#diverse setting

[raymurata]

Guys, check out this kickstarter for Koboa, a South American inspired high fantasy setting for DnD 5e, PF2 and CFR! Its trilingual (English, Spanish and Portuguese versions) and made by writers, artists and game-designers from several different countries in South America, including native indigenous creators! The art is incredibly beautiful, and the setting seems fun to play in. Please support them, there's 13 days to go!

[sourtrot]

[blackfilmmakers]

There is literally nothing racist about dunmeshi at all, ryoko kui has a vast amount of characters with different body types and skin tones, and yet you’re here calling it “dnd” as if it’s not its own thing. Admit it, you’re just mad she doesn’t add black characters in a medieval European setting where they shouldn’t even exist.

[stealingyourbones]

Out of all of the people The Ghost King Phantom expected to relate to, it definitely wasn’t the scrawny red headed photographer of the Daily Planet. Jimmy Olsen has gotten so many temporary superpowers over his time being Superman’s friend. Hell, he once gained a 4th dimensional being’s reality warping abilities when he was given said dimensional being’s powers during a fight. Sure there’s a dozen or so heroes with the same amount of powers he has, but none as suddenly granted to them as a all powerful god that can relate to a teenager.

[serpentface]

There are three hyaenids found within the Imperial Wardi region- the hisippate, the highland hyena (kyniche na chennandi), and the scrub hyena (kyniche). (None are actually related to the king hyena).

The hisippate (name is close in meaning to 'stinking one', sometimes instead called '(wild) ant-dog' ('kulichin-wannaukoma')) is very distantly related to the other two. They are small, mostly solitary animals that sleep in burrows during the day and emerge to hunt at night. They are almost exclusively insectivorous, and their diet consists primarily of termites and ants that are lapped up with a long, strong tongue. The hisippate has a wide range, with their populations being highest in grassland and savanna regions with a high density of termites.

They are named for their foul smelling anal gland secretions, which are used to mark their territory and can be sprayed short distances to repel predators. Their highly visible black and white coat (which is erected in threat display) indicates them as not worth the trouble of eating. This is partly an honest advertisement of its chemical defenses, but may function as mimicry of a substantially more threatening native badger that can spray with great accuracy at distances of up to 10 feet (while the spray of the hitsippate is untargeted and only potent within a meter of the body).

The highland and scrub hyenas are the most numerous and successful predators within the region, with their populations having exploded in the past several centuries with the decline of the Wardi lion. Both live in matriarchal clan structures with strict dominance hierarchies, maintained not by individual size and strength but by highly complex networks of coalitions. All members of a clan can reproduce, and young inherit rank positions just beneath that of their mothers. Most males eventually disperse, entering into new clans at the very bottom of their hierarchy. They exhibit no obvious sexual dimorphism, and females often can only be differentiated from males by the shape of their pseudopenis.

The scrub hyena is most widely distributed and can be found throughout most of the region in a variety of lowland habitats, faring best in savannah and open grassland with high populations of grazing ungulates. This species is distinguished by well-defined spots and stripes and a sparse mane, though their coloration varies by individual and population, ranging from reddish to pale white-brown. Their clans can number upwards of a hundred individuals in the most prey-dense territories, though most are smaller.

The highland hyena is unique to the northwest of the region. As the name suggests, they have specialized into surviving in higher altitude climes, but can also be found in the remaining pockets of surrounding forest (and once had a much larger range across the former northern forests). Their spotting is often less visible than their lowland relatives, though their base coloration is similarly variable. Their clan sizes are substantially smaller than the scrub hyena, as they inhabit regions with much lower prey densities.

Both are closely related (whether they are subspecies or separate species would be subject of debate by taxonomists) and can produce viable young. Heavily hybridized populations are common where their ranges overlap. Scrub hyenas appear to breed more readily with dispersing male highland hyenas than the reverse.

Hyenas occupy an overall minor space in most of the Wardi cultural sphere. They are noted negatively as man/corpse eaters, but are generally regarded as intelligent and powerful predators and avoid the stigma attached to man-eating scavengers. In most cases they are not ascribed much significance in comparison to the venerated lion or the massive and intimidating king-hyena, mostly being relegated to a threat to livestock and potential danger to lone travelers.

Many urban areas in the province of Godsmouth (including the outer unwalled portions of the eponymous city) have unique practices of not only tolerating but actively inviting scrub hyenas into urban spaces. These urban hyena populations have been genetically semi-isolated from their wilder counterparts for several centuries. Rather than hunting large prey, they fill similar roles to feral dogs in the urban landscape as cleaners of refuse and killers of pests, and benefit from their species being culturally regarded as powerful predators rather than lowly scavengers. They notably predate on the considerably more reviled feral dogs, and keep their populations much lower than other parts of the region. Their role is regarded as both a physically and spiritually cleansing force, with their presence neutralizing polluting elements (while not being sacred in of itself).

The Godsmouth hyenas show little fear of humans compared to their wild relatives, though their activity peaks at nighttime hours to avoid close contact. They are sometimes raised from cubs to be fully tamed (though are not truly domesticated) and used as guards or to assist in hunting (Godsmouth's designated dog hunters notably have traditions of keeping hyenas). This practice is essentially exclusive to the province of Godsmouth- hyenas rarely establish semi-urban populations in other parts of the region, and those who do have considerably greater fear of humans, usually sneaking in under the cover of night to feed on scraps and fleeing from encounters.

The status of hyenas varies in the other groups native to the region. For example:

Hyenas have a generally favorable status to the Cholemdinae, who have traditionally reckoned them as highest among predators, noting their stamina and intelligence. Body parts of hyenas are ascribed the ability to increase the wearer's stamina, and amulets carved from hyena bones are often worn while persistence hunting. Children born while hyenas are heard crying are considered to be strong and very likely to survive infancy (and will often be given names referencing the animals). The apparent androgyny of hyenas is allegorically attributed to the creation story- the first beings were dual-sexed, and split into male and female halves as part of their punishment for the theft of fire from the sun. The hyena escaped this punishment by digging into the underworld to hide and getting only its once long, luxurious tail chopped off (which was sticking out from the hole).

((TANGENT: The South Wardi have more recent common cultural ancestry to the Cholemdinae than to most of the other groups assimilated into the collective Wardi nationality. The notion of hyenas once having long, flowing tails that got chopped off in some mishap still appears in South Wardi animal folktales))

They have a largely disfavorable reputation to the Hill Tribes, and are generally regarded as gluttonous and brutish in nature. The Highlands have a naturally lower density of wild ungulates, made far lower by most grazing pasture being occupied by livestock. This causes hyenas (and other large predators) to more frequently predate on domestic animals, and thus places them directly in conflict with herders (and also makes them common rabies vectors). They are readily culled when found in proximity to villages. Hyena pelts are generally considered worthless, and culled hyenas will often be fed whole to livestock guardian dogs and their pups in hopes of teaching them to be fearless towards the predators. Were-hyenas appear in folklore- among the southwestern Hill Tribes they are most commonly the accursed spirits of cannibals, while in the northeast they are malicious witches who learned secret arts of transformation and take on these forms to wreak havoc upon their enemies.

[goldensunset]

i am having a great time over here

[yangjeongin]

HYUNJIN BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN (2024): hyunjin in every letter... ↘ D-28 | CHARISMATIC

[atthebell]

you know i don't really want to get into a discussion about increased scrutiny for people who already care about things like diversity and accessibility but i do think it's frustrating to see creative projects from people who do really care about including those values in their work get completely disproportionate criticism because people have set their own expectations about them so high. i'll see people be like 'this should've had [thing no similar projects have and yet is being demanded like it's owed or required of this specific person over anyone else]' or absolutely blasting someone for not including such and such thing that people have decided is necessary solely coming from this one person/anyone they feel they can pressure in this way. and this disproportionately affects indie creators, to the point where i see people DEMANDING certain standards from people who have far less resources and funds than major media corporations. and it's like okay do y'all have any sense of scale or do you think berating people who actually care about this shit and are trying is better than advocating for progress and change in spaces where it's far less accepted and would be far more impactful. also do you think constantly berating people who do put effort into this stuff is a good way to encourage them to continue or like what

[22plus15]

tooney and alessia mentioned lucy as the most focused and competitive at camp 😌 (full podcast)

[rookflower]

i will say im a windclan moor >>> windclan prairie truther in my heart but i also think looking at "warrior cats is set in the new forest/england/the uk" and going "no it's not. it's actually set wherever i live" is awesome so whatever. whatever you think is right and whatever i think is right. 10 billion creative and inspired by personal experience warrior cats settings forever

[potatoes-tomatoes]

my brand is drawing characters that are so eepi 🙃

[daniclaytcn]

idk how to word this but i think tumblr.com needs to examine why the most mediocre, straight, white movies or shows or books are allowed to be popular or hyped up on here without being picked apart; but the minute an author makes an effort to tell a sincere, diverse, queer story, they get ripped apart and demonized if it falls short of perfection and doesn’t perfectly cater to the taste of every single queer person in existence. some of y’all really need to work on your own internalized bigotry idk

[thefirstknife]

I'm gonna be 100% real with you in that this is an entirely earnest question and not meant to be me throwing shade or being obtuse in any way.

Osiris is Jewish? I missed this in lore somewhere probably?

Yep! In the opening cutscene to Curse of Osiris, Osiris briefly curses in a non-English language when trying to arrange the cubes. The language spoken is Hebrew! This is due to his voice actor, Oded Fehr, who is Jewish and from Israel and naturally speaks Hebrew. Here's my other post about it!

If it had been just his VA being Jewish, we could speculate about it, but Osiris speaking Hebrew is canon due to this cutscene; they let Oded say this and also kept the line in. This makes him Egyptian Jewish and canonically speaking at least three languages: English, Hebrew (cutscene) and Arabic (the word "sagira" is Arabic for "little one"). Here's also a link to the old Curse of Osiris reveal stream where the devs said that "really early on we made a commitment, we wanted to make sure he was Middle Eastern and he's actually even voiced by Oded Fehr." This shows that his heritage and little details surrounding him are very much relevant.

A lot of Destiny storytelling about heritage is told through names and languages as little details to pick up on. For example, Elsie Bray is very much heavily implied to be Muslim. Back with Beyond Light lore, we got a lot of details about the Bray family, including Sylvie Bray, the mother of Elsie, Willa and Alton. She was shown speaking English and French (+ a single Italian word), and Elsie was shown replying to her using French and the specifically Muslim term "inshallah" which is Arabic. This is repeated in Lightfall's Collector's Edition in Elsie's booklet, showing that Elsie followed the same faith as her mother, or at least honored it:

"Oh daughter," Mom squeezes me tight "You can't make them love you, inshallah. You have to let go."— The horror consumed her as easily as the Stasis. She felt like a frightened child cast loose in the wind. Alone. Every assertion of control met by a temper tantrum in the face of a hurricane…. "Inshallah." She half-remembered her mother's words, and let go.

Words hadn't saved her, or her mother's faith.

Adding this mostly to show how details about names and languages are used to tell us information without having to spell it out directly, but rather to add to the storytelling. This means that these details about Osiris aren't just random, or at least their outcome isn't, now that it's been allowed to become canon through one of the most important cutscenes.

[crispy0nion]

attempted to watch the decameron series on netflix for shits and giggles and now i want to die. that is not the decameron that is a fucked up version of too hot to handle where you could die of bubonic plague at any time

[dawns-beauty]

piecing together an update/expansion for Practical Female Armors, because I can't be confined to only 3 projects at once

[solacereigns]

AYO ALEX GRESINI 2025 & 2026 CONFIIIIRMED