#*❈ ‣ interaction — more of a lark than a dove.

[fanstuffrantings]

Going to ramble for a bit about some alterations I made to team CRDL. I'll put it under the cut for anyone curious:

Cardin first: I wanted to bump up red as a color. I'm fairly certain brown is what they use on his wiki but since I think a Cardinal was his design bird I wanted to draw visuals from that. I didn't change a whole lot because his design is the most unique next to russels but I figured the jacket would give him a feather look. The jacket is also heavily inspired visually from 1860s military jackets which was when the Winchester gun company was founded and since in my rewrite he's the heir to an old money weapons company and I'm leaning into Winchester as a name mattering i thought it could be fun to play with. His hair was more obvious, I wanted to mimic a Cardinals head.

For anyone curious I think he like Weiss would have a genetic Semblance that allows him to lock onto someone or something he sees in a fight and know where they are at all times. But at least at the start he can only do it with one person and it requires concentration.

I think his family would be from Atlas and him and Weiss would've seen each other sometimes at the same parties. Not exactly friends but familiar with each other.

Russels design always bothered me but I couldn't figure out why. I didn't want to completely change it but I did need to alter it. So I thought why not up the punk factor and make him look more like he'd be the one surviving a rougher life style since in my rewrite he's from a mountainous town that deals with a lot of Grimm. He got freckles to match the spots on his namesake bird a long with a more pointed nose. I also altered his Mohawk to have it cover to his hairline.

His semblance was a bit trickier but I thought the ability to silence himself and the things he interacts with to make himself almost undetectable would make sense for his history.

I'd say he's from around Vale and a less notable family.

For Dove his colors were altered and since he's supposed to be the best fighter on the team I thought making him the most militaristic of the group would be a good idea. I shortened his hair to match the headshape if a bronzewing bird a long with changing his nose shape to match how it's beak is. His eyebrows were based off a picture I used for reference from the bronzewing and his heterochromia was to add in some of the rainbow colors you can find on their wings.

By the start of rwby he wouldn't have his semblance figured out yet because he'd be focused on honning his physical skills.

I'd place him from atlas and a military family.

Sky had the least character information but I remembered seeing he was more social so I figured making him a more flirtatious/showy character could round the team. His hair was once more altered a bit to match how a Skylark's feathers lift on their heads. In my rewrite I have him be from a family of musicians since larks are songbirds which adds to why his outfit would be more ostentatious than the rest of his group. His design gave me the most trouble since I enjoy designing more medival/dnd fantasy characters than the more modern that rwby is known for. As such his clothing may change.

His semblance would allow him to shake the vestibular. Which is a part of the ear that helps people keep balance. To do this he does have to sing.

I think him potientially being from a musical family in vacuo could be interesting.

[morvantmortuary]

I posted 2,470 times in 2022

That's 1,721 more posts than 2021!

223 posts created (9%)

2,247 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@spectrologie

@marypsue

@paranormalyyourz

@spookyloop

@somethingthatsaysbubbles

I tagged 1,655 of my posts in 2022

Only 33% of my posts had no tags

#maxi vibes - 322 posts

#nice people - 210 posts

#rora vibes - 209 posts

#hector vibes - 184 posts

#the morvants and their readers - 122 posts

#morvant mortuary - 118 posts

#and then rarae says - 101 posts

#general morvant vibes tbh - 100 posts

#greymoon vibes - 71 posts

#maxi morvant - 65 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i cannot tell you how bad i want the hearse or the mustang to pull up in my parents’ driveway rn and be like ‘get in we’re bustin’ you out’

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

and absolutely no one’s dead (pt. I)

Maxi Morvant x genderqueer/non-binary & plus-sized Reader, 18+ 

Epilogue for the October Arc

summary: after the events of Halloween, you and Maxi get used to a new normal. Hector makes an unsettling discovery and then an interesting one. Rora is plotting something.

warnings: description of a panic attack, mentions of death/funerals, some minor stalking but it’s fine. Things don’t get gory and/or sexy until pt. II.

general: *facedesk* I meant to have this up before Xmas, and now it’s nine days until Valentine’s Day. I think I’m going to just do my best not to tie chapters to holidays anymore, bc we’ve seen how that goes :’D though I’m absolutely still planning some shorter things for V Day don’t get me wrong

so this is maybe... less an epilogue, and more a setting up of Arc II, because more questions developed here than maybe got answered. But I’ve been looking forward to sharing it with y’all for a while, and can’t wait to see what y’all think!

as you can guess, it’s posted in two parts bc it’s Long :’D longer than spellbound (reprise) bc apparently I can’t shut up

okay, enough of me, here we go! thanks for your patience, as always!!

See the full post

32 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

#4

For the smut prompts: Maxi with 69 please?

“I’ll take care of you.”

Oh man, Sarah. I had entirely too much fun with this. I had no idea this little phrase would set off my brain this way.

to discover us would be fatal -

(18+, nsf tumblr/ios/apple below. the closest thing to dark!maxi I’ve ever gotten. established daddy kink, breeding kink if you squint. oral (afab receiving), bondage, blindfolding, knife kink, blood kink, fluids eating, remote vibrator, murder. reader definitely gets off while maxi’s torturing the latest offering to the House. dead dove do not eat, I am not even remotely fucking around with this one.)

See the full post

38 notes - Posted February 16, 2022

#3

So remember when I said I couldn’t draw? I really meant it :’D

If you’re seeing this, it means it just turned midnight my time, and we’re officially in the New Year. Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who’s been kind enough to stick around since I started writing this on a lark. I know this isn’t everybody, but I went through my followers list trying to find first names of the people I see interacting with my posts a lot. Please know I definitely try to make a point to know all of you, even if I’m not super chatty most of the time, and I have probably likely mentioned you to my mom at least once lmao.

I was just telling my friends that I write with that I really didn’t expect this to get as far as it did — when I introduced Maxi on the noctes blog, I thought he might be a weird little OC who popped up every now and again for my own amusement more than anything else. But you guys were so kind and supportive from the jump, I’ve not only finished an entire arc I didn’t know I was going to write in the first place, I’m planning on editing it and revising it to be an actual manuscript that I try to query while I work on Hector’s arc here :’D I don’t totally know how that’s going to go yet, and I’ll be sure to keep you guys posted, but I know I absolutely wouldn’t be here without all of y’all. 🖤

It’s been a real honor and a pleasure getting to know all of you this year, and I appreciate every single bit of feedback and enthusiasm you’ve all been kind enough to share with me. For real. I know how hard that is to come by, especially for fic that’s entirely comprised of OCs, so please don’t think I take any of it for granted whatsoever. We may be a fairly small blog, but this is still one of the largest projects I’ve tackled on a whim, and I’m excited to see where else it will go, so long as there’s someone still willing to come with. 🖤

I owe you guys the world, and while I don’t want to jinx anything, I hope all of us get the lucky break we need this year. I know I really did with all of you. 😘

Sending huge hugs and well-wishes all around, and I look forward to sharing this year with all of you, no matter what it brings. ✨

Cheers from me and the Morvants dead and living, we love each and all of y’all. 🥂♥️

39 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

#2

Maxi my love & 29 and/or 47 🥺🥺🥺🥺

“Come one more time for me, I know you’ve got it in you.”/“Are you holding back? Don’t.”

nonny, I am. so, so incredibly sorry it took this long. I’m sure you’ve entirely forgotten you sent this in by now, and for that, I totally understand. :’D but you will see, hopefully, why it took me a while to finish. I think this thing was 15k when I finally cut it off, and I was deeply tempted to go on.

so! when I say these two lines got in my head, I mean I took them and I ran a whole usian football field with them. I hope y’all like it, bc I certainly enjoyed myself writing it. I meant to have it up for Pride month, but alas, the best laid plans ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ here’s hoping you’ll find it just as queer now.

let me dirty up your mind (18+, mdni) --

See the full post

43 notes - Posted July 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Morvant Mortuary, Vol. I: Final Them. (The October Arc)

Maxi Morvant (male slasher/necromancer OC) x genderqueer/non-binary & plus-sized Reader, 18+ (minors dni.)

Does it look like I’m afraid of you?

chapters:

tear you apart 

hunt you down (eat you alive)

a notification on Maxi’s phone at 3 am (Enter Hector)

jane doe (Enter Rora)

spellbound

lovesong (pt. I) 

lovesong (pt. II) 

bad moon rising (Enter Pierre, Enter Vincent)

bury us alive

you play the game, you’ll never win

and the dead start to dance in their masquerade (pt. I)

and the dead start to dance in their masquerade (pt. II) (Enter the Grey Man.)

spellbound (reprise) pt. I

spellbound (reprise) pt. II

and absolutely no one’s dead (pt. I)

and absolutely no one’s dead (pt. II)

See the full post

49 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

Awww, this was fun! Thanks everyone who’s been part of our year, and @illegalcerebral for being kind enough to tag us!! 🥰

no-pressure tags: @bigtiddythanos @rosemaremembrance @maximoffwxnda @somethingthatsaysbubbles @lorna-d-m @scuttle-buttle @pondering-and-wondering (and your Clair blog!) @jmathesonandsiblings (and your personal!) @imalsonotsure @norabrice1701 @eldritchcircus @raven-blood-13 @snaxk and anyone else who wants to!! 🖤

[rossefincha]

tags ; c.osette f.auchelevent

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. musings

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. interaction

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. visage

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. about

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. aesthetic

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. study

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dash game

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. headcanon

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. more of a lark than a dove

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . marius 

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . valjean

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . fantine 

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . enjolras

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . les amis

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . javert

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . thenardier

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. dyn . eponine

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. v . childhood

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. v . main

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. v . post

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. v . alternate

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. v . modern

♕ * ♦ — 𝒞𝐹. v . star wars

[dreamedwithin-blog]

( @quixoticry from COSETTE ) 

     “there you are, my ginette!” one hand holds a bouquet of new flowers, fresh-picked ; the other held out for ginette’s. “look at how beautiful these are! i thought we should fill the house with them. what do you think?” 

[whateverthought]

Sara Lance’s little baby birds!

My fanbabies of Sara and her male lovers. In order of who I thought of first.

Laurence Quentin Constantine- Physical fighter, trained by his mom. He can use magic and does have the Canary Cry but magic is kinda hard and the Cry is newish. More outgoing and emotional than his parents but a good liar. Loves learning his parents’ less than moral skills. He goes by the name Dove. Momma’s boy without losing the tough act. He prefers being called Lau or Low then Larry.

Lark Lance Snart- Ice meta, something his mother finds hilarious, who is a very good shot. All the kids took dance and gymnastics but only Law actually competes. Also does not like his name, call him Law, again a funny joke at his father’s expense. He goes by Kid Cold, but did think of going by Kid Canary for a while. He’s very, bland in the way he talks, sarcastic and a liar, I always picture him with that half closed eye look.

Laurencia Phoebe Queen- Also has the Canary Cry, she isn’t actually very big, she also prefers soft clothes and pretty things. Despite that she is in fact very quick and will punch you in critical areas, damage be damned. She is a very good leader though and can get serious quick. Not like her parents though, she isn’t intense or dramatic. People call her Lauren for short.

Lyla Michelle Carter- She does actually know her grandfather Booster Gold and Great aunt Michelle/ Goldstar. She started her hero career as Goldstar most notably because her metagene is Organic Gold Skin. As she grows she doesn’t use it too much, (sometimes even forgetting she has it) mostly because feeling emotions is difficult in her Gold form. Unlike her childhood of time ships and future tech she actually likes the whole cottage in the woods, soft quilt, fire, and books. Her parents can’t relate. She prefers guns and her aim is spot on. She’s actually very sweet and tactile, she likes holding hands the most. She doesn’t go by a codename anymore but she also doesn’t interact as a hero with people who don’t already know her so... She was named as a reference to Sara Diggle, who Lyla always comes back to.

Both boys wear white wigs as part of their costumes. But Dove wears mostly white in his Dove costume. Both Laurence and Laurencia have their aunt’s Canary Cry gene, something (in a universe where they all know each other) Lauren refers to as coming with the name. Most kids take after their fathers but have crucial traits from their mother, who they always run back to. Not to say they have bad relationships with their dads, but... I mean Sara’s pretty badass.

[peacefulheartfarm]

Coyotes on the Homestead

Coyotes are a plague when you have sheep. Today’s podcast is going to be all about coyotes. Probably more than you ever wanted to know. Some things about coyotes might surprise you.

I want to take a minute and say welcome to all the new listeners and welcome back to the veteran homestead-loving regulars who stop by the FarmCast for every episode. I appreciate you all so much. I’m so excited to share with you what’s going on at the farm this week.

Our Virginia Homestead Life Updates

So why is the topic today about coyotes? Well, we have had issues and I need to talk about it. I’ll try to keep it mostly factual and as upbeat as possible. In the end though, sometimes homestead life has tragic consequences.  

Sheep and Lambs

Over a span of about 3 or 4 days we lost more than half of our sheep. All six of our lambs, including my bottle baby, Susie Q are gone. Five adult ewes are also gone. We have 10 sheep left out of 21. Yeah, it’s a big loss. I’m still heartbroken about losing Susie Q. I still look for her. When I look out the window, momentarily I’m looking for her. Especially in the evening, when I go to create bottles for the twin calves, I briefly look for the very small bottle we use for lambs. Then I remember. She’s gone.

I was unusually attached to Susie Q. We’ve had bottle lambs lots of time. But I’ve never been so attached. Well, perhaps it’s that we have never lost one. And after they are grown and no longer need me for daily feedings, I naturally let go of them. Like Lambert. He’s still out there with the boys and he was a bottle baby. I just don’t think I would miss him the way that I miss Susie Q. And we’ve had others that ended up at freezer camp. I don’t know what’s different except that she was still so young dependent on us.

Cows and Calves

We moved all of the animals out of the back fields where the attacks were occurring. Scott brought out a couple of guys that hunted the male leader and we also used poison. That’s a really harsh method, but sometimes it is necessary.

The twin calves were also quite vulnerable to coyote attack. Scott moved them to a sheltered area. Virginia is also with them. We had to pull her out of the general herd because she was nursing on Cloud. If you remember, Cloud is already feeding two calves. Adding Virginia was definitely more than Cloud could support. You can likely guess that the ones who would suffer would be Princess and Winston. Virginia is about a year old and would definitely wipe out all the available milk and the younger two would be left hungry. So, Virginia is safely away from the other cows and hanging out with the twins.

Keeping the various calves out of one or another milk supply has really been a challenge this year. I don’t know if I mentioned that we briefly had all the calves and cows together. It’s much easier to maintain the pastures if there are only two groups of animals. The boys and the girls. However, having all the cow girls together immediately failed. Rosie came in for milking down a couple of quarts of milk. We suspected Princess as Rosie is her mom, after all. Now I’m wondering if it was actually Virginia and after she got a taste of milk she started looking around and found Cloud after Rosie was gone. Who knows? Rosie and Butter are in a field by themselves. The twin calves and Virginia are in the loafing space. And the rest of the crew which includes Violet, Claire, Buttercup, Cloud and her two calves, are out front. The boys, of course, are in yet another place. We have cows all over the place.  

Everyone is relatively safe at the moment. Let’s talk about coyotes. I didn’t want to know all of this and I’ve left out the most gruesome of details. But the gist of the story is here.

Coyotes

The coyote is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf. It fills much of the same ecological niche as the golden jackal does in Europe and Asia. Though the coyote is larger and more predatory. Other historical names for this species include the prairie wolf and the brush wolf.

The coyote is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to its wide distribution and abundance throughout North America. Coyote populations are also abundant southwards through Mexico and into Central America. Even now, it is enlarging its range by moving into urban areas in the eastern U.S. and Canada. The coyote was sighted in eastern Panama (across the Panama Canal from their home range) for the first time in 2013.

Coyote Subspecies

There are 19 recognized coyote subspecies. The average male weighs 18 to 44 lb and the average female 15 to 40 lb. Their fur color is predominantly light gray and red, sometimes interspersed with black and white. The colors vary somewhat with geography. Coyotes are highly flexible in their social organization. Sometimes living in a family unit and sometimes in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. Primarily carnivorous, its diet consists mainly of deer, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, though it may also eat fruits and vegetables on occasion. Its characteristic vocalization is a howl made by solitary individuals. Humans are the coyote's greatest threat, followed by cougars and gray wolves. In spite of this, coyotes sometimes mate with gray, eastern, or red wolves, producing "coywolf" hybrids. Genetic studies show that most North American wolves contain some level of coyote DNA.

Coyote Folklore

The coyote is a prominent character in Native American folklore, usually depicted as a trickster that alternately assumes the form of an actual coyote or a man. After the European colonization of the Americas, it was seen in Anglo-American culture as a cowardly and untrustworthy animal. Unlike wolves, which have undergone an improvement of their public image, attitudes towards the coyote remain largely negative. I’m in the group with that attitude.

Hunting and Feeding

Two studies that experimentally investigated the role of olfactory, auditory, and visual cues found that visual cues are the most important ones for hunting in coyotes.

When hunting large prey, the coyote often works in pairs or small groups. Unlike the wolf, which attacks large prey from the rear, the coyote approaches from the front, lacerating its prey's head and throat. Although coyotes can live in large groups, small prey is typically caught singly. Coyotes have been observed to kill porcupines in pairs, using their paws to flip the rodents on their backs, then attacking the soft underbelly. Only old and experienced coyotes can successfully prey on porcupines, with many predation attempts by young coyotes resulting in them being injured by their prey's quills. Recent evidence demonstrates that at least some coyotes have become more nocturnal in hunting, presumably to avoid humans.

Coyotes may occasionally form mutualistic hunting relationships with American badgers, assisting each other in digging up rodent prey. The relationship between the two species may occasionally border on apparent "friendship", as some coyotes have been observed laying their heads on their badger companions or licking their faces without protest. The amicable interactions between coyotes and badgers were known to pre-Columbian civilizations, as shown on a Mexican jar dated to 1250–1300 depicting the relationship between the two.

Vocalizations

The coyote has been described as "the most vocal of all wild North American mammals". Its loudness and range of vocalizations was the cause for its binomial name Canis latrans, meaning "barking dog". At least 11 different vocalizations are known in adult coyotes. These sounds are divided into three categories: agonistic and alarm, greeting, and contact. The lone howl is the most iconic sound of the coyote and may serve the purpose of announcing the presence of a lone individual separated from its pack.

Habitat

Prior to the near extermination of wolves and cougars, the coyote was most numerous in grasslands inhabited by bison, pronghorn, elk, and other deer, doing particularly well in short-grass areas with prairie dogs, though it was just as much at home in semiarid areas with sagebrush and jackrabbits or in deserts inhabited by cactus, kangaroo rats, and rattlesnakes.

Coyotes walk around 3–10 miles per day, often along trails such as logging roads and paths; they may use iced-over rivers as travel routes in winter. They are often more active around evening and the beginning of the night than during the day. Like many canids, coyotes are competent swimmers, reported to be able to travel at least 0.5 miles across water.

Diet

The coyote is ecologically the North American equivalent of the Eurasian golden jackal. Likewise, the coyote is highly versatile in its choice of food, but is primarily carnivorous, with 90% of its diet consisting of meat. Prey species include bison (largely as carrion), white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds (especially young water birds and pigeons and doves), amphibians (except toads), lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises, fish, crustaceans, and insects. More unusual prey include young black bear cubs and rattlesnakes. Coyotes kill rattlesnakes mostly for food but also to protect their pups at their dens. They will tease the snakes until they stretch out and then bite their heads and shake them. Birds taken by coyotes may range in size from thrashers, larks and sparrows to adult wild turkeys.

If working in packs or pairs, coyotes have access to larger prey than lone. In some cases, packs of coyotes have dispatched much larger prey such as adult deer, cow, elk, and sheep, although the young fawn, calves and lambs of these animals are most often taken. In some cases, coyotes can bring down prey weighing up to 220 to 440 lb or more. When it comes to adult animals such as deer, they often exploit them when vulnerable such as those that are infirm, stuck in snow or ice, otherwise winter-weakened or heavily pregnant. Less wary domestic animals are more easily exploited.

Although coyotes prefer fresh meat, they will scavenge when the opportunity presents itself. Excluding the insects, fruit, and grass eaten, the coyote requires an estimated 1.3 lb of food daily, 550 lb annually.

The coyote feeds on a variety of different produce, including blackberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, apples, prickly pears, persimmons, peanuts, watermelons, cantaloupes, and carrots. During the winter and early spring, the coyote eats large quantities of grass, such as green wheat blades.

Other interesting diet components

In coastal California, coyotes now consume a higher percentage of marine-based food than their ancestors, which is thought to be due to the extirpation of the grizzly bear from this region. In Death Valley, coyotes may consume great quantities of hawkmoth caterpillars or beetles in the spring flowering months.

Livestock and Pet Predation Statistics

As of 2007, coyotes were the most abundant livestock predators in western North America, causing the majority of sheep, goat, and cattle losses. For example, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, coyotes were responsible for 60.5% of the 224,000 sheep deaths attributed to predation in 2004. The total number of sheep deaths in 2004 comprised 2.22% of the total sheep and lamb population in the United States, which, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA report, totaled 4.66 million and 7.80 million heads respectively as of July 1, 2005. Because coyote populations are typically many times greater and more widely distributed than those of wolves, coyotes cause more overall predation losses. United States government agents routinely shoot, poison, trap, and kill about 90,000 coyotes each year to protect livestock. An Idaho census taken in 2005 showed that individual coyotes were 5% as likely to attack livestock as individual wolves. In Utah, more than 11,000 coyotes were killed for bounties totaling over $500,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.

Livestock Guardian Dogs

Livestock guardian dogs are commonly used to aggressively repel predators and have worked well in both fenced pasture and range operations. A 1986 survey of sheep producers in the USA found that 82% reported the use of dogs represented an economic asset.

Protect Yourself and Your Pets

Coyotes are often attracted to dog food and animals that are small enough to appear as prey. Items such as garbage, pet food, and sometimes feeding stations for birds and squirrels attract coyotes into backyards. About three to five pets attacked by coyotes are brought into the Animal Urgent Care hospital of South Orange County (California) each week, the majority of which are dogs. Cats typically do not survive coyote attacks. Smaller breeds of dogs are more likely to suffer injury and/or death.

Coyotes are one of my least favorite parts of God’s creation. I’ve probably given you far too much information on these creatures. But as I said earlier, I needed to talk about this. Thanks for listening.

Final Thoughts

Living on the homestead is not always pretty. Survival is always relative to the environment. Many times, survival is a competition between humans and other species. All animals have a right to live. God made them and there you go. They have a right to live. And we also have the right to protect our other animals. Sometimes it is a small parasite – which is also deadly at times. And sometimes it’s larger animals such as coyotes and bears. Everyone is just trying to survive. I miss my Susie Q. And when I look at our decimated flock of sheep, I am filled with sadness. However, in the end, some of our flock has survived and we will rebuild. It’s what we do. Our flock will rise again. In the fall or next spring, we will have lambs again. The life cycle continues.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please hop over to Apple Podcasts or whatever podcasting service you use, SUBSCRIBE and give me a 5-star rating and review. If you like this content and want to help out the show, the absolute best way you can do that is to share it with any friends or family who might be interested in this type of content. Let them know about the Peaceful Heart Farmcast.

Thank you so much for stopping by the homestead and until next time, may God fill your life with grace and peace.

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Check out this episode!

[thereliquarian]

Shinrin-yoku

It seems the Reliquarian has long been in winter. This is the 6th season of the Reliquarian, and it seems such a long time ago since Cadence wore her father’s coat, and trudged through the snow with a key in her hand. At the time there were no dryad like tree fairy creatures in my mind, they showed up years later. There was only the Dryad King. Later he became the father of many tribes.

I’ve always had an affinity for beautiful words, and foreign languages are like a dance for the tongue. Half the Reliquarian was written while walking within the wilds. Listening to mother nature, and she herself has a language all her own as easy to learn as any other.

Shinrin-yoku is a Japanese term that translates best as “Forest Bathing” as a means of replenishing ones own health, and restoring the spirit. The center photos below are from the forest paths I often walk with my mother and our dogs. The outer two are the property at Lark Manor here. Our house is a very tiny old cottage, and much of me wants to live right here until my days are done. I bought it not for the house itself, but for the second building that provided a studio, a theater/music room, and workshop for Michael, and mostly for the grounds that I can step into on any day and practice Shinrin-yoku.

My mother was always labeled a tree hugging hippie, and my childhood home was filled with plants that she cared to as attentively as others do their pets. What art is to me, plants are to her, she makes art through her gardens and home, and when I consider my mother’s more maternal energy and think of her in love, this is what I recall from my childhood that I felt envy of, and saw magic in. We wound our children even with the best of intentions and greatest love in our hearts, because of the wounds we carry from our own childhoods.

While we will ask for understanding of this from our own children, we rarely afford it to our parents. Having just ended my 36th year on this earth I am only now beginning to see my parents as the people they are rather than in the role they held as mother and father. Whatever hardships and struggles, wounds, and fears I carry forward from any piece of my childhood; I think the tribe of tree nymphs in this story are the mythical portrayal of how I saw the spirit of my mother. Both nourishing, and force of nature. I see all mothers in that way, especially mother nature.

The species of dryad like creatures were born from an affection I have for blurring the lines between flora and fauna. A literal reconnecting to nature. In the Reliquarian in general, all beings are afflicted with the gift or burden of having their appearances represent their spirit. What they relate to, what they are in tune with manifests in their physical being. It’s the idea that people judge more based on appearances, and appearances are a fleeting, changing, deceptive thing at times.

How interesting it would be if we could perceive the soul instead of seeing the body, hearing the voice, feeling the flesh… and if we understood how we were connected to everything, part of it all instead of separate from it all, how would that change our priorities, and interactions with everything, and everyone else?

I knew that I wanted to take away a bit of the humanism of the dryadic creatures. I didn’t quite want the hooves and fur of the satyrs, but that sleek feel of the shape. For me the tribe carries a lot of nuance to a herd of deer. and I wanted some of their anatomy to reflect that in the shape, with the backwards leg joints. I also wanted them to connect with what they come into contact with, so the idea was the forest floor literally grows up their legs, and rather than heels and toes they root into the earth, they feel it, they are it.

Originally the character was only Ember, though I knew she was part of a tribe. Later I wanted to do one shot with a bunch of them in a grassy field like a herd of deer in the gloaming hours, but they would have been silhouetted, indistinct. As we got nearer to the shoot and I found the models, the beings they would play began to take shape, and suddenly I found myself weeks before the shoot making all manners of headdresses and accessories.

The middle headdress at the top was actually one of the first props I made for the Reliquarian when I believed I was simply creating a collection of images and not a series of novels. I thought it was for the dryad king… there may even be a photograph of Uncle Awesome wearing it somewhere in the archives of the past blogs. It has sat on top of the bookshelf Michael built me in my studio… for 6 years. I’ve been at this so long now that most people shake their heads at me, and more so at the others helping me on this project. To work obsessively with no pay off at your own passion and dream is one thing, to do it for someone else’s vision is far more unfathomable when most people can’t find the courage and determination to chase their own dreams when others determine them unrealistic, is quite another kind of insanity… What good dream was ever realistic anyway? Still as I move further, what others have seen me spend hours on and then not use, or what has been deemed failed attempts I have always done well at categorizing as learning experiences, but I do find that even when something doesn’t work for what I intended it for, if I am patient, it’s purpose reveals itself. The Latex was a huge learning curve for me, and as with all new things I immediately dove into something that was far too complex for an inexperienced novice. Some will note it as bravery, and not being afflicted with the fear of failure. Others roll their eyes at my audacity, and nearly consistent tendency of biting off more than I can chew.

While I have an almost maternal affection for the Reliquarian and am the mother of it’s conception, I also very deeply believe that as with all children it takes a village to raise it to what it is meant to be. Different people come into the project at different times. Some are constants, some come in and go, some fall in love with it as I have and stay when neither I or nor they intended them to.

Beth Claire was someone that crossed my path because she came to a workshop I was having, before the Reliquarian was even seeded in my imagination. We’ve been friends since, and as with many of my “students” I feel I have learned as much or more so from them, and I am inspired by their own lives and creativity. She made the beautiful Dryad costume on the top left above, and she created the stunning imagery for it. When she had finished she asked if anyone else had use for it. Jennifer Tallerico beat me to it. She does insane underwater photography, and she promised me that if it survived drowning she would send it to me.

To be honest I had totally forgotten about it all together, until I received a message literally a month before the shoot that it had stayed intact and she was shipping it to me. So both these brilliant artists that often play on my side of the lens, impacted this shoot, which is second only to my excitement in them both agreeing to play characters in the book. There is a different level of intimacy in shooting when both people understand what it is like on both sides of the lens and I think it will bring amazing energy into the future sessions. Of course, as the Reliquarian tends to do, their characters uniquely fit their skills and persona, and I know that this project comes alive because of the people with me through the process.

The other side of the coin has always been the details. I am obsessive about every nuance of each image. details that sometimes aren’t even visible in the image. My hands touch each thing, I’ve made most everything, within the images, and it takes months, sometimes years of dedication to an end image that I hope will unlock the door into my mind and madness where these worlds and creatures reside. {I was particularly proud of the nails and eyelashes in this shoot, and you don’t see a single one in the final image. Sometimes I think half the effort is for the effect on the day so that the magic is potent. It needs to be, in order to briefly for a few moments bring what exists in my imagination to life, and photograph it so that I can share these glimpses with the world.}

Pieces of the Reliquarian and those who would play the parts of it have existed for years. Some of the people involved in the project birthed characters that did not exist. Actually none of the other dryad characters you will meet in the story existed before this shoot. There was mention of Ember, and the rest were faceless indistinguishable members of her tribe, but not important enough for names and stories within the story. Extras, rather than secondary and tertiary characters. The overlaps of threads that have woven together this project are not lost on me, though as I pull these pieces in for the blogs and documentaries, and as months and years go by in its creation I find new moments of serendipity, sown like magical seeds awaiting their chance to crack open and fight through the cold darkness of reality and responsibility to share themselves in the light of conscious recognition.

The images above are from series of sessions I have done over the years for clients, and at workshops of mine. I have always had an affinity for the natural beauty of the female form in the expansiveness of nature. Creativity is from the feminine side of energy. We are what carries and births new life into the world, and nature is a mother. The symmetry between nature and women in their shared energy is and always has been alluring to me.

The burning the bridge retreat is where I met Beth as an artist and photographer. Ashley {in the bottom right image above} was one of the models that came to play and was game for being on my grounds, nude, covered in mud, and having someone standing on my balcony misting a hose to make it look like rain. {How I get these girls to agree to some of the things I make them do is beyond me.} That was certainly part of the conception of the species for the book. When we renovated the living room of my little cottage I brought my sister Megan in, for the dichotomy of her porcelain skin against the rough chaos of a century old house opened up to her bones. I had beautiful boudoir images from the shoot, but played with one and made her into a sort of dying tree, alone in an abandoned room… the individual images I create are often akin to rough sketches by an artist before approaching the canvas for the final painting. Several years later Beth creates a headdress for her own mother nature shoot. Years after that the headdress makes its way to me, and Ashley chooses it as part of her costume, and those three threads braid together once more. {Incidentally she wore said headdress to the Art Store to get something on shoot day, and that footage is coming in the behind the scenes documentary. because it is hysterical.}

When I placed the call for this shoot it was something like “Need models for next Reliquarian shoot, must be comfortable with nudity, dirt, and body paint.” There were of course my regular sirens that enjoy the artistic ballad of collaborative creativity. The nostalgia of old friends I had not seen since high school, all of us now free from the constructs of adolescent egos and labels. It was the first time I worked with people I had never met on a personal project since my book. These women that have become sisters, brought their sisters and widened my artistic family. I felt the absence of my actual sister. Megan has been my muse since we were teenagers. We spent a year voluntarily living on the abandoned 3rd floor of a mansion together, sleeping on the floor and making all kinds of weird art, listening to strange music, and fighting with squirrels even though we both had our own finished bedrooms downstairs. We survived Michael’s first deployment together in this way, and the bond we built during that year has, for me has become something that will never break or sever, anymore than you could segregate metals once they’ve been melted together and forged.

When I began planning the shoot I wanted her desperately to be part of it. She, on the other side of the country, stationed with her husband and 3 boys. I was willing to fly her home to be part of it, but we found out she was expecting, and then with 4 boys it was too difficult to plan. It had been 3 years since I had seen her, and I have missed her desperately. I always saw us raising our kids together.

She did make it home for a short visit with the family, but the timing was off, and the Reliquarian was honestly in hibernation with so much going on personally. It was a long winter… 2 years between images. 2 years. I struggle with that. It’s so difficult when the images are the end result and so much happens behind the curtain and offline between the images that no one can see how much is happening in the in-between. This past summer Cadence went out to spend the summer with her favorite Aunt, and cousins, and I was grateful for the excuse to use coming to get her as my own escape.

I was suffering a lot of feelings of depression and failure, not just in my artistic but my personal and professional life. Actually a lot of the key people in the Reliquarian seemed to be suffering the past year in particular. I found myself desperate for feminine energy and a place that wasn’t here.

I wither in the mundane and ordinary. I need to marvel at things. I need wide spaces where my imagination can stretch out and roam freely. most often I need that space to be somewhere in nature where I can feel the connection to everything, the earth, and the sunlight and water and sky. Though I have a proclivity towards abandoned and forgotten places as well.

I also need the tribe, I am certainly a spirit that wants for the herd, the tribe, the flock. I have been told more than once that I collect people as others collect things. for the 11 years we have lived at Lark Manor it has served as sanctuary and solace for many in hours and years of need, it has always had open doors for needed company, and extra chairs to join us for good food. {I get that from my grandmother’s full Italian upbringing mixed with her loving caretaker nature.} For nearly Cadence’s entire life Wednesdays were brunch dates with GG that turned into all day visits. One of those days ended with a fall down the stairs that ruptured all the ligaments and tendons in my ankle and landed me in an air cast for months. I almost didn’t get to go on my trip because they said I would need several months of physical therapy before I could even lace up my hiking shoes.

What I actually needed was Cadence. It constantly humbles me how much the child cares for the parent. Cadence has such a darling disposition. She is so smart, so kind, so attentive to detail, she’s fierce and formidable like her grandmother, yet empathetic and compassionate like her great grandmother, and every now and then shows the sense of wanderlust both in the physical and artistic realms that her mother has. The need to find herself in places she doesn’t yet know.

She was so caring and attentive to me, and while I was walking in an almost undetectable limp she was constantly checking to make sure I had my brace and wraps, water bottles, jacket, she insisted on carrying my camera gear, and slowed her pace to match mine without being told, and without making it obvious. Spending time with her, my sister, and nephews was revitalizing for my feminine energy, and placed me squarely in the space of maternal; journeying with her through the rainforests and beaches that have been on my travel map forever was simply divine for my soul as an artist and a mother. It is something to look at the things that make me feel so little in the world, to look at the things worth marveling over, worth standing in awe of, and then to see Cadence in the midst of it and realize that I too have created something beautiful and necessary and magical in this world. No one is more an artist than a mother. Nothing else will ever touch what nature creates, and I, much like the creatures in my story needed Shinrin-yoku to restore and come back to center on this project, and my life in general.

I left for the rainforest the day after the shoot. It was as magical for me as Cambodia was and I realize that the world is my home. Not seeing it, not being part of it is as foreign and silly an idea to me as having a room in your own home that the door is locked to and that you never go in, even to find out what’s there. When I returned home I knew that the places I had been were stitched into the place my beautiful tree spirits resided.

I began editing the Shinrin-Yoku image on August 15th, my grandmother’s 89th birthday. It took 54 hours over the past 5 months, of compositing and retouching to stitch the final image together.

I didn’t know that at the time of writing this I would be without my grandmother. That several months of that would be spent by her bedside in a hospital, and then bringing her home to live with me in her final weeks… to be honest I’m not yet ready to speak of it further than that.

What I can say is that this was the single most challenging image I have created in my life. It required years of gestation as the props and costuming were made, the storyline written, and the time for it to approach. It spanned 3069 miles from one coast of my country to another in order to bring the forest and its spirits together. It took the collaboration of 11 models, 2 makeup artists, 1 hair stylist, 1 body painter, weeks of preparation, hours upon hours of yard work, climbing a mountain with still healing ligaments, 12 hours of flight time, 54 hours of retouching and quite a few days sinking into this blog and the images of the process to bring this image to you.

When I see that final image of my grandmother’s tea cup set at my editing desk, and I consider how much feminine energy and love is sewn into every fiber and moment of it’s creation I can feel nothing but gratitude for the gift it is to be a woman, and to have strong, beautiful, courageous women in this image and my life… the divine connection to the universe, to god, to ourselves is through the feminine, through the creative. The nature of the feminine is that of love. May you practice Shinrin-yoku as often as you need it, until you feel in alignment with that energy of creation.

Special thanks to: Models: Kori, Danielle, Abby, Breonna, Ashley, Taylor, Allory, Siena, Remy, Leigh and Kelly

Hair Architect: Danielle

Makeup Artists: Sarah Jane, and Remy

Body Painter: Jaye

Landscaper/Set Safety/Videographer: Tommy

Patron Saints: Judy, Mark, Katie, Hannah, Sarah, Remy {Support us on Patreon at www.Patreon.com/JessicaLark}

Sponsors: Fundy Software for the Blog Image Layouts, and Triple Scoop Music for the Soundtracks for all behind the scenes documentaries.

Michael, Steven, Cadence: for all the nonsense you live with on a daily basis as I create this.

from Shinrin-yoku