#god so many characters can fit the part of rue in this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xionshadow · 1 year

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Blorbo bingo!

Zib

Ciel

Matsuda

Luo Binghe

HEHEHEHEHE, THEM!!! THEM THEM THEM!!!

Thank you, and for the sake of my poor followers... I will put a cut cuz I will gush about my boys.

Starting with L!!

L! I love this man, fucky lil cryptid man. L Lawliet or Rue Ryuzaki (I use both interchangeably at times.) is the world's greatest and slimiest detective. He takes up THREE whole ass slots and he sits like a weirdo. He is nothing BUT cryptid energy and gender envy to me. He's such a mary sue, but in the way that everyone who's important to the narrative and against Kira way. Honestly, Light is a mary sue too-. But that's beside the point. He is also almost always the only adult in the room. Which is funny as shit when you realize he's the most childish. Like, he holds the most authority and has the most reasonable line of thinking, while eating like three gingerbread houses with maraschino cherry syrup coating his shirt. I love him, he's a fucking bastard. He's done so many fucking crimes though. Every government is willing to believe he's Kira before they would let him on a case, which is honestly an accurate gauged of his character. He really would make something like the Kira case cuz he's board.

But GOD when you actually pull back the curtain of his actions and his Autism Stare™, you actually realize he's a little fucked up. And not in the fun way. I mean in the "Oh god, get him into therapy RIGHT NOW" way. This boy doesn't even understand the idea of opulence because he lives with the bare minimum so fucking often. It's doubtful if he even knows the comfort of a stable living quarters because he's been moving from hotel to hotel since he BECAME L. There's a high ass likelihood he doesn't even really want to be L anymore but keeps it up because it's the only thing he knows to do.

The author of DN really looked at L and went "I can fit so much autism and golden child syndrome into this man" and then didn't ask for approval. I love Ryuzaki,,, so fucking much. He's a neat character to disect, I promise.

NOW! Zib Membrane!!!

I can write like three essays about him. 90% of what I know about him is head canon, but like dude. You gotta understand, he's not okay. This is a man who caused the heat death of an entire universe in a single night BY ACCIDENT. He needs so much therapy. Not to mention he is basically a walking gender and identity crisis. He doesn't even like the name Zib. It was thrust onto him. Poor boy.

Does being part Irken count as cryptid swag? I say yes. And there's also a possibility he's also part vampire bee too. Zib does so much wrong though. Can't blame him, he's basically like a chihuahua. He's tiny and filled with enough spite to kill god. The only issue is the fact that he would 100% be bodied by earth's natural gravity.

He has enough blood on his hands to be considered fucking insane but like in his defense he's a bastard. His gender is unknowable, and that's sexy me thinks. I would mug him of his gender, it would end with him dead by accident cuz I sneezed on him. I both beloath and belove him. He's the worst.💖

All of this to say, he's my muse. He was sent to me on a pyre of wood and salt, and I love him. I hold him close to me even as he carves crescents into my fingertips with his jagged teeth. I cradle him as I show him off to all who will acknowledge him, even if he's trying to break each digit in my hand with the brute strength he most defiantly doesn't own. I make him wear silly little dresses as he screams curses. I love him a lot. 💖Although the feeling is most defiantly not mutual.

Ah!! Next rat bastard, Ciel Phantomhive!

OI! SOMEONE GET THIS SASSY CHILD—.

Okay enough playing around. Ciel Phantomhive, the most normal character I own in my list. Which is saying something because he has suffered straight up abuse. And not just the verbal kind.

The storyline of Black Butler is just there to show you how fucked up one traumatized 13-year-old kid can get. And like, yeah that shit tracks. Wish trauma wasn't on the docket per each arch, but much like Sebastain, I sorta reveal in it. It's cathartic to me somehow. I can't explain it, but I do like seeing Ciel lose his shit and be pathetic a lot. I also like seeing his demon butler take care of him, because Ciel is only 13.

Ciel has committed literal crimes. Like, murder is defiantly something he's partaken in at least three times since the beginning of the Madame Red Arc alone. And he is basically a nervous dog with enough spite to kill god. Or at the very least, kill his dear butler, Sebastian. Which almost happened thanks to the Undertaker. God I almost feel bad for that demon. Almost.

His gender is something I do crave though. Something about the opulent style mixed with the clearly childish outfits is super cute! Not to mention the dark gothic vibes. Like these fantasy outfits are so cute and I agree with the art team during that one arc that was super serious. I miss Ciel in very flashy, eye-catching, Victorian inspired clothing. His clothing style inspired my very hyper specific gender need of complex cute and girlish outfits but tailored for boys in specific.

That is to say, Ciel is a muse to me outfit wise. And making art of him. Also character study wise. I relate to his struggles a lot, and he's helped me learn how to more reasonably respond to trauma. I... don't know how that works, seeing as he's a repressed traumatic mess with PTSD. But I guess sometimes you need a character that is a wreck to show you how to not be one.

I love him, so much. I hope the kiddo gets to die a fairly peacefully death in the end. Since ya know, he was dead before the narrative even started going. And at the current moment, that's the only way I see the storyline ending. It would suck and yet it would be only natural. Although if we get canon Demon!Ciel I wouldn't be opposed to it in the slighest!

Matsuda!!!

It is him, the "just a guy" of guys. He literally starts out the manga looking in his thirties and by the time he is seen in the one shot with his hair grown back out he looks like he turned 21 yesterday. You straight up overlook him in the manga for so long until one day BAM he's in your face and he's being cute.

He is literally trying his best at all times, and I love him for it. He's currently in my brain 24/7. I am making a whole ass fic about him and Beyond, and I'm getting a birthday present about him once more. I love him. He's literally babygirl.

Of course, a man who is perfectly well adjusted is not a part of my blorbo list. And I can promise you, Matsuda Touta is not well adjusted. He's just a sunshine boy though. He's that one person who is actually deeply traumatized and when opens up about it, people are questioning how he isn't a depressed ball on the floor. Because, like, he really should be? He haunted by both L and Soichiro's death but he just sorta pushes on anyways?

He bounces back and looks happy and acts it a lot. But he really is suffering on the inside. He's like a repressed time bomb that doesn't even know he's repressed. And lord help him by the time the one shots roll around. You almost wonder how many break downs he's had in private post Light's death. And yet he's still a police officer, who seemingly didn't learn a damn thing from the Kira case. Still bright eyed and willing to jump off a building if it meant securing the outcome of for the case.

Gotta love him. His gender is so aggressively just a guy™. He really shouldn't have been in such a dark piece of media. He's written as comic relief, but he really starts out the manga thinking he's in a normal murder mystery manga. Only to meet L and decide that he's now in a dorky comedy. Only to have Light be put on the team and then is CONVINCED it's a romcom. Man can't get any breaks because he only realizes it's a tragedy he's been put into once L is dead.

If anyone in death note deserves a soft epilogue it's Matsuda and the rest of the task force. They went through so much shit, and for what? Light's ego trip into ego death? Not far.

I think a good little follow up for Matsuda would be him being domestic and helping out what remines of the SPK. He needs a rich authority figure anyways. Plus Near could use the company too.

Finally, the puppy in a human's(?) body! Luo Binghe!!

Somehow, he isn't normal. Like at all.

I can't really say much about him because all I know is stuff about him in passing and from the first few chapter(s?) of the book because Riku read it to me. I'm a disaster case and it was the only way to get me to read the story. Legally.

But like the artists who did the official art on the books got me smitten with him. Like look, his hair is so curly and long, and he's just so cute. He's an oversized dog who's in love with his less than good teacher. It's cute, a little messy, but cute.

He's also in the wrong story aggressively. He was literally written to be a stallion novel protag. His real story (the one that's closer to how SVSSS is written as) should be an idiot plot with countless misunderstanding. Like Romeo and Juliet mixed with the tale of Orpheus. No, I'm not kidding. It would be funny though.

Unfortunately, not much to say here, since I actually should learn more about him. But like, I'm sorry. He's unironically so fucking cute. I want him to have the world. He deserves it all.

#death note #l lawliet #touta matsuda #Ciel phantomhive #black butler #SVSSS #luo binghe #omg I love all of them #ask game #long post

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sankttealeaf · 2 months

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and for character design: 👃, 💭, ♦️ and 📺

character design my beloved!!! answering questions from this list!

👃- Do they smell like anything in particular? Why do they smell like that?

lemongrass!!!! rue pestered gortash many many many times to get him to buy soaps she likes and he did and its all she uses. it's sweet and refreshing and makes her feel less gross being surrounded by the smell of blood and rot from being at the temple of bhaal

💭 - What was the original concept for your OC? Has it changed at all since then?

honestly i had nothing when going into rue's playthrough except "she's going to romance gale". i think as i learned more about the dark urge & their past through online spaces i felt more comfortable giving her a bit of backstory that fit

♦️ - Are there any motifs you associate with them? What do those motifs represent thematically?

lots of dog motifs. "let sleeping dogs lie" being the name of the fic. im considering "bet on losing dogs" to be the series name for future one shots n stuff in this timeline (and others). there's a future chapter title called "a loyal dog will always come home" and i think despite the fact that rue does not see herself as a dog, she is very dog coded.

she's very loyal to what matters to her (see: bhaal, the temple, her blood family, eventually gortash) and as time goes on can very much be viewed as gortash's little attack dog. he tells her to bite and she does without question.

📺 - Is your OC inspired at all by characters from other media? Which one(s) and what traits do they have in common?

no one comes to mind immediately for rue! but if you know me, you know i love a good amnesiac character with many names (see: 90% of my dnd characters)

i use songs a lot to base characters from and rue is definitely "preacher's daughter" by ethel cain coded ("hard times", "ptolemaea", "family tree" & "house in nebraska" are big rue songs to me!!)

in a way she shares a lot of similarities to other characters i have which technically doesn't count as other media but i think its fun that so many similar themes play a part in the characters i make (this'll make sense to like. a few people but daena & alemar's devotion to their gods, ela's need to be seen as perfect and also being a cult leader / wanting to be god, daena & ela's amnesia. they all match rue)

#; tea time #anon #oc ; rue #the dark urge #i have so many thoughts about rue & preacher's daughter i will explode #i love her

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thankchaosforspellcheck · 3 years

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In a Svsss princess tutu au the system would definitely be Drosselmeyer.

And i can see you thinking "but what about airpla-" and yes I KNOW why that would be your first thought but actually i think he would be somewhere between Autor (cant remember if i spelled that correctly) and fakir.

In canon hes the original writer & the world works based on his OG plans, sure, but the systems the ACTUAL one in control the second canon starts. The system is the one that decides not only to stick to the script but to also make everyone else stick to it as well while only changing a few things it didn't like.

And dont get me wrong, airplanes not exactly a great guy either. He genuinely liked his tragic conversation about the cycle of abuse turned actual story up until he went full sellout, and he still seemed to want to stick to the script to some degree, which is why i would stick Autor in there as part of his role.

However, he dislikes just enough of how the system is forcing him through things (and also is, once again, the actual OG writer) that i think he should also play some of Fakir's role. He hates and fears his power for what could- and HAS- happened, so now he needs to learn how to use it for the better (or at least for less bad reasons).

It's been difficult to place how everyone, but I think I've got a general idea of how it would work:

Airplane's plot in this is just a classic fairytale that he never got to finish before his house was struck by lightning, causing a fire that killed him and his editor, also destroying his original outline.

His latest chapter was just before the grand finale, right in the middle of the epic battle between the antagonist, the demon king Luo Binghe, and the hero, the brave prince Yue Qingyuan.

Because of this, they are both trapped in a constant battle until YQY finally has enough and, in a move of pure desperation, uses his sword to pierce his soul, causing it to shatter and meld to the broken pieces of a sword, using the power from this to seal LBH away.

However, this did not completely seal LBH, and in fact only sealed his demon side and his memories along with it, while also sealing off YQY's own memories as well.

(Airplane, centuries later after being reincarnated, swears he had no idea these characters were going to become real.

"I mean, come on bro!!! who PLANS for that!?! It was a basic-ass fairytale at that point, I hadn't even written out all this backstory yet!!!" He pleads with the cat currently trying to claw his face off.

The cat does not sympathize.)

Of course, because this is Airplane, this wasn't all that there was to it. If he had actually gotten to finish it, it would have gone on quite a bit longer than originally implied. Up to that point, it was a "basic-ass fairytale" with a few hints to a larger plot.

But that fight was supposed to be a turning point.

After Binghe won, there was supposed to be flashbacks from his point of view showing his Tragic Past(tm) and explaining that all of this could have been avoided if there were a single reasonable adult around for his formative years.

It was going to have grand themes revolving around the cycle of abuse and how the villain of your story might be the hero of someone else's and yadda yadda yadda.

Airplane regretted not being able to finish it a bit, but ultimately it wasn't that big of a deal.

His editor though?

Was furious.

Decades later, after years of plotting and planning and searching for the right "characters" to continue the "story" with, they finally come back from that strange place outside of the narrative as something... strange.

They've forgotten their name by now.

They've forgotten most of their life.

They do remember some things though.

They remember the rush they felt whenever they read another tragedy, each one crueler then the last.

They remember the awe that filled them when they discovered how The Prince and The Demon was actually going to end.

They remember the frustration of going through the mess on airplanes desk just to find that last page they needed to edit.

They remember his constant reminders that "I have a system!" that would come out of his mouth, to which they would snidely reply "Yes, and its me."

So that was what it called itself.

The System.

and it has found the perfect new character to get the story back on track.

----

Xiao-Yuan was a perfectly average cat, thank you very much.

He liked sunbathing, sleeping, and stealing food from the campus cafeteria (not that it was really stealing when it was left in a bowl specifically for him).

He did not like getting stuck in the woods at dusk after the fog roles in, but he had been chasing a particularly quick rodent and was distracted until it was too late.

He was not panicking, no sir. Cats do not panic. He just didn't want to find his own way out. So he decided to attract someone who would do it for him. by meowing.

loudly.

a lot.

And he was right! Someone did come!

(he might have been more crying then meowing at that point but shhh)

Warm, strong arms pick him up and a soft, if a bit vacant smile shines down at him. "ah, are you lost, little one?" The man asks. "I should take you back to campus. I've finished practicing out here anyways."

In that moment, a vague feeling of concern flashes across the little black cats mind. "He looks so... empty." Xiao-Yuan thinks "I wish I could do something to help that."

This feeling follows the cat as they walk to campus, even after he's safely set down, even when he's back in his favorite spot (a little spot with a pillow set up behind the water heater, carefully insulated by the cooks and students so he doesn't get burned) and well into a deep slumber.

---

Shen Yuan is a perfectly average student, thank you very much.

He's not fantastic at ballet, much more suited for lounging then intense exercise, but he's lithe and agile enough that he's a solid B+ student.

(Most of his issues come from the fact that he's much better at being lifted then doing lifts, and that is generally reserved for the girls in class.)

And yeah, he might have a bit of hero worship for Yue QIngyuan, but who doesn't in this school?

so if he's a perfectly normal student, with perfectly average grades...

...why the fuck is he suddenly a cat????

#scum villain self saving system #svsss au #svsss #princess tutu #princess tutu au #guess it would be PRINCE tutu for this one tho #god so many characters can fit the part of rue in this #and if that doesn't say something about svsss #I don't know what will

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zachdoesfanart · 4 years

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haha what if we swapped the main PJO/HOO kids’ godly parents? Jk... unless???

In this AU, most things are the same but all the main characters’ godly parents have been shuffled around (except Grover who is still a satyr just with a new design). Seen here are Percy Jackson, Son of Demeter, Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Aphrodite, and Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Ares.

@bipercabeth and I really did a deep dive into the mythology for this, so expect lots of significant changes in the characterizations of the gods.

Grover Underwood is one of the satyrs in service to Camp Halfblood. Dionysos brought most of the satyrs along to help shepherd demigod children safely to camp when it was founded. Grover is still a novice, and despite his failure to protect Thalia Grace he is learning and shows great potential. It was Dionysos’ intervention with the Council of Cloven Elders that allowed Grover to retain his rank as a Seeker.

Percy Jackson is the son of Demeter and Sally Jackson. The two met when Sally was touring her uncle’s orchard in upstate New York. Much like the earth itself, Demeter does not actively interfere in the lives of her children and lovers, but she does always provide for them, as the baskets of fresh produce and bouquets of blue roses can attest. Instead of swimming, Percy is a passionate wrestler, and once his opponent makes contact with the ground it is almost impossible to break free of Percy’s grip. @bipercabeth has already gone pretty in-depth about him here and here and here. Go check it out and give her a follow!

Clarisse LaRue is the daughter of Aphrodite and Armando Rivera, a fitness-trainer in Phoenix. Despite what the other campers would have you believe, the children of Aphrodite are just as capable at war as any other cabin. Among her many epithets are Potnia "Mistress", Skotia "Dark One", and Tymborychos "Gravedigger." Clarisse lives up to these epithets; beneath her glamorous surface lies one of the greatest warriors in the camp, wielding a spear that was a gift from her mother. She is also very adept at her own particular brand of charmspeak; instead of controlling her enemies, she provokes them into rage so that their weaknesses are more easily exploited.

Annabeth Chase is the daughter of Ares and Frederick Chase. The two met while Frederick was doing his thesis on World War I, and were lovers for many years before and after Annabeth was born. Unlike many other gods, Ares takes a great interest in the health and wellbeing of his children, and often visited a young Annabeth until Frederick barred him from returning after Frederick got married. Annabeth and her new mother butted heads often, and Annabeth represented a part of her husband that the new Mrs Chase preferred to forget, so Annabeth ran away when she was seven. Knowing that she would be well cared for at Camp Halfblood, Ares withdrew from her life thinking that his presence would salt the wound that Frederick had left.

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #clarisse larue #percabeth #pjo #hoo #toa #riordanverse #godswap!au #thanks emma and kayt for helping me with the captions among other things #trigger /// scars #myart

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miasmacaron · 3 years

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I’m in love with carmine and would die for him. Please answer every single question on the ask meme for him. Including the author questions.

What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do? Carmine doesn’t need constant stimulation, but he does prefer to keep busy and distracted, lest the Bad Thoughts hit him and ruin his good mood.

How easy is it for your character to laugh? It’s pretty easy to make Carmine smile, and even get one of those single huff laughs from him, but it’s actually a lot more tricky to get him to break out in a full fit of laughter.

How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?) As often as Carmine goes to bed via blacking out, sometimes he has to do it the hard way, which is no good. He prefers sleeping somewhere like a room above a noisy tavern so he can focus on the ambient sounds rather than his own thoughts as he drifts to sleep.

How easy is it to earn their trust? Back when he was a Pathfinder Carmine trusted people easily and freely. These days his trust is a lot harder to gain, not because he was wronged by others, but because he has become less trustworthy. It’s hard to believe you can rely on someone when you can’t imagine why someone would help you.

How easy is it to earn their mistrust? Fastest way to earn Carmine’s ire is to loot through his things. His personal effects are not to be touched by others.

Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable? Laws are inflexible to those not born in privilege. But the people enforcing them can always be bent if you know how.

What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling?The smell of inauthentic Tian cuisine (especially sesame chicken), the scent of freshly squeezed orange juice, and the sound of wet feet on floors. The feeling ranges from bittersweet to heartbreaking, depending on where his mood already sat.

What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child?Carmine was one of those kids who thought of the world as his canvas. He had to be told many times that no, you can’t draw on x surface. He was also told that it was okay to stop remembering.

Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word? He doesn’t remember his first swear word since cursing was just such a normal thing in his household. His household being the Tian-themed brothel his mother and all of his “aunts” worked in. He does know when swearing is and isn’t appropriate though, and doesn’t have a sailor’s tongue.

What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them? Historically, that he “doesn’t worry about the whole reincarnation thing” because it does, in fact, haunt him. Recently though he has been lying about a great many things, including why he retired from the Pathfinder Society.

How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)? When he doesn’t know something he will often play up his confusion on the matter in such a way that it makes people thing he is lying about not knowing it. He takes the piss out of the idea that he could ever know anything about the matter.

How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?That’s what friends are for. Or random strangers he just made friendly with, if you catch my drift. If no one is around however, a wand of cure light wounds makes for a good scratching stick.

What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color? Carmine is firm on the fact that red is his signature colour, but no, it is not his best colour. Having pale blue skin results in him looking a lot better in blues, purples, and even some greens. He refuses to let his pigmentation rule over his self expression.

What animal do they fear most? Carmine doesn’t have a great fear of any animals, but the closest he gets to that is a weird factor when it comes to snakes. His last big expedition with the Pathfinder Society involved a lot of sneeple, snake gods, and snad times. It’s less of a fear and more of a festering wound.

How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first? He tends to think on his feet with his words, always finding new innuendo to pepper in as he goes. His speech tends to be relaxed but playful, and has a habit of speaking with his hands, partially because it distracts people from his eyes, as people tend to get put off by his lack of pupils. He is chatty and can sound self aggrandizing while at the same time downplaying his actions and mind. The pleasure is all yours, but never make the mistake of thinking he could possibly have anything but hedonism on the mind.

What makes their stomach turn? Sexual violence. He likes a bit of light bdsm but Carmine has witnessed too much honest to god sexual violence in his life to find pleasure in anything too brutal.

Are they easily embarrassed? Shame? Never met her.

What embarrasses them? If Carmine is to be embarrassed it would be from something like forgetting someone’s name or face, or even the fact that they were once a lover of his. The drugs hinder his mind as much as they help it.

What is their favorite number? 69. Obviously.

If they were asked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do so? It’s hard for Carmine to put a line between them. He basically divides his love in terms of would I want to have sex with them? Then it’s romantic/platonic. Do I love them and do not want to have sex with them? Then it’s familial. Romantic love he would say is generally more possessive than platonic love but he’s just not a possessive person.

Why do they get up in the morning? On the micro: Because he needs to go the bathroom, or to drink or ingest something to deal with his hangover. On the macro: Because he still has work to do.

How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)? Carmine isn’t a possessive person but he is definitely an envious one. He tends to get out a quick mope to himself, then seeks to distract himself from it by having his own fun.

How does envy manifest itself in them (they take what they want, they become resentful, etc)? If his envy towards something (never for a lover) is allowed to fester it turns into rage. Anger at the world that would deny him again and again.

Is sex something that they’re comfortable speaking about? To whom? Sex is probably the topic Carmine is the most comfortable discussing to just about anyone, the limit being no I am not talking about sex to children.

What are their thoughts on marriage? Not for him. He is glad for those for whom it is a source of joy, but.. Not for him.

What is their preferred mode of transportation? One time on a Pathfinder mission he made a quick comment about carrying the conversation (he was essentially yammering to himself to fill the dead air that the mostly silent group left), and the hobgoblin barbarian then picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to the dungeon. It was quite clever really, now /he/ was carrying the conversation. Best mission ever.

What causes them to feel dread? The glyph of the open road, the sound of arrows knocking, knowing he is going to run out of intoxicants and will have to risk hunting them down in a new area on the road.

Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth? Carmine may like distractions from the unpleasant truth, but he prefers that to a lie. He wants to know exactly what he is running from.

Do they usually live up to their own ideals? He tries to. He really tries.

Who do they most regret meeting? Rue. Another Samsaran who knew Carmine’s past life. Carmine wants nothing to do with them, and nothing to do with that life.

Who are they the most glad to have met? It’s hard to say, as there is such pain in having known them. Probably his greatest love.

Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or a joke? He tends to lean on innuendo and flirting in conversation, that or falling into his rambling on philosophy.

Could they be considered lazy? Carmine isn’t lazy, his character flaws keep him from getting the things done that he wants to do, but he definitely has the drive to do them.

How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? He doesn’t carry a sense of guilt so much as he brandishes it like a weapon. He refuses to shake it, he feels he deserves it.

How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive? Carmine ADORES when people talk to him about their interests. As a hedonist he is all about people seeking out joy and he personally takes great pleasure in the joy of others. No one shines more than when they are embracing what brings them happiness.

Do they actively seek romance, or do they wait for it to fall into their lap?Carmine is a flirt and does consider most of his entanglements to be romantic, simply not particularly longstanding romances. Every one night stand is to be cherished and savoured in it’s own way. And as he is very fond of having ‘entanglements’, he definitely seeks them out.

Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies, etc)? Carmine actively avoids learning memory tricks, he just has to trust his gut with things. Such is the life of a man with a lot he wishes to stay forgotten.

What memory do they revisit the most often? Soon after his hair went white as a child, due to extreme stress, his mother took work off with his “aunts” covering for her, to just hold him and tell him stories.

How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people? Quite. He would like people to overlook his flaws so he affords others the same.

How sensitive are they to their own flaws? He is hyper aware of his flaws, at times this means he shrugs them off as being a part of his life, and other times it crushes him. All depends on the day.

How do they feel about children? Carmine wants kids far away from him because he likes kids. He is a bad man after all, and a worse influence.

How badly do they want to reach their end goal? Carmine is willing to do almost anything to achieve his goal, and honestly? If he knew he had to do x horrible thing and that would guarantee the completion of his ambition? He would probably say yes, regardless of what x thing was.

If someone asked them to explain their sexuality, how would they do so? Yes please. (But also pan.)

QUESTIONS FOR CREATORS A) Why are you excited about this character? I can’t wait to play him in our upcoming Carrion Crown campaign because he is just SO MUCH and I just love playing characters who are sassy, flirtatious, and complex. He’s my bad boy with a heart of gold and honestly it’s gonna be so fun switching between sex jokes and philosophy talks on the drop of a hat. B) What inspired you to create them? Carmine was originally a one-shot character whose race and class were randomized from a table I made. I then decided I wanted to make a fresh take on a Samsaran, one who had an interesting view on the whole reincarnation thing. I remember design wise being inspired by high fashion and Varric from Legend of Korra. I also joked at the time that he was based on Dorian from Dragon Age without knowing much of anything about Dorian, and now I am playing DAI and going “CARMINE IS THAT YOU??” C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story? Luckily as he is a TTRPG character, I don’t have to do much of that. D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? Over time he has changed his look, going from a kempt shorter hairstyle with a fantastic pencil stache to a messy mop of hair, stubble, and a handlebar moustache. He also sports different clothes but that is only natural. He has also since his creation gotten a tattoo on his lower back of a butterfly with one wing ripped off. E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you? We would get along excellently tbh. Both of us are social butterflies and would chat the night away. F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)? Delicious heartache and just a wee bit of lust. I mean, come on, look at him. I’m demi and honestly part of my joy when it comes to him is the fact that he would be the perfect man for me to experiment with. He is experienced, but I also know he would be just as happy with me if I told him mid-go that I wanted to stop and just cuddle. THE PERFECT (EXTREMELY FLAWED) MAN. G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most? I am concerned about how his addiction issues will go in the game itself, and hoo boy his anger issues are nothing to be sneezed at. H) What trait do you admire most? Carmine’s attentiveness to other people’s needs and boundaries, and his ability to be so open to new experiences. I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe? It’s hard to translate him outside of his universe as he is a Pathfinder-specific race and his race largely paints his worldview but I honestly would love to role play him in other situations. J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character? Samsarans all have jet black hair naturally but I did the anime thing of his hair all going stark white due to stress. I know people’s entire mops of hair and eyebrows and eyelashes don’t turn white like that but shhhhhh it’s aesthetic.

#IM SO SORRY DASH #longpost #asks #carmine dritan #my ocs #my posts #omg thank you for this but also god this is long lol #batriddler

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babydeermilk · 4 years

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Nate, The Rising Son, and the Triple Goddess Myth

Nate symbolizes the rising son. The rising sun is also symbolized as Ares/Mars who wishes to go against his father Zeus. Ares is also the sign and symbol of masculinity which Nate is always trying to reach, always trying to reach and come up against his own father. (The "actual" son is known as the favorite/golden sun, "Apollo" and there are possibly characters in the show that could fit this mold)

The triple goddess has many incarnations and one of them is Aphrodite/Venus. The triple goddess can also be dwindled down to the three Marys in the bible, and to “fuck”, marry, kill. Jules, Maddy, and Rue are the three woman/girls in his life that symbolize this. They are all three versions of the Goddess.

Jules being the Maiden who Nate wants to destroy (fuck/obsession)

Maddy being the Mother/Mary who Nate settles with

Rue (the crone) who he desires to kill

Jules is the maiden, the “fuck” part of the Goddess, the youngest part of her. The one that has yet to come into her power, innocent, and enjoys exploring and being curious about her own femininity. Because she does not know of her own power yet, there is a goal to destroy her so that she may be subject to the whims of other people. They want to “fuck/control” her over so that she may not gain her own wisdom and power.

For Maddy, she used to be the Maiden like Jules but once she “married” masculinity (Nate) she felt as though she was ‘trapped’ or that her beauty from the Maiden days started to drain. People who are in the “marry” category can feel that they are only being used, and the thing that they had they gave away causing great depression and sadness. Hence a lot of symbolism for postpartum depression. Mary mother of Jesus herself has a great amount of illustrations and art of her “crying” and looking sad

Who does Ares go to whenever he feels he gets defeated in myths? He goes to his “mother” (Mary symbolizing the mother) for comfort

Rue is the crone, the older part of the goddess who has gained all of that knowledge (she is the narrator and the observer of the whole show) she knows her darkness (her own sadness and traumas) and the darkness of others. This is what makes Nate, the rising son, very afraid so he does what he can to “suppress” or “kill” her. Because Rue herself has so much power that goes beyond Nate (again knowing people’s secrets and the dark) she puts herself to “sleep” (drugs, etc) waiting for when people are ready to know the truth. She is the dreaming part of Venus, the sleeping beauty.

Once the triple moon Goddess comes together as Aphrodite again, it becomes a very powerful force.

Also fun things about all of their name Derivations:

Nate - "Derived from the Hebrew nĕthan'ēl (gift of God)"

Jules - "Latin origin meaning "youthful; soft, downy".

Maddy - The name Madeline is a girl's name of English origin meaning "high tower or woman from Magdala" (mary magdeline symbolism)

Rue - The name Rue is a girl's name of English, Greek origin meaning "regret"

(aloooott if this infor I got from Alyssa trahan and her study on myths. Find her youtube:thedivinevenus)

#euphoria #nate jacobs #maddy perez #jules vaugn #rue bennett

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jackoshadows · 4 years

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Often times the characters who make up the houses in ASoIaF are not a monolith and the individual characters of each house do not in many ways embody the house themselves. Ned Stark for example was very different from the Starks of yore and the Old Kings of Winter, like Brandon ‘Ice Eyes’ Stark who hung the entrails of slavers from the branches of heart trees, as an offering to the Old Gods.

The TV show and certain fans have created this weird nationalistic like fervor surrounding the discourse around the various Houses. For example House Stark (The North is the best!, Northern independence! The Story is only about the Starks! The Starks are the main characters) and the North is glorified as some kind of ideal paradise where the best people live. Other characters/houses are expected to help the North and serve the North for free. There’s a special set of rules for the North and the Starks.

There’s more compassion for the ordeals that the Starks go through and less for the sufferings of Tyrion Lannister or Daenerys Targaryen. War is wrong except for when the Starks wage it. Only the Starks have the right to fight for their home. Concessions are made because the Starks are children, but Dany is given no such pass for being a sexually and physically abused 13 year old at the start of the books. There’s an ‘othering’ of characters that don’t belong to fan favorite houses.

Yes, at the heart of the books are the wars and conflicts between the different houses and so it’s natural that we take sides, but let’s recall that GRRM is primarily telling the stories of specific characters and not houses.

Five central characters will make it through all three volumes, however, growing from children to adults and changing the world and themselves in the process. In a sense, my trilogy is almost a generational saga, telling the life stories of these five characters, three men and two women. The five key players are Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and three of the children of Winterfell, Arya, Bran, and the bastard Jon Snow.

https://www.insider.com/game-of-thrones-original-story-2017-8

And again:

I’ve always had a soft spot for the outsider, for the underdog. ‘Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things’, as the title of one of the (TV series) episodes goes. The angst that they have in life makes for more conflict, makes for more drama, and there’s something very attractive about that. My Game of Thrones is told by outsiders of both types. None of them fit comfortably into the society into which they’ve been born, and they’re all struggling to find a place for themselves in which they’re valued and loved and respected, despite what their society considers their deficiencies. And out of that, I think, comes good stories. - GRRM

https://www.buzzfeed.com/danieldalton/purple-socks#221x6x5

There are many underdogs and outcasts in the books - exiled characters, disabled characters, non-conformist characters, characters of low birth, ugly characters, abused characters etc. These characters belong to different houses.

If we look at house Stark, again, the way Sansa is written is because he thought all the House Stark members were getting along and he wanted conflict and infighting among them as well - just like he had for House Lannister and House Targaryen and house Baratheon etc. Name one house where all their members got along?

Arya was one of the first characters created. Sansa came about as a total opposite b/c too many of the Stark family members were getting along and familes aren't like that. Thus, Sansa was created; he ended by saying they have deep issues to work out

https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1259

Something that we can see in the original outline as well:

Each of the contending families will learn it has a member of dubious loyalty in its midst. Sansa Stark, wed to Joffrey Baratheon, will bear him a son, the heir to the throne, and when the crunch comes she will choose her husband and child over her parents and siblings, a choice she will later bitterly rue.

Sure, Sansa did not marry Joffrey and have children in the books, but she still betrays her father and sibling to marry Joffrey and become queen. Something that GRRM has referred to in other SSMs.

Sansa was the least sympathetic of the Starks in the first book; she has become more sympathetic, partly because she comes to accept responsibility for her part in her father's death.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?tag=westeros-21&ie=UTF8&docId=49161

So house Stark is not some special exception where everyone gets along and hold hands and sing kumbaya. As of the last book, different factions are pushing for the different Starks to control the North, Sansa and Jon have never got along, Sansa and Arya have deep issues to work out, Robb’s will legitimizes resurrected Zombie!Jon as Jon Stark while Bran and Rickon are still alive etc. Their reunions, if it happens, is not going to be all hugs and kisses. Even in the original outline there was conflict between Jon and Bran.

Just like the other houses, we also have Stark family members looking out for their own self interests. Just like other houses, individual Starks also seek power and leadership. There is no Stark exceptionalism.

Arya wants to help the powerless and deliver justice like Dany does. Jon wants to reclaim his home like Dany wants to reclaim hers. Bran wants to overcome his disability and be valued like Tyrion wants to be valued. They all want a family and to be loved despite belonging to different houses. Isn’t that the underlying theme of the books? That these characters should put aside their differences and the houses should unite against a common threat because underneath it they are all the same?

#Houses in AsoIaF #GRRM #anti GOT #House Stark #Daenerys Targaryen #Tyrion Lannister

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takaraphoenix · 4 years

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percy jackson for the ask game

Thanks for playing! ^^

Top 5 favourite characters: Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Clarisse la Rue, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Silena Beauregard

Other characters you like: Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Thalia Grace, Leo Valdez, Charles Beckendorf, Tyson

Least favourite characters: Hera, uuuhm I mean Drew I guess and Nancy?? I don’t know, I’ve gone through so many cycles with PJO, I’ve come around on most characters

Otps: again, let’s make that a Top Five? Nico/Percy, Jason/Percy, Octavian/Percy, Triton/Percy, Will/Pery

Notps: Percy/Annabeth, Leo/Calypso, Grover/Percy, Tyson/Percy, book Luke/Percy

Favourite friendships: Canon? Grover & Percy, Clarisse & Percy, Nico & Reyna

Favourite family: I meeean technically they are ALL family since all of the gods are siblings/cousins! ;D Okay, okay. Paul, Sally, Percy and Tyson! A very obvious pick

Favourite episodes: doesn’t have a TV show adaptation yet? xD

Favourite season/book/movie: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Favourite quotes: not really a quote-kinda-gal

Best musical moment: haven’t gotten to see the musical yet!

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: I mean obviously when black on white it was confirmed that Nico was in love with Percy? Like? You can imagine, yes? :D

When it really disappointed you: …so often *whispers softly, voice breaking* but to sum it up basically from The Mark of Athena through to the end. The above mentioned confession was honestly like the only highlight out of those three books...

Saddest moment: WHEN THEY KILLED OFF BECKENDORF AND THEN KILLED OFF SELINA. I CRIED THE WHOLE FUCKING DAY

Most well done character death: Luke’s death was shit, Ethan’s death was frustrating because it was a cheap cop out of an actual redemption arc I really hate the “chose the wrong side and now immediately dies in a Heroic Sacrifice”-trope (which plays into why Luke’s death was shit), Bianca’s death was ridiculous - the fact that out of ALL of the Huntresses they picked the one who had been a huntress for 0.2 DAYS was just pathetic and literally projectd “this 12 year old child with zero combat training is totally gonna die” all along and it pisses me off so much, while Silena and Beckendorf made me cry they were also frustrating because they were avoidable had people used their brains, Octavian’s death genuinely made me furious because it was played for cheap laughs... I guess Bob and Damansen by default then...?

Favourite guest star: uuuuuuuh I got nothing

Favourite cast member: Leven Rambin as Clarisse la Rue?? Holy shit blessed casting thank you

Character you wish was still alive: ...one? I only get one? *distressed Phoe-noises* Silena? Charles? Ethan? Urgh. How dare you make me pick only one...

One thing you hope really happens: ...I know there are people out there still reading the new books and I wouldn’t wish this for them because they clearly still enjoy it, but good gods do I wish Riordan would just finally stop and give Percy a rest. Like, not even stop writing - he could write new things. but stop dragging Percy Jackson personally into everything, be that visiting the Norse because hey it’s his gf’s cousin, or getting dragged into Apollo’s weird shit, seriously just... move on, please

Most shocking twist: quite truthfully that Ares was the traitorous god in The Lightning Thief and not Hades. I am so used to Hades being painted as The Bad Guy and the Evil Mastermind bullshit that it was genuinely so refreshing that no actually he’s just wronged because he wants his property back too and he’s not actually the bad guy??

When did you start watching/reading?: 2010, I guess, right after I saw the movie for the first time

Best animal/creature: BLACKJACK BLACKJACK BLACKJACK. No wait Mrs. O’Leary is also there! :O Both? Both!

Favourite location: THE UNDERWORLD

Trope you wish they would stop using: Everyone Needs To Be Paired Up! Seriously, obsessive shipping in canon is cringey but if you have a literal ship with seven crewmates and it turns out to be three couples and the seventh is first in a Love Triangle with one of the couples and THEN gets his own girlfriend, that’s... that’s genuinely pathetic, like I would raise a judgemental eyebrow at a fanfiction that ships everyone off this perfectly paired up, but a published actual work that is not the author’s very first publication? That’s embarrassing, man

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: portrayal of Greek gods and myths

Funniest moments: snarky Percy sassing gods :D

Couple you would like to see: This implies a non-canon couple I’d like to see become canon and just honestly, genuinely, none, good gods there is already too much romance as it is, dial it back

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: honestly, the second movie took the two only fancasts that were dear to me and actually cast them. Anthony Head as Chiron and Nathan Fillion as Hermes. That was such perfect casting and were my only casting wishes, so like... I got nothing

Favourite outfit: Clarisse’s movie outfit?? It’s? So? Good??

Favourite item: I mean, Riptide is really practical?

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: A very dear friend of mine gave me the movie poster for the second movie and it is hanging on my ceiling :D But other than that, sadly enough this franchise is not exactly heavy on merch - which is ridiculous to me... the opportunities. Please make this into a cartoon and start producing ALL of the figures and toys. All of them. Seriously, the toy opportunity on this franchise is so huge??

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: uuuuuuh honestly no god really fits me so I don’t know

Most boring plotline: Annabeth’s third book side-quest really bore me

Most laughably bad moment: When they had a prophecy about an “angel’s breath” and Annabeth Chase, daughter of ATHENA, stood right there, not figuring it out - but Piper did. That... That did Annabeth such a freaking disservice, seriously the disrespect from Riordan there. Why did you even make her a daughter of wisdom if you aren’t going to use her to be clever? That actively made me bang my head against the nearest wall because it was such an obvious part of the riddle like seeeriously

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: I loved learning more about Annabeth, Luke and Thalia’s past together

Most layered character: I mean Percy, but that’s also due to getting five books exclusively from his POV

Most one dimensional character: lol like the dozen or so characters who only exist as First Name Only? And yeah, I get it, you can’t flesh them all out more. But Jason Grace had a whole-ass life before he came to CHB and we got name-drops of his closest friends in The Lost Hero, but most of them remained a name only and Jason not only didn’t get to team up with them later on, to try and convince them to join his cause, he also never actively thought about them. I don’t know, but if I’d spend months away from all my friends, I would definitely spend some of my POV thinking about them...

Scariest moment: thiiis was not a scary series

Grossest moment: When Riordan tried to sell domestic violence as cute, aka Annabeth judo-flipping her boyfriend in punishment for getting abducted by a goddess :D”““ what the fuq

Best looking male: if we go by actors, I guess Chris Rodriguez? xD

Best looking female: oooh definitely Clarisse when we go with the movie faces *^*

Who you’re crushing on (if any): mmmh yeah no

Favourite cast moment: I do not know any xD”

Favourite transportation: shadow-travel! It’s so cool

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): them entering the underworld was pretty damn cool??

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: NICO’S AGE. CONSISTENCY. Stop posting things that contradict each other like just stop tweeting canons out if you don’t have a fixed list of what is canon. ALSO SALLY’S MOTHER IS NAMED LAURA, SHE WAS NAMED LAURA FOR YEARS BEFORE YOU FORGOT THAT YOU NAMED THAT CHARACTER LAURA AND NOW SALLY NAMED HER CANON DAUGHTER FUCKING ESTELLE AFTER HER MOTHER’S NEW NAME. Good gods. How do professional authors not have lists to crosscheck about vital information of their own characters, like their birthdates and their parents’ names.

Best promo: I don��t watch promos

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: Honestly before I watched the movie already, when I read on wikipedia that a son of Hades was not just A Good Guy in this bookseries but also a main character :D

IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS

#Percy Jackson and the Olympians #PJOverse #In-Depth Fandom Ask Game #send me asks #Anonymous

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imlovethomassanders · 5 years

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Hunger Games AU

I’ve reread the books and watched the movies so I’ve thought about this a lot.

This post is how I imagine the sides would fit into the world of Panem, along with how they won their own respective Hunger Games. I’ve taken some creative liberty and changed a few things to work for the characters, but for the most part the general story line is the same.

There are so many things I had to leave out to make sure this post didn’t get too long, so I’ll be writing scenes/mini-fics/oneshots for this AU, along with more information about the rebellion since this post mostly focuses on the 74th Hunger Games (I’ll make a taglist for this AU if need be).

(This post is Moxiety, but the AU will have eventual DLAMP)

Virgil is 18 and lives in District 12. His younger brother, Thomas, is called as the tribute for the 74th Hunger Games, and Virgil volunteers without hesitation. Thomas gives Virgil the mockingjay pin, one of the few nice things their family owns, and Virgil promises to come back home to him.

During tribute training, he meets Patton, the male tribute from District 11. The two form an alliance along with the female tribute from 11, Rue. There, Virgil goes through the Hunger Games similar to how Katniss does.

After Rue dies, Virgil abandons his former plan of breaking the alliance and stays with Patton a bit longer, but they somehow find themselves falling for each other. While they’re struggling with this revelation, the Capitol is eating it up. Two star-crossed lovers, destined for tragedy.

Virgil eventually has to force himself to break the alliance, and is devastated when Patton asks him to kill him.

“I don’t want the Careers to find me. Please, let me die quickly.”

Right before Virgil lets go of the arrow, an announcement is made. All the tributes are now either alone or in a pair alliance. So to keep things interesting, both tributes from any current alliance can win.

Virgil is then surprised when Patton kisses him.

Patton’s leg gets badly injured in an attack from the Careers. Virgil gets both of them to escape, and spends most of the rest of the Games trying to heal Patton.

When the two are the last standing and they find out that only one of them can win, Patton nods towards a pack of nightlock berries on Virgil’s belt.

“Trust me,” Patton whispers as Virgil places them in each of their hands. “They have to have a victor.”

And that’s how both of them are crowned victors of the 74th Hunger Games.

Patton is 18 and from District 11. His name is called as the male tribute, and he immediately starts crying, and he doesn’t stop crying until he’s dragged off the stage by Peacekeepers. That reaction isn’t uncommon from the non-career districts, so that isn’t what made Patton memorable. What made Patton memorable was how he broke away from the Peacekeeper’s grasp to kneel down and hug Rue.

During training, he helped Virgil refine his gathering skills, helping him remember which plants are safe to eat and which plants could be used for medicine. When Virgil finds out Patton has no fighting abilities, he offers to teach him how to use a knife.

“Hm? Oh, no. I don’t need to know things like that. I’m not going to kill anyone.”

When the announcement is made that both him and Virgil can win, he immediately figures out that his is all to entertain the Capitol. They want to give them false hope. To keep things interesting.

He’ll play their games for them. He goes and kisses Virgil.

Not only to appease the Gamemakers, but also because he wants to.

Patton knows they’re not going to let both of them live, and at first he was totally okay with helping Virgil win. But now, they’ve told him he could live. And by God, Patton was going to hold them up to that.

So when they announce only one can win, Patton knows exactly what to do. He had been thinking of a plan since the first announcement.

Roman is 20 and from District 1, the District of luxury and one of the Capitols favorite districts. He won the 68th Hunger Games and was the youngest to ever win at fourteen. Roman grew up training (illegally) for the games like many kids in the Career Districts, but had no intention of volunteering. But then his older brother, Emile, was called. Roman volunteered without thinking. And since familial volunteers are higher priority than non-family, Roman was sent to the games. Emile was distraught that his younger brother was going because of him, but Roman told him he had too. Emile was too soft and kind. He’d be slaughtered in the games.

Plus, he had already lost one brother. He couldn’t lose another.

He won his games by his strength, excelling in swords and hand-to-hand combat. But he refused to start the fights, only fighting those who attacked him. His excellency in combat along with his charming personality got him many sponsors, which almost ensured his victory.

Roman is now a favorite of the Capitol. As the youngest to ever win the Games grew older, he became a popular sex symbol for the Capitol. Besides being forced to Capitol events, President Snow forced him to sleep with Capitol citizens, a reward for whichever lucky citizen wanted him as their prize. If he tried to refuse, Snow would threaten to kill anyone he cared about.

Anytime he could get away from the Capitol, he spent with Emile and his younger brother, Remy, or his friends who are also fellow victors, Logan and Janus.

Fourteen year old Roman loved the luxury of the Capitol and the Victor’s Village. Now he despised it. He is no longer the young boy from the Capitol’s favorite district. He is a victor from the Games. He has seen the Capitol’s sins first hand. And he is determined to stop them in any way he can.

Logan is 22 and from District 3, the District of technology. He won the 69th Hunger Games at the age of seventeen. When his name was called, he had no family to volunteer for him. No friends who cared enough. So he was forced into the games.

Logan was not a fighter. He had never handled a weapon nor did he know how to fight.

But Logan was smart. So during training, he doubled down on any non-combat skill he could find and observed his fellow tributes and started planning.

Logan won his games by tricking the other tributes. He managed to set up elaborate traps that would kill them, as he knew he wouldn’t be able to kill them himself.

Logan wasn’t really a favorite of the Capitol’s. Logan wasn’t conventionally sexy, particularly charming, or charismatic. He chose not to indulge in the Capitol’s events often, nor was he often forced to. He preferred his solitude in the Victor’s village, his only visitors being his friends Roman and Janus.

Being one of the few tributes from District 3, he is sometimes forced to be a mentor. Roman and Janus don’t have to do this, as the Capitol doesn’t want them to spend the games worrying about tributes. They want them to join their parties, not training kids or trying to get sponsors. But no one tries to stop Logan from being a mentor, and Logan dreads it every time. He can’t give them advice on how to fight. He can’t tell them how to use a sword or a knife or how to shoot a bow. He tries to give them survival tips and encourages them to train in combat during the three training sessions. But tributes from 3 barely win, so Logan usually has to watch all his kids die.

The one thing the Capitol appreciates about him is his inventions. Logan has made many inventions that help make life easier. They are intended to help the districts, but they are rarely given to the districts. They are usually confined to the Capitol, making it easier for them to live their already easy lives.

Logan hates the Capitol. He’d much rather stay at home. And when he’s at home, he’s planning. He’s watching and observing the Capitol. And when he sees the defiance from the two tributes in the 74th games to ensure they both win, the gears in his brain start turning.

Janus is 19 and from District 8, the district of textiles. He won the 71st Hunger Games at the age of sixteen. He, like Logan, had no friends or family willing to volunteer for him.

Janus was staring at the ground at the Reaping, and when his name was called, he looked up with an absolute look of terror on his face. He went on to get a low score on his evaluation, and during his interview he was a stuttering, nervous mess. No one thought he was going to last long.

When the games began, he grabbed a few supplies from the cornucopia and ran away from the other tributes. He wasn’t seen as a threat, so no one chased him. He’d get killed eventually.

For the rest of the games, he laid low in the arena, hiding from the other tributes. And when he was caught, he weakly fought them off before running away. And he was never sought after. The other tributes wanted to spend their time hunting the stronger, more dangerous tributes.

But then came the last day in the arena. There were four tributes left, and the Capitol was yearning for a final showdown. So the Gamemakers forced the four remaining tributes back towards the center of the arena (the way they forced Janus was by a giant swarm of dangerous insects chasing him). He walked into the clearing, and the three other tributes scoffed at him. The closest tribute made her way towards him, and Janus shakily reached for his knife but fumbled to get it off of his belt. She got closer and closer, but he couldn’t get it unattached. But as soon as she was in reach, he swiftly grabbed it and slit her throat in one clean move.

She collapsed, and the other two tributes stared at him. He grabbed another dagger from his belt for his other hand as he straightened his shoulders and stood up straight. His eyes darkened as he tightened his grip on the daggers and advanced on the other two tributes.

Janus was viscous and the battle was harrowing and bloody. And the Capitol loved it. All the tributes were bleeding heavily, and in the fight Janus had lost his left eye.

He jammed his dagger into the stomach of the last tribute, and as the other collapsed, Janus fell to his knees. He had won.

His breathing was hard and labored, and he felt like he was going to pass out, but Janus forced himself to stand up. He knew the cameras were looking at nothing but him. He again straightened his shoulders and stood tall, refusing to let anyone see him as weak again.

Janus let more of his true colors shine in the post-game interviews. He was snarky, a bit arrogant, and too smart for his own good. That, along with that great performance he gave, made him an instant Capitol favorite. The Capitol had gone crazy over that twist ending.

He completely indulged himself in Capitol culture, replacing his lost eye with a fake one with slit pupils, to represent a snake, the creature he was so often compared to. Capitol people went even crazier over him once he had two of his teeth filed into fangs along with snake scale tattoos across the left side of his face.

Almost every night, he was at a dinner or a party. He had multiple Capitol social circles, the people who considered him a friend spilling all of their gossip. He even got “friends” close to the President. Those he paid special attention to, digging up secrets about government officials left and right.

He was a praised victor and socialite, but the Capitol didn’t know better. Janus was still playing the games, and he had them all wrapped around his finger.

Janus was from District 8, one of the Districts that hated the Capitol the most. All the times he indulged in their pleasantries and extravagances, was only to learn the kinks in the system. To weed out the weak links and use them to his advantage. Because the only people he considered his friends were Logan and Roman, and he knew how much they also hated the Capitol. And with the three of them together, he knew they could find a way to take down the Capitol. They just had to find the right time to strike...

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #virgil sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #deceit sanders #moxiety #dlamp #cartoon therapy #emile picani #dr picani #remy sanders #sleep sanders #my fics #hunger games au #sympathetic deceit

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opalescentegg · 5 years

Text

‘Princess Tutu’ and the Absent Fish: An Informal Essay

Anyone familiar with Princess Tutu will recognize and appreciate its masterful melding of diverse fairytale and sometimes mythic elements --- may the record show that I’m no different. Nevertheless, there is one particular sequence in Ahiru’s heart-shard-hunting quest that never felt quite right: the heart-shard of Curiosity (alternatively, the Desire for Knowledge). Or, more precisely, it’s the River that always bothered me.

As a one-off magical narrative conceit there’s really nothing wrong with the River having the heart-shard. Thanks to the episode regarding the heart-shard of Affection, it was already established by that point that non-human(oid) entities could become bearers of pieces of the Prince’s heart. So the River as heart-shard-holder was at least consistent within the narrative’s internal logic. What I think I was recognizing through my dissatisfaction with the River, though without even fully comprehending it, was instead a sudden break with what I will term the “chain of motif.” To put it another way: every other heart-shard, up until the final five from the town gates, is connected is some way to a recognizable fairytale motif and/or structure; all except for the heart-shard of Curiosity.

For an illustration of heart-shards and their associated motifs, with the specific elements that identify the motifs (where sources give different translations for the known heart-shard emotions I will provide both), I present the following:

1. Disappointment/Bitterness -- Swan Lake: admittedly, this is mostly in the music and “set design” of the episode which, along with the short-lived (one-sided) dancing rivalry between Anteaterina and Rue, are probably mostly meant to serve as a introducing the central motif of the show. Additional possible foreshadowing of the thematic conflict between Ahiru/Tutu and Rue/Kraehe later on, though this claim is much more tentative.

2. Loneliness -- Hansel and Gretel: a house in the woods, a story revolving around food, fear (though here ultimately unfounded) of being eaten

3. Sorrow/Sadness -- Giselle: taken directly from the ballet, which itself draws from the folklore of willis/vilas that, depending on the tradition, are variously described as ghosts, fairies, nymphs, etc. I’d also like to point out that the design of the willis fulfills the visual requirements of the White Lady of so many European (and Euro-influenced) countries.

4. Affection -- Not a single tale-type, but calls upon a conglomeration of magical light folklore, i.e. will-o’-the-wisps (leading people astray, as the Lamp’s riddles led Ahiru not so much astray, but certainly to where the spirit wanted her), the genie in the (oil) lamp, etc. (I also recall someone once posting about an Andersen tale in which an old street lamp reminisces on all the things it’s seen in its life, much like the Lamp-spirit. However, while a strong argument can certainly be made for this story being the inspiration for the Lamp, it’s a pretty obscure one from HCA’s repertoire, so I believe the strength of the lamp motif comes mostly from the examples I have highlighted.)

5. Fear -- Sleeping Beauty: for obvious reasons. (There are also shades of the Grimms’ “The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was,” but that’s a real stretch to fully justify, even for me.)

6. Curiosity/Desire for Knowledge -- ??????

7. Devotion -- “The Red Shoes,” Andersen: since the magical black pointe shoes Rue slips into seem to have a similar unsettling degree of autonomy to Andersen’s eponymous footwear. The fact that they cause a transformation that slashes at Rue with thorny vines is also a nearly sadistic inversion (intentional or not, who can say?) of the Anderson story, wherein the sinful girl is at last relieved of her suffering when an angel, carrying a branch blooming with roses, finally grants her mercy and takes her up to Heaven. I can also see possible shades of Pygmalion in Malen’s obsession with drawing Rue, though her fixation may be argued as serving more to highlight the themes of lack of control and destructive self-sacrifice implicit in the HCA tale, which I still see as the overriding motif here.

8. Regret -- Cinderella: the episode musical motif, plus the element of the “ball,” or at least a gathering of multiple people (and crow demons?) in a single location. Charon even plays the part of, first, the “step-parent” who refuses to let his ward attend that event, but eventually transitions into the role “fairy godmother” who furnishes the ward with the physical necessities he needs to go out and do what he wants. (Amusingly, this makes Ahiru either a bait-and-switch/red herring Cinderella, OR makes her and Fakir a kind of composite Cinderella, each one fulfilling different aspects of the motif -- possible foreshadowing for later partnership, courage described as “two hearts as one,” etc.)

9. Love -- The title of the episode introducing this heart-shard is “La Sylphide,” though it doesn’t have much in common with the eponymous ballet. What it does have is the first very recognizable instance of full-on witchcraft in the show, which is undeniably a strong and instantly identifiable fairytale element. The curse Rue places on this shard also positions her as the “false bride,” from such tales where one woman either kills, curses, or brings low and supplants a “true bride” in order to take that woman’s lover for herself.

10. Pride -- The Flying Dutchman: In which a man is punished for his sins usually implied, and sometimes outright stated, to be a slight against God performed in a bout of hubris; and cursed to wander and/or continue their mortal duties without rest for all eternity. Whether they were cursed with immortality or simply exist as spirits unable to enter Heaven or Hell varies between tellings, but the framework is essentially the same. (This is almost certainly a later variant of a story type I would prefer not to call by name, but involves “Wandering”; though since that protagonist is always cursed with immortality and never becomes a spirit, it’s a tale-type that is at best tangentially related to the motif I’ve chosen anyway.)

11. Hope -- Swan Lake; The Little Mermaid; The Ugly Duckling; etc.: for obvious reasons again.

Fairy tales and folklore rely heavily on patterns. In adopting and adapting these stories to craft its own narrative, PT also inherits those formulas. But the heart-shard of Curiosity does not fit the pattern --- in fact, it seems not to have parallels with any recognizable tale pattern at all.

What is particularly strange is the presence in the episode of many of the building blocks of a very famous folklore motif, and one made all the more conspicuous by its absence from the narrative. That is: the motif of the ring in the fish.

As far as age is concerned this motif goes back a long way, along one of two variant branches. One: the ring that is lost, despaired of, and miraculously returned to great joy (and often used as a token of recognition). Two: the ring that is the catalyst, lynchpin, etc. of some undesirable future event, which the owner tries to throw away in an attempt to dodge destiny and which inevitably comes back to him, the ring here being a tangible reminder of the inescapability of fate.

Of these variants the first is by far the most common. Arguably the most internationally famous tales of this variant is that of Solomon’s ring, which provides the basic structure many later tales of the branch: King Solomon’s (magic) signet ring was stolen by a demon and cast into the ocean, whereupon it was swallowed by a fish. Years later, a fisherman caught a fish which was then cooked and served to Solomon, who cut it open to find his ring in its belly. (The ring here also acts as an indisputable identifier of the true Solomon, who had been reduced to a pauper by the aforementioned demon after losing his ring, since the demon could shapeshift and had assumed the king’s form. The retrieval of the ring restored Solomon to his true form, allowed him to vanquish the demon, and retake his rightful place as king. Many ring-in-fish stories conclude with the ring acting as absolute proof of a character’s identity, often in a “recognition” or “reveal” scene.)

In contrast to this story is that of Polycrates and his ring. On the advice (and possibly prophecy) of the king of Egypt, Polycrates the tyrant of Samos is told to cast away that possession which he values post, lest his overabundance of success raise the ire of the gods and cause them strike him down. Polycrates attempted to do so, casting into the sea his prized emerald ring, which caused him much grief. However, not long after a fisherman brought a fish as tribute to the tyrant; when Polycrates had it gutted his ring was found in its belly, proof that he could not escape his disastrous fate (indeed, he was eventually overthrown and assassinated, possibly by being impaled and his corpse then crucified).

The object cast into the water (typically a piece of jewelry) varies depending on a story: a ring, a necklace, a bracelet, and anklet, etc., though I think the particular emphasis on encircling jewelry is an important detail. Sometimes the object is simply a gemstone --- also important in this discussion, given the curiously jewel-like appearance of the heart-shards.

In any case, the basic plot of “[thing] in water - [thing] in fish - capture of fish - [thing] back in hand” (or, even more simplistically: a valuable object lost in water and found later in an unexpected place), is found in sources ranging from Sanskrit dramas to Irish mythology. Even Hans Christian Andersen famously refurbished it in his “Steadfast Tin Soldier.” And speaking of Irish mythology, the Fenian cycle famously includes a tale about culture hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Salmon of Knowledge.

(For the uninitiated: A salmon ate nine hazelnuts that fell into the Well of Wisdom, gaining all the world’s knowledge, and the first person to eat of its flesh would likewise gain that knowledge. The poet Finegas/Finn Eces, to whom Fionn was then a servant, caught the fish after many years and told Fionn to cook it while he attended to other matters, but not to eat it. Fionn (surprisingly) followed this directive, until he poked at the fish to check its doneness and burned his finger in the hot fat --- a finger which he immediately stuck into his mouth to soothe, only to thereby ingest the drop of the salmon’s fat and gain the knowledge contained therein. Upon learning of this, Finegas gave Fionn the rest of the fish to eat, and Fionn gained all the world’s knowledge.)

The motif of a fish associated with great knowledge lends itself well as a base element for a hypothetical holder of the heart-shard of Curiosity, especially when combined with that of the ring in the fish/returning ring. The latter motif is essentially part of the episode anyway. After all, there’s a clear instance of jewelry being cast into water --- when Ahiru throws her pendant (an encircling necklace) into the River so that she’ll no longer have to act as Princess Tutu and bring pain to Mytho. While her necklace is never miraculously returned to her, she nevertheless recovers it, and so fulfills the bare-bones conditions of the tale type.

The fact that this outcome was exactly what Drosselmeyer wanted would have paralleled the theme of inescapable fate we find in the story of Polycrates’ ring. In doing so, it would have raised the stakes of one of PT’s central conflicts (do these people even have free will, and if they do can they exercise it successfully to escape tragedy?), making the push and pull that much more dynamic and the tension even more taut. Because the returned ring motif would have (seemingly) implied an early answer: No. The “ring” always returns, and the fate it symbolizes is therefore set in stone. It’s a pattern we’re all familiar with, even if our recognition of it isn’t always conscious. But therein lies the problem. For seemingly no reason, in this episode PT decides to disrupt the pattern.

These are the fairy tale element building blocks we have to work with in the episode:

Water

Something lost (two somethings, in this case: the necklace and the heart-shard; one is lost purposefully in the water, the other by happenstance)

The return of things lost

Later on (continuing into a couple of the following episodes), we are even given:

A recognition scene, brought about by the thing lost in the water

The heart-shard, once recovered and then stolen by Kraehe, leads to Rue’s eventual “recognition” of herself as Kraehe. It keeps asking her who she is and why she wears black feathers, forcing her into a psychological conflict lasting two episodes. Unlike a returned ring the heart-shard is not itself hard proof of her identity, but it nonetheless forces the question of identity to the forefront of Rue’s consciousness from the depths of her denial --- it is the catalyst of revelation, if not its direct agent.

(This isn’t even touching on Ahiru’s pendant becoming the element by which Fakir later identifies her as Princess Tutu, and which was also retrieved from the water.)

But, curiously, no fish to be found anywhere. Very odd, considering that the fish is most often the narrative element that ties all the others together. It’s the device that keeps the plot from stopping dead after the valuable “something” is lost.

The closest we get is, well, Ahiru herself. She is the one who retrieves her necklace from the River, after all. One could say it’s also when she’s at her most fish-like, since it’s one of the few times we see her fully submerged in water. But I find this an unsatisfying answer for the absence of the fish. If nothing else, it lacks the gestative image of a shining ring (or necklace or jewel) sitting quietly in the cold of a piscine belly, generating all sorts of connotations relating to rebirth, fertility, protection, and so on. While not strictly necessary to the function of a returning ring story, the image nevertheless strikes me as wonderfully evocative and symbolic, which may well account for so many returning ring tales coming down to us as ring-in-fish tales.

No aquatic creature of any type is part of the encounter with the heart-shard of Curiosity. (Unless we again count Ahiru, though her being in her mostly-human Tutu aspect --- the one most removed from her aquatic duck form --- strains this interpretation past the point of credulity in my opinion.) Perhaps the most perplexing thing about this heart-shard is how the River itself is what holds it. Not even a personification of the River, i.e. a nereid, nymph, kelpie, undine, rusalka, or a few dozen other types of aquatic folklore creatures. Other aquatic animals were eschewed as well, though if the writers didn’t want to use a fish is would have still been a good opportunity to include a frog, already associated with retrieving golden balls from wells (speaking of valuable round things lost in the water). And as far as I know, there just aren’t that many stories which feature sentient, non-anthropomorphized bodies of water; the element is obscure at best if it exists at all, certainly isn’t part of any recognizable tale types. It does not fit the pattern presented by the other narrative building blocks.

It’s a conundrum I can’t quite parse. If the writers were already including so many of the elements of a common and well-known tale type, why the glaring omission of the element second in importance only to the lost object itself? The truth is, I don’t have any good answers.

I mean, I can still theorize of course. For example, it’s entirely possible that the heart-shard was swallowed and held by an ordinary fish at some point (the show establishes that regular, non-anthropomorphic animals live in the town as well), but then the fish simply died and the heart-shard then reverted to the River. The only problem with this theory is that there is absolutely nothing within the text of the show to support it, and in no way impacts the story we see play out in the show.

And so, what are we left with? There’s a hole in the story structure with nothing to fill it; a fish story that, like all those tall tales that inspired the idiom, never produces a fish. But perhaps that, itself, is the best conclusion we can draw from this incomplete tale; the definition of the colloquial “fish story”: a great big lie. Whether as intentional foreshadowing or just a glitch of human error, by omitting the fish the show writers tipped their hand. If a ring-in-fish story can so conspicuously become just a variety of “fish story,” then the credibility of all the fairytale structures we see in the show must be called into question. If the fish is missing from its own tale type, what else might be missing? If essential elements are missing from certain established story structures, how are those stories still progressing beyond their natural lifespan? If fairytale plots, with all their adherence to patterns and formulas, are the “truth” of this reality, what might it mean when the pattern is so obviously disrupted?

If Drosselmeyer meant to trap a town in a fairytale for all eternity, he overestimated the sturdiness of traditionally oral story structures. The tales they produce are narrative bricolage, held together with the spit and chewing gum of predictable conventions and the skill of the storyteller. Lose one key element, and unless you can convincingly slot another in post haste the entire fabric of the story will unravel in your hands. Drosselmeyer cast his Story’s net wide and strong, but I suspect even that turned out to be subject to degradation and decomposition. Holes were inevitable. This one was just big enough for a single fish to slip through, and with it the first hint about the truth of the Story, carried like a ring in its belly.

#princess tutu #my writing #meta #folklore #the ring in the fish #the returning ring #trust me by my standards this is almost uncomfortably informal #if i had my way i'd use only the most thorough of scholarly texts for this research #and provide footnotes and an annotated bibliography #instead i churned out 3000 words in a wild bout of insomnia with about twenty wikipedia tabs open #scholarship!#(someone please tell me i was still making sense at the end i was getting kinda loopy)

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annachronistic · 5 years

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Smoke Stalked

29 May, 1832

It was around 7 o'clock in the morning when the residents of 187 Rue de Normandy noticed that something was off. At this time of day, one would typically hear birds tweeting and fluttering in the trees. But in this case Bossuet, Joly, and Musichetta were hearing faint noises that may or may not have been words. They could not discern from where they were originated.

"I think our house is haunted," Bossuet said, followed again by the strange unintelligible sound. "Why must you ghosts have to be early risers?"

"Perhaps it is just a cat outside?" Joly said.

"Or a cat's ghost?" Musichetta said, her voice hoarse, for she had contracted a cold recently. She was a very easygoing woman though, not one to complain of illnesses.

"Then I guess it would be a purr-tergeist," Bossuet joked.

"Our neighbor's house has been abandoned for years. I might go over there to see how many cats have inhabited that place and are holding séances," Musichetta said and then sneezed.

"Are you sure you want to go outside this early? I'm afraid you've caught a cold," said Joly.

"I'm fine," Musichetta said. "I was probably going to get up soon anyway."

"Alright, then. I'll light a fire and make some tea," Joly said.

Joly went into the living room where the fireplace was. Upon getting closer, the faint cries became more discernible: a frightened tenor voice saying "Help! Help!". Joly exchanged confused glances with Musichetta, confirming that she had indeed heard what he had just heard.

"Did someone say something?" Joly asked, making sure he was not going crazy.

"Yes," the voice replied.

"I don't see you. Where are you?"

"In the chimney," said the voice.

At the word "chimney", Bossuet just held his face in his palm and shook his head in a way a parent might do to a stupid teenager. Joly, more concerned, rushed towards the chimney. It was fortunate that Joly did not actually light a fire in the fireplace. How someone would wind up in a chimney was beyond him, but Joly did not have the time nor think it was appropriate to ask how this person got there.

"How long have you been there?" Joly asked what he thought was a more relevant question. Nevertheless, this person managed to divulge his entire backstory.

"I have been here since after midnight. I came for my future wife Cosette. However, her father is quite wary of me and doesn't want her seeing me, so I decided to enter the house in a more discreet manner. This is the address that a girl told me where she lived. Thank God someone is actually in this house; I've been waiting for hours. You must be the servant," the voice said, muffled from the wall of bricks.

"I am no servant," replied Joly, recognizing him as someone who apparently wanted a mistress really badly.

"Whoever you may be, please do not tell Cosette's father that I am in here."

"I do not even know who Cosette is, so I assure you that will not happen. Whoever you are, we will get you out as soon as possible, rest assured. Inhaling that much chimney soot cannot be good for the lungs. You sound vaguely familiar though. Would you mind identifying yourself?"

"That is of no importance now," the voice replied curtly.

Joly and Musichetta were rightfully confused while Bossuet was failing to keep a straight face, for he knew with certainty to whom the voice belonged.

"I believe you have the wrong address, Marius!" Bossuet said loudly, positively identifying the mysterious voice from the chimney.

"Oh shit! Is that you, Lesgles?" the man confirmed to be Marius said. "Please, Bossuet, do not tell anyone about this."

"I live here with two other people, so they already know now," Bossuet said.

"I'm Musichetta," Bossuet's and Joly's mistress introduced herself.

"And I'm Joly. We've met before a few times."

"Oh, Joly. Now I remember you," Marius recalled. "You're the short one with the horrid laugh."

"I can't believe that's the thing that people remember about me," Joly smiled.

"Yes, that is one of the more distinctive things about you, Jolllly," Musichetta said and kissed him.

"Well I guess the three of us can pull you out. Then you'll be kissing this Cosette in no time," Bossuet said.

"Are you sure you can? I am stuck in the flue," Marius said.

"Oh no, he has the flu!" Joly said, concerned, possibly mishearing what Marius had said.

"I mean flue as in the flue of a chimney, not flu as in influenza," Marius corrected.

"You should seek medical treatment as soon as you get out of here, as influenza combined with smoke inhalation could turn into pneumonia," Joly said, completely ignoring the homophone that Marius had pointed out.

"He's just worried about illnesses as of late because I've caught a little cold," Musichetta explained. Musichetta crawled into the fireplace and spied a foot just below the smoke shelf of the chimney. She examined the width of the distance between the smoke shelf and the lower part of the chimney.

"I could pull your ankle down, but that would make you even more stuck, as the throat of the chimney is far too narrow for you to fit through. You're so close, yet so far," she said.

"I must say, the chimney looked rather large from the outside, yet I am completely stuck now. I guess this means I'm fat," Marius complained.

"You're not fat," Bossuet assured him. "Only small children can fit through chimneys."

"If that is true, then I could have gotten a chimney sweeper boy to enter Cosette's house via the chimney and then unlock the door for me."

The trio outside the chimney cringed at Marius' alternative 'plan'.

"Then you would get caught and the servant would be blamed for letting strangers break in and get fired after the fact," Musichetta added.

"Shit, I don't want that to happen," said Marius. "By the way, I am sorry for mistaking you for a servant, Joly."

"That is okay, Marius. I initially mistook your voice for a cat."

"Really? I hate cats. They don't love you, and they knock things off of counters for no good reason. Such spiteful creatures."

"You're kicked out of les amis de l'abaisse," Joly said.

"But I am not even in that group," Marius pointed out.

"Well congratulations, monsieur Pontmercy. You have now officially been inducted into les amis de l'abaisse," Joly declared.

"Thanks, Joly?" the Bonapartist was unsure of how to take up that offer.

"Now you're kicked out," said Joly.

"Drat," said Marius.

"That was the most genius yet petty maneuvers ever," Musichetta said to Joly, impressed, before she blew her nose into a handkerchief.

"It was related to a discussion about cats, so I guess it was pet-ty." Joly and Musichetta laughed and shared another kiss. "But as minute as our differences are, he cannot remain in that chimney much longer!"

"I have an idea!" Bossuet declared.

"Do you know the book Rapunzel, where the titular character lets down her hair so that the prince can climb up the castle? Well just like Rapunzel, we can get on the roof and throw something down the chimney and pull you up. But instead of using hair, we'll use a long rope that we have for drawing water out of the well."

"Splendid idea," said Joly. "It will be as if we're fishing and our goal is to catch a Marius fish."

Bossuet, Joly, and Musichetta climbed up the tree adjacent to their house in order to access the rooftop. Bossuet cast the rope down the chimney whose length was more than long enough to reach the bottom. As Joly and Musichetta peered down the chimney to see if they could spot Marius (they couldn't; it was too dark), Joly noticed that Musichetta was barefoot.

"Why are you not wearing any shoes? It is still early in the morning and rather cold," Joly said.

"Pinet heels are uncomfortable and difficult to climb a tree with, so I took off my shoes," Musichetta explained.

"I do not want your cold to get worse. Here, you can take mine," Joly offered.

"Why thank you, ma chéri," Musichetta said and kissed Joly.

"The rope is down there now, Marius. Did you find it yet?" Bossuet asked, practically having to yell down the chimney to communicate with Marius, as he was quite a distance away.

"I cannot see anything at all!" Marius replied.

"Then feel around for it," Joly advised. The rope that Bossuet was holding onto stirred a bit.

"I got it!" said Marius. Musichetta and Joly got behind Bossuet and joined him in pulling the rope. They walked backwards, rope in their hands, and came to a dead stop. The three of them pulled in sync to maximize their effort in dislodging Marius from the flue. The rope stretched slightly, but alas, they were getting nowhere. They were at it for fifteen minutes, and all efforts they made in pulling him up were futile. The only displacements in the rope came from Marius losing his grip.

"Ugh, my hands hurt and I am really hot," Marius complained.

"Can you tie the rope around your arm instead?" Bossuet asked.

"Do you have a fever?" Joly asked.

"No and no," Marius responded.

"This isn't working," said Musichetta. "We might need to contact the police to rescue him."

"Please, no!" Marius begged. "I do not want to get the police involved because what I did was technically illegal. Police and prosecutors will look for any reason to press charges on a citizen. I know this because I am studying to be a defense attorney. In addition, if I go to jail then I cannot see Cosette. She could forget about me or think that I'm a con and not like me anymore."

"Okay, we'll find someone else who can help who is not a police officer," Musichetta assured him.

"Grantaire is the nearest person we know of. He is rather creative and might have a chance at solving this," said Joly.

"Let's pray that he is not drunk and in a coma right now," said Bossuet.

"Oh I'm sure he'll be happy to see you," Joly laughed.

"Why do I have to get him?" Bossuet asked.

"Because you are much faster than Musichetta or myself," Joly said.

"But I am exceptionally bad at navigation. The place could be right around the corner and I'll be 45 minutes late."

"The directions to his house from here are so simple that no one could falter them. It is ten minutes away at most. You'll head west on—"

"You cannot just give me compass directions like I am Lewis and Clark, Jolllly," Bossuet laughed. "I've no idea where the hell west is."

"West is that way," Joly said, pointing west.

"You always know where the compass directions are because because of your interest in the Earth's magnetic field," Bossuet remarked.

"Go west, turn left at the end of the block, then turn right at the end of the following block. Grantaire's house will be the third one on the right"

"Go west, turn left, turn right" Bossuet repeated to himself. "I'll hurry and be back soon." Bossuet then proceeded to jump directly from the roof to the pavement and head west at a jog's pace.

"That hurt my knees just watching you do that," Joly cringed. "We'll see you and Grantaire in twenty minutes!"

After Bossuet had disappeared, Joly got off the roof by climbing back down the tree, while Musichetta took Bossuet's expedited method of jumping off the roof that Joly was not really a fan of. The two then tasked themselves with keeping Marius company in the meantime.

"So who is this Cosette you were planning to meet?" Musichetta asked Marius out of curiosity.

"A stunningly beautiful bourgeoise girl who I hope to be my wife someday. She's slender and pale with curly brown hair and vivid blue eyes. I have spoken to her only a few times, but it feels as if I've known her for years. I am awestruck by how intelligent and kind-hearted she is. She is also a fun girl: interested in fashion wants to be a musician. Did I mention she's gorgeous?"

"Well you won't look so gorgeous unless you change out those ashy chimney clothes of yours," Joly joked.

"Ugh, this is all Éponine's fault," Marius spat. "That dumb gamine wrote down the wrong address."

"But even if you went to the right address, you would still get stuck in the chimney," Joly pointed out.

"Fair enough," Marius said.

"Perhaps she gave you the wrong address on purpose?" Musichetta suggested.

"I think not," said Marius. "Éponine is dim and illiterate; it is probably just pure incompetence on her part. I do not know why I trusted her with favors like this. She looks like someone who would murder you in your sleep."

"Grantaire looks like someone who would murder you in broad daylight, yet he is one of the most insightful people I know," Joly pointed out.

"You ought not to make assumptions about a woman based on what she looks like," Musichetta said before sneezing into her handkerchief. "If she were actually illiterate, she wouldn't be able to just make up the word 'Normandy'."

"Shit, you're right. She can read. That is even worse! That bitch intentionally mislead me, and for what damned reason?!" Marius was growing angry.

"I'm guessing she is being passive-aggressive," said Musichetta. "Perhaps she wants you to be a man and talk to Cosette's father yourself. Or just to be patient and wait until she moves out of her father's house."

"It'll be okay, Marius," Joly tried to de-escalate the situation. "Chetta has been out of her parents' house since she was twenty. Now she is planning to be married this August. I am very sure that things will go well for you in the future."

"That is all fine, but you must note that she is of a very wealthy family, possibly a millionaire, which means that she probably will not leave her parents' house until she is married. Now that I think about it, I should have known that this place was not her house," said Marius.

"Are you calling us impecunious, consul Gaius Marius?" Joly said dramatically, trying to be funny.

"That is not what I meant to convey!" Marius said, and if his face wasn't already red from the heat of the chimney, he would have blushed.

"Once you see Cosette, will you ever tell her the story about this...incident?" Musichetta asked.

"Absolutely not," said Marius.

"On your tenth wedding anniversary?

"There is no way."

"On your twentieth anniversary?

"Never."

"Your 500th anniversary?"

"Perhaps. Hopefully I'll be dead by then."

"Shit, it'll probably be your 500th anniversary before Bossuet and Grantaire get here. What is taking them so long?" Joly wondered.

"I don't know," said Musichetta. "Hopefully they'll be here soon."

__________________________________________________________________

one hour and forty-five minutes later

While Rue de Normandy had been quite an uneventful location for the past few hours, that was going to change soon. Approaching in the distance were two tall men, each carrying one axe in each hand. Joly and Musichetta greeted them with much anticipation.

"Where on Earth have you been?" Musichetta asked.

"I got lost," Bossuet sighed.

"And it took a while for me to find these axes," Grantaire said.

"Axes, you say? I believe I already know where this is going," Joly smirked as Grantaire handed him an axe.

"Yes indeed. The outside of your house will soon become a demolition site. The landlord is going to hate you, but this is the only way to free Marius from that blasted chimney."

The four of them approached the chimney, axes in hand. It looked old but well-built, like it might take a few hours to destroy.

"All the houses in this neighborhood are rather subpar," said Grantaire. "This shit was probably built in the 1600s. The mortar between the bricks is made of lime so it is quite flimsy. Come on and give it a try."

Musichetta took a swing of the axe and aimed for the mortar. It crumbled a bit, leaving a space from where the bricks were wedged together. Bossuet and Joly went at it as well, warning Marius when the axes were being swung so as not to frighten him. Grantaire was to join in on the demolition, but not before he annihilated Marius first, for Bossuet had told Grantaire all about Marius breaking into the wrong house via chimney in a failed scheme to meet his lover.

"I really thought you were smart, Marius," Grantaire chuckled. "You know all these languages, yet you are stupid enough to climb through a chimney as a grown adult and possibly get lit on fire for a girl you have only met a few times."

"I am not stupid, I am crazy," Marius stated plainly.

"Where did you get this idea from? Saint Nicholas?"

"Yes," Marius whined. "Ah!"

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! The blows from the axes felt like they were getting closer to Marius. After a while, Bossuet was able to damage the mortar enough to remove a few bricks from the chimney. Now part of Marius' back was visible. Joly swung his axe below the damaged bricks repeatedly.

"Damn, this thing is well-built!" he said.

"But contrary to saint Nicholas, your scheme is very illegal and very unsettling," Grantaire continued his conversation with Marius. "But you're handsome, so you get away with it. If someone ugly like me tried to contact Cosette like you did, she would call the police, no question!" Grantaire swung the axe a bit harder than he had previously.

"I suppose that is a double standard," Marius admitted. "I can see how unsettling I might look to others. It would be a lot easier, however, if I could understand women. Then I might know Éponine's reason for giving me the wrong address."

"You mead something like bind reading?" Musichetta asked. "That would be a useful power in many scenarios."

"Oh please," said Grantaire. "If it were possible to read minds, Joly would be in a mental hospital, I would be in prison, and Marius would be in a mental hospital and prison."

"That is fairly ironic coming from someone who has four axes just laying about in their apartment," Marius countered.

"You got me there, Marius," Grantaire laughed.

The demolition of the chimney took all of two hours to complete. Grantaire, Joly, Bossuet, and Musichetta were rightfully tired after the fact (initially, Joly thought that he hadn't the endurance to even complete this task). Marius emerged sweating, covered in ash and coughing, his voice shot from inhaling chimney soot and yelling to communicate through the brick walls. Joly promptly offered him some water.

"My spying-on-Cosette outfit is ruined!" Marius whined. "I look like a miner."

"If this outfit is for spying, then she isn't supposed to see you, so it wouldn't matter what the outfit looked like," Musichetta pointed out.

"You should be a lawyer," Marius said.

"Yes, and testify against our landlord," Bossuet added. "He is probably going to kill us if he finds out what we did."

"We'll worry about fixing the chimney later," said Joly. "The good thing is that we are all safe. Granted, we all looked like idiots, but we are okay nonetheless."

"And how," said Marius. "You had to destroy the chimney to get me out. I hate this. It makes me seem fat."

"No, you're not even close to being fat. I actually am fat," said Grantaire.

"Plus, if you use English pounds to measure your weight, then everyone seems fat!" Joly said. "A pound is a little less than half of a kilogram, so using English units makes it look like you weigh about twice as much. I'm 102 by the way."

"Damn, king Henry VIII!" Grantaire quipped.

"So the English have a complicated language and a strange measurement system," Marius rolled his eyes.

"Now that you're out, how many women do we have to free who are chained up in your basement?" Grantaire joked.

"None. I don't have a basement."

"That was the wrong answer," Grantaire laughed.

"I must say, this is not one of my proudest moments," said Marius. "This is even worse than the handkerchief incident."

"Wait, when was that?" Bossuet prompted.

"I've said too much!" Marius panicked, embarrassed.

"Oh no. It looks like Pontmercy has another story that is in dire need of context," Joly said in a singsong voice and laughed his strange-sounding laugh.

"Honestly, I am done," Marius said, his face held in his palm. "I swear, I will walk into those woods and I will never come out."

#les miserables #fanfiction #fanfic #marius #joly #bossuet #musichetta #bini #comedy #also on ao3

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theboywhocriedbooks · 6 years

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Circe by Madeline Miller

[Goodreads]

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

Thoughts:

I’ve read Miller’s The Song of Achilles and I really liked it but this one takes the cake for me. It might be my personal bias though. I love female characters, I love witches and I love retellings of greek myths so this book was a great fit for me. I hadn’t had much knowledge of Circe before reading this book but I think I was really surprised at how involved she was? There was just so much that she was connected to, which you can even see from just the wikipedia page on her. On top of that, a random thing I love about stories that focus on immortal beings is the passage of time is so arbitrary. I’m all here for men being turned into pigs so when Circe starting coming into her own that was great but still was upsetting at how that came about. I’m really happy with how this book turned out, it was a wild ass time and I was stuck to the pages the entire time. It was a bit slower paced but that was fine with me! Go check it out because I’m now going to go on about it in spoiler-y detail below:

I love Circe now. I’m a little surprised I hadn’t heard of her before this book and I’m really curious as to how Miller chose this figure to be the one she focuses on. I didn’t expect her to be related to the Minotaur or for her to be involved with Odysseus. This is mostly on me though and my lack of greek mythology knowledge. What I do like about Miller, and especially this book, is that she really takes these stories and makes them her own in a way that doesn’t veer too far away from the source material. I would like to look up or have someone with the knowledge see how much of this is based on the original myth and how much is her own workings. Either way I think it was such an great book.

I loved Circe. She was that character that was like “I’m the least loved child of this powerful character but they wILL RUE THE DAYS THEY DOUBTED ME” and she proves to them that she’s a bit more powerful than they imagined. I’d want to complain about her father but I don’t think hating on male gods is going to be anything short of redundant so lets move past that and say at least he gave her an island? With living on an island alone comes the concerns of intruders and that does happen a few times. Men come to the island and one rapes her which leads to her cursing men to be pigs after that if she fears they will attempt the same. Again, I’m all for men being turned into pigs but I’m just sad she had to go through that.

I was looking at a review that mentioned this part of the story and was heavily criticizing it. The reviewer was saying that rape should not have been a big defining point for Circe’s character, that it was just lazy and gross writing. I’ve been attempting to think more critically about that. While I definitely agree with the statement, I’m just not sure it’s exactly relevant to this story? Even though I think turning men into pigs is great, I don’t really think it was such a defining moment for Circe? She was already a witch, she was already on the island alone and she was already doing her own thing. She might have been weary of men, and rightly so it appears, after that but I don’t think it held her back much aside from her making pig potion just to be safe. I’m definitely open to other peoples thoughts about this though, perhaps I’m missing something!

I’m not sure if its in every book/work I’ve encountered Athena in but she’s not super my favorite, honestly. So seeing her be this sort of opposing force in this story was interesting. I understand her motive but I’m just like okay, next. I do enjoy seeing higher gods be played by lesser-powered people. Athena could not do a thing and I lived for it. As for Circe’s son, I wasn’t super wild about him or anything. I could appreciate the story but I was like okay back to your mom please.

I loved the animals and the witchcraft. I loved the lion, that was a big stab in my heart but also beautiful. I loved seeing her turn that douche into a god and her cousin into a ghoul so that everyone would see her power. That came back to bite her (lol) but it was a great plot point. One of my favorite scenes was when she went down to the depths of the ocean to talk to the giant ancient string ray to get his poison tail. She was ready to sacrifice herself for her child and then she didn’t have too. Talk about a heartfelt moment to have with a big sting ray at the bottom of the ocean, am I right?

I enjoyed seeing Circe interact with the other men in her life like Hermes, Odysseus or Daedalus. It was interesting to see because other men were turned into pigs but these ones she allowed to play a slighter larger role in her life. She experienced something with them and then they were gone. Then, however, Telemachus comes into the picture and there is this weird “I was with your dad and now I’m with you” mood there. Honestly, though, I was like get your gains girl. Might as well be happy when you can and with whom you can. This leads to her mortality, which was surprising but intriguing to see. She gave it up for this chance to live more than she could as an immortal and I’m always down with that storyline I guess.

#Circe #sooooo goooodddddddd #madeline miller #Greek Mythology #review #2018

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tveckling · 7 years

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a l l t h e a s k s

You’re too much omggggg. Lucky you that I’m just not feeling like doing anything today, because otherwise I’d have ignored this ask :P Actual answers under cut because.... there are... many of them... and some are long.

1. Tell us about your WIP!I’m gonna take my favorite original WIP, because I can.One of the galaxies’ best assassins accepts a new job which proves to be way different than she had expected. Her partner moves between exasperated and amused. I imagine this story will be around 50 pages total, so it’s not a big thing. For now my goal is just to actually finish an original project pffft. (Lesbian main couple, pansexual man is second main chara)

2. Where is your favorite place to write?I have two favorite places. One is in my bedroom, where I can just do anything I please. The other is outside when it’s warm on some nice grassy spot, where I can just plug in my earphones in my ears and enjoy everything. I am so waiting for it to get warm enough for thaaaaaaaat!

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing?Favorite: Coming up with ideas and characters and dialogue and sentences and everything. And seeing people’s reactions afterwards huhuhuLeast favorite: Writing the damn thing pffft. But tbh, the thing I have the most problem with re writing is descriptions, because I am so bad at it.

4. Do you have any writing habits/rituals?Not really, no. Does having specific music on count? If not, then nope.

5. Top five formative books?Godddddd. Uuuuh. Gosh. Five books I can think of, not in matter of favorite/most formative/w/e:1. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman2. Magic’s Pawn by Mercedes Lackey (#1 of The Last Herald Mage trilogy)3. The Snow Queen’s Shadow by Jim C. Hines (#4 of the Princess series)4. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire (#1 of the October Daye series)5. The Empire of Darknessby Christian Jacq (#1 of The Queen of Freedom trilogy).......... yeah, so I mostly read series, w/e.....

6. Favorite character you’ve written?For fanfiction I of course love Mercutio the most. For original works hmm.. shit, that’s tough question. Either Ashe from my relic story or Saraph or Thana from my assassins story. I honestly can’t decide.

8. Do you have any writing buddies or critique partners?Well, I have friends who read what I write and tries their best to give feedback? But that’s it.

9. Favorite/least favorite tropes?... this is an awful question that I can’t answer, because there’s too many of both. I honestly can’t choose.

10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book withI actually tried co-writing a book once upon a time, so I can say that I really don’t want to do it again. I just have this issue with ‘no you’re not doing it exactly how I want ittttt’ and well. No.

11. What are you planning to work on next?*laughs hollowly* I have so many thingsssss....

12. Which story of yours do you like best? why?My two fic WIPs Strange Bedfellows and Wild Salt Air are two of my favorites. They both have tropes I adore, plenty of angst, and developing relationships - and it’s like the two stories where I am actually writing developing relationships from start to finish. Other than them I really really like the dtw prompt fic 249. Off with the head and A scratch, because I really really love whump without comfort? :D give me all the angst huhuhu

14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?)It’s actually something I’m trying out. I mostly have some sort of plot in my head for every story I write, but for each longer story I have so far different ways of writing it. For Strange Bedfellows I have a document planning out each chapter and the major events in each. For Wild Salt Air I have nothing, just the vague idea in my head. For this other unwritten fic I have a doc with each chapter fully detailed, just waiting to be written and filled out. For yet another fic I have basically done a mini fic with everything that happens, and it only has to be properly written. I always do the research whenever I get to it. Haven’t made a playlist for any fic or story so far, and have absolutely no interest in a pinterest board or anything like it.

15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing?I become super clingy and have to be calmed down by friends. And this unfortunately happens a lot.... sorry ;A;

16. Cover love/dream covers?Sounds good I guess? Idk...

17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing?I really really REALLY love writing emotions. Strong emotions of every kind, except maybe happiness. Happy/positive emotions aren’t as funny hehe~ And angst. Let me write all the angst, so I can bathe in all my readers’ tears.

18. Tell us about that one book you’ll never let anyone readUh a book I like that someone else has written? Idk dude, I don’t have one of those? A book/story that I have come up with? Godddddd, there are so many... and there is a reason that I will not tell anyone about them *definite stop*

20. Any advice for young writers/advice you wish someone would have given you early on?1. Using names are fine. More than fine, even. Use one or two epithets per person at absolute max. Names, just like ‘said’ are basically invisible for readers, even if you as a writer feel your eyes twitching over how often you use names. It’s just you, I promise. Use. Names. 2. Write as much as you can, even if what you write sucks. Know how to make sure your writing stops sucking? By writing more. The more you write, the better you get. Simple as that. If need be you can always rewrite those sucky stories later if the ideas are good *looks at several old-as-balls stories that seriously needs rewriting* 3. Sometimes it actually is okay to Tell instead of Showing. Mostly it’s better to Show instead of Tell, but sometimes the other way is perfectly good too or even better. Ignore those who say you must never ever use it.

21. What aspect of your writing are you most proud of?Emotions, again. I feel I am quite skilled at writing a character’s emotions and thoughts. My dialogue and humor has also approved in the last couple years, I feel.

22. Tell us about the books on your “to write” listNo way. There are just... so many...

23. Most anticipated upcoming books?Uh, don’t really know any?

25. What’s your worldbuilding process like?I like to start with the characters, and then I start building a world that fits them. I really like doing those world building worksheet thingies.

26. What’s the most research you’ve ever put into a book?Oh god... I think the longest I have spent on a story so far is like 12-14 hours combined. And I still haven’t actually written that story *headdesk*

27. Every writer's least favorite question - where does your inspiration come from? Do you do certain things to make yourself more inspired? Is it easy for you to come up with story ideas?For original stories I have always just had a desire for a specific scene, then I come up with the characters involved in that scene, then I come up with the stories those characters exist in. I love, love, love writing prompts, though. It’s pretty common for me to use a prompt in the first step aforementioned, then as I develop the characters and the world the inhabit I tend to sort of forget the original prompt. So it all works out well enough I think.

28. How do you stay focused on your own work and how do you deal with comparison?God, the only way for me to keep focused on one particular work is by having other people be interested in it. Otherwise I will completely lose my motivation to write it and start with other things instead. My mind never stops coming up with stories, after all.

30. Do you like to read books similar to your project while you’re drafting or do you stick to non-fiction/un-similar works? I strongly prefer staying away from anything that might influence my writing while I am writing it. This is the biggest reason why I only read friends’ fics nowadays.....

31. Top five favorite books in your genre?Those five favorite books from question 5 counts for this too, I guess.

32. On average how much do you write in a day? do you have trouble staying focused/getting the word count in?It varies so so so much. One time I wrote 6,000 words in a day. Another day I struggled writing 50. When I have prompts to write fics for I write around 1,000 words per day I guess?

33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like?Copy-pasting the text into a program with a proofreading software, then after reading it through I’ll poke a friend with better grasp of grammar to go through it, basically.

34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions?Idk dude, don’t really have any I think.

35. Post the last sentence you wroteThese, too, went unanswered, with only the occasionally shushing. Pffft, so thrilling isn’t it.

36. Post a snippetFrom the assassins story:“You're here with a job you want us to take." Thana’s voice was matter of fact, as though she already knew the answer. Her interruption was enough to bring Saraph's attention back to her. There was a tilt to her lips that told Saraph he wasn't the only one annoyed by the unknown man. "If you are here to try to offer us a job, just after we finished our last one, then you know us." Saraph had dropped all traces of warmth from his voice, and he threw another quick glance at Thana. "If you know us that well then you know that there is a system to contact us with your offer; there is no part in that system that gives permission to interrupt us completely unannounced. That is an action that would most likely end in someone's death." His eyes spoke loudly about whose death he was referring to, and his absolute stillness was somehow far more threatening than when he had been moving around.The woman on the suited man's left side glared darkly at Saraph, but her partner bared his teeth with a growl and grabbed the gun at his hip. Before he had managed to get it into the air Thana turned sharp eyes on him; a moment later the gun fell to the ground, the man's hand falling with it. The man's shout made every person in the restaurant determinedly look away; they didn't know what was going on, but they were all sure it didn't have anything to do with them."If any of you makes a threatening move against me or my companion again I will not spare you," Thana said, slowly shifting her gaze to the now red-faced woman who was grinding her teeth.

37. Do you ever write long handed or do you prefer to type everything?My hand tends to hurt when I write, so I suuuuuuper prefer typing on something, whether computer or tablet or whatever.

38. How do you nail voice in your books?That’s something I wonder about too *cries*

39. Do you spend a lot of time analyzing and studying the work of authors you admire?Not really, no. I tend to get too sucked up into the stories. I am also not really that good at analyzing stories/characters... unless I try to write fanfiction with them, that is.

40. Do you look up to any of your writer buddies?Yes, I definitely do.

41. Are there any books you feel have shaped you as a writer?Again, the The Sandman comic series written by Neil Gaiman. They have had an incredible influence on me.

42. How many drafts do you usually write before you feel satisfied?I am never satisfied pffft

43. How do you deal with rejection?I kinda slink down deeper into my depression for a couple days and just watch shit or do other brainless things until I feel better.

44. Why (and when) did you decide to become a writer?This is differently worded question 24. So, copying that answer: I was the type of small child who was completely obsessed with stories, long before I could actually read. Then when I learned to read I, uh, advanced pretty quickly let’sputitlikethat apparently a 9-year old reading Very Mature books with graphic descriptions of killing and gory situations isn’t that appreciated by teachers. Especially not when this 9yo happily tells her friends all about these gory details at lunch….. oops? So uh idk. It’s always been a part of me? I’ve always been reading and coming up with stories, and then I started writing, and just. Idk dude. Forever, I guess.

45. First or third person?Third, although first can be pretty nice to write too.

46. Past or present tense?Slight preference for past tense, but just slight.

47. Single or dual/multi POV?Single. I am pretty sure I sometimes fail with it, however, ugh...

48. Do you prefer to write skimpy drafts and flesh them out later, or write too much and cut it back?Flesh out later, because it hurts to cut out parts of my story. It’s like cutting out parts of my own body, you knooooow

50. Do you share your rough drafts or do you wait until everything is all polished?I happily share everything. I need validation and encouragement to continue writing, after all.

51. Are you a secretive writer or do you talk with your friends about your books?I talk too much sometimes, I’m afraid pfffft. I want to share everything. Except in some cases where I like to have some things be spoilers, so I can better enjoy their reactions.

52. Who do you write for?I’d love to say ‘myself’ but it’s really for others who enjoy the same things as myself. If there wasn’t any others I’d just keep it all in my head, after all.

53. What is the first line of your WIP?The assassins story again: All around the planet huge sandstorms raged, but within the walls of New Vien the citizens went about their business without a worry of the outside world.

54. Favorite first line/opening you’ve written?After much indecisiveness we have:First line - from Heart Masochist: They were young once, all of them.And because I thought the question was about last lines too - from A Scratch: When their uncle's men finally found them Mercutio had stopped shaking, but Valentine couldn't stop crying.

55. How do you manage your time/make time for writing? (do you set aside time to write every day or do you only write when you have a lot of free time?)I basically write whenever I feel like it, whether I actually have time for it or not pfffft.

#me #yaaaaay #i still mutter hard @you for this #but i guess i had fun #pffft #tycutiovevo

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takaraphoenix · 7 years

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Could you maybe do something like what you did earlier about everuthubg to do with Sander but instead with Donny?

*laughs* Sure, but it’ll be way shorter for Donny, since he doesn’t really do friendships prior to CF.

Okay, so, obviously he loves his grandparents - all five of them. And even though he’s a legacy of Hades and Poseidon, he kind of always preferred the underworld to the ocean. The dead are much more quiet company than fishes.

He has a particular fondness for grandma Persephone, but that also comes from her having given him her blessing prior to his birth. He likes gardening and flowers. Not just because of her, but also because it’s something he can do alone without being questioned why he’s always alone.

He loves Sally and Paul too, but isn’t as close to them as, say, the twins (either set of twins, really). Donny just always had a bit of a hard time connecting with the mortal world in general.

And while he loves his parents, he resents the expectations put on him merely by them being his parents. As the son of Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo, everyone expects so much of him. Even though neither Percy nor Nico had ever expressed such expectations, Donny can’t help but feel like he’s failing them. Like they deserved better than him.

He started slipping into depressions when he was six, but it took his parents a little while to realize what exactly was going on. After all, no parent ever would just expect their little child to be depressed.

They had it under pretty good control with therapy and watching him closely, until Bianca Maria joined the hunt in 2031, when Donny was 15.

Let’s take that as our in to his siblings.

Bianca Maria and Donny were always meant as a parallel to Bianca and Nico. The older sister joining the hunt, leaving her younger brother behind.

And that’s where Donny and Nico differ. Where Nico channeled his anger at everything, Donny became subdued. It ate away on him and he pulled back more and more from people.

Which caused his younger brother Thess to step up and become the responsible big brother, because Thess knew that Donny could not shoulder the responsibility of being the oldest in the house. The mere thought of filling Bianca Maria’s shoes and being the big sibling terrified Donny beyond belief. And Donny will always admire Thess for his strenght and that the back then 13 year old stood up tall and proud and stepped in to help reign their younger siblings in.

Donny isn’t particularly close to Percy Junior, Silly and Jimmy, to be honest. Part of the whole pulling back from everyone and living in his own little capsule of dark thoughts and depression. He loves his siblings, yes, but… with the age difference and Donny’s general fear of social things, he never really did a lot with them.

Jack is a bit of an exception there, because the little one does not allow for himself to be shaken off. He just tagged along.

Outside of his immediate family, Nico Zhang is his favorite cousin. The tinkerer was always loud enough to fill the silence for Donny and since she was never embarrassed about anything, it was nice being around her because she had no problem being the center of attention and allowing him to blend into the background.

Donny isn’t one for making friends. He kind of has… two.

Thea Chase, his very best friend, who was nice and quiet and knew to read Donny and to understand what Donny needed, when he needed space or wanted to get out of a situation.

And Sander Rodriguez, who for the life of him, Donny could not figure out why the most popular boy at camp was friends with him. The crush, Donny, it was the elephant-sized crush Sander has had on you for years.

Those are the only two friends Donny had prior to CF.

It’s strange. Honestly, if Donny wouldn’t suffer from anxiety and depression, he probably would be really close to both Thess and Percy Junior and their friends - because he’d get along so well with the twins’ best friends Lizzy Mason and Amy Cage.

Donny used to really hate Derek and Sam and most other kids of Ares, because he was being bullied as a kid. Which, yeah, started out as a bit of a misunderstanding if we’re being honest, but it evolved from thereon out.

Still, Donny was willing to forgive both Derek and Sam after they got to know each other. (And in a different timeline where Donny wouldn’t have suffered from anxiety and depression, him and Derek would have already been best friends and Donny and Sam would totally be dating).

I feel like skipping most of this, because it’s literally just what happens in “Chasing Fireflies” - growing closer to Nico, to Herc, to Sam and Derek, getting together with Sander, getting to know Trend and Marshall and Sara, meeting Phyl. So let me just sum it up as: The quest to save the seasons gives him a confidence boost and as he finally feels the need to train, to get stronger, he also gains more sense of self-worth. Because he finally gets to see what he is truly capable of.

That doesn’t mean saving the world suddenly heals him from his depressions. But it helped him open up and gain more friends, who are all willing to help him with his issues.

By the way, Donny is gay. Like, I have this standard headcanon that if not explicitely otherwise stated, all demigods and legacies are pansexual to some extend because we’re talking about the Greek gods who fucked everyone and everything. That tree is sexy, let’s make love to her. Oh damn, that bull, let’s make a half-bull-half-man-baby. Wait, lemme turn into golden dust to knock you up. Yeah, no, if those demigods inherited super special powers, they sure as fuck inherit the “no fucks given” policy about who they sleep with. There are few exceptions where I say “this character is inherently this particular sexual orientation”. Donny is one of them.

Donny and Sander got together on the 28th July 2032 and got married on the 22nd December of the same year.

Donny did not become associated with the Demigod Protective Services, even though his father founded it, and he also did not take over Percy’s dojo (the Jackson la Rue Dojo was in fact taken over by Jimmy and Silly, with Marshall and Sara as teachers because neither Jimmy nor Silly are big fighters). Instead, Donny became a vet. Which only fit, considering all the animals he can talk to - all the sea-creatures, horses, hellhounds and other underworldly creatures, insects and critters thanks to the blessing of Persephone. How many vets can just go Doctor Dolittle and ask their patient what’s wrong, after all.

#donny di angelo #nicercy next gen #percy jackson and the olympians #chasingverse #fic: chasing fireflies #headcanons #anonymous #pjoverse #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus

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