#no one cares Umbrie

[umbrie]

In one of those brain moods where if there's any sort of talking I can't focus on what I'm reading, and if fucking course I live with the physical embodiment of 'If I don't let the world know my every thought I will fucking die'

I've got nothing else to do today, I just want to enjoy my fanfic

#no one cares Umbrie

[ab--n]

💀 for all of the pub!

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

Yes! Let us start with Petunia.

Petunia has the fear of losing someone she cares about (Thanatophobia) they started as irrational and intrusive thoughts then over time those thoughts became a pretty bad phobia to handle.

For Umbri, He has the fear of hospitals (Nosocomephobia)

Its started from constantly having to see their sister in the hospital, She told them how it felt like being there everyday and anxiety slowly crept in. It did not help when his sister had to do one last surgery (don't worry she lived!) before finally leaving and he had to be with her for support. He's thankfully getting over this phobia.

Bailey has the fear of cold climates (Frigophobia)

It started from when they decide to go the the float islands but got lost on the way. they got caught up in a snowstorm and almost past out, they luckley got out safely but the trauma is still a lot.

#n cant stfu #kirby oc #asks #P.U.B

[discosonicdude]

FE OC Week - Day 7 - Endings

Well, here we are. The end of the road. This has been a lot of fun to take part in, despite my lack of artistic skills, and I hope that it comes back again sometime. It would be pretty fun to do ones for other games, and updates/revisions to this one. Without further ado, let's finish this off with @fe-oc-week's prompt for the last day, endings.

Crimson Flower

Nick - Umbris Restored

After the war, Nick continues his work as Count Umbris, aiding Emperor Edelgard in her efforts, and helping the people adjust to their new rule. He became beloved by the people, and his magic and swordplay were passed down through House Umbris. Through his work, Nick was believed to be the second coming of the Hero Umbris.

Other routes

Nick - Traitor's Brand

Deeply saddened by having lost two of the people he had cared for the most, Nick ends the Umbris bloodline and leaves Fodlan. To this day, none know of what happened to the former noble. Whether he slipped away to seclusion or began a new life in another continent, scholars all agree on one thing; the Crest of the Traitor bore too heavily on him.

I'll leave it as just those two for now, as I would prefer to save the paired endings after I've gone over the support chains. So, with that, that's my part of FE OC week over and done with it. Hope you all managed to keep track of all my ramblings. XD

#fe3h #fire emblem #fe oc week

[mommybard]

What format do you play?

Commander! Right now my either in-progress or completed decks are...fuck where's that toolbox. Ayula - Monogreen Bears. Because bears are the best animal ever and no I will not take feedback for this statement at this time. Kodama of the Central Tree - Monogreen Kamigawa Spirits. It's silly, not the strongest, but I love spirits. Yuriko - Dimir Ninjas. Thinking of changing this to a Sultai one with Tatsunari at its head cause Yuriko is just such a target once she enters the battlefield. Sure she cheats out easily but like I feel bad because people see her and think my deck is gonna be so much scarier than it actually is Magda - Monored Dwarves. Because dwarves are one of my favorite fantasy races <3 Heiko Yamazaki - Monored Samurai/artifacts. Yeah, I normally hate artifacts, but she's a queer samurai rebel, so of course I was gonna make a deck for her. Gyome - Golgari Food deck. It's silly, but its fun and I love it. Can't wait for the lord of the ring set to come out so I can make another food deck. Gretchen Twitchwillow - Simic Moonfolk Landfall deck. All about bouncing lands back to my hand with the moonfolk and playing extra lands. I love Moonfolk, and I wish they got more love Kotori - Azorious Vehicle Moonfolk. Look, you give me an excuse to play moonfolk and I will take that fucking excuse. Uses all the newer Kamigawa ones who cared more about vehicles/artifact creatures instead of bouncing. Rhoda & Timin - Azorius Spirit Control. All about tapping other peoples creatures and boosting Rhoda for it. Not as mean as other azorius controls, I just want to tap your stuff not stop you from doing anything whatsoever. Ranar - Azorius Spirit Blink/Foretell. I LOVE SPIRITS OKAY SUE ME AND THIS LETS ME PLAY THEM A DIFFERENT WAY. Millicent - Azorius Spirit Tokens. I will not defend myself again, spirits are the best and the other tribes, besides dwarves and moonfolk, can suck it. YOU HEAR ME DRAGONS. YOU CAN FUCKING SUCK THIS ECTOPLASMIC DICK. Miirym - Temur Dragon Tribal. LOOK. HE'S A SPIRIT, AND I MADE IT DND THEMED OKAY. Gisa & Geralf - Dimir Zombies. Not as strong as some other zombie decks cause I themed it hard around Innistrad vibes. Captain N'ghathrod - Dimir Horror Mill. I couldn't resist playing the mindflayer. And he's so much fun. Umbris, Fear Manifest - Dimir Horror Exile. Started this one before Captain to make an Ashiok themed deck cause I love their spooky dream haunting nb ass. Satsuki - Selesnya Saga. I love Sagas and really enchantments in general, and I find her fun. Anafenza - Abzan themed Abzan deck. Look, Tarkir is the greatest plane in the multiverse and of the factions on Tarkir, the Abzan are the best <3 Go-Shintai - Five Color Shrines. Purposefully not made to be as degenerate and scary as the normal Go-Shintai bullshit decks, just made it to play all my shrines together. Manabase is a fucking mess on this one. Naomi - Orzhov Unnatural. This was originally my Mardu Samurai but it just felt like a mess so I took it apart and refined it into her <3

#nonhorny asks

[assassyart]

Things I would change about the RAC movie:

For starters drop Dr. Nefarious, I love him but he's not needed in what's supposed to be an adaptation of the first game.

The movie portray Chairman Drek as some goofball dimwitted guy and you know what I would keep that aspect but make it clear that he's putting on an act while in public to give the illusion that he's some quirky and relatable CEO but when he's by himself he's truly a greedy sociopath of a CEO who'd destroy planets filled with life.

Make Ratchet's personality similar to the first game. Have him be rude and cynical initially but grow to care about Clank and others thus making him into the Ratchet we all know.

These are just off the top of my head on how they could improve the movie.

Fair. Lemme be a devil's advocate for Nefarious' inclusion, though.

The problem was never Dr. Nefarious being in the movie. In fact, since the amoeboids were created by him and did appear in the first game, it's not a bad idea to include him early to introduce him to the audience as a key player. But that's the thing— he should never have been the main villain in this movie.

Drek was never the brain behind the tech, he was just the man with a plan. He wanted bolts and didn't care what he had to chop down, blow up, burn, or kill to get it. He was corrupt, awful, and greedy and there really was nothing else to him and that's fine. I liked him that way, because really, a soulless corporate irredeemable asshole that only focuses on money is pretty modern and realistic. He's actually one of my favorite villains in Ratchet & Clank, which is why the reboot/movie hurt me so much.

I think adding a wacky scientist isn't such a bad idea if they wanted the tone to be less grim, because Drek's plan itself is kind of a downer. But I would have made Nefarious appear for maybe one or two scenes at most to tease for a later installment since they clearly wanted to make more movies. Just above all, he cannot be the main villain in an actual adaptation of the first game. It does not work and completely destroys the original message of it.

Like, just as an example, one of the things that makes sense for Nefarious to do is to target Umbris instead of Veldin. Like, yeah, it makes sense for his character to do this. Destroying Umbris to create a chain reaction that destroys multiple planets and soils Qwark's reputation instead of destroying one planet makes sense if the movie was about Captain Qwark...but the movie isn't supposed to be about Captain Qwark, now is it? Does any of this make sense for Ratchet's character? How does this plan further the two main characters' development?

Nefarious's role as the main villain in the film took away a big part of Ratchet's character and forced the movie to focus on his history with Captain Qwark instead of the issues it should have focused on, which would be Qwark's betrayal and Drek targeting Ratchet's home. This is why Nefarious cannot be the main villain because he'd be able to use the Deplanetizer more effectively than Drek could, and that's a problem, but I think he could still appear to hint that he's the one that helped create the Deplanetizer/warbots or even to just add to the world building.

As for the writing of Ratchet, that's a whole other jar of worms and we're not ready to unpack all of that.

#asks #anon #ratchet and clank #dr. nefarious #drek #the way i'd write the ratchet & clank movie is that i wouldn't do it

[emeriethevalkyriegirl]

High Lord/Lady New Generation HCs

Lebro-High Lord of the Day Court:

Lebro is Helion’s younger cousin. He’s on his dad’s side and was chosen to carry the new legacy of the Day court. He’s really shy and wants to form a friendship with the other High Lords and Ladies. He doesn’t like to get into fights and is found mostly in the library reading. He’s 15 years old.

Delilah-High Lady of the Dawn Court:

Delilah is Thesan’s niece. She’s on his mom’s side and was also chosen for the job. She wanted to help others who can’t help themselves. At first she didn’t like the idea of being High Lady but she gotten use to it after a while. Is the one who tries to stop the fight but most likely be the one to cause it. She’s 17 years old.

Nyx-High Lord of the Night Court:

Nyx is Rhysand’s son (yeah yeah yeah, we knew that). He prefers to be called Nyx Archeron. He was scared to be a High Lord because he was afraid to let his father down. But after some support from his cousins and siblings, he was more ready than ever. He’s the one that loves to fight even when angry but hopes to fight people he doesn’t care about. Also more likely to be the one that throws the first punch. He’s 16 years old.

Ester-High Lady of the Dusk Court:

She’s my Oc btw. Her previous home was invaded during the war of Hybern. She also lost her father in the war. Her mother died a week later out of sadness for loosing her mate. She wanted to make a difference for her people by becoming their first High Lady. Tambria (Tamlin’s daughter) helped her choose the name. “Dusk Court. It feels like it’s over but a close of light is still in the clear.”-Tambria. Ester is the first one to be selected so she helps the others become great High Lords and Ladies one day. Is the mother hen of the group. Most likely to try to help break up a fight. She’s 18 years old.

Kronos-High Lord of the Winter Court:

Kronos is Kallias’s son. He’s a high fae who looks like his mother but has white hair. He has an ice cold temper. When he gets angry, he can freeze the entire room with just a thought. Sometimes he wouldn’t even known he’d done it until someone tells him that it’s too cold. He cares about the other courts though so he’s a nice guy. Is the one that gets in trouble the most. Also, is likely to be the guy that encourages the fight. He’s 16 years old.

Tambria-High Lady of the Spring Court:

She’s NOTHING like her father. Completely different aside from the shape-shifting. When her mother conceived her, she was distraught but she took care of her as her own. When she found out she was royalty, she was ashamed and hateful towards Tamlin. Because of all the horrible things he’d down. She ran into forest out of sadness and met Regina (Feysand’s Daughter) who helped her bring her court to justice. She is the second mother hen to the children. Is the one that will be in the cheering section of the fight. She is 18 years old

Umbris-High Lord of the Summer Court:

Umbris is Tarquin’s adoptive son. He was half Illryian and half fae which is why his wings were short and his ears were pointy. He wasn’t actually born into royalty but was saved by Tarquin from an abusive home. He was able to file the charges, he arrested his parents and the two of them became a family. He never had friends of his own so Lebro and him hit it off right away. Umbris is the one that takes chances while Lebro has to talk him out of it. Well, sometimes. Umbris is the one that jumps into the fight without caring about the consequences. He’s 15 years old.

Rachel-High Lady of the Autumn Court:

She was raised within the Autumn walls. She was made to be ruthless and selfish. But when she’s in a room full of other High Lords and Ladies, she couldn’t help but wonder if she could have a chance. She was mean at first, but she began to trust the others and is friends with Delilah. Though she tries not to admit it so much. She is the one who ignores the fight and is just not into it. She doesn’t even care. She’s 16 years old.

#acotar #acosf #acomaf #acofas #acowar #High Lord/Lady Children #OCs #Lebro OC #Delilah OC #Nyx Archeron #Ester OC #Kronos OC #Tambria OC #Umbris OC #Rachel OC #New Generation Headcannons #feysand #kallias x viviane

[cosmicretribution]

🦙, 🌲, 🕊?

ask game: x

🦙 (llama) give us a list of your favourite Minecraft mobs! Why are these ones specifically Your Little Guys?

OK i know this is prolly a common answer but. zombie baby piglins im quite fond of. littol... and i also rlly like bees!!!

as a somewhat stranger answer i think. ive got a weird fondness for guardians. they're absolutely Wretched little guys. but. on the server i play on w my friends, skysmp, my friend landon and i built a guardian farm at fuckoff o'clock in the morning running on 0 sanity and everything nearly went Very Wrong about 20 times, we briefly thought we'd stranded ourselves on the nether roof... it was a WHOLE thing... BUT now whenever i see guardians. i remember making this farm with my friend and having a good (if not mildly insane) time.

🌲(spruce) what are some of your favourite blocks to build with? What blocks do you think should be added to Minecraft?

one of my favorite go to block palettes is spruce and deepslate tile! interiors are my favorite part of building in minecraft, so while not strictly Blocks per se, i'm also really fond of like. layered lantern hangings with different levels of chains, i love spruce trapdoors to make shelves and the like, barrels i love as cabinets, i love using bookshelves...

as like. a decorative piece to put on counters or shelves, i really like to put immature amethyst clusters-- specifically the second-to-last stage i think is a really nice size for a decorative piece. ive always tended to use a lot of glass and windows for whatever reason, so whenever im building underground, i'll almost always include "windows" in the walls with decorative potted plants behind glass.

as for blocks i think should be added-- i really think they ought to include more variants of the amethyst block, like i'd love to see polished amethyst blocks or similar! amethyst is really neat and i'd love to be able to use it more!

🕊(bird) are you to be trusted with an elytra or are you going to fly face first into a wall? Are you good at parkour? Good at pvp?

i AM good with elytra! while i dont necessarily do a lot of really tight maneuvering or like. elytra courses per se, I'm a pretty good overall flyer!

parkour i dont really care for personally, though as for pvp-- while i dont do it often, my friends and i played a game of last life somewhat recently, during which i did practice regularly against my sister and teammate, umbri. i would say that she herself is not someone to take on lightly, and whenever we fought, we always ended up point for point evenly matched... so who knows :)

#thnks for the ask!!! :) apologies for the long answer i just. LOVE this game so much #howdy friends

[fellwar-finch]

i know fuck all about mtg but Mirrodin, Kamigawa, and Lorwyn?

Mirrodin: My favourite win condition is actually mill! (making the opponent have no cards in deck and have to draw from an empty deck). Unfortunately I only play commander now, and because the deck size is 100 instead of 60, and there are often three others players, the number of cards needed to win with mill is 400 instead of 60, so it's not quite as good. Perhaps the new mind flayarrs precon or umbris would help out. Lifedrain a la extort or blood artist is a very close second, though!

Kamigawa: My favourite legendary creature is Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts. My dad bought her for me before he died and it's a card that I'll treasure for the rest of my life. Sadly she's not a very good commander. I've tried her other card, Teysa Karlov, but I don't really vibe with how it plays. So I'd say my favourite *commander* (edh general, commander, same diff) is Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. He helms my favourite aristocrats/sacrifice deck, he's everything I want in a commander. Card draw, removal, a sacrifice outlet, and a payoff all in one. For only 4 mana. Plus he's an absolutely trash person in his novel and I had a lot of fun reading about him with a friend and just absolutely trashing the pathetic man. Worst person, 0/10. But my favourite commander. Jetmir is also close,,, there's something nice about Large Soft Cat. I wanna run my hands through his fur and also summon him on a board of 8 creatures and just,,, win. Yesterday I summoned him and attacked with three (3) citizen tokens. Only three. And just... Won. Cuz I played 5 other creatures that turn. Each 1/1 citizen becomes a 4/1 citizen that hits twice. So instead of 3 damage from them all attacking it's 24 damage. Busted. Lorwyn: My favourite colour of mana is black, hands down. It's a versatile colour that can do anything I want. It's got removal, it's got card draw, reanimation, alternate wincons, infect, powerful creatures, neat gimmicks, ramp, it can do *anything*... With a price. The only life point that matters is the last one. When it comes to magic, I don't care how low my life gets. If I can survive at 0 I'll go down to 0. Anything and everything is expendable for black mana, and that's a really fun way to play the game for me! Second favourite goes to white, but only as an accent colour. A deck that's primary white gets kinda boring to me, but anything accented with white? Yes please. Protection and boardwipes and token spam is nice.

Thanks so much for sending this ask! I was in a pretty bad headspace and typing about something I love really helped me out there. If you'd ever wanna learn more about mtg, just let me know! It's a real neat card game and form of self-expression!

#answered asks #mtg ask

[talenlee]

MtG: Halloweenmander #3

Spooky scary skeletons season! It’s horror time! It’s creepy movies and dark mystique and what we need now is to sit down and play a bunch of Magic: The Gathering, a game that has been periodically terrorised by fairies and goblins.

Let’s look at some horror-themed commander decks!

Five years ago (good GOD) I wrote two articles about different horror commanders you could use to make the heart of a spooky horrifying Commander deck that could be used for a halloween card game night. And that was 2018, so many years ago, and that means surely there are some more commanders printed since then, to revisit the idea.

How many commanders have been printed since then?

Oh.

In case you don’t read these numbers well, when the last article was published, there were 786 potential commanders printed. Since then, 1,170 more have been printed, and isn’t that a number.

Anyway, point is, I’m sure I can belt out five more commanders to make for a spooky horror deck, based on something about this card makes it a good spooky horror card!

I’m going to present here, then, a set of four different commanders, one for each different partially-black colour pairs, that, hopefully, pull in different enough directions that they don’t all feel like they’re all the same deck playing with the same ideas.

BW: Burakos, Party Leader // Folk Hero Zombies

WUBRG order predicts we have to start here with a white base creature. The combination of Burakos and Folk Hero is pretty obvious – as long as you have both out, any time you cast a creature that shares a creature type with Burakos, you get to draw a card, as long as you’re only playing one a turn. Burakos is a Cleric, Wizard, Warrior and a Rogue and an Orc, which means any time you cast those, Burakos can get you a card, which is a steady ongoing source of cards.

Thing is, if you just look at black and white’s top edhrec cards, you’re going to see some bangers. You can build for lock pieces, with things like Grand Abolisher and Mother of Runes, or you can build for aggressive Aristocrats effects with Zulaport Cutthroat and friends. But know what else you can build for?

There are a lot of zombies that are clerics, wizards and warriors. Death Baron is a Wizard. So’s Undead Augur. Archghoul of Thraben is. Mikaeus, The Unhallowed is a cleric. Shepherd of Rot, Rotlung Reanimator, Corpse Harvester, Boneknitter, they’re all Clerics and Wizards. You can get some bodies out there, and then there are cards Death_Priest of Myrkul, Ratadrabik – some stuff that’s midsized, and that means you benefit from dumping cards out there. You can build a hell of a party with a lot of dead meat, you’ll draw lots of cards, and Burakos even makes it possible to score treasures if you can make him hard to block.

It’s black, it’s white, it’s a swarm with control and ways to reload!

UB: Umbris, Fear Manifest

Making a blue black deck out of just the coolest things you can find isn’t hard, and there’s already a lot of cards you can cast that exile things off your opponent’s deck. This is a feeling of horror, of macabre dreadfulness, but also, the trick is, you want to make Umbris big enough to start one-shotting opponents, and then you want to protect them. That means you’re not trying to exile whole libraries, you just want to be able to exile chunks. This means that instead of focusing on beating up people’s graveyards en masse, you can treat other people’s graveyards like they’re a resource, which adds Uchuulon to your options.

The thing is, Umbris cares about entering the battlefield, which means if you can protect Umbris with flicker effects, you’re going to get something out of them! Things that bring Umbris back from the dead? Also handy!

The best thing about this kind of deck is if you make basically a blue-black flicker deck, around horrors, you have this sort of jump-scare effect and you have a lot of cards that are really good at pushing your game forward, that are good at protecting you, but don’t leave the other players at the casual table panicked that you’re going to counter their creatures.

Don’t get me wrong, when you start chomping chunks off the top of people’s libraries, they are going to want you dead, but at least you have a sort of blue-black voltron deck whose backup plan is melting minds.

BR: Kardur, Doomscourge

Man, I want an alter of Kardur that just looks like he was airbrushed on a van.

Where Burakos’ folk story is trying to make a swarm deck that cares about hitting the board and Umbris wants to turtle up, a Kardur deck? You want to make a bunch of goad cards the backbone here. Kardur wants creatures attacking and blocking. Kardur wants people on the board crashing into each other, and Kardur’s creatures want to be part of that. It’s okay for you to kill off your stuff with Kardur, and you don’t even mind if they come back symmetrically.

Here’s my thinking: Black red Berserkers, built around tribal effects, including Patriarch’s Bidding. You don’t mind if your bidding gets a bunch of other people’s stuff back: You want that stuff back, you want it on the floor so you can get them to crash into one another again!

BG: Old Stickfingers

Okay, that’s three decks that aren’t just ‘more stuff Talen already was going to play,’ right?

Well, here’s Old Stickfingers.

Old Stickfingers is a card that, for, say, four mana, loads two creatures into your yard, and just creatures. Since Stickfingers leaves spells alone, it’s not a source of flashback or jumpstart spells, it’s just a way to get just creatures into your bin. That’s okay though, because there are some creatures that can do stuff from inside your graveyard.

Any given creature from your bin, if it has more than 1 power, is better on the board than supporting Old Stickfingers. Stickfingers is a kind of hydra as a commander, and it can ‘draw’ you like, X cards while it’s doing it, especially if you build with cards like Skyclave Shade, Ghastly Remains, Genesis, Loathsome Troll, Gigapede, Brawn – that kinda stuff can be part of an engine. Genesis is obviously the best one!

This can be hard to deal with in terms of gumming up the ground though. Like, cheap cards like Bloodsoaked Champion and Dread Wanderer, they can jump from your graveyard to the battlefield, but they don’t gum up the ground well. I like Hormagaunt Horde in this space a lot, too!

Wrapup

Hm.

Anything else?

No, I guess not. Mask up and stay safe at your Magic: The Gathering halloween parties!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Games #Magic: The Gathering

[first-frost-fallen-snow]

🔸𝔉𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔖𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔢🔸

Plain Text: Frost Sharde

❝ I just want to protect the ones I care about.. ❞

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Note: this character has more than one version. Please specify which version you will be interacting with.

**-×[ Basic ]×-**

「 Name 」

Frost Sharde

(Also can be Hailstorm or DemonSharde)

「 Age 」

Unknown

「 Gender 」

Male

(He/him)

「 Sexuality 」

Bisexual

「 Role 」

Hero

(Depending on version. Can be a villain)

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

**-×[ Mental ]×-**

「 Likes 」

Frost: Nature, the cold, his friends, cats, birds, shiny objects (jewelry)

Hailstorm: wreaking havoc, spontaneity, "playing" with people during battles

DemonSharde: killing, destroying cities, conquering worlds, ruling over armies

「 Dislikes 」

Frost: summer, cruel people, feeling hopeless

Hailstorm: being forced to conform, having to make good moral decisions

DemonSharde: losing

「 Personality 」

Frost is a kind, older brother figure to most. He keeps an optimistic outlook on life despite what he has gone through, and tries to keep the hope alive in his teammates.

Hailstorm is a loose canon. One second he is the most ruthless monster, the next he's saving someone from a fire. He finds joy in people's confusion of his personality, though still has bits of Frost trying to break out.

DemonSharde is a general for an army of darkness. He is detached, cold, calculating, and sinister. His only goal is to conquer the galaxy.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

**-×[ Physical ]×-**

「 Height 」

5'10"

「 Weight 」

~170 lbs

「 Notable features 」

Frost: bright ice blue eyes, and natural silver hair

Hailstorm: scar across his right eye, prosthetic right arm

DemonSharde: distorted figure, more machine than man

**-×[ Powers/Abilities ]×-**

Frost:

Ice magic, premonitions, dual wielding, acrobatics, extreme willpower, powerful spirit

Hailstorm:

Dual wielding, acrobatics, deception, flight

DemonSharde:

Shadow manipulation, extensive weaponry, flight

**-×[ Weaknesses ]×-**

Frost:

Fire, heat, morality, kindness, naïvety

Hailstorm:

Constantly battling himself (Frost)

DemonSharde:

More machine than man, less flexible, slow

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

**-×[ Family ]×-**

Xoa (adopted daughter)

Kendrick "Zeno" Sharde (son/clone)

**-×[ Found Family ]×-**

Floris (brother)

Zahir (undetermined)

Umbris (cousin)

Oblivion (nephew)

Connor Reade (undetermined)

Ezekiel (undetermined)

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

**-×[ Backstory ]×-**

Woah! This backstory is triggering. For your safety, it's been moved here with extensive warnings!

[nightmaregaverna]

Abe sees the Umbri. And gently flicks one of his ears.

"Why does your species have such floppy ears?"

"...Beats me just uhmmm...careful with them please? They are a tad sensitive and all..." Nightmare would mutter softly, giving a soft huff...not annoyed but...sort of at the same time?

#ic #ic nightmare

[umbrie]

Sure, when he complains about game mechanics it's because it makes no sense, but when someone else complains about the same thing, suddenly he's here defend it because he loves the game

#no one cares Umbrie

[vultures-and-scavengers]

Signature

On the eve of Darth Umbris’ ascension, Calumnia wandered the halls of the Academy, looking for her old Master. She found him eventually, in a room deep in the bowels of the Archives.

“Did you see this happening, when you made me your apprentice?” Her tone was light and teasing, but there was something ugly underneath her words. “I don’t think even Vowrawn could have pulled off something like this.”

Mortis turned from the shelves, the holocron he’d been studying in his hands and his shoulder sagged. “No. I believe at the time I was mostly relieved I wouldn’t have to through another week of discreetly holding interviews to hire a spymaster.”

Calumnia snorted, taking a seat on the chair in the corner. “And now all three of us have Council seats.”

“Yes. Had I intended to seize power, I would say I’d done quite well for myself.” He frowned at the holocron distractedly, before adding, “But that’s not the question you’re asking, child.”

He always could see right through her. Calumnia could be a mile ahead of the rest of the Empire but Mortis would always be ahead of her. It was how he’d stayed on the Council so long. “No,” she agreed after a long pause, her throat tightening.

“Cordatus will want this holocron,” he said in a non-sequitur. Setting it down on the desk, he gestured at a datapad she hadn’t noticed, halfway buried under some paperwork. “And you will find the answer you’re looking for on that datapad.”

She pulled it into her hand, careful not to pull the papers with it, and scanned the text. An adoption agreement, but with caveats. She would keep her name and her house, but it named her as the heir to Mortis’ House.

“I am becoming aware of how much Vitiate twisted us for his own ends. How he set up the Empire to falter and fail under the weight of our own infighting, our lack of responsibility for our own people. But there was one thing he did not take, child.”

She looked up at him, but he was turned away from her, weighing another artifact in his hand. “We, the Sith, value our families. A thousand years ago, we lost our families and our homeworlds. It taught us to value family, though it was too late for many.”

Mortis went silent, and Calumnia stared down at the adoption agreement, and signed it. By the time she looked up, her dear mentor had been replaced by the Dark Councilor, and he tapped a carrying case on his desk. “If you don’t mind, take these to Darth Cordatus. I don’t know why they were down here in my corner of the Archives, they’re not relevant to the Sphere of Justice.”

Calumnia stood, and inclined her head, placing the datapad on his desk before taking the carrying case. “Of course,” she said, and then a rare burst of mischief burst forth as she added, “Father.”

“Insolent upstart,” he said, but there was no heat in his tone. “Get out of here.”

Darth Calumnia did not beam or skip through the halls of the Academy, trying to track Cordatus, but particularly perceptive Acolytes and Overseers might have noted her stride was not quite as stormy as it usually was.

#oc: darth calumnia #swtor #its about the power of love and friendship and found family bay-bee #the power of love to soften others and turn them. slightly nicer #mortis always seemed to me one of the more reasonable sith lords out of the council #ravage is a POS #i mean they all are but like #he's especially a POS and he's annoying #also i imagine that while the sith are like fear no. 1 #they dont really leash any emotions #and that goes for loving your family too #and i imagine after being in exile for so long that your home is important

[theburntleaf]

Balsam Fir // Abies Balsamea

Economically and ecologically important, Balsam Fir is a keystone species of the eastern North American boreal zone. -Vermont Center for Ecostudies

Family: Pinaceae (pine)

Abies from the Latin “rising one” and Balsamea producing a fragrant gum or resin [1]

“Fir” comes from a proto-Germanic word referring to fir or pine trees [x]

Other common names include: eastern fir, Canadian balsam, and blister fir. [2]

Description:

“A steeple-shaped evergreen tree with [flat] needles 3/8” - 1 1/2” long and whitened beneath...cones are 1” - 3” long, upright and fleshy, purplish to green [when fresh]. Bark rather smooth with resin blisters. Height 40’-60’; diameter 1’-2’” - Eastern Trees, Peterson Field Guides, George A. Petrides and Jane Wehr

Distinguishing features that I personally use to identify Balsam Fir is its pointy pyramid shape, flat needles that don’t roll between fingers, and the resin blisters that cover the bark.

Habitat:

The soils on which balsam fir grows range from silt loams developed from lake deposits to stony loams derived from glacial till. Fir will grow, but comparatively slowly, on gravelly sands and in peat bogs. It grows on soils of pH ranging from 4.0 to 6.0. It is generally found in areas with a cold moist climate and with 30 inches or more of annual precipitation [3]

Balsam fir is widely distributed in northeastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland west across northern Quebec, northern Ontario, central Manitoba, and Saskatchewan to northwestern Alberta... southeast to northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and east to New England... scattered populations occur in southern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and northern Virginia. [2]

The only native Fir to the Northern Piedmont and a major component of the landscape both as a key to the Spruce-Fir-Northern Hardwood Forest formations and as major commercial crop in local agriculture (for christmas trees). It’s cone shape helps shed heavy snow load “like Vermont’s steep-pitched roofs” and it’s heavy resin content in its needles prevents cell walls from freezing. [4]

Ecosystem:

Balsam fir is a major food of moose during winter... Spruce and ruffed grouse feed on balsam fir needles, tips, and buds... Red squirrels feed on balsam fir male flower buds. Stands attacked by the spruce budworm attract numerous insect-eating birds, especially warblers and woodpeckers... Balsam fir provides important winter cover for white-tailed deer and moose. During summer, deer, bear, and moose often rest under the shade of balsam fir trees. Young balsam firs provide cover for small mammals and birds. Martens, hares, songbirds, and even deer hide from predators in balsam fir thickets. Grouse and songbirds seek shelter during winter within the evergreen foliage. In Maine, fishers often nest in witches brooms in balsam fir trees [2]

Balsam fir is a mostly early and mid successional, but is late successional or climax species in the mountains. Balsam fir seedlings are shade tolerant and can establish underneath a canopy of hard wood and other conifers and they can grow to be 200 years old [maximum]. Locally they form communities with Red Spruce and are accompanied by other trees in the Northern Hardwood Forest. Common understory plants include bunch berry and mayflower and balsams are often hosts to many lichens. [4]

Harvesting:

Resin, needles, and wood are collected from Balsam Fir

Oleo-resin is harvested (using a tool called a picoué) by cutting into blisters best in Jul-Aug [5] but I also like to do this in the winter and early spring when there is not much else to forage for. Dryer resin drips, found on the outter bark or cones, are best collected when temps are well below freezing and even then handled with care (very sticky). [a good video]

A coniferous forest on a warm summer day smells intensely evergreen, a signal essential oils production is high and would make for a good time to harvest needles as well. I have also heard it is good to harvest evergreen needles in early spring when photosynthesis starts back up and sap is flowing. But they also can be harvested in winter time for a late season tea (though perhaps not as potent)

Wood is usually harvested when trees are dormant.

Chemical constituents:

Vitamin C, beta-pinene, delta-3-carene, alpha-pinene, bornyl acetate, α-terpineol, piperitone, and thymol are found in the needles [x], a similar profile is derived from the resinous bark but also includes limonene, beta-phellandrene, camphene [X], and cis-abienol is a major component of its aromatic resin [5].

Actions:

The Penobscot applied resin as an analgesic antiseptic for burns, sores, bruises, and wounds. Iroquois used leaf tea for colds, coughs, and asthma. The Chippewa inhed fumes from resin on hot coals to treat headache. [5]

(balsam fir) Kokokha8wk: A tea made from the leaves is used for coughs, colds and fevers. The tea can also be used as a scalp wash for dandruff. The leaves are harvested in the spring and dried. The resin is an antiseptic and healing agent and is used for frostbite. - From Ethno-Botany of the Abenaki and other Northeast Tribes Compiled by Brian Chenevert

Antiseptic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, laxative, expectorant, vulnerary

Affinity for the respiratory system, skin, immune system

Energetics:

The presence of delta-3-carene is a good indicator that balsam is drying. Balsam is also stimulating, it helps activate and get things moving.

Safety/Cautions

Generally safe, no found contraindications, resin may cause skin irritation [5] heavy resin content may put stress on kidneys [x], pregnant and nursing mothers should avoid or consult a physician. As always medicinal information is for educational purposes, consult a doctor or clinical herbalist before using plants for treatment of illness.

History:

Because it is only native to North America, Balsam Fir has a well established history with the indigenous peoples some of which is noted above.

Locally I’m interested to learn more about how Balsam Fir has shaped the Northeast Kindom. It is logged for pulp wood and light construction, but more so commercially farmed for Christmas trees so it has a role to play in the local economy and agriculture and I’m sure it played a big role in the reforestation of Vermont after the 1800s.

A historic fun fact that also might come in handy (for doing natural crafts) is the resin was used as a transparent cement and to fix samples and slides for the microscope.

Read more:

Note on the Early History of Canada Balsam by Professor Flückiger

Maine Balsam Fir: A Tree of Many Uses, by David Fuller

The Evergreen Economy: NH & VT Christmas Wonderland by Amy Ash Nixon

Aromatic Use:

Thoreau wrote that the young shoots of the balsam fir, Abies balsamea, when picked and kept in a pocket for a few days emit the fragrance of strawberries “only it is somewhat more aromatic and spicy” [1]

Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. (Pinaceae). balsam fir. Unspecified parts of this species were burned as incense in Iceland (Bjornnson 1475). In parts of North America, Native Americans threw the needles on hot coals in their sweat baths and inhaled the fumes to relieve coughs and colds (Krochmal and Krochmal 1973). The gum from the tree was used in churches in Paris as frankincense (Lescar- bot 1609). From The Uses and Abuses of Plant Derived Smoke by Kayri Havens, Lara Jefferson, and Marcello Pennacchio

Paine’s products in Maine has been making balsam incense since 1931 and is featured in this article The Best Incense Sticks Are From an 85-Year-Old Company in Maine. Balsam fir pillows are also a common staple in country stores here in Northern New England, and is most popular in the area for trees, wreaths, and kissing balls to bring coniferous aromas inside during the holidays.

Recipes:

Fir needle makes a great tea. Combined with dried orange peel, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, ginger, and peppercorns for a spiced chai. Using folk methods of preparation: the needle and resin can be made into an oxymel or infused in honey, tinctured, or infused into oil for salves and soap. Definitely for incense and aromatic applications, most recently it was included in an incense dedicated to winter’s longest night and I am working on an all fir formula. I also make balsam sachets for clothing drawers and under pillows. It can be used in culinary endeavours, I have a good recipe for balsam fir and cranberry cookies. It can be used as a substitute for (white) pine which is often found in recipes as it is more wide spread.

Virtues:

Fir whose twigs and needles are burned as a protection from lightning during storms. The fresh branches are of especial merit as switches for scouring the ghost-ridden, or beating the evil out of a haunted place. Its resin... serves as a peerless fume for the removal of intruding ghosts... Abies balsamea,... is an Evergreen of northern latitudes, long valued for its fragrant contribution to the magical fume. Its principal magical virtues are purification, healing, and resonating the Genii of the Forest, though its more specialised formulae may render fumes which give rise to trance states... In the Work of the Hedge, the Fir stands as a charm against nightmares and nocturnal intrusion by hanging fresh branches hung over the bed. Similarly, a branch hung over the barn door keeps noxious spirits from stealing grain. -from Viridarium Umbris by Daniel Schulke

[most of this is also reiterated in Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, and Plants by Charles M Skinner]

One of the things that bothers me with the entry above is the lack of context, (where who why etc), which is an often occurrence with gathering such info. I’m assuming its use as a preventive against nightmares and thieving spirits is an act of sympathetic magic, (I’m also assuming some of this lore is specifically about Abies Alba balsam fir’s European counterpart. but as for balsamea...) as the resin bisters on its bark act as a trap against predators or perhaps it is a lure, dooming noxious spirits to count its many little leaves. Im unsure of the history or lore of its use to protect agaisnt lightning storms but in my personal practice evergreens are used to help bring rain [x]. It’s use in healing and purification is a little more obvious.

Personally I find balsam most pertinent in working with the genii loci. Balsam fir just embodies so much of the local landscape it’s hard not to encounter. There are the hedge keeping balsams the grow bushy and protect the forest boundary and there are balsams of the inner woods that grow tall resinous trunks. The perfume of its resin is favored by local land spirits. I find it specially tied to the varying hare. Balsam has a wonderful seasonal duality of being a beacon of life and warmth during winter, but one who harbors a cool relief to summer heat. But it is during winter that Fir receives the most adoration.

Botanical astrology is a subject I am still relatively new to (but very intrigued by) so my understanding of this might evolve. Agrippa gives rulership of pine trees to Saturn, and balsam fir (in the same family) has some saturnine traits as tree that grows in harsh conditions, a gymnosperm the oldest kind of seed producing plants, evergreen in immortality. In Culpepper’s Complete Herbal, he gives Fir trees to Jupiter, though is referring to a different species but with similar qualities. Looking to its medicinal application I can see how it may balance a phlemegtic temperament. More specifically when looking to clear the lungs I might consider Gemini, when concocting unguents for the skin: Capricorn, and Pisces when looking to stimulate the immune system. As an incense I am personally drawn to work with balsam in Lunar formulas especially when focusing on local materials. It is not a cooling sedating plant in action, but as an aromatic it I find it to be more aligned with the Moon. According to Agrippa “leaves of all vegetables” are appropriate in Lunar suffumigations, perhaps balsam needle would fall into that category. But I am more interested in its resin. Hiding behind round swolllen blisters, the oleoresin is very “watery” and is clear (to yellow tinged), even the slightly hardened resin is whiteish and moon like. Of the local (mostly conifer) resins it is the most true to the cool camphoraceous conifer scent that evokes the Moon, even when burned. These formulas often seek to enhance the trance iducing qualities of the burning resin and are to accompany dreaming, divination or to welcome Lunar influences. The Moon often rises over a particulary favored patch of balsam which was another draw and personal connection. I’m also interested to experiment and see if the Moon (phase or sign) has any effect on resin production for harvesting.

References:

*sorry for using both direct sources and footnotes*

"Gardener's Latin: A Lexicon", Barbara Damrosch.

Uchytil, Ronald J. 1991. Abies balsamea. In: Fire Effects Information System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

Plant Fact Sheet: Balsam Fir, USDA NRCS

Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A guide to the natural communities of Vermont, Elizabeth H. Thompson and Eric R. Sorensen

Peterson felid guide to medicinal herbs and plants of Eastern North Armerica, Steven Foster and James A. Duke

*as always with these monographs, this post is not static and is subject to change and updates as more information is discovered, learned, and processed. For educational purposes only and not for medicinal adivse*

#monograph #materia aromatica #balsam fir #long post #probably will be edited #I’m sure I messed something up somewhere in here haha

[young-vannois]

“I want to see the Vault,” Umbris demands of her sister, orange robes rumpled as of she had slept in them. In one hand is clutched a scroll yellowed and crumpled with age, its edges torn and chipped.

But Cecille only tilts her head, the skull mask looking back at Umbris impassively as faint blue lights dance around her head.

“No.”

“Why not?!”

“I know you have read the scrolls, I am not oblivious.”

“I know you have read the scrolls, I am not oblivious.”

“Cecille, we are dying! Our clan has been reduced to nothing! How much longer must we wait? How much longer CAN we wait?!”

“Much more than our sleeping ancestors lay in wait in the Vault dear sister. Creatures who must be held at bay with spells and technology. It is not safe for you to enter the Vault, much less with the intent to wake our elder brethren.”

Cecille gently takes the scroll from Umbris’ hands and tucks it beneath her shroud before turning to disappear around the corner and out of sight before Umbris can argue further.  

“You must have Faith sister. They will awaken when they are needed.”

~~

Umbris alights upon her outer balcony and slams the veranda door behind her with an agitated sigh, her hands still clenched tight and her head feathers in disarray. The room is cool despite the midday heat and sun shining through her carved windows. One of the perks of living in the Crystalspine Reaches: their homes were carved into the sides of the spires themselves and retained better consistent temperatures.

But it did little to ease Umbris’ rage in the moment. Not even the softness of her bed could quell the indignity rising in her chest. Cecille had treated her like a child and brushed off her concerns like nothing.

“Faith? Faith isn’t going to put food in our stores, coin in the coffers, or protect our already weak borders! Faith- pah!” 

“Oh man, am I interrupting another golden rant session?”

Umbris only twitches as she turns to level a steely glare at Lios, who had slithered into her chambers (or had been waiting already) and was grinning at her from the ceiling. He dropped down with a graceful twist and stood up, raking claws through his wild crest.

“Cecille keeps brushing me off about the Vault- AGAIN. It’s taken months just to find the scrolls about them and they hardly contain anything useful! And then when I ask, she starts going on about ‘faith’ and dark secrets. I know there are monsters there but I don’t care about them. We NEED to awaken the Forebears before our clan turns to nothing but a memory!”

Umbris has to slump against her rattan chair as she finishes, suddenly exhausted from her outpouring of frustration.

“Only she and Cataracta know where the Vault is and how to access it. Why won’t they listen to me? We’re on the brink of disappearing.”

She suddenly can’t help the sob that wracks her, forcing her into a curled up ball in her chair. What would happen when there was no more people to bring food? When no more warriors were left to patrol their already weak borders? The schools and nurseries had been closed for over 20 years now, the markets more quiet than not. What stalls were left were often shuttered closed and the streets empty. They were at the mercy of their neighbors and merely one generation away from fading away.

Lios’ hand grasps her shoulder as he kneels next to her, squeezing gently as his deep blue eyes look at her.

“Don’t give up now. We’re so close, I can feel it. You’ve worked so hard and I won’t let your work go to waste. Just tell me what to do,” he says softly.

Umbris drags in a ragged breath, wiping the dampness from her cheeks as she looks down at Lios. He had backed her since the beginning, when the merchants stopped coming more than once every three months. He had been with her when the nursery had closed and the caregivers had left. He was there when the last of their students had graduated in a mere class of five. He would be there no matter what.

“We need to find the Vault ourselves.”

“I’m a good tracker but Cecille and Cataracta use some sort of magic to travel there and mask their trails.”

“Then we don’t need them. We need someone else who came from the Vault.”

Lios’ eyes go wide at her suggestion and he sucks in a quick breath.

“You mean...”

“We need to find the Quiet Prince.”

#fr #flight rising lore #flight rising #The Fate of Vannois

[satan-the-avatar-of-wrath]

Alright, I'm going to say sorry in advance for this being long and possibly triggering. This again is Meowistic (or I sometimes called him my toasted marshmallow but that's not important). You said you wouldn't mind me telling you the story behind why I'm still mad at him for dying so here goes. I was living in a different state when I got him. I had to convince the other human I was living with at the time that the kitten would help me. I've lived with cats 97% of my life, there was a weird small percent between my first cat dying and convincing my ....sperm donor...that a cat was needed to make the house a home. Anyways back to story, After I got him, he and the other cat in the house didn't get along so we all agreed (we were paying off a house and there were four of us living there) that they should take turns. Meowistic hardly ever left my side and wasn't all that fond of the dog, Mana (if mun wants a picture of Mana I would love to give it but none of them are "good" pictures). Anyways so one day I tried doing something that wasn't my brightest idea so to speak. I tried overdosing on my antidepressants. Meowistic was at the bathroom door trying to get in and meowing at it. He wanted his momma to be okay. After that I saw him as a tiny guardian angel who got jealous since once I moved back in with my mom he also didn't get along with her cat. One night I was getting ready for bed around 7 or so and he was making a weird meowing sound. I knew something was off but hoped it could wait because I was dead tired and wasn't sure on the vet's hours. Well I woke up roughly at 9 to go potty and on the floor at the foot of my bed his body laid. As I was waking up my brain immediately went something is wrong, so I went downstairs to do my thing and I talked to my mom's boyfriend at the time saying I think my kitten (he was maybe 3? Either he just turned 3 or wasn't too much further into his third year of life) was dead. He came up to my room to check and he had blood coming from his mouth...I was so upset at the time, still am slightly but eh. We took him to the vet once we could, though we didn't have the money to find out why he died and at such a young age, so we got him buried. Maybe a week or so after I started looking at the local shelter kittens that a local shoe shop was keeping to try and help them get adopted faster. I fell in love with a few of them but once Umbri choose me, and being told she doesn't do things like cuddle or feel comfortable with humans I was like alright it's settled she's mine. My mom however was like no you need time to cope. Granted maybe but I didn't think so and waited only a few days before being like hey can we go get the kitten? I love Umbri, but she's got a couple bad habits of not listening to me, biting me when she's purring and I'm petting her, and biting my charging cords. I love her to death though, she knows when I'm upset and whatnot and is the first cat I've owned that likes laying on or beside me when I'm in bed. I've probably taken up enough of your time and wish you well. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope I wasn't too annoying or anything.

__________

Mun: I'm so sorry about your lose, I'm glad you have a new companion 💙 Animals are beautiful and tbh I dont think we truly deserve them, they give more to us then i think we give to them.

Satan: (currently really sad about your lose) Umbri is beautiful, take care of each other.

#thank you for your contributions #satan and mun talk #cats #my heart hurts #submission