#and i don'T even have to OPEN the original post

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi! I'm a big fan of your blog and love reading all of your posts. You always have such interesting perspectives and incredibly thoughtful points to add! I'm not quite sure if you're open to answering questions like this right now, and if not, feel free to ignore! But I was wondering if you have any information about the Island of Woe and what life is like there? Like do they ever have to import or export things, do they have more there than just S.T.Y.X to keep them occupied/entertained, etc.? I was trying to figure it out myself and all that I learned was that most people live on the upper walls in the Oceanus section. Do the Shrouds live there too, or do they live within the S.T.Y.X. headquarters? And do they ever have to travel for their jobs, beyond the little mishap that happened in Book 6?

Anyways, again, totally disregard this if you don't want to answer! Thank you for even reading this. I look forward to seeing more of your posts and enjoying your writing and input!

Aaaah, thank you!! ^^ Glad you enjoy my content, whatever it may be!

The bulk of lore for the Isle/Island of Woe comes to us from 6-40 of the main story. We (comparatively) have more information about Styx and how it is run, so I had to isolate what lore is about the island itself + life on the island and what lore is about the organization.

To begin with, here is a map of the area:

Most of the island residents don’t live in Ancient City at the seabed level. Instead, people tend to live in the residential block of Oceanus, which is the outer wall which covers the island. (This is how Ortho describes it to us in game, but it’s sort of confusing what exactly he’s referring to since we don’t see land above the water; based on Epel’s dialogue, the “outer wall” may refer to the upper levels. This means that technically all of the Island of Woe is underwater.)

Ancient City refers to the seabed level of the Island of Woe: It seems to be the community that surrounds Styx HQ, which lies at the center.

The giant pillar in the middle of the city connects to Oceanus Gate, the entrance at the surface of the water, and ends in Tartarus at the other end.

Trains, elevators, and Styx-made technomantic flying vehicles called Chariots are used for transportation. (I assume that only Styx agents are allowed to use Chariots, but this isn’t made clear.)

There is an artificial sky over the isle. This is because natural light provides mental and physical benefits to humans.

Styx makes efforts to use advanced technologies to emulate life on land. This results in the Island of Woe having seasons, weather, forests, and rivers even at the bottom of the sea.

Idia’s post-OB flashback implies that there may be strong security systems in place not only in Styx HQ, but also around the entire island (since he talks about wanting to leave the island and having to disarm the security in order to achieve that; Styx is also shown to control the Oceanus Gate and therefore controls entry to and from the isle).

Going hand-in-hand with the previous bullet point, Ortho states that it’s dangerous to wander the area.

The architecture is a remainder of the Island of Woe’s olden days as part of the Kingdom of Heroes. The buildings are relics there have been well-preserved.

The entire isle used to be spoken of by the common man as like… some kind of superstition or boogeyman?? Lilia tells us that “People believed the Island of Woe would punish any wizard who abandoned their principles and went mad with power.” This is attributed to the isle’s origins as being the place where the Jupiter family sentenced the Phantoms in the Age of the Gods (a period of time in which mages were feared and the relationship between magic and blot was not yet established). Since Styx is not an organization that the general public knows about, it’s possible that the public assumed residents of the isle themselves were vigilante agents of justice against mad mages.

Idia describes the Island of Woe as "filled with the lamentations of give billion people [...] It's dark and gloomy 365 days a year." He also refers to the island as his hometown.

The Island of Woe has bugs, but different kinds than what you would see in the outside world.

To address your specific questions (and please keep in mind that these points are not directly answered in TWST and instead relies on inferencing):

Do they have to import or export things?

While the island does receive sunlight and have seasons + varied weather, I don’t think they’d be entirely self-sufficient depending on the population size and its needs. Styx seems to run the show, but I’d imagine they need to focus their efforts on research and not food production or something. This could easily be automated with tech, I guess??? But some things they just couldn’t get, even with automation. They may have to import some stuff from the outside, though I imagine there are multiple security measures in place to convolute the supply chain and to keep the location of the Island of Woe hidden.

I’m not sure about exports since the island isn’t noted to produce anything significant (other than Styx tech, which I’d imagine they want to keep confidential).

Do they have more there than just S.T.Y.X to keep them occupied/entertained, etc.?

Being that there’s an entire city down there, yes, I’d have to think that the people don’t just work all day. Idia himself is one huge example; how did he get into anime, games, idols, etc. if no entertainment exists in the isle? We even see him as a child playing his beloved Star Rogue in his post-OB flashback scene—and his childhood bedroom is also littered with other signs of his hobbies and interests. Ortho has also mentioned that their family celebrates birthdays and go on outings to parks and such. This implies to me that there are definitely recreational activities around on the isle.

Do the Shrouds live there too, or do they live within the S.T.Y.X. headquarters?

I believe the implication is that the Shrouds technically live in Styx HQ. (A researcher remarks that “Idia hasn’t come out of his room for over two years now” while the background shows the Styx interior.) I’m not sure if this is true of the entire Shroud family, but I think it would make sense if they did since it would add to their vibes of isolation and gloom.

Additionally, it’s stated that it benefits the Shrouds to reside in a blot-dense area like Styx HQ so that their hereditary curse burns through blot in their immediate surroundings rather than burning through their own magic (and potentially life force). I don’t think the Shrouds are forced to stay IN Styx HQ all the time though; they clearly leave and explore the seabed city since Ortho says their family used to go on trips like that.

Do they ever have to travel for their jobs, beyond the little mishap that happened in Book 6?

I don’t know how often travel for work occurs, but it does happen. Styx agents are deployed as needed to secure Phantoms, as well as to speak with important figures. Leona, for example, mentions seeing Ferrymen lurking at the palace of the Sunset Savanna.

[fma-rareships]

October 3rd – Rareship Propaganda Event

Do you want to show your dedication and determination towards your favourite rareship, just like how the Elric Brothers showed their determination by burning down their house?

Now it's your chance to do so in this one day minievent! There will be two sides of this event and you're welcome to participate any or all part of it!

All the previous event's rules apply for this event too. You can find the rules in the pinned post.

Tag your posts with #fma rareship propaganda event 2024, and tag this blog so i can easily find your works

Romantic and Platonic ships are accepted too.

Rareship Propaganda Event

Spread your love for your favourite ship on this day! Write a propaganda post for your ship - who knows, it might convince other people to ship your favourite too!

You can create any type of fanworks for this event! A list of headcanons, a playlist, an edit, AMVs, fic rec list, moodboards, fanfic, fanart, anything goes!

If you don't have any ideas, you can use the Leftover Prompts, you can find them below.

Tag your posts correctly. You can find more information about that in the pinned post

Please tag this blog in your post, so I can find it more easily. If you tag this blog, I'll reblog your post even after October 3.

Late submissions are always welcome

Have fun creating something for your ship! :)

Leftover Prompts Event

You don't have any ideas what to create for your ship? No problem, I might have a solution for you!

There are some leftover prompts from the last event. The prompts for this event were chosen with a random number generator. They are divided into categories, like in the last event.

You can use any of them, or all of them if you want to!

The prompts act as guidelines, they are not hard rules. (For example, you can use the fluff prompt as an agsty one if that's what you wanted to do.)

Angst Prompt: Possession

(The originally submitted prompt was: possession that causes one partner to harm the other. However, I made it less specific, so it's up to interpretation. It can refer to possessive behaviour, or possessed by ghosts/homonculus/philosopher's stone, or you can use it how the submitter had intended it.)

Fluff Prompt: Snow

(The originally submitted prompt was: Pairing gets stuck in snow, or experiences snowfall. You can interpret the prompt however you'd like to.)

Nsfw Prompt: Omegaverse

(This prompt was submitted like this, it wasn't altered.)

Alternate Universe Prompt: Zombie Apocalypse AU

(This prompt was submitted like this, it wasn't altered.)

If something is unclear or you have questions about this minievent, the askbox is open!

Have fun with creating for your ship!

[tomatette]

For the love of all that is unholy - will people PLEASE start reblogging more again? It's fucking frustrating omg. It didn't use to be like this! When did it change? How? Why?

If you know, please enlighten me, because it makes no sense to me. I love a post, I want to share it with my friends, hence I reblog.

A like is a polite "I have seen your post and I think it's awesome, but it doesn't really fit the theme of my blog or whatever". It does nothing for the OP other than telling them exactly that. Which is nice, don't get me wrong. But it won't boost the post.

There's no elaborate algorithm pushing a post onto people's dashes based on the likes it got.

ONLY REBLOGS WILL PUT A POST ON OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOGS!

🔁Reblogs are love🔁

[bogos-bint3d]

Post that has rerouted my brain

[raiiny-bay]

they've come a long way

[e-adlirez]

#Technoblade25

Heeyyyyy am I late to the party? I hope I'm not too late, been working on this thing for the occasion

hebe hebe HEBE amiinm'enbimikta HEBE AMIINM'ENBIMIKTA AMIINM'ENBIMIKTA HEBE HEBE HEBE AMIINM'ENBIMIKTA

Ne yhdeini sy caera, Tommy? Meku AMULVHT VID LIIN!

For the record, the ripple thingies are from Tsevhu, aka the funni koi fish language :D I've been studying the conlang lately

Anyway, the red Tsevhu is a translation of "you want to be a hero, Tommy? Then DIE like one!", while the pale red are the voices chanting "one of us" and the closest the Tsevhu Discord could approximate for "blood for the blood god" in a phrase (the actual thing translates something to like "start giving completely and involuntarily", which in Tsevhu is kinda like chanting for sacrifice, which is fun and very much chat :3)

("blood for the blood god" would've translated to a straight-up sentence that I'd have to frame in koiwrit, which I felt would be too cluttered, as much as clutteredness is very in-character for chat)

Anyway hope I'm not too late haha, happy 25th birthday, Techno.

[sysig]

Really digging out the old OCs now; Pan-na, Pilok, Azalea, squirrel boys Will and Damien, and Cupid and Venus <3 (Patreon)

[starmansymphony]

going out and making irl friends would surely fix me (<- kinda lives in the middle of nowhere, too scared of driving to learn how to do it, doesn't know how to make friends, kinda scared of random people around its age, very guarded about their interests irl, and a whole slew of other problems)

[cuchufletapl]

Some people discussing tropes in media need to get a better grip of the examples they're using, particularly when the tropes in question are bigoted in any way, because Jesus Christ does it detract from your point when it looks like you didn't even watch or read the thing.

I've just come across someone talking about scarce female representation and the Smurfette principle in kids' media, and the "cartoons from her childhood" that she cited having this problem included Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cardcaptor Sakura.

Like, the problem you're talking about is real but you've lost me with those choices.

[sofastuffing]

the guy

[ineffablefool]

I have been playing Furry Paws, because I literally used to do Punnett squares for fun, and I’ve never seen another petsite with this much genetic experimentation power.  And the art is cute.

Just now I sorted some dogs by level, because I wanted to see who was getting high enough level for me to breed.  These are my highest-level Chihuahuas right now.

(side note: The three-letter code at the start of each name represents the dog’s current sports title.  Then for the actual name, I generally either use one that amuses me, or just go with the in-game randomizer.  There is one amusement name here and the rest are random.)

“Oh, but I’ve already bred Cody and Sophie,” I thought to myself.  “I’ll take a look at the others, see if it looks like their genetics line up nicely.

“Ha!  There’s a Buddy and a Holly.  Oh, and they actually would go pretty well together.  That would mean that, out of my basically-randomly-named Chihuahuas, the last potential breeding pair would be...

“.....,,.,.,,...,”

OH COME ON.  I can’t put those two together, everyone will assume the names were on purpose!!

[huldrabitch]

Dorian is my favourite Da character but that doesn't mean I can't also fucking hate that they added homophobia at random to the DA universe in Inquisition

[kyouka-supremacy]

°<°

[paganinpurple]

AO3 Etiquette -UPDATED

Based on both decent and not so decent replies, I have made some changes to my original post below.

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

As well as likes, kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished it, you liked it - so kudos.

If you really liked it, you should try to comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.

No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it (so use your notes to say if you want some constructive feedback). Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. No, posting it online is not an open invitation for that. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity and just want to share. Don't ruin that for them. I've seen so many authors just stop writing coz they can't handle the negative emotions the critism brings, and it's only meant to be a fun thing shared for free (pointing out tagging errors is not included in this).

Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.

There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.

For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.

The tag exception is if you don't want to tag a million things or spoil your story, you can rate it as "chose not to use warnings," and maybe tag the bare minimum.

Don't censor tags. How can someone exclude a tag if the word isn't typed out correctly? There are no content bans for terms so don't censor them.

If the tags are mostly content/trigger warnings, especially if they are things considered very fucked up or graphic, you might want to use "dead dove - do not eat" to ensure people know that you're not messing around with tags and what they get is exactly what you've warned them about.

Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLATONIC, like friendship or family.

Nothing is banned. This is an rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.

People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.

Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite or an exchange youve written for going public). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.

Instead of deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - consider making it anonymous or orphaning it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to your name anymore. If you still want to delete it, fair enough.

It's come to my attention that metaworks ARE allowed on AO3, which is something I wasn't aware of. So if you do post an essay or theory, please tag it as such so others can choose to search for it or exclude it. Art is also allowed.

The only reason this archive works is because NON ONE PROFITS. Do not link to your ko-fi or patreon or mention monetary gain in any way or you violate the terms and risk having your account removed. If anyone does link, it leaves the archive open to people claiming it's for profit and having the whole thing removed.

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

[minakoaiinos]

Ik in the past decade or so anime adaptations have tried to adapt mangas exactly and even gone back and done other versions of anime just to make sure to adapt the source material and that's a good thing and definitely has its place, but also I genuinely think we should let people make up 100+ filler episodes again

[totheidiot]

going to do one of those posts, yayyy

200 notes -> i will start eating more because lately, i have literally been having one meal per day and it's rather bad.

300 notes -> i will start posting some of my poems !!

400 notes -> i'll try to reconnect with my old classmates again :))

500 notes -> i will start to continue writing my original fiction novels again :))

600 notes -> will eventually continue working on my very incomplete fanfiction

700 notes -> i'll start taking care of my appearance and stuff like that !!

800 notes -> after i am done with writing those original fiction novels, i will try to convince my parents to allow me to publish them.

900 notes -> i'll start making posts about my original fiction wips and promote them on tumblr !!

5k notes -> this is literally impossible for me to achieve but throwing this out there because i really really really don't want to do this uh i'll confess to my crush? i'll tell him that i like him and not really be expected to be reciprocated.

that's just it !! no obligation to do anything with this post, just letting it sit there

edit: FUCKING INSANE HOW THIS WENT TO 5k. WHAT THE HELL. you guys literally didn't even need to, in like the 4.7k mark I ENDED UP CONFESSING ON MY OWN?? SOBBINGG. the confession went better than i expected which is to say that he did not return my feelings but he was extremely respectful and open about it (you can send me an ask if you want a detailed description of what happened). SO YEAH. this post is pure insanity like DAMN.