#Zale ( interests )

[abigailspinach]

The priest of the White Rat was a slender person with a pointed chin and long gray hair braided back from their face. Their vestments bore the slender silver stripe indicating the polite form of address. They beckoned, gestured to chairs, and said, “How may the Temple help you, friends?”

Halla sat down and said, “I’ve inherited a lot of money and a magic sword, and now my relatives want to force me to marry my cousin, so I ran away, but now I don’t know how to get back to get the money, or even if I can, and they’ve told everyone that I was kidnapped.”

“I… see.” The priest looked over at Sarkis. “And you are…?”

“The magic sword.”

The priest had a calm, reserved face but one eyebrow began to climb, very slowly, towards their hair.

“Uh, yes, this is Sarkis. He’s been trapped in a magic sword. He serves the wielder, which is me. I was trying to kill myself to get away from my relatives but I used his sword to do it and summoned him. This sword here.” She slung it off her back.

The other eyebrow joined its mate in the slow march toward the priest’s hairline. They steepled their fingers. “This is… quite a story. Could you start again from the beginning?””

— Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

[milkpumpkin96]

So, my dad helped kickstart Sea of Stars—I miraculously (without the code) found the monument dedicated to him, my siblings, and I! It’s a BIG one!!!

[anakinh]

finished sea of stars. spoilers ahead.

overall i really liked it! but honestly? thought it was kinda mid until the clockwork castle. It got really good when you entered the sea of stars, but I've always loved sci-fi more than fantasy (and sci-fi fantasy mixes more than either of the two), so that's not surprising. didn't much care for the golden ending either. I think it's because i didn't love garl? which is surprising, usually I like good good boys.

tbh i think that's because they really mythologized garl. like, he's a 100% great dude, would love to be friends with him in real life, sounds like a wonderful guy. but as a character? he has some trauma but he's well adjusted? he's not snarky or bitchy? he's not even dumb?? but all my favourite good good boys fall under at least one of those categories!

anyway i loved resh'an, serai, and erlina. not surprising. especially resh'an's immortal all-powerful being love affair with a dude destroying entire worlds. i was a doctor who fan.

edit: one other thing to add. Sea of Stars is gorgeous. it's amazingly beautiful. play it for the art alone. hell, play it for the attention to detail in the art - the way it shifts when you move worlds is so great.

[insert-game]

again thinking about how i wish Sea of Stars was Good. painful

[memoriesofthepark]

Update! A couple of these shelves fell so I got to take a closer look at them!!

At first I suspected they were Hairy Hexagonia 》 Hexagonia hydnoides due to their color and fuzzy upper surface, but I didn't see any examples of that species growing in such robust formations.

I believe they are actually a very old and crusty specimen of Shaggy brackets 》 Inonotus hispidus which according to a couple of sources do turn a dark brown/black color with age, and I can see a bit of that rusty red hue still peeking through. And as a lovely bonus, this darling little zale moth 》 genus Zale was resting amid the shelves.

I was so glad to have the chance to get to know these guys from up close after admiring them from the ground for a while. Fate hath truly smiled upon me. 🧡

Southeast Texas, 19 April 2024

This is your reminder to look up while you're out on a foray!

I tend to keep my nose in the dirt while I'm shrooming, but look what I found on campus! I wasn't able to get a good enough look for an ID, but we have some big beautiful polypore shelves here.

The past week has been very up and down emotionally but I'll focus on the highlights.

I got to drive up to Austin and see Merlin Sheldrake's new documentary Fungi: Web of Life at the Bullock museum!! It was fantastic and the first 3D movie I've seen in maybe a decade. It was very beginner friendly (and too short imo lol, about 45 minutes long) but still wildly interesting! I can't imagine what it must feel like to hold a sample collected by Darwin himself!

After the doc we found a cool vegan food truck in town, and I got to try lions mane for the first time! It was fried and soooooo good. 🤤

The doc seems to be running in a lot of museums nationwide thru August. I highly recommend checking it out if you get the chance!

Southeast Texas, 26 Mar. 2024

[feathered-blade]

miracles can happen to anyone, you know

Really, the reason she was so uncharacteristically worked up was because she had never even considered how Harumasa must feel about love due to his condition. If he did happen to have feelings for someone, would he feel like a burden just like this stranger? Would he think of how he would hurt someone else when he inevitably passed too soon?

Jeez, she just couldn’t stop crying. 

pairing: dr. zale brandt / asaba harumasa

words: ~3k

this little sidequest in the elpis ultimate angler championship event ruined my life.

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[falling-star-cygnus]

KNEES TO CHEST, KNEES TO CHEST oh- oh, you’re in the fetal position oh you’re crying …oh dear

‼️SPOILERS FOR SEA OF STARS‼️

Y’ALL I WAS SO PREPARED FOR GARL TO BE EVIL AFTER ALL THAT BUILD UP IN THE TUTORIAL FLASHBACK

like- losing his eye to protect Zale? being separated from his two best friends bc they’re Children of the Solstice and special. BEING INTERESTED IN A DANGEROUS PURPOSEFULLY MAGICKED ASLEEP ENTITY??

even Valere’s little “Garl….” MADE ME THINK SOMETHING HAPPENED

BUT NO! HE’S JUST A DUDE THAT LOVES HIS FRIENDS <3

he’s such a mother hen about it too, oml. Garl just wants see the world with his family and keep them well fed and that’s beautiful

if you like pixelated, nostalgic found family adventure games…. COME PLAY SEA OF STARS :D

[thequickbutt]

Zora children design adopts

these are scrapped designs of my OC Zale. And while I still somewhat like them, I don't think I'll use them anymore, so I thought I might give them up for adoption.

the design on the left is based on a black and red guppy. The design on the right is based on a royal gramma.

I'll take either money (PayPal only) or art of any of my Zelda OCs. So yeah, lmk what (or how much) you wanna offer (if you offer art, I'd like to see some examples of your art uvu)! Don't forget to mention which design you're interested in (can be just one or both). And I'll let you know if I'm interested in your offer! <3

After claiming the designs, you may: - *Slightly* change/ add things to their colors/ markings/ fins (I'd appreciate it if it wasn't too much tho, so they'll still be recognizable TvT) - Change their armor/ jewelry completely (since they're old designs of my OC, they were made to have prince-like accessories, but you're more than welcome to just come up with your own stuff for them to wear!) - Change their personality (they're made to look kinda shy and/or sad here, but you can definitely come up with your own personality for them!) - Change their gender (they're male but you can change their gender however you like!) - Give them adult designs

You may not: - Resell them. (Idk, I'd just like for them to get a nice home instead of being given around from one person to another, if that makes any sense TvT)

(also pls note this is the first time I'm ever offering adopts like this so be patient with me if I should get overwhelmed by stuff sdfgsf)

[the-starry-lycan]

HIS MASCARA!! THE LITTLE STARS ALL AROUND HIS FACE!! AHH THAT SMUG LOOK!!!

No wonder they call him "Narcis King". I'll bet that the Evil Zale Shadow Clone probably is quite prideful and vain.. and given that his armor possesses a lionly design to it, I'm really interested as to what we might see in a battle with him!

[dread-pirate-mumbles]

high quality sea of stars shitposting incoming

(mid game spoilers)

just imagining the scene that lead to the acolyte confrontation on glacier peak

One, in bunny slippers and a robe-equivalent of the Acolyte uniform, having prepared breakfast and tea for the Acolytes in the kitchen of clockwork castle, is carefully preparing tiny Dweller of Strifes to put on top of some celebratory cupcakes. He can't wait to surprise his Master with the resurrection of the Dweller of Strife, and hopes The Fleshmancer remembers him.

Two is reading a report at the breakfast table and absentmindedly snacking on bacon, which Four keeps trying to steal but keeps getting thwarted by Two smacking his hand with her rod. She reads aloud interesting details in a sotto voice, to avoid waking Three

Three is physically present at the table but laying face down, either asleep or communing with the wood-- the others aren't sure which

One, upon finishing the little details on the mini Strifes' eyes, looks up at just the right time to see Valere/Zale/etc climbing up the mountain in his back yard, and accidentally drops the piping bag of frosting on the plate of cupcakes, which can only mean one thing-

This is war.

[violsva]

November Reading

Post delayed by a vacation and then PMS. More thoughts than usual, though.

Recent: Finally finished My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, but fast enough that things did not really sink in, or not all at once. It was good, interesting cultural differences and similarities, probably won't read the sequels.

Reread Steadfast, by Mercedes Lackey. This is not a good book, people. I knew that when I started it. In terms of pacing and plotting and unnecessary digressions and historical accuracy and giving agency to characters it is very very badly done. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Which is maybe what I need, given how much I get tied into knots about the free fanfic I write for fun needing its theme to be supported by a coherent narrative arc.

I read some of T. Kingfisher's commentary on fairy tales in The Halcyon Fairy Book and most of Lace Making by Eunice Close (published by a tiny Canadian press in 1975, don't go looking for it). I tried to reread The Bacchae for catharsis purposes, but it was a not-great Victorian translation and I didn't get very far. I did find out that Alan Cumming played Dionysus twenty or so years ago and the trailer for that is on Youtube.

Read A Phantom Lover by Vernon Lee, which was good for what it was but I did have to force myself to it. On the drive with @consultingpiskies I finally managed to articulate that I am just not up to unfamiliar fiction right now, and maybe that's okay.

I read all of May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer at the library, which is the book of an exhibition of her work and was absolutely gorgeous and also gave me feelings about her relationship with her father, so that was great. And on the theme of the English Arts and Crafts movement, English Embroidered Bookbindings by Cyril Davenport, which might have been improved with more practical knowledge of embroidery but was generally good.

Also read Meet Me on the Other Side by @sparklepocalypse, RWRB 1890s cowboy AU. I could be nitpicky about a couple historical attitudes but basically this is just a really good romance novel and I liked it.

Current: Rereading Swordheart by @tkingfisher, and I really want to know more about the Temple of the White Rat's embroiderer(s). Like, maybe Zale does their own embroidery, but in that case I would have expected them to take a project along for the wagon ride. For a while I was carrying this around with me everywhere, but now that I am getting to the climax things are going more slowly.

Just gave 3/5 of my library books back unstarted due to the fiction realization above. I have two digital craft books to flip through, and also some from the Antique Pattern Library, and Chats on Old Lace and Needlework by Mrs. Lowes. Look, basically what I want to do right now is get overwhelmingly caught up in craft projects and never talk to anyone ever again. I won't, because there is Christmas shopping to do and people I am trying to make friends with and so forth, but that's probably where my head's going to be all month.

Various RWRB fanfics going on still. Oh, and there's been more Madame C—. Thank god for Madame C—.

Future: I still have The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity and Christopher Baldwin out from the library, which really does seem fun but I don't know if I have the brain for it. I would also like to get through more of my AO3 Marked for Later list before Yuletide adds a bunch to it, but, well. (I didn't sign up for Yuletide this year, not because I didn't think I could manage it but because I suspected I would hate the process, and that was a good decision.)

If all else fails I will relisten to the Roaring Twenties Magic audiobooks while sewing.

[bogkeep]

scattered thoughts on the saint of steel series + swordheart by t. kingfisher just so they're not sprinkled throughout the tags of other posts

- i love zale so much. reading swordheart was worth it for more zale (and also for bishop beartongue. i love her so much also. the entire order of the white rat is So Good)

- all of these books have the same romance arc structure. i think it's like, a good structure, but it gets so samey when you read it five times in a row. especially when they're all deeply allosexual and very founded in Instant Mutual Attraction. i don't think that's a bad thing in and of itself, i can enjoy a story where the characters are just really super horny for one another, ESPECIALLY when the characters are between ages 35-40 and not skinny hollywood models, but i feel like there HAS to be more than one way of writing that. i can at least appreciate that paladin book #4 had a slight spin on the dynamic. (paladin book #3 had a m/m romance and still followed the exact same pattern as the previous ones hahahhaa)

- i think paladin book #2 reads as the weakest one in the series, because book #1 is like hohoho this is so fun and enjoyable!! and then #2 is like, oho, new characters? wait is this just doing the same thing as the previous book. like, the story plot is completely different, but the Romance Arc is beat for beat the same, except in this case the paladin character seems to have NO reason to NOT get together with the love interest other than uhh. self-inflicted paladinly suffering? the paladins aren't even celibate!! all the other paladins so far have Understandable Personal Issues but this guy has some kind of unexplained hangup. this book also felt the least edited bc there were several phrases that repeated multiple times and ALSO...... the love interest lady was tall and muscular, but all the awooga'ing was focused on the more conventional areas, which felt like a truly missed opportunity. i still enjoyed this book!!! but Comparatively.

- all the story plots were really engaging though!!!!! paladin book #1 really had hooked from the get go, and book #4 had me excitedly waiting for a chekhov's gun to go off the entire time, and when it finally did it was so much more interesting than i anticipated hohohoho

- the worldbuilding is so good,, the setting feels real and lived in, very classic feeling fantasy without being derivative or cliché. there's some creatures and concepts that are delightfully creative or straight up eerie. i want to learn more about gnole culture and pronouns please

- i love how kingfisher writes paladins. she really Gets It. the paladin pie chart consists entirely of Guilt and Nobility. i also love that there's different paladin orders that have different Vibes like. the dreaming god needs only the prettiest, sluttiest of himbos to slay demons. it's so fun and i love that for them

- you can also tell that kingfisher has like. respect for people. when i read the stupid robot book, the feeling i kept getting from it was that humans are just soooo stupid and unevolved and it really rubbed me the wrong way. feels good to read something that is much more on the terry pratchett end of the spectrum. does this make sense??? like you read these books and the narrative doesn't hate women or poor people or fat people or any group of people. except maybe cops. there is definitely a disdain for cops which i very much appreciate

- the audiobook narrator for swordheart was different than the one for the saint of steel series, and it was genuinely fascinating to hear how they interpreted the characters that appear in both... and also that they pronounced the name jorge differently. both very talented narrators though, wow

anyway i guess i shall read more t. kingfisher!! maybe not right away but i am vibing with her style

[silent-partner-412]

ok i need to ramble bc playing a second time, the failings of sea of stars' story are sooooo much more apparent to me and it's fucking heartbreaking (SPOILERS AHEAD)

first of all. after back to back banger moments with the introduction of mesa island and re'shan, the whole clockwork castle sequence, the garl death arc, and the introduction of serai's world, the story just. decides it doesn't want to do anything fun or interesting anymore. the last vestige of something interesting happening is at the top of the tower in serai's world with the birds where you get the gay ass moment with young re'shan and aephorul, and then re'shan fucks off for the entire rest of the game. the normal ending pretty much comes immediately afterward, save for a very boring sequence where the artificer gets made. and nothing happens in the normal ending either! you defeat erlina, aephorul admits defeat, and the game ends. it's so fucking underwhelming, ESPECIALLY considering how much momentum they build in the second third of the game.

also... the true ending. look, i'm glad you actually get to fight aephorul, and garl coming back is... cute. it's nice to have another character around i actually care about after a very long time of serai carrying the cast of this game on her shoulders after aephorul leaves. but come the fuck on. garl's death sequence was so well done, and it's practically just thrown away for the sake of a reference to chrono trigger.

to me, it feels like a handful of things could've gone wrong here, broadly speaking. first, it's entirely possible that sabotage studio didn't understand the best parts of what they created here, and didn't lean into them. i wanted more of aophorul and re'shan and their divorced lovers ass relationship, i wanted more of erlina and brugaves and how the solstice warrior coalition might be more toxic than is let on, i wanted more of serai and the story of her world, and i wanted a hell of a lot less of zale and valere. or if nothing else, i want a version of zale and valere that have more going on than they do. i wanted more explanations about this world, i wanted more drama, i wanted more intrigue, and we just don't get enough.

second, i think they may have shot themselves in the foot by trying to make their games into a cinematic universe of sorts. the messenger is a fun game, and it's cool that there are tie-ins, but that game was NEVER built to be the foundation of worldbuilding for an RPG. the story and writing just wasn't made for it. the fact that there are so many tie-ins is cool, but probably a bit too ambitious considering just what the messenger is.

finally, i think it might have just been rushed. it really does feel like the story just... ends out of nowhere. i feel like we're missing, like, at least five hours of game here. it's weird to think about since it's not like this is a small game, and it was five years in between it and the messenger. but it would explain a lot about what happened to the building momentum and the lack of any actual climax.

look, i love this game, or at least i really want to. i still think the music, visuals, and combat are a 10/10. the levels and world design aren't perfect, but they get the job done, and there are so many locales here that i just adore. the story and writing do SO MUCH well, they just stumble right at the finish line. the game has so much heart, and i can see why i got a little high on all its best qualities last year. but i'm not sure i still hold it in as high of regard.

[neoyi-backstreetback]

Character Bingo! Sea of Stars Trio!

Zale

Valere

Garl

I'mma be real: Zale and Valere don't particularly interest me. Their background as Solstice warriors, as Chosen Ones, stuck and raised into a life that they roughly have no choice in on, and the serious ramification is one worthy of exploring. But it's not really something particular to them. They're directly affected by it by the likes of Erlina and Brugaves and the cult-like structure of the Solstice Warrior program is even more interesting when you realize WHO started it (and how much the game hints of his hypocrisy), but that specific plot detail - that very interesting aspect - is not a decision either makes. And this isn't a criticism; it's clear Zale and Valere stick to their role and embrace it proudly in spite of its faults, because they genuinely believe both a sense of duty and hope for the world. A lot of the latter is the direct result of having Garl in their lives, who shows them how beautiful and worthy the world is that they would willingly go out of their way to protect. That's wonderful. ...But it just isn't as fascinating to me as the Solstice Warriors who denounced it. If Erlina and Brugaves had been the main protags, I think my interest would have shot up even more. Coupled that with Sabotage's decision to keep their personalities limited in order for players to invest themselves in, then you got a pair of characters I admittedly don't really vibe with. There's a reason why I prefer the personality-stuffed Luigi versus the Everyman Mario. While Zale and Valere do have shades of specific individuality, in the end, they're both the Everyman. I guess if I had to pick which one I like slightly better, it's Valere purely on the bias that I usually pick the girl in a playable video game setting (it's what happens when you grew up as a girl in the 90s where games were considered "boy things" back in the day) and her character design being slightly better (I love her hair, it's lovely.) Sorry, Zale, you are a nice kid and I legit have no ill will toward you, but you're, uh, kinda bottom-tier in the SoS Favorite Playable Character List with Valere somewhat being in mid-tier, but just barely (purely in terms of character; obviously in gameplay, the both of them are invaluable.)

"The Fandom is so mean" for Garl is more the fact that I noticed he has a mixed reception. You either love him because he is a sweet, kind, and determined young man who genuinely loves helping and living life to the fullest (I am in this camp: I love him, he is wonderful and if anything happens to him again, I will throw hands)... Or you hate him because he overtakes the position of main character from Zale and Valere. Which is understandable. The latter two were meant to be fill-ins for players to interpret, but I won't lie that having a silent protagonist as purely a blank versus two characters who have hints of personalities and yet still designed for players to project onto is a little clumsy. It's also a lot more noticeable when you have TWO characters who are essentially the Everyman type versus the one (where you, the singular player, would roughly insert yourself into their shoes.) So I get that, but never let it be said Sabotage did not do this on purpose, mixed they may be.

[feathered-blade]

personal research

Dr. Brandt was odd, but that was what made her so interesting. 

That, and the fact that Harumasa was desperate to pick her brain about her research.

words: ~1.4k

pairing: dr. zale brandt/asaba harumasa

i figured posting some early zaleharu might be interesting. this is pretty shortly after section 6 is founded!

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[goodshipskypirate]

If Sea of Stars was a TV show, there would have been an obligatory baseball episode where Garl somehow invents the sport (or hosts it if baseball already exists in their world) in an effort to help a random town with their problem that can only directly be solved by the sport.

You'll see all the main characters in matching baseball outfits and that absolutely, 100% includes Resh'an.

Zale would absolutely take to the bat, but he'll swing it like a sword.

it's Valere who's the best hitter purely because this gal uses Moonerang like it's a Tuesday. She knows how to calculate when the ball is coming; that thing ain't leaving her sight. But she does that thing where she holds her baseball bat horizontally over her chest to get the ball instead of swinging her bat EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Serai is allowed to use her portal magic because their opponents will also have magic and/or fantastical powers to make it more interesting. She will be the best damn catcher anyone could ask for, positioned in ALL the bases because of her ability.

Garl is the umpire, of course. He is also just the general host of this whole game and the team's captain, but that's a given.

B'st will get every fucking home run because he can swing the bat with such force he breaks every single one. Also his baseball uniform doesn't fit him all the way because that is a comical visual and adorable as fuck.

Just pretend this is Resh'an and not his puppet, because it is infinitely funnier for him to be involved with minimum restraint. He is the pitcher, that is not even a question. The man throws vials like a beast, he will chuck that baseball with such accuracy and speed that you'd be struck out before you could even blink.