#black meteor camp

[adverbally]

Let the Stars Fall

Written for the @steddiemicrofic September prompt “Shower” | wc: 399 | rated: G | cw: none | tags: early established relationship, post-S4, Orionid meteor shower, stargazing, pure cosmic fluff | title from “Meteor Shower” by Cavetown

———

The “shower” in “meteor shower” is a little exaggerated, Steve thinks. It’s more of a sprinkle, a streak of light shooting across the sky every couple minutes, but it’s breathtaking regardless.

Hawkins doesn’t have much light pollution, so he and Eddie drive into the hills and camp out for a good view. The late October night is cool but they’re warm in their cocoon, having zipped their separate sleeping bags into one quilted pocket where they can curl up together against the chill.

When their eyes adjust and the Milky Way coalesces into view, Steve gasps. He’s never been one for stargazing or astrology or whatever Robin called it, but he has to admit that the night sky is a gorgeous sight, sparkling and swirling above them. It’s colorful, too, not black and white like he tends to imagine but deep blue and purple fading into orange near the horizon, freckled with blue and orange and green stars. There’s a beauty to it, big and small, dark and bright at the same time, that Steve can barely wrap his mind around.

More importantly, there’s a beauty to Eddie excitedly pointing out constellations, explaining the mythological stories behind them, talking through the most notable stars and planets for this time of year. It’s a lot to keep track of, but Steve tries to commit as much as he can to memory: Orion’s belt, the bright stars that compose his left shoulder and right foot, the Winter Triangle, the nebula that Eddie assures him is right there, where his sword would hang.

Once they glimpse the first meteor, they fall silent, eagerly awaiting the next one’s appearance. Some of them paint a radiant trail that lingers, while others blink in and out of sight so quickly that Steve wonders if he imagined them. When two appear in quick succession, Steve thinks about Eddie’s hand in his, the way they can’t seem to get close enough, the way they gravitate toward each other in an orbit neither of them wants to break.

When Steve flicks his gaze over to Eddie, he’s gazing right back, looking more awed by Steve than by the meteor shower. Eddie’s eyes twinkle, shining brighter than Betelgeuse and Rigel, and his lips are cold when Steve kisses him, and this thing between them is still new but it feels as infinite as the universe stretched out above them.

[fencecollapsed]

I love musical theater. I may not be a theater kid stereotype, but I always found it as an interesting way to tell a story. But despite the fact I personally don’t think it’s that big of a deal, a lot of my relatives seem to take me as “the musical girl”. My mother made my 17th birthday musical themed. A lot of my Christmas presents were musical related, I’m sure you’d get it. A couple of weeks back though, my cousin in Michigan, who I don’t really know, suddenly sent me a DVD with blue sharpie on it, simply reading “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” in all capital letters due to how much of a mouthful that name is, I’m going to refer to it as TGWDLM for the rest of this. The DVD itself was rather normal looking. She didn’t send me the box it came in, which is probably the reason why it was labeled in sharpie, cause without it, god knows what it could be. It could be a musical or a gore video, so thanks to her for that.

As for the contents... Well, it was a Pro-shot of a musical! The story was about a man named Paul, a guy who... didn’t like musicals! The opening song seems to portray this as a huge deal but to be honest, it isn’t. One day, on the opening night of a Mamma Mia! production in the real-life ghost town of Hatchetfield, Michigan (but populated, obivously), a meteor hits, carrying alien spores of a musical hivemind. One interesting fact is that the zombies are the only ones who sing, and dear god, some of their songs are so camp, but I guess that’s the joke. Also, I can definitely see an influence from Invasion of The Body Snatchers, hell, they even reference it. The musical itself had more laughs than scares for me, but the curtain call gave me fucking chills. The unusual parts though, come from not the musical itself, but what comes after it. There’s a behind-the-scenes, with a lot of content. There were audition tapes, director's commentary, easter eggs... I personally found it as fascinating as the musical itself! There was some mentions of a earlier version of the script, with some interesting parts that weren’t in the original, for example; Paul, Ted, Bill, and Charlotte all worked at a review site similar to IGN or Buzzfeed, or that Alice, in a strange trance, spouts out a bible quote. I began to feel like these random people, from an obscure theater company, were people I knew. But as fun as the behind the scenes are, that is not why I’m here. After the behind-the-scenes, there was just... A black screen. For like, 4 or 3 minutes… Then a blue screen with white text, with a font that looks like those fonts in analog horror, with one word. “APOTHEOSIS”.

There’s more after this too. The following is a very different feeling compared to the behind-the-scenes. It appears to be the night the pro-shot was recorded. It shows footage of the curtain call, when Emma was dragged backstage. Then, it cuts to security footage backstage. Immediately Emma’s actress, who I think I’ll just call Lauren, since that’s her real name, goes out of character. The others don’t let go of her, instead ejecting her out of the crowd. She lands on her ass and says “Ow.” in a tone that says “What the fuck dude? Why’d you throw me?”. The others are silent. Lauren gets up and after a moment looking at the others, decides to take off her bandage, revealing a real scar underneath. Lauren seems unsettled by this, but it’s made worse when everyone else approaches her, talking to her as if she IS Emma Perkins, despite her insistence. They then got closer, and closer. Lauren tried to back away, but they got closer. Eventually, Lauren was completely surrounded, and they... I... I can’t say it. I just can’t. All I’ll say is that audience members found the room covered in blood and mysterious blue goo. The blue screen appears again, the text now saying “THEIR RETELLING SUCKED ANYWAYS.”

After whatever the fuck that was, I kinda had to dig deeper? I had this mix of morbid fascination, horror, and an urge to somehow bring all this to light. Well... That and how at first I assumed it was a performance act, only to find out via a google search that it was all real, Lauren Lopez was presumed dead, and the rest of the cast are missing to this day.

So I talked to people who were at the closing night show. When it was recorded. They reported being genuinely convinced in some segments, like when Emma quote unquote “Looked at Ted’s eyes in horror, like she saw nothing there” and praised the “practical effects”. They also said that the few who lingered after the curtain call heard screaming. Those who checked backstage saw... Well, you know.

I didn’t find much about it though. Only this weird cult website when searching for random tag words related to the musical. It was talking about “His singular voice” or whatever and was saying that, like, all voices needed to be eradicated, for His is the only one that should exist, or whatever. Weirdly enough, there was musical theming in there. And... A page about the musical. I can vaguely recall the contents but it’s really hard to. It had a synopsis of the musical kinda biased in the favor of the zombies, with the implications that He caused the musical apocalypse over there. Me and my friends looked at the site once in a discord call and laughed at it. But then I found the actors' faces and how they all were brought to an “apotheosis”. Like... Like in the fucking musical.

It was just a rabbit hole I found myself in at the end of the day though. I easily tucked it into the back of my brain and went on with my life. But then stuff started getting weird. With me, I think. I’ve been more scatterbrained than usual, prone to zoning out for long stretches of time, wandering off conversations to talk about something else entirely, and I’m beginning to hate the sound of other people’s voices and I don’t know why, I was never a social butterfly but I didn’t hate other people talking... Everyday when I brush my teeth I notice my eyes getting... Bluer? I don’t know how, but my eyes have gone to a dark brown, to a light brown, to a hazel, to green, and now it’s getting closer and closer to blue. My friends online have been safe at the time from my sudden hatred of other voices but I can’t really go on voice chats anymore. And my fixation on musicals has only grown as of late. I can’t help but fight the urge to spontaneously sing a show-tune. I hate it.

I’d try to see a psychiatrist or something but I can’t bear to hear another voice, it’s so grating. And I know I should just grin and bear it but the last time I tried that I yelled at them. Not many people like me much anymore. I see why, I must’ve become an asshole to them, but they don’t get it. My eyes have become blue by now, and I think it’s glowing too.

I can’t help but play the songs over and over. I called it camp but I think it’s growing on me. I like Let It Out the most. I relate to Paul a lot right now. And then I noticed a split second shot of... His actor... Being... I can’t say it. I had to vomit. Why wouldn’t I? That was so fucking disgusting. And when I puked, I froze pale at what I just pushed out of my body.

It was blue, viscous sludge. It felt disgusting looking at it, even worse when you hold it. It smelled like ammonia. I ran out of the bathroom. I couldn’t stand to look at it any longer. And that’s when I decided to write this. I’m scared, to be honest, who wouldn’t be? I’ll most likely either be dead and have my corpse puppeteered, or go missing, for another poor soul to inevitably find the DVD and end up like me. I can hear the chimes and hymns of The Singular Voice. I know He wants me to become one with Him. He says it’s inevitable for me. And what choice do I have in the matter anymore?

I’m sorry, I lost.

[the-autistic-spider]

dp x dc idea

dp x blue beetle movie

so something like

(not film universe)

Danny is 18 and has gotten a job at kord (to like idk to spite Vlad or his skill) and is called for a meeting with the CEO ted kord

or (film universe)

Danny was taken as phantom by kord to see if his ghostliness could help the construction of the OMAC (One Man Army Corp)

or (either work but preferably a weird fusion of the two)

Danny has one of the scarabs like Mabey a green one or red or blue or black I'm not sure what a protector/space core would get

or (either work but preferably a weird fusion of the two)

Danny and jazz go camping and something happens.

prompt:

(i would probably make it so Danny was 16 when he became ghost for this so he's still new to the ghost thing but older so just imagine Danny was born a few years earlier than in the normal timeline)

Danny was newly 18 and decided him and jazz should go camping together also so he could finally tell jazz he was phantom

a few hours later they have 2 tents up and ghost shield (jack and Maddie made them take it) set up jazz decides to go for a walk to relax (she agreed for two reasons 1. to bond 2. to tell Danny she knows he's phantom)

while jazz is walking she sees an odd green glow from under some bushes taking out the Fenton bat she slowly approaches and jumps out at the green glow....

its an old meteor... made of kryptonite with... a god damn skeleton sticking out suddenly a odd scarab looking thing fly's out at jazz (input the scene from blue beetle the movie but with jazz and in a forest)

mean while Danny was trying to find a way to reveal himself to jazz when he sees something humanoid fly out of the forest

putting off the reveal for the moment he starts to change

lightning arcs up from Danny's left arm in a beautiful sequence as his clothes burn away and are replaced with an burned rubber hazmat suit taking its place the lightning arcs up over his mouth replacing it with a nightmarish maw with too many teeth and white hair with small black remains showing its old colour

this new being launches off to see what the mysterious flying humanoid could be

end prompt (you could swap roles and have Danny go for a walk and have jazz be overthinking on how to tell Danny she knows he's phantom)

i decided to try and describe how i feel Danny should transform for fun =]

also the info is from @mac-cheez (who also has a whole conversation/argument/scheduling with @arrowheadedbitch on the post asking for info on the scarabs )

In Young Justice, there's three colors Black (Warriors), Blue (Scouts), and Green, but there's also Red Beetle (Sara Butters) who I don't think appears in that peice of media. Those are the main ones that I know of. I recommend the wiki for blue beetle and the reach I find the history and dynamics very interesting and great plot material.

[brunchable]

2319 Chapter 9 — Start of Love & War || Young!S.S × F!Reader.

Word Count: 2K Genre: Young Love, Diary Entry, Flashbacks. A/N: Inspired by the Korean Drama 2521. Thank you for being patient guys, I do apologize if it's short! I admit I've sorta forgotten some stuff so I'm rereading everything lol. I might focus on the present next chapter.

The night of July 25 1999, it was a hot, scorching summer, and night had come with a breeze like a balm. It was noisy all around the camp; not only your group was the one waiting for the meteor shower to start. The radio was on for the forecast and some people were singing, others were telling stories and laughing around the fire. 

The midnight blue sky is exuberant, twinkling with bright, white sparkles and fireflies.  Stephen turns his head to look at you, his face illuminated by the stars. He digs his fingers into the soft grass of the hill.  

At some point, you caught Stephen staring at you as you blew a deep sigh out of your lungs and you felt embarrassed, somehow. Especially after confessing to each other that both of you have lingering feelings mutually. 

"Oh my! Look up!" Donna gasped and pointed skyward as millions of diamond streams fell from the sky.

Stephem smiled at you and asked you if you had ever seen a meteor shower before. “No, it’s for the first time”, you answered and suddenly quickly turned away to hide the hint of pink blooming on your cheeks.

He pretended he did not notice and he went on, “It’s interesting how people are fascinated by this phenomenon, when the Earth basically passes through the tail of a comet, which collects everything it finds in its journey through the Universe.”

Both of you gazed up at this dark, vast canopy sprinkled with millions of diamond lights. So mesmerised were you by the sight of it, your voice took on a dreamy tone when you answered him, “Yes, but how beautiful it all looks from down here.” you softly chuckled. 

He laughed softly together with your silvery laugh. It was so sweet and sunshiney, he half-expected flowers to sprout on the ground wherever you walked and a coterie of singing woodland animals to trail behind you while you traipsed through meadows or whatever girls like you did.

Both of you lifted your gaze and saw small shiny globes shooting across the sky, leaving behind a neon-like effect. Exclamations and applause could be heard around you, and you felt him take your hand and clutch it slightly. All he seemed to notice were your bright eyes, they were close enough that he could see the way the lights from the comets reflected in your eyes, like tiny star-beams streaking across an endless night. Your lips parted, lush and pink, and an insane desire to find out whether they tasted as sweet as they looked now gripped him. He nodded with a very warm glow in his eyes, a very softened looking face and an almost hidden smile.

You were too absorbed by the meteors to react to his actions but your heart did skip a beat as you watched the whole show on an indigo background, like a huge canvas, which would lift with the sunrise. 

Stephen closed his eyes and made a wish for time to stop for a short while, so that he can savour the moment with you. His chest aches at the idea of losing the thread of this night, and the ease that has shaped between you, an ease born of weeks instead of months or years, but it is something, fragile and lovely.

Stephen sighed softly, stealing glances at you whenever he can so that his photographic memory will have your image seared into his brain. Then, he looks skyward to see the night sky, twinkling with myriads of mysterious stars, blue-black velvet, making the heart stop from the power of mystical attraction.

Something inside Stephen sparked and right there and then, he has made up his mind. He was going to finish what he started, he will graduate university. 

Stephen's Flashback 

“It’s laughable, isn’t it?” He says. 

“What?” Beverly asks him.

Stephen gestures to himself. “This.” He leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. “I should just quit Mom. I’m obviously not cut out for this.” 

Beverly sighs. “Not cut out for what? College? Real life?” 

Stephen shakes his head. “Responsibility in general, really. Dad was right when he told me that I'm no better than his estranged brother, Uncle Rainer. He was right about that, at least.”

"This year is just a really bad year, Stephen. A really, really challenging year. Sometimes in life, we need a few bad days in order to keep the good ones in perspective.” His mother reached out to hold his hand while keeping the other one controlling the steering wheel.

"You might not see it yet, Stephen but you have what it takes. Your grandfather always tells me to finish what I started, thrust aside your trepidation and self-doubt. Bare your teeth and embrace the process. Most importantly, finish what you start. You’ll be surprised by what unfolds and presents itself before your very eyes." Beverly continued with a slight imitation of her father. 

She continued, "And if at the end of it all, you still don’t like medicine, you can do whatever you want to do. You're young, this is not the end of the world."

▪︎▪︎▪︎

August 5th 1999

“Again, (Y/N)!” If you hear the words 'again' and (Y/N) together in a sentence one more time, it might be the thing that finally tips you over the edge. 

You've been on the edge since you woke up this morning with a headache sent directly from the pits of hell, so the last thing you need right now is more grief from Coach George Laurier. You focus on suppressing your annoyance, like you do every training session when he makes it his mission to push you to your limits. 

Rationalising it’s his dedication that makes him such a successful coach, he decided throwing your ice skates at him is something that should stay in your imagination. 

It’s been a few days since the camp and right when you got back home, your father instantly gave you a condition. A condition to make it ‘fair’ according to him. Since they allowed you to go on that trip, the least you could do was start training. So here you were, training for the next olympic games. You’ve been so focused that you haven’t been able to hang out with Donna.

“You’re being sloppy, (Y/N)!” he yells as you fly straight past him. “Sloppy skaters don’t get gold medals!” 

What did I say about not throwing skates at him? I already have a gold medal.

“Come on, (Y/N)! Put in some effort for once.” Alex snickers, poking his tongue out at you when you shoot him a cold glare. 

Stupid Alex Laurier. Just because he is the best male hockey player the University of Washington, Devonport has to offer and having an ex-figure skater as a father, Alex acts like knew everything about both figure skating. 

“It’s coming, Coach,” you say with as much fake enthusiasm as possible. “I’m getting there; it’s not perfect yet, but I’ll keep practising.” It’s a minor lie, a harmless one. You are getting there. What you've failed to mention is you're only getting there off the ice, specifically when you're attached to equipment that helps you get there. 

“She’s getting there,” Alex lies, throwing an arm around his Dad's shoulders. “Hang in there just a bit longer, (Y/N).” 

It was nice for Alex to be on your side and show a united front to his father. 

George mutters something inaudible and waves you off flippantly. “I’ll see you two back here tomorrow, and if you could both not be late, that would be great. I’m fairly certain eating McDonalds before training isn’t going to get either of you onto the Olympic team. Understood?” 

Shit. “Yes, Coach,” you say in harmony. 

Alex is staring at his phone, waiting for you in the lobby when you finally exit the women’s locker room. 

“I freaking told you he’d know.” you groan, swinging your bag toward him as soon as you're close enough to hit him in the stomach with it. “I didn’t even have anything!” 

He grunts at the impact, tugging the bag from your hands and flinging it over his shoulder. “The man has the nose of a bloodhound.”

You climb into Alex's new SUV, the latest guilt gift from his uncle, and head home. Alex and you decided it would be cool for him to be your ride since he has practice two hours after yours. 

Alex stops at a stop light and looks over at you while you rummage through your purse for your most prized possession. 

“What does the planner say you’re doing tonight?” 

 You snicker, ignoring his teasing tone. “Getting laid.” 

“Ew,” he says, the tip of his nose wrinkling as he grimaces. “Keep your imaginations to yourself.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing,” Alex smiles to himself while you roll your eyes, “So. . . I heard Paris talked to you before we left camp. . .What did she say?”

You scoff at the memory of that morning before separating, “Y'know she apologised but then she said I should've let everyone know I couldn't swim.”

“Wow.” Alex widens his eyes, “What a massive bitch.”

“I'm over it, just as long as I don't see her again. . . Robbie was more upset than her.”

Alex pulls over in front of your house and lifts the handbrake, “To be honest, me too,” Alex said. “You know what?” 

“What?” You asked, looking over at him. Before you could even register what was happening, he leaned across the car and pressed his lips against your cheek. You almost jerked back in surprise. 

“All right,” he said, pointing at his cheek. “Lay one on me.” 

Before you could think twice, you planted a kiss right on his cheek. He smelled like pine trees. “There.” 

He grinned, sitting back just as fast as he’d leaned over. “That fixes it for both of us—and by that I mean my Dad being a pain in the ass.” 

And that’s when I fainted. Okay, I didn’t really faint. But something inside you snapped like an elevator cable, your heart plummeting to your feet. You felt light-headed and combustible, your neck hot beneath your collar. 

“Thanks,” You said, laughing a little. Thanks?! Someone kisses you and you say thanks?! Did you learn nothing from Stephen Strange? 

“That takes the pressure off.” 

No, it doesn’t! Now I have no idea what’s going on! Do you like me or are you just being a good friend in the most confusing, lip-touching possible way?! 

“Hey,” he said. “What are friends for, right?” 

Not this! You climbed out of the car onto shaky legs. Alex Laurier kissed you. Alex. Laurier. Kissed. You.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

You shut the door of your room and that’s when you snapped out of your trance. You dropped your bag on the floor and combed back your hair, “What the hell was that guy thinking?”

You rushed to the window to let some fresh air in, not realising that Stephen was there, “You look frazzled.” He looked up from the guitar he was holding.

You jumped slightly and cleared your throat, "It's nothing."

“Really? That didn't seem like nothing to Alex.” 

Your face flushed at the mention of his name. You sat down, wondering if Stephen saw Alex kissing you on the cheek. He seemed so casual about it—he probably wouldn’t even think about it again. 

“He was just trying to cheer me up. His dad was very hard on me during training today.” You replied, which was not all a lie since you think that's what Alex was doing—at least that's what 'taking pressure off' is to him.

“Nice to see that it worked.” Stephen chuckles and sets his guitar on his stand, “Enjoy your sessions with him.” With that, Stephen grabbed his jacket and left his room, shutting the door behind him. Stephen's actions stung and it caught you off guard, rendering you speechless. Even though he was casual about it, it felt as though there was a blizzard right beneath his calm persona.

SERIES TAGS: @goldencherriess @lokislov3 @strangesweetheart @mydearalmira @veryladyqueen @seasonofthenerd @artsherlocked @bobateadaydreams @classicrebound @holygalaxyprincess @sobeautifullyobsessed @winsteria @allie131313 @gaitwae @sherlux @the-royal-petals @keistange @omgstarks @evelynrosestuff @withalittlehoney @strangeions @gwephen @cemak @patbrdac @siredlust @downtownshabby @nicoletk @lilithskywalker @youcantseem3 @samisubi @strangelockd @bloodyxsaint @lady-harvey @paola-carter @jotaros-bara-tiddies @delightfulheartdream @strangefilms @strangeobsessed

[pawborough]

Hey everyone!

Thank you for the patience before this check in. There’s a lot of new and exciting things to share. First, a small announcement…

We’ve had some restructuring of our organization. Holly and Meteor, previous project owners, have taken an amicable leave from the project. I (Blue) have taken up the mantle of sole project owner and senior, and am working very closely with the rest of the team as its head. There is no bad blood! We concluded that this decision would best benefit the project going forward. All three of us are beyond excited for PB’s future and development! I vow to be a strong, central lead, and to help vitalize the vision of this project.

With that being said, the previous iterations of art, information, mechanics, and layouts shown here have functioned as proof of concepts, and it's our plan as the team to upgrade and improve upon things as we begin serious building. The last few months following the Kickstarter have been dedicated to extensive pre-production (so we don’t build something and then impulsively decide at the last minute that it doesn’t work, wasting precious time and resources.) I myself have also continued this conceptualizing with the team after being appointed head this month.

Simply: As lead, I will be making changes. In this update, I am presenting a few changes and potential iterations of the game’s UI and aesthetic. With a strong and centralized vision, it’s my hope to improve upon a lot of what was previously shown.

Gene Stylization

The previous color and gene system helped us conceptualize the process of mass coloring and designing a cat, but it left some to be desired. Patterns look very messy when slapped together with such stark borders, very few genes compliment one another with artistic synergy, and the potential for good looking cats could definitely be expanded upon. We’ve started experimenting with more complex looking patterns, and where those patterns fall, and it’s greatly benefitted!

These color experiments aren't final, and may be subject to palette changes. But they're a start with the new direction. 

All the colors will all be getting upgrades to accommodate this new style of rendering. And the genes, well, will be re-rendered following the direction seen here! My goal is to more realistically be able to represent what an average cat looks like—as this looks much closer to your average mackerel tabby—and to open the door for some real beautiful mythical renderings (starry pattern...?) I’d prefer if a randomly generated cat was, on average, something that’s nice to look at – so it’s my goal to try to push and guide the art and gene system in this direction!

I also want to establish more aesthetic synergy with the customization, giving users gene options to customize smaller aspects, such as the skin color or the ear fluff color, while not being overwhelming (or requiring too many color slots for breeding.) I want to design it so that you essentially can't get an "unusable" color combination. Not too little customization, and not too much as to be overwhelming, confusing, or difficult to breed with. 

Doing so will also open the door for potentially a larger color wheel, as our wheel still lacks. The original intention behind a smaller wheel was to allow for getting a "good" color combination easily, but I believe the solution to a problem like that is to retackle the different areas of customization. 

So, hold out for that!

It's also worth noting that our developers have figured out the "colored shading" problem, allowing for us to make the current plain black shading tinted based on the color it sits above. The next update to the generator should include this colored shading! More on the state of the generator available below... 

New UI/UX Direction Preview #1 - The Camp

Let’s face it, the old displays and mockups shared here may have been passable, but they were rudimentary and amateur. I did them on my own, but they were no way up to speed with the demands of web design. As intended, the development team has been expanded. I’ve been working with a seasoned UI/UX designer to develop and improve upon the mechanics we originally conceptualized, and to adapt my original design intentions.

Everything is subject to change as we move forward, and of course this is low fidelity (please excuse the work-in-progress nature!) But it gives a new concrete direction for where elements will be placed. Everything will also be formatted competently for mobile.

New UI/UX Direction Preview #2 - Cat Profile

Once again, low fidelity! There are still some aspects which need workshopping, such as the formatting for the text in the heritage and traits boxes, and we may experiment with the margins and spacing of each element, but the goal was to create a much cleaner web view, and we're getting there!

New UI/UX Direction Preview #3 - Cat Generator

This is the biggest change that I am workshopping right now. An experienced consultant on our team pointed out that dropdowns, while popular within our genre, are difficult for users on average. They’re outdated, and they’re harder for accessibility, intuitive design, and user flow. We have gotten user complaints and requests to help accommodate the dropdowns in the past, but why not make the whole process easier?

NOTE: The "review" tab will also be added to the mobile layout

The mobile version especially will have to be implemented and tested for design and usability. I'm still back and forth on moving the randomize and history buttons to the top in the web view, but for the mobile view it could not stay below due to being where a user's thumbs often sit, and potentially causing frustration while designing. I wanted to keep some consistency between the mobile and web layouts, and it does seem to mimic a sort of "back button" placement, but what do you as the community think?

As to when the cat generator will be updated: I’ve been wanting to do a big bang of an update with all the breeds that will be available at launch. With this overhaul, it will depend on the speed of artist production.

Other low fidelity mockups are currently being workshopped, including new user onboarding, breeding, and a potential “dashboard” feature for registered users which accommodates completed dailies, site news, and monitoring timers for functions like cooking!

Next, let’s take a look at some art the team has done this month!

Pixels

Icons

Illustrated by Hybridremmie on Instagram

Work in Progresses

Lastly, let’s look at some sketches this month!

Fauna concept: The Lupiné

Illustrated by fulemy on Instagram

Backdrops Experiments

Illustrated by Runeowl on Deviantart / snowfinchstudio on Instagram

Illustrated by skazinbud on Instagram

Illustrated by hybridremmie on Instagram

Woo, what a big drop! Things have started moving quite quickly, and I’m working day to night with my teammates to develop on schedule and deliver something amazing! So far, despite the setbacks, we are on track. I’ll come back with news on the building process next month.

AS A FINAL NOTE: With art production speeding up, we are working on backer companions/Fauna. This process consists of us emailing backers our concept sketches and waiting for input. Please watch your Kickstarter email if you have backed a design tier!

To Summarize: We shared the beginning of a new direction for genes, low fidelity UX/UI designs for the user’s Camp, the cat profile, and the cat generator. We shared pixel icons, a few rendered icons, and a collection of work in progress sketches!

What to expect next month: Further UI/UX previews, progress on build functionality, further asset renderings. 

[jadedharleys]

Do you have any appearance headcanons for HS characters? Such as who are muscular, who are chubby, who are tall, etc.

i have this height chart for the kids that i dont follow super strictly (+ its kinda exaggerated i dont think that jade is THAT tall lmao) but it shows my general headcanons . also the lighting isnt great but oh well. putting all the answers below the cut cause this got long as HELL

john: short, a bit above average build. light skinned but slightly tanned+freckled, more so during the summer. my headcanons for everyones eyes is that theyre like a believable shade close to their canon colors, but when they either enter the medium or godtier, i cant decide but i lean towards medium, they change to their canon bright colors. johns are naturally blue pre-sburb. also i headcanon that hypermobile ehler danlos runs in the prospit family (saying this bc i refuse to use some godawful portmanteau family name for them) because projection, and for him it starts presenting more obviously after getting to earth c. even before then he would do weird joint shit to mess with people lol. headcanon that people keep scars from various resurrections or might end up with them from other versions due to weird universe shit so he has a couple stab scars on his chest + lots more from sburb stuff. also i like the idea of him having some visual aftereffect from going out of canon whether some breath lookin scars on his arm or something like that.

rose: mixed east asian/european (vague bc they dont technically have actual ancestry, given a no sburb au im undecided for more specific asian background but since her surname has french origins thats my headcanon for that part); darker skin. natural dark hair but she bleaches it to dye it purple. fairly average height. naturally below average weight growing up, but fills out in her teens. gray eyes before sburb; her hair dye make them look faintly lilac, but they become actual purple eventually. somewhat fluffy hair but mostly only if she styles it to be. keeps scar from being killed by jack + absorbs the scars of doomed rose from davesprites timeline.

jade: tall and lanky, but much closer to daves height than in this drawing. very similar hair and skin tone to john, but much more tan, especially at the start of sburb since she lives in the tropics. by the end theyve both faded to close to the same color. hair looks black but with brown highlights in bright light. natural green eyes, but instead of just turning brighter they also glow like the green sun in the dark (or an animal with reflective eyes). hair gets a lot fluffier and thicker after dogtiering, + gets fangs. it was very long and a tangled mess from not brushing or cutting it enough growing up, so on the pre-retcon yellow yard she gets it cut and grows it back while on post-retcon she cuts it off herself during a breakdown moment. quite a few scars from jungle mishaps + taxidermy stitching scars after dogtiering. pretty wiry from taking care of herself growing up. her ehlers danlos presents with more fatigue as she gets older so the sleepygirl vibes return...she also had to self-treat a lot of dislocations from incidents on the island. her body is a bit fucked up after godtiering from the combo of vague dogginess making the connective tissue stuff worse.

dave: same as rose but im very much in the albino dave headcanon camp! lots of scars from strifing with bro, which show up pretty easy on him. big one on his chest from the strife where his shirt got cut, and sometimes ends up with doomed daves' scars. his eyes were naturally pinkish red but again became their super bright color eventually. heavily masks his expressions most of the time but gets better at displaying emotion while on the meteor. pretty tall and a good bit of muscle, but skinny throughout childhood from his living situation. thin hair without a ton of volume. also please make him so very very texan i beg you all.

jane: shortest of the alpha kids + chubby :] very fluffy hair, and pretty pale from not going outside as much as the other prospits. gets pretty emotive and frazzled at times + gets red in the face easily from both that and being paler. maybe a couple scars from failed assassination attempts that she usually covers with makeup to keep up the heiress public image? her and roxy both have scars from being killed pre-entry.

roxy: darker than rose + curlier hair; also mixed but less so without dirks genes in the mix obvs. second tallest of the alphas! she dyes her hair pink but not as often as rose so her roots are grown out a lot more. various scars from living in the water apocalypse + kitten accidents as it goes with those silly creatures, and more freckles than rose bc climate change lol. natural dark brown eyes instead of something "pink" lol . void style. prescratch she just bleached her hair but didnt dye it. i like to think maybe jade did end up getting a little silly :3 when she was a prisoner on derse so some scars from that too :(

jake: short!! i live for short jake. honestly might make him shorter than jane; theyre def closer in height than i drew them here. lotsss of scars he thinks they look cool. clothes usually a bit battered. haircut is not very neat whatsoever because he just does it himself to keep it out of the way which is better than jade letting hers go wild i guess. similar complexion to jade. scars on his chest from getting forked by jane which has angst potential. natural eye color is sorta hazel/green

dirk: tall! white surfer boy lookin. natural dirty blonde hair but the combo of sunbleaching + various improvised methods to lighten it to resemble his totally awesome bro makes it closer to blonde (prescratch he bleaches it so hard and its so shitty but irony am i right). extremely freckled + lots of scars but he got most of them in very stupid ways like slipping while climbing the supports for the apartment. he does ofc have the iconic neck scar. naturally had light brown eyes.

ok and trolls! this is the only pic where ive drawn all of them so itll work as my visual lol.

first tho these are my headcanons for how different castes ears look! mind that the pic of all the trolls is a bit older than this (which is also something i made a while ago in case i never needed to describe my headcanons. so some things changed from one to the next but in general the same ideas are there; also some things in this diagram i dont like as much as what i drew above so take it with a grain of salt.

also my headcanon is that on average for this age range, trolls are in the same range of heights as humans, but the higherblooded they are the taller they can get. however they keep growing a lot longer . like lobsters . which extra reason why highbloods get bigger cause they live longer

aradia: short, chubby but muscular, with super curly and long and wild hair. when alive, lots of dark red freckles and blush but when dead, very pale gray skin. for my ear shape headcanons, rustblood ears are just slightly more pointed than human ears, though you cant see hers in this pic. sometimes i draw her with horizontal pupils when i remember.

tavros: tall for a bronzeblood, but still short compared to humans. his robot legs make him taller than he was before lol. pretty obvious brown flush to his skin a lot of the time. lil bit chubby

sollux: short-average height, thin and lanky. terrible posture. i lean into the goldbloods with two pairs of ears headcanon. no freckles

karkat: he hasnt slept in a month and everyone can tell. worlds awfullest eyebags on a thirteen year old boy ever. i draw trolls with nails corresponding with their blood color but he paints his black. what do you mean he has red freckles those are the blood of his enemies. average height and constantly tense

nepeta: short. silly. will kill you. there is a nasty mix of blood under her nails at all times but look at her silly smile. she doesnt look buff but she is. super messy hair goes all over the place standing on end when she takes off her hat. cleft lip + slit pupils. lots of scars but she rocks them like a warrior cat.

kanaya: curly fluffy hair. in this pic i didnt draw it cause im a loser i guess but she has tons and tons of freckles. sometimes they look like stars (space player moment). i draw her ears with sorta leafy/almost frayed-looking edges as a rosemary nod since they kinda look like rose leaves! fairly tall for a jade.

terezi: lots of freckles on her face! very straight and pointy ears. short + chubby + not exactly visibly muscular but she WILL throw you. triangle body shape language (wide stance, very solid).

vriska: super wild unkept hair. fairly pale; burn scars across her face, side, and shoulder. the pic shows her damaged ear (she lost most of it in the explosion) but her other ear would be a bit longer than terezis but with a less dramatic point. somewhat tall and pretty solidly built.

equius: buff but NOT like a super muscular body builder he may be a troll but he is basically thirteen. hes like a buff middle schooler but not super over the top. just kinda a regular guy. i dont like how his hair looks in the comic so i draw it a bit different. strong blue (no pun intended) flush to his skin in some places, especially under eyes and near joints. fairly tall.

gamzee: ive never rlly draw him without makeup so i dont rlly have an idea of his normal appearance. tall but slouches, somehow both a bit chubby as well as awkwardly bony in places. thick + very curly hair. i draw purpleblood ears with a sorta multilobed/wavy edgy to sorta resemble approaching seadweller fins.

eridan: average height for a violetblood, but tall for a human. a few freckles. his glasses are just for show. hes like a middle schooler who you think looks so tough and edgy at the time but then you look back and realize they were just a loser kid.

feferi: short + chubby but very strong. long curly hair, lots and lots of freckles! very round + soft + bubbly shape language.

[aozoranoshita]

park rangering at night

when I left the visitor center at 5 it was overcast but the astronomy club had emailed that there was a 50/50 chance it would clear out according to the weather forecast so some of them are planning to show up tonight. 50/50 chance is the Worst weather forecast possible, might as well flip a coin it gives me zero information, but it's such a common forecast in the south in the summer I don't even bother to check the weather most days. if it rains it's a pleasant surprise, until sometimes it's not a rainstorm it's a hurricane and I hadn't noticed until I try to go to the grocery store and all the ingredients for milk sandwiches are sold out.

anyway leaving my house at around 8:30 to walk back down towards the center of the park, it's dark out. last time I did this a month ago it was still light outside at this time but the days have gotten shorter. I have my hurricane lamp (meant for camping but I use it when the power blows in those surprise summer storms) and it is DARK so I'm using the most powerful beam to sweep the sand path as I walk for murderers or wild hogs or whatever else could be in the woods in the dark. have to pass the cemetery to get to the field where the astronomers (in theory) are set up, which creeps me out every time because one of the graves has some solar powered lights next to it that glow for a few hours after the sun goes down. I know what they are but still, seeing them makes me think of ghosts. I don't even believe in ghosts, but it is awfully dark.

I switch my lamp to the red lowlight setting so I don't mess up any astrophotography as I approach the field. I can see two sets of red lights, so two of the promised astronomers have shown up at least. everyone else called it with the threat of cloud cover. but now as my eyes are adjusting I notice hey, the clouds DID move out. I can definitely see stars. I wander up and it's two guys I know, so we exchange pleasantries and I turn off my light and listen to them murmur over their telescope equipment. "hey," I say after a moment, "hey. that's the milky way, right?" the three of us look up and it sure is.

it's been said before it's been said before it's been said before but how to describe the stars in the sky? there's a band of misty haze running north-south across the black. there's a dark gap in the middle, one of the astronomers says something about a dust band and I'll take his word for it. they talk to each other about the milky way going "right through cygnus and cassiopeia" which I recognize as a swan and a princess but gun to my head I couldn't point out the actual constellations. they go back to their equipment, every so often just saying "wow!!" because again, what else can you say? the band of it is fairly defined to the south towards the forest, and it reaches grasping towards the north before it dissipates into the light pollution of the city thirty minutes away from us. while the astronomers look through their scopes at globular clusters ("check out m15, you can see why messier thought it was a comet") I am standing head all the way back trying to see as much of the sky as possible.

it's easy to tell apart the things that move, airplanes flashing while satellites and debris maintain a steady, unblinking pace as smaller dots. I get the occasional shooting star ("meteor" I say out loud for the professionals) distinctive with their arcing flash and quick disappearance. there's a thick ring of trees all around us so the horizon isn't visible, but it's kind of like there are stars there anyway because the last tenacious fireflies of the season are bobbing along and flashing their lights intermittently. there's also the steady droning of hordes upon hordes of cicadas, and the frogs singing of course, and a lone barred owl somewhere. it makes me think of another ranger I worked with in the mountains who could imitate the call perfectly. with my head tilted all the way back I am baring my neck to the natural vampire of the swamp, the mosquito. they're not as bad as they could be, with all the rain we've gotten recently, but I do have to wave an arm around every so often and the disruption in the air makes their buzzing go confused and almost indignant at the foiled attempt to bleed me dry.

so I'm slightly itchy and extremely sweaty. breathing in I might as well be breathing underwater, and of course the smell and taste of the air is like pond scum and rotting leaves, a little sweet a little earthy a lot WET. knowing it would be a small crowd I am dressed down and not in full uniform but still in long sleeves long pants so there's less surface area available for biting bugs. after an hour and half standing up head back I have a crick in my neck and my clothes are sweat through, so I make one more round of admiring noises with the astronomers and leave them to it.

trudging back up the path I notice it runs north-south, parallel with the milky way right above me. to the west the big dipper has been gradually making it's way down to the horizon, like someone is very slowly lowering it into the waters of the swamp. I wait as long as possible to turn my flashlight back on, make it a decent way into the woods before even my adjusted night vision can't make up for the trees blocking the starlight above me. plus the cemetery is coming up. with the light on I can tell a large deer has come through since I came down, hoofprints in the sand. thinking about animals of the deep dark woods when I walk back into my house and am immediately accosted by three cats wondering what the hell I was doing out there. they want dinner. the lights of my house are practically blinding. I chug a glass of lemonade to get the swamp taste out of my mouth and go to feed the cats.

[stahl-herz]

If you have handfuls of favorites, what are some of your favorite movies? Do you have a list of stahl-herz approved recs?

Lol, Stahl-Herz approved! Ok, so most movies I watch once and I'm ok with not watching another time. There are exceptions! In no particular order:

The Mark of Zorro from 1940 Starring Tyrone Powers. There is a three minute fight scene between Basil Rathbone and Tyrone and you're on the EDGE of your scene the entire time! They're knocking over things and dodging attacks! I had to pester my cousin for a week to watch it with me because he had the mindset that 'black and white movies are boring' and I was really happy when I saw that he was enjoying himself when he watched it!

1986 Transformers Movie - The visuals of the opening remind me of a painting. Also the soundtrack is 80's hair metal and synth - 90% of the reason why I love the movie, haha.

The Princess Bride. It's a classic for a reason. Need I say more?

The Dictator by and starring Charlie Chaplin. It's his only movie with sound! And the speech that he gives at the end of the movie is really good!

Sailor Moon The Movie The Promise of the Rose. Nostalgia mainly, this was my introduction to Sailor Moon! The scene where she uses the crystal to stop the meteor from crashing into earth will always stay in my head!

Castle in the Sky, as well as most Ghibli movies! Castle in the Sky was my first Ghibli movie. I was at a friend's house and they asked if I had ever watched it before. I said 'no' and she went to the computer and searched it up on Youtube. This was back when you could watch movies on there without it being an at least 20, 10 minute parts.

RRR. A movie that came out two years ago and it's three hours long! But it's so over the top that it goes back around to being hilarious! Also I love the historical fiction aspect of it as well as the songs!

The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) starring Joan Bennett and Louis Hayward. This one comes from that one camping trip that I was bored and the only movie that my aunt had to watch was a TCM dvd that had a version of Cerano de Bergerac as well as The Son of Monte Cristo. I watched it a handful of times and enjoyed it, even though I had to skip a scene or two because the dvd was scratched and it'd get stuck on some scenes.

White Christmas starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. It's always a classic movie to watch around christmas time. The songs are really good as well.

Scooby Doo and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (and most of the other Scooby Doo movies). This one is so fun to watch! The scene were KISS reveals that their aliens that use the power of rock and roll to fight evil, AND the fact that their spaceship is shaped like a guitar will always be hilariously cool! Also can't forget the music! The 'I was Made for Loving You' scene will always be what I think of now whenever I hear that song, haha!

I did not expect this list to be this long! The question is referencing this ask . Thank you for the question!

[starfish-sonnyangel]

AURORA CYCLE CAMP AU i couldn't stop thinking abt this there's so much potential here

BASICALLY there are 4 cabins, each with a pair of counselors. 

Auri/Scar (girls cabin)

Fin/Kal (boys cabin)

Ty/Nari (boys cabin, poor Nari)

Zila/Saedii (girls cabin)

Auri

she used to go to the camp when she was younger so she’s like a senior here

friends with everyone

leads the nature hikes

even tho she’s been going to the camp for 10+ years is incapable of making a friendship bracelet more complicated than a fishtail (she’s tried)

head chef!

one night she got really sick and couldn’t cook so fin took over, the result closely resembled a bowl of vomit. everyone ate smores for dinner that night.

her and scar are actually a great pair, they balance each other out and probably get along better than any of the other counselor pairs do

Scar

avoides her duties at all costs

just makes friendship bracelets and gossips about the other cabins

gives the campers relationship advice but they’re all like, eleven

“girl taking your pen!!! the sparkly one too?? i’m getting major red flags, that's such an ick. you need to dump him next recess.”

everyones fav counselor 1000%

surprisingly good at pep talks

always the one that gets called in when there’s camper conflicts

blasts britney spears in the mess hall (speaker is consequently confiscated by tyler)

Kal

came for the service hours, stayed for the found family

surprisingly very responsible and into nature

always the one who gathers the wood for the campfire each night

helps in the kitchen most nights (he maintains that it’s to spend as little time with finn as as possible orrr is it because auri is head chef cough cough)

no one knows anything about him. like anything. where he’s from? what his last name is? how old he is? if he has family? zilch.

has to enforce 98% of the rules bc fin couldn't care less abt disciplining the campers

very passionate about algae??? no one has any idea where that came from

could and would fight off a bear

takes the spiders that get into the cabin back outside in a little cup (while fin is curled up on his bunk screaming)

scar drags him into making friendhsip bracelets with him

has a black nalgene with like 5 half finished bracelets hanging off it that he takes everywhere with him

definitely doesn't make auri bracelets idk why you would think that

Fin

imagine how chaotic he was in the series, times 100

pushes everyone in on lake days and then whines when the campers push him in

“fin, what’s this type of plant called?”    “girl . . . a leaf prolly idk”

tries to sneak his nintendo switch onto the camp (it gets confiscated by a very disappointed tyler)

goes over to the girls cabins a bittt too often to flirt with scar (and annoy auri)

called the top bunk as SOON as he got in that cabin

allergic to everything under the sun so the forest scare the shit out of him (the other counselors have yet to figure out why exactly he signed up for a camp . . in the forest)

CANNOT swim and is terrifiyed of the lake on the campgrounds

again no one knows how tf he got hired

scar's theory is the camp had him signed up as a camper and the system fudged the lists up

Zila

so quiet she blends into the forest on accident

once fin was walking down a trail with rations, zila was just off the trail trying to get a goldenrod sample and started talking to him all of a sudden, not realizing she was completely obscured by a tree to his POV. cue the ration packs flying everywhere and fin running back up the trail screaming

once sat on a log for three. hours. motionless, just watching a stream

goes on very mysterious “nature walks” where no one hears a single thing for her for hours and hours

can identify ever bird call

knows every plant, it’s scientific name, if it’s invasive or native, etc etc

100% wakes nari up to see the stars during a meteor shower (in a very platonic way ofc ofc)

has a first aid kit on her at all times

Tyler

Ty 🤝 Nari

           ^

 running that cabin like a boot camp

no bc you will never be able to convince me that their dynamic wouldn’t have been peak

if everyone didn’t have a crush on him, he’d be the counselor everyone complained abt

scar still complains abt him tho (as her sisterly duties require)

actually a boy scout so this is his natural habitat

lovesss ordering people around its like his favorite thing

really demanding but he is also never seen not working on smth so you can’t really get mad at him for it

always starts campfire nights off with some Sun Tzu quote or a #motivational speech

has a trophy shelf in his bunk but its just all the things he's confiscated (the speaker and switch being some of said objects)

Saedii

do what she says. thats it.

is actually pretty chill if you follow the rules, do your chores, don’t get into fights etc.

with that being said, once you screw up, it’s over

shes like a crow she just remembers bro

can remember every camper shes ever had, what the looked like, acted like, every time they messed up etc.

just don’t mess with her

is prepared for every possible situation

bear attack? dw, she’s got a gun. tsunami? she’s trained. wildfire? she’s a volunteer firefighter back home.

doesn't outright say she and kal are related but doesn't not confirm it either

bonded with tyler over their extensive shared knowledge of the camp's allowed procedures in the case of an intruder on the campgrounds

[antlermoss]

I wanted to try my hand at a warrior OC generator. This one is pretty long, user beware! If you end up drawing or using them, please tag me, I would love to see them.

Welcome to the Beyond, friend, where souls are created and sent to the world below. It’s time to begin a new incarnation.

We’ll start with their name. Choose the first letter of your chosen name.

A - Antler

B - Bee

C - Coyote

D - Deer

E - Egret

F - Ferret

G - Golden

H - Hawthorn

I - Indigo

J - Jackdaw

K - Kite

L - Lily

M - Mossy

N - Newt

O - Oleander

P - Pine

Q - Quail

R - Robin

S - Silk

T - Tansy

U - Umber

V - Viper

W - Wolf

X - Ox

Y - Yarrow

Z - Zinnia

Good, this will be the cat’s prefix. Next, let’s choose their appearance. Choose your favorite season, then the month of your creation. (Up for interpretation, your birthday or any other date important to your identity.)

New-Leaf

January - White and Gray

February - White and Cream

March - Lilac

April - Fawn

May - Cinnamon

June - Ivory

July - Sand

August - Orange and white

September - Silver gray

October - Warm gray

November - Cool gray

December - White

Green-Leaf

January - Chestnut

February - Ash

March - Mahogany

April - Orange

May - Golden

June - Pale yellow

July - Gray and cream

August - Amber

September - Bronze

October - Copper

November - Fiery orange

December - White and yellow

Leaf-Fall

January - Taupe

February - Warm black

March - Copper

April - Bronze

May - Mahogany

June - Pine

July - Russet

August - Brown and orange

September - Black and cream

October - Orange and black

November - Black and White

December - Cool black

Leaf-Bare

January - Black and White

February - Cool silver

March - Stony blue

April - Lilac

May - Black and gray

June - Blue

July - Dark blue

August - Dark gray

September - Warm silver

October - Steely gray

November - White

December - Black

This will be their pelt color.

Next, Look to the skies. They will inform the cat's eye color.

Cloudy - Pale green

Sunny - Amber

Raining - Bright green

Storming - Vibrant yellow

Snowing - Blue

Sleet - Blue-gray

Foggy - Icy blue

Windy - Hazel

Raining while Sunny - One blue eye, one yellow.

Which temperature are you most comfortable at? This will determine the cat's coat length.

0 to 15 °C - Long fur

16 to 25 °C - Medium fur

26 to 37 °C - Short fur

The soul now has a body. It is time for its fate to be decided. The sky will inform your decision once more, look to the moon.

New moon - Healer - This cat will heal their clanmates

Crescent moon - Hunter - This cat will keep the clan well-fed and fight when necessary

Quarter moon - Camp keeper - This cat maintains the camp and cares for the kits

Gibbous moon - Warrior - This cat defends the borders and their clanmates

Full moon - Leader - This cat will lead the clan

Meteor Shower - Gifted - This cat is gifted with a strange ability from Starclan.

Hm? You wish to know of the position of "Deputy"? Fate cares not who holds that title if they are not to become a leader. Your cat is now Ambitious.

A cat's destiny informs the suffix chosen. Roll a D12 and choose the suffix from the corresponding fate.

Healer

1 - Petal

2 - Leaf

3 - Stem

4 - Shade

5 - Pool

6 - Moon

7 - Cloud

8 - Mist

9 - Bark

10 - Web

11 - Rain

12 - Stalk

Hunter

1 - Feather

2 - Flight

3 - Shade

4 - Fall

5 - Leap

6 - Shadow

7 - Eye

8 - Ear

9 - Splash

10 - Spring

11 - Tail

12 - Wind

Warrior

1 - Claw

2 - Fang

3 - Burn

4 - Flame

5 - Storm

6 -Hawk

7 - Tooth

8 - Jaw

9 - Bite

10 - Blaze

11 - Scar

12 - Howl

Camp Keeper

1 - Mask

2 - Tuft

3 - Down

4 - Belly

5 - Heart

6 - Flower

7 - Patch

8 - Light

9 - Fern

10 - Mane

11 - Dapple

12 - Muzzle

*Leader's suffix is Star, but may vary by region.

Gifted

1 - Wish

2 - Sight

3 - Wing

4 - Frost

5 - Song

6 - Dream

7 - Dusk

8 - Dawn

9 - Omen

10 - Spark

11 - Moon

12 - Hollow

The soul is almost ready. Roll a D20 to determine at least one characteristic. You may roll up to three times, and reroll once.

1 - Six Toed

2 - Ear Tufts

3 - Deaf

4 - Long Claws

5 - Rosettes

6 - Stripes

7 - Twisted Paw

8 - Patchy Fur

9 - Excellent Listener

10 - Stalks Silently

11 - Blindness

12 - Three Legged

13 - Exposed Fangs

14 - Excellent Swimmer

15 - Beautiful

16 - Became a Healer despite destiny

17 - Became a Warrior despite destiny

18 - Became Leader despite destiny

19 - Clumsy

20 - Bobbed Tail

The soul is ready. Place them in the clan that suits them best, be it in the Lake territories or elsewhere. Their story is in your hands now.

[momo-t-daye]

HP worldbuilding ramble primarily regarding comets and Voldemort

I rambled about this to @whimsyckle and @rubusart and now I’m tossing this idea up here to see if anyone wants to play with this concept/run with this idea/bounce thoughts around!

So, after several unsuccessful (and rather chilly) camping trips to darker skies (…when I wasn’t getting rained on/hoping that my tent wouldn't leak again) over the last few weeks, I wound up going to an observatory the other weekend where they could still pick up the “green comet” in the big telescope— it was pretty blurry and dim even so but, hooray, a comet! (I’m hoping we’ll get another nice bright comet soon, sure Halley’s comet is scheduled for 2061, but that’s still quite a few years down the road!)

And thus I may have had comets on the brain for a little while now and that’s begun to spawn some world building thoughts.

(Caveat lector: I’m not an astronomer/astrophysicist/historian etc.  I like having stars in the night sky and trying to find comets, but I enjoy meteor showers far more than trying to find Messier objects, so I am, at best, a very casual stargazer.  There’s a lot of Wikipedia under these thoughts under here)

Okay. The stars can be charted and are very predictable, certain constellations are always in the sky at certain times and some are always visible.  The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black uses stars and constellations as names, thus they are associated with the fixed and predictable heavens which reflects on their house being established and very important in wizarding society, right?

Then there are those bright planets (Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.  The others aren't particularly visible without telescopes) that seem to have their own strange pathways unrelated to the more predictable stars (the Greek word root for planet means something like "wanderer") that made them more important for astrological prophecy/divination (for example: “Mars is bright tonight” etc.; I suppose, too, that centaurs don’t have much interest in Uranus).

Comets (long-haired stars), which appeared in the sky unpredictably and for a limited period of time and with a path entirely erratic/eccentric compared to the predictable stars, were, historically (…and not just historically given modern cults and people buying gas masks out of fear of cyanide gas from Halley's Comet...), seen as omens/ill portents/signs of displeased higher powers/harbingers of doom (particularly for those in power).

Maybe the Wizarding World, which has classes in Divination and Astronomy taught to schoolchildren and has an important family associated with the predictable stars and might not know about Uranus, Neptune, and/or Pluto+, is likely to take comets as omens (rather than a 'dirty snowball' going through the solar system on it’s own orbit etc.). (Also, we get talking mirrors in the Leaky Cauldron, two-way mirrors, foe mirrors, the Mirror of Erised, maybe wizards aren’t about to put mirrors in telescopes and instead stick to older refracting telescopes)

Now then, Tom Riddle kinda has a very high/inflated sense of his own importance (unlike Harry, who was rather freaked out by the whole "Chosen One" thing), right? From his: "I knew I was different, I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something" thing and giving himself a noble title, he rather strikes me as someone who would see astronomical or meteorological phenomena as signs confirming his significance.

So, there's the Geminid meteor shower in December, which tends to put on a good show (although it peaks in the middle of December, not the end) and the Quadrantids (which peak in early January) can sometimes be fairly active (for a few hours), but I’ve got comets on the brain at the moment.

I haven't found any records of a naked-eye visible comet in December 1926, but there was (the great) Comet Skjellerup-Maristany in December 1927 that was bright enough to be potentially visible in daylight and unusually golden.  It was mostly visible in the Southern Hemisphere, but towards the end of December it (or at least the tail?) could apparently be seen in the Northern Hemisphere.

For an AU/headcanon of Tom Riddle thinking of himself as special for having a comet visible around the time of his birth, I wouldn't be above changing his birth year (or having him lie about it/get a little confused because he was born on New Years Eve and the next day it was 1927 and does he even know math?).

A Voldemort born under a comet (or one that thinks/claims to be born under a comet) might then consider comets as auspicious and decide to take certain actions when a comet appears.

There were several very bright comets in the late 50s, the 60s, and the 70s (between Tom Riddle leaving school and Voldemort's first rise to power/war); I could see this version of Voldemort timing the creation of Horcruxes 3, 4, and 5 to comets. Perhaps the cup and the locket (both stolen during the murder of Hepzibah Smith right?) were made in 1957 with Comet Arend-Roland and then, a few months later, Comet Mrkos.  Maybe the diadem became a Horcrux in 1962 while Comet Seki-Lines was in the sky.  Perhaps he sees the brilliant 1965 Comet Ikeya-Seki as a sign that he should return to Hogwarts (only to have his job application turned down by Dumbledore; it would change the time between Hokey the elf's memory and Dumbledore's memory to more like eight years rather than ten, but that's a pretty minor detail).

In the first book, when Dumbledore and Minerva meet at Privet Drive in 1981, Dumbledore says something about having had little to celebrate over the last eleven years. So, in this headcanon/AU whatever this ramble is, perhaps the 1970 appearance of Comet Bennet spurs Voldemort into action again after stewing over the disappointing job interview. Maybe he starts getting serious about mustering political power, starts building support, starts to put himself into the public eye as the Heir of Slytherin/born under a great comet/destined and prophesized to be important/mystical cult leader-y type stuff. Maybe he runs for Minister of Magic in 1974 with Comet Kohoutek (which was rather hyped up in the media at the time and then, although it was briefly quite bright, rather failed to live up to the hype and faded fast)- and only fails to win the position because of a great deal of work on the part of Dumbledore and his allies; which would subsequently lead Voldy to seeking alternate methods of obtaining power. Maybe he takes the appearance of Comet West in 1976 (the year of SWM) as an omen to escalate DE activities and violence (maybe he only starts branding his DEs at this point, he’s been thwarted in his attempts to work at Hogwarts and to obtain legitimate political power, he’s at a point where he needs to reassure himself that his supporters won’t have a chance to abandon/deny him), so the first war with Voldemort (and tensions between houses at Hogwarts) really ramp up right about the time Lily and Severus’ friendship is disintegrating just like the comet's nucleus. 

Well, the 1986 regular visit from Comet Halley passed Voldy by due to his whole "attempting to murder the prophecy baby only to get hoisted by his own petard and left to float around as a wraith for a decade" thing, but when he made his physical return in the 90s there were some quite spectacular comets: Hyakutake  and Hale-Bopp (...Heaven's Gate one) in particular.

In this AU/headcanon/whatever this ramble is, I'd move the Azkaban mass breakout in OotP from January 1996 to late March when Hyakutake was shining in the sky- with Voldy delaying on taking major non-Nagini action post-resurrection until the auspicious appearance of a bright comet (…as opposed to not taking major action because his machinations have to line up better with Harry’s school year…). Then, Hale-Bopp starts to become naked-eye visible in May 1996 (around the end of OotP), which could be the sign that prompts Voldemort to finally lure Harry to the Department of Mysteries with the false vision.

Hale-Bopp was naked-eye visible for 18 months, twice as long as the previous record for a comet being visible (which was in 1811 or so).  Hale-Bopp was almost as bright as Sirius (the brightest star in the night sky) in late March/early April 1997 (so, during HBP) and only faded from naked-eye visibility around until December 1997 (or about the point in DH when Harry and Hermione went to Godric's Hollow and then manage to escape from Nagini); perhaps the combination of the comet that had been visible for so long fading from view and Harry escaping yet again drove Voldemort to more reckless moves to convince himself of his own importance/significance etc. since he'd not only failed to find the Elder Wand but also failed to kill Harry during the comet's reign?

Alright, so I am also very partial to the headcanon of a Severus with a childhood fondness for science fiction and fascination with space— as far as I’ve been able to find, the BBC aired the first episode of Star Trek on July 12th, 1969 and the lunar module would’ve landed around 8PM (GMT) on July 20th (if Sev stayed up until nearly 4AM into Monday the 21st, he could’ve seen Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.  Do I like to imagine he did?  Oh yes.  Perhaps Tobias took him to the Railview Hotel where there was a watch party, perhaps it was one of Tobias’ good mood days and Sev sat on his shoulders to see over the crowd and hardly nodded off at all.  Perhaps Sev had a sleepover at the Evans house, if July 1969 was a time when his da didn’t like much of anything. ...also, Sev could've seen "Amok Time" before going to Hogwarts...). Maybe a Severus who knew a bit more about space and such would've found treating comets like they were signs and portents a little embarrassing, it could've made him just a little less loyal/awed by the Dark Lord; but it could also mean that Sev would've heard about Hale-Bopp before it was visible to the eye/would’ve known that Voldy was going to see a sign to take dramatic action and would’ve dealt with that dreadful anticipation for nearly the entirety of OotP (Hale-Bopp was first detected in July 1995 (end of GoF) with telescopes, when it was somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn distances from earth).

In this, because I’m a little mean to evil Dark Lords/like things to be a bit more silly and absurd, I’d also put Dumbledore’s birth date and year as November 17th, 1882 (since we weren’t given one in the books and I know more about astronomy (which, again, is very little) than astrology). Not only should the Great Comet of 1882 have been visible at that point in time, that was also the date of a geomagnetic storm that resulted in a spectacular and very unusual aurora being visible in London (I think northern lights were also visible as far south as San Diego, California due to that particular solar discharge). Also, the Leonid (Leo the lion, Gryffindor connection there maybe?) meteor storm of 1966, while not visible in the UK, happened on November 17th (with peak rates of something like 10-40 meteors per second!?!). I just think it’d be awfully funny if Voldy, with an obsession over being special because of a comet around his birthdate, was tremendously jealous about how many fantastic natural phenomena happened on Dumbledore’s birth day (especially if Dumbledore, despite his best efforts to be or seem all-knowing, was entirely oblivious to that in particular).

[music-despite-everything]

A Brief History of Reënactment by Hai-Dang Phan

from Google Books: HAI-DANG PHAN is the author of Reenactments (Sarabande, 2019). His poems and translations have appeared in Asymptote, Best American Poetry 2016, Mekong Review, New England Review, New Yorker, and Poetry, among other places. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

---

On Day 1 the photographer walks into camp and immediately starts shooting. She shoots us

at breakfast eating our C-rations, in our hammocks reading Stars & Stripes. She shoots us in her sleep.

When we first cross paths at the creek, she says, “Hello, Tiger! Nice combat boots. Is that thing real?”

pointing to my Special Forces jungle shirt. “I’m afraid so,” I say nonchalantly, trying to mask

my satisfaction. Day 2: no more messing around. The photographer has agreed to join the action.

“So what’s the scenario?” A lone guerrilla left over in a booby-trapped village jumps out of a hidey-hole

and ambushes the platoon on a search-and-destroy. “Good thing I brought my black pajamas and sandals!”

What a trooper. She also plays the captured prisoner, the native informant, and the beautiful turncoat.

The sniper girl is her favorite role because it’s like taking pictures. “The beauty, the beauty!”

her voice volleys spookily from behind some rocks as she picks off one of my men after another.

Sometimes the photographer shoots herself. I know she must have her own personal baggage—

later I find her sobbing in the bamboo grove. I tell her it’s O.K., these wars only last three days.

“What will you do when it’s all over?” she asks. “I don’t know,” I say. “Plan the next one.”

On Day 3, after another routine patrol we sit together on my favorite log, in the shade of oaks,

and devise more scenarios. The topo map unfolds across our laps like a magic carpet.

She’s got killer bangs above camera eyes. I mark all the booby traps and landing zones

as she speaks of controlled light and the hole that opens up when you press the shutter button.

At twenty-four hundred our hands nearly touch. There was a meteor shower. I call in mortar fire.

[entamewitchlulu]

honestly i'm still thinking about Lost Song and not because it was super good or anything. Honestly the more I think about it, the more mediocre it was. But there's One particular scene where the twist happens and that scene is just....so fucking good. It's actually incredible. It's such a shame that it's bookended by such mediocrity because the moment is so well crafted, so intense, and the way it makes everything make sense is so haunting. i'm gonna talk spoilers for a moment so in case you care about Lost Song at all and don't want the spoilers, don't read it i guess?

so the basic gist of Lost Song is that there are two stories going on in two different parts of the world. In one part of the world, the protagonist Rin lives in an isolated village with her family. She has the magical power to heal people with her song, but has been forbidden to use it. Meanwhile, in the capital, a woman called Finis is a songstress with similar powers; she can heal with her song and also control the elements like water, wind, fire. She falls in love with a gentle-hearted knight, but the prince who wants to marry her and use her powers as a weapon of war becomes horribly jealous and possessive.

So long story short: Rin's village is burned to the ground when a soldier finds out about her powers and wants to kidnap her. Rin and her remaining family have to go on a journey for safety, and soon learn about a woman called Finis being used as a weapon of war against her will, and Rin becomes determined to save her. They hurry off to a camp where Finis is supposed to be held, and start searching for her in the misty morning.

Meanwhile, Finis has coerced into using her powers, which are slowly chipping away at her life, to destroy enemy soldiers, or else her beloved will be executed. The morning she and her beloved plan to escape, the prince confronts her and brings her to a place outside of the camp. He pretends to apologize to her, and tells her that a prisoner of war escaped and killed a bunch of their men. The prisoner was killed, but now the prince wants Finis to use the last song she has in her to cremate the fallen soldiers and the dead prisoner as an end to the war.

Finis obliges and uses the song of fire to set the corpses alight. Except, one of the corpses isn't a corpse. It's her beloved, knocked out and dressed up as an enemy soldier, and he awakens to being burned alive.

At this point in the show, I'm going insane. because like. They're not seriously going to just let this happen, right? Rin and friends are going to show up and help just in the nick of time or something.

But nope. He fucking dies. He burns to death right in front of her, by her own power.

The prince is like "well thanks for getting rid of the last of my detractors! you can go kill yourself or something now since you can't sing anymore."

and then this is when The Scene happens. Finis drags herself upright on her beloved's sword and starts to croak out a song, despite having no power left. And this darkness starts to rise around her. This overwhelming hatred flows out of this woman who up til now was sweet, a little bit silly, and naive and innocent. But all that's in her eyes now is this burning, aching hatred and despair. And a song pours out of her.

And meteors rain down from the sky.

A massive meteor strike of hundreds of stones rains down over the country, killing the prince and most of his army, and seemingly killing Finis as well as she clutches onto her beloved's sword.

Meanwhile, Rin and friends are still looking for Finis. And at this point, I'm like, surely they're noticing this already, right?? They're noticing that meteors are raining down?? At some point while running around, Rin's skirt gets caught on a stone sword that looks very familiar, but she unsticks it and keeps running.

And the mist clears just a bit, and they're able to look down, and a woman in a black cloak is there. It's Finis.

In the next episode, we learn that Finis believed singing that song, the Song of Mortality, would destroy the world in exchange for her life. She thought that meant she would die. Instead, it meant that her "life" was taken from her. Her ability to live like a normal person - she's become immortal. Not only that, but she keeps living right up until the end of the world - and then waking up again at the beginning of it.

She watches the world repeat over, and over, and over, with just the vaguest of changes here and there. She hopes that means she'll be able to meet her beloved again - but every time she meets him, he's a different person than the one she fell in love with.

So she gives up. She becomes hellbent on destroying the world for real this time, so she doesn't have to keep living in this cyclical hell.

So when Rin and her friends finally arrive and see Finis, it's not to save her from the prince like the audience was led to believe. They couldn't come in time to save Finis or her beloved. Because the tragedy already happened.

I think that was the real genius of that moment. While the rest of the surrounding story wasn't incredible, the way the two different stories slotted together to make you believe they were happening at the same time, but then you look back and realize they weren't, that you were seeing past and present interspersed, that there was no hope of Rin ever making it to stop this tragedy because it had already happened, it was inevitable, it was in the past - that was haunting. Something you thought was happening right now was in fact already over. And you can't change the past.

I still can't get that moment where Finis begins to croak out that last song, her voice weak at first, and then thundering with hatred and rage as she brings on the apocalypse. It was so eerie and painful and just - even though the rest of the story didn't hit, that part still managed to.

not to make everything about arc v but. it'd make a damn good zarcray au.

[myhikari21things]

Top 10 Reads of 2022

The Last Cuentista-2021 Donna Barba Higuera (a meteor is on a crash course with the Earth and a small group has been selected to start over on a new planet, but first they must be placed in hibernation. Decades later a young girl awakens from her hibernation only to realize that things have gone horribly wrong)

Girl In The Blue Coat-2016 Monica Hesse (1943 in Nazi occupied Netherlands a young woman works in the black market and one of her customers have come to her with a strange request. She has been hiding a Jewish girl in her house and the girl has disappeared without a trace.)

The Diamond Eye-2022 Kate Quinn (based on the true story of the best female sharpshooter in the Soviet Union during World War II. However, more then the enemy is gunning for her. Including some who should be her friend.)

The Fervor-2022 Alma Katsu (in the Japanese internment camps an illness is spreading. It's called hatred and its spreading quickly. What will happen when the illness escapes the confinement of the camp and spread thought out the world?)

Anatomy-2022 Dana Schwartz (in Scotland during the 19th century a young woman doesn't want to marry and raise a family. She wants to be a surgeon and instead of accepting her initial rejection she sneaks into an operating theater and meets her fate. Sequel expected February, 2023)

The Memory Police-1994 Yoko Ogawa (on an unnamed island things are vanishing. Things the memory police no longer deem important. Things like ribbons, perfume, and birds. In an act of defiance the unnamed narrator hides her editor under her house in hopes of finding salvation.)

You've Reached Sam-2021 Dustin Thao (after an argument with her boyfriend a girl learns that he has been hit by a car and killed. Believing that she played a part in his death she is unable to move on, but hopes to hear his voice one last time.)

The Last Grand Duchess-2022 Bryn Turnbull (told by Olga Romanov the eldest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia. Olga watches the fall of her family and prays that someone will come and help them.)

Girl A-2021 Abigail Dean (after her family home is raided by the police a woman comes to terms with the truth. She was raised in a cult and must rely on herself to keep from crumbling.)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo-2017 Taylor Jenkins Reid (set in the glamor of old Hollywood Evelyn Hugo dreams of stardom. Instead she finds herself married to one man after the other while her real love is just out of reach.)

Honorable Mentions

Princess Knight the Complete Series-1963-1966 Osamu Tezuka

Skin of the Sea-2021 Natasha Bowen

A Certain Hunger-2021 Chelsea G. Summers

Hani and Ishu's Guide To Fake Dating-2021 Adiba Jaigidar

The Pink Triangle-1986 Richard Plant

[invisibleraven]

sleep under the stars, roast marshmallows and stargaze for Peterpatterlina?

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right," Luke said. "You wanna go camping?"

"Yeah!" Reggie replied enthusiastically. "It's supposed to be a really nice weekend, and there's a meteor shower Saturday night, so I figured we'd go up in the hills and watch it, maybe toast some marshmallows, sing some songs..."

"I think that sounds lovely cariño," Julie stated. "Really get away from it all, a nice quiet weekend in nature."

"I think it sounds like a way to get eaten by mosquitos... or worse," grumbled Luke.

"You're such a city boy," Reggie said with an eye roll. "We can take some citronella stuff to keep the bugs away, do it in a park with minimal wildlife, and if it really sucks, we can always come home. Come on, we went to that awful symposium for you."

"I didn't know it was gonna be so boring!" Luke protested.

"Mi vida, it was on the history of rock, most of which you could quote to us in our sleep, of course it was going to be boring," Julie said with a patronizing tone, but she capped it with a kiss to his cheek, so Luke was mostly mollified.

"Fine," he sighed. "We can go camping I guess. But if I get covered in poison ivy, I am dragging you both with me to another symposium."

So Saturday morning they packed up the car, and headed up into the hills towards the closest state park. It was a gorgeous day, with minimal traffic, and even Luke had to admit the forest was nice. "i forgot what real trees were like," he admitted.

Julie and Reggie shared a look at that but wisely stayed quiet.

They found a site with a big clearing above, perfect for stargazing, and set up camp. Of course, none of them were really adept at setting up a campsite, but between Julie figuring out the tent, Reggie starting the fire, and Luke ensure their supplies were secure and everyone was coated in citrus scented spray, they admitted it was a job well done.

They brought sandwiches and hot cocoa, feasting on them as the sky started to turn a magnificent pinkish hue. Reggie brought out his camera, claiming he wanted some shots of them at 'magic hour' and even posed for a few himself. Though he was sure that the best one was of the three of them, squashed into the frame, smiles bright as the light started to fade.

They sat around the campfire as the sky darkened. Julie vetoed hot dogs, given the guys' history with food poisoning after some bad street dogs. But she was all for s'mores.

Well, until she learned Luke liked his marshmallows burned black that is. She screwed up her face at the thought, and couldn't even watch as Luke scarfed his down. She'd stick to her golden brown, thank you very much.

Reggie suggested a few ghost stories, though none of the ones they told were very good, so it wasn't long before Luke broke out his acoustic, the three of them serenading the woods with covers of their own stuff, some songs Julie had learned in Girl Scouts and Reggie remembered from camping trips with Pop-Pop.

"When does the meteor show start?" Luke asked after they had exhausted themselves singing.

Reggie checked his watch. "Any minute now."

"Can we get some blankets first?" Julie asked, shivering. "I wanna stay up, but not risk frostbite."

They all slung on some extra layers, sliding their feet into the ultra large sleeping bag they had engineered, and wrapped blankets around themselves, looking up to the heavens. The sky was dotted with stars, but then... a streak shot across.

"Here they come!" Reggie whisper shouted. They clasped hands, watching as the meteors began lighting up the sky,

"Should we make a wish?" Luke asked.

"I don't think this counts as shooting stars, but why the heck not?" Julie said. Squeezing her eyes shut, she made her wish, to always be here, between her two guys, happy, in love, and not needing anything more.

Reggie tried getting a few shots with his camera, but he wouldn't know until he developed the film if any came out, but he had used his high exposure lens, so he had high hopes for a few good pictures.

Eventually the shower ended, leaving the sky looking almost dim in the aftermath. "That was gorgeous," Julie breathed out.

"It really was," Reggie said.

"Totally worth the trip," Luke admitted. "Good idea Reg."

"Well you'll love my next one, let's go snuggle in the tent and go to sleep," Reggie said. "We can go for a hike tomorrow before we head home."

"What, you don't want to sleep out under the stars?" Luke teased.

"I think I'll stick to the covered tent and our nice comfy air mattress, thanks."

"I'm with Reggie," Julie said. "But you can sleep out here if you want."

"And miss out on the snuggles?" Luke replied. "No way!"

They all laughed, and waddled into the tent, snuggling together, and falling asleep quickly, despite the cold.

It was Luke who awoke first, yawning as he stretched, smiling down at the brightest stars in his galaxy. Then started writing a new song idea, with Julie and Reggie adding to it as they slowly stirred.

And when In Your Starlight won them a major award, Luke made sure to thank Reggie for having the brilliant idea to go camping as their inspiration.

[fleurcareil]

Alberta Rockies (1): Canmore and Banff

After saying goodbye to Deborah, I drove out west and soon started to see the first mountains!! 🤩 I read somewhere that out of all landscapes, people are most impressed by mountains and I cannot agree more.. not necessarily for me to live in but certainly to visit!

I had been recommended to do the hike to the Grassi lakes in Canmore as a good intro to the mountains, so up I went together with a few other hundred persons 😜... this was the first time in over the two months I'm on the road that I experienced real busyness, so I was a bit annoyed at first but hey I was there too so couldn't really blame others wanting to do the same 😅.

First view was from a man-made hydro reservoir and there was also a waterfall, but then the two star Grassi lakes showed themselves.. . I must say that initially I was a bit disappointed, is this it? as they're tiny & seemed unassuming at first, but then went I waited until the sun came out I could see those beautiful green colours & agreed that they're stunning. I probably sat on a rock for about an hour waiting until the sun came through, observing the other tourists, rock climbers and even a girl in a fancy dress having a photo shoot 😀. I'm never bored when doing nothing!

As this was a Saturday evening in August in the Rockies 🙃, it was no surprise that I had had trouble finding a place to stay, so I backtracked a bit into the valley to a campground which turned out to be on a First Nations reserve. The evening prior, I had been asked whether I had ever stayed on a reserve so now I could say yes!

Basically being a big grassfield with a porta-potty it was really not much but it had an amazing view and as the reserve is its own nation, I was allowed to have a campfire whereas the rest of the province had a fire ban, bizarre! I would not have done a fire but that night was the height of the Perseides meteor shower, so I gladly enjoyed the warmth while looking for shooting stars... I saw 13 in total! 🤩

Next morning, I headed to the visitor centre in downtown Banff to get ideas on what I could do, and although the village looked pretty I was glad to leave for lake Minnewanka for one of the most glorious paddles I've done to date... blue sky, mountains, crystal clear water & no wind... SUP paradise! 😍❤ I had optimistically put on my bikini but this being my first glacial lake I had not fully understood how absolutely freezing the water is, so that swim didn't happen! 😅

In the afternoon, I drove along the pretty Bow Valley Parkway to set up camp at the Johnston Canyon, whose parking lot was overflowing & mayhem with people, but luckily the campsites were large and quiet.

When I had first been to Banff in 2010, the smoke of fires near Kamloops (speaking of history repeating itself, see my recent update on BC fires) created zero visibility so we fied Banff within a day, not having seen any of the landscape so I was very happy to experience it now with such perfect weather! 😍 Top of my list was taking the Banff Gondola which is apparently the single largest attraction, so I guess I was lucky to get any ticket at all, even at 5:30pm.... once more TONS of people but I didn't let me distract from the marvelous views. I sat again for an hour or so on a bench, watching the world go by while sipping a beer and taking in the scenery 🤗 PS I know everyone loves their children but OMG what a patience parents must have nowadays!?! 😵

After all this beauty, I was completely content to have a simple salad (and the last delicious samosa from Calgary's farmers market), make a crossword & dive into bed early.

Wildlife: NO grizzly bears, black bears, mountain goats or bighorn sheep 🤨 I did see 1 elk & 4 deer

SUPs: one at Banff

Hikes: one at Canmore