#im looking right at the clown jason

[mylifeingotham]

[bonchobrick]

So I’ve seen some posts going around about a ‘Bruce adopts Danny and everyone thinks they’ll finally have a normal family member—Danny is very not normal’ and here’s my late night take on it.

Or

Danny batfam au where they batfam tries really hard to keep their vigilante ass-kicking nightlife a secret from danny because he is ‘the only normal one in the family’ this becomes a problem however when danny gets kidnapped.

——-

The batfam all work together in a deeply serious family meeting to save their boy. After hours of combining their brains together they come up with a plan that will effectively save danny from joker, kick joker’s ass, and also make them look really cool while doing it.

So they bust in that warehouse, guns blazing, explosions fading in the background, a gust of dramatic dust covers the air

Batman steps infront of the rest of the team and demands to the blurry figure somewhere in the distance, “Where is Danny!”

The dust clears–they expect bad guys pointing weapons meancingly at them, they expect a cackle of a wicked clown amused at whatever plot he had planned coming to life, they expected a terrified boy perhaps tied somewhere likely siting in a chair that joker could present to the bats as a way of taunting them.

The dust settles–they observed their surroundings looking around and realize that, there are few new facts to be added into this ‘defeat the villain, get the bro, happy ending equation’

There is decidedly no weapons being pointed at them: In fact, all of the henchmen are already knocked out and tied up.

There is decidedly no evil laughs being echoed their way: In fact, the only noise that isnt coming from them is a light scritch scratch of a pencil

And there is decidedly no terrified little boy, there is a Danny however and he seems to be doing alright–actually scratch that.

Danny is doing wonders for the situation he’s in right now: In fact–

–Danny is sitting criss cross applesauce on-top a knocked out tied up Joker doing his algebra homework

The small blue eyed boy looks up at Batman's voice and visibly brightens, “Oh hey guys, I was wondering when you’d show up.”

Jason says with the utmost of comprehension, “...what.”

“So hi, I’m kinda new to gotham so sorry about beating these guys up, I think they’re villains? I dunno, anyways if you could take care of these guys while I call an uber home that’d be great.”

Danny sends them a blinding smile which would've been adorable if there weren’t a massive pile of bodies he were casually walking away from.

As Danny nears the exit he looks over his shoulder to the baffled group of vigilantes and blinks

“Oh yeah one last thing,” Danny rubs the back of his neck nervously, “Could you guys not tell the Waynes about this.”

Damian speaks up for the rest of his frozen family, albeit hesitantly, “I do think they have already been alerted of your kidnapping.”

“Oh no that's fine.” Danny starts nervously, “It's more about me being the… fighter… in this situation. I was just adopted by them and they seem really nice, I don’t want to scare them away being all grrrr im a scary monster boy and i love to hurt people argh.”

“I don’t think they’d think you're a monster.” Tim adds quietly

“Eh, tell that to my birth parents–they went psycho on me. Like evil scientist psycho, it was not as awesome as the movies make it sound, having scientists for parents.” Danny says bittersweet as he admits with a shrug

There is a moment of silence as the batfamily reevaluate the adoption file that states Danny’s family before they passed were very good people–albeit a bit excentric.

Dick blurts out, “Where did you learn to fight?”

Danny sends him an anxious chuckle, “I actually started when I was fourteen–my town always ran into some trouble so I had to step up. It’s part of the reason I moved here actually. I really don’t want anything to do with that hero vigilante life anymore…” The boy puts his hands together in a pleading motion, “So please don’t tell The Waynes!”

Bewildered at the situation as a whole they nod in a daze

The boys eyes widen at their easy agreement and he grins, “Thank you so so much! I’ve got to go now, it’s way past my curfew. but you’ll probably see me again next time I get kidnapped–I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you guys with my family bye!”

And just like that Danny slips off into the night leaving behind a family who were so sure they finally found a normal addition to their pack.

Jason sighs looking forlornly at the spot Danny had previously been standing, “You could just never pick the just semi-mentally healthy normal kids could you?”

Bruce groans pinching his the bridge of his nose

[bruciemilf]

ope don't mind me i'm just gonna-- *sets this down next to your constantine post*

The batkids have all fallen in line like Thomas is their superior officer and they've all basically decided Dick is getting thrown on the pyre (because cop) when Jason slowly raises his hand like he's back in school.

Jason, who lives for chaos, putting on the Sad Orphan Eyes that Dick taught all of them how to do, saying "Abuelo, you know I died? The clown who killed me is still alive."

All the other kids jump in with "oh he's right nonno" etc etc "don't worry bambini your nonno will take care of it" etc etc

(and while Thomas and Martha aren't exactly thrilled Jason is a crime lord, he's so much better at it than fucking Carmine. So the boy is ambitious! There are worse things to be. Thomas then slips Jason a fiver when Bruce isn't looking like grandparents do)

((also also the kids calling martha and thomas grandma/grandpa in whatever other language they grew up speaking))

just thinking that thomas highkey loves being a grandparent. absolutely considers it a promotion. softest pushover of a man but also the scary dog privilege for all of his grandchildren

NONNO THATS SO ADORABLE IM GONNA CRY— ok. But you know what? Pepa and Felix from Encanto dynamic between Martha, Thomas and Alfred.

Alfred trying to tell their grandkids about the epic love story between them, and Thomas keeps on interjecting with wildly inaccurate information (he wants Damian to find him as cool as possible)

Martha, with moscow in her voice, “You’re telling the story or is he?”

“I’m sorry amore go on ^^”

Bruce gags in the background like the world’s firstborn hypocrite.

But also, southern Thomas Wayne,,, wears the fringe styled boots with gemstones on them and sparkly jacket and talks like a honey pie, but has a glare that can silence a whole table if needed be.

He’s extremely sad about Destiny’s Child breaking up, (Dick had to deliver the news, which was a whole other experience) but BEYONCÉ HAS A COUNTRY ALBUM YOU SAY?? Sign him the FUCK up.

Bruce, under his breath: no one listens to country,,,

Thomas: oh shut i. You know, your mama and I made YOU on the dinner table with Love is a Butterfly playing in the background—-

Jason: rapidly spits his food out

[dannyphantom-zero]

Doctor Danny chapter 4

Ice cold water splashed on Danny's face, soaking his hair. Danny woke up blearily wondering when his roof had started leaking.

He opened his eyes hand almost gagged . He was met with the exact person he wanted to chew apart.

Jason was running across building at top speed. Danny's apartment was a wreck and he was nowhere to be found. Jason had only looked away for a few hours, who knew Danny would be targeted already.

Well there was the News that had displayed him the previous day.

"Wakey wakey hero"

Danny squinted as his vision became clear.

"A clown?"

"I saw your little show and decided to break out of Arkam sooner just for you. It's my turn to put on a show now"

Danny wanted to strangle him right then but there were people around. Well they were just henchmen, if he knocked them out then they would see anything.

More importantly he had a few ideas on how to handle the joker.

"Put on a show, how about I do to you what you have done to countless of my patients" Danny threatened glaring murderously.

"Patience, I'll kill you after I tune in out friends"

Danny rolled his eyes. Back in the cave Batman had received an alert that Joker had broken out of Arkham.

Apparently he had kidnapped a prestigious doctor too.

"Incoming video call" the bat computer alerted.

The screen went black for a second before a smiling joker appeared in front of the camera.

"Hello batsy"

"Joker" batman growled.

"My friend here-"

"Shut the duck up! We are not friends GOD!"

Batman was taken aback.

"I'm going to beat the everloving hell out of you!" Danny shouted.

"He's cranky, I'm going to kill him slowly, break his resolve-"

"NOT BEFORE I BREAK YOUR FACE!"

Joker looked seriously annoyed.

"Let's get started shall we"

Joker picked up a crowbar.

"Remember this batsy, this should be so much fun. I just love reunion's"

Joker smiled before turning away from the camera.

"Joker!" Batman shouted from the other end of the screen.

Joker raised the crowbar and brought it down crushingly hard into Danny leg.

Batman waited for the screaming, but it was silence.

"Oh my bad, ~ow that hurts so bad~" Danny mocked.

He had phased out of his bindings and was now standing off to the left of joker.

"What- how did you get over there?!"

Danny gave Joker a sadistic grin.

"I'm a doctor Joker, I don't kill, but I did promise someone that I would tear off your arms if given the chance" Danny said as he rolled up his sleeves.

Batman was frantically trying to find them before the good doctor did something he regretted.

"Get him!"

Danny smiled and took on the henchmen, knocking them out quickly.

"How in the hell?! Just how weak are those stupid-"

A punch to the face caught off Jokers words.

"Hey joker, buddy. It's time I break you, permanently"

"Wha-" screams of utter agony filled the room.

Jason had found the building joker was holding Danny. He hadn't started to worry until he heard screaming.

Jason ran as fast as he could. The sight he was met with was not what he was expecting. Joker was laying on the ground with his arms bent in ways they were not meant to bend.

"No,no wait, Im sorry for kidnapping you AAAAHHH"

There was a satisfying crunch sound followed by a pop. Danny turned his head sensing another presence.

"Oh hey!"

"Hey?"

Danny had his foot on Jokers back.

"I was just teaching him a lesson" Danny said with a shrug.

"But his arms are still attacked to his body, I thought you said you were gonna rip them off"

"Well I mean, I broke most of his fingers, hell probably need crutches to walk right after this anyway"

"MY LEGS ARE FINE" Joker shouted from the floor.

Danny shoved the crowbar through his leg.

More screams followed.

"Like I was saying, he's gonna need help walking, hey Hood?"

Jason tilted his head, "hm?"

"I'm not going to jail for this right, it's definitely self defense right"

"You'll be fine, I mean, you might wanna get out of here though. The bat daddy is on his way"

Danny nodded glumly.

"I want to make something clear" he said crouching down to the half conscious Joker.

"I'm not proud of what I did today, but I can't stand by and watch you kill or injury any more people. You, will never touch another person again or I will come back for you"

His tone was more menacing than he realized and the Joker was terrified.

"That's the dude that killed me"

Danny whipped his head around.

"What?! He's the one who beat you death with a crowbar?!"

Jason flinched.

"Sorry, I know that not a comfortable subject I shouldn't have brought it up"

Jason shook his head.

"It's not you who should feel sorry right now"

Danny grabbed the crowbar and Jason had to take it from him.

"Your not killing anybody today Doctor. You still have patients waiting on you"

Danny sighed.

"Alright, let's tie him up and get out of here then"

"What?" Jason asked. He wasn't sure why Danny was thinking about him.

"Well I'm not gonna leave you here to face off with Batman"

"Too late, both of you better start talking. Now" an intimidating voice ordered.

Danny half near jumped out of his skin.

"Um hey bat-babe. See, my friend here and I were just passing through and we'll be on our way now. Bye"

Jason grabbed Danny and shit his grapple hook at the nearest window.

Danny was pulled into the air, gliding as Jason swung. They landed on the nearby road and didn't stop running.

They crashed at Jason's place instead of Danny's.

Danny was out of breath by the time they reached Jason's apartment door. Once he was inside he fell the the ground laughing.

"Hahahah, I can't believe you did that!" Danny cried out as he tried to breathe.

Jason took off his helmet.

"Really? Well best believe it because Batman is a hard nut for sure. Your gonna be on his wanted list now"

Danny's laughter was cut short. Jason turned and saw tears.

"Danny? What's wrong?"

"I can't go to jail Jason! I'm too young, I have my career and I'll be targeted for my good looks!" Danny sobbed.

"Your not going to jail" Jason said sitting down in front of his couch next to Danny.

"And if the bat come for you I'll wrestle him alright"

"Mhm"

Jason stared in front of him.

"I don't think Joker will be able to hurt anyone for a long time, you did something amazing Danny. Your amazing you know that"

Silence...

"Danny?" Jason peeked around Danny's shoulder to see Danny's head slumped down.

He smiled to himself, today had been a hectic day especially for a civilian.

Danny twitched in his sleep. Jason picked Danny up carefully and laid him on his bed before turning him in.

Danny woke up the next morning on the floor not sure where he was.

Flashbacks of yesterday popped into his head without permission. Joker, Batman and...Jason!

Danny sat up and saw the mess he had made of Jason's bed. Everything was pulled off the bed, nothing survived Danny's late night wrath. Danny worked quickly remaking the bed with help from his skills earned during his intern days.

He only considered it finished once there were no wrinkles too be found.

"Hah, I need some water" he muttered before making his way around the unfamiliar space. On his way to the kitchen he spotted Jason on the couch.  His arm was thrown above his head and the couch looked entirely too small for the man.

"Pfft"

Jason opened one eye.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"Noo, I just noticed how manly you look today"

Jason sat up.

"Yea alright wise guy"

Danny was about to make a wise crack when his eye caught sight of the clock.

"OH MY GOD!" he shouted horrified.

"I don't report to work yesterday!"

Jason grabbed the panicking man.

"It's ok, I called the hospital and explained that you were in danger. They took a little to convince but I managed to get you the day off"

Danny almost fainted.

"I can't take a day off! What about the patients??"

Jason sat Dany down and kneeled before him.

"Do you not have faith in your fellow doctors?"

"I-I do"

Jason nodded.

"Danny, all you've been doing is looking out for your patients. In order to care for them you also need to be healthy"

"I'm healthy, look at me, I have muscles" Danny said jabbing his arm as if to prove it.

"I see that" Jason said unimpressed.

"But I'm talking about mental health. Take a day and just let someone else take care of you"

Danny scoffed.

"Yea right, like who?"

Jason smirked.

[futureseaempress]

It’s Beas nice ask day!

So my question for you: What is your craziest “truth is stranger than fiction” moment you have experienced in real life

oh me oh my i have like a billion moments like these...

i gotta say its tied between (okay going under the cut cause im a clown who must dance)

So on a dark and stormy night, my stoner roommate and I were trying to trace back why our dryer just wasn't getting clothes dry quickly. Only problem: our electrical is under our house in a crawl space and our house is situated on an UNEVEN hill. So you have to be mighty tiny to crawl into the right places.

Good news: I am small.

Bad news: I am horribly claustrophobic and cannot enter this spot without my brain SCREAMING that the house will collapse on me.

So we go under the house anyway calling up to our other roomies (beauties who are watching reality tv on the couch and laughing at us) to help us echo locate where we oughta be.

Bubba bumps his back on SOMETHING but we don't pay it any mind, he's okay and we can't get where we need to anyway. I give up and go shower to get the red clay and cobwebs off and he goes to idk smoke weed. BUT oh no

the water

it's no longer running

...

oh shit

what did we accidentally do???

i hop back into my clothes and my beat up nikes to go explore. We're turning knobs and levers we've never even seen before while our roomie calls to us updates from topside.

we're pacing the property

at a complete loss

then

just as we're about to go to a hotel for the night and call someone to get us water for the next day

i hit my head on SOMETHING under the house

i hear a loud WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

and my beautiful roommate shouting "WATER'S BACK"

same beautiful roommate

about two years prior

im heeming and hawing about how my only family in our city is a gay hair stylist who primarily works in the african american women's beauty industry... i've only met him twice, but he was really kind to me and im hoping that as the only gays we might bond. but it's also weird bc he robbed my grandma and pawned all my moms gold jewelry from the half a year they lived in Saudi Arabia. and also the only thing we have in common is growing up in a very small town in a different state and now living in a big city.

and im describing my neil patrick harris look alike of an uncle

and my roommate this look on her face

and she asks "have you ever seen chris rock's documentary Good Hair?" and i say "no of course i have not."

and she says "well i know you love Ice T i thought maybe" and i say "while i love him my knowledge is VERY lacking" and she takes a knee and swears to me that "as a black woman [she] must educate [me, her] white compatriot"

and the whole lead up in this documentary is all the contestants for this hair competition saying their biggest fear

and

every

single

one

man, woman, new to the game, old hat

are afraid of one man

.... Jason.

AND WHO IS JASON?? IF NOT MY GAY AS THE DAY IS LONG WHITE TWINK UNCLE. WHO WHEN I FIRST MET MY GRANDMOTHER FAILED TO MENTION HAD ANY RELATION TO US AND UPON THE SECOND MEETING (at said grandmothers funeral) MY MOM ASKED HO WI COULD POSSIBLY KNOW HIM. HE ONCE STOLE THE FAMILY GOLD FROM SAUDI ARABIA AND COULD HAVE BEEN ROBBED OF THIS ENTIRE EXPERIENCE AS HE WAS IN AN AIRPORT HEADING TO NEW YORK BUT HIS FLIGHT GOT DELAYED ON 9-11 AND HE USED TO HAVE A WIFE AND HAS A SON BY HER AND HE'S THE MOST INTERESTING MAN I HAVE EVER MET.

anyway these are my stories

DUN DUN

[lilicohirukoma]

Dead Meat Horror Awards liveblog cuz why not

- fuck yeah production budget, love the ghostface intro

- masters of scare-monies lmaooo

- fr the movies this year were sooo good and agreed horror needs more recognition

- i am fucking this cheeseburger UP Chef Slowik would be proud

- yay for the montage, i got lots of movie recs with it last year

- which also means nay for not naming the movies in the montage like they did last year

- but yeah hoping for at least one award for Black Phone, The Menu and Orphan (Nope and X too)

- MICK FOLEY FUCK YEAAAHHH

- damn he lost an ear????

- I don't understand a lot abt stunts so no strong opinions, shout out to all nominees

- admitting to a horror sin: I don't like Scream

- YESSSSS I GOT ONE RIGHTTT

- we are only on the second category and I finished my food 😔 shouldve listened to the guide and gotten some popcorn

- WHAT HAPPENS IN MEN? 😟

- again idk a lot abt digital effects so shout out to all the nominess

- shout out to all the nominees in general it's just that I have stronger opinions on other categories

- I want to watch Werewolf by Night now

- Yup Nope deserved it, didn't consider Gordy as a digital effect so makes sense in hindsight

- JASON AND TOM 💕

- Girl I hauled ass downstairs and back to put away my empty plate. My roommates probably thought I was getting chased by a demon

- I almost voted for X bc Dutch people were involved lol

- Understandable win, congrats Mad God

- YEESSSSSSS DEVON!!!!! CHUCKY NATION REPRESENT!!!!!!

- Are these awards only for movies? If no why no Chucky noms?

- Art the Clown-Bolton

- Is that Pete Davidson?

- Love The Menu but their kills were a bit meh

- But yeah Jeremy vs Star Lasso for me

- DAVE GROHL??? I need to watch Studio 666 now

- Deserved win

- THEY GOT MATTHEW LILLARD????

- Love me a crazy cult leader, wouldn't mind seeing Slowik win

- ESTHER PLS I WANT ESTHER TO WIN

- I voted for Pearl bc she is more likely to win (and would deserve the win) but god please Esther

- Grabber was slay too but not the best of the year imo

- Mia Goth's voice takes me out every time it's so unexpected

- Girl what........ what..... seriously?

- No shade to everyone involved w Art but... what the fuck really?

- Put me in the In Memoriam I'm pissed

- Didn't know some of these people died, for all: Rest in Peace/May their memory be a blessing

- LESLIE JORDAN I MISS YOU SO MUCH

- LANCE REDDING WAS PAPA LEGBA?? I'M SORRY I DIDNT KNOW

- when are we getting a podcast episode on AHS

- oh damn this category is getting tough already

- yeah I'm okay with anyone winning good job y'all

- oh damn we are already 45 minutes in

- congrats Rory

- Ok y'all can make it right give it to Mia

- Barbara Krampton ❤️

- Hearing the word Creepypasta in 2023 snatched my soul out of my body I need a moment

- Oooo I'm gonna have to watch Sissy

- I love Regina Hall so might have to watch Master too

- GET THIS CLOWN OFF MY SCREEN IM STILL MAD AT HIM

- Mia or Amber OR ELSE /j

- I love Keke tho!!

- YESSSS MIA YOURE A STAR

- I am SO curious to see what Jordan Peele is going to do next

- Hope it goes to Ti West tho

- Okay yeah Jordan deserves it too

- We already got this horror needs to be appreciated speech

- Idk of I like this long list of nominees, I find myself losing interest a lot and that is a disservice to the nominees

- Istg if it's Halloween Ends-

- Aren't all of these movies American? Why are they now suddenly mentioning nationalities?

- But yeah Orphan isn't going to win but I want it to

- Pearl's dad deserved better

- Chad's Revenge looks really fun I'm gonna have to watch this one too

- Not Scream Not Scream Not Scream

- ALL THESE MOVIES ARE AMERICAN STOP SAYING AMERICAN FILM

- Oh he did actually stop. My power 💅

- Pearl is just that girl!!

- Love Mike Flanagan 💜

- I hope the Black Phone wins, this movie had me in awe in the cinema

- THE DIRECTOR FOR BODIES IS DUTCH??? NEVERMIND BODIES BODIES BODIES SWEEP

- Yeah idk Fresh just doesn't interest me

- THE MENU FUCK YEAHHH

- Considering Nope won fan I hope it won't win

- DUTCH?? Alright I'll watch Speak No Evil

- Are you.... for real?? Way to end the ceremony on a low note

[roseworth]

hey! finally got around to reading ur jason fic, it's very cute, keep up the Good Vibes. something about bruce's internal monologue re: killing joker might be funny with your writing style. "idk i just wanted him dead" i saw in ur comments and it made me chuckle!

hmshfamjfhaja thank u!!!! 🥺🥺💕 the thing about bruces internal monologue in that moment was his brain was entirely full of static then a voice in his head went "ohhh shit you should probably stop joker from killing jason again" and he went "oh okay" then did a lil murder :') do i want bruce to kill joker in canon? a little but not rly bc his entire character is about Not Killing and any way of having him actually kill someone raises a lot of questions and goes against who he is so :( but doing it in a fanfic im like "hehe and then he murders 😈" because yes! i do just want him dead! kill that clown now please :)

anyways talking abt writing recently is making me a lil sad that i havent posted any writing in a while bc everything ive written is either just a lil drabble that i wrote for fun with no intention of showing to anyone OR its something that i had the intention of posting but then read it back and didnt like it :( so here's a Very Important small part of a drabble that i wrote recently that i . probably will not post the whole thing anywhere. but ill post this as a treat to myself

(i think the only context needed is that this is robin!jason and bruce xoxo)

"Your ears are pierced?" Jason gasped, scooting closer to Bruce. "You never noticed?" Jason rolled his eyes. "No, I don't really spend a lot of time looking at the details of your ears," he huffed. Bruce turned his head to show off the small holes in his ears. Jason grinned as he inspected the piercing. "Why do you never wear earrings?" Bruce shrugged. "I'm not really a big jewelry person." "Then why'd you get them pierced in the first place?" "Ollie and I both got them pierced together back in high school, I think I just wanted to impress him." "Ollie has his ears pierced too?!" Bruce nodded. "Well, he only has one pierced. I have both." Jason squinted at him. "Which one does he have pierced?" Bruce thought for a moment, then answered, "The right, I think." Jason smirked. "That's the gay ear," he said through snickers. Bruce almost scolded him, then decided against it after a moment of consideration. Ollie would probably love to hear that. Hell, he probably got just the "gay ear" pierced on purpose, it seems like the kind of thing he would find funny.

[andvys]

Oh, my heart after last chapter. Ow ow ow! Her brother deserve a good slap just for being a jerk but I could seriously wring his neck for clamping in when he did! Argh!

As for the rest of them ... how on Earth did Jason, Andy and the rest get girlfriends AT ALL?!

And Eddie ... I love him but he's got some serious damage repair to do. He should drop to his feet and beg for her forgiveness. And would that even be enough? Make this right Eds, and don't fuck it up again.

And Steve ... I'm sure he thought himself protective when he told Eddie off and hey, I can understand him being concerned with Eddie's reputation. But you don't go around and claim people that aren't yours to claim, regardless if you want to protect them and not. No, no, no. Shame on you, Steve. There are so many other ways he could've protected reader :(

Look at me, talking to Stranger Things characters in your universe! You made them real, after the season ended! That's job well done!

HDJSJSJSJSJS IM SMILING SO HARD RN THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING FEEDBACK OMG 😭💖💖

Her brother will definitely get some good punches back, later on! I can promise you that! And yeah, Jason and his friends are the biggest assholes ever and they’ll might make a comeback…. maybe…

Eddie read her notebook and he knowsssss the stuff she wrote is about him so he must feel like a whole ass clown right now 🤭 he’s gonna regret everything he’s ever done to her!

And our jealous mom friend steve :(( he loves her & he wants her so he’ll literally do anything to keep Eddie away from her 👀 but what he did, was truly messed up and reader will definitely find out about the things he said to Eddie!

[ten-ten31]

Ich habe 246 Mal im Jahr 2022 etwas gepostet

7 Einträge erstellt (3%)

239 Einträge gerebloggt (97%)

Blogs, die ich am häufigsten gerebloggt habe:

@dingdongyouarewrong

@cricrithings

@fetchalgernon

@wipbigbang

@quotemadness

Ich habe 148 meiner Einträge im Jahr 2022 getaggt

Nur 40% meiner Einträge hatten keine Tags

#tim drake – 29 Einträge

#conner kent – 13 Einträge

#superboy – 13 Einträge

#jason todd – 13 Einträge

#robin – 13 Einträge

#red hood – 12 Einträge

#kon el – 12 Einträge

#red robin – 10 Einträge

#dc – 9 Einträge

#dc comics – 9 Einträge

Longest Tag: 116 characters

#don't forget that a fic tha few people read because it's a rare ship or whatever and that doesn't get a lot of kudos

Meine Top-Einträge im Jahr 2022:

#5

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Superboy (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Young Justice (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent Characters: Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake, Dru-Zod Additional Tags: Kryptonian Kon, Kryptonian!Kon-El, Alternate Universe, Kryptonians Invaded Earth (DCU), Kryptonians (DCU), Krypton is Destroyed (DCU), but Kryptonians are alive, Spaceships, War, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, no capes AU Summary:

Kon had heard rumours of him. Bruce Wayne’s right-hand man. They had never gotten this close to the heart of the resistance, not once in all those months and years of war.

For TimKon Week 2022: Day 7 - Kryptonian Kon

1 Anmerkung – Gepostet 28. November 2022

#4

Dear Yuletide Writer 2022

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for agreeing to write for me! :) I can't tell you just how excited I am. This is my second Yuletide, and I’ll try to give you as much inspiration and fangirling as a point to jump off of as I can, so I hope you’ll find some useful bits and pieces here. I am very much looking forward to reading whatever you come up with. Don’t stress about writing for me - as long as you have fun with it, I’m sure I’ll like my gift. :)

Please feel free to browse my ao3 (KitKaos) and/or tumblr to get an idea of what I stan, like, read or write. I hope I can give you some broad ideas and inspirations in this letter to help you plan. The prompts below are nothing more than ideas, though - feel free to ignore them or to fall back on my general likes if you have a better idea. :)

Gifts are enabled in AO3, so treats are welcome! :)

Oh, and should you, esteemed Yuletide Writer, want to write in German instead of English, then I'm definitely okay with that. I'm fluent in both, so whichever you feel more comfortable with.

If there's something missing or if you have a question, you can reach out to me via the mods.

_______&_______

General likes (in no particular order):

friends-to-lovers or even enemies-to-lovers (with all the drama of grudginly admitting that the other party maybe isn't all that terrible and all)

found families

fake dating

pining

crossdressing

undercover missions

drunken shenanigans

reconciliation between estranged characters

second chance romance

characters torn between two sides (e.g. two different loyalties, or love versus duty)

gestures of affection and intimacy (such as forehead kisses, cuddling in bed, holding hands, massages)

casual intimacies

hurt/comfort (especially with an emphasis on the comfort)

seduction (especially seduction/corruption of someone who's less experienced and/or initially reluctant)

games: truth or dare, playing drinking games/strip games for fun, seduction games

Can't Stop Thinking About That Thing I Saw Completely By Accident (a.k.a. various flavours of accidental voyeurism)

competence porn

masquerades

tattoos

body details (freckles, moles, tan lines, goosebumps, acne, scars, burns, wrinkles, etc.)

redemption arcs

Vollständigen Eintrag ansehen

1 Anmerkung – Gepostet 15. Oktober 2022

#3

How did clowns get through the day before the invention of balloons/plastics?

1 Anmerkung – Gepostet 17. Februar 2022

#2

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman (1966), Batman: Wayne Family Adventures (Webcomic), Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Batfamily Members, King Tut (Batman), Condiment King Additional Tags: Community: pod_together, pod_together 2022, Humor, Crack(ish?), Batfamily Shenanigans (DCU), Batfamily-centric (DCU), Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic, Fic & Podfic Summary:

With a sound like silent thunderclap, our dauntless defenders were gone. Vanished without a trace, and only the low, rumbling laughter of King Tut remained in their stead. Could it really be that Batman and Robin had been outsmarted this time?

OR: The 1960s Dynamic Duo travels to today's B:WFA universe

2 Anmerkungen – Gepostet 26. August 2022

Meine #1 des Jahres 2022

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Kon-El | Conner Kent/Cassie Sandsmark Characters: Tim Drake, Kon-El | Conner Kent Additional Tags: Sexting, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, no beta we die like robins, Miscommunication Summary:

Tim still doesn’t know what to think. He can’t unsee what he just got a glimpse of. He can’t forget. His traitorous mind seems to return to it over and over again. He is not okay with this. It was all he could do to keep his adoptive sister from killing his best friend.

When Cass' phone vibrated at dinner, Tim was sat next to her. He saw. He saw the picture. Saw how Cass just calmly deleted it, murmuring some vague death threat, and made to get up.

6 Anmerkungen – Gepostet 17. August 2022

Hol dir deinen Tumblr-Jahresrückblick 2022 →

[bunkernine]

U calling me nerdy is funny especially since I om here simping for Leo 'mamacita' valdez every damn day of every week 🤡

[aalghul]

tbh... the people that do lots of tim hurt/comfort are the ones that have never read comics but still write fic for it and claim that everything they've heard from other fics (by people who also havent read the comics) is canon. so they want to make a "jason lives" story but oh no uwu baby tim will be all alone and will never be happy if he doesnt become a bat 🥺 or they make a red hood jason story where they pull the shit with jason being evil and crazy and murderous then hes "cured" and comforts tim instead. everyone is mischaracterized but they still go "no i dont read comics because theyre all terrible and treat my fav characters wrong!" girl YOURE treating your characters wrong.

im so sorry for the rant but it just annoys me so goddamn much and i try to be a Nice Person but holy shit. fanon fans piss me off so much

It’s not even that I don’t support doing whatever you want because I know can’t make people read comics. Do what you want. But it’s interesting to see how many of these TT AU, enemies to caretakers, “Talia manipulated Jason into going crazy and hurting poor Tim” people will proudly declare they’ve never so much as looked at a panel from any comic. “Writers don’t get their characterization right!” How would you know?? Please just write OCs at this point.

You don’t have to have reas every single comic of that character ever, or have every single panel ever memorized. I’m not trying to gatekeep but you kind of do have to have skimmed a few to know what you’re saying at least. For your own benefit (so you don’t look like a clown), at the very least.

[msookyspooky]

Sooo I see you need advice 👀 I DID NOT THINK YOU WOULD ACTUALLY CONSIDER JASON HOLY SHIT 😂 THINGS GOT SO REAL. Listennnn as much as I think Jason is hot...hear me out...I think Kincaid is the better option 👀 I can already hear the Jason simps coming for me BUT HEAR ME OUT. Jason is so toxic lol if you want your story to be more REALISTIC obv u should stick with Kincaid since HE ACTUALLY HAS A CHANCE. Jason is too much like Billy and after everything we've been through there's no way we would probably associate ourselves with him. I feel like us showing any interest in Jason would make us look like a dumbass who can't learn our lesson 🤐 it'd be out of character to not see the warning signs with our PTSD and major trust issues too.

I don't think we should risk our character looking dumb. IM SORRY, BUT NO 😂😭 James, Stu and Billy, then Jason? It's the same song and dance ALL OVER AGAIN. Sure, we all know the attraction is going to be one-sided even if it's Kincaid, but at least with Kincaid I can see us TRUSTING HIM. I couldn't imagine us even being friends with Jason UNLESS we try to see the good in him BUT EVEN THEN, I would think we'd suspect his bs and he'd get killed off early from Billy and Stu simply cause their scared he'll do something to us.

BOTH would put up a good fight, but like you said it's inevitable that Jason will die bc it's 2 against one. The only way Jason could probably survive is if he had a partner 👀 if we were to actually TEAM UP WITH HIM. This could be very interesting for the plot, but it could be out of character unless we've known Jason for a while. You could tie this back to our past and be like 'okay, y/n meets Jason, an old friend/lover from her OLD HIGHSCHOOL, someone she has old, good memories with.' That right there could explain us feeling an inclination to trust him, however, I still feel like we'd end up looking like a clown who can't see the signs of a psycho 🤡 you know? it'd butcher our character development to fall for his act, even if he is from our past and we used to know him. If there's anything we've learned from Woodsboro, it's that u can't trust old friends/lovers lmao

With Kincaid on the other hand, there's a higher chance of him surviving. He's got the police backing him up after all. HE'S A COP, so we would trust him pretty easily automatically. It would be realistic for us to get close to him since he's going to literally be helping us to survive. I could actually picture us being receptive to his feelings, whereas with Jason I feel like IF we felt an attraction, we'd be self-aware enough to realize that the feelings AREN'T real. With JASON, after literally thinking we had feelings for Randy and Derek in the past, do you REALLY think we'd make the same mistake? The same mistake of comparing another guy to Billy and Stu and CONVINCING ourselves that we like them? HELL NO. I feel like obv we're going to be more mature and ALOT MORE SELF-AWARE AFTER SEVERAL YEARS. I can't imagine us confusing our feelings ALL OVER AGAIN. It would legit piss me off since I consider myself a very self-aware person 😭

With Kincaid, you could also do the same thing with his character by bringing up our past. You could be like 'Y/n grew up with Kincaid as a child. The two briefly dated in high school BEFORE she moved to Woodsboro. The two decide to catch up over lunch and realize how much they missed being friends.' This is just another idea for making us trust Kincaid more and giving us more backstory. Kincaid having a past with us will also make STU AND BILLY MORE JEALOUS. Him being a cop is gonna drive them crazy, BUT FOR HIM TO BE AN OLD FRIEND OR EX BF THEY NEVER HEARD OF?! You can't tell me that wouldn't bug the hell out of them lmaoooo they'll feel insecure that another guy could have known us intimately before them and that this guy knows more about us than even, they do. They'll probably be thinking we lost our virginity to him and be livid 😂 they'll be livid he's a cop sooo he's gonna give them a run for their money.

With Jason, I feel like they'd be LESS JEALOUS bc altho he's like Billy, they may think the only reason we might reciprocate feelings is bc he's similar to them. They may rationalize this in their head and think 'oh yeah, there's no way she's over us if she likes someone just like us.' They'd be less jealous bc they may think we're confusing our feelings. I also feel like they may be MORE SCARED of what Jason could do to us then jealous of him just bc of how he's got them bad boy vibes and they could be worried Jason could become physically abusive. He would remind them too much of James's abusive ass and altho they don't wanna admit it, they still care and would kill him for laying a hand on us 🥴

Whereas with Kincaid, even if you don't want him to have a past with us, I still FIRMLY BELIEVE Billy and Stu would be more jealous of him bc he's everything they're not. With Jason, there's the comfort of knowing we might not be over them, right? They'd be livid, but it's probably there. But with Kincaid, there isn't that comfort bc he's the complete opposite of them. There's no trying to say 'oh, she only likes him cause he reminds her of us' bc HE DOESN'T. He's sooo different that Billy and Stu are going to be pissed that we might have actually moved on. They're going to be jealous that he's kind, has a good job, that he isn't crazy like them and can actually give us what we need.

Overall, with Mark, we have a chance of HURTING THEM. Why? bc Mark will be OUR HERO. Remember when Stu and Billy took pride in killing James and trying to protect us from Randy's accusations? How Stu always tried to protect us from Billy's temper and killing us? You can't tell me these two didn't enjoy protecting us, especially Stu. Stu even said in Sequels Suck, "You don't have me protecting you anymore." They kinda have a savior complex I feel like deep down and to have their roles REPLACED? To see us have a guy who's willing to do anything to protect us and is able to do it successfully? IT'S GONNA HURT. AND THEY DESERVE TO GET HURT AND FEEL LOWKEY REPLACED 🙃

This took way too long to type 😂 I wouldn't mind Jason, but clearly, I prefer Mark 😏😂 I just feel like most would prefer Jason to have his own series and possibly not die in it lol I myself would prefer Billy and Stu despising him in his own series and tryna steal us away 😍 And I just want a normal guy to like us, you know? Give us an ounce of normality. In the end, whatever you choose is bound to be good tho ❤

THIS.

This is my exact thought process too. We are trying to get into a career of Criminology we aren't that stupid to trust JD again at 23 yrs old after everything at Woodsboro and Windsor.

Listen, I get it. JD is the OG bad boy with psychological issues. But Billy would see him as competition in a mocking way and kill him instantly and Stu would just plan out not like him. I actually think JD would be crazier than Billy and Stu. Idk why but JD feels more unhinged than they do and it would be a disservice to our character to repeat old mistakes all over again.

After Sequels Suck; the romantic tension is going to be much more focused on the boys. Mark Kincaid may be a distraction and the boys themselves think he's more of an option than he really is (Just to make them insecure and pacing the floor while we're at the station and they can't even get near it) but nothing to the level the Derek, Randy, Billy Stu thing is in Sequels Suck. When with JD, he's such a fan fav that if I kill him or have him rejected; some fans r gonna be upset.

Kincaid is everything they will never be. Period. And that has them nervous and hurt and desperate. And there won't be a damn thing they can do about it for once. With how much of a control freak Billy is and how emotionally impulsive Stu is...That's gonna sting.

I'm pretty decided on Kincaid and JD will have his own story. (Like, this story doesn't exist and JD moved to Woodsboro right when Billy and Stu were crushing on us sort of thing) Thanks for the suggestion of him being a childhood friend or ex; that could work 🤔

[lmanberg]

im always confused at people who say we're hurting anybody by truthing or shipping. honestly, as far as little pockets of ""problematic"" (i use the term VERY lightly, and not at all in reference to *that* community) communities go, from an outsiders perspective, we are as harmless as they come. all we do is send asks to one or two blogs yelling about our favorite content creators and discussing aspects or their work. all art and fic we create is circulated purely amongst ourselves. its not just that we dont have a negative impact, we have virtually no impact at all. we make it a point to code our tags to keep out of main channels. if youre reading this right now, its because you deliberately sought it out.

in fact, we deliberately discourage interaction with both the greater community and content creators themselves. i remember seeing posts on jason's blog of explaining why some donos rnboo had received (one i remember very clearly calling him "fruity") were weird and disrespectful.

the consensus is, you're allowed to find the eb community cringey, or weird, or even that it might cross some boundaries - but as soon as you start claiming its "unhealthy" or that is affects the greater community or its content creators, if when you start looking like a clown (derogatory)

Based anon holy shit

[uwu-scraptrappy]

Adoption

Jason tapped his fingers on his thigh, turning the steering wheel into a parking place. Putting the car in park, he jumped out, heading into the building. The words Foster Home whizzed by him as he hurried in. Today was the day. He was going to foster a child or two. And Matt couldnt do a thing about it. "Here for the adoption fair?" The woman at the front desk asked him. "That's right." Jason agreed. She nodded, gesturing to the back yard where lots of children were gathering. Naturally, Jason went that way. So many kids here! In one corner of the large yard, some foster care workers were bottle feeding tiny infants. Elsewhere, another worker was supervising toddlers. Kids older than them were running around freely. In another corner, a group of teens were huddled together. Jason stepped forward, as if to go to the tiddlers, when a noise of surprise sounded to his left. "Toxxie got stepped on!" At his right. Jason looked down at the child he had almost stepped on. He couldn’t have been any older than five, considering how he barely reached his knee in height. That wasn’t the most remarkable thing. This child had a lepid face, with big rabbit eyes and long ears that drooped at the sides of his head. His fur was slimy and purple, covered in toxic boils. "Serves him right!" Two other children, maybe the rabbit boy's twins, pointed and laughed. One had orange, flaming fur, the other just had green fur. "Keep it down!" This one had white fur and pinstripe clothing. "Do you wanna be the Clown?" "Come on, Clown, be nice!" The last one, with greenish fur that turned leopard patterned on his arms and legs, scolded, his big leopard helm falling over his tiny face. "State your name and your business!" The one with purple fur growled, holding a toy megaphone. "Who do you work for!?" "Tox." His orange brother shook his head. "Jason. Im here to foster a kid." He smiled down at the rabbit. "Who are you?" "The name's Toxic. I'm the leader of these four morons." Toxic straightened himself. "Some leader you are." Said Clown where he was coloring. Toxic let out a small battle cry, leaping at his twin. "We're sorry." The orange bunny pulled on his pant leg. "My name's Flay, and this is Spring. We're not adopted cuz nobody wants seven bunny kids." Spring nodded somberly. "Seven?" He counted up each one of the rabbits. Five. "Where's the other two?" Flay whispered something to Spring, who screeched and dived on the leopard rabbit. "Come with me. I'll show you Sissy and the Snitch." Already Flay ran off, his flames flickering against the wind. Jason had no choice but to follow him. "Sissy can't speak English yet." Flay hurriedly explained. "Our previous Mommy imported her from Russia." Jason smiled at his word choice, glancing up at where Flay had stopped. A young teen, probably fifteen, was leaned against the fence, cradling a small, caramel colored bunny toddler and showing him something on her phone. She, too, had lepid features, although hers were less prominent. A pair of round glasses were perched on her nose. "Sissy!" Flay yelled, hugging her leg. "We're gonna get adopted!" She smiled, then shook her head. "Yes, we are!" He furiously pointed at Jason. "Lookie here!" Jason opened his mouth to protest, only to be interrupted. "Pat pat!" The toddler declared, pointing at him. "Want Pat Pat!" "Uh..." Jason looked at the toddler's big sister. "Should I hold him?" She handed him over, taking her phone back. The toddler whined, "Give Reemy!" "Remus is still here." She signed. "You can watch later." "You know sign?" Jason silently thanked the ASL classes he had taken in college. "Our previous mother taught me how." She answered in sign. "My name is Scrap, and that's our little brother Glitch." Currently Glitch was hanging onto his shirt for dear life. "He's a little snitch!" Flay declared. Glitch blew a raspberry at him. "We're gonna GET you!" Flay stomped his foot. "And then YOU'LL be the Clown!" "You two, quit it." Scrap signed angrily. "I apologize, my younger brothers are a handful. The twins

are unbearable." So they were twins! "That's alright." Jason patted little Glitch's furry head. "Pat Pat nice." Glitch stuck his tongue out. "Veevee mean to Reemy. Lolo is a big meanie." "And who are they?" Jason asked. "They sides. They don't exist." He pointed to his shirt, which was decorated with a green sword. "This Reemy. He's mine." I have to keep them, Jason realized. I can't let them stay here.

[mar1garden]

maribat march day 1: firsts

only fourty million days late! not too bad!! (i didnt realize this was a thing so get ready for daminette for every prompt) (also. sorry abt how lazy this is im TIREDDDDDD)

The first time Damian laid eyes on Marinette, he thought she wasn’t the sharpest spoon in the drawer. For one, she was walking alone. At night. In Gotham.

For another, she was speaking to a villain like she had no clue who they were.

For a third, that villain was The Riddler. And she was making fun of his costume. Well, not making fun, but suggesting alterations that would be less “headache-inducing.”

Robin swooped down from the rooftop, landing gracefully next to the two. “Hello, Riddler. Young miss. Having a nice night?” he asked rhetorically, getting ready to chase The Riddler when he inevitably ran. The girl turned to him, smiling, and he could swear she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. He cursed his treacherous blood as he blushed slightly.

The first time he heard her sweet, fluting voice was as she greeted him: “Ah! Hello, monsieur Robin! I was looking for you as well!” she started, and Robin blinked in surprise. “I’ve been meeting the Rogues and Vigilantes of Gotham and suggesting costume improvements, mainly because it seems the people of this city are blind. Monsieur, all due respect, but you look like an emo stoplight,” she commented , grinning at him. He saw The Riddler mouth ‘thank you’ to him as he snuck away.

He couldn’t find it in himself to stop talking to the girl, though.

The first time he heard her name, he considered just how fitting a name it was. Marinette. It flowed off the tongue gently, the mellifluous sound of it pairing well with the sweet girl before him. They spoke as he escorted her back to her hotel, and when the Batfam asked him how patrol had gone, he had no comment for them.

The first time he saved her, she had angered one of Gotham’s less patient Rogues about their costume choice: The Joker. Robin scooped her up before the clown could harm a hair on Marinette’s head. As the cord of his grappling hook retracted, pulling them up, he chided her on which Rogues were genuinely dangerous.

The first time she met his brothers was as he landed on an unfortunate rooftop, Marinette in his arms. They were speaking jovially until Damian heard Tim crow, “I KNEW IT,” over the comms. Damian blinked.

“Knew what?” he asked, holding up a finger to ask Marinette to wait for a second. Tim was cheering victoriously in his ear. Before he could yell at his brother to shut up, Jason, Dick, and Bruce stepped out of the shadows. Damian groaned.

The first time he kissed Marinette was right after she kissed him. He’d just saved her from a villain again, though this time it wasn’t her fault that she was in danger. She’d kissed his cheek as a thank you just as he turned his head. She stammered apologies over and over until he’d gently kissed her cheek. They kindly ignored each other’s blush.

The first time Marinette met his civilian self, she had bumped into him on the street. He’d dropped all his papers and almost yelled at her, but then he saw who it was. She helped him pick up his papers, apologizing the whole time. He walked away with her phone number “in case anything was damaged and you want me to pay for it!” and an amused grin.

Their first date had been wonderful, but she’d seemed somewhat distant. The closer she got to each of his sides, the more distant she grew with each. Until one day, when they were talking- him as Robin, rather than Damian- she confided that she’d been seeing someone. That he was kind and a perfect gentleman, that she liked him very much. She told Robin she was going to break it off. She told Robin she loved him.

Damian knew it was against protocol, but he ripped off his mask in that instant. Her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped.

The first time he heard her laugh, she practically fell into hysterics. “I- I- I fell for the same boy? TWICE? I was- I was going to break it off with, with YOU, because I felt bad that I was in love with YOU AGAIN?” she cackled, and if Damian blushed while he laughed, no one said anything.

The first time he saw her in her wedding dress, he cried.

For the first time in years.

[outoftimewriting]

Imagine (Son of Hades! Percy; Godswapped! Big Three's kids (6/7) or (11/12)

House of Hades Pt.2 - In the Argo II

Hello darlings! Before reading this, there's at least other 11 parts - and I almost had to divide this into two - check on the masterpost - but don't be sad is ending :(

First - I have no idea if I'll divide Blood of Olympus in two because I hate the climax Rick wrote - so probably? Also not sure if I'll need an epilogue - we're not delving into TOA, though.

Second - I'll keep writing! I have a handful of ideas that I want to do next - and the next AU will have Female! Percy - so keep logging in!

Check on the warnings before proceeding, and good reading :))

To say that things are tense in the Argo II is downplaying the major depression the ship seemed to be sunk in since Perseus fell.

Leo and, surprisingly, Nico are the only ones who are able to get anything done in the first couple of days, but they aren't fooling anyone - the white eyes of the son of Zeus seem to be every day a little more bloodshot, and more than one fire happens without no explanation.

Annabeth didn't stop crying for a second - even throughout Will's examination of her and her brother - for at least 12 hours. Then she crashed for another 12 hours - and when Annabeth woke up, she was enraged.

She is going to bring the damned statue back to Camp - and then she will kick her mother's ass. That's her best friend, not collateral damage.

And when her dumbass of a best friend comes back, Annabeth is going to kick his ass too. How dare he fall - for her, not even his closest friend - into freaking Tartarus?

Frank is devastated - he and Piper are coping by planning the future - how they can spend the summer at Camp and live in Nova Roma, how they'll visit Perseus if he decides to go to college in the mortal world. It feels a little like denial.

Hazel and Jason are coping in the totally opposite way. Where Leo and Nico are fueling themselves with determination, Annabeth is anger personified and the other two went in the road of negation - they're both in a deep state of panic.

The sea became too dangerous to travel - the tides answering to Jason's turbulent emotions - and any metal on board keeps exploding or becoming so fueled with energy that no one but Nico and Hazel can touch it.

They pray together - for Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto, Letum, any god that Perseus ever helped (a lot of them) - for his protection. Jason holds evening prayers - just like in Nova Roma - and they offer anything, everything, for Percy to be alive. Everyone goes.

Except for Will, who is in a whole other league. The moment that he arrived at Camp, Percy was the one to settle him, and calm him, and take care of him. It was a side of him no other person in this ship had ever seen - Nico got in Camp in the worst timing possible, and all the others were pretty independent when they met Perseus.

But Will remembers - the nights with hot chocolate, Percy's warm sweaters, a pair of blue gloves messing his hair, the anxiety when the boy left for school, just for him to keep IMing Will every evening - and he misses Percy.

After the Labyrinth, the war, the losses, they reconnected - the prejudices against Percy's parentage long gone - and it felt like nothing ever changed.

It was Percy who helped him coming out for his mother. It was Percy that held Will after he lost Sibele - a daughter of Momus - to her injuries. It was Percy, always Percy.

Percy is much more of a father then Apollo - and much better as a brother then some of Will's siblings. So Will just locks himself up in his infirmary - and grieves. It's weird in such a hard mission to remember that Will is just fifteen and that he is a veteran of war.

The mood lingers, even when they start fighting regularly against the Apennines - and isn't this a whole other mess.

The mountain spirits are pissed - because Hades/Pluto and his wife are really pissed. It's Malcolm - the only one with a phone and a good connection to the internet - that tells them that the world started having earthquakes every few days.

The mortals are confused because most of these are not even close to the tectonic plates - and none of those cause turmoil at the sea. It's just Hades - mightly pissed his only son is beyond even his reach.

Three days in fighting the Ourae - who don't like having their mountains shaken over and over again - the sky also starts thundering. Coincidentally, it's July 30th - they've been traveling for twenty-two days - which also marks Thesmophoria - the greek festival of harvest.

But, alas, nothing is blooming. Persephone is as dangerous as her husband - and Demeter seems to follow her daughter's lead. With the Earth corrupted - the crops aren't growing.

Jason doesn't blame his matron - he is not really happy himself. Besides praying for Perseus' safety, he spends most of his days in patrol against boulders and rocks of all things.

Leo barely sleeps - too busy keeping the ship from falling apart - and Nico is, most of the time, right behind him keeping the ship steady. They try using canons and fail miserably. There's no way to fight against mountains - it's like Dom Quixote fighting against the windmills.

The others, even Will, rotate between fighting rocks and sleeping. Four days after Thesmophoria, Leo decides it's enough, turns the ship around, and solves to not cross the Apennines.

He just hopes Perseus can last another seven days.

Hazel - the only one awake, because this is supposed to be her patrol and Leo finds her the most reasonable out of all their friends, who would probably insist on keep fighting the freaking mountains - is praying. Like always.

Leo doesn't know how he feels about praying. His extended family was very catholic - they prayed for a god that they couldn't see or touch. But Leo met the gods - or, if Annabeth is to be believed, one set of them - and he doesn't like them.

They're petty children who have no care for the fate of their children - the ones who fight for them, go on their errands, keep them alive, y'know. Leo doesn't want to praise them. He doesn't think they deserve it.

But Hazel's prayers are answered when her venti, Tempest, appears aboard. Hazel tells Leo to go on without her - she'll be back soon.

He is concerned for her - like always. Of all new people, Leo seems to be the closest to her - his overall cheeriness and electric behavior are endearing to her, a light in these dark times. Sometimes, his smile makes her flush - just like Frank's did and still does.

Hazel mounts Tempest and the venti takes her, through mountains and hills, to a door. There's mist curling at her ankles and a chill in her spine.

She isn't very thrilled by meeting Trivia - Hazel heard stories of her greek son by Perseus, who seemed to hold the guy in high standard, but she knows gods. The goddess of magic wants something.

Trivia is an imposing woman - taller than Hazel, she has the same midnight skin as Perseus, though hers looks purple-ish, and her eyes are entire universes - stars bloom in her irises and twin moons rise in her pupils.

The goddess is fickle - she seems to be there and not, at the same time. Ghostly. There's three of them, then one, then five.

Trivia beacons to the daughter of Jupiter and she follows, the cursed little girl she is. The goddess offers her three options: Perseus, prone in the ground as she, Leo, and Annabeth battle an invisible foe, the two demigod installments at war, or the Argo II.

Hazel chooses the Argo II, but she promises herself, and the goddess, that she will save Perseus, and that no demigod blood will be spilled by other demigod's hand. Not again.

She will learn how to control the Mist. But Trivia is very mistaken if she thinks Hazel is going to become her acolyte. She remembers well what happened last time - she died.

The Argo II is traveling without much hassle - when they're crossing Monte Falterona, in the Campigna National Park, they are attacked by a new mountain spirit - and this one talks.

"Get Pluto his brat back, you useless halflings!"

Like the boulders the immortal is throwing at them will help. Leo screams this back at the mountain, who is not impressed at all.

Their next foe is in San Marino - a chimera. Most popular knowledge is wrong about those monsters: chimeras are not just goat-lion-snake mixes. They are an amalgamation of any three or more animals.

This one, in particular, is a very... candid mix of a Pyrenean chamois, a monk-seal, a mouflon, and a goose. Not very lethal or hazardous - just very angry. It's the first time they hear Annabeth laugh since Perseus fell.

While Malcolm is chasing and being chased around by an evil goat-goose-seal-weirdass deer chimera that he is fending off with an encyclopedia, the others can't even bring themselves to help. It's ridiculous - the thing is not even big. It's just ugly and it sounds like a honking clown.

Eventually, they get around to killing the clown chimera - it honks as it vanishes - and following route to Bologna. Frank tries to mutate to the chimera during the travel - to different levels of failure - which makes everyone laugh.

Thanks to their two encounters, the crew gets to Bologna at two in the afternoon.

Frank can't help counting the days as they pass him by. He is not the only one - he can see Annabeth muttering the time every now and then - but it feels like a countdown. Can Perseus survive one more week in Tartarus?

Even with the pressing worry for his lost friend, he can't stop thinking about Hazel and Leo. The two of them are thick as thieves - and Frank wants in.

But he knows it's wrong - Leo is a boy. Hazel is younger. Leo bares a power that could kill him. Hazel is his best friend. They're two people. - but he sees them flirting and can't keep his eyes to himself.

It's wrong. Soldiers aren't supposed to date men. Men who dated men are prostitutes, entertainers. Less. And two people at the same time? Outside of a bedroom? Preposterous.

Frank wishes he was more like Perseus. Perseus is all about duty: he would eventually marry Reyna. Or Annabeth, or other pretty and intelligent warrior, and have two point five kids with a picket fence.

But no. Here he is - midday, they are stopping for lunch, and he can't keep his eyes off Leo and Hazel - who are quietly chatting in the other end of the long table.

Frank ponders what would they think. Would the two be repulsed? Would they laugh at him? He can deal with laughter. Their disgust, however, would cut his heart in half.

Nico is in a very similar, and yet completely different, situation. He has been in love - or as close as love could be when you never dated the person - with Perseus Jackson.

He knows it's okay to be gay - he is friends with Will and Jake. He lives on CHB since he was a pre-teen. Perseus himself was - is - queer.

But the thing is, he'll never have a chance with him. Not the chance he is longing for gods know how long. He failed Perseus yet again - he let the demigod fall.

Perseus can have anyone. Perfect Annabeth Chase, Shrewd Reyna Arellano, Magic Alabaster Torrington, anyone. And he wouldn't have a problem with that - no. The problem is that he can't make a choice. Because he is in Tartarus.

Because Nico. Let. Him. Fall.

He isn't even sure if he let Perseus fall on purpose. A part of his mind knew someone would have to go. It was always meant to be Perseus. Did he purposefully let him go?

The rational part of his mind knew that if he tried to fly them off, all he would accomplish is falling into Tartarus with Perseus, probably dragging Annabeth with them.

But the guilt creeps into his heart - again, yet again, Perseus suffers for something he did or failed to do. He can't sleep. He doesn't know how anyone can eat.

A rock for him in these difficult times has been Jason. The son of Neptune seems to be as affected as Hazel or Annabeth - but Nico would never be able to rely on them.

Hazel has her own problems - a lot of them since Trivia appeared - and Annabeth is a painful reminder of everything Nico is unable to have.

Jason, however, is different. They had dreams of each other - something about their conquests, Nico didn't pay attention - and that apparently brought them close. Jason, differently from Annabeth, isn't a competition. He isn't vying for Percy's attention and love.

He is just a close friend - like Nico pretends to be most of the time - incredibly worried about the son of Hades. Nico would tell Jason about how he feels - but the militar roman's sensibilities might not be adjusted to the greeks' freedom yet.

Nico, however, is also not the only one with heart problems. Piper finds himself entranced by Annabeth Chase - even when she knows, she knows because of her powers, that Annabeth is painfully straight.

And Piper knows it's not love - it's the heat of the upcoming war and the hormones of being cooped up with just other teenagers for twenty days. She sees the blossoms of young lovers everywhere.

The yearning between Leo, Hazel, and Frank; Nico and Jason unconsciously sharing long-term crushes on Perseus; Will missing Jake and his parental figure;

She wishes she was more like Malcolm. Malcolm is asexual - besides being the only other transexual person on board.

Before this war spiked from nothing, the boy was just back from his mission for Hermaphroditus - a two-month search for a missing choker. He is still adapting to his body - it's bigger and broader and he doesn't have to wear a binder. Piper thinks it's amazing - he tells her it isn't that easy.

It's not a slow transition. One second your body is something - and then it isn't. One morning, the demigod caught him holding a red binder in his hands. Sometimes, she sees a shot of testosterone tucked in his pocket.

One day, he was a boy stuck in a girl's body. Then, he wasn't anymore. He has the body he dreamed of for forever - and it's difficult accepting it. Malcolm tells her is not exactly body dysphoria - is just difficult to conciliate.

Piper thinks after this, she'll get her body. After all of this, she deserves it - her body, all hers, with boobs and a killer jawline. Maybe then, it'll be easier to like girls as well. Maybe then, she'll shave half of her head and get a piercing. And maybe, a couple of tattoos.

But while this doesn't happen, she is whining to her asexual friend about her crush in his sister. Malcolm crushes her with logic - "Annabeth has only shown interest in men. She might be bi or pan or even a lesbian, but the odds aren't on your favor" - and she tries to put the blonde out of her mind.

Lunch, however, is a little ridiculous for her. As a daughter of love herself, that table is such a mess of yearning and pining and infatuations.

Malcolm seems to be the only rational - but even he is a little flushed. Piper totally saw that picture of Mitchell in his drawer last week.

She couldn't blame him really - her brother is hot. All demigods are - in very different ways of course, but their godly blood made them more or less otherworldly compared to mortals. Didn't matter their ethnicity, their gender, if they're disabled or not - they are all hot.

Piper, however, doesn't spend all her time freaking over hot people. She is a teenager with a friend who has a good connection to the internet, so she does that a lot - but most of her time these days is looking at Katoptris.

She's waiting for a vision of Perseus. Anything - just proof that he is alive, that he hasn't curled in a ball on whatever is the ground down there and went mad.

It doesn't come. She is looking at this ridiculous lunch table, eating vegetarian burgers, and waiting. Just as it seems like her dagger starts glowing gold - two monkey twins sweep down and steal it. And Leo's tool belt and Archimedes' Sphere.

Piper is really pissed. She wants this mission to end - she wants to find Perseus and stop Gaea, and that's her magical item. It's important. So she and Leo go after the twin monkeys.

Using one of the armory's javelin - for lack of a better option - they sprint over roofs and marketplaces. Bologna is a beautiful city - but they have no time.

They corner the twin monkeys, get their things back - and some things pertaining to a god of harvest - Triptolemus. Perhaps if they make an offer to him, Demeter and Persephone will be more cooperative. Maybe Persephone will be able to calm her husband.

Piper really doubts it. If she learned anything in the nineteen days she traveled with Perseus, is that he calls Persephone "Kore" or "Mater". The only other person he refers to with such open childish joy is his own mother, Sally.

The guy IMed both of them twice a week - enough that Piper knows their voices. While Hades isn't high in the demigod's list of people, his wife seemed to be at least number #2.

But they go back to the ship and relay their plan anyway. They set route to Venice. In the hour that it takes them to get there, they're delayed twice: once by the personification of River Ádige - which enabled them to pass until Jason helped with a small problem - and then by a couple of ventis - which Hazel sent off.

Frank, Annabeth, Hazel and Nico venture into the drowned city - Piper declines to go, saying that she is waiting for Katoptris to cooperate - being Nico the only one who actually speaks Italian in the ship.

The city is infested with anteater-like herbivorous monsters called katoplebones, which are pointedly not from the Greek pantheon. It's pretty rare for monsters to cross pantheons - and the Egyptians are pretty good in keeping them under lock and key - but sometimes, this happens.

They aren't capacitated to deal with those. Annabeth has half a mind to call the Kanes and demand an explanation. Pretty sure they were possessed by the gods to avoid this kind of situation.

She doesn't have much time to think - Hazel is quickly overwhelmed by the poisonous breath of the cows. Of course - is there anything in Egypt that isn't connected to snakes?

They find Triptolemus - who is not thrilled with their presence. Demeter - his mistress - and her daughter are distraught by Perseus' missing status - and he blames Annabeth and Nico for it.

Annabeth tries to persuade him - after all, they have Jason on board, and he is blessed by Ceres. Triptolemus - a very greek god - is not swayed.

"Your trickster words shall not fool me, daughter of Athena."

That's how Annabeth became a rosemary bush - good for memory and brainpower. Nico, when he tried to fight back, became a corn crop.

Mars is whispering in Frank's mind - he is not really fond of his father but uses his help to kill the evil Egyptian cows and get a python for the god's chariot.

He can't let Hazel die. He can't see the light go off her eyes - to see the same pain reflected in Leo's eyes. But Frank is so using Nico's stunt as a corn plant as blackmail material later. Not with Annabeth thought - she would stab him.

Triptolemus, pleased, turns Nico and Annabeth back to human and heals Hazel. Then, he tells them they have to eat barley cakes - so they can survive the poison needed to enter the house of the dead.

Proceeding south down the Adriatic toward Greece, a journey that should take about half a day, the crew of the Argo II is first accosted in Koper - a city on the coast of Slovenia - by four monocerus in the middle of the night.

Monocerus, in Leo's very succinct explanation, are "evil unicorns with big feet that can't fly and shouldn't be in a flying ship".

Whoever, the monsters apparently don't care where they should or not be - and Annabeth - still reeling for her time as rosemary - takes two of them out, keeping the horns as a prize. Nico takes one, who is so beat that leaves nothing, and Malcolm kills one with a handgun.

It's not the most practical weapon, because celestial bronze is not that easy to fabricate/find/obtain - so to use it in bullets that will explode and render it unusable it's kind of a desperate - but it's the first thing he could get - Malcolm's double tessen was being repaired by Leo.

Because yes - not only was the twenty years old able to fight with normal blades, he also fights with freaking fans made of iron.

After the run-in with the evil unicorns - Annabeth looks really cool covered in gold blood and curved silver horns in her hands - they proceed across Croatia.

It goes well for about thirty minutes - in Zadar, they cross paths with Sciron. Sciron is a bandit and outlaw, who - for some reason, is assisted by a giant predatory sea turtle.

While Hazel tricks him into throwing himself off the cliff using her new-discovered Mist, Jason talks to the turtle. It says its name is Chelone - that it's the turtle who took Aphrodite Ourania from the depths of the sea to the shores of Cythera - when she was still young, with remains of other goddesses in her anima - Innana and Ishtar.

He convinces the turtle to stop killing people - mainly by saying that he should hunt elsewhere, deeper onto the sea. It may become a problem for his father, but Jason has bigger issues right now.

They go to sleep, and Hazel dreams. She expects any god to come - but who comes to her is none other than Pluto and his wife, Proserpina.

Proserpina is shrouded in black, and her eyes are not green - but yellowish, like dead leaves. She talks - and tells Hazel that the Doors of Death are in the bottom of the Necromanteion - her powers over metal energy would guide her - and will be guarded by Pasiphae, vengeful of Pluto - and, by default, Perseus - for the lack of punishment for Minos.

Her husband is a silent presence by her side. He is not in mourning... probably. It's difficult to tell, as he is always in black. But his eyes hold a weight easy for Hazel to understand - he just lost a son to the abyss. No matter that Perseus might be alive - he wouldn't get back whole and safe.

Proserpina ends her dream by telling her to wake up Piper - the goddess is putting all her strength to send a vision of Perseus to Katoptris - they need one much more than her, seeing that they are able to interfere.

What Piper sees don't tell them a lot - Perseus seems mostly okay, with some sort of companion that Nico says it might be Iapetus, a brand new scar over his face and a bad limp.

It's the last they'll see of him until their eventual meeting face to face, but it gives them hope.

Annabeth herself has a dream - a dream that the Romans give the statue to the greeks. She sends an iris message to Rachel - so she can meet personally with Reyna.

Reyna, on the other side of the world, mounts her pegasus, Scipio, and leaves. Not only her co-praetor is in freaking Tartarus, but they are on the verge of two simultaneous wars. They need peace.

As soon as she is out of the roman range, however, she sends an iris message to Jason - telling him to go to their hero's place of rest - she had a vision from Mars. That she will meet them in Greece. Jason tells Leo to set course for Split, in Croatia. There's a roman scepter there.

Of all of them, the most capacitated for this mission are Frank and Jason, who are both educated Romans, and Nico, who can fly - a very good power to have in unstable ruins.

They're confronted by Favonious, who takes them to his master, Cupid, in Dalmatia. Nothing good can come of talking to the personification of love - such an old concept that the god has been reborn twice.

"Well, well, well"

"What do we have here?"

Jason falls onto the ground - "You think you found true love, haven't you? But alas, I was where you last expected me" - and he hates love, for that single moment.

"I shall give you what you want, Romans, if each of you is able to tell me - who do you love the most?"

Nico trembles - guilt is a difficult pill to swallow - and Frank visibly wants to bolt out of there.

"Oh, are you afraid? But there's no hiding in the face of true love"

Jason - always the brave one - gives a look at Frank. His friend never met the greeks. He might hate Jason after this.

But they need this scepter.

"Perseus Jackson"

Two heads whips in his direction - one unbelievingly, and the other distressed.

"Ah, love crafted in dreams - the perfect mix between me and my wife. Tell me, Jason Grace, was it bad when he looked upon you and saw naught but a myth?"

A laugh creeps upon Jason's spine, and he turns around. His blade hits something hard, and he is on the floor again.

"Such luck, to be able to even graze love. Perhaps yours is the purest of all - not yet tainted by failures and mistakes. On that note, why don't you go next, Nico di Angelo?"

Nico shivers - he... they have no time for that. That is unnecessary drama - to cause unnecessary problems.

A memory rushes to the front of Jason's mind - that quick chat with Reyna in Nova Roma. "The blond girl, Di Angelo"

Nico loves Perseus. It rushes to Jason now - the way that the younger boy stared adoringly at the son of Hades. The drunkness of his lovesick gaze. The despair when Perseus fell.

"Tell them Nico di Angelo" Cupid prompts "Tell them all about your guilt, your mistakes, the way you let him down, again and again, and again."

Nico floats a little off the ground. It's years of pain and sorrow that won't bring Perseus back.

"Will you fly off yet again, in the face of rivalry? Will you be my next servant - just like Favonious, consumed by jealousy, Nico di Angelo?"

Jason sees the memories. Nico screaming at Perseus. Grover reluctantly telling him about their adventures. The way he betrayed Percy - and a dozen more scenes he never saw from Nico's perspective, only Percy's, that made him unable to speak.

"It's okay Nico... I.... I get it."

It's painful to utter these words - it's almost like he is giving up Perseus. But they have a war to get through - and then, when the other demigod is back, they can figure this out.

"P-Perseus Jackson"

And then it's Frank's turn. But Frank is as pale as a ghost - he seems to be close to vomiting.

"It's a costly thing isn't it, looking at the true face of love. Now it's the turn of the brave son of Mars. Will you tell your friends easily, or shall you be a coward like the son of Zeus?"

Frank doesn't talk. Jason doesn't understand why - it's Hazel, isn't it? Is it because of Nico? He mentions talking to the son of Zeus, but Di Angelo doesn't look at him - the Cupid knew very well how to play his game.

"Come on. Tell them - tell them of whom you think before you sleep and who dominates your first thoughts every morning."

"You don't scare me"

"Oh, I scare you very, very much. Face me. Be honest."

"H-Hazel. Levesque."

"That's just half my question, little half-blood. If you want to lead the roman legions, you must answer it fully."

"I love H-Hazel. She is the one I think before I sleep and when I wake up."

"Still hiding. You're not strong enough, Frank Zhang."

Frank tries to charge at the wind, but it just mocks him. It's weird seeing Frank crying - it looks like the world is crumbling at his feet.

Jason, yet again, doesn't understand. Nico is also confused - he looks between the Romans as if he never saw any of them before. But then it dawns on the son of Zeus.

"Not only my sister. That's why you keep gazing at them, isn't it?"

All the fighting and denial leave Frank at once. His sword clangs in the ground.

"I love both Hazel and Leo. Together." He spits out, still trembling. "That's the truth. Are you happy now?"

"I wouldn't say Love always makes you happy. It can make you incredibly sad, sometimes. But you have faced it now. It's the only true way to conquer me."

Cupid appears - in a flash of white wings. It might be the god Jason hates the most - his eyes seem to penetrate his very soul. There's a scepter in his hand.

"Only a true child of Mars Ultor can yield it. It's your destiny, Frank Zhang."

Then he promptly disappears. The demigods look at each other - there's a flurry of emotions deep inside their chests. Frank looked at both of them, waiting for an attack, or for them to start fighting.

"No one has to know" He starts "I'm s-so-..."

He doesn't end. There are copious tears rolling through his face - his cheeks are a deep shade of red. A sob escapes his throat.

"P-please, p-pleased-don't t-te-tell anyone." Frank sobs, and it's such a jarring sight that both Nico and Jason rally to reassure him, leaving their own issues aside.

"There's nothing wrong with loving two people at once. No one will have a problem with it, Frank - fuck, this isn't Nova Roma. Most of us are greek."

"Hazel would hate me though. This is unnatural- I- I can't."

"You don't know that. Hazel loves you, Frank"

But the son of Mars just keeps crying until they both promise not to tell another soul what they saw. It's enough for the weird atmosphere to return.

Midway in the trek back to the ship - a six-hour walk - Nico is too riled up to safely fly with two people and none of them being too fond of air right now - Frank summons enough power to ask the question.

"So... uh... hm... Perseus?... like, uh, I can see the appeal-... but... both?... forget I asked, just....uh oh, sorry."

Jason and Nico pointedly avoid looking at each other. It's very bizarre - Jason knows a lot about Perseus, but now he knows Perseus also from Nico's perspective - and this is all messy.

They go back to the ship, relay to Annabeth that they got the scepter, and immediately go back to their cabins - to cry, to scream, to think.

It's been a day and a half - and they're still eleven hours off Epirus. Leo is pissed - because not only their three heavy-hitters are pissed at something and won't communicate, and they're of course.

Emerging from the infirmary for something other than to eat and mend people is finally Will - at least. He takes patrol in place of Nico - the boy quietly mumbled at his friend that they had a run-in with Cupid. Will can imagine how that went.

He doesn't have a clue about Frank - but Jason and Nico? They have the same long-lasting crush on Perseus - everyone on board knows that. Except, apparently, for each other. And Perseus - because his mentor/kind of brother/bother figure is a dumbass.

When they're passing through the coast of Albany, they're attacked by Khione - who is still very pissed her ex-lover's son doesn't want to spend eternity frozen with her. Leo ends up being sent away - for the distress of both Hazel and Frank and the anger of his best friends, Piper and Jason.

Piper ends up stabbing Khione - while Frank transforms into the giant dragon and burns her - making her unable to freeze them. Eventually, she runs away.

Leo, however, wakes up on an island. There's a sad girl at his side - she is using a modern blue dress, and there's a crown of black flowers upon her head.

"You were not the one I was expecting."

The son of Hephaestus wants to scream. Well, he didn't want to be whatever here is either! But her face is so sad - her gaze down to her bare feet. She seemed to be crying. He settles for asking who is her.

"I... I am sorry. My name is Calypso. This is Ogygia."

It startles him. Mainly because he has heard this name before around camp - wasn't she supposed to be freed?

"What happened to you?"

The immortal girl relays her tale - how she got freed for a year, and then the war started. The gods - Zeus - didn't trust her not to turn against them. So they locked her up - she was not the only one. Leto, Themis, Rhea - good titans or their offspring. Locked away.

She, after a year of freedom that Perseus got her, was back into her old shackles. Calypso is waiting for him for months now - but she thinks he forgot her.

So Leo tells her what happened - the bits he knows anyway. Juno/Hera, Nova Roma, the mission. Calypso seems calmer. They stay together for a while - friends it seems.

Calypso tells him about her year - about how she wanted to explore the world. She tells him she wanted to join Artemis' hunt - but, courtesy of Odysseys, she is no maiden.

He tells her about Hazel and Frank, Perseus, and the love hexagons he doesn't even know he is in - omitting the part that he is now in Tartarus. They talk about Festus - Calypso tells him about how his father is good to hear - how he came to visit, sometimes.

A week passes, maybe a week and a half. Leo vows to take Calypso off the island once the war ends, and she believes - once, a hero as brave as Leo made her the same promise, and stuck with it through the end.

In Cancun, Africa, Jason and Nico are having daily audiences with Auster, the Roman god of the south wind, in connection with the Seven being able to proceed on their way to Epirus - seeing that their ship is all broken and they have no Leo.

Auster is indolent and seems increasingly disinclined to cooperate with Jason and Nico: he dislikes the son of Zeus, and the wind never had a good relationship with the sea. Annabeth also tries her hand at it - but it's rebuffed at every turn. Piper is prohibited from entering the palace because of her magic voice.

Jason and Nico - even though they aren't speaking to each other - have for a long time admitted they don't fit completely at either camp. Jason is still too militar for CHB. Nico is too old for CHB. Both are too free with their personal lives for Nova Roma.

Auster agrees to meet with them and tells them to commit to one side - greek or roman. They deny it - they're both. The gods are both, they have been thrust in a war of both sides, they commune with gods on both aspects and they ask them to run errands for both pantheons. They have the right to be both.

Auster is not happy with this - mainly because he believes they should keep the sides separated. But it's the first time Nico and Jason agree on something - and they fight together for it. No god has the right to define those petty things when the demigods are fighting their war.

Auster merges with his greek counterpart Notus - an amalgamation of both his carefree and his militar side - and sends The Seven on their way when coerced by the threat of a hurricane and a typhoon.

He sends them to Valletta, Malta, where they find the Argo II fully repaired and in the harbor. In the port, on a small cafe, there's Leo - sitting and raging internally against the gods, who once again, fucked up something.

They trade stories, and Leo just rages more. He isn't sure how Perseus didn't ally himself with Kronos in the first war if that was the bullshit he had to deal with every day.

First Khione, then Zeus locking Calypso up, then this Notus guy - they are a week and a half late. Is Perseus still alive after nineteen days in the Pit? Is he sane? Did he tried to get out - and they weren't there?

It's with a shocking gasp from Annabeth that they realize that Perseus's birthday is in three days. They have been traveling together for thirty-seven days now - and they have to get Perseus out of Tartarus before the 18th, at least. Is the minimum.

It takes them a day to get to Epirus. There are enough monsters in their way to start a menagerie - Gaea is actively trying to stall them, so there must be a reason. Perseus might be alive.

Arriving at the Necromanteion, which they learn is just a very fancy name for catacombs, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Annabeth, Will, and Piper descend into the ruins, leaving Nico and Jason - who are both completely useless under the earth - behind with Malcolm - who, since Arachne, is pretty much claustrophobic.

They eat the barley cakes to protect themselves against the toxic potion they must drink in order to enter the temple. It's difficult to swallow poison - it burns as it goes down.

The mist tries to confuse them at every turn - Hazel diverts it. Her power over metal energy guides them - she can feel the basis of the building, way down where they are.

Katoptris burns in Piper's hand. It shows her Perseus' face - he looks cadaveric, shrouded in death. Sometimes he flickers, like a ghost - but he is alive, and heading to the Doors just like they are.

It's enough to spur them forward. Perseus is doing the same journey - from a much difficult side. They will meet in the middle.

Earthquakes strike the caverns, making part of the floor collapse. In a side, Piper and Will, surrounded by monsters in all sides. In the other, Frank, Leo, Hazel and Annabeth. The son of Mars doesn't think twice - the scepter.

He uses the Scepter of Diocletian to summon ghostly Roman soldiers, and as a Legatus Legionis, he does have the power to command all of them. It would be more controlled if he was Praetor, but the actual Praetor is Perseus, and so, in his absence, Frank will have to do.

The tunnel collapses. Hazel. Leo. They might be dead - but Frank can't panic right now. They are alive. They will protect each other, they have Annabeth Chase with them. Hazel controls the mist - everything will be just fine.

Anger grew in his chest. Those are his friends, his... his loved ones. This freaking ruin don't get to kill them before Frank summons enough courage to submit himself to the ridiculousness of telling them.

Hazel wants to cry - they left Frank behind. He might be dead - they might be all dead. Leo isn't much better. For all that Zhang seems to hate him, his infatuation with the Canadian never disappeared.

Annabeth however, is practical. She tells them Frank will be fine - the guy can transform into a dragon. Or a chimera. Probably a poisonous one, after the stunt in Venice. He has an army - it's okay.

Pasiphae is a bitch. Leo hates the woman - she reminds him of Aunt Rosa. Or Juno. Or Lady Muddy herself. He and Annabeth let Hazel do the majority of the talking - but both of them bristle as the Doors shake.

An unauthorized presence. Perseus actually did it - they have twelve minutes, in accord to Annabeth - who Leo knows better than to doubt - to open the Doors. Or he is dead, lost forever.

"It's a pity Gaea needs a son of the Earth and a daughter of the Sea... But none of you are children of the Underworld or the ocean, are you? Not even the acolyte of Trivia."

Everything indicates that she'll open the door herself - but Annabeth can't risk she whisking Perseus away to Gaea before they can reach him. So she sneaks past with her cap while they fight.

Pasiphae goes down to Hazel's illusions. Annabeth opens the Doors, before cutting the chains as Hazel and Leo distract Clytius. Perseus stumbles out, a giant tiger in his heels.

Leo didn't think he would ever see a harsher picture. The tall boy was still muscular - but gaunt as if he hadn't eaten since the fall. There were scars everywhere.

He couldn't look more - Clytius is threatening Perseus, but both Annabeth and the tiger stay in his way. Trivia appears - but they aren't truly winning until Piper, Will, and Frank are able to reach them through Hazel's magic.

Will goes immediately to Perseus' side - there's panic in his eyes. Leo can't see much this far - he hopes the son of Hades isn't dead. Piper and Frank fight alongside them. Annabeth is still hovering protectively over her best friend's prone body.

There's not much need for help - between Hazel and Trivia, the bulk of Clytius powers are unusable. The shared power of Piper (love is never where you expect it), Frank (and his undead soldiers), a very angry Annabeth, and Leo is just overkill.

They win. Will is feeding Perseus ambrosia - there's something really wrong because there are tear tracks in the blonde's face. Leo comes closer - their friends follow.

Perseus is destroyed. He looks like he has been through hell - there's a scar crossing his face and his eyes are sunken in. But that's not where it stops.

Leo's gaze goes down, to the ragged clothes that are barely recognizable - the sweatpants he was convinced to wear to go underground, the once-green sweater - and sees what is missing.

Where Perseus' leg once was, there's a metal one. The boy is curled in the fetal position - his metal leg sticks out like a sore thumb, and it looks like he might cry if he wasn't so dehydrated. The tiger nudges its head against the boy's leg and growls at them, but it doesn't attack.

"I... I can't touch him. I touched him and he started panicking... I... We have to take him back to the ship. He is stable, but..."

Frank picks up Perseus in a bride-carry - a month ago, he wouldn't be able to do it. But now, he is stronger - and Perseus must weight ninety pounds wet.

The tiger follows - when they cross to the daylight, they can see it's not a normal tiger. Annabeth - with a distraught look in her face - tells them it's a skeleton tiger. Probably a saber-tooth.

They go back on board - Piper goes up to call Nico, so he can fly Perseus into the ship. He does, but the expression in his face is so crushing Leo almost wishes they had delayed it by destroying property and landing the ship on the street.

The mood of the ship is yet again somber. No one wants to leave the infirmary - but Will forces them to rotate, so as to not overwhelm Perseus. Hypocrite - he is living in there.

Leo, Malcolm, and Piper - the least close to Percy, even though they are friends - let the others take the bulk of the shifts. Annabeth, Nico, and Jason almost get into blows about it - she wins on the fact that she knows Perseus longer.

It's difficult to IM both Rachel - who is a minute away from depression since he fell - and Lady Persephone. It's even harder to tell Sally - they leave the task to Annabeth.

They harbor for two days, waiting for Reyna. She appears from the sky during dinnertime - her horse has to be euthanized almost immediately after a run with the spirit mountains.

They talk - and end up deciding that she will take the statue back to Camp with Malcolm, the most resourceful out of them. Percy would be the logical solution - taking him out of Gaea's reach - but the son of Hades would probably be unable to shadow travel so soon.

While this happens, the others will set course to Athens - to stop Gaea and destroy the Giants. For now, they eat.

Midway through their meal, Will comes into the board - everyone knows what it means. Perseus is awake - on his birthday to boot. They take their food to the infirmary - to see the boy looking at the ceiling.

He gives them a faint smile, but no one misses the way he curls into himself any time there's someone a little too close. Perseus relays his tale - it's heavily edited, Annabeth can tell.

But he tells them about the leg - but not how he lost it - about the tiger - the name is Small Bob, but he doesn't talk about Bob - and about the firewater - but not how he got the injuries.

Small Bob never leaves Perseus's side. The demigod insists that he wants to go outside - he ate enough ambrosia and drank enough nectar that even some of his scars are gone. Not the one in his face though. Will let him go - but Annabeth thinks that he just asked out of courtesy.

He doesn't have green eyes anymore - they darkened to a point they can't distinguish his pupil. They observe as he sits calmly in the deck, metal leg sticking out, and strokes the head of the tiger, who is acting more or less like a giant house cat.

None of them miss the tracks of tears across his face, or the look he gives the night sky - it's bittersweet.

"Bob says hello"