#a whole bunch of wasps

[karuvapatta]

A pic inspired by this fic by @suttttton

It’s a work in progress, and, as usual, I bullied @keire-ke into doing most of the heavy lifting ^^

Go read the fic. It’s awesome.

[ask-the-amph-greater-universe]

I read through yours and digis thread about it and now I’m super curious how vapor would treat Wasp, given he absorbed his dimensions killcode and is essentially kind of at least partially a killcode

Hummm... I mean first of all it depends on how they met. They only meeting place I could see is them finding out about the wisp Leiðr has. But that's probably an introduction that won't happen? Mostly cuz Black Star lets the village do its own shit. So ahh...

In whatever form wasp takes. Whether that's meeting him in the bunker or maybe meeting the one from LB/KE. Which now that I think about it is probably what you were talking about. My mistake. Either way. Vapor would be confused. This looks like a lunar. Sort of acts like a lunar. But he also has like KC things. He would honestly treat them similar to Blood Moon? Somebody he should care better due to a closer connection to kill code. Otherwise he doesn't know what to do. Hopefully they don't trigger some sort of unique smoke effect.

[wheremermaidsdwell]

soulmate au is set largely in fall 1981 so not me having to check EVERY FUCKING METAL BAND of eddie's to see who actually had albums out then

[toastedpopsicle]

I fuckin love technology this shit is so fun and useful 🙄

[eimearkuopio]

I mean, I think I finally have enough time to finish TTOU and Artemis and find out why Dandelion/Jaskier/PUF#1 are so important to me, because I think I might be Loretta Sanchez and not Jazz Bashara or Julian Bashir, but I got your letter T and I think there's a 🐝 around here somewhere and if I can just put the puzzle pieces back together in some semblance of order from chaos from order, I can stop droning on and just be a normal hunny bee instead of such an eyesore of an Eeyore.

Does anyone know where my case is? It's a pink Fairphone case with a pop socket on it. My sister's looks very similar but it has a purple eye sticker on it.

I'm not a green-eyed monster but I think I'm done being the villain in my own history. It was already Thursday, but I have some good news about the periodic nature of time in a Klein Bottle Universe, and it's only been two weeks since my partners looked at me but I couldn't stop thinking about other people's children, which is why I'm Auntie-Saurus the Living Fossil, Kassandra of Atlantis and the Inquisition, Nanny Ogg and Tiffany Aching but not Eimear D, not yet. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe Thursday. Probably Tuesday if I'm reading the signs right, but my tarot is still at home so I'm having to make do (not dew, I can't control the weather and if I could I would know better than to try - same with time travel, so it's a good thing I'm already in the timeline where nobody will ever be dumb enough to invent time travel 🧳 (happy birthday to me, thanks Fr. A and P_F). You really should just keep moving backwards through time at a rate of 1 second per second like God always intended; but if you must time travel, please make sure to send a minimum of three people who all love each other more than anyone else in the world, because my minyans are any three who are all agape together, but other people have different rules. You need a prophet with at least three eyes so that one can keep watch while the others rest.

you know ttou got you when you see the acronym tlou and first thought is someone typoed ttou, second thought is figuring it out like time lost orbit unknown??? third thought is remembering the last of us exists

[lemonandlime22]

Randomly generated incorrect quotes pt 40 Obey me! (a few changed) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diavolo: Yesterday, I overheard Mammon saying “Are you sure this is a good idea?” and Mc replying “Trust me,” and I have never moved from one room to another so quickly in my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirteen: The next time I open up to someone, it'll be my autopsy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mc: Do you want some tea? Solomon: What are the options? Mc: Yes or no.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Satan: I wish I could control wasps and bees to sting my enemies. Asmo: You’re too young to have enemies. Satan: You don’t even know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Squad is playing Among Us* Levi: I believe Mephisto is innocent, I was with them the whole time. Beel, what were you doing? Beel: Oh, I was just murdering… I mean, nothing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diavolo: How would you guys deal with a toxic friend? Barbatos: Tell them how you really feel. Satan: Slowly distance yourself from them. Levi: Engage in a 1v1 sword battle and if they lose they have to stop being toxic or pay the price. Diavolo, being handed a sword: …well heck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mammon: Reverse tooth fairy where you leave money under your pillow and the tooth fairy comes and leaves you a bunch of teeth. Solomon: Why? Mammon, shaking a bag of teeth: Just because.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

I wish that ark three stayed in pantala and instead of spending a bunch of time in Pyrrhia we could have gotten more development for the other pantala characters. And also the whole thing with freedom and the scorching feels like it should have been saved for arc four or built up on more in the fourth book instead of what we got with snowfall (don’t get me wrong I love snowfall). I think it would have been more interesting and cohesive if the ark just followed the dismantling a dystopia route. Also if you think about it there are some interesting parallels between the evil plant and animus magic. Like in order to gain more power wasp gives more and more of herself to the breath of evil. The silkwings are controlled by the hivewings who are controlled by queen wasp who is controlled by the breath of evil which is controlled by tangled up freedom and that one guy. To conclude, I think the fourth ark just got way too complicated with each book to have a fully satisfying conclusion.

.

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Sword gays showdown, final round of bracket three

Propaganda:

For Gideon:

she's incredibly good w/ her two hander and less good with her rapier but she's still pretty good!! she is a horny lesbian who's taste in women seems to exclusively be "girls who have tried or are going to try to kill her". she's a redhead. i love her

Gideon’s a HUGE Butch lesbian and literally always wanted to use a broad sword. Specifically a broad sword. She said fuck rapiers. Uhhh literally dies to save the girl she cares for and the sword she uses then becomes like an altar for said girl. Gideon Nav Supremacy <3

oh she is the most badass swordswoman lesbian in media. she’s her gf’s cavalier, defends her in battle, she’s incredibly butch and buff

C'mon shes THE sword lesbian like... canonically 

Loves her broadsword more than anything on her home planet and practices whenever she can. Spoiler it’s possessed by her mom. Gave everything so her best enemy could eat her soul and become the new saint. The character of all time child of two separate threesomes, child of the god emperor, she’s dead, she’s butch, she’s a dork, she’s doomed by the narrative. She’s my favorite.

girlie is literally the swordswoman supreme. she’s the cavalier primary to her necromancer. she has a fuckoff huge longsword. she gets absorbed into another person SPECIFICALLY to swordfight for them. in a gay way too.

While everyone else was developing common sense, she studied the blade. This dyke's main weapon and true love is the long sword, but she's also passable with a rapier. The sword is, in her own estimation, pretty much all she's good for. That and her smoking hot bod and terribly charming sense of humor. 

"While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade." (Direct quote from the book). She's the most useless lesbian to ever exist, and she's obsessed with an absolute wet cat of a woman. Learned longsword mostly on her own and is such a genius with the sword she learned rapier in a few months (by personal experience, it's really really hard)

Most badass broadsword wielding lesbian easily slaying bone monsters and evil space wasps

The cavalier to her necromancer. very gay. in a complicated codependant lovehate relationship with the only other person her age she knew growing up.

For Adora:

Finding the sword kicks off the whole show. She transforms into a giant magic lady and is now in charge of saving everyone from the  big bag guys (which she used to be a part of). A bunch of stuff happens, but eventually her identity is now tied to having the sword. She is fully convinced that w/o the sword (and therefore She-Ra) she’s worthless. This culminates in having to destroy the sword or the world ends. She’s super depressed bc her whole self worth was tied to the sword and being she-ra. On the way to save her gf, she turns into way cooler she-ra (her own version of it that is not controlled by the sword which was made by her colonialist ancestors). Her sword is now part of her identity instead of her identity revolving around the sword. 

lesbian chosen one who was given a sword that activated her powers and made her into a living weapon, but she destroyed the sword to save her planet - and then made her own sword with her magic and saved the entire universe

[clickerpunk]

All summer there was a wasp nest inside the wall directly behind my pillow in bed that drove me fucking nuts. My only solace was knowing that they would die once winter came... literally 3 days after they stopped buzzing a bunch of mice moved in and im seriously contemplating just setting fire to the whole house at this point

[secretwhumplair]

Return

973 words | No Warrior (sequel to Passing winter)

Content | Referenced past trauma

Notes | Big decisions are made!

This is the end of the story, however, unlike with The monster of Lindborough, there are still a bunch of gaps I want to fill sometime :)

For now, this is it, though. I hope you like it! Friendly reminder I have a ko-fi, otherwise I'm also always happy to read you comments even if I'm bad at responding dfjkdkgjh <3

Taglist | @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @castielamigos-whump-side-blog​​ @whump-me-all-night-long @whumpadump1939​​ @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight

@whumpzone @angel-stars​​ @kixngiggles @whumpsy-daisies @yet-another-heathen

@rosesareviolentlyread @cupcakes-and-pain @hollowtreesinhollowwoods @pleasancies @much-ado-about-whumping

@nine-tailed-whump​​ @whump-em @itsleighlove @newbornwhumperfly @tears-and-lilies

@deluxewhump @whump-cravings @wolfeyedwitch @melancholy-in-the-morning @neverthelass

@whumpsday @silent-orchid-lady @everynameistakencarrots @scoundrelwithboba

»I want to go with you.«

This time, it was different. Everything was different, so much so Yves found it jarring he used the same words.

Runar had been right not to let him come last year, of course, he understood that with perfect clarity now; in truth, he had probably understood it then. But when last year, he had been fueled by fear — fear of what would become of him without Runar’s protection and care — as much as what little spark remained of his desire to fight for his people, now?

Now, everything was different.

Runar looked at him for a long moment. They were up at the cliffs, watching the sun set over the seas Runar would sail across soon.

He didn’t need Runar’s permission, really. He almost didn’t feel he did — he simply had to prove his valour like all who joined the warriors. But it seemed courteous to tell his lover first. They had been together — a couple — for months now.

»You’ll have to prove yourself,« Runar finally said, and Yves’ heart hopped at the way he didn’t argue.

»I know.« He smiled up at Runar, squeezed his hand.

»You’re sure, aren’t you?«

Yves nodded, his smile fading. This was a serious decision, and he couldn’t fault Runar for double-checking.

But to his surprise, after a moment, Runar started to grin. »It’s not fair to say I told you so, is it?«

»Heart of a warrior?« He had told him so. And Yves couldn’t believe it, not then. But perhaps it had been true all along.

He grinned back.

* All young folk who wanted to join the warriors had to pass a test of skill — they had to face one of the proper warriors in a fight, one on one. They didn’t have to win, strictly speaking. But all, and their opponent foremost, would judge if they could hold their own. It was a show the whole village came to watch.

It was agreed upon that there was no way Runar would be the one testing Yves. Yves agreed.

And yet Runar couldn’t help but wish it was him when he watched Signy approach him with that mad grin of hers. Some might argue she, too, was too biased in favour of the little thing, but from the way she pranced across the trodden-down grass within the marked circle, Runar had no doubt she wouldn’t be holding back.

Yet Runar knew these very thoughts were what made him so unsuitable. He could only watch, and hope Yves could handle himself as well as his sword.

It lightened his heart a little to hear the cheers from the crowd, as enthusiastic for Yves as for any of the younger kids born and raised here. Truly, this place had become Yves’ home, and even if he was found unfit to be a warrior — yet — he had a whole life ahead of him here.

Runar breathlessly watched the dull practice swords flash and clang, watched the swift steps of the pair on grass. He had watched Yves during his training a few times, and he knew how nimble he had become; he dodged and twisted, let Signy’s sword run off his like water, boldly shot forward like a little wasp.

Yet, Signy caught him on the thigh. It was a sharp hit, and Runar knew it must have hurt. He barely noticed himself jumping to his feet.

Yves scrambled out of the way; Runar couldn’t see his face, and he was desperate to know if he was overcome with the old fear, overwhelmed with memories-

Then Yves dashed forward, diving under Signy’s sword, and nearly got her back before she slid aside, experience and strength on her side. Runar shouted along with the cheers rising from the crowd.

It wasn’t much longer before Signy ended the fight, throwing an arm around Yves shoulder. »Yves!« she shouted, and the crowd picked up the shout, and Runar thought his heart would burst with pride, and with the wild happiness on Yves’ face.

* Yves felt his heart tremble — not with fear, not only — as the ship set sail, carrying him back.

He would go back.

With the sword waiting for him in the deckhouse.

For the moment, once the coast had disappeared from view and the last waves goodbye had been exchanged, there was nothing much to do. They were sailing before a favourable wind, and the new trainees weren’t on the first shift, so they could have a moment to smell the air and get a grip on the excitement fluttering in their hearts. Yves wasn’t much different… and yet, wholly.

He went to stand by the bow. The place brought back memories. Here he had cowered, a year and a half ago, desperate for a mercy he didn’t believe in.

Now, though, he got to look out across the waves the ship cut through under the expert guidance of the sailors, and smile when Runar took his hand.

»Are you alright?«

»Yes.« He watched the water, squeezing Runar’s hand. »It’s… I don’t know how… what it will be like. Over there.«

Runar hummed his compassion. »Whatever happens,« he said quietly, »I’ve got you. We’ve got you.«

»I know.« He leant against Runar. It was true.

The weeks at sea passed uneventfully; once the ship was becalmed for a few days, but not so long as to threaten their provisions; Brandr had taken to ignoring Yves wholly.

But eventually, a faint coastline appeared on the horizon.

The warriors not immediately occupied in guiding the ship towards a quiet beach where they could resupply, and start scouting, grabbed their gear.

Yves stood by the bow, between Signy and Runar, watching the land he had left behind become clearer.

His hand closed around the hilt of the sword Björn had made for him.

He was ready.

[allwormdiet]

Arc 9: Sentinel, Concluding Thoughts

Remarkably, an entire arc where the POV isn't Taylor Hebert is still a pretty bad time for those involved.

I like the Brockton Wards, mostly. Vista is by far my favorite of the bunch because she's cooler than all of them and also a middle schooler, and honestly that's super fucked up. I like Clockblocker, Weld, Flechette, I got a little annoyed with Kid Win being so down on himself but he was basically fine, and Shadow Stalker.

I'm sure we're going to get more Shadow Stalker in the next arc or two, unless they just bury her in wet cement next chapter which I kind of doubt, but I want it now because I am desperate to find out what the fuck happened to make her the kind of person who legit buys into alpha/beta crap to the point of murdering people over it. Taylor hasn't killed anyone yet and this entire serial is about how she justifies ever-increasing acts of violence to respond to problems caused in no small part by her previous acts of violence; Vista getting first blood before her is a fucking tragedy and Shadow Stalker having multiple kills notched is a horror story. I need this to make sense, and also if we can avoid more weird racist connotations in making sense of this that would be great.

Didn't love the Travelers fight, like I mentioned. The investment wasn't really there for me, there weren't really any stakes to it so the whole thing was just kind of a space filler.

Shocked that the Slaughterhouse Nine are being signposted as early as this, too. Not that I'd put it past them to be in the Bay within a month of Leviathan, but I continue to be surprised at Worm's pacing. I don't think I'm gonna love that part of the story but if I can hold my nose through every interaction with Coil, I can probably handle the Nine.

Vista is. Okay for real though, what the fuck is happening with the Protectorate/PRT and throwing this middle schooler into constant life-or-death situations. She was at Leviathan, which, okay sure, pull out all the stops when the alternative is complete annihilation, make the birthday girl kill a man to put fifteen seconds on the game clock while we're at it. She was at the Empire's murderous tantrum alongside other Wards and New Wave, which I guess is because she's one of the only heroes whose powers can keep up with all the flyers in the Empire? Still wild choice there. She was instrumental in the disarmament of Bakuda's magnum opus mega-EMP along with Clockblocker, and I know he's the big name for the team but why didn't they just put Armsmaster on that to tinker the problem away? I feel like putting EOD duty on the teenaged public figures is an incorrect call someone made. I'd love to find out who, and maybe throw pieces of brickwork at them while they have to hold still. Can somebody stop throwing this girl into horrific combat scenarios as a government-employed child?

I'm going to keep pointing and laughing at Coil though, because the man is literally only succeeding at his infiltration of the PRT because they're letting him, and now he's only going to have a Ward as his own personal mole because they're letting him. Man wants to control an entire city and the whole thing would collapse if a single government organization stopped letting him take Ws he thought he earned.

I want to read those summaries of the studies done on that Dallon-Pelham clan though. Desperate to know if whatever insane WASP nuclear family nightmare goes on in those homes leaked into the research papers.

And then yeah, looking back at the ambush with Sophia. I was really glad to see the squad again, honestly, and it's great to see them working together, especially to take down a killer gunning for their own. A little funny that Sophia prides herself so highly for being a hunter of men and she fell for a classic ambush without even blinking.

Guess we get to find out what that's all building up to in the next arc, eh?

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Had a dream where a muscular giant trans man just yoinked me and told me I had to be his wifey.

In the dream I was the healer in a group of superheroes and he whomped the whole team to snatch me.

Then he revealed they were a wasp hybrid and raped a bunch of eggs into me that I had to raise when they hatched.

Woke up really sad that it wasn't real.

[st-el-la-luna]

Okay but like, what's with fandoms and their recent obsession with "purifying" themselves and the content in them?

It's one thing if a content creator is outed as a pedophile or a racist or a xenophobe.

What I'm talking about is this newfound hatred towards dark fics and dark subject matter in general. It's like people don't understand that it's fiction. Fiction is not reality. Even if the writing is disgusting or amoral, it's not real. And you don't have to read it.

People have been writing weird shit for ages. So how come we only ever see these purity enforcers attacking fic writers or fan artists in fandoms?

Like, in the COD fandom I've seen a bunch of people getting hounded for posting or consuming dark content, I've also gotten a couple messages about it. And, like, hey buddy? Who really cares.

Fiction and reality are two separate things.

Also, why are you attacking me, a 20 year old who lives with their mom and writes for their ten consultant followers and not, oh, I don't know...

Stephen King, who has that whole underage sewer orgy scene in It.

Or the e creators of call of duty for creating literal propaganda. Because, hey besties, yes, that's what COD is. Propaganda. They want you to see it and be like, "yay, guns and the military!" And that's the thing about fiction. It's allowed.

The issue at hand is, in my mind, an issue of deeper reading comprehension or complex thoughts. And a lack of understanding of catharsis.

No one is saying these things are good. But these things exist in the world, like it or not. And in my mind, it's better to portray them in fiction than not at all. Because at least in portraying it awareness can be spread.

And again, if you don't like something, if it triggers you, just don't read it. It's simple. Like if you're watching a movie and can't stand blood so you cover your eyes not to see. You aren't going to go after the director are you? No. You're going to take steps to protect yourself against content you don't want to see or consume.

I think it's an issue of separating fan works from "real" works. Those who say fan art isn't real art or fanfiction isn't real writing. So perhaps in those people's minds, fan works, not being "real" means that they shouldn't portray things we see in reality.

All this to say here's a non-definitive list of novels with dark/disturbing content that these people would want to oppose:

It by Stephen King: The kids having an orgy in the sewers, child abuse, sexual abuse

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: pseudo-incest, hebephilia

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood: Women being stripped of rights, education, loss of bodily autonomy, forced breeders (at the hands of a government)

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

The Road by Cormac McCarthy: People keeping other people for food, people keeping women as breeding stock (at the hands of bandits in a post-apocalyptic world)

Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews: child neglect, child abuse, forced isolation, incest, rape

1984 by George Orwell: totalitarianism, government surveillance, insignificance and weakness of the individual

The Stand by Stephen King: sex, rape, ableism, abuse of handicapped people, violence and killing

Maus by Art Spiegelman: depiction of violence, concentration camps, Nazis, Nazi imagery, dehumanization, starvation, mass murder

Frankenstein by Marry Shelley: human experimentation, grave robbing, necromancy, technical necrophilia, murder, revenge, suicide

In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami: pedo/hebephilic relations, sex industry, murder

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy: graphic depictions of violence, use of slurs, child abuse, infanticide (? Been a while since I read it so I might be misremembering), pedophilia, rape, sexual assault and violence

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica: cannibalism, forced breeding, objectification, slave trade, people being bred and sold for meat

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess: sadism, sexual violence

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum: captivity, torture, torture at the hands of children, violence, sexual violence, based on a true story

Lord of The Flies by William Golding: shows the truth of human nature, dissolution of society and it's rules, violence as a basal instinct

The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade: sex, sexual violence, rape, sex trade, pedophilia, incest, abuse, literally just the whole book

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh: mental illness, drug use/addiction, infant death

American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis: violence, gore, rape, murder, torture, misogyny, sadism

A lot of these books, though considered scary and disturbing and gross, are also seen as classics.

It's not the fault of the author or the media they create, but that of the consumer.

You can find it icky and gross after reading or watching such things. Most of the time you're supposed to. That's a good thing, it means you're human. These things make you think and feel and emphasize.

To control what can and cannot be written is censorship. To control how certain things are portrayed is censorship.

Be aware of the media that's out there, because these disturbing things are real issues out there. And if you can't stomach it, don't consume it.

Simple.

[bob-the-cemetery-ghost]

[I'm starting to get a couple of asks about my perspective on the whole Wilbur situation. So... I'll just... Say it here :P]

[I will always support and side with Wilbur. Not because I like defending abuse, or manipulation or whatever it was. It's because I've seen so many people's lives get ruined because they were accused of something like this and they killed themselvs over it because nobody believe them. It's also because I've noticed EVERYBODY sides with the woman in the relationship just because its a woman and everybody "knows" that they "cant do any harm" which is really fucked up. I'm not exaggerating I AM QUOTING. As far as I know Wilbur is just being accusing of something and is being forced to play along because he knows what someone popular can do.]

[Now about the response Wilbur made, I wish I could say its forged but I doubt it. Even then, I've heard everybody say that he "never even said sorry" and that he didn't even care and made it about himself which, if you don't know, REALLY is not like Wilbur to do. He would always take accountability for his actions, yes, but he wont make it all about himself for fame and popularity. I say its forged but nobody can know for sure.]

[Also also. Wilbur says that "its normal for bugs to be in British households" when its really not. A British household rarely has bugs in it at all... I think. Even then that's only on the southern side of Britain and Wilbur doesn't really have a Southerner accent. Maybe a posh accent if any. But even then its mainly wasps and insects and an ant IS an insect but for an entire colony to infest an entire house is rare.]

[Also also also, I noticed that the person who made all of these accusations was smiling alot, a few times they hesitated and were moving a lot which are a bunch of red flags that they're lying. Not that I'm saying they ARE lying but it is a huge possibility since we live in a world where women like to lie and ruin lives just for the fun of it or just because the male partner didn't do a few things for a while. I also noticed that everybody instantly jumped and attacked Wilbur about this just because they have been shipped together. The third red flag for me was that Shelby THEN told everyone that is had been Wilbur the entire time and that he was doing all of these things he had been accused of. People used recent videos of Wilbur saying things to back up the accusations. Shelby revealed ZERO bite marks at all and barely explained how much they hurt or if she had any marks of biting at all, she also never said anything about any infections or skin breaks because if she was hurting so bad then the skin would atleast be punctured or have a bite mark for a little while. She showed ZERO sign of any marks and even then was wearing a bit of exposed clothing showing her arms and a little bit of her shoulders and saw no bite marks.]

[So my take on the situation, Wilbur is innocent and he's in danger of being accused of abuse being backed up by more woman. Even his friends are turning on him. I will always support Wilbur and no matter what I will always side with him.]

[onenicebugperday]

@forbiddenseason submitted: Found this cool wasp-looking beetle. I’d never seen anything like it.

Excellent mimicry! I can't tell you which species it is from this angle and without a location, but I can tell you that there are a whole bunch of species of longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) that mimic wasps :)

[aleielle-of-roshar]

Aleielle’s TES Species Lore (for their AU) for Those Who Have Like Zero PT. 1

Ft me completely redesigning the uh… iffy one from early days lol

Lilmothiit:

Lilmothiit were VERY against physical attachment to like, non individuals, thats why they only had two known cities. So much of their culture was built around secrecy and disappearing quickly and quietly- but also keeping their friends and familt close in safe. Each individual in fact had three names, their given, familial name by their parents- only used within those they trust, their ‘public’ name which is sort of decided on by the whole close community, snd their ‘secret or true’ name chosen by themselves- which makes it very very hard to track down an individual. Their culture has always been crazy accepting of trans and enby individuals because they view the shedding of the ‘false self’ like the unraveling of a greatly constructed but obviously false lie. Their secrecy is less ‘ooough scary secretive conniving’ and more like… the joyful playful secrecy of an acting troupe- but adapted to an environment that wants to kill them. May or may not also be because of some great trauma they’ve tried to forget but nobody will confirm nor deny this- but it certainly helps with grief when you eliminate most you’d grieve over from the occasion. though most settlements are easily moveable by choice- they mostly moved back into city during the wet / flood months. Buuut since the flu wiped a bunch out they’ve fled underground for the time being- since they kind of worried the other species’d take advantage of their weakness at the time.

Faun:

Fauns were- or their stories say- created by hircine (the god of the hunt) from the bones of both slain predators and prey- and they believe that they themself must uphold the natural cycle of the world at all costs- less so in y’know, the normal ways in some fantasies, but more like- if you cut down a tree for wood, plant another and fertilize its soil so that you gift those you took from with new life. Almost entirely obligate carnivores, but will chomp on grass like a cat or swallow a rock to help cronch up food lol. The reason why some have stories of them committing such ‘horrible’ violence (cough tying someone up, covering them in honey, then aggravating some wasps-) is because they are genuinely sickened by how utterly disrespectful most other sapient species are to the world- just destroying and conquering with zero care of what that will do the ecosystem- so they feel its only right to destroy those who do so- like how when there’s too much wolves in a forest and its killing off all the deer, sometimes special hunting permits are given out. And, in opposite to this, those they find respectful or genuinely willing to learn they eagerly take in and teach them their arts and whatnot- and y’know, not eat. All faun are the same sexe, do they just use they them since they aren’t really male or female. ANTLERS ARE LIKE SUPER IMPORTANT! Losing antlers apart from the yearly shed is basically considered horrific and individuals will make fake antlers to try to well… be less anxious about it? During events of great personal significance, individuals will make their own decor for their antlers (ie pushing through some mental stuff thats been plaguing them for years, marriage, healing from a really bad injury, that sort of thing). Unlike people seem to believe, they do have towns, they’ve just moved them all to hircine’s realms out of worry of what the humans or elves may do 🥲

Lamiae:

The first Lamiae (which in lore are all women and identify as such) were created by the egg mother (in lore thing that literally has nothing but a name) to protect her beloved waterways (they’re amphibians lol), and each subsequent viewed themselves as her daughters- alongside them was created ‘the great egg’ an artifact semi sapient but still technically an artifact- but during some event they refuse to talk about, and didn’t personally cause- the egg was shattered. It is pretty well known amongst them that all living lamia have a shard of this artifact inside them- and is the source of their powers- and it is also what leads them all to be sort of… knowledge horders? Yet at the same time they refuse to stray far from the waters they swear to protect. Their absolute honesty to eating others kinda makes other species look down on them, like, a lot- but they dont do this out of malice or ‘better then thou’ attitude, but because quite literally, each sapient soul consumed increases the consumee’s knowledge, and helps mend the cracks- in fact, they feel its an honour, and would be greatly offended if they weren’t consumed on passing. Otherwise they’re usually pretty chill- don’t hurt their eggs, or pollute their water ways- and they’ll leave you alone- but they will NEVER turn down an opportunity for a good riddle, or trade a powerful enchantment in exchange for knowledge they don’t know yet. Also like, magic lesbians so yippee 🤭. Buuuut the reason they attack other species so often is because they’e rightly pissed for being so frequently driven out of the lands they’ve lived on for centuries, and slaughter like rabid beasts.

AAAAND of course~

Igma:

The igma! Ugh, the igma- they had the potential to be something really cool in reallly early lore but they really just ended up being super racist 🤢. I mean come on! Baboon people? Sick! Anywho! The igma are like, super in tune with time- but as a result some of the more powerful grow downright insane by the passing of it- hence why there have been so many igma liches through history. Before the arrival of the elves they were one of the province’s greatest people- ever devoted to studying and predicting what was to come, and making sure anything horrible was prevented. They were great mages and doctors- and would help the others species buuut had a reputation of being kind of eh to deal with because of how blunt and straightforward they were, feeling that lying was useless because they sort of thought many steps ahead. Unsurprisingly, pretty keen worshippers of Jyggalag, the god of logic. Buuut upon the arrival of the ayleid elves (and the sort of coincidental disappearance of jyggalag), something they literally could not have predicted- a lot of them were killed or turned into well, living artwork like a lot of the other species of tamriel at the time 😔. Of course, the ayleids eventually fell, but the damage and absolute destruction could never outright be repaired. For better or worse they were no longer so utterly sure of themselves, and their philosophy switched more to living in the moment, and finding meaning in the littlest of things. In fact, a lot of the best philosophers and authors come from them. Lately the altmeri dominion has started a bit of a smear campaign against them, but the igma refuse to fight fire with fire, knowing all to well what violence lead to in the past. And are assured knowing that like past violent superpowers on the continent, this one will too fall. But at least, this time they have their uncertainty to defend them

I wanted an excuse to make Jyggalag worshippers lmao