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Curators, or "Tacks"

"Tacks" being more of how they refer to each other, similar to saying "that guy over there", but "that tack over there". "Tacky" usually means "akin to a tack" to them, rather than gaudy. they originate from Glissod, likely came to Eastar and Owel after the whole... thing

Plural: Board (of Curators)

Visuals

Two main "strands" of Curator

Shared traits between both

• height ranges from 1 - 3 ft, with some variation
• diamond markings somewhere along their body
• "plumes", feathers that stand out from their other feathers be it because they're a different color or longer or whatever else
• eyes are typically "beady"

Dark

• generally blueish black tones
• mask-like face that is flat but a little softer
• has a mouth "on" the "mask"
• very often on the shorter height range

Colorful

• larger range of colors
• mask-like face that is more beak-like and harder
• mouth is "under" mask
• typically in the taller height range

notes

• both strands of Curator can hybridize with one another
• shorter colorful Curators can sometmes be mistaken for Pygmy Pyzkies, but they don't have a flower, nor the ability to speak Plant
• mask-like face unrelated to masked owls and masked harpies as far as i can tell

Ability

Chatterbox- "chatterbox" is the term for special rooms Curators build. essentially, they create spherical homes of clay and whatever fallen foliage is about (they also tend to these chatterboxes like gardens, encouraging plants they want and like to grow on them), then fill their personal chatterbox with meaningful items relating to their personal history and interests.

the thing is, the room itself is larger on the inside than it seems on the outside. sometimes it isnt too noticeable, and sometimes it really really is and feels like there's no possible way the room and all its treasures fit into the little orb you just walked into. it's hard to describe what it is like being in one of these rooms. it can feel almost sacred in some ways, knowing every single object holds a lot of value and stories... it feels incredibly charged, like stepping into a pocket of someone else's reality. truthfully, it reminds me a little of an angel effect, except not as... you know, angel-y? (theorized use of space magic?)

Chatterboxes are built generally moving East, so westward chatterboxes are of older generations, eastward ones are newer. rows of these homes are nicknamed Pearls. Older homes of curators who have passed get a door added to the next home of a curator who has passed, so you can enter the oldest home and walk through each one until you get to the home of one that is still alive

it doesn't seem common for hybrids to retain the Chatterbox ability, save for Pygmy Pyzkies where the ability can meld with creating fairy circles. Theoretically, an Imp hybrid with a Baku may also hold ability merging? but I've not met many hybrids let alone a Baku one

notes

• there is variation in the type of "chatterboxes" that exist. some feel more like a general room, some like a really precisely cared for museum, another mostly filled with writing, so on.
• many chatterboxes can have specific themes, like an artist may have many paintbrushes or paintings, but the focus of a Curator is different from that of a Masked Owl. the topic only interests them as far as they can feel it as connected to themself...
• entering the chatterbox of a Curator whose values don't align well to yours is weirdly taxing. it's kind of the equivalent of being surrounded by music you don't connect with? it's a really weird feeling, and uncomfortable
• should a disaster befall a chatterbox of a curator who has passed on, it is considered good form for the community of Curators to salvage what items they can and add them to their own collections, so to keep the history and presence of the past curator with them, despite their home being destroyed

Affinities and Magic

Curators as a whole seem pretty sensitive to magic and general shifts in nature. they tend to have Earth related affinities.

Cultural Notes

Curators are all about self-expression, individuality, and sharing that self-reality with others. this can maybe seem a little vain? although, personally, i didn't feel that way. they seem to be happy to know their self and share it, and to understand the selves of others, too. vanity, to them, is talked about in terms of 'extraction', where a vain Curator is considered one who attempts to take from others so as to bolster themself

• a diamond with a dot in the center is a symbol representing the four Level Directions and the 3 Ambient Directions
• 4 plumes are generally considered the best number of plumes, one for each of the 4 Level Directions, though multiples of 4 are considered auspicious as well
• giving each other plumes so you have someone else's plume in your chatterbox and vice versa is considered a sign of friendship
• if you walk into someone's chatterbox and they have someone else's plume but its broken into 4 pieces, it's considered an amicable parting (4 pieces = 4 directions, whole feeling )

• if you see a plume thats broken into two pieces, thats generally indicative of a poor experience in disconnection (2 pieces = 2 directions, lopsided feeling)

• Curators may paint their faces, though i mainly noticed the colorful ones do that

• they may alter the shape of their mask-faces... shaving down the edges of the mask to be diamond-shaped may make one appear devoted or tacky (depending on the curators I asked -a curator born without diamond markings is apparently extremely rare and either a really bad or unique sign (again, depending on the curators I asked.)

• cooperative child-rearing. in larger communities, they tend to have a shared building that is a hatchery and school. Curator parents typically care immensely for their children, but also care for the children of other curators
• curators are often docile or friendly, but may literally butt heads with others if they feel an item in their collection has been disrespected. i mainly noticed this from the colorful ones
• aversion to cockatrices in some circles due to egg switching feeling practically unforgivable...
• variant opinions on hanged men, split opinions but ultimately the consensus is for hanged men to know and respect if a curator had wanted their body to be used or not after death
• Curators LOVE stories

Curators view dreamers, demons, imps, and angels in their own culture-specifc lens:

• dreamers: tenders of the garden of energy flow
• demons: receptive to larger scale misaligned energy flow, good at realigning
• imps: receptive to individual scale misaligned energy flow, good at realigning
• angels: masters at storytelling, dont need a chatterbox to communicate their reality, exist as a chatterbox practically

Directions

Curators REALLY value the Ambient and Level Directions, seem to associate each direction with particular concepts

Ambient Directions Ambient Directions are Above, Level, and Below... Where above is the sky, level is current living ground level, and below is underground.

• Above/the sky is associated with energy, magic, elements, the future.
• Level is associated with life, compromise, and the present.
• Below/the underground is associated with death, transformation, returning, and the past.
• One's body returns to Below, one's energy returns to Above. Level is seen as the meeting between these two alternate states.

Level Directions Level Directions are considered the directions one can move while on ground level. East is the starting direction, then moving clockwise.

• East - Exist - Purpose, idea, energy
• South - Gather - choice, commitment, action
• West - Organize - integration, organization, flow
• North - Share - communication

the order for creating/maintaining a Chatterbox follows the order of the directions above: Exist => Gather => Organize => Share => Exist => so on. it doesn't always go neatly like this, but the gist of the idea is in that order.

• exist is associated with the stage where you... you know, exist, are now alive. this is where a Curator experiences life, figures out what they value
• gathering is the step where they start to collect things associated with what they value. for example, a Curator may collect the plumes of their friends, but also items associated with memories of those friends, like a rock or shards from something they broke once, so on. this could also be the step where a young Curator (without a chatterbox) builds their Chatterbox, gathering earth and sticks and whatever else. this is considered taking action towards the idea and what one wants to share
• organizing is the step where a Curator starts to place things together in the Chatterbox. in terms of painting, this step would be something like organizing what you plan to draw, figuring out the composition, the colors, so on. this is the execution of the idea
• communication is the step where others may enter the Chatterbox and the Curator can share what everything means with others... this step can generally occur whenever, once a Curator has a chatterbox, but some Curators prefer to have specific days they share their home and are open for questions... while Curators are pretty open, they seem to recent being treated as wholly... accessible. "This is mine, I'm sharing with you but it is not meant FOR you."

There are Energies associated with the directions... if said energies are blocked, lacking, in excess (so on), curators expect different sort of ills to befall the one with unbalanced energy.

• Unbalanced East => restlessness, aimlessness, hopelessness, confusion of identity, inability to commit
• Unbalanced South => cluttering, hoarding, fear of being stolen from, fear of time limits, fear of mistakes, greed, fear of change and effort, fear of uncertainty
• Unbalanced West => loneliness, rigidity imposed onto self and others, self-caging, fear of judgment
• Unbalanced North => dependence on validation from others, space becomes parasitic, extracting, space constantly revamped almost wholly as if compelled to, lack of consistency, identity issues

notes

• there is slang for those who seem to act in unbalanced ways. for example, saying someone seems "northy" is the equivalent of calling someone vain.

• i got called southy because one of the curators i drew thought i was going to give her my work when i was done drawing her, so when i didn't... she was a bit upset. i found out that's generally used for when someone "who makes a lot of promises but never truly commits"... i drew her another picture she could keep instead.......