#the sea is being fared etc etc

[a-pepper-honey]

waiter! another sea captain please

[wofpantheon]

PYRRHIA

*Alt text available!

Roughly 1.5x the size of North America, Pyrrhia is the largest continent inhabited by dragons. Despite it's monumental size, very few areas on the map are considered un-owned territory, with even fewer areas being considered unexplored entirely.

Thanks to the continent's huge climate range, Pyrrhia has the most dragon tribe diversity of any landmass, hosting seven tribes in their entirety.

This includes: SkyWings, IceWings, SandWings, MudWings, RainWings, NightWings and SeaWings.

IceWing Territory

The Ice Kingdom, inhabited primarily by IceWings, is a large peninsula in the far north, also including a smaller cape just slightly south. It borders both the Sky Kingdom and the Kingdom of Sand.

While a large portion of IceWings live within the walls of the Ice Palace (an extravagant city compared to most other palaces), the majority live in villages and towns along the Ice Kingdom's coast. This is ideal for most, since the primary food source of IceWings are fish & sea-faring birds and mammals. However, it's not uncommon to find an IceWing family or two living further inland, hunting elk and other land-dwelling prey.

While only a relatively small portion of IceWing territory remains snowy year-round, the entire territory all the way down to Where-No-Dragon-Goes-Hungry can be seen blanketed in ice and snow during the winter months.

SkyWing Territory

The Sky Kingdom is home to the SkyWings, and is the largest land-based dragon-claimed territory on the map, give or take. Their territory borders several other kingdoms, including the Kingdom of the Sea, Ice Kingdom, Mud Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Sand.

Being quite physically big and territorial compared to most other dragons, SkyWings demand much more space (and use of such space) than their neighbors, despite there being much fewer of them overall. By technicality, the Sky Kingdom encompasses the entire Pyrrhian mountain range; although the SkyWings living any farther south than the Diamond Spray Delta tend not to argue about where borders are drawn, so long as they get a good night's sleep.

SkyWings tend to live solitarily or in pairs/family units, with the exception of those living in the Sky Palace working for the current Queen. Due to this, there are very few dedicated SkyWing towns or villages, with most SkyWings opting instead to pick out an ideal cave in the mountains to call home. This is of course not absolute, and there are many SkyWings living in harmony in bordering towns and cities with other tribes, some being SkyWing dominant.

MudWing Territory

The Mud Kingdom is home to the MudWings; the tribe of the largest land-dwelling dragons in the world. Their kingdom borders the Sky Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Sea and the Rainforest Kingdom.

Despite their size, they actually don't hold the largest amount of territory. Being rather sedentary, they typically never need more than the average pond to themselves and their siblings.

MudWing territory consists of a variety of land types, with the standard swamps and marshes; but also including bamboo forests, floodplains, sparse rainforest and grasslands. This variety in biome gives them plenty of agricultural opportunity, making MudWings one of the largest exporters of both plant and animal produce.

Their rich land also provides an abundance of earthen materials that other tribes covet for their own uses in construction, pottery and other types of craftsmanship; including kaolinite and other clays, calcite, etc!

RainWing Territory

The Rainforest Kingdom is home to the RainWings, the tribe of the smallest and most numerous dragons on the continent. Their kingdom borders the Mud Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Sea.

RainWings live communally, and thus are not separated into several towns. Rather, all RainWings (for the most part) share a single village that extends quite far throughout the rainforest, held together by the Queen's Royal Pavilion (marked on the map as the RainWing Village).

Although, since the events of the NightWing exodus from the Volcano, there lies a single other village amongst the jungle. Some RainWings find it comfortable enough to live there with the NightWing refugees, but don't prefer it.

The rainforest is a dragon's ultimate destination for near any kind of exotic fruit, flower, or animal. While RainWings used to be the top exporter of their tropical produce, these days the MudWings have taken on the task of growing orchards and vineyards, while the RainWings keep to themselves.

SeaWing Territory

SeaWing territory, home to the SeaWings, is technically the largest dragon-claimed territory on earth; this is because the vast majority of their inhabited space is underwater, and thus there is very little competition for territory. The land they control however, is the smallest compared to any other tribe, consisting mostly of small islands and islets. Their territory borders the Rainforest Kingdom, Mud Kingdom and Sky Kingdom.

Despite being the largest kind of dragon on the planet, they are incredibly numerous due to the abundance of food and territory. SeaWings live communally, but are spread across several habitable zones, including the Deep Palace and Summer Palace (their primary homes), and various island caves, huts, deep sea trenches, and sea stacks.

They are also partially migratory, spending warmer springs and summers in the Summer Palace, and living deeper underwater through autumn and winter.

SandWing Territory

The Kingdom of Sand, controlled by the SandWings, is the third largest land-based dragon territory on the continent. Consisting of vast dunes and open savannas, this desert environment isn't suitable for most other tribes. Their kingdom borders the Sky Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom.

Despite their large quantity of land, SandWings are actually not very high in population; more than SkyWings or especially NightWings, but fewer than most. SandWings are largely nomadic, not living in one particular place for their whole lives; instead relying on sparse oases and rivers spread throughout the desert, and traveling around for food.

Some SandWings, particularly those seeking refuge and safety from war, may choose to spend most of their time in small cities like the Scorpion Den, or border towns like Possibility and Sanctuary. Even then, many prefer to stay on their feet and travel often, reserving their town homes for sleep, rough weather or retirement.

Similarly, many SandWings working for royalty may choose to live in the Stronghold.

NightWing Territory

NightWing territory, the smallest and most uninhabitable, is home to the declining population of NightWings. It does not directly border any other kingdoms, but does have an animus-conjured portal to the Rainforest Kingdom.

Despite all the odds, NightWings manage to survive here on the small (near completely ash-polluted) ponds dotting the island, and by using desalination devices to convert seawater into drinkable water.

The prey on their volcanic home is close to non-existent; consisting almost entirely of occasional seabirds, crabs, beached sea turtles, and fish caught far out at sea using nets; although as time goes on, fewer NightWings are in good enough health to carry fish-filled nets back home.

Their fortress is half-collapsed due to a volcanic eruption, and the air is so hot, heavy and sulphuric that one might find it almost impossible to breathe if you hadn't been born there. What a pity.

Version with ALL Points of Interest

Blank Version

*You may use the blank version of the map for personal things as long as credit to Thorne & I is given! Tag me if you do :D I'd love to see!

This has been in the works probably the longest of anything I've made in relation to my WoF headcanons. I swear I've redone this entire map 3 or 4 times. After a year and a half, hopefully this is the last!!

I hope y'all like it!!

Huge thanks to my friend Thorne for her contributions to the climate placing, I wouldn't have been able to make it look at ALL natural without her help.

If you have any questions or suggestions for edits/additions please let me know! My ask box is open too.

[s-aint-elmo]

*twirling my hair* do you have some good yuri manga recs?

(lying on my stomach and kicking my feet) i'm SO glad you asked!

to preface this i'll be excluding better-known yuri or yuri that's recently gotten its flowers (whether thru virality or adaptations) (e.g. in love with the villainess, love bullet, bloom into you, etc. etc.) and will instead be recc'ing works i don't often encounter in the wild. some will be more well-known than others, but all of these i've enjoyed and would encourage others to check out! under the cut because. this got. so long. i heart yuri <3

multi-chapter

the princess of sylph (ongoing; self-publishing): plot-heavy fantasy yuri between a bereaved princess with the aura of a thousand sad hamsters and a persistent nun whose silliness conceals a deep well of trauma. gushed about it plenty here. i recommend starting with the serialized version, the proceeding to the twitter version + extras. cw: blood, violence, dismemberment (nothing too graphic, more standard monster-fighting fare).

i love amy (completed): school loner strikes an unlikely friendship with the girl known (and feared) for her violent tendencies and single-minded obsession with the school prince. cute but striking and skilled art with a surprisingly nuanced handling of trauma and neurodivergence. cw: attempted child murder, animal death (non-graphic). there are also depictions of standard yandere fare (kidnapping, torture basements) but they're always presented comedically.

i see you, aizawa-san! (ongoing): girl who steadfastly pretends not to see ghosts meets one she just can't seem to ignore: a deceased classmate and former j-pop idol, who has taken to haunting their classroom. ft. art that harkens back to classic shoujo and a supernatural mystery centred on the relationship between the two leads--that one of them can't seem to remember. cw: blood, body horror.

school zone girls (on hiatus): slice of life yuri comedy ft. a massive interconnected web of girls spanning at least three schools. it juggles gut-busting comedy with genuine heartfelt moments of character growth and connection and expresses it all through a solid, dynamic art style. the sprawling cast also makes for incredible outsider pov moments that lets us really appreciate how far some characters have gotten. this genuinely motivated me to revamp how i approached ensemble casts for my ocs.

brides of iberis (completed): wedding planner unenthusiastic about her engagement falls in love with a bride she's taken as a client. bittersweet but deeply loving; and so compassionate to each and every character, even the men the female leads have relationships with. cw: infidelity.

destroy it all and love me in hell! (ongoing): model student finds her miserable, tightly controlled life unraveling after being blackmailed by the class truant into indulging her ugliest impulses. toxic yuri extravaganza eleganza between two girls desperate for escape and the catharsis of fucking! shit! up!!! also hits that sweet sweet "love triangle as a conflict of ideals" beat. cw: blackmail, coercion, bullying, violence, emotional abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, adult/minor relationship.

yuri is forbidden for the yuri otaku (completed): passionate himejoshi enrolls in an all-girls private school to observe class s yuri in action, but never to engage in it herself--at least, until a misunderstanding wins her the resident gyaru's heart. a surprisingly poignant exploration of being queer in a repressive society and experiencing your queerness through the safety of unobtainable fantasy.

the superstar idol crushes on me today too (ongoing): failed idol-slash-middling radio personality finds an unwanted superfan in the country's biggest superstar. explores the merit of pursuing your artistic passions in the face of repeated failure, and what makes an emotional anchor in the fraught seas of showbiz. they are also just so so funny. what if i emphatically declare you my rival in show business but you've been in love with me since you saw me in a cooking show as a child actor and you take any excuse to spend time with me and have my attention with blinding enthusiasm

normality and monsters (ongoing): outcast weirdo witnesses the class idol devour their homeroom teacher in one bite and begs to be trained in the art of appearing normal. the art is snappy and charismatic, the monster design is properly grotesque, and the friendship of convenience between the two leads teeters between overcoming the monster's nature and just being a prelude to the monster acquiring a new meatsuit. cw: blood, gore, death, body horror.

a monster wants to eat me (ongoing): suicidal girl meets carnivore mermaid who promises to eat her if she develops a desire to live. it's been a while since i read this one, but the monster designs are once again sick as fuck and the drama of being cared for by a creature that finds you tantalizing is sooo juicy. cw: suicidal ideation, blood, gore, violence, body horror.

liar satsuki can see death (completed): high schooler who can see corpses before the death occurs strives to save as many lives as possible despite being branded a liar by the entire student body. this and ryouko's other manga, a walk to death, are pretty banging declarations on the value of living ironically (or maybe aptly) wrapped in so much death. blanket cw for blood, gore and death bc i tell you every mini-arc somebody dies in a fun new way and we'd be here all day if we listed them out.

anthology:

i'm the villainess but i'm being captured by the heroine?!: an anthology featuring heroines of otome games swerving hard and sweeping the villainess off her feet. i am such a sucker for villainess yuri. mean women forever. my favourite chapters are vol. 1 ch.1 and vol. 2 chs. 1 and 4.

honourable mentions:

my idol sits the next desk over! (completed): loner idol otaku ends up deskmates with her oshi and between jealous sabotage from a rival stan and the herculean task of acting normal around your fave, lands herself in the first and closest friend group of her life. one girl does explicitly have romantic feelings for another girl, but i bumped it down here because it isn't explored to the extent it could have been. it felt like it was setting up a slow burn only to end abruptly. do not recommend if you want a love story, do recommend if you want lonely people forging deep and enduring bonds of friendship.

the one within the villainess (ongoing): the villainess of an otome game reawakens for her condemnation and sets off on a path of vengeance for the sake of the beloved transmigrator who's occupied her body for years. it's ostensibly het, but to hear the way that the villainess speaks of her transmigrator, the first person to love her wholeheartedly and wish for her happiness and so inadvertently prevent her from becoming the hollow bitter woman she originally grew into...... like. that is yuri. like what if i knew your life in its entirety and loved you for it and i found myself in the position to give you the happiness i always wished for you to have. what if we wrote fix-it fic for each other on the fabric of the universe. what if we never even had a conversation but we knew each other the best and loved each other most. and we were both girls. do you understand why i'm insane about them. cw: blood, gore, violence.

[ithaca-awaits]

"#love every time we made dave a question and he went all fanficcy #this one and the post-survival one" hello i have a BURNING need to know..... which post-survival question did he answer?

Hi! Sorry for the month-long delay in answering this! I don’t usually get asks on this account so I kept forgetting and say I’d answer as soon as I got to check Dave’s Q&As again, which I kept not being able to check. Anywho, the question I was referring to here was made by Liv on the Q&A session that took place on the 25th of June. You can find the complete recording and transcripts here (along with other fantastic fan-curated resources if you’re new to the fandom.)

Q: If the expedition had been rescued around, say, episode 8/9, and made it home, how do you think the various relationships that developed on screen would have fared back in ““civilization””? Would the intimacies some of these men formed between them persist? I’m also curious to know if you think any of them would resign from the Navy, be it for whatever reason: ethical, practical, physical, to explore other parts of themselves, etc.

I’m gonna try to be as brief as possible because Dave gave a very long response (find the non-abridged version in the link provided above), but this was the meat of it:

Crozier and Blanky would talk endlessly about quitting the Navy but only Crozier would. This doesn’t mean that Blanky would do this comfortably, as he’d already have survived two naval expeditions that turned out badly, so maybe he’d join a whaling ship, even if that would also have gotten under his skin.

He doesn’t think any of the surviving Lieutenants would have come back anywhere close to the poles, but he does think that most of them would have succumbed to the calling of fame and glory, i.e. wanting to return to the sea now that they had been named Commanders or Captains of their own vessels.

He’s not sure if Fitzjames would have been brave enough to stay aside of the Navy, even if during those three months he learnt a lot more about himself that what keeping the same persona for thirty years had brought him. He thinks Fitzjames would have written a “hell of a memoir” as well as a “hell of a military career, and that he would have stayed friends with Crozier, even if some of the things that happened in the Arctic would never have been mentioned again.

Goodsir would return to visit Silna “as often as possible.” Not for romantic reasons, but because there’d have been “a friendship there”. (also, taking into account he is making up all these scenarios after 8 or 9 the tuunbaq would have lived.)

“I think Bridgens and Peglar [smiles] would have worked like dogs to be able to afford some goddamn privacy where they could be together for the rest of their lives. [laughs]”

Pilkington and Des Voeux would have stayed friends.

“Little and Hodgson would be in one another’s lives.” They’d help each other patch themselves up after what happened because they’d both be in denial about everything that went down, helping create “a more palatable story about themselves”.

Sophia would feel like she’d have to choose between Lady Jane and Crozier and would chose the former, especially after the loss of her uncle.

Jopson would have stayed close to Crozier, they’d stay best friends for the rest of their lives.

Golding would commit suicide at some point, he was not equipped to deal with everything that happened and much less to go on living carrying it with him.

David Young’s ring would have been delivered to his sister. (with one of the crystal diamonds having fallen off during the journey.)

Mr Diggle would have been fine and stayed friend with some of the AB’s and midshipmen, but not with anyone else further up the hierarchy.

Collins would have lived a very quiet life, as most of what troubled him was PTSD.

Hartnell would have had a family and lived a quiet life. He’d have stayed close to Manson and from time to time he might have met with Crozier.

Hickey would have ended up in prison if he managed not to ger executed. If Tozer and him had ended up in the same prison they would have avoided each other for years, until they realized they were the one’s more suited for each other’s rest and protection. It’s tricky for Dave to say if they’d have become lovers because he is unsure about Tozer, but it’s prison so HE’LL LET US DECIDE. [ten seconds later he changed his mind] Tozer would have turned to Hickey for that kind of comfort and ended up murdering him, while Hickey convinced himself that he was the one letting himself be murdered. (This is already a very long ask, if you want more details on Hickey’s Vermont sex-cult, ping me and I’ll expand on it, because it was an answer from a different day and I don’t currently have it at hand.)

Gibson wouldn’t have wanted nothing to do with anyone. He might have found some new expedition or a house where he could work in as a domestic servant, but he wouldn’t have told anyone.

Hope this helped!

[khickuwa]

Some Thoughts and Theories on the NXX Drug [CHAPTER 13 SPOILER]

The new Main-Story 13 has definitely had me scrambling on a whiteboard like a madman. Attached below is an actual picture of me rn:

I'M GOING INSANE.

But yes back to the topic at hand. The recent chapter has led me to speculate a lot of things I must exert that all of this is within the realm of HEADCANON. But the information that has got me thinking A LOT is about how:

The NXX circulation has run for 10 YEARS. AT LEAST. The incident of the Seahorse Association involved leaders getting drugged by the NXX drug, causing them to hallucinate and kill themselves. And who took over that case? THE NSB??? ISN'T THAT A BIT SUSPICIOUS.

That said. I think the NXX drug has been circulating for much longer than that. I'll be touching upon about what this means to Luke and Rosa, The NSB's involvement and PAX's a little bit less than savory past. So let's get started:

Here's what we know about the NXX Drug so far, according to the wiki:

The NXX drug stems from FloraX, a bacterium that originated from sea-faring that caused an epidemic in Stellis during 1930. The bacterium caused systemic failures within the human body. However, perhaps through some scientific breakthrough, it was discovered that it also contains gene-restoring attributes as well.

In 2005, Pax Pharmaceutical collaborated with Crimson Biotech to develop a new gene-restoring drug, presumably the NXX. However, it was shut down by the government when alarming side effects of the drug emerged. All possession of the NXX drug within PAX and Crimson were destroyed. Or so it seems.

The potential of an all-cure gene restorative drug is incredibly insane. Being the one to successfully tap into the generative properties of FloraX would make you an extremely powerful person. The possibility of achieving the prowess of a drug like this would surely cause a technological race between multiple parties, including PAX and Crimson, Heirson... etc etc. You get what I mean.

Now what does this mean for the rest of the team?

Let me remind everyone that the NXX Investigation Team is an un-official investigation funded by PAX. This means that Giann had motives and stakes at hand in the investigation of the drug. To make up for past mistakes of PAX? To avoid any more casualties that PAX has unknowingly started? In any case, while perhaps it started off with good intentions, it doesn't change the fact that PAX held some responsibility in developing the drug. I also think this means that Austin know a little bit more than he lets on.

Let me try to put everything in a timeline:

2005 - This is the year that the NXX drug started its development. Coincidentally, Luke and Rosa were born within the same year. I have a headcanon that Luke and Rosa's parent are involved with the development of this drug, perhaps as researchers.

2009 - NXX has presumably reached 4 years of its development if it was not shut down yet. Marius was born, and it is likely Carerina passed away within this year as well.

??? - NXX Research is shut down. PAX and Crimson has likely broken ties at this point. While PAX probably wants to wash their hands off it, I can imagine Crimson having other plans. The NXX drug continues to be developed in secret.

??? - Luke's Parents passes away. Is this a coincident? Or was this planned. Luke's get taken into Rosa's family. I could imagine this being done as a way to protect Luke.

2020 - Seahorse Association Incident, NSB takes over the case.

2022 - Luke leaves for the capital and gets involved in a "transnational case".' He gets recruited into a "secret project". This is a cover story for his entry to the NSB.

??? - Giann, Neil, and Vyn formed the NXX Investigation Team

2029-2030??? - During an NSB mission, Luke and his team is gravely injured by a toxic gas attack. During treatment, they were contaminated by an unknown drug (NXX). Luke is the sole survivor.

2029-Present Day- Artem joins the team. Neil goes missing shortly after, followed by Giann. Marius, Rosa, and Luke join subsequently.

That said here are my theories and headcanons. :

Considering the possibilities that this drug can do, a lot of parties would be interested in getting their hands and developing the drug. NSB included. It wouldn't be so strange if they wanted it for themselves to more effectively cure their agents or even create some super-soldiers out of it.

I don't think Luke getting into the NSB is an accident. Neither is Luke's parents' death nor was the incident that caused him the infection and the illness. Tears of Themis really likes making parallels between the boys and the chapters their featured in. In Main Story Episode 3, Jasmine Kenders was murdered for being a whistle-blower, this could have happened to Luke's parents as well if they whistle-blowed during their time as researchers of the NXX drug. I feel that the NSB has had their eyes on Luke for the longest time. Luke is their most competent agent, perhaps they wanted to see how much the drug would affect someone with his physicality.

Speaking of parallels, the parallels in this chapter... oh man... Hank Barnes and Luna Barnes losing their parents at a young age. Luna Barnes taking a "miracle" drug, thinking she's actually recovering only for her condition to succumb... HMM, DOESN'T THAT SOUND REALLY FAMILIAR... LUKE, WHY CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING. Syringes that killed the three victims, just like the ones Luna Barnes were take. YOU KNOW WHO ELSE IS TAKING SYRINGES.

PAX is not completely innocent I think. They definitely have some motives in wanting to get to the root of the NXX drug trade, whether it is to wash their hands clean or remedy the past. This is definitely a headcanon, but what if Carerina was given the NXX to let her live a little longer before she died... This would definitely increase the stakes and provide ulterior motives for both Giann and Marius. Austin... I'm looking at you.

We don't know much about Rosa's parents. But they've been missing and out of sight. Perhaps it's just Main Protagonist Things(TM) but I think it's very suspicious.

Honestly, I feel like I'm just rambling at this point. But I feel like... someone should chart out all the chapters that have happened into a board and start threading things together. There's so much stuff I don't remember. I need to lie down.

[dragonbma]

Playing catch-up with Blockmas now that finals have concluded! Enjoy, Day 10… my rarestpair <3

To everyone who is not the handful of people I’ve yapped about them to, here is some lore:

Ok hear me out… Romeo drains Fred’s powers and kills him. With his newly acquired power, he kills Xara as she is still an Admin. However, because she died with her powers, Xara becomes a ghost. With nothing left to do but wander the world, that’s exactly what she does for years- wanting to get far away from Romeo because he is the only one who can see her… at least until she revisits an old Sea Temple dedicated to Fred. Her reminiscing is interrupted by a muffled crying coming from one of the obsidian cages. Turns out someone is living there! Or rather dying there because he’s starving. Also turns out the stranger can see her! Yay! Apparently Vos is so close to death that he can interact with Xara.

They chat for a while after Xara apologizes for his situation (explaining Romeo’s construct and her inability to free him) and Vos is just relieved to finally have someone to talk to after so long! Tbh, they’re both relieved. Vos rambles about his adventures before the temple swiftly cut them short. Before Xara leaves to wander again, Vos asks if she’d send a message to Jack to which he tells him he’s the only one who can see and hear her. Disheartened, he instead asks if she’d return every once in a while to talk. At this, Xara happily agrees. During her second visit, she surprises Vos by saying she visited Jack and tells the adventurer how his friend is faring. (Vos is glad to hear his friend is alive and well, but still saddened Jack believes him to be dead and won’t be returning.) As the time goes by and Vos gets worse and worse, Xara visits more frequently. Whenever she stops by, they talk about old friends, the world outside, etc, and both slowly begin to work through their fears. They’re also comforted at the fact they remind each other of someone they lost. (Vos-Fred and Xara-Sammy)

Sorry yeah the story ends with Vos eventually succumbing to hunger after a year or two BUT he does thank Xara for being there through the worst time of his life and helping him come to terms with his situation. Xara in turn has partially recovered from the trauma of losing Fred as she was able to help someone who reminded her of him. In conclusion, this is less of a romantic pairing and more of a comfort one. And I don’t have a name for this ship yet. Me and my ghost gf I befriended by being a mix of depression and whimsy. Oh and don’t worry about the Romeo doodle. He doesn’t actually bother Vos in this. Though Xara is PISSED when he later assumes the adventurer’s form. Romer is lucky no one can hear her yelling “HE WOULD NOT FKING SAY THAT!” /j

Also I’m giving the cages bars instead of solid walls in this version. So they can actually see each other. And if you’re wondering about goat feature Xara, I may mention that concept later. Bye-

[somethingclevermahogony]

Now that you're back, I can toss some more asks your way! What sort of spices are common in which places? Is any region known for especially spicy food?

Finally actually getting to this! As per usual I will not be answering this in any sort of concise or short manner, so get ready for a long read. Just so this isn't too long, I'm only going to focus on Kishetal and I will discuss the characteristics and some of the more popular ingredients, spices, and dishes in 8 different Kishite cities, each representing a different region of Kishetal.

A Brief Introduction to Kishite Cuisine

1. Shared Traits

Across the Seven (Technically 8, but I'm skipping the Makorian Colonies for now, I might return to them later if people are interested) Kishite regions there are a number of features which remain constant among Kishite culinary traditions. The most immediately recognizable of these features is how food itself is served. Kishite food is always served in bite-sized pieces, whether naturally or whether it is cut up before eating (soups and liquids are the exception to this). Food is eaten with the fingers or else with a spoon. There are no forks or chopsticks or similar utensils. Knives are a rarity as well, as typically it is expected that the food will already be served in pieces or that it can be broken into small pieces with the fingers.

Another shared trait is the "triad" which refers to three types of food which form the bulk of the average person's diet, these being Grain (Wheat, Barley, or Rye), Legumes (Lentils, Chickpeas, Peas, Vetch, Beans, Etc.), and Fat (Most typically olives/olive oil with sheep fat/lard and butter also appearing). The Makurian steppe is unique in that grain does not form the majority of the diet for commoners, with dairy and fats taking precedent.

The last similarity is a heavy reliance on condiments, whether these be seasonings or sauces or something else entirety. It is typical for a Kishite table to have several different kinds of toppings available at any time, what exactly these are will vary by region.

2. Regional Cuisines

(I honestly can't remember if I put a cut here, Tumblr isn't letting me put a cut, so I think I did....sorry if I didn't.)

1. The Red Cedar Mountains : Labisa

The Red Cedar Mountains stretch from the Shabalic Sea in the north nearly to the Sea of Agitu in the south. This region is home to cities like Labisa and Kepfis.

Labisian's are famed for the love of and skill in producing fried foods. The food of Labisa, and in the mountains in general, is viewed by other regions as hearty and heavy. Breads and cakes, sausages, and heavy sauces are well known from the region. Foods are often drizzled with fat. Olives are a popular snack. Compared to other regions the people of Labisa eat relatively few vegetables. Per capita, the people of the mountains including the commoners, eat more meat than in any other region of Kishetal (typically in the form of sausages (Arashuki) and offal) while eating far less saltwater derived fish. Most meat comes from sheep, with horned-rabbits, goats, and pigs coming close behind. Cattle are largely reserved for the nobility. Game is common fare, though only for those with the time to hunt it or the money to buy it. Insects are very rarely consumed, particularly in the city. Rodents and other small animals, with the exception of the Cedar Squirrel, are rarely eaten. Aside from a tendency towards rich textures and flavours, Labisan cuisine shows a strong preference for black pepper, which appears in almost all dishes, including desserts. Labisans, perhaps as a way to to counteract the fatty nature of their cuisine, are infamous for their love of vinegar, even more than other regions. It is not unusual for morsels to be dipped into first vinegar and then into various herbs most typically a mixture of parsely, mint, and salt. While herbs (mint, parsley, thyme, basil, coriander, rosemary, etc), aliums (onions and garlic) and acids (vinegar) are common aspects of Labisan seasoning, for the common person, spices are a relative rarity, with the exception of black pepper. Cumin is used at times, as is imported cardamom and cinnamon. Lisikip (Tickling seed), which is similar in nature and effect to the Szechuan peppercorn, is used on occasion. However on the whole Labisan food is not known for being "spicy" and while rich, has a reputation for being relatively bland. You're unlikely to find much in the way of soups/broths in Labisa, though stews are relatively common. A common stew is Olibiha (aka Hot blood water) , which consists of boiled meat (this will vary but will regardless likely contain organ meat and other less expensive cuts), beets, onions, garlic, and fat of some sort. Traditionally this soup was sold by butchers and at markets at the end of the day as a way to use up unpurchased products. Though its name is typically in reference to the color imparted by the beets, it is not unheard of for blood to be added to the broth, though this form is less popular.

Similar to Olibiha, Chakun, are a popular butcher snack, typically made from pig or lamb skin, fried in its own fat and then seasoned. This is somewhat comparable to "cracklins" or chicharrons. Labisian cuisine in general holds an appreciation for crispy or crunchy textures that other regions do not tend to show.

Fried dough and fried cakes are a popular festival food somewhat similar to what we might associate with a doughnut. These doughnuts or Hasolikipun are typically fried in olive oil or sheep fat. Typically these are then split open and stuffed with a variety of fillings, including fish, offal, and nuts. Another popular dish is Kipsha, a dense barley cake typically drizzled with honey and citrus and served with toppings like nuts and cheese. Kipsha is both sold on the street and made in houses, often for celebrations. Deserts, aside from fruit, are a relative rarity in Labisa, with Kipsha being perhaps the most well known kind. Labisa's position on the shore of Lake Shebali, means that the city has access to lake fish, and thus freshwater species are consumed more here than in other regions. Trout and eels are particularly cherished by Kishite consumers, both are typically roasted. The most commonly consumed fish are various species of minnow and shad, which are caught in bulk and often served fried. Labisan cuisine is strongly influenced by the cuisines of pre-Kishite tribes which existed in the mountains before the arrival of Tamel.

2. The Felic Plain : Seha

The Felic Plains primarily consist of grassland with occasional patches of deciduous forest. The plains are split by the Aratshin River, and most large settlements can be found on the edge of said river.

The region experiences hot summers and mild but wet winters, which makes the region ideal for farming. As such, the Felic Plains act as the bread-basket of Kishetal. In comparison to the mountains and other regions, the people of Seha eat far more vegetables, and considerably less meat and very little marine protein.

Compared to Labisian cuisine, Sehaic shows a far stronger affinity for spices, with cumin, garlic, lisjir, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, and black pepper all appearing regularly in the diet. Felic cuisine in general is the "spiciest" variety, though it is in contention for that tightly with the Kipsian Desert. Mustard and mustard seeds are common ingredients as well, and in the rare instances where meat is eaten, mustard is almost always present.

In addition to their love of spices, Sehaic consumers are infamous for their general disdain for many textures. Sehaic foods have a reputation for being soft, often boiled or stir-fried or else pounded until quiet easy to chew. The cuisine shows an aversion to the crispy, crunchy, and chewy textures.

Sehaic cuisine is known for its heavy use of green vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage, as well as its preference for broths as opposed to thicker stews. Fried food is a relative rarity in Sehaic cuisine, with boiling or else "stir-frying" being far more common.

Cheese is a large part of the diet and is often the condiment of choice, with several different varieties of cheeses being used, all with their own distinct purposes. One variety of heavily salted cheese, is added on to savory dishes as a way of imparting salinity. Sehaic's are known for drinking their wine and beer with cheese, that is to say they are known for crumbling a particular variety of sheep's cheese into their beverages. After the beverage has been consumed, the resultant cheesy sludge left at the bottom of the bowl is then mixed with honey and nuts and is eaten as a desert. This particular dish is called Birafepaha (Fepaha's Joy).

A common dish is Keriha or "hot green" a dish consisting of dark green leaves, typically spinach boiled with garlic, onion, coriander, and lisjir, in a broth or stock (typically made from fish bones). This may be mixed and cooked down until the liquid has all but evaporated, producing a thick substance which may then be used to dip bread, or if the liquid is not boiled out, it may be eaten as a soup. While meat is rare it is not entirely unheard of. It is not unusal for a family to keep one or two horned-rabbits, raising them both for meat and for fur. Sheep and cattle are both quite common, as evidenced by the Sehaic love of cheese. Mutton and lamb are often consumed at celebrations. Jirbaha, is a beloved dish consisting of strips of lamb or mutton, cooked with a variety of herbs and spices as well as mustard. This is then wrapped in a cigar like fashion, along with various greens and cheese, in a thin dough and is either fried or baked. This is then typically cut into pieces or else is held in the hand.

Sehaic cuisine shows a deep reverence for freshwater fish, with eels, trout, and sturgeon being reserved for either special occasions or the diets of the wealthy/powerful. Smaller and less valuable fish act as occasional supplements to the common diet. Insects and gastropods are eaten quite regularly. Locusts, cicadas, grubs, and snails are all common parts of the Sehaic diet, often added to other dishes. The favoured preparation for insects is fried in sesame or olive oil, and then heavily spiced and seasoned. During the harvest season, locusts with lisijir are a popular snack. Other agricultural pests, such as field rats and moles, may also be eaten, typically cooked over a fire. Kipnakili is a comfort food, often eaten by farmers and river boat drivers, including pirates. It consists of soft cheese, nuts (typically pistachios or walunts or a mix), fruit (typically figs, with the addition of raspberries and sometimes pomegranate), and honey. This mixture is pounded into a fine paste, which is then spread onto flatbread or small round barley cakes, the Felic equivalent to kipsha.

Sehaic cuisine, and Felic cuisine in general, exhibits a strong influence from both native populations and ancient Shabalic cuisine, with some dishes, such as Birafepaha, having roots as far back as the time of Tamel.

3. The Western Coast : Chibal

Pictured Above: The Western Coast near the city-state of Chibal

The Western Coast borders the Green Sea stretching from Bura in the north to Bisabal in the south. The climate here is warm and wet, defined by arid summers and stormy winters, similar to the Felic Plains but more intense on both counts. This has resulted in a culinary tradition with strong seasonal trends. Room temperature of even cold dishes are popular in the summer months while more hearty soups and broths are popular in the winter and fall.

Chibal, the second largest city in Kishetal after Labisa, has become the most culturally and demographically diverse city in the region, thanks to its prominence as a major trading port. This rich diversity is reflected in Chibalian cuisine, which incorporates elements from Korithian, Apunian, Ikopeshi, Baalkic, Shabalic, and Makorian culinary traditions. This post will focus specifically on dishes which were developed and created in Chibal and not imported.

Due to this sheer variety of influences and sub-cultures it is hard to make any sweeping claims about the nature of Chibalian food. However in general Chibalian food puts an emphasis on the quality of individual ingredients, with Chibalian cooks and diners earning a reputation as being pretentious. As a result, generally Chibalian dishes tend to be less complex, while being fresher. The same applies for seasoning and spice. While not bland like Labisian cuisine, Chibalian cuisine in most instances lacks the complex melanges of spices and seasoning seen in Sehaic food. Rather it should be expected that a Chibalian dish, in most instances, will rely primarily on only one or two items as seasoning, aside from salt.

While legumes and grains(particularly the massive paper thin flatbread known as lakibi) make up the majority of the Chibalian diet, fish and meat also make a significant contribution. Unsurprisingly a far larger portion of the diets of the people of Chibal and the Western Coast in general are composed of marine elements. Alongside fish and shellfish, the coast is home to many varieties of edible seaweed which appear in a number of dishes, particularly salads and soups. Chibal is additionally famous for its salt, produced in salt beds. This flaky salt is shipped around the entirety of the Green Sea, however the best is kept in Chibal and used to top a variety of dishes. Other popular condiments include cumin seeds, vinegar, olive oil, and a variety of Korithian fish sauce called wydram.

Bikerebi (water-leaf water) is a traditional soup, often served as a starter or side dish. It features a broth typically made from small fish or shrimp and various types of green sea algae. While the broth can be enjoyed on its own, it is usually enhanced with additional ingredients like salt, lisijir, vinegar, black pepper, and dill. A popular variation, known as Kibikerebi, involves crumbling stale or dried bread into the broth, creating a paste-like porridge. This heartier version is commonly eaten by fishermen and laborers as their first meal of the day. Ovens are typically reserved only for bread, with roasted or baked dishes being relatively rare (though roasted meats and seafoods may be eaten on special occasions). Rather the majority of Chibalian food is boiled, pickled, sauteed, fried, or dried. Chibal is one of the only places in Kishetal with a penchant, particularly in the warmer months, for eating raw foods. This includes fruits and vegetables along with fish and shellfish. One famed, though expensive dish is Sibizu aka "cold-fish" typically made from white flesh fish, such as sea bass, flounder, mackerel, and scallops. Tuna species and swordfish are considered more luxurious, and are preferred by the wealthy. Fish meat is cut into thin pieces and covered in salt and herbs, typically dill. This can be done either in a bowl or pot or spread onto a tray or flat stone. This is then allowed to sit, typically for around 2 hours. After this the fish is removed from salt and rinsed in a mixture of water and vinegar, typically three times. After this the fish is served with a olive oil as well as various other toppings. In certain circumstances the fish may be served ontop of ice or snow as this is believed to improve the freshness and flavour. Uncooked fish more often takes the form of pickled fish, left in a mixture of vinegar, salt, and herbs. Oysters and clams are regularly eaten raw, though they may also be shucked and added to soups or stews or on rare occasion baked.

Chibalian cuisine is defined by an intense interest in texture with the perfect meal preferable containing elements which are soft, slimy, creamy, crunchy, and chewy. For the last category cephalopods such as octopus and squid as well as stewed cartilage are popular ingredients. Vegetables are typically served as sides, favored for their textural components rather than their flavor. Crisp lettuce or crunchy asparagus/cabbage often appear as part of broader meals, but are often ignored. Salads composed of lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and other greens including seaweed are often served at the end of the meal, after fruit. Chibal is one of the only cities where pigs are consumed at a greater rate than sheep or goats, though still not as much as the horned-rabbit. Sausages, tripe, offal, and chops are all eaten regularly along with products made from the skin and blood.

4. The Northern Coast/Sheprian Forest: Shepra

The Sheprian forest in the northern part of Kishetal is primarily composed of deciduous trees with occasional conifer patches at areas with higher elevations. Common trees include oak, chestnut, birch, hornbeam, black pine, cedar, juniper, and beech. 

The city of Shepra lies on the northern coast of Kishetal at the Delta of the Pesha River. The surrounding area is heavily forested. For this reason, Shepra is famed for the quality of its hunters and of its game. Sheprians are additionally famed for the quality of their wheat, said to be sweeter and more delicate than the more abundant Felic varieties. Sheprian bakers are famed for their fluffy yeasted breads, typically favouring wheat rather than the barley which reigns supreme in southern regions. As a result, Sheprian wheat bread has been called, Kipchilu or Bread of the Gods. Sheprian bread is so popular that it or at the very least, Sheprian wheat flour, may be shipped hundreds of miles by foot, donkey, and ship to the courts of cities like Labisa and Chibal where it is treated with great reverence, often as a desert. Sheprian bread is often added to sacrifices alongside meat and fat meant for Great Spirits and Gods, either left outside on special alters (for Great Spirits) or burnt (for Gods).

Shepra boasts a vast collection of communal ovens, located near the town's center alongside the central grain store. By paying taxes, serving in the city guard, or fulfilling other civic duties, a Sheprian household earns a clay tablet that grants them the right to use one of the ovens for the season. However, a persistent issue plagues the town: a group of counterfeiters producing fake tablets. If someone is caught using a counterfeit tablet, they face punishment through debt slavery for up to three years, usually tasked with cleaning and maintaining the ovens. The problem is so significant that the Sheprian King has established a dedicated bureaucratic office, the Chief of Ovens, to address it (not to be confused with the Chief of Bread, who oversees the baking of bread and the storage of grains within the Palatial Complex). Those found guilty of intentionally damaging an oven or stealing an oven tablet receive death.

Some families also own smaller ceramic ovens or braziers, which can be used inside the house or, more commonly, on the flat roofs. In addition to these, there are professional bakers who either own their own ovens or petition for special tablets that designate them as bakers, granting them unrestricted access to the communal ovens. The abundance of ovens, along with ample timber and coal, has shaped a cuisine centered around braising, roasting, and baking. Sheprian food often involves long, slow cooking times, resulting in dishes celebrated for their rich flavors but often criticized for their lackluster colors and textures. Stews and gravies play a central role in Sheprian cuisine.

Unsurprisingly, bread is a staple of Sheprian meals, with 126 distinct varieties produced in the region, 42 of which are entirely unique to that region, and 13 exclusive to the city of Shepra. One notable variety, ruyi (literally "plate"), is a large, dry, and dense flatbread typically made from a mixture of wheat and barley. Families usually bake ruyi in bulk every four to five days. To prevent spoilage, it is cooked to a cracker-like consistency, making it hard and tasteless in its natural state. The flatbread is then wrapped in cloth and stored for use as flatware during meals. Food is served directly onto the ruyi, accompanied by vinegar, oil, cheese, and various sauces and toppings, including a chickpea and garlic paste known as Babilkipi. After the meal, once the bread has absorbed the liquids, it is either cut or broken into pieces and eaten. Ruyi is a common presence at most Sheprian meals, and it is not unusual for families to consume multiple types of bread, including ruyi, in a single meal. Perhaps due to their preference for hearty, fatty meals—possibly to counter the cold winters—Sheprians, along with Labisians, are often stereotyped as being somewhat heavier than other Kishite groups. This trait is not viewed negatively; in fact, many consider both Sheprian men and women among the most attractive in Kishetal.

As previously mentioned, game such as venison and boar is consumed regularly in Shepria, alongside goat and pork. However, horned rabbits are rarely kept, making them a minor part of the Sheprian diet. Cattle and sheep are similarly uncommon, largely due to the dense, ancient forests that dominate the region, which are not well-suited to pastoralism. For this same reason the people of Shepria have historically had little use for horses and cavalry.

Despite being located right next to the Shabalic Sea, seafood plays a relatively minor role in the Sheprian diet. Ironically, most of the prized Sheprian catch is sold to merchants and traders from cities like Chibal and Seha. The exception is shellfish, which the Sheprians consume in large quantities. The outskirts of the city are dotted with massive shell middens, some of which have become homes to various spirits and, on occasion, even monsters.

Sheprians use a wide range of spices and herbs, but their cuisine is particularly known for its heavy reliance on oregano, garlic, juniper, turmeric, and even imported ginger and cinnamon. To add heat to their dishes, Sheprians favor both horseradish and radishes, especially a specific breed of radish renowned for its intensity. This radish is often sliced thinly and used as a condiment. In other Kishite regions, bards and comedic poets like to tell exaggerated tales of Sheprian children wandering the streets and hills, gnawing on mustard seeds, radishes, and whole pieces of horseradish. While these stories are clearly hyperbolic, there is some truth to the Sheprian preference for this type of heat. Interestingly, despite their love for pungent flavors, Sheprians rarely use black pepper or lisijir in their cooking.

Kilakela, or "Field and Forest," refers to a category of layered dishes that might best be described as casseroles. These dishes typically involve finely chopped meat—often pork or various game birds—combined with additional fat, usually lard or olive oil, along with root vegetables like beets and parsnips, onions, an array of spices, wine, and sometimes honey. The mixture is placed in a special clay vessel and buried under coals at the back of the oven, where it cooks slowly throughout the day, allowing the ingredients to become tender and flavors to meld. Once the day's baking and other cooking tasks are complete, the vessel is retrieved, and the resulting stew or casserole is served atop ruyi. A variation of Kilakela, known as Kilala, excludes meat and is instead a vegetable stew, often fortified with chickpeas or lentils to add heartiness.

Northerners are one of the few groups which consume mushrooms on a regular basis, evidently not holding the same fears and superstitions as their southern cousins. One dish banalligu, sees mushrooms, doused in vinegar and olive oil, cooked on a skewer often with various other ingredients, depending on what is available such as whole cloves of garlic, small onions, vegetables including carrots, beets, and cabbage, game (most often duck or venison) or pork belly, and sometimes figs. This is cooked directly on the dying coals of the oven, charring the mushrooms and other components. After cooking the ingredients are removed from the skewer and may either be eaten as is or be wrapped in thin flatbread similar to Chibalic lakibi before being topped with a variety of ingredients.

Sheprian food shows strong influence from more recent Shabalic trends, with both favouring stews and hearty meals typically composed of many ingredients.

5. The Southern coast: Kotsa

The Southern Coast consists of three regions; the southern deciduous forest, the scrubland, and the plains. The climate in the south is quite warm, with summers being hot and dry and winters mild in both temperature and rainfall. On rare occasions, the southern coast may experience heavy snowfall. 

Major cities are sparse however, many villages dot the southern coast, many of these villages rely on piracy, preying primarily on Apunian and Jezaani ships traveling to and from the Western Coast. The largest of the southern cities is Kotsa, founded on the ruins of a pre-Kishite civilization.

Kotsa is famed as the primary home of the Shobiashkun, a particular brand of priests and sages. While these priests are superficially said to serve the Deity of Writing and Knowledge, Shashuma (They are a minority, the largest temples in Kotsa belong to the storm God, Kotomah), in actuality this small collection of scholars and philosophers focus their interests on the Shobiash, the River of Creation and Time, thus looking behind the Heavenly Gods. A Shobiashku looks for patterns in existence, and seeks meaning and purpose in these patterns, typically through meditation or sometimes through drug assisted trances. The Shobiashku forgo sex, meat, and honey, save for in those instances in which those things may help with their musings. Numerous treatises pertaining to the nature of the universe, death, magic, and civil order have been produced by this small sect. Despite the fact that the Shobiashkun are a relatively small group, little more than 50 individuals at any time, they have had a major effect on the cuisine of Kotsa and the surrounding region. As a result Kotsa is one of the few regions with a significant vegetarian population, particularly among the learned elite.

Kotsa has one of the most defined elite cuisines, separated from that of the commoners not only by the ingredients used, but also by how that food is prepared and presented. Particularly among the nobility of Kotsa, eating and food is viewed with a level of spiritual and medicinal reverence. At the palatial court for example the supposed symbolism and medicinal boon of each dish is announced each time one of the many small courses is presented, with some courses comprising of only a couple of bites of food. At a Ceremonial Kotsian Banquet, bread is always served first, unseasoned and alone. Most often this is a dense barley bread, its hearty nature meant to represent the soil and stone. Next comes water, or more rarely, beer. This is followed by a number of dishes with various representations; A charred onion spiced with lisijir and ginger (Hagugura) to represent fire, a small cake made from sheep’s cheese and wheatberries to represent the fields (Jiribikip), a piece of roasted turnip spiced with cardamom and salt to represent the walls of the city (Elmuhi), etc. Wine is drunk sparingly throughout the meal and often watered down to an extreme level (sometimes to the equivalent of 16 parts water to one part wine.) In these particular dishes, spice is used sparingly as it is believed that using too many additional ingredients may in some way dampen the medicinal properties of the dish. Of course, such rigid dining is mostly indicative of ceremonial affairs or of the most rigidly traditional nobles, it does not represent all cuisine.

Outside of the world of ceremonial dining, Kotsian cuisine is known for its freshness and its love of spices, though its relative disdain for heat (lisijir, horseradish, radish, etc.) Cardamom, ginger, garlic, bay, turmeric, and saffron all appear regularly in Kotsian dishes. The South of Kishetal is famed as being one of the only places west of Sinria to have successfully planted and cultivated the cinnamon tree, with five small groves near Kotsa, accounting for nearly all Kishite Cinnamon. Cinnamon features in both savory and sweet dishes and may even be added to wine and beer. As a result, cinnamon appears in much of Kotsian cooking. One popular dessert, Jakeresha consists of a cake made from dates, cheese, and flour, wrapped in several layers of thin dough. This is then heavily seasoned in a mixture of ground cinnamon, honey, and sesame seeds. The savory version of this dish, Jakereshu replaces the dates typically with a mixture of mashed chickpeas and fava beans, and replaces the honey usually with oil, while retaining the heavy use of cinnamon.

Kotsian food is noteworthy among Kishite cuisines for its fragrance, due to its heavy use of aromatics. It is said the ruler of the country of Apuna, the Fapacha, once hired Kotsian cooks to work in his kitchens, only so that the smell of Kotsian food could perfume his halls.

Kotsian food doesn't seem to demonstrate any particular tendencies or preferences when it comes to cooking styles, with baking, sautéing, frying, and boiling all appearing. Aside from the Makurian Steppe region, and is the most distinct from other Kishite styles. In terms of preparation and ingredients, Kotsian and southern cuisine in general seems to have more in common with that of foreign lands like Jezaan and even Apuna, than it does with places like Labisa or Seha.

While vinegar does appear, it and its use in pickling and preservation are far less common than in other regions. Dried foods are common however, with fruits and vegetables and fish often dried on reed mats as a way to intensify flavor. For the purpose in general the treatment of meat within the Kotisan diet is similar to that of Seha, with meat being eaten only on rare occasions. When meat is served, it is typically done simply, roasted or boiled and cut into thin pieces. Sheep are the most common form of livestock, with significant cattle herds also being present. Horned-rabbits are relatively common, though not to the extent of the mountainous regions. Pigs are all but absent. Due to the relatively arid environment, game is also a relatively rare part of the diet, with the exception of gazelle.

Kotsians, and the south in general are famed for their love of yogurt, or Ishjir, often eaten as a mid-day meal, mixed with fruit or honey. Yogurt may also function as a condiment of sorts, with a variety of sauces comprised of yogurt mixed with various herbs and spices, utilized depending on the circumstance.

Fish is eaten regularly, particularly fish like seabream, which is often salted and left to dry. This dried fish is then stored and may be rehydrated in soups or else used as a travel food.

One dish that is unique to the region but that is quickly spreading both to other regions of Kishetal and to other parts of the Green Sea is Talakili which while its name literally translates to "flat bread" is actually more comparable to pasta, typically made from wheat flour mixed with water and oil, rolled flat, cut into either small squares or circles and then boiled and served with a variety of sauces. Talakili with salt, cheese, and cinnamon is a popular comfort food among Kotsian children.

6. The Kipsian Desert : Kipsa

The Kipsian Desert, with its rocky terrain and sparse vegetation, is the least populated regions of Kishetal, and is also the region with the largest pre-Kishite genetic and cultural influence. As a result, the Kipsian dialect of Kishite, is often quite difficult for other Kishites to understand as it is heavily influenced by other languages such as Mageryu and Duluqi. Despite these challenges, the city of Kipsa, the largest in the region, has cultivated a distinctive culinary tradition that reflects its unique environment and cultural heritage. Kipsa is well known for the ferocity of its warriors and as the center of rakeshim production. Rakeshim is a fabric, woven from thin strands of gold interwoven with either linen or silk. Its construction is incredibly complex and the secret to its creation, a jealously guarded secret among the five families which produce it.

Central to Kipsian cuisine is the use of local herbs and spices, hearty grains, and a pronounced affinity for sweetness. A defining feature of Kipsian cooking is the use of large subterranean ovens called Bahasayu. The Bahasayu enables slow, even cooking, ideal for preparing the region’s staple dishes. These ovens, essential for traditional cooking, are found in nearly every home, typical appearing either in courtyards or in front of homes. On rare occasions two or more homes may share one Bahasayu. When a couple marries, it is customary for them to dig a Bahasayu as part of claiming their new home. Additionally, in some cases, the remains of deceased ancestors are interred beneath these ovens, after their customary exposure to the elements, linking the living with their ancestors. Because these ovens are so central to domestic life, they are often the target of curses. A disgruntled Kipsian may place a or crack a curse tablet over a rival’s Bahasayu in order to bring them misfortune.

Kipsian cuisine uses many of the same spices and herbs as their Kotsian cousins, though with a distinct preference from cumin and coriander over cinnamon.

Due to the arid environment and lack of major irrigation, vegetable cultivation is relatively sparse, and what vegetables and fruits are available are often preserved in some way. Fresh vegetables are a luxury typically reserved for the wealthy. Rather Kipsian cuisine has come to rely on a particularly robust strain of barley. While it is able to withstand the dry and hot climate, this barley produces an often chewy and unpleasant product. As a result, Kipsian cuisine is often maligned for the poor quality of its bread and those that can afford it prefer to import wheat from the Felic Plains and Kotsa. One use of this otherwise unpleasant barley is Takuriha (stemming from the Duluqi language, meaning “beer soup”), a soup made from fermented grains mixed with yogurt and herbs and spices. The resulting dish is served cool or room temperature and is typically eaten after the sun has set. The soup is mildly alcoholic. Kipuhi, is a salad also featuring barley pearls mixed with chopped herbs, olive oil, and regalu juice. This may be supplemented with dried or shredded meats as well as chickpeas or other vegetables in order to create a more complete and hearty meal.

Kelami, a local variety of flatbread, is historically baked on hot stones or now more commonly, on the roof of the bahasayu. To counteract the quality of the barley, it is typically served with various dips and spreads, such as Muhamara, a rich paste made from roasted chickpeas, walnuts, and olive oil.

Cucumbers are beloved as a snack, particularly during the hotter season, as they are thought to cool the body. They are served typically in salad composed of cucumber, mint, vinegar, and garlic. When fresh cucumbers are not available, they are pickled in vinegar, alongside various herbs and spices. Pickled vegetables and meats, as well as bird’s eggs and fruits, are integral the Kipsian diet. Pickled vegetables and herbs often act as condiments of sorts, placed on the table to be added to other dishes. Pickled foods are so common that they typically act in place of vinegar as a topping.

Meat, though not a daily staple, is carefully prepared when used. Goats are the primary source of protein. One dish, Ishukjiraru, is a dish made with intentionally spoiled meat. Goat meat is packed in herbs, vinegar, and fat (typically rendered goat fat) inside of a large jar and is allowed to sit, sometimes for weeks at a time. The resulting product is cleaned and then utilized in a number of dishes, including stews and as a shredded meat added to salads and on flatbreads. The taste is quite sour and funky and can be an acquired taste. Kipsiansalso raise a unique breed of horned-rabbit well-suited to the desert environment. Heards of these wiry creatures can be seen roaming from bush to bush, guided by desert shepherds. Gukeki (from the Mageryu for “gift”), is served for special occasions, as its use of fresh vegetables make it a relative luxury. It is a vegetable stew made with ingredients like eggplant and onions, which is cooked in large clay pots and may also include the shredded goat, spinach, and other ingredients.

Honey is a prominent ingredient in Kipsian cuisine, the Kipsa itself being famed for its many hives. It is used as a condiment in various forms, including Habazibi, a salted and spiced variety with a hint of Lisijir for subtle heat. One result of this abundance of honey is the Kipsian love of mead and honeyed wine or beer. Kipsians have a reputation as heavy drinkers, drinking more of these beverages than any other Kishite people. The god of beer, Fepaha, is honored, and many banquets are dedicated to celebrating this drink.

Kipsians have a notable sweet tooth, with foods often heavily sweetened with honey or date syrup. Desserts such as Kepechi (the Kipsian equivalent of kipsha), barley cakes soaked in a honey and regalu syrup, and Gelukepi, a sweet treat made from slow-cooked fruits (primarily dates and figs), are popular and enjoyed with a strong tea made from mint and coriander, with “laughing leaf” a mild intoxicant, also occasionally added.

Kipsian food shows a heavy influence from indigenous cuisines.

7. The Makurian Steppe: Shebal

The Makurian steppe is massive, spreading over most of western Macia. Only a tiny sliver of that vast extent falls in Kishetal. Trees are almost entirely absent. Vast expanses of grass-covered hills define the area. To the north of the steppe is the Shabalic forest, and to the south is the Jezaaic desert. The largest of the Makurian cities is Shebal, once the homeland of the Ugri Tribe, the city still is the target of many repeated attacks by Makurian tribes. Despite its remoteness, silver mines and soil rich in gems, have made Shebal uncharacteristically rich, particularly considering that it is the least populous of all the regional "capitals".

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Shebalian cuisine takes heavy inspiration from that of the western Makurian tribes. This translates to a cuisine heavily built on the consumption of meat and dairy, and a prevalence towards soups and stews. It is said derisively of the Shebalians, that they eat horse meat stew for dinner and horse bone soup for dessert. It is true that the Shebalians, and the people of the east in general, are the only region of Kishetal in which horse and donkey/ass are eaten regularly. Meat, cheese, and milk from these animals are eaten in large quantities. Despite this the Shebalians are known for their deep connection with the horses, famed as charioteers and riders. The slaughtering of a horse is a sober affair, typically attended to by a priest of the god Ikeshpaha (the God of wealth and the steppe) and undertaken with the utmost care. The first dish to be prepared from the horse or ass, is Jabolibi a thick porridge consisting of blood as well as either wheat berries or rice. This is typically consumed by warriors, kings, and pregnant women.

Shebalians and eastern Kishites in general eat more dairy than any other Kishites, with cheese, yogurt, butter, milk, and various fermented curd products accounting for much of the diet. Jiraba is a variety of curd, first heavily fermented and then dried until hard and crunchy. This is then crushed and sprinkled on other dishes.

Fresh vegetables are rare as the environment is ill-suited to agricultural, as a result most vegetables are imported from the west or from lands to the south. As a result of this, green vegetables with short shelf-lives are highly rare and are seen as a delicacy. Root vegetables like carrots, beets, turnips, and parsnips are common and appear often in Shebalian dishes or may be served as a side. Shebalians cuisine does make use of lentils as their primary legume of choice.

One food item unique to Shebal and the surrounding area, is rice. Rice is an import from the east, typically carried over vast miles by traders from Sinria, Mu, and other places. The palace buys vast quantities of rice and use it often as a form of payment. Rice is steamed and served with meat, butter, and spices, or else may be added to broths to make them hearty and filling.

The Origins of Rice in Shebal According to legend the origins of rice in Shebal come from not long after the foundation of Kishetal by the demigod Tamel. The first king of Shebal, then a vassal of Tamel, was Haman the Thrice-Bearded. Haman had one son, Hiru the Brilliant. Said to be blessed with all the radiance of the silver of the steppe, it is typically agreed among scholars and poets that Hiru was the most beautiful of all Kishites. His statues and images can be found throughout Kishetal, and particularly in the east. Said to have the strength and size of a great warrior, and the face of a lovely maiden, many flocked to see Hiru. Men and women alike from countless nameless land, travelled many miles, bearing gifts of gold and silver, perfume and spice, to marry or just to sit with the beautiful prince. Even spirits and forestfolks came before him, the dragon, Eker, offered the entirety of the land of Ukat just to have the beautiful prince in his home. Those that were not cowed by his beauty, plead and promised him wealth, love, and many children. They sang of his beauty. Hiru, however refused all gifts, and turned away all suitors, for all they could see was his beauty.

One day the Sinrian King, Jiparitu (Juparvi in his own tongue) came to play his own card, wishing for Hiru to be his lover and cupholder. Jiparitu, who the called The Mount of Rendigra (A Sinrian Thunder God), was the son of the Demigod, Ranaya. He was broad as an ox, the hands like bear paws. He was great warrior who had killed his 5 older brothers in battle for the right to sit upon the throne of his father's city. He presented the youth with the three elephants, ten rolls of silk, five pounds of saffron, and three golden statues, each as large as a man. Yet, Hiru refused. Enraged, Jiparitu stormed from the palace, only to return later that night, along with his plantbrew. They drugged Hiru and ferried him away, over the steppe and the high mountain, to his palace in Sinria. There he bedecked the prince in flowers and silks, and cherished his beauty, and made him his lover, though unwilling. But soon he grew jealous as he saw the looks of awe and lust on the faces of his servants and court. And so he had Hiru's face, bound tight in cords of silk and wool, locked with chains of bronze and copper, so that none could look upon his face but he. He ordered that his body be covered in filth and dressed , save for when it came time for the king to look upon him, so that no other could see his treasure. He then locked the prince in a tower of white stone and gold.

When King Haman heard of his son's abduction, he marched, joined by his brother's the rulers of Bur and Kutar, and 67 of Hiru's former suitors and their men to the lands of king Jiparitu. There they laid siege to the castle for 67 days, and on each day, it is said that one of the suitors was killed. While the siege raged outside Hiru remained trapped in his tower, his only company being wicked Jiparitu and the slave, Safeniri (Savanri in her own tongue). Both could enter the tower only by an entrance, hidden so that none but they could find it. Safeniri, a peasant girl, born of two rice farmers, fed him scraps of the jungle fowl (chicken), crusts of bread, and green leaves, for these are all that Jiparitu permitted he be fed, lest the beauty of his body be marred by fat. And yet, in secret, she also brought to him, a porridge, made from rice, cinnamon, milk, waweshi (sugar, native to the kingdoms of Sinria, but quite rare in Kishetal) and coconut which she called kerumipiya (Kerumpaja in her native tongue) as well as bowls of rice and butter, for this is all that she, a slave, could afford. She had never seen Hiru's face, and knew nothing of his famed beauty. Hiru longed for her company, and though he had never seen her face, blinded as he was by the cloth around his face, he began to fall in love with her, and she with him. When word of the siege reached the ears of Hiru and Safeniri, together they concocted a plan to free Hiru and to return him to his father. Outside of the tower, in great bunches, grew "laughing leaf" which dulls the mind and weakens the balance. Its effects are strong but its taste is bitter. When next Jiparitu came into his tower to gaze upon his treasure, Safeniri waited there with Hiru. As always Jiparitu insisted that his guards wait outside of the tower, lest they recieve the pleasure of gazing upon Hiru's beauty. It was only as Jiparitu ordered the clothes removed and the filth wiped away, that Safeniri finally saw him truly. And though she was awed, she had already long since fell in the love with the imprisoned prince.

Though still handsome beyond measure, his face had been marked by seven cuts where the cloth had been bound too tight, and from then on he was known as Hiru of the Seven Scars. While Jiparitu marveled over his captive, Safeniri approached him and offered him a bowl of the kerumipiya, one which she had tainted with the laughing leaf, its bitterness covered by the sweet sugar and milk. The king ate and as he ate, he became joyous and wild. So wild that he spilled the rice upon his fine clothes. Safeniri then suggested that the king undress, less his expensive clothing be ruined by his rice. And so he did, undressed down to his undergarments, his heavy robe falling at his feet. And Safeniri sang and pounded upon the bottom of the clay pot like a drum. Saferniri then opened the door, beyond which were the stairs which spiralled up the tower. Jiparitu danced, entranced by her beautiful voice. His feet became tangled in his discarded robe, and his mind too clouded to stop himself, he fell, tumbling down the hundred stairs of the tower, until he lie at the bottom, dead. Saferniri then took the kings discarded robe, and tore the jewels and gold from it, she smeared it with filth and grime, until it looked like a beggars cape. This she covered Hiru in and guided him down the tower and through the secret entrance. When they people looked, they saw only a peasant woman, guiding a beggar, his face hidden.

She lead him past the city walls, to where his father and uncles sat in their camp, bereft, for the last of the suitors had been slain by arrow and sling. King Haman was so joyous upon seeing his son that he fell to his knees and sang praises to the gods of Kishetal and the Steppe. And yet he was shocked, when the first words that Hiru spoke to him, were to say that he had found a wife. Haman was scandalized by the suggestion that his son, the prince, would marry a slave girl. He demanded to know what Safeniri’s family could possibly offer to warrant such a union with one as magnificent and beautiful as Hiru when all other suitors had offered gold, silver, and land. Love and rice, was all that Safeniri could offer. Haman was unimpressed by this seemingly simple answer.

Determined to prove her worth, Safeniri crept back into the city, and returned to her home. With the help of her parents, prepared a pot of kerumipiya, the finest ever made. They used fruit plucked from the trees, milk fresh from the cow, and sugar as white as snow. When she presented this exceptional dish to Haman and his brothers, they were astonished by its exquisite taste, unlike anything they had ever eaten. Haman, along with his brothers, was deeply moved by the dish and by Hiru's story of Safeniri's cunning and dedication. Relenting, he agreed that a spouse capable of creating such a remarkable meal deserved to be wed to his son. However, he imposed one condition: Safeniri was to see that Hiru was presented with a bowl of kerumipiya every day until he was guided into the next life. The wedding that followed was a grand celebration. To meet Haman's stipulation, rice and other eastern goods were brought from distant lands to Shebal. Soon, rice, and particularly kerumipiya, became symbols of wealth and love, often featured at weddings. When Haman passed away, Hiru ascended to the throne and ruled with wisdom and kindness, particularly towards slaves and captives. Safeniri honored her promise, and upon Hiru’s death, it was said that she joined him on the very same day. Many stories of both Hiru and Safeniri now fill Kishite Folklore, with the wisdom of Safeniri being particularly renowned. Many queens and princesses, particularly those in the east of Kishetal may take the title Lusafeniri or "Of Safeniri/ Safeniri-Like" in order to emphasis their wisdom and prowess.

In Shebal today, while still reliant on imported rice, kerumipiya has adapted to local ingredients. Instead of sugar and coconut, it’s sweetened with honey and flavored with dried fruits such as figs and apricots, and often uses horse or donkey milk as opposed to cow milk. A sprinkle of ground cinnamon might be added for extra flavor. Kerumipiya is commonly eaten as a dessert, or during special occasions. It remains a popular dish at weddings and many lovesick youths may try to woe potential partners with a steaming bowl. Rice is often used a sacrifice to the god of wealth, Ikeshpaha, its many grains believed to represent plenty. Rice sprinkled around the house is believed to ward of wicked spirits, and disease as it is believed that it "absorbs" evil.

One benefit of its eastern location is that Shebal and the surrounding cities are often the first to receive exotic spices carried from Mu and Sinria, often at far less cost than their western cousins. This is led to a cousin, which well simplistic at first glance, is highly complex in its flavors. Soups such as the goat-based, Habisichiarsoni (The Soup that Awakens the Sleeping God) may use dozens of different spices including turmeric, cumin, pepper (long and black), mustard, cardamom, lime leaf, etc, in a complex and masterful way. Easterners who journey to the west, well excited by the access to wheat and vegetables, often bemoan the perceived blandness, with only Sehaic food being seen as "properly spiced". Shebalian cuisine's heavy use of lisijir and other spices make it perhaps the only cuisine which could be considered "spicy" by Earthly standards.

Another quirk of Shebalian cuisine and of the steppe is that it is the only region which prefers butter as its primary fat, this has earned easterners the somewhat derogatory nickname "butter-eaters" by their western cousins, where the use of butter is often viewed as barbaric. Butter is often used as a condiment, melted and added to soups, bread or other dishes.

The diet of the Shebalians is the least reliant on bread of any Kishite culture, with some families going several days without eating bread. When bread is consumed, it often uses rye, rather than the barley or wheat preferred on the other side of the mountains. The result is dense and nutty and works well with the fatty and meaty cuisine of the steppe. Errikili is a knotted bread made from rye flour, often noted for its somewhat phallic appearance. It is typically used to dip in soups, or else may be eaten with butter and imported spices.

Talakili has become increasingly common in Shebalian cuisine, imported from Kotsa. In Shebal it is often added to soups and broths and is thicker and heartier then its southern equivalent. One particular rendition of Shebalian Talakili called Irkipikiki (literally "pregnant thing") is stuffed with meat and cheese, somewhat similar to a ravioli.

While still identifiably Kishite in its presentation and cooking styles, the components of Shebalian cuisine are largely foreign. Its base ingredients are of the Makurian steppe, while its use of spice shows heavy influence from the lands of the Great Southern Kingdoms (Baban and Ukkaria), Sinria, and even lands far to the east like Pya, Mu, and Xianti.

And that's that! A pretty barebones explanation of the differences between the cuisines of different parts of Kishetal. Let me know if you have any other questions about any of these cuisines/dishes! Maybe one day I'll do something similar with the regional cuisines of places like Korithia, Shabala, Pyria, and Apuna.

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[aerbiscuit]

So, this may be a super silly idea, but bear with me.

Giants are intriguing fantasy creatures. Depending on how big they are, their existence has massive implications for wherever they live. What do they eat, and how much/often do they have to do so? What is their population size? Where do they live that has enough room for them all? How does their waste not make large stretches of land filthy?

And, most importantly… do they fart?

No, for real, I’ve often thought about this. As a kid, I was taught that cow burps and farts contain huge amounts of methane that could threaten the atmosphere. Now, of course, I know that there are a ton of factors at play in this claim, all of which turn this glimmer of a fact into a misleading claim. (While cow farts, and especially burps, do contain a large amount of methane, the largest contributions to climate change are still human pollution and fossil fuel usage. Cow gas is remarkably small in comparison and we can change their diets to decrease their methane production anyway.)

Still, this has always made me wonder about the gas output of giants. How would their flatulence affect smaller creatures and the world around them?

… well, I now have a gassy mythology about giants. Read on for a peculiar fairy tale.

In my fantasy AU, giants exist. However, they all live on a small continent (which to them is a large island) far in the middle of a distant sea. This land is perfectly suited for their needs. A few large races of animals exist for them to eat meat from time to time, and certain quickly-growing species of fauna provide them with continuous sources of vegetation. They also eat bugs by breeding, collecting, and chowing down on them at once, kinda like how whales can subsist off large amounts of krill. The land is also large enough for them to handle the subject of their waste, which they’ve developed systems to dispose, reuse, and/or filter. They’re a smart race of beings and can live sustainably in their home country. However, they largely stay where they are, and any giant who attempts to travel to the smaller lands is seen as foolhardy and asking for trouble.

Legends say that the reason for the giants' isolation (stories which both the giants and the smaller folk tell) come from a time when lots of giants travelled around the world. Giants were friendly, and even set up homes in smaller lands to learn from the tiny races. There are still a few stories of friendly giants, and the good that they can do.

Unfortunately, many of the smaller races saw the giants as a threat. If a giant didn’t have the time or resources to set up food sources (bug farming, bringing livestock, etc.), they’d need to eat from the small folks’ land, which the small folk saw as decimating their resources. Giants also had to do a LOT of research into where they could piss or shit, unless they didn’t mind accidentally flooding or burying valuable land. As thoughtful as most giants are, you couldn’t help the occasional emergency, or just the handful of people who weren’t as considerate as the others.

And of course, there was the gas. Giants need to break wind too. It’s hard to stay around someone when one of their farts sounds like a thunderclap and produces clouds of smog that take up to an hour or so to fully dissipate. And if a giant strayed too far from a majority bug-based diet, those farts could get numerous and gnarly.

Finally, one cruel and bigoted wizard devised a plan to make enough small folk hate the giants to banish them. He used the entire freshwater lake that a group of traveling giants had claimed for their water supply to make an eternal potion of flatulence, one that was so strong, it altered your very biology into making you sensitive to most food sources. Any meal of standard meat or veggies would turn into a night full of farts, and that’s not counting eating the standard fart fare like beans, broccoli, sprouts, dairy, etc. He cast the spell, complicating it so that only he could possibly undo it, and waited.

Soon, the damage was done, and all the giants in the area turned into giant gasbags. Even if they stayed near their camps, neighboring villages could hear choruses of belching in the distance, or smell the results of dinner on the wind. Finally, enough people got so fed up that they passed official mandates of banishment. All giants, even the ones who didn’t drink from the lake, were sent away, and threatened with war if they returned.

The giants, who are peaceful folk and newly embarrassed by their tremendous eruptions of gas, didn’t put up a fight. They all packed their bags and sailed home.

Upon their return, the giant’s cycle of reproduction showed that the spell was more permanent than expected. Any offspring of a newly gassy giant with an unmodified person became half as gassy. If two gassy giants mated, then the offspring had full fart power. After enough generations of mating, all giants became gasbags to some extent. While the giants grew used to, and even happy with, their new powers, they knew this was the last nail in the coffin of their diplomacy. Now, no giant could try to live peacefully with the smaller races. Barely any giants visit the small lands even now.

The end.

… but, of course, the world goes on after “The End,” doesn’t it?

First, there were the unintentional side effects of the lake. After the expulsion of the giants, the wizard quickly used the last of his remaining power to neutralize the water. However, some damage was already done. While humans were the majority of the small races to hold issue with giants, most of the demi-humans (goat-mans, centaurs, satyrs, etc.) had no issue with giants and were happy to hang out with them, share meals with them…. and drink with them. This is the theory of why these races are flatulent even beyond their animal counterparts’ abilities. Their guts have been forever tainted by the same brew that doomed the giants.

Some of the demi-humans who liked the permanent changes to their digestive tracts acted quickly, bottling some of the water before the wizard neutralized his work. These potions of flatulence are incredibly rare, and possibly no more than legends, but people search for them to this day.

Then there are the members of the small races who don’t mind venturing out to visit the giants. After all, no rule was set up that they couldn’t visit, although some years had to pass before the giants were in a good enough mood to be visited. This is how the small amount of giant-to-small-person communication and research still persists.

And who knows? Maybe in enough time, relations will improve enough to reach the level that they used to be.

Until then, most giants will stay at home, entertaining only the most friendly (or peculiarly inclined) members of the races who banished them.

[the-trinket-witch]

Hihi!!! Tis the season to ask holiday themed asks!! Assuming the world of TWST celebrates winter holidays, do your OCs celebrate any holidays? If so, what are some things they like to do?

Thank you!

Hoi hoi!! For Reference, I'm going to be using 'Yuletide' as the TWST nomenclature for the Big Winter Holiday (with others being eclipsed by it mentioned)

He celebrates Yuletide like many other folks in Altus. He HAS though, been exposed to some mero winter traditions, both just by some of his primary/middle school classmates being merfolk. It's just little touches around his family traditions, like a shell garland or two around the tree, splurging a little on seafood for dinner... For more 'traditional' Altus Yuletide fare, there's the winter market, open well into the night to allow folks a chance to see the lights on folks' houses while they shop. Something his mum had told him about, but has yet to reach the age where he can partake, is wassailling. Caroling is fun and all, but progressively getting jolly red in the face while singing and seeing who else wants to join in the festivities sounds A LOT more fun. But It was during the winter break during his first year (RSA) that That happened. It was also during winter break he got to show the Octa-trio his hometown, and have to deal with all the goings-on in Scarabia...

Their life Pre-TWST was pretty normal for a Californian Christmas. Talk to them today, they still sometimes call Yuletide 'Christmas'. It didn't take much to incorporate the parts of both holidays that didn't match up 100%. Tidus was the greatest listener as to how both holidays differed, which also helped Yuu get a better understanding of the holiday anyway. Once they grow old enough to get booze for it, their ponche navideño is gonna be what a lot of people stop by their place to get a cup of.

Both being denizens of the Coral Sea, I wanna Headcanon that their winters are a bit more like Ye Olden Days. By which I mean: It's too cold to go out anywhere, so we hunker down with our supplies and entertain ourselves in the dark. Ghost stories, party games and crafting 'to drive the cold winter away'.

I don't so much have any HCs for what STYX Yuletide is like, if its even celebrated at all. Being born/raised, in essence, in a company town kind of isolates you from learning much outside of it, so if anybody has a neat idea for traditions, he's willing to listen and give it a shot.

Being in a dryer, more arid plot of the Queendom, his Yuletides are a bit...sephia toned. Lights got draped around the house, family came over, goodies got baked and distributed among the neighbors, and town winter markets doubled as swap meets and craft fairs.

Surprisingly? For being a Yuletide Baby (Birthday Dec 24...SHIT I GOTTA MAKE A BIRTHDAY CARD FOR HIM), His folks try to make distinction that his birthday is to not be overshadowed by another holiday. Ya can't help when you're born. Some of the rest of the fam aren't as gracious, but he's got enough lovin' by his parents that makes up for it.

His home's heat is on FULL blast, humidifier going, everything every scaly bastard Reptile needs. He doesn't open the door for many, not carolers, donation canvasing, etc; it lets the cold in. His ears are quick to perk if he hears Mr Khan taking off to a warmer vacation destination.

This man's gotta travel a lot for business, so it means all the more to him when he takes the time to make his own decisions on the destination. Sometimes he'll book in some tropical locale, if only to drag Aadesh along for some subordinate ribbing. (He's made Aadesh try Snake Wine while out East, not so much 'made' as 'insisted'.)

It's business as usual for The Janitor. Once the kids take off for the break, they have the chance to do some deeper cleaning that their schedule wouldn't otherwise permit.

TAGLIST:

@ceruleancattail @squidwen @thecosmicjackalope @vaporvipermedia @writing-heiress

@oya-oya-okay @k-looking-glass-house @thehollowwriter @rainesol @cyn-write

@heartscrypt @br3adtoasty @jackiecronefield @ruggiethethuggie

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@tixdixl @prince-kallisto @candiedchiliarch

[arcane-vagabond]

Fool's Fare Teaser

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: Captain Jake "Hangman" Seresin had come close to swinging from the gallows more times than he would care to admit. He's stolen, cheated, even killed. The worst thing he's ever done? Broken the heart of a woman. Having broken the heart of the woman whom Davy Jones himself had fallen for six years ago, Jake is now cursed to live as something not dead, but not alive. He's doomed to live a half-life for the rest of his existence unless he manages to obtain the treasure Davy Jones deems most valuable. The problem? He has no idea what it is, and he only had seven years to obtain it.

Series CW: Violence, Swearing, Supernatural themes (not the show), Jake Seresin, slow burn, references to sex work, suggestive language, eventual smut, fluff, angst, firearms, etc. There will be chapter specific warnings!

A/N: Alright, here's the teaser for Pirate Captain!Jake I've been dangling in front of y'all's noses lol The teaser is from further into the fic, so you probably won't see it for a while, and to be COMPLETELY honest, some of this might change, but I at least wanted y'all to see what it was you signed up for. As always, reblogs, comments, and likes are encouraged and appreciated! Find me on AO3 under sailor_aviator where I will be updating my fics as well!

His golden blonde hair shimmered in the evening light. The sun kissed the horizon just passed his shoulder, creating a halo that glowed around him. If you didn’t already know him, you’d think he was an angel. He stares at you as if he can see into the very depths of your soul, his olive green eyes never wavering.

“Do you believe in Davy Jones, Tesoro?” he asked. There was that damn nickname again. He still refused to tell you what it means, and the crew were too tight lipped about it for your liking.

“I believe he’s a scary story that parents tell their children about to scare them into being good,” you responded, thinking back to the stories your own father would tell you. What would he think if he could see you now?

Jake gave a humorless chuckle, closing his eyes. He ran a hand through his golden locks, looking out over the side of the ship and to the sea. Opening his eyes, he looked back at you with eyes ablaze. “I can assure you, he’s real.”

“Stop teasing,” you snapped, crossing your arms and fixing him with a glare. He gave you a wry smile.

“If only it were that,” he started. “I didn’t believe in curses until six years ago.”

“And what happened six years ago?” you asked, rolling your eyes.

Jake paused. “Six years ago, I met a woman. She was beautiful, sweet, caring. The kinds of things most men want in a woman.”

“And you don’t?” you questioned.

“Those are nice things to have,” he hummed thoughtfully, then he gave you a small smirk. “But I’ve always wanted a little more.”

You ignored him. “So, I’m guessing you took this woman to bed?”

“I did,” Jake admitted, pursing his lips. “And then I left her. Only, I didn’t know that there was another man in love with her at the time.”

“And he beat you senseless?” you guessed.

“Haven’t you been paying attention, darlin’?” he chuckled. “That man was none other than Davy Jones himself. Risen from the deep to enact vengeance on little, old me.”

“Right,” you scoffed. Surely he couldn’t be serious? “And what, pray tell, does this curse involve exactly?”

“I, and everyone in my crew, are destined to exist on this earth in limbo. Not alive, but not dead either. A half-life. We eat, but we are never full. Our food tasting like ash.” He stood up, walking slowly towards you as he continued talking. “We drink, but our thirst is never quenched. The finest wines leave our throat dry like the desert.”

He cupped your cheek, stroking it before resting his thumb on your bottom lip. “We can touch, but we cannot feel. Even now, I can’t feel the warmth of your breath or the softness of your skin.”

“Must be lonely,” you said softly. A look of despair ran across Jake’s face, and it was then that you knew in your heart that he was telling the truth.

“It’s agony,” he admitted quietly, dropping his hand back to his side.

“Did Davy Jones give you a way to lift the curse?” you asked, a sense of urgency in your tone.

Jake didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he sighed, “I have to find what he considers to be the greatest treasure of all.”

“And what is that?”

“He didn’t say,” Jake muttered, head hanging low.

Your brow furrowed. “But, how are you supposed to find it if you don’t even know what it is you’re looking for?”

“Isn’t that the point?” he snorted, a humorless smile etched onto his face as he stared at you.

“Well, you have all the time in the world to find what it is you’re looking for,” you offered, giving him a soft smile. He shook his head.

“Old Jonesy only gave me seven years to find it before the curse becomes permanent.”

“Seven years?” you exclaimed, ice drenching your bones. “But you said this happened six years ago!”

“I did,” he said softly, watching you put the pieces together.

“But, that means…” you trailed off, horror overtaking your sense. Jake nodded.

“I only have one year left to find the treasure.”

[15-lizards]

Hi! I love your redesigns for ASOIAF houses and the snippets of their house’s fashion history. I wrote a ton of fashion history papers in college so it warms my heart with your posts. 💚💛💚 (green hearts for Meera Reed)

What do you think House Velaryon would dress like? They have such an interesting history that it’s hard for me, personally, to imagine it. My first thought was Vikings because they’re sea faring like the Greyjoys but it wouldn’t match too much because they’re a political powerhouse with dragons and members in the Royal family… at least in the HOTD era. In GOT they’re much smaller and less powerful naval house under Stannis who obviously isn’t as flashy as the Targs or even his brothers. The fashion would’ve changed drastically throughout their history, especially considering the two very different houses their power has been tied to so I was wondering what your take would be on their different statuses being reflected in their clothes.

This got very long lol I love your energy with the fashion history side of the fandom so I don’t mind if it takes a while to answer! Great things take time after all💚

Hey this is such a great question!! I think I’ll do like a “timeline” of fashion for this one instead of one period on time.

Okay so they’re said to have arrived even earlier than the targs, so their earliest fashions would be older remnants of Valyria. Fairly simple clothing, since I don’t think they were very established in Valyria, but as they made their wealth, their fashion became more complex with added jewelry and finer materials, but they still hung on to their traditions for a while. Simple one piece dresses or tunics and sun protecting/religious headwear that got more complex over time

An unspecified amount of time later, when the Targs arrive, the Velaryons have grown nice and wealthy off of the constant wars on the mainland. At this point they’re still cleaning to tradition, but they’re also letting Westerosi influences come in. Leather jerkins and wool cloaks and velvet jackets etc etc. And at this point they’re starting to evolve into a sea faring family too so: cotton clothing that’s easy to move around in on ships, turbans/head wraps to keep hair out of their face on Driftmark and while at sea, rare jewels and metals found on expeditions.

By the time of the dance they’ve probably fully conformed to Westerosi fashions. And they’re rich enough to fully indulge in it too. Big frills and ruffles, wide skirts, embroidered clothing, jeweled headdresses, studded leather jerkins, carefully crafted doublets, the whole nine yards. I feel that since this is the peak of the Targaryen era it’s also the peak of the Velaryon era, since they’re so closely connected

By the time of Aerys II, I think that their peak has definitely passed, and the Velaryons are slowly falling from grace, though it isn’t as extreme or as fast as the targs. Their clothes are older and more worn, beginning to become mostly for practicality. Skirts are flatter, leather has become cracked, people are wearing the clothes of their mother and father. It’s not immediate, but there’s definitely a slow decline in quality as the house becomes less and less important to Westeros

By the late 290’s, I think the Velaryons are all but faded into obscurity. They have their noble name, but that’s really it. They were fading already by the end of the Targs, so the absolute shitshow Robert launches the country in cant really be good for them, or the fact that Mr. Stingy Stannis is their new liege lord. When Aurane comes to power, they’re essentially just dressing like landed knights. Their clothes are clean and fit well and don’t have holes…but that’s about it.

[cosmerelists]

Cosmere Characters as the Twelve Olympians

[Spoilers throughout! Please assume that each entry will contain spoilers for the character mentioned through the most recent book for that character--aka, spoilers for Rhythm of War in the Navani entry, spoilers for Warbreaker in the Blushweaver entry, etc.]

Hey look, I’m using my Classical Studies PhD for something! :D Anyway, here’s my take on which Cosmere characters would be best suited to take on the roles of various gods from the Greek Pantheon. And yes, there are 13 here since like everything in Greek mythology, the canon members of the Olympic Pantheon are disputed. 

1. Zeus: Gavilar (Stormlight Archives)

Zeus is the head of Olympian gods, the king of kings, and a Grade A jerk-ass who is often cruel to his wife, lovers, kids, etc. Gavilar has a lot in common! In the Theogony, Zeus ends a generations-long war among the gods through force and cleverness, much as Gavilar “unites” Alethkar. Zeus is held up as the emblematic king, and Gavilar is now a kingly symbol as well. Yet in his private life, Zeus is a total asshole to his wife Hera and is cruel to any of his kids that he sees as “flawed” (like tossing Hephaestus right over the side of Olympus). Gavilar is abusive towards Navani and not a great father either. So in terms of both accomplishments & flaws, Gavilar would make a great Zeus. That’s not a compliment.

2. Hera: Jasnah (Stormlight Archives)

[Note: the relationships among the gods are disregarded for this list! I’m not saying Jasnah is married to her father!]

Hera is the queen of the gods, and she does tend to get a bad rap in mythology; most of her stories are about her jealously tormenting various women whose only crime is being assaulted by Zeus. But in general, Hera is a protector of women and a standard of femininity: in her cult and in her statuary, she is regality and femininity personified. Jasnah is always meticulous in her presentation and looks like the ideal Alethi woman. In her scholarship she promotes and protects women, but she is also no stranger to resorting to violence when she deems it necessary--sometimes violence that others may feel is too far. Like when she kills a bunch of criminals to teach Shallan Philosophy or when she literally has an assassin on retainer, planning to kill Aesudan. Jasnah may not act out of jealousy as Hera usually does, but both of them are perfectly willing to kill in service of larger aims. Also, much as Hera has a bad reputation, so too is Jasnah denigrated as a heretic. And finally, Jasnah is now literally the queen.

3. Poseidon: Queen Fen or Kaladin (Stormlight Archives)

Man, I really had a hard time with Poseidon, god of the sea and patron of sailors. In terms of the sea-faring aspect, Queen Fen felt the closest: she rules a coastal city and is literally a patron of sailors. So she works in a literal sense.

If we’re thinking of Poseidon more as “the other powerful one” (since Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are the three brothers who divide control of the world) and as the “earth-shaker,” then I could see an argument for Kaladin. Kaladin is closely associated with the Stormfather, who does all of the earth-shaking and storm-brewing on Roshar, and Kaladin rides his storm. But mostly, I’m not gonna lie, I just think it would be funny for Kaladin to be the god of horses. 

4. Demeter: Raboniel or Rlain (Stormlight Archives)

Demeter is the goddess of agriculture, so Raboniel was probably not your first thought. But listen, the Hymn to Demeter concentrates on how Demeter reacts to her daughter Persephone being taken by Hades. Demeter first searches frantically, then simply halts all agriculture until Zeus is ready to negotiate. And when I think of someone who will do literally anything to help her daughter, no matter who might be harmed in the process...I honestly think Raboniel, who created a god-killing weapon that could be used against her own people in order to end the suffering of her daughter. Plus, Demeter is both someone who halts all agriculture, dooming humanity, but also tries to turn a baby into a god in thanks for a human family’s hospitality. And Raboniel too is both ruthless and oddly generous to those she respects, as her relationship with Navani demonstrates.

Or there is Rlain, who is currently helping the people of Urithiru figure out how to farm through singing, much as Demeter taught agriculture to Triptolemus. Plus, Rlain lived among the humans as a spy, which reminds me somewhat of Demeter living among the humans while pretending to be one. And Demeter does try to bridge the human-divine gap by turning baby Demophon into a god, and Rlain is trying to bring humans & singers together. 

5. Aphrodite: Blushweaver (Warbreaker)

Aphrodite is the goddess of love and sex, and Blushweaver really is the obvious counterpart here. Like Aphrodite, Blushweaver is a gorgeous, well, goddess who is open about her sexuality and who embraces pleasure. Especially in her Roman incarnation, Aphrodite is also a guide and supporter for her heroic son Aeneas, which is somewhat similar to Blushweaver’s role in getting Lightsong to, well, get off his ass and do something. Finally--and forgive me in advance--in the Iliad Aphrodite tries to get involved in the Trojan War and it goes badly for her, and Blushweaver also meets a bad end after trying to be involved in martial politics. Although, like, Aphrodite just gets stabbed in the hand and Blushweaver dies so the two aren’t that similar. 

6. Athena: Azure or Jasnah (Stormlight Archives)

Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom--so more like strategy and cunning in war, rather than sheer violence (for that, please see Ares below). Athena leaps fully formed from Zeus’ head, already fully armed, and is the patron of heroes like Odysseus. From the perspective of her men, Captain Azure just sort of appears and seizes charge of the city guard, and she uses both good strategic sense and fighting prowess to protect the city. She also dominates in the traditionally male field of warfare and helps out a bunch of men, which are things Athena also does.

But I also want to recognize that Jasnah would make a good Athena if I hadn’t already used Jasnah for Hera, which is my personal preference. Jasnah has the intelligence, the wisdom, and the sheer fighting prowess (she fights on the front lines in one book). Jasnah also nourishes a hero (Shallan) which again suits Athena.

7. Artemis: Shallan (Stormlight Archives)

Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and of wild nature. The “hunting” aspect first drew me to Shallan, considering that as a member of the Ghostbloods, Shallan is always hunting something or someone. Shallan also has a keen interest in nature, studying cremlings for fun, going on archaeological missions to the Shattered Plains, and being sad when that chasmfiend that was trying to eat them died. Artemis is also no stranger to bloody violence, like when she turned Acteon into a deer to be torn apart by his own dogs (ouch) because he spied on her bathing. And Shallan is no stranger to poetic justice, as when she strangles her own father with the necklace he gifted her. 

8. Apollo: Lightsong or Renarin (Warbreaker, Stormlight Archives)

Apollo is the god of light, music, prophecy, and healing. I have to use Lightsong here given that his name SCREAMS Apollo--light and song! Plus, Lightsong has the powers of prophecy and of healing, and he is a fan of beauty and luxury. Lightsong is also super hot, as Apollo (knows that he) is. 

Renarin is another character who possesses both future sight and healing powers, which is an Apollo-esque combo. I will say that I don’t see as much of a match personality-wise between Apollo and Renarin, since I like Renarin whereas Apollo does things like curse Cassandra for not having sex with him and hunts Daphne until she has to turn into a tree to escape. Like, Renarin literally would never. 

9. Ares: Dalinar or Vin (Stormlight Archives, Mistborn)

Athena is the god of strategy in war, whereas Ares is the god of combat itself, in the sense of sheer, unrelenting, somewhat mindless violence. Honestly, the Thrill in the Stormlight books would be a good approximation of Ares’ power: it gives a person incredible fighting prowess, but with no real sense of any larger concerns of strategy or logic. So Dalinar as a fighter who understands and has embraced the Thrill would make a good Ares--a more tempered one than the Ares of mythology, if we’re being honest. And in a similar vein, Vin is also very, very good at wreaking incredible havoc. She slices through entire armies, cuts people in half with swords, kills a god...she would also make an excellent Ares. And since Vin basically has godlike status as of Mistborn Era 2, she’s nearly in this role already!

10. Hephaestus: Navani (Stormlight Archives)

Hephaestus is a craftsman god, especially blacksmithing and metalworking. He also has an unhappy marriage, as he is married to Aphrodite who barely gives him the time of day in most stories (she’s busy getting it on with Ares). Navani is an inventor of fabrials and a patron of others. She’s the one who manages to invent god-killing weapons in Rhythm of War, which is very Hephaestus-coded. She’s also no stranger to an unhappy marriage with a spouse who mistreats her. Finally, one little story about Hephaestus in the Iliad is how he keeps the peace among the bickering Olympians, which is reminiscent of how Navani has to keep the peace among the Alethi nobility back when Gavilar used to leave all of that to her.

11. Hermes: Hoid (all books)

In the Hymn to Hermes, Hermes is a trickster figure with one goal in mind: getting admitted to Olympus by any means necessary. And he does this by tormenting Apollo with various tricks, all the while taking advantage of the fact that he just born yesterday--how could Hermes the innocent little baby do anything bad?? Anyway. Hoid is also a trickster figure who loves disguises and false names and doing whatever is necessary to get what he wants. Hermes is also an inventor and storyteller, and Hoid has those qualities as well. Finally, Hermes in other iterations is a guide, someone who can lead a hero through dark places. And Hoid takes on that role too, guiding people like Shallan or Kaladin through some of the darkest periods of their lives. 

12. Hestia: Rock (Stormlight Archives)

Hestia is the goddess of hearth and home, and she’s associated with the fire in the hearth. To me, this is reminiscent of Rock whose stew is the central place of belonging for Bridge 4. Rock also does not fight--and neither does Hestia, who is one of the few gods who lacks any mythology about vengeance or violence. Instead, Hestia is the deity who makes sure you have a home.

13. Dionysus: Adolin (Stormlight Archives)

Dionysus is the god of wine, indulgence, and gender fuckery. And I know the obvious candidates for a Dionysus are the Returned from Warbreaker, but I’ve already used them. And I think I can make a case for Adolin! Adolin likes his wine and his women, and thanks to his relationship with his mom, he acts in ways that seem unmasculine to the Alethi--like being more physically affectionate and emotive. And Dionysus too had an un-Greek heritage that made the Greeks read him as foreign in the Bacchae. Plus, Dionysus does ultimately end up in a stable relationship with Ariadne, much like Adolin with Shallan. Finally, Dionysus is something of a shit-stirrer; when he shows up in Bacchae he turns that town upside down. And let’s not forget how Adolin murdered a high prince and is one of the few main characters to have not bonded a spren. He goes his own way. Sometimes violently. But mostly he knows what he likes and he’s not afraid to show it.

[queen-scribbles]

Trinne/Lann epilogue

Sweet Shelyn, this is almost 2k😅 ---

∙ They get a couple years of peace and quiet just the two of them to figure out being married without the Worldwound hanging ominously in the background, start settling into a routine and adjusting to quirks, that sort of thing. (Look, I know Trinne has foibles, Lann's gotta have some too, even if it's minor stuff, there will be things to work out.)

∙ The adventuring/visiting Lann's mom/etc mostly happens in that first couple years. Trinne was already a wandering soul before her arrival at Kenabres, she's more than happy to go on sea-faring adventures and an indefinite stay in Nerosyan with her husband. :3 (esp. bc in Nerosyan she and Ria can chat. And they have the same favorite subject. >:3)

∙ Trinne figures out pretty damn quick the first time she gets pregnant bc her cycle is normally so regular you could use it to start a calendar. 😅 Missing one is easy to catch. Waits another month just to be safe before she tells Lann. He is, of course, over the moon and just a teeny tiny bit anxious. He wants kids, they've talked abut this, but there's an inherent added danger with him being a mongrel they can't ignore.

∙ He swears not to coddle her too much bc he knows how capable she is yada yada. She has no intention of holding him to that promise bc she knows he won't be able to keep it the whole nine months. (a wise decision on her part, he doesn't, he can't help it xD)

∙ It's right around this point they go back to visit the mongrels and find out Sull died. Someone's been serving as interim leader, but they're ready for Lann to step in as chief. That combined with Trinne being pregnant is enough they decide to stay put for a while. (Which Trinne appreciates; morning sickness and seasickness are individually awful, she doesn't need to deal with both at the same time xD) They've gotten to see plenty of the world, time to focus on the kids part of their goal for a few years.

∙ Trinne gets really big really early, to the point a couple people comment about it being unusual for her first pregnancy. This ratchets Lann's anxiety a teeny bit higher, thinking about his brothers and worrying if the baby's a mongrel and will be a hard birth. (It doesn't help he overhears Trinne joke to Seelah this kid either moves a lot or has an unfair number of elbows. He's half convinced it's some multi-armed mongrel kid (who they'll love, obviously--assuming he or she survives and what about Trinne?)

∙ She's always ready to calm him down if she sees him getting nervous; nothing feels wrong, just big. It's not until the last month or so she gets a lil bit of Pregnancy Jitters herself. (She goes on bedrest the last couple weeks and it drives her CRAZY with boredom. Especially bc she can't find a comfy position to sit in for sketching. V grumpy bard.) Lann really struggles with not coddling her the last month or two.

∙ His mom is visiting when Trinne goes into labor, which proves to be a good thing, only partly bc she's a "voice of experience". Lann's so torn between 'I can't watch' and 'I wanna be with my wife' that Trinne's eventually like "I love you, but OUT" and Seelah and/or Ria have to pull him from the room and distract him so he doesn't explode from stress.

∙ It's not a mongrel baby, it's twins. :D

∙ And they look "normal" when all is said and done and Lann's allowed back in the room (lol). Trinne: "See there was an unfair number of elbows--because it's an unfair number of children."

∙ Looks like 100% normal, 100% identical twin boys with a ridiculous amount of hair ("I thought babies were bald").

∙ Until they open their eyes while Trinne and Lann are mid-stress-relief-laugh and it turn out that's not entirely the case--one of them has one reptilian eye. It's the same color as Lann's lizard-side eye(and also on the left), so pretty obvious where it came from even if Trinne jokes she DID introduce dragon blood so they can't know. That's it. Otherwise he and his brother are 100% human-looking.

∙ The way Lann practically melts upon Trinne being okay(his first concern tbh) and gives her along, long kiss before even asking to hold one of their(!!!!) kids(!!!!).

∙ Name the boys Rian and Jory. (Rian has the lizard eye) They stay 99.5% identical growing up, love to play at being pirates so they can wear eyepatches and make people guess which of them is which. >:D (It tickles them pink that Trinne and Lann a) play along and act unsure but b) always guess right) It's not until late teens/early twenties when they do different hairstyles/clothes that it gets easier for non-family(and non-Aunt Seelah or Uncle Woljif) people to tell them apart.

∙ There's another kid three years after the boys--a girl they name Genevieve. Lann comments that's an awful lot of name for someone so small, Trinne points out they don't have to use the whole thing("we can shorten it 'til you think she'll fit," she teases). They call her Eve, which sticks basically her whole life aside from formal or You're In Big Trouble, Young Lady situations.

∙ Rian and Jory have so-dark-it's-almost-black brown hair and hazel eyes that can look light brown or green depending on the light. You can see bits of both parents in them, even aside from the lizard eye--Trinne's jaw and ears, Lann's human-side cheekbones and eyebrows.

∙ Eve, on the other hand, is the spitting (female) image of her daddy if he weren't half-lizard; green eyes and the lighter brown hair etc. (So claims Trinne, invoking 'artist's eye for faces' if Lann protests. Which he does. "She's too pretty to look like me." // "I think you're pretty." // "You're biased."// "Damn straight I am. 😘" /cue the boys screeching in exaggerated disgust as Mom and Dad kiss for TWENTY WHOLE SECONDS in the middle of prepping dinner or whatever.

(∙might do another daughter, Aviva, but I'm still deciding about her. IF she does exist, she's probably an adorable lil tiefling owing to the whole Savamelekh sting thing bc I'm sorry Owlcat but you can't have something that dramatic happen to a party member[MY ROMANCE] and expect me not to do something with it esp. if you won't. I just really like the idea of her being tickled she has horns like her daddy but she's specialer bc she has T W O horns and Lann really leaning into it and playing it up 🥰)

∙ Lann makes Trinne the rat pastries every year for her birthday and their anniversary (3 Neth) and any other time she asks. He does a lot of experimenting with cooking and turns out to be very good at it with access to proper ingredients. Much better than her, for sure.

∙ He is, to no one's surprise except maybe his own, an extremely good chief for the mongrels. Once everything's established and running smoothly he will still occasionally leave someone else in charge and go off on adventures(sometimes solo, sometimes with Trinne + kids. Those are fun :D).

∙ Trinne occasionally runs into people who recognize her or piece together from descriptions they've heard that she's the former Knight-Commander(for good or ill), and has to deal with brief bout of celebrity. She's not exactly a wallflower type personality, so even when traveling it can crop up when she catches people's attention.

∙ Trinne is v happy she ditched being Commander before having kids, she wants time with her husband and babies more than she wants to be in charge. xD (her "beautiful boys" she says pre-Eve, which makes Lann roll his eyes)

∙ She DOES genuinely find him attractive, but he's so easy to fluster via teasing about being handsome/pretty/etc that she can't help doing it a lot. >:3 She means every word, no matter how jokingly delivered.

∙ [also] As a result of Savamelekh's sting, I'm toying with saying Lann gets a comparatively long life for a mongrel. Still dies young by human/half-elf standards, but for all his joking about ten years, I'm thinking about giving him twice that and calling it demon venom CON boost. xD (There is a scar from the sting, right below his solar plexus. Not big or obvious, just a little half inch long red mark that never goes away no matter the healing magic. It's ticklish, but only Trinne knows that. :3)

∙ When he dies, there's not really even external signs of aging, just things giving out. Trinne thinks it's monstrously unfair she doesn't even get to tease him about going grey and still has to watch him die. (She started getting grey streaks a little before then and he 100% teased her, no fair she doesn't get to return the favor. don't take him, she's not ready yet)

∙ Knowing mongrels tend to die young and they got way longer than expected doesn't make it hurt any less. She's also mad he won't even get to see their kids grow all the way up. (the twins would be 17ish by this point :) ) Lann is trying very hard to focus on the "got an extra decade married to the most beautiful woman on Golarian, biased who me?" angle.

∙ Lann makes one (1) joke about going off to die alone so she doesn't have to watch the process(bc he remembers how hard it was with his dad). Trinne immediately is all incensed; "DON'T. YOU. DARE. Get it through your idiot potato head[affectionate] I want you around as long as possible--" She tries to undercut the vehemence of her instinctive reaction with something jokey about not depriving her of his handsome face and wonderful sense of humor sooner than necessary but it's too late, he saw how much the idea rattles her and he's like "Okay, okay, I won't."//"You promise?"// "Promise." and he doesn't.

∙ So, in sum, extremely happy life together, though not nearly as long as either of them would want, all 99% of their adventures are of their own choosing, three--possibly four--wonderful children. Not a bad life, overall. <3

[therentyoupay]

Hi, just wanted to say I really love you and Callimara's work on the the fic "More than you know" so far (I have watched Callimara's video multiple times, I AM OBSESSED) and now I am actively reading your other work. I am loving it so far, I am currently reading "Frosted Sea Glass". I wanted to ask a question. Since I saw a few others ask you about Jelsa headcanons, I was wondering if you have any relating to how either of them interact with children, or someone younger than them?? I am currently writing a fic where Jack has managed to gain himself a little helper spirit with his work, so I've been trying to think of some ideas to help them interact with the little spirit. Though we all know Jack would have the upper hand than Elsa, with his job as a Guardian of Childhood after all..

HI, and THANK YOU SO MUCH. 🥹💕🙏 it seriously means so much!! (i remember calli saying a few weeks ago that she wasn't sure how many people would end up seeing the video, and the two of us wondering if there was still anybody out there 🤣🥹 THANK YOU FOR CONNECTING HERE ON TUMBLR, and sharing your love an support 😭😭😭😭🙏 it feels like it's been so long since there has been this much activity in the jelsa tags, and it feels so good to see so many people this active again ✨💕) thank you for your lovely ask!! (and thank you for reading my beloved eternal-summertime-sadness!mermaid!au fic 😂🙏😭💕)

regarding your question, i have a few more for you!! 💕💕💕💕

in your story, re: Helpers:

to what degree does jack in your story consider his Helpers as: his children? his friends? His Fancy Professional Colleagues? his Annoying Co-workers? extensions of himself, his soul, his very being? (are they are part of him? when they hurt, does he hurt?)

how mischievous are these Helpers, and does he encourage/enable their naughty behaviors?

how does he manage their training or, perhaps if needed, discipline?

how does he express gratitude for their help, or pride in their accomplishments?

readers of at the center may remember that i gave jack three different Helpers (jackie, the frost bunny; jacqueline, the frost fox; jax, the frosty owl) in my story, and each Helper had their own personality, so his relationship (emotional, working/professional, etc.) was different with each! in that sense, it was really fun to explore jack's role as guardian not only as a Newbie to the A-team and as a low-key Guardian-in-Training for elsa, but also to see how he would fare "managing" a team of his own. like you, i LOVED playing around with how he'd connect with different Helper personalities! so, the questions listed above are just a few points that came to mind while writing this post, as i was sat here thinking about what questions i asked myself while i was exploring jack's behaviors in working with his Helpers in atc! 💕 i hope they're helpful!

general headcanons, re: interacting with kids:

here are some BIG questions that come to mind!

what do children represent to elsa, in your story? does seeing small children bring her nostalgia, bittersweet feelings, regret, happiness, hope for the future (of her kingdom, for herself?), memories of when she and anna were younger (and the childhoods that were ripped away from them when elsa was forced to isolate herself)?

does seeing small children bring up Old Fears about losing control and potentially hurting someone? (most people who have never held a baby before are going to be Anxious when someone thrusts a baby into their arms, but for elsa, who has all these additional supernatural worries on top of natural discomforts, how does that manifest in her reactions and behaviors?)

does seeing small children bring elsa a sense of hope and joy, remind her of some buried-down desire to be/curiosity of being a mother (to be like her mother, to be so much better than her mother, to do all the she can to be a parent who honors her mother), which for so many years felt like an impossible, impossible hope (which she pushed so far down inside herself she forgot the wish existed)?

do children bring up, regardless of her hopes/plans to physically bear and raise children, her maternal instincts? (how might you show that her maternal/older sister instincts/caregiving tendencies are at least partially rooted in—and in many ways connected to—her duties, honor, and obligations as the Mother of Arendelle, the Queen, the ruler over an entire family and kingdom of people) that feel natural and familiar? something new?

what do children represent to jack, in your story? at this stage of development, does jack still carry any resentment? fear of rejection or abandonment? excitement and security over feeling connected, feeling a sense of belonging? to what degree do the Helpers/kids fulfill his Need to be Needed; make him feel like he is helping someone, that someone relies on him and needs him?

to what degree is jack able, willing, and ready to manage the responsibilities or behaviors of someone else? for someone who has made a point of shirking responsibility and duty, and who (at the time of the movie) only recently started to change his preconceived notions of what it means to be a part of a team and to take ownership and accountability or to willingly submit oneself to a higher order of moral codes and rules and high-stakes responsibilities... how does he handle the emotions, decision-making moments, and physical strain of witnessing someone else take on such a role, especially with being higher up in the hierarchy of leadership? does jack consider himself a leader? (do the others consider him a leader at this point?) what do the other guardians think of jack's growth and progress (or lack thereof), at this point in the story? (do their perceptions change, throughout?)

to what degree do jack and elsa see these Helpers, or younger individuals, kids, etc. in ways that remind them both of their respective younger sisters? in which ways do jack and elsa see their sisters in these young individuals/Helpers? how are their behaviors toward, dialogues with and about, and perceptions of the Helpers/kids shaped by the relationships they have with their own sisters?

although jack may technically have more 'experience' (using this term loosely here lol) in watching kids behave (while he was invisible, or after) and knowing what circumstances allow kids/teens to engage in fun (a la the rotg movie, in which the other guardians were initially completely out of touch loololol, as you suggested), this experience as a guardian of the children may or may not entirely transfer to leading, managing, coaching, training, disciplining, or interacting with a Helper spirit under his care (or his jurisdiction). in your story, to what degree is jack naturally adept at being responsible for 'staff' under his leadership?? this could be a REALLY fun place to explore (which is what i really wanted to dive into in at the center!!)

also, consider: although jack may have had more years of working with younger kids, who has more experience leading? how might elsa (in her role as queen, or as a member of the Older Sister Syndrome community, or with her exceptional perceptiveness and observation and anxiety-driven need to constantly Read the Room and be prepared for Any Outcome) be able to teach jack? in particular, how might elsa be able to teach jack means of navigating difficult decisions, difficult conversation? how might elsa be able to share what she has learned from being a queen and a ruler with jack, so that he is able to fulfill his role as a mentor while still being true to himself?

before elsa was cut off from the rest of the world, she was undeniably a natural at being a fun, loving, caring, and protective Older Sister to anna; depending on where you are in elsa's development after she was cut off from the world and/or (potentially) found her way back, which elements of that core, buried, uncovered(?), Natural piece of her personality remain? how would they come out in interactions with kids now, at this point in your story (whether they emerge naturally, or are coaxed out by jack or the Helpers themselves)?

also, peacock that jack is, i wouldn't doubt it for a second that jack might, at first, be led to believe that he is more adept at handling Helpers/kids than he really is. 😂 ("piece of cake!!") he might feel emboldened by his 'years of experience' as a(n invisible) guardian, and he might further take confidence from his restored Memories of his human life with his sister and the village kids; but to what degree do these Memories actually translate into and help prepare him for the new responsibilities, dangers, and emotional connections with his Helpers/these kids ahead? how does jack handle the confusion, frustration, surprise, and shifting worldviews that occur when he realizes the depths of the differences between his old experiences and the new situations he faces? (how does jack handle struggling with learning something new? especially when he'd thought that it was going to be so much easier than it is...) how does jack handle taking advice from others (guardians, elsa, anna, Kristoff, etc.?) how does jack handle it when things don't go according to plan, especially when he expected a smoother ride? (😂)

how does elsa support and teach along the way (to jack and to the Helpers themselves)? what does elsa learn from the Helpers, from jack, through jack's navigation of these new challenges and how he overcomes them? how does jack learn from elsa as he watches her face these challenges beside him?? what do they (and do they not) learn from each other???

I HOPE THESE ARE HELPFUL. i suppose you can kind of see some hints of little headcanons i have popping out through these questions, haha!! wherever you are in your story, i hope that you have a lot of fun thinking through and exploring these different layers!! 💕💕💕💕 good luck with your writing, and please feel free to drop a link to your fic in the replies for anyone who might like to read it! 🫶💕✨ thank you, lovely!!

[shark-myths]

👀🏅💻 for the fanfic ask game!!

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

a sequel to the gay pirate au I wrote a billion years ago. the sequel is so good, guys. some of my best ideas ever and I haven’t written adventure as a genre in a long time! I’m never going to finish it and I no longer write for the fandom it’s in, so it shall never breathe free air. it’s an historically accurate yet magical sea-faring adventure set in the golden age of piracy that pulls our MCs out of retirement for one. last. haul. predictable hijinks ensue!

🥇What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

I will take any and all opportunities to be proud! I’m proud because on vacation this year I wrote every morning despite my extended family being around, and afterwards the characters started popping into my head each morning whether I reached for my notebook or not. usually I aspire to write on vacation and never get to it because I’m too guarded or distracted. not waiting for perfect conditions and getting my pen to the page is a huge win!

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

OH GOD. I just got my favorite comment possibly of all time, which was someone saying I always seem like the expert of every AU I write. this is because I do a frankly insane amount of research. my most common research is into travel routes around my location, but my deepest dives are either 1) reading as many NASA transmissions and space botany papers as I could access with my academic credentials at the time or 2) spending an hour doing math on a napkin to calculate PSI of a swan’s wing for an absolute throwaway line in a story where A MAN TURNS INTO A SWAN and accuracy was maybe not the biggest concern.

[lowqualitygarbage]

So what is the wasteland like in your AU? Is life slowly crawling back in? Or is it being stamped out by petty conflicts and the Jesus freaks? How the hell do Gamma storms even still exist? What lives out thier besides people?

!!! Hi!

So, this AU is a pretty direct Fallout adaptation, and I'm not sure how familiar you are with the games so sorry if I over or under explain.

It does kind of bother me that in the games like 200 years have passed since the War, and people are still basically in the stone age and eating centuries-old mac'n'cheese despite so much of the Old World being in a semi-recoverable state.

The sort answer is, the Wasteland could actually be built into a functioning society pretty easily, if people weren't The Absolute Worst.

Settlements are kept small and lower-tech, because you're right, the Army of Righteous does prioritize places that look like they could become a threat. Water treatment plants, armories, power stations, commercial farmlands, etc. The only large settlements that can survive are the ones that are basically fortresses and not worth the effort to wipe out.

This is part of what allowed the system of Overlords to form - they were basically Raiders who were able to survive long enough to amass enough fortifications and followers to the point they aren't easy targets any more, which in turn brings even more settlers to agree to serve under them for protection.

Wildlife is standard Fallout fare - mole rats, mutant dogs, radstags, yao guai, deathclaws, brahmin, giant insects of all kinds, mirelurks, robots, ghouls, and super mutants (along with whatever else I've forgotten). There are a few other animals I'll throw in mutated variations of as needed. Only major homebrew species is Razorbacks - mutated descendants of pigs and boars, I'll do a little writeup on them when I post Fat Nuggets.

As for the radiation storms, they're a gameplay element from Fallout 4, which I think they explained as there being the hyper-irradiated Glowing Sea nearby, which was ground zero for a massive nuke. Storm fronts coming into the Commonwealth over it would pick up the radiation and cause an extra hazard during storms. Most people and animals would either take shelter from the storms, or are already too irradiated/mutated to really be bothered. It's a convenient device to force people into places and in close quarters for a period of time, so I kept it. Let's just assume Pentagram City was a major target for nukes like other major cities, so there's a similar issue.

Additional worldbuilding thoughts below the cut:

The people who do make advancements/big recoveries in technology are people like Vox, and are just basically cut-throat capitalists who will murder their competitors and burn down/steal their stuff, to keep a monopoly on what they offer.

So VoxTech in the Vault 666 universe does offer a bunch of modern conveniences, but he also owns the local power stations and such to make them work, and runs the Vees' territory like a glorified Company Town where everything just goes back into his pockets. Anyone who tries to innovate is either bought out by him, or killed off so they're not a threat. Same with other Overlords who run an industry. No altruists can survive in this environment, which makes Charlie's dreams that much crazier.

technically anyone could probably run a radio broadcast. Alastor is so full of himself he doesn't see others as being even close his level, but people are too freaked out by him to really try; doesn't help that he overrides Vox's broadcast (which is commercials with some music now and again) for funsies whenever he feels like it.