#[ *said tent is also the biggest IN the fucking camp- special made tent mind you* ]

[spiderwarden]

Partners treating Minthara exactly like the prissy spoiled literal Underdark princess that she is. Gold.

[idkwhoiamanymorebutwtf]

G U Y S

I know I cry a lot about Max, Nikki, and Neil but can I just say that I live for their dynamic? And imma just throw a lot of observations about them here and this may get incoherent but whatever?

1.) They're actually pretty touchy-feely with each other and god I never noticed until recently but like??? They a r e??? Like Neil putting his hand on Max's back in Jermy Fartz. Like how Max grabbed Nikki's hand and d r a g g e d her away from the danger in Night Of The Living Ill. Or how Nikki just kinda clung to Neil when she was sick in the episode Into Town. Or how Nikki grabbed the boys into a hug in the Christmas Special. Even as early as the first episode they were grabbing each other and Max put his arms around the other's shoulders to guide them away. I know a lot of us are like "they aren't really the publicly clingy or affectionate types" but the thing is that they really kinda are. We don't always see it because it's not called attention to all that often but next time you watch an episode that's heavily trio centred count how many times they touch each other casually and you'll see what I mean. For example, I counted four casual grabs and touches in Spooky Island. Which doesn't seem like much. Until you remember the fact that this is a ten minute episode, and that's a touch every 2.5 minutes on average. Which IS a lot. Not to mention how damn close they were. There were quite a few moments where I fully expected them to grab each other or something because they were just completely invading one another's personal space.

Look how close they stand to one another. Compare this to normal conversation distance

When in a conversation generally your attention is locked onto the other person. Generally you'll stand closer to someone if you're talking to them than if you're not. Yet the two images I showed you before are of Max, Nikki, and Neil NOT talking or even really acknowleging one another. Compare that to the screenshot of Nikki actually engaged in conversation with Jasper.

If you thought maybe the former three images were just a perspective issue or something...no. Max, Nikki, and Neil genuinely do stand abnormally close. Look at this picture where Max and Nikki have literally no reason to leave a huge gap from Jasper yet they still do.

And when I said they disreguarded personal space I don't even mean standing this strangely close to each other?!? I mean like when Nikki threw herself two inches away from Max to the point where he jumped back a little. I mean like when Max pointed at Neil and Neil had to move his body a little because he was startled by how close it was. I mean like when Nikki leaned across Neil to jab her finger in Max's personal space, effectively getting abnormally touchy with both of them at the same time. Note that all these observations are from ONE EPISODE that's only ten minutes long! Imagine everything that could be observed if I went out of my way to check how touchy they were in every episode? This is especially impressive if we look at who we're talking about. Max is the type to reject touching from people. He's brushed off or shoved away other's who try to touch him multiple times. But not these two.

2.) Max is a l o t softer with Nikki and Neil than with anyone else. Again, let's take Spooky Island for example. When they discover the torture chamber, Max has absolutely no issues whatsoever telling Jasper the fuck off. He taunted Jasper, who was clearly frightened, going "Oh no! We have to find ghosts and monsters! Remember?!?" And keep in mind he was mocking and yelling here. Then Neil interjects and you know what? Max's tone actually softens. Yeah he still tells Neil that he's wrong. But Max isn't nearly as hostile. He sure as hell didn't mock or taunt Neil. And what's more? Max didn't say one word to Nikki. Yeah when he first walked in he started to tease her but as soon as she made it clear that she was frightened he just completely stopped and turned his attention onto Jasper. And you can see this in a l o t of episodes, not just this one. Max is still a jerk with Nikki and Neil but he doesn't cross the line. He doesn't yell for too long. Max...he doesn't want to hurt them. He doesn't want to see them fail. He doesn't want them angry or god forbid sad. Max may hurt them sometimes but he doesn't fuck with them just for the sake of upsetting them. And especially in early seasons, that's more than can be said for anyone else because he does go out of his way to torment the other's and he's never been as openly apologetic for anything in his life than for the few times he has upset Nikki and Neil. It's also worth noting that Neil is more gentle with Nikki than other's. For example he expects her to ruin his experiments and just gets kinda salty about it after but he clearly forgives her? Max and Neil also forgave her when she betrayed them for Ered in Camp Cool Kidz. Like..immediately. With no bargaining. They were back to hanging out together instantly before Nikki even apologized.

3.) They're always together. I think I made a separate post about this? But it's the truth. They eat together. They sleep in the same tent (actually I'm not sure? Max said in episode 1 "I'll show you to our tent" and they have no issues sneaking out together all the time in the middle of the night- note that they don't all have that much access to technology so coming up with a time to meet up may be hard- implying that Nikki sleeps with them? And there are only two 'beds' I think but doubling up doesn't seem that unlikely for these three? So until proven otherwise I'm assuming they sleep in the same tent). They have DAILY adventures together. Like scheduled. Like they gotta spend it together. In Eggs Benefits Max wanted nothing to do with the adventure yet he followed Nikki and Neil anyway and spent the whole day letting Nikki drag him around despite whining the whole time. In Spooky island both Nikki and Neil want to leave at different points of the episode but they continue to follow Max anyway. These three really do just stick together all the time and maybe they've been branching off a bit more lately but they still spend a hell of a lot of time together? Like most of their time if I'm not mistaken?

4.) Nikki and Neil are...really protective over Max? Like I'm sorry but did you guys see the Foreign Exchange Campers episode? The moment Max decided to team up with someone else they flipped their shit. I mean, Max literally told them it was just so he could win. It was clear he wasn't actually choosing the other campers over Nikki and Neil? Like it's obvious they were still friends? Yet we still got lines like "What about us? We're kinda a thing!", "We dont need you anyway Max! And even if we did, we're just going to pretend we don't in the hopes that you'll be jealous and we won't feel as sad!", "I just can't believe he would ditch us! After all our adventures?!?", and "He looks so happy! At least he's found someone who can make him smile" like, god, they treat this like a breakup or something when Max just wanted to win the contest. Like they knew it wasn't personal. They knew he was just being a jerk and he didn't like the Foreign kids more than them. Yet look at this.

Look at these creeps watching him from the bushes instead of competing!

They were so volatile too? They called Brian "Kim-Chi" despite knowing damn well that Nurf wasn't calling him the right name. Nikki literally yelled "Shut up commie" at Vera. I believe Neil outright told them point blank "Max is OUR friend and you can't have him!".

This isn't the only example of them being defensive about Max (almost to a fault) but it's the biggest one off the top of my head.

5.) They l o v e each other. Nikki saying "You know what else I love about Christmas? You guys (Max and Neil)" or Neil saying "We were so afraid of foreigners taking what we love (Max) that we.." , etc. Like??? They're so very sweet? They really love each other guys and I'm screaming because they're so good? And Max hasn't outright said he loves them but god, we know he does. Like how he "didn't do this camp campbell" but "for you guys (Nikki and Neil)" when he pulled off this difficult convoluted scheme to get the camp back. They love and care about and support one another even with all their issues and it's just so good? And the trio's overall relationship is ignored way too much. Can we just..please..talk about them more? As a trio? Please?

[for-the-dales]

Chapter 9: Iron Bull

Chapter 1 (Leliana): https://for-the-dales.tumblr.com/post/185692342364/the-path-forward-chapter-1-leliana

A/N: This chapter contains a reference to self-harm and mutilation. It’s about halfway through the paragraph where Iron Bull makes observations about Ellana having been a slave. You can skip to the end of that paragraph without missing anything important.

         The Iron Bull pitied the poor horse under him as he rode through the Hinterlands. They’d found a work horse big enough to haul his big ass around, but the beast obviously wasn’t used to being ridden. Iron Bull sympathized; long rides were the worst part of any job. It was boring. It did however give him an opportunity to study his new companions. He had volunteered to bring up the rear, Sera rode in front of him, and then the mage, Vivienne, rode next to the boss up front. Those two were so far the most entertaining part of this trip.  They’d spent the whole morning giving each other extremely specific gardening advice, and a child would have been able to figure out that they weren’t talking about gardening. They were so damn pleasant about it too.

           In Viv’s own words, it was delightful.

           There was one thing that did bother The Iron Bull though. It was obvious that the boss was clearly a very skilled mage with a lot of knowledge about some high concept stuff, and as far as he knew, the Dalish didn’t teach that kind of magic. Dalish had always said her clan almost exclusively focused on useful, day-to-day sort of magic. He doubted that included detailed discussions of the origin of spirit magic or the specifics of how exactly a possession works. The boss had some advanced training. He’d never come across a clan that had that kind of training.  She was definitely Dalish though. Really, really Dalish. She spoke more elvhen than anyone he’d ever met, even scholars. Then there were the vallaslin.  He’d never seen a Dalish elf with that extensive tattooing. There were a few too many oddities about the new boss for The Iron Bull to feel completely comfortable around her.  Though to be fair to her, there were very few people he really let his guard down around.

           The Iron Bull looked up when he realized both of the women at the front of their party were looking at him, studying him. It made him a little nervous. Like he’d pissed off his Tama or something. Finally they looked back at each other and Vivienne said, “Perhaps not that level of pruning, but it doesn’t negate my previous point of…”

           The Iron Bull breathed when he realized they weren’t really talking about him. He rubbed the back of his neck. There were a lot of mages in the Inquisition, and he knew his people’s policy on mages was probably going to come up at some point. Fortunately, it hadn’t yet. He’d never really encountered a lot of Sareebas on Par Vollen.  When he got to Saheron he’d fought alongside them and their Arvaraad, but usually just for the duration of a fight or interrogation. Afterwards they’d be herded back to where they were kept. They had kind of creeped him out. He’d felt bad for them, they were born with a shit lot, but some people just were. They were what they were.

           But then he’d think about someone sewing Dalish’s mouth shut.

           The Iron Bull didn’t like to think about that for long.

           He looked back up at the boss. There was a lot about her that was weird, other than her magic. Her halla for one thing. It was fucking huge. Big enough to carry him. He’d never seen one that big at any of the Clans, and Dalish had treated it weird too. All she’d said was that it was special. She’d touched its intricately carved horns then, and he’d never seen her so amazed before. The boss didn’t wear the same robes as other mages either. They were obviously made by the Dalish, but the quality was a whole lot better than any he’d ever said. Krem had talked to some of Josephine’s people and found out that she was from some special Dalish temple, and she was some kind of priest. He hadn’t ever heard of the Dalish keeping active temples before. The boss didn’t come across as a liar, which meant it was probably the truth. The Iron Bull could feel the Ben-Hassrath inside him waking up and being very, very uncomfortable that there were whole groups of Dalish that the Qunari had never even heard of.

           What bothered him the most was that he heard that the other two elves that had followed the Inquisitor to Haven were also priests, and one of them didn’t have any vallaslin. That made him very uncomfortable.

           The Iron Bull had been working on drafts of progress reports to send back home for a week. If there was a secret group of Dalish that didn’t have vallaslin, Dalish that were essentially the Ben-Hassrath of their people if rumors were to be believed, he had to consider that there were some in Par Vollen. But he didn’t have enough information about them yet. Half-true information was worse that no information. The Iron Bull didn’t want to be responsible for a mass culling of Viddathari, particularly if it turned out it hadn’t even been necessary in the first place. He didn’t include the tattoo-less Dalish in his report home.

           Sera groaned loudly, “Are we there yet? My arse hurts!”

           Vivienne scoffed and the boss said, “We should be at the forward camp in under an hour. From there we’ll walk.”

           Sera threw back her head, “Ugh! More trees and bugs and shite!”

           “After we talk to this Warden we’ll head to Redcliffe.” The boss said, trying to mollify the other elf.

           “Yeah!” Sera responded, jerking her head back up, “Where we’re gonna go talk to a bunch of crazy mages who ran away from their Circles!”

           The boss sighed and Vivienne shot Sera a dirty look, but turned to the boss and said, “I really can’t believe I’m saying this but Sera has a point-”

           “Don’t agree with me, I don’t like it.”

           “Fiona and her malcontents aren’t to be trusted. They’ll break their word to us the moment we attempt to establish some semblance of order upon them.”

           The boss sighed, “Maybe, but that’s why we’re going to talk to them. I don’t know Fiona, but I’d like to give her the chance to make her case to us. They may prove to be wonderful allies. You said yourself Lady Vivienne that one of the biggest issues with the break was the timing. Maybe we can help the rebel mages patch up some of the problems that came from such a quick and brutal separation from their traditional role.”

           The boss and Vivienne continued to argue, and The Iron Bull settled back into his saddle. This time Sera was offering the occasional comment, much to the annoyance of Viv. It wouldn’t matter though; nothing those two could say would change the boss’s mind. Wherever she had been trained in magic, The Iron Bull knew where she had been before. He wouldn’t wish slavery on his worst enemy.

           It was in the little things. She always ate her fill at every meal, and while she was a natural caretaker, she was still often first in line. Deprivation has a tendency to make even the most compassionate people selfish. She never took more than her share, but she never took less either. She kept very few personal items, but the few baubles she did carry that meant something to her she always carried. Every time she left her hut or tent, they were tucked into little pockets in her clothing. They’d been bathing in a creek once and The Iron Bull had noticed even then she hadn’t taken off the talisman she wore around her neck. She didn’t trust anything she left anywhere alone to be there when she came back. He also saw the scar then too. It was less noticeable than it likely had been before she’d gotten her tattoos, but it was still there at the top of her left thigh. It was a brand. It had been marred by more cuts overtop, likely self-inflicted after her escape, but he could still see parts of the design beneath. It had healed well, and The Iron Bull suspected magic had been used to help it blend in so well, but it was there. The advanced healing made it harder for him to place exactly how old it was, but The Iron Bull would guess that it occurred when she was a young girl. The other tells gave the same indication. It doesn’t matter how old someone gets, the shit that happens when they’re young stays with them.

           The rebel mages in Redcliffe had fought to escape their cages. The boss would never turn her back on them; no matter what lip service she gave Viv. No matter the danger helping them posed. The Iron Bull was going to have to get used to working with a lot of mages.

------------

           Fucking mages. Redcliffe had been a shit show. He’d laughed it off at the time, but all the mages under the control of an insane Tevinter magister fucking around with incredibly dangerous magic was one of the worst outcomes that could have happened. At least they weren’t all abominations. Yet.

           At least there was more muscle with the group now. Blackwall seemed to be a decent sort, and he did a good job of distracting Sera from her growing panic at the mage situation. He put up a gruff front, but he was a softie. And a liar, but everyone was about something, and so far The Iron Bull didn’t pick up any signs he was the dangerous sort of liar. He’d tell Red if he decided otherwise. Still, he’d keep his eye on him.

           Then there was the pretty Vint mage they’d met in Redcliffe. Too clever for his own damn good, The Iron Bull could already tell. At least the boss seemed just as uncomfortable around him as The Iron Bull, and he could be sure she’d be keeping a very wary eye on him. She’d been on edge since the moment she found out the Vints were there. The Iron Bull had watched her when she sat across the table from the magister. The boss was normally completely in control of her body language and expression, but he didn’t think she really breathed the entire time she sat there. Her face had stayed blank and her spine stayed straight. She did a good job masking her fear, but The Iron Bull saw it, and he was reasonably sure Alexius saw it too. That would make things difficult going forward. At least by the time they met the pretty Vint she had moved on from fear to anger. The Iron Bull half expected her to rip apart the Vint like she had the demons, but she’d kept her cool and he’d promised his help.

           They were riding back to Haven now, this time Blackwall took the lead with Viv and the boss hung back by The Iron Bull. She was quiet, and anyone else might say she looked contemplative, like a leader going over the day’s events and planning for tomorrow. But The Iron Bull could see what it really was hanging on her shoulders, stress. An old stress. He remembered when Gatt came to serve with him on Seheron. Gatt had already done a lot work to work through his past, and The Iron Bull really thought he had been ready to face the Vints without his anger getting in the way. He was proven very wrong the first time they came across a Vint camp holding slaves. Gatt had gotten his hand on the Vint ‘managing’ the slaves, and The Iron Bull didn’t think the Vint’s mother would have recognized the poor bastard after Gatt was done. Gatt fought him on it, but The Iron Bull sent him back home after that. He still didn’t know if Gatt would ever really get past what happened to him when he was young.

           He watched the boss now and realized that, while she put up a good front, she hadn’t move past it either. The Iron Bull was certain that the only thing she was thinking about with her blank face and stiff back was what she had experienced in Tevinter. He didn’t think anyone really moved on from something like that, you just learn how to live with it better.

           “Bull.”

           The boss’s voice pulled The Iron Bull from his thoughts, “Yeah boss, what’s up?”

           “Would you do me a favor?”

           She wasn’t looking at him, instead staring over the top of her Halla’s head, “Depends on the favor boss.”

           She opened her mouth but hesitated a moment before speaking, “When we get back to Haven I am going to meet with the others about how best to handle the situation in Redcliffe. It will almost certainly involve me returning to Redcliffe while it is still occupied by a Tevinter magister and his people. Agreed?”

           “Yeah, almost definitely. You want me to come with you? Watch your back?”

           “No. I want you to go to Crestwood with the Chargers to help clean up undead and reassert order in the region.”

           “Okay,” The Iron Bull hesitated, “what’s the catch?”

           “I need you take Sahren and Rasa with you. I will tell them that I want them to learn more about how the humans live and how to work with non-elvhen. Rasa already has plenty of experience on that front, but they will assume I am sending them to keep and eye on Sahren. You will need to leave quickly, before they catch wind of whatever plan sends me back to Redcliffe. They can’t know about it until it’s resolved, one way or another. Sahren will do what I tell him. Rasa will too but they’ll ask more questions.”

           “Are you sure lying to them is the best solution here?”

           The boss paused a moment, “The Qun doesn’t allow you to raise children, does it Bull?”

           “No boss. But I’ve mentored younger kids before.”

           The boss nodded, “Did you care about them?”

           The Iron Bull thought about Gatt, about how when he first met the elf The Iron Bull could toss him with one hand, “Yeah boss.”

           The boss turned to him, “Is it wrong to not want to put them at risk? To not expose them to even the chance of-”

           The boss stopped talking, but he could see the end of the sentence in her eyes. She looked forward again after that.

           “They’ll be pissed.”

           “Better than enslaved.”

           “The rest of us can keep you all safe, not to mention those two can look after themselves.”

           “I know they can, and I know you’ll do your best, but I can’t risk it.”

           The Iron Bull could hear she was resolute. He knew this was a terrible idea, but she wouldn’t change her mind.

           “Sure thing boss.”

           “Thanks Bull.”

Chapter 10 (Dorian): https://for-the-dales.tumblr.com/post/189537555854/chapter-10-dorian

[gallifreyandemigoddess]

Things I loved about The Dark Prophecy: 

Once again, it starts with Apollo hating his humanity, something that I believe won’t change in some time, he was born a god, after all. Though I fervently believe that he is learning from his time as a mortal. 

Through the whole book, we are able to read some of his most selfish comments, which is to be expected, since he had always been portrayed as a selfish, self-centered god. However, we’re able to see his selfless and kind side, too. 

Example: 

From: 

“...It went against the very nature of being Apollo. I should always be the most obvious, brilliant source of light in the world. If you had to search for me, something was wrong.” 

And: “I tried to contain my bitterness. Soldiers and sailors were all very well, but if your city’s biggest monument is not Apollo, I’m sorry, you’re doing something wrong.” 

To: 

“You rescued me.” Then I added two words that never came easily to a god: “Thank you.” 

And: 

“When I was a god, I would’ve been delighted to leave the mortal heroes to fend for themselves. I would’ve made popcorn and watched the bloodbath from a distance on Mount Olympus, or simply caught the highlight reel later. But as Lester, I felt obligated to defend these people....I wanted to be here for them.” 

And: 

“Their eyes were so full of concern- concern for me- that I had to swallow back a lump in my throat. Six weeks we had been traveling together. Most of that time, I had fervently wished I could be anywhere else, with anyone else. But with the exception of my sister, had I ever shared so many experiences with anyone? I realized, gods help me, that I was going to miss these two.” 

These are some of the parts I loved the most about the book:

The Waystation. It’s nice to know of more demigod safe-spaces, more so when they’re under the loving care of Emmie and Josephine: 

“We’ve saved a lot of demigods and other outcasts- raised them at the Waystation, let them go to school and have a more or less normal childhood, then sent them out into the world as adults with the skills they needed to survive.” 

It’s different from both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, where, no matter how much they protect you and care for you, it could never be as normal and comforting as being raised in a “normal” loving environment. 

The relationship between Apollo and Calypso: They hate each other, that much is perfectly clear...

“Lo!” I said. “I arrived at Camp Half-Blood as Lester Papadopoulos!” 

“A pathetic mortal!” Calypso chorused. “Most worthless of teens!” 

“-...her evil stepfather had poisoned her mind!”

“Poison!” Calypso cried. “Like the breath of Lester Papadopoulos, most worthless of teens!” 

“Lo!” I shouted. “From the Oracle of Dodona we received a prophecy- a limerick most terrible!”  

“Terrible!” Calypso chorused. “Like the skills of Lester, most worthless of teens!” 

Though as the chapters progress, it appears that it’s more of a mutual disagreement than actual hatred.  Apollo realizes how unfair their punishment on her was, and starts to feel like his own treatment towards her is unfair: 

“Just yesterday, I had toyed with the idea of leaving Calypso behind to the blemmyae when she was wounded. I’d like to say that it wasn’t a serious thought, but it had been, however briefly. Now Calypso refused to leave Meg, whom she barely knew. It was almost enough to make me question whether I was a good person...” 

And, in the end, they become friends. They still have much path to cover and much to discuss, but I believe they’re on good terms now. 

Calypso and Leo: 

One of the many topics vastly discussed after Blood of Olympus was how short and forced their relationship seemed. However, in The Dark Prophecy, we caught a glimpse of the reality they’re living on: 

They’re trying to discover who they are together, as a couple and as friends. We see their multiple fights and their disagreements, and I believe it’s a very good thing! They’re exploring the possibilities of their relationship! 

We see Calypso missing her island, we see her missing her powers, but most than anything else, we can see that Calypso and Leo truly love one another, and that they’re trying. It feels real, their problems, which only makes it better. It was to be expected that they’d be fighting and having problems, since they hadn’t talked much back on her island before he was forced to leave. They’re testing the waters, as Calypso explained. 

They’re trying to build a good future for each other, they’re even going to enter school together. I like how their relationship improved, I like that Rick portrayed and fixed the mess that was their relationship by the end of BoO. 

I also loved that Leo keeps calling her mamacita, and that Leo’s full name is actually Leonidas. 

In general, everything about Emmie and Josephine was pure perfection. 

They were hunters of Artemis, hunters who fell in love with one another and decided to choose each other over immortality. Their love was beautifully portrayed, and the fact that they adopted a daughter was even more precious for me and for everyone in the LGBT community.

I like that, on a similar topic, we had more explanation about the Hunters of Artemis and their rules: 

“All romance is off-limits. My sister is quite unreasonable in that regard. The mission of the Hunters is to live without romantic distractions of any kind.”

It makes more sense that the Hunters only being prohibited the company of men, as was stated by the Titan’s Curse. I like that Rick fixed that, too. 

AND ARTEMIS BEING COMPASSIONATE AND LETTING THEM LEAVE HER GROUP WITHOUT PUNISHING THEM, GODS BLESS HER SOUL. 

Also, Zeus forbidding Artemis from interfering with Apollo makes me so angry, but I didn't expect anything less than that coming from him. It was good, though, that Artemis sent her Hunters to help Apollo discretely, just like when Apollo helped Percy and co. with rescuing Artemis and Annabeth. 

Apollo being thirsty as fuck: 

Apollo having the hots for Tall, Dark & Handsome Jamie. 

Apollo being a fluttering mess when talking to him, then feeling away as soon as he heard Jamie had a girlfriend. 

Apollo canonically having fantasies involving Thalia: “Thalia Grace climbed up behind me on the elephant- which fulfilled a daydream I’d once had about the pretty Hunter, though I hadn’t imagined it happening quite this way.” 

Apollo canonically doing all sort of stuff to get Britomartis’ attention. To get a “kiss” and a “cute date” from her. (We all know that he wanted more than just a date and a kiss, but alas, this is a “children’s book”) 

Apollo and Commodus: 

I’m aware that Commodus is evil, and I don’t like him as a character, but honestly, his relationship with Apollo killed me unlike any other relationship ever had. More specially, this: 

“Overhead, a white silk canopy billowed in the gentle breeze. Inn one corner, a musician sat discretely serenading us with his lyre. Under our feet spread the finest rugs from the eastern provinces. Between our two couches, a table was spread with an afternoon snack of roast boar, pheasant, salmon, and fruit spilling from gold solid cornucopia. 

I was amusing myself by throwing grapes at Commodus’ mouth. Of course, I never missed unless I wanted to, but it was fun to watch the fruit bounce off Commodus’ nose.

“You are terrible,” He teased me. 

And you are perfect, I thought, but merely smiled.”

And: 

“I didn’t mean to laugh at the expense of his distant wife, but part of me was pleased when he talked badly about her. I wanted all his attention for myself.” 

And, of course: 

“Commodus looked at me, panic in his eyes.

“Go,” I said, as calmly as I could, forcing down my misgivings. “You will always have my blessings. You will do fine.” 

But I already suspected what would happen: the young man I knew and loved was about to be consumed by the emperor he would become. 

He rose and kissed me one last time. Then he left the tent- walking, as Romans would say, into the mouth of the wolf. 

“Apollo,” Calypso nudged my arm.

“Don’t go!” I pleaded. Then my past life burned away. “ 

Never forget this hear-wrenching part: 

“As I often did for him after our workout sessions, I filled his great marble bath with streaming rose-scented water. I helped him out of his soiled tunic and eased him into the tub. For a moment, he relaxed and closed his eyes. 

I recalled how he looked sleeping besides me when we were teens. I remembered his easy laugh as we raced through the woods, and the way his face scrunched up adorably when I bounced grapes off his nose. 

I sponged away the spittle and blood from his beard. I gently washed his face. Then I closed my hands around his neck. “I’m sorry.”

I pushed his head underwater and began to squeeze. Commodus was strong. Even in his weakened state, he thrashed and fought. In had to channel my godly might to keep him submerged, and, in doing so, I must’ve revealed my true nature to him. 

He went still, his blue eyes wide with surprise and betrayal. He could not speak, but he mouthed the words: You. Blessed. Me. 

The accusation forced a sob from my throat. The day his father died, I had promised Commodus: You will always have my blessings, Now I was ending his reign. I was interfering in mortal affairs- not just to save lives, or to save Rome, but because I could not stand to see my beautiful Commodus die by anyone else’s hands. 

I hunched over him, crying, my hands around his throat, until the bathwater cooled. 

Britomartis was wrong. I didn’t fear water. I simply couldn’t look at the surface of any pool without imagining Commodus’ face, stung with betrayal, staring up at me.” 

Rick Riordan has a talent of portraying gods and their actions unlike anyone else. 

Apollo loved Commodus, he loved him deeply and wholeheartedly, but he couldn’t see anyone else killing his beloved Commodus. He killed him, for he could not stand the way the young man he loved had destroyed himself, turning into a murderous, evil emperor. 

For me, Apollo has always been a complex god. 

He said so himself in the first book, when he called his arrogance a pretense, when he mentioned he was a guilt-ridden, miserable god. He has never been good at love, for some reason, all of his lovers end tragically in one way or another, some by his own hand (Cassandra, Commodus, etc). It weighs him down more than he admitted when he was a god. As a mortal, he is more connected to his emotions, and is unable to put his usual facade of coolness and of arrogance. 

Everything he has done, every sin he has committed, weighs him down: 

“I imagined Trophonius’ head transposed on his body- my son’s agonized voice crying to the heavens, Take me instead! Save him, Father, please!

This blended with the face of Commodus, staring at me, wounded and betrayed as his carotid pulse hammered against my hands. You. Blessed. Me.

I sobbed and hugged the commode- the only thing that wasn’t spinning. Was there anyone I hadn’t betrayed and disappointed? Any relationship I hadn’t destroyed? 

And, since we’re talking about Apollo and his change, I’d like to mention his relationship with Meg. 

In the beginning, he could not stand her. Then by the end of the first book, he cared for her. Now, on this second book, the feeling grows and morphs into something so profound and so beautiful that I do not have words for it. 

“No! She was- she was trying to protect me.” I choked on the words. “She is my friend. Take me instead!”

And also:

“She is precious to you,” Said the Oracle. “Would you give your life in exchange for hers?”

I had trouble processing that question. Give up my life? At any point in my four thousand years of existence, my answer would’ve been an emphatic No! Are you crazy? One should never give up on one’s life. One’s life is important! The whole point of my quests in the mortal world, finding and securing all these ancient Oracles, was to regain immorality so I wouldn’t have to ponder such awful questions! 

And yet... I thought of Emmie and Josephine renouncing immortality for each other. I thought of Calypso giving up her home, her powers, and eternal life for a chance to roam the world, experience love, and possibly enjoy the wonders of high school in Indiana. 

“Yes,” I found myself saying. “Yes, I would die for Meg McCaffrey.”  

And lastly but not least important:

When Apollo shared Meg’s curse, slipping into her mind and trying to save her: “I would share this burden with her, even if it kills me.” 

What saved us what a simultaneous thought: Meg/Apollo needs me. 

There we had Apollo, someone that, supposedly, only cared about himself, risking his life, his human life, to save his little but beloved friend from madness and darkness. 

It’s a beautiful moment, more so for those of us that adore Apollo since before the PJO books. It’s a beautiful character development from the fuckboy we saw in Titan’s Curse; it’s a beautiful character development from the god that we met in the first TOA book, the god that could only feel annoyance towards Meg.

“Let the girl go,” I whimpered through the pain. “Kill me and let her go.” 

I surprised myself. These were not the last words I had planned. In the event of my death, I’d been hoping to have time to compose a ballad of my glorious deeds- a very long ballad. Yet here I was, at the end of my life, pleading not for myself, but for Meg McCaffrey.” 

The mention of other gods through the book: 

Apparently, gods have a weekly game night in Mount Olympus where Athena loves to gloat about her Scrabble scores. 

AND THIS SAVAGE LINES: (AKA: my cute, dorky ex-god being dorky as fuck)

“Ever since my famous battle with Python, I’ve had a phobia of scaly reptilian creatures. (Especially if you include my stepmother, Hera. BOOM!)

“I’ve always found spiders fascinating creatures, despite what Athena thinks. If you ask me, she’s just jealous of their beautiful faces. BOOM!” 

This important, yet short part: 

Leto knelt at Zeus’ side, her hands clasped in prayer. Her bronze arms glowed against her white sundress. Her long golden hair zigzagged down her back in an elaborate ladder weave. 

“Please, my lord!” She implored. “He is your son. He has learned his lesson!”

“Not yet,” Zeus rumbled. “His real test is yet to come.” 

I laughed and waved. “Hi, mom! Hi, dad!” 

There we have a glimpse of Leto being concerned over Apollo’s fate and we see that she cares. Zeus is, as always, being shady as fuck, and Apollo is super cute while hallucinating and being under the effect of the waters of Mnemosyne and Lethe. 

Apollo realizes how hard some demigods have it: 

From: 

“I’m new to these heroic-quest business. Shouldn’t there be a reward at the end? Not just more deadly quests?”

“Nope,” Leo said. “This is pretty standard.” 

My sweet, innocent Lester seems to forget that when he was Apollo, as a god, he never cared much for the quests he made demigods go through. 

“I wondered if demigods ever felt the need to restrain themselves when facing ungrateful gods like this. No. Surely not. I was special and different. And I deserved better treatment.” 

Had Percy Jackson been there, he would’ve written a gigantic thesis statement with a power-point presentation about how wrong Apollo was. 

Also, this part: 

“I knelt next to him- a boy of about sixteen, my mortal age. I felt no pulse. I didn’t know whose side he had fought on, but that didn’t matter. Either way, his death had gone to waste. I had begun to think that perhaps demigod lives were not as disposable as we gods liked to believe.” 

Finally, at the moment of war, Apollo realizes how easy it is for a mortal to die. And most times, demigods die because of the gods. 

The part where they find out Georgina might be Apollo’s daughter: 

The whole scene, though the most painful part was when Emmie asked if it was payback for having renounced to his gift of immortality: 

“I hadn’t known I could feel any worse, until I did. I really hate that about the mortal heart. It seems to have an infinite capacity of getting heavier. 

“Dear Emmie,” I said. “I would never. Even on my worse days, when I’m destroying nations with plague arrows or putting together set lists for Kidz Bop compilations, I would never take revenge in such a way...” 

That shows that he was a good god, even if he murdered and punished people, he had some kind of morality. He knew where his boundaries went: like when he mentioned that he flirted with the Hunters, but that he would never dare to go any further than that. 

Had it been Zeus, he would’ve raped them already; and canonically, on mythology, I’ve never read about any case of Apollo raping anyone. 

Also, I really liked that Rick added certain parts that showed that our actions, as mortals, are what define us and that, once we take one wrong decision, we cannot pray for better things when it is us that fuck things up. 

I’ve heard so many people complain that their prayers were never answered, that their God never helped them. They don’t seem to realize that God cannot help us if we don’t help ourselves first. 

It’s shown here: 

“Don’t blame me for you robbing the king’s treasury!” I snarled. “You are here because you messed up.” 

“I prayed to you!” 

“Well, perhaps you didn’t pray for the right thing at the right time!” I yelled. “Pray for wisdom before you do something stupid! Don’t pray for me to bail you out after you follow your worst instincts!” 

Apollo’s son, Trophonius, made wrong choices all his life, and when it came back to him, he wanted his father to miraculously save him. It doesn’t work like that, God/gods cannot help if we try to make them fix our whole lives. 

The way they temporarily defeated Commodus. (I found extremely pretty the way Apollo’s real form was revealed) (Finally we had an explanation as to why gods’ real forms are deadly to mortals: they’re pure light.)

The second chance Apollo gave Lityerses. “Everything alive deserves a chance to grow.

Lityerses sobbing when Emmie said he could be part of their family. 

All the “lit” jokes. And the commode ones too. 

“The two bumped fists as if they hadn’t spent the last few days talking about how much they wanted to kill each other. They would’ve made fine Olympian gods.” 

Little Georgina’s words to Apollo. How he told her he was there for her if she wanted to talk. How he was concerned about her, even if he was not sure if she was his daughter. 

“You’ve built something good here, Hemithea.” I said. “Commodus could not destroy it. You’ll restore what you’ve lost. I envy you.” 

Everywhere he goes, Apollo seems to crave home. Not Olympus. Home, as in: a place where he’d feel loved and safe. In the 1st book, he wanted to stay in Camp with his children, now there, he admits that he craved the lovely home, the safe environment that they created at the Waystation. 

“It all felt so homey and cozy, I wanted to volunteer to wash dishes if it meant getting to stay another day.” 

Apollo trying to fix what he did to Agamethus by offering to go to the Underworld once he became a god again, to ask Hades to send him to Elysium. 

“Never underestimate the healing power of music.” 

Lit staying in the Waystation. 

Apollo mentioning that he believed in second chances, and that he could understand Lit since they had things in common- being attractive being one of those things. 

Apollo’s talking arrow only speaking bad Shakespearean English. 

“Being productive. Urgh.” Same, Apollo, same. 

The whole choo-choo scene, I don’t now why but I really really loved that part. 

The fact that WE MIGHT GET TO SEE REYNA, FRANK AND HAZEL ON THE NEXT BOOK.

GROVER UNDERWOOD IS FINALLY BACK. MY SON, MY BABY, MY FAVORITE ENCHILADA LOVER SATYR. HE WILL BE BACK. 

I must’ve missed many points, but this was already very long. In general, I really loved The Dark Prophecy, and I recommend everyone to read it as soon as they can! It is honestly so, so good. As good as the first one, I cannot wait for The Burning Maze! 

[theunknown-ericfanfiction]

Chapter Fifty-Two.

The Unknown Chapter Index.

Unexpected Chapter Index

“I don’t think you understand the repercussions this you’re proposing will have” Christine said with a big angry frown.

“There will be no repercussions, we will scale back to our original faction system, divergent will be taken out off the city towards the colony in the Department and that is it” Morgan tried to reason.

They knew Christine would not take it lightly that the city was going to be closed down. Her faction was the one who lost the most. Expeditions would no longer be, the research the Department provided, the different courses they were setting up to have people in the Department come and teach in the specialized schools in Erudite.

“Not to mention that not once the Department showed any interest or concerns during and after the attack” the Candor leader said.

Eric knew he had them all in the bag, besides giving the currently status and the decision to close the city down, he hadn’t said much. He didn’t need to give explanations.

“And not to mention” Morgan said angry “that they fucking used us, took advantage of out hospitality in dauntless. We trained them for them to help us in cases like this. Amity was decimated”

“And whose fault is that?” Christine tried to spun around on Morgan.

“The department’s. We reached and agreement, the conflict outside the borders were theirs to resolve, had we had a fair warning of what was coming out troops would’ve mobilized and acted fast, avoid casualties.”

Eric stood up from his seat and looked at the leaders.

“This matter will be resolved with a votation after I come back from the settlement. Let’s meet back tomorrow at this hour, make sure all your leaders are briefed of the situation and be ready to cast a vote”

Eric surrounded the table and walked out.

Morgan was going to stay back to talk to the other leaders, specially Amity, but she walked after Eric to see him before he left.

She caught up to him on the hall, holding him by the hand

“Though you were falling back” he said, pulling her closer and holding her by the waist.

“I was, I just wanted to see you out, make sure to remember you that you have a wife and baby waiting for you so don’t do any stupid shit while you’re out there”

Eric let out a little smile and stopped in front of the main door out of Erudite.

“I’ve been voted out of the first wave by every team” he said, pulling Morgan to match her chest with his.

“So you’re not going out there?”

“I will, just later, once I’m being given the confirmation the threat has been put down. I’ll track down any kind of information I can get to bring back. Maybe I’ll scope out the Department while I’m at it. If I’m in the mood I might kill everyone there, we’ll see”

“I’ll like to speak with them before, so please don’t”

Eric nodded and placed a short kiss on Morgan’s lips.

“I’ll be back before dinner. Take care of everything around here okay?”

Morgan nodded, giving Eric another kiss and letting him walk out.

As soon as Eric got in the truck towards the fence, Morgan walked to the nursery to quickly check if Aleks was alright, he didn’t seem to mind baou anything and was quietly playing with moving blocks on top of a mat.

She headed to the control room in Erudite and indicated the dauntless guards that had taken over to do anything they could to establish communications with the Department. She told them to send a distress signal that if they didn’t reply back in the next 12 hours there would be serious repercussions for them.

After that, she waited for a reply.

Eric on the other hand was looking through the binoculars, checking how the dauntless were taking over the settlement in the distance. He could faintly hear the gunshots cut the air, and it wasn’t longer than 10 minutes until he was called and told the settlement had been cleared.

Another team of dauntless rode there first to confirm, and after he got his pass, he traveled down along with another group of dauntless.

“I want the bodies checked, weapons taken, and the camp completely dismantled by the end of the day, check for another possible hiding spots, I don’t want to have to deal with a resurgent group.” He comanded while holstering his weapon to his front.

He walked inside the biggest tent he found in the middle of the compound.

They had computers, camera surveillance in the city, files upon files of intel, he began to search through them and found some special ones that unnerved him.

The binders were a different color, and while he motioned at one team of dauntless to pack the Intel to take it back to the city, he fisted the different colored files and opened them, an extensive listen of names along with a ‘Terminated’ or 'active’ tag presented itself in front of him. He began to read through the names and recognized only two, Four and Tris’, along with an 'Active’ tag.

He switched files, and when he opened the next one he froze, it was a file on Christine, along with medical records, pictures, old ones at that, and a big red stamp that read 'non-divergent’.

He switched to another one to find a file on himself, also along with more detailed medical records, his routine, even a list of women who he had slept with, the red non divergent stamp was also there. What made him stop looking at his own file was the fact that it had attached pictures of him at bars with everyone of those women, and at the end a picture of his own son sleeping soundly on his crib.

They’d been watching them for a long, long time.

“Sir” he was interrupted. He closed the file and looked at the dauntless who was sitting at one of the computers and skeeming through it. “I found the jammers of our communications and switched it off. Also, there’s a similar software for shields like the ones in the Department.”

Eric looked at the screen, seeing the program indicate the shields were down.

“Copy the program and let’s take it to the city, I want this program to work on disabling the shields in the Department for the eventual take over”

“Yes sir” he replied, then got to work. Eric held onto the files and collected the ones with the same dark red color.

Once the files were secured in the truck and a fourth team of dauntless had joined to work on the camp, he turned around towards the city. On the drive there he continued to check the files, most of the red ones were from the Leaders of the city, but he was more concerned about the one that seemed to have details about the divergents on the city.

He concluded that the incial information they had about the settlement was wrong. The settlement was supposedly against the experiments, wanting to kill the non divergents and take the divergents under their wing. So why did they have a file exclusively with the label 'Terminated’?

He didn’t care he didn’t had all the pieces, something was very clear for him.

He’d been used, the city had been used, his time had been wasted.

“My inicial impression is that this settlement” he threw some of the files on the table in front of the other leaders in a later meeting “is not what we were originally told it was. I believe that the department made us believe this was a threat to us, when in fact it was targeting them, their divergents”

“That doesn’t explain why the attacked and why they killed 60% of the occupants of Amity” Christine said, always taking the side of the department to not loose the privileges she got from them.

“They’ll have their opportunity to explain themselves, as soon as the jammers went down the message went through. They’ll be here tomorrow morning” Morgan said on the other side of the table.

“Too fucking late for that, we’re still voting to close the city and turn back on our old structure” Eric said, extending a look to the other leaders.

The leader of Candor was not happy with life at this moment, all this information was a huge slap on the face for him. Amity, even though she appeared like it was all fine, everytime the attack on their faction was mentioned she couldn’t help herself from get sad, if not angry. Abnegation was totally biased as in what to vote for and of course Christine was pulling in Eric’s opposite direction.

Eric knew he wouldn’t have it easy, but if he’d wanted it easy in the first place, he would’ve chosen Amity.

While walking down the hall towards the nursery to check on Aleks, Eric knew this was probably the best time he could find to finally tell Morgan about him and Christine. The stakes were too high and if she found out by someone else it would be for trouble.

He knew throwing the files with the information on the leaders on the table could flip on him if Morgan found out, but he was sure Christine wouldn’t live to give a speech in another Choosing Ceremony.

When they were back at the bedroom, Aleks on arms, Eric set him down and Aleks quickly busied himself with a few toys they’d brought it.

Morgan just rested on the bed and sighed, placing her hand on her forehead.

“You okay?” He asked, sitting on the bed next to her and placing a hand on her side.

“Yeah it’s just” she shook her head a little and sighed “I’m tired. I’m tired of the troubles and the lies and… Having to always distrust people, is it too much to ask for us to be left alone?”

Eric hated when Morgan sounded defeated. Morgan was his rock, and if she quivered Eric would instantly fall, he needed her strong.

“I’m doing all I can to make that happen for us Morgan” she looked at him and placed her spare hand on top of his, rubbing his knuckles

“I know you are. And I appreciate it”

Eric took her hand and led it up to his lips, kissing her tenderly.

“About the lies and trust” Morgan rolled her eyes and covered her eyes with her hand

“What did you do Eric?” Eric smiled and kissed her hand again.

“What I didn’t do was tell you something. Something important” Morgan sat up on the bed next to him and looked up, Eric held her by the waist and looked down at her. “Christine” he said, Morgan rolled her eyes again.

“What about her?” She said disinterested.

“She’s my mother”

Morgan straightened up and looked at him with a serious frown.

“That uh… Explains a lot actually”

Eric leaned back on his arms and sighed

“Well, now you know. You know why I don’t like talking to her, or seeing her or anything. I’ve been groomed and trimmed and set up to be this” he motioned at himself “for as long as I can remember. Trained, then forced to take over Dauntless to continue to serve them. They even sent another transfer the next year to be my partner, my wife or whatever”

“And what happened to her?”

“Told her to fuck off. She was too stiff, to judgemental… What’s the point of she couldn’t at least fuck right?”

Morgan snorted a laugh and shook her head. Eric was still a man deep down, and sex was a primal thing in dauntless culture.

“They sent more, every year I could just tell who it was, how they tried to control me through a woman” he sat silent for a while until he wearily asked “you weren’t sent by them were you?”

“Of course not” she said with disdain. She saw how Eric let out a big relieved sigh and he relaxed on the bed.

“That’s something I’ve been asking myself ever since I saw you, you know, because you came from Erudite. I always looked at you and thought 'is this it? Have they finally found out how I liked them?’”

“I wasn’t paid much attention here in Erudite” she dismissed “I never had leadership qualities or the likes”

“Doesn’t seem like it”

Morgan smiled at that sweet comment and leaned in to kiss Eric on the lips. He leaned back on the bed and hugged her close, trapping her lips in more demanding kissed, but we’re interrupted when Aleks let out an angry shriek and slapped Eric in the leg to let Morgan go.

They laughed over eachothers lips and continued kissing, just to tease. Aleks again hit Eric on the leg as he complained, then began pushing on his leg as he was about to start crying.

Morgan retreated back and stood up from the bed to hold Aleks on her arms.

“Don’t be jealous you know you’re my favorite boy”

Morgan kissed Aleks on the cheek and held him, sitting again on the bed next to Eric.

“We’ll be back home soon champ, we don’t like it in here anymore than you do” Eric said touching his cheek slowly.

They settled in for that night, and Eric did eventually turn back to check the fence, see how they were patching up the big hole on the side.

If he looked out in the distance, the tents of the settlement were almost all down, which made him a little more relieved.

Still, he didn’t let his guard down. He still had to deal with the Department. But that was tomorrows fight.