#oldest male human on record

[webcrawler3000]

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Mammalia - Primates

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our next and last group of Euarchonta is the order Primates. This diverse order includes the families Cheirogaleidae (“mouse lemurs”), Daubentoniidae (“Aye-aye”), Indriidae (“indriid lemurs”), Lemuridae (“lemurid lemurs”), Lepilemuridae (“sportive lemurs”), Galagidae (“galagos” or “bush babies”), Lorisidae (“lorises”, “pottos”, and “angwantibos”), Cercopithecidae (“old world monkeys”), Hylobatidae (“gibbons”), Hominidae (“great apes”), Callitrichidae (“marmosets” and “tamarins”), Cebidae (“capuchins” and “squirrel monkeys”), Aotidae (“night/owl monkeys”), Pitheciidae (“titis”, “saki monkeys”, and “uakaris”), Atelidae (“spider monkeys”, “howler monkeys”, and “woolly monkeys”) and Tarsiidae (“tarsiers”).

Many primate characteristics represent adaptations to an arboreal environment, including large brain sizes, binocular vision, color vision, vocalizations, shoulder girdles allowing a large degree of movement in the upper limbs, and opposable thumbs (in most but not all) that enable better grasping and dexterity. Their large brains (relative to body size) compared to other mammals, as well as an increased reliance on visual acuity, has been an evolutionary trade-off at the expense of their sense of smell (the dominant sensory system of most mammals). Most primates are arboreal, but some primates, including gorillas, humans, and baboons, are primarily ground-dwelling, though all species retain adaptations for climbing trees. Arboreal locomotion techniques include leaping from tree to tree or swinging between branches of trees (brachiation); terrestrial locomotion techniques include walking on two hindlimbs (bipedalism) or modified walking on four limbs (quadrupedalism) via knuckle-walking. They are the most cognitively advanced animals, capable of using tools. Primates may communicate using facial and hand gestures, smells, and vocalizations, with humans (genus Homo) creating complex languages and sophisticated civilizations.

Primates are among the most social of all animals, forming pairs or family groups, uni-male harems, and multi-male/multi-female groups. Primates have slower rates of development than other similarly sized mammals, reach maturity later, and have longer lifespans. Females give birth to 1-2 young at a time. In some species, male primates take part in raising young, an oddity for mammals.

Primates arose in the Early Paleocene, about 65.9 million years ago. The earliest possible primate/proto-primate may be Purgatorius, which dates back to the Early Paleocene of North America. The oldest known true primates from the fossil record date to the Late Paleocene of Africa, around 57 mya (Altiatlasius) or the Paleocene-Eocene transition in the northern continents, around 55 mya (Cantius, Donrussellia, Altanius, Plesiadapisand, Teilhardina). The suborder Strepsirrhini, which includes the lemurs, lorisids, and galagos, is generally thought to have split off from the primitive primate line about 63 mya, and evolved independently from monkeys.

Propaganda under the cut:

The smallest primate in the world is the critically endangered Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur (Microcebus berthae), with an average body length of 9.2 cm (3.6 in) and seasonal weight around 30 g (1.1 oz).

One of the largest primates in the world is the critically endangered Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) (image 4). Males are much larger than females. A full-grown male Eastern Gorilla typically weighs 140–205.5 kg (309–453 lb) and stands 1.7 m (5.6 ft) upright and a female typically weighs 90–100 kg (200–220 lb) and stands 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall. Some Humans (Homo sapiens) have surpassed this size, but it is not the average for Humans, for which the average adult male stands about 171 cm (5.7 ft) tall and weighs 77 kg (170 lb), while the average height for adult Human females is about 159 cm (5.3 ft) and average weight is 59 kg (130 lb).

All lemurs (superfamily Lemuroidea) are native only to the African island of Madagascar, and evolved independently from other primates on the island. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers lemurs to be the world's most endangered group of mammals, noting that as of 2013 up to 90% of all lemur species face the threat of extinction in the wild within the next 20 to 25 years.

As many lemurs eat nectar as a part of their diet, and catch pollen in their fur in the process, they are considered to be some of the largest pollinators in the world. The endangered Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur (Allocebus trichotis) has an extraordinarily long tongue. This is thought to be an adaptation for drinking nectar and tree sap. The vulnerable Red-bellied Lemur (Eulemur rubriventer) has a feathered tongue, also a likely adaptation for feeding on nectar.

The Golden Bamboo Lemur (Hapalemur aureus) eats Giant Bamboo (Cathariostachys madagascariensis), which contains high levels of cyanide. The Golden Bamboo Lemur can consume twelve times the typically lethal dose of cyanide for most mammals on a daily basis. The physiological mechanisms that protect it from cyanide poisoning are unknown.

The Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) has evolved some insect and seed-eating traits that are unique among primates, making it stand out among the lemurs. Such traits include continuously growing rodent-like front teeth for gnawing through wood and hard seeds, a highly mobile filiform middle finger for extracting food from tiny holes, large bat-like ears for detecting hollow spaces within trees, and use of self-generated acoustical cues to forage.

Many lemur species, including the Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta), Milne-Edwards' Sifaka (Propithecus edwardsi), and the Verreaux's Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), live in groups led by a dominant female. Lemurs are one of the very few mammal groups where females are usually dominant over males.

Some lemurs, such as the Verreaux's Sifaka, live in the spiny forests of Southern Madagascar. Sifakas travel via leaping rapidly from tree trunk to tree trunk, an ability referred to as "ricochetal leaping". It is unknown how the Verreaux's Sifaka manages to do this characteristic leaping without impaling themselves on the long thorns of the spiny forests’ trees.

The extinct Giant Sloth Lemur, Archaeoindris fontoynontii, was comparable to a gorilla in size. It was rare, but still living when humans first arrived on Madagascar. Its large size and terrestrial habits would have made it vulnerable to hunting and habitat loss.

It was previously thought that all lorisids moved slowly, but this is not the case. Lorisids freeze in place as a defense tactic, or move slowly if they see or hear a potential predator. This only works in their leafy environment, and is a form of camouflage. Many lorisids are actually quite agile when not afraid.

Slow Lorises (genus Nycticebus) (image 3) from southeast Asia produce a secretion from their brachial gland, that is licked and mixed with their saliva to form a toxin which can be used for defense. This toxic bite is a rare trait among mammals, and unique among primates. The Slender Lorises (genus Loris) from Sri Lanka and South India also possess these brachial glands, but it is uncertain whether they also synthesize the toxin.

The Gelada (Theropithecus gelada) has a diverse repertoire of vocalizations thought to be almost as complex as that of humans.

The Allen's Swamp Monkey (Allenopithecus nigroviridis) has adaptations for a partially aquatic environment, including slight webbing of its fingers and toes.

The Common Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas) is the fastest runner among the primates, reaching speeds of 55 km/h (34 mph). For reference the fastest human, Usain Bolt, reached 37.58 km/h (23.35 mph) during his world record sprint.

The terrestrial guenons (genus Allochrocebus) live in fairly small groups dominated by females, with only a single adult male. The females are usually related, while the male stays only a couple of weeks or at most a couple of years, working as a watchdog and breeder.

Around dawn and dusk, dominant male Campbell's Mona Monkeys (Cercopithecus campbelli) will climb up to a perch and issue a series of booming calls. The sound carries for at least a kilometre, and other males join in. Campbell's Mona Monkeys often associate with monkeys of other species and engage in inter-species territorial calling which obey certain ritual rules. This is one of the more advanced forms of animal communication, with a rudimentary syntax.

Male Crested Mona Monkeys (Cercopithecus pogonias) will sometimes join groups of unrelated monkey, such as the Black Colobus (Colobus satanas). These otherwise solitary males can form strong group bonds with the non conspecific monkeys, possibly resulting in a permanent loss of mating opportunities.

The Northern Plains Gray Langur (Semnopithecus entellus) has a symbiotic relationship with the Chital (Axis axis), and the two species are rarely found apart. Both the langur and the deer know each other’s warning calls, and benefit from both groups watching for predators in the trees and on the ground.

Nearly all (73–100%) captive Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) are carriers of the herpes B virus. This virus is harmless to macaques, but infections of humans, while rare, are potentially fatal

The endangered Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is the only old world monkey known to use stone tools in their daily foraging, and they engage in robbing and bartering behavior in some tourist locations.

Dusky Leaf Monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus), Crab-eating Macaques, and White-thighed Surilis (Presbytis siamensis), form tolerant foraging parties, with juveniles playing together.

The critically endangered Celebes Crested Macaque (Macaca nigra) unknowingly found itself at the center of controversy between 2011 and 2018, when British wildlife photographer David J. Slater set up equipment that would allow the macaques to take “selfies.” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) argued that Slater could not hold a copyright claim over the “monkey selfie” that resulted, as it had been taken by a macaque and not him. This resulted in the United States Copyright Office stating that works created by a non-human, such as a photograph taken by a monkey, are not copyrightable. Slater lost income and took a blow to his reputation as a wildlife photographer as a result of the dispute. In a separate dispute, PETA tried to use the monkey selfies to establish a legal precedent that animals should be declared copyright holders, requesting that the copyright be assigned to the macaque, who they decided was named “Naruto”, and that PETA be appointed to administer proceeds from the photos for the endangered species' benefit. In dismissing PETA's case, a federal district court ruled that a monkey cannot own copyright under US law. PETA appealed. In September 2017, PETA and Slater agreed to a settlement in which Slater would donate a portion of future revenues on the photographs to wildlife organizations, but the court did not accept the settlement. In April 2018, the appeals court ruled against PETA, stating in its judgement that animals cannot legally hold copyrights and expressing concern that PETA's motivations had been to promote their own interests rather than to protect the legal rights of the monkeys. The ordeal left Slater with very little funding, and he lost his motivation and passion for photography. However, he was still glad for the impact the photos had on people, stating "It has taken six years for my original intention to come true which was to highlight the plight of the monkeys and bring it to the world. No one had heard of these monkeys six years ago, they were down to the last thousands. ... The locals used to roast them, but now they love them, they call it the 'selfie monkey'. Tourists are now visiting and people see there is a longer-term benefit to the community than just shooting a monkey."

In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Babi was the deification of the Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas) and was therefore a sacred animal. They were known as attendants of Thoth, and are thus also called the Sacred Baboon.

Critically endangered Red-shanked Doucs (Pygathrix nemaeus) eat peacefully with each other, and have been known to share their food with others. They may even break pieces of foliage off and hand them to each other, a type of active generosity that is rare among Old World monkeys.

Humans, Baboons, Bonobos (Pan paniscus), and Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are omnivorous hunters, and will set off on hunting parties, sometimes bringing down smaller monkey species.

Both Chimpanzees and Humans are known to wage wars over territories and resources.

Orangutans build nests for both day and night use. Nests may be elaborate and involve a foundation and mattress made by intertwining leaves and branches and adding broken leafy branches. Additional features such as shade, a waterproof roof, "pillow", and "blanket", all of which are made from branches, twigs and leaves, may also be added.

Critically endangered Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) have been observed using tools such as using leaves as toilet paper, a pad of leaves as a plate for holding spiny durian fruit, a leafy branch for a bee swatter, a bunch of leafy branches held together as an "umbrella" while traveling in the rain, a single stick as a backscratcher, a branch or tree trunk as a missile, and have even been sighted using spears to attempt (unsuccessfully) to catch fish.

The critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) has been observed using a different arsenal of tools. One may break off a tree branch that is about a foot long, snap off the twigs and fray one end with its teeth. The orangutan will then use the stick to dig in tree holes for termites. They will also use the stick to poke a bee's nest wall, move it around and catch the honey. In addition, orangutans use tools to eat fruit. When the fruit of the Neesia tree ripens, its hard, ridged husk softens until it falls open. Inside are seeds that the orangutans enjoy eating, but they are surrounded by fiberglass-like hairs that are painful if eaten. A Neesia-eating orangutan will select a five-inch stick, strip off its bark, and then carefully collect the hairs with it. Once the fruit is safe, the ape will eat the seeds using the stick or its fingers. Tools are created differently for different uses. Sticks are often made longer or shorter depending on whether they will be used for insects or fruits. If a particular tool proves useful, the orangutan will often save it. Over time, they can collect entire "toolboxes".

Endangered Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are capable of altruism, compassion, empathy, kindness, patience, and sensitivity. They are known for living in matriarchal societies, having more fluid sexuality, and settling disputes with sex rather than violence.

In a study published in February 2025, scientists determined that Bonobos could tell when a Human didn't know something, and point them in the right direction.

The endangered Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) has a large gular sac (throat pouch) that can be inflated to the size of the gibbon’s head, allowing it to make resonating calls. Mated pairs produce loud, well-patterned calling bouts, which are referred to as duetting. These calls advertise the presence and status of a mated pair. Newly formed pairs spend more time singing than an established pair.

The critically endangered Hainan Black-crested Gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is one of the most endangered animals in the world. The most recent count found 22 Hainan Gibbons split between two families, one family of 11 and one of 7 members, with 4 loners, all residing in Bawangling National Nature Reserve on Hainan Island. Over 25% of the Hainan Gibbon’s habitat has been reduced due to illegal pulp paper plantation growers. As there are no Hainan Gibbons in captivity, the entire population could be one major storm or epidemic away from extinction.

Tarsiers are the only entirely carnivorous living primates.

Philippine Tarsiers (Carlito syrichta) are capable of hearing frequencies as high as 91 kHz. They are also capable of vocalizations with a dominant frequency of 70 kHz.

Unlike other male primates, male Callitrichids generally provide as much parental care as females. Parental duties may include carrying, protecting, feeding, comforting, and even engaging in play behavior with the babies in a group. In some cases, such as in the Cotton-top Tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), males, particularly fathers, even show a greater involvement in caregiving than females.

White-fronted Capuchins (genus Cebus) have been observed using leaves as a cup to drink water.

Female Squirrel Monkeys (genus Saimiri) have pseudo-penises, which they use to display dominance over smaller monkeys.

White-faced Sakis (Pithecia pithecia) often mate for life, and are very devoted to their partners, strengthening their bond by grooming each other.

Atelid monkeys are most famous for their long, extremely prehensile tails. Their tails have sensitive, almost hairless, tactile pads on their undersides, and can function as a “fifth limb” while moving through the trees.

About 60% of primate species are threatened with extinction. Common threats include deforestation, forest fragmentation, monkey drives, and hunting for use in medicines, as pets, and for food. Large-scale tropical forest clearing for agriculture most threatens primates, as well as farming for palm oil.

[juniperpyre]

What are your thoughts on gender in the wizarding world? Do you think there’s a strong patriarchy, and if so how do you think it formed?

I feel wobbly about how powerful patriarchy would be in the wizarding world before answering this question. let's see what conclusion i come to lol

table of contents—you could skip to gender in the text if you don't want the connections to the real world and don't need the foundational ideology of my argument

1: where did patriarchy originate in the real western world? & what assumptions am I working off of?

2: gender in late medieval and early modern england & western europe

3: gender in the text 3.1: younger women 3.2: older women

4. conclusions

1. where did patriarchy originate in the real western world? & what assumptions am I working off of?

mona eltahawy called patriarchy "the oldest form of occupation", speaking to the way women & people classed as women (or gender deviant or ungendered) are treated as commodities to own. this BBC article argues that patriarchy was created as a way for the proto-state to leverage control over the population. the enforced social roles of males soldiers & female reproducers made groups bigger & more powerful.

I will take the article's assertion (it's very well sourced) that one of the first instances of patriarchy developing starts about 5,000 ago in Mesopotamia, when records show women disappearing from public life, at face value. then, ofc, in the mediterranean world we "soon" after see the Mycenaeans & Greeks & Romans, in that order, develop, all of which had patriarchal societies—tho to different extents.

as I have stated previously, the wizarding world loves Greek & Roman shit, as does the real western world (and we have! for centuries!). I like to consider their cultural norms, especially as they were interpreted during the Renaissance, when thinking about wizarding culture.

so, yes, the WW is patriarchal, since for at least 1,500 years, but probably more like 4,800 years. and for most of that time there was no wizarding world, just the World, and the WW had the same histories as the muggle world.

2. gender in late medieval and early modern england & western europe

so sorry, you've unlocked an info dump cutscene. it can be skipped.

I want you to imagine the traditional gender roles for men and women in western society. write them down, even. what should women be like? what is the inherent nature of women, if one exists, according to traditionalists? according to society at large? according to you?

in early modern england there was a HUGE shift in the perception of women and gender roles.

in "'The Good and Bad of that Sexe': Monstrosity and Womanhood in Early Modern England," by Alletta Brenner, the epistemological history of womanhood in the middle of the sixteenth to the end of the 17th centuries, is analyzed.

epistemology is about the study of knowledge, so think intellectual history, a history of what ideas and thoughts people are sharing and the patterns of those ideas and thoughts.

long story short: for about 1500 years, western culture regarded women as lesser versions of men, who are the perfect form of humans. male and female were not regarded as opposite, but two versions of the same thing. eve was made from adam’s rib, she’s a knockoff.

“Monstrosity and Womanhood” discusses two cultural differences between then & now that are significant to my argument. 1: people of the middle ages & early modern europe regarded the monstrous as a part of God’s creation, possibly frightening, but not unnatural. 2: women were regarded as too sexually driven, lustful temptresses. this is a stark contrast to the Cult of True Womanhood that we see in the 19th c, submissive, gentle, spiritually included, a soft place for her husband to find comfort in after being in the chaos of the outside world.*

(lily kind of embodies the late middles ages dangers of womanhood & it’s monstrosities in earth after rain.)

so, the answer to “what is a woman?” is changing rapidly right before the WW cuts itself off from the MW. I expect that, since the bio-essentialism of today started in the 19th century, post SoS, there is a significant difference in what the WW settles on.

the changing views on women in the MW are also influenced by and/or create the atmosphere wherein the witch trials are born. midwives and other women who transgressed their gender roles were targeted in the witch trials. the WW reacts to the witch trials by going into hiding (I don't believe this, I think it's part of the WW historical mythos used to uphold their society & it's fucking issues)

*this ideal of womanhood is only accessible by white middle and upper class women. other women are in many ways, monstrous, but they are also degendered.

3. gender in the text

in the books we see multiple examples of sexism, and a large chunk of these examples involve over-sexualization or sexual policing. our entry into WW culture, ron weasley, displays these views multiple times. he does not seem to believe that women are less intellectually or even less physically capable. he also doesn’t have a problem being defended by harry potter or hermione granger, or defending harry or hermione.

3.1 younger women

the threat of love potions is also brought up a few times throughout the books, and they are solely seen as a woman's weapon.

in Goblet of Fire, once skeeter turns on hermione, she asserts in a PUBLIC NEWSPAPER that hermione is possibly using love potions to seduce powerful men (pg 357). this is after harry's friendship with hermione is portrayed, again, in a public paper, as a romance (pg 225). hermione is pretty and smart when she's "with" harry, but when she is associated with a second man, thereby betraying the englishman who must be the hero of skeeter’s stories, she's ugly and smart enough to drug him. mrs. weasley, an adult woman and frequent caretaker of hermione, believes this and is cruel to her, a child.

over sexualization is used as a highly effective weapon against hermione. the WW easily accepts a young woman's sexuality as a threat to the men around her; she is voracious. i'm sure hermione being muggle born does not help.

merope gaunt is also accused, by dumbledore, of drugging tom riddle sr. with a love potion (pg 154 HBP). no evidence is given. we, the reader, are meant to assume the accuracy since dumbledore is making the claim. once again the sexual appetite of a young woman is dangerous. her misdeeds, brought about by choices made clouded with lust, only the short term considered, end up creating a fucking super villain. what's interesting is that this isn't only a belief of the characters in-text, it's the perspective of the author. nonetheless, dumbledore's quickness to blame a young woman's desire for driving her to violence and bringing misfortune, indicates that the sexuality of women in the WW is easily seen as dangerous.

i think this well establishes women's sexuality as a dangerous, insatiable threat in the WW culture. this is clearly a patriarchal ideology. the systematic reinforcement at the nuclear family level becomes clearer when we look at how the weasley brothers treat ginny's sexuality. they, just as men in the MW do, see their sister's sexuality as their business. however, this is not because men are a threat, but because ginny is unrestrained in her expression and exploration of her sexuality. I do not recall anyone ever worrying for ginny’s safety—women are competent and intelligent enough to defend themselves. 

here are two instances from HBP where we see the brothers judging their sister and trying to control her sexuality:

fred and george are selling love potions, but not to ginny, because she's used her wiles to collect enough men. ron is also reporting on ginny’s romantic endeavors to their older, of age, brothers (pg 91 HBP). Is this to leverage additional power and to control her? Later in the book ron doesn't want people to see ginny engaging in sexual behavior because of what they might think of his sister (pg 204). being a slut is bad in the WW too. :/

So, the two young women we focus on the most have their sexuality picked apart and policed.

3.2: older women

What of the older women? 

There are women in positions of authority in the WW, but most of the women who work and have positions of authority are not mothers in canon. The women with the most authority, mcgonagall, umbridge, arguably amelia bones though she is tertiary, are not mothers and remain, in canon, romantically unattached. pre-fudge there is a woman minister, who i imagine was put into power as a part of the glass cliff phenomenon, when shit hits the fan, women are more likely to be hired to oversee the shit hit everyone, and then be blamed. 

Marriage & motherhood remove agency. The important mothers of the series, lily, petunia, narcissa, molly, to a lesser degree alice and tonks, do not have children until they are married. Half of them definitely do not work. two have jobs, tonks and alice, and they + lily are in the order, activities unspecified. 

The lack of women occupying both domestic and public spaces indicates patriarchal control. There are two options. The married mothers we see occupying both spheres are all taking part in the public sphere with their husbands. Even tonks, who works were remus does not, is in the order with him. Mothers & wives are not unchaperoned.

It is also notable how young people are when they get married and have children. This is explained by war in the text. I posit that it’s actually another element of the patriarchal control of women’s sexuality. Since women are insatiable, those that are linked to a man must be kept under a higher level of control to ensure she stays loyal to her husband. Marriage in the teen years is younger than the average in MW in the 1970s (22.8 for women, 25.1 for men). the average age of women entering into their first marriage has consistently been 24 or older in england and wales since the 1550s—it dropped in the 1950s and 60s. 

Sidenote—during WW2 the age of marriage in the UK seemed to stagnate, and then it dropped at the conclusion of the war. 

We don’t have the stats for the WW, but we know james and lily married and had harry before 21, we know from the black family tree that narcissa had draco at the average age of marriage in 1970s MW UK, which indicates a younger marriage. We do not know alice and frank’s ages. tonks actually meets the average age for women in the UK in the mid 90s, but her husband and she are half bloods. it is possible that the average age of marriage in the WW is younger than the MW, especially among the upper classes. 

4. conclusion

The main element of patriarchy in the WW is control of women’s sexuality, because women are too promiscuous to control themselves, and this poses multiple dangers. Love potions, pursuing a man to near death, tarnishing the family name, etc. This has created cultural norms of younger marriage and women, especially upper class women, not working outside of the home once they are married. Women who choose not to tie themselves to a man through marriage may be seen as inherently less sexual, as adult women who do not marry are not put through the same scrutiny as women who express sexual inclinations. 

It is possible that we don’t see the scrutiny adult, unmarried women endure because harry is a child the whole time and does not think about his professors getting their backs blown out on the weekends. It is also possible that the women we see, namely umbridge and mcgonagall, put up a non-sexual persona to avoid this scrutiny, a childish feminine and de-sexed school marm respectively. I’d edge my bets towards the latter. 

Magic allows a significant portion of reproductive labor to be automated, and in the MW reproductive labor is designated to women and made invisible as an element of maintaining the nuclear family to uphold capitalism. Therefore women in the WW are partially freed from this element of capitalist patriarchy. 

Women are not seen as less capable with magic, intellect, or physically, so their voracious sexuality creates a greater threat. The patriarchy in the WW seeks to control their sexualities, but not much else. The desire to keep pure blood families “pure” likely increases the drive to control women’s sexuality in the upper classes. I’m not seeking to make this argument here, but I believe this element of policing would have evolved in the 19th century, parallel to the evolution of the bio-essentialist ideal women of the MW. the reason I am not making this argument here is that this post is long as shit, and making the point requires a lot of details about fascism and the history of the WW and MW.  

I do think patriarchy is “weaker” in the wizarding world, but still exists. Due to the SoS and magic much of the modern elements of capitalist patriarchy did not develop in the WW, instead, elements of the early modern patriarchy were carried over and intensified. At the same time, women in the WW always had a level of agency and power unreachable to muggle women, which carried over to the SoS society. Perhaps magical men treated muggle women how we treat marginalized women in the real world, and continued to do so after the SoS ended. Perhaps the WW is a secret upper class that exploits the MW without muggle’s knowledge. Perhaps.   

I can’t believe I didn’t talk about the witch trials at all. I have thoughts on those! They are forthcoming when i finish the wizarding world & colonial era meta.

[inspofromancientworld]

Legendary creatures: Kitsune, Kumiho, hồ ly tinh, and huli jing

Fox spirits such as kitsune (狐, きつね) of Japan, kumiho (Hangul 구미호 or Hanja 九尾狐) of Korea, hồ ly tinh (狐狸精) of Vietnam, or huli jing (狐狸精) of China are shape-shifting fox spirits, usually having nine tails. They are typically tricksters that can be either benevolent or malevolent.

By Unknown painter from late 4th to mid 5th century A.D., unknown photographer - http://www.sohu.com/a/193975015_556515, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73024755

The oldest version of the nine-tailed fox spirits was from China. The first story that has the juli jing was the Shanhaijin (山海经 Classic of Mountains and Seas) which was compiled sometime in the fourth century BCE, but the currently known form wasn't completed until the early Han dynasty (202 BCE - 9 CE). It contained stories fables of the pre-Qin dynasty (prior to about 700 BCE). It says '靑丘國在其北其人食五穀衣絲帛其狐四足九尾。 The Land of Blue Hills lies to the north where the inhabitants consume the Five Grains, wear silk and worship foxes that have four legs and nine tails.' The nine-tailed fox was seen as a good omen, only appearing in times of peace. However, it also says 'Three hundred li [150km/93.2 miles]farther east is Qingqiu Mountain, where much jade can be found on its south slope and green cinnabar on its north. There is a beast here whose form resembles a fox with nine tails. It makes a sound like a baby and is a man-eater. Whoever eats it will be protected against insect-poison (gu).' During the Han dynasty, the mythology added the ability to shape-shift into humans as they became older, one description of which was by Guo Pu (郭璞, 276-326 CE) 'When a fox is fifty years old, it can transform itself into a woman; when a hundred years old, it becomes a beautiful female, or a spirit medium, or an adult male who has sexual intercourse with women. Such beings are able to know things at more than a thousand miles' distance; they can poison men by sorcery, or possess and bewilder them, so that they lose their memory and knowledge; and when a fox is thousand years old, it ascends to heaven and becomes a celestial fox.'

By Chris Gladis (MShades) from Kyoto, Japan - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=748434

Fox worship arrived in Japan sometime during the Jomon period (14,000-300 BCE) as evidenced by necklaces including canine teeth and jawbones of foxes. Stories from China were brought to Japan by merchants who traded and brought in as kyuubi no kitsune (九尾の狐, nine-tailed fox). In the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀, the Chronicles of Japan), which is the second-oldest book of Japanese history, mentions foxes twice, both times as omens. It records that in 657 a byakko (white fox) in Iwami Province was a good omen. In 659, a fox bit a vine a construction worker and it was seen as an ill omen. There were tales of kitsune turning into kitsune nyoubo (狐女房 fox wife) that are revealed as foxes after pet dogs that were recorded in the Nihon Ryouki (日本霊異記) book of fables during the Heian period (recorded between 787-824).

By Hùng Phong Lê - Hùng Phong Lê, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134883158

The Hồ ly tinh have specific ages that they have to reach to gain their tails. They must practice for a hundred years to have three tails and be considered a 'demon fox', for a thousand years to become a 'ghost fox' with six tails. When it gains nine tails, it's considered a 'celestial fox' and can turn its tails into humans. If the fox loses its tail, it dies. In the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (chữ Hán: 大越史記全書, Complete annals of Đại Việt), compiled in 1697, states that Emperor Lê Thái Tổ was saved by a hồ ly tinh when he was hiding in Lam Sơn from the Ming army. He took the time during his hiding to bury a girl in a white dress and that a white fox distracted the army when he was almost caught.

source: https://www.deviantart.com/auroreblackcat/art/Gumiho-283762936

The kumiho are able to become beautiful women who seduce men to eat their liver or heart. The Chinese story entered into Korea during the Three Kingdoms period (삼국시대, from about 494-562) and state that foxes become kumiho with great age and become stronger with that age, too. The kumiho were largely viewed neutrally, though self-centered in their need for human organs and souls. It wasn't until later that they were viewed as evil, bloodthirsty fox-human hybrids that might turn into humans if they can avoid eating human flesh for a thousand years. Something unique to the kumiho is that they develop and pass along 'yeowoo geseul' (여우구슬, 'fox marbles' that they give to and then take back from humans by an action that looks like kissing. It can only remain in the human part of the chain for a year before it can kill them completely. When it's returned to the fox part of the chain, the human has no memory of the yeowoo guseul or the kumino.

[alicecatfan2007-owlfallsau]

Stanley Pines | Owl Falls AU

IN ENGLISH

Stanley Pines is The protagonist of Owl Falls AU

Stanley "the werewolf knight" Pines, his current age is 57 years old, was born on June 15, 1967, he was relatively young, unlike what many believed at first glance, he studies hard about the boiling islands, as well as a way to find a portal back home, although he also helped Eda sell her potions and elixirs

Stanley's nickname, "the werewolf knight", comes from being the male version of Eda and her type of curse, which was cast on him by someone who is currently unknown

Stanley Pines has two brothers, both older, Stanford Pines, his twin brother, and Sherman "Shermie" Pines, the oldest of the three brothers, his mother is Caryn Romanoff Pines, his father is Filbrick Pines, he has Jacob Pines as a nephew and Dipper and Mabel as great-nephews, both twins

His fraternal relationships outside of blood ties are Eda Clawthorne, ex-wife and now his best friend, King, whom he considered his nephew, although he does not say it explicitly, Luz Noceda, a human girl who gave him back his hopes of returning home, became a kind of apprentice for Stan, over time he met Willow, Gus, Amity and Hunter and simply became the father of the group

His appearance is quite similar to what he had thirty years ago, thanks to the elixir that Eda gave him to stay active and energetic to make his deliveries and escape, the differences are that Stan's hair has been dyed a silver gray, the coat he wore was worn out over time, so Eda gave him a cape similar to his old coat, with a hat to keep him warm, internal pockets to easily steal and a resistant material to prevent wear

Some personal items that Stan keeps from his world are the following:

Stanford's diary number 2, in which Stanley had recorded his discoveries and notes on the boiling islands

His cape, a gift from Eda, which keeps him warm and protects him from any threat

His palisman, Dominique, created with the help of Eda, with whom he has a special connection, and of course the palisman can become a baseball bat with which he can fight, since Dominique was very resistant

His metal gauntlets, golden color, which he uses to fight hand to hand, only in emergencies

EN ESPAÑOL

Stanley Pines es el protagonista de Owl Falls AU

Stanley "el caballero lobo" Pines, su edad actual es de 57 años, nació el 15 de junio de 1967, era relativamente joven, a diferencia de lo que muchos creían al verlo a simple vista, estudia arduamente sobre las islas hirvientes, así como una forma de encontrar un portal de vuelta a casa, aunque también ayudaba a Eda a vender sus pociones y elixires

El apodo de Stanley, "el caballero lobo", viene de ser la versión masculina de Eda y su tipo de maldición, la cual le fue lanzada por alguien que por ahora es desconocido

Stanley Pines tiene dos hermanos, ambos mayores, Stanford Pines, su hermano gemelo, y Sherman "Shermie" Pines, el mayor de los tres hermanos, su madre es Caryn Romanoff Pines, su padre es Filbrick Pines, tiene como sobrino a Jacob Pines y a Dipper y Mabel como sobrino-nietos, ambos gemelos

Sus relaciones fraternales lejos de los lazos sanguíneos son Eda Clawthorne, exesposa y ahora su mejor amiga, King, al que consideraba su sobrino, aunque no lo dice de forma explícita, Luz Noceda, una niña humana que le regreso las esperanzas de volver a casa, se convirtió en una especie de aprendiz para Stan, con el tiempo conoció a Willow, Gus, Amity y Hunter y simplemente se volvió el papá del grupo

su aspecto es bastante similar a la que tenía hace treinta años, gracias al elixir que Eda le entrego para mantenerse activo y enérgico para hacer sus entregas y escapar, las diferencias son que el cabello de Stan se ha teñido de un gris plateado, el abrigo que usaba se fue desgastando con el tiempo, así que Eda le entrego una capa similar a su antiguo abrigo, con un gorro para abrigarlo, bolsillos internos para robar fácilmente y un material resistente para evitar el desgaste

Algunos objetos personales que Stan conserva de su mundo son las siguientes:

El diario número 2 de Stanford, en el cual Stanley había registrado sus descubrimientos y anotaciones sobre las islas hirvientes

Su capa, regalo de Eda, que lo abriga y protege de cualquier amenaza

Su palisman, Dominique, creado con la ayuda de Eda, con quien tiene una conexión especial, además claro de que el palisman puede convertirse en un bate de beisbol con el que puede pelear, ya que Dominique era muy resistente 

Sus manoplas de metal, de color dorado, los cuales usa para pelear cuerpo a cuerpo, solo en emergencias...

[sapphicrot]

ok im hooked. i need more streamer au lore

okay buckle up lol cuz i am boutta YAP. also for reference, these are their designs + “human” names, in descending order of age:

Moon (Kamaria), Suns (Cyra), Sliver (Sylvia), Opportunity (Felicity)

Indigo (no change), Wind (Chase), Sig (Sayani)

PIn (Piper), Yui (no change), Light (Phoebe), Pebbles (Felix)

So the streamer au doesn’t really have a set “plot”, it’s more just taking the iterators’ personalities and dropping them into the human world and letting them loose LOL. ofc there are references to their stories in the game, ie. Pebbles having cancer as a child, piper being a parentified oldest sibling, etc.

Sig, Piper, and Yui are all streamers and e-sports players, and eventually Pebbles joins in on Sig’s streaming shenanigans, either joining in with Sig’s chaos or doing his own streams where he screen records himself drawing. Moon mods Sig’s chat and very occasionally joins streams. Piper does do gaming streams but also does talking streams/GRWM type stuff and prefers doing those if they’re honest, and posts edited versions of the streams to youtube. Yui is pretty much a strictly gaming channel, and but will make appearances in Sig’s streams as they have a bit of a silly rivalry. Sig does have a decently sized fan following that he interacts with pretty frequently. She has done streams where she goes into the goddamn ao3 tag for himself and reads fics LMAO.

Sig, Pebbles, Moon, and Suns all live together in an apartment, and Piper and Yui live together as well (and are fucking BESTIES I’ll gush about that later). Sig met pebbles when she was still attending university, but subsequently dropped out after 1 semester because the whole streaming thing blew up. Pebbles still attends and is getting his B.A in fine arts. Sig met Moon through Pebbles and well. Obv they fell in love aww and then all moved in together. Pebbles met Suns later, they work at the library on campus and are getting their master’s in library sciences. Moon actually has a Real Job™ as a nutritionist and has a whole ass phd. Suns moved in with them after a whole lotta pspspsps-ing from Sig and Pebbles LOL.

Chase is Sig’s childhood best friend, they lived in the same neighborhood and are only a couple months apart in age. He isn’t a streamer and Sig unfortunately moved away for college so they don’t see each other often, but are still very close and have a minecraft world together that they’ve had for like, 7 years.

Yui moved from Korea after doing a semester abroad, but she never really found something she was passionate enough about to pick a major and eventually dropped out. Streaming provides enough income that she only needs a part-time job to make enough to live but it certainly wasn’t the future her or her parents expected of her. She can come off as a bit of a bitch, joking that she’s a “mean lesbian”, but it’s mainly because she feels she constantly has to be on the offensive. Given that she is an immigrant (specifically asian), for whom english is a second language, as well as short, queer, and a woman in a male-dominated space rampant with misogyny (esports), it’s not really a surprise she developed the attitude she has. She has a drive to prove herself but never really feels like she has, though since meeting the others she has become a lot more confident and comfortable with what she’s achieved.

(TW for abuse for this next bit)

Piper met Yui randomly in a coffee shop that was hosting an open mic night, and struck up a conversation with her. To Yui, Piper was the confident, sure of themself, had-it-all-together type of person she wanted to be. In reality they were living out of their car after running away from an abusive home in a conservative town and really, really wanted a fucking friend. Their mom had passed away when they were really young, and being the eldest sibling of 4, they were saddled with the brunt of raising them while their father had to work to make ends meet. He was very strict and at times verbally abusive towards them, and certainly wasn’t going to accept Piper being any kind of queer, pushing masculinity onto them that made them feel completely trapped. The second they turned 18, they threw their shit in the trunk of their car, withdrew every cent from their bank account, and drove off, never looking back. They feel really guilty for leaving their siblings behind in such a toxic environment but are too afraid to reach out to them, as they don’t want anyone to know where they went. They changed their last name to their mother’s maiden name just as a precaution (and because they don’t want to be connected to their father in any way, shape, or form).

(end of TW)

They’re incredibly attached to their car (a dented up white BMW from the 2000s) because it was their escape and their home for quite a while. Yui is completely unaware of all of this until some jackass backs into Pip’s car and busts one of the back taillights, which Piper can’t afford to fix and it sends them into a panic. This is the first time Yui sees Piper break down, sees them cry, and even though she is NOT a touchy person, all she can do is throw her arms around them and hold them while everything just bursts out. She immediately tells them to move in with her (and will NOT take no for an answer), and that’s how they end up living together. Piper is the first person Yui really lets her walls down around after being so hyper-vigilant about her self-image for so long, and they’re incredibly close. Yui was actually the first person Piper ever told to use they/them for them when they introduced themself. They’ve both really helped one another find their place and purpose in the world.

On a MUCH less heavy note LMFAO, Pip’s favorite band is glass animals, they’re really interested in fashion, and lowkey (highkey) a stoner. They share their weed with Pebbles to help him with his chronic pain, and that’s partially how those two get close. Pebbles and Yui also help them learn how to do makeup, since obviously with their upbringing they never had a chance to learn how to do it.

Piper is introduced to Sig (and subsequently Pebbs/Moon/Suns) when they tag along to a competition with Yui. Pebbs and Pip are kinda immediately into each other, but Pebbles is still with his piece of shit boyfriend (we’ll get to that in a second) and the two end up in a kinda terrible on-again-off-again fuck buddies situation that Piper just accepts as “good enough”. I prommy it ends up in a cute healthy relationship eventually but those two gotta FIGHT for it.

Speaking of Pebbles, he’s Moon’s adopted brother, and their parents are doctors. They actually chose to adopt Pebbles because he was sick and they knew they could handle it (both financially and physically), so he’s brought up in a very positive environment and is comfortable enough to come out as trans pretty early in his life. Moon is also incredibly supportive of him and becomes interested in going into the medical field because of both her parents and from helping take care of her brother for so many years. Pebbles has been in remission since he was 12, though has a pretty weak immune system and deals with chronic pain, so whenever he gets sick Moon is…very anxious to say the least. To be honest it’s one of the few times she loses her cool, and if Pebbles so much as has the sniffles she becomes anxious to the point of being unable to sleep and forgets to take care of herself. Sig and Suns practically have to force her to let them take a “shift” of monitoring Pebbles, and unfortunately she’s kinda a nightmare to deal with until Pebbs is better. She doesn’t mean to be this way but there were multiple times in her childhood that she thought she’d wake up without a brother and hasn’t managed to fully process all that.

Pebbles copes with a lot of stuff through art so that’s how he ended up being a fine arts major. He actually draws all the custom emojis for sig’s twitch chat, and they sell them as stickers too. Other than that his favorite thing to draw is just…the small, seemingly insignificant moments of life that he never thought he’d get to see. His final project for one of his classes is a painting of Suns and Sig sitting at the kitchen table in the morning sun, with Sig holding her head up, half-asleep, and Suns hunched over their cup of coffee. He takes a lot of photos too, as references but also just as a hobby. He keeps many of them pinned to a corkboard above his desk in his room.

He’s also a dramatic little emo (bc of course he is) and dyes his (naturally blonde) hair black, and Sig helps on the condition that she is allowed to dye his bangs a different color. It’s usually a peachy pink, but occasionally they choose a different color. Notably, when Pebbs is with his really shitty (ex) boyfriend, they’re dyed blue (hah ha get it like the rot. get it. im soooo good at symbolism). He met the guy at a concert and he’s honestly just a transphobic scumbag. Pebbles breaks up with him like 5 times (…and subsequently goes to Piper for. comfort…), but gets dragged back into the relationship multiple times until he’s complaining about something he did to Sig and it goes. Dude. that is NOT normal. Pebbles then breaks up with him for the final time and when he comes crawling back to try to beg pebbles to get back together, sig punches him in the face when he tries to get into their apartment, and almost ends up with an assault charge lmfao. Honestly if she hadn’t done that moon probably would have committed first degree murder so yknow. Once that dick is out of the picture Pebbs gets the much needed TLC from Suns, Sig, and Piper so it ends up okay in the end

I’ve already yapped at length about suns but yeah, grew up catholic ends up nonbinary with like two and a half boyfriends blah blah. They’re estranged from their parents but Sig’s family (and Moon and Pebbs’) accept them with open arms. Sig’s mom is filipino and speaks to him mainly in tagalog but sig never really picked it up (…aside from swear words…) and responds to her in english. Yui likes to make fun of him for not being bilingual LMAO. When sig visits her family back in the philippines and brings moon and pebbles, the two are really nervous and try to learn at least some tagalog before visiting. This prompts Sig’s cousins to relentlessly make fun of her because THE WHITE BOY KNOWS MORE TAGALOG THAN YOU??? CMON MAN. Whenever Pebbles whips out the fuckin duolingo ass “The apple is on the table” sentences they all cheer as if he just recited shakespeare or some shit. Most of Sig’s cousins are also fluent in english too so moon and pebbles didn’t really have much to worry about. Moon gets along with them but is older than most of them so she didn’t get as close with them, but pebbles hangs out with them daily for the entire time they’re visiting and even keeps up with a couple of them once they go back to america.

Suns also has really bad issues with food (specifically texture), and was really worried about the trip, but Sig’s mom and grandmother both help accommodate them and make their safe foods or find similar things so xe is comfortable. It’s really sweet and xe even learns to cook better from it. Moon and Pebbles’ parents also like Sig and Suns and Moon’s mom does NOT hesitate to whip out the baby pictures. Their dad is also a sweetheart to suns and they play board games together :3

sooo yeah thats all i can think of for rn! i probably left out a bunch of random little anecdotes but its really just. vibes man. they get themselves into goofy shenanigans and are just all kinda living their lives with one another <3 yeah we gave em angst but hey. it ain’t TRAGEDY or anything. uhhhhh here’s more doodles if you made it this far into this ramble i love you

[concerningwolves]

I've seen a few different threads around over the last few days debating whether people are 'allowed'/whether they should keep reimagining the myth of Persephone's abduction, and it feels to me like these discussions are actually two different conversations that have been flattened into one. I am staunchly in favour of retellings and reimaginings. I may not always agree with what an adaptation etc. does, but ultimately I'm always enthusiastic about people engaging creatively with myths, legends and folklore. Not everyone feels this way, and a lot of people are fiercely protective over what they consider the "correct" version of a myth. Hence the common resurgence of debates like the one about reimagining the Persephone myth.

Thing is, you can be both enthusiastic and critical about retellings – indeed, sometimes you need to be critical of them. The Rape of Persephone is a really good example of this, actually. The version most children learn goes like this: Persephone is abducted because Hades has fallen in love with her; Demeter holds the fate of the human race hostage against Zeus until he agrees to send Hermes down to save Persephone from Hades; Persephone eats six pomegranate seeds, so she has to remain in the underworld for six months of the year. What's crucial here is that this popular, sanitised version reframes Persephone's plight as her fault. She is so beautiful that Hades can't resist her. She eats the seeds willingly. It's an ancient myth given a new facet, but it's a facet cut by modern misogyny* – and that's definitely something to criticise. In the Homeric hymn to Demeter, the oldest extant written record of the tale, Hades feeds Persephone the seed by force and deliberately conceals this act from Zeus. He knows it's wrong, and the audience knew it was wrong, and there isn't a reason why making the myth child-friendly had to involve cutting this part out.

Does that mean nobody should ever retell the myth? No! But we should definitely ask why this version has become so popular, and consider what it says about our contemporary society.

*Ancient Greek society was highly misogynistic too, make no mistake. Yet (male!) classical writers didn't pull their punches when it came to showing Persephone's distress and the horror of her situation.

[finchly-tintinnabulation]

- Bridge Over Troubled Water -

Roboute Guilliman x M!OC (Finch)

Tags: Emetophobia, canon typical treatment of xenos, Nurgle mention, that flavor of large scale existential dread that only the Imperium provides BONUS DISCLAIMER: Finch has medical conditions that I don't (narcolepsy/cataplexy, seizures, mobility issues) but am writing to the best of my ability

This started out as pure Guilliman thirst but as soon as I started thinking about Finch (beloved oldest OC whom this blog is named after) it spiraled into being a very plot heavy slowburn. Apologies in advance for the extensive preamble to OLD MAN YAOI and big thanks to @cardinalcanis and Ovid for giving me the strength to write OC x canon, @cosmic-cryptid-from-beyond for even more Guilliman brainrot, and @daily-shenanigans784 for the beta read.

The Chorus: @thisuserislilsilly

- - -

If there was one thing to be grateful for it was that the marine had given up on attempting to frog march him, whether it had been his lapsing consciousness or the limp in the absence of his cane, by the time he was aware of the thrumming of engines he was slung over a ceramite plated shoulder like a sack of grain. With the throbbing of his head and the wad of gritty fabric jammed in his mouth making his jaw ache, all he could focus on was breathing steadily through his nose. 

It wouldn’t do to dwell on what was in store for him, any other outbursts would only worsen his situation. So he listened and breathed and tried to remain conscious, noted the buzzing and thrumming and creaking of metal, the heavy clanking footsteps and the jostling of the marine carrying him. There was little use trying to keep track of the turns and lifts and steps, whatever vessel he had been taken upon was a maze his addled mind didn’t have the capacity to navigate behind the blindfold until they eventually came to a stop. 

“Yes! That’s the witch, my lord.” The pariah twitched, roused by a voice he couldn’t quite place. A reedy sounding male human, faintly wheezing from agitation. “As you can see, this is the xenos who has been impeding our Tithe, it has cursed our world for generations since its arrival.”

“You must understand, even without… there was simply no way to maintain the production expected of our workers, with the conditions as they… as they are.” The cautious murmur of a more feminine voice clicked the pieces into place. She had once orbited his presence like many a curious child, but she had grown to know better. The planetary governor and his daughter, likely called to an audience with their Imperial masters. 

Even the humans feared their avenging angels, and it was with bitter resignation that the Aeldari realized why he was brought here, why a small crowd of festival-goers had descended upon him alongside the marine now toting him. They needed their scapegoat. 

“Sergeant, report your findings.” A modulated voice sounded from somewhere near the humans, and on his other side a pair of ceramite boots stepped forwards to reply. 

“We have confirmed this xenos to be the source of the confiscated artifact, the same Eldar material were found throughout the items we searched.” Ah. How lovely, he’d already been ransacked. “According to our records, these denote an Eldar psyker who creates such materials with its voice.” His blood ran cold as he heard the empty clank of something being set on a metal surface. Undoubtedly it was his armor. 

“That bewitching voice has been whispering to our children. The daemons it has brought have been sung from the Warp itself.” The governor interjected shrilly, seemingly too eager for proper formalities when an escape was in sight. Suddenly jostled again, the pariah remained limp in the marine’s grasp before his feet touched solid ground, realizing he was being stood to face what was now his jury. 

“The Eldar appeared to be familiar with a few…“ His captor began, though oddly trailed off his explanation. In fact, a hush fell all around him, accompanied by a rustle of silent commotion.

“Please, do continue.” A new voice. Deep like a marine, whose large vocal chords resonated differently than a baseline human’s, but unmodulated and melodic, somewhere behind him and accompanied by more ceramite footfalls and a strange sort of presence. Not a psyker, but a being of immense impact on the Warp, one felt despite his self-imposed restrictions.

“…Yes, my Lord. This Eldar appeared to be familiar with a handful of adolescents, we tailed the target before apprehension and one such child was that which we had confiscated an artifact from.” 

So he had been trying to warn me. He tried to ignore the pang in his chest at his prized apprentice’s inadvisable loyalty, and if he had the chance he would have scolded him. Dedication to a comfortable distance between himself and his much more short-lived pupils had once again proven little use; Rami’s headstrong intelligence and talent had instilled a sense of pride in him.

“Would this be the artifact in question?” The sonorous voice asked, and the pariah strained his ears for the clink of Wraithbone against armored gauntlets. “If so, I would like to be permitted to participate in this… interrogation. Unbind him so he may speak as well.”

“With all due respect my Lord, the xenos has been gagged to nullify the previously mentioned abilities.” The touch of cold ceramite briefly tightened on his arms as if in warning. 

“If it is a concern for safety, then have faith in me.” Something heavy settled upon his shoulder and after a moment the vise of gauntlets around his arms retreated, sluggishly realizing he was changing hands just as he began to wobble and quickly trying to steady his weight back into his good leg. There was another touch at the back of his neck as the fabric binding his eyes and mouth was untied, the gag tugged out from between his teeth. 

Swallowing thickly as he let the strain in his jaw fade, the Aeldari waited a moment before opening his eyes, and almost immediately regretted doing so. The relatively dim light sent a jolt of pain through his pounding head, swimming blobs of color tilting sideways as his vision spun. 

He sucked in a rattling breath, gagged, and proceeded to vomit all over the blue wall in front of him. 

The silence following was almost more suffocating than the restraints, and as his sight cleared he glanced around to try and orient himself through his nausea and downright murderous headache. As he had guessed, he appeared to be on the bridge of a space vessel, the dark metal interior bathed in the green light of command displays framed by a vista of stars and the view of Valian, frost dusting the rocky red sediment of the ice planet. 

The governor and his daughter appeared to be frozen beside the console, with the Aeldari’s belongings laid out on a tarp at their feet with the exception of his helmet and his student’s Wraithbone dagger set upon a control panel, sporting matching faces of blanched horror. The blue clad space marines scattered about were unreadable behind their helmets, but they were likewise unmoving. 

Turning his head, the pariah cleared his throat and attempted to wipe the dribble of bile on his chin on his shoulder, before turning his attention to the only other face he could see. The Aeldari towered almost a head above the human colonists, so tilting his head up slightly to stare into the shiny red lenses of a space marine’s helmet was new to him. The wall of a man now holding him upright put that neck ache to shame, seemingly double his own size and clad in towering ceramite regalia whose gold embossed greaves were now dripping with the contents of his stomach. However, the man’s visage was what took his breath away, pushing everything else from the pariah’s thoughts. 

The restless silence made sense now, as the sheer presence of his inscrutable blue gaze held the gravity of a white hot star, pinning the prisoner with its weight. His hair was gold like the glistening trim of his power armor, framing a face that seemed carved from stone in its statuesque idealism. And yet the image of a demigod was chipped as the Aeldari noted the lines of his face, a well worn furrow in his brow and a sunkenness around his eyes; he knew well the look of a tired man. 

“…Apologies, I think I’ve been concussed.” The pariah warbled hoarsely, clearing his throat and grimacing at the mess he’d made. Suddenly the stony visage before him cracked into a look of… amusement?

“No harm done. It can be cleaned.” No sooner had he finished speaking than a hunched and waxy skinned human appeared accompanied by the squeal of machinery, and the Aeldari flinched at the grotesque sight. He’d heard tell of servitors, but he was thoroughly caught off guard, even as it knelt unperturbed to scoop chunks of sick into a biohazard container. The pariah’s lip curled and he rebalanced himself to be out of the servitor’s way, pushing aside his disgust in favor of the matter at hand. 

“You. Baron of House Delta.” Tilting his head, he gave a sidelong look to the trembling human leader of the colony below. “When I told your predecessor I would take responsibility for the reduction of productivity in the absence of your Imperium, my word was bond. I imagine this exchange would have been far more helpful had you considered that rather than leveling such accusations. While I never expected gratitude, I find this an utterly incomprehensible thing to stoop to, you absurd little man.” 

The Aeldari derisively bared his teeth at the man, watching his reddened face morph from fear to outrage. He briefly considered spitting at the governor’s feet in contempt, but dirtying the floor further seemed counterintuitive to an attempt at diplomacy. “Since you have taken the liberty of going through my things, did you think to pick up my cane? I doubt the angels would enjoy holding me up for however long this takes.”

The governor sputtered but couldn’t produce anything coherent in response, which the pariah attributed to his gaze continuously flicking above his head to the extremely large marine holding him. 

“Are you injured?” The demigod intoned, effectively snatching the Aeldari’s attention as well, grasping his other shoulder to look him up and down. Despite himself, his face felt oddly warm at being studied so intensely. 

“Just a bolter to the side of the head.” That heavy blue gaze wandered pointedly down to his leg, however the expression on the marine’s face showed only interest, and he said nothing of it. His earnestness was almost disturbing.

“It appears my men aren’t in possession of your cane, nor would the present company be comfortable with your hands freed.” The marine raised his eyebrows, glancing around the bridge. 

“Oh, naturally.” He replied drily, to which the enormous shining wall of a man laughed. Laughed?

“I’m sure seating can be arranged. In the meantime, I would like for you to introduce yourself.” That strange warmth spread through his chest, disarming whatever retorts he had been trying to muster seemingly surrounded by hostiles. What reason had this enormous glistening marine to offer him a forum to speak?

“...As in, what am I called?” Was this still an interrogation? What information did he hope to glean?

“That would certainly be a good start. Give me your name.” The behemoth replied with a bemused smile. Still, the Aeldari paused. There were many things he had been called. Xenos. Witch. Teacher. Asuryani. Bonesinger. The name of his birth that he had long since abandoned. Perhaps those were more appropriate, to denote his place in the whirl of lives around him. But there was another answer that felt right. “Finch. It was… a name gifted to me by late autocrat Tamsyn Delta. If I’m not mistaken, it’s what you called a creature of Old Terra.” Despite his reservations, Finch couldn’t keep the softness from his voice.

“Clever choice, the name of a songbird.” The marine said, his expression warming with mirth, forcing the pariah to avert his eyes. What matter of human was this to know the path of a Bonesinger? 

Of all the time spent organizing and shelving emotions, doing his best to keep them labeled and controlled, Finch found his thoughts swirling as he tried to grasp the names for them. Affection and grief for his friend, trepidation, perhaps an uneasy sense of relief. And the unbearable warm thing he had suddenly been shouldered with, something between discomfort and… want. He wanted to keep talking to this man, whose words were given so easily, and yet there was something Finch felt he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Those tired eyes he knew so well.

“...Thank you, they were.” He sucked a breath through his teeth, again looking up to meet that azure stare. “However, if you don’t mind, continuing in this manner will only waste your time. I was under the impression I was here to be interrogated. Who are you to be playing at pleasantries with the likes of me?”

“How dare you!” The governor squawked, shaken from his silence as his face flushed so red it was nearly purple.

“...Pardon?” Finch asked flatly as he turned to squint at the agitated official, quickly becoming alarmed when a few of the space marines around him began to shift from their positions standing at attention; they had remained orderly as he had conversed with their commanding officer, but perhaps their patience had similarly worn thin. Looking back to the marine before him, the warmth had vanished, leaving only a stony visage. Though he fought to suppress it, a dim but dizzying panic began to rise within him.

“Lord Primarch Roboute Guilliman, Imperial Regent, Avenging Son and Master of Ultramar.” A marine’s voice spoke up, prideful and reverent. 

“Enough. Continue talks with the delegation, I will perform this interrogation myself.” 

The Primarch’s word was final, unceremoniously scooping up the Aeldari in his grip and striding in the direction of his office. Stunned, Finch could only sit in the arms of the man he had spent the last few centuries telling mythologized stories of, helplessly toted away from the bridge like a misbehaving pet. Silence laid heavily upon the ship’s corridors other than the sound of Guilliman’s stride and the constant ambient machinery, allowing Finch to ponder the horrendous mess he had gotten himself into. 

Eventually they came to a stop in a room bedecked in golden trim similar to the Primarch’s armor, walls lined with shelves of data slates and books and a gargantuan desk at the far end. That was where Finch was deposited, seated awkwardly on its surface like a child perched on the kitchen counter as Guilliman stepped back to stand where he could scrutinize the Aeldari before him. 

“Be truthful with me and answer what I ask. I’m sure you’re well aware that it is not only your head on the line. You said you had promised to take responsibility for this world, do you stand by that statement?” He crossed his arms with a clank.

“Yes.” Anxiety settled like a leaden core in Finch’s chest, not quite expecting how quickly he replied. But it was the truth. “I told them their options; turn to subsistence or die. I taught them where to start.”

“Farming rather than goods manufacturing?” Finch nodded in response. “Yet you aren’t their savior.” There was that intrigue in his tone again. He felt as though he was being toyed with.

“No. I anticipated the return of the Imperium.”

“What of the children, then.”

The Aeldari took a steadying breath. Now this felt more like an interrogation. “The soul of an Asuryani is a beacon to the Ruinous Powers, even while properly shielded, and that attention could have been turned upon untrained humans touched by the Warp. That became my responsibility, as those who could not learn would have to be…culled. Again, I taught them where to start.” 

Unbidden, those first few years on Valian returned to him. The frozen ground couldn’t cover the smell of disease permeating the air, stagnant and festering. Famine, terror, the bitter taste of desperation assaulting his senses. He hadn’t known of humans and their disease processes, what he would come to know as scurvy and prion disease indistinguishable from the madness wrought from the fervent and hopeless worship of the Plague Lord.

“Guilt for the fate of what others of your kind consider to be lesser beings?” Guilliman stepped closer, sharp azure peering into dark viridian, making his prisoner balk but no longer look away. 

“A daemon world would surely do me in as well.” Finch replied defensively. “What my kin would think has crossed my mind, but it holds little sway now. I have… spent far more time with your people, anyway.” Ignoring his headache was futile as he felt his sinuses sting, recognizing the emotion but trying to push past it. I want to live. I want them to live.

“Listen very closely.” Guilliman’s voice was so low it rumbled, thrumming through Finch’s lungs in accompaniment with the arrestingly serious look on his face. “It will not matter to the Inquisition what your intentions may have been, all they will see is your presence as evidence of a taint in the populace. The Administratum will not consider the explanations if the Tithe is not paid.” 

Finch stopped breathing. He knew what Guilliman meant, it is not only your head on the line. Staring into space past the Primarch’s ear, the acrid prickling of tears burned, struggling to shore up his emotions as he felt a telltale weakness creep over him. It really had been doomed from the start, no matter how much he tried to maintain an arms length, how much he tried to disappear from the population’s consciousness. His presence was a dark stain, first to his Craftworld, and now to another world he could almost call home. With every passing moment his survival felt like a mistake. 

“Finch.” He was dragged back to the present, the frowning face of Macragge now inches from him, voice barely more than a murmur in volume but still carrying through his core.

“Help me.” The words punched their way out of Finch’s gravelly throat, a surprise to even himself. The dams he had built were not meant to withstand this turmoil, as the fate of millions pressed down upon him.

There was no way to wall off his mind completely, though long had he tried. With enough practice he felt only the faint brush of presence around him and the rumbling of conflict like distant thunder across the galaxy. He could not waver. I will endure, I must endure, I will endure. 

Practice couldn’t prevent the grief rushing through him. Feeling his heartbeat slamming in his throat, muscles slackening under the sudden emotional strain.

“Slow down.” Ceramite gauntlets once again found the Aeldari’s cloaked shoulders, firmly attempting to ground him as Finch’s thoughts threatened to burst from their confines and drag him under. “It is far too early for you to lose hope. I will help, with your full cooperation. I will not allow a settlement to be lost. There is time, and I have patience.”

Guilliman’s earnestness was dizzying, like a rock in a hurricane, making Finch wish his hands were unbound if only to grasp onto him. Wearily he closed his eyes, unable to hold up the weight of his eyelids, trying to justify the Primarch’s willingness to accept a task that would be so infinitesimal within the scale of his empire. A colony world, with lives that others would consider of no consequence. There was so much in the way of deserving to feel relief, and yet Finch felt his shoulders sag, his head hanging limply on his neck.

“I’m beginning to like you far more than your myth, Roboute...” The Aeldari slurred out with a breathless chuckle. 

“…Oh?”

“Such irony…”

Finch couldn’t finish his thought. The wave of fear and pain that had crashed against his mental walls ebbed, pulled into blackness.

[emtmercy]

I’ve said it b4 but what ppl who criticize “parasocial” responses to celebrity cheating scandals are missing a couple main important points

The first is that, despite what the dominant culture tells us, being well liked and famous is not a human right for male celebrities.

Ppl will even try to whip this one out wrt abuse like the article about how it’s cancel culture that Louis CK still “sells out Madison square garden, but doesn’t have the audience he’d like.” The implication being that it’s carceral for people to not like people who do evil in the world. Obviously cheating isn’t on this level but I use it as an example of the extreme way the mainstream truly believes that for famous men being liked is a human right. In reality, Standing against disposability culture or “””cancel””” culture means wanting everyone to have a home and food, NOT that everyone gets to be beloved by all people or be welcome in all spaces. It means we don’t let the govt execute you it doesn’t mean that we have to want to see your movies

And the second is that humans are social animals and interpersonal betrayal is among the oldest recorded taboos in our societies. We hate it and we’ll hate it until the sun explodes

“What do you care if this guy does evil shit, you don’t know him” just doesn’t work for social animals who’ve built a global society and it particularly doesn’t work when in reference to people whose main job is being publicly liked

[soulsxofxwar]

Just wanna make sure sorry for the second ask, but I've saw people have ocs for your story and I'm wondering if I can make a character or two?

If so do you have anymore info on Bloodreapers, Light reapers and Snow reapers.

And any information on the things like Thunderborns, Frostborns, ect. Like is there bloodborns 🤔

I will also take as much info about the story as you will give me

No need to apologize! Im always open for questions!

And yes you may absolutely make some characters! I’m always happy to see that.

One thing is very important to know about the world I’ve created:

"There’s a legend that says that if one is meant to ride a dragon, rider and dragon will always find each other."

This applies to all creatures that can be tamed too.

A good way to figure out if you are meant to bond with a certain creature is to check if the creature shares your eye color, if you share your eyecolor it means you share your soul color so a soul bond is possible! Not everyone gets to ride dragons though, even if they wish to.

Here’s the Bestiary page on Bloodreaper Wyverns! Im gonna change the design a bit (just the head and not much so no worries, it’s still accurate). There’s all kinds of info in that text! None on taming one though and just like all other Wyvern breeds you cannot simply tame an adult, taming adult Wyverns is impossible as you’d be killed before even getting a chance to get close. So what to do? You need to acquire an egg! Some buy them off the market (which isn’t good as that usually means dragon hunter killed the parents and took their eggs (dragon hunting is illegal). Maybe you happen to stumble upon an abandoned hatchling, but hatchlings are fierce even if they are young. Bloodreapers do not have a breath attack and Bloodborns are in in fact not a thing! Lesser Wyverns such as Bloodreapers do not posses a connection to an Elemental (Fire, ice, Lightning, Sun, moon).

Now the second rarest Wyvern species! Lightreapers are very rare and also very strong, they are cousins of the Fire elemental Wyverns (Flame/Fire/Ember/Ash and Magmareapers) and so are Nightreapers!

Lightreapers are Greater Wyverns! Their usual coloration consists of a mainly white body with yellow to gold wings and gold accents! Males will usually have markings on their crests (like a triceratops for example) and have a brightly colored throat (this is a trait all male Wyverns share) males like most other Wyverns are also bigger but less aggressive than females.

Lightreapers are only found in the desert areas of a continent! They are considered holy steeds to the Temple of Solis' Members! Some members ride Lightreaper Wyverns or Lightstalker Drakes.

Some Known Lightreapers and their riders:

Aurum (first recorded Sunborn Lightreaper)—Imera (first recorded Sunborn human)

Whiteray—Liora Solar (mother to Aelius Solar)

Daylight—Albus Luminos (Arch Priest of the Temple)

Zenith—Aelius Solar (father to Elaine Solar)

Meridian(oldest current living Lightreaper)— Soleil aka the blind Sunwalker (mother to Elaine Solar)

Solis (this century’s Sunborn Lightreaper) — Elaine Solar (this century’s Sunborn human)

Snowreapers are relatively docile compared to other Wyverns but still aggressive enough that going near one will end in death.

Some known Snowreapers and riders:

The white Warden of the North (a Wild, elder female Snowreaper living in the mountain ranges in the north of Achaios.) —riderless

Northwind (half Hailreaper; oldest living dragon on Archaios)— Hebe Duratus (deceased)

Snowwing — Cailleach Duratus

Rimewing — Meili Duratus

Blizzard (this century’s Frostborn; half Frostreaper)— Boreas Duratus (this century’s frostbornn father of Skadi and Aquilo)

Frostbite (night/blood/snow/Frostreaper hybrid) — Skadi Duratus

Snowfall (night/blood/snow/frost) — Aquilo Duratus

Hope any of this made sense and I’ll post some more on my story!

[kays-catch-of-the-day]

Good morning folks! Last week is a mulligan and today we start fresh with a new fish every day! And boy do we have a fish for you today, an all-timer all star that I hope yall learn a new thing or two about!

Thats right, today’s fantastic fish is none other than the Swordfish (Xiphias Gladius)! Also known as the Broadbill, the Swordfish is a large, migratory predatory fish that are among the most sought after game fish. They are the sole member of their family xiphiidae, and are named for their long, pointed flat bill, which resembles a sword.

Swordfish are found across much of the globe, ranging from temperate and tropical climates within the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, where they can typically be found near the more densely populated surface waters. Their normal range of depth varies from the surface to 550m (1,800ft), though they are known to go as deep as 2,234m (7,330 ft)! Their size is no less impressive, with adult Swordfish commonly reaching up to 10ft long, with a maximum size of 14ft and 1,430lbs! Female Swordfish tend to be longer than males, and Pacific Swordfish tend to grow larger than in other oceans.

Swordfish reach maturity within 4-5, living to a total of about 9 years, although the oldest recorded living Swordfish are a 12 year old male and a 16 year old female. During their adolescence, Swordfish have teeth and scales, which they lose gradually throughout their puberty. As they grow, they become more and more solitary, and are never what could be considered as schooling fish.

By adulthood, Swordfish are quoted at being capable of speeds of up to 60mph, although the methodology behind studies claiming this are suspect at best. A more reasonable speed of 25mph, with short bursts at approximately 35mph, has been measured and is far more accurate. This great speed is the Swordfish’s greatest asset for predation, and the idea of Swordfish using their bill as a spear for offensive and defensive purposes has yet to he proven or observed, and is likely a falsehood entirely. Their bills are instead used in slashing motions, striking their prey and causing superficial injuries which mildly weaken or stun their prey enough to allow for easy predation. Swordfish feed often, usually at night, upon a wide variety if fish including mackerel, barracudinas, silver hake, rockfish, herring, lanternfishes, and squid. Adult Swordfish have few natural predators, such as Orcas and particularly daring Mako sharks. Despite this, they are susceptible to parasitic fish, including remoras, lampreys, and cookie cutter sharks, as well as a wide range of invertebrates.

Perhaps their most prolific predators are humans, with annual fishing rates counting to millions of pounds of Swordfish. Given this, Swordfish are classified as Near Threatened according to the IUCN Red Book, indicating that action should be taken to protect these fabulous fishies.

Given all this information, it should be no surprise to see the Swordfish receive a ranking of S++ on our fishy tier system!

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Mammalia - Didelphimorphia

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our first and oldest order of marsupials is Didelphimorphia, commonly called “Opossums” (not to be confused with the Australian “Possums”). This Order contains one family: Didelphidae.

While today marsupials are most often associated with Australia, their prehistoric origins lie within South America. Over time the marsupial clade adapted and slowly spread across the Americas, Antarctica, and eventually into Australia and its nearby islands. The remnants of some of these original South American marsupials are the opossums.

Most members of this order have long snouts, a narrow braincase, and a prominent sagittal crest. By mammalian standards, they have an unusually full jaw, with very small incisors, large canines, and tricuspid molars. They have a plantigrade stance (walking with feet flat on the ground) and the hind feet have an opposable digit with no claw. Some opossums have prehensile tails. The tail and parts of the feet bear scale-like scutes, to better cling to trees and support semi-arboreal lifestyles. Opossums are usually solitary and nomadic, staying in one area as long as food and water are easily available. Some families will group together in ready-made burrows or even under human buildings. Though they will temporarily occupy abandoned burrows, most do not dig or put much effort into building their own. As nocturnal animals, they favor dark, secure areas. All living opossums are essentially opportunistic omnivores, though different species vary in the amount of meat and vegetation they include in their diet.

Like most marsupials, many females opossums have a pouch. Opossums also possess a placenta, but it is short-lived, simple in structure, and, unlike that of placental mammals, not fully functional. Also like most marsupials, the male opossum has a forked penis bearing twin glandes. Young are born at a very early, tiny, fetus-like stage, and the gestation period is similar to that of many other small marsupials, at only 12 to 14 days. Once born, the offspring must climb their way into the pouch to hold on to and nurse from a teat. Some didelphids lack a pouch, so the neonates must simply cling to their mother’s teats. Baby opossums, like their Australian cousins, are called joeys. The young are weaned between 70 and 125 days, when they detach from the teat and leave the pouch. The opossum lifespan is unusually short for a mammal of its size, usually only one to two years in the wild and as long as four or more years in human care.

While opossums are the last of an ancient lineage, modern opossums are a relatively recent development. The last common ancestor of all living opossums dates approximately to the Oligocene-Miocene boundary (23 million years ago) and is at most no older than Oligocene in age.

Propaganda under the cut:

The word “opossum” is derived from the Powhatan language and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith (as opassom) and William Strachey (as aposoum). The Powhatan word ultimately derives from a Proto-Algonquian word (*wa·p-aʔθemwa) meaning "white dog or dog-like beast." Following the arrival of Europeans in Australia, the term “possum” was borrowed to describe the distantly related Australian marsupials of the suborder Phalangeriformes.

The beautiful Derby's Woolly Opossum (Caluromys derbianus) was once hunted for its fur.

When threatened or harmed, opossums will "play possum", mimicking the appearance and even smell of a sick or dead animal, drawing back their lips, baring their teeth, drooling, closing or half-closing their eyes, and expressing their anal glands. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. Their stiff, curled body can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of a few minutes to four hours, a process that begins with a slight twitching of the ears.

The Brown-eared Woolly Opossum (Caluromys lanatus) feeds on nectar, and is a pollinator of Pseudobombax tomentosum and South American Sapote (Quararibea cordata) flowers.

The Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) (gif above) is the only marsupial found in the United States and Canada.

Virginia Opossums are growing in popularity in the exotic pet trade. However, they have a very specific and intensive diet that is hard for even professionals to correctly manage at times. This often leads to obese and unhealthy pet opossums. Opossums are used to going through times of famine in the wild, and carry their weight differently than other mammals, storing fat in their tails and, in severe cases, behind their eyeballs. Unhealthy opossums will often have a wide-eyed or wall-eyed look due to the fat deposits behind their eyes. If you want a unique pet, it’s best to get domestic ones like rats or ferrets for which formulated diets are already readily available!

The Patagonian Opossum (Lestodelphys halli) occurs further south, in Argentina, than any other living marsupial.

The Water Opossum or Yapok (Chironectes minimus) uses its webbed limbs to dive in search of freshwater mollusks and crayfish, and is the only living marsupial in which both sexes have a pouch. A strong ring of muscle makes the pouch (which opens to the rear) watertight, so the young remain dry, even when the mother is totally immersed in water. The male will use his pouch to protect his genitalia while swimming, though it is not as watertight as the female’s.

The most carnivorous of all the opossums, the otter-like Big Lutrine Opossum’s (Lutreolina crassicaudata) prey varies from rodents to lagomorphs to birds to crustaceans to frogs, and they have even been seen preying on venomous snakes!

The White-eared Opossum (Didelphis albiventris) (image 3) is the team mascot of Clube Náutico Capibaribe, a Brazilian football team from Recife, Pernambuco.

White-eared Opossums are effective seed dispersers: as they eat fruits the seeds pass through their guts with little to no damage, and are dispersed throughout the forest as the opossum travels, planting new trees. Seeds that germinate after passage through their digestive tract include Vassobia breviflora, Solanum sanctae-catharinae, and Passiflora actinia.

The Gray Four-eyed Opossum (Philander opossum) is known to be the “fiercest fighter” of the opossums. It doesn’t play dead, instead it opens its mouth wide and hisses loudly, fighting back against potential predators. It has agile and swift movements, and seems more alert than other didelphids.

A Pebas Four-eyed Opossum (Philander pebas) was observed feeding on a poisonous South American Common Toad (Rhinella margaritifera), suggesting that they may have a high tolerance to some bufotoxins. A good adaptation for a species primarily found in flooded wetlands!

One of the smallest opossum species is the Pygmy Short-tailed Opossum, (Monodelphis kunsi), with a body length ranging from 7.1–9.4 cm long, and a relatively short tail from 4.1–4.2 cm in length. They weigh on average 19 grams.

The Yellow-sided Opossum (Monodelphis dimidiata) (image 4) is thought to be a miniature analog to the “marsupial sabertooth” Thylacosmilus. They have one of the largest canines of any marsupial relative to body size and are proposed as a living model to test hypotheses about hunting strategies of the extinct predators.

The Gray Short-tailed Opossum (Monodelphis domestica) was the first marsupial to have its genome sequenced, and is used as a research model in science. They breed relatively well in laboratory settings and, due to their lack of a pouch, their neonates can be easily observed.

Discovered in 2008, the conspicuously red-headed Saci Short-tailed Opossum (Monodelphis saci) is also known as the Gnome Opossum. They were named after mythical creatures called Saci in Brazilian folklore which wear a red hat and disappear and reappear at will. Scientists named them so because of their reddish-heads and the fact they eluded discovery for so long.

Grayish Mouse Opossums (Tlacuatzin canescens) mate while hanging upside down from their tails.

Opossums are particularly resistant to rabies due to their low body temperatures.

[f8foretold]

HUMANS / STEEL-BORN: the ruling class & family systems

The human/steel-born kingdom is currently ruled by 65 year old human king named Alaric. The human king king has three children (two sons and one daughter). Bertram (he/him) is the oldest at 40, Brenna (she/her) is the middle child at 38 and Drustan (he/him) is the youngest at 35. The king is hardened warrior who has fought in both international and civil wars. As per human tradition, he will not crown the next ruler until he passes of old age, is killed in battle, or until a knight challenges him in a duel for the crown and wins. His hatred for the elves is inspired by history, recent political matters and personal matters. After all, the elven king's wife killed his in battle before she, too, succumbed to her wounds.

Although there are 5 noble blooded families in the human kingdom, only the king is the king and the rest of the nobility acts as local lords that must ultimately report the king. Only the king and member of his family are allowed to have no last name. People are not allowed to have the same first name as the king's family. As for the other noble families, no wealthy people or commoners can have the same last name as the lower ranked (below #1) royal/noble families.

ROYAL FAMILY LIST & HIERARCHY

King Alaric & his children - thought to be descendants of the god Forgemaster, well rounded & fierce knights

The Armstrong family - a family of blacksmiths & bladesmiths that supplies both the royal families and the army with: weapons, shields, armor & tools

The Norwood family - a family of warriors & ranchers who are especially adept at fighting on horseback

The Wycliffe family - a family with a surprising number of ambidextrous people within it, especially skilled at dual-weapon fighting

The Lancaster family - considered the black sheep of the royal families, this family is new to the royal hierarchy, earning elevated status through prowess in battle. They've only been considered a noble family for the past 150 years.

RELEVANT & HELPFUL POSTS

Important locations & overview of gods here

Elves vs humans

Types of magic

FAMILY SYSTEMS / STRUCTURES (see under the cut)

Similar to elves in the sense they highly value family. Grudges and allies tend to be recorded in both official records and diaries and these relationships are passed down from one generation to the next. Because of this enemies and allies tend to remain somewhat stable/predictable for multiple generations.

culture tends to favor men since the Forgemaster was male and "men were crafted in the Forgemaster's image"... women & nonbinary people CAN become swordsmen but it isn't very common (women can become rulers, generals and heads of households but it isn't very common)

Heads of Household tend to be either the oldest of the family or a member of marrying age (humans typically get married in the 18-25 age range). Marriages help maintain alliances and help with a transition of power, with those most recently married gaining the choice to become Head of Household.

Royal Heads of Households serve on a diplomatic counsel, helping advice the king on both national and international matters. During times of war they act of Heads of Household.

Even non-royal families & poor families have Head of Households. For the middle and lower classes Head of Households are responsible for paying taxes and donating goods to their superiors as well as maintaining peace and order. If a family member breaks a law, the Head of Household is responsible for paying fines/bail as well as acting as the family lawyer in the court of law.

Wealthy families can elevate their status by marrying into a royal/noble family. They can also elevate their status become skilled forgemasters or skilled swordsman. They can demote their status by marrying a person of middle or lower class.

Royal/noble families can elevate their status by marrying into a noble family above theirs. They can demote their status by marrying a middle or lower class person.

Middle and lower classes can earn respect and elevate their status outside of marriage by being skilled scholars, forgemasters, and/or warriors.

[anxiousalienwriter]

Writing Prompts: Interesting Facts

Thanks to @graceful-ashes who had the brilliant idea of me posting all of my interesting facts here so I can clear out my inbox! I'm pinning this post for easy access. I'm going to try to write a ficlet inspired in some way by one each day, I'll probably just go in order. I can already tell some are gonna be harder than others 😪Anyway, preamble over. Facts below the cut!

- Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod

- Dragonflies are the world's most successful hunters

- Around 1% of the population can 'see' time

- Whale sharks have tiny teeth on their eyeballs

- Before they built airplanes, the Wright Brothers owned a bicycle shop

- Amelia Earhart had her own fashion line

- Scientists created the world's whitest paint

- Sharks are older than Saturn's rings

- There's a plant with sap that can be used to blow bubbles

- The first zippers were for shoes

- May 1st used to be moving day for everyone in New York City

- The oldest recorded age anyone has reached is 122

- Okapis have tongues long enough to wash their eyelids

- One of the only National Historic Landmarks outside the U.S. is in Morocco

- There's only one staffed lighthouse left in the U.S.

- The first U.S. gold rush was started by a 12 year old boy

- The woman who coined the slogan 'A Diamond is Forever' never married

- Slime molds can solve mazes

- The biggest fast food chain in the world doesn't have any U.S. locations

- Some of the stones at Stonehenge came from 150 miles away

- Mother's Day is usually the biggest day of the year for restaurants

- The living room set of the 'Addams Family' tv show was actually pink

- The epitaph on Shakespeare's grave is a curse

- Radium was added to food and drinks because it was thought to have health benefits

- The speed of a computer mouse is measured in 'mickeys,' named after Mickey Mouse

- Carrots weren't originally orange

- Koala fingerprints are almost indistinguishable from those of humans

- You can still see part of your third eyelid

- Lake Superior is the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area

- The color of the universe is 'cosmic latte'

- Coast redwood trees are the tallest beings in the world

- You can mail potatoes and coconuts without a box through the U.S. Postal Service

- Colombia has more bird species than any other country

- A day in the age of dinosaurs was around 23 hours long

- Monkeys have been using stone tools for thousands of years

- The Leaning Tower of Pisa is getting straighter

- Nintendo was founded in 1889 to sell playing cards

- Scientists have discovered a new color only 5 people have seen

- The Eiffel Tower can grow up to 6 inches during the summer

- Mice don't particularly like cheese

- The first logo for Apple featured Sir Isaac Newton sitting under a tree

- The first sound recording was made before the samurai were abolished

- The pattern of every tiger's stripes is unique

- Harvard is older than calculus

- The TV face of the Marlboro Man never smoked

- There are Spotify playlists for the exact cook times of different pastas

- Scientists think there may be 50,000 more spider species left to discover

- The first working escalator was an amusement park ride

- Roses used to be a traditional flower to give dads on Father's Day

- Scientists have found fossils of a 'Sabertooth Salmon' that could grow 8 feet long

- Ernest Hemingway's brother established his own micronation

- Only 1 in about 3,000 calico cats is male

- Volcanoes can create lightning

- Google Maps once listed a town that never existed

- Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak prank-called the Vatican

- A volcanic explosion caused a 'year without a summer' in 1816 - and inspired 'Frankenstein'

- One horse can have up to 15 horsepower

- Writing systems were independently invented at least 4 times

- London and New York are each around 20% covered by trees

- There's a village inside the Grand Canyon

- A single panini is called a panino

- U.S. Vice President Charles Dawes wrote a hit pop song

- There's a secret room behind Mount Rushmore

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplaying Races 16: Finale

So… that’s it. No more officially published ancestries for First Edition Pathfinder for me to examine. It’s kinda weird seeing it come to an end, we’ve been doing this so long that the title of the special even uses the older term that was replaced by “Ancestry” when Second Edition rolled around. I figured I shouldn’t change it for recognizability sake, but tried to use the modern terminology as much as possible in the body of these entries and others (or species in the Starfinder equivalent).

The term “ancestry” feels a little… inadequate to describe what they entail, but I understand that it’s a loaded word that not everyone is cool with, so it was a good change.

Moving past that little tangent though, the idea of playing various non-human ancestries goes all the way back to the First Edition of the World’s Oldest Roleplaying game, which isn’t surprising. D&D was, after all, heavily influenced by the works of Tolkien and other fantasy authors, so having non-human beings be a major part of the plot and bringing their differences in both biology and culture to the adventure only made sense.

However, D&D 1E also brought with it a lot of Gygax’s other inspirations and beliefs into it, particularly his bioessentialism, with such things as limiting certain classes to certain ancestries, as well many “enemy” ancestries like orcs and goblins being “inherently evil”.

Now, obviously things loosened up over the years and changing of editions, with classes opening up to any with the aptitude, but the damage had been done with the culture those early years had created. Newer players have no idea of the backlash that allowing half-orcs to be playable characters had in certain areas of the hobby, and even with classes open to everyone, the ancestral ability bonuses and many of the traits of each species continued to feed into the mindset that certain ancestries were only good for certain jobs, and that those that defied that expectation either straight up didn’t exist or were strange deviants. A real planet of the hats situation where almost every half-orc was a barbarian, elves were either wizards or rangers, dwarves were either fighters of clerics, and so on.

But… Times change, franchises change hands and new people whose voices were overshadowed before get creative control. D&D wasn’t just a game for white male nerds who wielded memorized Star Wars trivia the way stereotypical jocks do their win/loss record. No, It was a game for all sorts of people who wanted a form of escapism. Women, PoC, Queer folks too, even if they had to put up with some real shit from the rest of the fandom sometimes. And slowly as society and the game changed, they brought their perspectives. It’s been slow-going, but progress has been good, not just in D&D, but other RPGs and Pathfinder as well.

So we don’t call them races anymore, and both editions of Pathfinder, but especially 2E do their best to make ancestral traits and feats a celebration of their physiology and culture rather than a way to pigeonhole them into certain roles. Orcs and goblins have gone from being inherently evil monsters to cultures very different from the human… well I hesitate to say standard… which sometimes brings them into conflict with other cultures, with specific individuals and gods being the cause of evil antagonistic groups first and foremost.

Culture is constantly evolving, and with it, the fiction and games that hold a mirror to it, and despite many oppositional forces, right now it’s on track to keep changing for the better. We’ve come a long way from a thousand and one Frodo, Gimli, and Legolas clones, and while terms may change, I’m still so very delighted to be able to play a game where playing a non-human entity is a possibility and a chance to explore what that means rather than stick to a stereotype. But then maybe that’s just the therian in me.

In any case, I’ve paraphrased a lot of TTRPG history and how it relates to ancestries and similar playable options across systems and the people who play the games, and I hope it made even a little sense. More than that, I hope you’ll continue to join me in the stories that we craft together with these characters.

[diaryofamadsunwukongfan]

Case file # 104: The Albain Brothers

Race: Faunus

Nationality: Menagerie

Ethnicity: Menagerie Native

Weapons:

Gender: Male [Both]

Sexuality: Straight [Corsac], Homosexual [Fennec]

Current Age: 20 [Corsac], 16 [Fennec]

Aura Color: Silver [Corsac], Red [Fennec]

Handedness: Right [Corsac], Left [Fennec]

Complexion: Dark

Eye Color: Brown

Faunus Trait: Fox Tail [Corsac], Fox Ears [Fennec] (We can safely assume that the two brothers have the same abilities of Fox Faunus of their age)

Occupation: Dual Religious Leaders of the White Fang's religious branch (Formal Title: Fraternarchs of the Creature Orthodoxy)

Six months before the White Fang founders Ghira Bête and Kali Bête were assasinated in rural Saunus, the then current High Druid of Menagerie's Native Religon had sadly passed away from natural causes at the age of 77. Despite his elder status, he had fathered two sons just 20 years earlier, the brothers Corsac & Fennec Albain. According to our reports, the boys mother died years earlier from complications during Fennec's birth.

The two were (allegedly) childhood friends of Blake Bête and, outside of being trained to become the next High Druids per native Menagerie tradition, on all accounts were normal children outside of their tragic upbringing.

But during the 5 years of Sienna Khan's White Fang, the two brothers not only became leaders of the Fang in their own right but also made very unexpected moves. Before their father died he was attempting to create the first record of the Native Religon, which was about 300 years of oral tradition at that point. Then the brother's "finished" their father's work.

And by "finished" I mean destroyed. Apologies for my lack of formalities, General, but this intern was studying World Faunus Culture and had a front row seat to the sh it show that these two put together. They threw out their father's life work, which was nearly complete, and then made their own "Bible of the God of Animals". "Me and my brother had a vision where he and our dad and Ghira showed up and told us that we were following His teachings wrong, so here's The Right Way" sure that happened. Hopefully those three explained why the Right Way was so radically disconected from every single Faunus Religous Tradition in Remnant? There are no ancient Faunus beliefs that teaches that Faunus are the Master Race, but there are Human Supermacist beliefs that do. There are no ancient Faunus beliefs that teaches that Humans are just another type of Grimm , but there are Human Supermacist beliefs that do. There are no ancient Faunus beliefs that teach that human gods are demons, but one of the oldest human supermacist belief does. Sense a pattern? The two brothers, or more likely Corsac with Fennec just following along, have repurposed and remixed actual Human Supermacist beliefs into a Counterfit Faunus Religon, and all the other druids (sorry, "brothers") are just going along with whatever nonsense that they say because their father wanted them to be the next High Druids. A role which does not even exist anymore because they have replaced it "Fraternarch". Corsac and Fennec Albain are not religious leaders, they are charlatans producing propaganda for Sienna's White Fang and the worst part is... it's working.

Honestly, "the Bull Queen is going to reincarnate into her long lost descendant who will save Faunus kind by winning the next race war" what kind of nonsense is that???