#askculture

[loominggaia]

Is Dr. Dreamer a real person or just some sleep medicine mascot?

They're definitely a real person, but I still haven't decided what they're like yet. I think there's potential for a very interesting character here!

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[invisible-goats]

Why are your goats invisible

#askculture

so i did bioarchaeology for my undergrad and looked at different ways of telling the species of bones, particularly between sheep and goats (famously almost impossible)

because of this difficulty, in uk archaeology it's generally assumed that any ovicaprid (sheep-goat) bone is sheep unless people have a reason to believe otherwise. this means that there are essentially "missing" goats, because we know there were a lot of them from the domesday book but we don't have many bones we think are goat

so my dissertation title was "investigating the invisibility of goats in the archaeological record"

[olderthancisyoungerthandeath]

Ask Culture vs Guess Culture

I was today years old when I learned this concept; I mean I knew it all my life but never had words for it https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/05/askers-vs-guessers/340891/

[heartichelle]

Thinking about ask vs. guess culture lately and then I come across this Ted Talk.

I saw a show last year where the overarching theme was "What does it mean to be Canadian?" and the conclusion they comically came up with was "apologizing." It's almost a greeting, saying "Sorry" and means almost nothing because of its overuse.

[loominggaia]

If someone is turned into a mermaid but is freed pretty much immediately and returned to their parents, could they have a relatively normal childhood? Obviously they lost their early childhood memories but if they have loving parents could they grow up nice and sane?

Good question! The undine's transformation spell does a number on a child's developing brain, and this damage can present later in life as paranoia, emotional instability, memory loss, and impaired cognitive function.

Not all mermaids will have these issues, but a significant number of them do. It isn't as much of a problem when they're enthralled and forced to battle, but once they escape thralldom and try to integrate back into society, the issues become rather apparent. The years of soldiering just intensifies these effects by adding a fat helping of PTSD on top.

So, a child who escaped thralldom immediately would not have the PTSD, but might suffer some symptoms of mild brain damage and of course amnesia from the spell.

But under the care of loving parents, I think these children can grow up to be just fine. These are all issues that can be overcome with proper medical care and therapy.

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[loominggaia]

Idea de cultura marienna: los marienna desarrollaron la práctica del uso de cremas naturales para protegerse del sol y de la sequedad del desierto

(Translated with Google Translator)

Idea of ​​Marienna culture: the Marienna developed the practice of using natural creams to protect themselves from the sun and the dryness of the desert.

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Ah good point, I forgot to address this in my last answer! The ancient Marienna's territory spanned across the Serkel Desert, which is an extremely hot and arid region. Skin protection is important for everyone to prevent dryness, sunburns, and cancer.

The Marienna used olive oil or coconut oil to protect their skin, depending on what was available in their tribe's region. These oils are still used by their descendants in that region today, but they are not the only solution for sun protection.

The Marienna traditionally wore large hats and cloaks made from woven palm fibers to shade themselves. These loose weaves allowed air to pass through, so heat would not become trapped in their clothes. They also drew thick black lines around their eyes using charcoal, which protected them from the bright light.

Over time, the Marienna began wearing more sophisticated clothing items invented by the Odazi humans, which were usually made from linen. Local Marienna often traded food for processed textiles in these early times, because humans had mastered technologies that other peoples had not, like processing flax into linen.

The Marienna elves came to enjoy the humans' inventions and eventually adopted these technologies for themselves, but by that time, these cultures were assimilating quite a bit anyway. The Odazi humans, Vankza goblins, and Marienna elves were commonly seen living peacefully together by the 2nd Age. They shared their ways of life, and together they had mastered the art of surviving in their extreme climate.

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[loominggaia]

It sounds like the usual Serpentist sacrifice is just staked out to be eaten by dragons. How are the noble sacrifices of terminally ill Serpentists done differently? You really got my interest with "in a way that both honors the sacrifice and the dragon". (Feel free to skip this one if it's too much esoteric worldbuilding. :) )

There is no such thing as "too esoteric" in worldbuilding if you ask me! Half the charm of a world comes from the little details like this.

In cases where people sacrifice themselves to the dragons willingly, the temple Drogazama loads the sacrifice up with The Good Shit(tm) first, so that they won't feel any fear or pain. The sacrifice will enjoy a peaceful slumber while they're ripped apart by the dragons they worship, and this cocktail of drugs is also believed to help their souls navigate to the afterlife. Better yet, the dragons get to enjoy a relaxing high after they eat the sacrifice!

Before the ritual, the sacrifice is honored with a party and a feast at their local temple. Basically they're treated like royalty for a day.

Meanwhile, unwilling sacrifices are literally just bound in rope and thrown onto a feeding altar, 100% sober and conscious. It's an incredibly brutal way to die, reserved only for the most heinous members of society. We're talking serial killers, child molesters, kpop stans, etc.

These sacrifices are not celebrated. Instead, they are whipped, beaten, and humiliated before the ritual to cause pain and also open bloody wounds that will attract the dragons faster.

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[loominggaia]

I’m gonna guess in a world of magic that the “do not attempt what you see at home” warning in a lot of media is taken a lot more seriously? With the existance of magic making a lot of the superpowers & cartoonish phenomenon in comic books and movies becoming actually feasible!

How often is it that some young and dumb people get injured trying to use magic to imitate what they see in media? Like some teenage fae trying some half baked spells to fly and shoot laser beams of their eyes or something along those lines?

Good question!

I hate to make this comparison, but it's the best one I can think of: this phenomenon is similar to young/dumb/drunk people playing around with guns or fireworks IRL. It does happen from time to time, people lose body parts and even their lives by throwing spells around irresponsibly. Lobbing a hazard spell is treated like firing a gun.

Children can certainly cast spells irresponsibly, but magical tragedies among children don't happen as often as you'd think. Toddlers and young kids can't usually cast spells strong enough to hurt people, and by the time they're old enough to grasp such spells, they are usually old enough to understand how to use them responsibly. Magic mentors teach about this responsibility long before they start teaching the actual spells. Of course, some kids are just destined for trouble no matter what...

(For example: When Tep was a child, he nearly burned down Yerim-Mor palace numerous times by playing with pyromancy spells. He knew better, but he just couldn't resist the allure of the flames...)

As for drunk people...Casting spells takes intense concentration, so novice mages can't cast them at all while they're drunk/high. Experienced sorcerers can, but these spells will be weakened or sloppy. Once in a blue moon there may be an incident where a sorcerer slams some bad drugs and starts throwing lightning bolts around in public, but it's pretty rare.

Safety is the highest priority when it comes to spellcasting. As I said, it's treated a lot like gun safety, and there are just as many regulations around who can cast spells, and when and where they can cast them. Accidents do happen, but they're not common enough to tear society apart. Magical misfires are like car crashes; they're rarely intentional.

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[loominggaia]

zareen seems to be doomed to this eternal cycle because no matter what happens they're still a capitalist empire at heart. no matter how well intentioned or progress facing the empire will always follow wherever the coin goes. whether it's its citizens not being able to reap the benefits of automation because robot labor is cheaper than people labor and so they're out of jobs, because the industrialist party will literally poison the planet in the name of endless skyrocketing profit, or because even the party that's objectively ""good"" is considered an economic drain after a certain point. its very systems do not allow for social prosperity, and any institution built around is going to be rotted to the- [national anthem of the USSR starts blaring in the background] [gulp] [a little red dot appears on my forehead] [it's sponsored by Chippo] erm. i mean that zareen seems like a pretty cool place to live ahahaha....

Ding ding ding! You get it! No matter which of their stupid parties is in charge, they are still not fostering a sustainable civilization. (None of the Great Kingdoms are, but Zareen Empire is hurtling towards its own demise much faster than most due to its aggressive disregard for the Nymph Pact, among other things)

Zareen Empire has hit many walls in the past (resource depletion, mostly) and it has had to pull some radical and, frankly, fucked up maneuvers to keep existing. Eventually this empire is going to hit a wall that won't crumble, and it'll either have to turn around and go backwards, or smash into it and die.

(Also, the thought of an assassin's laser in the shape of a corporate logo annihilated me lmao)

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[loominggaia]

niittinaatti The Boanningwad could be Native Americans since they were the first to live in that land that got colonized by the dworfs that formed Zareen which is similar to the USA Also the Maskamar could be Sámi

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Ah you're right! Interesting parallels!

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[loominggaia]

Since Disgrace is allowed into the Royal Gala because he used to rule Yerim-Mor, does that mean any former rulers or those related to them can go? Can someone just go "yeah my great something grandma ruled this one city for a while 4726 years ago" and they let them in? Where do they draw the line

Whoever once sat their ass on a Great Kingdom territory's throne, or is directly blood-related to someone who has, is allowed to attend royal galas. Even if they currently don't rule anymore, or their relative rules 1,000 years ago. Even if the territory wasn't considered part of a Great Kingdom at the time, it still counts if it became one later on.

I imagine there is some kind of vetting process to weed out the liars and fakers. The World Athenaeum has records of just about every noble in Gaia's history, so vetters probably look them up in the records to be sure.

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[loominggaia]

(Very dark question inbound) What place on Looming Gaia has the highest suicide rate? And for the reverse, which place on Looming Gaia has the happiest population?

This is kind of a hard thing to measure, because I think certain groups within Great Kingdoms may suffer from these issues more than others. For example, the suicide rates in Evangeline Kingdom are very low for commoners, but very high for fae and gaians.

I would say that overall, the Empire of Damijana has the most deaths by suicide, followed by Zareen Empire, and then Yerim-Mor Kingdom.

In Damijana's case, it's the oppressive work culture, lack of sunlight or natural surroundings, lack of freedom in general, and extreme social pressure that pushes citizens to their limit.

As for Zareen Empire, people are overworked, underpaid, sick and miserable from pollution, and lack purpose in life beyond feeding a capitalist machine.

And Yerim-Mor Kingdom...well, between the Gold River War's aftermath and the Cult of the Crescent's terrorism, it's basically become Hell. The Morites live in extreme poverty and constant terror. They view suicide as a better alternative to being tortured by cultists or starving to death, and I can't say I blame them.

Now, for the happiest kingdoms...

Lamai Nation takes the top spot. Most Lamaish citizens are satisfied with their lives and feel supported by their families/communities. Faith in the local religions are strong, the government is relatively competent, and this kingdom faces very little foreign conflict. Some species don't do very well here and are not happy, but most Lamaish citizens are gorgons, and Lamaish culture revolves around gorgon needs.

In second place is Matuzu Kingdom. While this kingdom is very large and diverse, its holds are all pretty well-funded and social programs are abundant. Its cultural diversity means there is a lot of opportunity, no matter who you are. It's hard to feel "stuck" in Matuzu Kingdom because there are so many paths available to its people. When one path doesn't work out, Matuzans are free to try another.

I think Etios Nation takes third. There is some serious inequality in Etiosi culture, but overall, most of its citizens are satisfied with their simple way of life. Its this simplicity that keeps peoples' heads clear. While the industrial kingdoms are overwhelmed by tons of small anxieties, the Etiosi tend to have bigger but fewer problems in their lives, and much more support from family and community to solve those problems.

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[loominggaia]

Heya, I was thinking on making a fanfic concept of a Total War game AU for Looming Gaia, and I just wanted to know if you had any specific military trivia (It’s alright if it’s a rough concept) for each of the great kingdoms, as well as the Feral Nymphs and Cult of the Crescent (Who would take over Yerim-Mor in the Total War AU)

Unfortunately I don't know anything about Total War, so please forgive me if this information isn't very useful (but if there is anything specific you'd like to know, please feel free to ask!). I will talk about the specialties, strengths, and weaknesses of each Great Kingdom military + some other factions. I'll also use a little RPG logic for simplicity's sake.

Folkvar: Medieval era technology + magic. Huge naval fleets of traditional wooden ships armed with magic cannons. Soldiers are armored in thick hides, furs, and chainmail that offer protection without slowing them down too much. Favored weapons are axes and hammers. Specialty units: mammoth-mounted soldiers. Sled-dog chariots. Pretty self-explanatory.

Matuzu: Medieval-era technology + magic. Extensive land control with diverse cavalry, mostly riding okapi. Diversity is their greatest strength, with a balanced mix of units from all over the world. Favored weapons are spears, crossbows, and magic staffs. Specialty units: Dolphin-mounted Aquarian mages and elephant cavalry.

Lamai: Advanced neolithic-era technology. Uses a lot of sneaky tactics like poisons and traps. Favor blowguns, magic spells, and siege weapons like catapults. Soldiers utilize powerful drugs to make them stronger and faster in battle. Specialty units: Medusa military captain that turns enemies to stone. Assassin blowgunner; a highly camouflaged soldier with nearly perfect aim, can fatally poison many enemies without being caught.

Yerim-Mor: Soldiers have inadequate armor and weaponry, but unmatched resilience and resourcefulness. Typical weapons are chipped swords, rusty kitchen knives, rocks, etc. On rare occaions they may be armed with industrial-era guns. Camels and horses are common mounts. Specialty units: Elite gazella, a fast gemsbok-mounted soldier armed with a polearm and skilled in hand-to-hand combat should they get dismounted. Rocback bomber, a roc-mounted soldier that drops huge explosives. The roc is only loyal to its original master and will go berserk if the master dies.

Zareen: Uses industrial-age equipment such as guns, tanks, battleships, and airships. Its equipment is mostly iron and powered by dirty fuel, so it's very heavy, unwieldy, expensive, pollutive, and prone to malfunctioning from time to time. Favored weapons are guns and hammers. Their "cavalry" drives trucks. Magic use is rare. Specialty units: Super soldier, a genetically-enhanced person wearing gas-fueled power armor. Ironjaw handler, a soldier accompanied by an incredibly strong genetically-enhanced dog.

Evangeline: Medieval era equipment. Excellent sky control with flying dragon-mounted soldiers. Also has a lot of horseback soldiers. Uses pure iron armor and weapons, which blocks direct spells and deals extra damage to fae, but slows the wearer down some. Swords and arrows are preferred weapons. Special units: Siege dragon, a giant flame-breathing dragon mounted by 6 dragoneers. It can destroy entire towns. Also has nymph mercenaries in its ranks, which are the only units that are permitted to use magic.

Mogdir: Purely arcane and natural technology. Mostly mages. Preferred weapons are magic staffs, wands, and enchanted arrows. Their culture forbids the use of animals for war, but giant insects are not considered animals, so they have cavalry mounted on giant grasshoppers and dragonflies. Specialty units: Beetle tank, a giant armored beetle mounted by 3 soldiers (it can���t fly, but moves quickly). Hornet cavalry, flying cavalry that rides giant hornets, which can impale enemies with their stingers.

Etios: Uses basic neolithic-era weapons and armor, but all soldiers are gaian and therefore very strong. Has a small population of magic-using soldiers as well. Favored weapons are clubs, slings, and spears. Specialty units: Jouster, a heavily-armored centaur with a wooden shield and long spear. Builds insane momentum as it charges and impales enemies, killing even the largest enemies instantly. Rock-master, a minotaur or ogre armed with a boulder on a rope, which it swings around to insta-kill many enemies at once. Only minotaurs and ogres have the upper body strength to wield this weapon to its full potential.

Seelie: Mostly fae and faery mages that use elemental spells, with drau and kobolds as infantry/meat-shields. Never utilizes necromancy. Favors staffs, bows, and animal thralls as weapons. Specialty units: Weefolk spies, tiny units (gnomes and pixies) that can easily gather intel and sabotage enemies without being noticed. Titania, the queen herself is basically a WMD that will enter the battle if things get dire and lob powerful spells around. Resurrects if killed, but has a long cooldown.

Unseelie: Mostly fae and drau soldiers that use enchanted swords, staffs, and undead thralls as weapons. Their army is chaotic and unorderly, often deserting and not following orders. Specialty units: Necromaster, a necromantic sorcerer that resurrects dead soldiers to fight again. These zombies will keep fighting so long as their body is in-tact enough to swing a weapon, but they cannot cast spells. This unit basically gives every other soldier a second life bar, and also adds every enemy killed to Unseelie ranks. It’s really OP, but it’s compensating for the fact that the rest of the Unseelie army sucks.

Damijana: Machine-magic technology. Soldiers mostly use elemental laser rifles or enchanted blades. Utilizes power suits, but they’re much sleeker than Zareen’s, trading protection for agility. Their tanks are lightweight but the cannons do heavy arcane damage (glass cannons, essentially). Specialty units: Jetter, a soldier dressed in sleek power-armor that flies around with a jetpack, may be armed with guns or heavy melee weapons. Cycle cavalry, soldiers mounted on hovering motorbikes. The bikes move incredibly fast, can turn on a dime, and have guns mounted to them. The downside is, their high speeds and lightweight frame mean crashes are almost always fatal.

Aquaria: Almost 50/50 mix of dorikori infantry and Aquarian/nymph mages. Unmatched water control, but poor land and sky control. Cavalry rides dolphins and hippocampi. Army cannot stray too far inland for risk of dehydration. Boosted speed in the water, speed penalty on land. Dorikori units always fight in coordinated pairs, making them doubly effective and almost impossible to evade. Industrial-age tech is forbidden. Specialty units: Globeholder, a large monster that can transport thousands of soldiers in its globe. It also has a devastating melee attack with its two tentacles, but if its globe is destroyed, it becomes useless. Whale jockey, a mage riding an enchanted whale (usually an orca or similar). The whale’s large size is great for crowd control and can be used to tip over ships.

Crescent Cult: An honorless, sadistic army whose cruelty knows no bounds.. They are cowardly in small numbers, but become more emboldened the larger their troop is. The more you whittle down their battalions, the more likely the rest are to flee. Their troops, weapons, and armors vary drastically, but they are always uniformed in red and black stripes. They have a lot of skorpius, undead thralls, and pyriads in their ranks. Almost all of their troops are male because they are too vicious to females. Their aggressiveness means they often deal damage to each other. Specialty units: Elite War Priest, a soldier wearing an enchanted mask that makes them more powerful and harder to kill. This unit no longer needs to eat or drink, and instead survives by eating the suffering of others. Can torture victims to increase its power. Agony cradle, a stationary unit that’s used as an ambush trap. If it contains a victim, it will passively heal any cultists nearby.

Order of Love and Light: A righteous army that hunts down the wicked. They fight with honor and mercy, occasionally converting enemies to their side. Their attacks deal extra damage to Crescent Cultists. Favored weapons and technology level varies drastically, but their main specialization is healing. Almost all Love and Light soldiers have medical knowledge or healing spells they can use to heal other soldiers nearby. The larger their troops, the harder they are to defeat because they just keep healing each other. The majority of their troops are female, which gives them penalties to physical attacks but a boost to loyalty. They will never desert each other. Specialty units: Master medic, a sorcerer who casts powerful AOE healing spells, which can instantly bring a large number of allies back from the brink of death. Hymnotizer, a mage who sings magical hymns that cause wicked-hearted enemies to destroy themselves.

Feral Nymphs: Angry nymphs who believe peoples are harming Mother Gaia, and it’s their mission to defend Her. They deal extra damage to commoners. They only use magic and natural weapons like sticks, clubs, spells, and enthralled animals. Their armor is also made of natural materials like wood, stone, or leather. They would be powerful if they were more coordinated, but they’re quite divided geographically, so they tend to attack in small troops or alone. They prefer to attack using less direct means, like causing storms, floods, or earthquakes. They are an all-female force, but they suffer no penalties to physical strength. They are hostile to all peoples, and even other nymphs who aren’t part of their faction. Specialty units: Titan nymphs, these are diverse units with a wide range of abilities for just about any situation. However, they are incredibly hostile, even to feral nymphs, and hard to control.

I hope this is at least a little bit helpful! I've been planning to completely overhaul the military articles for a long time, and I'd like them to have more info like this.

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[loominggaia]

Cosas que quiero resaltar:

Nombres de evangeline: los nombres de la familia real de evangeline hacen de una manera u otra, referencia al color azul y a materiales similares. Extra: por un tiempo pensé que azura se llamaba azula

Definición de los dragones: viendo que algunas cosas son consideradas dragones aunque claramente no lo parezca, me recuerda a los dragones de natlan, genshin impact (de esos el que más me parece un dragón es el de agua, el que no me parece dragón es el verde)

Parecidos de personajes: esto lo puse en un comentario algo viejo, pero hay personajes que me recuerdan a otros personajes. Por ejemplo, jaq me recuerda al príncipe Sidón de la leyenda de zelda

(Translated via Google Translator)

Things I want to highlight: Evangeline names: the names of the Evangeline royal family make, in one way or another, a reference to the color blue and similar materials. Bonus: for a while I thought Azura was called Azula. Definition of dragons: seeing that some things are considered dragons even though they clearly don't look like it, it reminds me of the dragons from Natlan, Genshin Impact (of those the one that looks most like a dragon to me is the water one, the one that doesn't look like a dragon to me is the green) Similarities of characters: I put this in a somewhat old comment, but there are characters that remind me of other characters. For example, Jaq reminds me of Prince Sidon from the legend of Zelda.

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Evangeline: You're correct! Indiga's parents were huge nationalists who had so much pride in their kingdom, they named their daughter after its sacred color. Indiga carried this tradition forward with her own children, and those children carried it forward with her grandchildren. I think it'll carry forward for many, many generations.

Dragons: I'm not familiar with Genshin Impact, but I did a quick Google search and I think I see what you mean. They're cute creatures, but some of them don't really look like a traditional dragon. In the World of Looming Gaia, the "dragon" classification is rather arbitrary and differs by culture.

Resemblance: I never notice these until people point them out, but once they do I can never unsee it! Someone also said Azura looked like Disney's princess Jasmine, and now I see it every time I look at her. Someone else once said Isaac resembled Miles Morales from Spiderman. I think if you look hard enough you could compare a lot of Looming Gaia characters to characters from other franchises. I'm always curious to hear what comparisons people draw.

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[loominggaia]

Skylie really seems to be a tad autistic to me, if more high functioning than Blomi of Folkvar. This is from the perspective of me, a clinically diagnosed high functioning autistic who ALSO writes and peruses fanfiction/fantasy incessantly. Seriously, I'm seeing a LOT of me in her. I'm actually making a fanfiction mostly centering on Cyana and her sneaking out, but Skylie (And Lazuline) are major supporting characters! It's on my AO3 of the same name as my Tumblr!

I'll take your experienced word for it! I declare autistic Skylie canon!

---> READ DARKWINGPHOENIX'S FANFIC ON AO3 <---

I just read your fanfiction, and I'm so impressed with the way you utilized the lore! You also characterized Indiga's family very well, they're all behaving pretty much the way I imagined. That little interaction between Cyana and Marine was perfect! I also like the way Cyana and Lazuline confide in eachother. Cyana trusts Lazuline like the mother she wishes she had. Even though they have their sisterly squabbles from time to time, they do share a common enemy: their overbearing parents. This is something they bond over, as they are both hiding secrets from them.

I realize this is only the first chapter but it's already so good, you've got me eager for more!

Here are some relevant lore tidbits that may or may not be useful to you:

-In addition to hand-copying Traditional Lindist texts, Lazuline also recruits the help of literate slaves to do it for her. The work is tedious, but the slaves are eager to do it because these texts are anti-slavery in nature, and spreading them to the public may help guide Evangelite culture in that direction one day. These texts also support women's rights and magic use for non-commoners, which are all things that Modern Lindism opposes.

-At some point, Lazuline's slaves learned to carve stamps out of wood or other scrap materials to make copying the texts faster. Each stamp contains one page of text. Obviously Lazuline must keep these stamps hidden when not in use.

-There are many illiterate people (especially slaves) in Evangeline Kingdom. So, Lazuline also spreads the texts by mouth. She does this by reading Traditional scriptures to groups of goblin slaves, then selling those slaves to masters all over the kingdom. Since goblins never forget anything they learn, they can recite these scriptures to other slaves they encounter while they work.

-Evangelites believe homosexuality is a literal disease that is spread by sexual activity between the same sexes. They believe victims cannot be cured, so they must be executed to contain the spread. However, exceptions are made for minors (in Evangelite culture this means under 16 years of age for humans), who are instead sent to special clinics to "treat" their disease (essentially conversion therapy). Evangelites believe there is a chance to cure the disease while the victim is still young, but once they are adults, it is too late.

Practically, this is meant to serve as a lesson to young gay Evangelites to shape up and pretend to conform, or else. It also offers mercy to children who contracted the disease through no fault of their own, such as in cases of sexual abuse. Less mercy is shown for adult victims, who are expected to "know better" and "protect themselves". Yes, victim-blaming is a rampant issue in this culture...

-Wealthy adults can also wiggle their way out of the death penalty by buying their way into special adult institutions, marketed as "quarantine centers" to keep the homosexual "disease" from spreading. The price is steep and they can never leave, but it does spare them from death. The royal family would certainly take this route with Cyana, and though these institutions offer cushy accommodations fit for the wealthy, the thought of being confined to them forever horrifies Cyana. These places are basically golden cages. Residents are closely monitored and all sexual activity is forbidden. Visitors are allowed, but they are watched the whole time to make sure there is no disease spread going on.

I imagine if Cyana's parents found out she was a lesbian, they would go on a rampage trying to find out who gave her the disease, and a lot of innocent slaves, castle staff, and townsfolk (especially the women Cyana hangs out with) would be executed without trial. I mean, just look at how they treated Saphirra's husbands: all imprisoned for life based on nothing but their daughter's accusations!

This fact alone scares the hell out of Cyana, so she is very careful not to get caught. She knows any woman she dates is in danger just by associating with her, and it plagues her with fear and guilt. This is why she dreams of just fleeing her kingdom entirely one day.

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[loominggaia]

Wait… Zareen has test tube babies? For centuries?!! How common was this? What do they use it for? What is Zareen and the world’s opinion on these test tube babies?

I talked about this more in this other post, but here is some additional info:

Zygrow services are expensive, so it's not something lower classes are doing. However, it's becoming increasingly common for upper classes to have children this way, as fertility rates plunge in the polluted industrial kingdoms and having children the natural way becomes less possible. Currently, Zygrow's services are only available in Zareen Empire.

This technology has been around for so long, most Zareenites are accustomed to it. Culturally, Zygrown babies are seen as superior to naturally-birthed babies (though in reality, there isn't much difference between the two). It's the type of thing parents brag about, because they fell for Zygrow's bullshit marketing. "Our little Johnny is a Zygrow baby! He's much more advanced than those other kids!"

Cut to Johnny, eating paste with the rest of his peers. lol

Outside of Zareen Empire, Zygrow's operations are seen in a more negative light. The Nymph Pact nations generally view it as unnatural and an insult to Gaia, and believe it will have negative consequences on society over time. Even other Industrial nations, like Damijana and Yerim-Mor, are wary of Zygrow's technology and have banned it...at least publicly. (I think these governments secretly commission projects from Zygrow while publicly condemning them...the tech is just too exploitable for these rich ghouls to ignore. Rumor has it that Chieftess Serafeen herself is a Zygrow baby!)

Even in Zareen Empire, Zygrow's operations are strictly regulated. For example, they are not allowed to alter genes of peoples in any way. They just insert sperm and egg into the growth vat and whatever happens, happens. If the result is a deformed or otherwise unhealthy child, so be it. The law prohibits Zygrow from interfering in the way these children grow.

(Though once again, they have secret projects that break this rule, like their "super soldier" program. Some of their customers are privy to this and have bribed Zygrow to edit their children's genes in some way, so there are some genetically-enhanced people roaming Looming Gaia currently, despite the illegality. I will once again reference Chieftess Serafeen...you think her ultra-brilliant mind is natural? Yeah, about as "natural" as Empress Qara's boobs...)

There are less restrictions for animals, and Zygrow has taken advantage of this to create lab-grown meat for the food industry and special war dogs for the military.

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