#vapran

[pockettron3000]

a little doodle of Eril that i put too much effort into!! 😅

[zelphyrsarts]

Yippee, art trade done for @headphones-lifeform ^0^ it was so much fun to draw Zohar! I decided to portray a wintry scene since it's December and the Vaprans live in a snowy climate. Thank you again for letting me draw your gelfling, 'twas lots of fun!

[timeagainreviews]

I got an iPad so to practice using Procreate I drew my Gelfling OC. Her name is Apricity and she is a Vapran. Her pet, Wink, is a razor floss from the caves of Grot. A razor floss’ fur is soft to the touch when they are calm but can become as hard as steel when frightened. Using their crystalline beaks and legs, they burrow into rock faces to nest and wait for prey. When their fur is rigid they are impossible to remove from their burrows, but a patient Gelfling might coax one out with music and a bit of food.

[fenth-eiria]

Virin sat at their desk as they listened patiently to their trainees complain.

“But Elder! We tried to catch the Nebrie! But then this f~~~” The young trainees were cut off by the Drenchen Elder smashing a nearby stool, but they also had a young Vapran girl in a sling wrapped around their chest. They were very angry as to the excuses they were given by the three trainees.

“I’ve heard quite enough!” They yelled, while the baby in the sling was unbothered by the commotion. They added to their statement. “Unless you lot want to work in the pens, then keep it up with the complaints!” Gern got fiery mad and retorted.

“BUT WHY DOES THAT STONEWOOD FARMER THINK HE CAN CORRECT ME?!” He screamed with venom, pointed to the old stonewood who was sitting at a small table next to Virin’s desk. The old Drench elder just sighed as they pinched the bridge of their nose and muttered to themselves.

“Why me?” They mumbled before turning to their trainees and revealed. “Because that Stonewood…is…my husband.” They paused, waiting for the yelling and insults, but there was complete silence until Isthma decided to say something.

“Shocking? Maybe you youngsters should learn kindness along with respect,because by then you all won’t have to go to the pens.” He stated wisely, which caused the young group some shock. Fuschia on the other hand started whining out of hunger so Virin sat down and pulled out their daughter’s porridge from their desk drawer. As they started to spoon feed her, they looked at their trainees with a serious, straight face.

“Well? Don’t just stand there! Go get working in the pens!” They commanded as the three young Drenchen raced to go do as told. After the group had left, Virin sighed as Isthma stared at them lovingly. “Isthma.. I appreciate you trying to help, but let me correct them. Alright?” They said to their husband, who just nodded in agreement. They then thought to themselves as they gave their daughter a spoon of porridge. ‘This is going to be an eventful hunting season.’

Notes:

So I thought to myself what would have happen if Virin married Isthma before retiring. Hence this. Consider this an au and not canon to Bloom in the Canopies.

Virin, Gern, Orren, and Galia belongs to @sifanjewel

Isthma belongs to me

and Fuchsia is the little Vapran girl they both adopted.

Edit: tagging @childlikegoblinqueen

[falseflea]

I had a vision a few days ago and made up this little AU, where only one thing changes pretty much! and its that Deet is no longer a Gelfling

Deet(hra)! formerly known as SkekDeet, resides in the caves of Grot after the split! She didn't like being around the other Skeksis so she quickly left and eventually ended up in Grot

Im not exactly sure who her Mystic counterpart would be but is it really that importantttt,,, if anyone has cool suggestions I'll listen

As to how this idea came to exist: just thought it would be really cool to have a Skeksis main character! but I didn't want to add an extra... so! out of the 3 in AoR, Deet seemed like the best option, she lead the most normal, easy to alter life!

[narutos-sloppy-pussy]

Why did I just have the absolute brain blast at 12:30 am—we all have been assuming that Jen’s father would be Rian since admittedly they do look a shit ton alike and both are Stonewood Gelfling, but what if it’s not, what if he’s actually Kylan’s son????

[ninamiart]

I wanted to create a gelfling OC, so here's my vapran girl Khena.

[fenth-eiria]

@nurloxx

Expect some fanart of this sometime between tomorrow and next week.

where the horizon ends

summary: after a long day of apprenticing, cadia looks forward to spending a quiet night with his beloved.

a/n: to make my life easier the librarian's placeholder name will be valian (also uhm au where nothing happened between them and they lived happily ever after 🤧)

By the time Cadia stumbled tiredly out of the tent and in the direction of the docks, it was well after dark. The stars twinkled brightly above him, punching brilliant holes of light into the velvety night sky. But his focus wasn't on the stars in that moment. The only thoughts filling his head were of a warm cabin and his lover wrapped in his embrace.

It felt like ages had passed before he'd finally been dismissed by his elder for the day. His fingers ached from sorting and organizing and restocking and just about every other tedious task meant to keep him busy and out of the way he could think of. A slow churning dread formed in the pit of his stomach at what the next morning would bring.

The faint glow of a lantern illuminating the darkness in front of him made it die out as quickly as it had come.

"Cadia...?"

It was as if the metaphorical clouds over his head parted. Cadia stood up straighter, his hands fidgeting with barely contained delight. He hadn't even realized how much distance he had traveled until a cursory look at his surroundings revealed that he was already at the docks. As his gaze fell to his feet, he also realized that he was only a mistep away from falling right over the edge and into the frigid waters below.

"Goodness, I was wondering who that was stumbling around like a drunkard outside our ship." Valian cautiously brought his lover away from his precarious position and set the lantern down at his feet before pulling him in for a tight hug. "Poor thing...."

"I'm just... happy to be home..." Cadia sighed, returning the hug as best he could, burying his nose into Valian's robes and inhaling its flowery aroma. "I assume the rest of the crew is asleep?"

The Vapra nodded softly. "Yes, they all turned in hours ago. But I couldn't find it in myself to do the same. Not when you weren't at my side."

As they spoke Valian led the tired Sifa to their private quarters, anxious to get him out of the frigid night air lest he catch death of cold. They made sure to tread lightly so as to not disturb the other inhabitants. Or at least Valian did. Cadia trudged across the hardwood floor of their rig without a care of who he managed to stir awake. He found he was far too tired to be concerned about much at that point.

Once they were safely tucked away in the privacy of their bed chambers, Valian made quick work of sitting Cadia down on the bed and throwing a blanket over his shoulders.

"Perhaps if I sneak down to the galley, I can brew you some tea?" He offered, releasing his lover's hair from the once neatly woven braids he'd done that morning.

Cadia shook his head. "I just... want to lay with you..."

"Are you sure?"

A low noise of agreement, and Cadia slumped his forehead against Valian's. The corners of his eyes crinkled in a weary smile.

"It's all I've been thinking about today."

The Vapra's cheeks flushed a shade of red to rival the Rose Sun. He bashfully tucked a bit of silvery hair behind his ear as his eyes were cast to the floor. "Well, I suppose if that's the case..."

Cadia chuckled heartily, swiftly discarding his tunic to the other side of the room before taking his lover around his waist and pulling him down onto the mattress. Sun-kissed fingers started to slip under the hem of finely tailored robes, but paused as pale green hues looked to their owner for confirmation.

"Don't get me wrong love, these robes are beautifully made. However, it'd be a lot nicer if I could actually feel you against me." Cadia said, a faint playful lilt to his voice. The pads of his thumbs rubbed small circles into the pale flesh of Valian's hips. His skin was always cool to the touch, no matter what temperature the surrounding area was. At first it was something he felt rather insecure about, which amused the Sifa greatly.

"Aren't you cold at all?" He had inquired of him the first time they had cuddled.

"Admittedly yes," Cadia had replied, yet he made no moves to put any distance between him and Valian.

"But I'm sure I'll get used to it. After all, I would hate for it to be a deterrent to cuddling with you."

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of fabric rustling. Apparently the Vapra had decided to forgo his robes while Cadia had been lost in his head. Soon, a bundle of white would join his lover's top in whatever corner of their chambers they had been tossed to.

"Hmm, much better" Cadia hummed quietly, enveloping his beloved in a warm embrace, who tucked his head into the space beneath his chin. The soft glow of the laterns above them, combined with the silent night ambience made for a very peaceful atmosphere. He nearly dozed off right then and there when the presence of an open book on the nightstand caught his attention.

"Mm, been doing some reading have we?" The Sifa shook his with a fondness reserved only for Valian. "Hopefully this time you haven't been doing any of it in the dark. You'll strain your eyes."

"N-no, all in the daytime I assure you" Valian said as though he'd been caught doing something wrong. The Sifa chuckled lightly, curiosity compelling him to lean over and flip the book shut so he could read the title.

"This is.... about runes... and symbols..."

The Vapra tucked his blushing face even further into the crook of Cadia's neck.

"I figured.... it would give us something else to talk about..."

"Love, I appreciate your enthusiasm to learn but trust me - after a long day of runes and symbols and scrolls upon scrolls of the same information being regurgitated at me, I would prefer to... discuss other things with you."

Cadia was in no way admonishing his love. In fact, it warmed his heart to know that he was making an effort to immerse himself in the Sifa ways. That being said, when those particular ways were drilled into his head day in and day out as part of his apprentacing work, it was a welcome respite to entertain literally any other subject the other half of the time.

Even more so when that time was spent in what he considered his safe space with the person he loved most.

Valian didn't seem to take any offense to the statement. Instead he shone a pair of sympathetic brown hues at him and combed his chilly fingers through dark russet curls.

"I understand. What would you like to talk about instead?"

Cadia smirked, giving him a brief tap on the nose.

"You."

The flush on Valian's cheeks spread to the tips of his ears, enticing a loud guffaw out of Cadia that he didn't even try to stifle.

"M-me?"

"Yes, you," He insisted earnestly. "How was your day, dearest?"

"Oh, nothing too exciting. I did my usual chores around the ship. Luckily I managed to get them finished early today, so it gave me more time to catch up on my reading."

Unconsciously did his pale digits lace with his Sifa's.

"I missed you terribly...."

"As did I," Cadia brought Valian's knuckles up to his lips and tenderly brushed them over each one. "You're certainly better company than that old gasbag any day."

"Cadia!" Valian hissed, though his features remained lighthearted.

"It's true! Thra, when he's not complaining about how I'm apparently not doing my job correctly he's off getting high somewhere! Sometimes I think they just give out the title of Elder to anybody."

Lines of frustration formed along the creases of Cadia's brow, some of his earlier irateness returning. These were the moments where he wondered if becoming a soothsayer was really worth all the grief.

"Well, at least that part of the day is over." Valian's sweet voice filled his ears, and the fleeting stress had flushed itself out almost immediately. "You're here with me now."

"Indeed I am...."

A comfortable silence had settled between them, neither gelfling feeling the need to fill the empty space with words. Of course, it couldn't last forever. Sooner or later the suns would rise and Cadia would have to make his leave once more. But the more he gazed into the mesmerizing pools of brown, the less attention he gave to those thoughts.

For now, for however long he had left till morning, he wanted to savor this peace.

"Cadia, it's getting late...." Valian started almost hesitantly, like he didn't want to break whatever calming spell had been cast over them. "We both need to be up bright and early tomorrow, so it's best we get in our rest now..."

"In that case," The Sifa grabbed the ends of the blanket and pulled it up over their semi nude bodies. He would've changed into his regular nightwear but tonight simply didn't call for it.

"There, much better." He smiled, blinking his bleary yet loving eyes down at his Vapra. Once again there was a brief quiet that had materialized in the still of their shared gaze.

"I love you-"

"I love you-"

They stopped themselves simultaneously, letting a few seconds pass before bursting into soft laughter.

"It seems we're on the same page." Valian tittered.

"Thank goodness for that." Cadia teased, giving his lover's sides a playful squeeze. That received a swat to the chest.

"Oh shush."

The twin smiles that stretched across their faces remained long after they had dozed off in a mess of tangled limbs.

𓂃 ֶָ֢֪ `. ,♡: @stonewoodsifa @fenth-eiria @miethragelfling @dragonladdie @domibomz @thanatasia @jaysketchin @gelfbog @amethystgelfling @simplysparrow14 @loveforskekgra @assembleallrats @ghostsessioned @uglywormo

[scientistservant]

I have never heard of the Dark Crystal until I saw your posts. What is it about, and what do you like about it?

Oh ho?

Sit down, anon, and let me tell you the tale of... The Dark Crystal.

*theme music plays*

In a world called Thra, there exists a powerful gem called the Crystal of Truth. It is in tune to all of Thra, including the planet's most civilized race, the Gelfling.

A thousand years ago, new beings came to Thra: the Skeksis. The Skeksis, wise, hedonistic and benevolent, were tasked with protecting the Crystal of Truth by Thra's avatar/mother-nature of sorts, Mother Aughra. Because of their wisdom the Skeksis also ruled over the Gelfling and their seven Clans, while Aughra journeyed the stars and space.

But one day, the Crystal cracked, causing the Crystal to become corrupted, and a miasma, the Darkening, to spread throughout Thra. In an attempt to fix the Crystal, the Skeksis discovered Essence - the soul or life-force of every creature on Thra. Instead of taking life from the Crystal, they decided to take life from something else - the Gelfling. Because the Gelfling are the closest creatures to Thra, their Essence is pure, more potent.

The Skeksis became obsessed with Essence, and obsessed with draining Gelfling, killing them and drinking their Essence to obtain eternal life and youthfulness. All Skeksis, but the Emperor especially, were terrified of death. For when Skeksis die they do not return to Thra.

And so, a genocide occurred, and all Gelfling perished.

All but one. For there was a prophecy, told of a young Gelfling named Jen, who is destined to heal the Crystal and bring the Skeksis reign to an end!

What I love about The Dark Crystal is its world-building and characters. Its cast isn't just black and white in morality, it's more than that. The protagonists can make mistakes, and so can the antagonists. The Skeksis were good once upon a time, they once cared about the Gelfling, but their greed and fear of death overtook them. Thra is beautiful with many different settings and wildlife, even the Castle of the Crystal is gorgeous with it's fantastical and alien gothic architecture.

I'm mainly talking about the prequel series, Age of Resistance, here. It was made almost 40 years after the original 1982 film, but unlike many modern sequels and prequels it's not a cash grab at all; it was made with love and respect to the original, expanding on the world of Thra. Not saying the original film was bad, it's a wonderful piece of media! I just think it's lacking a bit in world-building and context, and Age of Resistance helps immensely.

As for characters, I'll be talking about the Skeksis, Gelfling, and Mother Aughra. There are other characters and creatures too, but I don't want to venture into spoiler territory!

The Skeksis

As I said above, the Skeksis are not from Thra. They are reptile-like alien vultures with a very hedonistic lifestyle. They adore food, various forms of entertainment, the most lavish of robes, and being praised for their wisdom and status as Lords of the Crystal.

Each Skeksis has a title and role they must uphold. For example, the Ornamentalist makes his fellow Lords' robes and decor for the Castle, while the Scroll-Keeper is in charge of the Castle library and keeps records of tomes and scrolls going back a thousand years of Skeksis rule.

All the Skeksis are important and unique, but the most popular and well-known by far is the Chamberlain. He has a "whimper" as a tic and speaks in slight broken English, yet is the craftiest, manipulative, and cunning of the Skeksis. A very Starscream/Littlefinger-type character, he's fantastic to watch. (He's one of my favourite characters, but not my top favourite, that honour goes to the Scroll-Keeper.)

The Gelfling

The Gelfling are small, elf-like humanoids that vary in looks, culture and skill between their seven different species/Clans. There is the Stonewood, Vapran, Drenchen, Spriton, Dousan, Sifan, and Grottan. Unfortunately, many Gelfling tend to be xenophobic and untrustworthy towards other Clans, though some do manage to become friends despite their differences. Most Gelfling are also illiterate, but there are a very small few that can read and write.

Gelfling are the closest beings to Thra, and have the special ability to Dreamfast with one another - a rather intimate gesture that allows them to share their memories and thoughts by touching hands.

They also differ between genders; female Gelfling have wings, while male Gelfling do not.

Because of their small noses and large eyes and ears, some of the fandom tend to call Gelfling "fairy mice", even giving them whiskers and tails!

Mother Aughra

Mother Aughra is Thra, and Thra is Mother Aughra. She is as old as the planet itself, and perhaps as old as the Crystal of Truth, too. She is connected to the Crystal, able to tell when it is healthy and when it is not.

She and the Skeksis used to be friends, admiring their wisdom and beauty, yet that all ended when she discovered what they had done to the Crystal of Truth.

Aughra is sassy and somewhat grumpy, yet she loves and cares for all the creatures of Thra, especially the Gelfling, who see her as a mother-figure. She has the ability to remove her one eye and use it to spy on others or to see things up close, even from far away.

If you enjoy the fantasy genre, puppets, practical effects, and alien worlds, I highly, highly recommend The Dark Crystal and The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance! There are also graphic novels, and YA novels by J.M Lee.

The world of Thra must never die!

[raycatzdraws]

Your dark crystal lu au has me giggling and kicking my feet. I would love to hear more about it!!! What inspired Hyrule to leave the caverns? Are the Zelda's the Madras?

>:D

I wrote a lot so it's going under a read more:

Wanderlust? Wanting to see more of the world? Seeking out a missing princess? A calling? A summons by Aughra? It could be a number of things! I'm still figuring out how I want to integrate the Zelda lore and timeline into that of The Dark Crystal.

What I do know is that I think I want Hyrule to be apprenticing under Aughra. Assistant turned apprentice. He really does do a lot of grunt work. Go here, fetch that, oil the entire orrery, crawl around in the Sog swamps for this one specific plant. But he has a strong connection to the song of Thra and an insatiable desire to listen and learn so Aughra teaches, and gives him tasks most would think crazy, and he stays. She keeps telling him asides about this snarky sharp tongued apprentice she had before who did a bunch of cool stuff but then ran off and is shirking his duties!!! and Hyrule's like, "gee I'd really like to meet this guy you keep comparing me to smh"

As for the Zeldas, yeah! They're the princess and Maudras. These are bound to change but at the moment, the trio Artemis, Dot, and Lullaby are Maudra to the Vapran clan together. Dusk of the Drenchen, Fable is Spriton with strong connections to the Castle of the Crystal, Dawn with the Grottans, and Aurora spends her time with both the Vapran and Grottan clans. I think the Sifa hierarchal structure would be a little looser. Most seek council from the Sifa elders and soothsayers. Tetra's out and about sailing with her crew. When she needs to speak for the clan that's when you know things have really gone to shit. Flora is a princess from an age past who now travels but spends a lot of time with the Vaprans. I'm realizing now I've forgotten Stone-in-the-Wood. I might place Lullaby, Dot, or Flora there instead. Still a wip!

Which leaves Sun. There's Thra, and then Mithra from the Power of the Dark Crystal comics. I don't want to add another clan because there being 7 is significant. But maaaaybe I could just be like, you know what, what if there were just gelfling living on floating islands who have been up there of since the Age of Innocence or Golden Age or whatever and forgotten. And they're not part of any clan necessarily.

What I really need to figure out is the cause for all the guys to be in one place. Do I want time travel and they're all from different eras and are jumping between them like they are in the LU comics and fanworks, do I want a singular timeline and they've all been living congruently the whole time with their own adventures, or do I want some kind of event to have happened which has caused their times to collapse into a singular and now they're all here in one place with their Zeldas? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there's a lot of possibility! The Dark Crystal already deals a lot with ideas of threes and triangles so three timelines and three virtues for the triforce and there being nine heroes (divisible by three) already works suuuper well.

And then there's the villans. In loz there's Ganon but in TDC the Skeksis are already a formidable adversary. They have a thirst for power and everlasting life that's already pretty interesting. There's the darkening too, which could be a stand in for the idea of Ganon, just like an evil tainting the land instead of an actual person. Idk!

And since I want it to be in Thra, where in the timeline should it be? During the Age of Division before the events of AoR, far far past the events of the later comics in the Second Age of Harmony with Kensho and Thurma, or create something new and rewrite the timeline altogether? lol I need to reread Power of TDC and read the other comics.

There's A LOT but it's fun.

[zelphyrsarts]

What colours should I use for your OCs?

Here are some quick color references I drafted up! I'm in the process of redoing their ref sheets so that's why they're a bit unpolished. For Maxwell (left) he is half Stonewood and half Spriton so I incorporated colors from both :3

[fenth-eiria]

Yay!! Thank you @nekojetto !!!!!!

For the requests. Could you draw Elder Cadia and the Librarian from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance? (I hope this is ok 😅)

Ouuuuh they looks like two smart guy :D

[timeagainreviews]

I “finished” my fan art. I was trying to make it look like the cover of a comic book that will never exist. Since the Vapran live near hot springs, I thought it would be cool if there was a sort of sauna area in the mountains known as the Hot Rocks. I figured a creature from the caves of Grot might find these very surprising!

[fenth-eiria]

You know what.. Why not post an Au of mine that is one of my best Aus.

The wonder twins that are referred are Rian and Brea.

@childlikegoblinqueen

Loti, and Jari are placeholder names for the librarian and Freckles the red head paladin.

[viva-la-runaway]

I was too lazy to color this but there's a crappy doodle of fuckin uhh Newt and Hermann as Gelfling. Because I've been rewatching Age of Resistance on Netflix and I have a crush on Charlie Day idk

I imagine they're like Vapran scientists or SMTH, and instead of Kaiju tattoos, Newt has Skeksi tattoos and likes to study them and the darkening.

[teunip]

Gelftober Day 25: The Past

Rikka used to be a member of a noble Vapran family, but he always struggled to meet their high expectations. Being born with a bad skin condition and favoring botanic studies instead of family traditions put Rikka in a tight spot socially. When the pressure finally broke him, he knew he had to escape from his lavish but miserable home. But first Rikka needed to rid himself of everything that bound him to it... ✂️

So yeah, Rikka used to look VERY different! I tried to highlight how he's basically drowning in his attire and hair, everything that limits his freedom - both physically and symbolically.