#we can only keep native species here

[ceticalys]

What species is Herbie?

He is a Nephrurus levis pilbarensis, AKA Pilbara three-lined knob-tailed gecko, but in my experience nobody really distinguishes subspecies here and just calls all Nephrurus levis species smooth knob-taileds. :)

[rebeccathenaturalist]

So, here's the thing: ranching in the United States was developed in part by exterminating any large animals that could pose a threat to cattle and other livestock, whether through predation or competition for food. That includes wolves, bears, cougars, bison, etc. While it's likely there was someone along the line who tried to coexist with these wild animals while raising livestock, the prevailing solution was to kill "nuisance" species, whether by shooting, trapping, or poisoning them en masse. These animals were wiped out from much of their native range in the lower 48 states by the early 20th century, and their more recent return represents a reckoning with the way we have used and abused the land since.

Now that we have more understanding of the ecological importance of every native species that exists in an ecosystem, there's no excuse to keep defaulting to killing wolves and other predators. Conservationists have offered ranchers a wide variety of solutions to protect their stock, from wolf-proof fences and hazing protocols to livestock guardian dogs. Ranchers can request financial compensation in many Western states for wolf-killed livestock and other losses, though not every rancher wants to differentiate between a cow killed by wolves, and one that died of other causes but was scavenged by wolves postmortem. And, unsurprisingly, some ranchers file fraudulent claims to game the system.

But there also remains the attitude that ranchers should be able to let their cattle run wherever they want on private or public land, and not have to monitor them or create adequate barriers against predators. The entitlement they feel to enormous areas of land, to include public lands that are supposed to be for everyone's use, has its roots in the assumption that "taming the land" for economic profit is more important than any other use. They want any potential threat to be preemptively removed for their convenience, no matter the ecological cost--or human cost, for that matter. Don't forget that every ranch in the West was once the homeland of indigenous people who were, more often than not, forcibly and violently removed so the ranchers' predecessors could move in with their livestock.

It's time for ranchers to accept that they're going to have to adjust to the return of native animals that have lived in these ecosystems for thousands of years. It is already beyond generous that states are willing to pay ranchers for lost cattle. They need to return the favor by working with conservationists to find solutions that reduce predation without just shooting the predatory species native to their region. Ranching as it stands today can only be achieved by the elimination of native animals from the land, but it's not the only way to successfully raise livestock in wild areas. It's time for new solutions that benefit both the cattle and the wildlife alike.

[weaselle]

Stuff From My Weaselle Head

Did you know there are mink in California?

I've only seen one in the wild ONE TIME and i couldn't figure out what i was looking at

it was like 10 years ago and i was like whoa that was the smallest most dangerous nutria i've ever seen!

that's a joke about people thinking weasels are rodents -- nutria are invasive rodents that are just like if a beaver gave up its engineering degree and more than half its body weight, check it out

here's a nutria

the biggest nutria will weigh about 20lbs (9kg) and

here's a beaver

(which max out around 65lbs, or 30kg)

they are both water-adapted rodents (huge, webbed back feet, tho the nutria's tail isn't as specialized) that live in and at the edge of water and eat woody plants (beavers eat trees, nutria eat stuff like cattails)

Nutria don't build dams, but a few years ago, some native beavers in the Portland area and some invasive nutria were observed building a dam together! which is interesting, especially as beaver do sometimes engage in cooperative co-habitation with muskrats.

okay so muskrats are another aquatic rodent with the same design but tiny -- they weigh around 3 pounds (1.3kg)

Muskrat

and sometimes a mated pair of muskrats will spend the winter in a beaver lodge with a mated pair of beavers. The beavers store food for the winter under the cold water (keeps it good like a fridge) and go out and bring back food every day or two. The muskrats eat the more tender bits from the branches the beavers bring in and sleep in the safe warm den, but the muskrats sort of pay rent by going out every couple days and collecting reed stems etc and changing out the bedding that lines and insulates the inside of the beaver's lodge.

ANYWAY. No, for real tho, rodents aside, when i saw the mink, what i actually wondered for a second was "are there tiny river otters in california?"

River otters come in all kinds of sizes, from as small as a little kitty to as big as a person, so. It was a reasonable guess. And it turns out there is actually a river otter species that lives in California, but they are bigger, they get up to 30 lbs (13kg)

N. American River Otter

That's not what i saw tho. Nope, what i saw was an American Mink.

American Mink are semi-aquatic, they are sort of in-between a ferret and a river otter. They weigh about 2lbs (1kg) and look like this

American Mink

and the one i saw was swimming

and i mean like this on the surface but also diving and rolling and sort of scurrying around through the water, proper otter behavior. Like, i couldn't see as deep as this, but look

They totally do otter shit. So you can't blame me for wondering if i had seen an otter.

But it was a mink! I didn't even know there was a native mink here, and it made me learn we also have ermine too! This is an ermine

They are colored brown with a white belly like a common weasel for half the year, and i didn't know there were little river otters OR ermine in California until i was looking up stuff because of that mink i saw :)

Seeing it swim around in the wild was at least as exciting as that time i saw a fisher!

Sort of getting back to the nutria vs. beavers thing, fishers are like a giant marten, basically. A marten is a tree weasel that can weigh a max of maybe 3lbs (1.3kg) . A fisher (sometimes called a fisher cat) is, like, 96% identical to a marten but way bigger, maxing out around 16lbs (7.25kg).

here's what martens look like

and here's what fishers look like

despite their name, fishers aren't aquatic and don't eat many fish. They, like martens, are semi-arboreal (spend a lot of time in trees) and have a diet nearly identical to other martens (mice, rabbits, eggs, berries, basically anything else they can get their teeth on, and a lotta squirrels)

you could easily mistake one

for the other

if it weren't for the size difference

[tonythr]

We need to talk about the Pale King's foresight ability

Ok, I waited a very long time to make this post. The story of the Pale King is my favorite aspect of the whole narrative of Hollow Knight, and there's so much mystery surrounding it that I can't not think about it on a daily basis. There are a bunch of questions left unanswered, and I believe that most (if not all) answers were left in the game specifically so that players could interpret them the way they think is best. So I wanna see what interpretations ARE there and maybe pick one (or two. or three. or all of them. or maybe really just one.) I dunno. Anyway, the point is, this is probably gonna be a long one. Big shoutout to anyone who makes it all the way to the end.

Now, enough with the rambling. To the point.

It all starts with the mushrooms.

The part that started all this train of thought was this particular line.

Unlike other areas of the game, Fungal Wastes don't have a boss that correlates with the area's native species. The shrooms don't have a higher being they worship. They don't have a civilization. They don't have a Dreamer. All they have is this big old mushroom elder that sleeps eternally with this one thought in their mind. All this to say that this line here is *probably* hella important.

The lore tablets of the Wastes also echo it.

So keep this in mind: when the Wyrm, reincarnated as the Pale King, started building and expanding his Kingdom (it's safe to assume that he started doing that AFTER he turned into his bug form) and got to the part where he had to make an alliance with The Mushrooms, they agreed to be a part of Hallownest ONLY because they knew that the Pale King had an ability to predict the future. Remember, they looked down on all the bugs that weren't part of their mycelium-sharedSelf-mindUnited thing. They were perfectly happy with their way of life. They didn't need the Pale King's gift of mind. The only reason they agreed to accept his will was because of his foresight ability. They assumed that, since he can see what's going to happen in the future, he will protect them (along with the rest of his Kingdom) from any possible danger. And that was a smart decision.

And yet, it didn't work out. And not just for them. For the whole Kingdom.

The main question is why.

From the way the mushrooms talk about the Wyrm, we can assume that his foresight ability didn't quite suck, which is to say that he really COULD see a big part of what's going to happen. So basically, we have two possibilities:

A. The PK's foresight didn't allow him to see *too* far into the future. It had its limitations. Maybe he could see what was going to happen in an age from now, but he couldn't predict *everything*.

B. The PK's foresight could reach as far as all eternity, meaning he knew the 'Eternal Kingdom' was doomed to fail from the moment he started building it.

In any case, Elder Mushroom's words suggest that, at one point, PK actually KNEW his Kingdom was going to fail.

And, since the most important part of his story is his battle with the Radiance (like, what else would the Mushroom be talking about?), I think it means that he potentially knew that the Hollow Knight was going to fail, but created and Sealed it anyway. So, the question is:

If the Pale King could see that his plan of creating an empty vessel to seal the Radiance would inevitably fail, why did he go through with it in the first place?

Here's the first, most simple answer.

He knew that the Infection was inevitable, so he decided to postpone it indefinitely. Hit the snooze button, but make it last forever.

Actually, that's not even an answer. This is just a straight-up fact.

Hallownest is literally frozen in time.

(Actually, I think it's so frozen that sometimes it makes rocks levitate)

The Hollow Knight's sacrifice was made SPECIFICALLY so the inevitable arrival of the Infection could be set back for all eternity. That's why the game has a big leitmotif of night and day.

That's why the Radiance's main goal is for the Dawn to Break. Because she's the Sun, and what she's fighting against is an eternal night.

But now we're entering the mystery zone. There are two questions about PK's foresight ability that have to be answered in order to understand what's actually happening.

Question 1. Does freezing time also freeze the foresight? If the Kingdom is left in a stasis without a changing future, can PK still see past that stasis? Could he see when it would end? If so, could he see what will happen after it ends?

Question 2. Is Time actually predictable? Is there just one timeline where everything that happens was doomed to happen in the first place, OR are there infinite possibilities and some room for the free will? If so, can the future be changed if one knows what actions will have what consequences? And if so, are there things that are actually inevitable, no matter the choices?

Whatever the answers to both of those questions are, I want to emphasize this:

Those lines spoken by the Radiance, along with the Elder Mushroom's words about a demise unavoidable, as well as some other things I'll mention later, make me think that the Infection and the Radiance's rise to power is an event that was truly inevitable.

Here, it doesn't matter if the free will is real or not. Remember: in the Pantheon of Hallownest, the Radiance ranks higher than the Pale King. She is a candidate for a God of Gods title, the highest of the Higher Beings. So maybe PK could shape the future with his knowledge of it. Maybe his foresight actually protected his Kingdom by preventing some bad things that he, as a Pale Being, had power over. But the power of the Radiance was stronger than that. She had the strength to assert her dominating will in every possible timeline, so that, even with his foresight, the Wyrm couldn't do anything to stop the Dawn from Breaking. After all, it's the power of Nature itself - the day always inevitably comes to replace the night.

So that's the entire reason the King decided to use the Void in his battle with the Radiance. The Forgotten Light had the ability to conquer Fate. But the Void, in his own words, had the ability to deny Time itself.

So, even if the Infection was inevitable, the power of Void could either prevent it, postpone it, or straight-up defeat it. I think that the reason for this is that the Void possesses a will that is stronger than any Higher Being. The Night and Day can follow each other, but the force that represents the End itself is beyond that.

So, now we're gonna ask the REAL question.

With the Void being able to deny Time, could the Pale King see the future the Void's actions will bring?

And for that, I have two facts that suggest that PK, in fact, couldn't at least foresee SOME of the Void's choices.

The first one is the fact that the game has multiple endings.

Look into those eyes and tell me that they're looking at something that could have been predicted and prevented by a dead monarch, albeit a godly one. The existence of multiple endings tells us that free will IS real, at least for The Knight/The Shade Lord.

Oh and speaking of dead monarchs, here's the next fact.

That man is fucking dead.

The Pale King's whole deal was to last eternally, right? To build a life that would ensure his endless reign. To achieve immortality.

So if he could see what was going to happen after he let the Void into the picture, why would he still try that despite it clearly leading to his demise?

The nature of PK's death is mysterious, to say the least. He didn't just die of old age. He tried to run away, bringing his whole Palace along with him to the Dream World. He tried to run away from something - probably from the consequences of his own actions. But even that escape didn't save him from being killed. And what killed him was most definitely the Void.

The throne room is dark.

In fact, it's so dark that the Kinght has to pull out the lumafly lantern. The only other room in the entire White Palace where that happens is the workshop, where PK worked on creating the Kingsmoulds and the Wingsmoulds. The space is filled with black smoke and black particles - the same ones that are seen in the Abyss and many areas that are located above it. When the Kinght strikes the Pale King's body with the Nail, it sounds the same as striking a training dummy outside of Oro's hut, which is made out of a lifeless husk. It's like the Pale King's body was literally hollowed out.

The form that was given to the Void by the Pale King to create the Kingsmoulds guarding the throne room is lost here, implying that it gained some other will that was beyond the Pale King's control.

And again, the only other place we see something like that is the Palace Grounds in the waking world.

...Which are located just above the Void Sea. Also, the same smoke and particles surround the place, and black tentacle-like vines reach inside the body of the Kingsmould containing the Palace.

No need to doubt. It was definitely the Void that killed the Pale King.

But what does it mean?

Well, here's some important info about the Void. It is a manifestation of this world's regrets.

If you look deep enough, it makes a lot of sense for the Void to symbolize literal regret. The Shade is a manifestation of the Knight's regrets about what went wrong on its journey. The Void Sea in the Abyss is probably the regrets of the Ancient Civilization's dead bugs. And the Void that surrounds the Palace Grounds and the Pale King's throne room is a manifestation of his own regrets. That's why he couldn't escape from the Void even in the Dream World. Because you can't escape your own guilt, your own darkness, your own regret. That's also the reason why the Knight has the right to sit on the throne after striking down the Pale King: it's because, at that point, the Kinght is set on a path that includes facing its own regrets, accepting them and uniting them under its will. Something the Pale King failed to do.

But the question remains: what exactly were those regrets that the Pale King was running from and that ultimately killed him? I mean, of course, it's the whole deal with the vessels that he regretted, but I think there's more to that. I want to lay down a list of theories about his foresight. Each of them can also explain which specific regret got him the most.

Each theory would also change the interpretation of this famous line:

...Which is important. Obviously, this line refers to the Vessels being sacrificed in order to create a Pure one, but, depending on the possible range of PK's future vision, it can have an additional, deeper meaning. You'll see what I mean.

But first, there's some other issue here that needs to be addressed, that makes this whole discussion twice as complicated. It's all about this one line:

So, here's another fucking question. Does harnessing the Void by creating the Vessels and the Moulds make those creations a part of what the Pale King could see with his foresight ability?

There's some kind of scale here that varies from 'There are multiple endings that depend on that one Vessel's choice, so that means the Void is outside of the PK's ability to predict the future' to 'The Vessels and the Moulds are the Void that is harnessed by the Pale King, so his future vision applies to them as well; it's just that the Knight gains the power to choose the ending only when it takes control over its own Void by gaining the Void Heart'. So, what if the Pale King could foresee that the Knight would be able to defeat the Radiance in the dream world? What if he couldn't see the Knight's arrival at all? What if he COULD see it, but his vision only applied to the events of the Hollow Knight ending, the only one that doesn't include the Void Heart? What if even the Embrace the Void ending was visible to the Pale King after all, as one of many possibilities he didn't pay too much attention to?

But the Knight is one thing. What about the Hollow Knight? Was its failure a part of the future PK could see? Or, since THK is a Vessel too, its choices were off limits as well? What about the Kingsmoulds? Was the fact that they would succumb to the Void that was going to kill PK available for him?

None of these questions have a clear answer. Probably. Or maybe they do. But there are multiple explanations for what was really going on. I'll try to present them as a list of theories. Each of them will give us a different interpretation of the Pale King's foresight ability's true nature.

PK didn't know what the Void would do but decided to try using it anyway.

PK only saw that the Void would help the Hollow Knight seal the Radiance, but his vision was limited (either because it was limited by its nature (option A, see above), or because the stasis created by the void limited his abilities (question 1, see above)), and so he didn't see that the Hollow Knight would break.

PK knew the Hollow Knight was going to fail but doomed his Kingdom anyway.

PK only saw the timeline where the Knight seals the Radiance without killing her. Every other ending besides The Hollow Knight was beyond PK's foresight.

PK knew that there were multiple possibilities once the Pandora's box was opened, but he saw that one of those possibilities was the Void successfully sealing the Radiance and/or killing her, so he decided to roll the dice. So he could see that Dream No More was possible, but he didn't consider Embrace the Void.

Each of these theories holds some interesting interpretations. Let's take a closer look.

I'll use a timeline to mark the possible range of PK's vision for each theory:

Just to clear things out: when I talk about what PK could or couldn't see, I mean what he could or couldn't see while using his powers at any point before his death. It IS possible that he saw some things when it was already too late to do something. That's what I was talking about when discussing possibilities A and B above (so maybe he saw that THK would break before he even made the Vessels, or maybe he figured it out only after it got sealed). Every theory accounts for that. It's complicated. You know what? Nevermind this whole disclaimer. I'll get to it.

Theory 1. The Void neutralizes the future vision

Basically, what this means is that once the Void got into the picture, the Pale King could no longer use his powers in any meaningful way. The Void, being a will that denies Time, created too many different possibilities for the King to account for, yet he decided to go through with the Hollow Knight plan just because he didn't see any other option.

The line 'No cost too great' in this case might refer not only to the Vessels being sacrificed, but to PK's foresight ability itself. The cost is his future vision, sacrificed to a state of uncertainty that might or might not bring salvation.

If this theory is true, the Pale King's story is a story about a monarch who, in his efforts to save his Kingdom from a wild force of radiant nature, accidentally unleashed something far beyond anyone's control and paid for it not only with his main ability, but with his life as well. Both the Vessels' and the Abyss' actions couldn't have been predicted, and that's why PK accidentally allowed for the Hollow Knight to break and for the forces of the Abyss to overpower him with his regrets about the countless children he murdered.

The risk he took is his main regret.

The flaw of this theory is that, if it's true, it means that:

a) The Elder Mushroom was completely wrong about PK being able to foresee the second coming of the Infection.

b) Harnessing the Void doesn't do shit besides changing its form. Even while being contained inside a semi-sentient Vessel, its actions don't bend to the Pale King's will or his foresight ability.

All in all, this theory basically means that both Pale King's powers and his judgment sucked, and the whole collapse of Hallownest happened because he was incompetent, reckless and stupid.

(That's why I don't like it)

TL;DR: The Void does what it pleases regardless of the Pale King's future vision, and he was stupid for trying to use it.

Theory 2. The Hollow Knight's failure was beyond the Pale King's future vision

This is probably a very controversial one, but it does have some interesting implications. The point is that PK didn't see that the Hollow Knight would fail, and so he went through with the plan thinking it was flawless.

In this case, the Hollow Knight counts as a 'harnessed' part of the Void, so its actions up until its breaking were completely predictable. The Pale King saw that the Infection would be sealed successfully, and that a stasis would be created. He got what he wanted, but at some point (could be any point) he realized that he didn't know if anything was going to happen next.

That could happen for one of the two reasons:

The stasis created by the Pale King literally meant that the time was frozen, which meant that nothing relevant wasn't going to happen unless this stasis would somehow break. But, while inside this state of stasis, the Pale King himself couldn't see anything beyond that state. What future vision is there if there's no actual future?

The future vision was clouded by the Pale King's inevitable death. It's possible that, while looking into the future, PK couldn't see the Hollow Knight breaking simply because his future vision doesn't allow him to see beyond the moment of his own death.

Anyway, what this theory suggests is that the main thing the Pale King didn't or couldn't predict was his own death. Or maybe at some later point he saw it was coming and tried to run away from it by hiding his Palace, but the Void got him anyway. It happened because the Void that destroyed the Kingsmoulds' bodies and killed the Pale King was a force beyond anyone's control an beyond PK's foresight.

A major proof of that is the situation with this guy:

Notice how they apologize directly to the Pale King, and how the Void slowly took over their mind. This guy was a royal retainer, which means the King probably ordered them to keep the lighthouse running himself.

The question is, why did he take such a half-assed measure to keep a whole Sea of raw dark power at bay? It looks so stupid! Just one lighthouse for a whole unchecked Void Sea? And just ONE lighthouse keeper who couldn't even resist the Call of the Void? Why such carelessness?

The answer is right here. That was because the Pale King simply DID NOT KNOW what the Void Sea was actually capable of, because its power (unlike the power of the Void trapped inside the King's children's bodies) was beyond his foresight. Without a clear answer from his future vision, he figured that this Void might or might not be an issue and decided that he had more important stuff to deal with instead of even hiring a whole team to watch one lighthouse.

So, while he managed to reach his goal creating a stasis that would keep his Kingdom lasting eternally, there was one thing he didn't account for, and that was the vengeful wrath of the dark force he dared to use as his plaything. The lighthouse was turned off, and the Void soon started to rise up through the rocks of the Ancient Basin towards the White Palace. The King tried to run, hiding himself and his Palace inside the Dream World, but the Void seeped in easily, killing the monarch. After all, the Kingsmould that was used as a gate to the Palace was also made out of Void.

If this theory is true, then the line 'No cost too great' could refer not only to the Vessels, but also to himself. If he didn't know that the Hollow Knight would break, then he probably thought that his Kingdom WOULD last forever, and that even his own death wouldn't change that. So he sacrificed his own life, gave in to his regrets about everything bad he had done, but managed to save one glimmer of pride, thinking that, even though he killed a bunch of children and abused the Void, he still managed to deliver eternal happiness to all his subjects.

But the thing about this theory is that now we also need to explain why the Radiance broke free despite everything the Pale King thought he did. Here, this theory divides into two additional theories (I'm really sorry for this long-ass post):

Theory 2.1: The Radiance is like 'Nah, I'd win'

Basically, PK's plan to achieve eternal life for his Kingdom at the cost of his own life was actually good. There was no flaw in it, and it should've worked perfectly. But we know that the Radiance might be a being that is higher than PK on the power scale. So, just like the Void, her actions might be beyond what PK's foresight ability could help him see. PK did everything right (not morally), but the Radiance broke through anyway because she's just... that much better.

Theory 2.2: The death of the King is what triggered the whole thing

Going back to the Void's actions messing with the future the Pale King could predict, I say it's possible that his own death, caused by the Void, is what made the stasis wear off.

Think of it this way. The Hollow Knight contained the Infection, but that merely eliminates the possibility of a HIGHER FORCE enacting some sort of change. Preventing EVERYTHING ELSE from breaking the stasis is the job for the Pale King himself. But, once the Void (another higher force) kills him, there's no one that could keep the stasis running, and it just... ends. That gives the Radiance (as a force of change, opposed to a state of frozen time) an opportunity to break free.

Or maybe it was the Sealed Vessel that was affected by the Pale King's death. After all, we probably know what its only thought (the one that ruined everything) was:

So, the Pale King dies, the Hollow Knight senses that a familiar presence is starting to slip away, which makes the Vessel panic (or something like that), and the Radiance makes her move, infecting its mind.

OR it could be both of those things! Maybe the Hollow Knight's attachment to its father AND the Radiance's insane higher power both played a role in filling up the power vacuum that was left after PK died.

Anyway yeah, that's it for this theory. The only thing left to discuss is the new interpretation it gives us for the line spoken by the Elder Mushroom:

'A demise unavoidable', in this case, refers to the demise of the Pale King himself. He didn't necessarily foresee that his death would lead to the destruction of Hallownest, but at some point he might've figured out that the Void was coming to get him but decided to stick with his plan anyway. But then it raises the question of when and how the Elder Mushroom learned about the Pale King's demise, and why they assumed that he could see it coming. That's the main issue with this whole theory: it just doesn't explain how the Mushroom's line fits into all of this.

TL;DR: The Void killing the Pale King is the only thing that he couldn't foresee in the long run, and even if he could do that at some point, the consequences of his death AND/OR the Radiance's actions were beyond his control.

Theory 3. Self-fulfilling prophecy

Ok, so now we're on the theory that I personally consider the closest to canon, or at least the implications of canon that we have. This is also the one theory that brings (some kind of) consistency to this whole question. This is because it explains the earlier question of how the future vision actually works.

See, there's no way the Pale King actually knew that the Hollow Knight would break from the very start, right?

Why would he doom his Kingdom when all of his actions were meant to prevent that? In fact, that's exactly the question that the Elder Mushroom is asking.

"Pale Wyrm... What good to foresee a demise unavoidable?"

Well, the answer here is actually kinda simple this time.

He saw it coming, and he tried to postpone it.

This is the simplest explanation possible, because we already have all the proof right here on the table.

The King sees that the Infection will come, and that it is inevitable (the inevitability is the key part).

He knows that, when the predicted moment comes, the Radiance will return and wreck his shit. No matter the timeline, no matter the choice. The flow of Time itself inevitably leads to the Infection happening.

The only option is to use a force that is able to deny time itself. The solution is to use the Void to metaphysically freeze the very flow of Time itself. The plan is not to try to change what is meant to happen, but to create a stasis that makes it so that it never comes to it. The timer never reaches zero. The eternal snooze button.

The stasis, however, dampens the foresight ability. If there's no flow of Time, the King can't see what's going to happen.

[A little digression: For the purpose of proving this theory, let's say that the foresight ability works better the closer the observer is to the moment that is being observed.

For example, while looking into the future from a point in time before a big war, the observer CAN see that the war will end on a certain date, but only when that date comes closer to them can they see HOW the war will end, and WHO will end it, and any other detail.]

The stasis wears off because of the Radiance's power (like in theory 2.1).

The King is finally able to see the exact nature of the Infection breaking free. He sees that the Hollow Knight itself, the Vessel he personally created to be the only key to the Kingdom's salvation, will be the reason everything goes to hell.

Wracked with guilt and regret, he escapes to the dream realm before the break happens so that he can at least save himself and his palace.

The Void makes a move that the King could or couldn't foresee, killing him. He thinks about the 'no cost too great' philosophy one last time before realizing that it is, in fact, utter bullshit. He dies with a feeling of everything he built crumbling to dust and his core belief being proven faulty.

The Infection breaks free, having harnessed the Hollow Knight, as inevitable as always. With the King being dead, there's no power to uphold the time stasis, which becomes the final push. The Vessel breaks.

Only then the Kingdom sees the arrival of a void being that has the potential to actually change things from their set course. The Knight, being a part of the Void that was beyond the Pale King's future vision range, enacts an end of its own choosing.

This ties to the game's themes of determinism, and flashes out the Kinght's strength to break free from the fate's chains, empowering the player and making the whole plot twist with the final battle against the Radiance even more epic.

The monarch who justified killing his own children by his desire to prevent the higher will from destroying his artificially made Kingdom has succumbed to a force beyond his control, becoming a part of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The chosen hair of its father's will becomes the reason why the inevitable finally happens. The only one who is free of obligations, desires and beliefs becomes the one to save the Kingdom once and for all, avenging the deaths of its kin. Beautiful.

And the Mushrooms who probably just didn't believe in the stasis from the start turned out to be right, smugly reminding us that it was always inevitable and PK couldn't do shit. There's no good in seeing a demise unavoidable, and it's foolish to make sacrifices to postpone it.

What the Pale King lacked was acceptance. The ability to embrace the true nature of things.

Something that is the main ability and the main character arc for the Knight, whose nature is to consume and to use its will to make even the darkest shadows become a part of it.

A little spoiler though: this theory has another variation that is even cooler. I'll leave it for the very end.

TL;DR: The King knew that the Infection was inevitable from the very start. He tried to postpone it. He failed, becoming a part of a self-fulfilling prophecy. When he figured it out, it was already too late, so he fled and was then killed by the Void.

Theory 4. The Masterplan

Ok, so, while the previous theory was probably the one closest to the canon implications, there are still a couple of possibilities that make this WHOLE thought process worth the time spent on it, because the mere CHANCE of this one theory being true makes the whole game feel even more nuanced. It's not even necessarily correct, but it's not about that. Team Cherry made the lore surrounding the Pale King's foresight ability vague enough for us to feel it's POSSIBLE that the whole plot was predicted by him. And that's how this narrative works: it allows the players to come up with different interpretations of itself, never proving or disproving any of the theories that it inevitably creates inside our heads.

So anyway yeah, what if the Pale King knew that another Vessel would usurp the Hollow Knight? What if THAT was his plan all along?

So, let's discuss a very important question.

How was the Hollow Knight chosen among other vessels? Why did that one child become the Pure Vessel while millions of others were left behind?

Well, judging by these lines and by the Birthplace cutscene, the trial to be chosen as the Hollow Knight was to climb up from the Abyss.

But why? How does scaling a huge pit prove a vessel hollow, and devoid of thought? Is it about the strength? Is it about not caring about other siblings who fall down? Is it about controlling one's inner Void in order to not succumb to the regret of the whole situation? Is it something like a sperm and an egg thing? A bug thing? Maybe it's all of those things. Maybe it's none of them. One thing we can assume, though, is this:

The Knight also passed this trial. It could have become the Hollow Knight. The reason it didn't was because the Pale King didn't see it and the Hollow Knight didn't care about it.

But in the end, it was the same reason why the Kinght became a more worthy candidate.

Think about it this way. If the Void is what is needed to seal the Light, and if the Void is created and channeled through regrets and past pain, what could be a better fuel for it than a father's abandonment and a sibling's indifference? Passing the life's trial but losing a chance to live anyway creates the strongest darkness, and that darkness is the reason the Knight becomes the best Vessel possible to do this task.

But it's not the only trial the Knight had to pass in order to qualify for this role.

(Notice the phrasing used in the Quirrel comic - 'ascend to that fabled land')

We don't know how it happened (Team Cherry teased us once about revealing it), but the Knight not only escaped the Abyss through some other path, but managed to leave Hallownest and then come back, purified by the mind-wiping winds. That's what Hornet says about it, too - she specifically states that the Knight's resilience was born of two voids: the one that's outside of the Kingdom and the one that's below it.

And we also know that many other Vessels attempted the same thing.

So basically, had any of them been more successful at the quest the Knight did succeed at, the Kingdom could have had a greater, if not near-infinite, amount of replacements for the Sealed Vessel. One Knight takes the Infection inside of itself, holds it in until the Infection inevitably starts to break free, but then another Knight arrives, answering its sibling's call for help, and the cycle continues. Convenient, huh?

Sounds like a thing some very perceptive godlike monarch could come up with as a plan to save his Kingdom.

It could ALSO explain why there are SO MANY Vessels in the Abyss. Maybe it's not about the White Lady being crazy horny. Maybe it was a part of the plan (which included the White Lady being crazy horny) all along. A way to measure up to eternity by creating an amount of heirs that no one would be able to count. Yes, it IS finite, but with THIS many spare Vessels it wouldn't really matter.

That said, there ARE some flaws in this theory. First, there's no live Vessels in the Abyss, so the ones that survived the Pale King's trial probably either died or left the Abyss already. And it's likely that there weren't too many of those who escaped, so maybe there weren't enough vessels after all. But then again, it only takes one to save the Kingdom for multiple ages, so who knows how that would work.

Second, as far as we know, the Knight was the only one who had the potential to actually seal the Radiance once and for all. Letting weaker vessels try to usurp the Hollow Knight would mean risking the Kingdom. But then again, that's what Hornet was there for. On the other hand, even she was surprised with how the Knight was able to defeat her, so either she didn't know about the Masterplan, or it was never real in the first place, and the Knight IS the one unique Vessel who has the strength to save Hallownest for good.

Honestly, I'm inclined to agree with the latter assumption solely because of the narrative weight of the Birthplace cutscene. I mean, there was no other vessel that was in the same position as the Knight. No one else had that same experience of passing the Abyss trial just in time to see the first Hollow Knight walk away with its father, who then shut the door in their face.

But anyway, this theory is still pretty valid. If it's correct, it would mean that:

a) The 'No cost too great' line spoken by PK at the moment of his death basically means 'Whatever bitches, I may be dead but Hallownest WILL last eternally because I had those Vessels ALL FIGURED OUT, and there's SHIT you can do about it now!'

b) All who doubted PK's plan are proven wrong, and the Mushrooms' smugness is worth nothing.

c) The Pale King's future vision is fucking OP.

...Whiiiich yeah, makes the Pale King look like the coolest mastermind in all fiction, but at the same time takes away the tragedy of his whole story and the uniqueness of our dear beloved Ghost Knight. Still fun to think about it tho.

TL;DR: The King knew that the Hollow Knight would break, so he had every other possible Vessel in mind as a replacement. The new Vessel would be the one who survived the Abyss, escaped, left Hallownest, and returned at the call of the previous Vessel. With millions of Vessels born, the cycle could have been repeated so many times that it wouldn't matter when the Abyss would run out of Vessels.

Theory 5. The Masterplan but cooler

Now THAT's what I personally consider a big stretch.

See, for THAT theory to be correct, the Pale King should have known the EXACT moves the Knight (and only the Knight) would take in order to defeat the Radiance one way or another. He should have accounted for things such as:

The Knight being left in the Abyss in the exact way that it was; broken mentally by the chance that was taken away from it.

His own death.

The Knight arriving to Hallownest, passing all the tests, getting the Dreamnail, breaking the Dreamers' Seals.

The Knight becoming the new Sealed Vessel in at least two of the possible timelines.

The White Lady gifting the Knight her part of Kingsoul.

The Knight successfully entering the White Palace, finding the King's corpse, and taking the second half of Kingsoul.

The Knight returning to the Birthplace, getting the Void Heart and uniting the Void.

The Knight entering the Hollow Knight's dream with Hornet's help and actually killing the Radiance by making the Void consume it.

I think there's exactly a 0.00001% chance of that being the case. But hey, it's possible!

Actually, I don't believe that. It just doesn't feel like that's what the canon implications are about. And then again, if that theory is correct, why couldn't the King predict the Embrace the Void ending? And I do believe that SHADE LORD wasn't on ANYONE'S bingo card at all (except for maybe that one goth bug who gives us the Shade Cloak). Or did the King just decide to risk it all by defeating one God of Gods by creating another, much stronger one? I really don't think so.

I think the Void's will, as well as the Knight's, has the nature to defy any type of fate or future vision. And once the Knight gains the power of the Void Heart, the future of Hallownest is entirely in its hands, and its choice is now inherently outside of anyone's foresight.

TL;DR: The King predicted everything. Could he predict the Shade Lord though?

Theory 6 (the secret one). The 'human' factor

Ok, so, up until now, I discussed the possibilities the Pale King had with his future vision, and how said possibilities could influence his actions and the history of Hallownest as a whole, with the Self-fulfilling prophecy theory (of which this one will be an extension of) being the most plausible one. There's just one thing though. None of those theories really accounted for the possibility that, at some point, Pale King could've just not used his powers, or, more realistically, used them but chose to do something despite the information he got.

But why? What could possibly make him do that? The literal God of Mind, not being rational? Sounds like something that Team Cherry wouldn't fail to include in the game as an emphasized plot point. A lore piece so important must've been given some significant place, perhaps even locked behind some insane platforming gauntlet...

I swear, this one moment drives me crazy.

The Pure Vessel. The Sealed sacrifice. The Empty God. The Hollow Knight was created to be the one and only savior of Hallownest, of everything the Pale King worked so hard on. It was created not as an heir to its father's throne, not as his child, but as a tool to win a war that had been going on for ages. And we all know that it failed because it gained a mind, a will to live, a desire to crave happiness.

And this moment at the end of Path of Pain tells us exactly how it happened. The Pale King, being a god whose main power is to give bugs the ability to think, shared exactly one moment of pure fatherly affection with his empty creation. And that's all that was needed to plant the seeds of a mind-conquering disaster.

And right now I want to focus on the Pale King himself here. If you watch the cutscene, you'll notice that he is the first to turn his head towards the Hollow Knight. He was the one who initiated this moment.

And one might ask: why? Didn't he know that that could lead to the Vessel having a thought that was terminal for the whole plan? Couldn't he PREDICT that him showing even an ounce of affection towards this hollowed-out child would ruin everything he built? His whole Kingdom, his whole dream, his whole civilization? WAS HE STUPID?

But hear me out. What if what we're looking at here is not the Pale King messing up his entire career as a monarch, but him actually achieving the only thing that could satisfy him? Think about it. Who knows how much time he spent in his workshop trying to harness the Void. Millions of his children were left for dead, locked inside a horrible bottomless pit as bones and shadows. Three of the Kingdom's greatest bugs agreed to sacrifice their lives for the King's plan. All so he could achieve what he considered perfection. The impossible ideal. All the struggles of this Kingdom led to the creation of that one being. And when the Pale King knew he had succeeded, there was nothing left to strive for. Finally, he could allow himself to be satisfied. To forget about the greater good. To forget the never-ending battle. To live.

To love.

And maybe at that point he refused to use his future vision. Or maybe he knew that this would ruin everything. Maybe he always knew. For that moment, none of it mattered. The god of mind finally experienced something that had nothing to do with rationality. And once that happened, nothing else mattered anymore. No cost was too great for this one moment.

And so, nothing that happened after that mattered as well. The King's radiant enemy would soon take his Kingdom. His beloved Queen would go into exile. He himself would not be able to fight the regrets of his dark past and would soon cowardly flee from the waking realm, only to be killed on his throne by the very power he so foolishly used to achieve his goal. But at that point that goal didn't matter to him anymore. He was ready for the eternal Void, because he had already achieved the only thing worth achieving.

Too bad that meant he would doom millions (if not billions) of live creatures and make the only being he could actually love experience the cruelest torture unimaginable. Too bad that, when gods attempt to achieve a higher ideal, countless souls must suffer. Too bad that because of that one achievement everything Hallownest was had to end.

But everything ends at some point. That's one of the main themes of this game, and the idea that I believe is represented by the Void. The Knight arrives to reap the sins of its creator, witness secrets sealed, bring some hope to a ruined land, and enact the end of an era. Only a silent agent of change is there to witness the dark consequences of the Wyrm's quest for happiness.

Neat theory, right? Now guess which one is my favorite!

TL;DR: The Pale King realized that the act of loving his child is worth sacrificing everything he worked for, so, even knowing that sealing the No-More-Hollow Knight would doom Hallownest, he decided that his life has already peaked anyway and that there's no point in trying to do anything anymore. He knew that he was cooked though, so he fled and died only with the closest circle of family and friends to keep him company.

----

The post is over now. Big, bigger, yet bigger, the biggest thanks to anyone who genuinely made it through to the end. My grammar is probably flawed as fuck tho, because English is not my native language, so please cut me some slack in that regard. I hope what I was saying there was at least somewhat cohesive. I also hope that the more obscure bits of information I used (like cut dream dialogue) didn't throw anyone off the thought train. It's probably gonna be a big deal when I release this post, so I probably will be coming back to it. Any discussion, as well as disagreement, is always welcome! Please just let me know I didn't write all this for nothing lol. Thanks again!

TL;DR: Skill issue.

[adragonsdance]

I may be yelling unheard into the uncaring void, but I’m gonna keep yelling about this au anyway.

I think I’m gonna call it the Corporate Problems AU, because this ship is full of Mira corporation’s Biggest Problems!

This au sits on the foundations of a lot of background worldbuilding that, admittedly, isn’t mine. At some point years ago, I read the Mimicry series on Ao3 by missteavee, and it was so good that it irrevocably rewired my brain, and completely changed the way that i view Among us. That worldbuilding is now the only thing I can think of as among us story cannon. So. It’s fantastic go check it out. There are a lotta elements that are important in like, How This World Works, but imma put a summary of the Important Bits (plus a few probably less important bits, because its fun) at the end of this post.

Because I have been Thinking about The Characters. I have ideas and concepts, but no plot. Which is a problem. But we’re not gonna think about that right now because Concepts and Characters are Fun!

The Main Cast, the crew, are Scar, Grian, Impulse, Skizz, Tango, Jimmy, Etho, Pearl, and Gem. All of them are hiding something, and all of them lied, frauded, or hacked their way onto the ship so that as far as Mira’s databases are concerned, this is a perfectly normal, approved crew traveling to Polus and following all regulations. They are not. And no one group is aware that none of the others are legitimate Mira employees either! This ship houses Chaos.

For starters, the integrity, (the name of the skeld ship, which I am treating as a standard class of Mira corporate space ships, each of which has its own name) actually belongs to a group of space pirates. Grian, scar, and jimmy stole the ship, disconnected it from all Mira systems, and proceeded to make a number of definitely illegal modifications, including making it suitable as their full-time living space. Grian used to work for Mira as a xenobiologist, until he managed to discover Mira’s corporate-genocide-coverup. Scar had been a pirate moving himself around Miras various corporate sectors and stealing tech and information for years at that point, and jimmy was Grian’s “I know a guy” computer tech guy to help them gut the ship of all of Mira’s influence.

Etho was the original founder of Mira, before it grew into a huge company, and stayed on the board as the primary influence in the company as it grew, until the rest of the board decided he had a few too many morals, and attempted to assassinate him via space-transport-malfunction. He ended up stranded on an unexplored planet, but survived. But that happened decades ago. He has not aged. He might possibly be immortal now, we have no idea.

Tango is an imposter, native to Polus, and a soldier in the very much active war that Mira is completely covering up. He doesn’t know that most of Mira’s employees don’t know that they’re fighting a war. He’s tech-savvy, and a very good shapeshifter by his species standards. He’s not red, because Grian’s red, but I can’t decide if I want to make him a light “frost” blue, or the shade of blue that’s literally called “tango blue”. Probably the latter. Im not sure if there’s gonna be another imposter on the ship, or who they are if they’re there.

For the rest of the crew, I’m still kinda figuring out What Their Deal Is. I think I’ve got impulse and skizz down, but from here on out, things might be subject to change.

Impulse is a bit of an inventor, with credentials in physics, and a lot of experience dabbling in other fields as well. He discovered or created something that the government was not thrilled with. I think that thing might have been a fully sentient, sapient AI, and I think that AI was skizz. After having his research publication denied, and the narrative equivalent of the FBI showing up at his house to try and confiscate his research and tech, he and skizz went on the run. They stole some advanced tech, probably from Mira, to build skizz a hyper-realistic, or possibly partially organic body, and decided that hacking into Mira’s databases and getting themselves an extended stay on Polus, one of the most remote research stations, would be a good way to hide.

Gem and peral I am much less sure of.

Gem is the ship’s acting medic. She has absolutely no medical experience. I wanted to have scientist gem, because I think that’s a fun character. She’s a xenobiologist and anthropologist. Possibly officially, possibly not. She wants to get to Plous for her own reasons, and is definitly not actually a miracle employee. One idea I had was to make her a retired or hiding mercenary or bounty hunter or something, but I’m not sure. I also kinda want to make her the other imposter, just because she gets imposter so frequently in the recent among us streams.

Peral, I really have no idea. She’s another candidate for the other imposter. She’s probably not human either way. She is a chemist though, that part of her credentials, at least, isn’t fake.

You throw all of these characters into the close quarters of a spaceship for 6-9 months, and intrigue, secrets, and shenanigans ensue! That’s about all I got for plot so far. Maybe overthrowing Mira, who knows.

————————————————————

For context, here’s the other worldbuiling this au rests on:

Imposters— they are a species of sapient predatory mimics who are native to the planet Polus. When Mira scientists first set up on Polus, they drilled into one of the imposter-inhabited caves, and had a rather disastrous first contact. The cave they drilled into was a steam cavern, seemingly inhabited by hundreds of little alien worms. Mira labeled these worms as Polus Lifeform Type x223, and deemed them of high scientific interest. Recently, the company had issued an order that these worms are very scientifically valuable, and to collect and flash-freeze samples en masse. These worms are actually the newborn stage of imposters, and the steam caverns are their nurseries. None of the average Mira employees are aware of this. The imposters are in a fully militarized guerrilla warfare against a force attempting to genocide them. It is heavily implied that this is not the first alien species they have encountered and had to fight off.

Crewmates— the crewmates are a narative-equivalent-of-humans-species called Humana/humanae. They’re basically humans but a little to the left. Particularly in that they have very colorful eyes in any visible shade. The colour of their eyes is very important, especially in the dominant culture that we see. The colour of your eyes is your name, and while in small groups, like on a ship, going by base colour (ie. Blue, or yellow) is fine, generally, people are referred to by their “perfect shade” that is your specific colour name, (ie saffron, or crimson, or cerulean, etc). I think your colour generally dominates your dress, and is the colour of your MIRA space suit. They have a cultural idea of modesty that includes covering the face in public, generally by wearing a colorful vail, and is why no one typically takes off their helmets. Aside from the heads of the company and a few select high ranking staff and scientists, none of the Humana know that they ate fighting in a war. Mira claims, and bases all their released protocols and information on the idea, that imposters are an infective parasite, not a sentient species, and they are very careful to keep just the right about of stress and fear that no one has the incentive to look too closely at the evidence. (Yes I have picked out specific colours, to the hex code, for each of the characters)

[scrimplications]

skipper's unhinged jawa thesis (continuous wip)

aka: jawas are space mustelids, trust me bro

*slams papers on desk*

in star wars canon, all we have on jawas' biology and true appearance is "rodent-like" and "smelly", which has led some people to interpret them as naked molerats. to each their own, but i think we can take a far more fun (and cute!) line here. long post ahead!

!! THIS IS ALL MY OWN HEADCANON, FOR MY OWN ENJOYMENT, PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT "WELL ACTUALLY" OR "BUT I HAVE DIFFERENT HEADCANONS" I DON'T CARE I AM HAVING FUN !!

jawa biology

standing somewhere between three or four feet when fully grown, jawas are a small, short-lived species - their average lifespan being around sixty years. they are usually bipedal, but are highly adept at crawling, climbing, and digging.

their appearance can best be described as somewhere between a ferret and an otter, with a long torso and proportionally short limbs, double-coated fur ranging in color from tan to deep brown, beady black eyes, and a short, whiskered muzzle.

curiously, their hands and feet have four digits each, leading jawas to culturally count in base eight - the reason behind many confusions when trading. each palm and digit has a soft, sensitive paw-pad, as well as retractable claws usually used for digging or self-defense.

jawas have sharp teeth and a slightly rough tongue, well-suited for eating insects, lizards, arthropods, and small crustaceans. notably, they are highly resistant to most toxins, having evolved two livers, a unique gut biome, and a high metabolic rate which lets them eat almost anything. their gut biome, however, cannot handle fructose, as ingesting it will cause autobrewery syndrome where the sugars are converted into alcohol which can quickly cause ethanol poisoning.

unique adaptations

as a species evolved in one of the harshest climates in the galaxy, jawas have evolved many adaptations to survive.

their bones, joints, and ligaments are all highly flexible, allowing a jawa to pass through any opening as long as their skull can fit through.

their low fat reserves help keep them cool, though combined with a high metabolism it requires much more frequent intake of food - to balance this, their bodies can easily break down and process muscle tissue, making them more resistant to starvation.

jawas need very little water, as they are able to effectively store moisture beneath their skin and within muscle tissue. most of their water comes from their diet.

a jawa's skin is thick and flexible, laying loosely over bones and muscles and letting them wriggle through tight spaces and preventing piercing wounds from rough terrain, teeth, or claws.

jawas have highly photosensitive eyes, letting them see excellently in near-complete darkness but leaving them vulnerable to daylight. most jawas are also nearsighted.

with whiskers that can sense vibrations in the air, sensitive paw-pads that can sense vibrations in the ground, and a natural sense of magnetism, jawas can easily orient themselves and find their way even underground.

jawa history & culture

the species known colloquially as jawas originated on a desert planet now known as tatooine. very few outsiders know that they are native to the planet, as the jawas have their own name for it in legend and do not willingly share their culture with others.

at some point during the early spacefaring age, some jawas began hitching rides as stowaways on inter-system freighters, quickly spreading across the galaxy until they were almost as ubiquitous as humans, found in every spaceport and trading hub from coruscant to dantooine.

this group is known as the day-jawas. they left the ancestral burrows behind and became diurnal, using technology to adapt to life aboveground.

those who remained are the night-jawas, and still live the ancient way, found only in the remote areas of tatooine where practice their own force religion, known to them as the sand-song.

both day and night jawas are highly insular, with a strong sense of community and a tendency to distrust outsiders. this has led to many misunderstandings and misrepresentations, with jawas being viewed as pests by the galaxy at large, especially due to their ruthless scavenging habits.

notes on day-jawas

their sandcrawlers are constructed to mimic the complex underground burrows they came from, kept in total darkness and navigated by touch and scent. a single sandcrawler can house over two hundred jawas.

they live in loosely-organized tribes, sometimes spanning several sandcrawlers. tribes meet regularly at gathering points to discuss territory, trade, and exchange news. each tribe is led by four elders, usually women, who choose the sandcrawler's course.

jawas use mononyms, but day-jawas also include their mother's name and the name of their tribe, creating a three-part name to easily identify themselves when traveling off-world. many day-jawas choose to take work outside their tribe, but still consider themselves part of it, keeping a strong sense of community.

day-jawas speak jawa, but also developed a pidgin known as "trade talk", combining jawa with huttese, basic, and bocce. knowing trade talk is essential for bartering in the mid and outer rim.

the unpleasant smell of day-jawas comes from the necessity of wearing robes to venture out in the often scorching sun and extreme heat. the buildup of their natural musty odor can be overpowering aboard a sandcrawler.

the day-jawas' eerie, luminous yellow "eyes" are actually their goggles, which they wear to be able to see in full daylight. jawa goggles are polarized, reflecting the glare of the sun away from their sensitive eyes. usually, the goggles have sliders on the side of each lens to adjust the polarization for a variety of light levels.

day-jawas have forsaken their ancestral religion, shunning the sand-song and those born hearing it (force-sensitives). force-sensitive jawa cubs are usually left behind to die as the sandcrawler advances, making it a rarity for one to make it to the ranks of the jedi order. there have only been around a dozen jawa jedi in the recorded history of the order.

[pokemonshelterstories]

i'm a contest trainer, and i've got a ribombee, alolan raichu, and minccino who all get along really well.

theres a wild galarian ponyta that's been wandering my area, and i know it doesn't have a herd since my area doesn't typically have galarian ponyta, but we do have kantonian ponyta, who often travel in herds. im concerned since it seems like she's pretty injured, but I know ponyta can kick real hard so i don't want to freak her out when i approach.

i think she's hurt enough that i could catch her with a pokeball, but like i said, i don't want to freak her out.

i called the local rangers and the person who picked up the phone seemed really casual about this, saying that regional forms that aren't native to the area tend to die out(!?) and that its just nature taking its course(!?!?). i really want to help her because it hurts my heart to see any pokemon in pain, but is there any reason catching her would be bad? the plan probably wouldn't be to release her, since she's not a natural part of the niche here.

i have the resources to take care of her if i were to catch her, but i'm worried that she's going to upset my other pokemon. my raichu is on the smaller side (closer to 1'7") so the ponyta would become the largest pokemon in the household. would this cause a massive upset in my team?

(also i wouldn't be using her for contests, at least not until she's recovered from whatever injuries she has, so don't worry about that)

honestly, it's not unusual for us as rangers and rehabbers to let nature take its course on an injured pokemon that's still out in the wild. given that she's not a native variant, she's likely either an escapee or a released pokemon. an individual vagrant likely wont have any ecological impact, so we wouldn't need to remove her immediately. but capturing a pokemon for rehab (which we typically only do with native species/variants) or euthanasia (more likely what would happen here) takes time and resources, and it also removes resources from the natural ecosystem. if we grabbed every injured pokemon out there, things would fall apart pretty quickly! it sucks to think of a pokemon suffering, but injury and death are a normal part of life in the wild.

now, if you wanted to capture her to be your own pokemon, i don't see any issue with that in and of itself. she clearly doesn't have a social group she belongs to (i imagine some of her injuries are actually from a kantonian herd chasing her off; ponyta are a prey species and often wont tolerate a vagrant who might make them an easier target). but you're looking at a pretty tough time bringing her back to health if she is indeed healthy enough to save her, and you'd have to make sure you have access to pasture. you'd need to make sure you have the right environment to raise a ponyta in, which can be tricky if you don't already own farmland.

as far as social concerns....i don't see too many issues from your ribombee, since they're not terribly fearful and like helping injured pokemon with their pollen puffs. your minccino and raichu are more likely to be fearful of a larger pokemon, but could be slowly introduced. the main issue is that ponyta need interaction with conspecifics or at the very least pokemon that are of similar physiology/social structure to them. skiddo and mudbray are common companion pokemon outside of members of their own species. if you want to keep this ponyta, you need to be ready to also take in a buddy for her, which may be more than you're willing or able to do.

there's always the option to try and nurse her back to health with help from a vet and then rehome her as well. but at the end of the day, while i think the ranger you called should have given you a bit more of an explanation, they weren't wrong: letting this pokemon die naturally is not a bad thing to do.

[rjzimmerman]

We live in a near west suburb of Chicago (River Forest). While most (as in very big most) of our residents tend to be progressive, particularly on "cultural issues," a strong group of loud ones, mostly old loud ones, as in ancient old, love perfectly manicured lawns. Meaning: fucking leaf blower noises, gasoline-driven lawn mower noises, noise pollution, cropped lawns taking away places for insects and small critters to hide and have babies and grow, use of pesticides on the lawns to kill the evil insects, use of herbicides to kill anything green that isn't a blade of grass. Meaning: reduced supply of food for birds and reduced number of pollinators. In other words, these ancient old lawn lovers are killing our local ecosystems, and when you talk to them about it, they blame President Obama for creating the EPA. When you tell them Nixon created the EPA, they give you this dumb ass look (seriously dumb ass, that vacant look) that clearly indicates that they are ancient old and stupid. So, here at our house we do the "No Mow May" thing anyway and dare the village lawn nazis to give us a ticket for letting dandelions and other "weeds" to grow in the spring. And do other nefarious things like remove as much lawn as we can get away with each year and plant natives where that lawn used to be.

Excerpt from this EcoWatch story:

During the last weekend of January, participants in Britain’s Big Garden Birdwatch are asked to keep track of the number of each avian species they see at their location over a one-hour period. The counting and recording is usually done in gardens, but parks and other green spaces work too.

Participants in this year’s Birdwatch by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) recorded fewer sightings of starlings than ever before, raising fears about their decline.

“Starlings are one of our most charismatic garden birds, but this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch results are a reason for concern. With one in six species at risk of extinction [in] Great Britain, we’ve done more damage to our natural world than we realise. However, we can all do our bit to support these threatened birds by taking small actions that can not only benefit starlings, but a wealth of other garden wildlife,” said Beccy Speight, RSPB’s chief executive, as The Guardian reported.

The bird conservation charity urged gardeners to avoid pesticides, which reduce insect numbers and can poison birds, in addition to keeping lawn habitats wild by not mowing too often.

The house sparrow topped the list of most seen birds in the UK, with 600,000 people who participated in the annual survey having spotted them. For the first time since Birdwatch began in 1979, the starling came in fourth place, with the blue tit and wood pigeon taking second and third, respectively.

“House Sparrows are one of the UK’s most widespread birds. While they are often the most commonly spotted garden birds in Big Garden Birdwatch, unfortunately their breeding numbers have drastically declined since records began over the last 50 years,” a press release from RSPB said.

[imsobadatnicknames2]

are you aware that domestic cats have been in the UK for almost 2000 years? how can the decline of our native bird species in the last century be because of them?

if they’re a problem regardless of the time just because they’re unnatural, why don’t we see a similarly inescapable push to lock up other widespread non-natives, like sheep, brown rats, hares, or pheasants?

why can a cute picture of a grey squirrel, a recent invasive species that’s almost eradicated our red squirrels in the last 200 years, be posted online without any outcry, but an outdoor cat who’s been here 10x that long is flooded with comments about how it shouldn’t be there? why isn’t the same effort directed at videos from places like Turkey with an incredibly strong culture of free-roaming cats and dogs?

the energy would be going to other cases like these if this was a genuine cause. trying to make indoor cats a global standard is poorly thought-out, and the discussions around it are incredibly performative. it’s not exceptionalism to say the situation is different in different places, but if you even suggest that online you’ll be shredded for brownie points, hence sending this on anon

1. If there was a global culture of keeping grey squirrels as free-roaming pets all over the world introducing feral populations of them as an invasive species to every human-inhabited habitat on the planet people would focus more of their attention on grey squirrels as an invasive species. Similarly sheep, brown rats, hares and pheasants aren't normally kept as free-roaming pets all over the world the same way cats are. You don't see colonies of feral squirrels or sheep being an ecological problem in every continent on earth the same way feral cat colonies currently are, and feral rats are pretty widely considered a plague.

2. I don't see how you got this idea in your head that the practice of outdoor cats only gets backlash targeted towards it online when people in the UK do it????

[floaromaxtowns]

StS x Pokemon AU brainstorming stuff

Now I'll have to publicly share some flow of thoughts rambles, I've been accumulating for an year now.

Bless @ectogusher for listening to my rambles, and @doodlingwren for busting my door open to finally share what I got.

Excuse me as I talk in my notes as if these things were like a guide/romhack shit

All under read more bc it gets long c:

Here's the main skeleton of this whole deal-

Sanctuary = Its own region. No new fakemons, but it's a sizeable piece of land that has gathered up a wide variety of various species found across the globe. This worldwide thing also influences the type of trainers and people from all over the world going there. If we were to touch on the subject of game mechanics: There would be most of them (Mega evolutions, terastalise, Dynamax even Paradox pokemon forms) further showing how mysterious and mythical this region is.

PC - Seiya / Shoko Rivals - Seiya -> The other bronze boys / Shoko ->The other saintias

With Ikki being the Silver-esque type of rival, meanwhile Shiryu/Hyoga/Shun all follow the same line of friendly rival archetype. I still haven't thought that far on the Shoko route.

Other prominent NPCs:

Professor Shion: Former gym leader, he was once offered the champion title but refused it. Claiming that his passion was in research and studies, rather than the battlefield. Due to stepping down from battles, his friendship/relationship with Dohko has strained over time. Shion is the one who brought Mu to Sanctuary down the line.

Schoolkid Kiki: Catching Tutorial NPC. He can be usually found at the Pokemon School in Mu's city. He will inherit Mu's mantle down the line. The pokemon he uses in the tutorial is a Noibat;

League Chairwoman Saori Kido - With Julien Solo and Hades coming in as other seemingly "investors" on the project

Gym leaders: Most of these guys' aces aren't fully evolved, bc they chose to keep them like that. Yadda yadda friendship boosting their favorites.

Mu: Sinnoh - Dragon - Dragonair

Aldebaran: Hoenn - Ground - Rhydon

Saga/Kanon: Alola - Water - Gyarados (Saga)/Kingdra (Kanon)

Deathmask: Kalos - Dark - Murkrow

Aiolia: Sanctuary (native) - Electric - Electabuzz

Shaka: Kanto - Psychic - Alakazam

Dohko: Johto - Fighting - Mienshao

Milo: Unova - Bug - Volcarona

Elite fours:

Aiolos: Sanctuary - Fire - Charizard

Shura: Galar - Steel - Metagross

Camus: Sinnoh - Ice - ? (Either Froslass or Glaceon)

Aphrodite: Paldea - Poison - Roserade

Champion - ??? (the plot twist is that: the PC wouldn't fight the 3rd gym leader, bc Saga was pretending to be the champion. When he really wasn't chosen or appointed to that position)

Evil organisations: They definetely do exist, and they are obviously tied to the aforementioned Julien and Hades figures. But I still haven't thought that far.

Worldbuilding notes:

Muvians are similar to draconids (introduced in ORAS), a small tribe that originates from Sinnoh and has some deep connections and bonds to dragon types. Which means, any muvian = dragon type specialist or in the very least owns one. Muvians are also meant to have a foot in aura sensitivity (see characters like Lucario, Riley, etc.);

Sanctuary's League has a rampant corruption problem, as seen by what I mentioned about Saga. The two evil organisations are basically being pitched against one another, as smokescreen for the real problem. Their current champ is this sort of "elusive" figure. There hasn't been a proper champion in a long time. And yet, according to paperwork and the system, it states that the role is currently filled by someone. Anyone that isn't tied to Saga's schemes is left in the shadows, even those that allegedly should be the closest to him (Aiolos for SURE has no clue of what's going on. He's probably hiding or declared missing in action during the events, and only shows up when the time comes to challenge the E4).

There's a small timeline:

ND folks (a good few years into the past) -> Classic folks -> Omega folks (+20 years into the future)

In ND's setting we see how odd and hapharzadly the League was instated in the region. Which sets up the perfect grounds for Saga to exploit down the line;

Shion and Dohko are recently turned gym leader here. Mu comes onto the picture a good few years after ND's events; In a way, since Tenma would be the PC here and Alone his rival. It could be the Red vs Blue type of ordeal.

In Omega we'd see how the League is trying to remedy its reputation & amend for Saga's schemes, with an entirely new set of gym leaders and League members. + Former league members can still be found and fought in the post game, Silver/Gold style.

Individual notes:

Mu - Obligatory pokemon Aldemu food

Mu used to own a Gible and Alde once owned a Trapinch, at some point they traded pokemon. So now, Alde has a Garchomp in his personal team and Mu has a Flygon;

Mu's battle team against young trainers has a Swablu, which is used as a messenger to carry mail exchanges between him and Alde;

Mu LOVES pokemon dolls and has a huge collection of it. In the post-game: PC can find Mu and Alde on a date at the region's big mall, with them looking at a shop's display window. Mu gets mad at PC for ruining his date, but would give out his pokegear number;

Aldebaran -

Aldebaran gym's city is also where the pokemon day-care can be found. He may not run it, but he often helps out the elderly couple currently in charge of it;

In the post-game: After adding Mu's re-match call number. Alde can ba found on the route between his and Mu's towns, he was on his way to take a meal for him, and he also shares with PC that they bought the doll in the end

Saga/Kanon -

PC doesn't really get to fight for the 3rd gym badge. Rather, it's simply handed out by Kanon, who approaches them to talk about how the leader hasn't been seen in so long;

Saga's "fall from grace" comes from a humiliating match against Aiolos, originally fighting for the E4 member promotion which he lost. Despite the clear type advantage;

It's left implied that these two were meant to be gym leaders, the matches would have been double battles.

Deathmask -

DM gym's city houses a Game corner (Casino) and a contest hall. First sighting of an E4 member is Aphrodite, who introduces PC to them;

DM is a sore loser AND has no qualms with cheating against his challengers, if it means he gets to maintain his "streak". In the battle against PC he would use an overleveled Crawdaunt;

In the post-game: PC will get a hint from Shaka's radio talkshow mentioning DM's whereabouts, in the city's underground game corner;

DM's strength is everything philosophy = DM's entire personal team consists of very strong dark types with some form of 4x weakness;

DM is well in kahoots with Saga's schemes;

Aiolia - TBA I haven't thought anything for him c':

Shaka -

Shaka gym's city is meant to be the largest and the most advanced one (Saffron and Goldenrod cities style), it has the region's largest shop for expensive and important items. It also has a radio tower, which broadcasts various programs (professor talk, loterry ticket, poke flute, etc), Shaka hosts a talk show where he commentates on PC's progress, all while actively putting down/poking fun at his defeated colleagues. Under specific time slots, he will have a guest join him, which will be an exchange between the various league's members. But the most important one is where he will be joined by the region's "champion";

Shaka is a fan-favorite across several trainers in the region, with many NPCs commentating how much they love tuning in to hear him talk & so on;

Shaka is also well known for his psychci prowess (Sabrina style);

Shaka is also deeply involved in Saga's schemes;

Dohko -

Dohko gym's city also houses the pokéathlon. With Dohko going undefeated in all the challenges, until PC comes along;

Post-game: to get Dohko's number for rematches. PC has to visit Shion after obtaining a certain number of species then, take a mail key item to Dohko. And THEN they get Dohko's number. it's a love letter, an invitation for some tea at noon

Milo - TBA I haven't thought anything for him c':

And "unfortunately", that's all I got x)

I suppose this is a lot better than trying to find all my notes scattered around all over the place. Hope it makes sense or that in the very least, it's fun to read through.

RN I focused on the classic folks bc it's the one I've been working and thinking of for the longest time.

[wanderingskemetic]

⚔️Subtle Anat Worship🏹

Greatly inspired by @khaire-traveler's wonderful subtle worship series, which can be found here.

Learn self-defence, weapons included or not

Work on becoming more comfortable with the idea of conflict; it is only natural that we sometimes disagree with people

Learn about and uphold Ma'at

Make a playlist or listen to songs that remind you of her or you think she'd like

Make a collage/moodboard/pinterest board/similar collection of photos and images you associate with her, especially if some of the images are your own

Wear a piece of jewelry or other clothing item that reminds you of her

Light a candle or incense that reminds you of her (safely)

Carry a picture of her in your wallet, pocket, phone case, etc. or as a phone or computer wallpaper

Have spear, shield, weapon, cow, or eagle imagery

Do something hard or challenging, especially if you've been putting it off, or it needs to get done

Make a list of your personal strengths and things you're proud of

Exercise a little, even if it's just stretching

Play combat-based video games

Practice standing up for yourself; speak your mind and assert your personal boundaries

Allow yourself to express your anger and frustration; sit with and feel your feelings

Carry a protective charm

Writing letters (that you will never send) to people who've hurt you and burning them

Stand up for family members blood or otherwise and other people you care about (keep in mind they might be in the wrong)

Get more comfortable with the idea that we don't get along with everyone; it's ok if someone doesn't like you

Stand up for what you believe in; attend protests or activism events (be safe, please)

Allow yourself to mourn over difficult changes or the end of relationships; allow yourself to miss people

Learn about healthy conflict resolution skills; try to implement these in your next conflict

Find ways to express yourself, even if it's small

Learn archery

Spend time out in nature (e.g. go on a hike, take a walk outside, visit a nature preserve, etc.)

Befriending neighborhood animals, such as cats, birds, or dogs; leaving food out for them

Learn about plants and animals, especially those that are native to your area or the areas she was worshiped

Learning how to safely forage for food, such as picking berries or mushrooms

Eat in season produce; support local farmers

Learn about local invasive species, plants or otherwise; get rid of any invasive plants you see, if safe to do so

Do things to help local wildlife like hanging up suet feeders, building bat boxes, etc.

Take care of your body physically to the best of your ability (shower, eat well, get a good amount of sleep, etc.)

Take your medications, if any; take medications as needed

Take care of a sick loved one or someone who is having a hard time

Learn about/research health conditions that you or your loved ones have; get a better understanding of these things

Clean anything you regularly interact with

Look into healthy coping skills for any anxiety, depression, trauma, etc. - anything that can improve your mental/emotional well-being

Learn about your healthcare options and medical rights (HIPPA in the US)

Donate blood

Set boundaries for yourself; I'll only give this much support to that person, I won't stay on my phone for hours before bed, I won't engage with this media that always upsets me, etc.

Although I am coming to this from a kemetic perspective, I have tried my best to research her so that this list is reflective of the many different places she was worshiped in and should hopefully be useful for those who worship her outside a kemetic context.

I may add more to this list in the future. Suggestions are always appreciated.

Link to the Kemetic Subtle Worship Masterpost

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

Like Real People Do

Pairing: Logan Howlett x Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: necromancy kind of.

Genre: kinda fluff idk really

Summary: "Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips // We should just kiss like real people do" ~ Like Real People Do by Hozier

A/N: I was listening to this song and remembered that it was about a bog body falling in love with a woman that finds him and I thought 'this would work great with the deadpool & wolverine plot of Wolverine being dead' and now here we are

***

You trudge deeper into the forest, the bag you're carrying feels like it's getting heavier with each step, but you have to put this to bed once and for all and this is the only way to do it. Eventually you find a spot that feels right and you drop the bag off to the side, gripping your shovel tightly and pushing it into the solid ground. Those first couple of scoops are harder than the rest, the dirt beneath the topsoil moist and much more pliable. You dig and dig and dig until finally, after what feels like forever you think you're just about deep enough. One more push of your shovel and- you hit something. You hit something that makes a clink, like metal on metal. You frown in confusion. Metal? What did you hit? You wonder if it wouldn't be better to simply deposit the bag and forget about the mysterious clink sound but you can't help yourself. You have to know what on earth this deep in the ground is making that noise. You drop your shovel and switch to your hands, carefully moving the dirt around to uncover whatever it is you've stumbled upon. It's cold, duh- metal untouched under cold dirt would be, there's also a lot of it. The more you uncover the more there seems to be, a bunch of long metal pieces all laid out strangely. It's not until you've uncovered most of it that you realize it's a skeleton, or a model of a skeleton? It's made of metal which- skeletons are not, it also has claws attached to the joints in the hand, which humans usually do not have either. Who buries a model skeleton of something almost human? Who makes a metal model skeleton? You should leave it here. Whatever it is it has nothing to do with you, but you can't help yourself, you carefully take the skeleton out of its hole, keeping it intact takes great effort but you manage, propping it up against a tree as you finish what you came here for. You dump the contents of the bag you dragged out here into the hole, and then drop the bag, shoveling the dirt back over it as quickly as you can. Just before you shovel the last foot, you throw several plants into the dirt, something endangered along with several native species, and then you cover the hole all the way, packing the dirt as best you can. Once that's done, you turn to your model skeleton. It'll be kind of difficult to carry it out of here you imagine, but you just have to get it to your car, and there's pretty much no chance of you running into anyone out here at this time. So, you hoist the man-o-metal up, drape a humerus over your shoulder and drag the skeletal structure back the way you came. Going back feels shorter than getting there which is something you won't complain about and as you fold the skeleton into your backseat you mutter to yourself.

"I don't even know what I'm gonna do with you honestly. Are you a decor item or something?" You ask as if the thing will talk back to you. You silently drive home, music from your car speakers quietly filling the space. Each time you look in your mirror the skeleton spooks you, the whole way home. You decide when you get home that your decorative skeleton will go in your workshop. It'll add to the spooky vibe you like to bring to the space. At last, you can officially say you've buttoned up that business, those secrets left for dead buried deep in that forest.

~

You hear shuffling coming from your studio and your body tenses at the sound. You quickly and quietly grab your baseball bat from your closet before heading downstairs to find the source of the noise you're hearing. You sneak down and at the sight of movement, you swing the bat hard at the large figure in your basement workshop.

"Ouch!" The figure grunts and you flip on the lights.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?!" You yell.

"Who are you?" He frowns.

"Who am I?! Dude you're in my house!"

"And I shouldn't be." He says as if he's unsure.

"Of course not! How did you even get in here?!" You ask clutching your bat tightly.

"I'm not sure- I thought I was dead." His eyes narrow and he looks down at himself, confused.

"I'm sorry what?" You blink at him.

"Yeah no I was definitely dead. I distinctly remember dying. It's my last memory. Until- you dug me up."

"Dug you- wait a second the skeleton from the forest?!"

"What did you do?"

"What did I- nothing! I dug up a skeleton, stuck it in the car, brought it home and shoved it in my workshop and haven't touched it since! I had no idea it came from an actual person!"

"You found a fully intact skeleton buried in the earth, what could it possibly be?" Logan frowns.

"Hello! I don't know if you were aware of this mister whoever or- whatever you are but the average human skeleton isn't made of metal and equipped with claws the size of KATANAS! I thought it was some kind of Halloween decor or something!" You yell. This is insane, how did a metal skeleton become a living breathing person- maybe person.

"Halloween decor? Buried 8 feet underground?" He looks at you blankly.

"Unmarked! There was no headstone, no personal items, nothing to indicate it was anything more than some forgotten trinket!"You say.

"That's ridiculous." He shakes his head.

"Ridiculous is the strange humanoid that's appeared in my house from APPARENTLY the dead?!"

"Well what did you do to bring me back?" He asks.

"I didn't do ANYTHING I told you." You scoff.

"But this doesn't make any sense, if my regenerative abilities were gonna kick in that would've happened way earlier than now." He looks at his hands with confusion clear on his face.

"Regenerative- what ARE you!? Who are you!?"

"Logan." He says.

"I can't believe digging up a skeleton has made a man basically appear in my house." You shake your head.

"What were you even doing undigging graves anyhow?" Logan asks.

"That's not what I was doing." You say.

"What were you doing?"

"I can't tell you." You shake your head.

"But-"

"Trust me. Drop it." You cut him off.

"So- now what?" He asks.

"Do you have friends? Family? Someone I can turn you over to?" You ask.

"I- I don't remember." He frowns.

"You don't remember?" You narrow your eyes in confusion.

"I know that I died, and I remember you, and that's about it." He says.

"But you didn't know me, you don't know me."

"No I- I remember you unburying me."

"So you have no idea where you belong or who you know?" You frown.

"I- guess not." Logan says.

"Well what am I supposed to do with you then?!" You ask.

"I- I don't know." Logan says.

"Logan-"

"You are very pretty."

"W-what?" You blink at him.

"You're pretty." He shrugs.

"Uh- thank you." You frown.

"I wanna kiss you."

"Excuse me?" You gasp.

"I just- I have no memories and no solution to any of this but all I can think of is how nice it would be to kiss you." He sighs.

"Well- I also have no solution to any of this and while my memories are intact they will not help us with your situation so... okay. I guess." You step closer to him.

"I can kiss you?" He asks also moving towards you.

"Just once." You say. Logan gently cups your cheek and leans down, gently slotting his lips against yours. His lips are- not as rough as you'd expect, and they're very warm. The kiss is soft and easy, like he's not in any rush, but honestly with the whole lost memory thing you guess he really can't be in a rush.

"You taste sweet." He says when you finally pull away. "I wanna kiss you again."

"No way." You step back.

"Why? Did you not like it?"

"No that's not- wait that doesn't matter at all." You shake your head.

"I think it does." He nods.

"Logan you were a prop skeleton in my workshop for almost 2 weeks, memories or no you have to realize how strange this all is."

"Yeah- I guess it is a little odd."

"A lot. Take it back. We need a plan. We need- a minute to figure out what's going on here."

"Alright- can we leave the basement then?" Logan asks. You tilt your head at him.

"Yeah sure. We can leave the basement."  You say.

You have no idea what you're going to do with a skeleton come to life, or back to life? Whatever, you have no idea what you're going to do with him, but it seems that, at least for now, you're kind of stuck with him, although- you're not so sure that's a bad thing when you think about it.

***

[rogers-attic]

everything we know about rogers past, family, and home planet

has an uncle named rizbo who owns a gas station and rog briefly worked there

space gas stations w/ space gas

have high schools, yearbooks, senior photos w/ quotes

high school lacrosse teams. rog was team caption for 2 yrs in a row

had aunt named caroline

crashed on earth in 1800s from recklessly playing w/ nerf football in aunt carolines ship

wearing disguises forever

ate dad @ 15 y/o

keeps him in smiths freezer/eats on his bday

his mom has arthritis and can't use skype

mothership is a shopping mall

has a native language

speaks and understands english very well

species have human name

he can fly ships

there is zero booze there and sex is consensual (but theres a bar in "lost in space")

cultural wear? space clothing? clothing may be common

has a nephew & possible sibling(s)

develop tumors when stressed that grow into living beings

had alien baby w/ betsy white

is the roswell alien and crashed here on earth in 1947

met stan @ area 51

was gift to steve

became part of smith fam 4 yrs before show and stan took a while to get used to him

was @ ground zero post 9/11 selling shirts

planet cold and snowy. ice skating is popular

live up to 12000 y/o. rog currently has 9000 yrs left

needs to be mean or he will die

is gray species

unknown planet name

probing ritual in friendships to bond them for life/learn everything abt them

planet has round & pointy ships

worked as greeter at/have walmart like stores

have colleges but are hard to get into

multirace species?

have bdays

betrayed an alien partner in his adolescent years

they use money

was sent here to collect human ailments

their emperor was cheated on by him which made him think love wasn't real and then turned the ship into a mall to cope

dad's name is fred

dad left him when he was only 4000 y/o

told he was "the decider"

auditioned for play in 80s as a little girl w/ monotone voice

persona "mc raw g" was w/ biggie smalls on his fateful night

[vodika-vibes]

would it be okay if i request something from the gentle care please? i was thinking "It's okay if you fall asleep." with shaak ti where the reader (gn please) is their padawan?

A Mother's Love

Summary: Master Shaak is the best Master you could have asked for. She’s so kind and so patient, and you want to be just like her when you grow up. But that’s still ages away.

Characters: Master Shaak Ti, Jedi Padawan! GN Reader

Word Count: 1070

Warnings: None

A/N: So, ngl, this almost ended up as an Order 66 fic, where Shaak is telling her padawan that it's okay to fall asleep after they were shot bt a clone, but that's a level of sadness I'm not prepared for today, so you get this instead.

Click HERE to join my taglist

You’re fairly certain that the planet you’re on is nothing but forest. And you’d think it was pretty, if not for the fact that you’ve been sneezing almost nonstop since landing nearly an hour ago.

At this point your nose is running, your eyes are watering, and your throat hurts.

All in all, you are a very miserable Padawan.

Another violent sneeze nearly sends you toppling backward, and it’s only your Master’s gentle touch on your shoulder that keeps you on your feet. You blink up at her through watery eyes, and she smiles kindly at you as she crouches so she’s closer to your level.

Gentle, yet calloused, fingers wipe a tear off your cheek. “You’re not having a good time at all, are you?”

“‘M sorry, Master,” You say as you wipe your nose with the sleeve of your robe.

“Nonsense, we had no way to know that you were going to be so allergic to those flowers,” She pulls a handkerchief from inside her robe and uses it to wipe your eyes, “It’s hardly your fault.”

“But I’m slowing us down,”

“Oh, my little one,” Master Shaak draws you closer and smooths her hand down your head, lightly moving your tiny padawan braid back behind your ear, “This is not a life or death mission, we’re just here to collect some data from the researchers who live here.” Her smile is kind, “We don’t send 10-year-olds on dangerous missions,”

Oh. That makes sense.

Master Shaak scans your face for a moment, and you can feel her gentle force-touch wash through your body. Someday you’re going to learn how to do that too, but you can’t do it yet.

“Hm, the reaction is getting worse,” She murmurs, “Your eyes are starting to swell. I bet it’s getting hard to see, isn’t it?”

You sneeze three times into your sleeve, “Yes, Master,” You reply, miserably.

“How’s your breathing?”

“It’s fine.”

“Alright, you must let me know if that changes,”

“Yes, Master.”

Master Shaak scoops you into her arms, and continues walking, “We’ll be at the camp shortly, Padawan. I’m sure they’ll have something to help you.” 

True to her words, less than fifteen minutes later she steps into a camp.

It’s not like any camp you’ve ever seen before. You expected canvas tents, or maybe a mobile home that wealthy people own, but this looks more like a temporary village than anything else.

A series of violent sneezes draws attention toward you and your Master, and you utter a miserable apology as a researcher hurries over to the pair of you. 

The man, a twi’lek wearing a stark white lab coat, takes a long look at you and nods, “Your Padawan appears to be allergic to the native flora, Master Jedi. We should have sent warning.”

“A warning?” Master Shaak asks as she lowers you back to the ground and hands you another cloth to wipe your eyes with.

“We’ve determined that human-based species have a 75% chance of having an allergic reaction to the native plants.”

Master Shaak’s eyes narrow, “And when was this determined?”

The Researcher has the grace to look ashamed, “A month ago, Master Jedi.”

You feel your Master release her annoyance into the force, and she sets her hand on your head, “Well, there’s nothing to be done for it now,” She says, her voice a little colder, “Is there someplace where my Padawan and I can wash the pollen off?”

“Yes, of course!” He gestures to a white building near the edge of the camp, “The showers are there. And I’ll get a dose of allergy medicine for the child.” He pauses, “And a mask.”

He hurries off as quickly as he can and Master Shaak guides you to the showers. She claims two showers near the end of the line, allowing you to take the one furthest from the entrance.

“Make sure you take your braid out as well,” She reminds you before she steps into her shower, “I’ll rebraid it later tonight.”

“Yes, Master,”

You step into the stall and look around. It’s decently sized, with an area separate from the actual shower. A place for you to store your clothes, you figure. There’s also a clean towel sitting folded on the bench, and a basket with shampoo, conditioner, and body soap.

By the time you finish showering, rush a brush through your hair, and pull on the clothes that haven’t been covered in pollen, Master Shaak has already finished and is waiting for you in the hall.

Everything is still a little blurry since your eyes are still swollen, but the sneezing has finally stopped. Master Shaak’s hand brushes over the top of your head, “I have some allergy medicine for you,” She says lightly, “It’s a liquid, so you don’t have to swallow a pill. I know that’s hard for you.”

She hands you a small cup and you scrunch up your nose but take the dose of medicine. The taste is foul enough that you shudder and you hear your Master laugh softly.

“Everyone is waiting for us around the campfire,” She continues, once she’s sure that you took all of the medicine, “Seems that that’s how they like to share their research at the end of the day.”

“So we’re staying for longer?”

“I’m afraid so,” Her hand moves to the back of your head, and she guides you out of the shower and over to the campfire.

Gracefully, she folds herself so she’s kneeling on a thick blanket on the ground, while you, much less gracefully, drop next to her, trying to mimic how she’s sitting.

You don’t quite pull it off, but warmth and pride radiate from her down your training bond.

As the adults around you start talking, you feel your eyelids grow heavy. You guess that the allergy medicine wasn’t non-drowsy.

You try to fight the sleepiness as much as you can, but it doesn’t take long before Master Shaak’s hand is resting on the top of your head. “It’s okay if you fall asleep,” She reassures you in a soft voice.And, slowly, she guides you so that your head is resting on her lap. She gently rubs your back while pushing warmth and comfort through your training bond, and you quickly sink into slumber, secure in the knowledge that none will harm you so long as Master Shaak is standing watch.

@imabeautifulbutterfly

@n0vqni

@bad4amficideas

@justiceandwar98

@mira-loves-star-wars

@tiredbi-peach

@dukeoftheblackstar

@trixie2023

@kimiheartblade

@padawancat97

@falconfeather23435

@etod

@bb8-99

@kiss-anon

@continous-mistakes

@yoitsjay

@liz-stat

@cc--2224

@adriennelenoir

@cdblake1565

@sweater-sloot

@heidnspeak

@wax-birds

@silly-starfish

@lonewolflupe

@maniacalbooper

[alligator-with-a-top-hat]

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond theory crafting

So. New Prime 4 trailer (hooray). We now have two trailers under our belt, and while neither gives much away, they got me wondering about the arc of the plot. So with what little we know, I'd like to make a guess at what we'll be seeing, and what connects planet Viewros to Samus and Sylux. Theory under the cut.

In the first trailer, Samus discovers that Sylux, the mystery bounth hunter from Hunters, who made significant cameos in Corruption and Federation Force, with a force of Metroids (though as many commentators have pointed out, the single nucleus means it may be a Mochtroid, a failed Metroid clone first seen in Super.

(While I'll be covering quite a few elements from the trailer, I'm only including pictures for ones where visual elements are relevant to my theory.)

In the second trailer, Samus is transported to the planet Viewros in a burst of light. Viewros is home to the ruins of an alien people called the Lamorn, one of which we see later in the trailer. These Lamorn greatly resemble the Luminoth from Echoes, though this is not so relevant for my purposes. They have tentacled heads with visible brains, resembling the Metroid Prime.

We also see a tentacled alien with a green membrane which are hostile to Samus. They somewhat resemble the Reptilicus from Corruption, which IS slightly relevant for this theory.

(I think they're called the Acort or The Cohort, but it's hard to tell with the way the narrator delivers the line. Banger character design though.)

Metroid-like green membranes keep popping up as the trailer goes on. The trailer quickly shows several boss enemies (including what surprisingly seems to be an Omega Pirate from Prime 1.) A shot of a Metroid is immediately followed by a large organ that looks like a Metroid larva opening like a giant eye.

We also get to see a Flaahgra-esque giant plant attacking Samus, with its weak spot being a green membrane, though I admit it's not totally clear with the video quality.

Why do so many life forms of Viewros look like Metroids? Good question. Before we can get to that, I need to get to the second important part of this theory.

Much of the discussion around Beyond after the first trailer came out assumed that time travel would be involved. I wasn't convinced due to a lack of information, and the evidence is still scanty, but here's why it might be so:

The title "Beyond" could evoke jumping through time.

Samus is transported to Viewros through what seems to be a portal. This bit of evidence is the most common one I've seen, but Samus has been through strictly space-crossing portals in past games, so this isn't a clincher by any means.

The game's logo resembles a black hole, which in real life bend spacetime around them due to their incredible mass.

4. If it really is the same Omega Pirate (or the Phazon Elite, a similar looking boss from Prime 1), which was killed on Tallon IV, then it's possible the encounter takes place in the series' past. This is the strongest evidence so far, tenuous as it is.

So we have a planet of creatures that resemble Metroids, and the possibility of time travel in the plot. Let these elements coalesce into a proper theory.

Sylux, in the game's opening, attacks with an army of Metroids. Samus confronts them and their Space Pirate allies. Somehow, Sylux pulls out the stops and shoots Samus through time. Not into the past, but into the far future.

In the aftermath of Sylux's attack, Metroids overrun the Federation base and, soon, the planet, wiping out all native life. But with endless years, the Metroids, which have already been demonstrated as being incredibly adaptable to their environment, turn on each other and diversify into difficult niches. The final result is a planet whose entire ecosystem is dominated by evolutionary offshoots of the Metroid species.

The Acort/Cohort and Lamorn's resemblance to Metroids is because they descended from them. In particular, the Lamorn's resemblance to the most intelligent Metroid ever seen, Metroid Prime, speaks to a past as Prime-like life forms. However, something happened to the Lamorn that caused them to become the violent Acort/Cohort, similar to what Phazon corruption did to the Reptilicus of Bryyo.

Samus is recruited (or 'Chosen', as the ethereal life form in the trailer puts it) by the last Lamorn to save her planet. But if Samus returns to her time to defeat Sylux and save the inhabitants of the planet, she will erase the beautiful world that Viewros becomes.

Can she do it? Will she do? Is this on the mark even a little? We will see. But the series is no stranger to ethical dilemmas. These are my thoughts. So let's wait and see.

[starcurtain]

Also from like a sociology pov like unlike our world the aeons are actual provable reality like there is proof gods exist so the concept that religions exist outside of that like with the avgin is so interesting?? Especially bc the aeons form by ascension but it's not through like. Human belief necessarily?? So gods ALSO exist? Alongside aeons? Also like the way the xianxhou's concept of "omg life species" is literally "cannot be killed" and not "lives for a long time" bc their "short life species" can live for insanely long amounts of time (like qq said only 400 years or soemthing like she was young) but also also considering that like the xianzhou doesn't have an orbital path like what even is their measure of "year" yknow like belabog DOES have (presumably) planetary rotation of some kind bc they have day/night cycles but do they have moons?? Penacony is perpetually floating in some kind of memory sea which is insane on a whole other level but like do native oenaconians have some kind of evolutionary advantage bc when you think about it if the entry into the dreamscape is through the dream pools it doesn't explain how the people of dreamflux entered unless they're somehow evolved to being able to do that but also how long ago was that bc it's implied that their actual bodies are probably too deteriorated to function in the real world at some point idr if you die in real life while dreaming in Penacony do you just get stuck there?? If memory can mix with reality the way it's implied in the second part of Penacony does that mean that a lot of people are actually just afterimages of who they used to be? Not to mention when we join the express march says we no longer need to eat and rest as much bc the trailblaze allows us to keep moving on or whatever so it fundamentally alters physiology to become a pathstrider?? Sorry for the uh babble I'm very sleep deprived but it's genuinely so interesting to think of the worldbuilding aah

It literally eats me up that Imbibitor Lunae is the "moon drinker" and they talk all about watching the moon while drinking their baijiu because I'm like "Why does Xianzhou Luofu even have a moon? Where are they getting a moon from? The moon is FAKE?!" 😂

You are asking all the real questions here!

It's so funny how much there is to think about when you really start applying the logic to it, and some stuff makes perfect sense but other stuff really doesn't.

I'm constantly falling down rabbit holes thinking about these things.

There's so much to chew on; I know the game can never get into all these tiny details but I honestly wish sometimes we'd just get some breather events that really focus on nothing but the worldbuilding elements to satisfy the sci-fi itch in my brain.

I guess we fans will just have to do the work ourselves!!