what is the difference between a sprite and slyph in your experience?
Ohh, such a good question. I've been thinking about how best to word this, so bear with me a little here. If it doesn't make sense, let me know.
My experience is definitely limited compared to many others, but I've found the difference to be part form, part function. The sylphs that I have encountered seem to be much less solid than other beings, perceptible to me as streaks of color, temperature, or sound. I can't always tell where they begin and end, or how many there are, just how many individual notes they might make as they brush past. A squares-and-rectangles argument could definitely be made based on the impreciseness of the word "sprite," since, as you know, it's derived from the Latin spiritus. I don't disagree with that, but the beings that I tend to call sprites are more corporeal beings, just generally. The ones I've seen have been small, more or less solid, sometimes with semi-humanoid shapes, active, fast-moving, and vocal. They usually move in larger groups, while I could only guess at maybe two or three sylphs at a time. Some of them are almost crystalline, some look like tiny knots of mud and sticks.
In terms of function, what they do... That's a bit more interesting. The way I've endeavored to understand it is in terms of weather and potential. As a literal being of air, I often find myself thinking of sylphs as the air currents moving, setting the stage for large and small meteorological events. I like to imagine hawks riding thermals composed of sylphs, as if they're doing some complicated, invisible pas de deux in the sky. The sprites I've happened upon, and this is the real reason why I call them all by this name, have all been making something happen to the natural world. Bringing frost, turning leaves, that kind of thing. They manifest a definite change. It's the difference between a cold front meeting a warm front and the rain and lightning from the storm that results.
That said (tangent warning), I genuinely believe that the taxonomy of the fae is not as rigid and orderly as we would like it to be. I can't imagine that we know or can categorize everything about them, and I have a feeling they resist any restraints we try to place upon them. I could go on and on about that, but this is long enough already.
Ellylldan is a Welsh version of the Will o’ Wisp. According to British Goblins (1881) by Wirt Sykes; “The Ellylldan is a species of elf exactly corresponding to the English Will-o’-wisp, the Scandinavian Lyktgubhe, and the Breton Sand Yan y Tad. The Welsh word dan means fire; dan also means a lure; the compound word suggests a luring elf-fire.”
Vos…I was its Lord. It took a long time to get there… and it’s been a long time…since…
My whole history? I lived there for millions of years.
As soon as I was Sparked, tested, and given my basic upgrades near the Well, I was taken to Vos. We did not fly there ourselves, since it was on the other side of the planet and we knew nothing of navigation. I remember seeing the spires for the first time. You could see them from far away, shimmering above the horizon, since they were so tall, and I could not take my eyes off them. I suppose I must have looked amusing, pressed against the window of the transport, twitching my wings, but for the fact that I was just one of a line of new Seekers all crowding to see. As we approached the city, the towers kept getting taller and taller, until the perspective just stopped making sense. They were impossibly tall. We arrived at dusk, into the middle height towers, already in shadow. The spires above still blazed with light. Everything, every line and facet and sweep of architecture, made you look up. The city itself drew you skyward, into the high, open air. I wanted to fly to the tops of those towers so badly.
But that had to wait. First, the guilds and castes had their pick. Since my alt mode is fast and agile, I was designated for combat, and placed into the Air Command, which was the elite caste in Vos. The city state, and especially the city itself, had risen to prominence because of its military might, and that always remained its focus. The next most highly regarded caste was science, followed by the arts. Technically, artisan castes were mid-level at best, but in Vos they garnered a great deal of respect. It was the most beautiful city.
So began several millennia of intense training. I found it fascinating, and my flying got better and better, as did my knowledge of tactics. My studies intensified as well, particularly in physics and aeronautics, though I also devoured every history file I could get my hands on. Those were good days, split between the universities and flying. The flying was the best, especially since I had flight clearance among the university spires, which were the loveliest, and some of the Air Command spires, which were the tallest. That is how I spent most of my free time, along with reading and sparring. My skill started to get noticed, by my officers, and by rivals. I found I liked having rivals. It kept me sharp, taught me to analyze my own skills and improve any weaknesses.
Finally several of us were eligible for our first command. Then the rivalries got heated, as I expected they would. What I did not expect was for two of them to join forces against me. Their sabotage caused me to be passed over while they advanced.
As surprised as I was, and as much of a setback as I was dealt, I found that the whole debacle thrilled me in a way nothing save flying had ever done. I knew all about the ruthlessness of Vosnian politics from studying history, but to see it in person was surprisingly exciting. I should have been angry, but I was too fascinated. I saw where I had dropped my guard, and what my next moves would be. This was a game I could play, and would get very good at. I reread all my history files, this time with an eye for strategy. They read like a playbook of what humans would call Machiavellian arts.
It did not take long to regain the ground I had lost, and I too was assigned to Crystal City as the next step towards becoming an officer. I did not want to leave Vos, and the political arena where I was just gaining a reputation, but it was a requirement of my caste and I had no choice. Still, if I was to have a command and become a good officer, I needed scientific accomplishments, and I threw myself diligently into the task. I thoroughly enjoyed it too. The pleasures of Crystal City were enhanced by the presence of the best friend I ever had, Jetfire. He was already accomplished in the science caste when I met him, and he impressed me. He was more refined than many scientists I had met, and he shared my interest in history as well. Mainly though, we talked about science, and got very comfortable. We seldom worked on the same projects, but we compared notes in our free time, and when we did work together, we accomplished a lot. I recall that time as being very peaceful. Science has always been comforting to me, and Jetfire was the first person I had ever really been able to talk to about anything important. It was so different from Vos, where every word had to be measured, and every action of myself and others dissected to look for an advantage. In the end I was sorry to leave, though my duties would bring me back there from time to time.
I was given a low-level command upon my return, a squadron of Energon Seekers, mostly science bots with a thin veneer of military discipline, and I was to put some of my recent research to use. I had a good working relationship with my geologists, since I actually wanted to hear what they had to say, and we were quite successful. Thousands of years passed, and my duties took me to all parts of Cybertron. I made many research proposals and got to work in Crystal City often. I spoke to Jetfire about space, and about the history I was learning, how Cybertronians used to venture to other worlds. He had been having the same thoughts, and it was difficult to keep our studies on the practical side when all we wanted to do was research old spacecraft. He is the only person I told of my dream to get the Air Command, and Cybertron, back to that point, and he gave me what support he could. I kept moving up the ranks, and I was able to do so while appearing dedicated, not ambitious, when in truth I was both.
Eventually I, along with my rivals and a few others, rose high enough to be assigned as attachés to the Air Commander himself, from time to time. It was on one of these trips that I first laid optics on Sentinel Prime, and I loathed the way he and the Air Commander reinforced each other’s complacency. It fueled my ambition. He was not representing the Vos I had come to love through learning it history and reveling in its beauty, a Vos that was proud, just shy of separatist. He gave the Council too much control of our affairs, and Sentinel was pressuring our castes to fall in line with the council’s wishes. A unique feature of Vos’s castes, particularly the Air Command, was meritocracy. In very few places on Cybertron could one advance based on his talents, as I had done. Since Vos was a military aristocracy, skilled people could in fact work their way up. But only so far. Creatures who live as long as Cybertronians do not retire, and those with ambition sometimes do drastic things to clear the way.
For example, both of my main rivals had become embroiled in some shady dealings with spies from Tarn, who promised them political influence since the Air Commander was weak. Their deal was shaky, their allies undependable, and when the pressure became too much, one of them framed me for it. He denounced me to the Air Commander, accusing me of treason. I had no part in the conspiracy, but I did not deny that the Air Commander was weak, as much as it pained me to say it publicly. He demanded satisfaction, and I obeyed my liege. I was allowed to select the method of our duel, and naturally I chose aerial combat. It wasn’t much, as far as dogfights go, since we were so unevenly matched, but the old mech had a few tricks left in him.
Still, I won quickly, with only minor damage to myself. I landed and knelt beside his wreckage until a crowd formed, and then delivered a Sparkbreaking speech, in which I vowed to avenge my lord, apprehend the true conspirators, and clear my name before the official mourning period was over. You might consider it my first political promise, and since I already knew the identities of all of the conspirators, it was an easy one to keep. Not only did I secure the legitimacy of my new position, but I won wide support in Vos. All but three Lords of Vos got there by taking out their predecessors, but very few were popular afterwards. I also apprehended the spies - there were only two - and spared their lives, sending them back to Tarn with a message: there is a new Air Commander, and he knows your game. My own agents, who may have invited my rivals into the conspiracy in the first place, got political favors all around and remained my allies.
My new aerie in the tallest tower gave me a stunning view of my city glittering in all directions, and it was designed to take best advantage of the prevailing winds. It was the most comfortable place I ever lived in, like it was made for me. I had not even finished redecorating before I threw myself into reading all the files that I was now privy to. Of particular interest were old records, from the days of space exploration and before, regarding bridges and space stations. Trypticon Station was mentioned but most of the data was missing. One of my goals as Air Commander was to firmly re-establish Air Command’s control of the space stations, which they still officially held, but had ignored and largely left in the control of the Council. I made regular tours of my stations, changed the Air Command to the Star-Air Command, and got to work putting Cybertron back in space.
I was able to secure those prizes and many more for Vos, and the next millennia saw the city rise to even greater prominence. But outside, nothing could break the stranglehold of the castes, and nothing was changing. At least not for the better. It was the recruitment of winged frame types into the regular army, under the control of the Council, that finally convinced me I would not be allowed to continue, and ruling one city state would never be enough to change Cybertron.
Nor was I the only one who wanted change. The very winds were rife with unrest, and I came to learn of a popular agitator, who had clawed his way out of the pits and had the people’s audio receptor. Given my position, I could remove Sentinel Prime as an obstacle and get close to him, help direct, and finally co-opt his uprising…I thought. But his interests were not in building Cybertron back up, but in tearing down all the things it had denied him.
spongeofmalphas said: How did dancing with that kelpie go?
By the time I got to dance with him I was swept away with the festivities and carelessness of the whole full moon celebration. I did keep in mind to stay away from the water while with him during my time with him. The dance was really short though since I was pulled away by Taran. Well, rather, the kelpie backed away when Taran came up.
Is this safe? I was in a discussion about bacterial spirits and this meat process came up.
Bacterial spirits....? ok no don't tell me, just... let's focus on the science.
1) there are a lot of things that will grow on raw meat if you let them. no not all of them are beneficial for you.
2) there are also a number of things that might already be in raw meat that you would want to cook to make sure they're, you know, dead.
3) you the layman (general you) tend to have fuck all idea how to differentiate between the bacteria and molds that will have you hanging over the toilet for the next 2 days from the ones that don't.
'But owlet, what about those cheeses?'
Well dear reader, these cheeses tend to be purposely infected with certain cultures. With very specific cultures actually. Letting a piece of raw cheese go moldy in your fridge will not magically turn it into blue cheese. Most blue cheese (or similar sorts) are injected with spores, or have the spores added into the loose curd at some point. People don't just let the cheese sit there and do its thing and pray that the result isn't going to kill someone.
If you want to do that at home, there's starter cultures available. And i don't see anyone on that thread talking about starter cultures, which makes me think that these people eat randomly rotting meat and wow does that make me want to shake them because I can see so many ways that might end in food poisoning of some kind.
Also note how that article down there is 1) not the proper paper which means i had to dig for it myself 2) talking about 1 specific kind of bacteria, and one that's actually a soil bacterium.
Sadly I have no idea what terms even to search for for studies about this because 'high meat' is decidedly not a scientific term and 'bacteria aged meat' mostly gets me things about the contamination of meats under different conditions and the effects of very specific bacteria cultures on meat and exactly zero about some DIY attempt at this. And you can't just go and say 'well this specific soil bacterium might be good for you, so ALL bacteria and molds are good for you!' because there are a ton of them that decidedly aren't good for you. At all.
So yeah I wouldn't advise for the DIY method because you can't rule out getting the digestive system upset of your life. At least don't attempt it without the starter cultures (you know, how you can try to make your own cheese or cider and sometimes it turns out ok and sometimes it turns out horrid? Yeah, same thing).
Why do you need computers of your own, when your frame has its own internal computers?
Our internal computers are very handy when it comes to the inconsequential things in life…controlling our circulatory systems, monitoring our self-repair protocols, mapping out the entirety of our planet, and so forth.
They’re tragically useless when it comes to more important matters, such as running cookie-based games.
scionofmalphas replied to your post “*pulls out a small vial with energon in it shows it to Demon then points towards the door* Fetch! I've trained him to associate the vial to the specific smell of energon so when I show it and point he puts that nose to work -flirtatious anon”
Oh man, would Demon be okay if he dug up energon and picked it up in his mouth? I don't know how energon affects organic creatures
Hm, you have a point...
Crystalized Energon is fairly inert, chemically speaking, and it does not dissolve in water. Or, I assume, in the excretions of dogs. Still, if he were to swallow any, it would not be good. Perhaps it is best if he merely locates it and I dig it up.
We shall have to monitor his condition when he comes back from his current hunt. I am sure the Flirtatious Anon will be able to tell if anything is amiss.
This scion creature knows how to conduct itself. Its courtly manners would not be out of place in the aeries of Vos.
Behind its respectful tone, I do sense a genuine curiosity, one that I do not mind indulging. Our conversations have been quite thought provoking, though sometimes this brings up memories that make me … rather wistful.
