#mostly unnamed roles

[ri-afan]

“Clocky, you know I can’t lie to save my life—“

“This is true.”

“So what makes you think I can act and do these little drama pieces for you?”

What he could have replied -> ‘You’re not trying to be remembered in the sense that people will remember who you are, you’re just trying to get people to remember whatever information you are trying to say. In fact, saying things in a way that doesn’t make sense could work in your favour because people do remember baffling things.’

What Clockwork said -> “People can take lessons for all sorts of things these days.”

This is how Danny Fenton ended up minoring in theatre.

Okay, you know those inconsequential moments in movies and shows where something is done or said but it doesn’t matter until the Protagonist connects things/uses the info later?

Enter Danny.

This is a small job that he does while working with Clockwork. Danny walks around doing or saying things that might move the time stream to the ‘ideal’ outcome. Does he know how it helps? Nah, just that it does since he knows the slightest change can have big impacts. He doesn’t know exactly how long he’s been doing it in this universe, but it’s something to do.

Tim, the Connector of Dots, has recently caught onto a pattern of things, but he’s not sure what he’s looking at.

[occidentalavian]

Full map of Exandria, 2024 update!

Map images and Wonderdraft file download [HERE]

Hi everyone! It's been about 4 years since my last map. In that time more of Exandria has revealed itself to us, and while it is still not a complete picture, we now have enough that I felt it was time to make an update.

The biggest change from my previous map is that I am no longer using the Elven Tower Cartography assets. This is because previously I installed them incorrectly, in a way that meant that people who downloaded the map file were unable to see the assets unless they installed it in the same weird way that I did. Rather than fixing this, I instead opted to use the default Wonderdraft assets, that way it can be viewed out of the box without having to download something else first!

As before, Tal'Dorei and Wildemount are the most accurate to official maps, and we also have an official map of at least one arrangement of the Shattered Teeth, which is re-created here. We have a portion of Marquet via the Oderan Wilds and Hellcatch Valley maps, but the rest, including all of Issylra is still mostly made up, based loosely on a very old and tiny map briefly shown on screen by Sam in episode 103 of Campaign 1! Naturally when any new maps come out, this map will (eventually) be updated to reflect them.

There are some locations that are new to this map as well, such as the Demithore Valley in Issylra from Campaign 3 and all the towns visited in The Re-Slayer's Take up to episode 10, these being Himblewood, Josgren's Hollow, Shoresight Isle, and the Hug Hive. Ta'Dorei has a few new towns, Mooren and Heldenfaire, which were mentioned in Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, as well as a few unnamed village clusters, the Foramere and Vues'dal villages. For these and the Mornset Countryside I included some non-canonical paths connecting them to the main roadways. Also included in Mornset is Roch Mar, the village that Vox Moronica visited all the way back in Episode 12 of Campaign 1, before Critical Role even did separate numbering for one-shots and thus included this unrelated episode in the campaign. This town isn't officially confirmed to actually exist in Exandria, so consider it my headcanon and a paper town. Moving on to Wildemount, Vo Village got upgraded to proper town status, and I've also included Yardel from The Nine Eyes of Lucien, Ghostwall from The Tales of Exandria: The Bright Queen, and Galgarad from the Dark Star adventure on DnDBeyond!

I want to give a special thanks to Don Farland for his original fan map of Exandria, created all the way before the release of Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, upon which I originally based my map of the Shattered Teeth. Incidentally, I believe that this depiction of those islands was the basis upon which the official map by Andy Law is based upon. I would also like to thank Niko Vanhala for his fan-made maps of Marquet and Issylra, upon which I have loosely based my maps of those continents. And of course thank you to Andy Law and Deven Rue for the official cartography of Exandria!

[bluecrocss]

Yes. You are racist. (Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one)

So approximately half a year since the premier of the Disney+ Percy Jackson show, and almost two years since the announcement of the Trio's casting, I would like to take this moment to look back at the insane, racist and anti-black backlash that was launched at Leah Sava Jeffries and a few other cast members from the PJO fandom.

I'm not concerned with the trolls who are openly racist, who resorted to racist slurs and outright threats, everyone agrees that they "took it too far". I want to talk about the rest of you, the "I'm not racist, but.." people, the "What's wrong with wanting book accuracy?" people. Just to let you know, for the unasked question... yes, yes you are.

I've noticed the Percy Jackson fandom has been lording some weird superiority complex over a certain *unnamed* fandom that has fallen out of grace due to their recently outed bigot of an author. But honestly, y'all are not much different. The amount of vitriol and anti-blackness I have seen from this fandom (beyond just bullying a 12 year old girl), y'all don't have a leg to stand on.

Below is a breakdown of the most common arguments I have seen used to justify y'alls absolutely insane bigotry. I am going to explain why none of these justify the amount of anger and vitriol y'all have sent towards Leah, Rick or any of the cast.

I am not here to argue, and this is not a democracy. I am giving you a chance for some self-reflection and to understand that this pattern of violence directed towards POC actors (mostly black women) has never been justified in the name of "book accuracy"/"comic book accuracy"/"ending forced diversity" or whatever other excuses y'all try to make up.

If you still try to justify or argue further for any of these points, I will just block you. I am not coddling you through your racism. If anyone has seen any other dumb arguments floating around that I might've missed, feel free to sound off in the comments.

She's not book accurate:

Neither is Percy, Luke, Grover, Dionysus, Poseidon, and just about every other named character.

Rick already made it clear that physical features were not the priority with casting, rather it was actors that embodied the role. So why are the biggest complaints about Annabeth and Zeus? 🤔

What? You're gonna say everyone else got backlash too? I see you trying to obscure the main issue by playing dumb 😉

See my friend, yes, there were one or two comments about how Percy's hair should be black or how Luke is supposed to be blonde, but as soon as Leah was cast, none of those actors got any significant backlash. In fact, Walker and Charlie literally have an army of fan girls at their beck and call, calling them the perfect Percy and Luke, despite neither being "Book accurate". But then again, have we not observed the pattern of White boy of the month vs WOC to hate for the year? (Yes, I know Charlie isn't white. Further adds to the irony, doesn't it).

Why include character descriptions if you won't stay true to them, you cry? Well, my dear sweet moron, see, books and TV are two different mediums. Because in literature, you can't *Literally* SEE the characters, the author has to add descriptions to paint a picture in your mind, in TV... that's not an issue. So unless the character's appearance is necessary to the plot (like Luke's scar, or Nico being Italian) the show runners can actually focus on more important things.. Like ACTING and PERSONALITY.

2. It's just not how I imagined her:

News flash, babe! ANNABETH ISN'T REAL. None of these character are. They are concepts that originated from the brain of Mr. Rick Riordan. It doesn't matter how YOU imagined her. There are millions of people who read these books that imagined her several different ways. When the creator of the character watched Leah's audition and said, 'Yes! She embodies the character I created!", your imagined version of Annabeth ceased to matter. And guess what? The books still exist... they have not been burned. Your version of Annabeth has not disappeared. Go read the books.

3. Zeus can't be black/Gods have to be Greek/*Insert Character* can't be black:

Y'all did not read the books, I swear. You have to be fake fans looking to troll atp.

The gods move based off the center of western civilization. They change their forms/environment to reflect the culture they are occupying (they did it with Rome, now they're doing it with America). The gods change forms all the time. How we see them is not their true form as a mortal would disintegrate if they were to see their true form.

America is a cultural melting pot (specifically NY where Mount Olympus is now based). If the god's choose forms that reflect the current society they inhabit, they could literally be any race (keep in mind NYC is only 33% white).

All of this is literally SPELLED OUT in the Lightning Thief.

Furthermore, if you're going to push the ethnically Greek thing... Poseidon is British with a British accent and Hermes is Latino. The only ethnically Greek actor is Dionysus (who still doesn't look book accurate). Y'all are sounding like some white supremacists because do you forget that race is a social construct?

Before the advent of the transatlantic slave trade, I can promise you that the Greeks and the Anglo-Saxons did NOT view themselves as the same people. Why are y'all not taking issue with Poseidon's actor then?

Also, Percy Jackson has canonically had a slew of explicitly black demigods since the second book (including Harriet Tubman, which I have mixed feelings about 😭), so I genuinely have no idea where some of y'all are going with this point.

4. She was our smart blonde representation:

Don't pmo. I swear to God!

White, blonde women have NEVER been excluded from Hollywood. Representation is not something you lacked. The dumb blonde stereotype was a simple branch off of a larger misogynistic "dumb woman" stereotype. It has not truly been relevant since the mid 2000s outside of childish jokes.

This iteration of Percy Jackson will probably not go beyond the first 5 books, based off pacing and the age of the actors. So here's a fun game: 5 bucks to the first person who can find me a quote in the first 5 Percy Jackson books, where Annabeth laments her insecurities about being blonde (hint: there aren't any).

Also, her blonde hair does not hold her back at Camp because she is head of the Athena Cabin who are highly respected (and guess what?), ARE ALL BLONDE!

Her insecurities about her hair color are two or three lines at most in the later books, not this fundamental, core part of her character y'all all of a sudden wanna pretend it was. And guess what, as a non-blonde black girl, I was able to read those scenes of Annabeth feeling undervalued because of her looks and relate to her even if she didn't look like me at the time.

Why all of a sudden can y'all not do that with a black Annabeth? By every metric black girls are undervalued for their intelligence in academia more than white girls are, regardless of hair color. So your little representation of a woman undervalued by her looks would still hold. Do y'all dehumanize black women so much, that you are incapable of empathizing with show!Annabeth's plight in the way I could with Book!Annabeth simply because she doesn't look exactly like you?

Your issue isn't that she isn't blonde, it's that she is NOT WHITE.

Furthermore, Becky Riordan had tweeted previously (before the show was even cast) that Annabeth never needed to be blonde (probably recalling the BS y'all put Alexandra Daddario through), so even if they cast a white Annabeth, the blonde hair was never a guarantee. the author and producers all agree that it was not a significant part of her character. It's been a non-issue since day one.

Also, stop acting like smart blondes are rare in media... If you don't go watch some Legally blonde, Iron Man (Pepper Potts), Zack and Cody (Maddie), Liv and Maddie, FMAB (Winry), Captain Marvel, She-Ra, Buffy, The boys (starlight) etc. etc., and go sit down somewhere 🙄🙄🙄 (those were literally all things I've watched recently, off the top of my head, btw 💀)

5. It's not about race, but...:

Yes it is. It was always bout race. No other actors got as much hate as Leah. Her grandmother and other family members on IG had to mute their comments because they were getting so many threats.

Alexandra Daddario had to come to her defense on Twitter. Rick had to put out an official statement on his website. This girl has endured years of psychological torment for simply having the best audition. No one else is book accurate, no one else is ethnically Greek (except Jason Mantzoukas). Walker literally has British and German ancestry.

Why was she being called racial slurs on reddit and in youtube comments?

I know what you're gonna say, "I actually had problems with the entire cast", "I actually had a bigger issue with Walker's hair color", blah blah blah. Then why aren't you in Walker's comment sections? Why are you only making your displeasure known on posts defending/advocating for Leah? Why is she always your first example of 'wrong casting"?

Well, she "looks the most different"... Look up the term "scapegoating".

"Oh, I don't agree with the harassment. I just don't like the casting." Guess what? She's already been cast. They are not going to uncast her. What do you get out of still complaining about it.

All the vitriol you're stirring about her when you complain about her on Social media, it is directing people to send her hate, even if you're not writing it directly. It's is not enough to "not agree" with the racism, it is your duty to actively prevent it. And btw, these are young gen z actors, they are active on social media. They see the edits of themselves (even comment on it) and they most likely see these little "harmless" complaints you're posting. Are your upset feelings really worth contributing to the racist dogpile on this poor girl?

6. Why couldn't they atleast give her blonde braids?:

Why should they? Y'all wanted blonde because of the "dumb blonde" trope... that doesn't apply to POC.

A blonde black girl is gonna be viewed the same as a non-blonde black girl (or at worst, someone might decide she's "ratchet" or some shit for wearing colored hair). What difference would it make?

Why shouldn't Walker dye his hair, then?

7. Annabeth has Gray eyes:

Less than 3% of the global population has "gray eyes". Even if they cast a white actor, they would've needed contacts. Her being black is not the reason Annabeth's eyes aren't gray. Simply put, it is a plot element they removed, like the whole "names have power" element, or Ares having flames for eyes, or Dionysus using his powers to grow strawberries at Camp.

That's how adaptations work. Unnecessary plot elements are cut to save time and budget. This has nothing to do with her casting. They probably also didn't want to make child actors wear contacts (not a new practice).

8. Even if Rick chose her, he was wrong/Disney is forcing him to be okay with it:

Where do I start? Rick created the character. He can't be wrong. Do y'all have no self-awareness? Death of the author has no place here, because y'all are hung up on an aspect of the character that is not relevant to her arc or development.

Y'all's justification for wanting a "book accurate" Annabeth is that she was such an inspirational and important character growing up, and yet your behavior is so in conflict with the character you claim means so much to you. You're narrow minded, dismissive of bigotry and injustice, and disrespectful to the wishes of the creator of your favorite character; everything that Annabeth would never be. Y'all were never genuine fans of the books. You're bigots that needed an outlet for your rage.

Keep in mind, Rick has said countless times that PercaBeth directly mirrors his relationship with his wife. Y'all think he would have allowed them to cast someone who doesn't live up to the woman who has been by his side for decades? The mother of his children?

Regarding Disney forcing him, show me one piece of direct evidence that proves Disney in anyway pressured Rick to cast her. Cuz if you can't, that's baseless speculation. And if you have to resort to baseless speculation, maybe try to examine why it's so important to you to hold on to this belief.

9. So, I'm racist because I hate "race swapping"?:

To start, there is a difference between "race swapping" and "color blind casting". Often times, when y'all complain about the former, you're actually mad about the latter.

It would be "race swapping" if Rick and the team decided ahead of time that they wanted a black Annabeth and ONLY allowed black actors to audition. But the actual reality was that they accepted auditions from everyone (there were white actors and non-black poc that also auditioned for the role) and chose the best person who embodied the role. They didn't "make Annabeth black" and they didn't "make Zeus black", they cast black actors for those roles.

Y'all think you're being slick with your wording. Dismissing that is implying that they did not earn their roles fair and square. Which is racist. It's the equivalent of going up to a black college student and telling them they only got in because of affirmative action. You're dismissing the achievements of a person solely because of their racial background.

For all you people complaining about "unfairness" and "forced diversity", I would think hiring based on merit would appeal to you 🤔

71% of theatrical Hollywood leads were white in 2024 in comparison to 29% POC and you still think "black washing" is a thing? You still get this angry over a black person fairly earning a role because you think in a time where Hollywood only knows to do remakes and adaptations, that the majority of lead roles still *have* to be reserved for white actors?

Once again, white people have never been excluded from Hollywood for being white. Representation has never been something you lacked nor is it something you can lose. Your anger comes from seeing a black face where you think they don't belong. Because you feel you are owed a disproportion of representation in Hollywood.

10. Woke agenda/DEI/Forced Diversity:

If you are unironically using any of these terms in a negative light, it's already too late for me to reason with you. Look up the term "dog whistle". If you are sharing the same terminology with Elon Musk and his fanboys, maybe reevaluate some things.

POC are objectively underrepresented and have been historically excluded through actual laws and policies in Hollywood. There is no such thing as "forced diversity", you have bought in to a right wing conspiracy theory.

"Woke" is a term that was intentionally appropriated from the black community. It originally meant being aware of injustice and systematic threats to the community and is now being weaponized by bigots. Good job.

Diversity and inclusion is a good thing.

11. But POC deserve to have their own stories told:

We do. And we have been fighting for it for over a century now, and we've made great strides, no thanks to y'all.

No thanks to y'all gaslighting us about how little representation we get or that representation matters at all. No thanks to y'all pushing the idea that POC can't sell globally and obscuring POC actors in international promos. No thanks to y'all continuing to whitewash even to this day (Bullet train, the beguiled, gods of Egypt, atla, every portrayal of Jesus ever, etc.). No thanks to y'all calling every piece of media that has more than one black lead and more than one queer couple "woke". No thanks to y'all throwing a fit every time a black person in a fantasy setting isn't a slave.

Fact of the matter is, y'all never cared about POC "getting their own stories", you're only parroting our own words back to us now as a politically correct way of saying, "leave white roles alone" lmao

Well fun fact, actors of color getting opportunities to play lead roles and allowing poc to "tell their own stories" are not mutually exclusive. If y'all cared that much, instead of bullying a 12 year old actress, you could actually support up and coming independent POC writers, directors, and studios 😱

12. Studios need to stop "setting up" actors of color:

Do me a favor and google the term DARVO.

Your racism is not the fault of the studios for giving a POC actor a role that they earned. It is not up to the rest of society to tiptoe around racists to avoid their vitriol. It is our responsibility to hold them accountable and protect minorities from unwarranted hate. At most, you can say it's the responsibility of the studios to provide adequate support to POC actors who face this backlash.

At the end of the day, Hollywood only allows very few spots for POC actors (especially WOC), while simultaneously pushing a new white boy every month to put in everything. Putting minorities in these roles that are usually closed to them, usually opens the door to more actors of color than before.

Brandy being cast as Cinderella did a lot to push her into the mainstream (yes, she was already extremely famous in the black community atp), Halle Berry being the first, black, bond girl literally shot her to icon status, and even going as far back to what Anna Mae Wong did for Asian American actresses with her "femme fatale" roles.

At the end of the day, even with the backlash, *some* rep does more good for POC actors than *no* rep. The solution to racist backlash isn't to take away those opportunities, but rather to not be racist??? 🙄

Also, for everyone that claims that "POC race-swapping" is just as bad as "white-washing", despite white washing having a longer history and objectively causing more harm, note how the backlash to white washing never lasts as long as the harassment that POC get.

Like, no one brings up Scarlett Johansson's ghost in the shell role anymore, but you can best believe Candace Patton is still fending off racist trolls. As much as people hated the atla movie, people moved on quick from Nicola Peltz playing Katara since she was just a kid that accepted the role (re: daddy bought her the role), but y'all would not have any of that consideration for Leah Sava Jeffries.

But I digress...

13. What if we made Tiana white? Wakanda white? Hazel white...:

Ah, my favorite inane point. I was so excited to get here :)

See, I could start out by pointing out how "White washing" and casting a POC actor as a traditionally white character are not equivalent.

I could point out the history of hollywood ACTIVELY excluding POC actors and POC stories. I could point out how grossly over represented white people are in hollywood. I could point out that POC characters are so few in comparison that whitewashing them causes actual harm, where white people have never lacked rep.

I could point out how, because poc characters and stories are so often tokenized that their racial/cultural background is often directly tied to their character's identity, in opposition to a lot of white characters, since hollywood treats white as the "Default".

See, I could make all those points, but the thing is, the people who make this argument already know all that. They are trying to waste time by drawing me into a pointless circular argument that will sum up to "fair is fair", while ignoring all the context and nuance I previously provided.

So you know what? Forget it. Let me play your game.

I am actually fine with a white Tiana. Would it make sense, for her and her family to experience Jim Crow era racism, in the south while white? No. But we can look past it. Disney was never known for historical accuracy anyway 🤷🏿‍♀️

However, in exchange, the live action frozen will have a black Elsa and Anna, live action Rapunzel will be black, live action Merida will be black, we're re-filming Cinderella and Beauty and the beast to cast a black belle and Cindy, snow white will need to be recast as black, and we also get aurora whenever the live action sleeping beauty is announced. But then y'all can keep Tiana, deal?

You want a white T'Challa? Fine! (I'm partial to Ryan gosling), in the meantime, we'll be recasting Iron man, Captain America (Steve version), Bruce banner, Thor, Loki, hawk eye, black widow, ant man, captain marvel, Bucky, Peter Parker etc. All the avengers and their side characters, then y'all can have Sam Wilson, war machine and the whole of Wakanda (will it make sense that a sole, hidden, African nation is randomly made up of white people? Who cares? We get the avengers!).

You want white Hazel? You got her! I hope you have no problem with us taking Percy, Nico, Will, Poseidon, Jason, calypso, Rachel, Tyson, Silena, the stoll brothers, Sally Jackson, Hades, Hepheastus, ares, etc. But y'all can have Hazel and Beckendorf.

If we're gonna do this, let's commit all the way. Fair is fair, after all.

14. Leah isn't as "pretty" as Book Annabeth/Movie Annabeth:

I wish I could say this wasn't a genuine point I had read, but when all else fails, they will always go for a woman's appearance.

Now first of all, as a rule, I will never hold black women to white beauty standards. Our hair will never be long and silky enough, our nose will never be narrow enough, our skin will never be fair enough and our eyes will never be light enough (Might I recommend Toni Morrison, when you get the chance?). But Leah is unfairly gorgeous idc what any of you say, and you're not gonna have me use my defense of Leah as an opportunity to bash Alexandra either because she is also beautiful. These two queens slayed to the best of their abilities within this toxic ass fandom.

I find it funny, however, that so many of you harped on the "blonde" issue because you thought it was important that Annabeth be seen beyond just her looks, but quickly devolve to bashing an actress's looks when it comes to why she's not right for this role 🤔

I would also like to sincerely apologize that the 13 year old girl they cast in the show, wasn't as sexually attractive to you as the 24 year old woman they cast in the movie and sexualized through like 25% of her screen time (I'm actually not sorry. You're very weird if this is an actual point for you).

15. I don't agree with sending hate to the actor, but she's just not right for the role:

Once again, what are you doing by complaining about her casting on no other basis than her race?

The creator of the character said she embodied the role. She has already been cast, and Disney would be in a legal/production hell to recast her atp. Just because you're not directly leaving comments on her social media doesn't mean you're not part of the hate mob.

No matter how you look at it, your issues with her casting come from a very entitled and narrow-minded place. When you join in on these dialogues you are bolstering a sentiment that pushes more people to harass this teenage girl. When you leave these "harmless" complaints, on show content, fan posts or posts defending her, she's liable to read them because the cast regularly interact with fans online.

What do you have to say that is so important that it trumps protecting a young girl from the long-staying trauma of racism, of being told she doesn't deserve something she worked for because of how she was born?

16. I can't even criticize the show without being called racist:

Get. Over. Yourself.

Y'all are not the victim. Have fans of the show gotten protective of Leah and the young cast? Yes.

With good reason. This fandom is unbearably toxic.

Racism outweighs your need for a "perfect adaptation", sorry.

If you explain yourself properly and keep your critiques fair (like, even I don't think this was a perfect season, and will be sharing my thoughts shortly), no one is gonna call you racist.

You're preempting with that because in all honesty, you're probably planning to use your "critiques" of the show to pivot to one of the many points that I just outlined, and you want to pre-empt the criticism.

If a black Annabeth is the end all be all for you, just don't watch the show, no one's holding a gun to your head. Geez.

17. I'm Black/POC and I don't agree...:

Hey, Candace Owens... No one gives a shit.

First of all, for all the "I'm POC and I don't agree" people, you don't speak for us. Anti-blackness is rampant in just about every culture globally. You being not-white doesn't somehow make you less prone to hating black people.

But for the "I'm black and I don't agree" leftovers (assuming you're not just a 👩🏼‍💻 behind a keyboard). Black people are not a monolith. You're not obligated to think a certain way because you're black.

But consider why you're putting yourself up as a barrier to protect this hate mob. It's one thing to just state why you don't like Leah's casting, but to start off your spiel with "I'm actually black" as a way to weaponize the very identity politics you're critiquing... very strange. Not to mention, what are you defending?

The black community is coming together to defend one of our own, a kid who has been receiving death threats since she was 12, and this is when you feel the need to back the opposition?

I mean whatever... sometimes the house slaves would snitch to the master. There will always be some of y'all in the woodwork. It is what it is.

But when the exact ideology you defend is turned against you, when a Baltimore elected official is being accused of getting his job through "DEI", when conservatives are claiming that they wouldn't "trust a black pilot", don't decide that's where you'll finally draw your line in the sand.

All that being said, This is my Annabeth:

May every tongue that rose against Leah Sava Jeffries Shrivel and die in 2025 🙏🏿 My girl will keep winning ❤️

(video by @/waleahhasmyheart on TikTok)

[demilypyro]

MLP lore lesson: this cross-eyed pegasus.

Originally another unnamed background/townie character, this pony became an early fan favorite after appearing in the background of the very first episode sporting a silly face; her nose scrunched up and her eyes crossed. In reference to the "derp" meme, which was popular at the time, fans named her "Derpy Hooves." Some opted to call her "Muffins" because this was her one spoken line in a later episode. Officially, she has been referred to as "Ditzy Doo," "Derpy", "Muffins" and "Bubbles" on different occasions.

While originally her crossed eyes were an animation error, the crew thought she looked funny, and left it in. When they found out the fans agreed, they went back and made her cross-eyed in all the coming episodes that hadn't been sent to Hasbro yet. Derpy became somewhat of an easter egg: keen-eyed viewers would find her cross-eyed face somewhere in most episodes in the first two seasons, encouraging fans to comb the background of each episode.

In the season 1 episode Feeling Pinkie Keen, Derpy is shown dropping a crate while unloading a truck. This led to the common fan interpretation that Derpy worked for the mail service, and was rather clumsy. Both of these traits would later be canonized, and she would become the standard character that's used when the plot calls for a delivery.

Appearing regularly in season 2, Derpy finally got her first major speaking role in the season 2 episode The Last Round-Up. The script called for a clumsy character (referred to in the script as "Ditzy Doo") and Derpy's design was chosen to fill the role, with her being referred to as "Derpy" in dialogue by Rainbow Dash.

After the episode aired, Hasbro supposedly received letters from parents who felt the character was offensive to people with disabilities. In later releases of the episode, Derpy is not named, her eyes are less crossed, and her voice is different.

From season 3 onwards, Derpy appeared less regularly, only appearing in about 1 in 3 episodes, still mostly in the background. While she continued to appear in episodes and even receive her own merchandise, she would never again be referred to as "Derpy" in official materials. She did get further speaking roles in episodes like Slice of Life, but she was never again referred to by name in the show. She remained beloved by the fanbase whenever she did appear.

[pressureplus]

Hihi!! Back again! (Lmk if you want me to not request so often I don’t want to overwhelm you guys <33)

Could I perchance req a scenario where experiment reader just wants to cuddle with Sebastian (like reader is just snuggled into his chest bc they’re just exhausted.) and then their kid decides to snuggle up on top of the reader?? I genuinely think it’s just a cute idea and I couldn’t stop thinking about it lol

Also!! How are you both? Hope you’re doing well!! <3

-💫

Hello again, 💫, hope you're doing well!

I finally got to that request you thought got eaten by the Tumblr God's like some kind of weird Tumblr Offering. Hope you like it! ❤️

Layers of Fondness

Pairings: Sebastian Solace x GN!Experiment!Reader

Au: [Unnamed]

Warnings: None, I kept this light and fluffy!

◞꒷◟ ͜ ͜ ◞ྀི◟୨୧◞ྀི◟ ͜ ͜ ◞꒷◟◞꒷◟ ͜ ͜ ◞ྀི◟୨୧◞ྀི◟ ͜ ͜ ◞꒷◟

"Oh, Hello there, little star." Sebastian chuckles when his smaller partner comes up to cuddle him, their form already curling up into his chest from where he's been laying for a while now.

"Are you a sleepy little angel?" He teases them lightly, one of his hands coming up to rub at their back in soothing, wide circles.

"Mmmf." To say Y/N's response is short would be an understatement, but the way that their face is buried in his neck ruffle tells him they definitely don't want to be holding a conversation right now.

Smiling, Sebastian traces comforting shapes on their back and begins to hum, hoping to relieve some of that awful tension that's made his lover so exhausted today. Briefly, he ponders what could have done it this time. Maybe an altercation with another experiment? A stock run gone bad, perhaps?

His questions are answered nearly immediately when he hears the tiny patter of footsteps start to waddle their way into the room.

He can only chuckle and grin that sharp, amused smile when tiny hands emerge up from below the side of the bed and grab fistfuls of the bedding, pulling the small body up and into the covers like the little heathen that it is.

"Ah, Right. The attention-hungry baby." Sebastian snickers to punctuate his comment as the little one wiggles and worms it's way up under it's parent's arm, nuzzling in against the both of them.

"Are you finally ready to sleep? After I've been trying to get you down for a nap for two hours?" Tired, smiling relief comes from Y/N when they wrap both their arms around the needy toddler.

"Mmm..." Their shared child's ear fins twitch and it's light flickers slightly to dim with the low energy.

"Well would you look at that, they sound just like you." Sebastian seems more than a little entertained by his own remark.

"Shut up, fish man." Y/N pouts at him, completely unaware those angry eyes are much less than menacing when they're tired and only melt his fishy heart.

"Don't teach them that!" Sebastian scolds playfully, as though he doesn't say so much meaner than that more often than not, and laughs.

"Shut up!" The little, mostly nonverbal toddler proudly mimicks it's role model in the inconvenient and terribly timed way only tiny children seem to be able to do.

"Look what you've done- now it's gonna take after you!" Y/N's husband playfully jabs again, and feins looking anguished.

"You say that like you didn't marry me." Y/N teases him back.

"You say that like I won't take it back." Sebastian makes an empty, joking threat.

"You won't, we both know you can't live without me." They smile back at him before relaxing again, still so sleepy they can hardly keep their eyes open.

He leans in and kisses them on the nose, then goes to place another to the baby's temple.

The pair's little one shifts and turns to lay draped over Y/N's resting form, creating a happy family stack before it drifts and sleeps.

Sebastian goes to make yet another bit of commentary before he stops, seeing his spouse and his toddler already out for the night.

Looking happy yet again and softening, he opts instead to pull the covers up and close his eyes as well.

The collective peace has been a rare one lately, but nobody really seems to mind when the trouble is so cute at the end of the day.

[kateksmallcuteowl]

June 24: Role Reversal/The Shire Falls Instead

(An amazing challenge from @bagginshieldweek24

Still trying to play around with different styles. Hope you like it!

I decided to significantly extend the "alternativeness" of the universe, so we need to start with the Rings of Power. We all know that hobbits do not have rings in canon, but the dwarven rings gave their owners the ability to gain more treasures and become better craftsmen. So, in this AU, seven rings are given to the Hobbits, the creations of Yavanna, to bring the world flourishing agriculture, food, and protection to humans and elves who cannot always engage in farming. Agriculture is a profitable business in general, so over time, immense wealth begins to accumulate in the Shire, which, along with the power of seven rings, attracts the dragon. Bilbo, the thane of the Shire in exile, gathers a team of loyal hobbits (Frodo, his nephew and heir, don't forget, Bilbo is a convinced bachelor, at least until he meets Thorin, Sam and Hamfast Gamgee, Merry and Pippin, as hobbits whose families settled in Rohan and Gondor after the fall of the Shire, and therefore they know how to fight, and maybe some unnamed Tooks). However, they need a warrior who can handle mechanisms and iron, which the hobbits, though having become more "down-to-earth" from the hardships and adversities of exile, do not know how to do.

And a few short headcanons that partially influenced the appearance of the characters in the drawing:

- Bilbo here is more gloomy and serious, he has endured the hardships of life in exile and the death of loved ones (instead of Thror, the old Took was beheaded), he is responsible for the entire operation and needs it the most. Therefore, here he has less curly hair to show a heavier and more stubborn character. He also has a very small ahoge (the tuft of hair sticking up on the top of his head) that mostly just hangs, not expressing much emotion, or stands straight, expressing anxiety and irritation.

- This should have been first, but I think ahoge perfectly suits hobbits as an idea and all hobbits have it, just more or less.

- Thorin here is the prince under the mountain, but since in Middle-earth the social role of hobbits is among the dwarves, he simply lives for his pleasure, working in the forge, creating what he likes. He also has fewer wrinkles and wavier hair here.

- If in the culture of the dwarves everything came from stones, then in hobbits it came from nature, so instead of fur, Bilbo wears a cloak with leaves. They also retain a love for warm bright colors, as in the canon.

- It hurts Gandalf to see the hobbits, whom he loves so much, suffering from the dragon and the hardships of life.

[doves-of-aphrodite]

Sappho - Queer History and what Lady Aphrodite had to do with it

As it’s currently pride month, I couldn’t think of anything better suited to talk about this month than Lady Aphrodite’s role as the Patron of Lesbians.

Sappho’s poetry was mostly lost, and only fragments remain, with the first of these fragments and the one which is considered to be the only completed one (as there are only two parts where it’s hard to understand it) is her Ode to Aphrodite, through which Aphrodite gets labelled the patron of lesbians.

This poem is written in Aeolic Greek and Sapphic stanzas, a meter where three long lines of the same length were followed by a fourth shorter line. It was written in first person and was one of the most important things which proved that Sappho was in fact queer, as the person mentioned to be the object of her desires was female . The poem was written in form of prayer to Lady Aphrodite, and was written how most Ancient Greek hymns are, in three parts.

The contents of the poem were the speaker asking for Lady Aphrodite’s help in her longing for an unnamed female who’s caught the speaker’s eye. The speaker (who it’s believed to simply be Sappho) asks for Aphrodite’s help in easing her pain from the unrequited love she’s experiencing. After being invoked, Aphrodite appears to Sappho and comforts her by saying that the woman who rejected her will someday pursue Sappho herself. The poem ends with the speaker asking the goddess to help her in all her future romantic struggles.

Overall, this poem showed Aphrodite as a kind and caring goddess and helped cement the idea that she is happy to help wherever she can, no matter if it’s homosexual relationships or heterosexual relationships you find yourself in, which would help a lot of people come to terms with their sexuality, and would help a lot of her queer worshippers nowadays.

[lagomoz]

Everyone so far seems to be theorizing Amane’s victim as her dad, her mom, or an unnamed child also in the cult. I’ve got my own theory - it was Gozake.

That’s Gozake, from Magic. The blue guy. He’s one of the four main figureheads of the cult, and possibly a music teacher of some kind to Amane, conducting her to sing in Magic. The very first shot of The Purge March is Amane playing the drums.

The mindscape Amane’s wield flags representing the four cult leaders (teachers? elders? propaganda peddlers? high up members? whatever, important cult people), but Gozake’s flag in particular is given special attention. 

Same color scheme, same three dots over a narrow rectangle like design, same ear thingy to the side, same orb-like design features - that’s Gozake. Before we see it flying though, we see it crumpled up on the floor by Amane’s feet, something not true for any other flag.

We then see an Amane messing up her flag routine, dropping Gozake’s flag in particular and falling over. The other Amane looms over her, preparing to punish her for a failure related to Gozake. Once the punishment starts, rain pours down.

Then, the punished Amane begins to drown. You can even see the flag while she’s sinking.

She drowns further, and we get another shot of just the flag, lying on the ground, and then the drowning Amane reaching up towards it. She’s reaching toward Gozake, the one responsible for drowning her.

And he is the one drowning her. We see it directly in Magic.

It cuts to the real world, with Amane actually being drowned, and her placed below the one drowning her like she is placed below the flag. 

Take note of the framing, with one hand stretching from out of frame.

I can’t find a better picture for her undercover card, but her location shows a bathroom. Undercover also has a shot of a victim lying on a blue tiled floor (we can’t see the floor, but the shower in Purge March has blue and green wall tiles) with water coming down. Blue and water are representations of Gozake (Amane’s character color is aqua), and it’s framed as a single hand stretching out while the rest is (mostly) obscured, and takes place in the bathroom (or at least a bathroom) that Amane was drowned by Gozake in.

Throughout the MV, there’s a lot of blue, too. Amane’s school uniform is blue, the cloth she heals the cat with is blue (the cloth later becomes bloody, another thing representing Gozake being damaged), the sky and general background and lighting is blue. Symbols of Gozake are present everywhere in the MV.

The suit man with the briefcase could be Gozake, I’m not sure. Gozake would fit the profile - a cult member, adult male, disapproving of medicine, willing to put Amane in harm’s way - but I don’t have further evidence.

Before Amane goes all in on the cult’s doctrine, she has an umbrella, but it’s unopened. The baton she uses to kill and to represent her as fully converted and the opening umbrella are overlayed. 

The lyrics show her motivation for the murder, as both a means of protection and revenge. She’s been horrifically abused for years, and has taken on the role of the punisher to avoid being the punished.

“It’s my turn to tear you apart / So there is no second time, I’ll give back the judgment that you gave to me /  It’s now your turn to say that hopeless “I’m sorry” /  You’re sorry? I don’t care! / Please, go ahead and die already / Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of “I’m sorry” that I said to you?”

Beyond showing a lot of resentment and disdain for the one she’s speaking to - her victim - the phrasing clearly shows that she’s not just punishing a sinner, she’s turning the tables. She’s returning the favor to someone who’s been violent to her in the past.

The umbrella is symbolically her murder weapon and what she uses to punish others, but also literally and obviously a tool to protect from the rain. What she uses to kill is what protects her from Gozake. She can’t take the abuse anymore and tries to become the cult sanctioned violent avenger that’s hurt her so many times. She can’t be the victim if she’s the perpetrator.

The final shot has her over the corpse, having tracked in water from the rain. The puddles lead right to it and the framing is the same as both the Undercover victim and the one drowning her - a single hand, reaching from out of frame.

Amane killed Gozake.

[serpentface]

I have yet another question.

You’ve established that only a few species of true cat survive in this setting. Do domesticated cats still exist? If not: what other animals, if any, fill the role of “small carnivore you keep in your house, barn, or ship to kill rats and other pests”?

Oh I actually had a few drawings ready for this! Yeah, analogues to the african wildcat have been extinct in this setting for millenia and were never domesticated, but to be annoying I have another small domesticated animal solely referred to as a 'cat' anyway.

The domestic 'cat' is a small member of the hyaenodontoid 'cat' family and is the most populous and common animal filling roles for small pest control, and are frequently kept in barns, granaries, and ships. The minor Burri deity Nelwasi is the god of granaries and is generally depicted in the form of a cat.

They fill near-identical niches to irl cats, though differ in behavior (their social structure and reproductive habits more closely resemble that of foxes). They don't meow, but make yipping and squeaking noises.

There's a couple other well-established small ratting animals in the setting:

Many far northeastern people (particularly Urswali and Bylaeans) prefer a type of fox called the frandir, which has begun to be more widely dispersed in use in recent history via sea trade.

An (as of yet unnamed) type of mid-sized domesticated mustelid is the traditional ratter and small housepet in most of Imperial Wardin, though it is less common in the contemporary than cats. They're now mostly kept as companion animals (with cats performing active pest control roles)

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Crazier Bastard's Chapter 301

Brief summary: Info dump about the game. Cale wakes up in the middle of a surprise attack.

===========

As the brief summary mentioned, we got an info dump about the game. To organize it:

Transparent Co, Ltd. - company who owns and operates the game

NGB1 - the current system of the game, and in charge of managing the rules and laws of the world

Zero - the predecessor system before NGB1

"ARM's hyung" - a male AI secretly hidden by the original creators of the game

One - a "bug" and female AI created by NGB1 from the found traces of "ARM's hyung"

Red Hand - the judge and destroyer that follows the rules of NGB1

Hell of Darkness - the Third Evil. One of the Eight Evils of the continent

Count Lupe II - the boss of the 99th floor of the Hell of Darkness dungeon

"Cale" - the new boss of the 100th floor of the Hell of Darkness dungeon

Hero - someone who has the qualities of an adversary that NGB1 considers

"One" was the System AI that Cale was talking to. She described herself as a bug created out of necessity. To summarize again:

Transparent Co, Ltd. did some things in the game that caused "exceptional" situations that broke the rules of the game

NGB1 investigated the cause of the numerous rule breaks and found out that it was Transparent Co, Ltd.'s fault

During its investigation, it utilized Zero, the previous system, and Zero's AI discovered hidden traces of ARM's hyung

NGB1 created One from those hidden traces, and assigned her the role of fighting against Transparent Co, Ltd. who kept breaking the rules

So... One was NGB1's secret weapon against its maker? NGB1 was mostly controlled by Transparent Co, Ltd., so when One was created, she had limited roles and could only assign Cale an NPC account.

ARM's hyung was still unnamed, but I could understand why One called him as oppa because she was created from his hidden traces. Though if you think about it in family terms, she's more like a daughter than a younger sister? 🤔

Moving on, NGB1 and One created the "hero" in order to fight against the absolute god. But One also sought for helpers, namely the "hero's companions", which we now know as Cale and Lupe II. Cale's NPC account still had a lot of blanks, including his name, but One said that this would be added in the update.

As if the background of the game's systems and AI was not enough, we also got game lore. The Hell of Darkness's 1st dungeon floor served as the tutorial dungeon, with Count Lupe II acting as the tutorial boss.

But it actually had a hidden side still unknown to the game users. That tutorial dungeon was actually the Third Evil of the Eight Evils of the continent! It had 100 floors, and Count Lupe II was in fact the boss of the 99th floor! And after the update, Cale would become the boss of the 100th floor, effectively making him the boss of Count Lupe II and the entire Hell of Darkness dungeon! 🤣🤣🤣

What a weird situation. The hero would be fighting against the god, and people from the evil side would be siding with the hero. 😂

Because of the Red Hand still trying to find Cale, One said that Cale should leave the game first by logging out, and return later after the update. She would explain to him about the hunters and the absolute god at that time.

As for the GoC saint's power, Cale got it as a new skill called Chaotic Fear, though it was still "deactivated". DA said he could activate it anytime after the digestion was finished.

Cale fainted from overwork, had to overwork himself (running away from the Red Hand) in the game, got assigned more work (as the new NPC final boss), and when he woke up, he had to work again because his room was being attacked... 😂

A heretic inquisitor and a dragon attacked the mansion where Cale was staying in, and set it on fire. And also beat up Ron who was guarding Cale. So when Cale woke up, the first thing he saw was the beaten-up Ron whose blood from his forehead wounds dripped down on Cale's face.

Eruhaben and Clopeh rushed to the WT, while CH and the 3 kids hurriedly returned to Cale's side. Thus, the tired Cale had to fight right after waking up. Oh yeah, Cale also heard from Ron that the Dragon Lord had returned.

Ending Remarks Today's chapter felt long because of the info dump. But I felt sad for Cale because he just couldn't get some proper rest. Next up would be a battle chapter. RIP to the enemy who hurt Cale's "family".

[du-sailarar-nerilia]

Alagaësia Lore And Headcanons Series, Part 1.5: The Ra'zac Life Cycle

(please note that this is all headcanons)

The Ra'zac life cycle resembles that of a dragonfly, but their family behavior is closer to that of a bee hive and certain bird species

under typical condition, the Ra'zac are a highly social species living in hives

eggs are laid by fully grown Lethrblaka. they are smaller and longer than dragon eggs and their shell resembles porous rock

hatchlings are about the size of a cat and are very much like baby birds. though they are not blind and are highly curious about their surroundings immediately after hatching, they are weak and vulnerable. their exoskeleton remains soft for years and gradually hardens until they grow to the size of an adult human. early after hatching they are incapable of hunting on their own, but they are able to feed on dead or live prey if it is previously immobilized

older juveniles approaching the size of a grown human take on the role of caretakers. their smaller size in comparison to Lethrblaka and their dexterous hands allow them to efficiently care for eggs and younger juveniles (after the Ra'zac war and the near extinction of the species, this task was picked up by the Helgrind cult). Ra'zac whose exoskeletons have sufficiently hardened can also venture outside the hive and hunt on their own. in this life stage they are adept mimics, capable of reproducing human speech

when the right conditions are met, a Ra'zac will undergo partial metamorphosis. it will shed its exoskeleton piece by piece and wings will emerge from the hump on their back. this is an exhausting matter that may take hours and the Ra'zac is blind and largely immobile and dependent on its hive for protection. once free of its exoskeleton, it still retains its humanoid physique, its skin is soft and its wings are frail this intermediate stage may be the one corresponding with the fourth unnamed peak of Helgrind, since it is not technically a separate life stage on its own, it may be the source of questioning the worthiness of being worshipped by the cultists

a Lethrblaka will continue to grow for a few years after moulting, its skin will harden to a leather-like quality and its wings will develop powerful flight muscles. its whole physique becomes longer, sleeker and more aerodynamic, it will develop a head crest and a long tail to aid in maneuvering. these changes also lead to the loss of their speech-mimicking abilities

the role of a grown Lethrblaka is to hunt over large swathes of land, bringing in humans to feed the younger members of their hive. Lethrblaka themselves are capable of eating any other kind of animal, but need to eat relatively little, mostly focusing on providing for their hive. a single Lethrblaka with a hive of ten juveniles at varying stages of growth can easily decimate a village of 150 within half a year

while Lethrblaka are the reproductive stage, it is the Ra'zac that disperse to start new hives. when a hive becomes too large, a pair or a small group of Ra'zac take a number of eggs and settle in an area populated by humans, where they blend in and live undercover as long as they can continue stealthily killing enough humans to feed their younger siblings, or until one of them matures into a Lethrblaka

[moodymisty]

Author's Note: Inspired by this post. You can blame all of the unhinged horniness there for this unhinged horniness. Someone there put the idea down as space wolves or Luna wolves and I chose Luna wolves because @bispecsual gave me the brain rot. And since I'm a massive masochist, I write.

Relationships: Like five unnamed Luna Wolves/Fem!Reader

Warnings: Vaguely NSFW, Very hornily charged bullying, Astartes are very curious and grabby, Demeaning speech, Just imagine you're that one girl on the couch in the meme surrounded by massive dudes but those dudes are 8 foot tall genetic abominations, Gangbang implications(?) my warning tags are getting weird as fuck

To the Luna Wolves, serfs are a new idea- a curiosity.

But after their good deeds upon a planet of little known renown and placement in the galaxy, a few of their population offered to serve them.

Before them, most serfs were primarily stationed on Terra, and on Luna Wolves ships instead those roles were given to low ranking tech priests, or penal labor. Even then however the Astartes saw them rarely, until now.

Some of the newly conquered planet offered sons as aspirants, of which they eagerly accepted. The Luna Wolves have been eager to grow their numbers now under Horus’ leadership.

Others, older and ablebodied, offered themselves to serve as serfs.

Many Luna Wolves can't remember the last time they've seen a normal human for more than a few moments, ushering them to safely into a Stormbird or pushing them from a firefight. Or seeing their corpse flung on the far reaches of a battlefield, out of sight and mind.

In their brief periods of reprieve from battle, it's now been a struggle for their captains and lieutenants to keep their men on task, now that serfs scurry around them completing various tasks. Particularly for the youngest marines among them, it's been a constant to stop them from reaching towards the serfs, interrupting their sanctioned duties.

They will get to you once finished with your brothers, is what the current quartermaster on duty or Astartes captain says. Though haste to have their armor cleaned or bolter clips loaded isn't the thing on their mind, but instead an almost dog-like curiosity.

But after their superiors leave, they always end up crowding around you again. These astartes have barely seen baseline humans in decades, let alone a woman.

It's suffocating.

You were nothing on your home planet. Insignificant. You’d hoped joining them would bring you purpose, something to be proud of. And to get off the planet that had you feeling so trapped. And while you got your wish, in a way the thing trapping you had merely changed form.

They have you cornered in the armoring room now; Like Wolves. You went from trapped on that no name planet to trapped by five different astartes. Your palms feel hot and sweaty, but not as hot as your face.

“You’re so small, you’re going to get lost on the ship,” One says.

He grabs for your chin and holds it for a moment, forcing you to look into his grey eyes. they're stoic, but you can see he's enjoying something about this. Though he allows you to shrink away and out of his grip, looking downward at their chest armor. Or anywhere else that isn't their faces.

“Or trampled,” Says another. The one who spoke previous gives him a sour look before passively aggressively replying.

“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

One who hasn't spoken yet has his top armor removed, his lower half unpowered. He was training, using it as dead weight. Training concluded blood now drips down from his nose and lips but is mostly dried, partly covered healing bruises. If he looks like this, you can't help but wonder how his opponent looks.

It’s distracting.

You don’t know if it’s some sort of illness or insanity from being locked in this ship for so long; It makes him look more attractive. You hope to whatever deity or god or whatever exists out in the stars that he doesn't notice you’re staring. That he doesn't notice the way your heart is pounding in your chest and what feels like your cunt as well.

He does. As do the others. You can't kid yourself and think that with their hearing and smell that they haven't noticed that you're boiling alive, and that your body is screaming fuck me fuck me fuck me fuck me-

“He won. Out of one hundred men.”

Your gut twists and the marine behind you laughs quietly. It's deep, enough so that you swear you can feel it in your chest. You would squeeze your thighs together for some relief, but you don’t think you can without stumbling over.

“She likes the winners. Looks like you’re out.” He gestures to a fellow marine that gives him another sour look. You briefly wonder what he lost at to deserve such a jab.

“I should return to my duties,”

You meekly say, hoping to remove yourself from the embarrassment and scurry away to another quarter of the ship.

One of them blocks your path and traps you from leaving, picking you up by the armpits and holding you before putting you back down between them all. It's like you weigh nothing to them, and that they can simply jostle and swing you around like a toy.

“I’ll tell your quartermaster you were helping us.” He jerks his head in the direction of a marine clad in only the casual clothing they wear out of their ceramite. Now the focus of your attention he rolls his shoulder, and you can see the muscles of his neck and around his collarbone flex.

You swallow a knot in your throat that felt like it was going to choke you. Your hands clench tight, nails sharp against your palms. You're going to have a heart attack, you swear it. Tears well in your eyes but they don't break your waterline just yet, from sheer will alone. If any of them say another word, call you cute, small, soft, that you smell so sweet, you swear they’ll roll down your cheeks like a waterfall.

“He wants you to put on his armor. The others are always so rough, you’re so gentle with those little hands.”

The marine reaches for you, and in your back step you stumble and accidentally bump into the one who hasn't spoken at all; Just watching and sitting. You stumble over his massive armored boot and end up falling into a sit on his thigh, legs parted over it. His massive armored hand comes to grip your waist, to keep you from falling over. It covers a good portion of your stomach in the process.

You’re so tightly wound just the simple pressure alone is enough to have you clamp a hand your mouth to avoid letting out a moan that would kill you right then and there, if you weren’t already dead. Your knees quiver, toes just barely touching the ground. His massive height makes it impossible to fully stand with his thigh between your legs.

You know they can smell the way you’re leaking and staining your underwear, hear the way your heart is racing like it's going to explode. You’re half afraid you might make his ceramite thigh plate slick.

You can feel their eyes on you. They look at you like you’re food thrown to a pack of starving wolves.

One suddenly steps forward, and pushes his battle brother out of his way with a harsh slam of ceramite on ceramite before undoing the latch his belt.

“I go first.”

[mochinomnoms]

Besides ramshackle and octavinelle I’d love to hear how the new dorms are settling in ptm! I imagine the transition from Malleus to Silver must be new for the existing and new diasomia students (i wonder if Silver will get a fanclub just like how Malleus did). There’s also savanaclaw that’s got a new leader after leona (finally) graduated. We haven’t heard much of pomefiore ‘s new vice leader other than he’s very dependable or ignihyde’s dorm (is it still very introverted?). I’d love to hear any rambles or blurbs you have :D

-🪸

Sure! So Pomefiore and Ignihyde have unnamed NPCs for their vices and housewarden in Ignihyde's case.

For Pomefiore, they have a very reliable cat beastman as the vice who sort of makes up for Yev's overzealous behavior. Yev has the potential to be a great housewarden, he has the diplomatic skills and charisma to do so, but he is full of himself and is rather self-important. He also has the tendency to be mean to his underclassmen, so the cat beastman smooths things over. He is highly respected for his skills in potion making, and was under Vil's tutelage, as well as beautiful, which are the only reasons he hasn't been challenged for his position yet.

Ignihyde remains mostly unnamed due to them not having any impact on the story. But when I was making OCs, I was imagining that the roles of housewarden and vice housewarden got mixed together and a pair of twins based on Pain and Panic took over for the dorm. They often exchange responsibilities, but the dorm remains mostly introverted. Though now that they have more social housewardens, the dorm's members have been easier to get along with.

Savanaclaw has housewarden and vice! Ruggie was appointed as housewarden by Leona, and Ruggie recruited Jack as his vice. It came as a surprise, as usually Savanaclaw would have a somewhat brawl at the end of the year, in which the winner would be appointed the housewarden. At first no one questioned Leona, and Ruggie did a good chunk of his duties and chores anyways, he's generally respected, especially for his actions during Leona's overblot. However, the incoming freshman haven't taken to him, or some of the more spiteful dorm members. Jack, however, highly respects all his upperclassmen, Ruggie especially due to their share experiences, and so Ruggie almost uses him as a guard dog. If anyone wants to get to Ruggie, you gotta get through Jack first, and Jack is a very hard man to beat.

Octavinelle of course remains the same, though there are rumors that Azul has a little brother amongst the incoming freshman! According to gossip, Azul would like to appoint his little brother as the next housewarden, but one of the second years named Marino Del Reyes, is also a highly likely contender! Of course, Azul neither confirms no denies these rumors, as it's no one's business but his own!

Scarabia has been the center of much gossip and speculation, as their housewarden and vice switched places! It was a well known 'secret' that the brunt of housewarden duties fell on to him, despite Kalim holding the title. But after the events that occurred winter break, no one was anticipating that he'd ever take Kalim's place. To everyone, including the faculty's surprise, Kalim officially stepped down as housewarden and asked that Jamil take his place, as well as determining who his vice would be. To add to the ever growing shock, Jamil had Kalim take his place as vice! The rumor mill says that Jamil must have used his signature spell to get Kalim to hand over his title, while others say that Kalim was being threatened by outside forces and needed to step down to protect himself. The reality is that after Jamil's overblot and months of self-reflection, Kalim has become more aware of his limitations, and combined with being old enough that his parents want him to start learning the ins and outs of the family business, believed it would be best to step down and use his spare time to try and better himself. As much as Jamil was happy to finally be recognized for his hard work, he was still upset that he didn't really earn it himself, so out of spite he appointed Kalim as his vice, thus sort of making him a subordinate. It was an area of tension with their parents, but Kalim insisted that this was what he wanted, and what Kalim wants he gets. There's a lot more to the story, but I'll end with this: Kalim enjoys that he can actually be helpful and do tasks for someone else, rather than having everything be done for himself. Jamil finally gets to put his skills to use, and is the first step to perhaps a taste of being someone other than a servant. He does have to tend to Kalim as a retainer, but it's strictly separate from his duties as hosuewarden.

Diasomnia is being run as normal, though Silver and Sebek are highly respected as housewarden and vice due to their positions as Malleus's retainers. After all, who else knows the values of the Thorn Fairy better than he? And it's to be assumed that his retainers, the ones by his side, who will become great knights to the Thorn Fairy's birthplace, would be similar. Silver is seen as rather gentle, but firm, while Sebek is mildly feared but respected. Both support each other's strengths, and make up for each other's faults in wonderful ways, what else is to be expected of the two who are practically brothers?

With Riddle as the housewarden still, it's no mystery that his dorm retains the same high standards, though he's become more lenient and understanding since his overblot. Everyone desperately misses Trey, or his baking to be precise. They of course have more than enough people to make up for his skills, albeit none of their treats are as good as his, but his replacement, Timmy, is a new and welcome sight. Timmy, compared to Trey, tends to challenge Riddle and brings him back down to earth when he gets angry. People say it's because Trey specifically asked Timmy to do what he couldn't at first, and to not let Riddle get too out of hand or overwhelm himself, but of course no one but Timmy can confirm or deny that. One thing that amuses nearly the entire student body is how Timmy is always running late to things, much to Riddle's annoyance. When they see the rabbit beastman running across campus parkouring and scaling the side of the castle, bets are thrown to see if he'll actually be late this time. He hasn't, though no one knows how or why, especially when he manages to cut down a 15-minute walk across campus to 3.

[littlesparklight]

A (not exhaustive) inventory of Astyanax's death and survival.

In the Little Iliad, Neoptolemos is the killer. In the Iliou Persis, Odysseus is the killer.

In the Trojan Women we don't actually know who does the deed, "merely" that Odysseus is singled out as the (major) voice who argued for his death. As Andrew Erskine in Troy Between Greece and Rome points out (referencing another academic as well), given the lack of detail in what's left to us, Odysseus might well have been involved in Astyanax's death in the Little Iliad as well, in the same role he has in here in the Trojan Women.

Seneca (Troades) follows Euripides in the public deliberation and has Odysseus being present for Astyanax's death, but he has Astyanax leap voluntarily. (Excuse me, WTF.)

Quintus of Smyrna, in his Posthomerica, has the killing be done by "the Greeks". Not just the deliberation like in the Trojan Women, but "they" seized him and tossed him from the wall. Whether intended or not, it makes it read a little like a mob scene. (edited to add this, because I'd forgotten to check.)

Tryphiodoros, in the Taking of Ilios, has it again be Odysseus.

So what we get is that even when Odysseus isn't actively the hand that commits the deed, he's the (first? major? leading?) voice in claiming it "needs" to be done. For the ~safety of Greece~, of course.

So, now we come to myths and stories of Astyanax's survival. It's mostly here the "not exhaustive" disclaimer applies. For a lot of the Medieval sources (where this idea flourishes) I can't double check if they say anything about who/how Astyanax survives.

With that said; the Medieval manuscripts aren't the earliest ideas of Astyanax's survival!

One is late Classical or earlier; Dionysios of Halikarnassos reports of the Ilians (that is, the Anatolian Greeks of the "modern" Ilion/Troy, built somewhere after ~1000 BC) had a founding legend that involved Astyanax and Askanios. Given that Astyanax can approach his cousin after being released by Neoptolemos, presumably Neoptolemos didn't kill Astyanax but rather take him along into slavery with his mother and Helenos.

I'll just include this screencap from Troy Between Greece and Rome for the next bit since it's easier:

On to the Medieval sources; the absolute earliest appearances of Astyanax here is as the founder of the Franks, now named Francion/Francus. French Wikipedia has a note to an author that says that Astyanax's survival was effected by (unnamed in the text and note) Medieval authors by the Greeks softening up and ending up not killing Asyanax because of his beauty.

Next is the "Andromache swaps Astyanax for another child and the Greeks (more like Odysseus) is tricked and kills the substitute". It has several appearances/uses, but the earliest (at least by the list in Wikipedia) seems to be Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato (1495).

While being unable to, like, check if anyone is named as the rescuer in some of these (Wiki also has an unsourced mention of Talthybios), in general we seem to land on either Neoptolemos or, in later stories, Andromache herself. I wouldn't think Neoptolemos ends up not killing Astyanax out of the goodness of his heart, more as a way to control Andromache, but there it is either way. Odysseus is only ever an obstacle to be worked around, which isn't odd given how often he is either the killer, or, maybe far more important, the voice to argue that Astyanax need to die. Not so odd he'd then be construed in later stories as the character to be specifically tricked by the child-swap.

I'll put the sources under the cut!

(For the Little Iliad) Scholiast on Lycophr. Alex., 1268: "Then the bright son of bold Achilles led the wife of Hector to the hollow ships; but her son he snatched from the bosom of his rich-haired nurse and seized him by the foot and cast him from a tower. So when he had fallen bloody death and hard fate seized on Astyanax. And Neoptolemus chose out Andromache, Hector's well-girded wife, and the chiefs of all the Achaeans gave her to him to hold requiting him with a welcome prize. And he put Aeneas, the famous son of horse-taming Anchises, on board his sea-faring ships, a prize surpassing those of all the Danaans."

(For the Sack of Ilion/Ilioupersis) The Greeks, after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles: Odysseus murders Astyanax; Neoptolemus takes Andromache as his prize, and the remaining spoils are divided.

(Note 136 to Apllodorus' Library, trans. Frazer) Compare Arctinus, Ilii Persis, summarized by Proclus, in Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. G. Kinkel, p. 50; Eur. Tro. 719-739, Eur. Tro. 1133-1135; Eur. And. 8-11; Paus. 10.26.9; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica xiii.251-257; Tryphiodorus, Excidium Ilii 644-646; Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 1263; Scholiast on Eur. Andr. 10; Ov. Met. 13.415-417; Hyginus, Fab. 109; Seneca, Troades 524ff., 1063ff. While ancient writers generally agree that Astyanax was killed by being thrown from a tower at or after the sack of Troy, they differ as to the agent of his death. Arctinus, as reported by Proclus, says merely that he was killed by Ulysses. Tryphiodorus reports that he was hurled by Ulysses from a high tower. On the other hand, Lesches in the Little Iliad said that it was Neoptolemus who snatched Astyanax from his mother's lap and cast him down from the battlements (Tzetzes and Paus. 10.26.9). According to Euripides and Seneca, the murder of the child was not perpetrated in hot blood during the sack of Troy but was deliberately executed after the capture of the city in pursuance of a decree passed by the Greeks in a regular assembly. This seems to have been the version followed by Apollodorus, who apparently regarded the death of Astyanax as a sacrifice, like the slaughter of Polyxena on the grave of Achilles. But the killing of Astyanax was not thus viewed by our other ancient authorities, unless we except Seneca, who describes how Astyanax leaped voluntarily from the wall while Ulysses was reciting the words of the soothsayer Calchas and invoking the cruel gods to attend the rite.

(Trojan Women, Euripides) Talthybius You that once were the wife of Hector, bravest of the Phrygians, [710] do not hate me, for I am not a willing messenger. The Danaids and sons of Pelops both command—

Andromache What is it? your prelude bodes evil news.

[…]

Talthybius They mean to slay your son; there is my hateful message to you.

Andromache [720] Oh me! this is worse tidings than my forced marriage.

Talthybius So spoke Odysseus to the assembled Hellenes, and his word prevails.

Andromache Oh, once again alas! there is no measure in the woes I bear.

Talthybius He said they should not rear so brave a father's son.

(Dionysios of Halikarnassos; Ant. Rom. 1. 47. 5–6) Aineias . . . sent Askanios, the eldest of his sons, with some of the allies, mainly Phrygians, to the land called Daskylitis, where the Askanian lake is, since his son had been invited by the inhabitants to rule over them. Askanios did not dwell there for long. When Skamandrios and the other descendants of Hektor approached him after Neoptolemos had released them from Greece, he went to Troy and restored them to their ancestral kingdom.

[gplovestwdg]

hiii! loving your modern au!! do you have more info about brody <3, marlon and like the rest of the ericson kidss?

Thank you for your interest and sorry it took so long for me to respond to this ask! ^^

The main Ericson's group from season 4 is split across high schoolers and young kids in my au and they live in separate areas of the school. Characters that go to the Ericson's high school are exactly the same age and in the same grade even if they're a bit younger/older in canon while characters that are younger than high school age are their canon ages.

Everyone is mostly the same though, like I've mentioned before, their roles within this au are slightly different. Marlon and Brody are the President and Vice-President of their grade respectively and as juniors (yes they're in 11th grade) they're given a lot of responsibility considering they'll be graduating next year. Also they're in a not so healthy relationship...

They share most of their classes, and Marlon definitely has anger issues that are exasperated by Brody's anxiety troubles. Here's the two of them with some unnamed students during the gym class they share ^^

It's difficult to divulge all the information regarding every character without turning this into an incomprehensible block of text so I'll be brief with other characters:

Louis and Violet are mostly the same, Louis is Marlon's childhood friend and Violet is pretty closed off and in an also not so healthy relationship with Minnie.

Minnie and Sophie are both on the school's baseball team, Minnie is similar to herself in game personality wise. She can be pretty rude and is very prone to siding with authority figures (teachers in this case) compared to those close to her. Sophie is much brighter and values the independence of students over the authority of teachers. Also Sophie and Mitch have something going on (fueled by my silly crackship in middle school haha.)

Mitch is literally the exact same lol. So are Aasim and Ruby, Aasim is the same as he is in game but he puts up a front around teachers as he's grown attached to his fellow students and doesn't particularly want to go home, since in game he's canonically basically been rehabilitated by the time of the apocalypses start. And yes, he's still pining after Ruby in my au. Omar is also virtually the same as well, he volunteers a lot to help the cafeteria ladies and gentlemen with lunch and dinner.

Tenn and Willy live in a separate section of the school for middle/elementary school aged kids and have their own teenager that they get to see once a week(Minnie/Sophie and Mitch respectively), kinda like the big brother program if you've heard of it. Though Sophie and Mitch specifically are very adept at sneaking around and seeing them near daily.

Here's a little relationship chart with all the kids ^^ Some relationships are a bit one-sided and some are multifaceted as well! For example most of the friends/hate arrows are meant to show annoyance/resentment in the friendship.

Also AJ lives in this section of the school, unbeknownst to Clem for now. It doubles as a living space/common education for kids taken by CPS.

Finally all the teenagers mentioned are in a big friend group and since they're friends with their grades president and vice-president they're able to take advantage of certain aspects of the school like sneaking out late at night without much punishment. They like to hang out around the river near the fishing cabin and in the forest, but Marlon doesn't let them go outside his arbitrary safe zone cause he can't really make up an excuse for them to be out past there and the thought of getting into trouble with the adults terrifies him. Though they do take the train into the closest town and hangout on weekends!

Ahh movie night :')

[johnslittlespoon]

summarizing my wips badly!

tagged by @nicijones tysm i'm so late!! <33 p.s. usually i write oneshots inspired by song lyrics or i have a title in mind going into them, but most of my wips are unnamed atm so these placeholders are subject to change :^) also these are all buckbucky and the last one is curtbucky mwah!

You're A Dog (I'm Your Man): When your friend refers to your best friend as "your dog" and now you can't get it out of your head. You Drag, I Light: Fellas, is it gay to shotgun a joint in a field with your best friend on your day off instead of going to town and dancing with the ladies? (maybe a cont. of my last oneshot idk yet) I'll Be Your Watchman: When you're reunited with your not–lover in a POW camp and you're too scared to sleep for fear of opening your eyes and realizing you dreamt the reunion so you keep watch over them while they sleep and heal. I Laid Down My Arms (The Day You Came Along): 5 times one man seeks out his friend for cuddles/physical touch, and 1 time the roles are reversed. I Let You Win (I Love To Lose): It's probably totally 100% normal to get hard while wrestling with your best friend and not at all a sign of underlying feelings. Angel, Baby (Tell Me A Secret): Tfw you offhandedly mention rimming to your totally straight best friend but now they're in your bed and you're showing instead of telling. I've Got A Bad Desire: TIFU: My best friend who I have feelings for refused to punch me when I was having a mental breakdown but we ended up dry humping each other inside a cockpit instead.

ngl i'm pretty sure i have more wips but these are the ones i've actually got mostly fleshed out in my head & i don't need this to turn into a grocery list of fics so (◠‿◠✿)

tagging @curtsbigspoon @mangokittokatsu @magneticghouls @bcolfanfic no pressure!!! i get shy tagging ppl ngl lol <3