#its a fairly regular occurance

[saintartemis]

Musings of a Museum Professional.

Working with visitors means that you end up thinking of way better ways of answering a visitor's question, hours after the interaction.

[serpentface]

Bulls of the three native wild cattle species- forest bison, buffalo, and aurochs. All three are referred to together as 'kuliganne' (wild oxen/cattle) and only aurochs have a specific name ('ganamit') in common Wardi vernacular, though some local dialects have individual names for each species.

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Forest bison are outright diminutive in size with lean builds, gracile legs, and small horns. They thrive best in densely wooded areas with easy access to water, and are found only rarely beyond the treeline. They feed primarily by browsing and do not compete intensely with the other two wild bovines (which are primarily grazers), allowing their ranges to heavily overlap in some areas.

These bison are the rarest and most limited in range of the native bovines (WITHIN the Imperial Wardi region- they have the widest Total range of the three) . These animals were native to the once vast northern forest, and are now confined to the two remaining major areas of intact woodland. The two populations have been separated for centuries and show minor physical differences, with the western Highland forest bison being slightly smaller with thicker coats, and the eastern Oakland forest bison having longer legs and darker coloration (whether they could be classed as separate subspecies would be a matter of debate).

Forest bison herds can grow fairly large when resources allow, and consist of cows, their young, and subadult males. Adult bulls hold individual territories (which frequently overlap with other males with little competition outside of the breeding season) and patrol the peripheries of their local herds to defend against predators. Herds form out of related females and their young, but do not always stay that way- when different groups meet, they will quite readily exchange members before splitting apart again. Their dominance hierarchies are formed based upon age, and are not strictly maintained by behavioral reinforcement.

They are powerful for their size, but they are accessible prey items for most large predators. Small predators like jackals can occasionally take down adults, and calves are sometimes known to be killed by opportunistic nechoi or even large eagles. Forest bison are swift runners and usually flee from attack, though will form protective circles around their calves when cornered.

Forest bison are interfertile with domestic cattle but do not readily breed with them; hybrids are virtually unknown. Kulustaig cattle of the Highlands show signs of trace bison ancestry, but this hybridization likely occurred prior to their ancestors being brought south across the sea rather than with the native forest bison.

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Buffalo are large, robust, and bulky animals. They are not notably tolerant to dehydration and their range is mostly clustered around large, permanent bodies of water. Wardi buffalo are most populous in savannah and floodplain habitat in the eastern parts of the region, and have largely been kept out of the west (and its highly agreeable, wetter habitats) by the better established aurochs (and the higher density of farmland and livestock). They rarely permanently occupy grassland, but some groups temporarily migrate into the plains during the rainy season.

They are highly social and can group into very large herds as resources allow. Cows and their young form the body of the herd, with bachelor herds existing on the peripheries. Sexually mature bulls generally tolerate each others' presence, and form dominance hierarchies based on size and age.

They are very powerful animals and difficult to kill, with their only regular hunters being lions, crocodiles, riverdrakes, and humans. King hyena (though the largest predator in the region) rarely attempt to tackle healthy adults, and instead pick off sick or injured individuals. Hyenas almost never take down adults, but can be threats to their calves. Buffalo behave aggressively towards sources of predation and will actively mob and attempt to kill lone predators and/or their young. They are extremely dangerous to humans, and may kill more people yearly than any other native fauna (rivaled only by crocodiles).

Buffalo are not interfertile with domestic cattle (and tend to behave aggressively towards them), though that doesn't prevent occasional claims of hybridization. They often compete heavily with livestock (in addition to being a severe danger to humans) and do not benefit from a specifically sacred status, and thus are sometimes methodically extirpated from key pasture and water sources.

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Aurochs are the most widespread of all native bovines, and can be found throughout the region. The Wardi aurochs is highly adaptable and can be found in a variety of environments, but is most notable for tolerating dry conditions- it can thrive in open grassland and even semi-desert scrub that is wholly inaccessible to buffalo. They also fare decently well at elevation and can be found in parts of the Highlands, though compete with livestock for limited pasture and are often driven off by herders.

They are the least social of the native bovines, with most bulls being entirely solitary outside of the breeding season and cows and their young living in small herds (usually consisting of 2-5 adults). Separate herds sometimes congregate in the cooler rainy season to mate and give birth.

Aurochs are VERY large and have few predators (similarly to buffalo, only humans, lions, riverdrakes, and crocodiles regularly kill them). However, their small group size opens more opportunities for the smaller or solo predators- sufficiently large groups of hyenas can take them down, king hyena are occasionally known to chance attacks on healthy adults, and their young are vulnerable to most predators. They can be highly aggressive when provoked, but do not engage in mobbing behaviors.

They are fully interfertile with domestic cattle (though this particular subspecies is likely not the ancestor that Wardi native cattle are domesticated from). Most do not go out of their way to mate with livestock, but some bulls are known (even locally infamous) for 'seducing' receptive cows within their territories. This crossbreeding is sometimes encouraged in hopes of improving cattle stock, though first generation hybrids can often be aggressive and difficult to manage. Some Wardi aurochs populations show distinct signs of hybridization, including the lyrate horns, dewlaps, and some markings of the native domestic cattle.

Aurochs have a near-ubiquitous venerated status among the Wardi, Wogan, and Cholemdinae peoples. They are considered sacred to the faith of the seven faced God and are valuable sacrifices; the Face of God Mitlamache (and God Itself during the act of creation) is usually represented by an aurochs. The word 'mitla' is the Wardi word for both a crescent moon and the horns of aurochs.

There are several variants of bullfighting practices in Imperial Wardi culture, and wild aurochs are used in some. This includes bull leaping, bull dancing (where a person taunts and dances with the bull while evading harm until the animal tires), and the Very dangerous bull wrestling (where a fighter tires the animal until it can be physically wrestled to the ground). Most bullfighting practices are non-fatal, but aurochs specifically are used in explicitly sacrificial fights, a very difficult rite in which the animal must be brought down with only a small blade.

Here's a map showing the (heavily approximated) ranges of the three species. Low opacity denotes low population density or species overlap. Areas of species overlap with bison may imply simultaneous occupation (as the bison does not intensely compete for resources with the other two), while aurochs/buffalo overlap usually does not (they compete directly and established populations rarely occur in the same places at the same times).

This map only indicates the population of the Wardi aurochs, Wardi buffalo, and forest bison (there are plenty of other species/subspecies in these genera outside of the marked area). The forest bison is the only one of the three to occur on both sides of the Blackmane mountains.

[uldahstreetrat]

Im trying to take note of real world influences in XIV for some projects going forward, like languages used in areas (French names in Ishgard, Roman terms in Garlemald) or like in aesthetics I suppose (like Radz-at-han in particular reminds me of Istanbul), and I'd like to hear others' thoughts about those kinds of influences that they've noticed

(little more context on things im working on under the cut)

right now this has a lot to do with things like stamps lmao I have in fact gotten kinda into stamp collecting now and I'd like to design some for XIV areas based on similar irl counterpart countries? like regular stamps and stuff like a sort of Garlean version of US postal war savings stamps? so having irl countries to reference for stamp styles would be helpful to like figure that stuff out

and honestly all of this is just part of making a physical copy of Q'ihnn's journal more complicated than it needs to be but never let it be said that I dont have a love of unnecessarily dense world building

plus by having a list of reference countries I can also build out other kinds of like, souvenirs? in the journal from the places visited across msq - a lot of things I see people keep in journals, especially travel ones, are stuff like wrappers or other packaging, pieces of maps, receipts (that's its own rabbit hole ive gone down), ticket stubs, and other various little paper things along with photos and drawings (which are much easier to manage in comparison)

cause a lot of this shit doesnt extensively exist within the game often beyond a mention in a stray line of dialogue or two so there's advantages to having irl cultural and historical reference to make something that feels real - plus im often off in lala fantasy land in my head because im stuck at home a lot, im not exactly well traveled, so im sure its easy for me to miss especially like language use in certain areas (I didnt even notice how French Ishgardian names were until someone else made a joke about it, it just doesnt occur to me)

like some of these influences are fairly obvious, right, like Doma and Kugane being Japanese inspired and Greek influence around Sharlayan (which the Greek/Roman dichotomy that Sharlayan and Garlemald have going on is its own whole thing I could go into btw they're so similar yet different in such interesting ways) - but places like Ul'dah?? not a clue. Ala Mhigo? no idea. The Crystarium and Eulmore in the first??? oh I'd put my head through a wall trying to thing of a real world counterpart for reference

granted now having said that someone is going to point out something obvious that I just entirely missed some way or another lmao but like that's why im asking, right? anyway if you have nerd ass thoughts too just hit me up

[runesofthedelta]

There's some real funny character stuff that occurs post-no-mercy and into a true pacifist.

Chara seemingly returns to their old self, as the narrator, on that post-geno-pascifist. Frisk still gives their name as Frisk at the end.

The game is actually pretty forgiving about both geno and pascifist. Because there's nothing in either or that suggests that the world has fundamentally changed.

... But Chara, isn't forgiving.

Undertale falls with the idea that the characters are people. It asks "if a protagonist can actually Save their Game in real life, how would that affect the world and its people?", It follows every trope when it comes to RPG monsters, asking "If our hero is so heroic, what about all those monsters they slaughtered by the hundreds to get to the end?"

Its a deconstruction on the ideas of RPG. Most of the time, it reconstructs just as well, letting you explore what you'd like and still making it just in time for a happy ending...

... Until you decide to go on a killing spree.

In a reset post-geno, you have only one LV. By the end, the kid we've been playing identifies themselves as Frisk. Chara is still the Fallen Child we name, and is still the fairly amicable narrator.

Until the end.

If we choose for Frisk to leave Toriel (to... gods knows where), the picture we receive has all our "friends" crossed out, and the character of Frisk replaced with Chara.

( This might imply that they went after our friends... but truth is, at 1 LV, shared between Frisk and Chara, they have no killing intent at all. )

Crossing out this picture is a "Fuck You" to Chara. Frisk and Chara finally get a happy ending... but you, the Player? Absolutely Not. Chara won't allow it.

If we choose for Frisk to go with Toriel, Frisk lives with her and can be found sleeping in a bedroom as we watch. Once Toriel leaves a pie slice, Chara turns over and stares at our "camera".

( Still LV1, you can't get the true pacifist run without LV1 )

All this shows...

That Chara and Frisk share the LV. And about after Ruins, in Geno, is where Chara just takes center stage. Only in aborted runs or resets, does the stage return to Frisk and Chara chills out.

That Souls transcend Time and Space. Its the only way Chara would know enough or be around enough, to know what we the player did in a post-geno-pascifist world and ending.

Neither Frisk nor Chara control the Red Heart. We do, the Player. Even though the Red Heart is Frisk's soul, and that Chara is attached to it because Chara is a post-mortem consciouss that should have a Human soul, and persumably, their soul was Red too. ( I would've said that we don't know, because there were other humans... but Chara's speech in Geno specify Frisk. )

Frisk, cannot do a genocide route. At the start of it, Chara takes over right away, and stops talking to Frisk, and starts talking to Us. in every Neutral and Pacifist Route, Chara talks to Frisk. In Geno, Chara takes over, and Frisk isn't a factor. But once Chara gets the Red Soul, from us the Player, Chara will willfully just go back to talking to Frisk. Until we, the player, try to get involved in the ending scene--in which case, Chara takes right back over.

Chara encourages mercy and mischief, when someone is playing the game to be merciful. Very rarely do they interfere with the choice (one known exception is refusing to allow crying), and only in the true lab does Frisk interfere with Chara's set choices... of which Chara will staunchly back up Frisk's reactions from then on.

Even post Geno, Chara encourages mercy and mischief, but this is more specifically pointed to Frisk.

( Because if Chara just wanted to screw everyone, why wait for a geno-play? Why not just do it in a regular True Pacifist... Its because they don't actually want a Genocide. Who does? )

Chara wants to help, and protect, Frisk, as the "narrator".

They read to Frisk, they understand Froggits for Frisk, they give options, give descriptions. (I've got my own personal HC about who exactly is reading the HP, EXP, LV, ATK and DEF, because I'm pretty certain Chara isn't that indepth about monsters they couldn't have possibly met.. but they're definitely the flavor Texts and Descrptions). They kinda translate Frisk for Us the Players, so they do semi-know that there's a third (HC: Or fourth) party here.

( I believe the reason why ties into how the Red Soul operates as a human soul. Free Movement? Prime power to escape nearly any situation? Red Monster Magic about alarms and warnings? Red Text meaning Danger? The Red soul pays attention to Danger, and its first instinict is to Flee--thusly, Frisk is actually a pretty scarred kid. )

Chara's first instinict upon waking up to Frisk, inspite of how much others have claimed that Chara hated humanity... was to help by any means necessary with what little they can do. Especially since Frisk is a scared kid who doesn't know what to do at all.

So when that allpowerful third-forth party comes in, and decides that death by any means necessary is the goal...

What's Chara to do, except, take the brunt of it instead? Let Frisk take the backseat, and Chara does the dirty work so that Frisk doesn't get hurt.

Then Chara performs their ultimatum. They sever our connection to the world, and it stays dead, or we give them the Red Soul.

And upon taking the red Soul, Chara seemingly returns to just the merciful-mischievous narrator, at LV1, with Frisk.

... Only now, they stay with Frisk. And when it looks like that we, the player, are looking at them outside of the underground--Chara looks Back.

They took the red soul to ensure this little kid, Never Gets Bothered or Hurt by Us again.

ADDENDUM:

This ain't the first time in anime fiction where a dead semi-psychotic seemingly soulless spirit, fond of mercy and mischief but also fond of giving those with ill-intent their just rewards, who possesses a younger soul and bolsters and protect them.

Who woke up confused about where they were and what was going on.

Who definitely got themselves killed pulling something that didn't work, and they still had to fix it after they was dead.

Who's actions did result in a friend of theirs becoming a total asshole in his next life.

Who has played both psycho and savior.

And was a royal child.

... And y'know, they just happen to like children's card games.

[adobe-outdesign]

Thoughts on Glastrier and Spectrier's designs?

(This is the last Pokemon review request in the inbox right now. You know the drill, send 'em if you got 'em.

Also, note: the Ice and Shadow Rider forms were already done as part of Calyrex's review here.)

Glastrier reminds me a bit of a Gen 1 mon, in that it's like the first thing that comes to me if you mixed animal + element. Much as the Ponyta line is just "horse, but on fire", this is "horse, but with ice", with all the ice bits in the places you'd expect ice bits to be.

The most interesting part of Glastrier's design is the head—the large crystal coming off the back of the head is arguably vaguely unicorn-ish, and it transitions into a short ice mane down the back, which is kind of neat. It's also kind of neat that the mask is asymmetrical, with ice going all the way down one side but not the other, making it effectively half-blind. However, none of this really means anything or comes together particularly coherently, resulting in a fairly forgettable 'mon.

Spectrier is definitely the better of the two here. While it's still a bit straightforward, it does has one really cool element that feels particularly notable: the hooves are completely disconnected from the body and are actually backwards on top of that, calling to mind some mythologies like the Kelpie. This is actually both really cool visually and a good concept to build upon that goes a bit beyond just "horse but ghost".

However, the rest of the design, while not as bland as Glastrier, is kind of underwhelming compared to those cool legs. It has a wavy purple man that feels weirdly solid (though the tips of it do fade away a bit)—I could've easily seen it matching the ethereal look of the hooves. The body is just a regular black horse, nothing notable there. The eye is kind of interesting, as it basically never ones it. And that wasn't a typo—it has one eye on one side of its body, similar to how Glastier's second eye is covered with ice.

This is kind of neat, but once again, it doesn't have any real purpose to it. If these two were able to fuse together to form a single horse with both eyes or something, that would add meaning. As is, it's a neat detail but not one that amounts to anything.

Similar to Glastrier, it feels like the design could've been pushed more and expanded to continue off of those cool hooves. Make the mane and tail completely disconnected, make the body be two separate pieces that only get a glowing middle bit when saddled by Calyrex, make the head detached or upside-down—there's so many options here, and this just feels like the safest route.

I already went over the Rider forms in the Calyrex review so I'm not going to repeat myself too much, but it also feels like these guys could've tied into Calyrex's design more (and by extension, the Pooka mythology that the Rider concept is arguably based on). Maybe they have ice and spectral saddles or naturally occurring reins, for example—something to hint that these guys can be mounted as steeds.

Overall, these guys are fine, but feel a bit under-baked and could've used fleshed out more from both a visual and conceptual standpoint. Between the two, Spectrier is the most interesting option. I do wonder if they could get alternate forms or megas in the future, as there's definitely room for expansion here.

[aroaceacacia]

something I have so many thoughts about but havent articulated before is that hermitcraft and its associated servers, and lifesteal and servers like it, despite both being survival multiplayer minecraft servers, are entirely different genres of minecraft youtube

hermitcraft, the life series, empires, truly bedrock, rats smp in some povs, and servers adjacent to them are let's plays. viewers sit with the creator and watch them complete various tasks or do whatever they do in their environment while listening to the creator's live commentary. these are serialized; everything is relatively small, links together into a chronological story, in whatever shape that may take.

lifesteal smp, earthbound smp, and servers like them are usually called "smp content". videos here are often more episodic (as opposed to serialized). creators often write scripts to summarize events after they've occurred, leaning fairly heavily on narration in one form or another. smp content often tries to optimize to the algorithm; you'll see very catchy thumbnails and exciting, interesting, clickable titles, and sometimes you might even see those things change as the creator tries out something different.

there are certainly exceptions to these rules - for example, oli orionsound has the upload schedule of some smp-style creators, and his resulting creations do have some visual and creative similarities to smp content! baconnwaffles0 uses his streams and resulting stream highlights to tell a story which is ultimately somewhat serialized, weaving in and around the main "lore" of lifesteal and simply showcasing the day to day life of himself and his team. and, of the so far one dominion smp video ive seen, vikingpilot seemed to blend these two genres together, interspersing events recorded with friends with narration explaining his story and lore, ultimately building up a narrative across videos that requires them to be seen in order. (I think. Again, not an expert here.)

my point here is that there are very distinct and marked structural and stylistic differences between hermitcraft and lifesteal. if you're a hermitcraft enjoyer concerned about too many new uploads, most lifesteal videos are a special occasion and action is usually found in livestreams (this could be fun or stressful, depending). if you're a lifesteal enjoyer you may find hermitcraft's regularity and often lower stakes to be understimulating, or maybe you'll be relieved to be able to entirely keep up with hermitcraft and its sister servers in videos alone. who knows! they're very different, in a good way

[wish-incorrect-quotes]

A Royal Pet

Queen Amaya decides that life in the palace could use a new furry friend (or perhaps a not-so-furry one).

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Amaya adjusted the cloth resting lightly over the basket in her hands, and she wondered what the chances were that she could actually keep the contents inside hidden long enough for it to be any sort of surprise.

Most likely, it wouldn’t be long until the secret was blown. But she couldn’t say she would mind too much. She was eager to see what the group of friends in the castle would think.

This time, she didn’t need to go all the way down to the lowest floor to find them. A castle was a lot of space, and it had occurred to her that when there were plenty of rooms sitting largely untouched, there was no reason why she couldn’t give them one of those rooms as a place to enjoy their downtime. She still found them down in the kitchen fairly often, and she suspected they would always have a sense of familiarity there that made it appealing. Not to mention, she thought with a smile, it meant they were ready to pounce on trays of baked goods as soon as they came fresh out of the oven. Though she still found it nice to see them realizing they didn’t need to stay down there all the time.

Shortly after she had entered the room and heard all of their greetings, Dario’s eyes landed on the basket, and he lit up with an excited grin.

“Are we having a picnic?”

Before she could start to answer, Hal and Dario were already in the process of dragging one of the tablecloths to the floor to see if it would provide enough space for everyone when spread out.

Gabo usually tried to keep the complaining to a minimum in the presence of royalty, though the fact that a (thankfully unlit) candlestick tumbled into his lap as they pulled at the tablecloth was enough to make him ask, “Why are you so excited to eat off the ground when there’s perfectly good tables here?”

As if the answer should be perfectly obvious, Dario explained, “Because it’s not a real picnic if you’re just sitting inside at a regular old table.”

“I’m afraid it’s not a picnic at all.” Amaya gently interrupted. “But I do have a surprise for all of you.”

She began to beckon them all closer to look, and at that moment, the basket jostled in her hands and began to let out a chorus of eager-to-explore meows. It seemed that the cat was out of the bag, somewhat literally, and she pulled the cloth away to reveal the creatures playfully tumbling around inside.

“Kittens!” Hal squealed. After a quick glance at the queen to confirm that it was alright, she reached to pick one up, laughing in delight as it reached a tiny paw to bat at her necklace.

While several more of the teens began lifting the rest of the kittens out of the basket to play with them, Dahlia smiled at the sight of them all having fun, though she still turned to look at Amaya, clearly curious for an explanation.

Just slightly raising her voice to be heard over all the commotion, Amaya spoke up with, “They’re all going to be adopted soon, and plenty of very nice people in the kingdom have offered to provide a good home. But first, I was hoping you all could help me choose one to live here in the palace.”

The excitement immediately picked up further, and Amaya happily slipped towards the side of the room to observe.

She tried to keep an eye out, watching carefully to see if there was one they seemed to be bonding with particularly well. There was the little calico still happily playing with Hal, a white snowball of a kitten happily chasing sparkles around after Asha had pulled out her wand as an impromptu cat toy, a ginger tabby in a fierce battle with the laces of Simon’s boots, Bazeema, after pushing past a bit of shyness, deciding to try petting the black one with a splash of white on its chest, Gabo not quite managing to pretend to be unhappy about the idea as he watched the scene unfold…

It appeared this had been a very good idea, Amaya decided. It was plain to see that whichever cat they picked would be one they could have a great time playing with. And it would be nice for her, too. As much as she enjoyed having this group and their chatter filling the castle halls nowadays, they did, of course, have to go home at the end of the day. But while she did still enjoy her alone time now and then, it might be nice if she wasn’t completely alone, and she would be glad to have a little companion to spend quiet evenings with.

But with how much she was enjoying watching the teens and kittens playing together, it took her perhaps longer than she felt it should have to notice that one had retreated to the far corner of the room.

Safi was watching his friends with a warm smile, but his expression gradually began to grow troubled. As minutes went by, he started to swipe a sleeve at his nose, trying to keep it subtle enough to go unnoticed, though it was getting more and more frequent.

Just about anything with fur or feathers could get him sniffling, and usually he was perfectly willing to tough out a few sneezes to spend time with them. After all, he didn't think he'd ever get to leave his room if he tried to avoid everything he was allergic to. But cats had always been the worst by far. He desperately wanted to avoid calling attention to himself when everyone looked so happy, but it seemed his nose didn’t want to give him much choice in the matter.

He managed to keep the first few sneezes quiet enough to avoid his friends hearing, but his willpower soon lost out, and it was difficult to tell how much of the redness in his face was from a persistent fit of sneezing and how much was from knowing everyone had turned to look at him.

Dahlia stepped into action, and crossed the room to ask, “Are you okay?”

He did his best to mutter something about probably having a cold through a face buried in the crook of his arm. Thoroughly unconvinced, Dahlia pulled up the sleeve of his free arm to examine it.

“You’re getting hives. Come on, I’m taking you outside.” She stated decisively. Defeated, Safi only nodded, and stumbled after her as she gently but firmly pulled him along.

Quickly realizing she ought to be helping as well, Amaya started trying to gather up the kittens and get them back into the basket again (a task that was much easier said than done).

“My apologies. I should have thought to ask before bringing them here.”

Safi managed to briefly glance up, and the queen almost hoped the tears streaming from red and puffy eyes were only a reaction to fur.

The room had rapidly changed from joyful to quiet and concerned, and even if no one’s looks of disappointment were necessarily aimed at him, it was clear that he noticed them sharply. Amaya could practically hear him thinking, “All my fault.”

Feeling a sinking in the pit of her stomach, she pulled her eyes away to return her focus to gathering up the last of the scurrying kittens.

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Amaya felt terrible.

Technically, she supposed everything had turned out alright. Safi was fine, thank goodness. Dahlia had assured her that he was right as rain after some time out in the fresh air and washing off any cat fur that had found its way onto his clothes. And the queen had promised to make sure the room was thoroughly cleaned out before any of them wanted to use it again. And alright, so her plans had been scrapped, but as much as she had been looking forward to the idea, she was perfectly willing to live without a cat if getting one was going to make anyone suffer.

But that look on the poor boy’s face…

She’d wanted this to be something to make them all happy, and she couldn’t stand the thought that she’d left one of them guilty and miserable instead.

Now that it had turned to an evening alone in the castle, she was determined to find a way to fix things. She was certain she could find a solution if she just thought about it enough. This wasn't exactly a high-stakes diplomatic issue, but still, competent royalty had to be good at smoothing out incidents.

Was there a way they could make things work with a cat after all? It was a large building, perhaps they could be kept far enough apart? But she would just hate to start putting up barriers again now that she was finally getting them all used to knowing they were welcome throughout the whole castle. Besides, he would still be left out if the others decided they wanted to go spend time with her pet, and she didn’t think that would be a fair way of fixing things.

A different kind of animal, maybe? She did like dogs as well, and they didn’t seem to set his allergies off to nearly that extreme. But running a kingdom was something that kept her busy much of the time, and she didn’t think it would be right to get one when she couldn't guarantee a regular walk schedule.

Was this a problem that required magic to solve? If he wanted to give it a try, there might be a spell that could ease his symptoms. It was an option she would definitely keep in mind, though she decided she wouldn’t jump straight to asking for Asha’s aid. She trusted their new fairy godmother, but it was still important to show their people that many problems could be fixed by finding your way around the stumbling blocks. Also, she supposed it could get a bit risky to have someone just starting to learn magic attempt a spell involving someone’s health.

There had to be an answer, she was sure of it. And since she didn’t feel much like sleeping yet anyway, she would try to keep thinking until she figured it out.

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“If you have a minute, could you all come with me? There’s something I’d like to show you.”

Amaya decided that this time, she wouldn’t bring her surprise to the teen’s break room, and had instead left it in the entry room of the castle just in case things once again didn’t turn out as expected. But as the group of friends eagerly got to their feet to follow her, she allowed herself to feel cautiously hopeful that she had found something that could make a pleasant surprise for all of them.

The little creature was rather tired out after its journey to Rosas, and as Amaya had expected, it was contentedly staying put now that she had left a cushion in a sunbeam perfectly inviting for a nap.

Pulled out of dozing by the herd of footsteps coming down the stairs, the head lifted with a curious “Mrr?”, revealing a pair of large, bright eyes.

“Oh, awesome!” Dario quickly picked up the animal and lifted it up to his eye level, beaming as it began to vibrate with a soft rumbling noise. A few moments later, he looked over at Dahlia to ask, “What is it?”

“It’s a cat, Dario.”

His head tilted as he examined the wrinkly forehead, then turned it slightly in a few different directions to see the rest of it. Silvery-grey, dotted and striped with various tabby markings, but completely lacking when it came to fur.

Cheerfully, he decided, “No, I don’t think so.”

“What happened to it?” Gabo blurted out, eying the creature in a way that suggested he was certain they were all at risk of catching some sort of mange. Suddenly remembering that he was talking about something belonging to the queen, he flinched slightly and sent her a nervous glance.

To his relief, Amaya only let out a good-natured laugh and assured him, “It’s alright, she’s perfectly healthy. Sphynx cats are born this way.”

With his nerves at ease again, Gabo muttered under his breath, “Awful funny looking if you ask me…”

Bazeema came closer to see the cat, reaching out tentatively at first, but soon petting it with a bit more confidence when it purred louder and eagerly leaned into her hand.

“Well I think she’s beautiful.” She said in a soft voice.

Safi had begun to come closer as well, and Amaya watched with bated breath. She could tell that he was nervous as well, but gradually, his eyes lit up as the usual symptoms didn’t appear, and he became positive he wasn’t going to get anything worse than a few light sniffles.

He pulled his eyes away to look at the queen, and found that she was already watching him. Seeing her give him a questioning look, he nodded to confirm that he would be perfectly alright if this one stayed.

“So, what do you all think? Will she make a good fit for the palace?” Amaya asked.

Though they were all too busy excitedly talking out once for her to make out the words, Amaya could see that the answer was clear.

Dahlia quickly stepped in to make sure they took turns and didn’t swarm the castle’s new pet, though it barely seemed necessary when the cat was calmly, and obviously with much delight, soaking in all of the attention. She was going to prove quite the charmer next time she had guests over for royal events, Amaya was certain of that.

But more importantly, seeing how happy the group of friends looked had Amaya knowing she had done something very good here.

[cinerins]

Seeing there's still an active SGA fandom here on tumblr is just so special to me (You really are among the bravest souls out there 💕)

As I'm strapping in for yet another rewatch, I'm reminded of all the reasons I can't help but be fond of this show, despite its... many shortcomings. The characters and their dynamics really just stay with you... but the concept of being stuck in an entire alien galaxy feels SO underutilized!

Several years ago I started thinking about different "what-ifs" and a completely alternate direction for this series, taking the more alien aspects and "survival while being cut off from earth" into account. (Going as far as rewriting two entire seasons, before I dropped it)

Well, there's no time like the present! So as I'm debating completely rebooting that script, I might as well share a couple of my ideas in that "AU" with the community here

The Ancients

On a surface level, the Ancients can be fairly interesting in their arrogance and ambitions, but that's really about it. What mostly bugged me is how utterly bland they are as a people – essentially just ethereally advanced romano-greek philosophers with a sprinkle of moral conflict.

I know in the larger SG canon they are supposed to be aliens from yet another galaxy, but I wanted to explore the idea of them being native to earth. Millions of years is an ABSURD amount of time, considering how much can change in a handful of generations.

So... I thought they could've sprung from a shared ancestor as Homo Alius, long before the rise of H. Sapiens, primarily around the Agulhas Bank, before the ocean took it. It would mainly serve to better connect them to our regular humans and explain the genetic similarities and later integration.

They would prosper and achieve interstellar travel around 300.000 years ago, developing the Stargates a couple of thousand years later. Fast forward and they eventually struggled with a "plague" which would prompt Atlantis to break off and escape into another galaxy.

Anyway, the main point is that I wanted them to feel a little more distinct in their culture and behavior. They may look like us, but they don't really act or think like us. Not to mention the number of physiological differences that would set them apart, such as a longer lifespan averaging around five centuries and certain abilities.

When the remaining Lanteans returned ten thousand years ago, they would notice the advancements humans have made in their absence. While they call themselves Alterans, these people would be referred to as Ceterans – "the others" and "the rest"

It would take them a few more generations of attempting to ascend, before the remainder ultimately decided to give up, bury the past, and live out the rest of their lives among these cousins.

The Descendants

Another point that always bothered me a little are the humans native to the Pegasus galaxy. These are people that supposedly descended from the Alterans and lived isolated in their own corner of the universe for thousands of years, so... what's with the medieval villages and european industrialization?? (joking)

It's a lot more forgivable and even interesting in SG1, where the whole premise is about humans abducted from various earth cultures and time periods. But a lot of the Atlantis episodes just end up feeling very silly, when you remember this is supposed to be another galaxy.

The pilot takes a slightly more fun (albeit mild) approach with the Athosians, who feel much more like the survivors of the ancient ruins seen on their homeworld. Still, the concept of "distinct" cultures mostly ends up on the sidelines in favor of war and action as the series progresses...

My own approach was to really go into their role as "Descendants" with varying directions. A sort of genetic turn still would've occurred at some point, with increasing generations losing many of their abilities and even the capacity to ascend on their own.

This would've sparked a rift among a number of colonies, having more and more people become "unfit" to live in their structures, unable to operate much of their more advanced technologies. However, most would refuse to "downgrade" to more accessible methods, especially so with the Wraith on the rise.

Doesn't mean that some didn't try finding a middle ground, or that this next generation couldn't figure out their own alternatives – they are Alterans still, even without the glamour. How much of that changed and survived through the ages would differ greatly. (Majority retained an average lifespan of 300 years, even some abilities)

The Expedition

Right off the bat, I wanted to lean more into the differences between the people of this galaxy and our team from earth – make them feel much more like fish out of water. SG1 had the advantage of a major anthropology nerd, these guys would have to figure it out as they go.

Characters like Teyla and Ronon would have more prominent roles in navigating the various societies and environments of known Gate-networks. Weir also could've been given more opportunities to shine with her political background.

Overall, I would've loved if this expedition actually focused a little more on research – particularly the kind that wasn't just about them finding a new super weapon or ancient virus. Featuring more nuanced dilemmas and creative problem solving, that doesn't boil down to gunfire and explosions...

Their initial struggle to survive in terms of food and energy could really be expanded, especially when stranded in environments that have been isolated from earth and developed under very different conditions for millennia.

"Accept an invitation for dinner or suffer the consequences" would have a different angle, when you don't know whether said dinner, even if well-intentioned, could kill them.

The topic of language is fairly understandable for a TV show and there's a lot more liberties in a written medium. Having a bit of a language barrier just seems like a fun thing to work around in a story. An additional point is that there's a bit of a difference between "Alteran" and "Lantean"

Pretty much all expedition members, regardless of background, would've been required to undergo an "Ancient" crash course over the 16 months before they passed through the event horizon. It just seems like the smart thing to do, when waltzing into a ten thousand year old city, that may or may not be abandoned.

There's a bit of a learning curve as they meet the various inhabitants of this galaxy. To them, these newcomers would have an "odd" and even "archaic" dialect. It would take some time for the team to adapt and for allies to start learning english – it makes for a lot of fun interactions and adds the option of "private" conversations or messages between team members, that others wouldn't understand.

Pegasus Life

There are a very few glimpses we get of "other" life among these stars and exploring that beyond one or two episodes could've gotten very interesting – more so when you wonder how they may have affected the people left behind.

Other "visitors" like the Vanir must've had quite an impact, considering their less conventional methods compared to the almost benevolent Asgard known around the Milky Way. A slow build-up of mystery and tension until their eventual encounter would've been very fun.

The prospect of life truly native to this galaxy, predating the arrival of the Ancients, is very appealing to me personally. What if "seeding" some of these worlds involved paving over pre-existing life the Ancients weren't even aware of, remnants of which could've started breaking through the cracks like weeds.

What if a number of Gate addresses lead to what are essentially just abandoned research outposts, dedicated to studying or altering local flora & fauna. What if the teams stumbled over previously undiscovered worlds via means other than Gate travel.

And as mentioned before, even the successfully "seeded" and colonized planets could've gotten pretty weird over time, their inhabitants involved. (Wish we could've gotten to see that "t-rex")

In my old rewrite, I did actually feature a bit of a Jurassic Park scenario. Here the Ancients had sampled and tried to re- and deconstruct various life of earth in their genetic studies, explaining a number of odd animal encounters. (or monster encounters)

The Wraith

Tying into that last point... the books add a little more nuance to these space vampires, being one of the Ancient's many failed attempts in achieving immortality, with disastrous consequences. Even accepting that explanation, I can't help but find them... strange.

Sucking the life force out of others through your hand feels a little too specific of a trait to be unintentional or accidental. Beyond that is their markedly different behavior and culture, even. It's just a bunch of little details that compelled me to add more to their history.

The "Old Blood" are essentially the original "Wraith" native to this galaxy – very humanoid at a glance, but with features that would make our regular Wraith seem more like the guys in costumes they are. I wanted to emphasize on them feeling just a little more "primordial" and the others as wrong.

As a biology nerd, I immediately decided their key difference is that both hands serve as feeding organs. On that note, I also remember the first Queen in the pilot having what looked like slightly webbed hands and wanted to incorporate that as well.

The small pit organs on the face of the Wraith we know would turn out to be significantly reduced gill-like organs on the side of the throat/neck of the originals. Gives them more of an aquatic feeling, which i found fitting considering the Queen in Submersion (whom I actually decided to make one of the Old Blood)

Their skin would look a little rougher and more like the cool-toned, dark gray similar to John's bug transformation, but I also think there should be a little more natural variety between hives. Also, those ornaments/implants on Wraith fingers could serve to imitate the more claw-like appendages of the originals.

Anyway, I could go on, but the gist of it is that they would make the Lantean-Wraith (ironically) seem more like unnatural hybrids and somewhat "watered down" compared to the native species.

Feeding Habits

Some adjustments have also been made to the feeding process... The general idea is that it's somewhere between involving chemical components and the very vague sci-fi concept of draining the "vitality"/"energy" out of a living entity that gives them this extreme longevity.

However, you can't make something out of nothing, so a certain amount of substance is needed not only for them to grow, but also to recover from major injuries without lasting effects. At least, that's how their more traditional digestive system makes sense to me.

Feeding wouldn't actually induce artifical aging or turn somebody into a dried husk, but rather "drain" them in a way weeks of stress and 2 hours of sleep would. Skin sagging, muscles waning, body just kinda deflating, leaving you feeling frail and hollow.

Once the enzyme wears off, it's still a gamble whether or not you'll survive the experience. If you do, you'd never fully recover and your hair would slowly start falling out and start growing in gray, really making it seem like they took years off your life.

It's the complicated genetic make-up of the Lantean-Wraith that makes them "incompatible" with life unrelated to them, being forced to feed on either Alterans or other Wraith. Thought it would be interesting if that means they would be unable to feed on Ceterans, if they don't have any Ancient genes in them.

In this setting, it would also explain why Runners exist. Ronon would be one of the few people "lucky" enough to have become so genetically distinct from the Lanteans, the Wraith cannot feed on them. Majority of these generations are wiped out when found, with strong individuals picked out to serve as game and as an example.

Wraithkin would be the result of attempts to counteract this growing shift, by introducing more Wraith DNA into the gene pool. (You already know how that went down)

The Old Blood don't really have this same restriction, though feeding on humans would be the equivalent of eating junk food. Regardless, they're left with little choice, since their original feeding grounds were thoroughly destroyed or tainted by the Lanteans during the war.

The War...

Wraith have always been rather territorial and the Ancients suddenly showing up and encroaching on those territories already set things off to a great start. Neither were really looking for a fight, so while tensions ebbed and flowed, they mostly tried to stay out of each other's business.

Well, that is until certain Lanteans learned about their more fascinating traits and abilities.

Even the old hives were no monolith, opinions on Atlantis and their growing colonies ranged from indifference to indignation. A number of hives eventually decided to try and push it, giving some very desperate (but mostly curious) Alterans enough of an excuse to take prisoners for research in the midst of the rising conflict.

What really set off a full-scale war, was when those prisoners perished during an escape attempt, after the creation of the first "successful" batch of hybrids. Greatly underestimating the mental capabilities of the Wraith and their reach, the Ancients were very unprepared for the immediate, near-universal response.

Survivors of the experiment joined the warring hives, offering what little they knew and remembered as intel, which would become a deciding factor in overwhelming the Ancients.

This is the only real explanation that makes any sense to me in how this small group of freshly baked Wraith would've managed to grow so much in numbers and power without an entire galaxy of Ancients noticing or putting a stop to it...

Modern Hives

The marked disgust the Wraith have for a hybrid like Michael in the series would've been similar to the way the old hives regarded the survivors they took in. (Talk about hypocritical...) Naturally, they were more than a little upset and began plotting to seize control over the ships and troops.

After varying degrees of success and the Ancients defeated, their expected arrogance and now territorial nature spurred them to continue their conquest. Securing colonies and undermining other hives, it would be no surprise if they had a hand in the ultimate decline of the original feeding grounds.

The greater majority of current hives are rather "young" in comparison and much of their history has become very clouded or embellished. Wraith of the Old Blood are now few and far between, with very mixed reception from others.

Survivors may have conceded or integrated themselves as commanders and advisors, or gone into hiding. What also could've made an interesting approach, is if some of them have opted to becoming "hunters of hunters" of sorts, choosing to feed on these new Wraith either as a challenge or out of some sense of revenge.

With decidedly less variety, the contemporary Wraith culture is an unconventional mix of more instinctual notions and alteran ideas left over from the war. The "old ways" are largely foreign to them.

And that wraps it up for this post!

There is much, much more I could talk about, but I'm sure this is already long enough as is 😅

For the actual story exploring these differences — it's a general idea I had along the lines of: "Imagine if they had arrived in Atlantis much later than they did" and "What if this world and history was just a little different than in the show?"

A fun personal domino effect, that would've completely changed when certain people were first encountered and how significant or even fixed events may have played out...

I never shared this "AU" with anyone beyond one trusted friend, mostly because I was worried how others might react to this more "sciency" and sensible take on a show that is 80% "shoot the bad guy" type of action...

It would be nice to know what people here think of these ideas, so please feel welcome to share!

In the meantime, even if I decide against rehashing that script, I'll see if I can interest that friend in creating some art of these concepts again...

[cinemaocd]

waterworld 55113

So it's raining again today and yeah we live in the PNW now isn't that great, but my husband was telling me on the morning commute how manhole covers were shooting 20 feet in the air and this is a regular degular occurance in MN now and its because there are so many streams and tributaries to the Mississippi under the cities in tunnels being shunted into holding ponds that every once in a while the backpressure causes these street geysers. So anyway yeah if we had anarchy and no one maintained our complex sewer/storm water system the cites would be unlivable in a few years. They would be permanently flooded in major areas of the city in a similar style to New Orleans after Katrina, but a fairly normal rainstorm could trigger it because of the volume of water here. I think about shit like this when anarchists leave me messages in my inbox. You and your solar punk friends going to let the sewers go back to nature? Great enjoy not living in Minneapolis/St. Paul without a boat to get around...

[perksofbeingalittletwat]

I love FHSY with my whole heart but what makes me upset about it is I think Brennan over-emphasized the PCs relationships with NPCs in a way that made sense in-game, but didn't make sense from a player perspective. Not even to his fault, just a misstep I don't think any other season has had a chance to really correct.

So there's a couple of layers here, there's the in-universe reality, there's the Dome and the people in the Dome, and there's also the meta-reality of the people in the Dome creating a unified Product or Season together.

So from the top down, Brennan is making sure that the story happens at a fairly regular pace to keep with the number of episodes he's been allotted, pacing things to keep within the time period he gets for each stream, and most importantly for this I think, crafting ways to have cliff hangers at the end of episodes so that people are excited to come back. This is also influenced by the taped season convention of RP-Combat-RP-Combat episodes.

In the middle is the real conditions of the Dome, in which the six players+Brennan are the most obvious people in the room. The PCs have a lot to juggle here, they have to be in character, they are in character solving a mystery, they have to be attentive to how Brennan is crafting episodes and seasons which plays a lot into how they react to things, and they also have to be funny. And to be funny is to be in contact with the people around you especially in an improve setting.

So these two meta-layers are in conflict, the Intrepid Heroes are fulfilling their roles of being in character and being in the room, and Brennan is fulfilling his role of being in the room and being above the game, but in order to do that Brennan CANT play Tracker or Zelda with the level to detail that the IHs do their characters. That's just how the game works. He has to be everyone so in some ways Tracker and Zelda or Sandra Lynn or Gilear don't exist with the same level of durability and reality as the Bad Kids at any given moment.

And so when Gorgug doesn't tell Zelda he's leaving town (because it had been over an hour since Zelda was last mentioned, and because Riz and Fig had disappeared (people who were in the room)) it wasn't because Gorgug the 'person' didn't care about Zelda, it was because Zac the Player had his three other jobs to do.

The same way when Kristen didn't tell Tracker about Sandra Lynn and Garthy (it might have related to the mystery, there were tons of bits during that time, Fabians Bad Day occurs, etc) it wasn't because Kristen hadn't told Tracker, it was cause Ally the Player was busy. Ally even says "Wait was there another reason?!" When Tracker/Brennan asks them why they didn't tell Tracker.

Again it's not anyone's fault it's just a hard game to play, especially as a cohesive media product, especially as a cohesive media COMEDY product, but it also feels so jarring as a viewer to have Tracker and Zelda get pissed by PC inattention but not have Cathilda or Ragh do the same. Or even Adaine, who's name her fellow players can't even remember half the time. It feels like punishing the players for being focused on the mystery and plot being set before them and not the radial emotional consequences.

Its some great teen angst though. Like it works for story beats. I just don't think it was like. Agreed upon as part of the story and so I'm uncomfortable.

[rambleonwaywardson]

I've been thinking about TTMAB (often) and I got to thinking....

When they visited the International Space Station, how long were they away and how did they cope? Could they stay in contact at all? And were they together when they saw combat?

The separation, the longing, the fear, the danger, the hot hot hot reunions....it's delicious.

(If you're not ok with random questions please don't feel you have to answer! :D)

Anon I LOVE getting random questions so thank you. And these are really great questions too!! Long answer incoming:

I don’t recall if I ever mentioned it in the fic (would’ve been in the first few chapters probably) but Buck and Bucky went to the ISS on separate “expeditions” (missions). Each expedition lasted about 6 months, which is fairly typical (we also see this with Benny, who returned from a six month expedition right before Artemis 3).

The Buckies' missions occurred quite close together, so there was a period of 1-2 years where they were both on Earth at the same time for only a handful of months. But yes, luckily they would have been able to stay in contact quite easily! On the station, astronauts are basically in constant contact with Earth and can even video call on a regular basis, including with their loved ones. So Buck and Bucky would get to FaceTime most days if they wanted to. They are also able to send and receive emails. (side note, they did not serve as each others' CAPCOMS during this time. Artemis was the first time they ever had that connection during a mission).

It’s also important to note that an ISS mission is far more routine and predictable than a moon mission, 1) because we have had a constant human presence on the station since its inception, and 2) because it’s a hell of a lot closer to Earth – an astronaut on the station can return to Earth in just a few hours in an emergency. So one of them being on the station, despite being a far longer mission, was less nerve-wracking for them than Artemis is.

That’s not to say that things can’t go wrong. Anyone who goes to space or has loved ones in space is highly aware of the risks, even if they’re only in low earth orbit. Not to mention, absence is difficult as it is. So yes, Buck and Bucky would’ve had to find ways to “cope” with their other half being away for so long, especially in this hectic time in both of their careers. I headcanon that Bucky is very tactile and would very much miss getting to hold Gale in his arms. Gale also cares about that, but is not quite as touchy feely. So despite being in contact, the physical absence would be tough. I think scent would be a big thing for both of them, especially Gale, as we see in TTMAB. So things like having a sweatshirt that smells like the other.

The time they spent actually in combat or otherwise flying for the Air Force is less clear/plotted in my mind. However, I do mention in their wedding chapter that they were separated for a bit after college. I think the answer is both: there were times when they were together during combat, and there were times when they were apart. They've had the better part of a decade to learn how to cope with being apart in stressful situations. As they like to say, it's what they signed up for...

And yes, 100%, their reunions were/are hot as hell, ever since they graduated college. The moment Bucky isn't on death's doorstep post-Artemis... wow

[beatricebidelaire]

unofficial chaperone

Technically, Jacques isn't Quigley's chaperone. But he feels like it's his duty to play such a role, anyway. But just because he considers it his duty that doesn't mean he thinks he did a good job at it.

~900 words. Jacques Snicket & Quigley Quagmire

written for day 6 of woevember of @asouefanworkevent, the reptile room

The reptile room is a quiet place, these days.

Without Monty's loud and infectious laughter, without Gustav talking about his latest movie projects, without the two of them being happily in love. With them gone, all those sounds have disappeared, and all that's left is the occasional sounds made by the snakes - sometimes one would knock over something in its cage, causing a display of a rube goldberg machine to take place.

But mostly, it's fairly quiet.

Some people would find it eerie, probably, especially considering how vibrant this place has once been. With Monty gone, it seems now the place that's once filled with his enthusiasm and cheerfulness has collapsed, making it feel a smaller, emptier than it actually is.

But Jacques has always been able to find solace, to find comfort in the quiet. It seems that the reptile room, while quite chaotic a while ago, when Olaf was carrying his schemes here, has settled back into quietness again. While of course Jacques misses Monty and Gustav terribly, and seeing everything in this house sort of reminds him of them, there's still a kind of comfort to be alone in a place that all the chaos have passed. The calm after the storm.

Well.

Almost alone.

Quigley Quagmire is here, although Jacques's so busy with his own research and often stays up all night reading and sleeps during the day, so they didn't have that much chance to talk. When they do, though, Quigley has a lot of questions he want to ask, and Jacques does his best to answer them, or guide him in the right direction to the answer.

But at the same time, he's overwhelmed with his own tasks - the research he has to do find the Baudelaires, his regular duties for VFD, and a bunch of other stuff. At least he doesn't have to work for Daily Punctilio at the moment, now that Eleanora's fired him. And he's also dealing with his own grief at the same time.

Losing Beatrice and Bertrand and Monty and Gustav and Josephine and the Quagmires in such a short time - even though some of them are old friends he hasn't been in contact with for years - has hit hard. Even though he doesn't let that affect his work, or tries his best to do so, but the grief still engulfs him, as he works quietly, researching and investigating. Following the trails of the Baudelaires, trying to find them.

He's aware he's not been a proper chaperone to Quigley, although technically he isn't even one. Not officially, anyway. If they were in peaceful times (what is peace, though, to someone who's 4 years old when the schism occurred? but let's say comparatively peaceful, perhaps,) maybe he could be, officially. Although maybe if they were in peaceful times, they would never have met. But even if no one ever assigned him the task of chaperoning Quigley, his felt like it's his responsibility to.

Whether it's because he sees a kid, away from his family, all scared, and thinks that its his duty to take care of him, or whether it's because he knows one of his important duties is to look for potential recruits, and he sees one in Quigley - or maybe it's a both, as things often are - the results are the same. He considers himself sort of an unofficial chaperone.

But even as he takes that upon his own responsibility, Jacques is acutely aware he's not doing a great job at it. He tells him certain things and leaves certain things for Quigley to find out by himself, leaving clues like a chaperone should, guiding the apprentice to find the answer themself.

He's aware he's too busy with his own tasks, so busy investigating and also at the same time, a bit engulfed in his own grief, that he just isn't paying Quigley enough attention. He feels guilty over it, but unfortunately he has a bunch of other priorities he has to take care of. But it weighs on him, nonetheless.

Over the years, Jacques is just too equipped with the skill of carrying on doing his work even as he lets certain guilt weigh down on him.

Once, he remembers Lemony's old chaperone, S. Theodora Markson. Also Bertrand's, he knows. He used to think she's a terrible chaperone and disapproves of the way she's apparently not well-trained enough, the way she obviously neglects Lemony, the way she seems to be utterly incompetent at the chaperone job. The way she's ranked last of all chaperones. He used to think she's too wrapped up in her own issues and has neglected the care of her apprentice - namely, Jacques's little brother. While Jacques is aware that Lemony isn't the easiest apprentice to train, that L's always with his own opinions, but Jacques still thinks if Markson was more competent and less focused on herself, she should've been able to guide and help Lemony more.

Well, look at himself now, he thinks with a grimace. Barely doing a better job of taking care of Quigley and answering his questions. Much too overwhelmed by his own things to properly care and train him. Even though technically he isn't Quigley's chaperone, and Quigley's not a VFD recruit, not officially anyway. But still, he thinks that in some way, he is his apprentice. Even if not officially. Even if he's never told Quigley so.

Sometimes, Jacques thinks. We all grow up into the adults who we never thought we'd become.

[serpentface]

In your Odonii day in the life post you mentioned that amenchalme is used to consecrate both animals and humans for sacrifice. Can you detail the human sacrifice aspect?

I’ll have a more detailed post when I get around to answering another ask about it but officially sanctioned human sacrifices occur once per year at the peak of the dry season.

All sacrifices involve the offered creature becoming God at the moment of death via their recreation of Its role in creation. Humans (and technically other recognized sophonts) are reckoned as more primordial beings closer to the nature of God (created by God while It was still physically alive by ‘impregnating’ the primordial sea, all other life was created by Its blood mingling with formerly sterile soils upon death) and this able to have Its LIVING spirit physically inhabit them - the Odomache is a human with one of God’s Faces incarnated within, while a human sacrifice is briefly inhabited by God’s totality. It is one of the two most perfect possible reenactments of creation (the other being the seven animal offering that Whitecalf revolves around), and effectively attempts to ‘create’ the world again by guaranteeing the seasonal cycles continue for yet another year.

These sacrifices are rhetorically supposed to be willing in nature- God willingly ended its physical life to bring about creation, and broadly speaking (with nuance as to what levels of societal coercion play into it) this is true- it’s the most altruistic death possible, grants one safe and guaranteed passage into the highest afterlife, and bestows sainthood on oneself and the honor of saint-kinship to one’s family(granted, sacrificed saints are usually referred to in their collective rather than remembered as individuals). Someone who believes in this religion will consider this a very, very good way to die.

The core function of the dry season human sacrifice is agricultural, it has the obvious intent of allowing the seasons to progress and to bring the return of the rains and seasonal flooding upon which subsistence relies. But it also figures into broader concerns of cosmology- put really simply, the universe at its basis consists of dual primordial male-sky-light-hot-dry and female-sea-dark-cold-wet forces. The universe is static and sterile when these two forces are not at interplay, God came into being at their boundaries as both forces in perpetual interaction and is the force of change that allows for the cycles of life. The peak of the dry season represents one dualistic extreme that threatens perpetual stasis (experienced materially as prolonged drought) should the cycle not be restarted via God’s movement through a human body and the shedding of Its blood. (A perpetual rainy season is technically another threatening dualistic extreme, but droughts are a regular experience while flood years are comparatively uncommon and are not culturally prioritized in the same capacity.)

That’s the only instance in which explicitly sacrificial killings of humans occur on a regular basis, but there’s also ritualized executions of captured war prisoners that occur after battles (in conjunction with the funerals of soldiers) which don’t have a place in the philosophical framework of sacrifice, but are Absolutely derived remnants of older sacrificial traditions. These are framed as executions, retributive justice, means to assist the spirits of dead soldiers in transition to the afterlife, and glorification of the Usoma and state at large, rather than offerings. But they still have a plainly sacrificial veneer (particularly in the use of their blood to consecrate the earth beneath funeral pyres).

These are also framed as honoring or even Pleasing to the Face Odomache, which is at odds with all other sacrifices being a means to an end in allowing God’s spirit to cycle rather than ‘pleasing’ or ‘honoring’ this deity (who in core dogma is fairly non-personified, and does not threaten punishment in of Itself and thus does not need to be pleased).

The Odonii have had varying roles in this practice- in the more basal incarnations of their order, it was them (specifically the Odomache) who ordered and officiated these executions. As the order has grown on its own and increasingly become a separate pillar of power, this has shifted towards being the jurisdiction of the Usoma and his constituents (who have some claim to the Face Odomache in that It presides over statehood). It’s come to the point that there’s internal rifts within the Odonii order as to whether this practice is outright heretical. It’s a manifestation of an underlying tension between between the royalty and the priesthood, and the way the traditions surrounding kingship and state religion have developed in separate and sometimes conflicting ways since the unification/conquering of Wardin into its current ‘empire’ state.

[ijwrite]

Female mothfolk x Female reader

Designer lamps, salt lamps, standing lamps, chandeliers, you name it. You had it all. A nifty little shop on the corner of a bustling city, your little space of peace. Customers came in a steady supply, everyone needed a lamp once in a while, and you were content with your calm life in the middle of the busy city.

You were spending a rainy day at your shop, sitting down with a nice hot beverage and a book, expecting a very slow day, when the chime rang, signaling a customer. It was a person covered head to toe, long coat, hat, gloves, sunglasses and a scarf obscuring their identity. You wondered shortly if you were about to get robbed, but the figure began nervously fidgeting around one of your himalayan salt lamps, before grabbing one of them and marching over to the counter. They put it down quietly and pulled out their credit card. You rang them up with a smile and wished them a good day as they rushed their way out into the streets.

Now, it was a fairly cold day, so you didn't think too much about the mystery person for a month. Until they appeared again.

Once again it was raining as they came into the deserted store, nervously looking around as they fiddled with their fingers. This time they chose a globe with a light inside. It wasn't normally what you would carry, but you found them neat as you were ordering your stock for the month, and now you were happy that you did. The person was still silent as they paid for their lamp and left. You once again wished them a good day and went about your own.

The third time it was raining again, but there was another customer in your shop. The mystery person just managed to close the door before freezing as they saw someone else at the counter. It was just a sweet elderly lady who had to have a cable replaced on her old reading lamp.

The person went through your shop quickly, always peeking at the lady who was still talking about what happened to her lamp as you finished the simple repair.

"-So I was very confused when I heard foofy give a yip and so I of course went to check on him, and I swear, I have not laughed that hard in ages, all his fur were standing straight into the air. Turns out he had chewed on the cable, and I simply can't go to sleep without reading before bed, so I had to come out in this dreadful weather-" she rambled on and you smiled at her story. It wasn't the first time someone had a pet bite an electrical cord, fortunately no animal had ever gotten more than a scare. Well except that one dwarf hamster, but they die if you sneeze in their general direction.

You gently handed the repaired lamp back to its owner and she thanked you graciously, paid and left.

The mysterious person saw their chance to get out of the shop and hurried over to the counter with a box of fairy lights. You rang them up, wished them a good day, and once again they left without a word.

This became a regular occurance during the spring, they visisted around once a month, bought a light and left silently.

It was soon summer, and a hot one at that. The mysterious stranger hadn't been around since it became warm, which kinda made sense. You don't know why this person were so insistent on staying anonymous, but you were never one to pry. You were sitting in your usual spot behind the counter, a pitcher with ice cold water beside you and the ceiling fan on max, when you saw the stranger once again. You were quite surprised that they were still wearing the same outfit they used during spring, which would be unbearable in the heat of summer. It looked to affect them too, they staggered slightly when they walked and kept tugging on the collar of their coat. You were slightly worried for them, they didn't seem to be doing so great. They leaned on one of the shelves before their knees buckled under them and they fell to the floor. You jumped out of your chair and hurried over to them. They must be having some kind of heat stroke. You heaved the surprisingly light person to your chair behind the counter and sat them down.

"I am going to take off your outer clothes okay? I am trying to help you" You tried to calm them as you took off their hat and scarf. What greeted you were antennae and a short buzz of white fluff, going all the way down from their head, to under their shirt. You also pulled off the heavy raincoat and gloves, before filling a glass with cold water. You put the glass in their hand, still keeping yours on it, and helped them lift it to their mouth. They drank greedily until it was empty. You turned around to fill the glass again, and as you did so, you heard a slight flapping. You turned around and promptly covered your eyes. The person- woman had taken off her long sleeved shirt and were now sitting in only her bra as her wings were flapping slightly.

"Uh... Ma'am? I think you should go I to the back before someone else enters" You squeaked out, apparently waking her up from her daze.

"Yeah... Okay" The sweetest voice you ever heard in your life answered you. You took your hands away from your eyes, though you still keot your gaze at the floor, and offered her your arm. She groaned as she stood up.

"Urgh... I feel sick" She sounded miserable. You opened the door to the back and led her in.

"Yeah, heat can do that to you. You can cool down back here and I'll go get you some more water. If you need to throw up, I have a trashcan by the door" You sat her down on one of the boxes and went back out into the shop. A customer has entered while you were occupied with the woman, so you quickly told the person that you would be back soon, before hurrying the pitcher of water out to the woman. She grabbed the pitcher and started gulping water like there was no tomorrow. Satisfied that she seemed to be slightly better, you tended to the customer. As soon as the transaction was over, you grabbed the discarded clothes and went to check on the woman in the back. She was holding the empty pitcher close to her as she was looking around. She had taken off her sunglasses, and you could now see her large pitch black eyes. Paired with the wings and the fluff she had on her whole body, you quickly determined her to be a mothfolk. She looked back at you, before quickly looking at the floor.

"I- I am sorry, please don't tell this to anyone" She sounded very ashamed.

"Hey, don't worry. I usually don't run around talking about how people almost fainted in my shop" You gave her the clothes you had taken from her earlier. She looked up at you and looked away again. She bit her lip.

"That's not... I know it's funny. A total stereotype for a mothgirl to frequent a lamp store. I get it. I won't come back again" She sighed and hang her head.

"Why would it be funny?" You asked quietly, not really understanding her apprehension. She curled even more into herself, hugging the pitcher as if it was a stuffed animal.

"I can't sleep without looking at a light, but I keep breaking them. This is the only place that doesn't know who I am. But I guess that is over now" She sounded as if she was close to crying. You sat down on the floor in front of her.

"I don't think it's weird. I like light too. I mean, I opened a whole ass shop about it, so I kinda understand what you mean" She looked at you.

"I don't really know the stigmas about mothfolk, but I don't mind you visiting. As long as you don't give yourself a heat stroke again" You gave her a gently smile, which she hesitantly returned. You then cleared your throat.

"Well, I will let you get dressed again. Use as much time as you need to cool down back here. There is more water in the fridge over there" You stood up and left a slightly flustered mothgirl behind.

After your first official meeting with "Clarrisa" as she told you to call her, her monthly visits continued. You learned a lot about her, how she really liked oranges, that she worked as a programmer and how she always fluttered her wings when she giggled. You had developed a friendship over the autumn, and Christmas was around the corner. You wanted to give Clarrisa a gift, though you had no idea what it should be. You had been wracking your brain trying to come up with something, but it only came to you as you were absentmindedly browsing a catalogue for new items for your store. A Bluetooth lamp, which projected a coloured night sky onto the ceiling. This would be the perfect gift, you just hoped that she would like it.

With the gift neatly wrapped and placed under your counter, you waited for Clarrisa. Christmas was a fairly busy time for your shop, and you made a good amount of money by selling Christmas lights. But all you could think about was how Clarrisa would react to your gift.

As the days passed, you became more and more anxious. Clarrisa had not been in your shop for a couple of weeks, and you started to overthink the past couple of interactions with her. Had you come off too strong? Did she not feel comfortable in your shop anymore? Had she found another lamp store?

All the questions were driving you crazy, and it only got worse the closer you got to Christmas.

At the last day your shop was open, you resigned yourself to the idea that Clarrisa wasn't coming. You were just putting on your jacket as you heard frantic knowing on the front door.

"We are closed!" You yelled over your shoulder, but the knocking persisted.

"I said- Clarrisa?" and it was indeed her standing out there, and you hurried to open the door. She was standing in the snow, no coat on and breathing heavily. You ushered her in, closing the door after her.

"What are you doing out in this weather without proper clothes? I'm starting to think you have misunderstood the idea of coats" You brushed some of the snow off her fluff.

"Well I..." She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, and you gave her time to find her words. She sighed deeply, shuddered, then looked back up at you.

"I wondered if you would like to come have hot chocolate at my place?" She asked, then looked back down at her feet.

"I mean, if you have the time, it doesn't have to be now, I just thought-" You placed you hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"I'd like that" You said softly. She smiled back.

"Though, you are borrowing one of my jackets, you must be freezing" You went into the back to get a jacket for yourself and her, sneaking her gift into your pocket.

She shook her wings free from snow and tucked them under the jacket you lent her, still looking slightly flustered. You turned off the rest of the lights and followed Clarrisa outside.

Clarrisa lived in a small and cozy flat in the outskirts of the city. It was filled with personal touches, small things that made the space feel lived in. She had a 3d printer occupying a portion of the small living room, her walls had pictures of family members and the entire place smelled like her citrus perfume. She nervously cleared a bunch of papers from the coffee table with a muttered apology and asked you to sit in her small sofa while she made the hot cocoa she had promised. You could hear her moving around the kitchen, the distinct whirring of a microwave being started before she suddenly spoke up.

"I'm sorry I haven't been to the shop this month" You turned around to face her.

"I have been working on something, but I couldn't quite get it right. I panicked today when I realised that it was the last day I could see you" She moved over to her desk and pulled out a small packet from behind her computer.

"I wanted to give you this. Merry Christmas" Her hand shook as she gave you the gift. You opened it carefully and a small 3d printed figure fell out. It was a little cat figurine.

"God, it is such a lame gift, I understand if you wanna leave now or something" She scratched the fluff on her neck nervously as you inspected the small figurine. It was very well made.

"Well, I like it. It is cute. Thank you" She looked at you surprised for a moment before giving you a bashful smile. You then plucked out the present from your pocket and gave it to her.

"Merry Christmas" She took it with a curious expression, turning it in her hands before opening it. She gasped as she saw what it was. She looked from the gift to you, and then back again. And then she launched herself at you, engulfing you in the most comfortable hug you've ever had.

"Thank you" She whispered. You hummed in confirmation. The moment was interrupted by the beeping of the microwave and she slowly let go of you, not looking you in the eye.

"I'll just uhh... Get those" She mumbled and went to fetch the mugs of cocoa.

A few minutes later you both had your steaming cups of cocoa with whipped cream on top. You quickly fell into comfortable conversation, the earlier nervousness forgotten. You both talked for so long that it had gotten very late, and it seemed that the both of you had fallen asleep on the sofa. You woke up cuddled into the softest fuzz and felt more warm and comfortable than ever before in your life. Clarrisa had her hand securely around your waist, still snoring softly into your hair. You could get used to this

[definitelynotshouting]

*cough* slides over a bowl of soup any hunger au thoughts...? /nf

-🍂

HELLO TEA ANON WELCOME BACK TO THE HUNGER AU SHOW

... i should probably make a masterlist of this au at some point. Anyway.

I've been thinking a lot about worldbuilding and how Players form, and just. Players in general?? Which, in an au thats specifically about a Watcher, that might seem a little silly. But i like to think about what the general baseline is seen as, to really dig deep into the differences between them!!

For Players, i think theres two general ways they come into being-- spawning in, or being born. Obviously the second one is a familiar concept so we dont need to talk about that, but spawning i think is actually more common for Players than being born. I imagine its a bit like new stars forming-- bits of code split off from the Greater Code and coalesce, forming all the components needed to make a Player. There's no infancy stage for spawned Players-- while some might spawn in younger than others, they generally tend to be young adults.

Im honestly thinking that, when Players first spawn, new servers do too. Singleplayer, of course; their first spawn and first spawnpoint, a protective cocoon from the harshness of the in between. This is where a spawned Player learns the difference between breathing and becoming, and where they acquaint themselves with the rules of the world around them. This is their casting off point-- eventually, most of them outgrow their first world and move onto newer ones, some multiplayer, some single, some hardcore, some modded. And most don't return, either, and the server is eventually recycled back into the Greater Code by one of its cosmic decomposers (eg: viruses).

The other thing im thinking about when it comes to Players is how they look when they spawn in. The thing about Player code is that there's layers. You have the type that's surface level, which dictates what your appearance looks like, and then the deeper code in charge of things like memories, personality, stats, etc. Because code is so scrambled in the beginning of a Player's spawn, the surface code is completely randomized!!! Players can look like anything at all, anyone at all, and can even have non-human traits from the outset. I also think this surface code can be fairly easily manipulated; learning to play with your own surface code is about the same level of difficulty as learning to code your own website, and occurs with a similar amount of regularity (which is to say, it's definitely not uncommon, but there are some people more adept at it than others, and a definite learning curve at the start). Playing with your surface code means you can make yourself look like anything, by give yourself new physical traits or just modify existing ones. It's usually recommended to do this with a spotter, though-- someone experienced with surface code who can look over your changes before you implement them to make sure there aren't any glaring mistakes, and step in if something glitches or you need help.

So yeah those are my current hunger au thoughts with regards to worldbuilding!! I'm also still picking at what Listeners are like, as well as their and Watchers' ecological niche in the universe-- I'm tempted to say both have a much more brittle, and less adaptable code structure, which makes their type of feeding an even more vital and necessary part of their survival. Gotta keep that code from deteriorating, after all!! Anyway thank u for asking, i am always happy to receive hunger au questions, and if anyone has specific questions they want to ask that is great and often gives me a good direction to jump off of when explaining stuff :]

[nixtape-foryou]

✿ SHOP MAGNOLIAS

The magnolia blooms symbolize youth, innocence, and joy. During the Victorian times, the magnolia flowers often symbolized dignity, nobility, poise, and pride. The strength of its bloom is also symbolic of self-respect and self-esteem.

Bouquets = Series | Stems = Oneshots | Seeds = Drabbles | In Shipment = Ongoing

BOUQUETS

Who You Are, Who I Am by hanibalistic (52.0k) || Another Dimension AU || When you find yourself waking up to a good-looking man who claims to be your husband, there isn’t much for you to do aside from assuming you got stuck in a drama, you know?

STEMS

Leave the Door Open by formidxble ★★★ (12.3k) || Mature, Sugar Daddy AU || Months after ghosting your sugar daddy, lee know, he gives you a call. you answer.

Between the Lines by maatryoshkaa ★★ (9.7k) || High School AU, Slight Enemies to Lovers || In which a frantic search for an overdue library book leads to you finding other things that are…long overdue.

7 Days by yyxgin (3.7k) || College AU, Best Friends to Lovers ||  You confess your love to your best friend for a whole week before he finally takes it seriously.

Pick Your Poison by linorachas (14.5k) || Mature, Celebrity AU || The last thing you want is to be at this gala. Minho convinces you to stay.

Business Proposals by chanluster (10.9k) || Mature, CEO/Secretary AU || Clashing heads with your annoyingly attractive boss was your everyday activity, but when a new, beautiful client comes in for the day you find yourself getting jealous.

The Enemies to Lovers Project by softukiyos (18.0k) || Enemies to Lovers || Taking part in Jisung's psychology project was supposed to be simple - date your worst enemy, Lee Minho, for one month and see if the two of you start falling head over heels for each other, though, things start to get much more complicated.

Youngblood by changbeanie ☆ (17.4k) || College AU, Best Friends to Lovers || Lee Minho crashes at your apartment four out of seven days in a week, but you’re the crashing for him.

1-800-Be-Mine by binniesthighs ★ (7.1K) || AI AU || Thank you for calling 1-800-Be-Mine! We appreciate your service. How can we help you today? Just so you know, we are currently holding a Valentines Day sale: all purchases will be 15-20% off depending on the package you choose. 

Not So Bad by luvknow (13.7k) || College AU, Best Friends to Roommates to Lovers | Falling for your best friend isn’t the most ideal situation, but it’s not as bad as you think

In Another Lifetime by luvknow ☆ (18.9k) || Iron Man AU, Co-Workers to Lovers || You and your boss were inseparable. no one could understand how you could work ungodly hours for such an inexperienced ceo. but your job was to stick by Mr. Lee for as long as you were getting paid, and that meant being his date to charity balls and helping him turn into the country’s best superhero

Your Heart & Your Headache, Too by missinghan ☆ (9.6k) || Stray God AU, Comedy || A self-proclaimed god shows up at your door in the middle of the night for a place to stay. you let him and hope the unconventional encounter doesn’t become a regular thing. of course, it becomes a regular thing

Weight of Worth by abiaswreck ☆ (13.0k) || Mature, Vampire AU, Part of Monarchs Collection || You were hired as a live-in servant for one of the town’s founding leaders Lee Minho. The job fairly simple so you were told. Only being fed from on occasion till your family’s debt was paid.

Destiny’s Design by h0neydewmoon (16.4k) || Royal AU, Arranged Marriage to Lovers || “Names are meaningless in this world,” his words seemed filled with spite despite the quiet tone he spoke with, as though if someone heard him mutter them something horrid may occur, “all that matters is whether you can be used as a chess piece for politics.”

Human Condition by mxxndreams (6.7k) || Superhuman AU, Classmates to Lovers || When Minho decided to use his powers as part of his plan with Jeongin, he never expected to get caught by you. However, instead of turning him in, you decide to offer him your help, stating you also want change. Still, one cannot be too careful and Minho isn't sure if he can trust you or if he'll ever be a normal human while his powers are slowly taking over every aspect of his life.

Invisible Thread by astraystayyh (20.0k) ★ || College AU, Rivals to Lovers || Your studies were your lifeline for as long as you can remember. What happens when Minho comes into your life and rips it away from you?

Conflict, Conceal, Confess by fizzydrink698 || College AU, Rivals to Lovers || “Why don’t we call a truce?” Minho blinked, caught off-guard. “Truce?”

IN SHIPMENT

Consort by fizzydrink698 || Mature, Historical AU, Slight Enemies to Lovers, Arranged Marriage to Lovers || “Nervous?” Minho asks, casually, as if completely unaware of what the two of you needed to do. You bit your tongue, and held your head high. “No,” you lied.