#i want to study the patterns from the region

[beloveds-embrace]

Dukedom au masterlist (yes i need to update it ik) and we will not talk abt the abrupt ending 😭

The grand ballroom of glittered with the light of a thousand candles, their flames dancing across marble floors and golden fixtures hung from the ceilings. A symphony played softly in the background, a perfect complement to the hum of ongoing conversation and chatter. You stood at the center of it all, draped in a gown of midnight blue silk, embroidered with silver thread that mirrored the stars. A gift from Simon, one that had you staring at the beautiful dress in awe.

Tonight, you were the very image of grace and poise.

Your face and movements are calm and collected, hiding what you truly feel beneath. Lately, whispers of dishonor had begun circulating; rumors that your husband had fled a border skirmish back when he’d been deployed, abandoning his men, yet had paid for the matter to be buried. Vile lies, born of cowardice and malice. John’s name, his reputation, and the honor of your house were at stake; disloyalty towards the empire was seen as treason, and that was unforgivable.

You would not allow it.

The first spark of rage had ignited the moment you’d overheard the vile accusations from another lady, one of your more arrogant rivals who had laughed snidely. From there, the rumors spread like wildfire, poisoning the halls of the court and society.

But you were no stranger to such games like these. Tonight, after much planning, you’ll put an end to this farce.

You began with your loyal ladies-in-waiting. Each one owed their position to you, and in return, they offered their unwavering loyalty. “Listen carefully,” you instructed them during a private meeting in your sitting room, the door locked behind you. “Go into the court, the markets, the salons- anywhere whispers thrive. I want names, places, and patterns. Who speaks these lies, and who listens too closely?”

They curtsied and departed without hesitation, melting into the bustling world outside of the manor. Meanwhile, you turned your attention to your maids and house staff. Servants were the lifeblood of any noble house, privy to secrets thought hidden.

You met with them personally with Kyle’s help, ensuring they understood the stakes. “Speak subtly,” you said, your voice calm but firm. “Let it slip that those who spread these rumors do so for their own gain, that there’s no substance to the rumors. Plant doubt. Create cracks.”

“As you wish, my lady.” Kyle nods his head, hands on your waist. He leans down, and kisses your forehead, and you smile all sweet and pretty at him. “Whatever you want.”

While you wove your network of spies, John watched quietly from the shadows of the manor. Though he trusted you implicitly, he couldn’t help but feel a mixture of awe and unease. He didn’t want to doubt you, but he worried nonetheless for you.

In his study, he sat with Kyle.

“How’s she faring?” John asked, puffing a cigar as he leaned back in his chair. Papers were scattered on his desk, though they didn’t require immediate attention or replies. Pressed close to Kyle, bodies warm, he didn’t want to go back to working for now.

Kyle hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “She’s… efficient, John. The staff is utterly devoted to her even without my help. I’ve seen no signs of hesitation in her plans.”

John chuckled dryly, though there was a flicker of appreciation in his eyes. “I am not surprised. She’s scarier than any battlefield, Kyle. And they love her.”

With the groundwork laid, you began preparing to host a big gala at the manor. Invitations were sent far and wide, carrying the promise of exquisite dining, captivating entertainment, and the opportunity to curry favor with one of the most powerful families in the region.

None dared refuse.

Johnny worked tirelessly to ensure every detail of the menu was flawless, and though he would have helped anyways, he still enjoyed all the kisses he got as reward from yoh. “You’re pilin’ it on thick, Duchess,” he remarked one evening, wiping his brow as he inspected a rack of lamb. “Even for you.”

“This isn’t just a party, Johnny,” you replied, humming. “This is war.”

“War it is, then. Anything for you, bonnie.” he muttered, diving back into his work with renewed determination. After a very heated look from you that had him preening, though; he looked handsome in his element. And you’ll make sure to really show him your appreciation for all his hard work later, in the privacy of your rooms.

At every other gala and gathering, you moved through the crowd like a dancer with a purpose. You guided conversations subtly, planting seeds of doubt and faltering those who tried to be a bit too brave- and your reputation as a “people’s princess” helped so greatly. Your allies- the few you trusted among the nobility-played their roles perfectly.

Simon, especially. You had specifically asked for his help, curled warm and cozy on his lap one night. He’d kissed you breathless and told you he would always be there for you.

“Lord Marcan, was it?” Simon mused during one party, his glass of whiskey balanced effortlessly in his hand. The others immediately listen to him; though he isn’t the most talkative noble, his words carry weight. “I’ve heard some interesting things about him. Did you know he’s deeply in debt? I wonder how far a man would go to escape ruin.”

The other nobles exchanged glances, uncertainty flickering across their faces. You watched from a distance, satisfied as Simon delivered the blow with effortless charm.

Your web was nearly complete, each thread pulling tighter around Lord Marcan- the instigator of the rumors- until he had no room to maneuver. At the final ball of the season, the one hosted by you and John, you made your final move.

You descended the grand staircase as the guests gathered, your presence commanding attention. At your signal, the servants unveiled a surprise: a performance of actors reenacting a scene from an old skirmish. But this was no ordinary play; it was a dramatized retelling of that battle, one that highlighted John’s bravery and leadership even when Lord Marcan had tried to say John had fled that day.

The crowd was entranced, all earlier doubts finally wavering and shattering. You saw Marcan shift uncomfortably, his face pale as his lies unraveled before him and eyes turned towards him in disgust.

From the balcony above, John watched with Simon and Kyle at his side. “She’s terrifying.” he murmured, though his voice carried a note of awe.

Simon smirked. “You married a bloody tactician.”

Kyle simply nodded. “She fights for you, for us, John. And she wins.”

By the end of the evening, Lord Marcan was a broken man and his wife, Lady Marcan who had laughed at you by the rumor, was seething. Their allies abandoned them, their name tarnished by his cowardice and deceit and her aftions.

And the rumors about John’s supposed abandonment of his men? Gone.

That night, as you removed your jewelry in the quiet of your chambers, John approached you. His hands rested on your bare shoulders, his touch warm and grounding.

“You’ve been busy, beloved.” he said, his voice soft but laced with admiration.

“I did what needed to be done.” you replied, meeting his gaze in the mirror. “I know you could have simply challenged him to a duel… but we didn’t have full confirmation it was him who started. I had to do it this way.”

He leaned down, pressing a kiss to your temple. “You’re terrifying, love. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

From the shadows of the room, Simon leaned casually against the doorframe. “She’s not wrong, John. Best keep on her good side.”

Johnny’s voice echoed from the hallway as he came by with a tray of food. Kyle comes as well, carrying glasses of wine. “Aye, and keep feeding her. Keeps her from plotting.”

Kyle sighs, though he has a smile on his face as he sets the glasses down and instead comes to help you. “…he isn’t exactly wrong. You were incredible…. And scary.”

“Perfect, in other words.” John hums, an eyebrow raising. You do not have enough time to ask anything before he and Kyle are gently turning you around on the seat, face to face with John who kneels down. “You’ve worked so hard for me, for us, my Duchess. Let me take care of you now, hm?”

“John…“

“No more words, my love,” he shakes his head, Kyle’s hands reaching to unlace your dress, your corset, until your breasts spill out. John doesn’t even seem mildly bothered by the layers of your skirt, flipping them up until you are indecent in front of your men and he is face to face with your panties. The way they look at you, so much want…

You don’t mind. The slick spot forming speaks more than enough anyways.

“Tonight,” John murmurs, kissing your inner thighs. “Will be all about spoiling you, wife.”

[lightdancingwords]

Second Chances - Part Twelve of ?

Pairings: Beau Arlen x Y/N Female reader Series Summary: A chance meeting in a grocery store brings a second chance for you and for Beau. The only thing standing in your way are your respective pasts... and a tiny little roadblock. Word Count: 4,586 Tags/Warnings: murder, murder/death/kill, so much angst, police work, affair A/N: Comments, Likes, Reblogs, Kind feedback are always highly appreciated. Please let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Phew! All of you are definitely reacting to Rachel! I hope you like the twist here! Divider: credit to @sweetmelodygraphics

Second Chances: Chapter Twelve

The call came just before dawn. Another body. Another life stolen. Beau stood in the middle of the crime scene, his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he stared at the lifeless form on the floor. The victim was a young man this time, barely in his twenties, lying face-up in the living room of his modest apartment. There were no signs of a struggle, no forced entry—just like the others.

The killer had struck again.

Around him, officers moved carefully, snapping photos and gathering evidence, their faces tight with exhaustion and frustration. Jenny stood nearby, her arms crossed as she watched Beau with growing concern. He hadn’t said much since arriving—just barked a few orders before falling into a grim silence.

Beau’s green eyes were like steel, cold and unyielding as he finally turned to Rachel, who was standing by the window, studying the scene. “It’s the same,” he said, his voice low but steady. “No pattern, no reason. Just a goddamn ghost leaving bodies in his wake.”

Rachel looked at him, her auburn hair catching the faint morning light. “He’s escalating,” she said quietly. “It’s not about the victims—it’s about control. About making sure we know he’s in charge.”

“Well, not anymore,” Beau muttered, his jaw tightening. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number with sharp, deliberate movements.

Jenny stepped forward, alarmed. “Beau, what are you doing?”

He glanced at her briefly, his expression unreadable. “Callin’ the press.”

“The press?” Jenny’s voice rose slightly. “Beau, that’s not a good idea. This guy thrives on attention—giving him more could make things worse.”

“I’m done sittin’ back and waitin’,” Beau snapped, his voice cutting through the room. “If he wants attention, I’ll give it to him. But on my terms.”

Later that afternoon, the press conference was set up outside the sheriff’s department. Reporters from every local and regional news outlet had gathered, their cameras aimed squarely at the podium. The air was thick with tension as Beau stepped up to the microphone, his hat in one hand and his notes in the other.

Rachel stood off to the side, her arms crossed as she watched him carefully. Jenny stood next to her, her expression a mix of concern and disbelief.

Beau set his hat on the podium, his green eyes scanning the crowd before he leaned into the microphone. His voice was calm, measured, but there was an edge of steel that carried through every word.

“To the people of Big Sky: I know you’re scared. And you have every right to be. This killer has taken too many lives, and every one of them matters. Every victim had a name, a family, a future that was stolen from them. And I won’t stand for it.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping the crowd, ensuring his words hit home. “To the person responsible: I know you’re watchin’ this. I know you’re sittin’ somewhere, feeling’ proud of yourself, thinkin’ you’ve outsmarted us. But let me tell you somethin’—you’re not invincible. You’re not untouchable. You’re a coward who hides in the shadows, preyin’ on innocent people. And I’m comin’ for you.”

The reporters murmured amongst themselves, the tension in the air palpable. Beau straightened, his jaw set as he continued. “You think you’ve won because we haven’t caught you yet? That’s fine. Keep thinkin’ that. Because every step you take, every move you make, we’re closin’ in. You’ve made mistakes, and I promise you—we’ll find them. We’ll find you.”

He leaned closer to the microphone, his voice dropping to a deadly calm. “You’ve had your time. Now it’s mine. Turn yourself in, or I’ll make sure you have nowhere left to hide.”

The crowd erupted with questions, reporters shouting over each other in a frenzy. But Beau ignored them, stepping back from the podium and grabbing his hat. Rachel and Jenny quickly followed as he walked back into the station, his expression unreadable.

Inside, Jenny grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. “What the hell was that, Beau? You just challenged a serial killer on live TV. Do you know what kind of mess this could create?”

“I know exactly what kind of mess we’re in, Jenny,” Beau snapped, his voice still calm but laced with cold fury. “And I’m not playin’ his game anymore. He’s playing mine.”

Rachel stepped in, her voice softer but no less firm. “You realize you just gave him what he wants—attention. This could escalate things.”

Beau turned to her, his green eyes sharp. “Good. Let him escalate. Let him make mistakes. Because I’m done lettin’ him control this town.”

The room fell silent, the weight of Beau’s words settling over them like a heavy fog. Rachel studied him for a moment before nodding. “Let’s hope you’re right, Sheriff. Because if you’re not, this could get a whole lot worse.”

Beau’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond. He simply turned and walked toward his office, his fists clenched at his sides. He was tired of waiting, tired of reacting. It was time to take control—and if that meant drawing the killer out into the open, then so be it.

The sheriff’s department was quieter than usual after Beau’s press conference, but the tension was heavier. Deputies moved around carefully, almost as if the walls themselves could collapse under the weight of the gamble their sheriff had just made. Rachel sat in the conference room, sifting through files, her auburn hair pulled back into a messy bun. Jenny sat across from her, arms crossed, glaring into her coffee cup.

“You think he made the right call?” Jenny asked, finally breaking the silence.

Rachel glanced up, her expression unreadable. “It’s a bold move, and bold moves can go either way.”

“That’s not an answer,” Jenny said, her voice edged with frustration. “He just gave that bastard exactly what he wanted. What if it backfires?”

Rachel leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms as she regarded Jenny. “It could. But it could also force the killer to make a mistake. People like him—they thrive on control. Beau’s just taken some of that away.”

Jenny frowned but didn’t argue. Instead, she looked toward the hallway leading to Beau’s office. “He’s hanging by a thread, you know. This case—it’s pulling him apart.”

Rachel’s gaze softened slightly. “I’ve noticed.”

“And yet you’re right there with him,” Jenny said pointedly. “Closer than you need to be.”

Rachel held her gaze, her voice calm but firm. “We’re working a case that has this entire town on edge. If that means being close to the sheriff, so be it.”

Jenny’s jaw tightened, but before she could reply, the phone on the wall rang sharply, cutting through the tense atmosphere. Both women froze for a moment before Jenny moved to answer it.

“Sheriff’s department,” she said briskly. Her expression darkened almost immediately. “What?”

Rachel stood, already sensing the shift. “What is it?”

Jenny hung up the phone, her face pale. “Another call. Another body.”

Beau stood on the edge of the latest crime scene, his hat pulled low as he stared down at the lifeless body of a young woman sprawled in the middle of her living room. The now-familiar signs were all there—no forced entry, no struggle, no discernible reason. Just another life stolen.

Rachel stepped up beside him, her voice low. “It’s like he’s taunting you. Hitting back after your challenge.”

Beau didn’t respond immediately, his jaw tight as he took in the scene. “You think this is retaliation?”

“I think it’s a message,” Rachel said, her brown eyes scanning the room. “He wants to remind you who’s in control.”

Beau let out a slow breath, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “Not for long.”

As the forensic techs worked around them, Rachel stepped closer, her shoulder brushing his. “This was a risk, Beau. You knew that when you made that call.”

“I did,” he said, his voice steady. “And I’d do it again.”

She studied him for a moment, her gaze searching. “This is personal for you, isn’t it?”

He turned to look at her, his green eyes hard but full of conviction. “Every case is personal. These are my people, Rachel. I’m not just a sheriff—I’m their neighbor, their friend. I know what it’s like to lose someone and feel like there’s no justice. I won’t let that happen here.”

Her expression softened, and she reached out, her hand briefly brushing his arm. “We’ll get him, Beau. I promise.”

The moment lingered longer than it should have, the air between them charged. Beau felt the familiar pull, the tension he’d been trying to ignore since she’d arrived. He stepped back slightly, breaking the moment.

“We need to find somethin’ here,” he said gruffly, turning his attention back to the scene. “Anything. There’s gotta be somethin’ he’s leavin’ behind.”

Rachel nodded, stepping back as well, her professional demeanor sliding firmly into place. “We’ll comb through everything.”

Hours later, Beau returned to the station, his shoulders heavy with exhaustion. The latest murder weighed on him more than the others—it felt like a direct slap in the face. His gamble with the press conference hadn’t worked. If anything, it had emboldened the killer.

As he sat at his desk, the silence of his office was broken by a knock. Rachel stepped in, her expression a mix of determination and concern. She closed the door behind her, holding a stack of papers.

“We’ve got something,” she said, setting the papers on his desk.

Beau straightened, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. “What is it?”

“A pattern,” Rachel said, pointing to the papers. “It’s faint, but it’s there. The locations of the murders—they all fall within a specific radius. Almost like he’s circling something.”

Beau leaned over the papers, his eyes narrowing. “What’s in the center of the circle?”

Rachel hesitated before answering. “Nothing obvious. But we’re digging into the area now.”

Beau nodded, his jaw tightening. “Good. Let’s see where this leads.”

As Rachel turned to leave, she paused, glancing back at him. “Get some rest, Beau. You’re no good to anyone if you burn out.”

“I’ll rest when this is over,” he replied, his voice firm.

Rachel didn’t push, simply nodding before stepping out of the office. Beau sat back in his chair, staring at the papers spread out before him. The flicker of hope Rachel had brought was faint, but it was enough to keep him going. And as he stared at the center of the circle on the map, he silently vowed that this time, he wouldn’t let the killer slip through his fingers.

The sheriff’s department was quiet, the clock on the wall ticking softly in the background. Papers and files were spread across the table in the conference room, the culmination of weeks of dead ends and frustration. Beau sat at the edge of the table, leaning over a map, his green eyes scanning the marked locations for what felt like the thousandth time.

Rachel was across from him, her auburn hair loosely tied back, her brown eyes focused as she pored over a stack of property records. The tension in the room was palpable—both from the case and something unspoken that had been building between them for weeks.

“Beau,” Rachel said suddenly, her voice breaking the heavy silence. She straightened, holding up a sheet of paper. “I’ve got something.”

Beau looked up sharply, his exhaustion momentarily replaced by sharp focus. “What is it?”

Rachel moved around the table, standing next to him as she spread the paper on top of the map. Her finger traced the lines of the radius they’d identified weeks ago. “I went back through the property records. There’s one location that ties it all together—this house, right here.” She pointed to the center of the radius.

“What about it?” Beau asked, leaning in closer.

“It used to belong to Ia Hanlon, but when he died, it was abandoned. His son, Victor Hanlon, was institutionalized as a teenager for violent behavior. He was released five years ago—right around the time these killings started.”

Beau’s jaw tightened as he processed the information. “You think he’s been livin’ there?”

“It fits,” Rachel said. “It’s secluded, off the main roads, easy to access without drawing attention. It’s the perfect hiding spot.”

Beau stared at the map, the weight of weeks of frustration lifting just slightly. For the first time, they had something concrete. He turned to Rachel, his green eyes locking onto her. “Rachel, this could be it. This could be what breaks the case.”

She smiled faintly, her brown eyes lighting up with the same spark of hope. “We need to move fast. If he’s there—”

“We’ve got him,” Beau finished, his voice firm.

For a moment, the intensity of the moment hung between them. Beau stepped closer, his gratitude and relief written plainly on his face. “You don’t know what this means,” he said softly, his voice low. “After all this time…”

Rachel looked up at him, her expression softening. “I told you we’d find him, Beau.”

The space between them disappeared, and for a fleeting moment, Beau felt himself leaning in, his hand brushing against hers on the edge of the table. Her breath hitched, and her gaze flickered to his lips. The pull between them was undeniable, electric.

But just as he moved closer, the image of Y/N and Eliza flashed in his mind. He froze, reality crashing down around him. Jaw tightening, he stepped back abruptly, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t,” he muttered, his voice thick with emotion. “I can’t do this.”

Rachel blinked, her expression flickering with a mix of understanding and disappointment. She nodded, stepping back as well. “Let’s just focus on catching him.”

Beau exhaled, nodding sharply. “Jenny’s on call. Let’s move.”

The convoy of patrol cars sped toward the Hanlon property, the cool night air whipping past as Beau gripped the wheel tightly. Rachel sat in the passenger seat, the tension between them unspoken but heavy. Neither said a word, their focus squarely on the task ahead.

The property came into view—a dilapidated house shrouded in darkness, overgrown trees and weeds framing it like a grim portrait. Beau pulled the truck to a stop, his green eyes scanning the area. “Surround the house,” he ordered into his radio. “We take this slow.”

Deputies spread out, their flashlights slicing through the dark. Beau and Rachel moved toward the front door, their movements quiet but deliberate. Just as Beau reached the porch, a rustling sound came from the side of the house.

He froze, his hand moving to his weapon. “Did you hear that?” he whispered.

Rachel nodded, her flashlight sweeping the area. The sound grew louder—footsteps, quick and frantic, coming from the side yard.

“Hanlon!�� Beau shouted, breaking into a sprint as a figure burst from the shadows, darting toward the woods. The man’s silhouette was sharp against the faint moonlight, his movements panicked but fast.

“Stop!” Beau yelled, his voice cutting through the night. Deputies fanned out, their flashlights converging on the fleeing figure, but Hanlon was too fast, his path erratic as he disappeared into the thick trees.

“Damn it!” Beau growled, his fists clenching as he stopped at the edge of the woods. He turned to the deputies. “Fan out! Don’t let him get too far!”

Rachel caught up, her breath coming in quick bursts. “He’s running scared,” she said. “That’s something.”

Beau shook his head, frustration boiling just beneath the surface. “Not enough. We had him, Rachel. We had him.”

Rachel placed a hand on his arm, her touch grounding him. “We’ll get him,” she said firmly. “He can’t run forever.”

Beau exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening as he stared into the dark forest. “Tear this place apart,” he said, his voice cold. “Every inch. He’s left somethin’ behind, and we’re going to find it.”

And as the deputies moved to search the property, Beau stood at the edge of the woods, his mind racing. He’d been close—so close—and he wouldn’t stop until Victor Hanlon was behind bars.

The exhaustion hit Beau like a freight train the next morning. His body ached with fatigue, his green eyes bloodshot as he stared at the murder board in the conference room. The familiar faces of the victims stared back at him, each one a painful reminder of how far they were from catching Victor Hanlon. His coffee sat untouched, going cold on the desk as the minutes dragged on.

Jenny stepped into the room, her boots clicking softly against the floor. She folded her arms, leaning against the doorframe as she watched him with a mix of concern and frustration. “You look like you haven’t slept in days, Beau.”

“I haven’t,” he replied flatly, not looking up.

Jenny sighed, stepping closer. “You need to take a break. You’re running yourself into the ground, and it’s not helping anyone.”

“I can’t,” Beau said, his voice rough with exhaustion. “Not when he’s still out there.”

“Beau,” Jenny said, her tone softening, “you’re not doing anyone any good like this. Take a couple of hours. Recharge.”

Rachel entered the room then, carrying a stack of reports. Her brown eyes flicked between Jenny and Beau, sensing the tension immediately. “Jenny’s right,” she said, setting the papers down on the table. “You’ve been at this nonstop. You need to clear your head.”

Beau shook his head, his jaw tightening. “I don’t have time to—”

“Then make time,” Rachel interrupted, her tone firm but not unkind. “There’s a pub down the road. Come with me. Get out of here for a little while.”

Jenny raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical, but she didn’t say anything. Beau hesitated, the tension in his shoulders visible. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he stood, grabbing his hat from the chair. “Fine. One drink. Then we’re back here.”

The pub was quiet, its dim lighting and rustic charm offering a stark contrast to the chaos of the department. Beau and Rachel found a booth in the corner, away from the other patrons. The jukebox hummed softly in the background, and the low murmur of conversation filled the space.

Beau wasted no time ordering a beer, draining half of it before Rachel had even taken a sip of hers. He leaned back in the booth, his green eyes heavy with exhaustion as he stared at the table.

“You’re carrying too much,” Rachel said softly, her fingers tracing the rim of her glass. “You’ve been doing this for weeks, Beau. You can’t do it alone.”

“I’m not alone,” Beau muttered, his voice tinged with frustration. “I’ve got the team. I’ve got Y/N…”

Rachel tilted her head, her auburn hair falling over one shoulder. “When was the last time you saw her? Really saw her?”

The question hit him harder than he expected, and he looked away, guilt flickering across his face. “This case doesn’t leave room for anything else.”

“And that’s not sustainable,” Rachel said gently. “You’re going to burn out, Beau. Let someone else carry some of the weight.”

Beau didn’t respond immediately, instead finishing his beer and signaling for another. By the time he started his third, his posture had relaxed slightly, the alcohol taking the edge off his frayed nerves. He wasn’t drunk, but the weight on his shoulders felt just a little lighter.

“This is the first time I’ve felt… normal in weeks,” he admitted, his voice low.

Rachel smiled faintly, her brown eyes warm. “Sometimes you need to let go, even if it’s just for a moment.”

The air between them shifted, the noise of the pub fading into the background. Rachel leaned forward slightly, her voice soft. “You don’t have to carry it all, Beau. You deserve someone who—”

Before she could finish, she leaned in, pressing her lips to his. The kiss was brief, tentative, but there was no mistaking her intent.

Beau froze, his green eyes widening as his mind caught up with what was happening. He didn’t move, didn’t respond. Then, slowly, he pulled back, his jaw tightening as he met her gaze.

“Rachel,” he said firmly, his voice steady but strained. “No.”

She blinked, her expression a mix of surprise and disappointment. “Beau, I—”

He shook his head, cutting her off. “I will never cheat on Y/N. No matter how hard things get, no matter what’s going on—I won’t do it.”

Rachel sat back, her cheeks flushing as she looked away. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. “I wasn’t thinking.”

Beau exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “I think it’s best we call it a night,” he said, his tone clipped. He tossed a few bills onto the table and stood, grabbing his hat. “I’ll see you back at the station.”

Rachel didn’t stop him as he walked out, the sound of the door swinging shut echoing in the quiet pub. She stayed in the booth, staring at her drink, the weight of her actions settling heavily on her shoulders.

As Beau walked back to his truck, the cool night air hit him like a slap in the face, clearing his mind. He felt a surge of anger—not just at Rachel, but at himself for letting things get so close to the line. He thought of Y/N, her quiet strength, her unwavering support, and the life they were building together.

He climbed into the truck, gripping the wheel tightly as he started the engine. Whatever exhaustion he felt before was replaced by a renewed determination. Y/N was his home, his anchor, and nothing—not the stress of the case, not the chaos of the department, and certainly not Rachel—would come between them.

And as he drove back to the station, the lights of Big Sky passing in a blur, he silently vowed to himself that he wouldn’t let anything jeopardize the family waiting for him.

The drive home was quiet, the hum of Beau’s truck engine the only sound as he navigated the familiar streets. The tension from earlier still lingered in his chest, but his mind was focused now—on Y/N, on Eliza, on the home that had become his sanctuary amid the chaos. He’d been away from them for too long, and tonight, he was determined to make things right.

As he turned onto his street, something prickled at the back of his neck—a vague unease that he couldn’t quite place. When the house came into view, his stomach sank. The porch light was off, and the front door was slightly ajar, the wood splintered near the lock.

Beau slammed the truck into park, his heart pounding as adrenaline surged through his veins. His hand instinctively went to his holstered weapon as he stepped out of the vehicle. Every instinct he had screamed that something was wrong.

He pulled out his phone, his voice low and urgent as he called the department. “This is Sheriff Arlen. I need units dispatched to my residence immediately. Possible break-in, potential hostages. Approach with caution.”

“Copy that, Sheriff,” came Jenny’s voice, sharp and steady. “We’re on our way.”

Beau hung up, his grip tightening on his gun as he approached the house. The slight creak of the door as he pushed it open made his stomach twist. The living room was dimly lit, the air heavy with an unnatural stillness. Then he heard it—a soft, terrified sob coming from the kitchen followed by Eliza’s frightened wails.

“Y/N,” he breathed, his heart hammering in his chest.

He moved carefully, his boots silent against the floor. As he rounded the corner, the sight before him stopped him cold.

Y/N was sitting in a chair, her hands bound behind her back, her face pale but defiant. Behind her stood a man—Victor Hanlon. His wild eyes darted toward Beau, a knife pressed firmly against Y/N’s neck. Eliza wailed from the playpen in the corner, her cries sharp and frantic.

“Don’t move!” Victor barked, his voice shaking but filled with dangerous desperation. “I swear, I’ll do it!”

Beau’s green eyes locked onto Y/N’s, his breath catching at the fear and resolve he saw there. “Victor,” he said calmly, his voice steady despite the storm raging inside him. “You don’t want to do this.”

“You don’t know what I want!” Victor shouted, his grip tightening on the knife. “You think you can just come after me, ruin my life? You have no idea what I’ve been through!”

“I know you’ve been running’,” Beau said, his tone measured. He took a slow step forward, his hands raised slightly. “I know you’re scared, but this isn’t the way, Victor. Let her go. Let the baby go.”

Victor’s eyes flicked to Eliza, her cries growing louder with every passing second. “Shut her up!” he screamed, his voice cracking.

Beau’s heart twisted, but he kept his focus on Victor. “She’s just a baby, Victor. She doesn’t understand. Let her mother go, and we can talk. Just you and me.”

Y/N’s voice broke through, soft but firm. “Beau,” she whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. “Don’t.”

He shook his head slightly, his gaze never leaving Victor. “I’m not lettin’ this happen, Y/N.”

Victor laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “You think you can talk me down, Sheriff? You don’t know what it’s like to lose everything!”

“You’re right,” Beau said, his voice low. “I don’t know what you’ve been through. But this? This isn’t the way to fix it. You’re makin’ it worse for yourself.”

Victor’s hand wavered for a moment, the knife loosening slightly from Y/N’s neck. Beau saw the opening, his grip tightening on his gun.

“Victor,” Beau said, his tone soft but firm. “Let her go. Ya don’t want this on your conscience.”

For a moment, it seemed like Victor might relent. His shoulders sagged slightly, his gaze darting between Beau and Y/N. But then his eyes hardened again, his desperation flaring.

“I’m not going back to prison!” Victor screamed, his grip on Y/N tightening.

In that instant, Eliza let out a piercing scream, her tiny hands clutching the sides of the playpen. The sound broke the tension like a gunshot, and Victor flinched, his attention snapping toward the baby.

It was all Beau needed.

He moved with lightning speed, his gun aimed and steady. “Drop it, Victor!” he shouted, his voice like thunder.

The kitchen erupted in chaos as Victor hesitated, torn between his rage and his fear. Beau’s green eyes blazed with determination, his focus razor-sharp. “Let her go, or I swear, I’ll drop you where you stand.”

Victor’s hand trembled, the knife wavering dangerously close to Y/N’s neck. Seconds stretched into eternity before Victor snarled, shoving Y/N forward and bolting for the back door.

Beau rushed forward, catching Y/N before she fell, his arms steady around her. “You okay?” he asked, his voice tight with emotion.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. “Eliza—”

“I’ve got her,” Beau said, releasing Y/N and running to the playpen. He scooped Eliza into his arms, her cries quieting slightly as he held her close.

The sound of sirens grew louder in the distance, and Beau turned to Y/N, his voice resolute. “Stay here. Deputies are on their way.”

“No, Beau!” Y/N cried, her voice breaking. “Don’t leave us.”

He hesitated, his heart torn, but the sound of the back door slamming snapped him back into focus. “I’ll come back. I promise.”

And with that, he handed Eliza to Y/N, kissed her forehead, and ran out the door, his gun drawn, ready to finish what had begun.

Tag List: @spxideyver, @deadlymistletoe, @bitchykittenconnoisseur, @aarpfashionvictim, @stoneyggirl2

@foxyjwls007, @katastrophicmind, @globetrotter28, @deansimpalababy, @daisychaingirl

@nancymcl, @deans-baby-momma, @kickingitwithkirk

Want to be a part of this tag list or others? Come check out my master Tag List and sign up! And check out my other stories that are currently being written!

[pokemonshelterstories]

Hello! I’m a researcher from Galar and always enjoyed your blog and shelter when I stayed in Paldea for the first half of my Masters.

What’s your experience with the Paldean Rookidee line? I always wanted to see if there’s differences between Galarian and Paldean Rookidee and its evolution. Have there been any in your shelter?

- @galarian-ecologist

funny you ask that- i was actually an undergrad research assistant on a study of "dialects" of rookidee vocalization, and a paper i wrote about corviknight behavior in the great crater of paldea versus corviknight outside of the crater was just published in the paldean pokemon behavioral study society's summer volume journal.

the most notable difference is in the ratio of rookidee and corvisquire to corviknight. in galar, corviknight are fairly widespread and can be found throughout the region. but in paldea, outside of the great crater (and the occasional tera den), there's really only one small territory that you'll ever see wild corviknight. corvisquire in paldea exhibit noticeably delayed evolution in the wild as a result of predation from tinkaton; corvisquire that did not evolve survived longer to pass on their genes than those that evolved into corviknight.

i don't want to republish my whole paper here, but one other really neat behavioral difference that i noticed between corviknight in and out of the crater is that the small number of corviknight in north province area two exhibited a lower flight pattern than the corviknight within the crater. they had adapted to flying normal than lower to avoid becoming easy targets for tinkaton!

[luckyblackcatxiii]

Hello! Sorry in advance if this has already been answered somewhere. I really admire the way that you design outfits for your characters and wanted to ask if there were any reference sources that you recommend for designing D&D-ish fantasy outfits. Have you just picked up trends/patterns over time? Are there a certain time periods or fashion eras that you like to emulate in your designs? Media that has inspired the designs? Thanks for sharing your amazing art with us!!

Hey there!

No apologies needed, you'd be the first to ask me this (that I remember in the last couple of years, at least)

I think my biggest suggestion to anyone who wants to design outfits for characters--fantasy or not--is to first do some studying on how clothing is structured, as well as historical and/or regional fashion. Whether that's taking a class or just going through various medias that cover the topic, such knowledge helps you get an overall roundness on the basics of how clothes work, how they can be applied to the human figure, and just why certain fashions became in vogue via the times, emotions, economies, psychology and culture they reflected. All which can then serve as inspiration and guidance on how to go about clothing your made up person/society/etc, because after all: not only do we dress ourselves to reflect our own individuality, but people have been doing that for generations before us. Whether it's the fabric used or the shape of the silhouette, clothes tell a story! And a lot of it is interesting!!!

Also, the more you understand clothing, the more believable and strong your designs will present themselves.

(You'll also suffer the curse of recognizing how inaccurate a lot of historical TV shows and movies are with their depictions of costuming, then have to stifle this down so as not be obnoxious to those around you! Yay!!)

When it comes to designing fantasy things though, the best part of drawing from reality and historic fashion is you can have references without the feeling of having to be entirely beholden to accuracy (while still--I should hope--being respectful enough to avoid borrowing more personal aspects of cultures who may not appreciate parts of their identity being used without knowledge/context applied). I often like to mix and match different time period/regional aesthetics and mesh them into something that becomes seemingly familiar yet unique enough to call my own, and it seems to pay off in the long run.

Aside from that, I like to keep in mind the practicality of an outfit--why is it being worn and what is its purpose?--while also making sure it defines the most important aspects of my character, as well as has a nice shape/sillhouette. After that, aesthetics, personal enjoyment, easter eggs, and overall fun make up the rest of the designing process. Be sure to indulge once in awhile, if not always if that's your vibe!

On that note: I personally like to depict western clothing between the 15th-early 20th century, with the Georgian and Edwardian era being my favorite. Though, thanks to my VtM game, I've definitely grown a deeper appreciation and affection for the 20s more 'recently' and with Curse of Strahd, I've been having a ton of fun getting more familiarized with Slavic and Eastern European clothing. I have a lot of CoS NPCs that need designing (and I'd like to do a fashion zine for Barovia someday, so I've been doing a lot of research as of late...)!

If I'd have to give credit to any media that's inspired my own designs, I'd have to say Odin Sphere (or any fantasy based Vanillaware game, really) is always there in the back of my mind when I'm tackling a fantasy look. I'm absolutely blanking on anything else, but i'm sure there's plenty of inspiration that subconsciously sits in my brain just Ratatouille-ing my hand when I decide to design things AHAHAH~ I'm sure once this is posted, it'll all come rushing to me...

This has gone on pretty long and I admittedly feel like an unqualified egomaniac after yapping as much as I have, but I hope this helps, if not offers some overall insight on my own process! Thank you so much for your inquiry and kind words, I'm so glad you enjoy my stuff and look forward to supplying you more in the future! :,3c <3

[trishmishtree]

Another year, another recap: a list of things I sewed in 2024

So...I kicked off the year by not doing any sewing in January or February.

In my defense, I was starting a new job and doing paperwork and moving across the state at the time, and most of my sewing things were still in cardboard boxes in my parents' guest room. Figured I'd start small when I finally moved and unpacked all my worldly possessions, so I revisited the cape I made for Capetember 2022 and added slits so that I can still use my arms without letting cold air in. I also added pockets for my phone and keys. Photo not included because, well, it looks the same as it did in 2022, just with arm slits.

Then I made this hand-embroidered Regency reticule. It's based on the one in the Rijksmuseum. It's cute, it's functional, and I made it as true to the original as I could, thanks to video footage from Sewstine on Youtube, who actually got to study the extant reticule and see the hidden side panels.

Then I got sick of back-lacing myself into Regency stays that never seem to fit my scoliotic torso correctly, so I made the c0rset a la parasseuse. They take like 30 seconds to put on and actually give the correct shape, and now I finally have regency stays that work for me. I'm not including pictures of myself wearing them, but here they are laid flat:

Then in April, I finished my red and white floral 1780s Italian gown ensemble. Technically, I'd made the overdress in 2023, but at the time I hadn't added the hooks and eyes that would allow the skirt to be bustled up in the back, and I still needed to make the contrasting striped petticoat. It's not a true HA recreation because I put all the structure directly into the bodice lining, instead of making a separate pair of stays to wear underneath, but all the other under layers are period correct, including the split rump I made to go with it. I also made an attempt at the American Duchess 18th century cap, but I made it out of limp, flimsy cotton batiste instead of linen, and it doesn't look right, so I'm going to have to revisit that once I make a proper 18th century linen shift and see how much leftover fabric I have after that. Oh, and I hand-embroidered some garters for my 18th century stockings but never bothered to take pictures because I don't like how they turned out.

In May, I also made this generic 18th century petticoat to go under my Italian gown ensemble, because the visible striped petticoat kept grabbing to my stockings and the fabric of my shift.

Also in May, I made the blue Regency pelisse. Base pattern for the bodice part is Black Snail’s #0323 regency spencer c. 1810-1815. I just altered the sleeves and added the long skirt. The oak leaf rouleaux pattern on the front of the bodice is from this pelisse from the Cincinnati Art Museum, though I wasn't going for a direct reproduction.

Then came the Edwardian nightgown, based on an actual pattern from the era. I wish I had had more fabric to work with because the final hem is less full than I would prefer, and the sleeves could use maybe 2-3 inches of ruffle to length them.

I forget why I didn't sew anything in June or July. Maybe I had gone back to fix a fit issue with the regency pelisse? I don't know. But in August, I hammered out three more projects.

I've been working on creating a series of body blocks/slopers for myself so that I can then use them to draft whatever patterns I want. I currently have a basic modern princess seam bodice block, a sloper for a generic blouse (which I've used to adapt multiple Edwardian shirtwaists, because I really just need it to fit the neck and shoulder region), a basic regency bodice block, an 18th century conical bodice block, and a bunch of circle skirt templates. I've been meaning to make a new set of Edwardian combinations (because I totally used the wrong weight of fabric on my first attempt), but I wanted to test out my drawers pattern first, so I made a pair of basic drawstring shorts to wear under my skirts for work, just for a bit of extra coverage. They function okay, but they're going to need more fullness in the legs to work for Edwardian costuming, so I didn't take any pictures, and there will probably be several more rounds of wearable mockups in my future.

My second sewing project in August was to revisit my old gathered-front regency partially-bodiced petticoat. Now that I had a functional regency bodice block pattern, I basically installed an entirely new bodice, reduced the amount of fullness in the front gathering, and also added about an extra yard and a quarter of fabric to the back of the skirt, since the original skirt hem was a little too narrow for walking comfortably. Regency skirts may look slim, but they should have at least 2 yd (preferably more) in the hem circumference in order to look and function correctly. The new and improved petticoat could basically be a dress on its own, minus sleeves.

And finally in August, I made the historybounding princess skirt. I've already detailed my grievances with this skirt in my original post, but it was basically an attempt to have a warm skirt to wear to work in the winter, but it requires a c0rset (and undershirt and c0rset cover and petticoat) to look correct, so I basically only use it for casual cosplay/Halloween costumes now.

Moving on from that dud, in September, I went back to regency and altered my new and improve bodiced petticoat pattern into an actual evening gown pattern. This dress came out exactly how I wanted. It would probably be my favorite thing I've made this year, except that it has a 2-foot train that is very unwieldy.

I had quite a bit of large scraps leftover from the gown project. My friend from residency was expecting a baby around September, so I used some fabric scraps and made her a ruffly baby dress. Since baby was due in September and I wasn't sure whether the weather would still be warm enough for white frilly summer dresses, I decided to make the dress in a 6-9 month old size so that baby would be able to grow into it come spring/summer. (Spoiler: baby came in mid-September while it was still reasonably warm. Oh well. At least she'll get to wear it in the spring. And now I have a birthday twin.)

In October, I embarked on my most ambitious project of the year and made my first pair of 18th century stays. This fabric is 100% not HA, and I did a combination of hand-stitched and machine-stitched channels, but everything else about the stays is historically...adequate. It's boned with zip ties because I didn't want to waste a whole roll of $$$ynthetic baleen on my first pair of (fully boned) stays when there was a 95% chance I'd screw something up. Pattern is self-drafted, and my only gripe is that I made my mockup half-boned and it fit perfectly, but I switched to fully boned for the final stays, and that affected the fabric's bias stretch, and I had to add a stomacher to give myself more room.

Then Halloween was approaching, so I made a witch hat from scrap wool coating fabric from my cape and wool skirt projects. Wish I had made the brim wider and the crown taller (it's just a little too small proportionally all around), but I didn't have a stiff enough interlining material, and the whole thing was floppy enough as it was. I'm just going to have to get more fabric and proper millinery buckram for next year's Halloween project.

Speaking of Halloween, I ended up not using the witch hat at all. Instead, I made what I'm calling the Anne Shirley blouse. It's another Edwardian shirtwaist I self-drafted from my basic blouse pattern. It's not an exact match to the blouse she wears at the end of Anne of Green Gables (1985), but I couldn't find a narrow-striped black and gray cotton shirting-weight fabric. Trust me, I looked for months. The final blouse is pretty, but the ruffle needs to be redone because it makes my shoulders look too wide for the wool historybounding princess skirt I wore it with, and the collar needs to be taken in a couple inches because it's too loose right now. And I need to make a proper ankle-length Vicwardian walking skirt some time in the future before I can put this project to rest.

November was another slow month for me, between the results of the you-know-what and our impending doom and I just couldn't find the time or motivation to do stuff for fun. I did have a 2-yard length of deadstock burgundy polyester chiffon in my stash that I had been holding onto for about a year without a clear project in mind for it, so I used it to make a Greek chiton. No pictures included because I'm probably only going to wear it as an accessory with my regency gown (because those white regency gowns are basically OG historybounding).

December was another weird month. I had just seen the Wicked movie and was drooling over all the costumes (designed by THE Paul Tazewell), so instead of sewing clothing to wear for myself, I went back to my roots and made a modular origami doll of Glinda, then sewed her bubble dress from actual fabric. It was a lot like draping a dress, except with a miniature dress form.

Then, because the doll is like 6 inches tall and I had a bunch of fabric leftover (I only got a quarter yard of each and even that was too much for a 6" tall doll), I used as much of the scraps as I could to make another Glinda bubble skirt but big enough to fit my brother's cat. (Neither of our cats likes to dress up, but my cat is too big for the skirt to fit, and his cat is pure black so a black Elphaba dress wouldn't show up on her). I don't think I took a picture of the skirt when I finished it, and now I don't have it because I gave it to him for Christmas. We'll just have to see if his cat lets him put the skirt on her long enough to get photos.

It looks like I accomplished even less sewing this year than I did last year, and 2023 was a down year too, but I don't feel that unproductive. This list was something like 21 projects, so I'm still averaging about one project every 2-3 weeks, which is reasonable since I'm working a Big Girl Job now. I do have more days off per week since starting this job, but my free time is now clustered into 2-3 day periods (during which I also need to remember to cook, eat, clean my living space, do laundry, shower, sleep, prep for the work week, etc.), instead of being spread out more evenly throughout the week like when I was in residency, so that probably has something to do with my productivity level.

Or maybe it's because my projects in 2024 are more intricate and involved than, say, making a batch of small things like baby bibs and tailoring hams, or so I'm spending more time on each project. There were also several other projects I started in 2024 that are currently still in my Unfinished pile, and I'm slowly working my way through them in the hopes that they'll make it onto next year's list of things I sewed in 2025.

Oh, and in other news, my sewing machine broke on 01/01/2025, and it broke even more when I tried to fix it FML, so I'm either going to have to take the thing in for repairs (if anyone even still fixes this old crappy cheap model) or buy a new slightly less crappy one secondhand. So expect to see even more hand sewing from me. I might even take up Stephanie Canada's Butterick walkaway dress challenge 2025 but do it by hand just to see how long it takes.

[alexanderwales]

A small addendum to the post on art under communism/capitalism, which had been queued for a bit: I occasionally see people complain about the "everything is a reboot, sequel, prequel, or tie-in" nature of modern mass market pop culture film, and then also complain that this is a capitalism problem, and if you're a person who cares about empiricism (like me!) you immediately go out to see whether this is true.

Which immediately led me to the character of Stierlitz, who I had never heard of before. But you can't just say "well, this was a 14 novel series with six adaptations, written and produced under communism", because this was also a series that was being pushed by the KGB, and maybe that doesn't fit in with your idea of "communism", and says more about the particular time and place it was written/made than the economic system it was made under. But my suspicion is that popularity and risk-aversion are what cause the sequel/reboot phenomenon, and that this is only substantially different under other economic models if there are deliberate efforts to avoid it. There's another example, the Soviet Union's most popular film of 1965, Operation Y, which was followed by a semi-sequel, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, and actors reprising their roles across multiple films, and ... does this count? How many more of these examples could I dredge up if I had more than a passing familiarity with Soviet film? How many from other regions?

Possibly coordination between communist film organizations would help this problem. It's unclear to me, but I don't think that we can say that this is clearly a problem that capitalism created, not unless we're just talking in terms of pure theory.

Certainly we can say that it wasn't an endemic problem in any communist country, but I don't think that by most measures it was an endemic problem during the same time period in the United States either. In the 60s and 70s Hollywood was mostly making original films, a pattern that didn't begin to shift until later. The emergence of television created reduced demand for cinema basically everywhere, so that might explain some of the risk aversion, and funding for Soviet film declined pretty rapidly going into the 80s with much fewer standout films (the movie "Come and See" is a notable counterexample).

There's also an argument that whereas in the Hollywood system there was a great deal of risk aversion, that aversion was financial in nature: a film is a bet, and a studio can only make a limited number of bets at any given time, with a string of bad ones leading to bankruptcy. But in the Soviet system, the primary risk was ideological risk, which wouldn't give the same incentive structure that led to sequel culture. I'm not sure how much I buy this, more study is needed.

I guess I want to immediately compare sequel culture to oral traditions and the way that Arthurian legend (for example) ballooned with new knights and new quests over time, becoming confused. Or the way that fanfic, absent any market forces, results in many of "the same" fics being written and consumed, similar beats getting hit over and over, formula that we can only (at best) blame on attention economy. Writers and creators often want to capture the largest number of readers/viewers, and so pitch to the lowest common denominator, using the tropes and characters that people are most familiar with.

The writers that are writing specifically for their weird friends are obviously just doing their own thing, but it's going to be harder to interest people in funding a movie with a niche story, even if it's well-told, and it's going to be difficult to get theaters to show it unless those theaters are specifically committed to showing weird stuff.

[room-surprise]

I understand if this is outside your field of expertise, but do you think if the ornamentation of the clothing that (some of) the kobolds drawn by Kui wear is inspired by anything?

Actually this is exactly my field of expertise! I studied costume design for about two years in university before switching to something else :) So clothing is something I love looking at and talking about, and fashion history is one of my favorite elements of history in general!

HOWEVER, though I have some experience with subject, I'm not a fully trained expert in the field, and I know that I may not have all the answers, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. This is only my educated guess.

I'm assuming that you're talking about this page from the Daydream Hour book:

To start with, the caption says: "Kobolds that appear in foreign games and fantasy often have a reptilian appearance, but we chose an appearance that is more familiar in Japan." This doesn't tell us anything about their clothing, but I wanted to translate it to make sure it didn't say anything about their culture.

(You can read more about why the Dungeon Meshi kobolds are dogs in the Half-foot chapter of my Dungeon Meshi research project)

Kobolds likely live all over the world, but their large population centers are all located in the Western Continent, so that is probably the region they consider home.

So those two kobolds on the bottom left of the chart, who appear to be wearing European-inspired clothing, are probably living somewhere in the Eastern hemisphere, where Northern/Western/Central/Eastern European clothing is the norm, while the rest are likely from the West. So we can discard the European-looking clothes, since that's probably not a part of the kobold's traditional culture.

We have very limited information about the Western Continent, but these images plus what we know about Kabru (His name and Utaya's name are both South Asian, the dessert that comes from Utaya is South Asian) and the elves (several of them have South Asian names, some elves wear South Asian clothing and bindis) makes me think there's probably a strong Indian/South Asian influence in the Western Continent. It's a large land mass, so I don't think it's all South Asian, but South Asian culture is the only thing we have conclusive evidence of so far.

The majority of the kobolds are wearing brightly colored tunics with patterns on the hems, or what seems to be dresses/tunics made of draped fabric, also with hem decoration.

It IS worth noting that Kui avoids drawing elaborate patterns, even when it would make sense for her to do so. She does it only a couple of times in the manga and uses screentones instead whenever possible. So the simple hem decoration and single color fabric may just be an artistic choice that doesn't mean anything other than "I didn't want to draw a pattern." However, it's all we have to work with, so I'm going to assume it's intentional.

The repeated over-the-shoulder draped fabric the kobolds are wearing seems like it could only be a Greco-Roman style toga, palla, or cloak, or a South Asian saree. We have seen Western elves wearing garments similar to all of these on occasion, though obviously Kui has made some changes. As I say in my essay, I don't think any of the cultures in Dungeon Meshi is an exact copy of a real-world culture, Kui is remixing things together.

(Except for the Island of Wa, which seems to be entirely based on Sengoku-era Japan.)

Roman togas were just large pieces of cloth that they draped around their bodies, and they were usually white, with brown or black reserved for the lower-classes or for use during mourning, and purple or red reserved for extremely important people. Embroidery and trim, if they had it, was usually either very simple (plain colored stripes) or very elaborate (images of people, animals, or things).

So I think that rules out the toga as a possibility.

On the other hand, the saree and dupatta are also large pieces of cloth draped either around the body and over the shoulder (and sometimes the head), and usually they are either a single plain color, a plain color with a decorative trim, or an all-over pattern. This is a lot closer to what Kui draws the kobolds wearing.

(Pictures and more text after the cut)

Toga:

Saree:

The tunics the kobolds are wearing could be many things, as what's visible is not an uncommon neck shape. They could be something like a kurta, kaftan, or abaya (tunic/robe)... And there's probably a dozen other similar garments that I'm neglecting to name.

There are a million variations on the kurta, but these neck styles looks like what Kui is drawing on a couple of those kobolds.

However, some of the tunics COULD also just be a depiction of what is often called a "Viking tunic" or kyrtill (Nordic name for a kirtle or tunic).

However in Dungeon Meshi, the kyrtill is extensively worn in the Eastern hemisphere, primarily by dwarves, tall-men and half-foots. So I don't think the Western hemisphere kobolds are wearing them, and the style of trim looks different to me than what Kui drew.

Kobold fashion could also be influenced by any culture from North Africa, West Asia, or the Middle East, as these are also cultures that appear to dominate the Western hemisphere of Dungeon Meshi, and that have similar fashion cultures involving patterned textiles and draping cloth/veils/head coverings...

However, because of what seems like a large draping cloth over the shoulder, and the combination of trim with a solid color, I think the primary influence is South Asian rather than these other cultures.

I hope that helps! And keep in mind that Kui loves to remix things, so I'm sure there's elements from other cultures that would fit right in with what she's shown us of the kobolds, if you want to get creative with your fan works!

[racefortheironthrone]

Now you mentioned i, I am a bit surprised Smallville is prominently and consistently in Kansas? It's Smallville, Kansas. There might be others and certainly cities located vaguely within a real region, but it's definitely the first fictional town or city of D.C. in a real-world American state to come to mind.

So this gets to the weirdness of D.C geography. When Superman was first established, there was much less of a cohesive "universe," so if Siegel and Shuster wanted Superman to specifically be raised in Kansas, that's where he was from and the rest of the geography would have to work itself out.

IMO, this early slapdash approach to world-building has (over time) led to some things that just don't make sense to me as a student of urban history and urban studies:

Metropolis shouldn't be in Delaware. It doesn't make sense in terms of urbanization, given the context of an already-crowded Northeastern Corridor - Delaware simply does not have the capacity to sustain a city of 11 million people, and you wouldn't get a municipality of that size right next door to New York City (as well as D.C's other fictional cities in the area). The whole idea of Metropolis and Gotham being across the river/bay from each other has never really worked for me; you can still do Superman/Batman team-up stories no matter where they are, because Superman can fly and Batman has his own personal fighter jets.

More importantly, it doesn't make sense in terms of historic patterns of urban migration. Moving to the big city in search of the American Dream is a big part of the Clark Kent story, but historically people moving from rural to urban areas overwhelmingly go to the nearest large city, depending on how transportation networks are arranged, whether we're talking about train lines or direct flights or highways or bus routes. There is a reason we can track regional movements of black communities during the Great Migration, because who went where depended on which train lines ran through which states:

This is why I've always felt that, while Metropolis has aesthetically been associated with New York City, it logically should be Chicago. It is the biggest city in the Midwest, one very much associated with robber baron industrialists and corruption at the highest levels, and absolutely stuffed with art deco architecture for Superman to pose on top of. Up until the Tribune Company began to strip it for parts, it's also been a major newspaper town with a long tradition of muck-raking investigative journalism that would inspire a starry-eyed cub reporter like Clark. As one of the original transit hubs and the U.S' own "nature's metropolis," it is precisely the place that a Kansas farm boy would hop a train to, because all trains go to Chicago. Also, culturally I like it better that Clark Kent represents the City of Wide Shoulders whereas Bruce Wayne is the typical Tri-State Area Type-A personality.

Going back to D.C's bizarro Northeast geography, I likewise have an issue with Gotham being in New Jersey...if New York City is also supposed to be a major metropolitan area in the D.C universe. Just as Delaware would struggle to support a city of 11 million people, it would be very difficult to grow Gotham into a city of 10 million people so close to the gravity well of the Greater New York Metro Area. New Jersey is a pretty urbanized state, but its biggest cities tend to range in population from 300,000 to 100,000 - which works very well for a place like Blüdhaven, which is supposed to have something of an inferiority complex vis-a-vis Gotham - because a lot of the population tends to gravitate to NYC for work and eventually housing as well.

I've already said my piece about the lack of cultural specificity of D.C's Midwest.

As far as the West Coast goes, I've always found it a bit odd that Star City isn't where Seattle is supposed to be. Let's face it, the only place where Oliver Queen's facial hair would go unnoticed is Seattle. Also, Coast City is often depicted too far north on the map - if it's supposed to be a half-hour away from Edwards Air Force Base, it should be significantly more southern, down by Kern County and San Bernadino County, not practically up in San Francisco.

[bahnloopi]

[OC] **Long post ahead

Meet Orran (Orang "yeti, ape man"). The Legendary Saiyan of the Sento Saiyans. Though he looks poofy and harmless, he's pretty violent. An anarchist against the peaceful society the Sentos try to uphold. The Elders elected to banish him to the arctic regions of Planet Sento.

He believes the ancestor Saiyans of the mother race (U7 Saiyans of Planet Vegeta) were right to use their Oozaru powers to destroy and roam free. That's true freedom to him. He doesn't think his people should be pacified and laxxed to their chaotic nature.

The problem is that if the Sentos were all allowed to collectively transform into Oozarus en mass, they could destroy the planet. He doesn't care if it'll kill him too in the process. He deems that as his ideal "freedom of identity" or "to be oneself in their purest state".

He's deemed as a danger to their society so he's kept subdued to a massive boulder in a cave underground. His hands and feet are bound by the ankles to wrists, arms to rock. His tail is clamped under the rock to keep him weak enough so he won't break the bonds unattended.

There are some troopers stationed around to watch him and unbound him for daily breaks but they keep a restraining pressure on his tail at all times while roaming at a short-distance.

He'll always ask the Transporters that come to bring him food and resources when he can "come home". They don't want him to return to the tribes since he'll end up offing the Elders and inciting riots and cause them to shift into Oozarus from under stress. He's very manipulative.

When a trooper steps away, he'll constantly bang the back of his head against the boulder to try and soften the pressure on his tail to gain his strength back while he plans his escape. The troopers will see the dents and have the boulders changed out.

He has cataracts in his eyes so his vision is slightly blurred. His other senses are heightened. He'll occasionally use the beads on his drapes for echo location of the trooper's positions to study their patterns.

He is the ONLY exception to my "no transforming into a super forms (recolor)" rule since he is a legendary. He transforms into a Golden-Legendary Oozaru as natural but I'm looking to put a spin on the super form I'm deciding to give him. I'm still developing in that aspect. He himself does not know he is a legendary yet.

The Therapies have tried to help him but he scares them too bad. He'll constantly ask them aggressively when he can come home or tells them to stop pacifying the people who turn into Oozarus and let them run free.

It got to the point the Therapies refused the call to do wellness checks on him because he stresses them out and they themselves may turn and they have to make the extra effort to keep themselves in check.

**He's 6'4. His proportions and body shape are intentional. I want him to stay wide, poofy, and elongated.**

(He hates to be touched)

[kindheart525]

If there’s one thing I’ve made myself known for in the Smiling Friends fandom, it’s that I love Zoey and I’m desperate for her to get some more development. Obviously she’s not a main character but she deserves more than one line!!! I have no idea what Season 3 will give her (if anything) but in the meantime I’ve been trying to give her some more character. It started with bits and pieces of headcanon but now I’ve decided to go ahead and write a full backstory on her!

In a rural farming community north of Pennsylvania live the Leroux family. They have been in that exact region for many generations, so the roots run deep. Everyone in the area knows them and their parents and grandparents and so on. Nobody is forced to stay, but still it’s a shock when any Leroux decides to move away because they are known for loving their home so much.

Well, one Zoey Leroux gave them that shock.

While her family and community are deeply in love with their home, she found it horribly boring. There were few options for recreation aside from hiking the same mountains every weekend. There were also few work opportunities that didn’t involve farming in some way. The nearest city was hours away. While as an adult she holds plenty of nostalgia for the place she grew up, she knew she wanted a more exciting life than this. To which her family would protest, “What could be more exciting than this?” But they just didn’t get it. She had to forge her own path, which brought her to the wacky Pennsylvania city we all know well.  Still, she visits home for holidays and is decently close with her family despite needing the physical distance and change of pace. 

Here the family is pictured during Zoey’s college years, when she was deep in her goth phase and horribly bored whenever she had to come home during breaks (though she would appreciate those times later). The rest of her family are as follows:

Gregoire Leroux, nicknamed French Greg since childhood, is a leaf counter. Not a general environmentalist or anything, just a leaf counter. He’s part of an agency that counts all the leaves on every plant in town, connected with other agencies that do the same thing in neighboring towns. Apparently counting the leaves is a big deal in recording the seasonal patterns and overall health of the local flora, but in practice it looks just a couple steps up from watching paint dry. French Greg loves the quiet solitude of his job and takes great joy in studying the details of every leaf, even if his eldest daughter doesn’t get it.

Laverne Leroux is a quiet and withdrawn woman who works for the local farm. She doesn’t do any actual farm work but is instead there for two purposes: getting the animals (especially the goats) unstuck from the tight spots they get into, and offering music therapy to the livestock. She rarely sees the farmers at all and she likes it that way. She’s practically agoraphobic and much prefers the company of animals over humans, although her beloved family is an exception. Each night she lies awake with worry over what her daughter is up to in the city, hoping she’s safe in that dangerous and unfamiliar terrain.

Sophie Leroux is THIS close to finding Bigfoot! That’s what she tells everyone and has for years. Unlike her parents who lead more quiet and easygoing lifestyles, Sophie’s mind runs a mile a minute with all sorts of cryptid theories and plans for catching them. She’s always building some new contraption or talking someone’s ear off about how that slight motion on her security camera footage is totally the monster she was looking for. However, she aligns with her parents in that she’s deeply bound to the untouched natural environment. Every so often she’ll take a research excursion to a forest in some other state, but she feels she can find everything she’s looking for in her own backyard.

Zoey felt like a misfit in her hometown growing up, but the rest of the Lerouxes feel like fish out of water when they dare to visit her new home in the city. French Greg doesn’t understand that he can’t go into the Enchanted Forest to count leaves without being dragged on some crazy quest. Laverne has a nervous breakdown trying to call an Uber. Sophie is frustrated at the lack of green space to go monster-hunting, and gets so stir-crazy that she starts spinning wild theories about Charlie Dompler being the Squonk in disguise.

At least they tried to engage in Zoey’s new life. But this is why she prefers to visit them instead.

[charlottesbookclub]

should we talk about the interlace on gwayne's horse's armor?

since I spend altogether too much time looking at stills and gifs of gwayne anyway, I figured I might as well share some observations I have about the really interesting visuals that are happening with his horse's armor

this is part art historical analysis, part gwayne meta, and part "let's look at some gorgeous images under the guise of doing visual analysis" so if that's your thing, please read on! if not, that's also totally fine – I get that this is hyperspecific and also a symptom of my very serious gwayne brainrot, so I'm putting everything else below the cut! 💚💚 (also it's quite long – sorry! 😅)

okay I want to be upfront about my qualifications and my shortfalls here: I'm an art history phd student and so basically all I do is visual analysis of objects. I've studied a number of medieval manuscripts that feature interlace (which is where I'm going to draw most of my knowledge from here), and I've taken a seminar (an advanced graduate course) specifically on medieval manuscripts, for which I wrote a research paper entitled "From Kells to Celtic: The Aesthetics of the Book of Kells Illuminations as a Marker of Irish Identity." HOWEVER I am NOT a historian of armor, so I will be taking my knowledge of interlace on other objects and applying it to the armor we see in the show

a short intro

so, the first thing that struck me about gwayne's horse's armor is that it's really different than the other equestrian armor we see, even amongst the other men who came with him from oldtown. to be honest, my guess is that this was likely done in the show to help him stand out and also show that he is a special and precious princess (which he is btw 😌😌) who needs fancy armor for his horse. I'm not sure if further thought went into it than that (but maybe it did! I'm happy to stand corrected here!)

however, the catastrophic levels of brainrot I've developed over this man have compelled me to read much further into it than that, which I shall now proceed to do with great enthusiasm! ☺️

first, let's look at the armor:

it's hard to find really detailed close-ups, but it's clear that the armor is incredibly intricate. not only do we have this very complex interlacing, but certain designs are marked out with different colors and internal patterning, making the whole thing even more visually interesting and complex

while interlacing is used across a vast range of time, cultures, geographical regions, and artistic mediums, given both the visuality of this armor in particular and knowing that westeros is based on medieval europe, seeing this interlace instantly called to mind a style that we today call "insular fusion" (I'm not going to go into all the specifics of it here because that's a post all its own lol 😅). it's a style perhaps most famously exemplified by The Book of Kells, but it is found throughout many different objects of the same period (ca. 700-900 CE)

now let's look at some fucking interlace hell yeah!!!!!!

from The Book of Kells (ca. 750-810 CE)

from The Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 698-721 CE)

and two non-manuscript examples:

Animal Head Post from a Viking Ship Burial (ca. 825 CE)

and a later example, but one of my favorites:

Wooden Portal of the Urnes Stave Church (ca. 1050-1070 CE)

do we see the vision??? are y'all picking up what I'm putting down???

"okay, charlotte, I see the similarities, but why does this matter?" you may be asking yourself (or maybe you aren't idk), and the answer is: this type of interlacing had some super fascinating meanings and uses, some of which I think we can apply to gwayne! 💚💚

let me break it down from least to most potentially related to gwayne:

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

use of interlace in a religious context

interlace as a status symbol

the protective potential of interlace

and now let's go into detailllllllll!!!!!

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

I bring this one up because it's what I focused on in my personal research on the topic of interlace, but I also think it's the least relevant to gwayne. my argument in my paper was that the aesthetics of the interlace in the Book of Kells have been thoughtfully and intentionally re-used throughout history and into the present as a clear visual marker of identity that draws a narrative back to the production of the Book of Kells. however, in terms of the show, we have very little indication that the particular style of interlacing we see on gwayne's horse is associated with any larger identity concepts. it doesn't seem to be associated with house hightower, as none of the other men with gwayne seem to borrow this motif, nor do we see it associated with alicent (as far as I can tell from the little looking I've done, but I'm more than happy to revise this!). for it to make sense as some form of identity marker, it would have to be clear what identity he's visually referencing, and since his use of interlace seems unique, I think it's doubtful that it's part of a larger visual invocation of identity

use of interlace in a religious context

part of what makes insular fusion so interesting as a style is that it is indeed a fusion of a number of different regional styles, including vine scrolls from the mediterranean, triskeles from the northern british isles, and zoomorphic (meaning "in the form of animals") interlace from northwestern mainland europe. although insular fusion is used to decorate christian objects (like gospel books and churches), its component parts are much much older and have connections to various pagan religions that significantly pre-date christianity. obviously it's impossible to be 100% certain of the exact significance of interlace in any of these religious contexts (there are no written records explaining it), but scholars have a few guesses

one suggestion is that interlace in some way represented the spirit world/the world of the gods, or perhaps even a point of connection between the human world and the world beyond. although the religion of westeros is obviously different than any of the real-world religions that used interlace in this manner, I do still wonder if there could be a religious connection here. it's pretty clear that gwayne's mother was quite religious, and alicent is as well. although we don't totally know gwayne's relationship with religion, we could certainly guess that it's at least a little bit important to him, given the beliefs of the women in his life. I know that the most common religious symbol in westeros tends to be the seven-pointed star, which is not something I see on the interlace on the armor, so I'm not sure how far I would want to take this hypothesis, but I did want to put it out there for anyone who might have further thoughts!

interlace as a status symbol

as I mentioned to in the beginning, I do think it's likely that this particular type of armor was chosen for gwayne's horse because it does come off as a bit ostentatious. the manuscripts with interlace that I mentioned above were hugely expensive and time-consuming projects, and only the most affluent religious communities could afford such luxurious gospel books. given the level of detail on the armor, I have to imagine that the same is true in the world of the show. in some ways, it's a mode of conspicuous consumption; a demonstration of the hightowers' wealth and influence. there's a reason gwayne's horse's armor stands out: because it's meant to. it's meant to set him apart, even from the other soldiers who came with him from oldtown

now this next part is just my own conjecture, but I also wonder if the armor is meant to speak to a more artistic sensibility on gwayne's part. after all, equestrian armor is a very functional object with a very clear goal: to protect the horse. from a purely functional standpoint, the interlace does nothing to serve this purpose (and may actually hinder it a little??), it simply adds a complex visuality to the armor. aside from just flaunting the wealth that must have been expended to commission such a piece, it also suggests that it was crafted by artisans who had both functional and aesthetic goals in mind while creating it. whether it was gwayne himself who directed the commission or not, it seems significant that he chose to use this armor that doubles as a kind of art piece. he does seem to be someone who enjoys the finer things in life, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had an artistic appreciation too, and was using this armor as a way to demonstrate that (or perhaps even just as a way to show his own personal artistic taste/preferences)

the protective potential of interlace

technically, I think "interlace as a status symbol" is the most likely reason for the armor being the way it is, but this one is my favorite theory, so I'm putting it at the top. circling back to the religious uses of interlace, another theory of its religious significance is as a mode of protection. some scholars think that its creators believed that the weaving, intertwined lines of the interlace would confuse and trap evil spirits. building on this theory is the fact that complex interlacing was often used at transitional or liminal points, such as the beginning pages of a gospel book or on the doors of churches. the idea here is that the interlace wields its protective powers at these key entry points against any evil entities that might try to enter sacred or protected spaces

interlace as apotropaic (a fancy technical term meaning "protective," often used in reference to magic or magical practices) seems particularly poignant for an object that was literally going to be worn into battle. now, I admit once again that there is little canon evidence to suggest that interlace is thought of in this way in the world of the show, so I'm running with this theory more because I like it rather than because I think it's legitimately based in canon. but I just think it's very sweet that gwayne's horse would be adorned with this complex interlace that seems to be woven with protective powers. even if gwayne (or others) didn't literally believe that interlace had those kind of powers, the fact that he still made the choice to invoke the idea of protection against harm and evil is a lovely thought. (it makes me think of how people today still might carry a rabbit's foot or have charms against the evil eye, even if they don't actually place stock in the beliefs surrounding those objects. I just think it's cool that generations of cultural belief still imbue these objects with a kind of magical aura). I just like the idea that he (or someone else?? otto? alicent? his mother?) chose armor that might have been associated with protection against harm

and now I'll finally wrap up!!

whew that was a lot! if you've read this far – thank you so much!! I'm honestly not even sure if these thoughts were coherent, but I kept thinking about this when I looked at that interlaced armor, and I just had to get the ideas out of my head lol

but I'd love to hear what others think about this topic! I'm certainly not an expert on the matter, and I'd be super open to hearing if others have different interpretations!

if nothing else, I hope you learned something cool about interlace! (and also just how far I have descended into madness over this man that I am writing pages-long analyses of his horse's armor 😅🤪)

[haru-dipthong]

I'm learning more about "localisation discourse" in the anime fan community and my god it is so stupid. The arguments are so incestuous, like people in these discussions (both sides!) haven't ever considered what translation or localisation is outside of the context of anime and manga. Like lots of anime fans say they "hate localisation and want accurate translation" - and then the translators are like "localisation is accurate translation". Both sides are just talking past each other.

I believe that the translators are doing nothing wrong - if a translation reads naturally and conveys essentially the same meaning as the original, that’s a good and accurate translation. The “anti-localisation” crowd are abusive and awful. But both sides of the discourse are terrible at communicating.

First of all, the word “localisation”, as it is understood outside the weeb community, means “adapting a work or product for use by a different population than the original (usually a population of a different geographical region)”. As a programmer, I deal with localised text in our product - for example we have different localisations for Australian english text (en-AU) vs British english text (en-GB) vs US english text (en-US). Yet, many anime/manga/etc translators call themselves localisers - what variety of english are they supposedly localising the content into? Probably US english, but it’s certainly not specifically americanised a lot of the time (e.g. Kimetsu no Yaiba isn’t being americanised in any translations I’m aware of), and the days of jelly donuts are far, far behind us. Erasing japanese cultural references is no longer "more marketable", and hasn't been for a long time. Most anime translations (including the ones that the “anti-localisation” crowd complain about) are simply translations into an international variety of english, and decidedly NOT localisations.

So if the “anti-localisation” crowd aren’t complaining about localisation, what are they complaining about? They often say they want “accurate translations”, but this isn’t true either. An “accurate translation” is a translation that simply conveys all the information from the original. おはよ！→ “Sup bro” can be an accurate translation, but I’m sure the anti-localisers wouldn’t agree (おはよ and sup bro are both just phatic greetings, we don’t need to specify morning unless it’s not obvious from the visuals that it’s morning). What they actually want is a translation that “sounds right”. This may seem impossible to deliver since it is so unspecific, but I think it’s actually quite simple - in short, overly-weeby translations have become their own variety of english, which I’ll call en-WB. Often fan translations are in this specific dialect because the fan translators haven’t studied actual translation and simply know what “sounds right” in en-WB.

For example, these anti-localisers often say they are annoyed that honorifics are removed. To a regular old translator with no knowledge of the anime discourse, this is very silly because -chan and -kun are not present in any common variety of english, so why would they appear in the translation? To divorce this discussion from anime briefly, a very good translator who is translating a full length Japanese novel would adapt the relationship/hierarchy dynamic via speech patterns and phrasing, rather than using the honorifics directly. But the anti-localisers don’t want a brilliant translation into international english, they want a passable translation into en-WB.

Both sides of the discourse are misunderstanding each other, using dumb arguments that completely miss the point. Anti-localisers are saying shit like ”fan translations are better!!” which really means “fan translations sound like how I expect the translation to sound, and pro translations do not sound like that” which means “fan translations are translating into the english dialect I expect and pro translations do not”.

Meanwhile pro translators are saying “pro translators are fans too!! And how could an amateur be better? We studied to do this professionally!”. But this is flawed logic - the lack of formal training in translation is ironically what enables fan translators to translate into en-WB correctly. Pro translators of course could translate into en-WB if they wanted to/were told to, but they don’t - they want to make the translation as accessible as possible to all viewers, meaning that making the language natural and internationalised is the correct course of action.

To me as a half-japanese person who has grown up with smatterings of anime from an early age, anime is just cartoons to me. It's just another tv show, there's nothing special about it. So when I talked about translation as I have in previous posts, I was basically unaware of this stupid discourse and was simply discussing translation as it exists outside of the anime/manga industry - rewriting a work as if it were originally written in the target language. In principle I don't believe anime should be treated any different to other tv shows when being translated, and I personally hate en-WB, it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. But that's what a bunch of anime fans want, and that's fine. They can have their (in my eyes) terrible translations, and I can have my (in their eyes) terrible translations.

If we were talking about translating literature or live action tv or news articles instead of anime we wouldn't be getting any of this discussion. I think it's almost entirely the fault of anime's history with fan translations and heavy handed cultural erasure by 4kids etc that's led to the current state of things. And unfortunately those things still influence how people think about anime translations now. I just want to approach anime translations like I would any other translation - but the existence of this discourse adds an annoying layer over it all.

[afantasyoffiction]

VOWEL TIME BABY

for @nossumusstellae and also mostly for me here's an intro to my fantasy vowel pronunciations

I've not so much created a fantasy language as I have tried to be consistent in applying pronunciations across the whole kingdom and within specific regions. aesthetically and emotionally, im attached to latin but leaning more towards ancient greek for the history of the world.

without much further ado, an explanation of how vowels work in the Kingdom of Amkora :)

the basics are created from the fact that i speak with an english accent despite no longer living there

a is ah, e is ee, i is ee or ih, o is oh, and u is uh etc etc.

that said, i like to elongate vowels a bit more than most english accents do now. english as a language uses a LOT of vowel sounds called a shwa, which is basically the unstressed uh/eh/ugh sound you here in a lot of polysyllabic words. because i want things to sound a bit more interesting and otherwordly, ive always imagined names for people and places to have slightly unfamiliar stress patterns and specifically most characters won't prnounce them with a schwa sound

additionally:

ae is a latin vowel sound (technically a diphthong). it makes an ayyy sound according to most people, which is the bastardisation or the classical/choral latin sound depending on who you ask. despite being a latin geek, ive adopted this pronunciation for most classes of characters. HOWEVER, the proper pronunciation here would be I, like the first person pronoun. so royal or upper class characters would use this proper pronunciation because they respect the 'old ways'

[yes, thats correct. alumnae is pronounced ah-lum-nih. and if you spell it alumni fun fact! that should be pronounded ah-lum-nee. sorry to every university ever ur quite literally saying it wrong)

[latin nerd moment two. yes its actually pronounced yoo-lee-us kih-zer, NOT, jew-lee-us see-zer. the stabbed 27 times salad guy yeah him. ur welcome]

ei is a greek sound. ive never studied ancient greek (sorry), so i use this as an elongated kind of eeeh thats verging on being an ayyyy sound

y. this is my FAVOURITE VOWEL yall no one tell me it doesn't count. in my wip i use it in a lot of people and place names to replace where english would usually spell words with an e, and it signals a more elongated sound, a bit more like eeer than uhr.

within regions, the main differences in pronunciation are to do with which vowels a particular dukedom tends to stress. different characters enunciate different consonants over different vowels, or elide different syllables

make sense? probably not but i had fun at least. jfc this is a long post now help

it might make sense when i post actual examples stay tuned

[survivetoread]

A few reflections/questions from my first real trip to India:

For context, I’m Marathi but grew up in Singapore and China. While I visited India many times as a kid, I don’t remember much from those trips. I’ve spoken Marathi my whole life (it’s my “first” language) to my extended family, but I never had formal education in it. My reading skills were weak until recently, when I started actively improving my vocabulary through reading and study (which is how I discovered this page) in anticipation of this trip. I don’t really know any Hindi.

When I arrived in Mumbai, I was told Marathi wouldn’t be very useful—that I should stick to English and Hindi, and that assuming someone speaks Marathi could even be offensive. This didn’t surprise me. To me, Mumbai feels similar to Shanghai: a cosmopolitan city where people from all over the country live and work. While the local language exists, it often takes a backseat to the official language of the country, which serves as a lingua franca in the city. Unfortunately, in Shanghai, the local language (Shanghainese) is only really spoken by old people nowadays. I remember my classmates being able to speak some Shanghainese when I was little, but not many people my age or younger are able to speak it, including many of those who are ancestrally from Shanghai. This doesn’t seem to be the case in Mumbai. Marathi is still spoken by a lot of people, it just isn’t the first language of communication. 

What did surprise me was that this pattern continued even in other parts of Maharashtra, albeit to a much lesser degree. While visiting my aunt in Jalgaon, her neighbor spoke to me in Hindi and English, even though I responded in Marathi. It took ten minutes before she switched. In Pune, while shopping for clothes, a store assistant spoke to me only in Hindi, even though I tried to start the conversation in Marathi. I noticed she spoke Marathi with her colleague but would turn to me and switch to Hindi. Since she spoke too fast for me to follow, I tried switching to English, but she wasn’t comfortable with it, so the interaction continued—her in Hindi, me in Marathi. It was such a bizarre experience. We had one language in common, yet she refused to use it with me.

At first, I thought maybe my accent or something else about me triggered this response. But after asking around, I was assured that wasn’t the case. During our trip to the Ajanta Caves, I noticed even my aunt would start conversations with strangers in Hindi before switching to Marathi. This is very different from my experience in China. For example, many people in Guangdong will happily start a conversation in Cantonese (even with someone like me who clearly looks like a foreigner in China) and then switch to Standard Chinese when they realize you don’t understand. This isn’t true for all regional languages though (in my limited experience). I’ve never heard someone try to start a conversation with a stranger in Wu Chinese (which includes Shanghainese) with the assumption that the other person will understand, for example.

As my Tamilian friends from my time in Singapore have told me, I know that these topics about language often come with political baggage. But that’s not my angle here. I’m not making a political comparison with China. Those examples just help me process my experience through the lens of the environment I grew up in. I have no concerns about Marathi’s survival. Almost everyone in Maharashtra speaks it, and it's used in education (unlike Chinese regional languages, which are actively discouraged in media and schools). I also have no problem with Hindi. It’s the next language I want to learn, especially after this trip!

I just found it strange that, even in Maharashtra, people seemed to prefer initiating conversations with strangers in Hindi rather than Marathi. Is Hindi necessary in Maharashtra? Why is it the default for so many people?

Sorry if this isn’t the right place for these questions, but I don’t know where else I can ask them anonymously and avoid the greater internet fuckwads.

Asks like these make me so glad I made this blog, as a shelter for conversation away from the 'greater internet fuckwads'. 😄

According to the last census India had (and might have for a while...), Maharashtra had an inordinately high percentage of people who spoke Hindi as a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd language, even more so than Punjab, which is stereotypically closer to the Hindi belt in culture.

I remember this stat surprised me when I read it in a news piece back in the day. Among the theories for why Hindi is so prevalent in Maharashtra were that Marathi and Hindi share the same script, making it easy for speakers of Marathi to learn written Hindi.

Another one is that Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra, and therefore it might project its Hindi-first culture onto the rest of the state.

As a Mumbai resident myself, I really can't speak for the rest of Maharashtra. However, I was able to initiate conversation in Marathi well enough during my travels along the Konkan coast.

In my perception, a lot of Marathi speakers seem to treat Marathi as a 'home' language to be used with family and friends, while Hindi is the lingua franca and the language of public life. This is especially true in Mumbai, but you already know that well.

It makes me think that a lot of Marathi speakers feel embarrassed to use their language publicly, if they sense that the other speaker does not speak Marathi well, or at all. I know that I would initiate most conversations in Hindi in Mumbai, only switching to Marathi under contexts where I know the other person is expected to speak Marathi - such as the police, government offices, Marathi cultural centres, Marathi neighbourhoods, etc.

As for the rest of Maharashtra, I honestly don't know what to tell you, and I'm sorry for the experience you had with people speaking Hindi instead of their own native language that you'd expect them to speak in their native state.

I hope others in the comments can shed some more light on this matter - without getting into hateful politics.

[sotiredofendos]

Your post has been near the top of the #syscourse tag for about a month so I may have already asked and then forgotten, but did you ever get any sources for your definition of a System?

The definition of the word "system" itself is very simple. It's referring to s "system of alternate identities". I.E, the overall group of alters within a singular person. I'd personally say the more important thing to define is the "alternate identities", not what we call the collection of alternate identities. I got that from Guidelines for Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adults, Third Revision, pg 132 Here's something I want to add from the same book, on page 121:

"Physiological differences among alternate identities. Case reports and studies using small groups of DID patients and controls who simulate different “alternate identities” have found significant physiologic differences in DID patients compared to controls that manifest in a variety of behavioral ways. These include differences in visual acuity, medication responses, allergies, plasma glucose levels in diabetic patients, heart rate, blood pressure readings, galvanic skin response, muscle tension, laterality, immune function, electroencephalography and evoked potential patterns, functional magnetic resonance imaging activation, and brain activation and regional blood flow using single photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography among others" Actual alters VS those trying to simulate them have a significant clinical difference. Alters not only differ within behaviour (which people who don't have alters can attempt to simulate), but there are also many physical differences that would be impossible to simulate. Alters seen in DID vs people attempting to simulate them are not comparable whatsoever. That's why when people try to say compare it, it's genuinely laughable. PDF

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Final data and undiscovered images from NASA’s NEOWISE

While NASA’s NEOWISE telescope ended its journey through space on Nov. 1, 2024, the team at IPAC, a science center at Caltech, was working on one further gift from the prolific mission. 

The final data release from NEOWISE was released to the astronomy community just two weeks later, on Nov. 14, encompassing over 26 million images and nearly 200 billion sources detected by the telescope. And today, IPAC is releasing six new images from the mission’s archival data as a tribute to this landmark project, available here: https://www.astropix.org/link/3b2x 

NEOWISE was launched as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in 2009 and then reactivated in 2013 as NEOWISE, the asteroid-hunting phase of the mission. The infrared space telescope studied the entire night sky and conducted 21 complete sky surveys during more than a decade of operation. The mission focused on identifying and studying small objects in our solar system like asteroids and comets, also known as near-Earth objects (NEOs), but the infrared data collected by the telescope has proven to have countless applications throughout the field of astronomy. 

The mission concluded operations in July 2024, and during its 15 years in space, scientists have been able to revisit the same areas of the sky again and again, with most being observed by NEOWISE at least 220 times. This repeated observation helps astronomers search for and study objects that change in brightness or location. 

“Being able to watch the changing sky for nearly 15 years has opened a new avenue for time-domain science, for everything from the closest asteroids to the most distant quasars,” said Joe Masiero, Research Scientist at IPAC and the Deputy Principal Investigator of the mission. 

In recent years, NEOWISE has enabled scientists to study curious objects like brown dwarfs and discover patterns in large populations of comets. Over its mission lifetime, NEOWISE has characterized over 3000 NEOs—approximately 10% of the known population, and something that was only possible due to its long tenure scanning the sky.

The final NEO observed by NEOWISE, known as 2007 LV8, was seen over 100 times in the closing days of the survey since it closely followed the telescope’s scan pattern.  

“Because of NEOWISE’s extensive view of the sky, we get a more complete picture of the asteroids and comets in Earth’s orbital neighborhood. The data provide a unique way of understanding factors like the size and rotation period of these NEOs,” said Roc Cutri, NEOWISE Task Lead and Project Scientist at IPAC.

The team at IPAC was responsible for the ingestion and processing of raw data, production of final data products, and archiving mission science and engineering data. IPAC also distributes WISE/NEOWISE data to the community through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) and provides services such as powerful analysis and visualization tools. The IPAC Communications & Education team prepares mission images for public release in the AstroPix image gallery. 

Never-before-seen images from NEOWISE

During the original WISE mission, over 100 areas of the sky were highlighted in public image releases, but they revealed only a tiny fraction of the full-sky coverage of the survey.

“The WISE and NEOWISE data releases are built for researchers, but they also embody some of the most amazing images of our infrared sky,” said Robert Hurt, IPAC Visualization Scientist. “They are so easy to work with it's almost too easy to make a beautiful image from them! That's why I wanted to revisit the archive to locate some hidden gems we missed before.”

To find new interesting areas of the sky, the positions of the previous images were overlaid onto maps of the sky using data from WISE and other missions. The new map revealed many zones that have not been highlighted for the public but contain fascinating regions of cosmic dust where stars are born. Six spots were selected, with many of them spanning large areas of the sky—a distinct advantage of an all-sky survey such as NEOWISE. 

One image stands out as particularly meaningful to the IPAC community: NEOWISE’s view of the California Nebula. 

Named after the dust cloud’s resemblance to the California coastline, Masiero says it commemorates the years of hard work and dedication of the NEOWISE data processing team at IPAC, located in Pasadena, California.

“I’m really grateful for all of the people at IPAC who have put so much effort into making this the best dataset possible, for today and for future generations,” said Masiero.

The California Nebula is located in the Milky Way, about 1000 light-years away, in the Perseus constellation. It is a dusty region illuminated by the nearby massive star Menkib, born just a few million years ago. The entire California Nebula stretches across 100 light-years and is fully captured in this wide-field view. The dust clouds glow brightly in longer wavelengths of infrared light, displayed here in green and red.

The new images pulled from the archives represent the billions of sources detected by NEOWISE waiting to be studied by future researchers. 

“We know there are more things to discover in the NEOWISE data that we just haven’t noticed yet,” said Masiero. “As astronomers develop new tools and techniques and as new surveys are conducted, we can be sure the NEOWISE archive will be one of the first places we look for the data needed to better understand our universe.”

NEOWISE’s legacy is only just beginning

As astronomers continue to mine the NEOWISE archive at IRSA, there are many untold stories of comets, asteroids, nebulae, and more waiting in the data. 

Yuna Kwon, a solar system astronomer and IPAC archive scientist, first joined as a postdoctoral fellow in 2023. Even though the NEOWISE mission ended not long after, her work with its data is only just beginning. 

Along with Masiero, Kwon is leading a project called COSINE, Cometary Object Study Investigating their Nature and Evolution, cataloging and analyzing comets observed by NEOWISE. 

“Together with my amazing colleagues at IPAC, we now have the largest-ever consistently analyzed comet database and are preparing publications based on our findings,” said Kwon. 

Kwon studies comets because they are some of the oldest and most primitive objects in our solar system. Their physical properties could tell us about the conditions during the solar system’s formation. 

“Comets are like cats — they have tails and do precisely what they want,” said Kwon. “Thankfully, NEOWISE has a treasure trove of data to study these idiosyncratic objects.”

Before working with NEOWISE data, Kwon said that it was hard to decipher large-scale trends from only a small number of comets. But now with COSINE and NEOWISE data, she is able to understand the big picture. 

“I'm truly enjoying this exploration,” said Kwon. “My experience with NEOWISE data has broadened my perspective and deepened my understanding of the comet population itself, putting the observations in a broader context of the formation and evolution of the solar system.”

Going forward, Kwon hopes to combine the knowledge gained from NEOWISE with new data from upcoming observatories including NEO Surveyor and SPHEREx. 

TOP IMAGE: The California Nebula is seen in its entirety in this image from NASA’s WISE mission, covering over 25 square degrees of sky. In this infrared view, the dust clouds underlying the nebula glimmer in greens and reds. Also known as NGC 1499, it derives its common name from its similarity to the dramatic coastline of the U.S. state of California.

The California Nebula extends 100 light years through space, and it is illuminated by one of the hottest stars visible in the night sky, known as Menkib. Its surface temperature is about 37,000 degrees, and its total energy output is over 300,000 times more than that of our own Sun. It belongs to an association of very hot stars that were born from the California Nebula only a few million years ago.

The stellar winds blowing out from the fast-moving Menkib pile up as they impact interstellar gas and dust to create a shock wave. Known a “bow shock,” as an analogy to the waves that pile up at the bow of a sailing ship, it heats up the ambient dust clouds through which it is passing, seen here in red.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

CENTRE IMAGE: Skygazers have dubbed this region the “Gecko Nebula” for its resemblance to a downturned head with a pointed snout, though astronomers refer to the area as LBN 437. This cloud of dust and gas is a region of star formation, which is revealed clearly in infrared light by NASA’s WISE mission.

Near the “snout” of the gecko you can see a blazing star with a strong red tint, due to its brightness at longer wavelengths of infrared light. This baby star is in its final stages of formation, and while it gobbles up the last of its fuel, some is ejected away in jets of gas that are carving cavities through the surrounding dust clouds. These structures are known as “Herbig Haro” objects to astronomers, and the most prominent around this young star is called HH 398.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

LOWER IMAGE: This tadpole-shaped nebula is known as CG12. It is an example of a “cometary globule,” where a denser region of dust trails off into thread-like strands. While challenging to see in visible light images, WISE easily shows the full extent of the globule’s tail as it lights up at longer wavelengths of infrared light.

The tip of CG12 is also known as NGC 5367 in the Centaurus constellation. This region is easier to see as a “reflection nebula” as the light of the bright stars scatters off of the enveloping dust clouds, showing up in visible light images as a blue haze.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

BOTTOM IMAGE: These ghostly pillars span a large swath of sky about half the width of your outstretched hand held at arm’s length, falling along the boundary between the constellations of Vela and Centaurus. However, they have no common name and are not identified in historic catalogs like Messier or NGC for the simple reason they cannot be seen in visible light. This region falls behind a veil of dust in the spaces between stars and can only be seen at longer wavelengths of infrared light, as seen here in data from NASA’s WISE mission. At wavelengths of 12 and 22 microns, displayed here in green and red, respectively, the obscuring dust becomes more transparent, and denser clouds of dust begin to glow clearly under the light of neighboring stars.

Pillars such as these are found in regions where there are clumpy, denser clouds of gas and dust falling under the illumination of nearby hot, bright stars. The dust particles are slowly destroyed by the stars’ ultraviolet light, but denser regions erode more slowly than their surroundings, and even shield material behind them. This creates striking pillar-shaped structures like these.

The tips of these pillars often serve as stellar nurseries, as the denser gas and dust collapse over time to form and nurture new stars. These can be seen as red-tinted spots of light in the two largest pillars in this image, glowing brightly at the longest wavelengths of infrared light.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC