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#bright moon worldbuilding

edge-lorde · 1 year

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She ra expanded worldbuilding notes

currently in the process of trying to get my sister to do expanded brightmoon concept art for me! To be used for future comic reference! .3.

here are my gathered notes and observations because im excited about what she will give me.

first: Brightmoon

The show doesn't do a good job of showing how any of the kingdoms actually work. We’re told that Brightmoon is the biggest kingdom on Etheria, The kingdom of snows being the 2nd biggest and described as “Huge.” Yet, the most we see of Brightmoon is a few shots of buildings next to the palace.

As you can see from the 2nd image, Glimmer is talking from her bedroom window, and it appears to be located within one of the towers next to the palace. This means that at least one, probably more, of the towers are additionally part of a greater palace complex and also not where normal people would live.

I already have a post floating around somewhere where i described a few of my other headcanons about Etheria world building that i don't feel like digging up, but the gist of it is that many of the named settlements we do see in the show like Sea worthy, Erelandia, Elberon, even Dryl, are cities and towns that are in the larger jurisdiction of one of the 7 runestone kingdoms even if they act as self sufficient city states. Think like ancient greece. In this case i place all of those places and probably a few more as being in the country of Brightmoon, and the buildings around Brightmoon palace that we can see are part of a low-tech urban fantasy city also called Brightmoon, kind of like how Rome is/was a city and also was (for a while at least) the capital of the Roman empire. To make it more clear I’m going to call the city around the palace “Brightmoon Proper.”

I forget which episodes these backgrounds are from but I think this has to be the long bridge that we can see leading out from the back of the palace.

I imagine this bridge to be the main walkway into the palace compound; all of the buildings on the side of this rock next to the palace are involved in the running of said palace. All of the Queens guards and staff and anyone else she might need nearby such as positions like the royal historian (I imagine the position still exists even if it isn’t Bow in the main timeline) and their families and everything needed to support them live here. The towers that we see would contain many businesses and apartments and terrace gardens made walkable by delicate bridges connecting neighboring towers and enchanted floating rocks acting as public transportation. In this way urban residents of Brightmoon could live indefinitely without touching the ground.

This field would be farmland used to supply the palace. Sidenote-- it seems awfully close to sea level. I wonder if it floods? Is that water saltwater or fresh? What crop could need to flood with seawater to grow? Seaweed? Hmmm a lot of worldbuilding potential here....

Since I’m adding things, I also imagine Brightmoon Proper to extend out beyond the palace, on the other side of the mountain.

The bridge would be the main thoroughfare into palace part of the city but I imagine for the skyscrapers to be on both sides. We do also see some smaller buildings on the ground as well, so I also imagine that the farther away one lives from the palace the more normal the settlements are, being either on the ground or in the mountains. I imagine the hinterlands of Brightmoon Proper to spill out along the coast and countryside, and extend into the whispering woods a little. Sea worthy seems to be close enough to the palace for a day trip. The Library where George and Lance live would be on the farthest limits of Brightmoon Proper settlements, placed just remotely enough to not have to pay taxes to the crown and close enough to Erelandia to have groceries delivered.

I don’t know how to draw all of this so I hope my sister can give me something good to reference. TT0TT it has to look pretty!

i also found this map

among the prop designs on crew member Soyun Park's website. Idk if I'll use it but its there.

#spop #shera #thoughts #rambling #spop meta #spop worldbuilding #brightmoon #bright moon #bright moon worldbuilding #fantasy #etheria #worldbuilding

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dinitride-art · 10 months

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Au fics that i think are neat and that i want to compile into a list because im trying to figure out how to comment on a chapter of a fic but i need time to sort out my thoughts (usually for fic recs i try to rec fics with less kudos/engagement because reasons but im just gonna throw everything in this list. probably multiple fics by the same author in the same universe because thats the one im trying to sort out my thoughts on.)

the strawberries are dying by eggowlss - historical fiction and very interesting character relationships and also character exploration within the time period. I really like this one because the pacing and tone are very gentle. There’s a srt of ebb and flow to the story that makes both the time period and the characters really fit into it. idk how to describe it i just like it a lot.

in the quiet of the night (acswy ao3 series) - they’re putting those characters in situations. It’s a very good time. 10/10 do recommend. If you haven't heard of this one though, it’s basically a modern au where everyone works at a summer camp and Mike and Will cause problems for themselves, each other, and usually everyone else around them.

si vis amari, ama by perexcri - demons and angels and heaven and hell and its honestly just one hell of a story. like ive got vivid images in my head of scenes i imagined when reading this.

you start to kiss (and the record skips) by eclipseadventure - this is a band au with a side of a secret relationship and im a sucker for secret relationships. a bit of drama/high stakes in here too which is always pretty fun.

End Racism on the OTW! - you and me and the horrible teenaged ghost who keeps eviscerating himself in our apartment makes three by TheWrongKindOfPC - i am also a sucker for buzzfeed unsolved aus. buzzfeed unsolved, hauntings, ghosts, yknow the fun stuff.

into the daylight by andiwriteordie - THIS IS NOT THE FIRST ONE, it’s just the first one that came up in my bookmarks. anyways, this is the second fic in a fantasy au series. The worldbuilding is really cool and there’s magic and history and politics and i like it a lot. the most recent chapter is spinning around in my mind.

the heartbreak prince by andiwriteordie - THIS IS THE FIRST ONE.

beneath these boughs, my devotion blooms by perexcri - this is the fic that nearly killed me. i literally cant summarize it because im still recovering from what happened to me when i read it. Did i read it in april? Maybe. Listen, it had me asking questions about things i had never considered before. its 11k but im pretty sure it took me a good few hours to read because it made me think about it so much. again, ive got a bunch of visuals running through my head. its just... so much.

sweetheart, you're so cruel by perexcri - Mike’s in a band, Will’s a music snob, they’re both contemplating their life choices. very fun, very interesting, also made me think about some things.

keep it hush by wiseatom - theres an amusement park and the horrors of customer service. and some other stuff but basically its pretty bright (the visuals of the fic in my head are bright- like sun glinting off metal- and idk how else to describe it)

the start of an age by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - this ones funny and serious at times and its got Max in it. fantasy au with prince will and knight mike and a secret relationship and a small scheme between three parties that involves a fake (ish) marriage.

superhero therapy by silverluminoqity - spiderman au with a side of trauma and healing? it’s complicated theres stuff happening, i had a good time reading it.

you've got this spell on me by andiwriteordie - this one was really fun. basically its a fantasy au theres magic and mike gets himself hit with a spell that makes him fall in love with will and will freaks out about it for a while.

Daydream by disaster_energy - i really really liked this fic. its a fantasy au and its got gods and stuff and will gets chosen by the moon goddess because hes Will and everyone is like... woah.

takes one to know one by andiwriteordie - i also liked this one a lot, its a superhero au and its got ironic (like... dramatic irony- i think is what im talking about? maybe? but like fun irony) secret identities.

Love goes 'round by evil_ontheinside - conversations in a laundry mat. mikes flopping (as in, flopping around like a fish) around a bit and this was pretty cute.

my promise could be your fiend (could be the smallest of signs) by s0ld_it - spider man au, theres a bookstore involved and a lot of stuff. ive read this fic twice and greatly enjoyed it both times.

Tip-toeing on Lily-pads by cherryisgone - very very fun, fantasy au and... mike gets cursed to be a frog. can only be un-cursed with a kiss.

filling in the blanks as we go by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - bookstore meetcute

there’s more but i spent all day painting my room and i am tired. Ive also got way too many bookmarks to go through and i have decided to stop here. still haven't figured out how to write that comment (but i am working on it because i love the fi(s) and ive been thinking about one specific thing that came up in a new chapter for so long). anyways, i hope someone enjoys this list of au fics from my bookmarks.

#byler #fic rec

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thecruxarm · 3 months

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Introductory Post

Hello, and welcome to my blog! Above is an infographic I've made detailing the Milky Way as well as the commonality of life and intelligence itself across the galaxy, which will serve as an important base of reference for all else I plan to post on this blog. I won't say much in reference to this image that isn't already included in the infographic, so I'll go on to explain what my project is about, which I will elaborate on with future posts:

In short, the primary focus of my speculative biology sci-fi project takes place around the mid-Centaurus arm, as indicated on the infographic, in a region of the galaxy locally known as "Ruminaaan Space", which is the single largest interstellar community in the history of the Milky Way! Although the majority of these Ruminaaan residents have only began their joint interstellar societies within the past 3,000 years, an ongoing battle has been waging for the past billion years and counting between a species known as the Yn and an entity known as Xii, and while I'll leave more detailed elaborations for future posts, this is a story of a single species divided and disfigured by their own conflicts and the long-term consequences it holds on their stellar neighbours, even one billion years later.

Onto the blog itself, to help with organisation, I will use the following tags on my posts:

#Alien Person Asks (for when I answer asks in my inbox (feel free to send any if you want to know more about my world!)), #Ruminaaan Theomachy (for posts relating to the central aliens of my project and the communities they've built), #Alien Person Spec Bio (for posts relating to the more biological aspects of my worldbuilding) and #Alien Person Worldbuilding (for other posts about miscellaneous or more general features of my worldbuilding process)

Besides transcripts for the featured image, that's all for my introductory post, so stay tuned for more!

{Main text-wall transcript}:

The Milky Way The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy about 100,000 light years across, which happens to be the galaxy in which Humans are located, as well as over a couple hundred other intelligent species. The galaxy is estimated to be about 13.6 billion years of age and has thus far been identified with two major arms (the Perseus and Scutum-Centaurus Arms) which branch off into many smaller minor arms.

The galaxy is estimated to contain anywhere between 100 to 400 billion stars, most of which host a minimum of one orbiting planet. Although on Earth many may consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life to be a rarity, it is more common than one may think, with there being roughly 14.33 billion planets and moons combined which host native life. However, only about 8.59 million of these worlds host multicellular life (around 0.06% out of the total life-bearing celestial bodies), which is due to eukaryotic multicellularity being a very challenging hurdle to get over for life everywhere for a variety of reasons.

This being said, approximately 91.67% of these worlds do host sapient life forms, as high intelligence is almost an inevitability with multicellular organisms given sufficient time, though an extremely lower fraction of these planets and moons are actually home to sophont, technological civilisations comparable to anything humanity has accomplished throughout the past 200,000 years, with there being only 237 star systems with native sophont life (as indicated by the bright white dots shown to the right), and 268 sophont species overall, accounting for only 0.000028% of worlds with multicellular lifeforms. Among these 268 civilisations, very few actually aspire to be spacefaring, with there being less than 40 such civilisations, such as the Jodomii or Sirt, who even have space programs to begin with. Most either do not have the desire to explore outer space, as is the case with the Shreau, Uut, Samrinians or Aniin, do not even have the means to discover that outer-space exists in the first place, such as the Fline or Udrae, who have limited or nonexistent vision, or the Katudit, who live in the subglacial oceans of a rogue planet, or may never leave their home planets for any other multitude of reasons.

While the abundance of technological, cultured civilisations across the Milky Way is fortunately higher than most may be led to believe, it’s important to keep in mind the fact that the space which separates the majority of these civilisations is tremendous, with even the closest being hundreds of light years apart. Despite this, only four interspecies interstellar communities have managed to spring up across the interstellar medium (not counting the Yuruuc, who have yet to encounter any other intelligent species despite how far they have dispersed throughout their corner of the Outer Arm), which is simply due to the fact that interstellar travel is nigh-impossible without the use of warp technology, though only one of these such communities has managed to grow to such an extensive size which incorporates over a dozen unique civilisations; Ruminaaan Space. Ruminaaan Space (the blue area marked along the mid-Centaurus Arm) is the single largest community of interstellar civilisations with the widest reach in interstellar space in the entire history of the Milky Way thus far, with the Boueue and Scerere only having came into contact nearly 3,000 years ago. This region of the Milky Way will be the main focus of my ongoing project, titled ‘Ruminaaan Theomachy’, as you’ll all get to see more of as time goes on, so stay tuned, and welcome to the Ruminaaan Theomachy project!

{Milky Way Labels Transcript}:

Norma Arm, Sagittarius Arm, Perseus Arm, Orion Spur, Scutum-Centaurus Arm, Outer Arm

{Sophont Labels Transcript}:

Scerere, Boueue, Udrae, Samrinians & Aniin, Shreau, Jodomii, Humanity, Sirt, Yuruuc, Fline, Katudit, Uut

#specbio #speculative biology #speculative evolution #speculative zoology #alien species #spec evo #xenobio #xenobiology #Alien Person Worldbuilding #Ruminaaan Theomachy #worldbuilding #sci-fi #science fiction #infographic #milky way #galaxy #the milky way #alien #aliens

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yaut-jaknowit · 5 months

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Probably lane, but the origin story of Uihoys blue feather? Uihoy boring Vic’tao with stories meant to teach him a lesson about his temper and impatience. I wonder what Uihoy was like in his younger days!!

An Elder and His War Stories

Pairings: Uihoy (Male Yautja) x Vic'tao (Male Yautja)

Word Count: 1559

Summary: Uihoy recounts the time he acquired the blue feather he usual sports. This shows he's not always the confident, sure footed male he would like everyone to think he is.

Author Note: Definity not lame! I promise you. Question's like these make me think, force me to worldbuilding and I love it. I have an app called Campfire that helps me keep everything in line.

Masterlist

Ao3

Uihoy isn’t the mighty, always sure footed Yautja you all know about. The male has had his fair share of falls and accidents.

How else do you think he lost a finger and a half on his right hand? Not from a hunt. At least not in the way you are all thinking.

As his feather, that’s a fun story to dive into. It’s a recent feather he acquired too. On a solo hunt without either of his mates.

Perched in the high trees of Yautja Prime, Uihoy had returned to his home planet. It was a once in a blue moon situation for him to step upon these grounds again. Not like he left on bad terms. But, his home was with his mates. He held no emotional connection here anymore. Any of his brothers and sisters are spread among the planet and stars. None of them were close to each other. Nothing to kept him tethered here.

The reason the purple Yautja found himself here was for a hunt. Food was low in stock on the ship. For some reason, he was craving Boor that could only be found in three rivers close to his home village.

This leads him back to where he once grew up over seven hundred years ago. Usual for a Yautja to live to that age, even more so. Anything beyond a thousand is where things become unlikely. This is a species of hunters. Death is always high. Which, Uihoy shrugged about. Many of his siblings are gone, living with Cetanu in his hunting grounds. Even both of his parents are gone. Sire perishing to a hunt some hundred years ago. Dam losing her life to childbirth.

At this point, he had found himself perched high in the tallest tree in the area, enjoying the calm jungle. A biome designed, evolved not to let the weak survive.

His eyes fell close while he opened his other senses. The scent of everything that filled the area with life filled his lungs. Uihoy let his upper mandibles pull up, tongue flicking out between lethal teeth.

Nostalgia struck him in the gut.

All the memories of him learning how not to die first before learning the ways of a hunter. They flashed behind his closed eyelids, a reminder of his younger, dumb self. He’s had to master more than usual. It was something he was born filled with. Not like a few of siblings and those of the same year as him.

But in that tree, close to home, was an abode of something else.

A screeching cry jolted him from his thoughts. His eyes snapped open just in time to see a Iot-oci dive bombing him. The size of the bird was terrifying to say in the least. Being around seven and half feet tall himself, it was about little taller than his waist.

Before he knew it, his hand slipped from the slimmed trunk. Uihoy had no time to react. The Iot-oci was coming straight at him, bright colors and all. A male. It flared its wings right before it struck him with short talons to his chest.

Uihoy fell back with a yelp at the sudden shift of weight. His hands freely clawed through the air but found nothing to latch onto. The Iot-oci soared over him and took up into the sky. Probably to make the job was done.

Air rushed past him for a short moment until his back hit a thin branch. Said stick bent under his weight and didn’t catch him. Uihoy fell again. His body weight was shifted so he could twist around and face the incoming ground. One of his- “you fell?” Vic’tao rumbled, voice monotone. His exterior body language read as lax, unconcerned after hearing of his mate’s fall.

A deadpanned look fell over Uihoy’s features, directed at the yellow Yautja standing across the counter from him. “Yes, I fell. Damned thing came out of nowhere,” Uihoy argued for his pride.

Vic’tao chuffed a laugh and tried to stifle it with only working partially. “I’ve heard their wing beats are loud. How could you miss such a sound?” the younger male teased his older mate. Vic’tao has never stepped foot on Yautja Prime in all his years. He only knows of Iot-oci from pictures and videos.

The latter scoffed and pushed off of the counter he once leaned on. His arms were held out at his sides. “I was having a nostalgic moment!” Uihoy defended himself then rest his elbows back on the counter again. “Now, as I was saying-“

He reached out, flailing about for a branch to snatched. A few unlucky swipes later, Uihoy was able to dig his claws into a thick branch. The jolt of weight nearly pulled his arm out of its socket but he snarled and held on. Another screeching cry met his ears. Mighty curses fell from his jaw. Uihoy scrambled back onto the new perch and whipped his head up.

Through the suns piercing rays, Uihoy spotted the blue form of the Iot-oci diving for him once more. Once a few seconds to spare, he leaped to the side, a branch down.

Higher pitched calls scrambled his brain for a moment. He looked to his left only to be greeted with the sight of a large nest filled with five newly hatched Iot-oci. Paya, fuck him sideways! He couldn’t catch a break while back in his own nest grounds.

First thing that came to his mind was to desolate the place as quickly as possible. The Iot-oci will do its damned hardest to slaught Uihoy for being in the same tree as its offspring, let alone the same branch.

Claws tore at his back, knocking forward and back down to the ground. Uihoy cursed out as he slammed into a thicker branch towards the base of the tree. All of the air in his lungs was forcefully shoved, leaving him heaving for nitrogen. His nails dug into the bark two seconds too late. Once more, he fell his way back to the ground.

Face first, Uihoy slammed into the leaf covered jungle. A grunt surpassed his vocal cords. Desperately, he wanted nothing more than to lay there in defeat but the swooshing through the humid air prevented him the luxury. He rolled to the side and used the momentum to get to his feet and face the Iot-oci.

It had landed at the spot he once was and flared it large wings. Uihoy took a step back, it followed with two of its own to keep up. But he wasn’t going to kill it. It’s only protecting its nest from him. Not a worthy kill. It was against the honor code as well.

Carefully, he took mindful steps backwards until he felt a safe enough distance away from the tree. The Iot-oci followed him all the way but he read the way it grew weary of the gap spanning between it and its nest.

This was what Uihoy was wanting.

The Iot-oci will turn away to protect it nest. Males were smaller than females. They were the protector of the nest while the dam left to retrieve food and mark their territory. With the dam nowhere near, the male took back to the skies and head back to its nest. Uihoy breathed a sigh of relief and checked himself over for injuries.

Nothing was broken, bones at least. His skin had been sliced by the short but deadly claws of the Iot-oci. Small enough he could forget about.

As the purple male turned to leave, a flash of blue caught his attention. He gazed at the spot the Iot-oci once stood to find it left behind a feather. A short hum sounded from his vocal cords. Uihoy leaned over and claimed the feather as his now. He tucked it away in his belt for later and begun his trek further in towards one of the rivers for Boor.

“And that’s how I got my blue feather,” Uihoy finished and gave a minute bow to the male before him.

Vic’tao still looked bored then sat up in his high stool chair. His hands came together in a slow slap, mockingly congratulating Uihoy for his story. “Such a wonderful story, old man.”

“Oh, hush, young blood. You know nothing of the dangers. You’re mothership bred compared to a home world bred. You lived life with little danger.” The words sounded harsh, but it was just playful jester between the two of them.

“When the elder can’t even defend himself from a Iot-oci because he was ‘distracted’.” Vic’tao used his fingers to create quotation marks around the last word. One of his upper mandibles was lifted as he stared at his mate across him.

Uihoy groaned and leaned back. The counter used as an anchor point so he doesn’t fall back. “I told you it was nostalgic! I was reminiscing my time in my youth.” He reached across the counter to tap at Uihoy’s hand. “You should remember the time before your bones creak like mine.”

This got a huff from Vic’tao. Said male stood up and walked around the counter to stand next to his mate. As the taller of the two, he wrapped his arms around Uihoy’s torso. Vic’tao nuzzled his head into Uihoy’s cheek. “Mine already do.”

#yautja #predator #yautja x you #yautja x reader #alien vs predator #yautja x human #predator x reader #predator x you #predator x human #x reader #vic'tao #uihoy x vic'tao #uihoy

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solstice-clangen · 2 months

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"For as long as any cat could remember, the lone Snowlight kindle performed everything in pairs. It was a tribute to their goddess, the greatest respect they could give in return for her divine light. However, when the goddess disappears without a trace, leaving a bloodied moon in her wake, the cats of Snowlight face a difficult decision. They exiled their most outcasted faces into the woods, splitting the frantic group in two. It was then that the young warrior Snowyrain found herself in the spotlight, pushed to lead the newfound Nightspark kindle to their bright horizon...

...even if it wasn't quite what it seemed."

Welcome to SOLSTICE, a ClanGen blog following Nightspark; a group of cats living in cold and snowy mountains. Please read the special information page for extra context! The worldbuilding for this blog splits from Warriors canon frequently!

Character asks are OPEN and encouraged!

Inspirations: @sporeclan, @gray-thistleclan, @clangenrising, @dawn-clan, @moons-of-dewclan, and @aphidclan-clangen! Check them out, they're all REALLY cool!!

Nightspark information can be found HERE (and questions about it are welcome!)

Moon masterlist can be found HERE!

You can find me at @corvimalice (main) and @niightrunner (wc sideblog).

#warrior cats #warriors #clangen #nightspark #pinned

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rileys-battlecats · 5 months

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More worldbuilding stuff for Minare and Vaitus's story :D

Monsters, and other such evils:

Monsters are creatures that have become fully inundated with stagnant magic.

In places where there are/were mass deaths, the magic of the victims tends to stick around and become stagnant. Natural magic is a moving, flowing thing, but stagnant magic takes on the traits of the decay that it lingers around.

Creatures that spend too long around stagnant magic can become cursed. A cursed creature is capable of spreading their curse through magical attacks, and if they stay in a limited territory for a long time, this can create cursed grounds, where the land itself begins to leech the life out of those who wander onto them.

One can recognize a cursed creature through its behavior. Cursed creatures are incautious, bold, and move in unnervingly jerky patterns. They have a dark, unnerving aura about them that instills a feeling of disturbance in those nearby. On occasion, rabid animals have been mistaken for cursed creatures, due to their similar behaviors.

A cursed creature left unchecked will eventually develop into a monster; while a cursed creature will usually stay in its cursed grounds, a monster will actively seek out victims to attack and kill. Monsters are visually distinct from cursed creatures; they mutate from the over abundance of stagnant magic, and usually develop characteristics like extra eyes, more joints in their limbs, multiple heads, altered antlers or horns, larger/sharper teeth, and/or a dark surrounding aura.

It is possible for a human to become a cursed creature, and, eventually, a monster. This is exceedingly rare; it requires a human to spend extended periods of time saturated in stagnant magic, and then to be left in it to become cursed. A cursed human can be purified with enough sunlight or light magic/potions, but a human that becomes a monster cannot be saved. Their corpse must be purified before burial/cremation, to prevent the spreading of cursed grounds

Curses and monsters are most effectively fought by using light magic.

While some rare individuals are able to use light magic, it is far more accessible to fight these creatures by splashing potions that have been specially brewed using ingredients with light magic properties. Fireflies, star lilies, sunflowers, and moon jellies are historically used in brews to counter curses; light potions will almost certainly be found in the cautious traveler's pack.

Monsters can be killed through mundane means (swords, bows, axes, etc), but the carcass must be purified, lest a new cursed ground form around the corpse. If the monster is small, it may be enough to move the carcass to a bright, sunlit area, with no shade nearby. A full day, from dawn to dusk, of uninterrupted sunlight is enough to purify a small monster carcass. For larger beasts, light potions must be brewed and poured over the body, and direct sunlight is needed to counter the creation of a new cursed ground. For the largest of monsters, only concentrated light magic is enough to purify them.

Cursed grounds can only be purified through either light magic or time. Sunlight will slowly eat away at the curse with no cursed creature to maintain the grounds, but this requires that no new cursed creature moves into the area. Concentrated light magic can purify cursed grounds directly, though this takes an immense amount of magic.

In the current day, the kingdom has had several generations with no light magic user on the throne to protect the people from such evils.

Cursed grounds have cropped up all over the land, and monsters are not uncommon. Maps have been drawn with paths weaving around cursed grounds, but travelers still run the risk of being attacked while on the road, especially at night. To travel alone, one must be either incredibly skilled or an idiot.

People living in protected cities their whole lives may doubt the stories of creatures in the night, but those who have traveled the lands know better. There is a saying amongst adventurers, "you're either a superstitious traveler, or you're a dead traveler". Caution is paramount to survival when moving near cursed lands.

When a light magic user is on the throne and using the crown to amplify their magic, cursed grounds cannot develop in the kingdom's borders, and cursed creatures can be very easily purified. Monsters are incredibly rare, and can be dealt with quickly via the ruler's light magic. Before the current royal line took power, no one had had to deal with monsters or cursed creatures/grounds in centuries. When those evils began rearing their heads again, people had to adapt quickly to taking care of things themselves. Brewers dug up dusty tomes with recipes for light potions, while priests and priestesses scoured ancient texts to learn how to cleanse a monster carcass of its dark magics.

In recent decades, it seems that monsters have grown more and more common, and cursed grounds are ever expanding, inch by inch. The situation is untenable; in 10 more years? 20? The land will be nearly unlivable. This fact is ignored by the people in power; they are safe in their walled cities with their many guards to protect them. However, the common people fear for their lives, and for their futures. This is another cause for urgency for the rebellion; Minare must become queen within the next few years. If she doesn't, the damage to the land could become irreversible.

Illustrations of some monsters under the cut; tw for some slight body-horror, blood, extra eyes, etc

#rye's art #MaVst #MaVst worldbuilding #HI i am so normal about developing this magic system #worldbuilding is one of my favorite activities so this has been so much fun to write about #deer monster lookin like it's about to say ''BE NOT AFRAID''

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anti-spop · 3 months

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I’ve been going over some clips of the show for footage purposes, and I must say, SW is a far more complex and engaging character than what I initially gave her for

I had the same thought when I rewatched Light Spinner (episode). I like how we see her motivations in Bright Moon, and that they make sense (LS wanted to do something about the war considering the princesses weren't winning, but the sorcerers forbid her from trying), and her relationship with Micah was sweet IMO. And besides all this, there is Catra (in the present) who cannot let go of SW despite hating her guts.

And there are references to this episode later in the series, when Catra says the exact same thing SW does to a baby Adora: "You and I are going to do great things together".

This was overall a pretty good episode, save for the lack of worldbuilding (but the series as a whole has this flaw, so). It had some great characterization sometimes, as seen in this episode in particular. I think Light Spinner and Promise might be my favorite episodes of the entire series from all the character study alone.

#asks

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imasradiantasthesun · 5 months

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District 12 Family Trees

Here are some family trees I made for my thg fic holding bright! I include a good amount of worldbuilding and fleshing out of some side characters (aka Bristel, Thom, Leevy, and Delly) in it, so I thought hey might as well draw some trees to help clarify my thinking. First, some notes on the structure:

The numbers in brackets are the characters' ages at the time of the Reaping for the 74th Hunger Games. I didn't feel like assigning specific birthdays for everyone, hence just the ages lol. Some characters' ages differ from canon in my fic: Katniss, Peeta, Delly, and Madge are all 18, Prim is 13, and Rory is 12

My use of "clan" here is super arbitrary, it doesn't actually mean anything lol

Names in quotation marks are nicknames/what they go by

Plenty of people in the older generations are dead, again I just didn't feel like specifying it unless it's relevant

Some notes on my decision-making in general:

I accidentally made Katniss and Peeta's maternal grandmothers have the same maiden names please ignore that lmao they are NOT related closely At All, it's a normal amount of distance lol

Some of the names chosen for some Seam characters are Indian names, because I headcanon that people from the Seam can be a mix of a ton of different stuff, including South Asian

The idea that Mrs Everdeen's first name is Alyssum (Alys for short) comes from Mejhiren's fic When the Moon Fell in Love with the Sun

I continued the bread theme for Mellark names lol. Mr Mellark's first name is Nick, from pumpernickel. I also once read a fic where Peeta is of Jewish descent, which I really liked, so some of the breads are of Jewish origin: Hal is from challah (which can also be written as hallah), and Bab is from babka

In Holding Bright (which is an au, hence the variety of small changes I have made to canon lol) the Reaping takes place on June 1st (instead of the canonical July 4th), and it's also canon that the Games start exactly one week after the Reaping, so therefore in HB they always start on June 8th. Therefore, the teenaged deaths set after June 1st -- Glory Salsbury, Maysilee Donner, and Ridge Littlefield -- were all in the Games.

As explained in chapter 9 of Holding Bright, Ezra and Petunia Rainwater started a tradition of giving their kids long ass floral names lol. Their first child was relatively spared, with the name Foxglove, though he still went by Fox; their second child, Devil-in-a-Bush (or just Dev) fell in love with a woman who also just so happened to have a super long floral name, Queen Anne's Lace (though she went by Lace). All of Fox's descendants were spared from this naming tradition, to the point where his daughter, Hazelle, gave all of her children only four-letter names. Meanwhile, Dev's descendants got the longest names ever lmao: Chrysanthemum had five children: Morning Glory, Lily-of-the-Valley (aka Leevy), Stairway to Heaven, May Night Salvia, and Forget-Me-Not.

I have a headcanon that in Town they tend to give their children middle names, while in the Seam they don't (why? I don't know <3). In Town middle names came into use because they wanted to honor loved ones who have passed away, but because of the Games and all that it's considered bad luck to give your child the same first name as a deceased loved one

However, because I'm lazy I only wrote out the middle names for the youngest generation because I didn't want to come up with middle names for every single Merchant character lol

Katniss and Prim have middle names because their mother is from Town. Madge's middle name comes from Maysilee, just like Katniss's

I'm going with the popular headcanon that Katniss is indirectly related to Lucy Gray through Maude Ivory. Katniss's father's name follows the same conventions as those of the Covey (name from a ballad + a color). I had originally planned for people to only really know Mr Everdeen as Jet, hence why the family tree says Gordon Jet "Jet" Everdeen, but I have decided against that!! he went by Gordon Jet!!!

The first part of Mr Everdeen's name comes from the Scottish ballad Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie, in which the protagonist, Jeannie, is in love with a poor man named Auchanachie Gordon. However, despite Jeannie's resistance, she is married off by her parents to the wealthy Lord Salton/Saltoun; Jeannie then dies of a broken heart before Auchanachie Gordon returns and also dies. I thought Gordon is a fitting name, considering that Mrs Everdeen left her life in Town, where the wealthier Mr Mellark was in love with her, to marry the poorer Mr Everdeen

The second part of Mr Everdeen's name, Jet, comes from the color jet black; jet is also a type of coal

Some allusions to another canon character + my minor OCs:

Rooba is the name of the butcher in canon, so here she is Delly's aunt

Madge's maternal grandmother, Magnolia, has the maiden name Blackwell. She is distantly related to Maggie Blackwell, the carpenter's daughter who went missing about a decade ago

Thom’s maternal grandmother, Nomi Goodwin, was originally from Town

Bristel's mother, Juniper, passed away from complications at childbirth

Gale's maternal grandmother, Anika, has the maiden name Reeves. Gale is second cousins with Sparrow Reeves, the female tribute from 12 in the 68th Games who made a lasting impact on her district due to the brutality of her death

River & Rylee Ludlow are the 17-year-old twins who tend to pick on Madge a bit. No wonder they're related to Mrs Mellark...

Mrs Mellark's brother, Noah, died in the Games. Her other brother, Elijah, took over the apothecary shop from the Stewards after Alys ran away to be with Gordon Jet

Ivy Fairweather is the Undersees' housekeeper, usually referred to in HB as Mrs Fairweather. She and her husband probably have a ton of kids, but I just didn't feel like writing them all out lol. Ivy's maiden name is Claymore, which is also the last name of another OC, Hetty Claymore, who mysteriously died; Ivy is Hetty's like second cousin whatever-times-removed or something (aka practically a distant aunt)

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azpher-omega · 10 months

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So the past few days I've been working on the world map again and I. Welll I've run into a problem. A big problem

See. Theres a big crater.

(Map rotated so it doesnt take up 4 screens lmao)

And ummm. errr. I never really considered something important. How big the thing hitting it is.

That box you might be able to see is 'another planet'. In order to fit the size of the crater it has to be. fucking. huge. Like possibly ten times the size huge. However the fact things squash i assume the crater wouldn't be perfectly round so it would maybe be wierd and flat.

However either way this is so. So much. How is gravity affected? Tectonically a lot of time is implied to have passed so what would even happen then.

However i like the idea of enormous deep crater because as sloppily modelled in the second pic, i had an idea. Marianas trench is what, 10 km deep? Imagine the depth of this thing being even 1% of the planets diameter (its a bit smaller than earth) and therefore. Imagine the insane pressure.

And therefore what is at the bottom.

I need to show this to some reddit nerds for them to tell me 100 reasons this wouldn't work and is completely ridiculous

Anyway that's cool and all. but it gets cooler. or maybe hotter. Since the crater is coincidentally on the bright side of this tidally locked system (Its a moon so it still has day and night but largely only one side gets most of the sunlight) and the way the seasons on it work is that it has an elliptical orbit that gets further and closer to the sun every 'year'.... What if the difference in sunlight and heat... melts the giant ice spot every year. causing a seasonal tide system where its real high in summer and low in winter. oh yeah. think about it. seaside towns at water level in summer and high on cliffs in winter.... seasonal islands and paths... ooouuurgghhh....

Though it wouldn't actually work I'm pretty sure. Because the pressure would make it stay ice anyway. BUT. Its reasonable sounding enough right? You'd believe it and think I understand science if I put this in my worldbuilding right. You also think plausible seasonal ice spot tide is more important than full realism. Yes you do.

Anyway probably the bigger problem is that I've envisioned the like, lowland of the crater being a flat, wet jungle that has a delta on one point of it. And ummm. Errr. I dont think the edge of the crater is flat. Not at this scale at all.

I was having trouble visualising this from an individual perspective though. What would it look like to actually be on the crater? How would the curvature work? So of course I used the finest tech to envision this.

Spore galactic adventures.

(Hey can we talk about how before its time GA was and how cool and good it still looks it still looks good and its so cool)

Honestly not sure what to do with any of this. I'm at least going to have to rethink the edge a lot.... And I already drew it too...

Seems the jungle is going to have to be way steeper and maybe have no delta. (Giant waterfall also cool) Not sure how the drop would work. Like would the atmosphere be denser. Or would it even out. or something. Lots to think about and learn be dunked on by nerds for being wrong about (fun).

#long post #like visually sorry #but the storytelling of how it takes up the whole width is really funny so i think youll understand the importance of keeping it that way #i put an alt text in in case its hard to make out i think the size of it made tumblr compress it near illegibly #fuck i forgot to tag #do these work after posting #worldbuilding #geography #planets #yeah not sure what to tag this #mapmaking

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writertitan · 5 months

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Perennial // Part 2

a/n: hello! i'm a little late, but here's to a belated bday for levi! and happy holidays to those who celebrate!

pairing: levi x fem!reader

overall themes: fantasy AU, strangers to lovers, traveling through realms, explicit content

part 2 themes: worldbuilding, reader annoying levi, some softness

read part one here

You weren’t in the temple anymore. You turned and watched as Levi seemed to come out of thin air, a little out of breath, but the both of you remained intact, still joined at your hands. With a racing heart, you let go. Whether the pounding of your heart was due to what just happened or this incidental moment of physical touch, you didn't want to know.

“What’s wrong with you?” you asked, raising your brows. “Why are you out of breath?”

Levi frowned at you, wiping the last bit of sweat off his brow. He seemed almost surprised at your question, but his face eventually cemented back into nonchalance.

“What did I say about asking questions?” he mumbled, walking in front of you to lead the way.

You took in your surroundings as you walked behind Levi, feeling that wonderful sense of peace embrace you. The mirror had taken you to some kind of valley. Mountains that were so high they reached the sky flanked you at both sides, mostly rocky with bits of greenery here and there. The valley you walked on was what was lusciously green, a river cutting through the moss and soft grass. You noticed you were following the direction the river’s water was running, but looking behind and in front of you, there was nothing but this view for miles and miles.

You wanted to ask where you were going and where you had come to, but you knew better by now. Best to just let Levi lead the way.

Part of you also knew that you should still be absolutely losing your mind right now. There was still no logical explanation as to what was happening to you, but it was like this valley stifled those feelings. The air was still and calm and smelled a little sweet, and the night sky was still sprinkled with an astounding number of stars and meteors shooting across the sky. The moon was still bright and big above you, its craters clearly visible. You admired it for a moment until you slowed your steps, confused. Earlier, when you’d liked behind you to examine the length of the river and valley, you saw the moon there, peaking over a mountain. Had it orbited to be in front of you so soon? You whirled around just to make sure, eyes like saucers when you saw…another moon. Just as bright, maybe a little smaller.

“What the fuck?” you choked out, tripping over your own two feet.

“What is it?” Levi asked. You turned to face him, your heart racing, and with shaky hands, you pointed each hand towards each moon.

Levi seemed to immediately understand, and his jaw set a little, his smoky eyes on you in an instant, looking wary. He took a very slow, very gentle step towards you, as if you were a scared animal that might run away with any sudden movements.

“We’re almost there, Embla,” he murmured, deliberately calm. “Just a few more minutes until I can know for sure you’re really safe, and then—”

“We’re almost where?!” you shrieked, your entire body trembling. That calming feeling was ebbing, making way for your undiluted fear. “I’m freaking out, Levi! You’re asking me to trust you when I don’t even know you! You won’t even call me by my actual name. And I don’t know where I am, but I’m clearly not…I’m not where I should be. I’m in a place I’m not supposed to be in.”

“That’s right,” Levi said, his response immediate. “You came from somewhere else. I know it’s scary, but you need to take a deep breath and calm down. There’s a reason I’m making you wait for answers and taking you to a specific place. Please, Embla. I need you to trust me just a little bit longer. I’m going to help you.”

You were hyperventilating and frozen in place. And, even though you were outside, where everything looked and felt endless, you had never felt so stifled and claustrophobic in your life. In a weird way, it felt like you were trapped in your body, which didn’t make sense.

“I can’t move,” you gasped out, and Levi’s gaze softened.

He closed the distance between the two of you and took hold of your hand, the warmth of his palm blazing through you. As if on cue, your heart raced within your chest again, like it had before after going through the mirror.

“I told you not to stay still for too long,” he whispered. “Take a deep breath.”

You did as you were told, albeit the breath was pretty shaky, and then closed your eyes as the air whooshed from your lungs. Levi’s hand squeezed yours and you let yourself focus entirely on that, opening your eyes when you felt him manipulating your hand until your palm was facing the sky and your fingers were spread wide. His pointer finger traced some invisible symbol on your palm, a few times over, until your heart began to slow and your breathing steadied, and your limbs loosened up.

You took a step toward him, bumping into him with how close you were, and then you were acting without thinking. You threw your arms around him and hugged him tight, needing the comfort more than anything. He was stiff and you ended the hug before he could even really react, but you felt much better.

“Let’s go,” he muttered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. You bit back a smile when you noticed his ears were pink. His embarrassment was enough of a delightful distraction to keep your blood pressure down.

Levi was right about not needing to walk that much longer. Within a couple of minutes, you were standing in front of the rocky wall of a mountain, bare of anything other than more rock. However, Levi took a step forward and placed both of his hands on the mountain, whispering something you couldn’t make out, until a low rumble filled the air. You watched in shock as the mountain wall shifted, a crack in it expanding until you realized it was opening up for you. It was dark inside, so dark that you couldn’t see how big the inside was, but you followed behind Levi anyway.

A few steps in and you heard that rumble again. Turning your head, you watched in horror as the mountain’s opening closed behind you.

“Levi!” you half-whispered, half-shouted, tugging at the arm you were holding onto for dear life.

“It’s supposed to do that,” he replied casually.

When the mountain fully closed you in and you were swallowed by the darkness, that’s when light brimmed out.

You blinked in surprise as what could have easily been little stars of light came to life, came out of nowhere, and guided you down the remainder of the rocky hallway that you now realized was rather short, and led to a wooden door that was perfectly framed into the inside of this curious mountain.

Levi opened it with ease and you followed him into the room, the lights following you, and you gasped a little as more light bloomed in the large room you entered.

Candles lit themselves atop an iron chandelier above you, and even more ignited along the walls. Shelves and alcoves had been carved into the rock itself, filled with trinkets, jars, books, and loose pieces of paper. Despite how many things there were, everything seemed to have its own little place, and it didn’t feel cluttered. A few velvet chairs decorated the place, the biggest one placed at a wooden desk that was shoved against the wall.

“This is weird,” you muttered, though you were very much charmed by it. “Where are we?”

Levi was quiet for a moment, and then motioned for you to sit in a chair. You took an emerald green velvet chair, taking off your backpack to place on your lap, while Levi took the deep blue one across from yours.

“This is a safe place for you. One of my many hiding spots,” he explained. “It’s guarded, I promise. No one gets near this place unless I allow it.”

“Okay…,” you murmured, looking around before letting your gaze settle back on Levi. “I still have, like, a million questions, Levi. What happened to me? Do you know? You seem like you know.”

Levi frowned a bit at that, then nodded his head once a little, though he seemed hesitant to.

“I don’t know how, exactly, you managed to get here. But you’re in Eldia.”

The words struck you like bricks, a shock to the system.

At first, you wanted to laugh. You were in total disbelief at what he’d just told you.

“Eldia?” you repeated. It felt like you had blinked a thousand times in one second while trying to process what he was saying to you. “Eldia’s not real.”

Levi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before saying, “It would be great if you could skip past the denial stage. It would save both of us so much grief.”

Eldia.

There was no way he was being serious.

Eldia was a story. A myth. Another realm where magic beings walked the earth and held the power of Titans. A realm full of beings that were tied to the devil and had tried to destroy humans. It wasn’t real.

“I know that humans don’t believe anymore. We prefer it that way and even had part in making it that way. As far as I know, we cut off every…point of entry, I guess is the right way to put it. You technically shouldn’t even have access to us,” Levi said. “You can imagine the shock of knowing a human being made it over to our side.”

It felt like all the blood rushed out of your face. Your backpack suddenly felt very heavy in your lap.

“It’s not real,” you whispered, mostly to yourself.

But how else could you explain everything? You’d had this sinking feeling the entire time, that you weren’t in the right place. That you weren’t in your true reality. And mirror and the sky and the moons and everything…it all pointed to Levi telling the truth.

“I’m gonna throw up,” you groaned, tilting your head back until it collided with the plush velvet of your chair.

“Please don’t,” Levi said with a grimace. But you could see that he looked nervous, which was odd. You were the one who should have every right to be nervous, and that was at the very least. If you were in Eldia…you were most definitely in danger.

“I don’t understand. You don’t look like a Titan. Shouldn’t you be, like, a hundred feet tall?” you asked. Levi was short and looked…normal. He looked human.

Levi didn’t answer, though. He frowned, clearly bothered by what you were saying, and you decided to focus your attention back on fighting the urge to be sick.

You really did feel lightheaded and dizzy, but maybe that had something to do with the fact you hadn’t eaten in a while and maybe you were dehydrated. On top of the fact that you’d accidentally teleported into another realm, of course.

With a trembling hand, you unzipped your backpack and pulled out a stolen treat, ripping open the package to shove a handful of chips into your mouth.

“We’ll have to get you something to eat from here, too,” Levi said, watching you crunch on your chips. “From what I vaguely remember, your body will need to acclimate to this realm. That’s why I’ve been telling you not to be still for too long.”

“Will something bad happen to me if I don’t acclimate?” you asked through a mouthful of chips. Levi didn’t seem too pleased at your lack of manners but didn’t comment on it.

“I should have explained better. It’s not quite your body, but your soul that’s attached to your body. It just…freaks out, as you put it. Like earlier, when you felt you couldn’t move, that was likely your spirit trying to…,” Levi sighed again, giving you a look. “Don’t panic at what I’m about to say, but that was probably your spirit trying to leave your body. It needs to adjust to being in this realm.”

You shuddered at the thought of earlier, and how it had felt like you had no control over your own body, and how it felt you were claustrophobic, like you were confined despite being in open space. It had probably been your soul, feeling trapped in a body that was trapped in a strange place. You’d never given much thought to souls or anything like that, but you maybe believed in the concept a little, and the idea of yours trying to abandon your physical body was terrifying. Still, it was interesting to think of how it would react to your situation. It was a little funny to think that souls weren't very into the idea of realm-hopping.

Levi got up from his chair and moved over to the alcove, rummaging around until he came back with a mug filled with dark liquid. The way it swirled in the mug hardly made it look like liquid, though; it looked like air. It also reminded you of Levi’s eyes.

“This is smokeroot tea. I put little charms in there as well for your protection. It should be enough to make the soul adapt,” he said. You took the mug from him and peered inside, taking a whiff of the tea. It smelled good, definitely kind of smokey, but a little earthy, too.

“An Eldian helping a human,” you murmured, but held the mug solidly in your hands. You had to keep trusting Levi, even if this was all true and he was an Eldian. He hadn’t done anything to harm you yet, and had done nothing but help, so you took a sip of the tea. You didn’t know what to expect, yet it still surprised you to enjoy the taste. It was nice to have something to wash the chips down with.

“Thanks,” you whispered to Levi, gazing at him through your lashes.

He got a little stiff and awkward then, taking an involuntary step back.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered, his gaze turning back to the alcove. “I also have some dried rabbit meat. Let me give you some of that.”

That made you a little queasy.

“I’ve never…I’ve never had rabbit before,” you said, trying to be polite. “Will the tea be enough to keep my soul tethered to my body or whatever?”

“You should eat it just to be safe,” Levi said, handing you what looked like a strip of beef jerky. You took it to examine it and swallowed thickly, mentally preparing yourself for what was probably going to be an unpleasant taste, but you ate it so fast and downed it with tea and chips that you hardly noticed the taste at all.

It was then that you held the bag of chips up to Levi, giving him a hesitant smile.

“Want to try these? Do you have potato chips here? These are just sea salt ones, but they’re classic,” you rambled.

“No, but thank you. I’m just going to work at my desk for a bit while I give you some time to…process,” Levi said. Oh, well. More for you.

You finished off the tea with your chips, feeling much better by the time both were fully in your stomach. Neither of you really said a word to each other, though Levi also made himself some tea, which helped ease some anxieties you felt guilty about having. Though the quiet was nice and helped lull you into a sense of safety while your mind whirled with all you’d been through, you still had so many questions.

“How did we get here?” you asked quietly, careful not to disturb the peace too much. “I don’t understand. I know you’re not sure how I got here, but how did we move through that mirror thing?”

Levi, who had been sitting at his desk, looked at you from over his shoulder wearing that same guarded look.

“That was what we call a verse mirror. Do you still have telephones in your realm? You can think of it like a phone call, where you are able to call another place, but this is a physical manifestation of that. The thing is, calling through a verse is a little more complicated. It takes a lot of skill. You have to make sure you’re completely connected to the mirror and where you’re going. Otherwise, you could risk ending up somewhere else.”

You nodded, contemplating this new information. You remembered then, how transporting through the mirror had felt so much like what you’d felt before crossing into Eldia.

“What I felt during those moments as we passed through it…that’s what it felt like right before I got here,” you confided, voice barely above a whisper. You were staring at the empty mug in your hands, peering deep inside as if there was something helpful in there. “I was at a gas station though. There wasn’t a verse mirror anywhere in sight, I swear it.” Levi was silent as he took in what you said.

“There isn’t much magic left in your world, that’s true. Any magic there was brought over by us, and we haven’t crossed into your territory in a very, very long time,” he murmured. Then, his gaze was very much fixed on you, smoky eyes staring right into you. “One thing has been puzzling me about that trip through the verse mirror, now that you mention it. You had no problems going through it.”

“So what?” you asked, frowning. “Was I supposed to be all out of breath like you were?”

“Honestly, yes, at the very least you should have been feeling winded and out of sorts, especially with your very spirit feeling so disoriented. I was expecting you to faint, or worse,” he explained. “It can be taxing even on the most experienced Scout, but it didn’t seem to affect you at all.”

“Scout?” you repeated.

Levi stiffened, then gave you one of his looks that told you he was getting irritated.

“I could bore you with several hours’ worth of Eldian politics, but I’m thinking that would be a waste of both our times,” he quipped. You knew his sass was just to change the topic, and part of you wanted to press the subject just to get on his nerves a little bit, but you decided to let it go.

You sighed deeply and looked around, your mind whirling once again. This was certainly a different place, a different realm, somewhere that seemed out of time, but it also didn’t feel entirely too strange to you, which was the weird part. You were expecting the mental breakdown to come at any minute now, and yet you were lounging around Levi’s little hiding place and doing a damn good job of keeping it together. A far away part of your brain was worrying about the movers and your new place and the grief of your life that was in some unreachable place in space right now, but your rational brain was also very aware of the fact that those worries were at the bottom of the list for the foreseeable future.

You should have been worrying about some big things, actually. Not just the fact that you were in some entirely new realm, but also that it was the Eldian realm. This was the most dangerous place for humans to be.

You were racking your brain, trying to remember the bits and pieces of Eldian myth that most of the human world had grown up with.

In most legends, Eldians were once humans themselves, and magic was rampant in the human world. Humans mostly used it for healing purposes or celebrating, but eventually witchcraft was born and it began being used for more sinister purposes, and more and more people dedicated their lives to hoarding magic, rather than letting it be a free thing to share. Eventually, Ymir, the Eldian founder, was born and became the most prolific witch of all. She made a deal with the devil, who created a realm for her – this realm – to funnel all the magic of the human world into it for her sole use. She became the first Titan, an enormous humanoid monster that ate any human who dared attempt to slip into the Eldian realm, and then eventually sought out and resurrected 9 of the most cunning demons from the netherworld to bestow the Titan gift onto, in order to help her grow her realm. All 9 of them were demons that feasted on human flesh, and so Ymir crossed over to the human realm with those 9 demons to dominate humanity and use them like cattle. But, humanity had been able to put up enough of a fight to not only hold their ground, but even capture one of those Titans, thanks to a hero in the myths named Helos. Stories differed around the end of this fight, but in every story, Ymir and those 8 remaining Titans crossed back into Eldia. The most popular myth was that the humans captured the most powerful Titan, one that held the power to control passage between realms, with some even saying it was the actual devil himself, and it had forced Ymir to return to Eldia and use her last breath to close all entries but one into Eldia, which is heavily warded.

Most of the myths surrounding the realm of Eldia were tales of morality and cautionary tales, like many legends and folklore. You, like most others, learned these stories as children from adults who wanted you to stop being a brat or wander off, lest you find yourself in Eldia and get eaten by a Titan. You remember studying them again as a young adult, dissecting the stories and ultimately coming to the conclusion that they were also religious propaganda, a way to stop people from dabbling in witchcraft or other “dark” practices.

You hadn’t thought about Eldia in years. And now, you were literally here, a sheep among wolves, so to speak. And yet, you remembered the way the hordes of Eldians looked at you today. It intimidated you, yes, even scared you, but you didn’t feel a real threat to your life. Everyone had been so startled, so confused, but from what you recalled, nobody had wanted to take a bite out of you. And you hadn’t seen any actual Titans, no huge beasts as tall as skyscrapers with jagged grins and fiery bodies.

“What are you thinking about?”

Levi’s voice made you nearly jump out of your skin, and you swore as the mug you’d been holding clattered to the floor. Thankfully, though, it didn’t break.

You bent down to pick it up, but Levi was already there and doing it. You didn’t miss the dirty look he shot you before he put the mug away.

“You scared me,” you muttered.

“So, you can ask a million questions, but I can’t?” Levi asked.

You rolled your eyes. Then, as you were about to answer, you felt your face heat up.

“I was trying to remember everything I’ve learned about Eldia,” you admitted.

“Trying to figure out how fucked you are?” Levi asked, his voice flat. It almost made you laugh, but you managed to stifle it to a short snort.

“Something like that.”

“You’ll have to tell me what you’ve been taught. I’ve always been curious as to what humans think they know nowadays, after so much time has passed,” he said quietly. At that, you got curious.

“Have you ever been to the human realm?” you asked before you could stop yourself.

“Yes. I never interacted with humans in depth, though, and most of my visits were a very long time ago. My last one, however, was recent enough that I know humans are making great technological advancements, even without magic. The telephone was a personal favorite of mine. I liked the dial,” he mused.

You, however, were in awe. Your eyebrows shot up at his words. First, you were honestly a little surprised he would divulge any information about himself. He was so cagey with you. But also, to think he was this old, seeing the invention of the telephone...it was almost impossible to wrap your head around it. It was starting to make sense. Sometimes he paused when he was speaking, as if trying to use the correct “lingo” with you, though he wasn’t quite with the times on that front. And if it had been that long ago that he'd seen what the human realm was up to, did he still think the first renditions of the telephone were humanity's greatest technological achievements?

“Do you wanna see what phones look like now?” you asked him.

Without waiting for an answer, you dug through your backpack to fish out your phone, standing up so you could go to the alcove and show him.

Though he was clearly trying to look unfazed, you could see something flash in his eyes as he took the phone from your hand.

“We call them cell phones now. Or just phones,” you said, letting your phone come to life so he could see your home screen. “With this little thing, we have access to the entire world. Uh, human world. You can have everything at your fingertips, basically. It’s not just for phone calls anymore. It can be kind of overwhelming sometimes, now that I think of it.”

You unlocked your phone so you could prattle on about apps and the internet and your limited knowledge on how it all worked, but Levi stopped you.

“How are you making everything…come to life? You’re just pressing your finger on these strange symbols,” he said, slowly, trying to find the words.

“It’s just…the way technology works now. The screen can sense that I'm touching a particular area and gets me to where I want to go. Something science-y,” you answered, a little embarrassed you couldn’t give a more detailed explanation.

Levi seemed invested, however, and that made you happy. It also eased your mind a little bit; your other life was real, and waiting for you, and this would all be in the past one day.

"I had no idea you'd all come such a long way," he mumbled.

You let him touch the screen and direct him onto certain apps, and felt a little embarrassed when he looked at your social media. He seemed surprised to see photos of you there. Pictures of you with friends, traveling photos, and the occasional selfie. He spent a second longer on your selfies, which made you feel a little nervous, but you were just happy to see him so curious.

"Is photography more accessible?" he asked.

You gave a sly grin and took your phone back, showing him your camera. You made sure you had it on your front facing camera and angled the screen to capture mostly Levi's face, snapping the picture before he could react. His eyes grew wider when you showed him the photo, immediately available to view, but his wide gaze was replaced by a narrow glare.

"Don't do that again," he warned.

You rolled your eyes and put your phone away, turning it off to conserve some battery. Not that it had any signal here, but you would probably need it soon, when you were back on the other side.

You looked at Levi, who was now seated across from you again, not sure how to word what you needed to ask.

“So…what’s the plan to get me home?” you asked. Well, that would have to do.

Levi didn’t seem bothered, though. He was lost in his thoughts, his brows knit together to form a very concentrated look on his face, and you watched him curiously.

“First, we need to figure out how you got through. Once I know that, we can start working on getting you to cross realms,” he said.

“Fair enough,” you sighed. “How do you propose we figure that out?”

“I know someone that may be able to help with that,” he said vaguely, his eyes sliding to you. “But that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe you should rest.”

As soon as he said that, it was like your brain finally registered how tired you were. So much stimulation and change, on top of an already stressful day.

You yawned involuntarily, despite your best efforts not to, and then looked at Levi sheepishly.

“I guess some sleep wouldn’t hurt,” you admitted.

“I don’t really have a bed here,” Levi said, and if you didn’t know any better, you could have sworn his eyes held a little bit of sheepishness as well. “I don’t want you to tire yourself out getting to a place that does have one –”

You cut him off with a wave of your hand, already curling up in your chair.

“You’ll come to find out that I can sleep just about anywhere,” you told him. You were already drifting off. Levi didn’t say anything, but he did procure the softest blanket you’ve ever felt to toss over you.

Would he come to find out? If you were leaving tomorrow, then he wouldn’t come to find out a damn thing about you. Maybe you were dreaming it, but you could have sworn your heart sank a little at the thought.

---

You had no idea how long you’d slept, but it must have been a while. There weren’t any windows in the room you were in, but when Levi noticed you were awake, he immediately got some tea started and then put some bread and butter in front of you and curtly announced it as, "Breakfast."

“How did you sleep?” he asked, taking a sip of his tea. It was the same as yesterday, smokeroot, and you happily sipped from your mug.

“I slept like the dead,” you said. “Neck is a little sore, but that’s fine.”

“Good. Then you’re well-rested enough for all we have to do today,” Levi said flatly.

You made a face behind your mug and then took another sip of tea, mulling over everything. A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, but as your mind spun round and round, you finally had to just blurt out some thoughts.

“I keep waiting for my brain to just…I don’t know. Break from all this,” you admitted quietly. “I keep waiting for a freakout. I keep expecting to curl up in a ball because I can’t process what’s happening. At this point, I’m more freaked out about having to wait on the freakout, than the actual freakout.”

“Well, that tea was going to help calm you down on top of helping your body keep your soul. Now that you’re acclimating, that’s probably a big part of why you aren’t feeling too bad.”

“No, you don’t understand,” you began, “I’m…I’m not used to adventuring. I’m used to keeping myself safe. I’m kind of in disbelief that I’m able to deal with this at all.”

“You seem to be handling this just fine,” Levi said. “I don’t see how that’s a problem. Why are you expecting all of that?”

Your face heated up and you looked down at your half-empty plate, ripping off a piece of bread just to rip that little piece into even tinier pieces.

“Because I’m not exactly the bravest person ever,” you said. “I’ve always been more of a scaredy-cat. I scare easy and I’m always anxious about one thing or another, and I hate sudden changes, and I hate not knowing. I’ve always been like that. You’re the only reason I haven’t been eaten alive here, and that should really scare me, and I should be so terrified right now, but I’m not. I think it’s all going to come crashing down at the worst moment.”

Levi was quiet. You dared to glance up at him and were surprised to see that he was staring right at you.

“The human mind is very durable. Humanity itself is very durable, if I remember correctly,” he said. “You shouldn’t sell yourself short. I think you would be surprised at what you’re capable of.”

It was strange, receiving such a sincere compliment like that. No one back home would have ever come close to saying you were durable.

But now that you’d gotten it out of your system, you felt lighter, and you wanted to change the subject. Your curiosity was getting the better of you again when it came to Levi.

“When’s the last time you visited the human world? It sounds like it’s been a while, if the last thing you saw be invented was the telephone,” you said. Then, in a quiet voice, you asked, “Do Eldians go into our realm often?”

It was hard trying to decipher Levi’s facial expressions. He was so good at hiding behind a calm mask. It was like trying to see past a brick wall. But you could see emotions flickering behind his eyes once in a while.

“That was the last time I was there, that’s true. It’s been a long time in human years. And I’ll never go back again, not for anything,” he said, and the way he said it made you not press for more. “The last time I went was the last time most Eldians went. I haven’t heard of a single one of us returning to that place since then. If it’s happened, I know nothing about it.”

So, he wasn’t fond of the human world. Which was funny, considering that he had just hyped up humanity only minutes ago.

After another silence, this one a little more tense, it was actually Levi that spoke first.

“No one is going to eat you,” he said, taking your empty plate from you when you were finished.

You blinked in surprise, not expecting that.

“Excuse me?”

“There’s a lot of misinformation – let’s just call it misinformation. About Eldia,” he said. He gestured towards his own empty plate. “I’m sure you noticed that I’m not munching on human bones.”

“Variety diet,” you said blandly, hoping the joke would land, but Levi’s glare told you it didn’t. “I’m only kidding. Kind of.”

Levi sighed, signaling he was done with the conversation, and you felt like you’d failed somehow.

“Tell me why every story mentions the fact that you eat people, then? I’m not following,” you told him, folding your arms over your chest.

“Because that’s what you were told to believe,” Levi snapped. “We don’t…do that. A lot of what you think you know is actually false. You don’t know anything at all.”

That struck a nerve in you.

“It’s not like you’re ever keen to answer any of my questions,” you quipped back.

The two of you were glaring at each other now. Levi’s jaw was set and your entire body was rigid.

“I’ve known you less than a day, with you being asleep some of that time, and you’re already the most aggravating person I’ve ever met,” Levi told you.

You gave him an exaggerated smile, your eyes still flashing with your glare.

“That pleases me,” you said through your smile, before rolling your eyes and standing up.

“So much for being a scaredy-cat. You’re more like a feral cat,” Levi muttered under his breath, but fully with the intention that you’d hear him.

You ignored him and straightened out your clothes, then put a hand in your hair, frowning to yourself; you probably looked like a total mess.

After doing what you could without even a mirror to guide you, you turned back to Levi, arms crossed again, trying to keep your face neutral like he often did.

“When are we leaving to find your little friend?” you asked.

“Right now,” he said. “Grab your things and don’t forget anything. We won’t come back.”

The quickness startled you, but you did as he said and then followed him back into that hallway inside the mountain, until it eventually opened to the valley outside again. The sunlight hit you hard and you squinted, holding a hand over your eyes to shield them until they adjusted.

The valley was just as beautiful in the day as it was at night. The plush green grass and sapphire sky looked magical. Wildflowers bloomed in pockets here and there, and the rocky path along the mountain even held some pretty weeds in the cracks. The river was so clear that you could see fish darting around, and the rocks at the bottom glittered and looked like they all held vibrant colors.

How could such a dangerous land be so beautiful?

You held the straps of your backpack as you walked alongside Levi, your neck craning this way and that while you took in the sights. The only sounds were the rush of the water and the songs of birds and your footsteps that moved the loose stones and pebbles in your path. Levi didn’t say a word and neither did you.

There was nothing to see for miles but the beauty of the valley, but you knew better by now. There was magic here, and it didn’t matter if you were in the middle of nowhere. You could be taken to entirely new places with the help of Levi.

Levi.

You slightly tilted your head to peek at him from your peripheral vision, taking in the sight of him. He was looking straight ahead, posture straight and confident as he walked. His hair was still night-black even in the daytime, and you marveled at his strong profile. His nose was straight, and his jaw was strong and defined.

“Don’t stare at me like that,” he spoke up, only glancing at you briefly. His eyes glinted silver in the sunlight.

You felt your entire face grow hot and looked away, heart racing. Why was it racing? How did he know what you were doing?

---------

You walked for hours, but it didn’t feel so tiring, not when there was so much to see. You loved how the sun felt on your skin, you loved the gentle breeze that ruffled your hair, you loved how sweet the air smelled. It was nice to get away from the ugliness back home.

It hadn’t been totally silent the whole way. Eventually, you just had to strike up conversations with the ever-reluctant Levi.

You asked him little things occasionally, things that wouldn’t piss him off, but you mostly commented on your surroundings and revealed the occasional fact about yourself.

“I fell into a river once, when I was a kid. I didn’t know how to swim back then, and the river currents were really strong, so I was swept away pretty fast. But I got lucky and the current pushed me against this huge boulder on the edge of the river, and I was able to pull myself out. My parents put me in swimming lessons after that,” you rambled, your eyes on the river at your side. It was narrow, some would have probably even called it more of a stream than a river, and the water seemed to idly bubble along. You knew better, though; underneath the surface was a whole different story.

Levi seemed a little interested in this particular story of yours, though you’d told plenty today. He gave a look you couldn’t decipher, then looked away.

“I saved a human child once, from drowning in a river,” he revealed quietly, his voice level.

You looked at him in awe, surprised at this confession of his.

“That was very kind of you,” you told him, suppressing a smile.

Levi barely reacted, but his face remained calm.

You took it as permission to keep rambling.

---------

The trail had eventually led you out of the valley and into a great expanse of land, still as beautiful but leaving the mountains behind.

There were fields of crops, you noticed, and actual livestock.

And then, up ahead, by the time the sun was signaling late afternoon, you could see what you were sure was a village.

At first, it was exciting. Then, that pit of worry sank like a stone in your stomach.

Eldians. Surely there would be Eldians there.

You remembered how it had been running into them the first time. Levi had to get you out of there. Now he was leading you towards more of them.

You hadn’t noticed you’d slowed down until Levi cleared his throat.

“Don’t start going all chicken-shit on me now, Embla,” he said, his face unreadable. “What’s gotten into you?”

“They’ll know I’m human, won’t they?” you asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “What are they gonna do? Is it gonna be like last time?”

Levi softened imperceptibly and stopped walking, standing a few feet away from you.

“They won’t hurt you,” he said. “It’ll be just before dusk by the time we get to the outskirts of the village, so the sun will still be out. They won’t come out until dark.”

That didn’t make you feel any better. You thought back to yesterday, how it had been so quiet and lifeless during the day. It hadn’t been until night descended that you saw any traces of life.

“What’s up with that?” you asked, stepping closer to Levi. “Why can’t they come out during the day? Are you like vampires or something?”

Levi scoffed, his glare back full force.

“We can obviously come out during the day, shit-for-brains. I’ve been walking with you all day, haven’t I? There’s a ceremony of sorts being carried out by Eldians. Last night was the first night of it, and tomorrow night will be the last night,” he explained.

“Why aren’t you participating in the ceremony?” you asked, already fired up with questions.

You could see that he didn’t want to answer, but you pressed on this time, using it as a distraction for your anxiety.

“C’mon, Levi! I’m trying to learn,” you said, your tone pleading.

Levi’s shoulders became less tense as you began to walk with him again, although, even as you looked at him with wide, curious eyes, he didn’t look at you.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “If it’ll get you to shut up and walk.”

When he finally turned his head to look at you, you gave him a smile, your first genuine one since getting here. He blinked a couple of times, his lips parted, but in a flash, he was composed again.

“It’s the Three Nights of the Daughters, but we usually just call it the Three Nights. It’s a yearly event where we honor Maria, Rose, and Sina.”

“Who are they?”

This time, it was Levi who stopped walking, an eyebrow raised.

“What?” he asked.

“Maria, Rose, and Sina…who are they?” you asked again, a little more hesitant this time.

“You really don’t know?” Levi asked, and you shook your head, feeling your face heat up yet again.

Those names didn’t sound familiar at all, and yet Levi was acting as though you were missing some important piece of information.

“No. Should I?”

“They’re Ymir’s daughters, her direct descendants. When she died, they – how could you not know all of this?” Levi’s face was incredulous, the most animated you’d ever seen him.

“She never had…none of the stories…”

Try as you might, you couldn’t find the words. Any time you had a thought, it trailed off.

Ymir had a family? None of the stories you’d ever come across even slightly hinted at that. Maybe it was human error. After all, these stories were so old, and they weren’t exactly all yours to tell. People considered them myth these days, not as historical events. Eldia had only been a fairytale to you until yesterday. But something nagged at you. This absence of knowledge felt intentional, like you weren’t supposed to know about it.

You looked at Levi, feeling unnerved for some reason.

“The last time you were in my world, did the humans know about her daughters?” you asked.

Levi seemed taken aback by the question, but his face was slowly melting back into neutrality.

“I never asked about the full extent of how the myths were told, but knew that things were...altered. I just never knew how much. I was never exactly in direct contact with you people,” he said. It was such a vague answer, but you let it go for now, tucking the little information he gave you for later.

“Tell me more about the Three Nights, then. Why do you celebrate her daughters? And why at night?” you asked, attention fully on Levi.

“Because of what they had to go through when their mother died. They each had to stay up all night with Ymir’s remains. They had to do unspeakable things in order to inherit the Power of the Titan,” he said casually, eyes fixed ahead. “But they did it for us, to save us. They used the Power of the Titan to attempt to close all pathways between this world and yours.”

You blinked in surprise. Her daughters saved Eldians, from what? From humans? That’s what it sounded like. Levi was telling the story like Eldians had needed to be protected from humans, which meant removing access between realms. Or, the way he’d put it, attempted to remove. Clearly, there was still access.

At first, you felt an automatic sense of defensive come alive within you. How dare he, when the stories pointed to countless humans getting eaten or tortured by Titans! People kept these myths alive to remind humanity of what to fear.

But again, that feeling of being unnerved set in. Something about Levi’s version rang true, though you didn’t know why you should trust him, why you were trusting him, despite everything you’d been taught. Even if you’d originally believed it all to be nonsense, these stories were now the only thing you could reference to survive in this different place. And here was Levi, tearing all your knowledge to shreds and claiming it to be false. Maybe not directly, but it was obvious he was trying to steer you in another direction.

“So now you all celebrate them every year by staying up all night outside?” you prodded.

“You’ve got it a little backwards. Do you remember yesterday, when everyone was coming back into town from the forest after sundown? That’s because people are resting in temples together. None of our temples are within towns. And before you ask why,” Levi said, eyeing you, “it’s because the temples are meant to be tied to the earth somehow, as a separate haven from whatever nearest town or village there is. It’s a time to gather as a community and people like coming together to celebrate and rest under one roof. During the day, people all come together in the temple to start preparing their feasts and offerings to the altars that are built for each daughter before they sleep. At night, families go back home and fast until morning.”

You mulled over all this new information and this unique celebration. Instead of looking at Levi, your gaze turned towards the village. You were closer now, and the sun was lower in the sky, casting long shadows and golden light. It was strange, knowing it was completely empty.

“Seems like it would be cramped, all holed up in a temple together,” you said aloud, mostly talking to yourself. “That temple we were in, Norchek Temple, was nearly decrepit, and so small. It wouldn’t have fit an entire village inside.”

“The temples I’m talking about are Temples of the Titans,” Levi explained. “They’re dedicated to Ymir and her direct descendants, and they’re big enough to hold many people. However, in some places where the population is bigger, they’ll assign different days for different groups to rest, usually going by neighborhood. Temples like Norchek Temple are different.”

“How is Norchek Temple different?” you asked.

Levi sighed, then stopped walking. You stumbled at the quick change, but then turned to face him fully, a questioning look in your eyes.

“Embla.”

That’s all he said for a few moments, just that odd nickname for you. But you knew he wanted to say more, so you kept quiet. When he didn’t say anything else, even though there was clearly a storm brewing in his eyes, you spoke up.

“Levi, just tell me what you wanna tell me,” you whispered, a hand outstretched to reach out to him. However, he stepped back, which made your heart sting, and his eyes hardened.

“Humans have told their own version of our history for a very long time,” he said. “I’ve never involved myself much with humans, and for good reason. There's no point in explaining all of this to you. It’s pointless trying to make you see.”

“See what?!” you pressed, hands balling into fists.

“The truth,” Levi said, not giving in to your anger.

His answer fizzled out your anger, though, and your outstretched arm fell limp to your side. So, he really was trying to convince you that you’d been lied to all your life. That all humans had been lied to.

Your gaze slipped from his and you focused on the fields and lines of trees instead, deep and rich sunlight saturating their colors. The sun was going to set soon, and the village wasn’t much farther. Now, though, you weren’t so afraid of who you might run into.

Levi seemed to harbor some resentment towards humans. He was so hesitant to tell you anything at all about his world, and you wondered why. Wouldn’t he want to tell you the truth of Eldia, so that you could go back to your world and spread that truth? Did he think that it wouldn’t matter, because you wouldn’t be staying here long enough to give you enough of the truth to pass along?

Besides all of that, you were battling your own mind. You wanted the truth, but you had to admit that you were also scared of it. You were so sick of being scared all the time. You’d always thought you were just especially mindful of self-preservation, but now you were seeing it for what it really was: cowardice. This was a chance to learn something life-changing, and yet you were still shying away from it. Part of you wanted to keep the stories you’d been told and hold them in high regard. You wanted to keep believing that those stories were the most accurate, and not whatever Levi could tell you. Everything you thought you knew was crumbling in on itself, and you felt powerless and stupid and bared to the world in a way that made you uncomfortable. It made you feel like a blank slate.

“Let’s just keep going,” you mumbled, hating yourself. Such a coward, such a scaredy cat. You could have pressed Levi more, hounded him for answers, for the truth, but you didn’t.

You fell into step together and entered the outskirts of the village, where you learned the name of the village by looking at some signs.

“Ragako,” you breathed out, admiring the structures of the buildings and houses.

It was a small village and it seemed so open, with wide roads and plenty of space between buildings. Nothing at all like the town you’d been in before.

“What was the name of the other town?” you asked Levi out of curiosity. You never did find that out.

“Shiganshina,” he answered curtly.

You frowned at him, not appreciating the tone, but decided to steer the conversation a different way.

“We’ve been walking all day,” you complained, rubbing your grumbling stomach.

You’d aired this grievance earlier, around noon, when the beginning pangs of hunger struck you. Levi had merely grunted and only let you stop long enough to peruse through your backpack for a snack, but then told you to keep it moving and walk while you ate. The snack was barely enough to sustain you, and now your hunger was back with a vengeance, coupled with thirst.

“Stop being a crybaby. It’s not gonna kill you to wait a few more minutes until we get to Hange’s house,” Levi said, his grey eyes peeking at you from his peripheral vision.

“Hange,” you repeated, tasting the name in your mouth. “Finally, you tell me who we’re seeing.”

“You never actually asked,” Levi reminded you, and you felt your face grow a little hot. Technically, he was right. He doubled down by adding, “You spend all your time asking millions of questions, but never the right ones.”

You felt there was some sort of double entendre in what he’d said but you didn’t want to press him anymore.

Sure enough, as golden dusk cooled into pale twilight, you were standing in front of someone’s home. From far away, you could hear people emerging from the forest, their distant chatter sounding like coils of wind.

You were about to question whether Hange was even home, but Levi pounded roughly on the door and startled you into silence. Surprisingly, the door swung open to reveal someone, presumably Hange, with messy dark hair and glasses that were askew on their face.

“Levi?” they asked incredulously, sleepy eyes suddenly alert. Then, their gaze turned to you, their jaw immediately dropping. “Is this…?”

“A human? Yeah. Let us in before anyone else sees her.”

read part 3 here

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman fic #levi fanfiction #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction

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cadere-art · 1 month

Note

1 and 10! For the worldbuilding ask :)

Since I've already done numbers 1 and 10 on that worldbuilding prompt list, you'll be getting number 8!

8) Is there a place in your world that nobody has ever been to - the bottom of a cave, the moon, another dimension, etc.? How do people know it exists? Why haven’t they gone there? What do they believe it’s like, and how right/wrong are they?

One place in the world that nobody has ever been to is the Moon - but not for lack of trying.

Uanlikri's world has two moons. One of them, the Mens, is small and yellowish. Most people use the Mens' cycle to tell the months. For many people, the Mens is the only moon they know.

The second moon, the Moon, is a small, barely spherical body in geosynchronous orbit over Uanlikri. It looms large in Uanlikri's sky, 1.5 times as big as our moon and twice as bright, tracing figure-eights (analemmas) in the sky. It goes through its whole cycle everyday, new at noon, full at midnight.

For most of the world's peoples, the Moon is only a legend from faraway lands. But the continent cluster on the moonless side of the world is large, and on its borders, the Moon can just be seen peeking out over the horizon. Over the millennia, many peoples have set out on the long journey, by boat or over the polar ice caps, to reach the Moon. And though none of them ever set foot on the Moon, those who survived did find Uanlikri, the land under the Moon.

#worldbuilding #antiole world #uanlikri #astronomy and timekeeping #moon #mens #moon and mens #asks #ask games #sorry for taking so long i procrastinated #also!! my fucking PC has memory issues and bluescreened as i was just finished writing this post so i had to write it twice.#this motivated me to buy the ram bars i need to replace the ones that are deffective

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wardenwyrd · 10 months

Text

Writeblr Introduction

Dotted in secret stars and whispered moons lies The Warden O' Wyrd; too bright smiles and sharp eyes linger on her skin, miasma orbiting their visage. When dusk's hands sweep fluttering eyes closed her shackles, in turn, loosen.

Greetings and welcome all, I am Wardenwyrd - connoisseur of messy queers, the freaky & occult, and all things speculative fiction! I am freshly new to Writeblr and am keen to dig my claws so fellow denizens of Writeblr interact if you enjoy my vibes < 3

Open to ask and tag games !

◈What I write ◈

Anything and absolutely everything speculative, weird horror, all shapes and forms of queerness, and a metric ton of worldbuilding.

Genres: Fantasy (Low, high, dark, fairy tale-esque, etc), Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Romance, Horror, Mystery

Fantastical, often ethereal and treacherous worlds flavoured with flowery prose

Queer, neurodivergent, and disabled characters and themes. All kinds of diversity really. Always looking to broaden and grow my noggin' with wisdom

Gender queer characters. An UNBELIEVABLE amount of dyed hair and pronounces.

Body horror: elegant body horror; gross, grimy body horror; wonderfully queer body horror 'til I burst at the seams; all sorts. Twisting of the body into something other than human as a form of beauty my beloved < 3 < 3

Characters who desperately need therapy (That would be my fault)

Rich settings and worlds. Give me intricate magic systems !!! give me ecology that could be shown in a nature documentary !!!

🌔About Me 🌒

Goblin in my (late) teens. I've been writing for a whiiiile but started really getting into it about half a decade ago. I will ravenously consume all forms of creative media.

⭐Likes ⭐

Favourite colour: Purple my beloved Favourite band: Mili (I'm so normal about them) Favourite genre/s: Gothic lit, Fantasy, Horror romance, whimsical fairies Fav insect: Moths/Butterflies

Stats:

Creative writing college student

Panromantic Ace | Queering my gender to the max

English (Regrettably)

Autism kreachure

Revolving door of hyperfixations on science-y stuff

Purple hair (Not beating the stereotype allegations)

WIPs

[Note: I am very bad at deciding on WIP names]

Prisma

My surreal fantasy WIP comprised of a collection of different stories linked by a unifying setting.

Colour-Coded to the max. Each central story focuses on a character assigned a colour, differing in tone, POV, and focus. Main three are purple, blue, and red.

Literal becomes figurative, and figurative literal

Charms and incantations of old swirl in from afar, weaving our hands together with something much deeper than flesh – a curious sentiment oozing from the recesses of Damsel’s cloak as the feeling of moss and stone wove through my veins; cold and refreshing.

◉

‘What absurdity’, The Arbiter would think to himself. After all, those carmine red eyes of his delve into the primaeval madness: in their muddy depths lies the shivering madness - Fear. From fear is the knowledge wrenched from uncertainty and bloodshot eyes. Dread is the light; tugging on world-weary watchers.

Sort of portal fantasy, sort of not. The stories in this WIP span across many eras and places, yet often find themselves connecting and mingling. Incredibly queer.

Main characters:

MC of Red, Jack Pronouns: He/Him Bnuuy ass trans Victorian boy. Pasty and WILL combust in the sun. Autism creature. He gets a himbo bf and sick asf t-surgery scars as a treat < 3 Character Playlist

MC of Blue, Hel Pronouns: Any/All seemingly innocent girl but remove the innocent and girl part. Kind of an eldritch horror after a character arc but like, that's the good ending. So old surnames weren't a thing in the era they're from. Character Playlist

MC of Purple, Dorothea Pronouns: She/They Gatekeep, Gaslight, Girlboss. Autistic adhd precocious mess who WILL make it your problem. Genuinely manipulative but has great hair so it's fine. Character Playlist

Other notable mentions

[Note: I will elaborate on all of these later]

Witch WIP

My beloved blorbos < 3 Once I figure out how to frame and present it in a more refined way I like I shall be posting about this.

Personal & Cultural struggle within a fantasy context | Disability & Identity as a main theme | Aroace protagonist and Queerplatonic relationship | Magic inspired by folklore and myth | Found family

Low Fantasy setting in a somewhat alternate earth

Sprawling magic system

Conventional fantasy groups but with a spin: revamping those vibes

Witches aren't just funny flying women but genuinely inhuman creatures with spicy shit going on

Demons and angels but: demon is the colloquial term for a class of magical beasts characterised by dense essence, not like hell demons. Angels are living algorithms born from patterns and don't have an actual association to any gods.

MC Playlists:

Branwen | Ingram

Five Steps From Hell

Biblically Accurate Angelic-Flavoured paranormal apocalypse

Autistic MC

More horror oriented than action

Lots of vibes.

MC becoming something not very human, but they're more worried that they aren't worried too much about it

I've got some dastardly plans for this one. Vibes and atmosphere whilst the world falls apart and neurodivergence is a great combo.

#writeblr #writeblr introduction #writeblr intro #writeblr community #queer writers #trans writers #writer #writers of tumblr #fantasyauthors #fantasy writing #creative writing #Connoisseur of messed up queers #Feral gays all day

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rippleclan · 7 months

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[Image ID: a video game screen for something called RippleClan’s Promise: A Clangen Tale. Stars border the title and the Clan’s logo sits below it. Four boxes border the logo, labeled “CONTINUE”, “SETTINGS”, “NEW GAME”, and “QUIT”. A star cursor sits next to the SETTINGS box and highlights it yellow.]

The air hums around you. Everything seems to shimmer, ever so slightly, in a way that makes the world seem bright. It looks like the territory you know, but... better. Safer. A pale silver figure appears before you with a glittering pelt and excitement in their eyes.

Moonpaw:

“You came! Finally! I’ve been waiting for you for moons! What took you? Well, that doesn’t matter. RippleClan’s been thriving without you, but they’ll appreciate having you around.

“Wait... you don’t know about RippleClan?! Where have you been, living under a rock? Hold on... you don’t even know who I am, do you?! Rude! I’m Moonpaw, former mediator apprentice extraordinaire and RippleClan’s guide in the stars! I’ve been dead for generations, so I can fill you in on what’s what. RippleClan is a new Clan founded by a few Clan cats seeking a new life with a new, more open philosophy. The other Clans are... a little strict, to put it nicely. Maybe RippleClan can change some things, heh! I help them out with the day to day stuff, but you’ll be keeping an eye on them and nudging them along in SUPER big ways! It may take a few moons for your changes to take effect, but don’t worry, when they do, you’ll know.”

Moonpaw:

“I’m sorry if our connection is shaky. It takes a while to record everything going on in RippleClan, and sometimes you may not see it. Don’t worry, though, I’ll always describe things for you! Image IDs are great, aren’t they?

“Don’t worry about how I know that, it doesn’t matter. Whenever an image shows up in an update, the paragraph below the image will include the text in the image and a description of who’s in the scene. There’s a lot of juicy stuff below each image, so take the time to read! At the end of each entry will be some basic information for each cat in the scene. That means their age, their rank, their gender, and their personality. Here’s mine!"

Moonpaw: 10 moons, Female, Meditator Apprentice, Childish, Great Hunter

Moonpaw:

“RippleClan’s Promise is stylized like a simple pixel video game. As such, you might see some statistics pop up alongside our beloved cats! Here, I’ll show you. When someone gets a condition, it’ll show up like this!”

[Image ID: + CONDITION: GRIEVING appears below Moonpaw]

“That’s just one example of something that can pop up on our adventures! There’s bound to be more fun additions. Speaking of additions, this series doesn’t have the same lore as ones you may be more familiar with. A lot of the worldbuilding is inspired by the Better Bones AU by @bonefall. This AU includes an upgrade to Clan technology, such as cooking, controlling fire, making baskets, and having more advanced medical care. There are also some unique features to change things up. I’ll pop in on occasion and explain them when I have to.”

Moonpaw:

“Okay, I know rules are boring, but I gotta explain how RippleClan works, ok? Ok! I’m going to pick out the most important events from each moon, and you’ll get to see all the details!

“All the events I show you actually happened. I merely translate what I see for you. I’m keeping my influence to a minimum. That means no meddling that doesn’t fit the character. I’m not going to adjust relationships, pick out mentors, or change patrol outcomes. I will, however, adjust the occasional kit name and decide how cats respond in patrols based on their traits. Other things, like some warrior names or stories, are up to you! I’ll let you know when I need your help.”

Moonpaw:

“I think that’s all the big stuff! Come on, what are we waiting for? Let’s check in on RippleClan!”

#settings #rippleclan #rippleclan clangen #moonpaw

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mehoymalloy · 4 months

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Can't sleep thinking about Otohan.

Specifically, Moon Moms Otohan in their teenage years, and it's all @lavender-temult 's fault with their cute art.

Been doing a ton of worldbuilding for Sruwargas recently, so I'm thinking about Otohan attending the highly regimented and militarized public school, then going home to the temple to train even more. Gangly and taller than her peers because her growth spurt hit early, though it won't be long before everyone outgrows her.

Being taken under the wing of an older caretaker of the temple, one who holds very traditional (some would say archaic, maybe even barbaric) beliefs about faith. Who teaches Otohan from a young age that devotion is practiced, not felt; quietly proven through the scars she gives herself rather than the ones she's endured at the hands of others. The smooth spot on the pad of her thumb that most think is a birthmark but is simply a wound that never fully heals, the well from which a single bead of blood springs, brought to her lips to bless a prayer every time she kneels. The calluses on her fingertips built up, contraily enough, from rolling smooth, polished onyx beads between her fingers, because maybe if she cycles through all 24, over and over again, the Duskmaven will hear her. Devotion is practiced, and Otohan is diligent.

Thinking about the bright spot in Otohan's week being when she walks from the temple to the butcher shop, makes the trek five times, carrying a heavy bucket of blood in each hand for the temple's ritual pool. Each circuit hoping for a glimpse of Liliana, a moment to talk, the brush of a familiar mind that reaches back.

Thinking about the first time she happens to be around when Relvin is helping unload the caravan of hogs brought all the way up the mountain from some farm up north. He nearly stumbles face first into the glass of the display case as he rushes inside, and Liliana laughs lightly at him, though the smile she shoots him is so warm. Otohan breaks the glass of that display case a few years later, when Liliana tells Otohan she's leaving.

Thinking about those years in between, when Otohan tamps down their simmering jealousy because devotion is practiced and Liliana is their only friend that matters. The first time they all three hang out, skipping stones across the tarn, relaxing in a way the three of them, all grown up far too fast in similar yet vastly different ways, aren't quite used to, but savor nevertheless. Liliana the thin thread between Otohan and Relvin; Otohan's dispassionate sense of disappointment when she realizes she can't really hate the boy, because as he looks at Liliana in the glow of the setting sun, Otohan recognizes the look all too well. She can't blame him for loving her.

Devotion is practiced. Liliana looks at Relvin and Otohan forces herself to look away.

#never thoughts i'd touch a love triangle or a teenage one at that with a ten foot pole yet HERE WE ARE #maybe i can sleep now? please???#wip stuff #otohan thull #liliana temult #moon moms

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greeneyedsigma · 9 months

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One Piece Worldbuilding Headcanon; (just contemplating for now)

Lunarians were one-half of a coin and Solarians were the other. Because for some reason the sun is opposite the moon.

Cousins. Kin.

Lunarians were closer to the Earth from their seat atop the Red Line while Solarians were unreachable at the uppermost levels of the atmosphere, higher above even the sky islands.

Like their counterparts, Solarians were viewed as godlike. But rather than to the earthbound races, they were gods to the Sky People.

Their element was air, unlike the Lunarian's fire.

Pale skin, bright blue eyes, white hair, and leathery, bat-like wings, more akin to dragons than to the dark, angel-like wings of the Lunarians.

When the Lunarians were forced off the Red Line, many found their way to the safety of the Solarian's sky island. While others of their kin found hidden colonies all over the world.

#one piece #sigma's one piece au #one piece au #one piece world building #lunarians #solarians #no way King’s the last #there almost has to be more #where did he come from #why is the reward still standing if King is the only one #hidden colonies #in the calm belt?#in the sky

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