#And speaking of Hermes they did him SO DIRTY

[deaththeyamikid]

Finally continuing my watch of the PJO Disney+ show and literally all the scenes in the Underworld are so dark I cannot SEE anything

[triptuckers]

capture the flag - leo valdez

Request: nope Pairing:  leo valdez x apollo!reader Summary:  during capture the flag, no one gets stuck in leo's traps and he wants to find out why Warnings:  none Word count:  800 A/N: this has been sitting in my drafts for a while and now that I'm back in my pjo era time to finish it! enjoy :)

capture the flag is always fun. it's a nice way for people to train together while it feels like a game. even though sometimes people get too competitive.

it gives leo the chance to litter the forest with traps, and to test new inventions. of course, he could test them in the bunker or on his friends. but this is the real deal. no one knows where the traps are, how many there are. it's the perfect conditions to test them.

he's made a new batch of them but for some reason none of the traps work.

whenever he goes to check on them, they're all disabled. no one's activated them, or he would have found a fellow camper near one.

and leo is absolutely sure he activated them. they didn't blow up so there's nothing wrong with them.

and yet they're disabled.

rather than trying to capture the flag, he decides to hide in the bushes near one of his traps to see what - or who - is disabling them.

he listens to the sounds of the woods around him and pulls stuff out of his tool bel two mindlessly build little machines.

after a while, he spots movement out of the corner of his eye.

whoever it is moves quietly and gracefully. so definitely not an ares kid, leo concludes.

the person slowly walks over to leo's trap, careful where they put their feet down on the forrest floor.

leo watches as they walk around the trap, examining it. he shifts to get a better look at who it is.

he frowns slightly. he would have expected someone from the hermes cabin. maybe piper because he's spent a lot of time trying to explain his machines to her.

but he didn't expect it to be a daughter of apollo.

to be fair, leo thought the apollo cabin didn't know anything about traps or machines in general. their skills were mostly archery, medicine and music. not traps built by a hephaestus kid.

leo's eyes follow your hand movements as you carefully prod around the trap. surely you wouldn't be able to- and you disabled it.

smiling to yourself, you straighten your back and us your foot to slide the now useless trap aside.

when you turn around, you hear leaves rustle behind you.

instinctively, you knock an arrow on your bow and turn on your heel.

you are met by leo, who is frantically waving his hands in front of his face.

'don't shoot, don't shoot! I come in peace!' he yells.

you lower your bow. 'leo! gods, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!'

'that's alright.' says leo, lowering his hands. 'I was the one hiding behind you.'

you frown. 'why were you hiding anyway? usually you like to be in the middle of the action.' you say.

'can't help the fact people start fighting over me wherever I go.' says leo, making you chuckle.

'yeah, right, valdez. as if anyone could come near you with the amount of traps you're setting.' you say.

'speaking of which.' says leo, walking over to his trap and picking it up to examine it. 'how did you know where the kill switch was on this?'

you shrug. 'that's a tactical secret I can't reveal.' you say. 'for future capture the flag purposes.'

'or you just got lucky.'

'23 times?'

'yeah, that seems unlikely.'

you smile. 'there's a window in the roof of bunker nine.' you say. 'it's actually a two way mirror. it doesn't let any light through. gives me a perfect view of your workspace, though.'

'so the tactical secret is spying.' says leo.

'can't win if you don't play a little dirty every now and then. plus it's cool to see all the stuff you create.'

you shoulder your bow. 'good luck activating all of the traps again.' you say. 'I need to get back to my cabin.'

you start to walk toward the noise your fellow campers are making, to see if your team is winning and how you can help.

'hey!'

you turn around to see leo is still standing in the clearing with the trap in his hands.

'if you want to, I could show you how to make these? then you will be able to do more than just disable them.' he says.

you smile at him, you've always liked leo.

but you are surprised, you know leo is kind of protective of bunker 9 and usually only Hephaestus kids go inside. it must be a huge deal for someone from another cabin to be invited into the bunker.

and Leo wants you here.

'sure.' you say. 'I'd like that. but first we have to steal your flag.'

'oh no, you won't.' says leo.

with one last smile, you disappear into the woods, leaving leo to reactivate his trap before coming after you.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rulesHere’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Marit/Max

[marilynmonroefanfics]

Scary Love

Y/N, much to the disdain of his father, had convinced his mother to let him spend some days with his grandmother, Demeter.

Zagreus and Macaria were also not happy about it, however as they player major roles in the underworld, they could not accompany him. They did give him some advice.

“Just take this enchanted dagger with you.” Zagreus spoke, hiding the weapon in his brother’s tunic.

“If someone tries to pressure you, just do as we practiced” said Macaria.

“GUYS PLEASE! THIS IS TOO MUCH!”

The youngest son of Hades was very well received by his grandmother, who was very happy to see him. The other gods were also enthusiastic, specially his new best friends, Athena and Artemis.

Y/N spend the first few days catching up with everyone, Apollo sang him songs, Hermes brought him gifts from his travels, he also did flower crowns with Dionysus, so on and so forth.

With Athena and Artemis, Y/N travelled the known world, playing chess with Athena was always fun and he bonded with Artemis over their love of animals.

There was only one god Y/N could not befriend, that being Aphrodite, whispers ran throughout Olympus that the Goddess of Beauty had been dethroned. Aphrodite didn’t help herself by leading a life of debauchery, not at all leading a life of virtue and, in an irony of destiny, not respecting the sacred bounds of love she herself represented.

One early morning, the young prince witnessed the arrival of Ares, God of War, who was followed by two unknown men, all in bloody armour.

The God of War only gave a small nod of acknowledgment, speaking swiftly.

“Deimos, Phobos…” Ares spoke, his voice full of authority. “…meet Y/N, God of Seasons, Prince of the Underworld, youngest child of Hades and Persephone.”

Deimos and Phobos greeted the young prince, however, the latter could only notice their unusual auras and empty eyes.

In the next days Y/N could feel himself being observed, as if two pairs of eyes were watching him from the shadows. Flowers and little cards could also be find on his bed, with sort messages such as “I love your eyes” or “You have my heart”

The next few encounters with Deimos and Phobos were always the same, with few words exchanged and the two gods in their bloody armours.

One particular day, Y/N was pitiful of the two brothers, he had offered to help clean their armours, they seemed very dirty and uncomfortable.

To his surprise, the two brothers accepted, taking an opportunity to ask the young prince for help cleaning themselves, in particular their cheeses and arms, which they would flex at any opportunity, making Y/N giggle.

From then on, the try spent even more time together, Ares became quite annoyed at this, as his sons weren’t fulfilling their duties, which mainly meant fighting alongside their father.

It was clear to everyone the two brothers were in love with the young prince, but no one dared to say so. As the two circled Y/N like to guard dogs. Or in Persephone’s own words “sons of Cerberus”

Persephone knew of her son’s conflicted feelings, and simply advised “follow your heart…but do remember this has great consequences.”

“What do you mean mother?”

“Silly boy, you have the sons of the God of War at your mercy, the best warriors in the world, who give their father great victories…you can sway them as you please, they are yours to command, love is a powerful force.”

“What…what if I can’t choose between them?”

His mother laughed “I suppose you get two handsome hunks instead of one!”

[fountainpenguin]

"My mind is twisted up and you're to blame... Are you aware of how you say my name? I've tried so hard to push you away..." (x)

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New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 33 - “Cinders (Etho)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

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"But for real, the most beautiful thing Lizzie did was treating me like a stranger. She didn't see him." Sniff sounds like he's floating, eyes like glaciers. "I'm never going to stop being 'Joel 2.0' to you. Am I?"

Etho finally tells SnifferMyFeet what happened between him and Joel post-Double Life. Sometimes people slip right through your fingers... It's just weird it happened twice.

#smalletho - Etho/Sniff tension followed by several flashbacks about Etho's past with Joel (bed sharing, cuddling, teasing, discussing Joel's kids (Hermes & Tiny Tom), and Etho trying to learn Joel's boundaries, which Joel avoids defining)

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

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Yeah, we allogrooming (chewing on each other's code strings and pulling them with mouths to straighten them); keep scrolling

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Etho - Fox

Status: Keep 'em guessing

Self-taught programmer, full-time hero

💙  🧡  💚

It's familiar, but not in the way you think. It's familiar because the universe speaks to itself (to his soul) each time it checks he's doing okay. Especially on full moon nights. When the moon reaches down its light, Etho adjusts his footing and licks his lips, then chews its fingers and nuzzles back.

Give yourself a shake. Fluff up your fur. It's the arctic fox way. Then you run off to do exactly what you're meant to do, because you're born of the universe and were given conscious thought so you could love your role. The mobs play their part. You play yours. Beneath silver moonlight, we meet and make merry, for tomorrow we're AFK for weeks or months on end. You're born in the code. You live forever. And that's just the way of things.

Which is to say that snuggling up next to Sniff, one hand pressed to the back of his shoulders to hold him down against the mattress, is one of those wild things that's new and familiar at the exact same time. You remember all those tools we were gonna clean his code with? Yeah, those are beginner's toys. This is how it's done right.

It's a work of teeth and tongue: nipping code beneath his skin with glowing teeth and pulling it to straighten strings. It's goopy, thick, and messy. It's the way of the world; song as old as time.

Sniff keeps very quiet, his hands stretched out in front of him. He kneads the pillow. They don't speak. Not now. Etho keeps his hand firm, bearing weight on Sniff through a blanket so their pixels won't blend together, as he makes his way around cheek, neck, shoulder, and back. Sniff's filled with stagnant energy. It doesn't move fast - doesn't carry the parts that need attention towards Etho's mouth the way it should - but his tongue's doing the job the activator whisk should do. It ripples through his code. It stirs the stuff awake. That'll get him moving. Sniff gives a big, silent yawn that splays his fingertips and flicks his tongue. Then he turns his head away. His wings flex like a butterfly's and slowly fold against his back.

Etho keeps working. The mask's been dropped aside for this- It's just easier than letting it dangle at his neck. He nips with his teeth, catching strings, and fixes everything he can. There's only so much you can do with stagnant code. Most species don't eat it, but a fox can. Like the phantoms, they scavenge.

Etho takes the stuff Sniff doesn't need. He doesn't need scratches and aching muscles. He doesn't need chipped nails and dirty feet. He doesn't need the callus on his writing finger, the ink stains, or the ache between the V of two fingers. These are little add-ons (just wrinkles in the code). Etho pulls them free of soul and skin. They slip between his teeth.

Sniff drags Etho's other hand forward. Etho shifts, keeping balance. His hand's pretty neat and tidy after the week-long experience of Sniff cycling his code. Sniff nibbles at it anyway. The bits in his system that are ruffled prickle to attention and swish the messy bits forward so Sniff can gnaw the tangles away. Yeah, that's the spot. Etho thumps his tail against the bed.

Unlocking advancements feels like this. And the universe loves them, and it gave them thought without breaking the ecosystem, because it wanted them to know they're loved.

If there's an advancement for allogrooming, it's one he achieved a long, long time ago. Probably when he was just a kit. Not a lot of memories from the early days still stick with him, but he does remember Rhetoric chewing on his ear. He had fox ears back then. They used to wrestle with each other, but growing up is complicated. Sometimes you do the best you can every day of your life… and for what? Your mother will still pick you up by the scruff and drop you on the doorstep of a dragon she thinks could use you more.

He and Bdubs have that in common. Bdubs just refuses to admit it.

Oh yeah… We can't let the Slime Dragon see Sniff. She'll wanna kill him so he respawns at his mom's nest. Etho yawns. He stops messing with the code. Instead, he nestles his chin against the back of Sniff's neck. What time is it? Feels like they've been here for a thousand ticks, but it's such a blur that it could easily be half as much. It probably isn't. It can't be that long… He hasn't been called to Dog's Life yet.

Sniff chews at his fingers for a little longer, but his teeth slow too. He rests his cheek against his knuckles. Etho sweeps his tail sideways, brushing it across Sniff's back. He's warm. And without the nips and pulls, consistent collision isn't going to last. Pixels prickle. His chin starts to sink straight through.

It's familiar. But not the way you think. He never groomed Joel like this, with his mouth, except one time he had to re-open some rumpled bite marks that had sealed themselves in ridges across his shoulders. Long story there… but it's familiar because the universe told him this feels right tonight.

And it does feel right tonight. He's not gonna leave the mask off for long. Or the bandana, for that matter. He's way too exposed like this, raised blue scar curling over his eye and across his lips (all of it on display). Sniff probably feels the same way. He's still got both his shirts off. The curve of his spine's marked with a stripe. When you're this close, you can see the tiny zigzag marks where skin meshes like it's stitched. His giant scar - that big, white X - pulses with a dim, hazy glow.

Etho removes his head before he can sink any lower. He noses Sniff's cheek, then his chin. Once they're upturned, he gets back to work. A little more clipping here. A little trimming there. Making his way around. Sniff makes one soft noise like he's debating whether to squirm away. He keeps his eyes shut though, arms relaxed, and his wings stay folded up- lazy and content. Etho adds a few licks, keeping them light so he can seal the tiny gashes left behind by his teeth without startling Sniff enough to ask questions about 'what they are' again.

Funny. Last week, we did this the other way around. But he doesn't go as far as Sniff did. Tonight's about grooming, not feeding. Etho chews a knot from the back of Sniff's neck, then draws back. "Hey, Sniff, you-"

"My full name, Etho," he mumbles, not opening his eyes. "I only have one rule."

Right. Etho rasps his tongue around his lips and starts again. "SnifferMyFeet, I want to ask something."

"Mm?"

"I know we said we wouldn't be 'serious' right now. I've just been wondering if maybe, after I do recordings and Hermitcraft clean-up… If you'd want to eat my soul again?"

Sniff's fingers still against the sheets. They alternate whose turn it is to breathe, like they used to at night on The Relation or when they were testing how far they could swim without coming up for air. Spoilers: Oxygen does not transfer from one soulmate's body to another.

Then Sniff blinks himself back to full awareness. He sits up on his knees. The covers slide down his back. Hands still braced, but no longer looking cozy. The guy reaches to pinch his brow and take his folded tank top at the same time. "You… want to use my vessel? Fluff, I dunno. Can I say that? I think I can."

[Full chapter on AO3 - Link at top]

[bacon-neko]

Nano 2023 Day 16

Mr Blue Sky is here to shed some light on the subject

Apollo stood, holding out his hand and pulling Hermes up with him, and clapped his brother’s shoulder before turning to stroll away. Hermes stood still, frozen, hand still held to his throat until his brain caught up and he dashed after his brother.

“Seriously,” Hermes said, falling into pace at his side. “Why are you here?”

Apollo cast him a knowing glance. “Same reason you’re here, I imagine.”

His breath caught. “You know about the boy?”

“Athena’s ‘twin’?” Apollo said, drawing out the last word with a smile. “Oh, yeah. Speaking of, where is the boy anyway?”

Hermes frowned, screwing up his brow, as he recalled the red glow in the sky and the flash of bronze the instant before he blacked out. With a groan, he said, “Ares followed us. Must’ve grabbed him and run off. You don’t think Hera told him to—”

Apollo shook his head. “I doubt it. Hera likes to do her own dirty work, I’ll give her that much, and she likes being in control. Ares isn’t reliable enough for that.

“So, what, Ares just did all that? For fun?”

“He is a war god,” mused Apollo. “If anyone’s fate were tied to the boy, it’d be his.”

[what-even-is-thiss]

Persephone

Every year she arrives at the start of Autumn with new seeds for the garden and Hades helpfully holds the basket for her as she gets her hands dirty.

He appreciates the kind of filth she brings with her. It's active, proactive, helpful. Not stagnant and rotting. Not the kind of filth that sits and develops with death that needs to be removed for the sake of the still living. A kind of filth with its own merit, but not why she’s here. The kind that comes with her is getting dirt on your pants and dust in your hair. The kind of filth that comes from burning yourself on a pan or mowing the lawn or climbing a tree. Active, alive, dirt that gathers under your nails and nourishes as well as hurts.

Every year as she gets him to put on clothes a bit more practical for gardening and gets to sowing her seeds, and she tells him stories as they work. He is quiet and not one for this particular kind of hard work, but he’s a good listener with a warm laugh, and that’s good enough for her.

Every year they have done this since before humans could write and every year as they do this she tells him what the humans think of them this time, and every year he gets a good laugh.

“Who’s the primary suspect now?” he asks as he puts on his boots.

“You, I think.” she says with a smile. “Mother/daughter relations theory.”

“Again?“ he asked. “Don’t they have anything new?”

“I’m sure they will by the time I get back.” she said, adjusting her sunhat. There is no sunlight in the underworld but she wears a sunhat anyways.

After what needs to be replaced in the garden has been replaced she puts on something a little more formal. Something a little less farm girl, which she is fine with and he likes much more. Hermes, who knows everything and everyone, may or may not come by with a letter from her mother and his sister, addressed to both of them, which they may or may not read right now.

They sleep in separate rooms except for when they don’t, and they talk together late into the night except for when they don’t. Despite being gods they cook together, except for when they don’t, a lot of their time spent with her talking and him talking sometimes and a lot of their time spent in complete silence. Sometimes in the evenings she sits on his lap and they read. Sometimes he sits on her lap and they watch a movie and play with each others’ hair. Sometimes they sit in different rooms thinking about everything they are worried about. Sometimes they speak to other people. Together or apart.

She is content with this. Rarely elated, rarely upset. But the goddess of spring is fine with contentment. Letters from Demeter speak of snow. Persephone rarely sees snow. She never liked it anyways.

In the spring she sees it melting and that is that. She stands on her toes and leaves Hades a kiss on his jaw, getting a facefull of scratchy black hair before putting on her farm girl clothes and running into her mother’s arms.

Every year her mother visits all corners of the northern hemisphere, taking her daughter in tow. They bless fields or lay them bare. In her spare time she leaves her mother and visits corners of the wild to speak with gods that still hate agriculture but love the goddess of spring. They speak with her and tell her to tell her mother that she should do better. She rarely does.

Demeter is organized and opinionated. She’s loud and stubborn. She carries a long scythe that she uses on plants, humans, and animals alike. Around her Persephone is the quiet one. Something that is also fine. Demeter just likes it when her daughter is there. Warm and ready to be a steady hand. She’s gentle with a little wrath. She’s smart and carries the hopes of the dead with her. The sort of hope that turns corpses into good soil and manure into carrot stew. That turns death into life for other things. A sort of complicated darkness that follows her around as tightly as air and gives a deep, refreshing rest.

Some nights they sleep on Olympus, some nights they don’t. Some nights they fight, some nights they don’t. Both kinds of nights have their merits. Both are ones that they go to sleep knowing that they will see each other in the morning.

There isn’t much to say between them. They know everything that the other wants to say. They talk business, mostly. When Hermes comes they gossip about family. Sometimes he brings a letter from Hades. Sometimes he brings business or a gift from Hera that clearly illustrates that she doesn’t know them. Sometimes Hermes just comes to ask how she is doing. She always answers him honestly.

She is content with this. Rarely elated, rarely upset. But the goddess of spring is fine with contentment. Letters from Hades speak of danger and organization and how much he hates his brothers. Persephone understands. She hates them too, whether that is earned or not.

It has been like this for a long time. All sides feeling just fine. Love from all directions, but not love that is full of a passion. It is barely there, but comfortably so.

Demeter used to be disorganized, Hades used to be louder, and Persephone... she wasn’t quite sure yet. She had gotten to the age where she should know what kind of flaw she had but she didn’t. She didn’t love anyone or anything, except for maybe the feeling of living dirt beneath her feet.

She knew very well what was inside the cave. What brought her downwards wasn’t love or curiosity, but a need for change. And change things did. He wouldn’t let her go once he had her. She was a ticket out of questions. Something to keep the rest of the family away. She realized too late the consequences of her impulsivity.

After the initial shock and hunger strike she actually started looking around and got to talking. If not with him, then with the dead and the spirits of the rivers. They said that he was weird and needed someone to teach him patience. She said that was something he had in common with her mother.

He was very clear with her about what would happen if she ate that specific fruit. She ate it, very clear with him what her intentions were.

After a thousand years the plants could no longer survive without the cold and Demeter saw this. Slowly, slowly, she began speaking to her siblings again, and stopped holding her daughter’s hand. Winter still came. She never told them that this time it was for the good of the plants and not out of spite. Only Dionysus seemed to understand why. Thankfully, he could keep a secret.

After centuries passed Persephone transformed the underworld, little by little it became just a little less dark. He let her come to him on her own time. The first time she touched him, she asked, and almost every time after that she asked, until enough time had passed that she just knew from a glance. Once that time had come he began to ask as well and they both had slightly bigger beds placed in their rooms. Who did it first, they don’t remember.

The mortals always wanted to make this simpler than it was. Say that it was his fault or her fault or her mother’s fault. Really though, it had just happened. Then over and over again it just happened, falling into place over a thousand years.

She didn’t know when she started loving her mother again, or her husband, or even how much she loved them, but that part didn’t matter. Neither the earth, nor mount Olympus, nor the underworld was perfect, and neither was she, and neither were they. Sometimes a set of unusual circumstances leads to another set of unusual circumstances and sometimes a young goddess gets caught in the middle of it. And maybe in the beginning the young goddess was confused by it all.

And maybe now she’s just... content.

[percabethfeelsfandom]

How I’d rate the Gods/Goddesses(riordanverse)

This is my rating based off the way Rick Riordan portrayed them in the Riordanverse. The traditional myths have been taken into account but do not make up my entire opinion. 

Hestia:

10/10 would give my life for this goddess. In all aspects of the word, this goddess is a goddess. I want a novella of her watching over the hearth and watching out for her family and the heroes. I imagine her being a very comforting presence and warm like a hug, and maybe this is me projecting my mummy issues but I just want her to hug me. 

Dionysus:

A solid 7.35/10 for Mr D. Naturally he was a bit annoying, but we were never under the pretence that he he was meant to be anything more than what he provided and I respect that. Him caring about his kids at camp, and staying relatively loyal to his wife is always a plus. And I like his relatively humble beginnings being a hero and becoming a god and then not causing that much trouble in the series. Unlike some other pieces of shit. 

Hermes:

4/10. Mans had no right blaming Luke’s thirst for mass genocide on 16 year old Annabeth. Not cool man. Not cool. He gets the points he got because he did genuinely care about Maia, and Luke, but he lost the rest of them by having a blatant favourite (who literally caused so much destruction). However I do still like his line about family in sea of monsters and never giving up on them. Nice meaning. But he was still a shitty father and only intervened out of self interest most of the time. 

Aphrodite:

2/10. I hate how low I have to rank her. But my god did Rick do her dirty in his depiction. Just the misogyny, the lack of depth, and the untouched potential she has as a character, as a goddess, THE OLDEST GOD/GODDESS and Rick really made her throw rose petals around the battle fields on one of (what was meant to be) the biggest fights of the riordanverse. Absolute robbery. If I’m not mistaken as well, she was a huge contributor to the issues and obstacles percabeth went through and we do not Stan. HOWEVER, I love her as a goddess normally, and what she could represent if she’s written properly. 

Hephaestus:

8/10. I have no qualms with this man. I too prefer the company of inanimate objects to people and get stressed about social interaction. And I too have mummy issues. So me and Hephaestus are on the same page. Let this man tinker away in his little bunker. He never went out of his way to make things harder for demigods, and was helpful when they came to him for help which I can also respect. (Point deduction because it was on his land that Bianca died…if I’m not mistaken). 

Ares:

-12/10. This man was introduced as a bully, and gives off the vibes of every phobic, known to humanity. I do not vibe. I do not agree. I do not stan. ALSO his motorbike seat is apparently made from "Caucasian human skin”!!!!!!???? We as children never questioned this? We just went sure aight move on?! Please this man has the biggest small dick energy if I ever saw it and I despite him so much. Mans was also never helpful. Ever. I don’t think. I think Mars was better than him though so I’ll give him that. 

Artemis:

9.99/10 all hail queen of the lesbians. Mad respect to this woman. In what she stands for, who she protects and in her actions. She’s what I embody when I stand up for myself in fights and when I speak to have my voice heard. I like Rick’s depiction of her and I love seeing her and her hunters pop up in his books. Would love a couple books on the hunters and their adventures. Also I love archery. And I’m biased to the moon because I love the night so she gets extra points for all of that too. 

Apollo:

Prior to Trials of Apollo 7/10, after TOA 9.90/10. Yes it’s a big jump but my god did Lester grow on me. Prior to TOA he was pretty average. He was funny, always provided a good laugh to the plot and was always helping the demigods which I loved. But I know he’s an asshole full of himself so I can’t give him any higher than that until he had some character development, which we got in TOA (specifically after Burning Maze). And I really like who he is now and the type of character Rick shaped him out to be. In the myths he’s a big creep, and I still stand by that idea, hence why he doesn’t get a full 10. 

Athena:

3.5/10…ughhh I hate to say this. But part of it is the same reasoning I gave about Aphrodite. I just have so many issues with the way she’s portrayed and it’s not accurate to what I believe in my heart she should represent. And as a child of Athena, I feel like Rick then did her entire legacy dirty. She has her moments, but since I can’t even fully recall one right now, it just proves my point. As a goddess as a whole though, what she represents is everything I aspire to be in life. She’s my entire aesthetic of hard work, creativity, and strength and grit, without taking away of being a powerful female. Zeus’ lead strategist like shit, Rick could have done so much. But he did not. And I am thus sad about it. 

Demeter:

6/10. I have no issues with Demeter. Kinda boring. I think that’s what most of the fandom thinks as well. She just didn’t get enough screen time or development. I have no attachment to her. I think the powers that she has, and has passed on to her kids is cool though so there’s that. But in the series as well she doesn’t do much. She also (initially) doesn’t fight in the battle of Manhattan so maybe I’m slightly bitter there. But yeah, i’m indifferent. 

Hades:

8.99/10 Okay so hear me out I know this man gets so much bad rep in the myths and that’s part of why he doesn’t get a full 9. But I really really love the way he’s depicted in the riordanverse, especially with his entire arc with his kids/specially with Nico. Like literally one of my favourite quotes In the entire series is “my children are so rarely happy, I would like to see you be the exception.” Out of the gods listed here (and excluding Dionysus), he acts like a genuine parent to his kids and tries. And like there’s issues, sure, but he works on them. And since so much of the first series is about how the gods are neglectful, seeing him change and seeing him fight for Nico is my everything. 

Poseidon:

7.1/10. Honestly this feels too high considering mans was nearly If not just as bad as Zeus in keeping it in his dam pants. His points come from treating Sally like the queen she is, and trying with Percy (albeit too little too late but I can see the minimal effort). That being said, he’s really shitty in the myths so I can’t really give him anything higher than this. He’s barely a dad, and sees Percy more as an ally than an actual son or human being that needs attention. I like him more in Fanon and the way that I write him lmao because I humanise him. But I won’t lie he’s dilf material, and I still like rick’s depiction of him. 

Hera:

3/10 I’m surprising myself with this rating because tbh I might even push her to 4.5 just because she’s so consistent in her own goals and agenda, and that perseverance is very admirable even if it was at the cost of some of my favourite characters. She was very much two faced though and fucked around stuff that she should have stayed out of. Her hatred for literal children though is a bit problematic. I have no attachment to her but I admire how much she just wants a family. However she just really needs to assess how she approaches that since it’s a bit messed up.  

Zeus:

-5/10 I really don’t Zeus, his character, him in the myths, everything about him. He gives off the vibes of a man who abuses the power that he was given. And I don’t like that. It makes me uncomfortable and I don’t like him at all. His treatment of his children, of the demigods, and the way he governs Olympus. Not a fan. I could rule Olympus better and I’m a mentally unstable, serotonin deficient 20 year old with a hyper fixation on greek mythology and Minecraft. However despite not liking his character, I think Rick does a great job at depicting him accurately to how he was in the myths. 

[percabeth4life]

Not a relationship, but how would you do Percy hosting Kronos and then the Titans winning?

Hmm, okay so to start with this I would actually have Kronos good at manipulation.

Like book one is the sweet spot here. Percy has just learned about the Gods, he doesn't have any real connections to the Godly world and they're screwing him over right then. His life is being threatened for a crime he didn't commit, the camp has basically abandoned him, Hades stole his mom, and Poseidon appears to have only claimed him so he can do his dirty work.

Frankly, if Rick had written Kronos even slightly competent in manipulation then Percy would've been on his side. Like canonically there was basically nothing keeping Percy on the Gods side right then.

So Kronos speaks sweet words and promises, shows Percy how good things to be under his rule, promises to save his mom, talks up how bad the Gods are. He reassures Percy that he doesn't want death, he just wants to replace the Gods with their faulty rule. He goes on and on about all the improvements he'd make (talking animals! Plenty of food for all! No painful deaths! Peaceful afterlives!) and coaxes Percy gently to his side.

Then when Percy returns to camp and is loved, he acts all comforting. He talks about how he's so sorry Percy now has to deal with the people that abandoned him prior. And now they pretend to have been his friends? Oh wow that shroud they made for you... I'm so sorry, you deserve better. You deserve people who care.

Luke is of course assigned to stick close to Percy and be kind and supportive and to subtle talk down the camp and the people.

Then at the end of book 1, he has Luke offer Percy a position by his side instead of the pit scorpion scene. And frankly, with all the manipulation going on prior, Percy is on board.

So then Percy is by their side, and that means things like... the fleece don't work. Percy was the reason that succeeded after all. So maybe the Titan's get the fleece and that speeds up Kronos' recovery. Also Clarisse and Grover may die there (could die there, we could kill them now because how would they escape without Annabeth and Percy? And how would Annabeth get there without Percy gaining the attention he did?), but we'll say that they manage to escape thanks to their own clever skills. It's a close thing though.

And the quest in book three... well honestly they probably wouldn't have caught Thorn taking the kids without Percy so jot that down as another fail. And now two more big three kids are on the Titan's side (we get Kronos scolding Thorn for taking them by force, he was supposed to be kind. Percy is a reassuring presence, just a bit older and more than happy to talk about how things are great here).

And well, maybe the quest still happens in book 3, maybe not. Maybe Artemis decides to go off looking for the cause of whatever monster is stirring (maybe she's noticed, maybe there are rumors, maybe the Ophiotaurus dies in the ocean without Percy to rescue it).

We'll say that Artemis does go, she's wanting proof for the council that they need to mobilize. The Titans ask a girl demigod on their team to hold up the sky just for a few minutes, three at most, then shove Artemis in there and Artemis saves her and takes the sky.

So a quest is sent out, only this time Percy and Bianca aren't there, so it's only three sent on the quest. Or maybe Annabeth goes too. And it goes alright... except it doesn't also. You could say they get defeated in the museum (but we'll say they figure it out). They have no warning for the skeletons but they can see them so they flee. No Bianca means no issue in Hephaestus' junkyard so no death there. They have to walk to the dam which could slow them down. There's no one to catch Mr. Ocean shape shifter so they just have to go to the garden (they never find out what happened to the Ophiotaurus, maybe he died, maybe he's in a lovely tank with the Titan's because they need Percy and Percy wants him to live so he'll live).

And without Percy to hold the sky, Artemis is still trapped.

At this point Kronos has had the fleece for 6 months, and that thing can work miracles. Combine that with the people still joining... well Perhaps he's all ready now.

Perhaps who steps out is not Percy, but Kronos in Percy's body.

So they're facing two Titans, not one. None of them escape.

The Titan's now hold all the possible prophecy children.

And that's the end of it for the Gods. They have a missing Goddess, all the prophecy children missing, the lieutenant of the hunt missing, and Camp's main strategist missing.

They don't realize until the camp is under siege that there's an opening. Camp falls quickly, because there was no Percy and Annabeth to find the Labyrinth. No quest to find out what was going on with their enemies. Daedalus has no second thoughts.

Camp falls with Kronos waltzing in and taking over. Atlas is by his side. It's quick and brutal (but maybe not fatal for the camp, Kronos wants followers after all, killing them is counterproductive). He puts Atlas in charge there, keep them alive Atlas, and then plans to go on Olympus.

There is no Typhoon this time, no Percy to awaken him. So things are a bit harder, but also easier. Kronos can cause his own distractions afterall, and Poseidon is still trapped in the ocean battling Okeanus.

Kronos is more than capable of mimicking that situation and splitting up the Gods. Hades won't interfere, not without Nico, and Demeter and Persephone are with him. Hestia isn't a warrior. Poseidon is in the ocean. That leaves Hera and Zeus on Olympus to fight as the big six, and then the other Olympians (minus Artemis).

Hermes may go to Luke if Luke calls, how easy would that trap be to set? So Hermes is caught by Luke when Luke lies to him about having second thoughts.

Kronos targets Apollo personally because Apollo is a dangerous God to have out and about. He's put next to his sister (and takes the burden for her but she's exhausted and weakened and they're both caught still).

Before they march on Olympus Kronos is healed enough to take his own form, he leaves Percy (leaves him alive too, Percy has been such a helpful minion after all, he gets rewarded) and takes shape. He marches on Olympus himself, his forces by his side.

Percy and Luke as his right hand men.

And Olympus falls.

[anais-mitchell]

a comprehensive list of every never before seen hadestown lyric revealed in “working on a song”

Note: This list will not include any lyrics from the OBCR, Broadway previews documented in audios, the London run, the Edmonton run, or the NYTW run. Only lyrics that Anaïs has never revealed before. Also, I strongly recommend everyone actually read the book and support Anaïs! It has amazing insights into the show we love. 

(Also, any ellipses mean the song just goes into the lyrics we already know)

Wedding Song

In early Vermont productions, Wedding Song did not exist; there was another duet called Everything Written.

Fates: Seven Sisters / Little Dipper / Great Bear, Hunter / Drinking Gourd / Libra, Leo / Pisces, Pluto / Venus, Virgo / Capricorn

Eurydice: Don’t it make, don’t it make you feel so small? / Orpheus, when you look up at it all? / When I look into the skies / I lose my head for scale and size / And still you’re larger in my eyes / Than any star / You pull on me like gravity / I want to be where you are

They say that everything is written / Everything written in those stars / The very lives we’re living / The very love in our hearts

Orpheus: Who could write, who could write this kind if love? / From such a height, all these light-years up above? / And all these light-years down below / I don’t need any star to show me / What my heart already knows / Eurydice / You pull on me like gravity / I want to be where you are

Eurydice: Come here

Orpheus: I’m here

Eurydice: It’s so cold

Orpheus: So clear

Eurydice: It’s so dark

Orpheus: So fair

Eurydice: Come near

Orpheus: I’m here

Eurydice: You’re there

A workshop version of Wedding Song included this exchange:

Eurydice: You have a way with words don’t you? It’s too bad none of them are true

Orpheus: It’s not a lie- It’s poetry

Eurydice: How many mouths does a poem feed?

Epic I

From 2007 Vermont:

Orpheus: King of diamonds, king of spades! / First there was Hades, king of the dirt / Miners of mines, diggers of graves / They bowed down to Hades who gave them work /  And they bowed down to Hades who made them sweat / Who paid them their wages and set them about / Digging and dredging and dragging the depths / Of the Earth to turn its insides out / Singing la la la la la la la...

Then came Persephone, Hades’s wife / Our Lady of Shadows and Meadows entwined / Made to spend half of the days of her life / Right alongside of him down in the mine / But the other half she could walk in the sun / And the sun in turn burned half as bright / Which is where the seasons come from / And with them the cycle / Of the seed and the sickle / And the lives of the people / And the birds in their flight / Singing la la la la la la la...

So it was and it might have stayed / And the sun came up and the sun went down / A circle of fourths, a perfect cadence / The serpent’s tail in the serpent’s mouth / But the strong will take what they want to take / And the weak can only tell the tale / And the king began to lay his heavy hand upon the scale / What did he want? He wanted Our Lady / To have and to hold, not half, but wholly / To love him and never to leave him again / And as for the seasons, to hell with them! / And the earth warmed over in the dead of winter / The stillborn spring lay cold beneath /  Summer gave a stormy sermon / Autumn walked in the wake with a wreath / And the people moved like weather patterns / Looking for shelter, looking for warmth / Helter-skelter the four winds scattered / The scavengers over the ravaged earth / Singing la la la la la la la...

From a workshop, presumably pre-London:

Hermes: Orpheus was a poor boy / But he had a gift to give / There was one song he’d been working on / He could never seem to finish / A song about this broken world / That he rewrote again and again / As though if he could find the words / He could fix the world with them

Livin’ It Up On Top

From pre-NYTW workshops:

Persephone: A hundred sunny summer days / Till my lover comes to find me / A hundred blooming olive trees / And a hundred grapevines climbing / Singing songs when the sun goes down / Light the fire in the darkness / Brother, pass that bottle around / And we’ll raise a glass to the harvest, it’s / Just enough fruit for the pressing / Just enough wine to fill our cups / But what we have is a blessing / It isn’t much but it’s enough

Eurydice: A hundred starry summer nights / Since my lover came and found me / Picking fruit and hopping freights / With his music all around me / Stay up late making love / All the stars are naked / Talking sweet and sleeping rough / Our bed is where we make it, there’s / Just enough fruit for the pressing...

Way Down Hadestown

From when Anaïs was 21, long before the show was even a concept:

Follow that dollar for a long way down / Far away from the poorhouse door / You either get to hell or a border town / Ain’t no difference anymore...

Suckin’ on the gristle and chewin’ on the bone / Thinkin’ ‘bout missiles and the old Dow Jones / All alone on your chromium throne /And lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely...

From 2006:

Persephone: Though I’m happy at his side / He’s not an easy man to love / I used to keep him satisfied / But lately he can’t get enough / Never enough of the mine and the mill / Never enough of his working girls / Never enough of the wall he’s building / All around the underworld / Way down Hadestown...

Orpheus: Mr. Hades is slick as an eel / Fountain pen, crocodile shoes / Quick as a snake, and he’s hot on your heels / He’ll make you an offer that you can’t refuse! / Way down Hadestown...

Hermes: Speak of the devil and the devil comes / Here comes Mister Hades now / To gather up his chosen ones / And bring ‘em down to Hadestown / Way down Hadestown...

From 2007:

Hermes: Make room, make room for Hermes, sir! / Make a little room for Hermes, ma’am / They call me a messenger / But that ain’t half of who I am 

I’m a man of influence / I’m connected up and down / And  I got all the documents / You need to get to Hadestown / Way down Hadestown...

Tired of walking in your worn-out shoes? / Tired of running on nothing at all? / Tired of standing your bets to lose? / Tired of losing? Give me a call, we’ll go... / Way down Hadestown...

Orpheus: Mister Hades got an iron fist / Step outta line and he’ll have your head / In the blink of an eye, with a flick of the wrist

Hermes: Hang around here and starve instead!

Orpheus: It’s a cattle pen!

Hermes: It’s a feeding trough!

Orpheus: He’ll fatten you up just to cut you down! / I’d rather starve

Hermes: I’d rather stuff my pockets down in Hadestown! / Way down Hadestown...

Hey, Little Songbird

Anaïs says she tried out this line in 2017 to include a more explicit “job offer” in the wake of the MeToo movement:

Hades: Hey, little songbird, gimme a song / I’m a busy man, and I can’t stay long / I’ve got clients to call, I’ve got orders to fill / I’ve got millions of souls on my payroll, but hell / I could fit you as well if you wanted

When the Chips are Down

From Vermont, 2006:

Fates: Cross my palm! Grease my chin / Can’t you see the kind of shape you’re in? / What you gonna do... ?

Wait For Me

From Vermont, 2007:

(These exchanges intercut the chorus)

Hades: Hermes! / Hermes: Hades! / Hades: Back in town! / Please, sit down / Please, relax / You’ve been around the world and back / Haven’t you, Hermes? / Hermes: I have / Hades: How’s the weather? / Hermes: Worse than ever / How’s your wife? / Hades: My wife is fine / Hermes: You’ve been spending a lot of time together / Haven’t you, Hades?

Hades: What have you brought? / Hermes: The latest crop / Hades: The freshest cut? / Hermes: A cut above / Hades: How many of them, a lot? / Hermes: A lot / Hades: A few too many perhaps / What’s this? / Why have you brought me Orpheus? / I know I never ordered that / It seems you’ve gone behind my back / Haven’t you, Hermes?

Hades: What was that? / Hermes: What was what? / Hades: I heard a voice / Hermes: I heard it not / Hades: Someone singing / Hermes: I heard nothing / Hades: Some kind of song / Hermes: You could be wrong / It could have been the wind / Hades: The wind? / Hermes: It could have been the rain / Hades: The rain? / Hermes: It could have been the train... (the train / the train / the train / the train...)

From “an early cutting room floor version”:

Fates: One (one, one) / You forget the sun

Eurydice: I forget the sun

Fates: You forget where you come from / You forget the sun

Eurydice: I forget the sun

Fates: Two (two, two)

Why We Build the Wall

Pre-NYTW:

Hermes: A lot can happen behind closed doors / With the big boss and his fountain pen / A lot of dirty deals go down / When there ain’t nobody watching...

Our Lady of the Underground

The 2006 version of the song was called “A Crack in the Wall” and these were the lyrics:

Persephone: Come and see the stars! / They’re fixin to fall / Slidin’ and a-slipping’ / In their gravity shoes / Old Man Mars / Taking Venus to the ball / Big dipper dippin’ / To the blue-sky blues

Have you forgot? / Which was is up? / I think you’ll find / I have just the thing for you / Put a quarter in the slot / You can fill your loving cup / With a little bit of moonshine / From the pay-per-view

How selfless! / The silent moon / Holding a mirror / For an ungrateful sun / Hey, Orpheus! / Are you leaving so soon? / Every night around here / Is a fateful one 

Maybe you got blindsided / Lost your papers! / Lost your mind! / Maybe you once lost an angel / Just to watch her fall / Look a little closer and / The water turns to wine / Look a little closer: there’s a crack in the wall!

So I raise my cup / To the stars in the sky / If you want a show / Go on, get in line / Step right up brothers / Don’t be shy / What the boss don’t know / The boss won’t mind

Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)

A 2013 version of this song was called “No One Now,” delivered to Orpheus, and these are the lyrics:

Fates: Used to be a blushing bride / That was on the other side / Better to forget her face / Now she’s like the rest of us / One more number in a crowd / Maybe she was someone once / She ain’t no one now

Used to be a loving wife / That was in another life / Carve it on a marble stone / Now she’s like the rest of us / One more body in the ground / Maybe she was someone once / She ain’t no one now

Brother don’t you think we all / Used to have a name to call? / A tale to tell as well as her? / Now she’s like the rest of us...

Maybe when she first arrived / So alive, so naive / All the bright lights in her eyes / All her insides fluttering (alt. Heart aflutter on her sleeve) / Maybe she was someone then / Back when Hades drew her in / Like a moth into his flame / Borne aloft on burning wings / Well she ain’t the first and she ain’t the last / Hades’ fire is hot and fast / Just ask all the other girls / Sweeping up the ashes in the underworld / See even when the flame is new / She doesn’t hold a candle to / The woman Hades truly loves / So maybe she was someone once / But now she’s like the rest of us / All used up, all burned out / Maybe she was someone once / She ain’t no one now

From the Dartmouth workshop:

Hermes (to Orpheus): If you wanna get around down here in the tank / Down here in the clink / Down here in the hole / You got to think the way they think / Which is to say, your mind is blank / Which is to say, don’t think at all / Come / I’ll show you how it’s done 

Welcome to the skeleton crew! / Welcome to the chain gang, kid / Lemme introduce you to / The members of the working dead / Old Jack Hammer! / Mister Miner / Wandering forever in the catacombs / Working on a hole to China / Diggin’ up them dino bones / Way down...

Sweatshop Sally! Missus Miller! / Workin’ in the cellar where the sun don’t shine / Sad eyed little Cinderella / Sweeping up the ashes of the summertime / Used to be one a the boss’s pets / Now she’s just another stiff / One night in the boss’s bed / And a lifetime on the graveyard shift / Way down...

Flowers

Did not exist in Vermont, but there was a brief reprise of “Everything Written”: 

Eurydice: If it’s me- if it’s me you’re looking for / Orpheus, I can’t be with you anymore

Fates: She signed in blood / She signed for good

Eurydice: I signed before I understood / And I’d unsign it if I could / But it’s too late / They say that everything is written / Everything is written in those stars / Even these lives we’re living / Even this love

Fates: Seven sisters...

Papers

Pre-NYTW:

Hades: Let me see your papers, son / Let me see your documents / Or could it be that you have none? / You’re on the wrong side of the fence...

If It’s True

Pre-concept album:

Orpheus: If it’s true what they say / If there’s nothing to be done / If there’s no part left to play / If there’s no song to be sung / If it’s true what they say / If there’s no stone left to turn / If there’s no prayer left to pray / If there’s no bridge left to burn / If it’s true what they say / I’ll be on my way / If it’s true what they say / Then I have lived a lie / They can take the sky away / Take the stars out of my eyes / And my face will be a mask / And my heart will be a stone / And I’ll throw away the past / And I’ll go away alone...

How Long?

Pre-concept album:

Persephone (to Hermes): Brother Hermes, god of speed / Put your feathers on his feet / Hasten his delivery / Keep him hale and whole / Brother, I’m a jaded woman / But there’s something in his singing / And it feels like spring a-comin’ / To the winter of my soul 

Brother Hermes, god of speed / Put your feathers on his feet / Hasten his delivery / Keep him safe and sound / He reminds me of the lover / That I was when I was younger / Back before my heart went under / Undercover / Underground

Chant (Reprise)

Dartmouth Workshop, 2014:

Hades: And in this symphony of mine / Are power chords and power lines / Which I arrange and orchestrate / And every day I dedicate / The magnum opus of my life / To my unkind, ungrateful wife / Persephone, and she shall see / Her name in lights on my marquee / And every night, another show / My symphony will never close! / And she shall have a front row seat / Which she shall never, ever leave! / Young man, you can strum your lyre...

Epic III

Vermont:

Orpheus: The strong will take what they want to take / And the weak can only tell the tale / And the heart of the king loves everything / Like the hammer loves the nail

The heart of the king is iron and steel / The heart of the king is the color of rust / The heart of the king is soldered and sealed / The heart of the king is a tinderbox / That he has to keep under lock and key / That it not catch fire inside his chest / Cos a lover’s desire is a mutiny / A lover’s desire is a wilderness 

But even that hardest of hearts unhardened...

(I just have to say I fucking love this imagery of a fire oh my god)

Lover’s Desire

Anaïs once set the original Lover’s Desire melody to lyrics around the area of Wedding Song:

Orpheus: Lover, can you hear me? / I’m asking for your hand / Your hand for better or for worse / Forever / Whether you’re sick or well / For rich or poorer, to have and to hold for as / Long as we both shall live

Eurydice: Lover, can you hear me? / I’m asking for a hand / A hand that’s steady and strong / To lean on / To catch me if I fall / That’s the hand that I’ll have and I’ll hold for as / Long as we both shall live

Word to the Wise

Early workshops:

Fates: Hey / Hey / Hey / It’s judgement day! / Are you gonna let ‘em just walk away? / What you gonna do... ?

Wait For Me (Reprise)

Vermont:

Hades: Hermes!

Hermes: Hades!

Hades: Time to go / Time to bring this to a close / Time to lay this thing to rest 

Hermes: Orpheus?

Hades: Orpheus / It’s all agreed / We’ve struck a deal / He’s free

Hermes: He’s free?

Hades: He’s free to walk

Hermes: And she?

Hades: To follow at his heel / And she, to follow at his back

Eurydice: Wait for me, I’m coming...

Hades: And she shall follow at his back / And she shall follow in his wake

Hermes: And what’s the catch?

Hades: The catch is this: / He shall not turn to see her face / And if he turns, the game is up / The deal is off, his race is run / And that’s the end of Orpheus / You’ll see it done?

Eurydice: Wait for me, I’m coming...

Written at an unspecified time but never used:

Hermes: A poor boy and a hungry young girl / Walking single file / While the music played / Brother, they looked for all the world / Like they was walking down the aisle / On their wedding day

We Raise Our Cups

The show once ended with an alternate song called “Cloud Machine” in Vermont, the lyrics of which Anaïs says she is embarrassed by:

Orpheus: What have I done? Mother, what have I done? / Squandered the gift that you gave me / Gambled with Hades and Hades won / And there’s no song now that can save me 

Mother, I failed! Oh Mother, I tried / And I fell like a fool would fall / And I left my love / On the other side / On the other side of the wall

(Alt. There’s a crack in the wall / It’s a little bit wider / It’s a little bit wider, that’s all)

Persephone: Come, my son, don’t take it so hard / Everything is forgiven / You have done naught / But to play out the part / That the Fates in their wisdom have written

Orpheus: Raise up the curtain! The crowd goes wild! / The Fates are drunken clowns / All of us dreamers are walking the wire / While they juggle our dream around 

Apollo, come down in your cloud machine / Apollo, come swallowing fire / With your thunder and lightning and kerosene / For the Fates and their funeral pyre

Persephone: Come, my son, we try and we fail / Every tail has an end

But the pale dawn breaks / And the snake eats it’s tail / And the tale begins again...

[goodfish-bowl]

Operating Room Light

You can’t give me a prompt like “hospital” without expecting any angst. It’s a rule of nature. I was originally going to do something involving an AU, but I like this idea better, even if there’s less plot, but that opens the way for more angst. 

Jazz - Hospital

Summary: Danny waits outside of the operating room for hours after jazz gets severely injured in a ghost fight. 

Words: 1007

Ao3 link

Danny never hated hospitals more than this exact moment. He had read every single magazine present in the waiting area. He had been here for hours, the sting of antiseptics forever burned into his nostrils and his mind. So he stared, waiting less than patiently, at the light on above the operating room doors.

Jazz had gotten hurt… badly… severely… however he was supposed to categorize having several pieces of glass embedded through her chest, a severe concussion, and a broken leg. Danny had gotten hurt too, but he had already healed mostly up by the time he had managed to drive Jazz to the hospital, just in time too. Any later and she would have died of blood loss in the passenger seat of her own car. Danny’s own injuries didn’t and hadn’t mattered then, and they certainly didn’t now. He had just slapped a band-aid on the stab would he had received and iced over his new burns, then jumped into Jazz’s car and sped off to the hospital, his dad’s driving lessons being put to good use.

Speaking of their parents, they knew that Jaz was hospitalized, the staff had called them as soon as they could. They were severely worried, wondering how Jazz had ended up in the crosshairs of a ghost fight, injured so severely she would be in the operating room for hours as they removed glass and rubble, and reset her leg, and check for brain damage. Currently, they were off hunting the ghost that had injured their precious little girl, but they weren’t going to find it. The thermos was also empty of the culprit. They would most likely end up blaming Phantom, and he wouldn’t be the one to tell them otherwise.

In a way, Danny felt that it was his fault. He shouldn’t have let Jazz come. Her aim had gotten a lot better, and she was more skilled with some of their parent’s tech than he was, but she was ultimately human. She didn’t heal like he did, she couldn’t defend herself with anything but their parent’s weapons and her wit. Jazz was human and much easier to hit than he was, and it made him much easier to hit too when he had to protect her.

It had been a bad ghost fight, one of the worse ones, even. Danny hadn’t known the ghost, but they were clearly after him personally, targeting him on his patrol the prior night. Jazz had come along as backup since Sam and Tucker were busy with homework, planning to help Danny with his once they finished figuring it out and he was back from patrol. Then the ghost had attacked him, a bolt of heat sending him out of the sky and into the nearest building. Danny didn’t even bother to remember the ghost’s name, but they had attacked with fire, and they were angry and cocky.

“The notorious Phantom is a child?” They had seemed outraged, “Guess this will be a lot easier to take the title than I imagined.”

It wasn’t. Danny had put up a good fight, and it had frustrated the ghost into using dirty tactics. It had fired at Jazz when it couldn’t hit him. The windows and part of the wall had collapsed onto her, burying her underneath. She had passed out immediately, and Danny was glad she had in retrospect, but at the moment, he had thought she had died.

It didn’t go so well for the other ghost after that. After pulling Jazz out of the wreckage using intangibility, but smartly not removing any of the glass that had pierced through herm Danny had snapped. This ghost had the nerve to attack his sister, to threaten someone on his turf, to injure and almost kill Jazz. All Danny saw was red, the color of Jazz’s blood.

Danny had snapped, full-blown and completely, rage-filled and out for blood. But he hadn’t lost control, and Danny supposed that’s what scared him most. His head had stayed on his shoulders and he remembered the entire thing, from start to finish. Danny usually held back against all but the strongest opponents, adjusting how hard he fought to preserve both energy and keep his patrols efficient. He didn’t this time. There was about a block and a half off Delany Street that was reduced to rubble. It was a business district, so no one was injured or even there, which Danny was thankful for.

Danny remembered the fear, the ghost had realized its previous error. Phantom had gotten his reputation from somewhere, and his strength was vastly underestimated. Danny had never truly ended a ghost until then, until he charged up an ectoblast and shattered the damaged core in that ghost’s chest. He didn’t regret it either. He could’ve captured the ghost and left it in the thermos or turned it into Walker or one of the other facilities designed to hold dangerous ghosts. Danny could’ve gotten answers about why the ghost was after him, but he didn’t. He hadn’t wanted the ghost that had hurt Jazz to still be around, able to do it again, and possibly succeed in killing her next time.

The other ghosts that Danny dealt with daily didn’t usually injure bystanders, and focused solely on him, other than Spectra, but even then, she never outright used someone against him. Danny knew his obsession, and most of the other ghosts did too and knew it was damn stupid to use it against him. This one didn’t and paid for it, his afterlife ended with a well-placed ectoblast. Danny didn’t regret ending the ghost, and that bothered him more than the fact that he had “killed” someone. But Danny didn’t care enough about that to continue to ponder on how much of a freak or monster he was at the moment.

Danny just wanted his sister to be alright. So he sat there, as he had since late last night, watching the red light above the operating room continue to flicker and glow.

[angsty-omi]

pull the trigger.

CEO!Akaashi x Agent!Reader

synopsis: You were assigned to kill one of the richest businessmen in Japan, Akaashi Keiji. How? by getting close to him. By pretending to be an innocent, naive little girl. By pretending you actually enjoy his company. By pretending that you actually loved him. The plan was simple enough, and if you were successful, you’d be rich enough to retire for yourself and your future grandchildren. So, what happens when you couldn’t pull the trigger? Even worse, why didn’t he flinch?

“Agent Y/N, you’ve been assigned.” your boss notified.

It’s been so long since you had been assigned. After you accidentally blew up the evidence last mission, your boss hasn’t been to keen depending on you. This was music to your ears, so what did you do? Jumped gleefully and instinctively squeezed your boss. You realized what you were doing and how unprofessional it was, so you slowly latched off of her. Your boss just coughed awkwardly before she began, “This assignment is a big one, meaning there must be no flaws to this plan. One mistake and you’re done for, literally.” ending with a slit-throat gesture. You were confident in your skills, and aside from that one mission, everyone depended on you. No wonder why your boss came to you for this. You glad-fully shook her hand, in which expressed your disparity for a new high.

To start, you had to change your look a bit. See, you researched Akaashi Keiji, from his likes and dislikes to his convictions. Every conviction he got away with money. Dirty bastard. Every single job left you guilt-less because you knew these people were corrupt and somehow reasoned that your job was ethical. First, you started with a trim. Your split ends would’ve definitely caught the eyes of the girls from his front desk. Then, you used the budget money for this mission to buy luxury items. From Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, was this really for the mission or for yourself? No one really knows. Finally, and most importantly, you had to snatch a job as his personal assistant. The organization already falsified documents for you. After today, you go by ‘Akiyama Ami.’ As you walked out of your office, your coworkers couldn’t even recognize you. One even put a gun to your head, and having to state who you are.

You smirked, “Matsuda, I am deeply saddened if this is how you treat your advisor,” whispering in his ear. 

“Senior Y-Y/N?,” he stuttered, putting his gun away immediately. You grabbed his arm and forcefully pushing it to his back, “please make sure you never make that mistake again,” you stated. 

“Y/N, leave him alone already,” a voice joked.

You knew that voice. It was your long time partner, Atsumu. From when you both were rookies, you guys worked cases together quite often. Never more than that. 

“Atsumu, this is my first case without you... aren’t you going to miss me?” you pouted. 

“Don’t give me that look, idiot. Be safe out there okay? I can’t always save your ass like from that time you exploded our only evidence.” he shook his head in disappointment.

You punched his shoulder, and he ‘over-dramatically’ ached in pain. “I’ll be fine, Atsumu. Plus our person literally looks like a prissy privileged boy, doesn’t he?” you pulled up Akaashi’s Business Insider profile. For the next ten minutes, you guys were bullying the hell out of him. Until finally, you had to go. Your cab was already ready for you, so you hugged Atsumu goodbye. Platonically, you always thought you’d get married to him. He was handsome, strong, and witty. And he knew your job situation, so you never would have to feel judgement from him. 

From the cab ride, you got to fly in a private jet. There, was your boss, two intelligent analysis, and a linguist. This was your team, and who’d you tell your intel to. The whole flight consisted of breaking down the plan, even down to what time you have to walk in the elevator. The destination was in Tokyo, where Akaashi’s main headquarters lived. 

“I’ve made an appointment for your job interview,” One of them said.

“Here’s your resume,” The other said.

As you skimmed through, you spit your drink.

“I can speak more than five languages?!” your eyes widened.

“壊れた日本語で話せます” you quoted.

“What does that mean?” your boss asked looking at you surprisingly.

“It means I can only speak broken Japanese,” you nervously scratched your head.

“It wouldn’t matter, the job application is asking for english-speakers” the linguist stated.

As the plane started to screech, due to the wheels contact with concrete, you knew it was your time to shine. You practiced all your lines during the flight, so confidence soared through your body. On sight, there was a limo waiting for you. You waved goodbye to your team, and entered the lanky vehicle. 

The condominium the organization gave you was luxurious, their budget must’ve been high-grade. Broad birched doors, huge window panels that let in a lot of natural light, and a master bedroom. Your first move was to jump on the feather-light bed. Your feet sunk deep into the mattress every hop. Leaving you tired, you went straight to sleep. 

Today was your job interview. Even though everything was fake, you couldn’t help but feel nervous. If you didn’t go down the agency path, is this what you would’ve felt as a normal person? While the coffee was brewing, you decided to look at your grand closet, not knowing what to wear. There was already an outfit set out for you. With it, there was a note:

Good luck! ;) -Atsumu

As you read it, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. The outfit he picked wasn’t even that bad. It was an emerald green two-piece, with a pale blouse underneath. 

“Not so bad,” you thought, while looking at yourself in the mirror. 

There, stood the building where the infamous person lived worked. Heels tapping the black marble, you stood in front of the front desk. The girls that worked there looked roughly young, around their early 20s. As they stared at you up and down, you could feel their judgement. 

“Welcome to Fukurodani Headquarters, how may we help you?” One girl asked.

“Hi, I’m Akiyama Ami, I’m actually applying for the personal assistant job. Where could I meet my interviewer?” You warmly asked.

The girls bursted into laughter. What was so funny? Did you miss out on the joke?

“Excuse us, its just... that’s one way to call Akaashi Keiji,” 

“Akaashi Keiji... is the interviewer? That’s even more stressful than a random person. It does make sense though, as a personal assistant there should be a close relationship,” you sighed.

“Close relationship? Please, you’ll be lucky if you can even give him coffee. Get in line.” The front desk scoffed in agreement with each other. 

“That’s enough,” a voice commanded.

“Are you Akiyama Aki? I’m ready for you.” 

Your face went pale. As you slowly turned around, there he was. The man himself, Akaashi Keiji. As an agent, you’ve went through strenuous training, so from the outside you looked relaxed as ever, but on the inside the butterflies in your stomach started awakening. He was a very attractive man after all.

“You must be Mr. Akaashi, let’s begin!” you enthusiastically smiled, while following him into his office. 

“So Akiyama, tell me about yourself?” Akaashi read off a list.

“Well I was born in the states, but my parents are foreign. They enforced me to take a lot of language classes, hence why I know quite a lot.” You were dying inside. It was a half-true statement though, you were from the states and your parents are foreign.

“It says you speak French, Aimez-vous boire l'eau des toilettes?” He smirked. 

You had no idea what he just said. The silence was deafening, so you just laughed it off. You’ve been told your laugh is very contagious, so you used that to your benefit. Your laughter increased, his did too. 

After you both calmed down, he continued with his next question, “Out of all of the candidates, why should I hire you?”

“Well I guess my stats match up with everyone else, but what’s not on the textbook is my characteristics. I am dependable, calm, and honestly easy to work with. I will do my best to help you any way I can, and keep your stress levels at ease.” You smiled with confidence. 

“Any way huh?” Akaashi whispered to himself. You acted like you didn’t hear his whisper. As an agent it was also one of your many talents to keep an ear out for anything. 

“Akiyama, congratulations! you’ve gotten the job.” Akaashi put his hand out.

“R-r-really? That was only two questions” you tilted your head to the side. You could feel his glare as a response.

“Well, thank you anyways! My parents will be pleased.” you gushed as you shook his calloused hands. Parents? Please, more like your boss. You swore you could hear a ‘cha-ching’ sound effect in your head.

Over the next couple of months, you’ve been working under Akaashi. If he was staying up til’ 2 AM at the office, so were you. Continuously brewing coffee, while also printing papers, and keeping him company. 

However, one day the routine changed. Prior to this day, your boss had just kept you up for the next order, so you were extremely tired. During the 2 AM session, your eyes slowly started to drift off, feeling the wave of drowsiness pound into your head. Akaashi walked into your office and was going to ask you for copies, until he saw you sleeping head down on your desk. At first, he was going to viciously shake you awake, but seeing your dainty face in the moonlight he couldn’t bring himself to. This was the first time he saw you vulnerable. Typically, when he would ask if you were tired, you would just shake it off with a bright smile. However, he knew. He could tell that you were pushing for him. So, he draped over his blazer around you, in hopes to insulate some warmth and went back to his office. Minutes later, you jerked yourself awake. You felt a strange piece of clothing around you, so you pinched at it while analyzing. Does it look like a weapon? No. Does it have any toxins? No. Could this harm you in any way, shape, or form? It honestly just looked like a plain blazer you thought. As you checked the shoulder pocket, there was an ID. 

“Akaashi’s jacket huh?” you said to yourself, not even noticing the smile that crept up on your face. As soon as you caught yourself, you immediately slapped your face. Oh no. Quickly, you sent a picture of the ID, so that the agency can create a replica for future secret documents and shoved it back inside. 

Knocking at the entrance to his office, he looked up at you with bagged eyes. His sleepiness radiated off of him, so you did what you promised on the first day-- relieve his stress levels. You pulled down the shutters of his clear office so no one could look in. In addition, setting up the couch to where there was a pull up bed under it.

“Miss Akiyama, if you’re trying to seduce me you could’ve just said so,” He flirtatiously grinned. You rolled your eyes in response, and grabbed him to the bed.

“I like where this is going, Ami, I didn’t think you were so bold.”

“Just shut up and get some rest, I’ll appoint some things out so your projects aren’t due.”

As he opened his mouth, you anticipated that he was for sure going to deny. However, no words came out of his mouth, instead he grabbed your wrists and pulled you onto the bed with him. 

“I’ll accept, on the conditions that you, too get some rest.”

Too tired to argue, you complied. As you both fell asleep, with his arms wrapped around you.

a/n: i was planning on making this a one shot but i feel like this might be a multiple part-er(?)

[newathens]

in honor of everything that happened on aug 18th the good and the bad here is a scene from secrets that has been collecting dust for a year and may never get its moment but it is where luke castellan gets a chance to speak and it deserves to b seen at least once

LUKE:

     Fresh donuts sat up on the counter, the sweet smell of frosting wafting through the space. The place was warm; their air conditioner busted. It was a random Wednesday at eleven in the morning so there weren’t many bystanders, though the few that were around kept stealing glances towards me. A mother lost in thought touched her cheek and when she caught me looking back, ducked her head. I kept tapping the tabletop with my knuckles, wondering how hard I’d have to whine to get the waitress to give me a chocolate glaze. She’d already passed by three times out of worry.

     The shining, silver bell shook and rang as the diner door opened. 

     He stood in the entryway for a long moment, taking in the length of the diner. It took him two tries to notice me, but when he did, the neutral expression he’d worn shifted into a deep frown. He approached the booth slowly and held my gaze all the while.

    “Not funny,” Hermes said. I smiled with all the gusto of a fourteen-year-old.

    “Sorry,” I said, voice dropping several octaves as I aged ten years. “I couldn’t help myself. Too soon?” He took a seat without another word. Blonde hair, blue eyes—nothing much had changed; in fact, there wasn’t a trace of greying hair to be found. He seemed fit, youthful. “I thought we’d leave some mark on your complexions.” He gave a tight smile and said nothing, but in the silence I noticed it. An airy presence, circling around me much like the scent of the pastries. It wasn’t threatening, just curious, like a snake amongst the forest floor.

     He was checking me.

     I did the same to him and watched, rather gleefully, as his eyes widened in recognition. It felt strange, kind of annoying. Is this how gods’ felt? Striped raw, bodies vibrating like giant batteries next to one another?

       His search turned up short, but mine didn’t.

      “Jean pocket, out with it.”

      He sighed and placed a gold iPhone in the middle of the table. The caduceus shimmered on its back. 

     Oh, look who it is! Martha said.

     “Nice to see you,” I said.

     I didn’t say this was nice!

      “And you too, George.”

     Hey, Luke, he said, if you take over his position, will you get to keep us?

     “I’d hope so, you two are a riot.”

     “Comical,” Hermes said. “Both of you keep quiet.” We looked at each other again, ready to speak but unsure how to start. The waitress beat us to it.

     “How can I—oh!” She nearly snapped her pencil in half. Her eyes were wide on me, then on the next booth over, then to the other side of the diner. “Wasn’t there, I mean, there was a child—”

       “Can I have three of those delicious looking donuts, miss?” I asked. The waitress bit her lip absentmindedly.

        “Sure thing,” she said, “And you?”

        “Nothing,” Hermes said, then his eyes glowed. “Thank you, and apologies.” The waitress stared blankly, then walked off without another word. The donuts from the counter disappeared and reappeared at our table. 

      “Thanks,” I said.

      He let out a tired breath, “Lukas—”

      “Yes, father?”

     His expression soured, wind rattled the windows, but then it softened, his eyes shut. I stared at the caduceus, quiet now. He sat back in his seat, placed a steady hand on the wood, and stared out towards the street. Towards the shops and sidewalks familiar to us both.

     “We’re here to talk, correct?”

     “Yes.”

     “Then explain.”

.

     Hermes had the bridge of his nose pinched between two fingers, eyes closed. As the silence stretched on, the conversation played over in my head. Again and again and again. The whole time he barely said a word, not unlike him. . .but not all that comforting. The diner was empty now, though I hadn’t realized when it happened. No weapons, those were the terms, but it would be a lie to say that my palm wasn’t itching to call Backbiter to it. Martha and George slithered around the staff mimicking some sort of animated phone case.

     I should run.

     He stood without warning. I followed.

    “Let’s go for a walk,” he turned and left. Again, I followed.

     Late summer heat wrapped around us like a blanket as we exited into midday. The area was lively, busy shoppers and cyclists, joggers and freshly-washed cars. Sun shone down heavy on their exteriors and I squinted against the glint. It was way too bright—

     “There’s no one here,” he said. I turned. He was waiting on the sidewalk, body facing north, towards the path that would take you further inland. Away from the main strip, closer to the suburbs. “Just you and me.”

     “Right,” I said and shoved both hands deep into their pockets. I knew where we were going.

     Higher up the heat wasn’t as oppressive. Hot winds blew now and then, rustling dry leaves and pushing the scent of saltwater up from the bay. I breathed deeply out of reflex. We walked in silence. I kept our strides in rhythm. That was until I saw it.

     The beat-up white house with green hinges that had fallen into disrepair from neglect and misfortune was almost unrecognizable. A new coat of paint covered the siding, the chipping front door had been replaced, and curtains blew out of wide open windows. A lush, green lawn surrounded the property, split in half by a clean walkway bracketed with a rainbow of flowers. There wasn’t a single discolored, mildewed, decaying stuffed monster to be found. I jogged forward in spite of myself.

     “What did you. . .” I turned back. Hermes had slowed, taking in the scene much the same as I. He looked at me. “What did you do?”

     “Luke, this isn’t,” he stared at the house and his face twisted, “I haven’t done anything.”

     I swallowed a dry mouth and ran up the walkway, all caution lost to the innate yet unearned fear for a loved one. The door rattled under my fist as I knocked repeatedly, frantically. Hermes took his place on the tiny porch beside me.

     “Hello,” I shouted. “Hello, is anyone home? Hello!”

     “Coming! Just a moment,” a gentle voice rose from the depths of the house and a few moments later, a woman opened the door. Blonde hair, not frizzed, interrupted by streaks of gray. Green eyes; forest green, not neon. Healthy skin, not sickly. A warm smile that only grew wider as she took us in.

     “Mom.”

     “Luke,” she said and pulled me in to press a kiss to my forehead. I went as rigid as ice; she didn’t notice. “And look at you,” she said to Hermes, who hid his shock well. He had a smile on, pressed a kiss to her cheek, but I could tell somehow, that he was as clueless as I.

     The spell.

     “Come on you two,” she ushered inside. “I’m baking.”

     “Cookies?” I guessed. It was the wrong thing to say. She stopped midstep, hand on the doorknob, and stared at me. Both eyes open, mouth in a frown. For a moment, nothing happened. Then she blinked and shook her head, as if pushing away a stupor. 

     “No, pie. Do you like cookies?” She led us into the house. It was quiet, a television played low in the front room. Varied, jewel hues covered the walls, hiding the dirty eggshell they used to be. Tarps covered some furniture, though they were clearly being used. The wood floors shined from a polishing. The entire space smelled of pastry. Hermes followed faster than I. “Luke,” she called. She was leaning out the kitchen archway. “Lemonade?”

      “Sure,” I said but couldn’t move. Then Hermes called my name and I scoffed. 

      The kitchen was different too. All the grime had disappeared. All the appliances updated. The old, retro table had been replaced with a long wooden piece, and on top of it, were strawberries. Buckets and buckets of strawberries, contained in plastic, straw, wicker; anything that would hold them. The sweet scent was nearly overpowering here. My mom held out a full glass and brought my hand to it to make sure it didn’t drop.

     “Strawberries?” I asked.

     She looked at the table, “Oh! Yes, I’ve grown quite an affinity for them,” she shrugged. “Not sure why but. . . they’re pretty aren’t they?” A beep sounded.

  ��  “May,” Hermes said as she pulled a tray from the oven. She looked over her shoulder. 

     “Yes?” 

     “May, are you alright?”

     My mother smiled—with a gorgeous set of pearly whites. Not possible, her teeth had yellowed and rotted years ago. “Of course, I am. It’s a beautiful day and I have two of my favorite people right in front of me.”

     “May,” Hermes said a third time, this one pained. I realized where I felt confusion, he felt hurt. My mother noticed. Her smile dropped and her eyes along with it. “May, the last time I saw you. . .it didn’t look like this.”

     She placed the tray on the stove and took a heavy seat at the table. The towering strawberries seemed to suffocate her figure. “I was very different, wasn’t I? But I don’t like to think about it. Why not have some pie and then you can go? I don’t expect you to stay very long.” She looked at both of us. “You never can.”

    Hermes huffed in misery. He came to sit by her side. I felt like I was watching a television show. This couldn’t be mine, this couldn’t be my parents. 

    He took her hand, “I don’t mean to put you through pain but I’m a little shocked. Your condition. . . wasn’t exactly fixable. I’d like to know what happened.”

    “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “About a year ago, I woke up. . .at least it felt like that. The presence of that thing disappeared, mostly. I could think straight again. I started cleaning up, there wasn’t anything else to do. The calendar on the wall was from the nineties. Found out someone had been paying the bills all this time,” she touched Hermes cheek and he smiled. “One morning I started working on the lawn. . .” she gave a sad, little laugh. “Apparently, I’d gained a reputation. The neighbors were so worried they tried to take the shears out of my hands, but once they realized. . .they helped me. People helped me fix up the house, gave me food, took me to the dentist, taught me how to use these new phones. They were so kind,” she sniffled. “I really didn’t deserve that much kindness.”

     “Of course you do,” Hermes said but she lifted her head towards me.

     “I don’t remember much. I get glimpses, pains even. But what I can recall, none of it is good. The memories. . .and the visions. Luke, honey, I’m so sorry.” The air was so thick I could’ve cut through it with Backbiter. I scuffed my boot against the linoleum. Silence snaked its way through the kitchen, like Martha and Geroge slithered on that phone.

    “There’s nothing to apologize for, Mom,” I said finally.

     “But there is,” she tried. “All that happened, the things I did, and then I just let you—”

     “There’s nothing you have to apologize for,” I said and the air shifted from thick to frigid. Hermes’ jaw tightened, but he didn’t move his gaze from my mother. Whatever. “So did you chuck all my old stuff? Not that it matters, I’m a little too old for Power Ranger pajamas.”

      My mother wiped at her eyes, “Oh no, I haven’t touched your room. Go take a look, it’s all there.”

.

     The tiny, off-white carpeted room with one square window was exactly how I’d left it a long, long time ago. The bureau had one drawer open. Angry crayon marks covered a low corner of the wall. The small, twin bed was made, but wrinkled. I walked up to it and ran a hand across the blanket. 

     I had the sudden urge to stay.

    It hit me like a brick to the solar plexus, knocking the wind from my lungs. Anger followed soon after. What are you thinking? I thought to myself.

    You could go to college.

    You lost your right to a future.

    You don’t get to leave, Annabeth’s voice echoed.

    Through the window I could see the road; children playing across the street; a man starting up a lawn mower. It felt surreal, freakishly abnormal.

    Maybe this was a type of punishment.

    “What are you thinking?” Hermes asked. I hadn’t heard him enter.

    “I’m thinking I’m too big for this bed,” I said and turned towards him, hands in pockets. His cadecaus was out now. The snakes slithered the length of it, restless. “Not that it matters.”

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】 Tears of Themis: A Love Poem to Skadi - Manor of Hermes, Xia Yan Route

Translation Masterlist | Themis Event Masterlist

Routes: Xia Yan | Zuo Ran | Mo Yi | Lu Jinghe

The “Manor of Hermes” portion of this event requires you to search an abandoned mansion, rumoured to be haunted, to discover its various secrets with each of the male leads. 

Please note that there are some subject matters discussed in the “Manor of Hermes” as the player progresses that may make some uncomfortable - please exercise discretion and know your limits. Feel free to ask me for details to check!

General Items (Not specific to any ML)

1st Floor - Front Foyer

Letter

MC: Xia Yan, look, there are a lot of envelopes here!

Xia Yan: Let me see… written on the front of the envelopes is…

Xia Yan: … “To Mr. Laste Modero”… was he the owner of this mansion?

MC: Maybe – I remember seeing this surname at the front door.

Xia Yan: Although looking at the style of the mansion, I’m afraid that, since it’s a hundred-year-old structure…

Xia Yan: It’s hard to make out the words on these envelopes because they’re from so long ago…

Xia Yan: We can’t get more useful information for now.

MC: No problem, we’ve only just started. With such a large mansion, there’ll definitely be a lot of things for us to notice.

Xia Yan: You’re right. Then let’s continue in.

Notebook on the Ground

Xia Yan: Eh, wait, there’s a book here.

MC: It’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”… there’s even a signature on the title page.

Xia Yan: “Allie, the one daughter I had…”

MC: This must mean that Mr. Laste also had a daughter.

Xia Yan: Plus, this Miss Allie must have quite liked this book.

Xia Yan: Look – though it’s from so long ago, we can still clearly see the marks of the book being flipped through.

MC: Mm… some places look like they’ve been flipped through a lot of times.

Xia Yan: …

MC: What’s the matter?

Xia Yan: Nothing, I just remembered a statement that I’ve heard before.

MC: ???

Xia Yan: “Those who enjoy reading “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” have no freedom, and instead desire to have freedom.”

MC: !!!

1st Floor - Maid’s Bedroom

Xia Yan: What’s this?

Xia Yan approached the items spread on the table.

Xia Yan: A notebook... the owner was Anville.

MC: The maid whose nametag we just saw on the door?

Xia Yan: Yep.

MC: Then what did she write?

Xia Yan: Let me see...

Xia Yan quickly flipped through the notebook. As he continued his movements, his expression gradually became... quite off...

MC: What’s the matter? Is there something weird written in the notebook?

Xia Yan: Nothing major - just some big family drama about ethics. 

Xia Yan: If it were broadcasted on TV, they could probably make several tens of episodes...

[Get: Anville’s Notebook]

2nd Floor - Prep Room [enter after finishing Jolena’s requests]

MC: Eh? ... Why’s there a rope on the floor?

Xia Yan: Let me see.

Xia Yan crouched, picked up the rope on the ground, and looked it over carefully. 

MC: Did you see anything about it? What was this rope used for? 

Xia Yan: Remember how we saw some weird marks on Allie’s windowsill wall?

MC: Are you saying that those marks were left by this rope?

Xia Yan: It should be, based on the sizes of the wall marks and this rope’s shape and length. 

MC: But that doesn’t explain what the rope was used for...

Xia Yan: Have you heard of the story of Rapunzel?

MC: Are you talking about the story where “the imprisoned Rapunzel used her hair to pull the prince into the tower”?

Xia Yan: Yep, but I’m afraid that what happened in this mansion was...

Xia Yan: “The prince pulled at a rope beside the window to help Rapunzel escape from the prison temporarily.”

[Get: Rope]

3nd Floor - Book Materials Room [enter after finishing Muller’s requests]

MC: ...

Xia Yan: What’s the matter?

MC: Xia Yan, look at the book with the black cover on the bookshelf.

MC: Isn’t it very weird?

Xia Yan: We’ll know after taking it out to see. 

Xia Yan took out that weird book from the bookshelf and quickly flipped through it.

Xia Yan: ...

MC: What’s the matter? Why did your expression become so serious?

Xia Yan: This is a missionary book. It’s passed on by a heretical evil cult called “Cult of Rebirth”. 

Xia Yan: As for the book’s contents... you’ll know after taking a look.

[Get: Missionary Book]

Xia Yan-specific Items

­1st Floor – Dining Room

MC: There are some cracked wood chunks and panels here.

MC: Seeing how they look, they seem to be the same as the chairs in the house.

Xia Yan: But looking at the shapes of the cracks on the wood chunks, they received external force.

MC: External force… so someone smashed the chair?

Xia Yan: Or maybe someone fell on the chair and broke it into pieces.

Xia Yan: Plus, look at these wood chunks. These dark circles seem to be congealed blood.

MC: So an argument or fight broke out here?

Xia Yan: Probably.

Xia Yan: Hm?

MC: What’s the matter?

Xia Yan: There seems to be something else in this pile of wood chunks?

After he spoke, Xia Yan crouched down and started to search through the pile in front of him.

Xia Yan: Found it!

MC: What is it?

Xia Yan: Look.

MC: Yellow gem shards…

MC: They’re the shards from “Allie’s Winter”!

Xia Yan: That’s right!

[Get: Bloodied Wood Chunks & Yellow Gem Pieces]

1st Floor – Kitchen

Xia Yan: !!!

MC: What’s the matter? Why is your expression so strange?

Xia Yan: Look here – these residues seem to be charcoal.

MC: Charcoal? But isn’t that something that will be produced after wood is burned?

MC: Did someone set something on fire in the kitchen?

Xia Yan: I think so. Look at the cabinet on the side.

Xia Yan: Its placement isn’t consistent with the positions of year-round furniture placed on the ground.

Xia Yan: And these old marks surrounding the charcoal on the ground…

Xia Yan: I think that after the original cabinet placed here was burned down, someone brought over a new one.

Xia Yan: And it’s not just here. As we came in, I observed this place.

Xia Yan: Most of the walls on the first floor all have the black residues from after a fire.

Xia Yan: Several important forks in the path also show post-fire results.

MC: So this mansion…

Xia Yan: That’s right, a massive fire might’ve occurred at this mansion.

MC: … Then should we take another look to see if there are any other clues around here?

Xia Yan: Good idea.

Xia Yan shifted his gaze back at the residue on the ground, then reached out to brush some aside.

Suddenly, following his movements, a yellow object revealed itself from the ash.

MC: This is!

Xia Yan: Looking at its shape, it should be a gem piece from “Allie’s Winter”!

[Get: Ash Residue & Yellow Gem Pieces]

MC: Hung on the wall is… a frying pan?

Xia Yan: …

MC: I don’t know why, but I feel like it’s weird that the pan is hung here…

MC: Especially compared to the pans that have been knocked on the floor.

MC: Though they all look dirty and old…

Xia Yan: The frying pan on the wall is clearly somewhat newer. Plus, there are the marks of someone putting it in order.

Xia Yan: While the accumulated dust and dirt on the pots and pans on the floor are thicker than on the wall.

Xia Yan: They also bear clear marks of damage on them.

Xia Yan: They probably were never used ever since someone knocked them down.

MC: But they’re all in one kitchen, so why is there such a major difference?

Xia Yan: One fairly strong possibility is that the pans were knocked down because of some sort of unexpected event.

Xia Yan: And after the unexpected event, someone returned to the mansion again and settled down here.

Xia Yan: The pan hung on the wall should be the one he used.

Xia Yan: Although, these are only my guesses – we still need more proof.

After he finished speaking, Xia Yan extended his head out, looking over the things on the wall.

He carefully stuck out his hand, trying to take off the pan.

The same moment that the pan left the wall, something fell down from the gap.

Xia Yan: A yellow gem… it’s a piece from “Allie’s Winter”!

[Get: Pans that have been organized & Yellow Gem Pieces]

 2nd Floor – Laste’s Book Room

MC: Why’s there a clean sheet of paper here?

Xia Yan: Paper?

Xia Yan stood beside me, carefully looking over that sheet of paper, then leaned close to it to give it a sniff.

Xia Yan: This isn’t a clean sheet of paper – there’s stuff written on it.

MC: ???

Xia Yan took the paper from my hands, then look a lighter from his pocket.

He pressed down on the lighter, simultaneously holding the sheet above the flame. A while later, words started to appear, one by one, on the sheet.

MC: !!!

Xia Yan: As expected… the words written on here were written with diluted acid.

Xia Yan: They’ve almost all appeared – want to see what it says?

MC: Mhmm.

I took the paper from Xia Yan, inspecting the contents on it.

MC: … “Commission received. In three days at 19:30, I will bring the police force to your place.”

MC: “Please relax. We will definitely capture your daughter, lost in her delusions, and the hoodlum Winter, who destroyed your house with fire, and bring them to justice.”

MC: “Police Director Chuck.”

MC: Xia Yan, this…

Xia Yan: …

Xia Yan: Let’s look around the surroundings again and see if there are other clues.

MC: Sure.

Xia Yan and I split up and got to work, going around and carefully examining the book table again.

But what was regretful was how, aside from this sheet of paper and the occasional gem pieces we noticed in the corner…

Xia Yan and I got nothing.

[Get: Police Director’s Return Letter & Yellow Gem Pieces]

--

Statue Password: 1930

MC: This is…

MC: Case files for a lot of people…

MC: (Were they collected by Mr. Laste?)

I flipped through the files I was holding, reading as I thought rapidly.

MC: (A portion of these people were doctors treating mental illnesses. The other portion is those who have already been cured from their mental illnesses.)

MC: (The parts on the case files that have to do with mental illnesses have all been circled.)

MC: (Looks like Mr. Laste paid a lot of attention to this bit.)

MC: Doctors… healed patients… could Mr. Laste have wanted to know about ways to treat mental illness?

MC: (But on the last case file here, there’s an annotation…)

MC: “All… useless”?!

[Get: Many Case Files]

 3rd Floor – Storage Room (1)

There were lots of brightly-coloured toys in the wooden boxes beside the walls.

MC: Xia Yan, look, don’t they look like the woolen dolls we bought when we were little?

I pointed at a woolen rabbit as I spoke to Xia Yan.

Xia Yan: Haha, they do look a lot alike. Plus, did you notice how these toys are just like we were when we were little…

Xia Yan: Each one is paired up.

Xia Yan: Look through them – maybe a name is stitched on these toys.

MC: …

I took the woolen rabbit out of the box and carefully inspected it.

MC: Xia Yan, there really are some!

Xia Yan: Ah?!

MC: Names are stitched behind the ear of the rabbit. This one has “Allie” on it…

I scooped out the other rabbit.

MC: There’s “Winter” on this one!

Xia Yan: …

MC: Xia Yan, the relations between “Allie” and “Winter” must have been very good.

Xia Yan: Mhmm, I also feel that way – they must have been like us…

Xia Yan: They used these toys as testament to that.

Xia Yan: After all, all else aside, it’s not easy to collect the pairs in this box of toys.

MC: Why?

Xia Yan: Based on the time when this mansion was built, Skadi Island had been completely closed off from foreign economies at that time.

Xia Yan: Their commercial dealings with other nations were basically “zero”.

Xia Yan: Back then, woolen toys like this were all shipped goods – they needed to be imported from other countries.

Xia Yan: It was difficult enough to get one – getting two would be even harder than that.

Xia Yan: Based on this, they really did see each other as important.

MC: Is that so…

I looked at the toy box in front of me again. Suddenly, a fleeting sparkle deep in the box caught my attention.

MC: Seems like there’s something there?

I felt towards the sparkle.

MC: It’s one of the gem pieces we’re searching for!

[Get: Pair of Woolen Rabbits & Yellow Gem Pieces]

MC: Xia Yan, look – what is this?

I pointed at the objects in the corner.

Xia Yan: I think they’re buckets that contain some sort of liquid – I’ll take a careful look.

Xia Yan stepped up to the oil buckets.

He took out his carry-on collapsible dagger, nicking a tiny hole into the bottom of the bucket.

The moment the hole appeared, a dark, partly-solidified substance came out from the cylinder.

MC: This is?

Xia Yan: It’s the colloidal precipitate that formed after thermal oxidation was performed on gasoline.

Xia Yan inspected the stuff that had appeared in front of us and quietly responded to me.

Xia Yan: But… why are there gasoline buckets here? Plus, there’s no opening.

MC: They’re probably needed for some of the installations in the mansion, so they’re here as backup reserves.

Xia Yan: That can’t be. I specially took a look before – the fireplaces and the kitchen all use wood to light fires in the mansion.

Xia Yan: The lighting in the mansion is also mostly candles and fire lanterns – they basically have no need to buy gasoline.

Xia Yan: Exactly why did they buy these?

MC: Xia Yan, look here, there’s purchase information stuck on the bottom of the gasoline buckets.

I pointed out what I’d noticed for Xia Yan to see.

Xia Yan: Let me see… the purchaser was… Winter?

MC: Mhmm. Aside from that, some of the gem pieces we’re searching for are hidden in the crevice behind the gasoline buckets!

[Get: Gasoline Buckets & Yellow Gem Pieces]

 -

B1 Level

MC: (We’ve already collected all the gems.)

MC: (Johnny said before that the four gems could open four main doors…)

MC: (The notch above this door’s lock is similar to the notch on the fire portion. How about I try putting in the collected yellow gems.)

-

MC: Xia Yan, look at the thing hung on the wall!

MC: A white coat and scattered long hair…

MC: And the ghost mask on the table… isn’t this like…

Xia Yan: That’s right, it looks the same as the “Lord of Evil Thoughts” that appears in the polar nights, according to legend.

Xia Yan: With the cleared-up pans that we noticed before in the first-floor kitchen…

Xia Yan: It’s very clear that someone settled down in the mansion and pretended to be the evil ghost.

MC: Who is that person? And why did he do this?

Xia Yan: I don’t know who it is, but as for why…

Xia Yan: Do you still remember what those people who encountered the “Lord of Evil Thoughts” did, right after encountering him?

MC: They fled, and never went back to the mansion…

MC: Could it be that the person who pretended to be the ghost did this to scare away adventure-seekers at the mansion?

Xia Yan: I feel like this is possible.

Xia Yan: Based on the marks in the kitchen and the rooms, this person clearly lived here for a very long time.

Xia Yan: To be able to guard this abandoned mansion for so long, not to mention thinking up of ways to scare off the people here…

Xia Yan: Could he be protecting something?

[Get: White clothes and fake hair]

 MC: This mirror on the wall over here is shattered.

Xia Yan: Looking at the shatter marks, it probably received external damaging force.

MC: You mean… someone smashed the mirror?

MC: But why would he do this?

Xia Yan: Let me ask you, what’s a mirror typically used for?

MC: A reference for you to clean up your appearance?

Xia Yan: What else?

MC: We can use the mirror to see ourselves?

Xia Yan: Then, what if someone doesn’t want to look at themselves?

MC: So he smashed the mirror?

Xia Yan: That’s right. I’m guessing that the person who broke the mirror didn’t want to see himself for some reason, particularly not his own face.

Xia Yan: Plus, do you remember the bloodied wood chunks we noticed on the first floor?

MC: At that time, you speculated that maybe there were people who got into conflict there.

Xia Yan: Yes. If we link that to this mirror…

Xia Yan: Maybe this person injured their face in the conflict?

[Get: Shattered Mirror]

[365days365movies]

March 15, 2021: Clash of the Titans (1981) (Part One)

This one’s personal…sort of.

Other than the fact that this is based on Greek mythology (previously well-established as one of my favorite subjects), this movie is, in a way, responsible for my existence. And that is because, according to legend, this is the film that my parents went to on their first date. And apparently, it went very well, because I came into being 10 years afterwards. So, yeah, this film is personal, like Dirty Dancing.

And also like Dirty Dancing, I HAVEN’T SEEN IT? I don’t know HOW I escaped seeing this movie. And that’s especially considering that I’ve seen the new one. And that movie was...not great.

Maybe not the worst film I’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely not a good movie. But OK, what’s this one about, exactly? Y’all ready for “The 365 Greek Mythology Hour” again? OK, then, here we go. SING IT LADIES

Clash of the Titans concerns the myth of Perseus, one of the greatest Greek heroes ever. Before Heracles, there was Perseus, son of Zeus. Yeah, Zeus, as he is wont to do, came down to Earth and had some good time with the princess of Argos, the beautiful Danaë. He came upon her while she was locked in a box by her dad, Acrisus, king of Argos.

Yeah, the Oracle at Delphi, ever the wisest, was visited by Acrisus one day, who wanted a son instead of a daughter. The Oracle spoke with Apollo (AKA huffed some of that SWEET SWEET ETHYLENE GAS), and told him that his daughter’s son would kill him. And so, he did the most logical thing: he locked her in a box. Yup. Dick. SPEAKING of dick, Zeus appeared to her in the open box as a golden shower. NOT THAT KIND OF GOLDEN SHOWER. I mean a literal shower of gold. Although...I wouldn’t put it past Zeus, of all gods. Dude was kinky.

So, Perseus is conceived, and Acrisus responds to this with his usual tact; he stuffs Danaë into a SMALLER box, and shoves it out to sea. She gives birth to a boy in the box, and the two eventually wash up on the shore of an island, where a fisherman finds them and takes them in. The boy is named Perseus.

Years go by, and Perseus’ mom is sought by his adoptive dad’s brother, and the king of the island, Polydectes. Polydectes is kind of a dick, and Perseus, now an adult man, doesn’t like him. The feeling’s mutual, and Polydectes has a plan. He holds a banquet, and forces all invited to bring a gift of horses. Perseus, being pretty poor, cannot bring this gift, but promises on his honor to bring whatever Polydectes wants of him, no matter what. And Polydectes asks for the head of Medusa.

Fuck.

Medusa’s one of your classic Greek monsters, a Gorgon. She’s one of Athena’s victims, formerly a vain temple priestess who was, well...raped by Poseidon, let’s be honest. However, since Athena’s priestesses were meant to be celibate, she was the one who ended up being punished. Fuckin’ YIKES. But OK, literal ancient gender politics aside, Athena cursed her with snakes for hair, and the ability to turn her victims into stone with a gaze into her eyes. Classic. And sure death for anyone who went after her.

So, Perseus is fucked. He’s gotta kill Medusa, and he doesn’t even have a way to get to her place. And that’s when he gets a favor from none other than Athena, goddess of wisdom and wartime strategy, as well as Perseus’ half-sister. I love Athena (other than the Medusa bullshit, obviously), and this is one of her most prominent roles in mythology. Well, that and the creation of spiders. That was also punishing a woman for her vanity, by the way. She has a type.

First, Perseus was told to find the Hesperides, nymphs of the dusk and dawn who would give him weapons. He got their location from the Greae, more colloquially known as the Gray Sisters. Weirdly enough, you may know them from Hercules, where they were combined with the Fates. They don’t have the future gimmick, but they do have that whole “sharing an eye” thing. Also, they share a tooth. Neat.

Anyway, Perseus takes their eye hostage, which makes them tell him where the Hesperides are. He goes to them, and they give him a bag to hold Meduga’s head. Then, the gods step in. Zeus decides to be a good dad for a change, and gives him an indestructible sword, and Hades’ Helmet of Invisibility. Hermes, another of Perseus’ half-brothers, gives him a pair of winged sandals to fly with. And Athena, technically Perseus’ patron, gives him a mirrored shield.

Perseus heads to the cave of Medusa, uses the shield, then goes up to her and cuts off her head. From her neck, for some goddamn reason, and golden sword pops out, alongside this guy.

Yeah, he’s not made out of clouds. He’s actually the, uh...he’s the result of Poseidon’s crime against Medusa. Fucked up, innit? Pegasus flies up to hang out with Bellerophon to kill the Chimera, and Perseus heads back to...actually, he goes to ANOTHER king who was a dick to him, and turns him into stone with Medusa’s head. Kings hate Perseus, seriously.

Perseus heads home after that, and goes through Ethiopia. There, he meets the King and Queen, Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Cassie’s gorgeous, but she tells Perseus that her daughter Andromeda is, like, WAY hotter, as beautiful as the sea goddesses. Which PISSES OFF POSEIDON (who is basically the villain of Perseus’ story, let’s be honest), and he send a sea monster named Cetus to destroy the kingdom, UNLESS they sacrifice Andromeda to it. And, because kings are assholes in this story, they do, chaining Andromeda to a rock. But, because Perseus believes that all women are queens, he goes to rescue her, and kills Cetus using all of his things. He weds Andromeda, and turns his romantic rival Phineus into stone using Medusa’s head.

Usually, that’s where retellings end, because there’s a recurring trend to Perseus’ story after that. A king is an asshole, Perseus whips out the head, asshole becomes statue of an asshole. However, there is that prophecy to contend with, about Perseus killing his grandfather. See, Acrisus basically retired by this point, and lived in the kingdom of Thessaly. But one day, he went to see some games, in which Perseus was competing in the discus. Well, wouldn’t you know it, Perseus isn’t great at it, and loses control of the discus, which hits Acrisus, killing him instantly.

Utimate frisbee, man. It’s dangerous.

There’s another version where Perseus uses Medusa’s head to turn his dad into stone, surprise surfuckingprise there. But yeah, after that the story varies. Sometimes he becomes a king, sometimes he doesn’t. He basically always marries Andromeda and has kids with her. Sometimes he founds a city of his own, sometime he doesn’t. And in one ending, where he’s lived to be an old king, he fulfills his ultimate destiny and turns Medusa’s head on himself. Geez.

So, yeah, there you go. That’s the story of Perseus. Let’s, uh...let’s see what the movie does, huh? This is another Ray Harryhausen joint, so I’m...tentatively excited for it. We’ll see how badly they mess up the myth, and whether or not it works despite that. So, ENOUGH of me lecturing you guys, huh?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

We begin approximately where most iterations do: King Acrisius (Donald Houston) has just cast his daughter Danae (Vida Taylor) and grandson Perseus into the ocean, containing them within a wooden chest in order to “forgive his daughter’s crimes”. Yeah, sure, OK, buddy. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

This also pisses off Zeus (Laurence Mother Fucking Olivier), who consorts with the rest of the Olympians on what to do to Acrisus. Said Olympians include Hera (Claire Bloom), goddess of marriage and women; Thetis (Maggie Mother Fucking Smith), goddess of the sea and leader of the Nereids; Athena (Susan Fleetwood), goddess of wisdom and strategic victory; Aphrodite (Ursula Andress), goddess of love; and Poseidon (Jack Gwillim), god of the sea.

Hera tries to defend Acrisus, noting his prior years of devotion to Zeus and the other gods. But Zeus ain’t HAVING that shit, and tells Poseidon to destroy the city of Argos in revenge. This is to be done by...releasing the last of the Titans? Which is apparently the Kraken. I mean...no, a thousand times no, but whatever.

This little tantrum is Zeus’ way of showing his love towards Danae, whose child Perseus is his. This is helpfully pointed out by Thetis, who seems...a little spiteful, as much as Hera is about Perseus. Seems like she’s stoking some fires. Hmm. She is Queen of the Nerieds, so she may play a larger role later on.

Beneath the sea, Poseidon readies himself to set loose the Kraken and destroy Argos, at Zeus’ command. Zeus, meanwhile, kills Acrisus by using a clay voodoo doll of sorts to strike him down. And that’s when Poseidon lets loose the Kraken for the first time. And the Kraken...

Guys, the Kraken looks...actually, I’ll spoil his appearance later on. The Kraken destroys the city, and Zeus kills Acrisius. So much for the goddamn prophecy that explains why Acrisius did what he did, but fuck me, I guess. Danae and Perseus, meanwhile, have safely arrived on the shores of the island of Seriphus, at Zeus’ insistence. There, Perseus grows from child into a fine young man, with Zeus always watching over him...and with Thetis and company always watching over Zeus. Interesting.

The adult Perseus (Harry Hamlin) lives happily on the island, much to Perseus’ delight. Thetis, on the other hand, asks about her mortal son, a young man named Calibos (Neil McCarthy). Apparently, Calibos is a bit of a monster, and while he’d been set to wed the princess Andromeda, he’s also managed to kil all living things on the island that he’s been given, save for a single winged horse named Pegasus. Hence...he is to be punished.

Calibos, by the way? Entirely original creation of the film, and there’s nobody like him in Greek mythology. Anyway, Thetis is crushed by this, and decides to exact revenge of both Perseus and her son’s would-be fiancee, Andromeda. She pledges to open up Perseus’ eyes to grim reality, and does so by placing him in the kingdom of Joppa, where Calibos was originally set to rule alongside Andromeda.

Here, in an amphitheatre, he encounters a mysterious masked and robed figure, who quickly reveals themselves to be Ammon (Burgess Meredith), a poet and playwright. Apparently, Ammon wears his disguise to scare off trespassers. He tells Perseus that all of Joppa is in a tizzy about a curse of some kind, and that the story of the fallen kingdom of Argos is a famous legend.

Ammon tells Perseus to go back home to Seriphus, but Perseus tells Ammon that he’s promised to restore his mother’s old kingdom, and decides that Joppa would be a good start. Despite his drive, though, Zeus is pissed off at Thetis for plopping Perseus down unprepared. He tells the other goddesses to give him gifts to help him claim the kingdom of Joppa as his own. This includes a helmet from Athena, a sword from Aphrodite, and a shield from Hera. I mean...OK, that’s super goddamn weird, but OK.

After Zeus leaves, the goddesses rightfully complain about Zeus’ constant womanizing, but note that he probably doesn’t remember Danae at this point, is is most likely acting out of stubborn pride for his “handsome son”. Their words, not mine.

In Joppa, Perseus finds the gifts by the statues of their grantors. The sword from Aphrodite is adamantine, like the original myth, and slices through marble without a blemish. The shield from Hera...talks. Yeah. The shield bears the visage of Zeus, who tells him that the weapons are gifts from the gods, and that the helmet from Athena turns the wearer invisible. I mean, fuck Hades, I guess, but OK. Technically Athena did give the helmet to Perseus, so OK.

Armed with his new gear, an invisible Perseus immediately takes off to see Joppa, sans his sword. We only see his footsteps in the sand as he leaves, which is legitimately a VERY neat effect, and I’m not sure how they did it, but it’s neat as hell. Off to Joppa, a vaguely Phoenician/Persian kingdom, despite the fact that the original Joppa, or Jaffa, is a port city in Israel.

There, he meets a soldier, Thallo (Tim Pigott-Smith), who tells him of the situation. Since Calibos fell to Zeus’ wrath, Andromeda rejected him, allowing any suitor to try for her hand, whether they be royal or not. To do so, they must answer a riddle. If they fail to answer, the would-be suitor is burned to death. This is lorded over by Queen Cassiopeia (Sian Phillips), while Andromeda (Judi Bowker) lives in the tower of the palace.

Which is why Perseus IMEDIATELY uses the helmet to go into her room that night! CLASSY, PERSEUS. There, he sees...a giant vulture bring a cage to Andromeda’s balcony. No idea where in the fuck this is going, but that’s a damn good looking vulture. God, I love Harryhausen.

Anyway, the vulture is here for Andromeda’s soul, which leaves her body and goes to sit in the cage. The vulture takes off with it, al as the invisible Perseus watches on. He takes this opportunity to touch Andromeda’s face in her sleep (stop, Perseus, for the love of Zeus), then decides that winning Andromeda is his destiny. And so, his simpin’ journey begins.

The next day, Perseus asks Ammon how they can follow the vulture, who has apparently headed to the marshes to the “marsh lord”. To follow the vulture, Ammon suggests that they find and capture the last of the winged horses, known as Pegasus. And we’ve officially lost the track of Greek mythology at this point. Shit.

Well, with Ammon’s help, Perseus captures Pegasus and rides him through the skies. Meanwhile, in Corinth, some dude named Bellerophon is just having a stroke, I guess, because he’s totally fucked now. Whatever. The next day, the vulture comes back to Andromeda’s place and takes her soul to the marsh. But this time, Perseus and Pegasus follow them.

In the marsh, the marsh-lord and riddle-maker is revealed as Calibos, who is still in love with the beautiful Andromeda. As she cannot love him, he provides to her another riddle to give her would-be suitors. In tears, she memorizes the riddle and its answer, Calibos touches her uncomfortably, even as Andromeda asks him to lift his curse and show pity. But he refuses, in pain from his love. Jesus, this movie should be called Clash of the Simps, goddamn.

Perseus was watching the whole thing, though, which Calibos immediately figures out when he sees Perseus’ footsteps in the dirt. As Perseus goes through the swamp looking for Pegasus, he’s found and attacked by Calibos. Calibos, by the way, is a guy in pretty solid makeup in close-up shots, and a Harryhausen model in far-away shots.

The two struggle, the helmet is lost in the swamp, and Perseus draws his sword. But we suddenly cut away to see the daily ritual of the presentation for Andromeda’s would-be suitors. Perseus steps in, having survived the attack from last night, and offers his hand to Andromeda, who recognizes Perseus from a dream. She gives the riddle, which is ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. Here, I’ll prove it.

In my mind’s eye, I see three circles joined in priceless harmony. Two, full as the moon; one, hollow as a crown. Two from the sea, five fathoms down. One from the Earth, deep under the ground. What is it?

Any guesses? Anybody?

NO MATTER WHAT YOU FAIL. Because the answer is Calibos’ ring! HOW IN THE SHIT WOULD ANYBODY HAVE GUESSED THAT? It’s a golden ring with two pearls on it! WHO KNOWS THAT SHIT? I call complete bullshit, and the only reason that Perseus knows it is because he spied on this last night! Also, because he cut off Calibos’ hand, and made him renounce his curse, which is...never really specified, now that I think about it.

With that, Perseus has both Andromeda’s and Calibos’ hands! HA! Calibos is not as amused, as he preys to his other Thetis, at a temple of hers. He demands that Thetis take revenge on those whom Perseus loves, specifically Andromeda and the city of Joppa itself. He demands justice, but Thetis identifies this correctly as revenge. All the while, Perseus declares his love for Andromeda, and they seal their union with a kiss and ritual.

During this ritual, in which Andromeda and Perseus are essentially married, Queen Cassiopeia, LIKE A DUMBASS, says that Andromeda is more beautiful than the goddess Thetis herself. Yeah. BAD FUCKING MOVE, especially because she said that IN FRONT OF THETIS’ FUCKING SANCTUARY. At least that dumbass move was kept from the original story.

Well, Thetis tells Cassie that she can only atone for her stupidity in one way: sacrifice your daughter to the Kraken in 30 days. Later on, Perseus speaks with Ammon to figure out how they can defeat the Kraken. Ammon suggests speaking with the “Stygian Witches”, who I’m assuming are our Grey Sisters for the night. However, according to Thallo, they have a taste for human flesh. Still, Perseus is going, as are Ammon, Thallo, and Andromeda. But not Pegasus.

Well...shit, man. That changes a few things, huh? But that’ll be addressed...IN PART TWO! See you there!

[risottoneroo]

hey there stranger, pt 9

a/n: im not sorry. yall are gonna be sad

warnings: jealousy, domestic fighting, infidelity

You got up and walked after him, slipping out of your shirt and skirt. The bathroom was as open and airy as his bedroom, with the same floor-to-ceiling windows next to a huge tub. 

Wes was sitting on the edge, running his fingers under the water. He was naked, and moonlight was shining off the planes of his muscles. You ran your finger up the curve of his spine, and he shivered. “Shit, scared me.”

You smiled. “Is the water warm?”

He nodded and stood, kissing you gently. “I figured we could keep the lights off. The moon is bright.”

You smiled and slipped into the warm water. “Sounds good.”

He slipped in beside you, and you leaned into him with a soft hum. You glanced down into the water, putting one hand on his leg. “What are the scars on your calves from?”

He shifted a little and coughed softly. “My brother cut off my legs when I was trying to get him to see reason.”

You nodded. “And who-”

He smiled. “Jolyne sewed them back on.”

You sat up, frowning. “Jolyne isn’t a nurse. How-”

He looked away. “It- It was temporary. Until we saw a doctor.”

You sighed softly. It still didn’t seem right, but who were you to question it?

The next few weeks were blissful. You slept over at his house whenever you could, and he gave you your space when you wanted it. He was a frequent customer at your work, and always visited you on your breaks to bring you lunch or buy you coffee. You had only been dating a month, but your heart was full enough to burst. 

Jotaro was back in town, and he was over at the apartment frequently to help Jolyne. She was working on a Physics degree, and she needed help with math. Jotaro was the only one she’d let help her, even though the rest of you had science degrees. You were still working on your doctorate in oceanography, but you’d had to pause due to lack of funding. 

But you’d taken calculus courses, so it was easy to shout answers at Jolyne. You usually did it faster than Jotaro, who preferred to let her find her own way. You also enjoyed how irritated it made Jotaro, who usually shot you a dirty look. He still scared Hermes, but he didn’t scare you.

You noticed it first when you’d come over to help them solve a particularly tricky derivative. Wes was in the kitchen, making fried chicken, and you’d been helping him until Jolyne called you. She was hunched over her textbook, Jotaro sprawled next to her on the couch. He was taking up the whole couch, and she was in the corner. It was a small couch, but still. You nudged his leg. “Hey, big boy. Let me sit.”

He sat up and pulled his legs in, one hand tipping his hat down. “Sure.”

You sat next to him and reached across for Jolyne’s textbook. She set it in her father’s lap, and you both leaned over to it. You rambled for a bit about the different aspects of the book, until you gestured too far and brushed your hand over Jotaro’s thigh. 

He tensed a little and looked down at you, and you noticed his cheeks were flushed. You swallowed and kept talking, but Wes had seen it. The room felt colder suddenly. Jolyne swallowed, and winced. “My ears keep popping.”

You looked up. “Weird.”

Wes called to you, “Y/N, can you come make the sauce you always do?”

You nodded and got up. “Jolyne, you got it?”

She nodded back, grinning. Jotaro didn’t react as you left. When you got over to Wes, he pulled you into a rough kiss. You giggled and kissed back, and Jolyne shouted, “Get a room!”

You pulled back, gasping a little. “What was that for?”

He chuckled. “Just because I love you.”

His hands lingered on your waist as you got out the ingredients for your sauce. 

Jotaro was over at your place frequently, and you got to talking with him several times about his projects. When he told you about the starfish that had won him his own doctorate, you joked, “Should I call you Doctor Kujo instead?”

His cheeks turned faintly pink, and he swallowed. “Just Jotaro.”

You’d nodded. “Have you ever done any oceanographic surveying?”

Just as Jotaro began to answer, Wes had walked in the door to pick you up. You jumped up and kissed his cheek. “Jotaro was telling me about the coolest shit.”

Wes grinned, kissing you back and straightening his suit. “Oh. Cool.”

Wes was jealous of Jotaro. You knew that. You never considered how he’d deal with it, but it seemed like he’d about reached his breaking point. He dropped heavily into a chair, pulling you down into his lap. “So, Doctor Kujo.”

You settled onto his thighs, swallowing a little. This was too intimate for an everyday conversation. Jotaro looked between you two, his blind eye moving with his sighted one. Wes groaned. “The new scar is cool, but the eye is creepy.”

You gasped. “Wes, you can’t just-”

Jotaro chuckled. “He’s right.”

Wes’s jaw was set. He knew what he’d said was insensitive, but he couldn’t stop himself. “So, can’t the Speedwagon Foundation fix it?”

Jotaro shook his head. “No, they can’t. My eye was split, and they didn’t want to take it. It clouded over like this from scar tissue.”

You tried to shift, but Wes’s grip on you was strong. You pulled away from him. “Wes, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

He blinked. “Sitting with my girl.”

You pushed on his chest. “No, this is some fucked up power play. Let me go, you fucking prick.”

He did as you asked, but he looked angry. “It’s not my fault you’ve been flirting with him. Or that he’s been making eyes at you for as long as we’ve been together!”

You gritted your teeth, standing over him. “And you never thought to, I don’t know, talk to me about it? Rather than pulling this shit? He’s my friend’s dad! I couldn’t do that to her.”

Wes stood too, his eyes hard. “You’re not saying you weren’t flirting.”

You clenched your hands into fists. “You don’t trust me.”

Wes sighed loudly. “I didn’t say-”

You shook your head. “Don’t.”

You walked out, fuming. 

You sat on the steps in front of your building, the humid air hanging still and hot around you. You heard the door open and sighed. “Go home, Wes-”

A voice with slightly more bass cut you off. “I’m not Wes.”

Jotaro dropped onto the step next to you. “I’m sorry.”

You sighed. “I appreciate it, but believe me, it’s not your fault.”

He swallowed. “It is, I think. I-”

You turned to look at him. He was staring down at the pavement. You frowned. “What?”

He turned to look at you. “I know you said you couldn’t do that to Jolyne, but- Wes wasn’t wrong.”

You blinked, and he sighed. “I’m bad at this. I think you’re gorgeous. I always have.”

You flushed, too shocked to speak. He took off his hat, running his fingers through graying black hair. You breathed, “Your hair looks so soft.”

He flushed and looked back down. “I really do like you. You’re-”

You touched his cheek. “Jotaro, don’t. You know I- You know we can’t.”

He swallowed, and suddenly he was very close. His lips were inches from yours, and you could feel his hot breath. He bit his lip, his eyes flicking down to your lips and back up to your eyes. “I know, but-”

You kissed him before he could finish, holding his face in your hands. He grunted softly and kissed back. He was clumsy, but you could feel the need surging in him. His hands pulled you closer by your waist, closer until you were on his lap. You felt his cock against you, hot and hard in his pants, and you pulled back. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”

You got up and put your hand on the door handle back into your apartment. “I’m sorry.”

You went back inside, and started climbing the stairs. Wes met you on the stairwell. “Y/N, I’m so sorry. I don’t- I don’t know what I was thinking. I was so angry, and i was dumb. I-”

You sighed softly and kissed him. “It’s okay.”

He hugged you tight. “Okay.”

You put your head on his shoulder, your mind swirling. Things had just gotten a lot more complicated. 

[sapphicambitions]

That Was All They Could Do

percabeth, hurt/comfort, afterwards, healing. 2k

first pjo fan fic ive written in literal years please enjoy

“A halfblood of the eldest gods”

Percy was running.

“Shall reach sixteen against all odds”

Feet hitting the ground. Breath labored.

“And see the world in endless sleep”

He was running and running and running.

“The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap”

Luke was the first one he passed. 

Luke, just as he’d last seen him. Dirty from the grime of a long fight and bleeding from his left side. His eyes were glossy, almost white, but they bore into Percy like they could see all of his sins. Luke reached for Percy as he approached, reached out with one hand while the other clutched at his bleeding side, reached out with his lips parted, like he wanted to speak to Percy, like he had something to say-

But Percy was running. And he ran right past him.

“A single choice shall end his days”

He passed Ethan McNamara.

He passed Castor, Dionysus’s son.

Michael Yew.

Lee Fletcher.

Zoe Nightshade.

Bianca.

Silena.

Beckendorf.

All of them reaching out to him, all of them calling out to him, all of them gasping his name.

“Olympus to preserve or raze”

Every time Percy looked in a new direction, the dead were staring at him. Every time he thought he could breathe again, the ghost of someone he once knew snatched his breath right out of his chest. There was nothing, nothing around him except white nothing and the ghost of everyone he’s ever lost. 

One foot in front of the other, breathing in and out.

He slammed into a wall.

The wall of the Princess Andromeda. He blinked and the white nothing shifted into that sunny day, on the water, not far from New York City. Beckendorf stood exactly where he had been the last time Percy saw him. Percy tried to cry out for him, to reach him, to stop him, to take the blow for him, anything, anything to save his friend’s life. But he couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. He could barely breathe.

Beckendorf’s jaw went slack, dropped open, green mist pouring out and spilling all over the deck. 

“A halfblood of the eldest gods,” his voice echoing and rattling into Percy’s chest, sounding damn near like the raspy voice of the Oracle, “Shall reach sixteen against all odds,” Beckendorf’s eyes bore into Percy, and the message was clear.

The ship exploded, but instead of getting to dive into the water or even being thrown from the deck by the force of the explosion, Percy was still rooted to the deck, forced to watch the explosion tear through Beckendorf, forced to watch his friend die in the way he never had originally. The message behind Beckendorf’s eyes didn’t die with him, though. It rippled through Percy’s chest harsher than the blast that took his friend’s life.

It should have been you.

The fire took over Percy’s vision and when it cleared, he was in the throne room at Olympus. Even before he saw the body, he knew it was from the olden days because there were only twelve thrones gathered around the hearth. And next to the hearth, the body of Luke Castellan. 

He laid there, in the same position he’d been in the last time Percy’d seen him, the same blood running from his wound, the same dagger lying next to him. But this time, he had green smoke pouring out of his agape mouth.

“And see the world in endless sleep,” Luke’s broken voice called out, echoing the Oracle. Then the dead hero lifted his head off the ground and turned his glassy eyed gaze to Percy. “The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap,”

Percy tried to run, tried to close his eyes, but he could do nothing but watch the son of Hermes perish before him, do nothing but watch the last breath leave his body, nothing but watch the fate that should have been his. He should have been the hero. No one else should have had to die for him that day. No one should have had to die.

Percy blinked once more and he was in the desert, in Hephaestus’s junk yard, and Bianca di Angelo was running towards Talos, green mist trailing in her wake.

“A single choice shall end his days,” This time the voice of the Oracle came from the giant, and Percy wasn’t rooted to the ground. His heart leapt into his throat and he knew what he had to do.

He had to stop Bianca. He could stop her, he could save her. He could uphold his promise to Nico, he could save them all from so much pain and torment. 

He could take her place. 

He began running towards her, screaming her name with his entire gut.

“Olympus,” The giant continued, and Percy somehow just knew that he had until the end of the prophecy to save her. He ran harder than he ever had before, running and screaming and barely breathing. 

“To preserve,” He was so close, he was so close. No one else would have to die for him. No one else would have to die. He was gaining on her, she was just an arm’s length in front of him. Just within grasping distance. He called out to her and out stretched his hand, trying to yank her arm or her hair or anything that would stop her.

“Or raze,”  Bianca di Angelo disappeared. 

It should have been you.

Percy cried out for her and dropped to his knees, dropped back in the white nothing, surrounded by everyone he’s ever lost. Surrounded by all the people who died fighting his war. Green mist poured from each of them, filling up the seemingly endless void surrounding them. All of them staring at him, all of them dead because of him. The mist creeped closer and closer to him, but there was nowhere for him to run. He was completely surrounded by his fallen comrades. He was completely encompassed by one thought.

It should have been you.

Percy let out a wail from the deepest caverns of his chest as the ground slipped out from beneath him. He was falling falling falling until he landed hard and sat up gasping for air. He was completely surrounded by darkness, couldn’t see a damn thing, but he felt hot and trapped and like he was suffocating. He had landed on something and... also under something? It was hard to tell in the dark. But he could move freely, so he practically threw himself out of whatever he had landed on, trying to feel like he could breathe. Sobs wracked his body as he stumbled around in the darkness. His hands were tingling, and he shook them out fiercely, trying to get feeling into them as he paced.

A light turned on behind him and he whipped around, trying to figure out what fresh hell he was in now. He took in his surroundings with wild eyes.

Light blue walls.

A bookcase.

A bed.

A blonde woman standing in front of him. Gray eyes. 

“Percy?” 

Her voice was normal. No oracle. 

Annabeth caught him just as his knees buckled out from under him. She eased him down to the floor as he somehow cried harder. Strong arms wrapped around him, the soft lemon scent of her enveloping him as he cried into her neck. She didn’t say anything, just rubbed his back and kissed his head, holding him tight. He was awake and safe and with Annabeth.

He was safe and alive.

Eventually he had no more tears left to give and gently sat up, drawing in deep, shaky breaths. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand, and when he pulled his hands away, Annabeth was searching his face, a familiar expression in her eyes. He nodded at her.

She got to her feet first, and then gently grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up with her. She led him from their room and the living room, pulling out a chair for him to sit in at the table. They didn’t have to say anything as he sat at the table or as she opened the closest window, letting the cool spring New York air into their apartment. He said nothing as he focused on his breathing and getting his heart rate down to normal. She said nothing as she slipped into the kitchen and came back moments later with a large glass of water and a plate of cookies. They didn’t have to say anything because they had this routine down.

But he did mumble a thanks as she slipped into the chair next to his and he took several gulps of water. The water made him feel better, not just because he was the son of the sea god or whatever, but because his throat was a wreck and he had just cried a lot. His hands shook as he put the glass back down and reached for a cookie. Annabeth gently ran her fingers through his hair, her stormy eyes trained on his face.

“What was it this time?” She asked, her voice soft. He leaned into her touch, grateful for her warm presence and the equally warm cookies. She must have microwaved them or something. He swallowed the cookie and drank more water before answering. 

“The Great Prophecy, over and over again. Everyone who died during the Titan War, Beckendorf. Bianca. Luke. ” He mumbled, staring at his shaking hands. One of Annabeth’s hands slipped into his, and he instantly felt steadier. “They all kept repeating the prophecy to me. I had to relive each of their deaths. And each time, I thought that it should have been me instead.”

Annabeth exhaled, and reached over to kiss his temple. 

He nearly started crying again. 

“Percy,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Their deaths are not your fault,” Years ago, he might have tried to argue with her, but now he nodded. “You did the best you could,” she continued. “And I’m grateful that you’re here with me now,” He nodded again.

They both had survivor’s guilt. He didn’t need to explain it or justify it to her. She understood.

They had both been out of the hero work for a few years now, both college graduates and living happily together in New York City. But they both had their bad days, especially as it got closer to summer. They were both weighed down from the trauma of their childhood. Because they had been just kids when they’d witnessed so much death and destruction. They hadn’t been ready to watch their friends die, not that you can be ready for that kind of thing. But they’d both be stuck with that trauma for the rest of their lives.

Percy’s mostly manifested at night and in dreams. He’d wake up in the middle of the night screaming and sobbing. It used to happen all the time, several times a week, but over the years of healing, it was less and less. But it still happened. It probably would for the rest of his life. But at least he was better at coping now. He used to wake up and not know where he was and nothing could shake him out of it. One time he was so panicked that he drew Riptide and broke a vase.

Annabeth’s mostly manifested in attacks during the day. It always starts with something little, and Percy’s gotten good at seeing the moment she’s triggered. Sometimes it’ll be the scent of pine, or someone uses the word “promise.” Sometimes they’ll pass a specific block in New York and he can see it across her face, the beginning of a panic attack. In the same way she’s gotten good at taking care of him during one of his episodes, he’s knows what he needs to do to ground her back in reality. Get her to breathe. Remind her where she was and when she was, that she wasn’t in the middle of a war. Remind her that she was safe.

That was what they did for each other: caught each other when they fell and brought each other back to reality. Made each other feel safe.

They also had a therapist who specialized in half-blood trauma, so that helped.

“What do you need right now?” Annabeth asked, brushing his hair back. That was a common question between them.

He munched on another cookie. “I don’t know,” He said, sighing. “I think I just wanna sit here for a little while longer,” Annabeth nodded, and he brought her hand up to kiss her knuckles. 

She smiled softly at him. “Love you,” 

He retuned it. “Love you, too,”

And so they sat there, listening to the comforting sounds of New York at night, holding each other’s hands and breathing deeply. That was all they could do. 

That was all they could do.