journal entry 🍲 001

[soups]

Sender: Jiang Yanli
To: Everyone
Subject: Open Journal Post

Good evening to everyone. I hope you are all well.

I apologize for asking such a question of anyone who chooses to answer -- it feels like something I should be capable of myself, and yet my usual techniques and dispositions have betrayed me.

For those of you who have taken to the native insects (or if they've taken to you, as is in my instance), have you found a way to tame or discipline them? I've found the beetle that attaches itself to me is rather temperamental, and only sometimes responds to requests or demands. It has quite the childish personality, and it hasn't been made better by the introduction of a dog in the household.

For instance, right now it has flown up to the roof and is stomping quite wildly, upset that it can't wander the common area unbothered by Blossom (the aforementioned dog).

I don't plan on resorting to violence or completely turning it away. I just wish I could find a way to make the stomping and aggression lessen.

Thank you for any advice you may have.

❰ along with the plea is a sketch of a ladybug, with a tea kettle doodled next to it for size. based on the drawing, a beetle the size of a fattened hog is terrorizing her roof, currently. ❱

Comments

[photographists]

Is there a reason you want to tame them?

[soups]

It feels wrong to turn it away. We've moved into the tree it was living in, and that isn't its fault. I just don't know if it's a lost cause, trying to compromise with a bug.

It isn't so naughty all the time. At times, it's nice to have something to care for. Just the tantrums can be alarming.

[photographists]

That's a very kind way to look at it. They may be upset that we're moving into their home...

That could explain their tantrums.

[soups]

I thought that was the initial issue, but it doesn't seem so bothered by the presence of my brothers and I. At least not now. I believe it's taken the good with the bad, as I keep it very well fed and the bug has taken a liking to me in turn.

Maybe the presence of the dog is now just one hardship too many...

[photographists]

Even though I know that dogs mean well, they can also be excitable and full of energy.

Do you think that might be what's upsetting it?

[soups]

It's possible. The ladybug's personality IS one that isn't so consistently cheerful. So perhaps they're just totally incongruous.

If that's the case, I don't think there's any real solution.

[photographists]

You seem pretty knowledgable about different insect.

I know that this may not be the solution you want to hear, but... it may be better to let them find another home where they can live on their own like before.

[soups]

Not particularly, I'm afraid. I've just picked up quite a few things from dealing with this insect in specific.

Maybe the best result will come about by not paying them any mind until they give up. It's just such a hard thing to commit to when they're so needy and pitiful.

[photographists]

Oh, I see... But, that's good, too. Being able to learn about different things and adapt to new situations will make it easier to get by here.

... Sometimes, people won't ask for help until they really need it, though. Maybe... some creatures really aren't so different.

[noblegarnet]

I can't make this ladybug do anything, honestly. It comes and goes the way it wants and I just deal with it. I wonder if it's even smart enough to be trained.

[Which isn't very helpful, but... commiseration is a thing, too. At least Rossa just flies in his face at worst, rather than making a whole bunch of noise.]

What have you tried so far?

[soups]

I've tried being reasonable, more than anything. I don't think it lacks comprehension...at times it listens and gets the gist of things, if it's in its best interest.

❰ like if there's food involved. it definitely responds to food as a form of direction. ❱

It's been a while since I've had to deal with training an animal. My last pet was a duck that wasn't so ornery. I guess it's futile to try and talk to a ladybug like a child.

[noblegarnet]

That's what I've figured. Being reasonable only gets you so far if something can't actually reason.

[Ferran has never been a fan of punishing animals. They wouldn't understand half the time, anyway. So:]

Have you tried giving it food or treats when it comes near the dog? Maybe that could help it get a positive impression or something, at least enough to tolerate it.

[soups]

I've had good results with food independently of the dog...but once the dog is involved, the food becomes a shared resource in their eyes. So there's an issue of getting them both on the same page all at once, but then the ladybug doesn't really understand the concept of sharing yet.

❰ thus, the impasse she is at. ❱

Maybe I could give the ladybug food in one room, Blossom in the other and acclimate them slowly...

[noblegarnet]

[Hmm. He supposes it was a stretch to assume any dogs here would be well trained already.]

The separation sounds like a decent place to start. It might be a good idea to work with the dog first after that, depending on how familiar you are with them.

[He makes a note to himself not to acquire any other creatures. ... he may not follow through with it, but the thought is there.]

[soups]

It isn't my dog, truthfully. It belongs to my brother.

❰ more like both of them, at this juncture, but she's sure that wouldn't be appreciated, saying they have dual ownership. ❱

It's why I'm putting so much effort into the ladybug. It isn't technically mine, but since it prefers me...it feels like my responsibility at this point. Especially as I won't let them turn it away.

[noblegarnet]

Then your brother needs to be putting work into it, too.

[They can't just shove it all on your shoulders!! Regardless of which one belongs to whom.]

Everyone should be consistent with how you treat them if you live together, anyway, and having the extra reinforcement might help the animals get the idea faster.

[... depending on how domesticated they are, anyway?]

[soups]

I don't think he's inattentive to the dog at all...it's a somewhat odd situation, to train a dog to act well around a bug. I'll have to discuss strategies together with him.

❰ jiang cheng is a great dog owner, but he also only just got his prized pooch back...so there's some room for improvement, but that's to be expected. ❱

At the very least, I'm glad there is a degree of separation that can be put between them in the meantime. Maybe for the moment I can try and keep the ladybug to the roof more than the house...then make it a gradual coming together.

[noblegarnet]

Without the stomping sooner rather than later, I hope.

[That part really sounds like a pain.]

If it comes down to it, you could build on top to give it some kind of balcony or a room for it. That's supposed to be easier with the magic here, right?

[soups]

❰ this actually hadn't been something she'd considered before...perhaps an offering to the ladybug, some kind of shrine of sorts that it could migrate to when necessary. it did seem to love the roof, so why not expand the house. ❱

That's actually quite clever...though I haven't actually put my magic to much use. ❰ sometimes she forgets she has it at all. never having really cultivated in her life, she's gotten quite used to anything magical being something she's excluded from. ❱ Have you ever done something quite so...mechanical with the magic they've provided to us? I don't think I would know where to start with it.

[noblegarnet]

Not with the kind we have here, but with my own magic back home, I did something similar. In the sense of making something solid, anyway.

[His own magic was based more on instincts and what he could figure out on his own—which means he sees the magic here very similarly. They don't exactly have any instruction manuals here.]

At the beginning, it involved a lot of understanding what things are made of. Getting a feeling for the pieces and how everything fits, like how dense a piece of metal is, or how the threads of a piece of fabric are woven together.

[soups]

❰ hmm. some of that seems simple. she has some knowledge of the making of cloth, then turning it into something wearable or usable. she could come to understand in her mind what she could need to create clay, or even something made from it that could appear at her concentrated whim.

things that are more fantastical...she doesn't comprehend the intricacies of cultivation, nor this kind of magic. at times it feels effortless to sprout fire from her hands, without thinking -- but the few times she's actually put in effort, her brain goes blank. ❱

It feels so scholarly. Perhaps that's why I find harnessing it so evasive. I'm sure it comes with practice and concentration that I haven't invested into it yet. I've only created a few things and found it quite exhausting.

[noblegarnet]

It took a lot at first for me, too. You really have to work to find the balance between thinking and feeling, and probably to build up the magical stamina. I'm sure you can get the hang of it eventually, though.

[If she's already succeeded in some aspects, he doesn't see why she couldn't eventually with this particular project.]

[rpgminded]

That's an easy one! Just give it food. That's how it works with Nancy-chan and me. Well, that and I saved her life from being eaten, but you get the idea.

[soups]

I've tried using food as a means of training before. Once the dog gets involved, however, things get more complicated.

Who is Nancy-chan? Your own insect companion?

[rpgminded]

That just means you have to feed them both so they get used to each other! Uh...I think.

[There's a pause before a very crude drawing of Nancy appears as Ichiban does his best to share with his mind.]

Sort of! She's a crayfish...but they've been called insects of the sea, you know?

[soups]

❰ she's glad that an explanation has been offered, because otherwise she was going to be very confused about the muscular shrimp drawing. ❱

I think that would cause twice the problem. Or, maybe if I feed both of them enough they'll be too distracted with their piles of food to fight?

Either way, Nancy-chan is very lovely. Does she need to stay in the water, though? Do you visit her in the sea?

❰ which she would LOVE to know if there's actually an ocean around here. ❱

[rpgminded]

[LOOK he is doing Nancy-chan a favor! So what if he embellished slightly her looks. Her very muscular looks.]

I think that's the idea, yeah. Like they just think "hey, if we see each other and don't make a big deal about it, we'll get food"

[There's a pause before;]

Nah she was close to a river in the city. As long as her gills are moist she can be out of water for a pretty damn long time.


....but maybe I should find an aquarium for her. Or some place she can chill in water. Would be the logical thing to do, yeah?

[soups]

I think so. Especially if you want to keep her as a pet long term. In such a situation, you'd be able to spend even more time together if there was an aquarium or pond she could quickly access.

For safety, as well. I would hate for something to happen that meant she couldn't quickly get access to moisture.

[rpgminded]

Oh, she's more like an associate, really. Sometimes I need to call on her.

[Literally.]

I think that might work well. I need to learn some water spells for a quick water emergency.

[soups]

❰ she tries to think about how she can visualize this creature being an associate to someone...she's coming up empty, so it's hard to comment. ❱

That is also a wonderful idea. I forget such magic is possible for us. In your case, it would be so convenient to create water on a whim.

Do you imagine people could create other things with magic? Such as breadcrumbs, for instance? I don't know where to start when it comes to harnessing power in the slightest.