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#and don't get me STARTED on how the movie handles it. my life's quest is to unmake that abomination until no memory of it remains
ehlnofay · 2 months
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sorry but apropos of nothing I am pondering pride and prejudice once again (regular occurence). saw someone describe elizabeth bennet as "middle class". if the internet inexplicably vanishes in the next few hours it's because I blew it up
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navree · 9 months
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Hi! Have you seen Domina s2? If so what are your thoughts on it?
Hey!
I have not seen Domina s2, nor have I seen Domina s1, because I just have genuine issues with it. I dislike where they chose to start the story, I dislike the way they've characterized a lot of these figures, I dislike a lot of what they've done with the history and their interpretation of the motivations behind it. And considering that Augustus is one of my favorite historical figures to read about and he already has a tendency to get really bad representations due to the people he was surrounded with (HBO Rome had Antony as a main character so of course their interpretation of Octavian, his final nemesis, was God fucking awful), it's infuriating.
Like, one of the reasons I like these figures and this period of history so much is that what actually happened was just so fascinating that I want to jam as much information about it as possible into my brain (I've harped on this before, but it is insane to me that Octavian, at the ripe old age of 22, decided to have 300 defeated and surrendered enemy soldiers slaughtered as human sacrifices on Julius Caesar's altar on the anniversary of his assassination, that is a crazy story and I wish we had more info about it) as permanently as possible. So whenever people decide to mess with that, it not only irritates me as an enjoyer of the history, but it also makes their story more dull because nothing these people come with for the sake of "ratings" is ever going to match up to real life (no, Colleen McCullough, Octavian disowning his mother based on a debunked historical theory is not more interesting than a 19 year old's only living parent dying unexpectedly a year after the only father figure he's ever known/close uncle/actual adopted father was brutally murdered thereby thrusting him into a position of extreme pressure and visibility and kicking off a personal revenge quest that led to the eventual reshaping of the Western World, sorry). And it especially doesn't work when you're relying on tropes that everyone has already seen done before.
Livia Drusilla as some conniving snake manipulating everything behind the scenes to suit her own ends is an incredibly tired trope, it's the main characterization given to nearly any interpretation of her and I've never liked it. Augustus being a power hungry tyrant who only cares about making himself a living god and nothing else is an incredibly tired trop, and it too is the main characterization given to nearly any interpretation of him and I've also never liked it. I don't even know what to do with their version of Agrippa because he just seems like a wet chihuahua half the time (and then has this insane line of "I put you where you are and Livia kept you there" that I really wrote 3k words in response to because for one, he would not fucking say that and for two it's literally untrue and for three he would not fucking say that!!!) and honestly every interpretation of him has been borderline schizophrenic (the Elizabeth Taylor movie made him significantly older than Octavian when they were the same age??? tf????). I've already seen Rome and I, Claudius (well, not really, but I have skimmed them on occasion), I don't need a rehash of old hackery. Give me something new, something interesting, something that can actually fit who these people were attested to be, and certainly more interesting than old shorthand based on ahistorical assumptions.
Domina honestly shot itself in the foot by starting the story after the Last War of the Republic (I think it starts in 27 BC when Octavian is declared Augustus, which is three years after the war against Antony), because the years between the Ides and Actium can genuinely have great character work for all of these people. And it can especially have great character work for Livia, seeing how she handled the tumultuous time leading up to eventual war, and especially how she handled Rome and the family and the politics during the time that Octavian was off at war and then in Egypt. So you've got old news characterizations that don't jive, you have boring made up stories that aren't anywhere near as fascinating as the actual history, and to make it worse you're focusing on the more placid years and bypassing any of the stuff that's actually going to be of interest and really getting into the meat of, you know, Octavian's rise to power and eventual turn into a living god, which seems to be what this show is trying to chronicle too.
And honestly? Honestly? I despise whatever the Hell they're trying to do with Livia and Agrippa. For one, again, scheming cheating whore is a tired trope, it's a tired trop that I don't care to apply to Livia. For two, it's a cop-out. I've said it before, I said it when Rome tried to do Agrippa/Octavia, it's a cop-out to try and add some tension to Agrippa by pairing him with the first woman you can find in Octavian's inner circle. No relationship that this man had, with anyone, is going to be anywhere near as interesting as the one he had with Octavian. No fictionalized, ahistorical romance with Octavian's wife or Octavian sister is going to approach the dynamic that Octavian and Agrippa had with each other. If you want to add some romance between Agrippa and a member of the Julio-Claudians, don't be a scaredy-cat and have it be with Octavian. The mutual devotion these two felt for each other, the way that Agrippa never tried to seize power even though he could, choosing instead to be Octavian's lieutenant, his attack dog, the loyalty Octavian showed Agrippa even when they were teenagers, the way these two were by each other's sides for nearly Agrippa's entire life (Agrippa predeceased Augustus by about thirty years), the longevity of the relationship and the reciprocity of it, it's all ripe for someone to do something great with it. And nobody's ever really gotten it right, there have been elements from different places that have had moments, but nothing that's had it right from start to finish. I mean, for God's sake, during Augustus's near fatal illness that I know was in Domina's first season, Augustus literally gave Agrippa his signet ring so that, if he died, his legions and followers would follow Agrippa immediately and see him as Augustus's anointed successor, and the show didn't have any of that. Insanity. Quit pussy-footing around it. If you want to add an "Agrippa loves and desperately wants something he's not sure he can have", have that something be Octavian, not Livia.
All in all, I just really don't like this show, for so many reasons, and I think they did nearly everything wrong except for maybe a few isolated things here and there, and I have absolutely no intention of watching it. Honestly, if you want good content on this time and any of these people, it's probably better to find a good nonfiction book on the period or biography on the key player that interests you the most and just read that.
Also I hate that horrible fucking wig they stuck on TGC when Augustus was literally a blond historically. Like, seriously, you have TGC there (and with all those gifsets showing how alike he and Olivia Cooke are it's a crying shame they didn't cast her as Octavia, the fancasting exists in my dreams), Augustus is attested as having been a blond pretty boy, fuck off with your terrible wig and let him use his natural hair, Roman men tended to have hair the length that most modern men keep their's nowadays anyway.
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jendoe · 1 year
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❥ OCS AS TRAGIC HORROR TROPES
tagged by @denerims and @florbelles to take this uquiz for some of my ocs!
tagging @prometheas, @queennymeria, @jennystahl, @arklay, @leviiackrman, @lavinet, @loriane-elmuerto, @indorilnerevarine, and whoever else wants to do this! please please please tag me!!
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the final girl
the final girl comes out the other end of trauma alive- or, they were supposed to. honestly, you're not so sure you're really alive anymore. you saw the same hurt take those you were closest to while everyone paraded your bruises as bravery, as strength, as if you're the hero. and it hurts. you're tired and you don't want to have to be brave anymore. whatever you went through, it changed so much of who you were that you're still getting used to the person you see in the mirror. you didn't have a say in any of it, but you're here now, and that's gotta count for something. you'll make it count for something. but first, you need to let yourself find rest.
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the one who opened the door
you turn the door handle. you call out, "who's there?" and the crowd has the audacity to groan, to get frustrated with you. as if the gift of hindsight was something you had. how the hell were you supposed to know you were born into a horror movie? no one bothered to tell you. say, if instead this was an action film, or a fantasy, would they still be telling you how silly of a mistake it was to press further on your quest? they would've commended you for your bravery. you thought you were going to be saving a princess in a tower, not getting stabbed in the back by a killer in the shadows. how is that fair? it isn't, and none of that was ever your fault. it is not wrong to believe things are good. your trust, your optimism, it shouldn't ever be mistaken for ignorance or stupidity. we need more people who open doors. how else are any of us gonna move forward?
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the werewolf
there's something inside a werewolf that's sharp, thorns and barbs coiling up in tight knots of vine even on their best days. halfway through a conversation, you'll forget your happiness and the pain comes back in a flash. you never meant to, but the sharpness has done harm on your behalf. it's defensive. it's leftover artillery from a battle you spent so long fighting that it still doesn't feel like it's truly over, does it? you want so badly to be soft. to take the hand that you are offered instead of baring your teeth. and it might be hard to believe, but you are soft. you're the softest one out there. it'll just take a while to untangle those vines enough to know that very little is often life-or-death, and not everything touches to hurt.
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that which cannot be known
oh god. how did it come to this? to some extent, you've gone so far past your own idea of "human" that it must be kind of fun, right? maybe. i'm not sure. as an artefact of cosmic horror, you're wild and wacky and colourful and people are probably drawn to that, but you will never let them know you. the mystery intrigues for a while, but it'll wear everyone down. it'll wear you down, too. who are you? do you remember? are you so far gone that you can't go back? and maybe that's the most tragic thing of all- becoming so distorted in your identity, and for so long, that no matter how hard you want to return you can't ever seem to figure it out. but you've learned a vast amount up in the stars, and people will work hard to get to know you. it doesn't matter who you used to be. sometimes, you should just start from scratch: give yourself a name, a birthday. let someone celebrate these things with you.
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gwen-ever · 3 years
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Until My Last Breath (Prologue)
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Summary: When Smaug arrived, he not only killed the dwarves of Erebor, but he also destroyed the lives of the few who survived... whether he did it on purpose or not.After a hundred years, a part of Thorin's past will come back to haunt him in the form of a dwarf who last knocks on the door of Bilbo Baggins' house, resurrecting old grudges and the pain of a life no one wants to talk about. Geira, daughter of Geiri, is anything but an open book, an exiled who no one wants around, a warrior who has no one to fight for, but only an oath she must fulfil.
Relationships: Thorin x FemaleOC
Rating: M
Warnings: none.
AO3 LINK: HERE
Note Number I: English is not my first language, I have a wonderful beta @lathalea <3 (i am so much greatful you can't even imagine) but maybe I will mess up few times.
Note Number II: The Story takes place during the quest but there is a whole backstory that starts since Thorin's childhood so there are going to be a lot of flashbacks. THEY ARE NOT IN A CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER so the whole back story could be guessed but will be explained later in the story.
Note Number III: I will mix up the book events and the movie events, fixing what where (from my point of view) some mistakes were made. I have decided to do so simply because there are some lacks of infos here and there and so many lost possibilities in some actionless time, as happened in Mirkwood and Laketown.
I am blood of your blood, and bone of your bone, stone of your stone
I gift you my body so it can fall instead of yours.
I give you my soul so it can  wait for yours in the Great Halls.
I lend you my voice so it can order your commands
I present you my sword so it can slay the ones who wish to harm you.
No other dwarf will be mine, no other dwarf will own me,
no one will sleep next to me, no life will come out from the womb of mine.
No one I will serve over the crown, over the Seven Stars, over the Father of all fathers, over the King of all Kings.
I offer myself to you, until the end of times, until the mountains soar to the sky,
until all the blood dries, until the fires of Mahal’s forge blaze high.
Until my last breath, until my last glance, until my last blow,
until the last time my hands touch the rock our Father gave to us,
my life is yours and your wish is mine.
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The house of Bilbo Baggins was more crowded than usual that evening, and the owner was more than a little disconcerted: not only had his peace of mind been disturbed, not only was his larder completely, utterly, depleted, but his kitchen, indeed his whole house, was overrun with dwarves! Thirteen dwarves! Plus a wizard he had met in the morning whom he barely knew and had marked the door with a rune, thanks to which his guests had recognised the Hobbit's dwelling. Truly, Bilbo Baggins did not know how to begin to drive them out, he had been trying since the first one (Dwalin, if he remembered correctly) had walked in through the round door, obviously without being heard by any of them.
Crockery, knives, pots and pans, everything had begun to fly from one side of the room to the other without ever stopping. He tried more than once to stop them, without ever succeeding! At that moment his Took blood was more useless than a fork when eating soup. In fact, his Baggins blood had gotten the better of him, leading him to accept the situation with no small amount of annoyance, including those black strokes on his yellow walls and the fragments of food scattered on the floor. Oh, not to mention his good wine, totally gone! It had taken him hours to sort out his pantry between days before and now all his food, all his tomatoes, all his wine, all his cheese, everything, gone, vanished, and it was not even the time for the spring solstice party yet!
And now, or in heaven's name, now Gandalf had even had the courage to tell him that he would have to get used to them! To all of them! To the twelve dwarves in his kitchen! And what on earth did the wizard mean by saying  that he would have to put up with them forever!
Annoyed, he began to walk down the corridor arguing with Gandalf and putting his hands on his hips.
"I don't understand what they are doing in my house!" he shouted, raising his voice.
The wizard didn't reply, but a small voice behind him did and before he knew it his entire set of porcelains was in the air.  His cutlery was being knocked over his table. Knife blades were being dulled by their rubbing against fork handles, and before he knew it, in time to the music, his entire kitchen set was flying through the air.  Oh no, no no no, not that chair, no, not that plate, no not that other plate! No, stop, please!
His pleas were soaring through the air, as if they were leaves on a wind, as were his dishes. And Gandalf sat smoking his pipe on a chair with an amused smile while all this happened before his eyes. Bilbo ran to the kitchen to put an end to this madness, but as soon as he did so, he noticed to his surprise that all the things that had been flying over his head until just now were neatly stacked on top of each other on his kitchen table.
He blinked, several times adjusting his braces, unable to believe his eyes.
The dwarves seemed highly amused by his reaction, and began to laugh, until three knocks on the door brought silence and an icy air that he could feel all the way down to his hobbit ankles.
"He is here," Gandalf said.
From the doorway a short while later another dwarf entered and it didn't take him long to realise that he was different, very different from the others who had entered his home moments before. Every single beard turned to face the newcomer as he walked inside.
Bilbo didn't know who it was and he didn't even really care, no one would enter his house unannounced, no one.
But he couldn't admit that his blood ran cold in his veins as soon as that dwarf started talking to him and asking him all those strange questions. What did he mean by axe or sword? Did he really believe that a hobbit like him had ever picked up either weapon? Who did he think he was? He could not hide his confusion at the last statement of the so-called Thorin Oakenshield.
"He looks more of a grocer than a burglar," he joked.
It was all too absurd for Bilbo's poor hobbit ears, all so surreal! His life, monotonous and lonely until a few hours ago, was now changing, he could feel it in his bones, and he could not understand if it was a good thing or not: he had always dreamed of adventure when he was a young hobbit, but now it was different; the walls of his home were so comforting and safe, every object was a certainty for him. His life was there and he would never leave it, no sir!
Calmness, however, continued to reign for a long time, during which the largest of the dwarves, with a long red beard, went to his kitchen and with an almost surreal care began to prepare a soup. Thorin Oakenshield sat down at the head of the table and was soon joined by the oldest of the dwarves who had entered his house, Balin, and two of the youngest, the two brothers Fili and Kili.
They began to talk in low voices, in a calm and quiet tone, just like everyone else in his house. It seemed absurd, but at least he was able to sort out some of the leftovers that had been left behind in the kitchen back in his own larder and eavesdrop, even if he didn't want to (it was rude) on some of the conversations that various small groups of dwarves were having. The ties of kinship were quickly understood, as was the realisation that Thorin was not really just another dwarf. No more plate was flying, no more song was being sung, but not out of fear, out of respect.
He turned his head, watching the almost regal profile as he spoke to the bear who came into the house first, but he could not hear what they were talking about, the fact was that their faces were dark, and Dwalin's eyes moved insistently over him.
A short while later Bombur returned with the soup, handing it to Thorin, and in the blink of an eye the groups of dwarves in his house were grouped together again, sitting around the table. He wasn't invited, that's normal, there's a meeting in a house and the owner of that house isn't invited! Not that he cared, of course not, the apple he was putting in the basket in the kitchen was certainly more interesting.
But he couldn't help but listen.
"What news from the Ered Luin, did they all come?" asked the older dwarf.
"Aye, envoys from all seven kingdoms," the voice of Thorin spoke, setting off a round of small laughs and joyful murmurs.
"And what do the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Is Dain with us?"
A long wait ensued in which Bilbo swore he could hear the heart of every single dwarf in the room beating wildly.
"They will not come,"
The dwarf's reply was sharp and decisive. Disconsolate murmurs rose from his dining room that only increased in volume and quantity when he spoke again. "They said this quest is ours and ours alone,"
They began to talk in low voices, in a calm and quiet tone, just like everyone else in his house. It seemed absurd, but at least he was able to sort out some of the leftovers that had been left behind in the kitchen back in his own larder and eavesdrop, even if he didn't want to (it was rude) on some of the conversations that various small groups in that group were having. The ties of kinship were quickly understood, as was the realisation that Thorin was not really just another dwarf. No more  flying plates, no more singing songs, but not out of fear, out of respect.
A coughing noise, however, stopped the murmurs and caused Bilbo to turn to the table from behind the kitchen wall as well, distracting himself from his chores. Gandalf settled into the small chair and began to search the sleeve of his grey robe.
"This indeed, it is not entirely true," he explained as he slowly pulled a long wooden pipe from his sleeve. "There is someone else who has yet to arrive," the sorcerer explained, barely looking Thorin in the eye.
For all the pipe weed in the world, again?
The dwarf at the head of the table stopped sipping from his goblet of ale, giving him a sidelong glance but remained silent. Instead, the dwarf named Gloin spoke, crossing his arms over his chest. "This means yet another division of profit, all of which should have been agreed upon first." he muttered.
"Agreed, this matter should have been dealt with weeks ago," Dori pinned, pulling himself up.
Gandalf did not even look up at the elder dwarf, adjusting the tobacco in his pipe.  "My decision was made after our meeting in the Ered Luin. And Master Gloin, I think that our member does not wish any of that gold in that Mountain."
"Who is it?" grunted Dwalin suspiciously, looking up at the wizard who lit his pipe with his fingertips.
Bofur chuckled under his big black mustache, puffing an avalanche of white smoke from the side of his mouth. "Another burglar?"
"A burglar for the burglar," Fili grinned at the back of the room.
"A burglar made for the burglar," Kili added and their banter invited the murmurs from just before. This time, however, they were louder, more confused, as was his hobbit head.
A torrent of questions flooded the room as they all asked questions of the wizard, who, bewildered, tried to answer; only Thorin's intervention put an end to the commotion created, shouting warnings in their native tongue. Then he turned to the sorcerer himself, glancing at him.
"The questions that have arisen around this table are fair," he began earnestly, "I have not been informed of any others, none of this was a part of the bargain, Gandalf."
Gandalf smiled with the side of his mouth taking a puff of his pipe. "I was told to find the fourteenth member of this company and so I did, the addition of a fifteenth should not be an unsolvable problem."
"As I said it wasn't in the agreements and last minute clauses at a time like this are not convenient, not at all," retorted the dwarf bringing silence again.
Bilbo looked at the dwarves, clouded by the smoke from the pipes and the warmth of the candles around the table. They looked at each other's hands or watched Thorin in silence, not uttering a breath.
Gandalf put down his pipe and crossed his arms on the table, moving slightly closer to the dwarf with long raven hair.
"I assure you that my choice was not taken lightly, and if I had thought it was right a few months ago I would have reported it to you back then. But it was not possible," Gandalf lowered the tone of his voice even further. "You must trust me on this."
"Is this person crucial to what we must accomplish?" he asked quietly, looking straight into his eyes.
The wizard murmured a small "yes" between his lips, nodding his head slightly as he continued to look the dwarf lord straight in the eye.
Thorin said nothing, watched the wizard for a few more seconds before letting himself go off the back of his chair and then he took a sip of ale from his mug again. The conversation had ended in a few simple sentences, yet Bilbo noticed how the wizard continued to look at Thorin insistently.
Gandalf brushed his gloves around his hands with his fingertips dropping his gaze downwards for a few seconds before turning his head back towards him.
"Bilbo, my dear fellow," he called to him in a manner far more cheerful than his face was capable of showing. "Let us have a little more light".
----/////----
A snort passed her lips.
She was dreadfully late, which she hated from the bottom of her heart; and she hated the fact that she was going to a strange house of a Hobbit whose identity she did not know, although after all those years she had become accustomed to being in the homes of strangers quite often. Perhaps the real reason for her stomach clenching was not whose house it was but who she was supposed to meet in that house and the reason why she was going to that house. Because when she would see them again, all of them , it would not be pleasant or easy.
Far from it.
She didn't even think it would ever happen, nor did he want it to happen again.
She slung her sack over her shoulder as she climbed up the little dirt road, passing funny grass-covered houses by the round door: if it had been daytime, a riot of colours would have accompanied her path and perhaps, for a few minutes, she would not have thought about the imminent meeting.
She would have stopped for a few brief moments on that bench next to the path and sat there for a short while, perhaps lighting her pipe or watching those very peaceful people go about their simple business. Watching them do simple, mechanical things, perhaps in another life she might even have stayed in such a place, in peace, with someone. But no, too many years had passed, she had seen too much, heard too much, and she would not be able to live like that, not there.
Suddenly, a faint pale light caught her attention: she approached it and, with a thump in her heart, recognised the rune that the sorcerer had traced so that they could all see it. She reached the garden and climbed the small steps that led to the round green door. She ran a hand over her leather bodice and gathered in her heart all the emotions she could possibly feel.
Hatred, fury, pain and anger, so much anger.
She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the voices she could hear through the door.  Taking a deep breath to calm her already jangled nerves, she knocked, hearing a great commotion and excited voices from inside.
The door suddenly opened, and it was the sorcerer himself who filled her field of vision: he broke into a rather smug smile, proud to have been right for the umpteenth time.
He knew she would come at last.
She had met him only a few weeks before and he was exactly as the rumours said. Gandalf's every move was studied and planned and, who knows why, everything corresponded to the plan he had devised; how every cog in that mechanism worked was a great mystery. Yet for that, she could not but admire him.
So, after he had silently nodded his head, she entered the cosy, warm house that smelled of good food and wine and was lit by the soft light of candles; she followed him into a corridor and the smell of ashes and moss entered her nostrils, as well as that of processed tobacco and malt. In a few steps she found herself in front of a small room where, around a table, were crammed all the others who, as soon as they glimpsed their new guest, assumed the most surprised and astonished expressions she had ever seen. Their faces turned pale, their beards seemed to stretch to the floor, and none of them dared say a word. Only one of them stood up so fast that he knocked over the stool on which he was sitting, irate.
"What is she doing here?!"
The rumble of thunder rumbled through the room and like a thunderbolt it brought to light old hidden shadows, old whispered words, broken oaths.
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You're blood of my blood, bone of my bone, stone of my stone,
I embrace your body to let it protect me
I take your soul and forge for it a place next to me in the Great Halls
I take your voice which I will hear above all others
I take your sword and I present you my shield which will protect you from my enemies.
No other dwarf will be yours, no other dwarf you will serve,
no one will  keep you company at night, no life will come out from you.
No one you will serve over me, over the Seven Stars, over the Father of all fathers, over the King of all Kings.
I offer myself to your hands until the start to the end, until the skies fall on the ground,
until all the bones crack, until the  fires of Mahal’s forge blaze high.
Until my last breath, until my last glance, until my last blow,
until the last time my hands touch the rock our Father gave to us
my desires are yours, your pain is mine.
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outoftimewriting · 4 years
Text
Imagine (based on the incomplete fanfic Son of the Underworld) (Son of Hades! Percy AU) (5/5) or (5/10)
Hey so, this is the last part of PJO - I follow into HOO, so before you read this, check on the masterpost - and read the warnings before proceeding :)) Good reading!
Annabeth comes to him, at the end of his fifteenth birthday party, and shows her Daedalus laptop. There's a document open in it, and it's labeled Achilles' Curse.
Percy doesn't read it - he hates reading, in any way or form or language - but she does, out loud.
"I'll think about it"
They have a year. Most of them, even those who aren't year-rounders, are going back to camp, to draw battle plans and stock on the armory.
He feels kinda selfish - for a whole five seconds before he remembers he'll probably die next summer, so he just shrugs it off - Percy deserves this year.
They all leave to go back to camp. Nico seems conflicted over something - but Perseus doesn't question it, there's enough bad blood between them.
Paola is really cool - and Sally really loves her. It's kind of bizarre at first, to see his Mom dating his teacher - and of a subject he hates - but Paola is calm and well-tempered and she laughs at his stupid ass jokes.
He visits Persephone afterward - and it really feels like he has three moms to fulfill his lack of a father - well, he is absolutely grateful for the women in his life.
Percy isn't truly in good terms with his father. The man doesn't really seem to care much for him as a person - he is much more of a trophy son.
Perseus loathes being a trophy son, but at least he has someone to help with his powers - not something a lot of half-bloods can claim.
So he goes back to school with Rachel, and they pretend everything is normal. He tells her about his quests - all three of them. He thinks she understands him better now.
He opens up to her. Tells her about Annabeth - the adrenaline-fueled kiss - and Rachel stops talking with him for a week.
She apologizes when she comes back. She needed to figure some things up - firstly, the redhead tells him she is probably asexual - and maybe aromantic too, but she is not certain because the internet wasn't really clear about that.
Then Rachel confesses that she is not jealous of him in a romantic way - she is envious of his friendship with Annabeth. Percy is her first genuine friend that really appreciates her.
This is the first grudge Perseus lets go for real before it even takes place - Rachel didn't leave him because of teenage drama, she ignored him out of confusion. Everyone is allowed space - he knows this better than anyone.
They don't kiss anymore. Not because Rachel doesn't like it - no, she is all for it - but because Percy is starting to think kisses should mean something - he is saving them.
They kiss once - when Rachel father calls for the first time this year - not to ask about her, but to tell Rachel he found this amazing all-girls school. To Percy, kisses mean comfort.
They cuddle a lot, though. These past few years of fear have made Percy very touch-starved.
It's sophomore year - and Percy is in five AP classes: Macroeconomics&Microeconomics, Statistics, Calculus AB, Physics 1, and Comparative Government and Politics.
He is planning on taking both AP Computer Science classes, Psychology, Physics 2, and Calculus BC next year; leaving only Electricity&Magnetism, Mechanics, Chemistry, and World History for his senior year.
If he lives, he is working on a tight schedule here. He doesn't know what he wants yet - and if he is in constant danger, it's already pretty lucky he can do high school - but probably something with Math.
Rachel says fourteen AP courses are ambitious - that he'll burn out. But math comes to him easily enough - it's in his blood.
She is also overworking: She is taking AP Environmental Studies, Art History, Drawing, 2-D Art and Design, and English Literature and Composition.
They complete each other. Rachel is planning on taking as many Art, History, and English courses as she can - he is taking as many Physics, Math, and Science as he can handle.
(She is also going to take on Japanese studies for some reason - probably for her GPA, but Perseus just teases her that she is getting too invested in anime)
Perseus doesn't care about languages anymore - the only languages that matter to him are C++ and JavaScript now.
They study together, they take naps together, they climb to the roof together, they flee school to visit Sally together - he is the Pinky to her Brain, the Scooby to her Shaggy, the Lois Lane to her Superman, the Robin to her Batman.
They look like troublemakers - They are honor roll students, but she is always with ripped pants dirty with paint, and he is always full of flowers everywhere, even in his muddy converses - a cliche to kill all cliches.
They're both nerds - he is the classic one, all polo shirts now, the first chair for every number-related class - and she is the artsy one - there's a brush behind her ear and her hair is so messy that half the time it covers her face.
Paola gifts him a pair of cheap frames without lenses once - saying it adds to the aesthetic - he totally uses them.
Persephone just makes him flower-crowns, and giggles when he matches them with his polo shirts.
When winter comes, he goes back to his hoodies and sweaters and gloves - to find out he doesn't miss them a lot.
Rachel introduces him to polaroids - and they look eerily pretty in the winter, her hair looking like blood spilling over the snow - and he loves it.
If he survives - he can feel Rachel slapping him - when he survives, his college credits will be remarkable. The idea of doing SATs makes him want to cry - reading always does - but he'll get somewhere good - he knows it. Perhaps Stanford. Or NYU. Or the dream of his life, MIT.
He is living his life to the fullest - he starts reading comic books, he gets really (really) into Tony Stark once Iron Man 1 comes out (even if he has to kill at least three monsters just to go to the movies), he plants trees and Rachel starts teaching him how to play her ukulele - but half his mind is still on the upcoming war.
Christmas vacation comes - and he goes to visit Camp Half-Blood, before heading back to his mom. It's quite memorable, if only by the fact that Nico Di Angelo freaking betrays him.
He tells Percy to come to the Winter Solstice with him. Most of the campers are not going - the war effort is in an all-time high - but Percy has never gone before. Hades will be there - it'll be great!
Perseus should absolutely be less surprised with the outcome - seeing that Nico is inviting him in Cabin 1, post-dinner, and they don't even stop to talk to Chiron about it.
But Percy goes. Because Percy wants to make amends.
There's no time to really talk to anyone. They travel in Blackjack for the Empire State Building - and it's fine.
They go up to Olympus, Nico shows him everything in the god's land, the temples are a work of art, if not kind of old, and the meeting is kind of okay, even if the gods are squabbling children.
Then the gods leave, and Perseus thinks they're leaving too.
"My father needs a word with you"
Perseus feels the betrayal claw on him. There are no shadows in the white hall, there's no way for him to escape. Nico looks apologetic - Percy wants to clock him in the face.
"He promised to tell me more about my mother" Nico pleads "He will tell me more about where I've come from. Please, Percy."
Nico is cute. He is, for a soon-to-be fourteen-year-old. But his pretty face and exquisite white eyes don't make him any less of a freaking liar. All his handsome male straight friends betray him - it's a worrying pattern now.
He muses for a second that they also all have a crush on Annabeth - gods, the blonde attract the worst types.
It's double-crossing - Percy ends up in an all-white cell that burns his retinas without any weapons because Zeus wants praise in the middle of this freaking war - doesn't matter if a hundred demigods die, if he only has the glory.
Nico ends up with barely any information - Zeus didn't promise anything. The god of the skies is a lying-ass motherfucker - literally.
And Zeus justifies it - He says Perseus is a criminal because he awakened Typhon. So Hephaestus issues a quest so he can save a hundred demigods, he destroys a powerful titan weapon of doom, and he is the villain? Sure, Jan.
Perseus writes this grudge in his heart - that's where trust will take you. To a cell. Betrayed by a "friend". Again.
He flinches when Nico comes into his cell, pins him to the wall and promptly begins to try and strangle him. He wants to melt in the boy's shadow - to go and never give him a chance to explain - but he looks so guilty Percy waits for his repentance.
The son of Zeus saves him, but Perseus is still pissed off. The god of thunder has threatened to kill him off at least two times now, what is to say he wouldn't have killed off Percy for the sake of glory?
He half hopes Zeus had killed him off. The war is close, too close - Nico wouldn't be the Prophecy's child. There would be no child. Olympus would fall - and Percy would have seen it all from his very comfortable couch in Elysium.
He wants Kronos gone - but he kind of wants Olympus to fall with the Titan.
Nico flies him down to the Earth - the elevator is monitored. Zeus has left, like many others - not to bother with the war effort against his main enemy, but to go to the human world mess with people.
Some gods are doing something - He has heard from Annabeth that Artemis is leading the widest hunt ever, with her brother by her side; Hermes (with Hephaestus help) is delivering Celestial Bronze, other metals, old schematics and a whole lot of fuel to Camp Half-Blood every few weeks; Poseidon is fighting his own war, in the ocean; Dionysus is at Camp - and this time, he is really helpful with the battle formations; Demeter is on the Underworld - Chiron seems to think his father is preparing for war, but Percy sorely doubts it.
Percy is taking some people with him to Sally's Christmas dinner. Just Annabeth, Clarisse, Rachel, Connor, Travis, and Charles - people who don't have a present family to celebrate it with.
Grover is coordinating the dryads up in San Francisco with his second cousin, Gleeson Hedge - they are the first to fall if anything goes wrong in Mt. Othrys.
"I think you should stay." He tells Nico.
"You don't trust me anymore." It's not actually a question.
Percy doesn't trust the boy. Not at all - it's the third time he does something shady to achieve his ends based on emotional turmoil. But he is a good person - it's just his father's cursed temper and his grief.
"It's not that. You're needed for the war effort."
Both of them know it's a lie. Percy doesn't care - he deserves to be bitter a little longer.
Percy goes back home. Christmas is amazing - even if Rachel asks him where Nico is because he is talking about making amends with the boy for a while now.
He goes visit Persephone - but she is occupied, so he wanders through the Underworld after Bianca di Angelo - someone he, for some reason, never been able to reach. It's a pointless endeavor by now.
He finds her. Or else, he finds a shadow of her - she is blocked from his view. Bianca doesn't talk to him - they weren't close - but she guides him to a girl.
Her name is Hazel Levesque.
She seems lost - like most ghosts - but something in Percy calls for her. It's the color of her skin and the sparkle in her golden eyes - Hazel remembers him of himself.
He promises to visit more - even though he doesn't think she'll remember it - and leaves to go back to the surface - he will finish the sophomore year.
And Percy does. After a very distressing break, he is doing his best. His grades drop a little in English because he can barely focus - half his mind is on the war and Nico's betrayal and Hazel Levesque's golden eyes.
Miraculously, his GPA doesn't fall - he still is taking a ridiculous amount of AP classes, and barely has time to breathe - dark circles grow under his eyes, and he looks like a mess - but now he is a Junior.
That's why, as soon as the year ends, Rachel takes him on a road trip with Connor. They go all the way to Boston, then Portland, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Syracuse, Baltimore, and Filadelfia, before going back to NY.
They are stopped five times by the police - because Percy is black, and it's Rachel driving the Camaro, because she has a learner's permit and Connor is, somehow, an approved license holder.
They are on a pier, enjoying the view of the beach. They did the last week alone because Connor wanted to go check on one of his cousins - at least, that's what he said, with an over-exaggerated wink that both Percy and Rachel ignored for the sake of their sanity.
She tells him about Clarion Ladies Academy - but that her father is at least mildly happy with her GPA this year, even if he disapproves of her Art focused AP classes. Percy thinks Mr. Dare would love him, with his APs on Economics and Politics, if only he was rich. And white.
This time, when Charles Beckendorf arrives in a Pegasus to tell him it's time, Rachel doesn't kiss him - she justs hugs him and makes him promise to call her.
Perseus doesn't go to the Andromeda Ship - he is needed in Camp. He is useless on the water - but they do need him to improve battle strategy.
Charles Beckendorf is dead. Thalia is the one to tell them - she was in her father's palace helping with a monster under her Lady's orders - he went on the mission alone.
Percy talks briefly with Beckendorf's ghost - is his worst developed power, and he can barely hold the "seance" for more than a few minutes. He does it with only Nico di Angelo for witness - the others are the way to close to the situation.
There's a spy passing information to Luke.
They look at him. Doesn't matter how much he does, he is always the first suspect - he is a son of Hades. He was friends with a lot of people on the other side. He was gone for a year and a half, who knows where.
Perseus wants to say that he has helped to save their asses four times now - that without him in the Labyrinth, they would all be dead right now - and that Charles was basically his older brother.
Then he points out he wasn't even here - he had no idea of any plans of anything - and he told him about the spy, so he is not the freaking spy, go point fingers at each other instead of him.
When they start yelling, he stops them - this is not the time, he was just angry at their accusations. They have to burn Charles shroud. Silena is inconsolable - Percy is not very far from it, but he is not a public crier. The last time he cried in public, Luke was dead on a cliff.
Percy speeds up the line for Elysium to Beckendorf - his brother deserves it.
They read the prophecy together - Perseus already read it last summer, he doesn't even care anymore. They look at him anxiously - no one has forgotten that he abhors most of the gods.
Clarisse and Michael Yew fight, but Lee Fletcher - with a mechanical arm built by Beckendorf himself, still re-learning how to shoot arrows and forever incapable of playing the guitar again (but the keyboard is not ruled out yet) - stops them: They can share the chariot. The war is more important - is not the time for petty fights.
Chiron shows them Typhon - and Perseus has a sliver of hope that they can destroy Kronos and be free of the gods at the same time - It's a horrible hope, because he loves Persephone and some of them are even okay sometimes, but he really wants Zeus to go to Tartarus for at least a century, so Perseus doesn't meet him again in this life.
But he also wants the gods to win, because there's a lot of dead people - innocents, people who have nothing to do with this war.
He dreams of Rachel. Rachel is painting Luke - and Percy wakes up crying, for the boy the gods took away.
Annabeth takes him aside and reminds him of Achilles' Curse. He is off to May Castellan's house - the last place Luke has been - for it's his best and only chance, its what Annie thinks. And she is scarcely wrong.
Perseus hates the gods. They wrecked a family - and for what? May Castellan - forever waiting for a son that will never come back, haunted by visions of his future, plates of burned cookies everywhere.
Perseus doesn't pity her - he rages against the gods, who brought madness upon this woman and then left her to it. Where was Apollo, the god of health? Dionysus, who is supposed to control mental health? Artemis, whose job is to protect women?
Hestia is kind - but she is still a goddess. She could've prevented this - but she hides in her hearth and abstains - and that's enabling. Hestia enables the other gods to do as they please, even when she is the oldest. She says they ignore her - oh well, she ignores them right back! He has no time for the laments of another all-powerful being.
So he goes to his mother and asks for her blessing. Then, just to be sure, he asks Persephone's too.
He thinks about his anchor - where does he want it to be in his body. He doesn't want somewhere in his back - where he can't see it - or in his gut - where anyone can stick a sword. He settles for the bottom of his back - where he can at least touch it and it's well protected by armor - and dives.
Perseus hates water - and he has an uncanny fear of drowning. He feels pain - everywhere, horrible pain.
His vision now doesn't have Annabeth's face - the blonde is his link to the demigod world, Persephone is his link to the Underworld and his mom is his link to childhood - but the person who grounds him is Rachel.
He is stronger. He feel his powers at his fingertips - Perseus feels the Underworld as a whole, and it's overwhelming.
Green flames explode from his hands. Flowers made of shadows curve around his ankles - he has been training since he was 12, but now his body can sustain all of his power. This is all his.
He goes meet with his father - Perseus manipulates him. He tells Hades he'll be the hero, but the god himself can be praised for more than being his father. That he should join the battle against Typhon - That's his chance of proving himself. Also, there's less paperwork for him if there are fewer dead people.
His father is amused with his blatant bribing, but he thinks about it, Percy can tell. In a way or another, he excuses himself and goes back to the surface where he is needed.
Persephone stalls him. She asks him to stay, just for this night. He can go back in the morning - he sleeps, and dreams of Rachel again, drawing in the sand. In greek.
He is scared for her - she is having demigod dreams, but she is mortal. Something is wrong.
Typhon is getting worse - and Kronos draws closer to NYC. It's time - he calls for Blackjack and leaves - Mrs. O'Leary, who has become more or less of a mother to his own hellhound, follows. Persephone promises to convince Hades.
They have about sixty campers able to fight heading for the Empire State Building, and five healers. The ones too young to lift a sword or string a bow stayed back at Camp with Argus - fifteen children between 5 and 9 years old.
Percy knows he looks different - he looks just like his father. He has gained a godly aura - he has no scars anymore, no imperfections. Perseus looms over all of them - he went from 5'7'' to 6'2'' - it's a weird view, from up there. It's still strange when they look at him with a mix of fear and admiration.
Perseus Jackson is officially their leader. He hates Olympus - but he will give his life to defend every single one of his demigods.
The vision Hestia shows him just makes him want to tear this throne room with his bare hands - Luke was a kid. He was a kid - and the gods corrupted him. Thalia was a kid - and the gods took her life, twice. Annabeth is still a kid - they all are - and she is here planning battle strategies.
Annabeth missed an extra year of formal education - while Percy is a Junior, Annabeth barely qualifies for a Freshman - because the gods took this from her too.
Percy rages. The ground of Olympus trembles beneath him - he wants to kill something.
Then Hermes appears - like this whole war is not his fault in the first place, the literal bastard - just to relay a message from Athena that gives them a plan that Annabeth was already putting into works and tells Percy to stay away from Annabeth.
Like she cares. Like Athena has ever, ever, done anything for Annabeth.
Perseus can't punch Athena, so he punches the messager (also, because he freaking guilt trips both of them about Luke). He has nothing to lose - he is going to die by the end of the day anyway, and they need him too much.
He has punched a god before - Ares, in a desert in the middle of Los Angeles - but this time, it's satisfactory. He feels good after it.
Hermes seems strangely resigned - He feels guilty about Luke too, but Perseus doesn't think it's enough. It'll never be enough, not while the gods leave their children to rot in a cabin of rejects and May Castellan bakes cookies for a son that will never come back.
Hermes leaves, ashamed. It's only fair, Perseus thinks. They all should be ashamed.
They see the city asleep - the prophecy is in the works.
Perseus executes their strategy - every cabin is covering a tunnel, with the exception of Dionysus, because Pollux is with the Demeter kids, and the Hecate kids stay behind to use spells to overlook the city. Lincoln Tunnel is getting covered by Ares - who, this time around, is actively participating.
The undetermined who didn't desert are with Hermes - and the minor god's children are divided by specialty - most Hypnos and Morpheus children follow him directly, but the two sons of Iris go with the Apollo Cabin.
Annabeth executes Plan 23, automatons, mounting on Mrs. O'Leary (who has strict orders to take Annabeth anywhere she wants without stopping to play around) - she doesn't need his help with this, and Percy has a tunnel to defend.
That left the rivers uncovered - until Thalia appears, with magical sand money, and made the rivers cooperate.
The hunters join the Aphrodite kids - who are half a dozen children between 11 and 19 - the oldest being Silena Beauregard, who uses a crossbow that looks exactly like her immortal half-brother's one.
His bridge is completely covered on skeletons - but no monster comes, even if he hears explosions. He leaves an English Lieutenant from the Battle of Yorktown in command of the bridge - with Tyene, the oldest daughter of Morpheus, to be in alert and don't let Clovis sleep through the battle. Because he did it before - and while it is funny, it can't happen right now.
Perseus mounts Blackjack - and go see where the noise is coming from. It's the Williamsburg Bridge - where are most of Apollo's Cabin.
They fight - and Percy almost cries when he sees Luke, who is not Luke anymore. Luke, who is a puppet controlled by Kronos.
Perseus kills the Minotaur and the weight of his stone spikes collapse the bridge - and Michael Yew dies. This time around, the bridge falls silently into shadows, and he doesn't bother about searching for the corpse - he saw the boy falling, and his screams will haunt all of them, forever.
This time around, Annabeth is not there to protect him - Ethan also doesn't try to kill him. The Son of Nemesis doesn't leave Kronos side for a second - but there's regret in his eyes.
After the bloodlust is gone, Perseus collapses - Will has to bride carry him back. Overuse of his powers - he summoned skeletons and produced shadows, melted enemy swords (with the bonus of incapacitating them without killing), and sprouted stone spikes everywhere - there's even a vine or ten that he used to hold his friends from falling.
Perseus doesn't sleep quickly enough to not hear the yell of anguish that comes from Lee Fletcher - the pain of losing a brother and not being able to fight beside him.
But he does sleep - and he dreams. He dreams of Hades killing Maria Di Angelo, not Hera, like Zeus told Nico. He dreams of Zeus cursing the Oracle - and he seethes, because he also sees what happened to May Castellan.
He keeps getting angrier and angrier at the gods - it's building inside of him. But his friends are still here, still fragile. He can't let them suffer more.
Perseus wakes up, checks on everyone - most everyone is either injured and/or exhausted, but he checks on every camper. He knows all of their names, their ages, their cabins. - and promises to sit up to talk with Thalia and Nico - war makes him prone to peace - and promptly goes back to sleep.
He dreams of Rachel. He wants to scream for her not to come: but she'll anyway.
Perseus dreams of a boy. He is his age - maybe a little younger. His hair is blonde and his skin is whiter - but Percy glances at his eyes, and there are waves in them.
There's a girl by his side - she is familiar to Percy, somehow. They're climbing a mountain.
The dream ends and Percy can't make heads or tails of it. He asks Thalia if she has a brother, but she says that she doesn't, looking wistful.
Prometheus is tempting - but he knows there's no Luke anymore, there's only Kronos. And the gods are horrible, vile and immature - but they never killed any of Percy's friends. Some of them died for the gods - but never by their hands, so for now, Perseus would toe the line.
He does want to punch Hermes again. He takes the Pythos - if everything goes wrong, he will not hesitate in going down for the sake of his friends - but there have been six deaths, and it's enough.
"Was it worth it?" He asks Ethan.
"Alabaster is alive" And it's all the answer Percy needs.
He dreams of Ethan and Alabaster. Alabaster is alive, yes, but he is missing half a leg - courtesy of Clarisse herself. Luke - Kronos - is indifferent, and Ethan curses the daughter of Ares - "The sword that took from us will take from you"
He contains Hyperion with his shadows. Then he helps Grover (who was half asleep, because of Morpheus) to make the Titan into a tree. It's a pomegranate tree - then he sets hellish fire to it and sacrifices it to Hades and Persephone.
A pig is in the sky - this time around, Annabeth and her frightening army of automatons kill it with Nico's help.
Perseus laughs - because Annabeth has about two hundred automatons under her command, Martin Luther King and Alexander Hamilton leading the charge with a giant bull being ridden by the Mad Hatter behind them.
It's weird to see historic figures Percy admires - like Jane Bolin, Sylvia Mendez, or Abraham Lincoln - fighting alongside people he downright despises - Thomas Jefferson and the goatfucker, herpes-ridden, Colombus. His Comparative Government teacher would have a field day.
Annabeth and Nico's pair up is amazing - They fight alongside like they have been doing it all life.
Nico is a force of nature, flying and commanding the winds to do his bidding - His eyes shine in the midst of the stormy clouds. His specialty is weather manipulation - he hasn't had much success with direct energy or electric discharges.
Annabeth has her mother's tenacity for war - and her clever mind for strategies. It's clear in her eyes - she is racking the weaker points of the Clazmonian Sow in her mind and destroying it. The automatons hold the pig in place - and she makes bacon of it.
Hercules couldn't do it. Nico and Annabeth can, because they have the power and the mind.
Perseus is still fighting off monsters - but they're too widespread, so they retreat to the doors of the Empire State Building.
Percy does a mental tally: of sixty-two campers, six are confirmed dead, twenty are injured and nine are out of commission on exhaustion. There should be 27 orange shirts here - but there's only twenty.
Percy wonders if the seven missing are injured, or dead, or under a pile of rubble somewhere with no one to help them. Is there someone being slowly eaten by monsters? Is there someone alone and injured and abandoned? He doesn't know.
He prays that those seven deserted them - at least that means they probably are alive and well.
Perseus looks at Phoebe's grief-stricken face, and he knows it's not probable - she had almost three dozen hunters with her, and now there's barely fifteen still fighting, Thalia nowhere to be seen.
They prepare for their last standing - Percy keeps conjuring skeletons, but they're no match for the sheer strength of the hyperborean giants. Nico is shoulder to shoulder with the Stoll brothers against a group of telkhines - Clarisse is bringing down a whole giant by herself.
After the Party Ponies save them - Chiron leads the charge against his own father, and Perseus is so proud of his mentor he can't even put in words how much - he goes to sleep. Fighting gets him tired quickly, and they'll come back.
He dreams of Dionysus. Perseus is not fond of any god who is not Persephone, but Dionysus is mostly okay sometimes. He seems to care about his children.
Perseus couldn't care less about the Western Civilization - but he'll care for Pollux. It's one of his demigods, after all, and Underworld people are possessive of theirs (i.e. Hades and Persephone).
He dreams of Thalia, in her father's palace, begging Poseidon to leave the underwater war and help with the invasion - His wife is none too happy with the presence of his immortal bastard daughter.
He wakes up to Rachel's helicopter falling - how is Rachel even awake, is a mistery.
The improbable pair Nico and Annabeth strike again: The girl knows how to fly helicopters, and the boy can fly himself. They save the redhead and the pilot - everything is fine.
"You're not the hero"
"Why did you risk yourself to tell me something I already know?"
Rachel doesn't explain - she can't. But she has a vision that says that he is not the hero. The hero of what? Perseus has no idea. But there's no way any of his cousins is dying for this stupid prophecy.
Suddenly, there's a drakon there. Rachel has another prophecy - Perseus fears she will walk the path that led May Castellan to destruction - that only a child of Ares will be able to kill it.
Bad news: All children of Ares are otherwise out of battle.
Clarisse is resting after a nasty concussion - and her brothers and Apollo's children are fighting yet again because Lee Fletcher is in no condition to stop them and Michael Yew is dead. Ares' side refuses to fight without the chariot - which Cabin 7 has hidden somewhere.
The best they can do is fend the drakon off until a miracle occurs. And it does: Clarisse, in full armor, manages to lead her brothers into battle.
Clarisse is dead. Something shatters inside of Perseus - and he leaves the drakon for the Ares' children to solve - he can't kill it anyway - and starts to vaporize the army behind it.
He is so caught up in bloodlust, that he almost misses Clarisse slaying a dragon. Clarisse, who has no armor. Clarisse, who is alive.
Ethan's curse rang true - Clarisse's weapon took something from her.
Silena is a traitor. She is also dead - which makes her a martyr, and probably going to reunite with her boyfriend in Elysium.
He remembers how easy is to fall for Luke's charm - he was - is - still in love with the guy. Percy thought the son of Hermes could do no wrong - and he wonders how much of his rage against the gods sprout from his influence.
Something evil inside of Perseus's mind tells him she deserved it. It tells Perseus that better her than Clarisse - but he shuts it down, and concentrates on his shining red friends.
He hates Ares. But he might just have an okay side if he can produce such a magnificent daughter.
Silena is the Patroclus to Clarisse's Achilles, and the Drakon is Hector - and the daughter of Ares is sure to parade its dead body.
It's the first time they feel like they are winning. It doesn't last - but as he hugs Clarisse tightly, he thinks he might cry of relief.
Clarisse looks tough - but she is a wonderful human being. She loves Silena with her whole heart - even more than she loves Chris, her best friend. Silena might've been in love with Charles - but she and Clarisse? They are soulmates.
The damned Pythos is following Perseus - and he is done with it. He knows where hope will survive best. Rachel wants him to give it to Hestia - but he owns the fire goddess nothing.
She has never interfered, not once, to help the dozens of demigods with no family that is abandoned in Cabin 11, and he won't forgive her for it.
He sacrifices hope to Persephone because that's what spring is. Spring is the hope of a new life. Maybe, Perseus thinks, it'll convince his father to come.
They go down to make their final stand against the forces of Kronos. There's not a lot of them - but they're not getting through those doors.
Well, his father doesn't come. But Poseidon does, with his whole army, Tyson and Thalia behind him, and the scales seem to turn.
And then Kronos cuts the barrier. Perseus can see his Mom (why is his Mom here with a handgun?!) and Poseidon fighting against the monsters under the eyes of extremely confused mortals.
Some are trying to break the barrier - but it's futile. Kronos has corraled them like sheep for the slaughter.
It's just him, Grover, Annabeth and Nico, fighting against Kronos vanguard - which is big, but not as strong as they are.
Kronos passes him without resistance - Ethan follows, but there's anger in his eyes - not for Percy, but for the monster he is leashed to. Alabaster is not there.
As soon as Kronos powers stop working on them, the four follow the titan - and some things never change, no matter the universe.
This time, it's Nico who falls because of Hera - it's her curse over all of her husband's bastards.
Ethan takes one look at Perseus, and they don't even need to fight. They have been friends for longer than they have been enemies - and they both loathe the gods, but Kronos is as much of an all-powerful controller being as any of the Olympians.
They battle against Kronos - Perseus has only his ax against his scyther - a true Underworld fight.
Ethan dies. And Perseus bloodlust consumes him - it clouds his eyes and he can only keep fighting.
"If... if we've had cabins... and they had thrones"
It's true, and more than ever, Perseus wishes Kronos wasn't such a bastard. He wouldn't bother killing the gods - but the titan is a way worse option.
"LUKE, PLEASE" It's Annabeth. He doesn't have her faith - she didn't saw his transformation. But he tries anyway because he loves Luke just as much as he hates Kronos.
"Luke, remember our summer" But his words are caught up in his throat when the titan throws him against the wall.
But the amalgamation of his friend and an all-powerful being looks confused, so props for his genius best friend.
Kronos shows them a rainbow message of Typhon - and that's where Perseus it's pretty sure he starts liking his father.
Because the Lord of the Dead opens up the earth and gets out in a black chariot guided by skeletal horses like a king. By his right side, is Persephone, in armor battle as a queen should be. By his left, is Demeter, who looks every single bit like the matron she is supposed to be.
Behind him, a hundred thousand dead roars. Charon is mounting Cerberus - and literal hell is unleashed upon the Father of Monsters.
The gods strike down Typhon, sending him back to be locked away - this time, in the depths of Tartarus instead of Mount Etna.
Kronos gets mad. Utterly, undoubtedly mad. He talks about burning Luke's body. Then he hurts Annabeth and breaks two promises in one fell swoop.
"Luke.... remember family" It's what Annabeth utters, but Perseus, already certain of their own demise, is crying now.
"That summer Luke, you promised to never hurt her again. You remember it? YOU PROMISED LUKE!!"
Annabeth's promise was already broken - he had hurt her, all those years ago, in Mt. Othrys. But the promise he made to Percy - that he would never hurt her again - is new and broken, in the river Styx no less.
Luke regains his own body, for a minute, and Perseus runs to him like a man in a desert with no water.
"Please, please tell me there's a way to undo this, Luke, please, please"
"There isn't one, Percy" And it's the first time he hears Luke call him Percy, Percy and not Perseus, in his own voice, in two years. Percy cries.
"We... we don't have much time, hellebore. Give me Annabeth's dagger. Before he... before he takes back"
Luke calls him hellebore and it makes him start crying all over again. He gives him the dagger - and Luke kills himself, taking Kronos out with him.
Luke doesn't need to ask if Percy has ever loved him - Percy kept loving Luke, one-sided as it was, even when Kronos was there.
He still crying over Luke's body when the gods arrive. Luke is dead. Ethan is dead. Silena is dead. Michael Yew is dead. Charles is dead.
He lost three of his best friends in two days. Ethan is dead. Luke is dead. Luke is dead.
Perseus can't stop crying. They take Luke's body away - but he can't stop. Annabeth explains what happened to the gods - most of it, anyway. Apollo says he is in shock - his father says he is a hero.
Perseus doesn't feel like a hero. Was this all worth it? Was it worth it the pain and the death and the suffering?
Persephone touches him - and he has no tears to cry anymore. She can't hug him here, but she'll do so later.
He stares at the walls, listening to his friends being awarded - compensated by their siblings and friends' deaths - with a blank stare. Perseus wants his mom.
They call for him. He raised his head but doesn't bother getting up. He just saved their asses - for the fifth time in a roll. He deserves to grieve.
They offer him immortality. A place between the gods.
He laughs. Zeus looks murderous, but he can't stop laughing.
"My apologies, but I have to refuse," he says. But in his mind, he is thinking about how could they even think he might want to sit between them and be an all-powerful being, be another god ignoring his children and messing with mortal lives while thousands die for him.
"Promise me, on the river Styx, that you'll give me the wish that I want."
They promise him, that if it's within their capabilities, they shall grant him his wish.
"I wish for every child at the age of twelve to be claimed. I wish for cabins in Camp Half-Blood, for every single minor god, and my own father. I wish for Calypso to be free, and to the demigods from the opposite side of this war to be given amnesty. It's not their fault. It's not any of our faults."
"You dare to-" Zeus begins, but Percy is really tired of Zeus.
"We fought your war, we won your battles. We, the unclaimed and rejected stowaways of Cabin 11. We, the children of minor and Underworld gods. We deserve respect. Just like my father deserves a throne, just like the minor gods deserve justice."
"Don't you fear us?" Athena asks, something weird shining in her eyes.
"I thought I would be dead today. At least if I die now, I'm dying for something I believe in."
It stays unsaid that he doesn't believe in them. The other demigods look at him worried - but he is not afraid of the gods.
They grant his wish. Some of them aren't happy with it, but they have to do it. He meets Calypso at the front gates of Olympus - and her smile can brighten the pits of Tartarus. He sees Alabaster talking with Lou Ellen - they are both crying.
He thinks it's the end - it's not. Thalia tells him Rachel left for Camp in her Pegasus - and his father has lift the curse, the Prophecy is gone, but he fears for his best friend.
Perseus is too tired for shadow travel - he does it anyway. He flickers, but anyway, he is too late.
It works. Rachel - his best friend - is the new Oracle. Someone jokes they can't be together anymore and Rachel lifts an eyebrow.
"We never were. Didn't you see the last few hours?" Well, he did out himself. Mostly - they might say it's just friendship, and he will hate the way they twist it. Luke wasn't a villain, and Perseus isn't a pure hero with a heart of gold.
Perseus is healing from lost love - and Annabeth is too. His crush on her was only a crush, he thinks - She is his best friend first and foremost. They cry together at the bonfire that burns away the shrouds of 43 demigods - from both sides - and 16 hunters of Artemis. Their souls all rest in Elysium now.
Alabaster comes back to Camp and helps his siblings to build the new Cabin for Hecate, full of spelled blocks and magic chimneys. Clovis and Tyene have their hands full with their own cabins - it doesn't help they keep getting sidetracked with naps.
Somehow, Nico, Thalia, and his bond over helping construct Cabin 13 - They are both way too invested in the goth vibe, mostly because Cabin 1 looks like a temple, and Cabin 3 looks like a beach cabin. And both of them are so over it.
Perseus doesn't want a goth cabin - he is fighting against the aesthetic for years - but sometimes, there are no arguments. His Cabin is made of black marble, and there are skulls everywhere, with torches shining with green fire. Outside, at least. Inside, it looks like Persephone's garden, with input from the queen herself. It's ready just shy of the end of summer vacation.
Rachel tells the next Great Prophecy. Perseus isn't such a positive person to think it won't affect him - he hopes at least it'll wait until he is done with High School.
That night, he dreams of the blonde boy again - it's his first night without nightmares since the battle. He has a scar in his lip, and his green eyes pierce Percy's soul. Perseus wonders if they'll ever meet, wonders if this boy is one of the Seven of the Prophecy.
But alas, Perseus lets it go. The summer is over - he is sixteen, somehow. He is alive and going to go back to his mortal life and his junior year, and grief. Not everything is fine - but eventually, it will be.
It's not the end. Not yet.
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araminakilla · 5 years
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Faris D'jinn (long) appreciation post
Warning: If you don't like very long posts or deep analysis of a character or situations, maybe you want to skip this. But you are always welcome.
I will always say this: Treasure of the found lamp! is one of my favorites episodes of the Ducktales bomb (the other is Nothing can stop Della Duck!) I like the jokes, the journeys of the two groups, the cameos of different characters that appeared in Season One. But most of all... Him.
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Faris D'jinn. Middle Eastern adventurer. Seeker of the lamp. Descendant of an actual genie and the amazing woman who freed him. Here are ten reasons (not counting the facts that he is a great swordman and a cool biker because everyone knows that) of why this warrior is one my favourite characters in the Ducktales universe:
1. He is not what he seems
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The first time I saw this guy in the SDCC 2018, and the person presenting the characters said he was Dijon from the Ducktales movie, there were two different reactions from my part:
"OMG! They acknowledged the movie. That means Merlock is going to return!" And...
"This Dijon looks so COOL! But...he looks like a terrorist"
And before you sue and attack me, there are some comments in YouTube that reflected my thoughts. One of them said he looks like an ISIS member.
But I have investigated and I found out that in fact, there are some people that wear traditional black clothes in the Middle East and are NOT asociated with violence or radical groups. So, my bad people. I'm really ashamed for making this statement. I try to not be an ignorant of different cultures for reasons like this.
Anyway, those months I tried to stay positive that, if he was a bad guy, he could get a redemption arc. Because there's no way that this awesome Ducktales crew, that handles the Latino community very well, is going to portray arabs in a bad light, just like every old Hollywood productions (I'm looking at you, Aladdin)
And when the promo of Ducktales and Big Hero 6 appeared, with this warrior using his sword in front of a very scared Scrooge... well... I put my thoughts on another post, but I was a little concerned for the Middle Eastern representation.
Great was my surprise when I saw the episode for the first time. Let say that the power of the lamp wasn't the only plot twist of that episode.
2. He's so serious that it's funny
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His single-minded quest for the lamp before the Ifrit's dawn (a fact that he monologued for 10 minutes without blinking) leaves him with no time to joke around, except everyone around him is a goof, and that makes him hilarous in a sense. Best demostrated when he answered ALL the riddles from a literal JOKE BOOK. He's so smart... yet so gullible that it's amazing. It's like he can't tell when someone is lying or making a joke... I don't know if that's possible. There's also his reaction at the "got your nose" prank which, honestly to me, was one of the best reactions EVER. Maybe it's how he screamed "monster!" and how he seems to really believe the creature got his nose. Truth to be to told, I was very surprised the first time I saw him laugh, that was something unexpected. And how the premise of the episode was him getting a family of adventuring Ducks, a greek Godness, a sea monster and a bunch of Beagles involved in a quest...to give himself a birthday present, like... Who gives himself a birthday present? (Really, I don't know someone who does that)
3. He is grateful even with enemies
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He defeated Charybdis and the poor monster was whipped and given the beat of his life because he wanted to help Scrooge and Webby with the phony quest, and the first thing the warrior does is thanking him and saying that he will be remembered in the story of the lamp. That impressed me... And somehow made worth all the pain that Charybdis had. The same happened with the "Minotaur" and Ma Beagle (the little bow that he made is priceless). Many people would mock their defeated enemies and give them zero respect... but not him. That was so honorable, it reminded me of how Medieval Knights act, which would be discussed in the seventh point of this post.
4. He forgave the Ducks easily
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"Djinn, I'm sorry I tricked you. If I'd known what was at stake..."
"Another chapter in the legend. A final trial before we find the lamp! It's all part of the journey!"
Like wow... That was something I was NOT expecting, because I wouldn't expect a guy who was shouting and slicing things all day to be that... nice. And maybe that could be because there was no time in the episode for the liar revealed drama. But the points D'jinn made about why he forgave Scrooge make total sense. He loves adventures and journeys, he likes to write in a scroll about the trials he had, so he instead took the positives aspects that the phony quest had and continue with his life. Now that's something you don't see very often. Instead of swearing revenge and dedicate his time ruining someone's life (I'm looking at you Glomgold, Magica, Negaduck and other villains) he forgave the Ducks, focused on the present and keep only the most important facts. I like that way of thinking.
5. He has a deep love for his family's history (and his heritage and bloodline)
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He comes from a family that, as far as I'm concerned, keeps the stories of their past alive, passing them to the next generations. It's been ten generations since the genie was freed. What the ex-magical creature got was more valuable that having phenomenal cosmic powers: A loving wife and many descendants who remember them with such passion, and now one of said descendants, fascinated by their love story has adquired the "totem that started it all". I heard that arabs in particular are family oriented people, they would do ANYTHING for their loved ones, and that's the first time I saw that in a cartoon (at least in a Disney cartoon, the other example that is Non-Disney is the Oscar nominated "The Breadwinner", which I recommend you guys have to see it, it's so good)
D'jinn made a long journey from the Middle East to America (at least I think Duckburg is in America) for a powerless lamp because of it's sentimental value, which leads us to the next point...
6. He is a sentimental guy
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You wouldn't expect a tough, serious and to some extent dangerous guy to have powerful feelings like love? Right? Think again. There's a reason of why the call D'jinn (and his VA, Omid Abtahi) a cinnamon roll. He has strong emotions, that is (I think) one of the reasons of why he's so dramatic. It's part of his personality. In fact, his volatile personality (using many times his sword, cutting things, flipping a table) has a solid base of why it is the way it is. I'm not saying that destroying the couch and threatening the Duck family is not wrong, I'm saying this because this is NOT a matter of the "He's an arab and all arabs are volatile/barbaric/will scream and attack you 'cause that is their nature" thing that all the Hollywood movies I saw (at least the examples I saw in the documentary "Reel Bad Arabs") have. No sir, this is different.
And talking about Arab stereotypes...
7. He's a HUGE improvement from the Ducktales movie and series
Back in 1990, he was Dijon, a thief and mook to Merlock, the Big Bad Wolf of the Movie. He was funny and the interactions he had with Scrooge in the movie and the series are funnier (Also, did you know that the last words Scrooge said in the series was "Dijon!" because the duck was running towards him 'cause he stole his watch?)
But, as the Nostalgia Critic put it in his review of the Ducktales Movie
"I don't know... Is this considered racist now? Yes, he has an accent and is a thief..."
He's fine as a comic relief, but nothing makes him different from the Crows of Dumbo, or the Indians of Peter Pan, or the Siamese cats of Lady and the Tramp, or...
Honest Trailer's guy: Stop it!
OK ok. The point it's... The Ducktales reboot did it again. They took a not so well liked character from the '87 series and made him/her a lovable character, like Mamá Cabrera (I swear, she's also mi mamá now)
Now he's honorable, charming, etc (and yes, those words are from a YouTuber reviewer) But specialy, they changed his name to Faris D'jinn which not only sounds more arabic, but also foreshadows his relationship with a genie. Plus, Faris means "Knight" in arabic, which describes what he is and how he acts perfectly.
8. He's different but at the same time just like everyone else
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Gif belongs to @i-mostly-reblog-things
Yeah, he looks different, speaks with an accent that's not American, has a different mindset about things in life and maybe that could come from the country he's been raised, or his family or maybe he decide to be the way he is on his own accord. But, as an lesson learned in the episode "The Depths of cousin Fethry!"
Just because something or someone is different doesn't mean is bad.
True, D'jinn didn't make a first good impresion with the Duck family, except from Webby (You go girl! It seems that she has a talent to see edgy but misunderstood people and give them a chance) but at the end everyone was celebrating his birthday with him. They give him a cake! This small but powefull gesture made me 100% convinced that, even with flaws and conflicts, they are the perfect family. It still surprises me that the crew of Ducktales and Disney would make a scene like that. If someone told me a year ago that they would make a scene with: An arab. Dressed with traditional clothes (turban and all). Wearing all black. Celebrating his/her birthday with an American (Scotish in Scrooge's case) Family, I would have laugh and say: Yeah, sure, like they would actualy show that.
But they did it and I couldn't be more happy.
Just a pause from this Ducktales' post
Some of you could be thinking as you read this: "Nice that your people are shown in a positive way"
The thing is... I'm not arab. I'm a latinoamerican who just happens to love Middle Eastern cultures. My country isn't very prejuiced towards Middle Eastern people (maybe because there's a few of them) but I have come from a long way. To being sure that everything there was just sand and violence to wanting to visit some of the many wonders that the East has to give, meet people and learn their point of view. I think everyone should do that at some point, instead of, you know, getting all your arab information from Hollywood movies and concluding that everything would be better if the Middle Easterns were dead. As this quote from the YouTube Documentary "Reel bad Arabs" states:
"We feel that Arabs are not like us, are not like everyone else, then let's kill them off, then they deserve to die, right?"
The thing is, they are more similar that we think, it's just that the international media doesn't show that... until now.
And going back with Ducktales
Yeah, this dude looks different, but he laughs, feels, and enjoys having a great time just like everyone else.
It's the same that is happening with Fenton and the latino representation. D'jinn is a hero who happens to be arab. A dramatic warrior. A family values man. A great allie, friend and who knows what many things more. He, and other Ducktales characters, have so many layers that it's incredible. Just like people, you can't define someone only from their personality or their race. There are so many things that make a person unique. D'jinn broke the expectations I had for him (or he sliced them with his sword) for the better.
9. He's better than Aladdin in many ways
By starters, the voice actors. Aladdin's VA is American and has an American accent in the movie. D'jinn's VA is Omid Abtahi, born in Iran, a Middle Eastern actor. And I'm not saying arab because Irani people are not Arabs (correct me if I'm wrong). Omid doesn't have an accent, as far as I know, but I think it's a nice detail to have the warrior being voiced by someone who comes from the same place. Then, we have the fact that Aladdin lied to almost everyone and D'jinn was a victim of a lie. True, the Ducks assumed he was going to kill them all (and for a good reason) but a lie is still a lie. I don't know many things about Middle Eastern clothes and fashion in the past and the present, but I can tell you will find (maybe traditional) people who wears something more close to D'jinn than Aladdin, and I'm pretty sure the warrior would free a genie if he has the chance because he's a descendant of one. But apart from their differences, both are really good people with a big heart and a kind soul, it's just that we find out Aladdin is good in the beggining of the movie with the bread and orphans scene and with D'jinn almost in the end of the episode, because to be honest, I was expecting him to be lying about wanting to protect the lamp and instead working for the new Merlock, since that was his role in the original movie. Many of us expected a lying thief, but instead we got another Diamond in the Rough.
10. He is a key for one of Scrooge's character developments
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Gif belongs to @everythingducktales
The richest duck in the World was SO impressed by the warrior's story that he opened a museum of valuable artifacts so he can share his stories with his family and the world. Let's repeat that. Scrooge McDuck, a very famous, very important and proud adventurer took the advice of a stranger (he also was 100% sure this stranger would kill him and his family if he doesn't get what he wants) because he saw his "human" side, a family side that made the duck realize "maybe we are not so different after all".
Not even the Buzzards (people who worked with Scrooge for who knows what many years) were capable of convincing Scrooge to do some of their plans (but lets be honest, their plans are awful)
That made him be more open about his adventures, his past experiences and his treasures, each one with a unique story. Maybe that would prevent unfortunate yard sales in the future.
Bonus:
11. He is going to return
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It is confirmed in one of Frank Angones' posts that he is going to appear in the future, maybe as an allie of the Duck family in an adventure. Or who knows? Maybe they can recruit him as a member of a superheroes team along with Gizmoduck, Darkwing Duck and others. Plus, I want to see him interact with Launchpad and Donald.
That would be all... for now.
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The Great Blank Spot: @hoteldestiel
So much goes into creating fanfiction even before the first words hit the paper. And in-depth spotlight on our writers and the process behind their work.
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Tell us about your current project.
Peaches and Plums is my take at a canon-divergent run through of the second half of Season 3 as well as an exploration of all the pieces of the mosaic timeline we didn't get to see. Really, it's my super self-indulgent excuse to dive deep into Eliot's insecurities and darknesses and how they align with/interact with Quentin's. And write these two falling deeply, madly in love with each other as they deserve.
The fics are finally posted from The Trials. Did you participate?
I didn't! I wasn't in deep enough with this fandom until after that challenge was over but I would love to participate in the future!
What is your current word count?
With the draft of Chapter 5 I need edited before I post, I'm at 15,389
Do you try to write daily? Do you have a word count or other goals you try to hit for each writing session?
I do! Not always on this project, I've got a lot of things rolling, but I have been very serious this year about making writing fiction a daily habit for me. Right now my word count goal is 750 words for my 39 Graves timeline and then whatever else I feel like rocking on top of that. Lately I've been averaging around 2k per day.
What was the inspiration for this fic?
A Life in the Day is basically a fanfic writer's dream, really, with all the blank spots waiting to be filled. One of the first things that pulled me into this show was Quentin and Eliot's relationship, and getting to see that in such a powerful way in 3x05 inspired the heck out of me. I also just really wanted a chance to dive into Eliot's head more. I love that chaotic good trauma baby ok??
How do you stay motivated between chapters/stories?
I read (novels, other fanfic, you name it), I work on other projects, I consume other art (music, tv, movies, gifsets lbr those are ART) and I bounce ideas off of people in the fandom, geek out on headcanons, rewatch episodes and meta the heck out of whatever comes my way. Having the daily writing habit helps a lot, it's hard to lose all motivation when you know you have a standing date with your keyboard.
Did this fic require any research? How much research do you typically do for your fics?
So far my only research has been referring back to the second half of season 3 and consulting the Magicians Wiki when I get stuck. If a fic requires me to do some googling (like this idea I have brewing in the back of my mind probably will) I will gladly google whatever I need to to make sure it's right. Usually, though, I don't research until I run up against the thing that needs clarification. If I get too in my head about the details, the prose doesn't come as easily.
Do you typically write ahead or post as you go?
I post as I go! Write a chapter, get it edited/betaed, and out into the ether it goes! I usually sit with it for a couple of days after it's drafted and edited before I publish it, but that's about as close to writing ahead as I get.
How much planning and outlining did you do before you started putting words on paper?
For Peaches and Plums, almost none. I had the idea, and I was driving home from work when the first sentence of it came into my head clear as day. I repeated it to myself the rest of the drive home so I wouldn't lose it by the time I got there, walked through the door and immediately sat down to start writing. I jot down notes for future chapters as they come to me but it's been pretty go-with-the-flow so far.
Has it been pretty smooth sailing or rough waters? When things get rocky, how do you handle needing to rewrite sections or scrap scenes entirely?
It was smooth sailing (punt intended, thanks Muntjac) until Chapter 5. The plot had a pretty clear direction and I knew where I wanted it to go, but Chapter 5 is an all-mosaic chapter and I struggled with that. It stalled me out for a couple of weeks, and the first version of that chapter straight up doesn't exist anymore. I've been writing for a long time so I'm less precious with my writing, I'll cut huge chunks out if I feel they don't really serve the story, and I'm totally okay with rewriting. The biggest thing I try to keep in mind when I'm rewriting is that it can't happen in a vacuum. When I'm done with the rewrite, I make sure to read the whole chapter/piece over again because sometimes it gets messy and confusing, or repetitive without trying. Rocky, for me, is running out of plot steam or being unsure of where to go next, but I think I've got a pretty clear direction of the next few chapters so I'm excited to have some momentum again!
Teaser
“That’s bullshit!” Q said, stepping closer again, reaching Eliot’s side before he had time to do anything drastic.
“You’re right,” Not-Eliot growled. “You can end this, don’t let him talk you out of it.”
“No, Q. It’s not bullshit. It’s smart. The rest of you can figure this out without me,” Eliot said, his foot still perched on the rung.
“Not like you were really much help anyway,” Not-Eliot added, “Quentin didn’t even figure out the mosaic until after you died.”
Eliot shook his head. God, he hadn’t thought of it like that. It made sense. He gripped the rung tighter, willing himself to shift his weight upward.
“No!” Quentin shouted, placing his hand over one of Eliot’s. Eliot stopped.
“Why not, huh? Can you give me one good, legitimate reason? Not some shitty reason about how the quest needs me or how I’m some great magician if I can just stick it out until we get magic back, or how Fillory needs me. That’s all so fucking flimsy, and we both know it. Give me a real reason, Q.”
Quentin was quiet. Eliot took it as an answer. He brought his other foot to the rung, hoisting himself up once more.
“I already lost you once, El, don’t make me lose you again.”
The Great Blank Spot is an in-depth spotlight focusing on the writing process and previewing in-progress fics for our fandom. It is meant to be an organic, ever-evolving feature. Previously interviewed fic writers can reach out to us here, to have a specific work featured. If you’d like to have a work featured but haven’t done the author spotlight, reach out to us to get started. If you have suggestions for questions you’d like to see answered, shoot us an ask!
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GOOD NIGHT PLANET EARTH!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
TO EVERY HUMAN*BEING ON PLANET EARTH
VOYAGERS EXPLORING THE STARS!
TOOLS DEFINE HUMANITY
FROM: THE REY L. AGOSTO FOUNDATION
R.A.S.H.U
Religion*Arts*Science*Humanities*Utopia
DRAFTOP
TOOLS DEFINE HUMANITY
TENRI CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF NEW YORK*GALLERY
FUKUI TENRIKYO FELLOWSHIP RESIDENCE
I-KUAN TAO TEMPLE
THEWHOLEELEPHANT.INFO
CHARTER SCHOOL*Please Donate*THANK YOU!
UNIAGOS INTERNATIONAL-s.p.a.r.k
GUSTO WATCHES
Time Smiles Once*In All Our Thoughts*Blueprint To Everything
DEGUSTOREYLIUS VIOLINS
Music Is In Everything*The More H.A.N.D.S The More Music
ADVENT....DRAFTOP
To Help Humanity Travel The Stars
UNIAGOS SPACE STATION-D.I.Q
To Watch The H.A.N.D.S*S.E.E.E.D Humanity's Preoccupation
THE BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION
A PBS WORLD DOCUMENTARY
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
EAT & BE MERRY & HAPPY HOLIDAYS!...GOBBLE!! GOBBLE!
AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY
ABC CHANNEL-#7 NEW YORK
NOVEMBER 24th 2019 SUNDAY 8/7-CENTRAL
2019 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS***DCP
TAYLOR SWIFT*SCOOTER BRAUN
CONGRATULATIONS MISS. SWIFT ARTIST DECADE AWARD!
SELENA GOMEZ
CONGRATULATIONS MISS. GOMEZ AWESOME OPENNING
Deepest In My Heart*Turn My Head In-Love Instead
REPORTED: SELENA GOMEZ DEPARTED TO THE AMAs!
UNIAGOS INTERNATIONAL-s.p.a.r.k
WELCOMES GORGEOUS & TALENTED
THE SELENA GOMEZ SuperStar....TO THE AMAs RED CARPET.
DRESSED IN A BEAUTIFUL LIME GREEN...OH LOOKING SO MEAN!
*Love Trying To Locate Editable Post I Created For Frozen-Gracie-Selena & Add Present Project. OMG I Can't Find Editable Post. YES Found one I Feel Good Enough!
**************************************
UPDATE
TO: TCI OF NEW YORK & GALLERY
ATT: REV. FUKUI & MS. FUKUI Principle Director
TO: I-KUAN TAO TEMPLE
ATT: TEACHER CHANG
WHEN I FIRST MET MIKE MECHANIC CAUCASION ELDERLY.
MIKE HAD A BLACK EYE...PRETTY BAD. A REAL PROFESSIONAL COMMERCIAL TRUCK MECHANIC SHOP. LEAF SPRINGS NEW & USED IN STOCK, & A PILE OF USED OUTSIDE! I SHOULD OF HAD KNOWN WHEN I SAW THE WARNING SIGNS: THE OFFICE IS ABANDONED & SO DISARRAY IS SCARY & NASTY! THERE'S NO OFFICE THUS NO OFFICE WORKER & MIKE NEVER BOTHERED TO GIVE ME A $500 RECEIPT. & I WOULDN'T KNOW WHERE THE RECEIPT WOULD COME FROM?? WHAT A Fxxxxxx MESS OF A NASTY OFFICE!
THE iPAD $800 MIKE MECHANIC STILL HAS MY
iPAD 6th GENERATION 128GB GOLD
NEW IN THE BOX
2-FRONT NEW IN THE BOX KYB SHOCK $75
2-REAR NEW IN THE BOX AIR SHOCKS & LEVEL CONTROL $65
***************************************
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
TO: MY DEAR, MI CONTESSA
THE SELENA GOMEZ SuperStar
Exe-Producer*Songstress*Activist*Actress
My love, Deepest In My Heart*Turn My Head In-Love Instead.
DEAR: MISS. SWIFT & MR. BRAUN...OMG!
WHAT'S THIS NEWS REPORT ABOUT BRAUN & YOU & FAMILY THREATS!! OH COME ON DON'T YOU THINK THAT'S TOO MUCH ABOUT SOMETHING SO SIMPLY RESOLVED IT'S CALLED BUSINESS "NEGOTIATIONS ON THE TABLE!" WTF!
OH PLEASE THE NERVE WITH YOU GUYS!!
THE AMAs:
THE SECRET OF NEGOTIATIONS YOU GOT TO KNOW WHAT TO PUT ON THE TABLE.
***************************************
OR YOU COULD USE THE ABOVE PICTURE FOR ALBUM FRONT TO PROMOTE
"TURN MY HEAD IN-LOVE INSTEAD" AND THERE'S STILL A CHANCE YOU LYING TO THE PUBLIC TO SURPRISE THE PUBLIC. TO THEN RELEASING:
"GUSTO & GOMEZ WAY GALAXY" ALBUM IDEA:
HOLOGRAM OF GOMEZ,
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**************************FAMILY AFFAIR******************
FEBRUARY 2017....OH YES I WAS BACK HOME ALREADY. RETURNED SEPT. 2016. BRONX NY & RV PARKED FRONT OF FAMILY TAINO CON CARINO' AUTOPARTS BUSINESS...CHAOS! LATE GRANDPA DAVID SANTIAGO SR. SAID: AFTER I ASKED "DO WE HAVE PLANS TO USE THE BANK VAULT??" SANTIAGO SR. SAID CONFIRMING WHAT SOLY YOUNGEST SON SAID "NO REY, ONLY FOR HIGH TECH & EXPENSIVE PARTS & ELECTRONICS, AND VAULT STAYS CAUSE IT COST HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO DISMANTLE THE STEEL & CONSTRUCTION!"
I CLOSED THE Fxxxxxx STORE PERMANENTLY. WHAT! AFTER 10+++-YEARS RELOCATED FOR UNIVERSITY, 4-YEARS FLUSHING CHAOS, TBI REHABILITATION, RELIGIOUS STUDIES, & TRAVEL. I'D TO RETURN TO ABANDONED BUSINESS & START WORKING MY ASS OFF, TO BRING IT BACK TO A DECENT ADMINISTRATION & COMPUTER DATA CONDITION & NOT TO MENTION THE MAINTENANCE IT REQUIRED. SO BAD, I TESTED BALO-BIG BROTHER: I STARTED DOING THINGS, LIKE CLEANING CUSTOMER COUNTER COMPUTER'S YEARS OF DATA GARBAGE. ONLY SO I CAN LAUGH ALL DAY TO MYSELF OUT-LOUD & IRRITATE BALO CAUSE NOW CUSTOMERS WERE COMING IN/OUT REAL QUICK!!! AND THEN I STARTED SWEEPING UNDER CUSTOMER FRONT COUNTER RUBBER MAT. THE DUST Fxxxxxx SAND STORM & HOLLY SHIT...CAN YOU BELIEVE IT BALO HAD SMILE EAR TO EAR. REALLY Fxxxxxx THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET BUSY FOR A MIRACLE HE PRAYED FOR YEARS...NOW CAME BACK!! GET THE Fxxx OUT OF HERE!! THEN WANTED ME TO FULLY ACTIVATE MAIN OFFICE--GIVING ME BACK 15-YEAR OLD FILES VOID, CANCELED OUT OF Fxxxxxx DATE 15-Fxxxxxx YEARS!! I Fxxxxxx CLOSED THE BUSINESS...YEAH LOSING ABOUT $100,000.00+++ DOLLARS YEARLY...HEY IT'S A Fxxxxxx HISTORICAL LANDMARK BANK & MOVIE LOCATION...YOU DO THE Fxxxxxx MATH!! AND SOLY VISIT ME AT THE BANK WITH 2-MILLION DOLLAR CEMENT MIXER: NOT A BABY ANY MORE, HELL NO! DRIVING AROUND 5-BOROUGHS WITH A Fxxxxxx 2-MILLION DOLLAR CONSTRUCTION CEMENT MIXER LIKE IT'S A Fxxxxxx SPORTS CAR!! SOLY SAID "HEY REY, I'M BUSY NOW BUT SOON I'LL DRIVE YOU AROUND TOWN"--WHILE I'M LOOKING UP AT THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING--BUT BALO CAN HANDLE IT!
THE Fxxxxxx NERVES!
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LADIES & GENTLEMEN......THE WEEKND
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TO: THE SELENA GOMEZ Superstar
Exe-Producer*Songstress*Activist*Actress
GOOD MORNING*GOOD NIGHT
MY LOVE, DEEPEST IN MY HEART
GOOD MORNING MI CONTESSA
MY LOVE, DEEPEST IN MY HEART.
*****SG2 PRE-INTRODUCTION****
*****GUSTO & GOMEZ WAY*GALAXY*****
ALRIGHT ALRIGHT....I'LL ADMIT IT!
I KNOW I KNOW
"TURN MY HEAD IN-LOVE INSTEAD."
THE CREATION OF 21st CENTURY MUSIC MASTER PIECE.
RED STORM BABY!
TODAY WEARING MY ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY WINTER RED SWEAT HOODED SET.
THE BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION
GATCHAMAN
UNIAGOS SPACE STATION
UNIAGOS INTERNATIONAL-s.p.a.r.k 1st LEISURECRAFT RV MOBILE COMMAND CENTER NATIONAL PROMOTION TOUR.
HANDLE: GUSTO-#1
DRAFTOP
GUSTO WATCHES
DEGUSTOREYLIUS VIOLINS
****SG2 PRE-INTRODUCTION****
***GUSTO & GOMEZ WAY*GALAXY***
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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
I HEREBY ASSIGN THE SELENA GOMEZ-Superstar AS MY LITERARY AGENT & FULL POWER OF ATTORNEY. TO REPRESENT, NEGOTIATE, AND CONTRACT ALL AND ANY OF MY WRITTEN WORK ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIAS AND OR ANY OUTSIDE SOURCE THAT MAY EXIST.
TODAY, I HEREBY COMMENCE AND AUTHORIZE THE SELENA GOMEZ-Superstar AS MY LITERARY AGENT.
ON THIS DAY
11/19/2019
REYLGUSTOGOMEZS_Gramarvelouise
aka..REYL GUSTO Ex-Classic DJ
The One/Only*The Reyl McCoy
No Hatfields*No Toy*Now Big Boy!
917-963-7318 Main# Off
646-881-7418 On
LinkedIn/In/PubRLAFoundationTreatise2007
TENRI.org
Dr. Lotus K. Weiss Ph.D
Please Donate For The Children &
CHARTER SCHOOL. Thank You!
TheWholeElephant
347-822-5637 Main#
646-707-6554 Nonprofit TWEI
646-707-8346 "
REYL GUSTO RECORDING STUDIOS
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SELENA GOMEZ RECORDING studios
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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
The PHILOSOPHY of God, purity, righteousness, compassion, truthfulness, and forbearance-tolerance equates HAPPINESS in the BEGINNING. Thus, it's not about convincing to become orthodox or to become a follower, but to help men escape CONFUSION by the study of God's given tribulations via a religion-to find Happiness from The BEGINNING. If and when one religious philosophy can not give SPIRITUAL mental peace then, one must continue on the path in the search for enlightenment. Until one finds conformity that compliments with one's character. However, humanity is born fix with Character Flaw, in sin called made of flesh, thus death is absolute which is why we seek guidance, because of flesh of sin bears Confusion. This is generally the issues many are confused about. You must choose the maze religious choices in life. THENCE, how technical, simple, or how fast you find or get out of the maze of life is the religious quest, it is what we all seek-ending Confusion. Nevertheless, what puzzle parishioners is but a piece of the puzzle you fit in that compliments your BORN-FIX-CHARACTERISTIC-PHILOSOPHICAL views in religion. More so, is dependent where your family are settled, but PHILOSOPHY experiences is built, grows like branches on a tree, you can not have one without the other. However, to end confusion you must stand firmly rooted..the trunk of a tree...knots on a tree are tribulations to a way of life...choices, which is what you give your family...children's philosophical religious views. When the path or study of a philosophical religious life is but short then is only a one page story. Therefore, a boring tree made of no branches thus not worth looking at. God Will Agree Sometimes God Opens The Book Of Life And Is Disappointed. Forever, remember this, God's Philosophy, Path, Experiences, Branches Is The COSMOS, A TRUNK, and God's Experiences Never Ending. Expands More Branches Never Ending But Firmly Rooted, God's Knots Are You And I.
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c.2014 ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY STUDY CONDO ADDRESS:
MAIN ST. FLUSHING QUEENS NY 11355
c.1980 TO c.1999 LATE OLDER BROTHER-1999
JOSE' AGOSTO-Joe (Wife Josephine) SuperChef--Frequent--INTERNATIONAL & O'DEON RESTAURANT TRIBECA NY NY. UNDERGROUND MY PRIVATE ROMPER ROOM.
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PLEASE GRACIE DID SELENA PUNISH ME...PLEASE TELL ME?? PLEASE GRACIE, TELL YOUR SISTER I'M NOT SEEING, TEXTING, OR ANY RAPPORT WITH ANY OTHER WOMAN.
HEY WHERE'S MY KISS!! GOOD NIGHT CRUEL WORLD!
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
TO: MI CONTESSA
SELENA GOMEZ & DEAR GRACIE
MY 2-LOVES DEEPEST IN MY HEART.
**************************STARSTRUCK*************************
MY BEAUTIFUL GRACEFUL LEADING LADIES! MY LOVE, GRACIE & YOU GRACED THE FROZEN PREMIERE TWO SHOOTING STARS FALLING FROM HEAVEN STAR STRUCK-SENT LOVE & SAVIOR FROM UP ABOVE-MYSTERIOUS CAVE GLOWING UP SHOWING THE WAY-HOWLING WINDS PUSH BOTH IN BLIND & COLD & STILL SO BOLD-ENTERING A FROZEN CAVE SO WELL BEHAVED & BRAVE-SHIVERING IN DARKNESS PRAYING FOR LIGHT SLOWLY SEEING THE GLOW WAVING COME FOLLOW THE GLIMMERING LIGHT-BOTH OUR SIGHTS FELL UPON A CHAMBER MADE OF GOLD & FULL OF TREASURES BEYOND IMAGINE NOT EVEN THE TWILIGHT ZONE-FINDING REYL GUSTO ON A SLAB OF ICY COLD METEORITE SLOWLY APPROACHING & MORE FREEZING COLD LOOKING DOWN AT ICY BONES-EVERY STEP GRACIE & I TOOK BEGGED US TO STOP & QUIT THE MADNESS FEELING OLD MAN WINTER-A GLANCE ALL ICE MIRRORED UPON OUR TERRIFIED FIRST SIGHT- GRACIE & I AWED OF MY BEAUTIFUL FEATURES BEYOND COMPARISON-SKIN TONE APPEARING LIGHT REDDISH BROWN CLAY SHIMMERING GLITTER UPON OUR SECOND SIGHT- DRESSED IN THE FINEST THREADS & INCREDIBLE DETAILS DESIGN- UPON MY CHEST LARGE "G" CAN ONLY BE & MEAN 'G' FOR "GUSTO" ONE/ONLY GRACIE SILENTLY SAID-LOOKING UP TO THE AMAZED BLANKED FACE CONTESSA NO WORDS TO EXPRESS THEN ABRUPTLY SAID "YES REYL GUSTO CAN IT TRULY BE REALLY BE GUSTO-FINDING REYL GUSTO LEAST TO MENTION- THE CAVE FILLED CURIOSITIES & TREASURES AMAZING-ONE DETAIL GRACIE & I TRULY FOREVER REMEMBER TWO RINGS ON GUSTO'S FOREHEAD BRILLIANTLY DESIGNED & STRANGE RUBIES WE'VE NEVER SEEN.
FINDING ME LEAST TO MENTION
THE ONE/ONLY
THE REYL GUSTO
THE REYL McCOY-NO HATFIELDS-NO TOY
REY L. AGOSTO C.shl
aka..REYL GUSTO Ex-Classic DJ
FROZEN INSIDE INCASED IN A HUGE BLOCK OF ICY METEORITE. ALONG SIDE GLOWING SCROLLS & REDDISH & WHITE MANE & HAIRY HOOVES GALLANT HORSES. GARNISHED DIAMONDS PEARLS & JEWELS OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN AFTER A MILLENNIUM. STAR STRUCK!
CONTESSA: OMG, HEY GRACIE WAKE-UP!! GRACIE: WHAT HAPPENED? CONTESSA: YOU DAZED OUT FOR MINUTE OR SO GRACIE: I DID I DON'T KNOW WHY? CONTESSA: I DON'T KNOW NEITHER BUT WE BETTER VISIT THE DOCTOR SOON AND HERE'S YOUR STAR BUCKS COFFEE. JUST HOW YOU LIKE IT....SPARKLE OF PUMPKIN SPICE ORANGE & WITH GOMEZ & GUSTO REDDISH BROWN CREAM GRACIE: OH YEAH I REMEMBER I ORDERED THAT! HEY SELENA WHERE'S THE FREEZY ICY COLD SUGAR COATING & THE METEORITE-CHOCO-WAVE-GLIMMER-LIGHT CAKE & STRANGE RUBIES PIE & 2-RINGS ON FOREHEAD FRIES? CONTESSA: NO SUCH THING ON THE MENU WE IN STAR BUCKS GRACIE STOP PLAYING MAKING ME NERVOUS? GRACIE: YOU SURE THAT'S STRANGE. SELENA WHY DO I FEEL I'M IN A GLOWING CAVE & SO BRAVE TODAY? CONTESSA: OH YEAH WE DEFINITELY SEEING THE DOCTOR! GRACIE: SELENA WHERE DID WE PARKED THE HAIRY HOOVES GALLANT HORSES? CONTESSA: "O.K THAT'S IT" GRABBED GRACIE IN HER BOSSOM & DASHED OUT THE DOOR! "YOUR DOCTOR STARSTRUCK GOING TO GET A KICK OUT OF THIS ONE...FOR SURE!"
GOD BLESS-GOD THE PARENT.
REYLGUSTOGOMEZ_GRAMARVELOUISE
OMG..5:.05.AM! GOOD NIGHT GRACIE-CONTESSA.
2 DEEPEST IN MY HEART!
HI GRACIE, MI CONTESSA, 2-DEEPEST IN MY HEART.
I MISS POSTING YOU BOTH SO MUCH!
I'VE BEEN SO BUSY IN ROYAL FLUSHING QUEENS NY.
GOOD NIGHT GRACIE*CONTESSA DEEPEST IN MY HEART!LATER WATCHING NETFLIX. RELAX & CALM DOWN! LOLHA
GOOD NIGHT MI CONTESSA MY LOVE DEEPEST IN MY HEART.
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