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lady-hestia-rose · 7 months

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Persona 5 vs. Milgram: How One Story Succeeded at Portraying Teenage Sexuality Where the Other Failed

tw: child abuse, child ra**, sexuality and sexualization, abortion, s**cide

(Note: I am not personally a victim of abuse or ra**, so if I say something stupid here, please let me know. I am always open to criticism and I don't want to be an asshole.)

rare moment of @lady-hestia-rose having original thoughts and not just reblogging everything

So this year I discovered both Persona 5 and Milgram, and I love both of them sososo much. I've infodumped about both of them for hours and overanalyzed the writing and symbolism both stories use to no end. Persona 5 Royal is probably my favorite piece of media I've ever seen. Milgram has brought me and my best friend closer together as we rant about our murderer blorbos and how well-written they all are together.

However, playing Persona, to me, is like the video game equivalent of watching a Shakespeare play. It's a masterclass narrative, very entertaining, and full of depth and symbolism to analyze, but it also has a bunch of misogyny that can really sour the mood sometimes. This seems to be a problem that the Persona series has had for a while judging from my experience playing P4 and what I've heard about other games, but in 5 it's like eating the most rich, satisfying cake you've ever had and then finding out some jackass poured pebbles into it. The way Persona 5 treats its female characters is by far my biggest problem with the game, with one problematic aspect in particular being its sexualization of the high school female cast, particularly Ann Takamaki.

Ann's storyline is mostly focused around her looks and how her appearance affects the way people treat her. At first, this plotline is taken in a promising direction. Because of her Caucasian ancestry, Ann faces slut-shaming and fetishization from most of her peers at school. In addition, Ann, along with many other girls in the school, is targeted by her abusive gym teacher, Kamoshida. It's not entirely clear how far his advances went with Ann specifically, but she is shown to face sexual harassment and coercion from Kamoshida onscreen, and Ann's best friend Shiho attempts suicide after being all but stated outright to have been raped by Kamoshida. So Ann is a victim of sexual abuse and a witness of her friend's abuse as well. There are plenty of interesting and thoughtful angles you could take with this story. You could show her reconnecting with Shiho and bonding over their shared trauma, with them going through the healing process together. You could show her being initially distrustful of the other Phantom Thieves until their bond grows stronger and she is able to feel safe around them. You could give her an arc about reclaiming her sexuality and taking back this part of herself that was used to hurt her.

What does the game do?

Barely fucking anything.

Ann gets little to no character development post-Kamoshida. Instead, her Confidant storyline is about her modeling career, with only one conversation where she sees Shiho again even acknowledging her past trauma. The game also continues to make her the Ms. Fanservice of the team, with constant gross jokes about her "hot bod" and the male characters being pervy around her. She keeps getting put in skimpy outfits and having to use her sex appeal to seduce enemies, as if the previous storyline never even happened.

For obvious reasons, I am very uncomfortable with any storyline that sexualizes minors, even if it's for a reason that serves the story. This is a general rule I apply to most media I consume. I'm considering completely skipping the Dancing in Starlight spinoff game because of the content I've heard it contains. And it's not just something I apply to Persona. I stopped listening to the song "Romeo and CInderella" by doriko despite really liking it musically because I was very uncomfortable with the story of the song. It's a problem I run into a lot when consuming Japanese media. However, I was thinking about this stuff a couple days ago, and I realized something. There is one specific piece of media I really like that shows a minor with sexual imagery that actually doesn't make me sick to my stomach. That is the song "Tear Drop" from DECO*27's music project Milgram.

(Note for Milgram fans: This part is based entirely off my interpretation of the offical English translation of the lyrics. I have not watched the voice dramas.)

"Tear Drop" is about a 17-year-old girl named Kashiki Yuno. The music video has several shots of her wearing lingerie, and the song approaches themes of innocence, sexuality, and relationships. Not only do I like the song, it's arguably my favorite song in the entirety of Milgram (although Backdraft also puts up a good fight for that title).

(Note from the future: I have been corrected. Yuno is actually 18.)

Why is it that I like "Tear Drop" despite depictions of sexualized teenagers usually making me uncomfortable? What sets apart Yuno's story from Ann's that makes it work?

(Note: I'm about to discuss a controversial aspect of Japanese culture as a mostly uninformed American. I may be about to say something stupid. If you're more knowledgeable about this subject than I am and you notice me saying something stupid, I am so sorry. Please tell me.)

In Yuno's first song, "Umbilical," it was heavily implied that she was involved in the Japanese enjo kōsai industry, which is often translated as "compensated dating." Taking the definition from Wikipedia (the most scholarly of sources), it is "the practice of older men giving money and/or luxury gifts to attractive young women for sexual favors." The song also implies that Yuno's "murder" (the premise of Milgram is that all of the prisoners the songs are about have killed someone) was an abortion.

So, Yuno was raped. I think that's quite clear. If you're a minor and you have sex with an adult, you were raped. No further clarification needed. Hopefully I don't need to argue that Yuno's abortion was justified either.

After the release of "Umbilical," Yuno was overwhelmingly voted innocent by Milgram's official poll. She garnered a huge amount of sympathy from everybody in the audience, and people expressed their sympathy for Yuno quite often. However, this rhetoric often took on quite a patronizing tone, like calling her "poor baby" or regretting that the circumstances of her life "forced" her into compensated dating to make ends meet (which, from what I understand, isn't quite how enjo kōsai works, but that's another discussion for someone who knows more about this stuff than me).

In Milgram, the prisoners canonically can hear what the audience is saying about them. And Yuno was not pleased.

"Tear Drop" seems to be almost entirely addressed towards the audience. In the image above, we see Yuno removing the metaphorical rose-colored lens from the audience to see the real her. The lyrics call out everyone who infantilized and looked down upon her, drawing similarities between the people she dated and the viewers. Here are some examples from the English translated lyrics: "'Poor naive little girl'? So off the mark, what's it to you? It's just absurd"

"Don't weigh me measure me against your morality Just shut it, will you? You know it all Feeling magnanimous? INNOCENT? I'm so not that Just shut it, will you? You know it all" "Caressing me with your 'Good girl' Who needs your self-righteous pardon?

I'm the one who chose, let you and you and you all in Happy or sad? Why decide? Where'd you get your half-baked sense of justice So nauseating...so creepy...will you please disappear"

Yuno is sick of everyone else making judgements about her and trampling over her own desires and wishes, and in this song she gives the middle finger to everyone who did so.

Generally, I am against portraying sexualized minors in media. However, I think it's important to realize that teenagers are not completely sexless beings. They have their own wants and desires, they want to be sexy, and it is important for them to have their own safe sexual exploration. And like it or not, sex has undoubtedly affected Yuno's life as a rape survivor. And unlike Persona with Ann, Milgram has the respect to not just pretend this part of Yuno's life never happened and allows her to be sexual on her own terms, instead of just pandering to the male gaze.

I grew up in the LDS Church. While I have not gone through anything on her level, I see parts of my own story in Yuno as someone whose sexuality was used to hurt me and who has coped with the trauma by redefining my sexuality as my own. I find "Tear Drop" incredibly inspiring, and I think that's what sets Milgram apart from Persona in its approach to teenage sexuality.

This is the second-to-final shot of Tear Drop. Her face is full of relief, with her clutching the jacket like a comforting blanket. Not everything she has faced is fixed now, and her teenage naivety is still clear in many of the lyrics. One song didn't melt all her trauma away. But she's getting there. She's making progress one step at a time. The final shot of the song is her pulling the jacket in, covering more of her body as she rests.

In Persona 5, Ann's sexuality is used to objectify her. In Milgram, Yuno's sexuality is used to empower her. That's what makes the difference.

#persona 5 #milgram #persona 5 analysis #p5 analysis #milgram analysis #analysis #media analysis #ann takamaki #kashiki yuno #p5 ann #milgram yuno

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olympushit · 1 year

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Keeping up with the Olympians

#kuwto

Episode 1:

Preview: While everything seems normal, things on Mount Olympus have escalated quite too far. Zeus once again cheats on Hera, while saving Dionysos from embarrassing drunk moments becomes a struggle for his siblings. And many more to follow....

Scene 1: (Zeus' grand palace)

Hera: Zeus!

Zeus: Yes honey!

Hera: Honey? Don't you honey me you piece of shit!

Zeus: Don't you piece of shit me!

Hera: You cheated on me again!

Zeus confessional:

Sometimes Hera overreacts about my infidelities! They say that sex is the best way to burn calories while you do something you enjoy! Women! They never understand!

Hera's confessional with a beauty face mask:

Having to put up with such drama is annoying! Can't he see that all this situation is harmful for the ecosystem? Who's gonna clean all the bacteria he spreads?

Zeus: Stop making something out of nothing!

Hera: I saw you!

Zeus: Oh, you were eavesdropping my dirty little queen! You should have joined us!

Hera: I WANT A DIVORCE!

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Scene 2: (Apollo's grand mansion on Mount Olympus)

Apollo's confessional:

I was having a nice little orgy with my nine beautiful Muses when Hermes decided to so rudely interrupt my fun!

Apollo: What's going on?

Hermes: I know it may sound normal, but someone gotta save Dionysus ass outta the club! Ariadne called me to tell me that she can't find him!

Apollo: Can I have a nice time without someone interrupting my fun!

Hermes: This is serious business, and for Zeus' sake dress up!

Hermes' confessional:

I love all my siblings and I always wanna help them. So when we are done saving Dionysus' ass, I'm gonna take Apollo to a strip club!

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Scene 3: (Mount Olympus, Ares and Athena in some crazy conflict)

Athena: Again?

Ares: I'm not surprised anymore. All my childhood years were filled with this shitty matter.

Ares confessional:

Dad cheating on mum is the most common thing on this Mountain. It is like saying "good morning". When I was younger I always took some pop corn and listened to them fight! Man! This was even more exhilarating than a football game!

Athena: I'm too mind-elevated to care about such stuff! I use my smartness for dumb things!

Ares: Will you stop bragging about your wits? It is too egotistical!

Athena: You are jealous!

Ares: No, I am right! And you don't wanna admit it because you are a selfish bitch!

Athena: Who did you call a bitch?

Ares: You of course! Do you see anyone else here to call bitch?

Athena: Yes! You!

Ares: How mature of you!

Athena: You dare talk back to me!

Ares: This is how a conversation is done you smartarse!

Hestia confessional:

I am really depressed by Ares' and Athena's behavior! They had a fight and Ares' spear went through my favorite vase!

Athena: Wait! You don't care about our well-beings?

Hestia: I would, if you didn't smash the whole palace!

Ares: As usual I'll be the one to be blamed!

___________

Scene 4: (Apollo and Hermes find Dionysus)

Hermes: What is he doing inside the fountain?

Dionysus: And my heart will go on and on!

Apollo's confessional:

Watching Dionysus perform Celine Dion inside a fountain is disgusting! He sings awfully and he is full of germs!

Hermes: Let's get him out!

Apollo: You're kidding, right?

Hermes: Will you get serious!

Apollo: I AM SERIOUS! My beautiful face isn't going to be ruined like that! This beauty must remain untouched!

Hermes: You untouched beauty, he's falling!

Apollo: OH MY GOSH!

Hermes confessional:

Thanks goodness we caught him on time before slipping on the ground! I have second thoughts about making it up on Apollo though! He was a bad boy!

________________

WELL GUYS THAT'S THE FIRST EPISODE! I PROMISED TO DO IT AND I DID IT!

What do you think so far? Tell me in the comments!

I'm thinking about making 10 episodes of this, and I have some ridiculous ideas!

One episode per week it is, and of course I'll add more scenes!

Also, I think I may steal some KUWTK ikonik phrases and scenes here and there, of course a little modified!

✌️😛😝

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these-conquered-woodlands · 4 months

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the order of the phoenix members & co as incorrect quotes pt 2

(as an anniversary post to one of my favorite incorrect quote collections)

molly: Alright, listen up you little shits. molly: Not you Harry. You’re an angel and we’re thrilled you’re here.

tonks: Hey guys, I found a spider. Cool little lad. Thanks for eating the mosquitos. tonks: Oh no, where did it go? mad-eye, standing on a chair: TONKS WHAT THE FUCK?!

remus: Snape has only scowled at me three times this week. Our acquaintanceship is really improving.

dumbledore: I've been expecting you, harry. harry: How did you do that without turning around? dumbledore: Let's just say the first few people I did that to were not you.

kingsley, warning about a death eater coming at tonks: To the left! tonks: Take it back now y'all!

tonks: What happened to your nose? mad-eye: I used it to break someone's fist.

snape: You read my diary?

dumbledore: At first I did not know it was your diary. I thought it was a handwritten book about a kind of sad fellow. And then I came to a chapter called 'I hate my fucking bosses,' and thought it sounded a little too familiar.

sirius: I apologize for saying 'fuck' during the meeting and horrifying these dear kids. molly: You just said it again. sirius: I am not a role model.

tonks: Mad-eye said it's my turn with the brain cell! sirius: Alright, square up-

sirius: What do you call a dictionary on drugs? kingsley: "Addict-ionary"? sirius: I was actually going to say "high definition", but your answer's much better. kingsley:…

dumbledore: It’s nice to be wanted, you know? minerva: Not by the law!

remus, during deathly hallows probably: There’s always that weak little shit in the group who isn’t down with murder. remus: *glares at harry* harry: Well, sorry I have morals!

tonks: So if our plan goes poorly, where should we meet up? mad-eye: The afterlife, probably.

molly: Where are you going? fred and george: To either get ice cream or commit a felony. We'll decide on the way.

tonks: You didn't think maybe we'd need some actual weapons? dumbledore: Knowledge is the best weapon- tonks: I’m pretty sure weapon is the best weapon.

*trying to solve some mystery*

ron: I've connected the two dots. hermione: You didn't connect shit. ron: I've connected them.

tonks: Who the fuck- kingsley: Language! tonks: Whomst the fuck- kingsley: No.

mundungus: I think I mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart.

hermione: Harry says thanks for popping by. He’d love to chat but he's up to his eyes in homework. perhaps if you could come by next week- snape and remus, coming to check on him: He’s climbing out the window isn’t he? hermione:

sirius: *closes a cabinet* a crash is heard behind the cabinet door molly: What was that? sirius: sirius: The sound of someone else's problem.

*after discussing a plan* dumbledore: Does anyone have any questions? kingsley: Is this legal? dumbledore: Does anyone have any relevant questions?

tonks: Hey mad-eye, are you awake? mad-eye: what tonks: Are you awake? mad-eye: Who the fuck do you think just said ‘what’?

harry, at the end of order of the phoenix: You guys really put aside everything and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast? arthur: Several air traffic violations. kingsley: Three counts of resisting arrest. mad-eye: Roughly thirteen bottles of firewhiskey (collectively). tonks: *pointing at the knight bus* Also, that's not our bus.

Bonus:

dedalus, hestia, and those other guys in the order who are rarely mentioned in the books watching the main characters' shit go down: -The actual fuck is happening now??

#i feel like that first quote was invented exactly to describe harry and molly's interactions lol #harry potter #order of the phoenix #hp incorrect quotes #nymphadora tonks #albus dumbledore #minerva mcgonagall #mad eye moody #kingsley shacklebolt #sirius black #remus lupin #severus snape #molly weasley #ron weasley #hermione granger

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moonkissedmeli · 2 years

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Self Care and Self Love - But, Make It Magical

If you're like me, you may have a very difficult time with very basic self-care activities and practicing witchcraft regularly. Because of depression, I often have a difficult time motivating myself to care for myself simply and cultivate my craft because I deserve it. So, I try to incorporate magic and deities into it to give me a boost of motivation. Here are some of the things I do and feel free to add your own!

Please note that this is all my own unverified personal gnosis.

Sustenance

Dedicate your meal prep and cooking to your domestic/agrarian diety. I typically dedicate my meal prep and cooking in general to Hestia and Dionysus. Hestia being the domestic goddess; I associate Dionysus with decadence and pleasure, so I honor him by making delicious, higher quality, more nutritious meals.

Make your food a spell. Plan your spices and ingredients accordingly. Food is a medicine; don't underestimate the intentions and power of your food as a spell. I find these "spells" are exceptionally powerful when trying to influence your personality, beauty, and behavior. For example, a glamor or beauty spell made with foods associated with beauty. My favorite is a salad bowl with quinoa, avocado, sweet potato, and tomatoes - ingredients all associated with healthy skin and youthfulness.

Drink water. Honestly, it's the stuff of life. How rejuvenating is water? It also has so many magical associations and properties. Various water deities, it's a natural element, it is cleansing, etc. Staying hydrated will make you feel magical.

Hygiene

Skincare! Washing, moisturizing, and sunscreen! But, now it's dedicated to the deity of love and beauty. You may also want to say a prayer over your products, or perhaps cast a glamour or other spell on them. I always wash my face immediately after work as I feel the cleansing of the face is very energetically cleansing.

Showering/bathing. Easy cleansing. Also, a great time to harness the energy of water, manifest, commune with water deities or spirits, and meditate.

Use scented soap, lotion, etc to your advantage. Use scents that have a correspondence that resonates with you. I love doing this and as a rule, I have different scents for times when I'm at work and when I'm at home. While at work, I prefer energizing scents like citrus or mints. While at home, I prefer sultry or soothing scents like sandalwood or lavender. You can also dedicate the use of a certain scent to specific deities, such as sandalwood being associated with Aphrodite.

Activities

Spend time truly relaxing and doing nothing else. Rest, watch TV, listen to music, anything that is your equivalent of being switched off. For me, this is a time to connect with deities like Hypnos and Pasithea, or even Eriene. You can even watch shows that you think certain deities would like. Don't feel guilty about doing this. Everyone needs rest. Sometimes I envision my figurative battery recharging. I find this time very important for replenishing energy expelled in mundane and magical activities.

Work on your hobbies. Whatever your hobby, you will certainly be able to find some diety to dedicate the time to, or perhaps the product. Hobbies can be a great way to make "sacrifices" to your deities. Depending on your hobby, you can also listen to audiobooks and podcasts that help you learn about witchcraft or paganism. Also depending on your hobby, you may infuse it with magic. For example, you can find many spells involving weaving or knotting if you use yarn or fabric in your hobby. Hobbies have sooo many possibilities for magic.

Exercise. This one is really difficult for me as I really do not like to exercise on my work days, but I work five days a week. However, exercising can be extremely meditative and euphoric. It is a great time to connect with your body, practice controlling your mind, and learn/increase your limits. I find that, personally, exercise is also a good time for shadowwork and introspection. Furthermore, I'm Hellenic, and events like the Olympics are highly associated with Hellenism. So, I've been trying to really associate caring for my body and pursuing fitness as a divine undertaking.

Mental Health

Enjoy the nature around you. Enjoy the natural plants, enjoy trees, birds, the air, storms, etc. Anything that makes you feel connected to the world around you. To me, this is a significant way to replenish and grow my energy. Spending time in nature is really good for our mental health - this will make you a more focused witch. More focus = better casting, manifestation, etc. You can even combine the outdoors with exercise.

Harness your emotions. You aren't going to feel good all the time, you aren't going to feel bad all the time. However, every emotion is valid and carries power/energy. If you're mad, do the hex you've been wanting to do - it will be stronger than ever. If you're happy and finding love and humor in the world - abundance spells and manifestation will be enhanced. Don't be afraid of your emotions. Using them in magic is a great way to confront them directly and learn to be comfortable with having a full range of emotions. I've noticed many people are taught that anger, for example, is bad and many of those people grow up to be uncomfortable with negative emotions.

Journal, especially gratitude journals. Honestly, life-changing, but for me, very hard to commit to. I try to use this time to also speak with and receive messages from my deities. Also to connect with and understand my subconscious more. You can even incorporate this into your grimoire. I often look for themes in my journal entries that lead me to cast spells or direct my research. I use this space to also track the patterns I've been seeing which helps with discernment; recognizing the difference between my mind grasping at straws, coincidences, and signs.

#self care #witchy self care #witchblr #witch tips #discernment #mental health #self love #spells #rituals #deities #helpol #journalling #gratitude journal #pagan

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ivorys-back · 2 months

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New TWOF prequel incoming!

Okay, so you know how I've been infodumping a lot about Luzbel lately? Well, it's not for no reason because I'm making a new prequel that's all about him! It's called "Hymn of the Gods", and it's focused on Luzbel's growth as he struggles to fit in amongst the gods of the Skylands, all while facing the growing threat of the Underworld.

I just finished the Olympian's designs, and soon I'll be working on the Egyptians.

Let's kick things off with Zeus, the God of Thunder and the king himself! While he is a womanizer and has fathered many children with many mortal women, he still loves his wife Hera. He would split a planet in half for his children, and is very protective of his subjects, both divine and mortal.

Speaking of Hera, here she is! She's the goddess of marriage, and while she did always get mad at Zeus for cheating on her with mortal women, she just accepted that that's just how he is and she's calmed down about it. She's even friends with a lot of his spouses like Leto (Artemis and Apollo), Alcmene (Hercules), Semele (Dionysus), and many others.

Overall, she's very motherly and kind towards her children, but can also be very strict if they misbehave or are cruel to each other or other creatures.

Poseidon, the God of the Seas! Not much to say about him except that the sea reflects his mood, typical of an ocean god. On days when he's calm, the sea is calm and sailors can go by effortlessly. On days when he's pissed, the sea is tossing and turning with storms and tidal waves; he could drown a whole city if he wanted to, but he's not that ruthless. He's an excellent brother to Zeus and Hades, they make a great trio.

I've mentioned Hades a few times on this blog, and here he is in the flesh! He's the God of the Underworld, and despite him having a bad rep when it comes to underworld gods (I blame Disney for taking so many liberties with the Hercules movie; don't get me wrong, I like it, I just don't like how inaccurate it is to the real story), he's a nice guy and is always willing to listen if any of his subjects have something to say.

He loves his wife Persephone deeply, and would do anything for her. He's also became good friends with Orpheus after he died (he had to sit through at least an hour of tearful apologies of how stupid Orpheus was to look back at Eurydice), but now that Orphie and his beloved are reunited in the afterlife, all is well.

Demeter is the Goddess of the Harvest, and is easily the most strict and motherly of them all. She's very protective of her daughter Persephone, and while she had her complaints when Hades took her to the Underworld (they had been meeting in secret a few weeks prior because Persephone didn't want to be constantly controlled by Demeter all the time, and because Hades was the only one who treated her like an adult), she's alright about it now and even invites Hades over sometimes.

Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth, and the oldest of her siblings (well, technically also the youngest since Kronos threw her up last since she was the first child he swallowed).

She's one of the more solitary gods, preferring to watch over and mingle among mortals since she enjoys their theatrics and culture.

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and the oldest of the demigod Olympians. As we all know, she was expelled from Zeus' forehead after he swallowed his first wife Metis (who, in my AU, was expelled from him later in the same fashion), and as we know she came out full-grown and ready to kick some ass.

She's very smart and is well-read on all sorts of subjects, but she's also very smart and strategic when it comes to battle, which is where her association with war comes from.

Ares is the God of War, and exactly what you'd expect of him: brash, reckless, cruel, all that jazz. He's actually the real reason why Hephaestus is crippled the way he is.

In most stories, it's either Hera or Zeus that throws Hephaestus off of Mount Olympus after he's born, but in my AU it's Ares who pushed him when they were kids because he was jealous of how well-treated Hephaestus was compared to him (not that Ares wasn't treated well, he was just too much for his parents to handle). He was punished after this, and his ego only grew as he got older.

Hephaestus is the God of Blacksmithing, and is very calm and rational and smart. He brought the gift of machinery to man, and he made the first robots, which were made of bronze and given life so that they could move and do things all on their own.

He's very gentle as well, and despite the stories, he and his wife Aphrodite are a fabulous couple. He treats her very well and showers her with jewelry that he crafts himself, and her most prized treasure is the girdle he made for her as a wedding gift.

Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love, and that title is not lost on her. She's very sweet and gentle with everyone, and is more than willing to help out others with their relationships, whether it's romantic or not. She's deeply in love with Hephaestus, and hates Ares with a passion (the bad kind). The reason she married Hephaestus was because Zeus was afraid that the male gods would get into a fight over who would be her husband, and that someone would get hurt, so he asked her who she would like to marry and she chose Hephaestus.

As for the time when Ares got tricked and was caught up in chains, Aphrodite was sick and tired of Ares' constant advances and mistreatment toward her, so she and Hephaestus came up with a plan to trick him and expose his misdeeds to the gods. So Hephaestus created a net of chains that were so thin they were nearly invisible but were very strong, and strung them all around his and Aphrodite's bedroom, and instructed Aphrodite to wait for Ares to try and sneak in while he pretended to go on a trip. When Ares arrived, once he was within three feet of the bed he was suddenly caught and trapped in the net, and Hephaestus came back with all the other gods in tow. After that, Ares steered clear of Aphrodite and Hephaestus and just didn't even bother with them anymore.

Apollo is the god of the sun, healing, and music. He's very gentle but also kind of a wisecracker, and is one of the more laid-back gods. He runs an infirmary on Olympus, where he takes care of the injured after a battle or if there's an accident, and makes no exceptions to whoever he's healing.

Artemis is the goddess of the moon and the hunt, and is Apollo's twin sister. She's a bit of a tomboy, not even bothering with men (except her friendship with Orion), and spends a lot of time with her nymphs and dogs in the forest.

Hermes is the god of travelers, thieves, and messages. If anyone has a message to go to the other Skylands, they go to Hermes. That's partially why he's the smallest of the Olympians; his small size makes him faster, and he's mostly found hovering in the air or relaxing.

Last but not least, we have Dionysus, the god of wine and merrymaking. He's either too drunk or too sober, either way that's how you've got him. He's always one to host and go to parties and get-togethers in the Skylands (especially if there's booze, he bee-lines off to Asgard for those). He has a pet leopard, and looks after a grapevine that's grown so much it's all over the inside of his temple on Olympus now. Overall, he's a chill guy and good to hang out with.

And that's all I've got for the Olympians! I'll move on to the Egyptians, and then the Asgardians.

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birlwrites · 2 months

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Alack and alas, I have no knowledge of horror myself let alone gothic horror. I've been thoroughly recommended The Magnus Archives and Welcome To Nightvale (a hybrid podcast and book set up I think?) by a friend whose taste I trust well enough which are horror but uh no clue about the subgenre.

I can however offer elemental discussion adjacent to your (Harry Potter) Regulus Black fanfictions based on your one line: "fire just dies" and this post about Barty if Regulus dies: (nevermind searching is taking me too long).

"fire just dies"... when not sustained by something external! Therefore Barty fits it spectacularly! Regulus gets to be some kind of Hestia equivalent feeding Barty continual logs of affection and needing things of Barty. Evan in general gets to be magic fire dust which only influences or changes the colour of the flames for a little bit but doesn't sustain them (perhaps the occasional thrown wad of balled-up newspaper as Evan won't shut up about passing on Interesting Stories). Barty's mother gets to be the chimney (stopping him from dying of building paternal-smoke inhalation), the stone hearth stopping him from burning himself/his own house down when the fire is controlled and sometimes gives long-lasting lumps of coal but not enough to keep a whole fireplace going. Barty Senior gets to be both gasoline and fire lighter as a motivation, pushing Barty to burn out but blaze bright and fast in response as he does so. Other friends occasionally throw handfuls of twigs/branches/flammable materials at Barty but not consistently really.

Voldemort with Death Eater Barty (hopefully not lachrimae future Barty) simply gestures to a pyre bonfire labelled "Demonstrate Your Faith In The Cause! The Party Never Ends!" that Barty subsequently throws himself onto draws great destructive direction from finding suitable Guy Fawkes Substitutes to throw onto (muggleborns, blood traitors, traitors to the cause, loyal ministry members, his own father... etc).

Hopefully, the metaphor isn't too far removed from the style of Barty's pre-approved Cyprian Silkwood's style. But so long as it hits vaguely adjacent to being entertaining.

i've been recommended the magnus archives as well, with the fascinating addendum of "i've never thought about worms the same way ever again." i feel like i'm going to end up listening to it and then sending terrified messages to the person who recommended it to me

they really are regulus black fanfictions afjskhgjkfd as evidenced by the fact that i named barty's mom 'harriet' fully forgetting the series is about a guy named harry. normally i try to avoid super similar names like that unless it's for Plot Reasons but in this case i just. did not recall

THE METAPHOR ABSOLUTELY HITS. associating barty with fire appeals to me because of the, like... dual-purpose of it as a weapon, a tool, and a destructive force. he needs constant fuel and room to maneuver - he can't be smothered and he needs something to motivate him to keep going, and i LOVE your comparison of crouch sr to gasoline and a fire lighter YES ABSOLUTELY

i'd say voldemort is also gasoline in his own way (not in lachrimae you will be pleased to know, barty's actually one of the characters who has a Less Bad Time in lachrimae!!), but he's judicious in how he uses it. less dumping a ton of gasoline on the fire and more a steady drip. he doesn't want barty to go out too early, but he's fine with barty self destructing as long as it's in a useful way

and regulus connected with the earth element is also fun because i think he really is like the earth in a way - kind of [literally] overlooked/stepped on until he decides to become a Problem. he's always there, he doesn't disappear, he's so reliable that you don't notice him, and whoops you weren't paying attention to the Danger and now you've died in a mudslide

#should i make an inbox tag #dark lord wip #lachrimae

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godsofhumanity · 8 months

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Could you please do a Hera hc with other Olympians too and please elaborate on Zeus

lol, at this point i'm just doing the whole damn pantheon hey ahahahaha!!!!!!!

ZEUS

i've written LOADS about Hera x Zeus, but somehow i don't have a single "pure" Zeus x Hera hc list. so, i'll save that for if i ever get a Zeus x Hera ask by itself, because i think that'll be cleaner and easier to read. i'll summarise here though.

the short of it: Zeus and Hera do love each other.

the long of it: their relationship is like, the most complicated thing ever.

now, this is about Hera, so i'm not gonna write about why i think Zeus does what Zeus does, but from Hera's perspective, i hc that she's always known that this is what her marriage would be like.

i don't think she got married to Zeus and then "suddenly" he just started having "affairs"--- both were very crystal clear that this would be the case.

but love is a bit complicated, and i believe Hera and Zeus had enough faith in each other that they believed they could make it work (and they do. sort of. with a few a casualties).

one thing about Hera that i feel is incredibly important to her character is that she forgives. not everyone, but those she loves. i hc that she has a HUGE heart-- i've said before that i believe she inherits this from Rhea-- and i believe that she does forgive Zeus every time he goes "out" because, as Queen of Olympus, she knows there's a much bigger plan out there.

POSEIDON

i've always felt that Hera's best friend, most trusted confidant, would be Amphitrite. not only are they sister-in-laws, but they're both Queens, and both wives to cheaters. so i feel like they have a lot of common ground-- a lot to bond over.

as such, i feel that Amphitrite and Hera would hang around a lot, so i think, by extension, Poseidon and Zeus would hang around a lot.

i don't really know if Amphitrite loves Poseidon, i mean she probably does considering that she stays with him, but i honestly don't know for sure... in any case, she does tolerate him, and i think by that fact, Hera also tolerates him.

now, i don't really feel like the elder Olympians maintain a sibling relationship the way other god-families do-- like, Leto, Artemis and Apollo are tight as hell and literally kill for each other-- i think Prometheus, Epimetheus, and that whole titan generation are also incredibly tight. but, between Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera, i don't think they're that close-- this is likely because they never grew up with each other. Kronos prevented that. they sort of all just appeared fully-grown, and that's not really the same as actually growing from childhood to adulthood together.

that's why i don't think Hera is that close with Poseidon-- they're brother and sister on paper, and they would consider each other brother and sister for sure, but i just don't think they're that close.

also, like i was saying before, since Amphitrite and Hera are very close (and by choice, too), i think that, if not for Amphitrite, Hera would be a bit more distant from Poseidon on account of him being so similar to Zeus in terms of behaviour... now with Zeus, i think his behaviour is explained by his role as King and Father of the gods, but Poseidon doesn't really have that same rank so i think Hera would be less forgiving.

anyways, even so. in the myths, there are a few times when Poseidon supports Hera in her rebellions against Zeus, so that's not to say they're hostile towards each other-- they're friendly, but not close.

DEMETER

see here

tl;dr -- they're besties.

HESTIA

i think Hestia and Zeus would be the only ones who are actually able to maintain proper relationships with their siblings.

Hestia, like i said before, is the older sister. and i do think she helps out all her siblings when she can, even if that's mostly just providing a listening ear and shoulder to cry on.

Hera, obviously, has a lot of crying moments. i think Hestia would be one of the few characters she'd be feel comfortable crying in front of.

i can imagine Hestia doing a lot of baking <33 Hera seems like a sweet-tooth, so i think Hestia would bake her a lot of sweet treats-- pastries, and biscuits, and cakes.

HADES

i think in a similar vein to Poseidon, Hera's relationship would be good but not really all that close.

i suspect that after Hades and Persephone's marriage, Hera and Hades would actually become closer because i think Hera would make it a point to help Persephone navigate the ways of being a ruler, so they would see each other more often.

PERSEPHONE

see here

tl;dr -- they're good.

ATHENA

see here

tl;dr -- they're good.

ARTEMIS

see here

tl;dr -- they hate each other. they do not interact if they can help it.

APOLLO

i think they're on better terms than Artemis and Hera, but still-- Apollo definitely does not like Hera due to the python incident, and Hera definitely does not like Apollo because she perceives him to be far too arrogant.

nonetheless,, i do believe that Apollo, at the very least, doesn't really go out of his way to be rude to Hera. i mean, i could see Artemis being intentionally unhelpful, but Apollo, if Hera asked a favour of him, i think he would do it, albeit, if only to have her owe him one.

one pretty pivotal incident to me is when Hephaestus loses his leg- i mentioned previously that i think Hephaestus, as a child, accidentally walks in on Hera and Zeus arguing, and Zeus, mistaking Hephaestus for a servant, tells him to gtfo and shoots him with a lightning bolt-- now, Zeus' lightning can melt the very heavens and rip through the fabric of time, so it delivers pretty permanent damage to Hephaestus' leg. still, i think Apollo is the first one who Hera and Zeus summon, and though he can't do anything to fix the damage, he can at least reduce the pain for Hephaestus, and i do think Hera remembers that.

furthermore, Apollo retains a good rapport with all of her children, so that puts him Hera's good books.

Eileithyia, Hera's eldest child, was the original goddess of childbirth until Artemis was born and also became associated with it-- while i don't think Artemis and Eileithyia are close, i like the idea of Apollo and Eileithyia being good friends. he's a healer, she's a healer (for women during childbirth especially), so they get along well. and importantly, i don't think Apollo tries to make her feel insignificant; it's the opposite. so Hera can respect Apollo because of that.

otherwise, yeah. they simply tolerate each other.

HERMES

Hermes, Persephone, and Athena, are the three children of Zeus not mothered by Hera, but still "loved" by her.

like i said a billion times before, Hermes has this very playful, childish, innocent attitude that makes him very cute and annoyingly adorable, and people can't help but like him. Hera is no exception.

Hermes is ALWAYS in Zeus' palace because he's the messenger boy. but i can imagine him also doing trivial things for Hera like filling her cup, or getting her snacks. and realistically, he doesn't need to carry out these silly errands for her, but he does it anyways because-- i think Hermes actually does like Hera. she's not his step-mum, but idk. idk how to explain it. he just likes her and respects her.

i hc that Hermes is always complimenting her. like he'll deliver a message and say, "Oh, Queen Hera, is it just me or are you looking more radiant than ever today?" silly, suck-up things like that. and Hera knows that he's just trying to earn brownie points, but she secretly likes the effort he puts in.

Hermes does kill Argus, Hera's prized "knight", and i think she would have been majorly pissed off with Hermes because of that, but i like the idea of Hermes being very respectful of Hera, and not flaunting it in her face.

again, like with Apollo, Hermes maintains a very good relationship with all of Hera's children, so this works in his favour with her too.

anyhow; all in all, they have a pretty good relationship.

HEPHAESTUS

her son!!!!!!!!!!! i think she adores him very much.

she's always in awe of his works. i think she visits his forge very often, just to chat with him and keep him company.

i don't really know what else to say here because honestly, they're about as tight as a mother and child can get.

ARES

the problem child.

Hera, i think, has always seen how much of trouble Ares has had fitting in with the other Olympians. he's too brash, too loud, too violent. but he's still her son, and i think she loves him same as all her other children.

i think it's very difficult to see him get sidelined against the others, but is always immensely proud to see him stand up and do well.

i think the worst moment was when Zeus gave Athena shared rights to the war domain.. i think this would have infuriated Hera a lot-- i mean, she summons Typhon partly because of this moment.

while she's generally proud of Ares, i think they have a falling out over Aphrodite.

as the goddess of marriage, as the wife of a cheater, as a mother, she recognises immediately when Ares and Aphrodite start having an affair while Aphrodite is still married to Hephaestus, and i think it just breaks her heart into a million pieces.

here she is, a woman who has being married for hundreds of years to a man who sleeps with so many others and EVERYONE knows about it and knows about her pain.. Ares has grown up seeing all the bastard children Zeus brings back, and knows the pain and distress it has caused his mother, and STILL he decides to enable that behaviour...

and i think that's very complicated because she still loves Ares, and of course she loves Hephaestus-- and as a mother, what is she supposed to do? i do think she tells Ares immediately that he should stop because it's going to end really really badly (and Hera is right of course).

nonetheless, it is a huge relief to her when Ares and Hephaestus make amends to each other and move on with their lives.

DIONYSUS

again, i haven't fully characterised Dionysus in my head just yet so i'm not sure where he stands with Hera.

on one hand, Semele's death was so ghastly, i cannot imagine Hera ever liking Dionysus. on the other, Dionysus was raised a bit by Hermes and i think they're similar, so by extension, Hera should probably be ok with Dionysus.

but i don't really know.

i think Dionysus tends to stay out of Hera's way. i do like the idea that Dionysus is Zeus' successor-- he will be the King after Zeus, so i suppose he probably has managed to warm up to Hera.

also, i think Hera would be one of Dionysus' biggest customers in his little wine business hee hee

APHRODITE

Hera HATES herrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i don't think Aphrodite hates Hera, but Hera definitely hates Aphrodite. always has.

when Aphrodite first comes to Olympus, Hera's biggest fear is that Zeus will cheat on her with Aphrodite. it takes a lot of promising, and oath-swearing to assure Hera that that won't happen (and i don't believe it does because Aphrodite and Zeus aren't recorded as having children together).

but then, when Aphrodite marries Hephaestus, she cheats with Ares. and that's awful. Hera didn't want to get cheated on, and instead her son is the one getting cheated on. that's awful.

to be clear, i think the story is a bit more complicated and i don't think Hephaestus is blameless,, and i do think Ares and Aphrodite were more genuine than Aphrodite and Hephaestus, but it doesn't excuse it. and Hera knows that. and i don't she ever really forgive Aphrodite for what she "does" to her sons.

even though that's not entirely Aphrodite's fault-- i mean. it takes two to tango.

anyhow. Hera's relationship gets better when Aphrodite and Ares get married for real, and even better once Hephaestus marries Aglaea because it's like, yes, ok, both sons are doing well and have moved on. so that brings peace of mind to Hera.

like i said previously, Aphrodite doesn't hate Hera. i think she completely understands Hera's feelings towards her, and she simply accepts it, and does her best to show Hera that she really does love Ares, and that she isn't malicious or evil. and i think it partially works.

#hera #hc #anon #anonymous #asks

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theoi-of-olympus · 3 months

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💌🥂🧭? :)

Hello! And thank you for the ask!

💌what is your favourite form of deity communication?

Probably tarot, I don’t do much else unless we include vibes (/j), but I find it’s an easy way to talk to them, I actually created a festival for Lady Asteria using tarot to talk to her

🥂what is your favourite devotional act or offering to give?

I’m a big fan of devotional acts just because I don’t have the ability to give massive offerings, but it probably changes depending on the god, I won’t write all of them here but I’ll do some

Lord Apollon is probably listening to his playlist/music in general, which I know is broad but music is probably the main way I connect with him, I also have a fairly big physical music collection so when I’m playing music from that I feel that it’s extra devotional to him

Lady Asteria is probably going on night walks, being able to see the stars and just relax in her presence is always fun

Lady Hestia is definitely when I’m making food, I’ll usually devote the process to her and give a bit of the food to her

🧭what led you to your practice?

I’d say what first made me interested in Greek mythology was either learning it in primary school or the Pegasus book series by Kate O’Hearn (I know it probably has horrific representations)

But then gradually I began loosing faith in the Christian god (I was baptised and confirmed In the Church of England) and realised that while I haven’t lost my belief in a higher being I simply believe in polytheism instead of monotheism

I began looking into witchcraft, mainly because I didn’t realise Hellenic polytheism existed, and begun worshipping Lord Apollon, then I believe it was on tumblr that I realised what Hellenic polytheism was and I slowly began changing my practice into that

Ask game found here

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flightfoot · 7 months

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I know I’m in the minority of people who like Hermes in the original PJO series so I’m staying on anon here because of it. To be honest, I always saw him as morally gray.

My take on the ‘gods can’t change’ statement; isn’t him justifying his mistakes and saying that he’s unwilling to change. If that were true, he wouldn’t give Percy a list of his children and ask him to bring them to camp or even admit he was wrong about how he treated Annabeth and Luke at the end of TLO. I think he feels perpetually trapped. Forced to go through the motions and then dealing with such a difficult situation. That regardless of the actions that he takes; others are bound to get hurt. His family especially. He doesn’t want to risk that. He doesn’t want them harmed and he knows that he’s a bit of a coward for not being able to stand up to Zeus. I think the idea that gods can’t change is more like I am beginning to think that my family will never change. That despite all my best efforts and my own changing; it still won’t make much of a difference. He’s basically nihilistic in this situation and has given up hope. As the god tasked with keeping the peace without Hestia’s help; he may feel helpless. I think he loved Luke but at the time he believed that no one could go against the Fates. Not even him. That by protecting him, it would make his relationship with Luke worse or doom everyone involved to a worse fate. He lost his lover Krokos to a tragic fate. His mother too. Same with May and others. I doubt he wants them to suffer like that. To grieve again. It’s always better for him to be the bad guy to those hurt by Olympus than for people to blame his family or themselves.

tw. racism and mental health

I guess I was the one weird kid who kind of understood where the god was coming from. My home life wasn’t great and I was forced to be my family’s peacekeeper. I had to be what everyone wanted me to be otherwise I lost opportunities. I wouldn’t get a job, have friends etc.. I had to be a model minority being Asian American. I protested and fought. Had quiet rebellions, but no one ever listened. I needed someone to listen. Not necessarily agree but hear me. I see that with Hermes.

I can understand people disagreeing. I respect differences in opinions. I am just tired of seeing Hermes as only pure evil and irredeemable content. He’s an important god and I feel like I’m the only one who likes this character. I think maybe it’s best that I stop engaging with the RR fandom for a bit. I am just too invested in something that should just be fun and easygoing.

...most people don't like Hermes in the original PJO series? I did, quite a bit. Like, he wasn't perfect, but he really DID care about what was going on with Luke, and he seemed self-aware about how shitty the situation was for demigods. His attitude in TLO reminded me of Apollo's in the later TOA books (there's a reason I made him and Artemis allies in my Gods' Eye View series. Well, that and because he and Apollo are besties in mythology).

And yeah I mean, Hermes isn't the only immortal to espouse the view that they can't change, Apollo and Bob claimed the same thing (which was especially laughable in Bob's case). It seems pretty ingrained in immortal thinking, even with how clearly wrong it is.

I ascribe to your view of Hermes' thinking and attitude. He seems bitter and helpless at the end of TLO, honestly believing that things won't change, and just... he seems like he's given up. He cares, but he doesn't expect to be able to change anything.

And yeah, stepping back from the RR fandom may be good for a bit, in this case, since sadly in my experience, fandoms tend to continue happily vilifying characters. I haven't seen a lot of people being all that serious about it with Hermes, but I haven't really seen much Hermes content for PJO more generally, since I'm mostly in the Trials of Apollo sphere and he only gets a cameo there.

#ask #hermes #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians

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tsarinatorment · 2 years

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Bonjour ;) so you mentioned in your analysis of Nico & Apollo’s relationship that there’s reason to believe Apollo and Artemis knew about Nico and Bianca being Hades’ children right from the start and… I was wondering if you’d be willing to elaborate 👀

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to elaborate" says the person who listens to me talk their ear off about this and various other theories in the toa discord all the time ahaha. Of course I'm willing to elaborate, I just gotta get my thoughts into some sort of conceivable order here because there is. A Lot. This is, as always with my theory essays, quite long.

So, I'm just gonna broadly title this the Twin Archers and the di Angelos, because that's as narrowed down as this is gonna get, and we will be having some side appearances from Thalia as well because she's not unrelated to this whole thing, either.

So, what is my theory? In a nutshell, it is that Apollo and Artemis know who Bianca and Nico's father is right from the start, but there's a lot of nuance to this. There's a few places I could start this, but I'll begin with the emergence of the di Angelos from the Lotus Casino (we'll go back in time a little later, because the 1930s will be relevant!).

But first, before we even get as far as the di Angelos on the scene at all, I want to talk about the Great Prophecy and Big Three Kids - specifically Big Three Daughters. I did briefly go over this in the Nico&Apollo post I made a while back, but this time I'll go more in depth. The great prophecy explicitly states a half-blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds. Now, while this could literally mean about half the pantheon (Aphrodite is stated in HOO to be older than the Big Three, Hestia, Demeter and Hera are also the same generation as their brothers - and Demeter has demigod children), for presumably reasons only Apollo has any hope of understanding, this is known to be specifically referencing a Big Three Kid. This means Big Three Kids basically have a lovely prophecy about death hanging over their heads, and we know Apollo and Artemis don't like demigods dying (their domains are literally about protecting children, it goes against who they are to let kids die no matter what lies Apollo tried to get us to believe at the start of TOA).

Obviously, the Oath is in place to stop this happening, but firstly I don't think anyone believed the rather promiscuous Zeus or Poseidon was ever going to be able to keep that for eternity, even if Hades might, and secondly, it's a Great Prophecy. At some point, it's coming true, whether they like it or not, which means at some point there will be some more Big Three Kids around.

Quite frankly, the sons of the Big Three are straight out of luck. They're either going to die young, or they're going to turn sixteen and, according to the prophecy, die then. There's very little that Apollo or Artemis can do to help the sons (although Apollo clearly tries - see fsinger's own essay on how Apollo is responsible for demigod dreams, especially Percy's). Artemis even says this:

"Bianca, this is crazy," I said. "What about your brother? Nico can't be a Hunter." "Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do."

It's phrased as being derogatory (not helped by Percy taking it that way), but taking away the anti-boy bias and reading it as a statement of fact - the safest place for boys is Camp Half-Blood, while girls have the option of functional immortality, if they want to take it.

The daughters, however... that's another kettle of fish entirely. Daughters have an opt-out clause, and it's called joining the Hunters of Artemis. As we see with Thalia, this stops their aging process for the purposes of the prophecy, neatly keeping them alive and also skipping the prophecy.

Looking at it this way, suddenly the Hunt's attempts to recruit Thalia back before she reached CHB, despite her having the sorts of attachments that frankly make her unsuitable to be a Hunter (her close relationship with Luke) and would normally mean she was never on their radar, makes sense - if Thalia joins the Hunt, she escapes the prophecy (which she eventually does).

"The Hunters tried to recruit you," I guessed. Her eyes got dangerously bright. I thought she was going to zap me out of the Mercedes, but she just sighed. I almost joined them," she admitted. "Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoe tried to convince me. She almost did, but…" "But?" Thalia's fingers gripped the wheel. "I would've had to leave Luke."

Note that Artemis specifically says about her Hunters being before they 'go astray' aka get boy-obsessed.

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray." "Go astray?" I asked. "Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves."

This being Artemis' reasoning behind her recruitment drive of Thalia also explains why she's so happy to accept Thalia into the Hunt at the end of TTC, despite Thalia's reasoning being very clearly the selfish need to escape the prophecy. Yes, there's the Luke backdrop to it, too, but Thalia is not subtle about her reasoning, and this is the sort of self-centredness that ordinarily would not fly with Artemis, because Thalia is using the Hunt for her own gain.

"Father," she said. "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won't let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again."

She explicitly says she refuses to be the child of prophecy and wants to stop aging, and yet Artemis still welcomes her in with open arms.

So, with one Big Three Daughter out of the way, let's talk about the other one. Bianca di Angelo, who is on Artemis' radar for at least a while before she introduces herself.

How do we know this? Firstly, the Hunters have been hanging around the general vicinity for a while - they make gentle advances towards Annabeth (I say gentle because Annabeth only had a pamphlet and clearly hadn't either been snapped up instantly or pressured so much she was turned off the idea like Thalia was) - and they are very quick to show up once Dr Thorn makes his move. Fast enough, actually, that there's some confusion from the characters about how they happened to be there in time (Grover ends up suggesting it was because they were trailing Annabeth, but that doesn't feel like a solid reason for them to be in the area when Annabeth clearly isn't a priority of theirs).

Secondly, there's this little exchange between Artemis and Nico:

Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?"

If she's literally just met Nico, how does she know it's a card game? Yes, he's been gushing at her about it, but he never mentions cards (in fact, from the way he describes it with movement and stuff, it sounds more like a board game than anything else), yet Artemis knows exactly what it is. Mythomagic doesn't seem like the sort of thing that'd really be on her radar, though.

Other, less explicit hints include the implication that they haven't been attacked all year, but were attacked on the streets before that, "last summer".

Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?" "And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."

Even Dr Thorn couldn't pick them out until the other demigods appeared and started showing interest in them, despite being powerful (and them also having a powerful scent), but before they were in the school, things were hunting them down pretty easily (although failing to do any actual damage, it seems). There's an implication there that they were being somehow shielded while at the school, and while Hades would be the obvious answer... if that was the case, why wasn't he shielding them on the streets?

(Remember that Artemis is the protector of young maidens and Apollo is the protector of the young.)

Even the fact that Artemis instructs the Hunters to get Nico's stuff as well as Bianca's, despite the Hunters under Zoe being very anti-boy and wanting nothing to do with any of them, implies that she, at least, is remembering Nico's existence.

Then we have the recruitment drive from Artemis and Zoe, which is really very heavy-handed. Artemis intentionally and immediately separates Bianca from the others before they can start extolling Camp Half-Blood to her and manipulates a confused and upset Bianca into joining the Hunt. It's harsh, not at all fair on any of the characters (Bianca was in no mental position to make that sort of decision, Nico didn't deserve to have his sister torn away from him like that), but the one thing it does for certain is takes Bianca out of the running for the Great Prophecy before any of the rest of the characters realised she was in the running for it at all.

So, that's Artemis' actions making a lot more sense all of a sudden. Now for Apollo.

I went into Apollo's interactions with Nico in great depth in a previous essay so I won't rehash that here. The only part of that that's directly relevant is Apollo's refusal to let Nico drive the chariot, despite Nico being very eager to do so, and yes, the fact that he is a ten year old child is a factor in that, but also Zeus would be super-mad if a son of Hades started controlling the sun chariot (even though the sun chariot is technically Apollo's domain and not Zeus', although we know Zeus doesn't care about that - look at the way he's muscled Apollo completely out of any jurisdiction over CHB, despite Apollo being its patron god, something else I will gladly talk about at some point if there's interest!).

But. Let's look at the whole sun chariot thing, shall we, because Apollo's sheer insistence that Thalia drive also makes a lot more sense under this theory. Yes, on the surface it looks like Apollo being obnoxious and not taking no for an answer the way gods tend to do, but when we look a little deeper (especially with TOA under our belts, where we have a much better understanding of how Apollo works), there's a couple of things that stand out.

Firstly, there are four Big Three Kids in that sun chariot. Four of them, and Zeus wants all of them dead aside from his own daughter (and even Thalia is not safe from Zeus if he decides otherwise... see him throwing the lightning bolt at them later in TTC, presumably as a warning for her to not turn against him in Zeus' typical rule-through-fear method). Quite frankly, Apollo was no doubt absolutely terrified at that many Big Three Kids in the chariot - Zeus has proven in the past that he can and will blast it from the sky if he wants.

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky."

Apollo even makes a point of this, so we know it was on his mind.

Second, the implication here is that Apollo himself isn't certain the chariot won't be struck if he's the one driving, despite it being his own domain - and considering Zeus' paranoia surrounding Apollo and the fact he's clearly watching for Apollo to do something that makes him seem like he's rebelling (proven by how quickly he slams the blame for the events of HOO straight onto Apollo even though everything he punishes Apollo for, with the exception of talking to Octavian, wasn't Apollo's doing at all), Apollo probably isn't wrong about that. Gathering so many powerful kids into his chariot would have Zeus' paranoia sky-high, so to speak.

So, his solution? Put Thalia in the driving seat. Thalia is a daughter of Zeus, and Zeus always treats his daughters better (see Artemis and Athena vs Apollo), and it also forces Zeus to choose, because if he does blast the sun chariot while Thalia is driving, it clearly looks like it's Thalia he's punishing, not Apollo (or even the other Big Three Kids). It's a clever little bit of manipulation by Apollo, albeit with the downside of Thalia's height phobia (and did Apollo know about that? Honestly, he might have done, and while it does feel unusually cruel of rr!Apollo to do that, when his option is make Thalia face her fear or all the mortals (plus Artemis' Hunters) get killed by Zeus... it's very much the lesser evil).

The Twins' actions during the start of the book are heavily geared towards the protection of the di Angelos - Artemis takes Bianca into her Hunt, while Apollo personally escorts Nico straight to Camp, which is something it's implied very few demigods get (by which I mean any actual godly escort; this is the only known case where they're not just escorted by a satyr). Could this all have been Artemis' planning without Apollo involved? Theoretically I suppose that could be argued, but my personal view is no, no it could not. Firstly, the Twins seem to be in each other's radar a lot, to the point where Artemis striking out alone seems to necessitate her telling Apollo she's going alone:

Artemis grit her teeth. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

Yes, Apollo says just before this: "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!", and seems to roll with it just fine, but this is where some of the TOA characterisation comes into play. Apollo is a pathological liar when the situation calls for it, and as already stated, Zeus is paranoid and has his eye on Apollo - which Apollo knows. He can't admit out loud anywhere that he might actually be planning things with Artemis - also, note that he never says that he hasn't seen her recently. It's implied, but that's how Apollo constructs his best lies, by dancing around the truth (it's not like Artemis needs to call or write if she's seeing him regularly, anyway!). It's more likely that he's talking about the fact that he knows she's planning something but she hasn't shared what - that is what is likely actually worrying him, if the declaration of worry is genuine underneath the façade (add in Artemis' next words that she's going hunting alone and it makes it sound like her not working with Apollo is a rarity).

Secondly, we're never shown her actually calling Apollo; the whole encounter feels less spur-of-the-moment and more planned in advance. Yes, she claims she's summoning a ride from him, but all we're shown is her looking east expectantly, complaining about Apollo being lazy in winter, and knowing that dawn (and therefore her brother) is on the way. No, she hasn't told Apollo what she's up to next, which Apollo makes a point to complain about, but the "get the demigods to camp" part of this seems pre-arranged.

Once Nico is at CHB, he's as safe as he can be, and most importantly, he's on the radar of Chiron, Dionysus, and several demigods. Zeus might have been able to zap him if he was alone and unknown without being caught, but now he's been drawn fully into the demigod world, Nico has been protected from Zeus finishing what he started way back when. (This protection extends even after TTC, when Nico runs off, because Nico spends most of his time either in the Underworld or the Labyrinth, which are both areas outside of Zeus' direct influence, and also because he's getting on the radar of more and more gods. Zeus' window of opportunity to quietly finish off the di Angelos without inciting any major backlash has been slammed shut by the Twins' actions, leaving them in the same tentative security that Percy has.)

So, there's the why of this theory, based on canon. But what about the how?

There are two hows in question here. How #1 is how did Apollo and Artemis know they were Hades' children, and How #2 is how did they know before the rest of the gods (which they must have done in able to get them to safety before Zeus intervened).

I'll start with How #1: How did the Twins know they were Hades' kids?

There are a couple of answers to this question. The first, and most obvious one, is that they recognised them as such on sight. Nico is known to look similar to Hades, and while the likes of Percy can be forgiven for not putting two and two together because he's only met Hades the once, other characters, like the gods, would see the resemblance.

Alternatively, they remembered them from the 1930s/40s. The timeline is somewhat inconsistent on exactly when the di Angelos ended up in the Lotus Casino, and the only concrete information we have is that it was contemporary with WWII, but that's still less than a century and to gods, that's no time at all. Apollo himself tells us in TOA that he has perfect recall, which makes sense being the god of knowledge, so the Twins recognising these children as the same children of Hades who disappeared (at the same time the pythia of Delphi was cursed, no less) is more likely than not. In fact, I'd go as far as to argue that it would make no sense for them not to recognise them.

But, why would they know the di Angelo kids in the first place? It's not like the gods pay attention to demigods prior to their arrival at CHB (and even then, it's only barely), and them being known seems unlikely as a general rule, but there are some key points to recall. First is that they are Big Three Kids. They're more powerful than regular demigods (Grover helpfully tells us this when they're first introduced, even though they still didn't twig until the end of the book about their parentage), and more likely to be on the other gods' radar. Second is the time period - we know that WWII, in Riordanverse, was a war between Big Three Kids, so the gods would be actively looking out for other Big Three Kids, especially children of Hades, as his son (presumably Hitler and other high-ranking associates, although I don't recall him ever being explicitly named, just that a few of Hades' children were leaders of the bad guys) is the antagonist. From the way Hades talks in TLO, it seems like the di Angelo siblings are his only children younger than sixteen at the time:

"When you and your sister were young, it was a bad time to be children of Hades. World War II was brewing. A few of my, ah, other children were leading the losing side. I thought it best to put you two out of harm's way."

They were certainly on Zeus' radar (after all, Zeus is the one who tried to kill them, and did kill Maria), but there's also another god who had to know, and that's Apollo.

"I warned you," a new voice said. Hades turned. A girl in a multicolored dress stood by the smoldering remains of the sofa. She had short black hair and sad eyes. She was no more than twelve. I didn't know her, but she looked strangely familiar. "You dare come here?" Hades growled. "I should blast you to dust!" "You cannot," the girl said. "The power of Delphi protects me." With a chill, I realized I was looking at the Oracle of Delphi, back when she was alive and young. Somehow, seeing her like this was even spookier than seeing her as a mummy. "You've killed the woman I loved!" Hades roared. "Your prophecy brought us to this.'" He loomed over the girl, but she didn't flinch. "Zeus ordained the explosion to destroy the children," she said, "because you defied his will. I had nothing to do with it. And I did warn you to hide them sooner."

While Apollo himself is never mentioned by name in relation to this scene, the pythia of Delphi - his Oracle - makes an appearance, not for the first time, apparently. She went out off her way to warn Hades specifically about protecting Bianca and Nico earlier; there is no feasible way that she could have known about the di Angelos if Apollo didn't (in fact, it wouldn't be out of the question to consider that Apollo saw the danger to the di Angelos and sent her himself, after all we know Apollo doesn't like demigod deaths), which means that Apollo had to know of their existence.

And if Apollo knew, Artemis probably did, too.

So, that's how they knew who the di Angelos were. Now, onto How #2: how did they know before the rest of the gods (or at least, Zeus), when they emerged from the Lotus Casino?

There are two possibilities for this. One is that Apollo happened to see Alecto retrieving them from the sun chariot - in fact, I'd argue that this would have been the case regardless of whether or not option two is also true, because Apollo can see everything from there, and that would give him the exact timing.

Two is that Apollo foresaw their re-emergence. We don't know the exact limits of Apollo's foresight. He doesn't give us any straight answers on that during TOA at all; the closest we get is this, which is also so early on in the narration that the truthfulness of it is somewhat up in the air (I am inclined to believe him because of his knowledge and prophecy domains, but the potential for a lie or exaggeration is certainly there):

Had I been my usual omniscient self, I could have gleaned Meg’s destiny. I could have looked into her soul and seen all I needed to know about her godly parentage, her powers, her motives and secrets.

There's also a lot of hints towards this in TTC, around the sun chariot ride:

Apollo studied me, but he didn't say anything, which I found a little creepy. "Well!" he said at last.

and

He winked at me. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon." "What do you mean?" Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!" He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't.

as well as later on in the book:

Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least." "But where is Artemis?" His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's… clouded from me. I don't like it."

The implications are there that Apollo really does see a lot, more than I think we could actually properly comprehend as mere mortals who only see the here and now (I know my mind breaks when I try and conceptualise how much Apollo might actually know but hasn't happened yet, or might happen, or might have happened but didn't because there's a degree of fluidity and change in the future because nothing is set in stone until it happens), which means it is well within all likelihood that he saw the di Angelos leaving the Lotus Casino with enough warning to come up with a plan to protect them once they did. Add in the fact that Nico, at least, is intrinsically tied to the Great Prophecy, and it would make a lot of sense for Apollo to see a major point in his life like this one.

And Nico is intrinsically tied. Right from the end of TTC, it's blatant. Percy claimed the prophecy for his own because he refused to pass it on to Nico, in a parallel to Thalia, who blatantly dodged it and tossed the baton straight at Percy.

"I don't need forever," I said. "Just two years. Until I'm sixteen." Annabeth paled. "But, Percy, this means the prophecy might not be about you. It might be about Nico. We have to—" "No," I said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me." "Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?" It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't say that. I knew I had to step up and claim it. "I can't let Nico be in any more danger," I said. "I owe that much to his sister. I… let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."

Then, of course, we have the Curse of Achilles, which is what kept Percy alive long enough to make the choice - that was Nico's idea and Nico's doing - and Nico being the one to convince Hades to join the fight to save Olympus. Nico was not the prophecy child, although Annabeth (and Hades, in TLO) is right to say that he could have been, but he still made major decisions and influenced Percy dramatically, which had a direct knock-on effect to the resolution of the prophecy when it happened.

With this in mind, it seems that if there's any character that Apollo would have a front-row seat to the possible destiny (or destinies) of, it's Nico di Angelo.

So, there you have it. That's why I think the Twins knew about the di Angelos' parentage right from the start, and also the logistics behind them knowing in the first place. It puts their canon actions in a whole new, and frankly far more realistic, light when we look at it this way - or at least, I think so.

#fearlessinger #nico di angelo #bianca di angelo #pjo apollo #pjo artemis #thalia grace #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #riordanverse #rrverse #tsari analyses things

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hestiashearthfire · 10 months

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Can I ask 6, 9, and 10 from the ask game you just reblogged? Would love to hear your thoughts! - tireddevotional

6. What drew you to Hellenism? What made you choose it over anything else?

If you've browsed through my blog, then you know my first foray into worship outside an Abrahamic faith ended poorly. Wicca and more modern paganism didn't fit me, and I felt adrift until I found Hellenic Polytheism, which I resonated with. As a former Catholic, the ritual and structure of "reconstructionist" Hellenic Polytheism appealed to me. The Orphic and Homeric hymns, the incense, the statuary... Hellenic Polytheism gave me the "devotional" aspect I felt was lacking in other faiths I had tried. Although I know many people do incorporate magic in their practices, I just wanted to pray. I missed the worship and devotion of Catholicism, and Hellenic Polytheism allowed me to incorporate many aspects of worship I enjoyed while still being firmly polytheistic.

From a theological and philosophical perspective, I resonated with Plato's understanding of the Good, the nature of the gods, and cultivation of virtue, or excellence. The gods just made theological sense to me, and more importantly, I felt a religious and spiritual connection with the gods in a way I hadn't felt since I left Catholicism, that I hadn't felt with other open pantheons.

9. Do you listen to devotional music?

Not really, at least not in the sense that a song "reminds" me of a specific deity. I do enjoy lyre music, and will often play it during prayers or devotional times. Check out Michael Levy on Spotify for beautiful ancient Greek lyre music.

10. Which deity do you turn to most in times of trouble?

Your question really made me think! I have many deities I offer and pray to each day, but I think Hestia may be that deity for me. Hestia was the first of the gods I poured a libation for, and to this day I give her praise first and last, just as her hymn says. For me, Hestia is the warmth of joy, the fire of devotion, the safety of home that I can turn to when I most need to remind myself the gods are with me. She has patiently taught me the love of the gods, and encouraged me to devote myself to virtue and excellence each day. When I feel lost and alone, her light is always there to guide me home.

#asks #tireddevotional #hellenic paganism #hellenic polytheism #hellenic devotion #hellenic reconstructionism #hellenic community #hellenic polytheist #hellenic gods #prayer #helpol #hellenic pagan

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malumsmermaid · 10 months

Text

I’d Do Anything B.C 10

Hi I’ve been working on this chapter since I adopted Hestia back in like August but work and life and shit has happened. I was going to work on one of my other WIPs but decided to actually finish this one. So...here it is.

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: None

Prev.

Calum was spending the afternoon with Michael, having finished up with his work early for once. Before leaving for his friend’s house he had made a good night call to Lily and Ashton, his two partners back in Australia working on a new deal. Calum was supposed to fly out and meet them in a few days-he had just had a few things he needed to wrap up at the office this week before he could join them. He was stressed and worn thin from his projects he’d been working on, as well as the interruptions from their employees-some with reasonable questions and requests-but others just adding to his to-do list. He did his best to push all of that down while he was on the call though, listening to and celebrating their little successes for the day and trying his best to pick out some sort of positive aspect to his day to share. He managed to pick something since they had last called, as well as expanded upon a few of their text conversations over the last couple days. He finally wrapped up their call, ushering his partners off to bed and telling them his plans to meet up with Michael and play a new game.

However, when he got to his friend’s house, it turned out his plan had done a complete 180, from sitting inside on the couch with controllers in hand to walking in the park and talking. Calum ended up doing most of the talking, everything spilling out the second Michael asked about his week. Michael listened intently, his gaze only straying from Calum to check his footing on the path.

Calum sighed, closing, “And I don’t want to burden Ash and Lil with this when they call. Like, it’s all part of running a company right? Like, especially since they’re having all these little wins and doing some fun stuff out there. Meanwhile I feel like I’m over here taking one step forward and three steps back with all these little side tasks. It’s just easier when they’re here because we can split them up-Lily’s especially good at figuring out where each of us is in our day and which of us, if any of us, is able to carry out that task. And it’s not like I don’t do that, like some of the things I’m like ‘maybe Ashley or Jaime are better people for this particular thing’ and either message them or send that person their way. But at the same time, I don’t want the people who have come to me to feel like I’m dismissing them or pawning the task off to someone else, but like…I’m just one person, y’know?”

Michael nodded, “You know, I’m always here to listen, but Lil and Ash worry about you when they’re away too and can tell when you’re holding stuff like this back.”

Calum hummed, “Yeah, but I don’t want them to feel bad about it or for me or whatever. Like, it’s not their fault that I got this idea for something that, as usual, ended up much larger than I expected and…wait, what made you say that last part?”

“Shit…I uh…fuck…”

“Mikey?”

Michael looked away, scuffing his shoe on the ground, “Lily may have texted me after you guys got off of the phone and mentioned that you seemed off and that she was worried, got the same text from Ashton like two seconds later.”

Michael jumped as Calum let out a laugh. “Can never hide anything from those two, even on the other side of the fucking ocean. To be fair I do feel a lot better now, maybe better than I would’ve just playing that game with you, even if I was really looking forward to it.”

“There’s still plenty of time in the day if we turn back now…” Michael said with a smirk.

Calum nodded, turning around on the path and beginning the trek back to Michael’s car.

As they were walking through the parking lot, a flash of movement between cars caught Calum’s attention. Then it came again, this time rushing across the section of the parking lot they were walking through, from one side to the other. “Kitten,” Calum gasped, just as the animal ran under a car that three people had just gotten into-its engine roaring to life.

Michael gasped too, both men rushing over to the car, trying to get the driver’s attention before they put the car in gear. They must’ve made quite the scene, the woman in the driver’s seat opening her window just a crack to see what the two large men wanted. “A kitten just ran under your car,” Michael explained, trying to catch his breath while Calum ducked under the car’s rear bumper to see where the kitten had gone. It froze and locked eyes with him, in the shadow of one of the front tires.

He started calling to the kitten, tapping at the gravel with his fingers to try and coax it over. Just as he began calling to the little cat, the car’s engine shut off and multiple feet hit the ground around the car. The kitten looked up at the car’s chassis, then around at all the legs surrounding the car before darting towards Calum. He took the kitten in his arms, capturing her and making sure he had a good grip before slowly beginning to wiggle back out from under the car. “Got it,” he grunted as he slowly began to sit up, handing the kitten to Michael so he could get to his feet. All three people from the car began to coo and cheer as they looked at the small animal in Michael’s arms while Calum dusted himself off.

“What now?” Michael questioned, looking at Calum.

“I…I don’t know,” Calum said, watching as the kitten squirmed in Michael’s hold. “I mean, I guess we go to the shelter, make sure she doesn’t belong to anyone?”

“We’re in the middle of a giant park, Cal…” Michael started.

“I know…but I mean, what else? Isn’t that what’s right?”

Michael hummed, conceding, and began to walk towards his car, “There’s one not far from here.”

Calum nodded, following after his friend.

~~~~

“Good afternoon, how can I help you two gentlemen?” Greeted the shelter’s receptionist.

“Yeah, uh, we were just at the park and caught this little kitten in the parking lot as she darted under the vehicle of another visitor who was preparing to leave,” Calum stated as Michael stepped forward, still holding the small cat.

“We just wanted to make sure that she was okay and that there isn’t anyone out there missing her.” Michael explained, holding the cat out for the receptionist to examine.

“Well, it is kitten season,” they replied, smiling as the cat pawed at the air between them, “and this little one looks just old enough to not need mom for food anymore, they probably wandered off on their own and got turned around. But we can definitely put them on stray hold, just in case. Let me just page our cattery attendant to get this little one checked in.”

They grabbed a walkie-talkie from their desk, calling to one of their coworkers elsewhere in the shelter to come up front. Michael and Calum took a seat against the window, Calum reaching over and gently rubbing between the kitten’s ears. The receptionist walked over and handed Calum a clipboard to fill out, a sticker with a series of numbers and letters in the top corner.

As he finished writing down his information and where they had been when they found the kitten, another person walked through the doorway from the back. She smiled, approaching the two men and greeted them, quietly reaching her hand out to take the kitten from Michael. Michael gave the kitten one last scratch before handing them over to the worker while Calum stood to hand the clipboard back.

When he turned back he caught sight of Michael staring wistfully through the doorway the kitten had been carried through. He wasn’t the only one to notice either, the receptionist saying, “We’ve had a lot of people bringing kittens in the last few days, you can foster that little one if you’d like.”

Michael immediately brightened, “Can I foster two? So it has a friend?”

Twenty minutes and more paperwork later, they were back in Michael’s car, trunk loaded with kitten food and cat litter, a carrier containing two kittens secure in the backseat. Calum was smiling, listening to the small animals mewling behind him. They were almost back to Michael’s house, when suddenly, next to a strip mall containing a petstore, Michael gasped, “They need toys!” He checked around him before pulling sharply to the right, entering the parking lot.

“I’ll stay in the car with the cats, no going crazy in there, just toys, no furniture unless you’re certain you’re going to keep them.” Calum teased.

Michael parked smiling, “No promises.”

Calum shook his head, watching as his friend hopped out of the car, jogging through the lot.

Not long after Michael had disappeared through the door, Calum felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out, half expecting a text from Michael asking for an opinion, surprised to instead see his girlfriend’s picture on his screen. “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” he asked as he answered, teasing lilt to his voice.

“I can’t,” Lily whispered, snuggled under a blanket on the couch, “Miss you.”

“Just a few more days and I’ll be there,” Calum tried to reassure, but he could feel his own heart aching.

“I hope I’m not interrupting your afternoon with Mikey…” She started, but was distracted by a loud meow behind Calum, “What’s that?”

“Oh, you’re not interrupting, our afternoon was already interrupted. We found one kitten, and now Michael is fostering two.”

Lily sat up, trying to contain a squeal to not wake their sleeping boyfriend in the other room. Calum grinned, launching into the tale as, as he anticipated, a picture text came from Michael in the background of the call.

~~~~~

As promised, a few days later, Calum strolled into the penthouse apartment in Australia. It had been a long day of travel, made even longer by a maintenance delay in Seoul, leaving Calum pacing the terminal as his gate changed four times before they finally were able to board. He had told Ashton and Lily not to wait up for him, his expected arrival time now closer to 3AM than 9PM and was glad to see that they had heeded him for once. He quietly set his backpack on the table, removed his shoes and quietly made his way to the bedroom. He brushed his teeth and washed his face before shedding the clothing he’d been wearing since the previous morning.

He smiled sleepily as he looked down at the bed, looking at his two partners. They had clearly been cuddling when they first went to bed, but had since separated, plenty of room between them for him to occupy. He carefully climbed over Ashton, who was facing the doorway, Lily facing the windows. He snuggled under the strewn blankets, pulling both of his partners to his chest. Neither woke, but they did both sigh, cuddling to him. Calum felt a smile on his face, kissing them each gently before closing his own eyes and finding sleep for himself, content to be surrounded by their warmth again.

#poly!cashton #calum hood #ashton irwin #michael clifford #calum 5sos #ashton 5sos #michael 5sos #cashton #calum hood x ashton irwin #calum hood x oc #ashton irwin x oc #calum hood fluff

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