#since he is an olm guy

[poorlemons]

Day 7 - Animated A sufficiently low quality blinking cus i absolutely do not know how to animate but like.. whatever whatever. Its yet another artwork of Tourmaline!! am I using the excuse that he is olm/axolotl inspired to use this prompt list to draw him? yeah absolutely.

[starboyshoyo]

A Beloved Tradition

Pairing: Luka x reader

Fandom: Honkai Star Rail

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 1.2k

A/N: This piece is a bit more worldbuilding-heavy than the others I’ve done! I enjoyed writing it though, so I hope you like it too!

A paper marriage in Belobog isn’t the only way to show off the love between a couple.

According to the laws of Belobog, a marriage would have to pass through the Bureau of Civil Affairs in the administrative district before it could become official. But as history would have it, those in high places would often ignore the needs of those below. The Underworlders of Belobog, fed up with having their marriage requests delayed or even outright denied, came up with their own ceremonies to acknowledge the love between couples in their community.

A traditional Belobogian Undergrounder’s wedding consists of preparing and seasoning an olm frog, roasting it over Geomarrow ores, and sharing the meal in the heart of town.

- Excerpt from The Heart of Jarilo-IV: Belobogian Customs and Traditions

+++

“I don’t think this is what anyone had in mind when they said to prepare the olm,” you laughed, shaking your head.

Your boyfriend and soon-to-be husband Luka grins at you. “What, you’ve never seen a frog wear a hat before? Expand your mind, sweetheart! This is gonna be the prettiest roasted olm Boulder Town has ever seen.”

In his hands is the main ingredient to a traditional Belobogian miners’ dish- an olm frog. He fiddles with a napkin, folding it into a cap to put on the amphibian’s head.

“Well, he certainly is a handsome olm,” you concede with a fond grin. You lift it up, surveying Luka’s work. Despite the seeming unwieldiness of his mechanical arm, Luka had been able to fold the napkin into surprisingly neat creases, balancing it delicately on the frog’s head. “Still, he’s not as handsome as my fiancé here.”

“Awww, you flatter me~”

A gag from behind you interrupts the sweet moment. Seele and Natasha stand a little ways back, the former holding tongs and turning pieces of geomarrow ore in the stove, keeping it red-hot. “Get a room,” she gags, “You two are sweet enough to make me barf.”

“What Seele means is that it’s good to see the two of you so in love,” Natasha adds, with a meaningful glance towards her adopted daughter. “But we shouldn’t keep your guests waiting. The other dishes are already done- only the olm is left.”

“Sorry, Natasha,” Luka apologized, but it was clear that he wasn’t abashed in the slightest.

“No worries,” Natasha replied. She smiled warmly at the two of you. “I don’t think anyone would blame you for wanting to drag on the festivities for a little while longer. Goodness knows we’ve had little else to celebrate since the blockade”

The four of you were silent for a moment. The halt of trade and transport between the overworld and underworld was a touchy spot for Underworlders- some of them wanted to maintain their pride and wait it out, while others proposed they fight back against the tyranny of the Supreme Guardian in the streets above. The divide caused a lot of trouble for Wildfire, who struggled to keep the peace between two sides.

“… It feels selfish to be celebrating in a time like this,” you admit self-consciously, breaking the silence. “There’s so much else to be thinking about; to be fighting for. But here we are, taking up Wildfire’s time for something that isn’t official business.”

Luka nods, echoing the sentiment. “It feels a bit weird to be off duty for the first time in months. I hope it’s not too much trouble for you.”

“Of course it isn’t!” Seele shakes her head. “We wanted to be here for you guys. Don’t get all sappy on us now, just because we’re being nice.”

“Everyone was so excited for you guys when they heard the news,” Natasha confirms. She takes the tongs from Seele, turning over the geomarrow in the belly of the stove. “Wildfire takes care of our own. And besides, it isn’t just for the both of you. Morale has been high ever since the planning began. It’s good for everyone to see that life goes on, even when times are hard.”

Between Seele’s fierce encouragement and Natasha’s kind words, it’s hard to stay doubtful. “Thank you, both of you,” you say to them, and you mean it.

+++

“Gather round, everyone! Master Oleg would like to say a few words.”

The settling murmur of guests around you roils in your belly as you sit at a table set up in Boulder Town’s square. Luka is lounging beside you with his normal arm flung over your shoulder. The roasted olm rests on the table between you, no longer sizzling hot but still pleasantly warm.

“How much longer before we eat? I’m starving,” he whispers to you with a grin. You nudge him back, shushing him as Oleg begins to speak.

“I’ll try to keep this short, seeing as the groom is getting a little impatient.” He shoots a smile at Luka, then coughs once before clearing his throat. “It’s great to see you all here today, in support of two of our dearest members of Wildfire. There’s a lot to be said about the state of the Underground right now-“ Oleg waits for the murmurs to pass through the crowd to continue. “But I think it’s safe to say that this union between our happy couple is proof that life goes on, both on the surface of Belobog and below. No matter the circumstances, we will find ways to thrive.”

Oleg nods to you. “On behalf of Wildfire and the entire Underground, we wish you two a happy and loving marriage.”

That’s your cue. Picking up the fork from beside the roasted dish, you use it to tear a piece of juicy meat from the side of the olm and hold it out to Luka. He grins and does the same with his own fork. You exchange them, taking the bites off of each others’ utensils- sharing your first meal in the town square, just as couples did for hundreds of years before you. The crowd erupts in whistles and cheers- and just like that, you’re forever bonded to the love of your life. Luka pulls you in for a kiss and you reciprocate, smiling into his lips as he leans his forehead against yours.

Roasted olm is said to taste like chicken, but there’s no way for you to make that comparison. After all, as an Underworlder you’ve spent your entire life by the glow of a Geomarrow furnace. You didn’t have the luxury of the sun or the sky or a grand Overworlder’s wedding. But today has proven that you don’t need any of that to thrive- or to love.

Taking your new husband’s hand in yours, you look around at the people surrounding you. Miners and their families, Natasha, Seele, Oleg and the members of Wildfire, residents of Boulder Town, Hook and the Moles- and of course, Luka.

“There’s more than enough food here for everyone. Please, join us! Let’s eat!”

How very loved you are.

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[juiceedapplee]

Con-Artists and You: How to Get Scammed

Sampo x gn!reader

A new item has been added to the menu!

—Sampo has scammed and lied way too often to not be considered a con-artist. Being a con-artist has its ups and downs of course, you get money and meet people but you also risk getting your ass kicked. Thank god you’re around though, what would our dear old Sampo do without you?

Here you stand, wondering what went wrong and why you no longer have any credits or shields in your wallet.

Did you get robbed? Mugged? No, the only time you went out before right now was to get your mail and take a short walk around and you were pretty sure no one ran off with your purse.

Okay, then did you lose it? Of course not, losing money isn’t that easy when you leave your wallet in the same place everyday and keep track of your finances. So then you must have been scammed or bought something no?

Dammit. You recall meeting Sampo earlier, thinking you’d take a stroll since the weather was nice. Well how did he scam you? Last time I checked you were pretty good at detecting scams. Hey! It isn’t your fault that whenever Sampo shows up you can’t help but lose yourself in his eyes. It’s his for having those genes. And the way he laughs and talks with his hands, trying to get you to help him with something. “You’ll help me right?” Sampo asks you, a sort of desperation in his voice. And you, who have not really paying attention just nod and go “Mhm! I’d love to” “Wonderful! I’ll text you when I need ya! Welp, I gotta be off I have veery important business to attend to.” Sampo says as he waves good bye and walks off.

But if that’s not how you lost your money then how? Well, after Sampo sent you a text, you went out to meet him. And there he was, holding a few bags standing around, waiting for you to show up. “Ah! There you are, I was wondering if you could a-bla-blah-blah” Yep. You decided to tune him out in favor of staring at his lips move, occasionally nodding your head and saying “Yeah.” “Mhm.” “Totally.”

“Then I’ll be sure to treat you dinner to repay you, my dear friend.” Oh, is it a date? No. “Wow, I can’t believe we’re going on a date.” Is what you think in your head, muting that part of yourself that says that no, it isn’t a date and he literally just called you friend. “Alright then if you could just hand me the money than that would be great!”

What? Money? When did he? Oh. It must of been when you were tuning him out. Oopsies! What can you do other than give it to him now, plus, he’s gonna take you out to dinner! You pull out your wallet and hand it to him, telling him to “Just take what you need! I get paid soon anyway.” That’s a lie. “Wow, you really are so nice. Yknow, I like to think im just a hard working guy, someone who just wants to live his life but keeps getting roped into other people’s problems. Oh woe is me.” He says as he takes every bit of cash out your wallet. “Well I’ll see you around friend! I’ll text ya when I can take you out for dinner!”

Ah. So that’s how that happened. 😐

Well, in your defense, I guess you were so unfocused that you couldn’t have been able to know what would’ve happened, if only he wasn’t so pretty, and if only you weren’t so in love with him.

So here you are, standing outside, no money in your wallet and a craving for stone grilled olm. Well, at least Sampo will take you out to dinner, eventually.

This drink contains

A small cash grab: $5.00

A bomb shaped ice cube: ¢.25

A dash of delusion: $1.50

Total: $6.75

I decided to spontaneously start a new fic and it was gonna be “how to not get scammed” with reader kicking his ass but I decided against it, I also didn’t go in that direction anyway. But I thought why not make a fic about the man who inspired my theme (and my bbg)

[yousei-no-mori]

Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san - Rant

I am currently watching season 2 and I have some thoughts (about both seasons).

First of all why did I start watching this anime? Erm... So I know what the target audience is, it's people who self insert as Naoto and want to date Nagatoro. As for me? Oh, it's the other way around. I think Naoto is cute and I want to bully him. I thought maybe my female friends were similar but the only friend I have who read the manga wants to make out with Nagatoro. Sorry, I forgot lesbians exist.

Uh, anyway yeah Naoto is cute and I want to be Nagatoro. Not sure if girls like me watching this was intended since these anime are usually made for lonely dudes, lol. Anyone else feel like me though?

The scrunkly.

Okay, so, my thoughts on season 1... Lemme check the episodes to bring back my memory a little bit, as I watched that to calm down from the stress that is social work during last Winter.

The first two episodes made me really scared to watch this series, for real. Nagatoro just straight up mentally tortured Naoto, and not in the hot way. I felt really bad for him because I know what it's like to be the shy nerd kid. Anyways at around episode 3, I think, Nagatoro starts showing her softer side more. And she hardcore crushes on Naoto.

The dynamic between Nagatoro and Naoto is really cute in my opinion, even if it is very simple. Nagatoro has her first crush because she finally found a guy that doesn't bore her to death but she doesn't know how to handle it so she bullies the fuck out of him. Naoto is pretty much the opposite? He doesn't really realize how much he likes Nagatoro sometimes and thinks he would rather not be around her. He tries to manage that by fighting her off in which classic anime romcom things happen. You know the "Holy crap you did something on accident, PERVERT!" thing, except it sometimes works really well. Maybe it's just because I think both of them are really cute, but I like when they have their little "Oh god, we both fucked up" moments.

Then there's the more obvious romance aspects and they're by far my favorite. The momens of honesty and the cute glances... Yep, they're adorable. I don't want to give away too much, sorry. Just know it's, in my opinion, the best thing in the series.

I don't care for the side characters by the way, but they can be enertaining when they point out how obviously both of our main characters are trying to "prove" that they don't like each other. They're the audience, the "just kiss already!" guys.

Also funny face cute. I like when she snaps. I like her. The cutesy. Okay no, for real, I love when Naoto and Nagatoro support or protect each other when they really need it. They can be a bitshitty towards each other sometimes but in the end they're actually kinda... healthy? Like Nagatoro is creepy but I love when the girl is a creep instad of the guy, since Naoto is actively watching out not to disturb Nagatoro. And how she will constantly accuse him of being a creep makes sense later when you realize that she's actually much worse than him, lol.

Okay let's get to season 2, since I keep using too many screencaps of that season anyway.

Oh boy, another anime studio took over with season 2 (now OLM, before it was Telecom) and it's very noticeable. The animation is stiff and sometimes just straight up doesn't move right, the art is a lot more bland, in season 1 there were a lot of beautiful warm colors and lineart, and the voice direction is very strange... That and also our main characters seem to regress a bit? Now being overly flustered over small things that they would've been fine with in season 1? I get it, they're supposed to be cute and awkward but it's the classic romcom regression...

I'm in the middle of watching season 2 and sadly the things I loved in season 1 just aren't that apparent anymore. It's still cute and I love Naoto and Nagatoro together, but I can hardly pay attention to that when Naoto is animated like Chargeman Ken.

^ little appreciation for the beautiful lighting in season 1!?

Anyway, Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san will forever be my biggest guilty-pleasure comfort anime and I'm only a little ashamed.

Love ya

[freyalise]

summer anime recs

whats up it's ya girl the isekai scholar. here's what's coming up this summer in the anime sphere

probably good

isekai shikkaku / no longer allowed in another world: the manga is legitimately fun. a depressed writer commits suicide with his lover and wakes up in another world with one goal: to find a perfect place to die. the studio behind isekai ojisan, AtelierPontdarc, is doing this one; i didn't like isekai ojisan but that might be a selling point to those who did!

suicide squad isekai: it's the suicide squad from DC and they're in an isekai. not much to say about this one. lots of heavy hitters on the design side of this one, with Wit Studio (spy x family, vivy) as well as writers Eiji Umihara (vivy) and Tappei Nagatsuki (original creator of re:zero, vivy) attached to it. i'll probably watch it even though i disagree with the choice to have mori calliope do the ending theme

also probably good (not isekai): oshi no ko season 2 (doga kobo), tower of god season 2 (the answer studio), atri: my dear moments (TROYCA), dungeon no naka no hito (OLM), tensui no sakuna-hime (P.A. Works)

probably skip

hazurewaku no "joutai ijou skill" de saikyou ni natta ore ga subete wo juurin suru made / failure frame: i became the strongest and annihilated everything with low-level spells: yeah the manga for this one is just kinda boring. it's the kind of isekai that's the template for a lot of modern isekai; guy gets summoned to another world with his class and gets skills but ohhh noooo he's got the bad skills so he's kicked out!! but his skills are the strongest actually! if you like that sort of thing you'll probably like this one. it's better than arifureta at least. studio seven arcs (tonikaku kawaii, mahou shoujo lyrical nanoha) is doing this one.

maougun saikyou no majutsushi wa ningen datta / the strongest magician in the demon lord's army was a human: another one that's essentially explained by its title. i wouldn't consider this one bad based on the manga per se, but i don't think i'm inclined to watch the anime based on it since i thought the manga was fine, i guess. in fact, i'd probably recommend against it given how Studio A-CAT fucked up the kenja no deshi wo nanoru kenja adaptation. yeah i'm still mad about that!

surprisingly slim pickings on the isekai front despite it being summer! lots more happening next season with that for sure. thank you for reading. read destiny unchain online!

[junoniadoesart]

Meet Kligekylk!

He’s an original kaiju I’ll be using in a story idea I’m working on (Placeholder name: Kaijuwatching. It has influences from the early MonsterVerse, The Kaiju Preservation Society, Pacific Rim, Godzilla (2000) and Cloverfield. It’s based off of a concept called kaijuwatching, which functions as being similar to a combo of birdwatching and storm chasing).

As for Kligekylk, he’s the main antagonist kaiju. Since kaiju in this story will be of ambiguous sentience, it’s not sure why he’s rampaging, but it’s heavily implied that he’s sapient and just being a jerk to us little bugs ‘cause he can (not at all inspired by a childhood bully who would step on bugs in front of me because he knew it would upset me /s)

Klige is based off of hagfish, olms, viperfish, frilled sharks, and so on! Earlier concepts included insp from chimaeras and some of Beebe’s unidentified bathysphere fish, especially the “pallid sailfin” and “giant dragonfish”. Kaiju who went into him include Shin Godzilla’s earlier forms, Zilla’98, some of the Pacific Rim kaiju, and the Cloverfield monster. His name (which is a placeholder I may end up keeping) is a combo of the German word for “blade” and the Russian for “tooth”. Allegedly. A friend got that off Google Translate when I was asking around for name ideas.

The bird monster up in the upper right corner that he’s fighting is named Nauhanokka as a placeholder name (yes I know that’s Finnish for ribbon-beak and makes little sense, but it sounds nice for now). She’s the protag kaiju, based off of secretary birds, herons, hoatzins, Rodan, Mothra, and Litra. More on her later if people show interest. She was designed first, and Klige was designed to contrast her.

As for Klige’s abilities, he has hagfish slime (not sure if I wanna make it toxic or not). This makes him incredibly hard to grab or bite down on, and grants him some protection from fire and heat based attacks! He’s a slippery lil guy :D his teeth are also sharp, and he’s a very fast and agile swimmer. Slower on land, though. His biggest drawback is not having any ranged attacks (yet). He also has a standard kaiju’s durability, and seems to be immune to depressurization/the Blobfish Effect, allowing him to function at surface-level waters and even on land, even if he prefers the deep. His weaknesses include bright light (blinds him) and getting dried out if he’s out of the water for too long!

That’s all so far!

@fishyfishyfishtimes because you liked my Manda ideas and I thought you’d be interested in another feesh kaiju!

[kobblefort]

Rushsly: Almost The Bottom 3

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT probably I can't script this shit man I'm liveblogging this game raw it happens how it happens.

Ant people are back, and they're getting pretty thoroughly fucked by Ashan Plaguehole the Labyrinthine, or at least that's what it sounds like through the walls deep below the fortress. Cool. We'll check in on that again later

Even the deep-dwelling dwarves are astounded by the wealth we've accrued: we sell them the platinum goblets that feel too fancy to drink out of, they gawk at just how many gems we've accrued, how finely they can be cut. And yet we must seem strange to them, so endowed and yet so deeply unsatisfied. Most of our clothes have gone to tatters from overwear, our once thriving glass industry has been dormant for some time. It's nothing, we insist, it's nothing - but our eyes don't light up at the glint of gold. We seem sluggish, almost like we're moving at a low framerate, take a little too long to recognize jokes, and even longer after that to recognize them. We leave them with a great handful of gems we find unworthy to sell, and they thank us profusely. When all is said and done, we have a great deal of thread, new clothes for at least a few kobbles, plants of all kinds, and kobble get chease LOL.

Down below, it turns out Ashan can wield a spear, and does so with remarkable prowess: a wood spear is plenty sharp enough for its ends,

and so too for the ends of 13 ant people, a giant bat and a giant olm. I've never actually seen a forgotten beast wield a weapon before. It almost seems like it would be exciting to fight: a good match for our own Beast Slayers. But we can't take our eye off the prize.

From the other end of the second cavern layer arrives another bird (even though it has the squid icon lol,) a wren named Lidod Minesweats - probably a Dwarven name? Also I completely missed this when it happened, but Ashan apparently killed Ancoji Necroshafts, the lizard that finished off Fiva after his own encounter with the ant people from before, I wonder if a pattern is about to take shape here.

They head straight for each other.

Unfortunately, since they're both forgotten beasts, the combat log is unintelligible, but Ashan takes the wren the fuck down; not without taking some damage, most notably having an impaired ability to stand.

I forgot to look it up but this is an ankylosaurus apparently, so Ashan looks like this but green and with thin membranous wings and it's "bloated." We all on the same page here? Ok me neither. But alas.

Zhasrca Foldcounselled is way the fuck in there, near the very bottom of the earth, chopping away at the stone, only hitting granite after granite after granite. Then he finally hits something!

Just some more native gold. Just as he does, he declares himself finished for the day and tears off his busted old ocelot-leather trousers, hopefully to pick up a new pair on his way home. But interestingly, the gold wall is warm - potentially unsafe to dig through, since there could be magma on the other side. And then, up topside...

Well fuck.

The dwarves said they would leave a while ago, but hadn't yet, and so the fighting is mostly contained to them, but unfortunately, a craftsbold named Zirga Futurestrayed who was on her way up to chat with them was bitten. There's nothing for it, we're just going to have to expel her as soon as the fighting is over. Hopefully the dwarves actually fucking leave, but due to how long it took for anyone to pull the drawbridge up, two of them and a donkey are crushed by it. Awesome. People need to stop just standing there on the fucking bridge.

I have no idea how to parse this, but it feels like this guy Vucar could maybe sort of be bit? Considering how he won't fucking leave, it becomes tempting to just send our squads up there and kill him to make extra sure, but he's standing on a tile with two other dwarves who seem fine according to the combat logs. Ultimately, the problem is solved by just deconstructing the trade depot. And I learn as they leave the map that apparently one of them stole one of our platinum goblets. Not cool dude. Actually, that might have been Zirga leaving with all her horrible injuries, which... fair enough. You can have that. Sorry it had to be this way but the alternative was we kill you. And we didn't kill you! But if you come back in weregecko form there'll be no fucking mercy, not a chance. Whatever, threat over.

Progress is slow and frustrating down here: just magma walls with the occasional little vein of gems. Every little rattle of the alert tabs is a disappointment. Morion, pitchblende, heliodors, I don't give a shit. I just want the one thing. I know there's all sorts of other things I could have but I don't want them. More migrants show up, bringing our population up to 135 and our framerate down to like 49. They also brought a fuckload of animals for whatever reason, which is just great of them. Deleting the trade depot somehow handed over possession of all the animals the dwarves brought along to us...

and the underground pasture is starting to look even more crowded, so it's time it gets expanded. But hey we all love when things get expanded right.

Zil, still the angriest lil kobble in the whole fucking world, comes up and starts just digging with its hands, which feels totally unnecessary especially since Zil is the one who got its lower spine torn apart. Oh well go off I guess, who gives a shit, this isn't what I want.

Trying to dig one more layer down is a fruitless endeavor at first.

Up in the section of the fort I don't even care about anymore some dickhead makes a large gem out of green glass and decorates it with green glass gems and green glass rings. I feel like that sums this whole fort up. We should put it on a display stand outside so you can see it when you walk in, like "guess what we got in here."

I seriously can't fucking win dude

Gold, gems, magma, gold, gems, magma, gold, gems, magma it goes on and on forever.

More of these cunts, i don't care, drawbridge going up, drawbridge staying up. If you're in a hurry to step on a cage trap, then hurry up and do it already, otherwise go fuck yourselves and give Vakeek Malignreason my regards.

Welp so much for those fucking cunts wait hold on what the fuck is this

I've never seen this before. Is it about to happen? Am I almost there?

Do you fucking morons ever give it a rest I'm on the fucking precipice here

well the meat grinder awaits.

Oh not you guys too.

At least none of my own people are in danger here, but the Winged Voice left in a bad mood due to the drawbridge being up without considering why it might be up, and I don't like guests having to do our dirty work. There's such a thing as hospitality you know.

And honestly having to walk through this fucked up part of the trap hallway entrance is something I don't even want my kobbles to do.

Honestly whatever may as well get rid of these fucking pointless gems. Hopefully get some cloth and leather to give all the kobbles new clothes. It's not what I want.

But I don't know if I'm the kind of guy who can ever actually have what he wants.

[quibbs126]

Update on the axolotl and olm debate: so this morning during a walk I thought of a solution, so the exiled prince character is an axolotl, but he used to date an olm lady before his exile, who’s from a cave system with lakes connected to his kingdom, and is also much taller than him, blind, and knows healing magic. And since I think I’m going with the idea of the axolotl being the healer, that’s probably where he learned it from, since that’s not what he did originally. I’m gonna call her Elizabeth

Oh and I just came up with a name for the axolotl guy: Meridian. Not sure if it should be his real name or his fake name, as when we meet him, he’s going under a fake name, not his prince name

[ravenwitch45]

Parallels Between The Calamity Trio and The Ancient Three

Now The Core and The King literally came out today, so of course spoilers if you haven't watched it and please do as it is a great episode but I wanted to bring a few observations up. But Please watch it before hand!

Still here? Okay. I noticed similarities between a member of both groups, Marcy parallels Barrel, Sasha parallels Leaf, and most surprising at least to me, Anne parallels Andrias. Don't believe let's get into it

Marcy And Barrel, AKA The Peace Keepers

Marcy and Barrel wouldn't seem to have much in common at first, but they do have one thing. They hate the idea of fighting their friends or just their friends fighting.

During the Dinner Marcy for the most part ended up trying to keep Anne and Sasha from fighting again and refused to take either side "This crazy you guys!" blaming both for it essentially remaining neutral. She also isn't the one to get mad at Sasha in true colors, seeming hopelessly confused instead. And while we have much less time with Barrel we have something simalir

During the Core and The King's flashback Leaf steals the Calamity Box in attempt to keep it away from Andrias's family so it can't be used to conquer Earth, Andrias runs into Barrel and tells him that Leaf is a traitor, Barrel replying that she would never do that.

He still helps chase her and when cuts her off, he says he doesn't want to do this, of course he doesn't she's his friend, he hesitates when she tries to reason with him and she get's away replying that she confused him when Andrias scolds him, seeming very conflicted.

Neither can really handle the idea that their friend's hate each other, and it's honestly just sad they had to see it.

Sasha and Leaf AKA The Well Meaning Traitors

(Sorry the pictures are messy, Leaf was hard to find anything for)

Now the title is pretty telling, Both betrayed their friends with good intentions. Sasha to control Amphibia with her friends, and later to keep Andrias out of power after she learned he was hiding something, and Leaf to save Amphibia and the Universe by stealing the calamity box from Newtopia.

The intersting thing is that they both regretted it almost instantly, Leaf clearly hated doing the whole thing but reluctantly continued, Sasha took a little longer but she literally pleads Anne to listen to her about Andrias on the walls of Newtopia. And is reformed by the time Anne returns to Amphibia.

This one could be longer but I don't know how so let's move on

Anne and Andrias AKA The Blinded Leaders

Now this admittedly feels like the biggest stretch of this whole post, but is just feels so right to me. In true colors Sasha attempts to reason with Anne to tell her about what Andrias is hiding, but Anne is so blinded with rage (Rightfully) from her trust in Sasha being thrown back in her face for second time that she won't listen.

And as it turns out Andrias did almost the exact same thing to Leaf, In the flashback Leaf get's a vision from the Calamity Box, of a lot but most importantly is the Night, Mother Olm's prophecy and the destruction Andrias is currently causing in the present.

She fails to covince Andrias's father, the current king who in private told Andrias that since he's royalty, his friends are going to use him for control, when Leaf says that Andrias can just not use the box since he's going to inherit the throne soon, He snaps at her which he quickly apoligizes for but still doesn't listen, this forces Leaf's hand to steal the box unkowingly causing Anne, Marcy and Sasha to find the box centuries later causing the events of the whole show. But if he listened then Amphibia would peaceful, he never would have isolated himself like he did.

One More Similarity

Now there is one more thing that I wanted to bring up to parallel them, All the way till Marcy is found in season two, both Sasha and Anne keep one thing to remember her, to tell them to keep looking for her.

The picture and guess what

They had one two, which in The Core and The Kind we found out Andrias tore to shreds, right after their friendship was torn apart. Thank you for listening. I rest my case.

[omegalomania]

i would love to hear the rationale behind the fob fursonas, especially the choice to include prehistoric animals

HELL YEA well the thing about me is that i really just like....like weird fursonae? like i love your conventional fursonae, i like your wolves and your cats and whatnot, but i like branching out and digging into all other subsections of the animal kingdoms, present and past, cause it just gives me more to work with! same goes for fursonae like dragons or griffins or creatures that are otherwise purely fantastical - it's just way more fun

pete was easiest. since he's the most....furry....of the band, it made sense that he'd have the most conventional sona, so to speak. tasmanian devils are small and fuzzy and adorable as sin and they love to climb things and while they were initially assumed to be very solitary creatures, it turns out that they're quite sociable. they've been harshly maligned despite being fairly innocuous animals that don't tend to bother people unless people first bother them. also tasmanian devils have a hell of a scream and so does pete, so it suited him very well lmao

andy was the second easiest. archeopteryx just felt right for him and i can't entirely explain why i landed on that so quickly for him but it Just Felt Like An Andy Kind Of Creature. i don't think i know his favorite animal but archeopteryxes are just...badass, plain and simple so maybe thats why i got such strong andy Vibes tm. they were fairly small animals but likely fairly adaptable (seeing as they had good traits for both arboreal and terrestrial lifestyles), and also omnivorous - which means a vegan archeopteryx is totally possible in this make believe version of reality so that was just a sweet bonus lol. ALSO. i could not resist the pun of "anarcheopteryx." i just could not resist that pun. that is an excellent pun.

patrick ended up getting another prehistoric animal because honestly the man is fascinated with extinct marine animals so that felt extra right. patrick has very strong mammal vibes so i knew that he'd end up with something to that effect but i wasn't quite certain as to what until i landed on a page for pakicetus during some late night dive through wiki-hell or another. BINGO that's perfect. about wolf-sized, built like brick shithouses, early cetacean characteristics that would point to them being the precursors to whales. the only downside was that i had like no references so i had to wing a lot of the anatomy but oh well thats half the fun. i considered giving him something like a seal or an otter, also marine-based, but i liked the challenge of doing this animal we only have vague drawings of so thats what i went with

joe was the FUNNEST to figure out cause i knew right away i'd want him to have something weird. he's a weird guy and i adore that about him so i wanted his fursona to reflect that. i also debated and discarded a bunch of marine life for him - i debated snailfurs, different kinds of anemones, and then drifted over to freshwater animals like axolotls and olms, and seriously considered making him a kiwi since those are by all accounts his favorite animal, but eventually i landed on the insect kingdom. the choice of a moth felt right for joe in part because i have a lot of tenderness for moths in general, i find them very fuzzy and wonderful additions to any home, plus the insect kingdom gives me the opportunity to give people multiple limbs and how badass would a four-armed guitarist be. like thats just the best. cecropia moths have a color scheme that suited joe imo - a dark base, but with enough flares of color to keep things interesting and make them fairly distinct - and they are also, fun fact, found in chicago. so that sealed the choice for me. joe mothman my beloved that was not an intentional pun but nonetheless an enjoyable one

thank you for indulging my rambles i overthink these things and im glad someone out there likes to listen!!!

[mysteriesofmarcy]

Mystery Monday #4: The Current State of Amphibia

I wanted to talk about the Wartwood Resistance in this space, but I just didn't have that much to say about it. So I'll give you this instead.

I think as Sasha and her forces move closer to the castle, we will see more and more towns in Amphibia and how they are holding out against the king's invasion. We already know that Mr. Ribbiton is partial to the cause. Enemies like Renee and the Hasselback gang might become allies. The olms will definitely play a part. Like in Escape to Amphibia, former friends may come together to become the team of helpers that the world so desperately needs.

So today, I will be going through the friends and enemies we met in season 2, and where they might stand on the current totem pole.

First up, the Hasselback gang. I imagine these guys, much like Mr. X, are still bitter at Hop Pop for ruining their lives. BUT, they are probably suffering under Andrias's iron fist just like everyone else. So, hard to tell what they'll do.

Next, the town of Bittyburg. I like to think they are so small, Andrias can't even see them, so they go on leading their itty bitty little lives without any knowledge of what's going on. However, the second they find out that someone (i.e. Marcy) can't fight for herself, I think they join Mr. Plantar in the effort to save her.

Next up, we have the "truckers" at the truck stop, specifically Soggy Speedy Joe. In both of his previous appearances, he showed up when one of the Plantars felt the need to unnecessarily complicate matters, so I'm guessing the same here. And he took the Plantars out for pancakes and gave them a tow to the next truck stop, so I think it's safe to assume he's on the side of good.

Next, Renee. I'm going to lump her in with the Hasselback gang. Still mad at Hop Pop for getting her arrested, but might help him if she sees an even greater threat. Although, should Andrias discover that he has a prisoner with a vendetta against the Plantars, well...

Then, the rest of the theater troupe. Seems most of them were not in on the robberies (Renee probably told them that was just what they earned in admission), but contrary to Renee's motto, acting is just professional lying so who knows. I mean, Francois didn't really seem to care about much other than whether Sprig and Lydia's acts were believable, so I don't know how he would respond to an actual war.

Mr. Ribbiton did make a delivery of supplies to Wartwood, yes. And despite the problems they had in the last episode, I think his family is officially behind this effort. I could be wrong though. I think it's most likely that there's just that one family member who still refuses to accept that Walliam is really gone now and still has to come around.

The Curator is probably dead, so the new owner of the Curiosity Hut (with no curiosities) is Frog Soos. Maybe he would be an ally if encountered because he has a good heart and he wants to be free from Andrias's control. Maybe not, since thanks to the Plantars, he lost his boss and his business in one fell swoop. Or maybe he turns the Curiosity Hut into Home Base during Andrias's invasion, and eventually into a giant robot capable of fighting Andrias's robot army. You never know.

I purposely left Lysil and Angwin off this list because I wanted to cover them last. The olms that Sprig and Polly encountered in Quarreller's Pass will more than likely show up in the whole "mother of Olms" arc coming up. I think Angwin might be more willing to help because their mom always liked him best, (I had to look that one up on the wiki) I don't know.

So, here's my conclusion:

We know the Plantars are going to find Mother Olm in Proteus soon. I think they have to go find Lysil and Angwin first in order to get directions. So maybe in the episode where they are searching, we get to watch the whole family own Quarreller's Pass. And on the way, we'll get to see some other friends and enemies from season 2, some of whom will likely join in the fight against Andrias.

Tune in next week for part 2 of this theory, which will be about Newtopia and how things have gone for its residents!

And don't forget to submit your theories about season 2's characters under the king's tyrannical rule, as well as your theories about why March 14th necessarily had to be about Marcy!

[cringelordlikesplaz]

i’ve been redesigning plastic man villains and i asdfdsasdf i love mr aqua. he’s great. small evil bastard

ok so for him I thought it would be better to go the original backstory route since I’m not too fond of the human puddle. 

the OG backstory is something along the lines “scientist makes water creature, scientist shows off water creature, scientist is shunned/mocked, water creature goes on killing revenge spree”. 

and that’s fukcing great like 10/10 backstory you go little man

and also OG mr aqua was like, a little man. he was kinda adorable lol. 

but i’ve been thinking about olms too much, ok. i love olms. slenderman axolotls. asdfdsasdfd. so i made him an olm you can’t stop me

i have a google doc of the personality and backstory i’ve written for this guy, and ill post that later ok bye

[musekicker]

Another Blitz has so many kids au character. 

He who shambles: a short, sort of axolotl/Olm type hell born with a mass of tentacles on their head, as well as make up their hands.  He who shambles backstory is murky at best. No one knows how he came to be. All they know if that he will follow a victim until he gets his meal. What this meal can be ranges from blood, memories, or a moment of fear. 

No one knows how He who shambles picks his victims. Just that once he's on the scent, there is no avoiding feeding him. Ever shambling after his victim.

This said, his path and Blitz's cross one night when He who shambles comes across Blitz getting the pizza that the family had ordered at the front door. He who shambles had been following the pizza guy and intended to get their meal.

The pizza guy ran, leaving the pizza behind with Blitz. He who shambles was about the follow the pizza guy when Blitz calls out.

Blitz: hey kid!

He who shambles turns to look at Blitz. It's been a very long time since they were thought of as a kid.

Blitz: You got use free pizza. Seems only fair you get a slice.

This was the first time anyone had ever offered He who shambles something to eat. First gift ever. 

So it's no wonder that He who shambles becomes a part of the family. Earning the shortened version of their name "Shambles"

Orpheus fully has read up on old hell legends and freaked out at first at the sight of a being that puts fear into a lot of hell beings.

Also...

Moxxie: um, Blitz, what do you have there.

Blitz, both he and Shambles drinking a smoothie. Shambles smoothie straw disappears into their mass of tentacles. : A smoothie?

[i-imade-a-thing]

Amphibia: Fixing Frobo & Anne-sterminator

Ok wow, Amphibia continue bringing us some banger episodes! They somehow make me care about Frobo and Polly's relationship even more and continue making Anne's parents being one of best character so far. Anyways, here's some details I noticed in these episodes!

Fixing Frobo

This seems to be the first episode where Anne is seen with yellow hoodie

Keyboard cat, no need for explanation

"I hate responsibility" drawing from New Normal can be seen in background

Polly's pupil is purple

Grunkle Stan head...container thing can be seen on the shelf

Mr. Boonchuy was carrying amazon prime box(rip controller)

Frobo's eye have skull symbol before being turn off

The wiki on robotics is similar to real life counter part

Final Fantasy and Jojo reference

The figurine is reference to Keroro

Also, in the same page: "perfect collectable for the adult child residing in your home."

"Best of Angry Gamers Sept 2020" seems to be reference to game grumps

the angry gamers post the video 5 months ago, the video should be upload in early october...wait does this mean its currently march-

FORKNIFE and TIGTOG *wheeze*

Wait is that boston dynamic dog with sonic hair

One of the video titled "Robot's are cool. I'm 5 years old" description read "Hey guys my mom said if I get 500 views I can go to froknife convention please subs.." he currently got only 5 views

The IT girls are officially girlfriends

Its around 2AM during this scene

There's couple of Star Wars DVDs on the table

"I hate gravel", a reference to "I hate sand" from Star Wars Prequel

HP AND SPRIG IS PREQUEL FAN

Anne being concern about Polly shows how far Anne's development come

Anne's dad got a game of "Vagabondia(marcy's fav game) Online"

Some of the books on Anne's dad's shelf include "Anne's 1st birthday", "Wedding", "Business 4 Premises", and "Food for thoughts"

Anne's dad is drinking √-Fuel, reference to g-fuel

RIP gamer dad

Frobo's serial number is F0-R1

Wait how did IT girls know where Polly live-

Anne's dad continue being bullied lol

Anne-sterminator

"Cynthia Coven and the Prisoner of Boca Raton Vol 3." is reference to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Andrias said "Olms have mercy", in last week ep they said to seek "mother of olms"....

Andrias winking which show his playful yet twisted side

Fumigator, referencing Terminator

Anne wore an apron with muffin that look like a frog

"Change the grade in report card irresponsible", continuity from Hop Til You Drop where Anne said she used to intercept report card at the mail box

Cloak-bot seems desperate since he doesn't care about being seen anymore

Some of the statue in Anne's mom "workout" room include Anne getting diploma in law school, Anne getting scholarship, Anne recycling, Anne getting A+, Anne getting gold medal, and Anne being a doctor

Also: ET reference poster in background

The poster where she count Anne's disappearance day only stop at 89 days, which is around 2-3 months, this mean she stopped counting sometime

The lady who's walking the dog from intro make a cameo here, but different dog

When they're getting out of the car, Anne's dad wait for Anne's mom and hold her hand while running away(wholesome!)

Anne's full name is Anne Savisa Boonchuy

During Anne's confession scene, Anne's theme played

When Anne powered up, the same(similar?) instrument as Anne's Power ost is played in background

The building FBI is in is "Conspicuous Inc."

The pacing of this episode feel fast, just like how Cloak-bot is racing against time

Annnd thats Fixing Frobo and Anne-sterminator! Both of these are solid episode! They really make me care more about Frobo and Polly's relationship, and Anne finally told her parents the truth! Cloak-bot is also such a threatening antagonist in this and the past few episode, rest in pieces you magnificent chuck of metal.

[dragonherder2030]

Smaugust Day 9: Galaxy

I’m leaving tomorrow morning, my sister is going to look over the farm while I’m away. Echo Bel and Kory are coming with me, they can help with transportation and have separation anxiety. Xandra is showing me her camp, she has many followers, I’m going to be the first lizard to join it. That fact will be kept secret from the rest of the “humans” as to not cause hysteria, she has done the same with herself, hiding herself as an amphibian. I’m bringing my journal, I need to be able to write my thoughts

See you soon, Niki~

*we find out who the narrator is 👀. Another first person written segment, hopefully this one won’t be as long XD. Also, if by the end of Smaugust I feel there are some odd unintended plot holes or threads that need to be resolved I’ll make sure to do so. Ik it’s confusing right now, but I will continue right where we left off on the last writing segment for easiness*

Half my tea was gone in under a minute, it was jasmine green from what I tasted and was made very well.

“Please do explain what you mean by non-lizard kind though… Are you talking Amphibious sentience?” I ask, leaning back on the couch I had been placed on.

“No not sentient Amphibians that walk like us, I mean a species on another planet called Humans. They are a scaleless race with no tails, and can grow fur at an alarming rate. They can be dangerous to us, but not all of them. If you join me you can meet them, but many of them do not have the best interests of the dragons in mind.” Her creature tightened itself onto her neck. Has it experienced these “humans” before?

“Does that planet have dragons too? Also how do you, uh, go to another planet? Do you have access to a rocket?”

“No, I have something much better and easier to fuel… but you have to commit before learning of that. Keep your questions to a minimum till I finish explaining please, it will be easier.” Saying with a small hand wave. I nob in agreement.

“The planet is called earth and is very similar to ours. But dragons do not live naturally there, and have been brought there by a lizard who wanted a new environment for sport hunting, and didn’t get them all… They ended up breeding and creating homes for themselves, few and far apart. I used to monitor and catch some of the dragons to bring them back when I could along with my brother. When he passed I couldn’t do it by myself anymore, so I seeked the assistance of other lizards to return the dragons to their natural habitat. Not many believed me, and those who did I knew didn’t have the intentions of the animals in mind. So, I decided to start recruiting humans using my magic-“

“Wait wait wait, you have magic abilities?” I ask, needing to know more about this.

“Yes I possess magic, I’m no lizard, but we don’t need to know about that for now. All you need to know is that I can give objects the ability to transform a human into a lizard or amphibian sentient if worn, that’s what I can do,” Xandra says with a sigh. I speculate what she could be, and remember a legend about the creation of our world, something similar to that happening, where a being gave sentience to all of the lizards, and later some of the amphibians. There was another part of it where they wiped out a different race beforehand but I couldn’t remember it too well.

Xandra continued her explanation, “I chose humans because they would do the best capturing dragons in the human planet, since they are not killed on sight when seen… The humans I choose were specifically selected by my familiar, Davey here,” She pointed to the amphibian around her neck, it seemed to smile in admiration of its role.

“They are small enough to avoid detection from the humans, and not popular enough to be sought out, and they are very fast. Easily able to escape a human. I’ve gotten quite the following from animal lovers around earth, and luckily most of them speak English or know sign language, Davey doesn’t go far from our camp.”

“What do you guys Uh, do? Do you go to the human world and just, catch the dragons? And why don’t you just tell the humans that the dragons are an invasive species and, I guess take them back?” I ask, confused what I would actually be doing and why the humans are a problem.

Xandra’s calm demeanor shifted, and her eyebrows furrowed, “Most humans want the dragons, but I know they aren’t safe there. They would be hunted for sport and put in cages. I’ve watched them for thousands of years, they will never accept the dragons as any more then a fantasy creature for decoration. And for some reason now there are more being found, species that weren’t brought to earth from that initial leak. There’s another source, someone from this planet that has access to Earth and is exploiting it to bring dragons there. You can help me find them, and allow me to have more allies on this side. Plus the place I’m keeping the dragons isn’t safe anymore, I need somewhere here I can put them with someone to take care of them.” Her voice had raised slightly, this is a subject she is angry about. She must have witness terrible things. I think it’s an amazing idea, I have the whole farm I could keep the dragons. Acres of land I’m not using right now could be put to this. I didn’t care if she was legit or not, I believed her.

“Ok, I’m convinced… I want to help. I have a farm that can serve as a holding place for the dragons until we can bring them to their rightful places,” I say, trying to hide the excitement in my voice. She smiles at me, looking satisfied.

“My camp, it is all humans, they do not know of our reptilian existence, to them they are the last of the reptile kind. So to them, your just another new human recruit. That means,” Xandra gets up, walking towards the closet I had noticed before, “that means that you have to pick out an accessory to simulate the effect of you being a fake lizard.”

I stand up and walk to the closet as well. Xandra escapes into the inside of it, I follow closely. The inside wasn’t meant to hold more then one person, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Along the walls is an array of shirts, jackets, pants, hats, bracelets, necklaces, etc. in every color imaginable.

“Take your pick, it doesn’t matter what it is, other then u will need to be able to wear it for long amounts of time,” she says, picking up a hat and dusting it off, then hanging it back up.

I look around the room, spinning in place, then think of something, “Do you have a piece? How do you hide that your not a lizard?”

She thinks for moment, “Davey helps me with that too, as you know they are my familiar, and they aren’t just any normal dragon either. They become a wonderful necklace whenever I need them to. And when I wear that, I become what they would be if they were a sentient Amphibian,” she explained to me. So far she has shown me no proof of the magic she claims to have, and this seems like a simple test. Even if I was all for the cause, no reason not to speculate.

“Could u show me?”

“Of course,” Xandra said, glancing at Davey. The creature climbed to the front of her neck, then sitting still right there for a few seconds. I await the transformation. Then, they stiffen and fall loose, a small chain connecting to their mouth and tail holding them onto Xandra’s neck. Her body poofs into one of an sentient Olm, her body much longer then previously. I stare up at her in awe, it all must be true.

“Wow…” I say, stunned by the display. She smiles down at me and quickly exits the closet, since she had taken up most the room.

“I need to show u our transportation tomorrow, since it is getting late. You will be seeing the camp, and meeting the members. You may stay for a couple of days to get familiar with them,” she says, looking out the window. I understand her reasoning, my sister can watch over the farm while I’m gone, I’ll be returning there soon with suitable dragons.

I return to looking at the room and behind a puffy jacket is a bronze glimmer. I walk towards it and grab it, it’s a tail ring. A dragon spiraling around a few times. And it’s adjustable, I try it on, tightening it to my liking. I decide it would be to heavy to stay on, and I don’t really like these kinds of jewelry. Placing it back in it’s spot, I try on a few other things, including a puffy jacket(after taking my shoulder armor off), a muzzle, and a necklace with an odd diamond like pendant on it. Then another thing caught my eye, a blue bandana with a cool looking pattern on it. I tie it around my neck, I think this one will work very well.

Exiting the room I look around for Xandra, spotting her on the couch reading a book. Davey was wrapped around her wrist and she was back in her original state.

“I have chosen this bandana!” I announce, walking towards her. She looks up from her reading and smiles brightly.

“Oh wonderful sweet pea, I only ask one more question of you before you go home to rest up for tomorrow,” she says, putting her book down.

“What’s that?” I ask, holding my shoulder armor tightly.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh- oh yeah you don’t know me very well yet. I’m Niki,” I say with a smile. She smiles back at me.

“Thank you hun. One more thing though, if you have any drakes I would recommend you bring them with you, they would help with the travel aspect. Tomorrow won’t be a walk in the park,” she says, picking her book back up. I nod, looking to my left and realizing the door is right next to the couch. I mentally scorn myself for not realizing this sooner, and exit the house. I know these woods, and have seen this cottage before. It looks worn down on the outside, abandoned… but making my way home is easy. It was evening by the time I made it back.

I call my sister, “Hi Bryn, I need you to watch the farm for a few days.”

—————————

This was fun, writing wasn’t the best, I was kinda zoned out while writing it lol. My main focus was to explain stuff and set up character motivations, sorry if it’s a bit messy, and like, long dang.

[mediaeval-muse]

Important note for early medievalists

In case some of you are unaware, there was a huge upset (for lack of a better word) within the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists a few weeks ago. This organization - the only one dedicated to the study of early medieval England, to my knowledge - is currently in the midst of a huge change. At this point, it’s uncertain if the organization will continue to exist.

So what’s going on?

Trigger warning for racism and white supremacy, including online bullying.

First, some background. Please read this article about racism in the field, as well as this series of tweets about why the term “Anglo-Saxon” is racist, even in an academic context. For the purposes of this post, I’m using “ISAS” and “Anglo-Saxon” for clarity. After this post, I will no longer be using these terms.

The Basics

In 2017, Dr. Adam Miyashiro, a native Hawai’ian, is excluded from a publication put forth by ISAS following the conference in Honolulu. He begins to vocally draw attention to white supremacy and gatekeeping within medieval studies (particularly early medieval studies). He gives a keynote lecture at ISAS 2019 in Albuquerque on this topic.

ISAS 2019: Business Meeting announces the board’s plans to hold a vote regarding a change in the name of the organization. No alternatives have been presented: the vote is only to gauge whether or not the general membership wishes to rename itself. There is also an intention to vote on whether demographic diversity should be a requirement for the advisory board makeup.

September 5-7, 2019: Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm delivers a talk at the Race Before Race symposium (an academic symposium dedicated to critical race studies in medieval and early modern fields) about white supremacy within early medieval studies

Dr. Rambaran-Olm publicly resigns her position from the ISAS advisory board during her talk, citing the board’s inaction in combating white supremacy within the field as well as its insistence on a hierarchical structure that disadvantages grad students and early career researchers (ECRs)

Dr. Rambaran-Olm tweets a list of demands for change within the organization

The Immediate Aftermath

Dr. Rambaran-Olm’s resignation triggers a series of condemnations against ISAS from other medieval organizations, including Medievalists of Color and Queerdievalists

Dr. Rambaran-Olm receives threats of violence on social media, especially after the Washington Post publishes this article

There was a rumor going around that a notorious sexual predator in the field was being considered for a leadership role in the organization. As far as I know, this is false, but some prominent scholars have not deleted their social media posts about it. (I’m withholding his name not to protect him, but because I don’t know if I could suffer legal consequences for naming him when he hasn’t been formally charged with anything. I’m but a poor grad student.)

ISAS decides to move up the vote for a name change. The advanced timeline does not allow for members to discuss and debate the motion, leading to some people hastily voting then regretting their decision after listening to the conversation about the merits of changing the name.

The ISAS listserv receives some truly tone-deaf and outright racist messages from (senior) scholars trying to influence the vote.

Guy Halsall, the partner of Dr. Helen Foxhall Forbes (the ISAS board member responsible for drafting the harassment policy), begins bullying grad students and ECRs on social media, calling them names and slurs for supporting a more inclusive field and organization. He makes his account private when called out, then deletes it altogether.

Where We’re At Now

Most of the advisory board members of ISAS have resigned. There are a handful left, but they include Dr. Rauer (who sent out a racist email) and Dr. Forbes (whose partner bullied grads and ECRs)

ISAS members voted to change the name (~60% approval) AND to make demographic diversity a requirement for advisory board representation (~78% approval)

Medieval scholars have started using the hashtag #commit2change to document what they are going to do to make the field more open to BIPOC scholars and students

A number of grads and ECRs have left ISAS in solidarity with BIPOC scholars

Some Links

A summary from Inside Higher Ed

About decolonizing your syllabus

My Thoughts

I have been a member of ISAS since 2016 and I attended the conference in Albuquerque, so I have some first-hand experience with the conference events and the listserv.

I voted in favor of the name change and the demographic diversity requirement.

I agree that “Anglo-Saxon” is an exclusionary term that harms BIPOC scholars, and though I have used it in the past in an academic context, I will no longer be using it unless I’m citing previous scholarship. Instead, I will be using “early medieval England/English” unless a better term is put forth. I urge fellow medievalists to do the same.

At this point, I’m planning to stick with ISAS to facilitate the changes I want to see, unless it becomes evident to me that the vote was just a show and people aren’t really committed to change. If that’s the case, I will leave, but I do want to try to make changes first.

This whole thing wasn’t a complete dumpster fire. Some very prominent scholars turned out to be vocal supporters of BIPOC colleagues. The question now is: is it enough?

This field is not about white people or white history, so don’t @ me. It should be open to everyone.

“Anglo-Saxon” isn’t even an appropriate term, since early medieval England contained inhabitants that were neither Angles nor Saxons. There were many, many peoples, including various Celtic groups, Jutes, etc. So, “historical accuracy” is not a good argument for keeping the term.

As far as I know, “Old English” is still ok for describing the vernacular language of early medieval England. If this changes, I will make a post about it.

This problem is not unique to the study of early medieval England. Medieval and Early Modern Studies need to reflect on its own practices and make academia more welcoming to BIPOC students and scholars.

As far as I know, the victims of Notorious Sexual Predator have not sought criminal charges, and he hasn’t been punished by any institution he has worked for. Some scholars have taken it upon themselves to call for his demise. I’m in favor, though I do want to protect victims and prevent people from appropriating their struggle.

Why You Should Care

This isn’t an ISAS problem, it’s a medieval studies problem. ISAS is just where it’s all coming to a head.

BIPOC scholars matter.

ISAS is responsible for a lot of funding of scholarship for research in early medieval England. It’s also the only professional organization (that I know of) that is devoted to this time period/field. Everything else is later medieval or general medieval. ISAS has historically legitimized early medieval studies in academia. Presenting at ISAS can likewise make a scholar’s career. The impact is huge.

What You Can Do

Educate yourself on the struggles of BIPOC scholars (as well as BIPOC people in general). Not sure where to start? Here’s some advice

Support more BIPOC scholars by citing and centering their work, refusing to participate in panels that don’t include diverse voices, and following BIPOC scholars on social media

Refrain from using the term “Anglo-Saxon” in your scholarship (but if you’re quoting and/or providing a bibliographic reference, this is advice is less clear-cut. I’m personally using the term in citations and acknowledging somewhere in my work that the field has a history of racism. I want readers to be able to find the things I cite, while also not erasing the field’s racist history. I don’t think pretending it never existed is the answer.)

Report bullying on social media when you see it

Follow the #commit2change hashtag for some ideas on how to make your classrooms more inclusive

Donate to the Belle De Costa Greene Fund, a travel grant for medievalists of color

You don’t have to join ISAS now, or remain in ISAS if it makes you uncomfortable. You can enact changes at whatever level you’re at without joining the org.

There’s probably more, but I’m tired. If you’re a young medievalist and have questions, you’re welcome to PM me.