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hetalia-club · 10 months

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Hetalia characters but it’s what kind of kid in Highschool they would have been. (I’m going off American/Canadian high school types because I am American)((Midwest to be more specific))

America- the jock who took dodge ball way too seriously. Would throw the ball way to hard. He really took all of Gym class way too seriously.

Canada- was the Hockey Meathead. Also took Gym way too seriously. And always had a huge dip in his bottom lip and carried around a clear spit bottle.

England- the “um actually” kid. Would correct the teachers with usually wrong information they learned off of the internet or TV, The teachers hate him.

France- class hottie who always skips class but the teachers have like a weird crush on him so they let him do whatever…

Russia- quiet photography kid spends too much time in the red room some think he’s a serial killer but he just is awkward and shy and doesn’t know how to socialize

China- the kid who draws all day every day. Draws dragons and wolves specifically. Will not pay attention in class. Gets in trouble for drawing all the time. People like him a lot though. He will draw you a sick dragon if you ask nicely.

Italy- similar to France. But he does get in trouble for things because he cannot stop talking to save his life.

Romano- is always in detention for his mouth. Has a reputation as a ‘bad kid’ but it’s actually because he just has no filter. At least twice a week if you are in a class with him you will hear the teacher say “Lovino, go to the principals office” and he’ll be like “the fuck did I do?”

Japan- the foreign exchange student everybody loves. Gets invited to all the parties and has dated most of the popular girls in school.

Prussia- the foreign exchange student nobody likes. Gets no bitches. But does not mind.

Germany- Teachers pet. He is the one who will yell at the class to “stfu! The teacher is talking!” Will remind the teachers there was an assignment due.

Spain- The senior foreign exchange student. One of the most well liked kids in school. New S.O every week. Will most likely be Prom King

Austria- sexual active band kid. (If you know you know)

Norway- the kid who always has his headphones in. Doesn’t want to talk to anyone. will just ignore you if you try.

Finland- major frat boy energy. Goes to every house party and gets trashed. He seems to always know where they are happening even if he wasn’t invited he’s still going to show up.

Sweden- the shy/quiet kid who is friends with the party boy he always gets drug along because Finland says he needs to “socialize more” but he always just sits in the corner and waits for someone he knows who is leaving to take him home.

Denmark- another jock. But he is friends with everybody. Will talk to everyone. Floats around the lunch room and does not have a specific clique.

Iceland- the kid who is always asleep in class. Somehow he is passing everything with straight As but he is never awake. Sometimes he’ll not show up to school for like a week. Straight just vapes in class and somehow never gets caught.

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hetalia-angel · 3 months

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What are the 1p/2p allies favorite hobbies?

-🎀

Hobbies

1p Allies

Canada- His favorite hobbies range from playing hockey, taking long nature walks and hikes, sledding, and kayaking.

America- Alfred’s favorite secret hobby is star gazing. He’d never admit it to anyone but he’s a total nerd for space and often looks out his telescope into the great night sky.

France- Francis is a total hater and no one can convince me otherwise. His favorite hobby is gossiping about anything and everyone.

England- Arthur’s favorite hobby is a mix of knitting, crocheting, and embroidery. He’s not the best but it’s the thought that counts. I headcanon that Oliver taught him the basics. He gets the thread and yarn tangled sometimes but it makes him happy nonetheless.

Russia- His favorite hobby is cooking with friends and family. Ivan enjoys being close to his love ones and tasting the most delectable Russian delicacies.

China- Yao is a collector of all things; this list ranges from plushies, figurines, dolls, and even posters. On the other hand he’s severely proud of his country and cuisine and always cooks for any guests or occasion.

2p Allies

England- Oliver’s favorite hobby is obviously baking no one trusts it but he still creates masterpieces. Another hobby that not most know is his love of card games; especially games like bridge.

France- François is an absolute prodigy at gambling and scamming others out of money. When he’s not gambling he’s often lounging around and smoking cigarettes. His lungs have got to be black after 100 years of smoking.

Russia- Viktor likes to stay sharp the more you know the easier it is to get what you want from others he’s always continuing his studies. Viktor’s very well versed in most things so he’d make an excellent tutor.

America- Allen recently got very into urban exploration. Those small abandoned Midwest towns catch his interest to no end. He finds himself going late at night to explore each nook and cranny.

China- Xao’s addictions consume his life and he’s always looking for the next plug. While Yao is similar to the nations’ grandfather Xao is the opposite. He’s more of a fun loving older brother who’s always seeking out excitement.

Canada- Matthieu acts like an old man always on a strict schedule. His favorites hobbies are hockey, whittling, hunting and especially hiking. He’s spent days on end hiking up mountains in the countryside.

#hetalia #1p headcanons #hetalia au #hws canada #2ptalia #2p!hetalia #2p canada #2p france #2p headcanons #2p america #2p england #2p china #2p russia #aph france #hws england #hws russia #hws china #hws france

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calypso707 · 11 months

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Carlos Oliveira x Fem!Reader : Sweet dreams.

Intro (fluff kinda stuff): You and Carlos are the last survivors of Raccoon City, and after the terrible events you stayed in touch. In fact, you often meet up with the intention of investigating Umbrella in order to bring them down. It was just another night out until…

The events in Raccoon City had been very tough, and even though she tried to pretend it was all behind her, it wasn't. She couldn't get back to a normal life and put it behind her. The events had left physical and psychological scars; how could she forget all the horrors she had seen? While she was away on a mission for several days, far from her hometown in the Midwest of the United States, she had to return in a hurry. As a detective with the Raccoon City police, she had been called back to help out, but what she found was horror and bloodshed. Her family had succumbed to the spread of the virus, there was nothing left, no memories, no attachments, no home. Nothing.

She was one of the last survivors, a miracle she thought, and she couldn't understand how she had managed to survive all that shit. She had been rescued by a certain Carlos Oliveira, a former caporal of the UBCS, a private military faction belonging to the Umbrella Corporation, specialising in rescue in epidemic environments. He was accompanied by another survivor, Jill Valentine, a former member of S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team. She knew her briefly, as her unit was under the jurisdiction of the Raccoon City Police Department.

They had found help in Washington D.C. after the bombing in Raccoon City, were taken in by a rescue team and had to undergo all sorts of tests to make sure they weren't contaminated. Just routine. In the exchange she had with Jill after all this, she confessed to her that the Umbrella Corporation was behind it all, but on the news, nothing, everything had been covered up. While Jill, once she was in condition, left on a mission in the depths of Russia, Carlos had lost his job at the UBCS, which had been completely eradicated in Raccoon City, but he was determined to put an end to Umbrella.

She had kept in touch with them, Jill with difficulty following her missions, but Carlos and she saw each other regularly. The young woman had become a detective with the DC police. However, she remained determined to uncover the actions of Umbrella Corporation, so they worked together, Carlos passing on everything he knew about Umbrella.

The young woman was sitting in front of her computer, researching, and writing down everything she could think of that might be of interest. She was determined to make this organisation that had taken everything from her pay. She took off her glasses to massage her eyes, her hair carelessly tied up in a low bun, tiredness beginning to get to her.

"How long have you been on it?" asked Carlos, sitting next to her with a box of chinese food in his hands.

The young woman's eyes fell on the clock in the bottom right-hand corner of her screen, which read 1.12am. "I've lost count of the hours. It's crazy, they've managed to erase everything about what happened back there..."

"Does your boss know what you do outside of work hours?" questioned the former UBCS member before taking a bite of fried noodles.

"Are you kidding me? I'll get fired," she sank into the back of her chair, chewing on the right side of her glasses.

"Okay. Well, don't be mad, doll, but I'm beat. I'm going to bed, have something to eat and don't forget to close the door when you leave”

The young woman nodded and watched Carlos put the box of noodles on the desk before placing a kiss on the top of her head, she smiled. She then watched him going into the room at the back, which happened to be his bedroom. For several weeks now, they had been meeting regularly to put together everything they knew so that they could produce an ironclad report that could harm Umbrella if it became public. An ambiguity had gradually built up between them, without anything ever happening. Yet she enjoyed his company, in fact, it reassured her and kept her panic attacks at bay. She grabbed the box of noodles and took a big bite before putting her glasses back on and going back to work.

Then an hour passed and another, and her gaze locked on the time 3:12am. It was time to go home, luckily, she didn't live far away. She was saving her documents on her computer and just as she was about to switch it off, a noise drew her attention: it was coming from Carlos's room. She looked over her shoulder, waiting a few seconds to see if it happened again, and it did. She thought she heard his voice. She slowly got up from her chair and approached the room, the curtains poorly closed and the moonlight allowing her to scan the room. Carlos seemed to be asleep, shirtless, the sheet laid carelessly over his waist, though she could guess that he was completely naked underneath. Shit, the view was quite nice and he was bloody well built. She watched his torso rise at a rather rapid and irregular pace, her gaze then passing over the man's face. He was probably having a nightmare; he was agitated and mumbling completely incomprehensible things. She entered the room and slowly walked around the bed to get close to Carlos's head. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and neck. She brought her hand up to his face, hesitant at first, and then leaned over, brushing his cheek with her fingertips: "Carlos? Wake up.."

Before she knew what was happening, she found herself crushed on the mattress, Carlos leaning over her, pinning her wrist next to her head. She looked at him, in surprise, and saw that the man took a long time to understand what was happening and where he was, yet he didn't move. He looked at her, confused, struggling to regain his composure: "Y/N?"

"Sorry, I... You looked like you were having a nightmare, I didn't mean to frighten you" she stammered.

"Shit, sorry about that, it's been happening a lot lately" he said in a sleepy voice.

Now that he was awake, she thought he was going to release her, but no, he didn't move and their proximity made her lose more and more of her composure. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and she was glad that it was dark enough in the room to hide the pink that was spreading to her cheeks. Carlos remained silent but allowed his gaze to run over the young woman's body. There she was, so beautiful, her eyes shining with a strange gleam, her loose hair scattered over the sheets, she had got rid of her glasses which she only used when she was working on her computer. Her lips were parted and her T-shirt was slightly up, revealing her lower stomach. Fuck and those shorts..., Carlos thought, remembering that he was naked under the thin sheet. The young woman cleared her throat to regain composure, trying to sit up straight: "I... I'm going to let you sleep, I'm gonna go"

"No, stay," said Carlos.

The young woman looked at him, his request sounding like a complaint. He was looking at her with pleading eyes, the kinda look that could melt her heart. How could she tell him no? After all, that was all she hoped for, to get closer to him. Just as she was about to reply, she noticed that Carlos closed the distance between them, and she could feel his warm breath against her skin. Burning her. It wasn't long before he starts kissing her, giving her the wildest, languorous kiss, his hand moving up her wrist to intertwine his fingers with hers. Their exchanges intensified, their mouths parting to meet again, the kisses becoming more and more intense. As she nestled her hand in the former agent's black hair, he slipped his other hand under her T-shirt, moving it up towards her chest. He broke the kiss to kiss her jaw line, then her neck. The young woman bit her lower lip, the desire that was building inside her close to consuming her. She heard Carlos growl against her skin as she intertwined her fingers with his locks of hair: "Thanks for waking me up, I like the way this dream is turning out, sweetheart".

#resident evil #oneshot #resident evil remake #carlos oliveira #resident evil 3 #re3 remake #re3make #carlos oliveria x reader #carlos x reader #resident evil fanfiction #re3 carlos

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steelthroat · 6 months

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*Bust through the wall like the Cool-aid man* Did somebody say worldbuilding?

Cybertronian architecture has always been an interest of mine and sadly we never really get a proper look at its cities aside from ‘futuristic looking towers’ and the shapes are cool! But it’s also kinda boring. Unfortunately I severely lack knowledge in the field of architecture and have been using canon and fanon to create a general ~vibe~ but I do have some consistent ones.

Vos: Towers have holes to maximize airflow. No sharp edges and small over the top decorations like in Russian artistry. It might seem like a weird combo but I swear it Seekers = Russia just makes sense

Praxis: Asian inspired in almost all aspects but architecture, follows Korea philosophy of architecture mostly. Their buildings would flow a natural floor plan meant to balance out “energies” (I swear this is based of a real Asian philosophy but I cannot for the life of me remember what it’s call). You could probably get close with calling them Green urbanization because they include their singing crystals in everything

Nyon: I don’t have any particular culture but it’s definitely super cramped together with tons of back alley and steep stairs. Scrap metal sheets protects against the acid rain and most roads are bumpy cobblestone, alt modes don’t see a lot of action here unless you’re a beast former. Bonus is cool parkour! I wanna say it’s like the Underground from Arcane but less sketchy people

Smaller noteworthy details include:

-Tarn having long strips of road with essential shops (Midwest mining towns)

-Polyhex has geometric engravings on the side of buildings. It’s also connected to water/liquid transportation somehow, canals, the Rust Sea, whatever it’s got ports and liquid.

-Helix, Antihelix, or any city with -Helix has roundabouts and a grid pattern

-The more “touristy” areas of Kaon Gladiator pits look Roman but the local places where regular people live are all American/New England Post-Industrial

I could go into so much detail about this stuff and my understanding is that the basics of design are pretty similar across cybertron where meeting the purpose and necessary accessibility requirements are top priority. However, Layout plans will vary depending on the majority frame class and style will be more distinct the more disconnected from Iacon they are (I’m using Iacon as the trend setting “ground zero” so to speak).

This message is all that I needed as I woke up, screw morning coffee, I don't even like coffee!!!

*smooch*

I super duper like these ideas!!! I was reading and googling the whole time ahahdhfh

Yes it is a little bit boring that every Cybertronian city is down "the same way" and especially after the idw continuity where the lore is thick and we learn that the culture varies from city to city I can't believe that there are the same architectural styles... like we have varying styles from region to region (Italy) and we're all humans, imagine a place where some people drive, some people fly and some other do weird things ahahdh.

Another thing that interests me is the artistic expression of the inhabitants of those cities, an Iaconian (Iaconi? Iaconist? Ia-whatever???) would never create the same kind of art as a Kaonian (Kaonite? Kaoni????) artist.

It's like when there where romanticism and neoclassicism at the same time and varying from where the artist came from they would lean more towards one instead of the other (this is an oversimplification but I hope I'mmaking myself clear)

Also the message behind the art:

Iacon is so fkn neoclassical in my head it's unbelievable, so attached to the past "the golden age" the "true art" amd the idealistic beauty

Kaon could NEVER embrace those ideals, Tarn and Nyon and Rodion neither.

So just like the art would drastically change, the architecture would follow the lead... also because different frame types and some cities like Vod tend to have a majority of its inhabitant with a specific frame/alt-mode

If I may headcannon even more I'd say that the richer parts of the cities resemble Iacon because of its hegemony.

Why not make laws about architecture excusing them with something like "this kind of building is dangerous to xyz" or "it reminds of x traumatic age"?

Lol Cybertonians have fought for AGES and if we take a look at the Restoration age where they changed even the interior design to destroy anything that reminded people of Napoleon... I'd say that this could work for Cybertron too. Who doesn't love a little bit of historical revisionism -_-

Why not make hostile architecture against specific frame types and castes?? If someone tells me that there's a fictional discriminatory and dystopic society I WANT TO FEEL IT.

#transformers #maccadam #steel rambles #steel answers #babe wake up new tag just dropped #I will keep rambling about this fear not

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dwellordream · 2 months

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“At the end of the 19th century, when slightly more than half of all working people were still engaged in agriculture and the nation’s population was still concentrated mostly in the Eastern states, the statistically and geographically average American woman would have been a 38-to-40-year-old white farmer’s wife with four or five children, living in southwestern Ohio. Like 98 percent of married white women in 1890, this “average” American woman did not work for pay outside her home. In addition to housekeeping, cooking, and child care, though, she probably performed a great deal of farm labor and may have sold eggs and butter to make a little cash.

She may also have been involved in local church work, or a temperance (anti-alcohol) group, or a ladies’ auxiliary of the county Grange, an organization that encouraged farmer cooperatives and agitated for farmers’ political rights. Our typical mid-continent woman was probably not an immigrant, but she might well have been the offspring of German or Scandinavian immigrants, the groups that had dominated the settlement of the Midwest after the Civil War. Her own daughter, coming of age in the 1890s and educated in a local township school, might have more opportunities than her mother. Unless she married a farmer, or her parents needed her labor at home, she could move to Chicago or some other large city and take up work in a factory, shop, or office.

This picture of the statistically average American woman and her daughter does not tell the whole story. In fact, the typical, if not the average, white American woman in 1890 was just as likely to be a young working-class woman--a Russian-Jewish or Italian garment worker in New York City, a Polish meat packer in Chicago, or an Irish domestic servant in Boston--as she was to be a farmer’s wife in Ohio or Nebraska, because immigration was changing the population so rapidly in 1890. The waves of British, Irish, and German immigration had ended in the 1880s. Now the immigrants, who arrived each year in the hundreds of thousands, came mostly from eastern and southern Europe--Russia, Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, and Italy.

…The picture of women’s lives in the South at the turn of the century differed in several significant ways from that of their Northern counterparts. Southern society had been all but destroyed in the Civil War, along with Southern cities and much of the Southern landscape. Recovery had been slow and incomplete, and the South did not share the industrial prosperity of the North. Society was sharply divided along racial lines, and white racism had become steadily worse after Reconstruction ended in the late 1870s. Confined largely to jobs in agriculture, African Americans worked as laborers on vast cotton or tobacco plantations, or as sharecroppers, paying for the fields that they leased from white landowners with a share of their crops. Few black families owned farms of their own.

Although many black women dreamed of a life in which they could devote full time to family cares and household responsibilities, most had to work full days for white landowners or toil in the fields alongside their husbands in order to maintain even a minimum family income. The few jobs available to black women outside agriculture were in domestic service--working for white families--or in laundries, or in segregated mills and cigarette factories. Black families made enormous sacrifices to keep their daughters in school, with the expectation that they might become teachers or small-business owners. African-American parents could hope that the next generation of black women might escape sharecropping or working in white men’s houses, where they were subject to insult and frequently in danger of sexual assault.

…Western coastal states were especially attractive to Asian immigrants, though the influx of Chinese laborers had slowed to a trickle after the Chinese Exclusion Act became law in 1882. Filipino immigration increased significantly after the Spanish-American War in 1898, and by the end of the 19th century, Japanese immigrants had established substantial communities in California. Although the Chinese and Filipino immigration was at first mostly male, Japanese immigration was more evenly balanced between men and women.

The Asian groups tended to remain isolated from the larger, white society, which regarded their different physical characteristics, as well as their languages and customs, with deep suspicion and contempt. Like women in other immigrant cultures, Asian women remained more isolated and less assimilated than men, remaining homebound or working in restaurants, laundries, or small industries run exclusively by members of their community. Many new brides went straight from the boat to the farms of central California, where they picked fruits and vegetables alongside their husbands by day and cooked meals and cared for their children and living quarters the rest of the time.”

- Karen Manners Smith, “Woman’s World in 1890.” in New Paths to Power: American Women, 1890-1920

#karen manners smith #history #american #19th century #1890s #gender #new paths to power

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myemuisemo · 2 months

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Gorgeous wilderness description opens "The Avenging Angels," part 12 of Letters from Watson. I wonder how much was inspired by Sir Richard Francis Burton's The City of Saints, recounting his travels in the west and visit to Brigham Young.

Our fleeing party is initially in the Oquirrh Mountains west of Salt Lake City.

The modern highway route skirts the Oquirrhs, in favor of a straight run across the salt flats.

If Ferrier, Lucy, and Jefferson Hope really made 30 miles in their first days, they reached the Cedar Mountains, which are less terrifyingly craggy but very much a desert. Deseret Peak is the pinnacle of this range, though any route across would look for a lower pass.

Were they to make it into what's now Nevada -- with Carson City clear the other side of the state -- there'd be a lot more of this. It's not hospitable country even today.

The big horn sheep is exotically western! And genuine! I am distracted from Jefferson Hope's wasting much of his kill by the discovery that the Sierra Nevada mountains (California - Nevada border, nowhere near our fleeing party yet, but important to me IRL) have their own genetically distinct big horn population.

Hope's slaughtered big horn is likely a Rocky Mountain big horn.

Of course, it's all a disaster. Everyone had to be doomed by the narrative in some way.

But we get an exact date: August 4, 1860.

Camp Floyd, the U.S. Army camp for the occupation of Utah following the Utah War of 1857-8, was right at the south end of the Oquirrh Mountains. Jefferson Hope had the option of hiding Ferrier and Lucy in the mountains and walking them right into the protection of the U.S. military. Maybe there were too many LDS settlers in the low spots in between (though I think Doyle didn't know or remember that the Utah War had happened).

Now comes the crucial moment that chafes me hard.

As the young fellow realized the certainty of her fate, and his own powerlessness to prevent it, he wished that he, too, was lying with the old farmer in his last silent resting-place. Again, however, his active spirit shook off the lethargy which springs from despair. If there was nothing else left to him, he could at least devote his life to revenge.

What about rescuing Lucy after she's married? Okay, Jefferson Hope can't get back to Salt Lake City in time to prevent a forced marriage. However, we're told later that she was a marriage prize primarily for control of her father's property. Once that's in the hands of her husband, would he bother pursuing her? In this period, marriage would make it his and eliminate her rights to it. (I'm assuming nobody is disputing the legality of polygamous marriages in this universe.)

Jefferson Hope really seems to buy in that once married (against her will), Lucy is legitimately another man's property. Admittedly, it's an era when pressuring an heiress into marriage was seen as fairly acceptable, if one's table manners were good. The burden was on the young woman to be too wise and firm to give in, and yet when Lucy shows fine judgment and takes action to avoid the match, she's taken by force. The system is so completely rigged against her; no wonder she can't find any hope to live for.

The schism that sends Drebber and Stangerson on their merry way appears to be fictional, as the Reorganized LDS under Joseph Smith III in the Midwest is too early (1861) and the Godbeites in SLC is too late (1869).

By the end of Jefferson Hope's epic pursuit from Russia to France to Denmark to England. we have now accounted for Drebber's existence in Cleveland, his employment of Stangerson, the gold ring, and the note about how Jefferson Hope is in Europe.

We have not accounted for why Drebber would go arm in arm with his enemy into a vacant house.

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes

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aiyanacatori · 1 year

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The following is an expanded thought/rant on Nyo!America. I made a shorter version yesterday but wanted to expand it.

Warnings: mentions of neglect, abuse, period typical attitudes and behaviours, colonization, imperialization, civil war, Spain, WW1, Great Depression, WW2, Cold War, the '90s and early 2000s. Basically, if it was a major event I touch on it through the lens of the possibility of Nyo!America.

The fun idea about nyo!America existing in the same universe where it is basically the same but it’s Nyo!America is just how much would have changed for her. Personally her.

In general Alfred was able to do what he wanted, frolicking in the fields of the Midwest and avoid work? Yeah, he could do that. Go up and visit his brother for weeks at a time? Just leave a note. Start an international incident by punching Russia? That can be resolved. Have a sloppy public image? What are you going to do? Oppose him? Alfred can do more or less whatever he wants. Sure he struggles and I'm not invalidating those struggles, but it is a different font of struggle.

Nyo!America [whatever name you want to use because all names are cool and I have my own headcannon names.] Would have to work constantly to be taken seriously and to be seen as an equal. As a colony she was mostly neglected as a second thought by the English/British government. She would be constantly have been having to prove herself and be self sufficient. England would have not seen her as a threat. After all she was a small female nation. What could she possibly do against the British? When starting the revolution no one would believe in her. There were so few female nations to begin with in a high standing. The ones in Europe were under the flag of someone else. Everyone thought it was going to fail. Than the Americans started proving that they could do it, nations started supporting her. She got her freedom, but there was still the feeling that this would just be a shirt term thing. She would have to keep proving herself. After all she just proved them wrong already, they were going to be wrong about everything else.

The Articles of Confederation didn't work, and people thought this was going to be the end. This is just another point as to why female nations couldn't do all that much, and why, historically, many empires were better off with male representatives.

Nyo!America pushes on. Most of her bosses doubt her ability to some level. Even the ones who don't treat her poorly still doubt her. She can't take breaks, and she can't skip town for weeks because it will be held against her. She's doing paperwork, meeting and greeting officials, reading books and taking classes from paid tutors. She has to be because if she doesn't then they will find something wrong with her.

Her manners are top-notch, she learns the customs of other places, and learns greeting and pleasantries in other languages. She has to be the best at everything. So what if she skipped sleep here or there? She still has work to do.

Nyo!America would in a bit of spare time get to know her people. If she can find out where things within her country are lacking she can try to help. These are the people she represents and she wants to be the best place for all of them. She knows all of the flaws within her nation like the stories engraved in her skull, but she has to keep trying. Where she can try and help with things she does, but no one will take her seriously.

She learns early that most of these people won't take her skill and knowledge seriously unless she forces them. Everyone has something to keep and no one expects a lady like her to figure them out or use them against them. She does. So what if she has to blackmail a bit, so what if she had to threaten a couple of big-headed men who won't take her knowledge until given no other choice. So what if she has to use some underhanded ways that would make some weary. She is doing everything she can.

The Mexican-American war. She didn't want to fight Mexico. She was the only other female nation she knew. They had each other’s backs in the world of male nations. There was still a war and she had to prove herself. She didn't have the standing to oppose it all. She lost her friendship with Mexico. She hated the people in charge for a long while, but she couldn't say anything. How could she when they were waiting for a chance to throw her out? She writes essays of apologies to Mexico for years. For decades. They don't get along all the time, but they both understand the pain. They might not be buddy buddies, but they were still two female nations in the sea of male nations. If push came to shove they personally have each other’s backs.

The nation is divided and America was to kneel over in pain. She wants to lie in bed and scream, cry, and shut down. She can't. They won't take her pain seriously. She's just a woman. She stands up and fights. She fights for her people, the ones who can get their long-needed freedom. She's still in pain, but she will smile through it all if it means more of her people will be free.

There are still problems, still, people who deny rights, but she is doing the damn best she can to help.

She's a regional power, her wealth is growing and flocks of people are moving. She is proving them all wrong. The old world still scoffs at her and isn't taking her seriously. Some are mad at her for 'taking' their people. Not all of them. Some of them are starting to see the writing on the wall. Their respect for her is growing. She broke the glass ceiling just for it to be replaced by another. She will keep working at trying. She can't stop now. When she shows up for diplomatic meetings they still are looking for something to criticize her about. Maybe her clothes are a trend out of date, her accent is slightly off, she doesn't remember a custom. She keeps up. It's becoming harder to find something to hate about her with. She stays out of their buisness they stay out of hers.

Her country has 'territories' now. Hawai'i, Cuba, Philippines. She didn't really want them. She just wanted the Europeans out of the new world. She was done playing games with them. She was done sucking up all the time, she was in a position to demand them to leave. She went to war with Spain. One of the most feared nations in the new world. The one who burned it all to the ground. The one who had erased cultures and lives like the dust of a mantelpiece. ('Annoying and in the way) she won. But then instead of giving freedom her government took territories. Wasn't enough. The friends she made were now her colonies just with a more pleasant-sounding name.

She tries but nothing is being done.

Europe starts another war. She rolls her eyes and goes back to her stack of work. Europe I always at war. It was at war before she was around, has been at war before and will continue to be. She doesn't really have a side to pick. There are a lot of immigrants from all over so picking a side for yet another European conflict feels stupid.

Europe's war has been making her money. She has the biggest economy. People are being mowed down by machine guns. The telegram comes. The Germans were trying to start a new front in North America. A repeat of the Mexican-American war. Her country goes to war and she ships out with her soldiers to Europe.

The war is over and she hated every moment of it. She sent letters back to Mexico because she needed to talk to someone. They still don't get along all the time but she doesn't think she could ever fight a war against Mexico ever again.

Europe is being greedy again. They are creating a future problem with how they are handling this. Of course who would listen to her? Apparently not Europe who still thinks they are knowing wise for having a couple centuries of existence over her. She tries to help but there is only so much that they can do.

She allows herself a break. Finally, a chance to unwind. Of course, the government does something stupid. Banning alcohol is going to cause more problems than it fixes. She does participate in some underground activity because the government is stupid sometimes(a lot) and she just came back from trench war hell.

The economy crashes and the world seems to be going to hell. Her people are suffering and the news from Europe looks dark. Why are they ignoring it? She doesn't say anything. She has more problems than worrying about Europe.

War. Europe is at war again. She saw this coming. She wrote to England and France about it when she saw it. They disregard her again. Japan attacked and this war seems darker than before.

Hypocrites. All of them are hypocrites. Her government, England's, France's. All of them. She could list every time another government pulled some of this. It was in a different century, in a different time. It's what her brother said. She rolls her eyes but moves on, she has Russia to deal with now.

America will be less likely to admit this now, but she really only wanted to be left alone. Maybe not her government, but she wanted to be left alone. Going tor to toe with Russia was exhausting. She was paranoid and couldn't take any chances. If she failed no one would believe in her again. She worked hard for her spot in the world and she would be damned if that got taken away. Her officials don't like her new ideas, and don't like how she was siding either those who wanted to end the conflicts in the cold war. They saw that as weak. Just another womanly feature to belittle. She just rolls her eyes. She has power and the ability to speak back now.

Of course, every day is new paperwork, more issues, more help me here, stop helping me. Pay back money. She is trying. Trying. Trying. Trying.

She is the centre of it all and yet they still hold up their noses in their centuries-old bigotry of superiority. She's got this.

----

She mellows out. She calms down because she can afford to. Not all the time, but she can. Slowly some of them forget just how powerful she is. That's fine. They can forget. She knows how powerful she is. She knows where she Excels. She won't lord over anyone, because why should she? She worked hard for where she is, and she broke all expectations and then some.

-/\-/\-

Nyo!America at least in my eyes would be the perfect version of America. It was such a missed opportunity. Truly unfortunate that few others see it. Oh well, rather are missing out on a cool story.

#hetalia #nyotalia #aph america #aph nyo america #aph nyo!america #hws america #hws nyo!america #APH #HWS #historical hetalia #The missed oppertunities #Hetalia AU #This is now my cannon #you can take it from my cold dead body #the Hetalia woman were not given the right treatment #in this house we given them respect

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henrysglock · 7 months

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Least favourite stranger things character? + explanation

Hmmm this is hard!

There are some characters I hate as people, but they're also super interesting as a character. Like Brenner, for instance. I hate that man with a passion. However. I love him as a character because he's so complex and interesting to pick apart, even if I can't stomach his actions.

And then there are characters I love as people but hate as characters. See: Eddie Munson. He's funky and quirky and attractive, sure, but he exists almost solely to deliver subtext at this point, and he's completely unnecessary even in that. Everything Eddie does could be done by Jonathan. If we're concerned about subtext, then they should have named Jonathan "Edward/Eddie Byers" instead. The whole "did he kill his brother?" subtext works just as well, if not better for Edward subtext, and he's already established as a freak/outsider/creep by Hawkins' standards. Imho, Eddie didn't need to exist, as it stands. We already have a town freak, thanks.

And then there are people like Jim Hopper who I don't like as a person and couldn't care less about as a character. I honestly think he should have stayed dead. He, like Eddie, doesn't really serve a purpose other than subtext and backstory delivery at the moment. Russia and Cali in general was fairly unnecessary outside of a) getting the adults out of Hawkins, and b) delivering subtext.

Although...as far as I can see, everything that happened re: NINA could have happened in Indiana. Prove me wrong. Yeah, even the missile silo bit:

In fact, it almost would have felt better to me, since a 1958 establishment date would have lined up nicely with Henry's 1959 abduction. We never needed to leave the Midwest. Want the Byers to escape Hawkins for a little? Have the Byers move to Fort Wayne, IN. Wayne Munson connection. There were many other ways to do this without expanding to encompass half the globe. But that's just my opinion.

#asks

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clipso · 9 months

Text

💊Medical Murder Sim💉

(Name currently undecided)

Welcome to the masterpost on my (VERY early in progress) murdersim! The content will be 18+, and minors/no age blogs will be blocked.

You will play as the main character, who is fresh out of medical school and getting ready for your new job! Let's hope whatever it is you survive it.. and that surviving isn't worse than the alternative!

You can reblog this post, but it will be updated now and then!

if you want to know more about anything, please feel free to ask ^^

LOVE INTERESTS:

All characters here will have a tag of their name on this blog for you to look through! All tags will be added on to this post

NAME: Dr. Lial Sang

PRONOUNS+GENDER: he/him, female

JOB OCCUPATION: Cryptobioligist

SPECIES: Human

AGE: 31

HEIGHT: 5'1"

Originally from: USA

Lial is outgoing, bubbly and affectionate. He loves his job and is eager to take you under his wing! But maybe he enjoys what he does a little too much..

He grew up alone with his father in a small town in the middle of nowhere midwest. His dad was distant, and had a habit of bringing home something other than animals on his hunting trips. Teaching Lial how to take care of a kill was their only point of bonding. After his fathers passing, Lial was eager to get out into the world and make an impact of his own. And what better place to do his own hunting than in the medical field?

Playlist

NAME: "Dr." Val Dilacor

PRONOUNS+GENDER: They/Them, nonbinary

JOB OCCUPATION: "General Care doctor"(Plague doctor)

SPECIES: Vampire

AGE: real age: 350~ physical age: 25~

HEIGHT: 5'4"

Originally from: Italy

Val is loud, confident, and commanding. They're excited to give their patients the care they need, even if those patients don't know they need it yet. And with you as their obedient helper! As long as they don't decide you need treatment next..

They were turned into a vampire in the 1600s, and remember none of their life previously. They turned to living as a plague doctor as an effort to keep themself both hidden and fed, but after people started realizing they had a much lower mortality rate (due to their unique methods), they gained popularity and a small cult following. But now that modern medicine has advanced without them, they've been long forgotten in the public eye. And they're determined to show everyone they deserve to be remembered.

Playlist

NAME: Dr. Alexandria Zhivkov

PRONOUNS+GENDER: they/them, nonbinary

JOB OCCUPATION: Cryptobiologist

SPECIES: Human(mostly)

AGE: 46

HEIGHT: 5'8"

Originally from: Russia

Zhivkov is professional, curt, and distrusting. It's hard to tell if they're mean, or just bad at social interaction. Whichever it is, they seem pretty serious about their job. Probably best not to get in their way..

They previously worked for a much more above ground institute with their ex fiance. They both decided to smuggle some of their test subjects out of work to do some studying without any red tape, which worked for a while. But when they had a falling out with each other that lead to the killing of one of the subjects, their partner confessed everything to the institute. Zhivkov was sentenced to jail time, but a new, shadier institute made some deals in order to have them work there instead of rotting in prison. And this time, they're not letting anything get in the way of doing their job.

Playlist

NAME: Dr. Indrid Bellamie

PRONOUNS+GENDER: he/him, male

JOB OCCUPATION: Mortician

SPECIES: Angel of Death

AGE: real age: 800~ physical age: 30~

HEIGHT: 6'6"

Originally from: Sweden

Indrid is patient, kind, and withdrawn. He seems so thrilled to have a new assistant to show around! Just hope you can earn his trust as much as his affection..

He was originally a shepherd in the 1200s, working on a small farm with his family. Until he met his now ex, Dahlia. She turned him into an angel of death shortly after they met, and they spent a long time together. But eventually their differences drove each other apart, and he left to start his own morgue to guide souls on to their own afterlife in peace.

Playlist

OTHER INFO & CHARACTERS

This list is incomplete, and these characters do not have tags started yet!

IN GAME CHARACTERS:

Dahlia King: Indrid's ex

UNSEEN CHARACTERS:

William Sang: Lial's father

Emily Sang: Lial's mother

Cadere D'este: Val's first worshiper

Dr. Isaiah Newman: Zhivkov's ex fiance

Beata: Indrid's older sister

Linnea: Indrid's younger sister

Once again, I am still very early in the process and will probably be taking things slow, especially since I've never made a game like this before. Any time I update this list I will try to remember to reblog it with the new additions!

#nsft oc #murder oc #lial sang #alexandria zhivkov #val dilacor #indrid bellamie

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banalityofambiguity · 2 months

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I think there’s no level of political commentary more terminally online and utterly useless than motivated reality denial. I’ll use the example of one of the funniest people I have ever encountered on the internet, a self-proclaimed “Midwestern German Nationalist” who believed they were an oppressed minority in the United States and that their nation was a legitimate and real thing waiting to spring into existence as soon as the boot of America was removed. If they are confronted with evidence such as “basically nobody in your proposed borders even speaks German” they will respond that “that’s because it’s being suppressed”. In reality, all of us can agree that “Midwestern Germany” is not a real nation because nobody actually believes in its existence aside from this one woman on the internet. There is no conspiracy in place to suppress the “truth” of this nation’s existence, there’s just the very simple fact that in the real world, if you go to the Midwest, effectively nobody will describe themselves as being Germans oppressed by America. We can all agree that this is stupid, and that arguing with people on the internet about your imaginary nation-state in the American midwest is never going to make it actually exist. But if you truly believe in this absurd cause, you have to believe that it can exist, and that arguing with people about its existence will make it real.

This specific example is basically harmless, because it’s so stupid and niche as to be rendered irrelevant. But this is also done for issues that matter, despite it being utterly useless. Claiming that the United States of America’s populace is called “Americans” is just stating reality, and arguing that “it’s wrong to call them Americans” is stupid. If you want to criticize American imperialism you can just criticize American imperialism, you don’t need to have bizarre semantics arguments. You can argue that Ukraine should control Crimea without pretending that Russia hasn’t controlled it de facto for nearly 10 years. You can criticize the State of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, or treatment of Palestinians more generally, without pretending that Israel doesn’t actually exist. Because however you think the world should be, claiming on the internet that the world is different than it is achieves nothing but making you feel smug satisfaction that you’re “showing them” by refusing to engage with the world that everyone else lives in.

And this, in turn, just makes you appear stupid and profoundly unserious.

#you will get nowhere pretending things are different #and you will not change anybody’s mind #you’ll just look like a teenager being edgy by rejecting everything as fake #this is not a good way to appear #politics #leftism

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erigold13261 · 9 months

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Your takes feel like you are trying to fill up a “diversity checklist” that only exists in your mind.

I just really like other cultures a lot. Plus most of the media I consume has diversity in it already so I am just working with what I got.

I mainly talk about NSR so I'll use that as an example. NSR is made by people in Malaysia with a lot of their culture coming through in the game. Because of this I see Vinyl City as taking place in Malaysia, so already I feel like a lot of my headcanons should express that.

Then you have the characters in the game that (to me) feel like they are already really diverse (like Eve having a lot of Indian inspiration, Sayu having east Asian inspirations, mainly Japanese I think, 1010 having Kpop inspo, and Tatiana is a name that originates from Russia). I use these kinds hints at a character to think of headcanons about where they might be from or the world around them.

Plus, pretty sure Tatiana at some point said her artists are from all around the world, which is why I think NSR is very diverse. I don't really have any excuse for Yinu being Mexican or DJSS being African other than I saw som other peoples headcanons for them at some point in time.

This kind of thinking also helps give me motivation to look up other cultures more so than I would have just by myself. It also goes the same for religion. I've researched a lot more about religion (outside of Christianity which I was brought up with, though I still do research on that since I don't know everything about it) than I ever really would on my own. Usually I would just google a question I came up with and be done, but now I am trying to actually learn more about the history of holidays and religions.

If you're talking about the queer aspect of my takes/art, that's literally just because I am queer as well and like seeing other characters as queer. Plus, a lot of the time, if you have a queer person, they are most likely going to hang out with other queer people. I find the "one queer friend in a group" trope to be unrealistic to me, so if I make queer headcanons it does affect other headcanons (things like 1010 being queer also takes into account their robot nature and how they could never truly be cishet anyway even if they identify as cishet, it gets into a grey area I love to explore).

Mainly, what I am saying, is that I like to base my headcanons in a kind of reality. Like it is realistic that places like Vinyl City (music capital of the world), Nueva York (meeting hub for all people in the spider society across dimensions), Vandelay Technologies (international tech company helping others), and official Psychonaut location (a world organization helping psychics, who can be seen as queer coded) are places where a lot of diversity happens. Race, religious, and queer diversity would happen a lot more in these places than in like a small town in the midwest of the US.

Plus, like I said, a lot of these media I am consuming/talking about already have diversity to them. If I started just placing Vinyl City in America and stripping it of it's culture it already has, then I don't feel like that would be doing the game justice. And that goes for things like Psychonauts, Spiderverse, and Hi Fi Rush. They show (or at the very least imply) diversity in their media, and I just take that and run with it.

I don't have an actual checklist in my mind. I literally just say random headcanons that pop up or I play off of other people's headcanons. But even if I did, I don't really see a problem with that if I am not being disrespectful to the cultures I am talking about/trying to show in my art. I don't see diversity as a problem, especially in the setting of the media I talk about which brings people from all around the world into fairly small areas. Like the cities are big, but they are obviously smaller than the whole world, which is why there seems to be a concentration of diversity when I talk about characters, because they are literally from all walks of life with their own experiences brought on by their own cultures that they bring with them to their new lives, which in turn shapes the area they are living in and portraying to the audience.

I don't really know what to tell you. I like talking and learning about other cultures and I don't see that as a problem if I do it respectfully. People are diverse and I'm gonna keep trying to show that in how I talk/portray things.

#eritalks #noart #asks #plus i am influenced by what i see #and a lot of other people also have diverse headcanons #which i end up adopting and sharing

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bluboothalassophile · 7 months

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Hey there Blu!! Blu, i wonder in your opinion, if Westeros was our world, which part of the globe which of the places/regions from the world of asoiaf would it be? ex: the North would be the Nordic countries or something like that

Hello,

Oh boy. Um, I'll try to break down what regions of Westeros; not Essos; but Westeros are. Essos is a different kettle of fish entirely.

The North I think is based off of Slavic, Scandinavian, Nordic, and Gaelic cultures; so Canada/Alaska, the upper states of the US: Montana, Minnesota, the Dakotas, New England, Iceland, Scandinavia, Russia, those sorts of countries which are very harsh environments, but very lush and open. Lots of forest, very difficult to farm, very difficult to tame, rugged, and vast.

The Vale is sort of an area that I think would be similar to Switzerland, Austria, Rocky Mountains (Colorado primarily, not so much of Wyoming) Czechia very mountainous, forestry, they'd probably have rugged mountain defenses, and a natural deterrent of those mountains.

The Riverlands I think would be very similar to Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, New England sort of area, bogs, cold, forestry, but also wide open and vast.

The Westerlands I think would be a mixture of the Northern France, England, Belgium, the Appalachian Mountain region, it's obviously rich in gold, but there's probably other mineral deposits, rolling hills, farmlands, so it's very rich lands.

The Reach I think is sort of a mix of the American midwest, wide, vast, rolling hills, and a mix of Spain, the South of France, lots of farmlands, warm, not as much forestry as the other regions, but there'd be forestry.

The Crownlands I think is based primarily off of Italy; and not a lot of other places if I'm honest, it feels very based off of Italy. Maybe some Spanish and Portuguese elements too, very warm climate, fertile and rich.

The Stormlands are probably very German, Polish (before the war), with blends of Montenegro, Albania, and Hungry; some of Northern California, west coast of Oregon and Washington even. It's sort of a blend of mountains, forest, and obviously, very fucking wet.

Dorne I think is a blend of Moracco, Casablanca, Egypt, Persia and Turkey, maybe even some Cyprus even; there's probably some blends of New Mexico, Mexico, and Arizona even for the deserts; I'll reluctantly throw in Utah...

So yeah, I think that sums up what I think the regions are a mix of from our world. As to Essos, it seems to be; at least on the coasts of the Mediterainian primarily, and given Velyria was based on Greece, probably lots of Greek influences. Other than that, I don't have much on Essos or as much on Essos.

#bluboothalassophile #hello reader

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downstairsbar · 1 year

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sleepover question: how was your day? love u b!!

hello my sweetest ceci... today was okay actually thinking emoji... even tho i was a few minutes late for class this morning, i managed to make myself a breakfast sandwich to go and the lecture today was less insanely reactionary against the ussr than last week's (i like that prof though i just forget ppl are fr fr liberals sometimeseofjviuebrofd but he is a middle aged white american man who studies russia so yunno. i've been trying to subtly propagandize him with the qs i ask in class (mind u this is the class i ta for so i really dont even need to be asking qs i just cannot shut up in lectures i feel young again...) and also by telling him he shoudlnt gaf about trying to atone for russia's past misdeeds/errors whatever and that historians of the west esp american historians will literally just do what they want and no one is like Ummmm you wrote a book about hair salons in the midwest in may 1915 but failed to mention the invasion of haiti and the subsequent millions of lives lost ? what do u have to say for urself ? the way they do for historians of the east and south... but i digress! he told he he's been thinking about that a lot since i first said it two weeks ago so i was like hehehehehe the first brain chip has been planted) i double digress. then i had a productive office hour w a student where we realized one of the essay prompts for this week is ass and i love the little moments where i'm getting paid to be a hater and then i managed to make it to the last 30 minutes of a job talk for the impoerial britain search and even though i'd been plotting his downfall last month when the emails first went around i actually was giggling twirling my hair cross my toes when i saw him in person he even had an accent....unfortunately a bri'ish one but like. he's black its fine. AND i asked a good question and then after the talk he chatted w me and was leaning his head down to make eye contact w me and my mind was that youtube comment thats like Why are U wasting ur breeding years playing animal crossing ? and THENNN i had fields reading check in w my fave prof and she said i'm doing good and now i'm high and listening to music and writing. I LOVE U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#qs

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ophionswill · 1 year

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My very first worldbuilding project is perhaps one of my favorites to date. Sure, it desperately needs revamping, yet the ideas (however poorly executed) still resonate with me. I made it in my freshman year of high school, so it was bound to be exceptionally bad, but what can I say. It was heavily reliant on fun tropes that I enjoyed at the time, but the core concept behind it was the one that I liked the most:

What if Earth was tidally locked to the sun?

What if one side of the Earth always faced it, and one side always looked away?

Science says that it would have been a wasteland. If any water had existed in the enlightened hemisphere, it wouldn’t anymore, as the very earth would have been scalding, pure magma, or close enough to it that it might have resembled what Earth looked like in its infancy. Meanwhile, the darkened hemisphere would have been so absolutely cold after billions of years of nothing but the black void of space that even the atmosphere would have frozen over and snowed to the ground.

A slightly more fantastical world would have had the idea of all life being centered around the border between the enlightened and darkened hemispheres, a band of warmth and life that extended around the world.

I wanted a fully living world.

Granted, I never really came up with a good solution other than “ooo magic exists now so it’s fine,” but that can be worked on later (if I ever return to the world to revamp it).

I envisioned the border to be roughly cutting through the North American Midwest and western Asia (Russia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan/Pakistan, maybe a little bit of India), with the Enlightened Hemisphere illuminating the North American East Coast, South America, Europe, Africa, and West Asia, while the Dark would have comprised of almost all Asia, as well as the totality of Oceania and the North American West Coast.

I did this because I wanted a couple things, starting with my wants for the enlightened hemisphere:

The center of the enlightened world needed to be Europe, as a pinnacle of humanity’s endeavors in science and technology. NYC would fit its name of “The City That Never Sleeps” even more, considering it would never be night there. South America would be a tropical paradise, with the jungles growing to utterly insane heights (and I wanted to introduce a kind of semi-sapient giga tree that could house entire cities within its branches). I had this really nice idea of Russia having a civil war within itself between its dark and light halves, with neither side really being “better” or “in the right,” they simply just existed and were warring across the horizon zone. Lastly, I had this idea of buffalo grazing upon the great plains in eternal twilight.

Meanwhile on the Darkened Hemisphere, I wanted it to be a place of magic and wonder, to contradict the Sols (the people on the light side) forgoing magic to learn about science. The Nox people were something similar to elves, with pale skin and long ears, but were most notable for their massive eyes compared to Sols, who looked the most human (if you want a reference, think Alita: Battle Angel). For the dark, I wanted a few things:

Almost every plant or animal would be bioluminescent of some kind, making the world dark, but still very glowy and beautiful. China would be the center of the Darkened World, being the home of magic and wonder. They’d still have their infamous glowing lanterns, but they’d be biological, as a kind of gourd-like fruit hanging from trees. Either they’d put candles inside them, or a kind of bioluminescent bird (called Pseudo-Phoenixes) would make nests inside their carved-out innards to have shelter from predators below. Australia would be even more chaotic than normal, being a mish-mash of dangerous biomes with even more dangerous fauna. Finally, the American West Coast would actually be populated almost entirely by indigenous peoples, having managed to resist American expansion across the horizon due to them having the advantage (they are all Nox, having migrated across the land-bridge and spread out over both Americas) and establishing their own nation made of many different kinds of tribes that either natively lived there (such as the Navajo or Apache) or migrants (such as the Cherokee or Seminole).

That’s just the basics, though. There’s a lot more nuance I put into this, but this post is already insanely long and it’s probably time to put a stop to this before I get so distracted that I can’t do my work later today. Thanks for reading if you make it to this part, though.

#worldbuilding #rambles #dont mind this

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demi-shoggoth · 2 years

Text

2022 Reading Log, pt 20

96. Strange Sea Creatures by Erich Hoyt. This book was something of a disappointment for me. Hoyt has written other books about deep sea life that are better than this—Creatures of the Deep most notably. The thing is, this book is short; only about a hundred pages, with some very nice photography but a paragraph or so of information on each depicted organism. This was published during the lockdown portion of the pandemic, so I wonder if this project was abridged due to publisher issues, or was perhaps a children’s book that was expanded a bit and sold as an adult book. The pictures are nice, and the information is good, but there’s just not as much of it as you would expect from the price tag.

97. Momo: The Strange Case of the Missouri Monster by Lyle Blackburn. I’ve talked in this series before about how Blackburn is one of my favorite of the “true believer” strain of cryptozoologists; he does his due diligence with research and knows how to weave a good yarn. This yarn is about the flap of hairy hominid sightings in Louisiana, Missouri (how’s that for a confusing town name?) the summer of 1972, dubbed “Momo” for “Missouri Monster” by the press. The book also covers other Midwest sightings of Bigfoot-style monsters before and since, the flap of UFO sightings in the area at the time and the efforts to link Momo to ETs, and the parts of the story we know are hoaxes. This book is also pretty short, but it feels like a relatively complete coverage of a section of American folklore.

98. A Short History of Drunkenness by Mark Forsyth. Noticing a pattern? I was sick, so books that required a lot of attention span were off the table. This is a social history of drinking more than it is of alcohol, being a look at various places drinks were served, the culture of who drank, when and how, and what the rest of your evening might be like. It covers some similar ground to Girly Drinks with stuff like the prevalence of female gods of alcohol, and how the Greek symposium was a men-only affair. The book also discusses cultures where drink was socially disapproved of but still present, like the Caliphates, and cultures where drink is integrated into the fabric of the government, like imperial and Stalinist Russia.

99. The Story of Trees and how they changed the way we live by Kevin Hobbs and David West, illustrated by Thibaud Hérem. Similarly to Remarkable Trees, this book looks at trees one species at a time, and discusses their impacts on human culture as well as their biology. What sets this book apart is the consistency; 100 trees, each with an original illustration, that showcase the whole of the tree (bark, leaves, color, outline) like a spotter’s guide. This book is lovely, and well formatted. The arrangement of trees is roughly chronological, so woods used by prehistoric people are clumped towards the beginning and trees that have particular relevance to the 21st century are towards the back. The book does cheat a little in order to have a dry sense of humor, for example placing cinchona and juniper back to back to make a nice gin and tonic. The book is also very British. One pleasant surprise was seeing my alma mater recommended as a place to see trees compared to a global stage. I knew instinctively that UC Davis has a nice arboretum, but I always thought of it more as “walking path to get to the office” rather than “major botanical institution”.

100. Spiders: The Ultimate Predators by Stephen Dalton. This is kind of the book I was hoping Strange Sea Creatures would be; a wildlife photography book that still has a decent amount of biological information. The photos are truly spectacular—Dalton was a pioneer of photographing insects back in the 1970s, and this book was a project in part for him to tackle his arachnophobia head on. The spiders are organized by hunting style rather than by phylogenetic placement, which helps keep the book from feeling dated (it’s from 2008, and spider taxonomy has already undergone some radical revisions in the past decade-and-a-half). There’s also a chapter about advice for photographing small, skittish subjects, a lot to do with lighting and shutter speeds, which went mostly over my head but would probably be useful for people with more experience.

#reading log #spider #arachnology #social history #alcohol #botany #horticulture #trees #momo #cryptozoology #paranormal #abyssal fish #abyssal life #marine biology

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