#but it's such a pretty world! and I'm LOVING the sheep & goats

[imwritesometimes]

Chestnut Ridge 🐎🐐🐑❤️ (feat. Bitsy & Maximus)

[intimidating-fettuccine]

I love the satyr s/o headcanons you've done so far, so I gotta get your headcanons on Tim, Nina, and our beloved BEN separately with a satyr s/o!!! I love your writing so much it makes me scream and shake violently!!!!

I'm glad you like my writing so much, and I hope you enjoy this one too :)

Tim:

Honestly, I think Tim is just incredibly confused about how he managed to land a demon partner. Tim just views himself as Some White GuyTM, so he's very confused about why a demon, especially one as cute as you, would want to be with someone like him, but he doesn't complain about it, and instead, he tries his best to be a good partner for you. I think he finds your characteristics to be very cute, your soft fur, your horns, your hooves, he thinks you're just the most adorable thing in the whole world, and he tells you that all the fucking time. He reasons that you're far too cute to be a demon, with that soft fur and your gentle disposition, telling you as much, but the moment he sees you actually defend yourself from other demons he remembers the fact that your title as a demon isn't just for show. I think he'd call you his Little Wolf, his wolf in sheep's clothing, because you're much stronger than you look, and he admires that fact. I think Tim would probably wonder if he's doing a good job as your boyfriend, wondering if demon relationships are any different from human ones, but when you just smile and reassure him that he's doing perfectly, giving him a kiss and a hug as you do so, it'll definitely ease his concerns. Tim does like to be protective over you, willing to stand up for you even in the face of other demons, but I'd honestly recommend teasing him sometimes, saying that he's your human that you have to protect and care for, and he'll get all flustered about it. 

Nina:

Nina fucking ADORES you. Working for Zalgo she's quite used to being around different types of demons, but you have to be her absolute favorite of the bunch. She loves everything about you, and she was often stuck to your side like glue even before the two of you started dating, so she's incredibly affectionate and loving towards you, which is quite a sight for the other demons around the two of you to see a human being so clingy with a demon. I think honestly Zalgo might even be very happy that the two of you are dating because Nina has a penchant for getting into trouble and causing fights with people she shouldn't be, so it's nice to know she has someone like you around her to keep your eyes on her and keep her safe if you need to. Being as rowdy as he is, I think she probably likes to try and play wrestle with you a lot, and of course, you always hold back to not hurt her, but she gets a lot of enjoyment out of testing out her strength and growth with you, plus she loves seeing you in action. Even if you don't fight very often, she thinks you're incredible, and she loves watching you fight with your unique satyr-specific style. Also, I think she totally brags to pretty much everyone she can that she, as a human, was able to end up dating a demon, which is pretty uncommon, and she feels super happy that she's able to be a good enough partner for you, considering your differences as a human and a demon, and she's committed to being the best girlfriend she possibly can be for you.

BEN:

I'm gonna say it... He has major grabby hands for you. BEN really loves soft things, and your hair and your fur are both just so irresistibly soft, so he can't stop himself from just wanting to constantly love on you and run his hands across your fur and through your hair all the time. BEN finds you to be so fucking cute, and he probably has a photo album on his phone with hundreds of pictures of you that he's constantly adding to because he loves you and he can't get enough of you. Also, the thought popped into my head that he's totally bought the two of you matching goat keychains, stickers, and anything else he can find, but the joke is on him because sometimes he does it to tease you a little but you find all the stuff so cute that he gets flustered about it and it just makes him get you more stuff. I can see him absolutely wanting to take naps curled up on your lap and your legs where it's nice and soft because he finds it so relaxing and comforting (even if he doesn't even technically need sleep), it just makes him feel so content and happy, so it's one of his favorite places to be, ESPECIALLY if you stroke his hair while he's laying on you, you'll never get him off of you. BEN, despite being a ghost, hasn't really been with any demons before, and for you to be his first demon and be this incredibly wonderful and adorable and soft and just the best thing to ever happen to him he feels so incredibly lucky, and he just never wants to leave your side.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Why Pizza and Italians as a counter to food cultural appropriation?

Noticed during the whole Simu Liu thing, but what is it with particularly white people loving to roll out pizza as an example of food cultural appropriation?

I know, I'm food nerding again. But I think pizza is a terrible example, especially since the concept doesn't seem to originate from Italy. OMG, I know, someone is going to hard block on this and say, No Duh, Naples Italy.

But the first cheese on flatbread (since you can't get tomato without the new world) goes to Persia.

This is far from something like this travesty:

The core idea of kimchi was developed in Korea and later applied to Napa. Ingredients like hot pepper that came from Central Americas, replaced what is thought to be older ingredients like sichuan pepper, which is occasionally still used in some kimchi recipes and have good documentation. (Sriracha like this one is a travesty and a total WTF). There's good documentation of its development being older than the Chinese Pao Cai, which has a totally different fermentation process. So it's 100% Korean native in concept.

In fact, all of the ingredients in pizza and the concept itself originated outside of of Italy.

Haha. Pointing this very, very true fact lead someone to reporting my post even though I cited all my sources.

Wheat- Fertile Crescent. (Levant gets a ton of credit for agriculture).

milk- from cows, sheep and goats, from West Asia. Cheese, for those food ignorant comes from milk.

Pepperoni- (not required) Pigs, not Europe.

tomato- New world.

are the core ingredients that you think of in a pizza pie. All of them are IMPORTED to Italy. The concept itself, much like maths originate from outside of Italy.

Flat Bread is mentioned in ancient texts, and cheese originated in ancient texts. So cheese on flat bread isn't that revolutionary.

For instance look up lahmajouns, which originate from Armenia which does not have cheese on it, but various toppings. There are stronger origins for it in the Middle East.

This is a terrible usage for the whole, "OMG, would you be insulted if PIZZA was made by Armenians." (which I definitely saw during the Simu Liu debate. WTF. lahmajouns is older than pizza! That's a terrible example.)

Also, another example rolled out during that. was, "But Koreans run several sushi restaurants."

Look, Japan isn't the only country to serve raw fish. In Korea, the provinces of Kyeongsangnamdo and Jeolla do too. What do you think all those live octopus challenge things are? In fact, with sushi, the origin of eating raw fish, in general, is China, not Japan. The vinegared rice, though, which is what sushi refers to, is Japanese. As Koreans don't vinegar their rice nor put Mirin in it. Koreans are east Asian and were imperialized by Japan.

But every other comment was the whole "Italians". I covered this a whole, whole lot, but Italy is a poor choice for, "But, but appropriation."

Italy was an imperialistic nation.

Libya, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia! It also... dundundun, had negative relations to China.

Stop rolling out Italy? You'd have better luck with Bulgaria? But I doubt anyone shouting this knows anything about Bulgarian food.

Once you are an imperialistic nation, imposing your rights to rule, and basically doing the equivalent of assault, you pretty much lose your right to claim that the world is appropriating when you've been imposing your culture on other people.

It's the whole school ground bully saying, "Do it my way or I'm going to give you a wedgy." and then you do as they say and then they complain to the teacher with big tears in their eyes, "They stole my stuff and are copying me."

So I'm saying here, with a side of food geekery, stop rolling out pizza and pasta sauce as uniquely Italian. The concept didn't originate there. The ingredients didn't originate from there, and I have a strong suspicion given that wheat originated from Iran-Iraq, etc and knives from Northern Africa that there is an older pasta dish we've yet to discover in the archaeology. The personal table fork originated in the Byzantine empire (Outside of Europe). The utensil used to eat pasta.

Yeah, I know a popular Youtube channel went over it, but then they failed to realize that the core ingredients came from Western Asia. !@#$ How do you think it got to the Silk road? You need chopsticks AND the ingredients in order to argue about pasta. Wheat didn't magically appear in China. You require the origin of the ingredients to make it make sense.

To make noodles you need semolina, wheat, and basically starch and a knife. None of those originate in Italy. To make die cut pasta you need a Chinese invention. Did not originate in Italy. Pasta, did rise up in Italy, though there isn't solid evidence for noodles per se. (I've done a lot of rounds of this, but people like to claim something is older and they domesticated it when it isn't--look up tamarind, for example, which has a false scientific name... it shouldn't be indicus. It should be africanus.)

What pizza is an example of is mass trade followed by colonization and a case of amnesia.

What pasta is an example of is trade, independent invention and then trade by two distant cultures over time. (And a side of imperialism if you're including the tomato).

How do you think the tomato ended up in Italy? Imperialism, colonization, and a lot of genocide?

It's not a dichotomy between appreciation and appropriation. Appreciation means you don't touch or profit from it. Appropriation means you stole it. You're missing trade, invitation, evolution and imperialization. And pizza is probably the worst example of "But, but People appropriate from Europe too." I covered what Europe would be like without trade. Not much going on eh? (BTW, what is it with white people and false binaries? ;) )

In fact, if you leave Europe out of the conversation, it's probably better... (that time someone tried to say Asians wearing jeans was cultural appropriation. You mean after mass imperialization and then cotton itself being an example of a slave good? Yeah, not the best example there.)

When Iran (Persia for those who failed History class... I've been running into those people lately) declares that pizza is actually their invention, 'cause the whole cheese on flatbread is theirs, then that's a conversation worth having. 'cause they've been imperialized and done some imperializing. Then it becomes blurry, but I doubt any white people can name a Persian dish.

A side tangent into Simu Liu

BTW, tapioca comes from the Brazilian rainforest, from the Guarani people. It came to Asia in the 16th century. This was to replace the sago pearls which are native and of Chinese origin. But the concept of Tapioca pearls themselves in Boba is Taiwanese. Both of the people attributed to originating are are Taiwanese Han Chinese (as supposed to the other ethnic groups in Taiwan, which there are people of, BTW, Hokkien and Hakka are both sub ethnicities of Han Chinese.) So Simu Liu claiming it's part of his culture too, as a Han Chinese descendant isn't far off, but also because the concept spread back to the rest of East Asia for years before it landed into white hands who said they would "solve the problem for Boba tea") What? What's the problem with Boba tea?

BTW, one of the credited inventors is Liu Han-Chieh. Liu. Liu. That's the surname. *sighs*

Yeah, gets a bit dicey with the whole imperialism thing, and Japan invading Taiwan thing, but seriously... that whole debacle was odd. And still, I'm going to say pizza is a terrible example of food cultural appropriation.

[simbico]

Get to know me simblr edition

Rules: you can use any sims game to answer these questions

Thank you @mysimsloveaffair ���😊

Your three traits: Loner, Animal Enthusiast, Socially Awkward

Your aspiration: Country Caretaker because if I could afford to spend all day with animals I absolutely would!

In game world you’d live in: Henford on Bagley because I love the country side.

Favourite townie(s): I have a soft spot for Caleb ever since that time he kept visiting one of my sims and autonomously helped with her garden every day. It was really sweet.

Most used pack(s): I think Cottage Living and Growing Together I've used the most and the ones that have really helped keep my interest this long with Sims 4. I'm pretty sure I use a little bit of everything though.

Favourite decor object (no cc): that owl family from Growing Together. It’s so cute!

Something you want in the game: children to be able to do more things like magic, getting their nails painted at the spa, taking care of mini sheep/goats, etc. I would also like more things to do during class with HSY EP. They could have made it fun like passing notes, or talking in class, or day dreaming or something that has accountability to how well they do in school.

What colour is your plumbob rn: Maybe yellow? Work has felt a little stressful recently.

I wasn't sure who to tag for this because I've seen so many others do it (because I'm super slow) and I haven't had time to check and see who might not have done this. If you want to do it, please tell me, I can tag you! I would love to so everyone who wants to has fun doing it.

[beastenraged]

So, just in general, what do YOU think Baron Draxum is? He claims to be a Yokai, yet he doesn't look like any Yokai I've seen in media (and yes I've looked-) He also looks to be a sheep/dog like creature rather than a Satyr. What do you think he is? I always thought of him as a hybrid of sorts. And since you're world(s) are just so wonderfully thought out and beautifully written, I'm curious on whether or not you explored his origins or specifically, what he is. Hope you're enjoying life in the meantime! I love your stories and also hope Oogway is doing well too! (You mentioned him once- hope you don't mind his mention.)

Oogway is doing fantastic, he's just turtling along. :)

Hm, what specific kind of Yokai Draxum is...

Prepare for way too much mythology and a spattering of cartoon/pop culture influenced design thoughts.

Baron Draxum appears to be based on a mishmash of 80s Shredder and Krang design, with more of an emphasis on Shredder. He's very much meant to be a callback to just classic 80s villains in general, what with his evil mad science nonsense, his purple coloring, and plot to take over the world and such. Also, horns.

That, plus how the gargoyles are very imp-ish in design, really leads me to see Draxum as more goat than sheep. Why? Because Draxum's design (and many 80s villain designs) are supposed to be a reference to the Devil. And the Devil is very specifically associated with goats throughout Christian mythology.

That's not even counting how Lou Jitsu' first encounter with Draxum is very much a deal with the devil and Draxum's own devil's bargain backlash with the Foot Clan and Shredder himself.

Yokai in Rise canon are just all under the same Yokai umbrella. But because us fans think it's fun to do more specific labeling, we get stuff like how Big Mama is definitely a jorogumo.

Due to the before mentioned devil symbology surrounding Draxum, odds are decent that Draxum's species of Yokai could be an actual demon of some kind.

I would lean towards "Slavic demon" actually because a lot of those traditional stories about demons from that culture have demons more as a second race that lives alongside humans and can be good or bad, much like the yokai of Japanese culture. Maybe something like a chort, if you need a specific example.

(Though of course that changed as Christianity entered the picture. *shrugs*)

A bit different from the more Christian and modern fantasy leaning that demons are creatures from an alternate plane of existence and are all evil.

In my thoughts on Draxum as it aligns with my own worldbuilding, I think that Draxum would pretty heavily lean on calling himself 'Yokai' instead of his specific lineage because of those negative associations with the word 'demon.'

I also see Draxum as have probably been a pretty heavy wanderer or just been through a lot over the probable centuries before canon happens. It's possible that he wouldn't really have a strong association with his own lineage himself anymore after so long.

[greaterstolenlandspolycule]

💯🍎💘for liesel!

💯 Share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

Liesel's name was originally going to be Ainsel. I changed it because a) I wanted to make their hometown culture more German with some parts of Scottish rather than the other way around (Ainsel is a name from a Scottish folktale); b) I discovered someone else on a server I was/am on had an oc named Ainsel and I wanted to reduce confusion; c) I thought the idea of them having a name that had "lies" in it would be fun, even if it's pronounced differently (and it allowed me to make their ship name with Tristian "Lies and Trust" which is fun for a lot of reasons :3); and d) the name "Liesel" is related etymologically for a word for "oath", and even though they are a Lying Liar Who Lies, they take actual oaths seriously (which is why they avoid making them for the most part)

I'm not sure on this yet, because I'm still pretty early in their journey, but I think they might eventually start worshipping Desna and her shadow, Black Butterfly, in conjunction

They are, purely mechanically speaking, a Musetouched Aasimar with the Fey Foundling feat (thanks to the mod Call of the Wild). 

🍎 Where was your oc born? Do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? How do they feel about their birthplace?

(Technically Liesel was born in the First World, but they first came to consciousness in and grew up on Golarion)

Liesel was raised in a small farming community located between the branches of the Echo Wood, near the River Kingdoms-Numeria border. While it is considered a very “normal” village by a lot of metrics, it’s pretty abnormal by River Kingdoms standards, since the River Kingdoms are. Wild. 

(I still haven’t named the village, though, so I welcome suggestions!)

Basically it’s unusually safe and stable because farmers are held pretty highly by Riverfolk so they aren’t victimized that much by them and the Numerians don’t attack them much because they prefer to be a bit stealthier in their raids, which means going through the Echo Wood as long as possible (and all the giant spiders inside it) rather than going through the village (also they’re a bit more focused on raiding the Protectorate of the Black Marquis nearby, which they have an ongoing feud of sorts with). Additionally, the village is only a few days travel away from Fort Inevitable (manned by Hellknights of the Order of the Pike (monster hunters)) and Fort Riverwatch (manned by Iomedean knights who were on their way to Mendev for the Crusade against the Worldwound when they decided hey we should probably try to protect some people here it’s a disaster), which adds a slight threat of vengeance for any raids on it.

Also it’s just straight up a very small farming village. They mostly just have rye and sheep and goats and whatever crops it’s good to rotate rye with.

It's extremely boring; Liesel was always excited when travelers came by the village for whatever reason.

BUT anyways Liesel has deeply complicated feelings around their home. They currently live hundreds of miles away from it, in their barony's capital of Tuskdale, and have no plans to ever return or, frankly, to get close to it again--that would be too risky. It's not an accident that they mostly took on jobs on the opposite side of the River Kingdoms. Honestly, they feel like it isn't their hometown, but rather the hometown of the child that died so they could take their place; they feel like they don't have a right to it. They're used to living a lie, but that was more than they could really handle. But they also know that they would probably be chased out if they told the truth.

Even though it fucked them up in some key ways, and they never really made any friends in it, they still hold a lot of love for their village and their parents-they-don't-think-they-have-the-right-to-call-their-parents.

They left less because they were afraid of what physical harm they might experience if they were revealed to be a fey, than because they were afraid of what emotional harm they would experience as a result of being hurt by something they loved so deeply.

💘What and/or who do(es) your oc consider the most important to them?

Keeping in mind that this is just the beginning of Act 2, so Liesel and their relationships have a long way to go, but as it stands now, the sad answer is that it’s themself and their safety. While Liesel is, deep down, a lonely person who desperately craves connection, they’re so used to being lonely that they don’t really know any other way to exist; combined with their trust issues, they haven’t yet developed enough of a bond with any of their companions to actually have more than a fondness for some of them. They’ve also never really had friends (or romantic partners, although they’ve had a decent amount of physical ones) at all, so it’ll take them a while to realize what they’re feeling.

[oonajaeadira]

Pssssst…

Can’t stop thinking about Leave Off Your Wandering and how much I want to live in the world you’re building in that story even if it means dealing with a fungal apocalypse and all the aftermath because being at the Roost with Joel and Ellie and the sheeps sounds like a pretty soft place to land.

So thank you for supplying me with so much daydream fuel. Please accept this collection of vibes along with my gratitude:

🧡🧡🧡

OH MY FKN GOATS ALYSSA WHAT DID YOU DO

GET OUT

JUST GET THE BALLS OUT

Friend...You are just wonderful, did you know?

I'm so sorry Autumn's taking me a hot second. But hot damn, the Hank Williams and birbs and sheeps and knits... it really is soft, isn't it. I won't apologize, but neither can I help it, and I see you're not complaining, quite the contrary, YOU'RE EMBRACING THE SOFTEST OF MEADOWS AND QUIET HAVENS.

Please let's run away together and live in a treehouse in the middle of a mountain pasture and never come back.

I love this. I love you. I love that you love soft Joel and sheeps. Love all around.

[fleurcareil]

Alberta Rockies (1): Canmore and Banff

After saying goodbye to Deborah, I drove out west and soon started to see the first mountains!! 🤩 I read somewhere that out of all landscapes, people are most impressed by mountains and I cannot agree more.. not necessarily for me to live in but certainly to visit!

I had been recommended to do the hike to the Grassi lakes in Canmore as a good intro to the mountains, so up I went together with a few other hundred persons 😜... this was the first time in over the two months I'm on the road that I experienced real busyness, so I was a bit annoyed at first but hey I was there too so couldn't really blame others wanting to do the same 😅.

First view was from a man-made hydro reservoir and there was also a waterfall, but then the two star Grassi lakes showed themselves.. . I must say that initially I was a bit disappointed, is this it? as they're tiny & seemed unassuming at first, but then went I waited until the sun came out I could see those beautiful green colours & agreed that they're stunning. I probably sat on a rock for about an hour waiting until the sun came through, observing the other tourists, rock climbers and even a girl in a fancy dress having a photo shoot 😀. I'm never bored when doing nothing!

As this was a Saturday evening in August in the Rockies 🙃, it was no surprise that I had had trouble finding a place to stay, so I backtracked a bit into the valley to a campground which turned out to be on a First Nations reserve. The evening prior, I had been asked whether I had ever stayed on a reserve so now I could say yes!

Basically being a big grassfield with a porta-potty it was really not much but it had an amazing view and as the reserve is its own nation, I was allowed to have a campfire whereas the rest of the province had a fire ban, bizarre! I would not have done a fire but that night was the height of the Perseides meteor shower, so I gladly enjoyed the warmth while looking for shooting stars... I saw 13 in total! 🤩

Next morning, I headed to the visitor centre in downtown Banff to get ideas on what I could do, and although the village looked pretty I was glad to leave for lake Minnewanka for one of the most glorious paddles I've done to date... blue sky, mountains, crystal clear water & no wind... SUP paradise! 😍❤ I had optimistically put on my bikini but this being my first glacial lake I had not fully understood how absolutely freezing the water is, so that swim didn't happen! 😅

In the afternoon, I drove along the pretty Bow Valley Parkway to set up camp at the Johnston Canyon, whose parking lot was overflowing & mayhem with people, but luckily the campsites were large and quiet.

When I had first been to Banff in 2010, the smoke of fires near Kamloops (speaking of history repeating itself, see my recent update on BC fires) created zero visibility so we fied Banff within a day, not having seen any of the landscape so I was very happy to experience it now with such perfect weather! 😍 Top of my list was taking the Banff Gondola which is apparently the single largest attraction, so I guess I was lucky to get any ticket at all, even at 5:30pm.... once more TONS of people but I didn't let me distract from the marvelous views. I sat again for an hour or so on a bench, watching the world go by while sipping a beer and taking in the scenery 🤗 PS I know everyone loves their children but OMG what a patience parents must have nowadays!?! 😵

After all this beauty, I was completely content to have a simple salad (and the last delicious samosa from Calgary's farmers market), make a crossword & dive into bed early.

Wildlife: NO grizzly bears, black bears, mountain goats or bighorn sheep 🤨 I did see 1 elk & 4 deer

SUPs: one at Banff

Hikes: one at Canmore

[bearphase]

Trailer thoughts:

I knew it wasn't gonna be my thing, so I'm not too invested in the concept. However, I still think horses just should've been included in Cottage Living or Cats & Dogs.

However, I love goats... so I'm kinda disappointed they didn't make them a normal size! Small goat breeds exist, of course, but I really would've preferred the bigger dudes. I grew up visiting my uncle's pet goats all the time and loved them, and I've met some at farm sanctuaries as an adult. Definitely top 5 favorite animals. They're sort of like big, horned dogs. (Though some are very rude!)

I really, really hope that the goats and sheep are 1) actual household members, unlike CoL animals and more like C&D animals and that 2) like cats and dogs, they can become familiars. Please let me give my spellcasters goat familiars. However, I feel confident neither of these hopes will be true.

I have wanted nectar making for a long time; I really enjoyed it in TS3. I'm excited for that. I also noticed there's a kind of nectar that brings Sims back to life, which is interesting.

The world is, as expected, similar to Oasis Springs and Strangerville. It's prettier, of course, since the dev team has admittedly gotten much better at aesthetics over time, but still unexciting due to it being such a repeat.

The CAS and BB stuff looks pretty good, at a glance.

Edit: The two things I missed are probably the most important! First of all, we're getting Native American representation in food and CAS items, which is really awesome. Secondly, we can change ceilings, which is SORELY goddamn needed! I hope these two things will be base game updates.

[wyverewings]

Wyvere Reviews All the Monster Hunter Monsters (Herbivores)

Before we ramble about monsters, let me admit something: I have not played any Monster Hunter games aside from Stories 2. I mainly enjoy the "Monster" aspect more than the "Hunter" aspect. So that might make my opinion different than if I was a fan of the main series.

I'm separating these reviews mainly based on the type of monster, though I'm gonna be a little loose with that. You'll see. Also, I will not be doing every variant of every monster because that would be ridiculous.

But enough of that, let's talk about monsters!

We're starting small with the Herbivores. One of my favorite things about Monster Hunter is that all the monsters form a sort of ecology, and that includes herbivorous creatures. I enjoy anything that explores monster biology, and it makes this world feel lived in. Anyway, the Aptonoth is a nice retrosaur-esque beast. I like their horns, adds to the overall hadrosaur vibe with this design. They are a lot more plain than the bigger and more aggressive (not really accurate, herbivores are more likely to be assholes than carnivores) monsters, but they're still a nice design. 7/10

Apceros also has a retrosaur vibe, though unlike Aptonoth's cattle-hadrosaur traits, Apceros is a tutle-ankylosaur. I dig this design a lot more than Aptonoth, maybe that's because Aptonoth has some mammalish traits while Apceros is fully reptile (and ankylosaurs are some of my favorite dinosaurs). 7.5/10

Kelbi are our first completely mammalian monsters, which are surprisingly quite rare in this series. You see, Monster Hunter's designs tend to steer very much into lizard/retrosaur territories. Obviously, I like that, and it also makes the monsters that aren't lizards or retrosaurs more interesting, since they stand out more. Anyway, Kelbi have a sweet goat-deer appearance, which dainty designs are even rarer than non-reptile monsters in here. 6.5/10, not my thing, but still good designs.

Mosswine has a fun design, being a pig with a Pachycephalosaurus head dome and moss growing all over its skin. Must spend a lot of time in one spot. I just think they're neat, 7/10.

Popo is an... uh, wooly mammoth without ears or a trunk? It's not one of the best chimeric designs, as it's tough to tell what it even is supposed to be. If anyone can tell me, I'd appreciate it. And I think it's kinda ugly outside of that too, and this is someone who likes blinding bangs in designs! 4/10

Anteka takes Kelbi's goat-deer traits in a different, less dainty direction. Unfortunately, I don't like that direction. I think my problem is the eyes. I... do not like goat eyes, they creep me out. But the horns are cool, at least. 5/10.

Now we're back to my preferred territory! Epioth are a lot more reptilian than the previous four monsters, with some piscine traits as well! I love the combination... but what the heck is with their flippers? Those are some weird looking flippers. 7.5/10

And an rhino-anklyosaur! They're spoiling us here! Rhenoplos are pleasant little beasties, and a rhino-anklyosaur hybrid is pretty fun! I also find them to be pretty cute, I wanna hug one despite the fact that it would bash into me. 7.5/10

Oh, Slagtoth... I should like you, I love retrosaur designs. But those mammalian traits... yeesh, ew. They're enough to put me off from you. I'm sorry, Slagtoth... 4/10

At least you're cool, Larinoth! Sauropods are cool, and I like the weird tails and weird sound organs. I know they're sauropod monsters, but the sound organs remind me of those theories that hadrosaurs produced sounds though their crests. 7.5/10

Heh, Moofah is a funny name, and fitting for these sheeps. Unfortunately, the design is kinda bland, even by mammalian monster standards. 5.5/10, added a point for the name.

Gastodon is an interesting combination of bison and Pachycephalosaurus, and I think it works pretty well. Another one that I'd like to hug, 7.5/10.

For some reason, there's no renders for the Gowngoat on Monster Hunter Wiki? Poor thing... Anyway, they're a pretty cool monster, with traits of goats, dinosaurs, and pangolins. 7/10

...Weirdly enough, I don't like Kestodon? I know it has a retrosaur vibe, but there's just something about both versions of the designs that don't work. I think it's the ceratopsian frill of the male looking weird. 5/10

And that's all we have for the Herbivores, except for the Frontier monsters because no one cares for those, probably. Stay tuned for the next batch of monsters!

[dynal]

Can I cheat and tell you to answer ALL OF THEM... i love hearing about altai.

this is DEFINITELY a big cheat but you know what i love you and any opportunity to talk about my ffxiv guys i will take. so as a bonus you'll also get gaius.

HERE COME THE BOYS! i'm putting it below a readmore since it will probably. get long.

🪷 what gives this character inner peace?

For Altai, prayer, definitely. At least at the beginning. As the story continues he feels he can't connect with his god as well and thinks he's losing his mind. That's when sticking around the Scions helps him feel a little better.

For Gaius, staying close to his personal hero (Altai). And reminiscing on the few happy memories he has. But reminiscing on those memories can also bring melancholy or could send him spiraling so it's a difficult balance.

🪰 what is the worst thing this character has witnessed but not experienced?

For Altai: Ugh. Look at the MSQ. Every time one of his allies dies he grieves. Even when strangers die he grieves, whether they're meant to be the "good guys" or the "bad guys" because he's not really sure where they "go" when they die. In his religion they would at least find some semblance of peace, but what about here, in this world he's hardly known?

For Gaius: Basically anything he may have heard/seen while he was trapped in the stone. Without the power to physically influence the outside world he was helpless.

🐁 how are this characters ethics?

You know Altai, he's a pretty typical "good guy" but there's a lot of extra quirks that separate him from a typical hero. Being an older man and being a follower of religion will do that to you. He deeply dislikes prejudice and reductive thinking, and believes in the freedom of all, regardless of who they follow. So whenever some kind of subjugation is happening, his brow furrows a little further and his speech gets a little more sharp--a little more old world one could say.

Gaius will just start eating people if someone doesn't stop him. He's seen the horrors of the world, witnessed the uprising of Garlemald. He's done with the bullshit and done with being trapped and unable to help.

🚬 smoking/drinking habits? signature brand or drink?

For all the jokes I've made about Altai rolling cigars I'm not sure if he genuinely smokes. It may be a more spiritual, every-once-in-a-while-for-a-ritual thing. He did often imbibe in the Utter Poison that was the centuries-aged liquor in the temple's cellar.

Gaius doesn't really get any bodily effects from drinking or smoking, but he does enjoy a good ale with friends. It's a social thing.

🌫️ how does this character feel about lying?

Altai doesn't like to lie. He'd rather be honest about a situation than have to keep up a lie. He's not the kind to think some topics are "off-limits" (like talking to a child about death) because everyone has to learn at some point (and perhaps subconsciously, knowing that he was essentially orphaned and was relentlessly bullied by his peers probably makes him think "hatred can be taught at any age, so can any other topic").

Gaius will skirt around the truth or keep quiet about something. He doesn't like to reveal his own cards (especially regarding his whole shapeshifter "I dunno if I can actually die" situation).

🐦‍⬛ fursona?

Altai is a Takin, a sort of goat-like creature that is more closely related to sheep.

Saying Gaius would be a wolf would be a copout, and he's a shapeshifter, so I guess he could be whatever. Maybe a wolverine.

♟️describe how they would play chess, if they would.

Altai would know how to play chess, but it may be a regional variant. Gaius would know too many regional variants, and would know a variant that would make a historian go "hang on a second, nobody's used this variant for over 500 years".

🎲 are they lucky?

Neither of them really believe in luck.

🐌 do they carry their home with them or is it a place?

they carry their homes with them(they carry it in their hearts)they are never without it(anywhere they go,home goes,they fear;and whatever is done by them is their home's doing,such tragedy)

🦤 are they particularly smart in any way? how so, or not?

Altai is a religious scholar--at least for his religion! He's pretty logical though so he figures out situations well.

Gaius was a scholar of astrology when he was alive, and learned a lot of stuff while he was stuck in the stone. He ends up using a lot of historical evidence to navigate situations.

🪽does this character believe in a higher power?

Altai: Yes, he follows the god Lupus (and by extension, his three blood-bound consorts).

Gaius: Can't remember that which he worshiped in the past but I've been toying with the idea of him following Thanatos. Something about following the embodiment of death but being unable to die.

🦪 how would this character describe their gender, if asked?

Altai: I suppose I'm a man. Have I experimented beyond that? Hmm, well, my god, Lupus Therion Alsaab Kekkuon, praise his name--he had invented himself into the form of man and was punished for it, but lived out his future immortal life as a man. So I suppose it would take some self-invention to make myself a man... But in a way, I've done that... Hmm... Though there was that one time I was transformed into a female succubus. It was interesting.

Gaius: When my body erupted into this world, it may have been deemed of another sex, but I am all man! After all, that's what I've carved this body into. I have the scars to prove it. I don't believe I was disgraced for this choice in my mortal life. At the very least, the people who mattered most to me, they knew I was a man. Well, that doesn't mean I can't shapeshift into something else if I feel the urge. I've been known to turn into women--actually, let's end the conversation here.

🫁 yuri or yaoi?

Altai has the big-hands-big-guy nature of yaoi but Gaius has the inherent tragedy of yuri.

👛 what is always with this character?

Altai: Basically always seen with his satchel (tome, inks, pigments, brushes, pens). Gaius also hangs around with him often enough to count. Also keeps wearing the stone as a memento.

Gaius: After the woman he fell in love with disappears, he keeps her bandana with him, always.

🦇 biggest material fear (ie heights, bugs etc)

Altai doesn't like it when things pop up out of nowhere and scare him. He's got a bit of a weak heart for that. Gaius has a dual fear/attraction to long, golden hair. It makes him think of his old best friend, who he loves, but he also misses dearly. Fear and desire are intertwined you know.

🪱 would this character move a worm off the pavement or save it?

Yes. Altai would feel bad for it if it was drying up, and would try to saturate it with some of his water before finding a suitable mud patch for it to burrow in. Gaius would briefly consider eating it but then would choose to save it.

🐞 does this character have any notable accent or dialect? what about other languages?

Altai: He's from the Isle of Raum in the New World. He has a deep accent that isn't really similar to any found in the other continents (I'd equate it to a Slavic accent). He knows an ancient language that was used in his tomes and can speak it fluently. This also means he can understand old-speak characters like Urianger very well.

Gaius: He's from an unknown place. His accent is a bit of a neutral mish-mash of all the places he's been (ending up with a vague, rough-American equivalent).

🦑 any pets?

Altai has Edme, his personal Chocobo. He makes good friends with all sorts of critters and is sometimes secretly spotted taking care of strays.

Gaius doesn't have any pets. He is the pet.

🛡️how does this character protect themself and others?

Altai is mainly a tank. You already know how this goes.

Gaius will sacrifice his own mutated flesh for others. He can't die.

🪓 would they make it to the end in a horror movie?

Altai would hopefully survive. If not, he'd die protecting others. Gaius would be genre-aware and become a bigger threat.

⚖️ how do they seek justice?

Altai will try his best to go the reasonable route. Gaius is the one who takes Altai's true heart and will forcibly rend justice from the hands of the oppressors if he has to.

[spectralstitions]

OK I FIGURED OUT THE NAMING SITUATION (For the species, anyways. Parthesa rename pending). My slowass only just realized that whatever I call the species, or whatever they're called in the """english translation""", does not have to be what they would hypothetically call themselves in their language. Why do I do these things to myself.

Anyway, like I said in my last blog entry I wanted to keep the names as simple and understandable as possible, nothing extravagant. So here's my current solution:

Fasa = critterkin

Raswa = hoofkin

Partha = birdkin

Collectively = kinfolk? Something like that?

Fae = Fae or faefolk

My thinking with the use of "kin" instead of "folk" for the more human-leaning species is that typically, when I think of a character who is, for example, birdfolk, I'm picturing a fully animal character who almost completely maintains their feral anatomy, the only difference being their upright posture and clothes. They're like, 90% animal and 10% anthro. And the results I got from searching for [creature]folk on Google reflected that. And there wouldn't be anything wrong with using folk regardless, it's a great word and I love it, but honestly as someone who is annoyed that there is literally no term in existence to describe the ratio of human to animal features reflected in my design niche except for "satyr" or "faun" which are ungulate-specific I kinda just wanted to come up with an alternative that I could hypothetically use outside of this project if I wanted. Kin is the only other common, one-syllable word that means pretty much the same thing as folk, so even though it's a little less cute I just went with it. Since Faefolk are in fact animals, allbeit mixtures of animals, I'm keeping folk in their name because it gets the image of what they are across just fine.

Birdkin is self explanatory but since I couldn't think of a catchall, one-syllable term for rodents, I went with vibes and called them critterkin. Hoofkin is the name really stumping me right now. While 90% of hoofkin are deer, there are also goat and sheep hoofkin, namely, uhhhh, one of the most important main characters. However, it's been really, really tricky trying to find a one-syllable trait that every member of the species shares without being weirdly specific. I've tentatively selected Hoofkin but not gonna lie guys I can't explain it but to me it sounds like a drug or a slur or something. I don't know. Please tell me I'm insane and nobody else thinks this because I just want to be done trying to find something haha. I couldn't think of a "vibes" word in its place, either. Wildkin is the best I could come up with, but it felt too vague. The ratio of deer to nondeer is such that it might be okay just to name them "deerkin" but the specificity doesn't feel quite right. I'm gonna keep my eye out for better words, and if anyone's got suggestions please lemme know.

Either way, LORD I am so sick of my ancient made up fantasy words haha, I'll replace them with anything at this point. Once I figure out a new name for Parthesa, I'll probably make some edits to my map/world lore post. If I do change any of the suffixes again I probably Will Not Be Making a public service announcement about it like this one, or if I do it will be either really really short or part of a different update. But I did want to make this post just to get it off my chest haha. Until next time :3

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Sixteen things I noted about CR2E136 “Hell or High Water” :

3 eyes and Beau and Caleb have True Sight !!!!!! Maybe there's a bright light to those fucking eyes, like Laura said.

Ok, one thing I (kinda) knew about Campaign 2 before starting it was "Artagan is a weasel ???" and that was IT, no more context ! So let me tell you, I was still falling off my chair at the reveal that SPRINKLE IS ARTAGAN, because I'm a dumbass who did not put two and two together, or, as it is, the logical conclusion of : Jester's god is the Traveler and Jester bought a weasel -> the Traveler is in fact Artagan -> Artagan is in fact inhabiting a traumatized red weasel. BUT THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER

Caleb : "[Artagan being Sprinkle] is the only reason he's still alive." Artagan/Sprinkle : "You're not entirely wrong... it's been a journey !" I'm laughing so much oh my god, of course Sprinkle is only maintained alive by the grace of 3000 years old archfey who loves a little blue tiefling. The image alone of Sprinkle talking in Artagan's voice is sending me. I love how Jester is pretty chill with it, like "It makes perfect sense !"

THEY CAN READ EACH OTHER'S MINDS AND SEND THOUGHTS TO OTHERS ??? not even 25 minutes into this episode and so much has happened already

the DM : "These walls are smooth and there's a slight residue left on them... These walls are lined in lead." The impulsive barbarian, quietly : "I was just going to taste it, but I will leave it alone."

A time travel device ? That is Caleb's first goal !!! OOOOOooooh I see what you're doing, Mr Mercer, the temptation ! And this is relevant to Essek too ! "Correcting mistakes" indeed

They spend 20 minutes arguing what they should or should not do to avoid the monster, both in AND out of character. Liam : "This is like if we, us, not the characters, us were trying to save the world." Marisha : "How have we ran a company successfully for the past... how many - years - ?" Taliesin : "Pure luck."

THEY GOT GOT !! Lucien, the fucker, also made a clever ambush with the psychic charges !!

Yoooo, the sequence where they were trapped between the monsters and the tunnel with maybe more intuit charges was awesome, what a challenge

The stargate !! I knew it, but still it was nice to hear Matt say that this portal was linked with the Water Plane and that it was why a flow of perpetual water was coming through.

"Here's my plan : we're all cows !" ooooh nice call-back

Marisha, nervous, as she's prepared to have Beau talking to Lucien : "I'm playing a 20 charisma character next campaign." Me, checking out Laudna's stats : "not yet, but she is a warlock ! So she will get there"

Molly is still in there, either fragmented, or a piece so small it can't be seen most of the time. Except when Caleb called him "circus man"

Caleb is a sheep ! What follows is 30 minutes of sheep-related puns : "You sheep-shifted ?", "He got baaaaaaa-nished", "In space no one can hear you bleat", "Baaaaaaaa-yyye !", "Sheepleb !", "Don't be sheepish get in there", "This is shear terror", "Caleb's already hoofing it that way", "This is veal bad, you guys", *obligatory Taylor Swift goat scream reference*, "Everybody flock together", "We are wool-fully unprepared for this"

Yasha : "Where's my girlfriend ?" Matt : "Beau is 10 feet from you, on the stairs, still facing of with the creature, which is now faced in that direction. Boobs and all, facing off with Beauregard." Yasha : "She knows how to handle that !" (Marisha does a *you got that right* kind of face)

Oh my god, for all the jokes about "coming back to the beginning", the fight with the water elemental where Jester was the only one left in the room at the end gave me HUGE flashbacks of that fight with the blue dragon where she was almost left alone too (if it wasn't for Nott)

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

Yay!! In that case… could I get some headcanons for going to the county fair with the gang as a friend??

-🛼

also i hope youve been doing well hon 💖

A/N: For you Roller! I'm excited to maybe hit my county fair this summer so I hope you enjoy reading this! County fairs are close to my heart because I have family in 4-H so we get to help show animals some times <3 I based this off my county fair but I tried to be as vague as possible so you can apply it to any of your fair experiences!

The chaos y’all get into, I swear

For the sake of this set of headcanons, you’re about Soda’s age, maybe a little bit younger, so you’re pretty centered in the middle of the gang’s ages

You’re young enough to fit in with Johnny and Pony but old enough that Two-Bit and Darry can trust you to take care of yourself

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s move onto the fair shall we?

We’re starting with the animals of the fairgrounds!

Cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, rabbits, the occasional llama if you’re lucky enough to have one

Dally doesn’t like being in the animal barns; he stepped in cow poop once and has vowed to never walk through another

So he stands on the outside and supervises whoever walks through

Usually, it’s you, Ponyboy and Johnny!

Steve and Soda love the thrill of the rides, Two-Bit does too if he’s not trying to pick up a girl at the fair

Darry tends to go along with them to make sure no one dies

Pony likes the cows and Johnny likes to watch sheep being shown in the event rings

(Side note as someone who’s worked with sheep at a fair before, they may be pretty but I assure you most sheep are very dumb and are very capable of injuring you)

After messing around the animal barns, Dally eventually gets tired and ushers you all back to Darry and the others

Ride time!

Two-Bit loves to go on whatever kind of roller coasters they have at the fair and would live for dragging you along with them

It doesn’t matter if you’re afraid of heights or just don’t like roller coasters, you’re going on at least one of them with Two

You know those spinning teacup ride things? Where you sit down and you can spin the thingy you’re sitting in as fast as you want?

You end up riding in that with Soda and Steve

They’re both spinning it as fast as you can, if you’re into it, they’ve got you spinning too!

The world’s blurring past, you can barely see the others because of how fast you’re going

Maybe you end up getting banned from the ride but it was a lot of fun!!

Johnny’s not a ride guy? Especially if you guys get food before that?

Pony like the house of mirrors, loves going through it with the guys because they’re all laughing so hard by the time they get out 

Dally likes the carousel but doesn’t want to admit it although if you try hard enough, you can get him to go on it with you

Darry’s a ferris wheel kind of guy? I feel like he would enjoy the peaceful ferris wheel

Since I mentioned it a little bit, let’s get into fair food!

Darry buys a few things of cotton candy for you guys and everyone just sort of splits them between each other

You’re pulling pieces from one before moving to another, pestering whoever is holding it so you can have a piece of that one too

Y’all get drinks and stuff too, simple things like that

You guys ended up getting funnel cake one time and the one time you got it, Sodapop dropped the entire thing on the ground

Darry refuses to buy anymore funnel cake for the group

So at my fair, usually they have some sort of event at the end of the night that you can go to

We’ve had rodeos and like crash-up derbies before, they’re always loads of fun to sit and watch

If they have something like that here?

There’s a good chance at least one of the boys is in the rodeo but none of them are in the crash-up

It’s just that none of them have a car they can just destroy for one night of racing

It’s a lot of fun to see someone you know in the rodeo, especially if you get to go down panel-side and watch them

But even if no one’s in the rodeo, it’s a lot of fun to sit with the gang and watch whatever’s happening in the arena

All in all, going to the fair with the boys is a lot of fun!

You’re going to get into a lot of things and make a lot of memories <3 

[doublesunsets]

Hey there! Thank you @freesia-writes for the chance of knowing you better! I can see you as type 1, making the world better one comment at a time 💜 Call me next time you are going to the forest with that white van of yours, I would love to go 🪽

I have to admit I had to think hard about some of these hahaha (why only five words 😩😂)

My personality type is autistic diagnosed in adulthood 😂 no, but really, Enneagram type 5: The Investigator; which they say is Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated! So, autistic diagnosed in adulthood, lol. (hi, yes, I'm Tech)

I don't drive, never wanted to, but I always loved the Porsche 911 Carrera (70s-80s model). I have no idea what I would do with it, but hey, it is pretty.

High School me? Oh boy... talkative, dramatic, emo (yes), crop-tops and opinionated.

My room with my things hahaha besides that, you know when you are outside at night, in the mountain, or the beach, far from the cities, and look up and see all those stars in the black sky? That moment in which you are huge and insignificant at the same time, that's when I feel most at home.

Perspective on life? "we are here for the ride"

I'm not sure about traits, but I guess they will need to be as respectful of other people differences as I am. The rest are sprinkles on the cake. Liking SW is not even a requirement as long as they let me explain them plots and characters they don't care about, that's where real friendship lives.

Sheep! Cows! Goats! Horses! Deer! Encountering random animals in the wild and being able to shout their name, tbh.

I'm a little anxious lately and cannot tag anyone, but maybe some of my new mutuals would like to? If you are reading this, this is an open invitation✨

Random fun questions to answer, then tag your buddies!

What is your personality type? (Enneagram or Meyers-Briggs or DISC or whatever you like!)

What car would you like to own, if money were no issue?

Describe your high school self in five words?

What environment is your favorite and makes you feel most at home? A coffee shop, a forest, the Swiss mountains, home with friends, etc?

Describe your perspective on life in five words?

Which traits would make up the ideal best friend for you and why?

What is something in life that you get a disproportionate delight from?

[fuckyeahisawthat]

I was wondering about your thoughts on Primo and Fifty. The first time I watched, their initial interaction seemed so flirty that I was sure there'd been something between them in the past. As two that didn't really fit in Calabria, it makes sense that they might have been close at some point. Fifty clearly realizes that Primo is going to cause him trouble somehow, and Primo complimenting his appearance is probably just to butter him up, but Primo gazes so wistfully at Fifty that I don't know whether I'm just wearing my slashgoggles or if anybody else sees this.

Hmmm personally I don’t get a flirty vibe from that scene at all. It seems clear to me that Fifty is very uncomfortable around Primo; to him I think Primo is the scary cousin who, if he shows up you know you are gonna get dragged into some situation where you’ll feel like you’re about to get murdered approximately 87% of the time, and you won’t be able to say no. Like, Fifty knows from the start that Primo is not there to have a coffee and a chat; he is there because he wants something from him and he’d rather cut the suspense and know what nerve-wracking thing he’s being asked to do this time.

I think Primo is in this very isolating situation where almost all the people who know anything about him are afraid of him. And on the one hand he’s very conscious of that, and he actively uses his ability to scare people to get what he wants frequently, as he does in this scene with Fifty. Like, he falls back on intimidation as his default mode of interaction with other people a lot.

He also seems like someone who is just...incredibly desperate for genuine human connection, but he doesn’t have a lot of models of how to get it. I am genuinely not sure if he has any relationships in his life that are not transactional, where he shows up when he wants something from someone or they show up when they want something from him. And it’s not just that he gives off the vibe of someone who did not grow up in a particularly warm and loving family environment. His whole world is a transactional one, where business and family are the same thing, business bleeds into all aspects of people’s social lives, and the organizational hierarchies of this crime syndicate are overlaid on top of family relationships. That would fuck up anyone’s sense of how interpersonal relationships are supposed to work, but especially someone who didn’t have many, or any, good models for other ways of relating to people.

So he’ll make these attempts at friendly behavior in totally inappropriate situations, like genuinely wanting to sit down and have a coffee with Fifty, or genuinely wanting to know what some terrified gas station attendant thinks of his paper airplanes. But obviously those scenarios are not going to work, because you can’t have a genuine and equal connection (even a single-serving one) with someone who’s afraid of you. And when that doesn’t work for him it’s really easy for him to get frustrated and slip back into the pattern he knows, which is intimidating people.

(continued under the cut because wow this got long)

This is one of the reasons it’s so interesting watching him interact with Little Paul. Because the one thing we learn about Paul from the very beginning is that he can and will make friends with anyone, of any social class, in any circumstance. So he charms his forbidding billionaire grandfather by figuring out they can talk about art together. And he treats the staff at Sutton Place like actual human beings which they are clearly not used to. And he seems to genuinely want to understand the situation of his grandfather’s weird harem of girlfriends and talks to them like people instead of treating them like props.

And so he just happens to be the kind of person who, once he understands that he’s not in immediate physical danger, can totally have a shadow puppet group hang with his kidnappers and have it feel like a genuine social interaction and not something they are creepily forcing him to do. And you can see that Primo is SO into it! He’s got this incredibly unguarded, almost childlike engagement with that shadow puppet story. You just get the sense that his life doesn’t allow him to have many of these type of interactions.

And oh boy this is already super long but I do want to say one thing about Primo and Fifty being the ones who didn’t belong in Calabria. Because for Fifty I think that’s definitely true. I tend to think that his branch of the Nizzuto clan has either been in Rome for some time, or that he left Calabria when he was pretty young. (They refer to themselves as cousins but I think it could easily be the thing in big extended families where like, everyone approximately in your age cohort is called your cousin and everyone in your parents’ generation is your aunt/uncle, regardless of where on the family tree they are.) 

When Fifty is in the village for the confirmation he just looks so out of place there. Like yes he has other reasons to be nervous that day but he gives off a very distinctive “ew sheep” vibe. He does not look comfortable with rural life at all.

Whereas I think as much as Primo likes to style himself as modern and urban and fashionable, and absolutely HATES the idea that someone would look at him as some kind of country rube, or, as he puts it “a fucking farmer”...he is still incredibly comfortable in the environment of Calabria. Like no matter what dope threads he is wearing he never looks unprepared to climb a mountain. Two-day manhunt through the woods with dogs and hunting rifles? Yeah let’s go, don’t even need to change my shirt. Hangout in the goat cave that has an abandoned tank in it for some reason? Sure I’m down. Like, he knows this world and he moves around it with ease. Which means the metric on which he doesn’t fit in is entirely social.