#i guess i farmed too much so i wanna do some other things

[kaiserouo]

fluffy mountain climbing armor set

[arolesbianism]

GUYS.

New dupe real! Also new pod????? Olivia is that you girlie speak to me

[astonmartinii]

bite the hand | max verstappen social media au

pairing: max verstappen x fem musician!reader [face claim: clairo + clairo, boygenius and taylor swift music]

having fans are great, but sometimes it goes to far and you have to bite the hands that feed you

MASTERLIST | TIPS

yourusername

liked by danielricciardo, maxverstappen1 and 913,551 others

tagged: beabadoobee

yourusername: howdy ladies, gentlemen and all that's in between, it's single release day. i had so much fun on this track with bea and getting to pour all of my love for maxy onto such a cute melody... hope you all enjoy my loves x

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user1: YES THANK YOU MOM THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED TODAY

landonorris: how many letters in devoured?

yourusername: ATE 💅

landonorris: ate and left NO crumbs

maxverstappen1: why oh why did i ever introduce you two

yourusername: because you love us both?

maxverstappen1: i sure love you, jury is out on lando

landonorris: boooooooooo

user2: ugh if y/n had to date an f1 driver why couldn't she go for one of the hot ones like lando or charles?

user3: for real like bro he just drags her down

user4: you can't be serious? he's a professional athlete at the top of his sport and by what they show us a massive softy who loves y/n? why would we want anything else for her?

liked by yourusername

user5: y/n will NOT stand for any max bashing idk why you guys try it every time

maxverstappen1: so unbelievably talented and the artist of her generation

yourusername: maybe it's because i have a top notch muse ?

maxverstappen1: NO NO IT'S ALL YOU YOU ARE THE ARTIST I AM JUST LUCKY TO BE IN YOUR VICINITY

yourusername: i am the lucky one baby

danielricciardo: leave your cute shit offline i already have to hear it all of the time let me be on instagram

yourusername: nope love my boyfriend too much

maxverstappen1: nope love my girlfriend too much

user6: they're so insufferable i love them

user7: this song bangs so much more when you pretend it's not about ... him

user8: bro is acting like max verstappen ran over his puppy

user7: sorry i don't want a GREAT artist and BEAUTIFUL woman being dragged down by THAT

user9: you are insane, you do not know y/n, you enjoy her music, that doesn't give you the right to have power over things in her personal life

user10: you people are why this fanbase has a bad name and before long y/n will get fed up too

maxverstappen1

liked by charles_leclerc, yourusername and 829,043 others

tagged: yourusername

maxverstappen1: the off weekend spent right

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user13: i need a man so obsessed with me that all he does is post my face

user14: crazy that all this guy does is wax lyrical about how much he loves her and she's like never at his races ... interesting

user15: and her weirdly entitled fanbase say he doesn't deserve her when she clearly doesn't support him as much as he supports her

yourusername: i love you and our soft little weekends, i wanna do it all the time :(

maxverstappen1: gosh our day jobs are really quite unconventional i guess we should just retire to a remote island to live on a small farm?

yourusername: you said it not me i just wanna be anywhere with you

maxverstappen1: i love you <3

user16: RETIRE TO A REMOTE ISLAND? SOMEONE TELL THIS RAT THAT IF HE IS THE REASON WE DON'T GET MUSIC WE WILL RIDE AT DAWN

user17: babe have you ever thought that maybe the reason he said that he wants to retire away from everyone because you people stick your noses in all the time

danielricciardo: @yourusername a soft weekend you say? how many hours did max spend on the sim?

yourusername: a solid ten but he even let me have a go

danielricciardo: oh wow that man really is in love

maxverstappen1: i think she'd rival a couple of you with some practice, i'm working on getting her to join redline

user18: ugh this is so annoying... preaching like you like spending time with your girlfriend and then spend it all playing a video game and letting her have one go?

user19: the sim is something f1 drivers use to train? if anything max probably shouldn't have let y/n have a go she could've accidentally changed the set up or other things

user20: i'm seeing charles and lewis training this off weekend and he just lies in bed with this girl? he really needs to ditch her to stay at the top

user21: literally two comments up is them talking about him training on the sim the jealousy is insane from both fans at this point

maxverstappen1

liked by landonorris, yourusername and 893,442 others

tagged: yourusername

maxverstappen1: happy to take home another win in mexico, i love this track and am forever thankful to this team and my loved ones.

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user25: holy shit idk what f1 can do but the paddock looked insane today there's no way that is safe for the drivers and personnel.

user26: there's so many videos of people rushing max and although some of them look like max fans who are just excited but there were a lot of very rude rival fans trying to get too close for comfort

yourusername: forever proud of you !! you're like jimmy and sassy with zoomies on crack <3

maxverstappen1: that is the highest of the high compliment thank you my love

yourusername: champagne is on me girlypops no expense spared for the love of my life

redbullracing: do we all qualify as girlypops ???

yourusername: of course !! don't think i didn't notice the supply of vegan pizza rolls you truly are the lactose intolerant allies of the grid

user27: can she stop spending all her hard earned money on this scrub that just uses her

user28: bro makes millions in a year he doesn't NEED her but that doesn't mean he can't want her? you guys are crazy

user29: some of these fans need to do some serious evaluation, drivers are not zoo animals, they are people and deserve respect and that includes respect to their personal space.

user30: for real like why was brad basically having to act as a body guard for max and y/n

user31: this was such a dangerous event for max and y/n. they're both very famous individuals and should be able to move around the paddock without being in danger.

user32: max joked about getting a body guard for this weekend but i think he should seriously consider it especially is y/n is coming to more races while she's not touring

danielricciardo: it has been brought to my attention that y/n has stated that she will spare no expense, i am making a formal enquiry into whether this will cover my bar tab?

yourusername: i will within reason but only because your bffs with maxy and will drink the fruity lil cocktails with me

danielricciardo: REAL men drink cocktails

maxverstappen1: do NOT disrespect the humble gin and tonic on my post

user33: i'm glad they're in high spirits after the shenanigans in the paddock today and the booing towards max :(

yourusername

liked by taylorswift, maxverstappen1 and 1,442,776 others

tagged: maxverstappen1

yourusername: there is no full way to articulate my feelings right now. my fans have to respect my personal relationships and my boundaries. i appreciate your support but you have to understand that i am not your personal friend and you do not have the right to my personal life. i also understand that in sport, there are a lot of heightened emotions, but drivers do not owe you their safety. this is something i have felt for a long time since max and i became a public couple and the onslaught of hate came for him. you may say that it comes from a good place, or for my best interests, but the manner in which some 'fans' have expressed their 'worries' is unacceptable. i do not want to bite the hand that feeds me, but there's only so many slaps me and my loved ones can take from the hand.

bite the hand is out on all streaming platforms. please listen closely a re-evaluate your relationships with your favourite artists, thank you.

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maxverstappen1

liked by danielricciardo, yourusername and 1,220,664 others

tagged: yourusername

maxverstappen1: i love you and i will never let other people tell me when i'm not enough get in my head again. we both appreciate our support and acknowledge that we would be nowhere without it. but our relationships are ours, please respect this.

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yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, maxverstappen1 and 1,344,229 others

tagged: maxverstappen1

yourusername: okay sad songs are important but it's now time for me to sing my wee little heart out about how much i love you and how i know we were always made for each other.

i love you maxy, invisible string is all about my muse. out now.

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user41: IT BANGS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

user42: ffs i guess we're stuck with this man for life now ...

user43: LISTEN TO BITE THE HAND AND BANG YOUR HEAD AGAINST THE WALL AND HEAR THE PINBALLS OF YOUR BRAIN GOING CRAZU

user44: speak your truth sis

maxverstappen1: ISN'T IT JUST SO PRETTY TO THINK THAT ALL ALONG THERE WAS SOME INVISIBLE STRING TYING YOU TO ME

maxverstappen1: so true, you make me believe in soulmates YOU ARE MY SOULMATE I LOVE YOU

yourusername: i love you to the moon and to saturn for real

yourusername: and that thread of gold is made from all of your trophies LET'S GO RAHHHHHHHH I'M SO PROUD OF YOU

maxverstappen1: the gold of that grammy @thegrammys yall heard bags?

user45: the way they're each others wags and completely embrace it

user46: i love that they're still their goofy asses they don't give a shit abou t yall

user47: y/n dropped a heart wrenching track and immediately went ... but hey i'm SUPER happy and that's all you're going to hear

landonorris: so like can y/n remix the dutch anthem so we can actually bop every weekend

yourusername: i kinda wanna marry the king of the netherlands so maybe not

landonorris: you broke up ?????

yourusername: no you dumbass max is the king of the netherlands

maxverstappen1: not factually but i do have a medal from the royal family so same thing

landonorris: why do you guys have to clown on me every time

yourusername: you're like our baby brother it's our duty

maxverstappen1: sorry not sorry

user48: you could never make me hate them they're made for each other

user49: finally bite the hand shamed the crazy bitches into finally shutting the fuck up

note: i love bite the hand i actually fear it might be my fave boygenius song and i recommend it to everyone. i actually did my university dissertation on parasocial relationships with athletes so like i feel like a good couple of sports fans could do with a listen to bite the hand. hope yall enjoyed and had a good weekend !! (chelsea gave me a heart attack but what's new, even though i was too sick to go to the game:()

[hotnbloodied]

I know you will probably ignore this but can you try doing Yan farmer x hero reader? (I guess an iskei trip or whatever idk I just wanna know if you could try and build with this idea)

I would never ignore a request, if I couldn't do it I'd let you know! But thank you so much for your request it was very fun to do! I hope that you enjoy~ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚HB˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Yan!Farmer X Isekai'd Reader

!Warning! This post contains yandere themes and topics that may be uncomfortable to people who are sensitive to the topic, read at your own discretion.

TW: implied non-con, obsessive personality, controlling behavior, toxic relationships.

!!READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!! MINORS DNI!!

It’s been a month since you found yourself in a world very much like the mmorpg game you used to play back when you were on earth. The first week was extremely rough, in the first three days you were in a frenzy trying to get your wearabouts about you. A couple of knights found you and were actually pretty helpful in guiding you to the church where the nuns made sure you were fed and taken care of. On your calmer day you decided you wanted to try something and called out the menu aloud. You almost jumped when the all too familiar screen popped up in front of you, the only thing missing was the option to ‘quit game’. The next chance that you got you asked one of the nuns how you could go about being an adventurer.

Here you were getting the hang of your class, who knew that combat in real life would be harder than it would be in a game. Monsters were actually terrifying and being in the wild sucked but at least you weren’t relying on other people to get by now.

You might have been getting too comfortable though because while taking on a quest to get rid of some monsters terrorizing some local fields you all but reached your limit, you were tired and wounded but the request was done and you just needed to report back to the guild now but you passed out.

You woke with a jolt. You thought the knights found you and took you to the church again but after looking at your surroundings that didn’t seem to be the case since it looked like a quaint cabin. You also noticed you were bandaged up really well. The door creaked open and in came a person you never saw before. “Oh you’re awake! That’s good.” “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to intrude,” you told them. He shook his head, “It’s the least I can do after you helped clear our fields of monsters.” “Ah, I need to report back to the adventurer’s guild.” “You’re not in any condition to move! You need rest.” “I’m okay, I need to collect my money after all.” “Then, let me come with you.” Seeing no harm in that you allowed him to come with you. “I’m Mikha by the way!” The two of you exchange greetings and names. “Wow so you’ve only been an adventurer for a month? What made you want to be one?” “Change of pace I guess.”

After finishing the business at the adventurer's guild you were about to say your goodbyes with Mikha but he invited you to dinner and you couldn’t pass up free food. Back at his home you helped however you could in the kitchen but since everything was so primitive compared to your original world you were slow in learning. Over dinner you two talked about life, his parents died when he was young and he had to learn to take care of the farm from a young age in order to survive. He talked about how nice it was to have dinner with someone after being alone for so long. “Have you never thought about finding a spouse?” You asked. “I have, it’s just so hard when you have to tend the farm all the time.” The night ended with Mikha insisting that you spend the night there, which you agreed to since it’s better than camping out or spending money at an inn again.

A couple more months went by and you basically made yourself at home with Mikha. Even though he insisted that you paid with your company you still gave him money for his hospitality. All seemed to be going well until you informed Mikha that you were leaving this part of the continent to broaden your horizons of the world. “Mikha, are you okay? You dropped your food.” “I- I’m fine, when are you leaving?” “It’s going to take me a month to prepare so I’m not going any time soon.” “I’m going to miss you…” “I’ll miss you too! I’ll definitely try to write to you when I can.” Mikha lost his appetite, he thought everything was going good between the two of you, he thought he could convince you to stop adventuring someday and the two of you would settle down and start a family together. Was this really how it was going to end? No, he won’t allow it.

Your preparations were coming along and you were getting more and more excited about your journey. You couldn’t help but notice that Mikha seemed to have gotten quieter and just overall seemed to be more on edge. When you asked him what was wrong he’d vehemently tell you nothing was wrong.

Finally, the night before your journey arrived and Mihka had prepared more food than usual as a celebratory feast. You two ate and drank to your heart's content and Mihka even seemed like he was back to his cheerful self. After cleaning up, you went to go get a good night's rest but in the middle of the night you felt something burning in your core. You were extremely turned on and it was to a point where it was near uncomfortable. You squeezed your legs together, you tried to breathe it out and you even tried to relieve yourself but nothing was working. You didn’t even notice the knocking on your door until Mikha walked in to ask what was wrong. “Stay away from me!” You warned him, “I’m not in my right mind!” Mikha didn’t listen and because of that you jumped him and used him to your heart's content.

The next morning you were ashamed of yourself, you saw the marks and bruises you gave him from the night before. You were on your knees, crying and sobbing for forgiveness. He seemed like an angel when he pulled you in for a hug and told you everything is going to be okay but you’d need to take responsibility. You kissed your future dreams goodbye and eventually the two of you married and took care of the farm together. Mikha was just glad that you agreed to take responsibility so easily, but in case you ever tried to leave him, he would tell you about the succubus mark that was implanted on the two of you that night meant that no matter who else you decided to be with your lust wouldn’t have been satisfied by anyone except him.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Since ive been playing Stardew again, mainly thanks to Stardew Expanded, and have been on a Stardew kick in general:

How would the different villagers (base game, no mod villagers, with maybe the inclusion of Marlon, Gunther, Krobus and the dwarf maybe?) react to a cottagecore (actual) witch (wizard, spellcaster, whatever you wanna call this version of the farmer) who, while making artisan goods like jellies and mead, also makes potions and enchanted knick knacks that help people too?

Hewwo :D

As you can see, dear anon, I got rather... carried away with the question, so I apologize for the long reply. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks again for the ask! 💕

SDV townies react to the cottagecore wizard/witch!Farmer who, in addition to artisan goods, makes potions and enchants trinkets:

_________________________________________

Shane doesn't mind the home-brewed beer and hot peppers from the garden that the Farmer regularly treats him to, but doesn't need to be told about the trinkets and stinky herbal concoctions and other weird stuff. The chicken lover doesn't believe in that (even though he's facing a real wizard/witch), and he has pills for his hangover.

No matter how hard Marlon tried to talk the Farmer out of it and explain that they didn't owe him anything for his help (a.k.a. "how once again Marlon had delivered the unconscious Farmer home"), but the new member of the Adventurers' Guild was stubborn and left on Marlon's table a dozen life elixirs that they had brewed themselves, as well as a whole basket of fresh apples. Well, it was rude to refuse, but the old adventurer still wanted the Farmer to be careful in the Mines next time.

A good luck bracelet? Ha! Thanks, Farmer, but Alex doesn't need one. He's a real sports star (not yet recognized, but soon!), and he relies solely on his talents and muscles. Although, if an athlete knows Farmer very well, he won't turn down a bracelet. Although he's not superstitious, a gift from a friend as a token of attention really touched him. Not that he'll admit it out loud, of course.

"Will I be able to fly?! Or talk to animals? Will I be able to talk to trees too? Will I turn into a dinosaur? Or invisible? I'd like to become an invisible dinosaur!" Yeah, I guess it wasn't such a good idea for the Farmer to announce to Vincent that they were brewing potions in addition to farming. Who knew the boy would be so intrigued by the Farmer's activities, after all, where else would you see a Farmer who could not only make cheese, but also do magic things?

Jas is a pretty smart girl, and quickly guessed about Farmer's unusual talents. She promised to keep it a secret.... If the Farmer promised to show her those unusual black chickens. Given that the farm is not far from her aunt's ranch, Jas often comes to visit the hospitable Farmer, just to watch them conjure or make cheese. And for black chickens. So cute!

To be honest, Marnie is a little... confused. She doesn't really believe in magic and all, but one event has made her reconsider. The Farmer recently gave her an totem that they say protects her lovely chickens from forest predators (poor Marnie is still grieving over hen Matilda, who was stolen by a fox). Now foxes approaching the coop howl, as if wounded, when they see the totem and run away. A coincidence, or does the totem really work?

"Ah, fellow craftsman! Glad to see that the practice of the arts of alchemy and enchantment is still not extinct." Wizard knew from the beginning that Farmer was connected with the magical world, but even for him it was a surprise that the young talent could cast complex spells and brew potions. And most importantly, help the locals (well, or at least not harm anyone). Hm, he was just looking for an apprentice, and Farmer would be perfect candidate...

Leah isn't much into elixirs and talismans, but when the red-haired girl fell ill, the Farmers were the first to help and gave her some funny-smelling potions that made her feel better instantly. They also treated Leah to some homemade goat cheese and fruits. Witch or not, Leah was glad to have such a caring friend and promised herself to do something for the Farmer in return.

Even though Demetrius had no desire to offend or insult the Farmer in any way, the scientist will look very sceptical at the amulet the Farmer offers him for protection against evil spirits. And for all the spells that the Farmer shows, desperately trying to prove to Demetrius that they are real spellcasters, he will wave his hand, saying that it is all scientifically explainable. Farmer is levitating, the hell you mean scientifically explainable?!

Clint wanted to ask something about a love potion, but quickly silenced himself before the Farmer could hear anything. It would hardly be true love if you put that magic stuff in there.... What?! No, he didn't mean anyone in particular, they heard nothing! In general, the blacksmith doesn't care if the Farmer grows strawberries, enchants bracelets or practises fortune-telling.

Abigail has become a very frequent visitor to the farm. The violet-haired girl sometimes likes to sit in the Farmer's kitchen, helping or watching them make blueberry jam or pickled tomatoes. But most of all she is interested in watching them brew potions or just the way the spoons stir themselves thanks to magic. Abigail will also ask them to make her a elixirs taster ("Pretty please!").

Perhaps Lewis would have just politely ignored the Farmer's statement that they were a wizard and that they would be happy to help him and the people of the Valley with potions, but still the Pelican Town Mayor decided to try his luck and ask the Farmer one specific question. Hmm? Why did Lewis need a stamina potion? Erm, well, Lewis wanted to start doing, er... exercise, and- Never mind, forget what he just said, Farmer.

You know that look on some parents' faces when their little child hands them a craft made of dirt or leaves, and the adults try to squeeze out a smile and say what an interesting thing their kid made? That's what was on Jodi's face when Farmer gave her the gift with a proud smile. Thank you so much for the fresh vegetables, Farmer, and, umm.... What's with the skull pendant with the glowing eyes? "Luck pendant? Ahahaha, how nice, thank you!" (Jodi dies inside).

A small woven basket, containing some fruit or goodies, and a small vial of purple liquid.... Almost everyone in the Valley had received a gift from the unusual Farmer, and Robin was no exception. The carpenter doesn't know what's up with the "potion to cure diseases", but she's just glad that the Farmer has fit into their little community so quickly and takes care of everyone like family. Robin smiles genuinely and is already on her way home with peaches given by the Farmer to treat her husband and her children.

One day Haley is sure to drop by the Farmer's to visit and ask them to let her have a photo session of their farm. Because this place is sure to be a winner in Zuzu City's "All About the Country life" photo contest! Plus, the blonde-haired girl discovered the delights of rural life, and the Farmer themself turned out to be a very interesting person. But Haley can't stand the smell of the cauldron. Why would the Farmer have a cauldron in his kitchen?

For about an hour now, poor Maru has been racking her brains and searching medical books and scientific articles for any information about the ingredients that the Farmers, as they themselves claim, put in the "potion". It's phenomenal - a liquid that instantly cured Maru's burn on her arm! (the result of a failed experiment). Poor Farmer only wanted to bring the young inventor the cure and fresh strawberries, but ended up being showered with a mountain of questions from a exited Maru. "Magic? Witches and wizards? Nonsense!"

Kent had been standing by the front door of the farmhouse for some more than ten minutes now, keeping his eyes fixed on the broom that was brushing the porch steps by itself. Either his nightmares had made him crazy, or those pickled mushrooms the Farmer had treated the military man with (and given several jars of mushrooms as a treat to his family) were laced with some sort of hallucinogen. Farmer stepped out onto the porch. "Ah, I can use magic to make a broom sweep!" Apparently it was the mushrooms after all, Kent thought.

Did someone say pendants with stones that have magical properties? Or dreamcatchers? Then Emily's on her way! Nothing brings the blue-haired girl more joy than discussions about amethyst, that ability to enhance the wearer's intuition, or the positive emotion-filled bracelets she's made for her friends. Granted Emily has a slightly different field (and Farmer's pendants are enchanted for real), but she would be the one closest to Farmer's interest in making trinkets of all sorts to help others.

Oh, Gus knows well that if he needs the best quality produce for his meals, the owner of the Saloon can ask the hard-working and kind Farmer for help. Admittedly, at times he is a bit taken aback when the Farmer still offers him unfamiliar herbs and products that they have made themselves. "Moon salt", what is that? Seems edible, even delicious! Definitely going into his escargot.

"That's the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life." Whoa, Pam, you don't have to be that blunt with the person you're getting a gift from. Yes, the bracelet may not have the most adorable look, but the Farmer is a spellcaster with experience, and this trinket will help bring Pam happiness, wealth, and- "Thanks for the mead and the parsnips, kiddo, but I'm not taking this creepy bracelet." Pam, don't be rude to the Farmer, where's your manners and gratitude?

Yoba, Harvey tries to be polite and patient, but he can't stay away when he sees Farmer offering other residents elixirs that, they say, will "instantly cure illnesses"??? He is a doctor, and has devoted years at university to curing people, while Farmer is engaging in, pardon his harsh words, quackery?! However, when the doctor is convinced that Farmer is a real wizard/witch, he quickly apologizes and goes into a crisis. Someone give this man a glass of wine or Harvey is about to freak out.

Oh, no, no, no, no! Pierre had already made a mistake once in his youth when he bought a "talisman that brings wealth and good luck" from a stranger who claimed to be a sorceress, but it turned out to be just a cheap glass craft. So he had to create wealth with his bare hands. The shopkeeper would refuse all the amulets offered by the Farmer, and the strange elixirs too. But to buy their homemade strawberry wine of iridium quality is always welcome!

When the Farmer had just arrived in Stardew Valley, Willy had once told them that he had an amulet against all sorts of misfortunes, which he had had to sell because the money was almost gone. The old sailor had already had time to regret it, but you can't bring back the past. Farmer remembered this moment, and out of kindness made a real sea amulet for Willy. And unlike the old one, this will definitely protect him from treacherous sirens or huge deep-sea monsters while fishing.

"So enchanting objects for each other is normal for humans?" Krobus had thought that only the Wizard had knowledge of the forgotten arts, but it seemed he had missed some details when he had studied the lives of the local people of Pelican Town. People usually don't do that? Oh, alright..

The amulet that Sebastian received as a gift from the Farmer looks so cool and creepy that Sebby has started wearing it with his everyday clothes. True, the young man was a little distrustful of the Farmer's words about the "enchantment" of this trinket. He was interested in all sorts of occult things, but was not sure about the magic. Farmer, in order to prove their words, gave him another "frog magnet" talisman. The next day, by Sebastian's surprised face and a dozen frogs jumping after him, it was clear that the local emo definitely believed now.

An enchanted pendant that allows you to see artifacts hidden from human eyes... That explains how the Farmers were able to find and provide Gunther with such rare specimens of forgotten civilizations. Did they make such an amulet themselves? Amazing! What? An amulet for him? Thank you very much, Farmer. Now together, the two of them can not only restore the local museum to its former glory, but also make it even better!

Penny doesn't know what the little bottle of liquid the Farmer gave her, but her flu is gone in just an hour after she empties the contents of the bottle. Thank you so much, Farmer, for helping the young teacher by giving her this medicine. "My pleasure, the elixir of healing diseases isn't that hard to make, the main thing is not to overdo it with the wolfsbane." "W- what?...." Penny didn't have time to ask again, as the Farmer handed her a basket of oranges and wished her good health, running off on their own.

Linus had time to show the young mage (yes, it's no secret to him that they have a magical gift) all the secret places to pick unusual berries and mushrooms. Because he knows that the Farmer will definitely use it in brewing elixirs to help people, and that can't help but please the good-hearted wild man. Plus, he has to say thank you somehow for that wonderful blueberry pie.

From the Farmer's window there is almost always the smell of delicious baked goods or the pleasant scent of flowers, and Sam, without noticing it himself, has begun to walk past the farm often. The young guitarist doesn't need to be told twice when he's invited for pie or maple donuts. Farmer is always happy to have guests, especially if the guests decide to brighten up their mornings with a beautiful music. "What's brewing in the pot?" "Elixir of immortality." "Cool. Wait, what...?"

"These leaves give the tea a rather unusual flavor. And I think I'm beginning to see... flowers in my eyes. Dear Farmer, are you sure you've worked the tea leaves properly?" Caroline, your tea made the Farmer's eyes see a white little man dancing on the edge of your mug. So don't go blabbing about the Farmer's homemade tea. They certainly know the basics of herbology and alchemy, and know how to brew the most complex elixirs. So don't even-

Given Dwarf's suspiciousness, they didn't take any medallions or elixirs from the Farmer at first, because it could have turned out to be a devious plan by the shadow people. What if there's poison in the bottle? Or the medallion reveals their location to the enemy? It takes a long time before they can trust the Farmer, and later they have something of a bartering relationship with potions (the Farmer gives Dwarf elixirs out of the goodness of his heart, but Dwarf insists that the Farmer needs to get something of equal value in return).

Hmm! Why would George want this useless trinket, even if it was free? So they could sit on a shelf and gather dust? Farmer, he doesn't believe in all that focus-pocus, so he doesn't need those strange and ugly bracelets and amulets that also smell weird. A spellcaster? Don't be absurd.

Farmers were so kind to come and visit, and they also brought some goodies: ripe berries, homemade cottage cheese... And they even brought George some ointment for his bad knees, how nice of them! And though it's not clear if Evelyn believes the ointment is magical, and if she knows that Farmers can cast spells and communicate with animals. The granny is just glad that such a kind and caring young person came to their house, and without cookies, which just had time to cool down, Evelyn will not let them go.

A lonely, city-weary man who had been hiding their magical talent was finally able to escape the suffocating clutches of a mega corporation to drop everything and move to the middle of nowhere where they could find their happiness and calling... Yes, Elliott is definitely sure that this would be the perfect story for his new novella. The writer was so taken by his own muse that he wasn't even surprised by the fact that the Farmers, in addition to caring for crops and livestock, can do magic and brew elixirs. Novella now, questions later!

Morris has absolutely no time for nonsense, why did the Farmer give him some strange liquid in a bottle? A cure for back pain? Very funny, but he wasn't born yesterday to believe that nonsense. Except that Farmer's curiosity and puppy eyes made Joja's manager take a sip.... And no more back pain! Hmm, interesting... Farmer, how about a contract to sell this miracle liquid?

_________________________________________

Note: I hope I didn't deviate from the main question because I couldn't decide if the people of Stardew Valley believe the farmer is a wizard/sorcerer/witch by default, or if some know and some don't? And how are talismans and potions even viewed from their perspective (Shane, at least, doesn't believe in magic, judging by the canon quotes). I'm open to feedback! 😃

[siblingskissing]

Ronance headcanons?

Ronance Headcanons

I have had the BIGGEST brain rot about these two, you guys don't even know, so please excuse my rambling session in this post. As always- feel free to share your headcanons, opinions, thoughts ideas, just be kind <3

-Robin is the biggest simp to ever exist. Nancy mentions liking a color? Guess who's suddenly adding it all over their wardrobe! A favourite food? She's already learned how to cook it. Allergic to something? Robin will destroy it with her bare hands and make it go extinct to protect her girl.

-Likewise, Nancy would and will kill for Robin (come on Robin tell her to kill for you she wants to)

-Their favourite dates include them sitting in one of their rooms, a movie or music playing as they discuss conspiracy theories or whatever story Nancy is working on

"There's been a ton of missing items from farms in the areas. Animals, tools, bales of hay-"

"could it be aliens?"

"Alie- Robin it's not aliens!"

"What? Interdimensional monsters are real but aliens aren't?"

-Many people assume Nancy would get annoyed by Robins carefree joke centered attitude but actually she calms down whenever Robin tries making jokes.

-She doesn't like when people don't take things seriously, but she knows Robin is taking it serious, but using humour to make sure they don't spiral with the problem

-their relationship definitely started off rocky but with some time, understanding and surprisingly really deep conversations they learn to appreciate the little things about one another.

-Robin loves Nancy's drive and her leadership skills. She makes sure that everyone takes her seriously and if the kids complain about Nancy being a hard ass she brings them back to listen.

"Nancy's not our boss!"

"No, but she's the one keeping you dipshits safe- she knows what she's doing so listen up and quit complaining"

-They kids listen to Robin more and so when she follows Nancy with no complaints, the kids unconsciously follow suit.

-When Nancy gets stressed/aggravated Robin will be there to lend her a shoulder. They're very much leader/Right Hand man coded to me.

-Nancy doesn't know much about queer culture so when she does eventually come out Robin is happy to talk to her about it and share what she knows.

"So we use Blue violets because Sappho used to describe women wearing garlands of them,"

"Sappho?"

"... Do you have a spar 3 hours so I can explain Sappho and Greek poetry to you?"

-They take all kinds of cute little Polaroids that they keep at Robins place

(examples of said Polaroids)

-Robins family is more supportive so often Nancy goes over there to spend the night

-when college comes up in discussions Robin mentions that she enjoyed investigating with Nancy, the research was fun when they didn't have death looming over them.

"Yeah, learning Russian to break the code was awesome- the torture kind of ruined it though-"

"The WHAT?"

-Nancy asks Robin 1000X if Robin is sure she wants to go to the same college/same field and Robin promises her that she isn't only going because of her.

"I'd follow you anywhere, but this is also for me- if I have to do one more customer service job I might kill someone."

-They love movie nights, curled up under a blanket watching whatever film they can find. Robin always finds the oddest ones and sometimes some really deep indie films. Nancy also enjoys the foreign films she can find and let's her choose.

-on nights Nancy chooses- she likes care free fun films. Nothing too heavy because she likes the simplicity

-Theyre a gross matching couple- but in a new fun way.

-Mat hing colors in their respective styles, using each other's clothes and making it go with their personal choices, matching patterns/designs.

-They also shared shoes sometimes

-On the 90s Nancy gets a more "Rachel from friends" style like this

-Robin eats it up like no one is watching and often has to hold back from just kissing her 24/7

(also I badly wanna do a look book of the characters so Please someone ask for that because I love fashion)

I definitely probably have more but here you are!!

[blueishspace]

Looped Sun 10

Loop #339

Grian: Skyblock huh? Well, that shouldn't be too bad. Get a cobblestone generator, wood and food and you're set.

Scar: Skyblock? I have already done this before! This is going to be Easy!

It wasn't, not even a little bit.

Scott: Skyblock, good luck killing me I can flu-

Scott proceeded to fall to his death before realizing it was a null loop.

Pearl: Skyblock! Oh this is going to be fun! I have a perfect idea. Now, to get some cobblestone.

Mumbo: Wait... Skyblock. No other islands ... No redstone? Oh pants, I can't even do builds this is horrible.

Loop #342

Grian: This is really weird you know?

Hermit Grian: You tell me, hopefully our youtuber self doesn't create another us.

Grian: I mean, there are the uh guess the builds?

Hermit Grian: Don't even joke about it.

Grian: Alright alright.

Hermit Grian: How do you do it?

Grian: Uh?

Hermit Grian: The life series. The first time I looped in Third Life I had to get black out drunk.

Grian: You had to WHAT?

Hermit Grian: It was so awful... But you're Life Series Grian, you dealt with it in baseline! How?

Grian: Well... I guess It's just was a game. In baseline the life series was a game and while it did leave an impact it wasn't like that. A lot of variants have the life series as a death game or an emotion farm for The Watchers but our baseline was just...lighthearted. Guess your first Third Life wasn't like that?

Hermit Grian: It wasn't, I think I looped into a serious deathgame loop.

Grian: Yeah... Those...those are really bad sometimes, especially when the loop starts in Third Life after Scar is already dead.

Hermit Grian: Has that happened!? I have looped in Third Life hundreds of times but that never happened before.

Grian: Two or three times. Two or three times too much if you ask me.

Hermit Grian: That...wow.

Grian: Soo... wanna have a building competition? See which Grian is best?

Hermit Grian: Oh, you're on.

Loop #346

Tommy: Grian! Wait, fuck, Hermit Grian?

Grian: Life Grian, sorry.

Tommy: Fucking damnit.

Grian: Met other Grian a few loops ago, he explained these kinds of loops a bit. You escaped from exile?

Tommy: Yeah, sometimes when I do I end up here in Hermitcraft and sometimes the hermit loopers are awake.

Grian: Well, I might not be the Life series looper but Hermitcraft is still part of my baseline, so if I can do anything just tell me.

Tommy: Hmm... well I had an idea for a prank.

Grian: I'm all ears.

Tommy: All eyes too.

Grian: Wha- oh right, Watcher loop.

Tommy: I got that part big man.

Loop #348

Another Watcher loop? That was what, 3rd loop in a row? Grian was confused but at least this was a neutral watchers variant so not too bad... But he felt something was different-

Scott: Hello!

Grian: Scott!?! What? Where are you!? How can I hear you.

Scott: Ahaha, not telling.

Grian: I can't ... What? I can't see you using the eyes!?

Scott: Nope!

Grian: How? The only being immunes in this loop are listeners and spea- wait.

Scott: You got it. It's a speaker me variant.

Grian: ... Is that a thing?

Scott: Yep, I have to say one of my favourites variants.

Grian: Why?

Scott: Listen, I like the order and lawful loops a lot, was made an order god like almost as soon as I started looping...but this? I get to have way more fun.

Grian: Uh huh.

Loop #351

Pearl: Wow, this is what? Fifth watcher loop in a row?

Grian: Sixth.

Pearl: Are they loops trying to tell you something?

Grian: I don't know? Are they??

Pearl: I have no clue mate.

Loop #352

Pearl: Another one?

Grian: Yep.

Pearl: ... What's wrong?

Grian: It's this loop's Keralis.

Pearl: Uh? What's wrong with this Keralis?

Grian: He's wrong.

Pearl: Uh?

Grian: I can sense it as a watcher, but I can't tell what he is.

Pearl: Aren't this loop's watchers really powerful?

Grian: That's the problem, I think he's around the level of the dread gods, It's offsetting.

Pearl: You are still a god, titan and watcher multiple times over. You are way more powerful then him.

Grian: ... Still. It's creepy.

Loop #360

Grian: Fast, into that elevator!

Scott: We aren't going to fit-

Grian: Fast!

Scar barreled into the elevator first, then Mumbo followed by Pearl and Scott and finally Grian. Grian pressed the first butt as fast as he could and the door closed.

Grian: We did it-

Then everything started going wrong when the elevator started shuddering for a while followed by all 1000 floors buttons glowing.

Mumbo: What?

Scar: Did we break something?

Pearl: Did Scar break something?

Scar: Hey!

Grian: No, Scar didn't break anything... I think... But I think I know what happened.

Scott: I think I know too. An elevator loop?

Grian: Yep.

Scott: Ok, fuck, at least we are getting it over with relatively early?

Pearl: What are you two talking about?

Grian: It's a loop stuck in elevator, 1000 floors to see, happens to all loopers eventually.

•Floor 6

Mumbo: I-is that space?

Pearl: Yeah mate, beautiful right?

Mumbo: Yeah! But how are being forced out by the pressure difference? Or freezing?

Grian: Loop magic probably.

Scar: Oh! Good. Don't want to get sucked by space now do we?

Grian: Scar!

Scott: AH! OH, Scar, never change.

Scar: What? What's wrong with sucking?

Scott: AHHHH You're killing me Scar!

•Floor 34

Scott: I'm noticing most of these floors are empty?

Grian: Yeah, not all floors are weird I think.

Pearl: Well, we are going to just skip this one then.

•Floor 56

Grian: Oh look, biblically accurate garden of eden.

Pearl: Do you think we can reach for the fruit of knowledge from here.

Scott: Isn't the whole point of the whole thing not to eat the fruit of knowledge.

Pearl: I hate ehen you are right.

Grian: Well, technically, God told Adam and Eve specifically not to eat the fruit. Not us.

Scott: Oh look we are going to the next floor. Too bad, we aren't getting smitten this time around. So sad.

•Floor 69

Scott: Oh? Oh! OH!

Grian: Just go to the next floor, please.

•Floor 87

Scar: Ohhhh! Look at all these pictures! I'm going to grab one or two.

Scott: They are nice, I'll take one as well.

•Floor 99

Mumbo: Ok... This is starting to be a bit boring now. How much left G?

Grian: We are still less then a tenth in.

Scott: Ugh.

Mumbo: Why? Is it so slow!?

•Floor 123

Scott: A church?

Grian: It's the winners church , saw it once in a loop. Every winner of the life series has a window.

Scott: Oh I can see mine! I look good like that~

Scar: Why is mine holding an eclipse? I tought my sign was the Earth.

Grian: It is, like 90% of the time, but sometimes it something different and Martyn is the Earth. Me, Scott and Pearl are the only ones whose symbol remains mostly the same in all loops.

•Floor 147

Old Lady: Oh dears, stuck in a magic elevator? Here, have some fruit to eat.

Mumbo: O-oh Thank you madam... H-Here, take a diamond.

Old Lady: Oh wow, that is one big diamond... I can't just take this for a bit of fruit...hmmm...here, one of my tarot decks you may have it.

Mumbo: Thank you ... It looks like we are going now, goodbye.

•Floor 148

Grian: Mumbo, you do know that carot decks has images of the life series players as major arcanas.

Mumbo: Wait what?

Grian: And you got this from a totally normal old lady?

Mumbo: She looked normal at least?

Grian: Of course she did.

•Floor 173

Mumbo: Ok, ok, pick a random card.

Grian: ... Sun. Of course.

Mumbo: Weird, that shouldn't...that's unlikely.

Pearl: Unless the cards are actually magic.

Mumbo: Ok, ok there's no way. See, I picked a devil, why would it be a devil

•Floor 192

Grian: Is that-?

Scott: -Christian hell?

Mumbo: I... I'm going to keep these cards I think.

Scar: Let's close before-

Pearl: Wait mate, I see someone in the flames.

Scott: It's Charlie Slimecicle and... Ranboo? Wait is this Genloss-

Pearl: Hey mate! Want to come alpng?

Ranboo: Who are you-

Pearl grabbed Ranboo just in time for the door to close behind him leaving behind a shocked Charlie.

Pearl: Oops.

•Floor 212

Ranboo: Timeloops? You guys are crazy!

Grian: Weren't you just in literal hell?

Ranboo: ... I...

•Floor 244

Seller: And here we have a cloak made of pure chaos.

Buyer #1: 5 diamonds!

Buyer #2: 10 diamonds.

Buyer #3: 15 diamonds?

Pearl: I'll take it for 100 diamonds.

Seller: 100 diamonds? Going once. Going twice. And we have a buyer! Here is your cloak miss.

Pearl: Here are the diamonds.

Buyer: Wow, that's the second time this has happened.

•Floor 253

Grian: Why did you buy that cloak?

Pearl: Listen, what part of red cloak of pure chaos isn't cool to you? Plus, I get to be extra scary whenever I loop as 5AM Pearl again.

Ranboo: What are you people talking about!??

•Floor 269

Grian: Hello there!

Hermit Grian: Oh, Life! Elevator loop?

Grian: ...Yeah.

Hermit Grian: I feel that, say do ping me next time we are in the same loop. I have something to tell you.

Grian: Oh yeah. Sure!

Hermit Grian: See you then!

•Floor 291

Scott: Back to christian hell we go. Ranboo?

Ranboo: W-wait, is this my stop then?

Pearl: Yeah, I think so. Say, take some potions and golden apples. They might be useful.

Ranboo: A-alright? B-bye?

Pearl: Bye!

•Floor 327

Scar: Jellie pandas!

Grian: Don't you dare let one of them in the elevator.

Scar: But-

Grian: No.

Scar: Can I at least pet it.

Grian: Sure.

•Floor 388

Grumbot: Cogito Ergo Sum, I think therefore I am-

Grian: Oh, Grumbot...

Grumbot: You!

Grian: I'm sorry this is what happened... really am.

Grumbot: YOU-

But he never got to speak as the elevator closed It's doors.

•Floor 416

Scott: Aeoulus!

Aeoulus: Scott! My favorite looper! Was being me fun!

Scott: Oh it was great until someone started being grumpy.

Aeoulus: Oh yeah, I totally understand the feeling. I got to be you once.

Scott: Oh really? You'll have to tell me about it next time!

Aeoulus: Byeee!

After that she floated away while humming her song.

•Floor 419

Grian: How do you know the wind god?

Scott: We met a few loops before I looped as her by looping as Odysseus.

Grian: Huh. Alright then.

•Floor 467

Grian: Are the doors stuck?

Scott: Well, this is weird.

Mumbo: I could uh...try and see if anything is wrong?

Pearl: I don't think this works by redstone-

Scar: Oh we are going up! I wanted to see!

Grian: Maybe It's best we don't.

•Floor 500.

Pearl: C'mon guys, we are halfway there! We can do this.

•Floor 532

Martyn: My king, is that a magic elevator ?

Ren: My prayers to the gods have worked! They sent us help to destroy the rebels!

Grian: Yeah no way

Ren: What- Wait, Grian!?! Why did the gods send you!?

Grian: Excuse you, I sent myself.

Martyn: Are you a god!?!!

Grian: I mean I guess.

And then the doors closed.

•Floor 589

Grian: Another empty corridor-

Suddenly a man runs into the elevator.

Man: Oh I'm so sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry?

Grian: Were do you need to go?

Man: Uh. Floor uh... 603?

Pearl: Oh that will take a bit.

Man: U-uh?

Scar: Someone, not me, pressed all the floor buttons.

Man: Oh no. I'll be late!

•Floor 598

Man: Ah!?! Is that a d-dragon?

Grian: No just a really realistic picture.

Man: O-oh of course.

•Floor 603

Man: Oh finally.

And the man runs into the corridor.

Grian: That was weird.

Scott: That was like, just a regular guy.

•Floor 652

Grian: Hey Timmy!

E2 Jimmy: Grian!?! How have you done this!??

Grian: Missed me?

E2 Jimmy: How!?

Grian: No time to explain! Bye!

•Floor 666

Mumbo: This is... Just the void.

Scott: It's not, stay away from the entrance.

Pearl: What's wrong.

Scott: Just...stay away from the doors.

Grian: Yes. Don't go near the void.

Scar: What's out there?

Grian: ... What do you think?

•Floor 702

Scott was working on the perfect curse, finally he could make the other pay-

Scott: Hey Witch me!

Witchcraft Scott: Who?

Scott: Sup It's me. You. Have you forgotten something?

Witchcraft Scott: Forgotten-

Wait, this impostor was right! He couldn't believe he forgot such a basic ingredient. He would need to get more hair to do this.

Scott: Hey, I got you. Take some of this.

•Floor 742

Scar: Hey!

...

No one.

Scar: Oh c'mon.

Grian: You'll get it next time don't worry.

•Floor 783

Scar: Magic hands man! Magic hands man!

Scott: Scar you're a vex. And a demigod. And who knows what.

Scar: I know!

Scott: Then why are you scared?

Scar: Who said I was scared?

•Floor 824

Mumbo: Wait are those the backrooms?

Grian: You know about them?

Mumbo: Of course I know about them! I didn't think the loops were connected to it though.

Scott: They are...and aren't. It's complicated. There isn't really a backrooms loop but lots of fused loops with them.

Mumbo: That's...weird.

•Floor 868

Grian: I think I might fall asleep now, these last I don't know how many floors have been corridors.

Scott: Not even colorful ones. Would it kill people to use a bit of yellow, cyan or pink?

•Floor 910

Grian: Hey you Rem.

Scar: Grian what are you doing?

Grian: This is the one evil Ren I told you about!

Mumbo: The one who experimented on people?

Grian: Yeah! Well I'm going to do something insane.

Pearl: Oh?

Grian: Yeah, you! Guess what?

Scar: ...?

Grian: FUCK YOU!

Ren: Grian!?! How dare I'll get my army-

Grian: And tell them that *I* swore at you? Especially after magically appearing in the sky inside a magic elevator? Come on, call for them, I want to see. They'll never believe you.

It didn't even take that much dread god magic to make that Ren cower.

•Floor 911

Scar: You- uh what?

Grian: It's a one time thing.

Scott: That was ...holy shit.

Pearl: I didn't you could do that mate.

•Floor 934

Mumbo: Nope, nope, nope, nothing to see here.

Scar: Wait I want to see-oh Is that you... and Grian? Uh... I'll just uh. Sit back?

Mumbo: T-that's not us, that's just a variant!

....

Scott: Doesn't have to be... I didn't expect Grian to be the top-

Grian: I will feed you to my mushrooms with no regrets.

•Floor 967

...

Grian: I hate elevator music now.

Scar: Now you know how I feel in the permit office.

Grian: It truly is the worst torture.

Scar: It is!

Grian: It what makes me want to use it even more, cower in fear.

•Floor 1000

Grian: Ok, get out get out before we are accidentally called back down!

It didn't take being told fir everyone to run out.

Loop #361

Grian: We did it! We are out!

Scott: Thank all the gods and admins.

Scar: Oh earth, sweet earth.

Mumbo: You said loopers go trough this once. Only once right?

Grian: Yeah.

Mumbo: GOOD.

Prev Next First

[elbiotipo]

What would be the main differences between a template forest and a tropical jungle for fantasy? I guess that things like iron armor pieces would never become a thing since historically they weren't popular in other hot climates, winters without snow might be less feared but summers with big floods might be more worrisome? I guess that cuisine and farming would also be massively different although I don't know exactly how.

Out of the top of my head:

Equatorial climates are notoriously stable, since it's always the same day lenght there are no seasons, especially if you live near the ocean which estabilizes the temperature. You will get dry and wet seasons (and sometimes even hurricane seasons) depending on particular geographic conditions

Tropical/subtropical climates often have harsher seasons the farther away from the ocean they are, but never snow (that's the difference actually; temperate climates can get snow, subtropical can get frost but not snow, tropical neither). So yes, in general in a tropical or subtropical the main difference between seasons is rain, and perhaps frost which does play a role in some plants like citrics. Rainforests, of course, get it all year, subtropical forests have dry and rainy seasons. You can see a mixture of both: in my home (Northern Argentina) we do get marked winters with ocassional frost, but the main fact is that they're dry compared to summer.

ANYWAYS. Cultural stuff! Yes, one of the main differences you will find is clothing. It's difficult to make generalizations, but overall, tropical cultures just wear less, if there is armor at all. Don't get mistaken and say that it's because they don't have metallurgy, though, it's just that metal armor is indeed heavy, hot, and not much use if the opponet isn't wearing anything either. At most, you would see padded cloth armor (cotton mostly) or hide/leather at most. If you look at soldiers from, for example, Mesoamerica or Southeast Asia, you will find little armor.

Similarily, while you can go wild with noble clothing and colors, and the preferred materials are indeed cotton or silk, you will find very simple clothes among the general population. To give you an idea, here's a sample of Aztec clothes (including armor!)

Note how simple and lightweight they are, even for rulers. They are colorful too (the artist, Daniel Parada, has more pictures like this for other cultures based on historical records) but although tropical enviroments might seem to have greater access to dyes, medieval european did also have dyes, often not as vibrant as carmine though.

Farming, of course, affects cuisine. I think that instead of thinking about a "pan-tropical" farming, we could analyze this by centers of origin of crops:

From Southeast Asia we got soy, several types of beans (or Fabaceae if you wanna get technical), all citrics, mango, banana, pear, cherry,, but this pales in comparison to rice, of course. Rice defines the tropical and subtropical diet of Asia, being what wheat is to the Mediterranean. Rice cultivation is particular in that is labor extensive, much more productive by area compared to other crops (so smaller plots) and requires extensive irrigation, resulting in complex managed enviroments.

From tropical America we got manioc, squashes (all sorts of curcubita actually), beans, peppers, pineapples, papaya, so much more, but it's especifically from Mesoamerica we got corn, and from the Andes we got potatoes. Potatoes are key in cold climates. Meanwhile, the corn-beans-squash trio, that is known in North America as "three sisters" and in Latin America as "milpa" is spread all over the continent. These three kinds of plants are very adaptable to tropical and subtropical conditions, and combined are very productive.

I will admit that my knowledge about tropical Africa is less than ideal. There are native species of rice that can be found in Western Africa, Ethiopia has traditionally grown barley and sorghum (and is the home of coffee), and millet, like corn for the Americas, seem to be widespread.

As for spices, tropical areas do seem to be blessed with spices, this is true. I recommend this guy to tell you about it. Hell, I recommend his channel in general.

What IS a common theme, regardless, is that jungles are NOT pristine enviroments or wild enviroments untouched by human activity. Jungles have been managed, in overt ways (like for example, rice cultivation) or more subtle ways (planting domesticated species inside the forest) for thousands of years. This is also done by controlled burns, conscious planting, or even accidental things, like, for example, peoples settling in a place and bringing domesticated plants to that place that then grow semi-wildly.

THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING TO TALK ABOUT BECAUSE EVEN IF I STUDY THIS EXACT THING, I HAVE NO REAL DEFINITION OF IT YOU CAN SEARCH. You can find about this phenomenon of "humans managing and changing forest enviroments" by lots of terms, like agroforestry, silviculture, and so many more. The term I use is "landscape management" (no, not "landscaping") where a "landscape" is a term for an enviroment were both humans and natural factors build it (like I said, there is no thing as "pristine nature" ALL natural enviroments have been managed and modified by humans, and you can find evidence of that in tropical America, Asia, and Africa).

In fact, the reason why those enviroments seem "natural" and unchanged to Western views is precisely, because tropical cultures often use wood and adobe to build structures (if they have them at all), which don'r preserve well at all. But also, jungles are fast growing and often eat everything, remaining, interestingly, these subtle domestication and managment efforts in what once were thriving settlements.

Which doesn't mean you haven't tropical cultures to study. THERE ARE PLENTY. You got, like I said, the whole of tropical America, tropical Africa, and tropical Asia and Oceania. It is getting very difficult to me to generalize, and yet, one can see some similarities.

Since this post is general enough, I encourage you to ask more about what you want. What would you like me to focus on?

oh, and you can throw me a tip, if you want! Sorry for selling out, but I'm living under an insane libertarian president right now, so every bit helps!

[pedropascallme]

HIII ok i adored ur Jim fic i love him SOO BADDDD WAHHH !!!! i was wondering if i could request a Jim smut of some kind??? i’m a trans man so i would love an afab reader w gender neutral/masc pronouns but of course only whatever ur comfy w:) and if u don’t wanna do that anything else jim related pls i love him SOOOO BADDD!!!! okay sorry for the huge block of text ily and ur work is god tier bro.

The New Normal

Pairing: Jim x gn!afab!Reader

Summary: "You felt the sudden urge to kiss him, to grab him and pull him close to you, tell him to join you in the shower. "

Warnings: SMUT (18+ MINORS DNI), oral (m & f receiving), fingering, p in v sex, praise kink, kinda almost soft!dom Jim? Reader is AFAB but no use of gendered pronouns, uhhh brief allusion to 9/11 blink and you'll miss it, if I missed anything please let me know!

AN: Max NEVER apologize for asking for Jim smut I am ALWAYS looking for a reason to write Jim smut. Also forgive the cross tagging but the only way I will ever reach other Cillian sluts is if I use the Thomas Shelby tag.

America was different than you’d expected it to be.

In the shows and movies, there wasn’t much diversity; either you were on a farm, or you were in the big city. The speech patterns were always overdramatized, too, and when you first reached the McGuire base in New Jersey, you were a bit disappointed when nobody shouted that “they were walkin’ he-ya!” Even more disappointed when you reached Brooklyn and were told that the accent was of a dying variety.

But in the grand scheme of things, it was so…normal. It was England before the outbreak, but with smaller busses and slower trains. You didn’t really know how to feel about it, about how the rest of the world carried on so unconcerned while the island you grew up in fell to pieces. In a way, relieved, but a small part of you felt almost offended that nobody was holding constant vigils.

What offended you more, though, was the realization that the process of being granted asylum was not something that happened quickly. While you were appreciative to Hannah’s distant cousins who had agreed to sponsor you while you awaited the business to be over—which could take years, you’d learned—you were nauseated that you still had to prove yourself in order to be allowed to stay. The lawyers, doctors, soldiers, and judges you’d met with explained that the process would go smoothly, that it was something that had to be done, not due to the nature of the thing you were escaping, but due to those who might abuse any leniency the country showed.

The world really hadn’t changed at all.

~~~

“Finished already?” You hummed at Jim when he walked through the door. Hannah’s family had taken you all shopping when you first arrived—a relief, really, to be able to change out of the fatigues the air force had given you—and Jim, despite his usual attire being casual, at best, looked so…handsome, now, with his skin not caked in blood, or dirt, or sweat. His hair was growing back in and he was wearing jeans that actually fit him. His shirt read “I<3NY” and even though you told him it looked ridiculous when he had first picked it up, you couldn’t deny that it hugged his arms in the right places.

“Not much to be done. You stitched me up so well.” He smiled at you, crossing the apartment to join you on the couch. “Doctor said he’d like to meet you.”

“I’ve met too many people this month.” You curled your legs up under you and stretched your arms over your head. “Never thought I’d say it, but I miss the apocalypse.” You leaned your head back.

Jim exhaled through his nose, amused, leaning himself back on the couch to face you. “No, you don’t.”

“I don’t,” You agreed, “It’s just…”

“Too much, too soon.”

“I guess.” You stared at each other for a while, not moving, not speaking. “I wish I could fast forward.” Jim tilted his head into the cushion he was leaning on, prompting you to continue. “I want to be used to it by now. Wanna be able to walk down the street and see a missing poster and still have hope.” You shuddered when you remembered the posters plastered on the train station walls, how familiar one disaster could feel when compared to another. “I want to feel normal. Everything here is so normal. Why am I not normal yet?” You didn’t have the energy to continue pouring over your emotions, perfectly fine with leaving it on that note.

“You’re not normal.” Jim leaned forward. “Neither am I. Neither is Hannah—s’got nothing to do with—” He waved around the two of you, implying the ordeal you’d lived through. You nodded in agreement. “And we’ll never be their kind of normal. Might just be ‘cause we’re English. Heard they had a war with us here, way back.” Jim deadpanned, and you smiled at him.

“I think I just need a shower.” You sighed, still looking at him. You felt the sudden urge to kiss him, to grab him and pull him close to you, tell him to join you in the shower. You felt your skin flush at the thought. You hadn’t been able to do much of anything but go to different meetings since you got here. One after another, it had made it difficult to find time for yourself, let alone time for you and Jim. Stolen kisses here and there, cuddles under the sheets of your bed, calling out “I love you” before the door closed behind you—there had been no time to enjoy each other.

Not to mention, you lived in a rented apartment with thin walls, and Hannah’s room was next to yours.

You hesitated to get up, and Jim sensed your delay. He brought a hand up to your hair, petting you.

“Hannah’s gone for the night. Sleepover.” You muttered, trying to be sly instead of asking for anything outright. Jim cocked a brow in jest.

“Just us, then?”

“Just us.” You confirmed. Tension formed between the two of you, and you swallowed.

“We can—can I join you in the shower?” His words were rushed, and he looked down when he spoke, only looking back up at you to gage your reaction once the question was complete. “You can say n—”

“Yes.” You felt breathless.

~~~

It was almost laughable, the two of you getting undressed together. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, a shared bedroom holds plenty of space for two people to dress and undress in front of each other, but the expectation made all the difference. Jim’s “I<3NY” shirt was now discarded on the floor, his jeans unbuttoned as he helped you out of your own outfit. Your mouth fell open slightly when he peeled your shirt off of you, the feeling of his hands leaving a warm trail over your sides and a wet feeling between your legs. You reached for the waistband of his jeans, looping your fingers over the denim and into the boxers he wore underneath and beginning to pull down. He laughed quietly as he watched you struggle to move them down his waist.

“Don’t have to do all the work.” He placed his hands over yours and helped you remove his clothes. In turn, he found the button of your jeans and quickly undid them, letting you pull down the tight material and exposing yourself to him. All that remained were your panties, and Jim let out a low whistle when he reached out to brush the lace with his knuckles. “Pretty baby.”

You pushed against his chest lightly. “Shower.” You reminded him, but at this point it didn’t really matter to you. You whined slightly when his hand fell lower over your sex, nearly cupping you.

“Got all night.” He pulled down the remaining fabric, leaving you completely naked for him. And that’s how you felt—naked. Almost scared, as if now that your underwear was off and you were stripped completely, he would reconsider and not want this anymore—not want you anymore. You realized how stupid that sounded when Jim stood up at eye-level, grinning at you. You looked at him sheepishly as you stepped out of the panties pooled at your feet and toward him. You reached out to trace what remained of the wound on his abdomen, letting your fingers kiss the spots you hoped to eventually place your mouth on.

Suddenly you were in his arms, swooped up bridal style as he walked you into the bathroom. You heard yourself laugh nervously, and you buried your face into his neck. Feeling bold, you licked a stripe up to his pulse point, and he shuddered.

“Don’t wanna drop you.” He protested your action, but he lifted his head slightly to allow you better access. You did it again, letting your tongue linger and drift to his earlobe, nipping at it, feeling more and more comfortable with each step Jim took. He sighed dreamily, then placed you down on your feet next to the tub. He turned the handle, pulling the curtain back and taking your hand to guide you under the water. You all but pulled him in after you, and though he stumbled at first, he found his footing right in front of you. You watched the way the water seemed the frame his face; droplets running down his cheekbones and off of his chin. You kissed him, letting the water fall over your face, tasting it when you opened your mouth to welcome his tongue. You sighed into his mouth, a perfect combination of his taste and that of the water settling on your taste buds, and it went straight to your core. He leaned away from you, wrapping an arm around your waist and examining how the water matched the curve of your breasts. He kissed your chest, sucking on the skin just enough to make faint spots appear. You combed your fingers through his hair, closing your eyes.

“Normally,” He licked over what would soon become a dark purple spot, “I use the shower to wash up—reflect, sometimes.” He kissed his way up your chest and neck before straightening himself out and kissing your nose. “This is a much better use of my time.” You rolled your eyes, putting gentle pressure on his neck to encourage him to lean down and kiss you. He pulled you tighter to him, and you could feel his erection against your thigh. He pushed against you, enjoying the bit of friction you provided him, and you heard him grunt quietly. His hands found purchase on your ass, squeezing the flesh gently and using the angle to draw you even closer.

“Y’know—oh!” You were cut off by an especially hard squeeze as Jim’s hands continued to roam over your ass, “I do need—I need to wash my hair…”

“Tomorrow.” Was all Jim said, reaching between your bodies to place his cock where your stomach met his crotch. You gasped at the heavy feeling of him against you, and your own hand made its way down to grab hold of him. Jim choked on his own breath, eyes fluttering shut when you began to move your wrist up and down his length. Out of curiosity, you looked down to watch your ministrations, wanting to fully enjoy the view that you had so desperately craved for so long. His cock was long, and you could see and feel the veins that ran up the extent of his shaft to the pink of his tip. You moaned quietly at the sight, hoping Jim didn’t think you pathetic for the pleasure you got out of stroking him. His mouth agape, he shut his eyes tight, trying not to think about how good your hand felt. You kneeled before him, and planted a kiss on his head, licking a stripe over him.

“O—h,” he was panting, “Fuck, baby.” You watched his chest rise and fall dramatically as you took his tip between your lips, swiping your tongue over and around it a few times before beginning to inch the rest of him inside of your mouth. You moved your head up and down, gagging slightly when you felt the pressure of holding him too deep for too long against the back of your throat. “Oh, fu—yeah, that’s it. Good, baby, so good.” You hummed in appreciation of his praise, the vibrations making him bite his lip and furrow his brow in concentration, desperately trying to ward off his high before he had gotten to explore you fully. You pulled your mouth off of his cock with a pop that softly echoed in the shower, and he watched as you planted more kisses along him.

He grabbed your chin and tilted your head up to look at him. The vision in front of you made you feel dizzy; Jim breathing hard, cock bobbing against his stomach, wet from your spit and from the shower, hair falling over his ears, draped in a blanket of water. You rubbed your thighs together, now pruned hand resting on his knee for, what? Permission, maybe?

Jim helped you up from the floor, and you watched him turn the shower handle. In the brief moment before the water stopped completely, it turned freezing cold, and you felt goosebumps erupt over you. You brought yourself closer to Jim, both in an attempt to find warmth and in a silent plea that he continue what had begun in the shower.

Dripping wet—in more ways than one—you found yourself back in your bedroom. Lying on your back, Jim looked over you, then began kissing over the marks he had made on you in the shower. You whimpered, a hand finding his hair and lacing your fingers through his short locks. You pulled slightly when his lips wrapped around one of your nipples, and he groaned in pleasure at the sensation. His hand slowly traced down your stomach, fingers delicately finding their way to your clit before pressing on it lightly.

“Jim—!” Your exclamation motivated him to continue. He sat up a bit, kneading your bud with one hand and holding your cheek in another, holding eye contact as he slid one finger into your soaking wet center. You threw your head back, only then realizing that you hadn’t even had the time to pleasure yourself in God only knows how long. He curled his finger upwards, and your back arched into him. He smirked, clearly proud of what he was doing to you. He shuffled backwards on the bed, still pumping a finger in and out of you while he positioned himself between your legs. You felt the mattress shift under his weight when he straightened himself out onto his stomach, propped up with one elbow.

“So pretty.” You felt his breath fanning over your cunt, and you squirmed. Jim leaned into you, kissing your inner thighs while you wiggled your hips in an attempt to get his attention where you needed it the most. When he finally licked a lazy stripe over your clit, you let out an absentminded sigh, pushing yourself up to him in encouragement. He removed his finger from you, and you whined at the sudden empty feeling, though he immediately made up for the absence of his fingers with his tongue. He continued to lap at you, letting your slick coat his chin, nose brushing your clit. He sucked lightly on your bud, and your hands found his hair again, not sure if you wanted to push him in further, let him taste you until you screamed, or push him away, as your thighs began to tremble. He slid two fingers back into you and twisted them back and forth while his tongue darted over your clit. You squeezed his fingers, moans spilling from your mouth.

“C’mon baby, so good,” he removed his mouth from your core to coo at you, “wanna see you cum for me.” It was whispered into your skin, and you felt his words echo through your body. His lips found their place over your clit once more, and he sucked harder, fingers pumping in and out of you faster.

“Oh, ye—yes, like that, like that, please!” You couldn’t stop talking, couldn’t stop begging if you tried. Had falling over the edge always felt this good? You didn’t stop to ponder it, busy feeling your body fall victim to the pleasure Jim was gifting you. You moaned, trying to grab at the man who had buried himself between your legs, but he was fully content to stay where he was until he knew you’d ridden out your orgasm. You cried out his name, back arching, body granting him even more access to your pussy, and when you felt him moan at the taste of you, you came hard for him. He placed soft kisses over your cunt, and you couldn’t help the moan you let out when he began pulling his fingers out of you.

You were still panting when he kissed you. Your arms came to rest around his neck, breathing heavily through your nose as you slipped your tongue into his mouth. “Taste so good,” Jim was also clearly short of breath, “you taste that, baby?” His lips found yours again, and he let you suck gently on his tongue, let you taste yourself on him. You shivered; it felt so dirty, Jim still damp with your wet, encouraging you to enjoy the taste your cum had left on him, dipping his tongue deep into your eager mouth and speaking to you like you belonged to him.

You did belong to him, and the thought made your eyes roll back into your head.  

He pulled you into his arms, flipping over so that you were lying on top of him. You found the strength to push yourself up, hands planted on his chest, to straddle him. The feeling of his cock between your legs, still hard, and all for you, made you feel frantic, and you began to roll your hips over him, feeling him tense under you.

“That’s right,” he watched you with hooded eyes, ��so eager.”

“Want you to fuck me.” You felt the tip of his cock push between your folds after one especially long roll of your hips, and you didn’t care if you looked pathetic anymore. You’d waited long enough; been so good, so ignorant of the forbidden fruit. One taste, and now you were helpless—completely at his mercy.

“God, say it again.”

“I want you to fuck me, Jim. Please.” You licked your lips before slipping the bottom one between your teeth. His eyes flitted over you, taking in the way you were begging, the way you sat bare, eagerly waiting for his cock. How had he let so much time pass before giving you what you both needed? He lifted you by the waist, encouraging you to stay kneeling above him slightly as he reached another hand down to line himself up with you. The split second before you lowered yourself down onto him felt like forever, but he watched, in awe of you, as you lowered yourself down onto him. You moaned for him when you felt his tip breach your hole, reaching for his chest and grasping at nothing while you continued to take him, inch by inch. You heard him groan out your name, breath going uneven when he finally bottomed out. You stayed like that for a moment, both of you in a trance-like state: You breathed in sync, gazing at each other, smiling like morons.

“I love you.” Jim whispered, placing a hand on your hip and squeezing. You leaned forward, steadying yourself on his shoulders.

“I love you.” You kissed him again, gentler, slower than the previous times. You did have all night—you had a lifetime of all nights with each other.

You began rocking back and forth slowly, allowing yourself time to adjust to the size of him, the feeling of being so full. You felt the tip of his cock brush against your g-spot almost immediately, making you gasp as you chased the feeling of his head nudging you closer to another high.

“God—fuck, you feel so good.” Jim praised, reaching the hand that wasn’t on your hip up to squeeze at your breasts. He licked his finger before bringing it back up, pinching your nipple and rolling over it with his thumb and forefinger. You moaned, back arching, and you started to bounce up and down on him. Your nails dug into the skin on his shoulders, but he didn’t seem to care, too busy bucking up into your cunt, drunk off the feeling of your juices dripping down his length and over his balls.

He moved both his hands over your hips, his fingers digging into the flesh of your curves, guiding your movements while you rode him.

“Cum for me again, baby. So good for me, one more time.” He started fucking up into you harder, the sweet noises you made spurring him on. “You can do it, yeah? So good—fuck—so good for me.” Now he was practically begging, slamming you down onto his cock while he pushed you towards another orgasm.

“I—oh, fuck, me, yes! Like that, Jim—yes!” You fell forward, curling yourself up on his chest and bringing your knees up slightly higher next to his ribs to allow him more ease, lifting you up and down. You mumbled incoherently into his neck, licking and kissing and nipping at him while he continued with deep, hard thrusts. You sucked a mark on his neck, and he groaned out your name, one hand coming down over your clit to coax a second orgasm from you.

“Fucking—oh, cum for me, baby. Cum on me like this.” And maybe it was the way you felt his fingers pushing bruises into your skin, or the way he breathlessly demanded you commit such a filthy act, or the way he seemed to be getting just as much enjoyment out of your pleasure as you were; but when you felt his cock pushed forcefully against your g-spot in time with the way he played with you clit, you couldn’t stop the scream that erupted from your lungs, or the way you chanted his name through sobs of pleasure. You clenched around him, squirming and sensitive and so full of his cock. You saw stars, saw how every second of your life had led to this moment, and when the shockwave of pleasure coursed through your body, all you could do was thank the man who had made you feel so good.

“Fu—ck, oh my god,” Jim groaned through clenched teeth, trying to delay his own orgasm so he could enjoy the way you squeezed him for as long as he could. He practically threw you down onto his cock, forcing himself as deep as you’d let him go, and at that moment, the only word that mattered to him was your name. “Where—where can I cum? Tell me, baby, where?” He was gasping, so close to the edge.

“Inside. Please, Jim, want it inside.” You knew it was reckless, knew you’d have to buy a pill later, but the pros far outweighed the cons.

Your words were all it took to send Jim hurtling over the precipice. He pushed himself deep into your cunt, painting your walls with his spend, both of you shivering at the feeling. You moaned quietly into his skin, and Jim wheezed as he took gulping breaths in an attempt to regulate his breathing. You felt his hand come to rest on your back, stroking up and down, the other coming up to your hair, tempting you out of your hiding spot, nuzzled in his neck.

“Ok?” He breathed.

“Mm.” You hummed, rubbing your cheek against his, comforted by the way your faces squished together. “More than ok.”

“I should’ve—I didn’t want you to feel, I d’know—” He couldn’t think of the right words. “I love you. Just wanted you to feel how much I love you.”

You smiled, fucked out and sleepy and satisfied. “You did a good job,” you kissed him, “did I?”

“More than good.” He smiled, throwing your own words back at you in reassurance.

“Will you stay inside a little longer?” You whispered, still relishing in the way he filled you up.

“God, yes,” Jim almost laughed, “don’t have to ask.” You ran your thumb over his cheek, eyelids heavy.

“Is this the new normal?” You posed the question, remembering your earlier rant.

“Yeah. Think so.” Jim splayed his hand out over your back.

“Good.”

[frogchiro]

Ok quick question tho like I’m generally trying understand because I just saw that whole argument on your page

How is engaging in a sexual relationship with something you portray as a animal not a type of zoephilla or however u say it I just don’t get it. Like I get it’s a human walking around as a cow but you’re still making that person act and behave as a cow so it’s coming off as a naughty cow that needs to be punished right?. Because if that was the case why can’t it just be getting punished without the animal part? Like what would being an animal add to it?

I’m really trying to get this like not trying to start shit because I’ve never heard about this before 👍🤗

And you're a completely blank blog who comes into a 18+ space. Yummers. To be perfectly clear, I'm only entertaining you because I really have enough of this argument and this is the last thing I'm posting about this and then I'm closing it.

I have no idea where the idea that when writing/reading about hybrid characters is about fucking actual animal came from and I frankly don't want to know but here's the thing: they are literally humans with some animal traits. The traits being ears, tails, sometimes a bit of extra fur or horns and that's it. Hybrids are written to be perfectly able to speak, think, do things for themselves, just are regular humans with some unusual traits. The farm/forest/whatever setting people are writing for are just that- settings for a specific au or scene that the authors create but again, the hybrid characters are perfectly capable of voicing and giving/revoking consent, sane adults and it's always explicitly stated. If you read a hybrid character as an actual animal then it's you whos the problem bc why the hell would you even do that. Like. Why.

Put on a headband with cat ears and tell me what happened. Did you turn into a cat? Did you turn into an animal or do you feel like one? Ofc you don't and the same thing is with hybrids. They're humans with fucking ears and tails but the only difference is that they can move them.

If you really wanna be nitpicky then why not bash a/b/o too since the characters have ruts/go through heats/behave in a generally much more animalistic way? Why don't we go further and throw out the mermaid trope too that's been with humanity since the dawn of time? Succubus trope? Yeah fuck that too.

I'm seeing a ton of negativity and toxicity in the cod fandom lately with some random people bashing and shittalking authors who guess what, creating content for free. No ones paying us to write, we do it bc we like to do it out of our free will. It takes time and effort to put out even a blurb and shit like this is just discouraging me and other content creators which results in them stopping writing or leaving the fandom alltogether and honestly? I don't blame them at all and I thought more than once to do the same.

But back on track. My advice? Don't get into anime, like, ever. Because then you will be in for a ride when a uwu catgirl pops up pal.

[alpaca-clouds]

When White (or allistic?) people travel...

I am gonna travel a bit next week. Well, "a bit" really means: I am gonna dip across the border for a few days into the Netherlands (I am living really close to the border) and bike around a bit. At least as long as the weather is gonna play along.

But it has reminded me of this one thing I always saw when I was traveling.

And I am to this day not entirely sure whether it is a white people thing or an allistic people thing. And that is this need to travel often into a fantasy land.

Now, there are those people who will travel to some hotel ressort and hang at the beach for ten days. Which is valid. Laziness is a myth. All power to you. Just consider to maybe not do it on indigenous land. (No, really. The gif is there for a reason. Do not travel to Hawai'i.)

But there is this other kind of travel happening too. The travel, where you wanna see this other country - but not as it really is, but this idealized fantasy version of it.

I most often saw this in relation with Japan. Because let's face it. A ton of people, who are into Japan, are into Japan because of anime and the stuff they have "learned" through anime, with maybe some Japanese self-mythology put into it when it comes to stuff like honor and samurai and what not. And then they travel to Japan and are very, very disappointed, because the Japan they arrive in is not anime!Japan, but just another place. Another speck of earth so to speak. Where just normal people live, not anime characters. Sure, there are cool shrines and temples to visit. But all in all it is just a place like any other. It is not fantasy.

But it is a thing I have seen with a lot of white people travelling. They do not want to visit a place but the fantasy version of that place. Like, with Hawai'i they wanna go palm beach, hula dancing, aloha and what not. They do not wanna go to a place where the indigenous population is exploitated and gets further and further pushed from their land. If they go to South Africa, they wanna go to this trendy place, watch some whales and what not, not see the rampant poverty and crime. Or when they go visit Greece, they wanna see that country with those nice ruins and stuff, eat some good food, and once again not be confronted with the poverty.

I still remember when I was a teenager and got send onto this Christian youth trip to Corfu, Greece. Now, it was knda funny, because it was a Christian youth trip - but our hostel was right next to the local brothel. But the pimp was actually a super nice guy, just so you know. Like, I got bullied on that trip by some of the other teens and at one time he just threatened those bullies to set his dog onto them, before inviting me and my friends over for dinner.

Now, the entire trip was two weeks and every day there was the option to go somewhere. Either to the beach or to see some sights. I did not go along. Partly because of the bullying, partly because I never got the idea of "seeing the sights". Instead I made friends with some local kids and hung out with them. At times I went with them on some trips they did with their families... And the irony is: I have seen much more of that island than anyone else on that trip. Just not... the ruins and stuff, that everyone else wanted to see. But I saw a farm where I got to taste some fresh honey, got a street dog to the vet, somehow ended up on a small fishing boat, was at a party where a kid got babtized, and visited a couple of villages that usually tourists just drive through. I learned a lot about the place and how the people live there.

And I do realize that it is not feasable for everyone from that group of 60 teens to just do that. I get that. But I also have to wonder... What is the value to visit the same ruin that has already been photographed like 2 million times?

Again, I get hanging at the beach. I do. But... looking at stuff that I can look at online? Yeah, no.

I guess what my rambling is aiming at...

Tourism kinda sucks. And even the entire idea, that it somehow helps the communities just does not really match the reality. Because the truth is that the money generated through communism mostly gets gobbled up by big companies, while the tourism at the touristy places also makes everything more expensive for the people who actually live their.

And tourists just do not want to see the people actually living there. They are not interested in the real place. Just in a fantasy. A fantasy that the tourism sector tries to uphold.

But it is... not really good, is it?

Like, hundreds of people or even thousands visiting either ruins or cultural heritage sites is not actually a good thing. It harms the environment and everything. And in the end it also hurts the people actually living around it. And they kinda have more of a right to be there than any tourist.

We really need to rethink how we travel and how we vacation. Because this isn't it.

[thesoggyraincloud]

Catching her Chapter 6 (7)

/ Daryl Dixon x OC // Merle Dixon X OC (platonic)

Season 1-3 // THE QUARRY

word count: 4421

Updated

Instead of the comforts of a viable, functioning society, she had gotten two rednecks. They had arrived in a whirlwind, a week after the initial outbreak and a day after Quinn had run out of food.

—————

Lil AI visualisation of Quinn and Daryl hunting :D not a fan of ai 'art' but i like it's imitation of real people.

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

The days had been long and arduous for the small group. The repetition of scavenging fuel and driving from farm to farm was futile, quickly they became overcome by exhaustion and frustration. The hot Georgian sun did nothing to soothe their troubles. So when Daryl suggested heading to a nearby creek even Merle, who had set himself up as the group's de facto leader, agreed. 

“If we take one of the off roads by the Jefferson farm we can avoid using the highway.” Quinn looked up from the map at the two men who were busy packing their things into the bed of the truck. 

“Jeffersons have too many cattle gates, I'm not stopping and getting outta the damn’ truck every five goddamn minutes.” Merle slammed a bag down onto the metal, wiping away the sweat on his furrowed brow. Focusing on Quinn and looking at her with scorn.

“They left those gates open when shit went down, hell all the farmers probably did.” Daryl was turned away from Merle, but he could feel the glare Merle sent boring into him. Letting out a long breath he rubbed his face, looking at Quinn for a moment before facing his brother. 

“What way do you suggest we go?” Merle's face turned a deep shade of red in anger, and he rushed up to his brother and stared him down. 

“Why don't you take your goddamn high heels off and go look at the map Darylina.” He pointed to Quinn and continued. 

“Maybe Her Royal Highness can do some actual work for once.” 

“I am doing work, finding a way for us to get to the creek. The only other damn way to get there is by foot or on the highway so which do you wanna do?” The woman got up from her seat, pulling the map in front of her and waving it. Merle snatched it from her hands, pushing it straight into Daryls. Quinn sent him an apologetic look. 

“Then we’re walkin’.” His reply was short and blunt. Neither bothered to argue any further, choosing to just pack a bag and swallow down their grievances. The three of them quickly headed out deeper into the woodland.

The canopy of the woods provided enough shelter from the sun and cast an array of shadows across the path. Quinn had her eyes trained on it in hopes of catching some tracks. Daryl had joined her further back from Merle, both enjoying the periodical silence from the man.

They had passed the Jefferson farm half a mile back and sure enough, the gates had been left open. Quinn made sure to give Merle a pointed look, brow cocked up in an ‘I told you so’ manner., Much to Daryl's amusement, and then to his greater joy, Merle had nothing to say other than storming further ahead. 

He absorbed himself into Quinn's smile as he watched, her creased eyes and her vibrant energy feeding him. Subconsciously mapping her out inside his head. He felt uncomfortable and overwhelmed, snatching his gaze back down to the floor, locking his eyes to the dry carpet of grass and twigs below him. 

“You got family waitin’ for you out there?” Daryl looked at her shyly and her face faltered slightly before it picked up into a weak smile. She laughed slightly and shook her head, no. Daryl felt a flash of guilt for a minute, a pregnant pause before she spoke.

“I’ve been on my own for a while, but I guess maybe my uncle.” She spoke carefully and Daryl noticed, his gut feeling calling to him. 

“No folks?” He thought for a second, 

“Didn’t you say your old man taught you to hunt?” a strain bolted through his chest.

“I don’t talk about my father. Haven't seen that asshole in years.” Her face became unreadable to him like she’d been carried away by some unknown force. Somewhere he felt like he couldn’t reach her. And the moment started to sour.

“What, didn’t get you the Porsche you wanted?” Daryl had scrambled for something to say, and he felt himself inwardly cringe at the statement. Uncomfortable laughter filling the momentary silence until he pulled a few steps away. She laughed but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She was back though, from wherever she’d disappeared to. 

“What about your parents? I don't see you driving a Porsche either.” Daryl felt a little hollow at the thought of his family, he didn't like to admit it but his parents had left him with more than physical scars. Sleepless nights filled with dreams clouded in smoke reminded him of the fact. 

“My Mom died when I was a kid, my dad went when the world fell to shit. It's just been me and Merle mostly. Sometimes Lyn would take care of us when she was still around.” His mouth felt dry and he hoped Merle wasn't listening to them. But the older Dixon was much further ahead, still working off his rage from earlier. 

“It was a fire that got my Mom, you could see the damn smoke from halfway across town. Everyone was talking about it, hell it was a goddamn mess, Merle was gone at the time.” Quinn looked down, avoiding Daryl's eyes. He felt colder at her reaction, anticipating the sting of blooming rejection.

“I'm sorry about your mom.” Daryl felt his gut twist harder until she went on.

“I Get it, in a small Way. My folks are gone too.” She took a deep breath before continuing.

 “I was 12 when I went to live with my Godparents. But we didn't get on. I haven't seen them in years.” Daryl felt guilty to be relieved by her admission, another part of him cherishing it.

“I guess the people that went before the end are the lucky ones, they don't have to see the world go to shit.” Quinn filled the momentary silence and Daryl hummed in agreement.

Even with both staring at the floor, unable to face one another, they’d almost missed the tracks in front of them. Deep and fresh darting sharply across the path. Daryl identified it as rabbit tracks before he’d shown her, but kept quiet, for Quinn. Waiting with apprehension to see if his lessons were paying off. Her brow furrowed, eyes narrowing in concentration as she thought. The light sway of the canopy's shadows danced across her skin in the breeze, Catching Daryl's eye as he patiently waited for Quinn's answer. Sneaking small glances her way as she focused. 

“It’s a rabbit, probably a big one based on the depth of them ?” The last part came out unsure and she looked to Daryl for confirmation. 

The younger Dixon wanted to say more but instead, He nodded to her, bending down to show her a second and third set of tracks hidden further in the underbrush, a smaller one, a female and perhaps an older kit based on the time of year. Quinn gratefully accepted the information, a serious expression marked her face as she tried to commit it to memory.  

“Hold back lil bro,'' Merle called from ahead, disturbing the peaceful moment.

He had stopped about 40 ft in front of them, on the edge of the hill. Scanning the expanse that contained the Quarry below. His face was stern, mind deep in thought for a minute before backing away from the hill and lightly jogging towards the waiting pair. 

“Looks like there's a group at the Quarry, Buncha city folks from the looks of it.” He scowled, and Daryl joined him. Worried about whatever plan Merle was currently forming.

“I say we head down and make ourselves friendly, We’ve not seen anyone since we’ve been on the road.” Quinn looked at him as he spoke, Daryl felt her questioning gaze and ignored it.

Merle shuffled in place, fidgeting with the handgun by his side. A small smile grew on his face that made Daryl's concern skyrocket. It was the same look he’d seen a million times since they were kids. A look that meant Daryl was going to have to follow along with whatever plan Merle had thrown together and either stop it or mitigate the harm. 

“Sure we say hello, Maybe they got some broads hiding down there. It's damn time I had some fun. BUT.” And he paused for a second, letting the silence stagnate in the afternoon heat for a moment before continuing.

“The first chance we get, We're taking their damn shit and leaving.” 

—---------------

The three had quickly headed to the Quarry, Quinn filled with worry. Each step felt like a nail in the coffin. And when they finally met with these strangers the feeling only grew, making her feel stifled and uneasy. 

‘Shane’ greeted them first, gun in hand and a scowl scratched across his face. Dale was close behind him, the more reasonable of the two. Allowing them a chance to explain their intrusion on the small community. Quinn had kept noticeably quiet, a step behind Daryl looking over his shoulder to the scene commencing before her.

Shane kept a close watch on the three as Daryl explained their abilities in tracking and other skills. She felt a little ill watching the show he was performing, executing his lies perfectly. Just the way Merle told him to. An offering to share their knowledge with the inhabitants and other false promises eventually won the approval of Dale. Who she noted was at least smart enough to agree with Shane, they wouldn't be trusted just yet.

They worked on blending into the group, as best as they could. Quinn had tried her hardest to connect with people over the following weeks but found herself feeling wracked with guilt every time she did. The knowledge of the impending betrayal too much to look past for her. The few people she could interact with left her yearning for her pills and the familiar ease they granted her. Like they replenished her ability to connect, one that she’d long since burned through. Her eyes looked to her shaking hands and quickly shoved them into her pockets, the extra tension on her jeans hugging her. 

She felt Lori’s eyes on her, creeping up her neck. Shane would be staring too, wherever he was, tucked away from her view. They were always following her. Stares filled with such disdain when their son got too close, acutely aware of just what she was. 

“Hey Quinn, Get over here!” Amy waved to her from the small beach by the water where the other women had gathered. Breaking the tension and allowing Quinn to leave the couple's domain. 

“Good morning. How's it going?” She headed down the slight incline to the beach. Once at the bottom, she gave Amy a thankful smile. Grateful for the younger girl and her naivety. Lending needed reprieve from the judgement she felt from some of the other campers. 

“It’s going good, got most of the east covered. Be done in a few days.” Quinn announced to the waiting ladies, Jaqui and Miranda giving a small smile in greeting. She felt their eyes dart around anywhere but at the ladies. Her clothes started to feel heavier, and more restricting. Like her skin was too tight. 

“It’s gotta be scary going out alone like that?” Amy asked, face washed with concern as she looked at Quinn. 

“S’Nothing, Just putting a few traps isn’t gonna catch a walker but will probably get us some dinner if we’re lucky,” she said, looking down at the stony floor. 

“Andrea’s going to try and teach me how to fish.” Amy leaned in closer when she said it, an almost sarcastic cry on her lips.

“I just hope she’s a better fisherman than Carl, that poor kid has been trying to catch a frog since we got here.” Her laughter was joined by the other ladies, who took joy in teasing the young boy.

“I’ll have to ask Daryl to borrow a spare flashlight, Maybe we should help the kid.” Jaqui snorted at Quinn's words, adding to them.

“If Lori would let you near him, she's had him on lockdown with Sophia since you Dixons arrived,” Jaqui spoke kindly, even if her words cut. Miranda rolled her eyes, tutting something to herself in Spanish.

“Like I would want my kids around that Ed, Lori’s got it all wrong, but it's no wonder when she spends half her time in the woods.” Miranda let out a curt laugh at the end, sarcasm coating her words.

“What's she even doing out there anyway?” Amy asked, which sent the whole group into another chorus of laughter. Amy’s confused face only added fuel. 

“Don't worry about it.” Miranda cut Jaqui off from explaining, giving her a sharp look and a small kick to the foot.

The women around her carried on their conversation with one another as she let her mind wander. And as it did most days since they arrived at the Quarry she thought about the Dixon brothers. They had been regularly leaving on hunts, going out alone together and returning at strange hours. Furious whispers from both passed between them in an unintelligible argument around their campfire. Separate from everyone else’s. There was a knotted tension in her stomach and like that first night in the City, she wondered if they were planning to leave her behind too. 

After some time basking in the sunrise, she left the women behind once everyone else started to wake. Returning to her camp and waiting. When the boys had finally returned from their ‘hunting’ trip, Merle robbed their small encampment of peace by delving straight into the tent, swearing in a fit of rage. Minutes later his exit was followed by the click of a lighter and the smell of burnt chemicals filling the air. Quinn probed the familiar ache in her chest, the poignant air reaching her nose making her hands itch and her feet bounce. Daryl appeared from the edge of the woods a minute later, red in the face with heavy footfalls stomping across the distance.  

“You ok?” The words were forced from her mouth, falling out too quickly and high-pitched. She cringed. 

It was like he’d only just realised her presence, looking at her. She saw his widened eyes and the panic that was written in them, face flushed with sweat. Until it was gone, replaced by his signature scowl. 

“M’Fine.” He grumbled. She stared at him, studying his face for some explanation. 

“Bullshit.” She let her bitterness seep through to her words. 

“God Dammit woman!” His whole body tensed and she prepared herself for the battle that was to ensue. But it didn't come. Instead, he rubbed his hands into his face, turning away from her and towards the tent. She couldn't see his face anymore but his shoulders started to relax and she wondered if it was safe to speak yet. 

“I’m going back out, I found us a deer trail.” Daryl still didn't turn towards her, his frame haloed by the white glow of the morning sun. “You get your shit, we're leaving in 20.”

Despite the neglect she felt from him over the past week, she happily accepted the opportunity to spend some time away from the camp. She hopped out of her seated position and bee-lined it towards her bag, which had stayed packed and ready.

“Merle comin?” She inquired, pausing halfway towards her tent. 

“No, he’s going out with the group to Atlanta ” Despite her surprise she didn't question it, a small part of her was glad he would be absent from the trip. 

—------------------------------------

The forest was flooded with life, just not the kind that could be hunted. The younger Dixon had grown deeply more frustrated as time went on. Quinn stayed silent alongside him since they left the encampment and it only made his unease worse. Her continued silence was a mark of disapproval that he couldn't shake. He knew robbing these folks wasn't right. He’d tried to bide his time with Merle, but trying to convince the stubborn mule was growing ever more impossible. He had grown depressed at the thought that for the first time in his life, he reached an impasse where he felt like he had an option that as devastating as it was, meant more than picking Merle, his blood.

And then Quinn. Who wasn't a complete part of the group but also wasn't his blood. She would want him to make the right choice. He’d seen her talking with the women in the group, even seen her talking to Glenn and her guilty eyes said all he needed to hear. He had also grown to, in a small way, care for the community around him and he felt his own eyes reflecting that same guilt. 

“Daryl, Look.” She said, pointing to some deer scat and further up some visible tracks. 

He pulled himself out of his thoughts, studying the trail. Moving his shocked eyes back to her.

“Good girl, I almost missed ‘em.” Her entire face stiffened and for a second Daryl thought he had said something wrong, until she offered him a smile, looking to the floor and thanking him quickly. 

“If we move fast, we might be able to catch it before morning.” And with that, he pushed himself further up the trail leaving Quinn to catch up.

The Dixons' frustration was back in full force by the time the two had set up a makeshift camp late into the night. The deer was elusive, seemingly right in front of them at some points but invisible to the hunter and his companion. 

“We’ll catch her, don't stress yourself out.” She said, polishing some of his arrows. Holding them near the flames of the fire to catch glimpses of her distorted reflection. 

He grunted in response to her, working on skinning one of the many squirrels bound across his chest. The two continued in the silence that had marinated between them all day until the man felt like he was suffocating under it. 

“You trust those people?” He knew he was putting her on the spot with his question, looking straight to her for an answer.

“No. And they sure as hell still don't trust us.” She spoke quickly, Movements a little harsher now than before. Daryl looked at her, head tilted waiting for her to continue.

“But I think most of them are good people, I'm not a fan of officer asshat and his girlfriend though.” the younger Dixon gave a nod to the girl, agreeing with her before adding. 

“Dale told me Lori’s husband died, Shanes was his best damn friend.” The man sniggered at the end, finishing with the squirrel and adding it to the fire. Turning another round slightly to cook it evenly. 

He pulled out his bag and from it, a large bottle of whisky, waiting for her reply while taking a long swig from it. It burned the back of his throat sending warmth into his chest, it felt good against the cool summer evening. He passed the bottle to Quinn quickly after.

“Damn, figured she was too uptight for something so illicit. Kinda makes me like her more.” She smiled and tipped the bottle up to her lips. Daryl watched her face contort in disgust for a second, before going back to a large grin. 

“Dumb bitch acts like we’re gonna rob her.” He vented, Lori's dislike of the three had been open and clear from the moment they had turned up to camp. And he justified that they hadn't done anything warranting suspicion.  

“But we are, Right?” The hunter grew uncomfortable under her gaze, the spotlight on him blinding. He knew he’d eventually have to talk to her about it. But the weight on his chest at the thought of betraying Merle grew heavy. Would he think he was a pussy? Would she?

Quinn hesitantly brought the bottle to her lips one last time and passed it to him. Who sat in a stoic silence, thinking over his options. 

“No” he pulled the cooked squirrel off the fire. Aggressively shoving it towards her before standing up, “I gotta take a piss.” 

Daryl thought he hadn’t needed the approval of his brother for a long time, but for the first time in his life, he truly didn't care. Merle could call him a pussy, or that stupid damn nickname forever if he wanted. He ground his foot into the ground by the base of the tree he had found, forcefully pulling up his fly and taking a deep breath. He had someone more to think about now than just Merle and himself, a whole group of people relying on him to keep them fed and safe. He didn't want to let them down or keep seeing the guilt that iced over her eyes. 

When he headed back Quinn was already eating the last of her squirrel while keeping a dedicated eye on his, turning it a half inch every few minutes. He observed her from his place at the edge of the small clearing and felt something in his chest burn, in the kind of way his numbed hands did under the fire's warmth after long hours shovelling snow. And his lips wavered into a small smile, if only for a second. Then she looked out into the dark in his direction, and he felt like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn't be.

When they finally decided to rest, He insisted on staying up first to keep watch. Promising Quinn that he’d wake her up when he needed to sleep, but never doing so. Instead watching over her resting form with brows knitted in concern. Her face was stuck with fear, her body thrashing against the air, and after a while silent tears wet her cheeks. Barely visible under the dying embers of the fire. Eventually with a huff he pulled himself from his spot and sat next to her, and began to hum a melody could barely remember. One his mother had once sung to him but of which the words had been lost.

----------

The morning dew hung heavy on the two hunters, who had woken up and immediately picked up where they had left the day before. The deer was getting closer to them, each broken twig, track and disturbed piece of brush leading them to their destination.

“Careful.” He ushered her through a particularly dense part of the woods, pushing back a thrones branch for her to pass. 

She thanked him as she passed and waited for him, the two joining shoulder to shoulder at a steady pace. Dixon pointed out various wildlife along their stalk. He saw as her brows furrowed into a knot, giving him her full concentration. Occasionally the two stopped, Dary passing her his crossbow and watching with a smirk on his face as she shot down a squirrel. She struggled with the weight of the heavy weapon and he could see the muscles in her arm straining to hold it up. Despite that though, she was almost as good a shot as him. 

“Fuck, Daryl look she's over there.” She practically threw Daryl's crossbow back to him, her voice despite its quiet tone sent a shiver of urgency through him. 

He twisted around, pulling up to aim as fast as he could and shot a bolt but the opportunity was gone. The doe ran into the brush before he could see if the shot landed or not. He wildly started shooting as fast as he could, running after it. The wind pushed against his back, flipping his hair into his eyes and he wanted to pull it out. Or scream in frustration and rip the stupid deer apart with his own hands. The anticipation of the hunt killed him. 

“This goddamn fuckin’ deer.” He didn't dare shout, stopping and just calling out loud enough for Quinn to hear. Taking a moment to catch his breath  The woman slowly crept towards where the deer had last been, searching the ground and surrounding trees fervently. 

“They landed!” She exclaimed, running towards him with a grin spread across her face.

“Booyah!” He exclaimed a wide smile pulled across his own. Grabbing her arm and pulling them to the direction the doe had bolted. 

They stumbled across enough blood after a few minutes that tracking the deer became as easy as following the line splattered across the forest floor in red. It led them straight back in the direction of the camp. The two were equally relieved at the thought of finally going back to their makeshift civilization. 

When they were only metres away from breaking the treeline his stomach started to sink as he heard the group's loud bickering. 

“Oh, Jesus.” Dale didn't seem pleased to see the two when they finally emerged from the treeline. Looking towards the source of the mayhem they found their deer alongside the body of a walker, whose head lay beside it. Snapping and biting at the air. 

“Son of a b*tch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!” Kicking at its headless corpse he released his built-up frustration in a crescendo of violence. 

“Calm down, son. This isn't helping.” Quinn cringed at the older man's words, having already started to back away from the gathering crowd. 

“What do you know about it, old man?” Daryl rushed towards Dale.

 “Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on Golden Pond"? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison.” He calmed himself down, looked at the girl who’d carefully headed a few steps into the tree line and started pulling the arrows from the deer. 

“What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?” He motioned around the deer, but everyone looked disgusted at the sight. 

“I would not risk that.” Shane’s voice cut through him, but he didn't disagree. 

“That's a damn shame. I got some squirrels. About a dozen or so. That'll have to do.” He signed heavily, trying to find Quinn again, who’d slipped around the group towards Amy. 

The walker’s head below him snapped its teeth, its decaying face exposing the inside of its mouth. The sight threw Daryl into a silent rage. Amy’s cry as she was led away by Quinn only angered him more. 

“Come on people what the hell? Don't y'all know nothing?” He shot the creature with his arrow, pulling it out and wiping it clean on his pants. 

“It's gotta be the brain!”

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

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Masterlist

A/N; We're FINALLY on the plot of the show, I did want to keep going but I was worried this was getting a little too long?

[monaskydancer]

Into The West - Chapter 3

Fandom: Red Dead Redemption 2 Pairing: Arthur x fOC Genre: romance, adventure, drama @photo1030

@cassietrn _____________________________________________________________

It was the sixth day after her arrival in the camp when Nancy found the strength to leave the bed. Tilly helped her because she was still limping. She didn't want to risk the pain flaring up again, so she leaned a bit on Tilly. Nancy couldn't quite tell why, but she felt a connection to the young woman. They had sat and talked for many hours during the past few days, and they indeed enjoyed each other's company.

"That looks nothing like I imagined," Nancy said while letting Tilly lead her over to the campfire. She felt all eyes on her as she sat down on one of the unoccupied chairs, placing her injured leg onto another one that Tilly had set in front of her. She cast a glance around at the unfamiliar faces until she spotted Arthur by one of the other tents—the biggest tent in the camp, it seemed—talking to a man she vaguely knew from somewhere. Or maybe she just mistook him for someone else. She couldn't place him anywhere. Nancy looked away as the man's eyes darted over to her. He nudged Arthur's arm lightly and nodded toward her.

"Are you hungry? I can fetch you some stew and bread," Tilly offered. "Oh, no, I can't ask you to do that. I'll get it myself." She tried to get up but fell back into the chair. "Or, maybe not," she muttered. She looked at Tilly, who raised an amused eyebrow. "Okay, stew and bread would be nice."

As Tilly walked over to the cooking station, Nancy took the time to observe the faces around her. Everyone had turned their attention back to where it was before she had joined them. She sighed and looked up at the sky—a deep purple with streaks of gold painted the evening. A bittersweet sight, she thought. Just a few days ago, she had admired it from the front porch of their farm or on horseback while giving Skydancer a ride to burn off some energy. She had often stopped by the river not too far from the farm, looking across towards the mountains. Sunsets always brought a smile to her face. Not this evening, though. It was the first sunset she saw among a group of total strangers.

"Here you go," Tilly returned with a bowl of hot stew, a piece of bread, some cheese, and a cup of water.

"Oh, thanks." Nancy shifted and took the small tray from her, placing it on her lap. She dug into the cheese first, closing her eyes and munching happily. "Mmmh, that's a good one," she muttered.

"It's cheese. All taste the same, don't they?"

Nancy opened her eyes again. "Absolutely not. This one here is a European Swiss type. They have a savory, nutty taste," she explained, taking another bite. She saw Tilly tilting her head ever so slightly. "You wonder how I know that, I suppose?"

She shrugged. "You grew up on a farm, guess you produced cheese?"

"Oh, no, no, we didn't," she said and sipped some water. She felt a tug in her chest. Speaking about these things—her father, her home—it still hurt. Given that everything had happened so recently, she didn't have much time to get used to everything, let alone grieve properly. Yet, she swallowed her feelings and looked back at Tilly.

"We produced wine—different types, actually, and each wine has its own flavor, just like cheese. You cannot pair up just any wine with any cheese; you must make sure both of their components fit. But I don't wanna bore you with that. Besides, my stew's getting cold."

"Right, thanks for clearing it up for me, though. I'll leave you to it now," Tilly said and walked to her tent. Meanwhile, Nancy dug into the stew. It was a warm, not-so-well-seasoned mix of vegetables and beef. She enjoyed each spoonful, though, until the last drop. She washed it down with the rest of her water, then put the tray aside. She felt much better with a belly full of food.

Being aware of the person sitting down next to her, she looked at him expectantly.

"Miss Cohen, I'm Dutch van der Linde. I run this illustrious gang."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. van der Linde," she said.

"Just Dutch, please. And let me say, I am deeply saddened by the tragic news. I knew your father—not very well, but we've met a few times many years ago. Actually, the Count over there," he pointed at the white horse, "came from your farm. I bought him from your father. Beautiful stallion. Your father had exquisite taste."

"It means a lot to me to hear that, Dutch. I had a feeling I'd seen you before. I couldn't place you, though. Now it makes sense. How old was I when you bought the Count?"

He tilted his head a little. "I'd say three, just a little kid."

"Twenty years ago, wow," she said. "Father never spoke of you again after that."

"Like I said, we weren't friends or anything, but it pains me thinking about what you must've gone through recently."

"Yes, well, thank you again for your kind words." She shifted, slowly getting up. She was a bit wobbly on her feet. Dutch reached for her, but she waved him off. "I hope you understand that I am currently not in the mood to talk about my father or what happened."

"Of course, didn't mean to intrude." He stepped away from her. "Just know that revenge will be taken."

She nodded and limped away toward the river. Micah spat into the fire as he walked past Dutch, muttering to himself, "What a bitch."

"What was that?" Dutch turned toward him.

"Nothing, just talking to myself, is all," he said, walking off to his tent. Dutch looked after him thoughtfully, then turned and bumped into Arthur.

"We need to talk."

"What about, son?"

"I kept thinking about that letter she mentioned. The one signed by L.C.?"

Dutch placed his hand on Arthur's back, leading him away from the fire and over to the big oak tree by the path that led down to the river.

"What about it?" Dutch asked as they moved out of earshot. Arthur sighed and looked down to the shore, where he saw Nancy sitting on a boulder, gazing across the water.

He looked back at Dutch. "You said her father was a businessman, quite wealthy and successful."

"One of the most successful in the area, if I recall correctly."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "So, who do we know with the initials L.C. who might have a problem with that?"

Realization dawned on Dutch. "Leviticus Cornwall," he growled. "You think that son of a bitch is behind this?"

"Don't know. Makes the most sense to me, though. Just, think about it, will ya?" he said and brushed past him, attempting to walk down to the river as he felt a light tug at his sleeve. He looked down and saw little Jack Marston looking up at him with puppy eyes.

"Howdy, Jack," he smiled at the boy.

"Can we go fishing, Uncle Arthur?" he asked.

Arthur took off his hat and placed it on Jack's head. "Sure, partner. Go get your fishing rod. Oh, and bring mine too."

Jack nodded, smiling brightly as he hurried back to camp, gathering the rods and bait. Returning to Arthur, they headed to the shore. Arthur helped Jack attach the bait to the hook, then prepared his own.

"On three?" Arthur said, and Jack nodded.

"One," Jack said.

"Two."

"Three!" They both exclaimed and tossed their hooks as far as they could. Arthur patted the boy's shoulder.

"Well done. And now we wait."

Nancy looked over curiously, wondering who the boy was. Was he Arthur's son? She shifted a bit, observing them for a moment. A light smile crossed her face as Arthur glanced in her direction, nodding. He then turned back to the boy and spoke to him for a moment. The boy nodded, and Arthur reeled the hook back before heading over to her.

"Good to see you out and about," he said and pointed at the boulder. "Mind if I join ya?"

She scooted over a little. "Sure, it's been getting boring all alone."

He sat beside her and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Oh, you know, it's alright. Still stings a bit when I walk, but right now it's fine." She looked at the fishing rod in his hand, then over at the boy still sitting on the ground, staring at the water. "Is he your son?"

"Jack? No, he's John's and Abigail's son. I love him, though, almost as if he's my own. He likes to call me Uncle Arthur, and to be honest, it makes me feel good."

"I'm sure it does. Are you an only child too?"

"That obvious?" he said, amused, and shifted a little, his knee lightly brushing against hers.

Nancy laughed softly. "Yes, you definitely come across as an only child."

Silence lapsed over them for a moment until she pointed at the rod. "Are you going to keep fishing now?"

"Sure, have you fished before?"

"No, I don't have the patience for actively doing it, but I'd like to watch anyway."

Arthur reached into his satchel, took a piece of cheese, and attached it to the hook. He got up, threw the hook into the water, then took his seat again.

"I don't always have the patience either, but there are times when it's meditative—calming me down. It puts my mind at ease, even if just for a short time."

"I used to take Skydancer for a ride in the evenings when I needed to calm down. We'd stop by the river and watch the sunset. Nothing's as beautiful as the setting sun, right?"

"I agree. Although there is something equally beautiful."

"What's that?"

"The rising sun," he said with a gentle smile. "Cheesy, right?" She laughed and gently patted his arm. "Maybe just a little cheesy, but I get what you're saying. It's quite a sight to behold—the soft light rising above the mountaintops, bathing the plains in its glow and turning fields of grass into a sea of gold."

"A poet, huh?" he said, suddenly aware that her hand still rested on his arm. He looked down at her hand, then at her. She blinked and pulled away with a soft blush on her cheeks. Arthur cleared his throat. "It's a nice picture you just painted, though."

"Thanks. And yes, I do enjoy reading. Poetry, not so much. When I was a teenager, I had a phase where all I wanted was to run away from home, live some adventures—not the boring day-to-day life at the farm. I wanted to see foreign lands, learn about foreign cultures. But then, at sixteen, my mom died, and everything changed. I couldn't just leave my father behind; he needed me, and I needed him. I was stupid, thinking there's something more important than family."

"It's not stupid. And, as awful as it might sound to you right now, family doesn't always mean by blood. This gang," he pointed at the camp, "is my family. I don't like all of them, but that's just how family works. In the end, no matter the differences you have with each other, all that matters is that you're there for each other in danger. That you stand together, fight together. Side by side. As a unit."

"I'm glad you found people who make you feel that way. But, what happened to your actual family? Your parents?"

Arthur opened his mouth when he was interrupted by a hard tug at the fishing line. "Whoa, something big's on the hook." He jumped up and started pulling. The fish fought bravely but soon gave up. Jack bounced over, his eyes big and shiny as he saw the fish.

"Bravo, Arthur!" Nancy exclaimed.

"Can we eat it tonight?" Jack asked eagerly.

Arthur looked from Jack to Nancy, and they both smiled at him. He took the fish tightly and smacked it against the boulder. Then he handed it to Jack. "Go bring this to Mr. Pearson. Tell him to cook it for us."

Jack took the fish and hurried up to the camp. Arthur went to fetch the boy's rod. Nancy got up and slowly walked over to him.

"Too bad he didn't catch one himself," she said, examining the cheese bait still intact. "Though, I suppose it's more important he got to spend some time with you, huh?"

"Sure. Sometimes his father doesn't really know what to do with him. It's complicated."

"And that's where you step in," Nancy said, linking her arm to his as support. They walked back to camp as well. "That's very noble of you."

"Oh, no no, I am not a noble man. Not at all," he protested. "Trust me."

She stepped away from him as they reached camp again, letting go of him. "I think I do, Arthur Morgan."

He tilted his head. "Do what?"

She walked away, casting a glance over her shoulder. "Trust you."

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #105

I did a much better job with my to-do list today.

I went to therapy and drew a picture. We're gonna keep working on my ability to have faith in the integrity of my own senses, perceptions, and experiences. From there, I did laundry, washed a bunch of dishes, and made whipped cream - one was just plain cream and sugar, and the other is cream and hot chocolate mix, beaten until it has a mousse-like consistency. I like to call that one "hot chocolate pudding"!

…You wanna know how to make it, doncha? 😁 Who wouldn't, ahahaha~! So I'll tell you:

You need 1 cup of heavy cream (or coconut cream, if you prefer!) and 8 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix. I use Sillycow Farms; it tastes really good, and it's vegan and gluten-free, just in case that matters.

Then you stick the heavy cream and the hot chocolate mix into a bowl, and beat the shit out of it until it's a consistency that you like. If you have a stand mixer (I have one of these, because trying to mix stuff together while dyspraxic is an exercise in messes and frustration…), it's very, very simple. Then, you have a bowl full of foamy, chocolatey goodness that is suitable for putting on ice cream, spreading around as frosting, sticking into tea, or just eating straight from the bowl with a spoon!

I will show you some pictures now!

This is the finished regular whipped cream. I wonder if you like this stuff:

This is what it looks like when you combine the hot cocoa mix and the heavy cream in the stand mixer:

Here is the resulting hot chocolate pudding!

...And here is the whisk I wish I could give to you to lick. Everyone should get an opportunity to lick a whisk that has tasty things on it:

...And this is Hoshi! Hoshi is sad that he can't have anything on the whisk (chocolate is poisonous to cats; they can't process the theobromine in it), so I gave him some scritches:

I also got around to trying that lychee and rose tea. Apparently there is also vanilla in it; I missed that little detail in my previous letter to you. Sorry about that. It's very good!! But I can't give you a cup of it. So I'll send along some pictures.

This is the tin it comes in:

Here's how it looked like after it was brewed; I used my fancy DINOSAUR MUG!!! OH MAN!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Here's how it looked after I added honey and milk:

I also cooked a steak! Because I need the iron! It's seasoned very simply with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder! It's good stuff!! I also can't give you any, and this is very sad, because this one turned out REALLY good!! So I'll send along a picture:

…I'm definitely in the "leave it mostly raw" camp, when it comes to steak. Naturally, you have to kill the surface bacteria to avoid getting sick (this is why I make the outside all brown and crispy), but that's pretty much it. I wonder how you like yours cooked, if you like beef at all. Some people don't, and that's okay too.

There's so much still that I wanna do today. Last time I was at the grocery, I managed to get the supplies needed to make a recipe that was sent to me in this space, and I'm VERY eager to try it out in the near future. Sadly though, I think I might have to wait until some of the other food I made is eaten so that we have room in the fridge…

…For some reason, I get the feeling that if you were around, we'd have absolutely no problem making room in the fridge, though, hahaha! For sure, I wish you could be here so I could give you all sorts of tasty and wholesome things to eat. There's a lot I wish I could give to you, actually. My world has its problems, for sure, but there's also lots of cool stuff to do - lots of good books to read, pretty places to go walking, awesome music to listen to, fun games to play, and enlightening things to watch. I really, really wish you could visit. You'd be safe here.

I can't really think of anything else to write today, so I guess I'll end things here. Don't lose sight of the fact that you're loved and that there are people who wish well on you.

I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[aquaquadrant]

Oooo not having the concept of years makes so much sense! It works really well for immortal characters too, but also gives us a few more questions (ooo goodie! Worldbuilding is like a puzzle to me I love the interlocking, logickjng puzzle bits like this!) if they have no years, how do they handle and categorize recorded/known history? I mean the kind of stuff that any existing… I don’t wanna call it a civilization but you get what I mean, would keep track of, stuff like city founding, wars, shifting powers, large historical events and the like? (And this goes for the greater universe outside of hels too, parhaps more so, as they would probably be more likely to keep track of universe-wide important events)

So, an adding proposal: while players don’t really have a concept of years on a smaller, personal level, they do have the concept of Ages, as in a time period, an Age or Era of history. These can be anywhere from decades to many centuries long, and their beginnings and ends are much more nebulous, mostly defined retrospectively by larger events (if you were doing updates, I’d suggest these as a few good examples, but eh) instead of referring to events with dates and such, it would be more like “[X event] happened about three quarters of the way through the [Y name] age” it’s all very approximate and nebulous, but at least it gives some context to important events and how they relate to each other! (My brain is the kind that really likes that stuff) what age the world is currently in is a topic of hot debate between anyone who actually cares, hels might still be in the last/most recent age, or If you ask someone in New Hellington, they might say it’s the beginning of the Aliskrian Age!

oh hmmmm i guess i should clarify, the way i view it is that players do have a concept of years, but they just don’t use or think about it much after a certain point? their communicators keep track of how many days they’ve lived and that can translate to years. so like, bravo had to specifically make a point of keeping track of how long he was in hels, otherwise he wouldn’t have known.

cuz like, the universe has infinite worlds and countless players. trying to keep tract of a collective ‘history’ would be near impossible- the only things that really get a timestamp on them are documents and videos shared to the multinet so i suppose that could be a way to keep track of certain events (like the invention of certain types of farms).

hels, on the other hand, is a totally isolated world, so while they’d all have a shared history, they don’t have a multinet. so record-keeping isn’t much of a priority for them. all their news is by word of mouth or one-on-one whispers anyways, cuz no one chats, so most of the population only knows what they’ve personally experienced or heard about, and are clueless about the rich, overall history of hels (and the rest of the universe ofc).

categorizing as ‘ages’ is a neat idea! tho i think that kind of implies a much larger time scale than i’m working with, like on the scale of hundreds-thousands to millions of years? but maybe i only think that bc it’s the only context i’ve heard the term used in irl 😂

[bq1moon]

can I hear about some of your ocs 🙏🙏 (whatever ones you wanna talk about)

oc information #1 - vampire stuff 🦇

context here -> Masterlist

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Edmund

age: 153

height: 6’2ft

birthday: unknown

if you couldn’t guess by his age, Edmund is the vampire!!he’s very quiet and doesn’t understand (or rather, remember) how to interact with people. he attempts to be normal around the servants, worrying that otherwise they’ll leave him.

he doesn’t seem to have any hobbies or interests, and spends most of his time wandering around the manor. his favourite food is pig’s blood, but he enjoys blood from any farm animal. he reckons it’s because they’re better fed than an animal in the wild, so their blood has more nutrients.

Lars

age: 26

height: 6'ft

birthday: january 6th

Lars is one of the three servants, and even know he’s known the other two for a few years, he doesn’t get on too well with them (he thinks they’re too silly). he takes his responsibilities very seriously, and values work above anything else.

the only thing he enjoys other than work is reading, which he likes to do during the evenings when the day’s work is done. he doesn’t have any favourite foods, but has a particular dislike for anything sweet.

he has a gun because he goes out and hunts for Edmund, and the eyepatch is a fun mystery that will be revealed later ;)

Mark

age: 23

height: 5’8ft

birthday: november 14th

Mark is the most relaxed out of the three servants, never particularly bothered about completing tasks quickly. he used to dream about becoming a poet, and has a great appreciation for nature and wildlife. Lars finds him overly optimistic and too much of a dreamer.

he still enjoys writing, and does it whenever he can, but also prides himself in being the main cook of the house. he prefers not to pick favourites in anything, but clearly enjoys his cooking over anything made at the local market.

Lilian

age: 21

height: 5’6

birthday: december 11th

Lilian has more energy than the other three combined, and loves nothing more than to chat. but she’s still a hard worker - the house is never anything less than spotless. her and Mark seem to spend a lot of time together, and are rather close.

she enjoys decorating things to make them look ‘prettier’ and aims to make each room look presentable at all times. she’s strangely fond of porridge with a large dose of sugar, her favourite meal being breakfast.

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picrew here:

here we go!! thanks for the ask, i hope you like these four as much as i do. i apologise for the story name, it’s a wip and i’m terrible with naming stories. in fact, if anyone has any suggestions i’d be very grateful.

i’ll be posting the characters from my other story in a separate post, just to prevent this one from being too long/confusing.

let me know if you guys have any questions about these four :)

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