Abrupt Parenthood

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Reblog if you think Edgelor-I mean Goma deserves Love and Appreciation

Miraculous Master Post

Hello! Here’s the master list of all my stuff! I have no idea if I’m doing this right so if I’m not, please let me know and I’ll try to fix it!

Miraculous College AU:

Part 1

Contains class salt, Lila salt, and Adrien salt

Miraculous Career Choice AU:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 (Jasonette child) coming soon

Contains minor class salt, Lila salt, Gabriel salt, Adrien salt, and Maribat Jasonette

Bio Mom Au 

Starfire Part 1

Starfire Part 2

Zatanna Part 1 coming soon

Contains class salt, Lila salt, Adrien salt, Minor Chloe salt, and potentially more salt to be added.

Requests: Organized by ships or other stuff

Timinette:

New Phone Who Dis?

Contains class salt, Lila salt, Adrien salt, Alya salt, Chloe redemption, and probably more I don’t remember.

Daminette:

Revenge Never Looked So Good

Contains class salt, Lila salt, Adrien salt, Alya salt, a lotta salt.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Panthère de Nuit

Contains class salt, Lila salt, Adrien salt, Alya salt, a lotta salt. This is super long so I suggest taking an intermission, stretching your legs, and going to the bathroom around the sewing machine part. 

Edit: Fixed tagging

D&D Demon Lords and Warhammer Chaos Gods - Graz'zt and Slaanesh

(Warning, some mature topics are also discussed)

Slaanesh, like other Chaos Gods, takes inspiration (sometimes probably subconsciously) from multiple sources - mythological and religious figures, literary ones, but he/they seems to be among these, particularly inspired by 2 Demon Lords/Princes from Dungeons & Dragons, that predate him/them. Here we discuss one of them - Graz'zt.

Graz'zt was first introduced in 1982's module/adventure "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" (and mentioned in 1976 prototype, but solely by name).

He is here already described as the "most handsome of Demon Princes", and one of the most powerful of them (rivaling the 2 top Demon Princes mentioned before in lore, Demogorgon and Orcus). Graz'zt somewhat unique beauty, is similar to Slaanesh who is described as uniquely/most beautiful out of the 4 Chaos Gods. As seen here, he already has a connection to Succubi (as well as Lamias, but that will be important later), and the number 6 (Slaanesh' holy number), having six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

Better quality scan for Graz'zt's illustration (if colored in childhood), by Cullen Burn on Twitter

Further details about him, as shed in the 1987 Manual of Planes: "Graz'zt makes his domain in a great palace that fills an entire layer and dominates the nearby layers of lesser demon lords. Here Graz'zt marshals his army against the forces of Orcus and Demogorgon."

And how Slaanesh's realm is described in 1988's "Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness": GENERAL: Slaanesh is the Lord of Pleasure, the Power of Chaos dedicated to the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures and the overthrow of all codes of decent behaviour. He reigns in a vast and luxuriously appointed palace in the void, where favoured followers litter the floors, indulging themselves in all forms of perverse pleasures of the flesh.

This might be a lesser similarity, but it is curious realms of both are specifically described as "palaces". And as opposed the later lore, the palaces filing the whole realm/dimension in both cases.

Slaanesh, one of his/their's only canon illustrations, exactly from "Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness"

Not 100% canon, but later it's elements (partly) canonized, Graz'zt was connected to Drow in Gord the Rogue series of novels, by Gary Gygax (co-creator of D&D). Specifically, in 1986's "Artifact of Evil", the drow elf priestess Eclavdra converted to serving and worshiping Graz'zt (as did seemingly the drow of Oerth, or at least house of Eilserv, in that continuity), as well as became his lover. And in turn, he helped her to become the queen/ruler of drow. Part of this was canonized since 2nd edition, in 1993's "Iuz the Evil", with Eclavdra being described as worshiping Lolth, but serving both Lolth and Graz'zt. 2006's "Fiendish Codex: Hordes of the Abyss" indeed confirmed Eclavdra converted to worshiping Graz'zt, became his lover (and they even had a son Athux). Seemingly latter serving both Graz'zt and Lolth for a time, before returning to solely worshiping and serving Lolth. Though it makes sense, as Eclavdra was noted in the Gord novels to be certain to betray Graz'zt. This in some ways, makes her similar to the later character of Morathi from Warhammer (Fantasy and Age of Sigmar).

Eclavdra, 5th edition depiction

Graz'zt as presented in 1994's Planes of Chaos

"Iuz the Evil" was also the first appearance of Graz'zt in second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

(Also, in 2E, Tanar'ri was the term used for all Demons, unlike later it being used for one, most common category)

Graz'zt and his Realm (now given a name "Azzagrat") was further developed, and changed a bit in the in 1994 "Planes of Chaos", making him , and making him in many ways more resemble Slaanesh: "The best known of the Triple Realm's towns are actually always connected to one another and to the Plain of Infinite Portals; the connections between the three are murky to any mind less chaotic than a tanar'ri's, and sometimes makes travel here extremely frustrating. The towns themselves are often clean and even beautiful, though the streets are still mazes; the horrors of Azzagrat are hidden better than most of the terrors of the Abyss. Screams from behind closed doors are more common than blood in the streets. If a basher doesn't poke her nose in, she might not learn what she don't want to know."

"Other notorious characters include Maretta, the Lady of the Counting-House (Px/fd (succubus)/S2/CE), who watches over the revenues from Graz'zt's pacts with creatures of the Prime. Maretta rules a haven of pleasure and discipline in the underground core of Samora, a city of vice that pays huge yearly tributes to support the Blood War. Maretta occasionally sends a legion of cambion to the front, but for the most part the city is a haven for those avoiding the war. It's one of the few places in the Abyss built with an eye for excessive ornamentation; some say it's as blinding as Mount Celestia, but gaudier."

"A basher'd be smart to avoid the Argent Palace Graz'zt's abode of 66 ivory towers and a hundred cold, mirrored halls - if at all possible. The palace is a frighteningly clean, echoing place where visitors often lose their guides to the ravenous, mad bodaks and worse creatures that Graz'zt releases from his dungeons occasionally for amusement." Here again visible the connection to the number 6.

Second edition also presented Graz'zt's very ambitious plans - of not only conquering/uniting the Abyss, but all of the Lower (Hellish) Planes, and all species of fiends, and march and defeat the Upper (Heavenly) planes (first being detailed in 1996 "Uncaged: Faces of Sigil"). If first via his servant (and possibly child), the Cambion (half-demon) the Rule-of-Three. But this was developed further in 3rd edition and later, and while it seems like an absurdly ambitious plan, it is suggested to be a real possibility.

The Lamias, who often serve and worship Graz'zt, are also quite interesting, that in "The Ecology (Love Life) of the Lamia" (found in 1993's Dragon #192), it was revealed that while the Lamia Nnobles (serpentine Lamias) have two sexes, the common (leotaurian) Lamias are hermaphrodites, despite their feminine upper bodies. It's also described that only when mating with a human (and possibly demi-human), Lamias have children of their type/caste - two Lamias mating, produces Lamias of a lower caste. Common Lamias mating with humans of either sex, either being impregnated or impregnating them. Two common Lamias mating, creates a bizarre creature - S'air, the horned lion-goat on the article's cover, a being of animalistic intelligence. S'air are named after creatures of the same name - if spelled by modern translators more often as Sayir, found in the Bible. Often translated as satyrs, goats or devils. In general, Sayir seem to be meant to be goat-like demons, possibly related to latter stories of Jinn, and the Demon/Fallen Angel Azazel. Graz'zt having some similarities to Azazel - especially seeing how the angels name is sometimes written as Azzael or Azzazel (compare to the name of Graz'zt realm Azzagrat), Azazel being father and one of the minds (and fathers) behind the conception of the Nephilim in the Book of Enoch), sometimes described as having six fingers and six toes on each hand and foot (II Samuel 21:20, 1 Chronicles 18-21).

Depiction of a (common) Lamia in the original 1977 Monster Manual. Note her/their hind legs are of a goat

This makes also lamias seem a lot like the Late Medieval and Early Modern folklore about Succubi/Incubi, who were sex switching beings, that had to reproduce with humans. This was latter introduced to Succubi properly, but in 4th edition of D&D (though as will be seen bellow, implied since 2nd edition). What is also very interesting, 3rd edition states (in 2006 "Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss") Lamias and Graz'zt are relatives - Lamias being descendants of the Obyrith/Lovecraftian proto-Demoness Pale Night, Graz'zt's mother (as stated since 2nd edition), further showing a close connection between the two.

4E Lamia, partially in her Eladrin/Elven form, from the 2007 Monster Manual

4th Edition, for it's duration, majorly re-imagined Lamias, if still keeping their connections with and worship of Graz'zt. Here they are re-imagined as belonging to the Fey (Fairy) group (along with elves and other faerie creatures). But a truly bizarre example of fairies. Their true form being that of a hive of scarabs, around a Fey (usually elf or eladrin) skeleton, taking the form of an attractive humanoid (most commonly eladrin, elf, drow or human). They devour their victims by first seducing them, by shapeshifting to a look and gender of the target's preference. They also reproduce in a horrific, corruptive, John Carpenter Thing-like fashion, by splitting their scarab mass, devouring a (often first seduced) fey (usually eladrin, elf or drow), aside from their skeleton, and taking their form, along with their memories. Though here being further similar in man ways to Daemons of Slaanesh, and their "relation" to elves and Eldar/Aeldari.

Graz'zt, as depicted in "The Book of Vile Darkness"

3rd edition, starting with 2001's "The Book of Vile Darkness", further emphasized Graz'zt connection to pleasure and desires, as well as started using the using the title "Dark Prince" for him, like Warhammer did for a long time for Slaanesh: "Tales are told among common folk that a dark-skinned fiend sometimes visits witches and sorcerers, granting them both sexual favors and magical powers. Graz’zt is the truth of that legend. A deeply sexual, erotic being, the Dark Prince never goes anywhere without a retinue of female monsters—usually lamias, succubi, or mariliths. He is dangerously charming and seductive, and he speaks with such eloquence and grandeur that one might think him a devil, not a demon."

"Graz’zt loves seduction and guile. Although he is not afraid of war, he would rather trick and charm his opponents than beat them in battle."

"Graz’zt enjoys blood sacrifices made in his name, and sexual rites are important in services dedicated to him as well. His temples are dark, secluded places where orgies are common."

This edition also added to Graz'zt design the fact he has 6 small horns.

Graz'zt as depicted in Dragon Magazine #360, "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Graz'zt"

5th edition, further developed Graz'zt in Out of Abyss making him again even more similar to Slaanesh:

Graz'zt in Out of Abyss' promotional materials

It's also worth to note that Graz'zt, while primarily male, his gender and sex were started to be presented as somewhat fluid (similar to Slaanesh since his debut), starting in Second Edition. In his debut in this edition, in 1993's "Iuz the Evil", he is described: "Graz'zt rules three Abyssal planes and is a powerful tanar'ri Lord. He is proud, and unusually self-controlled and cool for a tanar'ri. His favored form is that of a very tall and heavily-muscled, ebony-skinned man, with glowing green eyes, pointed ears and small fangs. He also has the peculiarity of being six-fingered and six-toed in whatever form he appears in."

This is basically repeated in the above mentioned "Planes of Chaos": "Graz'zt, a powerful tanar'ri lord, rules three Abyssal layers. Also called the Lord of Shadows or the Lord of the Triple Realm, Graz'zt is known for his pride, unusual self-control, and coolness (uncommon for a tanar'ri). He favors the form of a very tall and heavily muscled ebony-skinned man with glowing green eyes, pointed ears, and small fangs. He also has the peculiarity of being six-fingered and six-toed in whatever form he appears in."

These just state he has a propensity to change form...but 3 years latter, in 1997's "Faces of Evil: The Fiends":

"GENDER It's not uncommon for the tanar'ri to take genders as they will. Some days they're male, some days female; some days they're neither, and some days they're both. They tend to stick with one or the other as they grow older, and to all those who think this implies order or stability, why, I argue that it's simply another example of the fiends letting the strongest urge dominate (as they do in all other aspects of their lives)."

Suggesting together Graz'zt probably also assumes female and nonbinary forms, aside from his main form.

This was further suggested in 3rd edition (specifically 3.5E), were Graz'zt was shown, as part of his feud with the Queen of Succubi Malcanthet, transform into/impersonate her, as seen first in lore of the Demon Lord Kostchtchie, in the 2006 article "The Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Kostchtchie: Prince of Wrath" in Dragon #345: "The conflict between the Dark Prince Graz'zt and the Queen of Succubi Malcanthet is one of the most notorious in the Abyss. When Graz’zt hit upon an idea that would not only humiliate Malcanthet but might provide him access to the Stoldottir Gate, he put a dangerous plan into motion. Disguised as the Queen of Succubi, Graz'zt managed over the course of hundreds of clandestine meetings to seduce Kostchtchie and gain his trust, convincing him that, as Malcanthet, he wanted to be Kostchtchie’s bride and merge their resources to destroy several other demon lords."

Kostchtchie, thanks to the real Malcanthet's manipulation on her own, discovered the truth, and went into a complete rage. But what is interesting, it's also described as such: "Yet to Kostchtchie, nothing could have been more humiliating. His realization that he had been manipulated by a woman (even if that woman was actually Graz'zt in disguise) fueled his misogyny like never before, and the fact that the other tanar'ri lords (Graz’zt in particular) now viewed Kostchtchie as a besotted fool triggered one of his greatest rages ever."

Stating Kostchtchie considers Graz'zt at least partly a woman, and even the text seems to partly agree. And this even fueled Kostchtchie's misogyny, not homophobia, or any form of queerphobia.

Graz'zt again impersonated/transformed into Malcanthet in 2007's "Expedition into the Demonweb Pit", as part of his plans:

Graz'zt impersonating Malcanthet, circled

And in 5th edition, in "Out of Abyss": "The appearance of the Dark Prince is a warning that not all beautiful things are good. Standing nearly nine feet tall, Graz'zt strikes the perfect figure of untamed desire, every plane and curve of his body, every glance of his burning eyes, promising a mixture of pleasure and pain. A subtle wrongness pervades his beauty, from the cruel cast of his features to the six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Graz'zt can also transform himself at will, appearing in any humanoid form that pleases him, or his onlookers, all equally tempting in their own ways."

In general, these similarities, and possible inspirations are very interesting, especially how it seems Graz'zt and Slaanesh started to mutually influence each other.

Lolth didn't start out as a Misandrist?

This might seem strange, but originally it was presented as unclear if Lolth was a misandrist, was behind the sexism in Drow society, and the misandry among Drow being itself much less severe. As stated from even late 1e AD&D article in Dragon Magazine #129 "Children of the Spider Goddess." (from which I take the main image):

And indeed, the text implies Drow are still less sexist and more meritocratic and egalitarian than many other societies, species and races, while still being an evil matriarchy.

This comes back to the Dark Elves and Lolth's first appearances in "Against the Giants" module trilogy (G1: "Steading of the Hill Giant Chief" and G3: "Hall of the Fire Giant") and Drow series ("D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth", "D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa", "D3 Vault of the Drow and "Q1, Queen of the Demonweb Pits" (latter all collected into the Supermodule - "Queen of the Spiders") - were Drow Elves who worship the Elder Elemental God, still keep the matriarchal structure of their society.

These being the lore written by Gary Gygax (pretty much the creator or one of the creators of D&D)

It's also further evident in the connected series of modules The "Village of Hommlet"/"The Temple of Elemental Evil", were there is a lead human male cleric of Lolth, Lareth the Beautiful.

Lareth, no longer as beautiful as once

Lolth was even stated to be pissed of on whoever harms or kills Lareth:

This was changed in Second Edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Lolth becoming increasingly misandrist (though even there still allowing male priests/clerics, as stated in 1991 "Drow of the Underdark" and 1998's "Demihuman Deities", specifically the latter stating 4% of Lolth Drow priesthood are male priests), though some writers tried to tone it down at least. Though only in Critical Role, Lolth is not as misandrist as in modern lore at least, calling back to her earliest characterization.

Still, I think it is interesting, seeing how the perception of Lolth in pop-culture, is different from how she started out, if due to old lore being forgotten in place of newer one, and also how R.A. Salvatore's very popular Drizzt novel series did portray Lolth as such (though even in some of his novels, till fairly recently, he did hint Lolth exaggerates/fakes how much of a misandrist she is).

Zombie AU Part 2 

“ it wasn’t supposed to be like this, we were leaving to a better place. we were packing our supplies the previous day …. and the next day I killed him, I killed my uncle.

I wonder if ruby hates me? I don’t blame her, I hate myself too.  

still I don’t care whose blood I get on my hands as long as my little sister is fine” Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4 |Part 5 | Part 6

RWBY Zombie Apocalypse Part 6 : A little longer

Part 1 |Part 2 |Part 3 |Part 4 |Part 5|part 6 |Part 7

What’s Going On with the Ears in Hyrule?

(Or: A Needlessly Comprehensive Deep-Dive into the Myst-EAR-ious Duality of Round-Eared Humans and Long-Eared Hylians, a Very S-EAR-ious Write-Up)

As some of you may remember from a few months back, I made an off-hand comment about my ideas surrounding the disparities between the different types of ears we see in Hyrule’s human citizens, and my desire to further expand on that at a later date.  No, that was not a joke, and yes, I am finally Doing the Dang Thing.  So!  Let’s get started.

Long-time fans of the series will know that Hylians are a race of humans in the world of The Legend of Zelda with long, elf-like ears.  Hylians most always dominate the land of Hyrule in nearly every installment in the series, with round-eared humans only making their first appearance in Link’s Awakening, a game that - spoiler alert - was all a dream in the first place.  And though plain old humans again appear in the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna in the follow-up Oracle games, it is very in keeping with the theme of this blog that their most notable appearance happens to be in Twilight Princess.

Though it is never remarked upon in-game, Link is the only Hylian in a village filled with humans, such as Ilia and Rusl, leading the player to assume that he was not Ordon-born.  Other notable examples include Ashei, who hails from the mountains, and even the inhabitants of (New) Kakariko (though only three in number) are all mere humans.  The Hylians of this game seem to be centralized around Castle Town, with notable members including Telma, Shad, and Auru of the Resistance, and naturally, Zelda herself.  Yet as I’ve already stated, the fact that there are two different sets of ears among the humans is never even a topic of conversation; it makes you wonder why the developers bothered to make the distinction at all, and indeed, plenty of fans have never even noticed that such a disparity exists. I certainly didn’t notice when I was ten years old, playing through Twilight Princess for the very first time - but we’ve come a long way since then, and I am delighted to finally be able to tell everyone why I think this disparity exists, and how it has bled into other aspects of the series.  Let’s back away from Twilight Princess for a moment; all good theories have a beginning, and this one is no different.  To understand where this all began, we must look thousands of years into the past, to Skyward Sword.  More specifically, this all started…

…with this guy.

Keep reading

Persona: a... card game?

This is something I’ve been meaning to talk for quite a while. In the first Persona game, if you go to Peace Diner before heading to Mikage Hospital at the beginning of the game, you can talk to this NPC:

These three lines are all sorts of interesting because it means there’s an actual card game played with “spell cards”, which are also the name of the cards you use to create new Personas and are acquired by negotiating with demons.

Now, Megami Ibunroku Persona is set in the same universe as Shin Megami Tensei: if… as well as Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner. The former is more explicit as the game doesn’t shy from pointing out Tamaki’s experience dealing with demons. The latter is referenced once during the Snow Queen Quest and confirmed in a guidebook.

What I’m trying to say is, there’s nothing wrong with there being a card game based on demons. There have been many demon-related incidents in this ‘verse, and creating a card game means that if an incident happens the Devil Summoners can have an easier time at damage control by blaming crazy fans/publicity events, etc. What’s eye-catching is the fact that it’s called Persona.

The student who gives you this info is wearing a Karukozaka High School uniform. He obviously wasn’t around for the Hazama Incident since he doesn’t know demons are real. I can only imagine the students who didn’t transfer out wincing every time he brings that card game up.

Going back to the main topic, I shouldn’t have to mention the fact that the Megami Ibunroku Persona cast isn’t the first batch of Persona-users to exist. The card game was probably made by one of those older Persona-users for the same reasons I speculated before, maybe with the help of Devil Summoners.

Have you ever thought about how Mario probably grew up in a loving but financially unstable home, and how he and Luigi likely struggled to eek out a decent life for themselves prior to whatever strange magic brought them to the Mushroom Kingdom? Have you thought about the months where they had to decide which they wanted more: food, or a roof over their heads?

And then have you stopped to think about Peach, a literal monarch with an endless supply of wealth, suddenly giving them a cottage big enough to house a whole family and free access to her castle and inviting them to share meals with her, for no other reason than 1.) she's quite fond of them and 2.) she just can? How she probably views these gestures as meager, the absolute least she can do for her friends, and how she likely has no idea that she's casually giving them a sense of security and belonging they've never had before? How much peace she brings into Mario's life, never having to wonder where his next paycheck or his next meal is coming from, seeing his beloved brother finally having the means to pursue his own hobbies and pastimes, and not even realizing it? Have you ever thought about that?

And have you ever thought about how lonely Peach's life must have been? Even if there were other children her age to play with (never mind that none of them were human like her), she couldn't have played anyway, because every aspect of her upbringing was tailored around making her an effective politician? And how even in adulthood, there's very few people who seek her company just for the sake of it; how she goes into most interactions knowing that she's wanted for her beauty, her power, her influence, and nothing else?

And then have you stopped to think about Mario, a guy with plenty of friends and lots of better things to do, just... seeking her out for no other reason than to talk? How he could have so much more from Peach if only he asked, she would happily gift him any treasure that money could buy, but for some reason she can't decipher, all he wants is her friendship? How he doesn't view her as untouchable or some great means to an end, nor does he just turn a blind eye to their differing social statuses; he acknowledges her position and her power yet expects nothing of her in spite of it, and is happiest simply when he can sit and chat with her about nothing for hours on end? Have you ever thought about that?

Because I think about that, like. A lot.