#it's good to eat plants sometimes and a variety of things and you are doing a good job and don't worry too much about it
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Just Faking It
Hero fixed their hair again; the attire was uncomfortable, but the food tasted good. The jovial spirits of the other customers were found unmatched here in their booth, which felt tense and awkward. At least for Hero, they felt that way.
Villain seemed more relaxed than them.
Nothing was more annoying than being forced to attend a mission as a fake couple. It was humiliating to be seen like this; Hero had better things to do. Although they had to admit, Villain was… well… a little above average in terms of looks. Their personality could draw a crowd; something about having a flare bright enough to cause a disruption in town.
They've been trying to get their attention forever, but it just looked like they were too oblivious. It was always the stunning people with the worst sense of awareness. Sometimes, Villain did come off as selfish, but it wasn't anything Hero didn't expect; with Villain's head so focused on themselves, they should've known it would result in their lack of engagement for others. It's probably the core reason why they weren't interested in them.
They watched as the other right across them flagged down yet another server and insisted they pour their glass of wine again. Villain's face was already beginning to light up with drunken happiness. Personally, they didn't take Villain to be a wine person, yet here they were.
"You gonna eat?" They smiled lopsidedly while gesturing with their cup at their plate.
Hero let out a huff of disapproval and wrapped their arms around themselves. Under Villain's gaze, it was impossible not to feel like they were actively trying to intimidate them.
These clothes were so out of their usual style.
Hero looked around the dim-lit restaurant and tried to focus on the target, sitting just a few booths down. The damn CEO was why Villain and Hero were forced to investigate. Their only downside was Villain's lack of concern for the mission. Instead, they seemed to be distracted by the variety of desserts available.
"Can't you stop indulging and restrain yourself for a minute?" They harshly whispered while keeping track of the target.
"But I am restraining myself." Hero turned briefly to throw a questioning stare only to catch Villain's eyes travelling along their neck.
"Cut it out."
They hummed lowly and pushed the pasta around on their plate. "Whatever you say."
This dragged on too long, and Hero was ready to send the attack immediately. The CEO stood, leaving their damsels cooing as they finally walked toward the bathrooms.
"Now! "They whispered. Hero double-checked that their blade was secured on their hips and slipped out of their seat to discreetly follow the other. Villain coughed slightly as they tried to chug down the remaining wine and join their companion.
The booth the CEO was just in had been filled with all types of escorts hired by Hero's Agency to go undercover for this project. It was amazing how they all agreed, most admitting that the CEO was just another cash cow who loved to throw around their money in the hopes that their plans would come true. Hero opened the curtains and closed them right behind them just as Villain made it in.
"What're you two doing in here? We're not supposed to interact." The woman in the centre was a blonde worker. It wasn't a lie to say that she and her entire team were all equally stunning. It almost left Hero at a loss for words.
"Did you put the poison in?" Hero asked as they looked around the seat and table for the device tagged underneath.
Hero's hand grasped what they were looking for and pulled it out. "A bomb?!" Another woman spoke with her eyes flung open.
The secret worker jolted from her spot and inspected it. "How'd you see that?" It was a small portable device in Hero's hand. But easily recognizable. "The CEO's onto us?"
"Yes."
Villain sat beside the brunette on the red leather seat with an arm wrapped around her. "Relax, we'll handle this."
"I saw them plant it just before they left to go to the bathroom. Luckily, it isn't turned on." Hero pocketed the small device and glanced at Villain, now surrounded by the other workers. They couldn't believe they could be thinking about that at a time so constraining.
"Villain!" They moved over to the other side and glared down at them; Villain was still in high spirits from the rush of alcohol. "We need to go!"
"Just a minute…" They sighed before facing another woman who entertained the advancements, but it had gone beyond them. Hero scowled and moved out of the booth, fuming.
What was Villain thinking anyway? They would finish this project with or without them by the night's end.
The CEO's laughter was caught in the air as several footsteps made their way to the booth.
"Fuck!"
Villain sprang out of the chair and attempted to dash out, but the tall figure of their target blocked the way.
"Oh, hahaha," Hero nervously fidgeted. How could they let themselves get caught like this?
The centre worker stood from their seat and rushed over to the target's side, "These people were just about to leave. They were just asking a few questions."
"Were they?" CEO questioningly looked to the side; next to them were several of their personal bodyguards who stared down at the two. "And what questions were that?"
"About you, of course!" Hero chimed in, "We noticed that someone as powerful as you was attending this same restauraunt, we just wanted to know how we could admire you."
Villain nodded in agreement, "Yeah- there's nothing more profound than a strong figure like yourself here."
It seemed to work, and the blonde worker sighed with relief. The target's eyes lightened up at that, "Well, there's plenty of ways to show your respect for me, although I've never had anyone personally show such interest openly. "
"Well, I guess we should be on our way then. Don't want to waste your time." Villain grabbed Hero as they made their exit. It seemed they would be safe for now, but they've interacted with them; they needed to be more careful.
"Now, just hold on a second."
Hero felt their arm tugged back slightly. They paused in their tracks, and Villain looked behind them. The worker stood confused.
"We've only just met. Why don't we get a little accustomed to each other?"
Hero blinked idly at Villain with a questioning face. It looked like there would be a change of plans, "Well," Hero nervously began, "I would love to; however, you see, I'm already here with someone." They gestured to Villain.
"Please, I'm sure if you really had such great admiration, you wouldn't pass up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." They laughed as the guards pushed Villain out of the way, and Hero was locked tightly into the CEO's firm grip. From behind, they saw the escorts look at each other skeptically. "A pretty thing like you has better things to do anyways."
Hero faked a laugh, "You're really… too kind."
It infuriated Villain, not because the plans were ruined so quickly but because who did they think they were to take their date!? Who does that?! Villain forcibly pushed the standing guards and spoke louder, "Hey, jerk, that's my date you're stealing!" Their arms were pulled behind them.
The blonde escort placed a hand on Hero's shoulder, "Please, reconsider your decision, we don't have to take this kind guest with us."
They huffed at the escort's words, "Sit down, I'll make the decisions, you're just hired for my entertainment."
They couldn't hear Villain anymore; comforting hands from the escort told them to not look behind them and to follow through. "Of course, sorry for stepping out of line."
They couldn't believe it. Were they really going to end up as some kind of hostage? They knew Sidekick should've followed them in case something like this happened.
Another person in a suit pulled back the curtains, "Your ride has arrived."
"Excellent," They pulled out a cigar, and one of the guards lit it for them, "You'll come with me." Hero was pushed outside and into the cold night. Their eyes still searching for Villain. Hopefully, nothing bad happened with them. This was all so unfamiliar. They still had the dagger attached to their thigh, hidden away. Maybe they could find an opportunity to escape.
A dark car pulled into against the curb. Hero sat on the dark red leather chair, fabricating a contempt expression. They were flexible. They'd come up with something.
~~~
MASTERLIST
#writing prompt#enemies to lovers#cute prompts#fake dating#imagine your otp#pining prompts#villain x hero#hero x villain#writing#fake#scenarios#undercover#heroxvillain#villainxhero#unrequited romance#romance#unrequited pining#unreciprocated love
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Dear Żmija, do you know how to remove curses from objects? I swear whenever I wear my favourite earrings the day ends with me crying.
now, there are plenty of ways to rid an object of any evil that might reside within it - either by curse or bad luck, or a variety of other reasons - as this is the subject that folk magic predominantly deals with, and then as well one of my favourites. the three ideas I will list here are based on slavic magical customs - some modified when it comes to their complexity or scale, as we are talking about a small object here instead of a house, cow, or daughter - but do bear with me, as the issue itself deserves a bit more analysis than just a two-step instruction.
I assume 'the day ends with me crying' means that something bad happens other than just causing you to cry for no apparent reason - if that's wrong, please let me know and we can look at it from a different perspective.
first, why curse? curse assumes deliberation - do you believe there is someone who would want to harm you in such a way? or are the earrings themselves, for example, inherited from a family member or bought from someone and believed to carry some sort of residual curse within them? it's worth looking into this and especially into why you believe it might be a curse. sometimes those fears reside purely within ourselves, no curses necessary, and a careful examination of your own assumptions and worries yields the best results.
second, why are they your favourite? and does the fact that they are your favourite affect the frequency of you wearing them, or the occasions you choose to wear them for? if you wear them often, the chances of something going wrong are simply statistically higher. if you wear them for very important or stressful occasions, it only makes sense that you would be more susceptible to having a harder time with any possible, related failure. perhaps it's worth putting the earrings aside and carefully, as objectively as possible, examining the events that happen even without you wearing them.
and now, at last, if you would still like to do some good old magic, even if just to calm your mind and allow for further objective examination of the first two points, here are some of my favourite methods:
find in your vicinity whichever sambucus plant is native for your region - now, in slavic magic, this would usually be either sambucus ebulus (danewort) or sambucus nigra (elder). find a young flexible branch and without tearing it off or damaging it, bend it to make a loop. then, put your earrings through that loop three times - as they pass through, any widely understood evil will pass to the tree, and through its wild sacred roots back to the soil. and soil, sweetest mother, fears no curses and eats them up just as she will eat us up one day.
another method is to leave your earrings overnight in a fistful of grain, and then the next day take that grain and scatter it outside, where no people walk. the idea is both for the grain (one of the most sacred things we have, as the foundation of our nutrition and agriculture) to take the evil away, but also for the grain itself to be an offering to spirits (good or less so, depending on your own belief and situation regarding the curse) in the form of birds. where no people walk is important in the regard that someone stepping over that grain accidentally could transfer whatever evil to themselves, and that's just an unfortunate way to ruin someone's already bad monday. crucial! research the birds of your area and choose the grain itself carefully, so that you do not cause any harm to the animals and the environment.
and finally, you can also tie your earrings - the idea is that tying a knot on an object ties the evil within it as well. one way to do it is to use red thread - tie your earrings with it, make a knot, then remove the thread without untying it (you can unclasp the earrings, slide the thread off, whichever works, it doesn't have to be tied securely at all) and then burn the thread itself. otherwise, you can put your earrings in a piece of fabric and tie that bundle, and making sure the knot doesn't get undone, pull the earrings out (by cutting a hole in the bundle, for example). bonus points for sticking a needle into the fabric before you get them out.
best of luck, dearest stranger, and might you have no reason for tears any time soon.
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Elven cuisine Headcanons
High Elves:
Haute Cuisine, but make it 🍁𝓬𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓮🍁
...at least, that's how a lot of humans would describe it, for lack of better words.
Pretty-looking dishes that are served in small proportions. Anyone who is still hungry after a 'normal' ration can repeat: High elf families who invite people of other races for brunch tend to already be used to their guests asking for refills.
Mainly vegetarian: Lots of leaves, fruits, roots, seeds, flowers and even bark from edible trees, as well as fungi. If a plant is edible and can be harvested without risk, it will be in the menu.
That is not to say that high elves don't eat meat, though their idea of what's game and what's not can be very culturally different from another race or even another clan: Some high elves might abstain from eating deer or elk because they are seen as sacred in their clan, while some humans might find the idea of froghemoth terrine "disgusting".
Wood Elves:
Cuisine is a reflection of someone's culture, and with wood elves said culture is one of respect for nature. Veggies tend to be foraged rather than grown in a farm.
"Agriculture" and "wood elf" are words that are very rarely in the same sentence, and their food reflects that. Their traditional bread and other baked goods use wild grain instead of wheat.
When meat is consumed, it is based on whatever animals are necessarily hunted, and when that happens, no part of the animal is wasted: Offal and organ meat is cooked and eaten in a variety of ways, and bones are used for stock. If you are gonna eat an animal, then honor its sacrifice by using it all.
Wood elven dishes are the polar opposite of high elves': Little thought is given to a meal's visual presentation, what's important is to make it hearty and delicious.
Dark Elves:
Drow cuisine is one that was very much shaped by the Underdark and what few things are edible and easily harvested in such a hard place.
Mushrooms and edible fungi in general are prevalent: Mushroom stew, mushroom pie, mushroom bread, even mushroom wine! (That last one is canon!)
Some Underdark monsters are hunted for their meat. The Cave Fisher and the Darkmantle in particular are considered delicacies.
"Spider eater" is a derogatory slur sometimes used against dark elves. In truth, Lolth-sworn dark elves see eating spiders or killing spiders in general as highly blasphemous. It is the surface-born Seldarine drow population the ones to actually partake in the consumption of spider meat, and that's something they only started doing precisely to give Lolth the middle finger and then continued doing because, as it turns out, it is a good protein source that doesn't actually taste bad at all, thank you very much.
Surface drow cuisine is marked by a cultural need to replicate the flavors found in Underdark as best as possible using what's available to them. Expect a lot of spices, algae, shellfish, some bugs and, yes, lots and lots of mushrooms.
#dungeons and dragons#elves#high elves#wood elves#dnd drow#drow#drow elves#dark elves#dnd homebrew#dnd headcanon#bg3
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Hiya! Welcome to my blog!
Last updated 4 April, 2024
Basic Shit:
I'm Alex, but I go by a variety of other names, such as Joy, Liit, Allen, Calxe, Sasha, Li, Alexandra, Dalisay, and Pelex.
I am an AFAB genderqueer (genderfluid & genderflux) teenager. Please do not send me any asks or DMs for money, sex, or romance.
Interests:
- Drawing
- Writing
- Alt Music
- Animation
- Languages
- Psychology
- Criminal law
- Fencing
- Taekwondo
- Overthrowing the government
- Medieval executions
- Reading random Wikipedia articles
- Cool plants (typically poisonous)
- My OCs (Please ask me about them I'm desperate)
Fandoms:
- The Amazing Digital Circus
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Brooklyn 99
- Bungo Stray Dogs
- The Disastrous Life of Saiki K
- Genshin Impact
- Hazbin Hotel
- Helluva Boss
- Honkai Starrail
- Magic and Mystery / Coil
- Murder Drones
- Percy Jackson (and related series)
- Project Sekai
- Strange the Dreamer / Muse of Nightmares
- Tales from the Stinky Dragon
Goals:
- A PHD in psychology
- A law degree
- A stable life (probably unattainable)
- Being multilingual
- Being a mildly successful author/animator/artist
Tags:
#Joy's art - I make something (not specifically drawing)
#Joy's asks - I answer asks
#Joy's bad spending habits - Things I want to buy
#Joy's confessions - I say silly (slightly embarrassing) things about myself
#Joy draws - I draw
#Joy's OCs - My original characters! Wether that be art, writing, or something that just seems like them to me
#Joy's glossary - Fun ways of using words and grammer because yes
#Joy's music - anything related to music
#Joy rants - I talk about stuff
#Joy's refs - anything I might use in the future for drawing or writing
#Joy's vengeance - I am angry about something and this helps
#Joy vents - I vent about negative shit that's happened
[Will probably add more in the future]
Blogs:
@joyliit is my main blog, where I reblog a lot of different things, such as art, political stuff (not often), memes, writing prompts, or other related things.
@thejoyofdeath is my more active side blog, where I post my own art, some stories, and occasionally a headcanon or two. I don't really use it for much else.
@justyourlocalzhonglisimp is my Genshin Impact focused sideblog, where I have many headcanons (mostly Raiden and Scaramouche), and sometimes art.
@sideblogsam is a sideblog purely used to spam on those posts that have stuff like "if this post gets 5k notes I'll walk to a nearby restaurant rather than eating cup noodles again".
Notable Mentions:
Though Tumblr is my most active (and the best social media platform), I also have accounts on a couple other social sites.
@ ca.lxe is my Instagram, though it is completely empty at the moment.
@ JoyLiit and @ Alien.Allen are my YouTube channels, though, completely empty as well.
u/justyourlocalal is my reddit user.
If you read through this whole thing I'd like to thank you for your time and wish you a good day/night.
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Okay, first sorry for presuming you didn't work with children - the way you talked about them at first was really oversimplificated, easy to misunderstand.
About "using Third Wolrd countries as props", sometimes they pop in the middle of an argument out of the blue and with no nuance at all. Like "don't eat quinoa, eat meat!" - we export meat and the contidions of workers in slaughterhouses are AWFUL too. We plant too much things to export (both for animal feeding and people), and for the exchange farmers don't plant local crops anymore, prices rise, and stuff. Not to mention mineration. Almost everything produced here, specially most brute products, come from exploitaition. I don't think individual buyers interfere much, maybe organized though.
Or the parrot thing. Shelters here are full too, to the point of workers saying "please find a new home for this lost bird yourself." (Happened to a co-worker that found a lost, absolutely healthy, and clearly imprinted parrot).
And to be honesty the discourse of "undomable parrots" "the WILD!" sounds also fetishing to me. You see? It is still a open question. You say what you want about husbandry, but how *we* feel is still open. What Europeans did to parrots is fact, what we make from it? It's *our* turn to discuss and decide.
These are just random ideas. Idk how you will receive them.
Also, I'm amused by the idea that some comments threw "imagine until they know about unicorns or dragons" or "they are adad". I'm totally for imagination, and if I made understand I'm against it I'm sorry. I'm not *against* whatever dino toys, I just *wish* we had more variety than JP bootlegs, including pleasant and accurate critters.
What I will say to you is that my response to parrots is very US-centric because that is where I live and have experience and knowledge about the exotic pet trade on a first hand level and because that is what OP specified they were speaking on in the first place.
I am not speaking for your country because I have not lived there and you haven’t disclosed which country you reside in meaning I can’t give any assumption to what the situation is there.
The state of parrots in the pet trade in the US is that anyone can buy as many parrots of whatever species they want as long as they pay a lot of money to the seller. The seller very rarely does any kind of background check to ensure the buyer even knows what they’re doing or what the bird eats, they take money and they give bird. There is often no way to verify that the parrots were bred for health and good temperament, or even that they weren’t bred to parents or siblings. There is often very little transparency about what methods they were imprinted with, there are several types of imprinting and some result in a nightmare bird and others result in a very calm bird.
Because you can profit off of selling large quantities of parrots with unique patterns or colors, there are a lot of people breeding them in unethical ways to do so cheaply while selling at the highest possible price. This, much like the human labor and land exploitations you’re referring to, are just the end result of capitalism. Rich white countries like things cheap and convenient so they imperialize and leech off of countries they intentionally sabotage financially so they have to stay in line.
Because of the mindset Americans have towards convenience and instant gratification, they go to a store, see a parrot, buy a tiny cage, and bring the parrot home with a bell toy, dowel perch, and just whatever bag of generic “parrot food” they happened to grab on the way out. Then the parrot is loud or bites or never talks so they cover it with a sheet, release it into their backyard, or force it onto an already overcrowded rescue.
Every type of parrot has unique needs, but they at the very least should be able to fly, have others of their species to interact with, and bonding activities that don’t frustrate or upset the bird. So many parrots in the pet trade here have never actually felt the sunlight aside from through a window. So many parrot cages are designed in ways that lead to damaged feathers. So many parrot cages have no room for the bird to stretch their wings or even have a private place to hide.
My stance on parrots is at the bare minimum people should have to go through a similar process falconers have to go through before getting their first raptor. Falconers here must build an enclosure that meets guidelines approved by the state department of wildlife, they must pass an exam regarding the natural history, husbandry, equipment, and training of the animal. They must study under a master falconer for two years before becoming fully independent in the sport. If we held people to this standard and required it before they could buy a parrot, I would have far less complaints I’m sure. But that isn’t the case. Every parrot I’ve worked with was a rescue, and every one of their stories was heartbreaking. Yes, true, people will neglect any given animal because people can be cruel, but the vast majority of parrot owners are still keeping them in terrible caging, still keeping them all by themselves, and it’s still greatly encouraged to breed more and more which just gets parrots killed or dumped at a rescue.
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It is funny sometimes how people are so obsessed with dragons. Don't get me wrong, dragons are indeed incredible creatures that have wonderful abilities and both an intimidating and awe inspiring visage. It is just that often people envision dragons as the be all end all of animals. If you look at legend and folklore, they would say that dragons are the most powerful creatures in existence, sitting above all other living things. But if you stop and look at the whole thing for just a second, then you realize dragons are just another species in this world. They still need to eat, drink and breath just like everything else, doing all the normal things you wouldn't expect for a "god beast." I don't expect this to dampen anyone's view or admiration of dragons, and that certainly isn't my intention! I just want folks to remember that these are flesh and blood creatures, and not living embodiments of disaster or fury. Sure, they can be rather terrifying in their power and size, but remember what I said. Dragons are animals, just like us (and by "us" I mean my more fleshy readers. Dryads aren't animals, we're plants, but you get what I mean), so they must follow the same rules. They live in a natural world where there are things to eat and things that do the eating. Now if you think dragons are the most terrifying beasts around, then just wait til you learn about the things that devour them.
In the jungles out east, the thundering footsteps of a great beast causes all creatures to run or hide. The trees shiver and shake as its huge bulk shoves its way through the thick vegetation, making it sound like a landslide is breaking its way through the forest. If any outsider were in the area and heard this horrible din and felt the quaking earth, they would immediately assume it to be a dragon. If you yelled that out, all the locals would look at you with a knowing smile and laugh. "Oh you fool," they would joke, "that is no dragon. That is the sound of the Dragon Eater." It is a species that goes by a variety of names, Dragon Eater being one, Ogre Toad another and I have even heard them referred to as Daityas, but the most widely known and spoken name for this beast is "Bhekala." The Bhekala is a massive beast, with full grown adults sitting at over 20 feet tall. While there may be some taller lankier creatures out there, the Bhekala fills this large hide with an incredible bulk. Their bodies are bulging with muscle, gut and wart, giving them a staggering weight that causes the ground to shudder whenever they walk or sit down for a rest. While dragons are often called "monstrous lizards," the Bhekala is more of a "demonic toad." This species is an amphibian, being the largest toad found in the world. Their bodies have a tough leathery skin to them, but it still requires moisture. Thankfully, the jungle's humid atmosphere keeps them plenty damp, but that doesn't stop them from enjoying the occasional dip and soak in a nearby watering hole. Their skin is coated in thick hardened warts, which can ooze a noxious fluid if squeezed hard enough (good luck doing that without getting flattened). Upon their head, bony spikes erupt in a blazing crown-like arrangement, which draws your gaze to their terrifying visage. A wide tooth filled maw splits their face, able to swing open into a horrifying gape to devour its prey. It should be noted that these teeth are more for holding prey than cutting them up, as Bhekala like to swallow their victims whole. The other feature is the fact they have three eyes. The third eye in the middle of their head is often compared to the parietal eye of other amphibians and reptiles, and folks have wondered if this species had developed this eye or if everything else simply lost it. With three eyes, they have an incredible range of vision, especially since the third one sits in a way that it is partially pointed upward. Two eyes scan the land before it, while the third has an eye on the sky. For most creatures, this upward gaze would be for spotting aerial predators, but for the Bhekala, it is about spying food on the wing.
With such a size and bulk, they do need some hefty meals to get by. To help conserve energy, they move pretty slow when not on the hunt and do a great deal of resting and sleeping. But when it is time to down a feast, they can use their energy and bodies to do some incredible stuff. A lot of their power resides in their back legs, which are not only capable of carrying this great bulk around, but they can actually launch it. Despite their size, Bhekala can indeed jump, and to pretty impressive heights! If you were upon a mountain looking over the jungle and very lucky, you could see one of these great toads rocket up from the canopy, blasting through the vines and branches. Not long after, you would hear the earth shuddering "thud" of it landing back on the ground, the mighty tremble being felt for miles. So why does this huge toad do this? Why, to go after prey in the sky! Flying beasts like the dragons and Garuda fly just over the canopy of these jungles, often looking for food or nesting materials. The Bhekala's third eye scans the skies above for one of these fliers, and then they time their jump so that they collide with them in midair. "Challenging a dragon while in flight?!" You may ask bewildered, "but dragons are the kings of the sky! Are these toads mad?!" The answer is: no. In fact, their method of assault is pretty genius. You see, dragons, Garudas and other fliers have their bodies thoroughly designed for flight, with great care in take off, sustained flying and landing. For a jumper like the Bhekala, they are tuned to launching their bodies into the air, then dealing with the shock of crashing back down. For fliers though? They are designed for flying, not falling. When a Bhekala slams into the soaring dragon, it is like getting nailed by a boulder from a catapult. The initial impact can easily shatter bone and knock the wind right out of them. Some may lose consciousness, others may die on impact. But even if the hit isn't fatal, or the toad misses and instead snares them with a clawed hand, the violent ride back down can easily finish the job. I wonder what the dragons think during this violent attack, as they plummet to the earth with broken wings. King of the skies, scourge of kingdoms, and they are about to perish by simple gravity.
All it takes is for the target to be grabbed or even clipped, as disrupted flight means a hard landing. The dragon will plummet to the earth and crash through the branches, probably breaking a lot more things on the way down. Once they land in a busted heap, the great toad will lumber over and feed. If the flying dragon was grabbed by the leaping Bhekala, then they will find themselves being held between the falling toad and the ground, about to be pancaked by a life-ending body slam. If by some miracle, the flier falls to the earth and survives, the Bhekala will not hesitate to finish the job. Their massive bulk makes them unstoppable physical fighters, unleashing crushing blows and absorbing a whole lot of punishment without worry. Their typical tactic is to grab prey with their clawed hands and hang on tight, then follow it up by rolling atop prey and crushing them under their weight. Claw and tooth will fail to pierce their thick hide, and biting isn't a good idea unless you want a mouth full of vile wart fluid. Some dragons will call upon their most trusted weapon: their breath attack, and unleash a torrent of flame. Some may think this is enough to ward off this hungry toad, but sadly it won't do a thing. Gushing from their maw will be a bubbling foam, one that snuffs out flame on contact. They spew this all over their body to protect themselves from dragon fire, and even belch it at their foe to disrupt the flame streams. In some cases, a Bhekala may grab the head of a fire dragon and vomit this foam right down their throat, extinguishing their weapon and choking them to death at the same time. In most cases, when a Bhekala grounds its prey, the victor will be the mighty demon toad. Prey will be swallowed whole, or it will use its strength to break off limbs and chunks to make it easier to eat.
While they are infamous for eating dragons, Bhekala have more to their diet. Garudas are one, but they don't just eat fliers. Creatures of the earth must be wary of these toads as well, as they are up to eating anything they can get their hands on. With their huge size and slow speed, they are not pursuit predators. Rather, they prefer to rest near important places, like fruit trees and water bodies and simply wait for prey to pass by. If something large enough gets close, then that mouth of theirs unhinges and a meaty tongue comes flopping out. This tongue is a powerful muscle with hardened exterior. While other toads and frogs use sticky mucus to snare prey and drag them back into their maw, the Bhekala uses raw power. The tongue strikes like a hammer, slamming down to break bone and stun prey. Its prehensile pronged tip can then wrap around the broken victim and pull them back into its mouth. With this, the Bhekala can eat prey without having to lift a finger, simply letting its tongue do all the work. Lots of beasts can fall to this hunting method, with the Bhekala even eating Nagas. It should be clear by now that these toads are simply not to be trifled with, and that almost any large beast can wind up on its menu. The one saving grace we have is that human-sized prey is often seen to be not worth it, so they don't actively pursue people or raid villages. However, if one is sitting and waiting for food to come by, a passing human may be enough for them to give it a go, especially if they are really hungry. This is why it is important to be wary of your surroundings, and not blunder though the jungle blindly. You may ask "how does one not see a twenty foot toad?" But believe me, distracted travelers have ignored far bigger things.
When not on the hunt, Bhekala are rather slow and lazy beasts, preferring to simply sit and let time pass. They do enjoy a good bath in a nearby body of water, and have also been seen scratching themselves against large, rough barked trees. The only other time they get active is when the breeding season comes, as males fight for their right to mate. Their method of dueling is much like sumo, using more pushing and throwing of weight to determine who is the winner. Creatures of the jungle hate this season, because their mating battles tend to cause a lot of collateral damage. While they do pick special clearings to hold their battles, some combatants don't wait to get to the arena to start throwing punches, and a brawling pair of Bhekala can easily knock over trees and flatten smaller creatures. If this fighting wasn't bad enough, the territorial bellowing of the males can keep one up all night, as their loud calls can be heard for miles. When a male fends off the other bachelors long enough to claim a female, they will wind up laying hundreds of eggs in a nearby water body. Of all that are laid, very few even make it to the larval stage. The first dozens of tadpoles that hatch will eat the unborn and use their nutrients to grow. Over the course of months, they will grow bigger in size and fewer in number, til only a handful of large tadpoles remain from the original clutch. At this size, they are hungry predators of the pond, feeding on the fish and other inhabitants. Some of the larger ones may even attack animals that come to drink, using a sharp beak to grab on and drag them into the water. While these larvae may seem like tempting targets compared to their huge adult forms, they do have some powerful defenses. One is that they produce a potent toxin in their bodies, one they hold in their bumps and warts. It is similar to the fluid leaked from the adults, but when they grow up it loses its edge and becomes more a bitter, vile inconvenience. It is strongest when they are young, as it wards off predators. They are also capable of whipping up a cloud of bubbling foam, much like what the adults spit out. This noxious foam protects them from attackers, dampens their hide during dry times and can ward off the flame of dragons. So even if a dragon wishes to unleash their anger of these toads towards their young, the tadpoles can pretty much erase their precious flame. Also, while the adults are not the most caring or protective parents, they do tend to stick around the pond. Show up here and cause trouble, and you might get their attention and find a bone-crushing tongue headed right for your skull.
With such a size and infamous diet, it should be no surprise that the locals have a thing to say about the Bhekala. Funny enough, it swings between the good and the bad when it comes to these toads. Since they don't actively target human settlements, they aren't exactly feared. Sure, there is terror when one is lurching through the jungle and your caravan is in its path, but these are seen more as natural events or just pure bad luck. However, their diet can either be appreciated by some parties while offending others. To those who like dragons or Garuda, the Bhekala is a demon that devours guardians and represents the brutal nature of the jungle. There are plenty of statues and murals that show this amphibian as a great demon or beast of the underworld. To those who despise these species (mostly the dragons), the Bhekala is a guardian in itself, devouring the terrors of the sky. Their title as Dragon Eater has become so well known, that there was once an effort to spread the species to other places to deal with the "dragon threat." If the Bhekala could be established elsewhere, it would gobble up all those meany fiery dragons and everyone would be happy! How stupid! But people did try and the local dragons went "I don't think so!" The dragon communities gathered all the lightning drakes and bolt spitting dragons they could contact and went after these Bhekala nurseries. They fried every tadpole they could find and then burned these places to the ground. A tad extreme, but I understand their concern and am happy that such an idiotic effort to introduce giant toads to a foreign ecosystem was squashed. Like, can you imagine the damage?! Could you even fathom the amount of environmental destruction and species loss that would occur if such potent toads were unleashed upon an unwitting habitat?! I shudder to think of it! And for what?! Pest control?! You know what, I change my mind, burning everything down was totally a rational course of action.
It should be noted that due to their reputation, it was only inevitable that people try to hunt them or slay them for respect and trophies. After all, Bhekala hide is an incredible leather, their wart secretions valuable for potions and their meat is said to be fit for kings (after proper preparation and cleaning of course). So some folk get the idea that they are going to hunt a Dragon Eater and be known as the incredible slayer that killed the killer of dragons. Pretty much none of these idiots survived these attempts. Blades and arrows barely penetrate their thick hide and muscle, and their foam coating seems to dampen a lot of magic too. Shields and armor mean absolutely nothing compared to their bulk, and tales speak of locals coming across dead knights embedded in the ground, hit so hard that it pretty much buried them into a shallow grave. From the sounds of it, these attempts have stopped a long time ago, but you do hear stories from time to time of some rich idiot giving it a go. Ends pretty much the same way every time, so if you are married to a wealthy lord and can't stand him but like the money, try sweet talking them into Bhekala hunting. And make sure you are in that will!
Chlora Myron
Dryad Natural Historian
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"Bhekala"
If it is the spooky season then we need toads! And when you look at the equipment and ability toads and frogs have, then it seems natural to make one that eats dragons!
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✨Gracie's Rimworld Modlist✨
(for the Children of Ecthuctu run)
Here are all my current mods in order. Only a scant two-hundred and sixteen of them! Once again it's all hand-typed because I am a bit rubbish at computer stuff and don't know how to export modlists. Enjoy!! xoxo
Prepatcher (a mod manager thing)
Harmony (I think this is just for performance)
What’s That Mod? (tells you what mod stuff is from. VERY USEFUL)
Vanilla Backgrounds Expanded (this is just cool for loading screens etc.)
Camera+ (for taking better screenshots)
Biomes! Fossils (I could build a dinosaur museum!!!)
Better ModMismatch Window (for if I do feel the need to mess with the modlist)
Mod Manager (I have lots of mods to manage)
RimPy Mod Manager Database (I don’t know if this needs to be active to use the RimPy application but I don’t wanna risk it)
HugsLib (I think this is just for performance)
Humanoid Alien Races (aliens are cool)
Tabula Rasa ( ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
Character Editor (so I could start with the colonists I had planned)
Vanilla Expanded Framework (I think this is just for performance)
JecsTools (I think this is just for performance)
Interaction Bubbles (To see what my lil’ guys are talking about)
CM Color Coded Mood Bar [1.1+] (helpful for spotting incoming mental breaks)
Childhood Backstories (so that babies born in my colony will have relevant backstories when they are all grown up)
Dubs Bad Hygiene (bathrooms cool)
Pathfinding Framework (makes the Biomes! mods work)
Doors Expanded (expands on the doors)
A Dog Said… Animal Prosthetics (animal bionics wooo)
LBE’s A Dog Said Easy Patcher (to help with all the animals mods woooo)
Vanilla Achievements Expanded (sometimes it gives me a serotonin)
Vanilla Fishing Expanded (a good food source when I’m not resorting to cannibalism)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Android (cool robot xenotype)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Tribals (more tribal stuff)
ReGrowth: Core (framework for ReGrowth stuff)
ReGrowth: Tropical (adds new tropical plants and stuff)
Biomes! Core (the framework for the Biomes! mods)
Biomes! Islands (in case I wanted to reenact Castaway)
Vanilla Plants Expanded (more farm stuff hooray!)
Vanilla Plants Expanded - Succulents (for making the colony look pretty)
Vanilla Plants Expanded - More Plants (even MORE farm stuff!!)
Biomes! Prehistoric (dinosaurs :3)
Alpha Biomes (can never have enough biomes)
Alpha Mythology (adds mythological creatures)
Vanilla Psycasts Expanded (expands the psycasts)
Alpha Animals (even more pets!)
Alpha Genes (more xenotypes to play with and draw!)
Alpha Prefabs (pop-up buildings will be cool for a nomadic playthrough)
Allow Tool (easier to forbid and unforbid items)
BiomesKit (helps with placement of biomes on the planet I think)
[ATW] House Decor (for aesthetic purposes)
[KV] Impassable Map Maker (in case I want to make a colony on impassable mountains someday)
Vanilla Traits Expanded (I love hoarding traits)
Bundle Of Traits (give me ALL THE TRAITS)
[GMT] Trading Spot (to stop stupid traders keep walking in my house)
[NL] Facial Animation - WIP (they make funny faces :3)
Vanilla Textures Expanded - [NL Facial Animation] (why my colonists have such cute lil’ faces)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Saurid (dinosaur people wooooo!)
[SBV] Recreational Drum Use (banging on drums is cathartic)
[T] More Floors 1.4 (adds more floors)
Anima Gear (I could make stuff out of anima grass if I felt like doing the research for it)
Animal Controls (to stop animals eating my fancy colonist-food)
Avoid Friendly Fire (you think they would know not to walk in front of the gun but noooo)
Geological Landforms (cool new map gens)
Biome Transitions (if your map tile is next to a different biome they can mix together)
Clocks (tick tock tick tock…)
Ebbbs (goo creatures my beloved)
Erin’s Cat Overhaul (I like cats)
Erin’s Cottage Collection (everything looks so cozy ❤️)
Erin’s Decorations (for aesthetic purposes)
Erin’s Hairstyles - Redux (there’s never enough hairstyle variety)
Euglena Framework (the framework for the euglena xenotype stuff I think)
Euglena Expanded - Euglena Xenotype (tree people go brrrr)
Euglena Expanded - Implantor (expands on the euglena stuff I guess)
Floordrawings (adds more floordrawings for kids to draw)
Giddy-Up 2 (getting to the crashed ship will be easier with animals to ride)
GloomyFurniture (cute cozy furniture)
Gloomy Furniture Fix (some patches for the cute cozy furniture)
Gradient Hair (so your colonists can have frosted tips I guess)
Hard Times: Hair and Beards (I love hair and beard variety)
Haul to Stack (so they don’t clutter the freezer with individual piles of food instead of one big pile)
Horse Breeds - Skin Variations (horses very fun!!)
Hospitality (easy to lure unsuspecting victims from other factions if you run a hotel)
HousekeeperAssistanceCat (one of the first mods I ever played with and I love it)
Human Butchery 2.0 (look it’s a cannibal cult what else was I supposed to do??)
Illithid Xenotype (I like hoarding xenotyes)
Kinky Bodystrap (It was funny at the time)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Mechanoids (scary robots)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded (can never have too many weapons)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Medieval (cool medieval weapons)
Vanilla Cooking Expanded (expands the cooking)
Vanilla Brewing Expanded (alcohol woo)
Vanilla Brewing Expanded - Coffee and Teas (coffee and tea woo)
Megafauna (biiiiiig pets!!)
Vanilla Genetics Expanded (adds fun and illegal-feeling genetic experimentation)
Vanilla Genetics Expanded - More Lab Stuff (adds “more lab stuff” to the aforementioned mod)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Power (adds new power sources)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Security (more defense stuff)
[FSF] Complex Jobs (Legacy Version) (splits jobs into smaller subsections)
Let’s Have a Cat! (I like cats)
LightsOut (pawns turn lights off when not using them)
Metaflora (cool mechanical plants)
MinifyEverything (sometimes picking up whole sections of brick wall is okay)
More Descriptive Words and Names (adds… more descriptive words and names)
More Faction Interaction (Continued) (the more we interact the more chances there are for me to EAT THEM)
More Horn Colors (So that impids can have ✨fancy✨ horns)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Memes and Structures (lots of cool ideology stuff)
More Ideological Words (just makes random generation a bit easier and more interesting)
More Persona Traits (adds more variety of traits for persona weapons to have)
More Religious Origins (more ideology stuff)
More Thrumbos (Continued) (adds a whole bunch of awesome new thrumbo types)
More Thrumbos (Retextured) (retextures the awesome new thrumbo types)
NamesGalore (adds new names for people and stuff)
NamesGaloreLatin (adds new names for people and stuff but in Latin this time)
negative traits (more traits but bad)
Optimization: Meats - C# Edition (all meat is just “raw meat” unless it’s specifically “human meat” or “insect meat”, so it can all be stacked together easily)
Pawn Name Variety (I like them to have lots of different name options)
Pick Up and Haul (pawns can carry more than one thing at a time)
Polyamory Beds (Vanilla Edition) (🎶there were four in the bed and the little one said “roll over! roll over!” so they all rolled over and one fell out…🎶)
Prisoners Dont Have Keys (they gotta bash their way out if they want to escape)
Rainbow’s Hair Pack (I like lots of options)
Replace Stuff (so I can build stone walls on top of wood walls without un-freezing the freezer, etc.)
Rim of Madness - Bones (skulls for the skull throne and all that jazz)
Rimsenal - Hair pack (more hairstyles lmao)
RimTraits - General Traits (more traits pleeease!)
River’s Tribal Shoes (don’t want to get prickles in your feet)
Roo’s Accessory Hairstyles (hairstyles with neat accessories in ‘em)
Roo’s Dreadlock Hairstyles (dreadlocks are cool!!!)
Roo’s Glasses Hairstyles (hairstyles with cute glasses attached)
Roo’s Royalty Hairstyles (fancy hair)
RPG Style Inventory Revamped (better inventory layout)
RPG Traits+ (more traits haha)
RT Fuse (I don’t like the zzzzt events)
Sand Castles (Laursen loves building sand castles)
Simple sidearms (every colonist needs MANY WEAPONS)
Simple Utilities: Ceiling (lights on the roof!)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Architect Module (adds new building stuff)
Simple Utilities: Wall (lights on the wall!)
Snap Out! (slap pawns out of their mental breaks)
Standalone Hot Spring (geothermal power boring and ugly, hot spring FAR better use of steam geysers)
Strong Bridge (makes bridges stronk)
Stylized Slave Collars and Headgears (it was funny at the time)
Tilled Soil (it’s not cheating it’s just farming)
Toddlers (makes babies more interesting)
Trait and Backstory Icons (gives traits and backstories cute lil’ icons next to ‘em)
Tribal Ideology Icons (more ideology symbols but tribal-specific)
Vanilla Animals Expanded (I insist on having a huge selection of pets)
Vanilla Animals Expanded - Endangered (endangered pets)
Vanilla Animals Expanded - Royal Animals (fancy pets)
Vanilla Animals Expanded - Waste Animals (pets that will probably irradiate you)
Vanilla Apparel Expanded (more clothes)
Vanilla Apparel Expanded - Accessories (adds fun utility items)
Vanilla Armour Expanded (more armour)
Vanilla Backstories Expanded (adds new and fun backstories for colonists)
Vanilla Base Generation Expanded (makes enemy bases on caravan trips more fun)
Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Stews (adds stew)
Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Sushi (adds sushi)
Vanilla Events Expanded (more events)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Quickdraw (adds quickdraw weapons)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Laser (adds laser weapons)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Heavy (adds heavy weapons)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Coilguns (adds coilguns)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Settlers (cowboys and stuff)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Frontier (weapons for cowboys and stuff)
Vanilla Expanded - Ideology Patches (for patching things up to Ideology)
Vanilla Expanded - Royalty Patches (for patching things up to Royalty)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Ancients (expands the Ancients)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Empire (adds more Empire stuff)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Insectoids (bugs. ew.)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Pirates (love me some pirates)
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Vikings (adds vikings)
Vanilla Fishing Expanded - Fishing Treasures AddOn (you can catch treasure when fishing)
Vanilla Fishing Expanded - Xtra Fish (adds more fish for fishing)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded (More furniture)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Art (I’m something of an artist myself)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Farming (for farm furniture I guess)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Medical (to make cool hospitals)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Production (makes for very nice workshops)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Props and Decorations (more props and decor)
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Spacer Furniture (cool spaceship style furniture)
Vanilla Hair Expanded (more hair)
Vanilla Hair Retextured (just helps vanilla hair be a bit nicer)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Anima Theme (alters the Gauranlen trees a bit)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Dryads (more gauranlen tree stuff)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Hats and Rags (adds new ideology clothes)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Icons and Symbols (easier to customise your ideology)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Relics and Artefacts (adds new relics and artifacts for your ideology)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Splits and Schisms (sometimes your ideology can have a reformation and split into “catholic” and “protestant” versions, I guess)
Vanilla Nutrient Paste Expanded (mmmmm yummy goo)
Vanilla Outposts Expanded (I could go make outpost camps if I wanted)
ResearchPal - Forked (I’ve always played with this mod and it’s hard to adjust without it)
Vanilla Persona Weapons Expanded (more skins for persona weapons)
Vanilla Plants Expanded - Mushrooms (adds new mushrooms)
Vanilla Psycasts Expanded - Puppeteer (adds a new psycast route to take)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Custom Icons (new icons for xenotypes)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Archon (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Fungoid (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Genie (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Highmate (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Hussar (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Phytokin (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Sanguophage (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Waster (I like lots of xenotypes and xenotype playstyles)
Vanilla Skills Expanded (expands skill stuff)
Vanilla Social Interactions Expanded (new social interactions for fun and interesting storytelling)
Vanilla Textures Expanded (makes stuff sharper and crisper)
Vanilla Textures Expanded - Variations (stuff looks cooler when it varies)
Vanilla Trading Expanded (I think this adds a stock market or something idk)
Vehicle Framework (cars go brrrrr)
Vanilla Vehicles Expanded (expands on the vehicles)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Grenades (adds more grenades)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Makeshift (adds makeshift weapons)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Non-Lethal (adds non-lethal weapons)
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Tribal (adds more tribal weapons)
VPG Garden Resources (it’s a lovely day on the Rimworld and you are growing uranium in your garden)
Offworlders - The Biliog (hideous swamp people with chemfuel blood)
Vanilla Vehicles Expanded - Tier 3 (more vehicle stuff)
War Crimes Expanded 2 Core (I mean I am playing an eldritch cannibal cult it was bound to happen eventually)
Way Better Romance (streamlines the romance a bit more)
Alpha Props - Parks and Gardens (adds more awesome decorations so my colony will look snazzy)
Colors (adds more colours to the default palette)
Det's Xenotypes - Boglegs (space mafia that looked fun to draw)
Det's Xenotypes - Avaloi (more cool xenotypes that looked fun to draw)
Erin's Hairstyles 2 (I have a hoarding problem)
Erin's Baldur's Gate 3 Hairs (a really severe hoarding problem)
The Vanity Project - Bears (there's just so many cool hair mods)
The Vanity Project - Female Hair (look at them all!)
The Vanity Project - Male Hair (I'll never run out of hair to draw)
The Vanity Project - Maid Outfits (c'mon Magic Man would slay in a maid outfit)
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Sophian Style (never have too many styles)
Dresses in the Rim (fun clothes to draw)
Extra Alerts (adds some helpful things to be aware of)
Vanilla Races Expanded - Lycanthrope (everybody's teenage werewolf dreams 'boutta come trueeee)
Upscaled - Won hair men (and we're back to the hoarding problem)
Upscaled - Won hair women (maybe it's not a problem maybe it's a ✨collection✨)
Won Hair Men Retextured (these just make the last two look a lil' bit sharper)
Won Hair Women Retextured (these just make the last two look a lil' bit sharper)
Human Leather Floor (eldritch cannibal cult, need I say more?)
Facial Animations Xenotype Compatibility (for compatibility)
[CAT] Show Hair With Hats or Hide All Hats (so we can have cool hair and cool hats)
Sin's Cuter Child Clothes (cuter child clothes)
While You’re Up / PUAH+ (pawns will carry stuff while they’re on their way to and fro)
#rimworld#gracie plays#rimworld mods#gracie's modlist#The Children of Ecthuctu#If you want to know what mod something is from feel free to ask!!#Always happy to help out <3 <3 <3#Have a spectacular day!!
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hi there! i have a question related to birds for a uni project of mine and i was wondering if you could help me out with your extensive bird knowledge?
if rn is not a good time thats fine too of course!
but basically in one of our design courses the task is to design some object to cut any kinds of plants with, so i figured id take some inspiration from nature. And since garden shears look kind of similar to bird beaks i was wondering if there is indeed a connection?
are there birds who use their beaks to actually cut twigs or leaves? and if so, how are there beaks ideally shaped, or do they use other methods.?
regardless, i hope you have a nice day!
..... design? .... birds? i am so interested /joke but also genuine/
I dunno if this is design more so in a sense of art / concept design or design in more of an engineering / crafting sense, but I very very much ALSO like designing and taking inspiration from nature
Either way, to what I can think of, I don't know of any birds that really "cut" twigs or leaves, but that is largely semantics on the common terms I've seen used for best describing certain feeding / foraging / nest building methods in birds
The most related towards shears that you are pointing at probably would be geese species as they largely feed primarily on grasses and plant material and are actually known for seeking out specific parts of the grass that is the most "fresh" and high quality (cant remember the best word used to describe their selection cause its the morning whoops)
Typically they're talked about as "pruning" grass but they're specialized for clipping grass basically and that why they have their infamous "teeth" on their beaks as well as their serrated tongue. I think this page describes a lot of the goose beak adaptions in relation to their diet.
Alternatively, and away from the garden sheer relation but also relevant to the idea of "cutting" plant material, I strongly recommend also considering a number of parrot species.
Parrots are very very very infamous for their amazing ability to basically destroy anything and everything - even the smallest beak parrots can do some terrible damage if left unmonitored and left bored or just in any more
Parrots typically credit this ability to a combination of their hooked and pointed beak that allows for a very strong and pretty pinpointed puncture (similar to birds of prey and their hooked beak that is aimed for puncturing meat; for birds of prey this hook is smaller as they use it for tearing meat and not breaking things like nuts and similar; larger beaks tend to come with the cost of them being clunkier) as well as a very very very powerful bite force that basically allows them to bite off, crush, grab, and break most things which of course comes from their specialization to eat hard nuts which are often protected by tough and hard shells
There is actually a pretty wide variety in parrot beaks as well that don't get addressed as much when you look online afaik but the standard parrot beak has a few notable features
The Maxilla tends to be larger and "overbitten" and the mandible is smaller and sometimes has a notch in the tip (look at cockatiel beaks) which I imagine helps with controlling the food in the mouth. Most notably the thing that gives these beaks that would otherwise be a little pointlessly clunky and an issue for eating with is the very very powerful and muscular tongue which they use to shuffle the food and material around to adjust which parts are facing the bite force of the beak as well as to move the good food stuff from the nuts into their mouth while discarding the shell. Their tongue is more of a finger in their mouth.
Some species also have a like mini notch and/or bumpy and uneven parts (not the right term its early in the morning fight me) in their Maxilla which also helps in getting the "right" angle and bite force on the thing they are trying to tear apart
Specifically related to cutting plant material though, I strongly recommend looking up videos of female peach faced lovebirds and blue-crowned parrots as they are actually specifically known for cutting and precisely cutting off pieces of plant material (or in captivity, paper) for nest material and caching it in their feathers
youtube
And additionally for twigs just any big parrot (particularly cockatoos) are GODS at it
youtube
Also a good series that features cockatoos fucking up and just destroying shit is Maker's Muse's cockatoo puzzle series
Not related but also
youtube
Hope this gives some inspiration ^^ Feel free to ask more or anything that comes to mind cause me X birds
#alter: riku#bird#birb#birblr#birdblr#birds#cockatoos#parrots#geese#cockatoo#parrot#info dump#ask#asks#design#bird facts
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Do the Fair Folk have jobs? Do they have their own currency? Do they have their own government?
Of course they do.
Whatever needs to be done, they'll do it. For example, if someone decided they wanted to have some Frytour blaunched (a kind of almond-filled pastry baked in honey and wine) they would need to have someone to grow and harvest almonds, to grow ginger, to grow and process sugar, to pan for or otherwise obtain salt, someone to keep bees and to obtain their honey, wine makers, someone to obtain the oil used in cooking, and of course someone to package and send off all of those goods, someone to transport them, someone to receive them, and if the Faerie in question wasn't making it themselves they would also have someone to actually make the pastry. That isn't even taking into account all the labor involved in making just the pastry dough. For something like that you would need butter, which necessitates the keeping of dairy cows or goats. You would need eggs, which means that someone needs to keep whatever kind of birds the eggs are from, or at least go out and collect them. Flour would require tilling and planting and harvesting. And saffron, if you're inclined to be traditional, would need to be gathered as well.
The Fair Folk, if they want to continue playing their games of human courts and societies, must have people to do all of those things. However, unlike our world, the folk do not necessarily need to eat. At least not to live. But eating is nice, and they would delight in grand feasts and an extravagant variety of dishes and desserts.
Some of these they used to gain from humans, as offerings. But there is much they would have had to obtain for themselves, by stealing, or by hard work. Yet unlike human society, the Fae cannot be forced into such a position unless it is what they themselves wish to do. No threat of death or starvation, and an assured eternity of doing whatever they wished, what could possibly force them to live a life they didn't want?
Many of these fae do the work as a hobby, something they enjoy for the doing of it. The beekeeper likes the bees, they sing together in the soft evening light, and the bees trust them more fully than they would their own. Winemakers have perfected their work over centuries of effort, cultivating it far beyond a mere process to an artform.
Assuredly there are many jobs that the fae might do. Some might carve wood into furniture or toys or mysterious wardrobes that lead to places they shouldn't. Others might make shoes or clocks or wind chimes. Whatever it is they want to do, they simply do.
Those in the courts will play their own games, games of lords and ladies and power, games of kings and governments. And as long as the rest of the folk are content, then things will remain. But the memory of the Fair Ones is long, longer by far than humanity's. They are not easily preyed upon.
As for coin, no. I do not think the folk have coins of metal such as humans have used throughout the ages. Yet there is much to trade that they value. Promise or deal, unbreakable once made. A memory of their own or from another. Anything can be traded. Moonlight, starlight, wind from the hilltops. Do you sell fruit from a country that no longer exists? Or buy only last edition poetry novels which will never be printed again? Or trade in beautiful fabrics of your own work? A name dealer? A seller and buyer of souls? What are you willing to give for what you want? What are you willing to take in order to give what is yours?
Sometimes, if they wish to facilitate the game, or merely enjoy the work but have little use for the fruit of their labor, they might simply give it away, happy that it is being put to good use. For them, that is payment enough.
Humanity is so concerned with buying and selling, so worried about the worth of things. The Folk, the Faeries, they are more often concerned with the enjoyment of life, and that to them is of the most importance because they have an eternity of it to live. So they find things to do that they love, that are meaningful to them, that bring laughter and song.
So that you too might find something of their joy, here is a recipe for Frytour blaunched.
INGREDIENTS:
Finely ground almonds
Ginger - the powdered spice, not the fresh root.
Sugar
Salt - use to taste.
Pastry dough
Oil
Honey
Wine - red or white & slightly sweet.
DIRECTIONS:
Mix almonds with sugar, ginger, and a little salt - this should be a sweet, slightly spicy blend. Roll out the pastry dough.
You may now make the pastry several different ways: by cutting out circles of dough, placing filling in the middle, and folding into a half-circle; by cutting out circles, squares, or triangles of pastry, placing filling in the middle of one piece and then covering with another piece of dough and sealing the edges; or by making small stuffed squares or rectangles, egg-roll style. In any case, make sure the edges of the pastry(ies) are securely sealed.
Fry the pastry(ies) in hot oil until lightly browned; remove from oil and let drain. In a pot, bring the honey to a soft boil, then reduce heat. Skim off the scum as it rises. Add just enough wine to make a thick sauce.
Thoroughly coat the pasty(ies) in the wine sauce, then place on a baking sheet. Bake in a hot oven for several minutes. The pastry(ies) may be basted with additional sauce during baking or immediately afterward.
#fairy#fae#faerie#fae folk#fair folk#fae culture#faerie government#faerie currency#faerie jobs#pastry#baking#medieval food#medieval recipe#baking recipes
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actually useful new years resolutions
If you never make New Years Resolutions, or are thinking about what you can do that’s actually going to be worthwhile:
Learn CPR and first aid. Depending on where you live and what season it is, ambulances are taking too long to reach emergencies because of pandemic-related staffing shortages. In some cases, this means several hours. NHS data released last week showed ambulance crews could not respond to almost one in four emergency calls because so many ambulances were waiting to hand patients over. Also, it looks good on a resume, if you care about that.
Start a garden (yes, even indoors). This should be self-explanatory considering inflation and the cost of food these days, but even one or two swiss chard or napa cabbage plants can go a long way in providing you with greens for the season. Microgreens are also a great way to go, because they’re ready to eat in just 1-2 weeks. If you have a balcony (or south-facing windows) tomatoes and bush-variety beans are a great vegetable to plant as well that should produce a pretty good harvest. Also, it’s good for you and the bees! If you want to try a garden but don’t have an outdoor space, microgreens will grow beside the window. Green onions, living lettuce, herbs, and celery are also possible to grow from cuttings. (Just be careful to keep toxic plants away from your pets, including tomatoes, green onions/chives.) If you need any advice on growing your own food, please feel free to send me an ask, I’d love to help you out.
Stock up on emergency supplies and learn basic emergency preparedness. Stuff like this should be normalized. I’m not telling you to start digging a bunker, I mean having things like enough bottled water, candles or a battery-powered lantern, dried goods (rice, granola bars, instant noodles, rice, pasta, tinned soup, canned veggies, canned fruits in your house (and a manual can opener, not an electric one). This will be useful for power outages and bad weather, both of which are increasing. Stock up on medication like Tylenol/Advil/Pedialyte or Dioralyte etc. for colds, flu, and general illness. I know it’s hard sometimes, but please try to keep your prescribed meds up to date. If bad weather is coming, see if you can get more.
This doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Put $5-$15 towards emergency supplies each grocery run and that should be enough to have a good amount of emergency supplies within a month or two. The best time to start is now. Having a supply of bottled water is great for power outages. Filling your bathtub or a bucket to flush your toilet in power outages is a great idea. If your water expires you can use it for cleaning household surfaces and flushing the toilet in a power outage. (Please be careful of small pets and small children if you have buckets/bathtubs filled with water uncovered/attended)
BUY A FIRST AID KIT. Buy two if you can. Keep one in your house and one in your car and replenish it as you use it.
Please feel free to add to this list. Feel free to send me an ask if you want/need any advice on how to prepare for emergencies. I can’t promise I’ll have all the answers, but I will try to help.
Stay safe out there i love you all
#emergency preparedness#important#disaster preparedness#winter storm#i'm going to post soon about how you can cook food without power and without using a kerosene or gas stove
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Analysis of @aetherceuse/Lusamine's dietary restrictions + suggested meal plan
Okay since I have actual experience concerning meal plans and special dietary needs and Lusamine here basically has unlimited resources, it's actually rather easy to make meals for Lusamine. A lot of you will look at this list and think either an ED or be all this is really difficult, but honestly it's actually very easy to cook for Lusamine once you eliminate what she won't have.
The no meat rule is easy; it rules out one food type but we can easily get protein from mother sources. So this means her diet will be primarily plant based. Not hard, vegans exist after all!
No alcohol just means it's been eliminated as a drink, but if it's used as a cooking element it will get rid of the one thing she takes issue with -- getting her drunk. When cooked or baked into something, the distinct taste will remain, but the actual mind altering content will have been cooked out! So Lusamine can still have a nice red wine, just not as a drink. It can most likely be used to help flavor something as part of a stew -- she's Kalosian after all, so while as an adult she would refuse meat and alcohol, she would have had tasted some Kalosian stews before.
Nothing overly sweet? That does not eliminate sweet things entirely. Honestly as a patisserie, I do hate the factory made sweets sometimes because the amount of sugar in them can hurt your mouth on first bite a lot of the time, cavities or not. It's like an unpleasant electric shock. But anyways this means she CAN have something sweet, it just needs to be more mellow. Subtle. Also just because on kind of flavor is taken off the table, it doesn't mean the others are. People!!!! Look!!! There are spicy flavors. Sour flavors. Bitter foods. Savory!!! Good umami!!! If you concentrate too much on what flavor she doesn't like you are ignoring the fact she CAN eat others.
Shelf stable foods, canned goods and frozen foods means she doesn't like processed foods, which is fair! While it's not financially stable to not buy foods like these as the main stays of our grocery list, for a woman like Lusamine she can afford getting things fresh or have it freshly made, especially since she has a hired chef to do all the cooking. And if you say she can't have peanut butter or jam, I will tell you now, fresh nut butters and jams/jellies are great. They're a pain to make and you gotta eat it all quick but if have hired someone to do all the prep work well she can still enjoy them! Not that she would it may be too pedestrian for her anyways, but artisanal versions of certain shelf foods are not entirely out of the question for her. And before any of you ask, pectin and agar agar exist as plant based gelatins so she can totally have jam or 'jell-o' if she wanted (probably not unless it was very bougie). This ties into the no preservatives or dyes kind of thing. Basically no processed foods in general. We going with a farm to table kind of gal. She probably has her own farm/direct source, especially if you factor in how this woman is worried someone would try to poison her. She'd control all factors and have her food grown to her specifications. Probably bioengineered fruits and veggies for optimal nutrition.
No black tea or coffee? That's fine! Everyone can have drink preferences (see the no alcohol either portion). And anyways, caffeine not only if addictive and can give you heart problems if you drink too much, did you know it's a diuretic? That stuff makes you pee. Like...a lot. And as a busy, busy woman she'd probably want to keep the bathroom breaks to a minimum. This links to the no caffeine rule. This rules out energy drinks but that stuff is so chemical nobody should drink those.
And we get to the no oily foods, which to me means no fries foods. However this leaves out other methods such as roasting, saute, stir fry (small amount of oil just so nothing sticks) boiling and stewing! Also steaming and a variety of other methods. Honestly, people should be avoiding too much fried food, it's nice as a treat, but you shouldn't be balling at someone else not eating fried food or any food that has too much oil. Most likely things like curry would be out, unless it's Japanese curry, as I know some styles of curry give you some pretty oily results.
So now that I have analyzed Lusamine's restrictions, here's a sample meal plan she might have during an average day. :)))
LUSAMINE'S MEAL PLAN
BREAKFAST
Vegan eggs, sunny side up; vegan honeyed ham; baguette slices with fresh made rawst berry jam; one serving of fresh fruit. Water as a drink and palette cleanser.
Vegan eggs are made from mung bean protein (white yolk) and yellow tomatoes (yellow yolk). The yolks can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge before they are needed so prepping them is needed every day. An example of an egg yolk recipe: [HERE]
Vegan ham is made from tofu and wheat gluten. The honey glaze can be actual honey if Lusamine will allow it or a honey-alternative, such as maple syrup. Otherwise, the ham itself can be just made to be a savory flavor, instead. Example of vegan ham recipe: [HERE]
Baguette by default has no elements that need to be changed as traditional French baguette does not need anything besides basic ingredients. However, sugar needed for yeast to rise is exchanged with honey. Here an example baguette recipe: [HERE]
Jam from stores is full of refined sugar and other nasty chemical ingredients. So something fresher is a must! It can be kept well in the fridge when sealed, so preparing it once every few days depending on the initial amount made is only needed. An example recipe for jam: [HERE]
One portion of fruit can be anything, but considering the sweet (but not too sweet) contents earlier, it'd be best to balance it all out with some refreshing and sour, like sitrus berry.
LUNCH
Soy sauce tofu-veggie stir fry; one serving of brown rice; one glass of fresh juice with a little bit of carbonated water.
The stir fry meets the requirements of protein and vegetables with minerals and fiber with something flavorful; this can be adjusted to make it a bit spicy as well for something with the occasional kick. Example of recipe: [HERE]
Brown rice is healthier than white rice, giving it a bit more fiber and giving Lusamine a needed portion of carbohydrates.
Due to not liking things that are too sweet, but making it watered down alone is just boring, a bit of carbonated water can make any juice more interesting! 2 parts juice to 1 part carbonated water is the recipe you're looking for! Perrier works best for this.
DINNER
Vegan spaghetti with marinara and chickpea meatballs; water or juice with carbonated water as a drink depending on Lusamine's taste for the day.
The spaghetti noodles! This is where the carbs come in for the evening meal. They can be made without eggs if you want to keep going vegan. Here is a recipe for them: [HERE]
A classic marinara is needed for this meal and can satisfy some need for vegetables and fruit, but you can turn it into a vegetable sauce by adding small chopped veggies such as carrots, celery, mushrooms for added flavour and fiber! Here is a recipe for a classic marinara that you can add to as needed: [HERE] In Lusamine's case, the can of tomatoes would be replaced with fresh tomatoes.
Chickpeas are a great source of plant based protein! In order to fulfill this classic meal, this is the best way to have non-meat meatballs! Recipe for them is [HERE].
If Lusamine decides on a carbonated drink, remember to go for the 2:1 ratio!
DESSERT
II Lusamine deigns to have a dessert or serve up a dessert that she is able to partake in, this is the best one, especially considering the heated climate of Alola: TOFU ICE CREAM! The taste is subtler, not as sweet as it can be adjusted according to the natural sweetness of the fruits used. Of course, instead of refined sugars it would be natural sugars used to sweeten the recipe. Here is a recipe for six different flavours: [HERE]
#consider this a late birthday gift Rex#a very invested analysis of your kmuse's eating habits lol#aetherceuse#I don't know if lusamine would actually eat these#it's a guess#but I included recipes in case you or anyone seeing this would like to try#please enjoy
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I wanna throw one of my most beloved scarian aus at you based off the premise of a game I love (called Strange Horticulture)
so, in this au, scar is a horticulturalist! he owns a quaint and cozy shop in a town called undermere, where he sells a variety of plants he keeps. He doesn't sell your normal plants, tho; he sells some weird and peculiar plants, all either forged from across the lands, gifted by friends and family, or bought from traveling merchants. He has a protected greenhouse attached to his shop that he grows his plants so he doesn't have to go out every day or two for his more popular plants, and so he also has a copious amount of a specific flower on him. (jellie is allowed in his shop btw, she normally sleeps on the counter beside the register and is way too smart to try and eat any of the plants; this is based off the fact there is a cat in the actual game named hellebore)
the story of this au starts as scar is on a late evening/early morning stroll because hey, sometimes you just want to walk around non-suspiciously in the middle of the night, okay?
only on his walk ends up NOT going to plan bc he stumbles upon a body in an alley and he's like "uhm. are they dead." Person in question is not dead, but he's hypoventilating, and his lips are stained black and so are the veins in his hands/wrists and around his neck
lips and veins stained black... even a novice horticulturist knows that's the distinct sign of gilded dendra poisoning (<- actual game lore! gilded dendra is a plant that can and will cause horrible deaths to people that drink its sap)
lucky for the stranger, tho! the plant that scar grows copious amounts of in his greenhouse? yeah, it's elderphinium, it's an antidote for gilded dendra poisoning. so scar literally drags this half-dead man into his shop (which is also his home on the second story of the building) and quickly makes up an antidote because with scar's estimates, this poor guy is clinging on fraying threads and he has about an hour to save him
he ends up saving the guy and then realizes that hey,,, maybe he was poisoned for a good reason,,, so he keeps the guy around in his home until he wakes up two days later, and scar serves them both tea before asking him some questions.
the guy is named grian, and he's an investigator with an alchemy hobby. the last thing he remembers is trying to uncover some shady thing he was hired to investigate in the next town over, and that was it
how scar knows grian wasn't lying, you might ask? he laced both their teas with isle of neptune, a plant that makes someone unable to tell a lie once ingested. meaning both of them were unable to lie for a couple of hours (grian was both annoyed and impressed when scar revealed it to him about grian asking how he's so relaxed around a stranger that could've been lying)
after introductions, grian and scar end up making a deal: grian will help scar around his scar in return for letting grian rest up and lay low for a while, maybe even let him do some experimental alchemy with his plants too
what they don't account for is that both of them grow to enjoy each other's presences and the new life they slowly grow and foster together.
(I have so much more lore about this au but I don't want this ask to be a mile long, so if you want more just ask; you know where to find me friend :) )
-unstoppable object anon
HELLO... THIS IS SO COOL ACTUALLY you've super tickled my interest i love lore and i especially love plants and alchemy lore..... this is so interesting 👀👀👀👀👀 ngl i kinda wanna look up this game now, this is so cool even without the scarian aspect.
OBSESSED WITH SCAR LACING HIS OWN TEA WITH TRUTH SERUM. THE IOCANE POWDER OF IT ALL.....
Desperately want to know more about who poisoned Grian, how, and why-- i absolutely love a good mystery plot. I would definitely love to know more!!!
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The real reason I started my weekly houseplant feature is because I wanted to tell you about my current best beloved, my
Cast Iron Plant
I have found that the little tags they stick in houseplants at the store are not always the most accurate or complete. I like to read up on plants at home, and get a good idea of what kind of light and humidity requirements they have, how much attention they need, how fast they grow. Even though my animals don't tend to eat my plants, I try get non-toxic ones (this is *never* on the label), just in case.
A plant that kept coming up on lists of easy-care, low-light, unkillable plants was the cast iron plant (Aspidistra eliator), sometimes also known as a bar room plant. The more I dug into them, the more interesting they got. Although people have kept plants indoors since ancient Roman times, our modern idea of houseplants really got started during the Victorian era, and the aspidistra was the It Plant.
From Why Victorian People Loved Posing Next to Aspidistra Plants:
Aspidistra is an interesting plant. Native to Japan and Taiwan, this slow-growing, evergreen perennial plant with glossy dark green leaves, was brought to Europe during the 1820s where it quickly earned the nickname “cast iron plant” because of its remarkable tolerance to neglect and abuse. The plant can survive extreme temperature fluctuations, withstand drought, most pests, and even thrive in low light and the poor air quality of a Victorian gas-lit house. The aspidistra became such a popular houseplant in Victorian Britain that it came to represent—as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it—”a symbol of full middle class respectability.”
George Orwell, in his satirical novel Keep the Aspidistra flying, published in 1936, used the aspidistra as a symbol of the stuffiness of Victorian middle-class society. The plant also appeared in music hall routines, such as Gracie Fields' The biggest aspidistra in the world, which in turn inspired the British Secret Service to name its 600 kilowatt transmitter, built during World War 2 to disrupt enemy communication, Aspidistra.
Here's a delightful excerpt from Keep the Aspidistra Flying, which I found in the article Once the Queen of the Parlor...:
“It was a peculiarly mangy specimen. It had only seven leaves and never seemed to put forth any new ones. Gordon had a sort of secret feud with the aspidistra. Many a time he had furtively attempted to kill it — starving it of water, grinding hot cigarette-ends against its stem, even mixing salt with its earth. But the beastly things are practically immortal.”
With all due respect to George Orwell and none to middle class respectability, I wanted one immediately. My house is a folk Victorian, built in 1889, and I am always trying to respect the history of the house in my design and decor decisions, so this seemed perfect.
Except that I couldn't find one.
I don't know if it has something to do with my geographic location (they are outdoor-hardy just south of me, and can be used as an alternative to hosta, so I am guessing they are more common??), or because they aren't a very sexy plant, or if it's because you propagate them by dividing rhizomes, which is a bit more of a pain than taking taking stem and leaf cuttings, but I couldn't find them, even at the two fancy-pants nurseries I visited. I didn't love the idea of ordering a plant through mail order, and all the ones I found where either huge and hundreds of dollars, or a single rhizome that I would have to nurse into its own plant. I also did not want to order it in winter time, for fear if it freezing, but I didn't want it to get into summer, for fear of it getting too hot. So, when it was mid-spring, I made another effort. I finally found a botanical garden that sold a bunch of cultivars, except that shipping was exorbitant. However! I then searched some of the rarer cultivar names directly, and found a nursery in New England that also offered a bunch of varieties for a much more reasonable shipping price.
Cast iron plants come in solid green, but there are also come in striped and spotted varieties. The one my daughter and husband liked best, 'Snowcap', grows white at the tips (it's an improvement on the 'Asahi' cultivar, which only does this if planted outdoors??) was, unfortunately sold out, as was 'Mangetsu', which I wanted for obvious reasons (also, it's pretty). I picked 'Akebono' instead, because I liked the striped varieties, and this one was a heritage cultivar, so I felt it was one you would rightly find in a Victorian parlor. Here's a close-up of the leaves:
It arrived in lovely and healthy condition in late May, and I put it in this owl-shaped planter my mom gave me for Christmas (the owl does not have drainage, so it's in a plastic pot inside the owl; they do not like to sit in water).
I am super happy with this plant, I love it so much. It's currently sitting on my writing desk in my bedroom, so I get to look at it a lot. It seems to be doing well, so far, I think it's even made a couple of new shoots since I got it. We'll see how it does over time, but I'm already considering ordered some more varieties when the nursery opens up its fall sales.
#houseplants#cast iron plant#aspidistra eliator#houseplant spotlight#i say it's 'my favorite' but what i mean is 'the plant i am the most autistic about'#but perhaps the distinction is unimportant
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Omori brain rot and mythology/supernatural brain rot have combined into this thought process:
Thinking about Omori -> thinking about AUs -> thinking about that one semi-known Monstermori AU that has a major cultural appropriation problem with one of the characters (if you know you know) -> thinking about what I would do if I made my own -> researching Japanese folklore and yokai for Mari and Sunny -> where we are now
More research is needed to find what the rest of the main cast would be, but so far I have this:
Sunny is a bakeneko; a cat yokai with great shapeshifting abilities (including into human forms). They start as normal cats, and gain supernatural abilities from living long lives. Many are troublemakers and are said to bring bad luck, sometimes even eating and replacing their former masters, but some varieties (such as maneki neko) bring good luck and are kind to humans. They are able to consume things much larger than themselves, including many poisonous things, and can summon ghostly fires from their tails (often accidentally starting fires). Some also can reanimate fresh bodies and use them as puppets. [source]
I knew I wanted some sort of cat yokai for Sunny, and bakeneko are quite flexible with their stories and personalities/natures, so they work decently well. Even when taking human form and living life mostly as a human, bakeneko still retain some cat-like traits, and considering Sunny’s already cat-like nature, it fits.
Mari is a kitsune, specifically a holy kitsune. Most commonly, kitsune are known as trickster fox spirits with powerful shapeshifting abilities, some deciding to live human lives, but holy kitsune are servants of the Shinto deity Inari, and act as mediums and messengers to the gods. They are also known to provide good luck and ward off evil spirits. [source]
Once I saw the part about holy kitsune warding off evil spirits like the lily-of-the-valley, and combining that with Smug Mari™️ and the trickster side of kitsune, I knew it was perfect. Kitsune are known for taking the forms of beautiful women to play tricks on human men (Hero), so now we have two animal shapeshifter yokai masquerading as human siblings with a tendency for mischief; it’s perfect!
If anyone has any suggestions for what supernaturals Hero, Kel, Aubrey, and Basil could be, I’m all ears! Basil would definitely be something plant related, and I was thinking some sort of canine for Kel (bc of his high energy and enthusiasm, and also Hector) and a rabbit or hare for Aubrey (since she already has a connection to rabbits), but I have no ideas for Hero. A food related supernatural? Are there any that fit? I have no clue.
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Worldbuilding: Growing Cultures
Unless you’re dealing with a Star Trek-ish future where people can use replicators to construct food out of stray atoms, your society has to feed itself. This is going to have effects on your characters, your world, and what conflicts might show up in the plot.
For most of history, acquiring food has occupied the vast majority of the population.
Hunting and gathering, herding, fishing, agriculture - to this day, a lot of people on the planet are busy with all of these. In a modern society you might just run into hiccups in the food supply; less wheat one year, more strawberries the next. Go back a century or more and things get tighter. Especially in areas with locusts. A common pattern in locust-prone areas is a year or two of drought wrecking crops, and then when rain finally comes... locust outbreak. Ow.
Go forward a century or so, and food might be tight again, depending on exactly when and where you are. Space colonies and spaceships won’t have the resources of a whole planet. A settlement on Mars won’t have all the living things of Earth; everything down to the settlers’ atmosphere will have to be cracked out of local rocks and carefully prevented from escaping. It can be done, especially if you brought hydrogen along to combine with electricity and carbon dioxide and make available water, but it’s going to take time and work. You can grow some food hydroponically, but for some food plants you’ll have to make soil that microbes can colonize. And fishing is going to be... interesting. Of the, “First we need to build the waterproof tank” variety.
Any stable culture depends on people knowing that if they do X, Y, and Z, they will most likely be able to feed themselves. What they do can differ; nomad survival strategies lean toward “move and fight for new pasture” while agriculturalists are “stay put and try more”, and fishermen often see if they can sail farther, or develop new lines and nets. But they know How Things Are Done that usually works. Usually.
...And then too often you get layers of bureaucrats who are convinced that it can’t be that hard, after all, it’s “just” working with your hands, anyone can do that....
(For the record, no. Not anyone can. It takes a lot of knowhow and hard work to pull off most food-creating. Just ask anyone who’s tried to feed themselves from a backyard garden. With something besides zucchini.)
Have an idea what your world’s cultures eat, where, and where they get their exotic imports from. There are entire books written on the differences between wheat-growing and rice-growing cultural areas, for example. Wheat can be grown by a lone farmer but rice generally takes organized groups for irrigation - and the irrigation creates perfect conditions for malarial mosquitoes. Which further affects what people do, wear, and how many mothers and children survive birth. Good arguments can be made that Oliver Cromwell being as hard-headed and sometimes vicious as he was handling Ireland can be directly traced back to growing up in the fens of England - an area so prone to malaria and lethal with it that farmers were infamous for going up to the highlands for one wife after another as they died trying to bear children. Seven or more wives in as many years was not unheard of. Imagine growing up in a culture where the men shrug, bury the last wife, and go buy another one....
Ahem. And this is why anti-malarials are A Good Thing.
Know how your characters’ society is getting their food. It makes a difference!
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Ok, dumb day. I need something wholesome to start. Give us a small glimpse into the everyday, the mundane. A fly on the wall observing how breakfast plays out, how birthdays are celebrated, what a quiet life day would look like. The simple moments between the action. There is a certain found family feel. Who plays pranks on who, who’s tries and fails terribly. Please and thank you!
Ugh this is the good shit. I love it.
Headcanons from a world where they just lived and moved on, but never did anything special. (It's okay, Maul. Destiny shmestiny.)
They all came back to Dathomir, for one. An attempt at reclaiming a lost legacy. Not the mountain -- not the night sister's citadel. Just a little cottage, out past the swamp where the gods wouldn't bother with them and the rancor wouldn't come sniffing around. A little bit different. A little bit dull. But hidden, and quiet, and an utter ruin... worth fixing up.
Savage discovers he's got a handy streak. Likes fixing things. Likes hard work. Likes making repairs. Gives him a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes they break again, but he's diligent, and he gets back to it each time without fail, making things stronger. Rebuilding their little world.
Feral tackles the garden in the back: a gnarl of vine and creeper and snapping things, full of insects and malevolent creatures he's unfamiliar with... but he learns. First about the plants and their properties, and then about how to pair them back and prune them. They grow better under his attention, and with his care, soon, things start thriving. Mostly medicines, but some poisons too. It's quiet work, but it keeps his hands busy. He learns slowly how to be still.
Maul. The problem with Maul is that he's so skilled that the mind wanders. It sometimes becomes a treacherous place. When there's nothing left to learn and there's nothing left to brood over, what does a person do? He picks up a book. Not the Sith texts -- those are Feral's now -- but the ones on his datapad that he deletes the covers for. Authors hidden, he sinks into those stories, losing himself into uncertain territories whose only villains are the crimes of committed to keep lovers apart.
Feral is the runner, but Savage loves the hunt. One is faster, one is stronger, and Maul observes until it gets dark or their stalking doesn't pay off. He intervenes occasionally, but it's rarely a demonstration of prowess anymore. It's an efficient but respectful kill. They eat together often, though the conversation sometimes lulls into the memories that shore up. The time before and what comes after is a preoccupation, but if the answer is something different than what they expected, no one complains.
Savage still trains. Feral does too. Maul develops a pot belly because of Feral's cooking. No one mentions it. They're all well-fed.
The ghosts don't often bother them, though occasionally, a spirit will drift in to hear Savage's stories over their nightly bonfires. It's tradition, and he's been reciting the stories since Feral's infancy, so there's no question about stopping. Feral always shows up to listen, and sometimes Maul pitches in, though his are frequently of a more bloody variety to dissuade his mother’s haunt from showing up. She often does, mid-sentence.
The idea to scale the citadel was Savage's on a day when he was feeling ambitious. Feral volunteered, but Maul dissuaded them both with the assurance that he would make the ascent on his own. They didn't let him. What they found there might've been revelatory, because they all left it behind without another thought. Haunted rooms, too-interested spectres, an old world that time was gradually forgetting as the days rolled on.
They took things that would benefit them after their trek home, however: the talismans, and Talzin's spell book, which Maul took an interest in studying, but Feral deciphered from the old tongue.
Maybe that's why things started changing in the months that followed. Maybe that's why when Maul laughs for the first time out loud at one of Feral's practical jokes, everything stops. Savage, his horns draped with bane back spider silk, was just as shocked.
There's a rhythm and a cadence, sounds in a formerly empty-house and over land that stretches endless and empty for miles around, but the fire is lit, and occasionally you can hear someone shout when a green light flares up from the chimney -- the deep laughter of three unlikely brothers who've rediscovered what it means to be a family on the mend.
#Darth Maul#Savage Opress#Feral Opress#Opress Bros#Nightbrothers#Dathomir#the night market of dathomir#headcanons
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