#the mole 🕶

[happy-tori-friends]

I've sur'd the names... haha...

Take any and all meanings with a grain of salt. I cannot guarentee how accurate behindthename.com is, especially with any names that were user submitted. This also isn't confirming ethnicities or religions headcanons for any of the characters - all surnames were picked due to their meanings rather than trying to designate things like that. They probably don't even flow together the best. Oh well. These are all subject to change, especially if I find out that any of them have bad connotations that I was unaware of.

I scheduled this post - so hopefully later on I type up the mascot information for Magical Warrior AU, and go and decide on + add character tags at the very least, maybe ship names and tags too... (Also maybe add more tags, like a headcanons one. Who knows what I'll decide on tomorrow, aka today when you are reading this.)

Flippy/Fliqpy Blair - Okay, this one does kind of have a secondary meaning - it sounds like bear. It is of Scottish origin and the listed meaning is 'from any one of several places of this name in Scotland, which derive from Gaelic blàr meaning "plain, field, battlefield".'

Lifty and Shifty Steele - Another double meaning. I wanted a name that meant something along the lines of metal or shadows. I couldn't find anything with gold, silver, or copper that I liked for them, and well... Steele sounds like steal. It is of English origin and the listed meaning is 'Occupational name for a steelworker, from Old English stele meaning "steel".'

Splendid and Splendont Astra - Do aliens have surnames? Regardless, I went with a space / celestial theme. And cheated a little. Astra is on the given name site, but I think it sounds cool and it's my silly little fic so I do what I want. It's listed as a rare name of English origin, with the meaning of 'Means "star", ultimately from Greek ἀστήρ (aster). This name has only been (rarely) used since the 20th century.'

Shiver and Spice Smith - For their civilian surname I went the easy way out and chose Very Common Surname. The most common, according to the website. It is of English origin and the listed meaning is 'Means "metalworker, blacksmith" from Old English smiþ, related to smitan "to smite, to hit". It is the most common surname in most of the English-speaking world. A famous bearer was the Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-1790).'

Pop and Cub Orsini - I considered just goving them the surname Berenstain because I thought it'd be funny. Then I saw Orsini and remembered I used it as a surname for a bear faunus RWBY OC once. She might've had a brother too, it was a long time ago. It's of Italian origin, and the listed meaning is 'From a nickname meaning "little bear" in Italian, from Latin ursus "bear".'

Cuddles Lachance - I ran out of ideas for meanings at this point. Rabbit's feet are meant to be lucky, right? Not that he gets very lucky considering the universe he lives in. It's of French origin and the listed meaning is 'Means "chance, luck" in French, a nickname for a lucky person.'

Giggles Blythe - Happy surname for her (I also just like the name Blythe, and I need to use it as an OC name one day). It's of English origin and the listed meaning is 'From Old English meaning "happy, joyous, blithe".'

Toothy Tremblay - Toothy, Toothy, Toothy... He was so hard, and for what? I went to the T section and picked from there for alliteration. It's of French origin and the listed meaning is 'From French tremble meaning "aspen". It is especially widespread in Quebec, being the most common surname there.'

Petunia Meadows - This popped into my head immediately when I thought of her. It's of English origin and the listed meaning is 'Referred to one who lived in a meadow, from Old English mædwe.'

Handy Nagel - I learned there is such thing as a nailsmith. Hm. It's of German and Dutch origin and the listed meaning is 'Means "nail" in German and Dutch, an occupational name for a carpenter or nailsmith.'

Beartholomew 'Disco Bear' Ballerini - Beartholomew canon. It's so funny to me. But this is about his last name. It's of Italian origin, and the listed meaning is 'From Italian ballerino meaning "dancer", an occupational name or nickname for someone who liked to dance.'

Flaky Tenley - Technically this probably doesn't mean point in the way I wanted, but oh well. It's of English origin and the listed meaning is 'Possibly from the name of an English town derived from Old English tind "point" and leah "woodland, clearing".'

Nutty Dufour - Another hard one sonce I couldn't find many surnames that meant sugar or sweet. So an occupational name for a baker it was. It is of French origin and the listed meaning is 'Occupational name for a baker, from French four "oven".'

Sniffles Mendel - Surname that belonged to a scientist anyone? It's of German origin and the listed meaning is 'Derived from a diminutive of the given name Meino. A famous bearer was Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), a Czech monk and scientist who did experiments in genetics.'

Lumpy Lennox - Lumpy was another hard one. Alliteration method round 2. It's of Scottish origin and the listed meaning is 'From the name of a district in Scotland, called Leamhnachd in Gaelic, possibly meaning "place of elms".'

Lammy Pecora - Sorry Mr. Pickels. No surname for you. Maybe a little on the nose, but oh well. It's of Italian origin and the meaning is listed as 'Means "sheep" in Italian, an occupational name for a shepherd.'

Russell Seaver - Easy water surname, and another one I used for a RWBY OC, except I use Zale a lot more than the bear girl whose name I've forgotten. It's of English origin, and the listed meaning is 'From the unattested Old English given name Sæfaru, derived from the Old English elements sæ "sea, ocean" and faru "journey".'

Mime Lozano- I might toy with Mime just being a nickname, but for now I'm just too lazy to find a first name. He could have just become a mime to fulfill his destiny after being named that. My family and I once saw a kid named Artistic Talent on a baby names board. This was also a tough one... It's of Spanish origin and the listed meaning is 'Means "healthy, exuberant, lively" in Spanish, originally used as a nickname for an elegant or haughty person.'

Mole Durand - Similar to Mime, 'The Mole' might just be a nickname but I'm too lazy to find a first name. 'What should we name our son?' 'How about The Mole?' 'Honey, you're a genius.' Anyways, last name. It's of French and English origin, and the listed meaning is 'From Old French durant meaning "enduring", ultimately from Latin durans. This was a nickname for a stubborn person.'

Cro-Marmot - He doesn't get one. Sorry Cro-Marmot.

[muninnhuginn]

for the ask game, spy x family 🕶💣

Sorry for the delay! I got ambushed by rl and then ambushed myself for several more days and-- anyway, I had to put this under the cut because it got long. Thanks for asking!

my favorite female character

yor yor yor. I like her for a few reasons, but I think the main thing is just generally her main emotional arc thus far. how she wants to 'belong' but how she also needs to 'fit in' and how it also circles around the idea of normality. she thinks she wants to be normal when what she wants is to be accepted. and she knows she needs to be *seen* as normal for safety reasons (sth sth societal commentary even outside of the cold war backdrop) but she doesn't understand *how*. what does it mean to be a mother and to be a wife and what aspects of that does she want to fulfill for herself and which is she just doing because it's part of her cover.

she has all these needs and wants and hasn't yet figured out how to even begin untangling them. and despite that, she's still one of the most emotionally intelligent characters in the series.

my favorite male character

loid. he's the obvious option but still. I always tend to appreciate the anxious types and whilst technically all of the main three have their own little anxiety spirals, loid's way of overcomplicating things is my favourite. he's a very intriguing mix of anxiety, denial, and competence.

I am very much enjoying the length of time it's taking to wear him down. we only got full confirmation he's actively compromised as of the mole arc which is super recent but for me the pacing is just right. he has to earn that character development and be dragged through kicking and screaming.

my favorite book/season/etc

volume 10 (starts with [redacted] arc and has some good handler moments (though I *think* my favourite handler chapter is later on))

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

genuinely not sure. I do think the very first episode has a really good mix of comedy and earnestness with a hint of the underlying tragedy in growing up during wartime. it spells out everything to expect down the line in a very nicely balanced way

my favorite cast member

I... don't know? I think for Yor's VA this is my favourite role of hers whilst Anya's VA I prefer most as Frieren but like. IDK tbh. Can I skip?

my favorite ship

Not super into shipping in this fandom, but overall, I'd say twiyor. the fact that it's a 'fake' relationship but they enter into it on honest enough terms that they actually make something really healthy for both of them out of it. they each mutually get something out of it too.

yor wants to be useful. she's grown up providing for yuri and now he's gone all she has left is her job, but this 'relationship' and her new family give her the opportunity to *do* something. to defend and protect her people. and to give her someone to confide in, where she's never had that before.

for twilight, he's always been planning and preparing for all possibilities. always acting, never letting anyone see what's beneath, until he had forgotten even himself. one of my fave twiyor moments was in the recent chapter where twilight gets home and immediately his legs give out, because he feels *safe*. he's let his guard down with yor and even if he's worried about being compromised, he let it down because he trusts in her character. the remedy for someone so full of masks is someone devoid of them, and for all that yor is the thorn princess, she has never faked *who* she is.

and tying back to what I was saying about yor and normality before. the fact that loid knows what it's like to pretend means that he's in the position to tell yor that she's good as she is. she doesn't *need* to fake her whole personality to fit in. sure, they both have their covers, but for the large part, what's beneath is genuine.

a character I’d die defending

I think nightfall's character may not be as developed as most people would like at this stage, but the way she's written is very deliberate. she's a compare/contrast with yuri (and also to some extent, with twilight) and she shows how love and obsession intertwine. how *obsession* can be dangerous. the mole arc to me is waving a big red flag above nightfall's head and saying that if she doesn't change something, if she keeps metaphorically diving headfirst in front of twilight, then she's going to end up the one riddled with bullets.

a character I just can’t sympathize with

not that we're likely supposed to but donovan desmond

a character I grew to love

handler! it's not that I ever disliked her as such, but for a long time she just seemed a kind of girlboss-esque character with a neat character design. she had her moments (bond arc speech and also propaganda chapter my beloved), but it wasn't until we had her focus chapter where we followed her day that I was like "oh." Like, I knew that she'd lost her family, but I was falling for the facade that she was on top of everything. And the realisation that she wasn't? That she was deep in depression, but you know who might dig her out of it? Her pet dog and a little girl. Definitely got to me.

my anti otp

anti otp is a bit strong a feeling for it, but I think the way I read damianya differs from a decent chunk of the fandom. I tend to see it as one-sided and am perfectly happy for it to stay that way or for them to just end up becoming better friends down the line, but I know what I'm against here so I'm not going to place any bets.

[fuzzydreamin]

What The Companions Say About... Mole rats!

I'm posting these just because I find the companions in-game reactions to things rather interesting. You might be surprised by what some of them have to say about certain things.

These are just their dialogues for during combat and after combat or walking through areas inhabited by this enemy type. It does not include anything from specific areas, quests, or other dialogue.

⌨ Ada

⌨: There must be literally miles of mole rat warrens beneath the Commonwealth. ⌨: The mole rat is a filthy species… I'm detecting high levels of bacteria in the area. ⌨: Humans actually ingest these beasts? Fortunately for us both, I lack a vomiting subroutine. ⌨: Since mole rats will chew on anything… including wires, may I suggest we move along? ⌨: Mole rats. Hardly worth our time, ma'am.

☘ Cait

☘: They're comin' out of the ground! ☘: One rat-ka-bob comin' right up!

☘: Mole rats? Disgusting little vermin. ☘: If we bag a few of them, maybe we can have a little treat for dinner tonight. ☘: Wish we could just step on these little bastards. Would save us some ammo. ☘: Mole rats gather all sorts of interestin' things, so it's worth pokin' through their den for loot. ☘: Phew. Yup, it's mole rats all right.

⚙ Codsworth

⚙: Get those varmints! ⚙: Exterminating time!

⚙: Mole rats. Nothing more than two vicious vermin merged into one, I suppose. ⚙: Watch out for holes, mum. Mole rats about. Wouldn't want to twist an ankle. ⚙: Curious creatures, mole rats. ⚙: Quite enamoured with bits of shiny, the mole rat is. Occasionally they pilfer something useful. ⚙: Not your garden variety vermin. Nothing short of the saw or flame-spout will do for mole rats, I'm afraid.

⚕ Curie

⚕: Was the ancestor of the mole rat a mole or a rat? Does anyone know? ⚕: Potentially mole rat meat may be quite nutritious. A healthy diet requires a great deal of protein, after all. ⚕: Mole rats exhibit pack behaviour. ⚕: These mole rats are little more than pests, yes? ⚕: Mole rats are a curious species.

♞ Danse

♞: {With contempt} Diseased vermin! ♞: {With contempt} Bleed, you filth!

♞: {Nasty rats.} Ugh. Diseased filth. ♞: {Repulsed by the thought of eating rats.} The thought of eating these things makes me sick. How can people stoop so low? ♞: I loathe wasting precious ammunition on these vermin. ♞: Ugly little creatures, aren't they. ♞: {Pause while trying to think how to describe it.} Mole rat stench is quite… pungent.

🕶 Deacon

🕶: Do we have to kill these guys? 🕶: Burrow deep and run away, little buddies.

🕶: You know, I've always wanted a pet mole rat. I'd call him, "Ziggy." 🕶: I always feel a little bad shooting mole rats. Not bad enough not to eat them, though. 🕶: Mole rat. The other white meat. 🕶: One mole rat is kinda cute. A swarm of them, though, that's trouble. 🕶: When I retire I want to be a mole rat farmer. That'd be the life.

☠ Gage

☠: How many of you little shits I gotta kill? ☠: You're not tunnelling away this time!

☠: Little shits oughta stay underground, if they knew what's good for them. ☠: Get an entire pack of mole rats on your ass, and you can wind up in serious trouble. ☠: All right, mole rats - another friggin' nuisance the Commonwealth shits out like there's no tomorrow. ☠: I ain't saying I've been desperate enough to eat mole rat, but… well, I ain't sayin' it. ☠: Cook anything long enough, and it doesn't taste so bad. Molerat might be the exception to that.

☣ Hancock

☣: {Amused} Only room for one skinless freak 'round here. ☣: {Amused} Hey, dinner delivered itself.

☣: {Neutral} Mole rats. About as dangerous as they are pretty. ☣: {Neutral} Watch your ankles around these things. ☣: {Neutral} Keep an eye on the ground. Little bastards like to burrow. ☣: {Amused} Nearly lost some fingers to a mole rat once. They do not like to spoon. ☣: {Ribbing the player. / Amused} Pretty sure even you could handle these things on your own.

☸ Longfellow

☸: {Sage old hunter giving advice} Mole rats are damn tricky, poppin' up out of nowhere like they do. ☸: {Sage old hunter giving advice} If you think there's mole rats about, you get up on somethin' tall and you watch the ground. ☸: {Sage old hunter giving advice} One mole rat ain't a threat, but when the other six show up, that's when you start runnin'. ☸: {Begruding respect for a small but aggressive creature} Mole rats are nasty little buggers, I'll give 'em that.

⨁ MacCready

⨁: Goddamn mole rats! ⨁: Gonna mount you on a stick!

⨁: Ugh, I used to eat these things. Still can't get the taste out of my mouth. ⨁: Don't even want to imagine what kind of diseases these are carrying. ⨁: Mole rats will burrow right up under you if they have the chance. ⨁: That smell is horrible. I think I'm gonna puke. ⨁: Don't underestimate mole rats. Seen them strip the flesh from a man's bones in a matter of minutes.

♥ Nick

♥: {Neutral} Walking sacks of plague. ♥: {Neutral} Guess that makes us the rat traps.

♥: {Neutral} Seems everything that survived the bombs got bigger and madder. ♥: {Neutral} Watch your step. Probably walking over a mole rat warren as we speak. ♥: {Neutral} I heard these things taste as bad as they smell. ♥: {Neutral} Whoever coined the phrase "mountains out of mole hills" clearly never saw a mole rat den. ♥: {Neutral} Mole rats are quick little buggers, aren't they? ♥: {Smells something horrible at the start. / Disgust} Bleh! You can bet no one would eat these things if they had to smell them first.

✉ Piper

✉: {Concerned} Hello. Mole rats! ✉: {Stern} Watch it. Could be more burrowed nearby.

✉: {Emphasis on the first "A." Telling a joke at the end. / Neutral} A mole rat's a pest. A pack of them, well, that's just good eating. ✉: {Remembering / Neutral} During the thin years, when the harvests didn't pan out, finding a mole rat felt like a gift. An angry, smelly gift. ✉: {Neutral} Rule one of mole rats - never get between a Brood Mother and her… anything. Just stay away from them. ✉: {Neutral} Wonder if there's a warren nearby. ✉: {Neutral} Whew. One of these rats must be seriously ill. Nothing healthy should smell like that.

☀ Preston

☀: I thought I smelled something. ☀: Look out. There may be more of them under the ground.

☀: Watch where you step. Mole rats. ☀: I once lived on mole rat for two months. Almost turned me vegetarian. ☀: When these little buggers start tunnelling, watch your back. They're liable to pop out anywhere. ☀: These things'll tear up a field of crops faster than you'd believe. ☀: You can always tell when mole rats are around. What a stink.

☢ Strong

☢: Puny little mole rats. ☢: Strong smash mole rats. ☢: Mole rats worthless fighters. ☢: Strong hear humans say mole rats annoying. Strong agree. ☢: Strong not like mole rat tunnels.

☾ X6-88

☾: {Amused} If these things were a little smaller, we could just step on them and save bullets. ☾: {Disgust} Damn mole rats get into everything out here. ☾: {Confident} Time for some pest control. ☾: {Confident} Come on, give me something real to fight. ☾: {Disdain} Mole rats… the scourge of the Commonwealth. At least they die easy enough.

-----

My Notes:

Several of their voicelines imply that people think the mole rats are some sort of combined creature of a regular rat and a regular mole, and not just a big naked mole rat. Even Curie is confused about it. This just doesn't seem right to me, especially since the model does just look like a naked mole rat. Also of note is that the mole rat did exist before the war, as the ones found in vault 81 were specifically bred by vault-tec, so it's not a product of random wasteland radiation exposure.

Mole rats STINK.

Cait, Deacon, Hancock, and Piper enjoy eating mole rats. Curie seems open to the idea. Danse, Preston, and Gage could not be paid to eat one, ditto for Ada and Nick but they aren't exactly needing to.

Deacon and Curie both want to keep mole rats, though Curie would certainly experiment on hers.

I wonder if Mac primarily ate mole rats just because living in a cave attracted them. Perhaps they were common pests for the Lamplighters. At least it's a change up from the usual cave fungus and "strange meat".

[cheetos-and-chopsticks]

She’s got your eyes and your nose and your cute little moles. And she’s definitely inherited The Hair. - 🕶

*chuckles* poor thing.

[arthursaus]

HTF Masterlist!

Plush AU - Idea, Idea 2, How It Works + Plush Designs, Death

Plush AU Characters

(🦔) Flaky - HCs

Normal Version Characters

(🍭) Nutty - Design + HCs

(🌲) Petunia - Design + HCs, House HCs

(🛹) Cuddles - Design + HCs

(🦫) Toothy - Design + HCs

(🦔) Flaky - Design + HCs

(🪩) Disco Bear - Design + HCs

(🧣) Pop - Design + HCs

(👦) Cub - Design + HCs

(🪠) Lumpy - Design + HCs

(🎀) Giggles - Design + HCs

(🐑) Lammy - Design + HCs

(🛠) Handy

(🕶) The Mole

(💰) Shifty - Design + HCs

(💰) Lifty - Design + HCs

(🫀) Splendid - Design + HCs

General Stuff

Flippy HC ‘Home’

My HTF things that aren’t very related to my AU are on my main blog.

More to come!

[happy-tori-friends]

Important Tags List

General Tags

#tori talks - Posts that i've made that aren't reblogs.

#important posts - Posts that are important, such as this one.

#asks - Posts in which I respond to an ask.

#oblivion ❄️ - Posts relating to my main HTF fanfic series, Oblivion.

#magical warrior au - Posts relating to the magical warrior / superhero AU, also known as Pandemonium.

#ffxiv au 💡 - Posting relating to the Final Fantasy XIV AU, also known as A Realm of Fantasy.

#prompts - Posts of writing prompts that I have reblogged.

#prompt fill - Posts where I take a prompt from a prompt list and written a drabble for it.

#reblog - Posts I've reblogged from other people.

#tori art - Posts involving anything I've drawn.

#headcanons - Posts involving headcanons.

#sillies - Silly little scenarios or ramblings that come from the pool of Strange Thoughts that is my mind

#polls - Posts that include polls.

Character Tags

#splendid ☄️ - Posts involving Splendid.

#flippy 🏅 - Posts involving Flippy.

#fliqpy 🔪 - Posts involving Fliqpy.

#splendont 🌠 - Posts involving Splendont.

#lifty 💰 - Posts involving Lifty.

#shifty 💵 - Posts involving Shifty.

#cuddles 🥕 - Posts involving Cuddles.

#giggles 🎀 - Posts involving Giggles.

#toothy 🦷 - Posts involving Toothy.

#pop 🐻 - Posts involving Pop.

#cub 🧸 - Posts involving Cub.

#disco bear 🕺 - Posts involving Disco Bear.

#petunia 🌸 - Posts involving Petunia.

#handy 🔧 - Posts involving Handy.

#flaky 🦔 - Posts involving Flaky.

#nutty 🍭 - Posts involving Nutty.

#sniffles 🚀 - Posts involving Sniffles.

#lumpy 🥪 - Posts involving Lumpy.

#lammy 🐑 - Posts involving Lammy.

#russell 🏴‍☠️ - Posts involving Russell.

#mime 🤹‍♂️ - Posts involving Mime.

#the mole 🕶 - Posts involving The Mole.

#cro-marmot 🧊 - Posts involving Cro-Marmot.

#lucky 🍀 - Posts involving Lucky, an OC mascot from the Magical Warrior AU.

#sky ⭐️ - Posts involving Sky, an OC mascot from the Magical Warrior AU.

#ember ♦️ - Posts involving Ember, an OC mascot from the Magical Warrior AU.

#buttercup 💛 - Posts involving Buttercup, an OC mascot from the Magical Warrior AU.

Ship Tags

Ship names and tags subject to change. If changed, all existing instances of that tag will be changed to reflect the new version.

#supertroopers ☄️🏅🔪 - Posts involving Splendid/Flippy and/or Splendid/Fliqpy.

#super thieves 🌠💰💵 - Posts involving both Splendont/Lifty and Splendont/Shifty.

#pink lemonade 🥕🎀 - Posts involving Cuddles/Giggles only.

#golden stars 🌠💵 - Posts involving Splendont/Shifty only

#stealing hearts 🌠💰 - Posts involving Splendont/Lifty only

bunny teeth 🥕🦷 - Posts involving Cuddles/Toothy only.

sweet treats 🍭💰 - Posts involving Nutty/Lifty

More tags will be added in the future as needed.