#catness iron age village

[dknuth]

Shetland

We took the overnight ferry from Kirkwall, Orkney, to Lerwick Shetland, arriving at 7 AM. We then headed straight out to Old Scatness, an Iron Age village and broch that our tour leader, Val Turner, had excavated.

We got a good description of the site and a discussion on the excavation and the decisions regarding the excavation, preservation, and display of the site. Those objectives are frequently in conflict. For a purely archeological dig, an excavation down to virgin ground would provide the most information but would destroy the upper levels, preventing further analysis of those layers in the future and presentation of them to the public. Presentation to the public might require restoration of fallen walls, the creation of safe passages, etc., disturbing the site. Leaving the site open exposes it to the weather and further decay. There is no perfect answer.

The walls are not as well preserved as at some of the other sites, making it harder to understand. It is even harder in photos. So here is an aerial of the site for better orientation.

You can see that some houses intersect with others while others squeeze into spaces. This shouldn't be a surprise in a location that has been used for hundreds of years. The large circle in the top center was a Pictish broch, which had lost its function as a defense structure. The interior was remodeled in at least two different forms.

At the center of that, you can see the curved edges of the open space. This is referred to as a wheelhouse, and those spaces had a corbelled roof over them, a design that developed between the Neolithic and Iron Ages.

Here Val demonstrates the concept.

Recreations of a wheelhouse were built and really help to understand that concept.

A model also helps understand the broch.

It struck me that in this part of the world, people changed from very temporary structures and a module life to stone structures that were used for hundreds to thousands of years. They then used those same basic designs for over 3,000 years.

We then went to St. Ninian's Isle, which is connected to the mainland by a strip of sand with beaches on both sides.

There we had lunch at the ruins of a small Christian chapel famous for a hoard of silver objects found under the floor.

We then drove to the east coast of the island and took a small ferry to the Island of Mousa, a bird sanctuary and the location of the best-preserved broch on Shetland.

There is also the ruin of an 18th-century house nearby.

The broch is in very good shape possibly a result of its remote location and the good quality of the local stone.

The interior is also in good condition.

There were more openings in the interior layer of walls than I expected. Some were probably storerooms, and others were staircases to the upper floors and even to the top. The broch had been used by seabirds for many years, so when the inside was cleaned out, there was a lot of guano! Luckily, that was all gone.

The floor is higher than the original, so it was even taller on the inside. It's quite a work of drystone masonry.

[ofliterarynature]

TBR TAKEDOWN: Week 14 (September 1)

TLDR: I have too many unread books, and I’m asking tumblr to help me downsize. Pick one or none, comment if you have opinions, and please reblog if you can! Book descriptions below the cut, see my pinned post for more info.

The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly

The City of Mandrigyn was conquered, and its men enslaved in the foul mines of the evil Wizard King, Altiokis. Now the women of the city, led by Sheera Galernas, have come to hire the mercenary army of Captain Sun Wolf. But Sun Wolf was too wise to become involved in fighting against wizardry…

...Until he woke to find himself kidnapped and offered a grim choice by Sheera. He could train and lead the ladies of Mandrigyn against Altiokis - or he could die in lingering agony from the anzid they had given him and for which only they had the antidote.

There was more to the ladies than Sun Wolf could have guessed. There was also far more to the evil of Altiokis then anyone knew.

But above all, there was a great deal more to Sun Wolf and his destiny then he had ever dreamed.

Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett

Nineteenth century London is the center of a vast British Empire. Airships ply the skies and Queen Victoria presides over three-quarters of the known world--including the East Coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.

London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast. Gideon Smith dreams of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, told in Gideon's favorite penny dreadful. When Gideon's father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work. Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him, Gideon sets off for London. On the way he rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities. Together they make for London, where Gideon finally meets Captain Trigger.

But Trigger is little more than an aging fraud, providing cover for the covert activities of his lover, Dr. John Reed, a privateer and sometime agent of the British Crown. Looking for heroes but finding only frauds and crooks, it falls to Gideon to step up to the plate and attempt to save the day...but can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

Forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is in her late thirties. She lives happily alone with her two cats in a bleak, remote area near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants—not quite earth, not quite sea. But her routine days of digging up bones and other ancient objects are harshly upended when a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach. Detective Chief Inspector Nelson calls Galloway for help, believing they are the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing a decade ago and whose abductor continues to taunt him with bizarre letters containing references to ritual sacrifice, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Then a second girl goes missing and Nelson receives a new letter—exactly like the ones about Lucy.

Is it the same killer? Or a copycat murderer, linked in some way to the site near Ruth’s remote home?

[ominoose]

𝐎𝐬𝐜 𝐈𝐬𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭

For my beloved son @jinjersnapz. I know I'm surprised I finally got around to doing this as well. Enjoy :*

Characters: Orderly!Blue, Jonathan, Nathan, Shiv, Jack Warnings: Vague fantasy death and torture references.

𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲!𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬

He saw some 'fuckwit' cleaner playing it on their phone and confiscated it. The moment his office door shut curiosity compelled him. Out loud he murmured that the app was 'stupid', meanwhile for the new few hours of his shift he continued taking over the poor cleaners world until the phone went from 84% to 17% and the diamond chest was emptied.

Most of the time he spent killing things, setting TNT off in the villages, luring creepers into pits of lava and eventually setting traps for any mob in sight. He has a particular hatred for parrots, their habit of mimicking mobs always startling him, especially if it was a spider or zombie sound, the paranoia would set him into a rage until his iron sword had hacked the poor bird to death.

𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐲

The first time he played this game was in its early days, on an old Xbox, with his daughter. In her youth, she was mostly interested in finding dogs, giggling when Jonathan exaggeratedly fought off zombies and making oak plank houses with neon pink wool in creative mode.

Many years later, when his daughter was too old and cool to game with her dad, Jonathan found the old console and game while cleaning out the attic. Nostalgia plucked at his heart and led him downstairs to the living room to boot it all up. The updates took ages, and two cups of coffee ad a cigarette later he was sat there punching a tree.

Quickly he realised he was more of a creative mode man, much like his daughter, wanting to get lost in building a little plank house, starting a farm and amassing a small army of dogs.

A week later, he's watching YouTube tutorials on building cottages with working chimneys and maximizing villager profits.

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧

He was the one that made the working Windows 7 in Minecraft. And the working red-stone powered Die Hard movie.

Ironically, he hated gaming in his younger days, opening more to it as he grew older. Getting up to workout every time there was a minor coding mishap was becoming a drag when setting elaborate red-stone traps to commit war crimes on innocent villagers was free.

On the odd occasion when he's had too many beers, he boots up a crazy mod pack, be it a zombie apocalypse, flood map or something that changes all the mobs to Nicolas Cage.

𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐯

Playing minecraft was a nightly occurrence between Shiv and his son, always putting an hour or two into their shared world before bed.

To Shiv, playing wasn't something he did to appease his son, Minecraft was equally serious to both of them. The man finds himself going to sleep and planning their next nether trip on the odd night, or going to work still pissed off from the creeper that blew up the edge of their base the night before.

Despite being equally as scared of the mines as his son, Shiv takes up sword and shield to protect the boy and their cat as they strip mine.

He also threw his son a minecraft themed birthday party, partially for his own amusement.

𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

Had never heard of a 'mined craft' until he saw the display of it at a shitty target he was stealing from. Went back every day for a week straight to play on the little 'gizmo', being surprisingly peaceful with a little homestead and farm as he adventured.

Came back one day to see some kid had blew his stuff up and he wired a bomb to go off after the store closed so no one could enjoy it.

[seahagart]

Gilmore girls meets cottage core meets island living

My friend and I came up with these oc’s, they all live on a little island, and are slice of life type slow fishing town vibe. I made the severe looking lady, and the guy in the knit sweater.

Henriette ‘Hattie’ Boucher (grumpy woman with apron) - village baker, runs her shop with an iron fist (along with the rest of the town) she keeps people in line and her shop ends up being a meeting place for all sorts (she trades lunches for shares of whatever the fishermen catch that day)

Aonghas MacTàmhais (red head man in sweater) - Farmer turned fisherman. He recently moved to the island after receiving a job offer from his family ‘friend’ Dominic, who had scared off the lady willing person to work with him. Aonghas wanted a fresh start, and was immediately taken with the grumpy baker

Dominic (Dark haired man, friends oc) - Fisherman and town heart throb. He’s in an on again off again relationship with a girl on the mainland, but it’s not going well. The rest of the girls in town want him, and he wants nothing to do with anyone. He lives with Aonghas in his old shabby house, the grumpy cat to his sunshine red head friend

Imogen (Blonde girl, friends oc) - village seamstress. She makes and repairs clothing under the guise of the head seamstress, but in reality Imogen does all the work. She lives with Hattie in a cottage up the hill from the village. Helps keep Hattie’s temper down, and gets to taste test new food. She has been in love with Dominic for a long time now.

Dominic and Hattie get along as the two grumps. Imogen and Aonghas get along as the two sweethearts. They are the few people close in age, so they spend most of their free time together whether they like it or not

Aonghas has been asking Hattie to marry him but she has declined so far

Imogen has a magic frog that’s as big as a cat that reads fortunes and tells the weather.

[its-dkh]

Wow. Three post in and I'm already almost out of things to talk about. May soon start pulling the Star sans card and then maybe open an ask?

Well, either way, here how I see

"The Bad Sans's Dynamic"

Or how I think they react to each other.

First off,

Nightmare!Sans with:

Killer!Sans: he's the first person he took under his wing at the very beginning. At first, they had cold interactions until Nightmare asked his help with the installation of some furniture (he can't read n' translate the swedish manual and build at the same time). They ironically had some quality time together, which warmed him up for strangers/platonic interactions. Nightmare still hasn't recovered from Killer's question. Currently, he finds Killer "over optimistic" behaviour annoying and always make up the excuse that he can't get rid of him because of his loyalty (he's his son now).

Murder!Sans or also known as Dust: the second. Got manipulated to join with the excuse he would escape the genocide loop that is his AU. They have almost no interaction and only know he despise him and Killer, he won't do anything about it.

Horror!Sans: the third. Made a deal with him to help solve the famine in his AU, currently a work in progress. They have no special interactions. He knows that Horror has an eating disorder out of the guilt that the people in his AU probably aren't fed enough, tried to talk about it with no success, also a work in progress.

Killer!Sans with:

Nightmare!Sans: Got warm up to him by helping him build furniture, he once even asked him to build a shed together. He still hasn't got an answer. He prefers being with him than in his empty AU. Doesn't mind fighting around. But even then, he can't forgive him for what he has done to his soul. And the night terrors. And his cat's death (she died of old age and he blames him for it).

Murder!Sans or also known as Dust: is chill with. Have no problems with him. They're just bros, Living the bromance. They both pretend to hate eachother so Nightmare doesn't suspicious about them.

Horror!Sans: even chiller. Talks in moderate amounts. Aren't that close actually.

Murder!Sans or also known as Dust with:

Nightmare!Sans: despise him for manipulating him to join his group. Tried to escape but always failed. Now he only try to skip work as much as he can.

Killer!Sans: used to hate him until he talked about what Nightmare did to him. Is now closer to him. Maybe a little too close. They both pretend to hate eachother so Nightmare doesn't question it.

Horror!Sans: he thought he was the sanest one until he heard what he fed to his village. Hang out with him so he doesn't stay alone with paps.

Papyrus: he swears to god he would of gone to therapy if it wasn't so expensive. Won't go anyway.

Horror!Sans with:

Nightmare!Sans: he see him as a devil he made a deal with. Couldn't care less about him.

Killer!Sans: he wonders if his mentally retarded. Hang out with him since he asked. Treat him like a gay teenager with issues. Suspect him to be with Murder.

Murder!Sans or also known as Dust: hang out around with him since he asked. treat him like a teenager going through a phase. Suspect him to be with Killer.

If you guys have any other bad sans you want to see my interpretation of their dynamic, do ask. I'll be happy to analyse them.

Next is The Star Sans's Dynamic.

[albinocapybara]

Finally after being stumped on a name for so long, the LeshyCat children concept is here, first, of course, some info on the parents :)

(Btw im not a native english speaker)

If you have any questions about them or my other headcanons feel free to ask too!

How they met: Due to his injuries making it extremely difficult for him to adjust to his new life in the cult (let alone how he would now have to learn how to live with a mortal body again) on his own, the Yellow Cat (who i will be referring to as "Amare" from now on) was assigned as his caretaker to help him deal with the necessities that came with being a mortal again (sleep, water, physical activities and so on) on top of the problems that came with his injury. While Leshy at first felt insulted by this treatment (the whole "i was a god i can do this without the help of some mortal yada yada" thing), he soon realized it was for the better (while also realizing his feelings for Amare :3).

Leshy: Freed from Purgatory in the cult around 100-ish years after his death and 15 years after Narinder was overthrown by The Lamb. All his high priests and his witness (Amdusias, Valefar, Barbatos and Agares) had passed away before his arrival, making the former and current gods of death the only "familiar" figures in the cult (they both changed so much after their last encounters), although he still avoided both of them most of the time (Narinder because of his conflicting thoughts about the older brother, and The Lamb somewhat out of anger at them but mostly fear due to how traumatic Purgatory was for him), but dont worry they eventually made amends along with the rest of the bishops :). Also became friends with bat follower but she isnt relevant for this post

Amare (the Yellow Cat): Rescued from being sacrificed to the dead bishop of chaos in Darkwood after followers of the Old Faith killed everyone else from his village, works as a farmer in the cult. He was the only follower (aside from the first five followers of the cult, who are kept alive and act as advisors and friends for The Lamb) that knew of Leshy's past as an bishop, and though he still held resentment for the former god, The Lamb's seeming disposition to forgive him made the cat consider doing the same for him, volunteering to be his caretaker. Once their relationship was made official, he was given a golden skull necklace to ensure the two could stay by each other's side for eternity.

Now for the children hehe

They are twins (as ive mentioned in my other posts), a daughter named Camellia (Amare chose the name) and a son named (drumroll please im so proud of this name) Havoc! (Name chosen by Leshy of course).

They both have green moss-like fur from Leshy, and the head shape of a cat from Amare, but other than that their bodies are very distinct due to inheriting different parts from their parents

Havoc: His limbs and tail, as well as his longer whiskers, are from Amare, giving him a silhouette very similar to a cat, aside from the antler-like branches he got from Leshy, he also has two sets of eyes like Leshy used to have once, ironically though, he has rather poor eyesight, needing glasses to see things that are a bit too far. Despite his name he is actually pretty calm and enjoys the peacefulness of the cult, though this doesnt mean he is opposed to some occasional mischief, specially with his sister. Wants to help with teaching when he becomes of age (also im thinking about the idea of having him figure himself out as transfem but thats for another time)

Camellia: her limbs and tail, being from Leshy, are quite a bit longer and thicker than her brother's, giving her a broader and taller silhouette, as well as making her quite a bit stronger physically, she also has only one set of eyes and shorter whiskers than her brother, as well as no branch antlers. Is a very active person, playing with other kids and sometimes helping adults with tasks that wouldnt risk injuring her (most of the time they dont let her though). Also loves doing pranks and other forms of tomfoolery around the cult along with her brother. She is also very protective of him, getting into multiple fights with kids (and a drunk adult one time) who pick on him (aka bullies). Wants to follow her parent's job of farming when she comes of age.

[jedimaesteryoda]

Mance Rayder had always served as a mirror of Jon himself. Mance, like Jon, never knew his birth parents and was found as an infant after the members the party he was in were killed and he was taken in by his family's enemies, in this case the Night's Watch. He would go on to join the Night's Watch likely around Jon's age.

He had assumed a false identity as a bard to infiltrate Winterfell when King Robert visited, telling that story ironically as Jon played the false identity of a deserter when he came to see the King-beyond-the-Wall.

Jon noted that Mance didn't look like a king, and easily passed him over while ironically Jon himself is also a king in the sense that he is heir to the Targaryen dynasty, but he doesn't look like royal blood with his mother's dark features in place of Targaryen ones. Mance was a king posing as a bard at Winterfell while Jon was one (unwittingly) posing as a bastard. Mance singing and playing strings itself is reminiscent of Rhaegar who played the high harp.

One arrow took Mance Rayder in the chest, one in the gut, one in the throat. The fourth struck one of the cage's wooden bars, and quivered for an instant before catching fire. A woman's sobs echoed off the Wall as the wildling king slid bonelessly to the floor of his cage, wreathed in fire. "And now his Watch is done," Jon murmured softly. Mance Rayder had been a man of the Night's Watch once, before he changed his black cloak for one slashed with bright red silk. -ADWD, Jon III When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold … -ADWD, Jon XIII

Mance (actually Rattleshirt) dies as he felt the heat as his cage burns while Jon feels the cold and will likely be put into the ice cellars. Yet, we later learn Mance isn't actually dead just as Jon likely isn't.

"One day on a ranging we brought down a fine big elk. We were skinning it when the smell of blood drew a shadow-cat out of its lair. I drove it off, but not before it shredded my cloak to ribbons. Do you see? Here, here, and here?" He chuckled. "It shredded my arm and back as well, and I bled worse than the elk. My brothers feared I might die before they got me back to Maester Mullin at the Shadow Tower, so they carried me to a wildling village where we knew an old wisewoman did some healing. She was dead, as it happened, but her daughter saw to me. Cleaned my wounds, sewed me up, and fed me porridge and potions until I was strong enough to ride again. And she sewed up the rents in my cloak as well, with some scarlet silk from Asshai that her grandmother had pulled from the wreck of a cog washed up on the Frozen Shore. It was the greatest treasure she had, and her gift to me." -ASOS, Jon I

Mance ultimately left the Night's Watch after a near-death experience. A woman who had red silk from Assahi (like Melisandre of Asshai's dresses) healed him. Like Mance, Jon was attacked after dealing with a stag, Stannis Baratheon, who was believed killed by Ramsay Bolton with a habit of skinning people. Just as a shadow-cat was drawn out by the scent of the stag's blood, Stannis's apparent demise drew out Marsh and Co to attack Jon. Jon is near-death, but will likely be healed at least in part by Melisandre of Asshai and help from the wildlings.

Afterwards, he left the Wall to become a king wearing a cloak of black and red, the colors of House Targaryen, to unite his people against the Long Night.

[trinityofone]

heyyy i love The Rest is Silence and i especially love lestat's daemon - do you have any thoughts on what daemons claudia/madeleine/anyone else would have? i think claudia would have some kind of small wildcat like a serval personally

First of all, thank you! <3

Second, this is SUCH a good question. This is just off the top of my head, but I suddenly feel very sure that Claudia's daemon hadn't settled when she was turned. So he can still change shape, which at first they both delight in, even in his silence. But as she ages and wants to be perceived as an adult, he obviously needs to pretend to be settled or no one will take them seriously. So he does regularly -- at least publicly -- assume one form; I think at first something that echoes Lestat or Louis, so yeah, a serval would fit with that! But he still shifts privately and in moments of emotional vulnerability, his body saying what he can no longer speak with words.

When Claudia and Louis are traveling, he's able to reinvent himself more often, in each new town or village. So what is he in Paris, when Claudia first meets Madeleine? Maybe Claudia was trying to appear Parisian and he's a sleek, elegant black cat (le chat noir). Ironic, then, that Madeleine's daemon is a white rat: clever-handed (he can hold her pins, deliver her scissors), slippery, a survivor.

[justarandomlambblog]

Working on some concepts for Narinder's Living World realm, the forest beyond the Gateway. Sleeping Hollow won the poll which I am happy about bc that was my vote too

Totally not taking advantage of this to play around with building a unique culture <- anthropology major

Just a note that I don't think I made very clear in my notes on the page, Narinder was chained Below in his own temple, and it was witnessed in front of many of his most loyal followers. The Bishops blocked off the entire region, rather than trying to take it over as if they were heretics (call it sentimentality, call it not wanting to deal with it, whichever you prefer), and in doing so have isolated the region from the rest of the world. So while the rest of the world begins to fall apart bc the Bishops are kinda going mad at this point and are trying to hold onto their authority/the Old Faith so hard that they are actively driving it away from what it used to be- so ironically, Sleeping Hollow is the only region that truly remains as the Old Faith once was, having been untouched by outsiders for centuries.

I wanted to make a concept for the temple but I'm undecided on what it should look like. All I know is the people of Sleeping Hollow have left it be, being the place their master was betrayed. Narinder's scythe still lies on the floor where he was finally defeated :)

Transcription below the cut bc my handwriting is shit, numbered for your reading convenience. Anything in [brackets] are add-ons after the fact-

(1) Sleeping Hollow is primarily an oak forest, with large towering oak trees. They're ancient.

(2) Graveyards are surrounded by oaks, but only weeping willows grow inside the graveyard clearing

(3) A thousand years isolated from the rest of the world has allowed the people to build larger villages w/out fear of heretics destroying them [aka they're proper villages/towns rather than just camps]

(4) People of Sleeping Hollow build up a lot [multi-story homes], and live in communal homes [often multiple families will live in one large home]

(5) The graves [in the graveyards] are mannered, organized & sprawling, unlike other regions. They are well kept.

(6) The Hollow is surrounded by wrought-iron fences & it is forbidden to enter. The only way in or out is in the Gateway and the Temple Warp Pad

(7) The people of Sleeping Hollow, primarily felines and canines, are peaceful, but trained for hunting/defending.

They dress like people did in the height of the Old Faith [long robes, jewelry, etc], and are devoted to their chained master still

Ironically, due to the other four Bishops' cruelty and desperation to uphold the Old Faith & their rein, Sleeping Hollow now bears the most resemblance to the world that used to be

(7b) *Cats originate from this region. Cats found in other regions are the descendants of those who left before the Bishops blocked Sleeping Hollow off

(8) Makeup, usually black ink for the eyes [eyeliner yea] and lips, and random spots. [alternatives, mostly for dark-furred creatures, include white ink]

(9) Lantern Festival every year to honor the dead, Festival Outfits!! <3

(10) Crowns are not worn, but married folk wear forehead jewelry

Ears are pierced as a coming of age, and each piercing means something (usually for family) [i.e. they might get a piercing for their parents and siblings, a new piercing for each child they have, etc]

(11) Priests paint an eye on their foreheads & wear cloaks over their clothes. ONLY priests are permitted the painted eye. [exception: anyone declared a saint can, as well, but they're usually priests already so-]

(12) Every graveyard [and often the villages as well] has this statue for "protection" [the way many graveyards have angel statues], all [of the statues] in other regions were destroyed [it used to be all graveyards in the Old Faith had them, since all paths lead to Death].

[askwalmartniko]

"updated concept art" — ooc 3

i don't draw that much, but i was able to get some designs out. i can also talk about each of their personalities, and sure, you can ask niko's parents for something!

though i may not be able to promise like, drawings on everything.

walmart niko:

basically, i kinda wanted to self-project a bit more. walmart niko is a lot more mellowed out but still retains their moral compass, however they just act more lazily (like a cat).

they actually have their hair dyed, and their natural colour is this dark auburn, after their mom. they started dying their hair because they'd see their dad with it, and they wanted to act after him in a way.

they have glasses because they're sensitive to sight, and mainly they have problems with getting adjusted to colours. they get eye strained easily, and mainly because it's just hereditary and also. cat. i kinda wanted to also project how i'm sensitive to certain sensory stuff and wow, cats do have enhanced hearing and other senses!

anyways, they have glasses (also i kinda wanted walmart niko to be unique shhh). they are really crafty and take after both their mom and dad. dad introduced them to games and internet and stuff because he was super into it, and he knew that he couldn't spend time with niko that much, so he wanted to introduce them to something he always had a knack for.

they always hung out with their mom due to this, and they know how to do a bunch of things. how to sew a button on, how to tell if the bread has risen correctly (is that a thing idk i don't really make bread), etc. etc. plus is also great with children and stuff due to taking care of their neighbours.

niko's mom/hazel:

i'm still so indecisive on a name, but i can call her hazel as a placeholder for now.

okay, like i know some stuff with the technical canon nightmargin niko whatever lore but this is the WALMART AU.

tbh im making this up like fnaf lore. but basically like she met her husband because he was on a business trip to their village and all because he was doing something from another place and they got together (may explain why he has other connections outside of their village).

pretty big into agriculture but i feel like she may have wanted to be a rancher but she's like. southern mom. i'm kinda taking inspo off of caroline from sdv but anyways she just wants the best for her kid and all and shes a great mom i'd say. she supports her child's stuff and allows them to talk about it whenever and has drawings all up on their fridge. she's the type of mom to worry about picture day and spend a lot of money on those small photos and embarrass you about it whilst she gives one to every relative of yours

anyways now she works around and like does stuff like iron peoples' clothes, and also cleans and just does housework because of them moving. she preferred whenever she was able to work more with crops and also just in a community, but it's hard for her sometimes now to put emotion into her work.

she's the reason why niko knows a lot of well, basic stuff i guess but it's still very useful. also she's pretty crafty and intuitive! just like her kid. makes clothes and stuff.

niko's dad/ed??:

okay so like i was watching markiplier right (well, listening to his podcast or whatever) and that just happened i'm so sorry. he's like, really into technology and games and introduced niko to them, so they have a pretty good understanding of digital literacy even at a young age. he's a gaymer wow.

he does work a lot because he does care and hopes that, one day, he'll be able to not have to go away so far for conferences and meetings and will maybe be able to own a family-ran store that he'd see around their home village.

he's helped niko on really hard levels in the hit game super mayo bros and helped on difficult gyms in pokeymans. but has also helped with niko's problem-solving stuff due to this exposure to everything. also is somewhat the reason why they need glasses.

i will post cute art of niko's dad and mom together but yeah like they're still happy and all but it's just hard sometimes for 'em.

[nrc-therapist]

MEET THE THERAPIST

"how did I even get dragged into this..?"

name: Midnight "Mid" Katára

age: 17

pronouns: any

gender: next question

height: 1.82m

dorm: ignihyde

class: 3-E

club: -

occupation: student/therapist

best subject: alchemy

worst subject: history of magic

unique magic: unfair jinx

"if it can fail, fail it shall. everything lucky, come to a halt...unfair jinx"

an equivalent to Murphys law, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Mid's unique magic causes things around them to, well, go wrong. after the casting her spell, a sequence of "unlucky" event will follow for a short time, ultimately benefiting them, but it only works for small things

(for instance, his unique magic can't cause a meteor to crash)

(lore doc) storytime:

Mid grew up in a small village outside of the Queendom of Roses with her 2 siblings and parents. their whole life they were either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky

from a young age, they had a lot of anxiety due to bad relationships with their family, pressure to be a perfect student and not being able to keep a friend group for more than a year

the only family member they had a good relationship with was her sister eclipse, but eclipse lived with some relatives in the city due to her wanting to attend a fine arts school

in addition, in its village, magic was frowned upon, so they had the added stress of practicing their magic in private

eventually, they became a really closed-off person and isolated themselves, which is how he got good in robotics, coding, and art

slowly but surely it became slightly more social, but unfortunately ended up with a few wrong crowds while in middle school

despite that, their expectations remained high and her anxiety only worsened, bringing him to the brink of an overblot due to their anxiety and excessive use of magic. while it never actually overblotted, she now has small dark spots in their eyes whenever they get anxious again

when she enrolled in nrc, being away from the toxicity of their village, they slowly became less anxious and way more social, especially since they worked as a waitress in mostto lounge for their first year

it never planned on being the therapist, but crowley forced that responsibility on him when the last therapist quit in a hurry and she was just...there to witness it

after that, it met the leader of the recently-found dance club, and well...the rest is history

fun facts:

their last name means "curse" in greek

she has a septum piercing, a brow piercing and a bridge piercing

it can ride a blastcycle

for their village imagine like, twst equivalent of the balkans

his unique magic being a jinx is ironic, since she is an unlucky person in general

back home, they own a black cat named "nox"

she has 2 siblings shown in this post

gallery: 1

AHHHH IM TOO LAZY TO ACTUALLY DRAW MKD SO FOR NOW YOU GWT THIS PICREW

[luna-writes-stuff]

Do you have a plan to make a modern au headcanon for Starcrossed Losers?

WOW THIS TOOK FOREVER TO ANSWER I AM SO SORRY. But yes. Yes, I do.

Kili and Raewyn modern AU! headcanons

Kili X Starcrossed Losers! OC

Fluff, headcanons

Tw: Mentions of miscarriage/dying through childbirth, dogs and cats.

Wait, you don’t know who Raewyn is??? Blasphemy. Check her story out right here!

-In a modern day setting, I think Fili and Kili would own a busy pub somewhere in a side street. Ironically enough, I believe Raewyn would become either a history or geography teacher. At night, she’ll help in the pub, serving guests or helping in a band performing that night. Because, obviously, she’d take music lessons (see earlier headcanons)

-Due to the vacations of the school, she travels a lot with Kili, visiting big cities in Europe and distant villages in Asia. Her students love to hear tales about the people there, and she loves telling them.

-Kili helps Raewyn prepare lessons for students. He actually has some really good ideas in there and Raewyn loves to tell him how the class responded to ‘his’ teaching.

-Even though the pub is located in the centre of the city, Raewyn and Kili would live in a house surrounded by forests. Those tiny roads leading through woods, sometimes extending towards two or three houses? That’s where they’d likely live. Raewyn loves to spend her nights walking the forest. Kili is just glad to be there.

-The garden offers enough room for Farris, because - naturally - she’d still be there. Knowing Kili, she’d probably be accompanied by three dogs, likely named after characters from famous films, like Gizmo, Luke, and Marty McFly.

-Raewyn would get a cat just to spite Kili’s dogs. They’d get a decent name - likely after someone from ancient history. She’d go with names from gods, like Bastet or Artemis. Because Kili insisted on big dogs, she got a Norwegian Forest cat.

-The cat loves Kili more than Raewyn. Kili hates the cat.

-Likewise, Marty McFly loves Raewyn. He doesn’t like Kili because Kili doesn’t let him swim in lakes.

-Speaking about ‘children’. Raewyn and Kili would adopt two kids rescued from war zones, left without family. Raewyn used to want biological children, but her mother never lived long enough to hold her youngest daughter, and ever since, she’s been terrified of the idea of getting pregnant.

-Thorin and Bilbo are the godparents - naturally.

-Surprisingly, Raewyn is the chill parent. Kili does his absolute best to not teach the kids any swear words or let them watch anything under the age guide on films and series. The oldest said their first swear word just three weeks in Raewyn and Kili’s care. Fili was the culprit. To this day, Kili still believes it was Raewyn. She thinks so too.

-Bilbo often visits the dogs when Raewyn helps Kili in the pub at night. They’re twice as heavy as he is, but they love him. Bilbo used to be scared of them.

-Don’t worry, Raewyn gets therapy sessions.

-Kili is a swiftie. He pulled Raewyn into the fandom. Her favourite album is folklore. Kili is a 1989 stan. Raewyn’s favourite artist would probably be a classic rock band like Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.

-On the topic of modern media; the two love to watch horror films late at night. Raewyn is the psychopath who can go to bed after the credits roll. Kili needs to watch at least one episode of a comedy show before he can even walk up the stairs.

-Kili loves science fiction most, preferably Star Wars or Back to the Future. Raewyn has a secret love for terrible comedies like the Monty Python works. Horror and fantasy are their middle ground.

-Their home is littered with books. They have a bookcase. But there are books everywhere. At least three in the bathroom. Kili is a binge reader. He finishes series within a week. Raewyn reads twenty books at the same time. None of them place the books back in the bookcase. Bilbo does when he looks after the dogs.

-Gandalf has a spare key to their house. He never enters unannounced (surprisingly), but does enter their garden to entertain the dogs. When Raewyn invites him in, he claims to hate the dogs. He doesn’t. He even has a favourite. But don’t tell Marty McFly and Gizmo.

-The dogs aren’t forced to be outside. They just never want to go inside. Raewyn and Kili have to carry them in at night for their own safety. Luke, the St. Bernard, has to sleep in bed with them every night. So does the cat. Luke is the only dog she accepts. Raewyn and Kili often wake up on the floor.

-Once a week, Raewyn and Kili have a ‘duty-free’ night. They’ll go to a little shed in the forest Raewyn bought while someone takes care of the children and the dogs (the cat takes care of themself). They usually fall asleep there, but every so often they play boardgames or spend the night chatting away under the stars.

-Kili packs Raewyn’s lunch every morning. He leaves little notes in her lunchbox. There is not a day he has forgotten to do so.

-Raewyn and Kili wear matching ugly Christmas sweaters around the holidays.

[faebhaal]

One of the greatest legends when it comes to the Court of Wonders, is of Alice. Alice Liddell was a young, aspiring bard who at the age of 15 by accident traveled to the Feywild and lived to tell the tale.

Young Alice came from a moderately wealthy merchant family. Her adventure started when during a garden party she spotted a peculiar white rabbit and in an effort to ditch the stuffy gathering, chased after it. And down, down, down she fell into a hole. What she found on the otherside was nothing short of a dream; the Feywild.

Through her journey Alice is guided by a mischievous though wise, ever grinning cat whom she would dub the Cheshire Cat. Never was there a dull moment. Dryads, pixies, nereids, hags, satyrs and more. But the most dangerous creature she encountered (and pissed off) was the ruling archfey of the court. By the skin of her teeth, Alice was lucky to escape the wilds with her life and mind intact. Yet when she had returned, she was surprised to find out she had been missing for several years despite at most being in the Feywild for a couple of weeks.

Alice would go on to write and publish a book called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where she would recount in great detail her time in the Feywild. The book would include descriptions of the creatures, etiquette she learned, tea parties, games, riddles she was given, illustrations and more.

And while it would have been wise for Alice to stay away, she just couldn't. When children started vanishing in her local village, she took it upon herself to investigate. What she found was they were being spirited away to the Wonderland she had once visited. Determined to put an end to the mystery, Alice journeyed back to the Feywild. Through the looking glass she went, Vorpal Blade (a sword made of pure iron) in hand and nary a warning to anyone else.

This time, Alice did not return to the material plane.

In her stead she sent back letters (delivered by a strange cat) to her elder sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Liddell. Such correspondences were like diary entries almost. Alice would tell tales of the battles she fought, like against a beast she called the "Jabberwocky," and the archfey that she had slighted years ago. She'd include more beastly compendium pages, more drawings and little artworks, day to day events, etc. One day the correspondences stopped coming. Grief stricken, Lizzie wanted to keep her sister's memory alive. So in dedication, she published a book of all the information that she had received from her beloved littler sister. The work was titled: Alice through the Looking Glass. At the end, there is a mention by Lizzie that for a long stretch of time she would hear banging on all the mirrors in the family manor. Each instance when she would check them, the only reflection she would see was her own. Eventually there was no more pounding on the glass.

It's still never really known what Alice's fate was. Many adventurers take up the challenge to solve the mystery or in the very least find the legendary Vorpal Blade. It's a miracle if even one person makes it back from the so-called Wonderland. The majority get lost in eternal dreams, forever slumbering until turned to ash.

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Bracket has been updated for Round 2! Matchup list is in text under the cut. Round 2 will begin within a few days. The loser's bracket will begin after the main bracket concludes.

Betty Grof (Adventure Time) vs. Evelyn Wang (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Edelgard von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) vs. Almalexia (The Elder Scrolls)

Maeby Funke (Arrested Development) vs. GLaDOS/Caroline (Portal)

Nico Robin (One Piece) vs. Helen Richardson (The Magnus Archives)

Nefera de Nile (Monster High) vs. Lady Barbrey Dustin (A Song of Ice and Fire)

Jennifer Check (Jennifer's Body) vs. Moira O'Deorain (Overwatch)

Artemis (Greek Myth) vs. Tomie Kawakami (Tomie)

Rachel (Animorphs) vs. Shego (Kim-Possible)

Tabitha Scarlet (Scarlet Hollow) vs. Morgana Pendragon/le Fey (BBC Merlin)

The Witch (Into the Woods) vs. Nimona (Nimona)

Klaasje Amandou (Disco Elysium) vs. Ianthe Tridentarius (The Locked Tomb)

Sailor Galaxia (Sailor Moon) vs. Lady Alcina Dimitrescu (Resident Evil: Village)

Vriska Serket (Homestuck) vs. Willie Jack (Reservation Dogs)

Galadriel (Lord of the Rings) vs. Charlie (Don't Starve)

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond (Steven Universe) vs. Tokiko Shigure (AI: The Somnium Files)

Shion Sonozaki (Higurashi When They Cry) vs. Yuko Ichihara (xxxHolic)

Laerynn Coramar-Seelie (Critical Role: Exandria Unlimited) vs. Granny Weatherwax (Discworld)

Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights) vs. Starlight Glimmer (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Rocky Horror Picture Show) vs. Jinx (Arcane/League of Legends)

Eva Ushiromiya (Umineko When They Cry) vs. Empress Phillipa Georgiou (Star Trek)

Paige Duplass (The Silt Verses) vs. Dr. Pamela Isley AKA Poison Ivy (DCEU)

Reagan Ridley (Inside Job) vs. Kalina AKA Shadow Cat (Fantasy High)

Power (Chainsaw Man) vs. Marcille Donato (Dungeon Meshi)

Remy "Thirteen" Hadley (House MD) vs. Fang Runin / Rin (The Poppy War)

Han Sooyoung (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint) vs. Wu Zetian (The Iron Widow)

Emma Perkins (The Hatchetfield Series) vs. Nadja of Antipaxos (What We Do In The Shadows)

Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa) vs. Malva (Pokemon)

Vermouth (Detective Conan) vs. Eleanor (Do Revenge)

Asuka Langley Soryu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs. Leliana (Dragon Age)

Anthy Himemiya (Revolutionary Girl Utena) vs. Kyoko Sakura (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

O-Ren Ishii (Kill Bill) vs. Gwendolyn Poole AKA Gwenpool (Marvel Comics)

Lappland Saluzzo (Arknights) vs. Dr. Harleen Quinzel AKA Harley Quinn (DCEU)

Faith Lehane (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) vs. Rue Kuroha AKA Princess Kraehe (Princess Tutu)

Eve (Biblical Canon) vs. Ellie Williams (The Last of Us)

Marina (Sinbad: The Legend of the Seven Seas) vs. Sucre/Sugar (OFF)

Shodan (System Shock) vs. Halea Haumea (Phantomarine)

Arcee (IDW Transformers) vs. Wu Zetian (IRL History)

Miranda Pryce (Wolf 359) vs. Perihelion / ART (The Murderbot Diaries)

Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum (Adventure Time) vs. Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)

Harrowhark Nonagesimus (The Locked Tomb) vs. White Gladys the Orca (IRL)

Doctor Carmilla (Doctor Carmilla and The Mechanisms) vs. Catra (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Jasnah Kholin (The Stormlight Archive) vs. Medea (Greek Mythology)

Odin (The Bifrost Incident) vs. Nana Daiba (Revue Starlight)

Beatrice (Umineko When They Cry) vs. Any Female Praying Mantis (IRL)

Veronica Sawyer (Heathers) vs. Eleanor Guthrie (Black Sails)

Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) vs. Shadowheart (Baldur's Gate 3)

Noi (Dorohedoro) vs. Beatrix Kiddo (Kill Bill)

Rat God (Mad Rat Dead) vs. Petra Solano (Jane the Virgin)

Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club) vs. Cinder Fall (RWBY)

Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (M*A*S*H) vs. Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd)

Claudia (Interview with the Vampire) vs. Lady Eboshi (Princess Mononoke)

Entrapta (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) vs. Princess Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Samantha Groves AKA Root (Person of Interest) vs. Shanoa (Castlevania)

Makima (Chainsaw Man) vs. Raphaella la Cognizi (The Mechanisms)

Yennefer Vengerbeg (The Witcher) vs. Toriel Dreemurr (Undertale)

Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Carribbean) vs. Wanda Maximoff AKA The Scarlet Witch (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Mapleshade (Warrior Cats) vs. Gertrude Robinson (The Magnus Archives)

Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) vs. Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

Muu Kusonoski (Milgram) vs. Romanadvoratrelundar (Doctor Who)

Rouge the Bat (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. Yubel (Yu-Gi-Oh)

Ponyo (Ponyo) vs. Aubrey (OMORI)

Dr. Olivia "Liv" Octavius AKA Doc Ock (Into the Spider-Verse) vs. Helena George Wells (Warehouse 13)

Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. The Fairy Godmother (Shrek 2)

Nami (One Piece) vs. Lucretia (The Adventure Zone: Balance)

[lairofdragonagelore]

DLC: Honnleath and Enchanter Wilhelm’s basement - DAO

[Remade post, originally from here] 

In this attempt to play as an archaeologist, I went to recruit Shale and found several interesting statues that I did not remember they were there. 

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

The village and the first floor of the Enchanter’s house don’t have much to offer. We only found the typical dragon-like head symbol, which is a recurrent detail in many Tevinter ruins [Like the Ruins in Brecilian Forest] or in front of the Temple of Andraste. It’s hard to assume with certainty what represents exactly but we can speculate it’s a symbol related to old gods or/and dragons and, ironically, to Andraste sometimes. 

The most intriguing part in this house is its cellar, where the child is under the control of a desire demon possessing a cat. 

Here, the mage Wilhelm developed a puzzle that, curiously, has the same Chantry-like symbol than the quincunx arrangement found in Brecilian Ruins. We know due to the desire demon trapped in the cat that this is a device to sustain a field that prevents the demon to abandon the place. One may imagine that something of the like was performed in Brecilian Ruins, and went wrong, causing the Veil to thin in that part of Thedas. 

This device has six statues around the puzzle, which make no sense for them to be there. 

By the disposition of them, one could assume that these are the entities [the representation of them] that power up the field around this place. But it’s a mere speculation.  It feels like they used all what they had to make this DLC without developing anything new, no matter if it made some sense.

Starting from the top left, we have:

The first one is the usual Avvar statue of a man with a shield and a dagger. This statue is used in the Temple of Andraste to represent Maferath. They also appear in The Fade with arms made out of tentacles.

The second one is the same dragon-like Old God statue we found in the Brecilian Ruins during the  Dalish Origin, before reaching the Eluvian. It’s the same statue that Tamlen identifies as Falon’Din. This statue is also found in the basement of the Mage Tower of Ferelden [here] where the Circle keeps relics that are mostly from Tevinter. 

The third statue is the monstrosity of three heads. It can be found in the basement of the Mage Tower of Ferelden too, and in the Temple of Andraste, as guardians of the entrance towards her ashes. They are exactly in a place where you can find ruined paintings, one of them representing the Old God statue. So far, I could not find any way to link this statue to any lore. It feels like a monster proper of The Horror of Hormak . Or maybe, it’s related to Tevinter, since they have a representation of a three-head serpent statue too. Curiously, you can also find this statue in the residence of the Arl in Denerim [as decoration? lol]

The fourth is a typical statue we find in DAO to represent the Alamarri people. This same statue can be found in the basement of the Mage Tower of Ferelden [here] where it has trapped the soul of  Eleni Zinovia who was a former consort and advisor to Archon Valerius, and the mother of Archon Hessarian [the Archon who killed Andraste when she was burning].

The fifth statue must be an Old God, most likely Urthemiel, thanks to the iconography we find in the game files. We saw it in The Fade , and in the basement of the Tower of the Circle of Magi as well. This is the representation of the archdemons that we know were conceived originally according to concept art present in the instruction book of DA:O, but their tentacles made it difficult to animate in the game. In some interviews to Gaider, he explains that this concept was changed into dragons just because animation was easier this way in addition to the requirement that a game called Dragon Age should show more dragons too. 

And finally, the sixth statue is a warrior-like holding a sword. I tend to relate this statue as the representation of Tevinter people. In the Temple of Andraste we found this statue related to Archon Hessarian.

It’s hard to understand why such a mess of statues are there, and why they are arranged in a way that may imply they are sustaining the barrier. So far, the purpose of just pointing this out and gathering information related to architecture and statues and symbols we found around has been completed with this post.

My conclusion is that, specially in DLCs, they reuse resources already present in the game and sometimes this works against any intention of reading information in the environment. DAO in particular has always been very weak in this sense, unlike DAI.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

[barbatosconsort]

A Heart's Enchantment: The Beginning.

Village Girl x The Knight AU (Chapter 1)

Village Girl: Hana/Y/N - A normal, kind-hearted villager, she'll quickly apologize if she'd done something wrong.

The Knight: Venti - A strong, brave knight who's working under the orders of Iron Vale.

Mother - Hana's mother

Reo - Hana's childhood friend

ⅹ Don't repost, copy, or get heavily inspired without permission. ⅹ

———————————————————————————————

Hana was a simple and kind-hearted villager living in a small village. Her days were filled with tasks such as tending to the crops, delivering people's orders, taking care of the animals, and helping her family with their daily chores. Despite her busy schedule, she always found time to explore the nearby forest. The forest was her solace, a place where she could escape from the mundane tasks of everyday life.

"Hana! Come over here dear!" The woman from the counter called for her daughter.

"Yes, mother?" Hana replied with a concerned look. The mother stared in awe expression, "Aw, dear. Look at you. You're all grown up now!" The mother was hesitant by her daughter's grown appearance.

"You're over at the age of 25! Why not find someone to get married with, hm?" The mother smiled gently while grabbing the loaf of bread to put in the basket. "Mom..." The daughter frowned; she didn't have any friends in the village she was living in. But was hoping to find her first true love.

A true man to treat her right.

However, a few male villagers have been trying to propose to her but rejects all of them. She knew damn well that they were only interested in how beautiful she is. Can there ever be a man who isn't into her looks?

The bell *clung* when someone opened the door beside them, it was his friend, Reo, and his father. They walked forward towards the counter, and the father ordered a loaf of bread normally. Hana proceeded to walk out the door when she suddenly got interrupted by someone.

"Hey~ Hana! How are you doing?" He shouted, making Hana stuttered from his voice. She rolls her eyes. "I'm doing fine, anything else before I'll leave?" She responded coldly, "Ah, you're still cold as ever." He chuckled, trying to make a conversation as she left the store.

She took her time to walk down the village to deliver the package that her mother bought for her to deliver to. It was just an inch away, so it could only take a few minutes down the block to reach the customer's house.

After walking for some time, she saw a cat in the middle of the street, it was tempting for her to pat it and take it with her even though she needed to deliver the customer's package as soon as possible. Nothing couldn't stop her as she walked towards it, kneeling to reach its head to pat, the cat purred from the embrace and rubbed its head on her clothes.

As Hana was patting the cat, a sudden commotion interrupted her peaceful moment. Out of nowhere, a horse came running towards her, ready to attack. Hana froze in fear as the villagers looked at her with concern. But just as the horse was about to charge, a brave knight appeared from behind and held the horseback.

Hana was shaken and scared but relieved that she was safe. The knight apologized for the commotion and asked if she was okay. But before he could say anything else, Hana quickly ran away, leaving the knight feeling guilty for causing her distress.

When she arrived, the customer asked what took her so long to deliver their order. She apologized and made up an excuse that it was too crowded back in the alley.

She gave the package from her hands while apologizing politely. "It won't happen again, I'm so sorry!" The customer forgave her and paid for the order.

She walked past her home hurriedly and told her mom that the package had been delivered safely but didn't tell her what she'd encountered earlier.

One day, it was her free time, and her mother let go of her to wander off around the village. But what she'd thought was to wander in the forest where she had been secretly spending most of her time. While she was walking in the forest, there were birds, butterflies, and even doves flying around the bushes as they came towards her, welcoming her to their place. After seconds of walking, it was a view of a beautiful sky, a grass field filled with different gorgeous flowers, a small lake to the side, and a few animals wandering around.

She sniffed the ambrosial scent of nature and sighed feeling tranquility. She spends her time with the animals, roaming around the flower field and reading the books that she'd brought with her.

Suddenly, a horse appeared, scaring the other animals with its noise while the knight who was riding behind tried to shush it. Hana was surprised to see a knight in the forest, and she cautiously approached him but was furious as she scolded them.

"What do you think you're doing here?!" Before she was about to continue another sentence, she was surprised by the knight and the horse's appearance. It was them yesterday whom she'd stumbled upon with. The knight apologized for the sudden interruption and landed on the ground, "My apologies m'lady." and grabbed its leash, aware of his horse to cause more trouble any further. Removing his helmet made of steel, he fixed his black-bluish hair and stared at the woman looking at her.

She was interrupted by the knight's beauty but later on, snapped out and came back to reality. "Y-you..." Hana frowned, glancing at the horse and the knight multiple times.

"Oh, you're the! -" The neutral slap made the knight stutter and landed on his cheek. She instantly regrets her actions and apologizes, asking if he's okay. The knight convinced her that was alright and deserved it because of yesterday's incident. The Lady inches herself closer to take a look if he was okay with it. When the knight opened their eyes, he was hesitant by the Lady's presence who was slightly closer to him, he was flustered but kept it and began to admire how she was worried about the slap minutes ago.

The knight smiled, "I'm Venti, what can I call you m'lady?" He grabbed her hand, slowly pecking a kiss while glancing at her eyes. The Lady blushed and quickly distanced herself from the knight, "H-hana.." unable to speak normally. "I'm Hana."

The horse let out a silly neighed, teasing both of them. "Mhm," The knight chuckled leaving the Lady confused about what conversation they were talking about. Hana turned her back, slightly embarrassed as she walked towards her place and sat down. The knight led the horse near a lake to drink water.

The knight then glanced at the busy woman reading one of her books, he let go of the horse and quietly walked behind her back, peaking at what she was reading about. As he began to read each paragraph, it was a love story, the journey of two long-lost soulmates who started to spend their time together to fulfill their promises. He gave an awe expression figuring it out that she's fond of romance and so is he.

He broke the silence, "What an interesting book you're reading." His tone was calm and gentle, but it made Hana stutter about how near his voice was. She looked at where Venti's voice was and quickly distanced herself again, covering half of her reddened face. "What- do you think you're doing?!" Hana frowned. The knight apologized again, "I was reading the book you're holding; it seems that you're fond of romance as well."

Hana slowly held her book down as she stared at him with a slightly surprised expression. "You do?" She tilted her head to wait for his answer, the knight gently smiled at her and positioned himself in a comfortable state. "Why yes, romance is my thing after all."

They soon later made a conversation and talked about their interests.

"So... You're a knight?" She observes his clothes, as he does look like one. "A knight who's working under Iron Vale?" The knight nodded, smiling gently at every word she said. "Tell me about your experience of being a knight!" Venti's face lit up mixed with happiness and surprise. "Why sure~"

As they started talking, Hana found herself drawn to Venti's courage and chivalry. She was fascinated by his tales of adventure and heroism.

"You killed a dragon?! And you own one?!?" Hana couldn't believe her ears, she was filled with happiness, but despite what happened earlier, she was way far different than how she was. The knight felt the strike of an arrow hit his chest, as he continuously admires the Lady's reactions. "If you want, I can take you where my dragon lives. I'll show you how strong Dvalin is~" He winked at her.

"Sure thing! I'll wait for you tomorrow!" Hana smiled at him gently. The knight was adoring how cute she was in every millisecond. Venti couldn't help but admire Hana's smile, and they locked eyes, making their hearts skip a beat. They felt a connection, and it was as if their souls had synced. However, their moment was interrupted by Venti's horse neighing, indicating that it was time to go. Reluctantly, Venti bid farewell to Hana, promising to see her again soon.

As he rode away, he couldn't help but think about her and how he couldn't wait to see her again.

As Hana was left alone in the field, she stared at them as they slowly vanished through the forest, leaving a smile on her face, hopefully excited to meet each other again tomorrow.

After spending hours in the forest, Hana returned home feeling happy and content after meeting her first true love. The mother behind the counter noticed her daughter's unusual behavior and asked about who she had met earlier, but Hana was so happy to answer and ran towards her room. The mother could only sigh and continue with her chores, while Hana couldn't wait to see her knight again the next day.

———————————————————————————————