#okay I looked it up. 'the one with the weird Latin name' I was thinking of was uropgyi which is whip scorpions

[the-golden-ghost]

Someone will be like "Ghost tell me about spiders!" and I'm like "SURE I'll get right on that let me open wikipedia real quick. Also did you know there's 12 kinds of arachnid? I can't name them though"

[hedgehog-moss]

I randomly found a 500 page French book on OpenLibrary about the etymology of animal names so here are 10 (ish) fun facts:

the French word for poodle, “caniche” looks like it definitely comes from Latin “canis” (dog) but no! It comes from cane / canard (duck) because it was a waterfowl-hunting dog—and its name in English, Swedish, German, Dutch (poodle, pudel, puedel) also reflects this dog’s affinity with water (from pudeln = to splash about). It’s like otters, whose name come from the same root as water...

the canary on the other hand is named after canis / dog, since it comes from the Canary Islands which, according to Pliny the Elder, were named after the huge dogs that lived there at some point. Some historians think these mysterious big dogs were actually seals or big lizards. Then a bird ended up with the name ‘from the dog place’ though it’s unclear if dogs were ever truly involved. (Meanwhile Spain / Hispania comes from the Phoenician i-shepan-im, the place with rabbits.) I like the idea of ancient humans seeing seals or lizards and going “weird dogs”. Like how ancient Greeks saw hyenas and named them “pigs, I guess?”

the fox has a great diversity of names in Europe: fox / Fuchs, zorro, räv, volpe, raposa, lisu, róka, renard... In French it used to be called ‘goupil’, from the same Latin root as the Italian ‘volpe’, but then the mediaeval cycle of poems known as Le Roman de Renart, about an unprincipled fox named Renart, became so popular that renard became the word for fox and goupil disappeared. It’s like if 500 years from now bears in English were called baloos. (The English and German words for fox come from the indo-european root puk- which means tail, like Hungarian ‘farkas’ (wolf) which means tail-having, or squirrel, from the Greek words for shade + tail, there are actually lots of animals that are just “that one with a tail”...)

French has a word for baby rabbit (lapereau) derived from Latin leporellus (little hare) and we used to have a word for adult rabbit (conin) from Latin cuniculus (rabbit)—related to the German Kaninchen, Italian coniglio, Spanish conejo, etc. But ‘conin’ in Old French also meant pussy (there were mediaeval puns about this in the Roman de Renart) and at some point I guess people were like okay, it was funny at first but we’ve run this joke into the ground, and a new and politically correct word appeared for adult rabbit (lapin) based on the pre-existing word for baby rabbit (lapereau).

The english bear is thought to come from the proto-IE root bher-, for brown—I love how Finnish has so many nicknames and euphemisms for “bear” ranging from “honey palm” to “apple of the forest” and English is like... dude’s brown. Same amount of effort with the Swedish and Danish words for fox, räv / ræv, from a root that means reddish-brown. (And the Hungarian word for lion, oroszlán, along with the Turkish ‘aslan’, comes from proto-Turkic arislan / arsilan which comes from arsil which means brown...) And since brown was already taken, ‘beaver’ (+ German, Dutch, Swedish...: Biber, bever, bäver) has been speculated to come from bhe-bhrus-, a doubling of the original root so... brownbrown.

English foal / German Fohlen / French poulain / Italian puledro all come from the proto-IE root pu- which means small (e.g. Latin puer and Greek pais = child)—then the French ‘poulain’ became ‘poulenet’ with the diminutive -et (so, a smallsmall animal) and poulenet became powny in Scots then pony in English, which was then re-imported by French as ‘poney’. Also the Spanish word for donkey, burro, comes from Latin burricus = small horse, and in French Eeyore is named Bourriquet with the -et diminutive ending, so we just keep taking small horses and turning them into smallsmall horses...

The boa (bo(v)a) shares the same etymology as bovine / bœuf / beef, due to a widespread belief that some snakes suckled milk from cows. Pliny the Elder stated this as fact and (not to bully him but) modern research tells us “there is no empirical basis for saying snakes like mammal milk; experiments, indeed, have shown that captive snakes systematically refuse to drink milk”

I was disappointed to learn that antelope comes from Greek anthólops which referred to a mythical creature, because I grew up convinced the origin of the word (antilope in French) was anti-lupus, as in, the gazelle is the generic prey so as a concept it’s the opposite of the wolf, the generic predator. Wolf and anti-wolf. Though it raised the question of why we don’t have antilions (zebra), anticats (mice) and antibears (salmons)

Many European languages have named kites after some sort of flying animal: in English it comes from the word for owl, in Portuguese from the word for parrot, in Italian from eagle, and in French it’s cerf-volant aka flying-deer. There’s an interesting hypothesis for this! Kites came to Europe from China, where they were often shaped like dragons or snakes, and snake is serpent in French and serpe in Old French, so it’s possible that kites were serpe-volants aka flying-snakes. But the ‘p’ and ‘v’ next to one another were a hassle to pronounce so the p got dropped and it became ser-volant, then ‘ser’ which isn’t a word started being mistaken for ‘cerf’ which is pronounced ‘ser’ but means deer... (We did it again with chauve-souris (bald-mouse = bat), which comes from the Gaulish cawa-sorix aka owl-mouse—which makes more sense as a name for bats! similar to the German Fledermaus, flying-mouse, and Spanish murciélago, blind-mouse. But Gaulish ‘cawa’ was mixed up with Latin ‘calva’ = chauve = bald, so now a French bat is a bald-mouse)

I love etymology, it’s all flying deer and dogs named splash and snakes named cow and ponies named smallsmall and five animals named brown and three named tail—words acquire a veneer of linguistic respectability over the centuries and we forget that fundamentally everyone just says whatever

[kittenofdoomage]

Vessel

THIS WORK IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON AO3. PLEASE DO NOT REPOST OR COPY MY STORIES. 18+ CONTENT AHEAD.

Summary: The last night of a camping trip you weren’t really enjoying ends up with an accidental summoning.

Fandom: The Witcher

Pairing: Eldritch Creature!Geralt x fem!reader

Word Count: 2872

Warnings: tentacles, please forgive my awful Latin, dubious consent but not really, triple penetration (anal/vaginal/oral), belly bulging, other dimensions, accidental blood offerings

The spot Laurie had chosen for the night was a frequently used site at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by trees and caves, and not too far from the parking lot so carrying everything wasn’t an issue. You had only come along on the trip when she had begged you too, even if camping wasn’t ordinarily your thing, and neither was her obsession with ghost hunting. The whole trip had been for her birthday, so you hadn’t felt right complaining about the activities when you were grateful to be included and this was the last night you would have to endure the uncomfortable sleeping roll and threadbare sleeping bag.

With a fire built, you sat around it with the other women, staring at the marshmallow on the stick you held as it melted into the fire. They chatted about their favorite parts of the trip so far, describing the supposedly haunted house that Laurie had insisted on visiting.

“I got something special for our last night,” she announced once all the s’mores were gone. “Do you guys remember me telling you about my grandpa’s library, all the weird creepy books he left when he died?”

A murmur of acknowledgement went around the group and she giggled, dragging a bag around the stump she was sitting on, opening it. From within, she pulled a thick tome, ancient-looking, bound in cracked brown leather. You couldn’t see the front of it clearly from where you were, only the raised edges of a serpent-like design on the cover.

One of the others sniffed, peering at the book curiously. “What is that? Some kind of occult thing?”

“I dunno,” Laurie shrugged, opening it in her lap. “It’s full of weird Latin and pictures of dicks.”

Missy, sitting directly beside her, leaned over to look. “I don’t think those are dicks,” she commented, pointing at something on the page. “Okay, maybe that one is.”

The conversation became centered on the pages of the book, all of them giggling as they looked at the various pornographic pictures inside. You continued to watch the fire, tired of being outdoors, but too polite to retreat to your tent. Missy called your name, and you looked up as she handed you the book.

“This one totally looks like you,” she giggled, thrusting the book into your lap. Your gaze fell on the only picture on the page, a depiction of a naked woman, bound and exposed, the crude drawing detailing her genitalia. You wrinkled your nose in distaste, not seeing the resemblance between yourself and the obscene image.

“Come on, it totally does,” Laurie laughed. “You could use a good ravishing like her.”

Your bottom lip jutted out. “Low blow,” you replied solemnly, lifting the book to offer it back to her. “Here, I’m - ow!” The pain was sharp, then instantly faded to a throb as blood welled out of the paper cut and dripped onto the book, staining the page red. “Oh my god, Laurie, I’m so sorry -”

“It’s fine,” she dismissed urgently, tossing the book back towards the bag, more concerned about the blood on your hand. “That’s bleeding pretty badly.”

The others gathered around, offering napkins and band aids, but you waved them off, sucking your finger into your mouth to clean it. “It’s just a papercut, it’ll heal,” you muttered, taking one of the offered tissues to wrap it around until it stopped bleeding. “I, uh, I think I’m gonna call it a night though.”

“I’m pretty beat too,” Missy yawned. “Can’t wait to sleep in my own bed tomorrow.”

You smiled, then took your leave, crawling awkwardly into your single sleeper tent, listening as the others all cleaned up and put the fire out. The noise tapered off into just the owls in the distance, and you wriggled out of most of your clothing, keeping only your t-shirt and panties on. Your finger had stopped bleeding, so you tossed the tissue into your rucksack with the rest of the trash you had collected since your last stop.

With silence outside, only broken by the odd hoot of an owl, you dozed off quickly, despite the lumpy ground underneath your bedroll. For a few hours, you slept, and then something woke you in the dead of the night, making you sit up. You opened the zip on the tent, poking your head out, seeing nothing but the other tents, a few fireflies, and the book, sitting on the stump by the remains of the fire.

It was strange that Laurie had left it there. You climbed out, moving towards it with the intention of putting it in your tent for the night so it didn’t get damaged, but when you picked it up, the flames in the center of your little camp suddenly came to life again. Surprise knocked you onto your ass, and you dropped the book; it landed open, right on the page that was still stained with the red of your blood. For some reason, your attention was drawn to it, and you read the Latin, wondering what it meant as you whispered it.

“Ubi in tenebris habitat, in vacuo ubi expectat, salutabo, ei me tradam, ut me tanquam vasculo suo benedicat et prodiat.”

The fire went out. You lifted your head as the wind whipped up, and then the ground underneath suddenly opened. Your shocked cry was cut off as the earth swallowed you, and you landed on solid ground with a thud, grunting as you impacted. Assuming you’d fallen through a sinkhole, you looked up to call out for the others, only to find a fathomless darkness above you, and all around you.

The air smelled damp. Hard ground bruised your knuckles as you forced yourself to your feet, keeping low before realizing there was nothing above you. You didn’t feel confined, and when you spoke, your voice was almost absorbed by the darkness around you. “Hello?” Taking a step forward, you leaned, repeating your question in a harsher tone. “Hello?!”

Somewhere in the void, something - someone - hummed. It sounded male, and you tried to pinpoint the source, searching with no success.

“Is someone there?”

The sound of something moving made you turn, and two human-shaped golden eyes appeared, focused on you. “I am the dweller in the dark,” a male voice said softly. “Who is it that greets me?”

You shivered, suddenly very aware of your undressed state, tugging the hem of your t-shirt down. “M-my name is Y/N,” you whispered. “Who - who are you?”

He, you assumed, laughed. “You summon me, yet ask who I am,” he chuckled. “Did you not understand the words you spoke? Was it not your blood given as a token of your offering?”

“No, I -,” you murmured then stopped, shaking your head. “What - what did I say?”

Another low rumble of laughter. “Even after all these centuries, humans remain foolish.”

You screwed up your face, indignant at his words. “Hey!” you snapped. “I’m not a fool, I just don’t know Latin!”

Your ire seemed to make him laugh harder, and you scowled, turning to walk away, even though it appeared there was nowhere to walk to. After a few meters, you threw your arms up in frustration, looking around to see the golden eyes right where they had been; you hadn’t moved at all. “What is this place?!” you cried.

“This is my realm,” he informed you. “I have been here for a millenia, waiting for someone to speak the words and offer themselves. Now you are here.”

“O-offer themselves?” you repeated as x-rated imaginings instantly flooded your mind. You squeezed your thighs together, ashamed of the heat you felt between them. “No, I -” He didn’t say anything, and you shook your head, clutching at your shirt. “What are you?”

His answer came as he emerged from the darkness. He was tall, broad, pale as snow with white hair that flowed past his shoulders, framing his handsome ethereal face. Your eyes swept over him, and when you realized he was naked, your face warmed, making you drop your gaze to the floor as your imagination got a little wilder. 

“I am ancient,” he murmured, with a ravenous look in his eyes. “I am what came before man was even a whisper.” He tilted his head, smiling salaciously at you. “But you may call me Geralt.”

You swallowed, trying not to look at him. “What do you want from me?”

He took a step closer. “Only what you offered,” he replied in a thicker voice, his desire clear as he closed the distance between you. “What I see in your mind.” Your lips parted as your breathing grew heavier, and then he was within touching distance. “And in return,” he continued softly, reaching to touch your cheek with just the tips of his fingers, “I offer my eternal devotion and protection.”

“Oh,” you inhaled sharply. Caught in the hypnotic shimmer of his eyes, you lean into his touch, feeling something like an electric charge go through you as his palm cradles your jaw, ending in a tingling right in your core. You shuddered, whispering as you kept staring, words falling from your lips without thinking. “I offer myself…”

His lips pressed against yours, and you melted into him, bracing your hands against his firm chest. A dull throb started in your cunt, growing stronger when his tongue slipped into your mouth, licking into you hungrily. When he broke away, his eyes were blazing, and he smiled, catching your bottom lip with his thumb. “I accept,” he murmured reverently.

Something brushed your ankle and you shook it off, realizing too late that it was wrapping around you, sliding up your calf. You looked down, eyes widening as you saw the tentacle, joined seconds later by others that wrapped around your legs. More emerged from the darkness, capturing your arms and forcing them behind your back, thrusting your chest out. They made quick work of destroying your clothing, leaving you bare and exposed as they lifted you from the ground, suspending you with your legs spread wide. Geralt watched, and as you fought to hold your head up, you saw that the flexible appendages were coming from him.

You knew you should have been panicking but something calmed you, and when two tentacles slithered around your breasts, using their tips to tease your nipples, you cried out in pleasure, clenching around nothing. Geralt moved closer, stopping between your knees, laying one hand over your sodden cunt.

“Such a perfect vessel,” he hummed, thumbing at your clit.

The tip of one tentacle flicked over the swell of your ass, slipping between your spread cheeks to tease at your tight rose. You gasped, eyes rolling back as it prodded into you, wriggling against the puckered entrance, and you mewled when you realized you wanted it inside you.

This is wrong, your mind protested, quickly silenced by your overwhelming arousal. “Please,” you begged, desperately for anything inside you.

Two more tentacles brushed against your cunt, pressing against your swollen petals until they were spread open, and Geralt practically purred, abandoning your clit to push two fingers into you. Just the width of them was more than you’d taken in a long time, and you cried out, clenching around him as your juices coated his skin.

“So wet,” he praised. “You want more?”

You nodded, feeling an almost physical pain in your need to cum. He smirked, withdrawing his fingers; a thick tentacle replaced them, pushing into you with little preamble, and you screamed as it abruptly started to fuck into you, filling you more and more with each stroke. Still, you craved more, and as if he sensed your need, the tentacle at your ass pushed against your tight hole, taking only seconds to break through and fill you.

Geralt bent down, sealing his mouth around your clit, and when you cried out this time, more tentacles surrounded you. One wrapped around your throat, tightening enough to hold you in place as another pressed between your lips, filling your mouth. You were paralyzed, subject to the creature’s whims, and the pleasure that flowed through you was almost as incapacitating as their grip. A powerful orgasm made your eyes roll back, and your cunt gushed, dripping down the tentacle pulsing inside.

It pulled free as Geralt dragged his mouth away, fisting his meaty cock before lining it up with your aching pussy. “Your gift is well received,” he rumbled, pushing forward slowly, letting you feel the tip first, just a hint of how he was going to ruin you. The tentacle in your mouth slithered away and its counterparts lifted your upper body enough for you to see what was about to happen. “Now accept mine,” he finished, sinking the entirety of his generous manhood deep inside you.

You couldn’t remember how to breathe. He was so deep that you were certain your lower body was bulging with him. Looking down only made you moan as you saw he was buried to the hilt, and he twitched inside you, making you aware of exactly where his tip was nestled, right against the mouth of your womb. The tentacle in your ass had stopped when he had filled you, but slowly, it began to move again, sliding back and forth, swelling as if it wanted to match the thickness in your cunt.

“Perfect,” he groaned, framing your belly with his large hands. “Let me see you, little one.”

He dragged you up, then back down again, watching your pussy as it struggled to accommodate him all over again. You were certain you would die from the intense pleasure, from the coil of apprehension making your cells feel like they were vibrating. The tentacle in your ass fucked deeper and deeper as Geralt got faster; the ones on your breasts were still tormenting your nipples, leaving them sore and aching.

Keeping your eyes open became a losing fight. You couldn’t tell where one orgasm ended or the next one began. The ecstasy left you drunk on his touch, like you’d been at his mercy for hours, and you had no problem with it. Whatever doubtful voice had spoken before was gone, obliterated by your otherworldly lover.

“You have been so good for me,” Geralt murmured, pressing his hand against your belly where you could feel his cock punching deep. “My gift is yours.”

There was a pulse of warmth in your ass, and the tentacle buried inside it thickened before spilling into you, just as his cock filled your cunt to overflowing with his seed. You cried out, feeling your stomach bulge with his offering, feeling your own orgasm rip away whatever dregs of energy you had left. Geralt didn’t move until he was finished, slowly withdrawing from both your holes.

His spend dripped out of you as the tentacles slowly lowered you to the ground and released you. The euphoria they had granted you dragged you towards unconsciousness, aided by the darkness around you. You didn’t know where Geralt had gone but couldn’t think on it further, dozing off on the hard floor with satisfaction settling deep in your bones.

You bolted awake, kicking out in your sleeping bag as you sat up, panting hard. It took a moment for you to realize that you were back in your tent, in your intact shirt and panties, though the latter were soaked through. It was daylight outside, and you could hear the others talking, so you moved to join them, wondering if they had noticed anything odd during the night but finding yourself too nervous to say anything about your encounter, which you were slowly believing to be a dream.

After eating breakfast in silence, you packed up your things, desperate to be home in your own space after a long week. None of the other women noticed anything about your anxious behavior, dropping you at your apartment hours later with promises of a meetup later in the month. You smiled, pretending everything was fine, waving them off before you darted inside and tossed all your camping stuff in the laundry basket.

It was getting dark outside, and your desire for your bed won out over everything else. You crawled underneath the sheets, reveling in the comfort as you stared at the ceiling, replaying what you were now assuming was a dream. The steady throb between your legs grew, and you reached down with one hand, rubbing a single finger against your clit through your panties.

Something familiar slipped over your ankle, twisting around your calf before creeping towards your center. You gasped, sitting upright as a second grabbed your other leg. “Geralt?” you asked warily, unsure if you were imagining it.

The room filled with darkness, and arms wrapped around you from behind, where your bed had disappeared. “I am here,” Geralt replied, replacing your hand on your pussy with his own as his tentacles spread you open. He filled you completely in one stroke, and you cried out, delirious with pleasure all over again. 

He chuckled, holding your back firm against his chest, pressing his lips to the shell of your ear. “You are my anchor now. I will always be with you…”

THANK YOU FOR READING, PLEASE CONSIDER REBLOGGING SO OTHERS CAN ENJOY IT 😁

[stargazedwinchester]

Protect | Sam

A small one to get me back into writing, will be doing one for Dean also! <3

Summary: You attempt to comfort Sam from his most recent break up.

Prompt: "If she threatens you in any way you tell me, okay?" @promptsbytaurie

If anyone is interested, I have a taglist here! So if you want to be notified any time I post, pls send in a form so I can update it! Been away for a little bit so I’m gonna update it soon if anyone else has applied their interest :)

(Guys pls let me do a part 2 to this pls pls I beg)

Taglist: @girlsforpjm @rowenalovee @amythedoctor

Word count: 1,069

♱⁺. ⋆˙✧⋆✧˙⋆⊹.♱

The ambience in the bunker is quieter than usual. Usually there’s some weird genre of music playing loud enough so you can hear from 4 rooms away or someone furiously tapping away on a keyboard.

Walking down toward the lobby, it’s dead quiet. Assuming no one’s home, you take a gander at the books on the bookshelves, multiple books about monster lore and latin history, demonic possession and even some without a name. They’re worn down from the use they got from when the Men of Letters were around. Without letting either of the Winchesters know about it, you managed to sneak your own normal book collection in there. What they don’t know can’t hurt them, right? Sam especially would go nuts.

Picking out a light blue book with an intricate flower design running around it, the bolder, darker letters stand out in contrast. You scan the pages before taking a seat in the armchair in the corner of the library. The floor lamp next to you is dim, setting the mood perfectly for a quick comforting read.

A cough breaks you out of your gaze, unknowing that anyone was even inside. You peer round the corner and notice a huge man with long, unruly hair. His head sits in the palm of his hand, his long legs spread out underneath the table.

“Jesus Christ,” you whisper to yourself and make yourself known. “Sam?”

He grumbles, barely turning his body around to acknowledge you. “Yeah?” He clears his throat, his voice croaky and weak. You pad your way over to him and stand above him, examining the empty whiskey bottle and a glass that has remnants. His personal phone is left unlocked, a few texts sent to someone but haven’t gone through. You skim read.

7:04AM

Can we please talk?

8:15AM

Please message me, IDK what I did wrong

17:16PM

Sam, leave me alone. I’m done talking with

you. I will block your number

18:08PM

Sorry

MSG NOT SENT. TRY AGAIN

“How are you feeling?” You question, speaking carefully as he has obviously had a few drinks. You pull out a chair and sit beside him, his head remaining in his hands. You stare at him intently, hoping for a good answer. He takes a deep breath and sighs shakily. He rubs his face and he glances at you quickly. His eyes dark, and the tip of his nose crimson. He wipes his nose and takes another swig, too quick for you to even stop him. “What do you think?” He huffs, trying to show a smile but failing. You look down at the floor, unsure of what to say. He reaches over and locks his phone, then rubs his eyes with his fingers. “I don’t know what to do,” He starts, his voice wobbling. You reach for the nape of his neck and gently caress his hair, “What did I do wrong?” He starts, tears forming in his eyes as he looks at you once more, then breaking contact. “It’s okay, Sammy. Let it out.” You say, stroking his hair as he sits back, looking up at the ceiling.

“I look so weak,” He laughs, trying to collect himself. You sigh quietly. “You’re not. If it hurts you, it hurts you. It’s normal to be sad.” You say, trying to make him feel at least a little bit better. He reaches for his glass again and you place your palm over the top of it. “I think you’ve had enough of this as well,” You slide the glass across the table away from Sam. “Listen. Things like this come and go, you’re more than capable to find someone way better than her. I understand it hurts right now but in a couple of weeks time you’ll feel so much better for relying on yourself and the people that love you than the people that don’t. You’re going to be fine, Sam. Trust me.” You give the speech like your life depends on it, but seeing your close friend so heartbroken made you feel like it’s your duty to ensure he hears exactly what he needs to hear. He looks at you with shining eyes, the red in them makes the hazel pop more than usual. His nose still red and cheeks flushed, his usually neat hair is tussled. “I just loved her so much,” He sighs, straightening himself out. “But she wasn’t for me. We were so different.” He explains, his eyes scanning your face. “How so?” You ask, trying not to intrude.

“Well, I’d want to go places with her to eat, drink, whatever and she’d hate it. She’d never want to spend time with me or show me off. I guess she just wanted to use me, I think that’s the thing that hurts the most,” He admits, shedding new light on his now past relationship with this woman… something that felt like rage and sadness for him built up inside of your chest, and he carries on. “When things wouldn’t go her way, she’d get angry with me. So angry,” He pauses, “She’d threaten things but never actually go through with it, thankfully. I could never say anything because I was scared of her reaction or if she’d leave me for standing up for myself.” He finishes, a tear falling down his cheek and nothing stops you from wiping it away. Keeping your hand gently on his face, you stare into his eyes as he does yours.

“If she threatens you in any way you tell me, okay?” You say, keeping your tone calm and collected, but Sam smirks at the fire that glows within yourself, a passion for protecting the ones you love, or maybe it’s more than that.

“Okay. I will.” He smiles for the first time since this whole interaction started. You slowly start to stand up, shuffling yourself out of the chair. You remove your hand from Sams’ face, but then he unexpectedly takes your hand as you try to turn away, pulling you back. You look at him with concern, and his helpless gaze stares up at you. “Thank you, Y/N.” He says, pursing his lips. “Honestly, it’s what I needed. So, thank you.”

“I’d do anything for you, Winchester.” You say, quickly grooming his hair so its somewhat neater. Glancing into his eyes one last time, he shows you a fragile smile.

A delicate smile is still a smile.

[homeofthelonelywriter]

Let's call it Fate | Part 6

(A/N) Not me digging out my old Latin textbook for this chapter. Istg. Also, I think I'm getting a hang on the chapter lengths, kinda proud of myself for that one.

Pairing: Cardinal Copia x Reader (no Y/N)

Warning: google translate translations, abusive parents (especially mother), arranged marriage, age gap, bullying, talk of grandparents and death of a grandparent, misstreatment of Ghouls

Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13

Over the next few days, you established a simple routine.

Wake up and get ready, before going to breakfast. After that classes until lunch and then join Papa Primo in the greenhouse. And when it’s time for dinner, accompany him back up and meet Lila for the daily gossip trait. After dinner, find your spot in the library and study until it was time for bed.

Most of the time studying was spent on Latin since it was giving you the biggest troubles, but you also like to review whatever you had learned in the other classes. And from time to time, Copia would join you, either to work on his own things in silence or to help you learn Latin. Either way, you enjoyed spending time with him.

It was just another day, Friday of the first week to be exact. You were excited because you had the weekend off and on Sunday you’d join the first black mass. Lila immediately noticed your good mood when she joined you at the usual table for dinner.

“Any plans for this weekend?”

You shrugged as you were shoveling food into your mouth. Work had been exhausting that day. Exhausting but fun.

“I’ll probably explore the Ministry so more. And I promised Swiss and Dew that I’d meet their friends, have a picnic, or something like that.”

As soon as you mentioned the Ghouls, Lila made a face. Since she’d been raised by people who subscribed to the whole ‘The Ghouls are our servants’ way of thinking, you spent a tremendous amount of time showing her in how many ways that was wrong. And she was starting to understand and change her way of thinking, but she still reacted weirdly whenever you mentioned them.

“Lila…”

“I know, I know. It’s just…it’s weird to hear someone talk so casually about them. And to be honest, they kind of scare me. Especially the tall one.”

You giggled when she mentioned Swiss. And you understood why she might be afraid of him. He was tall and strong, and his constant grinning and showing off his canines wasn’t helping.

“He is harmless, I swear. He gives really good piggyback rides.”

The moment you mentioned the piggyback rides, she choked on the water she was drinking at that moment, making others stare and you burst out laughing. Once she had calmed down, she shook her head, before looking at you with a lopsided grin.

“You are something else.”

She hesitated for a second.

“Don’t ever change, okay?”

You grinned and nodded, reaching out and grabbing her hand in yours.

“You neither Lila.”

You were soon done with dinner and bid Lila a quick goodnight, before you rushed out the mess hall and to the library. The woman at the counter smiled at you, as you waved at her and the Ghoul, you think his name was Aether. He didn’t talk much.

By now, you had the way to your table memorized. Straight ahead, fifth bookshelves turn to the right, continue for two bookshelves before turning left, and then straight ahead until you reach a little hidden nook. As usual, you were the first to arrive. So, you took out everything you needed and started working on reviewing the vocabulary you learned that day.

“Magnus - big. Non - not. Laudat - to praise. Et - and. Summus…ahm…shit. Summus…summus…”

“The highest.”

You smiled, turning to look at Copia who stood behind you with a stack of papers in his hands. He was also smiling, slowly walking up to the table. Once he was in reach, he gently sat down the stack of papers and fell into the chair beside you.

“Paperwork?”

“Si. Things my fratello didn’t have time for today.”

Copia rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed.

“Let me guess, he spent his entire day on the couch surrounded by his lovers.”

He chuckled and nodded.

“You’re not wrong, he did spend most of his day like that. But he did have time to go over and agree upon one thing. His clothes. For the black mass this Sunday.”

Copia sounded so done, but at the same time amused, that you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, when you’re Papa those are the difficult decisions you’ll have to make.”

He turned to look at you, his eyes wide in surprise.

“You think that I’ll be Papa one day?”

“Of course. Why shouldn’t you be?”

Copia shrugged, averting his eyes to the paperwork.

“Most in the clergy think me too…imbarazzante, timido. They don���t think I have what it takes to be Papa. Well, my mother thinks I do, but she is my mother, and-”

”And she is right. Hell, you’re already doing most of the work that should be taken care of by the Papa. Plus, you’re smart, kind, caring but also strict when needed. You know how to lead people but you’re not power hungry. I think you’d be an amazing Papa. Plus, you look really good on stage. Kind of jealous of that one fan.”

At some point during your rant, your eyes had drifted back to the book in front of you, scanning the vocabulary. But when Copia didn’t respond or move, you looked up, concerned you said something wrong. Instead, you found a blushing Copia with tears in his eyes.

“You…you- I uh…I mean…thank you, cara. You don’t know how much these words mean to me.”

He gently grasped your hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a firm kiss to your knuckles, while looking you in the eyes. You immediately felt your cheeks heat up and averted your eyes, before looking back up. Copia squeezed your hand, before carefully setting it down and turning to his stack. But as soon as he turned his attention there, he looked miserable.

“Let me help you with that.”

He looked up, slightly confused, and was about to protest when you stopped him.

“You always help me, now let me help you. It’s only fair. Plus, there are no classes tomorrow, so I can sleep in.”

After a second of consideration, Copia agreed and handed you about a fourth of the stack. He quickly explained what you had to do, before both of you started working in silence. After an hour you understood why Papa Terzo didn’t want to take care of this stuff. It was boring and exhausting and after that one hour, you had to take a break, rest your eyes for a second. You carefully placed the paperwork a bit further up the table before resting your head on your arms and closing your eyes.

“If I fall asleep, wake me in like ten minutes, okay?”

Copia just hummed as he continued reading and before you knew it, you were asleep.

Hushed voices were what woke you up.

“I brought the paperwork to your office, Cardinal.”

The voice was unfamiliar, you wondered who it was.

“Grazie, Phantom. If you could just open the door to her room for me in un secondo?”

“Of course.”

The voices stopped, as you felt a sense of security and care wash over you, falling back asleep.

“I got it from here, thank you.”

“Of course, Cardinal. Good night.”

You heard footsteps retreating as you suddenly felt something soft underneath you. Instinctively, you nuzzled against the cool fabric, twisting your body until you were lying on your side. A familiar chuckle reached your ears and you automatically smiled.

“Buona notte, cara mia.”

You felt soft lips meet your temple and immediately you wished they’d stay there for just a moment longer. But they quickly left your skin as familiar footsteps walked away from you before a door was shut gently.

You wanted to get up and chase after that feeling of security and love, but before you could, sleep took over you again.

Translations: Si...yes fratello...brother imbarazzante...awkward timido...shy cara...dear Grazie...thank you un secondo...a second Buona notte, cara mia...Good night, my darling

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[silverbridge-harbor]

Celebrimbor's Letter to Durin IV

A Tengwar Analysis

ayyy first time doing something like this, so it might suck but lets goooooo

My credentials are here.

In Rings of Power s02e02, Celebrimbor sends a letter to Durin. The first thing to note is that it is written in the "full writing" Beleriand style, where vowels are written as separate characters instead of diacritics. This is correct for second-age Elven writing in Eriador. Points there.

When I watched the episode, I was expecting this to be Sindarin, but it is actually English, transliterated phonetically. This means they are using a phonetic English full mode based on the Sindarin mode of Beleriand. Tolkien had a couple of these, but as far as I can tell, they came up with this one themselves. But it was done a bit...oddly.

First off, here it is as plain Standard English™, in ASCII:

Durin IV, I humbly request your attendance in Eregion, that I might present a new offer for the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm. Despite your recent misfortunes, I believe your ears are best suited to listen to this proposition. My people are in your debt, and I...

Okay, mostly ASCII. But anyway, this is what the letter says. No need to obsess over it and spend several hours dissecting it and writing a deep analysis.

...Unless?

Lets number the lines.

Now, lets go through it line by line, phonetically. I will be using the Quenya names for the tengwar given on Amanyë Tenceli.

1: Durin 4,

Not all that much to say yet. Note the doubled stem on the first tengwa, Ando. This is comparable to the ornate first letters in illuminated manuscripts, and does not change anything. It looks a bit like a friend we will meet in a moment, though, so it was worth mentioning.

They didnt use a dot or ring to mark the 4 as a number, but since its a single digit below 10, no big deal.

2: ai hambly rikwest yór (I humbly request your)

So this suddenly became a mess. But, actually, not really; remember, this is a phonetic transcription, so strictly speaking, anything goes, as long as it sounds right when you read it back out.

The first thing I noticed was the tehta on the last word, the rightward hook. That is the O-tehta, used to mark a consonantal tengwa with a preceding or following O-vowel...something a full mode is specifically supposed to not be doing. Here, it is over Anna, which also represents an o in the Beleriand mode. So I figured it was standing for a lengthened ó, but in a weird way similar to how diphthongs are written. Then I saw the same tehta over Úrë on a later line, and realized: the way to lengthen a vowel in the Beleriand mode is to use an andatehta. This is usually the E-tehta, which looks like an acute accent. Here, they simply swapped that out for the more interesting looking O-tehta. I havent seen this before, but I like it. Sauron did something vaguely similar, using the O-tehta in the ring inscription to represent U-vowels in the Black Speech.

Lets talk about those ys. That tengwa is Ára, which is used for a consonantal i, in words like iâth and iorhael. Basically, think of it as a J in Latin. (I am having trouble digging up my old source on this, but the transcriptions on Eldamo seem to agree with me.) The point is, as a consonant, Ára fits perfectly for "your", but doesnt really make sense for "humbly". The Beleriand Sindarin mode already has a vocalic y, using Silmë Nuquerna; it represents a vowel we do not even have in English, so there would be no conflict to simply repurpose it for this. Ára was an odd choice.

3: itendins in eregion, (attendance in Eregion,) 4: dhaet ai mait prezent i (that I might present a)

Here it gets weird. The first i on line 3 and the last on 4, both Telco, both represent what was originally a. A few things could be happening here.

In the Classical mode, for Quenya, Telco is a carrier mark, with no sound of its own. Additionally, the A-tehta can be dropped where it can be assumed, because it is both the most common vowel in Quenya and the most complicated tehta to write. Because of these two facts, a lone Telco can be read as an A-vowel. But this is a different mode for a different language. I hope this isnt what they were going for.

They may be using Telco to represent Schwa. This fits perfectly for these two occurrences, and several other lines, but I would expect it to also be used, for example, in "hambly" above and "av" below.

It could be an indeterminate vowel, essentially meaning "figure it out yourself". This seems feasible, to me; this is the default in many languages, including Khuzdûl, and the letter is being written to a Dwarf, after all. But also, the letter is being written to a Dwarf, by an Elf. This is a diplomatic letter. An indeterminate vowel seems a bit too...casual? for this context.

The ae diphthong in "dhaet"/"that" is a bit odd too, but it might be based on IPA [æ], the vowel in "that".

5: nú ófir fór dhi dwórvz (new offer for the Dwarves) 6: av khazaddúm. (of Khazad-dûm.)

I appreciate "khazaddúm" being run together like this. Fun fact: the hyphens in names (like this and "Gil-galad") are for our benefit only; they are not used when writing with the Tengwar (at least as far as I have ever seen, but I cant afford the really good sources like Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon).

Also note the use of Quessë for kh. This is very strange. First, the Beleriand mode does not use tengwar from the quesset��ma (fourth column), except for Wilya, so this use of Quessë was added for the show. Secondly, the Beleriand mode already has a tengwa that represents this sound: Aha (or Harma).

However, Aha is usually romanized as ch, instead of kh. It may be that the transliterator was working from a character table, saw "ch", assumed it to represent [tʃ] (as in English) instead of [x], and decided to repurpose an unused tengwa.

7: dispait yór ryisint (Despite your recent) 8: mysfórchinz, ai bylyiv (misfortunes, I believe)

Ope, here we go using Ára as a vowel again.

Wait...what? Why are you using Ára, which you are already using as a Y-vowel, with the Y-tehta? Treating that as a diphthong like ai, it turns out as yi. What is this? Is this supposed to be like "Kyiv"? Is this even still the same person as the first half?

EDIT 2024-09-03: Skimming over this again, they did indeed use Aha here to represent [tʃ], the English value of ch, and I totally missed the connection. I guess I was distracted by this yi business. Anyway, this shows that they were at least aware of Aha, and most likely did see it labelled as "ch". I am okay with the idea of reassigning it, as it is in one of the three primary témar in the mode, and English does use [tʃ] vastly more than [x]. But, as mentioned below, Hwesta is used for [x] in Gondor, so I would have simply borrowed that, rather than arbitrarily assigning Quessë. That might be slightly anachronistic, though.

Also, @tragedykery in the replies has pointed out that the vowel /iː/ can become the diphthong [ɪj] in certain situations in Celebrimbor's accent (thanks :D), which may have been the intent behind the Ára diphthong I interpret as yi. This also fits well with ae representing [æ].

9: yór yrz or best sútyd (your ears are best suited)

"OR"??? ...Okay, I see what happened here, actually. Anna looks like ɑ (and its name even starts with an A), but in the Beleriand mode, it actually represents an O-vowel. This one was most likely just a proofreading slip.

Gonna have to put Ára up on the high shelf soon, though. You know, the high shelves? The ones who have seen the light of the coat trees.

10: tú lysin tú dhys (to listen to this) 11: propizyʃin. mai pyipil (proposition. My people)

Here they used Hwesta to represent, presumably, [ʃ]. This is another repurposed tengwa from the quessetéma. This one, however, does not already have an equivalent in this mode. Fair play.

Incidentally, Hwesta is directly adjacent to Aha on the chart, and is itself used to represent [x] in the mode of Gondor.

"Pyipil" is very strange. But then, so is "people". And so are people.

12: or yn yor det, ind ai (are in your debt, and I)

This is the last line, with the bottom cut off, but I think this is right, looking at the line weights. Featuring the return of our friend "or".

Vocalic Ára aside, "yn" is very interesting, because "in" has already shown up, way back on line 3. I really do wonder whether they had two people on this.

Also interesting is "yor", without a long vowel. This one is definitely just a simple proofreading mistake.

Overall, I would say this is...decent. Again, it is a phonetic transcription, and it is 100% legible. From that angle, mission accomplished. I do wish they had written it in Sindarin, or, failing that, defined a more comprehensive and consistent Beleriand English mode to work from.

And of course, this still absolutely puts Shadow of War to shame.

Finally, here is the full actual text of the letter, in the Tengwar, according to the character mapping of the Free Tengwar Font Project. I have absolutely no idea how Tumblr is going to respond to this. For science :D

                                            

Ah. Looks like thats the same Unicode block Tumblr uses for their own custom characters. So its probably not worth it to try to get Tumblr to use a Tengwar font, because it would break other stuff. Should be able to paste that mess into a compatible text editor and look at it there, though, so I will leave it in.

[several-ravens]

okay crazy theory time

i just finished episode 35 where there was a bunch of corridors under a club, and the witness describes a few of them as:

"it felt like i was going to fall into it"

"so dark that our torches didn’t seem to reach more than a few feet inside"

"it was damper, and the walls seemed oddly slimy" and "i put my hand onto the floor to push myself up, and it came away faintly tinged with red"

"flashes of a pile of paper, completely covered in cobweb"

"a figure stood in the darkness, a stranger i didn’t know but was sure meant me harm"

"my skin burning, hot, choking on smoke down there in the dark"

and these (infinity, darkness, flesh, spiders, weird strangers, intense heat) are all themes that are recurring in the episodes like i can name at least two episodes each off the top of my head, certainly more if i look into my beloved excel file

and the fact that there are 13 of those corridors makes me think there are 13 'recurring themes' and that they will all come into play very soon, and also that each have a leitner book associated (gerard found his mom's one in the flesh corridor but because it makes bones maybe it's not 'flesh' but like 'body' in general, though idk what the boneturner one would be other than 'body' too, and the ex altiora (which means 'from higher things' or whatever because it's impossible to translate latin properly anyway) would be the infinity one maybe)

i would like to add madness and death(?) to that list because i can also name a few episodes where these are the main themes

and maybe being hunted too? because even though it can be associated with either strangers or darkess in the two episodes i'm thinking of, it has also been designated as 'feeling hunted' too many times to not be suscpicious

oh and also the feeling of being watched when you can't see eyes/face, though it could be darkness too i guess, or fear of strangers but that's a bit far fetched

[puppet-purgatory]

you won't post 1 headcanon for every puppet. you wont

i WILL. AND i'll do it in chronological order from appearance (more or less). but it will be under a readmore after the first season so i dont interrupt anyones scrollin

The Professor: i think in addition to growing a bit from Dino DNA(tm) he also has feathers now. just some feathers in there with his fur. maybe even molts and is miserable about it

Death: he plays guitar And piano, but just as a hobby. he's like a salaryman who had a garage band as a teenager and never fully gave up on the dream

Propeller: propeller SADSTUCK: i think he legitimately had to go to therapy for the britannica shit that happened. PH feels like it would be that realistic about mental health tbh

Big Pile of Diamonds: his mustache is fake. his greatest secret. his greatest shame.

God: he actually really likes to dance! unfortunately next 2 no one will do it since... The Incident

Train: does he not have a better name... maybe put a mr. in front of there... anyway he feels betrayed by the U.S. since they gave up the train model for highways/interstates and the motorcar industry. gets REALLY heated about it

Mt. Vesuvius: has a bunch of speeches given by famous latin authors and orators memorized, but sometimes he mashes them up without realizing/misattributes which one was written by whom. old man moments

Hatshepsut's Goose: can't remember what their gender was in life. that's fine, they love being a nonbinary icon. AMAB (Assigned Mummy at (em)Balming)

Clipped Coin: dodges the spool's wrath by being unflappable and so down to earth despite his apparent success. truly the king of staying in his own lane

Olympic Torch: hes a cranky piece of shit and only really enjoys sporting competition. he was complaining about being in the group puzzle photo so god just picked him up and he went ffffffffffine. okay. ill smile for 2 seconds

Gay Oars: i think they Also went to therapy, mostly relationship counseling, and now they are back and better than Ever. unbreakable bond. im abt to pen a whole ass comic series about them getting married in purgatory

Policarpa's Spool: still thinks of himself as a spy type, but there's only so much spying he can do in... purgatory. of course, his primary nemesis is the treasure chest.

Lake Donner Snowman: idk if this counts as a headcanon per se but in my very short list where i recast the puppets as famous singers, he is ABSOLUTELY voiced by Weird Al Yankovic.

St. Nick's Wet Bones: sort of taking the whole purgatory thing in stride. he kinda feels like he's in retirement! now he's a minor agent of chaos who's looked after by his darling Pickle Boys

Beast of Gevaudan: i was so sad when the infinitiger wasn't real, i wanted them to have a cooking show together so badly and destroy the horse's self-esteem. i love him. hes so abominably french

Stool of Gold: well-traveled, well-read, literally just as sensible as the Book or the Oars, but finds the chaos entertaining to spectate.

Ziryab's Oud: I think that the puppets have divvied up the whole Wondrium Arena and all have designated Living Areas, and he has a whole dressing room filled with shitty costumes he can't even wear. every time someone knocks he answers like hes on MTV's Cribs.

Bye Bye Brothers: they live in the orchestral pit and treat it like a secret lair. only other Murderer Puppets are allowed in. EXCLUSIVE club

Flower Boat: GNC Icon. this is a flower boat stan account. jenuinely a wholesome, emotional vessel doing their best to pitch in.

Molasses Horse: you can wash him as much as you want, that shit always just comes back somehow. the book theorizes it's psychosomatic at this point, since they're technically only souls at this point.

Tiny Piece of Wheat: bro i bet they went through SUCH phases after finding out about the professor's death. like all five stages of grief and then four more that have not yet been discovered by humans. dw kiddo, u got Grandparents incoming

Emu: the type of guy to fistfight you and then help you up. laid back but ready to throw down at a MOMENT'S notice. has no beef with the Wheat, but generally avoids them to keep from any Upsets.

Treasure Chest: has a little list of get-rick-quick schemes he wants to test, but has no way to in purgatory. he has one braincell bouncing around in his head like the DVD logo

Scabs & Pus: they get to hang out with the Bye Bye Brothers in their little club :) they're gross dudes to look at and be around. but they are ultimately harmless and friendly and just happy to be included.

Book: i love da book. I think he lives in the music library backstage and finds librettos for stageplays/musicals to pitch to the group to put on, as well as produces their little TV shows.

Birch Trees: since they share a root system, they have a telepathic link and communicate without even speaking, which is fucking creepy as hell when one or both of them just start laughing out of nowhere. they probably enjoy acting sinister

Asmodeus: he worked HARD on his song for the show!!!!! i think he's a bit of a ham sometimes when he gets the chance. also his goat head bites literally anything that comes close on reflex.

The Devil: while everything he does is to get souls, it also feels like he wants for positive and is less an Enemy of God and more an Irritating Coworker. in my brain they have a whole Tom and Jerry thing going on.

I don't have anything for the Fake Puppets the Substitute impersonated, but im planning on drawing some infinitiger soon bc he was my fave for sure

The Substitute: this is PURELY crack but i think it would be hilarious if he had voice commands like some tech does. i want him to climb back in the window and ryan just yells XBOX TURN OFF and he vanishes.

Dino Dad/Dinosir: i think even after he gets to the present and learns about all kinds of rocks and gems and crystals he Still just loves a big old rock he can lay on and sun himself with. like a dad and his armchair. doesnt gotta be fancy, just has to be comfy.

Dino Mom/Dinosara: i think she would be REALLY into the fake tv shows the puppets in the Wondrium Arena make. and they'd probably Love to have her as a fan. i think both the professor's parents are Hella popular.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Daughter of Olympus (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: The titles are long af bc I find that very funny -Danny Words: 3,948 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter / Next Chapter Listen to: 'Runaway' -by Aurora

V. Memory Lane Has Too Many Stops and I Keep Getting Carsick

Ara has barely stopped crying when Leo Valdez shows up flying the bronze dragon. Everyone stands ready, except Ara. She pushes through the crowd, eyes brimming with tears once again.

"People of Earth, I come in peace!" Leo is the most insane-looking boy she's ever seen. He's dirty from head to toe and looks like he spent the whole night awake. "Festus is just saying hello!"

"That thing is dangerous! Kill it now!"

"Stand down!" Jason shouts anxiously, Annabeth and Nyssa stand next to him. "Leo, what have you done?"

"Found a ride!" He says cheerfully. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!"

"Festus..?" Ara echoes hoarsely.

"It—has wings," Nyssa stammers.

"Yeah! I found them and reattached them."

"But it never had wings! Where did you find them?"

"In... the woods," he's hiding something, but Ara couldn't care less about it at the moment. "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."

"Mostly?"

The dragon tilts his head and oil falls on top of Leo. He's completely unbothered by it. "Just a few kinks to work out."

Ara's mind catches up with her body and she runs to Festus in tears. Leo jumps out of the way in alarm, but everyone else is delighted. She looks less menacing this way. "You fixed it! You fixed my dragon!"

Leo frowns. "Say what?"

"But how did you survive?" Nyssa asks in shock. "I mean, the fire breath..."

"I'm quick," he turns to his sister. "And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?"

"You named him Festus?" Jason adds. "You know that in Latin, 'Festus' means 'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"

"It's perfect!" Ara laughs, the first genuine laughter that comes out of her in days, and gods, it feels so good.

"Okay, so she's as crazy as me," Leo doesn't sound troubled by it. Festus purrs at Ara's touch, she's holding onto his snout. "That's a yes! Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. I already picked up some supplies in the—um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous."

"But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just—"

"Go," Annabeth stares at them with fondness. "You have Ara, you'll be okay. You've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!" 

Jason looks at Piper. "You ready, partner?"

"You bet." The girl's beaming at the dragon.

"Everyone, give our General a proper send-off!" Lily speaks next to her, which causes Ara to jump. She hates it when Lily does that.

The campers lift their shields and swords. Lily places a Tyrian purple cloak on Ara's shoulders and hands her a worn T-rex backpack. "Come back alive," she raises her left hand, and a thin scar can be seen on the side of her wrist. "Deal?"

Ara lifts her right wrist and lightly presses it against Lily's. "You got it." She turns to look at the campers. "I'll bring you good news this time, I promise," Ara faces Leo, the insane boy, and her eyes fill with gratitude. "I owe you a big one."

"Cash only, sunshine. Or a kiss, if you're feeling generous," Leo jokes, trying to stop her from looking at him like that.

Ara smiles, which is not the reaction he wanted. He's hoping she'll go back to being grumpy soon, but unfortunately, nothing's going to make her forget his great deed. "I'll think about it."

She climbs on top of the dragon, and Leo does an okay job at keeping it together. Ara feels this is where she's meant to be, this will bring back her brother. She's always had a good instinct when it comes to Percy.

I'm weaving baskets when this weird thought crosses my mind: 

Look for Percy!

I saw him fifteen minutes ago, but I tell the naiads and nymphs that are with me: "Go get help." They notice how serious I am—which is unlike me—and follow my plea. I make my way to the forest, something is guiding me.

When Percy fought Ares, I gave him Aphrodite's protection. I told him "Love will keep you safe", and at the time he thought that I was saying it to not be the only one that hadn't given him something, but I knew it would work. I didn't know that it would bind me to him, but I'm not complaining.

When I find him, Percy sounds scared. "You're being used, Luke. You and Ares both. Don't listen to Kronos."

"I've been used? Look at yourself. What has your dad ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You've only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest—the ones who serve him."

I throw my basket at the back of Luke's head, trying to give Percy time so he can grab his sword. Luke turns and holds his weapon tighter. He has a new sword. "I've had enough!"

I stumble and cut my palm on a rock, I grab it and hear Percy's panicky voice. "Don't!" I don't know who he's talking to, but neither of us listens. The rock hits Luke's arm and I roll to avoid his blade but it grazes my skin. I grab a fistful of dirt and throw it at his face.

Percy swats whatever creature is on his leg and draws out his sword, Luke notices and decides I'm not worth the trouble, he makes an arch-motion with his weapon and disappears through a portal. I'm scared shitless and I can feel my back pulsing, I wanna run and hide behind someone again. 

"I'm sorry!" I cry, even though I'm not the one who almost killed Percy.

He stumbles toward me in some sort of pain, and I'll be damned if I don't help him out of this one. I put his left arm around my shoulders, and he places most of his weight on me, but I carry on.

"Cool, right?" Leo's smell is starting to get a little too hard to ignore, Ara tries to keep his oil-covered self away. 

"What if we get spotted?" Piper asks.

"The Mist," Jason responds before Ara can. "It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something."

"You sure about that?"

"No."

"I am," Ara replies. "Don't worry, Piper, the crazier it gets, the harder it is for mortals to notice. If not, I know how to fix it."

"Is it thanks to the cool thing you are?" Leo asks.

"Yeah, Chiron had to readjust my training, not everyone can control the mist, but Thalia Grace is really good at it and she and Chiron taught me, she's the other child of Zeus."

"We're making good time," Jason comments like he's trying to change the subject. "Probably get there by tonight."

"Where are we heading?" Piper questions.

"To find the god of the North Wind and chase some storm spirits." 

"Piece of cake," Ara nods. "I've gone to many quests, follow your instincts and we'll be okay."

"Which reminds me!" Leo adds. "You didn't finish your story! You promised you would explain!"

Ara frowns. "Where was I?"

"That Luke dude went nuts."

She pauses, trying to piece her memories together. "Well, the nymphs took us back to camp..."

Percy's really weak after Luke's attack. Annabeth left half an hour ago, and I'm standing on the porch clinging to my friend's arm. "You're going too, aren't you?" 

The basket I was weaving when I found him is at my feet, I made it for Grover. Percy says he might not come back at all. Grover, Annabeth, and Percy are the closest friends I've had and they're leaving. I want Percy to stay.

"I want to be with my mom, Ara."

"I wish I had a family," I make a face.

Percy pats my hand, I would rather have him glaring, but Annabeth says he's got a soft spot for me. "I thought you were excited to work on the forges?"

I sigh, Percy's words are not enough to distract me. "If I had a family, I'd choose them over camp too," I hold his hand and squeeze it. "Have a good year, Nemo."

He shakes my hand. "Have a fun year, Birdy. Maybe you can come and spend Christmas with me and my mom?"

"You're giving me permission to annoy you outside camp?"

Percy grabs his glass of nectar and drinks from it. "Let's see who gets tired first."

Leo isn't as obnoxious as he pretends to be. He tells them about his connection to Hera, and the girl connects the dots. She doesn't want to use her empath touch on him, but she doesn't need to, Leo gets really quiet after telling his story and keeps his eyes ahead, no longer in the mood for jokes.

Ara process all the information she's gathered, to her it's obvious who the big bad is, but she does not dare to say it out loud, it would mean her future as the daughter of Olympus is bound to that stupid prophecy...

"You know something, don't you?" Piper asks as if reading Ara's thoughts. 

Leo has fallen asleep in front of them so she speaks quietly, though she doesn't need to, the wind is loud enough to hide her voice. "Nothing that could make things better."

"Okay... I just want to say, you know... thank you," Piper squeezes her shoulder. "You must be dead worried about your brother..."

Ara senses dread in Piper, the girl isn't as calm as she appears to be. "He would've wanted me to come. Others are looking for him, so..." She isn't needed. At least here, she feels important. She's a protector, and she likes that these demigods respect her. "And Lily's looking after camp, so I'm not worried."

"Annabeth's sister?" Piper muses. "Is she another daughter of Olympus?"

"Something better," Ara smiles. "She's my best friend."

Lily Saggio is the newest and weirdest camper in this place. She's got pitch-black hair and big gray eyes. Since I came back from Percy's home, I've seen campers give her weary looks when she walks past, they say she's just like Thalia.

"Hi! I'm Ara!"

The girl regards me with distrust, then she glances at the table I was in. I feel like she ran a background check in less than five seconds. "Lily Saggio."

I'll have to carry the conversation. That's okay. "You're lucky you got here during winter and not summer! Where are you from?"

Lily stares at me pondering whether to talk or ignore me. "You're a year-rounder?"

"Yeah!"

"Why weren't you here last week?" I notice she's trying to hide an accent, but I do my best to act like I don't.

"I was invited to my friend's house. Look, he gave me this!" I show her my backpack, which is a teddy bear. I keep priceless things in it: my snacks and the legos Sally gave me as a Christmas/late birthday present. 

"You can leave this place?" Lily's expression shifts.

"Not all the time," I pull Bear and rummage through him. "I promised I wouldn't leave Percy's apartment—and it was Christmas!"

Lily stands up straighter, looking defiant. "I can look after myself, I've fought monsters before," She pulls out a black dagger and shows it to me.

I gasp. "Where did you get that?"

"It showed up on my nightstand after my Nonna..." She pauses and shakes her head. "It's a gift from my patron, so I don't—"

"You don't like it here?" I pull out my box of Legos and Lily's eyes brighten at the sight. "Don't you wanna know who your parent is?"

She frowns. "I know who my dad is."

"Oh! You're an Ares kid? You don't look like Apollo but you'd make an interesting child of Hermes or Dionys—"

"I didn't mean that."

"You know your dad?" I ask, not following the conversation.

"Yes, my mortal parent," she rolls her eyes. "I don't care about the god. They didn't care about me."

To think that way will get her a step closer to joining Luke. I don't want that. "Do I look like I'm Aphrodite's child?"

"What?"

"Do I look it?" I insist.

"You're okay."

This is the first time anyone calls me okay. My brain goes: Well... duh!

"It hardly matters who your godly parent is, you'll grow to love it here," I lock arms with her and place my Legos on her hands. "I'm going to the forges, come and see."

"I don't need a chaperone—"

"You are sooo grumpy," I sigh. "No one would trust me to look after another camper. So!"

Lily waits for me to finish my sentence. "So?"

"They'll leave you alone if I'm with you, I'm not very popular either."

On our way to the forges, I hear a couple of Ares kids shout rude things at Lily, I step in to shut them up and they laugh so hard they forget about her.

"Go away," Lily scowls at me.

I pout a little. "I just wanted to help."

"I don't need you."

"I didn't do that thinking you—"

"I don't care," she clenches her fists. "Never do that again."

When they reach Boreas's palace, two of his children stop them. Zethes stares at the purple cloak covering her shoulders and his smile evaporates. "Ara Jackson."

She gives a start. "Hi. You know my name?"

"You killed Cacus!"

"Who?" Leo asks with amusement.

"It wasn't only me," Ara dismisses the comment. "Can we go in, then?"

Zethes doesn't look pleased. "You'll kill us if we don't let you?"

Ara shrugs. "Sure."

Leo leans closer as they fly down. "So if I get into a nasty fight, could you just smite my opponent? It'd be super helpful if I knew that beforehand..."

"Shut up," Ara scowls, but she's hiding a smile.

When they land, the Boreads get a little nervous about having Festus there. "No, no, no,"  Zethes points at it. "The dragon must be deactivated. We can't have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair."

Ara steps forward. "Stay away from the dragon, then."

"'S'okay, boy," Leo eases the automaton, giving her a reassuring nod. "The dragon's a little touchy about the whole deactivation concept. But I've got a better solution." 

"Destroy?" Cal suggested.

"No, man. You gotta stop with the destroy talk. Just wait."

"Leo," Piper intervenes, "what are you—"

"Watch and learn, beauty queen. When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of buttons. Some, you do not want to know what they do. But others... Ah, here we go."

Leo sneaks his hand inside Festus's left paw and Ara hears a click, the dragon folds until it's a block of bronze. "Um... yeah. Hold on. I think—aha!" A handle pops up along with four wheels at the bottom. "Ta-da! The world's heaviest carry-on bag!"

"Cool!" Ara gets closer to examine it. Every time Leo gets that reaction out of her, he looks ready to throw himself off a rooftop.

"That's impossible," Jason exclaims. "Something that big couldn't—"

"Stop!" Zethes and his brother suddenly point their swords at Leo.

"Hey!" Ara makes her own weapon appear. "What's your problem?"

Leo raises his hands. "Okay... what'd I do? Stay calm, guys. If it bothers you that much, I don't have to take the dragon as carry-on—"

"Who are you? A child of the South Wind, spying on us?"

"What? No! Son of Hephaestus. Friendly blacksmith, no harm to anyone!"

"Smell fire," Cal gets closer. "Fire is bad."

"Oh. Yeah, well... my clothes are kind of singed, and I've been working with oil, and—"

"No!" Zethes tries to touch Leo but Ara keeps him away with her sword. "We can smell fire, demigod. We assumed it was from the creaky dragon, but now the dragon is a suitcase. And I still smell fire... on you." 

Ara glances at Leo. He is hiding something. "Hey... look... I don't know—Guys, a little help?"

"Look, there's been a mistake. Leo isn't a fire guy. Tell them, Leo. Tell them you're not a fire guy," Jason says, which is not great.

"Um..." Leo's indecision makes Ara uneasy.

"Piper," she could do this, but it's better for her sister to get comfortable with her powers. "Talk some sense into these boys, please?"

The girl understands right away. "Zethes? We're all friends here. Put down your swords and let's talk."

"The girl is pretty," he hums, "and of course she cannot help being attracted to my amazingness; but sadly, I cannot romance her at this time." 

"Destroy him now?"

"Sadly, I think—"

"No," Jason insists. "Leo's just a son of Hephaestus. He's no threat. Piper here is a daughter of Aphrodite. I'm the son of Zeus. We're on a peaceful..."

"What did you say?" Zethes snaps. "You are the son of Zeus?"

"Um... yeah," he pauses. "That's a good thing, right? My name is Jason."

"Can't be Jason," Cal says stupidly. "Doesn't look the same."

"No, he is not our Jason. Our Jason was more stylish. Not as much as me—but stylish. Besides, our Jason died millennia ago."

"Wait," the boy continues. "Your Jason... you mean the original Jason? The Golden Fleece guy?"

"Of course! We were his crewmates aboard his ship, the Argo, in the old times, when we were mortal demigods. Then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so I could look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey."

So many demigods gave up their mortality, and most of them had done it for such stupid reasons! Ara can't believe Percy's the exception to the rule, she's seen him push a pull door way too many times.

"Hockey!" Cal says happily.

"But Jason—our Jason—he died a mortal death. You can't be him."

"I'm not."

"So, destroy?"

"No," Zethes pouts. "If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we've been watching for. He's with Jackson, after all."

"Watching for?" Leo repeats. "You mean like in a good way: you'll shower him with fabulous prizes? Or watching for like in a bad way: he's in trouble?"

"That depends on my father's will," a girl's voice announces.

A brief flash of light comes out of Leo as soon as he sees the girl, but it's so short-lived Ara doesn't even distinguish its color. She scowls at him. Really? Right now? But she doesn't say anything out loud, she's the only one who can see those things anyway. 

The goddess is asking Jason to join her father, apparently, he's got some judgment to make, but Leo is not allowed to come. Jason and Piper don't want to leave him, and Ara doesn't want to either, she doesn't trust Leo will stay put. 

He smiles and obediently sits on top of Festus. "It's fine, guys. No sense causing trouble if we don't have to. You go ahead."

Again, Ara's intrigued. Half the time he's hyper and impatient and now he's just... half a smile that does not reach his eyes. She's never met anyone like him, someone made out of halves.

"Listen to your friend," the young goddess tells them. "Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe. I wish I could say the same for you. Now come, King Boreas is waiting." 

Ara wants to sit and have a full-fledged conversation with Leo about his feelings and how he perceives the world, but she's lost practice. Before it was easy to pay attention to others, but Ara's obligations positioned her above many things, including day-to-day interaction with campers.

Lily's impression of me changes after Capture the Flag."This is your first time playing so don't worry, they won't notice you," I undo the clasp of her armor vest before she can stop me and fix it for her.

"What do you mean?" She frowns.

"You're new, they won't ask you to do anything."

She's deeply upset about this. "They should take advantage of all their assets!"

"We're not tools," I tilt my head with amusement. Lily's lived on the streets for far too long. "If you're so sure you can handle it, though... there's something I've always wanted to try."

She wavers. "What is it?"

"I think I can reach the flag faster than our leader. No one ever pays attention to me and it'd be really funny if we get there first instead of our Captain. What do you say?"

Lily makes a face. "That's not a plan."

"Are you a chicken, Saggio?" I don't know why I tease her, but she looks funny when she's angry.

"No!"

"A drachma says I can get to the flag before you can!" I sprint out of sight.

I hear her trying to catch up and that makes me giggle. I move as quickly as possible, but then, just when I'm reaching the limits, Lily comes out of nowhere and tackles me to the ground. We're both lifted in the air and end up hanging upside down from a tree.

"Why did you do that?" I complain. "We could've won!"

"I wasn't letting you get there first, you turned it into a competition!" She says. "What is this?"

"Rope. Beckendorf did it, so we're stuck here until someone finds us. Or so he says..."

"What do you mean?"

"These are designed for heavier demigods," I look up—down, actually—and follow the rope to see where it ends."I'll take your knife, the rope's tied in my direction."

"Turn us around!"

"Are any of your arms free?"

She groans, trying to release herself. "It's my knife!"

"You're bossy," I sigh. "Sit tight while I free us, boss."

I squirm for five whole minutes, but the rope's only getting tighter. Lily tries to stop me, but I'm not giving up. Finally, after a long struggle... Lily's dagger falls out of her belt. 

She lets her head hang in defeat. "I'll scream."

"No!"

"Why not?" She presses. "There's nothing we can do!"

I was telling the truth when I said this was something I'd been planning to do for quite a while, but this is not how I wanted it to go. "We can't be seen like this, your rep will be ruined!"

Two arrows fly through the gap between us, one of them scratches us but we're released in less than a second. Lily lands sideways and I land on my back. 

"Well, well..." a small boy walks up to us smirking. "Out of all the campers, I never thought they'd send you."

I smile sweetly. "Hey, bud, if you can find it in your heart to let us go..."

He seizes two new arrows from his quiver and points them at us. "Get up."

Lily sits up, immensely disappointed... so I start talking. 

"Michael," I charmspeak him. "Hand me your bow." His shoulders relax and the arrows fall at his feet, then he gives me his bow.

"Che cosa..!" Lily whispers in shock.

"The quiver too," Michael hands it to me. I look at it, then at him. "Forget this happened and go to sleep." He drops to the ground, snoring loudly. "So..." I hand Lily the bow. "He caught me, you knocked him out and took his weapons before he could take me. Fair play."

The more agitated she gets, the more it stands out that accent she has. "Have you always been able to do that?"

"You were going to lose, and now you're going back with a prisoner. They'll give you a bigger role next time thanks to that."

"But I didn't do this!"

"So what?" I shrug. "Next time you'll do something better, that'll be enough to compensate for the lie. There is no honor in going down by charmspeak, Lily. You're tough and Michael's got a bad temper, it'll make both of you look good."

"But I'm..." I can't tell if she's angry or flustered. "I was stubborn, I don't deserve a win."

"I was pushing your buttons," I admit. "Please, Michael will prefer this over the truth."

Lily's not convinced. "And you?"

"Teach me to be quiet and we'll be even," I pick up her dagger.

"I wouldn't want you as my enemy," she seizes her weapon and places it on her belt. The gash Michael made on our wrists is bleeding, hers is on the left wrist and mine's on the right. "It's a deal."

Next Chapter ->

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @ash-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen

[teneriadvos]

Teneri ad Vos

meaning "enthralled by you" in Latin.

💜

Vos || 19 yrs || He

Can't stress enough: MINORS, DNI. DO NOT INTERACT. THIS IS NOT THE BLOG FOR YOU. ALSO, I WILL BLOCK YOU IF YOU TRY TO FOLLOW ME AND YOU DON'T HAVE AN AGE IN YOUR BIO OR PINNED POST. THANKS.

💜 Fun Vos Facts! 💜

- College student

- Writer

- Total nerd (D&D, Video games, etc. Ask me about my collections!)

- In case you can't tell, I'm a Latin nerd too :)

- More holes than the average man

- Bi guy

- Happily taken :) I have a lovely girlfriend and she smokes weed

All of the other stuff is going below the cut. One more time, MINORS DNI. FINAL FUCKING WARNING. THANKS.

okay, let's get into the meat and potatoes of it all. i basically only log in to this acc when im bored out of my skull or looking to jerk off. there's like an 18% chance i'm asexual and i have days where the very concept of sex makes me feel physically ill. bear with me. whatever. here's what you're all looking for.

💜 Sexy Vos Facts!! 💜

Okay, green for giving, blue for receiving. Purple for both.

I'm switchy as hell but I'm really only going to be thinking subby thoughts on this blog. I might make the rare dom post or two but I will not play dom. Thanks 💜 Okay now let's get into it:

- Raging hypnosis / brainwashing kink. Love getting tranced out 💜

- Dumbification and stuff like that :) I guess it kind of goes hand in hand with the hypno but sometimes it's just so nice to not Think about Things

- Praise kink my beloved. To care and be cared for is always really nice

- Denial and edging. God it's so much fun but I'm so bad at it lol

- Bondage!! Tie me up in ribbons and rope! Plus, I want to learn shibari so bad...

- Puppy play stuff!! Ask me to bark and I go woof!!

- Mommy kink :) Sometimes it's just nice to be mommy's baby boy y'know?

- Royalty kink. I'll gladly be a knight or prince of your kingdom hehe

- Blasphemy and the corruption that comes with it. Turns out there's a reason I like being called angel so much :3

- Plus some crazy fantasy stuff. Y'know, tentacles and aphrodisiacs and monsterfucking and holding hands with someone who really really loves me, etc etc

- Uhhh recent development I wanna get pegged and / or actually railed??? I want cock or strap in my hole??? ASAP??? please and thank you???

[This list is subject to change or expand depending on what Tumblr does to me.]

💜 What Vos doesn't like. 💜

- If you're kind to me, I will be kind to you. That's the golden rule on my blog. Don't be a dick, and don't be a creep.

- ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ASK FOR PICTURES OF ME. I know I'm whoring myself out on the internet but I'd like to keep it to just words.

- Please don't open conversations by sending me nudes or spirals. It's kind of weird to me. Say "hi" or "hello" or even just ask me first!! Thank you!!

- Please keep your sissy, detrans, forced-fem, and misgendering stuff to yourself please.

- Additionally, no thanks on piss, scat, race, and gainer/feeder stuff! It is NOT for me. Also, I'll probably block you if it's your whole account.

- I block empty, no-pfp no-name no-description etc. blogs on site. At least make your profile look a little lived-in.

- MINORS DNI. DO NOT INTERACT WITH ME. I KNOW I'VE SAID IT A COUPLE TIMES ALREADY BUT I AM BEING SO SERIOUS. THIS IS NOT A BLOG FOR YOU IN ANY CAPACITY. GO AWAY.

- I'm not looking for a long term dynamic. But DM me maybe and we can play around?

[These boundaries are also subject to change. If you're freaking me out, I will tell you. If you continue to freak me out, I will block you. If you're a robot, uh, go fuck yourself. Idk.]

💜 Vos Terminology Index 💜

Please call me...

- Masculine terms; man, boy, guy, dude, etc.

- Pretty, good, sweet, and baby boy.

- Dumb, empty-headed, pathetic, needy.

- Prince, puppy, dog, toy, angel, doll.

- Chest, dick, and hole to talk about my anatomy.

If you're unsure about something, pop in and ask!

💜 Closing remarks! 💜

I'm a total nerd with a writer's background, and I tend to get really wordy. If I write some nerdy or horndog ramble, just bare with me. I like talking lol

Okay, that's all from me!! I hope all of this wasn't too boring! Remember, be kind and receive kindness in return.

Vos out. 💜

[mrscorcoran]

One more secret won't hurt / Bunny x reader

Part 1 Part 2

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

Chapter 3: Gossip sessions can be very productive

I reach my dorm and walk directly to my room, trying to avoid anyone in the hallways. Once inside, I close the door and drop all my stuff on the desk. I reach into my minifridge and grab a leftover sandwich, then drop onto my bed to eat it, staring quietly at the ceiling. I am usually much more productive than this. None of my assignments have ever been turned in late. How could I let something so lame as a group of dorks derail my Saturday like this?

'Not the group of dorks, just the one guy' says a tiny voice in my brain. I shake my head, as if to make the voice physically go away.

Is it right, though? The guy did seem interesting and all, but enough to make my brain this useless? If I wasn't so self-conscious, maybe I would've walked over to the group and talked to them, take the mystery away, then I might be able to focus on my homework. Maybe a nap will help clear my head. Yes, a nap. Good idea.

To make the image of the dorks go away.

And the guy, of course.

 The loud guy.

I finish my sandwich, throw the wrapper at the garbage can next to my bedside table, and miss epically. I close my eyes and try to think of anything else, hoping I will fall asleep soon. It's quite early, though, and I'm not very sleepy. I've always had a tough time sleeping during the day. I toss and turn, get under the covers, and quickly climb back out. I swear I can still hear the words in the strange language floating around in my head.

I wish I knew what they mean.

Or how to spell them so I could look in a dictionary for them.

Or even just know what language it is.

There is something so intriguing about how it sounds. Is that it? Or is it intriguing because it came out of his mouth? I wonder what his name is. If I wasn't such a coward, I could've asked him.

I'm wrestling with my thoughts when a loud knock on my door gets me out of my trance. I’m grateful for this merciful distraction from that spiral I was slowly falling into. “Coming!” I yell. I walk to the door, trying to smooth my hair down with my fingers after tossing in bed for half an hour. I open the door and I’m greeted by Judy’s bright smile. “Hey, girlie!” she says, quickly stepping into my room and throwing herself into my bed with a sigh. “Ugh, I’m exhausted!” Exhausted came out more like a grunt than an actual word. “Do you have any idea how many costumes I sewed today? Way too fucking many. Is it too early to bring out the wine?” she looks up at me from the bed.

-“Nah, it’s 5 p.m. somewhere!” I say, opening the minifridge, and reaching for one of the bottles. I take a seat on my desk chair and roll it closer to the bed.

- “Girl, you okay? Cuz, you look like you really need that wine.” She sits up and reaches for the glass I’m holding out to her.

- “Ugh, don’t even get me started. I was supposed to do a bunch of work today and did exactly zero percent of it.” I take a sip of my cheap wine. “I was actually hoping I could ask you about something I saw today?”

- “Of course! Shoot.” She leans forward, as if indicating I have her full attention, and looks at me expectantly while taking a big swig of wine.

- “Aight, so. I was in the library, and there was this group, I’ve seen them around before, but never so up close. They’re kind of weird, dressed kind of old fashioned, speaking in a weird language… ring any bells?”

- “Ah. I see you met the Greek class” she says, rolling her eyes dramatically. What else can you expect from a theater major…

Greek. I knew it had to be that or Latin. I nod at her, urging her to go on, provide more info.

- “Yeah, they’re very particular. They’re Classics majors, so they only take classes with one professor, I don’t think you’ve ever seen him cuz he’s just as weird as them, a complete hermit. His name is Julian, I think.” She squints her eyes, and bites hard on her bottom lip in that particular way, like she’s digging around in her brain for the correct info. “Anyways,” she shakes her head, coming back to reality, “what about ‘em? Did they say anything to you?” Her voice turning an octave lower at the end, the international Judy signal for ‘spill the tea!’

- “Oh, no, nothing like that. They were a few tables away from me, working on something in what I now know was Greek. They were just so mysterious, and I just can’t stop thinking about one of them.” I realize my mistake a second too late and see the smirk already forming on Judy’s lips.

- “Oooooooooooo someone has her very first Hampden cruuuush,” she says in that annoying sing-song voice she uses to tease me. It’s like I can physically see the goblin energy flowing through her body. “And on one of the Greek weirdos, damn Y/N, that’s bold. But honestly, you’re kind of weird too, so that makes sense,” she says, matter-of-factly. I should be used to her teasing by now, but I still feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, and I groan.

- “C’mon, Judes! It’s not like that. I’ve just never heard Greek before. It caught me off guard, I guess.” I finished my wine in one big gulp and poured myself another glass.

- “Right, right,” she says, rolling her eyes again, “quit being a wet rag and go back to the boy. Was he hot?” her eyes grow huge as she waits for my answer.

- “I mean, yeah, I guess?” I close my eyes, trying to picture his face again. Yeah, I would consider him good looking. I give Judy a nod.

- “Well, don’t get any ideas. As far as I know, Francis is very gay. Like. Gay as fuck,” the last bit comes out barely above a whisper. I’m not sure why this information disappoints me, it’s not like Judy was right about the crush. “I get you, though. His hair is to die for! I wish I were a natural redhead too. My mom always said that-”

- “Wait, redhead?” I interrupt her rant. “No, I did not mean the redhead.”

- “Oh, shit. Sorry! I mean, he’s the hottest one so I assumed you meant him. My bad. I’m guessing you mean Henry then, and he is kind of handsome I guess, but dude, he is so weird. Not just weird, he’s mean. It’s like, I don’t know, like he thinks he’s better than everyone else? That one really needs to pull his head out of his own ass, and out of that weirdo professor’s ass.” She’s ranting so passionately about this Henry that I can only assume she’s had a really bad experience with him in the past.

- “Judes, slow down. Which one is Henry?” I ask, already suspecting she’s got the wrong one in mind. What she’s describing definitely does not match the vibes I got from the guy. The wine bottle is half empty already, but I still pour us both another glass.

- “Tall one, dark hair, looks like he has a stick up his ass,” her hands are moving a bit more clumsily than usual, she’s tipsy already. For someone who drinks so constantly, she’s such a lightweight.

- “Yeah, no. Again, that’s not the one I meant. I was talking about the blond one, with the-” my words are drowned out by Judy’s screech as she jumps up,  her hands holding onto my shoulders as she lightly shook me.

- “Oh! Oh! Charles! You mean Charles! Dude, you have terrible taste, like, honestly. I mean, they’re all pretty weird already, but add the freaky twin thing into it... And don’t get me started on the girl twin, that bitch is legit crazy. Camilla. She came close to clawing my eyes out at a party one time. Swear to god. I was just minding my own business, spilled a little bit of beer on her by accident. I can be very clumsy, you know.” I swear she is doing it on purpose. I let her continue her rant, sipping my wine patiently. “That huge weirdo, Henry, was standing between us in a second. He looked ready to beat me up. Now she gives me the stink eye every time she sees me. And so does her twin. They are freakishly close, those two. Did you notice they dress the same? I swear she just wears his clothes half the time. I tell you; you don’t want to get involved in that twin mess. No sir.”

- “You done, babes?” I ask her, raising an eyebrow. Once she nods, I continue. “As I was saying, I meant the blond guy with glasses. Not Charles.” Her face contorts in a weird way, like what I said makes absolutely no sense. Realization creeps into her features, slowly at first and then all at once. She looks at me like I just grew a second head.

- “You can’t possibly mean Bunny? Let’s see, was he being the loudest thing in a 10-mile radius?” I nod. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but he was kind of loud for a library. “Yup, that’s Bunny.”

- “Bunny…” I whisper, the name feels funny on my lips. “What kind of name is that?” I ask, eyeing her suspiciously, thinking she might just be pulling my leg.

- “His name’s actually Edmund Corcoran, but everyone calls him Bunny for some reason. No idea why. But dude, he’s like, I don’t know. He’s the most down to earth one out of the bunch, but he’s also the most annoying one. I mean, you saw him.” She chuckles and spills a bit of wine on my bed. I don’t think she even noticed. “I’ve seen him around at some parties. He’s nice, but again, quite annoying. Plus, he hangs out with the other ones, so, my advice is: stay the fuck away, girl.”

- “Yeah, well, I was just curious. It’s not like I was planning on speaking to any of em. You know I’m shy with strangers.” She squints her eyes at me, clearly not believing any of my bullshit.

- “Well, I’m just glad you were not talking about Richard, cuz that one’s mine,” she throws her head back and laughs. “Fellow Californian, he switched his major to classics recently, he’s pretty cool. Hope they don’t turn him into a pretentious ass before I can fuck him.” I love Judy, she knows what she wants and doesn’t fuck around. I wish I could be more like her in that sense. “But really, this Bunny guy…”

 I quickly try to change the subject, hoping she’s kind enough to just drop it. “So, what play are all of those costumes for?” She rolls her eyes, but immediately yields, and starts telling me all about their latest production of some Oscar Wilde play.

I pay as much attention as I can, asking a few questions, laughing at her little jokes, trying to follow her stories about disastrous stage mishaps, but part of my mind is somewhere else, wondering how hard it could be to learn Greek. Imagining the delicious feeling of those sounds, rolling off my tongue. And Bunny. Mysterious Bunny. His thunderous laugh disturbing the quietest corners of my psyche.

[mcbitchtits]

okay my weekend got shuffled around and i saw dial of destiny today rather than friday.

completely unspoilery point of doubly-pedantic nerd criticism: hey marching navy bugler in the back ARE YOU AWARE that you are out of step. okay thanks for your time.

now spoilers

this has been bothering me for a hot sec

is it a German thing the way they pronounce it? A British thing? is it a Roman-Latin vs Catholic-Latin situation? I mean, Wikipedia here has it the way I’ve always said it, so what is behind their choice to Not Pronounce It This Way in the movie?

also related to the pre-adventure plot, i was sitting there in the middle of it thinking, like, when the nazis were in disarray and lacking supplies and their empire was falling apart, would anyone have even noticed a jacket with a bullet-hole in it? (i realize this is just a plot moment, ignore that for a second.) and then like ten minutes later i realized i was probably just thinking about the Confederates rather than the Nazis, but ehhhhhhhhhhh tomayto tomahto

also i think it’s very funny that the plot is just like “where did voller get the anitkyhera? who fucking cares. PLOT TIME”

also-also: i know it’s for Plot Reasons but i really wish they said “antikythera mechanism” more than they said “archimedes’ dial”. bah. fie on you

i’m still, every time, in awe of the wacko billing. who’s in this movie? HARRISON FORD and PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE and ANTONIO BANDERAS and TWELVE OTHER NAMES and also mads mikkelsen. i’m sorry. your villain gets last billing? i know why, it’s hollywood nonsense, but like. COME ON. maybe he deserves a few more minutes of screentime also?

i think i posted this in one of my last few shotgun-blast-commentary posts, about all the marion pics being from 1936. i noticed today, waaaaaay in the blurry background, at the end of the movie, there’s one from Crystal Skull. (and I had to go look it up and I realized it was not an Indy & Marion photo as I thought but rather one of the stills of Mutt and Marion. which. PUT THAT UP FRONT AT THE BEGINNING!!!!)

okay. do you see my four exclamation points there? so the subtitles, and forgive me that these are in spanish, but

they do that twice. my freshman high school english teacher is out there somewhere having a conniption fit

i think it’s interesting how much time the score spends with helena’s theme. there are at least a few spots where we should have been hearing the raiders march, and instead we get her theme. and it’s not like mutt’s theme where they harmonize and interplay. i don’t think we ever get it. which is... such a fascinating and, IMO, weird choice.

one of my friends who i saw it with, and i may have already mentioned this also, came out of the movie and was like “not to be an asshole, but it doesn’t make sense that the boat had 100 centurions. the centurions were the military leaders. they would definitionally have one centurion” and i’m just like. this is why we’re friends, and also, i’m so glad you are also a pedantic historian about indiana jones movies because that is Exactly How It Should Be.

speaking of which, every single time we get to Greece i’m just like I AM PRETTY SURE THEY DIDN’T SEW GARMENTS THAT WAY? YES THIS IS A PRODUCTION DESIGN CHOICE BUT ALSO IT IS BOTHERING ME. are there any extant garments like that? i feel like everything i have ever read is chitons and himations and peplos and. you know. mostly big, seamless, rectangles?

in related notes and deep dives into the world of production design vs. historic elements, the graphikos feels like it’s supposed to be like the phaistos disk? perhaps. i like it better than the “dial” design, for whatever that’s worth

and also re: my previous criticisms on the script being poor, “it’s not in a language, it’s in a code.” OH I’M SORRY. I FORGOT THAT CODE RESULTED IN NON-LINGUISTIC OUTPUT this is nonsense and i might hate this line more than any other for sheer stupidity? this being polybius i assume you’d still have to, you know. know how to read ancient greek.

now we’re off to the next part of our journey, If The Script Is Like This Then Surely I’m Overthinking It:

This is about Kythira, as in, the island opposite Antikythira, but also, in light of choosing to Do The Last Crusade Thing Again And Then Failing To Give The Indy-Helena Relationship A Solid Landing i am SO MAD i gotta go scream into a pillow or something brb

On the other hand, in regards to Overthinking The Writing And I Think They Did Mean It On Purpose: Basil naming his daughter Helena. I’m assuming he was obsessed with the Antikythera before all of that, although we never see any indication other than perhaps it catching his ear when he’s tied up on the train. But. Anyway. Helena. now i have to go Lie Down About It

(side note: do we think Indy is the only one who calls her “Wombat”? she does say, in the bar, “it’s been a long time since i’ve heard that”. were, like, he and Basil hanging out being archaeologist buddies and Helena thought he was super cool and wanted to be like him and found out he was named after his dog? like. aside from the “we are just writing in a new, younger Indy character”, that’s kind of just such a sweet little moment to ponder.)

fascinatingly, in every single showing i’ve been to so far, Helena gets the biggest laughs (or all of them). mostly the “I’m a... fan” moment, and then today she got a rip roaring response from knocking indy out. which i appreciate. but also it is interesting to note indy doesn’t really seem to get the laughs in his own goddamn farewell flick.

OKAY ENDING ON A POSITIVE NOTE i noticed something today which i had not caught yet which is, at the end, when marion shows up and indy goes into the kitchen to talk to her— when she opens the fridge to put the food in there, he slyly slips the magnet off of her photo that he put on there at the beginning. that is an indy moment. that made me laugh. sweet and silly.

[doueverwonder]

This is going to be SO disorganized, ignore me and my rambles no order just everything in whatever order I think of it in.

TEXAS his name is Lázaro Carlos Jones-Gómez, he regularly goes by Charlie, you can call him Carlos but do not call him Lazaro, he only has that name bc he was baptized with it. If you call him that though you will get his attention immediately bc his brain will think you're his mother (Mex if that's not clear) cause she is the only one who calls him that.

He's a little shit and I love him bc he's my little shit.

I accept no interpretation of him that's white bc why would you do that to him.

I've said this before but he's twins with Coahuila (Mariana Talía) who I can't actually talk about that much bc she's not my oc BUT she is older by 7 minutes, and they share a braincell and a half and usually don’t know where it is :\

speaking of other states he and Nuevo León (Jacobo) get in no less then 3 fist fights a year for absolutely no reason besides they’re idiots and like to beat each other up.

Speaking of fights, Charlie is missing a tooth, has 101 stories of how it got knocked out, most ppl don’t actually know which one is the truth (none of them he fell out of a tree).

Someone take his guitar away I beg, he gets 10 time more annoying when he has it. Which Tennessee (Annabelle) taught him how to play said guitar, everyone hates her for it. He's a decent player, and has a pretty okay singing voice, they're all just sick of listening to him.

Bc I have to have at least 1 very stereotypical thing, he has the largest cowboy hat collection this side of the Mississippi. Give him the most specific event, he has a hat for it.

He didn't talk till he was like 3-4 but oh boy is my man making up for it now, he doesn't stop. Talks with food in his mouth and in his sleep.

Refuses to speak Spanish to most other personifications bc spite but will absolutely be interpreter for any stranger on the street who needs help.

Bc I think it's funny gets to have the 'am I catholic or protestant?' debate.

His first about year of living in DC he barely spoke English and bc of that attached himself to the--at the time--only other native Spanish speaker in the house, Florida complained to Al everyday bc "I'm a babysitter now!" but wouldn't say shit to her Carlito over it ever.

His favorite shows of all time--despite their inaccuracies--are Gunsmoke (1955-75), and Zorro (1957-59)

Speaking of nicknames; Carlito was his main nickname for a long time, used to distinguish him from Cuba. Most of Latin America + Florida still call him that. Carlos = Cuba//Carlito = Texas. He started going by Charlie bc he didn't want to be called Carlito anymore, but being called Carlos felt weird bc no one ever called him that. So Charlie.

He has vitiligo bc I once saw a drawing of someones oc and it legit looked just like how I imagine Charlie and their oc had vitiligo so it just got pressed into my mind.

Also he was one of those kids who was super blond but by the time he was like 12 he wasn't anymore.

So y'all know my hc is personifications have a mom and dad, most of the states (US and Mexican) had 2 human parents and were eventually 'adopted' by Alfred or Rosa.

There are exceptions to that and Coahuila and Texas are one of them, way back when like 1820s Rosa (Mex) and Alfred were dumb and did a thing proceeded to have an extremely panicked nine months and an even more panicked "holy shit there's TWO"

So Charlie gets such a super fun family dynamic we love it for him.

I can't listen to Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys without crying now bc of him. I love Charlie, he is my son, I've put so much work into him bc I love him.

[letterboard-fantasy]

Sins and Virtues Breakdown [a sinfully delightful assortment, if you will/ih]

*this post is sponsored by Pins and Four supporting my special interests/hj

First, I'll hand you all this handy chart :) it has the sins/virtues and their latin names skdjnsn

I think here is where I'll talk about color schemes and the specific versions of the sins and how I theme them, and maybe I'll even throw in some costume tiers. And virtue talk tooooo

Cardinal Sins and Heavenly Virtues:

Luxuria [Lust] + Castitas [Chastity]

Okay so *looks at Luxuria! Sastre*/ih

For Luxuria, I portray Lust in a couple different ways. Of course, there's the suggestive version of Lust that comes to mind... but I also think of Lust in a materialistic type of way. Like lusting for power, status, the stuff of the sort where it isn't the suggestive kind but something deeper that's... a bit harder to understand. I guess you could imagine them as a dark temptress, trying to draw you in with different promises,,, whether it's power, money, or something... more seductive skfjdjfn

Color Palette wise… and costume tier wise... I imagine Luxuria has a rich purple pink black color scheme! Especially with an all black outfit with a dark pink/purple accent to draw your attention to… all their curves 😏/ih I also think heart shaped horns would be SO FUN cause when I drew Luxuria! Sastre, he had this set of horns that kind of curl in on themselves but if I can make them curl into the two halves of a heart???? OOOOOO I also think they’d be dressed in form fitting clothes and leather while also having that dramatic feather boa incorporated into the mix. Omg and a little sharp spade tail… 🤭

I’m going to keep using Sastre as my example because he has that Luxuria skin and I can’t properly articulate my ideas otherwise so/ih but just imagine him tying you up with the feather boa and pulling out closer???? Like woooahhhhhh there buy me dinner first/ih and those cold metal claws gently holding your face like you’re a squishy potato/j

I think Luxuria definitely has the markings of a upper class A tier. Like fancy and alluring but just not quite S tier,,,

———

Chasity... man, Chasity is a weird one because it's like abstaining??? But in a wider lense, with this lense of lust, it's got this sense of hard work and abstinence. Abstaining from temptation, both of the suggestive kind and of the materialistic kind. Bare bones, only the necessities,,,

For colors, I think a white and light purple/pink color scheme would be so brilliant, especially with these golden accents. I think Castitas would dress up in lots of lace and gems where it’s covering and more fitting yet also 👁️ 👁️ like very beautiful very elegant like it should be so gentle and so pure yet,,, and wings,,, wings..!!!!

Castitas is definitely an A tier type of virtue I am telling you. Like fancy but contained delicate looking with its strengths… they’re definitely an a tier type of skin,,,

Gula [Gluttony] + Temperantia [Temperance]

For Gula, I don't portray Gluttony in the uh "traditional" sense I guess? While Gluttony is more known towards the comusption of food specifically [ie eating too much food] I like to think Gluttony should be more of the excess consumption of anything! Food, media, power, etc.

It's an indulgent sin, it shouldn't just apply to food and/or food-like sources. And it should be indulging to a greedy degree! That's what it means to be a glutton >:) This means indulging in every good thing. I also think that Gluttony is CONSTANTLY hungry. Like, they ever get full, they can just eat and eat and eat.

Gula seems like they’d work WONDERFULLY in blue!! Black and bright neon blues,,, with lots of fun gradients… I’m thinking no horns for Gula because I feel like they should have an indulgent outfit from head to toe,,, having an extra af hat onto of their head seems like such a good idea I- wahhhhh

I feel like the only way to portray Gula in all their glory is to give them the Sins S tier slot I’m sorryyyy I’m totally not playing favoritism here/ih it’s just in my head, right??? Load them up with details and accessories to show that indulgent, over the top, gluttonous nature feels like it would be an S tier worthy outfit, ya know???

———

Temperantia... should be a healthy balance. Not too much, but they also know there's no harm in treating yourself. They strive to treat others more than to treat themselves, and want everyone to have a good time! For them, it means taking a step back away from the spotlight and allowing others a chance at happiness. They share most of their food, they give away excessive items they own, they surprise their friends and loved ones with luxury... :)

Temperantia… I’m thinking that similar to Luxuria and Castitas, that the virtue and sin should have the same colors but with black/white added into the mix! So, Temperantia would have blues and white, with gold accents as well. It should be decorated... but still simple.

Temperantia is definitely an a tier,,, not too detailed but still pretty,,,

Avaritia [Greed] + Caritas [Charity]

Avaritia... For Greed, it's all about cravings! On the surface level, it's easy to mistake Gluttony and Greed due to them both being about excessive consumption... but while Gluttony wants everything it can get its hands on, Greed wants only the best of the best, and believes if it cannot have something, it MUST be destroyed. Gluttony will give up something to pursue something else, but Greed won't stop until it is theirs or completely destroyed. Because if they can't have it? No one can.

Avaritia having a black and yellow/golden color scheme. She’s a fabulous bitch/ih I imagine Avaritia is a smaller sin (like a child??) because have you ever met a child? They are either the sweetest little things or they will make your life a living hell. I have seen kids break toys in half because they couldn’t have it. No one can and you’re paying 15 dollars for a broken toy./lh I also feel like a younger looking Avaritia can get so much out of just having that child like cuteness,,,

Avaritia could be an S tier but I think only one sin can have an S tier so A tier be upon thee/ih

———

Charity and Kindness go hand in hand because it's all about helping out others. Charity handles bigger projects, and they live to help others. Their whole live revolves around helping others at no cost. I think Caritas and Humanitas would be siblings skjdnsknf

Caritas… I think a white and gold color scheme would be amazing in them. Like just so gentle and holy seeming,,, I feel like a long, flowing dress would be so nice and fitting. Especially if they pull things out of their sleeves Ayato style/ih like just imagine them walking over and whipping a whole thanksgiving meal out of their sleeve like “did someone say they’re ✨ hungry? ✨”

I think a-tier would be nice for Caritas but give them an s tier accessory that just lets them pull shit out of thin air/j Actually no I haven't chosen the Virtue S tier slot so *throws it at Caritas*/ih

Acedia [Sloth] + Diligentia [Diligence]

Like Gula, Acedia is seen in a different light with me. While Sloth is normally associated with laziness aka doing nothing, for me, it's more of a sluggish, bare minimum type of laziness. Instead of doing nothing, Acedia does the bare minimum, and everything they do is done with as little effort as they can get away with. This means letting others do the work, facing the blame, and taking the fall. It's all about doing the least amount of work possible by using others to your advantage, which I personally think makes for a scarier type of character. Because they get so far doing so little...

Acedia… I imagine Acedia breaks the color palette mold… like I think dull greens and dull yellows/off whites and dull pinks,,, because Acedia gives off these gentle sin vibes and I think neon and dark colors would take away from those softer/gentler sins vibes. Having knitted, oversized sweaters,,, with oversized sleeves… and having soft hands and round faces and even a little travel pillow,,, with all these different earthy flowery elements to it. And imagine a Sakura goddess outfit for Acedia,,, wahhh

Acedia’s base is definitely an A tier type of costume!! Don’t ask why just know I’m right/ih

———

Diligentia is probably the most polar to it's corresponding sin, to be honest. I feel like diligence can be a great virtue! They're smart, har working, flexible, but when does hard working become tiresome? Where does Diligence draw the line between working hard and burning yourself out, you know? I feel like it's a pretty thin line... maybe you should take Sloth's advice for once. Take a break, get a snack and have a rest.

Diligentia,,,, I think they’d keep with the virtues theme. Having a white, gold and yellow/green color scheme, and wearing a suit of some kind or being just very well put together, very well dressed.

A tier a tier a tier-

Invidia [Envy] + Humanitas [Kindness]

For Invidia, I think classical envy works so well! Envy is one of the more personal sins, and they're definitely a harsher, more sabotaging sin. They're a resentful, terrible mess. Similar to Greed, it either wants something or it wants to destroy something. But unlike Greed, their desires are hyperspecific, and it revolves around tearing someone down while building themselves up. They're like a leech, sucking out everything one has, bleeding them dry. And once they're finished with you... well, pray you never become a target in the first place.

Invidia is similar to Luxuria, where it’s a deep purple/pink with black but I think while Luxuria is more purple, Invidia is more pink. Pink with envy,,, I also like to think Invidia is a sharper sin, having spikes and binding and claws,,, like sharp, fabulous and ready to kill. Which, good for them. Oh! And pearl colored accessories!! Like a pearl snake,,, pearl belts,,, pearl earrings,,, with golden jewelry and sharp edges. I think Invidia would have three sets of horns instead of two like the other sins. I just think it would be neat andjskdks

A tier moment/ih

———

Humanitas babygirllllll Kindness is such a simple and nice virtue,,,, similar to Charity, it's all about giving what you have to help out others. By helping others, you can help yourself and make the world a nicer place! Kindness is like offering someone your umbrella in the rain,,, and sharing your sandwich with the kid who doesn't have a lunch. Kindness does it because it makes them feel good! They do a kind deed and it makes them smile knowing they helped someone, even if it's something small.

Humanitas,,, is definitely white, gold, and pink, especially light pinks- with flowery and flowy sleeves and such,,, I’m also thinking they and Acedia could have matching Sakura goddess outfits wahhh

I think that an A tier would fit her, even if her original variation was an S tier sdkfjskdfjn

Ira [Wrath] + Patientia [Patience]

Ira Ira Ira!! Okay, so Wrath. Wrath. Wrath!! It's my favorite sin because it's so versatile... Anyone anywhere can feel wrath for any kind of reason... at any time??? Like. woah. It's the mother [father? Parental figure???] of all sins I mean come onnnnnn. Your lusting advances get rejected? You feel wrath. Your feast is interrupted by some rude random? Wrath! Your envious deeds don't work out how you intended it??? Wrath!!! Like it is, without a doubt, the culmination of all sins.

Ira is definitely has a black and red color palette, and they are definitely wearing some kind of leather studs type of outfit, and they're very sharp and rough looking. You've probably already seen a version of my Ira heheheheh

They're probably gonna be an a tier,,,,

———

Patientia is... just that. Patience! Being patient and kind with others in comparison to Wrath's harsh and quick-to-anger personality, Patience is like a gentle soul-healing hug,,, take your time sweetie, I know you can do it <333

I think Patientia would have a gold, white, and red color palette,,, with golden leaf accessories,,, I imagine that they're a gentle, elegant virtue, like a mom friend! I want them to look soft and gentle in comparison to Ira!!

I think that Patientia could definitely be an A tier,,,,

Superbia [Pride] + Humilitas [Humility]

Superbia... I see Pride as an overflowing, excessive amount of self-confidence. Someone who's TOO confident in themselves or others to the point it's harmful. They tear others down to make them seem more important. They can't take a hint, and they can't BEAR being proven wrong. Because HOW could they be wrong? You must be mistaken.

Similar to Gula, I'm thinking of a black and blue color palette... but with Superbia, I think dark blues would be fun to use,,, with silver as the "royal" type of color... Superbia should look extremely upper class, kind of like a prince or princess...

Superbia would be an A tier... thinking of like Runaway vibes???

———

Humilitas is the opposite, where its like... being humble of yourself but uplifting of others in this case! Unlike Pride, Humility means recognizing that... you're not the shit honey! Sit down!/ih

Okay okay okay Humilitas. I'm thinking, no, I know it'll be two different blues [bright and deep blue], white and gold,,,, with thick, long white hair and constantly closed eyes,,, with big sleeves... heheheheh

Humilitas is definitely an A tier,,,

Vanagloria [Vainglory/Pride?] + Vanitas [Vanity]

what the fuck is Vainglory. What the fuck is Vanity???? How are these both not sins??? huh??? huh. huh! Okay so Vainglory and Vanity are a cardinal sin/heavenly virtue BUT NOT one of the big 7. Vainglory is kind of like... craving the praise and respect of others [so in this case, the big 7] but in such a way you don’t mind harming others to get it…

I think Vanagloria would have an exclusively monochrome color palette,,, so it's in all black, white, and silver,,, or a tight outfit with over-the-top metallic accessories to flesh out a "boring" interior with a almost goddess-like exterior,,,

Vanagloria... I was honestly originally thinking of an SS tier skin because I think that Vanagloria could be,,, like,,, the "creator" of the 7 sins and likewise with Vanitas,,, but shhhhh

———

And Vanity [the good kind???] is like pride but in a healthy amount. Being proud of your accomplishments and others without damaging other's self worth and feelings! I think.

So, I'm thinking to oppose Vanagolira, that I could do a total rainbow color palette, like all the "good" colors, everyone wants a bit of what Vanitas has, ya know?

I will just *gestures you to Vanagloria tier explanation*

So I guess [based off the explanations above] that the in theory costume tier list would go something like this?????:

SS Tier costumes:

Vanagloria and Vanitas

S Tier Costumes:

Gula and Caritas

A Tier Costumes:

Castitas, Luxuria, Temperantia, Avaritia, Diligentia, Acedia, Humanitas, Invidia, Patientia, Ira, Humilitas and Superbia.

Of course, there's the playable versions of them [think Genshin or Honkai] but i will NOT get into that, because that's a whole 'nother can of worms. this alone took like 3 days SIT DOWN/ih

I'm also thinking what other characters would be included like,,, in the overworld it isn't just the sins skdjfnksjfn

if you want more you will have to wait because Barriere won't write itself ksjdfnksjfnkjf/ih

[goosemixtapes]

I posted 4,120 times in 2022

That's 534 more posts than 2021!

126 posts created (3%)

3,994 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

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I tagged 2,461 of my posts in 2022

Only 40% of my posts had no tags

#tlt - 406 posts

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Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i picked up saying ‘scream’ as a laugh/response to wild shit over text and now sometimes i do it out loud. say the word scream. instead of

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

[clapping in my chair like a child emperor] okay jkr next

44 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

#4

did i ever post this one

[image description: the “good as in well constructed” meme, a chart where the two axes are marked “good as in well constructed” / “bad as in terribly constructed” (y axis) and “bad as in i hate it” / “good as in i like it” (x axis). a picture of a set of warrior cats books is placed at each corner, one in each quadrant.]

46 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

#3

harrow the ninth // nona the ninth

[first image: lines from Harrow the Ninth reading:

“Eighteen,” she said, in the tones of the jaded, fagged-out socialite. “I remember being eighteen.” “You are twenty-two.” “It’s a universe away from eighteen.”

second image: lines from Nona the Ninth reading:

Prince Ianthe Naberius looked at her. The expression was--strange. “That was a lifetime ago,” she said. “Over a year.”

/end description]

48 notes - Posted September 15, 2022

#2

everyone say a prayer for little old max because i’m about to have my class where the professor emailed us to tell us he’s going to be speaking latin the whole time.

65 notes - Posted January 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

thinking about how strange it is talking about your pretransition self. the narrative always used to be “WAS a [man/woman] and is NOW a [woman/man]” (and some people still say that! which is absolutely understandable and their prerogative), but then there was a push to change the narrative to “i was always a [man/woman/nonbinary person]; i just didn’t always know it.” which i think is a positive push because of its emphasis on the truth a person is living now. but it’s also just interesting talking about it because i’m sure many people do feel that they were always XYZ but i don’t, exactly. maybe because my transition was less binary and more of a steady settling into butchness. i’m not a girl. i’m barely a “““woman.””” but i WAS a little girl once. i refer to my past self with my current name & pronouns, but that doesn’t always feel right, because it so thoroughly wasn’t how i conceived of myself. but it still feels better than using my other name and pronouns, because those make my current self flinch even applied in retrospect. so there’s this weird balancing act. how do i describe who i was before i knew who i would be?

128 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[gigglebug]

OC Name meanings

tagged by @randomstupidchaos

okay, so I think we all know that I primarily write a bunch of fanfic. so a lot of my characters come pre-built with names. there are several that I came up with myself, but if I only listed those names, it wouldn't even look like my book anymore, so I'm gonna define all of them anyway. (except for Malroth. I have little idea what his name means or where it comes from. it's not even his name from his starting language. who knows!)

that said I do have ONE original story (I have not worked on it in so long agh) and I will do that one at the end.

Builderverse

Crea- short for Create. stole it from the tutorial lmao.

Aris- short for Arisplotle. who is a slime. dragon quest has a thing about slimes having pun names, you know? (granted in maskverse I named him Aristaeus, which he hates, and it means some variation of "best" because he's the best boy.)

of note, in Maskverse specifically, "Malroth" is a nickname he made up for himself that he could use while in hiding as the prince so no one could sus him out. his first name is Troy. this is because his mom is Hellen and I thought it would be funny. Hellen of Troy from illiad fame is now Troy of Hellen in my story. (it's really not that funny, is it?) (yes this is basically the sole reason I made Hellen from the game his mom for the sake of the story. good times!)

of the main builders cast I'm mostly interested in Rosie (self-explanatory since she's a gardener), Babs (comes from Barbara which means stranger), and Anessa. From the (weirdly few) posts I can find about this name, Anessa is short for Agnessa, which is another form of Anges. in Greek, Agnes is pure/holy/chaste/satisfaction (everyone gives a different one lol), which I find interesting given her role in the story.

of other interesting note, Warwick can mean from the settlement by the weir (which I guess is a dam), but it also can mean "strong leader who defends". personally I think they went with his name because "war" is in it and hi that's what his island is known for.

Ludovic itself means Famous war/battle, but I chose it because the Spanish version of builders named Warwick "Ludovico" and I needed another antagonist.

Damara is Greek for "gentle" which makes sense cos she was created to be a mentor character. ended up later adopting Malroth but she lended well to it XD

Griswold- english was grey forest or grey land, french it was a ruler with grey hair (which is kinda weird because in game he is VERY bright blue). that said, I think they picked it because it kinda sounds like gristle, which is related to bone, which he is a skeleton.

Floria- flower. just thought it's fun to have a hypercompetent soldier be named Flower because her parents wanted her to be a nice proper lady. (she said fuck that.)

that's all that's coming to mind on that.

Sirens

Patrick- nobleman (english)

Jonathan- God has given (hebrew)

Scotia- person from Scotland (english) (she's not Scottish tho I just liked how it sounded)

Troy- footsoldier (greek) (don't ask me how I got two of these)

Easton- from the east (he arrives to the story from far away)

Brinda- from the basil plant (india) (again I liked the sound)

Kurt- courteous (american) (it's funny because he's overtly sarcastic with everyone but Brinda and then he turns into a teddy bear. only Patrick ever sees it tbh)

Felice- fortunate/happy (latin)

Tahlia- morning dew (hebrew). also because my dad always joked about naming me Talitha so I played with the letters.

Sera- shortened from Saraphim, which is an angel (something latin related)

I have other characters that only appear in book 2, but given I haven't touched that story since 2014-2016, I don't think it's going anywhere enough to bother listing here.