#c; the corvid queen

[quickdeaths]

@mechatiqe said: There was a tentative knock on Rio lab’s door, with no one other than the mechanic standing outside, hunched over a box that he covered with a jacket. You’d think he’s keeping a dangerous item in there, with the way his eyes keeps darting left and right, but no: it’s just his essay. The essay that hidden in a folder in the covered box, and was accompanied with an apology letter written in his chicken scratch of a handwriting. A lot of time had passed since the festival, and it seems like it took him that long to finish writing the friendship homework he was assigned. Anxiety was etched on every part of his face, though, and for more than one reason. He just hoped the bird professional was in her lab to begin with.

A notification popped up from the corner of her computer screen, alerting the ornithologist that someone was at her door. After finishing typing up the sentence she was on, Rio took her pen and drew a small blue bracket at the side of the next section of her study results so she'd remember where she left off, then stood from her chair to go check it out. Whoever was here was lucky, she thought, that she wasn't in the middle of something critical. Pausing actual observation for a visitor always risked messing things up, but she could afford to step away from data entry - actually, she was grateful for it.

Rather than one of her oversized sweaters and cozy sweatpants, she wore her labcoat, black buttons snapped together down the middle out of habit, even in absence of any real PPE concerns, over a collared shirt and sensible pants, paired with worn hightop sneakers that failed to bring together her otherwise-professional look. Her hair had been flat ironed to bring some order to the unruliness, and pulled back into a loose ponytail, but perhaps what was most striking was the change in color. At her first meeting with Kazuichi, her hair had been dyed in a blue-to-punk gradient. Now, her hair was a lush, vibrant red leading to blonde ends.

Seeing Kazuichi outside, Rio reached up and tugged her headphones down, even as she made no attempt to stop or quiet the music blasting from them. "Kaz-senpai," she murmured with a nod as she took the apology letter first and began scanning it. "You have bad handwriting," she observed, blunt. "There are classes you can take for that." Lots of doctors and scientists needed to take them, so at least he'd be in good enough company. "Really hard to read..." she mumbled, adjusting her glasses and squinting as she held the paper up to her face, trying to make sense of it.

After some time, though, she gave a small nod, folded the paper, and put it in one of her lab coat pockets. "Come inside," she said, motioning as she turned to walk back to her desk. "If your essay is long enough, then I'd prefer to read it sitting down." Between her glasses and her labcoat, Rio was aware that she gave off a certain professorial vibe, and that was alright with her. Maybe it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but Kazuichi hadn't exactly said the nicest things, either. If he had to sweat, sitting in a chair as she silently read his essay with a red pen in hand, waiting for her verdict, well, it wasn't like he didn't deserve it.

[quickdeaths]

Rio couldn't resist rolling her eyes at Kazuichi's words. "Why would it be funny? What's funny about flirting with someone, or wearing a particular kind of clothes?" Rather than laugh along with him, Rio just looked to him with an expectant expression, like she was waiting for some kind of explanation. "Do you think what Miki is wearing is funny?" She gestured vaguely in the direction of her friend again, with his skirt, and his cute fluffy coat, and all the decorations on his nails and in his hair. "I don't really get it, and I don't like not getting a joke, so you should explain it to me, senpai." Oh, she got it alright.

It was probably to the mechanic's benefit that the other half of the conversation was a place where Rio could truly contribute, rather than just interrogating his word choice. "Well... in my case, it's not like I don't have any friends." That was the sort of thing that someone who didn't have friends would say, admittedly. "I'm close with Miki, and I know a couple of people in the other 3rd year class, 77-A, and I know some of the 1st years, too." She could stand to be a little more social, but her work, her relaxation, and her condition made that more difficult than she'd like.

"Plus the people I work with for my research, and all my online friends." Her various guilds, mainly, but also the people who commented often on her educational tiktoks, or her twitter mutuals who DM'd back and forth with her about upcoming yuri novels and manga. "It's not like I'm antisocial or anything, when I do have the energy to be around people. It's just like..." She tapped at her cheek, lightly biting at her lip as she tried to find the best words for explaining it. "Just because we randomly got assigned to the same classroom doesn't mean there's much basis for a friendship. Isn't it better to make memories and spend time in developing relationships with people who share your interests, or who interest you, or who make you want to be a better person?"

“Being popular and having a talent are two different things, though…” the mechanic pointed out, in a mutter. Being around other talented people was fine, but being around the popular ones or ones that were of higher status made him so nervous. It felt like he was a nobody standing next to them, honestly. Maybe it was their charisma that put him on edge, like the other said… He couldn’t really put his finger on what it was.

The ornithologist’s claim made him blush furiously, though. “I—” He glanced away, fiddling with his zipper. “O-okay, listen. I’d do it but only because it would be funny, okay? It would be… kind of hilarious to joke-flirt with Haj and the others for shits and giggles…” Yeah no, now he wishes they’d done that for the school festival. He wanted to see the others crossdress, too... Fuyuhiko would definitely be livid. He couldn’t help but snicker at the thought.

Which is why he couldn’t understand how the other was fine with not being together as a class. It felt kind of… lonely. He tapping his fingers on the railing. “You kind of miss out on a lot of memories, though. I mean, we won’t be in this school forever, you know? Experiencing school life… making memories with friends…” He sighed, leaning against the railing again. “Everyone will eventually leave to go on their own way, so might as well make memories while we can, especially when…” he trailed off, before slowly lifting his hands, only to slap himself. “Never mind, that’s too depressing to think about, so I just won’t think about it!” Shaking the thought away, he pushed himself away from the railing. “We’ll just cross that bridge when we get to it. It’s not the end of the world, anyway. It was just uh, something to think about. Or not. I’m not gonna tell you what to do.”

[tracle0]

I, for one, wouldn't mind listening to all the English bird facts that you know (hello fellow bird lover)

I’M GONNA SPEW BIRD FACTS AT YOU AND THEY’RE MOSTLY GONNA BE CORVID FACTS YOU HAVE OPENED THE FLOOD GATES MY FRIEND (Hello!!! bird lover!!! Hi!!!!) 

OKAY so my favourite bird is the carrion crow which I can talk about for hours. They recognise faces, and reward good people and punish bad people! They tell their friends about bad people so you’re scorned by all the crows!!! They spot when other crows take more than their share and shun them for that!!! They’ve been seen just playing with things like rolling down snowy hills nd hanging on branches for fun!!! They’ve been seen making tools in the wild to get to food!!! They’ve been observed doing as many as eight steps in a problem to get to food!!! They have unique warning calls for different threats for them!!! They’re classed as songbirds due to their huge range of vocalisations!!! 

Crows!!! Are!!! So!!! Cool!!!

European jays are also pretty damn nifty; they’re often nicknamed acron jays due to their fondness for acorns in autumn. They’re probably the shyest of the corvids and are hardest to see despite being the most colourful we have in England. They’re extremely good vocal mimic!!!! Able to copy other birds songs extremely well!!! And we have FOUR living near our house that’s so cool!!!

Magpies are also pretty neato; often seen as the most aggressive of the corvids, due to their habit of attacking nests and killing chicks. This is a habit seen in most corvids, so isn’t special to the magpie, but is a thing that people get >:C about. Some people think increased magpie populations has led to a decreased songbird population, but there’s no correlation between a higher magpie population and a lower songbird population in specific areas; it’s more likely human urbanisation has led to songbirds being unable to find nesting spots. 

Urbanisation!!!!! Corvids are pretty hecking unique in their ability to adapt to urban environments! Next to pigeons and herring gulls, corvids are amongst the most common to be seen in city environments, which just goes to show how adaptable and smart they are!!! 

Other English bird facts: Robins!!! Robins are really cool, I think, they used to be called robin redbreasts due to... red on their chest. During the Victorian era, mailmen would wear red uniforms in winter, so were also called robin red breasts, which got the birds associated with Christmas, hence them being on Christmas cards, despite them being year-round visitors. In most of Europe, they’re extremely shy and are rarely seen outside of forests, but in England, they’re very bold, often being a garden favourite and regular at the allotment.

Sorry wait there’s some crows outside I’m distracted. 

Okay they’re gone - robins! Some people think they’re bolder in England due to their habit of following wild boar; they would scrape at the mud for insects to eat, and when they moved on, the robin would swoop in and find smaller bugs that had been missed. When the boar were killed off, they switched to following humans. They’re also quite protected and loved here, being the unofficial national bird and being seen as unlucky to kill. idk robins are cool. 

All swans in England belong to the Queen by law, and killing one is Big Bad. Or, in recent years, it’s no longer as sinful, but they are protected under the RSPCA so don’t... kill swans. 

I’m not out of facts but I’m gonna stop now I hope you enjoyed these bird facts thank you for asking :D 

[novaviis]

Snaibsel Renaissance Fair AU

Part One. 

@ghost-in-the-stalls briefly mentioned snaibsel going to renfairs like months ago in my inbox and my dumb gay brain latched onto it like a corvid to a shiny piece of tinfoil, and now it’s a full-on au. 

Artemis is a former high school dropout, got her GED, troubled past, the whole deal. She's on the mend, trying to earn money to go to college. Doing really well for herself. She just got a job at the local Renn Fair for the summer. Not thrilled about it at first, but it's something, right? She’s decent on horseback, so she’s got that under her belt already (her Dad was obsessed with training her and her sister in every sport on fucking Earth, along with some more… nonconventional ones.) She’s been hired to ride in the jousting tournaments and give snot-nosed little kids horse rides around a little circle, shit like that. She’ll give it a trial run for a week or two, at least until she finds something better.

Zee is a bit of a veteran at the Fair already as a Sorceress. This absolute powerhouse of a woman in full renaissance garb, like Morticia Addams and Morgan le Fay were mixed together in one 5’5” bombshell. She runs the magic show, held every weekend on the jousting field for the crowd of wide-eyed spectators in the stands. She’s no amateur magician, that’s for sure. She’s not pulling bunnies out of hats or pulling off cheap illusions.

Artemis stays behind from her orientation on her first day to watch the show – mostly because he brother in law isn’t picking her up until later and she needs to kill time. She’s heard of this “Sorceress Zatanna” show, but hasn’t really seen her yet. She’s sitting in the front row, amused enough opening act of musicians and the Fair Jester to not be completely bored, but she’d definitely checking her phone for the whole show to be over.

And then Zatanna comes on. She owns the stage set up on the patchy grass immediately. In the torchlights she really sells the whole medieval vibe (the extra florescent lights and the microphone kind take points away from authenticity but they’re easy enough to ignore). Zatanna starts off small. She pulls a crow out of her sleeve and releasing it, having it swoop at the crowd for some thrills before perching on her shoulder. She takes a broomstick and makes it levitate several feet off the ground, even sitting on it and raising it higher. At one point, Artemis looks down at her phone and sees Roy texting that he’ll be there in 20 minutes. As she’s putting her phone back into her sweater though, she looks up and Zatanna is right there. In front of her, at the edge of the stand, grinning back at her. Claims that since someone is obviously not satisfied enough with her show, she’ll make it a little more emersive. Before Artemis can say now, Zatanna is taking her hand and guiding her out into the centre of the field and the rickety wooden stage. Artemis can barely see the faces of the crowd anymore, but she can feel them all watching her and it’s more than a little unnerving.

Zatanna pulls out a deck of cards that Artemis vaguely identify as Tarot. She announces to the audience that she’s going to give her new friend here a reading. Artemis picks four cards out of the deck and Zatanna spreads them out on the table, and turns the first three over.

Judgement, Ace of Cups reversed, and The Star.

There’s a bit of a pause on Zatanna’s face as she reads the cards, before she smiles fleetingly and looks up at Artemis – for a half second too long, if only because Artemis can’t breathe through it. Finally, though, Zatanna announces her reading. “Your past has been clouded by harsh Judgement, from others, from those close to you, and mostly from yourself. You’ve been binding to what people have expected of you. Your present, however, reveals a new sense of self-love and intuition. Though you still struggle with repressed emotions, this card shows progress….” Zatanna stops there, and looks up at Artemis. “Hitting the mark?”

“Yeah,” Artemis shrugs a little nervously, echoed by the laugher of the crowd. “A little too close.”

Zatanna raises her hands. “Don’t shoot the messanger. I only read the cards,” she smiles. “Your third card predicts the future, with the path you are on right now. The Star represents renewal – in hope, in faith, and in purpose. So, at least you know you’re on the right track. This last card, however…” She picks up the card and shows it face out to Artemis without looking at it herself. “Is a message directly to you, and overall look at who you are at heart. And,” with a grin, she flicks her fingers and the card vanishes in a puff of violet smoke, “it will only reveal itself to you.”

The crowd applauds the slight of hand, and Artemis is left a little perplexed as Zatanna calls for more applause for her assistant, before allowing her to go back to her seat. Artemis does slink back to the stands, but not without a few glances back over her shoulder, still wondering what just happened.

After that, Zatanna is done with the small tricks. Evidently, the tarot reading was a bit of a halftime show. She pulls out the grander illusions, vanishing from the stand only to reappear in the balcony reserved for the “King and Queen” of the Fair, who play along in delight as Zatanna steals a bottle of mead and reappears in another burst of smoke back on the stage. She chants in a strange tongue, that almost sounds like backwards English, before each trick. Artemis is completely entranced. Zatanna finishes the show by telling a story of an ancient witch who was so powerful and feared that it took a King’s entire army to take her down. Before she was burnt at the stake she put a curse on the King’s most valued treasure – the very Chalise that the Knights fought for at the Fair every summer. The King’s soul was bound to the Chalise, and the curse would only be lifted once one she deemed worthy won it.

To prove to any “doubters” that the story was true, she has the Chalise itself appear on the clothed table in the centre of the stage. Then, with all the fanfare of a grand finale, she chants a spell that causes all of the torches and electric lights to go out in one burst. Once the thrilled shrieks of the crowd have died down, a glowing figure remerges out of the Chalise from the pitch darkness, taking the form of an undead King. The figure rises into the air and flies over the crowd, until Zatanna “seals” it back into the Chalise. Cue all the torches reigniting and the lights coming on, to the standing ovation of the crowd. Artemis remains seated, honestly still blown away by the show.

She hadn’t thought that this place had that big of a budget for special effects, damn.

With the rest of the crowd on their feet and slowly beginning to shuffle out of the Fairgrounds, Zatanna takes her bow and makes her exit – but not before looking back to Artemis and giving her a little wink. Artemis, still confused as ever, doesn’t think much of it beyond wow. She joines the rest of the crowd in heading out of the grounds, through a long forest path to the parking lot were Roy was waiting to get her.

An hour later, as she’s taking her clothes off to get into her pajamas, she sits on her bed and pulls her socks off – only for something to fall out and slip under her bed. She hadn’t even felt it there. Artemis reaches under her bed for it, expecting a leaf or something from the stable where she’d been getting acquainted with the horses.

It’s a tarot card.

Artemis sits there, on her bedroom floor, holding the little card in her hand. The gold foil catches the light of her bedside lamp. She’s too dumbfounded to really react at first, but as she turns it over to see the Queen of Swords, her mind absolutely spins with every possible way Zatanna could have pulled off that trick without her noticing.

Artemis can barely sleep that night. She spends an hour sitting in bed just staring at the card like it’s going to give her the answers. How the hell did she do that?

[quickdeaths]

Even in absence of anything in particular to do, Rio knew she had awful time management. If she didn't live on campus at her high school, she'd be late every day (as it was, she was late only some days), and she'd long-since lost track of how many times she'd been admonished at work, and told that next time she'd be fired, only to be kept on for lack of anyone else to fill the position. And that was part of the problem, wasn't it - with lack of anything else on her plate, her time management was bad enough, but when school, her part-time job, her volunteer work at the animal sanctuary, and her hobbies all demanded attention, something had to give somewhere.

Not that she'd meant to be late, though. Blind dates weren't really her style, but she'd read at least a few yuri manga with that kind of setup, and besides, her friends had gone out of their way (even when she hadn't asked them) to set it all up. Whatever it took for her, she was sure they figured, to stop thinking about the 'Waitress Girl' - what they all called her rather than her name, as though she'd done something wrong and was no longer entitled to it. Harsh, in Rio's opinion, given that it was her own fault for misreading the signals.

"You're right, and I'm really sorry," she admitted with an apologetic smile on her face. Wow, she thought to herself, what a pretty girl. And dressed so well, too, definitely fancier than Rio's own outfit of a cream-colored blouse and dark, professional trousers - the sort of outfit that was easy to wear underneath an apron or a labcoat. Though, beyond her style, the other girl mostly just looked kind of mad. Well, it wasn't like that was an unfair reaction. Some people gave Rio grace about her tardiness, but she couldn't expect that from everyone, let alone a stranger. She had to take some accountability eventually, and excuses weren't worth half as much as a sincere apology.

Still smiling, Rio held out the single white lily, wrapped simply and tied at the stem, that she'd bought on impulse during the walk over. "I did bring this, though. I'm sure it's not really making up for making you wait for me, but maybe it helps a little?" Even if it didn't, it wasn't like she was going to withhold it or something - she'd bought it for her mysterious blind date, after all. With the flower delivered, she took a seat at the table, lightly brushing her fingers through her two-toned hair - pastel blue flowing into a pale pink at her shoulders - as she did, to try and look somewhat more presentable. "I'm Rio Fujioka, by the way. It's really nice to meet you, and thanks again for waiting."

not   one   to   be   in   this   sort   of   situation,   rei   was   growing   bored   of   waiting   for   this   ...   date.   at   minako's   insistence   &   some   goading   from   the   others,   she   decided   to   amuse   them   by   going   on   a   blind   date   (   it   was   a   joke.   a   terrible   one   &   rei   made   note   to   never   make   one   again   )   —   she   was   dressed   rather   elegantly   opting   for   a   low-cut   black   dress   that   molded   to   her   frame   tastefully.   it   was   sort   of   nice,   she   supposed   ...   many   pretty   things   in   her   closet   &   vanity   were   finally   being   put   to   use   for   once.   upon   hearing   footsteps   coming   towards   the   table,   she   clicked   her   tongue   irritably   &   crossed   her   arms.   ❝   you're   late   ...   not   a   good   first   impression.❞ 

open.

[quickdeaths]

@ult-mechanic

Normally, Rio didn't make a habit of going into other people's laboratories without permission. Her own was set up exactly as she liked it - habitats and enclosures in one space, active research space in another, and an office space to catalogue her papers and files. Giving tours or showing off the birds to interested school children was one thing, but letting someone have their run of the place without her supervision? Ehhh... That didn't seem like a great idea, for a variety of reasons.

Still, Rio only hoped whoever ran the lab she'd stumbled into would forgive her the intrusion, especially if she mostly kept her hands to herself and didn't break or disturb anything. It had been a long two-day trip down to the beaches with some of her adult colleagues after some nature bloggers had caught sight of a spoon-billed sandpiper milling about out of season. Hours spent combing the coastline and they'd finally found and tagged it, and in absence of any other sightings, it had been decided that Rio would bring it back to her lab for a few days until it could be decided where to send it to help a breeding program.

The poor baby seemed a little malnourished and small, to the point where Rio didn't feel comfortable administering a sedative. That, combined with the long hours she'd been out, however, meant that the bird had slipped out of her grasp and flown off through campus as soon as she'd arrived. Rio had really been looking forward to building a pillow fort in her room, settling down, and binging some seasonal anime, but it was of vital importance that she find the little birdie first.

Which, brought her to the dark lab connected to a garage that had been left with just enough of an open door for a small bird to fly in. "It's okay," Rio cooed, interspersing her words with clicks from pursed lips, her best impression of its contact call. "I'm gonna take care of you, so there's no need to hide." With a small flashlight to guide her, she finally caught sight of the bird, sitting dangerously close to some gears inside a half-disassembled (or, reassembled?) machine.

With a slight squeak, she quickly reached in and gathered it up, an instinctive response with no thought for how one mistake or inopportune activation could have been really dangerous. Only a moment after, as she turned to leave, did the lights come on and the girl tense up. "Sorry," she said with a weak, apologetic laugh, turning around with the bird still in hand. "This little guy got lost, so..." Ah... That was one of the third years standing by the door, wasn't it? With all the tools and machines lying around, it made sense that it would be his lab, but running on little sleep and panicked about her new little birdie buddy, she hadn't realized. "You're... Soda-senpai, right? Sorry, again. I didn't touch anything except what I had to get him out."

[morgandria]

Moon Musings

I am on day #!^* of One Of -Those- Migraines (thanks, March), so while I’m sitting here trying not to be miserable, you’re getting some moon stuff. I have a pile of random thoughts that are trying to coalesce themselves into a coherent lunar-focused project in the future, so the moon has been on my mind. In many ways, I miss the moon. I live on a street corner in town where two separate lights shine directly on my yard, and since they installed new LED lights there's no such thing as darkness at night. Even my backyard, which would be in the shadow of the house normally, is lit since the LEDs spill farther and brighter now, and my neighbours keep their back porch light on all the time. We won't even talk about the fact that out of the last 16 months, I think we had full cloud cover for about 14 of them. That's the reality.

So this is more of the woo side. This is UPG, 100%. I often don’t use traditional names for the different Full Moons - some of them don’t resonate, so I do what works for me. Secondly, my personal lunar lore behind the names I do use is all mashed up with a whole lot of synesthesia, and some personal experiences. So...if any of this works for you or entertains you, cool. If not? No worries. Do your thing, and I’ll do mine. I also live in Ontario, and always have, so my experiences and practices are absolutely rooted here. Weather patterns and seasons won't work the same elsewhere, so you need to work with what you've got.

January: Wolf Moon

I do use a traditional name for this moon, but only because I used to go howling with the wolves in the back 40 when I was a teenager. I used to be able to take long white walks in the fields when they were all lit up, and were fortunate to have some lupine neighbours. I love the sharpness of the night sky, and finding moments of silence and stillness. More practically these days I bundle up at home away from the ice and the cold and enjoy a good cup of tea when I can. The vibration of this moon's energy always seems to bring me insomnia, though. The colours I associate with January’s moon are white, silver, red, and a deep amethyst. Other things, more randomly: birch trees, the sound of cracking ice, the hissing of river reeds in the wind.

February: Storm Moon

There’s a tempestuous feel to February’s moon for me. It’s usually the month we get intensely cold. January is often a icy, thaw/freeze mess, but February always feels like the time when Winter decides it’s time to really throw its’ weight around with some serious storms. The feel of this moon’s energy is sinuous for me, sliding around and into everything, but also fierce. There’s something profoundly cleansing about letting a sharp winter wind pierce through to your bones and strip away all the gunk cluttering up your energy. My colours for this moon are grey and deep blues, like Prussian blue or steel blue. Other things: labradorite, blue tiger’s eye, and the smell of wintergreen,

March: Crow Moon

This is the moon when my crows come back to my neighbourhood. They usually move out around the start of December, and I start to see and hear them again around the start of March. Nothing about March in Ontario is spring-like: it’s either a solid mass of ice coating everything, or faded grey-brown and thick with mud. Ugh. I actually used to camp on March break as a teenager, but inevitably it ended up with a dozen frozen teenagers in a friend's kitchen having an impromptu Sunday breakfast while I woke up and wondered where everyone'd gone. (Stir-crazy kids in the sticks with nothing to do for a week do silly things.) Nowadays, I’d rather look up at the skies than down at the earth during this moon, and I choose to focus on my corvid friends because they make me happy. Crow Moon is somehow all aquas and peacock blues in colour, and mare’s tails in impossible blue skies, and the world smells once again of fresh, clean Earth, when the ice lets it through.

April: Seed Moon

Maybe the moon where (people who are better gardeners than me) start to get their seeds in the ground. I live in a snow belt, so I don't trust myself to plant anything until May. It's still not super warm, or even remotely dry, but there starts to be hints of things like warmer sun and breezes around the edges. Later in the month you get those days where pollen and snow can fly at the same time. There's no leaves yet, but you can see the buds getting fatter. I think of it as a "restful" time during the year, before summer gets really busy with family and friends. If we're having a good Spring I might get a day or two where I can actually get outside and tidy the yard some. I associate Seed Moon with the colours of soft buttery yellow and pale peridot green, which starts to invade around the rust-brown-green background. It's a citrine month, and also one where those little blue flowers come up in people's lawns.

May: Hare Moon

We don't have hares here. I wish we did - I used to see snowshoe hares in the country when I was wee - but I have rabbits, at least. And yet, this is not "Rabbit Moon". A hare is a different beast from a rabbit entirely. They have a fierce wildness that our Eastern Cottontails do not. And for me, the moon of May, the month of Beltane and the nuptials of the Lord and Lady, have a fierce, wild joy as the world finally explodes with warmth and light and leaves and flowers. I don't ever really trust winter is gone until mid-May. Hare Moon is emerald and violet and velvet, the shadow of leaves and sweet intoxicating aromas. There's something tactile about it - you want to run your hands through it, let it brush past you and run its' fingers through your hair.

June: Mead Moon

I sometimes also call this the Honey Moon. It is the sweetest time of the summer for me, before it's mind-meltingly hot. You get those gorgeous days that are still draped in gentle grey veils of rain on the growing, swaying green fields, and the flowers are growing tall and tangled - honeysuckle, clover, alfalfa and St. John's Wort. There are bees -everywhere-, and the very first of the summer fruits are coming ripe and I spend eight months of the year absolutely dying for the four when we get local, seasonal fruit. It's an idyll, before I'm completely sunbaked and dried out in the heat. Mead Moon is all sky blue and honey gold, saffron and ultramarine. It's warm sand and cold lakes, the smell of hay drying in the fields, and long drives down country roads to escape the concrete of town.

July: Satyr Moon

This month's moon is probably the time when folks in these parts get up to the most outdoor activity. I associate it most with a kind of revelry and hedonism - hence the 'satyr'. We get people taking their vacations, heading to the cottage, the campsite, and having their reunions and parties. Concerts, fairs, festivals...we have a lot to cram into a short time. The lilies in my yard finally have bloomed their brilliant orange, by the start of the month, and July is one long stretch of pure jewel-like greens, under bleached blue skies. This is the other month, like April, where everything feels like it's just poised, waiting to explode with the brisk business of harvest. For me, this moon is natural life in its' prime, and despite my dislike of intense heat and humidity I try to remind myself to enjoy it where and how I can. Satyr Moon is an endless mosaic of greens, a heady musky smell of wood and water, cedar and leaf, shadows and firelight dancing, and distant music everywhere.

August: Barley Moon

This moon is the first harvest moon, here, when the wheat is finally harvested and all that dust in the air makes it ripe and golden and warm. Haying season will sometimes give the moon a bit of a gold tint earlier on, but not those deep amber rises I adore in August. I am an August Virgo, and I adore the Barley Moon - I mean, I quite literally worship wheat. All the first fruits of harvest are peaking, there's SO much goodness in the fields, and yet I can feel summer slowing down, and gradually waning to a bronze-green glowing that I absolutely adore. The nature of daylight changes, subtly, and I try to catch onto every sunset and fix it into my brain, to save it for those white winter days when we haven't seen even the notion of sun for weeks. When we slide from the scorch of the dog days into long, gloaming evenings and cooler nights and the hints of colour on the leaves at the end of the month - heaven. Barley Moon is wheaten and speckled browns, endless golds, blackberry and peach, the smell of dry grass and fresh corn. It's countless toasted tomato sandwiches, far too much zucchini, and penetrating spears of bronze light through the trees as the sun slides away to let the fat amber moon rise up.

September: Harvest Moon

There's no stopping harvest. This moon is when -everything- comes down, and you have no choice but to get your ass moving. You try to get as much of it off the vine while it's best. I get very hobbity when Harvest comes, and I want to be living a simple life. I start to miss home, and rural life, and my family, a lot. It feels different than my youth, and it's...wrong now, somehow. These days it's more like Second July - it rarely cools off below 20°C., it's often stupidly humid, and can be much, much warmer. Our changing climate makes it feel like a month of dragging what I dislike most about Summer out, and it just feels unnatural. Add into that everyone still running around trying to pretend like Summer isn't ending, and I do not like it much for that reason. September always ends up cluttered and rushed, just too much going on in our lives for various reasons. I wish I appreciated it more, but I don't. But there are moments: the deepening indigo of September twilights, the movement of the birds (both those ready to move on and those snatching up all the food they can before the cold comes), the exuberance of goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace and asters. Harvest Moon is indigo and wine-red, the sweetness of a frost-touched grape, the musk of a yeast-laden apple's skin, and the first cries of the migrating geese.

October: Hunter's Moon

Hunter's Moon has two sides. From the start of October, until Thanksgiving, is gorgeous, brilliant leaves and bright crisp skies. It's deep blue waters reflecting streaks of smoke and high cloud. Any time after that, it can snow. It certainly will get wet and windy, at the very least. And then everything is grey, torrents of wine-dark leaves all with that sugar-sweet rot as they lie where they fall intertwined with the smell of the cold and everyone's woodstoves firing up. I cannot tell you how much this season refills my spirit. It's always been a hunter's moon for me. Various hunting seasons start (turkey, duck, deer, then into moose later in the fall), and I have many fond memories of delicious game meat meals with family well into the spring. It was a vital part of life, and always done with respect and thanks. Hunter's Moon is grey on grey, the edges of smokey obsidian and crimson-carnelian-red. It is antler and bone and slow-burning hardwood, the hissing of the corn stalks drying in the darkening fields.

November: Snow Moon

You'll see Snow Moons all over the winter calender, depending on where you live. For me, winter starts at Samhain, and it is inevitable that we have snow here very close to that date (whether before or after). It was true living on the Rideau, and it's still true over here in the Central Ontario snowbelts off Georgian Bay. November's is another two-sided moon: there's the gold, and the grey, The gold is of a clear day's sun through the last of the golden maple leaves clinging to the branches is clarion, of wetland reeds and cow corn still standing in the now-frosty fields. The grey comes softer than October, creeping softly across lawns and windows and the brown leaves curling on the ground, and as drifting veils of snow blowing in to cover the land in its' first lingering solid coats of white. I love the world's withdrawal into silence - I too, withdraw into myself and listen to inner voices. Snow Moon is white and silver (but also pearl grey and ash and brown) and the nights are long, powdery indigo, mounted by silent owl wings, iolite eyes set in silver frames.

December: Oak Moon

This last moon is curious for me, in that I do not know precisely why I continue to use this name. I like it - it has many associations for me in my Craft - but I guess I haven't thought much about it. Many oak trees do keep some or all of their rich tannin-brown leathery leaves through winter, though, and I do enjoy their song (along with the remnants of the leaves on our ash trees) in the wind... but that's not it. Neither is the whole Oak King/Holly King construct, which I don't really engage with. I have a strong connection with a particular energy, that of an aged, Green Man sage-type spirit that comes with this moon, so perhaps that's part of it as well. I suspect it will always be a bit of a Mystery, which I'm ok with. December's night skies seem curiously leeched of their blue hues, as the nights grow longer, a velvety black glittering blanket. Oak Moon comes dressed in the deep, rich colours of the Earth element - glossy evergreens, rich brown, deepest black, and is redolent of pine and cedar, and the flash of cardinals and blue jays at the bird feeder.

I don't know if any of that is useful, entertaining, or even intelligible. I hope at the very least, it prompts you to think about how you interact with the moons of the year, and the seasons, and how you perceive the world around you.

[quickdeaths]

Otaku expert Rio Fujioka and her intimidatingly high manga stacks to the rescue. "I dunno, senpai, I think true tsunderes can be pretty sweet and loving. Usually, the prickly or standoffish attitude is just a defense mechanism for someone who is afraid to open their heart all the way to another person, even if they really want to. They just need kindness, support, and time." She is absolutely thinking of a certain pastry chef who's prone to knocking on her dorm room door with extra sweets from the bakery, then running away before Rio can even say thank you.

"I think the problem is that some people don't have sad pasts or kind, warm, sensitive hearts - they're just mean. Real human beings don't line up with fiction so easily." It wasn't any good to pretend real people were just 2D tropes, even when they sometimes lined up decently. With so many archetypes in manga, it was like they were trying to represent reality, but it usually just came down to stereotypes when it came to real people. "If it's not really your taste, that's fine, but if you're interested, I could recommend you some cute tsundere romances?"

"I am not certain that tsunderes would make for the most romantic and loving partners..."

Not when your type is big tiddy goth bf, anyway.

Something something chest discourse be strange embrace the darkness

[chuckling-chemist]

You Know What, It’s My Birthday So I’m Gonna Talk About Fantroll Etymology

Now bear with me, this shit’s gonna refer to a lot of trolls without pages (because they’re sitting in drafts or haven’t bothered making a page yet since there’s no art yet, written or otherwise) so a lot of these bad boys (at least of the ones I remember. Look man, I started making fantrolls over 5 years ago and 3 computers ago, and unfortunately some of the etymologies I managed to forget. I think it’s on a flash drive....that’s at my parent’s house.):

Lyzeki Vernus: Lyzeki is based off the owl Ezylryb from Guardians of Ga’Hoole, who was originally known as Lyze of Kiel. (Ezylryb is Lyze backwards + ryb, which means teacher in universe) Lyzeki is Lyze + “Ki” of Kiel. 

Nivell Abbela: Nivell comes from the abbess Gertrude of Nivelles, who, while never officially named a saint, is viewed as a patron saint to sailors. Abbela comes from the word Abbess, or the female leader of a community (abbey) of nuns. (She was based off of a human Catholic OC named Maria, whose own name is because her Catholic parents named all their children after Saints or Angels somewhere in their name)

Valeba Medala: Valeba is basically a corruption of valor...I think, and Medala is a corruption on medal. By corruption I mean “I stuck an a at the end and called it a day.” This is reference to her being a treasure hunter. Medals and treasure are...close enough. I guess.

Aluala Medala: Aluala is a corruption (I think? It’s been a while) of a Hawaiian for the morning sun. Because she’s a light player. 

Stikla Medala: Stikla is named directly after the Viking pirate of the same name, who turned to piracy to avoid marriage. Stikla worked with Rusla, otherwise known as the Red Maiden

Elliah Fagane: A corruption on Eleanora Fagan, or more popularly known as Billie Holiday. Elliah is a brownblood inspired by Billie Holiday.

Ektome Altses: Ektome is the phonetic spelling of the spider Lakota trickster god, Iktomi.  

Nafasi Altses: Nafasi comes from the Swalhili word for Space. No, he’s not Spacebound anymore. Yes, I’m too attached to the name to change it. Turns out Life fits the Altses line better! (I mean...it still does in the sense that Nafasi likes astronomy, among other things, and their lusus is a reference to the Coyote in Navajo faith who put the stars in the sky by accident...okay yeah it still fits.)

Gadung Galiel: Gadung comes from the Tolkien Gnomish word for spider, a reference to her trapdoor spider lusus. The liel on Galiel is the feminine ending for many Elvish words in Tolkien. The usage of butchered Tolkien specifically is because she’s based around a specific type of (thankfully pretty much nonexistent anymore) Dagorhir player. Dagorhir which is a fantasy foam sport/LARP originally based around Tolkien’s fantasy.

Coraxe Heelio: Coraxe comes from Corvid, a reference to his lusus (and one of the animals associated with Helios/Apollo), and Heelio comes from Helios. You know...Apollo. 

Sayida Titwan: Sayida comes from the infamous female pirate Sayyida al Hurra, a Turkish pirate queen in the 16th century. This is also where her last name comes from, as one of her other names was Hakimat Titwan, or governor of Tétouan. She’s also from a Dagorhir fansession and represents Sunhawks.

Icasui Zakees: Icasui comes from Icarus - but like Kid Icarus/Pit, not actually the Greek figure Icarus (it’s why her lusus is a flightless bird) and Zakees comes from the angel Zadkiel, the patron angel of forgiveness. This came back from when I was going to make her a Hope player and thought “hey wouldn’t it be cool to base a Hope player off of an actual angel?”, and have her be aspire for no more than runner/intern-esque role the way actual basic angels are. (Not the big fancy kind). Also because Kid Icarus Uprising makes a few jokes about how Pit’s a glorified intern for Palutena. Just so you know, barely any of this still exists. She’s not even a Hope player. ...Though she does work in a mail room when she’s full time babysitter to an heiress.

Haniel Zakees: Haniel is named for the angel Haniel/Anael, the angel of joy.

Fioria Leccia: Fioria comes from the Italian word for flowers, Fiori, and she draws inspiration for composing through her flowers. (Also her moirail, Ektome, has a natural green thumb).

Pallia Alkali/Azotes: Pallia comes from the element Palladium. I swear to God, I had no idea one of Athena’s names was Pallas Athene and that snakes go with Athena until roughly 4 years after I made her. Alkali, her fake last name, is named after the alkali metals on the periodic table. Azotes, her actual last name, comes from Azote, one of many alchemical names for Nitrogen.

Fospha Azotes: Fospha name derives from the element Phosphorous. 

Brylis Azotes: Brylis comes from the element Beryllium. Is Pallia’s whole lineage going to be named after elements? Yep, probably.

Volcor Heftor: Volcor comes from Vulcan and Heftor comes from Hephaestus. Fitting for an engineer who’s had more than a few mishaps fighting.

Fenald Heftor: Fenald comes from a portmanteau of Ferrum, the Latin name for Iron, as well as the ASOUE character Fernald (aka: the Hook-Handed man).

Thysus Bakkae: Thysus comes from Dionysus, and Bakkae comes from Bacchus. Thysus is also from the Dagorhir fansession and is based on the unit Sour Wine.

Gliden Rectus: Gliden comes from the protein group gliaden, which are not only found in gluten, and the one your body can’t break down if you have Celiac Disease. Rectus comes from the Latin word for straight. You know, just like how straight and narrow he is on that gluten free diet. Mmhm....

Charis Zakmos: Charis comes from the Greek figure Charon, or the ferryman of the dead. Zakmos is also based off of Zadkiel. Charis is a purpleblood based off of the Ticketkeeper in The Devil’s Carnival, a figure who is frequently the first one the fallen come across, and certainly one of the more sympathetic carnies to their plight.

Glacin Bebuso: Glacin comes from the Irish plague doctor named Niall Ó Glacáin from the second major outbreak of plague in the late 1500s-early 1600s, who was also a pioneer in pathological anatomy. Shockingly, not from the word glacier. Or the protein Glacin A/B which is found in plants. Or Glacin tablets, which are used for cramps and pains. Bebuso comes from the word bubonic. That’s it.

Dontoc Leiniz: Dontoc is a corruption of the word dolphin, which is his lusus. Leiniz comes from Leibniz, the other founder of Calculus - the one who isn’t Newton that you probably don’t remember. I pronounce it “lay-niz” which sounds kind of like how you pronounce “Les Mis”, and while les miserables might be a good way to describe his early life that’s...pretty accidental tbh.

Inaeis Leiniz: Inaeis comes from the Latin word Inanis, which means void, worthless, or foolish. Google Translate 4 years ago only gave me the first (it’s a Voidbound joke, hey!), but the other two words certainly fit just as much.

Nieche Leiniz: Comes from the philospher Nietzsche. 

Haiark Noblet: Haiark’s is based on the Dagorhir unit Uruk-hai (and you can imagine what they named themselves off of.) and seeing those names together you can see where it came from. Noblet is just noble, since Haiark is a violetblood.

Careen Elsker: Careen comes from the term “careening”, or dry docking a ship to clean off the barnacles. It’s a shipping joke. @deadmen--tell--no--tales‘s idea 100% thanks to their obsessive knowledge of ships. Careening, of course, also means to move in a wildly unspecific direction, which...yeah okay that was unintentional but it fits too. 

Carica Elsker: Carica comes from the Serbo-Croatian word spelled in English that way and is really pronounced more like “charicha” than with the hard c’s I actually read it with that means Tsarina or Empress.

Mayola Yoscan: Mayola is a portmanteau of the Spanish words el mar and la ola, or the sea and the wave.

Domina Gnomen: Based off Rome from the Dagorhir fansession, Domina is named after Dominus of Rome but feminized, and gnomen comes from the Latin word cognomen, or “last name”. Yes, her name is Dominus Last Name. I’m clever.

[carmanccurton]

A story I’m very proud of on CorvidQueen.com. A re-telling of a very old story . . .

[one-of-the-birds]

Tagged

So I was tagged by @fabulouslittlefox the other day and just now got around to filling this one out! So a big thank you to Fox for tagging me C: I love doing things like this to get to know my followers better!!

\\\\\\

Rules: answer questions and tag 20 followers you’d like to get to know better.

NAME: Caroline NICKNAME: The ones that are used now that I’m older are Sparrow, Red, or Aniki ZODIAC SIGN: Scorpio HOGWARTS HOUSE: Slytherin

FAVE BOOK SERIES: My top favorites would have to include the Harry Potter, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Devil’s Kiss, Young Royals, The Witcher Book Series, and all of the books in the Tortall Series. FAVE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS:  Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), Karou (Daughter of Smoke and Bone), George Cooper (Song of the Lioness series), Daine (The Immortals), Bilqis Sangreal (Devil’s Kiss), and many more.

FAVE FLOWER:  I love a lot of flowers, but my all-time favorite would have to be Baby’s Breath flowers.

FAVE SCENT: I really like anything that falls under the citrus family scents as well as more earthy tones.

FAVE COLOUR: I love just about all shades of blue, so that would have to be my favorite color.

FAVE ANIMALS: Corvids, Foxes, Sparrows, Horses, Most Domestic Canines, Snakes, Lizards, Most Big Cats, Moths…. The list really goes on and on. I am a huge animal lover.

FAVE ARTIST/BAND: These change constantly, but the thing that has always stayed the same in my musical tastes would be my love for classic rock. Bands like Heart, Queen, Journey, Stevie Wonder, The Stealers Wheel, & Kansas were what I was raised on and I listen to them all the time.

COFFEE, TEA, OR COCOA: I am a huge cocoa drinker. That and sodas…

AVERAGE #HOURS OF SLEEP:  Anywhere between 5 to 10 hours. It all depends on the level of pain I am in… NUMBER OF BLANKETS: Usually no more than 3

DREAM TRIP: Does traveling the World count? I want to backpack around the world with a few close friends. I want to not just see all the classic tourist things but go into the heart of all the places I visit and learn from the natives. LAST THING GOOGLED: Names of book characters XD

BLOG CREATED: Oh boy… I can’t really remember… HOW MANY BLOGS YOU FOLLOW: 3,973 NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS: 753 WHAT I USUALLY POST:  This is a shit storm of a blog and I know it. Everything really. This is my main blog as well as my witchy blog.

WHAT I REBLOG: Witchcraft, Memes, Quotes, Cute stuff, Serious stuff. Just about anything that strikes my fancy.

Who I Tag: @savageborn @jezwanda @the-hufflepuff-shadowhunter

 @drunk-and-lonely @lovesand1as @january-witch @bronzewitchhazel @twisted-bra-strap @junkiter

And anyone else who would want to C:

[quickdeaths]

@princessonia

Having stayed up way too late reading The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Rio rolled out of bed long after the sun had risen. For lack of anything nutritious to eat in her dorm room, she helped herself to a couple cookies that Sato-senpai had dropped off the other day, as well a half-finished sports drink from her mini-fridge. She sighed, dragging her sleepy body over to her desk chair. Why did days always have so much stuff to do in them?

Immediately after turning on her monitor, she was crushed beneath a tsunami of notifications. "Ughghghgh," she groaned, grabbing her glasses and looking for what was important. "Fujioka-san, did you send your research documentation to Director Wada? He needs it for the grant application, but we can't find it." "Sorry," Rio mumbled to herself as she typed. "It must have bounced." That sounded better than she'd forgotten, right? "I attached it to this email, please take a look."

"Rio, I don't want to keep having to remind you. You need to update the guild spreadsheet with your raid availability. We're light on healers right now, so if you can't make it, I need to draft in some replacements." Biting at her lip, Rio clicked over to the spreadsheet, looking at the scheduled dates. "I dunno about that..." After some hesitation, she marked Unavailable for the next raid, but left the following ones blank. "I marked tomorrow's. I'll let you know about the weekend when I know more."

Over the next few minutes, she rapidly pre-ordered some limited-edition goods that were close to selling out, fired off a few emails to her colleagues, and made sure to heart all the memes her friends on Discord had sent. "It's a lot of work being so laid-back," she observed with a small sigh. "But at least I can get back to reading." The day was pretty clear, as far as she remembered, so swapping into another set of pajamas and then getting comfy was all her day had in store.

It was only once she'd achieved maximum coze, wrapped up like a sushi roll in her blankets with her manga, that she suddenly jerked up, fully falling out of bed still imprisoned in her blanket wrap. "Agh!" That 3rd-year who had asked to come to the lab and ask questions was coming today. Like, fifteen minutes ago! Roughly disentangling herself from the cozy state, Rio swapped out her PJs for a comfy turtleneck and sweatpants, and threw her bag over her shoulder. Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she frowned and shook her head. No time to straighten her hair, messy with an ahoge would have to be fine.

Shortly after, the elevator arrived at her lab, the girl already out of breath from running down the hallway from her dorm room. A very put-together girl looked like she'd been waiting patiently(?) out front, and Rio threw open the doors from the inside. "Nevermind-senpai, hey! Sorry, I was doing stuff and I lost track of time." What stuff specifically didn't need to be explained. "I hope you weren't waiting super long? Come on in, let's talk." It was a lot of work being so laid-back, indeed, as she wiped a few beads of sweat from her temples.

[quickdeaths]

@redemptioninterlude

On a clear day, the pale blue of the sky unblemished by clouds, it was easy to follow a bird's movement in the air. There was plenty of space in her lab, and the enclosures were filled to the brim with enrichment opportunities, but Rio was sure that nothing really compared to the feeling of open air, surrounded on all sides by nothingness, the ability to go anywhere with nothing standing in the way. She'd wished to fly as a child, to sprout feathers and wings and disappear forever from this world, but while her reasoning had changed, the desire hadn't, nor had her admiration for all things avian.

But, for as much as Rio wanted to stay outside for as long as her birds liked, there were so many things that needed doing. Staying on top of her own research took enough time, without requests constantly pouring in from foreign agencies and conservation groups, inviting her to come study or testify in government meetings about the importance of preserving natural habitats. Rio had only just returned from her trip to Brazil, working alongside a group of government researchers, independent scientists, and students from the University of São Paulo in advocating for immediate action regarding the deforestation that was driving the golden parakeet towards extinction.

Really, she wanted to curl up in bed and play an MMO, or devour an entire romance manga series start-to-finish in one sitting, but a scientist's work wasn't ever finished. Even playing outside with the birds felt like a diversion the likes of which time couldn't be allotted for. At least they weren't in a playfully mischievous mood, the birds swooping down to perch on her falconer's sleeves, or circle overhead her as per their individual preferences.

Rio was all set to return to her lab, when she noticed one spacey-looking student staring. Maybe she was interested in birds, or maybe she'd just never seen so many colorful ones in the city? Either way, to ignore her seemed a little rude, and so Rio gave a small wave, somewhat understated due to the face that both arms were covered in resting birds. "Hi there," she said in a cheery voice. "Can I help you somehow, or were you just looking? It's fine if you were; they're pretty to look at!"

[quickdeaths]

025, an empty balcony while a party goes on inside. // could be related to the suggestions i dropped in IM

Parties like this weren't really Rio's scene. She didn't drink alcohol, and while she didn't hate dancing, her music taste was pretty limited to anisongs. Given the choice, she'd rather be running raids in Final Fantasy XIV, or reading through the newest volume of Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With A Mystical Sorceress. On an experiential level, though, Rio knew it was important to push herself to be social when she had the energy to do so, since outside of her research, she mostly only had the ability to bed rot with her games and books. If she wasn't careful, it would be all too easy to not have a single social encounter for a week or longer.

Still, after an hour or two of hanging around with some of the other second-years, Rio's social battery had drained to almost nothing. With a glass half-full of water that had gone warm, she gave a light wave to Miki and some of the other second year guys, before heading out to the apartment balcony to get some air and relax. Of course, her version of relaxing included crouching down against the railing, pulling out her phone, and alternating between playing mobile games and browsing Reddit. Maybe everyone would forget she was out here entirely, and she could just slink off after the party was over, or maybe someone like Miki would take pity on her and let everyone know to just let her relax in peace.

What she hadn't expected, in any realistic outcome, was the balcony door opening to Kazuichi Soda shuffling out. Looking up from her phone, Rio almost ignored it, before making a quick double-take that broke her focus on grinding talent mats. "Kaz-senpai?" Of all the people she'd potentially expected to run into over the course of the night, he definitely hadn't been among them. She guessed there was no explicit restrictions, but it had been her understanding that this was a party for the second-years, without any third years showing up. "What are you doing here?" Her tone was less accusatory than her words might seem. "Did you get invited by someone from the other class, or something?" Her own class was one thing, but when it came to the other 78th class, Rio basically never associated with them, so if they had been out there inviting all sorts of people, she'd never have known.

[quickdeaths]

"Right?" Rio shook her head in disbelief, the sound of her headphones rattling around on her shoulders accompanied by the rapid clicking of her mouse while she completed her FFXIV dailies. "I'm not much of a PC gamer, other than MMOs, but even I think it's kinda embarrassing to expect people to pay for things that are so obviously broken..." And high-end premium AAA elite prices, too.

❝ Fuck AAA games. Like, can't they release a minimum playable product ? I'm going to keep playing indies... ❞