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canichangemyblogname · 4 months

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In the book Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Percy is attacked by a hellhound after his face-off with Clarisse. Just before the attack, Annabeth had asked Percy to come forth from the creek where she watched his wounds heal from the water, having already put two and two together regarding Percy’s godly parent. And, immediately after Percy survives the hellhound attack, Poseidon claims him.

The new Disney+ show, however, got rid of this scene, and I do not mind that at all.

In the book, the hellhound scene served several purposes. It reinforces that Percy is special and that powerful forces want him dead. It also establishes— very early on— that there is someone within Camp HalfBlood who wants him dead. And, it makes the audience suspicious of Hades as the bad guy. But, there are several other plot devices throughout the book that also establish these things, including Luke’s shoes, the scorpion at the end, the fact that Percy is a “forbidden child” of the Big 3, the Minotaur, the Furies, the fact Hades was suspect in the theft of the lightning bolt, and the prophecy that tells Percy a friend will betray him.

I think that cutting out the hellhound scene makes the fact Percy will be betrayed all that more a mystery. In the book, Percy had already been betrayed before he had ever heard the prophecy and before he had ever set off on his quest.

Cutting that scene also gave the episode the opportunity to show the audience what Luke had already told us: Annabeth is always 6 steps ahead of everyone else. She had worked out who Percy’s godly parent is. My guess is that she figured it out or began theorizing the night before, after the toilet incident. To test her theory the next day, she sets Percy up as “bait” on path to the lake (rather than creek). After he had defeated Clarisse and the two other Ares’ kids, she had Percy in the most opportune spot to test her conclusions. This prompted her to push him into the water, which would visibly heal him and solidify her theory that Percy has a special connection to the water. It would be at this moment that Poseidon claims Percy.

I think this was a good way to show the audience that Annabeth put two and two together before everyone else. She’s smart, strategic, and analytical, and it’s great we get to SEE that. And, quite truthfully, I think the fact someone figured it out could have forced Poseidon’s hand. Imagine the embarrassment of *everyone* knowing this kid is your kid because the Pride of Athena, a 12 y/o kid, was astute enough to put it together, rather than you just claiming him. She would have told Chiron and Mr. D. She might even tell her mother. And, as she’s not bound by the same rules as the gods, she could have told Percy, too.

Personally, I think the Hell Hound scene came too early. For it to work would mean that Luke knew who Percy’s father was before he was claimed, so someone would have had to tip him off. Which meant a non zero number of free actors in camp knew definitively who Percy’s godly parent was before capture the flag (as opposed to “I have a hunch, but I need to test it out”). I always guessed Kronos told Luke, but that also confused me because I knew that the deities operated by different rules. Zeus, for example, couldn’t come down from the sky, point at Percy and say, “This is Poseidon’s bastard. Great. Now that’s established, can I kill him now” even though he already knew Poseidon is Percy’s father.

The original hellhound scene also left several questions about how Luke was able to call a creature from Hades’ realm, under Hades’ domain. It also seemed to conflict with future in-universe means of calling a hellhound. When I was younger, the scene and subsequent lore surrounding hellhounds led me to assume Nyx, Cerberus, or Hades had allied with Kronos and was allowing Kronos’ forces to call hellhounds at their discretion. But that was not the case.

#Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Percy Jackson #Annabeth Chase #Luke Castellan #the lightning thief

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lunararcade · 2 months

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*ੈ✩‧₊˚ PERCY JACKSON DR INTRO

important info to start: this is the second most recent dr i have shifted to. i do not have everything scripted out in this dr and am learning and adjusting to many things as i go. i had every intention to shift here eventually, but when i shifted here the first time it was unintentional. now i have some safety things in my script and some basic changes i wanted, but for the most part everything in this dr is coming naturally!

how long have i been in this dr? not long at all actually. i have only shifted twice for a total of just under four weeks (the first was a little under a week and the second was just under three).

have i been claimed by a god? yes! i was claimed by hades at the end of my second week there! there is no cabin for hades at camp yet so i took up residence for a bit in cabin 3 with percy after i was claimed.

what was my dr life like before i shifted there? pretty normal! i had dyslexia, but i was able to remain in schools pretty long. i even graduated high school. in my dr i was raised an only child by my mom, alexandra, who is a nurse, and my dad leonardo (who i never knew wasn't my biological father). he is a police detective. i had really close non-demi god friends named carter and nellie. i didn't see as many strange things as most demi-gods, but i did see a few ghosts of dead relatives but i never connected that to hades until i was claimed, i just thought i was weird LMAO. there were multiple occasions where i thought i was seeing things that i now know were creatures, but they would be gone before i could figure it out so i thought it was my imagination. i never knew i was a demi-god and somehow chiron never knew about me, nor did i have a satyr guide.

do i have any powers? tbh, i don't know much about what i can do yet. i know that i can see dead people and chiron thinks it was an unintentional form of necromancy. he also thinks i am having visions (which have gotten much more intense since i found out i was a demi-god). he doesn't know why though because that isn't typically associated with hades. i am a really good sword-fighter and pretty good with a bow, but other than that there hasn't been time to explore my powers.

how did i get to camp? i quite literally WOKE UP ON MY WAY TO CAMP. i had no idea where i was going or where i was at first because i has just shifted and i was disoriented. when i woke up my (step)father immediately explained that i was going to a camp to keep me safe. he never got to explain to me where i was going because the MINOTAUR CAME AT OUR CAR BEHIND US. he swerved off the road and told me to run toward camp and he would drive away to try and distract it. i wasn't fast enough and the minotaur didn't take the car bait so i was attacked and knocked out. i woke up in camp and chiron (slowly) explained everything to me which went as good as you can expect.

do i have any demi-god friends? yes, thankfully. i befriended luke almost immediately because we are pretty close in age and he helps to train me and percy, who arrived like 2 weeks before me. he is not working with kronos in my dr. percy likes to pester me, especially after he found out we are both going through the "the gods hate us" thing, but he's become a really close friend. grover tags along with percy a lot too which means we've become friends too. luke introduced me to annabeth, and she's smart and as stubborn as me which i admire so i like to talk to her a lot. she also likes to know about the normal world, and i don't mind reminiscing. the only other close friend i've made is a daughter of aphrodite named marie liu. she's so sweet but she's fierce and good at sparring. i also talk to a lot of the younger campers because me and luke are basically glorified babysitters when at camp (but it's fun and i'm really starting to love it there so it's ok).

what am i doing currently in my dr? well, chiron thought seeing the oracle would help me understand my visions but now i'm on a quest. the god's are likely going to go to war (because aren't they always) since zeus found out poseidon and hades had children who didn't face the same fate as thalia. they refused to let zeus kill them so zeus said there would be war and gods are picking sides now. there's more of us than usual on the quest because i brought the people who were in my visions (though they are brief and intense and hard to decipher). it's me, percy, annabeth, grover, and luke. the oracle said (and this is as close as i could remember when i shifted back and wrote it down, but is probably not entirely accurate. it is similar to the lightening thief prophecy in some ways but also very, very different):

"You shall go east, and face the god who has turned,

You shall find broken peace and see it returned,

You shall go west and discover more allies and friends,

Should one, at a parents hand, not meet their end."

we haven't deciphered much but we did leave like 2 days before i shifted back most recently and were in upstate manhattan. we are playing things by ear and trying to survive currently.

there isn't much else to tell about this dr right now, but updates, memes, and shitposts are to come!

feel free to send any questions or ask about anybody or anything in my asks! i love talking about my drs (:

#desired reality #reality shifting #shiftblr #shifting blog #shifting community #shifting realities #shifting motivation #shifting stories #percy jackson dr

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benedictconsultingbatch · 4 months

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I loved the first two episodes of PJO. There were changes, but it was still really good. The third episode was a little underwhelming/disappointing for me. They made a lot of changes to how the plot unfolds and I don't get why. More on that below

The oracle was great.

They didn’t include the monster attacking camp half blood. That was a big part of Chiron deciding the quest needed to happen even though Percy didn't have any training. Also, the attack is one of the things that led Percy to realize Luke had been working against them all along.

There was no fight on the bus. No explosion. No struggle. We didn't even see how they got away. There was no mention of them realizing their bags were left on the bus. (Not the biggest deal but I thought it was funny when Percy pointed it out) We don't hear the furies saying "where is it?" Which comes into play later on when Percy is putting together the pieces.

Annabeth immediately thinks the statues are petrified monsters right away and guesses that Aunty Em is for Medusa. Medusa doesn't try to hide her identity. In the book she tricks them and I thought that was more entertaining and more suspenseful when they put the pieces together and figure it out. And then they go in the basement instead of leaving the house? The reveal of the statues in the basement would have been better imo if the trio didn't already know it was Medusa. I don't get why Alecto followed them to Aunty Em's. In the book, (at least one of the reasons) Annabeth doesn't like Percy is because Athena and Poseidon don't like each other. But the episode made it seem more like a lack of trust between Percy and Annabeth. I don't know if that grounds the conflict more, but I like how in the book it seems like Annabeth doesn't like Percy mostly because of their parents not getting along. She doesn't even try to get to know him. She just decides she doesn't like him because their parents hate each other. To me, it's an example of how the Gods influence everything.

The pacing felt off to me. The kids figured things out fast and then there is no suspense as they start to piece together that something is off. The conversation in the basement after dealing with Medusa felt rushed. It felt like they were trying to cover a lot in one conversation. A lot of the dialogue this episode felt like that. Fitting too much information into one conversation.

There was no mention of why Percy couldn't wear the flying shoes. Yeah they already told him why they couldn't fly but telling him he couldn't wear the shoes would have been a call back to that. And after the bus, when they're walking towards Aunty Em's, Grover isn't wearing anything to hide his goat legs. I was surprised he was wearing shorts. And no fake shoes. Trying to keep the fake shoes on was a recurring thing throughout the book.

I liked that Annabeth positioned them next to the toilet on the bus to cover Percy's scent. But then Grover said it's not actually about the scent. It's different for each monster. It could be fear or greed. Which doesn't make sense with Sally staying with Smelly Gabe to cover Percy's scent. Or Sally using Percy's jacket to distract the minotaur. Or Annabeth having them sit right by the smelly bathroom. None of that makes sense with Grover saying that it's not actually the person's scent that attracts monsters. Am I missing something there?

I want to love it. I thought the first two episodes were great, despite the changes. But the third episode... they did hit all the plot points I guess. But they changed how everything happened and I don't see how all the changes benefited the story.

I'm nervous to see how the rest of the season will play out. The cast and the producers and Becky and Rick all said this is a faithful adaptation of the book. It did have all the plot points but I feel like everything unfolded differently than the book and they left out important parts and I don't get why.

#percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #sally jackson #pjo show #pjo tv show #pjo spoilers #minee

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just-here-for-iolaus · 10 months

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Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur

The great HTLJ/XWP/YH (re)watch continues!

Real talk, I watched this March 11 (it is now June 20) and then some things happened but I'm back now to type up my thoughts and my notes don't currently make any sense, so I'm going to have to skim through the movie again to remind myself.

Before I reorient myself, I want to highlight my favourite no-context notes I made to myself:

HORSE

Dei looks HOT tits out at dinner lmao

CLips show

Now to remind myself what the hell this movie from 3 months ago was...

OH RIGHT. Okay.

So these chuckleheads traded cows for a map to this place, and they think they're gonna get the treasure of the god or something. I immediately noticed that the door was locked from the outside, and (to his credit) one of them also realizes this halfway through trying to open it, and they have a moment of debate about opening the door, but sadly the titular Minotaur busts out!

From my notes: "That guy fainted haha" Seriously IDK why the one guy just fainting while the other runs for his life tickles me, but it does.

I think the "HORSE" note was just about the massive horse that Hercules has at home because that was my reaction on this rewatch as well haha.

Hercules's sons are fighting, and when Herc tells them the rule is no fighting they argue with him that he fights people all the time. Herc says he only does that to keep people from getting hurt, and when he asks if they understand they're just like "No" and shake their heads like "you make no sense" and honestly that's such a real scene kid reaction. "I am choosing not to accept this rule, thanks!" XD

We then get the first of many extended flashbacks to prior movies.

HILARIOUSLY, it did not occur to me the first time that this was going to be a recurring thing. I was like "huh that's weird they're referencing the last movie. I guess this will be important".... Ugh.

Zeus shows up and asks Hercules if he misses adventuring. He says he does, which I thought was interesting! He first starts off saying nobody has come to him for help in a while, but then he sort of implies that he's staying at home with his wife and kids because of an agreement he made with her? I felt a bit weird about his line delivery there because I think we're just supposed to think he misses the fun of the adventures, but it comes off as a little like "well, I love my kids, but...". (Even tho in the last movie he got distracted staring at them.)

Anyway then Zeus gives him a sea serpent scale (which I was immediately very suspicious of, because I don't trust Zeus) and then we get another flashback, which I literally fast-forwarded through, and this is where I went "oh no..."

I'm not a fan of clip shows. 😅

Then we get the tits-out dinner scene I noted before. Damn, Dei is pretty (though her hair is a bit untamed here). How do they only have 3 kids?

We then get a bunch of shots of the Minotaur's lair and a few teaser shots of the Minotaur.

Then it's back to the house, Herc is putting his kids to bed. They request a story before bed, and since the first two the boys suggest didn't happen in the movies, we instead get a flashback to the movie where Herc meets Dei.

(Fast forward...)

The kids fell asleep, but Dei was into it and she takes our man to bed.

SURPRISINGLY, Herc didn't have a flashback dream overnight! So Herc is going about his morning and BAM!

Iolaus attacks him in the barn. (Playfully.) Now, can I just say, as someone coming from having watched the beginning of Young Hercules first, how nice a callback this is? Like, I realize they were conceived out of order, so the Young Hercules episode 1 scene where Iolaus attacks Herc (playfully) is a reference to this, but what a lovely little parallel! ♥ I love them. Look at how they look at each other.

They start talking about their farms, which honestly seems like exactly what they would talk about since they're both trying to manage farms? But I guess they thought the audience would be like "this is boring" because Iolaus launches into his own "remember the time"...

They then chat fireside and there's so much like, flirtatious vibes from Iolaus? Though I thought their banter was really cute, platonic or otherwise. They kinda tease each other but they're both so happy, it's really nice. I just love when characters clearly like each other this much.

But Iolaus manages to goad Hercules into a sparring match, which leads to the best line in the movie: "Mommy, what's Daddy doing to Uncle Iolaus?" And not just because it's a hilarious line, but also the little girl's line delivery is so precious.

We then get a really sweet scene where Dei and Iolaus talk privately and she confides that Herc has been going a bit stiry crazy. I really believed the worry Dei had for her spouse and her genuine grattitude for Iolaus's friendship with Herc for Herc's sake. We then find out through Iolaus confiding his own hardships to Dei that he's struggling with losing his wife and having to raise their child (I think just the one?) alone. Dei comforts Iolaus a bit. I really liked this whole part.

Then it's ruined by the original guy (who ran) coming to get help from Herc with the Minotaur.

Hercules turns down the request for help - shocking both Dei and Iolaus. And also, understandably, disappointing the dude who came for help.

Dei convinces Herc to go - more for Herc's sake than the people he'd be helping (such a good wife!). Iolaus invites himself along. (And is cute about it, trying to get Herc to admit how helpful he is.)

Another stupid flashback about the giant Herc fought.

Brief interlude where Zeus shows up, and then it's another fucking flashback. (I was fast forwarding so much, my husband thought I didn't like the movie.)

There's a little fireside scene with the three of them where Zeus mocks them for acting like kids when they have kids, and I again got this weird vibe of like "we don't like being parents" which I honestly find really uncomfortable. I understand that parenting is hard and some people genuinely don't enjoy it, but it's kind of a weird impression to give because of how into his family Herc was in the movie before this one. You can love your kids and still like adventure, no? Anyway it's a subtle thing, they don't come right out and say "I wish I'd never had kids", it's just a weird vibe that I think is more meant to convey the desire for adventure.

Zeus then gets weird when he finds out where the boys are going, and immediately fucks off after a half-assed attempt at dissuading them. By now the audience would know this means Zeus is hiding something about his involvement/knowledge of whatever is going on there.

There's a brief bit where a couple is sneaking away from town to boink and they end up in the Minotaur's lair and he captures them. It's kinda gross as we see them put into these weird coccoon things.

The boys get to town but are told there's no monster and everything is fine.

The Minotaur is then shown to be stoked Herc has arrived, and talks about how much he wants to kill him. Zeus then shows up where the Minotaur is and it's revealed that Zeus turned him into this monster as punishment for something, and that they haven't seen each other in 100 years. Zeus says he should have killed the Minotaur before, and tries to again, but just can't bring himself to do so. The Minotaur announces that he just keeps getting bigger and stronger and he won't be satisfied until he hurts Zeus (which Zeus doesn't think he can do). We as the audience know that the Minotaur is after Hercules, but does Zeus?

Then we cut back to the boys in the pub and get the worst flashback of all!!!

Iolaus apparently tells this random woman all about the plot of Movie 1, which he absolutely should not remember, because the plot of that movie ends with Hercules going back in time to NOT let the plot pan out as it had (in order to save Iolaus's life). The memory he relays is one from the series of events that was undone by the time rewind, so Iolaus should not have been telling this story.

It's bad enough to have a clip show, but the internal logic doesn't even make sense. Not that this series of movies has been really careful with "canon" anyway, but dang!!

Anyway then there's a really long fight scene where the whole pub gets thrashed and all the patrons decide to try to fight Hercules for... saying his name is Hercules. Herc wins (Iolaus also does well but gets knocked out at the end) and then takes Iolaus to bed. No, I'm just kidding, he rents two rooms, and deposits Iolaus into one before taking the second for himself.

While Herc is sleeping, some of the losers of the bar fight decide they're gonna kill Hercules, but the Minotaur kills them and frames Hercules for it. The entire town sees Hercules standing over their dead bodies holding a sword (that he literally picked up at the scene) and they mob after him.

Hercules wakes up Iolaus and punches a hole in the wall so they can escape. The mob catches up to them anyway, though, because they head down a dead-end alley (in a rural village?). Luckily the ground swallows some guy and also Iolaus and the mob is confused enough to pause. The brother from the beginning of the movie shows up and Hercules asks if he knows where the monster lives, so off they go.

They run into Zeus on the way. Zeus tries to warn Herc not to go down there, the thing is a terrible monster, etc. He reveals that it was once a very handsome man, but eventually tried to turn a bunch of people against the gods, etc. Zeus cursed him to be "as ugly as his heart". Zeus bemoans not being able to kill him when he had the chance. Hercules knows there's something more to the story, but Zeus won't say what.

Zeus then claims to have never asked Herc to do anything for him... which... I call shenanigans on? What about the previous movies? The Circle of Fire in particular comes to mind. Anyway. Whatever. Zeus wants Herc to kill the monster.

Herc enters the lair with a couple guys from town who the Minotaur kills and it's kinda gross.

Once Herc gets to the Minotaur we finally get a full reveal, and because they seem to have used practical effects, I actually think the visuals on it aged really well! His mouth moves when he talks and he really moves in the space in a believable way (which is not always the case in these movies/shows).

The Minotaur claims that Herc's been "given" everything his whole life, like fame and glory... which Herc denies, saying he's worked for what he has. I think you could probably unpack a lot there, but I think we've seen Herc's life hasn't been easy by any stretch, demi-god abilities or not.

Eventually the Minotaur reveals that he's Hercules's brother, that he's the son of Zeus and that Zeus couldn't kill him because he couldn't kill his own son. At this point, Hercules refuses to fight him, despite the Minotaur insisting.

But the Minotaur forces his hand, saying if Herc won't fight him, he's gonna kill Iolaus. This is enough for Hercules who then kills the Minotaur in a fashion similar to a death we saw flashbacked early on.

Zeus then shows up, and it's kinda cold? The Minotaur is still dying, and Zeus is just like "Sorry son" to Hercules and they just talk like the Minotaur isn't there? DYING? Hercules says he understands why Zeus couldn't tell him, and says he's just sorry Zeus had to lose a son.

I was really surprised there was no mourning for the loss of the possiblity of getting to know his brother or change his nature or anything... which I assume was why Herc didn't want to fight him a minute earlier? But whatever, they beat the bad guy...

Zeus then is like "I loved you, son" to his dying monster kid, but like, in a "and I don't now" tone. The Minotaur begs Zeus not to let him "die this way" (I think meaning ugly?) and then dies, and then Zeus turns him back into a (dead) man, and says "You're free now" and IDK MAN, it just didn't really work for me... Did not like.

Then Hercules saves Iolaus from the pods, and they let everyone else free. They decide to go home.

On the way home, Hercules remarks that he doesn't want to go on any adventures for a while, and Iolaus agrees...

...which makes me SO CONFUSED how the show ends up starting after this movie, so I can't wait to see!!

Final thoughts:

A bit thin on plot? I clocked that the Minotaur was Zeus's son right away, and it felt like a weird reveal.

Herc and Io were soooo keen on an adventure, but then came home wanting to not do that for a while... When do they decide to go on their Legendary Journeys? I'm starting to wonder if I'm stupid and these movies take place after the show chronologically haha.

On that note, Herc still has a wife and 3 kids, and Iolaus has at least one kid (no wife tho...)

Boo to clip shows. I hope there aren't many in the show proper. I kinda forgot they were a thing.

Hercules and Iolaus are a great dynamic! I love Michael Hurst.

I trust and like Zeus less the more I see of him. I don't think he will protect my boys and I don't like that haha.

What is going to happen to Dei????? I like her... I'm scared haha. Anya got written off without even an explanation just "she's gone" kinda thing.

Overall I'd say the relationships between Herc, Dei, and Iolaus were the standout bits. 🥰

Now I get to start the show proper!!

#htlj #htlj movies #hercules in the maze of the minotaur #the great (re)watch #hercules the legendary journeys

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variousqueerthings · 5 months

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Ultravox do they split up?!!!

okaaaay so far best fuckn episode This Season, it's Cold War and it's got (checks the list): Liam Cunningham (for anyone acknowledging the good bits of Game of Thrones), David Warner (!!!!!!! no seriously !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and he's the best part of the episode too), Tobias Menzies (for you the terror fans), Josh O'Connor!!?? pre-doing a million great gay movies, and James Norton, whom I've definitely seen around somewhere

basically just a mix of greats and soon-to-be smash hits in terms of guest cast just because it's a time to flex I guess

ALSO Spencer Wilding at this point deserves credit on the level of Doug Jones for the kind of Big Creature acting he's done on this show (including sexiest of creatures - the minotaur back in my favourite eleven-era episode The God Complex) (also apparently darth vader in rogue one??? dude)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 9/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 8/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 6/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 7/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 10/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 10/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 8/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 82/100 (if I can count….)

between this and the "Stalin's Russia" moment in Idiot's Lantern, do you think Mark Gatiss is into USSR aesthetics?

OBJECTIFICATION: Clara has a similar gag to Rose back in Werewolf Land and Idiot's Lantern, and Amy with Rio, in that they were heading for Vegas and landed a bit off... inside a USSR Sub during the Cold War! Clara immediately spends the rest of the episode draped in an oversized USSR submarine coat and it's quite charming to be honest

PLOT-POINT: this episode has soooo much Clara feeling in it, specifically Clara reacting to violence, to the point that she's about to have a full-on panic attack and needs to be helped by David Warner (sobs, I want David Warner to ask me about Ultravox to stave off a panic attack too). it's quite brutal, to the point that we only see little glimpses of body and blood, which makes it even more affecting than you know they would have been allowed on a BBC for-kids slot

she also has some interesting interactions with the Ice Warrior, which we'll get to in a sec, but do have a mix of emotional-but-capable to them.

COMPLEXITY: Ice Warrior found. Ice Warrior thawed. Ice Warrior angry. Talk Down Angry Ice Warrior. it's doing what it does on the tin, and it does it well!

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: teeechnically not much, barring giving us more of what kind of person Clara is and her reactions to a kind of adventure she might find herself in, and the Ice Warriors are seen again!

it's a great one-off essentially, where the heavy lifting is done in other points. I will say I think Clara and Eleven... may be underrated. at least based off the episodes I've seen with them post-Snowmen (which, granted, that and Asylum of the Daleks was not a great way to start them off, and honestly doesn't even really give a sense of who Clara would be in these episodes). they've got kind of a serious sibling energy going on, where they're both a little silly, and it's a relief after so much ooohhh sexy companion Stuff (again, Clara in AotD and TS is not representative of this Clara, who so far hasn't actually flirted with the Doctor, outside of the "Snog Box" thing, which is still why I choose to believe the Tardis doesn't like her)

COMPANIONS MATTER: crucially, Clara represents the non-military face of this episode, and never changes into someone who would decide all-out violence is the right decision, and while it's not explicit, it is I think part of what saves everyone's life. it's not the episode where she makes the most plans or is the most badass, in many ways it goes well with the previous episode, in that she simply is a very nice person

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: he's running around like a headless chicken just like the rest of them. his aim is simply to stop escalating violence on both sides (Cold War, get it) and so it's like plugging a million leaks everywhere, and then begging the Ice Warrior to show mercy... it makes for a nice change, the Doctor as some guy again

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: ICE WARRIORS! honestly not much more to say. ICE WARRIORS!

“SEXINESS”: could we finally be free? of stupid dialogue?

INTERNAL WORLD: they're on a sub, it's the Cold War, there's an Ice Warrior. listen, sometimes that's all you need (often)

POLITICS: it's the Cold War. IIII think this episode is pretty humanising of the Russians in this particular framing. it's mainly just a bunch of scared men on a boat, hoping the world won't end, and it's got quite a prescient "let's not destroy the world now either" feeling to it. Idk. simple. works in my opinion

FULL RATING: 80/100 (if I can count….)

I think this episode is great!

Jenna Louise Coleman and David Warner the Highest of Highlights, they were so great opposite each other. His grounded (but playful) old man energy, her small dog wide-eyedness, the fact that his character immediately took her under his wing, and I think their back-and-forths really complimented one another. where I think JLC weakest bit of directing is that she's constantly speaking a million miles an hour (speeding up Matt Smith's dialogue delivery too), it occasionally slows down here to match Warner, and when it's fast again it feels like it works... dare I say it, if he'd done a First Doctor cameo opposite her, it would have been kind of great

the only things I rated a little lower were not things that I think needed more focus on the whole. it was a simple, claustrophobic, cat and mouse game, in which one could only hope to convince the cat to calm down please

on the whole, things are looking up with this era!

#im watching nu!who #im watching eleven who #episode cold war #the measurement

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deflare · 1 year

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Day 23, and while it’s not the Lamenters*, it IS another Blood Angels successor, so I guess that’s good enough. Today, we talk about the Flesh Tearers!

The Flesh Tearers are a Second Founding chapter, formed from the Blood Angels right after the Horus Heresy. They got their name from their first chapter master, Nassir Amit, who had been known as ‘the Flesh Tearer’ because he was a warm and compassionate sweethea--no, just kidding, because he had a tendency to go hard on fighting in hand-to-hand combat and ripping people apart. The lads he recruited for his new chapter shared his predilection.

As the millennia went on, the Flesh Tearers didn’t get any less rip-and-tear-y. They settled on the vicious death world of Cretacia, recruiting from the local populace of hardcore survivalists. They needed the supply of unmutated recruits, because the Flesh Tearer’s geneseed has started falling apart. They have a ridiculously high rate of troopers falling to the Black Rage, becoming even more mindlessly murderous, to the point where they’re having trouble sustaining their numbers. The chapter seemed on the road to extinction, until Guilliman rolled in with a bunch of Primaris marines to shore up their numbers and provide more stable geneseed. This sudden recovery from doom is messing with the poor Flesh Tearers’ heads.

The Flesh Tearers are high on the list of chapters that should really make the Imperiom look at themselves and ask, “Are we the bad guys?”

*BONUS ROUND, let’s talk Lamenters!

Like I mentioned yesterday, the Lamenters are the product of the Cursed Founding. They were an attempt to fix the problems with the Blood Angels’ geneseed, trimming out the Black Rage and Red Thirst. And it worked! Sort of.

The Lamenters are known for having shit-awful luck. The chapter has had to fight a surprising number of desperate last stands; in the biggest incident, when defending against a Chaos Space Marine attack, they got abandoned by their allies and were left to defend a planet’s worth of Imperial citizens on their own, reduced to only 200 survivors before they got relief. Those survivors then immediately got lost in a warp-storm for ages on their way home. The Lamenters found themselves on the wrong side of the Badab War (pulled in by bonds of friendship) and got fucked up by the Minotaurs, before being assigned to a penitent crusade to make up for their ‘rebellion’. The crusade sent them right into the face of a bunch of Tyranids. And most recently, even as they survived that crusade, the Black Rage return, hitting the Lamenters with a vengeance.

Despite the shit they’ve gone through, the Lamenters are still sons of Sanguinius, and they retain a core of nobility. Many of the desperate last stands they take part in happen because they refused to give up on civilians that other Imperial units considered lost causes. Where so many Space Marines are motivated by rage, hatred and contempt, the Lamenters are motivated by love for their fellow human. Their chapter motto says it all: For those we cherish, we die in glory.

Also, there’s a song about them.

Master post here

#warhammer 40k #space marines #advent calendar #text heavy #lore dump #40k advent #flesh tearers #lamenters

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thejournalofthedreamer · 6 months

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The most fun dream that I can still remember, one where I was already fully settled as the Dreamer. And then another dream... entity, I guess, showed up! Kind of long.

I was on the Enterprise. Pike's Enterprise, specifically, and a medical officer was telling Captain Pike about the nebula we had just flown through. It contained a neurotoxin, trace amounts of which had filtered into the ship itself. Most races could handle those trace amounts, except for Vulcans, who became extremely aggressive. Obviously, the concern here was how it would affect Spock, but he wasn't the only Vulcan on the Enterprise.

And then it got fun!

This time, somehow, some way, there was another entity. I was the Dreamer, but, really, I was hanging back as just another ensign. The other person was a Dream Demon. I recognized them immediately, and they recognized me. They drew an ax, shouting some threat as they ran at me. I warned Pike, telling him that the demon couldn't really hurt me, but that it could hurt anyone else in the ship, and then I started running.

It was kinda fun, running through the Enterprise, but the most fun was in having something else there. Something that knew we were in a dream, my dream! As I ran, there was a flicker, and I recognized it. A new dream. Something new, something I hadn't seen before. It was a swamp, with old, rusted bars and pipes jutting out of the water. There was a wooden structure off to the side, covered in moss, and I could hear people talking inside.

"This is your father," a creature said. It was dead, but moving, and it held an inhuman skull. "You must take his place." It was covered in moss itself, bone and flesh poking through, but the skull was clean and fresh.

The dream demon stood beside it, both confused and horrified. "Take his place?"

There was a woman beside the window I was peeking through, and she came into view as she spoke. "He was the ruler of the demons, and they can't be without a ruler for long." Wild. New. It wasn't my dream, not quite. The nightmare of another creature.

The dream demon held the skull. I was distracted by their fashion; maximalistic, pastels, reminiscent of sweet ouji style. They had been wearing a dress before, I could have sworn.

They saw me in the window, and realized what was happening.

I fell into a new dream, this one where I was part of some grand rebellion, hiding in a bunker as we planned our attack. I could barely hear our leader up at the front, and I wasn't interested in them; I was interested in the pastel child, this time feminine again, who looked like a trinket shop had thrown up on them. They were looking around, and they seemed angry, but they hadn't noticed me yet.

The woman had, though, the one who had been by the window. She seemed bored, and I asked her if I could leave. "I don't care," she shrugged. "They're the one who isn't supposed to."

The child noticed me, running towards us. I nodded to the lady, then walked out of the bunker, into a new dream.

I was in a forest, and the dream was firmly mine. The child was there again, wearing pants, wielding an axe, chasing me through ithe woods. We would reach a clearing, both growing exhausted, and sit down a minute before running again.

They got me.

I could feel it, the sharp, cold, burning pain of an axe buried in my back. I remember how cold it felt. I remember the child looking surprised, then gleeful, then horrified. It was my Dream. I ripped the axe out, I picked the child up by the lapels, and I told them as much. They couldn't hurt me, not in my Dream.

I threw them into their own, one where they were on a dais, speaking to hordes of demons. I stood beside a red Minotaur, and I listened to the crowd mumbling about how they didn't trust this new leader. Too young. Too inexperienced.

"Come on, I'm not that bad!" the dream demon shouted, looking increasingly nervous. "I even let those ADHD kids stay!"

I don't know why they said that, but it made me laugh so hard that I woke myself up. Never saw them again, or any other persistent dream entities. A little sad, to be honest.

#dreams #it was honestly so much fun!#I LOVED their fashion and the varying gender presentation #and all of their dreams had this edge to it #like they were unfinished #hated the axe tho. not a pleasant sensation #what ADHD kids were they letting stay tho lmao #the thing that told them their dad was dead was their uncle and the woman was both their mother and their aunt?? it was a little inconsiste #but hey it was fun!

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zeta-in-de-walls · 3 years

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Tommy and the role of ‘hero’

Hey, this little essay is discussing how Tommy’s character has struggled with being called a hero and hows it’s been a significant part of his character arc for Season 2 of the SMP. It’s not a title he ever gave himself yet it’s a title he’s burdened with all the same.

Funnily enough, I don’t recall Tommy ever being called a hero before Technoblade’s damning speech on Nov 16th, where he compared Tommy to Theseus.

Tommy you just did a coup. You just did a hostile Government takeover and then immediately instilled yourself as President. And then you gave it to your friend but that’s still a tyrant Tommy.

But the thing about this world Tommy, is that good things don’t happen to heroes. Let me tell you a story Tommy, a story of a man called Theseus. His country, well his City-State technically, was in danger and he sent himself forward into enemy lines. He slayed the Minotaur and saved his city. You know what they did to him Tommy? (”What did they do?”) They exiled him. He died in disgrace, despised by his people. That’s what happens to heroes Tommy. The Greeks knew the score. But if you want to be a hero Tommy, that’s fine.

Do you want to be a hero, Tommy? Then die like one!

Technoblade’s speech is a frustrating one at first. It begins by essentially calling Tommy a power hungry tyrant despite that being far from the truth - Wilbur was the one who formed the Government and Tommy rejected power. He trusted it to Wilbur who then chose Tubbo. Schlatt wasn’t even killed by Tommy, he died of a heart attack after being abandoned by every one of his allies so it wasn’t even really much of a takeover at all and it wasn’t Tommy. Yet this speech was entirely directed at Tommy.

But the latter half is different, accusing Tommy instead of trying to be a hero who thinks he’s saving the world and that he’s doomed to have a bad end. It’s interesting as never has Tommy claimed to be much of a hero. Tommy’s always just fought for the things he cared about. Indeed his response to Techno’s speech suggests the same.

“I’m not the hero. No one’s the hero! We’ve got L’Manburg for each other.”

But of course, Techno’s words stick with him all the same. Particularly the bit about a tragic end as Tommy becomes very, very aware of his own mortality in the arcs that follow. To Techno, a hero seems to be a naive figure who tries to do good but is destined for failure and tragedy.

But there’s another path Tommy fears even more. One that he’s witnessed firsthand. Becoming the villain.

Let’s be the bad guys. Tommy, why not? Our nation’s gone. our nation’s far behind us, Tommy. Let’s blow that motherf*cker to smithereens. Tommy, I say if we can’t have Manburg, no one - no one can have Manburg! ...L’Manburg.

This is a new era! We burn the place to the f*ckin ground, I want no crops to grow there ever again. I want f*ckin mycelium and cobblestone, it all covered, Tommy. I want it all gone!

Tommy, let’s be villains.

Wilbur was Tommy’s hero. He loved Wilbur dearly and wanted nothing more than to be a good right-hand to him and make him proud. But when they lost L’Manburg and were banished, Tommy saw Wilbur changing, saw him giving up home and deciding he’d rather destroy the thing they’d worked for and blow it all up. After Wilbur made this speech, Tommy argued, making it clear he was entirely against his plans. Even saying that it wasn’t the moral thing to do. He said not to give up hope, that everyone wasn’t against them and that Wilbur’s ideas were reckless. But he stayed with Wilbur and continued to support him, hoping that he could convince him to change his mind. Tommy failed. And Wilbur died.

So, the Tommy at the start of S2 just wants to go back to his old life, a simpler time where he doesn’t have to worry about L’Manburg anymore as it’s in safe hands and he can focus on his personal concerns once more - like his music discs. He doesn’t want to be a hero or a villain, he merely wants to be happy again in a world without Wilbur.

But there’s someone else watching him. Dream.

I think it’s no coincidence that Dream wanted Tommy exiled by his own people. I think he was deliberately trying to make Techno’s speech into a reality. Dream had become rather obsessed with Tommy and treated all their interactions like a fun game where he played the villain and Tommy, the hero. It’s not a narrative Tommy himself liked but all he could do was play along.

Dream had him exiled and this seriously pushed Tommy to his limits. On the first day, Techno briefly visited and asked him why he was still trying and he answered that he always gets back up and he would keep on fighting Dream. But as his exile progressed he slowly lost his will to fight. Slowly Tommy stopped believing that his exile would ever come to an end and that people still cared.

In exile Tommy had a lot of time for reflection. Here’s something Tommy says days into his exile when he’s begun to lose all hope and is starting to accept that maybe Dream’s his only friend.

Everyone always tells me I was the- the hero of this server. The one that came and f*ckin fought Dream - the only one that ever spoke back to him. But maybe I was just... maybe this was just meant to be.

Tommy’s got complicated feelings about being a hero. To him it means standing up to Dream, never giving up - that’s what he believed people expected of him. But in his exile, he began to give in to Dream. He begins to express how no one cares and that the only reason they ever pretended to care was when he had status - when he was part of L’Manburg. There’s this implication that he felt like people only cared about him when he was being the selfless hero. When he was trying to be selfish for once, causing trouble like he used to and wanting to focus on his personal disc war rather than on L’Manburg, he got exiled. (Of course, this is Tommy’s biased perspective not how others actually viewed him.)

Tommy eventually escaped his exile, finding renewed courage to fight against Dream. Except, he’s still scared and uncertain and feels confused about Dream. He feels lost and clings onto Technoblade for support.

With Technoblade, Tommy starts to feel more like himself - but Techno also influences Tommy, turning him more against his friends. (I think Techno’s character genuinely thought they didn’t truly care about Tommy, likely not realising how much they had also been manipulated by Dream.) Technoblade gently encourages Tommy to be more violent and wants him to help blow up L’Manburg.

This is where Tommy’s fear about becoming more like Wilbur come into play. Tommy did not want to become a bad guy - he’d had nightmares about it even. But in his time with Technoblade, after how helpless he’d been during his exile, being given some power lead Tommy to start lashing out more violently, he began to get more aggressive - alarmingly so even. Technoblade’s path was one of revenge, dealing with his own pain by causing others to suffer (for noble goals, fighting corruption etc I don’t want to get sidetracked though this is about Tommy). Technoblade’s presence was helpful to Tommy, helping him to get over much of his fear but he still lacked in agency and still felt lonely knowing he hadn’t made up with his friends.

Tommy finally came to his senses at the festival, where he realised he was fighting his best friend and putting his personal attachments - his discs - over Tubbo. And that was wrong. He realised he was becoming just the sort of person he didn’t want to be - he had been on the path to becoming like Wilbur. And he rejected that path. He wasn’t going to be a bad guy. Just because he was hurt didn’t justify hurting others. So he reconciled and once more committed to protecting L’Manburg, having put his personal desires aside. It seemed like he’d put himself into the role of selfless hero yet again.

And he failed. Again.

Dream tells him how it was a fun game to him. And how their story was not over. Tommy though, had become extremely tired of it. He didn’t want to play Dream’s game.

They meet up again. And again, Dream talks to Tommy like he’s important - like he’s the key to everything. He wants Tommy to play the role of hero and has been manipulating events for a long time to keep pushing him, to keep taking things from him. Being a hero, which Dream believes Tommy wants, simply means playing along with Dream’s narrative.

Tommy, you want to be a hero, right? You want to be the hero of the server. And every hero needs an origin story, right? Batman had his parents, Spiderman had uncle Ben, you have Tubbo, right?

In the end, Tommy refuses to play Dream’s game anymore though. He called for help and got saved by everyone else. Then he killed Dream twice and had him locked away for good.

And once more, Tommy decided to do things for himself again. He decided to live peacefully, working on a project, talking to various people on the server and trying to avoid making waves and getting into any more conflict. It’s a good end.

He rejected Wilbur’s path and he defied Technoblade’s predictions and he didn’t lose his best friend to Dream. And now Tommy’s trying to avoid playing the role of hero anymore. It’s not a title he ever gave himself but one thrust upon him. Yet it’s one he’s keenly aware of. And one that, despite everything, he can fulfil.

Tommy’s arc has been in some respects about defying the expectations of others - but he also can’t help but fight for the things he loves. He realises his troubles were not that his friends didn’t care or that he had to play a role but that his life was being controlled by Dream and now he’s free of that. No longer is he so weighed down by expectations but when there is a sufficiently threatening enemy, he has not lost his determination to challenge it.

#tommyinnit #meta #analysis #uh feel like i didn't have a great conclusion #anyway i love tommy's character #and his arc has been great this season #i especially appreciated how the exile arc really showed another side to his character #and dream's a great antagonist #driving much of this conflict #dream smp #exile arc #i didn't really talk much about love and attachments which are also impornant to understanding his character this season #and also his grief and thoughts on death #anyway this is about tommy not techno or dream or wilbur so i'm not analysing their actions except in regards to how they affected tommy #but feel free to add or correct me on anything #cheers!#the disc war

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sepublic · 3 years

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Here we have some of the bestiary that plagued Lindenfeld! There’s a werewolf, based on the classic boss from the games, particularly the Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night appearances if I’m correct! It’s referred to as Brawler;

Next there’s Deadfast the Minotaur, who comes as part of a pair with the Werewolf Brawler in Symphony of the Night! Disappointed that Deadfast didn’t get to swing his giant axe and just immediately died, but at the very least, I like this take by the animators in sprucing up the minotaur’s design, as well as the tree-branch horns!

Next is the Visitor, arguably the main antagonist of Season 3! It’s referred to as ‘The Beast’ in the art book, so I imagine an official name might reference the Anti-Christ, or a name associated with them; Perhaps Nero? Anyhow the Beast is a real impressive specimen of Isaac’s that would’ve made him proud, and I commend how it single-handedly came so close to reviving Dracula!

I have to wonder if the true ‘Beast’ is the glowing fungus on its back, which relies on a monster host? We see some of that fungus growing in the church basement, which could be a bit concerning...

These Malebranche made for really neat enemies- Curiously, the way their wings are folded over their face implies they can open up to reveal something underneath? We never get to see, even when Trevor repeatedly hits one in the face alas.

Malachi is a fun demon, and I love the show’s take on the giant orb he spawns, turning it into some sort of gravity ball! He looks hilariously short when emerging from the Infinite Corridor next to his fellow night creatures.

The Flame Demon is a very rad design, and I wish we got to see it do one more attack before Sypha and/or Buer killed it! It took me several rewatches to realize, but the Flame Demon actually swallows Sypha’s initial fire spell to shoot back at her!

And of course Buer! This was a really fun and innovative take on the classic Buer look, and I love how skilled and dangerous it was- Its supply of bone arrows was a very inspired design choice.

#castlevania #castlevania netflix #night creatures #werewolf #Minotaur #Malachi #flame demon #malebranche #Buer

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sumu-samu · 3 years

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Broken

“Hi i saw that you were gonna start writing stories and we're looking for ideas and things,, maybe a Luke x f!reader oneshot around the time of The Lightning Thief. I think it would be cool if the day before he snapped and revealed himself as the thief,, he confessed his feelings to someone or took an s/o on a special date as a type of "goodbye" without saying anything. There's not many luke fics and his TLT story is so fun to explore :3″

Pairing: Luke Castellan x daughter of Poseidon!f!reader

Genre: Angst basically. Some fluff, but angst.

Warnings: non that I can really think of

A.N: Literally listened to The Lightning Thief musical while writing this.This was super fun to write ngl, I also may have gotten carried away with the back story and such but meh :3. I also took a few freedoms and made you Poseidon’s daughter, hope you don’t mind it too much, and I changed the ending of the book a bit because I can’t remember exactly how it ended, just the basics, and I can’t find my book to fact check myself. Hope it doesn't bother you too much and that you like it.<3

Y/N sat at her cabin table, her newly found brother had just come back from a stupid quest he had to go on because her uncle was throwing a fit (as he usually does) about someone stealing his lightning bolt, and he immediately blamed it on her family. She knew all about the prophecy and the whole half-blood child of the big three turning sixteen and having the power to either save or destroy the world. Thing was she had already turned sixteen (if you’re not sixteen yet, just go along with it please) and nothing special really happened, so when Percy showed up at camp and killed a minotaur on the first day, Her and Chiron had been a bit weary of the new half-blood.

When Percy was claimed by Poseidon you’d think she’d be happy that she had found family, after losing her mother at five and never seeing her father, but she wasn’t, She was more worried than anything. Worried that she would lose the family she had just found. And when Percy left to go on the quest, Y/N felt like she couldn’t breath. She didn’t know him very well, but Percy was a good kid, she could just feel it, and she wanted to get to know him more. The thought that he may not come back from this quest in one piece terrified her. And what made it even worse was that he brought Annabeth with him. Annabeth was like Y/N’s little sister.

Ever since the day she found the seven year old blond they had been through alot together. She had run away from camp after getting into an argument with Chiron, she soon learned that it was a big mistake, then ran into the little girl somewhere in Pennsylvania. She then met Luke and Thalia, and then ran into Grover. The five had been through alot, especially when they lost Thalia, she was yet another pice of family she lost. She hadn’t walked into the camp with the other three, she just stayed and watched as Thaila’s body formed into a tall standing pine tree. She cursed Zues for letting this happen to his own daughter.

As the years went by she took care of the spunky little blond, and Luke liked to help every now and then. Feelings grew for the blond boy, no doubt about it, but she also remembered how Annabeth would squeal to her and rant about her little crush on Luke.

When they came back, all three of them, in one pices to say she was relieved, was an understatement. There had been a lot of events that happened after they were back, her favourite being the look on Clariese’s face when she heard that her father had stolen the bolt. The whole cabin was angry and Percy, and the fact that he had made their father look like a fool. But what she really cherished was right now. She was able to catch up with her brother and everything. Talk about his life, get to know him and how much of a good kid he really was. They talked about the prophecy and how he was confused about being betrayed by a friend and failing to save what matters the most.

“People who know nothing about prophecies may say something like ‘oh well you know the prophecy is crazy and could be wrong in some way,’ but, I know that isn’t the case. So I’d say, that the prophecy isn’t done with you yet.” She shrugged.

“Oh, how great.” he rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Y/N” She heard the smooth deep familiar voice and looked up to meet bright blue eyes. “Right before curfew… could you uh,” he scratched the back of his neck. “Just, meet me by the lake.” he quickly stated then walked off. She sat very confused, she had never seen Luke like that before. He was usually a cocky, joking fellow. Seeing him shy and flustered,and maybe even worried, had concerned her.

When the sun had fallen, and curfew was about twenty minutes away, she snuck out of her cabin and went down to the lake. “Luke?” she called out not seeing him anywhere.

“Y/N.” she then heard from behind her. Turning around she saw a familiar silhouette, She couldn't see his face due to the lack of light but she knew it was him.

“Hey, what’s up?” She walked towards him.

“I-” He looked around and took her by the arm to drag her further away from the cabins so that they could be somewhere where he knew they were truly alone. “I have something to tell you.” He sounded sorrowful and serious. This made Y/N’s heart race faster in worry for the boy in front of her.

“What is it Luke?” She moved her hand to his cheek so he could look at her. He just stared into her eyes for about a minute. He was dazzled by her (e/c) eyes, that she had gotten from her mum and her dark hair that she got from her father. His hands moved to her waist before he viciously pulled her close to him, foreheads touching. Her heart sped up even more, this time from the closeness of the two rather than worry. “Luke?” she questioned.

“I’m so sorry.” He squeezed his eyes shut in pain. “I’m so… so sorry Y/N.” He wrapped his arms further around her waist, pulling her into a hug. She took in his scent as he did hers.

“Luke, I don’t understand, why… why are you sorry?” She pulled away to look into his eyes again.

“Y/N, I… I like you… I like you so much I think I love you. And it hurts me, ever since we lost Thalia, you were there, you were alway there. And I don’t know why I couldn’t be satisfied with just you and Annabeth, but I couldn’t. I’m sorry. I was just so pissed, I needed to get it all out. But in the end, I want you to know that it was you, It was always you.” And that's when he did it. He made her heart completely stop, He leaned in and kissed her. His kiss soft and gentle, the kiss was passionate. She melted into it, wanting it to last forever but alas he pulled away. “I just hope you will forgive me at some point.”

“Luke, what’s going on? What do you mean forgive you?” She was seriously done with this mysterious way he was talking.

“I can’t tell you, not yet. Just, stay with me, for the night. Tonight only, sleep beside me, let me hold you one last time.” He pleaded.

“Luke, where are we gonna sleep, we can’t go to your cabin, because… well,” She thought of the cramped cabin 11 and how embarrassing it might be to wake up in the morning with all those kids around her laughing, or how maybe the twins would try playing a prank of them in their sleep. “Percy’s asleep in my cabin, and we can’t stay out here… the harpies.” She shuddered at the thought of being attacked by those bird ladies.

“Y/N, i’ve seen Percy sleep, there's no way he's gonna wake up before us. I’ll be sure to leave before he even knows I’m there.” He rested his forehead on hers.

She thought for a while. “Alright fine.” She smiled and they walked back to the cabin.

That night she had the best sleep she had ever had. Luke’s warmth,and his scent. It relaxed her in a way that she didn’t know was possible. But he held true to his word of getting out before Percy knew he was there. In fact, she had to sit there for a while trying to be sure it was real and not just a dream, because when she woke up, he wasn’t there. Her heart dropped. It was too vivid, too detailed, too… too real, to be a dream. She got out of bed, and got dressed before hearing a snore. She grabbed her pillow and threw it at the drooling boy, still asleep in his bed.

“Wake up ragworm. You’re gonna miss breakfast.” She said, waiting till he got out of bed and started getting changed to leave and go to breakfast.

They sat at the table eating their food when Mr. D. had stood up to tell everyone to decide whether they were staying for the year or leaving before noon. “What are you gonna do?” Percy looked at his sister.

“I'm staying here.” She shrugged as if not going home was something she was used to.

“You’re not going back to your family?” He sounded confused. But he too was confused if he wanted to go back and see his mum or if he wanted to stay with his new found family. He was kinda hoping she was gonna go so that it would make it easier on him.

“Have no family to go home to, Perc. This right here,” she motioned to all the other kids at their respective tables, “this is the closest thing I have to family.”

As the day had progressed the thought of what happened with Luke last night being real faded as Luke had avoided her all day. And as she was walking around Camp, enjoying her last day with some of her friends she saw some wood nymphs carrying a body wearing blue jeans and a bright orange camp shirt. “Percy.” she gasped as she saw the black head of hair. They carried him to the infirmary where he was tended to and given some nectar to recover.

Once he woke up he started ranting off nonsense. “Luke, it’s Luke we- we need to look for him.” he tried to get up but Chiron stopped him.

“What do you mean it’s Luke, Perc?” She was worried by the tone of her brother's words.

“The… the friend who was supposed to betray me… it’s Luke. He’s the lightning thief” At Percy’s words Y/N’s head went fuzzy, her stomach turned. “He’s serving Kronos, hes trying to bring him back.” she didn’t want to believe what she was hearing, “ Oh… and Y/N… he said that if I happened to survive, to tell you… he meant what he said last night, and that he is really sorry.” Percy said that as if it was irrelevant.

“No, you're lying. Luke, he wouldn… He isn’t... “ She shook her head trying to deny it but then something came back to her.

“I’m sorry. I was just so pissed, I needed to get it all out.” She ran out of the infirmary, tears stinging her eyes and her head steaming. She ran into the cabin, and without thinking rationally started to throw things around out of… well, she wasn’t really sure what she was feeling, she just needed to get it out.

Once she was done throwing things around, and the cabin was totally trashed, she knew exactly what she was feeling. She ran to the lake, feeling angry and sad. She took her shoes off and sat at the edge with her feet in the water. Tears running down her face.

“I just hope you will forgive me at some point.” Luke’s words rang out in her head. “I don’t think I ever can.” She thought. It wasn’t because of the fact that he had betrayed her friends, her family, betrayed her. It was more the fact that Luke was so selfish, so so stupidly selfish that he had to dump that onto her. He had to tell her how he felt and then go and break her like that. Because of that, she hated him, but at the same time, deep in her heart she still loved him, something small was telling her that this wasn’t actually Luke, that he was really the Luke that she loved and that something was controlling him.

She looked up at the sky, the clear blue sky. To anyone else, on any other day, it would have been a beautiful day. But no matter how much the sun shined, all she could see was grey. “Why? Why can’t I be happy? Why do you insist on torturing me constantly. What did I do to make you decide I don’t deserve happiness? Was it because I was born? It’s not my fault that my father can’t keep a stupid promise. It’s not my fault i’m alive. I never asked for this. So why do you do this to me? You petty little brat! I hate you with every bone in my body.” She screamed at her uncle. Zeus wasn’t listening to what his pathetic niece was saying, but someone was.

His chest felt heavy. Listening to what the beautiful broken girl was saying. He had wanted to hold her like he should have for every heart breaking moment of her sixteen years. “I’m sorry i couldn’t save you from that. But I gave you Percy. You have each other now. Take care of each other like I can’t.” Poseidon sighed.

#percy jackson #luke castellan #luke x y/n #luke x reader #luke castellan x reader #percy jackson x reader #percy's sister #daughter of poseidon

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puppyluver256 · 3 years

Photo

[Image Description: Three fan-made Pokemon resembling red-orange cows with flaming tails, the largest one being a minotaur.

The first Pokemon is a red calf with brown hooves, a brown tuft of hair on its head, dark red eyes, tan muzzle and belly, tiny beige horns, and yellow and orange hair on the tip of its tail. It has one hoof slightly off the ground and appears surprised. Orange text outlined in tan to its right reads “Calflame”.

The second Pokemon is a reddish-brown bipedal cow with dark purple mohawk-like hair on its head and matching neck fluff, bright red eyes, tan muzzle, blue hooves, silvery horns and matching shoulder spikes, and yellow and orange hair on the tip of its tail. It has one hand-hoof on its hips and one held up as though raising a fist, its expression showing off its confidence. Orange text outlined in tan to its right reads "Kinedle".

The third Pokemon is a red and orange minotaur-like creature with a tan muzzle, bright red eyes, a gold ring passing through its nostrils, golden horns and shoulder spikes, dark blue mohawk-like hair, dark purple hooves, grey plates on its knuckles with golden spike protrusions, and yellow and orange hair on the tip of its tail. It is standing in a powerful-looking position and glaring off to the side. Orange text outlined in silver to its right reads "Minosteel".

End ID.]

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Calflame - Small Calf Pokemon - fire Curious in nature, Calflame have a tendency to wander if not kept under careful watch. Thankfully they also tend to snort out small embers, so it is fairly easy to track a runaway by the lightly scorched trail they leave behind. / Their tendency to snort out small embers can become quite troublesome if housed in a flammable environment. Experienced farmers that keep Calflame in large groups always make sure barns and other shelters have adequate fireproofing.

Kinedle - Young Cow Pokemon - fire Having grown a bit haughty after evolving from Calflame, they often engage in more risky behavior due to thinking that they already know best. Human parents often joke that Kinedle act much like rowdy teenagers. / Individuals in the same herd tend to butt heads and lock horns with one another, both as a play activity and to establish some sort of dominance. Trainers should be advised to watch out for this behavior, especially when combined with spurts of flame.

Minosteel - Protective Pokemon - fire/steel Despite their fearsome appearance, Minosteel are gentle to small creatures and have a very protective nature. They will not hesitate to come to the aid of injured Pokemon and children. / Due to misunderstanding of intent, farmers used to live in fear of their Moofer calves being abducted by roaming Minosteel. It is now common for Minosteel to be seen as a welcome farm assistant, prepared to aid in rearing abandoned calves and to guard the entire herd.

All right, we get to look at the full evolution line for Cantessy's fire starter Calflame, now with its evolved forms Kinedle and Minosteel! Hope everyone who liked Calflame in that survey from a while back is happy with how their cow friend turns out! :D

I wanted to go with the perceived theme of fire starters being based on the Chinese zodiac, so with only four options available on that front I went with an animal that's quite prominent around here. Yup, we got Cows. Cows and cows and cows. Like I can look down my street when it's daytime and there's a good chance I'll see a cow just Out And About in their humans' pasture. We've also got a pretty strong manufacturing industry, so with that in mind I eventually turned our little fire calf into a metal minotaur. And yes, I'm sorry if this disappointed anyone, but I just immediately stood Kinedle up at the first opportunity hehe.

In terms of gameplay if this were an actual game, the Calflame family is gonna be more attack-focused with some strong defenses and solid HP, to fit in with Minosteel's lore of being a fierce protector. They'll obviously learn a good amount of fire and steel moves that take advantage of this along with some other strong physical attacks, and when Minosteel has evolved they'll learn the move Red Hot Pierce, which acts similarly to Flying Press in that it works as both a fire and steel type move in terms of super-effectiveness (and by that I mean it does double damage to the things that are weak to steel as well as those that are weak to fire, but does normal fire damage on things that are neutral to or resist steel). Is that broken? It might be broken, but at least the other starters get something like it so maybe that balances it out? I'unno, I'm a character designer, not a game balancer hehe. I mainly just get the visual for how it'd look, and I can imagine a Minosteel using this move to heat their horns before ducking down and ramming into their foe.

Also if anyone wants to suggest other moves for these guys to learn and some physical stats (ie. height and weight, I only have a height for the base form starters atm and no weights XD ), feel free to throw 'em at me :3 Links to their info pages will be provided in the replies!

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~If you like, please reblog to show your friends! Likes are appreciated, but reblogs let more people see my content! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Pokemon and related concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Calflame, Kinedle, Minosteel, the Cantessy region, and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

#pokemon #fakemon #cantessy region #calflame #kinedle #minosteel #jess drew the thing #sfw #image description #long post

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elizabethemerald · 4 years

Text

The Nein, The Sapphire and The Ruby

The tower of the Xhorhaus echoed with the sounds of laughing and splashing. At the base of the tower the Mighty Nein relaxed in their hot tub, after their long stint in the frozen north, they relished the warmth.

Beau, Caleb, Jester, Fjord and Yasha all soaked in heat, the water up to their chests. Veth sat on the steps into the hot tub, the water only up to her hips. Caduceus walked around the others, his pants rolled up to his knees while he served them sandwiches and tea. Beau was laughing loudly, as Fjord regaled them all with a story when Caleb suddenly sat bolt upright.

"Everyone shut up!" He said, then stared off into space. The rest of the Nein recognized the look of someone receiving a magical message. The voice of Yussa, their Archmage friend from Nicodranas filled Caleb's head.

"Mister Widogast, your party's presence is urgently required. Madame Lavoure requires your assistance at the Chateau. Awaiting your arrival at Tide Peak Tower. Arrive ready."

Caleb's eyes widened, he snapped his fingers at the others, and rose from the water as he responded to the sending.

"We will teleport directly to the Chateau." He didn't bother to count his words or to add more than that.

The rest of the Nein were already rising to their feet and exiting the hot tub, though at Caleb’s words they froze and multiple eyes flicked to Jester.

"Your mother is in danger." Caleb said to her, then to the rest, "Grab your things and meet me in the entrance way."

Fjord and Veth immediately dashed up the stairs to their rooms to grab their things. Caduceus set down the tea things and followed at a slower but still brisk pace. Yasha’s sword was never far from her, even when she was relaxing, but she still hurried to her room to grab her armor. Beau watched the frozen Jester for a moment before putting on a burst of speed with a shout that she would grab Jester’s armor and weapons from their room.

The shout startled Jester into motion. She threw her clothes on as she wove her hands in the air, pink sigils following her fingers as she wove the spell for her own sending.

"Momma? Are you ok? Are you in danger?" For once she didn't try to fill the word count. She waited desperately for a few seconds before looking in a panic to Caleb who was throwing on his own clothes, fortunately he carried his spell books with him always. "She's not responding!"

Jester grabbed her symbol to the Traveler and began weaving another spell. Caleb finished putting on his jacket in time to watch her finish the spell. For a second he thought she was trying to send another message, but this spell was longer, more intense than a simple sending spell. He gasped in horror as she blinked out of existence right before his eyes.

“Nein! Jester!” He shouted, far too late, then dashed into the entrance hall and shouted into the rest of the house. “Jester cast Sanctuary! We need to go! Now!”

He watched as Beau jumped on one foot trying to put her other boot on, her other hand full of Jester’s weapons and armor. Fjord and Yasha were working to buckle their armor in place. They were taking too long. Jester was there now! By herself, facing who only knew what. Caleb squeezed the clay turtle in his hands for a moment, before making a snap decision.

Caleb gave the turtle another squeeze, then felt the jerk in his stomach as the Xhorhaus disappeared from view, a second later to be replaced with the dining room of the Lavish Chateau, and utter chaos. The tables were flipped and chairs strewn around the room. The servants were screaming and running there was a small fire burning in one corner. He took all of this in with a glance as he looked for any foes, when a scream dragged his attention up the stairs.

“Bluud!!” Jester screamed. Her Sanctuary was her bedroom upstairs, right next to where the Ruby lived.

Caleb didn’t hesitate, casting Fly on himself and immediately soaring up to upper floor where the scream had come from. If the lower floor had been chaotic, then he wasn’t sure he had an appropriate word to describe what was happening here. The landing was packed to the rails with armed and masked men, each carried short swords or bows. Some were already laying wounded or dying on the ground.

Bluud, Marian’s minotaur body guard roared in pain, more than a dozen slash marks covered his hide, while as many arrows stuck out from his body. He had a small stack of bodies around him, but was quickly being overwhelmed.

Floating in the air above him was Jester’s spectral lollipop. This one was jagged and serrated and already coated in gore. Caleb took only a moment to spot Jester. She grabbed one of the men’s face and screamed at him, inflicting wounds. The man’s blood vessels in his neck and chest burst open then blackened and shriveled from the necrotic energy.

Her scream sharpened in pain and rage as one of the sellswords slashed her. She tried to block the attack, but without her shield or armor, it carved across her arm. Frost and ice coalesced across her body before rocketing off and burying themselves in her assailant. He fell with a gurgle, but immediately another man was in his place.

Caleb quickly ran through his spell repertoire. Most of his go-to offensive spells, polymorph, fireball, or wall of fire were too dangerous in the close quarters. Especially with Jester and Bluud in the fray. Instead he waved one hand over the other and multiple scorching rays flew from his hand blasting into the armed men. He specifically targeted those closest to Jester and Bluud to try and give them some breathing room.

Before the smoke had even cleared the air was filled with hamster unicorns, as Jester cast Spiritual Guardians. The unicorns had sharp teeth and massive claws as they began tearing into the surrounding men. Her lollipop bashed into another sending him flying over the rail to the lobby below.

Caleb barely noticed an arrow fired in his direction and cast shield on reflex. The arrow bounced off the armor and he unleashed another wave of scorching rays. As the cinders of men fell to the ground, he struggled to overcome the memories that tried to flood his mind. He knew he was falling, when suddenly the screaming in his head was drowned out by a scream from the door behind Bluud.

"Momma!" Jester screamed.

Jester’s scream tore through Caleb's mind, bringing the world back to a laser focus. Jester dashed past Bluud, tapping him on the shoulder, green energy closing some of his wounds. Caleb landed right behind her and flung some iron filings into the air and the minotaur suddenly towered over the few remaining men even more. Caleb pushed into Marion's room as Bluud roared, then froze bumping into Jester.

"Take another step and the Ruby dies!"

Marion Lavorre stood in the center of the room, her eyes wide with fear. Behind her stood a man, better dressed than any of the others, with a knife held to her throat. He was clearly the leader, if anyone knew who had hired them to attack the Chateau it would be him.

Caleb mentally ran through his spell list again. Magic missile would be able to avoid hitting Jester’s mother, but disintegrate would ensure this scum died and never threatened Marion again.

"We're just here for the blue tiefling." The man snarled. "Surrender and no one else needs to get hurt."

Jester stiffened. Caleb stepped up behind her, trying to reassure her with his presence. This wasn't her fault he wanted to say, but this wasn't the time. He didn't let his eyes leave the man using her mother as a shield.

A single drop of blood, dripped down Marion’s scarlet skin from the knife at her throat. Jester bared her fangs in rage, but before she could do anything Marion growled in what Caleb recognized as Infernal. The man was suddenly engulfed in crimson flames, he fell back shouting and patting at the flames.

Jester raised her hand immediately and a bell sounded, a deep resonate clang, and blood poured out of his ears and eyes. Before he could recover Caleb pulled a cricket from his pocket and waved it in the air and the man collapsed to the ground snoring.

Marion slumped to the ground away from the man, a sob rocking her form. Jester flew to her side, wrapping her in her arms.

"Its ok momma. Its ok. Your Jester is here." Jester whispered softly into her mother's red hair.

Caleb pulled some string from his pocket and tied the sleeping man's wrists, then quickly cleared the rest of the Ruby's apartment. When he was sure there were no more threats within her quarters he jerked the front door open fire whirling at his fingertips. However it appeared the giant sized Bluud had taken care of the rest of the assailants.

Before too long the rest of the Nein arrived. Caduceus had used his sanctuary spell to bring the rest of them to the lighthouse. Beau got there first, putting on a quite frankly inhuman display of speed as she raced to the Chateau. The rest weren't far behind her.

With the Nein around them and Jester’s mother in her arms Caleb breathed out for what felt like the first time since he had received Yussa's message.

* * *

With the full power of the Mighty Nein gathered together, the first priority was ensuring Marion’s safety. She was escorted by the Nein to Tide Peak Tower. All of them had their weapons drawn and ready, spells sparking at their finger tips. When she and Bluud were safe in the tower a few things immediately became apparent.

First off, it was obvious that the local Zhelezo had been paid off or distracted so that no one would respond to the attack at the Chateau. They encountered no guards as they walked her to Yussa’s tower, and the wizard himself had to message the local division into investigating the attack and protecting the staff of the Chateau.

Secondly they found that Yeza and Luc had been visiting with Marion when the attack had started. Marion had snuck the two of them down a servant’s stair and told them to run to the Open Quay, after all of Jester’s stories she knew Yussa was an ally. He was able to protect the two halflings and message Caleb. He then sealed his tower and prepared for further assault just in case.

Finally, who ever had orchestrated this was filthy rich. The amount of money it would cost to pay off that many guards, to start fires around the city to draw even more of their attention, and to pay for the sellswords to attack a well known establishment in the middle of the day, was more than the Nein had seen in all their days of adventuring.

Eventually they had Marion safe in the tower. Bluud, after a significant healing from Caduceus, insisted on staying by her side while she rested from her ordeal. Caleb had, at Jester’s insistence cast his own magical mansion, so she was double protected by magical barriers and could rest comfortably in Jester’s bedroom. Yeza and Luc stayed in Caleb’s tower as well. Partially to be near Marion if she needed any assistance. Partially to keep Luc out of the way for what would come after.

* * *

The mercenary captain woke up, bound to a chair, and surrounded by grim faces. Yasha gently rested Skin Gorger against his shoulder. Fjord had the Star Razer against his other side. Small flesh eating beetles crawled all over him from Caduceus’ staff and Veth kept her cross bow aimed at him the whole time. Beau cracked her knuckles and Caleb allowed fire to dance across his fingers. As the mercenary awoke, the room quickly filled with the stench of fear and urine.

“Let me make our position very clear.” Caleb said stepping forward now that he was awake. “You have attacked someone who is very dear to us. In doing so you have committed an unspeakable mistake.”

Beau stepped up next. “We have a lot of different ways to make you talk. Truth spells, my Cobalt knuckles. Pain. We’ve got a lot of pain we can bring against you. So how about you spare us all of that, and just tell us. Who paid you?”

The man was sweating, his eyes wide. Yet still he clamped his jaw shut. Beau shrugged.

“Have it your way.” She cocked her fist back, but froze as a blue hand hand fell onto her shoulder. She stepped back as Jester stepped forward.

Unlike the stern looks on the face of the rest of them, Jester wore a bright smile. If Caleb didn’t know her, he would say she was completely at ease. However he could see the cold fury, raging in her eyes underneath her mask. The man pulled back as she stepped up to him, unnerved by his quarry smiling at him like that.

“You hurt my momma.” Jester said. Her voice was soft as she dragged a finger along his chin. Green magic healed his wounds, and he took a deep breath, even more surprised. “I don’t like it when people hurt my momma.”

Jester dug her nails into the man’s chest and the veins around her fingers blackened and burst, and the skin withered and died. He screamed in pain, Jester’s smile never left her face, now looking more demented then truly joyful.

“Lord Sharpe!” The man gasped out, agony heavy on his words. “We were paid by Lord Sharpe.”

Please reblog!!

#jester lavorre #caleb widogast #widojest #marion lavorre #beauregard lionett #lord sharpe #the mighty nein #critical role #critical role fic #writing emerald

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dungeonecologist · 3 years

Text

Once again, the fundamental style of the dungeon layout has changed. We’ve had a series of “rooms,” we’ve had narrow winding “halls,” but stepping onto the 3rd floor we find ourselves in a wide open expanse. Immediately we can spot a lone FOE sitting menacingly in the center of the room. It’s quick to anger and although a little slower than the party, it pursues us all around the room. So, without stopping, we have to start feeling out the perimeter of the room, as the room is actually so big that the far walls are outside the render distance; You can only see 3 tiles ahead of you, anything more than that you see a kind of default backdrop of “trees at a distance.”

The smart thing to do is keep a healthy distance from the angry red orb, but of course I had to run into it to get a screenshot. It’s a terrifying kaiju style mantis called, Stalker. It’s singular skill is Scythe, and it does a ridiculous amount of damage for our low level, which is basically guaranteed to kill off a single party member. I like to imagine that the massive open space isn’t naturally occurring in these woods, but the product of the Stalker using its razor sharp scythe arms to clear the area. I kind of wish there had been some sort of stump asset to scatter around the area to give that impression.

Incidentally, I remembered the Stalker being the central FOE on this floor, but I thought it had some kind of petrification skill. Which is curious, because the floor title, “Marble Orchard of Soldiers” seems to imply petrified victims likened to tree trunks.

Incidentally the Mandrake are new enemies on this floor... but they also don’t have any petrification skill... Even though Mandrake mythos does usually attribute something like instant death, paralysis, or petrification to their screams.

I hadn’t actually mentioned it, as it tends to be a universal issue, but the random encounters had thus far covered a pretty broad range of mix and match with the enemies available. Why the rats and butterflies and deer have conspired to put aside their differences to gang up on humanity is never particularly clear, but every so often some of these groupings actually feel like they’ve got some sense about them. Later Etrian Odyssey games really lean into this more than the original, but I like that the Mandrake tend to appear along side treerats here, and I like the idea that we stumbled upon the rats foraging for food and digging the Mandrake up themselves.

A brief aside: It could have been a really fun feature to have the rats attack the Mandrake themselves, killing it off early, and triggering a passive dying skill where it screams, showing off the Mandrake’s classic screaming. It would make it optimal to kill off the rats first, so that as the last kill of the encounter, the Mandrake’s scream wouldn’t have any lasting effect. Later Etrian games actually do use features like this, in some cases with enemies “eating” eachother to gain health or stat boosts. It just really helps breath a little bit of life into the setting and really make it feel like these random monsters live in the dungeon, and aren’t just cardboard popups in a defensive driving course.

Also, there are Rollers now. Which are weirdly Sandshrew-like, considering they’re both not particularly reminiscent of actual armadillos or even pangolins, which are presumably the core concept. They’re a pain in the butt, as they’ve got both good attack and defense, and they seem to show up with those Hares we’ve seen before, which makes for a real dangerous run in. It’d be easier if I had Dina around to cast magic on them, but I sort of made her our dedicated Chop user, to gather resources from the first floor.

Otherwise, It’s actually a pretty sparse floor all things considered. Those three are the only new additions, although there are plenty of returning monsters from the previous floors. As a clever little build on existing elements, the more labyrinthine portion of this floor are also being stalked by that Kyuutha FOE from the 2nd floor. Only now, instead of chasing us out of it’s singular spiral den off the beaten path, these will chase us around forking paths as we try to find out way to the exit. It’s got fun minotaur vibes.

Unrelated to our shtick about how the monsters get along with the dungeon itself, or with eachother, we meet some NPC adventurers: Ren and Tlachtga, our archetypes for the Ronin and Hexer classes. Just thought they were nice to look at.

#Etrian Odyssey

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cupcakecoterie · 3 years

Video

youtube

@true0neutral - Hazel, half-elf cleric

@fauxfire76 - Darvin, human bard/sorcerer

@miaaoi - Froseth, dragonborn monk

@hyperewok1 - Remi, human paladin/warlock

@lindira - Clarity, tiefling rogue/warlock

Marion - Ava, human ranger

Brian - Barnabus, minotaur fighter

Finally catching up with update posting, just in time for tonight’s session. Yay, me! (Now I just need to remember that I need to change the various individual volume settings again...)

The gang had their various bits of fun and games at the Tipsy Pixie. Clarity was okay with Hazel going off for some sexytimes with Kezia with the caveat of, “I still want cuddles overnight so see you in a few hours; have fun!” Darvin ended up with a gender-neutral individual with whom he had a good time and is saying nothing about the contents of said individual’s pants (Darvin’s pansexual; not the stereotyped horny-bard but he’s not exactly picky about gender or species so long as the individual in question is capable of informed consent). Barnabus spent the evening with Marta, one of the local massage experts, and was like unto overcooked noodle for a variety of reasons in the morning. Ava had her ‘sampler pack’ and ended up in a “we’re leaving it open whether they did anything or not” situation with Ivan, a Fjord-esque piratical half-orc gentleman. Froseth is even less interested in this kind of thing than Clarity is, so he just watched, probably amused. Everybody had a good time, basically.

Come morning, they had breakfast, said their goodbyes to the staff of the Tipsy Pixie, ensured that Constance Langerhan was on her way to the relative safety of Egref, and then headed to the border of Eun-Bac.

It. Was. COLD. When Froseth and Alisaie (the only ones with any kind of cold-resistance) went out to get furs for them, even the brief blast of cold air from opening the flap of the tent they were in caused people cold damage. Cold. VERY COLD.

As it happened, the individuals running the airship Alisaie saved from the red dragon attack tried to sell her abandoned things to the People immediately upon arriving at the Eun-Bac border. Apparently whoever tried it got roughed up and her things were taken and given to the local Urdzheja. One of the things they do when one of the People goes missing with no solid proof of their death is to set up a ritual circle, put their belongings in that circle, and leave them there. The ritual circle lasts a year, and anyone but the owner who tries to touch the things in them ... regrets it. If the owner comes back for them, fate conspires to bring their pack into the area at around the same time, so that a person who was lost can be reunited with their pack.

Long story short: Remi got glared at by Alisaie’s pet riding moose, Legolas (Legs for short). Everybody who wanted to pet the very large (larger than the average, in fact, and yes, I know that’s saying something) white moose got to pet the moose. Then they got to meet Alisaie’s Pack - the ones that adopted her when she had to flee Belarys.

Ava, Barnabus and Remi have been adopted by Alisaie’s Pack - Ava and Barnabus because Alisaie adopted them, and Remi because pair-bond. This flummoxed everybody.

However, the pair-bond and Barnabus sacrificing his way home to protect the others in general and Remi and Alisaie’s wedding in particular did earn them the right to more or less insta-learn the sign language of the People, courtesy a charm from the Urdzheja. That made life a little easier for them, though hopefully the others will either earn that for themselves or just learn it later, because right now they’re missing a lot beyond vagueries taken from Insight checks. (The People don’t like speaking Common very much. They’re going to find out why this coming session.)

They did play with the sled dogs - Huskies the size of dire wolves. That was fun for all concerned.

Basically they got acquainted with Alisaie’s Pack in preparation for a trek across the Eun-Bac wastes with them, heading for Damyl with a stop-off at what one of Alisaie’s packmates called “the Ice Maze”, which no one has asked about because they were too busy petting moose and being licked by dogs.

We might actually have combat this session! They’re at least going to partake in a Hunt. That’s gonna be fuuuuuuuuuun...

#cupcake coterie #Youtube Vid

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