#low desert region

[cselandscapearchitect]

Natural Turf vs. Artificial Grass: Battling the Urban Heat Island Effect in the Low Desert

The low desert region faces the challenges of the urban heat island effect, where urban areas experience significantly higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas due to human activities and the built environment. As we strive to mitigate this heat island effect, one key consideration is the choice between natural turf and artificial grass. Both options have their own advantages and…

[homo-house]

hey uh so I haven't seen anyone talking about this here yet, but

the amazon river, like the biggest river in the fucking world, in the middle of the amazon fucking rainforest, is currently going through its worst drought since the records began 121 years ago

picture from Folha PE

there's a lot going on but I haven't seen much international buzz around this like there was when the forest was on fire (maybe because it's harder to shift the narrative to blame brazil exclusively as if the rest of the world didn't have fault in this) so I wanted to bring this to tumblr's attention

I don't know too many details as I live in the other side of the country and we are suffering from the exact opposite (at least three cyclones this year, honestly have stopped counting - it's unusual for us to get hit by even one - floods, landslides, we have a death toll, people are losing everything to the water), but like, I as a brazilian have literally never seen pictures of the river like this before. every single city in the amazonas state is in a state of emergency as of november 1st.

pictures by Adriano Liziero (ig: geopanoramas)

we are used to seeing images of rio negro and solimões, the two main amazon river affluents, in all their grandiose and beauty and seeing these pictures is really fucking chilling. some of our news outlets are saying the solimões has turned to a sand desert... can you imagine this watery sight turning into a desert in the span of a year?

while down south we are seeing amounts of rain and hailstorms the likes of which our infrastructure is simply not built to deal with, up north people who have built everything around the river are at a loss of what to do.

the houses there that are built to float are just on the ground, people who depend on fishing for a living have to walk kilometers to find any fish that are still alive at all, the biodiversity there is at risk, and on an economic level it's hard to grasp how people from the northern states are getting by at all - the main means of transport for ANYTHING in that region is via the river water. this will impact the region for months to come. it doesnt make a lot of sense to build a lot of roads bc it's just better to use the waterway system, everything is built around or floats on the river after all. and like, the water level is so incomprehensibly low the boats are just STUCK. people are having a hard time getting from one place to another - keep in mind the widest parts of the river are over 10 km apart!!

this shit is really serious and i am trying not to think about it because we have a different kind of problem to worry about down south but it's really terrifying when I stop to think about it. you already know the climate crisis is real and the effects are beyond preventable now (we're past global warming, get used to calling it "global boiling"). we'll be switching strategies to damage control from now on and like, this is what it's come to.

I don't like to be alarmist but it's hard not to be alarmed. I'm sorry that I can't end this post with very clear intructions on how people overseas can help, there really isn't much to do except hope the water level rises soon, maybe pray if you believe in something. in that regard we just have to keep pressing for change at a global level; local conditions only would not, COULD NOT be causing this - the amazon river is a CONTINENTAL body of water, it spans across multiple countries. so my advice is spread the word, let your representatives know that you're worried and you want change towards sustainability, degrowth and reduced carbon emissions, support your local NGOs, maybe join a cause, I don't know? I recommend reading on ecological and feminist economics though

however, I know you can help the affected riverine families by donating to organizations dedicated to helping the region. keep in mind a single US dollar, pound or euro is worth over 5x more in our currency so anything you donate at all will certainly help those affected.

FAS - Sustainable Amazon Fundation

Idesam - Sustainable Developent and Preservation Institute of Amazonas

Greenpeace Brasil - I know Greenpeace isn't the best but they're one of the few options I can think of that have a bridge to the international world and they are helping directly

There are a lot of other smaller/local NGOs but I'm not sure how you could donate to them from overseas, I'll leave some of them here anyway:

Projeto Gari

Caritás Brasileira

If you know any other organizations please link them, I'll be sure to reblog though my reach isn't a lot

thank you so much for reading this to the end, don't feel obligated to share but please do if you can! even if you just read up to here it means a lot to me that someone out there knows

also as an afterthought, I wanted to expand on why I think this hasn't made big news yet: because unlike the case of the 2020 forest fires, other countries have to hold themselves accountable when looking at this situation. while in 2020 it was easier to pretend the fires were all our fault and people were talking about taking the amazon away from us like they wouldn't do much worse. global superpowers have no more forests to speak of so I guess they've been eyeing what latin america still has. so like this bit of the post is just to say if you're thinking of saying anything of the sort, maybe think of what your own country has done to contribute to this instead of blaming brazil exclusively and saying the amazon should be protected by force or whatever

[azzayofchaos]

Since my other Nether worldbuilding post was received pretty well... I'm back on my bullshit!

This time featuring zoning and biomes of the Neath: Lore below cut

Nether (noun): the formidable hellscape straddling the boundery between the Fragments of the Overworld and Death's Realms.

Derived from Beneath -> Neath -> Neth -> Nether.

The Nether is most easily accessable through outer regions of the nether, regions that are comparatively closed-off, and lacking in biodiversity compared to the Deep Nether where most Neath civilizations are centered.

The Neth is divided into three primary zones, distinguished by altitude and general climates.

The Calfactory Zone: the largest and most icon of the three, the Calfactory zone is blisteringly hot and bone-dry, it's most prominent features are its abundant seas and lakes of magma, and the massive Supermagmas atriums that are common above the magma. In the largest of these atriums, the ceiling may be so high above as to be completely invisible from the ground, obscured by an ever present smog of toxic vapor and minerals formed in the self-generated micro-climates that are generated from the rising heat of the lava that begins to cool at a higher altitude.  

In the Basalt Deltas and other biomes around the edges of these lakes, massive pillars of rock and crystals bulwark the more-visible ceiling. 

The most common of this zone’s biomes is the Crimson woods, home to hearty thermal-philic fungi and plants that grow on the minerals and vapors of the lakes. Many are carnivorous in their lack of access to water or sunlight, and these forests contain many sub-biomes and ecosystems of flourishing life. 

The Wastes are perhaps the most desolate regions of the Neath, irradiated deserts of red-rock, brimstone, and sharp sand. Even the vast majority of nether-folk avoid these deserts due to the leftover radiation that rots and destroys anything that waits too long. The only forms of life are particularly robust lichens and bacteria that are happy to sit by the pools of boiling pools of sulfur and mud and toxic sludge that dot the landscape. Growing within the rocks themselves are colonies of amorphous fungus, called geocorpus molds that get their spores into cracks in the soft netherack and slowly feed on it, a delicacy in nether cuisine. 

The Temperate Zone: Cradled in the heights of the Neath’s atriums and sat bellow the roof is the temperate zones, the rising heat of the zone below begins to cool and forming distinct weather patterns in this zone and leaving it, while still sweltering, a cooler though much more humid climate.

The main biome are the luminescent warped-fungal rainforests that collect the high-rising minerals and odd moisture from the lakes. Liquid is actually precent here, though if it’s not safely filtered through the innards of the various plants and fungi, this water is usually aggressively corrosive, and it is best to shelter from the  acidic precipitation to avoid chemical burns. The nether folk and ender local to these rainforests are suited to deal with these conditions and the ender especially do not have trouble with the extreme pH of the water here like they would in the overworld. The zone is lit almost exclusively by the biolumincense of the organisms there and have often been described as false-stars.

In the Deep Nether, the ceiling may give way, allowing one to pass onto the plateaus of the Nether Roof and the yawning void above. The bedrock of the nether roof is jagged and layered in huge slabs, sometimes broken up my mazes of pillar-like structures and shallow, thermal pools of crystal-clear liquid. The kind you don't want to touch of course. fogs may hang low to the ground, but when its clear, or above the fog, the entire universe seems to spill out into the sky. The nether roof was culturally significant and a source of much knowledge and inspiration in the early days, but I'll get more into that in a later post 0.0

The Rime Zone: Plunge deep enough and one might find themselves bellow the lava beds. Here, where the heat can't quite penetrate, the temperatures will drop rapidly to sub-zero.

Namely, the Rime Zone is made up of the soul valleys, flat steppes of cinder and clotted sand, you can imagine it almost with the blindness effect, a fog that pools by your feet, and a heavier darkness hanging from the sky, it feels massive and endless and claustrophobic all at once. Frost collects as crystals on the irradiated, soul-soaked barrens, and the bones of the massive nether wyrms lie fossilized, breaking up the landscape. The sands are also split with patches of crazing on the ground and vents of blue fire that spills out and sets the sand ablaze.

These same wryms can be found sometimes, ancient things that dig through sand and soft rocks and the magma lakes, far and few between and treated with both fear and reverence.

And in the deepest pits of the Neath are the glowing frozen lakes that are colloquially and rightfully called the Gates to Death, glowing blue from beneath their surfaces. Indeed, any further down and you pass into limbo, the edge of Death's Realms.

Extra Notes??:

Soul sand/soil is tread on carefully or not at all, is one form of remnants from the apocolyspe. Like the general radiated rubble present through the Nether, it's a fault of nuclear fallout. Unlike other areas of radiation, its also been infused with the souls of those who didn't survive the joining of worlds.

This infused quality is also precent in Nether Debris, resulting in a material that takes magic particularly well.

Iron cannot be found in dense veins and crystals like gold or quartz in the nether, but it's a pretty rich mineral a lot of netherack, giving it its ruddy coloring.

Sorry for this massive rant that no one asked for. If you have questions please feel free to send an ask, I may not have an answer yet but I'll certainly come up with one if I can.

I'm also hoping to do a pass on my headcanons about history and culture in the Nether and then we might start talking about character headcanons since this is also an actual AU.

If you read this far, here's some notes on striders and ghast

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Hellbound Angel

Male Yandere Demon x Male Angel Reader (CW: Noncon, drugged reader, drugged sex, drug-like cum, drug-like saliva, big ol' horse cock, literally equine dick, belly bulge, armpit kink, scent kink, musk, underwear sniffing, kidnapping, general yandere behavior, temporarily mind-broken reader, religious themes, dehydration, forced feminization, reader has minor injuries not inflicted by yandere) Word Count: 2.2k

In the never-ending war against the legions of Hell, the middle ground where most of the fighting was done was on Earth. However, the heavenly forces sometimes deemed an incursion into Hell necessary.

You had been sent on a mission to scout ahead and take note of the coming forces.

Angels were stronger than most demons. Even so, almost your entire squad had been wiped out in a bloody ambush. The other survivors had used the one holy recall scroll to teleport themselves back to heaven.

Each squad sent into Hell is given one and only one. They probably thought you were dead already when they left still with demons in pursuit. They had to act quickly. You didn't blame them. Without it, you were trapped here. Unless you could find a demon's gate that could take you to Earth. That's how the demons made it out. But there would certainly be legions of the enemy at such places.

You had managed to escape the slaughter of your scouting party, but you were injured. Your wings had been hurt as had your leg. Relatively minor injuries, but in a hostile land, they certainly made things more difficult.

To be honest, you weren't exactly the strongest angel on a good day. This was not a good day.

You limped along the rocky landscape, using your holy staff as a walking stick. You stayed low to remain unseen by any wandering beasts or demons as you made your way out of the fiery wastelands and into the white sand desert. Hell wasn't all fire and brimstone. It was the most popular depiction of Hell's most dramatic landscape, but there were other biomes, too. Now you were getting into one of the many deserts Hell had to offer.

It was cooler than the burning wastes, but by no means was it comfortable. Water and food were scarce, the white sands were nearly blinding, and the swirling black sky was a constant ominous reminder that you were not safe.

You could go a long time without food and water. You wouldn't die without them, but after a while, you would wither up and be unable to move. You'd go into a kind of stasis. And then you'd be defenseless.

For days, you wandered. At least... you thought it was days. Despite the perpetually black sky the sun never set. Your lips were chapped, your wounds aching, hope dying in your heart. You had to find an oasis to rest at. Build up your strength. From the limited maps you had seen of this region of Hell there should be one at the heart of this desert, but with your wings and legs messed up it would still take many days still to reach it.

There were several more days of endless marching, hobbling on your injured leg that was getting harder and harder to walk on before you finally saw the oasis in the distance. You tried your best to approach stealthily, going behind dunes and sand drifts whenever possible, and wrapping your white wings around you to provide some measure of camouflage with the white sands. As you got near, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. And out of the smoke stood a demon. It was a trap.

Dark brownish red skin, sharp horns, a tail flicking back and forth, and he stood at least a foot taller than you. He was very muscular, his sweat coated abs glistened in the sunlight. He wore nothing. His long horse-like cock and big nuts swinging freely below a thick patch of black pubic hair.

You caught yourself accidentally staring and looked away quickly before readying your divine staff for a fight. Which was really hard, since you could barely stand without it.

The demon winked and chuckled.

"Do you like it~ There's no harm in just looking, you know?"

He closed the distance between the two of you in a flash and knocked the staff away in one fluid motion.

"As a matter of fact, you can do a lot more than look, little bird. My cum would make you feel so much better~ That oasis you're looking for is still miles away."

"Uh, thanks for the kind offer, but I think I will pass. I'll just be on my way and out of your hair."

You stepped back slowly, hoping to make it to your staff so you could maybe limp away and give him a good smack if he followed. But he wasn't giving you the chance.

"Oh, but you're dehydrated!"

He took a few steps forward until there were mere inches between you. He put a hand on your cheek and thumbed at your chapped lips gently.

"Your lips are all dry. Let me help~"

Before you could decline, he held your head in place and leaned down. He traced and prodded your sore lips with his long slick tongue.

You tried to push him away but couldn't do much in your current condition. And the saliva was having some kind of effect on you.

He slipped his tongue past your lips and kissed you greedily.

Your head grew fuzzy and your legs weak. His spit was some type of drug. It felt... nice...

You resisted it as long as you could, even resorting to biting his tongue, but he ignored it and continued. Moments later, you slumped against him, your head on his muscular chest. The only thought in your head as you passed out was how nice this man in front of you smelled.

He picked you up gently and carried you bridal style. It was fitting since you were certainly his little bride now, as far as he was concerned. He placed a chaste kiss on the top of your head and then started walking towards the underground dwelling he called home.

When you woke up, your wounds had been healed, and you felt a lot better. Though you were still dizzy. There was an intoxicating smell all around you and you didn't recognize your surroundings.

Your first instinct was to jump up and flee, but you were immediately pulled back down and placed in the lap of your demonic captor. His monstrous cock poking out between your thighs.

You looked down and realized you were naked, your soft cock and balls laying on his unnaturally warm prick.

"Let me go!" You elbowed him as hard as you could but he must have made sure you stayed drugged because you couldn't muster up any strength to put into your struggle.

"Let you go? After all the trouble I have gone through to romance you?"

"Romance!? You kidnapped me and I don't even know who the fuck you are, creep!!"

You struggled with renewed anger, smacking your head backwards, elbowing, kicking, and scratching. All amounting to you gasping for breath, tired, while he chuckled at the attempt.

"You're in Hell! I could have raped you and left you in the sand to be killed by any passing monster and that still would have been considered romance."

He placed his large hands on your legs with his thumbs drawing lazy circles on your thighs.

"I saved you from the desert, treated your wounds, let you rest for days, fed you, gave you water, and bathed you. That is damn romantic!"

He started assaulting your neck with little licks and kisses, enjoying how you squirmed in protest while sitting on his equine cock.

"As for the name that you'll be moaning when I bury myself in you, it's Tevrik."

"My friends will come back for me. You should save yourself the trouble and let me go now!"

This was a bluff, of course. They almost certainly thought you were dead. You didn't know if your deception would work, but you didn't expect him to respond with a cackle.

"No, they won't! Rathiel won't let em!"

A shudder went through you at the mention of your boss who had ordered the mission into Hell.

"He's one of Hell's best agents. Gives us lots of intel."

You were dumbfounded and fell silent a moment before regaining your composure and replying angrily.

"Lies from a worthless demon!"

"I'd never lie to you, sweetie~"

He trailed his hands up and down your thighs as he continued.

"How else did we set up that ambush? Rathiel sent you to us. We needed more angel blood. But not yours."

Your blood ran cold as he began grinding into you.

"I picked you out from a bunch of employee profiles just to be my little princess. I'm half angel myself and wanted an angel bride~ We'll rule this region of Hell together!"

He repositioned you on his lap to face towards him as his flared cock grew fully erect.

"You weren't supposed to be hurt in the battle. I'm so sorry about that. I killed the demons who did it."

You didn't even struggle when he positioned you above his dick, hot precum smearing your hole as his cock pressed against it. The betrayal drained the fight from you.

"After the battle, I just followed you for a bit, so you'd be tired. And now here you are. With me."

The precum and smell of his arousal were making you dizzier. The words he spoke brought tears from your eyes.

"Awe, don't cry. After we have some alone time to adjust, I'll take you to the palace~ You'll be royalty!"

You winced as his cock entered you, expecting pain. Surprisingly, there was none. Instead it was like every cell in your body was filled with pleasure.

This couldn't be right. You had to escape. Sex with a demon was a very taboo thing.

You started struggling but Tevrik held you still.

"Shhh, I know you're upset. But just let it happen, okay? I'll make you feel so good."

As his precum continued to dribble out of his dick and into you and as the betrayal by your trusted higher up sank in you once more lost the will to fight.

Why were you fighting anyway? This cock felt so nice. And he was so kind and romantic to go through all this trouble to get you away from your evil boss right?

You relaxed and lay against his chest as he pumped into you slowly. You looked up at him and realized he had your underwear in his hand and was holding it up to his nose sniffing the crotch.

"You smell so good, girly. So good. You feel good too."

"You smell nice too!" Then your brain caught up with the rest of what he had said.

"A-and I'm not a g-girl." Too focused on your pleasure to really care.

"Nah, you're too pretty to be a man. Too weak too. Plus you have this tight little cunt hugging my dick. You're definitely a girly~"

"O-okay."

You blushed because he called you pretty. You supposed he made a lot of sense. You were clearly a girl. You wondered why you didn't know that sooner. It felt right.

He chuckled warmly as you drooled on his chest and made cute little gasps and moans. He couldn't wait until you were moaning his name.

Tevrik didn't pound you, he didn't want to hurt his sweet baby bird. Instead he just rocked his hips into you and enjoyed the effect it had on you.

After you started making those delicious noises his demonic precum began to make you super cuddly. He continued to breed your tight hole while you started nuzzling him and leaving gentle kisses on his chest. He began grinding into you a bit faster and more forcefully, his cock clearly outlined through your belly as it nestled into you as deeply as he could get it.

"Fuck babe, I'm about to bust."

But you came before he did it. Your cock spilling silvery angelic seed on his belly as you called his name and clung to him tightly. The combined sight of you cumming while impaled by his dick while at the same time calling his name just like you promised he would sent Tevrik over the edge. His large balls filled your tummy with hot demon cum. It made you feel warm and fluttery and loved. Like you could feel his emotions through his seed.

You were so tired from all the emotion and sex that you passed out on top of him, nuzzling your nose into the comforting scent of his armpit as you clung to him.

Tevrik smiled. You were just so precious. Sadly, he knew you'd regress back into struggling against him. But that was okay. He would keep reminding you how the angels threw you away and keep breeding you full of his drug-like semen. Soon you'd crave it. He'd bed you constantly until you needed it. And then breed you as much as you wanted him to after that.

Yeah, it would take a while. But he had all the time in the universe.

Tevrik sighed with content and closed his eyes, taking your underwear and putting it back up to his nose while he relaxed with his cock still deep inside you.

You may have been in Hell, but Tevrik was in Heaven.

[ganondoodle]

totk rewrite- botw2 edition

been thinking about the other totk rewrite again (the one only based on botw in which the sonau stay a mystery while being expanded upon)

i talked about it before but heres a lil breakdown (im reusing alot of mechanics from the villain rauru rewrite bc they work too well to be discarded for this one)-

(edit, about five hours later .. its not a little breakdown, its a pretty complete summarized breakdown of the entire new rewrite that i didnt intend to spend the last hours of my sunday on but here we are .. long post, but with pics bc theres lots of concepts im reusing or reviving)

okay START:

zelda and link explore the caverns below hyrule castle bc the shiekah tech has been losing power and their research as to why lead them here

they discover ganondorf and through zeldas curiosity break the, already weak, seal on him (no enigma stone here, the seal was done by an ancient queen of hyrule)- he wakes up attacks them, breaks the mastersword and miasmas/malices links arm off (also idea is that you have to fight him but meant to lose horribly lol) and then have to play an escape sequence (or watch a cutscene of it) in which zelda drags link after herself running from gan

(remember this old first idea drawing i made when i started to think about a rewrite? yeah im reviving that, except theres no totk sonau in this anywhere)

they get out and immediately afterwards a heavy earthquake runs through the land, completely, and actually, changing the map (also using the idea of devastating the regions climates- gerudo desert is flooded, death mountain collapsed inwards, the zoras realm is dried up, rito village has completely frozen over - ACTUALLY frozen over, everything encased in thick ice, the temperature has a special new low point, the winds too strong to glide anywhere-, mountains and rivers shifted, caves are revealed- oh and most of the main villages have tried to flee somewhere saver so theres no literal 1 to 1 repeat of points of interest from botw; also no uh .. miasmas holes that are literally jsut like drilled out bc what?? i want the access to the underground be few and hidden to make it more special to discover)

links arm gets amputated and replaced with a shiekah tech one (maybe using the botw shiekah stone/slate since they still dont know how to make them and its the best self sufficient piece of tech left that doesnt rely on the breaking fuel structure) (reusing this concept from the villain rauru one, with the difference beign that theres no corruption of link -or maybe it does have an effect to have shiekah tech literally hooked up to yourself *thinking emoji*- the abilities remainign the same)

when link wakes up some time has passed (so its more logical that the other regions have tried to cope with everything happening) you get a tutorial by purah and other shiekah (bc with zelda in charge theres more shiekah doing tech stuff again! cool!) and now have a magic meter (functions like in the previous pic, recharges over time depending on environment! bc i find that idea so cool for interstign puzzles and storytelling- like i said in an older post, a place where lots of people died might be richer in spirit energy recharging your magic faster- others have been hollowed out of luminous stone which slows down the recharge) and you are left to decide where to go

both zelda and you have a shiekah stone/slate replica but its incomplete since as mentioned the knowledge on how to make it is still lost so it only has the basic functions, such as the map, journal, camera and teleport

zelda is your companion from the start, in the years since botw she trained in basic self defense and can use her sealing powers as a shield to protect herself (though reluctantly since she doesnt want to rely on them) so you dont need to babysit her- you can tell her to be aggressive in encounters, supporting you (occasionally shields you or heals you a little?) or stay out of it/only self defend if an enemy targets her (in case you dont want any help) - she also copies your movement in a way, when you glide around she will too etc- in cases where you go very fast to one thing, like the hookshot, she will grab onto you

zelda also acts as your mobile crafting station, to put it bluntly, as she can craft and repair weapons, which is at first limited but can be expanded upon by doing quests (like the options of spear crafting being hugely expanded by a zora quest- fitting their fight style), when she does it you need the material needed for it though it costs no money- theres new little smith shops around the world that can repair and craft as well in which you can spend money instead for material you are lacking (and a little fee for the work you know)

(one of the first rough concepts for a pair of smiths, one is at the shop (green lady, the scars on her arms are her missing fins bc she burned them or lost them in battle), the other walks around it like terry (beedle) does and from whom you can buy already crafted simple things, like arrow types-

oh yeah, arrow types return and get more options bc theres no way in hell id make anyone scroll through that awful menu just to fuse one arrow at a time (the old types return, but theres new ones and all are craftable in bulk, here and old rough sketch)

(also theres no new 'in the same location jsut a few steps to the left' towers that shoot you into the air bc it just destroys the entire world design- even if there is no sonau tech in this one so no gliders- i want the sky to feel as dangerous and mystical as the underground)

the sky has to be reached via the hookshot, its got big islands mostly with old shiekah ruins, including that broken titan prototype i drew before, and the bird mechanic (you can tame birds and register them at a location there, idk if im keeping the idea of a lone shiekah there, but the birds will stay)-which is if you tamed a bird you can call it when gliding to gain a little boost in height, enabling you to reach islands further away (since no building, yeah that mechanic is better used in a game actually built around it, which totk just isnt- do not argue with me about that- to really let it shine instead of just being a tiktok viral funney build simulator that adds nothing meaningful to the game and actively makes it worse due to its implementation just not fitting there) or save you from falling if you barely missed the edge of one - theres few points of teleportation up there so the world map isnt made skippable, theres no shrines there (and in general, there are no shrines, just minidungeons- ACTUAL minidungeons- integrated into the world, like really big caves that are each unique and filled with challenges- and much fewer of them) (the islands being mostly made nigh invisible from the surface bc clouds gather on their underside)

perhaps different glider types?! and you can switch their design via zelda too

the old botw shrines are non fucntional due to loss of power, either overgrown or broken into pieces due to the ground breaking open, some might be infested with malice/miasma and comes alive like a weird mix between guardian and miasma crab (which also goes for guardian wrecks that hadnt been taken apart for research yet), some are fallen into caves that got revealed or got swallowed by the ground with only the tip remaining- the titans (divine beasts) are all repurposed (like in the other rewrite ideas i had)- the rito tried to flee the blizzard using medoh but sicne no one has piloted it and unstable connection to them causes them to crash in the hebra mountains, unable to leave it due to the storm and thus on limited time; vah rudania was perhaps made into a temple, or training ground but fell into the underground when death mountain collapsed (imagine ... malice/miasma infested rudania being an actual boss itself, chasing after you in the underground); vah ruta was absolutely made into a place of worship and after their domain dried out a few remained there praying to it convinced their faith would save them- its not able to move but manages to produce a little water still; vah naboris might have been used as a stronghold/lookout but due to the desert flooding (which is in fact, bad) its one of the 'islands' people now reside in

new weather types, including storm and darkness caused by mushroom spores that are invasife to the surface

theres at least six dungeons, one for each region (but not in the exact place as in botw bc that is literally just plain stupid though i might use the zora sewer/water system idea for an actual dungeon instead of .. a single button- bc how cool would that have been?? no no lets put the fish people in the sky and put a single button in the coolest part of it that only activates a waterfalll .... coming out of a tiny island in the sky- all just by of the visual neatness of swimming up??- anyway) plus a yiga one that is in and below the akalla citadel- also might put hyrule castle into the underground and inaccessible for a good portion of the game- and one in the forest of the krogs that was corrupted (which i thought was the reaso nfor the backpack krogs, but no, they literally have no goal and serve no purpose than to make funney videos with em, and then even the forest is nothing more but a reused lame fight agaisnt phantom gan- im starting to rant, sorry)

the abilties of the champions will be similar but there are changes, as in tulins (who i might just change to teba bc lets be real he was the one you interacted with in botw really..) isnt a gust of wind, since its both contrary to revalis whole deal of how difficult it was for him to create the updraft and then tulin can just do an almost exactly the same thing as like, a 12 year old- also its little usefullness after me adding in the birds for the sky and different glider types- maybe ill make it a strong windcut forward like in the other rewrite, like the yiga officer windattack but on steriods id also consider most of them not having the innate ability for it anyway, except for yuno maybe since he literally inherited daruks shield and as my idea was could make a variation of it adding the roll an fire to it but still having the shield, bc it kinda makes them like a boring copy of the botw champions and also lessens both their impact in a way (perhaps bringing dungeon items back?? idk,so still working on that)

each dungeon has a unique boss, at least on of which being a corrupted friend (PROPERLY DONE not like poor yuno in totk >:I ) bc each being just some monster tm is kinda boring (like twilight princess was so cool for how it mixed its bosses tbh)- also want satori to have a dark (also nice) counterpart that you might have to fight first bc you are trespassing into its domain (an old sketch gonna revisit it at some point)

new armor sets of course, and you still own YOUR house in hateno, zelda either has her own one in the spot where landa (the funky building lad that you bought your house from in botw) had the 'example' houses or yours got an additional building added onto it for zelda (and you can customize like, trees around it and have a lil farm spot too!!) and in your house theres a chest you can store armor sets in so you dont have to sell them to avoid inventory clutter

POUCHES return!! you can find some but most are locked behind quests (since logically people likely would have pouches) making them a really good reward and dont force you to engange with krogs if you are tired of them, it also avoids making you go back to them over and over just to expand inventory (you can choose for which part you want to use the pouch for, weapon or shield slot etc)- krog seeds are now its own currency for a lil shop you unlock in the forest, one of the highest rewards being the eponator zero (the motorcycle from botw)

also BOTTLES return! the main way to store healing, which also has to be consumed in real time (like in skyward sword, select in on a wheel so link takes it in his hands and 'a' to use it) avoiding the pause and spam apples into your mouth problem-

now cooking is NOT removed, it has even better effects than potions BUT it cant be stored and has to be consumed where you cook it (hear me out-); the cookbook in totk i find pretty annoyingly useless so, the cookbook is now a proper book you can fill out and when you want to cook a recipe you select it there and cook it with what you have (it shows if you dont have it all and also if you wanna swap an ingredient that would end with a similar effect) AND since you cant store it, theres special NPCs that reappear throughout hyrule (like a group of chefs that have one in each region at least) that let you just cook whatever you want without it wasting your materials, and if you hit a recipe it unlocks and is saved in your cookbook (you have to have the materials you want to cook with but it wont consume them, so you cant jsut spam it and fill the entire book out in one go- maybe the chef can give you subtle hints with expressions if something might be good or not before you try it out so you dont waste ages just cooking the same shit over and over xD)

(also possible idea for an item or big quest reward, a portable pot you can set up to cook with -with wood and fire- on the go without having to rely on finding them in the wild, and zelda can act as you chef giving you hints ... honestly i love this idea, remember all the cute botw art of them travelling and cooking together?? make that real you idiots!)

to upgrade your health or stamina you have to get spirit orbs still, but this time you get big ones that each can be traded, since thers fewer minidungeons but they are 4 times bigger than shrines they also give you 4 times the reward- but still one where you can choose which one you want bc i find that an important bit of freedom (idea still is that you free trapped souls and they give you the orb as a reward, majority of which are in caves in the underground or in the surface caves) which encourages you to vary your gameplay and not focus just on one area bc you probably want all those things, go for quests for puches and bottles, for minidungeons for health/stamina etc

oh yeah, the underground houses several dungeons, the weird gravity effect is in either the entire underground or in parts of it- it does not span the entirety of the map, isntead its smaller and often enclosed areas that each are more detailed and 'finished', theres different bioms and enemies you dont find anywhere else, and some enemies on the surface (like the miasma hands but like .. less easy and no phantom ganon bc that got boring rly fast) that sport those hands can grab you and drag you underground- which can either mean doom for you or .. discovering a new area down there hmmmm a risk to take isnt it :3 (also wanted there to be a mount there but idk if i will use this old concept of the dongos or if i want it to be a crab like thing bc of the underwater theme i want to go for)

LORE/STORY

so as you explore you may discover caves and areas in the underground containing sonau architecture (the type from botw, not totk) most of which heavily damaged, but theres few that are in 'better' shape bc they have been in selaed off caverns that werent yet discovered-

you find out the sonau, which you only vaguely knew from ruins in the overworld, were in fact real (but no you dont suddendly know they fucked with hylians and even their names of untold thosuands of years ago that you just so happen to have read in a book all of the sudden like it was an always known fact and not at all a myste- .. rant alarm .. ), and given the ruins underground they must have originated from there, but there are no scriptures that survived and all sculptures are in very bad shape, alot of which seems intentionally destroyed- slowly you and zelda piece together through vague clues (VAGUE game VAGUE, let people THINK) that they had knowledge of the past and the nature of the ever repeating return of disaster to hyrule; the biggest reveal beign that they knew the cycle wasnt natural at all and that it keeps being repeated only through the structure of how this land operates, the beliefs of the people that rule it, altered history etc.

the ancient shiekah under the rule of hyrules royalty found out what the sonau had discovered/knew and persecuted them (parelells to what the king would do to them later on, anyone??) since the divinity of the kingdom must be upheld by all means necessary- which is why the sonau had disappeared so entirely, with little of their culture left and none of them, and by doing so the ancient shiekah also discovered the previously lost knowledge of the gerudo king having turned into the biggest threat to the kingdom in the past (which the sonau had kept secret, knowing what consequences it could have if not handled carefully), which starts up a whole other betrayal plot of the kingdom planning to imprison gan before he can become a true threat (im gonna guess the relations between the gerudo and hyrule havent been that great even before since hyrule was still the main empire)

gan finds out before the plan goes through and assasinates the king of hyrule, the ancient queen declares war (yes, the queen for once) and in the end sacrifices herself to seal him away, more for revenge than any prophecy, but it nevertheless leads to the cycle doing its thing yet again

calamity ganon is a product of ganondorf trying to break free of his seal- and perhaps in an attempt to weaken his unbreakable will the shiekah discover they can use his spirit as a powerful source to their newly invented tech- which previously ran with processed luminous stones (yes battery theory will never let me go idc) and essentially use his own power against him by beating the calamity with their tech

(this knowledge is also how you get the yiga to work with you, using your knowledge of the past as leverage and zeldas ability to negotiate - and bc i thinks it would be cool to see her develop that way, and no i dont mean it as they all gonan fix it uwu either, its hard to go into more nuance here, its already way longer than i wanted- and yes this also ties into the koga is one of the ancient monks that made himself basically immortal through malice experiments HC of mine)

he attacks the regions bc they too sided with hyrule, he drags you to the underground bc its where he has spent thousands of years in agony, hes only out for revenge, an understable one and one you can sympathize with, but one you cannot negotiate with, its been too long, too much, no amount of apology could sate the desire for payback (which keeps the whole link and zelda defeat ganon formular alive BUT gives it nuance, right?? more tragic really, i hope that comes across)

he attacks link and zelda, breaks the masterword bc he has seen it all before, the original calamity, through the eyes of malice, he knows what you will do, inevitably so, you too will come for him, again

at the midpoint of the game you will reach hyrule castle (underground? perhaps it depends on how much health you have, getting grabbed and dragged into its depths losing hearts and if you have enough you survive until you are inside the castle and let go, you cant teleport outside - oh and zelda is either absent for the fight bc you got separated or she held onto you and protected herself with her power- honeslty kinda like the seperation idea bc after having her around all the time its gotta be super creepy to be suddendly alone) and will have a fight with him, that you kinda lose but are saved by the rest of the crew that zelda had banded together and brought here after being seperated from you- maybe without koga yet bc he would be locked to late game i think

there will be a quest to reforge the mastersword, which if you havent already gone to the forest will now lead you there (oh also some of the krogs you find outside the forest now will tell you that they had to flee, but maybe warn you not to go there yet if you are still in early game, others might not know bc they left to plant new forests, windwaker style, maybe a quest there too! to give them purpose beyond being your plaything and then just disappearing- ahem .. )

(old concept for the krog forest/dekutree boss)

the dekutree will tell you to restore it it will need the blessings of the three dragons (who might not have appeared yet, or slowly disappeared one by one, they might need to be rescued bc gan probably knows you are gonna try and repair the sword) (oh look more old concepts still relevant!)

in the end it will .. end with you defeating ganon, just like always (unsure of the place where it will will be but OH LOOK old concepts- here it was still with hyrule castle in mind but that might be jsut for the midpoint fight now- maybe id put the end fight on the forgotten plateau, to round it up nicely, ending where botw began ... ;3

i really like this one .. even more than the villain rauru one, though that one is fun bc a twist like that is pretty neat and fighting with ganondorf is also rly cool- but sicne i just dont like the totk sonau and much prefer them remaining mostly a mystery im very fond of this (also .. im so sick of ancient people with high tech bs now..)

the aim with this is to .. make a botw2 that actually feels like a botw 2 (for me), shiekah tech is still there but little functions still, logically bc its main powersource is breaking off of it, the sonau are a mystery and kinda negatively talked about bc the shiekah persecuted them just like they would later be - also explains why there are shiekah things in every sonau building, of course they would overtake their places and try to erase a much as possible of them (the thunder plateau might have been a place of worship to farodra or for research- now look its a puzzle for a shrine to strengthen our hero to defeat the thing we caused :)) ), the sonau are expanded upon WITHOUT destroying their mystery (none of them are shown, there are NO memories in this game, everything happens in real time and what you can learn about the past is mostly vague clues pieced together by nerd zelda!)

it gives more depth to the shiekah as well as add an important ounce of nuance to the yiga and shiekah, to ganondorf as well while adressing and fixing the things that needed work in botw in ways i would find enjoyable (instead of making it WORSE)

i also dont want to go too hard on 'zelda is totally agaisnt the monarchy bc monarchy BAD', its not meant to come across like that, i just wanted to do sth interesting that does question everything and bc i like to think she could be lead to a different way of thinking, especially if so through her own research and discovery of previously buried history, being confronted with her own biased views by her passion for her interests

anyway, if you read through all of this, i probably forgot stuff, buts its very late and i spent alot of time writing this (bc i cant stop once i started i guess) and theres lots of things repeated that i already talked about BUT if yo actually read through it all, i cannot even begon to express just how much that means to me, and id i dare request, do tell if you like it!!! and thank you so much!!! it might not seem like much but this is also very important to me, i still dream of gamedev after all and i see this as a sort of practice, are my mechanics and stuff actually better os does it just seem like it to me etc -

(though keep in mind, this is in part self indulfent bc hey, its not real and is never gonna be so i might just do what i want- and yes i do believe it is doable, even if this all sounds alot, the magic lies in making it less but make that 'less' more dense and detailed, hence the underground being like at least cut in half in size and the building mechanic being removed (to give to a game where its better used than totk) alone should free alot of time and space for the things i described here)

-thanks again for reading, posts like these rarely get much attention so uh ... its pretty much never worth the time i spent typing designing and writing it (even if theres still lots missing here, like the dungeons and details to the champions ..) so every bit of commentary weighs alot more <3

[fatehbaz]

Despite its green image, Ireland has surprisingly little forest. [...] [M]ore than 80% of the island of Ireland was [once] covered in trees. [...] [O]f that 11% of the Republic of Ireland that is [now] forested, the vast majority (9% of the country) is planted with [non-native] spruces like the Sitka spruce [in commercial plantations], a fast growing conifer originally from Alaska which can be harvested after just 15 years. Just 2% of Ireland is covered with native broadleaf trees.

Text by: Martha O’Hagan Luff. “Ireland has lost almost all of its native forests - here’s how to bring them back.” The Conversation. 24 February 2023. [Emphasis added.]

---

[I]ndustrial [...] oil palm plantations [...] have proliferated in tropical regions in many parts of the world, often built at the expense of mangrove and humid forest lands, with the aim to transform them from 'worthless swamp' to agro-industrial complexes [...]. Another clear case [...] comes from the southernmost area in the Colombian Pacific [...]. Here, since the early 1980s, the forest has been destroyed and communities displaced to give way to oil palm plantations. Inexistent in the 1970s, by the mid-1990s they had expanded to over 30,000 hectares. The monotony of the plantation - row after row of palm as far as you can see, a green desert of sorts - replaced the diverse, heterogenous and entangled world of forest and communities.

Text by: Arturo Escobar. "Thinking-Feeling with the Earth: Territorial Struggles and the Ontological Dimension of the Epistemologies of the South." Revista de Antropologia Iberoamericana Volume 11 Issue 1. 2016. [Emphasis added.]

---

But efforts to increase global tree cover to limit climate change have skewed towards erecting plantations of fast-growing trees [...] [because] planting trees can demonstrate results a lot quicker than natural forest restoration. [...] [But] ill-advised tree planting can unleash invasive species [...]. [In India] [t]o maximize how much timber these forests yielded, British foresters planted pines from Europe and North America in extensive plantations in the Himalayan region [...] and introduced acacia trees from Australia [...]. One of these species, wattle (Acacia mearnsii) [...] was planted in [...] the Western Ghats. This area is what scientists all a biodiversity hotspot – a globally rare ecosystem replete with species. Wattle has since become invasive and taken over much of the region’s mountainous grasslands. Similarly, pine has spread over much of the Himalayas and displaced native oak trees while teak has replaced sal, a native hardwood, in central India. Both oak and sal are valued for [...] fertiliser, medicine and oil. Their loss [...] impoverished many [local and Indigenous people]. [...]

India’s national forest policy [...] aims for trees on 33% of the country’s area. Schemes under this policy include plantations consisting of a single species such as eucalyptus or bamboo which grow fast and can increase tree cover quickly, demonstrating success according to this dubious measure. Sometimes these trees are planted in grasslands and other ecosystems where tree cover is naturally low. [...] The success of forest restoration efforts cannot be measured by tree cover alone. The Indian government’s definition of “forest” still encompasses plantations of a single tree species, orchards and even bamboo, which actually belongs to the grass family. This means that biennial forest surveys cannot quantify how much natural forest has been restored, or convey the consequences of displacing native trees with competitive plantation species or identify if these exotic trees have invaded natural grasslands which have then been falsely recorded as restored forests. [...] Planting trees does not necessarily mean a forest is being restored. And reviving ecosystems in which trees are scarce is important too.

Text by: Dhanapal Govindarajulu. "India was a tree planting laboratory for 200 years - here are the results." The Conversation. 10 August 2023. [Emphasis added.]

---

Nations and companies are competing to appropriate the last piece of available “untapped” forest that can provide the most amount of “environmental services.” [...] When British Empire forestry was first established as a disciplinary practice in India, [...] it proscribed private interests and initiated a new system of forest management based on a logic of utilitarian [extraction] [...]. Rather than the actual survival of plants or animals, the goal of this forestry was focused on preventing the exhaustion of resource extraction. [...]

Text by: Daniel Fernandez and Alon Schwabe. "The Offsetted." e-flux Architecture (Positions). November 2013. [Emphasis added.]

---

At first glance, the statistics tell a hopeful story: Chile’s forests are expanding. […] On the ground, however, a different scene plays out: monocultures have replaced diverse natural forests [...]. At the crux of these [...] narratives is the definition of a single word: “forest.” [...] Pinochet’s wave of [...] [laws] included Forest Ordinance 701, passed in 1974, which subsidized the expansion of tree plantations [...] and gave the National Forestry Corporation control of Mapuche lands. This law set in motion an enormous expansion in fiber-farms, which are vast expanses of monoculture plantations Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus species grown for paper manufacturing and timber. [T]hese new plantations replaced native forests […]. According to a recent study in Landscape and Urban Planning, timber plantations expanded by a factor of ten from 1975 to 2007, and now occupy 43 percent of the South-central Chilean landscape. [...] While the confusion surrounding the definition of “forest” may appear to be an issue of semantics, Dr. Francis Putz [...] warns otherwise in a recent review published in Biotropica. […] Monoculture plantations are optimized for a single product, whereas native forests offer [...] water regulation, hosting biodiversity, and building soil fertility. [...][A]ccording to Putz, the distinction between plantations and native forests needs to be made clear. “[...] [A]nd the point that plantations are NOT forests needs to be made repeatedly [...]."

Text by: Julian Moll-Rocek. “When forests aren’t really forests: the high cost of Chile’s tree plantations.” Mongabay. 18 August 2014. [Emphasis added.]

[sayruq]

Here's another update because the situation is changing again.

The fighting continues

Things are clearly not going well for the Israelis because they've trotted out the widely unpopular president of the Palestinian Authority to try and weaken support for Hamas among Palestinians and the global South.

For a while there, it seemed Israel was truly preparing for the ground invasion of Gaza it has been promising since Operation Al Aqsa Flood started

Israel has even come up with a plan for the tunnels of Gaza that the Palestinian resistance was planning on using and it's predictably evil and, by their own admission, unlikely to truly work

Israel and Hezbollah have been increasingly tussling over the past day and a half. Remember Hezbollah has said if there's a ground operation in Gaza, it will officially join the war (unofficially, it's been supporting Palestine by bombing military targets in northern and southern Israel)

Israel is understandable worried about Hezbollah. After all, they were humiliated in 2006 when they invaded Lebanon. They were so humiliated, they don't really mess with Hezbollah (prior to this war that is). They bomb Syria, assassinate Iranian officials, bomb the Egyptian border but they largely leave Lebanon alone.

In fact, they're so worried about facing Hamas in Gaza with Hezbollah and possibly Iran coming in that the inevitable Gaza ground operation started to get hiccups

Ah yes, clouds.

But that's not the real reason. Rumours have been circulating that there has desertions in the army, enough people are leaving that the top Israeli military officials are having trouble with their plans. Morale is also very low which is part of the reason they're attacking Gaza so heavily. It's a depraved and desperate attempt to project strength to their soldiers and the settlers

There is also the fact that Hezbollah is nothing to sneer at

The situation is simply not looking good for Israel at all and America is rightly worried

America has tried helping it out by convincing Iran to back down

I bet both America and Israel regret all those assassinations.

So, what now? It should be obvious that a ground of invasion of Gaza is unlikely to happen

Israel situation is so humbling, it is putting out statements like this. Imagine Israel saying this 2 weeks ago

Surely without a ground invasion, Iran and Hezbollah will also back down? Nope, the red line has shifted and now Israel has to stop its bombardment of Gaza or face a regional war

Israel now has a choice to make that will decide the future of the settler colony

Of course when Israel inevitably backs down, it'll try to frame it as though it was because the West pressured them to, out of concern for Palestinians. Nevermind Biden outrightly lying about seeing pictures of the 40 beheaded babies and this

and also nevermind that the entire western media has been calling for genocide against Palestinians. Nevermind the EU's first act when the war broke out was to cut off aid to Palestine.

Needless to say the rest of the world will know what caused Israel to back down.

Palestine.

Palestinians have dealt a huge blow, not just to Israel but also the US and the EU who have lost a lot of credibility by publicly calling for and materially supporting genocide in Gaza.

Best believe the global South has been watching this closely.

[sytoran]

𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐘 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 ⌇ wanda maximoff

summary: you, a failing student and a rebel. wanda maximoff, the perfect golden student. the both of you, studying together. she's horny, and you're hard. chaos ensues.

☰ PAIRING: sub!wanda x dom!gn!reader

☰ TAGS: smut (18+), college!au, smut, girlcock, you got a big dick cause why not, sexual tension, then it quickly becomes resolved sexual tension, rough sex, riding, teasing, degradation kink, humiliation kink, overstimulation, you're perpetually horny, wanda isn't just thirsty for you she's the whole damn sahara desert

☰ WARNING: men dni

masterlist

you were bored.

no, trust me, it wasn’t because of wanda maximoff. she had ever-so-kindly offered to help you study for your exams. you, a failing student, rebellious but infuriatingly attractive. or so you had been told.

no, actually, you weren’t bored. you were just bored of studying. you were distracted, however, by wanda maximoff. it was an important distinction.

she was a straight-A student, perfect hair and perfect smile. trophy daughter, pristine and prim and proper. you smiled your smile, gentlemanly but with the teeth of a shark.

the two of you were sat on the floor, books sprawled out on a low-rise table. wanda was seated cross-legged, dutifully bent over as she was teaching you something about chemistry.

you, on the other hand, were generously manspreading, pretending not to notice when wanda glanced between your legs with a small lick of her lips.

it was only a matter of time.

“you’re not paying attention,” wanda pouted, looking with a watchful gaze as you toyed with a rubik’s cube you found in her room.

it was hypnotizing, the way you were fiddling with it in one hand. throwing it up and down, each sharp movement of dexterous fingers making wanda wetter. absent-mindedly turning the cube, fingers deftly flicking to change its side.

“i know, baby,” you said dryly, watching as her thighs pressed together. fuck, she was so easy.

“we should take a break,” you drawled, suddenly standing up, eyes flicking to the way wanda’s little skirt bunched up between her legs. the redhead could only nod, throat having run dry at your deliciously darkened eyes.

the atmosphere grew heavy with tension almost immediately, palpable to touch.

then you were sitting down behind wanda, wrapping your arms around her little waist. with an ease that sent another jolt of arousal to her nether regions, you pulled wanda onto your lap.

she let out a small whine when she felt your cock grow hard beneath her ass. “take off your clothes and face me, baby,” you muttered, trailing kisses up her nape, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

wanda was obedient, tugging of her shirt, then unclasping her bra. she slowly turned around to face you, with the help of your hands holding her waist.

“no panties?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. wanda nodded, looking down. you smirked.

before wanda could pull down her skirt too, you flicked away her hands. “wanna fuck you in that, pretty girl,” you whispered, tracing the hem of the checkered-pink skirt.

“please,” wanda whimpered, palming at your erection. you grunted, lifting your hips to unbuckle your jeans. she watched, almost drooling when she caught sight of your cock, all hard and standing in its glory.

“go ahead,” you said with an exhale, leaning back to let her climb on.

wanda’s thighs rubbed against your legs, sending shivers up your spine. cute, stiff nipples making glimpses of contact with the leather of your jacket elicited whines from the girl.

your eyes burned with unblinking red, not quite fury but something like red, hot, arousal. wanda’s mouth fell open as she sank down onto your cock, her pussy stretching open until you were fully lodged in.

wanda looked at you breathlessly, gripping onto your forearms for support. “is this okay?” she mumbled softly, gyrating her hips to adjust to your size. you groaned at her movements, pinning her down with outstretched fingers.

forcing her hips down, you accidentally pulled wanda all the way down to your hilt, wanda throwing her head back at the sudden sensation. “oh,” wanda whimpered, squeezing your forearms tighter. “it’s really big.”

“baby,” you whispered in response, eyes wide as you brushed your thumbs over the cock bulge at her belly. wanda let out a soft moan, biting her lip.

when you applied pleasure to that area, that was bulging with your fucking cock inside her, wanda nearly came undone there and then.

"please," she whispered, leaning forward so her nipples brushed against your chest. your throat ran dry.

her lashes fluttered, reflecting golden sunlight. you stared at her wet lips, so tempting to tug on and devour. before you could lean forward to capture her whole, wanda began moving.

she was undulating her hips, maintaining eye contact with you. her breathing turned erratic and shaky, pleasured cries leaving her lips as you watched her go.

“fuck, you look good like that,” you rasped, leaning forward to tug at her breasts that were bouncing each time she moved. wanda let out a high-pitched moan at your praise, one that you soaked all right up as you began plucking at her rubied nipples.

massaging her tit, feeling it up with greedy hands you did, as she rode you harder, ‘til her ass was slapping against your thighs.

“need more,” wanda pleaded, her movements becoming wilder. she was clenching around your cock so tight you couldn’t fucking move.

“wanda, if you don’t stop i’m gonna cum inside,” you managed to groan out, wanda’s slick dripping down onto your thighs. her movements were simulating your cock to no end, all wet and tight and hot.

wanda’s stomach was rolling with the agility of her hips. upon hearing your words, wanda seemed to get even more aroused, riding harder still. “want,” wanda gasped out, hips moving quicker and harder.

“want you to breed me, daddy.”

holy fuck. holy fuck, indeed.

at her words, so desperate and honeyed, tender yet possessive, demanding yet submissive, you lost your goddamn mind. wanda wasn’t just your friend anymore. she was yours.

and you made that very clear, with how deliciously rough and possessive your ministrations were.

“you’re such a fuckin’ whore, hm? inviting me over to your house with the guise of studying. tell me, wanda, is it because you wanted me to fuck you silly, hm? knock you up?”

you were bouncing wanda on your cock so hard fast that all she could do was drool, eyes glassy and unfocused.

“y-yes,” she gasped, nails digging into your shoulders, crescent-shaped imprints tainting your shoulder blades. god, the pain was pleasure in itself. “wanted you to fill me up.”

you moved harder, sharp and amber hot. you weren’t that sweet and kind best friend, you were fucking her like it was the last thing you’d ever do.

wanda let out a sound that sounded like a mesh of a moan and a plead, body shaking with each harsh thrust. “aw, baby,” you cooed, a devilish grin on your face, watching with a ravenous gaze at her wanton state.

“is it hard for you to focus when you’re so close to being all filled up?” your teasing had an immediate effect on wanda, her letting out soft, incoherent noises as she got stretched open.

her breath hitched when your tip stroked her at that very spot, the spot that made her toes curl and eyes roll. it was so deep inside her, but that made it all the more arousing.

a low growl rumbled in your chest when wanda gasped softly at a harder thrust. she couldn’t even speak anymore, let alone think. all she could do was just whine and drool when sitting on your cock. you slapped her ass, watching it shake and turn red.

knowing you had star student wanda maximoff, all slutted out, made you damn near feral. “such a hungry slut,” you groaned against her blushing skin, licking up the beads of sweat that formed on her neck.

wanda was aching to get pumped full of your cum, clit throbbing to a painful extent. you were in that same state of a hazy lust, cock sliding in and out of her with ease, no need for lubricant. wanda was that wet.

“cum inside please,” wanda begged, burying her face in the crook of your neck. she was drooling onto your shoulder now, biting and sucking at the bit of exposed skin there.

you grunted at her neediness, kicking the table away, worksheets scattering wild. thank god no one was at home. with the additional space wanda could spread her legs further, pussy spread out even more, drenched and dripping.

your cock was so fucking hard. you don’t think you had ever been this aroused, fucking up into wanda’s sodden cunt.

wanda maximoff, star student. prim and proper trophy daughter. with you. with you. wanting to be bred like a little whore.

you snapped out of it with a heavy jerk, hips jolting up and causing your cock to slide another inch into wanda. she screamed your name, head throwing back as she clenched down.

dear god, the noises she made when she was orgasming was nothing like you had ever heard before. cries of ‘daddy!’ fell from her lips like it was the most natural thing in the world. she was fuckin’ angelic, pulsing all over your cock as she came.

that finally brought you over the edge, with a loud moan slipping from your lips. you released inside wanda, just like she had begged for so desperately. she whined, feeling every ridge and vein of your throbbing cock inside her, each wave sending shocks through her sensitive pussy.

the sticky streams got pumped into her pussy with heavy thurst after thrust. you buried your load inside wanda as deeply as possible, grunting with need. it flowed like a never-ending stream, until you were damn sure you had bred the pretty girl.

wanda herself had gone limp, collapsing in your arms. you couldn’t bring yourself to slide out, not yet anyway. the two of you stayed in that position for a while, fading away with graduality.

“thank you, daddy,” she whispered, nuzzling into the leather of your jacket, wrapping lithe arms around you. you smirked, tilting her head up with two fingers. “you can thank me after we’re done,” you laughed, a roguish grin forming on your face.

wanda looked down with confusion, before letting out a whine as she realised you were hard again.

what do yall want next, a part three to the 'last christmas' series? or an A/B/O smut? feel free to comment and leave feedback loves

masterlist

[random-ln-stuff]

Holy shit we might have a name for the Little Nightmares world now!

This description for the game says that Low and Alone (the two protagonists) are searching for a way out of “The Nowhere” but are currently trapped in an area called The Spiral. Also mentioned is the Desert Of Necropolis.

The Spiral is mentioned to be a “cluster of disturbing places” and Necropolis is presumably a small part of the Spiral, being one of the those “disturbing places” that the Spiral is made of.

But what is The Nowhere?

Low and Alone and trapped in The Spiral, but are searching for a way out of “The Nowhere”. The Nowhere also can’t be just another part of The Spiral because if that were the case, Low and Alone would escape it pretty quickly in the game because it seems like the game will have you going all around the Spiral to various locations, and then it wouldn’t really be worth mentioning that “Low and Alone are searching for a path out of Nowhere” as one of the first sentences before the Spiral is even mentioned.

WHICH MEANS THAT THERES A GOOD CHANCE THAT “THE NOWHERE” ACTUALLY REFERS TO “EVERYWHERE INFLUENCED BY THE EYE, AKA THE ENTIRE WORLD OF LITTLE NIGHTMARES.

The Maw, The Pale City, The Nest, The Necropolis, It’s all located IN THE NOWHERE. Low and Alone were searching for a way out of the Nowhere, meaning they were trying to find a place that the Eye hasn’t corrupted. They were searching for a way out of the Nowhere, the Nowhere essentially being the Eye’s sphere of influence.

The Spiral is probably like The Nowhere’s equivalent of a country or state or something, with multiple diverse areas (cities) all located in the same general region, with Mirrors being used by Low and Alone to cross the vast distances between them.

The Nest and Pale City are also probably in a different “Spiral” or “Nowhere State” or something where there’s multiple Cities with multiple ruling forces in the same region. The Maw doesn’t count because it moves around.

[writingoddess1125]

Pain and Pleasure

Buggy x FemReader

Spicy Toe curling nasty $mut + Fluff

Enjoy my Darlings~ ;3

⚠️ Warnings: ⚠️ BD$M Play, Impact play, Unprotected sex, hard sex, mild orgasm denial, sensory dep.

You felt heat simmering from your skin like you were in the sun of the Sandora Desert. Feeling the cool gentle sliding of leather riding up your thighs like someone was placing a ice cube over your steaming form. It was the blue riding crop that you always saw in your Captian's room when he brought you here.

Captian Buggy, the man who had taken you from the dining hall suddently and brought you to his quarters. Tearing your clothes away and tying you with his stripped bandana. When you tried to resist him a cloth had been shoved into your lips, and a scarf tied over your head to cover your eyes plunging you into darkness.

So now here you were, restrained on the carpeted floor of the cabin. Feeling the smooth leather run over your nude body, a sharp pain brining you from your thoughts as the harsh leather of the crop made impact to your thighs drawing a cry from your muffled lips, Buggy laughing darkly at hearing this as he struck you again on the other thigh.

"Let's see~ I warned you about talking to pther men, And I'm sure I saw you talk to 10 just in the dining hall~! Disobeying your Captian is a serious crime (Y/N)~" He cackled out, goosebumps picking up on your skin at his tone.

"Let's count together shall we?~"

He chimed, before the hit of the riding crop struck you again. Buggy counting out loud of each smack, 3, 4, 5... the leather welting your skin and digging in painfully into your tender flesh. 6, 7, 8.

He laughed as you whined in pain, using his foot to spread your legs from your kneeling position rubbing the crop inbetween your legs drawing a shiver from you. You felt the crop move from your skin before the final strikes hit you. 9, 10.

You felt your mind hazy from the impacts that had hit your thighs, warmth flooding your lower regions at the anticipation amd fear.

"Look how reactive you are~" Buggy chimed, tapping the crop over your hardened nipples with a dark chuckle. A shiver running through your body, the world still dark for you from the scarf wrapped around your eyes.

Suddently you felt yourself scooped up, with ease laid across what you assume was Buggys lap and stroking your nude ass.

You felt Buggy's fingers invade your pussy, roughly fucking you with his thick fingers. Your cries of pleasure shaking through your form as you heard him laughing at your reaction. Unsure how you were laid or if Buggy was using his Chop Chop abilities you feel the riding crop again this time sharply hitting you ass drawing another cry from you. This continued, everytime you felt so close to an orgasm another smack of the riding crop hit your body.

Buggy laughing at your cries of frustration mixes with pleasure as he kept your climax hostage with this crop. After 8 hits you hear the sound of the object being tossed away as Buggy pulled his fingers from you, patting your bruised pussy.

Pulling you up to be seated on his lap properly, his hands running up your shaking form for only a second. Before you felt something warm and hard press against your battered thighs, Buggy's hands then finding your hips and forcing you down on his waiting member. A broken moan came out muffled through your gag at the feeling, his starting to slowly thrust into you- The feeling practically painful with how pleasurable it was. After only a few minutes of slow teasing thrust had you close to tears and ready to cum, his mouth finding your chest as he bit down on the soft flesh of your breast and ran his tongue over your nipples. Your thighs shaking in bliss at the treatment, but his lips left your chest too quickly.

"Ah ah ah Doll~" You heard his low voice teasing you, stopping his hips just enough to keep you from your orgasm earning another loud cry in desire from you.

He began to roll his hips inside of you, slow and evil to work you back up into a frenzy without release. Suddently as if his impacients won out he started to roughly fuck up into you, the slow teasing now gone as he used you like a rough sex toy. Fucking you harder then you've even been before, tears soaking the scarf over your eyes as overestimating shot through your body.

As you felt his hips stutter against yours as he came inside of you, Hearing him groan loudly above you as warmth flooded your body. His fingers squeezing the welts with the riding crop It was just enough to force a hard orgasm from you, it shocking your body and you swore you saw white through the darkness of the scarf. Your hips shaking as you felt Buggy lift you off his weepy cock, you heard a clink before something cool touched your bruised pussy and in a quick motion it entered you. You cried against the cloth gag as you felt a mental plug invade your insides to keep that warmth inside your belly.

"So pretty~" Buggy purred out and set you on the ground to your knees. A mild shuffle taking place around you. You laid there on your knees, panting hard as you felt the stinging pain from the harsh hits and orgasm rush through your system.

"Such a good girl for me Doll~" You heard Buggy purr out, he sounded out of breath as well. There was momentary shuffling around you before you heard him again.

"Let's get you out of this Love" His voice softer, first starting with the cloth gag which made you take a sharp breath of fresh air, Gently the scarf that acted as your eyecover was removed from your face and the dim light hit you making you winced a little. Buggy was knealing infront of you, his shirt was off and he was in pink heart boxers which he had clearly just put on. His gaze gentle with a soft smile.

"You okay (Y/N)? Can you nod for me?"

You nod softly and smile, warmth blooming in your chest as he kissed your forehead.

"Good" He hummed in approval as he undid the bandana that tied your hands behind your back. His hands extra careful to remove the plug from you, earning a overestimated whimper from you.

"Sorry Baby, That should be it."

He said softly and you smiled at him, how gentle he was in times after you guys play. Buggy grabbed a blanket and wrapped into around you with care.

"Thank you honey" You whisper out, earning another kiss from Buggy who carefully picked you up still wrapped in the fluffy blanket. Laying you on your guys shared bed as he got a warm rag and began to clean you up, adding ointment to the welts to your ass and thighs.

"I want to get a different riding crop.. this one digs too much into your skin.." Buggy grumbled as he continued to get you cleaned up. You giggle at his meticulous ways, he cared as much for your Aftercare as he did during your guys BDSM play.

"Eh it's not too bad" You hummed earning a faux scowl from Buggy which made you laugh, he kissed your knee in another act of affection and apology for the deep welts from the crop. He handed you some water and climbed next to you, Tossing the rag elsewhere in the room as he cuddles you close giving a content sigh.

"You're too danger prone.. I mean you asked me last night to do this today for our play" Gesturing to the marks on your skin, waving him off you just smile. He kissed your shoulder making sure you got hydrated and handed you some snacks which the two of you shared. "Oh you like it~" You teased with a wink and munched on some of the strawberries on the snack tray.

"I love you Doll~" Buggy chimed with some apple slices in his mouth, you kiss his cheeks in response and smile at your Goofy lover.

"I love you too Buggy~"

[cselandscapearchitect]

Creating a Stunning Desert Oasis: Gardening Tips for the Arid Southwest

Living in the desert Southwest offers a unique opportunity for gardeners to embrace the beauty of the arid landscape and create a stunning oasis that thrives in challenging conditions. In this blog post, we’ll explore some valuable tips and plant suggestions to help you design a water-efficient and visually appealing garden. From the vibrant yellow blooms of Encelia farinosa (Brittlebush) to the…

[sixteenseveredhands]

Namib Sand Geckos: these nocturnal geckos have biofluorescent markings that emit a bright, neon-green glow when exposed to the moonlight

This species (Pachydactylus rangei) is found only in the Namib Desert, which stretches across Namibia, Angola, and South Africa; the geckos typically inhabit the arid, coastal region known as the Skeleton Coast.

In order to escape from the blistering heat of the desert, they use their webbed feet to burrow down into the sand during the day, and then emerge only at night, when the temperature has finally dropped. The webbing on their feet also enables them to run more easily across the dunes.

Namib sand geckos are covered in translucent scales, but they also have a strangely colorful appearance, as the colors/shades of their circulatory system, spinal column, internal organs, and optical membranes remain partially visible through the skin, producing various shades of pink, dark blue, purple, magenta, orange, and yellow.

They also have several distinctive markings running along their lower flank and encircling their eyes; these markings are known to fluoresce when exposed to UV light (including moonlight), emitting a bright, neon-green glow.

Some researchers have theorized that the biofluorescent markings may act as a signal to other geckos, allowing them to locate one another in the vast, desolate expanse of the desert, as this paper explains:

The fluorescent areas of P. rangei are concentrated around the eyes and along the lower flanks. This positioning is practically invisible to predators with a higher perspective (e.g. birds and jackals), but highly conspicuous from a gecko’s perspective. As P. rangei is sociable but generally solitary, and occurs at low population densities, such a signal might serve to locate conspecifics over greater distances ...

Encounters in P. rangei might serve purposes beyond mating opportunities: as the Namib desert has extremely low precipitation, fog is a key water source for its flora and fauna. Fog condenses on the bodies of the geckos, and they lick it from their faces. In husbandry, we have observed individuals licking water from conspecifics, taking advantage of a much greater available surface area.

Additionally, after short periods of isolation, the geckos run to meet each other. The combination of vital hydration with socialisation might reinforce signals that enable such meetings, and the cost of visibility to predators with higher vantage points, might constrain the signals to regions best visible from eye-level and below.

The Namib sand gecko is the only terrestrial vertebrate that is known to use an iridophore-based form of biofluorescence (you can find a more detailed explanation of that mechanism in the article mentioned above). The fluorescent dermal markings are also unique to this species.

Sources & More Info:

Scientific Reports: Neon-green fluorescence in the desert gecko Pachydactylus rangei caused by iridophores

Animal Diversity Web: Pachydactylus rangei

Dr. Mark D. Scherz's Blog: A Neon-Green Glowing Gecko!

Australian Geographic: Skeleton Coast - Namibia's strange desert dwellers

[interregionalgyminspections]

A continued, but still incomplete list of places traveling trainers shouldn't visit:

Cinnabar Island of Kanto - Severity: 6/10

A thriving town used to be here, complete with its own gym, until the island's volcano suddenly became active again, and everyone had to be evacuated. People have already done entire documentaries on the incident, so I won't go into how everyone was saved. I will, however, note that Cinnabar Volcano is still active, and erupts pretty often, around every few months. As you can probably imagine, being near an active volcano is not safe in the slightest.

Far Desert of Orre - Severity: 7/10

The deserts of Orre are a harsh place, and the Far Desert is the harshest of them all. No oases, no cover, just sand as far as the eye can see. The sun will brutally boil you during the day, and the night will freeze you ice cold. It's said that some Team Snagem members hid treasure out here, but all it has led to is many people suffering from severe dehydration.

Old Victory Road of Unova - Severity: 8/10

Unova's old Victory Road had numerous safety measures to make sure that it wouldn't cause serious injury. That was until some teens set off fireworks there and caused a landslide, collapsing most of Victory Road. It's still navigatable, but the safety features have long since stopped working. It's pretty unstable, too, and you could easily get trapped by a cave-in or worse. If you want a challenge, try the current Victory Road.

Reef Maze of Alola - Severity: 9/10

Alola is one of the most dangerous regions of the world, but even more dangerous is what lurks beyond the shores. Deep underwater, there's a giant maze of coral reefs and sunken ships. Sure, there's definitely stuff to be salvaged here, but it's all too easy to become lost in the maze and find you're low on oxygen. That's not even to mention how one diver tore their scuba outfit on the coral, and, well. That's a lot of water pressure.

Deep Underground of Sinnoh - Severity: 10/10

There used to be another layer to Sinnoh's Underground, even deeper than the spelunker's playground that many of you know. Another half kilometer underground, there's the Deep Underground, and magma has slowly been creeping inside. You'd need specialized equipment for the fumes alone, to say nothing of the scorching heat. Only the most resilient of fire-types can live down here, as it's far hotter than most Pokemon can handle. And that is much, much hotter than any human can withstand.

[its-nwarden]

Ardan’s Descendants: Book 1 Demo Update

Ardan’s Descendants

Ardan’s Descendants is a WIP interactive fiction game set in the land of Ardan where the world and nearly every living thing are filled with an energy called aether. You start off as a child contained in a lab within the snow biome (one of the regions in Ardan). After escaping that prison you end up in Gairo, Lycras located in the desert biome where you’re enrolled in an academy and trained to become a member of an elite task force that’s been assigned the mission of ending the string of kidnappings taking place across all five regions of Ardan.

Having previously been a victim of the kidnappings in your younger years, this mission may help unlock the blurry memories of your past. Who were you before being kidnapped? What happened to the others who were held captive alongside you?

Features:

- Create your MC!

- Choose how you manipulate aether.

- Pick your weapon.

- Grow your MC’s Personality.

- Romance one of the 12 ROs- 6 male, 4 female, 2 nonbinary.

- Shape your story.

DEMO: (Prologue)

The ROs

Dax Ikarus(He/Him)- The Leader of your unit was born in the forest biome in the capital of Koteva. He has golden brown eyes, coily black hair cut low into a fade, and dark brown skin. Three silver earrings hang from his left ear.

There’s no denying he’s a great leader who looks after and cares for his squad. He’s quite popular amongst the trainees in the academy. He’s dead set on rising quickly through the ranks and takes his job seriously, but he’s pretty laid back when he’s around friends. Which is why it’s easy to sense he doesn’t seem to like you very much.

Noah Hendrix(He/Him)- The leader of a different unit. Comes from a wealthy and powerful family in the desert biome. The eldest of the Hendrix siblings and best friend of Dax. He has brown dreads with the sides shaved, hazel eyes, and light brown skin.

Known as the life of the party. Whereas Dax is popular, Noah is Infamous. A nonstop flirt and reckless. He may seem a little chaotic, but gets deadly serious when it comes to his siblings.

Naomi Hendrix(She/Her)- Was one of your classmates at the academy and joined your unit after graduating. The middle child of the Hendrix siblings. She has curly brown hair that’s cut into a bob, dark brown eyes, and light brown skin.

The embodiment of nope. Not really interested in the whole task force thing because she rather not be in any line of fire. When she’s not being dragged on missions you can find her at the nearest mall.

Noel Hendrix(They/Them)- Joins your unit along with Naomi. They’re the youngest of the siblings and are the most likely to take over the family business. They have curly brown shoulder-length hair, dark brown eyes, and light brown skin.

Smart, strategic, and quick on their feet. They’re not much of a fighter but if you go to them with a problem, nine times out of ten they’ll find the solution to it.

Gem Caten(He/Him)- Potentially the first friend you make at the compound. He grew up there and started going to the academy at the same time as you. He changes his hairstyle a lot, but his natural hair is straight and jet-black. He’ll usually put it in a half-updo. He has smokey black eyes and pale skin.

He’s a carefree, go-with-the-flow type of guy. His mom is the head of medicine at the compound so he kind of just naturally joined the task force.

Cameron Nadir(He/Him)- Basically lives at the compound. He’s a junior medic in training when you first meet him. He has dark blue eyes, shoulder-length blonde hair that’s shaved on the right side, and lightly tanned ivory skin. He has tattoos all along his left arm.

People’s first impression of him may be that he’s a bit of a troublemaker, which he is, but he’s also very caring.

Fay Webster(She/Her)- The team’s gear maker. Gets all the uniforms and weapons mission-ready. Born and raised in the desert biome in the city of Nelens. She has fiery red shoulder-length wavy hair, dark green eyes, and a rosy complexion.

She's creative, outgoing, and her mind runs a mile a minute coming up with new ideas. She admires the members of the task force and does her best to supply them with the latest technology.

Audrey Rokk(She/Her)- An ambassador of the water biome. Was born in the snow biome but moved to the water biome for work. She has naturally blonde and long silky hair, but she dyed it blue. Her eyes are light blue and has an olive skin tone.

Honest and hard-working. Unlike the majority of government officials you've met, she's down to earth and seems to care about more than just her own personal gains.

LIMITED DATA

Vin(He/Him)- You met him as a child at the lab. He had ivory skin and dark brown eyes, but his right eye had speckles of blue in it. His straight dark brown hair went a little bit past his shoulders and was pulled back into a bun.

You vividly remember how soft-spoken he was. He would cling to anyone in your little group that would allow him to.

Yara(She/Her)- She is the first kid you met in the lab. She had long dark brown braids, dark brown skin, and amber eyes.

You remember her being aloof and unwilling to get involved in any of the other's shenanigans.

Zeke(He/Him)- Was brought to the lab a year after you were. He had short slightly curly black hair, green eyes, and pale skin.

He was always grumpy, but one thing he seemed to enjoy was giving you a hard time.

Iris(They/Them)- An assassin you meet on a mission in the water biome. They have white hair, stormy grey eyes, and very pale skin.

[tribbetherium]

The Early Temperocene: 135 million years post-establishment

Guinea Mimics: The Gwinnies

The Cavioidecricetidae, also known as the gwinnies, are a group of duskmice belonging to the same clade as the hammibals and the pondrats, though of closer relation to the pondrats than the hammibals: having diverged sometime in the Middle to Late Rodentocene. The gwinnies are primarily small herbivores, in essence having taken over the niches occupied by the basal gouties and the broadheads during the Early Rodentocene, and adapted to feed on a wide array of foliage, such as roots, leaves, stems and flowers of the various grasses and cloverferns that grow across the world. They process these plant material with the help of hindgut fermentation, allowing them to extract nutrition from even the hardest-to-digest vegetation: however, a consequence of this is that they are required to ingest their droppings a second time in order to absorb their full nutritive content. Mother gwinnies thus produce these special pellets in greater amounts in the few weeks after weaning, as these processed, nutritious pellets are usually her offsprings' introduction to consuming solid food.

Throughout their long history, the gwinnies have not become as diverse as most other duskmice clades, but have persisted nearly across the globe in various niches of "small herbivorous rodent" in many different biomes. Breeding all year round, and producing relatively well-developed young per litter that are born fully-furred and open their eyes in a week or two, they, like most other duskmice, are rather low in most food chains and fear many predators, and thus defend themselves by digging burrows, hiding in crevices, and generally reproducing in large numbers to ensure the survival of a few.

One of the most abundant species in the Temperocene is the common grey rockcavy (Griseocavicricetus vulgaris) which is found throughout temperate regions, primarily in mountainous areas with plentiful small gaps among cliffs and ledges for it to seek shelter in. A nocturnal species with small eyes, it prefers to emerge under cover of dark, finding food with the aid of its powerful sense of smell and sensitive whiskers, and gorging itself all evening before retreating to its den by morning, with a stash of additional food it carries in its cheek pouches in order to feed on while seeking shelter during the day when predators abound.

In tropical forests, meanwhile, one may find a similar yet quite different relative: the forest polka (Punctocavicricetus pardus). This species, in contrast, is active during the day, and scampers about the forest floors of tropical jungle on its relatively-long legs, foraging for the low-growing shrubs and cloverferns found in the ground level and the understory. Here, there is abundant cover among the plants, tree roots and fallen logs, and its primary camouflage comes in the form of pale blotches on its body that mimic the speckled, dappled light on the forest floor, breaking up its outline and making it more difficult to see when it freezes in place to hide from threats. In addition to leaves and stems, the polka also relishes fallen fruit dropped from the canopy: making it an important seed-disperser that scatters tree seeds far and wide in places that are favorable for them to sprout.

In open deserts and arid semidesert, in the meantime, during the times when Beta alone in the sky casts the landscape in a brilliant red, the red sandscur (Erythrocavicricetus rubrus) emerges from its den to search for food. Like many animals in the desert, it avoids the searing rays of Alpha by emerging at a period of time when its dimmer, cooler twin instead reigns the sky. As the presence of a red secondary sun has favored the evolution of trichromat vision in many lineages, including predators, so too have prey evolved to hide under these conditions, with red-colored fur originating from erythrism: an unusual increase of red pigment in an animal's pelage that with Beta-twilight as a regular phenomenon became an unexpected survival advantage and thus became the normal state of many species. Well-concealed in the crimson light, the red sandscur is hardly conspicuous as it searches out desert succulents both as a source of food and water.

Most gwinnies of the Temperocene are quite conservative in build, having changed little from their early ancestors, but one significant exception dwells on a small chain of islands between the continents of South Ecatoria and Arcuterra: the Bridge Isles rabbibara (Lepocavicricetus albacauda). The largest of the gwinnies, at roughly twelve kilograms, it grew to such large sizes due to the isolation of its habitat from the mainland, and in the absence of competition grew to an enormous size, comparatively speaking. With its only threats being aerial ones from opportunistic predatory ratbats, it simply grew too large to be carried away by them, and while young may be occasionally vulnerable, adults face little threat and are generally unfazed as they graze on the abundant grasses in the Bridge Isles. The rabbibara, while continuing to survive well into the Middle Temperocene, would find its range restricted to the two northmost islands as its populations disappeared in the southernmost ones due to a period of unstable fluctuations in local food availability. Its absence in those areas, however, would favor a far stranger creature to take its place and become the dominant herbivore of the isles: the zeebeedee (Megalornithomys spp.), a grazing pterodent that, in the absence of predators, also grew to enormous proportions and abandoned its flight entirely.

--------------

[mostly-mundane-atla]

Hi! Your blog is awesome. I don't know if I'm allowed to ask non-atla questions, so I hope this is okay. I'm working on a non-avatar ttrpg campaign that takes place both in a (fictional/fantasy) northern tundra region AND during a magical endless winter. The people in it aren't based on any specific culture but, given that they're successfully living in similar environments & have for countless generations, I want to draw as much inspiration & knowledge from real-life circumpolar cultures & native science as much as possible. Do you have any advice or even just fun, underappreciated ideas for winter tundra survival, things someone who grew up in a desert like me wouldn't think of on my own? If you need/want more direction: I'm particularly looking for clothing, shelters, resource gathering-practices for non-food (esp what kinds of resources would be valuable), as well as like, any fun details that evolve naturally in a culture that formed in the tundra that you'd want to see represented. I hope that makes sense ^^; Thanks so much if you decide to answer, have a good day either way <3

[I am SOOO sorry this took so long! Tumblr kept not saving my progress when i tapped "save draft" so i had to rewrite a few of these passages a few different times]

Don't worry about asking, friend, i get cultural questions all the time and i'm happy to share.

Note: my knowledge is almost entirely based on coastal tundra peoples with access to marine mammals. That's not to say it's impossible for people to live farther inland, just that it's not my area of expertise.

Clothing

Just about everything you wear is going to come off of a dead animal. This doesn't necessarily need to be the case if your fictional culture has a means of raising hardy livestock for fiber and a history of woven textiles, but even then skin clothes are warm and generally quite hard-wearing and are a good fit for living in these circumstances.

This amount of fur means lice are a perpetual problem. If you want to make that an immersive part of the game, you can work in a mechanic for checking scalps and clothing and bedding for lice.

Bird skins can also be used for clothing and waterfowl specifically has the benefit of water resistance. Fish skin can also be used for similar properties. Animal intestines can be made into a waterproof material if sewn with sinew and soaked before finishing.

On that note i'd recommend making a list of available animals and what qualities and textures their skins and furs have. Even if you don't intend on being incredibly descriptive with clothing, it's something better to have and not need than need and not have. And if you do anything else creative in a similar setting you have your nifty little source to consult.

When it comes to the actual construction of the clothes, you want a loose fit. Trapped air ia a great insulator and you want clothes to be easy to move in. Another benefit for loose-fitting upper body garments in cold weather is you can pull your arms in and keep them by your much warmer core. Not only will this option keep you comfortable, it can also prevent muscle injury or getting frostbite

Mittens can be worn on a string yoke. This doesn't have to be exclusive to children either. Wind can pick up out of nowhere and lost mittens means fingers exposed to arctic cold which can mean gangreen and amputations down the line.

Swimming or running to deliver a message may involve stripping nude, even in cold. Clothes soaked in water or sweat are deadly in the cold.

Clothes may be stored in bags outside when not in use. The low temperatures can kill bugs and bacteria. On a similar note, boots and coats are best to be hung to dry as soon as one is indoors for the day. This may mean it's normal for people to be topless indoors.

Boots should never have holes or tears. Frostbite and resulting gangreen is already bad enough but you especially do not want it on your feet

Shelter

You're going to want dwellings to have as few rooms and windows as possible and small doors. The fewer walls you have, the easier it is for heat to circulate throughout the whole dwelling. You'll probably want one room separating the door and where you sleep. Remember: trapped air is a great insulator.

The culture I've reconnected with is semi-nomadic so the permanent houses are not always occupied and a village can seem abandoned when it's just on its "off season". You can take that or leave it depending on what you're going for.

Even if the dwelling is not a tent, you're probably still going to have poles serving as a supporting frame.

Sod houses are common due to the availability of sod (the grass and the dirt its roots are tangled in). Tents made of warm, waterproof skins (like walrus skin) are also an option.

An easy way to insulate such a dwelling is to build a wall of packed snow around and fill the gaps with loose, airy snow. This traps air the same way down feathers do.

Non-Food Resource Gathering

While I imagine you meant obtaining resources outside of hunting, in a tundra or tundra-like setting, a lot of your resources are going to come from dead animals. Your garments and shelters and bedding are likely to be made of animal skins, with hollow and/or fluffy fur for warmth, or smoked intestine or fish skin, sewn with tiny stitches and soaked to keep everything flush, for waterproof boots and overlayers. Antlers and tusks are good carving materials for things like spoons and closures and slabs for armor and handles and also talismans and smoking pipes and beads and art. Baleen is good for art too, as well as boot soles and smaller sleds and beautiful baskets. Sinew and rawhide are good for thread, ties, and rope. Bones have a near infinite amount of uses from tiny wing bones to make sewing needles to huge whale bones used to build houses.

For the purposes of working this into a roleplaying game, i'd second the recommendation of keeping a list of animals in your universe and their properties, as well as the things that can be gathered from or made of them. A sort of crafting recipe guide would allow all kinds of quests and sidequests.

There are, of course, non-animal resources to gather for non-eating purposes. Soapstone is the traditional material for oil lamps. Grasses can be woven into baskets for any number of purposes, including supports to give the uppers of one's boots more structure. Wood, in the form of slices of tree trunks, can be hollowed out into bowls and small tubs and buckets or, as logs or slats, can make up flooring. Sturdy branches can be used for frames in houses, boats, and drums, and tree resin makes both good glue and antibiotic salve for closed wounds. Sod, also called turf, makes a good building material and moss is exellent insulation in boots. You can make a list of these too, if it helps.

If your fictional culture has a strong tradition of metallurgy, then they'd also mine for metal that can be used for knives. If not, slate is another option that requires significantly less fire. You could even have both and make the metal a status symbol.

Fun Details to Represent

There are so many lovely little things that show up in arctic cultures

First, a gift economy. Where a cash economy relies on a fairly individualistic culture where you work for someone else to earn capital and exchange that capital for goods and services, a more collectivist and interdependent culture natural to the harsh conditions of the tundra tends to result in a gift economy. The currency in a gift economy, to perhaps oversimplify, is favors. Someone does you a good turn, you remember that, and when you're in a position to help, you return the favor. Usually this means basic material things like hospitality and food, but the "gifts" exchanged can also be luck! King Islander boys would often wish hunters setting out at dawn good luck, with a slab of driftwood as a token of that luck, and if the hunters were successful, they'd give the boys who wished them luck a share of their catch. I believe it was Frank Ellana who remenised that this was what the world was like before money.

Another thing that would be nice to include is parenting practices considered fairly gentle to a Euro-American perspective. Physical punishments are traditionally treated as abuse and scolding a child is not only seen as wrong but something an adult ought to be ashamed of. Discipline is instead a series of moral lessons, teaching children why what they did was wrong and using stories as examples of the consequences. Given the amount of stories about the dangers of abusing a spouse or child, i'd say a lot of these lessons were proactive and preventative. Knowing someone will be hurt by it is considered enough of a deterrence to stop bad behaviors. Traditional potty training, for example, is also gentler in comparison; starting at a younger age (about six months) with more emphasis on praise and encouragment than routine. The goal here is to teach the baby to signal when they need to go so they can be taken out of mama's atigi and relieve themself in a hygenic manner instead of holding it until they get permission. Even our take on kissing is based on inhaling instead of pecking with the lips. This kind of gentleness is usually overlooked to instead focus on the badass hunter image or overall "cuteness" so it would be nice for it to be referenced.

Oral histories would be pretty neat too. I think the idea of learning to be a historian of oral histories is an interesting one and i think it has a lot of potential plot hooks for an rpg.

That's all i have for now. Sorry for the delayed response time. Happy gaming, and i'm always up for further discussion if you would like ^-^