#I play Awakening as male Robin just for their friendship | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

outoftimewriting · 4 years

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Imagine (based on the incomplete fanfic Son of the Underworld) (Son of Hades! Percy AU) (5/5) or (5/10)

Hey so, this is the last part of PJO - I follow into HOO, so before you read this, check on the masterpost - and read the warnings before proceeding :)) Good reading!

Annabeth comes to him, at the end of his fifteenth birthday party, and shows her Daedalus laptop. There's a document open in it, and it's labeled Achilles' Curse.

Percy doesn't read it - he hates reading, in any way or form or language - but she does, out loud.

"I'll think about it"

They have a year. Most of them, even those who aren't year-rounders, are going back to camp, to draw battle plans and stock on the armory.

He feels kinda selfish - for a whole five seconds before he remembers he'll probably die next summer, so he just shrugs it off - Percy deserves this year.

They all leave to go back to camp. Nico seems conflicted over something - but Perseus doesn't question it, there's enough bad blood between them.

Paola is really cool - and Sally really loves her. It's kind of bizarre at first, to see his Mom dating his teacher - and of a subject he hates - but Paola is calm and well-tempered and she laughs at his stupid ass jokes.

He visits Persephone afterward - and it really feels like he has three moms to fulfill his lack of a father - well, he is absolutely grateful for the women in his life.

Percy isn't truly in good terms with his father. The man doesn't really seem to care much for him as a person - he is much more of a trophy son.

Perseus loathes being a trophy son, but at least he has someone to help with his powers - not something a lot of half-bloods can claim.

So he goes back to school with Rachel, and they pretend everything is normal. He tells her about his quests - all three of them. He thinks she understands him better now.

He opens up to her. Tells her about Annabeth - the adrenaline-fueled kiss - and Rachel stops talking with him for a week.

She apologizes when she comes back. She needed to figure some things up - firstly, the redhead tells him she is probably asexual - and maybe aromantic too, but she is not certain because the internet wasn't really clear about that.

Then Rachel confesses that she is not jealous of him in a romantic way - she is envious of his friendship with Annabeth. Percy is her first genuine friend that really appreciates her.

This is the first grudge Perseus lets go for real before it even takes place - Rachel didn't leave him because of teenage drama, she ignored him out of confusion. Everyone is allowed space - he knows this better than anyone.

They don't kiss anymore. Not because Rachel doesn't like it - no, she is all for it - but because Percy is starting to think kisses should mean something - he is saving them.

They kiss once - when Rachel father calls for the first time this year - not to ask about her, but to tell Rachel he found this amazing all-girls school. To Percy, kisses mean comfort.

They cuddle a lot, though. These past few years of fear have made Percy very touch-starved.

It's sophomore year - and Percy is in five AP classes: Macroeconomics&Microeconomics, Statistics, Calculus AB, Physics 1, and Comparative Government and Politics.

He is planning on taking both AP Computer Science classes, Psychology, Physics 2, and Calculus BC next year; leaving only Electricity&Magnetism, Mechanics, Chemistry, and World History for his senior year.

If he lives, he is working on a tight schedule here. He doesn't know what he wants yet - and if he is in constant danger, it's already pretty lucky he can do high school - but probably something with Math.

Rachel says fourteen AP courses are ambitious - that he'll burn out. But math comes to him easily enough - it's in his blood.

She is also overworking: She is taking AP Environmental Studies, Art History, Drawing, 2-D Art and Design, and English Literature and Composition.

They complete each other. Rachel is planning on taking as many Art, History, and English courses as she can - he is taking as many Physics, Math, and Science as he can handle.

(She is also going to take on Japanese studies for some reason - probably for her GPA, but Perseus just teases her that she is getting too invested in anime)

Perseus doesn't care about languages anymore - the only languages that matter to him are C++ and JavaScript now.

They study together, they take naps together, they climb to the roof together, they flee school to visit Sally together - he is the Pinky to her Brain, the Scooby to her Shaggy, the Lois Lane to her Superman, the Robin to her Batman.

They look like troublemakers - They are honor roll students, but she is always with ripped pants dirty with paint, and he is always full of flowers everywhere, even in his muddy converses - a cliche to kill all cliches.

They're both nerds - he is the classic one, all polo shirts now, the first chair for every number-related class - and she is the artsy one - there's a brush behind her ear and her hair is so messy that half the time it covers her face.

Paola gifts him a pair of cheap frames without lenses once - saying it adds to the aesthetic - he totally uses them.

Persephone just makes him flower-crowns, and giggles when he matches them with his polo shirts.

When winter comes, he goes back to his hoodies and sweaters and gloves - to find out he doesn't miss them a lot.

Rachel introduces him to polaroids - and they look eerily pretty in the winter, her hair looking like blood spilling over the snow - and he loves it.

If he survives - he can feel Rachel slapping him - when he survives, his college credits will be remarkable. The idea of doing SATs makes him want to cry - reading always does - but he'll get somewhere good - he knows it. Perhaps Stanford. Or NYU. Or the dream of his life, MIT.

He is living his life to the fullest - he starts reading comic books, he gets really (really) into Tony Stark once Iron Man 1 comes out (even if he has to kill at least three monsters just to go to the movies), he plants trees and Rachel starts teaching him how to play her ukulele - but half his mind is still on the upcoming war.

Christmas vacation comes - and he goes to visit Camp Half-Blood, before heading back to his mom. It's quite memorable, if only by the fact that Nico Di Angelo freaking betrays him.

He tells Percy to come to the Winter Solstice with him. Most of the campers are not going - the war effort is in an all-time high - but Percy has never gone before. Hades will be there - it'll be great!

Perseus should absolutely be less surprised with the outcome - seeing that Nico is inviting him in Cabin 1, post-dinner, and they don't even stop to talk to Chiron about it.

But Percy goes. Because Percy wants to make amends.

There's no time to really talk to anyone. They travel in Blackjack for the Empire State Building - and it's fine.

They go up to Olympus, Nico shows him everything in the god's land, the temples are a work of art, if not kind of old, and the meeting is kind of okay, even if the gods are squabbling children.

Then the gods leave, and Perseus thinks they're leaving too.

"My father needs a word with you"

Perseus feels the betrayal claw on him. There are no shadows in the white hall, there's no way for him to escape. Nico looks apologetic - Percy wants to clock him in the face.

"He promised to tell me more about my mother" Nico pleads "He will tell me more about where I've come from. Please, Percy."

Nico is cute. He is, for a soon-to-be fourteen-year-old. But his pretty face and exquisite white eyes don't make him any less of a freaking liar. All his handsome male straight friends betray him - it's a worrying pattern now.

He muses for a second that they also all have a crush on Annabeth - gods, the blonde attract the worst types.

It's double-crossing - Percy ends up in an all-white cell that burns his retinas without any weapons because Zeus wants praise in the middle of this freaking war - doesn't matter if a hundred demigods die, if he only has the glory.

Nico ends up with barely any information - Zeus didn't promise anything. The god of the skies is a lying-ass motherfucker - literally.

And Zeus justifies it - He says Perseus is a criminal because he awakened Typhon. So Hephaestus issues a quest so he can save a hundred demigods, he destroys a powerful titan weapon of doom, and he is the villain? Sure, Jan.

Perseus writes this grudge in his heart - that's where trust will take you. To a cell. Betrayed by a "friend". Again.

He flinches when Nico comes into his cell, pins him to the wall and promptly begins to try and strangle him. He wants to melt in the boy's shadow - to go and never give him a chance to explain - but he looks so guilty Percy waits for his repentance.

The son of Zeus saves him, but Perseus is still pissed off. The god of thunder has threatened to kill him off at least two times now, what is to say he wouldn't have killed off Percy for the sake of glory?

He half hopes Zeus had killed him off. The war is close, too close - Nico wouldn't be the Prophecy's child. There would be no child. Olympus would fall - and Percy would have seen it all from his very comfortable couch in Elysium.

He wants Kronos gone - but he kind of wants Olympus to fall with the Titan.

Nico flies him down to the Earth - the elevator is monitored. Zeus has left, like many others - not to bother with the war effort against his main enemy, but to go to the human world mess with people.

Some gods are doing something - He has heard from Annabeth that Artemis is leading the widest hunt ever, with her brother by her side; Hermes (with Hephaestus help) is delivering Celestial Bronze, other metals, old schematics and a whole lot of fuel to Camp Half-Blood every few weeks; Poseidon is fighting his own war, in the ocean; Dionysus is at Camp - and this time, he is really helpful with the battle formations; Demeter is on the Underworld - Chiron seems to think his father is preparing for war, but Percy sorely doubts it.

Percy is taking some people with him to Sally's Christmas dinner. Just Annabeth, Clarisse, Rachel, Connor, Travis, and Charles - people who don't have a present family to celebrate it with.

Grover is coordinating the dryads up in San Francisco with his second cousin, Gleeson Hedge - they are the first to fall if anything goes wrong in Mt. Othrys.

"I think you should stay." He tells Nico.

"You don't trust me anymore." It's not actually a question.

Percy doesn't trust the boy. Not at all - it's the third time he does something shady to achieve his ends based on emotional turmoil. But he is a good person - it's just his father's cursed temper and his grief.

"It's not that. You're needed for the war effort."

Both of them know it's a lie. Percy doesn't care - he deserves to be bitter a little longer.

Percy goes back home. Christmas is amazing - even if Rachel asks him where Nico is because he is talking about making amends with the boy for a while now.

He goes visit Persephone - but she is occupied, so he wanders through the Underworld after Bianca di Angelo - someone he, for some reason, never been able to reach. It's a pointless endeavor by now.

He finds her. Or else, he finds a shadow of her - she is blocked from his view. Bianca doesn't talk to him - they weren't close - but she guides him to a girl.

Her name is Hazel Levesque.

She seems lost - like most ghosts - but something in Percy calls for her. It's the color of her skin and the sparkle in her golden eyes - Hazel remembers him of himself.

He promises to visit more - even though he doesn't think she'll remember it - and leaves to go back to the surface - he will finish the sophomore year.

And Percy does. After a very distressing break, he is doing his best. His grades drop a little in English because he can barely focus - half his mind is on the war and Nico's betrayal and Hazel Levesque's golden eyes.

Miraculously, his GPA doesn't fall - he still is taking a ridiculous amount of AP classes, and barely has time to breathe - dark circles grow under his eyes, and he looks like a mess - but now he is a Junior.

That's why, as soon as the year ends, Rachel takes him on a road trip with Connor. They go all the way to Boston, then Portland, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Syracuse, Baltimore, and Filadelfia, before going back to NY.

They are stopped five times by the police - because Percy is black, and it's Rachel driving the Camaro, because she has a learner's permit and Connor is, somehow, an approved license holder.

They are on a pier, enjoying the view of the beach. They did the last week alone because Connor wanted to go check on one of his cousins - at least, that's what he said, with an over-exaggerated wink that both Percy and Rachel ignored for the sake of their sanity.

She tells him about Clarion Ladies Academy - but that her father is at least mildly happy with her GPA this year, even if he disapproves of her Art focused AP classes. Percy thinks Mr. Dare would love him, with his APs on Economics and Politics, if only he was rich. And white.

This time, when Charles Beckendorf arrives in a Pegasus to tell him it's time, Rachel doesn't kiss him - she justs hugs him and makes him promise to call her.

Perseus doesn't go to the Andromeda Ship - he is needed in Camp. He is useless on the water - but they do need him to improve battle strategy.

Charles Beckendorf is dead. Thalia is the one to tell them - she was in her father's palace helping with a monster under her Lady's orders - he went on the mission alone.

Percy talks briefly with Beckendorf's ghost - is his worst developed power, and he can barely hold the "seance" for more than a few minutes. He does it with only Nico di Angelo for witness - the others are the way to close to the situation.

There's a spy passing information to Luke.

They look at him. Doesn't matter how much he does, he is always the first suspect - he is a son of Hades. He was friends with a lot of people on the other side. He was gone for a year and a half, who knows where.

Perseus wants to say that he has helped to save their asses four times now - that without him in the Labyrinth, they would all be dead right now - and that Charles was basically his older brother.

Then he points out he wasn't even here - he had no idea of any plans of anything - and he told him about the spy, so he is not the freaking spy, go point fingers at each other instead of him.

When they start yelling, he stops them - this is not the time, he was just angry at their accusations. They have to burn Charles shroud. Silena is inconsolable - Percy is not very far from it, but he is not a public crier. The last time he cried in public, Luke was dead on a cliff.

Percy speeds up the line for Elysium to Beckendorf - his brother deserves it.

They read the prophecy together - Perseus already read it last summer, he doesn't even care anymore. They look at him anxiously - no one has forgotten that he abhors most of the gods.

Clarisse and Michael Yew fight, but Lee Fletcher - with a mechanical arm built by Beckendorf himself, still re-learning how to shoot arrows and forever incapable of playing the guitar again (but the keyboard is not ruled out yet) - stops them: They can share the chariot. The war is more important - is not the time for petty fights.

Chiron shows them Typhon - and Perseus has a sliver of hope that they can destroy Kronos and be free of the gods at the same time - It's a horrible hope, because he loves Persephone and some of them are even okay sometimes, but he really wants Zeus to go to Tartarus for at least a century, so Perseus doesn't meet him again in this life.

But he also wants the gods to win, because there's a lot of dead people - innocents, people who have nothing to do with this war.

He dreams of Rachel. Rachel is painting Luke - and Percy wakes up crying, for the boy the gods took away.

Annabeth takes him aside and reminds him of Achilles' Curse. He is off to May Castellan's house - the last place Luke has been - for it's his best and only chance, its what Annie thinks. And she is scarcely wrong.

Perseus hates the gods. They wrecked a family - and for what? May Castellan - forever waiting for a son that will never come back, haunted by visions of his future, plates of burned cookies everywhere.

Perseus doesn't pity her - he rages against the gods, who brought madness upon this woman and then left her to it. Where was Apollo, the god of health? Dionysus, who is supposed to control mental health? Artemis, whose job is to protect women?

Hestia is kind - but she is still a goddess. She could've prevented this - but she hides in her hearth and abstains - and that's enabling. Hestia enables the other gods to do as they please, even when she is the oldest. She says they ignore her - oh well, she ignores them right back! He has no time for the laments of another all-powerful being.

So he goes to his mother and asks for her blessing. Then, just to be sure, he asks Persephone's too.

He thinks about his anchor - where does he want it to be in his body. He doesn't want somewhere in his back - where he can't see it - or in his gut - where anyone can stick a sword. He settles for the bottom of his back - where he can at least touch it and it's well protected by armor - and dives.

Perseus hates water - and he has an uncanny fear of drowning. He feels pain - everywhere, horrible pain.

His vision now doesn't have Annabeth's face - the blonde is his link to the demigod world, Persephone is his link to the Underworld and his mom is his link to childhood - but the person who grounds him is Rachel.

He is stronger. He feel his powers at his fingertips - Perseus feels the Underworld as a whole, and it's overwhelming.

Green flames explode from his hands. Flowers made of shadows curve around his ankles - he has been training since he was 12, but now his body can sustain all of his power. This is all his.

He goes meet with his father - Perseus manipulates him. He tells Hades he'll be the hero, but the god himself can be praised for more than being his father. That he should join the battle against Typhon - That's his chance of proving himself. Also, there's less paperwork for him if there are fewer dead people.

His father is amused with his blatant bribing, but he thinks about it, Percy can tell. In a way or another, he excuses himself and goes back to the surface where he is needed.

Persephone stalls him. She asks him to stay, just for this night. He can go back in the morning - he sleeps, and dreams of Rachel again, drawing in the sand. In greek.

He is scared for her - she is having demigod dreams, but she is mortal. Something is wrong.

Typhon is getting worse - and Kronos draws closer to NYC. It's time - he calls for Blackjack and leaves - Mrs. O'Leary, who has become more or less of a mother to his own hellhound, follows. Persephone promises to convince Hades.

They have about sixty campers able to fight heading for the Empire State Building, and five healers. The ones too young to lift a sword or string a bow stayed back at Camp with Argus - fifteen children between 5 and 9 years old.

Percy knows he looks different - he looks just like his father. He has gained a godly aura - he has no scars anymore, no imperfections. Perseus looms over all of them - he went from 5'7'' to 6'2'' - it's a weird view, from up there. It's still strange when they look at him with a mix of fear and admiration.

Perseus Jackson is officially their leader. He hates Olympus - but he will give his life to defend every single one of his demigods.

The vision Hestia shows him just makes him want to tear this throne room with his bare hands - Luke was a kid. He was a kid - and the gods corrupted him. Thalia was a kid - and the gods took her life, twice. Annabeth is still a kid - they all are - and she is here planning battle strategies.

Annabeth missed an extra year of formal education - while Percy is a Junior, Annabeth barely qualifies for a Freshman - because the gods took this from her too.

Percy rages. The ground of Olympus trembles beneath him - he wants to kill something.

Then Hermes appears - like this whole war is not his fault in the first place, the literal bastard - just to relay a message from Athena that gives them a plan that Annabeth was already putting into works and tells Percy to stay away from Annabeth.

Like she cares. Like Athena has ever, ever, done anything for Annabeth.

Perseus can't punch Athena, so he punches the messager (also, because he freaking guilt trips both of them about Luke). He has nothing to lose - he is going to die by the end of the day anyway, and they need him too much.

He has punched a god before - Ares, in a desert in the middle of Los Angeles - but this time, it's satisfactory. He feels good after it.

Hermes seems strangely resigned - He feels guilty about Luke too, but Perseus doesn't think it's enough. It'll never be enough, not while the gods leave their children to rot in a cabin of rejects and May Castellan bakes cookies for a son that will never come back.

Hermes leaves, ashamed. It's only fair, Perseus thinks. They all should be ashamed.

They see the city asleep - the prophecy is in the works.

Perseus executes their strategy - every cabin is covering a tunnel, with the exception of Dionysus, because Pollux is with the Demeter kids, and the Hecate kids stay behind to use spells to overlook the city. Lincoln Tunnel is getting covered by Ares - who, this time around, is actively participating.

The undetermined who didn't desert are with Hermes - and the minor god's children are divided by specialty - most Hypnos and Morpheus children follow him directly, but the two sons of Iris go with the Apollo Cabin.

Annabeth executes Plan 23, automatons, mounting on Mrs. O'Leary (who has strict orders to take Annabeth anywhere she wants without stopping to play around) - she doesn't need his help with this, and Percy has a tunnel to defend.

That left the rivers uncovered - until Thalia appears, with magical sand money, and made the rivers cooperate.

The hunters join the Aphrodite kids - who are half a dozen children between 11 and 19 - the oldest being Silena Beauregard, who uses a crossbow that looks exactly like her immortal half-brother's one.

His bridge is completely covered on skeletons - but no monster comes, even if he hears explosions. He leaves an English Lieutenant from the Battle of Yorktown in command of the bridge - with Tyene, the oldest daughter of Morpheus, to be in alert and don't let Clovis sleep through the battle. Because he did it before - and while it is funny, it can't happen right now.

Perseus mounts Blackjack - and go see where the noise is coming from. It's the Williamsburg Bridge - where are most of Apollo's Cabin.

They fight - and Percy almost cries when he sees Luke, who is not Luke anymore. Luke, who is a puppet controlled by Kronos.

Perseus kills the Minotaur and the weight of his stone spikes collapse the bridge - and Michael Yew dies. This time around, the bridge falls silently into shadows, and he doesn't bother about searching for the corpse - he saw the boy falling, and his screams will haunt all of them, forever.

This time around, Annabeth is not there to protect him - Ethan also doesn't try to kill him. The Son of Nemesis doesn't leave Kronos side for a second - but there's regret in his eyes.

After the bloodlust is gone, Perseus collapses - Will has to bride carry him back. Overuse of his powers - he summoned skeletons and produced shadows, melted enemy swords (with the bonus of incapacitating them without killing), and sprouted stone spikes everywhere - there's even a vine or ten that he used to hold his friends from falling.

Perseus doesn't sleep quickly enough to not hear the yell of anguish that comes from Lee Fletcher - the pain of losing a brother and not being able to fight beside him.

But he does sleep - and he dreams. He dreams of Hades killing Maria Di Angelo, not Hera, like Zeus told Nico. He dreams of Zeus cursing the Oracle - and he seethes, because he also sees what happened to May Castellan.

He keeps getting angrier and angrier at the gods - it's building inside of him. But his friends are still here, still fragile. He can't let them suffer more.

Perseus wakes up, checks on everyone - most everyone is either injured and/or exhausted, but he checks on every camper. He knows all of their names, their ages, their cabins. - and promises to sit up to talk with Thalia and Nico - war makes him prone to peace - and promptly goes back to sleep.

He dreams of Rachel. He wants to scream for her not to come: but she'll anyway.

Perseus dreams of a boy. He is his age - maybe a little younger. His hair is blonde and his skin is whiter - but Percy glances at his eyes, and there are waves in them.

There's a girl by his side - she is familiar to Percy, somehow. They're climbing a mountain.

The dream ends and Percy can't make heads or tails of it. He asks Thalia if she has a brother, but she says that she doesn't, looking wistful.

Prometheus is tempting - but he knows there's no Luke anymore, there's only Kronos. And the gods are horrible, vile and immature - but they never killed any of Percy's friends. Some of them died for the gods - but never by their hands, so for now, Perseus would toe the line.

He does want to punch Hermes again. He takes the Pythos - if everything goes wrong, he will not hesitate in going down for the sake of his friends - but there have been six deaths, and it's enough.

"Was it worth it?" He asks Ethan.

"Alabaster is alive" And it's all the answer Percy needs.

He dreams of Ethan and Alabaster. Alabaster is alive, yes, but he is missing half a leg - courtesy of Clarisse herself. Luke - Kronos - is indifferent, and Ethan curses the daughter of Ares - "The sword that took from us will take from you"

He contains Hyperion with his shadows. Then he helps Grover (who was half asleep, because of Morpheus) to make the Titan into a tree. It's a pomegranate tree - then he sets hellish fire to it and sacrifices it to Hades and Persephone.

A pig is in the sky - this time around, Annabeth and her frightening army of automatons kill it with Nico's help.

Perseus laughs - because Annabeth has about two hundred automatons under her command, Martin Luther King and Alexander Hamilton leading the charge with a giant bull being ridden by the Mad Hatter behind them.

It's weird to see historic figures Percy admires - like Jane Bolin, Sylvia Mendez, or Abraham Lincoln - fighting alongside people he downright despises - Thomas Jefferson and the goatfucker, herpes-ridden, Colombus. His Comparative Government teacher would have a field day.

Annabeth and Nico's pair up is amazing - They fight alongside like they have been doing it all life.

Nico is a force of nature, flying and commanding the winds to do his bidding - His eyes shine in the midst of the stormy clouds. His specialty is weather manipulation - he hasn't had much success with direct energy or electric discharges.

Annabeth has her mother's tenacity for war - and her clever mind for strategies. It's clear in her eyes - she is racking the weaker points of the Clazmonian Sow in her mind and destroying it. The automatons hold the pig in place - and she makes bacon of it.

Hercules couldn't do it. Nico and Annabeth can, because they have the power and the mind.

Perseus is still fighting off monsters - but they're too widespread, so they retreat to the doors of the Empire State Building.

Percy does a mental tally: of sixty-two campers, six are confirmed dead, twenty are injured and nine are out of commission on exhaustion. There should be 27 orange shirts here - but there's only twenty.

Percy wonders if the seven missing are injured, or dead, or under a pile of rubble somewhere with no one to help them. Is there someone being slowly eaten by monsters? Is there someone alone and injured and abandoned? He doesn't know.

He prays that those seven deserted them - at least that means they probably are alive and well.

Perseus looks at Phoebe's grief-stricken face, and he knows it's not probable - she had almost three dozen hunters with her, and now there's barely fifteen still fighting, Thalia nowhere to be seen.

They prepare for their last standing - Percy keeps conjuring skeletons, but they're no match for the sheer strength of the hyperborean giants. Nico is shoulder to shoulder with the Stoll brothers against a group of telkhines - Clarisse is bringing down a whole giant by herself.

After the Party Ponies save them - Chiron leads the charge against his own father, and Perseus is so proud of his mentor he can't even put in words how much - he goes to sleep. Fighting gets him tired quickly, and they'll come back.

He dreams of Dionysus. Perseus is not fond of any god who is not Persephone, but Dionysus is mostly okay sometimes. He seems to care about his children.

Perseus couldn't care less about the Western Civilization - but he'll care for Pollux. It's one of his demigods, after all, and Underworld people are possessive of theirs (i.e. Hades and Persephone).

He dreams of Thalia, in her father's palace, begging Poseidon to leave the underwater war and help with the invasion - His wife is none too happy with the presence of his immortal bastard daughter.

He wakes up to Rachel's helicopter falling - how is Rachel even awake, is a mistery.

The improbable pair Nico and Annabeth strike again: The girl knows how to fly helicopters, and the boy can fly himself. They save the redhead and the pilot - everything is fine.

"You're not the hero"

"Why did you risk yourself to tell me something I already know?"

Rachel doesn't explain - she can't. But she has a vision that says that he is not the hero. The hero of what? Perseus has no idea. But there's no way any of his cousins is dying for this stupid prophecy.

Suddenly, there's a drakon there. Rachel has another prophecy - Perseus fears she will walk the path that led May Castellan to destruction - that only a child of Ares will be able to kill it.

Bad news: All children of Ares are otherwise out of battle.

Clarisse is resting after a nasty concussion - and her brothers and Apollo's children are fighting yet again because Lee Fletcher is in no condition to stop them and Michael Yew is dead. Ares' side refuses to fight without the chariot - which Cabin 7 has hidden somewhere.

The best they can do is fend the drakon off until a miracle occurs. And it does: Clarisse, in full armor, manages to lead her brothers into battle.

Clarisse is dead. Something shatters inside of Perseus - and he leaves the drakon for the Ares' children to solve - he can't kill it anyway - and starts to vaporize the army behind it.

He is so caught up in bloodlust, that he almost misses Clarisse slaying a dragon. Clarisse, who has no armor. Clarisse, who is alive.

Ethan's curse rang true - Clarisse's weapon took something from her.

Silena is a traitor. She is also dead - which makes her a martyr, and probably going to reunite with her boyfriend in Elysium.

He remembers how easy is to fall for Luke's charm - he was - is - still in love with the guy. Percy thought the son of Hermes could do no wrong - and he wonders how much of his rage against the gods sprout from his influence.

Something evil inside of Perseus's mind tells him she deserved it. It tells Perseus that better her than Clarisse - but he shuts it down, and concentrates on his shining red friends.

He hates Ares. But he might just have an okay side if he can produce such a magnificent daughter.

Silena is the Patroclus to Clarisse's Achilles, and the Drakon is Hector - and the daughter of Ares is sure to parade its dead body.

It's the first time they feel like they are winning. It doesn't last - but as he hugs Clarisse tightly, he thinks he might cry of relief.

Clarisse looks tough - but she is a wonderful human being. She loves Silena with her whole heart - even more than she loves Chris, her best friend. Silena might've been in love with Charles - but she and Clarisse? They are soulmates.

The damned Pythos is following Perseus - and he is done with it. He knows where hope will survive best. Rachel wants him to give it to Hestia - but he owns the fire goddess nothing.

She has never interfered, not once, to help the dozens of demigods with no family that is abandoned in Cabin 11, and he won't forgive her for it.

He sacrifices hope to Persephone because that's what spring is. Spring is the hope of a new life. Maybe, Perseus thinks, it'll convince his father to come.

They go down to make their final stand against the forces of Kronos. There's not a lot of them - but they're not getting through those doors.

Well, his father doesn't come. But Poseidon does, with his whole army, Tyson and Thalia behind him, and the scales seem to turn.

And then Kronos cuts the barrier. Perseus can see his Mom (why is his Mom here with a handgun?!) and Poseidon fighting against the monsters under the eyes of extremely confused mortals.

Some are trying to break the barrier - but it's futile. Kronos has corraled them like sheep for the slaughter.

It's just him, Grover, Annabeth and Nico, fighting against Kronos vanguard - which is big, but not as strong as they are.

Kronos passes him without resistance - Ethan follows, but there's anger in his eyes - not for Percy, but for the monster he is leashed to. Alabaster is not there.

As soon as Kronos powers stop working on them, the four follow the titan - and some things never change, no matter the universe.

This time, it's Nico who falls because of Hera - it's her curse over all of her husband's bastards.

Ethan takes one look at Perseus, and they don't even need to fight. They have been friends for longer than they have been enemies - and they both loathe the gods, but Kronos is as much of an all-powerful controller being as any of the Olympians.

They battle against Kronos - Perseus has only his ax against his scyther - a true Underworld fight.

Ethan dies. And Perseus bloodlust consumes him - it clouds his eyes and he can only keep fighting.

"If... if we've had cabins... and they had thrones"

It's true, and more than ever, Perseus wishes Kronos wasn't such a bastard. He wouldn't bother killing the gods - but the titan is a way worse option.

"LUKE, PLEASE" It's Annabeth. He doesn't have her faith - she didn't saw his transformation. But he tries anyway because he loves Luke just as much as he hates Kronos.

"Luke, remember our summer" But his words are caught up in his throat when the titan throws him against the wall.

But the amalgamation of his friend and an all-powerful being looks confused, so props for his genius best friend.

Kronos shows them a rainbow message of Typhon - and that's where Perseus it's pretty sure he starts liking his father.

Because the Lord of the Dead opens up the earth and gets out in a black chariot guided by skeletal horses like a king. By his right side, is Persephone, in armor battle as a queen should be. By his left, is Demeter, who looks every single bit like the matron she is supposed to be.

Behind him, a hundred thousand dead roars. Charon is mounting Cerberus - and literal hell is unleashed upon the Father of Monsters.

The gods strike down Typhon, sending him back to be locked away - this time, in the depths of Tartarus instead of Mount Etna.

Kronos gets mad. Utterly, undoubtedly mad. He talks about burning Luke's body. Then he hurts Annabeth and breaks two promises in one fell swoop.

"Luke.... remember family" It's what Annabeth utters, but Perseus, already certain of their own demise, is crying now.

"That summer Luke, you promised to never hurt her again. You remember it? YOU PROMISED LUKE!!"

Annabeth's promise was already broken - he had hurt her, all those years ago, in Mt. Othrys. But the promise he made to Percy - that he would never hurt her again - is new and broken, in the river Styx no less.

Luke regains his own body, for a minute, and Perseus runs to him like a man in a desert with no water.

"Please, please tell me there's a way to undo this, Luke, please, please"

"There isn't one, Percy" And it's the first time he hears Luke call him Percy, Percy and not Perseus, in his own voice, in two years. Percy cries.

"We... we don't have much time, hellebore. Give me Annabeth's dagger. Before he... before he takes back"

Luke calls him hellebore and it makes him start crying all over again. He gives him the dagger - and Luke kills himself, taking Kronos out with him.

Luke doesn't need to ask if Percy has ever loved him - Percy kept loving Luke, one-sided as it was, even when Kronos was there.

He still crying over Luke's body when the gods arrive. Luke is dead. Ethan is dead. Silena is dead. Michael Yew is dead. Charles is dead.

He lost three of his best friends in two days. Ethan is dead. Luke is dead. Luke is dead.

Perseus can't stop crying. They take Luke's body away - but he can't stop. Annabeth explains what happened to the gods - most of it, anyway. Apollo says he is in shock - his father says he is a hero.

Perseus doesn't feel like a hero. Was this all worth it? Was it worth it the pain and the death and the suffering?

Persephone touches him - and he has no tears to cry anymore. She can't hug him here, but she'll do so later.

He stares at the walls, listening to his friends being awarded - compensated by their siblings and friends' deaths - with a blank stare. Perseus wants his mom.

They call for him. He raised his head but doesn't bother getting up. He just saved their asses - for the fifth time in a roll. He deserves to grieve.

They offer him immortality. A place between the gods.

He laughs. Zeus looks murderous, but he can't stop laughing.

"My apologies, but I have to refuse," he says. But in his mind, he is thinking about how could they even think he might want to sit between them and be an all-powerful being, be another god ignoring his children and messing with mortal lives while thousands die for him.

"Promise me, on the river Styx, that you'll give me the wish that I want."

They promise him, that if it's within their capabilities, they shall grant him his wish.

"I wish for every child at the age of twelve to be claimed. I wish for cabins in Camp Half-Blood, for every single minor god, and my own father. I wish for Calypso to be free, and to the demigods from the opposite side of this war to be given amnesty. It's not their fault. It's not any of our faults."

"You dare to-" Zeus begins, but Percy is really tired of Zeus.

"We fought your war, we won your battles. We, the unclaimed and rejected stowaways of Cabin 11. We, the children of minor and Underworld gods. We deserve respect. Just like my father deserves a throne, just like the minor gods deserve justice."

"Don't you fear us?" Athena asks, something weird shining in her eyes.

"I thought I would be dead today. At least if I die now, I'm dying for something I believe in."

It stays unsaid that he doesn't believe in them. The other demigods look at him worried - but he is not afraid of the gods.

They grant his wish. Some of them aren't happy with it, but they have to do it. He meets Calypso at the front gates of Olympus - and her smile can brighten the pits of Tartarus. He sees Alabaster talking with Lou Ellen - they are both crying.

He thinks it's the end - it's not. Thalia tells him Rachel left for Camp in her Pegasus - and his father has lift the curse, the Prophecy is gone, but he fears for his best friend.

Perseus is too tired for shadow travel - he does it anyway. He flickers, but anyway, he is too late.

It works. Rachel - his best friend - is the new Oracle. Someone jokes they can't be together anymore and Rachel lifts an eyebrow.

"We never were. Didn't you see the last few hours?" Well, he did out himself. Mostly - they might say it's just friendship, and he will hate the way they twist it. Luke wasn't a villain, and Perseus isn't a pure hero with a heart of gold.

Perseus is healing from lost love - and Annabeth is too. His crush on her was only a crush, he thinks - She is his best friend first and foremost. They cry together at the bonfire that burns away the shrouds of 43 demigods - from both sides - and 16 hunters of Artemis. Their souls all rest in Elysium now.

Alabaster comes back to Camp and helps his siblings to build the new Cabin for Hecate, full of spelled blocks and magic chimneys. Clovis and Tyene have their hands full with their own cabins - it doesn't help they keep getting sidetracked with naps.

Somehow, Nico, Thalia, and his bond over helping construct Cabin 13 - They are both way too invested in the goth vibe, mostly because Cabin 1 looks like a temple, and Cabin 3 looks like a beach cabin. And both of them are so over it.

Perseus doesn't want a goth cabin - he is fighting against the aesthetic for years - but sometimes, there are no arguments. His Cabin is made of black marble, and there are skulls everywhere, with torches shining with green fire. Outside, at least. Inside, it looks like Persephone's garden, with input from the queen herself. It's ready just shy of the end of summer vacation.

Rachel tells the next Great Prophecy. Perseus isn't such a positive person to think it won't affect him - he hopes at least it'll wait until he is done with High School.

That night, he dreams of the blonde boy again - it's his first night without nightmares since the battle. He has a scar in his lip, and his green eyes pierce Percy's soul. Perseus wonders if they'll ever meet, wonders if this boy is one of the Seven of the Prophecy.

But alas, Perseus lets it go. The summer is over - he is sixteen, somehow. He is alive and going to go back to his mortal life and his junior year, and grief. Not everything is fine - but eventually, it will be.

It's not the end. Not yet.

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crystalelemental · 4 years

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Faye is cute but goodness fuck they ruined her character. Her characterization is literally: I love Alm. Her support with Silque is horrid. She has no aspirations except to stalk Alm. Even in her ending where she married SOMEONE ELSE she still spent her time stalking Alm. Like it’s awful so I can’t get behind Faye at all.

Okay, this is gonna be a quick thing that’ll probably lead into a longer thing, but let’s talk about Faye a bit.

First thing’s first: I don’t count the ending cards. I feel like they’re often stupid or irrelevant. Oh yeah, Canas died in a snowstorm, Nino and Jaffar ran off forever without their kids, Mathilda stopped being a knight to be a mom to Clive’s crotch spawn, and Sonia was turned into a witch while investigating what happened to her sisters after the war despite witches being the direct product of Duma’s influence and Duma’s dead at this point. Even as recent as Three Houses they’re all trivial little lies. Oh sure, Edelgard’s route ended in absolute victory against all their problems and everything was great continent-wide forever. Yep, no negative repurcussions down the line based on creating an unchecked center of power across the continent that would allow any emperors that came after you with different ideologies to completely unmake all your progress. No, definitely not. They’re all dumb, and they don’t count. If you really want to count them...why? Like, I can’t stop you, but why?

As for Faye herself...listen, she’s an archetype. Same as Tharja and Camilla before her, two other characters that aren’t handled particularly well either. They wanted that yandere type, because Awakening sold really well and to this day they have no idea why, so they carried over the same tropes hoping to strike gold once more. Faye was one such carry-over. Is she handled well in Echoes? No. God no, not at all. She’s awful to Silque for no reason, and the whole “ready to kill in your name” thing is awful. But I kinda feel like...those are to establish those tropes; the undying loyalty to the main protagonist. Alm isn’t an MU like Robin or Corrin, but he’s still the male character that they expect players will identify with, so of course he needed this obsessive devotion character behind him.

But also, just like Tharja and Camilla, I feel like there’s actually a decent character buried under the obvious outward yandere shell. Faye’s a character marked by insecurity. Nowhere is this more obvious than if Alm doesn’t recruit her, and Celica shows up but also refuses. With Alm’s rejection, there’s an edge of playfulness, like she expects him to change his mind. “Guess I’ll just be sad forever” isn’t really the kind of serious tone you take when you’re devastated. But then he does leave, and when Celica arrives, seems a little more downtrodden, and asks if she can join Celica instead. If Celica also rejects, Faye’s outright defeated. “Right, it was foolish to ask that...” She has zero confidence in her own abilities or general worth. She throws herself into battles to prove herself, but at the same time, her reason for not following Alm against his wishes was she’s scared she’d be killed. She’s someone who seems to want to prove herself but lacks the belief that she can, and I think this is a consistent part of her character largely because she shows the same things toward Celica in this interaction.

The other interesting part is that it’s not just Alm that Faye cares about. She’s dismissive of Silque, which is odd, but when she sees Celica again after years, what’s the first thing out of her mouth? “I’ve missed you so much!” This is her romantic rival. Even as kids, Faye had a crush on Alm, and recognized that Alm liked Celica better. You’d think that an obsessive, awful character would hate Celica or never want to see her again. Instead, she’s thrilled. She actually missed her. Faye’s people-driven. I think it ties into that desire to prove herself; people are important to her, and she wants to be important to them too. Except Silque for some reason. I have a theory on that, though.

Faye’s dismissiveness is at the outset, where Silque’s offer of friendship is largely about wanting to talk about things “not for the ears of men.” Basically, gossip, which just isn’t Faye’s deal. Faye’s really direct about it, and comes across as rude, though I think a lot of the annoyance with this support is because it does the trope thing with “No, I just want to be near Alm” kinda nonsense. By the end, Faye does apologize for being rude, but sticks to the fact that she doesn’t want to gossip about anything, but does want to learn more about Silque herself. It’s not until she’s been around Silque a while and seen Silque’s persistent attempts to befriend Faye that Faye herself warms up a bit and starts to accept the offer.

Here’s how I think of Faye’s character. She’s people-centric, but in the sense of wanting to have very close relationships. She cares about her friends from the village, which absolutely includes Celica, but now all those friends are going off to war with enthusiasm, aiming to become heroes, and Alm’s becoming the leader of the army and drifting further and further from the group. Faye doesn’t like that. She likes her friends and everything about her life before they joined the Deliverance. Hell, her final support with Alm is largely just about going back and living as they did before being her only wish. Silque’s new. She doesn’t hate Silque, but she doesn’t want all these new connections drawing everyone apart or ruining her hopes of returning to the old status quo. She pushes Silque away because, as she’s said, she’s not interested in other people right now. Alm’s the centerpoint of her fixation, but on a bigger scale she just wants everyone to live their quiet lives. Once Silque’s been with them a while, though, Faye starts to open up a bit, and accepts that okay, she does like this person, and maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have one new friend here. It takes her time to branch out.

Which I think also helps explain the fixation on Alm. Imagine how this would’ve played out when Celica first shows up. You have this close group of friends you really care about, and one in particular you’ve got a serious crush on. Being a very, very simple boy, Alm responds to her in the same way he does in their supports; amicably, and without fully realizing, or at not acknowledging, what Faye’s feelings are. So you’re pretty sure he likes you back. Then suddenly, a new girl shows up in the village. You have no idea what her deal is, but now the boy you liked is only paying attention to her. While you’re playing with all your old friends, the person you want to be there most is off somewhere else playing with the new girl. Given Faye’s natural inclination toward the status quo, this is a huge deviation. It’s not just upsetting because you’re crush shows feelings for someone else, it’s upsetting because now the friend group seems split. As the new girl sticks around and integrates more into the friend group, you get used to her and consider her your friend too, but your initial response is probably very similar to how she’d react toward Silque; dismissive and unwilling to even try being friends. There’s even stronger emphasis on Alm, because he’s the one who keeps leaving. I’m sure at some level, there’s concern that if she doesn’t tether herself to his side, he’s going to leave forever. Her A-support is even all about that, asking him point blank to go back to Ram and being told he won’t. And all things considered, she handles it well. There’s still that self-depreciation, telling herself she should’ve known it wouldn’t happen, but on the whole, all she asks is that he understand she can’t just set aside her feeling for him, “at least until we part.” There’s no hysterics at being told the feelings aren’t reciprocated or anything, and she’s even able to acknowledge that she’ll move on, it’s just going to be hard while they’re traveling together. Which, frankly, is super fair.

All this to say...I get why people don’t like Faye. She doesn’t get a ton of screen time, and almost all of it is spent talking about Alm. Which is why we need support conversations in the first place! Yes, Echoes added supports, but almost all of them are...frankly, pretty shallow and don’t offer a ton. There’s also just so few, and one of hers is with Alm so we kinda know how that one will go. I think there are pieces of character beneath the Alm fixation that can make Faye interesting. Can. I’m also well aware all of this is personal interpretation and extrapolation from scraps. But because of this interpretation and those scraps...I dunno, I kinda like her? Not a favorite, but I like her well enough.

#fire emblem echoes #faye

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allthefilmsiveseenforfree · 5 years

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Rocketman

If you remember my Robin Hood review, you probably know that I would let Taron Egerton walk across my face in those kicky high-heeled boots up there and say “thank you” so you might think that my assessment of Rocketman, the new musical biopic in which he stars as Elton John, is a bit skewed. And I’d agree with you - I’m such a huge fan of Taron’s that it was definitely difficult for me to fully immerse myself in him playing this other real person (whom I’m also a fan of). And that disconnect, that slight gap between the layers of identity, should ruin everything - but instead, it created the most moving, fantastical, ambitious, heartbreaking biopic I’ve ever seen. How? Well...

The simple answer - because it’s all the conventions of a stage musical combined with the magic of film. It’s essentially a frame narrative set up like this - Elton has walked out of a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden to check himself into rehab. He arrives, and over the course of the film, tells his life story in group therapy. From the very first song, it’s clear that the movie is going to take you through a combination of memory, drug-fueled hallucinations, and dramatic confessions, and this fantastical conceit works so well on every level. It allows us to see Elton (born Reginald Dwight) as a young musical prodigy in his working-class upbringing in London; playing backup to blues and doo-wop groups from America; meeting Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) and creating a musical partnership that would last 50+ years; and striking it big in America, creating a rock ‘n roll persona that would grow to become one of the most larger-than-life and successful stage acts of all time. Oh and doing drugs and having gay sex.

Some thoughts:

First thing’s first - this is not a steeped-in-realism, this-is-exactly-how-it-happened story. The songs aren’t presented in the order they were written, some of them are remixed to include other characters besides Elton singing the verses because it fits their portion of the narrative better. This is more about using the music to show the way it felt for Elton as he made his way from child prodigy to rock superstar.

The beats are the same as most standard rock narratives - the rise, the fall, the redemption, they’re all here - but the combination of earnest heart and magical realism makes this the movie I wanted Bohemian Rhapsody to be (you know they’re going to get compared endlessly anyway) and THE standard to beat for telling the story of any queer artist’s life.

I say queer artist because the way the film is styled is pure musical theater drama. It feels camp it feels imaginative and most of all it feels queer. He’s literally crying out “I want love, just a different kind” and “I wish I was someone else” - the defining moment at the start of his performance career is a black man telling him “You have to kill the person you were born to be in order to become the person you wanna be” and he is awakened to the wide world of possibility when a gay black man kisses him. It’s like this movie was made to be an emotional crash course in queer culture, a magic mirror through which the viewer can feel what queerness feels like. It’s all the shifting, magical possibilities of a world you get to create for yourself - and, for many of us, the cost associated with it of heartbreak, loneliness, self-loathing, and disavowal from those whose approval we seek the most.

The casting all around is excellent, but the side-by-side picture comparisons during the end credits absolutely blew me away - the young man they got to play Elton as a child (Matthew Illesley) is not only the spitting image, but such a sweet, earnest kid. You fully buy into this being the most imaginative, talented young child you’ve ever seen who only wants some words of love and encouragement he’ll never get from his parents.

All I could think of when watching the Scottish piano teacher was Mrs. Badcrumble.

I love Bernie and Elton’s friendship, how it feels real and actually confronts Elton’s queerness head-on, and ends up being this beautiful, intimate male friendship that you just don’t see onscreen very much.

Did I Cry? Lord, at least three times. During the first “Your Song,” during “Rocketman” (burning out his fuse up here alone - *sob*) and during the final group therapy session. God, if you’re not invested I’m sure it feels cheesy, but everyone I was with was SO bought in, and it truly felt cathartic and really magical.

If this film doesn’t win the Oscar for Best Costumes, I will riot in the streets. The stage ensembles ALONE, but many of those were from Elton’s archives, or recreated from photographs. It’s the offstage clothes, all those horrifying, eye-watering paisley prints in velvet, corduroy, the fucking ASCOTS. Just beautifully, awfully, incredibly realized 70s styling. On a related note about these incredible stage outfits, literally how did the public not know Elton was gay. I’ll never understand it.

Movies like this make me feel like all young people did in the 70s was do drugs in the woods.

So a lot of to-do has been made about the sex scene between Taron Egerton and Richard Madden (playing Elton’s music manager, John Reid), obviously. I read that it’s the first major Hollywood studio film that has featured a gay male sex scene with actual nudity, which is kind of astonishing to me actually, but. I will say I think it was tastefully done, sexy without being gratuitously explicit, and honestly fairly brief for all the fuss that’s being made.

Also jesus it’s really fucking hot like I’m pretty sure the noise my brain made was just *ffffzzznnnntttt* and then smoke started pouring out my ears.

None of this would be possible without the central performance from Taron Egerton. It’s far and away the best work he’s ever done, a career-making performance, and on top of that, he’s singing everything. No lip syncing to Freddie’s Elton’s vocals and calling it good, he is performing every rousing high and every heartbreaking low, all while wearing the exact same over-the-top, suffocatingly Extra outfits that Elton originally performed in. And Elton’s quiet, sweet desperation for love is shining through every scene, even when he’s blacking out on cocaine and alcohol or performing for crowds of thousands on no sleep. I’m just so fucking proud of him, honestly, and so blown away by the commitment he made to every single moment of this film to make it feel as honest as it possibly could.

AND we got a classic Taron wink during “Honky Cat” so all is right with the world.

I’ve seen a lot of biopics in my life and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so achingly gutted by the pursuit of a career that promises worldwide love and adoration, all of it empty. The themes of the film may feel obvious and heavy-handed but Elton John is the world’s ultimate Drama Queen, in the best way possible - so in this case, it really really works. I think it’s gonna be a long long time (I’m sorry, I’m basically contractually obligated to make that joke) before we get another biopic that comes this close to an authentic emotional portrait of an artist’s life. Whether you know everything about the man or next to nothing, go see this film and let yourself be swept up in the magic.

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

#119in2019 #rocketman #rocketman review #taron egerton #elton john #richard madden #jamie bell #bernie taupin #movie reviews #film reviews

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aigoootome · 5 years

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[favorite characters] + Fire emblem awakening + pairing systems

I don’t think much else needs to be said. Chrom is one of the leading characters in this tactical rpg for 3Ds and definitely one that’s become an easy and insta favourite

“ It’s not your fault”

dashing honourable swordsman-prince; firm and fair, competent leader; doer, loyalty, wisdom and belief in people; kindness; good brother, great father; takes care of people.

though I generally prefer Japanese voice acting, in this particular case the English one fits much better.

I like Chrom x female Robin best. Morgan has some really nice father x son support covos with Chrom to boot, I love them.

I have always liked brooding swordsmen like Dias in Star Ocean 2 but i kinda haven’t been very good with upbeat boyish heros like Claude in Star Ocean or the lead boy-heroes in Lunar silver Star. A character like Chrom combines those two and I find that appealing. He retains a bit of boyishness but he’s both firm and fair, but also more open and positive while remaining strong and cool. So, he is well written (this is important) and well acted. And very well animated. Those movie sequences in FE are pretty cool. Below the cut I just add some longer comments on FE:Aw and some other favourite pairings. I’m glad I could play this, bonding definitely made tactics more fun, and the game is very fun. Th selection of characters in Awakening is very appealing , they are all likeable and fun to try, and i like this storyline.

I love

Frederick/Miriel and love Fredericks interactions with their son, Laurent

female Robin/Chrom, and love their kids, but especially Chrom x morgan support convos - especially the A rank one which validateds morgan as Chrom’s natural son. It was absolutely delightful.

Panne/Viron and their son is a riot.

and actually Lonqu and Lissa..

these are some of the purest, lovely love stories .I love pure, loyal and honorable and I got that here, though I frankly didn’t expect it. Love them a lot.

I bond Chrom mostly with female Robin (player character / avatar / tactician - thie posisbility to cusotmize is the main character is very nice for this game ) since story makes more sense for me and I like it that way, even more so since this combo works very well in battles and for story reasons, since Chrom shows a lot o support and belief in Robin ad the story is emotional. But I’ll probably try other female bonds for Chrom one day.

I really do enjoy this bonding system in FE - it’ really makes the game fun. Relationshis in this game are built throug battle and conversations. The more you fight together, the stronger the bond and it unlocks suport conversations that are either friendship or romance-oriented. The conversations are a nice touch, add very enjoyable stories and also relationships have tactical advantages, add stat boosts. There’s strength is in being together, together we can do more than alone - I love that thought. The marriages unlock second generations and you can bond with them too. And that’s a lot of fun . Other than Robin/Chrom, my other favourite pairing for story reasons is Frederick / Miriel and son Laurent. I love them, their conversations were great, Frederick is a great guy, he draws out their feelings (which both Miriel and Laurent tend to hide) and encouragres to be more relaxed. Absolutely love them. It’s even worth the while to step on the sparkly event tiles with Frederick/Miriel. They really have some very sweet exchanges. I think i also like virion and the taguel woman, they are interesting together and ave some fun conversarions and their son is a bundle of joy lol. And there’s Lisa and Lonqu. works out very well for me, those two. Beyond these three pairings, I have no more strong favourites for now, but the choice of characters is great and fun. you have to be careful when recruiting a lot of them, too. a lot are encountered during missions and If they disappear or die before you finish a level, you obviously won’t be able to recruit, it’s fun this way. It’s a great game and the fun lies in trying out the pairings. .For me, story and interactions tend to decide how i pair, especially if I find some I particularly like, like with Robin/Chrom and Frederick/Miriel.

Another good thing is that there are different modes of playing, including a casual mode in which units won’t perish forever so gameplay is more comfortable for newbies like me who first need to learn the ropes and/or just want to enjoy it without worrying about needless deaths. The tactics have been made more fun and engrossing thanks to this and the bonding system.

Bonding is not new to rpgs, obviously and wherever it appeared, I was always into it because I felt it may enrich the narrative or make things more fun, like it does here. Whereas games like Lunar Silver Star, had couples written into storyline s(and they were lovely,) other jrpgs tried to build bonding systems too. But, I think fire emblem combines both such trraditions and worked it out the best in a way that doesn’t invalidate any choice, at least I don’t think so. Thats very important because In jrpgs like Star ocean 2 (which I liked of course, it was quite sweeping), , bonding felt a bit like an after-thought when canonical pairings were still forced in most situations and as a result bonding system felt short of my expectations, overall star ocean 2 kinda failed my expectations in that respect. Predominantly, I feel, becuase it tried doing too much, lik adding malke and female character, something that fire emblem made work without a hitch. Yes, it did what it could with its amibtion to play as both female and male character, it’s a lot of work but still. Well, fortunately,fire emblem pulls that off very well, improving on what I thought was missed opportunity for Star Ocean (especially 2). and I really appreciate it, it’s fun to look at different game features and bonding systems are one of the more fun aspects, especially this one in FE. This is tremendous amount of work and to do it well, there has to be a lot of care. And I think they did it, I feel like they found a really good way, worked it out so it works for everything and “canons” don’t seme to matter and every possible pairing seems ok. “Different timelines” is a justification I personally enjoy for a lot of things and this one plays a factor here too. Really fun overall and I’m really happy with it. I may not be interested in playing ALL titles in the franchise in the future but if there’s another with equally engrossing, appealing characters with lot of charisma and honour and loyalty, good production values and good story like here then I will. I have already played Fates and while I prefer Awakening a little more (even f Fates are more expanded gameplaywise), Fate alo has a few favourite characters, farther x sons and romantic ships. I really like Xander x female Corrin, for one. I’ll get to write about it later.

#Favourite Games #favourite game #favourite characters #Fire emblem awakening #chrom #3ds #fire emblem #robin #Frederick #Miriel #Frederick x Miriel #Chrom x female robin #fire emblem fates #Xander

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postguiltypleasures · 6 years

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The Magicians Page vs Screen

I recently finished the audio book version of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians trilogy while anticipating the third season of SyFy’s adaptation. I have some thoughts to share, in no particular order.

I should first mention that, in addition to having watched the first two seasons of the TV show, my expectations of the books were colored by reading some reviews, in particular that Emily VanDerWerff whose interpretation of changing perspectives of the narrator’s focus representing growing up and becoming more aware is true in the abstract, but also kind of misleading. The books increase the number of perspectives, but they are still primarily that of Quentin Coldwater. I was under the impression that every chapter in The Magician King would alternate between Quentin and Julia, but it was really more like three chapters from Quentin’s perspective for every one from Julia’s. (I’m going to struggle with my thoughts about Julia’s changing narrative status from page to screen. In general I think the TV show improves things for her. Nothing in the books is as pleasing as her friendship with Kady, she gets her shade back and in general having more time for her point of view is an improvement.) Also in her review she states that the books have very little plot, but that’s only true of the first book in the trilogy. The subsequent ones are tightly paced thrillers.

Around the first season and (not accidentally) the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Vox also published an article about the annoying cliche in sci-if and fantasy fiction in which a male protagonist is helped by a more talented female character who is never allowed to be the protagonist. I tweeted the article and a fan got defensive about how the Quentin/Alice relationship doesn’t fall into the same pattern as that of Luke/Leia, Neo/Trinity, or Harry/Hermione. At the time, I admitted that I had yet to watch or read the full series, but agreed with the larger thesis. This did not assauge the person in my Mentions, but now I want to say, Quentin/Alice is a much stranger, more fraught relationship than the others are allowed to be. (And I love it.)

Also, one thing that appealed to me about the show, is that I caught the start of the second episode after an episode of Lost Girl. It starts with a sequence set to “Intro” by The XX’s from their first album. I had owned the album for years but could never get into it until I saw this sequence. I really like it when one art form brings another to life like this.

Using the audio book version makes the experience time-conscious in a way that reading silently does not. This really struck me with regards to the difference between book and TV Fillory. In the books the clock trees are a very prominent part of Fillory in a way they aren’t in the TV show. TV, as a medium, is already self conscious of time, which made me wonder if the clock trees are a tool to make the reader think of time, which would be redundant in TV. (This is broadcast TV, streaming TV, with it’s less tight running times is an exception, perhaps to its detriment.)

The TV show gave me a sense that the Fillory and Further series-within-the-series was basically The Magicians’s version of Narnia. So I was surprised that in the books we get so much more detail about the plot of the series-within-the-series and resembles a cross between Narnia and Oz. The backstory of the writing also reflects this. I think that in the TV show, the Chatwin kids are in the country due to Operation Peter Pan in World War Two, just as in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. But in the Books, it’s World War One and the kids are in the country because their father is in the war and their mother is indisposed. Between the time change and having the novels within the novel’s author, Christopher Plover be an American expatriate in the English countryside the books feel like they are explicitly placing Fillory as a midpoint between Oz and Narnia.

Incidentally, the name Christopher Plover is reminiscent of Winnie the Pooh’s Christopher Robin who reportedly felt miserable and exploited by his father’s writings. TV series Plover is English and played by Charles Shaughnessy of The Nanny fame, which feels like calculated way of enhancing the affect of his abuse of Martin Chatwin.

The TV series Fillory may lose some of the direct links to Oz, but its attitude about growing up is closer to Oz than Narnia.

There was a lot of criticism about how the TV show’s pilot was overstuffed and muddled, so I was surprised that so much of the information that had to be communicated in the pilot is exposed early in the first book.

On the other hand, The Beast’s first appearance and Alice’s backstory with her brother are brought up much faster in the TV show. In the case of Alice, her story definitely has more impact and pathos in the way it’s brought up in the book, so that’s a loss on TV. But I do really like bringing the threat of the Beast up so quickly.

One of the most surprising differences between the Books and TV series is that in the Books, the first trip to Fillory is made just because they can (and because they need something to shake themselves out of their post-graduation lethargy). On the TV show it’s because the Beast is regularly threatening them. TV really isn’t a great medium for portraying lethargy, it isn’t intimate in the way reading is. Quentin isn’t sympathetic in the events leading up to the trip to Fillory in the books, but you’re in his head, so you’re with him. Then the key act of Quentin cheating on Alice in a threesome with Eliot and Janet/Margot comes off very differently in the two media. In the Books it’s a personal nadir and a major betrayal. It’s compounded by the fact that Quentin was thinking about Janet while feeling frustrated with Alice. On the Show, it mostly feels like a case of bad timing rather than a personal choice. They had literally bottled up their feelings to practice Battle Magic, when they retrieved the feelings back they’re confused and stronger. They also self medicate. As group falling into bed feels inevitable and it’s just bad luck that Alice isn’t there to be a part of it.

Both Book and TV versions of Quentin are more emotionally attached to Eliot than to Janet/Margot. After the threesome, Book Quentin obsesses over how stupid he was to betray Alice with Janet, but he can barely acknowledge that he was also with Eliot. In the TV fandom, there is a lot more focus on the Quentin/Eliot coupling than on the Quentin/Margot one. The schism reminds me of Crime and Punishment (of all things) where Raskolnikov obsesses over one of his victims, and the detective focuses on the other. Considering that a major theme of The Magicians is crossing over from fan to participant/creator, it feels appropriate that fandom would be part of a literary parallel (and impossible to plan.)

TV Margot is much more of a character than Book Janet, but we don’t yet know if they share backstory or if that’s as different as their names. Show and Book Penny also have little besides a name in common, Kady and Asmadeus have even less.

The Beast’s design on the show kind of reminds me of the cover of La Oreja de Van Gogh’s “El planeta imaginario”. Seeing it this way kind of undercut how unnerving he could be, and made the album cover scarier than I think was intended. I was surprised that the Book’s description is so different, just a man with a tree branch in front of his face. I get why they’d want to redesign that for the camera, but I like how René Magritte-like that description is.

Finding out that the Beast is Martin Chatwin is such a great twist that I wished I could be shocked by it when I experienced it in another medium. (I’m having kind of the opposite experience with Game of Thrones, I’m not eagerly anticipating those twists.) It was distracting in trying to stay involved in the book’s version of the plot. TV’s Beast has much more on-screen time, there are more than two confrontations with him, and our protagonists seek him out as an enemy, all of which is very different in the books. But, otherwise it feels like Martin and his tragedy really saturated the Books’ story in a way that hasn’t really happened in the series. The TV series characters have to deal with the physical damage the Beast leaves in Fillory, the way he abuses its resources, something the Books don’t really address. But the books are more interested in the psychological damage he leaves behind. His family never recovers from his defection. The TV series only really focuses on how that affects Jane, and how their interaction is a lot more direct here than in the Books. I don’t know if the TV series is ever going to do anything with Rupert Chatwin, but his book-within-The Magician’s Land was beautiful and poignant. Nothing in the TV series quite matches it.

That said, the lessening of The Beast’s presence allows Reynard to be the Big Bad for most of the second season. This gives greater value to Julia’s experience. Also, his comeuppance and Julia’s experience of finally meeting Our Lady of the Underground are more satisfying on the show. I had no idea how much I appreciated that Our Lady restores Julia’s Shade until I found out that she doesn’t do so in the Book. (She just transforms Julia into a Dryad after which Julia disappears for most of the third book.) I was also surprised and a little disappointed to realize that the “Julia was rejected from Breakbill’s because of the timeline experiments on how to best defeat the Beast” is not in the Book. Good job, Show in creating that plot.

(Another Game of Thrones comparison: George R R Martin famously said that one of his goals in his series was to go where fantasy series generally don’t and get into the process of governing. The Magicians books really aren’t interested in that. Ruling Fillory is treated as a whim, even though the decision to collect taxes is one of the events that kickstarts the plot of The Magician King. The show, however, is interested in what it means to run Fillory.)

I like the continuous contact with characters that the medium of TV demands. I like that we see Penny joining The Order of Librarians, rather than having him disappear for hundreds of pages and then showing up as a member of The Order.

In general, the books are more sympathetically sensual and the TV show replaces the sensuality with crassness. That may sound more critical of the show than I intend. I really like the show and think it improves upon some aspects of the plot significantly. (For example I’m much more invested in Julia and Free Trade Beowulf’s quest to meet our Lady of the Underground and in it’s tragic aftermath in the TV Show than the Books. In fact, I’m kind of annoyed that it’s mostly a B-plot in the Books when the TV show gives it the time and weight it deserves.) I think the best illustration of this difference would be the wealth of details the book provides in exploring how it feels to be transformed into a different animal. The characters on the show are much more preoccupied by their bodily functions than in the books. Think how much of the second season’s plot was about how the god Ember, defecating in the well that was a source of magic messes things up for everyone. This is what I mean by crass.

The gods of Fillory, Ember and Umber, are surprisingly different after transitioning from page to screen. Some of the changes are predictable, such as changing their physiques from pure ram to humanoid with ram features. But they also forgo the idea that Umber is Ember’s shadow and they’re really one aspect of the same god in the Book. On TV they’re separate gods one of chaos and one of order. A major themes in The Magician’s Land is the evolution from being a fan to a creator and then letting go of the creation so that new fans can go through that process. Storytelling is a combination of setting rules and creating chaos. Quentin killing Umber happens under very different circumstances and earlier in the narrative in the TV Series. I’m not sure where the letting-go-so-you’re-fans-can-do-their-thing part comes in for the show.

I like that the TV version has musical numbers.

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spiritgriffon · 7 years

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Rachael’s Favorite FE Characters

Well, since I posted my favorite Pokemon... everything a while ago, I figured I’d post my favorite FE characters class-by-class as well! I’ll also post my least favorites.

The games I own are Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Shadow Dragon, New Mystery on an emulator, Awakening, Heroes, all 3 Fates & Echoes. I’ve played a bit of FE4 too but I’m not far enough into it to pick favorite characters.

Favorite Lord:

Male- Chrom (He’s pretty vanilla but I still love me my Blueberry Dorklord)

Female- Erika (Who is not NEARLY as foolish as recent entries would have you believe. She’s quite a bit better than Celica at any rate- there’s no way she’d fall for fkn JEDAH)

Least Favorite- Ephraim (He’s such a... warmonger. There is no point in the entirety of SS where I go “Yes, he’ll make a good king!”)

Favorite Avatar

Robin! Robin’s the best. Robin has the best coat. Do I need to say more?

Well, I guess I’ll say too that Robin’s personality is quite a bit like my own, which is why I prefer Fem!Robin. I too, would relentlessly pelt Lon’qu with figs and, when faced with unwinnable odds would, just resort to a Big Fire™

Least favorite goes to... IDK, I want to say Kiran but Kiran can marry Navarre so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Favorite Cavalier/Paladin/Great Knight

Seth wins, but Xander and Berkut are close seconds. Seth/Erika is my ultimate FE OTP- they’re the only ones in the whole series I can’t even bear to pair with anyone else for a playthrough to get their supports. I like Xander/Corrin and Xander/Sakura quite a bit, but neither come anywhere close honestly. And Berkut is my angry garbage son~

Least favorite goes to Jagan. You honestly think I’m going to kill Frey who arguably has better stat growths than both Cain and Abel and keep you? Screw canon, off you go, old man!

Favorite Myrmidon/Swordsmaster/Trueblade

Joushua, obviously!

...

I mean, Navarre doesn’t really count because he’s my favorite FE character PERIOD. Besides Navarre, I like Joshua.

Least favorite is Marissa. Not that crazy about Mia either, but Marissa is just so inferior to Josh stats wise and while he’s tons of fun, she’s no fun at all. If she were in another game it’d different but Joshua makes her look really bad in comparison. Plus she took his spot in Awakening AND I’M STILL SALTY 4 YEARS LATER

Favorite Mercenary/Hero/Dreadfighter

Navarre in FE1

Ike!... Yes, I’m counting him here... Oh fine, Ogma then. They’re both big gay softies that are 40% pure iron muscle and 60% heart. I bet they give the best hugs!

(And no, I don’t believe Ogma’s “feelings” for Caeda are in any way romantic bc he met her when she was like 5 and he was probably 20. He probably feels like her big brother or father- which is equally impossible for him to express due to his lot in life. Plus, Marth never gets jealous around him, while he practically turns green around any of the other characters interested in her.)

(Oh, and I consider Soren to be the more canon partner for Ike over Sothe and Ranulf bc Priam is a thing and I’m like 70% sure Soren is supposed to be trans. And yes, there is a canon lesbian whose name is currently escaping me & Sothe is canonically bi, they just went with the “heavy implied to the point of being basically irrefutable” route instead of outright stating it, so it is VERY possible Soren is trans. I like all 3 ships tho)

Least favorite is... The dude from SS. I can’t even remember his name. He’s the only freaking mercenary in SS and his personality doesn’t do anything for me.

Favorite Knight/General/Baron

The Black Knight of course! His writing is bit... a lot of a mess, but you can’t deny how badass he is.

On a less villainous note, Forsythe is pretty cool too.

Least favorite is... IDK, was there one in Awakening? I thought there was one on the cover but he’s so forgettable...

Favorite Archer/Sniper/Ballistician/Bow Knight/Hunter

Tacomeme :)

Leon is also pretty cool, but he’s not nearly as useful in-game. I like Niles too! But I’d be lying if I said a good part of that wasn’t bc of Takehito Koyasu and his sexy voice rip

Least favorite is Faye in Heroes Python’s inability to hit the broad side of a barn Zero’s stupid name change to Niles Innes. His stats are nice but his personality rubs me the wrong way.

Favorite Pegasus/Falcon Knight/Sky/Kinshi Knight

Probably Claire! I didn’t expect to like her much (I got Maribelle vibes at first), but she really grew on me throughout the game and her supports. I love the way her friendship with Alm was written- if it had evolved into a romance I would have found it believable, but it’s one of the VERY, VERY few times I think IntSys has handled a one sided crush on the main character well.

Least favorite is... Probably Cordelia. Like I said, VERY few times. (Vanessa, Sumia, Syrene, Palla, Catria, Est, Hinoka, Subaki, Tanith and Sigrun all tie for second to last. This is... not my favorite class.)

Favorite Dracoknight/Wyvern Rider/Wyvern Lord

Hmmm... I would say Camilla, but my headcanon version of her is quite a bit different from the way she actually is in canon lol. So... Probably promoted Caeda. Minerva is utterly useless on the battlefield, unfortunately, and I like Caeda about the same as Clare so I put her here.

I guess I like Haar, Jill, Cormag, Gwin, and Valter (As a villain, not as a person) somewhat too.

Least favorite has to go to Beruka. I find her... bland.

Favorite Villager/Recruit

AMELIA THE GENERAL IS COMING THROUGH! MAKE WAY, MORTALS

Do I need to say who my least favorite is? Do I really need to?

It’s Faye. Because... she’s Faye.

Favorite Thief/Trickster/Assassin/Rogue/Ninja

That has to go to Julian! He’s very similar to Gaius, but instead of candy, his thing is puns. Fun fact: I have a blood sugar condition similar to diabetes IRL that makes me unable to eat sugar, so Gaius just made me crave sweets I can’t have most of the time :/

Second place goes to Gangrel or Rennac. Gangrel is actually my second favorite character to romance in Awakening due to his great redemption arc in his supports with both Robins & his talks with Em in the DLC, and IMO he makes the second best dad to Morgan (And yes, I have ALL of male Morgan’s supports with his fathers, yes, it was boring, repetitive, and took hours, and yes, the only one I like better is Chrom), and Rennac is just... so hilariously cranky. They also both go in the “They deserved better in their endings” bin- Rennac can’t marry L’rachel despite their great chemistry and Gangrel flat-out dies if you don’t marry him.

Least favorite... I guess Nina. I never found her very funny.

Favorite Cleric/Troubadour/Valkyrie/Bishop/War monk

Elise! She is... one of two healers I like. In the entire series.

The other is L’rachel.

And Sakura, Lissa, Natasha, and Rena I... don’t particularly dislike.

I don’t like any others. Tat/iana is the worst of the bunch. Tat/iana is actually my least favorite character in the series

Favorite Fighter/Pirate/Warrior/Barbarian

Maybe... Vaike or Ross? Or Boyd? Basilio? Wow, there aren’t any I really like a lot. Guess this is my least favorite class.

My least favorite of all HAS to be Arthur though.

Favorite Mage/Monk/Dark Knight/Sage

Soren! He’s really well written. At first he comes off as a racist asshole, but as the game goes on & you get his supports, he proves himself to be a really great, three-dimensional character. And he’s so gay for Ike. Like, so, so gay.

Least favorite is all of the little red-headed boys that are clones of each other. Except maybe Ewan, because he’s actually useful in-game. Most of the others aren’t.

Favorite Dark Mage/Sorcerer/Summoner/Necromancer/Druid/Witch/Cantor

LYON!!!! Oh man, I don’t want to spoil exactly what happens but suffice to say that he is my FAVORITE antagonist in the series.

My least favorite is either Validar or Iago... I don’t know which to pick. They are how NOT to do a decent sorcerer villain in FE. But all of the Cantors in Echoes also get a special mention for being FREAKING ANNOYING.

Favorite Manakete/Dragon Laguz

Tiki- particularly young Tiki! She’s so sweet... and badass!

Least favorite... ugh, I have to say Myrrh. I do like her, but her uses of Dragonstone are so limited that you can barely use her and while she’s just as cute as Tiki, she’s not nearly as tough. She also has a lot sadder story than Tiki- she’s a really good character, but she just doesn’t make me feel bubbly and happy when I see her the way Tiki does.

Favorite Beast Laguz/Bird Laguz/Taguel/Wolfskin/Kitsune

All hail King Naesala! He’s another character that brings a smile to my face when I see him-and that’s saying quite a bit, since he has a pretty serious story. This man oozes personality- He shows up on screen and you know he’s there to kick the world and rule the ass. And no, that’s not backwards.

Honorable mention to Reyson- every time these two are on screen together you know that Reyson is about three seconds from punching Naesala right in the nose, never mind the fact he’d probably break every bone in his tiny, fragile fist. The fact that Naesala’s only paired ending is with Reyson’s sister is just hilarious to me.

I guess my least favorite is Lyre... She sort of feels like she’s just there to have one more playable character to me, since she has so little bearing on the story.

Favorite Dancer/Singer

In terms of personality, supports, and gameplay, Feena is far and away my favorite. However... I’m honestly not a huge fan of her design, so in terms of appearance, Azura, who I personally think has one of the best designs in the series, takes the cake. The fact she has such a catchy theme song is a huge bonus too!

Tethys gets the last spot because she’s completely useless in battle. I’ve heard Ninian can’t fight either but she boosts your stats- why did they give Tethys the shaft so badly?

Favorite Lancer/Soldier

And finally... ending this on a weird one. See, neither Nephenee nor Oboro do anything for me- I don’t dislike them, but I don’t particularly like them either. So, I guess this one goes to Azura!

#fire emblem #Personal #OK to Reblog!#I hope somebody sees this it took 3 hours #And no I didn't really forget Kellam's name

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anime-matchmaker-blog · 7 years

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Heyo! Could i have a matchup for the seven deadly sins, fire emblem, assassination classroom, and free! iwatobi swim club? I'm 5'6", and i have dyed purple and gray hair (although my natural hair is dark brown). I have hazel eyes and i'm curvy. I love reading, writing, and listening to music. I'm an aries. I'm pansexual, so a male and or famale matchup is cool! I also love candles, incense, and fairy lights. I'd put down that i like anime and manga, but i think that's a bit obvious. Thanks! ♥️

I have short half blue and black hair, i love video games, reading, photography, writing, and singing. I love scented candles and incense. I’m 5'6", pale asf, and i’m pansexual, so any matchup is fine! I’m also an aries and i’m a hufflepuff! I love hamilton(!), the 1975 and melanie martinez. I also try to be the nicest person but i swear i’ll make you cry if you hurt my friends.

Hopefully we didn’t get mixed up with this ahaha…. :X Anyways, I hope you’ll like your matches, anon ^^

Your matches are…:

Kellam (Fire Emblem:Awakening): A rather average guy who’s most interesting trait is his lackof presence, Kellam is easily overlooked by others most of the time and thatwon’t be any different when it comes to you. He certainly will notice youhowever, since amongst the others in the army, your unique hair colour makesyou stand out. He most likely would’ve watched you from afar multiple times,simply because people tend to not notice him so he’d be on the sidelinesmostly. If it looks as if you’re struggling with carrying weapons to and fromstorage or needing help with other things, Kellam certainly will step in andlend you a helping hand. Such an offer might startle you since you wouldn’thave noticed Kellam being close by. While working on those chores, the two ofyou can make small talk and this slowly leads to you getting to know him inmore depth and vice versa.

The army is full of diverse personalities and while it’seasy to describe a number of those personalities as ‘nice’, it’s different whenit comes to you, or so Kellam finds. It’s rather interesting to see you beingnice to your friends and acquaintances but once someone insults or puts downsomeone you care about, you can turn rather fierce. It’s actually somethingKellam finds endearing about you. The fact that you enjoy reading and writingwill also be something that piques Kellam’s interest. He might not be thebiggest reader in the army (that title probably belongs to Robin and perhaps Sumiaand Cordelia) but he still enjoys a good book here and there, and upon findingout you too enjoy it, he’ll often ask you for recommendations and invite you tospend time with him reading. He also wouldn’t mind your company if you chose towrite while he reads and Kellam would certainly be over the moon if you let himread your writings. Spending time with you like this just feels super relaxingand calming.

It’s through these casual moments Kellam spends with youthat he finds himself wanting to be with you more. Your voice is like music tohis ears and he falls into a stupor whenever he gets to listen to you actuallysinging because it seems like such a privilege to him. Seeing you smile neverceases to make him smile, and well, simply being around you is enough tobrighten his day. He’ll become a bit more protective of you, especially on thebattlefield and his lack of presence actually becomes useful. The enemieshardly take notice of him which lets him make sure you don’t get hurt. It mighttake Kellam some time to confess to you because he’ll worry about whether ornot you’d feel the same and if you don’t, he doesn’t want to ruin thefriendship between the two of you. When he does confess to you though, it’d bewhen the two of you are alone and he’s had ample time to prepare, filling theroom with your favourite scents and fairy lights beforehand, somehow thinkingthis will show you how serious he is about you.

Haikyuu!! - Yachi Hitoka

No one else in the class can top you in terms of reading and writing - well, maybe one. Yachi is usually often seen hunched over her desk, pencil scratching away at whatever she’s working on. You pass her a few times by chance and she’s drawing every time. As one of the managers for the volleyball team, she’s taken on the job to make posters to promote the team and you ask her if she needs any help. Since she doesn’t want to impose you, she refuses, insisting she can do everything on her own.

The others in the class know you as an amateur photographer as well and it’s because of this skill Yachi finally asks you for help. Many of her posters are made under the guidance of her mother and she wants to make one on her own for once, but she’s missing photos. She asks you to help her photograph the boys and you agree. By doing this, you get to know the volleyball guys better, but you stay closer to Yachi and follow her cues. Even after she has enough photos to work with, you still come around to ask her if she needs with anything else or joke around with the guys. In the end, you always wait for Yachi to walk home with her, talk about shared interests,, or inquiring about each other’s personal projects. You can tell Yachi has definitely opened up in the weeks you’ve worked with her.

Outside of school, the two of you are sometimes out together, either at the local cafe to talk, or at one another’s houses doing homework, Many times, you’ll take her to the bookstore or library and recommend her your favorite novels before shifting to the music section to let her hear your favorite songs. Yachi can definitely relate to your taste in books and she enjoys listening to the music you recommend her, although she isn’t much of a music fan. There are countless days when you two are simply talking, working out problems, offering solutions, or tackling challenges together.

Yachi isn’t the first to realize her feelings for you - the other guys spell it out for her. She becomes flustered and embarrassed whenever she talks to you, unsure how to act around you. When you try to ask what’s wrong, she ends up running away. You ask around and realize what the problem is. You end up having to corner Yachi in order to get the truth and she just breaks down and confesses her love for you. She’s always had feelings for you, but she never realized what they were until now. She wishes to be with you for as long as humanly possible and she’ll wait for you, if you aren’t ready. Fortunately for her, she wouldn’t have to wait for too long.

Assassination Classroom - Shiota Nagisa

You overlook Nagisa at first since he doesn’t seem to stand out. He’s mediocre at best, invisible, really. He’s a nice person, polite, and respectful, especially when you compare him to the others. He’s only decent in his studies, and no matter how much time he devotes to studying, his grades never seem to improve. You offer to help him out during class when they’re allowed free time and he accepts your help.

Nagisa is pretty imaginative so whenever you’re stuck with your writing, he always has ideas ready for you. He draws his ideas from the books he’s read, but he hasn’t read much lately due to him focusing on school. After he starts studying with you, he’s managed to find time to read and the two of you often discuss novels together. He’s respectful when disagreeing with your views and he often rewords his phrases to compromise. Getting him mad never results in a good conclusion.

In your free time, the two of you try to put the books away and head out somewhere together. Your favorite places include the library or bookstore, or Karma’s house so the three of you could play video games altogether. Karma is very understanding of your time together and ensures no one else interferes with your time with Nagisa. When you simply want to stay in, the two of you will be at your place, listening to music, playing games, or doing a little review because it’s never too late to start studying.

Karma has always considered you and Nagisa a couple and the rest of the class assumed that as well, even before you and Nagisa declare it yourselves. It sort of just happens and since neither of you have qualms being called a couple, it stays, and the two of you become free to get closer and more intimate as the weeks go by. You two end up being known as the class couple come graduation.

#Fire Emblem #Awakening #Kellam #Haikyuu!!#Yachi Hitoka #Assassination Classroom #Shiota Nagisa #request #matchups #request collab #Sara's stuff #Stella writes

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voyage-in-the-dark · 7 years

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2016 in books

(Going through my Goodreads to pick the books that made a big impact on me this year; these books are the formative influences that really shaped me each month. If I had to redo the year, I must reread these books.)

January -- Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles in Love & The Curse of Chalion, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy. January rereads -- Andrea K Host’s Hunting, Sharon Shinn’s Jovah’s Angel.

So, January seems to be the month I first discovered Lois McMaster Bujold. It’s so weird because it feels like I’ve known her works for forever. I have a huge soft spot for The Curse of Chalion and Miles in Love; Chalion is the first time I was introduced to the trope of the powerful and assured woman with a scandalous and uneasy reputation, causing others to fear her or feel uneasy around her because they don’t know what to do with her. I love this trope. Miles in Love was the first time I was introduced to Miles (the character, not the series), and he was so different from what I’ve usually known. Surprisingly endearing. I finally read the Mistborn trilogy and I devoured it -- it was so creative and good and that ending still guts me.

I reread Hunting and Jovah’s Angel and loved them waaay more than when I first read them.

February -- Lois McMaster Bujold’s Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Andrea K Host’s The Sleeping Life, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Richard II, and Twelfth Night. February rereads -- Andrea K Host’s Stained Glass Monsters.

February was the month when I read a lot more Shakespeare than I’d ever had, for one of my modules. To this day, Twelfth Night remains one of my favorite plays -- there’s a liveliness, quickness, and sweetness that none of the other plays have. I am so heart-eyes over Viola. Macbeth is my favorite tragedy. The Sleeping Life also came out and it was great -- I’d read and reread Stained Glass Monsters obsessively while waiting for the sequel; SGM is one of my favorite novels by Host, mostly because Rennyn Claire is the trope of the powerful, enigmatic, and supremely self-assured and capable woman. I only wished TSL was longer.

February was also my first venture into classical plays -- Oedipus the King is one of my favorite Greek tragedies. Admittedly, I’ve literally only read 2. I’m amazed at the power and force of it. Gentleman Jole was so good. I love Cordelia. I love love love Cordelia so much and I was so happy to have a novel with her; Jole was a wonderful protagonist. Very sweet, very sincere, very moral.

March -- none.

I read very little this month; spent most of my time watching films. Got into Marvel, watched a lot of superhero films this month.

April -- Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Jane Austen’s Emma, Nicole Kornher-Stace’s Archivist Wasp. April rereads -- Ilona Andrews’ Silver Shark.

Lol obviously I have to reread a romance each month. Stop me. Anyway, Archivist Wasp is one of the best books of the year for me. It was beautifully written, and I love Wasp so much. I love her wayward kindness, I love the compassion that she struggles to hide, I love her relationship with the soldier.

May -- Homer’s The Odyssey, CS Pacat’s Captive Prince trilogy, Ada Limon’s Bright Dead Things, NK Jemisin’s The Shadowed Sun & The Awakened Kingdom. May rereads -- Erin Bow’s Sorrow’s Knot, Lynn Flewelling’s Tamir Triad, Robin McKinley’s Deerskin, Juliet Marillier’s Daughter of the Forest.

So, this was an eventful month. I reread a lot of fantasy/fairytale retellings. I loved all the things that I reread way more than the first time I read them: Sorrow’s Knot was beautiful and hopeful and aching; Tamir Triad was a very solid fantasy while also giving me food for thought when it comes to gender; Deerskin is just one of my favorite books despite the brutality and the awfulness, because of the bond between the princess and her dog, and the gradual healing and catharsis that happens -- it’s gentle and good and is just really healing to read; Daughter of the Forest was the first of multiple Marillier books that I made my way through. I enjoyed Daughter the most, made my way through Heart’s Blood and Heir to Sevenwaters as well, whereupon I noticed the pseudofeminism and subtle misogyny, which was very, um. Not fun.

I also first read the Captive Prince trilogy -- I have some reservations about the trilogy, but it was good; and I had a lot of fun talking to my sister about it (which was the main reason why I read this). The Odyssey remains one of my favorite plays of Greek tragedy because of Penelope and Circe. Who cares about Odysseus lol. I love subtle and cunning women who slide under the narrative. Bright Dead Things was one of the first few poetry collections I read all the way through and I am very fond of it. I also made my way through NK Jemisin’s works (Shadowed Sun, Shades of Inheritance, Awakened Kingdom, etc). They prove my growing suspicion that NK Jemisin is talented as hell and writes fantastic stories.

It’s not on the list up there, but this is the month I spent some time rereading Linda Howard’s romance/romantic suspense novels and came to the realization that I honestly detest the adult het romance genre. It’s a lot of ‘alpha’ males who are honestly just threatening and gross, but are seen as hot, and the novels just perpetuate the whole rape culture thing and sexism and misogyny and it just goes on. Ugh.

June -- none. June reread -- LJ Smith’s Nightworld,

Didn’t read much again apparently. Oh yeah, I went overseas twice and watched a lot of movies. This is the month I watched Hellboy II, Snowpiercer, Under the Skin, Now You See Me 2, and got into Hamilton.

I reread most of my LJ Smith books (they were such favorites of mine when they were younger) and I found that I still love the story with Keller, and the one with Jez and Morgead. Still some of my favorite romances.

July -- Nora Sakavic’s The Foxhole Court, Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch. July rereads -- CLAMP’s Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles.

TFC is up here mainly because it made me realize I really love team-stuff where everyone works together (this is honestly what I remember from the book -- the moments where everyone played together). Oh, and also it’s another bonding thing between me and my sis. Akata Witch was just so different from the usual stories, it was so good.

But the highlight of this month is definitely Tsubasa. It was a formative influence, and rereading it now, I am still so heart-eyes over it. Okay, I LOVE IT!!!!!

August -- George Orwell’s 1984, Joan Wolf’s The Road to Avalon & The Edge of Light, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Kate Elliott’s Jaran. August rereads -- JK Rowling’s Order of the Phoenix to Deathly Hallows.

1984 is a huge formative influence. It changed the way I think about dystopia and oppression and propaganda. Jaran is one of my favorite love stories of all time; I was heartbroken by and also loved Avalon and Edge of Light -- and they made me pick up The Once and Future King. I love this kind of male protagonists. And of course, the bulk of the month was taken up by Harry Potter. I love this series with all my heart. It shaped so much of my life when I first read it; rereading it again, it made me refine my mental perception of Harry (he’s a lot angrier than I remember lol, also a lot more wonderful), and understand/judge/perceive the characters, events, and their stories in a new light. Ginny is still super hot.

September -- Intisar Khanani’s Memories of Ash, Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World, Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey. September rereads -- none.

Memories of Ash made me realize I love Intisar Khanani’s works, and it also made me realize I love these stories with strong bonds of friendship, loyalty, kindnesses, and camaraderie, and are romance-free. The Home and the World is beautiful and also heartwrenching, and it... I can’t explain why it has such a special place in my heart, but it does.

October -- Kate Elliot’s Spiritwalker trilogy, Rachel Aaron’s No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, Emily Martin’s Woodwalker, Bliss Carman’s Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics. October rereads -- Rachel Aaron’s Nice Dragons Finish Last & One Good Dragon Deserves Another.

Cold Fire is one of my favorite romances ever; I love the Heartstrikers series -- they’re so good. I realize I really love those stories where there are lots of likeable characters who are all kind and supportive and friends with each other; I honestly could’t care less about romance in these stories, but they’re so hard to find. And so I end up looking endlessly for good love stories, because good love stories have the same effect as those. Woodwalker because I realized I really like stories where there is a HUGE plot-twist at the end that changes everything, that frames/reframes the way you look at things. I love these stories. Carman’s book of poetry is here because it introduced me to Sappho and also I love her writing, it’s beautiful.

November -- Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit. November rereads -- Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice.

These two books are the highlights of my year, without a doubt. I love both to bits. I already wrote a huge and long post about Ninefox Gambit that is probably suffused with my love for it. And I have so little experience with dystopia and apocalyptical stories that it gives a new framework with which to think of things. P&P made me realize no other love story will ever match up to it, ever, probably. My favorite love story of all time. It made me realize that there can be so much UST or URT between two characters even though the book is SO clean there isn’t even a hug. Or a touch.

December -- Suzanne Collins’ Gregor series, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Martha Wells’ The Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy. December rereads -- Tamora Pierce’s Mastiff, Eliza Crewe’s Soul Eaters trilogy.

Some of my favorite books of the whole year are all here -- the Gregor series is <33333 Hunger Games pale in comparison because the Gregor series feels so much more... heartfelt. I felt so much for all of them; I still remember the events as clearly as if I’d read them a couple of days ago; I still grieve for some of the characters, and I still miss some of them. My main takeaway was, again, a framework for dystopia and apocalyptical stories. The third book -- that thought experiment with the baby Bane is still so... raw.

Martha Wells is the best thing to happen to me in the end of 2016/start of 2017. I’ve already worked my way through her entire backlog and I. love. all. her. worlds.

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So, the best books of the year for me are definitely:

Archivist Wasp

Jane Eyre

The Fall of Ile-Rien

Gregor

Ninefox Gambit

Pride & Prejudice

1984

Memories of Ash.

#book thoughts #2016

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