#i wish I had an answer

[feytouchedtwilight]

“There was a time, Becket knew, when holy people were not safe. When they were not tame. When they were not the gentle shepherds, but the keepers of mysteries and the guardians of fire. As a priest, he turned wine into blood and bread into flesh—why had that ever become a tame thing, a safe thing? God was not safe. The numinous was not safe. So why then had he hemmed in his faith with safety? His hunger with rules? His zeal with bloodless, methodical praxis? He loved rituals, rites, and liturgies, that was unchanged. He loved the motions of them, the ancient words, the less-than-ancient words made to sound older than they were. But he’d been reduced by them, he saw now. Or perhaps not him personally, but his understanding, his relationship with God and belief. He’d hoped to wrestle it into submission, that relationship, and make it something that matched the way other people believed. He’d hoped to hide his zeal, stuff it into the corners of himself, bind it and lash it to his heart so it could never make it to his mouth to his hands and deeds. So that it could never make itself known. All he’d wanted, all he’d ever wanted, was to believe like other people did. Communally and pleasantly, and with glad hearts that could easily bear the distance between themselves and God. Not wild and alone. Chasing after God like an abandoned bridegroom. … Yes, the zeal was dangerous. Yes, it could consume him if he wasn’t strong enough. But he was tired of fighting it. Tired of pushing away love and sex and feral fun, tired of keeping his hunger for God locked in a box because he felt like he had to.”

~ Door of Bruises by Sierra Simone

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

hi, i wanted to ask what you think about those japanese zoo's training exercises were someone dresses up as an animal and pretends to have escaped and all that, are they effective? what do U.S zoo's do to train for things like that?

They look silly, but they're a real emergency drill! They force people to think through how they'd problem-solve in real time and in the physical space, which is a very different experience than just thinking about it.

There's no consistent requirement for emergency drills in the US federal regulations for zoos, but there is a contingency planning one. Facilities licensed by the USDA have to identify and create plans for addressing likely emergencies they may have to deal with, which is everything from like natural disasters to animal escapes. That's all done as paperwork and provided to the government to prove they've done it.

BUT. That doesn't mean that zoos and other animal facilities don't do more planning on their own. Some of the third-party accreditations (it might be all of them but I don't have the docs in front of me to confirm) require regular drills for all types of emergency scenarios.

Now there's a slight problem there - a real escape drill, run fully on grounds with real people and stand-in animal, interferes with the daily operations of the zoo. You might not have to physically shut all the guests into buildings during a practice leopard escape, but you do need them to not get in the way, and you don't want to scare people who think a drill is real, etc. So there's an alternate option.

US zoos frequently run emergency management drills as TTRGPs!

Like, they use a printed scale map of the zoo and roll dice to randomize the situation. This is absolutely recommended as a strategy by the Zoo and Aquariums All Hazard Partnership: there's a whole webpage about it, including instructions for the Drill Master.

There are in-person drills, of course, because you have to practice dealing with these problems in meatspace. But a lot of them are done tabletop! I cannot express the extent of my mirth when I first encountered this in the wild at a conference about a decade ago, when the idea was really taking off. It was Very Serious Zoo People on a Very Serious Topic about preventing Really Bad Things from happening... and then suddenly there was a d20 on the screen.

[sangthael]

progression of events

[letsplaythermalnuclearwar]

Homer!Odysseus and Epic!Odysseus would try to kill each other if they ever met

[cheolhub]

Hello are you taking requests??

this is a good question

[bunnieswithknives]

Thanks.

Prev

[lokimobius]

LOKI S01E02 “The Variant”

[ghostfiish]

i like the red one

[starcurtain]

While We're on the Topic... A SethoScara Fic I Want to Read:

"That I time I almost caused a calamity because I asked a cat a question."

Or, more precisely:

Sethos, being incurably curious, is convinced that the Akademiya's favorite aloof "Hat Guy" isn't quite the average Inazuman student studying abroad that most people take him for--and, in fact, Sethos is pretty sure he isn't quite human at all. But how do you research non-human entities from a foreign country you've never even visited? Well, well, well, how remarkably convenient it is to have a known non-human Inazuman who visits Sumeru every couple of weeks!

When Sethos stops Kirara mid-delivery, it's supposed to be an innocuous question: "Is Hat Guy a youkai like you?"

But Kirara's equally innocuous answer somehow threatens to up-end 500 years of accepted history: "A youkai like me? I don't think so. If you're asking me to use my nekomata senses, unfortunately all I can really say is that he doesn't smell like anything 'alive' at all... Oh, but I have smelled that exact same scent one time before--when I met the electro archon!"

Pulling on one thread is enough to unwind it all, and Sethos's mostly-innocent curiosity brings to light a tale of suffering, murder, gods, and political machinations five hundred years in the making, awakening truths which should have been long wiped from Irminsul--and putting his tentative friendship with the mysterious Wanderer (not, to mention, you know, the fate of all of Sumeru) in gravest danger.

Don't worryyyy. Sethos has got this.

[moisthalforcboy]

This is another time I wish the Florida SuperCon EXU panel had been recorded. There are people who don't know that the final question of that panel was for Robbie and it was "When are you going to just *please* kiss Orym?" and the whole room (includine Aimee and Anjali) exploded with applause.

[canisalbus]

Your characters, Vasco and Machete, are huge inspirations to me as an artist and storyteller. They're OCs that (mostly) don't have a rigid medium to learn about them through, but they're still instantly recognisable and beloved by people from all over the internet. What you've managed to create with them is amazing.

.

[meownotgood]

Wait you are so right about obsessive viktor!! Wth why didn't i connect that... He'd scourer piltover to find you! I like to think he's desperate to show you eveything he's gain and rationalize you running away from him as you being afraid if the "glorious unknown"

viktor would go one step further anon, he literally has hundreds of followers at his disposal. if you were somewhere in piltover or even in the depths of the undercity, he will find you. even if it means utilizing his commune, seeing through all of his followers' eyes at once in order to track you down. even if it means sneaking — or perhaps fighting his way — into piltover. you will see his vision, eventually. you must. you, out of everyone, must understand. you have always understood his ambitions, why would this be any different?

perhaps you doubt the lengths he is willing to go to. you believe you are far from his grasp. as you walk through the crowded streets of piltover, accidentally bumping into someone as you try to brush past — a hand finds your shoulder, stills you. your eyes catch with a stranger donning a placid, gentle smile, five arcane-touched imprints marked onto their face. their swirling eyes flutter, before their pupils gloss over to form pale, full moons.

and a voice you would recognize anywhere, viktor's voice, speaks through them.

"there you are."

[inkzectz]

would you ever post a timelapse of ur art? i really really adore the way you draw faces in your style and the colors you choose give each piece so much life and im super curious to see the process(and i also may or may not take notes to improve my art skills…🗒️✍️)!

(thank you and i hope you’re having a good day!!)

I usually have Timelapse’s off for procreate bc it takes up a lot of storage, but I got this one just for this ask ^_^

While I’m flattered, I will say my drawing process is honestly pretty impractical, I do get asks and questions about my process a lot but I feel like I’d be doing people a disservice if I posted about it, especially since I’m CONSTANTLY changing the way I draw (process wise) and I’m always trying to improve, I could give general tips but I don’t feel that’s what people are looking for.

Whats easiest for me might not be what’s easiest for you, everyone’s process is different, and on one hand you might find something in the way I draw helpful I don’t think it would be in my process but rather a little method or source.

I don’t really have a process I just open procreate and then look at pintrest for 30 minutes until I get an idea and then struggle for an hour to get a really basic outline of what I want, and then struggle more to make it look good enough to show people

[val-of-the-north]

Tibia Mariners and Those Lost in Death

While I am at it, I should talk about a detail found in Messmer's Shadow Keep. On the way to the Specimen Storehouse, you'll be faced with a peculiar sight: boats lit on fire.

This seems to be a callback to Viking funerals, except the boats are placed in a row and burnt on land. It's certainly an odd practice, but it might only be done this way because Messmer's forces are far from an accessible shore or water that's deep enough to perform it normally.

However, something else caught my eye. The boats looked quite familiar so I went back to check and...

It was the EXACT model as the boats used by the Tibia Mariners! Perhaps it is obvious seeing as the Messmer boats are used in a funerary rite, but I think it's still quite a significant connection, especially since the old Mariners have gotten quite a bit of new lore in the DLC. In Charo's Hidden Grave we can find the skulls of boatmen as a crafting material, presumably that of previous Tibia Mariners.

This is outright confirmed after finding the lone Tibia Mariner in the area, who upon defeat drops the Tibia's Cookbook, which describes them as the oldest of grave keepers.

(Btw I love the detail of the piece of lace cloth and golden ornaments, they are the same found on the Mariners themselves. They even come with the same ghostly glow)

This is quite the revelation, as prior to Shadow of the Erdtree we had no way of knowing that these guys actually predated the spread of Deathroot and Godwyn's transformation into the Prince of Death. And how could we doubt that, since they even drop Deathroot themselves? But there was something that most people have neglected to note about the Mariners, me included.

In the base game, the Tibia Mariner found in the Wyndham Ruins drops a spell called Tibia's Summons. This inconspicuous sorcery of the servants of death actually holds a perplexing description which mentions a group known as "Those Lost in Death".

There was something seemingly redundant and unexplained about these guys. What does "Lost in Death" mean? Why aren't they simply called "Those Who Live in Death"? It wouldn't blame anyone for assuming that this description just contains an outdated term for the undead before they stuck with the one used in-game. However, through the Tibia's Cookbook, we find a NEW reference to this same concept.

Roughly the same title (Those Lost in Death = one lost in death), the same underlying sentiment, and we have verifiable proof that the Tibia Mariners are outright ancient... so what's the deal with this? Well, I have a theory.

The descriptions of these things hint at the fact that the dead have been wandering for a very long time, and that they are in need of leadership. Before the DLC, it was easy to assume that the undead were simply a result of Deathroot, and the game seemed to suggest the same thing by stating multiple times that it was the origin of Those Who Live in Death...

... but that's the thing! Prior to Deathroot connecting them to Godwyn, the undead amounted only to shambling corpses. They were not LIVING in Death, but simply LOST in it, which is how the Mariners were able to control them in ancient times through the use of sounds, both their horns and the Calls of Tibia. It's only through the guidance of a lord, in this case the Prince of Death, that they found an identity and new life.

It's likely the undead waned in the era of Marika because of her elaborate Erdtree burials and general control of life and death. Heck, the figure of Rosus, who guides us to the Catacombs, must have also played a big part in their disappearance. His axe has a similar power to the Tibia's Summons and it's called Rosus's Summons. Its description also mentions that the dead easily lose their way, meaning that Rosus was meant to lend the dead a guiding hand. "Those Lost in Death" would be lost no more.

Without people Lost in Death, the Mariners kind of lost their purpose and vanished for a long time... until the Shattering and the rise of Those Who Live in Death of course. It might mean that the only reason they hold onto Deathroot is because it attracts and connects the new undead.

I guess Godwyn was meant to be a sort of "lighthouse" for all undead. He would make sure they never lost themselves but also that they would be allowed to live instead of being forced back to rest like with Rosus and Marika. Him being a "lighthouse" also fits the marine theme that all this death business is going for quite neatly I think...

But to return to what started this... maybe those boats lit on fire are Messmer's way of making sure the soldiers of his army aren't lost to death after their passing. A way to give them a proper rest the way Marika would have wanted, even though he is limited in what he can do about it. The Catacombs are now corrupted with Deathroots and Godwyn's corpse bodies, and guarded by his fervent golden Death Knights.

(P.S. - I didn't know where to put this, but "Charo" is one letter off from Charon, the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythology. Seeing as the place is connected to the Tibia Mariners, who shepherded Those Lost in Death in an age long past, I find that this connection might not be mere coincidence...)

[theaxolotlkween]

Silly little comic I made.

[willgrahamscock]

Hey, as a fellow Hungarian lesbian, who also happens to be non-binary and genderfluid, I wanted to thank you for your vehement support of the trans community. I know it should be normal, but it sadly isn't, and I really appreciate you speaking out for us and supporting us.

Köszönöm. Tényleg nagyon értékelem, főleg mert Magyarországon sajnos eléggé szar a helyzet a transznemű embereknek (és az egész LMBTQ+nak, de ezt te is jól tudod😔). Én már nem élek Magyarországon, de akkor is nagyon remélem hogy valamikor változni fognak otthon a dolgok. De ezt csak együtt tartással tudjuk elérni. Minden jót kívánok neked <33

I’ve been getting a few of these anons, and I can’t express how much it means to me. Be weird, be off putting, be different, be YOU. I may not be trans or aro or ace, but I know what it’s like to feel alone. You’re not, not on my blog at least. If you feel alone or outcasted just remember I’m always there with you in spirit

/threat.