow me to elaborate XD

Raavi is fully convinced aliens are real. They think it's really ignorant and pretentious to assume the opposite, but they also hate all those "the aliens built the pyramids" documentaries vehemently.

Órdago... doesn't really care. This guy goes through life like a jellyfish carried by the ocean currents. He'd only care about new monsters or aliens if they came down and threatened his sib or his partner, and that's highly unlikely... because he'd kill them in a blink.

Luque believes in extraterrestrial life as well, for the same reasons as Raavi. On top of that, his connection with nature makes him more inclined to believe in animist interpretations of phenomena, though he'd never voice that. And, to top it off, he's a jerk, so regardless of his believes, it's likely you'll find him joining and leading, rather passionately, a group of negationists just to turn his back on them when their faith in him peaks so he can destroy their arguments. Stupid people deserve to be mocked and he's always down to prank.

[story-of-the-infinite]

The Corruption of Earth Main Characters

General Info: the Academy is the name for any of the schools in the secret society called the Agency, and it is primarily for wards of the Agency and children sent away by their parents (often for financial reasons); the main Branch of the Agency referenced in this story is the English Branch

Infinity Weir: a god in a mortal body whose powers fluctuate based on how "human" she feels and how connected she feels to those around her; ran away from the Agency at age 13; her nickname is Finny and that's how I'll usually refer to her; currently works at a bookstore in Massachusetts; married to Sola Vagari; overachiever with a vaguely innocent demeaner; avoids using her powers; values loyalty to a fault

Sola Vagari: works as an Agent and Doctor for the Agency, but lives with wife Infinity in MA; extraverted and eccentric, dichotomy between angry/calculating and cute/friendly; he converted their basement into a laboratory; also escaped the Agency with Infinity at age 13, but he was recruited as an Agent at age 18

Biola Ace: online magazine editor who has known Infinity since age 14; doesn't feel listened to by those around her and tends to be the voice of reason; in a relationship with Abby; tends to be monotone and unimpressed by the world around her; prone to anxiety; ambitious; wants to be an author

Jo Bijou: local coffee shop barista who met Infinity and Biola when they moved to MA for university; struggles with feeling left out and connecting to those around her; lived in France until she was 4-6 years old; grew up with her mother and aunt and inherited their trauma; strongly connects with the color pink but is not particularly feminine

Abby Thomas: lawyer who began dating Biola a few years before the start of the story; grew up with her father and half-sister but is not close with either of them; the closest relative she has is her uncle that she visits once or twice a year; did ballet as a kid/teen; compulsive liar; confident and arrogant but warm and loving; has basically built a persona around herself that even she believes

Kai Redburn: he's Finny and Sola's childhood friend who they abandoned when they ran away and Stuff happened; he was initially in the Training Track at the Academy but was transferred to English at age 15 or 16; dated Sola for a while when they were 18-20 and Sola had just started working for the Agency

Wilbur Lamprey: absolute scum of the Earth, actual main antagonist; Headmaster + English Professor of the Academy and later the leader of the Agency; has an obsession with the color blue; wants to be the most important person ever, terrified of the idea that he does not matter because he was forced to compete for affection as a student at the Academy

Henry Angiel: Philosophy Professor at the Academy; completely devoted to the Agency and its mission; adoptive father of Infinity, also in charge of exploring her abilities when she was a child; Infinity accidentally injuring him (she believed to a fatal extent) is what ultimately caused she and Sola to run away; his color association is either black/white or indigo; partner of Gregor and Rowen

Gregor Thymes: Science Professor at the Academy (yep, all science for all ages, they are comically understaffed); partner of Henry and Rowen; was very close with Sola; genuine sweetheart forest man who wants to protect all of his students; former friends with Wilbur; his color association is yellow

Rowen Delivar: Social Sciences Professor at the Academy and Diplomat of the Agency; partner of Henry and Gregor; one of the most loving and self-loving people to exist; has a relaxing aura; part-goddess, but it's so far down the line that it mostly just means he has a REALLY good immune system; his color association is orange

Altheia Reed: childhood friend of Finny, Sola, and Kai who died during their early teens; control freak, ambitious, and caring; was sort of like a big sister to Finny; worried the most about the Agency and their futures; English Track

Simon Byrd: Mathematics Professor at the Academy; since the story is set a little in the future, he is the only Gen Zer on this list; his family became a part of the Agency through his stepdad when he was 11; he was a maths prodigy who was pulled out of the Academy during his teens to do Math Stuff for the Agency, then given the Professor position without having to do all of the stuff other students/applying teachers had to do; lot of anxiety, caffeine addiction, and fear of birds; has a antagonistic relationship with young Kai but is also the pseudo-parent of young Kai; he passed away shortly after Finny and Sola ran away; his color association is red

Thomas Lovell: Head Training Instructor (aka he teaches PE) at the Academy; it's like PE but with weapons and combat; hates his job for understandable reasons; best friends with Simon; kind of a himbo, major Labrador Retriever energy; he dies shortly after Simon; his color association is violet

[story-of-the-infinite]

Gonna go with Infinity and Henry. Sorry that this is long, I really love Henry and it's 3 am in my time.

One dreadful afternoon, Henry Angiel's partner, Gregor, returns from an unsanctioned school outing with a small girl he claims a student to have found in the woods. The girl does not speak, and just stares at him with wide, intense eyes. Henry asks Gregor what her name is, and he says Infinity Weir, then explains that the student named her Infinity and he named her Weir because they passed a weir on the way back to the school. Henry is tired and wants nothing to do with the drama and paperwork that this mystery child will bring.

Time passes, and it becomes obvious that the new child is... weird. Little things add up - levitating objects, broken things fixing themselves, and missing items appearing in strange places. The Academy staff settle on this kid being scientifically or magically "special" in some way, and Henry gets guardianship over her so that Headmaster Wilbur Lamprey cannot. He wants to use her, mold her, into something good for the Agency he believes in so deeply.

He's not cruel to her, but he struggles to see her as an actual child for a long time. She is dangerous, not defenseless like a human child. She is simply not a human child. He runs tests and harmless little experiments on her, teaches her how to be a good member of the Agency. Over time, they grow closer, but she's still a glorified weapon he's shaping to prove his worth to the Agency.

They still grow closer. She's a fine girl, a good student, and she has a small group of friends who definitely see her as a person. Henry's partners treat her like any other one of their students. Henry forgets, slowly, that he's supposed to view her as a tool or a legacy. She's his daughter - what else could she be, if he's honest?

He notices that her powers are waning the closer that they connect, the more she (and he) sees herself as a regular child. He distances himself, focuses on the priority, the goal. Tests her a little beyond her limit, perhaps trying to sever her trust in him or convince himself that he doesn't care for her. Wilbur is oh so encouraging of treating her like a monster to be tamed.

It's a matter of pride, but also fear of the Agency, and what they would do if their promised godling was no longer effective. Around age 13, Henry fears that if she loses her powers, the Agency will deem her worthless and harm her. Besides, he clearly doesn't know how to be a parent. He decides that he is harmful to her, and that the Agency, this glowing society he's worshipped and preached his entire life, is better for her. He must send her off to the higher ups of the Agency.

She doesn't take the news well. They get into an argument, and she loses control of her powers and hurts Henry (she believes fatally - she is wrong). Shortly after, she has run away from the Agency altogether, losing everyone she's ever known and having to rebuild her entire life and identity, believing that she killed her father.

Over a decade later, one of Henry's partners (Rowen) accidentally makes contact with her and mentions that Henry's missing. Infinity and co go on a whole adventure and find his captors, and Infinity learns that she's been harboring guilt over something she didn't even do for years.

They don't actually talk to one another until later, when the Agency does something else to Infinity, and she gets a moment of actually confronting Henry. They never fully mend their relationship, but they are able to have a better one after the events of TCOE and become somewhat close again.

Big OC Question of the Week #1

Tell me, what is your OC’s relationship with their parents?

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Rabyeang

This one's posting a few hours later than usual, because due to various circumstances, we ended up recording an episode of the podcast this evening, so I didn't have time to get to it until now.

Anyway, odd and somewhat uncomfortable entry, some parts of it seem clear though. Genuinely interested to see what comes up because I haven't gotten around to checking in on it until right this moment.

Anyone who isn't sure what I'm talking about can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry our artists are working from can be found here:

If you want to join in on drawing the next one, that entry can be found here:

Art is below the cut in the order in which it was posted.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided to go with an aquatic creature to make it easier for it to interact with lampreys, specifically a shark because they give live birth. I think the post here is pretty great, and including a lamprey is quite nice actually. Extremely cool-looking all around -- I encourage anyone reading this to check the linked post for a more detailed description of what's going on here and how the artist reached this design.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has drawn two snakes in the act of twining around each other as the female bites the male's head off. Kind of like a caduceus that's gone wrong somehow. Going in a snake direction makes sense, and the entwined pose I think makes it work. They have also included a rather cute bonus sketch in the linked post along with the explanation of their design, which I encourage y'all to check out. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has made a very eye-catching but also somewhat... worrying creature by taking inspiration from Surinam toads and orchid mantises. The way those two inspirations are merged is really clever, I think, and as usual I love the medieval-inspired style. This is a creature I appreciate in drawing form but would probably find quite off-putting in real life, which I think is a sign of good design. (Also, thank you for providing alt text.)

That's it this time around, I'm afraid -- this particular entry doesn't seem to have sparked inspiration in many people. (Understandable.) So let's check in with the Aberdeen Bestiary.

So, as I'm sure you've all guessed from the highly accurate illustration, this is the viper.

(I'm getting increasingly curious about what the deal is with this very specific head design you see on so many medieval creatures.)

So yeah, the bit with the lamprey is presumably complicated by the fact that one is an aquatic creature and the other terrestrial -- breath is going to be a concern, at the very least.

I think knowing it's a viper explains a lot of the entry: in the medieval metaphorical space, a viper is of course Very Wicked, so they really run with that here.

I wasn't aware vipers gave live birth, so I Googled it (apparently they do), and interestingly one of the top results was this Quora post:

So apparently elements of this are still hanging around, if someone is asking on the Internet whether vipers really eat their way out of the mother. Also interestingly, the answer makes note of other medieval myths about vipers, including both the head-biting and the lamprey thing. (And also one that female vipers look human above the waist, which is a new one by me.) Instructional.