#academics is kinda my jam

[gisellelx]

Twilight Advent Calendar, Day 5

Dec. 5 - What is each Cullen's favorite college major so far? What new major should they should try someday?

Masterpost/Prompts

Jake: got bored while Renesmee was in medical school. He started at what was at the time Paris Diderot in math, hoping to shore up for a Mechanical Engineering program eventually. He sidetracked into programming, and after he finished his short course, started working on Ruby on Rails. It feels a lot like working on cars, including the triumph of getting the thing running.

Renesmee: hasn't experienced multiple majors yet, so her medical studies are it. She wanted some distance from her grandfather's preference for trauma medicine (plus, she feels a little inferior in that her human half makes her a little less bright and a little less fast than her father or grandfather) and was originally headed for obstetrics until COVID hit. She's proud of having been able to be of such great use during the hardest parts of the pandemic, but like many doctors, she's burned out and is thinking about just straight up pursuing French literature the next go-round.

Bella: Also hasn't had lots of time to pursue many degrees but she worked her way through the content of a bachelor's degree while Renesmee was growing up in Forks, and then felt comfortable with Edward's offer to forge a transcript for her so that she could take an M.Phil at Cambridge in English Literature while Renesmee was in medical school. She's joked to Edward that she'd like to study neuropsych so that she can understand his messed up head better, but the longer this joke has been going on, the more she thinks she'd actually like to do it.

Jasper: loves history and has taken several degrees in it. He wanted to become a specialist in the American Civil War but he kept getting into fights with his professors (once the Cullens had to move because he was ranting so hard about what the Civil War was actually like that he tipped several people off). So he's actually an expert in the Almohad Caliphate and has two very obscure books on the topic published by almost unknown university presses. He also enjoys philosophy, especially Eastern philosophy, but has not done advanced work in it. He's the only person apart from Carlisle in the family to have published books.

Alice: took one one of her greatest challenges in hiding her vampirism to study dance under one of Balanchine's top students in the 1970s. She doesn't care much for formal education, but she's thought she might like to pursue a degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology the next time the family lives in the area.

Emmett: moved with Rosalie to Knoxville for a brief stint in the 1990s, where he studied kinesiology. Like Alice, he doesn't much care for the value of formal education, but he has a degree from the University of Tennessee and he's damn proud of it. If he does more than just hide in college sometime again, he basically just wants to go back there. In addition to Maria, he's a big reason the Cullens can't live in the southern US—they're afraid that if Emmett is within a reasonable run of Alabama or Georgia, he'll just go there and stir shit on behalf of the Vols.

Rosalie: is proudest of her medical training and how she can best Edward at it. But she also enjoys her mechanical engineering studies and is immensely proud of the things she's been able to invent thanks to them. She has been loath to study early childhood education, because she always thought it would make her too depressed, but after helping raise Renesmee, she's thinking that might be the next one she does.

Esme: most loved her M.Eng. in architectural engineering, which she received in the 1980s. While studying architecture felt challenging and transgressive because she was born in an era where advanced schooling at all for women was rare, it still felt enough like "art" to feel like something a woman should do. Architectural engineering, on the other hand, put her toe to toe with mostly men, and with her brains and her experience, she smoked them every single day. She was embarrassed for being so proud of it but Carlisle reveled in her joy and the way her success brought out an uncharacteristic braggadocio. She enjoyed the mathematics of it immensely, and if she did a new degree for fun, it might be in more theoretical mathematics. But the pandemic has opened up a world of opportunity for her for work (by @palmofafreezinghand) and she doesn't foresee that happening again soon.

Edward: would tell you his happiest time has been getting his two medical degrees of course, because he idolizes his sire. But in the 1940s, Carlisle shipped him off to Juilliard to study jazz piano. His mother had always wanted him to go there, and it gave him a great deal of peace to finally do what she wanted. After the pandemic, he's giving some thought to biochemistry, because he's seen the fact that he might actually be able to have an impact on the world like Carlisle does, and he's desperate to feel useful. (And he's suffering with anxiety about becoming an empty nester.)

Carlisle: mostly studies medicine of course and adores it, but his favorite course of study was his Ph.D. in musicology, specializing in the Baroque period. The book he published from his dissertation raised new questions about which compositions should be attributed to Bach and which should not and why won a first book award for its novelty, which was funny since he was mostly relying on his direct knowledge rather than his research.

His most meaningful degree, however, is his doctor of divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary. Like Edward, it was closing a loop of what his parent wanted him to do, but in it he found meaning and peace and closure he didn't realize he was missing.

[mothymoon]

I think it's kinda interesting how, while the Beasts are opposites of the Ancients, some feel like reflections to Ancients they're not directly related to.

Starting with the pair that feels most obvious, Silent Salt and Dark Cacao. Their designs especially seem similar with the armor, sword, and color palette. Silence also feels like it can be related to Dark Cacao's isolation during his previous arc.

This feels the same as with Pure Vanilla and Mystic Flour. Again with their color palettes, but also with their religious theming, both being obligated to help all those that seek their guidance.

Again, mostly similar vibe with these two. You could even argue that Destruction can be considered an extention of Passion in a way. These next pairs get a bit weaker with their comparisons, which is why I started with the strongest ones first.

My comparisons for Golden Cheese and Eternal Sugar come down to both of them having wings and some speculation I have. "Eternal" I feel could imply abundance, which may be a motivation for Eternal Sugar's slothfulness. It's possible they simply have all they desire, thus no longer having the will to do anything.

Lastly, for White Lily Cookie and Shadow Milk, the biggest point of comparison I have is that Shadow Milk Cookie's theatrical presentation could also be considered an extention of freedom (especially since it's implied that he used to be an academic). This is the one I really stretch the most with, I'd say.

Why do I bring any of this up? What I think about these possible links is that the Beasts reflect what each of the Ancients could become, if taken to their logical extreme. Also, with those that share their Soul Jams being their opposites (Pure Vanilla being truth and Shadow Milk being deceit, etc.), it can imply that each of the Ancients are each other's opposites as well. Opposites that mesh well enough despite it, anyway.

I'm bad at analysis, so do what you will with this. I don't know if this is anything. Implications and whatnot.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I restart an argument with a friend?

🌊⚓ <- so I can search for it.

So, a while ago, a friend was over and we talked. She is from South Germany while I am from North Germany, where we are both living (this'll be important in a sec).

I don't really remember why we were talking about the topic, but we started talking about regional dialects and sayings and then she called Low German* a dialect. Which tldr: big no-no. But I don't think she was being malicious, she just didn't know about the topic at all.

So naturally I explained: "You absolutely cannot call Low German a dialect to peoples faces around here. People will take offense to it. I don't really, because I consider the difference between dialect and language is arbitrary to begin with. But you will provoke incredibly unkind reactions from other people."

Her response was "Yeah but like. Doesn't everyone think their own dialect should be a language."

And... Idk why that one hurt but it did. It just felt incredibly dismissive. And I didn't really know how to respond other than "but this is the one case where it is true" which felt weird so I just. Didn't. We kinda moved on to other topics. But in hindsight, I really wish I hadn't?

Because I wish I had explained it in depth to her so she understands why what she said is considered unacceptable. But also for her own sake, because she will piss people off if she says the same thing to other people. And honestly for my sake so I can make peace with the conversation.

So I'm considering either finding a way to restart the argument/ conversation when we are together or go the cowardly route and send her a couple screenshots explaining the topic. But I also feel like restarting a fight we never really had and really doesn't matter is kind of a dick move.

Additionally I tend to be a person that corrects people when they are wrong and starts discussion way too much. Because in my family academic debates are a love language.** So I tend to reaaaaaally overestimate the amount of debating/ arguing people are comfortable with. They tend to perceive me as being upset with them while I am just having fun hashing out a topic from different angles.

So Tumblr. WIBTA?

Footnotes

* Low German is the regional language of North Germany. The definition of North Germany is actually pretty much "wherever they are speaking Low German". There is some controversy if Low German is a dialect or a language. Which like... People often describe it as closer to Dutch and English than Standard German, it's a recognised language in every state it is spoken in, it is recognized as a regional language in the fucking European Union WHY is it still controversial.

It is also very much an endangered language because in the past decades especially it has been looked down on as being "lower class". No that's not where the name comes from, low german is spoken where the terrain is flat/ low and high/ upper german is spoken where the mountains are. This attitude towards Low German is shifting a lot recently but it is entirely possible it's too late to prevent it from dying out.

** I felt like this part needed some clarification too. I can't count how many dinners in my childhood were spent eating while getting into the meat of whatever topic caught our attention. Politics or science or more spiritual stuff. Ask questions about things we were wondering about. Absolutely tear into each other when we had opposing positions, but concede when we were convinced. Oftentimes I'd get up to grab pen and paper, or demonstrate orbital dynamics with the jam container, a bowl and my plate, or use the butter as an impromptu drawing board.

But that doesn't mean we were fighting in the normal sense even if someone got upset occasionally. It was really just communicating with one another. It was connecting. Exercising our debate skills. Play-fighting but make it academia. It was genuinely fun to us and still is. An alternative outlet for sibling rivalry. There is no need to fight over the TV remote when you can just reason it out together.

So yeah. That's how academic debates can be a love language (and simultaneously absolutely destroy your conception of what is considered arguing).

[t0ast-ghost]

S3 EP20 (The Way To Eden) Space hippies? I love an episode where someone slightly annoying is on board

Yippee kyack or whatever:

- What. The costume designs here are. I’m not even sure

- Purple hair? I bet they have pronouns too

- CHEKOV LORE?!?

- Time to ask: What the fuck is happening (edit: record time)

- Where did Spock even come from? Kirk was talking to the group and he just walks over to Spock like Spock is just always there. When did he appear???

- Spock picking up on their behaviour and copying it in a way that will get them to respond positively

- The writers created a myth about a planet. And named the planet Eden. C’mon.

- when they just start chanting Herbet it’s like Kirk becomes instantly uncool. I think if a bunch of middle schoolers just started chanting a random name at me I’d cry

- “One of those… was in the academy?” What the fuck Kirk

- I can’t tell if this episode is going to be very against the group (like Kirk is right now) or if their side of the argument will be validated to some extent (I have a feeling they might be validated cause Spock understands them and also stated that they were academic) (edit: it was a secret third option)

- idk I like this photo

- The singing sounds so off from the images, it was most likely added in post production

- “Gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy, I got a clean bill of health from Dr. McCoy.” Goes kinda hard tbh

- NURSE CHAPEL YEAHHHHHHH. Hiiiiii

- That redshirt who looks at Chekov in the hallway is such a bitch for that look

- Kirk’s tits McCoy cracking the case. Good job👍

- Oh hi Sulu! Don’t join a cult !

- *sits down in chair and crosses leg over knee*

- Spock is so pretty ☺️☺️☺️

- Spock keeping his promise and finding Eden for the others even if the leader is a selfish prick

- We get to see Spock’s room again, I love Spock’s room, like why is there a stone statue water fountain in there? What is that?

- Chekov don’t tell her how the ship works. Do not divulge important information

- This is like the Star Trek tos musical episode, isn’t it?

- SPOCK Yes! Please play please please please please llssezz

- I like when it switches to the redshirts on the bridge just straight up jamming

- C’mon man. LOOK AT HIM

- HES JAMMING OMG SPOCKS JAMMING

- I need McCoy and Kirk to witness this

- Spock is done at the function. He leaves.

- “Adam, you know I reach you. I believe in what you seek. But there is a tragic difference between what you want and what he wants.” Spock really connects with them and it’s upsetting to see him have to witness them being misled

- At this point that guy is gonna blow up the ship

- Kirk doesn’t fuck around. If the door is locked Scotty’s gonna phaser through that fucker

- I can’t with Kirk’s faces rn

- I love the singing playing through the ship with everyone passed out, it’s such a perfect amount of eerie

- Kirk checking on Bones 🥹🥹🥹

- hiii McCoy hiiii

- I never noticed that the scanner could be uncapped and used as a healing device?

- Adam ate a pear lol

- I did NOT want to see that foot shot

- I like that Spock has such a soft side for the younger people in the show. Like he always has a sense of pride towards Chekov and cared so much about everyone in the group this episode

Thoughts are: Spock is good with kids, Kirk is terrible with kids, and McCoy is just himself always so there’s a reason he’s not a paediatrician but he’s still good with kids

Masterpost

Teleplay by Arthur Heinemann

Story by Michael Richards & Arthur Heinemann

[ladytabletop]

Do you have any suggestions for a two person letter writing games? I've seen a couple on itch but haven't ever tried one. One of my ttrpg friends moved states and we still play online but something physical and asynchronous could be fun

Oh heck yeah do I have recommendations for you.

If you want something setting-agnostic:

Ephemeron by ephemeron

It functions as a collaborative world building exercise between player/s and GM, in which letters and other ephemera are used to create and describe a world and a series of events that might transpire within it.

If you want something with romance (pining involved):

Empanel by Bogus Cheesecake

Empanel is a two-player narrative roleplaying game based around telegrams and queer yearning.

Beyond Reach by Annie Johnston-Glick

Beyond Reach is a two person play by post game about falling in love with someone unattainable to you. One player is a mech, the other their pilot.

If you want sci-fi generation ships:

Signal to Noise by LunarShadowDesigns (this is a personal favorite of mine)

One player takes on the role of the Explorer, one of the lucky few chosen to join the generation ship while the other takes on the role of the Earther, forced to stay behind as their companion departs the solar system.

The Wanderers by Adventure by Mail

YOU AND YOUR FRIEND wait to board two ARK-4 Civilian Class Shuttles charted for new colonies in the hinterlands of space.

If you want observers outside of time:

The Reaper's Almanac by Mitch Schiwal

The players will portray Reapers who write to one another after reaping a human in order to keep them alive in memory.

chronicle by A. Fell

The CHRONICLER documents a world, neither part of it nor detached from it. The WITNESSES find their artifacts some time later, and reflect, and remember.

if you want something specifically designed for messaging instead of mail:

When the Messages Began by Law of Names Media

You live in the dark. Or you did, until the computer came to life.

What's a Vaporwave? by fen slattery

One player is Casey, who kinda knows what vaporwave is. Another is Grandpa, who loves Casey and wants to understand their life. Played via text message.

and finally some miscellany:

A Response to the Esteemed Dr. Crackpot by Emily Jankowski

A game of academic squabbles for two or more players. Fight for your hypothesis in a series of responses published by one of the journals in your field. Defend your academic integrity at all costs. Everyone needs to know your rival is wrong.

Epistolary by En Sattaur

In Epistolary, the player characters work together to solve a mystery and prevent something terrible from happening.

Your Friend in Witchcraft by Kay Marlow Allen

One player will portray the Novice: you are new to witching; there are no other witches in your community who can advise you. The other player will portray the Expert: you're an old hand at witching, and have knowledge to share.

And if you need more to whet your appetite, you can check out the Step Up for the Postal Service game jam!

[thehallstara]

year in review

wanted to reflect on the things i've made this year. here goes nothing!

Games

ghost story is a point-and-click mystery made in unity as my final project for code coven's IGM course!! I genuinely think we managed a pretty solid concept and execution in two weeks, and if you like murder mysteries, this is for you!

lungs to burn is a short poem game made for the may 2023 bitsy jam, talking about wildfires, grief, and queer connection. featured in both indiepocalypse #43 and hand eye society's SUPERFestival. in general, the response i got for this one was kinda overwhelming (and a little confusing), but i'm glad it resonated with people! still very proud of it.

no postage required is another bitsy game, this time made for the trans game dev server jam. a somewhat-sequel to the end is near; or a letter to a lost love. there are definitely things i'd redo with this one but all in all, not too bad!

Zines

Kriah: a personal zine about some of my experiences with antisemitism over the years. definitely a heavy read but honestly i stand by it just as much as when i wrote it? idk as someone who has a lot of trauma from years of antisemitic harassment, this has been a WEIRD fucking year, and it's weird to revisit something i wrote at the beginning of the year that feels even more relevant now.

how to the hold the pain is a collage/web weaving zine i did for this year's blaseball zine jam, using blaseball narratives as a way to view crip theory and vice versa. i spent a LOT of time reading through articles for this (both academic and other) and every second of it was worth it. genuinely one of my favourite things i made all year.

Fic

i wrote a lot less fic this year than the previous two for a multitude of reasons but i still put out a few bangers!! here's a brief selection of my favourites:

swallow your guilt (blaseball, 13.2k), a story about the new seattle garages, the old chicago firefighters, grief, and finally growing up, all through the biased eyes of one baby "ruthless" triumphant

spectroscopy, or a snapshot of a light and that which it absorbs (blaseball, 2.6k), the coda to my bright zimmerman series. i technically wrote this in the fall of 2022 but posted it in march so it still counts.

somewhere there's a fire burning (rogue one, 1k), a character study of bohdi rook between the destructions of nijedha and scarif. my first non-blb fic! and still a banger imo

i play dead, come alive (hatchetfield, 12x100), character study of stephanie lauter during the events of npmd. now officially my most popular fic and honestly i'm good with that!!! i think it's a solid little fic.

just all of corona borealis. i did some good stuff about grief and growth this year y'all.

the back half of this year was mostly filled with portfolio updating, job hunting, and just generally struggling with everything lol but!!! i still made some cool stuff and am hoping to get more back to making stuff next year! it's where i feel most at home. have fun checking these out if you do!

[wishmaker-astra]

// replying to the tags abt moves n stuff, can you like. elaborate on that hc? im trying to wrap my brain around “types are a purely descriptive classification system that the academic community generally agrees is incorrect”.

//Ok, so, you know how scientific classification of species has the various levels of clade/taxon? And they occasionally get reshuffled based on new discoveries?

//It's similar with types in Astra's universe. And in stages similar to when it was based off of taxonomy instead of cladiatics. They're being forced to group things off of observed impact and effects of/on attacks and similar instead of a clean system. "These two animals are in the same genus because their skeletons look similar" kinda deal

//It's similar with abilities.

//The easy to understand smoking gun proving they're incorrect is Salazzle. The ability arbitrarily letting them poison steel types is a hastily made bandaid to try and jam them into the existing system.

//Science just flat out is in the middle of an academic slapfight trying to resolve this and propose a more coherent replacement. In the meantime the old system is still taught as it's "good enough" for everyday usage by trainers

[andorerso]

Sissi, please satiate my very academic curiosity about your two OCs Dani and Elijah because I've seen you tag them on some very omg-thats-my-jam dynamics.

Like I need details. Whats their story? Do they hate each other and then oh-shit-regrettably-its-u hate-fuck in some Boston bar? Like I already have headcanons for them, we neeed moore 🥺

me seeing this ask in the morning

they're honestly one of my favorite OC ships, like top three AT LEAST. and honestly? hooking up in some Boston bar is not unimaginable! like you're not very far off at all and I love it 🥰 please tell me more headcanons *chin in hands*

you might regret asking me though because I have a looooooot to say! so much to say. too much, you might think 😭 but they have a long story, and I couldn't give them justice if I condensed it, so I think I'm gonna put this under a read-more

okay, so important context first: the setting is urban fantasy with magic and different sorts of monsters but the twist that it's all out in the open and the world has known about the existence of these paranormal things for a long while now.

Dani's in her mid-20s (around 25-27 at the start) and she has this the devil may care attitude with some serious abandonment issues (because her family situation is complicated and not the greatest). She's very rarely had real connections with anyone, whether platonic or romantic, so it makes her very lonely and basically the only person she's close to is her brother. She will pretend she likes it that way but I mean... she clearly does not. She's also a licensed monster hunter, but while most of her family on her mother's side, including her brother, were/are witches, she's got no magic of her own. So it makes her kind of an outsider even in her own family.

And Elijah isn't human. In fact, he comes from a different dimension altogether so he's a something but no one knows what yet because his kind hasn't really been seen ever before and people just don't have a name for it. He's a couple hundred years old which is old in the human sense, but not so much for their kind. Kinda early 30s in appearance. Elijah technically isn't even his real name but it's his human name and what he goes by for the entire story. His dimension is sort of splintering apart at the seams and his kind are dying by the millions so many of them started seeking refuge in other worlds, including our world. Of course they all have different attitudes towards humans, some think they should be peaceful and co-exist, some think they should just take over and subjugate humans, and some think that co-existence IS optimal but they don't think very high of humans regardless and don't really want to interact much. Basically like "you're just a small ant and I'm better than you in every way but I don't hate you so I guess you can stay." Elijah falls more into that category at the start, although he's actually curious about humans, but he's following his mentor's lead who's kinda like a father figure and the person who leads the group he came over with.

So anyway, Dani gets tangled up in this whole situation as she's one of the first person to actually see and interact with one of the others. You could kinda say they're enemies because Elijah's super loyal to his own people, and Dani's very skeptical and distrustful of them. But most of all, she really doesn't trust Elijah's mentor and that obviously creates some tension between them. So they start off on the wrong foot and they really can't stand each other first. It's a lot of unfair assumptions and prejudices basically, and they're both guilty of it. But they also clash simply because of their personalities.

Elijah's calm, collected, reserved, a bit cold some would say, he doesn't show much emotion and is entirely too serious for his own sake. Dani's more laidback and fun and likes to hide her pain with stupid jokes. She's also very much ruled by her emotions so she's hot-tempered and prone to make hasty decisions that often result in bad consequences and Elijah just. does not vibe with that. At all. There's definitely attraction from the start tbh but it's a "fuck, why them, I cannot stand them" kind of attraction. The "I think you're hot and I'm annoyed about it" kind of attraction.

They do become friendlier as time goes on and they find common ground and realize that they may not be so different after all. During this stage, only a few months after meeting, they actually end up sleeping together at a low point in both of their lives. It's one of those "you're here, I'm here, let's just make each other feel alive" kind of things. But because this is absolutely a slowburn, the next morning Dani's like "you know that was just a one night sort of thing, right?" because she does fool around with people often so it's nothing new to her but Elijah does not, isn't used to this, so he's like "uhm... yeah of course." But internally he's kinda spiraling about it. They don't talk about it, but ofc they're thinking about it.

So as time goes on, they end up becoming really close as friends and literally everyone's shocked about this development but they just... see each other, you know? They get each other in an instinctive way that no one else does. Elijah's absolutely in love with Dani at this point but doesn't really understand what he's feeling so he never does anything about it, just pines from afar, and Dani's sort of still in the denial phase (plus you know, the whole "he's my best friend and I don't really have a lot of people I'm close to so I can't lose him"). Dumb shit, obviously.

There's a jealousy sideplot at some point because I like them but it's not a love triangle because I hate those. It's basically just more of Elijah pining to be honest. Lots of angst because that's just how I roll. Over time, there's like 2 or 3 incidents when they actually kiss (I could even see another one night stand at some point, it depends) but they always pull back or change their minds or something happens outside of their control and it just never ever goes anywhere. At this point, Elijah loves her and realized it, but he's actually kinda content to be just her friend. He's okay with loving her from afar because he doesn't really think it possible to be with her for real, and it's very sad.

Dani, on the other hand, is the opposite. She has also accepted the fact that she loves him and she does not want to be just friends. At some point, they have one of those heated arguments that end with Dani, finally too frustrated with this thing between them, blurting out that she loves him, and Elijah for his own reasons (he has a lot of shit going on) pretty much ignores it and pulls away from her. It's like "this is best for both of us, I'm trying to protect you" blablabla, it's stupid and although they technically remain friends, their relationship is very obviously strained because Dani doesn't forgive him for it. Like the girl can absolutely hold a grudge, but also this is probably the time he hurts her the most, so understandable. I mean you gotta know that this is the first time she said those words to anyone that isn't her brother, and she feels rejected, feels like doesn't love or want her, feels kinda worthless because he's an immortal being from a different dimension, ofc he doesn't want her, why would he, and she feels incredibly angry that she still loves him despite all that. It’s a cycle of self-hatred and resentment, and then all that, along with some other things, pushes Dani into spiraling and she has a brief evil arc, and that's another thing preventing them from being together. (She's pretty mean to him during this era but he's also one of the things that brings her back to herself so you know... fun stuff!)

Anyway, they do get together eventually. I'm undecided on this part because idk what works better yet. One possibility is that one of them, probably Elijah, shows up at her door before a big battle that's gonna happen and confesses and they spend the night together knowing it might be their last night alive. The other possibility is that one of them, probably Dani gets hurt during the battle and Elijah confesses while she's bleeding out in his arms. Either way, they don't expect to survive so they finally come clean, and then... they survive. So now they gotta actually confront this for once.

They decide to give a relationship a try, but it doesn't end well the first time. Sure, they're happy and disgustingly in love for a while but neither knows how to be in a relationship because neither have experience. So as soon as something comes along to shake their foundations a bit, the whole thing crumbles. The following crash and burn might even be the angstiest part of the story, idk. I'm gonna be honest, the end does get a little fuzzy, I haven't fleshed out everything yet. I know I want there to be a temporary character death at some point because I know it's cheap but I live for that stuff. So Elijah dies, probably while they're still broken up, and Dani definitely goes a little feral and sets out on an impossible path to bring him back. The good stuff. He comes back, they reunite, etc. I don't wanna say everything's perfect after that because they still gotta work on their issues, but they have a happy ending and that's what matters.

Tropes include but not limited to: slowburn, mutual pining, it was always you, battle couple, hot-headed & level-headed, unhealthy codependency/mutual obsession, soulmate coded, opposite sides of the same coin, not even death can defeat us, anguished declarations of love, sad people growing an intense connection from shared trauma, grumpy character who only smiles for love interest

Songs that remind me of them: 

Remember to Remember Me by Isak Danielson - this one is pretty angsty, but it really fits a certain period in their story and every single time I hear it, it makes me think of them

An Evening I Will Not Forget by Dermot Kennedy

Evermore by Taylor Swift ft. Bon Iver

The Alcott by Taylor Swift ft. The National

Love Like Ghost by Lord Huron

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

(Dani also has a playlist that she made for him even when they were just friends and it's super secret and she's kinda embarrassed about it but she does end up sharing it with him later when they get together. Fun fact, I did actually make that playlist on Spotify.)

Other trivia tidbit that I like but couldn't fit into elsewhere: Dani's full name is Danielle and she HATES when people call her that. Her parents used to do it when they were angry, and her brother still does it to mess with her or when he's disappointed with her. So no thank you. Except if it's Elijah. Other people say it in anger or admonition but Elijah says it out of sheer devotion, and she's very into it.

I could also like... make moodboards if anyone's interested? Or even if no one's interested...

[mywifeleftme]

274: Nap Eyes // Whine of the Mystic

Whine of the Mystic Nap Eyes 2014, Plastic Factory (Bandcamp)

Can’t speak to the sound on the original 2014 pressing of this guy from Plastic Factory Records, but the 2015 Paradise of Bachelors/You’ve Changed edition sounds pretty revelatory to me—kudos to the folks at the plant, and to Mike Wright and Peter Woodford for the mixing and mastering. Talk about Nap Eyes tends to quickly descend into the Nigel Chapman show—the vocalist’s laconic cadences and ambling lyricism offer plenty of grist for a critic to chew on, but here on the LP the rhythm section is mixed loud and way up front so that the insistent throb of Josh Salter’s bass becomes as difficult to ignore as the pounding of your own pulse in your ears when you’ve run too hard. Whine of the Mystic was recorded at Drones Club in Montreal back in 2013, which is basically just a none-too-large loft apartment in my current neighbourhood where they do raves sometimes, and the record sounds just like listening to the boys play while wearing good custom-fitted ear plugs. That rawness does a band who can flirt with a nutritious beigeness a lot of good—the guitars singe and flare, the amps sizzle, and the feeling of this band as a slack psych live force comes through.

I’ve been a huge fan of Nap Eyes since I caught them in Ottawa back in 2014, and people generally dig them when I recommend the record (with the exception of my pal Meghan, who despises them with the grumpy exhaustion that comes of seeing a band you don’t like constantly opening for bands you do). As such, Whine of the Mystic has been with me through a lot—the best songs (like “Dark Creedence,” and the last four) make a shimmering soundtrack to existential hangovers; walking toward some workaday Calvary in the rain; handrolling cigarettes badly; pining for girls if only to keep in practice; not getting a master’s; being 27 as hell for many years. It’s full of little touches that still delight me, like when they kinda morph into the Proclaimers for a bridge on “The Night of the First Show,” or the way the raincloud pacing of “Dreaming Solo” finally cracks open into the most amiable outro jam imaginable.

Giving your record a punny name is a risky choice, and as a phrase Whine of the Mystic skirts the edge of dorkiness. But in the end, I come down on it as an apt synopsis of the album’s charms. Chapman’s plaints linger on the humdrum, yet they paint the experience as intoxicating, Halifax as the backdrop for an ancient mystery cycle that repeats itself wherever life’s taking place. It brings to mind an exchange from Louis Malle’s The Fire Within, a superficially dull but emotionally feverish movie I haven’t thought of in ten years. The main character, a suicidal alcoholic who feels drained by what he perceives as the world’s absence of meaning, talks to an old friend, who has settled into a steady life as an academic and a husband. I don’t remember much of what they talk about, besides this:

Alain Leroy: Dubourg, what will you do tonight? Dubourg: Tonight, I'll write a few pages on my Egyptians, then make love to Fanny. I fall into her silence as into a well. At the bottom is a great sun that warms the earth.

All life is quotidian, but the primal and transcendent lies within that quotidian life, if you can truly immerse yourself within your own. Good luck.

274/365

[talenlee]

Game Pile: Root (Video)

Root — Mastery Depth And Material Demands

Watch this video on YouTube

Thumbnail and script below the fold. The script is in part based on this article and this article.

In 2018, the board game Root was released by Leder games, to a sort of confused, but very enthusiastic ‘hooray!’ Based on earlier successes by the same developers (and some weird, contentious ‘hey, you copied my notes’ complaints), Root is an asymmetrical war game, where in the base box, you have four factions competing with one another to try and take control of a nonspecific woodland glade. Each faction, the game promised – and delivered – are different; not the same rules with a few different units, but entirely, meaningfully, complicatedly different in how they relate to one another.

Lauded for its emergent complexity and its charming aesthetic, Root is one of those games that quickly became institutional; multiple expansions, fan merchandise, an RPG in the setting, all that stuff that signalled people are into your game, the base board game Root is probably one of those recent classics. It’s kinda funny to talk about in hindsight, to revisit these words from years ago because like, Root isn’t even the biggest Cole Wehrle game, and its weird early start is now just a footnote, certainly compared to his work on Pax Pamir. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just know that each of these things I’m mentioning is worth an article unto itself.

Root, the board game is a lot of game. As kickstarter products go, it’s one of those games that absolutely jam-packs the box with stuff, and it’s not even like that’s a bad thing in this case. While I will regularly dunk on kickstarter board games for making tons of pieces that are unnecessary — looking at you, Kingdom Death Monster. Root is a game whose meeples and cards and board and all the tokens and reminders are there to serve a purpose, and then maximise their charm and value in that space. The copy of Root I’ve handled – which isn’t mine – is very present in its mass. It’s a really, really charming game, and the game you get is very rewarding per-kilogram price. While normally kickstarter games with a lot of good material components are secretly miniature distribution venues with a board game attached, Root is using every gram of its materiel.

I never wanted to buy Root, though.

Look, Root is amazing. Don’t take me saying that as a mark against it. Games aren’t inherently valuable, you don’t just automatically want them for any reason. Any given game’s value should be considered in what it offers, and that’s kind of why we talk about games like this. To complain about Root the board game is to pre-emptively make excuses about why you don’t like it, it seems. Root is a game that doesn’t fit my life, and the reason why is kind of specific.

What it is is what I refer to as mastery depth.

Mastery Depth is a term I used when talking about Century: Golem, then realised I may have never mentioned it anywhere before. I mention it from time to time, and then don’t explain myself, which is a great example of bad academic language. Here’s the concept, then: Mastery. The ‘put it in a single sentence’ version of Mastery looks like this: Mastery is the way the game is affected by having already come to understand the game.

That’s a small sentence, it’s reasonably simple words. Like any simple phrase in games studies, it comes with weight that makes it feel challenging to properly handle. Let’s dig into it, then: For pretty much every game, previous experience playing the game makes the game easier to play. Sometimes that’s just a matter of learning the rules more thoroughly, so you don’t need to look things up. Sometimes it’s about knowing what you should prioritise in the game, after the rules present them to you as a big wave of equal stuff.

Mastery depth is a way to look at a game in terms of how much of what a game does that rewards players with more or less mastery. Is there a game you can think of where there’s a particular dangerous situation that can come up and you need to know how to recognise it? What about the way we see Chess, a game with a variety of ‘openings’ that require learning a new language to understand? Mastery is how you recognise those things. A game that rewards mastery often rewards playing with mastery – games like Dungeons and Dragons are mind-blowingly complex, but as you master them you learn how to stop caring about unimportant details, and learn ways to build the game to get the outcomes you want.

A lot of games get called ‘bad’ because they lack mastery depth, and some are ‘bad’ because their mastery depth has a hard limit. Connect Four and Tic-Tac-Toe are games that once you understand them enough are solved, and the person with sufficient mastery knows the way the game will go and wins it. By comparison, though, there are some games where it’s hard to tell different levels of mastery – you can look to the intricate and complex development of Magic: The Gathering, where asking a computer to calculate ‘best plays’ in any given situation is brain-explodingly difficult.

Bear in mind what players need to know, how much they have to play, and if your game needs mastery or rewards mastery, and if you’re okay with that. Mastery is fun! I love games with a lot of mastery depth… but I’m also learning to love the games that are a bit less likely to reward you for a long-term plan.

I’ve been thinking about this these past few years as the weird uncle watching my family’s relationship to games changing. There was a point where games had to be almost universal, players need to be playing with the same pieces and information had to be open so I could help maintain the game state for the young kids trying to play. But then things developed and evolved and now I’m at the point where they’re playing complex games like – well, Magic: The Gathering. What this means is that I’ve been familiar now with a really interesting experience of watching a playgroup evolve in real time over the past few years.

It’s heartwarming and honestly really cool. It taught me a lot about ways that these ‘simpler’ games could be engaging in different ways. King of Tokyo and Century Golem are two games I would never have sat next to one another but their mastery depth is very similar, and the games you get to play out of both one are both really good. And this idea, Mastery Depth, is at the Root, ha Ha, of my reasons for not wanting my own copy of the great woodland war game.

This is a game with four factions, each of which play explicitly very differently and do their own unique form of play, which means that you need players for that. This isn’t a game I can take to a family gathering and sit down and play once or twice a year with my mum and nephew. This is effectively four separate games in one box and each of those games interacts with one another, and those interactions are complicated. In order to play this game, everyone needs to be aware of how their faction plays and how to play it right, to just make it function, and then they need to understand what’s important to that function to play it well.

Basically, this is not a game for ready sharing, this is a game for playing and replaying with a small group of people who want to play it again and get better at it. This is not to say this game is not a game for people like me: I love the complexity, I love the systems of the game, and I love the ways they give you choices for how you engage with the game. Yet, this is not a game for a person like me.

This is a game for four people like me.

I don’t have four people like me.

Root needs table space, too, of course. This game sprawls out and it needs a gutter to play around so you can put your player card somewhere and your hand and keep track of what’s going on. I do not have a big, clear, open table for playing board games. When I do have access to big tables, it is often at the University, or it is at my parents’ – and my parents have dining tables that have other needs.

Point is, Root is a game that asks of me materially in ways I cannot give it; I cannot give it the players, and I cannot give it the space.

<videogame footage starts>

This is where I get to point to good news, everybody, because Root has a digital version on Steam. and that good news is extremely good news. See, to my absolute shock and delight, Root on Steam is pretty much everything you’d want out of a digitised version of the game. It is visually charming, with lovely models and animations that do not carry the same aesthetic character as the meeples the board game does, but still convey the tone of the different factions.

As a digital game, Root melts away a lot of the things the game does that you need to pay attention to and process and handles them for you. You do not need to shuffle, the deck of cards is not a thing you look at – it’s just that at the end of your turn, cards appear in your hands. You do not need to look over at other player’s boards or ask them to calculate their Victory Points for you, because those are presented on the interface itself. Information is brought forwards as necessary and you are given room to inspect the game in the ways the game recognises you need to.

It’s also quiet: You do not have to communicate with the other players if you don’t want to. For random games of a board game with strangers, this seems like a bad thing, but you have to remember that the videogame community and board game communities are not necessarily dealing with the same problem. Videogame players can use the videogame plateform to quell anxiety, and to not have to talk to people or make sure they’re managing the rules correctly (and avoiding a socially awkward fight at the table) can be a delight. The game handles asymmetrical play – where you can turn up, play a turn, then log off for days at a time if necessary.

Is it a strict upgrade? of course it’s not. To talk about these games as if they’re comparable versions with a better or worse misses the point. Root is a beautiful game that’s very complex, hard to manage in your house, and challenging to find players for, which means for me, it’s strictly superior to have Root on Steam.

But you know what will never happen?

My partner will never wander by the computer while I’m playing Root, look over my shoulder, and say ‘oh, that’s cute, can I join in?’

I will never be able to take a meeple from the box of this and use it in another game for an impromptu bit of house ruling.

When the servers shut down, I will lose access to this copy of Root and have no way – literally no way with my current skillset – of changing that.

If I don’t plan on playing Root this month, I won’t be able to hand it to my friend Pendix and say ‘hey man, give this a shot with your partner for a few weeks, see what you think.’

The ways we structure our relationship to games change based on how we play them. Root has a digital version that solves so many of its problems, and let me play the game with some people I really care about. Opening those pathways limits others, and that means that as with many such things it’s a compromise. In a lot of ways, it’s best not to think of Root the board game and Root the digital game as just the same game, but rather, two asymmetrical factions in the same space, competing for your attention in different ways.

Root as I said up, in the top, a really charming game, a game that I like and that doesn’t serve my needs a lot. But now I have a version of it I can always play with one of my friends. We can even play with the expansions very cheaply. For this reason I give Root a score of Friends/10.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[hmuyassar]

ini draft sebenernya udh disusun dari tahun lalu ya, sebulan sebelum wisuda. Tapi beginilah akhirnya baru dirapikan lagi pas momennya tahun baru. Mumpung ada momen, pikir saya. Semakin ketunda hanya akan semakin berdebu. 

---

I’m not one that gives meaning to milestones -kinda. Being the last child, I observe the milestones of my siblings, thus for me those moments are things that will eventually arrive for everyone. Birthdays, graduations, works, new families, end and new years, meeting and parting. Not even when I finally spent time studying abroad, a dream I once had. I think of it as just another passing day. 

I wonder though whether it's really because I don’t care or it’s just not special enough. Then I turned 23, graduated and started my first work on the same day, the 1st of November of 2022. It's supposed to be a bit special, isn’t it? 

I started thinking that I never had a proper appreciation for my younger self. Although the phase I’m currently in is not actually colourful, I just painted the past with dark by leaving it and not looking at it properly. 

So here it is, small gestures of appreciation buat himmah-himmah muda.

Congrats buat Himmah SD yang sudah beradaptasi dengan rumah dan lingkungan baru. Bertahan di rumah besar yang kosong ketika kakak-kakak sibuk dengan tugas belajar dan kerja memang ga mudah. Mengulang berkali-kali buku dan cerita yang sasarannya bukan untuk usiamu di goa perpus itu mungkin satu satunya caramu untuk melupakan gelap dan sepinya ruangan lain. Kamu bahkan bisa sesekali membantu bapak ketika sedang gaptek dengan laptop, dan melihat langsung bagaimana konsistennya bapak untuk belajar dan beribadah memasuki masa tuanya. Semua itu menjadi bekal wawasanmu untuk berpikir dan melihat dunia saat ini.

Selamat juga untuk Himmah SMP, 17 Juz hafalan Quran dengan konsisten juara umum maupun harapan di hampir setiap MHQ semesteran sangat butuh perjuangan. Begadang untuk ujian tahfidz, bangun ketika orang tidur dan tidur ketika orang bangun, nangis ketika entah ujian hafalan atau MHQ kebanyakan salah, keeping up the good-girl behavior since banyak nama yang ada di punggungmu haha, serta ga berpuas diri dengan akademikmu sampe nutup telinga dari apa kata orang dan struggle buat jadi satu-satunya yang lulus IC dari sekolahmu ketika itu. Well, I think you’ve done great, seriously. 

Err, should I talk about high school too? why do am I getting traumatized instead wkwk. Sepertinya aku dan kamu belum sepenuhnya berdamai haha. Good job on being called to the graduation stage twice. A long headpat juga buat liburan-liburan yang kamu korbanin sampe selesai hafalan di rumah tahfidz. Bisa nambah satu halaman baru setiap setengah jam, ujian kenaikan juz tiap tiga hari sekali dan dapet empat juz selama dua minggu adalah suatu kebanggaan yang ga bisa lagi dilakukan dengan kapasitas dirimu yang sekarang:”. You know we’re gonna have a loong writing for what happened each year in the school, and for that I’m gonna give you a big hug. The least I should say is, maintaining the mindset of ‘finishing an educational level as it should be’ is an excellent job. You actually had the choice (or the risk? wkwk) of moving out, but you've never actually seen it despite the fear, reality, as well as the social and academical drama you met.

You should be proud of your gap year. I honestly think it’s the most productive year of your life. Kamu dihargai sebagai santri kelas bahasa arab terbaik, bisa ujian murajaah 15 juz, got higher IELTS score than your brother (yeah, lol), accepted in some universities abroad, and even diligently stimulating your brain by attending those seminars almost every Saturday. Bertahan dengan kejenuhan, konsistensi dan komitmen terhadap tujuan selama setahun ketika kamu sebenernya cenderung buat melenceng kemana-mana is a great work indeed. You even found some precious answer on your own while facing your great fear. I wonder, are we really the same person? You make me believe that I actually have those sides and that I can maximize my potential if I really want to. 

Buat Himmah yang udah lulus kuliah? belum ada haha. Kayaknya belum bisa lebih objektif untuk mengucapkan selamat dengan tulus. Mungkin nanti, 5 atau 10 tahun lagi, kalau masih dikasih kesempatan hidup. So, keep struggling until then.

Each milestone surely taught me something, but If I want to talk about it then I will get the spotlight instead of you guys. So, no. Here is another message for you;

Engga, krisis eksistensial kita ga kelar-kelar. Ha. Berubah situasi dan kondisi, sebab dan akibat, mungkin iya. But basically you still like to brood over it and sink into your own world. Hal yang mungkin berubah adalah, you now accept it as part of your journey. Mungkin ga akan pernah selesai, mungkin ga akan ketemu suatu kesimpulan. Satu titik kamu merasa sudah dapat jawaban bukan berarti kamu ga mengalami atau menanyakannya lagi di kemudian hari.  

And that’s okay, we live on with it.

Sincerely,  

your 23-y.o.-self.

[balthazarslostlibrary]

13 for the edgy OC ask game (for all three!)

Oh boy, this is an interesting one

13. If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?

Yulia Maybe a little, we share a fascination with the academic, but Yulia is incredibly jaded and basically thinks that no positive political change is possible, and you may as well just be a parasite and look out for yourself. I cannot stand this kind of person lmao.

Phaena Probably. She's very intense and kinda broody, so it would be hard to actually hang out for any period of time, but I feel like we could have interesting conversations about philosophy and spirituality. I would also find her interesting to talk to and learn more about her religious order.

Dmitri Idk. He's a little pious for my taste I guess, but I feel like we could have a lot of fun playing chess or having a jam session on guitar. He's definitely the kind of person to get quite competitive at board or card games, which is very much like members of my family, so I think the ideal hang out with him would be at a dinner/board game night.

[iworshipsappho]

Hieee

How have you been?

hiiiii things havent really been all that well in honesty :'))) other than the Guy situiation which i dont even bother with anymore there was some class behaviour shit that we had to hash out these last two days (and i kinda might have fucked up as a friend and i havent had time to go talk to my counsellor bc my schedule's been jam packed so im trying my fucking best to juggle academics and emotions ykn being a teenager ahahahah)and coming monday idek whats gonna happen and we had to write 5 exams in 3 days so im kinda like drained on all fronts hence the incredibly inactive me these last few days lmaooooo so yeag its kinda shit but w persevere

it was my brothers birthday 2 days ago tho and that was fun i had good food and exams got over and idk man lmao

and i think @elblorbo is coming over tmrw so thats smth to look forward to

and ooo i had 3 hours of cricket today so my body is pleasantly tired so yay

[bogwitchmediaconsumption]

Far Sector - 2021 Comic

alright so my friend loved this author in high school, found this patrolling the graphic novel section at the library and gave it a whirl. it's... i don't know how to describe it. It's good. It's got a lot of really good things going for it. but it also just feels very... cold. overly academic, almost. like, unlike some other stories, where i love the characters but can't really find a thesis in the work, i can absolutely find the thesis here i just... don't care about it that much. they're talking about the emotion exploit every 5 seconds, the whole plot revolves around it, lack of emotions here, lack of emotions there, it colors every meaningful character interaction. it's like hbomberguy's point about deus ex. like they've got their point, and that's one thing, but literally everyone you see and find is talking about it. there's nothing else going on but that. and i find jo's adventures in romance in here... odd. like she's kinda interested in the councilor because he's taking the emotion drug and that's fine, and she decides she isn't interested in him long term and that's fine also, but the way they go about her being interested in syzn at the end just feels awkward. like they hint at a sort of unresolved romance between the two a lot throughout the story, but we never really see them react beyond business/plot conversations, nothing but conflict between them for like, 95% of the story. and then they're just back to kissing and holding hands? it's not very satisfying, narratively. all that said, this is still fun and pretty well-written, jo is a very fun character to follow because she smashes and brawls only when she has to; letting her deal with conflict scenarios and pushing forward social progress through talking and shit is really great. and the art is just awesome, front to back. detailed, lively, interested, very fun to look at, jo materializing a columbo coat for when it's raining especially tickles me for some reason. so yeah, if you're super big on nk jemisin as an author or you've actually read green lantern comics before this(unlike me) this might be more your jam but it's just pretty good to me, i think.

[lifesfeelings]

Mixed Feelings

So, the other stuff I wanted to write about was a lot more academic focused. First, I want to say that I came here wanting to hate this university so bad 😅 It was originally near the bottom of my list of programs that I was interested in and it’s one of the closest to my home town which I kinda was excited to leave leave ya know? But, I think this recruitment event might have totally won me which I absolutely HATE! At first, I was hating this event. I was the only prospective M.A. student, I felt like I was looked down upon and the whole thing felt so ehhh. But as yesterdays events went on, I totally became entranced with everything. After the whole morning and lunch and stuff, we had the opportunity to have an office hour with the professor of our choosing and I got matched with this just absolutely amazing women, and her research interested just completely fascinated me! I spent a lot of the day being escorted by current M.A. students as well, and there was two or three of them that I just became so interested in and they completely made me feel welcomed and excited and like my work was important too! The then we had this colloquium with a handful of new Ph.D. Grads showing off their work. I want to make a post about that after so the details of that will be later haha and then yea, at that party that the director hosted, I just couldn’t help but fee like I was part of this bigger community and tradition and it was just one of the best experiences getting to walk around this jam packed house of people talking about their research and their academic passions and even just debating dumb philosophical little things. The students and the professors just completely blew me away and it all just felt so genuine. Especially because professors and students alike would all tell me like, “ya know? Between me and you, I know this event is supposed to be us buttering you up and getting you to come here but I want to tell you that if you have other offers pursue them and see what’s out there. We want to have you so badly but I also want you to do what it going to be best for your own pursuits.” All of which automatically earned them some points. I don’t know. I just loved the whole thing so much and as much as I hate to say it, I think I might actually end up going out there 😅

03.04.2023

[crabussy]

brief alter introduction because a lot of them use this account now and again!!

—————

robin- me!! the host. freak of nature, creature, horror/wilderness enjoyer. mentally i’ll about aotearoa for whatever reason. enjoyer of cringe. he/they/it, 16

phoebe- she’s soooo cool. overuses the cat face emojis but we love her. music taste is insane. projects images of cock and balls into my brain because she thinks it’s hilarious. she/her, 19

alastair- nervous wreck, resident academic, adores astronomy but knows next to nothing about it. messiest fucking room ever, thank god dust isn’t a thing in headspace. he is like a wizard to me. he/him, 24

bee- everyone’s mom. would make killer jam if she had access to good fresh fruit.. SUPER good hugs. literally the nicest ever, very concerned about my questionable life choices. she/her, 36

jasper- pretends to be stone cold and mature but in reality he’s kind of a softie. diet consists of cherry flavoured everything (GROSS) and cola (ACCEPTABLE) reminds me of a young crowley in some ways. he/him, 21

circe- local witch. pronounces her own name wrong. deeply appreciative of dark fairycore and fairygrunge, listens almost exclusively to molchat doma and phonk???? swamp enjoyer. very cool. she/her, 17

nat/nathan/natalie: shares names with both my aunt and uncle which is kinda weird!!!! the most pirate ever. very chill but also very unchill when shit hits the fan. she’s very very cool and intimidating and I am sometimes nervous to talk to him. she/he/they, 22

francis- geeky, nervous, extremely lanky and super sweet. she’s very nostalgic about kiwiana stuff (chocolate fish!!!! footrot flats!! waiheke!! L&P!!) and tied to our childhood memories. super fun, has awesome mint green frizzy hair. she/they, 16

claire- absolute hippie /t. tie dye tapestries and stained glass wind chimes and healthy food. she’s awesome, wine aunt of the system, somehow likes salad and kombucha. very nice gal!! she/her, 25

oliver- Normal Guy of all time. the only vaguely unusual thing about him is that he’s ginger. enjoys cooking, sculpting/stop motion, and browsing reddit. very exploratory with his hobbies which I admire (: he/him, 16

katie- shark enthusiast. gave herself sharp teeth just because. completely nuts, sharp as a tack, Observer Of Details. likes bugs too, and really enjoys street food. short LOL HAHHAHAAHA. she/they, 14

chester- I keep calling him max by accident. little bear cub ankle biter, first thing he ever did while fronting was put 10 kilos of hair gel in our hair and make devil horns out of it. evil. where the wild things are enjoyer. he/him, 11

julian- fashion king, makes zebra print look good, loves peacock feather motifs. possibly a satyr?????? or something??????? no clue. he’s very fabulous, reminds me of zulius from centaurworld. he/him, 27

silas- aspiring botanist, somehow both eccentric and super composed simultaneously. loves plants, finds them fascinating, approaches life with logic and strategy which doesn’t always work but hey. he/him, 40

jon- former head archivist of the magnus institute etc etc. gets up in the middle of the night to shuffle around, talk to my cat, and be paranoid. love him. he has long greying hair and a great fashion sense. very knowledgeable!! tired. he/they, 29

martin- polite but also a bitch. he’s allowed honestly. lover of pecan pie, and most pastries. stronk…. big…… Holder Of The Jon… enjoys travelling and occasional company. fluffy strawberry blond hair and thick dark eyebrows. has custody over our only turtleneck jumper. he/him, 31

zoe- like a mini phoebe (don’t tell her I said that /j). likes tennis and racing games, listens to music that sounds like you’re being put in a blender. enjoys neon highlighter-like colours and being a Menace. she/her, 13

caleb- super funny and creative. very neurodivergent, really likes dragons and other mythology. likes drawing and making up stories, very chatty. he/him, 10

sun- oh so cheerful!! so much fun, mischievous at times, super good with kids!!! resident robot. loves to wear clashing patterns and colours, sticks his tongue out when he thinks, a bit clumsy but also very agile. sweet tooth, loves shiny things and crafts. he/they/she/sol, ageless

moon- super graceful. calm and collected, great sense of humour where you can never tell if they’re joking or not, loves silky clothes and shiny accessories. capable of lulling anyone to sleep except itself </3 loves figure skating and deep sea life. other resident robot!! great singing voice… they/he/it, ageless

selene- bubbly and intense!! life of the party, wearer of the pinkest clothes ever, fashion icon, very passionate about womens rights and queer struggles. so much blonde hair. she’s like if a bimbo was a woman in STEM. love her. she/her, 23

aries- kind of an asshole, getting better, strong opinions about the way the system functions. they’ve decided they have curling ram horns and love the colour purple-red. good music taste, dresses like they’re from genshin impact. they/them, 18

xavier- cool boy swag, formerly known as crowe, super laid back and doesn’t talk much. wants a pet raven so bad, doesn’t listen to music much, wants to create music tho. Ive never seen him wear colour ever. he/him, 18

that’s everyone for now!! some of them have their own blogs accessible via @menagerie-crew

tl;dr: there are FRUITS IN MY BRAIN AND THEYRE COAXING ME INTO DOING DUMB SHIT. I LOVE THEM ALL