#mur make cool thing :)

[70sscifiart]

The Last-Minute Sci-Fi Gift Guide

There's only one thing worse than procrastinating on getting gifts for your loved ones, and that's procrastinating on putting together a guide to help out everyone else with all those gifts. It's Dec 12, so you can decide for yourself which I'm doing.

Art book: Worlds Beyond Time, $32

If you follow this blog, you might have heard of this one. I published Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s this year after five years of work on it, and I think it's really good! 400+ images, 100+ artists, with lots of fun art history and jokes.

Also, it's just $20 right now if you order through my publisher and use the code SKIPTHELINE! Cheapest it's ever been!

Card game: Coup, $14

In this "social deduction" card game, you play as a government official in a future dystopia who needs to backstab their way into power. Everyone starts out with just two cards in this bluffing game, so the tide can turn pretty quick when players start assassinating each other's cards. The fast pace makes it a good gift for someone who loves spies but thinks they don't like card games.

Game to play over Zoom: Bad Spaceships, $3

If a bluffing game stresses you out, try Bad Spaceships: It's a collaborative world-building game in which you roll dice to see what area of your spaceship connects to another, forcing you to spitball exactly why this is the case. As the game puts it, you might fix the hull by playing Tetris, or charge your weapons in the swimming pool. You're basically getting weird prompts to tell a story that can evolve over the course of the game.

It's such an indie game that it comes as PDFs you download from itch.io, but you can play it just as well over Zoom, if you're looking for an excuse to catch up with your old digital nomad college friend.

Movies/TV: Streaming service gift card

Gift cards are all well and good, but you can personalize them by recommending a few of your favorite shows as well. I suggest:

Hulu: Cowboy Bebop

Apple TV+: Severance

Criterion Channel: Ravenous, Paprika, Strange Days

Paramount+: Yellowjackets

Amazon Prime: The Devil's Hour

But to be honest, this entry is just an excuse to talk about the new Max show Scavenger’s Reign. Inspired by the work of French artist Moebius and with a clear debt to famed 70s animated film Fantastic Planet, this stylish sci-fi show features a bunch of humans trying to survive on a beautiful but hostile alien world. Perfect for lovers of fictional nature.

Vintage sci-fi

This Etsy shop has some good stuff, like the 1971 Frank Kelly Freas NASA poster above, a bit of history that I even mentioned on page 167 of my art book.

Penguin science fiction postcards, $28

These postcards have a ton of very cool sci-fi covers I've blogged in the past – great value if you want a lot of art for a low cost.

Meteorite pendant necklace, $34

I think we all know what kind of rock your loved ones need around their neck: A chunk of meteorite straight out of the 1576 Argentinan meteorite fall.

Book recs

For astronauts: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach, The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts That Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel by Meredith Bagby

For comedians: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Even Greater Mistakes: Short Stories by Charlie Jane Anders 

For sleuths: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty, Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

For crafters: Knits of Tomorrow: Toys and Accessories for your Retro-Future Needs

For the resistance fighters: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

For slasher movie fans: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Syd Mead "Biomorph Vehicle" button down shirt, $49

T-shirts aren't classy enough for the world's coolest visual futurist, Syd Mead. I haven't actually bought this incredibly odd shirt, but I really need to.

Art prints (and more) from 70s sci-fi artists

Artist shops can be surprisingly hard to track down on the internet, but here's a short list of ones I've come across. All of these artists are featured in my book (except one), so you can read up on them before you commit to a print.

Michael Whelan 

John Harris

Syd Mead

Don Maitz

David B Mattingly

Peter Andrew Jones - Jones was one of just a few artists who declined to be included in my art book, but he has a distinct, colorful style that I would have loved to have featured!

Finally, here's one extra bonus, just for everyone who made it to the end of this article: The UK-based educational charity Centre for Computing History sells three big officially licensed John Harris posters featuring these three artworks, famous for their use as covers for Sinclair programming manuals.

It's a great deal that I've never seen mentioned anywhere, and Harris' work has a timeless quality that makes it great for an unassuming wall decoration. If you're outside the UK, the shipping costs will be a pain, but there's no better deal for a classic sci-fi poster.

[marlynnofmany]

Walkway Aesthetics

The door opened from the spaceport to the city proper, and I couldn’t help saying, “Oh wow.” I’d expected a regular walkway, maybe with a moving sidewalk or hovercarts, probably with ads and decorations. The last few big cities we’d visited had all been pretty bland in terms of entrance-way style.

This one was an aquarium. The long tunnel curved away under a domed ceiling with vast sea creatures undulating by overhead, and others darting about in flashes of scales. Subtle blue-and-purple lighting lit up both the benches alongside and the water above. Specks of phosphorescence danced everywhere like fairies under a starry sky. The effect was breathtaking.

I ventured out into the purple-blue wonderland. “Wow, this is amazing.”

Three of my coworkers followed, and were less impressed.

“Eh, it’s not very original,” Kavlae said with a flip of her frills. Under the lighting, her sky-blue skin was a shifting purple. “Water scenes are pretty tiresome, honestly.”

“You said it,” agreed Mur down from floor level. He tentacle-walked along like the opinionated squid alien he was, blending with the bluish shadows. “Once you’ve seen things swimming past, you’ve seen them all.”

I asked, “Are you serious? This is beautiful.”

Paint huddled close beside me, her orange scales turned an indistinct brown. “I think it’s scary.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

She clasped her hands, shaking her head. “That’s a lot of water, and a lot of creatures. What if the barrier broke?”

“Well yeah, that would be bad,” I admitted. “But it’s not going to.”

Paint walked faster. “Still scary. Look at that one! It’s so big!”

The alien whale or whatever that coasted past had bioluminescent swirls along its underside, and a cloud of the glowing water-pixies flitting along after it. Beautiful, and awe-inspiringly close.

“Ah, that’s so cool!” I said, turning in place as I walked to keep it in sight.

Paint just squeaked and scampered ahead, followed by Kavlae and Mur.

“C’mon, we’re leaving you behind,” Mur told me.

“I’m coming,” I said. There were glowing eels or something up ahead, and I jogged to get a look. The other three continued turning up their various noses the whole way down.

When we finally reached the other end, a family of humans were just entering the tunnel. Their awestruck expressions were vindicating.

“Ohhh, wow!”

“This is lovely!”

“Look at the size of that one! I can almost touch it!”

“Don’t smudge the glass, honey.”

“But it’s so cool!”

I joined my coworkers at the exit with no small amount of smugness. “See? They get it.”

Mur waved a tentacle. “That just shows that your entire species has poor taste in decor.”

Paint shuddered, stepping into the brighter light of the station. “I would feel much safer with solid ground on all sides instead of all that water.”

I laughed. “See, that would make me worry that it was about to fall down on me.”

“A proper burrow would never!”

Kavlae walked past us both. “You planet-born folk have the silliest ideas about these things. I’ll stick with my windows into space.”

The rest of us immediately jumped in to agree that the risk of a hatch blowout was scarier than any cave-in. But the view of stars and galaxies could be pretty dang beautiful, so it was worth it.

~~~

Inspired by this art by @ellohcee.

These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

[iam93percentstardust]

for your kiss prompts, i think ""i think this is the part where you're supposed to kiss me"" has big Tony energy 💋

Aha! I return! Just like before, this is Part 1 of a 3-part fic combined from the other two prompts in my inbox

Hope you enjoy! <3

~

Steve had almost said no when Natasha set him up on yet another blind date. He’s been on way too many of those things and he’s getting tired of them. It’s not that the people she recommends are bad but none of them have clicked with him like he was hoping for when she’d first suggested the idea. Natasha is a great matchmaker; she’s set up most of the people in their circle of friends. And after years of trying and failing to find a long-term partner, Steve had been willing to take a chance on just about anyone. He’d had high hopes for her suggestions, though; after all, no one else had seen the potential in Sam and Bucky. But none of them had worked out.

When she’d come to him with another date after the last failure, he’d almost turned her down. He’d been planning on turning her down. He’s still not sure how she’d talked him into agreeing to just one more blind date.

But he’s glad that he did because Tony is amazing. He’s funny and smart and a great tipper, which is always a plus in Steve’s book. He listens intently as Steve talks about his art and doesn’t go so over his head when he’s talking about his own work in robotics. They don’t agree on anything but the big things, but somehow, arguing with Tony over his favorite books and movies and hot drinks is more fun than if they liked all of the same things.

He had walked to the restaurant since he lives only a few blocks away. As it turns out, so does Tony, though in the opposite direction, so Steve offers to walk him home because his ma raised a gentleman. Tony looks delighted at the hand that Steve offers him and takes it, shyly confessing that he’s never had a partner who wanted to hold hands in public (Steve would like to hunt down every person who never wanted to be seen in public with him).

When they reach Tony’s apartment—a much nicer building than the one Steve lives in, all gilded Art Deco and bright open spaces—Tony tugs them to a stop just under the awning.

“This was really nice,” he says. “I’d like to do this again.”

“Oh good, me too,” Steve replies around a relieved sigh and then immediately wants to put his face in his hands. That probably sounded too eager, didn’t it? He’s supposed to play it cool, say something like ‘yeah, sure,’ right?

Tony, however, just giggles. “It’s nice not having to worry if you’re playing games,” he says. Oh. That makes things better.

“So I guess we should exchange phone numbers, then?” he asks. It’s been so long since he cared about a second date that he’s forgotten how this is supposed to go.

“Probably,” Tony agrees and waits for Steve to pull out his phone so he can recite his number. Steve texts him a quick This is Steve, so Tony will have his number.

“Guess I should wish you a goodnight, then,” Steve says, kind of wishing that the night never had to end.

“You don’t think you’re forgetting something?” Tony looks very amused.

Steve thinks back over the night. He’s got his wallet, he has Tony’s phone number, they’ve agreed to see each other again. “…No?”

“I think this is the part where you’re supposed to kiss me,” Tony says.

“Oh!” Steve exclaims. “You’d—you’d like that?”

Tony steps in closer to him, running his hands over Steve’s shoulders. “Yeah, big guy, I’d like that a lot.”

Well, Steve can kiss him. That’s totally something he can do. That’s—Tony kisses him first, tasting like strawberry daiquiris and powdered sugar from the dessert they’d shared. Steve’s hands settle on his hips, fingers digging into the probably-expensive fabric of his shirt. His eyes flutter closed, his mind blank, existing in the moment instead of worrying about what happens next.

It comes to an end all too soon. Tony steps back, and Steve’s eyes open again in time to see his soft smile.

“Goodnight, Tony,” Steve murmurs.

Tony leans in to kiss his cheek. “Goodnight, Steve. I’ll text you.”

“Okay,” he agrees, thinking it’ll be the next day before Tony contacts him for another date. But to his surprise, he’s barely gone two feet down the street before his phone buzzes.

He pulls it out and can’t help smiling at the message: Are you free tomorrow?

Alright, so maybe Natasha’s pretty good at this after all.

[anarcho-physicist]

My favorite weird phase of matter (and also some intro-y stuff that you can skip if you want to look at the pretty pictures)

[Fig. 1 (a) from Mur, M., Kos, Ž., Ravnik, M. et al. Continuous generation of topological defects in a passively driven nematic liquid crystal. Nat Commun 13, 6855 (2022).]

Hi again! In my previous posts, I described what the term soft matter means to a physicist, and how physicists really understand phases of matter mostly in terms of symmetries. In the future, I'm similarly planning to write more long form, in-depth explanations of specific concepts/topics in soft matter physics.

I'd really like to be able to dive into the math behind everything, but I also want to keep things as understandable and enjoyable as possible to those with little to no math background. So I'll try my best to explain every bit of every equation I show, and I think forcing myself to do so will help me understand them better.

I might also post some things other than long-form essays. One idea I've been thinking of doing is to post a daily/weekly/whateverly arXiv update, where I pick one or a few soft matter physics preprints that have been uploaded recently, and write short, informal summaries of their findings. I think that might be a good way to keep myself and anyone who's interested informed on the state of the field. I also intend to do shorter posts on specific papers or results I think are really cool. My research and academic responsibilities keep me very busy, so I'll likely make shorter posts when I don't have the time or energy to write longer, deeper explanations.

Another idea I've been toying around with is potentially using this account as something like a radically open research notebook/journal, where I immediately write up and publicly post each little research milestone I've made for the day/week/whatever. My paycheck comes mostly from government grants, the research I do is publicly funded. I think the public ought to be aware of exactly what they're funding, and particularly, I think the members of the public who are interested in what we do should be able to engage with researchers, to learn about the current state of the field. I also think this ability to engage with current research should be accessible to all members of the public, not just those wealthy enough to be able to spend a lot of time around universities. On the other hand, there are some ethical and logistical considerations when it comes to sharing unpublished research, and I'd at the very least need to get approval from all of my collaborators, so if I end up doing something like this, it wouldn't be for a while.

Anyways, for now, I'd just like to show you some really cool experimental realizations of a gorgeously weird phase of matter that is very dear to my heart (and my CV):

Active Nematic Liquid Crystals

[Video taken by the Dogic Lab]

These two-dimensional, spontaneously flowing "line fluids" host topological defects (the little comet-shaped and triangle-shaped dark spots). These are quasiparticles with fascinating dynamics, and some really beautiful mathematics behind their structure. To quote my PI who was quoting some other physicist I can't remember:

Materials are like people; it's the defects that make them interesting.

The term liquid crystal refers to a general class of materials with symmetries and properties in-between those of a crystal and those of a simple liquid. Nematics are a particular type of liquid crystal, one with full translational symmetry, but S^1 / Z_2 -broken rotational symmetry. Active nematics are nematics that also break time-reversal symmetry, and thus energy conservation (I'll explain how this is possible in an energy-conserving universe sometime soon; the short answer is "coarse-graining").

Here's what happens if you put an active nematic on a sphere:

[Dogic Lab again -- they're great they do a lot of really cool stuff]

Fun fact: These defects attract and repel each other just like charged particles (via Gauss's law), except they aren't electrically charged, they're topologically charged. Rather than electromagnetic fields, the medium of interaction here is the elastic free energy associated with curves in the line field. The comet-shaped defects have a +1/2 topological charge, while the triangular ones have a -1/2 charge. If you bring two defects close enough together, they'll effectively "add" their charges up. This means oppositely-charged defects can annihilate each other into the uniform/vacuum state, and that a sufficiently perturbed vacuum can pair-produce oppositely charged defects. That eye-catching picture at the top of this post is a cross-polarized image of that pair-production process in an externally-driven passive nematic. The two arrows point to two individual defects.

In an active nematic, things get even more interesting; the +1/2 defects become effectively self-propelled, while the -1/2 defects do not. At least, not if the activity is spatiotemporally constant (this is a hint to a really cool upcoming paper I'll hopefully be publishing before the end of this summer). This results in all sorts of weird nonequilibrium behavior, like the chaotic state displayed in the first animation, or the oscillatory swirling of the four +1/2 defects on the vesicle depicted in the second.

Why do we only see four +1/2 defects, and no -1/2s on the sphere? For two reasons: 1) The sphere is fairly small relative to the active length scale, which is roughly the average separation distance between defects. This is governed by the balance of active and elastic stresses. And 2) The hairy ball theorem necessitates a net topological charge on the sphere of +2 = 4 x +1/2.

All of the nematics I've shown you so far have been synthetic, but nematics (and even active nematics) show up in nature too. One really good example: look at your hands. I mean, really look at them. Do you see any familiar little triangle shapes? Maybe some little whorly comets? Fingerprints are a frozen nematic texture! But the defects in your fingerprints aren't very interesting, because they don't move (I hope). What else is there?

This brings us to my favorite experimental discovery ever made. Hydra are microscopic freshwater creatures that regrow their limbs. It turns out, the hydra's supracellular actin fibres, which play a major role in this morphogenesis, order like an active nematic. They have topological defects, which appear to correlate with sites of new organ growth. You can see them in the hydra itself:

[Fig. 1 (a-f) from Maroudas-Sacks, Y., Garion, L., Shani-Zerbib, L. et al. Topological defects in the nematic order of actin fibres as organization centres of Hydra morphogenesis. Nat. Phys. 17, 251–259 (2021).]

It's literally algebraic topology come to life.

[coquelicoq]

last week marked a full year since i started a daily habit of reading french fiction to myself out loud, so i took a picture of the books i finished in the last twelve months to commemorate the occasion!

as you can see, there are nine books total but two of the books (count of monte-cristo and les mis) take up fully half the volume, which makes sense because the first six of the twelve months were devoted to just those two behemoths. full list:

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, Tomes I et II, Alexandre Dumas père

Les Misérables, Tomes I et II, Victor Hugo

La fin de Chéri, Colette

Le Tour du monde en 80 jours, Jules Verne

Exercices de style, Raymond Queneau (this one i read in both paperback and audiobook; the audiobook is stacked on top)

Changer l'eau des fleurs, Valérie Perrin

Claudine à l'école, Colette et Willy

Candide ou l'Optimisme, Voltaire

Le mur, Jean-Paul Sartre

la fin de chéri was both the shortest book and the hardest to read! there was a lot of vocab i wasn't familiar with, and the syntax was a real challenge. colette LOVES her a comma. like, she uses commas to do so many different things i can never really tell what any given comma is supposed to be doing. she might as well just not use punctuation at all. also, i only discovered this like five months after the fact, but it's apparently a sequel?? i was super confused by a bunch of stuff that seemed pretty unexplained and it turns out there was a reason for that lol (the reason being the explanations were in a totally different book). i also just, like, didn't really like the story 😩 rip me!

cmc and les mis were both books i had read previously in english but never in french. exercices du style and probably about half of le mur i had read for college french (if you look closely you can see the spines of those two are a more faded color because i've had them for 15 years lol). the rest were brand new to me. changer l'eau des fleurs was the only book published in the current century. so much great vocab in that one...i really gotta read more stuff from the last few years. also it made me cry big time.

i think i'm gonna keep up this daily habit, but i'd like to expand to poetry and possibly? even non-fiction?? at some point?? francophones feel free to rec me stuff! i'm trying to work my way through some of the really classic french canon, so next up i'm thinking maybe le fantôme de l'opéra, cyrano de bergerac, and at least the first volume of à la recherche du temps perdu? i also want to read more recent stuff, so i've been looking at winners of readers' choice prizes and whatnot, but suggestions from actual individuals would be grand. i think some scifi could be cool maybe, but i don't know anything about french-language scifi and have no idea where to start...

non-french francophone authors would also be really great if you have any suggestions!

[undertale-writing-times]

Just a quick idea for Passive, Mur, Delusion, Oxi , and Mallow

Their Datemate who’s usually very shut off and guarded with their emotions (maybe because of trauma?) says ‘I love you’ for the first time after a while of being together. How do they react?

Cool! Thank you for the ask :)

Passive: He understands being shut off from people and emotions because of things that happened in your past. Every day he struggles with it. He's trying his best to not be seen as ONLY the negative guy, he doesn't want that. There are positive negative feelings as well as there is toxic positivity! Sometimes you HAVE to have negative feelings. But, honestly, when you tell him that you love him for the first time, he's shocked and unsure how to respond for a few seconds... heck, almost a minute! Finally, he gets knocked out of his thoughts, and he smiles and 'kisses' your cheek, "I love you too..." His tail was wagging like crazy.

Mur: He's one of the few that wouldn't make it a big deal. He looks at you while you were saying it, and smile "Heh... love you too" he takes your hand, giving it a soft squeeze. He is very happy to hear it, of course, but he wouldn't want to make you feel awkward or anything so he's not gonna make it a big deal.

Delusion: He would be shocked when he hears it and would look at you, almost like you had two heads. He just... he wasn't expecting it? He looks down at the ground, then back at you, "Ah..." he clears his throat, blushing hard, "I love you too Y/n, um thank you" He didn't know how else to respond! He leans over, hiding his face into your arm. You got him all flustered.

Oxi: Honestly? They're quite amused by your strange actions. They understand your fear, the way that you're closed off isn't really that hard to guess. So, when you tell them that you love them? They couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, "Oh?" They lean over, giving you a little nuzzle, "I will say that I return these feelings, my dearest"

Mallow: He just straight up cries bro.

[kilfeur]

C'est plutôt sympa de voir que Stolas se réfugie dans l'espace quand il parle de quelqu'un qu'il l'aime (You'll be okay avec Octavia et maintenant Look my way avec Blitzo) Stolas est prêt à laisser partir Blitzo avec le cristal. Ce qui est en soi une forme d'amour, car leur relation transactionnelle et professionnelle empêchait ces deux là de conclure de manière personnelle. Tant que Stolas lui donnait le grimoire, il avait un certain pouvoir concernant Blitzo vu qu'il en avait besoin pour travailler. De plus il est prêt à couper les ponts si nécessaire si ça permet à Blitzo de se sentir mieux à propos de leur relation. Le fait que les murs de Blitzo soit justement une lune est assez ironique vu que sa fille s'appelle Loona. Et qui a des problèmes à gérer sa colère certes mais qui au fond essaie de se faire des amis malgré son côté introvertie.

Le truc c'est que Blitzo l'aime, il est dans le déni et refuse de conclure car ils sont tout les deux de classes différentes et aussi parce qu'il se dévalorise mais ils s'aiment mutuellement. Il y a une mauvaise communication qui est en soi assez réaliste vu leurs problèmes. Ce que je crains c'est que Stolas soit vulnérable à la manipulation du frère de Stella après la rupture. Mais aussi le fait que Stolas peut mourir, du moins va presque mourir. Il chante une chanson à Octavia en la rassurant que si il n'est pas là il veillera sur elle. A failli frôler la mort à cause de Striker. Et là dans Look My Way, il se noie ! C'est plus de la subtilité à ce niveau là, Vivziepop et les scénaristes nous font comprendre que quelque chose de grave va arriver à Stolas et j'ai peur !

It's pretty cool to see Stolas taking refuge in space when he's talking about someone he loves (You'll be okay with Octavia and now Look my way with Blitzo) Stolas is willing to let Blitzo go with the crystal. Which in itself is a form of love, since their transactional and professional relationship prevented these two from concluding in a personal way. As long as Stolas gave him the grimoire, he had a certain power over Blitzo, since he needed it to work. What's more, he was willing to cut ties if necessary if it made Blitzo feel better about their relationship. The fact that Blitzo's walls are actually a moon is ironic, given that his daughter's name is Loona. And who has problems managing her anger, of course, but who's basically trying to make friends despite her introverted nature.

The thing is, Blitzo loves him, he's in denial and refuses to come to any conclusion because they're both from different classes and also because he devalues himself, but they love each other. There's a miscommunication, which in itself is quite realistic given their problems. What I fear is that Stolas will be vulnerable to manipulation by Stella's brother after the break-up. But also the fact that Stolas may die, or at least will almost die. He sings a song to Octavia, reassuring her that if he's not there, he'll watch over her. Nearly dies because of Striker. And here in Look My Way, he drowns! No more subtlety here, Vivziepop and the writers are letting us know that something serious is going to happen to Stolas, and I'm afraid!

[twistedroseytoesy]

Riddle- Queen of Broken Hearts by blackbear

Trey- Candyman by Christina Aguilera

Cater- What else can I do? from Encanto or Happy Face by Jagwar Twin

Ace- Troublemaker by Olly Murs

Deuce- Best of Me by Neffex

Leona- Be prepared from The Lion King

Ruggie- Last Surprise from Persona 5

Jack- Wolf by Siames

Azul- Deal with the Devil by Tia

Jade- Tangled Up by Caro Emerald

Floyd- I can't decide by Scissor Sisters

Kalim- Sunshine, Lollipops, Rainbows by Lesley Gore or Prince Ali from Aladdin

Jamil- Darkside by Neoni or Arabian Nights from Aladdin

Vil- Lucky by Britney Spears

Rook- Le Festin from Ratatouille

Epel- Try Everything from Zootopia

Idia- Blame by BB Cooper

Ortho- Hey Brother by Avicii

Malleus- No Friends by Cadmium

Silver- Once Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty

Sebek- Never Smile At A Crocodile From Peter Pan

Lilia- Life Is A Highway from Cars

Not sure if you agree with these because I just thought of which ones matches certain traits the characters have

first off thank you so much for so many ideas! After listening to the songs I’ve got a few things to say about how well it may or may not fit, I’m honestly happy to try any of these. Might take a while, but I’ll defenetly get quite a few of these done!

Riddle- I really do like the lyrics for this one, can envision overblot riddle singing it as he is overcome with the blot. the beat is pretty cool and I can already see some sort of nightmare that he may have, or I could try and write out an animatic base for the song with him. Very good song and I really like it! perfect first suggestion!

Trey- Would need to change a few lyrics here and there, fun jazzy song though! could have it so the MC is trying to ask him out by singing this. or another story with some other singing. Love the energy, just not into the innuendos in the song.

Cater- The song from Encanto is so, so, so good. Love that song and how it shows how crushing expectations can affect one's life. This definitely fits well with Cater's personality, having the mask of always being cheerful and bright, when in reality he's a bit cynical and hard on his true semi-introverted self.

The second song was deep, it has a wonderful beat and rhythm to it. The lyrics work super well to the deeper side that Cater has to his character, how he "puts on a happy face" despite his inner turmoil. could see this as an animatic writing piece, or the MC gets some sort of potion to get a look at the character's inner music. If I had to choose between the two songs, it would be this one first. Then maybe the Encanto song to help him realize he can be more than the face online.

Ace- Really fun song, with a good beat, and very fitting lyrics for the dumbass that is ace. Can definitely see MC singing this to him when he's pranked them. The energy is great! would change some lyrics here and there to fit him better.

Deuce- A very good song for deuce! very inspirational and shows how he wants to become better than he once was. "I've made mistakes but mistakes make you strong" had me really thinking about Deuce, and how he's become strong-willed due to his past. Despite the world against him, he's still here to become his best self. Another animatic-like thing that I could write. him talking with others and growing over the course of the story sharing what he knows with Epel, supporting the MC and the others, leading up to him getting his unique magic and proving he's better than he has ever been.

Leona- This one is pretty obvious, very fitting for Leona to sing Scars song. Very good idea for him to sing it too, using others to do the dirty work so he can be on top. Could have him sing this as he's scheming with the savanaclaw dorm to take out malleus and the other spelldrive leaders in book 2.

Ruggie- right off the bat the song sounds like something from mission impossible. interesting song, but not really feeling the Ruggie vibes for this one. seems too planned, Ruggie does plan but isn't cocky about how smart he is. I can see a few things in the lyrics but not enough to rewrite it. good suggestion but didn't vibe quite right.

Jack- Really nice beat and rhythm. nice vocals, and the lyrics are pretty good, but not quite the Jack I know. This version seems more obsessive, not really fitting for the standoffish wolf. Also, the first result for the song is a really intence and cool video.

Azul- The lyrics are very fitting for Azuls mindset and the way he does things with his contracts. The only downside is that the song is in another language... I can't really work with that as I'm american and only know english. Really cool song! im just incompitent when it comes to other languages 😭.

Jade- somewhat dark jazz kind of song, the lyrics aren't very fitting for Jade, The tangled-up main section of the song doesn't give his kind of vibe. It's a good song, just not quite Jade.

Floyd- Holy heck, this song definitely has Floyd vibes, with unnerving lyrics and crazed talking, with a jazzy upbeat song. But it's so good just on its own, I wouldn't know what to add or write for this! the only way I could possibly try and write this is by making some horrific dream sequence for him doing all kinds of horrific things to other students to get MC all to himself. amazing choice!

Kalim- Another perfect fit!! could absolutely write Kalim singing this as he and MC are dancing, could make it where he has a crush as he's singing this. Fun short and sweet song for the boy of sunshine!

Listened to both versions of the song, super fun and extravagant parade that Kalim 100% would do if he is able to. But it would be a bit too difficult to change up the words to be fitting to the ray of sunshine, super fun song, and happy to have the suggestion!

Jamil- very deep and booming low pop song. the vibe and lyrics are fitting for Jamil's inner turmoil as being under someone he knows he could be above. Being forced to hide his true better self because of his servitude to someone he hates. A very good and fitting song I could absolutely work with. maybe the potion of one's inner song could come for this one.

Another really good suggestion is Jamil introducing the dorm or the MC going over what happened in book 4. A perfect animatic-like sequence I could write out. The original song is fairly short so I would most likely go with the 2019 version of the song. Perfect suggestion!

Vil- Pretty good song for Vil! Shows how he is super popular and has just about everything a celebrity could want, yet he doubts something, he checks Mira so much and despises the results he gets to his question. Could do this song, but its already so perfect theres not much to adjust. and I cant really think up a scenario where this could be sung.

Rook- I love this song, so much, I just can't do much with it since I have no way to adjust a french song. I'm unable to use songs that use another language, but I can definitely see rook humming or singing this to himself as he watches his friends from afar. The lyrics when translated are pretty lonely and also about food cause of course. good suggestion, I just cant write it out.

Epel- I love this song, and the upbeat feeling it has. Not really an epel vibe though, he's very stubborn and brash at times. As good as this song is, it doesn't quite fit epel, or even someone else trying to help Epel. Good song, but not quite right for him though.

Idia- Really cool base-heavy song with electronic undertones that are very fitting to Idia. The lyrics are fairly fitting for him too, I just don't want to get stuff wrong about his backstory, but I'm trying to wait for the Ignihyde story to come out for us English players. Very good suggestion and song, I just don't know Idia well enough to do it justice.

Ortho- interesting choice but the country song doesn't seem very Ortho-like. The family vibes are good but It just doesn't fit him. sorry.

Malleus- First off and foremost is the title and giving it to malleus is a bit mean, if not fitting. The lyrics are very fitting to our lonely dragon boy... It hurts to say that this song is really him, just the pop rhythm doesn't really fit, but that's okay. Just wow.

Silver- Another character singing their inspirations song. Silver singing this would be very sweet as he probably is with his woodland friends. Maybe the Mc interrupts him similar to how the prince did with Arora all that time ago.

Sebek- HILARIOUS song, could be the first year's smack talking a bit about sebek. really good song, not very fitting of sebek himself but funny making fun of his croc like tendencies and attributes.

Lilia- Loving the meme song being one of Lilias. It's a good rock song that Lilia would love. Very fitting for Lilia's worldwide traveling and the adventures he's been on. The lyrics are fitting for his way of life and how he's happy to go have fun and make friends, helping others and his family. Perfect song for him to sing when he's practicing on his bass.

[okayfinethisismyinuyashablog]

Inuyasha - Chapter 17 of 559...

Chapter Index

Oooooooh shiiiiiit, Kagome...what have you done... Everyone is shocked that Kagome can remove the Tessaiga, but no one is more shocked than Jaken.

At this, Sesshomaru goes to attack Kagome. Inuyasha tries to stop him, but it is in vain. Sesshomaru is a very fast guy.

Sesshomaru tries to straight up murder Kagome. Like, MUR. DER. HER. with his poison claws.

Sesshomaru's poison melts everything it touches. Inuyasha tries to dig Kagome out, but the poison even burns his half demon skin.

Before, Inuyasha could not even catch Sesshomaru, but now that he's full of rage at Kagome's demise, he's faster and stronger. Even Jaken notices.

Buuuuuuuuut...KAGOME IS OKAY! The barrier on Tessaiga protected her. She gives Sesshomaru what-for...vicariously by handing Inuyasha the sword.

Sesshomaru transforms into his true demon form: a giant dog demon. Inuyasha tries to attack Sesshomaru with the untransformed Tessaiga, but it just bounces off Sesshomaru.

...

Inuyasha is a complete jerk to Kagome and tells her she's probably going to die, which makes her cry, which makes Inuyasha freak out and shout that he's going to protect her...

...and now the sword is pulsing...

In this little arc, Sesshomaru really shines as a villain. Like, sure he was a dick for making Inuyasha think his mother was back, but he's a real diabolical asshole for actually trying to murder Kagome. Like, he even knows this is his half-brother's human companion and he's like, fuck it. YOU DIE.

One of the best things about Sesshomaru as a villain, is that even though he has a character arc throughout the manga, he never, ever, EVER loses the feel of being one cold blooded motherfucker. Even though he warms up to Inuyasha and the rest of the Inugang and he cares for Rin and like, tolerates Jaken and somehow sees Kagura, he has no problem murdering literally anyone else. The fact that he develops closer (read: less antagonistic) relationships with others throughout the story does nothing to diminish his vibe. This is super cool because in a lot of stories, the villain starts out bad ass, but then you find out more information about them and then they become decidedly less bad ass. Sesshomaru stays a bad ass, even though his intent to murder our main cast diminishes throughout the story.

Also, I don't remember if I've talked about this before, but Tessaiga is the star of this arc and a main character of the entire story once it shows up. Everyone feels a different way about Tessaiga and it means different things to different people, and it's QUICKLY established that this is the case. It's like there's a romantic/screwball comedy plot just around this one sword at the beginning. I LOVE IT.

Chapter Index

[comrade-slugcat]

3 and 11 for glories, 21 and 28 for anomaly ⁰u⁰

3. (glories) How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

..never shows his emotion if he can help it. not terribly skilled at it, as most of the time strong emotions show through at least a little. to help with hiding feelings he tries to be (i guess its a smirk?) smirking all the time. which helps somehow [its why more likely than not whenever i draw him hes like :) evil edition]

11. (glories) If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

uhh... well. the people who might be considered his family hate/feel very conflicted at best about him, and the closest thing he has to a friend would honestly just be glad that its not actually him shes talking to so. rip gamer i guess. the easiest way to tell the difference would be if the imposter forgot his habit of emphasizing the most important word(s) when he talks. other than that.. ask about his bioengineered viruses i guess (for the rainworld version)

21. (EA) What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

having to be nice in general i think, EA doesnt really like having to.. soften? aer words. prefers to just say whatever maims thinking. also eye contact when talking in person to someone. why look at person when you can look at cool buges. murder doesnt do these things

28. (EA) What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

EA tells people that ich wants to be left alone and for everyone to stop making modified creatures. the second part is true. however, EA is (or was) quite lonely, and really wants friends and attention. (this is why mai used to cyberbully people. because negative attention is attention) (fortunately mur has friends now and has calmed down on that)

[salanaii]

Learn Korean with me - Week 10

Day 1: Let's Speak Korean - Chapter 5 - Restaurant

자리있나요? Ja ri iss na yo Is there a seat (available)?

몇 명이세요? Myeoch myeong I se yo How many people is it?

네명입니다. Ne myeong ib ni da It’s 4 people.

예약하셨나요? Ye yag ha syess na yo Did you make a reservation? = Do you have a reservation?

아니요,안핸어요 / 네, 했어요. A ni yo, an haen eo yo / ne haess eo yo No, I did not. / Yes, I did.

몇시로예약하셨나요? Myeoch sir o ye yag ha syess na yo What time did you make the reservation for?

한시요. / 한시삼십분이요. Han si yo. / han sis am sib bun I yo. It’s 1 o/clock. / (Literal) It’s 1 o’clock and thirty minutes.

이쪽으로오세요. I jjog eu ro o se yo Come (to) this way, please.

이자리괜찮으세요? I ja ri goaen chsnh eu se yo Is this seat okay?

혹시테이블은없나요? Hog sit e I beur eun eobs na yo Don’t you have a table, by any chance?

메뉴를주세요. Me nyu reur ju se yo Give me the menu, please.

추천해주세요. Chu cheon hae ju se yo Please make suggestions/recommendations.

매운 것/단것좋아하세요? Mae un geos/dan geon joh a ha se yo Do you like something spicy/something sweet?

매운것잘몰멋먹어요. Mae un geos jar mur meos meog eo yo Can’t eat spicy things well. = (I) can’t eat spicy food.

이거드셔보셨나요? I geo deus ye bo syeoss na yo Have you tried this?

어떤요리인가요? Eo tteon yo ri in ga yo What kind of dish/cuisine is it?

마늘이 / 양파가들어있나요? Ma neur I / yang pa ga deur eo iss na yo Does it have garlic /onion in it?

뭘로만든건가요? Mwor ro man deun geon ga yo (Literal) With what is it made?

얼마나걸리나요? Eor ma na geor ri na yo How long does it take?

시간이좀걸립니다. Si gan I jum geor rib ni da It will take a little time (to cook).

양이얼마나되나요? Yang I eor ma na doe na yo (Literal) How much us the portion?

둘이먹기에충분해요 / 부족해요. Dur I meog gi e chung bun hae yo / bu jog hae yo It’s enough (for) two to eat. / It’s inadequate.

음료수는어떤종류로하시겠어요? Eum ryo su neu neo tteon jong ryu ro ha sig ess eo yo (Literal) What kind of beverage would you like to go with?

어떤게있나요? Eo tteon ge iss na yo What kind of thing (=beverage) do you have?

주스로할게요. Ju seu ro har ge yo I’ll go with juice.

그냥물이요. Geu Nyang mur i yo (Literal) It’s just water = Just water, please.

젓가락 / 포크 / 숟가락 / 냅킨주세요. Jeos ga rag / po keu / sud ga rag / naeb kin ju se yo Please give me chopsticks/ a fork/ a spoon.

주문하시겠어요? Ju mun ha si gyess eo yo Would you like to order?

주문도와드릴까요? Ju mun do wa deu rir gga yo May I help you (with your) order?

시간을조금주금더주세요. Si gan eur jo geum ju geum deo ju se yo Give me a little more time, please.

주문하신음식나왔습니다. Ju mun ha sin eum sig na wass seub ni da (Literal) The dish you ordered came out.  = Here is the dish you ordered.

이건제가주문한게아닌데요. I geon je ga ju mun hang e a nin de yo This is not what I ordered.

다시확인해주세요. Da si hwag in hae ju se yo Check again, please.

사진과너무다른데요, Sa jin gwa neo mu da reun de yo It’s too different from the picture.

주망장을불러주세요. Ju mang jang eur bur reo ju se yo Bring me the chef, please.

음식이식었어요. Eum sig I sig eoss eo yo (Literal) The food has cooled. = The food is cold.

음식에서이게나왔어요. Eum sig e seo I gen a wass eo yo (Literal) This came out from the food. = This was in my food.

음식이너무짜요 / 싱거워요. Eum sig I neo mu jja yo / sing geo wa yo The food is too salty / bland.

이건어떻게먹나요? I geo neo tteoh ge meog na yo How do you eat this?

음식언제나오나요? Eum sig eon je na o na yo When does the food come out?

왜이렇게오래걸리죠? Wae I reoh ge o rae geor ri jyu Why does it take this long?

주문이들어갔나요? Ju mun I deur eo gass na yo Did the order go through?

계산서를주세요. Gye san seo reur ju se yo Please give me the bill.

잘먹었습니다. Jar meog eoss seub ni da (Literal) (I) ate well. = Thanks for the great meal.

정말맛있었어요. Jeong mar mas iss eoss eo yo It was really delicious.

배가불러요. Bae ga bur reo yo Stomach is full. = I’m full.

포장되나요? Po jang doe na yo (Literal) Please wrap the leftover (meal). = Can I take this out.

남은음식을싸주세요. Nam eun eum sig eur ssa ju se yo (Literal) Please wrap the leftover (meal). = I’d like a doggy bag, please.

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Found a cool old song that sort of fits Bretanie’s dynamic (especially in the sequel):

Loved Olly Murs growing up lol.

But yeah, since I’ve been sharing more of the sequels with you guys, I thought it would be cool to continue making these playlists. Especially for the couples! Those ones are always fun.

Going to do a part two for Dalice (as their relationship is quite different in future instalments), as well as Chelise (El and Charlie) and Gordon’s thing with aunt Rachel. Maybe Dylan and Aisha should get one as well… idk yet.

Perhaps I should do an updated Brelise one too…

[frowzyfeathers]

Roze Dreamer

This is one of my main horse ocs. She's one of the first pony characters I created back in the day on general-zoi's pony creators on deviantArt. Her design has changed massively from when I first made her, but this is her most current one.

above is a bust headshot I drew of her waving hello

Full Name:

Roze Dreamer (rose dree-Mur)

Nickname(s)/Aka:

Dreamer, Rozey(rosey), Randa-roze(rANDuh-rose), Roze(rose)

Age:

22 years

Gender:

Female

Pronouns:

She/Her; They/Them

Species/Type of Creature/Race:

Pony/Pegasus (without wings)

Height:

3' 8" or 107cm (just under average mare size)

Skin Tone/Fur Color:

Medium azure blue with bright light blue markings

Hair Length:

Slightly longer than shoulder length

Hair Style:

Mostly to the left side; Small part of hair is pulled aside to right side; Usually down, soft and straight, full of dead-ends; She sometimes has it worn back in a ponytail if she's too annoyed with it getting in her face all the time.

Hair Color:

[Left side] Milk chocolate brown (with a natural red-ish tint in the sunlight) and a washed-out used-to-be red (now salmon) strip of dyed hair. [Right side] Stripes of dyed pastel pink, purple, and blue hair, all in one small section

Eye Color:

Light lavender/Pastel purple/Light purple (Pupils are almost-black purple)

Usually carries:

Dark turquoise colored satchels/saddle bags; mechanical pencils, half lined half unlined notebook,

Usual attire:

None usually; sometimes wears a black hoodie or scarf, with an optional grey beanie

Cutiemark:

A purple rose with the green stem, lined with small thorns, twirled in a loop and the end pointed down, cut to form an inkwell pen tip, dripping rainbow-shimmer deep purple ink. The leaf, attached to the outer loop, is half on fire with a yellow-orange-red fading flame. A small white/very light blue cloud partly covers the front of the rose.

Personality/Backstory:

A very shy, mostly kind, easy-going horse who's considered a bit of a silly weirdo at times. She's not one to talk a whole lot around creatures that are strangers to her, but she still wants to/likes to socialize with others. Most of the time, she comes off as awkward, usually waiting for the right moment to speak up and not make too much of a fool of herself. She took the phrase "don't speak until you're spoken to" very literally at a young age, mainly out of fear that others would dislike her or wouldn't care what she had to say anyway. Not being really exposed to many social situations as a filly led to her current struggle of interacting with others. She usually was and still is the shoulder to cry on, always willing to listen to others and console them. She doesn't mind doing such, as long as they are genuine and aren't tricking and trapping her in situations.

She does tend to get stuck in her head A LOT of the time. Sometimes it's to a debilitating point of not wanting to get out of bed or do much. Usually, art is her outlet for such, where she can draw or scribble whatever she feels the need to.

Roze loves doing artsy things, like clay sculpting, pencil and paper sketching, acrylic painting, and digital art on her laptop with her drawing tablet. It's mainly horses and cartoony animals and creatures either from her imagination or shows she watches. She loves to sit around and watch nature do its thing. Like sitting outside and watching the clouds drift by, finding interest in swaying trees as the cool breeze shakes some leaves down, hyper-focusing on a jumping spider for 4 hours straight to watch it interact with a small cricket, looking up in awe at bigger birds flying through the sky, stuff of the sort.

Missing wings:

Roze cut off her own wings when she was 16, thinking and feeling like life wasn't worth living anymore. The story behind such deals with her natural habit of getting stuck in her own head, usually with negative thinking and assumptions that aren't 100% true. The reason why deals more from her past trauma and her not having any outlets for her emotions and being too scared and hopeless to ask for help. She has since regretted that decision heavily and is trying to have a more positive outlook on life, as some things causing her distress are lessening. Gaining motivation to try and find ways she can fly on her own again is usually difficult for her. Motivation is growing as she tries to look more on the positive sides to her life now. Thick weather-proof patches are stitched over the area where her wings would be.

Hobbies:

Drawing

Vibing to music

Playing video games

Watching nature

Sleeping/napping

Jumping spider keeping

Likes:

Hugs (both giving and receiving)

Pineapple on pizza

Plushies/soft stuffed animals

Miniatures (figurines, dioramas, items, etc-)

Mythical creatures/legends

Caring for/being around animals

Favorite animals are big cats, small cats, butterflies, ferrets, jumping spiders, giraffes, snakes, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, and many others-

Talents:

Artistic creativity/ability to draw

(still discovering what she's good at)

Dislikes:

Bugs flying/leaping towards her

Large crowds of unknown strangers

Embarrassing social situations

Talking about her wings situation

Weaknesses:

Very small and cute things

Soft fluffy things (will try to pet/snuggle it)

Sudden loud noises

Fears:

Being trapped/submerged under water

Being yelled at randomly

Upsetting others by accident

Being left alone by creatures she trusts

Habits:

Procrastinating until last minute

Shaking her back right hoof while sitting

Sticking her tongue out while focusing on something

Daydreaming/spacing out

Slight twitching when highly anxious

Pets:

None

Favorite color(s):

Purple

Red/maroon

Blue

Pink

Crush/Lover:

Yes, she's taken.

Sexuality:

Pansexual

Other:

420-friendly (marijuana user); Fall is her favorite season, Spring is second;

^ Roze's main reference sheet

^ Roze Dreamer's PonyTown design

[overfedvenison]

D&D Red Steel: Looking into Renardie some more, now that I picked up the Red Steel Box Set... In particular, the geography, and getting a picture what Renardy is

...Could this PDF of the box set not have included like a proper, assembled map? I had to stitch together the parts around Renardy in Photoshop, and it has this hideous line though it even so. smh. Well, still usable... So this is from the box set, and I scoured the books for any information on Renardie that jumped out. Worth noting: The towns, castles, etc, that have like a dark green pattern on them instead of being plain black are ‘Ruins,’ though they are hard to see even as I zoom in. This is D&D after all, so some areas are like that to build up into a dungeon, and the position of them can tell us a bit about the setting as well. General: 

Called Royaume de Renardie in it’s home language, it is a kingdom of castles built along the River of Dreams, which contains golden lotuses that inflict sleep. The Lupins that inhabit it have worked hard to quell the flowers and make the place livable, but I’ve gone over a bit of that before...  These are basically my notes, I guess. Some shortform things to try and explore what this all is, I guess:

- Louvines is the oldest city and the capitol, and evolved from a camp along the river. Chateau-Roan built up around the water-lock to manage the sleep-inducing lilies on the river, and seems to be to the north from where the river flows. This region is called the Domaine Royal, according to the map, and it’s patron is fittingly Saimpt Renard. --> Renard is also known as Korotiku, a spider-trickster deity of the Aranea. Seems similar to Anansi, a real-world West African figure, and of course also to Reynard the Fox. People in Renardy apparently assert he looks dog-like. There are also four named dominions under the kingdom, mentioned in text: -- Baronie de Bregoigne, apparently known for clerics. Has two patron Saints, both with a warrior vibe including Saimpt Matin, described later. It’s capitol is Rochfort, and is the smallest among said capitols. That actually makes sense, since it’s also the only one not along the main road - The town to the south, Ytres, is the only Town Ruin on the map in this area, and IS on the main road. That has some adventure potential, for sure. -- Comte de Marmandie, known for adventurers and swashbucklers. It’s capitol, Mons-en-Plecy, appears to be a port town going by the map, and is the only city in Renardie on the ocean. So, checks out. The area also appears to have a Castle and Village in ruins. -- Marquisat de Noijou, home of wizards, sages, architects, and wine merchants. Capitol is Pertignac, along the main road to the kingdom’s capitol. This Marquisat houses both mines of the kingdom, going by the map, one of which harvests magical Cinnabryl to ward off the red curse. -->The north has Chateau de Valefori, which appears to be a vinyard? We know winemakers are common here, and chateaus are set up by bourgeoise along the area’s outskirts and also to those same bourgeoise wine is very important, and the map has a wood-like area just around this chateau. So I think the idea is that it’s got like a giant vinyard around it. -- Duche d'Ysembragne, which seems to be home to an old guard of Beast Riders (Their ruler is known as "Le Grognard" and is a Beast Rider; essentially a wolf-riding knight.) Their patron saint, Saimpt Loup, is associated with both mercy and destruction as well as hunger, winter, and night. This seems like a cool and brutal place. Capitol is Deauvias, but I have no insights on it.

- The border to the goblin lands is cut off with a great wall, Le Grande Mur. The area around the Dream River is called The Plain of Louvines, and is a fertile valley dotted with hamlets. It's stated that the smaller settlements include border-forts, vinyards (Some owned by Monasteries and some not) and noble's country chateaux (which are fortified.)

- Some of the bourgeoise (French definition, not marxist definition) are expanding past the lands of Renardy to the north and west, and into Goblin Lands, when choosing the location of their chateaux. The Lupin perspective is that this land is ancestrally theirs. Bourgeoise pay for a land claim at the capitol. - The ruins of Renardy, as of Red Steel Box Set: Cambourg Castle, the Town of Yetres, the Villages of Bourg-Aux-Abois, Foy-Smt. Preux, and Aigues-La-Chapelle, and the Towers Hautevoie and Guet-Au-Roi - Apparently there is a higher than average number of Tortles on this land, to the point that one of the Lupin Saimpts is also revered in the Tortle pantheon - Saimpt Matin, also known as Brother Shell by the Tortles. His portfolio is “Fortresses, Guards, and those who died on the battlefield protecting their kin” which seems like the kind of thing that would be read as a dutiful knight to the Lupin and a protector of the home to a Tortle. As you see on the map, there are Tortle tribeslands on the beaches/deserts to the south. On the Red Curse: - As explained the the Campaign Book, the Red Curse spread about a year before the campaign book. So the changes are recent in-universe, as I understand it... - There is a divide between the upper classes and lower classes, with some Afflicted never possessing Cinnabryl to manage the red curse and forming into small Afflicted villages or enclaves full of those who are shunned - Those might be some of the ‘ruins’ depending on your interpretation here. Priests keep the curse at bay with Maintain spells, but there aren’t enough who can do it and so many of the lower classes become mutated Meanwhile, Inheritors - The organization that controls the flow of Cinnabyrl - are accepted as minor nobles in their own right, and supply the nobles with Cinnabyrl in turn. This means they are, in turn, rather feared and disliked by many of the peasants. - It’s noted in a rather obscure place in the box set that there is one mine that harvests Cinnabryl in Renardy. Two mines appear on the map included, which means the second mine is a normal mine, I guess? Regardless, unless I missed something, the Cinnabryl mine would thus either be Mine de Boissy or Mine de Piereccios. As far as I know (And I can at best glean a rough meaning from french, I am not a proper speaker,) “Piereccios” is not a word, but my instinct is that it might be a mangling of “précieux” which means “Precious, in the sense of a gemstone;” that would be an appropriate name for a pace that mines a precious gem you need to not mutate horribly. - Renardie and Bellayne (The Cat Kingdom) occupy almost all of the Region 3 Legacy Chart. The powers the area grant include All-Around Vision, the ability to throw a ball of fire, fog and gaseous form abilities (Fog is even the ‘common’ ability,) Cure, and Disintegrate. In a strange bit of kismet, the mutation associated with the common Fog and Gaseous Form abilities inflate your character if you acquire them - Which means it is hilarious they are exclusive to the Furry Areas

[rogerskuhn09]

Here Are 4 Tips To Help You Choose A Wireless Router That Is Right For You

Many air schedules lack "frequency," which is the frequency at which a listener hears your message within seven days. Most stations count the number time a listener hears a commercial over the duration of the schedule or the month. It should be measured only by the week. In fact, most commercials aren't commercials at all. They are announcements, lists of facts. We fix front ends, recharge air conditioning, change the coolant, change oil, rotate tires, check the brakes and do state inspections. We're your one-stop shop for car repair. Call us at 135-2554 - 1592. Close your eyes. Repeat this process. Human beings are not good at remembering lists of facts. Radio signal: All radio signals are susceptible to interference. The FM radio frequency reduces interference and ensures that radio frequencies other than those used to activate the dog's collar are not used. If your neighbor has a Pet Barrier, you can use an FM radio frequency to enable both fences and their functionality. VHF radios also have a smaller number of available frequencies. Interference with other radios could be more likely to be a problem. The FCC has made this less problematic by opening up the MURS frequencies. The MURS service uses the 150 MHz frequency as a Citizens Band radio band. MURS stands For Multi-Use Radio Service. This service is available in Canada and the United States. It is a short-range, low-power service that operates in the VHF 150MHz Citizens Band radio spectrum. There are 5 channels in the MURS frequencies with 38 privacy codes under each one that enable you to only pick up conversations on your code. The FCC does NOT require that users of products for MURS be licensed. This is why you don't know what will work for your business. You aren't qualified. You are not trained. If you are going to spend money on radio advertising, you don't want your customers to say "I tried radio (or television or newspaper) and it failed" -- which is actually saying that "I tried radio wrong and it failed." You should hire a freelancer or agency with a track record and good client references to help you write and produce your sales messages. The best way to make sure that no one else is using the same frequency you're on is with the help of a frequency checker. A frequency tester can be purchased at almost every hobby store. visit here of good ones can scan thirty channels and usually have an LED display to indicate which one you are using. While they do vary by model, some will automatically scan on a regular basis to let you know if something changes as you're playing with your RC boat. Remember to clear your frequency prior to turning on your RCboat. You could cause another radio boat driver to lose control if you don?t. On the other hand, it is relatively easy to set up an internet account. All you need to do is gather a few things and pick a time to send them. Although you may be put to some listeners, this doesn't mean you have room to grow. How does it feel to be treated? The patient will feel an immediate sensation of cold followed by a warm feeling and then a cooling sensation.

[sunflowershouto]

if your family was toxic - headcanon (oikawa, kuroo, ushijima, bokuto)

𝐚/𝐧: ty for requesting, anon! this turned into bokuto brainrot towards the end ngl i hope you enjoy. -leo

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭: "hello! could you please do oikawa, kuroo, ushijima, and bokuto when their s/o's family is toxic?"

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: hurt/comfort, fluffly endings, toxic family members (specific warnings also added individually before each character)

my haikyuu masterlist

𝐎𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐖𝐀

warnings: rocky sibling relationship

✰ You were incredibly nervous about bringing Tooru home for Christmas that year. He'd met your parents a few times before, but that wasn't what you were really worried about.

✰ It was only inevitable, but you'd finally reached the point where you could no longer avoid Tooru meeting your older sister.

✰ Things with her had been tense since you were kids; she always felt a need to compete with you or tear you down in order to make herself look better.

✰ Your past romantic partners had been no exception; she always found a way to taunt you for the partners you chose.

✰ Oikawa plays it cool, but he's really touched to get to spend Christmas as part of your family; it makes him feel even more closely connected to you, and he sees it as something that really symbolizes that you're a big part of each other's lives.

✰ Tooru is looking forward to it, but he can tell that you're nervous before you even leave to your family's house, and he's not shy about asking you about it.

✰ You had planned on warning him before about your sister, but every time you thought it was a good time to have a discussion about it, you chickened out.

✰ What if she ruined things between you somehow? Or what if he decided that he wouldn't want to spend time around the rest of your family just because of her?

✰ You tell him about it, and he's super understanding. He gently asks questions as you explain how things are with her, and is patient with you while you try to find the words to describe your dynamic.

✰ You leave the house actually feeling really confident now that Oikawa has assured you that nothing your sister could say or do would make him love you any less.

✰ Internally he's kind of in fight mode, but he keeps it cool cause he doesn't wanna make you think he'll start problems with her.

✰ When you get to the house, it doesn't take her long to start her usual routine.

✰ "Oikawa Tooru?" she sneers. "Isn't he that playboy volleyball star?" She really leans into the playboy part of his reputation, implying over the course of the evening that he won't be faithful or that he's just stringing you along.

✰ He wants badly to say something, but he can tell that you don't want confrontation at Christmas in front of the rest of your family, and tries to respect your feelings even though he's dying to put your sister in her place.

✰ You're at the dinner table when Tooru finally has enough.

✰ "Wasn't your last girlfriend like, a super hot model?" she asks him, then pointedly glances at you.

✰ "Can you please just-" You're cut off when Tooru interjects, placing a gentle hand over yours as he cuts in.

✰ "Look, I'm not sure what exactly you're trying to imply," he started, lying through his teeth and trying to stay as composed as possible. "But I want you to understand that whatever ideas you have about my relationship with Y/N are completely wrong. I love her very much—I wouldn't be here if I didn't. So I'd appreciate it a bunch if you could stop saying such nasty things, alright?" His hand tightens over yours and he gives her a strained smile, pretending to be his usual cheery self.

✰ You'd never really seen that side of Tooru before, and you can tell that he must be absolutely furious, with how intently he seems to be focused on keeping his cool.

✰ That seemed to shut her up for the rest of the night.

✰ As soon as you two are back out in the car after everything is wrapped up, Tooru finally drops the facade. "What a bitch!" he whined, slumping back into the seat. "I really wanted you to pour your drink on her or something!"

✰ "Thanks, Tooru," you murmur, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

✰ He catches your chin at the last second with his hand and turns to kiss you fully. When you pull back he's giving you his usual trademark smirk.

✰ "I guess that whole speech was pretty suave of me, wasn't it?"

✰ "It was until you said that."

𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐎

warnings: food shaming

✰ You'd been dating Kuroo for a little over a year now, and he'd met your family quite a few times.

✰ You always seemed nervous about it, but they seemed nice enough, and he'd never seen you have any problems with them before, so he was eager to accept when you told him that your parents had invited the two of you over for dinner.

✰ It occurred to him then that he'd never eaten a proper meal with your family before, and now he was eager to make a good impression.

✰ the original outfit he had planned was way too formal and you had to convince him to change because "Tetsu- It's just a casual dinner! You're not going to the frickin' Oscars!"

✰ He could tell that you were a little antsy about the whole thing, but when he asked you what was up you sort of danced around the topic. He took note of it, but decided not to press any further.

✰ You got to your parents' house, and everything seemed normal until you sat down for dinner.

✰ "See, Y/N, this is what a meal with vegetables looks like, not the crap you usually eat," your sister teased, nudging you as she walked past you.

✰ Kuroo is slightly irked by the comment because he knows how much you worry about what you eat, but he notices the way you awkwardly laugh it off and tries not to let it sour his mood.

✰ You're halfway through the meal when you reach out to take another piece of meat from the pot at the center of the table, and your dad scoffs.

✰ "Seconds, really? That's why you're so unhealthy, you know," he mutters to you, and you frown, dropping the food back into the pot and setting your utensils down.

✰ Kuroo is so fuckin' taken aback. He just blinks at your father and his face is the literal definition of "whatthefuckdidyoujustsay?"

✰ "Excuse me," Tetsuro addresses your father, a polite smile on his face. "But I didn't hear what you said. Could you repeat yourself?"

✰ Tetsu can feel you grabbing his sleeve to try to get him to stand down, but he's legitimately pissed off, and he plans on making it known.

✰ "All I said was that she didn't need seconds," came your dad's curt reply.

✰ "I think that she can decide that for herself, don't you?"

✰ "You haven't seen how she eats, it's-"

✰ "Her decision. And I do see how she eats, considering I live with her. And I don't see a problem with it."

✰ "I didn't know your boyfriend was so disrespectful," your father muttered in your direction.

✰ "Sorry, sir," Kuroo apologized, bowing his head slightly, before pointedly adding, "I should have known to watch my mouth when it came to matters that are none of my business."

✰ Your entire family is just staring at Kuroo in shock—part of you is dying inside because you really wanted them to get along, and the other part of you is honestly super relieved that he stood up for you so quickly.

✰ As soon as the conversation passes, Tetsu goes back to being his usual charming self. He helps your mom with the dishes, entertains your younger siblings, and sends the occasional passive aggressive stare in your father's direction.

✰ Miraculously, his standing with your family seems to be mostly unharmed, but you can tell that there's now some animosity between him and your dad.

✰ You get back to your place and shut the door, sliding your shoes off in the entryway. "I'm sorry, Tetsu, I didn't think he'd-"

✰ "Don't apologize, kitten. How can you even stand that guy?" he sighs, kicking his shoes off before moving to wrap his arms around you from behind, resting his head on your shoulder.

✰ You run your hand through his hair and he's quiet for a second before he speaks again. "Why didn't you tell me?"

✰ "I just... Didn't want you to think badly of my family. They can say a lot of hurtful things, but I do love them."

✰ Tetsu frowned, holding you a bit tighter and pressing a soft kiss to your neck. "That's not right. You should say something. But look... I think you're beautiful, and I don't want you to listen to whatever crap they've been spewing at you. Your eating habits should be whatever makes you happiest, alright?"

✰ "Thank you, Tetsu."

𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐉𝐈𝐌𝐀

warnings: divorced/separated parents ✰ Your parents had been separated for close to three years, and honestly you were getting pretty sick of dealing with it.

✰ Both of them were still lashing out at each other, being petty, and trying to get you to choose a side.

✰ As much as you loved them both, they could drive you absolutely insane.

✰ You were hoping that they'd be able to get it together and act like adults for just one day. You knew that they'd both want to come to your engagement party to Wakatoshi, and you really did want them both to be there.

✰ What you didn't want was all the drama that would end up following them.

✰ Toshi was already quite familiar to the resentment between your parents, but he had assured you that things would be fine.

✰ "Your parents are both adults, Y/N," he had promised you the morning of the party. "They'll know better."

✰ Unfortunately, that had not at all proved to be the case.

✰ "Dad, I thought I told you not to bring your girlfriend," you whispered, pulling him aside before he entered your apartment, where the rest of your family was already gathered.

✰ "She's part of the family, Y/N! You need to stop excluding her."

✰ "You've only been dating her for like a month!" you snapped, bringing your hands to your temples. "Just try not to start any problems with mom. Please? For me and Toshi?"

✰ "I'm not the one who starts the problems," he deflected, before stepping past you.

✰ Great.

✰ Toshi can tell when you walk back in that you're on edge, and he makes sure to stay by your side, arm protectively around your waist as you introduce him to some of your more distant relatives.

✰ You can hear the sounds of bickering from the kitchen, and you sigh as you realize that your mother must have spotted your dad with his girlfriend.

✰ As discretely as you can, you excuse yourself from the room, leaving Toshi to entertain your guests while you head for the kitchen.

✰ "I can't believe you! You bring a different girl to every holiday, it's ridiculous! She wasn't invited, so why is she here?"

✰ "I'm sorry for trying to stay connected to my child!" your father snapped at your mother.

✰ "Oh, bullshit! You only started caring about her once you wanted to take her away from me!"

✰ You don't even know where to start, and you can't get a word in edgewise; they're practically at each other's throats, and that's before your dad's girlfriend started chiming in.

✰ "Will you all stop it?!" you finally shout, not caring if the rest of your guests can hear. "Today was supposed to be for me and Wakatoshi—Why can't you just be happy for me?"

✰ You regret your words, because now both of your parents are angry with you, shouting over each other to chastise you.

✰ "Really, Y/N?! After everything I've done to support you, this is the thanks I get? You've always supported your father over me, and now you won't even defend me!"

✰ "Ever since I split from your mother, you've been cold to me! You want me to support your marriage, but you won't even let me bring my partner to your stupid party?"

✰ You can't speak around the lump in your throat, and they won't stop yelling at you. Panic starts to set in as tears well in your eyes, and it takes you a moment to register the firm hand on your shoulder, and the way that both of your parents have trailed off.

✰ "I would appreciate it if you would stop berating my fiancée," Ushijima tells them, his voice steady and monotone.

✰ You can't see the look on Toshi's face, but it must be pretty terrifying, because both of your parents look as though they've seen a ghost.

✰ "I invited you into our home because I assumed that you would be able to set aside your differences for the day in order to celebrate Y/N's happiness. I see now that I was wrong, so it's time for you to leave."

✰ Toshi's hand moved from your shoulder and slides around your waist so he can pull you into his side.

✰ "B-But—"

✰ "Was what I said unclear to you?" he asked, tilting his head. "Leave."

✰ Ushijima tells you to stay in the kitchen while he escorts your parents (and your dad's girlfriend) to the door. When he comes back and sees that you're crying, he pulls you into a hug.

✰ He's never been good with words, so he just holds you until your tears slowly come to a stop. "Are you ready to go back to the party now, love?"

✰ You nod, sniffling and wiping your eyes. "I look like a real mess, don't I?"

✰ He just shook his head. "Not at all. You're beautiful as always."

𝐁𝐎𝐊𝐔𝐓𝐎

warnings: overbearing extended family, judgemental cousins

✰ Bokuto is somehow both super chill and also super protective.

✰ He'll do stupid shit with you like railing surf down a staircase, but if anyone looks at you funny his hands are rated E for everyone.

✰ And he means everyone.

✰ Bokuto is super chill with your direct family. He loves your parents and siblings, and they all love him.

✰ However, once your uncles and aunts and cousins get thrown into the mix, things get a little dicier.

✰ Bokuto's never met them before, but he's heard you tell a few stories about your bitchy, mean-girl cousins who look down on you for not being an academic prodigy or some kind of super-genius.

✰ Your extended family is quite a bit wealthier than your direct family as well, which just adds another layer of separation between you.

✰ When you told Bokuto that you wanted him to come to your family's New Year celebration, he was super excited.

✰ Honestly just so happy that you wanted him to be at a family event, because that meant you thought of him as family and he just adored that thought.

✰ Does his hair extra special that morning while you're getting ready, making sure that his spikes are extra spiky.

✰ He's in a great mood as you drive over, tapping his hands against the steering wheel and humming while he drives.

✰ You're pretty excited too, but a pit forms in your stomach as you see a luxury car parked in the driveway of your parents' house. You didn't know they would be there, and you weren't exactly happy about it.

✰ Kou's torn between being impressed by the car and getting prickly because he knows the cousins are going to be there, and he wants to size them up for himself.

✰ "Relax, Koutarou," you laugh softly, taking his hand. "I'll just ignore them like always."

✰ "Hmph. I am relaxed!" He squeezes your hand back before knocking on the front door.

✰ Your mother opens the door, and immediately your younger siblings come running to see Bokuto, and he disappears somewhere to go play with them.

✰ You go to sit down in the living room, and immediately you can feel two unforgiving gazes drilling into the back of your head. You shudder slightly, but turn to give your cousins a polite smile.

✰ "It's nice to see you again, Ena, Minako." you tell them, gritting your teeth as they give you their usual fake greeting.

✰ "Our mom told us you were dating someone eccentric," Minako laughs, "but we didn't think he'd be that much of a-"

✰ You clear your throat, your smile dripping with venom as you cut her off with a pointed glare. "Wonderful guy? Yeah, I know, right? I really am lucky, aren't I?"

✰ You'd smile and grit your teeth through whatever they had to say about you, but you made it very clear that you wouldn't be allowing either of them to speak badly about Kou.

✰ Bokuto comes back into the room after a while and takes a seat next to you, giving your cousins a smile. "So you must be Ena and Minako, huh?" he asks, trying his best to seem casually intimidating. "I'm Bokuto Koutarou. I've heard so much about you."

✰ You would have teased him for it if you weren't rooting for it to work.

✰ They practically ignore him, brushing off his greeting with nothing more than thin smiles. "Y/N do you remember New Years in middle school when that boy stood you up to visit the temple?" Ena asked, quickly changing the topic.

✰ "I do remember that, Ena," you mutter, jaw clenching. "I was there."

✰ "It was so funny, Koutarou," Minako adds. "She told everyone that she had a boyfriend and then he didn't show up!"

✰ Bokuto blinks at them, and internally his respect for you multiplies by like a thousand for not having committed murder in all the years you'd grown up around these girls. "What's the point of telling me that? What the hell's your problem?"

✰ "Huh? We don't have a problem! We're just telling you a story about Y/N!"

✰ "Yeah, a mean story! No one's allowed to embarrass my girlfriend except for me!"

✰ "She's good enough at embarrassing herself," Minako snapped, not used to being stood up to.

✰ "The hell did you just say?" you snap. Before you can defend yourself, Bokuto is on his feet, staring down at your cousins.

✰ "Hey. I don't know if you think I don't have ears, or if you think that I won't stand up for her, but you damn vultures better listen: Maybe you should think about why Y/N has a boyfriend and you don't before you say anything else about her. That's my girlfriend you're talking about, so watch it!"

✰ Your cousins leave the room, and you can tell that Kou is proud of himself.

✰ "Bo, that might be the most badass thing you've ever said," you tell him, resting your head on your shoulder.

✰ "Bad...Ass...?" he whispers in awe, going starry-eyed at the compliment. ♫ "HELL YEAH! I'm a badass!"♫ he sings, throwing his arms around you and peppering your face in kisses.