#river babble

[river-death]

wish i was dead but i can’t take their older sibling away

[theriu]

FINALLY!!! Man I procrastinated on this, and then the site was completely frozen yesterday from all the activity. XD But I got my Art Fight page and trainer card up to date!

I'm mostly only planning to respond to attacks this year, unless I get inspired to randomly attack a friend. Yes, this may result in my getting no art this year, but hopefully this will be a nice easy way to get myself arting a bit more without overloading myself! My characters are more or less arranged in the order of how much I would like to get art of them, but they are all up for grabs. =D (And I'm pleased it finally occurred to me to include Ol' Stinky Jess on here XD I would LOVE some fanart of her!)

My Art Fight Page: https://artfight.net/~RiverBabbles

Happy Art Fighting, everybody!

(P.S. I haven't drawn myself in forever, so you get an old unshaded drawing of Random Food Word Girl. That's basically how I draw myself anyway, just with shorter hair these days XD)

[theriu]

:D:D:D

Artfight attack on @theriu!

[tofreezetime]

all the stepping feet

[asexualbookbird]

CURRENTLY READING MAY 2025

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

The people have spoken! @bigcats-birds-and-books got me this for my birthday, and @logarithmicpanda said I should read it, so this might be the quickest turn around from acquiring to reading I have ever done ever in my life. I really liked Time War, so expectations are similar!

[bonefall]

Stormclan is pretty cool, I’m glad they are a direct result of the clans and not Rouge Group 255674385 that pops up like Minecraft mobs at night

Didn’t ivypool kill beetlewhisker? Will they remember it

The mental image of playing minecraft and Darktail spawns on your roof like a spider, refusing to leave in the daylight and making annoying chittering noises, is magical thank you.

Anyway nah, that was Brokenstar. Ivypool killed Antpelt, not Beetlewhisker. I have doubts they're going to remember that though, and if they do, it'll be one of those "don't worry guys we TOTALLY remember the events in our series!" throwaway lines we've been getting recently. The type that's thought in her head or thrown out in passing, but doesn't significantly contribute to Ivypool's emotional struggle.

I think Ivypool's actually the part of this SE that I'm most apprehensive about, funny enough. StormClan's got me pretty excited, but my hopes kinda started falling when I found out Dovewing was going on the road trip. I do not like the story that the Erins tell between the sisters, and I feel like they keep getting forced together to "reconcile their differences" when it would make a MUCH more effective story for the two of them to not do that.

See, what I like about Ivypool is that she's grudge-holding and spiteful. I LIKE that she tried to leverage her sisterhood with Dovewing in ASC to try and make her manipulate her husband. I find the fact she tried to sabotage SkyClan's chances at the lake back in AVoS to halt Dovewing and Tigerheart's relationship, slighting her apprentice in the process, to be COMPELLING.

I ENJOY reading about Ivypool being nasty. Both a victim of the Dark Forest who was targeted because she felt alienated, and yet, someone who has found a way to use Clan culture's most unfair aspects to her advantage. She'll NEVER see herself as the bully she actually is, because in her eyes, she's permanently the underdog.

so... I just have absolutely no desire to see Dovewing and Ivypool be "close."

Every time it happens on the page, it feels like it's Dovewing desperately wanting her sister to not treat her poorly, or believe in her, or just stop actively sabotaging her life. Then, Ivypool realizes this after a while and displays emotional intelligence that feels unfitting for her character, and apologizes.

It feels forced.

Like it's just happening because the authors know the fans want it, and not actually what these two characters would do. You get me?

I don't want to see them reconnect. I want more bittersweet examples in WC where family members have irreconcilable differences, but now and then, there's that little twinge of love, that old spark that you pray, THIS time, could become a fire... but it doesn't. There's just nothing left to burn.

TL;DR I'm feeling overall meh about Ivypool's Heart but looking forward to seeing what StormClan's all about.

[fischotterkunst]

Don’t Starve makes me mad bc it will have u being like “this character is so well written and their story is absolutely harrowing, you WILL cry, this IS a horror game” meanwhile the characters are like

(please add your favorite dumb quotes/gifs to this there are way too many to choose from)

[fishandships]

What does Rosario typically keep in their bag on an average day?

ooh i LOVE this prompt i can't believe i haven't thought to do this before! i feel like the contents of one's bag shows a lot about a person.

everything is mostly to scale but the magnifying kit might be a bit smaller than intended. oh, well.

details below cut if anyone is curious :) (i put WAY too much thought into the specifics here alsdkjf)

modified haversack: Rosario's bag is a Union-issue Civil War haversack, which, like most of their gear, they purchased at a pawn shop. it's supposed to be worn like a backpack, but Rosario removed the shoulder straps and replaced it with one that can be secured around their waist.

pocket first-aid kit: stocked with standard supplies and a few herbal remedies of Rosario's own making.

rolled leather pencil case: contains both graphite pencils and charcoal (the latter also having been made by Rosario).

leather-bound sketchbook: one of very few among Rosario's possessions that was bought brand-new. the leather cover protects it from the elements for field sketching and note-taking. if they don't have their bag on them for whatever reason, they always at least carry a sketchbook and some manner of writing utensil.

magnifying kit: including both magnifying glass and monocular, for examining more diminutive flora and fauna. it saw a fair bit of use before falling into the hands of its current owner and subsequently surviving more than its share of misadventures.

scale: a treasured gift from Luchino, a very functional memento of intent to protect.

cameo: a treasured gift from Andrew featuring a purple iris. he carries its twin.

quartz point: a treasured gift from Norton, valued for its sentimental quality rather than its monetary worth.

comfort bird: a treasured gift from Bane which he carved from an elk antler. it is perfectly shaped to the palm of the hand, and the smooth surface makes it especially soothing to hold.

hard candies: Rosario relies on these to help them focus (and they have an incorrigible sweet tooth). hard candies are preferable to others only because they don't melt quite as easily.

foraging pouch: made of leather and well-worn. Rosario usually carries at least one or two of these to safely carry interesting specimens home with them.

birdseed: a treat to attract feathered friends.

watercolor box & paintbrushes: the one thing other than sketchbooks on which Rosario was willing to splurge. this is a small, durable field kit designed for quick color sketches rather than masterpieces.

--

not pictured but also always present on their person: their precious binoculars, which they wear around their neck, and the little foraging knife they keep in their pocket for collecting floral and fungal specimens and stabbing a bitch if need be

[aterfish]

My dude. There are pretty rocks everywhere. And you can just pick them up and take home with you. This world is full of treasures fr

[oddozz]

Of course Arthur Lester is the leader of the random body parts church. Of course he is. Wouldn't be proper otherwise

[lemonlilactea]

Saw a post abt disliking River for being tradmasc and a cop and like. 1) I'm not replying to their post bc I don't feel the need to bother them just bc I think different and 2) this might get long

River, at first, yes. Very macho and a cop. Sure. But get to know him, in the game? He's a family man, he loves them above all, above the law. He literally loses the cop job, because he's a "bad cop" aka not willing to ignore the corruption in his own career. He's a good cook, he's a sweetheart, he's a little shy but still up front with his feelings. He's not just a big macho dude cop, he's a private investigator, he wants to do good, he wants to love people and not be punished for trying to do The Right Thing and like

Im not straight. I'm not cis. I am a big, big ACAB person irl

But this is a Game and he is a character and none of this is that deep. I just wanted to get it out i think

[robnikmeria]

pst pst pst do you have any robnikmeria circa season 2 thoughts

OMG🙀 circa s2 is so so fascinating to me cause that’s when they meet…Nymeria had gotten hurt in battle and Robb’s going crazy looking for her and Nik’s there, this odd cloaked figure, tending to her.

It’s so wjwkekekeke robnik are very funny during early season 2, constantly butting heads. Robb doesn’t trust him at ALL (valid tbh I wouldn’t trust nik either) and calls him a witch (which like yes…he’s right) meanwhile nyms more open to the prospect of getting to know him cause he kinda saved her life…

It’s a lot of robnik bickering and nym mediating…it wasn’t until nik offered some useful info regarding the area that robb starts easing up a bit and trusting him because nik HAS been helpful.

God just thinking of all the moments they’ve found nik watching the sun rise or trying to patch someone up…the times where once they’ve started to trust him a bit more, Robb and Nymeria sit with him to watch the sun rise. Just a moment of silent peace before they have to redirect back to the war.

I think Robb, Nik, and Nym all bounce off of each other very very well. Always throwing ideas around in a circle while strategizing.

They get together after nik risks his neck for them in a very major way during battle hehe kinda a heat of the moment thing. It turns into nik sleeping in their tent. They have to be sooo careful and sometimes he does have to go to his own spot to sleep but when they can, nik does join them. Ik Nik’s all :// and will come up behind robb all quiet “you need to rest.” “I just need to finish this—“ “you’ll end up slaughtered on the field if you do not rest ://“ nik doesn’t mince his words and he WILL carry robb to bed if he has to. Nym will be all :( literally can’t sleep without you :( as a way to convince him to come to bed 😭😭😭

It just makes me buzz cause the tenderness in between battles and the patching each other up…Ik robb and nym were gagged when nik took off his mask and he was some pretty boy !!! But it’s so…their chemistry is insane. It’s something even catelyn noticed which has her concerned due to the implications of nik being a man 😭

ALSO ALSO he’s not GREAT at it like Davos is but nik wood carves to keep his hands busy. He carved a little wooden wolf for robb :’) it’s a little misshapen and odd looking but its a wolf and robb treasures it 😭😭😭 and another thing is before nik goes off to find jaime after his escape, nym gives him one of her signet rings just so he could have something if hers…it’s small, and gold (he’s a silver boy), and it really fits only on his pinky and I’m not sure it goes past his knuckle but :’) he wears it all the time under his gloves and it has a sun carved into it and he tends to fidget with it in private when he’s anxious.

Robb fiddles with the wooden wolf nik carved when he’s at his desk sometimes…Ik nyms happiest moments when the three of them get to lay together, her tucked safely between them in their arms…I’m sick I love them sm

[baublekute]

Oh! Forgot to log this into the forever archive...

Me: Plays BG3, falls in love with Wyll. Becomes absolutely useless until the game is complete.

IRL Husbandu: "I lost my wife to another pixel man just when I got her back from another one [River Ward]".

[tofreezetime]

inhale deeply

and exhale completely

[kinocharlley]

Yea sex is great but being on train when it passes over a river is better

[bonefall]

the cats of the park is just frostpaw finally getting some therapy

tbh tho I feel like them being separate from clan life would help her immensely. They’re not so wrapped up in this culture of battle so they have a new and refreshing perspective (and also frost doesn’t have to worry about ulterior motives because they are STAYING AWAY from THAT trainwreck that is the clans)

(Future edit: this ask is a follow up to this one)

RE: Nothing in BB!ASC is set in stone until the arc is done BUT

One excellent thing ASC has done with the Park cats that is commendable, is that they're treated as legitimate. Not inferior or malicious. They're just another culture that Frostpaw is going to learn from. The bar is UNDERGROUND but we've finally hopped over it.

So I'd want to keep and acknowledge that.

I think I might have an interesting idea for Frostpaw's journey. Also, side note... I'm thinking BB!ASC will rename every book because these titles are actually awful, im sorry. So I'd call this one ASC: The Source of the River

Gonna jot these down;

So, to begin with, Frostpaw calls the human. While being heavily sedated, she has her first vision of Riverstar.

FROSTPAW DOES NOT HAVE A SPECIAL CONNECTION TO STARCLAN.

She NEVER would. Screw that. Instead-- learning to connect to this vision of Riverstar, to her ancestors and their wisdom, is a SKILL she would learn.

Frame the journey less as Riverstar's Side Quest and more as Frostpaw chasing the Revelation she had while anesthetized.

So when she wakes up, she's thinking about how incomprehensibly VAST Riverstar was. She can't even imagine how there's enough space in the world to contain such a being.

Even the Lake itself... the lake is just a droplet, being suckled like a kit on the teat of the Southern Inlet river

For a second, her troubles seemed like a small flea on the nose of a great, cosmic being. But as she reconnects with the mortal plane after her dream, the flea becomes an infestation. She doesn't know where to begin, or how she can save her Clan.

She thinks back to Riverstar. The river that feeds the Lake. Was that what he was trying to tell her? That she has to follow it to the source?

STOP 1: RIVER WARD

The BB!Tribe is massively overhauled. The Tribe of Rushing Water defines themselves as three Wards (Cave, Mountain, River), connected by living on the same stretch of river.

From them, she learns about connections. They are simply able to call upon each other for all they need, there's no need to "appoint" someone to manage everything.

Families and friends hold each other accountable, networking and negotiating constantly. When the group must act as one, it casts stones.

Their Stoneteller is a religious leader, but all cats connect with their ancestors by personally interpreting omens, even without needing to go see him.

(Contrast to BB!Clans, whose Clerics are the KEEPERS of holy knowledge, and it is a sin to interpret StarClan's will on your own)

Yet, there are downsides. She can see ostracised cats who skirt at the edges of the Ward, especially the descendants of a particular group (called Flicks) that she learns once tried to invade the River Ward.

Though they welcome travellers and have a positive view of Clan cats as "family," she learns that they freeze out those who break taboo. Even for smaller offenses-- social faux pas and personal disputes have caused rifts within the Ward.

And the personal omen interpretation means that two cats can try and justify their feelings with religious commands, leveraging any "soothsayer" (particularly religious cats) connections they have like a social pissing match, unless they're both willing to get dragged to Stoneteller.

From all this, Frostpaw learns that she CAN connect to Riverstar and her ancestors, even if she can't speak to them... and that she must LISTEN. Not allow herself to twist her ancestor's words.

And all the Wards are connected, by the source of a river. Suddenly she answers her question.

"How could the world be big enough to contain a being like Riverstar?" Because water isn't all in one place. It's everywhere. It pools where it can and flows where it cannot.

And yet-- a single people is connected by its water. Three wards, one River. Five Clans, one Lake... three siblings, one belly.

Her heart aches thinking about Curlfeather.

She thinks of when quarreling Tribemates are brought to Stoneteller to arbitrate, and be taught the truth. Brought up the river, to its source at the waterfall.

That has to be it! The source, the BEGINNING.

Stop 2 would be WarriorClan as she heads south, but I'm not sure what they'd teach her yet lmao. Monkeystar says "Hi! Do you want to learn how to play a kazoo"

STOP 3... I'd want to rename the Park Cats. Maybe the New Park cats.

(evil brain: "Neopark. Make terrible petsite joke. Be reincarnated as a lotus flower)

There would also be a BIG recap of Ancient Park culture, and the River Kingdom. Frostpaw knows they had KINGS.

And a lot of aspects that modern Clan cats have-- ceremonial sparring, mentors and apprentices, the Law of the Deputy... those came out of the River Kingdom, before its collapse in the Code Era.

But these cats are NOTHING like the glorious tales of a Kingdom warrior. In fact... this is THE park!

THE park that was destroyed, which King Arc-of-Park lead his people away from. How could it have been ruined if it's still here?

(Reality: the Park was shrunk and landscaped. It was destroyed in that time to the perspective of cats. Maybe she'll have some visions of the past through meditation...)

But the survivors, and those who chose not to follow their King... they remained. And they continue to thrive.

Like canon, have them teach her the ability to meditate. Unlike Tribe cats, meditation is about SIGNS, not OMENS. Omens are physical. Signs are psychic.

(Also i like Bee so im probably gonna keep him as Frosty's yoga coach)

She sees Riverstar a few times, has details of Curlfeather's scheme revealed to her in enough chunks to piece together,

but is eventually bowled over when her best, most productive meditation yet... results in a black shadow.

He has a shining pearlstone adorning his head, and deep, wet pools for eyes. Very few other features can be made out, besides his paw, which is shockingly normal compared to his wraith-like body.

Somehow, Frostpaw understands she is looking at a Patron. But she doesn't know who he is until he tells her, he is King Arc-of-Park.

Though remembered, he is not invoked often. The details of his appearance are lost. All that remains of him is his paw-- carried on in a few expressions and the -paw suffix. The one which Frostpaw herself currently bears.

Since Riverstar, his beloved son, so rarely speaks in straightforward terms, he has come to give Frostpaw her answers.

But before she speaks, trembling with desire for finally FINALLY getting the truth, almost frozen by the sheer volume of things she needs to know, he stops and tells her,

"You have earned the truth, Frostpaw. Be not afraid to ask for what you are owed-- but we only have time for three questions, and I shall ask three in turn."

Question 1: "What did you need me to learn?"

"Many things. How to find your own answers. The perspective of the thousand eyes you've met. The wisdom that only a pilgrimage can bestow. I, too, was no leader before I brought my people up the river, and now you too must save RiverClan. Have you learned what we sought to teach?"

She feels unsure... "I don't think I can know if I have, until I go home."

Even though he has no mouth, she can hear his smile, "That is a yes, child."

Question 2: "What am I learning about RiverClan and its history, if these New Park cats are nothing like my Kingdom ancestors?"

He hums, "You have come to the source of the river, and are vexxed to not find the water that is already swirling downstream? No cat stands in the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and they are not the same cat. Are my people gone, Frostpaw, or do they live on?"

Stunned, her jaw hangs open ever so slightly. She thought she knew the answer right away, but his simple question becomes a riddle on her tongue.

He tells her not to worry. She does not need to answer his questions immediately, as they're running out of time. Ask your last.

Question 3: "...did my mom love me?"

IMMEDIATE, "she did. Child of my distant blood, she loved you like a king loves his prince. Ferociously, ambitiously... selfishly."

He cradles her face in his one, massive, silk-soft paw, like he's reaching out of the shadows, across time itself. His last question, "She put you in a terrible position, didn't she?"

A lifetime's worth of love and agony bubbles out of the kid, "SHE DID. She DID and I never did ANYTHING to deserve this, I did everything she told me, and I just wanted to make her happy, and... and i miss my mom."

When she returns from her trance, she's crying.

But her companions are here to help her unpack all of what she just learned.

Will probably end up letting her recruit a little DND party lmao... maybe one cat from each pit stop. Heartstar shouldn't be the only girlie who's allowed to get expansion packs.

Make a little found family here that Frostpaw returns home with.

RE: NOT. CONFIRMED YET. NONE of this is BB canon yet. Just thoughts I need to get down.