#is an incredible worldbuilder

[serene-cinders]

A modern dunmeshi au would go crazy. Imagine being a teen half foot applying for a job and then an elf with 184 years of experience swoops in. Unreal

[bumblingbabooshka]

Thinking about marriage/women's rights on Vulcan Some may think that T'Pring not being allowed to divorce Spock was because he was going through the pon farr but if she were allowed to divorce him at all she probably would have done that a long time ago, confirmed by T'Pol when she's speaking with Koss, who isn't suffering from the pon farr. She says that he can choose another mate (without invoking a fight it seems: note the difference between a 'mate' and a 'challenger') and after he makes it clear that nothing she says will change his mind about marrying her, she finally threatens to declare a kal-if-fee. It's clear that Vulcan women cannot divorce/refuse to marry a man they've been betrothed to under any circumstances if A) He himself doesn't consent to ending their marriage or B) She doesn't have someone else waiting in the wings to be given to in his stead. Though, if the challenger she selects fails to win the fight, she'll have to marry her betrothed anyway unless (again) he decides he doesn't want her after the challenge. That seems like an incredibly unfair system, heavily biased towards men. SNW is an alternate universe in many obvious respects but most egregiously in that T'Pring has a lot of non-canonical agency over her relationship with Spock. It's interesting to me that Vulcan society has women in many positions of power and treats women as equal to men from what I've seen despite these laws. We don't really see Vulcans exhibiting a misogynistic attitude towards women in general but in TOS (perhaps because of its general writing style but it's still interesting to note) both Sarek and Spock take on patriarchal attitudes specifically regarding wives. Amanda says that 'of course' Sarek commands her because "he is a Vulcan and I am his wife." It's worthwhile in my eyes to note that she specifies 'wife' instead of attributing this attitude to women as a whole. Again, with TOS' writing style it wouldn't be out of place for her to say "he is a man and I am a woman." Spock, while in a pon farr induced irritation, states that it's "undignified for a woman to play servant to a man that isn't hers" - again implying that there's something specific about being a Wife in Vulcan society which is different from being a woman in general and demands subservience to a husband. This could perhaps stem from the extreme sense of ownership that Vulcan law has permitted men to have over women. A woman legally cannot point blank refuse marriage. There is no option which guarantees she won't have to marry her betrothed other than death. When T'Pau speaks of T'Pring she refers to her as being 'property' and Stonn, before being interrupted, states he's made 'the ancient claim' - we don't know what this is because he gets cut off but it's obvious they're both using the language of Vulcan law. Men are permitted true freedom to choose. If a woman wants to choose someone else to be with there is no option available to her other than the kal-if-fee which might result in the death of the one she wants to be with. And, if her lover fails, her husband can still just decide he wants to marry her and she'll be forced to. T'Pring gives two scenarios: One where Spock 'frees' her and one where he doesn't - it's still ultimately his decision which is clear when he ends the conversation with "Stonn, she is yours." This again isn't just because of the pon farr as T'Pol also goes through this. Koss can choose another mate and when the option is talked about there's no implication that this would result in any sort of fight (both by the casualness of its mention and by the fact that there's no formal word for it unlike the kal-if-fee.) Also, the fact that Koss does eventually grant T'Pol a divorce and it's all fine means that T'Pol isn't lawfully required to have another man waiting if her HUSBAND doesn't want her. It's ONLY required if SHE doesn't want her husband. Tradition must take precedence over individual desire UNLESS!!! You're a man. Then it's fine. Like, your parents might not be happy but legally you're golden.

[rederiswrites]

You know, I really don't think they ever came up with a coherent cultural idea for the Anderfels, but honestly, if we continue with their "Thedas is upside down Europe" thing, I think it would've been fucking great if they'd drawn on Slavic culture for the Anderfels. Chronically poor but culturally rich battleground, where everyone is used to everything sucking but somehow they persist in meaningful and beautiful ways? I feel like there's amazing material there.

[theboxfort]

Object Ergonomics #1: Door pedals for armless objects

Text transcript in case it's hard to read:

"Both the handle and pedal unlocks the same mechanism" "Piano pedal-ish" "Refs" "Step on pedal" --> "Pull/Push"

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Sometimes I think I’m not that weird and then I spend a solid amount of time wondering what kind of contraceptives are available in the Grishaverse and specifically how accessible they are in the Barrel, particularly based on the quote “Getting pregnant isn’t actually a special talent. Ask any luckless girl in the Barrel”. Is unwanted pregnancy more common in the Barrel than elsewhere in Ketterdam because of the lack of social services in the city and especially in its poorest areas? is it because teen pregnancies often lead to kids being kicked out so they end up in the Barrel? is there a higher statistic by product of the pleasure houses and especially if there aren’t safe contraceptives readily available in the pleasure houses? and if so what do the people running the pleasure houses do to the girls because of it? is it because unexpected pregnancies in higher social classes would just lead to rushed marriages so it’s more noticeable in the Barrel? or is the comment based solely on Kaz’s individual experience of the city, ie its slums, in which case whilst it’s telling us about the Barrel it’s not making any particular comparison to the rest of the city? I kind of assume there must be some contraceptives available because the possibility of pregnancies in the pleasure houses is never discussed but I doubt they’re readily available and based on what we know about the resources and development in the worldbuilding and timeline may not be the most reliable, in which case what is happening to indentured girls who end up impregnated? Because, somehow, I just don’t think they’re safe. (Where could I have possibly gotten that idea?) So yeah, I am, in fact, that weird. But I really need to know the answer to this.

[atissi]

The kickstarter for Book of Devotion is now live!

Book of Devotion is an artbook dedicated to clerics, paladins, and the divine beings they worship. I've gotten very fond of the weirdass technocleric I designed, and I'm excited to share more about them (as soon as the mods let me). In the meantime though, the kickstarter will be open from April 29th to June 13th.

[elbiotipo]

Also, nobody wants to talk about the logistics of coffee in space, I assume they're too busy with the medieval obsession, don't you want to talk about if coffee can be grown in especialized habitats, are there terraformed worlds exclusively for coffee, what are labor rights for coffee growers in a post-scarcity future, what about characters talking about the difference between synthetic and natural coffee, hell where does synthetic coffee comes from and how is it able to compete with natural coffee, maybe coffee can only be grown in especialized worlds so the expense of growing it and launching it to orbit (compared to the expense of growing it in habitats?) is too much?

but no, it's all about fantasy middle ages

[wanderingokali]

Okalivember day 12, aberrant!

The kita is a large mammal that lives in arid grasslands and digs in the ground for roots with its hooves. This one is albino!

The bog kisgulderel is a small biennal plant, that blooms for only a week at the end of summer on its second year. This one is fasciated!

The kojapkoviz is a large beetle who is a clumsy flier. It lives in dense foliage, and while the males only live a year, the females hibernate in holes they've dug in the ground and can live up to four years! This one is bilateral gynandromorph.

The abali is a large, fast-running cyclops that lives in the large plains of the Nalken Peninsula region. It can have up to fifteen young at once, and will raise them for two years. This one is piebald.

[beetleandfox]

man I love Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell so much. I wish England was real

[lucalicatteart]

 sculpted a strange shimmery two headed snail, speckled with wild flowers on it's shell~

[creekfiend]

I watched like the first two seasons of SPN 10-15 yrs ago and my primary impression was that it was kind of like Scooby-Doo, and tbqh I think SPN would have been better if it had just been kind of like Scooby-Doo. like "Scooby-Doo but it's your family" is a super hilarious concept just inherently. bc ok, the thing about Scooby-Doo is that everyone is there on purpose, for fun. they are having fun with their friends. but if Scooby-Doo was family members who were Scooby-Dooing for like, garbage dynastic reasons, that's SO MUCH FUNNIER. Scooby-Doo but your emotionally neglectful dad is making you Scoob the Doos. Scooby-Doo but everyone has generational resentment.

like the Shadowhunters worldbuilding question of "what if magical cops, but it's hereditary" (well Ms Clare, that sounds terrible) but instead of magical COPS it's MAGICAL INDEPENDENT MYSTERY SOLVING TEAM but it's hereditary. sounds HILARIOUS let's DO IT

[doodlejoltik]

i suddenly realised that Rei has to own both a Poryphone and the ArcPhone so that he can use sync moves. having two phones is inconvenient so he takes the SIM card out of the ArcPhone and puts it in the Poryphone

[chiropteracupola]

Ain't nothing come easy / No, nothing comes quick / But I want for you this, that you are well / I want for us this, that we are well...

Another illustration of Temeraire-crossover fic — this time, James Norrington and Tempest, from @boltlightning's delightful Pirates of the Caribbean crossover 'windfall / landfall'.

[rhinoyo]

a quick nine from @chosenonesdnd because i had to draw them immediately :') and a silly arthur drawing i'd been meaning to make <3 (a link to the podcast you should listen to it <3)

[unhingedlesbear]

Not to be annoying but being a beastars fan bc you actually enjoy the story and characters and world and not just for the yaoi ship is quite tragic sometimes

[robindaydream]

I think one of the most impressive things about Small Saga for me is how well it balances tone. Like, looking at the plot as a whole and the kind of subjects it deals with, it's not a lighthearted game. You're waging a bloody war of revenge on the world and you kill plenty of people in the process.

But it never feels like it goes too far. It shows a lot of care in which foes you kill vs. which ones you beat up and scare off. I kept worrying about it at the beginning, cause you fight a few enemies that are just, like. A human's pet. And I kept feeling like "oh no I really hope I don't kill them that'd make me so sad" but it never happened. And through the whole game, I never saw the results of a fight and went "aw man that sucks." The game doesn't always give characters the fate they most deserve. Sometimes good people die and bad people live. But it always makes sense and feels appropriate.

And it's also a game full of goofy jokes and silly characters. One of the villains is a fascist dictator squirrel who vapes. At one point you find mouse porn on a bookcase and the characters discuss who they're into. You rescue a pigeon from a trash can. And it's a game full of hope, too. It's a game about making things better and not just letting things that suck keep on sucking.

In the end it left me feeling really happy.