#monster community ftw

[bluemoon1331]

Hello, hello! Welcome to my main blog, where the DCA fascination consumes! My alt blog is @sharetheartman, go check it out if you wanna see the amazing art this community has to offer!

My Ko-fi (if you're able to help a struggling writer, very much appreciated. Can request written commissions if you want): BlueMoon1331

Below is a list of all my current fics on A03 and planned AUs! Give them a read if you love fantasy and the DCA! (Updated to divide between the SFW and NSFW stories)

<<<<<First up, the SFW section!>>>>>>

Finished Works:

One Lost Star- You are a bit of a hermit, living solo off the land since the death of your grandfather. Until you draw certain godly attention, that is.

Scarlet Masquerade- The sole heir to your kingdom, you find yourself caught in the tangled web of the automaton emperor's plans. However, things are about to go from bad to worse when you catch the interest of the deadly automaton assassin sent to end you.

WIPs:

Cosmic Journeys- Trapped in the depths of depression, you seek an unfortunate out. The nearby land owner won't let that happen, though. Thus begins a journey of self-worth and finding hope in a world of madness and compassion, monsters, saints, and everything in between.

Come and Go- A Megamind-inspired AU with Sun as Metroman, Moon as Megamind, and Eclipse as Titan, while you are a delivery driver caught in the middle.

Unusual- An oceanographer, there is no place you'd rather be than scouring the depths of the seven seas, studying its plant life and creatures, in particular the infamous mers, beings most of your co-workers are quite wary of. They don't seem to mind you too much, though, a fact you try not to put stock in until an encounter on the beach near your house flips your entire world upside down. Strings of fate and a battle to rule the oceans with you as the key? Ridiculous. Right?

Of Metal Parts and Roadside Shenanigans- You are a trucker traveling home before unwittingly tripping headfirst into a giant mystery. (More of @deceptiveshadow's Blood Moon cause I love him and cannot help myself.)

One-shots:

Party Crashing 101- A piece inspired by the mafia episode from Helluva Boss. Badass, protective reader ftw XD

Blooming In Adversity- You and the princesses were great friends in your youth, until you had to move away. Years later, you return, your friendship blooming anew. However, dark plots turn in the background, and it may be up to just you to save them.

Phantom Tide- You are a siren, crushed under betrayal. Sun and Moon are brothers recovering from the throes of grief. Perhaps you may be just what each other need.

Connotations- Your duties as a druid are fairly life-consuming, but you have happily devoted yourself to them. Keeping the peace is not the easiest, but you do it all the same. Unfortunately, the arrival of contesting priests threaten your efforts, setting you on a collision course to meet three of the forest's most powerful caretakers.

Diamonds and Iron- Being a rather big-time mafia boss, of course Eclipse needs places to stash away his income. As an outdoor enthusiast, you love visiting the local motorsports arena when you can afford it. Oh, who's that standing in the middle of the track, where you can't see?

<<<<<<<<<NSFW area ahoy!>>>>>>>>>>

Finished Works:

Never Play Cat and Mouse With Vampires- Living alone is a necessity, your skills in hunting, magic, and evasion giving you all you need for contentment, or so you tell yourself. In your newest home you, unfortunately, find that your capabilities only draw the infatuation of three local creatures that are intent to finally capture you and make you theirs. Annoyingly, they may just get that chance.

Dancing In Orbit- The lunar vampire is the last of his kind, a deadly plague on the Earth that refuses to yield despite the uncountable years that have passed since the last of his kin and kind died off. You, running from your intertwined past, seek to finally put an end to that, with some help from friends old and new.

Familiar Constellations- The vampires get a bit quirky about you, especially when you egg them on. Mature. Very, very mature. Good gods they are rough, but you love it. After all, you can get a bit rough with them, too.

WIPs:

Embers and Ash- Ghost hunting is your profession, and you are damn good at it. Which is why you don't think twice when you're hired to cleanse an abandoned mansion of its otherworldly resident. Too bad this job is not the cake walk you thought it would be.

Burning Stars- You run your farm alone on a world teeming with aliens and humans, content with your animal family and helpful community, even if you keep the latter at arm's lengths. Until your peace is interrupted by a certain intergalactic bounty hunter, anyway.

Rosewood's Serenade- The eldest child of your kingdom, you have trained since birth to be all your home needs and more, intent to take the throne when the time comes, marriage or no. However, your parents harbor a secret, a deal struck when disaster threatened to destroy all they hold dear, and you soon find yourself meeting a most intriguing being...

Demonic- The saying of Hell is empty for all the demons are here has never been more apt. Caught smack dab in the middle of the infamous Hell-Day event, you come out with an unexpected passenger woven into your soul. Now, you secretly fight to preserve the fragile balance between mortals and the demons trapped on Earth, all while contending with the fact your new neighbors are the very ones responsible for sealing the gates, the infamous Celestial Graces. They also happen to be the mortal enemies of the one currently living in you. Fun times all around, especially with devil himself on your heels, seeking to reclaim what he lost.

Along the Akesh- Blessed with visions since your youth, you were taken and raised by the temple, becoming one of the highest-ranked priests, second to only the grand heijut himself. With an awe-inspiring festival and ritual that happens only once every five centuries under way, you are eager to meet the moon god, one of the many you have had the pleasure of conversing with throughout your prayers and oracles, in person. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when the temple must pay recompense for an accidental screw up with a gift left by an old friend. You are about to learn just how intrigued you and the moon god truly are with each other.

One-shots:

Bleeding Feathers- You weren't supposed to go into the exclusionary zone, but that's never been a problem for you before. This time, however, you might just get more than you bargained for. Fan piece for @deceptiveshadow's harpy au! (Not TSAMS)

Color Theory- Moving back to your late grandma's cabin, you pray for things to finally settle down. Unfortunately, her myriad of secrets seek to come back and haunt you, but hey, it might not be all bad this time. You could use the comfort of an old friend. Another fic inspired by @deceptiveshadow! Their god Blood Moon this time. (Not TSAMS)

<<<<<<<Lastly, miscellaneous potential AUs!>>>>>>>

Lich King AU- With the three realms in shambles, cut off from each other, it is up to the most powerful warriors of Earth to fend off the lich king and his Elite army, including his own brothers. You, whom offers them a secret safe haven and relaxation when they need it, cannot deny your love for Sun and Moon, nor they you, but with Eclipse hounding for any weakness he can use against his kin, is the danger really worth it? You find the answer may be coming sooner than you would like when the two go missing after a fight.

Spirited Away AU- You have moved to a more remote region in hopes of forgetting a troubled family life. Content to spend your time among the lush jungles of the land, you inadvertently stumble upon an obviously long-forgotten temple. Curiosity eats at you, and you cannot help get closer, initially unaware of the myriad of eyes watching you, until you spot...an icy blue leopard? It's a good thing you helped those snakes and that spider on your way here.

Harem AU- You saved them from certain death, and now the clan of vampire brothers serve you. For years uncountable, you have pulled the strings, quite happy to cause chaos around the world when it becomes too dull for your liking, going from hero to hero. On blood soaked ground, you are content with your helpful vampires, though can things really stay the same forever?

[t4tails]

can i ask abt ur thing w the dolls? like what's the beef? also monster high ftw, the designs weren't all great but most of them ate down

lmao okay, so rainbow high has been one of the biggest brands in the doll collecting world for the past few years - theyre made by MGA, same ppl behind bratz, and the 2nd biggest doll company behind mattel (barbie and monster high + others). im putting the rest of this under a cut because im under the assumption you are not plugged into the doll community at all lol

they were particularly popular because unlike a lot of other brands, they deliberately catered towards older audiences beyond one or two releases a year. they would listen to criticism in regards to diversity; the first series was almost all white girls with the same face, but by the 4th series had multiple different face molds and were incorporating things like vitiligo, albinism, and henna into the dolls, and all at the retail price of $20-30 with fantastic quality clothes.

they also introduced shadow high, a companion brand that was much more, i guess avant garde? than literally anyone is used to seeing from playline fashion dolls

however, at the end of 2023, right after a heavily criticized release of dolls with childish names like "pinkly paige" and "blu brooks"

MGA announced a rebrand for 2024! since leaks in december, rainbow high has completely shifted focus to a much, much younger audience. they ditched later, more interesting and diverse designs in favor of exclusively sticking to the original series 1 cast, and the first release post-rebrand having a SLIME GIMMICK where you fill the dolls clothes and their pets (also new?!) with slime. the outfits were blatant worse ripoffs of the original series 1, and all the dolls come with irremovable glitter on their t-zones. they also completely got rid of wrist articulation.

since then, we've gotten more leaks of the later lines in this rebrand, and its all... well, bad. the winter ones that i was complaining about earlier are just the tip of the iceberg, there also "moonbows" a line with no knee articulation in favor of glitter in their legs, and the already released slumber party line that when compared with the previous pajama line pre-rebrand is just laughable

basically, the current state of the rainbow high brand and its status in collectors minds is kind of a trainwreck you cant look away from

[edducard]

Pinned Post!

So, I'm starting to get some traction so ig time to make a pinned post!

First off, hello! My name's Tord (or Danni, both work) and this little guy is my sona for this blog! I'm a tord irl and I love drawing my little scrimblos!

I also love to chat abt my favs!! Ask box is always open pls talk to me I prommy I don't bite!!!!!!

I ship pretty much everything (polyworld ftw!!) but I'm weak for p much all tord ships (it's like im rlly there!) I also post NSFW from time to time! So minor's go elsewhere!!

Also basic DNI criteria; if ur pro//ship, racist, lgbtphobic, zoo//phile die in a fire <3

General Tags

#commie art - Art tag! All my artwork goes under this tag

#stfu commie - Basic post tag, if I'm just chattin off it goes there! Or if I'm answering an ask, also goes there

#commie edits - Tag for my edits! There may not be many but I do them

I also have an Adult Eddsworld server! If you wanna see me be fucking insane in my natural habitat, come on by!

(Note that I do ID check, just gotta make sure everyone is adults n all that!)

I also have many au's! I'll keep an updated list here along w the tags for each one! This part will be under the cut as it gets quite long </3

My The End rewrite comic - Over on @the-end-rewrite

Synopsis: My retelling of The End. It's still in its early stages, but the story has already been almost fully developed and chapter 1 is almost completed! It takes a vastly different approach form The End while still keeping the same basic ideas and important details. You can start here

Monster AU - Tagged with #monster au

Synopsis: This was my very first au I made back in 2017! All of the eddboys are monsters from folkore or fairy tales! They live in what's called "The Monster Plane" and can traverse into the human realm from time to time (That's how we know about them!), however humans cannot cross into The Monster Plane. Basically, a silly comfort au that I added lore too :3c

Furry AU - Tagged with #furry au

Synopsis: It's judt the guys as furries, nothin too much to explain lmao! Here's a list of what each animal each character is! Edd - Capybara, Tord - Honey Badger, Tom - Bintarong, Matt - King Cobra Eduardo - Caimen, Jon - Sea Otter, Mark - Mongoose Patryk - Pelican, Hellucard - British Shorthair Cat

Owl House AU - Tagged with #owl house au

Synopsis: Eddsworld Owl House AU! It's still being developed but the base idea is just the gang are all witches and/or demons! Something seems to be up with a certain blonde guy, however... And Tord seems to be cooking up some plans... hmm....

Youtuber AU - Tagged with #youtuber au

Synopsis: The gangs all youtubers! Or streamers, same difference really. This is just a silly little au I made back innn 2017 or 2018 and there no serious lore or whatever, just silly guys doin their thing! Tom's a twitch streamer, Tord runs a podcast w Paul and Pat along with a gun nut youtube channel, Edd does animations and art tutorials and all that, Matt is a beauty guro/vlogger!

Panty and Stocking AU - Tagged with #paswg au

Synopsis: I combined hyperfixations by making Tom and Tord Panty and Stocking! However, things are a tad different in this au, like they are not related, and Tord's weapon... prolly isn't his panties lmao, it's most likely just his pants! Tom still uses his socks, weapons stay the same. Edd and Matt are Scanty and Kneesocks (still haven't figured out who's who yet)

Horror AU - Tagged with #horror au

Synopsis: Tord comes back to try and get his robot, thinking it'd be an easy in and out job... Oh, how very, very wrong he was. seems that everything had gone to shit since he's been gone. Tom's been completely taken over by the demonic possession, leaving him as only a shell of his former self. Matt's let his vampirism take full control, leaving him a walking corpse constantly on the hunt for blood to keep his beautiful, youthful looks, and has also named himself King of the Night. Edd's radioactivity seemed to have backfired on him and jumbled his brain just a tad, he's gone completely off the wall and is desperate for his old friends again, when he catches wind that Tord is back, well... He seems very excited to get the gang back together.

Okay thank u for reading!!! Have a good day, love uuuu

[abirdnamedkipling]

I made my three best girls in picrew bc I was bored lol

from top to bottom, these are:

Idunn, a Norse goddess and an interdimensional deity of time, timelines, and immortality. She is truly a force of chaos. She's Nordic as you can imagine, blonde, blue-eyed, and paler than milk, but even with her youthful, happy face in front of you, you would never trust her farther than you could throw her. You don't know how to describe it, but she's strange. Maybe it's her smile, genuine and joyful but somehow surreal-a giggle at a funeral, a song in a forest long dead. Maybe it's her eyes, so blue but so strangely reflective. You can see past them, but all you can see is...you. ((Idunn's one of the OGs. I made her when I was eleven and haven't looked back. She's an absolute gremlin of a woman and also beyond mortal comprehension for obvious reasons. She's usually wearing very basic, fantasy NPC-type clothes, but I gave her the shirt and the Monster because she spends plenty of time in modern-day worlds and she's exactly the type to be encountered in a 7/11 at three am, wearing a dilf shirt and chugging what is probably her eighth energy drink of the night while staring at the selection of sour candies. she wouldn't buy anything, at least not while you're in there. she'd just wander the aisles, treating the snacks like they're her own personal reality show. she makes no sense, I love her.))

Rowena, the Descendant, which is the title for the third most powerful faerie in the hierarchy of the Faerie Court. She originally was set in the story of the Septimus Heap books, and she still has some relation to that. She was a changeling and found/was found by the fae when she was fourteen, along with some friends. The Descendant is someone in whom the four regions of Faerie (Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales) and the four elements of power as well as the powers under these elements are blended equally. Both she and her parents vanished when she was a baby, and no one can find any trace of them somehow, which is really weird because they were fairly important people. Her psyche is really fucked up because the witch she was apprenticed under (oh yeah she was raised in a commune of forest witches) had gotten only one instruction from the leader of the seelie, which was to cast memory charms on her to keep her from learning the truth. If she learned who she was before she was strong enough, she was basically screwed. The max amount of memory charms able to be cast on a person before their mental state starts taking hits is ten, and Rowena got about seventy cast on her in the course of her life. (Marina, her witch mentor, was not aware of this. Marina was doing her best. If you blame Marina for any of this I'll hit you.) So when they tried to take the charms off Rena went into a coma for a bit and now has a badly cracked psyche. She's working on it. It's fine. ((Rowena wears purple constantly and also has her hair in one thick braid, but Picrew doesn't really have many single braid options so I just put her hair down.))

Astarte is a time witch, and part of the Triad that she, Idunn, and Thomas make up. She lives in a tower situated on a world where she came from and which she blames herself for destroying and conducts experiments of magic and power. She and Idunn are very good friends. She's also close with Howl Pendragon (sensitive bitches with truthfulness issues being pedants about magic shit ftw). Her story was heavily inspired by Wicked because I am a pathetic theater kid.

[urdearestmom]

alright y'all I've recovered enough from vol 2 that I can now articulate my thoughts somewhat. here we go! I really want season 5 immediately but unfortunately cannot have that :( I will say that I think Stranger Things' episode Nines are just,,,, amazing. nothing so far has come close to my love for s2e9 except for s4e9. I think they're tied

ngl I was mildly concerned they were going to attempt some kind of redemption with Brenner so I was pleasantly excited when he continued to be as evil as he ever was :) El finally standing up to him and realizing she's not the monster, he is, was AMAZING and I loved how she just said bye and walked away. left him to die on his own as he deserved! Owens is still a shady guy but he's always on the gang's side (I'm just curious what happened to him? like did Sullivan have him killed? arrested? will we see him next season? I'm nearly certain we'll see Sullivan again because I don't think that subplot will be so easily resolved)

as for the rest of it, Eddie's death panned out pretty much exactly how I thought it would so I never let myself get too attached to him. what got me was Dustin's reaction! Gaten did so amazingly in that scene wow. Jason also died which was great for me because he was just insane at that point and while I kinda felt for him he was also annoying. sorry not sorry

Jopper finally getting together was lovely. I've never been overly invested in them bc they are so canon in my mind that I never doubted it would happen but it was great nonetheless. Hopper reuniting with El had me smiling so hard at the end bc for a sec I genuinely thought it was Sullivan coming to kidnap El and that was how the season would end and then it was just good ol' Hop :) El having a family like she deserves is my favourite thing!! Hopper and Mike also hugging caught me off guard bc I didn't think they'd do it but they did and I hope that leads to them having a better relationship!

now El getting picked up in the desert and blowing up that helicopter? TOP. TIER. I had my arms up cheering "HERE COME THE PIZZA BOYS!!!!!!!" and when you could see Mike getting out of the van being the first one to run to her, all in slow motion, my god. I was speechless. their whole reunion was gorgeous. El's disbelief, the forehead touch: chefs kiss. El hugging Will like that? best. I live for El having a family. El's brothers ftw

Mike's long-awaited monologue: WHAT. I was shaking and on the edge of my seat the whole scene. It will absolutely live in my head rent free for the rest of all time. I can barely even process it. He really said he's loved her since the moment he saw her I can't believe it. It's what I've been waiting for since I was 16 years old and it still feels surreal that he really told her all of that in words. Mike Wheeler, King of Not Talking About Any Of His Feelings Ever, really said all of that. Wow. Finn knocked that completely out of the park

Lastly, Max's death? HOLY SHIT. That one tore me up I was sobbing and yelling at my tv. I really love Max and didn't want her to die even though I had a feeling something else was still going to happen to her. THE FACT THAT THEY USED THE SONG FROM FINDING WILL'S BODY IN S1- JAIL FOR 1000 YEARS. Her dying in Lucas' arms and his reaction really got me. Both Caleb and Sadie did phenomenal work this season and made me love Lumax a lot more than I did before. Lumax OUTSOLD!!!! Max's little drawing and the fact that they won't get to go on their date and the way Lucas was sitting in the hospital with his beat up face reading her a book... I'm in shambles

El being there watching it happen while no one knew she was there was also heartbreaking

Mildly concerning that El couldn't find Max's mind in the void though, even if she is in a coma. El can find and even vaguely communicate with Terry who is in a vegetative state, so I'm not sure what I think will happen with Max next season. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

That ending too. Vecna's not dead obviously and Hawkins is... yikes. The cliffhanger makes it seem like season 5 will pick up where 4 leaves off and I am very excited to have a resolution!

This isn't even all I could say but I don't want this post to get super long so I'm just touching on the stuff that stuck with me

[toweroftickles]

TOP 10 FAVORITE LEES OF 2021

Well, I missed the actual day (back in October), but this blog began a bit over a year ago. Much writing (and “research”) has been accomplished since then, so looking back on this past 14 months I decided to compile a list of the characters I’ve had the most fun writing about.

Some of these have had entire fics, some I’ve only written headcanons for, or have barely been mentioned. This isn’t based on how much or little material is in my backlog. No particular order!

Neytiri (Avatar - James Cameron)

The “long day” fic was incredibly fun to write, and it’s surprisingly been one of my more popular with people outside the “community.” I have a soft spot for tough, badass characters who just can’t stand being tickled, and that definitely seems like a natural fit for Neytiri. Plus…hey, I’ve got a thing for blue girls. XD

Ursula (Kiki’s Delivery Service)

She’s just the best. Had a huge crush on her when I was a kid. Haha

Kiki

Canon lees FTW ^^

(Can you imagine the poor guy who had to animate that? 😂)

Link (The Legend of Zelda)

The Legend of Zelda basically made me who I am today. It started with Ocarina of Time when I was 5, and from then I was hooked. Breath of the Wild was too much a departure from the franchise for me…I still haven’t played it. (Can they at least make him left-handed again? >___<) Wonder which Link is the most ticklish…

Victoria (Cats 2019)

Screw you. I don’t care how weird or creepy you think this movie is; you’re wrong. Victoria is the cutest thing in the entire universe and I will literally come to your house and fight you about it.

Lady Dimitrescu (RE8)

Oh dear lord

Luca & Alberto (Luca)

They have tickle fights all the time; you will never convince me otherwise. I really should go back to that crossover idea between Luca & Monsters Inc. lol

Lisa (Ponyo)

Is “anime fish moms” a genre? You know she’s super ticklish and would be such an adorable wholesome lee. 😁

Toph (the other Avatar)

I mean, duh.

Hopefully the next year will have some fun stuff too. Thanks to all the people who have followed so far. :)

[nefastum]

Hello there! Just coming by to drop off an HC or two as a fellow GriffGutsCa shipper... Sorry in advance for the gushing.

I've always been of the mind that Guts is like. A unexpectedly passionate lover? And super tender or sensual about it? And know when I say unexpected, I mean for Casca especially, (who didnt expect him to be very tender in the manga i would say) but Griffith too. It's easy to look at that monster of a man with how rough and uncouth he is and think he'd be a beast (and he certainly can be *wink 😉) in bed, but I like to think hes a mix of animal and sensual. Like he cares a lot about bringing his partners pleasure, and making sure they feel good.

On a related note, because I've seen it depicted badly before and kinda want your opinion: I could see him growing into a kind of sadism if either partner was into pain (bets on Griffith there it seems) especially since he is a bit sadistic in the manga (albeit in a non sexual way, mostly) though i think that, done right, it would take some getting used to for him, with plenty of reassurance that yes, they did actually enjoy the pain. I mean, he freaked out when he hurt Casca, I cant realistically see him being cool with especially hurting Griffith (another man) like that without copious aftercare (or during-care lol) and reassurances.

Also can I say how much I love that Griffith actually bottoms in some of your art? Personally, that boy is a switch at heart. It annoys me to no end that 90% of fics especially have him as a Dom, which has never made sense to me??? Because of all the people in the Band Guts is the person he is Least dominant with? He never tried to intimidate him once, not to mention he asks Guts to do things he isn't sure he'll be alright with (assassination) rather than just asserting it as an order. And he invites Guts into his personal space as well, or at least his body language does. Not screaming Dom to me. Is he possessive? Oh hell yes. But Dominant? Only when he needs/wants to be. 😊

Sorry again but I just want your thoughts. This fandom is so small and this ship is even smaller lol.

Hello there, love ♡

Don't apologize, I am grateful to receive so much tasty content 😇💕

First let me say, do we share like a cloned brain or something? I agree with all of this 1000% it's like reading something I wrote ♡

I could definitely see Guts being able to push his limits a bit and be a little rougher with his lovers- though as you said, it would take a lot of good communication and reassurance from them. He is enthusiastic/attentive about pleasing his partner as we can see in the manga, but mixing in any violence in a controlled manner would be uncharted territory for Guts. The only violence intermixed with sex he has known as been assault. Losing control would be something he fears instinctually, the thought of unintentionally hurting one of them would definitely trigger some uncomfortable memories at first. But I think if either Casca or Griffith desired rougher treatment, Guts would be willing to at least try. With constant reassurance, and if he were comfortable proceeding, I can definitely see him growing more confident of letting his sadistic/beast side out during sex. As long as his lovers are happy and convey that to him throughout, he’d move mountains for them. 

And Switch!Griffith ftw~! I am glad you like my portrayal of him.♡  I believe that Griffith has both a strong sexually dominant side and a more submissive side in general. Only with specific people and when he feels comfortable though does he let himself be more emotionally vulnerable or seek the validation or care of others. In the sexual encounters we do see of Griffith, he takes the dominant role. This is something I feel he sees as both necessary and natural to him. But, like you said, he isn’t always seeking to exert dominance over others. There are times, with those he cares for and trusts deeply, that he allows the reins to fall from his hands for a moment. Seeks their input instead. I think he’s much the same in bed. Sometimes he wants/needs to show them how they belong to him, and other times he wants them to prove their love to him by giving to him. Validate his love of them. He’s extremely possessive, but not purely sexually dominant ♡

Thank you for these lovely thoughts, dear. We are a small fandom, but our braincells are united haha ♡

[my-name-is-apollo]

is it only me who is irked by the double standards in defending the greek gods? whenever I see aries being called a feminist, or that he never raped anyone I bring up the story of ilia, the woman he raped while she was asleep. and people are quick to defend him saying its the roman version of the myth but even medusa's rape by poseidon is roman still a lot of people consider it canon, even if they know the greek version is not rapey. a lot of rape by other gods also happen only in roman version. so if they're gonna exempt aries then they better do the same to poseidon and other gods as well, instead of acting like aries was somehow more moral than the other gods *eye roll*

Oh, I agree strongly on holding all the gods to the same standards. Unfortunately, as far as I've seen, 90% of the community doesn't. Besides the example you've given, I've also seen a lot of people bash Zeus, but then turn around and say Apollo/Hermes /Dionysus did nothing wrong ever (when that's clearly not true. They've also done questionable things in one or the other versions of myths). I wish more people would know that all the Olympians have done some very fucked up things in some of the myths. Arguing that x deity is completely good/never did anything wrong is not only outright false, but also kind of reductive? Like, they're gods. They're awful sometimes. That's how they are. I think it's better to just acknowledge that instead of going out of your way to defend your fav. (and if it's any consolation, I very much prefer the consensual version of Medusa's tale. Monster fucker Poseidon ftw!!)

[galwaygremlin]

Autistic PJO HCs 1- Tyson

this particular series of posts is going to prove. interesting. partly bc I haven’t read the books in a while, partly bc most of the characters I’ll be looking at canonically have ADHD and dyslexia (comorbidity ftw but also the things I usually point out can also apply to those diagnoses), and partly because there are sooooo many characters in these books. however! these are super fun for me and give me an incentive to go back to my old favorites in this time where I haven’t had access to a library (*sobs in the corner*) to find new worlds to fall in love with. so I am going to dive right in with one of my all-time favorites, Tyson.

so we first meet my guy Tyson in book 2, The Sea of Monsters

he has a crappy living situation and is being constantly bullied

ahem. just gonna leave that one right there

he has little control over his emotions and is targeted for how easy it is to rile him up or upset him to the point of tears. (oh dang doing this is bringing back some Issues. suffice it to say this is not an uncommon experience for people on the spectrum)

he’s also really enthusiastic and easily excitable. same, dude.

his speech patterns are simple and it often seems like his words burst forth without much filtering

this makes communicating difficult for other characters sometimes when Tyson can’t articulate to them what he means, but he’s very good when they’re in combat situations because he doesn’t complicate instructions. Tyson tells you to duck, you freakin’ duck.

he follows rules and takes directions very literally. he raises his hand when other characters are talking because that’s what he was taught in class. he’s somewhat unpredictable to other people because he doesn’t grasp what they really mean when they ask him for things

nuances go over his head like a 747. why is everything I find about him so relatable

conclusion: he’s coded autistic. obviously. I’m gonna keep going anyway bc it helps me to see this written down

trusting, self-conscious, loud, kind and gentle with those smaller than him (although he tends to forget to be gentle when he gets excited), friend to all animals, forms attachments and emotional bonds quickly, tinkers with stuff and builds things to have something to do with his hands, eager to please, takes it to heart when those he’s trying to impress seem disappointed or upset with him, earnest, honest, dedicated to any project he starts, perfectionist (see Percy’s shield for the last two)

black-and-white worldview. finds it difficult to see gray areas between good and bad, different things people care about, motivations- he’s here to make weapons eat peanut butter and love his family. he’ll fight a monster if it threatens any of that, but otherwise he doesn’t really care

I love Tyson so so much. he made me uncomfortable when I first encountered him, and now I can see that I felt that way because I saw a lot of myself in him, and my internalized ableism clashed with his strong autistic coding. now he’s one of my favorites, not just because I can relate to him, but because I want to be more like him. he’s got a massive heart and he doesn’t complicate things. that’s the kind of person I want to be.

[girl-with-cat-eyes]

So since the new year is coming I figured I would just look back ob what's happened this year for me. (Trigger warnings: depression, suicidal thoughts)

So coming into 2019 I was a mess. I was depressed, suicidal, and just miserable. 2018 was easily one of the worst years of my life. And to top it all off, I hadn't had the urge to write in almost 2 years. I hated it.

Back in november of 2018 I had started to go to counseling where I had finally gotten my first proper diagnosis of depression and anxiety. I had been given tips and techniques and all sorts of coping mechanisms and they seemed to help. But I was lacking interests. My passions were bare. I wanted something new to love and write and blog about.

And then it happened.

One February weekend I was bored and wanted something to watch while I tried diamond painting (adhd need for background noise ftw). Normally I would turn on the McElroy's monster factory series to listen to but I wanted something new. So on a whim I decided to turn on the Sanders Sides series. I had a friend who watched it and they had reccomended it to me. They had said it was my sense of humor and I'd probably like it so I figured what the hell.

Well that diamond painting ended up going unfinished because I was to entranced with the series. I laughed, I cried, I felt. And I knew I needed to join the fandom.

2 weeks later after reading so many fics and going through the tags I messaged my best friend that for the first time in years I had a plot bunny. Of course I was in my last dregs of senior year and needed to get through it so the fic was put on the back burner. But in the background I was working on this fic and coming up with the plot. And finally in June I published the first chapter of Where I Belong.

After that it all seemed to go by so quickly. I started talking to @forever-forgotten-angel who means so much to me. I'd make friends with amazing people such as @anxyptid @yellowsky2314 and @an-agender-disaster. I'd come up with countless headcanons and ideas. Myself and Anx would form a discord server. I would laugh and cry and feel like myself again.

Now I'm not saying that Sanders Sides and Thomas Sanders saved me. But it did open a new world of people to me and help me find so many new friends. It reignited my passion and love of writing. I was saved because I seeked out help, I was able go start healing because I was given something good to focus on. And because I found a group of amazing people who welcomed and care about me and who I care about in return.

Going into 2020 I still struggle with depression. I still have anxiety and bad thoughts. I feel like I always will. But now I have a community of people like me who I know I can turn to. I have coping mechanisms and techniques and most of all I have a support system of amazing people in my life.

It's almost 2020. Let's make this year (and decade) a good one.

[mrsarnasdelicious]

Iris Clops + Manny Taur Headcanons

A/N: This is such an underdeveloped and underrated couple

Greek monsters FTW

They start off a bit rocky, because neither really knows how to communicate

They soon learn how to vibe with each other, though

Iris teaches Manny her love language

And helps Manny discover his own love language

They are the type of couple that slowly grow closer together

Manny is very protective of Iris

He beats on anyone who teases Iris for her single eye

Iris does know how to mellow Manny out

Manny becomes less of a bully the longer he is with Iris

Because you bet your ass Iris is going to make an issue of Manny bullying other monsters

And Manny really doesn’t want to argue with Iris

Because Angry Iris is Scary Iris

They broke up a few times when Manny crossed a line

Mainly in being a bully

But they always miss each other and come back together

They plan to go to the same Monster College in Greece

SUCH CUTIES

[unofficialrivermonsters]

Original post date: 19 APRIL 2019 | Nate Scott

Jeremy Wade grew to international fame as the host of River Monsters, a show in which he traveled the world exploring myths and real life stories about creatures living in the rivers around us. He’s back now with a new show for Animal Planet, Jeremy Wade’s Dark Waters, which has him at once escaping the boundaries of fresh water and also exploring new stories about water, people, and our fears around the world.

The show debuts on Animal Planet this Sunday, April 21st at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Wade and I have spoken several times before, and have actually gone on a fishing trip together, and I’ll admit I find him to be one of the more thoughtful and interesting people on TV, and not only because he explores the things I happen to fear most: the water and the creatures held within it.

In this interview, we discuss the new show, myth, creatures, and how fish stories around the world all connect us.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

FTW: Your previous show, River Monsters, often functioned a bit like a detective procedural. It feels like you’re embracing that again with Dark Waters. Was that something you wanted to lean in when it came to the narrative of each show?

Jeremy Wade: Yes, but it’s sort of opening it out a little bit more. The River Monsters episodes acted a bit like a whodunit – there was a crime scene, maybe someone had been pulled under, and we had to find out what happened. And we did well with that type of narrative for many years, but eventually we did come to the end of that kind of story.

I was very aware that out there, you’ve got very different kinds of narratives. It might just be a myth about a lake monster, it might just be, I’ve heard about a thing in a particular place that just sounds unbelievable.

FTW: Did any one trip stand out this go around?

JW: One of the episodes we did was a return to South Africa. And the story we were following up there was about freshwater mermaids. It goes back into folklore quite a long way, but there are contemporaneous stories. And of all the things we were looking at, this was the one that felt more nebulous. There was the concern: Is this just going to fizzle out? Are we going to have any resolution there?

We did have a creature in mind, but I was a bit concerned that we were even going to get near to that. It’s one thing to say we have a creature, but in television we’ve got to show it as well. There’s an element of desperation sometimes. You know where you want the story to go, but it’s being resistant. Your suspect is being elusive. It’s not coming quietly. That episode, which was the last one we filmed, was one of the more uncooperative stories.

Photo courtesy of Animal Planet

FTW: You mentioned myth and folklore. You’ve traveled all over the world. Do you find that there are common threads that tie these stories together? Or are these stories unique, and can they tell you something about the place you’re visiting, the people, what they fear and what they believe?

JW: It’s interesting. You do get these similar stories everywhere. And I think part of that is because the underwater world is so unknown.

The human mind doesn’t like a vacuum. We will populate that vacuum with the contents of our own head, and often that’s scary stuff. It’s a blank canvas. Often what happens is that real creatures get mixed up. They’ll get our own baggage mixed up with their reality, and part of my job is to sort that out.

One I’ve found in many places is these mermaid stories, in particular. When we did that episode [in South Africa] we ended up visiting a witch doctor. Often, in these different cultures, these underwater creatures will only communicate with special people, who act as intermediaries to the underwater world. We went and observed this sunrise ceremony on the shore in South Africa, and I was reminded of [other similar ceremonies] I’d seen all over the world.

There are common things in all of these rituals. A lot of it is about protection. Even without the creatures living in it, water is dangerous. We have an ambivalent relationship with water. It’s the source of life, it’s the source of food, but it’s also a source of death, if you’re not careful.

There are rituals to keep you safe. There are also rituals to protect fishermen. It’s about securing food, and keeping them safe in the face of danger.

But the other thing is very common is this idea that you must show respect to the environment.

The idea is that spirits will protect you, but only if you treat this realm, this environment, with respect. You can take fish out of it, but if you take too much, bad things will happen and we will no longer protect you. And that is common, you’ll find it in Mongolia, the Amazon, in New Zealand, you name it.

From time to time, people will criticize that aspect of the program. They’ll say “What are you doing showing these primitive rituals? You’re an intelligent guy, you should know that is all mumbo.” And my response to that is “Maybe you’re partly right, it’s all very colorful, and sure it’s great TV. But there is real wisdom there about respecting the environment that more enlightened people, supposedly, have forgotten all about.”

FTW: I feel like you could write an anthropology thesis at the end of this show.

JW: It’s interesting, but you’re exactly right. I’ve become an accidental anthropologist. I set off traveling, and when I started, I’ll be honest, I was only interested in fish. Sure, I’ll interact with the people, but it’s all about just getting to the fish.

But then you realize, you’re just getting an entirely different take on these people through the fish. And now we’re set on trying to cover as much of that as possible in the program.

Jeremy Wade’s Dark Waters will premiere on Sunday, April 21st at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Animal Planet.

This season there will also be an original four-episode digital mid-form series on Animal Planet GO, Facebook and YouTube called Dark Waters: How to Catch a River Monster. In this series, which will drop on May 14, Wade will discuss techniques, strategy and equipment used to find some of the fish featured in the series.

[silent-wolf]

an actual tier-list of the best fan -fiction tropes:

10. crack fics - gives me a good laugh - helps cheer me up whenever im down - just light-hearted overall -especially if its crack treated seriously 9. coffee shop au! - honestly just love strangers to lovers so this is lovely - if its done right its AMAZING - i love cafe dates sm 8. high school/university au’s - developing relationships and setting boundaries ftw! - seeing children just balance the stress of school while trying to maintain a         relationship is really relatable for me - prom! 7. roadtrips! - especially if its two people who don’t like each other - the angst! the drama! the miscommunication! - just really sweet - also dumbass #1 and dumbass #2 getting lost in the middle of nowhere and trying to figure it out gives me life 6. huddle for warmth - hella soft - really domestic  - just makes you feel super gooey and mushy, what else do you want? - and then the aftermath of them realising that they fell asleep together - cue the blushing 5. sharing a bed - oh no theres only one bed.... -”i don’t mind sharing. what too afraid? don’t worry i’ll chase away the monsters” - both sleep far away from each other and wake up cuddling  - once again, cue the blushing 4. hurt/comfort  - normalise👏healthy👏communication - come on baby boy(🤢), tell me your darkest secrets - having someone to understand your problems and ACTUALLY listen is a gift - THE KEY TO A STABLE RELATIONSHIP IS C O M M U N I C A T I O N  3. childhood friends to lovers - god i love this trope so much - bonus if they fall out of touch and then reconnect  - just two estranged friends trying to re-learn each other :) - beautiful 2. enemies to lovers - HA! YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE NUMBER 1?? NOPE- - whoever invented this trope, you have my full respect. - specifically, my favourite is academic rivals - and then you have the dreaded seating arrangement  - both parties have to work together for a good grade 🙄 - if executed properly its just *chefs kiss* 1. found family - honestly as much as i like romantic tropes, platonic ones just hit different - i could eat this trope for breakfast, lunch and dinner and never get tired - maybe its the mommy troubles speaking but im so soft for this trope - i just love when the character is so alienated by affection and then grows to understand that love is unconditional. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- this is my ranking, however, if you disagree, meet me at denny’s. i might do another post of the worst tropes within this week(?) anyways, drink lots of water and take your meds bye!

[norxull]

Print this card and give it to your vampire/monster/whatever of trust

To go with this one. Card-based communication ftw

[casualarsonist]

Wolfenstein II, and the importance of tone.

B.J. Blaskowicz's pregnant lover, Anya, tears her burning shirt from her body as her grenades explode under the feet of the advancing Nazis. She straddles B.J's prone body and brandishes two machine guns aloft as blood showers her naked skin, and I roar with laughter. My girlfriend asks me what the f**k is happening. Hitler pisses into a bucket and vomits on the floor. B.J. rants against bourgeois pacifism in a drunken rage and passes out. And as the sword bites into his flesh, and his head falls into a pyre, only to be collected by a machine and reattached to a synthetic body, I rejoice at the moments wherein Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus has the balls to embrace the absolute madness of its setting and take everything up to 11. 

But something doesn't feel quite right. Its predecessor - The New Order - subverted and exceeded the expectations of everyone that awaited it; I don't think anyone could have imagined what Machine Games would do with the franchise rights of the world's first FPS. As a pitch, the idea of taking the inherently daft premise of a man fighting Nazi-zombie robots in a retro-futuristic 1960's and grounding it all in a real emotional place with characters that understand and communicate the gravity of their situation to one another and to the audience alike...well, it's mental. And yet it worked. It worked really, really well. The action was intense and bombastic, but when it was over and the game asked us to understand what was motivating these people to do what they were doing, the drama felt earned, and every enemy you defeated felt like a cathartic victory rather than an exercise in psychopathy. When a friendly character died, it hurt because you cared, and because the death felt like a genuine loss amongst all the well-written personalities. The New Order was dark and visceral and at times terrifying, but always a joy to play, and in the end, no matter which turn the story took, you were invested. 

So why does The New Colossus feel like such a mistake?

To be fair to the game, as I've already said, there were moments that I was literally rolling in my seat with laughter, and it is certainly at its best when it says 'fuck it' to the concept of restraint and goes mental. It is, at times, incredibly fun, and funny. The aforementioned scene in which an insane, addled, syphilitic Hitler pisses in a bucket whilst auditioning actors for a terrible, terrible film he has written is one of the best in the entire game, not just because it makes an absolute mockery of the long-feared icon of human evil, but also because it is rendered and animated so well that looking into his eyes is genuinely chilling for how lifelike it all appears. But moments like these are few and far between, and it's regrettably rare that, buried amongst long, long cutscenes that have nothing important to say, one feels like they are genuinely being surprised and entertained. 

I suppose it's all about on which end of the crazy scale you heap your content - balance is good, as is committing to one style and tone on either side, but to be indecisive, or to miscalculate and mistime and portion your moments improperly so as to leave your audience confused as to your intention can be fatal, and in the case of Wolfenstein 2, it very nearly is. Whereas The New Order balanced the silliness in its gunplay with sincerity and moments of genuine tenderness in its story, The New Colossus couples inappropriate moodiness and melodrama with the violent actions of its characters, and leaves them looking like hypocrites. After tearing through a gauntlet of soldiers leaving little but a hallway littered with bloody chunks of flesh, B.J. chooses to wax poetic about the loss of a friend's life and the loss of all her experiences with it, in turn completely ignoring the dozens of lives and thousands of experiences he just erased. The moment is timed so perfectly and the recitation of the lines so genuine that the juxtaposition almost feels intentional, as if the game wants you to scoff at his lack of self-awareness, and it might have been a nice subversive moment if this game’s immediate predecessor hadn’t pinned all its integrity on the fact that its characters and narrative were supposed to be relatable. Instead, B.J. comes off psychotic, annoying, and unlikeable, and the writers seem less like they’re in on the joke and more like they just don't know what their doing. 

Which is rather baffling, given that it's the exact same creative team behind the The New Order - the same two writers that created a masterpiece of action storytelling, and somehow married an impossibly absurd premise with a genuine, heartfelt narrative. They created a terrifying villain, complex and likeable sidekicks, and together with the ambitious and intense soundtrack crafted a world that lived and breathed despite exploring all manner of ridiculous scenarios (moonbase FTW). The New Colossus is this, but less well made. It repeats a lot of the same beats of its predecessor, and so they all feel forced, unearned, and inferior. It's as if the setting of Nazi-occupied America wasn't fertile-enough ground for the creative directors, so they needed to borrow directly from their previous game. They delve into B.J's childhood and fill his backstory with caricatures that overstate the point they're there to make, and yet at the same time expect us to invest in a depressing world that is directly at odds with the light-hearted insanity of the rest of the story, and I think moments like this come from a desire to leave the tone of their previous game behind in favour of something a bit more fun, while still feeling like they need to bridge the gap with some kind of drama. Unfortunately, they fail to find the balance, and the attempts at seriousness reek of try-hard melodrama and smash against the humour like two cars travelling opposite directions down a one-lane road.

I could be mistaken of course; perhaps I’m just too thick to ‘get it’ and they were trying to ironically deconstruct their own work, but the drama is so heavy, and heavy-handed, that I just can’t believe that this is the case, which is such a shame because there are all the makings of an amazing game under the hood - fantastic components have been assembled together in a confused and chaotic manner, leaving the follow-up to one of the greatest shooters ever made (and one of the most unexpected underdog releases) feeling like a victim of its own success. And this is exemplified in no better place that at in the ending of the game, which is in almost every way the antithesis of that of The New Order. 

A recap: in The New Order you must fight a super-robot implanted with the brain of one of your former comrades. After defeating it and ending the suffering of your friend, you’re attacked by the main villain - General Deathshead - as you fight amongst an increasingly unstable network of gas pipes and crumbling concrete. When you finish the desperate battle and kill Deathshead from within a conflagration of fire and flames, a short, poignant cutscene activates in which the game implies the end of one of the most important parts of the franchise. It’s a perfect example of why the game did best as a whole, offering the traditional trope of a boss fight with a new coat of paint, and then ending with a no-nonsense but impactful piece of genuine drama. 

So how does The New Colossus conduct itself? Well not only does it unravel the risk of the previous game’s ending within the first few seconds, but it ends by making the player’s last interaction with its Big Bad a single button-press that then triggers a five-minute-long cutscene in which the characters stand around and spout cliche ideological platitudes about America rising up. Then B.J. stares at the corpse of his enemy like a fucking nutcase, before getting down on his knees next to the wrecked carcass and proposing to his girlfriend, which would be funny if this wasn’t the same character we were supposed to be rallying behind and is now clearly insane. It’s anti-climactic, tonally unbalanced, and boring, and worse than all this is that it commits the cardinal sin of second acts in that it ends unsatisfyingly whilst promising a third installment that will be much more interesting. 

Fuck off. 

This could all have been avoided if the creative rudder of the production had steered it directly into the eye of the storm - the setting, its violence, and its cast of characters are all ripe for parody, so why the hell did they feel like they had to spend so much time exploring B.J’s tragic upbringing in which his racist, wife-beating dad makes him kill his own dog? What purpose does that serve in a story that opens with a wheelchair-bound protagonist machine-gunning Nazis in the face? It’s just madness. And in my opinion it ultimately undid a lot of the good will that The New Order worked so hard at creating. Even if the incoming third game commits completely to its craziness, we’re still stuck with this strange Frankenstein’s monster, and the fact that from about the half way mark I was just waiting for it to end is, for me, a nail in the coffin. It’s just...it’s such a shame. The New Colossus is a smooth, beautiful shooter, and also an trainwreck of mismatched tones, confused pacing, regurgitated story beats, and an unsatisfying ending. It tries to vary its gameplay and somehow ends up feeling more of a generic shooter than it’s predecessor - a game that actually set out to reboot the world’s first FPS. It has moments of absolute brilliance that it just fails to perpetuate because it doesn’t let them gather momentum, which leaves it feeling starkly weak specifically in the areas that The New Order excelled, and that makes it a much larger kick in the nuts to me than it ought to otherwise be.

Of course, if you’re not a whiny little baby like me, or are like a friend of mine who’d never played a Wolfenstein game in his life before this one, you might just enjoy it for what it is - a gorgeous, ambitious, and gratuitous FPS set in a strange and fun alternate history, but if you asked me to recommend it as a sequel to it’s fantastic predecessor, I just can’t do it. 

6.5/10

P.S. I think I’m going to remove the qualification titles of my ratings from this point onwards. I’m not 100% certain that I’m going to get rid of them forever, but between my poor attempts at thinking of ‘names’ for half-marked titles and the fact that I’m tied to classifying a 7/10 game as ‘good’ even though my subjective impression of the game might not agree with that, means that the more complex my feelings about a certain title, the harder it is to put a specific label on it. Wolfenstein II is a good example of this conundrum. I don’t think it’s objectively good at a lot of what it’s trying to do, and yet I don’t think it’s objectively ‘just okay’ across the board.   With this in mind, if you refer to my review scoring system you’ll get a better idea of what each ranking means, beyond what a single word can convey. You’ll see that Wolfenstein II gets a 6.5 because I think it is largely unsuccessful in the pursuit of its intentions regarding its narrative and tone for the reasons I’ve detailed above, and yet I can’t at all say that it offers a poor return-on-investment for the average gamer. Hell, you might think it’s an excellent game and disagree with me entirely - this is just my opinion, after all - but given that I will obviously weigh certain aspects of a work’s design more heavily than other aspects, I still think this is the best way to understand what each score means for me (and thus for you), and why I might have come any given conclusion.

[justyourfriendlydemon]

Quick sesssion recap from last night

- party is ported to a small house after bossfight from last session (in an underdark cave)

- turns out, house is some kind of portable/ exists on another plane of existence and can be summoned via “homewardboner” (some metal rod we got from a npc who - in hinsight - betrayed us)

- (Yuan-Ti) Dex finds out homewardboner is a doorpart -> door disappears if hwb is pullled out. -> 10 minute portal-style fuckery which ended in Dex placing hwb on the ground and faceplanting in the foyer.

- windows in house are mirrors of erised

- (Dwiant half Giant-half Dwarf) Varg eats books in the library

- i FUS RO DAH him away to safe the book which clearly shows sings of distress and is calling for help

- found a underdark beastiary

- got a telepathicly “communicating” pokedex apparantly

- lets call him beasty

- hurray for pet book

- Iymril (Drider boyfriend of Eradius, our Tiefling Bard) cooked some food and calls for us

- after dinner? lunch? we kept exploring the house

- I found a bottle which seemed to trigger something

- (direwolf-companion of varg) dog discovered a couch and pretty much stayed there all the time

- returning to the library we see the books walking like spiders and hear a soft purring

- everyone freaks out except me

- we decide to leave the house

- still in the bossfight cave

- further exploring we find another mindflayer

- wise decision to not fight him

- find 4 strange bears in a cave hall

- Eradius gives them chin scratches

- fork in the path;

      path 1: full of bones and unknown horror;

      path 2: dark

- what could go wrong trying to stealth through bones

- bone cracks

- 6 vampire-thingy monsters charge at us

- epic battle

- varg loses his sword (again)

- most get roasted by Dex

- “ok let’s all heal up wait wtf was that”

- something walks through Eradius

- Beasty doesn’t know what it could be

- feary fire ftw

- trying to hit him with pretty much everything

- ever tried to hit a ghost with force?

- finally he dies

- so much xp -> level up

- varg finds zombie beholder while searching for his sword

- flips the finger at him

- gets hit by a green ray -> “petrificus totalus!”

- Dog pulls him out of range

- beholder moves back to his hoard