#technically I'm from 'the midlands'

[melivora]

Every time Phil mentions being from the north I get so northriotic even though I barely pass as northern lmao

[broncoburro]

I'm curious about the nobility in Vestur! What-all are the different kinds of noble titles? Since the Gift is hereditary, how are illegitimate children treated? Since relics get passed down, do nobles in the same line usually conduct the same kinds of meur?

What-all are the different kinds of noble titles?

A midland illustration from the 1500s, meant to demonstrate for children that nobility is in service of the commoner. It depicts a fantastical act in which the lord conducts blue meur to forms a river, signifying ownership over the land. The viscount then nourishes the earth with green meur, so the commoner may grow food for all.

While Vestur is ahead of much the world in the realms of standard of living and technology, the social order is antiquated compared to other contemporary nations. Vestur still functions on something of a feudal system. There are only three ranks in the noble hierarchy, with little socialmobility except through marriage.

The Tri-Kingdom is an alliance of three sovereign kingdoms, each of which are headed by a Monarch: an Archduke/Archduchess, or High King/Queen if occupying the High Throne. Vestur’s Monarchs are absolute rulers, with ultimate executive, judicial, and legislative power. Of course, in the modern day such authority is wielded with a cautious hand, and a monarch will often defer to the expertise of various councils rather than rule by his own intuition alone. The High King may override the word of an archduke or archduchess in especially perilous situations, or regarding matters of the meur economy, but they are (theoretically...) considered equal on all other matters and in full control of their respective kingdoms. The son or daughter of a Monarch are referred to as Duke/Duchess, or Prince/Princess.

A Lord or Lady of the Land holds authority over a specific territory, or lordship. Lords oversee the appointment of viscounts within their province, collect taxes, and whatever other administrative tasks their land might need. They are ultimately beholden to their kingdom's Monarch, but are given the freedom to define local laws and run their own courts (so long as the offense doesn't involve another lordship or kingdom). The son or daughter of a lord/lady are referred to as Master or Mistress.

Both monarchs and lords pass their title by blood, following primogeniture-esque laws of succession. Eldest son is the preferred heir, of course, but in absence of any suitable men, a seat of power will turn to the brothers of the current monarch/lord. Technically, a daughter can claim right to succession if her family has no sons, though this is a politically risky move and she may face consequence for it should she "steal" power from a more popular relative in doing so.

The final noble title is the only one not to follow this system of succession:

Viscounts/Viscountesses are an appointed title, and culturally thought to be one you “earn.” In reality, if your mother or father holds a viscount title, it's extremely likely you will be granted one as well. Appointments are given based on a meur-related service the viscount can provide to his/her lordship. One viscount may provide green meur based soil enrichment to a specific town. Another may own the local quern, powered by a blue meur water wheel. viscountry is largely seen as the reward for fulfilling your pledge. To compare with the real world, if taking your pledge is like receiving your university degree, viscountry means you’ve established a career with that degree.

There are untitled nobles as well, but that’s... an embarrassing role to occupy socially, and one assumed to be caused by being too lazy or inept to be appointed a viscount title. In reality, there are many reasons someone might be untitled: They might not own gloves - the visual mark of nobility, and without which performing meur in public is illegal (and a grievous, heretical insult to The Architect, according to men of faith). They might be from a fallen family and unable to afford a relic. And some may, for personal reasons, choose not to use their gift at all.

Since the Gift is hereditary, how are illegitimate children treated?

Prince Lucas chose specifically to read law under and clerk for Mr. Beiric, who challenged the Crown on the eligibility of bastards to VRMA. Beiric was born to a common mother, but sired by a noble father. Though too old to attend VRMA after his landmark win, he received an honorary conductor’s pendant. (Black, signifying he is not allowed to conduct at all.)

“Half-common bastards” (as the lovely people of Vestur call them) are considered nobility, but this is a twenty year old development. The scientific “realization” that The Gift doesn’t get diluted or lessened by having only one noble parent is less than a century old. It took the courts some time to catch up.

But... the outlook of a bastard attending the Vestur Royal Military Academy isn’t great. While the school has loaner gloves, unless the noble parent or some benevolent benefactor is willing to give a pair of priceless unicorn hide gloves to the illegitimate child, they could never be able to conduct meur legally post-graduation. Most noble families guard their gloves jealously, and few would deign to waste them on a “mistake.”

Do nobles in the same line usually conduct the same kinds of meur?

It depends on the family whether or not they tend towards one kind of conduction. Some have a generational reputation to uphold, or possess a famed historic relic.

Among old white conductor families, the pressure is immense. White meur is famously the hardest pledge to take, requiring an aptitude exam and an extra two years of education after graduation from VRMA. Those who fail the aptitude exam must shamefully pick a second option. (Drawn by @lsdoiphin!)

Tradition aside, relics are expensive, even for nobility; some families conduct one color for financial reasons rather than upholding a legacy. If dad’s old hand-me-down blue relic is all you can ever hope to afford... you're going to take a blue pledge and become a blue conductor.

But no one is forced to take a specific pledge, legally speaking. Everyone is free to choose their own pledge/conduction specialty at the end of their education... so long as they can live with the consequence.

[knight-a3]

Some concepts for my TMNT AU. I just doodle for it because I like character design. Design notes under the cut.

Leo is a cumberland slider. It's similar to a red-eared slider and yellow bellied slider and other pond sliders. They're quick and sleek.

Raph is a common snapping turtle. Common snappers are more aggressive than alligator snappers. And I thought it was fitting, since he's more hotheaded than rottmnt's Raph. Snapping turtles have smaller plastrons than most other turtles.

Donnie is an eastern spiny softshell. I probably would've made him a florida or smooth softshell so he was a little different from rottmnt Donnie, but I just like the look of the spiny the best. He has his own version of the battle shell, but it won't be as advanced as rottmnt Donnie. It comes with robot arms to give him some extra hands while he works, and serves as a protection for his shell since it's different from his brothers. Without the battle shell, he's the fastest and most flexible, but most vulnerable. With it, he has the best defense and can scale walls, but loses his speed.

Mikey is a midland painted turtle. Midland is like an in between of the Western and Eastern painted turtles. Mikey leans a little more western though. He has yellow markings on his face, but they're red on his body. They should technically be stripes, but I'm pushing it. Painted turtles are pretty similar to sliders, but smaller. I chose painted for Mikey because the name fit his artistic characteristic.

Mona Lisa is an MMA fighter, her real name is Elisabetta "Lisa" Miles. Her sister is Vanessa Miles(based on Venus). They may or may not get mutated, idk. Vanessa has a pet turtle. Probably either a box turtle or red eared slider because they're the common to have as pets.

Leatherhead is a must. I'm going for a primarily 2012 type backstory for him. Mutated Alligator prone to animalistic fits of rage. I always thought a loincloth would suit him. That tail will not accommodate pants.

Tokka and Slash are merged into one character, but I liked the name Tokka better. I chose the alligator snapper for them because they're very large and have an intimidating look, as well as a powerful bite. Again, Snapping turtles have smaller plastrons than most other turtles.

I liked Timothy(although they played up his annoying aspects a bit too much), due to his potential as a friend for Donnie. It was a shame they totally abandoned him without even finishing his plotline.

Fugitoid/Professor Honeycutt. Haven't really figured out how I want to incorporate him, but he's enough of a TMNT staple that I want to include him. I just don't want to get too crazy with alien stuff. Having the Kraang around can get crazy enough.

Renet is either a seamstress or physicist(maybe both?), because I don't like time travel gimmicks.

[dane-ffxiv]

Prompt #29: Sidequest (Free Day)

A late start to Dane's day meant the sun shone brightly during her outdoor routine. Something she enjoyed, of course, but the peace and solitude granted before sunrise outclassed any other condition. She devoted her morning to sleeping in and rotting away, wonderful things when her restless body allowed it.

It was close to noon when she planned her run. Ten laps around the ward, and walk the final stretch; her way of cooling down while taking in the scenery. The sun followed her at every turn.

She spotted two children arguing by the lake. They hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. As usual, the Raen was nosy enough to listen, but still minded her own business until one of them began to cry. Ah, hells.

“Everything okay?” Dane approached them, trying not to look suspicious. She was a stranger, after all, and didn't want to scare them away. But they seemed too distressed to write off someone who might help.

“...My bracelet fell into the water.” One of them answered. She looked younger than the boy next to her but nearly identical, so they must have been siblings. Two Midlanders with matching black hair and green eyes. “I-It's important. We have a matching pair.” She sniffled, pointing to her brother's wrist. He showed it to Dane and nodded.

“Would you like me to look for it? I'm a good swimmer.” She offered, but didn’t wait for their response and began untying her shoes. The decision had been made before she even asked. Both children stood frozen, confused by her willingness to help. But a simple dive was the easiest task on the star; she carried the blessing to breathe underwater and swimming had been part of her career for several turns.

The water looked fairly deep, but she managed to see part of the lakebed with enough penetration from the sun’s light. “It'll be just a second.” She smiled at them from the dock and dove in, beginning her search.

Unfortunately, it took longer than a second. Longer than a few minutes, even. With proper visibility, Dane still had to navigate between rocks, weave through submerged tree stumps, and inspect nearby obstacles like sunken rowboats. It was a good thing she saw the brother’s bracelet beforehand; she caught sight of so many random keepsakes and jewelry pieces along the way. Someone else could play treasure hunter. She just wanted to make those two kids happy.

A familiar shape caught her eye and she recognized the missing bracket tangled in pondweed. It looked out of place only being submerged for mere minutes and hadn’t even reached the bottom. The dangling roots kept it afloat.

When she surfaced and pulled herself onto the dock, the pair appeared inconsolable. The brother became a sobbing mess during her absence, too, which confused her. They rushed to her side as if she had just returned home from a war. Offering the salvaged bracelet to the sister failed to calm them down.

“Wh-What’s wrong? I found your bracelet. I don't think it's broken…?” Dane inspected it and she was right; still in one piece although it was wet and green with specks of algae. They continued to cry, and only after a few moments did the young girl shake her head.

“You were down there… for so long. W-We thought you drowned trying to find it…” She rubbed her eyes. “We didn't want you to die…”

Oh.

Dane knelt in front of the two to comfort them, but she must have looked awful in her drenched workout attire. “It’s okay, it’s okay! I said I was a good swimmer, right?” She tried to laugh it off, which worked. Barely. Both siblings stopped crying and wiped the tears and snot from their faces. “I’m a pro. I can hold my breath for ten minutes!” Technically not a lie, but stretched quite a bit. Better than mentioning a blessing.

She didn’t say anything else, and the three sat in silence for a few minutes while the kids composed themselves. Another attempt to offer the sister's bracelet back, which she accepted by holding her arm out. Dane secured it around her wrist. “There you go. Safe and sound.”

“Thank you, miss.” The brother mumbled while she slid her shoes back on. She flashed another smile and nodded, wet hair sticking to her face and horns.

“Don’t ever be afraid to ask others for help, okay?”

Then she was off, again, without waiting for a response. A sudden burst of energy to fuel her final sprint home. Another productive workout, another meaningful day.

And she managed to get a good swim in.

[sp00kymulderr]

get to know me tag ♥

tagged by darlings @perotovar & @grogusmum ❤️

1. Were you named after anyone? My birth name I think was the 3rd most popular 'female' name the year I was born so I think my parents were just unoriginal. Gideon, is after Gideon Nav (Gideon the Ninth)

2. When was the last time you cried? Like, 2 hours ago.

3. Do you have kids? No and I'm not looking to have any unless Dieter Bravo shows up in my life.

4. What sports do you play/have played? Used to play tennis, nowadays I lift and am getting in to swimming.

5. Do you use sarcasm? I mean I'm british

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Hair. Eyes.

7. What’s your eye color? Brown

8. Scary movies or happy endings? I'm squeamish and easily scared so I never watch scary films (apart from Alien movies I guess). But I'm also not that in to a happy ending. Give me misery.

9. Any talents? I can kind of sing.

10. Where were you born? Midlands.

11. What are your hobbies? Writing. Lifting. Reading.

12. Do you have any pets? Not technically (yet) but my brother has a cat and I spend so much time there so I consider the cat my pet too tbh.

13. How tall are you? 5'5'' ish

14. Favorite subject in school? English Lit and French were my faves in Secondary.

15. Dream job? No job. Having free time.

NP tagging @secretelephanttattoo @thelightsandtheroses @demonjoel @burntheedges if you haven't already done it!

[thekavseklabs]

What are some ideas, elements of your worldbuilding, or plots you'd like to explore in rp, but haven't yet had a chance to?

Ooh, that's difficult. I'm pretty good at asking for what I want. That said, I have a very strong love for the idea of characters exploring K'war and experiencing it, whether as a kei or as something else, and while I have started some plots, threads, even tabletop games on the subject, I unfortunately have yet to get far with any. I like being the 'gm', if that makes sense, even if it's not actually a tabletop game, I love getting to work my worldbuilding and character building brain as hard as I can to pave the way for the other to explore freely and experience new things and have fun! It scratches the same itch as these world and character building asks I requested for my birthday. So, I suppose that's a sort of vague plot tendency I crave!

For specific worldbuilding aspects, I'd really love to dig into Midlands Kei religion and festivals. Midlands Kei refers to a wide set of technically-Imperials not as an empire but as a race/ethnicity without the actual imperialism and religious warfare that wrecked a lot of their culture. They are a race within the Imperial subspecies including the grasslands, southern mountains, and the capitol. Their cultural inspirations include a lot of Europe, not English, but Ukrainian, Irish, Welsh, even Armenian, and they worship deities of the wind primarily, but have a healthy admiration and following for all deities depending on the individual, Imperial and Sea faiths alike. They have more greenish skin tones, like Skrap.

In ancient times, they were actually more prominent than the reddish, sun-worshipping Imperials you think of now, due to their wider area of origin rather than the Imperials originally coming from a smaller, concentrated area, though Midlands kei population was always more sparse with small villages over a wide area, rather than densely populated cities like the Imperials. The Southern Imperials rose up and claimed the Midlands Kei as part of their culture, erased quite a bit, and then began slowly eradicating them over generations via eugenics ranging from subtle beauty standards to outright government action. That said, Midland Kei do persist and are present over a wide area even if in fewer numbers, and some of their bloodline have even made it into the royals. Many especially wealthy Imperials, especially royals, will act as if the Midlanders are fully gone and no longer exist/have fully integrated into the Imperials, a thing of the past. That is patently false, but they just kind of ignore it because it's inconvenient to their supremacy. They are the same subspecies, hence my calling them technically Imperial as that is the term for the land dwelling subspecies. That might change.

I have always had the Midlands kei exist as a history for the Imperials, but have only recently made a distinction between them and the Imperials, as originally I had the two sort of combined, but as my lore expanded, this no longer made sense. You may see mentions of Midland kei as Plains kei, or see me mention an Imperial has Plains ancestry, this is the same, as the Midland is full of, among other things, wide rolling plains and grassland hills.

If this was weirdly worded especially in the second paragraph it is because it is 6 am

[jonesyjonesyjonesy]

JPJ was close to Jimmy at first, but then I would say Bonzo second, and lastly Robert. JPJ and JP knew each other before LZ. Other fans said JPJ didn't like Rob at first; therefore, he started to like Robert after the car accident.

I don't think Robert saw both JP and JPJ the same way after they didn't show up to his son's funeral. Jimmy said the reason why he didn't show up he thought Robert needed space from everyone else. But Robert said he didn't want alone time to himself, he wanted his friends to be there with him.

I don't think JPJ and Robert understood each other for a long time. There was an interview (forgive me, I never have the sources on hand) from like 1971 or 1972 where Robert is like, "You know I really am just starting to get to know Jonesy." I think they obviously respected each other, but it took a long time to "get" each other.

I'd go as far to say as JPJ intimidated Robert. He had the most technical ability of the band and I think given his personality could come off as standoffish or pretentious. However it's obvious they respected each other (re: the interview where JPJ said Robert was the most special out of all of them).

I don't think Robert held JPJ to the same standard as JP when it came to Karac's funeral. He even mentioned in another interview I don't have the source for (many years later) that there was a cultural element to it - Jimmy and John being from the south implied more distance and coolness to the situation than Robert's expectation, being from the Midlands. (I'm not from the UK, so please correct me if I'm wrong)

I really think there was an element of insertion in JPJ's relationship with Robert. Robert was looking for a creative partnership and he and JPJ found it when things were getting tense with Jimmy's addiction and Robert's growing disinterest in being in the band.

These are mostly speculations on my part, some may even say headcanons, but hey, what can you do? That's what we do with a band with as much mythos as Zep.

[dandelioncasey]

15 questions, 15 mutuals

tagged by @aspecbuddie (i never get to do these so thanks for the tag!)

1. Are you named after anyone?

Kinda wish I was, but no 😔 I did create my name out of my deadname though, so technically I guess i'm named after myself?

2. When was the last time you cried?

Well, i just got done watching yet another playthrough of What Remains of Edith Finch, so about five minutes ago

3. Do you have kids?

Don't have, don't want

4. What sports do you play/have played?

Don't play any sports anymore because my joints are buggered, but I've done basketball, netball, fencing, horseriding, archery, and probably loads more that I'm forgetting

5. Do you use sarcasm?

All the time

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Probably how close they are to me - my policy on personal space is that if i can hit you with my walking stick (accidentally or on purpose!) then you're standing too close lmao

7. What’s your eye color?

Brown

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

It depends honestly - I can't stand the kind of 'happy endings' that you get in romcoms (or any film with a romantic subplot, which is most of them these days!) but I also have yet to find a horror film that actually scares me (mostly they squick me at best)

9. Any talents?

Like skills or like party tricks? I can play violin, I'm very good at paperwork and pub quizzes, and I can count to ten in five languages and do the alphabet in BSL (and I can put my foot on top of my head thanks to the aforementioned buggered joints)

10. Where were you born?

A town smack bang in the middle of the East Midlands (and no I am NOT from the North as one of my classmates accused me last year!)

11. What are your hobbies?

Reading fanfiction, playing the Sims and Slime Rancher, and watching so so many documentaries about the weirdest niche topics

12. Do you have any pets?

My sister has a German Shepherd who I unwillingly dogsit far too often for my liking (given that she doesn't pay me for it!), but I don't really have the energy to take care of myself let alone another living creature 😔

13. How tall are you?

About 5'11"

14. Favourite subject in school?

This is so dumb but my school had electives which you would change every term and they took the PSHE spot on your timetable, so I can legitimately say that my favourite subject was, for one whole term, magic tricks 😂😂 but in all seriousness, probably history or sociology

15. Dream job?

Something working with children, like an LSA or a tutor - I just finished up a master's degree in developmental psychology, so something researchy which uses that would also be good!

no pressure tags (don't think I have fifteen mutuals lmao i'm just dragging these out of my notes!): @snarkymuffin @the-young-girl-of-casterly-rock @saryn-prime @i-am-unoriginal-posts @thatrandomautist @who-the-hell-even-are-you @ellie-you-idiot @emotional-water

[brightsuzaku]

WIP WEDNESDAY

As it's technically Wednesday, I might as well discuss my WIPs!

1.) The next "spaceships as people" longpost has turned into 4 pages on google docs, and also is rapidly becoming drier than a desert. I am editing as best as I can, but it's hard, lol.

Here's a sample paragraph... The exact content of which might change later, I don't know:

"Meanwhile, formally-speaking, ships always first identify one another by the ship's registered name as a vessel, and an identification number, if necessary. In this example, we have two spacecraft, a freighter designated Laughter Beckons Tragedy ASTV3-162 and a smaller merchant vessel designated Gloryhound ASTV1-7783. Freighter names in real life at sea are almost always terrifyingly extra, or each ship in a fleet has a specific naming scheme (see Evergreen's Ever Given, the beloved Madame Stuckboat). And so, I see no reason to not be equally extra about naming freighters, some of which are considered the dumbest hunks of metal in known space."

2.) I will start work on "Botanical Gardens 5.5" (or whatever it ought to be called) sometime soon, and it should go up later... Tonight? I have like, 3 or 4 more pictures from within the Conservatories that I wanted to add, but without making the existing post way too long.

3.) "Silly Drawing of my FFXIV alt, Dragoon Quest," still lives in my brain, rotating like a hot pocket on a microwave turntable. I love him, he's stupid. He looks like this:

I love him. Midlander Hyur, dumb as a pile of bricks, cannot read, good-hearted but deadly. That's Dragoon Quest!

4.) "Proper Drawing of my BFF's player character in an RP" got shoved onto the backburner, actually. Whoops.

That's all my WIPs for Wednesday, I think...!

(I'd tag my friends' names to put up their posts for WIP Wednesday, but I'm not feeling up to it.)

[baddywronglegs]

OK so, long post because brevity is the soul of cowardice. Also, warning this will feature descriptions of injury and morris dancing below the cut.

For the uninitiated, morris dancinig is the name of a bunch of different English traditional display dances (display dance as opposed to social dance meaning these are done for performance in public, unlike things like country dances which are done for fun)

What is and isn't morris sort of depends who you ask but the three types universally counted are Cotswold (from the area around the Cotswold hills between Oxford and the West Midlands), Border (from the counties that make up the Welsh border) and North West (as above, it holds no secrets in its name).

The first two are often done with sticks. These are usually about 80 cm/30" long, 3-4 cm/1-1.5" thick, and are there to be clashed - hit against one another to make a noise on the beat.

Now the problem that can come about is that at one end of every stick is a human hand. And hands do not make a satisfying clashing sound when hit.

At the very beginning of a dance one day, I was opposite someone who was new to the side. With the side he'd joined us from, he was the token young'un, and used to having to put most of the effort into a stick clash.

With the side we were with, so was I. We were both also used to being opposite people taller than us and adjusting our aim appropriately, and I think I was the one to misjudge this, as my hand was at clashing height for his stick and instead of what should have been his first stick clash with our side, my finger went between two sticks.

At the time I saw there was some blood, so assumed a broken nail or something but thought nothing of it, save that every time we passed, usually in mid-air, for the rest of the dance, he'd cry out "I'm so sorry!" and I'd reply "Be reet" (a Yorkshire expression roughly equivalent to Hakuna Matata if the Lion King is to be believed), and we finished the dance.

I looked around the side at the end and realised that red polka-dots were an unusual addition to our normally white kit, so checked my finger.

Now, there is a lie you have been led to believe by a lot of media, and that is the meaning of the word laceration. It's used all over in place of a fancy technical-sounding word for a bad cut, it's not, that's an incision. A laceration is an open wound caused by blunt force splitting the flesh like when you squeeze a grape. This is how I learned that was a thing.

Deciding that I shouldn't be able to see that far into my own finger, I went for a sit down.

i think its funny how facial scars are seen as like a major character plot point where they reveal that someone tried to kill their dad or something when i know a ton of ppl (including myself) who have facial scars bc they rlly arent uncommon and all of them are like. from tripping and falling as a toddler

[meeko-goes-exploring]

Introducing Myself

Hiya! As this is the very first post, I thought it better than any to make it all about ME! lol just kidding, this is Meeko's world and I'm just the chauffeur.

Meeko (often referred to as Meeks, Bubbas, Sweet boy, or The Puppers) is a Golden Doodle born Dec. 11, 2019 in Midland, Texas. He came home with me in February the following year so technically that doesn't count as a Pandemic Puppy, but he lived that pandemic puppy life. After 2 months of having him, his whole world consisted of just him and me. When the bulk of the pandemic was over and life at work went back to normal, he was not okay with it BUT traveling was safe and okay again, so his world got much bigger! My late teens, early 20s I was fortunate enough to travel Europe. Mostly on my own (less of a hassle to bring others along, get to go where I wanted when I wanted and do what i wanted) and I had the time of my life! The time came when I had to move back to the States, and it was SCARY! I had lived in Germany for 13 years; my whole life was about to be turned upside down. For a while I stayed in the city I moved to, spending much needed time with family, who normally only got to see me a few weeks out of the summer and had to share me with other family in other states. So, a few weeks for me but only a few days for each of them. Anyways life got boring pretty fast for me. That travel bug just kept biting. Most of my family have lived where they live for YEARS. So, I traveled to the same 3 states each summer. I NEEDED to see what else the states had to offer. I didn't want to do it alone anymore but also didn't know anyone whose jobs gave them as much time off as mine did so a puppy I decided was the best option. I had always wanted a puppy! If there was a puppy at a party, that's who I was with. My best friend and I dog sat for people all the time but just wasn't in the card for me to have one of my own at the time. My first apartment in the states was also my first time living alone. Saw on Instagram a lady had a few doodles left and in my heart I knew. The timing of having my own place plus the exact breed of dog I've wanted my whole life being available, I was getting a fur bestie for sure! When I went to go see the pups, I really didnt think I would be bring one home. I just wanted to look and see if it would be a good fit. Didn't even have the okay with the place I was living at yet. oops. But when I stepped foot in that yard looking at the light brown curly haired princess I saw in the picture and wanted so badly DIDN'T give me a minute of her time, I thought okay maybe not. I looked down and realized the white chunky ball of fur who was chewing on my shoe lace, hadn't left my foot the entire time. I really wanted a light brown color puppy but my little prince was holding on to my shoe for dear life! Got him to stopped chewy but then he SAT ON MY FEET and just followed me around when I was trying to meet his sisters. He chose me and I knew I couldn't walk away from him.

Now him and I pack up my car and go wherever our hearts desire. He loves being outside, as long as I'm there. If I try to leave him in the yard at my grandma's, lol he sits on the chair and looks at us through the kitchen window while the other dogs play. Once we let him in or we sit outside with him, he's full on dog mode. His first car ride made him a bit sick but now all I have to do is open one door and he's the first one to jump in! Long car rides don't bother him, I like to think it's because he knows the destinations are always worth it! He loves othe animals and people. Not so much babies but in a Ew leave me alone kind of way. I think he doesn't know what do with them so he just slowly leans away lol. I think because of his fur maybe, he is not a fan of dog beds and only lays on the furniture for a minute before going to any area that doesn't have carpet or anything soft. He's big and fluffy so he prefers wood floor or the cool garage ground.

Anyways this post was way longer than I meant it but that's the story of Meeko. Follow along for his fun adventures and tips on where you can bring your fur babies too!

[hlmowrer]

Week 15: And just like that, another chapter written and abruptly closed

This week was a good week.  It's funny, because from a different perspective it was a terrible week.  There were many successes, but just about every single one of them seemed to fall apart.  Two interested people that had fallen off the map reached out and set up meetings...only for someone in their family to shut it down.  Dennis was super pumped to be baptized...only for a legal technicality to force him to wait another 6 months.  Andrew had a good start to the week, struggled on Thursday, was feeling good after a super spirit lead discussion on Friday, only to bail on Saturday despite having another really good spirit filled discussion...three hours before the baptism...after we had made many preparations and hyped up the whole church congregation.

Disappointing to say the least, not to mention stressful.  And yet, I didn't have a bad week.  Actually, I feel pretty dang good about it.  Why?  Because I know I did everything I could.  I felt the spirit guide me as I spoke in a way that has seldom happened on my mission so far.  I made better use of my time.  I made sure Dennis and Andrew knew how much faith I had in them, and still do.  I was able to see the hand of the Lord guiding me to people, even when they would soon decide to not listen.  And that feels good.  It really does.

So all of that happened, and then also I got a call on Friday morning from mission headquarters telling me I'm being transferred.  That was a cold shock, because I was completely confident that I would stay.  I've been here in Midland less time than Elder Wilchek, and I'm still pretty new.  I had made zero preparations to pack or say goodbye to anyone.  Yet, here I am.  I'll be leaving tomorrow for Kalkaska, a little village (yes, it's literally called a village under Michigan law) in the north, near Traverse City.  I've never lived in a town that small before, it will certainly be an adjustment.  More importantly though I'm just heartbroken to be leaving Midland.  I've really come to love this community and start to consider it home.  It's hard, because I get attached to people and places really easily and letting go of all that with four days notice is so, so hard.  At church I spoke about how progress often doesn't feel good...So many times in a row now have I naturally tried to attach myself to my surroundings only to have my life hastily move me along the instant I learn a life lesson and get the least bit comfortable.  It's so frustrating, but I know that it's simply because God knows there are better places and people prepared for me.  And, in all fairness, I have spent the better part of a decade praying for a fast forward button to my adulthood and its forever home and forever people.  So as sad as I am to leave, I'm also thankfully capable of looking forward to this.  Probably thanks to the same spiritual power that helped me feel good about the week's efforts.  It'll be a new adventure, and I haven't regretted a single one of those yet.

With that, I'm going to go have lunch at Panda Express.  Because it's the last time I'm gonna be anywhere near one for quite a while.

-Elder Beren Mowrer

Hey, look at you!  You actually looked at all my pictures!  Good job.  Here's a tidbit from a few weeks ago that I forgot to add.

Me:                      >*Makes some comment about being around too many "old" missionaries*

Elder Long:          > Oh yeah wait you're training aren't you?

                             > Wait, so that means you're going home in...

                             > *long pause while he thinks about it*

                             > ...Twenty Twenty fiv--- *can't even say it without dying of laughter*

Everyone but me: > *raucous laughter for several minutes*

[thorneyes]

Still accepting responses! But there's enough answers so far to represent some degree of the RP character population (definitely not all of it) so I'm rambling about what is and isn't a surprise to me so far.

Q1. Names

Honestly was expecting more people to have used the in-game name generator. I wonder it people are qualifying it if they used, say, the forum posts or the wiki as a resource, but maybe that's just me. Lore-compliant was the most popular, though.

Q2. Age

Mid-late twenties is the most popular age group by far, to (I’m guessing) no one’s surprise, but it’s not as overwhelming as I expected! There’s a decent chunk of characters in their thirties, and it tapers off from there. In terms of the over-eighties, mostly viera! with an outlier or two.

Q3. Character race

Hrothgar are severely underrepresented in the results so far, which does not surprise me but might just be the parts of ff14 tumblr I’m reaching. I expected at least a few. Most popular are miqo’te and au ra, with a relatively even split between the subgroups. Viera are a bit biased towards Rava, and hyur are extremely biased towards midlanders. Surprisingly, a lot more dunesfolk lalafel than plainsfolk? Guess people don’t like pupils, lol.  A decent amount of mixed-race characters, kind of wish I’d given people the option of saying what mix, but ah well

Q4& 5. Where did they grow up?

For character homes, there’s a decent spread among the eorzean cities. A lot fewer folks from the far east than I expected, tbh. Hingashi and Doma were pretty underrepresented, Doma in particular. It might just be that people have culturally Doman/Hingan characters that emigrated to other locations. Some people have time/world traveling characters, some people were from places like the Cieladas, or regions technically around the zones but not quite represented by a clear game region. (Ilsabard makes this so hard, SE please). I'm pretty sure most Dalmascan characters are viera, just because of the way I included their homelands there.

When putting together the survey I waffled a bit over including a question about whether their family was from the place they grew up, but I couldn’t quite find a way to do a non write-in for that. Maybe another time.

Kind of wish there was a way to do a "pin your character on the map!" kind of survey :|a

Q6.

Housing cities take the prize here! Coerthas is the most popular, followed by La Noscea. Hingashi lagged behind again, which surprises me because I feel like I see a lot of hingashi-centered rp spaces? Maybe it's just venues based there.

Q7/8.

Jobs-wise, Red Mage is by far the most popular one, which I wasn’t expecting, but makes sense. Followed by Dark Knight, which wasn’t a surprise at all, white mage, and dragoon. Most of the rest are pretty evenly distributed. I wonder how many people were answering for their WoL vs their "just a guy" versions and characters, since the in-world commonly accessible jobs are a bit underrepresented.

In terms of individual people, most characters either single- or dual-classed, but there were some people who went really ham, selecting up to five, or even ten jobs. Iiii'm guessing a number of those are WoL-players. If I did this again I might limit the number of choices picked the same way I did the last question, but I'm not sure

Q9.

most common category of write-in jobs were combos or slightly modified flavors of existing ones, but we got a few necromancer and witch characters, and some far eastern talisman mages. No geomancers, which I was kind of expecting!

Q10/11

Botanist is by far the most common crafter/gatherer, followed by fisher, then weaver. Poor armorer got the least love, but it's not nonexistent

Q12

Results here are.... just about what I expected! Adventurer led the way by far, followed by scholars, with other popular categories being healers, merchants, and treasure hunters. I probably could have separated out gleaners into their own category, but in-character I honestly think the two types serve a similar function (gleaners basically are just in museum acquisitions anyway, right?)

The write-ins were interesting! A surprising number of specifically dads. Also a couple engineers. I like seeing the ones that slot into the world in interesting places. It's fun to see where people think their characters would fit. I wonder too how people might distribute themselves in the large category answers.

In general if people want to comment on the results either in a reblog or in a response, please do! especially if you have an answer that you want to explain, or would have explained further but couldn't because of the limits of the survey.

another informal survey

Occasionally I get curious about the spread of rp characters in the community and decide to send surveys out into the ether to indulge it! No tumblr poll this time because there are a couple different questions with a lot of answers.

Just a brief batch of questions about character name lore, race, hometown and IC professions! I've set it so that it can be taken multiple times for different characters, and the results will be visible to everyone, so that I don't have to go back and share a bunch of pie charts later.

As always I tried to account for everything but because these are informal there may be options that slipped my mind.

[ayyymeric]

Ymir Hjörþrimul by gravitydusty

[considermygenderminecrafted]

wait this might be like. a very basic question so pls don't feel like you have to answer it but i'm really interested in the british class dynamic stuff you're talking about and how it applies to the dsmp - are tubbo/wilbur considered southern and tommy/phil are northern? is jack northern? i'm realizing now that i can usually figure out if british streamers are from the same area bc they have similar accents but i don't actually know how that maps onto like. geographical locations per se

It's largely a cultural thing tbh!

So yeah, Phil n Jack both ID aa northern. Tommy is technically north midlands but v much close enough n also talks like he does (partially cause his mum's Yorkshire) that when it comes to percieved class dynamics and cultural aspect I place him much much more promixate to northern. Like youve done placin them 3 in the same region

Like lookin at the Wikipedia page on North South divide, where he's from is defined as in different regions (either northern of East Midlands) in different paragraphs depending on what the topic of the divide is. So yeah. Northern enough for these purposes /lh /hj

[edit found new source from 2021 which places him northern so there we go]

Wilbur, George, Tubbo are southern

Ponk is also southern I think, but occupys a slightly different space thy use lot more MLE which is working class dialect n theyre Black British which is adds another element

Eret has an RP English accent but also has American influence

Uhhh I think thats all the Brits in DSMP? Sorry if I forgot anyone it's 5am kekw

[pomegranate-belle]

Fic Author Self-Rec

Tagged by @deniigi

Rules: Rec five of your own fics that you love, then tag five more people

I realized while trying to come up with this list of fics to rec that. I have written a lot of fics, lol - but I chose these five because I'm pretty proud of them and think they're fun.

The Lesser of Two Evils (AO3 Link) - MattFoggy

Foggy is a very complicated agnostic demon, whose power comes from making people compromise on their morals. Matt is a stubborn human who really hates compromising. Also they fall in love.

This one was a doozy, and took me an entire year to write, most of which was planning the lore and the ethical and moral differences between Lesser Evil and Greater Evil. It also has the plot I'm most proud of in all my fics, probably for the reason that I spent a year on it.

Other People's Blood (AO3 Link) - MattFoggy, onesided Dex/Foggy

Think of this kind of like an Earth-65 (Spider-Gwen) story a bit to the left. Matt was adopted by Fisk after his dad's murder, and Foggy was raised by Rosalind. They both turn out to be awful people, but in my humble opinion it's a delightful ride.

This one I wrote for the MattFoggy bang, with @neonbrutalism as my artist and fellow architect for the AU. It's definitely a bit outside my usual content, but it was so much fun to push it to that evil evil drama place.

Forget Me Not With Every Breath (AO3 Link) - MattFoggy

Ok, first off don't read this one until you've read @missmoochy's fic A Flower Cannot Blossom Without Sunshine, And Man Cannot Live Without Love because this is a direct sequel to that.

It's a Hanahaki AU where Matt tries to bravely soldier through the disease while attempting to rekindle Foggy's surgically removed love for him. Basically, the ending to Moochy's fic broke my heart and I needed to write a fix-it.

Matt Murdock’s Evil Internship for Struggling Superheroes (AO3 Link) - Gen, Gwen & Murderdock

Technically, this one is a part of my SV2 series, which picks up after the Into the Spider-Verse movie and explores/expands on the universes presented in that movie. However, so long as you have a cursory knowledge of Spider-Gwen, it can probably stand on its own.

Gwen needs to protect her dad from charges leveled against him, and makes a deal with her greatest nemesis in order to do so. This story details the beginning of Gwen's saga as Murderdock's apprentice.

It's something I wanted to write about ever since I first read the Spider-Gwen comics - the relationship between these two is really fascinating and comes with a lot of nuance. Also it's just enjoyable to play them off of each other.

The Ghosts of Matthew Murdock (AO3 Link) - MattFoggy or Matt&Foggy, could be interpreted either way

It's the Halloween after Matt's death at Midland Circle, and Foggy is being haunted by the ghost of his best friend. He meets visions of Matt at various ages, and speaks to them.

This one, I remember writing in five hours straight through a haze of tears - it's something I think I really desperately wanted to explore, and serves as both a character study for my interpretation of NMCU Matt, but also as a way to process my thoughts about his relationship to Foggy. It was incredibly cathartic, and I'm pretty proud of the quality considering how fast I dashed it off.

Tagging: @stripedscribe, @missmoochy, @iheartallthethings, @emeraldstorms, @inkforhumanhands and anyone else who wants to do it!