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feybarn · 2 months

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I'm not going in any specific order, just in the order in which these prompts nudge at me. This one is from @bolithesenate. Not entirely sure this is what you were imagining... the crime got replaced by Dooku being... Dooku-y and judgmental. It also got a little longer than planned... But I kind of want to play with Komari and Obi-Wan some more... so maybe???

*tosses Komari & Obi or Rael & Obi as Master-Padawan pairs here and runs away real quick*. I just like imagining the total chaos these would bring. Especially the Komari & Obi,,,, what crimes would they commit.

Yan stared down at the tiny thing—an initiate in pristine white tunics, staring up at him with wide, guileless eyes—in front of him. “What is this, Komari?” he asked, edging away.

“My new padawan,” his apprentice informed him, tone nearly belligerent.

Yan sent her his most censuring look, but Komari didn’t quail or retreat. Instead her jaw jutted out in sheer obstinance. It was… unusual. Komari had always been nearly desperate to keep him happy with her, but in this moment, such thoughts seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind.

“You are a padawan,” he informed her. “And still several years away from your knighting.” He glanced back at the—oh Force—child, who was still watching him silently, those wide eyes making Yan entirely uncomfortable.

“Well, he will be my padawan,” Komari informed him, not even the slightest bit deterred. “His name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I found him and a padawan crawling through the air ducts trying to get into the kitchens.” She sounded disgustingly proud. “I’m going to teach him how to do it better.”

Yan wanted to know what, exactly, Komari had been doing investigating the air ducts, but decided that was a lesser concern at the moment. “And where is this other initiate?”

“Quinlan’s a padawan, Master Dooku,” the initiate corrected him. “Master Tholme took him on as soon as he turned ten.”

Tholme. Tholme was from Qui-Gon’s creche clan, he remembered. A Shadow. Yan had heard that he’d taken on some sort of rapscallion apprentice, but he hadn’t had a reason to be introduced. “And how old are you?” Yan asked the initiate.

The initiate shifted on his feet a little. No sense of confidence, Yan diagnosed. They’d have to do something about that.

Force, no, there would be no doing something about anything. Because this was not Komari’s future padawan.

“Eight,” the initiate told him.

Five years until the child was thirteen. It was possible that Komari would be knighted by then. But highly unlikely.

Yan narrowed his eyes at the child, who didn’t look away. Perhaps he didn’t lack confidence entirely; Yan was aware that many of the younger generations considered him… intimidating. An impression he had done nothing to try to alleviate.

“Well, Initiate Kenobi, I’m afraid that Komari is mistaken. She will be returning you to the Initiate Quarters immediately.” He turned his gaze on Komari, making certain that it was perfectly clear that he would not take her insubordination on this matter.

Komari glared at him, but wrapped an arm around the Initiate’s shoulders. “Come on, Obi-Wan. I’ll take you back to the Initiate Quarters. For now.”

Yan shook his head as she left with the initiate in tow.

Her future padawan indeed. Yan thought not.

5 years later

“Where is Knight Vosa?” Yan asked, searching through the ranks of Jedi. Galidraan’s air was cold against his skin where his robes did not protect him. They were preparing to approach the Mandalorian encampment with orders to surrender, but he could not find his former apprentice.

Knight Thriff winced. “Uh, the padawan said something about a bad feeling?” Thriff said. “Knight Vosa decided they needed to investigate. They left before dawn. No one knows where they went.”

Yan had not expected for Komari to be knighted so soon, but finding Initiate Kenobi five years ago had lit a fire inside of her that he hadn’t been able to temper. She’d been determined to be knighted in time to take Initiate Kenobi on.

She had dedicated herself so entirely to her training that Yan had run out of reasons to keep from Knighting her three months before the boy’s thirteenth birthday. She had arrived at the Council Chamber the day after her knighting with Kenobi in tow and the first bead already picked out for his braid.

The council had agreed unanimously to allow the partnership, despite Yan’s own concerns on the matter. Mace had actually gone so far as to tell him that the shatterpoint between the two of them was bright and beautiful and that Mace expected great things from them.

He had not wanted her to bring her new padawan with them to potentially fight Mandalorians. But Komari had been adamant that she wasn’t leaving him behind at the temple.

His comlink chimed.

He pulled it from his utility belt. “Master Dooku,” he answered curtly.

“Master.” That was Komari’s voice. “There’s a second encampment of Mandalorians in the southern quarter to blame for the death of the civilians in this quarter,” she informed him. “Death Watch.”

“How do you know this?” he asked, surprised. “We had no intel—“

“Well, Obi-Wan and I found the intel,” Komari said. “I’ve left Obi-Wan with the True Mandalorians—“

Horror filled him. “You what?”

“—Fett and I are investigating this second encampment. I’ve negotiated a temporary truce between our group and his.”

”You—“

“See you soon, Master.” The comm call cut out.

Yan felt the wind curl around him as it blew. He was not sure whether it was that or the sense that Komari was falling further and further from his reach that sent the chill down his back.

“Your Master is going to be okay,” Mand’alor Fett comforted a shaking Padawan Kenobi where the boy hovered over Komari’s sleeping form. Yan stood a few steps away, staring down at his unconscious former padawan, bacta patches over her side where a slug thrower had ripped into her.

Yan knew that it was likely his responsibility to comfort his grandpadawan, but he had never been good at comforting. Nor could he bring himself to do so when it was, in many ways, young Padawan Kenobi’s fault that Komari had been hurt.

If she had just listened to Yan and left the boy at the temple… But no, the boy had run into the battle against Death Watch despite orders to stay out of it.

“She’s a fighter,” Fett continued.

“It’s my fault. I should have stayed out, like she told me, too,” Kenobi whispered.

“You should have,” Fett agreed, not bothering to soften that blow. “Kyr’tsad isn’t the place for an ad, but you saved Myles’ and Alena’s lives. We won’t forget that.” Fett rested a hand on Kenobi’s shoulder. “You were trying to protect people, your Master is going to be proud of you for that.” He stood from his kneeling position. “Come on, I told Vosa that I’d keep you safe until you were off planet. Let’s see what we can do about teaching you to use a blaster in the time we have left.”

Yan watched as Fett led a reluctant Padawan Kenobi away. Yan looked down at his former apprentice. He remembered when she had been entirely devoted to him. But that hadn’t been the case in nearly five years. Now her devotion lay elsewhere. Yan had never thought he’d yearn for those days. But at least then, she’d have listened to his words of caution.

Still, perhaps she would listen now, when he cautioned her about her padawan.

If the two of them were not careful, they would stain the legacy of their lineage.

10 years later

“You trained her well,” his Master said, voice low and cruel. “Perhaps, too well.”

“She is a credit to my lineage,” Yan said, keeping his voice even. He hadn’t been pleased when Komari had been chosen to go to Naboo to spring the trap that his master had set. It could be no coincidence that it was one of his own apprentices sent. He knew that his Master was attempting to ensure that his ties to the Jedi be more… permanently cut.

A sickening part of him had just been grateful that it hadn’t been Qui-Gon that had been sent. Qui-Gon who, when he was honest with himself, he could acknowledge as loving most. But then, if Qui-Gon had been sent, then perhaps his Master would not be quite so displeased with him. Qui-Gon had always been something of a maverick, but a maverick who could be depended on to follow certain expectations.

Qui-Gon would have removed the Queen from the planet, would have gotten her to Coruscant to plead her case.

Komari and her padawan had never been quite so predictable. Galidraan had been the start, but not the end, of disobeyed orders and unsavory partnerships. Yan had fought constantly with the horror that could not quite stop the pride he felt when Komari and Obi-Wan became known as the team to send before the boy had even turned seventeen.

Perhaps Yan should have known that Komari and Obi-Wan would have ruined his Master’s plans now. But, neither he nor his Master had expected for Komari and Obi-Wan to join forces with the Queen, her handmaidens, and a force of Mandalorians to take the planet back.

Yan wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten word out to the Mandalorians that they required aid. But then, his former apprentice and her apprentice had always been remarkably capable and entirely unorthodox.

He had tried to caution Komari against maintaining the friendship she had built with Jango Fett ten years ago on Galidraan, but she had retained it regardless. Had done worse and encouraged an impressionable young Obi-Wan’s own friendships with the two Mandalorians he had saved on that Galidraan battlefield.

The fruits of that relationship had borne out now. Naboo relieved from their blockade before his Master could use the circumstance to gain the power he desired and his Master’s more brutish apprentice—Darth Maul—captured and contained.

“A credit to your lineage,” his Master repeated, disgust cool beneath the words. “There will be consequences to this setback, Tyrannous.”

“I understand,” Yan said evenly. He steeled his heart. He knew what this would require

He had lost Komari fifteen years ago, when she had arrived in his quarters with an eight year old initiate with wide, guileless eyes. It had been a gradual loss. That his new Master sought to make it permanent… Yan had made his choice.

But perhaps…

Yan did not allow his new Master to see the small kernel of hope that burned in his chest that maybe his former apprentice would subvert his expectations in this, just as she had in everything else since that day fifteen years ago.

#fey's writing #star wars #obi-wan kenobi #komari vosa #dooku #not at all relevant to the story #but Jango has an absolute crush on Komari #the rest of the true mandalorians laugh at him #Komari has a crush back #whenever they meet up they flirt by teaching Obi-Wan to be deadly and dangerous

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kedreeva · 5 months

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I saw your post about how peafowl are ... resource and knowledge intensive to keep. Is there a bird you would recommend for beginners? Are quail easy?

Compared to peafowl or even to chickens, yes, but that also depends on what you mean by quail. There are a BUNCH of species that are able to be kept in captivity, depending on where you live. If you're in the USA, coturnix and button quail are both domesticated species that do well in relatively small enclosures (think, a large rabbit hutch or one of those little "coops" from tractor supply co that they think are for chickens but are only suitable for babies at best). Most people that want to keep quail for meat or eggs are keeping coturnix not buttons but if you just want cute pets, button quail are adorable. The males of both species are LOUD though.

Coturnix do well eating game bird crumble mixed with layer crumble, as they need around 2.5-3% calcium if they're laying, which is about half what chickens need. They also need a higher protein than chickens, especially as babies (28-30 as babies, 21-26% as adults), or you don't get much in the way of eggs. Other than that, fresh water and a clean home and they're good to go.

The hens typically start laying by around 6-10 weeks (the Celadon gene can cause laying delays), the boys will be crowing on a similar timeline, so be sure you are okay with the noise or know what you're going to do with culls. Coturnix can be kept outdoors year round... button quail cannot, they need to be indoors if it's cold out. The biggest problems I've had with the coturnix is a) noise (which I've mostly bred out) and b) water in the winter. My water system only works when water can stay liquid. So, in the winter, the quail switch over to water bottles with 3D printed drinker bottoms, and those get changed 2+ times a day. They look kinda like this:

and c) aggression in a poorly-bred line. I don't see it much with my Celadon line anymore, but when I first got them, and in the new outcrossed babies, the males would be relentlessly either on the girls or fighting each other, and sometimes a girl would also do this, just start attacking everyone. I culled against it from day 1, and now they're fine, but I had a group of outcross boys that came from my Celadons x fresh blood and the boys were unmanageable immediately. It doesn't matter because I'm not keeping any of them, but I do worry it'll come back on birds I /want/ because the girls may carry that. So that's just something to be aware of, I guess. Ask the breeder about it before you buy.

If you just want "A Bird" and not specifically farm fowl: you want a pigeon or two! They bond to their humans or to each other, they do silly things and have Antics, there is a ton of easily accessible info about their nutrition (and their food is easy to acquire), care, and behavior, and there's always ones looking for homes. Since they were bred as companion and even work animals, not just as food, they socialize easily with humans and they can be kept indoors and unlike quail, their noises are pleasant.

Of course that doesn't dismiss the need to do your research on what it would entail to keep one (or two!), but at least that's easier to do well.

#asks #quails #pigeons

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cthulhubert · 2 months

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Alright, so bear with me.

Humans have three cone cells in our eyes that are how we perceive color in the world. I often think red, green, and blue, but apparently people studying them use Long, Medium, and Short to be unambiguous (just for one example, if you activate M really strongly and not L or S, the color people report seeing is yellow-green). Each type activates at different strengths to different wavelengths of light. Here's a lovely graphic from Wikipedia showing response levels of each cone type to different wavelengths:

So you can see that if some light activates L some, but not M, we'll perceive deep red, activates them both a bit, we see orange or yellow, depending on the specific amount.

It's interesting that some effect (a specific mix of pigments, or some structural coloration) could be producing some mostly 495nm light, or a blend of some slightly higher and slightly lower wavelengths, and either way we see cyan. (And a good thing, too, otherwise our display technology would be extremely unconvincing.)

Of course, then there's what happens when we get activation of L and S at once, but not M, our eye-brain systems don't infer "yellow-green", because green is specifically what's missing from there: we generate magenta, a non-spectral color. (And when all three activate we get white, of course.)

I found myself thinking about birds, with their four cones.

They're more evenly spaced too, the bastards. (These bastards are specifically finches but I'm under the impression that most birds are similar.)

(Of course, "violet" actually means ultra-violet here. Look at the graphic, their UV cone stops responding where our S cone starts. I would edit this, but spent like half an hour discovering that tumblr doesn't support table under html or code/"preserve formatting" under markdown anymore; so you get a screencap of what I sent on discord.)

Birds could see "vio-green" (accepting name suggestions) as a color region as distinct from blue/indigo as green is from purple/magenta.

Look at that. Two whole ass independent spectral color divisions we don't have, and six non-spectral inferences. Eight whole categories of visual perception more than us. Decadent.

The heart quails to imagine what the 16 color receptors of a mantis shrimp would create. I mean, okay, it doesn't because we've studied their eyes and brains and they don't blend colors the way we do, smooshing them down to a much simpler set of perceptions.

But imagine if we rebuilt our eyes and brains for it! Color indicates chemistry, with that level of subtle blending of characteristics, would vision become like tasting everything we look at?

Please pet the bear that is with me on your way out.

#original #transhumanism #long post #I have not actually studied the perceptual systems of birds in any detail so take this with a grain of salt #regretting alt-white now that I've said it aloud in my head #edited: spat this out so fast I miswrote something under the bird spectrum image; also missed a 'd' in 'spaced'

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prince-kallisto · 3 months

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Crowley’s Gibier (A Follow-Up to the Soup Theory)

In the Magic Assault Practice event, Crowley begins with a speech that lasts four minutes- much like the Culinary Crucible event! But what truly shocked me was how he begins this event talking about how he visited a “gibier speciality restaurant.” This seemed like just him making an excuse to speak about food, but then Crowley begins getting oddly specific about the handling of gibier.

Gibier is wild game meat (aka animals hunted in the wild) which is Crowley’s favorite food!

But then, Crowley gets into more detail aboht the background process of handling such meat. He says “that the meat would get tough and smell foul if it’s not treated properly, in a process that requires techniques based on experience.”

He also says something along the lines of “there are many situations in which difficult decisions must be made on-site, and it is not something that can learned overnight,” and that it’s true craftsmanship that he’s in love with.

HM??

As the title to this theory suggests, this is a follow up to a previous theory regarding the significance of soup to Crowley, and why he repeatedly mentions it. I highly, highly recommend reading that previous theory first, as it gives far more context to what I’m talking about now! In that post, I mentioned that Crowley’s preference for wild meat, and the implications that he can eat inedible things like a crow/raven could, reminded me a lot of General Lilia’s habits of cooking rats and lizards. As soldiers on the field, they would have had to hunt for their meat in the wild, aka wild game.

So why does Crowley speak so heavily in several lines in the preparations of this, especially in how it’s based on experience? They way Crowley speaks of the smell and texture seems to imply that he’s experienced handling wild game himself many times before in order to gain this experience.

Crowley himself says that gibier/wild game involves handling several types of meat. This can include pheasants, quails, deer/venison, waterfowl, rabbit, hare, squirrel, elk, alligator etc. etc. Crowley doesn’t specify which type he is familiar with, but if he does indeed have first hand experience with the handling of freshly hunted meat, then I will safety assume that it includes some species of bird and some land animals.

It is also uncertain if the meat he is referring to is truly fresh from the hunt (meaning it would have to be plucked/skinned), or already prepared through machinery. But then, when Crowley says “there are many situations where difficult decisions must be made on-site,” it makes me think that he’s referring to the meat truly fresh from the hunt. And because he refers to treating and processing, I feel more positive on this idea!

Tw for mentions of deer preparation (not detailed) post-hunt all in the one paragraph below

I will be using deer/venison as an example, since it’s one of the most types of wild game. But Crowley says the meat would smell foul and be tough if not treated properly. I’m assuming he’s referring to the “dressing” of the meat, which means gutting the animal and then cooling the meat. Since Crowley refers to difficult decisions made on site, dressing a deer has to be soon or else there is the high risk of the meat spoiling and smelling foul and becoming slimy. Deer does indeed has a strong “gamey” smell, but the meat actually spoiling is what Crowley may be referring to. The temperature of the site you are working in is a huge factor in this, and the gutting is necessary to get rid of the body heat inside the deer. In just 20 minutes, there can be a huge spread in bacteria which can end up spoiling the meat and making it unsafe to eat. Magic in this world certainly helps with the cooking factor, as ice can be conjured up easily. But back to the difficult decisions, just a different of 10 degrees (Fahrenheit btw) can make a huge difference in the urgency that a deer would have to be taken care of. Additionally, the shot placement can have a huge impact on how quickly the bacteria may spread, necessitating quick work in gutting. And then Crowley refers to “processing,” meaning the deer would have to skinned and aged and cut, where a lot of other decisions would have to made too.

Now, Crowley being an gibier enthusiast may give him the knowledge of what gibier is supposed to taste like, but I was truly shocked at his words perhaps implying that he’s done it himself to the point of gaining experience.

But then I remembered General Lilia speaking of how he doesn’t care much for more refined cooking and meals. It was to the point that Meleanor complained of the dried meat was hard and salty. Dried is of course tougher and high in sodium, but there can be a lot of mistakes made when drying the meat. Over drying it can make the meat lose far too much moisture and become brittle, which sounds even worse if it was over salted. This, or his cuts of meat were too inconsistent, causing some slices to be taste over salted if they were cut too thinly. Lilia is also surprised by Silver, Sebek, and Yuu’s cooking as well, where the meat is tender and not dry at all- further implying that the meat he cooks is quite the opposite and just lacking in the detailed preparation Crowley speaks of. (Credits to Otome Ayui for the translation 🙏💖🐦‍⬛)

Lilia then says that after the dried meat fiasco, Levan summoned a pot to make soup. Now I am wondering if Levan made the soup from the dried meat/jerky. To fix overly salty dried meat, the salty coating can be rinsed, but sometimes when it’s so tough that rinsing it can’t fix it, it can be a great addition to *soup.* The soaking would rehydrate the meat and lessen the intensity of the sodium, while also providing a good flavor to the soup. So Levan could’ve fixed this situation with the easy solution- because he has the knowledge and experience to do so!

NAIFJZJDJCF THIS COULD BE ONE OF THE “DIFFICULT DECISIONS MADE ON SITE” THST CROWLEY WAS REFERRING TO!! If they already had dried meat, it would be too time consuming to try and gather more food. So Levan took this bad situation of overly salty and tough meat, and repurposed it inside the soup he prepared…it was quick and experienced thinking on his end!!!

BUT THEN, in Crowley’s personal story with his new SSR card, he speaks AGAIN about wild game meat! Vargas shares this trait with him- which makes sense since he twisted from Gaston. But Crowley is not only familiar with deer meat, but many other kinds as well, reaffirming what I said above regarding his experience. This scene is also where he’s eating meat pie. And back to his speech in the Magic Assault Practice event, he mentions that he frequents restaurants specializing in gibier (Credits to Otome Ayui again!!)

I am a firm believer that Crowley’s mentions of food is significant to his story. Food is prominently presented in Twisted Wonderland as vital to the character’s backstories and even their relationship with other characters, which fits the belief in psychology that food is related to memories of an experience- instead of just the actual flavor.

(This below is copied from the previous theory I was mentioning just because I think it’s a really important point):

“Think of what the strawberry tart meant to Riddle, for example. Of the tart's forbidden sweetness, of how he disobeyed his mother just wanting to be with his friends. Or even Malleus with his disliked food being "full-sized birthday cake" and his favorite being shaved ice, and how these experiences came from being alone on his birthday!”

“TWST uses food in their storytelling very deliberately- not only for backstory/memories but for character relationships. Think of how Cater pretended to like sweet things when in actuality he despised them and only Trey noticed it (relating to his own personality of being trendy and cool, but rather detached to the people around him), and sweet things brought back memories of how his sisters used to force him to eat sweets that he didn't even like. OR how Kalim's least favorite food is curry, because Jamil was once put into a coma after taste-testing Kalim's poisoned curry. But hey, even though curry was banned in Kalim's banquets because Kalim was so terrified from the incident, Jamil's favorite food is curry anyway! Or Azul's favorite food being friend chicken disliked food being "healthy foods" despite constantly eating it due to his weight insecurities. Jade and Floyd's favorite foods relating to octopus. Trey and Vil even have stories as to why they hate MUSTARD AND MAYONNAISE”

“This is not just for the students, but for the staff too.Trein's vichyssoise establishes him as a traditional and old-fashioned (and "elegant") man, Vargas' raw eggs and Sam's chicken gumbo connects them to the movies they're twisted from (frog meat is said to have the texture and a bit of the flavor of chicken. So Sam's favorite food being chicken gumbo is a sly way to imply the frogs from the film!)”

“And in the end, there is the soup, the tomatoes stew and juice, and the wild game meat. If something as specific as a full sized birthday cake means something significant to a character, why not the specification of wild game? It's just..interesting that Crowley's mentions of food ties back in some way with the very very few mentions that Lilia makes regarding Levan.”

Okay copy-paste over haha, but I’m just so intensely interested by the recent repeated mentions of Crowley’s wild game. It’s a very, very subtle potential hint- but that’s why I so firmly believe it what I just said above. The soup from the previous theory, and now wild game being mentioned over and over and over again, in his voiceline, the Magic Assault event, and now his personal story- much like the soup that mentioned in the game, novel, AND manga. So…Crowley potentially having first hand experience for preparing wild game on site could mean a lot here.

At first, it may seem like an unexpected decision for his character, but I think with the right context, it could make a lot of sense…he is a crow/raven (these corvids scavenge for obviously raw carcasses), but values the proper preparation of wild game and acknowledges how it is a craft to be valued in itself. He likely has a respect for the nature of these animals, understanding the proper yet difficult care needed for them.

And considering Crowley is such a huge fan of meat, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ate more “unusual” parts of the animals as part of his belief, like the heart, liver, gizzard, tripe, tongue, neck, etc etc. (In many parts of America these are considered unusual haha, but this was not a rare sight to me at all growing up and frequenting cultural markets!) No part of the animal is to be wasted, even if others consider some parts to be “undesirable” and thus thrown away. Animals are not just hunted for their hide or feathers- instead, as many parts of them are saved and utilized as part of the respect for it. And as we see in Briar Valley through Lilia’s dream, the Fae here have a high respect for nature, and part of their hatred for the Silver Owls is their disrespect for it and how they’ve been ruining their land that they live off on and have cared for for centuries. So…perhaps I am looking too deep as usual LMAO, but I really do appreciate the respect given to nature in this way.

And actually, also to my previous theory…it’s becoming more possible that Crowley wanting to eat Grim was not just a joke from him haha…😰 He could be fully capable of actually cooking him in a stew like he says >_> Oh and, the MASTERCHEF Grim card was just dropped for the 4th anniversary…it’s all about food 👀

Anyway, Crowley please cook me a soup yourself. I need to know what your cooking abilities are like…

#twisted wonderland #twst #dire crowley #twst dire crowley #twst levan #twst Lilia #kallistopost #twst theory #twst analysis #twst General Lilia #crowley is levan theory

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witchofthesouls · 4 months

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Hey! I saw an earlier post you had about the boys in the grocery store and it got me wondering about how they would react to hunting. I’m a hunter, have been all my life. I hunt deer, boars, ducks, coyotes, turkeys, quails, pheasants, wild Burmese pythons, and I fish locally too (strictly a vermin exterminator and food hunter, I find sports hunting to be distasteful and I strictly use a bow and arrow, no traps or guns as I take issues with those too). I can picture the absolute horror of the TFP or Lost Light bots seeing their/a human skinning and processing an animal that they just hunted for food, they see the modern convinces that are grocery stores so it’s easy to forget where human food actually comes from 😂

Weirdly enough, IDW/MTMTE does have Cybertronian edibles like cesium salami and rust sticks.

But then again, there's a big percentage of the crew members who were produced by the war, so there's a great chance that they didn't get a crash course on things that were deemed "unnecessary," like Cybertronian cuisine and fauna to forage and hunt.

TFP Cybertronians, on the other hand, have Questions.

Get ready to pull up diagrams, manuals, videos, and live demonstrations via YouTube or your own hands because they got the curiosity of two-year-old with the capacity to keep you in their palm for no escape.

Ratchet absolutely hates it. It's too messy and squishy and completely unalike the organized and relatively clean method of converting crystals to fuel. Horrified over the mysteries of hotdogs and how everything can and will kill humans without specific preparations to negate the toxins. Ratchet is boggled over spice challenges and how the hell humanity hadn't died in its infancy over culinary explorations. Someone told him to look up Hákarl.

He takes great displeasure when the kids sass him over Cybertronians eating their own blood. Different. Absolutely different. He clucks over the base kitchen and is not above making things disappear. He argues with June and Agent Fowler over the groceries and fast food bags. Ratchet's crunchy.

Bulkhead actually enjoys fishing. He's more catch and release rather than for keeping and gutting. He likes soaking up the heat of the sun, the sound of running water, birdsong, and insects buzzing, the gear setup and picking out the right lure and bait. It's a different kind of downtime, but it's nice. All he's missing is engex, but he's able to throw a line farther out than anyone else and has the capability to detect motion far greater than an average human. He still wants an engex cube.

Arcee has mixed feelings. She enjoys hunting. Patience, tracking, stealth, and the sense of accomplishment with a clean catch. She likes less the process of handling carcasses, but really hates waste anything that could have been useful. Meat, leather, tools, jewelry, and raw ingredients that could be sold or traded. Arcee just doesn't like sharing something with Airachnid's methods.

Bumblebee's a scout. People expected him to like foraging or the wilds. He prefers domesticated stock. In particular, beekeeping. To him, it represents a more equivalent partnership: he provides accessible resources and safe quarters and the bees yield honey, comb, and wax in return. If the hive don't like him or the area, then they can leave elsewhere.

Optimus is deeply fascinated by how Earth's biodiversity is so immense and how ecosystems are so diverse and complex, yet so fragile. He quietly wishes for Alpha Trion's presence because Optimus is seeing familiar similarities of Cybertronian long gone biomes: wetlands, woodlands, and reefs. The Sea of Rust once was a massive ocean of mineral-laden Energon. It has long since disappeared by the consensus of heavy, unregulated industrialization, but if Earth has the water cycle, ocean currents and belts, and complex system of thermoregulation that replenishes itself, then Cybertron had to have something similar at one point, no?

#ask #transformers #transformer prime #tfp #optimus #optimus prime #ratchet #bulkhead #arcee #bumblebee #culture clash #cybertronian culture #maccadam #my writing #look Ratchet is completely scandalized and crunchy #Optimus would watch too many nature docs and try to fish exactly like a bear #the autobots get fascinated by cooking shows tho

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bonefall · 4 months

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do game birds (namely ducks) have more nutritional content than songbirds? my modeled region has so, so many ducks

They have a caloric value comparable to chicken! 5.9 kcal specifically, which I round to 6 to make a good middle-estimate for avian prey. Quails are fantastic prey, clocking at 6.8, balanced out by the fact they are smaller and lighter than you think they are.

(A wild common quail is only 70 to 120g. Birds are light because of their hollow bones.)

When I find good data for the value of a bat I can truly test my hypothesis, but my working theory is that flight is so energy intensive that it means the meat has to have a higher value. But again that's just my guess.

#clan culture #Nutrition guide #Bone babble #So yes ducks are a really good prey. Their eggs are also very valuable.

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maniculum · 7 months

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Bestiaryposting: Holghras Results

Now for what everyone -- or at least a certain percentage -- has been waiting for: the results for the Holghras! Anyone who found that sentence confusing can catch up by checking this page: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting .

This time around, they should all fit into one post, as the response was a little smaller. I see how it is: everyone wants to draw Spooky Corpse-Eater With Magic, but nobody wants to draw Horny Bird With Problems.

I kid, of course. The Wutugald had some pretty clear visual elements that people could hook onto, but the Holghras entry is mostly about its behavior and doesn't give much information on what it looks like beyond "it's a bird". So it's pretty clear why people might have a harder time drawing artistic inspiration from that one. (And I really and truly appreciate those of you who took a crack at it anyway.) The level of physical description is going to vary a lot entry to entry, I'm afraid -- to some extent I think it's about whether it's an animal the reader is expected to be familiar with, but there are definitely a few detailed visual descriptions of animals most medieval Europeans would have seen because the author wants to do some symbolism. So it's a toss-up. Anyway, here's the link to the description people are working from:

And the results, again roughly in order of appearance. If yours isn't here, let me know -- I saw one post that said something about Tumblr eating their original attempt, presumably out of Bird Homophobia. I'm happy to reblog any that I missed due to Tumblr's functionality.

@bruncikara (link to post here) gives us our first interpretation. I really enjoy the medieval bestiary style, including the use of the Generic Medieval Plant that always reminds me of mutant asparagus. I think the border is designed to evoke the thorns in which the Holghras nests, which I also appreciate. The bird's pose, flat on its back with its neck curved up, is great, and it's shown performing its signature Hide With Dirt move. I think at least some of the inspiration comes from quails here, judging by the head... feather... thing... [Wikipedia break] ... okay, apparently it's just called a "plume", which I should have guessed. This is the first example of the common (and correct!) assumption that the Holghras is a member of the order Galliformes.

@jamiethekeener (link to post here) gives us this one, also posing with its signature dirt clods. I'm reminded of a cardinal, personally. The artist provides a brief comment on their design, noting that they are not a bird expert. I think this is a pretty cute juvenile bird, and the way it holds the dirt comes off as kind of playful.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has produced another very naturalistic drawing, which (in my non-expert opinion) manages to look very much like a real bird without specifically looking like any bird in particular. They apparently do know birds, because they specifically name-drop Galliformes in their description of their design decisions. I like the decision to also include one of the bird's Signature Behaviors, i.e., the mother carrying her chicks.

@pomrania (link to post here) has given their Holghras a selection of striking features, which they explain in their post. There's a lot in that post, actually, and I really enjoyed reading the whole journey of this particular drawing. You should go read it too -- the post linked above also provides a draft version, a link to a series of progress sketches, and a link to an explanation of their design choices that includes rumination on how to make a bird look "slutty". Go check it out, we'll be here when you get back.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) describes her design choices briefly, indicating that her goal was to pick Bird Attributes that could look unsettling in combination and suggest that the bird depicted has a "terrible sex life". Mission accomplished, I think -- that bird does not look trustworthy. Also now we know that thing on its head is just called a plume, so good for us. I really like the effect the -- watercolor? I think? I don't know art -- provides, and that seagull-esque spot on its beak really is a great touch.

@rautavaara (link to post here) has done another beautifully stylized drawing with a very pleasant color scheme. They provide a brief explanation of their design decisions in the linked post. I'm particularly struck by the fact that this version of the Holghras apparently carries its young in the same way that the folkloric version of the stork carries babies: in some kind of cloth wrapping held in the beak. I also like that the chick's feet are sticking out.

@mobileleprechaun (link to post here) apparently had some trouble posting this, but I'm glad they got it through, because it's delightful. I like the little bird on the right with its feet sticking straight up, and the other one under its mother's wing/arm. When I first saw this, I was briefly puzzled why the drawing contrasted male and female birds, because they looked quite similar -- then I noticed the tailfeathers -- then I looked more closely at the male's tailfeathers and cracked up a little bit. The linked post provides a brief explanation of the design decisions, including why the wings look so much like arms. It also has a couple tags that I find funny.

@karthara (link to post here) provides this excellent image as well as a brief explanation of their design choices. I love the over-the-top tailfeathers on the extremely-sexy purple male Holghrases, and the babies dangling from under the female's wing, and the fact that the clod of dirt being held up by the juvenile is at least as big as the bird holding it. Also, those ridiculous tailfeathers are apparently inspired by the Onagadori rooster, which means we're back with the Galliformes.

@embervoices (link to post here) did this adorable drawing of the juvenile Holghras. I particularly like that she's taken a different route than having it just hold up the dirt: this one apparently has a little hidey-hole like a trapdoor spider. This is just very cute all around, I like it.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) provides this excellent and action-packed depiction, along with a wonderfully detailed explanation of their design decisions. (I love reading those.) From their post, it's clear that they also know more about birds than I do, and also name-check the Galliformes as the most likely category. Apparently the bird-people of Tumblr have this critter's number. Also, that is a masterful depiction of a bird running off with an egg, I have to say.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has done another medieval-styled rendition, which I really enjoy. This is also, I believe, the first appearance of a human in any of these drawings. (Well. Live human, at least.) I enjoy the depiction of the female bird doing her fake limp to lead the human away from her nest while the males engage in their weird drama up in the right. They provide an explanation of their design choices and inspiration in the linked post.

@scarlettbookworm (link to post here) has given us a drawing that showcases several of the odd behaviors described in the entry. The linked post also provides a description of their design process and an explanation of their decisions. I think this is another very cute picture of a bird holding up dirt, and I enjoy the one at the top shouting "HOLGHRAS!" The egg-stealer over in the bottom right is very good also.

@moustawott (link to post here) has drawn this very vulture-like Holghras in what I have to say is a very well-done bushy area. I had to look twice to realize the background was actually cleverly-arranged splashes and blobs of color that strongly suggest that we're in a bush. Very good art, love the style, and that fuzzy baby Holghras is cute as hell. The linked post provides an explanation of the design decisions.

@strixcattus (link to post here) gives us this rendition of the Holghras, which they describe as being inspired by a prairie chicken and a potoo. Prairie chickens are, of course... Galliformes. Another tally mark in that column. I'm particularly delighted by the giant mouth on the chick in the bottom right. As they did last time, the artist has provided a detailed modern-naturalist interpretation of the animal, which is of course in the linked post. I recommend checking that out; maybe it's just because I'm the kind of huge nerd that I am, but I think these are great.

@treesurface (link to post here) gives us a Holghras that they describe as a cross between a bird of prey and a bird of paradise, which I think is a pretty good idea that fits both the aggressive behavior and the mating behavior described in the entry. I enjoy the fact that multiple artists have decided this bird Likes Big Tailfeathers (and it does lie, but about different things).

@ashfly (link to post here) gives us this picture of a juvenile Holghras holding up its clump of dirt. They also indicate that they have an idea of what it is, which I really hope they'll share now that it's posted and the bird's out of the bag, because I was 100% certain nobody would guess this one. The fuzzy bird is cute, of course, and the rainbow legs are really striking. (Pride legs, perhaps?) I also like that it's clearly looking over at the "camera" to see if we're buying it.

And finally, the official medieval depiction:

... hm. Yeah, some absolute bastard apparently cut out a bunch of the miniatures in this manuscript at one point. Luckily, we have the Ashmole Bestiary over at the Bodleian Library, which is extremely similar, so we can get an idea of the image that was here:

And also, this entry in the Aberdeen Bestiary comes with two images. Here's the other one:

I'm going to assume the choice of coloration was up to the individual artist and the missing Aberdeen illustration was also brown, because the Ashmole version of the egg-stealer also has the more colorful pattern:

Anyway, in case you haven't recognized it from these helpful and very accurate images, this is the partridge. Now you know what's going on in those pear trees.

I don't actually have anything else to add about that. I was frankly a little surprised there was even an entry for "partridge".

#maniculum bestiaryposting #holghras

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rewritingcanon · 9 days

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Honestly I love the interpretation of the Greengrass’s having some Greek heritage (I’m of Greek descent) and it honestly kind of lines up. Due to their surname definitely not being Greek I’d have to assume it’s on their mothers side, so the side that’s cursed.

I also love this because unlike every other character having Roman names, Daphne and Astoria (and Hyperion) are definitely Greek in origin no questions asked. I seriously doubt Scorpius’ middle name is from a Malfoy, and honestly it would make more sense if it was Astoria’s maternal grandfather or uncle.

Daphne the nymph had a connection to Apollo and Astoria’s original form Asteria has a connection to Artemis and Apollo, Apollo having taken over for Helios, Helios having taken over for Hyperion as sun gods. And Scorpius (Skorpio) the constellation also has a connection to Artemis and Orion! All of their names somehow relate and I love this detail.

Daphne was a naiad, a nymph of the river Ladon of Arkadia (more on Ladon later) or Peneios of Thessalia. Famously Apollo was attracted to Daphne and pursued her endlessly until in her exhaustion she asked for Gaia’s help. Gaia turned her into a tree, the laurel tree that Apollo is heavily associated with, and also — and I’m not kidding — was used as a symbol in the Festival of Delphi!

Asteria (the Titanesse of falling stars, prophetic dreams and the nighttime) has a surprisingly similar story, although with a lot more going on. Asteria was — like many Greek women — caught the eye of Zeus. He chased her around a bit until she became a quail, went into the water, and became the island of Delos. Delos is also the birth place of Artemis and Apollo, and Hera had done a very thorough job of trying to prevent Leto from birthing these twins, making it a whole big thing that she finally managed to birth them. So, Asteria has that motherhood connection too, specifically to the sun and moon.

Daphne and Astoria essentially both come from stories regarding a man wanting a woman and her becoming part of the wilderness when he can’t take no for an answer. Make whatever theories regarding their blood curse from that theme that you want.

Hilariously, Scorpius’ name sort of ties into this theme. Most constellations as we know them come from a corresponding Greek or Phoenician myth and Scorpius is no different. Orion the giant was harassing either Artemis herself, some of her hunters, or the Pleiades, and Artemis did not like this. So she created a horrifying monster to kill Orion, called the Skorpios. Orion died, and was placed among the stars to honour his valiant deeds, but the Pleiades were also in the stars and he promptly started harassing them again, so Skorpios (or Scorpius) was also placed among the stars to get this guy to knock it off. Astrologically speaking the Scorpius constellation even chases Orion through the night sky.

This has the hilarious effect of naming Daphne and Astoria after harassed women and Scorpius after the consent monster that’ll kill you if you don’t back the fuck off. Also the fact that so many of the Black family names relate back to Orion (Sirius is his dog, and Bellatrix is his shoulder) should not be missed.

So basically, don’t harass women when Scorpius is in earshot of you. Or, conversely, Delphi leave that child the fuck alone, Scorpius will ruin your day.

(I could say more, because there is actually a surprising amount to analyse when it comes to just these guys names, but I think this is enough for now.)

yknow what the greek greengrass family is slowly growing on me and i think this may be the last nail in the coffin for anything else because i have quite literally never heard a better exploration to the super frustratingly vague ‘blood curse that attacks greengrass women every few generations’ thing besides an ancient magic tied to greek myth. i remember someone else headcanoning this too.

idk how big of a deal this is in ur greek family but in mine names are HUGE and are especially big because its a greek thing to name ur kids after ur parents. like me, and my other firstborn cousins are all named after my papou, and my sister and secondborn cousin are named after my yiayia. so does that mean there was a scorpius greengrass 👀 most greeks i know typically dont have middle names but i guess there are some that do. one of my childhood friends had one for instance, and her middle name was her yiayia’s name so maybe that’s what hyperion is as you said (maybe i am reading too much into it since greengrass is certainly not a greek name so if the curse was greek than that line would probs be very diluted).

also rip scorpius if you were actually greek you wouldve loved kourabiedes. it wouldve done more for you than chocolate frogs ever did.

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brother-emperors · 3 months

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Out of Cassius, Trebonius, Mark Antony, and Brutus, do you think any of them are "genre-aware" of the type of story they re in, in the late Republic?

imo they’re all aware that they’re on the precipice of something (at a turning point, a fork in the road where the only option is forward/you cannot go back, etc) as people who live through these things often are, which makes them “genre aware” in a way that actually matters, but during his rivalry with Octavian post-Philippi, it would probably Antony after this specifically

But their competitive diversions gave Antony annoyance, because he always came off with less than Caesar. Now, there was with him a seer from Egypt, one of those who cast nativities. This man, either as a favour to Cleopatra, or dealing truly with Antony, used frank language with him, saying that his fortune, though most great and splendid, was obscured by that of Caesar; and he advised Antony to put as much distance as possible between himself and that young man. "For thy guardian genius," said he, "is afraid of his; and though it has a spirited and lofty mien when it is by itself, when his comes near, thine is cowed and humbled by it." And indeed events seemed to testify in favour of the Egyptian. For we are told that whenever, by way of diversion, lots were cast or dice thrown to decide matters in which they were engaged, Antony came off worsted. They would often match cocks, and often fighting quails, and Caesar's would always be victorious.

Antony, Plutarch

#ngl I just spent several hours discussing gorillaz and genre/narrative awareness wrt to zombie genre/necromancy/resurrection etc #and looked at this line up of men and thought ‘well none of them are trapped in a torment nexus box of fame’#before remembering how Roman politics (a torment nexus box) worked #anyway best start believing you’re the lead in a tragedy antony. You’ve already been cast in it. no longer a man but a character. etc #ask tag

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askagamedev · 2 years

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You talked about how making system with an edge case/additional functionality (namely the boss’ elite units acting as a unit with cover fire/focused targeting). Can you explain why it is harder/more time consuming to add unanticipated functionality in later?

I'll use a different example to answer your question today. There's a well-known long-running MMORPG called Star Wars: The Old Republic that was famous for its companion characters as a major game feature.

The way that the companion system was built for launch was designed around every class having an equal number of companions within the data. Companions at launch were mapped by class - every player class had six different companions, each with a set role (melee tank, ranged tank, melee DPS, ranged DPS, healer, ship droid) in a specific numbered slot. In all of the code systems that had anything to do with companions, the code wouldn't ask for a specific companion by ID number, but rather by the player's class and companion slot number. The system was built such that companion lookup could not be sparse (that is, you couldn't have empty companion slots for any class), or systems like companion affection, equipment, companion stats and stat scaling, many parts of combat, companion UI, certain cinematics, etc. would fail in a cascade. Every class had to have the same number of companions or all kinds of game systems would break. This also meant that there wasn't just two different faction ship droids, there were eight (a different one for each class).

It was when the game designers added the first and second additional companions to the original roster that they ran into the wall. They couldn't add just one companion - they had to add eight companions - a different version of the new companion for each class. The costs were so great that the leadership deemed it too expensive to build new companions after the first two (HK-51 and Treek). It also meant that there was no way that they could reuse existing companions for other classes - the Sith Warrior couldn't ever recruit a companion character that was designed for the Imperial Agent, because it wouldn't be the same companion, it'd have to be a separate instance of that old companion data. New companion characters were one of the most highly requested and popular features among players, but actually adding them to the game was a nightmare in terms of the amount of work that needed to be done and complexity of data (since design quailed at the thought of having to keep track of up to eight different versions of every new companion added to the game). This problem was a continuous thorn in the side of the leadership too because they knew this could open up massive new opportunities - faction reward companions, microtransaction companions, temporary companions that could actually die as part of the story, different versions of companions, etc. - but could not feasibly do anything about it due to the development cost of having to rebuild the entire system.

Eventually, circumstances granted the SWTOR team additional headcount for a year and the leadership wisely tasked a strike team of engineers and designers for nearly the entire expansion cycle to rebuild the companion system from the ground up in order to decouple the player classes from their static companion slots. For the first time, designers could set a list of player classes that the companion could be recruited by without needing to create a duplicate of that companion's data for each class. All classes could share the same companion's data, which meant that classes could recruit each others' companions, and that new companions were much, much easier to add to the game. Design would no longer need to create eight different versions of the same companion anymore.

As you may have surmised, the reason that it was so expensive to add unanticipated functionality in later is because a lot of other critical systems were built upon the assumptions made during that initial implementation. Changing the underlying system meant that all of the other systems built on top of it would either fail spectacularly, or would also need to be rebuilt to work with the new hotness. These game systems do not exist in a vacuum - there are often shockwaves that affect other secondary systems which can set off their own shockwaves to affect tertiary systems, and so on. It isn't always as huge an issue as SWTOR's companion system, but it is a really good example of bad assumptions made during initial development haunting the team for years after launch.

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birdgenetics · 1 month

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Should I make a chicken color genetics tournament?

When I say phenotypes I mean specific colors like black-tailed red, quail, blue wheaten etc.

When I say genes I mean genes that affect one aspect of the bird's appearance, like e^Wh wheaten or Bl blue. Yes, I think wildtype duckwing is one of my favorites but since it's not a mutation I guess it would be expressed as e+ which valid honestly. But I wouldn't include anything silly like co+ noncolumbian.

If this poll gets enough votes I will do it.

Then I will have you all give me suggestions on what colors I should include (if you pick the phenotype option.)

Since this blog has mostly focused on chickens so far, I think I will stick to that (unless another species of domestic bird gets a lot of interest for some reason) but in the future when I start to cover the other species more I may do them. I'm just suggesting chickens because this blog has more information on them so I feel like people could make more informed votes.

#bird genetics #chicken genetics #poll #birds #chickens

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deathbydarkelves · 1 month

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Do you have headcannons for night elf weddings??? There's a little canon for them, but it seems very Normal, and doesn't really seem to take advantage of what makes night elves a unique culture? Like, I imagine them more akin to traditional Buddhist weddings tbh. But, yeah, got off track. Would love wedding headcannons for night elves, or any other races too!

I’m glad I read this while I was at work, because as a result of not being able to respond right away, I had time to think it over and thus solidified a lot of the vague ideas I had :)

And yeah I completely ignore the canon one we got because it’s lame and boring <3

The whole thing is initiated with a hunt...

Technically anyone may join the hunt, but usually it’s just the betrotheds. And since polyamory is so common, that means the hunting party ranges anywhere from two people to A Lot of People.

But first, a priestess communes with Elune and requests permission for the hunt and by extension the wedding as a whole. If she permits it (she almost always does), a druid then enters a trance which may last up to a few hours to determine what animal the gods and other powers want hunted. It can be just about anything, as long as it gives the betrotheds a challenge and forces them to prove their ability to work as one. Deer, wolves, bears, sabers, hippogryphs, owlbears… smaller things too, like otters, pheasants, and quail. Not only do they have to kill the animal, but they have to find the specific individual the druid saw. So even if you’re “only” hunting a humble pheasant, you still need sharp eyes to make sure it’s the one you need, sharp ears to hear it in the undergrowth, and quick reflexes to claim it. So, while a hippogryph is certainly much more physically impressive, no animal is really seen as greater or lesser than another.

There are certain associations made with different animals, naturally. Something as dangerous as a bear is often seen as the gods either challenging what they believe to be a very capable pair/group... or a very incapable pair/group. Either way, taking that bear is a feat.

The standout exceptions are owls and chimeras. To be tasked with hunting an owl, a creature so closely tied to Elune, is considered one of the highest possible honors anyone can receive. And as for chimeras, well… marriages initiated with the hunting of a chimera are really only spoken of in legend. Or in crowded bars, by drunk patrons, who totally have a sister who hunted a chimera for her wedding.

The length of the hunt depends entirely on luck and the ability of the betrotheds, but it’s basically expected for you to practice hunting together after deciding you want to marry. Most hunts take a couple days to a week, but some stretch for months (either due to the animal's secrecy, or because... the betrotheds should have practiced a bit more). Once the animal has been claimed, the wedding truly begins. Death is part of the cycle of life, thus the animal’s death ushers in the next part of the betrotheds’ lives. The animal is butchered, with part (a stag’s antlers, a quail’s flight feathers, etc.) being set aside as an offering for the gods and ancestors. Then it’s cooked, and the next part of the wedding — the feast — begins.

The feast lasts eight days and seven nights, with food and alcohol provided by all the attendees. There may be other recreational substances too, depending on how rowdy everyone wants to get lol. Gifts are given during this time as well.

After the feast, at dusk on the eighth day, is the ceremony proper. It starts with the betrotheds giving thanks to their ancestors, the gods, and spirits. Incense is burned, shrines built and honored, and the offering saved from the hunted animal is given as well.

If the betrotheds have children in mind, they'll pay special attention to Goldrinn in hopes of pleasing him and preventing him from cursing their children with thor'drinn.

Then the betrotheds give their vows, and receive tattoos (usually on the upper chest) symbolizing their connection to each other.

I designed some quick, simple ones a while ago to get the idea across, but people will spend years deciding on a design. The only stipulation is that every other person in the marriage is represented by a solid circle, while the bearer of the tattoo is represented by a hollow circle. The solid circles hold a piece of each person’s spirit, and the hollow circle is where the bearer’s spirit can pass through to reach the others. These things can get really complicated. They can also be extremely individualized — not everyone in a polycule has to like everyone else, after all, so each person’s might have a totally different number of circles, etc. (They can also be added to or reduced over time. Magic makes tattoo modification a lot easier lol)

Many people’s tattoos incorporate something related to the animal that gave its life for their marriage, as well. It’s typical to leave a space in your design just for that. But, ah… I drew these before I decided on the hunting thing lol (granted, the second one does resemble a stag's antlers somewhat, so there ya go!)

After being tattooed, the newlyweds then bathe in a moonwell together, or at bare minimum in blessed water. This is to clean their tattoos, speed up healing, and serves to wash away the remnants of their past, unwed life.

And that’s where things officially end. It’s, um… widely understood you don’t bother the newlyweds after this point :P

((Moonwells are magic and self-cleaning and this is just an accepted role of them, alright, it’s fine. Not everyone does that, but... generally speaking, people are gonna do what people are gonna do.))

EDIT: I haven't thought much about other races' weddings, but I can tell you the hunt initiating things is a holdover from dark troll traditions, and many modern troll weddings start with a hunt as well :) Tauren do a similar thing, though they conclude the wedding with a hunt (and subsequently a feast) instead.

EDIT 2: My friend brought up a good point. What if the betrotheds are, for one reason or another, unable to hunt the animal themselves? In that case, many get help from trained hunting animals capable of taking the prey they've been tasked with. A fox for a quail, a saber for a deer, etc. Otherwise, they may invite capable friends or family members on the hunt.

#ask box #au lore #night elf #kaldorei #my initial response was like ''well weddings aren't really my favorite thing to write so i haven't given this much thought''#but then i started putting ideas together and realized. wait I can make this really cool and fun #and i had a moment where i sat and considered whether i wanted to make the moonwell... insinuation.......#but i don't see it naturally ending any other way so i'm just rolling with it #as mentioned in a previous ask they're culturally very open about sex so 👍 that's just how they roll #anyway

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