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theminecraftbee · 4 months

Note

On the subject of modpack recommendations, I made a custom one for myself a little while ago and i've been playing it nonstop since.

It's very chill, and lighter on the mods so my silly little laptop can run it without crashing. I put it together cause most modpacks are so complex and overwelming to my lil brain. I've found it a good mix of still feeling like minecraft, but having the benefits of the 'more' from the mods.

The lineup is: Create, Farmer's Delight, Sophisticated Backpacks, Waystones, Comforts (the sleeping bag mod), an animals mod called Naturalist, Xaero's Minimap/Worldmap, Decorative Blocks, Macaw's Doors/Trapdoors/Lights & Lamps/Bridges/Paintings for some more decor options, and Simple Hats (I wanted to wear a fox hat on my head. sue me). There's a few basic quality of life mods too, like AppleSkin and JEI, and some compatability add on mods for Create and the waystones to the maps, but that's it.

It's worked really well so far, and i haven't crashed at all-- though i have fallen victim to the massive sinkhole in the neighboring savannah I've been using as my strip mine and tree farm. I put keep inventory on, it's fiiiinnnneeeee-- I never like having stakes for death anyway, makes it too stressful. Let me throw myself from build height to bedrock without having to do the walk of shame for my stuff--

My game chugs a touch with Create, but all I had to do was turn down my graphics and be VERY careful to not dump out thousands of entities at once But that's just Create, really

oh, this can be a really great approach to playing modded too, especially if you personally know what mods you like and don't care about stuff like recipe compatibility! the main advantage of a 'true' modpack is normally that the good ones balance the recipes of the different mods to each other, and also i really prefer modpacks personally that have quest systems. but if your goal is to "play with mods" mostly, or, say, like you, you have a computer that can't handle heavier modpacks, or you just wanat a few things you like, this is a path that is DEFINITELY an option for a chill modpack!

i will say for those new to modded, here are some mods i recommend everyone include of the QOL variety, even if they're otherwise not doing many mods:

some variety of mimimap; xaero's is the one i'm most familiar with but choose your favorite.

if that minimap doesn't come with waypoints for some reason, get yourself a mod that adds waypoints.

quark. i never play modded minecraft without quark, if only for the rotation lock feature alone (never worry about which direction you're facing while placing a block again). you can go through quark's website to decide which features you'll enable and disable, and this is possible to do through an in-game gui, so even people who don't want to touch .json files can easily configure what quark features they do and don't use! it just adds... so many little qol things.

appleskin. this just makes the food bar more useful and shows you saturation. i don't know why vanilla doesn't do this.

jei (just enough items). you will ALWAYS WANT JEI WHILE PLAYING MODDED I CANNOT EXPRESS ENOUGH HOW HANDY THIS IS. a searchable list of every item in the game, which you can click on in order to see their recipes, and even automatically transfer items from your inventory to a crafting grid for that recipe! it's in every modpack ever for a reason! the larger the modpack, the more you're gonna want this!

a performance mod. personally i'd recommend not using optifine, as optifine is a mod a lot of other mods note break them, but if your particular pack is optifine compatible, go for it! most packs i've seen go with either sodium on fabric or rubidium on forge, but there are also other options! i'd just include at least one.

any other convenience you've ever had in another modpack that you want! personally, i need something like tom's simple storage network, drawers, or both to want to play a given modpack, because i get sad without storage, but maybe you only want to play packs with a variety of crops! maybe you think sophisticated backpacks or sophisticated storage are a requirement in your mind! maybe supplementaries or other decorative mods are a requirement to you! the world is your oyster! add whatever of those!

#answered #vivitheanimaxen

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melody-sy · 12 days

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making undertale + undertale yellow in minecraft...

(mods used: blockus, macaw's furniture, macaw's bridges, nicemod... also immersive portals is being used to make the inside of buildings bigger than the outside and solve some of the geography that doesn't quite line up :3)

#minecraft build #undertale #undertale yellow

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dougdimmadodo · 9 months

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August's Fossil of the Month - Gastornis (Gastornis spp.)

Family: Gastornis Family (Gastornithidae)

Time Period: Early Paleogene (55-40 Million Years Ago)

Roughly 66 million years ago, the Cretaceous period ended in a sudden mass extinction event known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event in which as many as 75% of all terrestrial animal and plant species went extinct, with the vast majority of large animals (specifically most species weighing more than 25kg/55lbs, including all non-avian dinosaurs) being among the most notable losses. Following this massive plummet in biodiversity the relatively small number of species that survived into the earth's next geological period, the Paleogene, were left to "inherit the earth", and as environmental conditions stabilised and the surviving plant species began to diversify and become more prominent, an increase in the availability of food allowed the descendants of the extinction event's survivors to gradually grow to larger sizes. The members of the genus Gastornis are examples of animals that took advantage of this new opportunity; thought to be descended from small duck or pheasant-like animals, Gastornis species were enormous flightless birds (with the largest species, Gastornis gigantea, growing to be up to 2 meters/6.5 feet tall) with long legs and muscular necks supporting huge, powerful beaks, the purpose of which has been the subject of extensive debate - historically it was suggested that the presumably powerful legs and bill of Gastornis species were adaptations that aided them in pursuing, catching and killing the many smaller herbivorous mammals with which they coexisted, but following the discovery of more complete fossils (which show that species in this genus lacked the powerful claws and sharp-tipped beak seen in most modern carnivorous birds, and which contained trace minerals more common in the bones of herbivores than those of carnivores,) it is now generally believed that Gastornis species were likely herbivorous, with their huge beaks allowing them to break open hard-shelled fruits and seeds in a manner comparable to that seen in modern macaws and cockatoos. Gastornis fossils have been found across Asia, Europe and North America (having presumably used land bridges to spread between continents,) all of which would have been warmer and more humid than today at the time, allowing for the growth of dense rainforests that would have provided abundant food for a large browsing herbivore; as the Paleogene period progressed the climate became progressively warmer and drier and rainforests became rarer, likely contributing to the eventual extinction of Gastornis species. The name Gastornis translates roughly to "Gaston's Bird", honouring the French physicist Gaston Planté who is credited with having discovered the first known Gastornis fossils in a mine in Meudon, France in 1855.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------Image Source: tps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gastornis,_a_large_flightless_bird_from_the_Eocene_of_Wyoming.jpg

#gastornis #zoology #biology #ornithology #paleontology #wildlife #prehistoric wildlife #animal #animals #bird #birds #prehistoric animals #Asian wildlife #North American wildlife #European wildlife

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budgie-city · 9 months

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"Budgie City" — how is it organized and what is the story about?

Hello, I'm glad you decided to read my lore article about "Budgie City". The second article talks about where this world came from in general and how I came up with the idea. If you haven't read that article yet, you can check it out here. This article right here will tell you about the world itself and the society of the budgies, as well as describe the plot of the book in general terms. I remind you that the book is currently in the process of writing and will only be published when I have finished it completely.

Fundamentals of the "Budgie City" world

Yes, this is a story about talking animals, in particular, about birds! Set in a world much more wild than our own, filled with lush forests and untouched lands, you can meet the wild variety of birds (the story focuses on parrots though) you may know from all across the globe. From Australian (Cockatoos, Cockatiels, Grass parrots, etc.), African (Lovebirds, Ring-necked parakeets, Grey parrots), and South American parrots (Macaws, Amazons, Short-tailed parrots) to Weavers, Sunbirds, and occasionally even birds-of-paradise - you may find a broad spectrum of non-predatory birds residing right here.

But, of course, the bulk of the population of Budgie City, the main setting of the story, consists of colorful budgies. The city is essentially a large colony that has developed enough to turn into a complex system that depends not only on internal organization, but also on foreign trading. Trading between colonies in their world is based on barter, though inside cities there are local currencies — in most cases they are not metal coins, since metal is a rare and heavy material for birds, but they have their own kind of money equivalent.

The only species that has mastered metallurgy are African Grey parrots. Their colonies settle near volcanoes, and they are one of the only birds strong enough to handle such heavy materials. Therefore, metal is the main trading resource for them.

To show you what other species living in the city have to offer, I have this small excerpt from the first chapter that summarizes this quite concisely:

"Large parrots, due to their large carrying capacity, could easily transport quite bulky baskets with all kinds of food or raw materials, therefore, instead of independently transporting goods to other colonies, the budgies simply unloaded the goods large parrots brought, loaded them with their own and sent them back. Macaws most often brought figs and wild apples, cockatoos were famous for their special success in growing berries and gathering wild bee honey, grey parrots were the only birds in these forests who tamed metal... each species could provide something of its own to others, and as a result, all neighboring forests lived on trade links with each other. Budgies were skilled craftsmen in the manufacture of wooden utensils, and their chicks were believed to have the softest fluff among all parrots. So the fluff of the chicks that came down with molts was carefully collected, and other birds used it for the most delicate bedding in their own nests."

For such mentioned exchanges between the different birds, there is a trading base in the city — a group of large platforms on the trunk of the main baobab, where birds arriving with cargo are received, and cargo from the budgies is sent to other similar colonies.

The Budgie city stands "on seven baobabs" — an analogy to one well-known large city in our real world, which I came up with in 2014, and has since then remained more or less unchanged.

As can be understood from the scheme, the Seventh Baobab is considered the main one — it stands in the center and it is surrounded by the main structures that secure the functioning of the city. The remaining six baobabs are mostly residential. Instead of roads there are rope bridges connecting the structures to one another, which prove quite convenient in the case of carrying something around or to simply reduce the energy consumption that continuous flying demands. They start from the platforms on the baobabs, form multi-tiered intersections on the lower and branching trees standing between the baobabs, whereby, of course, this web converges on the seventh central one.

As for common areas, there are the market, the canteen, the baths (some are located on the Third baobab + the pool in the crown of the Seventh) and numerous interest clubs scattered throughout the city. For example, there are several board game clubs based in the crown of the Fifth Baobab, which the main characters tend to visit, especially Gesha and Gosha (since the two initially met at checkers).

Seventh Baobab concept art (artwork by me and @blackteaarts)

How did Budgie City come into being? Are there other cities in this universe?

Budgie City was founded by Phoenix. A bird whose species is unknown to anyone, so she is considered unique by the other residents. In addition to that no one knows her real age — she outlived those who helped her founding the city, outlived their children and their grandchildren, and so on. At this point no one is even trying to guess how old she is and where she came from. There were rumors about her, which had long become urban legends that every chick knows — they say she has magical abilities and can control fire. But there is no real evidence of this anywhere. In fact, no one living in the city has ever noticed anything supernatural about her — she is just a wise, kind bird with beautiful plumage, who treats every citizen like a mother treats her chick — with love and care.

Chroniclers often tell stories about how she herself was once raised among budgies and considers them part of her kind, and therefore decided to create a place where her sworn brethren can live in harmony and prosperity. Until then budgies had never lived in a colony this large before — usually they resided in rather small communities scattered many hundreds of square kilometers away from each other. Therefore Budgie City is the biggest known colony around. In number of citizens, it surpasses almost all others, which is why it is the center of attention of all the inhabitants of the surrounding forests.

Other parrots and some weavers live in a similar way. Small colonies have built their settlements right around the baobabs — in so-called suburbs, but similar formations exist in other places very far from the Budgie City as well.

What is the plot of the book?

I want to clarify that the book is currently in the process of writing in the form of a paper draft, and will be published only after the completion of the full work. Here I will give a brief description of the plot in general, without spoilers or delving into details, but so that you can have an idea of what this story is about.

In the peaceful and steady life of Budgie City — a life without any prerequisites ever before, there is a sudden turning point — Phoenix disappears. Moreover, she does not just go missing, but literally incinerates, leaving behind only one golden feather. In its entire history, the city had never had to change its mayor before, since Phoenix had ruled continuously since its foundation, so confusion and panic among the residents ensues. The so-called Royal Family, a circle of Phoenix's close advisers, who are direct descendants of the budgies who helped her founding this city, decide to hand over the reins to whom they deem the most responsible and emotionally resistant of them — Clementine and Jack.

But in a fit of desire to preserve their relationship with their son Fenya, who is slowly distancing from them, the couple, without putting it out as a question to the rest of the advisers first, use their new powers, and hand the reign to him. Subsequently, Fenya is now at the head of the city — an unstable, egocentric, arrogant yesterday-teenager. Having been partially raised by a zebra finch nanny, he sees more traits of finches in himself than those seen in other budgies. Therefore invites them to live in the city and he certainly does not go into details about why finches were never favored in the colonies of parakeets. Because there are good reasons for that... Finches are not just small and harmless birds, especially when there are a lot of them. And very soon the residents of the city will feel the effect of the appearances of the uncalled visitors…

In the midst of the ever growing chaos lives Gesha. A quiet florist who loves his routine filled with greenery and quiet pastime, who had always rested in a rather small circle of acquaintances, is forced to get out of his comfort zone and starts acting against the messy situation at hand. All because, it seems to him, that everyone around him prefers to believe and hope that everything will get fixed by itself, when this is clearly not the case. His friend Gosha is of the same opinion — although he often gets a bit carried away by his desire to administer justice (periodically turning into stupid brawls). He's just like that — against everything bad and for everything good, but tends to cross the line sometimes. Together they decide to create a secret society where they keep records of everything that upsets the citizens in this new reign, and try to find ways to solve these problems. While Gesha wants to deal with the situation through negotiations, Gosha, as usual, is more eager for a showdown.

Further down the line, Yasha appears — a native of a remote village who came from distant forests, where Budgie City is only considered a legend. He is a hopeless dreamer and a restless talker, but just as he is looking for a cozy home in this, for him, new and magnificent place, it is meanwhile literally bursting at the seams. Which soon forces Yasha to take off the metaphorical rose-colored glasses and, together with his new friends, face the harsh reality head-on.

Will the united citizens be able to solve the problem of the finch invasion and pacify the restless Fenya? Or maybe even bring Phoenix back? You will find it all out when the book is completed!

Huge thanks to @annchanorsomethin for helping with translation of this article!

#budgie city #introducing post #informational post #budgie city lore #lore article #lore art #original writing #writers on tumblr #artists on tumblr #art #writing #info #article

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jungle-angel · 8 months

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Adopting a pet with Bob headcannons (Bob Floyd x Reader)

Notes: Rest in peace Jimmy Buffett, your music was a huge part of my life and was always a little piece of the Florida sunshine whenever it was freezing cold

You and Bob have alot of places where you love to split your time, but you were a little surprised when you found out his family had a little beach cottage down in Islamorada, Florida

The house had actually been where his mom grew up going as a kid (Irene grew up in Tallahassee but her father was mostly stationed in Pensacola) and it's where she and Joe spent their honeymoon

So when you and Bob ended up taking on the place as your own, you two spent quite a significant amount of time there, especially with the rest of the squad (and especially when Mickey's family descended en masse when the Hurricanes would play)

You were down at the cottage one day, fixing it up after a hurricane had blown over. Thankfully, the damage wasn't too horrible, but it still needed some good repairing

You were out in the garden one day replanting some really pretty, and rather fuzzy, red and yellow flowers when a blue and yellow macaw landed next to you and started whistling

You and Bob were a little bit weirded out but the bird didn't mean any harm. You even gave him some mealworms from the garden and oh did he eat them up

And every day he'd come back begging for more mealworms

You'd even give him the leftover fruits that were a bit too ripe in the fridge and he'd chow down right at the kitchen window

But you and Bob also found he was the most gentle little bird you had ever met

You took him down to the animal shelter one day to see if he happened to have a chip and the vet did indeed find one. The animal control officer ran the numbers and found out he had belonged to a bartender who couldn't keep him anymore

But you and Bob felt terrible and didn't want your new feathered friend to end up in the shelter

So you worked it out with the officer and the macaw's original owner and in no time at all, he was yours

It was yours and Bob's idea to name him Jimmy since he reminded you of the parrot on the covers to his dad's Jimmy Buffett albums

Any time you played "Knee Deep", "Margaritaville" or "Cheeseburger in Paradise", Jimmy would start dancing and flapping his wings on his little perch and you thought it was the funniest thing in the world

Bob even taught him how to whistle "Bridge on the River Kwai", you sent the video to the Daggers, his family and even put it up on Tik Tok which got a ton of laughs

Jimmy is also incredibly protective of your kids. One time Auggie encountered a group of kids who weren't so nice and Jimmy ended up scaring the shit outta the kid, much like Smokey the family rooster

That damn bird once flew off with one of Rooster's Hawaiian shirts. It wasn't the best one in the closet and Jimmy had shown his distaste by pulling it off the clothesline and flying up into the jacaranda tree in the garden

But you and Bob were happy beyond words to have adopted Jimmy into the family

Because you both know that you'll have many laughs in the years to come

#top gun maverick #robert bob floyd #bob floyd x reader #dagger squad #dagger squad headcannons

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for-quill-with-love · 10 days

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Every life is precious. Every dream is worth remembering.

[Messaging Online]

» caretaker whispers to you: sounds like Quill needs help naming her new pets.

» caretaker whispers to you: tell her hello for me?

[jump to the Archive -> ⌘]

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[OOC]

for Quill, with love is an interactive story blog that uses text and screenshots to follow the story of our player as she explores the new world she has been put into.

All asks will be answered by Quill (for now) unless tagged [OOC]. Anon asks (unless they have an on purpose identifier) will all be treated like they came from a different person.

Asks are not guaranteed to be answered, but they will affect the story, even in indirect ways.

Before you start:

Please be kind! this is my first time running a gimmick blog, I don't know what I am doing.

This will be a PG-13 blog, please keep asks as such.

The story is being made up as I go! As of starting this blog I have no idea where things will end up.

I am one person doing this for fun, continuity errors can and will happen. Please don't mind them.

Quill has basic knowledge about (vanilla) minecraft and it's various mechanics. Quill has no knowledge about modded minecraft, but I (the mod here) do have some basic knowledge of the mods (mostly create). I will also be learning as things go, and playing for fun, not optimization.

The world I am playing in is modded using forge and through the Modrinth launcher. I am constantly reworking the pack according to my own preferences and what my computer can handle, so it may not be 100% accurate all the time, but a full list of the mods on this world will be under the cut.

The tag key for this blog will also be under the cut.

Tag key:

#with love - the default story tag for this blog. anything without this tag is not canon.

#Quill's answers - the default ask tag

#Quill asks - for posts with polls

#Quill will remember that. . . - if this is on your ask, congrats! you have helped guide the story along.

#day [insert number here] - the day this post happened on. aka, a loose timeline.

#caretaker's thoughts - a tag for when 'the caretaker' speaks or changes something in the world.

#OOC ask - out of character post tag

[more to come as needed]

Mod list:

Content mods:

Comforts

Companion🐈

Critters and Companions

Decorative Blocks

Create

Create Central Kitchen

Create Deco

Create: Liquid Fuel

Create: More Automation

Fresh Animations

All Extensions pack

Farmer's Delight

Ocean's delight

Nether's delight

Various Macaw's mods

Macaw's Doors

Macaw's Bridges

Macaw's Trapdoors

Macaw's Paintings

Macaw's Lights and Lamps

Mystic's Biomes

Naturalist

Spawn

Simple hats

Sophisticated Backbacks

Lopy Create Sophisticated Backpacks

Sophisticated Storage

Tom's Simple Storage Mod

Waystones

Fresh Waystone Textures

Waystones Teleport Pets

Xearo's Minimap & Worldmap - Waystones

Xaero's Minimap

Xaero's World Map

Framework mods:

Appleskin

Balm

Citadel

Clumps

Controlling

Cosmetic Armor Reworked

Curios API

Entity Culling

Freecam*

*used for taking pictures only

Geckolib

Jade

Just Enough Items

Kotlin for Forge

Rubidium

Searchables

Sophisticated Core

TerraBlender

EMF

ETF

#pinned post #masterpost #caretaker's thoughts

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solardrake · 6 months

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Omg your lush stacks house is so beautiful and inspiring!!!

May I ask what your modlist is? :0

Ya of course! I'll put only the relevant ones down below:

Biome mods: Terralith, Oh the Biomes You'll Go

Block mods: Farmer's Delight, Chimes, Supplementaries, Macaw's Lights/Paths/Trapdoors/Fences/Paintings/Windows/Bridges, Another Furniture, Brewin and Chewin, Connectable Chains, Connected Glass, Decorative Blocks, Chisled, Fantasy's Furniture

Shaders: Oculus+Complimentary Shaders (NOT re-imagined)

#terminal talks #sorry this is several months late lmao

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indecisive-dizzy · 1 month

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Vacation Day 2!! 🦒🐆🐻 ✨

We went to the zoo nearby! Wally didn't know what a zoo was at first but I think he had fun!

I'll admit I was too busy having fun and ✨ avoiding dense crowds✨ to get a lot of pictures,, but! I do have some to share :)

A caterpillar on the bridge! Do you think they're related to Howdy? Perhaps they're on vacation to!

A picture in front of a rather lush exhibit! Doesn't Wally look so Darling in all this greenery?

Poppy? No, silly, that's a macaw! Although, maybe she knows Poppy to?

We got a souvenir cup while waiting for lunch. Look how big it is! Wally's enjoying the sun with this cool beverage by his side!

I introduced Wally to one of my favorite gift shop activities. Shiny Colorful Rocks! Together we picked out some lovely stones, Wally chose a blue one to match to his hair!

(shout out to my mom who helped take this picture <3)

#what a day!#We had tons of fun and saw lots of things!#its now morning of day 3 when i post this #but it's not different from yesterday so no new pictures #wally stayed upstairs while i went on a solo breakfast adventure #have more plans today! cant waitt!#welcome home #wally darling #wally darling plush #dizztakespics #Dizz and Wally's Weekend Vacation #vacation #vacation adventures #zoo

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photogracraft · 4 months

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"Dystopian nether vacation destination" build part 28 The walkways

#minecraft #screenshots #mizuno's 16 craft #complementary shaders #nether #my builds #macaws bridges

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xoxo-ren-xoxo · 1 year

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Introduction to Kingdoms AU - a Hermitcraft / Life Series Fantasy AU

This idea has been rotating in my brain for several days now and I thought I should actually explain some bits about the lore and such! All posts about this AU are tagged #kingdoms au on my blog :)

More under the cut:

The Setting

A mid-high fantasy world with limited technology

Magic users (Mages) are commonplace and there are specialised universities for different kinds of magic. You can learn magic or be born knowing how to use it (Sorcerer)

Hybrids, demons, and humans co-exist

There are three main kingdoms which trade with each other but have shaky alliances

Kingdoms and Characters

The Ocean Kingdom

An underwater kingdom run by a king and queen, taking up much of the local ocean space

Home to mostly Mermaids and Sirens (fish and sealife hybrids)

The king and queen's son is Scott (a lionfish hybrid)

The king and queen enjoy tradition and keep their palace beautiful while the citizens deal with poor infrastructure that the king and queen don't want to change

The king and queen are very stuck-up and don't trust the other kingdoms despite trading with them

Mermaids and Sirens can shift into having legs rather than tails, and can breathe both in and out of water, but may be uncomfortable out of water for too long

Other residents: Lizzie (Axolotl hybrid), Joel (human, built an underwater breathing suit)

The Red Kingdom

A more traditional kingdom with a walled city and a castle in the centre

The only kingdom with guarded borders

Landscape is agricultural, surrounded by snowy mountains

Home to the best universities for technological magic, a type of magic which relies on mechanics to work and results in lots of new inventions

Controlled by Ren, the Red King, who is the first hybrid (Weredog) to become king there

Ren has a royal council to advise and help him run the kingdom, made up of great minds he scouts from universities and such

Ren is paranoid about losing the throne and therefore places a lot of focus on guarding the kingdom and catching criminals

He cares about his citizens, giving basic necessities to everyone at his own cost

Most inter-kingdom meetings are held here as it lies between Roost and The Ocean Kingdom

Other residents: Martyn (coral siren, royal council defence specialist), Doc (goat hybrid & demon, technological mage, former university professor, and royal council technology specialist), BigB (human, mind mage, royal council negotiator / kingdom ambassador)

Roost

A kingdom located in the canopies of a large forest, with wooden houses and rope bridges

Home to many Avian and Insectoid hybrids, but also some humans

Used to be ruled by a monarchy, but there was a Civil War which resulted in a democratic system being put in place

The elected government is treated the same as everyone else, and currently runs Roost as a commune, with everyone helping to gather resources and build the society up

The citizens have no need for money, but money from trades is shared just in case a citizen wants to travel

Exports a lot of fruit, nuts, wood products, clothes and woven products

Pearl (lunar moth hybrid, astrologist and animage) is a member of the government, and has a dog familiar, Tilly, who she talks to using her magic

Pearl's brother-figure, Grian (Scarlet Macaw hybrid) went missing five years ago, and she hasn't really gotten over it

Her other brother-figure, Jimmy (Canary hybrid) helps deliver exports to other kingdoms, as he used to be a traveller and is flightless, meaning he enjoys the journey- and also enjoys catching up with Scott at the Ocean Kingdom

Pearl only wears red since Grian's disappearance and is very quick to anger, holding a grudge against the other kingdoms for not helping her search efforts

Thieves Haven

A darker forest located in No Man's Land, home to demons, thieves, and the black market

Residents speak a secret code language and have a duty not to hurt each other unless necessary

Residents include: Cleo (gorgon demon, mercenary), Bdubs (human, life and soul mage), Etho (demon, mercenary), Tango (demon), Impulse (demon, thief), Skizz (human, thief)

No Man's Land

The space between kingdoms, dotted with trade routes, taverns, and guard stops

Some settlements and lone houses can be found here

Residents include: Scar (Sorcerer, necromancer, mythologised outlaw), Mumbo (human, former professor of technological magic, also an alchemist, now an outlaw of the Red Kingdom)

I'll make another post about types of magic and link it here! I hope this gives a good overview of the AU and it's world and I would love any questions about it so I can ramble more lol!

#ben chats shit on the internet #kingdoms au #hermitcraft fanfic #hermitcraft #hermitshipping #because it will be #trafficblr #trafficshipping #hermitblr #fanfic #long post

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the-fourth-knower · 1 year

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Sonic Underground: Last Resort: A Re-Telling Chapter 8

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |

Aw heck I let my upload schedule slip! Anyways here it is, chapter 8!

More set up, a necessary part of any story.

Leisurely Strolls at noon, Philosophical Debates in evening

The sun was a quarter through the morning rise when Manic arrived at the village. It almost felt like a far cry from the village when they arrived the day before, when most people returned to their homes.

Where streets were abandoned the day before, now throngs of people crowded around on their way to and fro. Vendor carts lined the streets, the owners standing next to them announcing their wares or readying themselves for the day. And through it all snaked a green hedgehog, navigating the crowd with ease.

Man, city streets these sure aren't! This is almost too easy. And speaking of too easy...

Manic eyed pockets and purses all around him - the thief in him was oh so tempted to sneak his hand in and take off with a wallet. Or two. Three if he was ambitious. Then he shook his head.

No, Manic. Focus. You're not here for that, you got things to do!

As he walked by an apple cat, his hand slipped out from his side. An apple was snatched, and as fast as it went out his arm returned. Nothing against grabbing a quick bite to eat in the absence of breakfast.

“New toys, fresh from the city! The latest from Meteortech’s Pawny toy line! Fun for the whole family, 3 and up!”

“Need a gift for your special someone?” Weird, that voice sounded completely unconvinced of the hype it was supposed to sell. “Why not a golden egg, made from a real egg…”

Manic eyed the so-called ‘golden egg’ as he walked past. No wonder that the voice of the person at the ‘gold egg’ stall sounded unenthused.

Man, that stuff isn’t even real gold. And it’s Eggman? Pass.

He got a few feet away from the cart before his brain caught up to itself. Eggman?

He slipped back around, right behind a group heading the other way until he caught a glimpse of the cart.

Sure enough, an Eggman logo squatted upon the cart like an unwelcome blemish on a wall.

Great, the place gets Eggman merch. But then we’re in Eggman’s territory, so of course they’d have it.

Manic turned around, continuing his pace down the road. He couldn’t help but notice that more than half the stalls were either Eggman or probable Eggman shell companies. Again, Eggman territory and all. But that knowledge did nothing to make Manic any less uneasy.

Then he heard something that made his ear twitch, and his skin crawl.

“Did you hear about the Resistance attack?” a middle pitched feminine voice said, cutting its way across the din of the crowds.

Oh boy. What’s that about?

Manic slipped against a corner of a building - a launder mart, it looked and smelled like. Leaning to the side against the wall, he saw the source of the voice - three ladies, seemingly middle aged, chatting away together.

“Oh yes!” the middle of the group said, a squirrel lady with a lower voice. “Didn’t they destroy a bridge recently?”

“I heard that it was a factory, myself,” the third of the group said, a dog with a highish voice.

“No no, it was a dock of some kind,” the first voice, a macaw, said. “Those were last week.”

The monkey lady’s face soured at that. “Ugh. They can’t leave well enough alone, can they? Always go and cause more destruction and chaos!”

“And make everything worse for us normal people,” the dog said, shaking her head. “Thankfully, the security forces are more than enough to drive them back into their hidey holes.”

“A shame they can’t drive them out for good!” the macaw said. The other two nodded their heads, murmuring agreements.

“Do these people think that the Resistance is that bad?” Manic said, too soft for anyone to hear him over the hubbub of the crowds in the street.

“Oh, and have you seen those latest cleaning robots?” the monkey woman said, changing the subject for the group.

“The Egg-o-cleaners?” the dog said. “Oh yes! Such delightful little things. You’d hardly think they’re from Meteotech!”

The macaw let out a huff. “Shame that they are so pricey, they’d make keeping care of the house much easier.”

Oh. Brother.

And here he was, getting used to the place. And they turn out to be… well. Not Eggman sympathizers, quite, but they weren’t opposed to the doctor. Just trying to thread the middle. And so blatantly falling for the man’s con schemes.

It was understandable, honestly. People enjoyed their stability, not upheaval. But not something that would work out long term - it was putting yourself at the whims of a madman.

Manic was not the one to think in the long term, though.

Alright. How do I find the others so we can scram outta here without attracting attention?

__________

In another part of the valley, Tails hovered in place, handing over his eyes as he looked around. So far, his searching failed to turn up any signs of Eggman’s contraptions, machines, or even likenesses of his mustached head. There were weird structures all around the valley edge, but he would have to look at them later.

“Okay - nothing over there,” Tails turned to look at another part of the valley. “Annnnd nothing over there.”

There was a sure lot of nothing but plants. Not a single bird in sight or sound.

In fact, now that Tails was thinking about it, he couldn't remember seeing or hearing a single animal the whole them that he'd been in the valley. Insects excluded. In fact, any animal that was big enough to possibly power a badnik seemed to be missing.

Tails landed in a tree, wiping sweat off his brow as he pulled out the handheld.

"Alright...so, no obvious Eggman signs," Tails said, tapping away on the screen and bringing up photos he took. "Except for the consipicious lack of animals..."

It was just on the corner of his vision. But it was there. The unmistakable sign of light reflected off a metallic surface.

“- of… Wait a second. What’s that over there?”

With no hesitation, Tals flew in closer. Landing in the foliage, he crept up to the source of the reflection. And what a source it was.

Row upon row of oil drums, nestled away under tarps. Each one proudly emblazoned with the logo of Eggman Industries.

“Oil drums! And they all have Eggman logos!”

Tails took out his handheld, using it to take a photo of the oil drums. Then he began a scan of the drums, checking on whether they were full or not.

“Hmm…” Tails furrowed his brow, staring at the readings on his screen. “Most of these are empty, but some definitely have oil in them!”

Tails put his hand onto his chin, going into full ponder mode. “So Eggman must be making the people here store his stuff. Or maybe just Stripes?”

“Hmm… maybe I should let Sonic know about this.”

Tails ran his finger across his chin, trying to think where Sonic could be at. Then he shook his head.

“No, I should check it out first on my own. Then I’ll let him know!”

Tails hoped out of the bush he was in, heading towards the drums-

Bwarp. Bwarp. Bwarp.

- and right into an alarm.

“Yipe!” Tails jumped up into the air with fright, tails bristling out. “Whuh oh! That’s not good!”

Tails leapt back into the bushes he emerged from, crouching down as peered out into the small depot. Maybe he should run now, but why not see if there’s anything else to be used as evidence.

Holes in the ground, before looking like the rest of the dirt around, slid open, out emerged a series of badniks. Slicers, Motobugs, Buzz Bombers, RhinboBots, Coconuts. The works.

“Eggman’s robots! That’s not good…”

It made sense - Eggman oil depot, Eggman robot guards. With how cheap badniks were, Eggman had no problem dispensing them to every outpost of his, no matter how small.

Tails waited for the badniks to fan out away from his hiding spot. Then, he crept back away from the depot - then took straight to the skies as soon as he was in a clear spot.

Okay. So. Eggman oil storage, badniks running around… Time to go find the others so we can plan out what to do! Just need to find them!

Wherever they are.

_________

The tour went on for a while. Sonia learned a great deal of the village history, at least as colored by Stripes. Much of it sounded fantastical, if she was honest - a giant wild honey badger saving Oasis Valley with all you can eat honey? Please.

Stripes now led her out of the village, down the main stream that dominated the northwest end of the valley. The two passed by a large net like filter - Sonia wasn’t sure what that was for, but kept quiet about it.

The sound of rushing water was joined by something else - more water, but a low soft roar. She soon discovered the source, as she and Stripes walked out into a clearing.

“And here it is,” Stripes said, sweeping his arms out wide, “the gem of our beautiful valley!

Before them was a waterfall, far larger than the ones by the hotel. It emerged from an entrance in the valley wall, pouring forth down three pools before it landed into the stream. Sunlight hit the water, bouncing off into a brilliant shower of light on the surrounding area. Towards the left were some benches, no doubt meant for relaxation near the waterfall.

“Oh my! It’s certainly beautiful.” Sonia said in wonder, eyes wide at the sight before her.

“It is, isn’t it?” Stripes said, hand on his chin. “It’s been for as long as the valley has been, carving out its course while dazzling all with its beauty.”

Sonia nodded her head in agreement. However, there was something that seemed…off, about the waterfall. A few moments of staring rewarded her with the source of it - sand and dirt were piling around the areas the water dropped down.

That must be from the wastes around here…who knows what else may be in the water. Explains the filter earlier, at least.

But no need to bring that up, not when she was interested in something else.

“Must be hard, keeping it this pristine. Tell me, how do you do it?”

“We’re quite diligent in maintaining the beauty of our home.” Stripes strode over to a bench set up near the waterfall. “It’s our main draw, after all,” he said, as he sat down, “we do need to fund ourselves somehow.”

“I see...” Sonia walked towards another bench, setting herself down in it. ”Are you running a tourist trap of sorts?”

Stripes let out a laugh, one that sounded hollow to Sonia’s ears. “We like to use the term, nature preserve.”

“Nature preserve, huh?” Sonia leaned back against the bench, keeping herself in a well practiced sitting pose. “Not sure if that’s quite the correct use for the word.”

“Perhaps not as it is defined, no. But… Well,” Stripes leaned against his bench crossing one leg across the other’s knee, “we live in interesting times, where many things that once were taken for granted must now change to fit the new realities.”

“The Eggman Empire.” Sonia said, careful to keep her tone neutral.

“The latest in a long line of the powers that be,” Stripes said, dipping his head in a small nod. “Whatever they say, everyone else has to listen.” A ghost of a frown - or perhaps sneer- flashed across Stripes’s face. “Or else.”

“And that is how you have kept your village intact, I imagine.” Sonia shifted her position on the bench, keeping herself up right as she observed Stripes.

“Indeed” Stripes said, staying reclined in his seat. Perhaps in an attempt to put her at ease. “And his tax rates aren’t too unreasonable.”

“You understand that he changes his mind at a whim, correct?” Sonia set her hands on her lap, keeping a gentle gaze on Stripes. “‘One day he’s perfectly fine taking your money, the next he might be evicting you to create space for a personal pool.”

“I’m aware that he is capable of such actions.” Stripes was sitting up now, both feet set on the ground. “And on the other hand, so long as we don’t provoke him, then the chances of that stay low.”

“Stripes, my good sir!” Sonia raised her hand up to her mouth, at first glance in surprise. Though in truth, it was anything but.

“I did not take you for an optimist.” she said, letting herself lean back. She watched Stripes, keeping her gaze focused on his reactions.

“It’s realism, honestly.” Stripes said, setting resiting an arm on one leg as he shifted himself towards Sonia.

Sonia let out a hum, crossing her legs against each other. “It sounds more like trying to appease a predator with grapes, when you are the prey.”

“What else can we do, then? Do we try to fight against him, and ensure a swift retaliation upon us all?”

“I will concede that it is a fine rope walk to balance,” Sonia said. “but if at any time everything you have can be stripped away at one man’s whim, then should you not be prepared for the worst?”

Stripes smiled, raising a hand to adjust his glasses. “Been making it work so far. And I intend to keep it working - as long as I’m keeping the people of my home safe, that’s what matters.”

“But at what cost?” Sonia moved her legs, setting both firmly on the ground. The back and forth was drawing to a head - she felt it in her instincts. “How long until they realize they’re caught in a trap?”

“As long as we’re alive and our homes safe, being ‘trapped’ is not so bad a thing.” Stripes looked straight into her eyes, his own hidden by the shades he wore. “Would you not agree?”

There it was. The barbed question, one meant to probe into her loyalties.

She could lie of course. Give an answer that was a half truth or falsehood, like she so often did amidst the noble intrigues she grew up amongst.

It would be easy.

But she was not the same Sonia as back then.

“When one is beholden to the whims of a megalomaniac?” Sonia gazed back unflinchingly at Stripes. “I simply cannot agree at all.”

“A poor stance to have on such things, Miss.” Stripes’s voice went down an octave, a brow raised. “I hear many are taken for more innocuous things.”

“Maybe. But at least I actually have the guts to fight for their sake, and everyone else's.”

Before Stripes could respond, a beeping sound came from something on Stripes’s waist. He glanced down at it, then back at Sonia.

“Pardon me, Sonia.” he said, standing up from his bench. “One moment.”

Sonia stayed where she was as Stripes walked away. As he did, she noticed what Stripes failed to - Manic waving at her from behind one of the many trees around them.

The fact he was here, and Stripes just got a call…

Oh no… what did he do now.

Stripes seemed to have a scowl as he re-entered the glade. If it was there, he smothered it down by the time he reached Sonia.

“Apologies, but something just came up.” he said with a bow to her. “It requires my urgent attention. I must leave you now.”

Sonia nodded at Stripes, then gave him a small smile. “I hope that it’s not Eggman making a surprise renovation announcement for here.”

Stripes frowned at Sonia, before turning to leave. He looked over his shoulder, fixing her with the corner of his eye - a rare chance to even see his eyes.

“...I urge you to rethink your life. What you’re on now will bring you only pain and misery.”

With that, Stripes looked away from Sonia, striding off like he was on a mission.

#Sonic Underground #Sonic #Sonic the Hedgehog #StH #Sonic Underground: Last Resort: A Re-telling #Sonia the Hedgehog #Sonia #Manic the Hedgehog #Manic #Miles Tails Prower #Tails

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chaletnz · 6 months

Text

Amazon: Monkey Island/Animal Sanctuary

I was starving by the time lunch was ready at 1:30pm - golden catfish with rice and peppers which was pretty tasty. After lunch I went for a little siesta for an hour and then regrouped with Rodrigo and the Puerto Rican family (minus the mother) and we took the boat out to spot some birds and dolphins. There were glimpses of dolphins but I was always too slow to get a good look at them, and when I did see one pop up it always looked grey - they get more pink the more active they are. There was a massive deerfly (dragonfly/horsefly type creature) that landed on papa’s leg and was smacked off him by Rodrigo! We arrived shortly after at Monkey Island, guess what was in store for us there? A little capuchin monkey was waiting at the dock for the boat to get close enough to where it could jump aboard and check for snacks. The family bought some guava fruit from the owners of the island and then some big hefty boys climbed down from the trees and climbed onto papa’s shoulder to sit there and eat their fruit. The girls also took turns holding the monkeys and feeding them fruit but they were quite big and intimidating so I didn’t want to have it climb on me. I wouldn’t have minded one of the smaller capuchins on my shoulder but they weren’t so friendly and kept a bit of a distance. There was also a tiny malnourished puppy on the island and it seemed like the monkeys tormented him. They’d run up when he back was turned and grab his legs, or smack his head, and then run away when he turned around. The boat driver was laughing and joined in with the torment, touching the dog’s back when he was looking at the monkey. The boat got a bit stuck on the island so the owners helped us push off back into the river and we continued down to San Juan de Huashalado village where we visited an animal rescue sanctuary. A young guide took us around to show us the parrots, macaw, sloths, matamata swamp turtle, caiman, and boa constrictor. He encouraged us to all hold the caiman and the sloth and pose for a photo. I did these and felt guilty about it but I could barely take any other photos as I was being completely eaten alive by mosquitos in this humid swampy area even though Rodrigo had bought me an emergency repellent packet from a small shop to try and stop them. We hopped back in the boat and I was glad for the breeze blowing the mosquitos away from me, we stopped at the pink dolphin viewing area again and the girls and papa went for a swim. I stayed in the boat not wanting to swim in this dirty water or get my clothes dirty since I didn’t have too many things remaining clean for this hot weather. Rodrigo set all of our minds at ease (at least it was after the swim) about the piranha-ridden water and told us about when he was 10 years old and had his nail chomped off by a piranha. The people on the other boat stopped there were detailing stories of river fish swimming inside people’s bodies and eating them from the inside out. I was glad I didn’t swim! This time of the day was better for the dolphins being active and I was able to see some that had a pink belly as they dived out of the water. On our way back to the camp, Rodrigo pointed out the markings on the trees where the water level had been about 2m higher in the rainy season a month prior. The water was getting much more shallow and our boat actually wasn’t able to make it all the way in so we stopped at another bank where the water was high enough to get us close enough to clamber out onto a bridge. I took a shower and was feeling very refreshed for about 20 minutes before Rodrigo, the girls, and I headed out with our boots and flashlights into the humidity and darkness. We walked the same path as earlier and it was a totally different experience. We saw spiders, tarantulas, frogs, fireflies, and some birds asleep up in a tree – luckily no snakes! When we got back, a chicken and pineapple dish over rice with egg was waiting, there was also a picked over salad that I could take a few pieces of lettuce from, and an empty plate that had once offered up slices of pineapple.

Night walk: sleeping birds, tarantula

#Peru #Amazon

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