#and longing to be made of wood and oyster shells

[evilasiangenius]

Rumination was beginning to feel like damnation, and so Aziraphale made himself a makeshift broom from some straw from the fields and a stick, and began to sweep. He cleaned out the broken bed in the windowless servant’s room. Somehow it was nicer without a bed in it, the blankness of chipped plaster walls was comforting.

He cleaned out the kitchen which was surprisingly easy given that all the foodstuff had been taken a long time ago. He carefully picked up and discarded all the broken sherds and oyster shells. In the process he and even found a few plain pieces of utility ware that could be used: bowls, cups, and a few pots. Anything metal or genuinely nice had been taken a long time ago.

He left most of the cobwebs hiding in dark corners alone, letting the spiders do their quiet work, only brushing away old abandoned webs that were no longer occupied.

While cleaning the oven he found a soft nest of grasses that hid a snoozing dormouse. He held the chirp-snoring creature in the palm of his hand for a while, entranced by the loud whistling snores (so unlike Crowley who snored very politely if at all), before setting the creature and her nest in a warm corner, tucked beneath the rim of a cracked pot.

He swept the bit of upstairs hallway that still remained, revealing beautiful flooring made of expensive imported cedar, which in the past would have been swept and polished daily. He touched the wood, and wondered – if he were to press his nose near the wood, could he still smell that sweet scent? But instead, he went into the storeroom, after some hesitation.

It was daytime so he opened the shutters, and the light that came in through the high window was wan and weak, leaving a patch of grayish light over Crowley’s face.

There was not very much dust here and he wondered if it had to do with Crowley’s influence. The demon always seemed so orderly and neat. But then, the sharpest memory of Crowley came to mind; that black-winged demon upon the gates of Eden, the edge of his robes torn and tattered, the stardust-stained black fabric looked more like a silvery gray.

What changed, Aziraphale wondered? From that barefoot wanderer, to this sleeping figure in black patrician boots, draped impeccably in a serpent-pinned chiton and a lustrous black pallium that covered dark curling hair.

He tried to remember the other times he had seen Crowley before this time, and it felt as if his mind balked at the curiosity.

So Aziraphale looked away from the sleeping figure of the demon and went back to sweeping. He picked up some pieces of broken pottery and threw the sherds out the window. Soon enough, the room was clean.

x

[losingmymindrn]

District Four's Market

𓆟 𓆜 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆜

꒰ 🪸 ꒱ ࣪𓂂 ׅ Main shops:

Fish Market stalls: buys fish from the fishermen. Their stock is often common sea fish including blackfin tuna, bluefin tuna, redfish, red grouper, salmon, and king Marckerel. The capital had alternated most fish species to be able to live by District four, which is why there is many varieties of fish. Stalls often near the pier

Seashell sellers: they collect and sell seashells from the beach. All of their shells have to be full, non broken, and pretty. They sometimes have have dried out seastars, washed up urchins, and sand dollars. They have small buildings near the peir, sometimes more inland, but not often.

Ship repairs, wood: they repair old wooden pirate like ships before they embark on their journey out sea. They are paid by the government, but not much as wooden pirate ships aren't, in the captial's words, good enough in comparison to the metal ones. Little do they know, the most successful fishers have had more luck on wooden ships than metal. They are on the edges of docks and peirs, close to ships.

Ship repairs, metal: like the wooden boat repairs, they repair the metal fishing boats. They are given more money by the government, but their ships aren't the best repaired, which is why sailors use the wooden ships more often. Again, they are near the peir and docks.

Net stalls: they hand weave all types of nets. To keep them dry, they set up stalls more inland. The higher quality nets are sold in upper class areas.

Hooks and baits shops: nice, small buildings that sell hand crafted hooks and fish baits. Most hooks and baits shops don't have high quality products, but if you live in the upper class areas you will find better hooks, and sometimes rarer baits. They are all over district four.

boat shops: there is only 3 of these buildings, as the boats take a very long time to make. They are on pairs, so you can take your boat out the moment you get them.

Deep sea creature buildings: these make money. They buy lobsters, red crabs, oysters, squid and octopus. These are typically very expensive, so residents of district four have to be "wealthy" to be able to buy some. These shops are in high class areas.

miscellaneous items: these are most likely necklaces, messages in bottles, pieces of coral that wasn't wanted by seashell sellers, pendants, ships in bottles, books, maps of the sea, candles, or fables for children. Found everywhere.

Different types of food is found everywhere

꒰ 🪸 ꒱ ࣪𓂂 ׅ Black market, Skull and Bones territory:

Exotic fish: Saliors who fish up any exotic or weird creatures, sell them to these buyers, who in turn sell them to any brave person. In the deeper parts of the Black Market.

"bewitched" items: a monkey's paw, a large shark tooth, messages from pirates years ago, all things that may be considered cursed is found here. there is only one of these stalls, so if you want a cursed item you better get it fast.

prostitutes: the women, or men, desperate for money may become prostitutes. Buildings holding them are found at the middle of the Skull and Bones territory.

Bones: many types of bones are sold in the Skull and bone territory. There are shark jaws, fish skeletons, "mermaid tails", and rarely human bones. Stalls found in the back.

tonics: these are commonly made medicines that are needed. Found in the front of the black market.

Tattoo shops: Tattoos are huge in District Four. To get a tattoo, you must have a story to tell, and someone to back it up. They can tell if your lying. Found everywhere, only opens in night and early morning hours.

꒰ 🪸 ꒱ ࣪𓂂 ׅ Bars:

The Trench: District Four has many bars, but this is the most popular. This is a bar and diner with a stage for music or magic shows to be held. They have a variety of great tasting drinks and food. Saliors spend most of their free time here, sometimes they even bring their familes. Found close to the sea, free to enter.

Mermaid Cove: a less popular yet nice bar. This is for people 15 and up, as it's mainly drinking and gambling for pearls and coins. Found in the middle class area.

Davy Jone's locker: the most popular bar in the Skull and Bones territory. They sell drinks that are very questionable to drink. Some food, but not much. Found in the middle of the Skull and Bones territory

The Black Pearl: Has hard drinks that make you believe nothing is real. It has a dark, wet, and cold atmosphere. A popular bar in the Skull and Bones territory. It is found near the beach closest to the territory

I hope you like this^^

[8-bitpixelheart]

Isles of Naurias

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Summary

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The Isles of Naurias are the most recent of the nations, banding together in order to stop the encroaching empire of Kulin from thinking them easy targets. While culture on the islands can be quite varied depending on which island you’re on, the nation as a whole is known for their promotion of the arts. Art on the islands is considered as necessary for life as water and food. Nearly every occupant is trained in some kind of artistic pursuit.

Environment

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The northernmost island, Tadas, is known for its rolling grasslands and rainy weather. Heading south to the island of Laka, you find the heat beginning to rise in a humid marshland. The lower three islands, the larger island of Tenli and the two smaller islands of Purda and Tola, all boast thick jungles vibrant with life.

Settlements

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The capital of the isles is Niyahi, located on Laka. Niyahi is protected by difficult to traverse swamps and the coastal trade city of Enpolahi. Both cities are stilt cities, built on sturdy poles and held above the flooding waters. Tadas is known for Sobahi, a famous opera town, and Koahi, a town known for producing pigments used all throughout Naurias. Gilahi is known for the fine wines it produces, and Tolahi is known for its museums of some of the most famed art in the world.

Politics

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Naurias is ruled by a council, with a ruling noble from each island. The nobles work together to make laws to govern both their individual islands, and the islands as a whole. The council also controls the military of Naurias, with each one acting as a commander. Naurias is not fond of Kulin, but they are allied with both Lethtori and Minas.

Economics

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Naurias’ primary import varies by island, but as a whole they import a lot of materials such as leather, wood, and gemstones for use in their artistic pursuits. Their primary export is their art itself. Other nations scramble for their paintings, sculptures, and stylish clothing. Occasionally they’ll hire the artists themselves, getting their art made on retainer.

Food

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Naurias tends to make food a beautiful affair rather than one purely for nutrition or even really concerning taste. Food is often consumed in small bites, eaten throughout the day, rarely sitting down for meals unless it’s meant for a celebration. Street food, eaten on colorful skewers, is the preferred method of consumption amongst the isles. They eat a lot of fish and seafood, with a particular preference for shellfish and their beautiful shells.

Legends

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It’s said that the sea holds more than the expected fish and sea life. Somewhere deep below the sea, there’s a majestic city of sea dwellers that haven’t seen the surface in hundreds of years. This city is made of precious metals and is pouring in pearls of all sizes and colors. It knows magic beyond what the surface world is aware of, and can travel the planes in a blink of an eye. Where the city is is unknown, as it lies so far and so deep that even those who can swim and breathe in the water cannot find it.

There was once a massive oyster that dwelled within the bay of Enpolahi. It was the size of a house, and painted with every color under the sun. The creature was gorgeous and lived a long life adored by the people of Naurias. When it was close to death, it opened its shell and revealed a pearl no bigger than any other. But so beautiful and so perfect was this pearl that all who saw it immediately desired it. A war broke out between the isles. Seemingly saddened by this, the oyster used the last of its strength to spit the pearl far into the seas where it could never start such a war again.

[poisoned-pearls]

For the OC ask thing! 🐷,🎶, and 🎮 for Nami an Faraja! (That still autocorrects to all caps 😔)

 🐷PIG FACE — what is your oc's favorite animal? 

Nami is a 👏nauti👏ilus👏 girlie. Carries them around in the water like a giant stuffed animal. Definitely harassed one when she was younger by trying to fish it out of her shell before her grandmother had to snatch her up and get her hand OUT of the shell. Also fond of pigeons.

Faraja has a soft spot for ferrets and similarly shaped creatures (long tubed mammals) because she found catching creatures like them so fun when she was a kid

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

Nami either listens to what Jamil listened to (so a lot of Arabic/dance musi) but she is also a huge fan of jazz! New jazz techno jazz all of it, and she primarily sings jazz in the Monstro lounge. She’s ALSO a classical music nerd. What do you mean you don’t know Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op. 42:3. Mélodie (Ed. Herrmann) do you live under a rock-

Faraja listens to Viviennes music ONLY/hj. She was in her top .001% of listeners tho and she regrets not being higher (in her defense tho their music platform DOESNT count all of the times Vivienne gave her a private concert (aka her sitting on her bed with her guitar and singing for her) or when she went to every single Live concert she had so-) Seriously tho, if she’s not listening to Viv it’s R&B or afrobeats. And rock, but that’s from Leona being a dad and being like “THIS is the good music-“

🎮 VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER — what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

Nami’s like big ones I’ve said a lot so that doesn’t feel fair but I’ll restate them AND new ones, so normally she does violin, piano, and sings, but she ALSO really enjoys soccer. She doesn’t do it competitively or anything but she puts ALL of her anger into punting a ball at the goalie. All of it. (She has injured like three). Hunting is another one, but that’s much more like legit octopi looking for food. She’ll dig her tentacles into crevices in corals and rocks to dig out shellfish and oysters and shit- and THEN the final one (for the question at least) would be sewing, which she does with Azul. They sit together and make things or fix things up (or if your Azul, put Jamil’s initials onto every single button up, which is technically embroidery but shhh-)

Faraja works out. A LOT. She weight lifts and body builds and everything- she also WHITTLES tho. Carves shit out of wood. Leona whittled her little toys and she picked up doing it too. Vivienne has a little fennec fox she made for her. OH AND she definitely loves just lying around. She doesn’t nap but does laze around, in the sun. Her ideal nap is on a warm rock in the sun on a breezy day with her girlfriend in her arms

[baobikhangloi]

A brief history of colors and some popular pigments

Black pigment

Black pigment has a long history, starting with charcoal paintings in Stone Age caves. Through centuries of research, people have known how to change the burning conditions and choose the type of wood to customize the shade of this black. Coal can be pressed into a dry bar, or it can be ground into a powder and mixed with water or other liquids to produce the black dye that is now known as carbon black, with the pigment code PBk 7.

During the renaissance, artists often worked with black obtained from the soot of oil lamps, known as lamp black pigment – PBk 6. This pigment has a matte black color with a slightly cool tint. The lamp black is also used in Egyptian tombs and murals, replacing charcoal, which is denser but less pure.

Ivory black or bone black was originally created by boiling the crumbs obtained during the ivory making process to remove fat and gelatine, then ground and concentrated into a harder and coarser form to produce black. The production of ivory pigments was stopped in the 1930s, and today the pigment is mainly made from animal bones, with the color index name PBk 9. This pigment is semi-transparent, has a tinting strength is lower than that of carbon-based black pigments, but has a unique feature of deep yellow or brown undertones.

PBk 11 is an inorganic iron oxide pigment, which is different from all the black pigments mentioned above because there is no carbon in the composition. PBk 11 has a very high color fastness and is almost indestructible. In a mixture of colors, it can easily overwhelm all other colors. PBK 11 is also known as Mars black, named after Mars, the god of war in Greek mythology.

white pigment

The first white substance in history is thought to be natural calcium carbonate chalk, which is an exceptionally soft limestone, formed from the shells and bones of microscopic organisms deposited and compacted over millions of years. The calcium carbonate (CaCO3) that gives the white color can also be obtained from eggshells, oyster shells, ... In European literature, the term "shell white" is often used to refer to these ancient whites. Natural white pigment with calcium carbonate composition is still used to this day, has the pigment code PW 18.

The first synthetic white pigment produced on a commercial scale was lead white (PW 1), which dates back to around 300 BC. Despite its proven toxicity, white lead remained in widespread use until the late 19th century, when the superior zinc white and titanium white appeared and replaced it. There are many documents detailing how to make white lead. In the oldest process, lead rods were exposed to vinegar fumes in sealed clay pots. These pots were buried in manure or tree bark to maintain the temperature for several months so that the lead converted to white lead.

Zinc white (PW 4) with zinc oxide composition (ZnO) is produced by burning zinc in an oxidizing medium or zinc ore in a reducing medium. This pigment has the special property of being able to emit yellow fluorescence under long-wave ultraviolet light. Zinc whites are not toxic, nor are they as clearly affected by hydrogen sulfide as lead whites, but their whiteness is clearly inferior.

In 1908 in New York, a metallurgist named Auguste Rossi invented a brilliant white pigment, titanium dioxide (Titanium White - PW 6). This pigment is extremely stable, it is not affected by heat, dilute acids or alkalis, light or hydrogen sulfide. Most importantly, titanium white reflects about 97% of light, making it the best white ever known. Because of that, it quickly became popular in many fields. Titanium dioxide also provides UV absorption, which greatly improves weather resistance and durability for outdoor applications.

The chemical classification of titanium dioxide, which for many years was considered no problem, is even widely used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. However, they have become the subject of heated discussion over the past few years, when a European Union authority has changed the way they are classified and evaluated. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm are considered hazardous when inhaled.

Before titanium white appeared, the dominance in the segment belonged to Lithopone white (PW 5). They once accounted for 60% of the white pigment market, outperforming both lead white and zinc white combined. Lithopone is moderately strong in blends, not as strong as Titanium white, but not as gentle as Zinc white either. For those who are concerned about the durability of zinc white, but don't like the opacity of titanium white, PW 5 can be a good alternative.

Red pigment

Red is a color associated with love, excitement, and danger. This color also symbolizes good luck in many Eastern cultures. There are many red pigments that have been found and present in the pigment database.

The earliest red pigment discovered by mankind was red ocher, which is clay that has been colored by rusted (oxidized) iron. The red iron oxide pigment consists of the mineral hematite with some minor minerals such as clay, chalk and quartz. Red ocher differs from yellow ocher and brown ocher in that they do not contain H2O in their chemical structure. Today, synthetic iron oxide red pigments have the pigment code PR 101. They are chemically very similar to natural red iron oxide (PR 102), but transparent and more vibrant in color.

Lead red (minium) is an ancient pigment that is considered to be one of the first synthetic man-made pigments. Red lead is made by heating white lead to oxidize it at high temperatures. They are still used to this day, in anti-rust paints for steel structures, especially used a lot on ships.

The famous Chinese red color dating back to the fourth century BC is “Chusha” (Cinnabar), which is used to make paints, lacquers, ceramic glazes and calligraphy ink. Many people mistakenly believe that cinnabar is a plant because it is also a medicine in traditional medicine, but in fact, cinnabar is a mineral with the main component mercury sulfide (HgS). Artificial cinnabar, used by the Romans since the Middle Ages. This pigment is named Vermillion, has a color index name PR 106. Vermillion is much more vibrant than natural cinnabar, but both are quite toxic.

Besides the red pigments obtained from minerals, history also records some organic red pigments obtained from plants such as kermes tree, brazilwood or some palm species in Asia. The Incas also had their own red pigment for dyeing their robes, obtained from the Cochineal - a beetle that feeds on cactus.

The age-old reds made from lead and mercury, though toxic, have been commonly used throughout human history. The real alternatives have only appeared for more than a century, with the development of modern chemistry.

Red Cadmium (PR 108) is a dual product of zinc ore. PR 108 can include many different shades of red, for example Cadmium Red Light leans more towards orange, while Cadmium Red Deep is slightly maroon.

Naphthol red pigments PR 5, PR 9, PR 112, PR 170 and PR 188 are a large group of synthetic organic red pigments. While PR 5 can serve as the primary, medium-tone red in the palette, PR 9 is more of an orange hue. PR112 has a soft bright orange color, PR 170 includes Naphthol Red Light with an orange-red color and Naphthol Red Deep leaning towards purple.

Alizarin Crimson (PR 83) has a deep, cold red color and has high tinting intensity. Mixing PR 83 with Viridian Blue (PG 18) or Phthalo Blue (PG 7) creates a very deep black. PR 122 – Quinacridone Magenta is a vibrant red with a blue tint that makes them almost purple. The same Quinacridone family also has a red color PR 202 which is a bit greener than PR 122, PR 206 - Quinacridone Maroon has a red color that turns brown, while PR 207 - Quinacridone Scarlet is bright coral red.

Yellow pigment

Of all the pigment groups, yellow is the largest and most diverse because there are many substances in nature that can produce this color.

The oldest yellow pigment in prehistoric cave paintings, is yellow ocher, also crumbly clay colored by iron oxides. They are still in use today, with the pigment code PY 43 for natural yellow iron oxide and PY 42 for synthetic yellow ocher. Both natural ocher yellow and synthetics are both great colors in art, as they will produce very natural looking greens when mixed with blue pigments.

In early civilizations in Asia, Egypt and Greece, human used a yellow substance called Orpiment, which was synthesized by subliming a mixture of sulfur and a small amount of arsenic oxide. The Babylonians used Napoli yellow, which was prepared by heating a mixture of oxides of lead and antimony. Napoli yellow currently has a pigment code of PY 41.

Another well-known yellow is Indian yellow, which is said to be made from the bladder gravel of cows eating mango leaves. However, the original Indian yellow color dating from the 15th century no longer exists. Today's Indian yellow is Diarylide yellow (PY 83).

The 19th century saw the introduction of more modern inorganic pigments such as chromium yellow (lead chromate), cadmium gold (PY 35 and PY 37), nickel gold (PY 53 and PY 150), …

Some other yellow pigments include: Hansa yellow group (PY 3) with bright greenish yellow, PY 65 with deep yellow and PY 97 medium yellow, Barium Chromat lemon yellow (PY 31), Strontium chromate (PY32), cobalt yellow (PY 40), arylide yellow (PY73 and PY74), Isoindolinone yellow (PY 110), Diazo yellow (PY 128), Quinophthalone yellow (PY 138), Benzimidazolone yellow (PY 151, PY154 and PY 154). PY175), …

Blue pigment

Blue includes sky blue and navy blue which are very rare colors in nature. Less than a tenth of plants have this color, and in animals it's even rarer. Even if they're blue, it's not because they actually have a blue pigment, but they've actually done light tricks to achieve.

In plants, blue color is achieved by mixing or altering natural pigments, most commonly by altering the acidity on red anthocyanin pigments such as in canaries, bellflowers, and hydrangeas.

Instead of mixing or changing pigment, the blue color in many animals is caused by structures on their bodies that are able to change the wavelength of light. For example, the Morpho butterfly is blue because the scales of its wings are ridged, causing light to bend, making the only wavelength of light it reflects is blue. The only exception in nature is the Obrina Olivewing butterfly, the only animal known to have a real blue pigment.

The raw material of mankind's first green pigment was "lapis lazuli", a precious stone originating from mines in Afghanistan. "Lapis" means "stone" in Latin, "lazuli" comes from the Persian word "lazuward", meaning "blue". The blue created from this stone is called Ultramarine Blue, is a most perfect pigment, with its qualities said to be unique and unsurpassable. The color index name PB 29 is assigned to both natural and synthetic Ultramarine blue pigments, but today's natural Ultramarine Blue is actually exhausted. Lapis lazuli contains sulfur anions held in an ordered lattice. These sulfur anions have charged particles that move from molecule to molecule, traveling along the surface, helping to create a spatial effect and a deep blue color.

The synthetic blue pigment Ultramarine was discovered in 1826 by the French chemist Jean-Baptiste Guimet. He made a pigment chemically identical to lapis lazuli, by heating kaolinite, sodium carbonate, and sulfur. Synthetic ultramarine usually has a warm red-blue color, which is even more vivid than natural ultramarine blue but is not as pure and has the same depth.

Lapis lazuli is very precious and expensive. Faced with the need for an available and affordable blue pigment, the Egyptians invented the world's first synthetic pigment: Egyptian blue. Calcium copper silicate is calcined at extremely high temperatures, producing a blue-green compound resembling glass. When ground into a powder and mixed with a binder, they create a pigment that persists over time.

Across the ocean, the ancient Maya also found their own color of blue: Maya blue. Scientists are all confused about the origin of this brilliant blue color. It was not until the 1960s that scientists were able to determine the origin of this pigment. It is made by mixing a rare clay (attapulgite or palygorskite) with a dye from a plant in the indigo family.

In 1704 in Berlin, the first modern pigment was accidentally discovered by a dye maker named Diesbach: Prussian Blue (PB 27), also known as Berlin blue. Pigments made from iron ferrocyanide quickly became popular, simply because they were much cheaper than the earlier blues.

Phthalocyanine dark blue was first sold commercially in 1935 under the trade name Monastral Blue or Phthalocynanine Blue. This is a transparent, highly pigmented and reliable blue pigment. PB 15 is divided into 2 types: PB 15:1 – Phthalocyanine Blue Red Shade is more red and warmer, while PB 15:3 – Phthalocyanine Green Shade has a shade closer to green.

Mangan blue (PB 33) is produced by heating a mixture of sodium sulfate, potassium permanganate and barium nitrate at high temperature. This pigment is inert, unaffected by light, heat, acids or alkalis. Manganese blue pigment has now been discontinued due to concerns about the environmental impact of the manufacturing process.

The most common blue color is cobalt blue (cobalt aluminum oxide), which includes a range of pigments such as PB 28 which has a slightly greenish blue tint, PB 29 which is a bit darker, PB 35 which is sky blue, PB 36 is blue with a green tint, while PB 74 contains a little bit of red. Various cobalt minerals have been used since ancient times to color glass and ceramics, but the first synthetic cobalt blue pigment was discovered in 1802 by Louis Jacques Thénard. He discovered that the combination of cobalt oxide and aluminum oxide produced a highly stable blue pigment. Of all the blue pigments, cobalt blue is the only one with opacity.

It was not until 2009, more than two centuries after the last blue was discovered (cobalt blue), that humans found a new blue pigment, and also the last blue pigment up to the present time. It was YinMn Blue (PB 86), which was discovered by chance by a graduate student at Oregon State University. This pigment gets its name from the elements within it including Yttrium (Y), Indium (In) and Manganese (Mn).

[realtorjamier]

Best Happy Hour Spots In and Around D.C.

When it’s time to unwind from a stressful workday, our region is teeming with Happy Hour haunts that will brighten your spirits! Some offer a unique venue vibe paired with similarly-themed menus. Some just have downright good deals. Even the most high-brow establishments tend to have special Happy Hour pricing to draw patrons looking kick back after a hard day’s work. Here are some great options, whether you’re wanting to wind down or paint the town!

O’Connell’s

112 King Street, Alexandria, Va.

This modern Irish restaurant boasts “an ancient Irish setting.” Choose to sit at one of their four bars, a table near the fireplace, or huddle up in a “snug” – a cozy space offering a little more privacy. O’Connell’s Happy Hour is Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. and offers beer (including O’Connell’s Pilsner), liquor, house wine and delectables like Dublin Nachos and Irish Egg Rolls.

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace

1612 14th Street, Washington, D.C.

If you’re in search of treasure from the sea, you’re in for a treat at this pub offering American food with a southern slant. Happy Hour selections include ½ Price Local Oyster ($1.40 each with a minimum of 12), a pound of Addie’s Mussels, Wood Grilled East Coast Oysters, Chips & Queso, accompanied by $5 draft beer and $6 Happy Hour wine.

Guardado’s Restaurant

4918 Del Ray Avenue, Bethesda, Md.

Featuring Spanish Latin cuisine, Guardado’s Happy Hour (Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Friday from 3 to 6 p.m.) boasts a great variety of over-the-top Tapas for just $6: meal-worthy culinary creations made with tilapia, chicken, pork loin, omelets and more! Cocktails are also just $6. Select bottles of wine are half-price, and draft beers are just two bucks!

Mia’s Italian Kitchen

100 King Street, Alexandria, Va.

Located at the riverside end of King Street in Old Town Alexandria, Mia’s Happy Hour takes place Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. Choose your seating at the bar or on high tops, or lounge on sofas. Specially-priced bar bites range from Prosciutto and Fontina Fritters with Calabrese Hot Honey ($7), Chicken Parmigiana Sliders ($8), Pesto Spaghetti ($9) and more. What else? $4 Sangria, $5 pizza, $5 draft beer, $6 wine, $7 cocktails. Wow!

Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

750 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C.

At the legendary, upscale Joe’s, Happy Hour is “Cocktail Hour” and is served Monday through Friday from 2:30 to 6 p.m. (at the bar and highboy tables only). You can enjoy half-priced Oysters on the Half Shell and some $6.95 options including French Dip Sliders, Lobster Deviled Eggs and Mini Cheeseburgers. And of course, signature cocktails, wine and draft beer are also available.

Blackwall Hitch

5 Cameron Street, Alexandria, Va.

With a name like “Blackwall Hitch,” how can you resist? The meaning behind the name is too long to explain here, but it fits, given the fact that its location is close to the waterfront where boats and water taxis traverse daily. Happy Hour happens in the Quarterdeck Bar weeknights from 4 to 7 p.m., and includes drink specials and half-price appetizers. Draught beer is $7 a pint; bottled beer is $5; wine is $5 a glass; featured cocktails are $7. 

Allegory

1201 K Street NW, Washington, D.C.

If you’re looking for something REALLY different, visit Allegory – “The first bar to blend art, literature, social justice, craft cocktails and hospitality.” Its speakeasy entryway is through a nondescript door in the Eaton DC’s Radical Library. A one-of-a-kind mural by artist Erik Thor shows Alice in Wonderland through the eyes of 6-year-old Ruby Bridges – the first Black student to integrate an elementary school in the South. The menu is literary and political and features drinks like “Mad as a Hatter” and “The Color of Law.” Bites include “Little Girls Eat Eggs as Much as Serpents Do” (an Alice quote), “Caterpillar’s Mushroom” and many more. Curiouser and curiouser!

Boca Botanas

239 Muddy Branch Road, Gaithersburg, Md.

The winner of four OpenTable 2019 Diners’ Choice Awards including “Vibrant Bar Scene,” Boca Botanas features Latin American inspired food “with a twist of Spanish and South American.” food is served tapas style with fresh, locally-sourced ingredients and sauces and sides that are made from scratch daily. Happy Hour is served weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m. and includes handcrafted beverages and cocktails infused with homemade mixes and fresh ingredients. 

The Majestic

911 King Street, Alexandria, Va.

The iconic 25’ tall neon signs beckon diners in. Good food and drink keep them coming back. Established in 1932, The Majestic’s newly designed interior is a blend of art deco and contemporary with an assortment of artwork adorning the walls. Happy Hour eats include sandwiches, sliders and sides. Special pricing for spirits ($4), drafts ($5), wine ($6) and cocktails ($7) happens weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m.

[cornybunbun]

A Broken Doll - A Sebaciel Fanfic

Chapter Seven

Summary

Under the gaze of the Bone Tower, all are equal. Human, Demon, Fae... Death does not discriminate.

Sebastian has a job to do: he is to infiltrate the Human Realm and find out the source of their magic. The easiest way to get access to the Human Realm is by arranging a marriage and then seducing the human pitiful enough to be bound to him.

However, on his wedding night Sebastian finds himself collared by a child with magic burning in his eye and contempt written across his face. Now he is Ciel Phantomhive's dog, and although he wants to carry out his job for the Demon Realm he finds himself entranced by the way his new husband commands him to kneel.

-

Chapter Seven

-

"Presenting Earl Ciel Phantomhive, and his husband Sebastian Phantomhive."

Sebastian kept his back straight and his smile easy, one hand resting in his husband's as if this was just a normal day. He nodded at the servant who had announced them as they stepped through the door into the ballroom. The curtains had been drawn to reveal the views out onto the sprawling gardens. High above, lights were floating on whirring propellers. Below, the floor was elegant carved wood will gold inlay. A band was already playing: clockwork dolls made of elegant golden cogs. It was really rather gauche to hire human musicians these days. Sometimes a noble might hire a human singer if they wanted to be daring, but this party was entirely mechanical.

At his side, Ciel was resplendent. Ciel had given his travelling cloak to a servant when they entered the estate and now Sebastian coudn't help admiring his form. His eyes flicked over the high ruffled collar of his jacket, cuffs with fine lace that brushed his knuckles, a long ruffled bustle that accentuated his narrow waist, not to mention an elegant shell pinned to his hair and an embroidered gold patch over his eye. Even his boots were soft and supple. Sebastian had sat in front of him earlier in the evening and fastened each of the buttons, feeling the soft leather against his fingers and marvelling at human ingenuity. It was almost as soft as his own cloak of whispers.

His outfit was apparently inspired by oysters, which were very much in fashion (several other humans they passed were similarly wearing oyster-inspired accessories). Sebastian was also wearing a broach made from an oyster shell, and his tailcoat was lined with a shimmering fabric the colour of a pearl.

They looked elegant and coordinated as they greeted their host and whisked away into the room in search of their target.

"Where is she," Ciel murmured, looking round for his aunt. He had been tense all day: a little stiff and awkward creature at the end of Sebastian's arm. The prospect of manipulating his last living relative for his own ends was weighing heavily on him. It had given Sebastian many chances to admire his pretty husband getting into a snappish mood, but wasn't helpful to the task at hand.

Sebastian rested a reassuring hand on his husband's shoulder. "Breathe," he said. "Remain calm."

His throat constricted and Sebastian dropped his hand. Ciel cast him a cold glance. "Don't touch me without permission."

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[delimeful]

(don’t) take this the wrong way (7) (END)

final chapter of dtttww :) i had a lot of fun with this verse so i may take requests set in it in the future, and this might receive some more copy editing later, but for now this is the epilogue!

warnings: mild injury, mild hypnosis, for once no miscommunication :)

-

[Several months later…]

Sunlight trickled down through the water in wavy bands, illuminating the shallows and growing fainter and fainter as the distance from the surface increased.

Virgil didn’t spend much time in the shallows, too wary of being without escape, being made vulnerable to human vessels or poachers. Despite his dark and gloomy aesthetic, he couldn’t go too far into the depths either, simply because his fragile fish bones weren't built for it. His eyes weren’t built for it either, and down there where anything could be lurking, he would need more than speed to avoid danger.

So, on an average, sunny day like this, he could be found miles offshore, in waters that were easily too deep for unsuited humans to reach, but still well-illuminated by the light above.

There were a few old wrecks scattered about the ocean floor here, and though they’d probably been stripped by a pod in the past, he figured he’d go through them and check for anything that was left behind. Things that weren’t useful to a pod could certainly be things that were useful to him, after all.

He’d been poking through the undercarriage of one of the larger ships for an hour or two, relaxed as he ever got. He could take his time. The only creatures around to judge him were the shoals of fish and layers of barnacles built up amidst the metal, wood, and rust.

Actually… Virgil paused in his inspection of an old cutlery set to glance around.

What had happened to the fish?

Through a hole in the ship’s hull, he watched as a broad shadow passed over the ground and ships alike, large enough to belong to a whale.

There hadn’t been a single shred of whalesong above.

Virgil edged further back from the hole, eyeing the outside warily as the shadow receded, leaving behind only wavering sunlight on sand as though it had never been there at all.

There was nothing here that was worth sticking around.

He carefully made his way back to one of the other exits, in the opposite direction of where he’d seen the shadow head, the strokes of his fin cutting through the water with barely a whisper. The porthole was easily wide enough for him, and the ocean stretched out blue and vast before him, a promise of safety if he just moved fast enough.

A moment’s pause, to make sure he didn’t hear or see anything out of place, and then he was out, flitting from rock outcropping to bone reef and scanning the seas above. Not for the first time, he wished his scales were a little less distinctive in the day.

Behind him, an ominous creak.

He froze, and watched with mounting apprehension as a shadow spilled over him, looming closer and darker than before. The silhouette of an arm stretched out, heading towards him…

“Virgil, you must help,” a huge voice pleaded, “I’ve been had.”

He twisted around just in time to see a huge arm flop down onto the floor next to him, kicking up a cloud of sand and panicked burrower fish in the process.

It was wrapped in heavy wire netting from fingertips to forearm, and behind it, a giant mer was pouting at him with the best seal pup eyes he could manage, which, considering who his best friend was, were fairly potent.

Roman was huge, and he was a shark, with teeth and claws designed to shred and tear, and hands that could enclose him entirely-- but his elbows were braced against the ground with delicate balance so he wouldn’t crush anything, and he’d never grabbed for Virgil past that first disastrous encounter, and even now, his brow was furrowing with worry.

“Pufferfish status?” he asked, voice lowered from the dramatic plea of before.

Virgil’s mouth pulled up at the corners without his permission.

Roman was huge, yes, but he was also theatrical and eager and witty, full of sharp return quips for every barb Virgil had to offer.

He could hurt him, but he wouldn’t. Virgil believed that much.

“Prickly for a second, but I’m smooth now,” he answered, shrugging away the last of the tension. “Try not to sneak up on me without a warning click?”

“You have my word,” Roman replied, and if someone had told him months ago that he’d dare to ask anything of a giant mer, he’d have laughed in their faces. Now, Virgil knew that just like all the other requests, Roman would do his best to heed it.

“But really, my fingers are starting to feel numb. Help?” he entreated with a tilt of his head, shifting his net-wrapped hand a little closer.

Virgil rolled his eyes, but his smile didn’t go away, though it tilted more towards amused now. He darted forward, twisting in a spiral around Roman’s hand to try and see the extent of the damage.

“How’d you even manage this? At least I had the excuse of being caught up in a storm,” he snarked, picking at a loose section with his claws. Roman’s fingers twitched a little, and he shot him an apologetic glance.

“I was… perhaps… trying to get a glimpse of those sailors that Logan mentioned patrolled the coast?” Roman offered, more than a little sheepish.

Virgil’s gaze turned sharp in a heartbeat. “Did they spot you?”

Logan had warned both Patton and Roman several times that not many humans would take as kindly to their long-term existence near human settlements as Logan himself had.

“No!” Roman assured, “I was very stealthy, truly, I was just… so focused on being stealthy that I missed the other vessel and the nets it had dragging along behind it. It could have happened to anyone!”

“I seriously doubt that,” Virgil replied dryly. He’d snapped a few of the looser wires with his teeth, but already his jaw was beginning to ache with the strain. “Well, you get to explain this to Specs, ‘cause we’re going to need his expertise in detangling for this one.”

Roman groaned in answer, dropping his head to plonk against the ground.

---

Logan carefully set one foot in front of the other, all of his focus on the thin strip of rock below him.

If he switched his gaze to even a few inches to either side, he’d be faced with the sight of a vertigo-inducing drop to the waves below, one that would have all but the most experienced tightrope walkers dizzy with panic.

His gaze didn’t move, though, unerringly focused on the ground beneath him, and on his own body. There was no need to look at anything but the ledge, a soft presence confirmed in the back of his mind, because he wasn’t going to fall.

Another part of him was skeptical, seeing as he wasn’t known for a lack of clumsiness by most. There was just so much to get distracted by, and it was so easy to look away and miss a curb or accidentally trip over his own feet--

But not now. Now, he was focused on just this one task, a gentle voice dragging his attention back whenever it began to stray. He was hyper aware of where each of his limbs were and where he needed to put them to continue forward, step by careful step.

Only a little farther…

“Logan!”

The harsh call snapped him right out of the trance, and he was abruptly made very aware of both the distance he could fall and the effects that sudden instinctual terror had on his sense of balance.

“Newton’s fucking Cradle,” he swore, and then wobbled again, precariously close to falling over.

There was the sound of water crashing against rock, and in the next moment, two giant hands had curled up on either side of him like the shells of an oyster. They provided him some much needed stability to lean his weight against, and he struggled to steady his breathing as relief swept through him.

“It’s okay, Virgil, I won’t let him fall! No cliffs, ands, or buts about it,” Patton’s voice was muffled, but not enough to miss the pun.

Logan sighed loudly, but he also shifted to let his full weight rest against the curl of Patton’s left palm, tapping twice to let him know it was alright for him to move.

His stomach still swooped slightly as Patton slowly shifted his hands away from the thin rock ledge, but there were some things that one had to adapt to when living with two very affectionate, grabby sea giants, and being toted around was one of those things.

Before long, he was level with the flattest segment of rock that made up their meeting place, which could be called an island if one was feeling gracious, but was really more of a collection of rocky spires and bridges that stuck out of the ocean.

Logan was barely able to sit up before Virgil pulled himself up at the edge of Patton’s palm, expression thunderous but his hands gentle as he carefully checked him over for scrapes or injuries.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” he grumbled, a phrase that he used much more frequently around Logan for some reason. Logan had already been reassured that it was an exaggeration and Virgil had no heart problems he knew of, so instead of worrying, he bore his friend’s fussing with good grace. “Did we or did we not agree that you need a spotter if you want to play around with bullshit sirensong magic?”

The mer paused. “No offense, Pat.”

“None taken!” Patton replied from where he had sunk further into the water to put himself closer to eye-level.

“I figured you would be along shortly,” Logan defended, and then perked up at the reminder of his most recent experiment. “Besides, one of the things tested in this trial was if the siren song could overshadow significant fear or even terror, and I wouldn’t have been nearly as afraid if you’d been there with me.”

“Aw,” Roman cooed, curling his tail up and leaning against one of the larger rock outcroppings, his posture slightly off.

Virgil dragged a hand over his face with a sigh, and then flapped a ‘go on’ gesture at Logan, distracting him. “So, what’d you figure out this time?”

Logan needed no further encouragement.

“Even the lightest application of a siren’s song can overwhelm other emotions,” he started, recalling the utter honed focus he had experienced. “While in the past I’ve felt distant or removed from my body while under its effects, this time I had Patton focus on requesting a very specific task, and due to the intense concentration it took, I was very present in the moment while fulfilling that task.”

“You didn’t snap out of it until I called for you,” Virgil interjected, more curious than wary. “Was it harder than normal to use the grounding tactics?”

One of the first things Logan had investigated was what it took for him to resist and even break free from Patton’s song, a task that Virgil had demanded in order to let him run any experiments with the siren’s magic. Back then, Virgil hadn’t expected Patton to agree, and he’d outright sulked for weeks to cover up the nerves he felt whenever the siren thralled Logan.

“It was,” Logan said, his excitement growing as he considered the new information. “Without significant outside stimulus, all of my attention was focused on the task, and so I couldn’t pull away mentally to do my normal grounding techniques!”

“I’ve never heard someone so excited about being hypnotized better,” Roman commented wryly.

“He should get a hypnoprize,” Patton added, and Virgil grinned, because he was a traitor who enabled Patton’s wordplay habits.

“Is there an award for smart people doing dumb things?” Virgil mused teasingly. “Logan could be voted ‘most likely to throw himself into danger in the pursuit of knowledge.’”

“That’s why he has us, Finding Emo,” Roman countered, gesturing extravagantly with one hand. “We would never abandon him to the cruel clutches of his own nerdiness.”

Logan couldn’t help but feel a thrill of pride at the casual way that Virgil ducked beneath one of Roman’s sweeping gestures, no trace of the blatant fear or suspicion that had been present as recently as a month ago.

They’d really come a long way from the misunderstandings of that first encounter, all of them.

A glint of light at the edge of the shark mer’s submerged forearm caught Logan’s eye, and he frowned. “Roman, what’s happened to your arm?”

Roman’s prideful grin dropped into sheepishness immediately. “Well, about that…”

“Princey here was abandoned to the cruel clutches of his own reckless dumbassery,” Virgil informed him, ignoring Roman’s trill of offense to drift back and shove at the hand in question until Roman finally lifted it, displaying the impressive collection of netting that he’d managed to get tangled in.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Patton clucked sympathetically, and Roman soaked in the attention like a very dramatic sponge. Virgil rolled his eyes even as he sawed at a few of the looser wires, and Logan sighed in fond exasperation as he reached for his pocket knife.

Perhaps some things would never change.

[sweetchup]

Bi•valve

Noun

an aquatic mollusk that has a compressed body enclosed within a hinged shell, such as oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops.

AKA

The Most Common Seashell in the Ocean

————————

Vol. 1: Just Keep Swimming // Ch. 2

Type: Poseidon x reader

Word Count: 4,000+

Masterlist

————————

Sounds of horns and shouting filled the air outside as you stood on the packed bus. Cramped in from every side, it was hard for you to tell where you were going. Not as if you were paying much attention anyways.

“Okay, you left fish and pasta in the fridge… he could use the tv or read a book for entertainment while you are gone…what about…” You ramble incoherently to yourself.

Even though the storm hit Athens hard yesterday, your studio art professor was still having classes today. Forcing you to leave Triton alone at home. You shouldn’t be nervous. There was no reason to. After all, Triton is a god, he was hundreds of years old.

But…, he was still a child. No matter how old or what type of being he is. He could still possibly injure himself or get into trouble. And that single fact alone made you feel sick to your stomach.

“Is this how parents feel leaving their child alone for the first time…?” You groan to yourself, leaning your head forward so it hits the window in front of you.

“Now Approaching *Athens International School of Art*. I repeat, Now—“ The robotic voice announces over the intercom. At the familiar name of your college, you squeeze your way through the other patrons on the bus to make your way to the doors.

Sweet, sweet air, you think to yourself as soon as you exit the bus. It was starting to get way too cramped in there. So much so, you wondered if it was a safety hazard. Though it wasn’t as if you were one to talk, you left a little boy alone—

“Argh!” You scream out, slapping the cheeks of your face. You needed to stop thinking of Triton. He was going to be completely fine. But, what if…

“I’m getting too attached already…” You groan to yourself. It had only been a day. One singular Day. But you were already smitten by the blonde haired child. “It doesn’t help that he's absolutely adorable as well…”

“Who’s adorable?” A voice calls out from behind you, making you jump in surprise. Whipping around, you let out a sigh once you identify who it was.

“Bryce… how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that…”

Bryce Kroger. He was studying abroad at Athens International School of Art for a year just like you except he was instead an architecture major. You met him by coincidence while taking art history so you didn’t know much about the guy, the only thing being the few stories he told you about his home country of Australia.

“Oi! It’s not my fault you're so skittish!” Bryce banters back with a huff.

“Whatever…”

“Eh? Wait, where you heading?” Bryce questions as he watches you walk away, “I thought you had Studio Art on Fridays?”

“I do. I’m heading to the library first though.” You yell back to the tall male who stayed put where he was standing. Not even bothering to follow you.

“You need to stop studying so much!”

“Shut up!”

“IT’S THE TRUTH!”

“SHUT UP!” You scream back with one final huff before storming off. So what if you studied so much. You just wanted to get good grades in the classes that counted. It’s how you got here in the first place. By working your ass off.

Unconsciously, you feel your hand twitch as you open the library door. So what if you spent hours studying. So what if you didn’t go out with friends that often. So what if you didn’t have a social life. So what—

You feel yourself pause, your expression turning sour. Lonely. That’s what you were. You were lonely. A miserable lonely girl.

“Miss!”

Startled out of your thoughts by the sudden call, you realize you were no longer standing at the front door but instead standing in front of one of the librarians. You must have unconsciously walked up to the front desk while you were lost in thought.

“A-Ah. Sorry, I was just looking for books on Leonar—“

You feel your voice trail off at the end as a book on the counter catches your eye. It wasn’t the gold detailing nor the leather texture. No. It was the simple words of “Greek Mythology: Tales of Zeus” printed neatly on the front.

“…Actually, Do you perhaps have any books about Poseidon?”

You just found something better to do with your time.

—.—.—.—.—

“Damn… this is extremely confusing…” You mumble to yourself as you glare at the pages of notes in front of you. Each book seemed to be a little bit different from the last. “Perhaps I should recap…”

Okay, so what makes sense to you is that Poseidon is the second eldest of three brothers and is the ruler of the seas. The things that don’t make sense are… practically everything else…

You weren’t sure if you wanted to cry or scream out of frustration right now.

According to the books, Poseidon has had many consorts over the years. One of them being Triton’s mother, Amphitrite…

“My mother… can be quite mean to other women. Even to some of the female servants around the palace. She believes that they are trying to seduce my father…”

…but that doesn’t match up with what Triton mentioned last night. According to him, it sounds like Amphitrite scared away any women that would even come near Poseidon. This also leads to another flaw in the mythology books. You doubted that Poseidon would be able to have an affair with any other women with Amphitrite antics, nevertheless have 10 other children with them.

“Triton also never mentioned having any other siblings…”

Letting out a groan, which you seemed to be doing a lot today, you banged your head against the table. It seems like these mythology books weren’t going to be of any help after all. Though…. you couldn’t help but wonder why the books were so off in the first place.

Lifting yourself back up from the table, you glare down at one of the book covers. It was blue, almost silvery in a way, with a giant black silhouette of Poseidon right smack dab in the middle. Or, at least, what Poseidon might look like…

“Well, my father is extremely strong and handsome. All the sea nymphs stare at him with big heart eyes half the time. Oh! B-but, father doesn’t pay any attention to them. Father is not a cheater like uncle Zeus…”

“…Is Father…? Oh. He’s alright… He’s nowhere as bad as my mother. He’s never hit me or anything. He’s just… cold. Extremely cold. He really just ignores me half the time…”

“…I do love my father…I just wished he would at least spare me a glance…you know?…Acknowledge his own son…”

“God damn jerk!” You hiss out in anger as you push the book aside. Your blood practically boiling at even the slightest thought of Triton’s father, Poseidon. He doesn’t deserve to have such a good and nice son like Triton.

However, as much as you want to curse out Poseidon more, you realized class would be starting soon and you really had to get a move on.

“Shit. I can’t afford to be late again.”

—.—.—

“Ugh. Why did the professor have to assign me this type of painter…?!” You whined to Yuri. Class had already ended by then with the professor long gone. The only people left were students that were conversing with others or trying to get a head start on their paintings.

“Well, it didn’t help that you barged into class late for the second time this week, (y/n).” Yuri explained with a sigh as she continued to set up her palette, not even sparing you a glance.

Yuri Saito, Or rather Saito Yuri, was an abroad student from Japan. She was the closest person you knew at the college as you both were similar in many ways. Especially since you were both homebodies.

“I get that but at least I showed up in the fir—“

“(Y/n)!” A voice shouts out interrupting your talk with Yuri. You turn around to see Bella Woods, a student apart of your major, approaching you. “(Y/n). You were part of your student council back in high school right?”

“Uh, Yeah. Why?” You answered hesitantly. You weren’t sure why, perhaps instincts, but you were already having a bad feeling about this situation.

“Well I need your help on something…” Bella explains, her voice trailing off at the end as she grabs something from her bag. It’s a piece of paper, a flier to be exact.

“A…A Cultural Festival?”

Bella nods her head at your words, “Yeah. The college wanted to put something on for the public to show what our art school is all about and Mrs. Yamamoto suggested this. A-Apparently, it’s something schools and colleges do back in Japan.”

“B-But how can I help? Wouldn’t it make sense for someone like Yuri to do this? Since she’s from Japan and all.”

It was the truth. You didn’t know a single thing about japanese culture festivals.

“Hey don’t drag me into this, I’m busy.” Yuri counterbacks with a glare before returning back to her painting.

“Well… you see… The school wanted to change Mrs. Yamamoto’s idea a bit since they really didn’t know anything about Japanese Cultural festivals either. So it’s like a Cultural festival, kind of not.” Bella rambled. You could tell all this information was scrambling her brain as well. “Basically, it’s like a Greek version of a Cultural festival where each major picks a Greek god and plans an event or booth around it.”

“…Okay… So it’s just like a school festival in a way?” You questioned cautiously. This was a lot for you to take in at once.

“Yes. Precisely. We are just taking inspiration from Cultural festivals.”

“Okay. Okay…” You answer as you rub the back of your neck, “I still don’t understand why you need me though?”

“Well, I kind of… kind of saw you reading the mythology books in the library today and we need more people on the planning committee…” Oh, god. It seems like everything is coming back to bite you in the ass, “…Just. Please (y/n), We need your help!”

You let out a small sigh as you watch Bella give you a pleading look, “Fine…”

“Yay—!“

“But…“ You start cutting off Bella’s cheers, “But I’m taking care of something really important right now at home so I can’t always make meetings and things like that. I can help with planning but that’s it. Okay?”

That was correct. As much as you wanted to help Bella and your department out with this festival, Triton was your top priority right now. His care and needs were above all else right now, even your own. So if this would get in the way of that then you would drop this project instantly. Instantly.

“Of course! Oh, thank you (y/n)!” Bella cheers, her body visibly relaxing now that a stress has been taken off your shoulder, “Well, I’m not sure if you're busy right now but… the committee is currently planning two classrooms down… so if you could…”

“I’ll go…” You sighed out. Damn, what’s with you lately. Less than two days ago, people hardly approached you. Now you are as busy as a bee. A person magnetic… Well, more like god magnetic as wel—

Wait, a minute. You feel yourself tense up as a thought flies into your brain. If Gods could travel and spend time on earth, could they live here as well? Just like how Triton wants to?

Shit. What if some that live here are able to identify Triton? You could be in big troub—

“(Y/n)? Are you coming?” Bella calls, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Y-yes.”

It seemed you would have to worry about that later. Not that it mattered right now, you could always just ask Triton when you got home. And even if he didn’t know the answer you would just have to be careful bringing him out of the house. Yeah… you would just do that.

“Guys, I would like to introduce you to (y/n). She’s a fine arts major just like us and knows about mythology. I think she would make a great addition to our group.” Bella introduces you as you enter the room. As you looked around the group of only 4 other people, you realized you really didn’t know anyone.

That is until everyone started to introduce themselves. You never heard of the first three—Brian, James and Kyle—but you found the last name, Marissa Samudra, quite familiar. You wonder if she was that Marissa.

Who you were talking about was Marissa, the hottest girl in school Marissa. Well, at least that’s what all the boys in your major told you. The girl in front of you at least seemed to fit the part. With white silk like skin, light green eyes and dyed coral pink hair, she truly was a sight to see.

“Okay. So shall we get started.” James suddenly spoke up, seeming to want to get the meeting started. You nodded your head in agreement before taking a seat next to Holly. As well as across from Marissa. “Well, I think we should first decide which god we should do. Culinary, Music, Visual performing arts and architecture already have chosen Aphrodite, Hades, Ares and Zeus. (Y/n)…”

You lift your head up at the call of your name.

“…as you know the most about Mythology, who do you think we should pick?”

“Well,…” You feel yourself pause, your palms growing sweaty out of nervousness. You really didn’t know that much about Greek Gods, only the class you took last year and the books you skimmed this morning. You also didn’t expect so many of the main gods to be taken already.

“…How about…”

You needed to think of someone fast. Someone that would satisfy all parties here. Someone that would bedazzle people coming to the festival.

“…Poseidon…?”

Why… Why was that what your brain had come up with? Poseidon? The very god that you were cursing out this morning. Wishing near death upon.

“Fish man?” Brian questioned, letting out a small chuckle at his own joke, “You really want to go with Fish man as our god? Isn’t there anyone better?”

“I think Poseidon is pretty…cool.” You feel a shiver go up your spine as you compliment the man. It was official, you might actually puke. “…He’s the king of the seas. It gives us a lot to work with for his character. Especially since most Fine Arts students are good at realistic elements, we could really do well on painting or using sea life.”

“True… but—“

“I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

You are shocked as you hear Marissa cut Brian off. When you first sat down, she seemed totally uninterested in the topic at hand. Caring more about her hair and nails than anything else. But now, now, she was paying attention to every little thing. You couldn’t help but wonder why. “Oh sorry. I really like the sea. It holds a special place in my heart… you know?”

Oh, that makes sense. You totally forgot Marissa’s paintings were mostly about the ocean and sea. Never drifting off to other topics.

“N-no. That’s actually pretty cool. You know what, we should totally do Posedin… or whatever the dude’s name is. He sounds really cool.” Bryan agrees as he bashfully rubs the back of his neck. Gross, could he make it any less obvious that he was smitten by her. And not in a nice way either.

You feel yourself shiver as you watch him sneak small glances down at Marissa’s chest area. Disgusting pervert…

“Well, with that decided let’s move on…”

…Great… You could already tell this was going to be a long meeting…

—.—.—.—.—

Again, for what felt like the hundredth time today, you banged your head against the wall. This time however it was against the door of your apartment.

“Seriously… a Café…?”

Yes, a Café. That’s the brilliant idea your group came up with. An under the sea type themed café.

In hindsight it didn’t sound all that bad. You could have a couple of students paint some props and decorations. Then another couple of students who know how to cook plan out the menu. Maybe even borrow some culinary students if you were lucky.

But,… there’s that.

Outnumbered three to two, the boys of your group insisted the girls that are serving customers should wear togas. Togas. They stated it was to bring in more customers but it was pretty obvious they had other intentions behind it. Especially since they didn’t even bother waiting a couple of minutes afterwards to ask if Marissa wanted to be part of the waiting staff.

“Poor girl… I feel bad for her.” You mumble to yourself as you pull out your keys, finally unlocking the door to your apartment. You wished you could just beat all those men senseless with a baseball bat. “That’s actually not a bad idea… Could I bring a wooden club and say that it's part of the character? They seem to not know that much about—“

“Miss (y/n)!” You hear shouted as something comes barreling into you. Knocking you onto the ground right as you enter your apartment. “O-oops I meant to only say (y/n)…”

Even though you got the air literally knocked out of you, you still let out a small chuckle as you reached up to run a hand through the perpetrator’s locks. Triton’s blonde locks. “It’s okay. I only told you this morning to stop referring to me so formally. It will take time for you to get used to it.”

Suddenly, you wince at a feeling of pain as you move slightly. Triton sure was strong. You, honestly, wondered if he held back some strength when he jumped at you. If so, you wondered how strong Triton was nonetheless an adult god.

Speaking of an adult god…

“Hey Triton.” The boy lifts his head up at your call, “Do any gods live on earth?”

The boy seemed to take a moment to think, “Well kind of? Not really Greek Gods though. Most of them are too proud to live with humans.”

“Oh well that’s goo— Wait, a minute! Other gods are real as well!?”

Triton nods his head furiously, “Yeah pretty much all gods. As long as it is considered as one, it exists. There’s Nordic gods…, Indian gods…, Oh! Even Buddha. I like Buddha, even though I’ve only met him once. He introduced me to salt water taffy! It’s delicious.”

“I-I see…I’ll try to get you some then. Another time.” As much as you wanted to hide your surprise you couldn’t. Learning that Greek Gods actually existed was one situation but learning that All Gods existed was a whole nother ball game. Did that mean demons existed as well?

“Hey (y/n). Could I ask you a question?” Triton asks, suddenly seeming bashful all of a sudden.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Could I…” Triton pauses for a moment, “Could I call you…”

You leaned closer to Triton as his voice slowly got softer and softer at the end. His ears and cheeks were bright red as he waited for you to answer. However, you couldn’t answer him as you didn’t hear the last part of what he said.

“I apologize. Could you repeat what you said, Triton? I couldn’t hear the end of it.” You felt bad for asking him to repeat it as his face only seemed to get even more red when you asked.

“I-I… Could I call you… Mom?”

It was silent as his question, or rather request, fell upon your ears. You thought about it for a moment. Especially whether it was morally right for you to have him call you ‘mom’. Even if his true mother was a terrible person, she was still his mother.

Though, then again, She really didn’t act like his mother. Especially in all her hundreds of years of existence of having him. At least from what you’ve heard from Triton. She’s had plenty of chances to show her love for him and she never did.

“Of…Of course you can.”

You feel yourself smile as Triton’s face lit up. And you knew, Deep down inside, that you did the right thing. You would show this boy the love he deserved.

“Hey (Y— Mom.” You giggle at how Triton seemed to practically beam with happiness once the title left his lips.

“Yes, Triton?”

“Could we have dinner right now?”

You feel yourself jump up a little in surprise. Since you stayed later than what you usually would, due to the meeting, you didn’t have anything prepared ahead of time for dinner.

“Ah, yes. Do you think you could wait in the living room while I prepare it?”

“Of course!” Triton answers as he scrambles up off of you. As you make your way to the kitchen—which was technically in the same room as the living room—to start dinner, you find yourself drifting off into your thoughts.

You realized you really hadn’t thought this through. Taking care of Triton and all. Your apartment was small, he didn’t have his own room, he seemed to eat a lot more than a human boy his physical age and so much more.

You wouldn’t be able to buy a bigger apartment right now. Going through college and all. But you could take more shifts at work. After all, it was literally down the street. You were also good friends with the owner of the toy shop next door. You bet he would allow Triton to play with a couple of toys while you worked.

As you continue to list things you would need to take care of Triton especially if it was long term, Triton was watching cartoons on the couch.

“…Wonder cats will be right back!…”

As the show goes to commercial break, Triton feels himself let out a sigh. Television sure was awesome and all, much better than the plays and coliseum matches used to entertain gods, but he despised ads more than anything.

“Who in the world created such a malicious thing…”

Triton’s voice trails off at the end as the ad changes to another. As he stares at the screen, he feels a shiver shoot down his spine. As quickly as he could, Triton changes the channel to another before shakily dropping the television remote. A cold sheen of sweat breaks out all over his skin as he collapses back onto the couch.

To anyone else, the commercial before looked like any normal hair dye commercial seen on Tv. But not to Triton. Especially when he saw something oh so familiar.

“T-that hair color…” Triton feels himself shiver at the thought, “L-looked too much like Aunties. Mom’s…No…

…Amphitrite’s Sister.”

Author Note: Ahhh this chapter contained so much but I knew I couldn’t split it up. Especially if I was doing posting Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was worried that the time frame in between would mess my readers up. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter. I know there wasn’t a lot of Triton moments but I wanted to get the ball rolling on the plot so that things and certain characters (*cough* Poseidon *cough*) will appear soon. Well that’s it for now, see you next time :)))

Taglist: @angeli-fucking-cat @marixxhq

[toonatic92]

[Image description: A watercolour painting of four season-themed fairies. From left to right: 1. Hanae, a small Asian girl wearing a pink, flower-patterned kimono. She has cherry tree branches growing out of her eyes and cherry blossom petals for wings. The background is a forest clearing with cherry blossom petals falling, bordered by branches and cherry blossoms. 2. Abha, a young Indian woman with long blonde hair, wearing a black swimsuit with pearlescent stripes on it, jean shorts and various jewellery made of nacre. Her wings are oyster shells and the background is a sunny beach, bordered by nacre and various shells. 3. Ruby, a middle-aged Black woman with braided blonde hair, wearing an off-the-shoulder orange and purple top, pink and white shorts with gold studs, red and white striped stockings, and gloves and boots that match the shorts. Her wings are maple leaves and the background is an autumnal forest with falling leaves, acorns and sycamore seeds, bordered by an intricate gold design and various leaves and acorns. 4. Taqqiq, an elderly Inuit woman with long grey and blue braided hair, wearing a hooded parka with blue snowflake and zigzag designs. Her boots and gloves are covered in snow and her wings are seal flippers. The background is an icy cave bordered by icicles.]

In the world of Truth Seekers, fairies are powerful nature spirits who are bonded to specific animals, plants or natural features. There are many important roles in fairy society and the fairies of the seasons are the second most important after the Fairy Queen. Each season is assigned a fairy whose duty it is to make sure the season goes the way it's supposed to. These roles are mostly passive except for a special ceremony at the start and end of a season, so these fairies are mostly free to pursue their own interests.

From left to right: 1. Hanae is the fairy of Spring. She is a curious and playful young girl with a rare condition, her body is being slowly taken over by the cherry tree she's bonded to. To slow the spread of the condition, she is kept in a pocket dimension where it is eternally spring and she can run around and play to her heart's content. She is visited often by other fairies, but it's still a lonely life and she wishes she could see the outside world.

2. Abha is the fairy of Summer. She's a laid-back surfer chick who loves to party. She tends to turn up at most parties hosted by supernaturals including the big weekend parties hosted by the demons in the woods. She's bonded to a pearl oyster and tends to wear them as jewellery along with other shells she picks up off the beach.

3. Ruby is the fairy of Autumn. She's a fun, vivacious, flirty former party girl. She spent a very long time out of Fairyland, dodging her responsibilities and hanging around with pirates and highwaymen. But then she met her wife and settled down in the town of Hallowtree, where she runs the Autumn Café. She is the heart of Hallowtree's supernatural community, which makes her an invaluable source of information and advice for the protagonists, Ama and Mickey. She's bonded to a sycamore maple and she wears one of its seeds around her neck.

4. Taqqiq is the fairy of Winter. She's cold and distant and is uninterested in her duties, preferring to hide herself away in her ice palace. She used to be a midwife, taking any mutated fairy babies or 'changelings' and swapping them with human babies. The problem was that she kept the human babies for herself, causing chaos in Fairyland. The title of Fairy of Winter was supposed to limit her contact with the human world, since she only absolutely has to go there at the beginning and end of winter, but she keeps using the ceremonies as an excuse to kidnap more children. She is now heavily supervised at the ceremonies and any kids she steals get taken away from her, which has left her very depressed. She's bonded to a harp seal and keeps many of them as pets at her ice palace.

Medium: Watercolour pens on paper.

Links to other versions:

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[of-elves-and-mad-hatters]

“The Azure Sky” - Chapter 4 - Lego Elves

Shadows to the Brightest Flame: Series

- The legacy of Lumia’s influence is scarred eternally into the lands of Elvendale. Burdened by a prophecy foretelling her demise and need for a successor, she watches for one capable of such power. Yet her enemies are working steadily to undo all she’s labored so long for, and it is millenia too late to make peace. 

Emily Jones, heir to Eimileen, is a bold girl dedicated to protecting Elvendale, but the world she has grown so fond of is not so black and white as it seems, and the titles of Guardian of Portal and Guardian of Light may hold darker legacies some ancient elves have worked tirelessly to hide. 

In conjunction with the extended version of the Guardian of Light prophecy I wrote previously

Basically a rewrite of all of the Lego Elves & Secrets of Elvendale storylines with an additional arc beyond the Season 4: Into the Shadows. There will be a varying degree of deviation from canon.

Technically a crossover with Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Silmarillion in terms of worldbuidling, as I set Elvendale as being north of Middle-Earth, cause this is fanfic and I can. So there will be mentions of the Noldor, Sindar, Silvan, and some Tolkien characters, but they will be mostly background. Definitely not an issue if you aren’t familiar with the Middle-Earth fandom; everything will still be easy to understand. 

Book 1: The Azure Sky

Grieving over the unexpected death of her grandmother, Emily Jones is accidentally trapped in another world. Befriending a few young elves in an attempt to find her way home, Emily discovers many secrets about her grandmother’s past, but for every truth she learns two more questions take its place, leaving her vulnerable to darker force inhabiting this realm. 

A rewrite of Unite the Magic

____________________________________________

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2 

Chapter 3

____________________________________________

Chapter 4

Emily watches the golden light of early sunset reflects upon the surface of the ocean, changing shape and hue as the waves roll. The gentle rhythm is soothing, distancing her from the events of the past couple of weeks.

Peaceful, content.

She shifts her position on the wooden bench. She feels the edge of a splinter catch the hem of her shorts, sighs.

It’s all too real to be a dream.

The admittance is not as terrifying as it should be, being trapped in a strange world, but it certainly a beautiful one, vibrant, angelic. A part of her truly would rather stay here a thousand years than suffer another day on Earth, a voice that cares not whether they succeed in finding a way to return her home.

That wistful dream shatters when she thinks of her parents and her little sister, Sophie, wondering where she could be, having only gone to wander in her grandmother’s garden. They would never learn the truth, the mystery forever haunting them.

She leans her head over, watching the water, frowns. “Have we stopped?”

“No, Em,” Azari calls from above the cabin. “We’re just going so fast you can’t feel it.”

“Actually,” Naida corrects, “We’ve stopped. The wind’s died down.”

“Oh! I could build a windmill! Or some wings…” Aira bubbles.

“Someone’s desperate to build something,” smirks Azari.

Farran raises an eyebrow. “Aira, you control the wind.”

Aira pouts. “Fine.” She stands at the bow, raising her hands towards the sky. She starts to sing, or screach. The other elves clamps their hands over their ears as her voice raises in volume. A gale gathers above their heads and with the final note floods the sails. The boat begins to cut across the water.

Keeping her eyes on the map, Naida guides the water telekinetically. Azari makes her way down, sighing with boredom. “How much farther is it…” The boat stops.

Aira frowns. “That gale should have kept us going…”

“It’s alright,” Naida soothes. She strides over to let down the anchor. “We’re here.”

“But where is here, exactly? All I see is a bunch of ocean,” Azari questions, “No offense.”

“The map wouldn’t lead us astray.” As the water elf finishes, new runes appear on the righthand corner of the map.

“The deep shelters all things from curious eyes

Fates of those who should not have dared the sea

Graves graced with the memorials of strangers

Bones piled high and crowned with mermaid’s tears.” Naida reads aloud.

“Well that doesn’t sound foreboding,” Farran chuckles nervously.

The water elf ignores him and turns to the human girl. “Emily, what do you think of all of this?”

Emily shrugs, feeling once again as though she were being tested. “Well, I can barely believe I’m on a boat with elves and in a land with mermaids to begin with, but um, I remember my grandmother telling me that mermaid’s tears were pearls.”

Naida’s eyes shine with approval. “Well remembered.” She turns and bends down, lifting an ornamental rug to reveal a viewing port in the bottom of the boat. Through the glass a shipwreck can be seen. It is strangely arrayed, fully covered in coral and other sea plants, but the wood seems perfectly preserved, almost petrified. The reef extends up a rocky mound towering above the fragmented structure. Intermixed with the coral are hundreds of bones, separated and scattered but perfectly intact, even the skulls. Atop are nestled a group of large oysters, their shells muted in typically muddy greys and browns.

“So the key is inside an oyster?” Emily asks. “That’s kinda cool.”

Farran frowns. “Yeah, but how are we going to get it?”

“I can try,” Naida offers, but their is hesitancy in her voice.

“Wait, you’re going to try and walk down to the bottom of the ocean?” Azari looks incredulous. “Have you ever tried sustaining your magic that long?”

“I’ve come close,” Naida reassures, “And there aren’t a lot of other appealing options.”

“We could get help!” Azari argues.

“No, the fewer people who know what we’re doing, the better.”

“Why? Every elf in Elvendale would give their right hand to help the descendant of the fifth sister!”

“We still don’t know for certain that Emily is related to the fifth sister. The evidence favors that conclusion, but not to the satisfaction of every inhabitant of this continent. And even if we could prove it, the Sisters made enemies by making that portal. We could be endangering Emily’s life.”

“What enemies? Aside from some disgruntled elves on the southern border and a few skeptics, the portals weren’t really controversial.”

Naida frowns. “I don’t actually know,” she confesses, “Only that was what Nuala said, that they made enemies of those who were once their allies. She never explained more than that.”

“Well, I for one don’t think you should risk your life over shadows and boogeymen,” Azari responds. “Farran?” she asks, assuming his support.

“Actually,” Farran nervously runs his hand through his hair, “I agree with Naida. We shouldn’t get anyone else involved.”

The fire elf looks shocked. “Aira?”

Aira laughs nervously, “I don’t know? In the end shouldn’t it be Naida’s choice what risk she takes?”

Azari’s face hardens to one of disbelief. Ever the rebel of the group, she never imagined a day would come when her friends approved of something she considered too dangerous. “I guess I’m outvoted then,” she mutters.

Feeling guilty, Emily opens her mouth to speak on Azari’s behalf, but Naida has already begun forming a tunnel in the water and stepped off the side of the boat. They hold their breath as she wanders down, the tunnel growing until in envelopes the tip of the coral mound covered in oysters. The largest of the group opens its lid, revealing a bed with two shiny white pearls and a blue metallic key. 

Naida grasps the key, flinching as the oyster clamps its shell suddenly closed. Face beginning to strain with effort of maintaining the magic, the water elf hurries back to the surface. She nearly collapses onto the deck, but brushes off the other elves’ help. “I’m fine, just a little tired.”

“That was incredible,” Emily exclaims. Aira and Farran resound the praise. 

Azari crosses her arms, but her frown cracks into a smile. “That was kinda awesome.” Naida returns the compliment with a hug, which the other elves quickly join. Emily stands awkwardly off to the side. 

“So,” Azari’s voice travels from inside the group, “When are we gonna eat? I’m starving.”

[legend-collection]

Sprite

onsidered to be the most common type of faerie, they are known to live in deep woods. Some make their homes high in the branches of trees while others prefer to live near ponds and streams. They particularly love to live in the forests inhabited by treefolk and other fey and enjoy cool weather and a calm, serene environment. If sprites are spotted, it is a sign that the area has a high concentration of faerie activity.

Sprites travel in swarms and can bite if provoked. They are playful, and at times obnoxious. One of their favorite past-times is pestering butterflies. This is a great game for them as they are able to fly much faster than butterflies and can go greater distances before requiring rest. Generally, no butterflies are injured during the sprites' harassment because of their short attention span. To keep a sprite interested requires constant change and surprises. Too much of a challenge, however, will frustrate them and they will zip away to the next thing that catches their eye.

Each morning sprites come down from the trees, if they are tree sprites, and bathe in the dew. Water and ground dwelling sprites bathe in the river or pond they inhabit. Although we prefer to think of sprites as sweet and innocent they are still living beings and require sustenance. As they are Faeries' main gardeners, they kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. They eat the pests that cause damage to the plants they aid in growth there by nourishing their bodies with important nutrients and ridding the flowers, grasses, trees and bushes they love of bugs, beetles, worms, grubs and slugs that harm the plant.

Each type of sprite has a different specialty. Tree sprites are responsible for helping trees to shake off the Winter's snow, budding leaves, bearing fruit, which they tend to snack on, turning the leaves in the autumn, and plucking the leaves away once they've lost their radiance. They go deep into the trees in the Winter and sing to the roots to keep the trees company during the long lonely winter as the trees miss the birds and squirrels terribly. If the sprites aren't there to soothe the trees they sometimes don't make it to the next Spring.

At night their bodies give off a faint glow that can have them mistaken for fireflies, which, along with other flying insects and small birds, they are fond of riding. They wrap themselves in foliage at night or sink into silky blooms. Water sprites will sometimes sleep on lily pads, oyster shells, or curled up on a nice pile of seaweed.

Petals and blooms missing from healthy plants may be due to sprites plucking them for clothing. Sprites can also cause plants to bloom in the middle of Winter and are the nurturers of the strange fruits that faeries delight in.

In forests with sprites, it is possible to find the hollowed-out acorns they use as cups; dandelion-tuft mattresses, and hats made from folded leaves.

Pic by Arthur Rackam

[prehistoriceurope]

Ertebølle Culture

The Ertebølle culture was a culture of hunter and gatherers who lived between 5300BC-3950BC in modern day Denmark and southern Sweden. Even though the culture is linked to Denmark and southern Sweden, the people of the Ertebølle culture had virtually identical genes with the people of Northern Germany and the Northern Netherlands. The Dutch Swifterbant culture, about which I have written a post before, is the most similar culture to that of the Ertebølle culture.

The name of the culture itself is named after a kitchen midden found in the village of Ertebølle in Denmark. The Ertebølle people lived close to the coasts between modern day Netherlands and Denmark (pretty much the later territory of the kingdom of Frisia) and their food consisted of a lot of sea food like mussels, oysters and fish.

The climate of Denmark was wildly different during the end of the mesolithic era compared to the climate in which the Germanic people lived, the iron age. Temperatures were about three degrees celcius higher than they are today and the sea level was 3 meters higher than today. Denmark, Northern Germany and the Netherlands was filled with primeval lush forests and rich with a wide range of animals and edible plants. Perfect lands for a hunter and gathere culture.

The Ertebølle culture is mostly known for its kitchen midden remnants which consisted of huge piles of shells of seafood. These kitchen middens could be very long, the kitchen midden after which the culture is named, is about 140 meters long and just full with piles of seashells. Not only remains of seafood have been discovered in these middens, bones of otter, wolf, deer, boar, auroch, bear, fox, lynx, eagle, beaver and seals have also been found at these kitchen middens.

Their main weapon of hunting these animals was the bow and arrow but just like their Swifterbant relatives, they used fishing nets in order to catch their seafood. The Ertebølle culture was truly one of the very first cultures in the world that established a coastal fishermen's lifestyle.

The homes of these Ertebølle people looked rather different if you compare them to the houses of other European mesolithic people. The Ertebølle people lived in small cottages made of wood and sometimes with thatched roofs. Some of the cottages might have been covered in animal skins. They were however also able to make wattle walls. The climate in Denmark was warm enough during the end of the mesolithic age to not have needed special isolated homes against the cold.

The Ertebølle people also hollowed out trees to make canoes in order to travel on rivers and lakes. They could have been used to transport goods to another settlement just like what the Swifterbant culture people did but they could also have been used for fishing of course.

How did these Ertebølle people look like? We do not exactly know how they should have looked like but we have some ideas based on DNA research of several remains. The average life expectancy was only 35 years old but remains of people older than 60 have been found which suggests that infant mortality was quite high. Sex determination is also difficult to perform since the females were actually quite robust. The DNA of the Ertebølle and Swifterbant people are linked to the Cro Magnon, these people were fairly light skinned with possible blue eyes.

The Ertebølle culture is very interesting to explore and perhaps, if more settlements were found across the coastline between the Netherlands and Denmark, the Swifterbant and the Ertebølle people were actually one single culture instead of two distinctly different ones. This is very well possible judging by the fact that they are genetically identical and lived very similar lifes.

Here are photos of: Ertebølle cottage reconstruction, Artists interpretation of an Ertebølle cottage, The remains of an Ertebølle girl from Tybrind Vig, Ertebølle flint tools, Ertebølle canoe, Reconstruction of a face of a Dutch Swifterbant which is also how an Ertebølle male would have looked like since the two cultures are genetically identical, Map showing Ertebølle finds/territory,

[chuckadams]

She Sells Seashells By the Seashore (2021)

For some reason, unknown to mankind, my mom, on her last full day of life— before she laid down on a hospital bed— wanted to buy some starfish in-person, carefully selected by her own hands.

No, not the bleached white skeletal varieties of starfish, but the chalky pastel- colored ones, almost looking like candies from Columbia Chocolates, the kitschy kind: the only ones one would find at a place called Marsh’s Free Museum.

So we drove the 45-minutes across the span of the Astoria- Megler Bridge—past the river-docked container ships—past Fort Columbia, where we would take the dogs for a run —past the lobster-pot Christmas tree in downtown Ilwaco.

When we arrived, my father and younger brother scattered, on the hunt for something other than starfish. I held my mom by the arm while she puffed on her cigarette. So dizzy she was that I did more than just hold out my arm: I held her up, taking some weight off her feet, as she lurched around the small store looking for the colorful starfish.

She found a bin of them, arranged in piles at waist-high. They all looked the same to me, but to my mom, each one had a special, unique story to tell. She squinted and leaned into the shelf, picking up and examining each one, feeling its heft, rubbing her fingers over the bumpy nodules, before finally selecting one, two, and three of ‘em by plopping them into her basket.

If life is in the details, I now understand.

I never thought of my mom as a discriminating shell collector but then I thought about it:

In Romania, I watched as she shuffled along the shore of the Black Sea, eyes craned down, picking up the strange and smelly shells littering the beach. I sat back on the sand, and I watched her very carefully. It was two years before her passing, but somehow I knew.

In her golden age, my mom collected the most worthy oyster shells from the discarded piles outside of the seafood processing plants on the Long Beach Peninsula. She’d bleach them clean, buff them smooth, and paint glitter over them, giving them a shine they never had when they skulked about the bay, keeping their traps shut.

I could overdramatize, and say my mom was buying these starfish for her own burial, or to decorate her own headstone, or something like that.

But the truth cuts closer to the heart: She was doing some last minute Christmas shopping for some more loved ones on her list.

The starfish were for her granddaughter, Marisol. She would buy a ship-in-a-bottle for her grandson, Mateo. To my own daughter, she mailed a toy logging truck, made out of wood. To each one of her grandchildren, my mom sent a piece of Oregon, the vast Pacific empire of forests, ships, and fish.

And then she retired, to the passenger seat, exhausted.

Even when we pulled down the road to the beach, she was too tired to walk to the breakers. But she watched us go instead.

My mom spent some of her life looking for seashells by the seashore. My mom spent most of her life sending us signals of her love— wrapped, packaged, hand-written, hand-selected.

[guidedbynors]

The Heirs of Oralia (Part 1)

Note: This week I am changing up the formatting to practice and reflect on how the official Quest website (adventure.game) presents its signature adventure: Mischief Mountain.

Premise

For Guides:

Currently, Maergale is surrounded by an army of undead, per the scenario in Riot In The Streets, Ghosts of Crescent Wood, and The Dead Light. This adventure can be played in conjunction with these other adventures, or by itself.

Fischer Fissure was created a thousand years ago by a great and powerful wizard. Her name was Oralia Fischer. It is said she stood against an invading army by herself with nothing more than her wand and dressed in robes of crimson. As the invading army bore down on her Oralia stood her ground, raised her wand, and cast a spell that tore the earth asunder, creating a fissure that stretched 20 miles, from Lake Maer to the plainlands of Groth. However, legends say that as Oralia cast her spell, an arrow, fired from the bow of an archer struck Oralia in the heart. She died there and the invading army rode the distance around the fissure and sacked the village near Lake Maer. The populace of Maergale is the descendants of the invading army.

This adventure is about the perceptions we have of history. At first, Questers will be led to believe Oralia is the champion of this town, only to discover it is the archer who founded the Maergale City as it is today.

Intro

For Guides:

At the beginning of this adventure, Questers are presented with the dire situation outlined in Riot In The Streets. There doesn’t need to be a riot about to break out, but the undead army of Curiel Neralo is still present.

If this is a new group of players and characters, ask players how they know each other, why they are in Maergale and define some character dynamics. If you have fit this adventure into our own campaign or been playing through the Maergale City line of adventures, this may not be applicable.

When everyone is ready to play, read the introduction below. Modify the text to fit your players' situations in terms of experiences together.

At the beginning of this adventure, Questers start in Maergale City, but it won’t be long before they are sent on a quest.

Maergale City

Exposition: Read Aloud:

Maergale, the azure city, is named for the pure glacial waters of Lake Maer. It is a model of civilization. Perfect brick streets, towers that stretch to the sky, artists and merchants, scholars and students: all belong here. Yet a stench blows into this city. The undead army of Curiel Neralo waits outside, biding their time. What they wait for, nobody knows. They seek something of great power.

This is why you have been called by The Daughters of the Crescent. Yet all you have found, as you enter their offices, is a well-dressed possum in a tiny pantsuit, shuffling around on a high oak desk strewn with papers.

As you enter, the possum stands on its hind legs and nods its head, as though it knew you were coming.

Daughter Pelomn, Quest Giver, And Transdimensional Lawyer

For Guides:

Daughter Pelomn is a member of the Daughters of the Crescent, a political opposition group to the city council of Maergale. Daughter Pelomn is a possum with a degree in transdimensional law, and their main goal up until this point has been to bury the city council in bureaucracy and paperwork. Pelomn will tell Questers the story of Oralia Fischer and the wand she carried. Pelomn is unaware that Oralia isn’t the ancestor of the town, but rather, kin to the undead army outside (the people who inhabited the land of Maer before the invading army destroyed them). Pelomn believes the wand of Oralia is somewhere in the fissure she created. They ask Questers to retrieve the wand.

Exploring Fischer Fissure

For Guides:

The western tapering of Fischer Fissure runs along the north edge of Maergale. The northern gate of the city leads directly to a draw bridge that spans this tapering fissure. Below the bridge is a fast-moving river, though not white water, about 30 feet across. This is the ample outlet of Lake Maer.

Exposition: Read Aloud

The northern gate of Maergale is a broad wooden drawbridge reinforced by thick iron bands. It is closed, drawn up against the city walls, and the arched entrance that leads across the tapering fissure just beyond the wall. Five city guards occupy a checkpoint just within the wall and more sentries line the wall above, peering through parapets, their bows at the ready.

For Guides:

The guards are reluctant to let the bridge down. On the other side of the fissure is an army of undead and the guards are terrified that if they let down the bridge, the horde will seize the opportunity to attack and gain entrance to the city.

Bridge Master Bawb:

For Guides:

Bridge Master Bawb is a young and nervous man. He is terrified of the undead and will flatly deny Questers any request to lower the bridge. Questers can use clever roleplay or magical abilities to persuade Bridge Master Bawb to do so, but the grooling undead should be a focus if Questers decide on this course of action. Alternatively, Bridge Master Bawb will ask why Questers wish to leave the city. If they answer him truthful and tell him they wish to descend into the fissure, he will suggest repelling down from the city wall. Questers can also use any magical abilities to achieve the same outcome. If they decide to rappel using a rope, they will need thousands of feet.

Fischer Fissure:

Exposition: Read Aloud

The cliffs of the fissure are rough reddish stone. Below you, hundreds of feet, the water flows rapidly along. There are ample handholds and ledges as you descend, toward the water, the temperature dropping, a pungent and earthy tone reaching your nose. A mist glistens on your arms and legs, your face. Drips from your brow as you drop lower. Before long, you are soaked through with cold dampness.

At the bottom of the fissure, the cliffside recedes, leading to an undercut where the water has carved out sections of the cliff in the winter.

Everything is shadowed down here. It is difficult to tell how far the water has carved out the cliffs on either side of the river.

For Guides:

At the bottom of the fissure, nearly everything is in shadow. The ledge where Questers can find footing after their descent is a long and carved out part of the wall which is wide enough to walk three abreast for the most part. There doesn't seem to be anything in the initial vicinity, but Questers should know (or be reminded) that the place where Oralia Fischer made her last stand was some way to the west of where they have descended into the fissure. Questers will need some light, though it is too damp down here for torches. If they have no way of creating magical light, Questers' attention may be drawn to the river, which is home to a luminous fish that, if caught, can be used as a pale light. As your Questers travel west, following the river, you may choose to have them face a Trial in order to stay dry and warm. For every hour they are consistently chilled and wet, you may increase the cost of their abilities by +1 Action Points. Abilities that would usually cost 0 AP, would cost +1 per hour. This reflects the exhaustion Questers would feel at constantly being wet and cold more thoroughly than filling their inventory with exhaustion per the Quest Game Book.

Exposition: Read Aloud

You travel west along the thin ledge, the water and cold ever-present near you and on you. After about an hour of traveling along the river, the wall to your left suddenly opens up to a vast and yawning cave mouth. On the walls to either side are markings. Not made by water, but surely carved into the stone by hand. The carvings are simple and crude, though easily interpreted. The carved scene depicts a vast group of people on horses riding toward a solitary figure holding up a hand, rays slashing out from it toward the ground as well as the oncoming charge. A single arrow flies toward the solitary person.

As you examine this curious carving, you suddenly hear a scuffling sound from deeper within the cave.

The Heirs of Oralia:

FOR Guides:

Within the cave is a civilization that is directly descended from Oralia Fischer and the indigenous peoples of what is now called Maergale. They have burrowed into the cliffside, and then up so that during the winter they do not get flooded. Their homes are completely underground and they have evolved to possess a tremorsense that lets them detect vibrations in the ground. Their underground city is a labyrinth of small rooms, stone stairwells, and underground fungus gardens. There is no centrality to the city, but it seems fast and difficult to navigate once Questers are presented with it.

The underground people are not hostile, though they will become so if threatened. They look like humans but have overly large eyes and some webbing between their fingers and toes. Most of them wear clothes spun out of a strange and stringing fiber (from a fungus). They do not speak the same language as Questers, nor do they speak "common." Questers can explore the underground civilization as much as they want, but details concerning the underground city are not present or essential to this adventure. Instead, an emissary is sent to communicate with Questers but doesn't invite them in as they don't know if they can trust these outsiders.

Exposition: Read Aloud

From deep within the darkness of the cave a shape moves, tall, thin, and then slowly emerges from the dimming shadow. Is it a woman or a man? It is difficult to tell. The person is human-esk in appearance, but with eyes far larger than any human possesses. They have no hair, either, and wear a strange shimmering robe, woven of thick strands the same hue of oyster shell.

They speak: Gragek?

FOR GUIDES:

Let Questers struggle with the language for a time. There may be a magical item or spell Questers already have so to understand this person, if not, the emissary will point to the lone person depicted on the wall, then point to themselves. They are not trying to communicate that THEY are Oralia, but rather, Oralia and her people are their people. Then The emissary will point to the horde of cavalry and point to the Questers. If the Questers are able to communicate that they are not from Maergale, then the emissary will point to the cavalry and point up, toward Maergale instead. After that, the emissary will point to the arrow, then withdraw a small, thin stone box from its robe. Within is the arrow that killed Oralia (See Arrow of Oralia, at the end of this adventure for its magical properties). Lastly, the emissary will point to the hand of the solitary person, from which the rays of light spring. Then they will shrug, point to Questers, then to themselves, and offer Questers the arrow, as if in exchange. The emissary will point upward, out of the fissure and toward the army of undead, then to the place where Oralia's wand is indicated on the wall. Of course, if any of your Questers have a way to understand the emissary, this interaction can take place without the game of charades.

The Wand of Oralia:

For Guides:

The wand of Oralia is not in the fissure river, but rather with Curiel Neralo. He is using it to control the undead, though of course, Questers do not know this. The Heirs of Oralia do, however, though are unsure if they can trust the Questers with the information.

To Be Continued

Item: Arrow of Oralia

This arrow is old and worn and must be re-fletched before it can be used. This arrow always finds the heart of its target. It kills anything it is shot at.

[piermanwalter]

I had a dream that I got myself a shapeshifting Nicki Minaj makeup set as a birthday present. I just got home from a long trip and impulse-purchased the makeup set at an airport duty-free shop. It was pitch black outside and felt very late at 9:30 like when you are a little kid and feel 9:30 is late. When your time is controlled by someone else, staying up late feels like a luxury. I’m not sure how old I was in my dream, since I travelled alone but still felt as though someone set a bedtime for me. 

The makeup set was a mystery box from the newly released “Nicki Siren” collection, which was mostly mermaid and sea-themed clothes and accessories. It cost 900 dollars, but the crushing sadness of being stuck in an extended layover on my birthday and the Fear of Missing Out since it was the last Nicki Siren set in the store compelled me to buy it. It was the volume of a shoebox. Top-down, it was square and slightly taller than it was wide. I opened it in my bedroom. The cardboard box was white with dark blue gouache-like writing and the front of the box had Nicki’s face in the corner wearing a pearl and seashell studded tiara and a teal wig with a surprised expression. The overall mood was bright, fun, and unusually unsexy. 

Inside the box was a teal plastic cube with gold accents. Inside the cube was custom light blue bubble wrap flecked with gold glitter. Under the bubble wrap was a 30-inch gold chain necklace with pearls at 3-inch intervals and two huge clamshells hanging off it. The clasp of the necklace had an 8-cm long flat silver pendant in the shape of a fan coral on it, studded on one side with tiny white crystals. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a real chain and instead gold beads fit together like a chain strung onto braided teal leather. The information packet in the box under the cube said the beads were 20-ct gold-plated sterling silver, the clasp pendant was cubic zirconia and platinum-plated sterling silver, and the pearls were cultured. 

Despite being quahog type clams, the clamshells had the color and texture of a teal turbo snail shell. This is biologically impossible and I assumed the shells were fake or some weird manufacturing technique was used. Luckily, the shells could be removed from the necklace. which made it much more wearable. I was worried about the shell toggles being right on the pearls, since pearls are fragile, but the pearls were extremely slippery and couldn’t be scratched. I spun the clamshells around the pearls until I got bored. The shells were hinged containers. The smaller clamshell I could close my hand around and had 13 loose non-slippery pearls in it, while the big clamshell was the volume of two double cheeseburgers, extremely heavy, made sloshing noises when shook, but couldn’t be opened. 

The giant clamshell also had a big rectangular magenta sticker on it, which looked very good against the teal shell. Peeling the sticker off, there was product and copyright information printed directly onto the shell, which was ugly as hell and the opposite of normal giant stickers.

When I gave up on opening the giant clamshell, I noticed the necklace chain had grown a cigar-like steel tube around one of the pearls. The tube unrolled into a 3-inch-long hamsa charm with a cloisonne enamel design of white birds flying over fields and forests on it. I went downstairs to get a string and a chair. When I hung the hamsa on the ceiling fan in my bedroom, it started bending again and the birds had left the forest and were now flying over the sea. Although the design changed, I never saw the birds or the hamsa move.

After I got down from the ceiling fan, the pearls were sprouting like seeds, growing into cubic zirconia pavé coral like the one on the clasp. Unlike the hamsa I could see them grow and change in real time. As an experiment, I pinched one of the sprouts until it broke. The broken sprout withered until it disappeared and instead of faceted gems set in perfect prongs, the pearl started producing cloudy industrial accident crystals and twisted wires, before slorping it all back into itself and turning black. 

I felt bad about that and grated a block of parmesan over the pearls to atone. I had to clean cheese out of the prongs afterwards but it felt like the right thing to do. I noticed the coral was “eating” the cheese calcium crystals and growing little pearls so I put them back into the cheese and by the time all the parmesan disappeared, they were twice as big as the original with a seed pearl at every place the coral branched. When the coral pendants stopped growing, the pearl “eggshells” crumbled into powder and flowed back into the little clamshell, which grew a mirror and became a highlight powder compact. 

I looked back in the box and found a little redwood box taking up the remaining space. In the wood box were sheets of stickers made of dyed suede leather, more cubic zirconia, and metal foil. I put some on my phone case and decided to cover the product information on the giant shell with stickers because it looked so bad. This caused the big shell to open. In the shell was a bottle of “Cali Coast” Nicki Siren perfume, a mini lip palette, a mini eyeshadow palette, three tubes of mascara, a teal lipstick, a magenta lipstick, and a sea salt bath bomb. There was a dent in the shell the exact size of the stunted black pearl so I put it in and closed the case. When I opened it again, the black pearl turned into a pearl-handled powder brush.

I looked up the makeup set on the internet and there was a #NickiSirenChallenge on instagram where people bragged/commiserated about what they got. Always, the pendant on the clasp was some kind of immobile sea animal like an anemone or sea pen or sea star and there were always two teal turbo-patterned bivalve containers, like scallops or oysters, one big and one small. The necklace also varied from choker to floor-length, some with real chains, some beads set with larimar cabochons, some with solid gold chains, some with no metal and all natural pearls. Instead of stickers, some people got sample-size vials of different perfumes, keychains, silk scarves, or vouchers for free Nicki Siren clothes. One in 150 makeup sets had clasp pendants with real diamonds and solid platinum. 

To open the big case, you must cover it in stickers, put a key on the keychain, wear the scarf, or redeem the vouchers, depending on what you got. The big case always contained normal makeup and the little case contained 5-30 pearls which turned into different things depending on how you treated them, usually more makeup if you broke them, jewels if you didn’t. It was discovered breaking pearls before they sprouted turned them into applicable products like face creams or nail polish remover. Breaking pearls after they sprouted turns them into tools like nail files or lash curlers. Naturally people cared more about the pearls than the makeup even though it’s technically a makeup set. 

The little case could turn into anything with a hinge, usually corresponding to what the pearls turned into, like my compact and brush. Most people got jewellery boxes but some people got phone cases. 

There was a small chance of getting a bonus animated lucky charm. Someone got a clear resin horseshoe with a functioning ecosystem of malachite seaweed and peanut-sized copper sea urchins in it. Someone else got a palm-sized glass nazar which changed eye patterns before fading to a solid blue disc, then a brass goldfish would jump out of the center of the disc (not literally, it was a flat sheet of brass embedded in the surface which was etched using perspective to make it look as though it were leaping out of the nazar) before falling down, creating ripples that looked like an eye again. Another person got a blue faience ceramic Egyptian fish amulet that changed poses like it was swimming and sometimes moves to different rooms by itself. There were only 20 lucky charms in the world.

In one video, a pole dancer did a routine to Nicki Minaj songs and opened the box on stage. She got vouchers for a cameo in a music video and an entire free outfit. When she pulled the necklace out of the box, the strands of pearls just kept coming and when she turned the box upside down, the stage was engulfed in pearls like a giant shimmering mop.

In another video, someone poured Veuve Cliquot champagne on their case pearls and they hatched into huge round life-size faceted topaz sea apples encircled with braided gold wire instead tube feet, sprays of diamond-tipped gold as feeding tentacles.

Someone was able to score a rare full size Nicki Siren SuperBase foundation tube and she made a video where she applied the foundation, then complained it didn’t match her skin tone. The foundation immediately darkened to match. Later she made another video proving SuperBase foundation was like holy water because it could be refilled with different foundation but still be the same no matter how diluted it gets. SuperBase was the only product that behaves like this.

Someone ran over a case pearl with a Ferrari and it exploded into an 80-piece skincare set. 

I felt bad because aside from the hamsa, I got the second cheapest versions of everything. But as I scrolled through instagram, I became grateful that I didn’t incur Nicki’s wrath. 

Someone bought ten Nicki Siren sets and when she opened one, the stickers were paper, the necklace chain was that weird golden alloy that turns your skin green, the clasp pendant was a lead picoroco barnacle with a giant chunk of plastic for its beak, the small cockle had two pearls in it which turned into another lead barnacle and a sea salt bath bomb, and the big cockle had 8 sea salt bath bombs in it. When she tried to open the other boxes, there were more boxes inside and the boxes grew as though they were being put into more layers of boxes. She resold a box to someone else and in it was one of the rare larimar necklaces and a plate-sized bronze disc with the face of Medusa molded on one side and a shifting mosaic of an ancient Greek harbor on the other side. Consumed by greed, she kept opening the boxes until they were the size of refrigerators. Nine boxes in her garage, she now parks outside. She makes increasingly desperate unboxing videos and with every update her comments are filled with “i can buy a box for $3k dm me i’m serious” and “Ma’am. Please give up.” and “pouring out my superbass foundation for u when u cant fit in ur house ne more LMAO”.

Someone smashed open her big shell instead of opening it properly and it was filled with moths which followed her around eating her clothes. 

An influencer who infamously bugged Nicki into giving her a free set for promotion was crying next to a 10-foot-wide crater in her house because she broke all the sprouting pearls in her little mussel case and the pearls became so heavy they broke the table, broke through the second floor, broke through the first floor, broke through the foundation, and sank into the earth. Then the little mussel turned into a 2001 flip phone and Nicki called her through it and said she was a “fake-ass copy-ass jealous-ass bitch”. She still wore Nicki Siren eyeshadow in the video.

Someone lied about getting a lucky charm for clout and it turned out she strung sea-themed Pandora beads on a mass-produced dreamcatcher. After she redeemed her voucher for a silk dress, when her big freshwater oyster case opened, there were 8 sea salt bath bombs in it and also moths. The moths ate her new dress.

There was a news article about the finder of the resin sea urchin horseshoe being banned from casinos because it increased his luck in gambling but most importantly made his bets on horse races always win. Since the hamsa is a hand, I assumed it would make me unbeatable in card games. 

There was also a news article about German material engineers trying to get as many Nicki Siren pearls as possible to study their previously unseen anti-friction properties. 

Not to be one-upped, Megan Thee Stallion announced the “Hot Girl Eternity” line of hoodies, t-shirts, and booty shorts which will allow the wearer to be immune to fire, heat, and radiation (hoodies), conjure flames (t-shirts), and absorb power from things they burn to add to their own lifespan (shorts). Even though they have yet to be released, it’s already impossible to get Hot Girl Eternity hoodies because they have all been preordered by hazard area workers and x-ray technicians and also stans. 

I think in my dream all rappers are powerful enchanters because that makes the most sense given everything that happened.