[OOC][PLOT] The Fourth Thread of Planning for Arc 1 - Arrivals

[robkelk]

Old thread is old.

---

This is intriguing:

"Disease dynamics and costly punishment can foster socially imposed monogamy", Chris T. Bauch & Richard McElreath, ''Nature Communications'', 12 April 2016

Here's the abstract:

Socially imposed monogamy in humans is an evolutionary puzzle because it requires costly punishment by those who impose the norm. Moreover, most societies were—and are—polygynous; yet many larger human societies transitioned from polygyny to socially imposed monogamy beginning with the advent of agriculture and larger residential groups. We use a simulation model to explore how interactions between group size, sexually transmitted infection (STI) dynamics and social norms can explain the timing and emergence of socially imposed monogamy. Polygyny dominates when groups are too small to sustain STIs. However, in larger groups, STIs become endemic (especially in concurrent polygynist networks) and have an impact on fertility, thereby mediating multilevel selection. Punishment of polygynists improves monogamist fitness within groups by reducing their STI exposure, and between groups by enabling punishing monogamist groups to outcompete polygynists. This suggests pathways for the emergence of socially imposed monogamy, and enriches our understanding of costly punishment evolution.

And here's a pop-science report on the paper.


So, why post this here? Well, both Ben and Rob have started collecting girlfriends... so have a scene that takes place while Rob, Mii, Ami, and Hyoga are off having a pizza lunch.


Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
December 22, 2016
11:57am ET

"So, now he has three girlfriends." Mamoru sighed, secretly dreading the possibility that he himself might end up in the same situation.

"Isn't it romantic?"

Minako grinned ar Usagi's comment. "Oh, yeah, I remember that happened all the time back in the Silver Millennium, when we didn't have to worry about sexually-transmitted diseases."

"What, really?"

"Yes, Mikoto, really."

"But doesn't that lead to the objectification of women?" Kuroko asked.

"Only if the woman doesn't have a choice. Back in the Silver Millennium, it was always up to the woman whether she wanted to join an existing relationship, polyamourous or not. And before anybody asks, it was up to a man whether he wanted to join an existing relationship, too."

"So... were... well, were we...?"

"No, Rei, Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion were just beginning their relationship when Beryl's forces attacked. They were still exclusive to each other. As far as I know."

"Hey, did any relationship ever start as a threesome?"

Minako thought for a moment, then replied to Ruiko. "It was rare, but it did happen on occasion."

Kazari and Ruiko just smiled at each other.

[Black Aeronaut]

Nice find, Rob!  This would probably be something that the Juraians and the Lunarians would have an interesting discussion over.

"Yes," said Aeka, "It can be rather jarring for some First-Contact societies.  From an evolutionary standpoint, polygyny simply makes sense.  But then diseases enter the picture and it all changes.  A thousand or so years later, they become FTL-capable and start running into other post-FTL societies and then it's such a smack in the face to them to see several women sharing a single man.  There's actually been one or two worlds where a civil war broke out over the matter."

[Dartz]

Okay. This has gone creepy.

[Labster]

when we didn't have to worry about sexually-transmitted diseases.

Whoa back up there, talk about burying the lead, how was this achieved?!1  I know romance and civil war are important and all but do you know of some way that could saves millions of lives?

Also cultures with polygyny and not polyandry tend to have a lot of social inequality in the most important sense; could you imagine what the incels would be like?

it was always up to the woman whether she wanted to join an existing relationship

And with social inequality "up to the woman" can mean "desperately looking for a way to survive, this guy seems like the only option."  This applies to our current society too, and there's an extent to which we turn a blind eye on it.  See the end of the last thread.  But this gets worse in polygynous societies, like Saudi Arabia.

I'd always imagined the Silver Millennium as a lot more King Arthur than Heralds of Valdemar.  And like Arthur's story, there had to be some social cracks which led to the end of the era.  "Everyone got possessed by evil" is a boring story, "unhappy let evil into their hearts" rings more true.  And Valdemar is an explicitly post-apocalyptic society that had learned the lessons, in a way the Silver Millennium wasn't.  Well unless there's some story that hasn't been told yet (poor Sailor Theia).

Okay. This has gone creepy.

"Creepy" is a valueless term, used to represent a vague negative emotional reaction, rather than one based on logic, along with an attempt to impose societal norms.  The word should be avoided.

[Dartz]

But it's also something that's really hard to put my finger on in a logical and succinct manner...something doesn't feel right and I don't know what the fuck it is. Therefore it's 'creepy'.

I'm also only getting the snips and snatches of things.

For one thing I've very little idea where yousre getting the energy to run this when the working week is utterly shattering me and my creativity in a way that longer hours in college, or the dole years, didn't...

[Labster]

The thing that's wrong is pretty easy to see: it's a bunch of white dudes trying to justify why it's okay for them to assemble a harem of younger women lol. Your social more of monogamy is coming in conflict with the assertion that polygyny is a the more natural state, but don't really have the background to know why your value in this case is important.

"Creepy" tends to encompass innate "System 1" responses like against spiders and slimy food, that serve as a kind of protection. But it also seems to do some System 2 things like culture, where it's more about emotional attachment to society than a rational decision to have that value, so in practice it works more like a System 1 response. Sorry, I read just enough rationalist material to get the gist of their terminology, but maybe not enough to explain all the way.

Not all jobs are equal. You probably work a lot harder than me for less money, because my skill happens to be more valued. Capitalism is unfair in a lot of ways.

On another topic: I just realized that Coyote is the tutelary for San Antonio, much like Cait Sith is for Neo Venezia. The reason I just now realized this is that I read an article about basketball by accident.

[Black Aeronaut]

when we didn't have to worry about sexually-transmitted diseases.

Whoa back up there, talk about burying the lead, how was this achieved?!1

Errr... Easy. "These people have been cursed by <god_of_monogamy>! Repent, sinners!"

I know romance and civil war are important and all but do you know of some way that could saves millions of lives?

Huh? Please rephrase and/or clarify. I think I have some idea of what you mean, but I need a little more info.

Also cultures with polygyny and not polyandry tend to have a lot of social inequality in the most important sense; could you imagine what the incels would be like?

..... I guess I can see that, but social inequality is kinda hard to perceive when your people are just starting to get out of the hunter-gatherer phase - those would be some awfully thin social classes.

it was always up to the woman whether she wanted to join an existing relationship

And with social inequality "up to the woman" can mean "desperately looking for a way to survive, this guy seems like the only option."  This applies to our current society too, and there's an extent to which we turn a blind eye on it.  See the end of the last thread.  But this gets worse in polygynous societies, like Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis are operating on a set of very antiquated laws that were originally meant to be there for women's protection. See the bit your above contribution in about Incels. You need to look to societies where lineage is traced through the matriarchal line, such as the Jews (who were also polygynous at some point in time).

I'd always imagined the Silver Millennium as a lot more King Arthur than Heralds of Valdemar.  And like Arthur's story, there had to be some social cracks which led to the end of the era.  "Everyone got possessed by evil" is a boring story, "unhappy let evil into their hearts" rings more true.  And Valdemar is an explicitly post-apocalyptic society that had learned the lessons, in a way the Silver Millennium wasn't.  Well unless there's some story that hasn't been told yet (poor Sailor Theia).

I haven't read any of those books, but in regards to the bit about 'evil'... Really, when you take a very hard look at religion, it wasn't so much that other people were 'possessed by evil', no matter what the writers of the time would have wanted you to believe. It was the writers themselves that 'let evil into their hearts'. I mean, just look at the Salem Witch Hunts. If one neighbor happened to not like the other, then they'd find any kind of excuse to make others believe they were a witch. "SHE'S A WITCH BECAUSE HER GARDEN IS BETTER THAN MINE! WITCH! WITCH!" (Not that it has anything much to do with polygyny, just an example of human evil.)

Okay. This has gone creepy.

"Creepy" is a valueless term, used to represent a vague negative emotional reaction, rather than one based on logic, along with an attempt to impose societal norms.  The word should be avoided.

Hrm. I wouldn't say 'valueless'. Like Dartz said right afterwards, it was making him uncomfortable for some reason, but he's having difficulty in defining exactly what it is that's making him uncomfortable. Ergo, the word 'creepy'.

Let's break it down a bit without getting into the Merriam-Webster's books.

Creepy...

Something that 'Creeps'...

Snakes 'creep'...

And there are aspects of a snake's movement that, believe it or not, are not fully understood by modern science. An experiment was conducted once to see how snakes are able to gain sufficient traction on a smooth surface where the friction coefficient between the snake's scales and the surface was practically nil. And yet, there was something that allowed the snake to attain some kind of traction. They could not explain it.

Ergo, creepy.

For one thing I've very little idea where yousre getting the energy to run this when the working week is utterly shattering me and my creativity in a way that longer hours in college, or the dole years, didn't...

The human brain requires far more energy than most people give it credit for. If you're worked to the bone, you literally do not have enough energy to 'brain'. This is why people tend to make more mistakes when they're tired. Come at this again when you've gotten some rest.

[Black Aeronaut]

The thing that's wrong is pretty easy to see: it's a bunch of white dudes trying to justify why it's okay for them to assemble a harem of younger women lol.  Your social more of monogamy is coming in conflict with the assertion that polygyny is a the more natural state, but don't really have the background to know why your value in this case is important.

... If it's that much of a problem, we can just go ahead and stop. And by stop, I mean drop the project completely.

Seriously.

While I don't mind being criticized, it becomes an entirely different ball game where you start getting into territory where we can get tarred in a very bad way. And I'm pretty sure that Rob would agree with me on this point. If critique is to happen, let it happen with Death of the Author applied. Otherwise, we will start saying things that cannot be taken back easily.

On another topic: I just realized that Coyote is the tutelary for San Antonio, much like Cait Sith is for Neo Venezia.  The reason I just now realized this is that I read an article about basketball by accident.

Can you point me at this article? You have piqued my curiosity.

[Dartz]

I don't think it's the Polymamory...

Anyway. What the hell. If people are feeling defensive I'll leave it there. It's not worth fighting over. I'm probably only skimming half the story anyway and I've only managed three lines in the last week.

[robkelk]

In an effort to provide a bigger can for the worms that I've let loose ...

In real life:

1) Rob-the-writer knows the difference between fiction and real life. (Rob-the-writer has also gone through a quite thorough government background check - something like a real-world predilection toward polyamoury would have ruled me out for the position that I currently hold.) Do not take anything that Rob-the-character says or thinks as evidence of how I think, unless it's backed up by something else presented somewhere else by me - there's some overlap (it's a self-insert, after all), but not an exact one because of story concerns (for example, I wouldn't give up my current job and vested pension to run an apartment building).

2) I'm getting the energy to write because writing is my coping mechanism. Work is over there, kept so separate that I don't even look at this board while I'm at the office. This is what I think of as fun... and I don't play video games (or, lately, tabletop games), or go to bars or movies or plays, to distract myself.


In the story:

1) The statements about how the Silver Millennium worked were made by Minako. While she's usually depicted as having the most memories of all the Senshi of their previous incarnation, she does not know everything about that time.

2) Note Mikoto's incredulity at Minako's statement. Academy City has a good set of teachers and curriculum for their students, especially for the Level 5s.

3) How did they not worry about STDs? "Moon Healing Escalation", and similar healing magic - which was lost when the Silver Millennium was destroyed.

4) "cultures with polygyny and not polyandry" - Minako specifically mentioned that it was a man's choice to join an existing relationship, so she remembers the Silver Millennium having polyandry.


I'm happy with the scene as written. I'm not saying it has a 100% correspondence to the setting's reality, but Minako thinks it does.

[robkelk]

The thing that's wrong is pretty easy to see: it's a bunch of white dudes trying to justify why it's okay for them to assemble a harem of younger women lol.  Your social more of monogamy is coming in conflict with the assertion that polygyny is a the more natural state, but don't really have the background to know why your value in this case is important.

... If it's that much of a problem, we can just go ahead and stop.  And by stop, I mean drop the project completely.

Seriously.

While I don't mind being criticized, it becomes an entirely different ball game where you start getting into territory where we can get tarred in a very bad way.  And I'm pretty sure that Rob would agree with me on this point.  If critique is to happen, let it happen with Death of the Author applied.  Otherwise, we will start saying things that cannot be taken back easily.

I noticed Labster's "lol" there, so I think it was a less-than-serious statement...

But, yeah, if this is going to be about the people instead of the stories (or the science - I did present a link to what I believe is a peer-reviewed journal), then best not to do it at all.

[robkelk]

Just tossed a few snippets into the Halloween Party thread on the wiki. Changes, without context.

And I put the beer list on the discussion page.

[Labster]

The thing that's wrong is pretty easy to see: it's a bunch of white dudes trying to justify why it's okay for them to assemble a harem of younger women lol.  Your social more of monogamy is coming in conflict with the assertion that polygyny is a the more natural state, but don't really have the background to know why your value in this case is important.

... If it's that much of a problem, we can just go ahead and stop.  And by stop, I mean drop the project completely.

Seriously.

While I don't mind being criticized, it becomes an entirely different ball game where you start getting into territory where we can get tarred in a very bad way.  And I'm pretty sure that Rob would agree with me on this point.  If critique is to happen, let it happen with Death of the Author applied.  Otherwise, we will start saying things that cannot be taken back easily.

当たった！ Uh I wasn't even talking to you, BA, and definitely not criticizing you.  This must really be a sore spot.  I actually don't understand people's reaction here, it's sort of obvious that you'd want to question social mores in writing.  In fact, if you're not interested in questioning mores, then it would be meaningless as art.

Just for the record, the rules of romantic relationships to me are:

• Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
  
• Love is the law, love under will.
  

Given the source of those lines, Rob really should recognize them.

I'm going to shut up here because people are really badly misunderstanding me and reacting in ways I really don't get, so I must be using too many words.

On another topic: I just realized that Coyote is the tutelary for San Antonio, much like Cait Sith is for Neo Venezia.  The reason I just now realized this is that I read an article about basketball by accident.

Can you point me at this article?  You have piqued my curiosity.

It's less exciting than you think, but kind of funny in it's own way: Why Are There So Many Bats At Spurs Games?.  But there is video of a man in a Coyote costume in a Batman costume catching a bat in a basketball game.  I was mainly commenting on how sports capture popular imagination, and it's not so terribly hard to make the leap from mascot to divine patron.  I'm still trying to figure out which universe Gritty is originally from. (Generally I don't watch enough sports to know the mascots, this is the first time I heard what the Spurs' mascot was.)

[Black Aeronaut]

I apologize, folks.

Really, for me, the rhetoric was starting to go places where it might attract undue attention, be it the legal sort or less-than-savory characters on the Internet.  Keep in mind that Bob's screening procedures only checks for human intelligence and not whether or not someone is a horrible person.

As for this being a touchy subject... well, it is.  Consider the following:

• I am a white (ostensibly despite hispanic heritage) heterosexual cis-male in a world where white supremacists and incels keep fucking it up for people like me
  
• Income is practically nil
  
• Almost 40 years old
  
• Has Major Depression among other invisible handicaps
  
• Does not have the advantages of being 'well connected'
  
• Pretty much lives a hard-scrabble lifestyle that precludes social activities beyond the Internet.
  

I recall someone saying that I look like a protagonist-type bastard.  Sure.  I've pulled a lucky draw from the genetic deck there.  And I'm aging ridiculously well.  But about there is where my luck ends.

It is very likely that I will never be able to start a family of my own.  My window for that is bound by two major constraints: finding a partner that is willing and able to have children, and is also within the age range that society would deem appropriate for me.

That window is shrinking very quickly for me.

I can't even adopt a child.  Not only do I not make enough money, but they would require that I have a family member or significant other to take care of the child when I have to work.  So, even if I did have the money, I'd be given the hairy eyeball for it.

It's kinda ironic that young-adult women fantasize about the capable but emotional broken protagonist type...  True story - I actually HAVE had several underage girls crush on me like you wouldn't believe - one of them was only eight years old!  I've had 12 year olds flirt, dance, and pirouette for me in the grocery store checkout line...  IN FRONT OF MY MOM!!!  IN FRONT OF THEIR MOM!!!  The tyke-bombs are REAL here!  (And yes, there was no mistake about it - they were looking at me and smiling the "I am a pretty girl and I find you attractive" smile.  And Mom would give me this "You have GOT to be FUCKING KIDDING" look.)

But then as these girls grow into mature women, they come to believe that they don't have time for men that are imperfect.  How bad is it?  Go look on Tinder.  They are literally looking for unicorns, up until they come across a freakin' underwear model and suddenly the ones that say that they are not DTF* are like, "Sure, when?"  (Yes.  This happens (CAUTION: Website has screen caps of text messages that are VERY NSFW) and it is prevalent enough that one man was able to literally quantify it.  With an actual equation, even!)  

It makes it awfully hard for me to see worth in myself when society degrades me like this.  Small wonder that I'm on antidepressants.

So yeah.  Lemme get back to writing about running off to stellar empires where the men are practically poached to the point where they're an endangered species and the women ask themselves "Is sharing him worth it? ....Yes.  Very much worth it."

DTF

Just in case you don't know, DTF means "Down To Fuck".  Seeing "NOT DTF" is a common sight on Tinder.

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Oh, and regarding the coyote?  Pretty sure he's an outlier, having more to do with the NBA's previous association with the Looney Toons.  "Nice kaboom, Wile E."

Meanwhile, the bat references are easy.  We love our little winged mice who roam the skies, gobbling up mosquitos like flying little bug-munching hoovers.  And San Antonio really is home to the Not-Even-Shitting-You-Here World's Largest Bat Colony.  (Consisting mostly of the Mexican Free Tailed Bat - little guys are kinda cute once you get past that face that only a mother could love.)  Naturally, mosquitos aren't much of a problem in these parts, and we are grateful for this.

[robkelk]

Say, Labster...

That "fairy party for Samhain with Akari and Aria, Cait Sith, and a few other fey-friends" at the Halloween party... Is Nadeshiko Kinomoto invited?

[Labster]

I thought that everyone had a loli hit on them at some point in their adult lives, that's just normal.

I was gonna write back last night, but I got some 9kB into writing about that other party.  Do you have something in particular for Nadeshiko to do?  If not I have a scene about a week later where Akari is expected not to know about Nadeshiko.  The more Watsonian answer is that Coyote didn't know to invite her to the party.

I'm going to keep working on it because the writing is going really well right now.  I figured out how to do Akari's powerup.  Tomoyo's going to get a powerup too, and she's not even there!

[robkelk]

Nadeshiko doesn't have anything particularly urgent to do; I was just thinking that she might be able to get Akari to help other people see her.

But that can wait. In fact, it probably should wait until Sakura's comfortable with the idea of seeing her dead mother again.

[Norgarth]

Say, Labster...

That "fairy party for Samhain with Akari and Aria, Cait Sith, and a few other fey-friends" at the Halloween party... Is Nadeshiko Kinomoto invited?

Does Totoro show up for that Party? 8)

[Labster]

Say, Labster...

That "fairy party for Samhain with Akari and Aria, Cait Sith, and a few other fey-friends" at the Halloween party... Is Nadeshiko Kinomoto invited?

Does Totoro show up for that Party? 8)

That is… huh.  I'd need to watch Totoro to see if it fits.

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, working out how Precia and Alicia are coming into the picture, and I finally had a breakthrough.

So what if one of Kyubey managed to get loose?  Happens to run across Precia?

Thing is, Kyubey is after people that can be Magical Girls...  And here's someone that is already a "magical girl", just not a puella magi.  Score, right?

Precia's wish is obvious: resurrect Alicia.

But it can't REALLY do that.  Instead, he creates a simulacra of Alicia and Precia becomes a Puella Magi.

Precia is not happy with the results, but she figures that she at least has a replacement for Fate.  And she herself begins experimenting with her own soul gem in hopes of finding a way to bring back Alicia...

...and in the process, abducting the homeless of San Antonio to experiment on them, and leave them as withered corpses when she has no more use for them.  She cares very little about this because TSAB doesn't seem to be around, and the locals have no way to figure out what's going on.

What Kyubey doesn't tell her is,

1. There are people around that CAN figure out what's going on
   
2. That it fully expects her to wind up becoming an incredibly powerful Witch in fairly short order, and use her as the needed 'Bad Guy' for future Puella Magi it creates.
   

This takes place almost immediately after the Halloween Party, as Precia has actually arrived concurrently to Nanoha and the Others.  (Lindy, Chrono, Amy, and Yuuno have shown up in one of the NPC cities and are still trying to figure out what the hell happened.  I'll cover Hayate and the Wolkenritter next.)

Ben has been introduced to Alice and her family, as well as Suzuka and hers...  And through some very polite questioning, yes, the Tsukimura family actually are vampires of a rare type - daywalkers that can breed and also age like normal humans up until middle age.  Pretty much the perfect vampires.

And they definitely think of themselves as such, vampiric nobility and all.  Noel and Farin Ehrlichkeit are of a long line of human servants, willingly having undergone selective breeding for traits that make them able to donate blood far more regularly than normal humans.  (Fortunately for the two sisters, the trait is now well established as a dominant trait and they are free to be with whoever they please.)

ANYHOW.  The investigation begins with a polite but deadly serious discussion over tea at the Tsukimura house.  They have no idea what's happening, but Shinobu volunteers to assist as whoever is doing this could jeopardize them.  (Also, in their modern sensibilities, killing humans in feedings simply isn't done anymore - not only does it attract dangerous attention, but it's just plain crass.)

Benjamin comes up with the idea of using himself as bait.  With his goatee and long hair, he just needs a bit of 'makeup' along with some grungy clothes to look the part of a homeless man.  (He uses some clothes from the last time he's done serious car work which he hasn't had a chance to launder yet - he will not only look the part, but SMELL it as well!  Yes, there WILL be commentary.)

Ryoko, Aeka, Noike, Peorth, and Marller watch from nearby, with Mihoshi, Tenchi, Nanoha, Fate, and Arf (I keep forgetting about her for some reason!) on standby.

The first few nights there's, nothing.  Though more corpses do show up.  But third time is the charm as Ben finds himself suddenly falling through a wall and into something like a Witch's Lair... only this was made by Precia.

Precia has been very busy.  As she is learning more and more about how her Soul Gem works (but not realizing the true danger), she has been pulling the very life-force out of the homeless she traps, and using it to make more simulacra of Alicia (or rather, of Fate) to act as her minions, and unwittingly acting almost exactly as a Witch in the process.  (Witches trap people, sucks them dry, and spawns familiars.)

Benjamin proclaims that the Alamo City Wrecking Crew has officially arrived as the watch team goes in after Ben, and a knock-down drag-out fight is had.

Fate, hearing about everything that's happening inside, gets away from the others and goes in as well.  She is horrified, but she's more angry than freaked.

Watching all of her work become undone, Precia's Soul Gem is overtaken by despair, and before their eyes becomes a Witch.

There is one HELL of a battle, during which Nanoha and Fate (on Ben's whim) snag Alicia's capsule and teleport out.

Witch!Precia goes BERSERK, trying to stop the two from teleporting, but Ben jumps onto her massive form...

....And is actually managing to hurt her.

"WARNING: ANTI-MAGIC FIELD DETECTED!" cry out Fate and Nanoha's devices.

Benjamin's ability is realized and the team takes full advantage.  He is glad that Fate isn't there to hear Precia's final keening wails of despair that sounds almost like she is calling out her daughter's name.

All there is left is a grief seed, which Ben picks up.

Suddenly, cue the Metroid-esque evacuation sequence, complete with a running timer from Washu-chan to indicate time until total collapse of the pocket dimension.  And on top of that, they have to get the few homeless people still alive out of there.

In the aftermath, no one saw what went down except for whoever was inside the pocket dimension.  The murders mysteriously stopped as suddenly as they started.  The surviving homeless all tell stories that line up with each other, but aren't taken too seriously because it all sounds like a nightmarish acid trip from hell.

Benjamin makes his contract with Hild.

And unseen by everyone, a single Alicia/Fate simulacra escapes...

....and creates a Witch's Lair.

Kyubey is satisfied.  Keikaku doori.

Up Next: Enter the Wolkenritter.

"Guys.  Einz is back.  And not in a good way."

Thoughts?

[robkelk]

Write it!

[Labster]

Fund it.

Although I was half-expecting Precia to show up in the Imaginary Number District.

And if it's about a week or two after Halloween, that make a perfect time for Cinder Fall to pay a visit to Los Angeles. Makes me wonder who else has been giving Precia grief.

[robkelk]

So... Precia in San Antonio, Cinder in LA, and the Unseelie in Ottawa, all at the same time?

I think we've identified just when things kick out of low gear.

[Labster]

Don't forget the Red Lectroids on Jersey. It's gonna be Wall-to-Walpurgis Night!

[Inquisitive Raven]

@Black Aeronaut
Just a quick proofreader's note: "Simulacra" is strictly a plural. The singular is "simulacrum."