#caprid

[shygals-slophouse]

[wigmund]

Willow the Muskox getting a serious case of zoomies at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington

[fuzzkaizer]

Wren and Cuff - EHX box pedals - box of war - the caprid

cred: facebook.com/Brett Huhn

[bovidaee]

A Japanese Serrow (Capricornis crispus) with his thick winter coat looking at the camera over his shoulder.

[antiqueanimals]

Ram, 1910. Carl Rungius (1869 – 1959). Pencil on paper.

MutualArt

[vinkandpaint]

thinking about a childhood experience that was of no help. nun whatsoever

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Meddling Mar Monday

Back in order again, picking up with the boys being transfered from the tower to their new home. Chapter index can be found HERE

The building didn't look like much. It was the same sandstone and stucco construction as the rest of the city, with two separate staircases and doors going to two separate levels. The lower level had some yellow and white paint around the lintel in designs that were no longer fully discernible, and that was the only touch that indicated the building was inhabited at all. Damas rapped sharply on the lower door and grumbled under his breath.

He'd called ahead, of course. As the evaluator, it was his job to inform city landlords when a new tenant was arriving. But Alma was one of Spargus's more...eccentric individuals. She was an elder, and therefore held a place of honor in the West Quarter as a retired sharpshooter. Damas trusted that she'd keep these young rascals well in hand. But...well, she had always been a bit odd when it came to rent and trading. And she operated very much on her own time and nobody else's.

At last the door opened, and a diminutive woman with a sharply curved spine squinted up at him. She leaned on a driftwood cane and cocked her head to look around Damas to the boys behind him.

"About time someone sent me some more strong backs," Alma wheezed, "Am I supposed to drag my groceries home by my cane?"

Daxter groaned and buried his face in Jak’s scarf. "Noooo, it's another Samos!"

Damas cleared his throat. "No manual labor for another week, Alma. Petros's orders."

Alma blinked her round, brown eyes behind owlish spectacles. "Petros?! Ay, sire, the messenger said they were exiles! You're telling me that beanpole behind you is a minor?"

Mar tiptoed to peer around Damas’s elbow at the woman who was supposed to be their new landlady. For a moment, the elderly woman and the little boy just stared at each other. Then Mar innocently announced, "You look like a dragonowl."

"Mar!" Jak hissed under his breath, and lightly cuffed his younger brother across the back of his head.

"Hey!" Mar twisted to shoot a dirty look at Jak. "What was that for?!"

Alma blinked twice. "He's tiny," she said flatly.

Unbidden, the memory of the children collapsed in the desert surfaced in Damas’s mind. He grimaced.

"Aye. If there's any trouble with upkeep, I'll deal with it."

Blessedly, the old woman didn't point out that usually that was an assigned guardian's job. Damas didn’t feel like having to justify his monitoring of the boys -- or the gut feeling driving him.

Alma shuffled over a step and adjusted her glasses. "You! Tall child!" she beckoned to Jak.

Jak sighed and prepared himself for the kind of inane orders people always gave him. "Yeah?"

With a thump of her cane, Alma declared, "Rent is the second of every month. One whole conch shell, no fragments missing. And no critters inside! Can't abide them little pinchers."

Then she turned to Mar.

"And you! Pequeño, you know how to make bread?"

Mar, Daxter, and Jak exchanged bewildered looks.

"Kinda?" Mar answered cautiously. "Out of rice flour mostly?"

Alma made a face. "Rice flour?" she asked, "What does that taste like? Eh, nevermind. Go wash your hands. You're all helping me make bread."

Then she paused and peered at Daxter.

"Does he shed?"

Indignantly, Daxter puffed himself up and stood.

"He does not, thank you very much! This coat is made for waterproofing!"

Damas raised a hand between them as though cutting off an argument before it could begin.

"This is Daxter," he said calmly. "He is not an animal. He has a....a condition."

"Boy meets dark eco, dark eco wins," Daxter supplied helpfully.

The woman's eyes lit with mild interest. "That so? Here I thought the stuff just killed ya."

She took a dragging step away from the door and pointed to the stairs leading to the upper part of the building.

"You'll be up there, second compartment: the one on the left. But we all eat together. Keeps the lodgers from snacking through all their supplies and into mine."

Jak studied the upper half of the building and nodded. Space for the three of them, shared resources, and a rent he could pick up on the beach. That wasn't bad at all, really. In fact, it reminded him of picking up the once ubiquitous Precursor orbs all over Sentinel Beach to buy power cells from his neighbors. The heat was draining his energy far faster than he would have liked -- apparently Dr. Petros actually did know what he was talking about -- but still Jak itched to get into the water. He wanted to dive below the surf and look for forgotten treasures in the clear blue water, down where no one could bother him but fish.

It took him a moment to realize Damas was speaking to him. Jak tore his eyes from the direction of the sea and blinked.

"Huh?"

Damas frowned. "I said this evening someone will show you where and how to buy food. Help where you can, but keep in mind that if you push yourself too quickly you'll just end up in the recovery ward again."

"Oh." Jak shrugged. "I'll be fine. Hey, uh, how do you get to the water from here?"

Damas lifted an arm to point between two asymmetrical houses. "It's about five minutes' walk due West. You'll have plenty of time to explore after the noon rest. Understood?"

He was testing Jak, seeing whether he could take orders. Jak wasn't sure how he knew that, but he could just feel it. Well, lucky for Damas, Jak already felt somewhat indebted to him. In most cases, he didn't comply with orders unless he was getting something in return. Give and take, tit for tat. Owing a favor meant somebody had power over him -- and Jak had long since learned that someone having power over him meant that he was going to get hurt.

Sure, the desert people acted affronted by the suggestion that a couple of kids owed them for medical treatment, but when it came down to it, a debt was a debt. Jak wanted to investigate this society from a place of equal standing, not as a destitute castaway. He would tread lightly until he had the measure of these people.

"Fine, fine." He folded his arms and tried to downplay his eagerness to explore.

Precursors, how long had it been since he'd gotten to explore someplace new? At least he had that to look forward to.

"Thanks," he added, absent-mindedly.

Damas studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Prioritize your recovery over physical activity," he directed. "At least until Petros clears you to join the regular chore roster. I'll see you all later."

Then he aimed a sidelong glance at Mar.

"And Seek? Behave."

Daxter burst out laughing at the parting words. Mar folded his arms and did his best to glower menacingly at the king. Predictably, it was far more endearing than threatening. Damas cracked a smile and waved him off.

"You'd better get going if you want to help Alma make bread," he said, pointing behind them.

Mar hesitated. He wanted to ignore The Snitch as a matter of principle. But fresh bread was fresh bread, and he wasn't going to turn it down. He grabbed Jak's hand and towed him into the house behind him. No way was he doing all this lady's kitchen chores by himself!

Inside, herbs hung in bundles from the rafters, well out of reach of a frustrated animal trying in vain to get to them. It reared up on spindly black legs, dancing back and forth on cloven hooves and bleating piteously. Alma hobbled past it, ignoring its cries.

"Told you I'd get Leif to tie the herbs up if you kept eating them," the woman sniffed.

Dropping back on all fours, the creature bleated again and butted its small head against Alma's side. She pushed it away, nonplussed.

"Don't fuss at me! You were supposed to go back outside once you were weaned!"

Mar shoved past Jak and scrambled over a bootjack and short step to get to the animal.

"What's that?" he asked, staring into bright, slit pupils.

Alma squinted at him. "You never seen a caprid before? That one's a kid. Cabbie: the most spoiled caprid in the flock. Completely rotten."

Mar stroked the baby caprid's sandy brown head. "You have more?!"

Jak crossed the threshold to crouch next to him and run a hand over the caprid's velvety ears. "What do they eat? I didn't see a lot of plants on the way here."

"Cactus, mostly," Alma answered, "And anything else they can fit in their thieving little mouths. I swear if I didn't need the milk for cooking..."

She shook her cane at Cabbie menacingly.

"Half of your cousins: cabrito en salsa! Wham!"

Mar didn't know what cabrito en salsa was, but it sounded like food. He frowned and covered Cabbie's ears.

"Don't listen, kid," Jak said, patting it's short coat.

Their new landlady shook her head as if in despair. "Don't encourage him, he's bad enough already!"

[lsdoiphin]

Foods of Vestur

@broncoburro and @chocodile provoked me into doing some illustrated worldbuilding for Forever Gold ( @forevergoldgame ), an endeavor I was happy to undertake. Unbeknownst to me, it would take the better part of a week to draw.

In the process, I conjured about an essay's worth of fantasy food worldbuilding, but I'm going to try and keep things digestible (pardon my pun). Lore under the cut:

The Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom has ample land, and its soil, landscapes, and temperate climate are amenable to growing a variety of crops and raising large quantities of livestock. The Midland palate prefers fresh ingredients with minimal seasoning; if a dish requires a strong taste, a cook is more likely to reach for a sharp cheese than they are to open their spice drawer. Detractors of Middle Kingdom cuisine describe it as bland, but its flavor relies on the quality of its components more than anything.

KEY CROPS: wheat, potatoes, carrots, green beans, apples, pears, and grapes KEY LIVESTOCK: Midland goats, fowl, and hogs

ROAST FOWL: Cheap and easy to raise, fowl is eaten all over Vestur and by all classes. Roasted whole birds are common throughout, but the Middle Kingdom's approach to preparation is notable for their squeamish insistence on removing the head and neck before roasting, even among poorer families. Fowl is usually roasted on a bed of root vegetables and shallots and served alongside gravy and green beans.

GOAT RIBEYE: Vestur does not have cattle – instead it has a widely diversified array of goats, the most prominent being the Middle Kingdom's own Midland goat. The Midland goat is a huge caprid that fills the same niche as cattle, supplying Vestur with meat and dairy products. Chevon from the Midland goat is tender with a texture much like beef, though it retains a gamier, “goat-ier” taste. It is largely eaten by the wealthy, though the tougher and cheaper cuts can be found in the kitchens of the working class. Either way, it is almost always served with gravy. (You may be sensing a pattern already here. Midlanders love their gravy.)

FETTUCCINE WITH CHEESE: Noodles were brought to the Middle Kingdom through trade with the South and gained popularity as a novel alternative to bread. The pasta of Midland Vestur is largely eaten with butter or cream sauce; tomato or pesto sauces are seldom seen.

CHARCUTERIE WITH WINE: Charcuterie is eaten for the joy of flavors rather than to satiate hunger, and therefore it is mainly eaten by the upper class. It is commonly eaten alongside grape wine, a prestigious alcohol uniquely produced by the Middle Kingdom. The flavor of grape wine is said to be more agreeable than the other wines in Vestur, though Southern pineapple wine has its share of defenders.

BREAD WITH JAM AND PRESERVES, TEA SANDWICHES, & ROSETTE CAKE: Breads and pastries are big in the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom considers itself the world leader in the art of baking. Compared to its neighbors, the baked goods they make are soft, light, and airy and they are proud of it. Cakes in particular are a point of ego and a minor source of mania among nobility; it is a well-established cultural joke that a Middle Kingdom noble cannot suffer his neighbor serving a bigger, taller cake. The cakes at Middle Kingdom parties can reach nauseatingly wasteful and absurdist heights, and there is no sign of this trend relenting any time soon.

CHOWDER, FARMER'S POT PIE, GRIDDLECAKES, EGGS, CURED MEATS: If you have the means to eat at all in the Middle Kingdom, you are probably eating well. Due to the Midland's agricultural strength, even peasant dishes are dense and filling. Eggs and cured meats are abundant, cheaper, and more shelf stable than fresh cuts and provide reprieve from the unending wheat and dairy in the Midland diet.

STEWED APPLES AND PEARS, JAM AND PRESERVES: The Midland grows a number of different fruits, with apples and pears being the most plentiful. In a good year, there will be more fruit than anyone knows what to do with, and so jams and preserves are widely available. Stewed fruit has also gained popularity, especially since trade with the Southern Kingdom ensures a stable supply of sugar and cinnamon.

NORTHERN KINGDOM - SETTLED

The Northern Kingdom is a harsh and unforgiving land. Historically, its peoples lived a nomadic life, but since the unification of the Tri-Kingdom more and more of the Northern population have opted to live a settled life. The “settled North” leads a hard life trying to make agriculture work on the tundra, but it is possible with the help of green meur. The Northern palate leans heavily on preserved and fermented foods as well as the heat from the native tundra peppers. Outsiders often have a hard time stomaching the salt, tang, and spice of Northern cuisine and it is widely considered “scary.”

KEY CROPS: potatoes, beets, carrots, tundra pepper KEY LIVESTOCK: wooly goats, hares*

GOAT POT ROAST: Life up north is hard work and there is much to be done in a day. Thus, slow cooked one-pot meals that simmer throughout the day are quite common.

VENISON WITH PICKLES: Game meat appears in Northern dishes about as much as farmed meat – or sometimes even more, depending on the location. Even “classier” Northern dishes will sometimes choose game meat over domesticated, as is the case with the beloved venison with pickles. Cuts of brined venison are spread over a bed of butter-fried potato slices and potent, spicy pickled peppers and onions. The potatoes are meant to cut some of the saltiness of the dish, but... most foreigners just say it tastes like salt, vinegar, and burning.

MINER STEW: While outsiders often have a hard time distinguishing miner stew from the multitude of beet-tinged stews and pot roasts, the taste difference is unmistakable. Miner's stew is a poverty meal consisting of pickles and salt pork and whatever else is might be edible and available. The end result is a sad bowl of scraps that tastes like salt and reeks of vinegar. The popular myth is that the dish got its name because the Northern poor began putting actual rocks in it to fill out the meal, which... probably never happened, but facts aren't going to stop people from repeating punchy myths.

RYE TOAST WITH ONION JAM: Rye is hardier than wheat, and so rye bread is the most common variety in the North. Compared to Midland bread, Northern bread is dense and gritty. It is less likely to be enjoyed on its own than Midland bread, both because of its composition and because there's less to put on it. Unless you've the money to import fruit spreads from further south, you're stuck with Northern jams such as onion or pepper jam. Both have their appreciators, but bear little resemblance to the fruit and berry preserves available elsewhere in Vestur.

HARE DAIRY: Eating hare meat is prohibited in polite society due to its association with the haretouched and heretical nomadic folk religions, but hare dairy is fair game. Hare cheese ranges from black to plum in color, is strangely odorless, and has a pungent flavor akin to a strong blue cheese. It is the least contentious of hare milk products. Hare milk, on the other hand, is mildly toxic. If one is not acclimated to hare milk, drinking it will likely make them “milk sick” and induce vomiting. It is rarely drunk raw, and is instead fermented into an alcoholic drink similar to kumis.

MAPLE HARES AND NOMAD CANDY: Maple syrup is essentially the only local sweetener available in the North, and so it is the primary flavor of every Northern dessert. Simple maple candies are the most common type of sweet, though candied tundra peppers – known as “nomad candy” – is quite popular as well. (Despite its name, nomad candy is an invention of the settled North and was never made by nomads.)

TUNSUKH: Tunsukh is one of the few traditions from the nomadic era still widely (and openly) practiced among Northern nobility. It is a ceremonial dinner meant as a test of strength and endurance between political leaders: a brutally spiced multi-course meal, with each course being more painful than the last. Whoever finishes the dinner with a stoic, tear-streaked face triumphs; anyone who cries out in pain or reaches for a glass of milk admits defeat. “Dessert” consists of a bowl of plain, boiled potatoes. After the onslaught of tunsukh, it is sweeter than any cake.

NORTHERN KINGDOM – NOMADIC NORTH

Although the Old Ways are in decline, the nomadic clans still live in the far North beyond any land worth settling. They travel on hareback across the frozen wasteland seeking “meur fonts” - paradoxical bursts of meur that erupt from the ice and provide momentary reprieve from the harsh environment. The taste of nomad food is not well documented.

KEY CROPS: N/A KEY LIVESTOCK: hares

PEMMICAN: Nomadic life offers few guarantees. With its caloric density and functionally indefinite “shelf life,” pemmican is about as close as one can get.

SEAL, MOOSE: Meat comprises the vast majority of the nomadic diet and is eaten a variety of ways. Depending on the clan, season, and availability of meur fonts, meat may be cooked, smoked, turned to jerky, or eaten raw. Moose and seal are the most common sources of meat, but each comes with its own challenges. Moose are massive, violent creatures and dangerous to take down even with the aid of hares; seals are slippery to hunt and only live along the coasts.

WANDER FOOD, WANDER STEW: When a green meur font appears, a lush jungle springs forth around it. The heat from red meur fonts may melt ice and create opportunities for fishing where there weren't before. Any food obtained from a font is known as “wander food.” Wander food is both familiar and alien; the nomads have lived by fonts long enough to know what is edible and what is not, but they may not know the common names or preparation methods for the food they find. Fish is simple enough to cook, but produce is less predictable. Meur fonts are temporary, and it's not guaranteed that you'll ever find the same produce twice - there is little room to experiment and learn. As a result, a lot of wander food is simply thrown into a pot and boiled into “wander stew,” an indescribable dish which is different each time.

CENVAVESH: When a haretouched person dies, their hare is gripped with the insatiable compulsion to eat its former companion... therefore, it is only proper to return the favor. Barring injury or illness, a bonded hare will almost always outlive its bonded human, and so the death of one's hare is considered a great tragedy among nomads. The haretouched – and anyone they may invite to join them – sits beside the head of their hare as they consume as much of its rib and organ meat as they can. Meanwhile, the rest of the clan processes the remainder of the hare's carcass so that none of it goes to waste. It is a somber affair that is treated with the same gravity as the passing of a human. Cenvavesh is outlawed as a pagan practice in the settled North.

HARE WINE: While fermented hare's milk is already alcoholic, further fermentation turns it into a vivid hallucinogen. This “hare wine” is used in a number of nomad rituals, most notably during coming of age ceremonies. Allegedly, it bestows its drinker with a hare's intuition and keen sense of direction... of course, truth is difficult to distinguish from fiction when it comes to the Old Ways.

SOUTHERN KINGDOM

The Southern Kingdom is mainly comprised of coast, wetland, and ever-shrinking jungle. While the land is mostly unfit for large-scale agriculture, seafood is plentiful and the hot climate is perfect for exorbitant niche crops. What they can't grow, they obtain easily through trade. Southerners have a reputation for eating anything, as well as stealing dishes from other cultures and “ruining” them with their own interpretations. KEY CROPS: plantains, sweet potato, pineapple, mango, guava, sugarcane KEY LIVESTOCK: fowl, marsh hogs, seals

GLAZED EEL WITH FRIED PLANTAINS: A very common configuration for Southern food is a glazed meat paired with a fried vegetable. It almost doesn't matter which meat and which vegetable it is – they love their fried food and they love their sweet and salty sauces in the South. Eel is a culturally beloved meat, much to the shock and confusion of visiting Midlanders.

NARWHAL STEW: Narwhal stew is the South's “anything goes” stew. It does not actually contain narwhal meat, as they are extinct (though the upper class may include dolphin meat as a protein) – instead, the name comes from its traditional status as a “forever soup,” as narwhals are associated with the passage of time in Southern culture. Even in the present day, Southern monasteries tend massive, ever-boiling pots of perpetual stew in order to feed the monks and sybils who live there. Narwhal stew has a clear kelp-based broth and usually contains shellfish. Beyond that, its ingredients are extremely varied. Noodles are a popular but recent addition.

FORAGE: The dish known as “forage” is likewise not foraged, or at least, it hasn't been forage-based in a good hundred years at least. Forage is a lot like poke; it's a little bit of everything thrown into a bowl. Common ingredients include fish (raw or cooked), seaweed, fried noodles, marinated egg, and small quantities of fruit.

HOT POT: Hot pot is extremely popular, across class barriers, in both the South proper and its enclave territories. This is due to its extreme flexibility - if it can be cooked in a vat of boiling broth, it will be. Crustaceans and shellfish are common choices for hot pot in the proper South, along with squid, octopus, mushrooms, and greens.

FLATBREAD: The Southern Kingdom doesn't do much baking. The vast majority of breads are fried, unleavened flatbreads, which are usually eaten alongside soups or as wraps. Wraps come in both savory and sweet varieties; savory wraps are usually stuffed with shredded pork and greens while sweet wraps – which are much more expensive – are filled with fruit and seal cheese.

GRILLED SKEWERS, ROAST SWEET POTATO: While a novel concept for Midlanders and Northerners, street food has long been a part of Southern Kingdom culture. You would be hard pressed to find a Southern market that didn't have at least three vendors pushing grilled or fried something or other. Skewers are the most common and come in countless configurations, but roast sweet potatoes are a close second.

CUT FRUIT AND SEAL CHEESE: Fresh fruit is popular in the South, both local and imported. While delicious on its own, Southerners famously pair it with seal cheese. Which leads me to an important topic of discussion I don't have room for anywhere else...

THE SOUTH AND CHEESE: Since the South doesn't have much in the way of dairy farming, cheese is somewhat rare in their cuisine – but it is present. And important. Cheese is the domain of the Church. Common goat dairy imported from the Middle Kingdom is turned to cheese by monks in Southern monasteries and sold to the Southern public, yes, but as you have noticed there is another cheese prominent in the Southern Kingdom diet: seal cheese. Seal cheese is unlike anything else that has ever been called cheese; the closest it can be compared to is mascarpone. It is is a soft, creamy cheese with a mild flavor and an indulgent fat content. It is used almost exclusively as a dessert, though it is only ever mildly sweetened if at all. It is extremely costly and held in high regard; the most religious Southerners regard it as holy. Dairy seals are a very rare animal and raised exclusively in a small number of Cetolist-Cerostian monasteries, where they are tended and milked by the monks. Due to their status as a holy animal, eating seal meat is forbidden. Eating their cheese and rendering their tallow into soap is fine though.

(HEARTLAND SOUTH) SOUTH-STYLE GOAT: The Heartland South is a Southern enclave territory in the Middle Kingdom. Visiting Midland dignitaries oft wrongly assume that because the Heartland South is in Middle Kingdom territory, Heartland Southerners eat the same food they do exactly as they do. They are horrified to find that familiar sounding dishes like “goat with potatoes” are completely and utterly unrecognizable, drenched in unfamiliar sauces and spices and served alongside fruit they've never eaten. Meanwhile, Heartland Southerners firmly believe that they have fixed the Middle Kingdom's boring food.

(BOREAL SOUTH) “TUNSUKH”: If Midlanders are afraid of Heartland Southern food, Northerners are absolutely furious about cuisine from the Boreal South - the most legendarily offensive being the Boreal South's idea of “tunsukh.” Southerners are no stranger to spice, so when Southern traders began interacting with the North, they liked tunsukh! It's just... they thought it needed a little Southern help to become a real meal, you know? A side of seal cheese soothed the burn and made the meal enjoyable. And because the meal was enjoyable, the portion sizes increased. And plain boiled potatoes? Well, those are a little too plain – creamy mashed sweet potato feels like more of a dessert, doesn't it? ...For some reason, Northerners didn't agree, but that's okay. The Boreal South knows they're just embarrassed they didn't think of pairing seal cheese with tunsukh sooner.

ARMY RATIONS

The food eaten by the King's Army is about what you would expect for late 1700s military; salt pork or salt chevon, hard tack, and coffee. The biggest divergence they have is also one of Vestur's biggest points of pride: they have the means to supply their troops with frivolous luxuries like small tins of candied fruit from the Midland. A love of candied fruit is essentially a Vesturian military proto-meme; proof that they serve the greatest Tri-Kingdom on the planet. Don't get between a military man and his candied fruit unless you want a fight.

[britt-kageryuu]

The stream is starting pretty early in comparison to usual. The AR camera is set up in a different kitchen than the one in the studio. This has the chat a bit excited, because this means they're likely in the VTurtles House, and they might be able to learn more about them.

The Turtles are moving about the kitchen their microphones are just connecting to the audio system.

"Oh Me Gosh! Welcome to the stream Balemates! And welcome to my Kitchen." Mikey greets the stream. "We're in this kitchen instead of the studio to prep for tonights festivities!" He quickly starts to grab some things while performing jazz hands.

Donnie and Raph help Mikey grab a variety of different foods, including lots of different meats that are in containers marinating. Leo moves infront of the camera to talk.

"So to fill you guys in, every year we go to this amazing spot to watch the fireworks, and have a barbecue, play games, we set up a kiddie pool sometimes, but it's been a couple years." He pauses before turning to the others, "Hey should we set up a pool this year?" He received confirmation, and the chat starts asking if the stream is joining them. "Sorry guys, the place we go to doesn't have a great signal so the stream wouldn't be great. Super low quality. Anywho, you guys can now enjoy watching up prepare the food. And we will likely forget we were streaming."

Leo walks off to start making some food.

The guys do forget about the stream, and are just talking back and forth, debating on which spices would work better for which food. Donnie is seen making some super stacked sandwiches, Raph is crushing some spice mixture that's being added to some potatoes, Leo is putting together skewers, and Mikey is looking over a long list of things that they're taking with them.

At some point Splinter comes in with his Model snapping into place, followed by someone new to the audience. A tall dark pink caprid in a yukata, carrying a bag of produce. "We retrieved the produce you requested Mandarin." He says as he sets the bag on the counter, and starts to pull a bunch of odd looking fruits and veggies. Splinter puts a kettle on the stove to make tea.

The audience watches as they make various cold dishes, like fruit salads, veggie salads, and a cheese board. Then start to pack some of the already made food into a few coolers just outside the kitchen.

They're joined soon by April, the Snapper Cass, and Map Turtle Case. They relay the message that some friends would be joining them at their meeting spot later. And Cass brought Brownies, not the make you loopy kind though.

The group continues to prepare food, and pack everything, including enough s'mores supplies to send a normal person into a major sugar rush/crash.

The camera is covered while it's moved to sit near the pile of stuff they're going to take with them. Including a huge inflatable pool (judging by the pictures on the box), a few grills, a pile of games, and at least 5 large coolers of food. Along with Shelldon and River sitting on top.

Donnie grabs the camera, "It's getting to the time we need to leave, so I'm ending the stream here. Have a wonderful holiday, and eat some good food. Bye!" From there the stream ends, and the audience rushes to their forums, socials, and discord, to spread the clips they made from the stream, and point out way to many small details.

The Hamato Clan and Friends have an amazing time with their fun and games, barbecue, and ofcourse the fireworks, and poppers.

----------------

Masterpost

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

About the TFA X ROTTMNT Ask about whatever or not Splinter sick Megatron on Draxum:

What if this take place post Draxum redemption and he and April came with Splinter to find the turtles and were turned into Cybertronians?

Personaly I would totally see Draxum as a technorganic turning into a caprid! X)

And April would totally rocks as a bike!

And maybe when Splinter and Megatron reunite, the former would have told the later the story of his mutation without telling Draxum's name but Megatron would have found out it was him 'cause one of the turtles would have accidentally said it creating then "complicated" situations between Megatron and Draxum? X)

When Megatron reunites with Splinter, it's like he's gone back in time, like he never left the arena. Splinter just disappeared one day, vanished without a trace, and no one knew what happened to him. Not even Megatron, one of the mechs that could claim to be among his closest friends.

For some time, Megatron was furious, assuming that Splinter had abandoned him, somehow managed to buy his freedom and escaped the arena. Because there was no way that someone had done something to Splinter, no one could possibly dream of laying a hand on him. That meant he had to have left on his own.

But as time passed and there were no further news of Splinter's whereabouts, Megatron started to doubt his initial assumption. And then, the doubt turned into guilt and shame because Splinter was his friend and he knew the mech well enough that he knew that he would never betray Megatron like that.

Time passed, millennia after millennia with no sign of Splinter and eventually he turned into nothing but a legend, a memory of the most brilliant warrior that had ever lived. With not a word from him, Megatron had no choice but to assume that his friend had passed away, his frame rusting away somewhere were nowhere could go. He grieves the best he can, mourns as openly as he dares, and honors the memory of his friend.

And then Splinter appears again. An eternity after his disappearance, his frame unrecognizable. Megatron can see that there's a story there, a pain that shines through Splinter's optics whenever someone brings it up. And Megatron wants to rage. Who turned the once proud warrior into this? Who dared to take it away from him?

Yeah, Megatron might just beat Draxum up in honor of his old friend.

Also, YES for April having a bike alt mode! I can totally see it! As for Draxum, I actually imagine him having more of a chimera-like alt mode.

[odditiesnoctobermidnightroad]

Familiar Friday - Markhor goat

The majestic and intimidating (counts as ‘scary’) wild goat of Pakistan, the Markhor. I’m sure in real life they have the same temperament and fun as any other caprid, but to me the billies always look DEADLY serious and foreboding, like they've seen “The VVitch” and have gotten ideas.

I’m jealous, Pakistan, that’s a cool animal to have as a national treasure. 

[strxbree]

Day six : Favorite AU

First of all, sorry for not posting yesterday… I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, but I’m oki today :3 I’ll be posting two posts today🌸

now onto my coming story and infodump🌸✨

Meet Viney🌸 An experiment gone right “or wrong” at least that’s what Baron Draxum would say. During his creation, the caprid Yokai thought of making a vicious axolotl that’ll track down the turtles and bring them to him ‘without fail’. That- didn’t happen and the vicious axolotl that Baron thought he made… turned into something much more cuter. Small as a baby, the axolotl looked up to her creator to think he was her dad. Draxum didn’t like that, but! Eventually warmed up to the small one and took his own creation as his child. Huggin and Munnin however kept cooing and saying how cute the creation was. Pretty sure Draxum didn’t like the cute thing, but he was ok with it. One day, he decided to tell the axolotl her power, the ability to create vines with her mind. “Close your eyes and stay focused, imagine a vine and make sure. Don't” Baron said, only for Viney to be distracted by Huugin and Munnin playing ball. “This’ll take some time” the creator huffed. Days turned into weeks, turned into months, and eventually, turned into years. During those times, Baron decided on a name for the axolotl, Viney. As a 15 year old, Viney finally mastered her telepathic power and well, decided to play around with the gargoyles which seemed to be her ONLY friends at the time. When suddenly… it was her time. Baron put her on a mission to find the turtles : A red, blue, orange and purple. “But be careful, the outside world can be dangerous. I have my full trust on you little one” Viney nodded and hugged her creator, or well “dad” as she would put it, and swung out out of the Hidden City into the human world. Once she was in the sewers, Viney lifted the sewer lid to hear a honk, seeing light and an oncoming thing with four wheels, Viney immediately closed the lid back on to wait for it to be quiet, when it was quiet enough, Viney lifted up from the sewers and put the lid back on the road to notice the hustle and bustle of the city (mind that she didn’t know she had a brooch) being called out, yelled at and almost exposed to the internet for people to think she was a mascot or cosplaying as a cute Axolotl. “Aww, what a cute costume!!” A lady said while passing by Viney, which she stopped to hold out her phone to take a picture of the axolotl. Knowing the rectangle shape of the phone and the flash of it. It was everywhere and she couldn’t escape, only to use her telepathic powers and make herself a dome to protect herself to the screams of horror from the outside. Hours went by and the small axolotl was exhausted for her energy to go low and sleep. Until… A giant alligator turtle sees the small thing just laying there, he thought she was unconscious and since she was an axolotl yokai (he saw the brooch) it wasn’t safe for her axolotl form to just be running around in New York carelessly. Cradling the small thing, Viney wakes up to panic, thinking she was being kidnapped by a… friendly giant turtle with a red eye mask??? Raph, she met Raphael Hamato. Leading Viney to the hideout so she’ll be safe and not to be exposed by a crowd of humans again. There she meets Leo, Mikey and Donnie. Soon to meet April (which they went shopping for the axolotl to transform into a teenage girl with big brown eyes and short wavy brown hair before they went out). Thinking Viney already found the turtles and thought to bring them, Baron noticed the delay and was warned by Shredder if Viney doesn’t come back with the turtles, Draxum would have problems. Viney isn’t the Villian Baron thought she’d be. Instead, Viney ended up to be sweet and a bubbly smol axolotl🌸✨

Meanwhile with Viney and the turtles in the lair. Mikey was making a flower crown for Viney in which April comes in with Pizza. Confused, the turtles gasped on Viney’s lack of knowledge of pizza. So they brought her to the two pizza places she would probably like. After that, she was fond of pizza and whenever a new person would come in, she’d think of bringing them to the same pizza place’s in which the turtles brought her. She was now friends with the turtles. She knew Donnie likes science, but there was also a cool place to dress up in kimonos and eat, she thought Donnie also likes the fanciest things in life, but until she noticed he wasn’t ok with it and they decided to head back home and to teach Viney how to make her own drone, like Sheldon which Flora was born! And flora and Sheldon lived happily ever after, lol.

(This drawing was drew last year, that’s why it’s on paper and pencil)

On other days, Viney would squeeze in a day to make Mikey a flower crown too🌸✨

(On the left, Viney is without her flower crown and is wearing a grey plain dress that her creator gave her, that was Viney before she met the turtles. On the right, Viney is making a flower crown for Mikey and… wait a minute, where’s her brooch in both of the drawings??? I might have forgotten to draw in her brooch, it’s a pink diamond shape with circles for the tips of the diamond which are white. I drew these while I wasn’t feeling well yesterday)

This next drawing wasn’t colored, but it’s Raph dressed up in a peach dress and Viney and Mikey are reacting to it🌸

(This drawing was also drawn last year :33)

I haven’t drawn her with Leo since I have no clue what she would do with Leo, maybe dress up in Kimonos to?? Probably celebrate pride with him? Or go on a double date with Usagi and Gentry (Viney and Gentry is the ship that my friend @ye-it-is-skeet made, hehe). But then again, I’m still unsure on what Viney and Leo would do to hang out. Let’s just find out and I’ll post a drawing of Viney and Leo doing something together :333

thank you for reading my infodump and story about my OC Viney🌸

[lady-wildflower]

So I had a busy weekend and didn't wanna get bogged down writing because that always gives me The Executive Dysfunctions. So I got bogged down arting instead!

My OC Tegyd Lowri Humphries! She originates from Birds of a Feather, my spite-motivated fic wherein I queer the fuck out of the Potter universe and pointedly do better wherever I can than Her Despicable TERFness did when it comes to disability, nonhumans, etc. She's a Welsh half-human, half-caprid centaur, which are centaurs but goat instead of horse. So she's effectively a faun. Lives in a lil cottage in a secret village in the Bannau Brycheiniog called Pen ôl y Ddraig with her father, the caprid centaur. Her Mum comes and visits frequently, though she lives in Cardiff - it's not a broken family situation, it's just the most convenient arrangement for them. Tegyd's adventurous, and loves a good hike up a mountain. At the current point in the story I'm writing, she's in her third year at the wizard school, and a prominent member of the Nonhuman Club, with her dryad friend Blodwen, who is a crab apple tree, whom she grew up with.

Tegyd is one example of how I actually deal with the implications and consequences of my worldbuilding (looking at you, Jowling), she's an exploration of the Statute's fuckery as it affects anyone visibly nonhuman, as well as just in general, what it's like for a nonhuman to grow up in that world, though post-Kaleidoscopic Grangers (my original spite-fic, BOAF is a sequel to it, where I made Potter a blind trans girl adopted by the Grangers and had a whole heap of fun).

She's also getting migrated to an original story idea where she's a Welsh fae who's gone off to live among humans who are in that universe her special interest. Finally she doesn't have to deal with fae bullshit- oh wait, she gets the crown princess of the Seelie dropped unwittingly in her lap along with a package deal quest. But that's the Seelie Princess version, not the BOAF version - the SP version got combined with another BOAF OC, Alpin Faughn, a Welsh-Scottish lil lad with heterochromia and a penchant for sewing and embroidery.

I don't often draw, so this one was a Process™. I started off by finding a reference pose, which I then destroyed by photoshopping the goat legs, ears, and horns onto. Then I gave up for several months lmao. Then I decided to resurrect it with some art tips a friend gave me (shout out to @brewbellwizardry and later @death-munchkin who babied me through shading), starting by tracing a skeleton and general shape onto paper on my screen - 'cos one of the things that pissed me off previously was trying to use a drawing tablet, which I discovered is actually a skill. Then I began iterating, tracing over traces, general shape first which needed a little adjusting since Tegyd's canonically a bit curvier than the model. I used that as a reference for the clothes, did the tops first then the skirt, then I traced all of the components onto a master trace, which I then scanned with my printer into my computer. Did the hair on a separate piece of paper so it wasn't hell.

And then came my second ordeal of computering it. Started off by blocking out the colours, then doing outlines (which are still manky but shush I don't need to fix thoSE-) and then other details. The tartan be wonky as hell, but hey. Thanks to my friends I was able to figure out how the fuck to do shading, and voila!

And there we have her, my shoddy attempt at my funky six foot satyr lass.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Them's Fightin Herds backgrounders, seperated by species clad- alpaca, equine, bovine, caprid, cervid, and misc ungulates.

Excluding the standalone non ungulates for the sake of my sanity

[antiqueanimals]

Markhor by Winifred Austen. From Wild Beasts of the World, Vol. Two. Written by Frank Finn, published in 1909.

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