#/look significantly different than the norm

[mandomaterial]

Yo I got something! How ea tonowari x reader x Ronal? Let's saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay after 1-2 years after the war, a human goes to visit the sully family (for whatever reason) and the leaders saw her being covered in tattoos but are vastly different and are immediately intrigued by her. I'm going through a viking phase and I saw theirs tattoo designs and I'm like AAAAAAAAAHHH THEY LOOK SEXY!!!

Familiar Markings

Ask and you shall receive, boo~ I got a little carried away here… it’s 2.6k… but that’s fine! :3

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

- It had been all too long. You were there every step of the way and you missed them dearly. What were their lives like now? Were they all okay? Those were the questions you asked yourself almost daily. So you made up your mind and decided to visit them. You were a pilot, so transportation posed no problem but still, you asked Norm what he thought about your idea. After all, you couldn’t just show up there out of the blue (pun intended).

- Norm was a little hesitant at first but saw no big problem with visiting, so the two of you decided to give Jake a heads up to not cause a mass panic when you arrived. And then you were on your way.

- You got in your trusty old helicopter and off you were! It was a pretty long flight, so you had enough time to think about what to do when you got there. The only exciting news that you had was your new tattoo. You got it done a few months ago, on your left upper arm, a nice addition to the little collection you’d accumulated over the years.

- You’d always wanted to get tattoos but you never felt like you had a real reason to. To you, it was more than just body art, it was more of a sign of accomplishment or life-changing events. So when you joined the avatar program you decided that was the perfect occasion for your first tattoo. With the help of Grace and her team, you chose a relatively simple design of an Atokarina. You’d seen one in real life when you accompanied Grace to her school and accidentally got lost. It led you back and you were in total awe.

- This time around you chose a runic design. Back on earth, you were a real fan of the complex runic language and you tried your best to learn it. If you hadn’t ultimately decided to join the Pandora project, you probably would have studied them for the rest of your life. Sadly, over the years you lost touch with your love for runes, and most of your knowledge of them faded into a blur. It made you quite sad because you felt like you lost a piece of yourself, so you decided that you’d get something of your passion engraved on your body.

- Soon enough, the islands that formed Awa'atlu came into view and you shoved your thoughts aside, preparing for landing. There were already Na’vi gathering around your planned landing spot, so you had to be extra careful. You stuck the landing with ease and as soon as you stepped foot out of the aircraft, you spotted familiar figures. The little Sully’s! Well maybe not that little anymore, even Tuk was taller than you now. “Auntieee!” the young girl yelled as she rushed to tackle you.

- you could barely keep yourself on your feet as she wrapped her arms around you and gave you a bear hug. Of course, you hugged her back but as you looked over her shoulder, you saw two new faces approach. The others moved aside for them so you assumed that was the leader and the Tsahìk. You gently wiggled out of Tuk’s grip and got ready to face them.

- At first no one said anything, all of them staring at you with blown wide, turquoise eyes. You assumed that it was just because you were a human, significantly smaller, and even a different color! But that wasn’t it, they were staring at the markings on your skin. They seemed way too unnatural to just be born with, they’d never seen a human with markings similar to their people’s tattoos. So of course they were intrigued.

- after only a few seconds of motionless silence Ronal, the Tsahìk stepped forward and started to circle you. She wanted to take a closer look at these newfound markings, were these similar to her own? You just stood still and let her do her thing, avoiding eye contact with the chilling Tsahìk of the Metkayina. To be honest, you were a little afraid, Norm had told you that she was very protective of her people and was very unwelcoming towards outsiders, so when she suddenly grabbed your arm, you winced and visibly shrunk together, trying to make ourself seem even less threatening even if they didn’t even consider you being something even close to a threat.

- Ronal pulled your arm up, almost lifting you, to inspect the strange marks. As she traced them with her hand you wondered what she thought of them. Did she with ink they were weird. Did she like them? Why was she looking for so long? Didn’t her people also have tattoos? Your thoughts were cut short abruptly as she ran her fingers over your new tattoo, even if it seemed healed, it wasn’t and you almost doubled over at the pain if she weren’t holding you by your arm.

- Of course the well-trained Tsahìk noticed this and instantly a small wave of regret and guilt washed over her. She hadn’t meant to physically hurt you, maybe intimidate you a little but not like this. She saw your eyes water a little, as you tried to calm down and not let yourself cry in front of the crowd. She gently loosened her grip on you, making sure that you were stable on your feet before ultimately letting go. Right after you gently rubbed over your arm, trying to make the pain go away but it only helped a little.

- in Ronal’s mind she had hurt you, so it was her responsibility to make you feel better again. She crouched down a little, making eye contact with you before she asked “Do you understand our language?” Of course, you understood, but you were still a little shaky so the only thing you could muster was a timid nod. The tall woman let out a little huff as she gently placed her large hand between your shoulders and gave you a little nudge. You didn’t know what was going on so you just took a step forward, your attention shifted to the little crowd that was still lingering around you. The chief seemed to be looking at his mate, making a few facial expressions. It was as if they were communicating just by looking at each other. Before they even finished, you felt the hand gently push you along, guiding you along the path that the people cleared for the two of you.

- soon enough you understood that the Tsahìk was leading you somewhere, you were quite curious and it was just the two of you so you asked: “Where are we going?” Ronal almost seemed surprised when you spoke in her language, she understood every word and you were very fluent, albeit you had a bit of an accent. It took her a moment to reply but she explained that the was taking you to her hut, but she didn’t explain why. All in all, she was a little embarrassed so she chose not to share the reason.

- Once you finally reached the large tent she carefully held open the flap and motioned for you to get in. You followed her instructions and awkwardly stood in the middle of it, waiting for her to do or say something. And do something she did. She strode over to a few baskets in a corner, kneeled down in front of them, and started looking through them. Soon enough she pulled out a little packet that was trapped in a large dried leaf.

- “Come closer” she murmured. You shuffled over and stood in front of her. Even then she was taller than you. “Sit” came out of her mouth as she stared at you with wide glossy eyes. You shifted your body into a kneeling position but kept your eyes fixed on hers. She let out a little hum and started unwrapping the packet. Inside was a generous amount of powder that shimmered and glimmered, setting it down she turned around again grabbing something from a different basket. It was a little mortar and pestle made out of what seemed like shaved-down corrals. She put a small amount of the powder into the mortar before she added a light blue liquid that she took out along with the powder. She mixed the two together for a good minute and then looked at you again.

- For a second you just blankly stared at each other before she quietly questioned “Your arm?” Whilst tilting her head a little. “Oh..” you replied while warmth flushed your cheeks. You didn’t quite know why you were embarrassed, maybe it was that there was this gorgeous tall blue woman in front of you, or that you’d never been treated like this before. Normally everyone was a little intimidated by because of your tattoos and chose to avoid you instead of getting to know you.

- Embarrassed you lifted your arm and shifted so that she faced your side and had better access to your upper arm. Seeing this, Ronal had to crack a smile, you were so good at following instructions, not at all Ike the other humans she encountered, she liked you, you were okay, she thought while she started spreading the paste over the inflamed area of your arm. You winced a little any time her fringes brushed over your skin, so she tried to be as gentle as possible, so as not to make you feel more pain than you had to.

- just then someone entered the tenant, you were curious, you sneakily turned your head and saw that the Olo’eyktan had entered. Of course, you wanted to show respect, so you started standing up but Ronal had something other in mind. She gave your lower arm a little tug that pulled you back to the floor instantly “I said sit.“ you were utterly surprised and your head whipped around between the two, not knowing what to do, he was the leader so you had to show him respect but his wife who was also a leader wouldn’t let you? You started getting dizzy and hyperventilating a little before Tonowari took a couple of steps forward and lowered himself to one knee saying “Mawey” with a stern tone, staring directly at your eyes.

- While you were distracted by Tonowari, Ronal quickly finished bandaging your arm, thinking about your markings. Why did you have them? How did you get them? To say it simply she was just too curious so she gave you a light tap on the shoulder pulling your attention to her. “Why do you have these markings?” She asked motioning to your arm.

- you were a little surprised but cleared your throat and said “I got them when I accomplished something. I think that it’s similar to why you get tattoos…” Ronal let out a little hum, satisfied with your response. Soon enough she let you go and sent her mate to show you where you’d be staying. Conveniently, you were staying in a hut that was close to theirs. Tonowari knew from just watching his mate interact with you, that she had a special interest in you and to be honest he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was something special about you. So he decided to keep an eye on you, just to see what you’d do here in his village.

- The next day, you decided to go see what the Sully’s were doing, after all, that was the actual reason that you came. As soon as you entered their home, you were tackled by Tuk again. “AUNNTTTIIEEE” she yelled in a high-pitched voice. You giggled and hugged her back. The other members of the Family all stopped doing whatever it was that they were doing to come and greet you.

- Jake offered you his hand to pull you up from the floor and you gladly grasped it, giving him a bro hug right after. “How are you Jakie?“ you jokingly asked with a grin on your face. “Well- I'm doing ‘aight.” He replied while giving you a head pat. When he was still part of the avatar program you were like the whole department’s kid. You were a highly skilled pilot and that with just being barely an adult, so everyone mostly treated you like a little sibling once they got to know you. More often than not, Jake had to physically hold you back from doing something dangerous or stupid, like testing the new flying gear by doing aerial stunts. The two of you had grown close over time and he saw you as his little sister, so he was more than ecstatic when he heard that you were going to come over for a visit.

- Next you walked over to Neytiri and gave her a loose hug “Hey, where are my other niece and the two troublemakers?” you questioned jokingly. “It’s good to see you as well.” she smiled “I think they’re out in the reef.” As soon as those words left her mouth Tuk yelled “Oh- I can take you to them! C’mon!” she started jumping around, motioning for you to follow her “I'll show you my Ilu!!” You laughed a little before stepping out and following the young girl.

- Soon enough you were out in the reef playing and hanging out with your nieces and nephews and just a short while after a few other kids show up as well. They’re all interested in you, they don’t seem to be afraid at all! Even the adults of the clan didn’t seem to be reserved about you. Maybe it was that you also had tattoos? You knew that these people had to earn their tattoos and that it was how they earned their respect in the clan. Maybe that’s why they respected you.

- what you didn’t know though, was that two pairs of eyes were fixated on you. The two stood near the shore and watched you play and interact with the young clan members, not a worry in their minds, they were clearly both intrigued and they both knew it. The two shared a look, making their intentions clear to one another, they liked you and wanted you around. They just didn’t know how to get you to stay.

- That’s how it started. Soon you were a regular visitor and almost even a honorary clan member. Every time your visits got longer and longer and the time you weren’t there shorter and shorter.

- one time, Tonowari asked you if you wanted to try riding an Ilu, and of course, you said yes! So the two of you trotted to the beach and he called for one. It was a pretty Ilu and very friendly. It came close and snuggled its face to yours as you giggled. Tonowari could barely hold it together cause of your cuteness! He gently held the Ilu and bonded with it, getting on and offering you his hand. You placed your hand in his as he pulled you in front of him, securing you on the Ilu.

- The Ilu began swimming and you felt the water rush past your legs as they dangled off the sides. You dipped your fingertips in the water and couldn’t stop your smile from growing as a bit of sea foam got stuck. Tonowari was utterly happy when he got to share time with you, so he made sure to give you lots of rides, even on his tsurak!

- the two of them enjoyed spending time with you and showing you their ways and it filled them with nothing but happiness when you showed so much interest in their way of life. You even had your own hut that they kept neat for whenever you came to visit, it was your home away from home but lately, it seemed that it was the other way around, that the Forrest was your second home and the sea your first, along with the people you treasured most.

#avatar 2 #avatar fic #avatar tonowari #avatar: the way of water #tonowari #tonowari x you #atwow #atwow fanfiction #atwow tonowari #atwow x you #ronal x reader #tonowari x reader x ronal #ronal fic #ronal fluff #tonowari imagine #tonowari fluff #tonowari x reader #tonowari fanfiction #tonowari fic #tonowari x y/n #ronal x tonowari #ronal x you #atwow imagines

[queeoretician]

It's amazing how much incidental and easy-to-miss queerness tazmuir manages to pack into the Fourth House section of the Cohort Intelligence Files at the end of GtN.

"Sir Jeannemary Chatur" is a cool vibe and easy to spot, but it's worth taking a close look at Judith's notes on Isaac too:

Abigail Pent has forged a strong relationship with both Tettares and Chatur, much stronger even than her mothers’ relationship with Tettares’ father. It is already suggested that her nephew will be affianced to him once they are of age.

Firstly, "mothers'" (not "mother's"), indicating that Abigail has two moms - this is subtle enough that I missed it in all 5 or so of my prior readings.

Second, and more complicatedly, that Abigail is planning to have Isaac marry her nephew. On the surface of it, this seems cool - my initial reading was that Isaac is gay, and Abigail wants him to have a spouse who he has some chance of being interested in. But given that this is in the context of an arranged marriage between aristocratic families, we should also consider the reproductive lens (especially given the mention of his siblings being "a mix of vat-womb and XX carry" in the preceding paragraph) - I think a more compelling reading of this passage is actually that Isaac is trans¹ (or Abigail's nephew is). And tugging on this thread takes us to a bit of a dark place.

Given how much the Fourth and Fifth evidently care about the heredity of their rulers, we can infer that someone in Isaac's position wouldn't have any real reproductive autonomy even if he had survived to adulthood. And while the existence of vat wombs obviates the horror of forced pregnancy/childbirth, this is still a pretty fucked up situation (to say nothing of the Ninth where they don't even have access to vat wombs). To me, this signifies a fundamental injustice of organising society around hereditary nobility; one that persists even if it can be made to be superficially gay- and trans-inclusive.

With this in mind it's worth interrogating my use of the word "queerness" at the beginning of the post. In the real world "queer" is viable as an umbrella term for all the many LGBTQIA+ identities specifically because those identities are all at odds with the cis-/hetero-/etc.-normative nature of our society. But in the Nine Houses it doesn't seem like being gay/bisexual/trans is stigmatised in the same way, so one could say that these identities are not "queer" per se (strange, other) in a diegetic context.

"Sir Jeannemary Chatur" reflects a similar mismatch. In the real world, a woman using the title "sir" is at odds with both traditional gender roles and (more significantly) institutional usage of the title. But in the Nine Houses this title seems to be devoid of any specific gendered connotations, and its application to Jeannemary is not a subversion of that society's gender norms, but instead an affirmation of the (normative, exploitative) social role of cavalier.

So in summary: Isaac is trans, what queerness means in the Nine Houses can be quite different from what it means in the real world, and pinkwashing an unjust society doesn't make it more just (even if it's headed by a queer person).

¹ This isn't to say that Isaac isn't gay - I headcanon him as both gay and trans. But I don't think him being married off to Abigail's nephew is (primarily) about his sexual orientation.

PS: If you like being haunted by the ghosts of these characters, check out @katakaluptastrophy's fic, Your children are weapons, which got me thinking about these two again lately.

#the locked tomb #tlt #tlt meta #isaac tettares #jeannemary chatur #abigail pent

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

the thing that allistics talking about social skills never seem to grasp is that i do not SEE body language or facial expressions. i am not some innocent adorably stupid little darling who's never been taught what a frown means and so now i feel like everyone is hostile to me because i'm not participating in the Necessary And Unbiased social ritual that lets everyone know i'm Safe and a Real Person.

no, i spent 10 years regularly attending social skills courses. as in, weekly at minimum, for a lot of it daily. i still cannot read body language or facial expressions because i LITERALLY CANNOT SEE THEM. i am partially faceblind. my visual processing is ganked to the point that even though i am not blind i need to use IDs to understand images. these are VERY common traits in autism, this isn't a special "just me" thing. if someone makes a face at me, i can't SEE it. sometimes i can tell that some of their facial muscles are moving, but i have no idea what they're doing and very little ability to piece together what the end result looks like as a whole picture. sometimes i can see when someone is leaning away from me, or if their whole body is shaking or something, but anything less whole-body and cartoonish than that is literally invisible to me.

allistic social norms are built around treating me as scary and unsafe for not participating in them, and i LITERALLY CANNOT SEE a good portion of what they're based on. the less physical bits--implications and social context, etc--are 10x harder when you essentially can't speak half the language, and that's not even touching on how those parts can be near impossible on their own if you have a slow processing speed--which i also do. it takes me 30-60 seconds minimum to fully process a spoken sentence and understand what the unspoken and nuanced implications of it could be, and by then i have already been slotted into "unsafe creep" territory by being entirely silent for 45 seconds. and i am considered socially adept and to have very fast processing among my autistic peers. my barriers here are MINOR compared to someone very severely socially impaired.

this is why explaining to autistics the purposes of allistic social rules and nuances and giving us tips on how to navigate them is condescending and cruel as hell. you're dangling in our faces how important and necessary and integral it is to do something we literally CAN'T do and implicitly justifying us being seen as dangerous and socially undesirable for not doing it. and you're framing it as helping because you're "teaching" us. but it's like teaching a colorblind person color theory; maybe once in a while someone will be interested, but it'll always be significantly harder for them to learn than someone who isn't colorblind, and their experience with it will always be profoundly qualitatively different and produce different results, even subtly. and their existence doesn't mean that the REST of colorblind people who don't have that energy and time and investment should just put up with literally every road sign being written in red on green when you could just make signs that are black on white to begin with.

#dyspunktional #actuallyautistic #antipsych #actually autistic #autism appreciation #anti psychiatry #autpunk

[genderkoolaid]

I saw a post that was showing some statistics about trans women getting paid the least out of like al trans people like a way to discredit transandrophobia and compared us to cis mras and all I could think about was that trans men are the most likely to be suicidal out of all trans people and like I just wanted to scream at OP this isn't a competition we all are oppressed

Idk what study/studies they were citing, but I will say that this study suggests that trans pay rates are a bit more complicated than that?

They look at binary trans men (FTM), binary trans women (MTF), and genderqueer/nonbinary people AFAB & AMAB in the USA. Here are some findings:

Within the ‘Trans’ grouping, these estimates indicate that the income of FTMs ranges between 5–19% less than similarly situated MTFs. Within the ‘GQNB’ grouping, the income of AFAB GQNBs ranges between 9–22% less than AMAB GQNBs. For the ‘AMAB’ grouping, AMAB GQNBs income ranges 12–15% less than their MTF counterparts, with the exception of one insignificant decomposition estimate.28 Finally, AFAB GQNBs income ranges 13–26% less than their FTM counterparts in the ‘AFAB’ grouping.

Compared with this group, MTFs who transitioned from male-to-female later in life – between 25–29 years, 30–34 years, or ≥35 years – have incomes which are 30%, 43% and 52% more, respectively. In contrast, FTMs transitioning to male later in life is correlated with progressively lower incomes, with those transitioning at ≥35 years having 25% lower incomes than those who transitioned up to 24 years old

The two groups [identifying as wo/men vs. identifying as trans wo/men] of MTFs do not significantly differ along standard demographic or employment characteristics, while FTMs who identify as men have higher rates of education and income compared with their trans male identifying counterparts. The main differences in these groups are along trans specific characteristics. Those simply identifying as women and men are significantly more likely to have socially transitioned to living as their gender identity on a day-to-day basis, and to “pass” as their gender identity rather than their assigned sex. Of those who have socially transitioned, the age at which they began doing so does not significantly differ among these sub-groups of MTFs and FTMs.

Compared with ACS [American Community Survey] cis-men, those assigned male at birth (MTFs and AMAB GQNBs) have similar rates of labour force participation, while those assigned female at birth (FTMs and AFAB GQNBs) are around 4 percentage points more likely to be out of the labour force. Despite similar or lower rates of labour force participation, all transgender groups have higher rates of unemployment (5–8 pp) and, conditional on being in employment, being transgender is correlated with higher rates of part-time work (2–19 pp). All transgender groups have higher rates of poverty (8–16 pp) also.

This is just one study but I really like how it looks further into the issue and is inclusive of GQ/NB people. The authors actually point out how identifying as GQ/NB can result in worse treatment because of having a gender further outside the norm. I also find it interesting how they look at trans people who identify specifically as trans vs. just as men or women, and the result that trans-identified FTMs tend to have higher education and income- which could point to them having better access to transitioning through wealth and being more aligned with cisheternormative standards, giving them more experiences in line with cis men of their race and class, while FTMs who do not pass as cis(het) men feel their transness is more crucial to their experiences.

But anyways. Even if trans women are paid the least, that doesn't erase the real damage of anti-transmasculinity- but, also, it may be much more complex than that. There's a lot more variables to consider than just "trans or not trans." And, ultimately, we're all paid less as a result of being trans.

#m. #ask box #transandrophobia #transmisandry #anti transmasculinity #transunity

[spacelazarwolf]

That reply completely glossed over op's point that if you're GNC and you want to go to a business meant to aid you in your presentation (an explicitly GNC presentation!) you're more than correct in feeling unsafe. The kind of nb people they're referring to are explicitly non-GNC in their presentation. Every time I go to the barber I feel anxious and worried at what their reaction to me, extremely non-passing trans man, will be. The same goes for a non-passing trans woman (augmented, even)

The most the average nb person who isn't going out of their way to present differently from their agab (which is VALID, btw. Like the op said they don't *owe* anyone androgyny) would have to deal with is misgendering, but for the most part I don't think a nail salon is going to ask for your pronouns when you come in and refuse service if you give the "wrong" ones

yeah i think people were getting very fixated on that example and not really understanding what the point of it was. part of it i think is because the op didn't explain it very well, but also this is tumblr dot com where we piss on the poor daily. the point wasn’t “asking for a trans friendly business if you’re not visibly trans is stupid and bad”, it’s “are you afraid someone isn't going to understand that you're nonbinary and will assume you're cis unless you say something? or are you afraid someone will refuse you service or treat you poorly?"

when i was pre t and looking for places to get my haircut, when i kept it longer and more "feminine", i didn't have a problem finding places to go. i just showed up, said i wanted a trim, and that was it. when i decided i wanted to cut it shorter and get a "men's cut", i had a lot of trouble finding someone who would even do it. over and over i would get hairdressers (all women) who would give me pixie cuts instead of men's cuts. i once spent two hours at the salon repeatedly telling the hairdresser "go shorter" because she literally would not just buzz it and insisted we go little by little in case we went "too short." but they still provided me service. it wasn't until i found my current hairdresser, who is a gay man, that i started getting the cuts i actually wanted. and now that t is making my voice drop and most importantly in this context changing my hairline in a noticeable way, it is imperative that i have a barber who is trans friendly. because people can absolutely react badly to discussions about pronouns, but when there is a physical marker of Gender Difference, that's when i noticed people started getting more aggressive. that's when i started to notice "oh this isn't just really uncomfortable and shitty anymore, this person doesn't want to mock me, this person wants to hurt me." both sucked, but one was significantly more terrifying to experience.

an example that is probably more relevant to the topic and what's currently happening in my life is a conversation i had with a friend of mine who is nonbinary, was assigned female at birth, presents feminine, and has no interest in any aspect of medical transition. love that for them! but trying to talk to them about losing my access to hrt is nearly impossible because they simply do not understand the severity of it. they have compared me losing a job because my coworkers found out i was trans, and being unable to do anything about it because my state is an at-will state, to their coworker misgendering them their first day at work when they were not wearing their usual pronoun pin.

does getting misgendered at work suck? yeah. does it suck to have to wear a pin with pronouns on it just to get people to use the correct ones? yeah. is this indicative of a larger societal problem with cis normativity and the gender binary? absolutely. but the sting of being misgendered in the moment and having to correct someone (who from then on used the correct pronouns) is absolutely not the same as losing your health insurance and only source of income and housing all within the span of two months.

the problem isn't that You Must Be This Oppressed To Talk, the problem is that interrupting a conversation about the government legislating your right to exist to center a moment of personal discomfort is an asshole thing to do.

#ask avishai

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 107 Thoughts: Goodnight, Sweet Phos...

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay with this post. I originally intended to finish it and post it on Wednesday, but you know.... life happened.

Another month has gone by and now we're on our second to last chapter for Houseki no Kuni. That's right; it's been confirmed that the next chapter will be the last chapter. Can you believe it? If you've seen my previous posts, I'm sure you have an idea of how I feel about this news.

But that'll be for the end of this post. For now, let's talk about this chapter! I don't know how long this one will be, but I'll still warn you that it might be longer than intended, which is the norm for me. This post is a bit too messy for my liking so I might end up making some edits to it later. For now, I just want to have it posted.

As always, please feel free to share your own thoughts in this post! Here we go!

Visual Storytelling Through Change in Style

The first thing I want to talk about is the visuals for this chapter. It greatly contrast with the visual style of the previous couple of chapters. In those chapters, the art was loud, intense, and chaotic, and yet mesmerizing and immersive. The heavy use of black, sharp lines and patterns emphasizes on the harshness of the changing environment. And in many of those page, Phos looks so small, as they are literally being consumed by their surroundings. Even though there were many panels where Phos, Eyeball, or the pebbles are the focus, the background is still very overwhelming in comparison.

Now contrast that with most of the visuals in this chapter. Most, if not all, of the intense visual motifs from the previous chapters are gone; no sharp patterns, black is subdued significantly, and the background isn't overpowering the characters.

The intensity of the visuals were cut back significantly and were traded in for simplified line art, heavy use of the white negative space, and soft hues that make everything airy and dream-like. This is especially true during Phos's sequence. I like how there are very few thick continuous lines in the artwork. These illustrations are mostly made up of light, loose broken up short lines that create abstract structures. And I like that as the regression continued, Phos's design simplified to the point that they were just a small abstract face.

This art style literally and metaphorically showed us the deconstruction of Phos. It's so simple, and yet so impactful.

This is also the case for the last two pages.

The change in visual tone does a nice job emphasizing the literal and figuratively change in scenery. To be more specific, the drastic art style changes can symbolize the final metamorphosis of the remaining characters and the story itself. With Eyeball and the pebbles, the style emphasizes how they've transitioned to a whole new place in a literal and allegorical sense. And with Phos, they're style does the same by emphasizing on the deconstruction of their being during their final moments.

I apologize if what I said was confusing (I also got myself confused for a moment haha) But I'll just end this section with this: I liked the art in this chapter.

Now then, we should jump into the meat of this chapter....

Phos's final curtain call.

Phos Can Finally Rest...

Like I stated before, I found Phos's pages really beautiful for different reasons. In terms of visuals, it's nice seeing some softer imagery after having nothing but sharp, chaotic ones. And story wise, it's nice to see Phos finally letting go and feeling fulfilled.

They are finally free, for real this time. Free from heartache, pain, existing. Phos is no longer held back by the sorrow they had been carrying, and they are free of regret.

They are finally at peace.

And would you look at that? We got to see Pho's original face one last time. And they were happy.

Good for them.

Before going to the next section, I want to quickly talk about this page:

When I first looked through the spoiler tag for the previous couple of chapters, I remember seeing some posts from people who seemed unsatisfied with how the story progressed. From what I understand, many of them didn't like that Phos decided to forgive the remnants of humanity. With this latest chapter, I'm sure there are fans who were also not happy that during Phos's final moments that they are thinking about wanting to see their old families again. I can understand the sentiment, though I'm not surprised with this development.

Despite everything that had led the story to this point, Phos did not hate their old families. Yes, they harbored malice towards them during different points of the story, and it would have been justifiable for Phos to punish them along with the other remnants of humanity came to them to pray. But instead, Phos chose to forgive and free them.

I originally saw Phos's actions as their way of finally cutting ties with their families and relieving themselves of the emotional baggage that they burdened them with. But it's been hinted for a while that despite everything, Phos still loved their families. And the fact that Phos wishes they could see them again solidifies this fact.

Though I can't say if I like this revelation or not, I still find it interesting. But again, I can understand if some readers disagree with Ichikawa's writing decisions. If you have your own thoughts about Phos's final moments, please feel free to share them!

But regardless of everything, I still think this was a wonderfully fitting send off for Phos.

But I'm not done talking about Phos just yet.

And Start Anew...

I'll admit that having the first image I see be Phos's last gem piece shatter was not the welcoming image I wanted to see. For a moment, I thought my hope that there was a chance the small piece of Phos would grow sentience and live a new life was shattered (haha.)

But hooray, for that theory became a reality! Despite Phos's last piece breaking up again, a small bit remained and is evidently showing signs of life. It was wonderful how the pebbles immediately recognized that small piece as their brother, showing once again how open and welcoming their are. Small Phos is so lucky.

And how ironic is it that this Small Phos is considered the smallest, (in some ways) youngest, and most fragile new member of this new family... much like how Phos was with the gems at the beginning of this whole story. (I know that Phos was the same height as the other gems, but because of their makeup and position within their society, Phos can be considered less significant or "smaller" than everyone else)

Hm. With that thought in the air... I hope the parallels end there and this doesn't mean that this small and untainted piece of Phos won't be subjected to a similar treatment of their predecessor, right?

...right??

Nah, it should be fine....Unless Aechmea somehow comes back-

Created Their New Path: Final Act of Defiance?

The second to last thing I'd like to talk about is this page because it had me thinking about few things.

It made me think back to the previous chapters, namely the crazy, nearly perfect plans perpetuated by Aechmea and the Lunarians. It's been emphasized many times how calculated Aechmea's plans were, especially when it came to Phos. He nearly predicted every action Phos would make and kept planning and manipulating accordingly until things go the way he wants. And in the previous chapter, it was also heavily implied that he and the other remnants of humanity counted on Phos, Eyeball, and whatever new organisms they came across, to get onto the Dues Ex Machina ship. In some way, they predicted correctly.

But now I must ask these questions:

Did they also count on the possibility of Phos not entering the ship?

Did they also count on Eyeball switching off the ship's autopilot, manually controlling it, and subsequently crash landing it on a planet that more than likely wasn't the original destination?

For these questions, I want to say no.

It's interesting how even though at this point in the story, both Eyeball and Phos seemed resigned to the fact all of their actions were a result of them being manipulated, even after the perpetrators were long gone. But funny enough, I think that their very last actions were entirely their choice. For Phos, staying on the planet and ceasing to exist was entirely their choice. And for Eyeball, choosing to meddle with the ships settings to grab Phos's last gem piece and boost the ships' output. I don't think Aechmea counted on Eyeball doing that. If Eyeball is correct and they did pass the planet that Aechmea had possibly prepared for them, then this means that Eyeball had in many ways changed the trajectory of his and the pebble's lives, albeit unintentional. This could all mean that are all finally free from Aechmea and his long-game, 4D chess plans.

Phos and Eyeball have finally and truly defied Aechmea and humanity.

...BUT THEN AGAIN.. there's always that dumb chance that this was ALSO somehow part of Aechmea's plan. I highly doubt it, because that would be very ridiculously convoluted, even for this story. But then again, you never know with this author.

But for the sake of this post, I want to believe Phos and Eyeball came out on top in the end by intentionally and unintentionally forging paths that wasn't previously made for them. Even though Phos's final choice was somewhat influenced by the professor, it still felt like it was truly their decision.

I hope this doesn't unravel somehow with the final chapter.

Speaking of which-

The Final Stretch...

I can't believe it. This story is about to end. We'll finally almost done and what a journey it has been. I can't believe I started getting into this series almost over 6 years ago. Many things have happened since then, and during this time, this story had sent me on such an emotional rollercoaster. Though there are many things within the story that I wish was different or handled better, I still think this was a very wonderful and thought provoking story.

Now Ms. Ichikawa has to stick the landing. This could make or break this series.

After everything you put us readers through, I hope the true finale will be worth it.

#houseki no kuni #land of the lustrous #hnk #hnk spoilers #hnk phos #hnk spoiler #lotl #hnk meta #lotl spoilers #hnk analysis #hnk chapter 107 #hnk phosphophyllite #hnk manga #hnk thoughts #story analysis

[jakethesequel]

My D&D/fantasy-TTRPG nerds: how do y'all feel about races/species aging differently? It's commonly a glossed-over part of the settings, IME. People will keep "Elves/Dwarves/whoever live longer than humans" but might homebrew out "Orcs/Kobolds live shorter lives," and ignore mentioning stuff like "Orcs become adults at a younger age" or "Elves are minors until they're like 100 years old."

I can understand why most people prefer not to focus on it, since it can lead to some moral quandaries that get in the way of playing a casual game. (It's not a great time at the table to have to get out a spreadsheet to figure out if your 50yo human bard is technically grooming the 100yo elf princess, or if fully-grown-adult goblin warriors are child soldiers or not since they're all 15 years old.) The longer-lived races tend to get a pass on their long lives because, being humans ourselves, it's easier and happier to imagine not dying and staying young forever than to imagine dying younger than usual. Ironically, this kind of makes us IRL humans guilty of the same things as how we stereotype fantasy elves: We look down on and pity the shorter-lived races as if a shorter life can't be as worth living.

My curiosity is mostly inspired by watching and reading Dungeon Meshi, and being impressed by how Kui does such an impressive job not ignoring the age differences. Ogres, orcs, and kobolds do mature faster and age quicker than humans (tall-men); as do halflings in a reversal of usual expectations. She even maintains how elves/dwarves/gnomes mature at a much slower rate than humans, when even 5e Dungeons & Dragons pulls a bit of a cop-out and says that they all reach physical maturity at the same rate as humans, but are considered young by cultural standards until a significantly higher age. Not only does she not cop out, it's not some swept-under-the-rug bit of lore either, the differences in maturation are front-and-center with stuff like Chilchuck's children and Marcille's backstory! Plus, it's never used as an excuse to be creepy and pull some "sure she looks like a sexualized child but she's actually a 1000 year old dragon" shit, the moral dilemmas are noted and addressed appropriately. It's such nice worldbuilding that it got me wondering whether my homebrew D&D setting should keep following 5e norms, ignore it for the sake of simple gameplay, or emphasize it even more for that immersive DunMeshi detailing.

What do y'all think? Do you prefer to downplay racial/species aging differences except for the positive ones like living longer? The middle-ground 5e standard? The complex Kui system? Something else? Let me know I'm very curious!

#ttrpg #fantasy #dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #dungeon meshi

[missciato]

“I’ve spent all these years training for a duel with a corpse.”

[CW: discussion of death and loss]

One thing I really like about Azure Moon and Azure Gleam was the exploration of grief and how a single individual’s death can have rippling effects on a family unit. Felix and Rodrigue’s significantly different responses to the event alters the way that they interact with each other in the present. It casts a pall over all of their interactions; it has tainted their relationship.

Often, in times of hardship, family disagreements can spiral out of control, causing minor rifts to become major ones. As someone who has dealt with a lot of death in the family recently, I have seen this time and time again. Especially as a young person, platitudes about the death of a loved one can feel hollow and ring as insincere and hurtful even if the deliverer was trying to say something that would help in the moment. The tragedy of the Rodrigue/Felix interaction is that both of them are grieving and could use each other’s company and love in hard times, and yet their fundamentally incompatible ways of grieving make it impossible for Felix to reconcile with Rodrigue. 

I looked at the coin that my aunt handed me, with a cross on the front and back. “Everything happens for a reason, dear. The Lord was just callin’ your brother home. Let this coin remind you of him.” She gave me a pat on the back, an affectionate gesture. I admit, I had trouble comprehending what ‘Lord’ would see it fit to take my brother from this Earth at his young age.

After my own brother passed away, I found myself understanding much more vividly why Felix was so upset and so ready to bury himself in his sword training rather than interacting with the people around him, who seemed to be grieving in this way that he found unconscionable. He felt that they were trying to try to justify Glenn’s death using the norms of their culture, which was to say “He died like a true knight.” or “He was the very picture of a perfect knight–noble and virtuous. In the end, he laid down his life–the ultimate sacrifice. I feel proud of him in ways that words can't quantify.”  

Much like in the example I gave above, an event that happened at my brother’s funeral in 2021, there are cultural explanations for death that can seem comforting to those who ‘buy’ it. Most of us can accept that our older loved ones will sooner or later die, and then when we become old we will die as well. But when it happens to people who are young and have a life ahead of them, the religion/pseudo-religious in the case of Faerghus justifications become more incomprehensible. And make you angry.

Rodrigue and Ingrid, in these instances, are simply trying to square how such a horrible event could have occurred. They aren’t trying to be hurtful or mean spirited, but they are a product of their cultural upbringing. I think trying to ascribe one side as being 100% wrong or 100% right misses the point; all of them are struggling with the same grief, but are finding different ways to cope with it.

And Felix is struggling to understand the way other people are grieving. He’s young and has trouble putting himself in other people’s shoes. He’s also 17 at the start of the game and trying to cope with the senselessness of his brother’s death. As he talks about in the Seteth support, he doesn’t want to be around people who remind him of the thing he hates, the thing his brother died for, the thing that his father uses to justify said death.

Felix: My brother was doing his job. My father is the real problem. When my brother's armor was brought back to the castle, do you know what he said? "He died like a true knight." Chivalry begets the worship and glorification of death. Am I alone in finding that grotesque?

Ironically, the Dimitri/Ingrid support chain sheds light on the fact that Dimitri himself is not fully on board with Ingrid and Rodrigue’s logic, and because of his mental illness he is also struggling to cope with this event. Felix and Dimitri would be natural allies in grieving, except that Dimitri is turning into the boar, which also triggers Felix! 

So Felix is left to stew in his own thoughts. Left to build a wall around himself to protect from the hurt that his friends and father have inflicted upon him with their careless words. And yet, he does try to mend fences with them, in his own way. 

Ingrid: Why are you taking over my cleaning responsibilities?

Felix: You're wounded, and you're going too slowly. I couldn't stand to watch.

He wants to rebuild the relationships!!! He just finds it difficult because he’s so angry!!

In Hopes, we get a support between Felix and Rodrigue where those differences are splayed for all to see. While I’m not a big fan of Azure Gleam, I like how there are two possibilities:

The path of reconciliation 

or

Words that go unspoken because of death

It really fits in with the themes of grief and loss; sometimes you are angry with your loved ones and when they pass from this Earth, there is no turning back the clock. I was angry with my brother when he died; he was a Trump-loving anti-vaxxer who fell into the maw of the cult. I was frustrated and sad at what he had become. Stopped contacting him much at all. And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

One of the really important things about the whole situation, at least to me, is that no one in this situation is ‘wrong’ to grief in the way they do. It’s not as if Rodrigue’s coping mechanism – which is a logical one, given the culture he is part of – is horrible, it’s just the coping mechanism that Felix did not need. And Felix pushing his family and friends away is not good for his mental health or long term grieving, but it’s the thing he felt like he needed to do given the way he cannot cope with the way other people have processed this event that he finds so triggering.

And if Rodrigue ends up dying, it makes the whole situation even more tragic.

[reposted to add some stuff]

#felix hugo fraldarius #rodrigue achille fraldarius #ingrid brandl galatea #azure moon #azure gleam #fe3h #fire emblem three hopes

[rivalsforlife]

ok I'm in a bitchy mood I'll just say it. with the obligatory "I'm posting on the internet" disclaimer that a) this is a Personal Rant to express my Personal Feelings and is not intended as an attack on anyone else or their personal feelings and b) at the end of the day I have no intention or desire to do any gatekeepy things anyone can do whatever they want.

but I find it so incredibly baffling how many times I see aroace things that seem to be operating under a completely different definition of aroace than I am. I was like "maybe I'm overreacting" and then check the tag to see if I'm the only one feeling like this and getting hit with some ask blog where someone is describing their experience of feeling lonely and wishing they weren't aroace and wishing they could have romantic feelings with the response of "some aroace people want to have relationships!" like that isn't The Problem. saw a post going around talking about "loveless aroaces" and "non-partnering aroaces" being valid and asked "what is that supposed to mean" and the definition is basically what I thought being aroace was this entire time. which is having an incapability of feeling romantic love, and not wanting to be in a relationship.

it's like sometimes I go onto ao3 and see ship fics tagged with one or both of the characters being aroace and sometimes these are basically the same as a romantic fic but with some kind of "not liking traditional romantic norms" which is a perfectly fine thing to be but I feel is a different thing from Not Feeling Attraction which is what I thought this was the entire time.

the thing about being aroace is that I am not going to be in a romantic relationship because I don't desire to be in a romantic relationship. I find it personally difficult to wrap my head around the idea of qprs and honestly don't find the possibility of being in one myself likely, because the odds of me finding another aroace person who I would feel comfortable living with long term are incredibly small. being aroace was totally fine when I was a teenager who could see my friends every day and could laugh at them having romantic troubles knowing I wouldn't have to go through that, but it is significantly less fun when your real-life friend group dwindles down to "one person who takes several days to respond to your texts" and you are facing the frankly terrifying prospect of being totally alone for the rest of your life. and it's worse when you have social anxiety to begin with, making finding friends a challenge. and it's definitely worse when you're having to grapple with the question of "am I actually aroace or am I just so severely socially stunted that I can't form genuine relationships with other people".

and that feeling of isolation isn't helped when you go to the people who claim to feel the same way you do, but then a lot of them actually mean "I don't like romantic social norms, here is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with but we don't consider it a romantic thing," or "I don't experience attraction, but at the end of the day I'd be happy being in a relationship with someone who was in love with me and can reciprocate in a way they'd be satisfied with despite not having an active desire to", or "I experience attraction so rarely but it does happen to me sometimes, so don't worry!". and then you see the specific posts saying that you actually are an even nicher microlabel that people *in the community of people who don't experience romantic attraction* apparently have a problem with.

"Non-partnering aroace" "loveless aroace" isn't that just being aroace?? have they changed the definition when I wasn't looking so that isn't the default anymore????? am I losing it completely??? do I need to turn off the internet and go to bed instead of obsessing about the things other people do that is ultimately irrelevant to how I live my life???

#ramblings #godddddddd this is a bad time of year for me anyway

[lotus-duckies]

anyway here's a pseudo intellectual analysis of the vision quest outfits because i'm normal

The vision quest is interesting to me because it's an instance of the turtles individuality, especially how that shows in the garments they made for themselves.

Raph

Raph deviates the most from the norm, even changing the shape of his mask which feels representative of his feelings of being outcast and wanting to go off to do his own thing.

Most notably, his outfit has a lot of elements akin to alt, adult, or rebellious images, like his belt now resembling a harness, fishnets and his neck being tied off like a choker. It makes for a compelling statement on his desire to be different, be self expressive and individual, to be seen as an adult who can make his own choices and doesn't need to be coddled.

I think this also shows in how he traded his sai, which are typically not very sharp and used for self defense (though offensive techniques can also used), for flaming shredder blades, which are definitely very dangerous for both whoever he's fighting and himself. The fact he used them without hurting himself implies practice, careful use. Wisdom, perhaps. Tempering the fire for power as Splinter said.

(did i mention i think his head reminds me of a snake with its tongue out. that's very important. he looks like a snake with More Teeth for fighting. absolutely lethal)

Also I will briefly mention the implied sensory experience that was what I wanted this to be about. He has significantly more fabric squeezing and covering him, scratchy fishnets on his arms, almost every part of his face is covered except his mouth. Suggesting a sensory profile that he may enjoy pressure stimming, perhaps that goes hand in hand with the fact he's more aggressive in his sparring and fighting. Something to think about.

Donnie

I'm going to talk about Mikey later but i think it's interesting they both chose to paint themselves and wear some kind of armor to protect themselves.

Donnie's design speaks to me as someone who has so much creative energy buzzing inside him but also wants to hide. He seemed to be the most sensitive about the fact they're mutants, often downtrodden about being told he could never be with April because they're freaks, and this combined with that he Knows he's going to get hurt results in the mask. (also maybe he likes casey and his stupid mask maybe he likes it a lot maybe they're kissing on the mouth idk)

The mask and the paint feel very creative expression,very artist form. The desire to build upon a metaphorical blank canvas to make something Different. Straight up covering his face with a skull-esque image. Changing himself from the monster he was to a creature he wants to be (human, casey, etc.

And his choice to change his bo for an axe feels ever reminiscent of the "I can't fight advanced alien technology with a 7 foot staff" statement. Although his bo staff does have a blade now, he wanted More Blade. Just blade. He's giving serial killer energy. Mad scientist energy, even. The axe requires strength that he needs, and we all know from the vizioso incident that he would kill people on sight and this axe reflects that.

Also, the sensory profile: Potentially implies enjoying covered, being in dim spaces, enjoying having a solid material on his face and tolerating the feeling of paint on his skin.

Leo

Leo's interesting because he's the only one who kept his original weapons, and arguably deviated the least from his normal design. I think this a good example of Leo's autism behavior and his desire to keep things the same, holding onto the comfort of familiarity rather than taking the risk to jump into exploration.

The most notable difference being the bow and the arm garments (the guard and the elbow wrappings, likely to protect his arms from strain and the bow whiplash). I love how Leo adopted the bow to compensate for his knee being crapped out, a logical choice to focus on long distance range but still keeping his swords Just In Case (and probably internally hoping he'd still be able to use them well)

It shows Leo's leadership qualities, knowing when it's time to make sacrifices, adapting to new situations, changing for the better, and at the same time, the fear of the unknown and wanting to stay the same.

The sensory: Unlike Raph and Donnie, Leo's hood is a cowl neck. gee that's so interesting oh golly i wonder if something happened that made him not want something near his neck gee i wonder why

Mikey

And now I talk about Mikey's armor and paint. While I definitely think Mikey would wear armor to help keep himself safe because he gets hunted a lot, it also radiates "oh man do you know what would look SICK" and "Learn to be strong and calm, like the forest" "okay sensei got it ! *covers himself in wood*"

He chose wood pieces that still have branches sticking off of them, and with the way he painted his face and. general mutant turtle vibes. he looks more like a Creetur, shrekish. Mikey embraces the strange, the unheard of, the monsters and repulsive. Not covering himself with things to hide his turtle nature, but adding More to that nature. (perhaps we could interpret the paint and wood as camoflague, better blending in to his surroundings, being a better ninja)

I'm also reminded of the armor worn by samurais. A bold goal if intended, considering Mikey's inattentive and distracted behaviorisms. But perhaps that is what he aims to become, a noble and admired warrior, making logical choices to protect himself and trying to be better, growing up into a responsible and capable man. I will not mention the last ronin mikey i will not mention the last ronin mikey i will not

Enamoured by his choice of weapon as well. Splinter had specifically given nunchaku to Mikey, which makes me think the kusarigama blade attachments were a modification He made, likely to prove something to himself or his brothers, wanting to do more, as nunchaku are typically given to those in training to develop quick hand movements and good posture.

And then he has eliminated the chain entirely to just have a sickle of sorts. Sickles were traditionally used for agriculture and the same could be said for the kusarigama, but now they appear to have an association with assassination, once again bringing back this idea of wanting to be more dangerous, be taken seriously and doing more damage.

anyway

#is this anything #leonardo hamato #raphael hamato #donatello hamato #michelangelo hamato #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 #analysis

[mystery-salad]

Good Timezones. Completely random question about Redwood. Do Redwood's children physically differ from pale tree sylvari and if yes in what way?

Good timezones Oz!

Redwood's children are different yes, all 3 of my trees have unique children! So for funsies I'll put all 3 here~ 3 for 1 bonus day in the ask box for a beloved mutual 💖

Just as Redwood (no pronouns just redwood or mother/father) is more animalistic in shape, Redwood's children are too. Redwood did not have any humans or major races to relate to, having grown deep within a forest in the far north before Jormag was vanquished and the land could be reclaimed by the norn. Instead the children take after the wildlife of the land, much more varied than the sylvari are. Some are quadrupedal, some have wings, all of them mix traits of various animals like chimeras. Not all are capable of human speech, but others have learned the languages of the forests and their inhabitants. Large fangs/beaks and claws, leaves that have morphed to function as fur or feathers, are all very much the norm. As the norn return they build a partnership of sorts, communicating verbally or through understanding and kinship with the animals around them. They also do not Dream, this tree was fortunate enough to land so far from Mordremoth's call that only a few children who wandered too far were pulled to the jungle. They can all access the root network of trees though, almost like a singular tree colony, to pass messages to Redwood or each other if the target is also near the same root network.

(My tag for Redwood, '#Redwood mother', also has info on redwood's avatar)

The other two I know I've talked less about significantly, but I've talked about the child of one a few times! Ty Lluan, my harpyvari, comes from a tree that drifted on the winds all the way to Dzalana, a land teeming with harpies. The Winding Tree's (he/him) branches as they grew were woven into a wondrous nest that grew to a thriving hub for both his own children and harpies seeking shelter during journeys as well. And naturally his children have all taken on traits of the harpies. Large wings with feather-like leaves covering their bodies, lightweight bark strengthening their limbs without grounding them, long claws to latch onto sheer surfaces or grip the ground for quick takeoffs and landings. They're naturally exploration, spreading far outside of Dzalana to meet others. While they're cautious, they're less so than most harpies and they build kinship quite easily with others. Humans look a little silly they find, being so fatherless and bearing no other advantageous physical traits. They find it amusing that the Pale Tree based her children on such people! They also were largely beyond Mordremoth's reach, but the harpyvaris do have their own dream-like network known as the sisterhood to connect them, along with bonding them to some harpy communities that live within the boughs of their father.

The third tree I have is the Deep Tree (any pronouns but defaults to it/its). This one did not go far at all, but as Mordremoth released the seeds it fell through the cracks deep into the Tangled Depths. Below even where explorers would follow in later years, where only chak wander and harvest the ley energy of the earth. This tree, with no sunlight and no promise of rain touching its leaves, thrived on the chak who wandered too close to the leyline vein it rested upon. It grew carnivorous, relying on flesh to thrive and therefore its children would need better advantages in turn than photosynthesis. The children of this tree are made so carefully and lovingly, each one hand-crafted by the tree from excess materials gathered from the chak and digested up through the tree. They have much more solid, fleshy innards that give all of them a rich, deep jewel-tone to their coloration, covered by a very tough armor-like bark that is slightly translucent to increase the visibility of their glow for their siblings. They lack complex eyes, living in near-darkness and can see basic colors and shapes and heat, but can not make out anything too complicated or details. They can control how visible their blood is by pumping it up to the surface under their bark to communicate with each other, chittering as well to be heard and communicate. Their mouths are complex enough that they can form other complex languages if taught, but there will always be a clicking, sharp accent to them. They're sweet children, the tree functions as a hive-mind channeling all of its children's conversations and experiences through itself to increase the knowledge of all. If one child unfortunately finds a dangerous place none should follow, they will all know soon after and mourn their fallen sibling. As Mordremoth awoke and the tree felt the shackles wrapping around its children, it fully shut down. Called all of its children home before it was too late and closed its boughs around them, pulling their minds back to the network safe and trapped until the threat passed once more.

The Deep Tree's children are so naturally curious and born diplomats, though many would find them different abs therefore scary at a glance on the surface. It takes a long time for them to make connections and become known to the greater world around them, but some of the more adventurous do make it far enough to meet their cousins eventually. The surface is so bright they're functionally blind up there.

#dasozelotvonnebenan #redwood mother #winding father #deep parent #they sound like genders all lined up like that lmao #what gender are you redwood femme winding masc or deep nonbinary #gw2 #guild wars 2

[vi-sigoth]

how did you come to be able to trust and believe in men not to betray, hurt, or degrade you over time? i've never been in a situation where i was surrounded by "cuck" leftists as you say, and while i agree those men are awful in their own way, i'm also wary of right leaning men that tend to hide a general sense of contempt for women. a common example i have on my mind often is higher IQ men who willingly marry women who are significantly or at least noticeably lower IQ because they don't believe or care if there are women closer to them in ability, and they enjoy having such control and influence over their wives or live-in girlfriends. there's more but i don't want to throw you a wall of text lol

So, there’s really no good answer to this. I can tell you my own experience, but my life and yours are probably very different.

I have absolutely noticed a lot of conservative men marrying women who are lower IQ, (and tons of “racist” white men marrying poorer Hispanic, Asian, and even black women, which…we don’t have time to unpack all of that).

I would say—keep your heart open. But have your hand on the gate, ready to slam it shut and lock it when you see a red flag. I think a lot of women, because we tend to be more agreeable and less inclined towards hurting feelings with men maybe are afraid of asking the more difficult questions towards the beginning of the relationship (although I think that both men and women nowadays suck really hard at communicating with each other). There are some things you need to ask about that people don’t like—because they’re pragmatic and not very romantic, but in my opinion, women should be asking—

1. What are your religious/moral/ethical views?

My husband and I are the same religion. He and I discussed it very soon after meeting each other. I know that some people like to say that people who are extremely religious probably don’t get divorced because they’re afraid of the shame and stigma, blah blah blah, but I don’t buy that entirely. I think people who’s religious views (which inform your morality and ethics) don’t get divorced as much as non-religious people because their worldviews simply align more and because of that, they’re able to build more harmonious marriages. Going back to Conservative men marrying lower IQ women — I’ve noticed a bizarre trend, mostly with the older generations, of Conservative men marrying liberal women, or marrying women that have a different religion than them. It’s because those men in particular don’t care very much about their wife as a fully-fledged human being. Who cares, let her have her silly worldviews, as long as dinner is on the table; women are stupid anyway, I’d only talk politics with the boys down at the bar—type mindset. Make men tell you their religious views. How do those views inform the way they think about women and the treatment of a wife?

2. What are your thoughts on sex? Is it appropriate to go to strip clubs? To look at porn? Will you ever ask me to swing/have a threesome? How kinky are you in bed? Do you like doing anything in bed that would be considered outside of the norm?

Now this—people REALLY don’t want to talk about this. I’m going to be mega-cringe and cite Jordan Peterson here, but he was absolutely right when he said that nowadays, young men and women do things in bed that they can’t talk about with each other. But you HAVE to talk about sex with each other. I promise, it’ll save you massive heartbreak down the road. Can you imagine being nineteen and staring deep into the eyes of your boyfriend and thinking about how much you love him, only for him to completely blindside you and ask you to have a threesome? Haha. Yeah. (I said no). Talk about sex now, even if you are waiting until after marriage, you can absolutely discuss the act even if you haven’t done it yet. How many times a week does he expect sex? My now husband and I discussed this, and we both unequivocally agreed that strip clubs are out of the question, as is porn watching, and neither of us want to bring other people into our bedroom. We are also on the same page about which sex acts are fine, and which ones are gross and never happening. If guy is pissy about any of this or unwilling to answer or discuss this, major red flag. What it typically means is that he’s already doing those things or wants to do them in the future and doesn’t want to make a promise that he won’t do them knowing full well he won’t keep it. Don’t ever let a guy make you feel like you’re crazy, stupid, or nagging for putting your foot down about pornography and strip clubs. He engages in that shit? Drop him. Men need to be behaving better, but we, as women, also need to be more active in punishing men for bad behavior. Also, ask how will he feel if for some reason you’re sick or recovering from childbirth and you can’t have sex with him for a few months? He understands that there might be periods of time when that happens, yes?

3. How will you contribute domestically? What will our split be?

Whichever person works less hours out of the house does more housework. Period, the end. He knows how to do dishes, do his own laundry, cook reasonably well, and clean a bathroom, right? He better. You also need clear affirmation that he understands that just because a woman stays at home, doesn’t mean they just sit around and do nothing all day. If you are a stay at home mother, he’s going to step in at night when he gets home and parent his children to give you some downtime, and he’ll help you with household chores at night that you might not have been able to get done because you might have been too tied up with taking care of kids? The answer to that better be yes. Make sure he’s not one of those guys that think that all he has to do is go to work and come home, and NOTHING else.

So yeah, I would say, I came to start liking and trusting the men around me a lot more by making sure that I was thoroughly vetting the ones that were interested in me romantically. My husband showed me that he was loyal and trustworthy while he was still my boyfriend because, not only he did he agree with me about all the above things, but he showed me by his kind, sweet, and thoughtful actions. Not only does he agree with me about splitting domestic labor (we both work the same hours outside the house at the moment) he actually does it. He helps with grocery shopping, making our lunches, making dinner, taking care of my cat, as just a few examples. A man who loves you will always show you.

#long post #anonymous #sorry for the constant long posting

[sch-com]

I feel like as a schizoid I have this upper limit to how good my life can get / improve, and it is significantly lower than for more mentally healthy people.

It's really hard to put the specifics into words, but let me try. For me, after I now have the Basics of life established (work, school, place to live, shopping for food), I honestly feel like there is this barrier for anything more.

I don't have the drive to do anything more, I don't have the drive to do hobbies or socialise, which I suspect is going to cause a lot of problems in the future. I barely do anything after work. I feel empty and shitty, anhedonia and avolition became the defining features of my everyday life.

I thought I could just will myself out of it, and I really do feel bad about my functioning and how I am, and I wish I could just do things, but honestly? I can't. I don't know why and it's embarrassing. I am starting to hate myself for it.

I looked at the Global Assesment of Functioning (GAF) scale, and it looks like I am stuck at around I'd say score 50 on it. Which, while it feels normal to me, apparently is not the Norm? I keep finding myself stuck motionless in bed, unable to really do anything of substance and I think "this can't be how normal people function".

Now, I realise that my depression also plays a role, however it works different for me than what I described above. Depression for me is episodic and violent. It is very disruptive when it happens, and again looking at the GAF scale, it puts me at about 30 when in an episode. But even though I see the difference and improvement when I am not actively depressed, I still feel stuck lower than I think I should be. Which the only explanation that makes sense is the schizoidism.

#schcomtalk #schizoid personality disorder #szpd #scpd #spd #depression #major depression #Global Assesment of Functioning #GAF scale #mdd

[raisedbythetv89]

Using a beloved anti-hero/fictional serial killer - Dexter to illustrate a point about buffy - STAY WITH ME lol HEAR ME OUT OK

Imagine if during Dexter we got a season where something happened to him where the guilt of killing somehow became enough to stop him needing to kill (he still had the impulse but could control it and not act in it) and he became tasked with being the protector and guardian of a 15 year old girl of a person he killed as penance. A way to right a wrong and work towards his redemption for all the innocent lives he took along the way for the sake of his survival and not getting caught. (Not penance for the actual evil ppl he killed just to clarify)

And INSTEAD when she’s 16 he starts to develop a romantic relationship with her, openly discussing that it’s wrong but not doing anything of substance to stop it from happening and their relationship eventually causes him to start killing again and he doesn’t do anything to stop the girl from believing it’s her fault. Eventually Dexter abandons her when he realizes she holds no true redemption for himself and maybe he is just causing her more harm than good but does continue to lead her on by making her believe if one day he does enough good they can finally be together - you know like this young girl is his reward for being a good enough boy.

This is the framework for Buffy and Angel’s relationship without the vampires and the 231 year age gap.

If you enjoy Bangel I will never judge or shame you for it we all get to like what we like freely because at the end of the day it’s fictional and liking things in fiction never hurt anyone.

BUT if you’re a bangel who likes to act morally superior and judge spuffy’s and cry “seeing red” every chance you get (which truly just like WHY we all will never forget, that moment was so traumatizing for everyone involved including the actors. Spuffys just look at everything AFTER that episode that was Spike’s fantastic redemption arc and Buffy’s forgiveness, as well as everything that came before (the context that spike and buffy had a very blurred boundaries, sexual and physical relationship without a safe word and with established treatment of each other that lied WELL outside the norms of healthy relationships with regular humans without superpowers and super strength) Rather than the traumatizing standalone attempted SA scene from buffy that was the ONLY ONE that was actually filmed in a graphic and horrifying way vs alllll the other ones that blow right past actual SA or severely violating memories/minds/bodily autonomy - angel, willow, faith, ethan, giles/the council and xander’s violations of buffy, spike, riley, anya, giles and tara to name just the examples I can think of off the top of my head - angel, willow, faith, giles and ethan all with souls when they did it! vs soulless spike.

Maybe reconsider not throwing stones from your glass house when my ship’s framework without the vampires is: two enemies who have killed a lot of the other’s side and who were tasked with killing each other but instead fall in love despite their best efforts not to (not without hurting each other in the process of course, it literally would not be ENEMIES to lovers if they didn’t do awful things to each other along the way we are fully aware of both spike and buffy’s problematic behaviors) but both being SIGNIFICANTLY better people for it by the end of both the tv show and the comics because they both take accountability, apologize and seek to right their wrongs when they do cause that harm to each other and treat each other as equals.

Basically bangels and spuffys will NEVER agree or see things eye to eye because of the vastly different nature of these two frameworks of relationship dynamics so stick to your respective sides of the fandoms and we can all just have a chill, fun, sexy, sad, peaceful time lol ok? OK thanks 💜

#spuffy #spike btvs #spike and buffy #buffy and spike

[ailurocide]

Question- do companions get their wings clipped, or pinioned? Not to out myself as a bird nerd but while they're both very bad things to do to a bird, one is a LOT worse than the other.

Clipping a bird's wing means cutting back the primary flight feathers on one wing. Clipping only one wing prevents the bird from properly balancing in flight, meaning it'll swerve to one side and fall to the ground if it tries, so it won't be able to maintain flight. It's technically painless (though robbing a bird of its ability to fly is still Bad, they're designed almost entirely for wing-powered flight from the ground up. You should see what the avian respiratory system looks like), and is reversible.

After molting, the flight feathers will grow back, and the bird will be capable of flight unless its wings are re-clipped. However, clipping often starts before a bird can learn to fly, and even without that the wing muscles will atrophy over time due to disuse, meaning that a bird whose been getting wing-clipped every molt will still have a significant road to recovery after the clipping stops, and may need to be trained or re-trained on the basics of flight.

Pinioning is worse. Pinioning means amputating one wing just above the wrist joint (the second joint of the wing, further from the body. usually just past this, to leave the thumb/alula/"bastard wing" intact so its feathers cover the stump), usually while the bird is still so young that its bones haven't had time to harden, usually without painkillers of any sort. This has a similar effect to clipping, but A. it's fully permanent and B. it throws off the bird's balance even when on the ground, as that's a not-insignificant amount of weight removed from just one side (if both sides are clipped/pinioned, the lack of imbalance means the bird can re-learn how to fly even with shortened wings). Doesn't effect heavier birds like waterfowl too bad iirc, but those tend to keep both feet on solid ground (or just float on water).

A pinioned felfolk would likely have some trouble with delicate balancing, especially as instinct might tell them to use their wings to aid them in balancing- which only makes things worse, since one is, of course, pinioned. One with clipped wings might struggle a bit, but the weight difference would be a lot less drastic, and it's just a matter of waiting to molt & regrow those flight feathers (molts usually happen at least once a year for most species, sometimes more often but most will at least molt in late fall, so their feathers are in good condition to keep them warm during winter)

...Sorry for the unprompted nitpicky inbox essay, but both options have significantly different implications for dear Castel and I'm not good at keeping my mouth shut about bird stuff. Still, I hope this could be helpful to you in some way!

Okay first off: please don’t apologize!! Thank you sincerely for bringing this to my attention… I always love learning new things about animals, even if they’re heartbreaking like this.

Everybody say thank you to bird nerd anon!!

After reading through this a few times and really think about it, I’m gonna alter a few things now that I’m more informed:

(I’d also like to reiterate that what the Sunguard Guild does to their companions is barbaric and not the norm for Guilds and their companions. I do not support the practice of declawing, pinioning, or wing-clipping.)

The Sunguard Guild typically pinions their companions. They have this process done to prevent their companions from leaving the Guild, and typically the head of the primary companion family, or the overall oldest companion, is in charge of ensuring that the pinioning goes well and relatively smoothly.

So most of the current Sunguard companions have a pinioned wing.

#(also if you want to keep spamming my inbox about bird stuff- #I might not reply publicly but I shall file the info away v loyally for later 👀) #ailurocide #ask #anonymouse #spotty speaks #ailurocide: the companions #ailurocide: the sunguard guild #keyword: m o s t companions

[bb-kawa]

A Night to Remember

Leona Kingscholar x Oc. Leona Kingscholar x Reader. 

This is more of an OC fic but it’s written in 2nd person so if you vibe with it you can still read.

I interpret twisted wonderland as being an actual University where magical men and women attend. So Oc/Reader has magic.

Warning: sleeping in the same bed but there’s no smut. Oc/Reader plays video games, Oc/Reader is described as extroverted and snarky. Oc/Reader is described as having magic.

It is implied to be female reader at one point but I don’t believe there are actual pronouns used. If i am wrong please shoot me a message to my inbox.

Don’t like don’t read. If you click readmore then you’ve consented to read whatever it is i’ve written.

Summary: What happens when Leona shows up to your dorm room late at night asking to sleep in your bed? Read more to find out. 

fluff drabble

ao3

It's late in the evening and you vaguely hear the knock on your door as you sit at your computer talking with your friends through your headset. You're quite surprised given the time. People don't usually stop by your dorm room so late in the evening, unless someone's desperate to copy your homework.

 Thinking it's a friend from class, you approach the door, swinging it open, and are surprised to see Leona Kingscholar standing in the hallway. Looking as bored and impassive as usual. You also realize that he is in fact topless. Wearing nothing but sweats and a blanket thrown over his arm. Did he walk all the way from the savanaclaw dorms like that? You try to stop your eyes from trailing down his frame in apprecia -disbelief as you double check that no one else is standing in the hallway.

 You're a little shocked but nonetheless, a pleased smile graces your features. You did consider Leona to be your friend. Whether he thought the same was something you weren't sure about. He did seem to enjoy all your snarky remarks at spell drive practice. However, he also appeared to be significantly more introverted than you, so hanging out with him outside of practice didn't seem like a practical thing for you to desire.

 "Leona? What's up?" You ask him. Trying to keep your eyes on his face and not anything else that was currently on display for you.

 "Let me in and let me sleep here." He asks, though it comes off as more of a demand.

 You do let him in though, slightly confused. Who could say no honestly.

 "Sleep here... Why here?" You ask in return. "I'm playing games online with my friends you know. It's not gonna be quiet."

 "Mm… it's fine. Spells exist for a reason. And because I like your company." He answers already plopping onto your bed and sneaking under the covers. "Also no one will find me here."

 Ah, so the real reason comes out, despite your heart fluttering at the 'enjoying your company part'.

 Before you have the chance to say anything to his clearly out of the norm request, you notice his breathing steady out, the peaceful fall of his face, and the full relaxation of a man who has just fallen asleep. You're flabbergasted. He fell asleep in three seconds! How is that possible? He didn't even wait for a response! What if you had said no? You stand there wondering what the hell is happening.

 It's fine, you suppose. There could definitely be worse things than a sleeping man in your bed. And you would have told him yes anyways, if he had actually stayed awake long enough to hear your response.

 You cast a silencing bubble around him and continue on with your nightly activities. On the bright side it's a Friday so no need to worry about classes tomorrow. Or forcing the sleeping lion to actually attend class for once.

 You make your excuses to your friends about who was at your door and continue playing. Every so often you turn to look at Leona. You feel a bit awkward, but the feeling is suppressed by how cute Leona looks sleeping. You've stumbled upon him occasionally napping in the botanical garden, but this is very different.

 His body is currently in your bed touching your blankets. While he was popular for his looks, most girls realized his personality wasn't… the best. You still liked him though. He's blunt and rude remarks always had you holding back a laugh and he seemed to enjoy your amusement.

 Eventually enough time goes by and you figure it's time to sleep. You say bye to your friends and carry on to your restroom to finish up your bedtime routine.

 You walk back to your bed wondering what to do next. Should you just. . . sleep next to him? Would that be weird? He technically came into your bed first and you certainly weren't going to give up your bed and sleep on your small dorm couch.

 You dispel the silencing bubble and gingerly climb in next to him, shuffling yourself under the blankets and gently nudging him on the shoulder.

 "Leona." You prompt watching his eyes slowly peer open. "Leona I'm going to sleep now, are you going to stay here?"

 The silence stretches as you wait for him to process what you said.

 "Can I?" He asks, and your heart nearly falls out of your body at his tone of voice. He sounds almost hopeful.

 You always liked the men from Sunset Savannah. Their 'put women first' mentality always pleased you. And while he was a hotheaded moron a lot of the times, he was never rude or mean to you.

 "Yes." You answer. The shift in him is immediate as he leans in closer to you.

 "Can I hold you?" He asks. You feel as if his green eyes are staring into your soul. Daring you to answer him.

 "Yes" you answer immediately. Perhaps too quickly. Has Leona always been this blunt? He is straightforward but certainly not about his feelings.

 You feel your stomach flip in excitement as he pulls you in closer to him. Wrapping his arms around you. You're glad it's dark, hoping that he can't see the giddy smile on your face. You try to relax into his embrace. It wouldn't help to stay up all night because you can't stop smiling like a complete idiot.

 His free hand moves along your back, his fingerprints tracing up your spine. It feels heavenly.

 "Shhhh, relax." He whispers. You let go of the tension you feel in your shoulders. The warmth of his body seeping into you.

 His steady breaths slowly lull you to sleep and the last thing you remember is hoping the grumpy lion will continue to take advantage of your generous hospitality in the future.

-reblogs or likes appreciated <3

#leona kingscholar x oc #leona kingscholar x reader #nfk #leona kingscholar