#urban race

[rarelyupforair]

[whereserpentswalk]

There's an orc attending your college. Your city is pretty diverse, there's a lot of human cultures represented there, and even harpies and dwarves are common. But an orc is still a really rare sight. And she's not assimilated at all, she wears the symbol of the dark lord around her neak, and the strange black cloths from the wastelands she came from, and she always seems to have a gun somewhere on her. It's strange just to see an orc in person, she's not like the green skinned monsters you see in movies, her eyes are pitch black, and her skin is so pale you can see veins, she's muscular and tell but also strangely skinny, and her teeth are sharp and spiked like a sharks, this one doesn't have tusks, just these rows of serrated teeth.

Everyone avoids her at first. There's something creepy about her. She doesn't move like a human. She emotes weirdly, being stoic during conversations, but sometimes smiling or laughing at odd times. In class it becomes clear that she lacks knowledge anyone growing up in your society has, but has extensive knowledge on things most humans will never know. She also very clearly supports the dark lord and the demons who serve him, and gets mad when his narrative of conquest and strict genetic hierarchy is challenged in class.

You end up paired with her for a class project. It's weirdly awkward. But you end up spending more time with her then most. It still takes awhile to get used to her mannerisms, and you have to convince her of evolution in a long debate (but eventually you do convince her). She seems strangely naive to a lot of things. Every time she does something that she considers a failure she goes into self loathing, and she gets really afraid she's going to be punished. You have to explain to her things are going to be ok sometimes.

You try to spend time with her. She supports the dark lord but out of a strange sense of fear more than the type of ideological support humans in nations not under his control have. When she does something that she thinks is heresy agaisnt him she becomes afraid. And while she's angry at people who follow gods other than him (which is basically everyone here) she's more afraid of them than everything. When a holy symbol you own touches her she's surprised it doesn't burn her, you have to tell her it's ok.

She has a lot more freedom here than she did back in the wastelands. You slowly help her realize she doesn't have to worry about being punished for sinning agasint the dark lord. She's able to go on the internet for the first time, you help her get everything set up. You also introduce her to your freinds, only some of whom feel safe around her, but those who do seem to like her.

It's weird just hanging out in her dorm. She can be weirdly laid back and introspective at times, at least when she's not nervous or paranoid. But when she's just relaxing she'll tell you about things, about the beauty of the desert sands, about what it was like to observe the rattlesnakes and condors and wyverns of her homeland. How she likes to observe the city, the way the diffrent people flow through it, she was scared of it at first but now she likes to explore it, and the way it lacks stars at night but the lights from the buildings replace it. She says she wishes she could stay here forever, that she wishes she could be an artist but that she was sent here to learn skills useful to the dark lord's empire.

There's something nice about showing her new things. You get to take her to a musical for the first time. Get to show her neighborhoods you like. Get to explain to her what public transport is (though she got scared feeling trapped in a subway car). You get to show her stuff she never got to experience because orcs are never really children, she loves getting to hold a plush for the first time, or watching cartoons for the first time, it's like she's finally getting to live an experience she never had. Even though she's a well armed adult she really likes plushies once she finds out about them, they weren't something she was allowed to have back home.

Over time she starts meeting people and learning things that go against her worldview. As she makes more friends, understands new things, slowly learns that she shouldn't be punished for mistakes, she slowly comes around to seeing how fucked up the world the was raised in is. She tells you she doesn't want to worship the dark lord anymore, she cries just from saying it. You hug her, and realize she's never been hugged before, she seems to really like that feeling. She bathes in the waters of a healing goddess, and she worships something out of love instead of fear for the first time.

Eventually the spawning warlock who spawned her and her siblings comes to visit her. You told her to be careful but she ended up spilling that she doesn't worship the dark lord, she ends up spilling all the things a warlock like that considers a sin. When he leaves she tells you she can't go home. Not ever. Never again will she see the shifting sands, or flying condor, or flowing serpents of her homelands. She's trapped where she is now.

You know it hurts her a lot. She says she feels like she's in a small pocket of safety. Back home she'd be hurt for being an apostate. In human lands outside of the city she'd be hurt for being an orc. But she's safe here. She stays in her apartment for awhile, while you try to make things work. She's finally changing her major to art, and despite everything she's finally free, free to watch the starless sky, free to not be punished when she makes a mistake...

[53v3nfrn5]

ホンダ NSX

[letmeinimafairy]

Parc ferme. First attempt to make an idea I had for a while. Abandoned paddock, flooded cars overgrown with algae. Inspired by car graveyards, the pandemic season and Sebastian Vettel's tshirt from the Miami GP

[avnging-221b]

Ugh he’s so Lana Del Rey coded it’s not even funny😩

[nestedneons]

By o_to_to

[the-wizard-writes]

The Art of Broom Racing: The Culture

Broom Racing for witches is sort of an underground sport like street racing for young witches. The fast pace atmosphere and energy is what really makes the race itself feel alive with magic. But, racing is not all there is, these broom racing events are not just racing. It’s coming together as well. Young folks come together to not just race but to hang out as well. It’s a way for the younger generation of magic users to find a community that they feel like they belong in by being around people with similar age brackets. At these hangouts you’ll usually find what would be considered similar to block parties or collage pop-up parties with up and coming bands playing, games, food, and dancing. It’s a way to get rid of the status quo in communities and to have fun. The fun mixture of different cultural backgrounds has cultivated a healthy compentive yet friendly enviorment to not only witches but, other species as well. Species that don't compete in these races can also have fun with the festivities even if they aren't racing. But, the race is where it’s really important that's where the action happens!

[diasporangael]

[sage-nebula]

I loved the new IDW Sonic issue! Too bad I know without looking that people are going to be stupid and awful about Lanolin 🫠

[o-link]

[technicallyclassyperfection]

Via print:

[rarelyupforair]

[whereserpentswalk]

The last elf made it to the information age. She's doing her best, in a city mostly populated by humans, with a few hobgoblin and vampire enclaves. She's utterly alone in a way nobody from her race ever was before.

She's happy not to be a meusum exhibit like her brother was. But she wishes there was still something to fight for. Her ancestors fought battles, and made sacrifices to keep their people alive. But there is nothing she can do now, her species will be extinct the momment she dies.

She lives her life. Goes to a big college in the city. Every few months some important mage or journalist will contact her about her position. But useally she just lives the life of a normal person. She still sings the old songs, prays to the elven gods in her own way, knowing that if it ends for her it ends for the world.

Even though she has freinds there will always be a way that she's alone. Ways that nobody else can understand. Her experience alone is unique, her culture being held onto by such a small thread, the weight of a million years of history all resting on her shoulders until its time for her to finally fall.

Every spring flowers bloom in her hair. And she sings a song from pure instincts, what used to be a mating song. Her bodies waits for someone to sing it back, but her mind knows that there's nobody there.

[helenethiennot]

Sans titre - France - 2023

photographie argentique - Kodak gold 400

Hélène Thiennot

[sonicenvy]

one of my favorite library kid encounters this weekend was a with a little Greek three-year-old named Andromeda. She and her mom came up to get her beads for SRP, and, as is pretty common, they start telling me about what they've been reading. Friends, this child and her mother have been reading the Odyssey in Greek together. The mom and the kid chat back and forth in Greek together about the Odyssey while picking beads (and counting them in Greek), translating bits and pieces for me as they go along.

Apparently, Andromeda's favorite character in the Odyssey is Penelope, which, uh, girl I see u!!!!! Obsessed with the vibes of this toddler who read the Odyssey in Greek with her mom FIVE times this summer because that's her favorite book! GOOD! FOR! HER!

Additionally the mom was like, "yeah we also read the Iliad this summer."

no notes. impeccable. there are days when i love our kids so much y'all.

[smaeemo]

Mixed kid life is just realizing you lowkey hate white people