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roukabi · 1 year

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if you're still into hadestown id love to hear more details of act II in your broadway x nytw au :)

OHHH ANON DEAREST....... YOU’VE ACTIVATED MY INFODUMP CARD!

ok ok first of all i am so sorry for my incessant videnoirposting, rest assured i am still very very into hadestown and I Will become normal again! and i have a backlog of ht-related art to finish lol.

Second.... BOY OH BOY DO I LOVE TALKING ABOUT MY NYTW x BWAY AU!

(for the uninitiated: for the longest time i've had this nytw x broadway au, called the “Old Song” au, in which nytw orpheus becomes a very sad ghost and haunts the present (broadway) orpheus. Meanwhile, nytw Eurydice and bway Eurydice find each other in Hadestown and try to help each other 'survive'. I’d recommend reading the first part, otherwise the rest of this post won’t make much sense. I'll drop the link in a rb.)

(And I'm putting this under a readmore, because this is gonna get long.)

Now there are a few things I forgot to mention in that post, one of them being what this whole AU is actually about. Greek tragedy says that, despite what we (the audience) desire and what we understand, the characters will still fail. And that's alright. Life goes on, sometimes for the better. It's awful, but it's not the end.

In this AU, we're past having the characters try and fail. And y’know, it wasn't the end for them, either! Their failures mattered then, and they will now! Orpheus and Eurydice's futures will still go on whether they want them to or not!

But... because they are worlds apart, with (seemingly) no other way of reuniting and having the happy ending they desired... does that leave any hope for either of them?

This leads me to another theme of Hadestown, and the one I'm focusing on in this AU: despite everything, there will always be hope. It might take a while to see it, but it's always gonna be there. And how this AU is gonna work out is that we'll see this hope manifest in some characters (bway Orpheus, nytw Eurydice), how the lack of hope manifests in others (nytw Orpheus, bway Eurydice), and how all of that is subject to change as the characters grow. Somehow, though, they'll all have to cling onto that hope - that struggling dream of a better future - if they want to finally build a better life.

enough cringe talk about themes let's get some found family in this house

Soo.... Act II! I'm gonna start a bit ahead, where the first post left off: the Orphei are traversing the underground, and nytw Eurydice is giving bway Eurydice refuge.

Anyway, where we last left off, the Orphei have made it to the underworld! bway Orpheus kind of broke the Wall, which nytw Orph (nicknamed Ghost in this AU to make things easier, and to let nytw Orph distance himself from his past life) takes as good sign. If he can get past the wall like that by singin' a little tune, then the rest of the journey will be a cinch!

...It was not, in fact, a cinch.

Everything in Hadestown is Really loud, Really bright, and Really unfriendly to trespassers. Bway Orpheus gets overwhelmed very quickly and nytw Orph gets frustrated - he knows this place already, and also knows that strolling in during daytime hours is a one-way ticket to death (see Hermes's advice in Wait for Me).

They end up hiding in some abandoned worker cabin for the rest of the day, a rather unproductive start to their journey.

It's not helping matters that the Orphei had quite the argument back during Chant - nytw Orpheus got after bway Orpheus for not helping Eurydice, and it got to the point where he deliberately tried to break bway Orpheus's optimism so that he'd "wake up" and "finally try to be useful"... yes he was projecting, no it was not fun, yes it is still eating at him, and Yes, their relationship is... pretty strained right now. As if bway Orpheus's self-esteem wasn't already garbage.

This isn't the case for the Eurydices though! They're chilling in the house nytw Eurydice borrowed from Persephone + are escaping work quotas. The bad news is that they're content with sharing a name, which is kind of frustrating to try and write. Oh well!

Anyway, bway Eurydice finds it nice to have someone who actually understands her. Not that Orpheus wasn't understanding, he really, really, was, but he just didn't see the world the way she did. And nytw Eurydice can talk to someone who hasn't lost their head to the mines + machines! So yeah they hit it off real fast.

Eventually, though, bway Eurydice asks how the other managed to get stuck in Hadestown for so long. Nytw Eurydice stiffens. Frowns a bit. She stares at the floor for a beat or two before telling her that she doesn't know. Forgot.

She does know. She knows that it could probably happen to bway Eurydice, too, given all their similarities. But she's not going to be the one to break this new girl's spirit.

It's a vow that nytw Eurydice makes around the same time nytw Orpheus does, too. bway Orpheus isn't sleeping, and whether it's the noise outside the cabin walls, or the sneering voices in his head, nytw Orph doesn't really want to know.

That poor kid. He'd been nothing but kind to nytw Orpheus, trying to make his (after)life more bearable, a little more colorful - and nytw Orpheus had the gall to tear him down. He wouldn't have dared to hurt him if he were his old self.

It's just that bway Orpheus doesn't know how the world really is. Hadestown was cruel, and its brainwashed people wouldn't stop at hunting him down. Hades wouldn't let Eurydice go - not without an impossible price to pay. Nytw Orpheus didn't want to crush his successor's hopes by telling him all that.

And yet, he kind of... did.

Damn it.

He’s got to be better toward that boy. For both their sakes.

The nytw duo realizes that, despite what happened to them before, they can’t let it interfere with the future of the bway duo. There’s still a chance for things to turn out, and after all, they aren’t the ones with something to lose.

However, not everyone in this story has this mindset. There’s still one more thing I really forgot to mention in the last post...

Because of her appearance in both NYTW and Broadway Hadestown, Jessie Shelton’s fate, Clotho, is here to add even more conflict! What about her sisters? uhhhhhhhh don’t worry about it lol they’re fine. She’s with the bway Lachesis and Atropos, but this is likely to change.

Clotho’s not pleased with the trajectory of this story. It was her job to keep it from changing, and now her #1 enemies are coming around to throw wrenches in her plans? Well. If she’s going to clean up the messes they’re making, she might as well have fun with it.

Clotho ends up terrorizing all four heroes, but really the bway duo, and mostly bway Orpheus because in the end, it's his actions that will determine the outcome of the story. The nytw duo is Very Much Not Happy with Clotho’s existence and they get very protective of their counterparts whenever she shows up.

bway Orph tries really hard to guard nytw Orph from her, knowing their history and all. It doesn’t really work, but he tries!

(Clotho does, at one point, threaten to kill bway Orph if the Orphei continue their journey. Remember this.)

The Eurydices learn more about each other the more questions bway Eurydice asks - Do you think your Orpheus is looking for you? Is he down here? Will everyone forget about me, too? Different words, all asking the same thing: Is there a chance for me to get out of here?

bway Eurydice tries not to show it, but she’s scared. She has no idea what she’s gotten herself into, and she’s desperate for a ray of hope.

Nytw Eurydice tries her best to reassure her, but sometimes she just can’t answer.

bway Eurydice does ask if the other workers could break free of Hadestown’s brainwashing. Nytw Eurydice thinks it’s possible.

Meanwhile, the Orphei have taken to sleeping during the day and moving at night - to keep from getting caught. bway Orpheus isn’t handling this well, nor is he handling the constant overstimulation, the paranoia of being an ‘outlaw’, all the pain and horrors inflicted on Hadestown’s people, Clotho being Clotho, etc., and one night he just... breaks down. He never thought the world could be this cruel.

Luckily for him, though, a certain someone who understands exactly what he’s going through sits down with him. Lets him vent. Gives him a hug.

Nytw Orpheus finally apologizes to the boy for his distance, and convinces him that not everything is awful; they have each other, and the very reason Nytw Orpheus is down with him is that he cares about bway Orph and wants to protect him.

It’s here that bway Orpheus starts to smile again.

From that night on, things are a little better. Sure, all the terrible things mentioned 4 bullet points ago still exist, but now the Orphei are joking between one another, collaborating on songs, and climbing the petrified trees scattering Hadestown’s landscape.

And for the Eurydices, life-after-death is getting... almost bearable?! Nytw Eurydice made the other a notebook of all her surface memories, just in case, and it’s not like either of them stopped singing. They’ll go out and check if one of their Orphei is out there. Sometimes they’ll just talk for hours about whatever the Memory of the Day is.

For the first time in decades, there's a sound so sweet and clear against the echoes of steel on stone: laughter is heard in the realm of Hades.

A month or two pass, and neither party has found the other. It’s around this time when the bway duo wonders about their companion’s past.

It’s a topic that sickens the nytw duo, but they figure it’s time to talk about what happened. Time to show where all these mental - and in some cases, physical - scars came from.

After nytw Orpheus turned, Eurydice was almost immediately offered sanctuary by Persephone, who took pity on her. Eurydice took it, as long as she didn’t have to see Hades ever again.

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t upset with Orpheus. She was actually pretty bitter about him for months, before she came to terms with how powerless they both were in that situation.

However, time wore on, and the mini-revolution Eurydice + Orpheus created fell further into obscurity. Less workers remembered what happened that fateful night. And then, to Eurydice’s dread, not even the gods knew who she was anymore. Afraid of losing herself, Eurydice hid by herself most of the time, alone with her memories in the old goddess’s house. At least without Hades knowing her, she couldn’t be tracked.

For Orpheus... well, he definitely didn’t receive a hero’s welcome upon returning to the surface. Wholly blamed for the loss of his wife, Orpheus, too, hid himself from the public. His relationship with Hermes soured as he pressured the poet to move on. It wasn’t just a shift in the people, either - in the rare times when Orpheus played music, his songs were so sorrowful that nature herself turned gray, and wept. Believing the change in Orpheus to be a curse, the townspeople banished him. Not that Orpheus had any time to grieve - he had brought upon himself the fury of the Maenads, whose courtship he refused. They slaughtered him by the river and threw his bones into the current. (Hermes found them, but never told Eurydice.) Orpheus woke up as a ghost, stuck on the surface with his guitar. No longer could he be seen, heard, or touched by mortals. Not that they’d want to find him, anyway, Orpheus thinks.

All four members of this Songbird Quartet are in tears by the time the tales are told.

It’s also worth mentioning that both nytw Orpheus and Eurydice conveniently left out the part where Orpheus turns.

It’s also also worth mentioning that nytw Orpheus takes off his red jacket for the first time since death, letting bway Orph see the extent of the Maenad’s brutality.

The strangest thing happened to the nytw duo, though: things started getting much better for them once the bway duo came into their lives. Orpheus is finding his hope again and Eurydice has found meaning in her afterlife. Through the tragedy, something good did happen.

(... uh, little side note: I really hope y’all are catching on that the relationships between Orphei and Eurydices... are platonic in a brother/sister sense. I mean, I can’t stop you from shipping them, i guess, but romance isn’t what I’m aiming for... that’s all.)

A n y w a y , what ho! After months of searching, bway Orpheus gets the biggest smile on his face upon seeing his beloved Eurydice creeping through metal stacks surrounding Hades’s mansion (it’s work hours). The Orphei agree to split up for a bit: bway Orpheus reunites with Eurydice, while nytw Orph makes a quick last look for his own lover.

He travels a little far, and then farther, getting increasingly desperate. Where is she? Was he never meant to find her? Is she on the other side of Hadestown? Where is she now?

Panic and heartache spark in his chest and he starts to call her name into the expanse.

“...Orpheus?”

The voice is from behind. Orpheus won’t dare turn around. Not again.

She knows this. She knows his posture, too, and the shape of his hands - which are shaking. She comes up to his side and takes one before facing him. Tears are already spilling over his cheeks.

“It’s you.”

Tears threaten to spill on Eurydice’s cheeks, too.

“It’s me.”

yayyyy they’re together again! it’s really sappy and they keep apologizing to each other for everything. It’s a little sad when Eurydice puts a hand on Orpheus’s scarred face but that’s neither here nor there.

But woe! the happy reunion is cut short when a loud, booming voice shakes the songbirds’ cores:

“Young man!”

Eeeheeeheheeehee

the nytw duo, realizing that their sibling is now in Huge Danger, rush to Hades’s mansion. There stand a stricken bway Orpheus, a dreading bway Eurydice, Persephone, Hades, Hermes, workers... and the Fates.

There’s a moment of “woah everyone’s here” as the Songbird Quartet recognizes one another.

Hades and Persephone don’t recognize nytw Orph, which is great for some reasons and terrible for others.

Hades tells bway Orph that Eurydice can’t go back - she signed the deal, and sold her soul. Orpheus, horrified, looks at her, and Hades... and nytw Orph, who was too afraid to tell him.

Nytw Eurydice, on the other hand, stares down Clotho with a ‘what the fuck do you want’ look. Clotho just smiles.

Hey, so, remember when I told you that Clotho threatened to kill bway Orpheus if they kept looking for Eurydice? Well.........

Hades calls upon the workers to drive bway Orpheus out. Unfortunately, though, Clotho has also given them the order to kill. Her word isn’t questioned: If Fate wishes it, then it shall be so, after all.

Clotho + her sisters nab bway Eurydice. Two workers restrain nytw Orpheus, who, while not knowing what exactly will happen to bway Orph, can deduct from Clotho’s threat that it won’t be good, and begs Hades to spare the boy. Nytw Eurydice, still wearing worker clothes and remaining undetected, sneaks out of the fuss and creeps behind the mansion (if we are thinking of the stage setup, where everyone is kind of in a circle, the nytw duo are on the opposite side from where the Fates + bway Eurydice are).

Workers circle bway Orpheus, and he gives nytw Orpheus one last terrified look before the first strike lands.

Now, we all know nytw Orpheus as a guy who’d have no problem throwing hands during Papers. Except this Orpheus has been ruined by his past, and freezes up when he sees the mob attack bway Orpheus. There are screams in his ears that aren’t there, the smell of metal, blood and wine, and a thousand terrible scenes in his head. It’s too much for him to watch.

...But the very reason nytw Orpheus is down here is because he cares about his newfound brother and wants to protect him. It was the one thing he promised to do.

So god damn, what was he doing?

Something snaps in him and he tries once again to wrestle his arms away from the workers holding him back. They don’t budge - nytw Orpheus’s strength is his words, not his muscles.

But then a low thud sounds against nytw Orpheus’s ears, and the hold goes loose.

“Go!” cries nytw Eurydice, wielding a shovel and slamming its head against the other worker’s. “I’ll get Eurydice!”

nytw Orpheus gives a quick nod of thanks to his lover before rushing up to bway Orpheus, grabbing a pickaxe on the way.

Bway Orpheus has tried to flee the pack, but they keep catching him and throwing him down. He’s exhausted, he’s injured, and they aren’t letting up. One of the workers - the largest one in the mob - raises a pick. Orpheus can’t get himself off the ground.

Then there’s a flash of red, a scream, a metallic smell.

bway Orpheus dares to open his eyes and sees that the mob has stopped, paralyzed with shock. The worker who held the pick now clutched his arm instead, pressing against a long, gruesome tear in the skin.

And standing in front of him, a pickaxe in his hands and a wild, cold glare that’s stark against his bloodied face - is Orpheus’s brother.

A couple steps behind the mob are the Eurydices, and one of them still has her shovel. Nytw Orpheus shouts at the workers, telling them to back off (in a much ruder way). The workers, seeing the outcome of fighting these three, retreat.

Nytw Orpheus, chest heaving, drops the pickaxe and carefully steps over bway Orpheus so that he is behind the latter. He gently scoops the boy into his arms. He’s blacked out, but he’s still got a pulse, thank the gods.

Now, while nytw Eurydice did do what she said she would (free Eurydice), that doesn’t mean she got rid of the fates. And of course, Clotho appears.

Nytw Eurydice somehow keeps enough composure to not beat the shit out of her with a rusty shovel. She gives Clotho enough time for her to say that while, yes, the initial murder plan was foiled by our heroic rulebreakers, the damage has already been done. bway Orpheus has been told that his lover sold herself to Hades, and on top of that, the people who could’ve been his friends on the surface nearly killed him in Hadestown. It’s not like this was a sudden effect - Orpheus’s worldview started crumbling the minute he entered Hadestown. This was just the last step. Now with that sweet, sweet doubt in his head, things should go back to normal.

bway Eurydice is quite shaken by this - it’s her story, too. So nytw Eurydice swings her shovel a bit to get her to fuck off. Clotho does. (I like to think that the Fates can appear + disappear in a plume of dark smoke. Just a lil thing that’d look cool in animation.)

The three of them kinda. stare at each other for a bit.

They take bway Orph to nytw Eurydice’s house to patch him up and rest. Nytw Orpheus washes the blood from his face, and there’s a distant look in his eyes as he recovers from what he did. bway Eurydice, who’s a smidge intimidated by him, says she thought he was pretty cool back there. It gets nytw Orpheus to laugh just the slightest bit, and thus, a friendship is born.

Nytw Eurydice and Orpheus take some time to catch each other up on what happened to them while bway Eurydice looks after her Orpheus.

He wakes up after some hours, a little worried, but with Eurydice there he settles down. She jogs his memory of what happened.

He starts venting to her, apologizing profusely for putting everyone in this mess and placing all their hopes on a song he couldn’t finish. Nothing Eurydice says can comfort him.

Unfortunately, Clotho was right: bway Orpheus is shattered. He goes on about how he is at fault, not just for Eurydice’s imprisonment in Hadestown, but for forcing nytw Orpheus to re-live his trauma to save him, and putting nytw Eurydice back on Hades’s hitlist. He’s hopeless, he says. This whole journey is hopeless. And because he’s the one to blame, he’s better off leaving.

He tries to leave Hadestown, despite the other three trying to get him to stop, but there’s another force keeping him from going too far: the workers. They’ve been listening to his plight, and they feel their old humanity come back to them at his sorrowful song (If It’s True).

Orpheus looks at his family, then looks back at the workers. Perhaps he did do something good for these people. Perhaps there’s still a chance for them.

Hermes comes up to the quartet, bearing news (it’s kind of his thing): Hades has also heard what the workers are starting to whisper about - a possible revolt against Hadestown’s cold-hearted structure - and demands for the four of them to come to his mansion. It’s judgment time.

Nytw Orpheus, who is bitter toward Hermes, demands to know why he didn’t help bway Orpheus since he was a god. Hermes, unfazed, asks why he couldn’t prevent the mob from attacking bway Orpheus, if he’d already lived Orpheus’s life. This quiets nytw Orpheus’s anger.

At the mansion, Hades tries to intimidate bway Orpheus before he actually passes judgment, though a very aggressive nytw Orpheus protects the other. Not today, Hades!

Persephone gives the Eurydices a bit of advice - maybe a mix of the London and NYTW Seph verses for Chant II - as she, too, heard the poet’s song.

The Fates are also there, watching. Plotting, probably.

Finally, Hades gives bway Orpheus his task: Sing a pretty song, and perhaps Hades will make use of him and spare his family. If he fails, it’s to the Great Beyond for all of them.

bway Orph is shaking like an autumn leaf. He’s not done with his song. It never worked the way he wanted it to. He’d tried to get nytw Orpheus to help him with it, but he’d refused, saying that if the song were really special, it would’ve come straight from bway Orpheus’s heart.

From the heart. Okay. That’s what Orpheus will do.

And to make a long story short, it works. beautifully. Orpheus sings his song of love and it swells as everyone else joins in. It’s like the heart of Hadestown is glowing.

At the end, Hades remembers his love for Persephone. He remembers his humanity. The old gods dance as if they were young lovers again.

And Orpheus just about blacks out again from cathartic relief. (Side note: I like to think that nytw Orph says something along the lines of “Easy there, rockstar!” I know the term won’t come around until the 60s but I think it’s really cute :))

Well, things seem to be going alright now! Hades isn’t as Bent on Harming the Four, Persephone’s smiling again, the workers are getting hopeful, and our four songbirds are together now.

... Except, a look of unease haunts the nytw duo’s faces. They know what comes next after this. So does Clotho. The song wasn’t the real test, as we all know.

bway Orph asks if they can go, Hades says no, blah blah blah we've been here before.

Hermes tells the four (well, mainly the bway duo) of the task ahead. They are, of course, dumbfounded and frightened by what it entails. They look back at their older siblings, wordlessly asking, “did you know?”

Nytw Orpheus and Eurydice look away.

The bway duo demands them to tell the full truth of how they were separated. So they do. They tell their doomed successors that nytw Orpheus failed to bring them both out, and that the chances of it happening again are high. It’s completely up to the new duo, and the nytw duo didn’t want to talk of it out of fear of crushing their hopes.

The bway duo is... not pleased. They’re not just crushed, they’re betrayed. How could the nytw duo lie to them for so long, lead them down this path just to pull the rug out from under them?

Nytw Orpheus reaches out to bway Orpheus, but the latter backs away, and leaves them. Bway Eurydice just shakes her head. She leaves them, too.

That night, when the four are preparing for the journey out, bway Eurydice finds her lover cupping his carnation in his palms. They talk quietly about the trek ahead, and Eurydice tells Orpheus that, even though their predecessors failed, that doesn’t mean they will, too. For what it’s worth, said predecessors didn’t have dead companions to travel with. And if the nytw duo were able to change (for the better) because of the bway duo’s actions, then maybe their ending could, too. “If they could do it, so can we.”

Orpheus smiles, but his doubts still gnaw at him. What if their actions changed the outcome for the worse? He just wanted everyone to be safe and happy, but what if this night’s events shouldn’t have happened the way they did? Especially with Clotho’s plan unraveling faster than ever, did they really make all the right decisions? Could he put faith in himself, or was everything that the townspeople said up top, about the harshness of the world and all, really true?

Speaking of Clotho, she appears once more to nytw Eurydice. Eurydice snaps at her for putting everyone on the road to ruin, but Clotho merely states that she’s not the only one trying to get what she wants. Like it or not, everyone had a part to play. “This story of ours was your doing, too,” she says. “Now you finish it. I’m just helping it move along.”

As Clotho departs, Eurydice finds that statement... oddly comforting. If bway Orpheus just holds onto the hope he’d always had with him, then maybe... just maybe...

It’s a long night, and it’s a little odd with two somewhat estranged couples sharing a house. Eventually, they all decide to try and make amends in the tiny living room. Apologizing, conversing softly about their fears and hopes, curling up together on the surprisingly large worn couch. bway Orpheus lets his brother hug him.

“I’m scared.”

“I know,” nytw Orpheus whispers. “And I have so much faith in you nonetheless.”

They sleep together on the couch that night. Lovers, brothers, and sisters say “I love you”. Hell, friends do, too, why not. There’s an air of peace in the stony caverns of Hadestown, and it’s enough to bring the four to a restful sleep.

They’ll need it for the journey ahead.

And, then, that morning, they set out, and...

OHHH, GEE! Look at how long this got! Gee whizz, look at the time, too! I think it’s time to stop. We’ll leave the thrilling conclusion for another time!

Thanks a billion for the ask, anon, and thanks a lot to you, reader, if you actually got this far! I don’t write much, but when I do, I get really into it...

There’s some stuff in Act I of this AU I still haven’t talked about - mostly silly fluff between the brothers, fluff between the sisters, some angst between the brothers, orphydice fluff, and nytw Orph’s strained relationship with the new Hermes, but again, that’s for another time.

#OOOOAGHGH maybe notn didn't give me carpal tunnel but writing this sure did!#this was so much fun tho. i got so excited when i read the ask bc that's a Thing I'm Really Passionate About!#I've been refining it for years! no i don't like letting old ideas go lol #hadestown #hadestown au #hadestown broadway #hadestown nytw #orpheus #eurydice #orpheus hadestown #eurydice hadestown #nytw x broadway crossover #old song au #rook roars!#long post #rook's mailbox #also sorry if i misinterpreted all the characters. i promise bway orph is still sweet n loveable it's just that (class) war is hell #caps tw

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shouldyouwakethewriteblr · 1 year

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I really hope y’all don’t mind something that’s a little bit divergent from the norm, but I had pieces of this flashback scene come to me in a dream and when I got up, the scene went so naturally onto the page and I really love the foreshadowing and dialog here, plus the POV of a lesser-seen character.

Here is a scene of a pregnant Flossie Howley, taking a bit of agency in a very important decision. This really helped develop her and her dynamic with her husband and was an enjoyable snippet to bash out in like a day. I don’t normally share little pieces like this, but I was really proud of it and wanted to share.

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Characters: Flossie Howley, Simeon Howley

Words: 1′768 (Single scene)

Setting: The Howley farm, Platton, roughly 1871.

Content Warning: Description of pregnancy and stillbirth. (Hidden beneath the readmore)

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A log collapsed to crumbling embers, sparking the entire firebox a lively orange that drew her eye up for just a moment before it returned to the calm, evening flicker and she to her needlework.

Flossie folded a tiny nightgown of white cotton over on her lap and fed her needle through the fabric, continuing a delicate feather-stitch along the cuff in a silky white thread. At her feet, a hefty old sewing box sat with a nearly completed full layette folded on top, each piece as lovingly assembled and embroidered as the last.

She heard her husband fumbling around in the kitchen, thinking himself quiet as the grave in there as he stomped about, still in his boots, long before he popped into the adjacent room with her, placing a cup and saucer of steaming, muddy-black tea on the side table by her, leaning around to kiss the side of her face and rub her upper arms with freezing-cold hands.

"Sorry, darlin'," he said. "The animals went down fine, but the damned dog wouldn't come down out the field for nothing. Had to chase it down myself."

"Hm. Stove's off?" she asked without looking up.

"Stove's off," he confirmed, going to his chair and sinking down with a wearied groan, as if breathing the long day out of his overworked bones. She smiled a little. He was still pleasant to look at with the day's grime on him, fair-eyed and caramel-haired, with the darling little cleft in his chin she used to giggle to her friends about when they were girls together.

He caught her peeking and the corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile back. He leaned in over the arm of the chair, peering at her work.

"Nearly done, I'd say, hm?"

"Mm. Nearly."

"I still say we have plenty baby's things already."

"He will have his own things." The needle punctured the cotton with a hard pop. "I know, I know. You've said it and I've heard it." Simeon sunk back into his chair, wiggling as if he could burrow himself even deeper into it.

She paused to take a sip from her tea, about strong enough to stain leather, just as she liked it, clearing her throat as she picked the needle up again.

"I've named him," she plainly told him.

"Pardon?"

"The baby; I've named him. And I won't hear nothing about it. You've named every one this far– this might be my only chance to name one."

"Very well; what is it?"

"You can know when he's born. It's been in my mind since I was a girl."

Simeon gave an amused chuckle. "Alright, well what– uh, what sort of name is it?"

She stopped her hand to look up at the fire and think a moment before the answer came to her.

"A strong one," she said. "Thriving."

"All good things." Simeon seemed to accede entirely, though he still had questions. "Does it feel strong? In your belly?"

She frowned down at her belly, her red chintz wrapper tied just above the healthy, round swell.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "It– doesn't feel like much of anything, one way or another."

Unfortunately true, with the way she'd treated her pregnant belly the past few months. It reminded her of years before, when she'd not lived on the farm for long, before the Fossers.

They were hungry, hungrier than she'd ever been before or since. They couldn't afford to properly feed the chickens; they'd already culled all the ones they could spare-- and once or twice an egg would be laid with half a shell, so thin that even if she tried her best to lift one with slow, gentle hands, it'd burst at her lightest touch, spilling over her fingers, and the hens would cackle and crow with excitement. Simeon told her it was normal; just an unfortunate result of a poor diet, but it wasn't any less frustrating at a time when each egg was precious.

She pulled her wrapper more snugly around her middle. She'd reached this size only twice before. One baby she'd lost around this many months along and, as always, she had the midwife show her the poor little thing. The younger ones were barely anything, lumps of flesh wrapped in cloth. This was different. This was almost a baby, almost, yet not quite. Its body far too small, its skin shiny and translucent, its face barely a face at all.

That's what would be living inside her now. Tiny, pink and infirm. It felt that if she touched this one too much through her skin, if she loved with too many hands, his shell might break apart, then his body beneath, leaving her holding nothing but pieces.

So, she let him be. Occasionally she'd feel him move and kick, reaching out to her, reminding her that he was still there, but she would seldom answer him. Simply let herself feel the relief it gave, and move on.

"And if it's a girl?"

Simeon's query brought her back into the room. She offered him a quick glance, then shook her head.

"It's a boy, they've all been boys."

"I'm just saying."

"When's the last time your family had anything but boys?"

Simeon paused. "O-four. My great aunt Hitty, but she had half a beard, herself, so..."

"Exactly. It's a boy." She allowed a hint of a chuckle as she bit off and fastened her thread, running her thumb over the detailing before starting on the opposite cuff. So tiny, hard to imagine a little wrist in there, though she'd seen it done once before. She rolled the two sides of the cotton together between her fingers, sampling the softness, then pierced it through.

In her peripheral, she could see Simeon watch her for a while, then give up, looking back to the fire with his hands tucked up behind his head. She let him rest long enough to complete the first inch or so of her cuff, then laid her final decision upon him.

"You'll be near," she told him. "When he's born."

"Pardon?"

"You won't go out for a drink, or a ride," she elaborated. "You can be down here, in the parlor, or out in the field, I don't care a fig. I'll have you near."

Simeon chuckled. It seemed to entertain him. "You've made your mind up about many a thing, haven't you, m'girl? Supposing the Fossers have me out of town? If the little man decides to be early?"

"Then you'd best come running back like hell's fire's at your heels." She lowered her work to her lap so she could look right at her husband. "You have to be here for him, Simeon. You have to be near so the devil himself sees you and says 'I can't never touch this child; I can't touch him because his daddy is Simeon Howley and he's much too tough to try.'"

Simeon laughed until he met her eye and saw the look inside it. Then, he settled himself, but kept a sweetness to his expression.

"If it brings you peace," he told her. "Here I'll be, Miss."

She smiled, and reached out her hand to him. Taking the gesture, he rose from his seat and went to her, kneeling down by the arm of her chair.

"You hear that?" he spoke down to her belly. "You see this?"

He raised his bent arm, flexing until the fabric of his shirt stretched tight over the muscle, completing the show with an exaggerated arch of his brow.

"I got you, little man."

Flossie threw her head back and laughed out happy and loud, and when she came back down she gave Simeon a playful ruffling of the dust-coated hair atop his head. Settling in close, he reached in and rubbed a hand lovingly over her belly, and she pulled open her wrapper from the chemise underneath, so he'd have an easier time of it.

Simeon's hands were different, heavy and dirt-stained as they were. It didn't bother her if he touched. His hands were safer, they could protect the little one in his shell far better than she ever could.

"That your head or your arse, then, son?" Simeon puzzled aloud as he felt, making her laugh again so her tummy shook against his palm. He grinned like a child, absently running his hand back and forth over the summit.

"Well," he went on. "--I can't wait to know your name, pal. But listen, you go easy on your mother, hm? Come right on out when you're ready and when you're standing on your own, I'll take you fishing, and riding. I'll teach you to shoot."

"Simeon... Psh."

"--and I'll put you on my shoulders on the hill, so you can see the whole town, like my Pa used to do with me. It's a pretty little place, you'll like it."

Flossie smiled sadly, rubbing her thumb under his chin, then holding it in her hand. How terribly she wanted to make all the things he spoke of happen for him. She almost did, a few times before. And she knew, in the bones of her, that this was probably her last chance. This man loved her; she trusted that wouldn't change, but could a tiny piece of him, however miniscule, not resent her if she failed one last time? If this was all they'd ever be?

They stayed this way a while, Flossie setting her needlework aside so they could enjoy each-other's closeness next to the fire. Then, always tired far before she ever was, Simeon rose back to his feet, kissed her and asked her to come soon to bed, then wished her goodnight and disappeared to the other room and up the old, creaking stairs.

Instead, Flossie sat alone until the fire burned itself out to embers which barely cast their glow past the fender, leaving her in near darkness, save for the moonlight through the far shutters.

And there, all alone, she sat up straight and, like her former self, reaching so carefully beneath the bellies of the hens, she placed a hand upon her stomach, almost too light to feel the touch herself.

"Do you see how much we're counting on you?" she whispered, her fingers gently pressing the firm flesh beneath linen. "You'll be strong, won't you?"

She drew in a nervous breath that fit snug in her chest, allowing herself to lay her palm flat, feel the change in depth, the obvious life that lay there, changing the very shape of her.

"Won't you, William?"

#my writing (sywtw)#snippet (sywtw)#flashback (sywtw)#◇ 'cause she's just like the weather' (flossie)#◇ 'when does the reason become the blame?' (simeon)#god I'm so proud of this

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cagedcats · 2 years

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Alright so a Redux Iterum idea I had of… Starkit’s Prophecy… yep.

Including SP! Blackstar, Dawnsparkle, Flamepelt, Lakepool, aaand Stargleam. Or my idea who they would be in the Redux-iterum world.

@warriorsredux-iterum gonna @ you to see your thoughts and maybe get a little help regarding a suffix. Sorry sorry you’re free to ignore

Just gonna add more under readmore

Name changes and thoughts

Blackstar -> Blizzardstar

Change appearance to an all white cat, and rename him to Blizzard-. Suffix doesn’t really matter, he’s for sure not a -claw. He lost to a freshly made apprentice for Pete’s sake!

Dawnsparkle -> Dawnspeckle

Honestly I wanted to keep Dawn- so bad, I really did. But I was unsure as to whether it could apply to a tortoiseshell and white cat. So after debating amongst the prefixes I did settle on Lichen- reluctantly, though I am still very much attached to Dawn- I tell you. She gets -flower because of plot idea I had. There’s not enough of her in the materials to actually give her a suffix, but she does seem… protective? Concerned? For Starkit I at least. Same from source material she is from ShadowClan originally (she just isn’t in a relationship with Jayfeather or the replacement I’ve made for him).

*edit returning to the Dawn- prefix, and changing her suffix to -speckle. I think the normal suffix is -speck, but this is farther in the future and I’m taking creative liberties here. Especially since -speckle sounds similar to -sparkle. Or enough for me to use it.

Flamepelt -> Leechpelt/Emberpelt

I could’ve kept her appearance the same, and made her Fire-. But I had the idea of Starkit I being a black or grey cat and I wanted to keep that. So she’s made into a tortoiseshell and just to shake things up I give her some white as well. So she’s in for a prefix change, and Leech- feels ShadowClanny and it fits. Now as for suffix… there’s not much to go off of. She doesn’t seemed skilled anywhere tbh (not smart, doesn’t know her way around, can’t fight). She does seem calm compared to Starkit I, but that isn’t saying much. So she gets to keep the -pelt.

Edit- Going to possibly change her prefix to Ember- since it’s a similar element to Fire-, and it helps keep her connected to original version.

Lakepool -> Rainflower

Lake- isn’t a traditional name tbh, and Rain- is perfect for a ShadowClan cat as usual. As for -flower I kind of gave it to her because of how quickly she decided to take in Starkit II. And she continues to raise her even though the kid hates her, her mate, and their relationship. She even goes as far to speak on her behalf even after all the bs Starkit II has said to her. She alongside her mate are just good moms, so she gets -flower (and Redfur might become Redcloud not sure yet).

Starkit I -> Nightclaw

Starling- was a good replacement for me. Had the Star in it, but also just Starlings in general. You ever seen a murmation? That’s a lot of starlings. Almost enough to block out the sky… :)

As for her suffix… yeah that I’d need help on because of how she’s written. She is perfect in almost every sense of the way. She’s a good fighter and Hunter, good at tracking (at least in one chapter), every cat seems to find her attractive, she’s got a moral high ground she refuses to stray from.

So that gives us… -fang, -nose, -face, aaand -heart. I almost threw in -dusk because of how fast she became leader though that’s more so being diligent then leadership material (tho I guess she is, she accomplished everything she tried). Heck if she was a seer she’d probably be up for the -leaf suffix as well with how much she hangs out with StarClan.

I guess with the hierarchy of names she would be Starlingfang more then likely, but I like the idea of Starlingheart since that’s what she’s super notable for is just how steadfast she is in her beliefs, or even Starlingdusk just because how expected it is she’d become leader.

I don’t know which is why I need some help for what sounds best for this lovable protagonist.

Now Starkit II is of course a -storm because she quickly changed her stance on something’s Starlingstar (just gonna call her that for now) and she herself once preached. She’s not here, but I may try to draw her later

Edit- finally settled down and changed her to Night- to keep elemental the same, and gave her -claw since that’s the key point in her skill that she’s a skilled fighter.

Now as for plot? Basic idea is that Nightstar is gonna bring the end of the Clans as they know it. She’s a pseudo-cult leader in my mind. Probably messiah complex. (She’s a Moses figure, she’s also Jesus according to the Christmas special, and also God according to the Ten Commandments she brings to the Clans)

She’s introduced a new order to the Clans. A new way to honor their Ancestors. Which more so honored her, because in this new way she was the closest connection they had to StarClan. She knows how to honor the Ancestors properly. Without her the Clans would be lost to darkness

This is of course aided by the fact she makes friends with the current Seer (who was an Outsider and never truly spoke to the Clan’s Ancestors) who supported her words. Actually it’s possible she was supposed to be a Seer if there had been someone else in the position of deciding. And it’s possible he knew she would start this (Since he’s SP!Jayfeather imma rename him… Cuckoocloud. Cause Cuckoo thing and also because in the story he was surprisingly okay with everything Starkit did).

And with some friends willing to follow her, and some others who were somewhat disillusioned with how things were going in the Clan she starts spreading her words and guidance. It’s just luck that she (and the Seer) manages to convince enough cats to listen to her. Of course we eventually get some who… don’t want this.

But they’re dealt with :) after all, if they refuse her and her words, clearly they’ve become overcome by dark spirits in this world. And that needs to be punished.

I’d say though it’s mostly ThunderClan surprisingly that falls under this, with a few stragglers from other Clans that also start following her words. It’s just unfortunate that she’s in ThunderClan… and that she views anyone that doesn’t follow the words an enemy that needs disposed of.

By some point she is a… spiritual leader of sorts to the Clans (she goes to the Gathering in the fic and is referred to “Leader” by cats outside her own Clan, she basically runs the joint at that point in the og fic).

Since ShadowClan is always considered “evil” I’d say they’re the last of any of the Cats to be influenced by her words. And thus deemed the most dangerous by Nightstar and her loyalists.

Of course she’s not the only protagonist, but by the time we get to Starkit II or Dovepaw/storm it will be in the Clans that Nightstar has molded, and navigating it. And presumably trying to keep it alive (and presumably failing, after all this would be about the Fall of Clans).

Is this a bit much for a presumable troll fic? Maybe, but I had a lot of fun thinking about it. Of course if I did write it out, I’d probably make another blog for it. StarkitsIterum would maybe be the title of the blog. That’s if I do write it out. But I’ve had fun regardless thinking of all this and wanna share the idea a bit.

Also they’re all a… little healthier looking then what I imagine the Redux-iterum ShadowClanners, but they are around the Lake. And I think the Lake may be a slightly better environment then the Forest territory they had. Still small tho- we can’t leave that behind.

#Warrior cats #warriors redux iterum art #Starkit’s prophecy #warriors redux iterum #there that should do it #caged art #I have this as a warrior cats side blog but it’s becoming a warriors redux iterum side blog at this point ffs

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kitsmits · 1 year

Text

New chapter of Mono no Aware is UP!

A little preview below the cut…

:readmore:

Kaede crouched silently in a tree, her weight barely disturbing the branch. Her partner signaled to her from their own post: How many?

Kaede’s hand flashed the number: Twelve.

Ten.

It was hard not to roll her eyes. Her partner always questioned and criticized her; sometimes she wondered why Yoruichi paired them up so often. Twelve. Two more east.

No arguments this time, thankfully; it seemed her partner was finally starting to trust her sensory abilities. Kaede waited for her to decide how to divide the targets; though they were partners for this drill, the other woman was technically her senior in the corps. She had a good notion which direction the other person would go for, though.

I’ll take West.

Just as she thought. Kaede turned her attention east, where six of their targets were hidden - four more obviously located, plus two doing a remarkable job at hiding their reiatsu. She’d only noticed them because they were too good at hiding: they’d been like black spots on her internal radar where there should have been pure, ambient reishi. No doubt her partner was hoping her count was off, giving them a chance to show off a larger “kill” count.

The tree branch remained undisturbed when she leaped from it, using shunpo to reach her first target. They had no time to react before she’d taken them down, making sure they’d make no noise to alert the others. Within seconds she’d gotten to the other five; it took longer to drag their bodies out into the open than it had to bring them down.

“Took you long enough,” she taunted her partner when the petite shinigami showed up with her own bodies.

Her partner, Soi Fon, yanked down her face mask, revealing her seemingly ever-present scowl. She took one look over Kaede’s count and that scowl deepened. “Don’t let it go to your head. Efficiency is one thing, but sloppiness is another, and Yoruichi-sama won’t abide it.”

“I’m well aware of the difference between ‘efficient’ and sloppy,’” Kaede replied mildly. “As aware as I’m sure you are at the difference between being someone’s ‘senior’ and their ‘superior.’”

Soi Fon’s eyes went wide before narrowing to angry slits. “What did you just say to me?”

“Hm?” She gave the other woman an innocent look. “Sorry, did I offend you?”

“Don’t tell me that’s not what you intended!”

“Okay, I won’t,” Kaede said with a shrug. “Really though, Soi Fon-san, you shouldn’t take little comments like that so personally, especially in our line of work.”

“She’s not wrong, you know,” came a familiar voice. Yoruichi appeared between them, arms crossed, but with a satisfied grin on her face.

Soi Fon’s entire demeanor immediately shifted, spine straightening, scowl evaporating. Kaede bit back an amused smirk. Soi Fon was so predictable: normally, she was about as welcoming as a hornet, but once their beloved captain showed up, she showed only simpering respect for their queen bee.

Curious that Yoruichi was here at all for a simple training drill though, Kaede thought. Their captain usually couldn’t be bothered for things like this.

“Yoruichi-sama!” Soi Fon exclaimed. “I - I was just trying to point out to Sorano-san that speed isn’t everything, and that we must be thorough-“

“Which she certainly was,” Yoruichi interjected. “I’d say you two set a new record for this one. Not counting mine, of course! And nice catch on those other two, Kaede! I think you’re the first one to notice them in this drill.”

“Thank you, Taicho,” she replied. From the corner of her eye, she saw Soi Fon’s expression sour a bit, the smaller Shinigami already starting to wilt without her idol’s attention. “Soi Fon called the shots for us. I just did the count.”

She could have said something to rub salt in Soi Fon’s perceived wound, sure - but there was something weirdly satisfying about the shock and confusion on her face when she did the opposite.

“By the way,” Kaede continued. “Yoruichi-taicho…is there a reason for the other two spectators?”

Yoruichi grinned and glanced over her shoulder. “See? You all satisfied with my picks here or what?”

From the trees, two well-dressed older men emerged, discarding heaving cloaks that Kaede recognized as the latest reiatsu-concealing designs the Stealth Corps was using. They weren’t perfect at hiding or masking energy, but they muddled most Shinigami’s senses enough to be useful. Only the most attuned sensors could “see” past them, usually.

The two men…Kaede felt her insides go stiff. Going by how they were dressed, not in shihakusho but in elegant, rich silks, these two were nobles.

“I told you I’d only pick the best of my stock,” Yoruichi was telling the two, her own noble status letting her get away with her casual tone toward them. “These two are the best.”

“Two women?” said one of the men, looking down his nose at them with a sniff. “Is that entirely appropriate for guarding a man?”

“Hey, you asked for the most discreet and skilled bodyguards I have,” Yoruichi replied. “Well, these are them. Both are top of the class in drills and tactical operations, and that one-“ She nodded to Kaede. “-could rival a bloodhound with her sensing skills. Trust me, no one is sneaking up on your boy without her noticing. You couldn’t get better unless I took this job myself.”

Kaede could see Soi Fon struggling to remain neutral-faced after being both praised by their beloved captain and overlooked for any specific accolades.

The noblemen looked them over again with an air of snobbish resignation. “Just make sure they’re up to the entire task.”

Kaede waited until the noblemen were escorted away before asking: “What was that about?”

“We have a new assignment,” Soi Fon retorted. “Obviously.”

“No shit. I meant what the assignment is about.”

“Don’t use language like that around Yoruichi-sama! It’s highly disrespectful!”

“Please,” Yoruichi scoffed. “Who do you think she learned it from?”

Soi Fon scowled. Kaede could swear her skin took on a slight green tinge, as it always did when she was reminded of the fact that Kaede had known Yoruichi personally long before she had.

“Now,” Yoruichi continued, her face turning more serious. “I need you two getting along for this one. This guy’s a real piece of work - slippery as an eel and at least twice as slimy.”

“Are we protecting him,” Kaede ventured, “or protecting people from him?”

“Honestly? A bit of both,” Yoruichi answered, crossing her arms with a slight scowl. “Most of all, you’re protecting his clan from further scandal.”

“Which clan, Yoruichi-sama?” asked Soi Fon, beating Kaede to the question.

“One of the most powerful in the Seireitei, as it so happens,” said Yoruichi. “None other than the Tsunayashiro clan.”

Kaede kept outwardly impassive, but inside, excitement flared to life. The Tsunayashiro clan was one of the top five noble families in the Seireitei; she was a little surprised they were okay with her protecting one of their own.

“Don’t they have their own security?” Kaede asked, ignoring Soi Fon’s disapproving scowl at her questioning orders in any way. “Why do they want the Stealth Corps-”

“I apologize, Yoruichi-sama,” Soi Fon interrupted, shooting a sharp glare Kaede’s way. “I’ve told Sorano-san time and again that it’s not our place to question.”

“No, it’s fine,” Yoruichi dismissed. “I’ve been asking myself the same thing…anyway. The target’s name is Tsunayashiro Tokinada. He was just officially charged with killing two Shinigami - one of them was his own wife, Kakyo. He’s a potential target for assassination and a flight risk, but most of all, the clan wants to avoid further embarrassment by him.”

“Understood, Yoruichi-sama,” Soi Fon said with her head bowed. “We’ll make sure any threats are dealt with discretely.”

“I know you will,” the captain said. “I need you two to have each others’ backs on this one, you hear? There’s something strange going on, and I don’t want two of my best sacrificing themselves over some spoiled brat.”

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fat-rolls-frictions · 2 years

Note

for kim 💤🤥 / for lang 😭 also sending more if thats ok need to go check again

💏 aaaa mwah for u also sorry for the long post I. don’t remember how to add readmore on mobile

Kim Nguyễn (Greenwarden IF) tag

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

She actually falls asleep pretty easily! Like, a normal amount of easy, nightmares notwithstanding. She would sleep in short bursts throughout the night with intervals of restlessness. Sometimes she reads or exercises, mostly she paces around fretting about the security of her room. She usually curls around herself for comfort.

🤥 LYING - are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying?

Thinks she’s a pretty good liar, isn’t as good as she believes. Her default expression is Ambiguously Angry and Blankly Scowling, so it’s a little hard to tell if you’ve never interacted with her before. But she’s one of those people who got a little too intense and just draws attention to her different behaviors. She’s also like. Less mean in general when she lies, in a subtly antagonizing, Yeah I Know I’m Easy To Undermine, too-sweet way.

🍁 MAPLE LEAF - what is their favourite season? why?

I’d say spring? Summer would be too hot for her, winter too cold, and she thinks fall is too festive. A dwindling chill where there’s still mulch and dead leftovers but also glimpses of new growth feels like it’d suit her like, thematically. But the real answer is she doesn’t really care!

⚾ BASEBALL - can they play sports? what is their best position if they play a team sport? what's their strong suit (speed, power etc.)?

She would be a jock in high school! As a child in therapy she redirected most of her aggression into sports, and she was decent at a fair few. With obvious uh 🐜🤏 with obvious exceptions. She’s small enough moving around is faster and more nimbly, but unwell enough that she packs a lot of force in short bursts since she just. Throws herself into it. If that lands her into the nurse office that’s neither here or there. She probably got enrolled in martial arts class at a young age. Beat that sandbag girl!

Lang (The King’s Physician IF) tag

😭 CRYING - what makes them cry? do they cry easily?

I’d say they’re more prone to tears than most of my OCs, yeah. They’re my baby pillow my squishy capybara... Not really a crybaby though just a guy who doesn’t hold back ‘embarrassing’ emotions. But plot twist! They’ve gotten so used to compartmentalizing for so long that sometimes they aren’t aware that they want to / need a good bawl. They do prefer to unpack (and compartmentalize) their emotions in private though, and even while they don’t shy away from crying they reasonably don’t like to be messy in front of others.

🍁 MAPLE LEAF - what is their favourite season? why?

Once again spring or summer, for their colorful growths! Lang would appreciate the warmth the most, seeing as the Ruyzan cold is a little brutal on them.

⚾ BASEBALL - can they play sports? what is their best position if they play a team sport? what's their strong suit (speed, power etc.)?

Only light sports I’m afraid, something less or not that competitive altogether. They’ve learned a long time ago not to join the mercenaries, even for morale. In a team sport their best position would be um sideline doctor ❤️

#thanks for tha ask!!#kim nguyen #lang the physician

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cesium-sheep · 3 years

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so, record of events for others, since anecdata is hard to come by. sorry for no readmore, I’ll add it in the morning if I feel up to using my computer. okay well, afternoon instead of morning, but here’s a readmore now anyway.

mcas confirmed by medication responsiveness, with the usual accompanying acronym soup (pots, cfs/me, eds) which behaves as if secondary rather than straight comorbid. currently prescribed daily atenolol (25mg), fludrocortisone (0.2mg), sprintec, twice daily aspirin (650mg) and loratidine (10mg). bad but slow-building reactions to famotidine, pyridostigmine, migrelief, sumatriptan. sf-36 score prior to aspirin and loratidine ~15, current score ~43. no known history of anaphylaxis but may also be a dumbass.

preventive measures: deliberately scheduled when my wife had time off to provide care. took additional midday loratidine for 3 days prior, took 20mg instead of 10mg morning of, also took dramamine 1 hour before leaving and drank a gatorade over the time I’d been awake. specifically got single dose johnson&johnson/viral vector vaccine, which my clinic was happy to facilitate. also had wife wheel me around instead of self-powering and laid down as soon as I got home and stayed that way.

first 10 hours: mild bruisepain diffusing from injection site immediately. also, inexplicably, hunger signals got unborked (normally they don’t work). mild sensation of pre-pressure. went home, laid down, ate and watched tv for the remainder of the evening, aside from going to the bathroom twice. heart was displeased/loud but calmed down a little over time. sleepy fatigue with chip-eyes around 2-3 hours in. moderate neck pressure by 5 hours in. moderate head pressure and general malaise with mild esophageal tightness (also a frequent symptom for me) by 8 hours in which has receded as the cold came in. cold numb discolored hands (similar to the reynauds I’ve had in the past but incomplete) and core shivers by 10 hours in, even with heated blanket, but gradually fading (mostly-able-bodied wife also got shivers from mrna 3rd/booster dose, but much more severe). warm at some point prior to that, don’t remember exactly when, not feverish just too warm in my nest. miscellaneous additional bruisepains at various locations throughout day (left hip, right shoulder, left elbow). joints generally noisy, but nothing wild.

roughly comparable to a moderate episode after running an errand or two, although I put a lot of safeguards in place to keep it that controlled and would not be feeling even this well if I hadn’t. will take extra midday loratidine and do as little as possible for at least another couple days for safety. and I should update again tomorrow, probably with a reblog for continuity.

#coronavirus #mcas #long post #chronic illness #ask to tag #covid vaccine #johnson & johnson #viral vector #I’d like this to be findable as well as hideable #cuz anecdata is super important in an already understudied condition being exposed to a precarious new stimulus

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bookwyrminspiration · 2 years

Note

(Ophelia) I’d be happy to see any of your grandmother’s works if you’d want to show them. (This is in response to what you said in the tags of our previous conversation.) If you no longer feel comfortable showing it that’s okay too, opinions change over time. Either way, I’m sure the bears look lovely as they are your grandmother’s handiwork. Also, Happy Holidays if there are any that you celebrate at this time. That might sound a bit strange to say after the rest of this message, I’m sorry if it does.

oh hello ophelia!! that's very sweet of you, and I'd love to show some of my grandma's work! I don't have access to a lot of it, seeing as I live halfway across the country and also she wasn't well enough to make things for the last several years, but I do have a few things that I can show!

(I'm putting this under a readmore so I don't take up space with the photos! and also me talking)

[ID: Two white bear-like stuffed animals sitting with each other in a chair. One is a lot bigger than the other, about the size of a child. The body is stuffed a lot more than the legs and arms, making it very round. It wears nothing but a homemade hat and bowtie, a faint smile on its face. The second bear is very similar, only closer to a normal stuffed animal size and sitting in the lap of the first bear. This one wears a plain red hair with a purple plume and stripped overalls. A green tie is attached to the front and all items of clothing are made by my grandma. /End ID.]

These are the bears that I mentioned in the other post!! They're bears closer to the way a teddy bear is a bear and not like an actual bear, but they've been around for as long as I can remember. They're probably older than me. And also they do have ears you just can't really see them! My sister and I each have a specific thing associated with grandma's house from all our visits. Mine is the clock that tells time that doesn't exist (now that I type this I'm realizing I don't think I've actually mentioned that on tumblr, only on discord. so if I haven't and you'd like an explanation I'd be more than happy to!! it was always one of my favorite parts of visiting) and my sister's are these two bears.

We always stay in the same room when we visit (as in we sleep together in the same room, and the room we stay in is the same every time), and both the clock and the bears are located in said room. There's actually a huge collection of dolls that my grandma made that are currently just sitting on a the shelves in her sewing room. Wait hang on I think I actually have a picture I can add.

[ID: A very cluttered collection of shelves. Every available surface has some kind of doll or stuffed animal on it, things with faces like scarecrows, others with bodies like mice and bears, others similar to cabbage patch dolls. All are made by my grandma. It's not clear in the picutre, but the area is very dusty and looks like it shouldn't be disturbed. /End ID.]

So these are the kinds of things she would make! Well, one small section of the things she made. She made a lot of clothes, too. Anything sewing related. She made quilts (i'll get to that later) and dresses and pants and shirts and vests and aprons. In fact, the only apron I've ever had that I can remember was made by her. It's still hanging in the kitchen for whenever I need it, I just don't usually wear an apron when I bake.

Going back to the clothes thing, I wasn't around enough for her to really make me a wardrobe the way she did for my mom as a kid, but she would always make my sister and I these pajama dresses. She'd make us one every Christmas and I wore them so much. There was this one with heart fabric that I loved so much I wore it even when the cuffs fell off after so many washes (idk why we didn't just...repair the before they got to that stage, but it's fine!) I still have one of them in my dresser, but I haven't worn it in a long time. It'd probably be really short on me now (not completely unwearable, just teetering on the edge), but I wore them so much as a kid. I don't have a photo of it though.

but back to the bears real quick! I got distracted by the dolls

[ID: A close up photo of the hat the large bear was wearing in the first photo. It's covered in sewing materials like buttons, a pin cushion, and spools of various colored threads. Instead of a ribbon, a tape measure is wrapped around the base. The pattern of the base fabric isn't obvious, but it seems to be several different floral fabrics. /End ID.]

This is the hat that the big bear wears!! I think it's interesting enough to get it's own photo because it looks so cool. I don't think it would ever be practical for an actual person to wear, but it's great for the bear! and seeing as she worked at fabric stores for like a decade and a half, she had a lot of access to things like pin cushions and spools of thread. I mean, she's also got a ton of them in her sewing room, but she always preferred the magnetic pin holders and liked to use the thread to actually sew things.

I actually sewed with her at least once, but never anything like this. I wasn't experienced enough at the time, so she was mainly showing me how to use this hemming machine. I'd used a regular sewing machine before (and still use it to this day), but not the hemming one. You know how clothes sometimes have that hem that looks all loopy and crossed over itself? that's what the machine does. I'd like to have one, but I don't sew enough at the moment to justify it. I' good with the Bernina my family has, which is like a 1008 or something.

But moving on!

[ID: A quilt on my bed with a repeating pattern. The backgroung is a bunch of various colored small squares in cool colors. The squares don't really have patterns, but are more demure. This allows the yellow four-pointed stars to stand out more, and they are evenly spaced throughout the entire quilt.]

This! this quilt is the main thing I have that my grandma made. As a seamstress, she decided that she wanted to make each of her grandchildren a quilt. There are seven of us, so we each got a quilt. Mine is currently on my bed (there was a period of time where I would have it intentionally upside down because I liked the back fabric), but my sister's is stored away so I don't remember what it looks like. I also don't think I've ever seen my cousins' quilts at all, but I know we all have them.

The quilt has a little tag in the corner that isn't picture that has my name on it with a little Love Grandma on it. Well, it has my deadname, but that's because she made it before I changed my name. I actually have a few children's books sewn by her with my deadname too, but that's from when I was like a toddler so I don't mind.

I've made a quilt before myself, but never anything like this. I made a small tessellation quilt for a project in 4th grade (yea, that was an assigned project in fourth grade for some reason) and another more freestyle one for a contest in 5th grade, which I won 1st place in. But those were on a much smaller scale than this quilt.

When I was younger I loved to find the mistakes in the quilt, because even experts mess things up sometimes. In a quilt with a repeating pattern like this, the mistakes are the orientations of some of the quilt squares, so the stars and their points don't all line up properly. And given that it is a repeating pattern, it would take me a few minutes to find them each time because everything blends together and also I would forget where the mistakes were.

so those are a few of the things my grandma made that we have around the house. There are others like our sewing bag and all the photos my parents probably have of those pajama dresses, but I hope you enjoyed at least part of it! She was an incredibly talented seamstress and loved everything to do with sewing. She even requested that an image of a sewing machine be put on her headstone, though I don't think that's been done yet.

It's because of her that I got introduced to some of the crafts I enjoy like latchhooking and crossstitching, so it's nice to be able to share some of her crafts.

And happy holidays to you, too! My family isn't huge on Christmas (it technically isn't our holiday as we're baha'i, but we have enough family and friends who celebrate that we get sucked in and just go with it). And it's not a weird thing to say after that message! If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you enjoyed it <33

#she had so many projects #I only ever got to see a small small percentage #but her being a seamstress meant my mom learned a lot #and even though she never really got into it she was able to teach me some #my mom often jokes that the creative gene skipped her and went straight to me #and even though I focus more on literature and fantasy I do still love fabric crafts #i hope to do more soon #I love altering my clothes #I just forget that I can #but I hope you enjoyed some of this!!#she was great when it came to sewing #quil's queries #ophelia nonsie #tw death

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bills-pokedex · 3 years

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Is using pokemon to steal from big stores a valid use of pokemon?

Before I begin, I’d like to apologize for the open discomfort in this response. This discomfort stems from three things, which I should also note:

1. I’m a public figure, so therefore, I literally cannot encourage or even condone theft of any kind for any reason, even if I am politically unconventional, as it were.

2. Even if I could, I’ve always been very open about my anti-Team Rocket policies, so I’m not entirely certain what you were expecting here, to be frank.

3. If you were doing this as a form of protest, then I have unfortunate news to tell you about quite a few products you’re likely benefiting from, including but not limited to the Leppa laptop you’re likely using to access GMail in order to run your ... well, literally every social media platform these days. While shopping at certain online retailers who must not be named.

That having been said, to answer you properly, allow me to do so by assuming this is a pokémon handling question more than ... anything else.

The short answer is no. The long answer is no ... because of consent. You see, the biggest concern with any activity you engage in is consent. It’s very easy to assume that our pokémon partners are just as intelligent as we are, given that they’re so integrated with our lives. The sad truth is that many of them don’t possess the advanced intellect we’re capable of, so having your pokémon help you steal would be a lot like having your four-year-old little brother help you pocket whatever they can. Certainly, it’s your four-year-old little brother, but at the same time, you wouldn’t ask your four-year-old little brother to commit what’s technically a crime, right? The same should be said of pokémon. If they can’t comprehend what they’re doing or the moral arguments behind it, then they can’t consent to you using their abilities. Ergo, no, it’s not a valid use of pokémon.

However, if you have a pokémon that can comprehend—say, kadabra or alakazam—then you can technically do whatever you’d like with them so long as: 1) they do indeed consent, and 2) the activity you wish to engage in isn’t morally reprehensible on an objective level (e.g., murder, assault, poképhilia, sexual misconduct of any other variety, corruption of minors—I could go on). So in that sense, if they understand and consent, you can’t technically say it’s wrong ... except, well, from a legal standpoint. Therein lies the debate, of course, and why I clarified that earlier statement to say “so long as you don’t do something objectively reprehensible.” That having been said, again, I can’t encourage or condone you to ask your pokémon to steal, but I can say that you can at least argue it’s not pokémon abuse if you’re not forcing a pokémon to do something it doesn’t understand.

Finally, if you’re a member of Team Rocket, the above still doesn’t apply because even if your pokémon does understand and consent, you’re asking it to steal for the subjugation of other pokémon, which is ... wrong. Don’t do that. Among other things that you shouldn’t also do.

{Important Mun Disclaimer is below the readmore and heavily political. Please skip to the next post if you don’t want to see Words.}

{Important Mun Disclaimer: I’ve been thinking about how best to address this because on the one hand, I realize this is meant to be a lighthearted funny haha joke ask sent to a normally uptight yet also lowkey anarchist character who happens to work alongside his world’s government. On the other ... I’ve always been uncomfortable with the lifting community that I know is prevalent both among leftists and on social media in general, and I feel like I need to talk about it because it’s not for the reason you might think.

See, I’ve read arguments on both sides about whether or not it’s morally okay for a leftist to steal from a big corporation. I’m aware of the arguments about workers (Do they get penalized? Don’t they? It seems to vary by store, and honestly, some workers support this behavior and shouldn’t be ignored.), and I’m aware of lifters’ insistence that it’s some form of protest against box stores (spoilers: they make enough bank and take out enough insurance that they don’t care about the handful of luxury items you’re stealing). So I hear all of you. F, yo, I was a teenager once too, and I hung out with textbook punks a lot. If your reason for stealing is because you’re an idiot kid who gets kicks from doing that, at least I understand because that’s what you do when you’re young and angry.

Nah, my reason for being super uncomfortable with lifting doesn’t really touch these arguments. It’s got everything to do with my need to write this disclaimer, though, and that reason is ... to let people know that’s an extremely white thing to do.

So to all the white people and white-passing people shoplifting because you’re lefties (really, because you like the adrenaline rush, lbr), I just want to talk about all the Black people who have to be followed around in stores because clerks think they’re lifting. I want to talk about how retail workers not too long ago (as I was before I started my career doing something else) were literally taught to follow “suspicious customers,” with the implication being “POCs.” And I want to talk about how there are folks who get arrested or worse for “stealing” things they actually bought or for “stealing” when they were literally just browsing.

Some of this might just be bad timing too, mind you. I’d read this article the other day, so maybe if this ask hadn’t come literally that day, I probably would have answered without all this talk. Maybe I could’ve deleted the ask and pretended it was one of the unanswerables. But anyway, I read it, and I’d like to share it for context with the rest of you because it’s also important: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/29/opinions/kyle-rittenhouse-bail-donations-race-leiba/index.html (tw btw, because a Black person describes what it’s like to be arrested in pretty intense detail) Anyway, point is, maybe it’s a good thing that I’d read this because, well, something needs to be said here. When you’re young and stupid and very likely white, stealing seems like fun because ACAB and all. But when you get older and really think critically about the world around you, you start to think critically about what you do too. Hopefully. In most cases. Some people are dead-on my age, and they still steal, citing leftism as their reasoning with absolutely zero self-awareness about how they can do that because they’re, well, white.

My point in bringing this up is not to harsh a buzz, and absolutely, it’s done with the complete understanding that this is a Pokémon ask blog, so of course not too many people are going to take it seriously. It’s more because I just didn’t feel right just answering this ask and not talking about this bit of politics. And that’s mostly because lifting is such a meme among progressive folks on social media, and it just ... tires me, in a way, that it’s never really discussed that this is a thing you can only really get away with 100% of the time if you’re white.

Anyway, the actual disclaimer is that Bill’s politics don’t often reflect my own and vice-versa. Bill is played as a neutral good character, who believes he can fix the world and actually probably could, but at the same time, he’s, well, lowkey anarchist. I, meanwhile, am none of those things. Moreover, Bill’s world is a utopia where things like discrimination is an actual thing of the past and where humans live more or less in harmony, openly, as whoever they want to be, and that’s due to a combination of canon and me intentionally constructing a world where other people can imagine themselves being safe and not having to fight to be who they want to be. But the problem is that our world isn’t Bill’s, and sadly, sometimes, I have to acknowledge that.

Anyway, sorry for the long rant. Thanks for reading, and a second ask will be up shortly as a reward for putting up with this.}

#asks #odd questions #pokemon headcanon #Anonymous #long post #extremely long post #tw: politics

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ranvwoop · 3 years

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TALK ABOUT AMERICAN HEALTHCARE I HAVE AN IDEA OF WHY IT'S THERE BUT I WANNA HEAR THE EXPLANATION ALSO THE ONLY HOUSE THAT"S NOT ON FIRE (YET) FOR THE SAME REASON I JUST WANNA SEE THE ANALYSIS:TM: IF U WANT I WANNA SEE IF I GOT IT RIGHT :D

Hi :DDD. Thank u for asking,,,, I have many thoughts. I am sorry in advance. This is one of those things I will put under a readmore because I am into rambling. IT GOT A LOT LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED IM SORRY. Like. a lot. It was 4 pages in google docs because i dont trust tumblr to save my drafts

Okay a lot of my Ranboo thoughts are about the syndicate / boreal trio / peerpressure duo. But you’re probably aware I am a Them enthusiast first and both a dsmp enjoyer and person second. Because. I really like the syndicate. I also don’t have too too many thoughts on the more recent lore past the experiments. Once the in character monologues stopped, so did my brain. I communicate through monologue to monologue communication.

American Healthcare is actually gonna be the main reason why this is so long bc it works Very Much for like three different reasons. One sorta niche and abstracter reason is a stream that was basically never elaborated on back in March, either the day after or very close to the peerpressure Egg confrontation stream. The egg called him a coward (for some reason my brain can Only come up with the “stop saying i look like chicken little. he’s dumb, and a coward, and i am NOT a coward” vine), and he is not a coward, so he decided to make an action plan to bring the server together by acting as a mediator for all parties and try to make sure that everyone is happy, because he’s the only one that can see all sides, or something. This was where he said the big happy family™ line but other than Ranboo Become Dream?? analysis nothing else really happened and everything went along as normal.

(I also always held a little bit of suspicion on this stream actually and thought it might be the influence of the egg, because it says it can give one whatever they want, and ranboo wants to make everyone happy and this was a totally foolproof way of doing that. Sort of in a similar way that BBH is convinced that his plan will totally make Skeppy happy. But also Ranboo is just like that, but this felt a little more on the nose than usual and he did fall into the egg and made his decisions after being egged on by it, buT WE’LL NEVER KNOW, WILL WE?

… also I really wanted to see more egg conflict at the time. Peerpressure rlly got involved in the egg plot for cameos at the banquet and nothing else. I do not blame anyone and respect the ccs for all of their attempts to weave plots together but also. also…. we.. we coulda had so much…)

That was a little off topic from the point, but… he really just thinks he can save the sick… he can see that everyone on the server is unwell and is wrong but, y’know, look inwardly, the unwell is coming from inside the house. And an inherent problem of the way that the server runs. And if this is still lowkey in effect or not (idk man a) ranboo has monologued a lot I simply chose a one off from march to grow emotionally attached to and b) i think that my brain has shut off once ranboo stopped solo lore streams), it would probably go the way that most choosing to change the system from the inside goes. Which is the point of the song and stuff! He will inevitably decide what’s too far, whether he will either admit it’s a choice or just feel that it’s what he has to do. The, uh, dealing with the devil, to be polite.

in conclusion (but we are not close to done here i’m holding you for a bit longer), i think a lot about that stream and i think that shows what he wants to be, at the very least, and continuing down that path would definitely go into being far more trouble than just a noble goal of wanting to help people, from negotiating with corruption (The lobbyists, the Congressmen and lies bit) and that the server can’t really be brought together and saved like that (When things are more and more this way / Sometimes it's like they'd rather die)

THE LESS. vwoop why have you written an unnecessarily long post about one stream in your playlist character analysis reason is both more literal and piece by piece and also Syndicate, My Beloved, you know the drill. We are going line by line because I have a lot of feelings about American Healthcare, apparently.

This also comes back to that everyone on the server is doing Really Badly, all of the time, but mostly his time in L’Manburg. For one, he is pretty complacent in everything and doesn’t really accomplish much in terms of actual change, so like Well people die every day / I wouldn't have it any other way / I just think they should feel good while they are alive. An example of this is Exiled Tommy — who I’d also metaphorically put as the dead man just for funsies, since Tommy’s whole exile thing was one of the first things Ranboo experienced on the server—as he did try to be friends with Tommy and keep him company with his letters, but he still has no power over the actual issue at hand. Just trying to make it a bit more bearable. Similarly is Techno, while Ranboo still participated in the butcher army that was trying to kill him, he helped in the meantime until he “died”.

And then it’s the Realization that participating in the system doesn’t really help much, and the subsequent Everything. It could be getting mad at the whole government system and that he didn’t mean to contribute to the harm, or how he fought with Fundy using hs ideology but not in the way that Ranboo thought. It could also be standing up to his hallucination Dream, in that he doesn’t try this hard to be a good person just to be accused of helping with all of the things that he may or may not have helped with. (That is… a discussion for not right now, I don’t know.) And I think this sort of area is also where it’s like they’d rather die is also relevant, cause Doomsday. Nobody could just set aside their governments and just get along, though Ranboo had his own solution to fighting and things.

And then he joins the Syndicate! And the lyrics of the song are directly Government Bad, because government bad. Canon anarchist, has done things that he’s not proud of as a part of the government. The lines it was the government / … It got louder over the years / Until all that I could hear was flies and all.

But honestly I think in the Syndicate he’s still trying to “save the sick”! Because the Syndicate don’t All fit eye to eye either. He’s the token pacifist, and a vote against violence whenever it comes down to it. Not all anarchists are violent but Techno and Phil will probably react strongly when provoked, due to All the past events, and I live in a world where their trauma and issues get talked about as much as everyone else’s. Since everything is decided by vote it’d probably be split between them and Ranboo + Niki, who is in her healing/no longer resorting to murder arc. He’ll help them negotiate and then everything will Be Okay, ideally.

(Also I just like the idea of Ranboo believing that he is helping the people he’s living with because canonically cc!Ranboo has said he just really cares about his family and the syndicate are included in his family shut up but they also just believe they’re helping him and yes it’s self indulgent. I care them. Particularly Endduo, actually, or whatever they're called, I am not bold enough to think Ranboo looks at Techno and thinks I Can Fix Him, but. Philza Minecraft will one day talk about his feelings. One day.)

There’s also radioduo and beeduo as of recent— really I’m just saying I think that Ranboo constantly has a Need To Help People, believes he can do it, and it will come back to hurt him in the end (except for the Syndicate because I’m in denial. The Syndicate can’t fall out if they never stream together :) ).

THIS CONCLUDES THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE PORTION OF OUR SHOW.

The Only House That’s Not on Fire Yet !! I like this one. This is also blatantly there cause Syndicate. They are the only faction that is not actively falling apart, and this could absolutely be because they never stream together. But I do not care. However we are also going to go through this one piece by piece because we’re nearing 1500 words here and I might as well embarrass myself more. I am writing an incredibly informal essay about Ranboo My _Beloved (i assume his middle name is My, and he’s just one of those people who write his full full name) and this is the third page. If you’re still reading this, I’m sorry. Here we go.

There are lines that just seem like an unwell but recovering person, and I like to sort of think that way about Ranboo in the arctic during the down time. “I feel knotted up today / But in a most exquisite way” and “I feel strangely regular / But honestly I prefer it to / The usual bizarre” are just! He’s just hanging out. He’s doing good. There is the acknowledgement that he’s usually not doing well, and all of the episodes that he’s had in the past, and it’s probably strange to be doing well in the midst of everything, and there’s probably something impending, but now? He’s doing good!

The verses directly after both of those ones are about uncertainty and trust and such, and I feel like that’s not necessarily about just One relationship but all of them. Will cause problems as long as he has an accomplice. He is not confident but he trusts and loves people.

“This suit doesn’t fit me / I made it conterfeitly” I just like to think about Ranboo in his fancy suit, but it’s just a little wrong because he actually has no idea what he’s doing. I also like to think about Ranboo in a cape to fit in with boreal trio and later the syndicate, and emerald duo had matchy blue outfits from the Antarctic Empire… and trying to fit in with them…. or maybe They make him something.. You know. Much to think about.

“Killing me with déjà vu” I think is like. A little less fun, because despite how well things are going, the enderwalk is still not resolved and he had even less answers when I started thinking “this is a ranboo song”. Just as it relates to having a strange sense of reality and stuff, which goes into specifics of enderwalk headcanons, which would make this far longer. Even though I’ve framed it as a negative, there is also the more positive note of “Oh! I just thought of how to change all the hate / Into love with the old switcheroo / Dancing in my déjà vu / You'll be dancing too” which I’d rather explain broken up but I feel like as it’s a full verse it should be together. The first part is connected to my general thoughts of him explained earlier tbh, he’s trying Very Hard to make everyone happy and fix things. And adding the second part to it is just like! He is trying to make sense of everything, and it’s not so scary as time goes by. Since the experiments where he’s been (questionably) trying to be more comfortable and get more answers.

This was very long. I am sorry. I am ending it here and probably not going to do much formatting to make it readable because it is very late o’clock and also this is four pages and 2000 words I am so sorry. But if you read this far then. Uhhh thank. ^v^.

#asks #vwoop.noises #☆graphite☆#Reader. graphite in particular. i am so sorry.#this is. kind of just embarassing actually #if you notice a tone switch at the end its cause i got tired and didnt want to finish this in the morning #and look at my past sins #2k words of analyzing r*nboo in the direction of some internet songs. not. the thing you want to think hard abot that when you wake up #ok i fell asleep looking at the post page. 10/10 #but uh otherwise thank u for asking (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

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rogue-bard · 3 years

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I was wondering how you make dice?

I’m interested in making my own, and I thought I’d ask about.

Thanks. ☺️💚

Hi!!! You have no idea how excited I am about taking about dice making haha, so sorry if I ramble on a bit too much. Also keep in mind that I'm a beginner and don't reeeeally know what I'm doing.

Because I don't know how to cut anything short, I'll put this beneath a readmore...

So, first, you either have to make or buy silicone molds for your dice. There are pretty cheap ones I found that are made in China; shipping takes ages and the quality was poor (on some molds, the numbers came off...), but with a little luck, the molds of the dice you want to make are good to use. I saw these molds on amazon as well as etsy.

There are also a ton of people on etsy who make molds, but they are pretty expensive (as you would expect for the work put in). I have no experience with making molds myself, but there are pretty extensive videos about it on youtube!

So, if you have molds, you need epoxy resin. I only used Dr. Crafty for now, and I think all of them behave a little differently, so I'm not gonna get into mixing except for saying that you need to follow the instructions on the bottles very closely! Oh, and I do it on the balcony because there will be fumes. I would not be comfortable doing that inside, even with a mask. You also absolutely will need rubber gloves. I am in luck to not belong to the huge percentage of people who are allergic to this stuff, but it's still really uncomfortable on your skin and it won't come off easily, even in tiny amounts. (For that matter, protect your table and everything that might accidentally come in contact. I use a silicone mat I originally had for baking. Stuff comes right off of that and you have no problem!)

Plus, doing this outside in summer has the added benefit that you can just put your resin bottles in the sun, as resin needs to be pretty warm to not cause bubbles.

You can use tiny amounts of mica powder for glitter effects (most normal glitters will be too heavy and sink), or large amounts for opaque dice. Less is definitely more, when it comes to mica powder. (Worth noting is that you might wanna look up if that stuff is ethically sourced before purchasing; I've heard horrible things)

Or, if you like transparent dice, you can use alcohol ink (though if you put enough of that into your resin, it will also be opaque).

You can mix and match alcohol inks and mica powders as much as you like and have fun with it! Or you can make dice transparent or in color A and then just drizzle alcohol color in color B on top and poke it around with a toothpick! Or you can use gold leaf or anything else that you can think of, to put in there. Just keep in mind, that heavy stuff will sink to the bottom (which is usually the "good" face - like 20 on a d20 or 6 on a d6; so sinking tiny stars or something to there might be a fun effect too!).

My epoxy resin is a two-compound resin, which I *think* all of them are, but I'm not sure. In any case, I put my colors into one of the compounds before mixing the two compounds together, so I have as much time as I want to get the color right without having to worry that my resin will harden too fast.

Once you've done all the mixing, you can bang the mixing cup around a little, to get as many bubbles out of it as possible, and then you have to get it into the molds. If you have completely closed off molds, where you put the top on after everything is done, the you can just pour it in from the mixing cup. In any other case, you need either pipettes or a syringe. I tried and failed with pipettes because I always got more air in those than I got resin, but I also never used I pipette before that, so maybe I'm dumb...

Once you've filled your molds with all the resin and stuff you like, you have to make sure that there are no huge bubbles in it. I haven't really figured this step out yet, either, but for some reason I'm doing better than a friend with a pressure pot... Just... Turn the molds every which way and bump them against your table? Idk, if that does anything, I keep hoping it'll knock bubbles loose and make them go up (which is why I turn the molds on all possible sides).

After you're sure there's no bubbles, put a bit of extra resin on any openings (except if you have a completely closed mold), as resin contracts when hardening. Your excess resin can fill in the holes that that will create.

Then that stuff needs to settle for however long it says on the bottle - and if you used a looot of alcohol ink and/or it's rather cold where you are, then you'll have to wait even longer. I usually just put my molds in an airtight box so the fumes don't escape, and then take that into the cellar, so it's out of the way, but I think it would be better if it was kept warm.

Once it's completely cured, you carefully waggle the mold a bit around the dice, as to not to rip any numbers off when you take out the dice. And then you turn the mold inside out as much as you can, and take out the dice!

If there's any huge surface holes, you can try to fix them with more resin... I just use clear UV resin for that, because that hardens in minutes. But ideally, there won't be many holes.

You can now either sand all the sides, or only the sides that visibly need sanding - whatever you prefer. I think you need to wet sand it, I think dry sanding would probably not go too well, but I don't know. I start with a 400 grain and work myself up to 12000. Now, that 12000 grain wasn't cheap and I think is completely unnecessary, it's probably enough if you go to 4000. Just make sure not to sand off any numbers. Because I've done that. More than once. It sucks.

Aaaand you're almost done! Just get whatever color paint you like (preferably water proof, if you like to spill your drink while playing...) and ink in the numbers! I usually go for acrylic paint, but only because I had that lying around anyway. I'm sure there's plenty of colors that paint on epoxy.

And then you just need to enjoy the nice click-clack sound they make in your hands!

I hope you didn't die of old age during this lengthy explanation......

#dice making #dicemaking

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onewfantaesy · 3 years

Note

Yes! Give me all of the old goodies! I want the good, the bad, and the cringe.

u asked for it!!! it’s terrible and horrible but if literally anyone wants me to go more into it i’d be so down to just starting writing shit for it. i’m straight up just gonna copy and paste it from the message i sent like literally 4 years ago also it’s long as hell so it’s almost all going under a readmore there were no line breaks i had to go put in every line break omfg

okay so this is both a bandfic sort of idea but it's also a high school sort of idea so just bear with me pls

so like,,,u know how taemin and kai went to the same arts high school??? what if,,,,and this is a big fun fanficy what if

but what if okay so taemin and kai are in one class yes because same school year if i remember correctly, then sehun and krystal are in the year below them i'm like pretty sure so they're also both in the same class just for fics sake lmao

and like,,,they're all just doing their school thing, and taemin and jongin sit sort of next to each other in their class, and by that i mean taemin sits in like the 3rd row by the window and jongin sits in the seat directly behind him so taemin's always turned around during breaks talking with him and playing like rock paper scissors and all that bullshit

and okay so lets just saaaaaay there was like an new reality-ish show, like that one show where taemin went to high school again with all those other idols and it was at an arts school, but like this show is for older idols to do other jobs and lmao this is why i don't wanna put it on tumblr or anything because it's so fanficy it's gross but it's so fun to imagine in my head and i wanna just headcanon it with someone who also likes the idea

but like so jaejoong ends up being taemin and kai's teacher for like a week or 2 for this show, and then fuck idk Rain is the teacher for sehun and krystal's class and when taemin finds out he's SO JEALOUS

"WHAT THE FUCK NO I LOVE HIM MAKE HIM SWITCH TO OUR CLASS"

"and get stuck with jaejoong, fat fucking chance lee taemin go dance to rising sun or some bullshit why don't you"

and also just because why not add more fanficy shit with something that's already so ridiculously fanficy and let's say taemin used to be fairly close with jaejoong before the whole ~lawsuit~ thing happened, and he used to maybe see him and the other dbsk members like once a week because he was close with them and they helped him with dancing, singing, etc whatever cute bonding shit

and then one day taemin went to go see them and jyj were just gone and taemin was so confused and changmin was upset and yunho was upset but just like "they left the band taemin they're gonna leave the company" and taemin's this lil freshly debuted kid and he just "but they didn't say goodbye?????"

and taemin's been so upset with jaejoong since that day because like he feels very hurt about them just leaving and not saying goodbye to him

so when jaejoong shows up as his teacher that morning, everyone in their class thought it was just a normal day, and there were cameras in the classroom but they also just assumed that it was something taemin or jongin related because idols in their class and all that so taemin's just turned around playing rock paper scissors with kai, and then the door opens and it's another camera and then a man walking in but it's right after the bell and no one's really looking so they just assume it's their teacher so everyone just "goodmorning teacher" in monotone voices because they have to, and jongin pushes taemin forward so he's facing forward and everyone just

"what's going on"

"taemin what is this!"

"jongin!! is this a new reality show??"

and taekai are just what the fuck because jaejoong is standing at the front of their class and that's definitely not their teacher where the hell is Mrs. Kim

and jaejoong explains that it's a new reality show, and he'll be their teacher for the next week or so, and everyone is kind of excited except for taemin and jongin who are like well SHIT because once their company gets a load of this, they're gonna be in a load of shit

and jongin just leans forward and whispers in taemin's ear "this is a load of barnacles" like that guy from spongebob, and taemin absolutely SNORTS so of course everyone and the cameras and jaejoong turn to him, and jongin immediately falls back into his seat and taemin tries to put on a straight face and jaejoong just

"taemin, jongin, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"no, nothing," taemin says, sending a very annoyed smile at jaejoong.

and then when jaejoong isn't looking (but a camera is still pointed at them), jongin leans back forward and just "we're good noodles" and taemin fucking SNORTS SO LOUDLY and slaps jongin away from him and jaejoong just

"taemin. stay after class, won't you?"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH”

everyone immediately just is like lmao u know how high school students are when someone gets in trouble lmao and taemin just huffs, and when jaejoong turns back around, taemin turns quickly to hit jongin on the shoulder and turn back around before jaejoong can see it

and like, taemin and jongin quickly become so annoyed with all the cameras, and like they're honestly just trying to do their work at one point and taemin is slumped over his desk trying to do the work with the person who sits next to him, and he just turns to the cameraman and just

"can u get that thing out of my face pls i'm not a cast member on this show"

"but you're in the class!!!"

"i'm not the only one in this class!!"

taemin is so exasperated like man i'm trying to learn i didn't sign up for this shit and then during a break someone like

"oh u know those things we sign at the beginning of the year that say we can be on media and shit for the school?? this must file under that, we must be one of the classes where everyone's guardians signed yes"

and then at lunch, taemin and jongin go see if sehun and krystal have this same problem and they just walk up to the classroom because it's lunch time and usually the teachers all leave right away and taemin just pushes the door open so dramatically like

"sehunnie!! you'll never believe who our teacher is this week holy shit!!"

and he just runs smack into Rain and just

"oh my god"

looks up at him with these wide ass eyes and he's having such a fanboy moment he loves rain so much omg and jongin has to like hold onto him to hold him up because rain just

"oh, shinee. big fan"

and walks away and taemin practically fucking FAINTS

"BIG FAN!! HE SAID HE'S A BIG FAN!! OF ME!!!!"

"he said shinee u dipshit"

"I AM SHINEE!!! I'M GONNA SHIT MYSELF!!"

"who's your teacher though don't leave us hanging"

and the other three come over and taemin immediately sobers up and just "ugh that fuckhead jaejoong i can't fucking believe this you know who's gonna get in toruble for it?? US. un-fucking-believable"

"you know, you never had a mouth like that when i knew you. also, if i recall correctly, i asked you to stay after class"

and taemin turns and sees jaejoong and a camera and he just "shit" because dammit he hopes he didn't get caught cursing on camera and now he's gotta have some fake heart-to-heart with jaejoong and he's none too pleased and jaejoong pulls him aside but there's still a cameraman following them and taemin is so uncomfortable and just

"please i'm serious get that thing out of my face"

"taemin it's just for a couple minutes."

"what do you want?"

taemin is just so upset and like he's so on edge because at school he can be somewhat normal but no now he's got an idol teacher and cameras following him around and dammit he just wants to go eat his lunch

"i wanted to talk to you about what happened when i left"

"no, sorry, i'm not doing this"

taemin just cuts him off and walks away, but jaejoong follows him and just

"why not"

"because!! that's a personal thing, and if you're only gonna talk about it because you're being filmed, then you really don't care at all and i don't wanna hear it. now can i go eat my lunch please, i'm hungry"

and jaejoong just sighs and looks at taemin, and taemin's just this sad kid right now looking at him with these big eyes and he looks so upset and jaejoong just

"okay. go. but no more disturbing the class, got it?"

"that wasn't even my fault" taemin grumbles "jongin was the one saying shit not me"

"don't let it happen again" jaejoong warns him, but taemin just walks off and goes to look for his lil friends.

also!!! kwonho is his friend from school right?? that's the guy taemin sits next to in class lmao i just remembered that, and kwonho is part of their lil group and!!! probably also moonkyu!!! moonkyu can sit next to jongin lmao so that's like the general gist of it i'm sorry this is so long lmao but i've had this idea in my head for probably a year now and it flows a lot better in my head than in writing but yeah i just!!! really wanna talk about it

and also another part of this au deals with a manager and is like mm three or so days into jaejoong being their teacher and maybe fuck idk kang hodong is a lil first year class teacher who taekai barely realize is there until they hear him crashing down the hall on day 2 and everyone in the classrooms goes up against the windows to look outside and see what's going on only to find kang hodong leading a bunch of firsties down the hallway as some form of prank or lesson or no one really knows what's happening, but everyone wishes hodong was their teacher after that

and anyways a manager comes one day to pick taemin up for a schedule and taemin completely forgot about it so he's absorbed in the lesson that jaejoong is teaching, and so the manager has to go straight up to the classroom to collect taemin because he forgot to go down to the office to get picked up and the manager just knocks once and opens the door and just

"taemin, come on" because this happens rather often but then he sees who's teaching

and taemin "shit" and gathers up his things really quickly and just tries to get out of there without some sort of weird fight thing happening and just "sorry hyung sorry sorry i'm coming!!"

"what is going on"

"what?"

"why is HE in your classroom?? and cameras???"

"we're on a show hyung can we go please i'm gonna be late"

taemin's just got his backpack slung over his shoulder and he's so anxious to just leave because oh no this is the angry manager and he's getting that angry look and oh no "get in the hall"

and he just grips taemin's arm and shoves him outside and FUCK it kind of hurts and fuck everyone saw and the cameras saw and just fuck

"jongin, get out"

"what, i don't have a schedule today!" jongin is seriously like annoyed like no today is a day off until like 6 pm fuck that "jongin, NOW" and jongin is so freaked out and he just "sorry okay i'm coming"

and he gets his things and he's hurrying outside and he just "how long has this been goig on??"

"what??"

"how long have you two been on a show without telling anyone!!" he's getting so angry and taekai are so freaked out holy shit they didn't think it was that big of a deal

"hey, do you have permission to take jongin out of class?" jaejoong is like worried like is this even legal

"you stay out of this" the manager Does Not like jaejoong. not one bit. and the manager like gets so angry and he's yelling at taekai in the hall and another teacher hears it and peaks out to see what's going on and he like grills them for not telling anyone that they were on a show and that jaejoong was their teacher and blahblah

and he asks if sehun and krystal have been ont he show too and they both just "yeah" and he makes them go get them and so they hurry down the hall to their classroom and knock on the door and they're so nervous when rain looks at them like

"excuse me what the fuck you're interrupting my lesson"

and taemin just "um, we have to, um, a manager is here and, we sort of, have to have sehun and krystal come with us right now, now, like right now"

and he's so obviously extremely nervous and the other two immediately know which manager it is just by how nervous taemin is and they start packing their shit up and they all hear the manager yelling for them to hurry up, and rain just "you two stay in here. everyone stay in here, you two come with me, you're going back to class"

and taemin just pipes up as rain puts his arm around the two of them to guide them back to class and he just

"i actually have a schedule right now i'm actually supposed to be leaving"

"then kai will go back to class and you can call another manager"

"um actually, rain, sir, i go by jongin when i'm at school"

"then jongin will go back to class, and taemin can call another manager to come pick him up"

"yes sir, rain, sir, okay, yes"

and by now jaejoong and the manager are outside of the classroom arguing, and a cameraman is out recording the whole thing and then rain joins in like

"hey can we just let this one go back to class and let the other go to his schedule why do we have to fight and get the children involved"

and then the bell rings but it never fucking stops and after a moment of confusion, taemin and jongin just look at each other like

"holy shit holy SHIT is this real holy shit HOLY SHIT"

and all the classroom doors close and lock and the blinds on the windows get shut and jaejoong, rain, the manager, and the cameraman have no idea what's going on but taemin and kai run up to their classroom and start banging on the door and just

"HEY LET US IN LET US IN OMG OPEN THE DOOR"

but their classroom president just "sorry we can't open the door for anyone until the lockdown bell rings again or until the principal says over the intercom that lockdown is over"

"hey kids what's going on??" rain is so confused and the camera is going between the boys and the adults

and taemin just "WAS THERE A LOCKDOWN DRILL TODAY"

"what??"

"YOU'RE THE TEACHERS OMG WAS THERE SUPPOSED TO BE A LOCKDOWN DRILL TODAY YES OR NO"

"i don't know???"

"OH MY GOD YOU PEOPLE ARE USELESS"

taekai are just freaking out holy shit because if they're on lockdown that's like serious they never go on lockdown unless it's a drill and they go back to banging on the door begging for their classmates to let them back in but their classroom president keeps saying no despite the fact that many other people are saying they should let them in

and taemin just "JAEHYUN YOU PANSY SON OF A BITCH OPEN THE DOOR"

"WHY DON'T YOU GO HIDE IN THE BATHROOM, IDOL"

taemin just "THIS IS WHY I VOTED FOR [insert girl's name here] INSTEAD OF YOU"

and the girl just "wait taemin you really voted for me???"

"yeah you're WAY BETTER THAN THIS PANSY PIECE OF SHIT"

"WHY DON'T YOU TELL THAT TO THE BATHROOM YOU'RE GONNA GO HIDE IN"

“WHO DIED AND MADE YOU KING?”

"IM IN CHARGE WHEN THE TEACHER IS ABSENT"

"YPU ONLY WON FROM LIKE 3 VOTES NO ONE LIKES YPU"

and taemin and kai just scream a little bit out of frustration before kicking the door one last time but when they realize that the supposed adults in charge aren't doing anything they just

"fuck this we're hiding in the bathroom until this is over have fun ARGUING IN THE HALLWAY"

and they run down the hall to go hide in the bathroom and lock the door and then over the intercom the principal just

"there is a man trying to take our student idols without authorization. the proper law enforcement officers have been notified, but do not let any of your student idols go with a man who says he is here to pick them up. this is not a drill. teachers, lock your doors, and keep your students away from the windows." blahblahblah

and taemin and kai are int he bathroom just laughing out of both frustration and a little bit out of disbelief that the school is actually calling the cops on their manager and then someone in shinee calls taemin, probably key, and taemin ends up facetiming with them and the other four see that taemin and kai are int he bathroom at school and just

"what the hell taemin you're so late for this recording where are you???"

"so long story short, manager hyung got the whole school put on lockdown and me and jongin had to hide in the bathroom because our stupid pansy fuck of a class president wouldn't open the door for us to go back inside of our class"

"what the hell are you talking about"

so taemin and jongin explain the whole reality show thing with jaejoong being their teacher for a week and jinki probably just

"you're saying jaejoong was your teacher all week and you didn't tell anyone"

"basically yeah and then the manager u fucks sent to pick me up BLEW UP AT US and it was not pretty can you please tell the NOT ASSHOLE MANAGER that i'm going to be late because THE ASSHOLE MANAGER is probably in the process of being arrested ~~thank you~~ COME GET ME. I'M LITERALLY LOCKED IN A BATHROOM. THIS IS NOT FUN."

and idk other people they were supposed to be on the show with that are just lingering about are giggling at the misfortunes of the young idols and lmao idk the asshole manager probably gets fired literally all our lil high school idols babies get in trouble for not telling anyone they were being filmed at school for a tv show and taemin makes up with jaejoong yay happy ending i just wanna talk about this so bad

Tbh I mostly just enjoy the image of taemin and Kai being followed by a cameraman as they run through the halls in their school uniforms to the bathroom because their asshole class president won't let them in because of a technicality and just shouting "This is BULLSHIT" and scrambling to lock the door to the second floor boys bathroom

Also just taekai and their two other friends goofing off before class and forgetting a camera is there and they're talking about a new movie or something and taemin just

"IT! WAS! SO! KICK! ASS" and alternating between fists to punch the air in front of him and they all like re-enact scenes they liked or whatever

And they're just being dumb boys u know and then the teacher and jaejoong come in and they all immediately scramble to sit down in their seats and just It's a really funny contrast to what they act like as Exo/shinee u know

And then Kai just "wait when did you go see that movie??"

"I went with kwonho on Sunday"

"WHY WASNT I INVITED??"

And moonkyu just "OR ME??"

"I'm sorry but you knew going into this 4-person relationship that I would have to split my time up between the three of you"

"Taemin fuck off"

Taemin is just unphased and continues "and that sometimes one might get more attention than the other"

"You are the worst"

"Thank you I'm taking that as a compliment"

And just uwu the four of them being smart asses together

And taemin just shakes his head and closes his eyes and shrugs like "I am a busy busy man"

And Kai just scoffs like "hey busy man, did you finish the math homework?"

And he waves around the paper that has half of his homework done

And taemin just Pauses

"I am a busy busy man who forgot there was math homework"

And he leaps forward and takes a piece of paper of moonkyu and a pencil and just "lemme see lemme see lemme see!!"

Because they have math first and fuck he totally forgot and there's only 5 minutes before class starts

And moonkyu lets them copy his homework and then the class president comes over and just "Excuse me IDOLS are you CHEATING?"

And taemin just makes a face at him and goes back to it, but before anyone can really say anything about, another classmate comes over and just "Oh shove off asshole, you copied my history homework at lunch yesterday"

And everyone just snorts, and he goes shuffling off to his desk

Everyone hates the class president because right after he won he became a dick about it and everyone regretted voting for him

And the girl who ran against him just "I told you to vote for me"

And taemin turns to his friends and just "I told you to vote for her"

"Taemin shut up"

"Never trust a man who only wears glasses in class!!!"

Kwonho just Shoves taemin closer to the window

#taemin #kai #shinee #jaejoong #wantonewsbabies #this is literally from january 4 2017 don't judge me #what should i call this #lockdown au #shrug emoji

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primrose-path-of-dalliance · 4 years

Text

prim’s wildemount map scale adventures

i apologize in advance to the folk that use screen readers for this post’s reliance on image references, i will do my best to make my logic and the contents of the images comprehensible in the text portions.

this post isn’t about spoiler territory either, so i won’t go into detail about how recent developments with e111 were the initial reason i started thinking about distance on the official wildemount maps. besides, i think plenty of people will understand when i say that my digging got a lot bigger than the initial question itself lol. regardless, i’m making this post in the hopes that it might be a little helpful for anyone dealing with the same confusion.

see, i realized the funny thing about the official wildemount maps is that they don’t have any scales. as a basic explanation, scales are those funky little bars usually found on maps that illustrate what distance on the map is equivalent to what distance in ‘reality’—AKA the scale of the map.

however, for whatever reason, matt and co. did not create any for the broader wildemount maps like of the menagerie coast or the zemni fields.

[id: two images from the explorer’s guide to wildemount. the first depicts the region of the menagerie coast and related islands in the lucidian ocean. the second depicts the zemni fields, which is the central area of western wynandir and the dwendalian empire at large. map scales are absent from both images. /end id.]

this was a little baffling and unhelpful, but i’m not here to judge matt about his choice to not include scales, considering how it would give people on twitter even more ammunition to rudely question his dming with.

but then i discovered that the maps of the major cities do have scales.

(continuing past a readmore.)

[id: an image from the explorer’s guide to wildemount. it is a map of the city of rexxentrum, the capital of the dwendalian empire. in the lower left corner is a compass rose illustrating the cardinal directions and a scale. /end id.]

at first, i was excited. maybe i could use the city’s map scale to approximate a scale for the larger maps. it wouldn’t be super accurate, especially as things got bigger and errors grew larger, but it would be a little better for some thought experiments than no scale at all.

but then it got weirder.

since the map of rexxentrum takes up a full page, the resolution of the image makes it difficult to read the map scale. so let me zoom in.

[id: an image at a higher resolution of the lower left corner of the rexxentrum map, clearly displaying the compass rose and the scale. the scale is a thin horizontal bar separated into four equal lengths of alternating black and white, with indicators claiming that each part represents 500 miles for a total bar length of 2000 miles. /end id.]

so. maybe some of you can already tell what the problem is.

for those with slightly worse spatial understanding though, that map scale is measuring in miles. and a mile is pretty damn long.

let’s have a comparative illustration from real life to show my point. los angeles, california, is the city in the united states where the critical role cast live and work and stream us their wonderful d&d games. the los angeles area as a whole is massive. anyone who lives there understands what i’m saying and has probably wept before while in traffic (and i’m sorry).

if we use the google maps function to get a distance in miles between two points in the los angeles area...

[id: a screenshot of a google maps route for traveling on foot from the olive view-ucla medical center in the far north of the los angeles area to the los angeles international airport in the southwest. the route is fairly direct as the bird flies due to the on-foot nature of the route and is labeled to be a distance of 31.1 miles. /end id.]

this is a pretty good representation of the distance from one end of los angeles to the opposite end. a modern city with a population of about 4 million people, filled to the brim with urban sprawl and suburbs.

and that distance is 31 miles, or about 50 kilometres.

that scale in the corner of the rexxentrum map? its claimed length of 2000 miles (over 3200 km) measures less than a seventh of the apparent width of rexxentrum. according to the scale, you would have to travel a distance of over 14,000 miles (over 22,500 km) to get from one end of the city to the other.

simply put, that scale at face value is nonsense lol.

[id: a screenshot of discord messages with no identifying account attached. the messages begin with, in all caps, “EXCEPT THE SCALE FOR REXXENTRUM MAKES NO SENSE” (new line) “WHAT IS THIS MATT MERCER?????” an image of the lower left corner of the rexxentrum map follows. below that is the final visible message which reads, in all caps, “DO YOU KNOW HOW BIG A MILE IS SIR. DO YOU KNOW HOW FAR TWO THOUSAND MILES IS SIR.” /end id.]

so. maybe you are wondering if matt, huge nerd that he is, is making some oblique historical reference to a previous measurement of a “mile” that is way shorter than the modern standard mile. that was the first possible explanation to occur to me! unfortunately, based on the wikipedia article on the mile throughout history, there is no prior known definition of a “mile” short enough to make this scale make any sense.

so maybe the explanation is a unit error. maybe it’s meant to be a smaller unit of length, like a metre or a foot.

i spent a bit of time trying to guess which unit it might be by comparing details of the map to each other, since there are detailed individual buildings and roadways illustrated. it quickly became obvious, though, that the details were more for artistry and not to a reliable scale.

so it was time to dive into the transcripts.

i looked for a point where matt not only described the length of time it took for the mighty nein to travel from point A to point B within rexxentrum, but a point A and a point B that i could locate with confidence on the map. i found a scenario that fit the bill in e86, “the cathedral,” when the party raced from the cobalt soul branch in rexxentrum to the chantry of the dawn.

MATT: [...] And you've stepped out from the Rexxentrum Archive of the Cobalt Soul into the wet, slick cobblestone streets of the city, heading eastward towards the base of the Shimmer Ward, where it is believed this cathedral, known as the Chantry of the Dawn, stands.

this bit (beginning 13:39) is the first clue in matt’s narration to locating the endpoints on the map. the chantry of the dawn is located near the base, suggesting the immediate south, of the shimmer ward, and is in an eastward direction from the cobalt soul. this is consistent with the relevant textual descriptions in the explorer’s guide to wildemount: the rexxentrum branch of the cobalt soul is located within the court of colors on the west side of the city, while the chantry of the dawn is near the southern wall of the shimmer ward.

[id: two images of the rexxentrum map. the first is composed of the center and western area of the city, displaying the labeled wards of the tangles and the shimmer ward along with individual points labeled “R7,” “R6,” “R3,” “R1,” and “R2″ from west-most to east-most. at the bottom is the map scale, added for reference, that measures about a fifth of the entire image.

the second image is the legend of the map, which defines a few of the illustrated details and clarifies the R-series labels. truncated to relevance: R7 is the court of colors, R6 is the vigil’s circle, R3 is the academy grounds, R1 is castle ungebroch, and R2 is the candles. /end id.]

as the party made their way to the chantry, matt revealed a few more notable details on where precisely they’re traveling through (17:18).

MATT: [...] Your [Caleb’s] eyes train on the rising walkways and towers of the Soltryce Academy that are peeking over the walls of the Shimmer Ward that you can just make out on the horizon as you pass by a series of buildings where the roofs are a bit lower than the other ones you've been rushing by. You can see pale yellow walls that surround the Shimmer Ward of the capital.

You begin to approach the exterior of the Vigil’s Circle, which is a region between where you are and your destination, as noted by the network of ring-like streets that denote the circular marketplace, some varied shops, and industries that normally fill this area, as well as the mini-fortress of gray rock known as the Tower of Writ.

the view of the soltryce academy is consistent with an approach from the western side of the city, since the academy is located along the inner side of the shimmer ward’s northwest wall. the placement of the vigil’s circle in between the cobalt soul and the chantry is also consistent with their depictions on the map, as the vigil’s circle is both labeled and illustrated through a pattern of circular roads with an apparent depiction of the tower of writ in the center.

anyway, the mighty nein had traveled a little ways into the outskirts of the vigil’s circle from the west when they were abruptly stalled by a giant purple xhorhasian worm coming out of the ground.

at that moment in time is when liam gets a travel time from their current location to the chantry (21:26).

LIAM: Caduceus just asked how far we are from the chantry. Would I know that?

MATT: You would know you're probably about, I'd say, depending on— with it being pretty empty, maybe seven minutes.

this brings me to getting a precise location on the chantry of the dawn. both the explorer’s guide to wildemount and matt’s narration only describe the chantry as located within the tangles and near the southern wall of the shimmer ward. that’s a wide potential area to be seven minutes from.

there’s a pretty helpful pattern in the map details, though. most landmark buildings are visible—the soltryce academy campus is clearly delineated, as well as the colorful tower rooftops of the candles and, as previously noted, the top of the tower of writ. castle ungebroch stands massive in the center of the shimmer ward illustration.

so if the chantry of the dawn is both a huge structure and a significant landmark, that should merit a visible illustration of it on the map.

[id: the image of the western and central area of rexxentrum plus map scale appended to the bottom, edited to include my personal labels. R7 is encircled in red with the label “cobalt soul,” R6 and the visible circular road complex is encircled in blue with the label “vigil’s circle,” and a large rectangular rooftop by the southwest corner of the shimmer ward is encircled in red with the label “chantry to [sic] the dawn.” /end id.]

the position of this large building fits the details of the narration and its description in the explorer’s guide—it’s near the southern wall of the shimmer ward, it is eastward of the cobalt soul, and streets of the vigil’s circle lie on the direct path from the court of colors to this building.

so there’s the approximate location of the chantry of the dawn. we also know the approximate location of the mighty nein on this map.

[id: an image, almost identical to the last, of the marked-up western and central area of the rexxentrum map plus map scale, but with a further addition of an orange star in the northwest corner of the vigil’s circle labeled “mighty 9.” /end id.]

since they had entered the outskirts of the vigil’s circle from the direction of the cobalt soul, they would be within its northwest area by the time they were interrupted via purple worm shortly after.

two approximate locations with a travel time in between means that now i could estimate a distance in length. so i took a look at the d&d official rules for movement speed:

a fast pace is about 400 feet per minute,

a normal pace is about 300 feet per minute.

for campaign 2, matt as a dm tends to follow the official rules. so taking into account how the urgency of the situation had the party moving quickly, along with the emptiness of the streets eliminating the variable of a slowed pace through crowds, the mighty nein are likely traveling between 300 and 400 feet per minute to get to the chantry.

with matt’s provided estimate of 7 minutes, that means the on-foot distance from the party’s current position to the chantry is somewhere between 2100 to 2800 feet.

[id: a zoomed-in image of the marked-up western and central rexxentrum map, focused on the vigil’s circle and the chantry of the dawn. imposed beside the orange star representing the mighty nein’s location and the chantry is the map scale edited to remove the ‘miles’ indicator. its position allows a viewer to measure the distance between the mighty nein and the chantry to about “1500,″ or three-fourths of the total length of the scale. /end id.]

since the scale there measures distance as the bird flies, comparing it to the probable distance the mighty nein had to travel needs to account for the twists and turns of the streets.

with that in mind, though: an as-the-bird-flies distance of around 1500 feet sounds like a pretty good approximation of the estimated on-foot distance of 2100 to 2800 feet!

so with that, it’s probably safe to guess the map scale meant to claim feet instead of miles as its unit of length.

so far i haven’t puzzled out how i might translate this into a makeshift scale for the larger maps, since none of the cities like rexxentrum are clearly illustrated on them. but if anyone was very confused about the unit of length for the city maps’ scales, i think i’ve reached a reliable conclusion that it should be feet.

hopefully some of you find this helpful!

#cr #critical role #rexxentrum #maps #wildemount #wynandir #prim post #prim says some things #long post #VERY long post #readmore #enjoy this dump of what i spent a few hours on thursday night out of sheer curiosity and frustration

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mcytblrprison · 3 years

Text

after i submitted that i fucking went and wrote more. its actually finished this time i swear. tw for dehumanization?? i think?? and some slight repetition. add tags as needed. also probably add a readmore.

The dirt and rocks surround me. The hole I dig grows deeper. There is no way out now; the earth commands me to keep going. It tells me to follow the call. I must know the truth. I have to find out what’s below.

There are no worms, this deep. There’s barely even soil. It’s mostly rocks and things I don’t understand, things that I never should have been able to see. But I see. I see so much. I can’t stop seeing.

It grows deeper. It grows hungrier. It demands and demands and demands, and I give what I can. It’s not enough. It’s never enough. It knows, and it wants me to know.

So I dig. I dig, perhaps to my doom, perhaps to something else. What am I? What am I, anymore? A mole, a worm? Or something different? Something more, something stranger? Am I the earth I dig, or the shovel I use? Or am I still human?

I don’t know. All I know is it calls me, deeper and deeper. I have to know the truth. I’m sorry.

---

I’m forgetting, I realize. There are patches in my memory where there should be something, but there isn’t, not anymore. The blank spots are getting larger and more frequent. I don’t know if I should be afraid.

There is something very old here with me. Something watching me. I know it, but at the same time, I have no idea what it is. It is a comfort, and a danger. I can’t trust it.

The call is louder, now. More insistent. It points me in the right direction. I keep digging. The rocks get thicker. There is no soil, now. No animals, no life. Just rocks, so many rocks of all different types. Minerals and crystals and just plain stone.

I don’t think I’m the same. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.

They won’t find me, down here. Not when I’m so far away from the surface. I don’t know if I’d even want to be found, anymore. Not like this. Not with it.

I’m sorry.

---

Deeper, deeper, I find remnants of something that once was. Grand rooms and furnishings, the remains of an old society, buried deep under the dirt and rocks and worms. I’ve been here for about half an hour now, just exploring. It’s fascinating, in a way. Morbid, but fascinating.

I don’t think this is what it wanted me to find. It’s still calling. Deeper, it says. Go down deeper. I don’t know if I can. But I’ll try.

I tried washing the dirt off my hands earlier. It wouldn’t come off. I don’t know what to think of that. Maybe I just didn’t try hard enough. I hope that’s all it is.

It’s so cold down here.

I’m sorry.

---

The deeper I go, the colder it gets. It feels like I’ll never be warm again. The chill seeps into my bones, into my flesh. I don’t remember what it’s like to be warm, I just realized. Add that to the growing list of things I don’t remember. It’s a lot, now.

The call is all I hear, besides deafening silence. There’s nothing else around to make noises, besides me, though I’m beginning to doubt I can make sound. It’s been a long time. I think it’s been a long time, at least. Maybe it’s only been a few hours.

My shovel gave out about twenty minutes ago. I’ve been using my hands since then. It doesn’t hurt as much as I expected it to, though the specks of blood I leave on the rocks say otherwise. It’s concerning.

I don’t think anyone’s been down this far. I don’t think this is normal, either. I thought it was supposed to be warmer this far down. Closer to the Earth’s core, you know. I guess I was wrong, or maybe I’m right and this place just doesn’t work like it’s supposed to. Wouldn’t be surprised, at this point.

I don’t think I’m coming back up. I’m sorry.

---

I only did what I had to. The dark is surrounding me. I can hear the call so clearly. It’s so loud now, I don’t think I could hear anything else if I tried. The worms I ate a couple hours ago are coming back to life. I wonder if they’ll eat me, in turn. I wonder if I’ll eat them back.

The liquid on my hands isn’t water but it’s good enough. I don’t think it’s toxic, or I’d probably be dead by now. Nobody’s been through here yet, but there’s a natural cave, and it feels like home. I think I’ll rest here, for now, until I get tired of resting. Then I’ll dig again.

It’s not as cold down here. Or maybe I’m just used to the cold. It’s probably both. I don’t care. I need to keep going. I need to find out.

I’m sorry.

---

I think I’m here.

---

I stand on the verge of the void, staring down into its many spinning churning eyes. It stares back, looks through me into my soul. It calls for me, tells me to jump. It waits patiently for me to follow. It wants me.

I reach.

I reach out, and I topple, falling into the void’s embrace. It’s painful, but it is a comfort, a home, something I can trust and feel and see. I am changing, but I don’t care. I am shedding, but I don’t care.

I did what was necessary. I followed my orders. I am not human any longer, if I ever truly was. There is nothing left for me on the surface. This is safe. This is home. This is where I belong now, a different person from the one that began, if I am even a person at all anymore.

There is nothing. It is cold. It is home. Thank you.

I’m sorry.

#B R U H #YOU SPENT T I M E ON THIS #submission #tw dehumanization

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