#glassblowing is just so pretty

[vraska-theunseen]

(gets into a hobby that's very complicated and has limited documented instruction for everything i want to learn the farther and more niche i get into it just bc of the nature of a lot of the more complicated things i find are uploaded by one person who didn't make a tutorial) what the fuck. why is this hard

[stupidphototricks]

I still have a lot of leftover favorite quotes from Feet of Clay, I hope nobody minds.

People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, not only because they're standing on one and being soaked by the other. They don't quite look like real science. But geography is only physics slowed down and with a few trees stuck on it, and meteorology is full of excitingly fashionable chaos and complexity. And summer isn't a time. It's a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

Just take a minute with this one. Geography is only physics slowed down and with a few trees stuck on it. Is it profound, or is it complete nonsense? I can't tell! Curse you Sir Terry (affectionate)

Constable Visit[-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets] spent his days in company with his co-religionist Smite-The-Unbeliever-With-Cunning-Arguments, ringing doorbells and causing people to hide behind the furniture everywhere in the city. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(These names are genius)

"Guild member?" "Not any more, sir." "Oh? How did you leave the [alchemists'] guild?" "Through the roof, sir. But I'm pretty certain I know what I did wrong." -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

"Is dere any trouble?" he said. The crowd backed away. "None at all, officer," said Mr. Raddley. "You, er, just loomed suddenly, that's all..." "Dis is correct," said Detritus. "I am a loomer. It often happen suddenly. So dere's no trouble, den?" "No trouble whatsoever, officer." -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

The tincture of night began to suffuse the soup of the afternoon. Lord Vetinari considered the sentence and found it good. He liked "tincture" particularly. Tincture. Tincture. It was a distinguished word, and pleasantly countered the flatness of "soup." -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(An oddly Douglas Adams-esque digression. It goes on, too)

The three thieves looked around. As their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, they received a general impression of armorality, with strong overtones of helmetness. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(mmm adjectivized nouns, my favorite)

She scrounged what she could from the guild, but a real alchemical laboratory should be full of the kind of glassware that looked as if it were produced during the Guild of Glassblowers All-Comers Hiccuping Contest. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

Ankh-Morpork, alone of all the cities of the plains, had opened its gates to dwarfs and trolls (alloys are stronger, as Vetinari had said). It had worked. They made things. Often they made trouble, but mostly they made wealth. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

There were no public health laws in Ankh-Morpork. It would be like installing smoke detectors in Hell. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

"D*mn!" said Carrot, a difficult linguistic feat. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(I was wrong about Mort, it wasn’t the last time for that joke)

"The man has actually got charisn'tma." "Your meaning?" "I mean he's so dreadful he fascinates people." -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

He felt more alive than he had for days. The recent excitement still tingled in his veins, kicking his brain into life. It was the sparkle you got with exhaustion, he knew. You were so bone-weary that a shot of adrenaline hit you like a falling troll. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

I love this because you're just reading along, it all makes sense, and then a troll drops unexpectedly into the sentence, illustrating the simile in a very meta sort of way.

Cows, in Sergeant Colon's book, should go "moo." Every child knew that. They shouldn't go "mur-r-r-r-r-m!" like some kind of undersea monster and spray you with spit. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

"Hello, hello, hello, what's all this, then?" said Carrot. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(Carrot being a human police officer, iykyk)

Rogers the bulls were angry and bewildered, which counts as the basic state of mind for a full-grown bulls. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

Just as a point of interest, Rogers is one of only two literary characters I can think of that use plural pronouns, the other one being Proginoskes the cherubim from A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'Engle.

Angua couldn't make out any words but many dwarf cries didn't bother with words. They went straight for emotions in sonic form. -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

"It's the most menacing dwarf battle-cry there is! Once it's been shouted someone has to be killed!" "What's it mean?" "Today Is A Good Day For Someone Else To Die!" -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(Dwarfs are more pragmatic than Klingons)

"Commander Vimes said someone has to speak for the people with no voices!" -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(Vimes would have gotten along with Granny Aching, I think)

"We can rebuild him," said Carrot hoarsely. "We have the pottery." -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

"Dis is police brutality..." Igneous muttered. "No, dis is just police shoutin'!" yelled Detritus. "You want to try for brutality it OK wit' me!" -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

(Detritus has really gotten the knack of policing by now. And by the way he does nothing out of line here, or I think ever)

"That's blasphemy," said the vampire. He gasped as Vimes shot him a glance like sunlight. "That's what people say when the voiceless speak." -- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

[lorelaiislatte]

kacy headcanons part ii as we all collectively continue to lose our minds (part i here)

lucy talks forever about going camping together. kate finally gets the time off work, and lucy spends the whole weekend freaking out every time an ant gets in the tent

kate can’t braid her hair to save her life, so lucy does it for her

lucy took ballet as a kid (kate’s desperate for photos)

lucy’s possessions have probably doubled since moving in with kate, yet she can still fit everything in a backpack. it’s a mystery kate can’t seem to solve

neither of them actually use the hot tub on the balcony that often. it’s too much work to clean it constantly

lucy has a henna kit and likes to practice patterns on kate. sometimes she’ll specifically go for bridal designs (but she won’t tell kate that)

kate has a no-killing-bugs-in-the-house rule. lucy has spent several evenings trying to negotiate that killing a mosquito is acceptable as it is almost always preemptive self-defence

kate never took anything from hotel rooms before; now she and lucy grab pretty much anything not nailed to the floor. their collection of individually-wrapped teabags is unbelievably impressive

lucy never learned how to ride a bike

kate wouldn’t buy lucy a surfboard unless asked, but she’s had one picked out in her usual surf shop since they got back together

each anniversary they go to the most unusual couples class they can find in the area, just for a laugh (this year they’re going glassblowing)

[dandyleyen]

Fantrolls - Info

↓↓↓ info ↓↓↓

Oscine Chrono - Witch of Time

⤷ Oscine is an ambitious troll with a love for glass art, including glassblowing and stained glass. He's pretty self-reliant and he pushes against the notion that some things are beyond control, even death. Especially death. He's the reason his session struggles for some time. He keeps trying to fix things by himself, without any help and he is incredibly stuck on trying to find a way to get his dead matesprit (Carina), whom died before they ever started their session, back but things keeps going wrong.

⤷ He's incredibly clever and creative and he likes to think outside the box. He thinks he can handle things just fine on his own, especially after godtiering. He and Selune butt heads over the inevitability of things. He's a little lost in his grief and it makes him reckless and a little dangerous.

⤷ He likes making mini sculptures with glassblowing. He creates them for fun and for sale, same with his stained glass windows.

-

Selune Miseri - Seer of Doom

⤷ Selune is a bit of a gloomy, quiet troll. She tends to fall into a bit of a "doom and gloom" mindset and she's been described as melancholic by some. She'll occasionally get high with her matesprit, Carina, leaving her a bit giggly and relaxed.

⤷ She has a hard time expressing herself emotionally at times and she sometimes goes a little too far into her pessimism and the inevitability of things, though Carina usually helps to balance her out a little and bring her back from that.

-

Aureli Snovae - Maid of Space

⤷ Aureli is a creative, curious troll with an interest in science. She doesn't care much for the fact that she's the heiress to the throne and she really doesn't want to be in charge of so many trolls. She doesn't think she can lead the way she's meant to, but she's unwilling to go down without a fight when the day comes and the current empress tries to kill her. Failure is not an option for her. She wants things to improve for those lower on the hemospectrum and she knows she can do something about it.

⤷ She likes being alone, though she does care for her friends and she will spend time with them. She can easily get lost in her head.

⤷ She has some complicated feelings for her closest friend, Howlen. She's not entirely sure if she's wanting feeling pale feelings or red flushed feelings for him, but she knows it's one of the two.

-

Howlen Carnis - Knight of Blood

⤷ Howlen is a somewhat stubborn, grumpy troll. He can come across as intimidating for those who might not know him well and he knows it. He keeps up a front for the most part, not wanting to be vulnerable or be seen as such. He's incredibly loyal to his friends and bonds and trust are very important to him.

⤷ He's especially protective over his close friend, Aureli. They have some complicated feelings there and he's fully aware that he wants to be in a matespritship with her. He only doesn't act on his feelings because he wants to be certain that she returns the feelings, and he knows she has enough on her plate as it is.

⤷ He hunts for food and he likes sharing his hunts (whether it's fur, teeth, bones, meat, etc) with his lusus and with his friends whenever possible. Hunting helps to relieve stress for him, but he can't spend all his time on that, so he also stress bakes.

-

Carina Sancti - Knight of Hope

⤷ Carina is a cheery, giggly troll. Her behavior typically is more on the manic side of things. She has a more formal way of speaking and it tends to show more clearly when she's high, since she's much calmer and relaxed then.

⤷ She's incredibly optimistic and can't bear to think of a world without hope. Selune, her matesprit, sometimes has to help bring her down a little to see things as they are and to clear her head.

-

Chrysa Topary - Heir of Life

⤷ Chrysa is a caring and bright troll with an affinity for plants and horticulture. She's witty and far too forgiving, radiating warmth. She finds peace in her greenhouse, where she cultivates trees and plants from all over. She sells plants and flowers, but she enjoys caring for them as well.

⤷ By the time the 'story' starts, she's not alive. She's a ghost and she has no way of communicating with her friends or her matesprit, Oscine, but she can see the turmoil he's going through.

⤷ Some of the glass on her greenhouse is stained glass, courtesy of Oscine. It helps to lessen the harsh sunlight on certain plants.

[yeetmeoffjueyunkarst]

Would you by any chance be willing to do Lynette being given a flower from reader? But like instead of it being a real flower its glass? They made it themselves for her and it has all these different colors of glass to try and make it look as pretty and real as possible?

👌done.

lynette x gn!reader fluff, whether they are together or not, i leave it up to you. Reader is not Traveller, small spoilers for Lyney story quest

A flower for you.

To say making a glass flower is a challenge is an understatement.

When you signed up for a glass flower making workshop that was held by a local glassblower, you did not know it was this hard.

It's not that it isn't difficult, it's just that... You wanted it to be perfect for Lynette. Sweet, quiet, but absolutely wonderful Lynette.

As to how that happened...

flashback 2 months ago

'Say, wouldn't this show on September 30 be your 100th show with Lyney?" You casually ask over tea, as Lynette sips her tea. Today's tea is Earl Grey tea, one of the classics. "Exiting Standby Mode. Yes, it would be. Lyney has been thinking of celebrating afterwards." She replies softly.

"How do you feel about it?"

"Much happy, actually. We've come a long way since our first show." Lynette replies simply, before eating a macaron.

You go silent at her words. Having met at a back alley while feeding some alley cats, the both of you have fostered a budding friendship over feeding cats, and over time, drinking tea as well.

"Perhaps I should take you up on your offer to reserve a ticket to a show after all." You state softly to Lynette.

"Really?"

You nod.

"Alright then, I'll pass you a ticket the next tea session."

What you don't add is the fact that you'll be bringing a small gift for her to celebrate her 100th show with Lyney.

Much thought had been put in place for the gift.

To buy it? To make it? The thoughts plague you. She can't have anything strong smelling because she's sensitive to scent, so no perfumes, no flowers...

Wait a minute...

And that's how you're in the workshop for a private studio session, trying to ambitiously make a rainbow flower.

The first time you went for a workshop, you made a decent simple flower.

And you were going along with that until...

"My brother gave the Traveller a Rainbow Rose during a private magic show for them." Lynette once offhandedly mentioned to you.

"He was probably imitating Mr Cesar, but even I can't deny that was rather smooth of my brother."

And that's how you're trying to make a glass rainbow flower for her.

Sitting down, you take in a deep breathe, trying to calm down.

After lots of money, time spent on this, and only a week left to that 100th show, This was literally the last chance.

With that, you begin shaping the petals, petal by petal. Even though you had decent practice, you still unfortunately burned your finger a little, causing you to take a short break when you were making the green petal.

After a while, all 7 petals are done, and set to cool.

Next up, the stems and leaves, in the color of silver, just to somewhat match her outfit during shows.

Slowly, slowly, you combine everything.

It wasn't the most ideal compared to what you had seen others do, but it'll have to do.

At least it wasn't like the 2nd try where everything went wrong.

"Welcome to Lyney and Lynette's magic show!" Lyney warmly welcomes the audience, you among them.

Most people would keep their eyes on Lyney, for he is the star of the show. However, your eyes were always on Lynette, watching her throughout the show.

The first time you went to watch the show, while most of your friends focused on Lyney, your eyes always focused on Lynette, causing you to miss out the main show every single time.

Call it infatuation, but you were smitten at the start. Daydreams of hugging her, kissing her, cherishing her filled your mind.

You never thought you'll see her outside the show, that day you were feeding cats.

But ever since, you've been blessing the cats, least to say.

In a blur, the magic show was over. Your mind focused on Lynette all the time, the way she'll simply pop out of nowhere, her stoic demeanour, sharp and calculated movements aimed at being a shadow in the presence of the overwhelming light that was her brother.

The show ends, and you head backstage to find Lynette.

"Ah, and you are?" Lyney appears with a polite smile, but what it does not betray is his deep suspicions that you have insincere motives.

"Y/N. I'm looking for your sister. Do you know where she is?" You ask gently, knowing from Lynette's mentions of her brother that he's very protective of her.

"Ah, Y/N." The twins ring out at the same time.

So that's the friend Lynette has been mentioning lately, Lyney muses to himself.

"How was the show?" Lynette asks, internally glad that you, someone close to her, made it for such an occasion.

"It was great! And I, well, have something for you." You awkwardly take out the glass flower, embarrassed at giving her this in front of her brother.

"I'm sorry if it's not very beautiful compared to real flowers, but you told me before that you were sensitive to the scent of flowers, so I thought I would get you another type of flower. I hope you like it." You state weakly, feeling more and more embarrassed.

"Any.. anyway, congratulations for your 100th show, and um, all the best for future ones!" And with that, you left backstage, leaving the twins with each other.

"So... Y/N..." Lyney cheekily asks, with an underlying hint of suspicion and concern.

"They're fine." Lynette replies, stroking each glass petal of the flower. "They had a small burn on their finger." She states softly, face turning red at the realisation that it wasn't bought, but made by you.

"Sounds like you like them, sister." Lynette eggs her on for an answer.

"How about you worry on how to gain back more of the Traveler's trust first? Wouldn't want to lose their affections, would you?" Lynette rebutts back softly, still recalling your blushing face.

She knows of your eyes on her throughout the show, ever since the first one you attended. While she was initally... scared because of past experiences, her personal interactions with you, and all the things her feline friends have been telling her about you when you're feeding them...

A small smile creeps onto her face. Lyney watches, not used to seeing his calm sister a little lovestruck.

Perhaps she would ask Lyney for some advice to be more bold in expressing her affections for Y/N.

Or maybe not, I'm still not sure about how I feel for Y/N. All I know is that Y/N is special to me, friend or more.

"Still, be careful, Lynette." Lyney warns her softly, in reference to their Fatui ties.

She sighs.

"I know, don't worry. We will be alright."

I spent 15 minutes considering what a glass flower was and googling how to make a glass flower.

You can use the link here

As always, likes and reblogs appreciated, Requests are still open as usual

[ofliterarynature]

NOVEMBER 2024 WRAP UP

[ loved liked okay nope dnf (reread) ]

Kicking Ice • (The Bride of the Blue Wind) • Animal Farm • The Lost Manuscript • Heart's Blood • Hotel • The Liar's Knot • The Education of Pip • The Glassblower • Terec and the Wall • (The Hands of the Emperor) • The Village Library Demon Hunting Society • One Good Turn • The Silence of Bones • (The Raven Tower) • The Art Thief • Safer Places • Letters to Half-Moon Street

* * * * * *

Letters to Half-Moon Street - an absolutely charming epistolary regency romance told mostly through letters between the main character, his siblings, and his love interest. The mc is gay and demi-sexual (and a younger son) in a queer-norm England where gender norms have been replaced by rules about birth order, and there's magic - it's very Sorcery & Cecelia meets KJ Charles (if not quite as good). As I said, very charming, but when I read the two shorter follow ups, One Good Turn and The Education of Pip, it was pretty clear that the epistolary format (and romance) helped cover a lot of hurts. I applaud the author for including an aromantic character and trying to write stories about finding your place and self-recovery without romance, but in her attempt to create comfort she sacrificed any real development to the characters or the plot. (also, while the rich upper class characters are exceedingly nice to the lower-class characters, we still almost never see any of their servants. hmm.) There's a few more books in the series that are romances (and at least one looks like it might be epistolary), so we'll have to see if she improves. Fantastic covers though!

Safer Places - a comic collection that was supposed to be for my book club but didn't quite work out unfortunately! These comics were very strange and dreamlike, making me not quite sure what happened but very much wanting to think about it. The artist also returned to a story idea several times, sometimes taking on an entirely new shape, and it really lent a sense of connection to the book as a whole. Would recommend!

The Art Thief - I'm not really one for more narrative-type nonfiction or for true crime, but non-violent crime involving fine art? I don't know why I find the fine-art world (and crime) so fascinating, but I do, and I enjoyed this! It was actually a fairly nice, chill read to distract myself with in the middle of the election.

The Raven Tower - revisiting my first Ann Leckie 5 years later - this was incredible! Slow yes, but watching the story build itself out of all the pieces was absolutely fascinating. 100% satisfied with the ending, but it was also a bit of a cliff-hanger? I'll be absolutely fascinated to see what kind of stories Leckie felt compelled to write that take up half of the Lake of Souls collection.

The Silence of Bones - DNF @ 11%. I was very interested in this as a historical mystery with a female protagonist set in Korea, but leery of it being YA. I admit I wasn't a big fan of the audiobook narrator, but an hour and a half into the audiobook I still hadn't hadn't settled into the story, so decided to drop it.

The Village Library Demon Hunting Society - This was very high on my watch-list for 2024 due to my love for CM Waggoner's first book Unnatural Magic, but was somewhat leery of the cozy-fantasy vibes it was giving. My first shock came when it turned out to have a fairly modern and contemporary setting and was not in a fantasy other-world, though as expected it was definitely going for the cozy-fantasy and elderly-person-solves-murder vibes that are popular right now, and with which I've personally had mixed results. Overall though, it was aiming to be a sort of meta-commentary on cozy mystery tropes, which I think it was successful at! I think it definitely did better than its sci-fi cousin, the Midsolar Murders series by Mur Lafferty. I just wish it had a better title, this one is a bit of a mouthful and only semi-relevant.

The Hands of the Emperor - started slowly rereading this a few months ago with the intention of getting around to my first reread of the sequel. Honestly, the perfect book to be reading during an absolutely horrible election, I imagine I'll be burying my head in the Nine Worlds a lot in the upcoming years.

I wasn't quite ready to head directly into AtFotS after finishing Hands, so jumped around to some of Victoria's short stories I hadn't read yet. Terec and the Wall is the second Terec story - I admit I really don't have much interest in this sub-series? This one in particular was at least interesting in the second half because of its crossover with the Greenwing & Dart series, so I recommend you don't read this until you've read that. The Glassblower was...fine. It showed promise, but it was so short! I hope the second part fleshes out more, but idk. It's also related to the Ysthar collection of books, which is the only part of the Nine Worlds that I haven't bothered to revisit yet. To skip ahead a bit, the third of the Sisters Avramapul novellas is finally out! It's been a while so I decided to reread the first two books, starting with The Bride of the Blue Wind. It's a Bluebeard retelling and deals with pregnancy/body horror and is not for the faint-hearted! Sardeet was SO YOUNG in this, I don't think I quite realized before. Good but not my favorite of the series.

The Liar's Knot - loved loved loved. These books are so good even if (or because?) all of the plot twists are somewhat soap-operatic. I think this is my favorite in the series because the characters are a bit more settled but also having to learn to trust each other. And all of the secret identity reveals!!! I had a wonderful time.

Hotel -DNF @ 8%. picked this up at a recent library sale because a mystery at a hotel sounds cool! Then I started it on audiobook and realized it was a thriller (not my thing) written by a guy in the 60's (ditto). What I read was certainly passable and maybe I could have gotten through it, but I lost interest.

Heart's Blood - I've seen Marillier's work around somewhere, and picked this one up at a library book sale at some point. I got so close to DNF'ing this early on and almost wish I had. It wasn't bad I think, it has some beauty-and-the-beast vibes, but it felt excruciatingly slow, and something that I couldn't quite put my finger on was annoying the heck out of me. It made me wish more times than I should admit that I was reading Chalice by Robin McKinley instead. I'm not entirely scared off of trying Marillier's other work, but I'd proceed with extreme caution.

The Lost Manuscript - DNF @ 19%. A surprisingly lighthearted novel told in letters about a woman who finds a manuscript in a hotel bedside table and proceeds to track down the original author, only to discover someone else had added to the manuscript at some point after he lost it. She and her contacts try and trace its history back to find the mystery author. Seemed very nice, if you're looking for something calm and lighthearted? Just not what I was looking for at the time.

Animal Farm - somehow managed to escape reading this for school, and a podcast I listen to loves recommending this, so I picked up a copy at the same sale as Heart's Blood. I feel like I spent most of the book sagely nodding my head, like yup, that's how it can be! Very smart book, not a favorite but I'm glad I read it.

Kicking Ice - backed this on Kickstarter ages ago when I was still deep in my Check, Please! fervor. Finally picked it up because it was short and I needed to finish another book for my owned-tbr challenge. It was ok. Maybe a better choice if you're a young girl interested in hockey or sports in general? I also didn't like the art style used for most of the book, so a pass from me. I'm sure a lot of the info about the NWHL is also outdated by this point.

[rustyironskillet]

Ninjago Character Headcanons

Cole Brookstone

Age: 18

Height: 5’11

Where are they from: A small town full of performance artists.

Fun facts:

Since he grew up in a town full of performers, he is very critical of others' fashion, unconsciously judging everyone's hair and clothing choices.

He mentally categorizes fighting moves with dance moves, and when doing the obstacle course in the monastery, he realized there was a rhythm to the obstacles movements and used this to finish the obstacle course before Sensei Wu finished his tea.

He also uses this rhythm technique in battle, and his attacks are very reminiscent of dance moves.

He has eaten dirt and will do it again.

As many issues as Cole has with his dad, he still is the reason that Cole loves music, especially quartets.

He is a mama's boy.

He was Sensei Wu’s first student.

Hobbies: rock climbing, playing video games, cooking, fashion, and sometimes dancing.

Backstory: Mostly the same as in the show, his dad is a dancer, and his mother died of illness when he was younger. After her death, his relationship with his father worsened as his coping mechanism was to hide away in his work, dancing, which he also dragged Cole into. Cole met Sensei Wu while rock climbing to get away from his father after another fight. After talking for a bit, he decided to lie to his father that he was going to Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts and then became Sensei Wu’s student.

Jay Walker

Age: 17

Height: 5’7

Where are they from: A junkyard

Fun Facts:

He has put a fork in a socket, just to see what would happen.

He is dyslexic and has ADHD.

He has Naruto run around the junkyard.

Has broken all of his bones more than once.

Hobbies: Inventing/mechanics, coding/programming, engineering, playing video games, simping, and watching anime.

Backstory: Even though Jay grew up in a junkyard and was homeschooled there, his parents often made multiple trips to Ninjago City to either pick up stuff for the junkyard or show off their invention. But whenever they went there, Jay never could play with the kids from Ninjago City because they all thought that he and his parents were weird. This caused Jay to lie about who his parents were and where he lived. However, he has a good relationship with his parents, and they love him dearly. He met Sensei Wu after crashing into a billboard.

Kai Smith

Age: 18

Height: 5’10

Where are they from: Ignacia, a small village in the countryside of Ninjago.

Fun Facts:

Too spicy is not a phrase that Kai knows.

Kai is ambidextrous (originally left-handed but learned to use his right).

He is hydrophobic and cannot swim.

Ever since his parents disappeared, he was in charge of cooking, and he is decent at it but puts in way too many spices, so only his sister is able to stomach it.

He styled and cut Nya’s hair until she was old enough to do it herself, and he was pretty good at it.

He cannot haggle for the life of him; this is why he isn’t allowed shopping on his own.

Hobbies: metalworking, woodworking, glassblowing, sword fighting, singing, hairstyling, practicing one-liners in the mirror, and playing soccer.

Backstory: Ever since his parents went missing when he was 7, Kai had to take care of Nya and himself. His neighbors chipped in now and then to help them out, but it was he who had to work the smithy and sell armor and weapons to make sure Nya and he had food on the table. After a few years of doing it, Kai managed to teach himself how to make good-quality armor and weapons—never as good as his parents, but better than most. This and Nya's own accomplishments made the Smiths considered the most gifted kids in the village. Thanks to this, Kai and Nya have a big ego, and they both are pretty independent.

Nya Smith

Age: 16

Height: 5’8

Where are they from: Ignacia, a small village in the countryside of Ninjago.

Fun facts:

Nya is typically naturally good at everything, but when she does struggle getting something, she drops it and moves on to something else. That's why she doesn’t do metalworking, woodworking, or glass blowing because those crafts require a lot of trial and error, and why focus on something she isn’t good at immediately when she can do something she is good at?

She is really good at negotiations because she is in charge of both buying and selling, and she will not pay more than she has to nor will she sell for less than she deserves.

The only one of three people who know that about Zane’s secret garden.

Hobbies: gardening, sewing/knitting/crocheting, reading, mechanics, coding/programming, Taekwondo, swimming, cooking, playing instruments (guitar, violin, flute, bass, piano, and drums), sword fighting, and archery.

Backstory: When Nya’s parents went missing when she was 5, Kai did his best to take care of her. At first, she was terrified to be without them. Nya thought Kai wasn’t scared, but soon she realized he was; he just didn’t want to show her so she wouldn't be as scared. Nya decided that since Kai was putting all this effort into being there for her, she would return the favor, and she began to be more independent and try to make him proud. This is what encouraged her to pick up so many hobbies, and since she had a natural talent for so many of them, she quickly became considered the most talented person in the village.

Lloyd Garmadon

Age: 10 (apparently his voice actor said this, I can't find it but if someone else can either conform or deny that would be great)

Height: 4’7

Where are they from: Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys

Fun fact:

Lloyd can quickly learn to drive or pilot any vehicle after only being in it for a bit. He uses this to get getaway vehicles for when he needs it.

He has a reverse green thumb; he kills every plant he tries to take care of.

This caused him to be banned from Zane’s secret garden.

Get overstimulated easily.

Hobbies: playing video games, prank calling, and driving/piloting vehicles.

Backstory: Lloyd doesn’t remember either of his parents before arriving at Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys. The only reason he knows his name is because of the letter that was left with him when he arrived, reading Lloyd Montgumary Garmadon, which is a bit more than some other kids at Darkley’s got. In Darkley’s, Lloyd had 2 friends, Brad and Gene, and to them, everyone else were their enemies. Darkley kids often would leave the school to mess with nearby villages, and Lloyd would typically be the getaway driver. During one of these escapades, Lloyd tries to trick an old man, but the man outsmarts him, and Lloyd himself gets tricked. This old man is Sensei Wu, and after learning Lloyd's full name, he finds out the boy is his nephew. After Wu tells Lloyd a few life lessons and tells him who his father is, he tells Lloyd that he is his uncle, and if he wants, instead of living at Darkley's, he can live with him. Lloyd says he wants to stay at Darkley’s (partially because he likes hanging out with Brad and Gene and partially because he thinks everyone will think he is a traitor and weak if he leaves), and Senesi Wu leaves him be. He researches who his dad is, Lord Garmadon, and since he is the evilest guy Lloyd has ever heard of, he won’t stop telling everyone about it. Eventually he gets kicked out of Darkley's, so he is homeless and wandering the streets for about a month before the first episode of season 1.

Zane Juilien

Age: 19

Height: 6’2

Where are they from: A forest (not the Birchwood Forest since he doesn’t recognize the place)

Fun Fact:

Zane moved around from town to town for money but also just in case someone would recognize him.

Zane loves nature a lot.

He has the biggest green thumb, so much so that he is even able to bring back plants on their dying breaths.

He made a garden around the back of the monastery that only Nya, Lloyd, and Sensei Wu know about, but Lloyd almost killed all the plants the first time he was there, so he’s banned.

The reason he is so autistic-coded is because Dr. Julien gave him some of his own habits and traits while building him.

Zane can’t use technology; he is like an old person with it.

Hobbies: Cleaning, growing bonsai trees, cooking and baking, swimming, and gardening

Backstory: Zane’s life before the memory wipe is the exact same. After waking up in the forest with little to no memory, he traveled from town to town, doing tricks for money. During one of his tricks, where he stayed underwater for 5 minutes, he met Sensei Wu underwater with him and freaked out, causing him to surface before the 5 minutes were up. Afterwards, they talked for a bit, and Zane decided to become Sensei Wu’s student.

Ninjago Masterpost

[nomsfaultau]

Daily ask №12

Hobby edition!

Firstly, Author, what is YOUR favourite hobby? Besides writing? Mine is probably text roleplay if you're curious : D

I'm pretty sure that there was a list of hobbies for each character somewhere z or at least I've seen it written down that Tubbo likes gardening, but still, what is each character's hobby/hobbees?

Hobby swap. Every hobby gets sent to the person arter them in the order that you answered the second question in. How well does it go?

I do still remember that you wrote that Wilbur figures out that it has no hobbies when he doesn't have to get food so I suggest: Photography. I mean, they're already travelling through the USA and considering the fact that the foundation forgot about their existence they might as well have some fun and not hide constantly yk. Climb onto the statue of freedom or something. Why not. Might as well keep some memories!

Also it would just bee kinda ironic if Wilbur who has like the void thing which is the absence of light, photography as a hobby which is essentially capturing light.

5. What hobbies do you think whatever character/s would enjoy but aren't able to do due to their situation?

Man I don't think this one has an ounce of spoilers for Fault or content warnings!

1.Drawing. I find my drawing and writing is a very symbiotic process that keeps up passion about projects. I write a cool scene so I want to draw it, and while doing that I’m thinking about the story. Or I draw something sick as hell and am like well now I gotta put that in. I also like dnd but don’t play much alas.

2.I realized I was addressing the 5th question a little, so I’m going to put asterisks next to functional hobbies that they’re able to do on the run.

Tubbo gets the most exploration of hobbies due to the interlude WHiT Croplands. Tubbo definitely likes gardening because of Rhodes, though it’s also kinda cheating since flowers auto bloom once exposed to Tubbo long enough. Rosalind also has a lot of hobbies, and a bit of a problem with starting a new thing only to abandon it for the next project. So quilting*, painting, knitting. Tubbo also enjoys the Pokémon franchise. And they’re a dirty cheat at monopoly, can’t trust that guy at all. Also likes messing around in photoshop since they had an Instagram and needed to learn how to look like they badly photoshopped themselves into looking like a bug fairy thing.

Philza is seen doing a lot of meditating*, which is good for an embodiment of wrath. He’s probably picked up thousands of hobbies at one time or another. On speculation, he’s drawn to hobbies that involve fire and absolutely adores how creative humans are. Like part of Phil becoming a person was deffo influenced by humans changing the symbolic meaning of fire to include creation and protection. So metal work, glassblowing, anything with a combustion engine, etc. Philza was absolutely invested in the space race to an inordinate degree since they’re going into space with ROCKETS! He’s into cooking* and has a lot of random recipes that are nostalgic and tied to previous Collected. I can also see him doing a bonsai tree thing but like with a whole forest. Like sculpting how it grows over a few centuries. Ever see tree braiding?

I’m not sure if The Blade necessarily likes playing video games? I think he views it as a safe way to let The Blood God and voices go ham and appease their cries for slaughter. So it’s more The Blade disassociating while The Blood God plays, so I guess that makes video games his hobby instead. The Blood God finds it a little demeaning of his capabilities but at least The Blade is letting him out? His hooves and size would make it somewhat difficult, so probably tends towards turn based strategy games. The Blade does not let anyone around him when gaming for safety. The Blade personally prefers reading*, which is like narrating for an audience. The voices get really into it, and The Blade gets goofy and dramatic with it. It is difficult without his glasses tho given pigs are hyperopic.

Tommy likes video games, watching scary movies his mum forbid, and goofing around with his friends. He also gets into drawing at the Foundation using either his Red or Ros’ crayons. Not uh good at it but still it’s enrichment.

Wilbur has music* and that kinda it. A bit of a risk with instruments, given that’s extra weight to carry and the void could eat it but after a few messy obliterations over scratches the void has gotten the memo kinda. Wilbur likes the act of creating stuff to spit in the face of the void, but anything it makes runs the risk of eventually getting eaten by the void, which would really upset it. But music itself isn’t a physical object and so is safer. It’s a big coping mechanism for him to help calm down and control the void. The Foundation tried to ruin music for him but it didn’t work.

3.Tubbos wide array of hobbies would mesh well with Philza’s, and the gardening already aligns with the forest maintenance I hypothesized.

The Blade can’t meditate. He just can’t. He and Phil have a convo about it in the whumptober prompts thing since he’s frustrated meditating isn’t working and Phil just blinks and is like ‘? Why would my coping mechanisms be tailored to you? Come on mate let’s find something suited for you.’ All the fire related hobbies would also be no bueno bc he is very fluffy and very flammable. Might go for cooking tho, but on the whole he’s lazy and can just eat things raw so why bother.

Video games work out for Tommy, though I don’t think he’d be a fan of strat games. Reading is tricky with Red though, he needs someone else to hold a book. There’s a deleted scene where Tubbo and Tommy help each other read a book between the Red and dyslexia, with The Blade spoiling things and the pair getting salty.

Video games would drive Wilbur crazy since it doesn’t have the cultural background for them at all. Ever seen a grandparent try to play Minecraft? Plus he doesn’t like staying still in one place too long. Maybe a DS would work until the void tries to eat the cartridge. Scary movies don’t do anything to Wilbur because he IS a scary movie. And drawings are the worse for it since 1. Probably accidentally incorporates an evil rune subconsciously and gets cursed 2. Paper is Tastey snacc for void and prone to getting snapped up.

Tubbo canonically is bad at singing. I get the vibe Rosalind played the viola in middle school ? Sheet music can be rough on dyslexia though you can do stuff like use colored highlighters for different notes, though I don’t think Wil uses sheet music. They’d try to figure out simple tunes, very basic stuff. Tubbo wouldn’t be good but they’d have fun and annoy Wilbur.

4.There is the problem of photos getting eaten. I think he could convince the void that the camera itself is a dangerous creature that could vaporize them in a single flash of light if threatened. But if it could get the photos safe it would be a really good thing to help with its memory. Like visible proof xyz happened. Though I imagine what Wilbur and a human think is worth photographing is very different. Wilbur would have a blurry picture of a road captioned with something like ‘tastiest asphalt in Indiana’. Picture of random camping site ‘place where Phil admitted I was his favorite (this was not under duress)’. Picture of a lumpy cloud ‘if I got tall enough could I eat a cloud’

5. If Tubbo did beekeeping would that be like Mickey keeping Pluto as a pet.

Wilbur NEEDS to be in theater. Ideal enrichment for its dramatic soul. Interact with humans in a normal setting would be fantastic to work on the racism problem. It’s also the perfect medium for him since a performance is a one time thing that can’t be destroyed after the fact. Its main hold back would be the bad memory, but I think learning to value non survival memories could actually improve its memory and priorities. Theater is like 3 different character arcs for him. Also put him in a hot dog eating contest. I need Joey Chestnut to taste overwhelming loss.

Also put Tommy in an improv troop he needs it. Or therapy. He needs therapy as a hobby.

Alas having fingers holds The Blade back from a lot of things. But I think it would be funny to plop that man in a furry convention and try to scam people into giving him money to also make them giant crazy realistic suits. Would he do this. Never. It would be mean and require talking to a lot of people. However. It would be hysterical.

Back in Philza’s day, you could just be a leviathan monster in the ocean and eat entire whaling ships. But now you can’t anymore. Becuase woke.

[alaskan-wallflower]

Darry’s Jobs (Wreyched)

Okay so first of all, Darry still does construction in Wretched, albeit a little bit differently. You know how places have to bulldoze down areas in order to build diff, that’s pretty much Darry’s job. Since he’s so big and kind of dangerous in a way, it’s kinda just easier for him. He always makes sure that there’s nobody in those areas because if anybody got hurt under him he wouldn’t know what he’d do with himself, But he pretty much makes sure the pavements and stuff are safe-he works for humans unfortunately (things got desperate when their parents were killed) and they kinda just saw him as a cheaper, more eco friendly option, so that’s his first job-he also helps to transport objects across long distances, he flies things back and forth from place to place (maybe even to other cities if he really had to( but that’s where a lot of his back pain comes from in this AU

His second job is a glassblower. I think he kinda started as a coping mechanism post parent death and he just kept a collection and decided to sell them off because they really were beautiful (i know this isn’t how it works but i like to think depending on the color of the flame he uses to meld the glass is the color that the glass ends up being, so say he melds it with a green flame the glass would have a green tint) so he kinda just set them up to be sold because he was running out of room in his shed for them all-it was actually Soda and Pony who told him he could probably make a lot of money with a talent like that and based off the amount he made from that one sale, he started looking for work opportunities. It kinda coencides with his construction work, but not really? He makes mosaics and murals and stuff too I think

I think it’s beat

[calypsolemon]

not sure if you’ve answered on this in the past, but do you have any thoughts regarding steven’s future/development/what he does following him leaving at the end of steven universe future? i find your analysis posts about steven incredibly interesting. sorry if somebody’s asked you this question already!

It hasn't been asked before! A question of this nature is going to really involve less analysis and more just... speculation/ headcanon, but thats fine too! I'm down to indulge lol

I think the thing that would near for sure happen post-future at some point is Steven moving into his own house or apt. His road trip basically intends as much (he states the goal is to try to find a place to settle down), and furthermore I think a place of his own is something Steven needs even more than distance from his family/ gem stuff. The one thing Steven really lacked growing up was any sense of privacy, and a consistently safe home environment. It would do wonders for his mental health to have a home that he has complete control over, that is unlikely to be in any immediate danger of being wrecked.

After that is more nebulous, as throughout most of the series all of Steven's ambition hinged on gem stuff, and then once he started actually doing gem stuff, it took over his life. It's hard to say what actually interests him outside of that. Quite possibly, he doesn't even know. I can say with near certainty that I think he would avoid any career to do with music (he likes making it but I think it would be too close to his dad's rockstar lifestyle), and he would probably avoid stuff with plants too (both due to risk of bringing them to life, and because plant care was one of Rose's main hobbies). However he is a creative soul at his core, so he might end up pouring himself into other hobbies that eventually become careers. I can see him doing something like pottery or glassblowing, something that can't really be shortcut by his powers and requires a sort of controlled strength. I think it would be therapeutic to him. I can also see him doing a lot of volunteer work in his spare time; I don't think he'll ever fully rid himself of the desire to help people, but if he doesn't have to become personally involved in someone's mental health, it could be healthier output for that "need to be needed."

Despite separating himself from it for his own mental health, I'm pretty sure he would still intermittently get re-involved with little homeschool and gem politics and whatnot. I think after some time healing he would find that he missed aspects of it, and also there's likely the occasional thing that require "pink diamond's" attention no matter what (unfortunately). But thats why the physical separation is important. At the end of the day, he's not the one soley responsible for these things, and he isn't even the primary person responsible. He can just be the guy they call in once in a while. Which, I think over time, would also help assuage any potential guilt he would feel over "dropping responsibilities." He may have left, but he isn't running away from his problems like Rose. He's simply taking an equal and fair part of the work that must be done.

Also, I didn't know where to fit this, but I think the one thing Steven will never do in the future is have children. And not just because of the passing of the gem issue, but also because I think he would genuinely not feel right about doing so. He likes kids and probably ends up adoptive-uncle-ing a few kids in whatever neighborhood he lives in, but I dont think he would ever actually raise kids of his own. This is just pure headcanon tho lol.

[didderd]

Just my semi-anual tourettes boys simping. Hope you're all well. :) I have more questions!!! I saw your post about snaps with cats. Needless to say I am absolutely in love with him. That reminds me though, what are tic tac and tous hobbies? How do they feel about cats? Hope you're having a wonderful day Alex <3

(Que me making googly eyes at tac specifically)

:'> ty. am having a good day. hope u r too <333

am glad u like Snaps sm :3

i did talk a lil about this one time, but that was a while ago, so i will again. with more detail, and Tou this time ofc.

Tic loves music. He got into the hobby of mixing stuff with his buddy Napstablook, and eventually started doing it on his own as well. Him and Blooks would be a killer DJing duo on stage, but he's not interested in that. Most he might do is live streams. maybe. He's also great with a keyboard piano.

Tac got into welding, and the like, when he watched his Grillby weld together his necklace for him. He might get into glassblowing, maybe as a job, once on the surface. He also likes to cook (and bake, but you didn't hear that from me). He def has a "kiss the cook" apron.

Tou ironically went to a wine tasting one time, but he actually enjoyed himself. The people were pretty nice, and the wine was good, so he kept going. He loves physical activities. He'll get into pretty much any sport, but he actively runs and works out, and he loves volleyball. Him and his brother play basketball sometimes too. He also carves little figures sometimes, as a more relaxing at home hobby. His first was of his brother. It's not very good, at least in his eyes, but his bro holds it very dear, and keeps it, along with his other figures (most from his brother) on a shelf in his room. (He'll carve with his left hand at times when his right is sore from tics. He is actually pretty good with his left at this point, but still better with his right.)

[zwy01]

Noble OCs!!!

More headcanons!! This is my version of the predecessors of canon Clan Leaders. I said I would create parents for the nobles like a few months ago (??) and I finally got to some of them, lol. Anyways

Rubino Elenor: Rozaria’s father and predecessor, and Calytrix’s younger half-brother. Rubino was a merry, lively person. He had a deep, hearty laugh and a lovely smile, so great you can’t help but feel happy around him. But don’t be fooled! Rubino has tricks up his sleeves… literally. He had a very mischievous and almost childish side to him. He loved to teleport behind people, mess around with them, and teleport away, all for his own amusement. He’s basically a professional prankster. Just harmless jokes and funny spells, nothing more. Stuff like tugging on Ragar’s ponytail, poking Gradeus’ buttcrack, tickling Krasis and Roctis’ waists, making Zarga’s ears rain jelly beans, slapping a toupee with a superglue spell on Lagus’ head, giving Edian a chipmunk voice, inversing Gejutel’s hair color so his hair turns black and his stripes white… and much more. Hah! Y’all should smile more, seriously. The only ones he didn’t mess with were Raizel, the Previous Lord, and maybe Raskreia. Though, PL had probably invited Rubino to prank him multiple times, just because it’s hilarious, much to Krasis’ horror. Rubino also had a very strict and stern side to him, which was very different from his usual self. His colleagues would often try to guess which “personality” he’d show up to meetings with. Surprise! Haha. Rubino’s other hobby was collecting random trinkets. Toy boxes, empty wine bottles, buttons, broken stuff, cheap stuff, and much more. If you get on his good side, he might gift you something from his very own collection. What an honor. Here’s a bent salad fork, just for you! Enjoy. With his family, he was very sweet. He had a great relationship with his daughter Rozaria and often played games of teleportation tag with her. His sister Calytrix called him Ruby, which was a name he adored. Rubino dated Zarga, Krasis, Roctis, and PL. Just sweet, casual flings. P.s. Rubino is jacked and his grandson Alois from my Millennium AU gets his crazy muscles from him lol.

Calytrix Agvain: Urokai’s mother and predecessor, and Rubino’s older half-sister. Calytrix was a daring, fearless, and imaginative person. Ready to live, ready to die. Nobles have extremely long lifespans, and so days, months, years, even decades may seem like nothing more than a blink of an eye to most of them. Not for Calytrix. She loved to have something to do for each and every day. It could be anything. Learning a new language, rock climbing, winemaking, glassblowing, gardening, cheesemaking, lock picking… you name it. Making the most out of every moment, enjoying life to the fullest, that’s how life should be. Nobles who just sit around and stare at the ceiling all day are wasting their lives, tsktsk, maybe they should just donate their extra years to someone who will really use them. Lol. Carpe diem, my sweeties. Once she is done with her Clan Leader duties at hand, good luck finding her. She’s probably close by or far away or somewhere in between doing one of her super obscure hobbies in a super obscure location. Her clan members often found themselves with headaches, wondering where their Clan Leader is off to for the nth time. Please tell us where you’re going before you leave next time, Clan Leader! Oops, I forgot. Hehe, maybe just come and find me. And so, one of the things Urokai did most as a child was being tasked with retrieving his mother, trekking around trying to find her and when he does, telling her to return with him. Calytrix would just laugh, give her son a big embrace, squeeze him close to her, and roll around in the grassy, flowery hills until their beautiful dark red hair get all messy and filled with petals. Her carefree spirit was pretty eccentric by traditional noble standards, and maybe that was also the reason why she shined so brightly. Her brother Rubino called her Trixie and it meant a lot to her. Calytrix dated probably half of Lukedonia’s population (as people joke), with Edian being one of her longest relationships.

Noel J. Loyard: Seira’s father and predecessor, and Edian’s relative (cousin or nephew, undecided yet). Noel was an altruistic and empathetic person. Despite knowing the fact that humanity, and even some nobles, are greedy and insatiable, he still set out to help them each and every time. This was the reason why many believed that he was dumb, for still believing in change and kindness when his own efforts were often met with dissatisfaction, more demands and even betrayal from those he reached his hand out to. In truth, he genuinely believed that if his efforts could make the world a better place, then he would do anything within his power to help, even if it is very complex and hard to achieve in reality. In a way, he was a dreamer. Even at his death and before he was killed, he believed that it was his duty to protect the weak. Aside from performing his duties as Clan Leader, Noel spent most of his time studying philosophy, collecting different works from around the world, from both humans and werewolves. Noel had a loving relationship with his daughter Seira, to whom he passed on his strong belief of protecting the weak. One of his favorite things to do with Seira was hanging out in their manor, their beloved home. When there was sunshine, he would brush Seira’s hair, have a picnic, and gently chase butterflies with her. When it snowed, they would try to land snowflakes on the tip of their noses and make drawings on the snow-piled ground with their fingers. Even when it rained, it did not stop them from dancing in their rose garden, his footsteps accompanied by her tinier footsteps. It was truly a good time, albeit very brief and tragically short-lived. Noel had a brief fling with Regis’ father, Rousare, who was his best friend and on-and-off lover. P.s. Noel had white eyelashes from his Drosia heritage.

Qing Ru: Kei’s mother and predecessor. Qing was a very smart, observant, and strategic person. Everything she chose to do had a meaning and a purpose, and she did not do things based on her feelings. Rather, she relied on reasoning and reasoning alone. Though she spent most of her time isolating herself in the mountains training day and night, it wasn’t just training in the traditional sense of fighting like one would expect from a typical Ru. It also involved meditating, observing both animate and inanimate objects, breathing in and out with the environment and feeling the energy of the land and the world around her. She believed training not only the body but also the soul was the way to achieve true strength, which she teaches to her son, Kei. Unlike Kei, Qing wasn’t dense at all. She was good at reading people, and she could analyze them and guess their thoughts and/or needs based on the way they tense their facial and body muscles, the circulation of the energy within their bodies, etc. That’s also why her fellow Clan Leaders loved sparring with her, because she could pinpoint their weaknesses and counter them. Back to Kei… well, PL used to joke about Kei being a “dense cookie” even when his mother was a people scanner. A young and (kinda) dumb Kei took it as a compliment, meanwhile Qing was not too amused, lol. Qing raised Kei to be a traditional Ru and while she was strict with her son, she was a good teacher and mother. She called her son Baobei (meaning treasure/darling) and when they were not busy training, they would sit by the waterfall and feel the breeze on their faces, and watch the stars. She had many friends, and regularly invited them over for some tea and noodles. Qing did not date anyone, as she didn’t care for such things. (she was quite popular tho, lol)

Valentina Mergas: Ludis’ mother and predecessor. Valentina was sharp, trustworthy, and highly independent. She took her duties as the Mergas Clan Leader and Lukedonia’s guardian very very seriously and she barely had time to herself for leisure. To be specific, if she had extra time to spare after completing her duties as Clan Leader, she would go on a extra round of border patrol and check up on everyone, making sure the Central Order members were doing their jobs correctly. If she caught anyone slacking off just a bit, good luck getting away without being yelled at and disciplined. There was no leeway, there were no excuses. Some would say that she was a bit too strict, but it was under her leadership that the knights’ organization truly became one and functional, with a structure that would prove to be practical and efficient for many generations to come. PL was very impressed with her abilities and to her it was a great honor. It was her job, and she truly enjoyed it. Though, it was limited to Lukedonia only. Whatever happened outside of Lukedonia, she didn’t care for it. Not one single bit. To her Lord, her colleagues and her friends and family, she was fiercely loyal. They meant the world to her, and she would die for them. Meanwhile the humans, werewolves, whatever… they can cause all the war and chaos they want, as long as it happened outside and didn’t bother Lukedonia, it was none of Valentina’s business. To be precise, Valentina did not oppose the protection of other species by nobles but she believed that they must know that things like ambition and greed have consequences, even if it’s by learning it the hard way. And her loyalty is to Lukedonia and not the world. For this reason, she believed that Noel’s absolute selflessness was dumb. But, if her Lord ordered her to protect non-nobles, she would not hesitate to accept his orders. Valentina was both warm and cold, and passionate and ruthless at the same time. She had a good relationship with her son Ludis, and often brought him along with her while she ran her errands, for him to watch and learn so by a very young age Ludis was able to fully memorize the standard procedures and protocals of all Mergas duties, down to the smallest of details. Valentina dated Gradeus and PL for a while. P.s. She thinks her scars are cool and are proof of her dedication to her homeland

And that’s it for now! Yay!! Not sure if I’ll do the other remaining ones, most likely not. But I’ll see how it goes.

[echoweaver]

15 Questions from Mutuals

@oasislandingresident, @hazely-sims, @danjaley, @anamoon63, and @olomayasims tagged me in this meme. This is the first time I’ve been able to actually do it! Thanks. I feel loved. It feels good to be included.

​ Are you named after anyone? My great-grandmother, father’s father’s mother. She and my great-grandfather were immigrants from Hungary. I have have a picture of her holding me as an infant. I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her.

When was the last time you cried? I cry all the dang time. I find it more notable when I haven’t cried recently -- when putting our cats down, despite me being the one person in the family who was tracking their health in detail and really worrying about their quality of life. I’m also the one who made the call and coordinated the final vet visit. There’s stuff in there about my personality that I’m pondering.

I guess the last time I really cried it out was over gender politics, if you would believe it. My wife is trans. The horrible state of conservative oppression toward trans people right now is terrifying. OTOH, I think that enemy has led trans advocacy to be less nuanced rather than more. The complex landscape of gender, sex, and safety is often trivialized, and people get hurt. When I can’t jump on the bandwagon, I feel like a traitor to my wife. I wish there could be more thoughtfulness and compassion and nuance, but with the wave of vicious anti-trans laws and rhetoric, I appreciate why it doesn’t feel like there’s space for it.

Do you have kids? One bio-daughter, age 12. We wanted to have another and couldn’t. Then we tried to adopt from foster care, which ended up being a miserable 5-year rabbithole that led nowhere. OTOH, we have a found-daughter who entered our life through the side door as our girl’s babysitter when she was young. It’s an odd family, and we’re still figuring it out, but it’s ours.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? I think of myself as fairly snarky, but actually sarcasm not that much.

What sports do you play/have you played? I got into really physical stuff late-ish, close to 30. I got into weight-lifting and cardio rhythm games. No team stuff. Later, I took up figure skating when my kid was 4 and taking lessons. I love it. I think I could have been really good if I’d found it when I was younger, but I’m very YOLO about this stuff. If I’m going to be a figure skater in middle age, so be it. Convenient classes for adults were canceled during the pandemic, though, and I haven’t built up the momentum to return. I’m settling for a lower-hanging fruit at the moment and taking up Tai Chi.

What’s the first thing you notice about other people? I don’t know exactly what it is, but I get a sense of how easy it is to relax around someone.

Scary movies or happy endings? Those aren’t mutually exclusive. I like being scared, but not so much the jump-scare, blood-and-gore way. Definitely happy endings though. I’m only much into dark endings when my life is stress-free, and I don’t remember when that last happened.

Any special talents? I’m good at looking at a problem from all angles. I think this is objectively a good thing, but it’s also a pain in the butt because I can’t turn it off.

Where were you born? New Jersey, USA. Grew up in Indiana, just north of Indianapolis.

What are your hobbies? Dur. I knit, edit movies, mod video games, write fiction (sims and other), scuba dive, play board games, downhill ski, do amateur carpentry. I did some glassblowing in my 20s, and I’m finally getting a chance to take lessons! I do not specialize well. I also played the viola as a serious amateur. I bought a guitar and am going to try to learn to play so that I can sing and accompany myself.

Do you have any pets? One cat, down from 3 cats. Also one corn snake.

How tall are you? 5′4″ or 162 cm.

Fave subject in school? History, I think?

Dream job? I’m not sure all the stuff I’d want to do in a career can be digested down to 1 job. I’m pretty close to it at the moment, though. I write educational software on a small very family-like team at a university. Sometimes I fantasize about quitting and doing something with game modding that could somehow be profitable, but I’m sure if that were actually possible, I’d end up hating it because my hobby would then be my job.

Eye color? I have the exact eye color @zosa95 described in her reply to this meme.

It feels good to be tagged, but I still have this weirdo anxiety about tagging people. Plus this has mostly made the rounds. I’ll try @withlovefromayre, @declaration-of-dramas

[cadaverousdecay]

any cool gothic architecture facts im so interested id love to hear all the stuff you know

YEAH YES YES YEAH ABSOLUTELY

(im just gonna say a few things i know off the top of my head without fact checking anything so. be warned that the information may not all be 100% accurate)

so the name gothic comes from the goths, one of the tribes that invaded rome and brought about the fall of the empire. basically "gothic" was a synonym of barbaric and was seen as a degrading term when it was first used for architecture. it was too complicated, it was nothing like respectable romanesque architecture, it was medieval (gothic eventually started to mean medievalism, especially in gothic literature. trying not to get offtrack here cuz i LOVE gothic lit as well. i will just say that horace walpole had an infatuation with gothic architecture and remodeled his mansion strawberry hill in the gothic style. he also wrote a super influential novel sometimes viewed as the first gothic novel. he titled it a gothic novel in the second edition, in the first edition he published it as a genuine text from medieval italy.)

anyway, the big idea of gothic cathedrals were light. the buildings needed to be spacious and bright and make you look up and think of god and heaven etc etc etc. the way they were able to do this was a few different wonders of architecture that allowed them to build tall and thin. pointed arches were a big one, and are a defining trait of the gothic style. they allowed the weight to be distributed down and out so that thick walls were no longer needed to support them. ribbed vaults were another, specifically arched ribbed vaults, they allowed for lighter sturdier roofs and rested their weight on 6 or 4 columns or piers. the third big thing was flying buttresses. these were stone supports that transferred the weight outwards and downwards and supported the walls. atop the flying buttresses is where you'd often see gargoyles or grotesques (gargoyles spouted water, grotesques just sat there and looked pretty grotesque)

the less support that the walls needed meant that bigger and bigger windows could be put in, eventually rose windows which are circular and have diameters of sometimes 40ish feet. the stained glass windows brought in more light, and also allowed for stories to be told on them. and in medieval times when they were making these cathedrals, they took forever. most cathedrals took over 100 years to complete, many who commissioned or worked on them wouldnt see them to completion. they had so many people working on them, all specialists in their crafts. masons, carpenters, glassblowers, everyone had their own specific job. and they didnt have modern machines, they had wooden structures and pulleys and this one cool device that you walk in and it pulls stuff up let me see if i can find a picture

also, because so many people with specialized skillsets were employed for the job, you see fine details in everything, there are designs carved into stone and wood and put in places not everyone will even pay attention to. its beautiful.

anyway. i really love gothic architecture its so cool. i have some books on it that im excited to read more of :]

[sauntering-down]

i was fuckin Tired last night thanks to spending like six hours at the dentist so i had some weirdass dreams... the first wasn't THAT exciting but for some reason i was reading RPF about two players on the Edmonton Oilers. i don't watch hockey but everyone else here does so i have to assume i absorbed the knowledge by osmosis because the television is right outside my bedroom.

second dream was the most detailed - attending high school, but minus almost all the usual School Dream staples. for some reason, this place was big on gangs, but not the serious kind. basically just groups of friends or students with shared interests, i guess? apparently the school originally had a sort of house system but it was ended for provoking way too much competition, and as a result the kids formed gangs (which the faculty was desperately trying to rebrand as 'clans' lol). i was in the 'Rippers', which had nothing to do with violence - we were, iirc, a bunch of glass artists - and i think we just took our name from the leader, who was ofc called Jack. he was a rather aggressive type, really neurotic, and at one point freaked out and escaped the school via jumping down the shelves in this three-story library. wild. anyway, there was also the 'Headhunters', who were pretty well known as bullies at one point but had mostly left that reputation behind now. every gang had a meeting place - the Headhunters were in a storage closet (where i sent one of our younger members to play chess with one of their freshmen lol), the Rippers were in the glassblowing facility (jealous of this school), there were the Leafcutters in the greenhouse, the Eagles in the 'Tower' which was actually just the room atop the building for roof access... i don't remember much happening, but there was a lot of worldbuilding haha.

third and final dream was just. weird. i was performing in a musical, one of the leading roles alongside a guy named David i used to know. he was two years older than me, in my brother's grade from elementary through high school. our characters were in love and i guess we'd kinda fallen for one another over the course of rehearsals and whatnot, but hadn't done anything about it until this first performance. afterwards i offered to drive him home, we went to his house (which may have been some kind of group or foster home as there were so many random children there), up to his room... and i think there was like. a fade-to-black sex scene but all i can remember of it is being curled up in bed with him afterwards and going to sleep. this is Weird for two reasons - one, i am a sex-repulsed ace, so no. and two, David was gay and i was still a woman in this dream, so... no? despite this, the next morning i woke up and went outside and he was sitting by the road with a couple of siblings; i went over and snuggled up in his lap and woke up right about then.

it's not anything i would want irl, but i won't lie... it was nice to not be desperately alone for a change.

(also, previous dream pulled from discord: "had a dream last night about a restaurant (sort of a fast food place maybe) called 'Knockoff' which sold, as stated, knockoff versions of other places' foods... but only like, the international offerings that were never available in the US. so you could get all the cool Japanese McDonald's stuff and whatnot. it was gr8.")

[weaselchild]

id love for you to lonvingly info dump me about your palia OC

aksdfh I don't have him fully finalised yet but I do have bits and pieces worked out !! Laque has almost no recollection of who he was before materialising in Kilima but he's doing the best he can ! He does, however, remember his friends and knows he was essentially picked up from another world almost isekai style and arrived before any of his friends did so he actually helped them get set up in Kilima too once Ashura sent them up. They have their own plots to play around in and stuff but they often sleep over at his place anyway and share resources

Mm basic facts ! - His right eye is entirely missing. Jury is still out on whether that happened before the void or during but he was blind in that eye in his previous life - Used to rock the emo hairstyle til he got good at glassblowing and obtained materials to make his own prosthetic eye - Very good with his hands and always creating - Big sweet tooth. Just adores desserts and baking. - Highest skill in cooking and furniture making, mostly through trial and error. Unfortunately he cannot remember half his recipes and methods once he creates something - Dear phoenix, the memory problems in this man. He's only 22 - RIP so many notebooks and scrolls More under the cut bc I ramble a bit sadkljfh

--Life in Kilima-- - Being the first of his friends group, he was mainly assisted by Ashura to settle in, oftentimes sneaking back to the inn on lonely nights and trying to piece together who he used to be. He suspects his missing memory may be linked to his eye that appeared to have simply never formed. Perhaps part of him is still lost in the void - He's mainly self made. After being given tools and taught basic skills, he expanded on those to build his house. Once his friends came through also, he does rely on them somewhat to bring him materials that he makes into tools for them and furniture for general use - He has, however, dedicated much of his time to understanding how to possibly harness flow into creating maps for his friends that can track each other's movement so they can help each other out while out in the world (just to explain why the maps can see party members aha i think that would be neat) --Extra stuff--

Laque is kinda scared of bugs a little but his housemates drag him to Bahari Bay sometimes for some fresh air and oftentimes he winds up helping them catch bugs because he can't say no to them.

He prioritises making friends with the villagers though he has a bit of a disdain for Tamala and tries to stay far away from Caleri and Elouisa. He doesn't have an interest in romancing anyone though he does often hang around Jel and Tish to share ideas.

He can manipulate flow a little better than most can, likely due to the part of him that is still in the void (and probably using the flowstone and palium literally set in his skull via prosthetic eye), setting the ambient flow into his creations and inventions in order to help his friends and other humans with quality of life. He enjoys making prosthetics for people who need them and repairing mobility aids.

His facial scar was from an accident while hunting Muujin. One of his friends accidentally shot too close after he chopped down a tree and nicked him pretty bad with a fine arrow. He then couldn't stop picking at it.

Once in Bahari Bay, he won't leave until he physically cannot carry anything more in order to not "waste the trip". Will then pass out for 12 hours straight as soon as his head meets the pillow