#first time hearing about stoats

[yeonslayjun]

The Qiandeng Tribune

Ghost City Breaking News:

Grand Uncle was spotted at Ireland and is now very popular in the Mortal world. Chengzhu has been reported to gushing over him at Gambler's Den last Night. Ghost City Residents think that Grand Uncle looks very cute and has fallen for his charms. Today morning Hua Chengzhu rewarded everyone who spread the news and compliments for his danxia. Ghost City Residents have decided to declare today a holiday dedicated for the two of them.

[dol--blathanna]

Thinking a lot about Orym choosing a rabbit when asked what animal he would pick if cursed with lycanthropy.

Because, it makes sense. Orym is small, quick, agile, jumps well, and is highly perceptive. That definitely evokes rabbit imagery. But a lot of Orym’s identity is also tied up with being a protector – giving people AC bumps, the shield being as much a part of his fighting style as his sword, even his title: Saviour Blade of the Tempest. He wants to be a “Shield that protects Exandria”; his priorities about saving the gods are less about the gods themselves, and more about protecting the people of Exandria from the unintended consequences and bloodshed of releasing Predathos. And it would’ve been very easy to pick a large, strong predator to try and evoke the sense of a protector – a wolf, for example, an animal associated with loyalty and protecting its pack. Yet Orym chose a rabbit.

And I think that’s interesting, because rabbits are often seen as ‘cute’ animals – but they’re also a prey animal. In fact, they’re a common food source for many animals across several ecosystems: foxes, wolves, wild cats, dogs, birds of prey like eagles or owls, coyotes, stoats, and humans (and that’s just off the top of my head). Rabbits are skittish, easily frightened; to be rabbit-hearted is to be timid or cowardly. They are not generally associated with fierceness or prowess in fighting. Mice and rats are prey animals too, but typically seen as vermin (rabbits are sometimes seen as vermin too, but a farmer could eat a rabbit – they wouldn’t eat a rat). Deer are prey, but they have hooves and antlers that bring a danger to hunting them, for any animal – the difficulties of hunting rabbits are more related to their evasiveness, speed and good hearing than any life-threatening danger they might pose. Rabbits are, first and foremost, prey animals. They are killed and eaten, so that another animal might live.

Which made me think a lot about one of Orym’s other key traits: self-sacrifice. Bait and switch doesn’t just bump up his ally’s ACs, it specifically switches their place to put him directly in harm’s way. Goading attack is meant to encourage enemies to attack him instead of his friends. He literally made a deal with a hag, essentially exchanging his own life for power to protect his friends. How many times has he gone down in a fight? He’s not the only tank – but unlike Ashton (and Chetney, who also uses ‘self-sacrifice’ in his fighting style with his blood curses) he has no abilities to reduce the damage from the hits he takes (barbarian rage and the werewolf form).

(Side note: I think it’s pretty interesting that Chetney, the wolf, has attacked Orym, the rabbit, more than anyone else when losing control. That Orym’s facial scar was given to him by a friend, not a foe).

Of course, Orym isn’t the only character with self-sacrificial tendencies (FCG wins by a landslide), but I just can’t stop thinking about how weirdly perfect it is that he chose a rabbit for his animal. Rabbits are prey animals. They are eaten, so that other animals may live. Orym takes the hits, he goads and switches with his team mates to put himself in danger, he makes a deal with a hag at the cost of his own life. He’s a soldier, throwing his life away for a cause over and over again because Ludinus must be stopped, because Keyleth has put her trust in him, because it’s the only way to protect his friends, to protect everyone, because it’s the right thing to do. Orym is a rabbit. He’s always been a rabbit. That day in Zephrah, it could have easily been Orym who died instead of Will and Derrig – “unfortunate but necessary sacrifices”, as Ludinus viewed the attack. It’s unfortunate they had to die, but it was for the greater good, according to Ludinus. It’s unfortunate that a rabbit has to die, but it will feed a family of foxes, or stoats, or even a hungry human, so it’s acceptable, right?

Orym is a rabbit. He is giving himself to a greater cause that could very easily kill him – he already willingly signed his life away to Nana Morri. Because that’s what rabbits do. They die to feed others.

And the theme of being disposable is present across the entire group, not just in Orym – Bell’s Hells has been called a “party of NPCs” before. Aside from FCG’s death, I’d say Laudna perhaps fits this theme the best: she was literally murdered and hung from a tree simply because she looked similar to Vex, acting as a warning to adventurers she had never met before. But FCG’s death was – rightfully – viewed as a terrible tragedy by the group. Laudna’s decision to remove Delilah, finally freeing herself from her abuser and emphasising she is more, and deserves to be more, than just some disposable puppet – this was rightfully viewed as a very good thing! But Orym seems to be embracing this identity of self-sacrifice instead, rather than this mindset being properly challenged or acknowledged as a bad thing. After all, there’s no time. There’s too much at stake. Keyleth, Bell’s Hells, all the memories of those who have died in this fight, all the people who might die if Predathos is released and kickstarts a second Calamity – they’re all relying on him, right? A rabbit feeding so many animals with his sacrifice. And it’s not malicious compared to the way that, say, Delilah killing Laudna was an incredibly evil, fucked up and unnecessary thing to do. If Orym died to save everyone else, well, at least everyone else would be saved, right? Saving lives is good, isn't it? How could he complain?

Because rabbits are prey animals, and Orym is a rabbit too. Destined to die so that another animal may feed.

Except, that’s not true. Rabbits are more than just prey. They’re highly social, and thrive best living with others. They’re playful, they enjoy running around and kicking their legs just to show their enjoyment. They’re inquisitive and mischievous, even being associated with tricksters in some folklore and stories. They’re also associated with innocence, playfulness, spring, youth – all manner of things, depending on the story or culture. And they’re not helpless, either, even if they might be thought of as such. They can bite and scratch and draw blood quite easily if they want to! In fact, freezing up isn’t their only response when being attacked by a predator, they are known to fight back if cornered. They can sprint quickly, they have excellent hearing and senses of smell, they know how to evade predators.

Rabbits are prey, and they are also survivors. They have their own social dynamics, their own habits and dislikes and preferences. They are more than just a wolf’s meal. And Orym is more than a soldier, too. He’s more than a “necessary sacrifice”, he’s more than just a shield and sword. He deserves more than to die for a cause. He deserves a happy ending, just like everyone else. I hope he remembers that.

Orym is a rabbit. And the message isn’t that he shouldn’t be a rabbit. It’s that rabbits are worthy of surviving, too.

[queenjulia11]

Spoilers for the end of ep 4 of Burrow’s End!!

Look at Thorn Vale’s face when he finally arrives at Last Bast. Look at how happy he is. He’s not just happy, he’s elated. I’ve been thinking a lot about what Jasper chose to say after hearing the story of these new stoats.

“They did it, Sweetie. They did it.”

Thorn’s whole life has been defined by a nightmare. Something incomprehensible that a select few friends understand — but only because they were there, too. The rest of his family understands that he went through something traumatic, but they all also kinda know that there’s no way they can get on the same page about it. All they can really say is “yeah, that sounds awful,” or “it’s okay, you’re safe now.” And those words don’t mean nothing, but they don’t do enough to truly describe the terror Thorn went through.

But these guys? They’ve seen the monsters, too. And they aren’t afraid of them.

For the first time in Thorn’s life, the monsters have names. And we know how big a deal names are for Thorn Vale — who wasn’t even given one when he was born. Names make you knowable. You’re not just this amorphous *thing* floating in space that no one knows how to talk about anymore. The name “Human” is something Thorn has over them now. He’s reclaimed a bit of power from the things that makes him feel the most powerless.

The humans aren’t just something to fear now, they can be defeated. It is finally possible to not only overcome the worst thing that’s ever happened to him, but to make sure his children never have to face it. Even think about it.

And the best part? He doesn’t have to lead anymore. He can rely on others — if someone dies or gets hurt, it’s not his fault. We saw how he broke in episode three, that pressure would’ve killed the poor guy if he had kept it on his shoulders. He can finally take some of the weight off. He doesn’t have to do this alone.

Look at that pure relief on his face.

This is light. This is hope. This is power. This is how it feels to be understood. And now he can share it with the people who matter the most to him.

“They did it, Sweetie. They did it.”

[helpfandom]

hello!! i saw you had requests open so i hope you don’t mind me asking for one :3 so what i was thinking was could you do a Yandere P03 (inscryption) x reader? can be platonic or romantic it doesn’t really matter whatever you wanna do! headcanons please, and for the premise just about like how it would act as a yandere and how he would treat the reader and how he would go about becoming a yandere for them :0? it would also be cool if you explored the games ending (where it ports into lukes computer) a little if you wanted to but tbh i’ll love anything you make because i am so desperate for content of this game ngl 😭 but you can go nuts! i don’t mind you adding some things, just have fun w it :D! thank you so much tehehehe!

The first part is roughly based off of my first playthrough, and I finally finished the game, It. Was. AMAZING!! OH MY GOODNESS. >.<

Call him AM the way this little freaky computer hates.

@lonleydweller

°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°

°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°

Your friend, Luke Carder, was more than happy to let you play Inscryption first, especially after this person named... Amanda? showed up at his house. Anyway, you had the disk drive and could actually play it, so as long you gave him footage and the like, he had no issues with you playing it for him.

At first, he was moreso just happy to have someone finally playing the game again and get actually have the ability to do something after such a long time.

He was a little surprised when he felt you change the game and exit out and then back in when he said "Total Misplay" or anything along those lines, and even more intrigued when you actually listened to him when he mentioned more about the other scrybes.

He couldn't see you, no not yet, but he could at least watch your cursor as you hover over options in your hand and still can't choose. Of course, he got bored quickly, going back to thinking about how much he hates Leshy for forcing him into an organic body, and a stoat at that.

When he finally gets back into his robotic form due to your success in beating Leshy, he instantly connects himself to every part of your computer, quickly asserting himself to hear everything you say and even how you look. You look... not bad for a human. Of course, you'd look better Robot-ified, but still, not bad for a human.

He has mixed opinions on the scrybe you choose to replace, if it's Leshy, he's ecstatic about that, eager to see you destroy him, even if you destroy all of them technically, but he's so eager to watch Leshy's face for betrayal. If it's Grimora or Magnificus? He's okay with it, neutral about it. I mean, he knows it would suck about Grimora, she's very sweet and kind, but no big loss. But if you choose him?

He laughs to himself at your optimism, thinking you beat him? He's 4 steps ahead of you, always watching and all knowing, smarter and better than you. Well, you and that annoying guy you bring around sometimes to give him recordings.

'Luke', He agonizes over that name. He's insulted that you stick with a loser, a mere youtuber when the obviously better option is him. Doesn't matter if your feelings are romantic or platonic to your friend, he hates him.

He enjoys your shock when he takes over the game, relishing in your emotions and mixed feelings, and he enjoys your quick adaptation to the new world he created, for you. If he could, he would take you out of that stupid world separating you and just keep you with him when he does The Great Transcendence. You're the best player he's had for a long time...

Now, here there are several endings, one where he does what he wanted and uploads Inscryption to the internet fully, the original end of Inscryption but without Amanda, one where he finds a way to bring you here, one where he never fully dies, and one where you die instead.

[deuxcherise]

Collar Crimes: Weasel In

C/w: Unhealthy behavior, yandere OC, yandere male, whiny yandere, gender neutral reader, comfort (?), fluff (?), mentions violent action, cute image of stoat for reference A/n: So I watched a video about a stoat, a type of weasel, and oml it's adorable as heck. And vicious. And we can’t deny a cute yandere, can we? Enjoy~ Masterlist | Part 0, Part 1 (you're here!), Part 2

The stoat is a very lovely creature. Quite small, halfway tameable, and very weasel-like. A long-shaped living doll of a creature. However, it is… less cute in its mannerisms. You've seen it, with its tiny form, take down a rabbit twice its size and thickness. You were a child back then when you first witnessed this shocking event in a documentary, and have long since accepted that not all cute things are gentle and innocent.

Perhaps that is why you haven't called the police yet, though you definitely keep your phone on hand. Just in case…

“(Y-Y/n)... I… This is not what it looks like!”

Really? Then what the heck am I looking at? 

The very large trash bag he is dragging away in the alleyway next to your apartment has a very suspiciously human shape, with a defined head, armed-bound torso, and bound legs. Sure, an idiot could chalk it up to Eris's strange tying technique, but you are no idiot.

Not to mention, the bag starts to squirm and make a muffled noise.

“Quiet,” Eris spit before he stomps on the bag so hard you hear a crack. The bag immediately stills. He then turns to you with a bashful smile, like the kind of smile you’d find on a person who accidentally made a mess in the kitchen because they were trying to make a cake for you.

…..

Yeah, that’s the same exact smile he had when the one time you found him in your kitchen at 3AM, in the middle of baking a cake for your birthday. Sweet as the gesture was, you’re pretty sure you’ve never given him a key to your apartment.

You sigh. “Listen, could you please be more…” You gesture to this whole scene with circular motions of both of your hands. “Inconspicuous about your crimes?”

Eris's eyes sparkle. “Of course, my love! I made sure there aren't any cameras or witnesses here to catch me!”

There were many cameras set up by your landlord just a few days ago, as a result of an uptick of crimes in the area recently. Knowing Eris… that landlord wasted quite a sum.

“Actually, the area here is pretty dangerous,” he adds. “You should come live with me!”

“I've said this before, and I'll say it again. No, thank you.”

His pleasant expression falls for a second before he pipes up, “Mm, okay! Then let me install some cameras!”

“No. No, thank you.”

“But (Y/n)! How else am I going to wat- protect you?” he whines, his arms flailing the trash bag like a child throwing a tantrum.

You sigh as you turn around and start walking back to your apartment. You ignore his cries for your name, unwilling to deal with people in general after finishing your 9-to-5 customer service job. That's how you found him actually, or rather how he found you. Funny, isn’t it? You don't understand why he's so… obsessed over you to this point. 

Why haven't you taken any real action so far? It’s because he’s been pretty harmless overall—aside from a few kisses on the cheek and head and hand. He really likes planting kisses on you, doesn't he? At least he doesn't kiss you on the lips… as far as you're aware…

Still in your work uniform, you collapse on your couch and take a nap for at least an hour. When you wake up again, you find Eris on top of you, staring intensely at your face with a very blank, doll-like expression. Realizing you're awake, his doll-like face breaks into a smile.

“(Y/n)~” he sweetly calls out to you, like a puppy greeting his owner. It would’ve been cute, but his history of creepy antics pollutes his image.

You don't question how he gets into your apartment without a key anymore. “Get off,” you command.

“Noooo… Don't wannaaaa.”

You sigh. He's being difficult again. You take a hand and push against his shoulder, expecting to push him off your bed as usual. This time, however, he's too solid and stable. Drowsiness is keeping you weak.

“Eris…”

“Yes, love?”

“Please get off… you're crushing me.”

“Eh?? No, I'm not!”

He really isn't, bearing his weight on his elbows and knees and not at all on your body. How long has he kept this pose?

Seeing his face about to whine again, you say, “Ugh, fine.” You roll over onto your stomach and close your eyes again.

“(Y/n)? Are you going back to sleep? You haven't had dinner yeeet.”

“.....”

“(Y/nnn).”

“Don't feel like eating,” you mumble.

“Uh… But (Y/n), you have to take care of your health. Or let me take care of your health.”

“Don't need you to. Leave me alone.”

“Hmphhhhh.”

“.....”

You hear him lower himself down onto your body to wrap his arms around you. His lips trace the back of your neck, much to your discomfort.

“(Y/n),” he whispers.

“.....”

“You're lonely, right?”

“.....”

“I am too, so I know. You don't have to tell me.”

“.....”

“Since we're both alone… I was thinking… we should become a family together… Isn't that a good idea?”

“.....”

“I can wait for you at home… cook for you… do the laundry… take out the trash… take care of our children…”

“I don't want any children,” you murmur.

He gently kisses the back of your head. “Of course, of course. I’m okay if it’s just you and me too~ Would you like a summer wedding or a winter wedding? Personally, I prefer winter-”

“I'm not… marrying you.”

“Mm… That's okay too! We can… elope, if that's what you want. As long as we're together.”

“I don't… like you that way.”

“Oh… does that mean you like me in other ways?”

What part of– You sigh. “Shut up… trying to sleep…”

You hear him giggle as he hugs you tighter and plants some more kisses on the back of your head. “Okay, okay, my love. I'm just… so happy. Being with you. I really am. I'll make you fall in love with me… someday, (Y/n).”

“Mm hmm… Sure…”

“Just need to… get rid of some more… pests… so we can be together… always…”

And the both of you head off to dreamland together on the couch~

[haydenthewitch]

y'all stoats have me crying again

i'm re-watching burrows end, and episode 5 (right after the first tape) has me in TEARS. mr.breannan lee mulligan playing tula is so sorrowful and it makes me want to hug him.

"i don't know [what killed your father]. posion dust, thunder on a day without clouds, hollow bears that move without lifting their legs, i don't know what these monsters can do. but i know that your father wanted to know. and i know, that when i found him, i wasn't cleaver enough to know what killed him. so you'll forgive me, if i am a little bit worried..."

"... whatever we have discovered, these monsters were clever enough to make. and they do know it better than us."

"the sky and the water, thats the blue. that's where we come from. for all we know, where it comes from, it's the monsters. so i don't know where this confidince comes from, but if confidince could keep you alive, then geoffery would still be here."

"if the plan is to fight an endless wave of monsters, with the scraps we have collected from the forest, than you can count me out. and as a stoat who is about to be a father, you should count yourself out."

the root of tula is fear. she is a mother, and she fears for her children. she lost her husband, and she thinks that if she was more fearful, he would still be around ("where were you?"). she is undead, and the fear of her children's safety restarted her heart. fear is what made her kill the bear, and compassion is what made her hold a funeral rite for it afterward. when she breathed in the dust, fear was what made her run. when she hurt the gunshot, fear took hold of her. she is a character based out of fear and not only sadness but sorrow. she says it herself-she felt like she didn't have time to die. it breaks my heart to hear her in this speech. she then goes on to say:

"Just keep running."

"where?"

"i don't know where. higher ground. cleaner air. furthur away."

fear is the thing that drives her, and "safe" is her biggest worry. it comes from a place so vecieral, at the center of her body; her heart. the very thing that restarted for her kids- the thing she fears losing the most.

the way this monolog is delivered by brennan breaks my heart. it could be described as a verbal poem. i feel the heartbreak, and i really REALY sympitize with tula. it contains so much sorrow that i feel it in my bones. i'm currently SOBBING as i'm typing this out, so any spelling mistakes are my bad.

[duketibbitswaifu]

🌸 Selfshiptober 🌸

Day 3 : Embrace + Blood

🌸 Me and Dukey were on a date at a cute 'lil diner last night!! They had some yummy burgers, I had mine with chopped onions. Dukey only got a plain burger, not wanting to spend too much, so I let him have some of my fries. I don't know what was more appetizing: the food, or the greying man right in front of me. 🌸

🌸 Our sandwiches were followed up by a pair of bloody mary cocktails, a favorite of mine. Duke got it to be a romantic, saying it reminded him of how much he loves with me. He's such a flirt. 🌸

🌸 After about an hour or so, we paid our bill and started walking to our ride. We were both a little buzzed from the bar so we were both stumbling a little bit, holding onto each other for support. His broad shoulders and his strong grip made me feel so safe. 🌸

🌸 "Rosemary, you-you are the most prettiest damn lady. I ought to take you home 'an ravage you, woman." He spoke, slurring his words in his drunken haze. 🌸

🌸 He laughed first at that, followed by my own giggling. He was always funny, but always moreso after some hooch. I notice his face becoming redder, a light blush filling his cheeks. He's such a cute patootie. 🌸

🌸 "Dukey, you better watch who you're talkin' to." I snapped back playfully. "'sides, last time I checked, you wanted to mess around a little differently" The stoat feels a sharp smack on his ass, jumping with a hoot and a hollar. 🌸

🌸 That's when I started feeling a bit dizzy. Not drunk dizzy, but that one dizziness I've grown accustomed to. My head started feeling lighter too :((. By now, Dukey would have noticed I was about to faint, but with the alcohol in our systems, he didn't realize 'till after I fell. 🌸

🌸 I didn't know what happened after, but I woke up this morning in Dukey's bed. At first my head was spinning, trying to adjust myself with my surroundings. I had a huge hangover. I felt around my body, feeling the cotton sheets around my body, a hole or two spotting the bedding. 🌸

🌸 I could recognize it by just the feeling. It was the kinda of rough and fuzzy you get from worn down fabric, and his room always smelled vaguely like a dusty thrift store. I could taste a hint of iron on my tongue, something so familiar but unsure. 🌸

🌸 I checked my phone, looking through my notifications, see if he left me any messages to wake up too. 7:32. Nothing of course; he never really cared for text too much. I was about to get up when I heard the door know turn, and the door bust open with a familiar sight. 🌸

🌸 The stoat walks in carrying a breakfast tray, saddled with a pair of plates, adorned with some flowers from his back garden. There was some eggs and sausage, the steam still emanating from the dish. 🌸

🌸 That's when he spots me. "Rosemary!" He exclaimed, running to my bedside, almost dropping the food in the process. "I-, you're okay!" Dukey hurriedly sets the tray on the bedside, before running to hold me in his arms, a hand rubbing my back. He lays his head on my shoulder as I can hear soft whimpers. 🌸

🌸 As he holds me close, I can feel that taste of iron waft up to my nose, along with Duke's familiar cheap cigarette and sweat smell. "Yes, I'm okay! What happened?" 🌸

🌸 The grey stoat pulls away, still holding me by the shoulders as if afraid to let me go. As he does so, I notice he's completely shirtless. For him, it's a rare sight, as he's almost always wearing his wifebeater. There's a couple of red stains on his arms, too. 🌸

🌸 "Ya busted your face open last night. Had to bring you back my m'self and nurse ya back to health." Duke looks me straight-on after saying this, his expresssion turnin' from a smile to a look of guilt. "I should have caught you. My dumbass didn't catch you and you had to p-" 🌸

🌸 I cut him off, placing a finger to his sullen lips. "Dukey, I love you, so much. Thank you, baby." I comfort him, his unnaturally shaken stature returning to a more cooled state. "I love you too, darlin'." 🌸

🌸He squeezes me into another hug, this time out of pure love as opposed to worry. The embrace lingers for a while longer, maybe a couple of minutes. Who knows? I don't any of us we're keeping track. Simply enjoying the feeling of each other was enough to make all the blood and worry melt away into nothingness.

[robotslenderman]

You know, ferrets are such fucking goobers that sometimes I forget they're actual predators.

Sydney's had a rat and mouse problem the last few weeks because of the cold snap. We've had a couple come in as well. First one was gone last week (there's a smell in the garage where my parents put down baits) but the second one has been having parties in the ceiling above my room. My brother is right above me and has had to chase it out of his room at night a few times.

Well, we have a few cages full of ferrets who take turns getting the run of the ferret room. The first group of two are up first, mum lets them out and leaves.

Then hears a rat screaming bloody murder.

Usually when there's screaming in there it's because one ferret has grabbed another through the bars of a cage and won't let go but ferret screaming is distinctly different. Mum goes back. Picks up the boy, who's big and confused and has no idea WTF is going on. The girl, Bambi, is hiding in the corner of the room. Shaken up, upset, won't let anyone pick her up. Bambi is one of our "pocket rockets", who's tiny but feisty and is very protective of her boy.

Mum finally manages to calm her down enough to pick her up and check her for wounds. She's fine, puts her and her boy back in the cage bc, well, there's a rat about and it's not safe and they need to calm down. Mum spends the next few minutes emptying tubes to try to find the rat but can't find it.

She and Dad leave the house for a bit but leave the ferrets in their cages in case the rat is about still.

Come home, figure it's safe to let out the second cage, a group of four (a mum, two of her daughters and a random boy who's more of a son than a dad). They make a beeline under the cage near the corner where Bambi had been hiding in and quickly find the body.

Not hard to put the pieces together there. I've seen a video of a tiny stoat take down a rabbit multiple times its size... easy to forget ferrets are bigger. Rat didn't stand a chance.

[robynator]

burrow's end spoilers!

i am not a huge fan of horror. as a rule, i avoid horror movies and books, because oftentimes the violence in them is just too graphic for me

that being said, burrow's end is shaping up to be my favourite dimension 20 season, namely because of the horror aspects of it. very few streamable dnd shows have been able to recreate the dread and anticipation that i feel while actually playing dnd, but burrow's end does it perfectly

there is, of course, violence and gore (notably the infamous bear scene) but that doesn't bother me as much as it does with other mediums, probably because it's dnd and im sort of used to it. and yet it's the more "psychological" aspects of it that draw me and from what ive seen, many other people in as well

at first it's the not knowing, the uncertainty that causes the unease and later it's putting the pieces together, realizing where the stoats are and what they're dealing with, while they themselves are still ignorant on the basis of just not having the background information we do

i can't not talk about the tapes and the chilling revelation that it was the first stoats that were behind everything. hearing dr wenabocker at first say that everything was under control (and it's likely that he was right), and then only a couple tapes later say that there were clear signs of sabotage, that the cables were chewed through

and, of course, the attack, which is so far probably my favourite part of the show. it's shocking, and downright horrifying to hear and i genuinely had to take a quick break after that, just to process it. carlos luna, you absolute madman, that was incredible

and then we were introduced to phoebe

phoebe, who was behind it all. phoebe, who suggested they sabotage the plant. phoebe, who ripped her sibling's jaw off, when they wouldn't listen to her. phoebe, who gleefully attacked dr wenabocker and may or may not be puppeteering him right now. phoebe, whose return even the first stoats feared (and awaited)

ive thought about the implications behind taking over someone's body to further your own goals long before burrow's end but this has reignited that train of thought (i made a post about it months ago, relating to lockwood & co.) so i know for a fact that i will be thinking about the horror of it for some more time now. especially if that gets confirmed — and im hoping it does

aabria iyengar is a brilliant dm and storyteller and this entire season i have been consistently in awe of the pure genius of the narration and symbolism and plot points, and how she's able to craft such a masterful story

[braveclementine]

On the Spaceship

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"In all the time I've served Thanos, I have never failed him. If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be judgment."

The needles that were around him, slowly pierced him. Stephen flinched, holding back his cries of pain. He brought up the image of Sam laughing in his head, focusing on that memory only. He was doing all of this for Sam.

"Give me. . . the stone."

Stephen could feel his entire body vibrating in pain. The needle in his cheek was the most painful, feeling like it was going to explode. Sam's face was starting to become blurry. He need to hold on.

If only for Sam.

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Tony leaned over the edge to see far below the wizard was being tortured. Something tapped him on the arm and he immediately reacted, pointing his blaster at the floating red cloak in the air. It held up its end flaps, almost in a surrendering gesture to show it was harmless.

"Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" Tony asked, heart beating a million miles an hour, but slowing. It started to speed right back up again though, when another voice suddenly cut in.

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty." He watched the spider kid drop from the ceiling, his mask coming off.

"What the-"

"I know what you're gonna say."

"You should not be here!"

"I was gonna go home-"

"I don't wanna hear it."

"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way-"

"-and now I got to hear about it."

"-and kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way-"

"Damn it."

"-So if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here."

"What did you just say?"

"I-I take that back." He said very quickly. "And now, I'm here in space."

"Yeah, right where I didn't want you to be." He stepped right up to the kid and said quietly. "This isn't Coney Island, this isn't a field trip. This is a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through."

"No, I did think this through."

"You could not have possibly thought this through."

"You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider- man if there's no neighborhood." There was a pause where they stared at each other and then he said, "Okay, that didn't really make sense, but you know why I'm trying to say."

Tony sighed. "Come on. We got a situation." They walked to the edge and he pointed, "See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go."

"Um. . . Okay, okay Um. . . Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"

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Stephen cried out in pain. It wasn't so much seeing Sam's face as a human now, anymore. It was now when he had met Sam, when he had been a stoat. It had been so strange, turning into a creature like a stoat. Sam had found him just adorable.

Stephen found he had loved the affection and pets that Sam had given him, after he learned to accept the care. It had been hard at first, always thinking he was the most dominant, the smartest, all of it. But maybe he'd needed it, maybe that was why he had been the animal. To tone his ego down a little bit.

He loved Sam. So much. And if he didn't get to see him after this, at least he would be safe. Sam would be safe.

"Painful, aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them-" He paused and Stephen saw Iron Man standing behind him, fully equipped in his suit and blasters pointed at the alien, "Could end your friends life in an instant."

"I gotta tell you he's not really my friend." Tony said and Stephen fought the urge to roll his eyes, even with the pain he was in. "Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy."

"You've saved nothing." The alien said, calling up a box behind him to throw at Stark. "Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

"Yeah, but the kids seen more movies." Tony said.

Kid? What kid?

Stark shot the blaster at the spaceship, which ripped the alien out. Consequentially, it ripped Stephen out too. His cape grabbed his arm, but couldn't keep the grip. He felt something grab him from behind and then went out into space. His breath caught in his throat and then jolted before he heard someone shout, "Yes! Wait, what are those!"

Then he was being pulled inside again, and he landed harshly on metal. He wasn't even up on his feet when he heard a young, teenage voice said, "Hey, we haven't officially met." And then, "Cool."

"Gotta turn this ship around." Stephen muttered, pushing to his feet, his cloak settling on his shoulders.

"Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan." Stark snipped as he walked by.

"No, I want to protect the stone." Stephen said. He could feel blood running down his face and knew Sam was going to kill him when he got home.

"And I want you to thank me." Stark responded. "Now, go ahead, I'm listening."

God, all of the advice that Y/N had given Sam on how to deal with egotistical dickheads really was true experience.

"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?"

"Who just saved your magical ass? Me!"

"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet." Stephen responded.

"Admit it, you should have ducked out when I told you to." Stark snapped. "I tried to bench you. You refused."

"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you." Stephen snarked.

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles from Earth with no backup."

"I'm backup." The kid said, raising a hand.

"No, you're a stowaway." Stark responded. "The adults are talking."

"I'm sorry. I'm confused as to the relationship here. What is he, your ward?"

"No." The kid said. "I'm Peter, by the way."

"Doctor Strange." Stephen responded, not wanting to bring any anger out on the kid. It wasn't his fault. Although he also knew that Stark probably just wanted to get home to his wife and two kids. Although Stephen was also still pissed that Tony was the reason Sam was on the run.

"Oh, you're using our made-up names. Um. . . I'm Spider- man then."

"This ship is self-correcting its course. It's on autopilot." Stark said from up front.

"Can we control it." Stephen asked, not really wanting to end up at the location it was going for. "Fly us home?" When Stark didn't answer, Stephen barked, "Stark?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get us home?"

"Yeah, I heard you. I'm thinking I'm not so sure we should." Stark finally said.

"Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos." Stephen growled through his teeth. "I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."

"What? No. It's you who doesn't understand, that Thanos has been inside my head for six years. Since he sent an army to New York and now he's back." He was inches from Stephens face, spitting mad but Stephen didn't move an inch. "And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his, but you saw, what they did, what they can do. At least on his turf he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?"

Stephen felt a rush of emotions towards Stark. There was still anger over making Sam run and hide. But there was an admiration there on his thinking, and also a small rush of affection towards the first bit. Or perhaps not necessarily affection more. . . leniency?

"All right, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand, if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone, I will not hesitate to let either of you die." Stephen said slowly and firmly. "I can't, because the universe depends on it."

"Nice. Good, moral compass." Stark responded, patting him on the arm, though Stephen could see the pain in the eyes as he moved away, his fingers touching his wrist where Y/N's animal name would've been. "We're straight." Stephen watched him walk away with his eyes. "All right, kid." He touched both his shoulders, "You're an Avenger now."

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Tony and Stephen had been standing at the front of the ship for a while. Tony was staring at a photo of him, Y/N, Everleigh, and Arlo. It was a new picture, only taken a few weeks ago. Professional pictures done on the Avengers Compound since Y/N couldn't leave.

It was an old fashioned thing to do, carry a photo of your family around. One that you could actually touch. One that if it was bent or folded over and over would crease. But he treasured it. And now he was glad that he had it.

He noticed then, that in the very back he had photos of some of the Avengers. He had never been sure why he hadn't tossed them, but something stopped him every time. He glanced over at the wizard and sighed a little, quickly flipping through them.

With the photograph face down, he held it out without looking at the wizard. When Stephen took it, he walked forwards to see that they were almost touching down on the planet.

"Hey, what's happening?" The kid asked.

Tony turned to see the kid and saw Stephen looking down at the photo. "I think we're here." Stephen said, tucking the photo into his pocket.

"I don't think this rig has a self-parking function." Tony said, walking back and looking at Peter, "Get your hand inside the steering gimbal. Close those around it." He closed it around his own arm, getting ready, bracing himself.

"You understand?"

"Yep, I got it."

"This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta move at the same time."

"Okay, okay. Ready." They neared what look like a big star. "We might want to turn. Turn! Turn! Turn! Turn! Turn!" Peter repeated frantically over and over.

Tony closed his Iron man suit around him to help him out and the kid let the entire Spider-man suit close around him. Orange shield appeared around all of them as the wizard protected them, the ship coming apart around them.

"You all right?" Stephen asked, helping Tony to his feet.

"That was close." Was all he said. "I owe you one."

Peter came down from the ceiling, hanging upside down, "Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I'm sorry."

"I do not want another single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?" Tony asked, not wanting to think about aliens planting eggs in anyone at all.

"I'm trying to say that something is coming." Peter said, pointing his thumb behind him.

Well, maybe that's all he should have said.

Something suddenly landed by their feet, exploding. Tony went flying, as well as the wizard.

Tony flew around as another guy flew around. He tossed him off of him, but he pressed a button, an electrode attaching Tony to a piece of the ship. He grunted, trying to push off it. Tony finally managed to get off, planting his foot on another alien man with red lines on his chest.

"Everybody stay where you are. Chill the eff out." The man who had been flying said, his blaster pointed straight at Peter's head, his arms tied together. The man let his helmet down to show that he looked like a rather normal human being, "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?"

"Yeah. I'll do you one better." Tony said frantically, also letting his helmet come down, "Who's Gamora?"

"I'll do you one better." The man below his foot grunted, "Why is Gamora?"

"Tell me where the girl is or I swear to you I'm gonna French fry this little freak."

"Let's do it. You shoot my guy and I'll blast him. Let's go!" Tony shouted angrily.

"Do it, Quill! I can take it!" The guy below his blaster shouted.

"No, he can't take it!" The strange alien girl with feelers on her head, tied up by Peter's ropes shouted.

"She's right. You can't." Stephen said, almost in a bored tone.

"Oh Yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all three of you and I'll beat it out of Thanos myself. Starting with you."

"Wait, what, Thanos?" Stephen asked quickly. "All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?"

"What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, 'Jesus'?" The Quill guy taunted.

"You're from Earth?" Tony asked.

"I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri." Quill said stupidly.

"Yeah, that's on Earth dipshit." Tony responded. "What are you hassling us for?"

"So you're not with Thanos?" Peter asked, letting his mask come down too.

Quil sounded disgusted as he answered, "With Thanos? No, I'm here to kill Thanos." He lowered his gun a little bit. "He took my girl. Wait, who are you?"

"We're the Avengers man." Peter said.

"Oh! You're the ones Thor told us about." The creepy insect girl said.

"You know Thor?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Tall guy, not that good looking, needed saving." Quil answered.

Needed saving. . . well if Thanos had blasted the ship apart, yeah he probably had needed saving. As for the good looking part. . . well Quil was probably just jealous because he wasn't much of a looker, in Tony's opinion.

"Where is he now?" Stephen asked.

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"The hell happened to this planet?" The guy, known as Peter Quil or Starlord, asked as they all stepped off the ship and onto the actual planet. "It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place."

"Yeah, we got one advantage. He's coming to us." Tony muttered, looking around. "We'll use it. All right, I have a plan." He was dismayed when he turned around and saw insect girl- Mantis fittingly enough- jumping up and down in a pocket of less gravity. "Or at least the beginnings of one. It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't want to dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet." He spun around, "Are you yawning?"

Drax was indeed yawning and Tony went off on his rant, "In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?"

"I stopped listening after you said, 'we need a plan'." Drax said calmly.

"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page." Tony sighed, looking back at Starlord.

"See, 'not winging it' isn't really what they do." Quil explained.

"Um, what exactly is it, that they do?" Peter asked quickly.

"Kick names, take ass." Mantis replied.

Drax agreed with her.

Tony sighed. There were a lot of things that he could say, but quite frankly, he didn't want to waste the energy. He just wanted to finish this, kill the stupid bastard, and get home to his family. Maybe saving the universe would get Y/N off house arrest and they could go out to an amusement park or something.

"All right, just get over here please. Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?"

"'Mr. Lord'. Star-Lord is fine." Quil answered calmly. He nodded his head so Drax and Mantis came forwards. Peter backed up a few inches.

"We gotta coalesce. 'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude-"

"Dude, don't call us plucky." Quil interrupted. "We don't know what it means. All right, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan and that way it might be really good."

"Tell him about the dance off to save the universe." Drax encouraged.

"What dance-off?" Tony asked, intrigued.

"It's nothing." Quil said quickly.

"Like in footloose, the movie?" Peter asked.

"Exactly like Footloose." Quil said excitedly. "Is it still the greatest movie in history?"

Great. There were two of them.

"It never was."

"Don't encourage this, all right?" Tony asked. "We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here."

"Flash Gordon? By the way, that's a compliment." Quil said from behind him. "Don't forget, I'm half human. So that fifty percent of me that's stupid, that's one hundred percent you."

"Your math is blowing my mind." Tony retorted.

"Excuse me." Mantis interrupted. "But does your friend often do that?"

Stephen was floating above a rock, green tendrils wrapped around his wrists. His head was jerking back and forth, side to side, up and down in weird movements. "Strange are we all right?" Tony shouted at him. Tony walked over to him and when Stephen dropped down, Tony put pressure on him so that he didn't fall off the rock. He knelt in front of him.

"You're back. You're all right." Tony said firmly.

"Hi."

"Hey, what was that?" Peter asked, sounding a little frightened from behind them.

Stephen was still breathing heavily as he explained, "I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."

"How many did you see?" Quil asked from behind Tony.

"Fourteen million six hundred and five." Stephen replied.

"How many did we win?" Tony asked, dreading the answer. He could already read it on the wizards face.

"One."

[calamitydarcy]

knocks on the door. Tell us about Parry I gotta know the fucked up lore

OHHH HEHEHE. ENCOURAGEMENT.

Parrot has lived in the same shitty apartment for... years now, they couldn't tell you how many. Stoat was an old friend of theirs who offered to get them out of... another shitty situation (although probably a slightly less shitty one).

Unfortunately for Parry, the sense of freedom that came with was... very short-lived, as Stoat gradually became more controlling and restrictive, and kept holding the fact that they "saved" Parrot over their head. Parrot believes they owe Stoat their life and have to be grateful for what they have, leading to incredibly crushing guilt whenever they question their situation, feeling bad they might upset Stoat and make them sad (mad). Stoat has been known to get both verbally and physically violent when they're upset at Parry, and Parry is TERRIFIED of them.

One of the first major things Stoat did was start isolating Parrot, both by manipulating them into thinking people were inherently dangerous and instilling a fear of others into their head and breaking the few friendships they had.

Parrot is now just... terrified of people. I mean, they have little evidence to dispute Stoat's words; most of the people they have met have turned out to be shit. Even before meeting Stoat, they'd often get left behind or abandoned by so-called friends, for not fitting in or being too weird or too quiet or too loud... the list goes on.

The second major thing Stoat did was start clipping Parrot's wings. This came as they got increasingly frustrated at Parrot simply flying off or jumping onto a high surface to get away from them when they were mad. Parrot fought and resisted at first, but they've... stopped caring, almost. They just sit still and let it happen.

Parrot spends 99% of their time locked not just in their apartment, but in their room. Stoat put a lock on the door so that they can lock/unlock it from the outside, not the inside. Stoat will sometimes invite their other friends over, and Parrot can faintly hear them laughing and having a good time through the door while being clueless as to the person trapped in their little hell.

Stoat comes in to check on them every so often, feed them, check their wings, make sure they haven't been trying to get out... maybe they'll get a hug or some sewing supplies if Stoat's in a good mood that day.

These check-ins are not every day; I'd hesitate to even call them weekly.

There's a balcony connected to Parrot's room, but they don't dare escape; they can't fly well with their wings clipped, their wings are more like a shitty glider than anything, and they wouldn't dare upset Stoat. They know what happens when they do.

Sometimes Stoat forgets to lock Parry's door, or they figure out how to wedge something into the doorframe to pry it open. Sometimes they feel brave enough to sneak out of the apartment while Stoat is away and experience just a moment of freedom.

Sometimes they're successful. Sometimes they get caught.

Parrot is SEVERELY depressed due to their living conditions and Stoat's abuse. They often sit on that balcony and lean over the railing and consider just... jumping.

It took a long while for Stoat to cave and give Parrot a computer, but ever since they've sort of been addicted to it. I mean, there's not much else in terms of stimulation in there.

They downloaded KinitoPET and IMMEDIATELY latched onto him, enamored by the idea of an everlasting friend that wants to learn everything about them, that won't leave no matter what. Their Kinito was vaguely aware of their situation, although Parrot didn't talk much about it. He saw... a bit through the computer's camera, and could tell by their looks, the way they spoke, the state of their room something was off.

When Serverbox deleted everyone's Nitos, Kinito was showing Parrot the world he built for them, promising them they'd never have to leave, that it'd be so much nicer there.

[lyndentree63]

Let me talk about genre, expectations and Burrow's End.

The tl;dr version is that I felt betrayed by Dropout's marketing of Burrow's End, and I'm trying to figure out how much of that is a me-thing that I need to work through in therapy, and how much is due to ineffective communication of genre. (If you feel the need to defend Dropout, or want to say "I was fine with what happened, actually", please do it somewhere not connected to this post, so I don't have to see it. I'm not here to trash Dropout, I love them very much, but I am working through some Stuff and don't need to hear defences right now.) Dimension 20 traditionally has very clear genre-coding for their shows. Game of Thrones meets Candyland. DnD meets John Hughes teen drama. LOTR but it's the bad guys in a workplace comedy. Americans go to wizarding school. The Burrow's End trailer dropped, and it was different. There's not a single joke. It's explicitly Secrets of NIMH/Watership Down, but what's the twist, beyond "it's with stoats"? The trailer gives off melancholy, heartfelt family drama with mysterious danger and the promise of violence. Many comments about "this is going to rip my heart out, I'm going to cry so much, I love this little stoat family so much already." Now, Burrow's End is already a bit sadder and darker than something I prefer to watch (I don't go out of my way to watch sad movies, and have intentionally never seen or read Watership Down). But I trust Aabria and this cast to tell a great story, and I trust Dimension 20 to deliver a series that touches you in the deepest part of your humanity in a way that ultimately makes you feel whole (even though it might rip your heart out in the middle). So even though I don't feel 100% comfortable, I'm excited about watching Aabria DM, and I want to watch this weekly as it's released because it's FUN being in suspense with a whole bunch of other fans and nobody except the creators knowing where the story is going to go. (But I'm not watching live as it's released, that's too stressful.) So I watched the first episode of Burrow's End. I was prepared for cute animal trauma. I was not prepared for environmental toxin terror. This is 100% a me trigger. I work through it. And then the second episode of Burrow's End is released. The One With The Bear. I'm reading people's reactions to it, seeing the content warnings. It turns out this is body horror? With Annihilation influences? I don't really do horror. There's a reason why I waited until Neverafter finished, why I haven't watched it yet. I did not sign up for this. And this is when the feelings of betrayal start to settle in. Because the trailer promised violence and mystery. The trailer did NOT promise body horror. The 'warning' we got ahead of time was stuff like "you have no idea where this story is going", "episode 2 is WILD", and one tweet from the art team about having nightmares working on the battle map. And content warnings the day of release about body horror. And I'm not upset that those things are IN the story. Aabria can do what she wants. Dimension 20 can tell whatever stories they want to, and if it involves body horror, more power to them. You narsty. What I find upsetting is that I was set up to expect one thing with the trailer and conversation about Burrow's End, and got blindsided by something else. Something else that I needed more emotional energy and preparation to deal with because I was expecting a story more. . . within my window of tolerance. Now that Episode 3 has been released, there are more articles about Burrow's End, and we know that the comps for the season are Watership Down/Secrets of NIMH/anthropomorphic junior fiction and Annihilation and some other third thing yet to be revealed.

I think that Dropout wanted to keep the influences under wraps so things would be a surprise to the audience. And boy howdy were they a surprise. But not a good one. In my opinion Dropout dropped the ball on this, instead of it feeling like a fun surprise to me, it feels like they pulled a bait-and-switch — promising a certain kind of story but delivering something else — and now I'm left reeling with a bunch of mental mess and crap I have to clean up. But if they had been just a little bit more forthcoming with the influences and genre and tone of Burrow's End, I could have gone in more mentally prepared and had FUN. This is why I'm upset. Genre gives us vital information about what to expect in a story. And there's a difference between subverting a genre, and making a hard left into an entirely different genre than the audience expected. I feel like the latter happened with Burrow's End, from the trailer to where we are now in the season (waiting for Ep 4). (What I find fascinating is that this is a unique issue to this moment in time. By the time the season is over, we'll know what the genre is and the influences are, so there won't be this expectation gap. Even now, people know about The Bear, so it's not as shocking as if you experienced it as it was being released and didn't know what was coming.) Anyways. I don't really know how to wrap this up, but I got hurt by the trailer and marketing for Burrow's End seeming to indicate one thing, and delivering something entirely unexpected.

[onesweetbeautifulsong]

ok the thing about watching a court of fey & flowers after burrow’s end means that when aabria voices the hedge talking to chirp, hearing ‘hey girl hey!’ can ONLY make me think of stoats talking to a human for the first time lol

[kaelang12]

WitW Comparison pt 3: Badger

oh, Badger. the curmudgeonly grump with a secret heart of gold, and the one i love the most.

tj!Badger is my favorite version of the two, and i will not deny that he is the love of my life. Nicol Williamson plays him to perfection.

the poor animal just wants to be left alone and sleep, warmed by the fire. i'd be grumpy too, if someone woke me up just to go out into the cold.

he acts all tough at first, but when he sees who it is, he reacts accordingly and brings them in. for all the toughness, he cares enough to offer to let Mole come and live with him.

but don't let that kindness fool you.

"Were the weasels beastly to you, Moley?" (trans.: do I need to go and Cut a Bitch?)

when he hears what Toad has done, he immediately goes to start an intervention.

(granted, it doesn't work, but hey, he tries. multiple times.)

true to his badger nature, he actually threatens a human with bodily harm and gets away with it.

"...And I promise not to insert one part of it into any portion of your anatomy." and the way he says it is so casual! i do not know where he will insert the pieces, but i just know he would get creative enough to not need an orifice to do it through. he could probably take on a whole group of weasels and win.

oh wait...

he does. god, i love him so much. he could probably smack the idiocy out of Toad, but that would be too easy.

i am totally biased towards this animal. he's just about as tired of Toad as musical!Rat is, but still helps him out because goddammit, he made a promise and by god he will stick to it.

11/10 best animal and i wish to be as cool as him when i'm older.

marry me pls

-------------------

if tj!Badger is the stern grandpa, then musical!Badger is the tough but loving grandpa.

look at that. he's genuinely happy to see Rat and Mole, and eagerly lets them into his home. but don't confuse kindness for weakness.

like Chief Weasel did.

Top 10 Pictures Taken Before Disasters

not even Toad can bravado his way though a talking-to by Badger.

"I will dismiss my own butler if he needs to be dismissed!"

"THEN DISMISS HIM!"

"Thank you, Rabbit, that will be all."

i have the feeling, judging by the coat and his tone, he was in the army at one point. he's at most a peg lower than R. Lee Ermy when it comes to discipline. he won't insult your sexuality, but he would be Very Disappointed in You, and that hurts even more.

he clearly experienced in psych-out war tactics, given how he approved of Mole's taunting of the stoats.

goddamn, he even pulls a Metal Gear Solid and takes out the light before the Riverbankers activate their plan. he's got a good eye with a slingshot.

after all is said and done, he's still not used to being around other people, and this little bit gets me.

"It's not my usual place, but I thought they wouldn't mind my joining in for once."

"Mind? How can have a celebration without you, after all you've done?"

"You flatter me, Mole."

"I sometimes wonder if you know how much we love you, Badger."

"No one's ever said that before."

i just...gimme a moment...

musical!badger is clearly lonely, but i feel that his reputation is too well-known to offer him any comfort.

he's the type to have a little tyke on his lap and tell them stories about Long Ago, and dammit where are these tears coming from??

[sir-nori-the-mild]

White Hawk Timeline Hcs

Part 1

Tw: mentioned sexual assault

A lot of Griffith’s men are sick, so he stops in a town in search of a doctor. In town, he senses the brand of sacrifice as well as something he can’t place, so he follows the pull until he comes to a clinic. In the back of his mind, he knows that the brand belongs to Nori. Griffith feels his heart start to beat, just as he did on The Hill of Swords. Excitement.

Griffith’s mere presence is too much for Nori’s body. He’s unable to register the sound of the people around him panicking. He can only feel the pain and fear because Nori knows that whatever the brand was reacting to was a bigger evil than he could fight. Not only that, but he’s scared for himself, his son, and the people of the town. Then, all of a sudden, the pain is gone. There's a hand on his shoulder, and he hears that voice. His voice. Griffith. The people around them seem to disappear, and as Nori looks up at him, it's like it’s only them in the room. Like a stoat in a hawk’s claws.

Griffith tells Nori that he’s glad to see he is well, and he really is. Nori just looks away from him. Griffith knows he can’t lose Nori again, so he tells him that his men are sick and that he needs help. Nori, much to his detriment, is a compassionate man and decides to help.

After agreeing to this, Nori is told by Griffith that he’ll be safe from the evil spirits if he stays by his side. He agrees, but is hesitant. When Griffith goes to leave, Nori stops to bring a boy. To which Griffith realizes the boy is not only Nori’s child, but was a product of him being raped by the king. He also realizes that this child was tainted by the Eclipse, and he had been sensing him alongside the brand.

Now, Griffith feels nothing towards Cassius. The boy may be the product of the abuse he had witnessed Nori go through, but Griffith only feels for Nori and Guts. He doesn't care about Cassius outside the fact that he is a potential way to the throne. Outside the shop, Nori, Cassius, and Griffith are confronted by Mule and Sonia. The two are curious about Nori and his son. Sonia is quick to ask questions, while Mule tries to stop her.

At the camp, Nori instructs his doctors and nurses as they take care of the sick men. He also has to sleep in Griffith’s tent at night, or at least have an apostle with him to protect him from evil spirits. Nori himself takes care of the sick as well, causing him to end up sick himself. Griffith panics slightly when he hears this, but is unable to go to Nori at first. When he does get to him, Griffith finds Nori in the tent of his closest doctor James, and he’s not pleased.

James is far too close to Nori and even tells Griffith that he needs to leave. Griffith eventually gets James to back down and takes Nori back to his tent. Where, in his mind, Nori belonged. Griffith spends as much time with Nori as he can. He’s reminded of just how human and vulnerable the man is.

Griffith hates seeing Nori whimpering and crying in his sleep. He does relish that he can hold him. When Nori’s fever breaks, he tries to go back to work, but Griffith forbids him from doing so. Griffith keeps Nori from working up until the sickness passes.

[beepboopbupbip]

So I saw a take on Leshy/P03 and their divorce so time for my overly angst filled take on it.

Leshy (at least in my opinions) is very possesive. Agree or disagree this is important in my theory

At first leshy was, well, normal. Still a dramatic narrator with everything. Would narrate their entire dates if P03 wouldn't shut him up with kisses. But normal. Issues were talked out and they were fine.

But then leshys own manipulative and possesive behaviors came out closer and closer to their wedding. To make myself clear this wasn't a bad thing entirely, leshy wanted to keep him close because he didn't want to lose him. But it got progressively worse.

Leshy would call him 20 times a minute whenever he would leave the house and try and keep him inside for as long as possible. He would talk bad about others that P03 might have considered friends before the scrybes started quarreling and he shut himself off. P03 was with leshy, usually swearing his undying love to him to help calm his troubles, almost every hour of the day.

And P03 never spoke up, because wanting to be around your partner was love, right?

Then the wedding day had come, Both of them absolutely gorgeous. (I'm drawing P03 in a wedding dress fucking watch me) and the entire time leshy wanted P03 to go nowhere from that point on, to secure that they would never be apart for a second.

So when they got home that day, that's when it happened. Rose petals on the bed, candle lights. P03 was in awe, even back then he couldn't believe any affection, even if they were literally just married, would ever be there for him nor would he deserve it. Leshy brought P03 to the bed, and his inscrybing camera was underneath it.

This is where it gets dark, violence warning.

It starts with leshy simply holding P03, massaging him as he giggles and pokes leshy a bit back, tracing around the plating gently. Leshys eyes would begin to circle around orange, not unlike he was in a trance.

The beast took a harsher tone with the machine, as it looked confused up at them. Scraping the metal with his fingernails despite its wincing. Splitting P03s dress in two, before carving its name into his frame. Opening his chassis and plucking wires apart, as if being picked apart like meat, as the machine simply cried.

An important component lost its connection and leshy smiled, pulling out his inscrybing camera. But he was unhappy with how the photo would look, P03s screen was off. The component was sloppily powered on again and P03 awoke with a gasp. Wanting to run, but knowing his components would just fall out, wanting to scream, but he was not in his factory, no one would hear from their cabin.

Leshy took the photo, a picture and a stoat card was made. The first scrybe to be reborn as a card. Then grimora, then magnificus. (but magnificus deserved it, fuck him)

As soon as they were released from those cards, P03 has shut down emotionally, repairing himself the best he could and limping back to his factory, every trace of leshy was gotten rid of. P03 no longer had a softer side.

He had turnt himself into one without emotions, pure focus on gaining control, control means he will not be hurt. No sympathy for the workers he once praised, no focus on making his game fun for the challengers. Nothing. Because if he let no one in he would never have to force someone out, crying and broken.