#i liked him :((((((((( field ecologist :((((((((((((((((((((((((((

[swallowtailed]

hxh 85:

:(

[elizabethrobertajones]

I still don't know what to make of this little story beat. I KNOW the game isn't being written for me, personally. I Know that despite saying otherwise, Bounding Frog is not the Canonical Warrior Of Light. I understand that things just kinda happen based on themes and characters and stuff and things had been established in some way with Erenville having toad-based associations, having previously claimed to be an expert.

On the other hand, the first zone I chose to go to, the very first thing we did, was split up to go investigate a body of water and draw some conclusions like an amateur ecologist on what may be afflicting it. And there was a cute little creature named Lethargic Frog, which is about as "hey this is symbolically important to you, Bounding Frog, someone who takes their whole name inspiration from the admirable leaping power of a healthy frog based on their childhood experiences catching frogs, just as the noble Vipers named themselves after the snakes they learned from" as can be.

This frog was placed here for Frog to see and based on her entire personality, to notice and care about and understand how it was not feeling good.

Also, the writer of this quest wanted Bounding Frog personally to know this was her chance to prove to Erenville that she did know her frogs, and was perfectly capable of talking to him frog expert to frog expert. I can't overstate how thrilled she was that she had this opportunity. She was going to show him that she was just as competent! She could impress him, she could prove she was worth talking about frogs to... Yep.

Aaand then after all this careful study of the Lethargic Frog, she bounces back to the group, and this happens...

She starts to explain about the water quality and fields, saving her deepest insight for last, you know, the other thing the quest made sure we would see and interact with so even if I allow for a WoL to exist who isn't a Frog Expert like mine (who this quest was personally tailored to, again) you might reasonably expect that after Krile has agreed with you about the first point, you MIGHT KEEP SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT OF YOUR OBSERVATIONS.

Nah, before Frog can open her mouth again, Erenville cuts in to announce that the frogs are kinda sleepy, while she was politely waiting her turn to speak. All she can do is stoically nod and agree everyone noticed the same things she did (shh Alisaie has something funny to say on the subject before you return to the group to chat as well), and that's that, we're rushing off to the next thing and the opportunity has fizzled out and there's no chance to impress because Erenville stole it from her...

How could they have known we need to start this adventure with a huge knock to Frog's ego when it comes to Erenville, and a reminder of why they've been snarking at each other for months. And he's far more concerned with Wuk Lamat presenting a semi-competent front and feeling chafed by travelling with other people to even notice he was, once again, catastrophically rude on the subject of frogs, to Frog.

All her attempts to befriend him and make him laugh and generally have him notice her for the last few months, and she's riiiight back at step one, fuming about his existence and sulking about how he won't let her have the one thing she most prides herself on, because he's too busy being some sort of frog snob himself.

So, yeah, I think the writer of this quest knew that Frog was the main character and also that Erenville is her nemesis :)

[alpinearts]

im normal about my frostpunk ocs (left guy is seth ratigan and right guy is pallav sachdeva)

im going through a giant artblock right now so this all looks like shit but ohh my goddddddd therye soooo goofy. infodump under the cut

before you read, this story has a bad ending. this'll involve talk of cannibalism, murder-suicides, and apocalyptic stuff. i dont think ive done a bad ending before so im going a bit wild with it.

theyre for the frostpunk arks scenario where a bunch of engineers have to preserve seeds for the future of humanity! along the way they gotta automate the whole settlement before a huge storm hits so the seeds survive even after everyone dies.

seth ratigan is the lead mech engineer who helped draft a bunch of automaton designs and pallav sachdeva is the lead botanist. they met in university (roommates because im a sucker for that trope) and fell in love there! both of them are closeted and keep the relationship a secret.

pallav has a sister, nima, whos an ecologist. when they arrive at the arks shes drafted as a scout and gives the reader a view as to whats happening out in the field so to speak. at the beginning of the story when all the engineers are climbing a cliff, seth slips and knocks himself out. everyone keeps climbing except for nima and pallav, and she pulls him to safety. towards the end she gets lost on a scouting expedition and ends up completely spiralling and killing her fellow explorers. cannibalism mightve been involved. she represents corruption in the pursuit of survival. she may or may not be azulin from unicorn wars

sethhhh....... sethhh..... he represents loss of hope. as lead engineer he gives the reader insight into the inner workings of the arks, both mechanically and politically. hes irish and OHH ITS 1:51 AM AND I HAVE WORK AT 9 AM !!!!! hes IRISH!!! and AWESOME!!!!! AND HE SERVES AS THE VOICE OF DOUBT!!! towards the end as the storm approaches, he gets completely overworked by the leader and the stress + sleep deprivation just drives him over the edge. and at the height of the storm when everyone else is dead he kinda. he kinda kills pallav. and then himself. not cool dude.

pallav serves as our insight into how the people are reacting to all this and he represents altruism + perseverence in the face of certain death. oh its 1:55. oh my god. once the arks are fully automated he gets moved to the hothouses as a supervisor, which means he has more proximity to cookhouses and medical tents than our other protagonists. while seth and nima go from kindhearted and optimistic to corrupt and hopeless, pallav stays steady. throughout the whole series he maintains a positive attitude and is always looking to help people. at first seth just laughs along and entertains him, such as the scene at the very top of this post where they're talking about flowers and cottages. im thinking pallav wants to pretend with seth, for just a moment, that all of this will blow over and they can go back to their life in england, get a cottage and whatnot. seth pushes back saying that realistically they wont make it, pallav asks him to play along and so he does. its a stark contrast to their deaths and how much the arks have changed them.

the seedlings survived, but at what cost?

[mysteriousooze]

Any Valerie Gray headcanons?

Ohohoho now where did I put that soapbox...

Valerie eventually has to come to terms with her own ghostly nature. She has been imbued and empowered by nanobots and ectoplasm, and even when she isn't using any of it, she is different now

Technus is capable of mind controlling Valerie. Fortunately, he is stupid. He doesn't think to do so for a very long time, and it's obvious the moment he does

They never actually figure out how to prevent technus from controlling her. But thankfully he never gets good at it. Instead, he learns to fear being beaten like a pinata by teenagers

Eventually, the GIW is able to pick Valerie up on their sensors due to her super suit living under her skin

Valerie is not a halfa. She doesn't have ghost powers. To any ecologists, she seems highly contaminated and likely overshadowed.

Any attempt or even success in removing the ectoplasm and nanobots from her system will kill her.

Valerie was that kid who never missed a day of school even if she had the flu and everyone would have been safer if she had stayed home. Being sick just makes her stubbornly determined to persevere.

(Valerie stays home from school the day she realizes the anti-ecto acts apply to herself)

If Valerie were to ever come into contact with blood blossoms, she would feel pain within her entire body, followed by muscle spasms as if being jolted with electricity, and—with prolonged exposure—sores would open on her skin and start leaking ectoplasm.

Blood blossoms alone wouldn't kill her, unlike Danny. But they would weaken her immune system enough that something else likely would.

Valerie eventually develops a sort of sixth sense for electromagnetic fields

If Danny transforms into a human and keeps a lid on his powers, he can hide from the GIWs sensors. Valerie can never hide.

Valerie's eyes are opened to her own behavior toward ghosts after the GIW treat her as subhuman.

It's not Danny who saves her. It's Sam Manson.

Valerie's dad and Sam's parents work with the teen girls as they spearhead the ecto rights movement. Valerie becomes a figurehead. She hates it, but she hates the GIW more

Eventually when Valerie joins team Phantom, she learns that Tucker has been able to track her location using her nanobots this whole time

The more she learns about Danny's weird friends, the more she comes to respect them

Hey friendship with Sam is frightening to behold. The bond over the destruction of their enemies

She doesn't touch romance with a ten-foot pole, and is thankful nobody brings up feelings. Team Phantom have flashes of rage or betrayal or yearning, usually followed by an awkward silence. But mostly it's because they're low-key being hunted by the government

(Publicly, the government isn't hunting them at all. They strike indirectly, or when ghosts can take the blame. They place substitute teachers in Casper High, which is always badly understaffed. It's a strange cold war.)

Valerie never has the problems with controlling her nanobots that Danny did his powers, but sometimes her reflexes get the better of her.

Valerie would rather get angry than cry

She almost shot her dad once when he tried to wake her up from a nightmare. She bawled for two hours while he held her

Valerie sees herself as an adult after becoming a ghost hunter. She occasionally doesn't see Youngblood bc of this

She's honestly such a daddy's girl tho it's kind of embarrassing. If Young blood tried to sneak up on her while she was with him, he would immediately be spotted

Valerie never becomes one of the popular kids again, but rises above it all. She's the kind of powerhouse of a girl that kids part like the red sea to get out of her way

She doesn't become a leader so much as a linchpin of teenage civil disobedience

She knows everyone in Casper High. She has their phone numbers. She has their secrets. And she knows most have been trained with Fenton Blasters and are willing to use them

With a single mass text that the GIW is cornering Phantom, a flood of teenagers takes to the streets for their hero

Valerie isn't the leader of a teenage militia. But isn't not NOT a leader iykyk

Valerie eventually develops an affinity for controlling technology

Technus decides that she is his daughter

It's like a much less dangerous version of the relationship between Danny and Vlad

He still wants to take over the world but also considers himself to be a good father who does not fight his daughter

Team Phantom can recruit him as an ally

As an unrepentant daddy's girl, Valerie is filled with unquenchable rage at the presumption of this undead weirdo

Technus might have tried challenging Valerie's dad if team Phantom didn't keep gaslighting him that he couldn't tell humans apart "omg Technus that's not even her dad. He has a completely different eye color"

Valerie accidentally activates the nanobots inside of Jazz. They can't do all of the things that Valerie's does, but between the two of them, they figure out how to strengthen her, as well as make her immune to overshadowing

Nanobot buddies:)

Tucker is a mite envious

Dani is the little sister Valerie always yearned for; she feels like a partner in crime and like her baby girl all at once.

Jazz is the big sister she never wanted

Danny will never feel like a brother tho lol

Valerie and Danny have solidarity in helping each other avoid therapy with Jazz

All of their parents (except her own dad) trust Valerie implicitly for some reason. "Well if Valerie's there then whatever you're doing is okay" kind of deal

It baffles, outrages, and amuses the trio, bc Valerie is just as bad if not worse

Valerie is a force of nature

Valerie will continue to hone her ghost hunting abilities. Not bc she hates ghosts; to protect the ghosts closest to her heart

Bc Vlad Masters is the real monster, and he is escalating. Someday, someone will have to put him down. And he's already in her sights.

[pyrrhocorax]

my current hetalia wildlife/natural resources au thoughts i have from your resident wildlife biologist: sweden: i have lots of ideas for him but the idea of him being an entomologist is interesting b/c the contrast of "big scary giant guy, but he studies tiny butterflies" is really fun to me. he has a very entomologist personality to me too based on all the entomologists i know so lepidopterist is my current thought. finland: forester. all foresters i know are unhinged in the same exact way he is unhinged. potentially also a fire ecologist?? i think that would be interesting (give me an excuse to learn about fire ecology more) and i think he would enjoy using a flamethrower. iceland: thinking geologist, prob volcanologist? or he studies auks. norway: less sure of him. thinking mainly about fisheries (not sure if marine or freshwater, both are interesting), mycology, lichenology (this is the main one i am thinking about rn), oceanography, or mountain stream hydrology (yes that is a thing) for him. denmark: having the most trouble with him honestly. maybe meteorology, geography (GIS dude??), soil biology?? maybe even human dimensions (i can see him being a good intermediary between the public and natural resources, like park ranger-esque)?? idk if extension agents exist in europe but he'd be good at that i think. estonia: songbird biologist. bander (or ringer you're european). potentially studying migration trends? breeding output of at-risk species? potentially lab mates with austria b/c sharing same field site. he's uncannily good at mimicking bird calls. lithuania: large carnivore biologist that studies in canids (i.e. wolves), mainly does camera trapping but also darts/radio collars them. looking at habitat usage to hopefully boost populations??? latvia: shorebird/rail/stork biologist?? reminds me of a shorebird biologist i know and i think he'd vibe well with water/water adjacent bird work. i also think him studying beavers is fun because beavers are fun! and i think the riga beaver thing back in the day was hysterical lol OR i think him being an aquatic entomologist would be cool he could be a dragonfly guy austria: also a songbird biologist, but looking at vocalizations/song stuff, does a lot more lab work than field work analyzing vocalizations. maybe studying nocturnal vocalizations during migration of birds across different habitats??? potentially lab mates with estonia. america: ungulates. or maybe specifically cervids. respectfully, as an american, we are overly obsessed with deer. could also see him studying salamanders because they are a special kind of person too that fits the american personality well, and america is home to the most salamander diversity in the world so like. yeah. canada: ducks/loons/grebes, raptors (specifically thinking eagles/hawks), weasels (him being so understated but studying wolverines is funny to me), or fisheries? :/ could also see him being a habitat biologist in general, doing modeling stuff for wider scale land changes? i kind of want him to be a prairie conservationist too. england: botanist is my thought for now? he has a "plant research guy who is 3 years into his phd and kind of regretting his life choices" vibe to me. but he's also the world's crustiest birder outside of his work (b/c uk influenced a lot of the current world birding culture) germany: ngl environmental policy analyst seems up his alley and we need more of those who are good. romania: chiropterist. and before you are like "urg don't stereotype the vampire thing pyrr" it's not that. his personality is just very bat biologist. they are a special kind of people, and i say that with affection, as all the bat people i know are fantastic. specifically could see him being also an entomologist studying the interactions between bats/bugs on farmland to see how bat populations help crop production. still thinking on things though!!! welcome to my niche au.

[t-hal-mothman]

I have accumulated several references to my irkens that I would like to post! they are all made in the same style for my own convenience, so they are not pretentious and for the most part contain simple quick info

I also just removed the height ruler from here, which I used to compare them but for those who really cares: my irkens are made here the way that if I throw one character into the ref of another, they would be identically correlated by their actual height to each other (I just put a lot of effort into it for some reason :D)

To begin with, there's a lady named Slush! (which is literally not her real name, but for random dudes it's always just "Slush")!

She is quite chaotic and wild, actually a good girl, but sometimes she is stupid. Also you can address her as you like, with any pronoun, you can say that she is in some sense a genderfluid! :D

Her title is "artificer" and once she was on the staff of the same hardworking bees who are engaged in the Irken heritage in the field unrelated to the art of warfare

She was among those who monitor the preservation of what few people are interested in at the present time and has skills that no one really needs, but she was glad that she had been involved in at least something for many years (btw, she is not so loyal to the Empire in a sense, but you can never tell about her real loyalty, no one knows, not even herself)

But work brought her physical and mental injuries, and life turned into a series of incoherent pictures in the depths of her PAK So escaping against the system and burning days in a box was what eventually led her to a new life (with a slightly unbalanced defective on his own space station)

And the one slightly unbalanced defective mentioned above named Echo!

He can be a serious grouch and a good-natured person at the same time. In general he is a pretty good listener. You can't tell by him, but he is a smiling guy! :D

This dude is a kind of opponent of the Empire, but silently. His position is not one that he would like to lose. He just doesn't do anything that would put his position in danger. In the days of his active work for the Empire, he and his team was once responsible for the creation of parasite devices, but did not reach the end. For many who worked, the idea remained just an idea :)

In any case, Echo loves nature very much. In fact, at the moment, he has the title of "Ecologist" and he is engaged in research on the restoration and terraforming planets and biomes, to reproduce them after catastrophic events or organic sweeps.

As for Sylvie, they are Echo's favorite pet (Good girl, best friend!) They are a very smart beast and do a lot of work during Echo's off hours. Trained and taught, Sylvie is an integral part of his life.

[tinywitchgoblin]

Oya vod! I’m brand new to this, so hoping I’m doing it the right way. :)

Could I request a ship?

I’m a 6’6”, relatively fit terrestrial ecologist (biologist) and a horseback archer. I have a passion for all wildlife, especially avian creatures. I spend a lot of time in the outdoors assessing habitats, identifying birds (sometimes at long distances) by sight and sound and just enjoying the freedom of the natural world. I should probably just go ahead and build a cabin in the forest, because that’s where I feel most at home. Owing to having to work twice as hard to gain the same amount of respect respect in the traditionally male-dominated field of biological science I’m pretty independent and self-reliant but am flexible and can work as part of a team too.

I find large social situations challenging, and am generally slow to connect with people but once I do they are part of my clan for life. ;) People tend to perceive me as confident and capable, but in truth people mostly make me anxious. I connect with animals far more easily - they’re honest!

When I’m not in the forest, I can probably be found with my horse, firing arrows at targets as we gallop across a field, shouting along to metal tunes while driving my Jeep on trails, or working on some ridiculous craft project (probably a wool bird sculpture or leather armour that no one will ever see). Come to think on that I have some rather contrasting traits, haha!

Thank you! These have been fun to read!

Of course, I'm glad you're enjoying them!

I ship you with...

Crosshair!

Our resident sentient toothp(r)ick enjoys spending time outdoors, especially alone, where no one can bother him and he can have some peace and quiet. Just like you, he doesn't like large social gatherings and is very hesitant to let people in. However, once you accepted each other and started dating, you spent a lot of time alone together.

Once he finds out that you do horseback archery, he begged asked you to teach him everything show him a couple of things, and you happily obliged. Initially, he wasn't very good at it because it was so different from his usual skills as a sniper, but eventually, he started showing some improvements. There are few people in the galaxy more stubborn than Crosshair, and he was determined to be good at horseback archery, so help him god.

Having grown up with Tech, Crosshair is very familiar with listening to ramblings about various topics (animals included) and identifying local flora and fauna. However, having it come from you instead of his brother made it very different. He asked Tech for some resources to learn about the various birds in the area (which Tech was very curious as to why Crosshair would want all of that information all of a sudden. suspicious), so when you and he went birdwatching, he had at least a basic knowledge of what you were seeing and hearing, and it made you happy that he put time and effort into such an activity- because as much as he refuses to admit it, your smile is far prettier than any bird.

-

Thanks for reading! If you want a ship request like this one, drop it in my ask box, and don't forget to reblog 💚

[cottageimp]

what do you think would happen if clover met the spot when he was still johnathan ohnn? like maybe clover *didnt* throw a bagel at him and johnathan starts to like him?

I've thought about it before! Both a version where Clover is spiderman and a version with a non-spiderman Clover.

I need to think more on the Cloverspider version but I'll tell you a bit about the other. It'd be funny if this was T2397 Clover... Thoughts thoughts! Actually, I'll roll with that.

C2 is an ecologist, an entirely different field of science. But I can imagine that their paths would cross when C2 finds a weird substance out on his conservation site walks. A substance that he can't explain. As he researches it more, he realizes that his knowledge does NOT cover it and he would go to Alchemax to seek help. It probably has to do with some anomaly substance or something.

He would work with Jonathan to figure it out and they would start having casual conversation more and more. C2 is more of a grumpy, quiet individual so this is really surprising but Jonathan doesn't know that yet. He probably learns it over time as he watches how C2 responds to others vs how he responds to him. I feel like he'd ask Dr. Octavius for help on how to approach C2 about a date and she would help him with ideas and boost his courage to do so. She's probably observed them and can tell there's chemistry.

Olivia: "And there's chemistry~!" Jonathan: "Ah-" Olivia: "And I'm not making a science joke. Please. That's getting so old."

C2 really likes Jonathan's dorky behavior and they click together well. I feel like they have a silly way of greeting each other.

C2: "No way, is that the man who invented gravity?" Jonathan: "Hey! It's the guy who invented grass!"

[assortedvillainvault]

It's a bit of a random question, but I'm simply curious, how did you start falling in love with the Horned King/what's your origin story with him? Only if you want to share it of course^^ Feel free to also just generally gush or ramble about him!

(also btw I think it's awesome that we share him as an f/o now, I think subconsciously I already knew for a while that I'd fall for him eventually, it was just a matter of time he's just too gorgeous💕)

Ok this ask has given me the warm fuzzies for several weeks so thank you and I guess I should probably answer this now huh -

(also every time someone else pops up who f/o's him I'm Absolutely Delighted and am so glad I helped facilitate your decent into lich simpery)

I'll do IRL and self insert shenanigans, so IRL first:

- the first time I watched the black cauldron I'd be ...about 8 or 9?

- one thing you sincerely must understand about me is that I am, unapologetically, unequivocally, unexpectedly....a weenie.

- much as I adore the spooky and the strange, any film that veers into remotely scary territory, or horror in general, that shit scars me down to the cellular level.

- Power to everyone who can disengage/absorb that stuff healthily because I sure as fuck don't and doubt I ever will. Anyway.

- mum buys me the black cauldron and thinks nothing of it. It's Disney, right?

- anyway yeah uh suffice to say boy golly gee I'd never seen *that* many skeletons animated before. Think my little brother started crying at some point.

- but honestly, something about the films mad dichotomy of attempted cutesy fantasy with grim dark backdrop and off kilter humour enamoured me. And I found myself wanting *more* of the dark parts of the film.

- (still early the full cauldron born scenes were cut. So goddamn salty)

- the Horned King became a lynchpin of fascination, something about his eerie voice, his apathetic yet menacing mannerisms and his degraded appearance really drew me in. Esp his summoning and death scenes.

- I think I started drawing skeletons soon after and they're still the easiest thing for me to draw.

- over decade later when I was depressed as all fuck, I rewatched the film and found myself only really enjoying his scenes, in part because he was the only relatable villain to me at the time. (Eternally tired, quietly dramatic, quick to anger and dismissal. A smorgasbord of things to distract myself from feeling like I was actively decomposing too at the time. Brains are wild.)

- now I like to imagine quietly helping him get to a better place same as I've managed to do :) who needs therapy when you have imaginary lich time.

As for self insert funky times:

- rather than imagining myself in the dark ages, mostly because despite living in the UK my knowledge of that time period is just awful, I imagine a modern setting

- crucially tho the events of the film still happened exactly as shown.

- in this setting my s/I has moved to Wales and accidentally rediscovered the -broken- cauldron, and the remains of the castle. Time itself rusted the old thing and it cracked, letting HK's disheveled soul slip free.

- my S/I is an amateur ecologist, with interest in geology and paleontology and history. (So just me. Straight up me. I can't even pretend here) Once she figures out she's effectively haunted, HK's presence is akin to a field day.

- will she attempt to resurrect him properly? Eh who knows. Maybe. I'm a real fucking sucker for ghosts, esp partial possession or soul bonds.

- magic exists still in this setting, it's just mostly forgotten and thus dismissed. Of course my s/I has latent magic because of course, and I love the idea of HK teaching her as a pseudo bonding activity.

- love just watching HK be bamboozled and overwhelmed by the modern world too. Show this lich a toaster someone-

- very low stakes very chill, just two lonely fools trying to rebuild their 'lives' together. Probably the most weirdly cottage core of my selfships if I'm honest. With more dead things.

So yeah that's pretty much it! Thanks again for the lovely ask, and feel free to tag me in anything lich related 🥰

[ladyswillmart]

Hivallion Pellithorn

Born: March 09, Y.T. 1388 (8122 years old)

Birthplace: Near Eglarest, the Falas

Height: Roughly 6'5"

Hair: Tawny silver; formerly very long and typically worn in a single plait that reached all the way down to his hips, but recently he had it cut quite short

Eyes: Pale bottle green; occasionally wears spectacles for reading

Appearance: A bit unusual for an elf, but nothing too terribly outlandish and perhaps owing to his Falathrim heritage. His face is constantly chapped about the cheeks, as if he spends a lot of time outside in windy conditions. Observed by one Arlen Askew (student) thusly:

“He doesn’t appear aged, not in the face, not quite. Not quite young either, but there is a sort of overall worn quality to him that I find comforting. Not worn out, just worn, like a fisherman’s jumper that’s gone all fuzzy and grey from years of being battered about by waves and spume and salted breezes. Despite that, he has such a kindly countenance! In fact he simply radiates this lovely sort of warmth through and through, like a freshly baked apple and cheese pie. Though I am not sure an elf would find the comparison as flattering as a hobbit like myself...”

Trades: Ecologist, scholar, natural historian; following his injury, he has been regaining his strength while working as a tutor in the Shire, far from any meaningful strife (for now)

Background:

Born near the coastal elf-haven of Eglarest, Hivallion’s early years were uneventful, however formative. Although shy and quiet around other elves, he harbored a deep appreciation for the wildlife of his home, especially its birds and insects. He fast became a respected scholar of Falathrin ecology, particularly for his detailed field work and exquisite illustrations. When Morgoth’s forces sacked the Falas in F.A. 473, Hivallion (along with his mother and his twin brother) escaped with Círdan to the Isle of Balar. He narrowly escaped death in the Third Kinslaying (F.A. 538), and later still he participated in The War of Wrath as a scout—such skills would have been tightly honed for all his work as a clandestine observer of animals!

Forty or so years of warring—however victorious—left most of Beleriand totally annihilated, forever lost in the depths of the Belegaer. Now bereft of a home like countless others, Hivallion once again followed Círdan, this time to the Grey Havens where he spent most of the Second Age in relative peace and stability. Alas, this changed in S.A. 3430 when he several of his colleagues (perhaps most notably his fellow lore-master Elrond) convinced him to join the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, though he did so reluctantly. His fears were well-founded as he fell at the Battle of Dagorlad in 3434, following an extreme breach of personal space courtesy of an Edged Weapon of Morgul-steel wielded by the Witch-king of Angmar. Hivallion ultimately Survived the ordeal, largely due to the intervention of Elrond and his suggestion to bear the injured elf to the Last Homely House so he could receive a more thorough treatment for the wound. However, his recovery would not be easy or swift; he spent the next 3025 years in a dreamless coma in Tham Send.

While Hivallion himself has yet to fully comprehend the extent of this, the story of "the irrefrangible Falathrim" touched the hearts of all who heard it and elevated the humble seaside scholar to something of a minor folk legend, especially in Lindon and thereabouts. It is rumored (but only rumored) that Elrond had to clear out an entire storage closet in his home just to hold all of the letters, flowers, and other lucky trinkets sent by well-wishers to the slumbering elf in hopes that he would one day overcome his injuries.

Hivallion did regain consciousness in the summer of T.A. 3018, though he would yet need several more weeks of rest to recover his bearings. After deciding he was well enough to travel, he first sought out the company of one Gildor Inglorion, an old friend whom he learned was leading a Wandering Company around Eriador. This in mind, he decided to head west from Rivendell towards the Shire, hoping they would perhaps meet somewhere in the middle...

[myheartismadeofstars]

My fiance just finished Omori (good ending) and I'm now obsessed with an AU where Mari survived...but most of canon still happened. Mari is knocked unconscious by the fall and Sunny and Basil think she's dead. Their cover up almost actually killed Mari, and paralyzed her. (she was found a lot sooner so she wouldn't strangle). Mari doesn't remember anything between getting ready for the recital and waking up in the hospital.

Sunny and Basil feel just as guilty as in canon, because they almost killed a LIVING Mari, and probably made her injuries much worse. Sunny still is a hikikomori, this time hiding from even Mari.

Mari thinks she was more subconsciously stressed than she realized which caused her loss of time. She thinks SHE is the cause of Sunny's state. After being transferred to a specialist physical therapist in the City, she spent a lot of time away from home, and then going off to college she didn’t spend a lot of time at home after the accident (which I think is fair, considering their current house isn’t exactly wheelchair accessible, this is actually why Mom has finally decided to move, to find a place more accessible so Mari can visit more. It was a hard choice to make for her, originally she stayed because she hoped Sunny would open up for his friends, but she sorta lost hope after a while. It’s just taken her a while to find the right place)

Aubrey is still troubled. She still feels abandoned, but it has less to do with Mari and more to do with the break down of her friendships: shut in, nervous wreck, far too busy for her...and her home life

Other than her now somewhat strained relationship with Sunny, Mari is doing pretty well! Engaged on her 18th birthday to Hero, they maintain a good relationship despite attending different colleges (Mari wants to be an Ecologist). They both are very excited to see each other again during summer vacation. Though Hero worries a lot about her (the idea of Mari seeming totally fine, and then trying to hang herself later that evening haunts him, this and the stuff that eventually goes down with Sunny and Basil help him choose Pediatric Psychiatry as his field of study, specializing in anxiety and mood disorders) he loves her and wants to be with her.

Obviously Mari would need to be told the truth as well. Sunny feels he ruined his sister’s life. He makes a much bigger deal of things like Mari being in physical therapy and being in a wheelchair, Mari’s early frustration with her disability, and pain.  And overlooks things like Mari and Hero are still dating, Mari is still going to college (even if she now needs to take accessibility into account) Mari has friends, Mari is doing okay. 

[heathfall]

You've mentioned PrairieClan before, can you speak more about it please?

-@troutfur

so, the in real life Heath lore about PrairieClan is that I'm a grassland ecologist IRL (getting a graduate degree right now!), and so while I was at a field site last summer I was like "man... this site would be a great Warriors camp".

(The original PrairieClan document was written in my field notebook. Thankfully my backup, so someone looking into my notes won't stumble into it hehe).

But as far as actual PrairieClan lore, there's a huge generational gap as far as the warriors go. The actual Clan is super young; only about three to four generations out from its original founding, but they split off from two pre-existing Clans and had to fight for the territory they have.

(This territory wasn't a part of either of those Clans; they just objected to PrairieClan living there).

Anyway, the war recently ended under Goldenstar (granddaughter of the founder)'s reign, and it's been about long enough for the newest warriors and the apprentices to have never fought in the war. These cats are now looking inward at PrairieClan to try and fix Clan dynamics ("the strongest survive"), whereas the older warriors (who do remember the war) think they should be happy with what they have and don't want to break the peace they fought so hard for.

I don't want to reuse the term "softpaw" since that was used for something else in canon, but many of the older warriors don't feel like the new warriors deserve their names since they didn't literally fight to near death for them.

Goldenstar's old enough to remember the war, though some older warriors do get grumbly about her from time to time. Boartooth, her deputy, puts them in their place though.

This also means that there's no Gatherings for PrairieClan! The other two Clans meet from time to time, but they still don't recognize PrairieClan as a legitimate Clan (they consider them both "lost/astray warriors from their Clans" and "dangerous rogues" depending on what's convenient, though usually closer to the "dangerous rogues" bit these days), so going to a Gathering is out of the question. The healers do take a bit more pity on Elkheart (newest medicine cat) and help him out from time to time, if they can sneak out to meet her.

The peace is tense and really a cold snap causing a lack of prey could break it, but there's been entire generations lost to this war and none of the Clans really want to fight it anymore.

Thanks for asking! :3

[blorbologist]

Being a scientist and science student irl, what are some tell tale science that Percy himself is a scientist (engineering?) and/or science major (if we're talking AUs)? What type of engineer/techie(?) do you think he would be irl?

Hi anon! 

I’m assuming you mean signs that he’s a scientist?

I’m coming to the table with my (still new) experience as a behavioral ecologist, my dad’s education as an engineer (not a scientist, but very Percy-ish, as you’ll see), and my grandfather’s as a physicist. 

TBH, every field of academia has its own quirks (and biases) and stressors and whatnot - I don’t think there’s any sort of generally applicable ‘scientist’ traits any more than there might be, say, pet owner traits. There’s just such a broad variety, especially given you have people in their respective fields for vastly different reasons (say, Ripley sorts who just want Power and Control, vs someone motivated by curiosity, or by wanting to change the world, or who enjoys academia). 

BUT.

Percy has such on point engineering major vibes. 

(Rest under the cut this got Long)

Engineering sort of… cultivates a certain type of batshit crazy with the insane workload, deadlines, late nights fuelled by caffeine. The better-than-you attitude fuelled by overcoming all those challenges and usually being at least a little bit smart, that drive and enthusiasm when they have An Idea that’s So Very Clever, and how the composure erodes either with exhaustion or delight when having fun and they reveal they’re a little nutty after it all. My father has several stories of hijinks he got up to while getting his degree that are very ‘sodium teakettle bomb’ type. I think Percy would fit right in.

However, with modern AUs, there is one hurdle: a big part of Percy’s backstory is the whole guns thing, and guns have been around for… a while. In some more historical AUs he can still be responsible for deadly firearm advancements (say, I have a WIP one set in the late 1600s where a pepperbox actually would be a fair leap forward, so he still gets that angst). 

But Percy, no matter how rich or smart, can’t really rival the military spending of the USA, lmao. It’s harder for him to have a big negative impact on the world in a way that’s believable. 

Like! Maybe he developed some new material with crazy military applications, or that's really Cool but also toxic (and he Knows the toxicity will be downplayed so it can be used to cut corners), or a new battery with risky potential. Really, so long as he can make something that's not *directly* a weapon, but can be used to cause great harm, I think you can pull it off. (Or don't, if you want a happier modern AU without juggling that aspect of his character.)

BUT. I've got a soft spot for one idea.

So recently I’ve actually picked up the idea that he’s less focused on the physical side of engineering (though he still enjoys metalworking and tinkering as a hobby, which he can afford to do because Rich Bastard) and more on computer engineering.

It hasn’t come up in Cat’s Cradle, and I don’t think it will be relevant, but in that AU I had Percy be a big programming nerd. So when the Briarwoods happened to his family, and Cass was missing presumed dead, and cops collectively shrugged… Percy wanted to try and identify them. 

So, in this modern AU, he’s responsible for one of the first facial recognition programs. Called 0RTHX. Or ORTHAX. Idk I haven’t thought why he named it that yet. Point being, he knew from the getgo that cops and other fascist entities would use it for ill, but he didn’t care so long as he found the Briarwoods and could hopefully, maybe, finally, get the justice he craved. 

Not sure how that worked out - well enough that Cass is pursuing a degree of her own, and he’s mostly freelancing thanks to his reputation (which is positive and praised, to his disgust) with the stability afforded by his inheritance. 

But! Yeah. Major engineering vibes, though what he does with that can be really up in the air. Definitely see him picking up a fair bit of coding experience, given it’s very useful in this world (hell, I’m a biologist and we’re expected to be competent in Spyder and R and JASP). Just because of family biases I’ma toss in physicist in the ring as a more out-there possibility, because I think Percy would make googly eyes at plasma physics or really want to make fusion (holy shit fusion with a net gain is a THING NOW) more practical. But that’s a lil harder to tie to his vengeance thing.

[dragimalsdaydreams]

[image ID: 4 images of Tighnari from the game Genshin Impact. the first 2 images are the same front-view, full-body screenshot, while the next 2 images are the same back-view, full-body screenshot.

the first front and back views are unedited screenshots of how Tighnari appears in the game. he’s light-skinned with teal/brown eyes. he has straight, smooth, black/teal hair cut straight at chin length, with some neon green, “leaf-like” accents in his bangs. he’s got tall, pointed black fox ears on the top of his head, and a black/teal fox tail with green diamond/circle patterns. he’s wearing midnight blue pants with red accents, and a midnight blue hoodie with green/magenta accents. the hoodie has one long, skin-tight sleeve, and one short, loose sleeve. he’s wearing one white sash with red/blue/gold accents wraps around his upper body, and a magenta wrap with white/yellow accents holds the white wrap up around the waist, along with a cyan/magenta/grey rope. another large, green, leaf-shaped sash hangs off the back of his right shoulder. a silver latch with cyan accents sits on one shoulder, while the other shoulder has a large yellow flower, which pins up the white sash. a large golden disk with tangerine/pink/lavender accents and long extensions of filigree sits on the back of his right shoulder. he’s wearing black gloves with gold/grey/orange/cyan accents, and dark blue, calf-high boots with black/white/gold/neon green accents.

the next two front and back views are heavily edited versions of the original screenshots. Tighnari’s skin is now dark brown, and the hair and ears are dark teal. the ears have been widened, rounded out, shifted down, and given green accents matching the tail. the hoodie has been changed to a dark teal vest over top a yellow/orange long-sleeve, striped shirt. the pants have been shifted to dark teal, and the boots now have a magenta/orange/yellow color scheme. the two sashes have been reduced to one green sash with some leaf-shaped corners hanging off the shoulder. the gold disk on his back has been changed to a gold chain hanging between the two shoulder latches, holding smaller orange/pink/lavender-accented golden disks. more pink/purple flowers have been pinned around the large yellow flower on his shoulder. most of the red/blue/cyan/neon green accent colors have been shifted to appropriate yellow/orange/pinks, all the silver has been shifted to gold/bronze, and all the blacks/whites have been shifted to a different color.

end ID]

I can’t believe Genshin released a character catered to me specifically (field ecologist, bio nerd that loves to share botany facts, antisocial academic, foxboy, etc.), then nerfed him with the worst design in the entire game. his color palette, clothes design, general silhouette... it’s all just a huge mess. even knowing this going in, he ended up being a lot more involved that I’d originally anticipated-- even more than Yanfei, who used to be the most ambitious one of the bunch! I still a lot of fun, but good god I’m glad to finally put this lad to rest...

I have a lot more thoughts about my process/choices, so if you’d like to read on, my full design notes and more detailed image descs are under the cut!

EDIT: I added some orange/yellow/green to the pants to break up the blue, I think they work better now

before I get into it, I have to admit... I messed up the light source on Tighnari’s back view. I had assumed that the light source was locked to the character rather than the screen itself, so I thought the light source would flip to the right side of the screen when I flipped the character around. I only realized that the light source had actually stayed on the left side of the screen after I’d already shaded most of the edited aspects, so it was easier to just flip the light source on the unchanged aspects too (mainly the tail and hair). to be clear, the flipped light source is not meant to be a “fix”, that’s just a silly blunder on my part, and there are prolly still some wonky shadows I didn’t catch...

and one more note for clarity: while I usually refer to “viewer left/right” when describing these things-- that is, the left/right that you, the viewer, see on your screen-- I’ll be doing something different this time. since I’ve got both the front and back views here, I’ll be referring to “subject left/right”-- that is, the left/right that Tighnari himself experiences. it may get a bit confusing when describing the front views, but it’s the best way I can think to keep the directions straight

now, let’s first discuss the broadest aspect of this redesign: the color palette

I think we can all agree that the OG design is... a lot. there’s firetruck reds. there’s midnight blues. there’s neon greens. there’s tangerines and magentas and cyans... it’s Too Fucking Much. which is shocking, because as much as I complain abt half of Genshin’s designs, I’ve almost never had a problem with the color palettes. Genshin palettes can be boring at worst, but I usually love most of them!

if this were any other character, I prolly would’ve just cut some colors from Tighnari’s palette and called it a day. I prefer limited color palettes in my own art, and I find it more effective to capture a character’s tone/vibe with just a few colors. however, given the bizarrely hectic approach compared to other Genshin designs... I get the impression that Tighnari is supposed to be a wild mix of colors, to represent his botanical work and the vibrant flora of his home

thus, rather than using my typical visual art perspective, I approached Tighnari’s design from my florist perspective-- hello friends, genuine florist here, at your service!

while I’m hesitant to use too many colors in my digital art, I have a completely different perspective at work-- I LOVE to make vibrant, multicolored arrangements! I think floral work has honestly improved my color theory in a very hands-on way, but I never considered extending that approach to my art before, which feels silly in retrospect lmao

anyways, I get requests for “bright and cheery” arrangements a lot, so I reconstructed Tighnari’s palette around that idea-- a mix of mostly bright, poppy colors, tempered with deeper, richer jewel tones; warm and cool colors complementing and enhancing one another rather than clashing

another problem is that the colors are all so completely separate from one another in the OG design, it feels like my eyes hit a wall every time they shift from one part to another. I see the midnight blue, then my eyes slam into a wall of firetruck red, or I see flat white, then my eyes hit a wall of magenta. in my redesign, I tried to make the colors flow into one another-- blue to teal to green, then yellow to orange to red. there are clear sections of warm vs. cool colors, but I tried to make sure that little accents of one section would dip into other sections, and that no one section of color felt too overwhelming

additionally, I use black/grey/white verrryyy sparingly in my own work, unless black/white serves as one of the big base colors. Yanfei and Yoimiya, for example, both use black/white as broad base colors, so I was happy to continue that. in Tighnari’s OG design, the black/grey/white just clashes with every other color in the piece, and especially with the “bright and cheery” floral palette of his redesign, so I tossed them completely

also, I need to point out the black gradient on Tighnari’s hair specifically, cus’ it’s just so unbelievably ugly 

[image ID: the OG back shot, cropped to just Tighnari’s head. the ears and crown of the head are a flat, dull black, which sharply fades into a dark teal down to the tips of the hair. END ID]

the black is so flat, and stops so hard before the teal, it looks like a fine layer of dust or drywall fell on Tighnari’s head! dust your head, boy!!

also note that there’s no more silver metal in the redesign

[image ID: the OG and edited front shots, cropped to the left shoulder latch. the OG latch is silver, while the redesign is gold. END ID]

mixing metals is considered a big fashion faux pas b/c different metals usually clash. obviously this isn’t a hard rule, cus’ mixed metals can work, but they have to be balanced very intentionally-- like with Zhongli’s design. Tighnari’s metals, on the other hand, are mixed very... messily. none of the metals match each other or any other part of the design, and they just look ugly all together

since gold complements Tighnari’s new palette better than flat grey, I just cut all the silver. however, the “golds” vary across my redesign b/c they already vary in the OG, and I’m not sure whether that’s the lighting or genuinely different metals. I’m more willing to mix bronze/brass with the gold, though, because they’re all warm metals, so I just kept it

finally, palette talk DONE

so, Tighnari’s ears.

[image ID: the OG front shot, cropped to Tighnari’s head + ears. his ears are tall thin, and sharply pointed. the outsides are black, while the insides have bare pink skin, with some tufts of black fur lining the inner edge. this gives the ears a thin, delicate look. the ears are based at the very top of the skull, sticking straight up near the crown of the head. a dangly gold, leaf-shaped earring hangs off the base of the right ear. end ID]

good god.

as a furry and connoisseur of fluffy ears, I gotta say: Tighnari’s ears look like shit. they’re naked and flat, and they move like flimsy pieces of wet paper. I get that fennec foxes have somewhat less fluffy ears than other foxes for heat dispersion, but this just ain’t it.

to fix them, I took some tips from the best ears in the game-- Gorou’s!

[image ID: a front-view screenshot of Gorou, cropped to just his head + ears. he’s got smaller, triangular ears, modeled with rounded fluff inside the whole ear. the backs are a golden brown matching the hair, the inner edges are creamy white, and the innermost ear is pale, fleshy pink. end ID]

it’s like Mihoyo forgot they already had the golden standard here to reference from, smh

anyways, my redesign works off of similar design principles:

[image ID: the edited front shot, cropped to just Tighnari’s head + ears. the ears have been widened and the tips rounded, matching real fox ears. the bases have been shifted forward and down towards the sides of the skull, with the outer edges of the ears leading down towards the same level as the cheeks. the bases are dark teal, matching the new hair color, with lighter teal fluff ringing the inner edges, and a pale teal for the innermost ear. the dangly leaf earring has been flipped to the base of the left ear, and two studs (one pink, one tangerine) have been added to the outer edge of that ear, while the right ear has one lavender stud. end ID]

using real fennec foxes as reference for the shape and fur distribution, I tried to mimic the way fluff is modeled in Gorou’s ears, to give the ears a fuller shape

I flipped Tighnari’s leaf earring from his right to his left ear b/c it interfered with the flowers on his right shoulder. the extra studs match the colors of the glass circles on the gold disk (or gold chain in the redesign) on his back

I also mirrored the circle + diamond design from the tail onto the backs of the ears, to extend the shape design across more of the character

[image ID: the edited back shot, cropped to Tighnari’s head + ears. the base color of the ears is dark teal, while the tips are green. a half-circle of dark teal is cut out of this green, and a green circle sits inside the half circle. a green diamond sits at the center of the ears, straight down from the circle. the dangly earring and the gold backs of the studs are visible from the back. end ID]

I also shifted the ears down because... look, I’m a biologist first, human second. while I appreciate that Mihoyo doesn’t do double-ears for their animal people, I still get a lil insane about ears based at the top of the skull. I’d ideally move the ears down a little further, but it felt a little too off-model from OG Tighnari, so I settled for the current redesign. I’m just imagining a little more ear hidden behind the hair that leads down to the ear canal, since the new position already implies that. maybe the ear canal is even a tiny bit higher than in regular humans-- I’m willing to allow that

and since we’re already here talking furry biology, I shifted Tighnari’s tail down as well

[image ID: the OG and edited back shots, cropped to the tail/pants area.

both tails have a dark teal top half and a green bottom half. a half-circle of dark teal is cut out from the green, and a green circle sits inside the half circle. a green diamond sits at the center of the tail, straight up from the circle. while not visible from this angle, this pattern repeats on the sides of the tail as well. the pants on both designs are long and puffy, with wider, flared-out bottoms that pinch into slightly thinner cuffs. the base fabric is split into vertical strips or folds, giving the pants a visually ‘striped’ pattern.

the OG tail is based at the waist, just under the magenta waist wrap. the base of the OG tail is also more black, fading into dark teal further down. the pants framing this tail are midnight blue, with single strips of red fabric on the outer sides of the legs.

the edited tail is based at the bottom of the hips, just under the bottom edge of the shirt. the base of the edited tail is fully dark teal. the pants framing this tail are dark teal, with lighter teal cuffs, single strips of green on the outer sides of the legs, and single strips of orange along the inner thighs. additional strips of lighter teal fabric cut diagonally down the rump and back of the upper thighs, angled down towards the inner legs.

end ID]

now the base of the tail actually extends from the end of the spine~

also note the lighter panels on the redesigned pants, framing the tail. the pants and tail are the same dark tone in the OG, so it’s hard to tell them apart. changing the pants to a teal hue only exacerbated the problem, so those lighter panels help block out the tail as separate from the pants

this is also part of the reason I made the inner section of the pants lighter

[image ID: the edited front shot, cropped to the pants. the cuffs are lighter teal, with a single stripe of green on the outside of each leg, and a single strip of orange fabric vertically bisecting each pant leg. the outer half of each pant leg is dark teal, while the inner sections are a very pale teal. the fly section has a strip of dark teal fabric, with yellow ties lacing the sides together. end ID]

but as you can see, the pale inner section of the pants is only visible from the front, so it didn’t help the tail issue much, lmao. I kept it anyways, tho, cus’ it breaks up that big block of dark pants from the front, and helps the eye move more smoothly across the figure

now, let’s talk sashes

[image ID: the OG front and back shots, cropped to the sash areas.

the main white sash is wrapped loosely around the waist and pinned up to the front and back sides of the right shoulder by the big yellow flower and gold disk, respectively. this sash has stripes of firetruck red, blue, and light gold around the edges, with some gold diamond accents. either a matching white sash or an extension of the white sash hangs from the front of the right shoulder, pinned in place by the yellow flower. it’s long and squared-off like a scarf, hanging down to mid-thigh and folded into a few vertical strips. this sash also has red/blue/god accents, with some metallic gold diamonds hanging off the end. an additional small block of fabric hangs over the scarf-like sash, folded wave-like so that both the outer midnight blue and inner orange are visible.

a magenta-purple wrap holds the looser white sash in place, wrapping snugly around the waist in an wide strip. this wrap has yellow stripes/patterns with some zig-zag patterns. a white cord is tied around the center of the wrap, holding an orange bead, a cyan bead, a Dendro vision, and magenta hip bag. a couple of cyan/purple/grey ropes hang from the bottom of the wrap, the ends pinned to either hip.

a different sash hangs off the back of the right shoulder, large enough to end around mid-calf, and pinned in place by the giant gold disk. this sash is leaf-shaped, with a couple of additional thin, tapering strips of fabric hanging underneath. the sash is green, starting lush green at the pinned base, then fading to yellow-green near the tips. some darker green patterns emphasize the leaf shape.

end ID]

I already discussed my thoughts on white in this design, but I just need to emphasize how jarring this white sash is in Tighnari’s design. it’s weirdly distracting, and feels especially bland compared to the leaf-shaped sash on his back. why relegate the lush leaf symbolism to just his back?

it seems obvious to just combine the two sashes into one single design

[image ID: the edited front and back shots, cropped to the sash areas.

the first white sash is now fully green, with darker, dull green stripes and circles lining the edges. the scarf-like sash has been changed to a couple strips of green fabric in long, tapering shapes, ending around mid-thigh. the additional block of fabric has been changed to a couple small blocks of fabric shaped like leaves, framing the yellow flower. the large green sash on the back has been downsized to a very small, single leaf shape, ending just past the elbow. all the sashes and leaves have stripes/patterns/circles of darker, dull green that emphasize their shapes, and their tips fade to yellow.

the cord over top of the magenta wrap has been changed to yellow, and the grey parts of the hanging ropes have been changed to pink for a pink/purple/cyan color scheme.

end ID]

this pulls the leaf shapes and green palette onto his front, mixing the shape/color design more evenly across the body

you may have also noticed that I drastically reduced the size of the sash hanging off the back shoulder, and I have a good reason for that!

it’s not visible in a still image, but in-motion, the sash creates a flowing, trailing shape behind Tighnari when he runs/walks. that would be fine if the sash was the only thing back there... but he also has a tail. so Tighnari has these two big, distracting shapes trailing out behind him when he runs, and it really muddles his overall shape in-motion

but even in the still image, that massive sash covers too much of his upper body for my liking-- cus’ who wouldn’t want to get a full view of Tighnari’s stupid shirt?

[image ID: the OG front shot, cropped to the upper body.

underneath the white sash, Tighnari is wearing some kind of midnight blue hoodie. the hood has a magenta back, and is pooled around his neck, black drawstrings hanging down his chest. the left sleeve is short, wide, and loose, with thin, vertical blue stripes. this leaves the left arm bare at the elbow, before the glove. the right sleeve is skin-tight and covering the full arm, with some vertical stripes of neon green down the outer arm. there’s a light green, “leafy” filigree symbol across the chest of the hoodie.

Tighnari also seems to be wearing a midnight blue, skin-tight shirt underneath the hoodie, which hugs high up his throat. this may be the source of the skin-tight sleeve? but it’s unclear, considering there’s no loose hoodie sleeve on that side.

while the right side has a yellow flower, the left side has a shoulder latch hanging over top of the shoulder. the main strip of the latch is teal edged in silver, and each side of the latch (front and back of the shoulder) ends in a round, silver buckle. the buckle has a clover engraving, and a decorative tassel hangs from the front buckle-- cyan with an orange bead at the top.

end ID]

like, what is this? what the hell is this?? one long, skin-tight sleeve, and one short, loose sleeve? hello??

the “hoodie” look is also weirdly anachronistic. like, I know Genshin is a silly mix of “modern” and “ancient” fantasy, but the hoodie makes Tighnari look a little too much like... just some guy I could meet at work.

but before I could reconstruct the shirt, I had to figure out what stylistic base to work off of-- that is, what cultural base. but because Sumeru is a horrific frankenstein of a country, I had to make some executive decisions

so I looked up Tighnari’s namesake, then the natural range of fennec foxes, then chose the country that was closest to modern-day Spain, and got Algeria. then I googled Algerian fashion and worked from there. but looking at Tighnari’s wiki again, it seems a new note about Amazigh influence was added more recently, and I wish I had known about that earlier so I could’ve referenced more Amazigh fashion too 😭... ah well, at least I chose one of the right countries, and his sash is kinda reminiscent of Amazigh fashion...

ANYWAYS, I settled on this

[image ID: the edited front shot, cropped to the upper body. the hoodie has been changed to a vest/shirt combo.

the shirt is a long-sleeve button-up with loose/puffy sleeves tucked into the glove cuffs. the base is pale yellow with a burnt orange collar + edging, burnt orange vertical stripes across the fabric, and gold buttons. the collar of the shirt is lower than before, leaving more of the throat bare.

the vest is open at the front, with a high, straight-up collar. it has a dark teal base and lighter teal collar + edging. there are also a couple of visible pockets on either side of the vest, each with lighter teal top edging.

the shoulder buckle has been mirrored underneath the yellow flower, though it isn’t very visible. the silver on the latches has been replaced with gold, and a little circular pocket magnifier hangs next to the decorative tassel on the left shoulder.

end ID]

a lot of the Algerian fashion I found seemed to favor vests, which was a great way to balance warm vs. cool hues in the shirt vs. vest. a lot of the shirts I saw were usually white, but since I’m staying away from white, I just made the shirt a nice dull yellow, to complement the vest’s teal. I also tried to give the shirt a “loose-sleeve” look, as I saw in references-- a bit similar to Kaeya’s loose sleeves, but still distinct in shape. I think it gives his upper half a nice silhouette~

I also gave the vest a bunch of pockets, as a nod to the utility vests field scientists love to wear, to store all our small tools, samples, and cool rocks <3. realistically, Tighnari would store his pocket magnifier in one of those pockets (and the magnifier would have a little flippy cover to protect the glass), but I thought it would look fun hanging off his left shoulder latch~

and since the front is essentially split by the vest, I shifted the green symbol from the front to the back of the vest instead

[image ID: the edited back shot, cropped to the upper body. most of the back of the vest is visible underneath the green sash, showing the light green, “leafy” filigree symbol that was originally on the front of the hoodie. when the top of the symbol hits the collar, it circles around the bottom of the collar in two lines. end ID]

but speaking of baubles, let’s get a load of that flower!

[image ID: the OG front shot, cropped to the right shoulder. a big yellow flower is pinned to the front of this shoulder, while large, swooping, gold filigree curls up behind the flower from the gold disk on the back. end ID]

y’know what I thought as soon as I saw that big yellow flower? I thought, “oh, Tighnari saw a broken flower and stuck it on his shirt! I do the same thing at work when I see a broken flower-- I stick them in my headband! :) ” then I heard his “hobbies” voice-over and I felt so vindicated!! YES SAME HAT!!! I’ll just paste the voice line here, it’s very cute:

“Leaves and flowers often drop onto the ground of the Avidya Forest, sometimes perfectly intact. Leaving them on the ground would be such a pity... I can't help but pick them up and keep them as biological specimens. They can be used as educational materials for Forest Rangers or as decorative pieces. Very versatile.”

anyways, Tighnari needed more accent colors on the sash, and I was already treating him like a flower arrangement anyways, so I just added more flowers! I think I spent a good 2 hours researching Algerian flowers for this, lmao

[image ID: the edited front shot, cropped to the shoulders. the flowers have been labeled, and are as follows:

Anacamptis morio: this is an orchid, with many small, purple flowers growing off a long, thin, stalk-like inflorescence. the flowers have the typical orchid resupinate shape, with a modified “lip” and surrounding petals. two stalks of these flowers sit just behind the original yellow flower, curving up and out, high over the shoulder.

whatever the hell: the original yellow flower. it has bright yellow petals and a dark center with what might be a few yellow stamens. the petals are broad, round with pointed tips, and arranged in a double-layer radial pattern.

Iris tectorum: this is an iris, with three long, drooping sepals, and another three shorter petals. most of this flower is purple, with lighter patches near the center. this iris is pinned just underneath the yellow flower, hanging a bit downwards.

Linum grandiflorum: this is a flax flower, with the typical 5 broad, round petals arranged in a neat radial pattern, and 5 small stamens. this flower is pinned just to the side of the yellow flower, just underneath it.

Moricandia arvensis: these small pinkish flowers have a cruciform pattern of 4 petals with a few yellow stamens. a couple of these flowers are pinned just to the side of the flax flower.

end ID]

anyways, please ignore the fact that these flowers prolly all grow in different biomes than the jungle-type biome of Avidya forest; I already had a hard enough time trying to find the right color flowers to fit this palette... also ignore that the sizes are off b/c I couldn’t draw them too small (I KNOW the flax is way too big..)... also ignore that that the flower structures are a bit off b/c it would’ve been WAY too much detail for a Genshin design if I drew them accurately... please just be gentle, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to be academic about it all...

I have no idea what exactly the yellow flower could be, though. it’s so generic, it could be literally anything. but before anyone suggests it-- I doubt it’s a sunflower, since it doesn’t look like a capitulum inflorescence, and the petal shape/arrangement is wrong

and fun fact! the Iris tectorum is Algeria’s national flower!

also note that the orchid serves as a replacement for “thing sticking off the right shoulder” in Tighnari’s silhouette, b/c the gold disk on the back is just too stupid for me to handle

[image ID: the OG back shot, cropped to the shoulder/upper back region.

the main disk is massive-- at least the size of a spread hand. three glass circles of different colors/sizes/placements are set into the gold-- one large tangerine circle, one medium light pink circle, and one small lavender circle. floral engravings decorate the disk, surrounding the glass circles. elegant, swirling, filigree projections curve from the side and top of the disk, curling high over the shoulder.

additionally, there’s a large gold loop set on Tighnari’s upper back, underneath his hood and the sashes. vine patterns are engraved in the loop, and two flowers (respectively purple and pink) sit on the loop.

end ID]

like, ok I admit, it’s very pretty. I like the orange/purple/pink palette with the gold, and the filigree is pretty on its own

but like most of Tighnari’s design, it’s just too much, y’know? I can excuse impractical accessories if they fuck hard enough, but this just crosses the line into obnoxious. like what even is that thing??

but since I still like the idea of a gold accessory on the back, I just reconstructed it into something else:

[image ID: the edited back shot, cropped to the shoulder/upper back region. both the shoulder latches are visible from this side, and a gold chain drapes between them. three gold disks hang from the chain, each with a single glass circle set into the disk. the center disk is the largest with a tangerine circle, while the two smaller disks to the sides respectively have a light pink and lavender circle. each glass circle is engraved with a simple 5-petal flower, while zig-zag patterns are engraved in the bordering gold disk. a few small, flat gold coins hang between the disks. end ID]

I think this is an elegant way to keep a shiny-gold trinket on the back (complete with the tricolor accents~), as well as nod to that... flower loop(?) on Tighnari’s OG back, under the sash

speaking of filigree, I also removed the excess “filigree” design on Tighnari’s boots

[image ID: the OG and edited front shots, cropped to the boots.

the OG boots reach mid-calf, leaving a small gap of bare calf between the top of the boots and the bottom of the pants. the main block of material around the calf and sides is midnight blue, the tongue and top of the foot is white, and the toe box is black. the thick cuff is midnight blue with two horizontal stripes of neon green. filigree patterns decorate the sides of the shoe-- lighter blue on the midnight blue sections, then midnight blue when they trail into the white. the outsole/tread is gold, and the laces are very dark blue with silver latches.

the top of the edited boots has been lifted to reach the bottom of the pants, leaving no gaps of bare skin. the main block of material around the calf and sides is dark magenta/purple, the tongue and top of the foot is orange, and the toe box is magenta. the thick cuff is light magenta with a horizontal stripe of orange around the center. the filigree patterns are gone, replaced with a single yellow diamond at the center of the top of the foot (in the orange section), framed by a small yellow circle on either side. the outsole/tread is still gold, and the laces are yellow with gold latches.

end ID]

shape-wise, the filigree just doesn’t do much for Tighnari-- it’s too “flamboyant” and “wispy” for his character, if that makes sense? the “leafy” symbol on his vest feels floral enough to stay, at least, and it feels more intentional than the other filigree designs. imo, circles/diamonds feel more simple and “practical” for Tighnari’s overall shape design, and better match his ears, tail, and sash.

you may also be wondering why I lifted Tighnari’s boots up higher, and to that I say: have you ever heard of ticks??

any field scientist (or even just... hikers...) knows that open cuffs are just begging for ticks and burrs and bites. Tighnari knows better than that!

which brings us to the gloves-- why are the cuffs so damn wide?

[image ID: the OG back shot, cropped to one glove. while the glove is slim-fitting around the hand, the cuff widens into a thick, wide flare up the arm, reaching midway up the lower arm. this forms a wide, open cup around the wrist area. the base color of the glove is black, with some horizontal stripes of cyan and silver around the cuff + a small bronze buckle. the main palm of the glove + small patches on the pads of the fingers are orange. this glove sits on the left arm-- the one with a short sleeve and bare arm. Tighnari seems to be wearing a skin-tight, purple glove or sleeve under the main glove, ending just under the elbow. end ID]

Tighnari could collect rainwater in those things!! time to slim down

[image ID: the edited back shot, cropped to one glove. the cuff has been drastically reduced in size, now tucked snug against the sleeve of the arm with no open gaps. the cuff is still thick, reaching about midway up the lower arm. the main glove is dark teal, the cuff is teal, and a small section between the glove and cuff is light green. the cuff also has a thin yellow strap around the middle, latching with a small gold buckle. notably, claw-shaped points have been added to the tips of the fingers, to accommodate claws underneath. an additional screencap of the palm in full view shows how the palm “padding” has changed-- now all yellow. the main palm padding has been split into three sections-- one large section under the base of the fingers, one large section under the base of the thumb, and one small section opposite the base of the thumb. the patches at the pads of the fingers have also been enlarged a bit. end ID]

now the sleeves can to tuck comfortably into the glove cuffs; ticks BEGONE!!

added claws b/c all the animal people in Genshin deserve claws <3

and I only changed the padding cus’ I prefer to follow the natural curves of the palm in my own art. emphasizing those rounds and shapes makes for a much prettier design than just laying one flat cover over the palm, imo. especially for gloves that are meant to subtly nod at fox pads~

and finally, Tighnari’s skin tone

[image ID: the OG and edited front shots, cropped to Tighnari’s face. the OG face is pale-skinned, with black lashes/eyebrows, and two-toned brown/teal eyes with light teal pupils. the edited face has dark brown, warm-hued skin, with dark teal lashes/eyebrows to match the hair, and the same brown/teal eyes but with dark brown pupils. end ID]

I mean, there’s not much to say tbh. Genshin’s colorism wasn’t necessarily excusable before, but at least the reference nations before this point aren’t necessarily “““known””” for having darker populations (weak excuse, dark people are everywhere, but the bar is on the ground, here). but Sumeru? the stand-in for Africa/the Middle East?? a nation where most of the dark-skinned characters are enemy npcs?? where the dark-skinned characters are barely even dark in the first place??? disgusting

anyways, Tighnari just looks better brown too, imo. his silly lil leaf hairs stand out better against dark skin, and the warm tone I used works well with his new clothing palette. I considered giving him cool undertones rather than warm, but I think contrasting the warm of his skin against the cool of his hair/ears works better, considering the mix of warm+cool across his whole outfit

also gave him dark pupils cus’ he just looks so dead-eyed in the OG...

oh and I changed the shade of his lashes/eyebrows to dark teal, to match his hair. not very noticeable, but it’s important to me lmao

[mybookplacenet]

Author Interview: Jo-Anne Duffett

Tell us about yourself.: I am a medical doctor by day and writer by night and somewhere in between I find time for photography, gardening, running, kayaking and travelling with her fishing mad husband. I am passionate about sports medicine and am also a travel doctor with a yellow fever license and a part-time academic. My first novel, Surf n Turf is set between Cape Town (home) and the Karoo where I love the brilliant night skies. Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?: I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, into a fairly ordinary medical family. Not for long, though... When I finished primary school, we moved to the amazon jungle where my parents were medical missionaries. The mission base was a cultural melting pot of Brazilians, Americans, Europeans and every nationality you can imagine. I quickly added Portuguese to my English and Afrikaans. (South Africa has 12 official languages (sign language being the 12th)). I had a Norwegian tutor for geography, a British lady for English, a South African ecologist teaching me about the jungle, there was a an Argentinian who fell in love with an Australian. So I have a very multi-cultural background. When I returned to South Africa to complete high school, no one could figure out my nationality by my accent. I was just the jungle girl who had owned a pet sloth, nearly lost her parrot to a boa constrictor and dealt with many snakes and tarantulas. I also had a horse, Great Danes and Siamese cats who were never allowed outside without a leash - we never knew when there was a jaguar lurking around. Our house was surrounded by jungle. The howler monkeys were terrifying when we first arrived and I was trying to read Lord of the Rings and was convinced the sounds came from some creature in the book. After the jungle Cape Town was tame but my family continued to do short term mission trips, taking me to places like Uganda and Mozambique. I met my husband when I was 14 but we only married when I was 25 once I was finished studying medicine. He had never left the Western Cape before meeting me, now we have travelled all over the world and South Africa. My field of medicine also creates opportunities for travel, I have been to a conference in the USA, visited universities in the Netherlands, travelled with team South Africa to China, India, the Isle of Man, Zambia and Lesotho. I love exploring and with my husband we have ventured to Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Zanzibar and all our neighbors Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia. So I have many places cultures and languages to draw from in my writing. I now consider myself a naturalized Capetonian as I have lived here the longest. Do you have any unusual writing habits? I plot while I'm running. Do you have any advice for new authors? When writing thoughts from a different gender to your own, bounce your ideas off someone of that gender. What is the best advice you have ever been given? Porque Deus amou o mundo de tal maneira que deu o seu Filho unigénito, para que todo aquele que nele crê não pereça, mas tenha a vida eterna. João 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that who ever believes in him will have eternal life. John 3:16 What are you reading now? A Thousand and One Arabian nights by Anon on audiobook in my car check out Librivox.com for free audiobooks (classic) Work and Win by Oliver Optic audio book on my phone while I do chores (classic children) The Leper of St Giles by Ellis Peters in my husbands car (medieval mystery) Secrets at Court by Blythe Gifford in the lounge (historical romance) The Phoenix and the Carpet by E Nesbit in the bedroom (classic children) Trapped with the Duke by Annabelle Anders on my phone for queues (historical romance) What's your biggest weakness? Well fitted jeans on a man Historical romances Chocolate What is your favorite book of all time? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen I never get tired of reading it. Or watching it, although reading is better as you get to imagine how they look. I love the way she creates strong personalities. When you're not writing, how do you like to spend your time? Working! Exploring Researching my next holiday Running Photography Hiking Walking with my husband Kayaking Open water swimming Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you? The first story I remember was the Lion the Witch and the wardrobe. My sister and I took turns to read it out aloud and we were limited to a chapter a night. It was so frustrating. When I was small, I was given a proper Holy Bible by my grandpa and a dictionary. I would look up a word to have to look up the words explaining that word. I guess it improved my vocabulary exponentially. My setwork books at school I read cover to cover the first day I got them and instead of studying for the literature exams I just re-read them. What has inspired you and your writing style? Although I enjoy reading classics, I really enjoy the fast paced style of mysteries, combined with my love of romance. I want to keep the reader interested and turning the pages not getting bogged down in detail. Its an art to describe the beauty of the setting without leading your reader to skim. What are you working on now? A sweet contemporary medical romance which combines my passion for my work with my enjoyment of literature. Fire & Ice, How to Tame a Doc Thomás Ribeiro could win the titles of “best dad” and “Dreamland’s Doctor Tall, Dark and Handsome,” but he is icy to ladies and with good reason. Dr Charlie Kriel is a pint-sized fiery sports doc, wary of kids and determined to do without men. A matchmaking aunt and engaging kid contrive to melt ice with fire. Charlie is determined to protect her heart and keep her secrets, so she fights like a scared kitten. Can Thomás, get out of his self-imposed ice-cage, and tame her? What is your favorite method for promoting your work? Book review sites What's next for you as a writer? A time-travel romance :-) Buckle up for a thrilling ride through time and space in Dani the Dino Girl, From Fossils to Fables. When 21st century palaeontologist, Dani, is suddenly transported back in time, she finds herself in the company of a 17th century nobleman who escaped pirates by traveling into the 6th century. Throw in a stowaway boy, elephant birds, a mischievous lemur, and a missing grandma. Will Dani be able to use her scientific knowledge to survive in this new world? Or will she be swept away by the romance and adventure that awaits her? Fans of time travel, historical fiction, and animal companions will love this unique blend of science and fantasy. There is loads of work still be done, but I'm enjoying all the research required for the various time zones. Who would have thought I would visit a glass museum, browse an antique store, take out palaeontology textbooks form the library or visit an archaeology dig?! How well do you work under pressure? I seem to get more done, the more that needs to be done. I thought during my holiday that I would write for vast periods, yet I ended up reading instead, but during term, when I can only snatch a sentence or a paragraph, then I really make progress. Work of course is never ending high pressure. How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing? It is entirely determined by my characters. I first need to understand what makes them tick, anticipate their reactions, let myself become their alter ego. If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be? My photography. Search for "Jo D" on SmugMug Jo-Anne Duffett's Author Websites and Profiles Amazon Profile Goodreads Profile Read the full article

[bluewarf]

15 Questions + 15 Friends

Are you named after anyone?

My name is the feminine version of my dad's. He didn't want any of his kids to be named after him, but my mom snuck it past him, lol.

When was the last time you cried?

Like yesterday, probably. I cry a lot more easily now than I used to, which is actually probably a good thing. If you see it happening though, no you didn't. 

Do you have kids?

Nah, just 6 cats.

What sports do you play/have you played?

Never been much into sports, but I did take both karate and dance classes for the better part of a decade. Nothing currently; my job involves a fair bit of physical activity as it is 

Do you use sarcasm?

Never dream of it.

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Ohhh god, I'm suddenly feeling very self-absorbed. Other than the very obvious stuff like apparent age/race/gender, I suppose the way that they dress? I'm very bad with faces.

What's your eye color?

bloo

Scary movies or happy endings?

Smh, scary movie with happy ending erasure. In all seriousness, I don't really watch scary movies much, although I do appreciate a good thriller. So I guess happy endings by default?

Any talents?

Not sure how to answer that tbh. I have skills, but I don't know about natural aptitude or anything like that. I've been told I'm a good writer, but I think that's largely because I read a lot as a kid. I like to think that I'm generally speaking a quick learner, buuuuuut age and mental illness have done a real number on my brain. So! Idk. I'm a recovering perfectionist with an eye for detail, so I can mimic talent for most things well enough I guess. 

Where were you born?

In the USA 🎶 more specifically the Midwest.

What are your hobbies?

I do a lot of assorted arts and crafts stuff. Resin casting, perler beads, occasionally cross stitching. I have a pretty bad problem seeing most of my projects through to the end though. I'm pretty invested in the tabletop RPGs I play with my friends, I like going on walks and just being outside, and I'm slowly trying to get back into reading again. That covers most of it. 

Do you have any pets?

See the third question.

How tall are you?

Not as tall as I'd like. (5'5")

Favorite subject in school?

History/social studies in general. I liked most subjects other than math, honestly, which is deeply ironic given that I did end up going into the one field where I actually use it fairly regularly. English classes really stressed me out a lot as a kid, but I love language and literature as subjects. 

Dream job?

I have never known the answer to this question. I do actually like my real job (floor layer) a fair bit. If I could have any job in the world though?  ...idk, in another life I think I could see myself as a linguist or an ecologist. I came pretty close to law school at one point, but I don't think I have the mental acuity for it anymore. 

Tagging?

Lol I have approximately 3 followers who are real people, one of them's rarely on here, and I already reblogged this from another (@ellora-borealis). So if you feel like it, go nuts @spacealiencafe