#the entire earth is sustained on a cycle of life and death

[lastoneout]

"aging and dying is unnatural" boy do I have news for you about how evolution and the ecosystem work

[mykuup]

Of bone and bloom - Cryptid!Eddie Munson AU

Moodboard + summary + Serie Masterlist

My masterlist

Prologue | Part 1

Summary : When the woods are menaced, all the spirits agreed to have a guardian. The chosen one will have to protect the entire forest no matter what, and for the age of time.

wc : 692 (other parts will be longer)

Warnings : monster romance // fluff // smut // MDNI // unprotected piv (wrap it irl guys) // mention of injuries // mention of blood // size gap // no mention of y/n // porn with plot

A/n : Here it is! The prologue of this story! I'm so excited to finally share this one with you guys! This is my first serie I post here!

I want to say a huuuuuge thank you to my bff @saphirmoraitie for following me into madness and for beta reading this beast ilysm 💜.

Taglist (open) : @jasminelafleur @maedesculpaeusoubi

The curse of the forest guardian

Long before the humans carved paths through the ancient forest, before their towns and villages spread like a plague on the land, the forest was a realm of magic, a place where the boundaries between the natural world and the supernatural were thin and malleable. It was here, in the heart of this untamed wilderness, that Eddie was born—not as a creature of flesh and bone, but as a spirit, a guardian of the wild places.

In those early days, he had neither name nor form. He was an ethereal being, a force of nature embodied in the wind, the trees, and the soil. His purpose was clear: to protect the balance of the forest, ensuring that the cycle of life and death continued, uninterrupted. He was the guardian, the keeper of secrets, and the enforcer of nature’s laws.

As centuries passed, the forest began to change. Humans ventured deeper into the woods, drawn by the promise of resources and the allure of the unknown. They brought with them axes and fire, and with each tree they felled, the balance Eddie had long safeguarded began to tip.

The spirits of the forest, Eddie among them, watched with growing unease. They had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations before, but this time was different. The humans had no respect for the old ways; they did not understand the delicate harmony that sustained the forest. Desperate to preserve what remained, the spirits convened, and it was decided that one among them would take physical form to act as a more direct protector.

Eddie was chosen.

The transformation was agonizing, the loss of his ethereal nature a sacrifice that bound him to the forest in ways he could never have imagined. He was given a physical form—tall, imposing, with the skull of a great deer as his face and antlers that crowned him like a twisted king. His body was a fusion of man and beast, his hands ending in sharp claws capable of tearing through flesh and wood alike. He was powerful, but with this power came a terrible price.

The spirits had made a pact with the forest itself, and in doing so, they bound Eddie to its fate. As long as the forest stood, so too would Eddie, unable to leave, unable to die. He became a creature of the woods, a guardian cursed to walk the earth for eternity, his life inseparably tied to the land he was sworn to protect.

For centuries, Eddie fulfilled his duty with unwavering dedication. He drove away those who sought to harm the forest, using fear and violence to preserve its balance. Humans who ventured too far into the woods spoke of a monster, a terrifying creature that wore the skull of a deer and had eyes that gleamed like the night. They called him many names, but none of them knew his true nature.

With each passing year, Eddie began to change. The weight of his curse, the endless cycle of violence and solitude, took its toll. He became more beast than man, his memories of the time before his transformation fading like mist in the morning sun. The purity of his original purpose was tainted by the blood he had shed, and the darkness that had once been merely a part of his appearance began to seep into his soul.

The more he fought, the more he lost himself. The humans became more persistent, their numbers increasing and their weapons becoming more deadly. Eddie’s once-noble duty twisted into something darker. He began to hunt not only those who threatened the forest but any who dared to enter it. The lines between protector and predator blurred, and the creature that was once a guardian became a monster feared by all.

As the centuries passed, his isolation deepened. The other spirits, once his kin, withdrew from him, sensing the corruption that had taken root in his heart. Eddie, now truly alone, wandered the forest, enveloped in a fog of rage and despair. He had become the very thing he was meant to protect against—a force of destruction, blind to the consequences of his actions.

[abyssal-author-and-artist]

I want to try my hand at a real Gravity Falls AU so here we go.

It's semi-based on the Undertale AU Reapertale (one of my all-time favorite Undertale AUs), but mostly I just took the concept, so you don't need to have an understanding of that AU to hopefully enjoy and understand this one.

So basically, the concept is every single member of the cast - or at least the main members - are mapped to a god. For example, Soos is the god of childhood, so his entire deal would be childlike innocence and he'd function sort of as a guardian for lost and hurt children, especially those with rocky family situations.

The gods and their functions would go as such:

Soos - God of Childhood, obviously, protects children and guides lost ones back to their families. Keeps the lonely and hurting ones company when they need it most. Is pretty much the same as he is in canon, lighthearted and good with kids but surprisingly mature at times. (Soos is pretty complex, I think!)

Wendy - God of Forestry. Not necessarily the god of lumberjacks, but definitely the god of forests and trees in general. She's strong and protective and basically exactly the same except she maintains the balance of all forests in addition to messing around with her friends.

Robbie - God of Earth. I almost went with Death but I think I can find someone else to fit Death a little better. Also, if his parents are undertakers, then yes they work with the dead, but I think it's more narratively compelling with him as Earth instead. Plus, the forest and the earth? That's pretty cool (until they break up over something petty as all gods do). He'd probably do stuff like tend to the earth, but I doubt that he'd have much to do compared to literally everyone else here.

Dipper - God of Space. There's a couple reasons for this. I really waffled back and forth on what to do for him and I almost caved to science or cryptids. I picked space for the obvious reason of the birthmark but also because if he's beefing with Robbie, then god damn it, he's going to be god of a narratively fitting thing. The earth and the sky fighting over the trees. It's stupid but I like it. Also space has great symbolic ties to the unknown, so he'd still be able to be super invested in the unknown and cryptids and stuff. His responsibilities would be stuff like managing heavenly bodies and regulating natural cycles.

Mabel - God of the World. Yes this makes Mabel kinda overpowered. Yes I wanted really bad for Mabel and Dipper to have some cool duality going on. No further questions. (Actually there are many further questions you may ask me any that you want my asks are open.) Her job is to maintain the world and everything on it, but it's pretty self-sustaining, so her duties are mostly just causing a rogue natural disaster every once in a while to keep the balance correct. The world is just chaotic enough that I think it still works.

Ford - God of Life. I wanted to go for a vibe with Stan and Ford, and it works best with Ford first on the list. His job is normal Life stuff - create people and animals to live out their natural lives on the planet (as managed by Mabel). He's Life for reasons that I... cannot explain but are there nonetheless.

Stan - God of Death. Stan's job is to kill people. Just like Dipper and Mabel, Stan and Ford are two halves of a pair. Two pieces to maintain the balance. Most of the reason he's Death is because I think it fits his vibe, somehow, and also because I like the thought of Death having to impersonate life. I just think it's neat.

McGucket - God of Science. He was almost God of Progress, but with Dipper and Ford being Space and Life respectively, someone needs to represent science, and McGucket fits the bill well enough. Funnily enough, McGucket acts as a literal muse to important people in scientific fields, giving them divine bouts of inspiration.

Bill - not a god! Well, not anymore. Most of his power has been sealed so he's functioning at about a third of his full power. He used to be some sort of supreme god, or king of gods, but he had some sort of falling. Think Zeus toppling the Titans, where Bill is the Titans and everyone else is the rest of the Greek Gods. Not a one to one, of course. Whatever gods defeated him are likely long dead or sealed, so they're not relevant to the plot and that's why Ford would get tricked by him. In a time past, he had all powers, but he's been reduced to weaker forms of mind magic.

I think that's all the major players, but for my sanity, here's a few more people quickly.

Tambry - God of Communication. Not sure she's relevant enough but I had a good idea for her.

Manly Dan - God of Fighting. Pretty obvious.

Filbrick Pines (Stans' dad) - can't think of something I'm satisfied with! He really doesn't have a lot.

Caryn Pines (Stans' mom) - God of Prophecy. Pretty obvious.

Love God - not relevant to anything at all but in case you were wondering, he's literally still a cherub. Nothing changes.

Gideon - God of Magic.

Bud Gleeful - not a god. You know how in Greek myth Zeus will have children with human women through various weird ways? Yeah, Bud Gleeful is the human woman. Whether that means he's trans masc or a part of his essence was stolen and mixed with divinity is up to you.

Pacifica - God of Change. This one needs a little explanation so basically it's because she's breaking the cycle of change. On a related note,

Pacifica's parents (can't remember their names) - dual gods of power. One seeks more money and the other seeks more beauty. They're totally tricksters who promise you power and then fuck you over.

Can't think of anything else right now but I will be posting design ideas next. And then I will try to put out as many fully drawn character designs as possible. (I'm starting with Dipper and then going from there, but I have ibis paint free trail so i can't draw much).

The AU would probably be called Divine Falls or something like that. That's probably what I'm going with, honestly. Plot will exist later right now it's just a cool idea

[alienarthouse]

Like the land plants of Earth, the Mahweir species engages in what is known as the “alternation of generations”, but with four forms instead of two. Essentially, each generation of this species produces offspring that differs in form and reproductive type from its parents. This has lead to the Mahweir being mistaken as four different species, but the fact that this cycle will always take place, without fail, is solid evidence of it being one species. We discuss the forms below.

(A) Terreids

The first form in the generational cycle of the Mahweir is known as a Terreid. This form is completely sessile, often found growing on the forest floor or on the trunks of trees. They consist of a mycelial network that grows beneath the ground or bark, and a mushroom-like fruiting body. This is a sporomycete generation, reproducing asexually and folding up its cap to release spores into the air during reproduction. Terreids were often assumed to be a non-intelligent form of Mahweir, but recent discoveries have found them capable of understanding language and even performing rudimentary forms of communication through connection to their mycelial networks. This had led to a shift in treatment of Terreids, once farmed as though they were unintelligent fungi.

(B) Aereids

Germinated from the spores released by Terreids, Aereids make up the next generational cycle. Gases stored in their cell’s vacuoles make them remarkably light, allowing Aereids to live an entire life suspended in the air. They maneuver themselves using feather-like fronds covered in millions of near-microscopic mycelial threads, allowing them to almost swim through the oxygen-rich atmosphere. They are sexually-reproducing gametomycetes, reproducing by injecting their zygotes into arthropods native to their planet. Despite their simple appearance, Aereids are shockingly intelligent, and capable of living for decades. In Mahweir cultures, they often serve as scholars, philosophers, and spiritual leaders.

(C) Canneir

The Canneir make up the next link in the generational cycle of Mahweir, living a unique experience compared to other generations, and oftentimes even between Canneir individuals. This is due to their nature as parasites; they are formed when Aereids inject developing zygotes into the arthropod-like animals of their homeworld. There they germinate, feeding upon the still-living animal as they develop an extensive mycelial network they will eventually use to puppet the exoskeleton left behind. They are asexually reproducing sporomycetes, releasing an explosion of spores upon their death. Canneir can possess any number of different arthropods, including the Zisk—this is often a source of controversy among sophonts, but it is often cited that it was only through the cooperation of the Mahweir and the Zisk queen Skychaser, who let Canneir parasitize her drones, that either species was able to achieve space travel. Canneir can live from only a few years to many decades, depending on the their host’s body’s ability to sustain them.

(D) Mahweir

Confusingly, the last form in the generational cycle are known as Mahweir. The name for this form became the colloquial name for the species largely because, when first encountered by the UFW, this form made up the majority of the space-faring population. Formed from spores released after a Canneir’s death, Mahweir initially resemble a sort of crab, with a small, tangled body of mycelium and a chitinous pseudoskeleton to support it. To survive, Mahweir bond together, entangling their grasping tendrils to form one larger super-individual. This connection goes beyond the physical, though: by undergoing a quick and simple process to fuse certain tendrils, Mahweir are able to directly connect their minds to one another. This process is like unfolding a piece of your brain and linking directly to another person’s. Mahweir may spend the majority of their life as one super-individual, or may live in many as it suits their needs. A Mahweir maintains their individuality of consciousness throughout this process, though extended fusion with other individuals can result in a sharing of memories and personality. Mahweir “Great Minds” take advantage of this quirk of biology to maintain living libraries containing thousands of years of memory and knowledge, which Mahweir individuals are encouraged to visit many times throughout their lives to upload and download new information with the mind. Mahweir are sexually reproducing gametomycetes, reproducing with others in a super-individual and spreading the zygotes through the air from structures grown on their backs. These zygotes remain inert until conditions are correct, after which they develop into Terreids, beginning the cycle again.

Two extra notes:

Mahweir are native to the same planet as the Zisk, sharing a long and sometimes fraught history with the other species.

Modern Mahweir super-individuals increase their mobility, function, and comfort when off-planet by living in mech suits. I’ll get around to drawing these soon.

The arthropod depicted in the above chart is a Fairy Hopper. They are roughly about the size of a medium-to-large Earth dog, with large, useless wings. Fairy Hoppers are secondarily flightless, instead using them for mating displays. They are domesticated by Zisk consorts as show animals, and make a common host for Canneir due to their durability lending a longer lifespan.

[kovacs-of-courage]

Eclipse AU(Tldr at bottom of post_

So I made a modern-sort of percy jackson inspired AU for Linked Universe, I think it's fun to write! I hope other people enjoy it. Here's my weird rough summary. Willing to answer any and all questions!

The Chain are lost in time, trapped in an unending cycle of life and death. A familiar tale to the hero's spirit. In their last confrontation with the incarnations of demise, and the demons he commanded--the whole of reality went asunder, and the power of the gods shattered entirely.

After that confrontation--the nine embodiments of the hero’s spirit suffered the same fate as their homeland--their souls washed away in caskets of golden tears and failed promises.

Hyrule was wiped away, wiped from the face of history and beyond. The goddesses had to begin their creation anew, without the baggage of those that caused it’s destruction in the first place.

Earth, modern earth, was created in it’s place--with a few key changes.

For all their efforts--the remains of their first creation leaked through, infecting the history of our earth like vile rot. The monsters were the first to make the breach, their combined hatred and inhuman will to survive holding their corrupted essences together through the transition.

There are stories of these creatures, often disregarded as exaggerated hyperbole by historians, or metaphors for natural disasters. 

They were not.

The Queen Gohma haunts the jungles of South America, legends of her urchin-like young making victims of unfortunate wanderers; sustaining her immortal lifespan in the depths of her hollowed tree.

Argorok terrorized the skies of medieval Europe, casting plumes of fire on the feudal armies that tried opposing it’s oppressive reign; her accompanying packs of gleeoks hunting ancient sailors in the atlantic.

And there were many, so many more monsters that endured the chaotic folding of time and space, the near-annihilation of any sense of self--as the mind and soul were put to battle against the last, drawn out gasps of their dying universe. The destruction was biblical, the return of gods seen only in legend--it’s a wonder that anything survived that cataclysm.

The chain suffered a similar fate--at first--their existence and histories torn apart atom by atom, their souls stretched paperthin as thought and reality blended together during the collapse of stars.

But they endured.

They tumbled through the new cosmos, the echoes of their shared spirit melding into the foundation of the universe--as immovable as gravity. When humanity came to prominence; the chain were there to follow. They were reborn, stripped of their memories, into a thousand different societies, and countless eras.

At times of crises and devastation; their nine courageous souls were reborn across the earth, their courage burning brighter than it had been before. They were prepared for the changing world, their skills old and new continuing with each reset.

There are some echoes of continuity, however, rules that their spirit must follow.

Twilight is related to time in some way, and they’re the two who meet again the most. 

Wind is always born in sea-faring communities, whether that be in the literal age of pirates, or as an early tribesmen at the dawn of civilization--rediscovering his aptitude for sailing.

And as the chain have been reborn, so too have many of Hyrule’s legends, their essences bleeding forth onto our realm. The memory of that primeval history scars our world, and fragments of every era hides under the bustling, nation-states of our modern age.

Some more aware than others.

Those with the blood of Hylia returned, bringing the memory of their goddess with them--thought to be eradicated. They possess no royal heritage, living as normal citizens, the zeldas being born nearby their links.

The sheikah bounced back quickly, as Impa(SS) managed to come out of the transition with her memories intact--assembling her fractured tribe during the stone ages. 

TLDR: Modern AU that’s sort of percy jackson in how Hyrule seeps over. Ancient things hidden in modern times, with the chain reborn worldwide.

[istariray23]

1st rain of May 2024

"As the sun-drenched days of summer give way to the first signs of rain after a prolonged drought, there is a transformative shift in the very fabric of the world around us. The dry, cracked earth eagerly drinks in the moisture, sending tendrils of life and vitality deep into the soil. Parched rivers and streams swell with newfound abundance, their once-depleted banks overflowing with the promise of sustenance and growth. Birds sing joyfully, leaves unfurl with renewed vigor, and the entire landscape is washed clean in a symphony of nature's rebirth. In this moment of transition from arid heat to cool showers, we are reminded of the resilience of the natural world and the enduring cycle of life, death, and rebirth that sustains us all. Let us embrace the first rain after so long with open arms and grateful hearts, celebrating the miracle of transformation and the endless possibilities that each new season brings. 🌦️🌿💧 #FromDroughtToDownpour" -iSTariray23

[loominggaia]

Agony Cradle + Wretch

Happy Halloween!

(lore under the cut)

Name: Agony Cradle

Class: Monster

PPL Category: 4 - Very dangerous and hostile to peoples.

Forger: Mankind's Disgrace

AGONY CRADLE

Agony cradles are fearsome monsters created by Mankind's Disgrace, the Divine of Hate. They resemble a tree-like stalk that's rooted into the ground, and on its other end is a cradle-shaped structure lined with long, sharp spires of bone. The cradle is full of hooked tendrils that the monster uses to ensnare its prey.

These monsters can replicate themselves using their roots. Each node in the root system can potentially grow into a new agony cradle if the right conditions are met. These monsters thrive in graveyards, hunting grounds, or wherever the earth has been soaked in blood. They are known to infest old battlefields in particular. They begin life as small sprouts, but will grow larger the more they consume.

These monsters feed on the bodies of peoples and beasts. They will spit out other monsters, which cannot nourish them. They are ambush-hunters that ensnare any prey that happens to get too close, and they are known to lure this prey using other prey.

When an empty agony cradle ensnares a person or animal, it hooks hundreds of tendrils into them. These tendrils deliver nutrients to the victim to keep them alive throughout their natural lifespan, but also deliver pain. The victim's constant screams lure people and animals alike towards the agony cradle, which snatches them up and consumes them.

The monster's lure will age and eventually die with time. When this victim is near death, the agony cradle replaces it with a new victim and then consumes it, beginning the cycle again. Especially large agony cradles may support multiple lures at once, generating more noise and attracting more prey.

WRETCH

When a creature becomes ensnared by an agony cradle and is used to lure prey, they are simply known as "agony lures". Wretches are a specific type of agony lure facilitated by the Cult of the Crescent, a faction which worships the Divine of Hate.

Wretches were deliberately placed in agony cradles as infants. Their mouths were sewn shut to silence their screams, for their cradles are not wild specimens that rely on ambush feeding, but rather farmed by cultists, who don't care for all the noise. The cultists tend to these monsters by feeding them sacrifices regularly. Meanwhile the wretch's misery is harvested into crystals, and these crystals are used to forge powerful weapons for Disgrace's evil army.

Most wretches spend their entire lives suffering in these cursed cradles, knowing nothing but pain and despair. When they grow old and die, the cultists simply replace them with another infant, and the crystals are charged with yet another lifetime of misery.

On rare occasions, wretches have been known to escape their cradles. They can also be deliberately set free. Either way, there isn't much relief to be had for them outside. After so much time in the cradle, their sewn mouths fuse shut and their bodies have become as grotesquely twisted as their minds.

Their long existence in the cradle has conditioned wretches to feed through their skin. They sustain themselves by bathing in blood and viscera. They may attempt to attack people and animals to feed, but given their frail conditions, they aren't much of a threat.

Crescent Cultists sometimes pull wretches from their cradles and use them for slave labor. A steady supply of blood keeps these poor souls docile, and the threat of being thrown back into their cradles keeps them obedient to their cruel masters.

CULTURE

Agony cradles are one of the most feared and loathed monsters on Looming Gaia. Thankfully, they are quite rare outside of Crescent Cult territory. In the wild, they are most often encountered at old, abandoned sites like mass graves, or deep in the wilderness, feeding primarily on animals and stray adventurers. On occasion, they are known to sprout around slaughterhouses.

Juvenile specimens are harmless to all but small animals and easily killed with fire. But unless their roots are dug up, more specimens may sprout in the future. Mature agony cradles are extremely dangerous, as they can ensnare anything that gets within their reach. The length of their tendrils is about twice length of their cradles, so larger specimens can have quite a long reach. Untangling a victim from these tendrils is a surgical procedure that can cause great injury if not done carefully.

Many souls have suffered in the clutches of these terrible monsters, but their fearsome reputation only motivates people to eradicate them more.

TRIVIA

-The world's largest known agony cradle was discovered on an ancient battlefield in the Serkel Desert. An adult roc was ensnared in its cradle, presumably luring other rocs and megafauna into the monster's clutches.

-Agony cradles can survive in a variety of conditions, including underwater. However, they will die with prolonged exposure to extreme heat or freezing temperatures. They can also die from direct flame, starvation, and physical damage.

-If this monster's cradle is destroyed but its roots are left in the ground, a new specimen may grow in its place. One way to prevent this is to dig up all the roots and destroy them. Alternatively, the roots can be left in the ground and magic rituals can be used to purify the area of blood and dark energy. The roots will remain dormant so long as the area is not tainted again.

-Adult wretches have developed an astronomically high pain tolerance, both physical and mental. This allows them to wield cursed weapons and objects that most peoples cannot.

-Some wretches are so physically twisted that they lose all mobility, even becoming blind and deaf in some cases. Others fair much better, and may even be fit enough to put up a fight. In desperate situations, the Cult of the Crescent has been known to arm them and send them into battle.

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

[identityquest]

decided to repurpose my oc final victim bc 1) i got a narrative they could fit into and 2) always wanted one of them gayass helmet head characters

The Final Victim was the last commissioned pilot in a series of interstellar travelers called "Star Runners." At the time the narrative would take place, there'd be approximately 30 Runners in total. All the Runners are the same species and from the same planet.

The Star Runners' home planet was an Earth-like one in a small, out-of-the-way system near the edge of the galaxy. It was home to uncountable unique cultures and societies, which were plagued with international conflict. However, it was still a beautiful and prosperous planet, and it was quickly approaching a true space age.

For reasons unknown, the sun their planet orbited suddenly soured. It rapidly cycled closer to death and began threatening to nova, imperiling all life on the planet, the planet itself, and the entire solar system. The people of the planet had next to no recourse; they hadn't yet gained true reliable interstellar flight, nor where they capable of quickly constructing ships large enough to house any significant number of people. Instead, they focused all their resources, energy, and research into one objective: calling for help.

Countries previously at war came together to focus on two things: developing sustained ultrafast interstellar flight, and constructing as many small vessels capable of this flight as they could. These single man starships would be sent out into the universe to find other, more advanced civilizations, and beg them for help. They were allowed to offer anything in exchange for said help, so long as it meant the planet and its people would be saved.

These messengers were the Star Runners. Each Runner's vessel could support life in deep space for up to a year, and was capable of working both on- and off-planet. The true marvel were their engines, capable of propelling the vessel and its pilot hundreds of light years in a near instant. Each time a vessel was completed, a pilot was quickly chosen, and then sent off in a new direction. Nearly 100 Runners in total were sent before the last, the Final Victim, volunteered.

There was no guarantee the runners would find help in the short time they had. There was no guarantee they'd find anyone in the direction they were sent; their planet was pre-contact. Many simply disappeared, never heard from again. Others did accomplish their initial goal: making contact. They were astonished to find that the universe was full of advanced, space-faring peoples, some even in their own galaxy. They begged these people for aid, but none ever came. Time and time again they were turned away, shunned, or outright ignored.

At the end of the year their ships were made to last, each Star Runner attempted to return home. Those who survived the trip were greeted with cataclysm. There was nothing left; shortly after the Final Victim left home, their star went nova unpredictably. Nothing was left but ruins.

The remaining Star Runners found another, eventually. They decided to leave again, use what little time they had left to explore the universe and spread the memory of their people. None expected to live long, running low on supplies, air, and their vessels ready to break at any moment.

Fate was cruel to the ones left behind. None of the remaining Star Runners succumbed to exposure. They lived longer than they expected, than they should have. Weeks turned to months and then years, and soon centuries and eons passed. They still travel, keeping in touch with one another when they can. But they're not quite the same as they used to be, twisted by pain and spite and the grudges they hold against those who could have helped but didn't. Those who don't keep in touch twist further, eventually succumbing to madness and wreaking havoc across the cosmos with strange powers the others swear they shouldn't have.

They won't ever forgive what happened to their people. But other than that they're pretty cool, pretty chill. They're kinda like if a malevolent ghost rolled up to the bar at the edge of town every so often and no one blinked, and even played pool with said ghost. God save anyone they have a grudge against, though.

[jade-of-mourning]

hey. I’m back. you probably didn’t miss me LOL, but I saw your response to my ask and I got really excited 😭

okay so I actually sent the ask about posting to ao3 with the avatar mako concept in mind cuz I love making my non-avatar faves the avatar,,, and then I noticed you said asks about hcs and stuff are welcome so⁉️⁉️

I would love to hear more about the avatar mako au if you’re willing (that summary has me SO pumped btw)

and if it’s not too much of a bother, would you mind an ask about a little blurb idea I had but don’t really know how to write? I appreciate the word vomit response btw it makes me feel appreciated!! as you can probably tell I do a little word vomit when I get excited so. lol. love when my insanity is reciprocated :]

-🐌

welcome back anon! it's lovely to hear from you again <3

ah yes i too am a fan of reading non-avatar!avatar aus; they're so fun! also ty for enabling to talk about my au gfsjhjbhkfsdgjh i'll word vomit beneath the cut lol

and finally, yes! feel free to send it in :) i'd be happy to help if i can, though no guarantees </3

the au starts about four years prior to when book 1 takes place in lok, so mako, bolin, and asami are all aged down four years while the equalist revolution is not yet on the horizon — though i'm keeping the aid kids roughly the same age as they were, just because i want to play off their dynamic :P

in the context of Why No Avatar Korra, aang's temporary death during the crossroads of destiny led the avatar spirit to pass onto a water tribe child — until aang promptly un-died and raava returned, with a small part of her spirit left in the other to sustain their survival. (kind of playing off the avatar!yue theory and some of those theories floating around from book 1's airing lol.) so basically when aang died 54 years later, raava was unable to move on to the next avatar immediately, so she waited in a sort of suspended stasis until the not-avatar passed and the cycle returned at earth. i'm not sure how much i'll actually explore this in the fic, if at all, but yeah here's the explanation.

so mako is technically the earth avatar, but his firebending visibly pulled up first so he was just assumed to be a firebender. fast forward, dead parents & pre-canon sort of plays out as i tend to headcanon it, including lots of casual Bad Things and Horrible Trauma-Inducing Circumstances. however, as mako gets older he starts to realize that there might be a slight issue in that he can bend both fire and earth.

okayyy… okay this is fine. it's probably because his parents are from both nations. (he breaks into the library to verify that no, dual benders do not exist even in mixed families.) he doesn't know what the triple threats would do to him if they found out — would they exploit him further, or would they straight up kill him? he keeps it a secret from everyone, including bolin, because for all that he loves bolin considerably more than he loves life itself, bolin is also largely terrible at keeping secrets and this isn't something anyone can ever know. he doesn't practice any of the other elements, sticking to firebending exclusively, so aside from this added weight of such a heavy secret on his shoulders, up to fourteen it all goes the same.

(some casual Bad Things include, but are not limited to: the horrors of industrial age 1920s child homelessness, recruitment into the gang, lightningbending, and being trained specifically by zolt for intimidation factor and potential takeover. there's an unfortunate amount of child abuse and exploitation going on there.)

and then he's at a transaction with the triple threats when they get busted by the police, including lin beifong herself. mako is very much a fighter and very good at it, in that despite having not been trained properly, he's still vicious and entirely desperate due to his determination to stick around for bolin. he will bite your head off if he feels backed into a corner and will do whatever it takes to come out on the other side. his rage at the world has yet to subside after six years on the streets at age fourteen. he has zero chill and has no slowly coming sense of stability that he's on the cusp of gaining around his introduction in canon. he is both way worse and way better at repressing his feelings here than he is at eighteen, but that'll probably get explored in the fic, so i'll leave it here. anyway this is where lightning-happy mako slips up and accidentally earthbends directly at the Chief; and where most officers would've probably just let it slide under the assumption that they were going crazy, lin beifong does not do crazy.

so this is where the fic starts, as you probably read from the first draft snippet. a lot of set up that will probably never come up, at least not so explicitly like this, but it'll probably write itself in somehow. going on, we've got some air island arrival shenanigans, where mako first tries denial, realizes that it's not going to work, and outwardly verbally acquiesces with the whole fine-you-caught-me-i'll-be-the-avatar bullshit. internally, he is calculating the price of the artifacts in the room and the chances of him grabbing bolin from headquarters and the two of them bailing it out of the city with the sold-artifacts' profit.

so the question is, why would mako run when he's being offered the opportunity to have some semblance of safety and comfort for the first time in his life?

because mako, disbeliever of pacifism, is convinced that tenzin is going to kill him once he realizes that it isn't worth the effort trying to domesticate this violent street kid who's experienced an unbelievable amount of trauma and has a learned, deep-set cynicism for the world — if it's even possible at all. that tenzin will quickly come to deem that the world may as well wait another decade-plus for a better avatar. mako's selfish and even if he knows that his death would enable an actually competent avatar that would acutally help the world to be reborn, he refuses to leave bolin alone (even if a small part of him knows that if it weren't for bolin, him being so very tired so very often probably would've just allowed this path to happen). that's a major-minor plot point.

i'll leave it at that for now before i just write out my entire outline in this post :P but yeah, it'll feature mako learning to care for the world again, plus some quality mako & jinora friendship, bolin acquiring a mother figure in pema, and a peculiar mako & asami relationship after events in which, and i quote from my outline chapter summary, "Mako discovers that trying to steal from Rich Girl Asami Sato is a bad idea."

[artforsimps]

Do vegans think we’ll just make a big grave yard for animals that died at old age? Do they think we’ll rip up forests and dig individual graves for each animal on earth with a head stone? They’d love that. They already don’t have a problem with habitats and rainforests being ruined for agave and whatever vegan “alternative” is popular. They don’t even bother with the cruelty of humanity being abused to produce their almond milk and raw sugar and chocolate

When do we stop farming? We make enough food to feed everyone on earth as is the only thing stopping us is the price. When we stop farming animals there won’t be leather that will last decades compared to fast fashion coats that rip within a single year of ownership. We won’t have wool either. What will they feed their precious rescue animals? Or should they be let loose to rip up some wild animals for fun? Loose dogs probably cause more harm to farm animals than the fucking butcher. A dog will get in the pen running around ripping out fur until they find one weak enough that they can tear into. They won’t even eat it. It’s entertaining for pets. The farmer is forced to kill the dog so it won’t get loose again because the owner won’t discipline it. Sure the dairy industry has its faults it produces green house gases and there are bad farmers but the same goes for the vegan food industry. who’s going to root for the vegan calling for the starvation of species and supports pets which literally kills hundreds of animals a year. When should vegans stop the death of animals? It’s part of a natural cycle. We’re born, we work, we eat, we die and mushrooms eat us. Animals are born they make milk they have kids they die we eat them then we die. Our pets eat meat and they can’t eat anything other than that and live off of it. Eating vegetables would make them slowly starve to death. A pet would eat their dead owner out of desperation we can’t just feed them every dead person on earth they’d get sick and die. By regulation and rules around raising and eventual humane slaughter we reduce suffering. Meat is a way of life.

Don’t even get me started on how vegans appropriate cultural foods as alternatives or hop onto whatever knew food is cool and claiming they invented it or how exclusionary it is for people with allergies or eating disorders or the fat phobia and entitled-ness or the wealth gap from how expensive their appropriation makes everyday food.

Mug you wnat to reduce harm to animals raise them yourself so you aren’t the one creating a demand for abuse or sorce your products through your own research. If you wnat happy chicken eggs raid happy chickens they’ll lay as much eggs as they are wel taken care of. Take. A class on how to butcher humanely without drawing it out. Use every part of the animal. Leather can last shears longer than plastic. Sheeting wool in the summer prevent heatstroke on sheep and creates sustainable clothing or even wall insulation. Milk can make cheese and butter to use as fat in cooking just like animal fat can be used kn cooking without needing to grow large plots of land for oil. Properly rendered tallow can moisturize the skin and be used for soap. Tools made form bone get stronger with age. Thousands of cultures have used bone tools for centuries for a reason. Plastic lasts for ever but breaks in a week. Bones are found thousands of years after the animal dies just imagine how long it could last after being processed into a tool. We have tools named after the use of bone as a material form how will it works like bone folders. If you want to be sustainable be sustainable but don’t creat an entire hierarchy of something as important as food to feel good about yourselves. It’s behind pay walls, it’s inaccessible to people with multiple allergies or eating disorders. Grandma and grandpa can’t raise a hoe and sow corn to survive winter. Don’t tell people they should starve because they can’t afford to and aren’t physically able to reach your “moral” high ground.

Build a fucking homestead and leave us alone

[xartus]

Thing about the cosmic deities is that, they exist and function completely without us, and have forever, and will forever, and some speak to us and some don't and some choose when and where.

The sun; the manifestation of growth, exists eternal

The moon; the manifestation of the arcane, exists eternal

The Earth; the manifestation of life, exists eternal

Do They hear our prayers? It doesn't matter, they sustain the cosmos, and we exist within them regardless

Does the Undying Life, the Path to Death, the Bridge, the Dying-and Rising of the Cycles, do They hear us? Perhaps, certainly entire religions are built around Them. But are They a *they*, or a function? An already existant, preconfigured mechanism of the cosmos? A road instead of a warden upon one?

[africantraveltour]

How Beneficial Exploring The Serengeti Calving Season Can Be?

In the heart of East Africa lies a natural wonder that captivates both wildlife enthusiasts and conservationists alike - the Serengeti. Renowned for its breathtaking landscapes and extraordinary wildlife, the Serengeti National Park hosts two remarkable events that define the rhythm of life in this iconic ecosystem - the Calving Season and the Great Migration. In this article, you can embark on a journey to explore the wonders of nature as witnessed during these two awe-inspiring phenomena.

The Serengeti Calving Season unfolds annually in the southern plains of the park. This period marks the beginning of a new life cycle as thousands of wildebeest, zebras, and other herbivores gather to give birth. The timing is not arbitrary; it is synchronized with the onset of the region's short rains, ensuring an abundance of nutritious grass for new-borns.

Serengeti Calving Season

Explore The Beauty Of Great Migration For Memorable Experience

The plains come alive with the sounds of hooves and the cries of young animals taking their first steps. Predators are drawn to the spectacle, creating a delicate balance between life and survival. The Serengeti's Calving Season is not just a visual spectacle; it is a testament to the resilience of nature and the intricate web of life that sustains the entire ecosystem.

The Serengeti Great Migration is a phenomenon that has earned its place as one of the most astonishing natural events on Earth. This annual journey involves millions of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles as they traverse the Serengeti and the adjacent Masai Mara in search of fresh pastures and water sources. Migration is a perpetual cycle dictated by the availability of resources and the changing seasons.

Starting in the southern Serengeti, the herds move in a clockwise direction, crossing rivers and vast plains, facing challenges such as predators and unpredictable weather. The Great Migration is not merely a spectacle; it is a dynamic force that shapes the landscape and sustains the Serengeti's delicate ecosystem.

Both the Calving Season and the Great Migration hold immense significance in the realm of conservation and ecotourism. The Serengeti's ecosystem is a fragile balance, and these events emphasize the interconnectedness of its various inhabitants. Conservation efforts are crucial to preserving the Serengeti's biodiversity, ensuring the survival of these iconic species for generations to come.

Moreover, the awe-inspiring nature of the Calving Season and the Great Migration attracts ecotourists from around the globe. Responsible tourism practices contribute to the local economy and fund conservation initiatives, fostering a sustainable coexistence between humans and wildlife.

The Serengeti's Calving Season and the Great Migration are not merely events; they are nature's timeless ballet, showcasing the intricate dance of life, death, and renewal. As you witness the ebb and flow of these cycles, you can gain a deeper appreciation for the delicate balance that sustains the Serengeti. These natural wonders serve as a reminder of the profound interconnectedness of all living beings and the imperative to protect and preserve the treasures that the Serengeti holds for current and future generations. Adventure lovers should always go for the best tour packages that can help them capture great memories for life. Go ahead! And give yourself the best experience and enjoy the beauty and essence of the Serengeti great migration and the calving season without delays.

Author’s Bio:

Now, it's time to explore the beauty of the renowned Serengeti Calving Season, Serengeti's great Migration for the best experience. The African Travel Tour is the ultimate platform if you want to go for the best experience and create memories for life.

[thelesbiancitizen]

Some notes on death without decay; women as midwives to a dying world

I was thinking about the word “maid” just now. How it used to refer simply to an unmarried woman. Which is strange enough that that has to be its own category of woman — that a woman who is single and independent has to be her own category apart from other woman; she is “othered” by her own individuality. But then “maid”, over a few centuries, eventually became synonymous with “female domestic servant”; because so many single women in the past (and present), having few other desirable options to make a living, were forced into domestic servitude.

Then I thought of how strange it is that when we think of cleaners — people who clean up other people’s messes — it’s typically women that we think of. Maids and “cleaning ladies”. Wives doing their husbands’ laundry. Why are women always cleaning up? It seems as if that is what men believe women’s purpose to be; to sit around while they ravage the earth like so many tiny hurricanes, and to pick up the pieces when they are done, to rebuild the house of cards so that they can knock it down again —laughing and clapping their hands all the while. Then even that term “maid” and its associated images were fetishized and pornified even further, to hit home the point that men believe a woman is made for servitude of any and all kinds.

And I thought, it’s odd, because no other animal on this planet has to have a closet full of “cleaning supplies”, or entire rooms, buildings, structures, and machines dedicated to “cleaning up”. The types of messes that women are cleaning up are not messes that are found in nature. They are artificial. They are removed from the cycle of life.

In a natural, healthy, ecosystem, there is very little waste. There is a vast, complex circle, or series of circles, where one organism consumes another, produces waste, and that waste is reused and recycled by another organism, and nothing is “dirty”. Nothing needs to be cleaned up; just left alone for the natural cycle of life and death and rebirth to continue marching on. When everything is balanced, nothing really needs to be “cleaned up”. One organism’s byproduct is another’s meal. 

So it’s interesting, and sad, how our society creates so much unusable waste — mostly by careless men, who then force women to clean up after them. We know this way of living is not sustainable. It’s not natural. It’s a sign of an unbalanced, unhealthy ecosystem. Men have created these dead, plastic worlds apart from nature, as they attempt to transcend the cycle of life and death — they seek and destroy any form of life that attempts to continue the cycle. They see moss, weeds, insects, fungi, as unwanted things to be killed off in order to preserve their plastic “paradises”. But those little organisms are trying to clean up after us. They are trying to do what they are meant to do. Reuse, recycle. Clean up the waste. And men will not let them. They systematically kill them instead. And they force women to preserve these inert plastic worlds by enlisting us as footsoldiers to help destroy the life that seeps in through the cracks; and we destroy ourselves in the process.

Men are so frightened by decay, yet they love death. They love death in isolation from the cycle of life; they fetishize death. But death cannot exist without life, and vice versa. Decay is a sign of life; of new life. Decay is labor pains — it is something old dissolving into something new. Men are frantic and desperate in their attempts to stop decay in its tracks, to prevent the old from disintegrating into the ingredients for something new. They worship death as a symbol, or a goal, or something abstract and unreal, rather than as a necessary part of this world and our lives.

Death is not the end. It is always a sure sign of something new on the way. But death without decay is grotesque; it is demonic. To take the raw materials of life, to use them, benefit from them, and then, when you are finished, to throw them unceremoniously away in some purposefully inert, unusable form which stops the cycle of life in its tracks — that is reprehensible. It is injustice to the highest degree.

Men will not let this world live. They are living in defiance of life. And they want women to help them stifle this cycle; to erase decay, to prevent new growth from the ashes of the old world. To make a world of death without life. A frustrated, incomplete cycle. The world has been holding her breath for centuries.

The inert plastic world of men is dying. It is actively decaying before our eyes. Men want women to be the maids of this plastic world, and to “clean it up” and make it better for them. But we can’t just keep “cleaning it up” to make the messes disappear; we have to let the cycle of life take over once again. We have to let the moss grow over, and the weeds pop in through the cracks, and mushrooms sprout and let rot take hold, and make landing space for the vultures to pick at the carcasses of the old world. We are not meant to be maids who disappear the despicable messes of men just so they can go and make them again. 

The earth is not begging for our help, because the processes of death and rebirth cannot and will not be stopped. That is a guarantee. Rather, the earth is giving us warning. As the natural processes of life unfold, we must not be maids; we must act as midwives, bearing witness to the birth of an emerging world. We don’t need to clean up. We just need to get out of the way. 

[ruthlesslistener]

Wyrm defense mechanisms

(yo @ganymedesclock, I heard you were wondering about what a wyrm's defensive behaviors would look like, so I decided to just write up my thoughts on that in a separate post rather than a simple reply)

To be a wyrm is to demand a great territory lush with enough foliage and animal life to sustain the ever-growing body of a massive magical organism, and to be ever-growing is to eventually demand the ascension into godhood so that an individual’s power and life is not wholly dependant upon the land for its continued survival. As such, an adult wyrm would not just demand a territory that can reach hundreds of miles in length (be it across the surface or underneath the earth), but would also require territory suitable enough to fit both its needs, and the needs of sapient bugs capable of worshiping it. I personally view wyrms as being well suited for going long periods of time without food or water, being able to sustain themselves on the raw magical energy of the Wastelands, but the fluctuating currents of said magic are not dependable enough for continuous survival, so claiming a territory and eventually ascending into godhood is an inevitable necessity in the life of a wyrm. This, of course, means that resource scarcity is always a threat, and that competition is extremely high. As such, wyrms are highly territorial, aggressive creatures that have no qualms to resorting to cannibalism and very little problems with hounding out anything that dares to threaten their status as the top god of the region, which in turn means that their defensive behaviors are highly varied to match different levels of aggression, and to potentially neutralize dangerous situations if they know that they do not have the chance to survive.

(The claiming of such lands and the continuous aggressive drive to maintain territory also serves to create small, magic-calmed oasis-like areas of safety on the Wasteland’s perimeter, preventing its growth and encouraging an abundance of biodiversity within the pocket that are capable of retaining minds not scoured away by the wild magic of the Wastes. This in turn allows for smaller Higher Beings to propagate in addition to the wyrm’s own young, but that whole cycle between a large, powerful Higher Being magically terraforming a pocket of land to be more suitable to civilian growth is an entirely different topic from wyrm defensiveness altogether. It more just shows how wyrms offset the massive calorie count they require.)

Common wyrm defensive traits:

-All wyrms regardless of age are equipped with naturally bioluminescent scales. While the amount and colour varies due to hormones*, the bioluminescence serves the same purpose: to blind/disorient their enemies, and to help display size among other wyrms. Wyrms themselves generally are born without true eyes, but almost all of them have some form of primal eyespot that allows them to detect light and dark, so in territory fights, it is often useful to use said bioluminescence to try to make oneself appear larger in combination with other defensive displays

*(Gravid wyrms have much darker, duller scales to blend in with the earth, and broken-up stripes or other patterns of bioluminescent scales to make their outline hard to pick up. While this might not be very useful against another wyrm, pretty much all other wyrms know that a gravid individual is large enough to be a significant threat and would fight to the death with no compromise, so picking up on those pheromones deters others well enough)

-Arching. Whether this is a back arch or rearing up to strike varies between individuals, but arching the back up in loops is often a purely defensive display while rearing is far more aggressive. Arching the back presses the slightly softer belly scutes to the earth, providing extra defense, but rearing is an act of confidence and aggression that can easily make another wyrm or Higher Being decide to book it if they weren’t certain on starting a fight. Often accompanied by bioluminescence flares

-Plate spreading. The backs of wyrms are covered in thick, overlapping plates that run down the entire length of their body, guarding their spine during battles + mating and allowing themselves good traction on the roofs of their tunnels as well as the floors. These plates are locked down on the back by default, but any sort of fear response or anger will push them into an angled state that essentially turns them into a larger-looking, prickly pinecone. Completely reflexive, and usually used against other Higher Beings rather than wyrms, which merit other defenses. Often accompanied by bioluminescence flares, mouse-drawn mspaint example below

-While it does not contribute to wyrm-on-wyrm violence, I also hc that a good deal of wyrms have some sort of frill running along their backs that also puffs up to REALLY drive home the ‘I am big and scary, leave me alone) thing

-Growling. Many wyrms will growl if they smell or sense another close to their territory, as the vibrations from such a deep noise create tremors of a certain frequency that are easily picked up on by other wyrms. While those multi-segmented jaws are covered in chitin stronger than pale ore, they have a tendency to rattle against each other when vibrated, which gives them good sensitivity to ground tremors. Growling is often used against other wyrms, as growling loudly (aka deeper/more intense) can make an individual seem larger than they actually are, and very few species can fully hear a wyrm-growl

-A hiss is a more upset noise, and pretty much always precedes a bite. Compared to the extremely low, pulsing rumbles that vibrate the whole earth around them, hisses are long, high-pitched, and piercingly loud. Often accompanied by mandible snapping or chattering to illustrate the point

-Scent marking is a purely territorial thing, but if a wyrm is defending their territory they might move their head back and forth over the ground to activate the scent glands under their chin 

-Acid spit: more of a baby thing than an adult. Wyrms have a semi-complex digestive system composed of a ‘crop’ (more of an acid bag than what we know with birds) and two stomachs to help break down all the weird shit they eat, with the crop being used to liquify as much stuff as possible in their very concentrated stomach acid before passing it on to the stomach to grind to bits. All wyrms are capable of spitting out a fresh stream of this acid spitting-cobra style, but it’s pretty much always regulated to babies because spells are better for ranged damage, and adults tend to eat tougher foods that require the extra spitting acid to properly digest it. It also works particularly well for infants because the acid is capable of eating through wyrm scales, which can sometimes deter unrelated adults from eating them. Fresh meat and a future rival lost is not worth raw chemical burns all over the face.

(Fun fact this means that they can get reverse acid reflux if something goes wrong during digestion, which can cause some severe ulcers and requires a lot of chalk-chewing + a long period without food to neutralize said ulcers. Being able to eat anything can be kind of a bitch sometimes)

-And last, and most rare of a maneuver: complete submission. This is pretty much always a last-ditch resort because it almost never works, but sometimes if a young or severely outclassed wyrm finds themselves in the territory of a much older, larger individual, they’ll freeze, and press themselves as flat to the ground as possible in order to appear small as possible. Not only does this reduce the chance of the other wyrm going straight into a fight to chase them out of their territory, it also makes them look less appealing of a potential meal if the other wyrm decides to just eat them instead. Often used by teenagers that stumble stupidly into the nesting-grounds of an already-bred wyrm during their first few breeding seasons, though cowardly adults will resort to it as well.

So, what would a defensive PK look like? Pretty stupid, honestly. If severely startled (or broody), he’d likely drop to all sixes, puff up his plates, flare his wings, and hiss, all while giving off a strong enough glow to blind everyone in the nearest vicinity. Think of an owl defense mechanism paired with that of a cat, and throw in some snake striking poses as well. It would be rare to see him in such a state, as his self-control is exemplary, but the puff, glow, and wing flare are all reflexes that he has no control over, much to his chagrin. 

An aggressive/assertive PK, on the other hand, would be terrifying- his wings would be fully spread, angled towards his opposition to give off the maximum amount of light possible, his back spines would be half-bristled, and he would be standing as tall as he possibly could, periodically flexing his jaws during speech to show off the sharp, bladelike fang at the tip of each mandible + the double rows of teeth lining each of them. While it is somewhat of a defense tactic, as persuading an opponent to back down from a fight is always better than engaging in one, a PK who had the time to be slowly riled up to that state would look more like a cold, wrathful ruler instead of a blindingly shiny pinecone. I can see this being something that he pulled a lot more when he was younger, and then considered cringeworthy when he was older, as it pretty much boils down to a lot of posturing for a fight he’d do his best to avoid anyways vs just…fixing the damn problem.

[cartoonghosts]

like we already know what there is to be said about parasitic relationships and that stuff, it's been explained (if you haven't seen it, go check out @headspace-hotel)

But like

The existence of parasites really just proves the absolute beauty and love that makes up nature. Like, there's an entire natural niche based on knowing that other things will provide for you. That's beautiful. When I see a mosquito, I don't clap them or put on bug spray- I have an anti-itch balm, so I let them bite me and feed off me. I am a source of life for another being. Humans have an obsession with being the apex predator, the one at the top of the food chain, having nothing that benefits from our presence in a way we can't control. I just think that that's wrong, and I of course i'd let a non lethal parasite feed from me- its my way of giving back to the world, I think. The only way to live a sustainable life is to give back. I already plan to let my body give back to the forest after I die (death isn't a real concept in nature and i might talk about that more later), but I'm also giving back now. I understand the urge to put bug spray everywhere and smack mosquitos because they bite, but I don't respect it. We as humans take from the world just by living, and we need to understand that giving back is beyond necessary. So many human cultural practices revolve around not giving back (tombs, cremation, etc), it's just sad. We're part of nature, and denying that is denying your own humanity. You'd know this if you've ever truly experienced nature. Your body was born from the earth, and it has a right to take it back after you've died and even as you live. The world only continues because of the complex nets of symbiotic relationships, and humanity threatens that. You need to admit that you're part of this too. Let a mosquito bite you, watch it fill with your blood and fly away. It doesn't have the mental capacity to be thankful, but you do. Bury yourself in a wooden coffin, or none at all. Let your body rot and let your accumulated nutrients return to the natural cycle. You are not above this. The closest you will ever get to divinity is falling back into natures cycle. Go sit in the woods for a while and think about it. Get soaked to the bones, hide your top layers somewhere dry. Eat a flower. Let things feed from you and let yourself feed from them- your skin dies and drops from you and little creatures consume it the way you consume water. Your blood to a mosquito could be the last drink it has before mating once and then proceeding to die- you have saved a fraction of the genetic complexity of mosquitos. Little living things are out there solely because you decided that they weren't less important that your arm being itchy for a few minutes.

Anyways, I'm pissed off about how human culture tends to center us as the 'best' species- were just the most overpopulated one.

thinking about parasitic relationships and just the beauty of nature in general

[brewerssupplies]

because I love worldbuilding and it's a ton of fun seeing your answers, here's my weird niche worldbuilding question for Kovaud- what's some of the common foodstuffs in any given area you'd like to describe? Like farmed grains and veggies and fruits or livestock, or are there any unique foodstuffs found on Kovaud that don't exist here on Earth that you've thought about?

So a big one is that goodberries are naturally occurring, the only thing the spell does is imbue them with the magic to sustain a creature for as long as they do and restore a hit point. Goodberries resemble a mix between cranberries and blueberries in shape and color. They are often used in wines, jams, ales, and other similar foodstuff. Another fun fact is they are in fact not even technically native to Kovaud, they were brought over from the previous world in the cycle by Kevin Goodberry an inhabitant of that world that managed to survive its destruction.

Most of the farming and agriculture in the nation of Emeras is done around the Thundering Plateau as it is experiences a fair amount of rain throughout the year. The Ruby Marshes are another place where agriculture is common in Emeras. They're druidic magic allows them to farm a variety of crops from just about anywhere on Kovaud.

A lot of recipes make use of meat and other parts from the various fantastical monsters and creatures that exist. In Hjellvast the body of a single dread wyvern can be a boon to the food stock of a village. Making use of the abundance of meat they provide and even incorporating its venom which has a sour-sweet taste into recipes.

The inhabitants of the Ghost Archipelago shun the consumption of fish due to the curse laid upon the Mournful Sea. The curse that makes sealife that have died within the past 24 hours rise from death to terrorize the sea. As you would imagine improper consumption of fish can be fatal. They do a lot of trade with Hjellvast and Spyros for food. The ghost elves and soberek do maintain their own ancient agricultural practices on the islands.

Spyros is a vast desert and sees a variety of hardy and hydrating plant life. The diet of an average citizen of Spyros is heavily plant based. The most common crop is gritroot, a vegetable that grows entirely under the sand in large masses. It has high water retention which it leeches from further underground.

Kovaud is also home to livestock equivalent to what's standard on Earth. There are some exceptions however. In Emeras, Hjellvast, and Xyrno there are the Kravwen, a large four-legged bovine creature that can get anywhere between 5-18 feet tall. They are excellent producers of milk that lends itself well to the production of butter and cheese. Ouroboros has the serpentine behir which they farm for meat. The nation of Saurdane is host to a variety of traveling herds of livestock which are shepherded by the traveling clans of giantkind (orcs, goliaths, and firbolg are included as members of giantkind).

And that's where I'll end this post as it's starting to get a little long! Thank you very much for the ask! Gave my brain good exercise!