#he's not just a boulder

[dionysism]

epic odysseus: no athena i will not "finish it." mercy is a skill more of this world could learn to use

odysseus in the odyssey, shouting from his ship as his men beg him to stfu: lF ONLY I COULD STEAL YOUR LIFE FROM YOU, AND SEND YOU DOWN TO HADES' HOUSE BELOW, AS SURE NOBODY WILL EVER HEAL YOU, EVEN THE GOD OF EARTHQUAKES!

[bisexualmcqueen]

been trying to get the cars groove back have a sketch dump

[feroluce]

For some weird reason, I've always been fascinated by how wildly different Sampo operates in the Underground vs the Overworld.

Sampo is present in both places and even in official sources, he's not really counted as one side or the other- now that the theory has been confirmed in-game, he's generally just lumped in with the Masked Fools.

But there really is a big difference!

Probably the most obvious and well known instance of Sampo's...business practices *cough burglary and fraud COUGH* in the Overworld is from the Belobog Museum event. In it, you don't find out Sampo is the main culprit until near the end, because Pela has to set up a sting just to catch him in the act. And that sting is necessary all because the initial suspect they arrested, Norbert, had pretty much no idea of his partner's identity. Sampo wouldn't even speak to him face-to-face.

And whereas Sampo is normally very pleasant and friendly with the trailblazer...when he thinks he's talking to Norbert here, he straight up says that they are NOT friends. Like he really shuts that shit DOWN.

There's also an Overworld NPC, Chavez, who heads the "Dark Blue Scam Support Group." And he. Really really really does not like Sampo fjkdasjklfdj

Chavez clearly wants Sampo caught, and has literally no positive feelings about him. So. Why call it the Dark Blue Scam? Why not just out him by name? Chavez obviously doesn't give a single shit about Sampo's dignity or privacy. But he never once refers to him as "Sampo," and even the pamphlets he passes out make no mention of it. No one in the entire support group seems to know how to identify him or how to refer to him except by his hair color. If the trailblazer says his name, Chavez reacts as though he's never heard it before.

(I've seen people say this means Sampo Koski is an alias and not his real name? But Ray pointed this out, and honestly I agree; even the Fools call him Sampo, after all. I think it's just that Chavez never knew Sampo's name in the first place, and given his immense distrust, immediately assumes it's an alias.)

And then there's his characters stories, where he proceeds to pull off a heist in the Overworld while in disguise as Brughel Poisson the entire time. Literally his own stories don't mention Sampo's name even once.

So anyway, all this shows that when he's up in the Overworld working cons, Sampo is incredibly slippery and secretive about his identity. The only people who seem to know him are Pela, Serval, and Gepard. He doesn't get close to anyone else, and is even surprisingly unfriendly. Nobody knows his name. No one knows his face. He has zero qualms about backstabbing or double-crossing, and even plans for it in some cases.

Meanwhile, down in the Underground, I'm pretty sure literally the worst thing we hear of him doing is scalping tickets in front of the Fight Club. Which isn't even illegal in a lot of places (although it's certainly a dick move).

In Hook's companion quest, a vagrant miner steals Fersman's equipment and tries to sell it to Sampo. Even before the trailblazer and Hook jump in and out the vagrant as a thief, Sampo hesitates to buy it because it sounds like stolen goods, which he doesn't want any part of.

Even knowing that a geomarrow detector is rare and incredibly valuable in the mines, Sampo makes no attempt to double-cross Hook or profit off of her loss, and even tells her who to go to to get it fixed.

And my favorite example of Sampo in the Underground is the Survival Wisdom adventure mission. In it, Sampo starts up a business with Peak, another miner. And like. In wild contrast to all the cons he pulls above ground, Sampo is actually super nice and helpful here.

Just the same as with Hook's quest, Sampo talks to Peak face-to-face, with no disguises or barriers. When the trailblazer finds them, they're just in the Great Mine, no secretive meeting places. Peak knows Sampo, is familiar with him, and calls him by name. It's not even a con! There's nothing illegal going on; it really is just a business partnership. Peak is more than happy with their deal, he's even pretty enthusiastic about it, because thanks to Sampo he can now make enough money to get by while also accommodating his chronic fatigue.

The only person Sampo lies to in this whole ordeal is the trailblazer, who he manipulates into getting Peak's mining equipment back from the vagrants that stole it in the first place. And when it's done, he rewards them with a legit treasure map.

So when he's working in the Underground, Sampo is MUCH more upright and lawful. Part of this is probably to do with his "business" model- Sampo only takes advantage of the wealthy, and poverty runs rampant in the Underground. When he charges Peak an extra 30% (the same percentage he charges Norbert as a consultation fee in the museum heists- Sampo seems to go by percentage instead of a flat rate, which means his prices are more fair for lower incomes) for carelessly losing their supply, Peak literally starts counting out pocket change.

Dude's working for pennies and good will down there dknsmdmd

And you can twist this into a Robin Hood thing if you want- Sampo IS technically working to feed orphans and heal the sick. He says himself he's more than happy to make up the shortfall between the greedy and the marginalized- I mean he says it in the shadiest way possible, but I doubt the people benefiting from his work really care that he's a slimeball if it means they can survive another day. Even the two heists he pulls in his character stories are literally just him stealing absurd amounts of food.

Personally though I think it is solely because of Natasha, and Sampo is hilariously well-behaved specifically for her, because she keeps him on a short leash JSKZJMSMSKS

[theywontletmebeprincipal]

no “both” option as that is for cowards. you will need to justify your answer with a short form essay

[luzho]

sokka takes zuko to see THE BOULDERRR!!

i’ve been wanting to redraw that screenshot of sokka screaming and the boulder flexing in the same shot, but what about if ZUKO was also there! and he liked the boulder too!!

[ID: This is a digital drawing of Sokka and Zuko sitting next to each other and cheering for The Boulder, drawn in warm colors and against a green background with light bokeh effects. On the right, the Boulder smiles with open arms, shirtless and gleaming in the spotlight. On the left, Zuko (wearing septum and snake bite piercings, earrings, short hair, and olive Earth Kingdom robes) sits at the edge of his seat, flustered, wide eyed and with his mouth open; while a blushed and teary-eyed Sokka next to him (wearing earrings and his usual hairstyle and Water Tribe clothing) cheers with his arms raised. Behind him, distorted all-caps text reads “LET’S GOOO BOULDERRR!!”. End ID]

[synthetic-rust]

Doodles

[mrsthunderkin]

"This book is incredibly unrealistic, my love"

[c-kiddo]

here is my take abt the poll: i voted cad partly because i wanted to see the results but also i think the first time he goes in a supermarket he would have a fun time for a solid 10 minutes looking at different useful things and then suddenly the lights and sounds are attacking him and wow thats a lot of words and colours everywhere (like the nat1 perception check he got in rexxentrum in which there was so many details he got overwhelmed </3) and theres lots of options and oh man hes got 2 scurry tf out of there. but also i think yasha would hate it. caleb at first but i think he puts headphones on and learns shopping strats and turns it into a rly autistic game where he lines things up in his basket and calculates the exact total in his brain and optimises and balances the weight he has to carry back home etc. he goes at the same time every week (quiet hours perhaps) but if the layout changes he wont go again for like 2 weeks bc it annoyed him sm

[happyk44]

Nico likes being covered but Jason's the kind of person who throws off all the blankets even when it's freezing so the solution when cuddling is to wrap Nico up in a soft blanket cocoon and then Jason lays on top of him. Nico gets to experience being crushed like he's being buried alive and Jason still gets his vibes of absolutely nothing is touching me but the sweet sweet air and maybe my boxers

[yuridovewing]

oh god another reason yellowfangs secret is inaccurate and shouldnt count: boulder is just a regular allycat and joins shadowclan when yellowfangs a baby on a whim when in tpb its a massive plotpoint that hes ex bloodclan and scourge knows him personally and theres no way in hell that that works with the timeline

[urdadsceilingfan]

Your honor he didn’t know you couldn’t adopt a lion from the zoo

Whoever doesn’t like boulder, I don’t trust you

[bonefall]

Just curious, is Russetfur still Raggedstar’s half sister in this universe or are they completely unrelated now? Also do you have anything on Boulder? He was always one of my favorite background cats

If they are half-sibs, it's not relevant! They won't know or care.

Chelford cats are matriarchal. Sires don't inherently play a role in the lives of their children, and seeking that sort of company is something a parent keeps discreet. Uncles and brothers fill the role of "father" in raising the kittens, with cats tracking their lineages through mothers

So Russet has no idea who her father is and doesn't care. Ngl, I also just... don't care about Hal lmaooo

(Imagine writing a super edition about one of your most popular characters, with a story that people have been begging to hear in detail for years, and then dedicating the entire opening to her shitty husband's daddy issues. Couldn't be me.)

Instead, Russetfur is related to the leader of BloodClan at that time. Brick is her sister. I might make Hal her uncle or older brother.

The conflict that occurs between BloodClan and ShadowClan at this time will cause the leader to be killed suddenly, triggering the Frenzy, the period of time during which a new leader is chosen. Pinestar is already having issues over in ThunderClan, and starts seriously thinking about leaving to go help out.

(Though it's certainly not his last straw.)

In any case... if Russetfur and her buddy Boulder had been having second thoughts about Clan life, getting the BloodClan Leader killed and burned the hell out of THAT bridge.

Anyway.

Russetfur and Boulder are in danger during TigerClan. Serious danger. They were loyal to Brokenstar and were safe as long as they were good warriors, but Tigerstar had his eye on them.

So, I feel they may have supported Deerfoot's Rebels, but deniably. I want Blackstar picking Russetfur to be heavily based on her participation, but I also need her to stay safe.

(Might end up having her escape and take refuge with Mistyfoot...)

Boulder is a lot more passive. I like him a LOT and want to expand his role a bit, just because... I Like Him. Literally just blorbo lmao. It's funny how the fandom consensus is just, "this guy's cool!"

I go back and forth on when Boulder's kids are born, and who they are. But he WILL be having kids

I'm set on Whitethroat being one of them, and leaning towards Wetfoot being another.

If Wetfoot is one of Boulder's kids, Firestar knows Boulder as a concerned dad. Wetfoot is going to get a bigger role as a friend in ShadowClan and Deerfoot Rebel.

In my head, Boulder likes the community of Clan life more than the violence, but because he's huge and served under tyrannical leaders he gets forced into battles he doesn't enjoy.

He massively regrets following Russetfur, honestly. He doesn't want to leave and go rebuild his reputation in BloodClan... but he also wishes he never came here.

In my heart, TPB is like the WORST period in this poor guy's life. Background character going through an absolute WRINGER

He's anxious for himself, anxious for his friends, anxious for his kids. Loses Whitethroat. Might lose Wetfoot to the Plague. Serves under TigerClan, terrified that if he isn't a perfect warrior he will get killed.

(And he's right. His fear is warranted. If Russetfur does something, like if I go with her being a refugee in ThunderClan, HE is going to get punished.)

And, of course, he is eventually used by Tigerstar to open up talks with BloodClan.

Even though he has Sasha, Nightwhisper, and Jaggedtooth to serve the same purpose... Tigerstar chooses Boulder.

He doesn't trust Jaggedtooth after he "fails" to contain the prisoners that escape to ThunderClan. He "proved" his loyalty by following his order to execute Deerfoot, but Jaggedtooth is now at the bottom of the pecking order.

Sasha is being reduced to a mate Tigerstar can control, even though she served as one of his mercenaries. He doesn't give her ANY agency.

Nightwhisper is a stupid tool, in Tigerstar's eyes. He does not respect his intelligence, just his eagerness.

So Boulder is chosen. He's smart enough to translate properly, fearful enough to do what Tigerstar says, has lived long enough as a Clan cat... and if he HAS any remaining kids, there is the implicit threat that if Boulder tries something funny, his child is who will pay for it.

After TigerClan ends, I feel like Boulder is desperate to retire early, but also feels like he can't ask for it. He's only survived this long because of his usefulness. It would be hard to trust that he can just... not serve, anymore.

If I can scrounge up more kits for ShadowClan (IT'S SO SMALL), I also would like him to end up having another litter mid-Po3.

Hopefully one of the kids of his first survived, so I can play around with the harrowing dynamic of, "Our dad is so much happier while raising you... I envy my younger sibling's childhood."

And on a final note, Boulder is probably going to get a Warrior Name during TPB. It doesn't really make sense that he just keeps his old one, unfortunately, when Clan Culture is at its most xenophobic and he's in active danger. He'll get Boulder back as a request between TPB and TNP.

[anxiously-sidequesting]

Once again I'm sorry for posting twice in one day but I got another question for y'all. If you personally were the Young Wizard instead of your OC/insert, what would have been the moment in canon where you just fucking snapped. What would be your One Bad Day in Wizard101 canon

[legendarybelmont]

the sisyphean nature of vampire hunting

[spiritsong]

"Can't live my life without you"

y'all. Y'ALL. these help/heal lines are going to BREAK me

the "Gale, no!" that happens when he goes down is bad enough, but holy fuck after Lethe said this my jaw dropped open and I was just looking at my monitor with tears in my eyes for the rest of the battle lmaoooo 😭

[whatwooshkai]

19!! ( I just found your blog and I AM LOVING IT !! You write them so well <3333)

Sometimes Heatwave gets so used to knowing what's about to happen that he forgets Primus likes to actively troll him at every turn.

It started out as a normal day. Heatwave was walking from one room into another, when a bucket of paint splashed down over the top of his helm, spraying out over the brim of his hat.

"What the-?" He'd looked up to see Cody and Frankie, holding an empty bucket with maniacal grins on their faces.

"YOU JUST GOT PRANKED!" they shout, before running off, their manic laughter bouncing off the walls of the firehouse.

And so it began.

Heatwave takes an unwilling role in the prank war on the side of the rescue bots, but only because multiple times a day he is either covered in paint or some other substance, hit in the face, or suffers some other kind of public humiliation while Cody and Frankie shout their now hated catchphrase and run before he can throw them as far as he can.

There's a little solace in the fact that he is not alone, the rest of the bots are suffering the same fate (although they did stop dumping paint on Chase after the first sensory meltdown), but the thing is, it shouldn't be happening to him. He should be able to see this coming!

There's little he and his bots can do in retaliation, as they are ten times the size of the kids and lack the same resources, but getting them by slicking the garage of the firehouse's floor with oil was so worth the cleanup.

But for every prank they successfully pull off, the kids have done ten more.

And so after days in the trenches he sits in the washracks under warm solvent, grumbling unintelligibly as he, Boulder and Blades try to clean glitter out of their own and each other's frames. Forget the kids.

Heatwave is going to find and yell at god.