I thought I would share a little serotonin booster. A Valko supporter on X (find their profile here) has been sharing some fun facts about wolves everyday. Here are some of my favorites with links to the posts:
Fact 7: Wolves howl more to pack members they have a strong bond withānot out of stress, but out of affection
Fact 8: Wolves are super social and usually mate for life. The breeding pair (mom and dad) lead the pack like a family, not a dictatorship
Fact 12: In wolf couples, the female is the one who decides who she mates withāmales initiate courtship, but females control the whole process by either accepting or rejecting his advances
Fact 15: Once a pair bonds, the male becomes the more devoted bodyguard everāhe stays glued to his chosen female, gently guarding her from any other males who might still be interested
Fact 17: Wolf packs commonly adopt abandoned wolf pups, even pups from other packs that aren't related to them. Every adult happily takes turns babysitting, protecting, and even playing with the little ones
Fact 18: Wolves and humans share the "love hormone" oxytocin. It releases in father wolves when they play with their pups ā and in the pups too. The same chemical that bonds us to our kids bonds them to theirs
Fact 21 (for my fellow wolfcrow girls): Wolves and ravens have a special friendship. Ravens follow wolves to scavenge leftovers, and in return, they act as extra eyes and ears, alerting wolves to danger (Valko and Sylus are besties, just a fact)
Fact 23: Wolves communicate not just with howls, but with whines, growls, barks, body language, and even scent ā each wolf's smell is as unique as a human fingerprint
Fact 24: Bonded wolf pairs greet each other with tail-wagging, muzzle-licking, and nose-to-nose touches ā it's their way of saying "hey, I'm here" and it actually strengthens their pair bond
I really hope Valko displays some wolf-like tendenciesāin a non-weird, wolves-are-cute kind of way. The Team Jacob girlies get it.
āyou've conquered the business trip a million times before, mr. chairman. why hate it now?ā
ābefore, i didnāt have you.ā
āoh?ā smiling gently, you reach out to cup valko's cheek. he lies across from you on the mattress, trusting youāll share the burden of his distress.Ā
āin the first month after mating, wolves have a hard time being away from the one theyāre fated to.ā he gives a halfhearted chuckle. āi guess you could say iām a little attached.ā
āiām a little attached to you, too.ā you pinch his nose, and his eyes cross slightly when they focus on your fingers. he tries to lick them, but you dodge just in time. ānothing wrong with that.ā
āexcept i lied just now,ā he blurts nervously. if he expects a reaction from you, he doesnāt get it. you knew that already. āitās more than a little. itās a lotāa whole lot. and now, it feels like iāll never see you again.ā his voice is hoarse, strained, like this has been weighing on him for some time.
humming softly, you sit up on the bed, crossing one leg over the other. as you reach out to stroke his hair, gold eyes glisten up at you.
āi know this is new for us, and i know that itās scary. but i like to think of itā¦as a way for the world to show us how close we really are.
āwhenever weāre apart, look up at the sky. look at the stars and any clouds left behind. then, look at the moon. look at its peaks and its craters, and every beam it shines down on us. and know that whatever you see, i see it, too.āĀ
as your words become images, flashing and fading in his mind, valko struggles to keep his eyes open. this is the last time heāll see you like this for two weeks, after all, and he wants the memory etched there forever. but your voice has lulled him to sleep before, and he won't start resisting you now.Ā
āthink of how much you'll have to tell me when you get home,ā you whisper. āāwhen,ā not āif,ā valko. focus on that. let when drive you forward. let when bring you back to me.ā
āāāāāā
itās been six days since your eyes last met.
now, on the top floor of a hotel in a city whose name is buried below thoughts of you, valko looks at the moon.Ā
he breathes one, two, three, four, just like you taught him before he boarded.Ā
then, he closes his eyes.Ā
he hears the low hum of the refrigerator, feels the friction of his suit jacket too tight against his skin. he smells the foreign air, crisp and clean, though missing something sedative.Ā
when he next opens his eyes, the moon looks a little different. a little more like home.
in it, valko sees you.
your strength, your brilliance, your persistence and perseverance. your miraculous existence, like you're too good to be true.Ā
if the moon is your essence, itās your appearance, too. little by little, it reflects your face back to him: how it shines like your smile; how it has its own scars, like the ones fading on your skin. how itās steady and calm, like your favorite expressions to show him.Ā
all its facets combine to paint a picture of you in the skyāone he now knows he can take with him anywhere.Ā
before, you'd told him that you see the same moon.Ā but when you look up at the sky at night, who do you see? does your moon look like him, too?Ā
do you see him in the stars, like he sees you?Ā
the mere thought brings a welcome feeling to his chest, one he thought he'd be missing for a few days longer.Ā
itās warm, itās weightless.Ā
comfort.Ā
valko never thought heād feel comfort while being apart from you.Ā
but for the first time since he arrived, he turns his back to the moon. he feels safe doing it, knowing youāre there to watch over him with that soft, encouraging smile.Ā
and you, he hopes, see his face shining down at you, soothing you to a restful sleep.Ā Ā
I have always enjoyed creating content because i genuinely love the game and the lovely community. My goal has always been to share that passion through art that brings excitement and enjoyment to fellow players.
I was deeply disappointed by the recent announcement. Many players were eagerly looking forward to valko, and the sudden decision has left a large part of the community feeling disheartened. Seeing so many passionate players affected by this has also been difficult for me as a creator, I sincerely hope it gets resolved soon. I truly want to continue creating content that brings positivity.
I caught up with the LADS main story last night and had some thoughts about all the complaints and hate Infold and Valko have been getting lately. One of the most prevalent is concerns about Caleb's main story, of which I had some thinking about as to why Valko is being released before Caleb's MS update. Now this doesn't excuse the Caleb mains' feelings on how he seems to be the most censored ML of the group due to his pseudo-incest/forbidden love trope amongst other things.
My thoughts are mostly regarding the main story structure, and potentially, why his second Bond story isn't out yet.
SPOILERS AHEAD
After the last chapter of To Our Yesterday, we got a blurb about each of the MLs and what they're occupied with. Zayne with eliminating the Alterums, Xavier speaking with the other Backtrackers after the Philos fragments and their ship's fate, Rafayel with Wavechaser Island and the Lemurians, Sylus observing from his place in the N109 Zone, and most importantly: Caleb in the Farspace Fleet all the way in a random, uncharted Deepspace Tunnel.
As things in the main story stand, I personally find it difficult to imagine How the hell MC is going to make contact with Caleb when he is out in Deepspace and quite possibly unreachable through other means?? I'm certain what research the Fleet is doing will play a part in EVER's goals and MC's role in the universe. However, as things stand, MC quite possibly has no way or reason to go into Deepspace yet.
I believe that is where Valko will be coming in, with him being the EonTech Chairman and a tech researcher. Also in his trailer he says something along the lines of "you also want to protect your kin". I have a feeling MC may learn something about Deepspace and the planet's fate, thus creating an alliance with Valko. I also have a feeling his chapter will lead up to MC eventually reuniting with Caleb again, although it might be in Deepspace this time.
TL;DR: People are so damn impatient lmao. Like, the frustration with the main story's slow updates is understandable but my goodness, I feel like at some point people completely disregarded logic and story structure. Feel free to disagree with me on this, but I personally feel like with how things left off in the latest Main Story chapter, it'll feel a little hamfisted to suddenly bring Caleb back to earth because of idk, Farspace Fleet duties (when their role is mostly in the further parts of Deepspace???) or suddenly toss MC in there for Hunter Association reasons (when the HA doesn't even hold authority over the FF or Deepspace).
kianamaiart
discoholicmusic
yousharknotpass
origamiaround
romaincrisis
