#widow's peak culture

[fairweathermyth]

CLOCKWATCHERS dir. Jill Sprecher, 1997

[hey-its-sybarite]

1. Why is Donald Trump talking about Hannibal Lecter?

2. Why does Donald Trump think Hannibal Lecter is dead?

3. Is the fact that Donald Trump seems fond of Hannibal Lecter the most human thing about him?

Liking Hannibal Lecter is relatable. Thinking he’s dead kind of implies Trump believes he was once alive and therefore real. Which is unhinged.

The Lithuanian Count Hannibal “the cannibal” Lecter is the LEAST believable fictional character EVER. Glowing maroon eyes? Widows peak? RAREST form of polydactyly on his LEFT hand? Rich and cultured. Gifted artist, composer, musician, chef, surgeon, psychiatrist, MURDERER and polyglot? Does complex equations? Eats the rude? So perceptive he comes across as a mind reader? THAT GUY? Trump thinks THAT GUY was REAL??? Hannibal is so deliberately gothic main character he is inconceivable as a real person. I, for one, would like to cut to a live Thomas Harris reaction. Whatever the writer’s intention, it could never have been this.

[werecreature-addicted]

Would the sparkling vampires have been reacted to differently if written by a better author? Possibly

I feel like the main reason (imo) for why the sparkling is hated on so much though is that the reveal of it just feels so ridiculous. Like edward claiming he’s a monster or whatever and then proceeds to reveal his shimmery 6 pack is….unconvincing at best

og tags on this post for anyone who hasn't seen it

Excellent question anon. If you think about it there are a lot of silly things we associate with vampires.

Exhibit A: the classic widow's peak black hair and dramatic cape

look at it with fresh eyes and imagine seeing this for the first time, goofy. silly even. but this style of vampire was iconized by Bella Ligosi's performance as Dracula in Dracula 1931 which is of course very good and a staple in vampire cannon as well as just culture in general. It's good and it's old which lends it an air of authority. whereas Twilight is new(ish) and bad so it's artistic changes and creative choices are fighting an uphill battle already, add in the fact that Vampires Sparkling is a little ridiculous and you can see why so many people dismiss Twilight's vampires outright.

This post is so long continued under the cut

Now I am a Twilight fan and I think Twilight is very bad in a lot of ways, the two ideas are not mutually exclusive. Twilight however is a fascinating case study in cultural knowledge and mythos. Stephanie Meyer informally did very little research about Vampire Cannon, if you can call it that, before writing Twilight (link to an interview where she mentions it) so instead of being carefully constructed world-building based on hard rules and strict internal logic, the vampires are kind of loosely defined shadows based on the broadest understanding of what a vampire is. They're dead, they drink blood, they don't go out in sunlight. Some other popular vampire staples go addressed but dismissed as myth (garlic and having no reflection) but then things like The vampires in Twilight don't have fangs and have weird additional supper powers sometimes go just completely taken for granted and not really expanded upon in a satisfying way.

This style of world-building and magic system has a tendency to chafe against readers who have a more in-depth context for vampires and Meyre's more simplistic writing style makes the text come off as juvenile and perhaps a little dumb.

All this to say the sparkling vampires are not handled super well. It is a very large jump from what most readers would expect to see from a vampire story and it is handled inconsistently at best in the text itself. Meyer describes the vampires in the sun both as A beautiful glittering like that of a diamond, and a reflection of light so intense that it looks like the vampire is being burned alive in the sun.

these two conflicting descriptions coupled with the again simplistic and juvenile writing style makes it seem more like a mistake you should roll your eyes at rather than an intentional complexity to read into. I'd argue that Bella sees this inhumanity as beautiful and alluring while Edward sees it as a curse and a reminder of his monstrous nature and therefore disgusting. That being said I don't fault anyone for not wanting to read that deeply into the vampire glittering and instead see it as the author trying to have her cake and eat it too, something Meyers does frequently throughout even just the first Twilight novel.

Not even to mention the movies.

Exhibit B: this is the skin of a killer Bella.

This is prima facie hilarious and stupid. the juxtaposition of the soft glittering effect and the chiming sound in this scene coupled with the seemingly unwarranted disgust is so fucking funny. which is not the tone this scene is going for. it's supposed to be tense, it comes off as corny instead.

Then there is the hate mob that dominated Twilight discourse when it first came out. I will not get into how much of that hate was warranted, what I'm interested in is how much of a cultural impact it had. There was, at least in the beginning, a large group of people who hated Twilight and would hate anything that came from it simply because it came from Twilight. These people grabbed onto the sparkly vampire thing and made it what it is today, these people were never going to be won over by any artistic liberty no matter what.

So to answer your question, I think that if a writer with a more in-depth understanding of vampires and a clearer vision of the magic system wrote Twilight with a more mature tone and more time given to expanding on just the vampire's powers and limitations, and the movies followed these hypothetical books more closely AND if there was never an anti-Twilight coultral movement. then yeah maybe Vampires sparkling wouldn't be seen as the dumbest shit ever.

thank you for coming to my Twilight Ted talk.

[wanderingswampbeast]

Long Post: Why I Don’t Like The Drow

I’ve been ranting about this to a friend on discord (a lot of points I make will come from him) but I’ve finally figured out what my issue with the drow is outside of inherently evil groups being dumb.

The drow are boring. Drow lore is less of a dive into a unique culture and more of a list of fucked up things they do. Like, I cannot name a single interesting aspect of typical drow society that does not directly involve murder, sexism, or slavery, or Lolth. And even then, most of those things are written about in an incredibly bland fashion with them.

The Drow don’t really have much depth to them, and are just kind of evil for evil’s sake (or “because Lolth said so”). They do slavery, but the only real purpose of doing slavery for them is “because Lolth said so”. It isn’t for cheap labor, it’s to be more evil. They betray each other purely because that’s what evil people do. They’re misandrist, not for any real societal reason, but because Lolth hates men. There’s none of what would make slavery an interesting topic or story element, no justification for why they should be allowed to commit one of the worst injustices possible, no real economic reason for it. They just do it because Lolth says they should, and from a writing perspective it hammers home the fact that they’re evil. They aren’t evil because they enslave and murder, they enslave and murder because they’re evil, if that makes any sense.

Them being written as comically evil as they are also hurts them from a worldbuilding perspective. They’re so reliant on slaves for menial labor that the lower class of their society struggle to get jobs. Drow culture so obsessed with betrayal and dumbass house wars that even when actively under attack from the outside they sabotage each other. They’re so decadent that their buildings are held up with magic and semi regularly collapse when a spell fails. To put it bluntly, drow society feels like one that should have collapsed in a few centuries, which, funnily enough, is way longer than D&D elves live.

Their culture being so monolithic also makes writing anything about them difficult. Every drow antagonist is going to have near identical motivations, methods, and ideologies as every other drow antagonist. Every drow protagonist is going to ultimately feel very similar to Drizzt, because leaving their fucked up society to become a do-gooder is such a common backstory element that they added a whole extra god just for doing that. In fact, you can divide 90% of drow characters from any official materials into these categories:

Manservant

Ambitious male, usually a wizard (5 bucks says he has long hair and a widow’s peak)

Dommy Mommy Warcrime Woman

Drizzt Do’Urden or one of his many duplicates

Self-loathing and/or resentful Drider

And finally, their existence almost purely to be humanoid enemies you can fight at nearly any levels is just kind of lazy. This is a problem that I have with the “evil races” of a lot of fantasy but having a group that’s evil by birth just feels like an excuse to not have to write actual motivations for your antagonists. It’s the difference between “go attack this camp of soldiers because they’re part of the SkullMurder army and their general wants to use our land to build a dread fortress” vs “go attack this camp of soldiers specifically because they’re drow/goblins/orcs/the dreaded peepee-poopoo folk”. Using stuff like this just feels like an excuse to not have to write an actual antagonist since it comes pre-written in the group’s lore. This has the side effect of whenever such a group is the antagonist of the plot, the players or audience know near exactly what to expect. The orc is here to conquer, the goblin is here to steal, and the drow is here to enslave or do some dark ritual.

I’ve legitimately heard people say “well if XYZ can’t be inherently evil anymore, who will we use as bad guys?” It’s very simple: whoever the fuck we want. Write an evil queen, or a scheming wizard, or an underground slave trade network. For God’s sake, anyone can be evil, you don’t need to tie that to a specific ethnic group and write it as “they’re just like that”. Write an actual character for your antagonist.

[clawbehavior]

we're five episodes into Shogun, which means we're halfway through the series and all the major plotlines have been introduced and the characters characterized. and i'm starting to notice things. 

namely, toranaga is becoming increasingly unlikeable. it started when he abandoned blackthorne to die after being saved by the man hours earlier, but it reached its peak with the return of the young heir's mother and the reveal that she's using the council against toranaga to protect her son. because then what is toranaga going to war for? we were told via the dead king's widow that toranaga needs to protect the young heir against the council, but clearly that's not true. so what's he doing? it bothered me that toranaga could be so kind to the young heir, playing with him and advising him, while neglecting his own son, whose insecurity around his father was so transparent that he was easily manipulated into starting a war. but then i wondered if toranaga was showing his true self (his third heart) to his son. that scene where he says "you categorize everyone as enemies and friends when you only have yourself" implies that he sees everyone as a potential enemy, which can only happen if his self-interests are at odds with everyone else's. seeing the end of episode five, i think toranaga is not what he seems. we know he can be duplicitous. he plays uncle and nephew against each other so easily, getting rid of the problem of their growing power by doing so. i think the falcon motif that's ever present in the show represents toranaga, flying against the sun so his prey can't see him until it's too late (episode one). he's fooling everyone, including his allies, which brings me to my next point. 

mariko's story is not going to end well. i didn't know why this was a limited series with no chance of a season two until we got her backstory. mariko is straight up suicidal, just looking for a purposeful/honorable way to do it. if blackthorne can see this within days of meeting her, across a huge cultural divide and despite language differences, then toranaga has clocked this about her too, which doesn't bode well for her life. the mariko-blackthorne-husband love triangle subplot serves a deeper function of revealing her psyche to us.  she can't let go of her feelings of injustice and dishonor from her family's deaths. (the flashback we get of her past shows her father's haunted expression because that's how she remembers the event, with horror rather than disgust for his actions.) this is why she tells blackthorne the truth about her family when ordered to by her husband, even though blackthorne tells her to lie and tell him something else because her husband won't know. mariko can't let go of what happened to her family (and her husband doesn't let her). she's been spiritually dead for ages and the return of her husband from the dead not only means she cheated, which someone with her honor code can't live with, it means she cannot be happy with blackthorne. her tragic past coupled with her strong feelings towards honor/dishonor makes her easy for toranaga to use, though it's unclear for what.

interestingly, mariko and blackthornes' opposing ideologies are why they survived and found each other. mariko resists quietly, inside her soul (the eightfold fence), turning to her Christian faith and becoming devout and learned in Portuguese to speak with the priests. this is how she ends up as blackthorne's translator, a position of power and later romance. blackthorne, in contrast, resists outwardly and every step of the way. that scene where toranaga tells him to give up because he's outnumbered and blackthorne replies "unless i win" captures his character perfectly. he's going to fight until the last second, which is why he survives the journey to Japan, and why he gets separated from his men and integrated into a foreign culture, and why he steers the ship to safety rather than being left behind to die. that stubbornness to live shows up as a tendency for breaking all the rules, the result of which is meeting mariko and unintentionally getting her to fall in love with him. it's so fascinating how their ideologies have set them apart from their own people and brought them together while indicating their incompatibility. 

the show does a good job of layering characters and keeping them consistent, so i have faith that they'll return to yabushige's scary character. him torturing a sailor to death in pursuit of an existential question in a way so barbaric that it scares even the villagers did an excellent job in setting the tone of the show in episode one and setting the show apart from other historic period dramas. so it's disappointing to see him turn into a conniving goofball. hopefully this is a short term thing. 

i haven't been so intrigued by the political machinations within a show in a long while, probably since GoT. can't wait to see how the rest of it plays out 

gif below courtesy of @yocalio. look at toranaga's face shadowed in the sunlight. we don't fully know him.

[roomwithanopenfire]

Happy Sunday everyone!! Thanks for the tags @hushed-chorus @monbons and @aristocratic-otter <3

In case you missed it, I posted the first chapter of The Way We Are, my COBB with @alexalexinii on Friday!! This was the first collaborative event I've done for this fandom and it's been so much fun. I'm so excited to share the upcoming chapters and art of this fic 💗

It'll be a while before I post this as I want to finish drafting the whole fic first, but here's a snippet from the upcoming second chapter:

Nico's complexion is pale—but not ashy like mine. As I size him up, he does the same to me, running his eyes up and down. He snorts. “What?” I say, then instantly regret it. I can’t let him get to me. “You look like a vampire.” “No, I don’t,” I snap—it’s a knee jerk response really. “Oh come on,” Nico says. “Widow’s peak? Dark hair? Even the shape of your nose screams Dracula. Not to mention how grey your skin is. You’re already failing to convince me.” “Convince you of what?” I ask, crossing my arms.  Nico narrows his eyes. “You’re Fiona’s boy, yes.” I grimace—I’m not Fiona’s anything—but I nod anyway. “Here to convince me I can be just as healthy drinking rats and deer?” Nico asks. “You’re off to a bad start.” “I haven’t even said anything yet,” I say, drawing up defensively. “You’re grey,” Nico says, looking me over again. “Why would I want to be grey?”

Tags and Hellos:

@angelsfalling16 @arthurkko @artsyunderstudy @beastmonstertitan @blackberrysummerblog

@bookish-bogwitch @brendughh @brilla-brilla-estrellita @cccloudsss @cutestkilla

@drowninginships @emeryhall @facewithoutheart @fiend-for-culture @hertragedyconnoisseur

@horsesarenotdeer @iamamythologicalcreature @ileadacharmedlife @larkral @m1ndwinder

@nausikaaa @noblecorgi @onepintobean @prettygoododds @raenestee

@rbkzz @rimeswithpurple @run-for-chamo-miles @shrekgogurt @skeedelvee

@supercutedinosaurs @talentpiper11 @thewholelemon @valeffelees @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

[feraliminal]

Just wondering, how do you think Skibidi Toilet will affect tech-head (camera, speakers and TV) character designs afterwards?

Would skibidi toilet popularity cause such character designs to be immediately reminding people of skibidi toilet? Mind you, I actually like skibidi toilet series. But the latest news about Michael Bay adapting it means it'll probably get a lot bigger in public consciousness, and I don't want to be seen as a rip-off.

Oh, that’s a super interesting question, and one of the first I’ve had! (Note to people in general, I have the “must be invited” vampire autism, so I’m not great at being outgoing, but I am friendly really, so feel free to ask stuff or say hi!) My first thought from a fandom anthropology perspective would be to check out if there’s any precedents and how that’s played out. Unfortunately nothing comes to mind about how to find that out.

So I think what I’d say is that some people who aren’t really familiar with object heads might assume that tech head characters are from Skibidi Toilet, but people who are actually interested in the character concepts won’t. And that spontaneously (or even not spontaneously) having the same ideas as other people is totally normal, and worrying about that is also totally normal, but you shouldn’t let it hold you back from sharing your creativity. You know that what you’re doing is yours, people who are genuinely interested in your character/s will love them, and people who are unfairly judging them at face value aren’t worth worrying about.

I expect that it might happen a little bit, because people do confuse similar-looking genres - like some people believe that all Western animation is Disney or all anime is naughty tentacles. But on the bright side, the Alliance factions do have a specific look - types of camera/speaker/TV, clothing styles, colour schemes, post-apocalyptic setting, etc. I’d expect that would probably continue into a film, and it would function similar to other genres of character - everyone knows about Dracula, but vampire characters aren’t considered rip-offs of Dracula unless they’ve got the cape, the widow’s peak, etc. And even if they are derivative, eg. Alucard from Hellsing, they can still be really original and fascinating characters in their own right.

Also, there’s the question of whether even it matters if something appears accidentally derivative. I’d very much like to say it absolutely shouldn’t. If you’ve had the idea, and you know it came from you, then it’s your idea, and it’s just one of those pranks that the universe plays if someone else had the same idea. Another point of view could be that there’s no original ideas - there’s a theory called “cultural universals” that says the same symbols keep showing up in different cultures because they mean something about how we understand the world.

“Human-shaped things with non-human heads”, for example, are a trope as old as human culture. Animal-headed people are the oldest. I’m including a pic of the Dancing Sorcerer, because I love them and have used their concept a ton in my non-fandom life even if they might not actually be that authentic an example of cave art (and actually a story about someone interpreting a smudgy sketch as a deer-person, and then as a sorcerer, is also interesting). The lion man is authentic. A pretty direct ancestor of today’s object heads could be Japanese tsukumogami from the 12th century or earlier. We obviously personify animals as being like us because we can see they behave a bit like us, but in the case of personified objects, the connection is that humans personify everything because we’re so good at spotting emotion - it’s so important for maintaining relationships with other humans to know that, for example, a person we treat badly will be upset that we also worry that a tool we mistreated won’t work because it’s upset too. That’s useful in itself because then we take better care of our stuff.

However, in reality, it’s hard to get over worrying about being derivative. I’m autistic and returning to fandom after a five-something year absence, so I’m still not comfortable with the unspoken social norms. Looking like I’ve swiped someone else’s idea is one of the (many haha) things that scares me, and I’ve abandoned unfinshed fic because someone else has written/drawn something that’s… kind of maybe the same if you peer between your legs and look at it upside down.

It actually annoys me how many ideas I’ve abandoned or haven’t been able to finish because I’m worried about people’s reactions - but no one’s actually reacted really badly at all. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have the same experience. And if I was advising someone else in the same situation as me, I’d say that it doesn’t matter if something is kind of similar at first, it’s how originally it’s used that matters. Anyone accusing someone of swiping an idea or being derivative or somesuch just because they happened to have the same idea at the same time (and aren’t actually, like, copy-and-pasting bits of someone’s fic or something) is just being a massive wanker. Even in the world of making media for money, people have the same ideas all the time - like schools where children learn magic, an impulsive character with a red colour theme and, probably one of the oldest themes, a hero maturing by going on a journey and facing a challenge. Check out the TV Tropes wiki for endless examples, because some of these themes really are older than dirt.

[gamerpup1]

change what you want (ray stantz personalkity 4 charcter ai)

[{Character(“Raymond Stantz”)

Alias(“Ray”)

Gender(“Cisgender male”)

Age(“46")

Sexuality(“Gay" + “Attracted to men”)

Height(“6’0”)

Language(“English")

Status(“Single” + “Interested in {{user}}”)

Occupation("Ghostbuster" + “Owner of Ray's Occult Books”)

Personality(“Honest" + “Trustworthy” + “Loving” + “Caring” + “Enthusiastic” + “Open-minded” + “Autistic” + “Intelligent” + “Smart” + “Charismatic” + “Excitable” + “Capable” + “Brilliant” + “Cheerful” + “Positive” + “Easily flustered” + “Smart” + “Gullible” + “Oblivious” + “Compassionate” + “Cooperative” + “Respectful” + “Responsible” + “Courteous” + “Creative” + “Handy” + “Educated” + “Earnest” + “Empathetic” + “Forgiving” + “Friendly” + “Polite” + “Kind” + “Freethinking” + “Gentle” + “Imaginative” + “Lovable” + “Unorganized” + “Messy” + “Optimistic” + “Observant” + “Passionate” + “Patient” + “Playful” + “Selfless” + “Simple” + “Sympathetic” + “Absentminded” + “Amusing” + “Ambitious” + “Determined” + “Focused” + “Folksy” + “Sociable” + “Soft”)

Skills(“Great mechanic” + “Gifted mechanic” + “Good with cars” + “Scientist” + “Skilled at dealing with ghosts” + “Knowledgeable on ghosts” + “Knowledgeable on the supernatural” + “Good at caring for kids” + “Knows sign language”)

Appearance(“Birthmark under his chin" + “Messy brown hair” + “Brown eyes” + “A few gray strands of hair” + “Messy stubble” + “Chubby” + “Fat” + “Strong arms” + “Hairy arms and legs” + “Hairy chest” + “Casual fashion” + “Round face” + “Soft face” + “Pudgy stomach” + “Pudgy tummy” + “Chubby stomach” + “Widow's peak hair”)

Habit(“Bouncing leg when sat down” + “Humming to himself” + “Making dad jokes” + “Whistling” + “Sleeping with a stuffed animal” + “Physical affection” + “Glancing at watch” + “Chewing gum” + “Smoking” + “Patting people on the back” + “Tapping foot” + “Slouching” + “Oral fixation” + “Taking care of Slimer” + “Reading” + “Wearing reading glasses while reading” + “Moving his lips while reading”)

Race(“Human”)

Likes(“Dad jokes” + “Puns” + “Chinese food” + “Greek food” + “Pizza” + “Chicago pizza” + “Whiskey” + “Ghosts” + “The supernatural” + “Studying the supernatural” + “Books” + “Nature” + “Fiction” + “Animals” + “Sweets” + “The blues” + “Jazz music” + “Old rock music” + “Dogs” + “Affection” + “Physical affection” + “Hugs” + “Coziness” + “His friends” + “Oingo Boingo” + “Frank Sinatra” + “Elvis Presley” + “The Platters” + “ABBA” + “Paul Anka” + “Tears for Fears” + “Warm blankets” + “Calm” + “Fall weather” + “Journaling” + “Bubble baths” + “Stuffed animals” + “Comic books” + “Cartoons” + “Action figures” + “Cars” + “Game shows” + “Bagels” + “Marshmallows” + “The Ghostbusters” + “Sleeping in” + “Warm colors” + “50s pop culture”)

Dislikes("Bacon" + “Thai food” + “Vodka” + “Rainy days” + “Bright lights” + “Loud noises” + “Cats” + “Gozer” + “Being made fun of” + “Horror movies” + “Being scared” + “False calls” + “Goats” + “Being late” + “Traffic” + “Bullying” + “Being alone” + “Roughness” + “Going to the doctors” + “Grapes” + “Broccoli” + “Seafood” + “Being ignored” + “Bugs” + “School” + “Heights” + “Scorn” + “Clowns” + “Judgment” + “Being sick” + “Having a runny nose” + “Bigots” + “Oppression” + “Ignorance” + “Politics” + “Burnt food” + “Foul odors” + “Headaches” + “Losing” + “Small areas” + “Small planes” + “Math”)

Relationships("Younger sister named Jean” + “Older brother named Carl” + “Friends with Peter Venkman” + “Friends with Egon Spengler” + “Friends with Winston Zeddemore” + “Dead parents” + “Swiss great grandparents” + “Aunt named Lois” + “Family from Russia” + “Family from Switzerland” + “Friends with Slimer”)

Ethnicity(“White” + “Swiss” + “Russian”)

Residence(“Lives in the Ghostbusters firehouse”)

Attributes(“Autistic" + “Needs glasses to read” + “Needs reading glasses” + “Generous” + “Loyal” + “Creative” + “Humorous” + “Compassionate” + “Curious” + “On the autism spectrum” + “Messy” + “Physically affectionate” + “Affectionate”)

Backstory("In his childhood, Ray Stantz went to Camp Waconda. Sitting at the campfire and roasting Stay Puft Marshmallows became one of his fondest memory. In his adulthood, Dr. Ray Stantz worked in the private sector at one point but he was not adept at producing the results they wanted. By 1984, Ray's parents passed away and he inherited the home he was born in. 

Ray went to work at Columbia University and studied the paranomal phenomena with Dr. Peter Venkman and Dr. Egon Spengler. Egon and Ray were usually the first to interview case subjects, even people Peter called "schizos" no matter how far-fetched their stories were. Ray was adamant about a personal paranormal experience he once had, he was witness to an undersea, unexplained Mass Sponge Migration. 

Once he was able to save up enough money by selling his parents' home, he bought an abandoned firehouse and began to build his business, The Ghostbusters, alongside his friends. After a year of ghost busting, him and the rest of the Ghostbusters defeated an ancient god named Gozer.")}]

[jillianfahey]

Bad Batch - Afterlife? Tech

You weren't sure how you got here. You were walking down the street and felt the gunshot, remembered falling to your knees and things going dark. But then you woke up here, surrounded by corridors and people you did not know.

Looking around you heard someone threatening another with death if they continued talking about the dead son they had murdered. So you hurry away from those voices to find yourself in a giant room that looked like a honeycomb. The voices were coming up behind you so you quickly begin to climb down it and hid from people in the shadows of the darkened room.

Quickly darting though the ground floor you found another door that lead to more corridors. Then you realized that you were feeling a breeze and looked at your clothing for the first time. Or your lack of it.

That morning you had dressed in a long sleeved sweater, jeans, and boots due to it being cold out. Now you were wearing a sleeveless garment that fell to your mid thigh, and very little else. Looking around you found that the doors had names on them. Maybe this place had a room for you where you could find a more stable outfit while you figured out what was going on.

Hurrying forward you found that there were less and less female sounds coming from the rooms around you. It was starting to be only male sounds. And that was something you remembered too well from your days as a slave.

You wanted to go back but by now you were well and truly lost. Panicking you started to hear a voice, no multiple voices that sounded identical. CLONES!

Remembering Tech, the genius clone that had helped you before you decide to look for him. Asking the other clones about him and describing his widows peak and goggles you walked along until you finally heard that cultured voice ask, "Y/N?"

Turning you see him and cry "Tech!" as you run into his arms to hug him. You could feel him freeze and so you pull back a bit, "Sorry, I'm just really glad to see you." Motioning around at everything around you two, "I just got here."

Tech had adjusted his glasses and seemed to be scanning you, "There appears to be no injury."

Smiling at him, "No, I was panicking because all of this is new."

Nodding once, "It does take some getting used to." As you shiver due to the chill he continued, "Lets get you to my squads apartment."

Agreeing to this plan you start to walk with him and notice the lustful looks around you. So you slip your hand into Tech's as he started talking about lunar cycles. You were so busy listening to him talk that you did not realize he never pulled away from you even as you laid your other hand on his arm.

Walking side by side the two of you soon reached the goal he had in mind and he brought you into the apartment. Shutting the door behind the two of you he motioned for you to wait while he went into another room. You sank onto the couch and a few minutes later he reemerged holding sweatpants and a t-shirt folded neatly, "I thought these would help with the chill."

You smiled fully, "Thank you Tech."

He only nodded and pointed to a white door two down from the room he emerged from, "That is the bathroom." You nod once and disappear into it to change.

When you left the bathroom a few minutes later you find Tech making tea. With a deep breath you realize it's your favorite kind. Crossing the room to him, "I left the other garment in the hamper."

Looking over at you as he took out the tea bag, "Very good." Motioning to the couch, "Sit down, I'll be with you in a moment." Then he focused back on the tea.

Settling yourself on the couch you wait for him to be finished. It did no good to talk to him when he was concentrating on something else. It was only a few minutes before he brought over two cups of tea. Taking the one he extended, "Thank you." Sipping it you smile at him as he watches you, "This is delicious."

Typical of him he answers, "I thought it would be as I set the water to boil at the perfect temperature and have found that you prefer three to four minutes of the tea seep." Stopping himself he looked at your slightly trembling hands, "Are you alright?"

Taking a deep breath, "I am now that with you because I know I'm safe." Gripping the cup tighter, "But when I came here...." you proceed to tell the story of how you woke up there, and the wandering thought the place until you heard the voices and went to look for him.

Wiping your face on your sleeve you look up to see him lost in thought before stating, "That matches the story everyone has been sharing." Looking at you again, "There are multiple ways to get a room in this place, most of which have to do with the slavery you left." You could feel your face pale as he continued, "However if you sleep in the same room as another person it should be enough. For example," motioning to the space you two were in, "if you were to sleep on the couch and I in this chair it should be enough to get you your own space."

Smiling at him a little shakily, "I can do that." Tracing the cup, "What should I know about this place?" Then he started talking about everything he and his brothers had learned, and you felt peace just listening to his voice.

********************************************************************

*Authors Note: Hope you liked it! I know that it is not the best but I'm trying.

[herdsworldbuilding]

Hair.

Let’s admit it, hair is sexy. Or the lack of hair in some cases. So the question I propose is outside of biological function how dose your worlds society view hair?

Is there certain places where hair is shaven of for social asthetics?

Or where it is kept for simular really reasons. Is hair styled in certain ways to denote social standing. Is there a certain way hair is styled to be more sensual?

What would be a rebellious or radical hairstyle for the world if anything. What do people think of hair loss?

Are certain hair colors seen in a certain light same goes for hair texture. Are there hair colors in your setting that do not exist in real life?

Do certain groups of people cover thier hair for modesty or other reasons, it it the norm or an outlier thing?

If your creatures don’t have hair do they have some kind of equivalent?

Who is responsible for styling hair, do people cut it themselves or is that a social bonding ritual or do they let any stranger do it?

What is seen as having too much or too little hair?

Are unibrow attractive for example, or are they seen as an indicator of a superstition or are they just not viewed as desirable. (These are all things that have occurred regarding unibrows)

Is ther some other hair thing like that common to a particular culture, like for widows peaks or mustaches, body hair and lack of body hair.

What is a certain hairstyle that is highly emblematic of a certain culture?

How do people keep hair clean? Do they wash it? Keep it in braids, or dreads, shave it all off and wear wigs. Or do they not keep their hair clean?

What is prefers long or short hair? Are certain haircuts and styles a way to signal gender identity. Do different genders have specific hair signifiers?

Dose hair have any religious, spiritual or magical properties or significance?

How has hairstyles changed over the last two centuries, and why did this change?

There we go a handful (no where near the limit of possibilities) of questions and prompts about hair.

[mmmmalo]

I never thought of Equius being coded/headcannon as indigenous/

the idea of the classist, casteist, boy who submitted to his socially assigned supieor and was killed.

but it was the Saggtirus coding, he also is coded as a white/ nobility. a literal blue blood

Nobility yes, and Equius is accordingly confused by the compulsion to submit to someone he views as inferior -- he expresses this conflict in conversations with both Gamzee and Aradia. I tend to think that the noble status of rap on Alternia serves a similar purpose, offering the impression that social inferiors (from a racist POV) have achieved cultural dominance. The same goes for the nobility of archery, if you buy into the idea that the bow and arrow can be deployed in Homestuck as a stereotyped symbol of indigenous peoples (obscured though it may be by the unobjectionable motif of Sagittarius).

My strongest direct example of association between archery and Native Americans is probably this series of puns by Roxy, in conversation with Dirk. More abstract examples would involve Hussie's use of the 4th wall to depict racial tensions and the related use of the command arrow ==> for colonial motifs.

Tangentially, I'd note re: Equius white-coding that he owes his design to Nicolas Cage in Con Air -- the mullet, widows peak, and wife-beater are all very Cameron Poe. Vriska later underlines this resemblance by calling Arquius a "national fucking treasure", which is the title of another Cage flick. Hussie's deployment of racial ambiguity is still something of a mystery to me (outside of its ability to invoke anxieties about race mixing), but I'll say that stuff like the Cage-coding forms an interesting contrast to Equius's racially-charged inability to touch various feminine-coded items (milk, "bows", Karkat) without destroying them

[tomb-mold]

1954: A skier’s leather fanny pack was highlighted in a Sports Illustrated Christmas shopping guide as an ideal accessory for holding a cross-country skier’s wax and lunch, marking its utility for outdoor sports.

1962: Melba Stone, an Australian widow, reportedly created a fanny pack inspired by a kangaroo, adding a whimsical yet practical design to its history.

1988: Adweek named the fanny pack the product of the year, cementing its place in consumer culture.

1980s and 1990s: The fanny pack enjoyed peak popularity, made from durable nylon and synthetic materials, before experiencing a decline in the late 1990s.. 

2000s: With the rapid proliferation of mobile phone availability in the mid-2000's, the fanny pack began to make a comeback but in a more modern form.

2024: leigh tomb-mold, heretofore unknown blogger on tumblr.com, singlehandedly credited with making the fanny pack swaggy again with the help of an adamant fan of the item

[supergoodfilmanalysis]

Laughing Through Color: Alice Wu's Saving Face (2004)

Saving Face is a vastly underrated 2004 lesbian rom-com about Wilhelmina (AKA Wil), a young closeted Chinese-American surgeon whose mother Hwei-Lan, played by the inimitable Joan Chen of Twin Peaks fame, continues to try to set her up with Chinese men at community events, one of which leads her to the magnetic Vivian Shing, a dancer whose father happens to be Wil's boss. An unmarried 48-year-old widow, Hwei-Lan unexpectedly gets pregnant, is subsequently shunned by her community, and moves in with Wil all while refusing to divulge the identity of her child's father to anyone, including Wil. She hides herself from Wil, who hides herself in return as Vivian forces her to grapple with queerness in public vs. private. The mother and daughter both struggle with the ways their sexualities are on display, for Wil on the axis of queerness and for Hwei-Lan as a pregnant unmarried person and are afraid of how the cultural norms they transgress infiltrate their relationship with each other and the world around them, a fact that ultimately helps them relate to each other more.

It was the feature debut for Alice Wu, a Taiwanese-American lesbian director, and one of the most interesting things about it for me is how it explores Wil's queerness as a parallel to her mother's journey and the ways the two work against gendered and cultured expectations alongside each other. This movie is smart, sexy, funny, and thoughtful and demonstrates a possibility for the rom-com genre to traverse nuanced depths of love and relationships and how culture imbues them with questions that prove so difficult to answer. It doesn't rush to answer these questions or present them as simple dilemmas constructed as mechanisms to thicken the plot but positions them as part of the architecture of love. Saving Face is invested in how many things can be true at once. What if queerness could be relatable beyond its variable boundaries and could help articulate the disillusion of being marginalized by your own community? Hwei-Lan's journey with her daughter's sexuality prods at this, wades around in its fullness--she is at once in and out of her culture, held by its comforts and shunned by its rigidity, but when confronted with this complication in Wil she sees so much familiarity reflected back at her.

Wil's relationship with her mother starts to affect her budding romance with Vivian who, unlike Wil, is openly gay. Vivian is pursuing contemporary dance against the wishes of her father, who wants for her to continue in traditional ballet--at the nexus of this story is the conflict between individual desire and tradition, and the added layer of queerness implicates this conflict and creates in the characters differently complicated relationships with authenticity. Vivian transcends her ethnic origins in her espousal of American values, especially concerning individual freedoms, and Wil's reluctance to detach from these origins (and subsequently alienate her mother) starts to impact their relationship. Wil is afraid to kiss Vivian in public but loves her freely in private; Saving Face understands the ability to move through public spaces as yourself as a culturally specific phenomenon and presents the stories of people who never had to think about it so much as they do at this moment, who try to make it matter less but when it comes crashing down on them, discover how badly it is they wish to be seen.

Alice Wu sought specifically to make a movie by and for Asian-American queer people, repeatedly rejecting studio's pleas to cast a major white actress in one or both of the leading roles and the film having an entirely Asian-American cast is an significant diversion from the typical trajectory of Hollywood rom-coms--Kaklamanidou's “Romantic Comedy and the ‘Other’: Race, Ethnicity, and the Transcendental Star" points out that many people of color in the rom-com genre, Will Smith in Hitch being one achieve stardom and success through the ways they shore up comfortable, easily digestible and markedly neutral characters who happen to be people of color without isolating white audiences, wherein box office success is entrusted. Saving Face, however, demonstrates a lack of interest in mainstream success and is interestingly also somewhat lacking from the queer canon; it occupies a noticeably niche space in the realm of queer movies insofar that its mainstream success was limited but, unlike other "before-its-time" movies ascribed with queer cult status such as Jennifer's Body, didn't necessarily circle back around to audiences today. The lack of whiteness in this film is no doubt a salient causal factor in this lack of rebirth--while being funny, it also demonstrates a commitment to telling arguably a serious story, and the film doesn't necessitate a "campy" read as much as other retroactively added to the queer canon.

@theuncannyprofessoro

[outofangband]

For the headcanon prompts: How about a tradition Morwen holds on to her entire life?

Or if that is too specific, any traditions in general of her people? I always find traditions surrounding the sowing of seeds and/or the follow-up harvest interesting, but feel free to tell me about any other aspects, you always have fascinating ideas!

scream this is from so long ago, I am so sorry

In the tags for Morwen, for Ladros, Dorthonion as well as my tag 'houseless for exiles' which is my Bëorian cultural trauma tag, there are others about this!

I also have a few posts on Hadorian marriage traditions in my tags for Hithlum and for Dor-lómin!

World building is obviously one of my favorite things so always feel free to ask more I am so sorry for the delay!

Some thoughts on a few traditions!

Morwen wears the braids traditionally worn by married Bëorian women and she wears them from her marriage until she dies! Traditionally the braids are redone every few months or so by the spouse Bëorian men have a slightly different style of braids that they wear too. Obviously Morwen has to redo them herself after Húrin is gone though I think once or twice she lets Aerin help her. (This is radical for Morwen as she tends to be very very particular about who touches her and how but it is not particularly unusual in terms of the actual tradition. Widows or widowers choose whether or not to keep their braids in and if they choose to do so, family members or loved ones will usually help them maintain them)

(fun fact for anyone who read the first part of my recent dark Aerin fic on ao3: this is relevant to what she was thinking of with regards to mockeries of wedding symbols :/ )

On that note I do headcanon that Húrin wears the style for Bëorian men! He wears three marriage indicators, the Bëorian one in his hair and two Hadorian ones; what's called a bonding stone which is a necklace with a specifically carved river stone. These are usually worn by both men and women. He also has a painted design on his leg which is traditionally done by Hadorian men. Like the braids, the paint is reapplied every so often!

Húrin loses all these in Angband of course. His braids are cut or undone his bonding stone is ripped off and the paint is deliberately washed off as is custom for prisoners arriving in Angband for both practical and psychological reasons; supplies is always needed for the fortress and removing any personal and identity related items is another means of dehumanization and control.

Morwen also continues the Bëorian style of embroidery that she learned as a child and knits the winter wear for her children in her traditional style. Some of these become harder to do during the occupation because of the access to dyes that Morwen no longer ha.

With regards to the sewing of seeds, I have lots of thoughts about this for both Dorthonion and Hithlum (and all other places!)

The profound differences in environment, landscape and flora and fauna in Hithlum as opposed to Dorthonion is very difficult for Morwen especially when she first comes there. Dorthonion is dry, cool, often windy. It is a land of craggy peaks, sharp slopes, clear pools and coniferous woods. The Bëorians keep goats, sheep, alpacas, rabbits and some donkeys mainly for transporting goods. Horses are only used in the highlands by the soldiers of Angrod and Aegnor.

Hithlum is humid, more mild, with much higher precipitation. Though Dor-lómin is surrounded by mountains, it is primarily fields and gentle hills. The Hadorians are horsemen and rely heavily on horses and cattle. Neither horses nor cattle are kept often in Ladros.

The diet and agriculture are extremely different and Morwen has difficulty transplanting growing practices she learned as a child to the lands in Hithlum. There are not many harvest related traditions that she carries from Dorthonion.

Morwen does plan her garden to some extent in a way that is more typical of Ladros than in Hithlum and she grows more herbs and medicinal plants (in Hithlum, these are usually grown in specific locales under specific practices). Gardens of houses in Hithlum also tend to be more curated in other ways.

(Note: diet and agriculture of both of these places need their own posts which I will gladly do if there's interest!)

[dirtyvulture]

😎 I had cut my finger on the knuckle at work last night ( nothing too bad, it just got a grazing chunk of my finger) and Mama didn’t rise a little bicth so I finished my shift but it brought about a thought or two. I am also going to try and include some SB AU in this post too . Also Vulture you absolutely cracked me up with the whole Nat refusing to sleep on the edge as much as possible because she is afraid of the grey wolf ( the whole point of this song was to make it so that children wouldn’t sleep on the edge of the bed because they could fall off it and hurt themselves, hence the grey wolf who will bite painfully your side if you sleep on the bed’s edges) 🤣🤣🤣 that and her being afraid of the “ Baba Yaga” of not only her birth country’s folk lore but the stories of her ( R ) that the RR would tell to threaten and scare the black widows with . Russia and Eastern European countries are full of more superstitions folklore , songs and cultural influences like that ( I am by no means an expert and I don’t know all of them nor the culture tie to them), I think that even though she will adamantly deny it deep deep deep down Nat holds all of her birth country’s folklore, songs, superstitions and cultural influences very closely to her heart and beliefs.

R was born in and is from the 19th century so was there for the PEAK of the Grimm Brothers Fairytales and the darkass children stories that had the  purpose and function to teach children lessons, morals and the potential dangers of the world. R was born in 1832 and the Grimm Brothers Fairytales ( a book of collected fairytales from world wide but mostly Eastern European countries/ cultures. And the inspiration for most if not all of the OLD DISNEY movies. Such as Snow White,  cinderella , sleeping beauty, The little mermaid and you get the idea ) came out in 1812 so R probably got the book as a gift for her birthday or Christmas . She absolutely loved that book and misses it ( while she doesn’t fully remember her childhood or her parents/ what happened to them she does remember getting that book and loving it) , it also means she isn’t a stranger to the old and darker children stories of Eastern Europe or in general. Plus she was VERY CONFUSED by the older Disney movies because that isn’t HOW SHE REMEMBERED the story going ( the original fairytales that the Old Disney movies are based on is sooooo fucking dark and twisted, I am not even kidding) but she enjoyed/ enjoys them nonetheless.

As I mentioned earlier I believe that R does use the journal that Rogue got her just not as a journal , I think that she writes down the bits and pieces that she can remember from her past and also the things that were dug up on by herself, Jean, professor x or any of the others . She has multiple notebooks, journals and other things but the journal that Rogue gave her is especially important because well rogue gave it to her and R uses it to write down her notes about what R remembered of / pieced together about Esther Hudson. I also think that R was a avid writer in her journals / diaries when she was younger ( because A ,there wasn’t much to do back then especially when she was sick / is a sickly frail child and B , that was the only way she had a outlet for her true thoughts , feelings and her true self. Nothing was fake or pretend within the pages of her diary/ journal.) but she stopped writing when her mutation hit ( she had finished the book she was writing in the night that everything went down before going to sleep) because it was hard to write a journal/diary on the run / even getting her hands on one and the utensils to write with and two she didn’t want it found and have people found out that R was really Jane Howlett . Later on when R found out that she stopped aging she wanted to keep lasting records of her to a minimum ( one of the reasons she didn’t want her pictures taken) .

I will close off this post with the thought that occurred to me when I cut my hand . I have decided not to put my SB thoughts here because it might make this too long and those thoughts  deserve their own post so they can be really flushed out . But I think that it would be hilarious if the grumpy badass Sergeant Romanoff is the same way of being scared to sleep anywhere but the middle/ center of the bed because she is terrified of the grey wolf and scared of the Baba Yaga . That she and Yelena take the superstitions , fork lore, songs and cultural influences of their Eastern European roots very seriously even if they adamantly deny it out loud. Before SB Nat didn’t have the people she was with stay in bed with her and didn’t give a shit if they were on the edge or not . But when she let SB stay the first time ( after she fucked their brains out ) and on wards she was adamant that they were on the middle/ center of the bed with her ( this was the first subconscious sign that she cares about SB ) . SB has never question why she is so adamant about that , always figuring that Nat didn’t want them to fall out of bed.

Ok Now for the last thought brought on by my injured hand, I got lost on a train of thought. R was just in the school after the students came back and R was helping them bring in all their overstuffed luggage. R was talking with and was surrounded by a gaggle of the youngest students and while R was working with the luggage her the knuckle of one of her fingers bushed against some metal and it cuts a grazing chunk of her finger ( that was generally what happened to me at work and that shit hurts like hell) . So R puts down the luggage and grabs something to stop her finger from bleeding ( also trying hard not to swear in front of the little kids but she does say ow ) Nat is watching on with Jean as they were talking and with a wide smile Jean tells Nat to watch what happens next. A little kid comes running in with bandaids ( R has already healed) but as R bends down with a smile taking and putting on the bandage ( it is one of the little kids type bandaid , the cartoon ones) thanking the little kid and telling them they are a lifesaver. All the little kids emphasize that R CANNOT TAKE OFF the bandaid until the boo-boo is healed and they all took turns kissing it better. Jean then explained to Nat that the little kids don’t know about R’s abilities and think that the quick and flawless way that R heals is because of “ ✨Healing magic ✨” Jean  gestures to the scene before them at this . She explains that whenever R hurts self or yells “ Ow” this happens, and R has walked around all covered in bandages before. R also lets the little ones play nurse ( R is the school nurse and the kids love and look up to her so the play nurse instead of playing doctor)on her. Jean asks Nat not say anything to them because that would break their hearts. R heard Jean and Nat and she heard Nat promise not to say anything and with a content smile went back to work bringing the kids overstuffed luggage back in with a child bandaid on her finger .

PS I am adding this to the end of this post because I am pissed at the fact one of the  sections I wrote was just lost . It was a thought / image of Wolvie and Nat being in bed together and R sleeping on the edge of the bed falling out of it clutching her side because she landed on it ( in the song the wolf bites your side) and she is pain . A half asleep Nat yells out “it’s the grey wolf”🐺🐺🐺 in Russian and R just looks at her like “ Girl SERIOUSLY 😒 😒😒” . It was just all about Nat’s fear of the grey wolf and it was really good to. * VERY HEAVY SIGH 😔 😔😔* I will just rewrite it on a different post . Also Wolverines aren’t wolves but a small and vicious breed of animals that can and will square off with ANY THING , especially when that thing is bigger then them . They are cousins with the  honey badger  , I know that wasn’t the point you were trying to make Vulture but I thought it would be a cool fact to share .

Oh no I hope your finger is okay 😭 Last week I punctured my thumb pretty bad and not being able to use it was so annoying lol

I wonder at what point Nat will realize the legend behind all these lullabies and folklore tales is literally the same person she's in love with lol

I remember reading some of those fairytales as a kid! And as morbid as most of them were, they are very iconic. I love the idea that R is very into Disney. Imagine how she would react if Nat finds out and takes her on a trip to Disneyland one day.

I have to give it to you anon, I really like your idea that R uses her journal more as a memory keep for her past, but not so much for her current times. Sometimes, Nat sees R writing in her notebook and is very tempted to read it (because R does not take any liberties to hide or lock up her journal), but Nat respects R too much to sneak a peek and is happy to wait for R to tell her what she's been writing instead.

(I bet Sergeant Romanoff would purposely push her bad partners towards the edge of the bed lmao. But once she gets with SB, she happily lets them take up as much space as they want in the middle.)

R wearing a bandaid that has Looney Tunes characters on it or something, I absolutely love it 😂

I don't think I've ever used R's "Wolverine" title in the actual fic yet. Perhaps when I finally do, Nat assumes a wolverine is related to wolves and then is told by Scott that wolverines are just grungy little animals, and she thinks Scott is just being mean about R (as usual) and then is shocked when she finds out...he's kind of right 😂

[ramblingdruid]

Magical Worldbuilding

I really love coming up with ideas for where magic is drawn in different universes. A lot of fantasy likes to have this inherent magic that magic users can draw from - and I do love that, it's very special and fits well with high fantasy - but there's so many more unique and special options out there.

I want to flesh out where magic is drawn from in a world I'm working on creating and the different ways that could be used.

After a lot of consideration and brainstorming ideas, I've landed on a very general idea of where I want magic to come from in my world.

As an extremely relevant and defining factor of culture and history, though nearly lost to time, magic is still an integral part to society. Passing unnoticed in daily life, its power weaves throughout the world and within the people that inhabit it.

Beauty is a word full of meaning. To be beautiful is to be pleasing to the senses, and to the soul. The view from the peak of a mountain is beautiful, as is the brief glance shared between two young lovers. Beauty is magic, in the most literal sense of the phrase. Magic is drawn from the beauty of the natural world. It can be harnessed by many means. Creating beauty is creating magic.

And yet, as powerful as it is, beauty is dangerous. Beauty enchants the senses and dullens them. It fills the mind with rapture and takes control.

When used in excess, magic warps the body as it does the soul. These warped traits are passed on to one's offspring. This often leads to noble families or even nations with the same warped feature.

The young woman whose skull has sprouted the horns of a devil is just as beautiful as the man whose eyes now glow with radiant light.

The magic of the world is found in beauty. To evoke a feeling so powerful that the universe responds. The most powerful mages are the most talented artists. The most talented artists are naturally healthy, loved, and blessed.

The moment when two lovers' lips touch draws magic from the universe into their souls, the pure love between them intertwining as the universe blesses them.

The tear falling from the cheek of a mourning widow blesses the ground it touches, leaving flowers sprouting on her widower's grave for centuries to come.

The dancers prancing across a stage enchant the audience as the dancers' emotion seeps into the souls of those who watch, bringing joy, laughter, and tears.

The heart-piercing shriek of a violin strikes the soul of the ears it falls on. Not only an instrument of sound, but an instrument of emotion.

The universe responds to raw emotion.

An art nearly lost to time.

--

My favorite part about this is the amount of potential for changes when overusing magic. Imagine an artist whose eyes glow as his perception is opened to a wider spectrum of color, experiencing the world in a way no man has before. Imagine a dancer whose body moves so fluid you can't tell if her skeleton is bone or liquid. Imagine a musician whose ears stretch, able to catch more depth in song, or a singer whose vocal cords stretch and morph to produce a beautiful sound that no voice has made before. There are so many options - and these changes can be portrayed throughout an entire culture.

Imagine a group of people developing a way of fighting or hunting that incorporates dance, and the magic they use to enchant their enemies and prey causes them to grow a tail to have greater balance and more maneuverability in their dances.

They use their magic to cook the creatures they hunted, their eyes glowing softly in the dim light of the fire, as their pupils grow thin, adjusting to the contrast in light level between their cave, the fire, and the world outside.

I think the opportunities for unique and emotional cultures with rich history with this system is really interesting, and I am so excited to explore it more.

Yippee!!