#ask eljaal

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Heeeeeey Eljaal!

You look so happy with your new little friends! Shall I get you more?! I still have more seeds to buy them with!

The chirping is so soothing and adorable, right?

Greetings, Draylenn

Wha- NO.

Except for Plunkie.

[ask-runaan-anything]

Runaan, I can't sleep. Tell me I'm pretty.

*patient assassin leader sigh* Eljaal. You're pretty. And since you have all this sassy energy keeping you awake, give me a hundred laps around the village.

In the trees.

If that doesn't tire you out, you can submit a formal letter of complaint to me in the morning. But you know what I'll do then, so your fate is in your own hands....

*Moonshadow smirk* ...pretty much.

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Mine:

Moonshadow elf eyeglasses headcanon

Today is the day I learned about armless glasses so please enjoy my new headcanon about Moonshadow elves being extra with their eyewear. my mind has one train track, I do not apologize

Runaan:

For security reasons, these frames don't advertise their blinginess, but if you look closely, they're dangly af and full of moons.

Ethari:

Its danglies are full of crystals and its lenses are pre-fringed for his convenience, giving him the ability to artfully toss his hair out of his eyes even when it's up in an elfbun.

Tiadrin:

Short and fabulous just like her, these frames can and do slay.

Lain:

Providing long braid representation while remaining stabby-compatible, these frames hide Lain's googly eyes at his wife's masterminding while still saying "you dazzle me".

Rayla:

These cute frames do not hide googly eyes, googly eyes are the point. Ethari made these and Runaan can't say no to them. Rayla wears this weaponized cuteness to all of her discipline meetings. If she gets her teachers/mentor/dads to crack a smile, she's free to go.

Lujanne:

She is beauty, she is grace, she'll break your brain right in your face, and also those butterflies are trained to attack you with a fit of the giggles. Just accept the ice cream and don't think too hard about anything except how pretty these frames are.

And just for fun, Bloodmoon Huntress:

With tainted smoky crystals and snaky chains of gold, Bloodmoon Huntress only sees red these days. Best not to ask her why her lenses aren't fully round anymore - she might use her giant magical claws to shave a stripe off of you next.

[ask-ethari-anything]

So why do themlets exist among moonshadow elves if clothing isn't gendered? And how come the only two moon themlets we know happen to be ghosted by the community?

Themlets? What makes you think all nonbinary Moonshadows are short? *briefly considers a measuring task* Ah, perhaps you're just tall, like me.

I've never thought too much about it, love, but I assume - and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here - but I assume that nonbinary people exist because they wish to exist, and so that everyone may bask in their amazing presence. I'm certainly blessed by them.

*thoughtful craftsman frown, studies hammer in my hand* Swirlies don't have gender, you know. Doesn't matter how decorative I make the outside of this hammer. It's still a hammer. *Zen smile, lightly taps worktable* See? It was a hammer before I decorated it, and it'll still be a hammer if I file them all off. Ah, please don't ask me to do that, though! My poor swirlies... so pretty... *smooches hammer reassuringly* Don't worry, baby, I wasn't serious.

As for your other question, I'm sure I don't know who you mean. No one has been ghosted from the Silvergrove since Rayla. I've threatened to cry in public if anyone so much as breathes of it, and that terrifies even the hardiest of assassins. Likely because they fear the ghost of Runaan will crack open a fissure from the beyond and swoop back in to avenge me.

Just because you haven't met more nonbinary Moonshadows doesn't mean I haven't! The Silvergrove ambassador to Hollow Wood uses they/them, and so does my hairstylist, and the village eggkeeper, and the pathminder... two of Rayla's former teachers - they married a pair of sisters, it's entirely adorable... literally everyone in Basket End... Oop, I'm already out of fingers, but you get the idea, yes?

If you wish there were more enbies in the Moonshadow Forest, love, then your wish is granted, because they've been there all along.

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Hi Eljaal-

How is your disgusting proboscis friend that you can never set down?

Best,

Vinaya

First to the Banter Box! Vinaya, you're such a flirt.

Mogwai, Gizmo, and I are grand! Mogwai's especially thrilled you've asked after him - he misses you terribly.

How's my ribbon working for you, by the way?

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Eljaal, you're excused from all duties today on account of your birthday. Do enjoy yourself. And, uh. Here. *hands you a small box* - ask-runaan-anything

Oh, gee, that's very kind of you considering you're not the boss of me and- what the, what is this? *takes small box* *shakes it* *opens it* CASTANETS! I, em, I'm not sure if these are more a birthday gift for me than a death wish for you...but thank you! *hugs you, immediately starts clacking* Oh, I do like these.

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Could we be nonbinary buddies, perhaps? 🥺

Oh, my dear Nonnie, aye, of course we can!

💛 🤍 💜 🖤

You are always welcome and safe here, and I hope you come back soon!

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Hello Eljaal ! I have a question. I’m writing a little story for fun (just for fun). You don’t mind if you’re teased by a nice lady elf startouch alchemist who just needs help to make sure her decoctions work ? (she’s not mean, just an enthusiastic and curious alchemist)

Hello, Anon!! I have an answer! *reads*

So, if I'm understanding right, Nice Lady Elf Startouch Alchemist wants to...test her decoctions...on me...and NLESA calls this 'teasing'?

Em, I'll have to decline. I'm not very keen on being a test subject for curiosity or...anything else, really.

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Ahhhh it’s your birthday?! I have come woefully underprepared but fear not! I still have something! *digs around in my bag a purple and blue braceket with seven beads woven in* here, you can have this, a good luck charm bracelet. Happy birthday, Eljaaaaaaal! - nb anon

Aich, nae bother, fere! I hadn't made a great stooshie of it anyhow.

Oh, but I do rather like this bracelet...

*fastens around left wrist*

Thank you, Nonnie; I'll cherish this gift. 🥰

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Oh, right! My pronouns are they/them! It’s really nice to meet you 😊 - nonbinary buddy

Oh, fantastic! Thank you, my friend, it's lovely having you here.

💛 🤍 💜 🖤

[ask-eljaal-anything]

okay why is Easgann a bastard (affectionate) tho

Oi, that bird-brained idiot'll be the death of me...

Really, how can one person make me feel so incredibly smart and stupid in equal measure at the same time.

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Happy birthday, Eljaal! Do you like surprises?

[ask-eljaal-anything]

I heard it was someone's birthday! You know what that means! *slides over a moonberry surprise* - ask-ethari-anything

How's your aim today, Ethari? *ties up hair* Right, I'll be in this general area here, and I'll need you to launch spoonfuls into my mouth from there. Please don't accidentally-on-purpose miss like last time; Moonberry Surprise is actually harsh on the eyes...rather, in the eyes.

[ask-eljaal-anything]

Eljaal Ur so-

Woah ur so beautiful skfnwjfjdhd

I-I’m Lio- He/him

*hides face bc of blush cuz ur so friggin pretty*

No, you're beautiful!

Ajkshdfkjkhkskjs hello, Lio, it's a pleasure!

Thank you for such a lovely compliment. 💜

Aw, you don't have to hide your face! Only if you don't want to, though; this is a safe place.

You're a living, feeling being, Lio. Sometimes your face might go a wee bit rosy because of how much you're feeling all at once, and that's okay! I'm sorry if others have made you feel that you should be embarrassed or ashamed of it - you don't deserve that, and it's just not true.

I personally feel very honoured and humbled. You see me and feel so much beauty and awe that it all has to show outwardly in some way. Then you also share that with me so I can feel it too. That's amazing!

You've just done two things that I wish would happen more often and openly in the world...and two things I wish I could do more often, if not for my job. I don't always have the option to be so open.

Cheers to you, Lio. I'm glad you stopped by!

Stay pretty, feel deeply, and blush proudly, my friend.

[ask-runaan-anything]

Hi ruru!!! I just graduated high school! I feel good but I'm also very very nervous about college..

Congratulations on your accomplishment, little shadow. You worked hard for that.

From my reconnaisance understanding of human universities, studying at this level is generally considered easier than high school. Students have more flexible schedules, more social freedom, more job opportunities, and more maturity. If you attend, things will be different, but hopefully also better.

Whether you're looking for things to remain the same or be different, perhaps you could join a team or club - not an assassin club, of course, ahaha no they don't have those in human education, do they? - and connect with a group of students with shared interests right from the start. Everyone likes to belong somewhere. Good luck to you!

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Do you find Moonshadow culture becoming a little less... likeable? (but not less interesting) It seems like they hand out Ghostings like candy with no path to forgiveness and no belief in a person’s ability to change and reform themselves. The pressure and anxiety those elves must be feeling at all times has got to astronomical. What are your thoughts?

I have plenty of thoughts, as always! Less likeable than what, though, anon? Maybe you’ve missed most of my posts on Moonshadow society over the last year...

Moonshadow society is a disaster, poor thing. It’s a tightlaced corset, pretty but restrictive with long term consequences. It’s a queer neurodivergent elf who just wants to do their very best but all the rules that are supposed to help them out with that end up hurting them too and they don’t know how to stop or change and so yes they’re dancing gracefully in the moonlight and yes they express themselves through beauty but if you get close enough you can hear the constant pterodactyl screech of their soul too. (Did I extrapolate extra hard from “Runaan is the most Moonshadow of the Moonshadow elves”, maybe yes)

Moonshadow society is deeply flawed and it needs help, but it’s so big and pervasive that it may be impossible to change its course without severe consequences, just like last time (aka moving east across the border and becoming assassins that took out humans). The elves can only do so much to alter their own fates from inside their own society.

Some may leave and never return. Some get ghosted and want nothing more than to re-enter the fold because they still believe in its ideals, like Feathershawl. Some probably try to change things from the inside, whether subtly or obviously. And others embrace the rules with both arms and try to mold themselves into The Perfect Moonshadow Who Can Do No Wrong, in order to remain safe and to belong.

But that’s a spectrum you’re going to get when perfectionism is a big part of your cultural philosophy. Everything has to be Just So for so many aspects of these elves’ lives, and it’s Very Not Good for them. Yes, they’re pretty. But mandating prettiness is just as bad as mandating other aspects of personal choice and free will.

As for ghosting, I really don’t think Moonshadows just yeet those left and right with little care for the consequences. I do think they’re too harsh with their shunning! Shunning, giving up, turning their back in a relatively permanent way, that’s not a good solution. Learning and adapting are important, and knowing that you have time and room to practice and adjust is so important for mental health and stability in your society. Living in constant fear of minding the rules or getting even perceived to be doing something incorrectly is such a drain on your energy.

But I do think that the Moonshadows have strict rules for what deserves ghosting and what doesn’t, just as they do for other stuff. The details of Feathershawl’s ghosting are theirs to keep, and I assume any Narrator could flesh those out however they chose during a playtest, whether to make their situation more or less sympathetic for the players.

But my take is this: Moonshadow elves revere life very deeply, and they work constantly to serve each other and their whole community, as they hold themselves together and celebrate their continued existence on every level they can. When someone in a position of big responsibility for the health, well-being, and lives of so many Moonshadow citizens messes up in such a bad way that there’s a plague and lots of elves die--lose their precious lives, lose those connections with others, leave their families torn and distraught and unable to focus on their own duties due to heavy, soul-sucking grief--when one elf causes this level of arcanum-deep catastrophe, I can absolutely see why the other Moonshadow elders would be horrified and grief-stricken, and furious. It’s a very un-Moonshadow thing to have happen, especially with how hard they’re all trying to be so very Moonshadow all the time.

Feathershawl had a position that gave them authority over the food sources that kept a good number of the Forest’s elves fed and able to live their lives without privation. And they screwed that up somehow. They were trusted with a basic staple of everyday life--food--and they got it wrong in such a horrible way that there are a lot fewer Moonshadow elves as a result.

Moonshadow elves need each other’s support and presence as part of their communal network, and anything that tears at that fabric goes against everything that Moonshadow philosophy stands for. Feathershawl themself had literally dozens of family members, whose illusions were kept in their crystal. That’s a lot of family! If it’s common for Moonshadow elves to have that many family members, then a plague would probably touch every family multiple times and leave everyone multiply devastated. It’s just Bad All Around.

There’s probably a lot more to Rayla’s ghosting than we know, since we only learned of it from her POV and she’s not in the habit of sharing Moonshadow secrets with Callum just yet. Knowing that Moonshadow families are so thickly intertwined, and how heavily they rely on each other to help support and cheer each other through standing strong together and mutual services, it’s no big stretch to imagine that Rayla’s biggest crime in Moonshadow eyes wasn’t her supposed running away, it was that her actions cost the Silvergrove their assassin leader, one of their elders and one of the strongest moral guiding hands they had. Rayla cost the Silvergrove their most Moonshadow Moonshadow.

Without Runaan, the Silvergrove is probably reeling quite a bit, and Rayla’s failure is to blame, in their eyes. They’re all suffering, and they need to put the blame somewhere--other than themselves--so they can start to move forward again.

It’s far from ideal. It’s very shame and blame oriented. But it does hold to some internal logic that seems to bear out through the three ghostings we know of for sure so far.

Another things Moonshadows are very good at is quick action. The moment they think there’s been a “mistake”, they move to address it. Whatever feelings they have on the matter, they process it in half a second (if at all) and jump straight to rectification. You attack the Storm Spire? Lain’s gonna kick you down the stairs. You think the Silvergrove ghosted you unfairly? You literally run to Ethari for help. You see Rayla trying to stay on the mission? You grab her wrists so she can’t draw her weapons. You see your workshop doors open but no one’s there? You stop working and fetch a hammer in case you need to smash a vindictive ghost. You think your friends failed their duty and dishonored you? You take everyone you can to go uphold that honor, including a 15 year old girl. (Holy cats does that mean everyone on Runaan’s squad was family, oh god) Swift action is a reassertion of the rules, of what’s right, so no one forgets. That’s got to include ghosting for things that are really terrible.

What I do find interesting is that Eljaal, the homesick assassin who is afraid to return home, may not be worried about ghosting specifically? But it’s a little unclear. I think there is something else they fear, perhaps a lesser punishment? But still one they can’t yet bring themself to face, poor elf.

I do think Moonshadow society is very stressful on the mind, and all these elves have become very skilled at hiding, mitigating, and otherwise working around their stresses and traumas. The greatest illusion that Moonshadows play is the one that Everything Is Fine, because there is always more work to do, and they keep telling themselves that they’re the ones who must do it, for everyone elses’s sakes. Laziness and selfishness are probably the same thing to Moonshadows. Hmm, maybe that’s why Runaan lets his family drag him off to picnics on his birthday, so he doesn’t seem selfish for wanting alone time.

In very very long, anon, Moonshadows are a Mess tee emm, and they’ve been designed that way from the start: doing their best inside a flawed system. This is the heart of their imperfection. They will probably benefit from spending time with literally anyone else aside from just themselves. They really really need to get out more, or to let someone else in, because the strictest of their own traditions are actually ruining the life and beauty they work so hard to celebrate.