#rome falls arc

[chowtrolls]

Decommissioned

Google Docs Link. The Handler is not mine.

The process for answering one of Handler’s calls has always been, frankly, tedious. Lockjaw’s pager goes off, giving him a time and a number. At the given time, he calls that given number from a payphone outside his apartment. The voice is always a little different- he had realized by now that the Handler used a voice changing device to remain anonymous. Probably for the best, in his opinion. 

The pager had given him fifteen minutes. By the time Lockjaw actually looked at the pager, he had five. He scrambled to find a notebook and pen, nearly dropped it all thrice, and forgot to unlock the door twice before trying to open it. Meanwhile, Rumble had yet to finish her breakfast. She watched him with an amused expression. 

He made it to the payphone twenty seconds late. It took another twenty to properly enter the number. He set the phone on top of the phone box and nervously tapped the pen on his notebook. He could hear the receiver just fine from a distance, thanks to his improved hearing. And typically, Handler didn’t want him to respond, so he didn’t need to hold it close. 

He wasn’t…afraid of the Handler. If anything, there was a moderate healthy respect for the anonymous individual. So far, Handler hadn’t done anything to really warrant any concern from the blueblood. But…there was a level of professionalism to uphold. And the annoyance was ever clear when they answered the phone. 

“You’re late.” 

“Elevator broke.” The lie rolled off easily. Though Lockjaw’s voicebox had said it so softly, he wondered if they even heard at all. 

“Whatever.” Apparently, they had. “Do you still have the girl?” 

Lockjaw stopped his nervous tapping instantly. Panic began to bubble in his chest, though he remained silent. They weren’t supposed to talk about her. That was the agreement. A little extra came his way to cover her costs, and he would take on more jobs to pay for that. Handler knew- or so he thought- how protective he was over her. His silent thinking was interrupted once more by Handler’s robotic voice.

“Yes or no, Lockjaw. Do you still have the girl?” 

“...Yes. We had agr-”

He was once again interrupted, this time by a sigh that wasn’t fully caught by the voice changer on the call. 

“Of course you do. You’ve just made this so complicated, now. Listen- do you know who she is?”

“...She is Rumble?” 

“No, that’s what you call her, idiot. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Imperial Deepbite. Real nasty guy. She’s his descendant.” 

“...Okay?” Confused, Lockjaw scanned the world outside the phone booth, as if it held any clues why he should be concerned. He had met the man once, during his own Fleet time. Though he remembered very little, he recalled the man as a giant. Tall, girthy, with an all-knowing gleam in his eyes. He was intimidating, to be blunt. 

“The descendant that went missing. The descendant he wanted to replace him. He’s looking for her. And you have her. And I have a job for you, a hit on Deepbite.” 

“You want me…to take out a major Fleet official?” That seemed impossible. Sure, Lockjaw was experienced and had an impressive number of successful hits under his belt, but none of them had been a fuchsia. And none of them were important high-ranking officials. The assassination of a major high-ranking official would just draw an unwanted amount of attention. Not to mention the impossible task of killing a fuchsia- especially one of that man’s size. 

“You don’t have a choice, really.” 

“Can you not find someone else?” He sincerely doubted the Handler only had one pawn under their grasp. Surely they had someone more experienced in handling such high-profile targets. 

“Well, that’s the thing. I heard from the grapevine that he’s been looking...for you.” 

Lockjaw’s blood ran cold. 

“My hands are quite tied, you see. And, as surprising as it may be, there are trolls above even myself. I may be the all powerful, all knowing being in your life, but consider that there are even scarier all powerful, all knowing beings in my life.”

“What makes you think I can get rid of the Imperial Deepbite?” 

“Because the other option is, he finds you. From what my sources tell me, he already knows where you’re residing. He’s scheduled to land in Mordamere for two weeks to restock, then he’s coming to Alternia. Consider yourself lucky I didn’t realize who she was a long time ago.” 

“....She’s just a kid.” 

“And you’re just a decommissioned killing machine. You have two options here; you kill Deepbite, or Deepbite kills you.” 

click.

[aleksiej]

i think the most infuriating part of my tmnt 2012 rewatch is seeing all the mistakes and how the smallest of changes would do wonders for the show.

not to say that there's an overwhelming amount of issues with '12 or anything, but some things just keep bothering me. and one of them is a part of my (as well as seemingly many others') favorite arc in the show, the farmhouse arc. to be more specific, a part of leo's struggles.

pretty much everyone and their mother had made memes about ghost splinter just telling leo to 'get over' his leg injury, that it's 'all in his head'. obviously infuriating to watch, and even more bizarre, when it actually works.

and i think the intention behind this part of leo's arc was that he had healed his wounds during his coma and maybe some physical therapy (that was not shown and that's only if the writers thought of physical therapy at all) and all, or at least most, of the troubles he's facing are due to chronic phantom pain, not any physical injuries.

which isn't much better in terms of the 'just get over it, pussy' speech, but in my opinion it's still an improvement from the same speech, used in the context of ACTUAL PHYSICAL INJURY.

and it's NOT IN THE SHOW. i understand the whole "show don't tell" and "don't spell out everything for the viewer" and i'm all for it, but first, this show is notorious for not telegraphing it's intent (ekhem capritello ekhem) and misusing it's characters and second, i'm not saying there should be a scene, where leo looks into the camera like he's in the office and says "even though i'm fully healed physically, i still feel the pain in my mind and will have to overcome it to be a ninjaaa". obviously.

the perfect fix for that, in my opinion, would just be a small dialogue bit, spoken by either raph or donnie or maybe dialogue between them, sort of like

"isn't he supposed to be all healed up?"

"well, yes, but his body is not the only part of him that shredder hurt."

or something like that. it's just one of these things that don't take much to be bettered. of which there are quite plenty in '12. still a fun show, just has some flaws.

[ofswordsandpens]

imagine writing this. imagine writing percy increasingly losing himself to his anger and his resentment, sympathizing with Luke, spiraling, being immensely powerful, burning away at his mortality, and not knowing how to deal with any of it. Desperate for help and the one time he breaks down enough to try and get it (Jason) his worst thoughts and perceptions of himself are inadvertently affirmed. He never talks about it to Annabeth. He never talks about it to his mom. Oh but everyone is aware of it. Aware of his anger. Afraid of his anger. Concerned for him and by him. They give each other looks, worried, because they recognize what a danger he could be — to himself, to others, to the gods. But no one says anything, at least not to Percy. No one helps him. No one intervenes. They don't know how to, it seems. (Or maybe they're afraid to). And so they all pretend everything is fine. Percy pretends, bottling it all up inside until the pressure gets too great and that anger boils over and he loses it all over again. He's so desperate for normalcy that he'll take anything, believes in all of the sweet, sugar-spun tales of New Rome and looks away from the rotting underside. He lets himself believe that once he's there the gods will have to leave him alone, because he's done with it all, he's retired (and the gods always keep their promises don't they?).

Imagine writing what is arguably the well-plotted, compelling, and tragic beginnings of a fallen hero arc for percy and none of it being intentional.

RR's penchant for Percy to be explosively angry and scarily powerful, alongside characterizing him as jaded and resentful and desperate, mixed with his refusal to write any in-depth emotional resolution to any time Percy snaps has created an enthralling narrative of a hero just about to fall from grace. and it's all seemingly an accident.

Oh, and another, amazing, unintentional coincidence? if you're taking RR's word that Percy is still 17, that's also the age Luke was when he failed his quest, marking the beginning of his fall as a hero. Like. The narrative parallels are all there. And without any meaning for them to be.

[kell-eramis]

Skybound Spoilers ahead//

Okay so my thoughts may be a bit disorganized because it is 4 AM but I was thinking and doing research on two small essays I’m writing comparing transformers characters to tragic characters of ancient greece (and rome) and I realized a blatant parallel in Skybound

So I’ve long believed that Starscream’s arc in Skybound is reflective of a cycle of power and hubris that parallels Megatron, however until now I only thought it was subtextual—however, in the FCBD spexial we see Megatron’s fate.

He is shot by Starscream—who takes out his right optic— out of the ark and into space, thereby ascertaining Starscream’s position as leader during the first 7 issues of Transformers. This happens after Optimus cuts off his right arm.

During these 7 issues, we see Starscream twice again in a similar position, both within the comic panel and within his in-universe position.

During this confrontation, Starscream, where she was previously on the left, is now on the right, where Megatron was, as she confronts Cliffjumper and Carly. Attempting to squish another human—Carly—he is knocked over the edge of the Ark to fall onto the ground. This is both the same metatextual and physical positions as Megatron was in, and we once again see this with her and Soundwave’s confrontation.

Soundwave is now on the left, as the righteous usurper, while Starscream is on the right, grasping at the remnants of leadership and power, to no avail. Her right wing is blown off by Soundwave, once again paralleling Megatron, and his left optic is ripped off by Laserbeak. She is then thrown off the edge of the cliff, left to die just as Megatron had been.

HOWEVER: also in the annual we see that Megatron is not dead, and is vowing vengeance against Starscream (who had supposedly died already by the time this was published—yet alludes to a future confrontation).

This leads me to conclude that my previous hypothesis, that Starscream is in fact not dead, is quite likely.

However, it is notable that where Megatron’s right optic was taken out initially, it is Starscream’s left optic that is taken out. I posit that this is meant to parallel a previous non-canon story set during the G1 continuity, Redemption Center.

During Redemption Center, it is Starscream’s left optic that is damaged, and as a result of that plus subsequent injuries, she loses her memory and is found by the Autobots, where Optimus and her bond. At the end of the story, he is a changed mech, who realizes that perhaps by following Optimus’ example, not Megatron’s, she can lead the Decepticons properly. Since we’ve already seen Starscream emulating Megatron in the current Transformers, as well as these other parallels, I strongly believe we have not seen the end of Starscream, and we might be about to see Daniel Warren Johnson’s take on a redemption arc for Starscream.

[clover-blossom]

*SNOWBAIRD* WIPS I AM LOVING

Invisible String by ravenpuff1956

Lucy sucks in a tight breath. She never expected to be dragged back. She didn’t think the Capitol wanted anything to do with her now that she’d won their little game.

Twelve Years by wertman25

Twelve years have passed since Lucy Gray Baird left Coriolanus Snow in the woods. Since then, she had remained a ghost while Coriolanus rose to power in the Capitol… but what happens when Lucy Gray returns and the two lovers meet again?

Other Side of the Coin by monkiseemonkido

AU where Lucy Gray and Snow run off together and make it to District 13. Snow is still his power hungry, ambitious self, but going back to the Capitol is not an option anymore. Especially once he realizes the truth about District 13 and what happened to his family fortune. 

To Where She Flew by madzdolin

When another rebellion comes sooner than anticipated, young Coriolanus Snow finds himself stranded in District 11 after a series of unfortunate events. While the stakes continue to rise in the world around him, Coriolanus finds himself faced with his own internal conflict when he encounters a hauntingly familiar face from his past- only to discover that she has absolutely no recollection of who he is.

The Ballad of Snow (Echoes of a Bird's Song) by fourteentrout

Vignettes of Snow’s life through his rise to (and fall from) power, and the memories that corner him in his moments of least control.

I am Singing Now While Rome Burns by southslates

In which Lucy Gray stays in the Capitol after the Games.

As the Driven Snow by Vacantcing

She comes to him at the best and worst of times, his little songbird. Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray through the cycle of the seasons.

How Coriolanus Snow Learned Compassion by cliffhangerqueen

A collection of emotions Lucy Gray taught Coriolanus Snow through her journey of the Hunger Games, and his fall of villainy in an alternative universe when Snow gets away with his lies, only to morph into something that resembled good at Lucy Gray's expense.

A Bird in the Hand by horrormoviebarbie

Coriolanus Snow and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Redemption Arc 

Songbirds, Snakes and Wedding Rings by celestscrystal

In which Coriolanus was never sent to district 12 and instead got away with a slap on the wrist. However, Lucy Gray would not be granted the same fate. In order to save her, Coriolanus marries her. Clashes ensue in a tale of enemies, passion, and lovers.

Blood of my Blood by loveshazel

A deep-dive and rewrite of TBOSAS that answers the question of what if Coriolanus's parents both lived to raise him? And what if that meant a worse fate for any and all involved...

All Your Wasteland Flowers by allbridgesburn

Lucy Gray Baird survives Coriolanus Snow. However, she's not the only one.

The Planet of Love by southslates

In which Coriolanus Snow never kills the Mayor's daughter, Sejanus Plinth dies of his own volition and officer training is moved to District Twelve.

What are you reading and loving?

[fantastic-nonsense]

obviously I'd be thrilled to just get the whole PJO series adapted and then end it there. However: Heroes of Olympus as a story can be cleaned up sooooooo much in a way that PJO just doesn't need to be, and a tv adaptation offers the perfect opportunity to do so

like honestly my hottake is that I think Disney could solve both the problem of adapting a long, convoluted sequel series and a lot of the problems HOO as a story has if they a) do The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune in the same season and b) deliberately wait until the PJO actors are in their 20s to do it

Just thinking about this a bit more:

three 12-14 episode seasons, with TLH/SoN in S1, a modified MoA in S2 that deals with some of the Argo crews' HoH subplots, and then HoH/BoO in S3

Percy and Annabeth are in their 20s and newly engaged when he disappears. This sets up the arc of Percy dreaming about settling down with Annabeth in New Rome in a more organic, functional way and also gives us as viewers a chance to see that the aftermath of the Titan War has resulted in tangible, lasting change for the demigods of Camp Half-Blood

Grover replaces Coach Hedge as the Seven's collective Protector+chaperone, which solves the series' problem of Grover's absence and the absence of the PJO Trio's friendship

the whole show/story takes place over ~6 months instead of the year it did in the books, and Percy+Jason's individual quests happen concurrently (simply not letting Percy sleep for 8 months and making an episode where he establishes himself at the Roman camp for awhile before he's forced on the quest with Frank and Hazel would solve about half of the problems on the Roman side of the series)

Season-wise, things mostly sort themselves out:

The first season starts off introducing the Lost Hero trio and we find out that Percy's missing at the end of the first episode. The second episode opens with Percy waking up at the Wolf House and starting his journey to New Rome. We get one episode entirely devoted to amnesiac Jason and Percy integrating into the new camps, making friends, and learning about their missing counterpart before the quest plots start up.

The season then alternates between Jason, Piper, and Leo's "Find Hera" quest and Percy, Hazel, and Frank's Alaska quest, with intermittent jumps to the Greek and Roman efforts to find Percy and Jason. It ends with Percy and Jason regaining their memories and each camp realizing their leader is on the other side of the country in "enemy" territory.

The second season opens around a month later as the Argo II docks in New Rome. Percy and Jason have both been given time to make friends, integrate themselves into the opposing camp, and become adjusted to a different way of life with all of their memories intact. They haven't physically returned to their home camps as they've both independently come to the conclusion that Hera switched them to initiate inter-camp unity and are wary of doing anything that would disrupt that goal. However, Percy and Jason have both managed to get messages to Annabeth and Reyna respectively at some point in that month, so everyone knows everyone is safe when the Greeks finally arrive in New Rome.

Cue MoA's various plotlines, which would be cleaned up and streamlined significantly while also integrating in some of the HoH arcs like Hazel learning how to manipulate the Mist, Frank learning how to use his shapeshifting powers, Piper coming into her own as a daughter of Aphrodite, Leo's seventh wheel arc and the Calypso subplot, Jason struggling to figure out what his place is, the Jason-Nico friendship, etc. Also set up the Greek v. Roman dispute and Reyna following them to Greece. Season ends with the Annabeth-Arachne confrontation and Tartarus fall.

The third season combines HoH and BOO; the season alternates between Percy and Annabeth's journey through Tartarus while the rest of the Seven finish their various character arcs via gathering the elements for the Physicians' Cure and journeying to the Doors of Death. After they rescue Percy and Annabeth and close the Doors, they plan to head straight to Athens to take on Gaea. Reyna reaches them just after, and Annabeth sends her and Nico off with the Athena Parthenos with Grover as their Protector.

The final battle switches between The Seven+Gods vs. Gaea+The Giants at the Acropolis and the Greeks vs. Romans at Camp Half-Blood. The Gaea plotline is resolved at the Acropolis, the Greek-Roman plotline is resolved as Nico and Reyna triumphantly arrive at Camp Half-Blood with the statue, a functional Greek-Roman working relationship, and the gods' blessing. This helps streamline the mess that was Blood of Olympus and actually provides a workable story resolution.

We get a final aftermath/epilogue episode that sorts out and ties up all remaining plot threads, teases Solangelo, and ends with Percy returning home to see his mom and planning out how to move to New Rome after he and Annabeth get married.

Obviously this is the roughest possible sketch of how it could be done, but I genuinely believe doing something like that could fix some of the biggest issues HOO has conceptually while streamlining all of the quest bloat. It'd be interesting to see them try, anyway.

[poppitron360]

I’d like to dive deeper into my thoughts on Caleo, bc they have been taking up most of my brainpower rn:

I get where Rick was going with it. I really do. They started off hating each other, Calypso thinking Leo was really annoying and just generally being like “why is this tiny human talking to me?”, but then they grew closer, realised they misunderstood each other, and bonded over common ground. It’s sweet. But the thing is, Rick? You’ve already got a character that did all that with Leo in the previous book!

And his name is Frank.

1. You’ve already set up that dynamic! Why not spend more time focusing on fleshing out that existing arc instead of creating a new one?

2. There’s SO MUCH more potential with angst- Frank being afraid of Leo bc of his fire, Leo being afraid of Frank because he’s twice his size and could easily crush his tiny body under his foot. Leo’s had to learn to survive on his brains and quick-wits in order to protect himself from bullies, and instantly gets defensive when he sees Frank. Frank is very insecure and sensitive, so immediately falls victim to Leo’s jokes. It takes a while for both of them to take those walls down, put aside their differences, and learn to trust each other.

3. It’s just hilarious how got-off-on-the-wrong-foot they were. A reminder that when Frank first met Leo, Leo had just destroyed half of New Rome. They both immediately judged each other completely based on looks- like it’s seriously funny how much you could compare these two to “Pride and Prejudice”. Also, the awkward misunderstanding that was the whole Sammy thing-

4. But they also have a lot more in common that Leo and Calypso ever did- similar trauma with losing their moms, and actually Leo is just as afraid of fire as Frank is. Both are incredibly insecure, and they both feel like they don’t belong among the other Seven.

5. You’ve also got that fun opposites-attract thing- Frank is big and muscular, Leo is built like a twig. Frank is big soft pookie bear, Leo is an absolute menace to society. Frank can turn into animals, Leo is a machines guy. Frank is Roman, Leo is Greek. You get the idea. They were written to juxtapose each other beautifully. They are the Yin to each other’s Yang.

6. They get so much more time together to establish a meaningful relationship. Their arc carries over three books, and we get to form connections as a reader to BOTH Leo AND Frank separately beforehand, so the payoff is a lot more satisfying. It takes time for them to open up to each other, and when they do it feels like they earned it. Calypso and Leo got a couple of chapters, that’s it.

It doesn’t have to be romantic! Leo can heal his trauma with friends and found family, learning to love and accept himself, learning that he doesn’t actually need the attention of a hot girl to be valid. He can find his place among his brethren with the help of all his friends, even Frank- the most unlikely of friends.

I wish Rick had put more effort into fleshing out the platonic relationships instead of just conforming to romance-centric ideals of “love fixes everything!” It’s lazy, and boring, and has been done to death. Platonic friendships make up 95% of our relationships, yet they are SERIOUSLY underrepresented in media. I’m calling for more interesting platonic dynamics. Leo and Frank could’ve been so much more, if Rick had actually taken the time to build on their relationship, and focused less on “Leo Needs a Girlfriend”!

So, when I say “Everything Caleo did, Valzhang could do better”- THAT is what I meant.

Also, Jason is so much better for Leo than Calypso, but that’s a whole other post.

[Edit: And I have made that post! You can find it here]

[swordoffrivolousthings]

Fatal Flaws in PJO & HOO and their inconsistency

Fatal flaws are a a literary device that has changed the way characters in PJO act and therefore shaped their downfall. Luke Castellan is a great example of a fatal flaw being the reason he meets his end.

Fatal flaws, when introduce in any character, have an expectation, though. It is in their name. 'Fatal', as in it leads to their death/fall from grace/villain arc, and nothing can change that. Think of Macbeth. His story couldn't have ended in any other way because his fatal flaw (or tragic flaw) has been guiding every decision.

It is the same with Luke Castellan. His rage, his wrath specifically as it is named in the wiki, wouldn't have let him do anything but rebel against the gods. This part of his character is formed by circumstances and the gods' own laws. There was no other way for things to end for him.

But fatal flaws are present in all demigods, as Athena has stated in TTC. ("A year ago, Annabeth and I had had a talk about fatal flaws. Every hero had one.")

As such, I propose that every demigod that has ever lived has died because of their fatal flaw. It doesn't even have to be during a battle, just, their fatal flaw makes them make mistakes that would result in their sure death.

This all, to say that while Riordan has introduced this concept into his stories, he has refused and cowared away from going all the way, Annabeth's fatal flaw is hubris. Let it be her undoing, since her only big moment of hubris was in PJO, thinking that she can save Luke. (Not necessarily like I said in another post 'Thoughts about Heroes of Olympus and how it could have been better.' Any other way would satisfy the criteria I'm creating.)

Percy would meet his end because he chose to save his family or/and friends from certain death, with no thought to his own well-being and survival.

Thalia, with her ambition being showcased in TTC, can reach too high in her pursuit of power. It would probably get her expelled from the Hunters of Artemis, and the shock and sudden ability to get sick could lead her to a path less than favorable.

Demigods die young, Riordan has said and reinforced across the original series. He later circumvented his own standards by making New Rome a thing, but that is an inconsistency I will ignore. Show us how the life of a demigod and a hero - two things nearly synonymous in Greek myths - leads one to death. Their flaws, and certainly their fatal flaw, means death in a world made to hunt you down and eat you.

As such, I will propose some possible fatal flaws for the rest of the Seven, while being given ones, they were an uninspired mess such as Hazel's past as her fatal flaw. (Nothing is wrong with trauma, and suffering from it, but letting it be part of your personality is not it. Also, Hazel doesn't have to deal with her 'fatal flaw' after SON.)

Jason - Compliance. He has been raised to be the perfect order and rule-following soldier, taught to follow the leader and later execute the laws as stated in New Rome. As such, he has the possibility and the conditioning to ignore injustices and horrible behaviour if it is ordered by someone with a higher rank than his (i.e. the gods).

Frank - Wrath. He is kind, is a sweet, he is insecure, and he surely is a bit of a nerd, but under all that we've been shown he has a certain fury to him. He has shared it when talking to friends. But he has also showed it in the series. I think it is a natural conclusion for me, and it would also show why his rage, alongside his powers, has prompted Juno to bind his life to a piece of wood.

Hazel - Guilt. She has shown multiples times that she feels extremely guilty of things that have even the littlest connection to her. She is swept up in moments where it is making her feel terrible. Amplify it make it so that Hazel feels guilty for things happening in her vicinity. After all, her own mother has seen her as a cursed child that brings misfortune. Make her fatal flaw more of learned behaviour than something that would have been with her regardless.

Leo - Fear of hurting others. This is another one based on life circumstances, and created by the environment. Things like this do not simply evaporate when you leave the place that created the fear. Leo, having killed his mother by fucking accident, is terrified of his powers. He has every right to be, but this adds to his unwillingness to use his fire, something that will extend into situations where it is needed but he is too scared.

Piper - Pride. Not hubris, pride. She is prideful of who she is, of what she is capable of doing already, that it doesn't allow her to learn new things. She is so set in her own way, nearly arrogant, that her relationships and friendships are strained by her beliefs and her unwillingness to change. This comes from the way she was treated as important as her father's daughter but never important enough in her father's eyes to spend time with her like she needed.

[thomashewittmybeloved]

Distraction

(gif by me)

Pairing : Ted Logan x reader

Summary : Just like every Monday, you study History with Bill and Ted. But during this lesson, Ted seems to be quite distracted, and you're not helping at all.

Warnings : none ! just a fluffy fic w/ Ted ! with some footsie under the table. Also tried to make it G/N reader ;)

A/N : I really like the idea of a reader who's a History nerd (kind of self indulgent there) and who helps them study so, yeah! that again for this fic<3

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾

Just like any other Monday afternoon, I was in the library studying with my two best friends, Bill and Ted. We always had trouble with school, not being very scholar people. But if there was one subject I'm good at, it's History ! I always found myself fascinated by it; mostly only watching period shows, movies, losing myself in period novels and loving to learn some random facts about History. Sadly, it wasn't the same for my two dear friends who were the complete opposite...No matter how hard they tried, they could not seem to learn a single fact correctly. I made it my personal mission to help them as best as I could, no matter how long it took. That's how "the excellent Monday studying day" came to exist !

As I was going through the history textbook with Bill, trying to choose a subject, I couldn't help but notice Ted staring at me.

"Need help ?" I asked, still looking at the pages. "Ted ?"

"Uh ?" He jumped slightly before rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh no no, still reading about that French girl !"

My brows furrowed slightly. "Which one ?" I looked up at him, right when he looked away.

"You know, the fighting one..."

"Joan of Arc ?" I asked, giggling slightly while Bill chose a page.

"Yup. That one." He let his hair fall in front of his face. "She's very..."

"Fighting dudes in skirts !" Bill exclaims, cutting Ted off. "They look so cool !"

"They're called Gladiator's." I laugh quietly, putting the textbook in front of both of us. "You want us to study ancient Rome today ?"

"Is that the one with the salad dressing dude, right ?" He ask, smiling at me proudly.

"Yup, that's the one." I smile back. "You ok with studying this Ted, or you'll do something else ?"

"Oh yeah no, salad dressing dude is fine !"

"Perfect then !" I clap my hands, straightening my back. "Let's get started then."

As the hour passed, Bill was as serious as ever, which really impressed me. I don't know what's so fascinating to him about gladiators but he seems to love it ! Ted was a whole other story; he was constantly making jokes and staring at me, always looking somewhere else whenever I looked back.

"Come on, Ted," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "We have to study, Mr. Ryan might give us a suprise history test this week."

Ted shrugged, smiling slightly.

"You've been awfully quiet during this hour..." I put my bag on my lap, opening it. "I hope it's because you were studying really, really hard."

I took out a stack of flashcards, one they both knew very well. Bill looked up at the sight of the bright pink flashcards, glancing at Ted with a smirk. "Good luck dude !"

Ted groaned, putting his face in his hands.

"Ok Ted; what was the name of Edward Teach's ship?"

"Who's that ?"

I sigh. "Blackbeard."

"Oh ! That dude !" He smiles proudly. "The Revenge ! Queen Revenge or something !"

I widen my eyes, smiling brightly. "Queen Anne's Revenge ! Wow Ted, good job !"

I continued quizzing him on various historical events, he was surprisingly knowledgeable, answering right at a lot more questions than I would have thought. But every time I caught him staring at me, he stumbled over his words, unable to respond even if he seemed to know the answer. And seeing how much of an effect I had on him by simply looking back was making me feel giddy...

"Um, can you repeat the question?" he asked, his cheeks turning pink. "I didn't, didn't really understood dude."

A smile start to appear on my face as I keep staring at him, letting myself hope. I quickly glance at Bill who's busy writing every information possible on the Roman Empire but, sometimes switched to important American wars. He's pretty concentrated... I looked back at Ted, an idea growing in my mind; how much of an effect do I have on him and his concentration? That's when this genius idea came to mind, why not play footsie with him under the table to try and distract him even more ? I always kind of knew that Ted had somewhat of a crush on me, he's not a very closed guy with his emotions, really bad poker face. And to be honest, I also have somewhat of a crush on him. We're best friends, always been, I don't know if it's a good idea to act on those feelings for now... But nothing say's we can't have some fun !

I try to contain my giggle as much as I can, lowering my head to try and hide it. Sadly, he sees my growing smile right away, probably because he can't stop staring at me every chance he gets. I let myself slide slightly on my chair to get closer to me while he frowns, titling his head a little on the right. He jumps the moment my foot touches his ankle, looking at me with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" he whispered, his face turning a bright red.

"Just trying to help you relax," I lied with a smirk, feeling my heart beat faster. "You seemed tensed !"

Ted shook his head, clearly flustered. "You're making it harder for me to concentrate dude..."

I continue, letting my foot get higher and higher, feeling a thrill every time I see him blush and wiggle in his seat, going left and right, even up and down sometimes. Every Time I pull a new flashcard, he can't even form one word without stuttering, coughing and moving in his seat.

"Hey, guys, can we focus here?" Bill asked, tapping his pencil on the table. "Dude, stop moving so much ! I can't write if you keep moving the table !"

"Sorry !" I said, letting my foot go back on the floor, making Ted groan at the sudden lack of contact. "You want to try the flashcards, Bill ?"

Ted shot me a disappointed look, but I knew it was for the best. I helped Bill with some of the flashcards, trying to keep the conversation focused on history, but Ted couldn't help himself from trying to get my attention back.

"So, Y/N, have you heard the one about the Roman gladiator who walked into a bar?" Ted asked, stopping Bill from answering my question about the Roman Empire.

I glanc at Bill who's leaning in, clearly wanting to heard the end of the joke. I roll my eyes, unable to stop smiling at his playfulness. "No, I haven't. Tell me."

As Ted launched into his joke, I could see Bill glancing back and forth between us with a confused expression. I know I have to keep things light with him so he won't suspect anything, especially since Ted had no idea I reciprocated his crush.

"So, Bill, did you know that the Boston Tea Party wasn't actually a party?" I asked, trying to divert his attention back to studying while Ted sighed.

"Yeah, I think I learned that in third grade dude !" He chuckled. "Don't even think they had tea..."

I laughed too, glancing up at Ted only to notice him staring at me again but this time, with longing in his eyes. His cheek was in the palm of his hand, the light from outside making his brown eyes shine perfectly. I felt my cheeks burn while something tightened in my chest, making me look down. This time he kept looking at me while I looked away, how the tables have turned...

"Come on, Ted, focus !" I said, trying to bring his attention back to the History book by putting it in front of his face. "Learn this chapter."

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Ted said, putting the book down in front of him ."You're just too distracting..."

I sigh, turning my attention back to Bill next to me who seemed too focused on his textbook to notice what's happening. I continued quizzing Bill, on the Revolutionary War this time, during the rest of the hour. Then, out of nowhere, I felt Ted's foot brushing against mine under the table, as I try to hide the smile on my face. He's getting bolder and bolder.

"You're killing me, Ted," I said, trying to sound stern. "I'm trying to help Bill !"

"I can't help it dude !" he said, moving his feet higher. "I need help too !"

I blush and look away, trying to hide my smile behind the cards. I knew I had to focus on helping Bill with his History, but it's hard with Ted's footsie game distracting me. Payback I guess.

"Alright, Bill, let's see if you can remember when was the Battle of Bunker Hill over." I murmur, trying to ignore Ted's foot on my calf.

As Bill struggled to answer, holding his hair in his hands, Ted's foot moved higher up my leg, and I could feel myself getting more and more flustered.

"Uh, uh, uh," Bill stuttered, unable to come up with the answer. "It's, like, a date..."

I could see the frustration on Ted's face as I helped Bill with the answer, showing no sign of being flustered like he was, even if I feel warm inside. Hearing him puff, I look back at him once I finished with Bill only to look down at his foot who was just laying in my lap lazily.

"Your shoe is so dirty Ted !" I giggled, trying to push it away. "Get. it. ooooff !"

He puts his hands on his heart, pulling is other foot on my lap. "Calling me dirty, pushing me away, how cruel !"

Bill looked up, laughing at our banter. "Your shoes are dirty dude." He said, trying to help me push his feets off.

"Traitor !" Ted points at Bill, holding the table so we won't be able to get him off. "All of you, traitors dude's !"

"THE THREE OF YOU." We all jumped, even gasping a bit. "OUT."

After hurrying to take our textbooks and bags out while stuffing a laughter, we finally got out and burst out laughing, putting everything in our bags. I sling it on my back, looking down at my tights. "Ted !"

"What is it dudette ?"

"Look how dirty I am, thanks to you !"

Both of them looked at my thighs, laughing even harder seeing the dirt stains. "My bad dude !"

He rubs my thighs to get it off, not noticing my reddening face at this sudden contact. I feel the warmth of his fingers through the fabric, making the lower part of my stomach tingle. "It, It's ok don't worry ! It's ok !"

"Sorry 'bout that." He whispers, smiling up at me.

"Yeah no, don't worry !" I laugh nervously, rubbing my thighs just like he did without noticing.

"Thanks for helping me, Iléna," Bill said, smiling at me. "You're the most excellent babe to ever exist !"

"No problem, Bill. You're going to do great," I said, patting him on the back, blushing slightly at his compliment. "If Mr. Ryan ask's about gladiators I know you'll kill it !"

As we started walking to go back home, I felt Ted's hand brush against mine after he bumped my shoulder into his. I look up at him, and he give's me a shy smile, trying to hide behind strands of his hair.

"Hey, do you dudes want to grab a pizza or something?" Ted asked, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice.

"Sure," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "That sounds like a good idea."

"I'm starving...." Bill sighed, putting his palm on his stomach. "Could we also get slushies ?"

"Oh yeah, slushies !" I said excited.

I glanced at Ted, noticing him staring at me again, his burning hand still brushing my cold one. Suddenly, Ted slips his hand into mine, and I feel my heart skip a beat at his sudden boldness.

"To the pizzeria we go !" He exclaimed, starting to run.

I yelped, catching Bill hand quickly before he dragged me too far away. We all ran togheter, laughing and smiling.

Maybe I'm not ready to confess to Ted how I feel but, at least, I know that no matter what, he will always bring me with him.

[chowtrolls]

Derailed

Google Docs Link

You don’t ask questions. That isn’t part of the deal. You’re given a task, and you complete it. Then you get to return to your hive and live a month or so in peace, before you’re given the next task. You aren’t given details when the Handler calls. They give you a time,  location, and sometimes a name. Rarely more. 

Just before the sun sets, by the shipping docks. Veroix. Jadeblood. Carrying a grub. 

It had been decades since you last saw a grub. Maybe some part of you had always been curious- nay, jealous? You had spent several nights yearning to be a different caste. Blue was noble, strong, hardy, and ultimately being a blueblood is what got you where you were now. You weren’t one to lament over the past. But you wished you had been a jadeblood. You doubted the Fleet would’ve come for you if you were a useful member of Alternian society. That thought doesn’t leave when you find the jadeblood named Veroix. 

They were a little taller than you, but thin. Choppy hair, pale skin, and the same pale-eyed mutation you had. Younger, all smiles, but sweet. They offered a sheepish wave with one hand, the other resting on the grub sling wrapped around their chest. As you got closer, they held out a hand. 

“Hi! You must be, uh…Lockjaw, right?” There was an air of unease around your name. You still shook their hand regardless. 

“Veroix?” Your voice is robotic, sounding more like a sound bite than a voice. It does little to ease their worries. Their hand instinctively returns to cradling the grub. 

They respond with a nod, then look up towards the sky. “...We need to get going.” 

You don’t ask questions. That isn’t part of the job. You just follow. Your only task is to keep that grub safe. You walk alongside Veroix silently. That is, until the silence seems to eat the jade alive. 

“Her name is Rumbles.” You  catch them grinning down at the little grub from the corner of your eye. “We don’t give them real names- that’s the lusii’s job…but we need to call them something…she growls a lot, so we call her Rumbles.” 

“Rumble.” You didn’t have the plural version of the word in your voice box. If you spoke more, you might have use for it, but as of current you didn’t mind your limited voice box. 

“Close enough!” Veroix giggles. They continued their chatter as the two of you arrived to the train station. They told you about…life in the caverns, being with grubs, their job in the caverns, how trolls struggled with their name…and just about everything else. You actually enjoyed the conversation, even if you kept silent. Being talked at was better than ignored. Better than silence. 

You were two of five on the train. That was surprising in and of itself, you didn’t expect so many. It was a small high-speed rail intended to take you to the city just outside of wherever you were meeting the mysterious lady you were handing the grub off to. There was a teal, minding her own business on her palmhusk, a goldblood reading a book, and a rather nervous-looking purpleblood. You were good at your job, meaning you had scoped out potential exits and threats by the time you found your seats. You noticed that Veroix had stopped talking. Their gaze was locked on the purpleblood, arms protectively hugging the grub. 

The tealblood, you decided, must be some sort of student. She had a backpack, wore a university sweater, and looked exhausted. On the late train hive, probably. The goldblood was hardly a threat either, probably a graveyard shift worker just going hive. He didn’t even have a bag, just his book. From the eyes, you guessed some moderate-level psionics. The purple, however, was more concerning. He had a backpack he hugged close to his chest. He was bouncing his leg, watching outside the window. Occasionally he’d look directly at Veroix, at the bundle on their chest. Veroix inched closer to you. Their thigh pressed right up against yours in a pseudo-intimate display. The purple made eye contact with you, then quickly looked back out the window. He didn’t look at Veroix again. 

You looked out the window as well. You had no idea how many stops away you were, simply waiting for Veroix to tell you it was time. Shortly after your stare down, Veroix rested their head on your shoulder. You froze. Minutes that felt like sweeps would fly by, and they began to snore. You must have a while to go before your stop. 

You looked back out the window, watching the world fly by. This had been a considerably easy job. Even with the strange purple sitting several seats up, this was far from the hardest job you’ve been given. And, presumably, you’d just pass off the grub and return hive. 

Two stops passed without a soul leaving. A third stop would fly by, only an olive who looked like they partied too hard stumbling on board. Another uneventful stop. Veroix was still asleep. You were beginning to grow bored. The purple stood up, heading to the back of the train car. You imagined, to use the restroom, so you thought nothing of it. The peaceful silence fell on the train car once more. 

The thought of taking a nap crossed your mind, just seconds before the train car blew up. In your head, you thought about taking a nap…and the world went dark. You were surrounded by wreckage when you opened your eyes. You blink the confusion from your eyes, slowly sitting up. Part of a support pole had found its way through your thigh. A rare moment you were thankful for prosthetic limbs. You propped yourself up on a piece of rubble, glancing around your surroundings. Metal thrown here and there, the other train cars that had been derailed. Sparks from the tracks flying. A few small fires. Like a scene from a movie. The purple was nowhere to be seen. You could see the teal’s backpack, with the goldblood’s book nearby. They were, presumably, under something. You considered momentarily pulling them out. You didn’t have any medical training. It’d be no use. Your eyes fell upon the hungover olive, draped face-down over the dislodged bench they had been sitting on. A river of olive decorated the previously gray seats. Unfortunate. 

You realized, in a brief moment of panic, that you didn’t see Veroix anywhere. You take a deep breath before yanking the pole from your thigh. Your prosthetic leg sparks around the hole. Handler wasn’t going to be happy about repairing that. 

You use the pole to help you get up. You quickly find your prosthetic to be weaker, less stable, more of a giant pegleg than a working prosthetic now. You prop your weight against the pole and began to look around. 

“Veroix-?” Your robotic voice is soft, deadpan. You call their name again, and again, and again- until you get a groan in response. You start to slowly hobble your way towards the sound. Step after slow unsteady step. That is, until they yell your name, voice sounding wet. 

You found the jade propped up against what was once the wall of the train car. One arm limp beside them, the other frantically struggling to free the grub from its sling. You drop the pole and fall to your knees beside them. It's only when they move the sling that you see the shrapnel lodged in their abdomen. 

The rest is a blur. Veroix shoved the grub into your arms. They looked panicked, terrified. Their voice was garbly and faint. Despite their clear terror, they told you to go. Take the grub and keep her safe. Their jade eyes got shifty and cloudy. They knew something you didn’t. In later sweeps, you’d reflect, and assume they had become a shifter. They told you to take the grub and leave so you wouldn’t become their first meal. But you left before they could tell you where to take the grub. 

So you took her home. 

You never had to yearn for a jade’s life after that. All you yearned for now was a cup of coffee, but you had to wait. 

A disgruntled teenager stumbles from her sleeping block, stretching with a yawn. Long hair in a messy bun, wearing one of your hoodies again. Rumble had plenty of her own, but even now, preferred yours. She takes a seat at the small table. 

“Eggs and toast?” Her pinkish oil slick fins perk up as you set a plate and mug in front of her. You simply nod in response. “Not even any sausage? You must not love me anymore.” 

Finally, you fetch the coffee pot and sit across from her, “Need to get groceries.” Your voice is just as soft as the day you met her, reaching over the table to fill her cup, saving the rest for yourself. 

“Maybe we can stop by the farmer’s market today?” 

“Maybe.” You lean back in your seat. You can’t drink it around her. Removing parts of your mask made her uncomfortable, but she didn’t like to eat alone either. 

“I wanna get some flowers for my block if we do.” 

“That can be-” 

Your pager goes off. You don’t finish. You both look at it rests, singing on the counter. Rumble sighs. She takes a small sip of her coffee. 

“Can I finish eating before we go kill bad guys?” 

“Hm. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…”

“And I’m still growing!” 

“I guess we have no choice, then.”

[iwannarunawayandbeapirate]

Relistening to the RQG Cairo arc right now and I have never thought about it from this angle before but holy shit Saira is going through so much??

Like imagine this. You're just going about your business when suddenly, communication, technology and transport all over the world stop working. Less than two weeks later, you hear that your sister has been killed by a wizard. It's all over the news, and apparently your brother was there too? And the wizard cursed him? You don't know if he's okay, and you can't even contact him because all the modern communication systems are down. But like two days later, he just shows up in Cairo with no announcement and doesn't even explain how he got there. He has some friends with him who immediately get drunk and damage the magical mural on the ceiling. Within the span of the next two days, you find out that he got kicked out of university, that your other brother broke into your family's bank and killed someone, that your father is taking the fall for him, that your brother didn't actually kill someone but did break into the bank and is now turning himself in to the police. Oh, and also there's an ancient tomb underneath the bank and it's full of traps. But you have no time to process this, because two of your family members have been arrested and another one has died while you have to basically run the entire family business while also still doing your normal job as a dragon's assistant. And that's not all! Apparently, you are actually descended from the dragon that you work for. Your brother and his friends want to talk to him because one of them is undead?? And your brother has inherited magical powers from the dragon. And so have your even younger brothers, apparently.

Eventually, your brother leaves again, as suddenly as he came. You think you can finally get a moment to breathe and get used to the new situation, but then, your other little brother is kidnapped. And your adventuring brother disappears as well. And then an old German guy shows up and tells you they're in a temporal rift in Rome?? You don't even have much time to worry about them, because suddenly, people are becoming infected with blue veins and betraying their loved ones. Your former home is now the headquarters for the rebellion, who you think also want to bring down the dragons you once worked for? Your brothers show up again after 18 months, but they haven't aged at all, and they've picked up a gnome, a goblin, and a paladin along the way. The older brother disappears pretty much as soon as he arrived - he's off to Japan now. A few weeks later, the abnormal storms that have been sweeping through Egypt suddenly stop. And then, a month or so later, it all stops. The blue veins. Magic. The Meritocracy. And your little brother was at the centre of all of this from the beginning.

What the actual fuck?

[brother-emperors]

ANTONY: if Caesar doesn't set Sextius Baculus up in a house worthy of Lucullus for all that he did, I'll kill him myself.

so the fun thing about the Caesarians is that there is. weird stuff happening in there. a lot of focus seems to go towards non Caesarian dissent, specifically with the conspiracy of Cassius and Brutus, but there's like. stuff going on in Caesar's own camp that's very Intriguing.

There's a couple places where you can see some clear points that would be grounds for a conspiratorial falling out between Caesar and Trebonius, but from the way that Trebonius tries to seduce Antony over to conspiracy, I wonder if there was a secret third thing that was going on since Antony turned him down but. didn't snitch intriguing!

anyway, all of this is to say that this means I get to invent some shit. like, I'm drawing comics which is already invention, but this is one where I get to really start throwing stuff into the narrative soup because it has to set up three different character arcs (Trebonius, and then Antony twice)

(in theory, this would be explained in the story itself if I did the entirety of the Gallic Wars out as a comic. which I have not done because I do not want to draw horses. I wanted to fuck around with some panel layouts and not draw a single horse, so now I will provide the context and revisit this in the future)

Antony's comment about Trebonius running himself into a grave has to do with the Caesar's Gallic Wars have a lot of men doing a whole lot for Caesar that has me going. hey. hey guys. uh.

specifically, Sextius Baculus:

The War for Gaul, Julius Caesar (trans James J. O'Donnell)

and the closing comment from Antony is playing on several things: romans claiming gods on their family tree (see: Legendary Genealogies in Late-Republican Rome, T.P. Wiseman for more on this) and then divinization arc of Caesar and Octavian. Antony himself will later be taking part the same kind of god-association that has prompted his disdain in this scene

At any rate, when Antony made his entry into Ephesus, women arrayed like Bacchanals, and men and boys like Satyrs and Pans, led the way before him, and the city was full of ivy and thyrsus-wands and harps and pipes and flutes, the people hailing him as Dionysus Giver of Joy and Beneficent. For he was such, undoubtedly, to some; but to the greater part he was Dionysus Carnivorous and Savage.

Plutarch, Antony 24

and the second layer of thematic fun: Antony's later relationship with his soldiers is something similar to what Caesar had with his here, but ultimately: decayed. Antony's love affair with his military makes his failure to lead well at the end a worse betrayal. at some point I'll talk about Antony's Tormentous Military Nightmare and cite some academic sources, but Linda Bamber's description of the final tragedy of Antony and his men lives in my head rent free

Cleopatra and Antony, Linda Bamber

where's the fun in doing identity focused tragedy if you don't become unrecognizable to yourself later on! isn't that right mark antony

ko-fi⭐ bsky ⭐ pixiv ⭐ pillowfort ⭐ cohost ⭐ cara.app

[softmoonlightmelody]

re-doing heroes of olympus

HOO sucks, in a lot of aspects. And so I'm going to talk about how I'd fix it because I'm bored and also for fun. To be fair, I would rewrite HOO so quickly if I had the time and motivation.

(featuring: frank/leo, drew tanaka, and katie gardner)

(warning: long post under cut. and i mean long.)

The (revised) Seven:

Drew Tanaka - Drew replaces Piper here because, although I think Piper is interesting, Drew is a far better and more nuanced character if you let her be. Featuring: Drew's trauma, her thoughts on Silena, and her femininity!

Percy Jackson - objectively (not objectively), Percy is the most powerful character in the series. However, he could be a lot better, especially his character arc. Featuring: Percy's compassion, his hatred of Luke, and his straining relationship with Annabeth!

Katie Gardner - Katie, as the daughter of Demeter, is an incredibly powerful character and therefore deserves a spot. Plus, I think she's cool. Featuring: Katie's cool plant powers, her insecurity about herself, and her struggle to be recognized!

Leo Valdez - I happen to think fire is cool, and that Leo is an incredibly compelling character. He's not going to be a baby misogynist in my version, nor is he going to be particularly flirty. Featuring: Leo's cool fire!!!! but also his apprehension in using it, his (rightful) anger at Hephaestus, and his idea of himself in a world that's scared of him!

Frank Zhang - he's cool, he's interesting, and I am not going to make him an Asian stereotype! Featuring: Frank's hatred of seeming 'meek', his idea of being Asian in xenophobic New Rome, and his struggle of falling for someone who could kill him!

Hazel Levesque - she's interesting, especially as someone so young. But I'm going to make her act more her age, and also not have a weird age gap thing with Frank. They're not dating here. Featuring: her hate of all the responsibility that's being placed on her shoulders, her hesitant relationship with magic, with all its vices and virtues, and her dislike of her father, Hades!

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano - she deserves it. Plus, she and Percy are parallels in my mind, more than Percy and Jason. Reyna's cool, and I loved her chapters in BOO, so more Reyna it is. Featuring: her seemingly insurmountable past, her stress to be perfect, and her relationship with a xenophobic New Rome!

and Grover Underwood - instead of Coach Hedge, I'm putting Grover in. Because I love him.

Relationships:

Drew/Katie - I love this ship. Plus, I think it's intriguing - two people from cabins vastly underestimated coming together to be amazing. Developing romance, and it's not established until the last book.

Percy/Annabeth - but not how you think! Percy and Annabeth both reconciling with how they don't like each other as much as they've been pushed together, and breaking up amicably but remaining friends.

Leo/Frank - tragedy here we come! Instead of having something like Jason/Piper where Jason leaves New Rome for CHB, Frank doesn't do that. He and Leo fall in love, get together, and then split, all on the Argo II. Frank can't leave New Rome, Leo can't go to New Rome. The perfect tragic romance, but with a glimmer of hope - maybe sometime, in the future, Frank and Leo can live together, outside of New Rome and outside of CHB. Plus, in chemistry - they're both afraid of fire, they both are insecure of themselves and their places in the world. They compliment each other.

Hazel & Frank - besties. They may be three years apart, but they are staunch best friends. Hazel teases Frank about Leo all the time.

Reyna & Percy - understand each other the way only people who know each other's situation in different fonts can.

Drew & Frank - East Asian mutual understanding! They bond over, although they're different places in East Asia, they're both living the experience of an Asian American/Canadian. They're living the immigrant dichotomy, and add on Leo to that kind of idea.

Katie & Hazel - they care so much about the people around them! I like the idea of Katie being Hazel's older sister figure in a way. Also, they bond over art. I don't make the rules.

Drew & Reyna - they're both incredibly logic-driven people, but whereas Drew is completely aware of her emotions and others', Reyna isn't, not as much. Also, they judge people together.

Katie & Leo - Katie and Leo are just the right kind of combination of sweet/overly excited ever. Katie helps remind Leo he needs a break, and Katie is always happy to just listen to Leo ramble on and on about something, as long as she can draw while he's doing so.

Reyna & Leo - they get along pretty well, which is kind of a surprise at first. But they have a minorly antagonistic friendship, but they still work together.

Drew & Percy - they're judgemental besties. What else can I say?

Percy & Leo - they're incredibly similar people for obvious reasons. It's even acknowledged in canon!

Katie & Grover - they bond over their mutual love of plants.

Reyna & Grover - they both understand duty and passion to be similar, and they both understand the amount of pressure to be a leader from a young age.

etc. I'm not going to outline every one of their relationships, because I'm lazy.

Book One: The Lost Heroes

Here, I'm combining TLH with SON, because we need all the space for the other parts of the series. It oscillates between Reyna, Leo, Drew, and Katie's quest, and Percy, Hazel, and Frank's quest. I never really liked how Annabeth didn't really do anything for the first two books, considering she's a main character for the last three, so everyone gets a quest. This makes the quests more condensed, and more in the length of the original PJO series, in terms of book size. Percy, Hazel, and Frank's quest stays mostly the same, albeit with a bit of condensing, whereas Reyna, Leo, Drew and Katie's quest changes a lot. It follows the same blueprint, but they don't meet with the Hunters at any point, and Khione and Medea and Drew are set up as intentional parallels to explore what Drew could be in the future.

Book Two: The Promise of Aphrodite

Yes, I'm deliberately changing it from the Mark of Athena to the Promise of Aphrodite. This time, they visit Troy first. I know, weird, but the Argo II in this book is slightly quicker at getting places. It stays mostly the same, with the storyline, though, although I'm removing the part where the Argo II needs repairs. However, Troy is, of course, where Aphrodite's biggest folly was, with Paris and Helen. Drew follows it, and at the end, Percy and Drew fall into Tartarus because of Drew needing to metaphorically bring down Aphrodite's legacy, the legacy of hatred (woo symbolism!), because they've become friends over the course of the book, and also angst potential. It also shows Percy and Drew's newfound friendship, and I want them to be something that isn't just romance in Tartarus. Also, Nico is here.

Book Three: The House of Hades

This time, the entrance to the doors is in Rome. So they go to Rome, fully intent on this. Nico comes out to Hazel in a sweet, private moment, because I want Nico's coming out to not be homophobic, and this is prompted by Nico seeing Hazel tease Frank about Leo, and him realizing that Hazel, and most of the demigods, might not have the same strong homophobia. Katie stresses over Drew in the Underworld, and Grover stresses over Percy, especially, but they're all stressing. Annabeth's moment of realizing about the pen part of Riptide is given to Drew, whereas Percy realizes about the M&Ms. This time, Jason makes the trek out to the Argo II instead of Reyna, and Jason, Grover, and Nico bring Reyna's purple cloak - a symbol of power and peace - back to CHB with CJ waiting to fight.

Book Four: The Blood of the Gods

Yes, it's The Blood of the Gods now, because reasons. This time, there isn't any huge 'one girl and one boy demigod' thing. Instead, it's 'one Greek and one Roman demigod'. Everything is more or less the same, but with different characters, so different things happen. In Athens, Reyna and Percy are the ones who bleed instead of Annabeth and Percy, because they're foils and stuff. However, this book balances nine POVs, as each book has at least seven POVs. Because... stuff. At the end of this book, the Greeks and Romans decide to reconcile temporarily to win together against Gaea.

Book Five: The Goddess of the Earth

All-out war! Finales only mean so much if they're actually finales. TLO was such a fun read because it's an actual war. Therefore, The Goddess of the Earth is a full-on war. Unlike normal, Gaea is slow to wake, and her power is more emphasized. It's also the Romans being lead together with Reyna and Jason, Percy and Annabeth, and it also leads to a lot more ability to develop these relationships. The lovely Piper-and-Jason scene at the end of BOO, where they're on top of the cabin in the stars, is given to Katie and Drew instead, because Aphrodite kids are like that. Annabeth and Percy, already having broken up, talk together. Nico can have a moment where he realizes his self-worth, and exclude romance in his future for now. And Frank and Leo have that heartbreaking conversation where they talk about how they can't be together. Anyway, peace.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

LWA: Just some random stuff on a Sunday morning!

Missing scenes: Furfur's book of angels includes "bishop" as one of Aziraphale's jobs, and as we've already seen all the others on the list, even if only in deleted lines (the music tutor was originally in the Rome scene), I would guess we'd see that one as well. Not necessarily a good fit for 1650, though, although since Gaiman has done things like have the Bastille still standing in 1793, anything's possible.

Assumptions about character progression: I think there's a tendency to assume that Crowley and Aziraphale develop or ought to develop towards something "better" as the series progresses, but that's not quite right. They become more /complicated/, which is a neutral--dare I say grey?--concept. The novel and series both deny that good and evil are steady-state aspects of character: you /aren't/ good or evil (or something in-between), you /do/ good or evil (or something in-between). S1 Crowley, as both Gaiman and Tennant have said, has no real character arc, but one of the reasons I think the fandom needs to pay attention to my favorite bugbear, the child murder manipulation subplot, is that it is also about moral complexity. Flood-era Crowley offers the moral absolute "you can't kill kids." Armageddon-era Crowley runs Aziraphale over with a trolley problem in order to duck the more unpleasant reality that if you're fine with someone killing a kid for you, you're fine with killing kids. (I have to say that the sentimental "Crowley wuvs Warlock" headcanon is one of those instances where supposedly-positive fanon constitutes outright character assassination, right up there with "Aziraphale had an affair with Oscar Wilde" [oh, do /not/ get me started on why that's horrifying].) The series is on the side of Flood-era Crowley and Madame Tracy, not the "developed" Crowley. Meanwhile, Aziraphale learns how to lie, which is a skill that can be put to different moral purposes in different contexts. Sometimes it's unambiguously good, like saving Job's children; sometimes it's ambiguous-to-evil, like concealing the Antichrist's whereabouts from Crowley (revealing this knowledge to Crowley would mean more pressure to murder the child, but his rehearsed speech suggests that he's willing to let Heaven handle it, perhaps, which is not a viable moral alternative).

AWCW and being "impressionable": one of the funniest things about Crowley is that in some respects, he's every bit as conformist as Aziraphale is, and sometimes more so. His unreliable narration about the Fall hints very strongly that, as you say, he just went along with the "cool kids"--which, despite his protestations to the contrary, /is/ a moral failure on the terms set out by the novel and series. Even later, both Crowley and Aziraphale rebel in ways that maintain the fiction of the overarching system (the Arrangement) rather than dismantling it entirely. Crowley also enjoys his job, especially in the novel. Which, to be clear, is also a moral failure: slacking off is, hilariously, the most moral choice he and Aziraphale can make. FWIW, for me, neither the novel nor the series are "burn it all down" narratives, in part because they both advance a theory of humanity that suggests burning it all down just gets you the same thing from a different direction. The most radical political ideas are given to a conspiracy theorist and to children, and the Antichrist concludes by rejecting all of them and hitting a literal reset button. Pratchett may have co-written the book from a place of "anger," but anger can lead to a lot of different political practices. Obviously, YMMV.

LWA✨ woke up today and chose analytical violence, what a legend

1. see, i feel like 1650 could work for aziraphale's bishop occupation, even if only mentioned retrospectively. theoretically, he could well have been a bishop before the abolishment in 1646, and exploring the episcopalian polity vs presbyterianism argument of the time could be really interesting narratively (especially if handled somewhat like the resurrectionist episode)... but detail aside, even if by the time we see him in 1650 it's only mentioned casually that he was a bishop "a few years back", i don't think it would be entirely out of field. we don't necessarily need to have everything played out on screen!

2. okay, a lot to unpack here, but essentially i agree. the issue it seems to me is to posit moral absolutes in the first place; there will almost always be a contextual 'except'/'but' clause that comes along with it that turns it on its head.

it's bad to kill children, except when they are the antichrist and could bring about the apocalypse.

it's bad to lie, except when it would prevent unimaginable cruelty and grief being wrought on those that don't objectively deserve it.

it's bad to manipulate and brainwash a group of people, except when there's no lasting harm done, and you were only trying to demonstrate to someone that you love them.

it's good to try to further human medicine and prevent needless suffering, except when doing so puts the desperate as the first to fall in the figurative battlefield.

it's good to forgive a huge debt when you don't have any necessity of it being paid, except when it's primarily borne out of materialistic selfishness.

neither character does anything so completely reprehensible, or alternatively so inarguably irreproachable, that someone, somewhere, can't or won't argue a justification for their actions. we individually, according to our own moral compasses borne of our experiences, may justify or condemn what they've done in the narrative - objectively, the morality behind their actions as we've seen them so far is never absolute.

eg. for me, crowley's plan on killing the antichrist, a child, in the specific context of GO is not the condemnable action here; its the manipulation of getting aziraphale to do it because he, personally, will not do it himself. i understand why, but the thing that i personally consider to be unambiguously bad is not killing the antichrist itself, but instead the fact that crowley considers that the only solution to the hellhound being named - ignoring the 'running away' that crops up later, for a moment - is to underhandedly manipulate someone he cares about into doing it instead of him. however, others may see it differently.

who is to say what is 'better', anyway? what even is 'better'? is 'better' to do things only when it's for the benefit of other people? is doing 'better' for your own self not also worthy of consideration? is 'better' wholly only when doing something that is kind or generous to others, rather than being kind or generous to yourself?

whilst crowley hits certain moral epiphanal milestones before aziraphale does, neither have the full right of it - aziraphale should not hold morality to being plainly black or white, dictated to by a set of absolutes that are so basic and lacking in complexity that they are by all accounts redundant. and crowley should not dismiss alternative choices or solutions just because they do not fit his perspective or reasoning, nor hold that his understanding of morality is the only viable one or is the only one with any weight or validity. ep6 imo succinctly demonstrated this.

both of them are still so young at the flood. aziraphale holds that whatever has been decreed by the source 'of all that is good' must therefore be good (and choosing to not see beyond it) and crowley acts so incredulous that something he sees as being absolutely bad would ever be entertained (despite, you know, having been cast out of heaven for 'just asking questions'....). both of them by the time of job have had a pretty seismic shift in that respective naivety - aziraphale begins to question what god actually intends, and crowley acts stoutly bitter and unsurprised by the assignment. neither reactions are compatible still, they constantly circle each other, and literally indicate that some level of understanding (of god, of her will, of morality 'in the real world' itself - take your pick) is still lacking.

re: Oscar Wilde and warlock hcs (i couldn't let these stroll by without comment)... god, where to start. re: warlock, i never begrudge any hc where it's borne out of a developed fanon background. that's arguably one of the main benefits of having the fanon side of things: to develop a point/event/gap in the story for yours and others' amusement - that's cool! for this example, any fic that gives more insight into their years in warlock's life, and therefore gives legitimacy to crowley having a fondness for warlock - yep, i like that! that's awesome, i could see it as an unrealised narrative, but that's where it firmly stays, for me - in fanon.

but i do get frustrated when certain narrative points are pointedly ignored in order to establish a character trait that would otherwise not exist. crowley in canon does not - to me - demonstrate any fondness towards warlock. he literally proposes the option of his murder! i don't think him refusing to entertain killing warlock himself indicates any sentimentality towards the kid - thats a bit of a stretch, imo - but instead it reflects on his character being, put reductively, a bit of a knob sometimes.

as for aziraphale and oscar wilde... yeeaaah. i think anyone that holds that hc seriously needs to reevaluate the implications of it, and whether or not beyond professional (?) respect for his work aziraphale would willingly want to associate with him... ultimately, i refer back to my above point about "...anything so completely reprehensible...". and, respectfully, perhaps there needs to be a little more separation between michael sheen's filmography and aziraphale's narrative - whether in hc or canon.

3. right, AWCW time. i agree re: his conformity to the 'cool kid group' being something that is deserving of scrutiny on his own morality, but i feel like this only is viable once that association goes beyond a certain point (and an arguably arbitrary one at that). essentially, i think it's possible to still see AWCW's decision to associate with the group as understandable and empathetic. we know from the narrative that a) AWCW starts hanging out with them at some point, and b) that lucifer et al. are in the end considered bad people. but were they actually bad at the time that AWCW comes across them? if they were, did AWCW himself know? we don't really have enough narrative to reliably confirm this.

but we do know that AWCW fell, and it's therefore rather likely that he continued associating with them past a point where he would have known that they were Bad News Bears. in the beginning, he may have just been glad that these people seemed to listen to him and make him feel valid for having questions - that's understandable. but as time goes on, as lucifer etc. hypothetically get more and more questionable in their actions and beliefs, AWCW presumably choosing to stick with them, possibly even defending them, confers the deserving of negative judgement onto AWCW in turn (presuming there's no element of coercion or blackmail involved, mind you).

i like the point you raise of aziraphale and crowley respectively not conforming to their inherent purposes (being an angel or demon respectively) when it benefits them personally, being an almost accidental 'good thing', especially when the story puts forward that, however you look at it (ie. whether bc they are lazy, or it poses more excuses to see each other - immaterial), the arrangement is entirely self-serving. 10/10 narrative irony. but this is kinda going back to one of our first asks, LWA - it is for me once again the key difference between rebellion, and revolution:

(never been more grateful for making the LWA masterpost, thank you past-me)

so whilst i agree to a certain point that the 'burn it all down' narrative may not be a viable option, or is at the very least a reductive one, i think that the question is what it is replaced with, if at all. adam hit the reset button and put earth back to how it was, because what humanity and earth was - by my interpretation - was just fine as it is. it's not perfect, but not worthy of being destroyed in totality.

so what can we say about heaven? is it a mirror to earth in this respect? i don't think it is. heaven may well have been intended originally as a neutral party with the best of intentions, and then pigeonholed into being the 'good side' following the fall, but it has been allowed to fester and corrupt. maybe we will see more in s3 that there are other angels that feel that heaven as a system is flawed (personally, i think we see this in saraqael's introduction to GO, but that's just my interpretation of the character so far), and maybe those angels will represent the part of heaven that is still redeemable.

so okay, yeah, maybe heaven shouldn't be completely gutted and dismantled, but it is not in the same place as earth is at the time of adam's reset. earth and humanity were arguably the innocent parties in their prospective destruction, whereas heaven has sown their own seeds for it. i don't think the two are entirely comparable. heaven does need a major realignment, and i personally don't think this can happen without some form of systematic reform, without revolution (especially if the wider fandom's evaluation of metatron is true come s3!). it needs reworking with an alternative system that works to be fairer, and removes any binary rhetoric of good vs. evil. don't ask me for the minutae of how this should happen, because i have zero idea (well, very little, anyhow), im not that clever.

but this is what i hope aziraphale will actually be successful in come s3. he can't just - in anger at the injustice of it all - set heaven on fire and walk away from the ashes; it will invite for the original regime to rebuild or something worse to take its place. that being said, it's not just him that needs to do it - to build an alternative to heaven in his own image is equally questionable. again, this is the suggestion that i liked in the armageddon 2.0 meeting in ep6; the idea of democracy in heaven, even if the current board is less than ideal (and the point could poetically hark back to the hypothetical 1650 flashback...?).

[gildedsorrow]

Three Women, Sylvia Plath / Joan of Arc Asleep, George William Joy / Lady Lazarus, Sylvia Plath / The Oresteia, Aeschylus / Joan of Arc in Battle, Hermann Stilke / Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas / Cassandra, Florence and the Machine / Joan of Arc, Charles-Amable Lenoir / Anatomy of Titus Fall of Rome, Heiner Müller

[ancientgreekyuri]

i love that the last arc of Thermae Romae is just about a Japanese girl falling in love with a humble but heroic bathhouse architect who just happened to also be a time traveler from Ancient Rome. She was the first person he could have actual conversations with and it was entirely because she'd went to college for archaeology / Ancient Roman studies! 😭 it feels very self indulgent from the author, who is Also a Japanese Roman studies student who married an Italian man ^.^

btw despite time traveling to modernity several times the Roman man in question never learned about the Fall of Rome. Which is for the best honestly 😭