#// I'll provide whatever info of relevance I can think of

[unhindercd]

Bonding Experiences

[ The Visit ]

Cecil's visitation to the Auckland Chantry has been met with perhaps a surprising level of warmth for one not telegraphed as going to occur before it did. By extension, the cities Prince in general has remained incredibly welcoming. Voicing permission to his guest that they may do as they please, within reasonable bounds. Most of those bounds seemingly needing to go unspoken to one who is a Primogen of an old world city. Although more specific ones to do with 'Do not feed from xyz locations' are provided under the precipice of not wishing for any toes to get trodden on.

He carries himself with far more warmth in person than online, perhaps it is to be expected, perhaps not. He certainly mimics all the little subtleties of a living person far smoother than one would anticipate any vampire his age to - it makes his slight toning down of it on the evening he decided to corner Cecil quite the shotgun on the table effect. The threat was only meant to be subtle. Make clear that despite some of his jaded words he is happy for victorian pair, that he wishes them well, that he wants them to make the most of their opportunity, but he will side with Daniel if things sour in such a way intervention becomes necessary.

Beyond that significant encounter, he has mainly been preoccupied with work - and it has instead been The Twins who have served as Cecil's main hosts. The William's. Thea and Steph. They're identical for the most part, and mid-twenties at embrace. Having rarely hosted peers from their clan they're actually quite intrigued at the prospect of having someone new to talk to concerning Thaumaturgy for a bit. Especially someone born into the same generation as them. Thea being kept busy by Leo's work results in Stephan playing the predominant host to their guest. He's very proud of the library he's taken over from their deceased sire, noting his additions to it and the troubles involved in getting new literature down there. Aside from attempting to lure Cecil into conversations about rituals he'd of offered to play driver to show him around town. How much of his attention came from some kind of behind the scenes directive not to leave their guest alone and how much was out of genuine enthusiasm to point out places of note is never clear.

But Cecil is never truly left alone in the city. Danny is certainly eager to show him around once wizardly discussions simmer off in favour of the locals getting work done. Whether the others accompanied them on any such outing was something Danny left to Cecil's discretion.

A consistent theme of the stay has been Lachlan's repeated presence. 'Do you think-' 'So it's been since-' 'Do you know where-' Trying again and again to get everyone into a single room until eventually agreements are made.

---

[ The Event ]

The time and place are scheduled. It shall be an indoor affair set across the dining room table at midnight. Providing everyone enough time to settle in beforehand. It is seemingly one of the 'non-Tremere' guest receiving areas of the haven considering it's direct connection to the parlour and the wards upon the doors not leading back out to said room.

On the western side of the house it's windows stand open on this summers evening. The lace net curtains moving in time with the light breeze. The buzz of state highway 1 along the coastline a couple hundred metres down the cliff provides a background white noise to this undead gathering.

Full moon is the 25th of February.

Lachlan kneels on a chair halfway down the length of the old dark table. Hands picking at the decorative elements of a crystal serving dish. It's enough of a bowl to serve their purposes for tonight. Clearly picked from the hutch cabinet display down the far enough of the room given the the void left among the otherwise elegant display of precious unused dishware. He's donned his 'priests' outfit and eagerly awaits the complete gathering.

The households ghoul currently makes the rounds, offering blood of a (so far) unspecified source from a stone jug to be poured into shallow glasses. His name has surely been overheard in the last few nights. Ernie? Ernest? Can always err on the side of caution and settle for 'Sir' or no address at all.

The twins have chattered amongst themselves to this point, seeming more preoccupied with tasks outside this current gathering than those around their kitchen table. Stephan sits in a chair across and down the table a place from Lachlan, he's appeared the same every night. As if he got dressed in 1928 and never changed since. Thea stands directly across from him leaning on the back of a chair. Her long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, and acrylics tap-tapping on the chair, her various pieces of gold jewellery strike out against her otherwise fairly corpo-goth style.

The two's discussion has most recently turned to the those they're still waiting on - Prince Lehmann, and Malkavian Primogen Alexandria.

"Honestly, how long do'ya think Alex is gonna end up keeping Len for? Never bodes well when she's late to something - she probably thinks she has to leave at a particular minute or the car'll crash like she thought last I gave her a ride." "Eh- maybe? More likely he trying to delegate something that's come up at the last second. That or hitting every red light on the way back. He doesn't just run the damn things these days but I guess that'd part the curse of CCTV."

As if that be the magic word for Danny, he slips from his obfuscation. He hasn't gone far from last scene. His continued presence in the gathering long marked by a withdrawn chair besides Cecil's. He's curled himself into a ball, slipped so far down in his seat his knees are to his chin and feet rest upon the edge of the table with no regards to manners. It's a position he ungracefully shifts himself a degree upright out from. The latest phone he'd obtained is open to the notes app- and for the the umpteenth time he leans over to show the display Cecil.

[ 'Things are everywhere, think I could fill the footage banks of some with AI garbage some point?' ]

Arthur Hestor, commonly known as Wart, is not in attendance.

@earlgreyritae

[tired-reader-writer]

Okay so for some unknowable reason I fell into watching a let's play series of a horror game, and now I'll definitely be jumping at shadows for the foreseeable future until the spell wears off. I'm not good with horror. I knew this, and yet I felt compelled to watch it—

But enough about me, let's kinda vomit out the AU brain mulch that has formed in my head in an incoherent manner.

This has to do with Hilmes, Ranna/Ashaya, and the Haunted Temple™ that will be featuring in the fic.

I would highly recommend you check out the link first to get some context on what the everloving fuck I'm talking about because this thing ain't coherent, baby!

Also, some stuff might contradict each other, I'm still trying to suss out what works and what doesn't, this is basically unfiltered brain soup.

Folk tale added to the Temple, it's deep in the woods, “don't go into the woods, don't go into the ruins, it'll eat you up” is a cautionary tale everyone knows about.

Wonky time mechanics. You wander into the Temple, you've only been there for a hour you swear but you come back out months later.

Folk tale as a foreshadowing device: a royal princess was said to have been snatched up by a bandit in this region— some say she was kidnapped, others say she fell in love with this bandit. Who knows, really? Is the tale even true?

The above folk legend as a foreshadowing device for Ashaya being 1) a secret princess, 2) joining the clan though I guess it's not much of a foreshadowing since they'll most likely be gone w Farangis in the same chapter the myth is mentioned [because the clan got mistaken for bandits and got killed in the first chapter, remember?], 3) falling in love with Alfarīd aka a bandit.

The tale could also be an “explanation” for a princess that actually went missing— a young woman who wandered into the temple for some reason (unclear) finds out something so terrible that she can't bear to face the world outside again.

(it's about Kaykhusraw's betrayal)

I'm still not sure whether I'll actually keep the princess part. It could be a neat bit of foreshadowing for Hilmes discovering smth, maybe he sees an imprint of her, but I feel there's no way to communicate her journey effectively in the story since nobody actually knows what happened to her

Still though, I like the idea of Parsian royal women having worldbuilding and perhaps even plot relevance. I don't think the family tree thing from the novel extras (iirc??) even provided female members of the royal line. Tanaka, I swear.

It'll be forever before we actually get to that point but I'm actually worried about writing Hilmes' (terrible terrible) time in the haunted temple turning into a side quest problem if you know what I mean? An arc/event so divorced from the rest of the plot and world that screeches the pacing to a grinding halt. I mean, the temple tumble is necessary to his character growth, but it really has the potential to become... tedious to read.

For the record, I'm worried about Alfarīd and Ashaya's scenes having this same problem too, since they break off from the rest of the cast to have an adventure together. But at least having them have a plot progression that ties into other plot threads is easier than doing the same with Hilmes because they're not trapped in an isolated location.

Wait, info about the bells can actually be revealed here, and not have the clan remember throughout? Or if they did remember the bells existing then the locations of where the bells had vanished to could be received from the temple.

They'll need to decode it first, though.

Okay, I'm not sure what to do with the Rukhnabad. I was originally gonna have Hilmes not pull it out and cause problems but I... kinda need the damn thing for the plot. Maybe he gets Shooketh™ from whatever he learned in the temple that it compromises his ability to be chill about the looming threat and he yoinks it out of desperation—

(or maybe Ashaya can be the one to take it, as a twist, though what would their reasoning for doing so be?)

SYMBOLISM SYMBOLISM SYMBOLISM

Okay, so, death.

Sherine (Ashaya's original name before they changed it upon joining the clan) is dead. She died when she disappeared into the woods.

The clan has a death-and-rebirth thing going on. Someone joins the clan, they either choose to keep their name or not, but the self they were before they joined is gone, dead to the world, essentially. They could not belong in the living world, hence why they joined the “dead”. Folks who had complicated relationships with the parents who gave them their name, their old families, their old selves, those people typically discard their names (as Ashaya, Kashi, Kazai, etc did) while those who had a positive relationship with their families but lost them in a traumatic way would keep their names (as Farangis and Gieve would). I know I've talked about this before but I can't remember if I put it in a post or in a comment.

Y'know the changeling thing? The died-but-came-back-wrong thing? The same principle, it's not literal, mind you, it's a metaphorical, symbolic thing.

So, a secret royal child goes into or near this place and is reborn as someone else (Ashaya)

Only years later, another secret royal goes into this place, gets trapped in it, and is reborn anew (Hilmes)

Words are not wording rn but you get the idea, right?

Also, mentioned somewhere that the temple holds onto things of the past, aka if you have a belonging on your person that represents something from the past that you cling onto, bye-bye item, you're not getting that back.

Aka, the temple snatched Hilmes' mask because it's a representation of his fixation w the past and everything that's tied to it aka his trauma his identity his sense of self etc etc

Hilmes can't get out bc he built his everything around his past, ergo, his whole person is a figment of the past

Like recognizes like, hence why he's trapped until he's forced to build a new identity that doesn't revolve around his, well, everything

Ashaya probably didn't get trapped bc, well, kid's not fixated to the past they just wanted out (from their shitty family situation)

Bloodstains, screams, inexplicable items vanishing and manifesting, hallucinations/visions that were probably actual memories of the past, Hilmes is not gonna have a fun time

The temple's haunted but in like, an intangible way, so to speak? No literal spooky ghosts floating about, they're fused to the building so the building itself is a haunting, you get what I mean?

Maybe there is one tangible ghost Hilmes can actually see. Maybe two, if I end up keeping the royal lady.

Okay, maybe I won't keep the royal lady.

But something could guide him through this whole ordeal and lead him to whatever truth bombs it wants to reveal.

Could his parentage be revealed here? Unlikely, the temple's hauntedness is it basically reliving the past over and over, not much space for... hm.

Maybe Kaykhusraw's journals could appear inside— no, no, probably too far-fetched.

So many specifics I need to nail down.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Putting aside the murder mystery, do you think Chekhov’s Sicilians might be likely? Marigold acts like there’s a big problem, and besides Drago, they’re the only third party that’ve been mentioned at this point, and it feels like we’re a good way into the story.

this might be a bit of a stretch, but I got curious and looked it up. Drago is an Italian surname, but is apparently most frequent found in the country of Malta, an island close to Sicily… he seems pretty lawful good, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out some kind of connection.

i think we can have it all, i.e. i think marigold's big problem could be related to the murder mystery, since mordecai went from "well i wish i knew what marigold's big problem was" to "i am going to interrogate this guy marigold wants dead instead of killing him and hide this from my coworkers and get all stressed and say i probably shouldn't be doing this, in order to try to find out what marigold's big problem is, and bring up that i'm This Driven about it b/c of some perceived possible connection to the murder mystery"....plus how bobby arbogast said that "whatever's giving [marigold] the nervous twitch lately" is what's causing marigold to station agents to hang around / monitor / patrol the premises, which has caused the shootout on the lackadaisy triumvirate's end....which will presumably cause some direct conflict between marigold and lackadaisy, which is. a factor

anyways, that's to say it sure seems pretty centrally encompassing, and the Murder Mystery does too, and it's at least linked in that mordecai supposing it Might Be connected is making him act up and increase stakes, conflicts, possibilities, etc

to finally get around to an answer: yeah, i was kinda getting at a chekov's sicilians theory lmao, since like you say, they and drago are the only specified third or fourth parties out here, And that with any Mystery thread it doesn't hurt to be on the alert for anything that's touched on that you might go "huh, weird" or "huh, that sounds like something that Could be important" but then is kind of glossed over, or some other specific element of it is focused on instead, which in this case, is the focus on exploring a specific flashback / talking about the history between the arbogasts' funeral home and atlas / lackadaisy / viktor (& mordecai)....and it's a speculative leap to go "like, mafia?" but it's not as though that'd be so irrelevant when the general topic here is prohibition. but, whoever they are, they could still be Out There, active and relevant to the story. could've been after atlas, marigold, or both

drago's truly a mystery as well, still....his lawful goodness could sure be either "i love cops, let's keep it honorable lads ha ha" or else "i hate cops, i'm just infiltrating the treasury department, i'll help you keep cash from them / get phonecalls to potentially get out of here"....sure can't nail down naming conventions as hard evidence lol like catch us going "pretty Romantic name you've got there, horatio bruno, if you catch our drift" anti-italianly microaggressing the lackadaisy doorman, or "and they say [politicians] with [maltese-american] can't become [u.s. secretary of transportation]"....but there's the added reason to question drago of how like, gracie's saying that he never had any real info to provide, but that didn't seem to bother them, Like They Just Like Hearing Me Talk....what's the good of having informants in the periphery of marigold? setting up a really long con infiltration, having them keep checking in just so you know they're still there, and hoping it's now easier to plant people a little deeper and get Any Real Info? i'm not rhetorically asking lol, maybe there Is some high-profile treasury department raid Straightforward Explanation in it, but it's hardly guaranteed....

at this time in writing things out i went off and had an exasperating experience lmao, let's see if i can get back into the swing of things. okay, so. walking through a theory that [drago is in turn a plant at the treasury dept] it's like....for whom? so far, like you say, we don't exactly know of any non marigold / lackadaisy (or non feds) parties besides Some Sicilians. could be an as yet undisclosed fourth party. or some personal agenda of his lol. and he seems interested in marigold, and uninterested in lackadaisy....with the feds going through all this trouble with informants for no obvious benefit yet, and marigold going through all this trouble with those same informants for no obvious benefit yet, in that mordecai notes it Should Be ultimately more lucrative to keep them on & pay off some parties than kill these dues-paying people....and gracie saying he's never been able to give any useful info as that informant. if it's not about the info (or isn't it???) or not about the money (or isn't it???) then. then it would be about different things lmfao.

really have to take baby steps and go over & over some presumptions and scrutinize them....like my confusion about mordecai in the same breath seeming to be worried about "were marigold and lackadaisy at odds after all" And "does marigold know how atlas died. b/c i thought that i did" which, yknow. Might simply be interpreted, as gracie seems to interpret it, as mordecai thinking marigold killed atlas. but we know there's some other layer in whatever shared secret he has with mitzi....have to like draw out some axes here to chart like, [mordecai killed atlas: if yes, if no] and [marigold knows what happened: if yes, if no] and whether there's any fitting Explanation for each combo and what we've seen so far. going back to a thought the other day that maybe what was so [??] to mordecai is that asa warning mitzi and saying he warned atlas too implies that asa Doesn't Believe that mitzi killed atlas, even though that's the scuttlebutt, as they say. also, sidebar, shoutout to gracie's humor in duress out here lol, in times like these i guess all you can do is laugh....anyways. it's like, if mordecai's concern is "i hope nobody knows i killed atlas"....if he's worried that Marigold knows that, i'm not sure it makes sense: so prior he'd have thought marigold believed mitzi killed atlas, but he's not acting as though he also ever thought they might kill mitzi over that. and it's not like marigold's evidently suffered after atlas's death, rather than benefitted. and, what, are they just planning to kill mordecai Eventually? idk. feels quite shaky

i'm going down the murder mystery route here to be sure lol, but hey, can't really disentangle them, and It Is My Passion....the possibility mordecai is questioning The Leadup to atlas's death / whether asa Really Did Have Something To Warn Atlas About. what does that change....mordecai Could just really really care to know. or he could be like "someone might wanna kill me, and i'm only just finding out now, and i need to ascertain this"....probably not marigold? suppose it's like, maybe anyone who wants revenge for the lodge incident. but this is evidently a lot of effort for that, And when it's like....so these people start agitating marigold overall, while mordecai's kept in the dark about things, instead of marigold just tossing him overboard to deal with it? unless, of course, this is just a reignited conflict with lackadaisy And marigold from these restored third parties....in which case, not like mordecai has much to be worried about from them directly. much like: would mordecai be very worried about a federal agent going after marigold, or after him Through marigold (though a prohibition agent would surely be more focused on the bootlegging and its central agents than even a hitman, who also only has so much info to offer (does mordecai even get to know who's higher up than asa? hardly established that he totally does))

and there's the like, timeline confusion of: say that, for whatever reason, mordecai's concern is All [marigold knows what happened re: atlas's death? they shouldn't]....asa talking about Warnings is something happening After the fact, about something that would have happened Before the fact....head in hands baja blast Musing Hard, like, god how does it figure in....if mordecai killed atlas: he wouldn't question that, only question Why [these circumstances Really came about] or Who Knows About It. if he didn't: he could question who really did, and who knows about it; apparently either way he thought marigold was uninvolved and had No Info.

wait fuck there's also the fact that mitzi thought mordecai Could have told asa something. which doesn't exactly lend itself to the idea that mordecai would live in mortal fear if he thought marigold knew anything about anything; and he sure doesn't have so dramatic an immediate reaction, even if he's willing to pull a stunt like [interrogate gracie, Who's Supposed To Be Dead]

i'm really not exaggerating that i ought to like, make charts lol. visuals would only help organize some thoughts....

speaking of visuals, i'll break up some text with this next relevant point:

there's A Pause before mordecai dismisses "let gracie pin atlas's death on marigold to his contact," such as that maybe he considered it at all for real, and the cited reason that he'd be without a real answer....even though he sure might be withholding things from gracie here / Maybe outright lying about some things, but i also doubt there's much of that, if any....Is he lookin to join the loose ends club himself over a dead man? Maybe, i.e. this is all about Emotional Motivations re: atlas (besides that potential "i'm afraid someone wants me dead" re: atlas's Death)

there's also the thought i was having that like, i think having a diable thrust upon him that provides illumination, and this scene having literal And figurative illumination, does suggest that now having this drago thread is indeed Relevant to whatever mordecai wants to ascertain out here. mysterious how, as per the last panel in which mordecai asks if they meet regularly, and where, it's suggested that mordecai plans to meet him, or at least see him from afar / undetected....but probably the former, since what tf does he learn from what he looks like? he's not doing this For marigold, and even if he was, a name's surely sufficient. but what does he think he can say to, or ask of, a prohibition agent....becoming a higher up informant? asking for information about marigold? not like drago, whether he's himself a plant or not, would just provide said info for mordecai's peace of mind....of course, it being mordecai, he could try for the [interrogation like with gracie here] route. but that'd be all the riskier, surely. try to follow him home, and go through his shit later?? is it about wanting drago's information, drago Being the information....what could any of it tell mordecai about whether marigold knows things about atlas's death....

i've been keeping [and what of the sicilians, maybe] in mind while i've been going through these other thoughts, lol, just haven't found any places where it seems Obvious they'd fill in some potential missing detail. let's say they've been bearing down on marigold: mordecai talks of paltry competition, and is hypothetically bringing up [could marigold warning of competitors mean they know how atlas died??] like....how's it figure in. supposing they're bearing down by going the "we can do a federal raid, with plants," couldn't they do it just as, or more easily with just the nonplanted federal agents? how would that factor in to anyone knowing more about atlas's death than they should....the feds take him out to simplify some shit; marigold's ceo is worried about the same fate?? while the one informant mordecai's talked to is saying he never had good info for his contact, mordecai might not even know who he works for, mordecai might be on the right track by now knowing Of drago....waugh. or trying on: the sicilians are working With marigold, marigold's insulating b/c why?? lord.

mordecai shoots atlas, asa having warned atlas of anything beforehand makes him question if asa knows how atlas died....how? just b/c he doesn't assume mitzi killed atlas? mordecai didn't shoot atlas, knows mitzi was't even there when atlas died, it was a private affair, asa warned atlas of something and mordecai's questioning if that means asa knows what happened to atlas, which mordecai Thought was a private affair....

now trying to follow that latter [okay, suppose mordecai didn't shoot him either] idea further: suppose that mordecai Knows mitzi didn't kill atlas because mordecai was with mitzi at the time. and was told something by atlas such that he thought he knew what was going to happen to atlas, and didn't himself question this after atlas died....i'm embracing this idea that mordecai is all riled up on his Professionalism b/c his involvement in atlas's death is such that he did whatever he did b/c atlas asked it of him (generous phrasing on my part) as a Professional request. or order. so now mordecai's alllll about citing his Professional Approach; he does it at the end of his proper introduction, even. maybe atlas's "do it for the professionalism" directive was about mordecai protecting mitzi for him instead of atlas, as he usually did as that apparent semi bodyguard. maybe it was about That, but also about protecting mordecai, in a "i'm absolutely going to be killed; as my right hand bodyguard man you'll be caught up in that; so go protect mitzi instead. that's an order XD but really, it is :I"....whether That's what mordecai Blames mitzi for, damnit if he wasn't married to you he wouldn't have sent me to protect You from [whatever threat] instead and i would of stopped it, rip to atlas's self-defense abilities but i'm different

why would mitzi hand mordecai, gunman, a gun in that case....he probably has his own?? or maybe he doesn't, it was too short notice (unlikely....). or maybe it was mordecai handing mitzi a gun, instead, for good measure.

to be sure, atlas being like "the [threat] are after me, imminently. mordecai, go bodyguard my wife instead, as my loyal and Professionally Committed employee who's really good at that and i wouldn't trust anyone else haha get outta here" and mordecai doing so, grabbing onto that Professionalism with both hands such as to have a death grip even now, resenting mitzi for atlas's death (b/c mordecai couldn't be present, though he thinks he knows how it happened) has given me a pang....Possible, though still has weaknesses like "what would the [threat] be such that mordecai considers it to have been a private affair if he didn't shoot atlas himself (which, if he did, i'm also embracing the theory of: it was also at atlas's Professional Request / Order)" / "what would be bearing down on atlas with enough short notice / Certainty that he couldn't manage to avoid his own death despite seeing it coming at all, even if he sent his best bodyguard elsewhere"

whether atlas was slowmo diving in front of a bullet for mitzi here (figuratively), which, who would be going directly after her? doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would be phrased as Mitzi's culpability/fault....and, i dunno, if it was obvious that atlas died To Save Mitzi / Lackadaisy overall, mordecai might be devoted to either party. certainly atlas didn't request it of mordecai outright; while mitzi doesn't act like "oh i have to keep lackadaisy up & running For Atlas," rather than that she knows maybe it'd be better to close, but she's kinda doing it for Possibility still / old times' sake....makes most sense that of course atlas died Because of lackadaisy, but he didn't like refuse to take some approach in which he Could've Lived to instead die to better ensure its continuation. if that makes sense.

mentally rotating everything furiously, i'm reluctant to wrap up any of these posts as if i'm bound to just suddenly Solve That Mystery, what's new scooby doo....musing on the possible chekov's sicilians again for good measure....how much changes if mordecai thinks that marigold knows who killed atlas, and he doesn't? that he wants to Know if marigold Knows? that he wants to find out and get revenge on whomsoever it was, supposing in this case, of course, it wasn't himself? that maybe atlas lied to him about who/what was threatening him, whether or not he was then like "professionally shoot me" or "professionally leave me and make sure nobody shoots my wife, who isn't even living with me at this time, things have visibly deteriorated"....

augh it's quarter to one a.m. all of a sudden and i've mostly just talked about the murder mystery some more lol. but it's a "yeah maybe" from me re: your original question lmfao. and a standing invite to any and everyone to muse on this mystery with me / send insights/ideas

[reitziluz]

You could put the relevant flowers into the end notes of each chapter instead? It's your choice of course, but i recently read a six year old fic that required the translation of fantasy language words which were put in a tumblr post (similar to how you're planning). The problem was that the readmore somehow broke over the years and the fic writer had vanished at some point, so the translations were lost. That's just my experience though, you do you!

for a short list of meanings, or something as essential as fantasy vocab that's essential for understanding the fic, yeah, that's the obvious choice.

but you can look up flower language(s) (i referenced whatever comes up when you google "[flower] flower meaning]" and also some japanese sites) up on your own, and i would also want to write little commentaries or anecdotes about the plants in question. which would mean several paragraphs of text in the end notes. and, even though i wouldn't consider the flower info spoilers, some people do. being non-essential, making the notes unwieldy long, and counting as spoilers for some is why i've already put the rewrite commentaries in the comments instead of the end notes.

you could argue that there's nothing wrong in putting things like that in the end notes, and honestly, i agree! i just want to use the "more notes at the end of the work" link that appears in the notes on the top to provide people the chance to choose to view or ignore extra content warnings for chapters. and putting aaaaall this other info in the end notes might make people who need the warnings hesitate to access them.

but as i thought about this, i realized an obvious solution. duh, i already have the commentary in the comments! i can put the chapter's flower info in as a reply to that!

though idk, it also makes reading comments maybe a bit more daunting than necessary, if there's just a wall of text at the start...

... but then again, i have a whole unutilized fic just for spoofs and extras of shit-all! so i guess i could move all this there? i mean, i could then also attach the art i'm doing to each chapter's bonus materials!

(again, i could also attach them to each chapter, but i personally prefer reading my fics and seeing my illustrations separately. switching from reading to seeing an illustration can throw me off from a good reading hyperfocus, haha! plus in the bonus work, there'd be more space for image ids and stuff, if i finally were to figure out how to do them...)

lots to think about! thank you for letting me know that the readmores have been broken relativelt recently. i think i'll probably end up doing a hybrid thing, like both having separate listing posts on tumblr, and putting them on ao3 in some form!

if i remember/can be arsed ofc, lol

[canisitsnotlupus]

Hi, I just stumbled upon your blog, and I was wondering if you have any advice on training a dog to not bite? My family's fostering a 9-month old mutt named Kayla, who we've had about 7 weeks, and she's proving to be difficult. She snaps at people and very occasionally draws blood, and I've never heard her growl outside of play, and there's barely any warning of an incoming bite if you can't see her face. She's probably only 20 pounds, and though she used to let us pick her up to put her in her kennel, she won't anymore -- I'll sit next to her on the bed and pet her, but when my hand starts to go under her, she'll bite at it. It seems like she's afraid some of the time, but other times she'll go after hands like they're toys, and she's got a strong enough jaw that even those grazes hurt. She's just a foster, and there's a very good chance that if she bites an adopter, she'll get put down.

We're not taking her to adoption events anymore(obviously), but last time we did(3ish weeks ago), we had noticed that she wouldn't leave her stitches alone(she'd been spayed a month prior), and we wanted to show the head of our foster organization(lets call her amy). So my mother picks her up, and Kayla's completely fine until Amy starts to get closer to her, at which point Kayla starts thrashing and biting. Amy decided to have her kid(an adult) come over and hold the dog so she can get a good look at it, and then they walk away, with Kayla screaming and thrashing. When they come back, Kayla's stopped thrashing, Amy has determined that there's a stitch still in Kayla's incision, and Amy's kid has a gash in her hand from keeping the dog from eating somebody's face. Amy's advice is to never give Kayla what she wants when she starts biting, and to just wait for her to tire herself out and then keep doing whatever it is you were doing. We also have 3 other dogs, and they're not particularly comfortable with her, because she clearly doesn't get it when they tell her to back off.

TL;DR: do you have any recommendations for training a dog that bites people against that, besides "hand her off to a trainer"?

Sorry for the long ask, it's just that Google isn't providing any relevant results, and finding your blog seemed like fate. Let me know if there's any additional info I can offer that would help!

I do not offer training advice online unless I'm 1) being paid (nothing to do with you - I'm just notorious working for free a lot and it was one of my 2023 things to fix!) and 2) it is not aggression. Given this is aggression, yes, the only suggestion - and the only ethical one from *any* dog trainer in my opinion - is you need to find a trainer to work directly with you - preferably in person, as this is dealing with a dangerous situation. My suggestion for this is always: 1) vet first, and get completely cleared for any sort of injury/illness. 2) a local positive trainer who has experience with reactivity and aggression. 3) the dog is kept on a strict schedule that does not allow people, other animals, etc. to be put in a dangerous situation where they can be bitten while working with a trainer to find the cause and form a game plan. 4) look for a behaviorist if trainer recommends it or contact vet about anxiety medications that can help dog get into a state where training and rehabilitation can happen. My heart breaks for you. Aggression is so difficult and heartbreaking to deal with, and I am so sorry you're going through it, but morally I do not feel I can give you any advice beyond these bare basic frameworks I would suggest for any training issue. I know it wasn't the answer you wanted to hear. I am not sure of the wording, but if you meant 'hand her off' as rehome, I do not think that might be necessary unless you've spoken with someone directly that can help you. I also, generally, tend to shy from board and trains (also not sure if you meant that, I apologize) for aggression, but that's more I don't trust most trainers. I would find someone 1) positive based only, 2) aggression experience, and 3) that comes to your home to work with you and gives you a game plan that they will help you execute. Thank you for the ask and I am wishing you luck, and again, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I hope your pup recovers well from this issue and you go on to have many happy days together. <3

[tevinterdays]

Was anybody going to tell me Thedas has two moons or was I supposed to find that out while trying to research trade routes myself?

Anyway, I have thoughts about that and spent far, far too much of my night on this.

Laying it out:

We know the second moon is named Satina, but since we don’t know the name of the other, I’m going to call them the primary moon (big boy) and second moon (little guy) when I do refer to them directly. They would have different orbital periods (which should affect the calendar more, but whatever) and both have an equatorial orbit (like our moon does!). These are presumptions, but they’re also how things usually work. Especially considering that Thedas is habitable. That’s important to maintain.

Also, whenever I look at maps of Thedas in detail, I’m reminded that this has to be a teeny tiny planet. That’s not really relevant to this post, but it’s weird to think about.

The main thing covered here will be the effect of this on the tides, but first:

Flavor:

There are two moons in the sky! That’s neat and cool to look at! They would both reflect the sun’s light, so that would make nights brighter. This would have evolutionary effects, potentially, but that’s enough of a technicality in the fast and loose world of Thedas that I’ll pass it by right now. There would be more eclipses, which is also neat. Unfortunately, we never see both of them at once in the games, but here’s a mod to have two moons overhead in the Hissing Wastes.

Tidal effect:

This part is really long. Under the cut!

The primary moon, which we see in the sky in the Hissing Wastes, is either very large or very close in comparison to Earth’s moon (proportionally). Since Earth’s moon is improbably large, it’s more likely that it’s very close, which actually has a more significant effect on its tidal pull than size would (proximity > size; we see this IRL with how minimal the Sun’s affect is on Earth’s tides). The second moon is presumably smaller and further away, but its proximity still has a significant effect on tides.

Most of the time they would balance each other out to a relatively normal cycle, but high tides would be higher on average. Not catastrophically, but higher – and dramatically so when the moons enter orbital resonance (same place in orbit at the same time) and both of their gravitational pulls have affect at the same time!

Initially I thought that that would greatly impact coastal settlements and trade hubs, and it would, but not many that we’re super familiar with. Tides are greater with greater bodies of water, and a lot of the trade centers we see are around the Waking and Shining Seas (Kirkwall, Highever, etc.). They’re just little guys. Western Thedas is mostly landlocked as well, and all of Thedas is sub-equatorial; tidal pull with an equatorial moon decreases the further you are from the equator, since you’re further from the moon(s).

Let's look at some maps! Mostly using the map from Tevinter Nights for reference here:

Cities that aren't named are marked by little symbols that look like houses. I'll give crops of each location for a visual as we go, because everything is small.

Other major coastal regions:

- Tevinter is predominantly coastal at this point in history, but the Nocen Sea isn’t enormous; Seheron is quite close on the other side; and the coast around the Arlathan forest isn’t populated.

- The eastern Ander coast is paralleled across the Colean Sea by a Tevinter peninsula, if they actually make use of that coast.

- Antiva isn’t notably populated north of the White Spire (the Antivan mountain, not the Orlesian Circle Tower, which has given me some grief); its coastal population is on the Rialto Bay.

- Eastern Ferelden has a significant amount of coastline, but the Brecilian Forest blocks most of it off, and Gwaren (city south of the Forest) is far south enough that it’s probably bordering the planet’s Antarctic circle.

- Those little northwestern Fereldan islands don't have coastal focuses. Image from the wiki used because Alamar's tiny.

- Northern Seheron would be affected. We don’t know the concentrations of Seheron’s population. Much of Par Vollen would also be affected and the same holds true for them, but their technology (extremely seaworthy vessels, extreme perseverance, etc.) and cultural mindset lends to the idea that they would use the tides to their advantage strategically, as well as take advantage of the major boons spring tide would have on fishing! When the tide is coming in to its highest, it shakes things up and brings in all the fish.

- Rivain isn’t notably populated east of its dominating mountains. Its major population centers are in the Southeast, on the Rialto Bay. Except Llomeryn. Rivain, as descendants of seafaring islanders, would have a long cultural history of being able to deal with this anyway. Why is Llomeryn (little house icon on the east coast of the southern island) on that side? I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. It’s fine.

- I’m sure that Estwatch is doing just fine. They can handle themselves.

- Wycome is a major fishing hot-spot, taking advantage of the fishy boons the tides provide.

- Hercinia is coping, I guess.

In regards to coastal port cities on the Amaranthine ocean – the largest body of water on the map – a special situation may exist where they have ports designed to accommodate the very high high tides when they come in (how often would depend on the moons’ orbital periods and how often they are in orbital resonance). I’m sure there are examples of docks and ports designed like this from real life, and if anyone has info on that, hit me up.

This concludes the post about the implications of two moons in Thedas that nobody asked for!

Huge thanks to @feastforworms and @unshatters-your-teacup for science and input and humoring me on this.