#i don't think the colour is extremely accurate either

[myriadfrogs]

edited myself into the project sekai artstyle for fun   (╯▽╰ )

[captainfantasticalright]

In 1985, one of the only persons interested in an interview with a “new” writer called Terry Pratchett, after his publication of the Colour of Magic, was one Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman was writing for Space Voyager at the time. "The Colour of Pratchett" was the name given here:

It ran exactly one page inside the June/July issue of that year. The interview took place in a Chinese restaurant in London.

Here is Neil many years later holding that issue. You can see it here if you want. Warning: extremely emotional video.

Neil arrived wearing a grey homburg hat. “Sort of like the ones Humphrey Bogart wears in movies” he later wrote. (Before saying that in fact he did not look like him, but like someone wearing a grown-up’s hat). Terry Pratchett, photo courtesy of one @neil-gaiman, was in a Lenin-style leather cap and a harlequin-patterned pullover. At this point, Terry was already a hat person, although not that hat.

Terry offered Neil this : "An interview needn't last more than 15 minutes. A good quote for the beginning, a good quote for the end, and the rest you make up back at the office"*. (Terry Pratchett had worked many years in journalism by this point ).

But the meeting went terribly well. The two of them realized they had "the same sort of brains". So well indeed, that in 1985, Neil had shown Terry a file containing 5282 words, exploring a scenario in which Richmal Crompton's William Brown had somehow become the Antichrist. Was a collaboration in the cards as of that moment? Not really. But Terry found in Neil someone to whom he could send disks of work in progress and to whom he could pick up the phone sometimes when he hit a brick in the road of his writing.

Terry loved it and the concept stayed in his mind. A couple of years later, he rang Neil to ask him if he had done any more work on it. Neil had been busy with The Sandman, he had not really given it another thought. Terry said, "Well I know what happens next, so either you sell me the idea or we can write it together". **

On collaborating together:

Here is a video of Sir Terry saying why he chose to collaborate with Neil, another video talking about the technical difficulties of writing a book when the two of them where miles apart ,and some pages from Interzone Magazine Issue 207 published December 2006:

An Interview with Sir Terry Pratchett and his works- and Neil Gaiman, where he shortly addresses the process of writing Good Omens.

Terry shortly mentions,

“Neil doesn't rule out another book with me and he was good to write with...yep, it could happen. With anyone else? I don't know, but probably not.?”

Neil says,

"Terry took that initial 5,000 words of mine and ran it through the computer (because I’d lost the files in a computer crash) and made it the first 10,000 words, and it was definitely Good Omens at that point. Neither one thing nor the other, but a third thing.”

"I think Terry could do a very good impersonation of me if he needed to, and I could do a very good impersonation of him; so we knew the area of the Venn diagram in which we were working. But mostly the book found its own voice very quickly. It helped that we were both scarred by the William books when we were kids...”

And as you know, unless you’ve been living in Alpha Centauri, the rest is history. That was the beginning of what would become William the Antichrist and later would get the name Good Omens:The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. (Title provided by Neil Gaiman and subtitle by Terry Pratchett).

More about the writing process:

Terry took the first 5,000 words and typed them into his word processor, and by the time he had finished they were the first 10,000 words. Terry had borrowed all the things about me that he thought were amusing, like my tendency back then to wear sunglasses even when it wasn't sunny, and given them, along with a vintage Bentley, to Crawleigh, who had now become Crowley. The Satanic Nurses were Satanic Nuns.

The book was under way.

We wrote the first draft in about nine weeks. Nine weeks of gloriously long phone calls, in which we would read each other what we'd written, and try to make the other one laugh. We'd plot, delightedly, and then hurry off the phone, determined to get to the next good bit before the other one could. We'd rewrite each other, footnote each other's pages, sometimes even footnote each other's footnotes. We would throw characters in, hand them off when we got stuck. We finished the book and decided we would only tell people a little about the writing process - we would tell them that Agnes Nutter was Terry's, and the Four Horsemen (and the Other Four Motorcyclists) were mine.

From the introduction to William the Antichrist:

“In the summer of 1987 several odd ideas came together: (..)I found myself imagining a book called William the Antichrist, in which a hapless demon was going to be responsible for swapping the wrong baby over, and the son of the US Ambassador would be completely undemonic, while William Brown would grow up to be the Antichrist, and the demon would need to stop him ending the world. The unfortunate demon, whom I called Crawleigh, because Crawley was a nearby town with an unfortunate name, would have to sort it all out as best he could.

It felt like a story with legs.

Terry took the 5,000 words, and rewrote them, calling me to tell me what he was doing and what he was planning to do. The biggest thing he was going to do, he told me, was split the hapless demon into two characters – a would-be-cool demon in dark glasses (which was, I think, Terry’s way of making fun of me, a never-actually- cool journalist in dark glasses) who had renamed himself Crowley, and a rare-book dealer and angel called Aziraphale, who would embody all the English awkwardness that either of us could conceive.”

William the Antichrist being a direct inspiration of the 1976 film The Omen. If the baby swap had just been a little bit messier and the kid had gone off somewhere else he would have grown up as somebody else. “And then there was a beat and I thought, I should write it, it will be called William the Antichrist” says Neil. ***

“The first draft of Good Omens was a William-book. It was absolutely in every way it could be a William book. It had Violet Elizabeth Bott, it had William and the Outlaws, it had Mr. Brown”.

Over time they realized that they would have more creative freedom if they in their own words filed off the serial numbers. William and the Outlaws becoming Adam and the Them.

But the spirit of Just William was never far away.

The joy for Neil was to construct “perfectly William sentences”. The one when Anathema tells Adam that she has lost the Book, and he tells her that he has written a book about a pirate who became a famous detective and it is 8 pages long… that’s “a William sentence”.

If you want to read more details about William The Antichrist, here are some slides I made.

Good Omens was also inspired by a particularly antisemitic moment in The Jew of Malta and John le Carre's spy novels. (Neil’s ask)

 Then I was reading The Jew of Malta by Kit Marlowe, and it has a bit where the three (cartoonishly evil) Jews compare notes on all the well-poisoning and suchlike they’d done that day, and as a Jew who never quite gets his act together, it occurred to me that if I were the third Jew I’d just be apologizing for having failed to poison a well… And suddenly I had the opening of a book. It would be called William the Antichrist. And it would begin with three Demons in a graveyard… (x).

“When we finished the book we estimated that the words were 60% Terry’s and 40% mine, and the plot, such as it was, was entirely ours.” -Neil Gaiman

"Neil and I had known each other since early 1985. Doing it was our idea, not a publisher's deal." "I think this is an honest account of the process of writing Good Omens. It was fairly easy to keep track of because of the way we sent discs to one another, and because I was Keeper of the Official Master Copy I can say that I wrote a bit over two thirds of Good Omens. However, we were on the phone to each other every day, at least once. If you have an idea during a brainstorming session with another guy, whose idea is it? One guy goes and writes 2,000 words after thirty minutes on the phone, what exactly is the process that's happening? I did most of the physical writing because: 1) I had to. Neil had to keep Sandman going -- I could take time off from the DW; 2) One person has to be overall editor, and do all the stitching and filling and slicing and, as I've said before, it was me by agreement -- if it had been a graphic novel, it would have been Neil taking the chair for exactly the same reasons it was me for a novel; 3) I'm a selfish bastard and tried to write ahead to get to the good bits before Neil. Initially, I did most of Adam and the Them and Neil did most of the Four Horsemen, and everything else kind of got done by whoever -- by the end, large sections were being done by a composite creature called Terryandneil, whoever was actually hitting the keys. By agreement, I am allowed to say that Agnes Nutter, her life and death, was completely and utterly mine. And Neil proudly claims responsibility for the maggots. Neil's had a major influence on the opening scenes, me on the ending. In the end, it was this book done by two guys, who shared the money equally and did it for fun and wouldn't do it again for a big clock." "Yes, the maggot reversal was by me, with a gun to Neil's head (although he understood the reasons, it's just that he likes maggots). There couldn't be blood on Adam's hands, even blood spilled by third parties. No-one should die because he was alive." -("Terry Pratchett : His World”)

(Here are some slides of mine where I go into some other details concerning the origins of Good Omens).

Another wonderful insight with Rob Wilkins in "The Worlds of Terry Pratchett".

*Quote: from Terry Pratchett A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins, but said by Terry of course.

** All the quotes, facts listed here : see above.

***all other quotes by Neil Gaiman from various interviews and asks I’ll link.

[noneorother]

The art director & the Good Omens book cover tier list of doom, part 3

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3

I am your resident Art Director/Good Omens enthusiast, and welcome to my completely meta-free book cover tier list. Listen, making a book cover is HARD. I should know. But while we salute these artists for their hard work and time, I think we can all admit that once in a while, the vision is just not on. And on very rare occasions, publishers seemed to have managed to commission the cover art directly from hell... here's where we left off last time:

21. Labas zīmes, Latvian cover

Our boys are back! And they are so ready to join the Dead Boy Detective agency. I would say that Latvians don't wear much tartan, so Argyle might seem like a similar print, but it just seems so... not Good Omens. Much like Crowley's flying purple people eater tail and Aziraphale's Conan the Barbarian sword, we're straying into niche AU fan fiction territory here. I mean, it's not *wrong*, but it certainly ain't right, either.

Tier: Does the Job

22. Bons Augùrios, Portuguese

Let me start by saying this cover is so close to being in the blessed category. The layout and spacing are divine, the imagery is simple and whimsical, it reflects the humour inside the gravitas to give you an idea of the *feeling* of reading Good Omens. So few of these covers have gotten this aspect of good design right. Honestly, I would slow clap if it wasn't for that random FLAME JIZZ stuck to the bottom right hand corner of the book. Who's idea was that? Dagon's?

Tier: Great

23. Semne Bune, Romanian cover

I admire two things about this cover: 1) Their utter commitment to a clean 3-colour palette and comprehensible layout. 2) Symbolic demon giving a principality head joke RIGHT ON THE FRONT COVER. This designer had balls. cotillion-sized balls. Now, does Aziraphale's sword have a sentient rooster tassel that watches said head-giving in horror? I sure hope not, but I don't see how that could be allegorical so, I'm torn. I feel like this goes in two categories for completely different reasons. And seeing as I'm in charge around here...

Tier: Great & Not so Good (Omens)

23. Semne Bune, Romanian cover cont.

Compared to the last cover's gigantic double-entendre, this feels so tame and logical. The text is centred and balanced. There's breathing room, and we have wing symbolism! I've never seen a cover try to split Terry and Neil's names like that, which is a fun twist but BY GOD that center line is not straight near the right end of the feathers and it is sending this cover straight down to Does the Job. It's grounded there forever.

Tier: Does the Job

25. HYVIÄ ENTEITÄ, Finnish cover

In this list, having something actually *relevant* to the main plot of the book and not mangling and main characters really puts you in rarefied air. All the motorcycles are book accurate which means somebody read something! Would I have ever picked the empty parking lot of Famine's restaurant as a subject worth a cover? Absolutely not. But the sick 80s lightning tips it into "fine" territory. The text is yellow. It's pretty.

Tier: Does the Job

26. Head ended, Estonian cover.

My face after staring at this cover for ten minutes and finally realizing that this is Hastur and Ligur waiting around for Crowley to pull up:

The artist's face after watching me do that:

Do I even need to rate this? It's called HEAD ENDED. I don't know how to be funnier than that.

Tier: WTF

27. Dobry Omen, Polish cover

Some good points for trying to be original with the layout of the title by drawing a custom pitchfork "Y", but the heinous kerning and the fact the whole text block is not even centred kind of makes me take all the points back. I feel like we're pretty heavy on the demonic, extremely light on the angelic in this take. Maybe it's because on his death bed the lead guitarist of White Snake will finally admit to having designed this cover in his spare time.

Tier: Not so Good (Omens)

28. Good Omens, Hungarian cover

If I told you this designer did not read the book, and instead just watched the trailer of The Omen (the movie) and vibed this heinous brown carpet swatch into existence, you would one hundred percent believe me. I can't even talk about the faux belle-époque font right now. I am irrationally angry.

Tier: WTF

29. Good Omens, Bulgarian cover

WHO. IS. DADDY. WIZARD?? Is all I can think when I look at this cover. Aziraphale & Grommet are recognizable enough, and you could make the case for telescope monkey being Adam, but I need to find this cover designer and shake them until they tell me who this deranged Gargamel is supposed to be. I must know.

Tier: Bad

30. BELAS MALDIÇÕES, Portuguese cover

After all we've been through on this list so far, this truly sucks. It's not even weird. It's just puce text layered atop text to create a great yawn of a cover. Shout out to the designer of the Diablo PC game font, I hope you got paid.

Tier: Bad

Part 3 roundup:

[adobe-outdesign]

are there any neopets/colors/combinations thereof you have a really strong opinions about but haven’t had the chance to review?

(I'll do Peophins for this one as I feel like I like them more than most and there's no requests in for them right now.)

I'm always amazed that Peophins aren't more popular than they are. They are one of the most beautiful 'pets by far—Neopets as a whole have pretty stocky, chunky anatomy, but Peophins are abnormally thin proportionally, and surprisingly anatomically accurate to real horses compared to something like the Uni. This gives them a natural elegance, which a lot of colours build upon.

Peophins are also really strong conceptually, taking inspiration from mythologies like the hippocampus. Even if you don't know what that is, the mere idea of an aquatic horse with a tail instead of back legs and fins along their ears is a very unique and easy design to grasp. Little things like the plates on their snouts also add to the uniqueness of the design.

The only thing that's bad about Peophins (other than the fact that underwater Neopets like them don't get much NPC rep) is that their basic colours are kind of terrible. They have the base color and yellow accents, but then turn around and have a really off-putting second color for the mane and a random green spot on their forehead gem, creating a mess of a palette. It would've been much better if the green gem was either yellow or the base color, and the mane was a neutral lighter tone. Thankfully, most other Peophin colors fix this issue.

Peophins benefited heavily from conversion, as their old art was extremely dated. In addition to overall art quality, the anatomy was also improved to be less lumpy and things like the ears and mane were improved proportionally.

Favorite Colours:

Tyrannian: Tyrannian's caveman-like designs are not something I'd usually refer to as pretty, but the Peophin knocks it out of the park. The dark streak down the back and the underbelly combined with the fur makes it look a lot more like a prehistorical seal-esq creature, and little details like the mask being made out of stone are perfect. The mane is also quite pretty and adds a much needed pop of color.

Both the UC and converted versions are great, though I'll give the UC a minor edge for having a slightly more unique shape to the ears/fins and having the tail elements be more visible.

Royal: What I like about royal Peophins is that they take the idea of the Peophin's head plate and gem and expand on it, both by wrapping it around the ears to make a kind of crown and by adding lots of complimentary jewelry. I also like how the robes flow nicely with the body and make logical sense for an underwater creature. Both the royal girl and boy are good and match each other well, though between the two I do like the royal girl a bit more just because of the lovely palette.

Stealthy: Slightly unusual for a ninja colour but still very cool, the stealthy Peophin feels like it was also made with the water in mind. Lose-fitting cloth ninja robes are replaced with water-friendly mesh, and there's a bunch of metal holding bands that compliment the usual head plating. I also think that it's neat that they have a tie around their mouth similar to the reins of a normal horse. Also, the unclothed base, while much simpler, is also pretty nice.

BONUS: I'm normally of the opinion that faerie pets are best with markings, whether they be swirls, layers of color, or speckles, so that they're not just a normal Neopet with wings attached. However, while I would've loved to see some light pink swirls around the hooves and tail of the faerie Peophin, it still looks really nice. This is mostly because the lavender base is complimented by pink and silver accents, making it different than a basic Peophin.

Also, the UC/styled version is stunning; the pose is super fluid, the shading is really good, and the slightly different, more defined anatomy in the face really adds something. The converted version is still nice enough, but the wings are a bit too small and washed out color-wise, having lost the yellow dots in them.

They also screwed up the wing shape a bit; it's easier to see in the original Battledome poses, but the wings are one single wing that should run down the back rather then overlapping. They only overlap in the styled art because of the perspective on the tail that isn't present in the converted version.

[cartoonhostage]

I'm gonna make these assumptions as extremely specific as possible so I'm sure it's probably way off but here we go!

I would assume you're the type of person that is very social online, but more quiet in person. You daydream often, especially at school. Your favorite color is something warm and bright, like yellow or maybe orange. Casey Jr is your favorite character to project onto in your writing. I feel like you're relatively short, and have long hair. Maybe blue or green eyes. You don't like makeup. You wear socks even with sandals, but not the no-show kind. You want a cat, but are possibly allergic? You don't like coffee or energy drinks, but not because of the caffeine, just the taste. You're a night owl, not a morning person. You have a hard time getting up in the morning, and set multiple alarms. You prefer having music or a video playing in the background when you're working on something, rather than silence. You like wearing jackets, but not long-sleeved shirts. You have some sort of joint that keeps acting up, like maybe a knee or a shoulder or something. You don't like wearing sunglasses, because they hurt your ears. You can watch an episode or two of a show in one sitting, but can't binge-watch things. Aaaand... you like turtles, lol.

Let me know if any of that is accurate!

Okay this is kind of insane bc I started reading and assumed you must be one of my Discord friends, but then got to caffeine and now I'm not sure. Lemme go through this hang on

1. Social online but quiet in person ✅ very very accurate

2. Daydreaming ✅

3. Favourite colour ✅ my favourite colour is yellow which I sometimes substitute with orange

4. Casey Jr fav ✅ (I'll give you half a point for projection bc I have written about him specifically to project before, but none of it has ever been posted publicly)

5. Short and long hair ✅ I'm 5'1 of rage ty v much

6. Blue or green eyes ❌ my eyes are grey

7. Don't like makeup ✅

8. Socks even with sandals ❌ I never wear sandals because I like my feet covered and don't like the feeling

9. Want a cat ✅ Possibly allergic ❌ I just can't get one yet, but one day...

10. Don't like coffee or energy drinks (✅) but because of the taste rather than the caffeine ❌ I don't eat or drink anything with a significant amount of caffeine, I don't like how normalized it is and I don't want to mess up my sleep schedule. I don't think I'd like the taste either, but I've never had it, so I wouldn't know

11. Night owl ✅

12. Multiple alarms ❌ I have someone else wake me up instead of an alarm

13. Music or video while working ✅ I always have music playing

14. Like jackets but not long sleeve shirts ✅ I'm a t-shirt and hoodies only person (HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS????)

15. Joint that keeps acting up ✅ too many to count

16. Dislike sunglasses for ear pain ❌

17. Few episodes at a time, can't binge watch ❔ depends on what you define as binge watching

18. Like turtles ✅

Are you in my walls or something, how would you glean this from my blog o_o'

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Okay so I saw people say they found Arata's ability "mystical" or even "supernatural." Redditors are not funny to talk to so I'd rather write about it. /lh

To be honest, I hadn't even thought of looking at it that way. I'd say it's more so artsy than fantastical.

Although it's an extreme take on it (as are many depictions of neurodivergent characters' abilities) and now that I think about it, I understand how it matches some depictions of magic (using your power to the point it drains you, having a side effect to your power) I guess I looked at the depictions of his "power" internally as... nothing more than a representation.

Either a representation created by Arata's brain, or something stylish for the viewer. After all, this isn't a "power" that manifests itself in the outside world, but something that goes on exclusively in his brain. I think Arata's ability has a more "fantastical" depiction than pretty much anything else in Psycho-Pass up until this point. But I don't think the power itself is meant to be.

I'd say it makes sense to me that his "dream-like" representations of memories - his or others' - which again, is a definitely extreme take on high empathy levels similar to many other depictions blah blah blah - are hazy, blurry, lack in colour. How accurately does our imagination picture things? Are the objects in our dreams actual things we see, or concepts we understand? Arata's visions of memories strikes me as an artsy interpretation of those questions.

Now, the question is: were we to look into another character's memories from the exact same point of view - not a flashback meant for the viewer, but their actual point of view as they relive the memory to some extent or another - would it look similar? I would argue that it might be even hazier, as Arata's ability makes his visions specifically vivid. In the same type of depiction, another more "regular" characters' visualisations of memories might look even more horror-like. Voices distant, phrases repeating themselves out of order, shapes in place of individuals, colour absent. Depending on the individual or their specific memory, it could even be a dark room with nothing but noise.

To conclude, it is interesting to note that the depiction of what goes on in Arata's sleepwalking state is unlike anything that came before in the series.

[midnightskraptor]

I have never made a post about how much I love roe, what am I doing with my life.

Man with autism shares his weird obsession with unfertilized edible aquatic eggs (Below the break because this is a long post lmao)

First, we've got my personal favourite: Ikura, or salmon roe. They're about the size and consistency of popping boba, except the inside is oilier because, y'know, fish oil. They have a really rich, lingering, taste, and are also somewhat salty. Not overpoweringly so, however I would not suggest putting them with anything else with salt. Tbh I think they're best enjoyed as ikura sushi (it's just the roe on rice wrapped in seaweed)

Extremely close second favourite: Tobiko, or flying fish roe. Trying to figure out a good way to describe their size is hard personally, they're like really small pellets. They all pack a good amount of flavour though. Not as much as ikura roe, but it's still very well there. Also see those colours in the background? They're all the same roe! Some sushi chefs will colour them with different ingredients, which also change their taste to varying degrees. The most common colours you'll see are orange (plain, nothing added), green (wasabi), black (squid ink), yellow (yuzu), and red (beetroot). Though I've seen other things get used for these and other colours like charcoal, or just simply food dyes (mostly seen it for blue). I am quite surprised at the lack of people using these to make art, though it makes sense since tobiko is in the pricier end.

And then we have the one that almost everyone who's had sushi in the US has probably had: Masago, or capelin roe. I couldn't find anything really to back this up, but I remember being told years ago that the name is derived from "fine sand". Which is very accurate, these things are TINY. As such they also don't have too much flavour unless you're eating just spoonfulls of them. They're the roe you'll usually see used for garnishing, though there's some places that have a few rolls where they'll absolutely Cover the rice with them. You definitely get the flavour then.

These are the three most prominent types of roe in the US, and you likely have heard of all of them before if you eat a lot of Japanese food. But there are a lot more! Basically, roe is the unfertilized eggs of any fish or shellfish. Based on that description, yes, caviar is also roe. Calling roe caviar isn't correct however, as caviar comes from sturgeons specifically. Which is also (mostly) why it's so expensive, and most types are illegal! If you're not aware, most species of sturgeon are endangered, most notably beluga and sterlet sturgeons. Overharvest of their eggs in ways that kill the fish caused their numbers to drop drastically. As with anything though, illegality does not stop some people, and their numbers are still dropping :(

Back to roe that is both morally (though debatably for some) and legally acceptable: Ebiko, or shrimp/prawn roe. I have had the pleasure of having this, which is suprising given how hard it is to find in the US. It's not that expensive either, actually it's one of the cheaper ones due to its availability. I'm really shocked at how rare it is in this country. (This is based off my attempts to locate it! If you have a different experience I would love to know). It also gets coloured sometimes similar to how they'll do it with tobiko! (Realistically you could colour any light coloured roe if you wanted, it's just less common.) In my experience, you'll usually have it served still attached to the shrimp or prawn. With shrimp/prawns, they may or may not be fertilized eggs, just due to how they breed. Really you don't know unless they start growing, which you wouldn't see at the stage at which they'd usually be harvested anyway, however if you are unsettled by that idea, just keep in mind there is the possiblity they are fertilized.

Ok cool, now look at this image first before I explain it

If you've never seen this before, you might be wondering what the fuck this is. Surely this isn't also roe? But it is! So what is this? This is mentaiko, or alaskan pollock roe (also referred to as cod roe, because alaskan pollock isn't pollock, it's cod,, lmao). Cod roe can also also be called tarako, but the image is of mentaiko. The difference is that tarako is salted and served, while mentaiko is also marinated in chiles and spices, giving it it's brighter pink or red hue. So why does it look like this? This is the entire egg sac extracted from the fish. It is prepared and eaten in the sack. I remember being really freaked out by it as a kid when I first saw it during a trip to the UK at this restaurant we went to and so never ate it (regret), but tbh it's like the roe equivalent of sausage if you think about it. Though sausage also freaked me out when I was younger so idk how much that would've helped lmao.

One more roe for the road (that I have also not eaten)! We've got uni, or urchin roe. This is also technically not roe, but also technically is, just not fully. What do I mean by this, well look below.

Whole piece, like tarako. So it's an egg sack? Not quite. Yes, this contains the egg sack, but just like how we went from eggs to the whole sack, now we've gone to the whole reproductive organ. This does mean that, yes, this is referred to as the gonads of the urchin. Did you know there's five of them per urchin? Five! This is because outside of mating season, instead of storing reproductive cells, they store nutrients. Urchins are so silly man. They're notoriously poisonous too, like every single part of them contains deadly toxins, except for the gonads. How did we,, find this out

We really looked at this thing and went "I want to eat this". And it fucking worked.

[cuddlytogas]

Ooh, a great addition!! I'm not as well up on C16th fashion, so thank you for the context.

Turns out I was partly wrong! Leather jerkins were worn in the 15th and 16th centuries, and buff leather coats were a large part of C16th military armour, though they were often a padding layer under metal. And we DO have extant examples and references to leather hose/breeches/trousers. Huzzah! Precedent!

However, I do think my point stands. Because yes, leather did exist as a garment material - but extremely not how modern designers seem to think.

Compare, for example, The Tudors' Henry VIII or Will's Marlowe above, with actual leather English Renaissance jerkins:

(Worth noting that the left-hand example is described as dark brown, though it's aged into a blacker colour.)

Or The Musketeers with actual C17th buff leather army coats (or, god forbid, actual C17th Mousquetaires du roi):

There's even this leather waistcoat from c. 1714-26, smack bang in the Golden Age of Piracy:

And here are some breeches/trousers I could find, from the late 18th/early 19th centuries:

And, as linked by mstyr, we know that Baron John Petre bought some chamois leather hose from Richard Smithick on Fleet Street in 1577, with lace, silk, and razed/slitted cannions (the narrow part that reached down to the knee). I also found leather jerkins mentioned in that period in the royal wardrobe warrant, including perfumed, or imported Spanish, leather.

Of course, these are all quite fashionable garments, though we should remember that evidence is biased towards the rich. We can probably safely assume the existence of plainer, working people's leather jerkins and trousers/breeches/hose, as well as utilitarian garments like chaps and aprons, for which we don't have a record.

Still: none of these examples look remotely like the ones in modern media, particularly not the generic Vikings/Black Sails/The Tudors look I criticised. If Shakespeare in Love was going for an accurate leather look, they could have given William a brown, cream, or yellow jerkin over a long-sleeved fabric doublet, with some modest (considering his lower status) pinking or slashing. The Musketeers could have given their men high-waisted, yellow or tan buff coats, with big shirts and bright sashes. Arguably, Robin Hood's highly tooled brown leather jerkin has something going for it, but it definitely leans more toward fantasy armour than middle ages fashion, and what they've put Guy in rather undermines the historicism!

It's fairly clear that these modern designs don't come from any attention to extant historical garments or records. And it seems to me that what evidence we do have of historical leather garments doesn't speak to them being particularly common, outweighed as they are by images and examples of wool, linen, silk, and cotton. Leather armour had a brief heyday in the C17th buff coat, but that looked nothing like the leather armour we see in fantasy/period media.

To be clear, my problem with this genre of period costume design isn't just the fact of leather pants. It's generic in plenty of other ways: limited, muted colour palette, often further dulled with dirt (as if people in history didn't have access to cheap, natural dyes, didn't like bright things or fashion, and didn't know how to stay clean); rough, "handmade-look" stitching (as if Vikings, pirates, or English folk heroes didn't have access to highly skilled tailors, leatherworkers, and armourers, or as if, before industrialisation and fast fashion, almost everyone either had, or knew someone with, the skill to neatly make and mend clothing); impractical or anachronistic flourishes (wide, multi-buckled belts; everyday bracers; studs and plates haphazardly attached to anything and everything); high boots on everyone (because no one serious or interesting would wear stockings!); and catering to modern beauty standards with spandex pants, low-cut shirts, and modern hair and makeup (because actors must look as sexy as possible, and audiences can't understand that fashion and beauty standards change over time).

Which is why what Flag does right is not eschew leather entirely, but utilise it with creativity and intention, with context, intertext, and subtext, to create meaning and convey character in complex and nuanced ways.

Still. It is nice to set the record straight on actually historical leather <3

So I accidentally almost got into an argument on Twitter, and now I'm thinking about bad historical costuming tropes. Specifically, Action Hero Leather Pants.

See, I was light-heartedly pointing out the inaccuracies of the costumes in Black Sails, and someone came out of the woodwork to defend the show. The misunderstanding was that they thought I was dismissing the show just for its costumes, which I wasn't - I was simply pointing out that it can't entirely care about material history (meaning specifically physical objects/culture) if it treats its clothes like that.

But this person was slightly offended on behalf of their show - especially, quote, "And from a fan of OFMD, no less!" Which got me thinking - it's true! I can abide a lot more historical costuming inaccuracy from Our Flag than I can Black Sails or Vikings. And I don't think it's just because one has my blorbos in it. But really, when it comes down to it...

What is the difference between this and this?

Here's the thing. Leather pants in period dramas isn't new. You've got your Vikings, Tudors, Outlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Once Upon a Time, Will, The Musketeers, even Shakespeare in Love - they love to shove people in leather and call it a day. But where does this come from?

Obviously we have the modern connotations. Modern leather clothes developed in a few subcultures: cowboys drew on Native American clothing. (Allegedly. This is a little beyond my purview, I haven't seen any solid evidence, and it sounds like the kind of fact that people repeat a lot but is based on an assumption. I wouldn't know, though.) Leather was used in some WWI and II uniforms.

But the big boom came in the mid-C20th in motorcycle, punk/goth, and gay subcultures, all intertwined with each other and the above. Motorcyclists wear leather as practical protective gear, and it gets picked up by rock and punk artists as a symbol of counterculture, and transferred to movie designs. It gets wrapped up in gay and kink communities, with even more countercultural and taboo meanings. By the late C20th, leather has entered mainstream fashion, but it still carries those references to goths, punks, BDSM, and motorbike gangs, to James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Mick Jagger. This is whence we get our Spikes and Dave Listers in 1980s/90s media, bad boys and working-class punks.

And some of the above "historical" design choices clearly build on these meanings. William Shakespeare is dressed in a black leather doublet to evoke the swaggering bad boy artist heartthrob, probably down on his luck. So is Kit Marlowe.

But the associations get a little fuzzier after that. Hook, with his eyeliner and jewellery, sure. King Henry, yeah, I see it. It's hideously ahistorical, but sure. But what about Jamie and Will and Ragnar, in their browns and shabby, battle-ready chic? Well, here we get the other strain of Bad Period Drama Leather.

See, designers like to point to history, but it's just not true. Leather armour, especially in the western/European world, is very, very rare, and not just because it decays faster than metal. (Yes, even in ancient Greece/Rome, despite many articles claiming that as the start of the leather armour trend!) It simply wasn't used a lot, because it's frankly useless at defending the body compared to metal. Leather was used as a backing for some splint armour pieces, and for belts, sheathes, and buckles, but it simply wasn't worn like the costumes above. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and hard to repair - it's simply not practical for a garment when you have perfectly comfortable, insulating, and widely available linen, wool, and cotton!

As far as I can see, the real influence on leather in period dramas is fantasy. Fantasy media has proliferated the idea of leather armour as the lightweight choice for rangers, elves, and rogues, a natural, quiet, flexible material, less flashy or restrictive than metal. And it is cheaper for a costume department to make, and easier for an actor to wear on set. It's in Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Runescape, and World of Warcraft.

And I think this is how we get to characters like Ragnar and Vane. This idea of leather as practical gear and light armour, it's fantasy, but it has this lineage, behind which sits cowboy chaps and bomber/flight jackets. It's usually brown compared to the punk bad boy's black, less shiny, and more often piecemeal or decorated. In fact, there's a great distinction between the two Period Leather Modes within the same piece of media: Robin Hood (2006)! Compare the brooding, fascist-coded villain Guy of Gisborne with the shabby, bow-wielding, forest-dwelling Robin:

So, back to the original question: What's the difference between Charles Vane in Black Sails, and Edward Teach in Our Flag Means Death?

Simply put, it's intention. There is nothing intentional about Vane's leather in Black Sails. It's not the only leather in the show, and it only says what all shabby period leather says, relying on the same tropes as fantasy armour: he's a bad boy and a fighter in workaday leather, poor, flexible, and practical. None of these connotations are based in reality or history, and they've been done countless times before. It's boring design, neither historically accurate nor particularly creative, but much the same as all the other shabby chic fighters on our screens. He has a broad lineage in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean and such, but that's it.

In Our Flag, however, the lineage is much, much more intentional. Ed is a direct homage to Mad Max, the costuming in which is both practical (Max is an ex-cop and road warrior), and draws on punk and kink designs to evoke a counterculture gone mad to the point of social breakdown, exploiting the thrill of the taboo to frighten and titillate the audience.

In particular, Ed is styled after Max in the second movie, having lost his family, been badly injured, and watched the world turn into an apocalypse. He's a broken man, withdrawn, violent, and deliberately cutting himself off from others to avoid getting hurt again. The plot of Mad Max 2 is him learning to open up and help others, making himself vulnerable to more loss, but more human in the process.

This ties directly into the themes of Our Flag - it's a deliberate intertext. Ed's emotional journey is also one from isolation and pain to vulnerability, community, and love. Mad Max (intentionally and unintentionally) explores themes of masculinity, violence, and power, while Max has become simplified in the popular imagination as a stoic, badass action hero rather than the more complex character he is, struggling with loss and humanity. Similarly, Our Flag explores masculinity, both textually (Stede is trying to build a less abusive pirate culture) and metatextually (the show champions complex, banal, and tender masculinities, especially when we're used to only seeing pirates in either gritty action movies or childish comedies).

Our Flag also draws on the specific countercultures of motorcycles, rockers, and gay/BDSM culture in its design and themes. Naturally, in such a queer show, one can't help but make the connection between leather pirates and leather daddies, and the design certainly nods at this, with its vests and studs. I always think about this guy, with his flat cap so reminiscient of gay leather fashions.

More overtly, though, Blackbeard and his crew are styled as both violent gangsters and countercultural rockstars. They rove the seas like a bikie gang, free and violent, and are seen as icons, bad boys and celebrities. Other pirates revere Blackbeard and wish they could be on his crew, while civilians are awed by his reputation, desperate for juicy, gory details.

This isn't all of why I like the costuming in Our Flag Means Death (especially season 1). Stede's outfits are by no means accurate, but they're a lot more accurate than most pirate media, and they're bright and colourful, with accurate and delightful silks, lace, velvets, and brocades, and lovely, puffy skirts on his jackets. Many of the Revenge crew wear recognisable sailor's trousers, and practical but bright, varied gear that easily conveys personality and flair. There is a surprising dedication to little details, like changing Ed's trousers to fall-fronts for a historical feel, Izzy's puffy sleeves, the handmade fringe on Lucius's red jacket, or the increasing absurdity of navy uniform cuffs between Nigel and Chauncey.

A really big one is the fact that they don't shy away from historical footwear! In almost every example above, we see the period drama's obsession with putting men in skinny jeans and bucket-top boots, but not only does Stede wear his little red-heeled shoes with stockings, but most of his crew, and the ordinary people of Barbados, wear low boots or pumps, and even rough, masculine characters like Pete wear knee breeches and bright colours. It's inaccurate, but at least it's a new kind of inaccuracy, that builds much more on actual historical fashions, and eschews the shortcuts of other, grittier period dramas in favour of colour and personality.

But also. At least it fucking says something with its leather.

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #104

(taken january 22nd; uploading surveys taken while gone)

Have you ever been for a ride in the back of a truck? Yeah, when I was way younger.

Did your grandparents teach you anything? To not be an old-fashioned, holier-than-thou piece of fucking garbage that refuses to change with the times and kiss the feet of an invisible mass murderer in the sky.

What are the longest and shortest romantic relationships you’ve been in? Longest, over 3 1/2 years. I was with Juan less than 24 hours.

Have you ever been obsessive over calories, exercise etc.? I've had multiple phases of this.

What are you listening to? So Rammstein's vocalist has an independent band as well and I sometimes explore his solo work and I'm currently obsessed with "Ich weiß es nicht" and I've just fully accepted chaotic 50-60 y/o men dominate my interests lmfao

How is the weather outside? It's raining. I wish it would just snow already, I really wanna get pretty winter weather pictures this year.

List eight things you like about your best friend. He is extremely patient, absolutely hilarious, a strong listener, the most loyal person I've ever met, very obviously genuinely cares about me, he's a very hard worker that's super dedicated to whatever he sets his mind to, he's very good with animals (especially dogs), and he's super intelligent.

List two favourite colours. Pastel pink and coral.

What was the last book you read? I started Wings of Fire: Talons of Power the other day.

How many best friends do you have? I only feel like I'm being entirely accurate in the sense of what I consider an absolute best friend to be when I answer with Girt, but I know some people will be like "oh he doesn't count" because he's my partner, but whatever. If not him, then it's Mom, buuuut again, I know some won't consider that a valid answer. My closest friends that are just friends and not blood or anything are both Tez and Mazzy, though.

Are you holding back doing or saying anything? Yeah, I guess. Nothing very important, though.

Have you ever been used? Oh I'm sure I have been, in one way or another.

Are you pregnant? Zero chance of that.

Do you want to be? BIG no on that one.

Can you describe your entire family in three words? Complicated, strained, distant.

What’s the first thing you see when you look out your window? Our road and houses across the street.

What’s your favorite fair food? I actually don't know; I've been to so very few and tried barely any food. I do know that I actually don't like funnel cake, though.

What’s something you always wear, even in the shower? Piercings.

How did you feel after your first kiss? There was a whole lotta butterflies and shyness but also tons of happiness and peace and the feeling that I was in the midst of something wonderful. Girl if you only knew lmfao

What’s your state's or country’s minimum wage? $7.25/h 🙃 proven to be properly unlivable here

What was the best thing you ever did for your parents, legal guardians or parental figures? hell if I know honestly

Have you ever worn a suit? No but women in suits is FUCKING HOT

Would you rather make 2D or 3D art? 2D. Sculptures and stuff aren't my thing, at least when it comes to ME making them. I love looking at that kinda stuff, though.

Do you eat candy corn? No, I hate that shit.

Were either of your parents baptized? I can absolutely, positively guarantee my mom was, but idk about Dad.

The last concert that you were at, was there a mosh pit? Nah.

Do you think pepperoni would be good on a meatball sub? I don't even like meatball subs to begin with because the bread gets so damp and gross.

Has anyone killed one of your pets before? Well, yes. Growing up we had cats get hit by cars a lot. I've told the story of our then-neighbors' rottweilers getting loose and going on a cat massacre once too, but I honestly don't blame the owners and haven't for a very, very long time. Those dogs were smart and it wasn't like them getting loose was even a remotely common thing. It was entirely an accident.

Does your bathroom have a theme to it? Neither one does.

Are any rooms in your house themed? Not really. I WANT to redesign mine with more of a nature-y vibe, though.

Is there someone that you have lost respect for recently? My grandmother, who I ALREADY didn't respect at all.

Have you ever edited an article on Wikipedia? No.

Do you remember your first love? I am not AT ALL exaggerating the times I say that I very sincerely doubt that I would forget Jason even if I developed dementia/Alzheimer's. Some patients do remember specific details of their lives and I am fully convinced that would be me with him.

What is something you can never give up (that's not love or family)? The Internet, lmao.

Have you ever waited in line overnight for something? No.

Is there such a thing as being too rich or too poor? Obviously?????????????

Go back to your freshman year; what kind of music were you listening to? Same stuff as now, various forms of metal, but I would also listen to more scream-y stuff.

Do you have an alter ego? Describe them: No.

What is something you think about yourself that nobody agrees with? That I'm incredibly dumb. People who know me, especially family, always love to point out I'm "super smart" (when it comes to book-type knowledge, everyone knows I have terrible common sense) but I very much feel like they just think about how I performed up through high school. I don't know WHAT happened once I started college (my one and only guess is that my trauma genuinely affected my memory and even how I register information), but it did a fantastic job at making me feel appallingly stupid and unable to process new information. It's probably always going to upset me, how much I changed in terms of learning.

What about something people think of you that you don’t agree with? That I handle kids quite well. I always feel like I'm doing or saying the total wrong thing and acting awkwardly, and even seeing evidence that kids DO seem to gravitate towards me doesn't make me believe that I'm actually good with them.

What is your favourite type of video game? Horror, esp psychological-type horror.

Do you sometimes pretend to do things you dont know how to do? No, that sounds like a bad idea.

If you have tattoos, which one that you have was the most painful? I want to say my inner forearm, I think.

Do you have any pets who will bite anyone else out there, besides you? No.

If you died right now, what would be your biggest regret? Never feeling like I found my place in the world.

What do you believe was your greatest achievement? Healing from the breakup. I know it sounds super little and unimpressive, but when you know how desperately I just always wanted to be dead and the psychological damage it all did that I STILL deal with, you'd realize it was a feat of fucking strength and self-love that I frequently forget about.

What have you learned from pain? To cherish every single moment without it and to also have empathy and understanding.

What was the last text or IM you sent? Girt was asking about moving our hangout day to Wednesday, which I told him was fine; he just feels like having the weekend to himself. I wanted to see him, but I'm not actually upset at all; he's allowed to have time with himself, even if I WASN'T okay with it.

What is the simplest way to make you happy? Talk to me about meerkats or Rammstein or Silent Hill and stuff lmao.

When was the last time you had deja vu? Actually when I was writing an RP post yesterday, it was really weird.

Is there something you are always interested in? The main topic of deep interest that has prevailed the longest is meerkats.

Do you like buffet restaurants? I really don't, I find the concept super gross with how people are.

When was the last time you felt like you were starving? Full realism, I've never felt like I was sincerely, truly starving because I never factually have been. Yeah, I exaggerate and sometimes am like "I'm starving" when I mean I'm super hungry, but I'm fully aware I'm actually not. I consider myself an incredibly lucky person to have constant access to some kind of food.

Would you ever dye your hair all the colors of the rainbow? If my hair would actually take it and it wasn't absurdly expensive, fuck yeah.

What has made you laugh lately? I've been watching a lot of Game Grumps lately, and they do very, very easily. More than any other YouTube channel on a consistent basis.

If a Miley Cyrus song was playing in a store, would you leave? Oh, grow up. I'm not leaving a store I went to to get something I need or even just want just because a fucking song comes on.

Have you ever actually discovered someone watching you? No, thank the fucking lord. That would REALLY creep me out.

What would you do if you found an inappropriate picture of yourself online? I would be EXTREMELY freaked out because I've never taken an inappropriate picture of myself and I've never allowed anyone else to either, so someone would've done it in secrecy. I'd also be absolutely fucking humiliated because I hate my body. I'd absolutely try to figure out who got the picture and try my absolute damnedest to get it taken off the Internet.

What do you think of Facebook? I use it to keep tabs on people I care about and also see memes haha, plus other cool or motivational/inspiring stuff, but it DOES sometimes negatively affect me in the sense it makes me feel insanely behind in life.

Would you rather have Junior Mints or Reese’s? Reese's.

Have you ever taken a Polaroid? I'm quite sure I haven't, though I would actually really like to have a Polaroid-type camera. I can absolutely see the aesthetic appeal of them.

When was the last time you felt pressured? This past Friday Emerson wanted to play catch with one of her toys for a little bit, and though I didn't really want to because I was reading a book, I obviously did.

How many times have you broken a bone? Once.

Do you have a preference of chocolate? Milk chocolate with either a peanut butter or caramel interior.

Do you have a favorite author? Nah I really don't.

Do you own anything “designer?” Definitely not. I ain't got that kind of money.

If you had to draw your life, what would it mainly include? A lot of mental illness imagery and also Jason. Mom.

What is your favourite dinosaur? It's always been the spinosaurus. I also really love velociraptors, but their understood anatomy has changed a whole lot. I've found I prefer less feathery dinos. The Jurassic Park iteration of them are more my style.

Have you ever made bread? I personally haven't.

Would your childhood self be disappointed? UH, YEAH.

Has anything ever fallen asleep on you? Yeah, pets, partners, kids. Maybe sisters at some point.

What do you feel about surgeries? Do they worry you? Well, they worry me NOW because I learned sleep apnea (and mine is apparently severe) is a dangerous complicator in surgeries. I've also wondered if my nightmares could be an issue... I also have a considerable fear of anesthesia awareness, but it's not absolutely overwhelming.

Do you have a Tumblr? My Tumblr was (I'm assuming) accidentally terminated over a month ago and I am STILL waiting to hear back from them, even after sending a second report. 🙃 I've been tempted to go back to my old email account (that one was ALSO randomly terminated after a theme edit but was restored), but I really don't want to so am trying to wait. I just don't at all see what in the world I could've done wrong to be fairly banned.

Would you ever consider moving to another country? Realistically I don't think I will. My mom has basically begged us girls to stay together and prioritize our family bond because our extended family ALL live out of state, usually many states away.

Would you like to live in a realm where the zombie apocalypse is possible? How do we know the one we live in now isn't? Zombifying parasites already exist in simpler, smaller organisms; who knows what the future holds. I do remember reading a scientific article about it for some reason just not seeming possible for humans with our current biological knowledge, but. Who knows. BUT ANYWAY, I would DEFINITELY prefer it to not be possible. I will never understand the absolute maniacs that basically fetishize that universe, like bitch you will die within the first couple days like basically everyone else, stop pretending you're a godly badass in the face of a horde of dead humans that are deadset on eating you and accept you're gonna shit your pants like everyone else lmao.

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 8: nonhumans

this is easily the geekiest part of the series. and it's a Very geeky series. because sapkowski's worldbuilding is waaay more extensive than i have the time, ability, or desire to convey, i'm sticking with races both sentient and important

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

series masterpost

dopplers

dopplers, also known as vexlings, shifters, mimics, doubles, imitators, or pavrats, are a nonhuman race that can take on the appearance of nearly anyone they encounter

before mass migrations of humans, dopplers primarily inhabited the forests and plateaus around the city of novigrad, where they would transform into wolves and pack animals to hunt

their abilities are pretty impressive, dopplers can not only mimic appearance but also voice, personality, skills, behaviours, and knowledge. dopplers can even turn parts of their bodies into pieces of clothing or other objects

however, there are some limitations

dopplers can't transform into someone/thing with dramatically more mass than they have, are burned by silver, and can't drop anything they created (if they did it would kind of turn into a fleshy goop)

we've already met a doppler in twn, this sexy sexy man

BUT

it is important to note that this doppler is a huge deviation from sapkowski's lore. dopplers are pretty much always exceptionally kind and gentle. a lot of times they use their abilities to appear threatening (big teeth, sharp claws etc) because they really don't want to hurt anyone.

when dopplers aren't mimicking another form, they aren't exactly pretty. they're bald, short, have beady yellow eyes, and kinda look like they're made from soft clay

here's the hexer doppler

the most notable doppler is dudu biberveldt, who i mentioned as the halfling dainty biberveldt's fake cousin. dudu's actual name is tellico lunngrevink letorte, but dainty decided to help dudu live in novigrad by adopting him as his fake cousin.

dragons

dragons are fucking awesome. you know it, i know it, and zerrikanians know it. witcher dragons are especially awesome

they are the only being, other than cats, that can naturally harness and absorb the force of chaos

there are multiple subtypes, but most dragons fall into one of four: black dragons, green dragons, red dragons, and white dragons.

black dragons are the largest, and primarily live in swamps and wetlands where they bathe in mud. they have extremely hard scales and don't breathe fire, but an acid that causes burns similar to those from mustard gas.

green dragons (right there) are the most prominent yet smallest species of dragon, mainly living in forested areas and breathe highly flammable chlorine gas.

red dragons mainly live in hills and mountain caves and can breathe fire hot enough to melt metal

white dragons are one of the rarest species and live in the far north, and can breathe frost

however, if you watched the witcher netflix as i assume you did, you may remember golden dragons. these dragons are so rare and exceptional that they are not usually included with other species. they breathe steam and fire and can shapeshift into any living being

all dragons communicate through telepathy, although golden dragons can speak when they are in the form of a species that can speak

humans are pretty divided on the topic of dragons, with zerrikanians worshiping them and nordlings hating them.

because they are incredibly intelligent and emotional, witchers (generally) refuse to hunt them

borkh three jackdaws, also known as villentrenmerth, is the only golden dragon we know. there he is right there.

ASSASSINS OF KINGS SPOILERS NEXT TWO BULLET POINTS

the other dragon from twn was a green dragon named myrgtabrakke, borkh's mate. their daughter is named saesenthessis, also known as saskia the dragonslayer (an alias she took to explain her extensive knowledge of dragons) and the virgin of aedirn

because saskia is part golden dragon, she can shapeshift, although is much more limited than her father. she can basically only be a human looking woman with blonde hair or a huge dragon.

cut because this part is getting REALLY long

godlings

ah godlings. i love them so much. they're adorable and precious. they usually look somewhat like a human child, but with blue skin and large amber or green eyes. they don't wear much clothes, their focus is in accessories like jewelry, flowers, or tattoos

that's johnny, a holding in wild hunt.

godlings are incredibly rare, and are easily confused with young goblins. they primarily live in swamps near drowners, but aren't afraid of them.

they're quite mischievous but kind hearted, many have happy go lucky personalities and love just having fun. i adore godlings. i've said it once and i'll say it again.

higher vampires

definitely the most important group on this list, higher vampires are incredibly powerful and intelligent. they can shapeshift within certain limits, generally either looking like a human or a large terrifying bat. they also have some telepathic abilities - they can basically make you fall asleep and forget stuff

scary wooo

higher vampires do not need to drink blood to survive. some don't drink blood at all. when they do, it's like a human drinking alcohol. on full moons, groups of higher vampires go out partying and get white girl wasted

although all higher vampires have the same basic abilities, each individual has one skill they are exceptional in.

most find humans harmless but annoying, like mosquitos. they don't really like interacting with humans, which works out pretty well as higher vampires can blend in very well, even a witcher's medallion can't detect one

higher vampires also have three distinct cultures, the tdet in the far east, the ammurun across the great sea, and the gharasham in the northern realms

they are really really hard (or impossible, depending on canon) to kill. based on the books, you basically need to disintegrate them. based on the games, only higher vampires can kill other higher vampires, but humans can get close

we only meet one in the books, emiel regis rohellec terzieff-godefroy. he goes by regis for short. regis was an "alcoholic" in his youth, and has since abstained from blood or any other substance. he's incredibly old, by the end of twn season 1 he'd be 425 years old. as for regis' "special ability", he's just kind. he's an incredibly gentle and loving person. that's it. i love him.

merpeople

probably one you're already familiar with! merpeople are intelligent humanoids that inhabit the great sea. mermaids are notably gorgeous, having green hair and tails, and their scales are prized alchemy ingredients

sapkowski's mermaids can breathe above water, but the sun burns their skin so they don't stay at the surface for very long.

merpeople are incredibly powerful, they can summon krakens and the sea-dragon like race of vodyanoy respect their authority

they use their own language that's quite similar to hen llinge, but more lyrical sounding.

nymphs

nymphs are a humanoid race primarily based around nature. they have 5 subspecies, dryads (including hamadryads), leimoniad, naiad, nereid, and oread.

dryads, called eerie wives by humans and aen woedbeanna by elves, are the most prevalent, primarily living in the brokilon forest. some have human skin with olive undertones, but others are green. they usually have dark brown or green hair which is usually worn in dreadlocks (breaking my promise of not being overtly and annoyingly political in this series yet again - the dryads, especially in the netflix adaptation, are classic magical n*gress stereotypes. but more on that later.)

this is a lore-accurate one that i LOVE

dryads have incredibly strong connections with nature and magic, although it is really rare for a dryad to be a source. dryads are able to draw energy from trees, but rarely do because they don't want to hurt the trees. support dryads and take the bus.

all dryads are women. all of them. they make babies by basically luring men into the forest and doing the adult hokey pokey. also why dryads aren't really a fan of witchers, who don't make the baby butter (i am so sorry)

however, dryads can also turn a girl of another race into one of their own through the use of magic. the water of brokilon has some mutating quality that makes young girls forget their human past and physically turn into dryads, although it is less effective as the girls are older. the dryads tried to do this to ciri, but given that she's a source, nothing happened. generally, this process is done to girls who wander into brokilon, but some dryads will abduct peasants from outside the forest if they need more dryads.

here's twn dryads... yikes

this is where i think the whole racism thing becomes a bit too obvious. "uncivilized" women who live in the forest and have dreadlocks and abduct young girls from "civilized" areas?? in twn they leaned even further into this, having one of the two black women they cast be a dryad and replacing the usual bows and arrows with spears, a less sophisticated weapon. again, this series is about the lore, not the political implications of it, but it is important to keep in mind

dryads are excellent at archery, shooting anyone who comes within 80 metres of the forest. through their connection with nature, they have highly advanced medicine and use glowing fungi as a source of light.

hamadryads are a specific type of dryad that is incredibly connected with her tree. because of this connection they have exceptionally strong magical and healing capabilities, but will also go insane and die if their tree dies.

like merpeople, dryads use a more melodic dialect of hen llinge

leimoniads are a type of nymph that lived exclusively in meadows, but are practically extinct due to wars with humans

naiads, also called rusalki, are nymphs that live in lakes and rivers, although a few live with the dryads in brokilon. naiads are very similar to dryads, although they tend to have very light skin with very dark hair, webbed hands, and can dry out on land

naiads rarely speak common, live in small groups, and have highly developed telepathic abilities

nereids are nymphs that inhabit the great sea, often living closely with merpeople. they usually have blueish skin with either blue or white hair and have some telepathic abilities, though not to the extent of naiads.

oreads are nymphs of the mountains, which, like leimoniads, are nearly extinct due to human conquests.

succubi/incubi

succubi (female) and incubi (male) are creatures which look like incredibly attractive humans but with horns and goat legs. they seduce humans, first in dreams and then physically, using their prey's energy to sustain themselves, often to the point of the human's exhaustion or death

our man eskel has a soft spot for them...

sylvans

sylvans, another race we already met, are exceptionally rare. like, practically extinct. they live mainly in the woodlands of the northern realms and have goat-like faces with yellow eyes, horns, cloven hooves, and tails

my man torque is quite possibly one of the last sylvans on the continent

they are distantly related to elves, and the two races tend to coexist quite well

generally quite mischievous and merry, highly enjoying pranks and parties. they can use simple spells and are mainly herbivores

sylvans live around 100 years and are highly sought after by dryads for their... ahem... reproductive capabilities

unicorns

yep, we got unicorns! i fucking love unicorns and still kinda think they're real. camels are real and those lumpy fuckers are way weirder than a horse with a spike on its head.

anyways

unicorns are highly advanced beings, they can travel between worlds and use telepathy. they don't really like the "less advanced" races, mostly staying around to observe them. they have distinct societies led by a council of elders and tend to avoid evil

these unicorns are badasses

unicorns strongly despise the use of the force but encourage the power of destiny. in the context of pavetta's betrothal feast, a unicorn would not be happy with pavetta's little source hurricane thing, but would encourage geralt to follow the law of surprise

in of the witcher, unicorns are very important because of their world-hopping capabilities. the aen elle, unfortunately, realized this and began enslaving unicorns to help them plunder other worlds. this turned into a massive conflict between the unicorns and elves.

[teaandbatteries]

Mira x Claus - Making Up For Lost Time

"Terrible idea." It was the third time he'd said it - sixth, if one counted synonyms. But it was true. He didn't like this idea. The tension in his body was visible in the way his shoulders were pulled up around his ears, and in the way he squinted irritably down the hall, paranoid that someone would come wandering in this direction and ruin everything.

"Oh, stop whining," Mira chirped, grey eyes flashing in his direction for just a moment before she returned her attention to the lock she was currently picking. "You didn't get what you came for last time, and it was obviously worth getting shot over. We should get it."

Claus checked the hall again, and spared a glance down at the thief crouched in front of the door. He wished she would hurry up. Not just because of the possibility that someone might see them huddled by the door, obviously up to no good, but because the red party dress she was wearing had a slit up the side, and the way it was draped over her leg - or more accurately not, since it left the long expanse of her thigh perfectly visible - was distracting enough that he wasn't keeping watch down the hallway quite as much as he would like.

"More likely we will simply both end up shot, this time," he grumbled, tearing his gaze from her skin to look down the hall once more. At least part of his ill mood was annoyance at himself and his apparent lack of self-control.

"We will not," she answered, her remark sounding more like a school-yard retort than reassurance.

Claus arched an eyebrow. "You cannot know that."

"Sure I can. I know because I..." She paused dramatically so he could hear the sound of the lock clicking open, and flashed him a grin, "... am a much better thief than you are." With that, she straightened, smoothing her dress, and quietly pushed open the door.

The pair slipped silently into the darkened office, and Claus shut the door behind them. Alone in here, he was able to relax a little. This was still dangerous in the extreme, but at least in here they weren't at risk of having someone round the corner and spot them. He began to rifle through the shelves by the door, unwilling to move far from the room's only point of escape. "Don't like this."

Mira sighed loudly, her heels clicking on the stone floor as she crossed the room towards the enormous oak desk that dominated that side of the room, only to pause in front of a shelf displaying a number of valuable oddities - presumably favoured prizes obtained across the Gossamer Worlds. "Yes, yes, I know. You're worried someone will recognize us. I still don't know who you think could possibly have gotten a good enough look for that to be a risk."

"We had the entire security team after us!" Claus' gaze lifted to her, his expression disapproving, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the softly glowing orb she'd plucked from the shelf. There was a quick motion of her wrist, and the orb was suddenly gone.

"They only saw our backs," Mira answered. "Mostly. But I mean, even if someone did catch a fleeting glimpse of our faces, your face was inflated like a puffer fish from the beating you'd taken, and I was wearing a hood, no makeup and had a different hair colour." She turned to face him, then, and pulled idly on her brunette locks, curled and bouncing around her shoulders. "Come on, Mauschen, you know what they say about the fallibility of witness testimony."

Claus just grunted. He knew she was right, technically - it wasn't very likely that someone would recognize either of them. Especially given that the Lord of this castle had responded to the break-in by firing half of the security team. But it still felt like such an unnecessary risk. And he knew very well that Mira was the kind of person who was willing to take risks he wouldn't find at all acceptable, so hearing from her that the risk was low meant almost nothing at all. And so, instead of providing any more of a response, he simply went back to picking through the book shelves, hoping to find the files he wanted.

Mira, meanwhile, had finished her path to the desk and was picking open the lock of a drawer. Sure, there were other drawers, but the locked ones always had the best stuff. She wasn't entirely sure why Claus was looking for a file full of sales contracts in a bookshelf, but he was so wound up at the simple idea of being here that she didn't question it. She suspected that he simply wanted to stay close to the door, so he could react if someone approached. It wasn't the worst idea, anyway.

"Aha!" The drawer popped open to reveal a sheaf of papers that looked rather contract-esque. Mira plucked them out of the drawer and cleared a space on the desk to read them, knocking several leaves of loose paper onto the floor in the process. "Oh, naughty naughty Lord Alistaire. Trying to scam one of the Fae? That sounds like it'd be bad for your long-term health."

Claus crossed the room in a few long strides and bent to peer at the papers. "Yes." These were the contracts he'd been looking for, what had drawn him here in the first place that fateful night. And it only just occurred to him that he still didn't know why Mira had been here - it wasn't to find him, that had been as much of a shock to her as it had for himself. Strange, he thought, that she didn't seem interested in collecting whatever it was that had brought her here in the first place...

Mira, unaware of his musings, gathered up the papers into a folder and held them up with a smirk. She gave a flourish of her hand, and the entire folder up and disappeared.

For the moment, Claus was distracted. Where in the world was she putting those things? Her dress was sleeveless, form-fitting... his gaze wandered up her body and he decided that, no, there was definitely nowhere for her to be hiding her prizes. Magic, then? Surely.

Mira preened under his scrutiny, jutting her hip out to one side and flipping her hair over her shoulder with a knowing wink. She opened her mouth to say something undoubtedly lewd, but was interrupted by the most distressing sound - the rattle of a doorknob.

Though the panic they felt was much the same, each reacted to it quite differently. Claus reached inside his suit jacket, closing his hand around the grip of his gun. Mira sat down on the edge of the desk and grab Claus' tie, yanking him towards her.

"Trust me," she whispered, and Claus went still. She grabbed his free hand and pressed his palm against her thigh. Her other leg hooked around his hip, tugging him closer still. Her other hand raked through his hair, mussing it beyond recognition. And then, as the door hinges began to creak, she kissed him with an intensity that surprised even her.

She tasted like tea. Like that sweet, fragrant tea of hers that she prized so. Claus had never really understood the appeal, but was suddenly finding a powerful new appreciation for the taste.

His palm moved against her leg. At first, Mira thought he was trying to withdraw the touch, only to gasp when his fingers found their way to the slit in her skirt and she realized that he was seeking her skin, his fingers digging harder into her thigh to hold her closer still. She'd been worried that he'd be stiff, lacking in passion; in a word, unconvincing. Apparently there was no reason for her to be concerned in the slightest.

There was a wordless, offended sort of sound from the doorway. It went utterly ignored. It wasn't until the high-pitched, indignant, "Excuse me!" that the couple parted, breathless and flushed.

Mira peeked over Claus shoulder at the woman in the doorway, thanking all the gods that it wasn't the Gossamer Lord himself. Lying to him might have been a feat. But she just seemed to be a cleaning lady. She giggled, giving the sound enough of a bounce to make it seem like she was drunk. "What?"

The lady gaped, not immediately certain how to answer that. "You - You're - You're not supposed to be in here!"

Mira pushed Claus back a step so she could get to her feet off the desk, though she continued clinging to him in a way that implied both that she was loathe to let him go and that she needed his support to stand up straight. "Aww! But where else are we supposed to find, some, um.... privacy?" She giggled again.

Now the lady just looked annoyed. "I don't know, how about home? You can't be in here, much less doing that!"

"Fiiiiine." Mira waved a dismissive hand at the lady, and gave Claus a tug. "Come on, babe. One more dance, and then you can take me home to finish what we started..." Another giggle, this one considerably more lewd, and she let Claus lead her out of the office, stumbling a few times on the way, just for good measure. Slowly but surely, they began to wander back in the direction of the main party - the dance floor on the upper floor of the castle, just as before.

Once they were out of sight of the door, Mira straightened, no longer feeling the need to fake her drunken stupor, and Claus let her go so she could straighten her dress. "Well. That was certainly interesting."

Claus sounded grave when he spoke. "I apologize."

Mira looped her arm around his - it still suited them to look like a couple wandering the party, after all - and only paused a beat later, looking up at him with a frown. "What? What for?"

He opened his mouth, only to realize that he wasn't entirely sure what to say. Why was he apologizing? He supposed that he'd just assumed that she hadn't wanted him to get quite so... zealous in playing his part. But apparently she hadn't been bothered, and now he didn't know how to answer.

He was saved from having to provide much of a response, however, as they left the narrow hallway and stepped out onto the balcony that hung over the ballroom and dance floor. Lights flashed through smokey air, a low beat pulsing so powerfully through the air that the very stones shook.

Before either of them could adjust to the change in volume to continue their conversation, Mira gave a frantic hissed, "Fuck!" and yanked on Claus' arm again, this time pulling them both into a small alcove between two marble pillars. She pressed her back against one of the pillars and grabbed his lapels, dragging him close and huddling slightly, as if to hide.

"What... are you doing?" Claus asked, struggling awkwardly to look normal and not at all like he was big held against his will with his face nearly pressed to a column.

"Fuck!" she hissed again, loosening her grip on him. "Sorry, I just... there's a guard. He knows my face."

Instantly, his demeanour shifted. He grew still, looking around the room. There were three guards in sight, none of them looking in this direction and none of them particularly alert. At least it seemed they hadn't been spotted yet. But getting downstairs to the Door was considerably more complicated, now. "You said no one had seen your face."

She scowled, looking stressed. "There was one. Before I found you. I was flirting with him to get information."

His gaze snapped back to her face, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Why didn't you tell me this?!"

"Because I stole his earpiece, his phone, and locked him inside the bathroom! I assumed he was one of the people on the security team who had been fired - if anyone had done anything that was worthy of being fired, it was him!"

This was why Claus had considered this outing a foolish risk. She was right - it was reasonable to assume that he would be one of the many who were fired from the security team here. But make enough reasonable assumptions, and it no longer matters how reasonable each one is in isolation - one of them will still turn out to be wrong. But they had some protection; the room was dark, Mira had changed much of her appearance, she could hide behind his frame, and there was always the fact that others tend to avoid looking too closely at displays of affection...

He leaned closer to her again, this time leaning down towards her. His expression relaxed, lips curling into a smirk, and Mira was struck suddenly with the though that Claus might have been capable of great feats of seduction if he ever managed to get that stick out of his ass.

"Which one?" he asked, looking for all the world like he was asking her to go home with him.

She swallowed thickly, not entirely used to having him look at her like that. "Uh. He was blonde? I think?"

Claus shifted his position just a little - not enough to make it look any less like his attention was on her, but sufficient to let him check the guards again. One blonde. Well, that certainly made things easier. Though more concerning was the fact that he was walking almost directly towards them. He hadn't put much focus on the couple in the shadows yet, but it would be only a matter of moments... Well. If nothing else, she'd shown him tonight one particularly effective method of distraction.

Mira wasn't even given any warning this time. One moment she was huddled against the wall, trying to look like she was flirting back with the man towering over her and totally not hiding behind his height, and the next, he was kissing her again and the shock of it made it difficult to breathe.

Claus was having trouble deciding whether the adrenaline rush was more the result of the danger or her. Or, hell, what was the difference? This was her fault, anyway. Only now he couldn't tell if that fire in his chest was anger at her foolishness or something else entirely. Though, given the way it burned brighter the longer he kissed her, he thought maybe he knew that answer to that question, too, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Her fingertips ran lightly up the nape of his neck and into his hair. As badly she didn't want to stop, she needed to breathe, and so she pulled, making them part so she could catch her breath. She couldn't hear the sound he made, not over the music, but she felt the rumble in his chest, still pressed hard against hers.

There was a pregnant pause. The guard had gone - his attention turned to another part of the room, and they could both see him wandering away in another direction. This was the moment they should part, the moment they should escape the alcove and find their way back to the door. Then they would begin the slow, awkward process of carefully replacing the defenses that they were going to pretend had never fallen in the first place. Because this had only been a distraction - an attempt to escape attention. Neither of them had actually wanted to kiss the other. Of course not.

Mira thought that sounded exhausting. It was so much work, faking it all the time, pretending she didn't care. She was tired of rebuilding her walls every time he blundered into one and knocked it down. What was the point? Apparently they were about as effective as wet tissue paper against this spindly asshole, anyway. And it wasn't like she hid her interest - she certainly flirted with him often enough. Okay, yes, she'd always acted like it was just aimless flirting and she didn't really care, but she'd saved his life, risked her own in the process, and then suffered through the natural healing process of several broken ribs for him. He had to have realized that her flightiness was at least partly a defense mechanism by now, right? If he hadn't, he was an idiot.

Funny how much easier it was for her to just shut up at kiss him when she could convince herself that it was his fault if it turned out badly.

Her hand was still in his hair, and she knew she'd caught him by surprise when she tugged him back towards her instead of letting go. The surprise didn't seem to last long, though; she felt one of his arms slide between her back and the pillar, pulling her away from the stone and tighter towards him.

But, quickly as he'd returned her kiss, he ended it, straightening out of her reach, and looking out over the crowd. "We should leave."

Mira gaped at him. Seriously? Was that all he had to say? Though honestly, she didn't know what else she could have expected, trying to kiss such a humourless asshole. Though she supposed she had to give him credit where it was due. He was a better actor than she'd expected - he'd certainly fooled her.

She held a sullen silence while they escaped through the Door without incident, and continued as they began the slow trek back to the Savoir. God, if she thought it would have been awkward before...

"You're upset." Claus broke the silence tentatively, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Did he seriously have the gall to sound confused?

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Why?" He'd stopped, turning to look directly at her.

Mira stopped next to him, more out of surprise than anything else. The balls on this man! "Oh come on, not even you're that dense, Claus. I'm sure you can figure out why 'we should leave' isn't exactly the response a girl hopes for after kissing someone. Asshole."

Understanding finally dawned in his eyes, and his lips twitched. Was... was he laughing at her? Seriously?! "It was unwise to continue kissing in the realm of an enemy Lord."

It took her a moment to catch his choice of words - once she did the anger burning in her chest was put on hold for just a moment, and she eyed him suspiciously. "Continue...?"

Claus dipped his head. "Continue."

Mira liked to think that it was a sign that she knew him well; she recognize that he wasn't nodding - not exactly. It was meant to be understood as such, yes, but she saw the uncertainty in his gaze before he lowered his eyes. He was hiding it from her. He was afraid she might reject him. Even after all that had happened, even after all she'd said.

Well. It made her feel better, knowing she wasn't the only idiot lost in this, at least.

"Oh. Well." Her tone had shifted immediately and dramatically. When Claus looked up again, he found her with her hand pressed against her heart, swooning dramatically. "Then you need to make up for all the pain and the heartbreak I've just suffered, thinking that I was being rejected! Me! Irresistible me!"

Oh. Relief flooded through him. She was asking him to kiss her again. She was being unnecessarily irritating about it, but he knew very well what he was getting himself into, here. It was to be expected. He pressed his lips together in a failed attempt to hide his smirk. "Heartbreak only suffered as a result of unfair assumptions made at my expense."

She smirked right back, making no attempt at all to hide it. "Were they really unfair, though?"

His expression flattened in that comical way he only managed when he was trying very hard to pretend that he wasn't teasing her. "They were untrue."

"Yesss, but that doesn't make them unfair," she answered easily, taking a step closer to him. "I could only make assumptions based on what information I had at the time. Namely that you're a stoic puritan who hates fun."

She was interrupted this time by a short sputter that he quickly covered with a cough. "Puritan?"

Her eyes gleamed. "Are you not puritanical? You kinda come across that way."

It took more effort than usual for him to wrestle his expression back into its usual neutrality. "No. No, I am not."

"Well," Mira purred. "You'll have to prove that to me."

This time, Claus allowed himself to smile more openly, the expression full of promise that made her breath catch in her throat. "Perhaps I will."

She swallowed thickly, averting her gaze for just a moment. Good god, was this a sign that he was going to keep using that look on her regularly, now? That could be very bad. Or very good. She hadn't decided yet. She needed a change of subject before she imploded. So she flounced towards him and poked him in the chest. "Hey! Don't think you'll be able to escape me that easily. I told you that you need to make up for all my heartbreak, and you haven't yet!"

Claus sighed with a touch too much put-upon drama for it to have been a fully genuine reaction. "You aren't going to let this go." It wasn't a question.

Mira just grinned and shook her head brightly.

"Fine." He dipped toward her and Mira obediently turned her face up to meet his, only to make a small sound of confusion when he bent more quickly than she expected, lowering his head in front of her instead. He grasped her hand and brought it up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.

And he was rewarded for this unexpected gesture by the sight of Mira blushing and wearing a rare genuine smile that was utterly untouched by any sort of mischief or sarcasm. She even looked a little shy.

Claus gave himself a moment to feel smugly pleased that he'd managed to make her look like that - he knew very well how uncommon an occurrence it was. "Sufficient?"

And then the moment was broken, because an impish light appeared in her eyes at that. She folded her hands behind her back, beaming up at him. "If I say no, does that mean you'll try again?"

[ehlnofay]

miscellaneous notes on story and drawing both:

I fiddled with the backdrop a lot (it was hard to strike the balance I wanted, because I wanted it to be busy but not detract from the foreground) but I really like how it turned out :) here it is without the pesky main character/s in the way

I've had the idea for this story for... truly a wildly long time. I think it might have occurred to me during or soon after my playthrough of the questline and it has been simmering in my head ever since. finally doing something with it was a little intimidating but very fun (many thanks to that one brainstorm-heavy night in which, while still in bed with the lights off, I wrote the outline of the scene sequence on the wall)

(that's "cave - tunnel - forest - boat - palace - kitchen - temple - mountain - red - water", for anyone who can't read my dogshit in-the-dark wall handwriting, which I assume is most people. it remains pretty accurate)

because I've been pondering this idea for so long I'm not sure how well it comes across - by which I mean, what pax is experiencing and the process they are undergoing are two different things, and they're not very aware of the latter (until the end, and they won't really understand what happened until they're further in the mantling process). I honestly don't know if I communicate The Process at all. the narrator doesn't know what's going on. but I DO so I will inflict this knowledge upon you!

what's happening in this fic is, in my mind, a crucial part of the mantling process: it is extremely hard to become something else when the thing that you are is taking up all this space. so you need to stop being that asap. the tree/grove/trial is, functionally, winnowing the wheat from the chaff; it's separating pax's self-schema from their instinct and emotions. there are kind of three characters in this piece because of that - there's pax, and then there's these two parts of them that slowly become more distinct as the journey progresses. (in a lot of my notes, I refer to them as ego and id, respectively; the freudian terminology rankles me on principle, and that's also not what either of those words means, but it worked very well as shorthand.) I hope this came across well and made any sense at all, because it was an absolutely bloody fascinating challenge to write - to examine the character and try to figure out what about them is tied to how they see themself, and what isn't? who would you be if you had no ideas about what made you, you? who would you be if that was all you were? (the ego is the coloured glass shell through which everything filters through for the id to react to; on its own it is just shell and filters. the id is without shape.) (I cannot stress enough how much that is not what either of those words mean. but shut up. if the game gets to be that wrong about psychology all the time I also get to be wrong about psychology sometimes)

the innards need to be taken out so they can fit and grow into the role of sheogorath without anything else in the way; the outside needs to go. once both parts more or less figure that out, it is upsettingly amenable to this. it's taken them this far, but it's not needed anymore.

talk about ego death.

a couple more miscellaneous notes before I speed bedford: the way I imagine all this probably relates to the cooler version of mania and dementia in my head (being positive/excess/presence and negative/deficiency/absence respectively; an empty shell and all its loose person bits wandering about unconstrained by the concept of the self fit pretty well into that duality). unrelatedly I keep thinking "guys will kill the idea of themself in a pond before they will go to therapy" and that is true. no-one take anything pax does as any kind of recommendation ever. also unrelatedly I have made a bad illustration of how I think mantling works. why? I don't know. but I will send you off with it anyway so have fun with that. thank you for reading my 1am rambles I owe you a life debt

I Walked Into The River

The Tree of Shades, fed by a spring deep in the Shivering Isles' underground, will not surrender its secrets to one who has not earned them. The erstwhile Hero of Kvatch and Sheogorath's current grudging Champion has little left to prove and even less to lose.

I wrote this piece for the summerfest prompt "mirror" and am posting the full thing for the free day! it's my take on the doppelganger bit of that one quest in the shivering isles, which always struck me as having a lot of unrealised potential (especially in conjunction with running themes of duality the questline already has). I've had this idea for a long time now and this event finally got me to actually write it out, which was a lot of fun! if you're inclined to check it out, please do - it would give me much joy :)

[sweetescapeartist]

MY DBS MANGA CHAPTER 72 REVIEW... 😒

Hey there... Here comes the review.

Imma start like this and use language some ppl may find offensive. Goku, Vegeta, & Granolah are retarded. Now that that's out of the way, time to dissect this "Dragon Ball Super coloring book."

Goku & Vegeta land on the planet & its peaceful. How are they not immediately suspicious? They see that the planet isn't in danger & no death. Its obvious they need to ask a question to figure out what lies they've been told.

I was gonna say its dumb for Granolah to be able to supress his ki because it seems only Earthling have that kind of spiritual understanding. But Namekians have that spiritual understanding too so maybe Monaito taught Granolah how to suppress his ki.

I lost interest in the Heeters' past. You can only tease me so long until I stop caring. At least mention something like Freeza almost killed Gas on planet Cereal so now that's why Gas keeps trying to get stronger. There's so little info about "important" stuff that's supposed to be important. Give readers a tease, hint, a different hint, some valuable info, then another hint, then a reaveal (or something similar!) Instead its tease, hint, tease, tease, hint, tease...

In all honesty, the chapter didn't even need that page with Gas & Elec. When Maki said Gas & Elec are coming, that was all we needed to know. Then we anticipate their arrival in the next chapter. Showing them is a waste of time & they add no real purpose to the chapter. That was just a waste of ink.

Also I'm bored of Gas now. He only looks interesting but does nothing. 👎

Granolah shoots at Goku & Vegeta. Base Goku closes his eyes to use UI (UI Omen?) while Vegeta goes SS. Base Goku dodges easier than Vegeta. Goku is leagues beyond Vegeta.

A better way to have Goku & Vegeta encounter Granolah would be for him to snipe at them right when they get off the ship. Granolah wanted to kill them so bad so why wait for them?

Somehow they go towards Granolah but he's too fast for them & they lose him. They can't sense him firing ki for some reason. Idk why Goku didn't use Instant Transmission when Granolah shot ki at them?

I don't get why Goku closes his eyes either. Its as if Goku can't use UI now unless his eyes are closed but that wasn't the case before. Eyes were opend when using UI Omen & Mastered UI. Toyo could have conveyed that better but instead he's making Goku close his eyes like how Roshi covered his eyes when fighting those prisoner women because their beauty distracted him. Is Goku distracted by Granolah's beauty or something?

Wait a sec... I gotta backtrack real quick. Goku used the Ultra Instinct technique in his base & didn't go into Ultra Instinct Omen? But thats him using it in base right? Oh boy... This is about to get dumb...

Ultra Idiot Goku & Super Stupid Vegeta are surprised that the guy having the title of "strongest in the universe" is capable of moving faster than them when they aren't at full power. Such genius writing.

Goku gets shot in the neck... & it knocks him out... Ok. But later Granolah comments on how Goku's body moves on it's own before Goku can even process an attacks. Not to mention Goku & Whis have said the same thing. Goku should be untouchable at this point, but for some reason he is not.

So, Vegeta takes a senzu bean from his "training bra" and gives it to Goku. For some reason they decided to only take 2 senzu when knowing they would fight a guy possibly stronger than them. Stupid monkeys.🐒 (I'm starting to sound like Freeza now)

How did unconscious Goku eat a senzu? Yaoi fans would had loved it if Vegeta chewed the senzu up for Goku and fed it to him. Sorry, it just reminded me of Trunks spitting senzu mush into Mai's mouth since she was unconscious.

Then we have this dialogue from "sensei" Vegeta, The Ultra Instinct Expert...

"You rely on Ultra Instinct too much! If you haven't perfected it yet, then dodge using your mind!" - Vegeta

"Yeah, you're right..." - Goku

"WTF Toyotaro!" - DB Meta

... I'm unsure who is the stupid one in this situation. Is it Goku or Vegeta? It could be Vegeta because UI is the ultimate technique that allows you to move without thinking. But Vegeta says that because Goku hasn't perfected Ultra Inst-...

...

...

Sorry, I had to restart my brain...

Didn't... didn't Goku master Ultra Instinct? Silver hair? Silver eyes? MASTERED/PERFECTED ULTRA INSTINCT? Before that, Goku perfected Ultra Instinct Omen & could go in it at will... So, Goku is listening to Vegeta tell him he hasn't mastered UI? But both know that Goku did master UI? What does Vegeta know? Vegeta can't even use UI.

I almost stopped reading the rest of the colouring book when I got to that dialogue.

Also, Granolah wants to kill Saiyans, so why is he holding back and not hitting them with deadly attacks. He only needs one alive anyways. He said so himself.

At least there was a good pose Goku was in. The art looked nice there.

Now here's another place I almost quit reading. Granolah apparently has all the abilities of Goku & Vegeta. Hack writing. Sounds like a Moro, 7-3, & Cell copy cat. Toyo just cant leave the Cell saga alone.

Granolah is bumping his gums & rattling his tongue (old slang for "talking a lot") but when Vegeta asks if Granolah holds a grudge against Saiyans, Granolah suddenly says that's enough talking. He responded to them 3 times & spoke like 5 sentences to them. If you're gonna chat then chat. If you hate Saiyans then don't say anything to them & try to kill them. Dummy.

Granolah uses Hakai. But aparently he's not using Hakai or Instant Transmission. Its just "similar." Sure. Confirms that he has been using something similar to UI in previous chapters too.

Granolah says they're stronger than expected because they escaped into the air. Escape doesn't equal strenght. Mai escaped Goku Black, doesn't mean she's extremely strong.

But seriously, Vegeta saying he's gonna prove his training is better than Goku is stupid. He wants to prove he is better than Goku yet he tells Goku to fight first (that's beta). It's as if he isn't confident & wants Goku to wear Granolah out first, so he can come in and look impressive. Kinda like in RoF after Freeza was tired from fighting Goku & Vegeta wasn't tired at all & he easily beat Freeza up. Looked cool, but actually wasn't too impressive.

Granolah saying that he's gonna shoot them if they don't fight him is ridiculous. Why is he showing mercy to the tribe that didn't show his ppl mercy? Why give chances to the ppl you wanted revenge on for years? Realistically he would just start blasting at them.

Unecessary dialogue from Vegeta talking to himself about how he needs to learn who Granolah is. Show don't tell Toyo.

Why is Granolah waiting for the Oozaru form? Maybe he wants to kill them in that form? What about revenge? Just kill them.

Goku screamed to power up from SS to SSG. That's possibly dumb, but I gotta let at least 1 thing slide this chapter.

Why did Granolah let them power up? So unlike what we've been shown what Granolah is like. Why would he want to give "murderers" of his entire race a fair chance to fight him?

Next, Goku doesn't try to explain he isn't savage like other Saiyans when Granolah accuses his kind of being so. Instead Goku just agrees & says "Oh... Yeah." I guess he really just wants to fight. I can't tell if this is OOC or just magnifying a Saiyan flaw of Goku just to push the story along. Idk. I'm losing brain cells reading this chapter.

Granolah's fighting stance is cool. Hey, look. I said a nice thing. (But why is he doing close combat when being a sniper us his specialty?)

So, Goku uses UI in SSG form... Bruh, is Ultra Instinct a technique, a state of mind, or a transformation? I'll tell you what it is. ULTRA INSTINCT IS A PLOT DEVICE! It does whatever Toyotaro decides at the moment. So freaking inconsistent... 😓😒

Ultra Instinct becomes more accurate when in conjunction with a SS form?! How tho? I thought it was just a goldy technique that needed a clear mind and control or whatever. Or is UI a transformation like Toyo stated many times in previous chapters, while also calling UI a technique? How can mixing a godly "technique" with a SS form enhance it better than Goku simply using UI Omen? It doesnt! Vegeta, you can just shut up! Every time you talk about UI, you've been wrong! It should be illegal impersonating an UI Expert.

Goku is using the Ultra Instinct technique in base form against Granolah.

UI Omen is Goku using the Ultra Instinct technique in base form.

Goku uses Ultra Instinct technique in the Super Saiyan God transformation.

Mastered UI is Goku mastering the technique or maybe using the technique as a transformation? (Toyo is confusing.)

So why isn't Goku going into UI Omen when using UI in base? Why does Vegeta say "Ultra Instinct... becomes more accurate when used in conjunction with a Super Saiyan form"? Does that mean Mastered UI is a Saiyan form in conjunction with the Ultra Instinct technique? So, there's an unknown silver haired Saiyan transformation that Goku was utilizing in conjunction with Ultra Instinct? I guess this confirms that "Super Saiyan Blanco" is real y'all.

I suppose that if UI in base isn't the same as UI Omen, then by that logic, there is also an unknown "Super Saiyan Noir" form we haven't seen yet.

I'm done with Ultra Instinct in the manga. Toytaro doesn't know if UI is a technique or a transformation. I could explain it better than him, but I'm not tye one writing official material. Why should I make sense of his bad writing when he will change things later? HE should explain it clearly to US. He is extremely inconsistent with his explanations and will change them when he feels like it.

I dont care what Geekdom101 says about UI being both technique & transformation, because Ultra Instinct IS NOT a transformation nor a technique anymore. ULTRA INSTINCT IS JUST A PLOT DEVICE. 😑

[You can skip this little section. I'm talking about inconsistencies from the Moro arc]

I remember when I talked about how Moro's life draining powers were retconned multiple times.

Moro can absorb life energy from a planet while he is in outer space, then he is nerfed to only being able to take life energy by directly touching you, later Vegeta says they need to get off the ground because now Moro (who is stronger and fused with the planet) can only steal your life enrgy while making contact with you. He could absorb life energy from entire planets from space, but has to make contact with somebody once he got stronger?

Let's not forget it's said Moro drains life energy, but can't drain 17 & 18 because they say they don't have life energy. I guess that means Krillin had a daughter with a dead woman? No. Multiple times, 17 & 18 contributed to the Genki Dama (a collection of life energy). Goku gathers energy from trees, animals, ppl, everything living. This means 17 & 18 do have life energy because they are living beings. But the energy they fight with is unlimited artificial energy.

So if 17 & 18 can give life energy to Goku for a Genki Dama, then Moro should be able to take their life energy just like anyone else. What he can't take is their energy they use for battle because itsunlimited & artificial. Toyotaro does not understand this important detail nor does he understand many other details about these iconic character. So why is the the writer if he is getting so much wrong? Why is he not soley the artist?

Goku uses UI in SSG form to dodge a barrage of attacks from Granolah that are aimed at the planet. They must be weak attacks because the explosions are tiny. Is Granolah really trying to kill them?

Goku using UI in SSG but somehow gets caught off gaurd. Did UI just get nerfed so that Vegeta can look like he is on the same level as Goku in a later chapter? I think it did...

Granolah took Goku down a second time... Wow Goku, you kinda suck. In DBS CH 65 on page 11, after Moro broke his arm on UI Goku's chest, Whis said "When Ultra Instinct is honed to this extent, the body will automatically grow sturdier as necessary." Why is Goku holding back against the strongest in the universe? Oh yeah, that's right... UI is getting nerfed.

Vegeta, what do you mean "How is he learning Kakarot's weaknesses so quickly?" Everybody has similar vital spots in DB. Thats not learning, thats just knowing. Are you just a dummy, Vegeta? Do you not know where vital spots are?

Granolah can tell Goku's body is moving before his brain tells him to react. Granolah the UI "expert" can see all with his eye. You know who else can see with their eye? Tien. Speaking of Tien, I wanna go back to Earth now. What's Piccolo doing? I bet everyone on Earth is chilling or at work. Is it bad I'd rather watch Gohan at a conference than watch Goku, Vegeta, & Granolah be dummies? I'd rather watch Chi-Chi cooking with vegetables instead of watching vegetable puns fight a cereal pun. I'm sorry, the dialogue is just so bad...

How does Granolah's right eye being able to observe blood flow & muscle movements let you know where to strike? Dude, vital spots are where your organs are, & pressure points, & your head area, & you arteries, & so on. Ya ain't gotta observe blood flow to know that. Granolah just making stuff up now to sound cool. News flash, you failed. If he was sniping and able to track them based on blood flow and muscle movement, then that would had been smarter writing.

Granolah: "This right eye of mine is the sharpest in all the universe. It sees all."

Your eye sees all Granolah? Can you see past the Heeters feeding you bullcrap too?

Yo, where did Granolah's barely existing personality go? He wss once driven by revenge, and now the opportunity for revenge is right here in front of him & he's acting like he doesn't want it. If revenge is his only noticeable personality trait, what happens when you take it away? You get bland and dry Granolah.

So then Veget- hold on! Thats it! Granolah's name pun is granola because he is meant to be a bland character! I get it now! So all his moves must be cereal puns!

I never realized how genius this character is!

Detective Vegeta: "A tribe driven to extinction, known for their evolved right eyes... This is starting to sound familiar..." 🕵

Tien?! Oh wait... he said right, not 3rd eye. Jiren?! Oh wait, that's both his eyes... Jaco!? That's both eyes too... I give up.

Granolah's eye can tell that Goku is not using his full power, yet he can't tell he is being fooled by the Heeters. I think he needs new glasses or at least clean the revenge smear off of his monocle.

Granolah casually chats with a Saiyan who is one of the ppl he wants to kill. He would be better if he barely talked and just acted. Granolah should be like Iron Man in "Captain America: Civil War." Not trying to talk, just trying to kill because he is angry and wants revenge.

Goku: "Granolah, we don't work for Freeza & the two of us didn't attack your planet."

Granolah: "I dont care... Your people killed my family."

Boom! Gimme an award!

Back to the chapter 72 colouring book...

Granolah: "Hurry and get on with it. I have no duty to wait for your sake."

Yet you've been waiting all this time for them to arrive, fight them, chat with them, & even waiting for him to transform right now. You got time. You got 3 yrs to waste. You can chat for 10 minutes or so.

Granolah tells Goku that he doesn't have time to wait, then says "It's no skin off my nose to kill you where you stand." Then he waits for Goku to transform... Just kill Goku and be done with it already. Its not like Vegeta can win if Goku can't.

Granolah: "I dont have time for talk."

Goku: "Ok lets fight!"

Granolah: "Ok but, let me tell you about what my eye can do. I'm really proud of it. Mind if I talk a bit? So I sacrificed my life to defeat Freeza, the guy you're working for."

Goku: "What? You don't like Freeza? You're not a bad guy?"

Granolah: "Shut up Saiyan! You'll pay! Fight me!"

Granolah doesn't want to talk about Freeza all of the sudden when Goku implies they both have been tricked. Granolah becomes stupid just so the fight continues. There's a better way to keep them fighting. SHUT UP, GRANOLAH! If he talked less then convoluted stuff like this wouldn't happen.

Granolah yells "Take this!" He powers up instead of doing an attack... Why yell "take this" then power up if you aren't gonna attack right away? You even knocked Goku out of SSG, so now is the perfect time to finish him.

Blah blah blah, Goku goes SSB and they fight, blah blah blah.

Hey look! In my last review I said something about the planet should shake or be in danger from the battle. Looks like Toyo made the planet shake from the battle. Good job. I like this detail. Will it matter later on? Probably not.

Also, ya notice how god ki and god transformations are limited in this chapter? It seem they got too powerful for there to be any stakes. So we see Vegeta in base & SS. Then we see Goku in base, SS, SSG, base, & SSB so that false tension can build. Its smart but the dialogue doesn't compliment this smart tactic.

Aparently Vegeta doesn't care about the fight. Detective mode activate! (🕵) Vegeta standing in that Oozaru footprint looks like he's in Jurassic Park lol. But why did Detective Vegeta have to touch the footprint? He could had just looked at everything when he was high up and had a bird's eye view. Did Detective Vegeta taste the soil & gain knowledge by tasting the past?

Detective Vegeta: "I think I know who he is."

The Heeters said his name is Granolah, dummy. Shouldn't you say "I think I know what happened here." or something like that? Gimmie your detective hat, your trench coat, your bubble pipe, & you magnifying glass! You give detectives a bad name! I'll give this to somebody more deserving, like Jaco, Videl, Krillin, or Hit.

Did ya notice that Vegeta didn't get hit once but Goku who is using UI gets hit multiple times? Vegeta tells Goku to think instead of use UI? Oh yeah, this chapter was to pander to Vegeta fans. Toyo is poorly trying to convey he is equal or above Goku somehow. Like Vegeta mastered his training but Goku hasn't despite having mastered UI as a transformation thingy.

In conclusion, I was right. Freeza still hasn't been seen yet. Show a pic of him in somebody's thought bubble at the very least. This is all happening because if his influence y'all. Still no visual of Freeza yet... Whateva.

This chapter was wack. Too much unintelligent & unreasonable & unrealistic & unnecessary dialogue, plot went nowhere, Goku is being handicapped so the fight can continue, everyone are stupid idiots, Vegeta is being built up to lose his battle or get lucky & win. No image of Freeza still... This was just a very, very boring chapter.

I expect the next chapter to be boring too. Probably won't see Freeza either.

Prediction

Goku got knocked down twice by Granolah, Vegeta decided to fight second, Granolah said he doesn't need to keep Goku alive, & Vegeta told Goku he should stop relying on UI... Sounds like UI is getting nerfed & Goku is gonna need to be saved by Vegeta so that Vegeta can show off his Hakai training in comparison to UI.

[lgbt-advise]

Hey... I'm an agender person and I really think I'd be more comfortable if I started binding... but I don't really want too surgery either. I don't have the means for a proper binder (as in I couldn't get one under the roof I live under) so is there any alternative? Im really sorry to bother ya'll and if this was worded weirdly I'm sorry...

hey friend;

not being able to access a binder is a common struggle with trans youth and so there are a lot of ways you can actually get a binder for free if you are unable to because of unsupportive parents.

personally, as a trans person in the uk, i received my first ever binder through a charity called morf which i believe is based in manchester, where you only pay the shipping cost which for me was £3. however there is also point of pride which is based in the usa but operates internationally. the waiting times for these are extremely long. as of 2017 the waiting time for point of pride binders was around 9-10 months although i believe this is now longer.

underworks sells a “minimizer bra” which is essentially a binder marketed as a sports bra, which could be beneficial in persuading your parents to let you get it, or easy to pass off as a bra you have bought on your own.

however if you cant afford the above and need something to hold you over in the waiting time, doubled up sports bras with no padding are your friend. wear two (one back to front if possible) and then layer a tank top over that before putting on a tshirt to smooth out any lumps and bumps from the material if you want to.

if you are going to bind with two sports bras, the binding rules still apply- don’t bind for more than 8 hours a day- don’t exercise when binding- do not deliberately get a binder that is too small - when you start out, don’t bind for more than 3 hours without taking a break. work up to 8 hours slowly- when you take your binder off, stretch and cough - measure accurately and make sure you get a binder that fits. there will be a sizing chart on your binder’s website.- don’t nap/sleep in your binder- if you experience pain, take it off. carry a loose sports bra in your bag.

a hoodie and a jacket over 1 or 2 tshirts drastically improves the appearance of your chest, especially when paired with sports bras.

darker colours also help to minimize the appearance of your chest, and lots of trans people swear by button up shirts in terms of giving a more androgynous appearance. baggy clothing will also help hide your chest, but not too baggy as this will do the opposite. hoodies are also really helpful on days where you cant bind as they are made of thick material which helps to hide your chest.

if you need to know anything more specific just let me know, im always here for you-tyler

[scathachbeag]

I feel like based on the colour theory I know that for Lucifer, the colour blue might have been chosen because of its associations with not just the heavens, but also as a signifier of his entire personality shtick.

According to coloursexplained, the colour blue has many significant meanings across several countries, but mainly it has the effects of invoking emotions of TRUST, LOYALTY, AUTHORITY, and CALM - all things that Lucifer stands for as the avatar of pride and Diavolo's right hand, as well as one of the main peacekeepers for the Devildom as one of its seven rulers (though "calm" might not accurately describe how he tends to rule with force).

However, it can also convey emotional detatchment, depression, coldness, and loneliness in its negative standpoints - which again, suit Lucifer down to the ground (sorry) as his pride and grief at the fall and losing Lilith caused him to withdraw from showing any extreme emotional outbursts. Especially since he had a kid from one of them.

Also cyan is the colour between green and blue. Read that how you will.

Green for Satan may have been chosen due to its connotations with evil (think Malificent. Scar. Jafar. The Huns from Mulan. All of them had green auras, green lighting, green magic.) But in general, green is seen as a sign of GROWTH,RESTORATION, CALM -all things Satan is either achieving or aiming towards. It can also be a symbol of INEXPERIENCE.

But what I find most interesting is according to coloursexplained, since it is made by mixing BLUE and YELLOW, it inherits pieces of both head and heart (mammoncoughmammon) and tends not to act in haste. Satan tends to be calm and level headed among the brothers - something he's fought hard for over the millennia.

So I guess I can see why they chose green? Even though there are many aspects that on the surface appear to clash with him at the core (growth, peace, nourishing, etc).

As for orange as his secondary colour, it's made by combining red and yellow - a complete absence of blue. It also means DANGER, don't come near this thing, you'll get hurt. It also means INSINCERE, FAKE, putting on a show... but also TRANSFORMATION. Lord of Masks, indeed.

Furthermore the juxtaposition of both of these colours is an interesting choice - green, calming and soothing, and orange, bright and loud and brash - perhaps showing the ongoing war between Satan's core anger and his learned calm?

Then again I'm not an expert I did art in secondary school and that's about it. Although yes, it seems like the devs are making initial notes then tossing them over their shoulder at some points. I'm still salty at Beel's character arc in the beginning of season 1 being meaningless.

I can only assume Lucifer is being punished to be All Blue All the Time because lmao even on the official site his main/sub colors are blue.

[with-stars-in-our-eyes]

Hi! Its me again, I've just reread my post and I'd like to add a few things I accidentally left out

(also I'm sorry for all the spelling mistakes before, I wrote it in a hurry)

- I was meditating right before I fell asleep, trying to sense anything to do with past lives or anything like that

- more specifically, I was trying to remember my old name and what I looked like

- I didn't find out either of those things but it's ok :')

- the 'room' was circular, and more like a marble gazebo, but much larger

- I'd say about 10 metres across on all sides? im not good at guessing that sort of thing though so I may be wrong

- the whole thing from start to finish was around an hour I think, going by the changes in the sky's colours

- again, my judgement on that sort of thing isn't very accurate

- myself and the others were mostly human in form, except we all had at least one pair of wings

- everyone's wings were different in shape / size / number / etc, but all were white and feathered

- I think I also had some sort of halo?

- I'm not sure what it looked like, or if it was even visible, but I could feel some sort of energy jsut above my head, sort of like a magnetic field?

- it followed me everywhere but wasn't completely rigid, like it slightly trailed behind me?

- the other male had brown eyes, and was a bit taller than me

- I don't know if I was the same height in the dream as I am in this body

- if I was the same height as normal (5'2") then I'd guess he would have been around 5'5" - 5'7" ?

- I could be completely wrong though

- the song that he sang to me sounded extremely familiar, and I feel like I've heard it in a other dream before

- aaand that's all I can think of right now, but there might be more details I've missed

And again, if any of this sounds familiar, please message me! I would love to find out anything I can about this, and I always love talking to other Angelkin / Divinekin, it makes me feel so understood <3

Hi! I'm Angelkin and I've recently started having visions and dreams of my past life, and I would really love to find others who I knew previously, or at least have similar experiences.

I'd like to share a memory / dream that I had recently, and if any of it sounds familiar to anyone I'd love to talk with you!

In the first part of it, I was walking along a kinda narrow pathway through clouds, i think it was a bit before sunset because there was a slightly golden hue to it.

It turned around a slight corner, and a while ahead of me I saw a white room / dais surrounded by clouds. There were white marble pillars around it, no walls, and I think it had a domed ceiling as well. As I approached it, I saw there was water running down around it in places, and the water gathered in little pools on the platform surrounding the room. There was also a small garden with flowers and a fountain on the opposite side of the room from me.

I walked into room and I saw that in the centre, there was a slightly lowered part of the floor that was lined with silks and soft pillows, and there was also silks draped from the ceiling in some parts I think.

I look around for a while and realised that I want alone. There were about 3-5 other people (angels?) in the room with me, all lying / lounging in the little pit in the floor. I don't remember much about all of them but I remember that one of them was a girl (or at least a feminine-looking one) with straight, longish blonde hair, and one set of large, white feathered wings. She was asleep, so I didn't get a good look at her face or hear her voice, unfortunately.

The other one I remember was male, and had short, slightly curly black hair, pale skin with a few freckles and a small mark under his left eye, and 2-3 sets of pure white wings. He was awake and we spoke for a while, I asked him where we were and what was going on, and he told me that we were waiting. I don't know what we were waiting for, or really what was going on but he seemed calm so I didn't worry. He said that the others would be pleased that I'd finally joined them, but they needed rest, and we shouldn't disturb them for now.

He seemed really happy to see me, and just generally seemed really warm and calming. I have a strong feeling that we've known each other for a long time, and I really want to know / remember more about him. Anyways, I don't remember much else of our conversation but I do remember him leading me back to where the others were sleeping and telling me I should do the same, and that he would watch over us "until we're ready". I lied down next to him and he sang to me as a fell asleep, and after that I woke up in my normal bed with a really warm, calm feeling in my chest.

Another thing is that he called me by another name, but I don't remember it , or his name either :(

So yeah. I'm not sure what to make of this, but if anyone recognises the place, people, or anything else relating to this I would love to hear about it!